{
  "schema": "tga.work.v1",
  "identifier": "dresden:vol-3:abraham-lincoln",
  "slug": "abraham-lincoln",
  "title": "Abraham Lincoln",
  "subtitle": "The grandest figure of the fiercest civil war.",
  "excerpt": "Ingersoll's lecture on Abraham Lincoln — born the same day as Darwin, each in his own field breaking the chains that bound human beings.",
  "year": 1894,
  "volume": 3,
  "category": "Tribute",
  "author": {
    "name": "Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "wikidata": "Q360326",
    "viaf": "44331023"
  },
  "isPartOf": {
    "title": "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll",
    "edition": "Dresden Edition",
    "publisher": "C. P. Farrell",
    "year": 1900
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/",
  "url": "https://thegreatagnostic.com/works/abraham-lincoln/",
  "wordCount": 9843,
  "body": "ON the 12th of February, 1809, two babes were born—one in the woods of\nKentucky, amid the hardships and poverty of pioneers; one in England,\nsurrounded by wealth and culture. One was educated in the University of\nNature, the other at Cambridge.\n\nOne associated his name with the enfranchisement of labor, with the\nemancipation of millions, with the salvation of the Republic. He is\nknown to us as Abraham Lincoln.\n\nThe other broke the chains of superstition and filled the world with\nintellectual light, and he is known as Charles Darwin.\n\nNothing is grander than to break chains from the bodies of men—nothing\nnobler than to destroy the phantoms of the soul.\n\nBecause of these two men the nineteenth century is illustrious.\n\nA few men and women make a nation glorious—Shakespeare made England\nimmortal, Voltaire civilized and humanized France; Goethe, Schiller and\nHumboldt lifted Germany into the light. Angelo, Raphael, Galileo and\nBruno crowned with fadeless laurel the Italian brow, and now the\nmost precious treasure of the Great Republic is the memory of Abraham\nLincoln.\n\nEvery generation has its heroes, its iconoclasts, its pioneers, its\nideals. The people always have been and still are divided, at least into\nclasses—the many, who with their backs to the sunrise worship the past,\nand the few, who keep their faces toward the dawn—the many, who are\nsatisfied with the world as it is; the few, who labor and suffer for\nthe future, for those to be, and who seek to rescue the oppressed, to\ndestroy the cruel distinctions of caste, and to civilize mankind.\n\nYet it sometimes happens that the liberator of one age becomes the\noppressor of the next. His reputation becomes so great—he is so revered\nand worshiped—that his followers, in his name, attack the hero who\nendeavors to take another step in advance.\n\nThe heroes of the Revolution, forgetting the justice for which they\nfought, put chains upon the limbs of others, and in their names the\nlovers of liberty were denounced as ingrates and traitors.\n\nDuring the Revolution our fathers to justify their rebellion dug down\nto the bed-rock of human rights and planted their standard there. They\ndeclared that all men were entitled to liberty and that government\nderived its power from the consent of the governed. But when victory\ncame, the great principles were forgotten and chains were put upon the\nlimbs of men. Both of the great political parties were controlled\nby greed and selfishness. Both were the defenders and protectors of\nslavery. For nearly three-quarters of a century these parties had\ncontrol of the Republic. The principal object of both parties was the\nprotection of the infamous institution. Both were eager to secure the\nSouthern vote and both sacrificed principle and honor upon the altar of\nsuccess.\n\nAt last the Whig party died and the Republican was born. This party was\nopposed to the further extension of slavery. The Democratic party of the\nSouth wished to make the \"divine institution\" national—while the\nDemocrats of the North wanted the question decided by each territory for\nitself.\n\nEach of these parties had conservatives and extremists. The extremists\nof the Democratic party were in the rear and wished to go back; the\nextremists of the Republican party were in the front, and wished to go\nforward. The extreme Democrat was willing to destroy the Union for the\nsake of slavery, and the extreme Republican was willing to destroy the\nUnion for the sake of liberty.\n\nNeither party could succeed without the votes of its extremists.\n\nThis was the condition in 1858-60.\n\nWhen Lincoln was a child his parents removed from Kentucky to Indiana. A\nfew trees were felled—a log hut open to the south, no floor, no window,\nwas built—a little land plowed and here the Lincolns lived. Here the\npatient, thoughtful, silent, loving mother died—died in the wide forest\nas a leaf dies, leaving nothing to her son but the memory of her love.\n\nIn a few years the family moved to Illinois. Lincoln then almost grown,\nclad in skins, with no woven stitch upon his body—walking and driving\nthe cattle. Another farm was opened—a few acres subdued and enough\nraised to keep the wolf from the door. Lincoln quit the farm—went down\nthe Ohio and Mississippi as a hand on a flat-boat—afterward clerked\nin a country store—then in partnership with another bought the\nstore—failed. Nothing left but a few debts—learned the art of\nsurveying—made about half a living and paid something on the\ndebts—read law—admitted to the bar—tried a few small cases—nominated\nfor the Legislature and made a speech.\n\nThis speech was in favor of a tariff, not only for revenue, but to\nencourage American manufacturers and to protect American workingmen.\nLincoln knew then as well as we do now, that everything, to the limits\nof the possible, that Americans use should be produced by the energy,\nskill and ingenuity of Americans. He knew that the more industries we\nhad, the greater variety of things we made, the greater would be the\ndevelopment of the American brain. And he knew that great men and great\nwomen are the best things that a nation can produce,—the finest crop a\ncountry can possibly raise.\n\nHe knew that a nation that sells raw material will grow ignorant and\npoor, while the people who manufacture will grow intelligent and rich.\nTo dig, to chop, to plow, requires more muscle than mind, more strength\nthan thought.\n\nTo invent, to manufacture, to take advantage of the forces of\nnature—this requires thought, talent, genius. This develops the brain\nand gives wings to the imagination.\n\nIt is better for Americans to purchase from Americans, even if the\nthings purchased cost more.\n\nIf we purchase a ton of steel rails from England for twenty dollars,\nthen we have the rails and England the money; But if we buy a ton of\nsteel rails from an American for twenty-five dollars, then America has\nboth the rails and the money.\n\nJudging from the present universal depression and the recent elections,\nLincoln, in his first speech, stood on solid rock and was absolutely\nright. Lincoln was educated in the University of Nature—educated by\ncloud and star—by field and winding stream—by billowed plains and\nsolemn forests—by morning's birth and death of day—by storm and\nnight—by the ever eager Spring—by Summer's wealth of leaf and vine and\nflower—the sad and transient glories of the Autumn woods—and Winter,\nbuilder of home and fireside, and whose storms without, create the\nsocial warmth within.