ANNOUNCER:

The Mercury Theatre on the Air!

MUSIC:

THEME ... CONTINUES IN BG ... OUT BY [X]

ANNOUNCER:

The Columbia Broadcasting System takes pleasure once again in bringing you Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air in the unique summer series which signalizes radio's first presentation of a complete theatrical producing company. In tonight's performance -- the sixth in a group of nine weekly broadcasts -- the regular CBS stations are joined by a coast-to-coast network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Here is Orson Welles himself, the director of the Mercury Theatre, star and producer of these programs to tell you about tonight's play. [X] Mr. Welles.

WELLES:

Wherever you are in the world, an hour and a half from now, there will come to you through these same radio facilities the voice of the President of the United States. Until then, here is another president -- his words, at least, which on Monday, August the fifteenth, Nineteen Thirty-Eight, are still entirely alive -- and his person, preserved in a fine and very famous play.

His words we have collected for this broadcast from many sources -- from letters and speeches, debates and proclamations, and from the written record of his own private conversation. They amount to a testament of his abiding faith in this, our land of the free. Much of it you will recognize and much of it is as new as though this microphone were in the White House tonight.

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION ... BAND PLAYS A STATELY "WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME"

LINCOLN:

I was born February twelfth, Eighteen Oh-Nine in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both [born] in Virginia, of undistinguished families -- second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Macon County, Illinois. My paternal grandfather emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia to Kentucky, where, a year or two later, he was killed by the Indians.

When I came of age, somehow I could read, write and cipher to the Rule of Three; that was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education, I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity.

I was raised to farm work, which I continued till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to New-Salem where I remained a year as a sort of Clerk in a store. Then came the Black-Hawk war; and I was elected a Captain of Volunteers -- a success which gave me more pleasure than any I've had since.

From Eighteen Forty-Nine to Eighteen Fifty-Four, I practiced law in Springfield. What I have done since then is pretty well known.

If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said, I am, in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; and lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and grey eyes -- no other marks or brands recollected. Yours truly, Abraham Lincoln.

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION ... A STATELY "WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME"

MRS. LINCOLN:

Gentlemen, you said this was a great evening for me. It is, and I'll say more than I mostly do, because it is. I'm likely to go into history now with a great man. For I know better than any how great he is. I'm plain looking and I've a sharp tongue, and I've a mind that doesn't always go in his easy, high way. And that's what history will see, and it will laugh a little, and say, "Poor Abe Lincoln." That's all right, but it's not all. I've always known when he should go forward, and when he should hold back. I've watched, and watched. There are women like that, lots of them. But I'm lucky. My work's going farther than Illinois -- it's going farther than any of us can tell. I made things easy for him to think and think when we were poor, and now his thinking has brought him to this. They wanted to make him Governor of Oregon, and he would have gone and have come to nothing there. I stopped him. Now they're coming from Chicago, from the Republican convention there, to ask him to be President, and I've told him to go.

CUFFNEY:

It's a great place for a man to fill. You know, it's hard to believe. When I think of the times I've sat in this room of an evening, and seen your husband come in, ma'am, with his battered hat nigh falling off the back of his head--

MRS. LINCOLN:

(AGREES, WARMLY) Mmm.

CUFFNEY:

--and stuffed with papers that won't go into his pockets, and god-darning some rascal who'd done him about an assignment or a trespass, why, I can't think he's going up there into the eyes of the world.

LINCOLN:

(APPROACHES) Hello, Mary. How d'ye do, Samuel. How d'ye do, Timothy.

STONE:

Good-evening, Abraham.

CUFFNEY:

Good-evening, Abraham. Well, we'll be going. We only came in to give you good-faring, so to say, in the great word you've got to speak this evening.

STONE:

Makes a humble body almost afraid of himself, Abraham, to know his friend is to be one of the great ones of the earth, with his yes and no law for these many, many thousands of folk.

LINCOLN:

Makes a man humble to be chosen so, Samuel. So humble that no man but would say "No" to such bidding if he dare. To be President of this people, and trouble gathering everywhere in men's hearts. That's a searching thing. Bitterness, and scorn, and wrestling often with men I shall despise, and perhaps nothing truly done at the end. But I must go. (UPBEAT) Samuel, Timothy. Just a glass of that cordial, Mary, before they leave.

MRS. LINCOLN:

(MURMURS AGREEMENT)

LINCOLN:

May the devil smudge that girl! Susan! Susan Deddington! Where's that darnation cordial?

MRS. LINCOLN:

It's all right, Abraham. I told the girl to keep it out. (DISAPPROVING) Oh, the cupboard's choked with papers. (BRIGHTLY) Here y'are.

SFX:

DRINKS POURED BEHIND--

LINCOLN:

Poor hospitality for whiskey-drinking rascals like yourselves. But the thought's good.

STONE:

Oh, don't mention it, Abraham. (CHUCKLES)

CUFFNEY:

We wish you well, Abraham. Our compliments, ma'am.

MRS. LINCOLN:

(MURMURS ACKNOWLEDGMENT)

CUFFNEY:

Samuel, I give you the United States of America, and Abraham Lincoln.

SFX:

STONE AND CUFFNEY DRINK

MRS. LINCOLN:

Thank you.

LINCOLN:

Samuel, Timothy -- I drink to the hope of honest friends. Mary, to friendship. I'll need that always, for I've a queer, anxious heart. I give you the United States of America.

SFX:

THE LINCOLNS DRINK ... STONE AND CUFFNEY MOVE TO DOOR AND EXIT DURING FOLLOWING--

STONE:

Well, good-night, Abraham. Good-night, ma'am.

MRS. LINCOLN:

Good-night.

CUFFNEY:

Good-night, good-night, ma'am.

MRS. LINCOLN:

Good-night, Mr. Stone. Good-night, Mr. Cuffney.

