but when i met david donald at gettysburg for the richard nelson award of achievement, he wanted to hear it. and i thought what do you say to the author of a lincoln biography that was just awarded the pulitzer? i thought about that a while but i gave him the voice and he smiled that smile that is ever so david donald and he said it's as i expected. don't ever change it. >> so can you give us a full line right here in abraham li lincoln's voice as you interpret it? >> if we could first know where we are and whether we're attending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it. >> that's very nasal. and how -- the descriptions at the time described it as being high and very nasal? >> high pitched and a nasal, ready twang. i've got to go back and find where i read that but one of the other writers in the letters in those days, they would say dear cousin. heard lincoln today, most god awful voice i ever heard, but his message was pretty good. and they said it was that falsetto voice, but when you do it in quincy, illinois, for example, on the block of washington square, you remember th

richard preston, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: the growing popularity of online dating in pakistan's conservative society. there's mr mandela. mr nelsonnto a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader ayatollah khomeini has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, 'ba by doc' duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, shergar was kept in a special, secure box in the stud farm's central block. shergar was driven away in a horse box the thieves had brought with them. there stepped down from the plane a figure in mourning. elizabeth ii, queen of this realm and of all her other realms and territories. head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: china has confirmed a,000 more cases of patients with the new coronavirus and 116 deaths in hubei province. the us senate has voted to limit president trump's ability to wage war against iran. he's promised to veto including south african airways and the power c