Abraham Lincoln Summary and Analysis

In remarks prepared for the funeral of President Abraham Lincoln in Concord, Massachusetts, Emerson reflects the spirit of other New Englanders in shock and sadness over the assassination of a man who Emerson says could only be compared with George Washington. With Lincoln, "this middle-class country had got a middle-class president, at last." A completely American person, Lincoln had never been to Europe, knew how to survive in the backwoods of Kentucky, and understood the value of hard work, according to Emerson. Lincoln, Emerson says, was the perfect man for his times, and although his labors in the White House were brief, they were of historic consequences and brought about changes for the good of America.