LINCOLN:

Good-night, Samuel. Good-night, Timothy. Thanks for coming.

SFX:

DOOR SHUTS

MRS. LINCOLN:

You'd better see them in here.

LINCOLN:

Mm. Five minutes to seven. You're sure about it, Mary?

MRS. LINCOLN:

Yes. Aren't you?

LINCOLN:

We mean to set bounds to slavery. The South will resist. They may try to break away from the Union. If the Union is set aside, America will crumble. The saving of it may mean blood.

MRS. LINCOLN:

Who is to shape it all if you don't?

LINCOLN:

There's nobody. I know it.

MRS. LINCOLN:

Then go.

LINCOLN:

Go.

SFX:

DOOR OPENS, OFF

VOICE:

The gentlemen have come.

MRS. LINCOLN:

(TO VOICE) I'll come to them. (TO LINCOLN) I'll send them in. Abraham, I believe in you.

LINCOLN:

I know, I know.

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION ... BAND PLAYS A PATRIOTIC MARCH

SFX:

ROAR OF LARGE CROWD ... SUBSIDES BEHIND--

LINCOLN:

(A SPEECH, SLIGHT ECHO) I hold - I hold that there's no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man. In the right to eat the bread, without the leave of anybody else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal and the equal of every living man.

SFX:

CROWD ROARS APPROVAL ... THEN SUBSIDES, CONTINUES IN BG

MUSIC:

BRIEF TRANSITION ... BAND PLAYS A PATRIOTIC MARCH ... THEN IN BG

SFX:

CLICK OF TELETYPE

REPORTER:

November sixth, Eighteen Sixty. Republican party, one hundred and eighty out of three hundred and three electoral votes; one million eight hundred and fifty-seven thousand out of four million six hundred and forty-five thousand popular votes. Lincoln elected president.

MUSIC:

UP AND OUT

SFX:

CROWD UP AND OUT

LINCOLN:

(A SPEECH, SLIGHT ECHO) Fellow citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives, this issue -- the right of secession -- embraces more than the fate of these United States. It presents to the whole family of man, the question, whether a constitutional republic, or democracy -- a government of the people, by the same people -- can, or cannot, maintain its territorial integrity, against its own domestic foes. It presents the question, whether discontented individuals, too few in numbers to control administration, can always, upon the pretenses, or arbitrarily, without any pretense, break up their Government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon the earth. Is there, in all republics, this inherent, and fatal weakness? Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?

SFX:

TRANSITIONAL PAUSE

JENNINGS:

It's the common feeling in the South, Mr. Seward, that as Secretary of State, you're the one man here at Washington to see this thing with large imagination. I say this with no disrespect to the President. But what does his experience in great affairs of state amount to beside yours, Mr. Seward?

SEWARD:

My support of the President is, of course, unquestionable, Mr. Jennings.

JENNINGS:

Oh, entirely. But how can your support be more valuable than in lending him your unequaled understanding?

SEWARD:

You understand, of course, that I can say nothing officially.

JENNINGS:

These are nothing but informal suggestions.

SEWARD:

But I may tell you that I am not unsympathetic.

JENNINGS:

I was sure that that would be so.

SFX:

KNOCK AT THE OFFICE DOOR

SEWARD:

Yes? Come in.

SFX:

OFFICE DOOR OPENS

CLERK:

The President is coming up the stairs, sir.

SEWARD:

Thank you. (LOW, TO JENNINGS) This is unfortunate. Say nothing, and go at once.

JENNINGS:

(LOW) Here he is.

LINCOLN:

(FADES IN) Good-morning, Mr. Seward. Good-morning, Mr. Jennings.

SEWARD:

Good-morning, Mr. President.

JENNINGS:

Good-morning, Mr. President.

SEWARD:

(AWKWARD) And, uh, I am obliged to you for calling, Mr. Jennings. Uh, good-morning.

LINCOLN:

Perhaps Mr. Jennings could spare me ten minutes.

JENNINGS:

It might not--

LINCOLN:

Say five minutes. I'm anxious always for any opportunity to exchange views with our friends of the South. Much enlightenment may be gained in five minutes. Be seated, I beg you -- if Mr. Seward will allow us.

SEWARD:

By all means. Er, shall I leave you?

LINCOLN:

Leave us? But why? I may want your support, Mr. Secretary, if we should not wholly agree. Well, Mr. Jennings, you have messages for us?

SEWARD:

Uh, Mr. Jennings, in his anxiety for peace, was merely seeking the best channel through which suggestions could be made.

LINCOLN:

To whom?

SEWARD:

To the government.

LINCOLN:

The head of the government is here.

JENNINGS:

But, uh--

LINCOLN:

Come, sir. What is it?

JENNINGS:

It's this matter of Fort Sumter, Mr. President.

LINCOLN:

Yes?

JENNINGS:

If you withdraw your garrison from Fort Sumter it won't be looked upon as weakness in you. We believe that the South at heart does not want secession. It wants to establish the right to decide for itself.

LINCOLN:

The South wants the stamp of national approval upon slavery. Can't have it.

JENNINGS:

Mr. President, if I may say so, you don't quite understand.

LINCOLN:

Does Mr. Seward understand?

JENNINGS:

I believe so.

LINCOLN:

You are wrong. He doesn't understand, because you didn't mean him to. I don't blame you. You think you're acting for the best. You think you've got an honest case. But I'll put your case for you, and I'll put it naked. Many people in this country want abolition; many don't. But every man, whether he wants it or not, knows it may come. Why does the South propose secession? Because it knows abolition may come, and it wants to avoid it. I said the other day that Fort Sumter would be held as long as we could hold it. I said it because I know exactly what it means.

JENNINGS:

I see how it is. You may force freedom as much as you like, but we are to beware how we force slavery.