\n\nHe was perfectly acquainted with the political questions of the\nday—heard them discussed at taverns and country stores, at voting\nplaces and courts and on the stump. He knew all the arguments for and\nagainst, and no man of his time was better equipped for intellectual\nconflict. He knew the average mind—the thoughts of the people, the\nhopes and prejudices of his fellow-men. He had the power of accurate\nstatement. He was logical, candid and sincere. In addition, he had the\n\"touch of nature that makes the whole world kin.\"\n\nIn 1858 he was a candidate for the Senate against Stephen A. Douglas.\n\nThe extreme Democrats would not vote for Douglas, but the extreme\nRepublicans did vote for Lincoln. Lincoln occupied the middle ground,\nand was the compromise candidate of his own party. He had lived for\nmany years in the intellectual territory of compromise—in a part of\nour country settled by Northern and Southern men—where Northern and\nSouthern ideas met, and the ideas of the two sections were brought\ntogether and compared.\n\nThe sympathies of Lincoln, his ties of kindred, were with the South. His\nconvictions, his sense of justice, and his ideals, were with the North.\nHe knew the horrors of slavery, and he felt the unspeakable ecstasies\nand glories of freedom. He had the kindness, the gentleness, of true\ngreatness, and he could not have been a master; he had the manhood and\nindependence of true greatness, and he could not have been a slave.\nHe was just, and was incapable of putting a burden upon others that he\nhimself would not willingly bear.\n\nHe was merciful and profound, and it was not necessary for him to read\nthe history of the world to know that liberty and slavery could not live\nin the same nation, or in the same brain. Lincoln was a statesman..\nAnd there is this difference between a politician and a statesman.\nA politician schemes and works in every way to make the people do\nsomething for him. A statesman wishes to do something for the people.\nWith him place and power are means to an end, and the end is the good of\nhis country.\n\nIn this campaign Lincoln demonstrated three things—first, that he was\nthe intellectual superior of his opponent; second, that he was right;\nand third, that a majority of the voters of Illinois were on his side.\n\nII.\n\nIN 1860 the Republic reached a crisis. The conflict between liberty and\nslavery could no longer be delayed. For three-quarters of a century the\nforces had been gathering for the battle.\n\nAfter the Revolution, principle was sacrificed for the sake of gain. The\nConstitution contradicted the Declaration. Liberty as a principle was\nheld in contempt. Slavery took possession of the Government. Slavery\nmade the laws, corrupted courts, dominated Presidents and demoralized\nthe people.\n\nI do not hold the South responsible for slavery any more than I do the\nNorth. The fact is, that individuals and nations act as they must. There\nis no chance. Back of every event—of every hope, prejudice, fancy and\ndream—of every opinion and belief—of every vice and virtue—of every\nsmile and curse, is the efficient cause. The present moment is the\nchild, and the necessary child, of all the past.\n\nNorthern politicians wanted office, and so they defended slavery;\nNorthern merchants wanted to sell their goods to the South, and so they\nwere the enemies of freedom. The preacher wished to please the people\nwho paid his salary, and so he denounced the slave for not being\nsatisfied with the position in which the good God had placed him.\n\nThe respectable, the rich, the prosperous, the holders of and the\nseekers for office, held liberty in contempt. They regarded the\nConstitution as far more sacred than the rights of men. Candidates\nfor the presidency were applauded because they had tried to make slave\nStates of free territory, and the highest court solemnly and ignorantly\ndecided that colored men and women had no rights. Men who insisted\nthat freedom was better than slavery, and that mothers should not be\nrobbed of their babes, were hated, despised and mobbed. Mr. Douglas\nvoiced the feelings of millions when he declared that he did not care\nwhether slavery was voted up or down. Upon this question the people,\na majority of them, were almost savages. Honor, manhood, conscience,\nprinciple—all sacrificed for the sake of gain or office.\n\nFrom the heights of philosophy—standing above the contending hosts,\nabove the prejudices, the sentimentalities of the day—Lincoln was great\nenough and brave enough and wise enough to utter these prophetic words:\n\n\"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government\ncannot permanently endure half slave and half free. I do not expect\nthe Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do\nexpect it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing\nor the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further\nspread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the\nbelief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates\nwill push it further until it becomes alike lawful in all the States,\nold as well as new, North as well as South.\"\n\nThis declaration was the standard around which gathered the grandest\npolitical party the world has ever seen, and this declaration made\nLincoln the leader of that vast host.\n\nIn this, the first great crisis, Lincoln uttered the victorious truth\nthat made him the foremost man in the Republic.\n\nThe Republican party nominated him for the presidency and the people\ndecided at the polls that a house divided against itself could not\nstand, and that slavery had cursed soul and soil enough.\n\nIt is not a common thing to elect a really great man to fill the highest\nofficial position. I do not say that the great Presidents have been\nchosen by accident. Probably it would be better to say that they were\nthe favorites of a happy chance.\n\nThe average man is afraid of genius. He feels as an awkward man feels\nin the presence of a sleight-of-hand performer. He admires and suspects.\nGenius appears to carry too much sail—to lack prudence, has too much\ncourage. The ballast of dullness inspires confidence.\n\nBy a happy chance Lincoln was nominated and elected in spite of his\nfitness—and the patient, gentle, just and loving man was called upon to\nbear as great a burden as man has ever borne.\n\nIii\n\nTHEN came another crisis—the crisis of Secession and Civil war.\n\nAgain Lincoln spoke the deepest feeling and the highest thought of the\nNation. In his first message he said:\n\n\"The central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy.\"\n\nHe also showed conclusively that the North and South, in spite of\nsecession, must remain face to face—that physically they could not\nseparate—that they must have more or less commerce, and that this\ncommerce must be carried on either between the two sections as friends,\nor as aliens.\n\nThis situation and its consequences he pointed out to absolute\nperfection in these words:\n\n\"Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can\ntreaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws among\nfriends?