A_Springfield_Farewell_-_final_version2[2]
The scene is the Chenery House, Springfield, Illinois. The time is the early morning of February 11, 1861.
MARY (enters, an unhappy woman at the moment) He said what?
LINCOLN (still offstage, interrupting) I can’t hear you, Mary!
(Enter Lincoln)
MARY Did Robert actually say that in front of the boys?
LINCOLN (still offstage) Just a moment!
MARY And on this, the very day you leave for Washington!
LINCOLN (entering) He was joking, Mary. Nothing more. You know how Bob jokes.
MARY And I know who taught him to joke in such a course manner, Mr. Lincoln.
LINCOLN Well, I fear there IS more Lincoln than Todd in the boy at times.
MARY He actually told the boys, “I’m going to go get blown up with father?”
LINCOLN (shrugs) That’s what I am told.
MARY (goes to mirror to ready herself some more) And where are they now?
LINCOLN Robert told them about the railroad car….the boys wanted to see so I sent the three of them over with a load of trunks for the train.
MARY (turns to him) Now? They’re running loose in the cars now? It’s 6:30 in the morning!
LINCOLN (Looks out window) First light was half an hour ago. The sun should be up in another half hour, but for the clouds. (turns to her) Apparently it’s quite a train, Mary. Bob says the locomotive is the L.M.Wiley, a Hinkley Locomotive. The outside panels of the cars are painted bright orange and splashed with flourishes of black. It positively gleams I guess. And the inside walls! Crimson plush…red, white and blue festoons hanging from the molding…And in between the windows, Mary…heavy blue silk studded with 34 silver stars, (he looks out the window again, begins to ponder, fades a little) one for each state…
MARY (waits a moment for him to continue – then, gently) Is it furnished or are you to stand up all the way to Washington?
LINCOLN (coming back to reality) Dark mahogany furniture, a light tapestry carpet, and at either end, two American flags crossed above the doorways. The boys deserve at least a sight of such a thing.
MARY It sounds as if it’s a cut above the Chenery House.
LINCOLN (pauses a bit) This place has served us well these last few days.
MARY (goes back to her preparations) But what’s this business about being “blown up with father?”
LINCOLN I suppose he was talking about Willie’s blowing out the gaslights yesterday.
MARY You know very well that’s not what he was talking about! Besides, even if he had been, he did it because I always let him blow out the lamps at home. He’s not used to gas. The Chenery has been modernized. I hope the White House has been.
LINCOLN (goes back to looking out window, pondering again) It’s small wonder we weren’t all “blown up with father”.
MARY (a bit irritated at his moodiness) Abraham, you leave Springfield this morning. You’ve been working late every night, and the entire business of moving to Washington has been left up to me and we’ve been living at the Chenery House for three days. Poor Maria has worked her fingers to the bone getting us packed. I’ll be glad to be out of this place.
LINCOLN So, Mother…are we ready?
MARY I’ve been shopping for weeks just to prove to those high-minded Easterners that we’re not ruffians from the backwoods of Illinois.
LINCOLN I know you’ve been shopping. The first bills came in yesterday.
MARY (interrupts) Do you begrudge me the responsibility of looking like a First Lady?
LINCOLN We are what we are, mother.
MARY We are what people think we are! (she continues on to next line, even though he tries to interrupt) LINCOLN Mother. . ..
MARY You are to be the next President of the United States. People want a President who not only stands for something, but looks like something! Is that a new suit of clothes in the closet?
LINCOLN A gift from Titsworth and Brothers of Chicago. They also sent me a whistle made from a pig’s tail.
MARY Well, thank goodness the President now has his own pig’s tail whistle. Where did you get that coat?
LINCOLN A gift. ..from Isaac Fenno.
MARY Boston? A Boston man gave you a new overcoat? Are we to enter Washington City dressed in gifts? Do people think we cannot afford to dress properly?
LINCOLN Mary, I was elected President despite my looks. I think I can pretty much carry on with the job in a similar fashion. That reminds me of the time…
MARY Oh please, Abraham, I have work to do… (and she busies herself with some small packing chores or straightening)
LINCOLN It was in Menard Country. A man came up and handed me a jack knife.
MARY I’ve heard the story.
LINCOLN I said, “And what I have done to earn this knife?” The fellow replied, “Somebody once gave it to me, sayin’ that I was the ugliest fella he’d ever seen, and then if I was to ever run onto anyone uglier, I should pass it along. Mister, I think you’ve earned this knife.”
