葛底斯堡

onnovember19，1863，abrahamlincolnwenttogettysburginpennsylvaniatospeakatthenationalsoldierscemetery.thecivilwarwasstillgoingon.therewasmuchcriticismofpresidentlincolnatthetime.hewasnotatallpopular.hehadbeeninvitedtospeakatgettysburgonlyoutofcourtesy礼貌.theprincipalspeakerwastobeedwardeverett，afamousstatesmanandspeakeroftheday.everettwasahandsomemanandverypopulareverywhere.itissaidthatlincolnpreparedhisspeechonthetrainwhilegoingtogettysburg.latethatnight，aloneinhishotelroomandtiredout，heagainworkedbrieflyonthespeech.thenextdayeverettspokefirst.hespokeforanhourand57minutes.hisspeechwasaperfectexampleoftherichoratory讲演术oftheday.thenlincolnrose.thecrowdof15，000peopleatfirstpaidlittleattentiontohim.hespokeforonlynineminutes.attheendtherewaslittleapplause.lincolnturnedtoafriendandremarked，“ihavefailedagain.”onthetrainbacktowashingtonhecommentedsadly，“thatspeechwasaflatfailure，andthepeoplearedisappointed.”

tothecontrary，thegettysburgaddresshasbecomeknownasoneofthesuprememasterpiecesofeloquenceintheenglishlanguage.