Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/49

 Abraham Lincoln.

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��groat factor in tlip oveiits of his tiino. l$ut after all I must tliiiik the true key to lii.s iuflucnce is to be soujtiif and found elsewhere. \\\ his incorrup- tible puritv, his di>interestedness, his inflexible morality, his fidelity fo convictions, — in short, in his moral earnestness, — here were the real hiding- places of his power. The worhl is ever loyal to this lofty type of cluiracter, and whenever it recog- nizes a man who never does violence to his moral sense, it brings him the crown of its allegiance and homage. It was Mr. Lincoln's sturdy honesty that gave him earlv tlie soiiliri(j>icl of " Honest Abe," which never left him; and this it was that winged his speech with celestial lire, and nuule him victor wherever he moved. 'I'he moral bearings of every question presented to him were never out of his mind. In this resi)pct, unlike most of the world's

freat, "his wagon" was always "hifchcd to a star." n tine, the elements of intellect, and will, and morality, were

"So mix'd in him. that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, This was a Man ! "

There is one scene in the life of Mr. Lincoln which has impressed my imagination beyond any other, and I have wondered why some masterly artist has never yet seized and thrown it in glow- ing colors and im'inortal beauty upon some great historical canvas. It seems to me it must have been the supreme happiness of that weary life, the moment when he looked into the dusky faces of his children by adoption in the streets of Rich- mond, from whose limbs the fetters had dropped at his touch, whom his word had lifted into the gladsome light of liberty, — "sole passion of the generous heart, sole treasure worthy of being cov- eted."

O my friends, the people did not simply admire Abraham Lincoln for his intellectual power, his force of will, the purity of his conscience, the rec- titude of his private and public life ; but they loved him as little children love their father, because they knew that he "loved the people in his heart as a father loves his children, ready at all hours of the day or the night to rise, to march, to tight, to suffer, to conquer or to be conquered, to sacrifice liimself for them without reserve, with his fame, his fortune, his liberty, his blood, and his life."

Great men are like mountains, which grow as they recede from view. We are even now, perhaps, too near this extraordinary man, as indeed we are too near the remarkable events in which he lived and fought and won his battle of life, to appreciate them in their full significance. His fame in the centuries to come will rest, as that of all great men must and does, upon certain acts that stand out as landmarks in history. Few men have been so for- tunate as he. So canonized is he in the heart of mankind, that envy and detraction fall harmless at his (eet, and stain not the whiteness of his fame. There have been many men of daily beauty in life, but few such fortunate enough to associate their names with great steps in the progress of man — fewer still to blend the double glory of the grand- est public achievement with the teuderest, sweet- est, gentlest, and simplest private life and thought.

>fot too soon for an abundant glory, but too soon for a loving and grateful country, his spirit was "touched by the finger of God, and he was not," and

"The great intelligences fair

That range above this mortal state. In circle round the blessed gate. Received and gave him welcome there."

As we gather in spirit about his tomb to-day, and decorate with unfading amaranth and laurel the memory of our great chief, how fitly may we say of him what Dixon said of Douglas Jerrold, — "If every one who has received a favor at his hands should cast a flower upon his grave, a mountain of roses would lie on the great man's breast."

I know, friends, how little words can do to por- tray this august personage, and, toiling in vain to express the thoughts of him which you and I feel, 1 doubt if it were not better after all, as Mr. Lin-

��coln himself said of Washington, to "pronounce his name in solemn awe, and in its n^ed and death- less splendor leave it shining on."

If, now, such a character is a priceless possession to this peojjle, how doubly fortunate arc they, are we, who stood by him through life, and are the in- heritors of his principles to-day. Therefore, Mr. I'resident, is there a high |)roi)riety in this club of Republicans associating themselves together about the great name of Abraham Lincoln, in- spired as they must be by the hope and the ambi- tion to emulate those manly traits and those per- sonal virtues which so pervaded his nature as to permeate his politics and govern his life. He was ours wholly, and this Club, by adopting his name, in eflect declares him its ideal Republican and po- litical exemjjlar. In the very name there is fitting inspiration to high and noble endeavor, and we should be recreant to our opportunities and to our best selves —

"We that have loved him so, followed him, hon- ored him. Lived in his mild and magnificent eye. Learned his great language, caught his clear ac- cents. Made him our pattern, to live and to die" —

I say, we should be recreant Republicans, if, under the influence of that transcendent name and char- acter, the very crown and summit of American manliood, we should not rise to a lofty patriotism, a high conception of, and a new consecration to, political duty, and do our utmost to secure the tri- umph of his principles, and to lift our politics up to that high standard of honor and dignity which guided the steps of the great man whose birthday we now celebrate, and which is commemorated throughout the civilized world as that of a Patriot, Statesman, Hero, and supreme Martyr to Liberty.

SPEECH OF CHARLES R. CORNING.

Lincoln as a humorist was the theme assigned to Mr. Corning, and he treated it in his happiest vein, evoking laughter and applause many times. He said:

During the darkest days of the Civil War when disaster followed disaster in fearful succession, two Quakers chanced to meet. These honest haters of war could not keep their minds from the dreadful conflict. Said one,

"I think Jefferson will win."

"Why so?" asked the other.

"Because, Jefferson is a praying man."

"Yes, but so is Abraham."

"Verily so," the other replied, "but the Lord will think Abraham is joking."

Strange goddesses stood at his cradle. In the humble cabin were gathered the crowned heads of the world's court; the wise, the happy, the tender, the brave, all were there. One only was missing. Danæ, whose hand flings golden showers into the lap of the living, came not. Into the poor pioneer's hut the faint flicker of the tallow dip could not allure the fabled goddess. Her mission was nearer the stars, and she never knew the lowly lad whom her sisters were glad to honor. They endowed him with all that was good and true and honorable. To me Abraham Lincoln is one of the most remarkable studies that human nature ever presented. His mind was warped by no prejudices, and in a truly original manner he reached his own conclusions in law, in politics, and in private life. Herein he differed from all our public men. Washington, save his occasional profanity, was like his contemporaries. Jefferson, Jackson, Clay, Calhoun, Webster, and their successors differed only in mental qualities, but here in Lincoln we have a man who in mind and body was as solitary and alone as the north star. There was never one like him. I am asked to speak of President Lincoln as a humorist. That he was one there can be no question. But he was no wit. Humor and wit do