The Portage County Democrat. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1864-02-24

r reason Sol for this II that they have been itfor
p1 nal Il and nd und snlstsc. they have nSfs re-
sSesmbled a fathers talk to his children than a
State paper. md they have had that telish7
and smack of the soil, that appeal to the SIM
pie human heart and head which is a greater
power ID writing than the most artful devizf
Fees Of rhetoric Eidcoin might well says
With The APOSTLE But though Be rude in
speech yet not in knowledge, but we have
been thoroughly made manifest among you in.
all things.' His rejection of what is called
fine ltritifhag writing was as deliberate as ST. Paqrs,
and for the same reasohE-because he felt that
he Was speaking on a subject which must be
made clear to the lowest intellect, though it
should fail 10 captisate the highest But we
say Of Lincoln writing, that for all true,
manly purposes Of writing. there are passages
in his State papers that Gould not be better
put-nthey are absolutely perfect. 'rhey are,
brief condensed, intense and'with power of
insight and expression which make them
| worthy to be inscribed m letters of gold
Suepa are SOME passages of he9celebfated
Springfield letter. especially that mastery one
where be compares the conduct of the patri-
otic and loyal 6lacksiwith that of the treaeh-'
e:ous and. disleyal whites Nc one can read
this letter without feeling atheEinhuence of a
mindaboth strong and generous. taie9-aefi :
/ Lincoln is astrong man, but his isstreugtlf
is of a peculiar kind sit slnot aggressive so
much. as passive, and among passive things it.
is like the strength notso much of a stone
buttress, as of1aI wire cable. 1t is strength
swaying to every influence, yieldihgson this
side and on that to, popular needs, yet tena-i
eciously and inAexbly bound to carry its great:
end and probably by no other skind aof'
strength could our national ship have been,
drawn safely thus far during the tossings and
tempestss which sbeset. .herlway.sss 20 aeSsRn
Ics Surroundedsby all sorts of conflicting claims,
by traitors, by half-hearted, timid men. oby
radical abolitionsts and d5eonservatives, he has
listened to all, weighed the words of all, /,
waited, observed, yielded now here and now
there, but in the main kept one infexible,
honest purpose, and drawn the national ship
| through. ,ss. i,e 4ees.a. 4.-4ssss5sis
In times, of our trouble Abraham Lincoln
has had his turn of being the best abused
man of our nation. Like Moses leading his
Israel through the wilderness, he has seen the
| day when every man seemed ready to stone
him, and yet, with simple, wiry, steady per-
severance he has held on, conscious of hon
est intentions, and looking to God for help.
All the nation have felt, in the increasing SOL
emnity Of his Proclamations and papers. how
fdeep an education was being wrought in his
mind By this simple faith il God, the Ruler
of nations, and this humble willingness to
isafR1 the aaa@fal lessons Of His providence.
We Do Dc hos cans to give the impression
that lincoln is Feligious 1mauint the sensein
which thatternls is spopularly applied We
I5believe he has never made any such profes-
sion, but we see evidence that in. passing
through this dreadful national crisis he has
been forced BY the very anguish of the strug.
tgleto look upward, where any rational crea.
tdre most look for support. No man in thi.
agony has suffered more. and deeper, albei
with a dry, weary patient pain, that seemed
to some like insensibility. "Whicheverway i
ends,'' he said to the writer, AZ have the i'm
preston that Ishan't last long after it's over
After the, dreadful repu Sc of Fredericksburg
he is reported to have said, ,4aIf there is
man out of hell that suffers more than dc
Il pity him. In those dark days his heay.
eyes and worn and weary air told how on
reyerses wore upon him, and yet there was
never failing fund of patience at bottom, tina
sometimes rose to the surface in some drol
quaint saying, OF story. that forced a laugl
even from himself.fEt $50 81 q IS ssss So
There have been times with many, of i'm
petuous impatience, when our national sh
seemed to lie water=logged and we have ealle
aloud for deliverer of another fashion,
brilliant General, dashing, fearless states
man, a man who could dare and do; VII
would stake all on a die, and win or lose by
brilliant de main. It may comfort ou
minds that since He who ruleth in the armie
of nations set no such man to this work thi
perhaps He saw in the man whom He di
send some peculiar fitness and aptitudes thers
foE7 sa4saa ~ sisssl'@ i3ia s7azassa sla
kti Slow and careful in coming to resolution
willing to, talk with every person who HI
any thing to show on any side of a dispute
subject, long in, weighing and pondering, a
tached to constitutional limits and time-her
ored landmarks,@ Lincoln certainly was tt
! safest leader ration could have at tim
when the habeas corpus must be suspende
aud all the constitutional and minor rights
kcitizens be thrown into the hands of the
military leader A reckless, bold, theorizin
dashing man of genius might have wrecke
our Constitution and ended us in splend
military despofisn, when honest Abe has ol
ly walked off with our tights as he did vii
his bag of specie from the bank, on his sin
pie promise to bring them back when he HI
done with them. Isl isis5o.sss4yi;8gj s
Among the many accusations which ]
) hours of i'll luck have been thrown out upc
Lincoln, it is remarkable that he has nev
been called self-seeking orselfish. When Y
! ! were troubled and sat in darkness, and look,
, doubtfully towards the presidential chair,
> was never that we doubted the good win
our pilot-only the clearness of his eye sigt
: But Almighty God has granted to him tn
l clearness of vision which He gives to Il
? true hearted, and enabled him to set his no
t est foot in that promised land of ireedo
9 which is to- be the spatrimony of all me