After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 15th, 1865 James Russell Lowell, a political critic, poet, and scholar, reflected upon the man who led America out of the turmoil, division, and angst that had boiled over into the Civil War. His observations of the President and his lengthy prosaic descriptions of, not only the man but the circumstances of his presidency, are remarkable for their clarity of thought and notable for their honest nonpartisan assessment of the political environment of the time, an assessment that is eerily accurate even today.

Not only did this man see the truth behind the disparate events of the time but he also somehow could discern the spiritual forces that had congealed and conspired for and against the great political experiment that was, and still is, the United States of America. 

His essay on Abraham Lincoln is one of the most insightful and accurate analyses of the complex environment and delicate sentiments of the years leading up to the Civil War, and of the miraculous events which, no single man could plan or devise, culminated in the preservation of the union of states that we still know as America. Abraham Lincoln seemed to be the manifestation of the perfect blend of honor, humility, sagacity, and sheer will, into a single, personality that could bear the responsibility of a nation divided, heal its brokenness, and simultaneously preserve its greatest treasures, the Constitution, individual freedom, and liberty for all men devoted to the principles of a republic where individuals have meaning enough that an overarching entity which governs them does not enslave them.

Lowell’s clarity even extends to the numinous, as exemplified by the following quote from his essay relating a seed to the miracle that it contains, showing that Lowell knows that the truly amazing lies outside of the physical representation of a thing but that its real beauty is in the potentials and forces that align to allow it to fulfill its destiny:

“To contrast the size of the oak with that of the parent acorn, as if the poor seed had paid all costs from its slender strongbox, may serve for a child’s wonder; but the real miracle lies in that divine league which bound all the forces of nature to the service of the tiny germ in fulfilling its destiny.”

James Russell Lowell

And in my estimation all the forces of nature had been bound, during our country’s great crisis, to the service of the tiny idea of a republic for good and righteousness and Abraham Lincoln served as the conduit for those forces. The blood of our ancestors of all races and colors have paid the reparations for the freedom of all men in our republic. Let us not shame them by petty arguments and accusations regarding past injustices. Men are imperfect but ideals, when aligned with the ultimate will of the numinous, cannot help but surmount every obstacle and breach every impasse.

James Russell Lowell… uncommon clarity.

But what do I know? I’m just a dummygod.