without regard to anything that may stand in your way. Let not the Government be endangered by tender considerations. If West Point cannot do the business, let West Point go down. Who cares? It is better that a thousand generals should fall than that the Republic should be jeopardized a single moment. To-day we are still strong enough to meet the difficulties that stand against us. We do not know what we shall be to-morrow.
FROM PRESIDENT LINCOLN
| Executive Mansion,[1] | |
| Washington, Nov. 10, 1862. |
“Private & Confidential”
Gen. Schurz.
My dear Sir Yours of the 8th was, to-day, read to me by Mrs. S[churz]. We have lost the elections; and
- ↑
In preparing this letter for publication the Editor was confronted
with a somewhat perplexing problem. The rule in this work has been
not to change the text of any document except in case of mistakes probably
due to haste or to the oversight of some copyist or printer, long ago.
It has, of course, been necessary to adopt rules for uniformity in regard
to capitalization, punctuation etc.; thus making the meaning clearer,
rather than changing it. It was found that if this Lincoln letter were
made to conform to this practice, many changes would be necessary—so
many that there was risk that at some future time, should the printed
copy be compared with the original manuscript, one might infer that the
liberties taken in this letter had been taken in other cases, which would
be both erroneous and injurious. On the other hand, if the letter were
reproduced as it was written, it might seem as if there were an attempt
to make an invidious comparison, for hardly anyone's letter may well be
printed precisely as written. However, in the present case it seems best
to follow the manuscript in every detail. This makes the reproduction
more realistic and may incidentally serve some historical or biographical
purpose.
But, lest it should be inferred that Lincoln's other letters were penned with equal lack of care, the long letter of November 24, 1862, is also printed exactly as written. The few oversights in this latter letter indicate that those in the former were exceptional.