\"\n\nAfter having stated fully and fairly the philosophy of the conflict,\nafter having said enough to satisfy any calm and thoughtful mind, he\naddressed himself to the hearts of America. Probably there are few finer\npassages in literature than the close of Lincoln's inaugural address:\n\n\"I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be\nenemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our\nbonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory stretching from every\nbattlefield and patriotic grave to every loving heart and hearthstone\nall over this broad land, will swell the chorus of the Union when again\ntouched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.\"\n\nThese noble, these touching, these pathetic words, were delivered\nin the presence of rebellion, in the midst of spies and\nconspirators—surrounded by but few friends, most of whom were unknown,\nand some of whom were wavering in their fidelity—at a time when\nsecession was arrogant and organized, when patriotism was silent, and\nwhen, to quote the expressive words of Lincoln himself, \"Sinners were\ncalling the righteous to repentance.\"\n\nWhen Lincoln became President, he was held in contempt by the\nSouth—underrated by the North and East—not appreciated even by his\ncabinet—and yet he was not only one of the wisest, but one of the\nshrewdest of mankind. Knowing that he had the right to enforce the\nlaws of the Union in all parts of the United States, and\nTerritories—knowing, as he did, that the secessionists were in the\nwrong, he also knew that they had sympathizers not only in the North,\nbut in other lands.\n\nConsequently, he felt that it was of the utmost importance that the\nSouth should fire the first shot, should do some act that would solidify\nthe North, and gain for us the justification of the civilized world.\n\nHe proposed to give food to the soldiers at Sumter. He asked the advice\nof all his cabinet on this question, and all, with the exception of\nMontgomery Blair, answered in the negative, giving their reasons in\nwriting. In spite of this, Lincoln took his own course—endeavored to\nsend the supplies, and while thus engaged, doing his simple duty, the\nSouth commenced actual hostilities and fired on the fort. The course\npursued by Lincoln was absolutely right, and the act of the South to\na great extent solidified the North, and gained for the Republic the\njustification of a great number of people in other lands.\n\nAt that time Lincoln appreciated the scope and consequences of the\nimpending conflict. Above all other thoughts in his mind was this:\n\n\"This conflict will settle the question, at least for centuries to\ncome, whether man is capable of governing himself, and consequently is\nof greater importance to the free than to the enslaved.\"\n\nHe knew what depended on the issue and he said: \"We shall nobly save, or\nmeanly lose, the last, best hope of earth.\"\n\nHEN came a crisis in the North. It became clearer and clearer to\nLincoln's mind, day by day, that the Rebellion was slavery, and that it\nwas necessary to keep the border States on the side of the Union. For\nthis purpose he proposed a scheme of emancipation and colonization—a\nscheme by which the owners of slaves should be paid the full value of\nwhat they called their \"property.\"\n\nHe knew that if the border States agreed to gradual emancipation, and\nreceived compensation for their slaves, they would be forever lost to\nthe Confederacy, whether secession succeeded or not. It was objected at\nthe time, by some, that the scheme was far too expensive; but Lincoln,\nwiser than his advisers—far wiser than his enemies—demonstrated that\nfrom an economical point of view, his course was best.\n\nIV.\n\nHe proposed that $400 be paid for slaves, including men, women and\nchildren. This was a large price, and yet he showed how much cheaper it\nwas to purchase than to carry on the war.\n\nAt that time, at the price mentioned, there were about $750,000 worth\nof slaves in Delaware. The cost of carrying on the war was at least two\nmillions of dollars a day, and for one-third of one day's expenses, all\nthe slaves in Delaware could be purchased. He also showed that all the\nslaves in Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri could be bought,\nat the same price, for less than the expense of carrying on the war for\neighty-seven days.\n\nThis was the wisest thing that could have been proposed, and yet such\nwas the madness of the South, such the indignation of the North, that\nthe advice was unheeded.\n\nAgain, in July, 1862, he urged on the Representatives of the\nborder States a scheme of gradual compensated emancipation; but the\nRepresentatives were too deaf to hear, too blind to see.\n\nLincoln always hated slavery, and yet he felt the obligations and duties\nof his position. In his first message he assured the South that the\nlaws, including the most odious of all—the law for the return of\nfugitive slaves—would be enforced. The South would not hear. Afterward\nhe proposed to purchase the slaves of the border States, but the\nproposition was hardly discussed—hardly heard. Events came thick and\nfast; theories gave way to facts, and everything was left to force.\n\nThe extreme Democrat of the North was fearful that slavery might be\ndestroyed, that the Constitution might be broken, and that Lincoln,\nafter all, could not be trusted; and at the same time the radical\nRepublican feared that Lincoln loved the Union more than he did liberty.\n\nThe fact is, that he tried to discharge the obligations of his great\noffice, knowing from the first that slavery must perish. The course\npursued by Lincoln was so gentle, so kind and persistent, so wise and\nlogical, that millions of Northern Democrats sprang to the defence, not\nonly of the Union, but of his administration. Lincoln refused to be led\nor hurried by Fremont or Hunter, by Greeley or Sumner. From first to\nlast he was the real leader, and he kept step with events.\n\nV.\n\nON the 22d of July, 1862, Lincoln sent word to the members of his\ncabinet that he wished to see them. It so happened that Secretary Chase\nwas the first to arrive. He found Lincoln reading a book. Looking up\nfrom the page, the President said: \"Chase, did you ever read this book?\"\n\"What book is it?\" asked Chase. \"Artemus Ward,\" replied Lincoln. \"Let me\nread you this chapter, entitled 'Wax Wurx in Albany.'\" And so he began\nreading while the other members of the cabinet one by one came in. At\nlast Stanton told Mr. Lincoln that he was in a great hurry, and if any\nbusiness was to be done he would like to do it at once. Whereupon Mr.\nLincoln laid down the open book, opened a drawer, took out a paper and\nsaid: \"Gentlemen, I have called you together to notify you what I have\ndetermined to do. I want no advice. Nothing can change my mind.\"\n\nHe then read the Proclamation of Emancipation. Chase thought there ought\nto be something about God at the close, to which Lincoln replied: \"Put\nit in, it won't hurt it.\" It was also agreed that the President would\nwait for a victory in the field before giving the Proclamation to the\nworld.\n\nThe meeting was over, the members went their way. Mr. Chase was the\nlast to go, and as he went through the door looked back and saw that Mr.