[Arthur McGowan]

But the hidden message didn’t mention slavery.

In fact, what he did write hardly seems worth the trouble.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

But the hidden message didn’t mention slavery.

But the excerpt sure gave that impression for anybody too lazy to read the whole thing. :)

[Netizen]

But the hidden message didn’t mention slavery.

further in the article

In a 1906 article in the paper, an 84-year-old Dillon said no one, including Lincoln, ever saw the inscription as far as he knew. Dillon had a fuzzy recollection of what he had engraved. He told the newspaper he had written: "The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a president who at least will try."

In his own words it is what he meant.