LINCOLN:

It couldn't be put better, Mr. Jennings. That's what the Union means. It is a Union that stands for common right. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, do not allow it to break our bonds of affection. That is our answer. Tell them that. Will you tell them that?

JENNINGS:

You are determined?

LINCOLN:

I beg you to tell them.

JENNINGS:

It shall be as you wish.

LINCOLN:

Implore them to order your troops return. You can telegraph it now, from here. Will you do that?

JENNINGS:

If you wish it. But it will do no good, Mr. Lincoln. They won't give way.

LINCOLN:

It's a grave decision. Terribly grave. For all of us. Good-morning, Mr. Jennings.

SFX:

OFFICE DOOR SHUTS AS JENNINGS EXITS

LINCOLN:

Seward, this won't do.

SEWARD:

You don't suspect, Mr. President--?

LINCOLN:

I do not. But let us be plain. No man can say how wisely, but Providence has brought me to the leadership of this country, with a task before me greater than that which rested on Washington himself. When I made my Cabinet, you were the first man I chose. I do not regret it. I think I never shall. But remember, faith earns faith. What is it? Why didn't this man come to see me?

SEWARD:

He thought my word might bear more weight with you than his.

LINCOLN:

Your word for what?

SEWARD:

Discretion about Fort Sumter.

LINCOLN:

Discretion?

SEWARD:

It's devastating, this thought of civil war.

LINCOLN:

It is. Do you think I'm less sensible of that than you? War should be impossible. But you can only make it impossible by destroying its causes. If we withdraw from Fort Sumter, we do nothing to destroy that cause. We can only destroy it by convincing the southern states that secession is a betrayal of their trust. Please God we may do so.

SEWARD:

Has there, perhaps, been some timidity in making all this clear to the country?

LINCOLN:

Timidity? You were talking of discretion.

SEWARD:

I mean that perhaps our policy has not been sufficiently defined.

LINCOLN:

And have you not concurred in all our decisions? Seward, you may think I'm simple, but I can see your mind working as plainly as you might see the innards of a clock. You can bring great gifts to this government, with your zeal, and your administrative experience, and your love of men. Don't spoil it by thinking I've got a dull brain.

SEWARD:

(SLOWLY) Yes, I see. I've not been thinking quite clearly about it all. Mr. President, I beg your pardon.

LINCOLN:

That's brave of you. Give me your hand.

SFX:

KNOCK AT THE DOOR

LINCOLN:

Come in.

SFX:

DOOR OPENS

HAY:

There's a messenger from Major Anderson, sir. He's ridden straight from Fort Sumter.

LINCOLN:

All right, Hay, bring him in.

HAY:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

(TO SEWARD) Don't like the sound of it. (TO HAY) One moment, Hay.

HAY:

Yes?

LINCOLN:

Are there any gentlemen of the Cabinet in the house?

HAY:

Mr. Chase and Mr. Blair, I believe, sir.

LINCOLN:

My compliments to them, and will they be prepared to see me here at once if necessary? Send the same message to any other Cabinet members you can find.

HAY:

Yes, sir.

SFX:

DOOR SHUTS

LINCOLN:

Seward, we may have to decide now -- now.

SFX:

KNOCK AT THE DOOR

LINCOLN:

Come in.

SFX:

DOOR OPENS

LINCOLN:

Are you the messenger from Fort Sumter?

MESSENGER:

Yes, sir. Word of mouth, sir.

LINCOLN:

Well?

MESSENGER:

Major Anderson presents his duty to the government. He can hold the Fort three days more without provisions and reinforcements.

LINCOLN:

Are things very bad at the Fort?

MESSENGER:

The major says three days, sir. Most of us would have said twenty-four hours.

LINCOLN:

I see. Thank you. Wait outside, please.

MESSENGER:

Yes, sir.

SFX:

DOOR SHUTS

LINCOLN:

Three days, Seward, three days. My God. My God, Seward, we need great courage, great faith. "There is a tide in the affairs of men ..." Do you read Shakespeare, Seward?

SEWARD:

Shakespeare? No.

LINCOLN:

Oh.

SFX:

DOOR OPENS

HAY:

Uh, the Cabinet is here, sir. Mr. Chase, Mr. Hook and Mr. Welles.

LINCOLN:

Show them in.

HAY:

Yes, sir.

WELLES:

Oh, good-day, Mr. President.

LINCOLN:

Good-morning, Mr. Welles, Mr. Hook.

SEWARD:

Good-morning, gentlemen.

CHASE:

Good-morning, Mr. President. How do you do, Mr. Seward. Something urgent?

LINCOLN:

Let us be seated.

SFX:

CHAIRS DRAWN ... MEN SIT

LINCOLN:

Gentlemen, we meet in a crisis, the most fateful, perhaps, that has ever faced any government in this country. It can be stated briefly. A message has just come from Anderson. He can hold Fort Sumter three days at most unless we send men and provisions.

HOOK:

Mr. President, I consider that we should withdraw.

LINCOLN:

Don't you see that to withdraw may postpone war, but that it will make it inevitable in the end?

HOOK:

It is inevitable if we resist.

LINCOLN:

I fear it will be so. But in that case we shall enter it with uncompromized principles. Mr. Chase?

CHASE:

It is difficult. But, on the whole, my opinion is with yours, Mr. President.

LINCOLN:

And you, Seward?

SEWARD:

I respect your opinion, but I must differ.

LINCOLN:

I charge you, all of you, to weigh this thing with all your understanding. To temporize now, cannot, in my opinion, avert war. To speak plainly to the world in standing by our resolution to hold Fort Sumter with all our means, and in a plain declaration that the Union must be preserved, will leave us with a clean cause, simply and loyally supported. I tremble at the thought of war. But we have in our hands a sacred trust. It is threatened. Persuasion has failed, and I conceive it to be our duty to resist. To withhold supplies from Fort Sumter would be to deny that duty. Gentlemen-- Gentlemen, the matter is before you. (BEAT, CALLS FOR A VOTE) For sending men and provisions to Fort Sumter? (BEAT) Three. (BEAT) For immediate withdrawal? (BEAT) Five. (BEAT) Gentlemen, I may have to take upon myself the responsibility of over-riding your vote. It will be for me to satisfy Congress and public opinion. Should I receive any resignations? (NO ANSWER) Thank you for your consideration.