\nLincoln had taken up the book and was again engrossed in the _Wax Wurx\nat Albany._\n\nThis was on the 22d of July, 1862. On the 22d of August of the same\nyear—after Lincoln wrote his celebrated letter to Horace Greeley, in\nwhich he stated that his object was to save the Union; _that he would\nsave it with slavery if he could_; that if it was necessary to destroy\nslavery in order to save the Union, he would; in other words, he would\ndo what was necessary to save the Union.\n\nThis letter disheartened, to a great degree, thousands and millions of\nthe friends of freedom. They felt that Mr. Lincoln had not attained\nthe moral height upon which they supposed he stood. And yet, when this\nletter was written, the Emancipation Proclamation was in his hands, and\nhad been for thirty days, waiting only an opportunity to give it to the\nworld.\n\nSome two weeks after the letter to Greeley, Lincoln was waited on by a\ncommittee of clergymen, and was by them informed that it was God's will\nthat he should issue a Proclamation of Emancipation. He replied to them,\nin substance, that the day of miracles had passed. He also mildly and\nkindly suggested that if it were God's will this Proclamation should\nbe issued, certainly God would have made known that will to him—to the\nperson whose duty it was to issue it.\n\nOn the 22d day of September, 1862, the most glorious date in the history\nof the Republic, the Proclamation of Emancipation was issued.\n\nLincoln had reached the generalization of all argument upon the question\nof slavery and freedom—a generalization that never has been, and\nprobably never will be, excelled:\n\n\"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.\"\n\nThis is absolutely true. Liberty can be retained, can be enjoyed, only\nby giving it to others. The spendthrift saves, the miser is prodigal.\nIn the realm of Freedom, waste is husbandry. He who puts chains upon the\nbody of another shackles his own soul. The moment the Proclamation was\nissued the cause of the Republic became sacred. From that moment the\nNorth fought for the human race.\n\nFrom that moment the North stood under the blue and stars, the flag of\nNature, sublime and free.\n\nIn 1831, Lincoln went down the Mississippi on a flat-boat. He received\nthe extravagant salary of ten dollars a month. When he reached New\nOrleans, he and some of his companions went about the city.\n\nAmong other places, they visited a slave market, where men and women\nwere being sold at auction. A young colored girl was on the block.\nLincoln heard the brutal words of the auctioneer—the savage remarks of\nbidders. The scene filled his soul with indignation and horror.\n\nTurning to his companions, he said, \"Boys, if I ever get a chance to hit\nslavery, by God I'll hit it hard!\"\n\nThe helpless girl, unconsciously, had planted in a great heart the seeds\nof the Proclamation.\n\nThirty-one years afterward the chance came, the oath was kept, and\nto four millions of slaves, of men, women and children, was restored\nliberty, the jewel of the soul.\n\nIn the history, in the fiction of the world, there is nothing more\nintensely dramatic than this.\n\nLincoln held within his brain the grandest truths, and he held them as\nunconsciously, as easily, as naturally, as a waveless pool holds within\nits stainless breast a thousand stars.\n\nIn these two years we had traveled from the Ordinance of Secession to\nthe Proclamation of Emancipation.\n\nVI.\n\nWE were surrounded by enemies. Many of the so-called great in Europe\nand England were against us. They hated the Republic, despised our\ninstitutions, and sought in many ways to aid the South.\n\nMr. Gladstone announced that Jefferson Davis had made a nation, and\nthat he did not believe the restoration of the American Union by force\nattainable.\n\nFrom the Vatican came words of encouragement for the South.\n\nIt was declared that the North was fighting for empire and the South for\nindependence.\n\nThe Marquis of Salisbury said: \"The people of the South are the natural\nallies of England. The North keeps an opposition shop in the same\ndepartment of trade as ourselves.\"\n\nNot a very elevated sentiment—but English.\n\nSome of their statesmen declared that the subjugation of the South by\nthe North would be a calamity to the world.\n\nLouis Napoleon was another enemy, and he endeavored to establish a\nmonarchy in Mexico, to the end that the great North might be destroyed.\nBut the patience, the uncommon common sense, the statesmanship of\nLincoln—in spite of foreign hate and Northern division—triumphed over\nall. And now we forgive all foes. Victory makes forgiveness easy.\n\nLincoln was by nature a diplomat. He knew the art of sailing against\nthe wind. He had as much shrewdness as is consistent with honesty. He\nunderstood, not only the rights of individuals, but of nations. In\nall his correspondence with other governments he neither wrote nor\nsanctioned a line which afterward was used to tie his hands. In the use\nof perfect English he easily rose above all his advisers and all his\nfellows.\n\nNo one claims that Lincoln did all. He could have done nothing without\nthe generals in the field, and the generals could have done nothing\nwithout their armies. The praise is due to all—to the private as much\nas to the officer; to the lowest who did his duty, as much as to the\nhighest.\n\nMy heart goes out to the brave private as much as to the leader of the\nhost.\n\nBut Lincoln stood at the centre and with infinite patience, with\nconsummate skill, with the genius of goodness, directed, cheered,\nconsoled and conquered.\n\nVii\n\nSLAVERY was the cause of the war, and slavery was the perpetual\nstumbling-block. As the war went on, question after question\narose—questions that could not be answered by theories. Should we hand\nback the slave to his master, when the master was using his slave to\ndestroy the Union? If the South was right, slaves were property, and\nby the laws of war anything that might be used to the advantage of the\nenemy might be confiscated by us. Events did not wait for discussion.\nGeneral Butler denominated the negro as \"a contraband.\" Congress\nprovided that the property of the rebels might be confiscated.\n\nThe extreme Democrats of the North regarded the slave as more sacred\nthan life. It was no harm to kill the master—to burn his house, to\nravage his fields—but you must not free his slave. If in war a\nnation has the right to take the property of its citizens—of its\nfriends—certainly it has the right to take the property of those it has\nthe right to kill.\n\nLincoln was wise enough to know that war is governed by the laws of war,\nand that during the conflict constitutions are silent. All that he\ncould do he did in the interests of peace. He offered to execute every\nlaw—including the most infamous of all—to buy the slaves in the border\nStates—to establish gradual, compensated emancipation; but the South\nwould not hear. Then he confiscated the property of rebels—treated the\nslaves as contraband of war, used them to put down the Rebellion, armed\nthem and clothed them in the uniform of the Republic—was in favor of\nmaking them citizens and allowing them to stand on an equality with\ntheir white brethren under the flag of the Nation. During these years\nLincoln moved with events, and every step he took has been justified by\nthe considerate judgment of mankind.