“With Malice Toward None…”
“With malice toward none with charity for all…”
Hopefully, the reader has heard this phrase before.
It opens the final paragraph of Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, the speech that, along with the Gettysburg Address, adorns the walls of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. While the speech is a masterpiece (I highly encourage you to read it), today we will only be focusing on a small excerpt.
Everyone should recognize the good will apparent in that opening phrase, “With malice toward none with charity for all.” But, any student of grammar worth their salt should also identify that this phrase is not a complete sentence. This is more than just a pleasant platitude. Before we move on, let us look at Lincoln’s complete thought:
“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."
At this time in history, America was in her second existential crisis – meaning that the outcome of the crisis would determine whether or not she would exist – and Lincoln was the man charged to lead her through it. The War between the States was nearly over, finally crushing the wicked institution of slavery at very high cost. Over 600,000 lay dead, and a wake of destruction replaced families’ homes, farms, and businesses. The land and the people were devastated; it is no wonder that Lincoln called his people to lay aside their bitterness, to treat one another with love and goodwill, and to work together to rebuild the nation.
And yet, he did not call the people to do this flippantly, or according to what each individual thought was best: “With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right” (emphasis added). And that italicized phrase might be the most important part of this statement, at least for us in our day. Do not get me wrong, I firmly believe that eradicating bitterness and ill will towards others is something every person must strive to do, and that love (charity) is a glorious, good thing. However, untethered from the truth, love becomes highly dangerous and destructive.
Since we at the North Central Washington Heritage Council believe that principles are an integral part of the foundation of our society, I would be remiss to point one out. This is the principle that the statesman Lincoln teaches us today: Without truth, even the best of intentions go sour.
Why did Lincoln choose to add “with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right” into his speech? Why was the absence of hatred and the presence of love not enough? Because Lincoln was no fool. He knew that compromising truth for the sake of “love” – or anything else for that matter – has devastating consequences. There would be no lasting structure or peace without truth holding it all together. In his day, men had compromised truth to serve their own interests, from maintaining slavery in the South to conceited ambition leading to quarrels and insubordination in the North. Those are clearly and evidently wicked.
But what about when people compromise the truth in the name of love? Let me ask you this question: If a child thinks he can fly, and goes to the edge of a cliff to test the prospect, would it be loving to say, “Jump, sonny! Have fun!” because you do not wish to offend him? Or even to stay silent?
An extreme example, but you get the point. It is not that we are compromising the truth for love, but that we are defining love incorrectly. We must stop functionally defining love as being “unoffensive.” And we must stop defining love apart from the truth. Love without truth is not love at all, but a counterfeit perversion. Life without the truth is not life at all, but a series of perversions that has only one end: death. If we are to have any hope in building a society full of goodness, beauty, prosperity, and peace, then we must live according to the truth.
Where then, can we find the truth? Lincoln gives us the answer: “with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right.” God is the source of truth and the one who can reveal it to us. He has graciously spoken to us through the Bible, His Word. If we want to live according to the truth, we must study the Bible and seek God to reveal it to us as we read. If you are a truth seeker, there is no excuse to avoid reading it! Wiser men than you and me commend us to. Indeed, it seems that Lincoln was simply echoing the book of Zechariah in his address.
“These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord” (Zechariah 8:16-17 ESV).
So study the truth, live by it, and do good.
~Grandson of Liberty
Sources & Further Reading
Primary Sources
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (March 4, 1865)
National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/linc/learn/historyculture/lincoln-second-inaugural.htm
National Archives (Our Documents): https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/civil-war/resources/
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address (Library of Congress Collection)
Zechariah 8:16–17 (ESV)
Historical References
National Park Service — Lincoln Memorial
National Park Service — Lincoln Memorial Inscriptions
American Battlefield Trust — Civil War Casualties
Encyclopaedia Britannica — American Civil War
National Archives — 13th Amendment
Recommended Reading
The Bible