SFX:

LINCOLN RINGS A HAND-BELL ... DOOR OPENS

LINCOLN:

Will you send in that messenger?

HAY:

Yes, sir.

MESSENGER:

(BEAT, FADES IN) You sent for me, Mr. President?

LINCOLN:

I did. Can you ride back to Fort Sumter at once?

MESSENGER:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Tell Major Anderson that we cannot reinforce him immediately. We haven't the men.

MESSENGER:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Say that the first convoy of supplies will leave Washington this evening.

MESSENGER:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Thank you.

MUSIC:

ROLL OF DRUMS ... THEN IN BG

LINCOLN:

(DECLARATION OF WAR, SLIGHT ECHO) Whereas the laws of the United States have been for some time past and now are opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshals by law, now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, --

MUSIC:

DRUM ROLL SEGUES TO "BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC" IN BG

LINCOLN:

--President of the United States in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and do hereby call forth, militia of the several States of the Union, to the number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed.

SFX:

LOUD, DULL THUDS OF CANNON FIRE DROWN OUT THE MUSIC ... CONTINUES IN BG

ANNOUNCER:

You are listening to Orson Welles as Abraham Lincoln in Columbia's presentation of the Mercury Theatre on the Air. The broadcast is an adaptation of John Drinkwater's "Abraham Lincoln," with original Lincoln speeches. The drama will continue in just a moment. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.

SFX:

DULL THUDS OF CANNON FIRE FILL A PAUSE

ANNOUNCER:

We continue now with the performance of John Drinkwater's "Abraham Lincoln" by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air.

LINCOLN:

(STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS, SLIGHT ECHO) Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The war continues. And it continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government -- the rights of the people.

It is not needed nor fitting here that a general argument should be made in favor of popular institutions, but there is one point, to which I ask a brief attention. It is assumed that labor is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor. This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or buy them and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded that far, it is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired laborers or what we call slaves. And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is fixed in that condition for life.

Now there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed, nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all inferences from them are groundless.

Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed.

No men living are more worthy to be trusted than these who toil up from poverty. Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost.

SFX:

TRANSITIONAL PAUSE

SEWARD:

(FADES IN) Good-morning, gentlemen. I've just had my summons. Is there some special news?

STANTON:

Yes. McClellan has defeated Lee at Antietam. It's our greatest success. They ought not to recover from it. The tide is turning.

BLAIR:

Have you seen the President, Mr. Stanton?

STANTON:

I've just been with him.

WELLES:

Well, what does he say?

STANTON:

He only said, "At last." He's coming directly.

HOOK:

(WITH DISGUST) Ah, he'll bring up his proclamation again. In my opinion it's inopportune.

SEWARD:

I thought we had learnt by now that the President is the best man among us.

HOOK:

There's a good deal of feeling against him everywhere, I find.

BLAIR:

He is the one man with character enough for this business.

HOOK:

There are other opinions.

SEWARD:

Yes, but not here, surely, Mr. Hook.

HOOK:

It's not for me to say. But there are some who would have acted differently.

BLAIR:

And you may depend upon it they would not have acted so wisely, Mr. Hook.

STANTON:

I don't altogether agree with the President. But he's the only man I should agree with at all.

SEWARD:

Well, is Lee's army broken?

STANTON:

Not yet -- but it is in grave danger.

HOOK:

Why doesn't the President come? One would think this news was nothing.

CHASE:

I must say I'm anxious to know what he has to say about it all.

HOOK:

I shall oppose it if it comes up.

CHASE:

He may say nothing about it.

SEWARD:

I think he will.

SFX:

DOOR OPENS

HAY:

Gentlemen? The President.

LINCOLN:

Good-morning, gentlemen.

CABINET:

(AD LIBS) Good-morning, Mr. President.

SEWARD:

Great news, we hear.

HOOK:

If we leave things with the army to take their course, why, we ought to see through our difficulties.

LINCOLN:

(IN GREAT GOOD HUMOR) It's an exciting morning, gentlemen. I feel rather excited myself. I find my mind not at its best in excitement. Will you allow me to read you something? It's not long and it may compose us all. It is Artemus Ward's latest. (READS RAPIDLY) "High Handed Outrage at Utica."

"In the Faul of Eighteen Fifty-Six, I showed my show in Utiky, a trooly grate sitty in the State of New York. The people gave me a cordyal recepshun. The press was loud in her prases. One day I was givin a descripshun of my Beests and Snaiks in my usual flowry stile [when what was my consternation?] and showin' my cage containin my wax figgers of the Lord's last Supper, I says, but up comes a feller and seize Judas Iscarrot by the feet and drag him out on the ground. He then commenced fur to pound him as hard as he cood."

"'What under the son are you abowt?' cried I."

"Sez he, 'What did you bring this pussylanermus cuss here fur?' and he hit the wax figger another tremenjis blow on the hed."

"Sez I, 'You egrejus ass, that airs a wax figger -- a representashun of the false 'Postle.'"

"Sez he, 'That's all very well fur you to say; but I tell you, old man, that Judas Iscarrot can't show himself in Utiky with impunerty by a darn site,' with which observashun he kaved in Judassis' hed. The young man belonged to one of the first famerlies in Utiky. I sued him, and the Joory brawt in a verdick of Arson in the third degree."

(CHUCKLES) Gentlemen, I'd give up office if I could write like that.

STANTON:

(COOLLY) May we now consider affairs of state?