\n\nViii\n\nLINCOLN not only watched the war, but kept his hand on the political\npulse. In 1863 a tide set in against the administration. A Republican\nmeeting was to be held in Springfield, Illinois, and Lincoln wrote a\nletter to be read at this convention. It was in his happiest vein. It\nwas a perfect defence of his administration, including the Proclamation\nof Emancipation. Among other things he said:\n\n\"But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or it is not valid. If\nit is not valid it needs no retraction, but if it is valid it cannot be\nretracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life.\"\n\nTo the Northern Democrats who said they would not fight for negroes,\nLincoln replied:\n\n\"Some of them seem willing to fight for you—but no matter.\"\n\nOf negro soldiers:\n\n\"But negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should they do\nanything for us if we will do nothing for them? If they stake their\nlives for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive—even the\npromise of freedom. And the promise, being made, must be kept.\"\n\nThere is one line in this letter that will give it immortality:\n\n\"The Father of waters again goes unvexed to the sea.\"\n\nThis line is worthy of Shakespeare.\n\nAnother:\n\n\"Among free men there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the\nbullet.\"\n\nHe draws a comparison between the white men against us and the black men\nfor us:\n\n\"And then there will be some black men who can remember that with silent\ntongue and clenched teeth and steady eye and well-poised bayonet they\nhave helped mankind on to this great consummation; while I fear there\nwill be some white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and\ndeceitful speech they strove to hinder it.\"\n\nUnder the influence of this letter, the love of country, of the Union,\nand above all, the love of liberty, took possession of the heroic North.\n\nThere was the greatest moral exaltation ever known.\n\nThe spirit of liberty took possession of the people. The masses became\nsublime.\n\nTo fight for yourself is natural—to fight for others is grand; to fight\nfor your country is noble—to fight for the human race—for the liberty\nof hand and brain—is nobler still.\n\nAs a matter of fact, the defenders of slavery had sown the seeds of\ntheir own defeat. They dug the pit in which they fell. Clay and Webster\nand thousands of others had by their eloquence made the Union almost\nsacred. The Union was the very tree of life, the source and stream and\nsea of liberty and law.\n\nFor the sake of slavery millions stood by the Union, for the sake of\nliberty millions knelt at the altar of the Union; and this love of the\nUnion is what, at last, overwhelmed the Confederate hosts.\n\nIt does not seem possible that only a few years ago our Constitution,\nour laws, our Courts, the Pulpit and the Press defended and upheld the\ninstitution of slavery—that it was a crime to feed the hungry—to give\nwater to the lips of thirst—shelter to a woman flying from the whip and\nchain!\n\nThe old flag still flies—the stars are there—the stains have gone.\n\nIX.\n\nLINCOLN always saw the end. He was unmoved by the storms and currents of\nthe times. He advanced too rapidly for the conservative politicians, too\nslowly for the radical enthusiasts. He occupied the line of safety, and\nheld by his personality—by the force of his great character, by his\ncharming candor—the masses on his side.\n\nThe soldiers thought of him as a father.\n\nAll who had lost their sons in battle felt that they had his\nsympathy—felt that his face was as sad as theirs. They knew that\nLincoln was actuated by one motive, and that his energies were bent to\nthe attainment of one end—the salvation of the Republic.\n\nThey knew that he was kind, sincere and merciful. They knew that in his\nveins there was no drop of tyrants' blood. They knew that he used his\npower to protect the innocent, to save reputation and life—that he had\nthe brain of a philosopher—the heart of a mother.\n\nDuring all the years of war, Lincoln stood the embodiment of mercy,\nbetween discipline and death. He pitied the imprisoned and condemned.\nHe took the unfortunate in his arms, and was the friend even of the\nconvict. He knew temptation's strength—the weakness of the will—and\nhow in fury's sudden flame the judgment drops the scales, and\npassion—blind and deaf—usurps the throne.\n\nOne day a woman, accompanied by a Senator, called on the President. The\nwoman was the wife of one of Mosby's men. Her husband had been captured,\ntried and condemned to be shot. She came to ask for the pardon of her\nhusband. The President heard her story and then asked what kind of man\nher husband was. \"Is he intemperate, does he abuse the children and beat\nyou?\" \"No, no,\" said the wife, \"he is a good man, a good husband, he\nloves me and he loves the children, and we cannot live without him. The\nonly trouble is that he is a fool about politics—I live in the North,\nborn there, and if I get him home, he will do no more fighting for the\nSouth.\" \"Well,\" said Mr. Lincoln, after examining the papers, \"I will\npardon your husband and turn him over to you for safe keeping.\" The poor\nwoman, overcome with joy, sobbed as though her heart would break.\n\n\"My dear woman,\" said Lincoln, \"if I had known how badly it was going to\nmake you feel, I never would have pardoned him.\" \"You do not understand\nme,\" she cried between her sobs. \"You do not understand me.\" \"Yes, yes,\nI do,\" answered the President, \"and if you do not go away at once I\nshall be crying with you.\"\n\nOn another occasion, a member of Congress, on his way to see Lincoln,\nfound in one of the anterooms of the White House an old white-haired\nman, sobbing—his wrinkled face wet with tears. The old man told him\nthat for several days he had tried to see the President—that he wanted\na pardon for his son. The Congressman told the old man to come with him\nand he would introduce him to Mr. Lincoln. On being introduced, the old\nman said: \"Mr. Lincoln, my wife sent me to you. We had three boys. They\nall joined your army. One of 'em has been killed, one's a fighting now,\nand one of 'em, the youngest, has been tried for deserting and he's\ngoing to be shot day after to-morrow. He never deserted. He's wild,\nand he may have drunk too much and wandered off, but he never deserted.\n'Taint in the blood. He's his mother's favorite, and if he's shot,\nI know she'll die.\" The President, turning to his secretary, said:\n\"Telegraph General Butler to suspend the execution in the case\nof————[giving the name] until further orders from me, and ask him to\nanswer————.\"\n\nThe Congressman congratulated the old man on his success—but the old\nman did not respond. He was not satisfied. \"Mr. President,\" he began,\n\"I can't take that news home. It won't satisfy his mother. How do I know\nbut what you'll give further orders to-morrow?\" \"My good man,\" said\nMr. Lincoln, \"I have to do the best I can. The generals are complaining\nbecause I pardon so many. They say that my mercy destroys discipline.\nNow, when you get home you tell his mother what you said to me about my\ngiving further orders, and then you tell her that I said this: 'If your\nson lives until they get further orders from me, that when he does die\npeople will say that old Methusaleh was a baby compared to him.'