MARY (picking up a newspaper clipping and reading) Do you want to take these clippings?
LINCOLN What do they say?
MARY “I found Lincoln to be a long, gawky, ugly, shapeless man.”
LINCOLN A President will always have enemies..
MARY This was Joshua Speed.
LINCOLN My best friend?
MARY Here’s one from your appearance in Indiana. Nathan Grigsby…. “Between the shoe and sock & his britches–made of buckskin there was bare & naked 6 or more inches of Abe Lincoln shin bone." Perhaps it’s best that people are donating to your wardrobe.
LINCOLN When they tire from attacking my policies, they take a whack at my shin bone. (pulling up his pant leg a bit) That’s a Presidential shinbone if ever I saw one. Mary, I am what I am. Nothing more. No great explosion of buying me fancy clothes will change what lies underneath.
MARY You’ve a train to catch.
LINCOLN (walking around the area) How long have we lived in Springfield, Mary?
MARY Please, Abraham. We have little time for reminiscing.
LINCOLN A quarter century. Our children were born in Springfield, Mary. We’re leaving one behind. (Mary continues to busy herself with the packing and arranging) Mary, we’re leaving. . . .
MARY (beginning to leave the room) I have work to do.
LINCOLN (gently but firmly touching her shoulder to stop her) (a long beat as the two simply look at each other, then) Forgive me.
MARY (this reminder has bothered Mary greatly, and in an attempt to change the subject) Are you going to wear that shirt all week?
LINCOLN You remember the time I was to speak down in Little Egypt? I was riding in the caboose of a freight train and they put us off on a siding while Douglas’s “special” roared by. A band on his train struck up “Hail to the Chief” as Douglas passed and when our train took the tracks I told the fellows in our caboose, “Boys, the man in that car evidently smelt no royalty in our carriage.” There’s no royalty in this carriage either, Mary. Just a nervous man headed toward Washington City. We’ll look just fine at the inauguration, mother. There’s never been a finer-looking First Lady.
MARY There’s not a day goes by that I don’t cry for our poor Edward.
LINCOLN Every head in Washington will turn when you pass by, Mary.
MARY Sometimes I think I cannot leave him.
LINCOLN He shall go with us, mother. Eddie will never leave us.
MARY They say it may rain this morning. It’s so warm for February. (Mary walks away a bit, pretending to do something but accomplishing little. It’s a long, awkward moment for both of them.) Why must it rain? (looks at him, then)
LINCOLN He shall go with us, mother. Eddie will never leave us. (they share a silent moment between them as Lincoln sees that this must be pursued a bit for Mary’s sake)
MARY Eleven years this March.
LINCOLN But Eddie got to see Washington.
MARY Eleven years since Eddie left us. He would be fourteen now.
LINCOLN Remember the cat?
MARY I had taken the boys to Lexington to visit my family. Robert brought that poor cat indoors and my stepmother had a fit.
LINCOLN No one ever loved like our Eddie. I see you loving our children and Eddie’s face comes to mind. You taught him how to love.
MARY She ordered the servant to throw the thing out and then it was time for Eddie to throw his own fit.
LINCOLN It worked.
MARY It always worked. Anything lonely…anything helpless…soon became Eddie’s friend.
LINCOLN He will go right along with us, mother.
MARY How did you describe him to Joshua Speed?
LINCOLN "We have another boy, born the 10th of March last. He is very much such a child as Bob was at his age - rather of a longer order." (they both smile at this)
MARY This is his town, Abraham. This is where he ran and played. I cannot help but feel that we are leaving him.
LINCOLN Mary….
MARY The nights…the nights I sat up with that boy…rubbing his chest with balsam.
LINCOLN Fifty-two nights.
MARY Fifty-two nights. (pulls a piece of paper from somewhere on her person) I still have what you wrote… (begins to recite) Those midnight stars are sadly dimmed, That late so brilliantly shone, And the crimson tinge from cheek and lip, With the heart's warm life has flown - The angel of Death was hovering nigh, And the lovely boy was called to die.
