英语背诵文选第二册(陈冠商)25．Letter to Mrs. Bixby(1)

25．Letter  to  Mrs.  Bixby(1)

Mrs.  Bixby,

Boston,  Massachusetts,

Dear  Madam,

I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the  War  Department(3)  a  statement  of

the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons

who  have  died  gloriously  on  the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and

fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile  you

from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  overwhelming.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from

tendering  to  you  the  consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks  of  the

Republic they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage

the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory

of the loved and lost(4), and the solemn pride that must be yours to have

laid  so  costly  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom.

Yours  very  sincerely  and  respectfully,

Abraham  Lincoln