\"\n\nThe pardoning power is the only remnant of absolute sovereignty that a\nPresident has. Through all the years, Lincoln will be known as Lincoln\nthe loving, Lincoln the merciful.\n\nX.\n\nLINCOLN had the keenest sense of humor, and always saw the laughable\nside even of disaster. In his humor there was logic and the best of\nsense. No matter how complicated the question, or how embarrassing the\nsituation, his humor furnished an answer and a door of escape.\n\nVallandigham was a friend of the South, and did what he could to sow\nthe seeds of failure. In his opinion everything, except rebellion, was\nunconstitutional.\n\nHe was arrested, convicted by a court martial, and sentenced to\nimprisonment.\n\nThere was doubt about the legality of the trial, and thousands in the\nNorth denounced the whole proceeding as tyrannical and infamous. At the\nsame time millions demanded that Vallandigham should be punished.\n\nLincoln's humor came to the rescue. He disapproved of the findings of\nthe court, changed the punishment, and ordered that Mr. Vallandigham\nshould be sent to his friends in the South.\n\nThose who regarded the act as unconstitutional almost forgave it for the\nsake of its humor.\n\nHorace Greeley always had the idea that he was greatly superior to\nLincoln, because he lived in a larger town, and for a long time insisted\nthat the people of the North and the people of the South desired peace.\nHe took it upon himself to lecture Lincoln. Lincoln, with that wonderful\nsense of humor, united with shrewdness and profound wisdom, told Greeley\nthat, if the South really wanted peace, he (Lincoln) desired the same\nthing, and was doing all he could to bring it about. Greeley insisted\nthat a commissioner should be appointed, with authority to negotiate\nwith the representatives of the Confederacy. This was Lincoln's\nopportunity. He authorized Greeley to act as such commissioner. The\ngreat editor felt that he was caught. For a time he hesitated, but\nfinally went, and found that the Southern commissioners were willing\nto take into consideration any offers of peace that Lincoln might make,\nconsistent with the independence of the Confederacy.\n\nThe failure of Greeley was humiliating, and the position in which he was\nleft, absurd.\n\nAgain the humor of Lincoln had triumphed.\n\nLincoln, to satisfy a few fault-finders in the North, went to Grant's\nheadquarters and met some Confederate commissioners. He urged that\nit was hardly proper for him to negotiate with the representatives of\nrebels in arms—that if the South wanted peace, all they had to do was\nto stop fighting. One of the commissioners cited as a precedent the fact\nthat Charles the First negotiated with rebels in arms. To which Lincoln\nreplied that Charles the First lost his head.\n\nThe conference came to nothing, as Mr. Lincoln expected.\n\nThe commissioners, one of them being Alexander H. Stephens, who, when in\ngood health, weighed about ninety pounds, dined with the President\nand Gen. Grant. After dinner, as they were leaving, Stephens put on an\nEnglish ulster, the tails of which reached the ground, while the collar\nwas somewhat above the wearer's head.\n\nAs Stephens went out, Lincoln touched Grant and said: \"Grant, look at\nStephens. Did you ever see as little a nubbin with as much shuck?\"\n\nLincoln always tried to do things in the easiest way. He did not waste\nhis strength. He was not particular about moving along straight lines.\nHe did not tunnel the mountains. He was willing to go around, and reach\nthe end desired as a river reaches the sea.\n\nXI.\n\nOne of the most wonderful things ever done by Lincoln was the promotion\nof General Hooker. After the battle of Fredericksburg, General Burnside\nfound great fault with Hooker, and wished to have him removed from the\nArmy of the Potomac. Lincoln disapproved of Burnside's order, and gave\nHooker the command. He then wrote Hooker this memorable letter:\n\n\"I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I\nhave done this upon what appears to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet\nI think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to\nwhich I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and\nskillful soldier—which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not\nmix politics with your profession—in which you are right. You have\nconfidence—which is a valuable, if not an indispensable, quality. You\nare ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than\nharm; but I think that during General Burnside's command of the army\nyou have taken counsel of your ambition to thwart him as much as you\ncould—in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most\nmeritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a way\nas to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and the\nGovernment needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in\nspite of it, that I have given you command. Only those generals who\ngain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military\nsuccesses, and I will risk the dictatorship. The Government will support\nyou to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than\nit has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit\nwhich you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their\ncommander and withholding confidence in him, will now turn upon you.\nI shall assist you, so far as I can, to put it down. Neither you, nor\nNapoleon, if he were alive, can get any good out of an army while such\na spirit prevails in it. And now beware of rashness. Beware of\nrashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us\nvictories.\"\n\nThis letter has, in my judgment, no parallel. The mistaken magnanimity\nis almost equal to the prophecy:\n\n\"I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the\narmy, of criticising their command and withholding confidence in him,\nwill now turn upon you.\"\n\nChancellorsville was the fulfillment.\n\nXii\n\nMR. LINCOLN was a statesman. The great stumbling-block—the great\nobstruction—in Lincoln's way, and in the way of thousands, was the old\ndoctrine of States Rights.\n\nThis doctrine was first established to protect slavery. It was clung to\nto protect the inter-State slave trade. It became sacred in connection\nwith the Fugitive Slave Law, and it was finally used as the corner-stone\nof Secession.\n\nThis doctrine was never appealed to in defence of the right—always in\nsupport of the wrong. For many years politicians upon both sides of this\nquestion endeavored to express the exact relations existing between the\nFederal Government and the States, and I know of no one who succeeded,\nexcept Lincoln. In his message of 1861, delivered on July the 4th, the\ndefinition is given, and it is perfect:\n\n\"Whatever concerns the whole should be confided to the whole—to the\nGeneral Government. Whatever concerns only the State should be left\nexclusively to the State.\"\n\nWhen that definition is realized in practice, this country becomes a\nNation. Then we shall know that the first allegiance of the citizen is\nnot to his State, but to the Republic, and that the first duty of the\nRepublic is to protect the citizen, not only when in other lands, but\nat home, and that this duty cannot be discharged by delegating it to the\nStates.