gave
"We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that
field as a final resting-place for those who
here their lives that that nation might
live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we
should do this. But in a larger sense, we
cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we
cannot hallow this ground. The brave men,
living and dead who struggled here have
consecrated it far above our poor power to
add or detract. The world will little note nor
long remember what we say here, but it can
never forget what they did here."
- Abraham Lincoln
Consecrate means to make or declare sacred.
Hallow means to make or declare holy.
Why, in Lincoln's view, is it not possible for the
crowd to consecrate or hallow the cemetery?