LINCOLN The silken waves of his glossy hair Lie still over his marble brow, And the pallid lip and pearly cheek The presence of Death avow. Pure little bud in kindness given, In mercy taken to bloom in heaven. Happier… (stuck a moment, trying to recall…)
MARY Happier far…
LINCOLN Happier far is the angel child With the harp and the crown of gold, Who warbles now at the Savior's feet The glories to us untold. Eddie, meet blossom of heavenly love, Dwells in the spirit-world above. LINCOLN & MARY Angel Boy - fare thee well, farewell MARY Sweet Eddie, We bid thee adieu! Affection's wail cannot reach thee now Deep though it be, and true. Bright is the home to him now given For "of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
LINCOLN For such is the Kingdom of Heaven. (they share a moment, then Mary turns away) I must be getting ready, Mary.
MARY I fear for your safety, Abraham. That letter from Seward… the plot to….
LINCOLN Have you ever seen an Indian fighter?
MARY I have never cared to see an Indian fighter.
LINCOLN They’ll be on the train with me… and armed guards…and my personal physician…Lord, half of Illinois will be on the train with me! And they have this machine, Mary. They can stop and tap into any telegraph line along the route.
MARY I want to go with you.
LINCOLN Mary, we’ve….. (she turns her back to him. ..this is a very sore point between the two) (finally, in an attempt to change the subject) Do you remember the circus? (again, Mary says nothing, but Lincoln continues) Bob was always fond of animals and he even trained that dog to pull his wagon. You remember, don’t you, Mary? He used to drive his dog and wagon out in the woods to gather roots for you. As I recall, he even tried to harness the cats with much less success. Cats are like Democrats…don’t take much to the harness. Do you remember the day he rounded up every stray dog and cat in the neighborhood, Mary? (nothing, but he continues) Robert put those critters in our carriage house and went about training them to make a circus. But your son was as impatient as his mother. (Mary stirs, begins to turn to berate him, but then turns away again. Lincoln is winning.) He couldn’t get the dogs to jump and do the tricks he wanted so he tied ropes around their necks, through the loose ends over the rafter and when he cracked his little whip, he had his friend pull the ropes. You remember that ruckus, Mary? I went running out the back door and our neighbor lady shouted, “Them kids is hanging dogs in yer barn!” I grabbed a stave from your ash hopper and hit that circus like a firestorm, swinging that stave and cutting the poor dogs down. Those hounds ran away yelping and vowing never to join a circus again! (Mary finally can retain her composure no longer and laughs a bit as she turns to him. But the laughter melts into tears as she throws herself into Lincoln’s arms.)
MARY I’m frightened, Abraham.
LINCOLN Only a fool wouldn’t be, Mary. But look what they handed me yesterday. It’s from James, Wood, the superintendent of the railroad… “The President – elect will, under no circumstances, pass through any crowd until approved by Colonel Ellsworth, charged with the safety of the President – elect.” They won’t even let me pass among folks. (he looks at her…this is not assurance enough) Let me help you pack.
MARY Maria has done the packing. (softening a bit and coming eye to eye with him) With little help from you.
LINCOLN You’re a good wife, Mary.
MARY (again, moving to straighten and fold a few items) Sometimes men get better than they deserve.
LINCOLN I remember the first time I saw you dance. It was at the cotillion. I was astounded at the sight of so many beautifully gowned ladies gliding across the dance floor.
MARY And I remember your first words, Mr. Lincoln. “Hey boys! Looky how clean them girls are!”
LINCOLN I wasn’t much of a talker.
MARY Or a dancer.
MARY It’s hard to dance with one foot in your mouth.
LINCOLN But I asked you to dance! You’ve got to give me that.
MARY You stumbled up to me and said, “Miss Todd, I’ve been wanting to dance with you in the worst way.”
LINCOLN And that’s….
MARY And that’s just how you danced…in the worst way. Abraham, let’s go visit the house once more before you leave.
LINCOLN Our house is rented out, Mary. I doubt that Lucian Tilton would care to have us poking around the yard of a winter morning. We have to let that go too. I’ve even sold the last of the furniture and have eighty-two dollars and twenty-five cents to show for it.
MARY That’s all?
LINCOLN Mary, we simply had. . . .
MARY We had one spring mattress, six chairs, one wardrobe, 1 whatnot stand, four comforters . . .
LINCOLN Mary….
MARY And 9 ½ yards of stair carpet.
LINCOLN But Mary…
MARY I have the complete list from the Journal: (picking up a clipping and reading) “Parlor and chamber sets, carpets, sofas, chairs, wardrobes, bureaus, bedsteads, stoves… My stove, Abraham. That stove was new.
LINCOLN Mary, we have run this horse around the track already.
