Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-01-20


Then he shook hands with me again,
and took him home to dinner.
lNCERSOLL ON LINCOLN.
Strange mingling of mirth and tears, of
the tragic and grotesque, of cap and crown,
Of Socrates and Rabelais, of iEsop and
Marcus Aurelius, of all that is gentle ami
just. humorous and honest, merciful, wise,
laughable, lovable, and divine, and all con-
secrated to the use of man; while through.
all. and over all, on overwhelming sense
of obligation of chivalric loyalty to truth,
and upon all the shadow of the tragic end.
Nearly all the great historic characters
are impossible monsters, disproportioned
by ilattery. or by calumny deformcd. We
know nothing of their peculiarities or
nothing but their peculiarities. About the
roots OF these oaks clings none of the earth
of humanity. Washington is now only
steel engraving. About the real man who
lived and loved and hated and schemed we
know but little. The glass through which
We look at him is of such high magnifying
power the textures are exceedingly indis-
tinct. Hundreds of people are now en-
gagged in smoothing out the lines of Lin
coins face-forcing all features to the COM
mon mold-so that he may be known, not
as he really was, but, according to their
poor standard as he should have been.
Lincoln was not type. He stands alone
no ancestors. no fellows, and no success
sors. He had the advantage of living in
new country, of social equality. of personal
freedom, Of seeing in the horizon of his
future the perpetual star of hope. He pre-
served his individuality and his self-rc-
spect. He knew and mingled with men of
every kind; and, after all, men are the best
books. He became acquainted with the
ambitions and hopes of the heart, the
means usedto accomplish ends, the springs
of action and the seeds OF thought. He
was familiar with nature, with actual
things. with common facts. He loved and
appreciated the poem of the year, the
drama Of the seasons.
In a new country a man must possess ut
least three virtues-honesty, courage, and
generosity. In cultivated society cultiva-
ton is often more important than soil. A
we'll executed counterfeit passes more
readily than blurred genuine. It is
necessary only to observe the unwritten
laws of society-to be honest enough to
keep out of prison. and generous enough
10 subscribe in public-wllere tie sub
scription can be defended as an invest
ment. In a new country, character is es-
sentinl; in the old, reputation is sufficient.
In the new, they find what a man really is;
in the old, he generally passes for what he
resembles. People separated only by dis
lance are much nearer together than those
divided by the walls of caste.
1t is no advantage to live in great city,
where poverty degrades and failure brings
despair. The fields are lovelier than paved
streets, and the great forest than walls of
brick. Oaks and elms are more poetic than
steeplcs and chimneys. In the country is
rising and setting sun; you become &C
quainted with the stars and clouds. The
consultations are your friends. You hear
the rain On the roof and listen to the
rhythmic signing of the winds. You are
thrilled by the resurre ction called spring,
touched and saddened by autumn, the
grace and poetry of death. Every field is
a picture, a landscapes; every landscape a
poem; every flower a tender thought; and
every forest fairy-land. In the country
you preserve your identity-your person
atty. There you are an aggregation of
atoms, but in the city YOU are only an atom
of an aggregation.
Lincoln never finished his education. 10
the night of his death he was pupil
learner. an inquirer, a seeker after knowl-
edge. You have no idea how many men
are spoiled by what is called education.
For the most part, colleges are places
where pebbles are polished and diamonds
are dimmed. If Shakespeare had graduated
at Oxford, he might have been quibbling
attorney or a hypocritical parson.
Lincoln was many-sided man. ac-
uuainted with smiles and tears, complex in
brain, single in heart, direct as light; and
his words, candid as mirrors, gave the per-
feet image of his thought. He was never
afraid to ask-never too digniied to admit
that he did not know. No man had keener
wit or kinder humor. He was not solemn.
Solemnity is mask worn by ignorance
and hypocrisy-it is the preface, prologue,
and index to the cunning or the stupid.
He was natural in his life and thought
master of the story-teller's art, in illustra-
ton APT, in application perfect, liberal in
speech. shocking Pharisees, and prudes,
using any word that wit could disinfect.
He was logician. Logic is the neces-
sary product of intelligence and sincerity.
It cannot be learned 1t is the child of q
clear head and good heart. He was can
did, and with candor often deceived the
deceitful. He had intellect without AFRO
gance. genius without pride, and religion |
without cant-that Is TO say, ~ltlout plgotry
and without deceit.
He was an orator-clear, sincere, natural. |
He did not pretend He did not say what
he thought others thought, but what he |
thought. If you wish to be sublime you
mnst be natural--you must keep close to |
the grass. You must sit by the fireside OF |
the heart: above the clouds it is too cold.
You must be simple in your speech; too
much polish suggests insincerity. The great
orator idealizes the real, transtigures the
common. makes even the inanimate throb
and thrill, fills the gallery of the magma
ton with statues and pictures perfect IN
form and color, brings 10 light the gold
io.udad nv ,nemory-the miser shows the