The weekly union record., 1864-01-30
TIE Character OF President Lincoln.


The Rev H Fowlor Of Auburn Is. Y.
in bis Tbs ksglyinc sermon. drew the following
picture Of the President, which VIII b recog
uized as 4 striking porlrAi, in many par,icu
lars:
The progress Of the President illustrates The
progress Of the people Arthu- Stanly speaks
Of Samuel the prophet as mediator ,etweeu
the Old and new Jewish history. His two sided
sympa .hy enabled him to urite the passing
and c ming epoch. Such an epoch Of per
plexiy, transition and change is not often
with, ssed. In every such passage OF nation
ihcr: ought TO be character like that OF Sam
ucl Misunderstood and misrepresenttd at
the time attacked from both sides; charged
Wi not going far enouSh and going too far .
ch arged with saying too much and too little,
he slowly, con>cienliouSly and honestly works
out the mighty problem He was not foun-
ier Of new state Of things like Moses; he
sas not champion pf the existing order Of
things ike Elijah He stood between the Two;
the living and the dead; between the past and
the present; between tho old and the new;
with that sympathy for each which at such a
period is the best hope for any permanent So
luton of the question which torment il. HIS
duty is carefully TO distinguish between that
which is temporal and that which is eter-
nal lie has bat little praise from partisaus :;
but is The careful healer, binding up the wounds
Of the age in spite Of iisei-tbe good surgeon,
knitting together the disloca,ed bones of the
disjointed times.
Such man was Samuel among the Jews.
such man was At bapasius among the early
Chrisiians such man is Abraham Lincoln in
this day The explanation for his every act is
this-he executes the will OF the people He
represents a controlling majority. II he be
slow il is because The people are slow. II he
has done q foolish act. il was the stupidity of
the people which impelled 1t: His wisdom
consists in carrying out the good sense of the
patton. His growth in political knowledge.
his steady movement toward emancipation.
are but the growth and movement Of the na
tioual mind. ludeed, 10 character and culture
he is a fair representative OF the average
American. His awkward speech and still
more awkword silence, his uncouth manners,
his grammar selftaught and partly forgotten.
his style miscellaneous, concreted from the best
authors like a readirg book and yet of Saxon
force and classic purity; his humor an argu-
mcut and his logic joke. both unreasonable
at times and irresistible always: his questions
answers. aud his answers questions; his guesscs
prophecies. and fulhlment ever beyond his
promise; honest yet shrcwd, simple yet reticent
heavy and yet energetic; never desparing and
never sanguine careless in forma, conscientious
in essentials; never sacrificing a good servant
once trusted never deserving good principle
once adopted; not afraid of new ideas. nor de
spisng old ones; improving opportunes TO
confess mistakes; ready TO learn, getting at
facts, doing nothing when he knows not what
to do; hesita;iug at nothing when be sees the
right; lacking the recognized qualifications of
a party leader, and yet leading the party as
no other man can sustaining his political en-
emies in Missouri to their defeat, sustain.
ing his political friends in Maryland to their
victory; conservative in his sympathies. and
radical in his acts; Socratic in his style and
Baconian in his method; his religion consisting
in truthfuness, temperance, asking good reo
pie to pray for him, and publicly acknowed
gng in events the hand of God. he stands be-
fore You as the type of Brother Johnathan,
a not perfect man aud yet more precious than
fine gold