HOOK:

(SOURLY) Yes, we may.

LINCOLN:

Mr. Hook says, yes, we may.

STANTON:

Thank you.

LINCOLN:

Oh, no. Thank Mr. Hook.

SEWARD:

McClellan is in pursuit of Lee, I suppose.

LINCOLN:

You suppose a good deal. But for the first time McClellan has the chance of being in pursuit of Lee, and that's the first sign of their end. If McClellan doesn't take his chance, we'll move Grant down to the job.

BLAIR:

Grant drinks.

LINCOLN:

Oh, then tell me the name of his brand. I'll send him some barrels. He wins victories.

HOOK:

Is there any other business?

LINCOLN:

There is. Some weeks ago I showed you a draft I made proclaiming freedom for all slaves. You thought then it was not the time to issue it. I agreed. I think now the moment has come. I will read it. Here it is again. (READS) "It is proclaimed that on the first day of January in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-Three, all persons held as slaves within any state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free."

HOOK:

I must oppose the issue of such a proclamation at this moment in the most unqualified terms.

WELLES:

I do not quite understand, Mr. President, why you think this the precise moment.

LINCOLN:

Believe me, gentlemen, I have considered this matter with all the earnestness and understanding of which I am capable.

HOOK:

But when the New York Tribune urged you to come forward with a clear declaration six months ago, you rebuked them.

LINCOLN:

Because I thought the occasion not the right one. My duty, it has seemed to me, has been to be loyal to a principle, and not to betray it by expressing it in action at the wrong time. That is what I conceive statesmanship [to be]. For long now I have had two fixed resolves. To preserve the Union, and to abolish slavery. How to preserve the Union I was always clear, and more than two years of bitterness have not dulled my vision. We have fought for the Union, and we are now winning for the Union. With that victory and a vindicated Union will come abolition. I made the promise to myself -- and to my Maker. The rebel army is now driven out, and I'm going to fulfill that promise. I do not wish your advice about the main matter, for that I have determined for myself. This I say without intending anything but respect for any one of you. But I beg you to stand with me in this thing.

HOOK:

Well, in my opinion, it's altogether too impetuous.

LINCOLN:

One other observation I will make. I know very well that others might in this matter, as in others, do better than I can, and if I was satisfied that the public confidence was more fully possessed by any one of them than by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which he could be put in my place, he should have it. I would gladly yield it to him. But, though I cannot claim undivided confidence, I do not know that, all things considered, any other person has more; and, however this may be, there is no way in which I can have any other man put where I am. I am here; I must do the best I can, and bear the responsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought to take.

STANTON:

Could this be left over for a short time for consideration?

WELLES:

I feel that we should remember that our only public cause at the moment is the preservation of the Union.

HOOK:

I entirely agree with Welles.

LINCOLN:

Gentlemen, we cannot escape history. We of this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last, best hope on earth. I shall sign this proclamation now. Excuse me, gentlemen. (BEAT, AS HE SIGNS) "Shall be thenceforward and forever free." (BEAT) Gentlemen, I pray for your support. Good-day.

CABINET:

(AD LIBS) Good-day, sir. Good-day.

SFX:

CABINET RISES AND EXITS DURING FOLLOWING--

LINCOLN:

Hook?

HOOK:

(OFF) Yes, Mr. President?

LINCOLN:

Hook, will you stay a moment?

HOOK:

(CLOSER) Yes, Mr. President?

SFX:

DOOR SHUTS

LINCOLN:

Hook, one cannot help hearing things.

HOOK:

I beg your pardon?

LINCOLN:

Hook, there's a way some people have, when a man says a disagreeable thing, of asking him to repeat it, hoping to embarrass him. It's often effective. But I'm not easily embarrassed. I said one cannot help hearing things.

HOOK:

And I do not understand what you mean, Mr. President.

LINCOLN:

Come, Hook, we're alone. Lincoln is a good enough name. And I think you understand.

HOOK:

How should I?

LINCOLN:

Then, plainly, there are intrigues going on.

HOOK:

Against the government?

LINCOLN:

No. In it. Against me.

HOOK:

Well, criticism, perhaps.

LINCOLN:

To what end? To better my ways?

HOOK:

I presume that might be the purpose.

LINCOLN:

Then, why am I not told what it is?

HOOK:

I imagine it's a natural compunction.

LINCOLN:

Or ambition?

HOOK:

What do you mean?

LINCOLN:

Hook, you've been bitten by the White House bug. You think you ought to be in my place.

HOOK:

You're well informed.

LINCOLN:

You cannot imagine why everyone does not see that you ought to be in my place.

HOOK:

By what right do you say that?

LINCOLN:

Is it not true?

HOOK:

You take me unprepared. You have me at a disadvantage.

LINCOLN:

You speak as a very scrupulous man, Hook.

HOOK:

Do you question my honor?

LINCOLN:

As you will.

HOOK:

Then I resign.

LINCOLN:

As a protest against--?

HOOK:

Your suspicion.

LINCOLN:

It is false?

HOOK:

Very well, I'll be frank. I mistrust your judgment, Mr. Lincoln.

LINCOLN:

In what?

HOOK:

Generally. You over-emphasize abolition.

LINCOLN:

You don't mean that. You mean that you fear possible public feeling against abolition.

HOOK:

It must be persuaded, not forced. Besides, you have, in my opinion, failed in necessary firmness in telling the South what will be the individual penalties of rebellion.

LINCOLN:

This is war. I will not allow it to become a blood-feud.

HOOK:

But we are fighting treason. We must meet it with severity.

LINCOLN:

We will defeat treason. And I will meet it with conciliation.

HOOK:

It is a policy of weakness.

