Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1895-04-13

dent-never such ruler US Abraham
Lincoln. He did not represent
hereditary privileges, for he came
from the plainest Of the plain people
he did not represent heredity, for he
had mono; he did not represent the
colleges or the universities, for he
knew them not; he did not represent
capital and great accumulations. for
no had neither; but he did represent
tho toiler upon the farm, in the
workshop, upon the highway, In the
factory, anywhere, everywhere whore
honest men and honest women were
striving to better their conditions
and to illustrate the dignity Of labor
and the nobility OF American citizen.
ship.
"Lincoln knew nothing OF the dig.
Nifty, 90 far as II Is expressed In man.
ner and dress, which belongs to high
station. The instructive sense Of
propriety and consciousness OF supe.
riority and greatness which hedged
Washington was absent in him. The
test Of greatness Is the wearing OF the
halo. It destroyed Napoleon, II
ruined two.thirds Of the generals In
the war, 1t has driven great and little
politicians, from the commencemen mt
OF our republic until now into OBJ
security. But Lincoln was never
troubled as to the size Of his head.
He never overestimated nor underes-
timated who he was. what he was,
nor what no represented. He never
forgot where he came from and never
lost sight OF tho fact that except by
the accident Of position no was Meth.
or better nor worse than those who
placed him In the presidential chair.
He possessed what no other ruler
ever did; or. II he did, no other ruler
ever dared to use, the power OF hu.
NOR.
when Mr.. Lincoln came to Wash.
ington he was unknown to the great
leaders OF his party. He had the
courage, which only very great man
can have, Of summoning them oil
into his cabinet. This Illinois law.
yer, orator and statesman called to
his aid the men who had demon.
strated In tho Senate, In the House
and In the courts that they were the
leaders OF men. In less than II year
overy one OF those great leaders recog-
nized;that In Abraham Lincoln he was
in the presence Of his chief and
superior.
mo petitioner for mercy ever left
Lincoln with his petition not granted.
It was impossible for him to ap-
prove q death warrant. To the father
pleading for his son he gave a respite
and when the father wanted some
thing more his answer was: III
your boy lives till that sentence Il
carried out he will be so old that
the world will think Methuselat
was q baby in years when he
died.
"He was first. last and all The
time an American f; an American
when Napoleon, invading Mexico
would have broken up the Union; ar
American when Great Britain woulG
have interfered for the purpose o
destroying the republic, because, ai
Lord Salisbury said, wo kept shol
and were her rivals In business; al
American In his earnest devotion t.
the Union and the constitution, al
American In his love OF liberty, al
American In his belief that within
the borders OF the United State
should be manufactured ell that tn
people OF the United States might re
quire for themselves. He loved tn
Union above all things. He was til
representative OF the cult which wa
started by Daniel Webster. Tn
world little knows what it owes t
that brain. The Union one and In
separable, now and forever was tn
inspiration OF the schools. 1t create
O mighty wave OF unreasoning VOL
ship Of the Union. Lincoln absorbe
1t, Lincoln understood 1t. In his II
augural address - the first one -
was the Union; In his inaugural az
dress-the second one--it was til
Union; In all his letters and speecht
1t was the Union. 1t was the Unto
with slavery, or the Union withor
slavery; but always the Union Of til
States,