[Cheers.] We are
conducting a war as if there was no war. I have never been doubtful
about the result of the war, [cheers,] and I will give you my reasons by
and by. Nor have I been doubtful, I am sorry to say, about the length of
the war and its seriousness. In all wars nations are apt to minimize
their dangers and the duration. Men, after all, see the power of their
own country; they cannot visualize the power of the enemy. I have been
accounted as a pessimist among my friends in thinking the war would not
be over before Christmas. I have always been convinced that the result
is inevitably a triumph for this country. I have also been convinced
that that result will not be secured without a prolonged struggle. I
will tell you why. I shall do so not in order to indulge in vain and
idle surmises as to the duration of the war, but in order to bring home
to my countrymen what they are confronted with, so as to insure that
they will leave nothing which is at their command undone in order, not
merely to secure a triumph, but to secure it at the speediest possible
moment. It is in their power to do so. It is also in their power, by
neglect, by sloth, by heedlessness, to prolong their country's agony,
and maybe to endanger at least the completeness of its triumphs.
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