Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-05-26
! aSio9raphifal sketfh.
OUR LATE PRESIDENT.
character Of president Lincoln.
BY RALPH W. EMERSON.

! BY RALPH w. EMERSON.
The following address was delivered by
Ralph Waldo Emerson, in Concord, Mass,
on occasion of the funeral services in honor
of Mr. Lincoln
We meet under the gloom of a calamity
which darkens down over the minds of good
men in all civilized society, as the fearful IL
dings travel over sea, over land, from coun-
try to country, like the shadow of an uncal-
culated eclipse over the planet. Old as his
| tory is and manifold as are its tragedies, |
doubt if any death has caused so much pain
| to mankind as this has caused, or willeause,
on its announcement and this not Sc much
because nations are, by modern arts, brought
so closely together, as because of the myste-
rious hopes and fears which, in the present
day, are connected with the name and insti-
tutions of America.
In this country; on Saturday, every one
was struck dumb, and saw, at first, only
deep, as he Ineditated on the ghastly blow.
llAnd, perhaps, at this hour, when the coffin
which contains the dust Of the President
sets forward in It's long gmarch through mour-
ming States, on its way to his home In Hi
nois, we might well be SILENT and suffer the
awful voices of the time to thunder to us
| Yes, but that first despair was brief; the
man was not so to be mourned He was
the most active and hopeful Of men, and his
work had not perished but aeclamations of
praise for the task he hadaccomplished burst
| out in song of triumph, which even tears
| for his death cannot keep down
The President stood before us man of
the people. He was thoroughly American
had never crossed the sea, had never been
spoiled by English insularity, or French dis
| sipation a quiet native, aboriginal man, as
an acorn from the oak; no aping Of foreign
ers, no friyilous accomplishments, Kentuck-
ian born, working on farm, a flatboatmarl,
captain in the Blackhawk war, a country
lawyer, Representative in the rural Legisla-
| ture of Illinoios--on such modest founda-
| tions the broad structure of his fame was
laid. How slowly, and yet BY happily pre-
pared steps, he came to his place.
AL of us remember-it is only history of
five rsix years-the surprise anddisappoint-
ment of the country at his first nomination
at Chicago Mr. Seward was then in the
elimination of his good fame, was the favor
lite of the Eastern States. And when the
new and comparatively unknown name of
Lincoln was announced Notwithstanding the
report Of the acelimations of that Conven-
tion) we heard the result coldly and sadly.
1t seemed too rash on purely local repu-
tation, to build so grave a trust, in such
anxious times; and men naturally talked of
the chances in politics as incaleulahe. But
| 1t turned out not to be chance. The pro-
found good opinion which the people of Hi
nois and of the West had conceived Of him,
and which they had impaired to their col
leagues, that they might justify themselves
to their constituents at home was not RASH
though theyidid not begin to know the rich
ness of his worth. al
A plain man of the people, an extraordi-
nary fortune attended him. Lord Bacon
says Manifest virtues procure reputation;
occult ones, fortune. He offered no shi-
ming qualities at the first encounter /; he did
not offend by superiority. He had face
and manner which disarlned suspicion,
which inspired confidence, which confirmed
goodwill He was man without vices
He had a strong sense of duty which it was
very easy for him, to obey. Then he had
what farmers call long head was excel
lent in working out the sum for himself in
arguing his case and convincing you fairly
and firmly.
Then it turned out that he was a great
worker; had prodigious faculty of perform
ance worked easily. "A good worker is so
rare everybody has some disabling quality.
Ina host of young men that start together,
and promise so many brilliant leaders for
the next ages each fails on trial; one by
bad health, one by conceit or by love of
pleasure or by lethargy, or by an hasty tenn
per-each has some disqualifying fault that
throws him out of the career. But this
man was sound to the core, cheerful per-
sistent, all right forlabor, and liked nothing
so well
Then he had vast good nature, which
made him tolerant and accessible to all fair
minded, leaning to the claim Of the 'peti-
| toner, affable, and not sensible to the Attic
ton which the innumerable visits paid to
! him. when President, would have brought
to any one else. And how this good ma
ture became noble humanity, in many a
tragic case which the events Of the war
brought to him, every one will remember,
and with what increasing tenderness he
dealt, when whole race was thrown upon
his compassion. The poor negro said of him
on an impressive occasion, 'Massa Linkum
am everywhere.
! Then his broad good humor, running easily
into !jocular talk, in which he delighted, and
in which he exeelled, was a rich gift to this
1 wise man. 1t enabled him to keep his Sc
cret to meet every kind Of man, and every
rank in society to take off the edge of the
severist decisions to make his own purpose
and sound his companion, and to catch
with true instinct the temper of every com
pany he addressed, And, more than all, il
is to a man ofsevere labor, an anxious and
exhausting crisis, the natural restorative,
/ good as sleep, and is the protection of tbs
oyerdriven brain against rancor and insan.
4 ity. "a,
He is the author Of multitude of good
sayings, so disguised as pleasantries that il
is certain they had no reputation at first but
as jests and only later, by the very accept
ance and adoption, they find in the mouths
of millions, turn out to be the wisdom of the
hour. i am sure if this man had ruled in q
1 period of less facility of printing, he woulG
have become psychological in a very few
years, like Ksop or Pilpay, or one of the
i Seven Wise Masters, by his fables and pro
verbs. -
4 But the weight and penetration of many
passages in his letters, messages and speech