\n\nLincoln believed in the sovereignty of the people—in the supremacy of\nthe Nation—in the territorial integrity of the Republic.\n\nXiii\n\nA GREAT actor can be known only when he has assumed the principal\ncharacter in a great drama. Possibly the greatest actors have never\nappeared, and it may be that the greatest soldiers have lived the lives\nof perfect peace. Lincoln assumed the leading part in the greatest drama\never enacted upon the stage of this continent.\n\nHis criticisms of military movements, his correspondence with his\ngenerals and others on the conduct of the war, show that he was at all\ntimes master of the situation—that he was a natural strategist, that he\nappreciated the difficulties and advantages of every kind, and that in\n\"the still and mental\" field of war he stood the peer of any man beneath\nthe flag.\n\nHad McClellan followed his advice, he would have taken Richmond.\n\nHad Hooker acted in accordance with his suggestions, Chancellorsville\nwould have been a victory for the Nation.\n\nLincoln's political prophecies were all fulfilled.\n\nWe know now that he not only stood at the top, but that he occupied\nthe centre, from first to last, and that he did this by reason of his\nintelligence, his humor, his philosophy, his courage and his patriotism.\n\nIn passion's storm he stood, unmoved, patient, just and candid. In his\nbrain there was no cloud, and in his heart no hate. He longed to save\nthe South as well as North, to see the Nation one and free.\n\nHe lived until the end was known.\n\nHe lived until the Confederacy was dead—until Lee surrendered, until\nDavis fled, until the doors of Libby Prison were opened, until the\nRepublic was supreme.\n\nHe lived until Lincoln and Liberty were united forever.\n\nHe lived to cross the desert—to reach the palms of victory—to hear the\nmurmured music of the welcome waves.\n\nHe lived until all loyal hearts were his—until the history of his\ndeeds made music in the souls of men—until he knew that on Columbia's\nCalendar of worth and fame his name stood first.\n\nHe lived until there remained nothing for him to do as great as he had\ndone.\n\nWhat he did was worth living for, worth dying for.\n\nHe lived until he stood in the midst of universal\n\nJoy, beneath the outstretched wings of Peace—the foremost man in all\nthe world.\n\nAnd then the horror came. Night fell on noon. The Savior of the\nRepublic, the breaker of chains, the liberator of millions, he who had\n\"assured freedom to the free,\" was dead.\n\nUpon his brow Fame placed the immortal wreath, and for the first time in\nthe history of the world a Nation bowed and wept.\n\nThe memory of Lincoln is the strongest, tenderest tie that binds all\nhearts together now, and holds all States beneath a Nation's flag.\n\nXiv\n\nABRAHAM LINCOLN—strange mingling of mirth and tears, of the tragic and\ngrotesque, of cap and crown, of Socrates and Democritus, of Æsop and\nMarcus Aurelius, of all that is gentle and just, humorous and honest,\nmerciful, wise, laughable, lovable and divine, and all consecrated to\nthe use of man; while through all, and over all, were an overwhelming\nsense of obligation, of chivalric loyalty to truth, and upon all, the\nshadow of the tragic end.\n\nNearly all the great historic characters are impossible monsters,\ndisproportioned by flattery, or by calumny deformed. We know nothing\nof their peculiarities, or nothing but their peculiarities. About these\noaks there clings none of the earth of humanity.\n\nWashington is now only a steel engraving. About the real man who lived\nand loved and hated and schemed, we know but little. The glass through\nwhich we look at him is of such high magnifying power that the features\nare exceedingly indistinct.\n\nHundreds of people are now engaged in smoothing out the lines of\nLincoln's face—forcing all features to the common mould—so that he may\nbe known, not as he really was, but, according to their poor standard,\nas he should have been.\n\nLincoln was not a type. He stands alone—no ancestors, no fellows, and\nno successors.\n\nHe had the advantage of living in a new country, of social equality, of\npersonal freedom, of seeing in the horizon of his future the perpetual\nstar of hope. He preserved his individuality and his self-respect. He\nknew and mingled with men of every kind; and, after all, men are the\nbest books. He became acquainted with the ambitions and hopes of the\nheart, the means used to accomplish ends, the springs of action and the\nseeds of thought. He was familiar with nature, with actual things, with\ncommon facts. He loved and appreciated the poem of the year, the drama\nof the seasons.\n\nIn a new country a man must possess at least three virtues—honesty,\ncourage and generosity. In cultivated society, cultivation is often more\nimportant than soil. A well-executed counterfeit passes more readily\nthan a blurred genuine. It is necessary only to observe the unwritten\nlaws of society—to be honest enough to keep out of prison, and generous\nenough to subscribe in public—where the subscription can be defended as\nan investment.\n\nIn a new country, character is essential; in the old, reputation is\nsufficient. In the new, they find what a man really is; in the old,\nhe generally passes for what he resembles. People separated only by\ndistance are much nearer together, than those divided by the walls of\ncaste.\n\nIt is no advantage to live in a great city, where poverty degrades and\nfailure brings despair. The fields are lovelier than paved streets, and\nthe great forests than walls of brick. Oaks and elms are more poetic\nthan steeples and chimneys.\n\nIn the country is the idea of home. There you see the rising and setting\nsun; you become acquainted with the stars and clouds. The constellations\nare your friends. You hear the rain on the roof and listen to the\nrhythmic sighing of the winds. You are thrilled by the resurrection\ncalled Spring, touched and saddened by Autumn—the grace and poetry of\ndeath. Every field is a picture, a landscape; every landscape a poem;\nevery flower a tender thought, and every forest a fairy-land. In the\ncountry you preserve your identity—your personality. There you are\nan aggregation of atoms, but in the city you are only an atom of an\naggregation.\n\nIn the country you keep your cheek close to the breast of Nature. You\nare calmed and ennobled by the space, the amplitude and scope of earth\nand sky—by the constancy of the stars.\n\nLincoln never finished his education. To the night of his death he was\na pupil, a learner, an inquirer, a seeker after knowledge. You have no\nidea how many men are spoiled by what is called education. For the most\npart, colleges are places where pebbles are polished and diamonds are\ndimmed. If Shakespeare had graduated at Oxford, he might have been a\nquibbling attorney, or a hypocritical parson.\n\nLincoln was a great lawyer. There is nothing shrewder in this world than\nintelligent honesty. Perfect candor is sword and shield.\n\nHe understood the nature of man. As a lawyer he endeavored to get at the\ntruth, at the very heart of a case. He was not willing even to deceive\nhimself. No matter what his interest said, what his passion demanded,\nhe was great enough to find the truth and strong enough to pronounce\njudgment against his own desires.