MARY I see no reason why a lady cannot bring her own ..NEW…stove with her to Washington.
LINCOLN They have stoves in Washington, Mary. I’ve been there and I’ve seen them.
MARY But I have barely cooked a meal on. . . .
LINCOLN Mary, when I first came to Springfield I lived out a single pair of saddlebags above Joshua Speed’s store. Everything I owned was in that one saddlebag. Then a lovely lady danced into my life.
MARY I hope you can work that flattery on Congress, Mr. President. You know they’re doing their best to destroy the government before we get there.
(picking up a paper) Did you read this in the State Journal? “The New York Herald says in regard to the concentration of the United States military forces in Washington: It is true that serious fears have been entertained of an attempt to prevent the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, and perhaps to seize upon the federal capitol….. We learn also that the United States troops in the northern states are rapidly being put upon a war footing. ….” A war footing! “Large contracts for ambulances and field litters have been given out by the war department… Within the past week five hundred additional troops have arrived in Washington, forming an aggregate of about one thousand men…”
LINCOLN Is there nothing else of interest to read in the day’s news?
MARY A good part of Springfield burned down last night.
LINCOLN What?
MARY Dennis and Beams carpenter shop, Williams and Link’s furniture, and it nearly consumed two frame buildings at Fourth and Market.
LINCOLN I am glad I took out a policy on our house. One never knows what will happen.
MARY I want to go with you.
LINCOLN Mary….
MARY A man leaves for Washington to become President of the United States and his wife must meet him in Indianapolis! Scott says I must wait until tomorrow.
LINCOLN I am sorry, but they now advise me to travel alone on this first leg of the journey. It is for your safety, Mary. Nothing else. I wish it were not so…
Mary, for three nights I went to the train station and waited for you to return from New York. Three nights I waited in vain. Your companionship is more than precious to me, my friend. I have always considered that the better part of a man’s life consists of his friendships, Mary. And your friendship…well…..I am mightily glad that I have gotten myself more than I deserve.
MARY (not really listening) I know how to travel, Father, and how to take care of myself!
LINCOLN (changing the subject) We’ve had little time to talk since your eastern journey. Of course the eastern papers said you knew what you wanted, and did not hesitate to speak your mind.
MARY I have a mind and I shall speak it, Mr. Lincoln…especially when others choose to slander and vilify my husband.
LINCOLN I heard rumor that you held nothing back at Buffalo.
MARY Our son tells too much.
LINCOLN Bob says that no reservations had been made on the State Line Railroad for the Buffalo to Springfield leg of your journey. He tells me that you boarded the train and took a seat as if you were the wife of the current President.
MARY I politely informed the steward that I wanted a seat on his train and that I was going to have a seat on his train. What our son did was his own business.
LINCOLN He said he went into the ticket office and announced, “My name is Bob Lincoln; I’m a son of Old Abe---the old woman is in the cars raising hell about her passes and I wish you would go and attend to her.”
MARY He said that?
LINCOLN Sounded like the Mary I know.
MARY I was simply asking passage… and he allowed us to ride free of charge.
LINCOLN Well, I’m happy that you and Robert could spend that time together.
MARY We did spend some of that time together. Did you know your son smokes?
LINCOLN Robert?
MARY Robert kept insisting that he wanted to drive a locomotive some day and that he wanted to go forward to get a better look at it. Maybe this could be the day.
LINCOLN Good boy! I would have done the same.
MARY Don’t distract me, Mr. Lincoln. I am alluding to the smoking car. The train had three passenger cars, a baggage car, and a smoking car. A smoking car, Abraham.
LINCOLN He steered the train from the smoking car?
MARY If you would follow my narrative more closely, Abraham, you can guess that this desire to drive a locomotive was merely a ruse to get away from me and into that foul smoking car. You realize that this is just one precarious step away from liquor.
LINCOLN I doubt that Robert would ever drive a train while drinking, mother.
MARY If anything drives me to drinking it will be your hesitancy to discipline your own children. Just because Robert is at Harvard that does not give his father a reprieve from being…well, a father.
LINCOLN (checks his watch) My sons have been blessed with a wonderful mother. Perhaps the Almighty knew this when he took a look at their father.
Did I tell you about Harry Villard and the boxcar?
MARY What are you talking about?
LINCOLN We were waiting for a train about twenty miles west of Springfield. I had just arrived with the most awful thunderstorm opened up so I ran for an abandoned boxcar…and there was Harry Villard.
