The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1866-03-22

am and all that i hope to be owe
to my angel mother" Here he avail.
cd himself Of the meager advantages Of
education afforded by that then distant
frontier; used the earth as his copy
book and practiced bis lessons Of PEN
manship upon the sands; here, as his
days labor closed with the coming out
of the stars, be took up his books and
caught from them glimpses Of the life,
the honor. the immortality TO come
heard the first echoes of that civiliza-
tion which in after years it was his
proud destiny 10 rule; here he strug.
lied with adversely, and the conflict
prompted that industry, quickened
that energy, stimulated that perseye-
rance and laid the foundation of that
broad and deep, and exhaustless sym.
pathy for which he vas TO become 80
Justly, SO eminently Distinguished
Here be wrestIed with the prevalent
vices of the day, and the conflict puri-
fed his soul and cnnoblod his pur.
poses.
1t is marvellous history and splen-
did eulogy that Abraham Lincoln,
born in indigence upon the frontier,
surrounded by all the vices and temp
tations incident TO early pioneer life,
never profaned his lips with an oath,
nor debased his soul by the use Of
drink; that from poverty, humility
and national insignifcance, by dint Of
his own unaided powers, be rose to fill
and honor the proudest position in the
gift Of the people-to win and wear the
priceless wreath of unsullied glory and
imperishable renown.
In March 1880 Abraham Lincoln
moved to Illinois. Here he left the
paternal roof-tree and began the strug-
gle Of life as common laborer upon
the farm. But it was not the fortune
Of this great man to pursue many years
this obscure and humble, though hon.
orable vocation. As yet he had ac-
complished little for himself and no.
thing for mankind; given only proof Of
that noble recitude ofpurpose, integri-
ty, purity and fidelity which now fur
nish the loveliest flower in the wreath
Of his fame. The evidence of his mas
sive intellect and exhaustless resources,
were but dimly seen in the faint out
groupings Of his solid, irresistible log
ic, inimitable humor, and vigorous ell
oquence. The light-beams Of the sun
were just beginning to penetrate the
midst; the plant was starting out its
roots and spreading its beughs, and
the germ oftbe immortal fruit was yet
scarcely visible; the unhewn block Of
solid, untarnished marble was in the
sculptor's hand, and the outlines Of its
splendid proportions and brilliant pol
ish, to be expanded and intensified
with the march Of years, were but
dawning upon his countrymen.
Mr.. Lincoln's honesty, sobriety and
sincerity early won him earnest and
devoted friendS, and deserved and
lasting popularity. His industry and
application, stimulated alike by ambi-
tion and necessity, gradually expand
ed and illuminated his great MUD
enlarged and FURNISHED every faculty
until it glowed with the constant bril-
liancy of the stars, sand emitted
thoughts as clear and vivid as the
lightnings. His success, however, was
not to be sudden, transient and feeting
as the meteor, but gradual, constant
and permanent as the sun. Gods uni
versal rule and Americas great glory
were both to be vindicated and exem-
plifed in his career. Virtue and an
unswerving fidelity to principle wero
to reap their tardy but sure and just
reward--industry and assiduous ap-
plication-their certain triumph. The
infinite resources and expansive
capabilities of mind--the superb
or advantages of Republican over
Monarchical institutions, were to be
excmplifed in his gradual transmuta-
ton from poverty to riches, from igno-
rance to learning, from public insight
fcance to universal renown.
Mr.. Lincoln entered public life in
1884. A member of the Legislature
for three successive terms, he rendered
his constituents and the State faithful
and valuable services; advanced with
vigor and sincerity all measures hav-
ing in view the public good, and re-
sisted with determination and zeal
all schemes of peculation and fraud.
In 1916 he was elected to Congress,
where he remained but one term; and
then returned with renewed energy to
the practice of that profession, which
he made the business OF his life-which
afforded him the only means ofsubsist-
ence, and in which he had already
achieved much eminence. While Mr..
Lincoln's Congressional career is mark
ed by no event Of special moment, in
it, may be found traces of that fidelity
to principle and to the country, which
so eminently characterizes and distin-
guishes his public life.
Mr.. Lincoln came prominently be.
fore tho country, first in 1854. The
repeal of tho Compromise Act of 1920
-sanctified as it was in the memory
of Union preserved; acquiesced in
for thirty -four years as the final set
tlement of tho slavery question and
sacred ais it was to every patriot in the
land. The arrogance Of the dominant
party in the South-ever aggressive.
and now opening anew the only SUBJ
ect of bitter contention and danger to
the country-thrusting its leprous arm
into the National life; the appalling
iniquities of the Kansas Nebraska bill,
subordinating free institutions to slave;
opening countries once consecrated to