\n\nLincoln was a many-sided man, acquainted with smiles and tears, complex\nin brain, single in heart, direct as light; and his words, candid as\nmirrors, gave the perfect image of his thought. He was never afraid\nto ask—never too dignified to admit that he did not know. No man had\nkeener wit, or kinder humor.\n\nIt may be that humor is the pilot of reason. People without humor drift\nunconsciously into absurdity. Humor sees the other side—stands in the\nmind like a spectator, a good-natured critic, and gives its opinion\nbefore judgment is reached. Humor goes with good nature, and good\nnature is the climate of reason. In anger, reason abdicates and malice\nextinguishes the torch. Such was the humor of Lincoln that he could tell\neven unpleasant truths as charmingly as most men can tell the things we\nwish to hear.\n\nHe was not solemn. Solemnity is a mask worn by ignorance and\nhypocrisy—it is the preface, prologue, and index to the cunning or the\nstupid.\n\nHe was natural in his life and thought—master of the story-teller's\nart, in illustration apt, in application perfect, liberal in speech,\nshocking Pharisees and prudes, using any word that wit could disinfect.\n\nHe was a logician. His logic shed light. In its presence the obscure\nbecame luminous, and the most complex and intricate political and\nmetaphysical knots seemed to untie themselves. Logic is the necessary\nproduct of intelligence and sincerity. It cannot be learned. It is the\nchild of a clear head and a good heart.\n\nLincoln was candid, and with candor often deceived the deceitful. He had\nintellect without arrogance, genius without pride, and religion without\ncant—that is to say, without bigotry and without deceit.\n\nHe was an orator—clear, sincere, natural. He did not pretend. He did\nnot say what he thought others thought, but what he thought.\n\nIf you wish to be sublime you must be natural—you must keep close to\nthe grass. You must sit by the fireside of the heart; above the clouds\nit is too cold. You must be simple in your speech; too much polish\nsuggests insincerity.\n\nThe great orator idealizes the real, transfigures the common, makes even\nthe inanimate throb and thrill, fills the gallery of the imagination\nwith statues and pictures perfect in form and color, brings to light\nthe gold hoarded by memory the miser, shows the glittering coin to the\nspendthrift hope, enriches the brain, ennobles the heart, and quickens\nthe conscience. Between his lips words bud and blossom.\n\nIf you wish to know the difference between an orator and an\nelocutionist—between what is felt and what is said—between what the\nheart and brain can do together and what the brain can do alone—read\nLincoln's wondrous speech at Gettysburg, and then the oration of Edward\nEverett.\n\nThe speech of Lincoln will never be forgotten. It will live until\nlanguages are dead and lips are dust. The oration of Everett will never\nbe read.\n\nThe elocutionists believe in the virtue of voice, the sublimity of\nsyntax, the majesty of long sentences, and the genius of gesture.\n\nThe orator loves the real, the simple, the natural. He places the\nthought above all. He knows that the greatest ideas should be expressed\nin the shortest words—that the greatest statues need the least drapery.\n\nLincoln was an immense personality—firm but not obstinate. Obstinacy\nis egotism—firmness, heroism. He influenced others without\neffort, unconsciously; and they submitted to him as men submit to\nnature—unconsciously. He was severe with himself, and for that reason\nlenient with others.\n\nHe appeared to apologize for being kinder than his fellows.\n\nHe did merciful things as stealthily as others committed crimes.\n\nAlmost ashamed of tenderness, he said and did the noblest words and\ndeeds with that charming confusion, that awkwardness, that is the\nperfect grace of modesty.\n\nAs a noble man, wishing to pay a small debt to a poor neighbor,\nreluctantly offers a hundred-dollar bill and asks for change, fearing\nthat he may be suspected either of making a display of wealth or\na pretence of payment, so Lincoln hesitated to show his wealth of\ngoodness, even to the best he knew.\n\nA great man stooping, not wishing to make his fellows feel that they\nwere small or mean.\n\nBy his candor, by his kindness, by his perfect freedom from restraint,\nby saying what he thought, and saying it absolutely in his own way, he\nmade it not only possible, but popular, to be natural. He was the enemy\nof mock solemnity, of the stupidly respectable, of the cold and formal.\n\nHe wore no official robes either on his body or his soul. He never\npretended to be more or less, or other, or different, from what he\nreally was.\n\nHe had the unconscious naturalness of Nature's self.\n\nHe built upon the rock. The foundation was secure and broad. The\nstructure was a pyramid, narrowing as it rose. Through days and nights\nof sorrow, through years of grief and pain, with unswerving purpose,\n\"with malice towards none, with charity for all,\" with infinite\npatience, with unclouded vision, he hoped and toiled. Stone after stone\nwas laid, until at last the Proclamation found its place. On that the\nGoddess stands.\n\nHe knew others, because perfectly acquainted with himself. He cared\nnothing for place, but everything for principle; little for money, but\neverything for independence. Where no principle was involved, easily\nswayed—willing to go slowly, if in the right direction—sometimes\nwilling to stop; but he would not go back, and he would not go wrong.\n\nHe was willing to wait. He knew that the event was not waiting, and that\nfate was not the fool of chance. He knew that slavery had defenders, but\nno defence, and that they who attack the right must wound themselves.\n\nHe was neither tyrant nor slave. He neither knelt nor scorned.\n\nWith him, men were neither great nor small—they were right or wrong.\n\nThrough manners, clothes, titles, rags and race he saw the real—that\nwhich is. Beyond accident, policy, compromise and war he saw the end.\n\nHe was patient as Destiny, whose undecipherable hieroglyphs were so\ndeeply graven on his sad and tragic face.\n\nNothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for\nthe weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish\nto know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test.\nIt is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never\nabused it, except on the side of mercy.\n\nWealth could not purchase, power could not awe, this divine, this loving\nman.\n\nHe knew no fear except the fear of doing wrong. Hating slavery, pitying\nthe master—seeking to conquer, not persons, but prejudices—he was the\nembodiment of the self-denial, the courage, the hope and the nobility of\na Nation.\n\nHe spoke not to inflame, not to upbraid, but to convince.\n\nHe raised his hands, not to strike, but in benediction.\n\nHe longed to pardon.\n\nHe loved to see the pearls of joy on the cheeks of a wife whose husband\nhe had rescued from death.\n\nLincoln was the grandest figure of the fiercest civil war. He is the\ngentlest memory of our world.\n"
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