The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1892-06-16
LfscoLN's IDEAS AND oRAToRy.

Mr.. Lincoln entertained advanced
thoughts and opinions upon oil
worthy topics Of public concern; In.
deed his opinions were In advance,
usually, OF his acts a. . public man.
This 10 but another mode of stating
the truth that he possessed the fac
ulty OF foreseeing the course Of
public opinions faculty essential
to statesmen In popular govern.
ments.
In 1853, In Q campaign letter, he
said: II 20 for all sharing the
privileges Of the government who
assist In bearing Its burdens. Con-
sequently, l go for admitting ell
whites to the right or suffrage who
pay taxes or bear arms, by no means
excluding females"
In 1854 he said: Labor 10 prior
TO and independent of capital. Capt.
tai 10 only the fruit Of labor aud
could never have existed II labor
had not existed. Labor IL the sup
port Of capital and deserves much
the higher consideration.
In April Of the same year he said:
81 am naturally anti-slavery. IL
slavery Ii not wrong nothing IL
wrong. 1 can not remember when l
did not SO feel and think" In his
last public utterance he declared
himself In favor Of extending the
elective franchise to colored men.
Thus he died without one limita-
ton In his expressed opinions OF the
rights of men which historian or
eulogist will desire 10 suppress or
crafty. 1t 10 TO be further said Of
this many sided man, and most
opulept In resources, that he takes
rank with the first Iogicians and
orators Of every age. His mastery
over Douglas In the debate Of 1865
was complete. While president,
and by successive letters, he effect
ualIy repealed the attacks aud
silenced the criticisms Of the New
York committee, of which Erastus
Corning was the head, that con-
demned illegal arrests and the sus-
pension of the writ of habess corpus
Of the union committee OF the state
OF Illinois, that proposed to save the
union IL slavery could be saved with
IL; OF the democratic convention Of
Luc etbtc vi ouio tuht uCuouhCCu thC
arrest OF Nallandighsm, and Of
Horace Greeley himself when he
complained Of the policy the presi.
dent seemed to be pursuing on the
subject Of emancipation.
AS approach my conclusion i ask
o judgment Of Mr.. Lincoln, not as
o competitor Of Mr.. Douglas for q
seat In the senate Of the United
States but as q competitor for fame
with the orators Of this or any other
country Of this or any other ages.
In support of this I quote the clos |
ing paragraph Of his first speech In
the canvass Of 1858: "Our cause, |
then, must be intrusted TO and con-
Quoted by Its own undoubted friends,
those whose hands are free, whose
hearts are i'm the work, who do not |
care for the result. Two years ago |
the Republicans of the nation mus
tered over 300, 900 strong. We did |
this under the single impulse Of re-
to q common danger, with /
every external circumstance against |
US. or strange discordant, and even
hostile elements we gather from the
four winds and formed aud fought
the battle through under the con-
slant. hot fire Of disciplined, proud,
and pampered enemy. Did we brave
all these to falter now? Now, when
that same enemy In wavering, dis
severed, and belligerent? The re-
suit IL not doubtful. We shall not
fall; IL we stand firm we shall not
fail. Wise coupsels may accelerate
Or mistake delay 1t, but sooner or
later the victory 10 sure to come"
We remember his simple, earnest,
persuasive appeals to the south In
his first inaugural address. At the
end he says: al am loath to close.
We are not enmies, but friends. We
must not be enemies. Though pas
sions may have strained, IL must
not break our bonds OF affection.
The mystic chords OF memory,
from every battlefield and
patriot grave to every living heart
and hesrthstonss all over this broad
and, will yet swell the chorus Of the
union when again touched, a. surely
hey will be, by the better angels Of
bur nature" There is nothing else
IN plaintive literature to be compared
with this. 1t combines the elo-
luence OF the orator with the ina
gerry Of the poet.
But the three great papers on
which lLincoln's fame will be car
lied along the ages are the procla-
nation of emancipation, his Grafton
It Gettysburg and his second inaug-
lral address. The Grafton ranks
with the noblest productions Of
with the works Of Pericles,
" Demosthenes, OF Cicero. and
'ivals the finest passages Of Grattan,
Burk or Webster. This 10 not the
opinion Of Americans only, but Of
he cultivated in other countries
whose judgment anticipates the
Judgment Of posterity.
When we consider the place, the
occasion, the man, and, more than
III, when we consider the grafton
tself, can we doubt that II ranks
With the first Of American classics?
That literature IL immortal which
Q permanent place In the
chools OF our country, and 10 there
my composition more certain OF
hat destiny than Lincoln's grafton |