[IronJack]

I don't recall the phrase "This we may, in all propriety, do." If I remember right (I'm from the era when schoolkids were made to memorize these kinds of important historical compositions), the phrase Lincoln used was "It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this."

It is important because the language, "fitting and proper," comes from the Latin phrase dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori. Loosely translated, it means "it is altogether fitting and proper that a man lay down his life for his country." A particularly appropriate theme for the dedication of a cemetery.

[Yogafist]

On the Library of Congress website, the Nicolay draft includes the words, “In all propriety.” But it also says it is not known if this was the speech that was read.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

"It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this."

That is the way I learned it. I, too, hesitated over the new phrase but then passed it by.