Poor Lincoln

Hello Fellows. I wish this latest entry could be cheerful, but I struggle now to hold back the tears that are stinging my eyes. Yesterday on April 14, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. I guess it is my duty to tell the tale, though I know not if I will be able to finish it. I was in Ford's Theatre watching the play Our American Cousin. I sat close to the stage and President Lincoln with his wife was behind me. in the theatre's balcony. All the sudden I heard the sound of a gunshot, I will never forget it, and I looked behind me to see Mr. Lincoln slumped forward in his chair. A man that I later learned was named Mr. Booth jumped from the stage but his foot was caught in the Treasury flag and he fell right behind me. He jumped up and yelled something about avenging the south and ran out. I am now on a horse in a group with some union soldiers searching for Mr. Booth, and I promise, we will find him.

All this thought of death and politics has caused me to think of a question. I am now pondering this question over with a Union solider. I wonder if the use of force can preserve a nation. My union solider friend, being involved with the army, naturally said yes. He says if you can point a gun at someone they will do what you want. But that is where I disagree. I believe that you cannot force someone to do something that they truly do not want to do. For this reason I believe that free will and opportunity are what can preserve a nation not force. The members in our nation must be able to make their own decisions if this nation is going to be preserved.