LINCOLN:

It is a policy of faith -- it is a policy of compassion. (WARMLY) Hook-- Hook, why do you plague me with these jealousies? Once before I found a member of my Cabinet working behind my back. But he was disinterested, and he made amends nobly. But, Hook, you have allowed the burden of these days to sour you. I know it all. I've watched you plotting and plotting for authority. And I, who am a lonely man, have been sick at heart. So great is the task God has given to my hand, and so few are my days, and my deepest hunger is always for loyalty in my own house. You have withheld it from me. You have done great service in your office, but you have grown envious. Now you resign, as you did once before when I came openly to you in friendship. And you think that again I shall flatter you and coax you to stay. I won't do it. I must take you at your word.

HOOK:

I am content.

LINCOLN:

(BEAT) Will you shake hands? (NO ANSWER) No?

HOOK:

I beg you to excuse me.

SFX:

DOOR OPENS AND SHUTS ... LINCOLN RINGS HAND-BELL ... DOOR OPENS

HAY:

Yes, Mr. President?

LINCOLN:

Mr. Hay?

HAY:

Yes, sir?

SFX:

DOOR SHUTS

LINCOLN:

Mr. Hay, I'm rather tired today. Read to me a little.

HAY:

Why, certainly, sir.

LINCOLN:

"The Tempest" -- you know the passage.

HAY:

(READS) "Our revels now are ended; these our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep."

LINCOLN:

"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life ..."

MUSIC:

BAND PLAYS A LIVELY VERSION OF "DIXIE" ... THEN IN BG

LINCOLN:

(A WAR ORDER) Ordered that the fourth day of April Eighteen Sixty-Five, be the day for a general movement of all the Land and Naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces. That especially -- The Army of the Potomac, The Army of Western Virginia, The Army near Munfordsville, Kentucky, The Army and Flotilla at Cairo, and a Naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready to move on that day.

SFX:

DULL THUDS OF CANNON FIRE DROWN OUT THE MUSIC ... CONTINUES IN BG

DENNIS:

General Grant?

GRANT:

Yes, Dennis?

DENNIS:

Seven-thirty, sir.

GRANT:

An hour and a half. There ought to be something more from Meade by now, Dennis.

DENNIS:

Yes, sir.

GRANT:

Have you wired the President?

DENNIS:

Yes, sir.

GRANT:

Take these papers to Captain Templeman. Ask Colonel West if the twenty-third are in action yet. Tell the cook to send some soup at ten o'clock. Say it was cold yesterday.

DENNIS:

Yes, sir.

GRANT:

Give me that map, Malins. (BEAT) Yes. There's no doubt about it. Unless Meade goes to sleep it can only be a question of hours. Lee's a great man, but he can't get out of that.

MALINS:

This ought to be the end, sir.

GRANT:

Yes. If Lee surrenders, we can all pack up for home.

MALINS:

By God, sir, it'll be splendid, won't it, to be back again?

GRANT:

By God, sir, it will.

MALINS:

I beg your pardon, sir.

GRANT:

You're quite right, Malins. My boy goes away to school next week. Now I may be able to go down with him and see him settled. Well, Dennis?

DENNIS:

Colonel West says, yes, sir, for the last half-hour. The cook says he's sorry, sir. It was a mistake.

GRANT:

Tell him to keep his mistakes in the kitchen!

DENNIS:

I will, sir.

GRANT:

Those rifles went up this afternoon?

MALINS:

Yes, sir.

GUARD:

(OFF) Halt! Who goes there?!

GRANT:

What's that?

ORDERLY:

(FADES IN) General Grant, sir?

GRANT:

What is it?

ORDERLY:

The President has just arrived, sir. He's in the yard now.

GRANT:

All right, I'll come.

SFX:

DULL THUDS OF CANNON FIRE FILL PAUSE ... CONTINUES IN BG

LINCOLN:

General Grant?

GRANT:

I wasn't expecting you, sir.

LINCOLN:

No. I couldn't keep away. How's it going?

GRANT:

Meade sent word an hour and a half ago that Lee was surrounded all but two miles, which was closing in.

LINCOLN:

That ought to about settle it, eh?

GRANT:

Unless anything goes wrong in those two miles, sir. I'm expecting a further report from Meade every minute.

LINCOLN:

Would there be more fighting?

GRANT:

It'll probably mean fighting through the night, more or less. But Lee must realize it's hopeless by the morning.

ORDERLY:

Dispatch, sir.

GRANT:

Yes?

ORDERLY:

From General Meade, sir.

GRANT:

Thank you. You needn't wait.

SFX:

DISPATCH TORN OPEN

GRANT:

Yes, they've closed the ring. Meade gives 'em ten hours. It's timed at eight. That's six o'clock in the morning.

LINCOLN:

We must be merciful. Bob Lee's been a gallant fellow.

GRANT:

Perhaps you'll look through this list, sir. I hope it's the last we shall have.

LINCOLN:

It's a horrible part of the business, Grant. Any shootings?

GRANT:

One.

LINCOLN:

Damn it, Grant, why can't you do without it? No, no. No, of course not. Who is it?

MALINS:

William Scott, sir. It's rather a hard case.

LINCOLN:

What is it?

MALINS:

He had just done a heavy march, sir, and volunteered for double guard duty to relieve a sick friend. He was found asleep at his post.

GRANT:

I was anxious to spare him. But it couldn't be done. It was a critical place, at a gravely critical time.

LINCOLN:

When is it to be?

MALINS:

Tomorrow, at daybreak, sir.

LINCOLN:

I don't see that it'll do him any good to be shot. Where is he?

MALINS:

In the barn, I believe, sir.

LINCOLN:

Thanks. Think I'll go see him.

MALINS:

Shall I go with you, sir?

LINCOLN:

No, thank you.

SFX:

DULL THUDS OF CANNON FIRE FILL PAUSE ... CONTINUES IN BG

2ND GUARD:

Halt! Who goes there?!

LINCOLN:

Is this where the boy is held?

