The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1890-02-08
FAME.
The Closing Tribute to the Martyred Presi
dent by Hay and Nicolay.


dent by Hay and Nicolay.
The following are the closing words of
the Life of Lincoln" the final installment
of which appears in the February Century:
Gen. w. L. Sherman has repeatedly ex-
pressed the admiration and surprise with
spondence with his generals, and his opin-
ion of the remarkable correctness OF his
military views. Gen. w. +. Smith says:
81 have long held to the opinion that at
the close of the wal Mr.. Lincoln was the
superior of his generals in his comprehen-
sion of the effect of strategic movements
and the proper method of following up VIC
tories to their legitimate conclusion"
"Gen. j. II. Wilson holds the same opin-
ion; and Col. Robert n. Scott, In whose
most vigorous and best-trained intelleets,
frequently called Mr.. Lincoln the abieSt
strategist of the war;
I these qualifications of high literary
excellence and easy practical mastery OF
affairs of transcendent Importance. we
must add. as an explanation of his immedi,.
ate and worldwide fame. his possession OF
certain moral qualities rarely combined IN
SO high a degree in n individual. His
heart was SO tender that be would dis.
to replace in their nest young birds
which had fallen by the .wayside; he
could not sleep at night II he knew that
a soldier boy was under sentence OF deathI
he could not, even at the bidding of duty
or policy, refuse the prayer of age or help
lessness in distress. Children instinctively
loved him; they never found his rugged
features ugly; his s~ympathies were quick
and seemingly unlimited. de was abso-
lutely without prejudice of class or cOndi-
ton. Frederick Douglass says he was the
only man of distinction he ever met who
never reminded him by word or manner of
his color; he was as Just and generous to
the rich and well-born as to the poor and
humble-a thing rare among politicians.
He was tolerant even of evil; though no
man can ever nave lived with a loftier
scorn of meanness and s~elfishness, he yet
recognized their existence and counted
with them.
"He said one day, with a flash of cynical
wisdom worthy of La Rochefoucanld. that
honest craftsmanship was the employment
OF individual meanneeS Tor the public good.
He never asked perfection of any one; he
did not even insist for others upon the high
standards he set up for himself. At "a time
before the word was invented he was the
first of opportunists. With the fire of a re-
former and a martyr III his heart he yet
proceeded by the way of cautious and
practical statecraft. He always worked
with things as they were, while never
relinQuishing the desire and effort to make
them better. To a hope which saw the
delectable mountains of absolute justice
and peace in the future, to a faith that Coo
in His own time would give to all men the
IN Nittft w thOAIs A. s0oD1 "
charity which embraced III It's deep bosom
all the good and the bad. all the virtues
and iniirmities of men. and a patience like
That OF nature, which IN Its vast and fruit
ful activity knows neither haste nor rest.
"A character like this is among the
precious heirlooms of the Republic; and by
IA special good fortune every part of the
country has an equal claim and pride in il.
Lincoln's blood came from the veins of New
England ernigrants. of Middle State
Quakers, OF Virginia planters, OF Kentucky
pioneers: he himself was one of the men
who gre up with the earliest growth of
the great West. Every jewel of his mind
or his conduct sheds radiance on each por-
ton of the Nation. The marvellous SYM
metry and balance of his intel and
character may have owed something To
this varied environment of his race. and
they may iitly typify the variety and solid
ity of the Republic. 1t may not be unrea-
sonable 10 hope that his name and his re-
nown may be forever "a bond of union to
the country which he loved with an affec-
ton so impartial, and served-in life and
in death-with such entire devotion"