"Now he belongs to the ages/angels" (Stanton on Lincoln, in The New Yorker)

[sagehen]

>Did anyone see this? What do¬Ýour quotations masters say? Why weren't they
>interviewed for this New Yorker story?
>...
>...
>...
>http://powerlineblog.com/archives/017748.php
>
>May 25, 2007
>
>Ages Or Angels?
>
>
>
>I've been working too hard to post as much as usual lately, but one of my
>favorite bloggers did a post on Abraham Lincoln earlier today that I
>thought was worth passing on. Here it is:
>
>Adam Gopnik has a really interesting essay in this week's New Yorker on
>Abraham Lincoln (which is, shockingly, available on-line). He begins with
>the question of whether Edwin Stanton said, at Lincoln's deathbed, "Now he
>belongs to the ages"--the version Gopnik remembered--or "Now he belongs to
>the angels"--the version he came across in James Swanson's recent book
>about the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth. He went on to read a bunch of
>other stuff on Lincoln and reports on what he finds.
>...
>...
>(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
>Washington Post, The¬Ý¬Ý
>Now he belongs to the said Secretary Stanton, as Lincoln breathed his last
>How hig
>Monday, February 08, 1909¬ÝWashington, District Of Columbia¬Ý
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting question.
Whatever Stanton may have said,  the "ages" version is the one that,
itself, belongs to the ages.
The rather pedestrian piety of the "angels" version might be an argument in
its favor,  but it hardly puts it into the memorable & moving class.
AM

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W stands for >:<  War ____Waste___Wiretaps____Witchhunts  >:<
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