2ND GUARD:

Oh, uh, yes, Mr. President.

LINCOLN:

Wait outside, will you?

2ND GUARD:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

(BEAT) Are you William Scott?

SCOTT:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Know who I am?

SCOTT:

Yes, Mr. Lincoln.

LINCOLN:

The General tells me you've been court-martialed.

SCOTT:

Yes sir.

LINCOLN:

Asleep on guard?

SCOTT:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

It's a very serious offense.

SCOTT:

I know, sir.

LINCOLN:

What was it?

SCOTT:

I couldn't keep awake, sir.

LINCOLN:

You'd had a long march?

SCOTT:

Twenty-three miles, sir.

LINCOLN:

Doing double guard?

SCOTT:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

Who ordered you?

SCOTT:

Well, sir, I - I offered.

LINCOLN:

Why?

SCOTT:

Enoch White -- he was sick, sir. We come from the same place.

LINCOLN:

Where's that?

SCOTT:

Vermont, sir.

LINCOLN:

You live there?

SCOTT:

Yes, sir. My-- We've got a farm down there, sir.

LINCOLN:

Who has?

SCOTT:

My mother, sir. I've - I've got her photograph, sir. I--

LINCOLN:

Does she know about this?

SCOTT:

Oh, for God's sake, don't, sir. I-- (WEEPS SILENTLY)

LINCOLN:

There, there. There, my boy. There. You're not going to be shot.

SCOTT:

Not going to be shot, sir?

LINCOLN:

No, no.

SCOTT:

Not going to be shot?

LINCOLN:

There, there. I believe you when you tell me you couldn't keep awake. I'm going to trust you. Send you back to your regiment.

SCOTT:

When may I go back, sir?

LINCOLN:

You can go back tomorrow. I expect the fighting'll be over, though.

SCOTT:

Is it over yet, sir?

LINCOLN:

Not quite.

SCOTT:

Oh, please, sir, let me go back tonight -- let me go back tonight.

LINCOLN:

Very well. Know where General Meade is?

SCOTT:

No, sir.

LINCOLN:

Ask that guard to come here. (BEAT, TO 2ND GUARD) Your prisoner is discharged. Take him at once to General Meade with this.

2ND GUARD:

Yes, sir.

SCOTT:

Thank you, Mr. Lincoln.

LINCOLN:

(BEAT, CALLS) Mr. Hay?

HAY:

Yes, sir?

LINCOLN:

What's the time, Mr. Hay?

HAY:

Just on half-past nine, sir.

LINCOLN:

I shall sleep here for a little. You'd better shake down, too. They'll wake us if there's any news.

SFX:

DULL THUDS OF CANNON FIRE FILL LENGTHY PAUSE ... THEN FADES OUT

MUSIC:

BUGLE PLAYS "ASSEMBLY"

LINCOLN:

Mr. Hay?

HAY:

(MURMURS IN HIS SLEEP)

LINCOLN:

Mr. Hay!

HAY:

(WAKES) Hello! What the devil is it? I-- Oh, I beg your pardon, Mr. Lincoln.

LINCOLN:

Not at all. Slept well, Hay?

HAY:

Well, I - I feel a little crumpled, sir.

LINCOLN:

(CHUCKLES) What's the time?

HAY:

Uh, six o'clock, sir.

LINCOLN:

Listen.

HAY:

(BEAT) I don't hear anything, Mr. Lincoln.

LINCOLN:

That's just it. Guns have stopped.

GRANT:

Good-morning, sir; good-morning, Hay.

HAY:

Good-morning, general.

GRANT:

I didn't disturb you last night. A message just come from Meade. Lee asked for an armistice at four o'clock.

LINCOLN:

An armistice?

GRANT:

Yes, sir.

LINCOLN:

(THOUGHTFUL) An armistice. For four years, life has been but the hope of this moment. Strange how simple it is when it comes. Grant, you've served the country very truly. Made my work possible. Thank you.

GRANT:

Had I failed, the fault would not have been yours, sir. I succeeded because you believed in me.

LINCOLN:

Where is Lee?

GRANT:

He's coming here. Meade should arrive directly.

LINCOLN:

Where will Lee wait?

GRANT:

There's a room ready for him. Will you receive him, sir?

LINCOLN:

Oh, no, no, Grant. No, that's your affair. You're to mention no political matters. Be generous; I needn't say that.

GRANT:

I have written out the terms I suggest. Here they are, sir.

LINCOLN:

(EXAMINING PAPER) Yes. Yes. They - they do you honor.

ORDERLY:

General Meade is here, sir.

GRANT:

Ask him to come here.

ORDERLY:

Yes, sir.

GRANT:

I learnt a good deal from Robert Lee in early days. He's a better man than most of us. This business will go pretty near his heart, sir.

LINCOLN:

I'm glad it's to be done by a brave gentleman, Grant. (GREETING) Ah, Congratulations, Meade. You've done well.

MEADE:

Thank you, sir.

GRANT:

Was there much more fighting?

MEADE:

Pretty hot for an hour or two.

GRANT:

How long will Lee be?

MEADE:

Only a few minutes, I should say, sir.

GRANT:

You said nothing about terms?

MEADE:

No, sir.

LINCOLN:

Did a boy named Scott come to you?

MEADE:

Yes, sir. He went into action at once. He was killed.

LINCOLN:

Killed? (BEAT) It's a queer world, Grant.

MEADE:

Is there any proclamation to be made, sir, about the rebels?

GRANT:

I hope that--

LINCOLN:

There will be no persecution, no bloody work after this war is over. I'll have nothing of hanging or shooting these men, even the worst of them. Frighten them out of the country, open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off, shoo-- Enough lives have been sacrificed. Good-bye, Grant. Report at Washington as soon as you can.

GRANT:

Mr. President?

LINCOLN:

Yes?