MARY Harry Villard lived in a boxcar?
LINCOLN As much I did at that moment…we were both just trying to get in out of the rain. Well, we squatted down on the floor and fell to talking on sorts of subjects. I told him about clerking in New Salem and how my highest ambition was to be a member of the State Legislature. I told him that now my friends had talked me into taking a run at Senator. I told myself that I’m good enough for it, but in spite of it all, I am saying to myself every day that “It is too big a thing for you; you will never get it.”
MARY Why are we talking about this now?
LINCOLN Stay with me another moment, Mary. It’s my wife, I said. She insists that I am going to be state senator and President of the United States.
MARY And he said?
LINCOLN Not much. He was laughing as hard as I was. “Just think!” I said. “A sucker like me for President!” Mary, you are the one…it’s you who have been my encouragement…my light. You’re a good woman, Mary.
MARY (grabbing him) Abraham Lincoln, I am so very proud of you: So very proud. Twenty years ago I fell in love with a struggling young lawyer. He had an uncommon strength, a remarkable decency and an intellect that caught us all off our guard. I have invested my life in you, Mr. Lincoln. I have invested my soul and my heart and no one’s dreams for you are bigger than those of Mary Todd Lincoln.
I confess that I do not always know where your mind is taking you. Were the true facts known, I must confess that I’ve not always known where the rest of you could be found, either! But you respect me, Mr. Lincoln. And I think that perhaps you just may love me.
LINCOLN I shall forever be indebted to the women of my life.
MARY I’m happy you got to say farewell to your stepmother.
LINCOLN I owed her more than that. And what a convoluted journey that was!
MARY You looked like a tramp, dear husband. It’s a wonder Sarah recognized you.
LINCOLN It wasn’t a President-elect’s train, Mary. I was just one of the boys.
MARY Your hat was faded, your coat was too short….
LINCOLN And Mother didn’t mind a bit. It was a blessed moment, Mary. We missed our train connection in Mattoon and that meant the last ten miles to Charlestown had to be in a caboose of an eastbound freight. I made quite a sight tramping through the last several hundred yards through the ice and mud…and yes, I was wearing that old plug hat. But when I traveled on to Farmington the next to meet with Mother….well, it was worth the mud and the ice…and the hat.
MARY What did she say to you?
LINCOLN Well, I spent the whole day chatting with her. We talked of politics…we talked of home. I visited father’s grave and she came back with me to Charleston for a bit of a reception. I remember her parting words, Mary. She said, "God bless you and keep you, my good son.” My good son….she’s always called me. And each time I wonder if I am truly worthy that title.
MARY That title and more, Abraham.
LINCOLN I cried a bit that day when I left her, Mary. Should a good President succumb to such tenderness?
MARY It’s that tenderness that will make you a good President.
LINCOLN (sighs, then) We’ve had a good final week in Springfield, haven’t we?
MARY Seven hundred. Did you hear the number they told me? Seven hundred beautifully dressed ladies and gentlemen at our reception. If my four sisters had not jumped to my aid, I would never have been able to arrange such a gorgeous affair.
LINCOLN And I was mightily tired when it was over.
MARY The invitation said the party was to end at midnight. It was your friends who kept it running ‘til dawn.
LINCOLN Our friends. We leave many good friends here, Mary.
MARY Do you remember the night you were elected?
LINCOLN I went to my office, then to the courthouse to cast my ballot.
MARY And then you awaited the results at the telegraph office. When you captured New York, you knew you had won yourself an election.
LINCOLN I shall never forget that moment, Mary.
MARY Ten thousand people waited across the street to hear a speech from the President Elect. And you said….?
LINCOLN I said, “I guess I’ll go down and tell Mary about it,” and I came home.
MARY You came home. And you will come home again, Mr. Lincoln. You will come home again. Tell me that, Abraham. Remind me that you will come home safe. I have such fears…
LINCOLN We shall leave the fates to decide as they will. Did Tad and Willie find a home for Fido?
MARY Yes, he’s with the Rolls’ family, upon the one condition that they allow him to be fed scraps from their table, as he is accustomed to. They found someone to take our dog. But I fear for….
LINCOLN But dear Lord what shall we do about all those cats?
MARY It’s your enemies I fear, Abraham. … those horrible things we have received in the mail. The threats…the effigies….
LINCOLN An old Kentucky friend once told me that when two fellows have a disagreement, it’s always up to the smarter of the two to patch it up. Do you have any doubt who’s the smarter in this disagreement?