GRANT:

Is it known that you return to Washington tomorrow?

LINCOLN:

I think so.

GRANT:

Mr. President, I think you take too many risks. On the way here yesterday, you must have passed a half a dozen places where a well-directed bullet might have taken you off.

LINCOLN:

(CHUCKLES) Assassination of public officers is not an American crime. Good-bye, gentlemen. Come along, Hay.

GRANT:

Good-bye, Mr. President. (BEAT, TO MEADE) Who is with Lee?

MEADE:

Only one of his staff, sir.

GRANT:

Dennis, let us know directly General Lee comes.

DENNIS:

Yes, sir.

GRANT:

Well, Meade, it's been a big job.

MEADE:

Yes, sir.

GRANT:

We've had courage and determination. We've had wits, to beat a great soldier. I'd say that to any man. But it's Abraham Lincoln, Meade, who has kept us a great cause clean to fight for. It does a man's heart good to know he's given victory to such a man to handle. Have a drink, Meade?

SFX:

POURS A GLASS OF WHISKEY

GRANT:

No? (DRINKS, EXHALES) Do you know, Meade, there were fools who wanted me to oppose Lincoln for the Presidency--

GUARD:

(OFF) Ten-hut!

MALINS:

General Lee is here, sir.

GRANT:

Meade, will General Lee do me the honor of meeting me in here? (SHARPLY) Where the deuce is my hat, Dennis?! My sword?!

DENNIS:

Here, sir.

MALINS:

General Lee, sir!

SFX:

LEE'S FOOTSTEPS ... HE WALKS IN AND STOPS

GRANT:

Sir, you have given me occasion to be proud of my opponent.

LEE:

I have not spared my strength. I acknowledge its defeat.

GRANT:

You have come, General Lee--?

LEE:

To ask upon what terms you will accept surrender. Yes.

GRANT:

They are simple. I hope you will not find them ungenerous. Here they are.

SFX:

RUSTLE OF PAPER

LEE:

(PAUSE) You are magnanimous, sir. May I make one submission?

GRANT:

It would be a privilege if I could consider it.

LEE:

You allow our officers to keep their horses, General Grant. That is gracious. Our cavalry troopers' horses also are their own.

GRANT:

I understand. They'll be needed on the farms. It shall be done.

LEE:

I thank you. I accept your terms.

MUSIC:

BAND PLAYS "WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME AGAIN" ... OUT BEHIND--

SFX:

JOYOUS TOLLING OF MANY BELLS ... WARM BUZZ OF CROWD ... OUT BEHIND--

LINCOLN:

My friends, I am touched, deeply touched, by this mark of your good-will. After four dark and difficult years, we have achieved the great purpose for which we set out. I have but little to say at this moment.

I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. But as events have come before me, I have seen them always with one faith. We have preserved the American Union; we've abolished a great wrong.

The task of reconciliation, of setting order where there is now confusion, of bringing about a settlement at once just and merciful, and of directing the life of a reunited country into prosperous channels of good-will and generosity, will demand all our wisdom, all our loyalty. It is the proudest hope of my life that I may be of some service in this work.

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

SFX:

WARM BUZZ OF CROWD ... BLENDS WITH JOYOUS TOLLING OF MANY BELLS ... THEN FADES OUT

HISTORIAN:

Good Friday, April fourteenth, Eighteen Sixty-Five.

In the morning, there was a cabinet meeting at the White House. Lincoln was in a happy mood.

He told told Grant and the Cabinet of a dream he had dreamed, which had come to him several times before.

In this dream, whenever it came, he was sailing in a ship of a peculiar build, indescribable but always the same, and being borne on it with great speed towards a dark and undefined shore. He had always dreamed this before a victory. He dreamed it before Antietam, before Murfreesborough, before Gettysburg, before Vicksburg.

In the afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln drove together and he talked to her of the life they would lead back in Springfield, Illinois when this Presidency was over.

That night, Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln went to Ford's Theatre. The theatre was crowded; many officers returned from the war were there and eager to see Lincoln. The play was "Our American Cousin." A little after eight o'clock, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln entered the official box with her husband and their guests following.

Some time after ten o'clock, at a point in the play which no person present could afterwards remember, a shot was heard in the theatre and Abraham Lincoln fell forward upon the front of the box unconscious and dying.

He was carried to a house near the theatre. His sons and closest friends were summoned.

A dismal drizzle of rain was falling as the dawn came to Washington after a night of terror.

In the streets, men stood in groups discussing the tragedy.

Then, at seven-thirty, the tolling of all the church bells in the town and a hush in the streets.

Lincoln was dead.

SFX:

LOW, SLOW FUNEREAL TOLLING OF CHURCH BELLS ... FADES OUT BEHIND--

LINCOLN:

(FADE IN, GHOSTLY ECHO) From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

MUSIC:

BAND PLAYS A STATELY "BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC" ... FOR A FINISH

ANNOUNCER:

Tonight, the Columbia Broadcasting System, through its affiliated stations coast-to-coast and the network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has brought you a production of "Abraham Lincoln" by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air. The famous play by John Drinkwater was supplemented by many of Lincoln's speeches, excerpts from his debates, proclamations, letters and accounts of his own private conversations.

In the cast this evening were Ray Collins as General Grant, Ed Jerome as General Lee, George Coulouris as Hook, Joseph Holland as Seward, Carl Frank as Scott, Karl Swenson as Hay, William Alland as Dennis, Agnes Moorehead as Mrs. Lincoln, and Orson Welles as Abraham Lincoln. Bernard Herrmann conducted. Dan Seymour speaking. Davidson Taylor supervised for the Columbia network.

MUSIC:

THEME ... THEN IN BG

ANNOUNCER:

Next week at this same time, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air will bring you Schnitzler's Viennese romance "The Affairs of Anatol." This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.

MUSIC:

THEME ... TILL END