MARY This is more than a disagreement, Abraham. Your enemies…our enemies are diabolical in their hatred. I’m not speaking of a neighborly squabble, I fear for your very life.
LINCOLN Our nation must not be enemies, Mary. This…this passion has strained us all, but it must not break our bond of affection. We have a memory. My enemies have a memory. And that memory stretches over every battlefield, and every patriot grave all over this brave land. It’s that memory on which I must rely in these coming months. I must appeal to that memory, Mary. This union must be preserved. (she looks at him and her at her for a long moment, then)
MARY Stay another day. Please, Abraham. The train will wait for a President.
LINCOLN And the New York papers will have a grand time with the headline, “The Inauguration A Great Success! President Arrives Late!” (she looks at him a moment, then picks up his coat and hands it to him) Will you come to see me off?
MARY I don’t think I could bear it. Let us say our goodbyes here. (looks out the window) The storm has begun.
LINCOLN The storm has begun.
MARY Why? Why must storms always be looming around us?
LINCOLN It’s the old wives’ tale…Once it storms on your wedding day….
MARY You have enough enemies without adding the fates.
LINCOLN But I have you. What else could I possibly need?
MARY Will you speak on the platform before you leave?
LINCOLN I told Billy over at the office yesterday, I don’t think there will be any need for a farewell speech. At this early hour, and now with the bad weather, I doubt many will be there. You will be glad to know that I also told Billy to just let the old signboard stay at the foot of the stairway. If I live I’m coming back some time, and we’ll go right on practicing law as if nothing ever happened.
MARY So there’ll be no speech?
LINCOLN Perhaps. Perhaps not. I owe Springfield a final goodbye.
MARY You should leave your friends with a final word. The train will wait.
LINCOLN It’s a dreary morning…perhaps something brief…
MARY They will welcome your words and appreciate your brevity. So what will it be?
LINCOLN I have thought much upon George Washington these last few days, Mary. First the General, and then the President. I keep asking myself….his days were so much akin to mine…What was his strength? Where did he seek his solace and guidance?
MARY You know that, Abraham.
LINCOLN I do know that. It was 1778 when he wrote a friend to say, “The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.” I have gratitude enough to acknowledge my obligations to my friends, Mary, and to my God. I just may give that speech. We need to be going now.
MARY And you’ve loaded your own wagon instead of asking someone to do it for you.
LINCOLN I have been loading my own wagon for many years. I saw no need to stop just because I have a train ticket to Washington. And besides that, I want to make certain that when I get to Washington I have my own pants. I even took cards from the hotel desk and labeled each piece, “A. Lincoln, The White House, Washington.”
MARY I should be on that train with you.
LINCOLN Have you seen who’s on that train? It’s a small city, Mary! I’ll have plenty of companionship. (taking out a slip of paper) Listen to this…. The first coach: President Elect, Colonel Lamon, Members of the suite, Two committee members… Second coach: Two Indian fighters, Colonel Sumner, David Hunter, two judges, N.B. Judd, David Davis…Third Coach: Colonel Ellsworth, Captain Hazzard, Nicolay, Members of the Escort…Fourth Coach: John Hay, Two Members of the escort and Robert.
MARY That’s so he can smoke back there.
LINCOLN I will be well escorted, mother. And think of the stops you’d have to endure…Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Steubenville, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, and New York… and at every stop, office holders and those who want to be office holders…newspaper men of every sort. I want my bride and our boys to arrive rested and well, not fatigued from another mad campaign across the countryside.
MARY (looks at him a long moment, then) Please dress warmly on the train. (begins to put his coat on him along with his scarf and fetches his new umbrella) And you made the deposits…
LINCOLN I made the deposits …we’ll be able to eat until my first salary warrant arrives. (he helps her with her cape)
MARY What will you say?
LINCOLN I have rolled around some ideas. We’ll see how things shake out when I get to the station.
MARY Husband. (she stops and looks at him directly) I…
MARY & LINCOLN (simultaneously) I shall miss you.
LINCOLN (as the speech begins, he slowly turns away from Mary, takes a step downstage and we find that we are in the congregation at the Springfield station...Mary disappears into the crowd) I suppose no one - not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater them that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me, and remain with you and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.
(And the lights dim out.) train whistle
A Springfield Farewell pg. of NUMPAGES * arabic * MERGEFORMAT 16
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