The herald., 1895-07-08
SKETCHES FROM THE LIFE OF LINCOLN

melted and nodded into one, they became,
one III thought, one in will, one In action.
II Lincoln cautiously awaited the full de-
velopment of the last fact in the great
drama before he acted, when longer wait
Ing would be crime, he knew that the
people were determinedly at his back.
Thus, when blow was struck, 1T came
with the unerring aim and power OF bolt
from heaven. A natvyal king, not ruling
men, but lending thefn along the DRIFTS
and trends OF their own tendencies, always
keeping in mind the consent OF tho gov
erned, he developed what the future his
torian will call the sublimest order OF con-
servative craftsmanship.
Whatever of life, vigor. force and power
Of oloquence his peculiar qualities gave
him; whatever there was in fair, man
ly, honest and impartial administration OF
Justice under law to all men at all times;
whatever there was in strongwill In the
right governed by tenderness and mercy;
whatever there was in toll and sublime
patience; whatever there was In these
things or a wise combination Of them,
Lincoln is Justly entitled to in making up
the impartial verdict Of history. These
limit and define him as statesman, as
an orator, as an executive of the nation
and as man. They developed in all the
walks of his life; they wero his law; they
were his nature; they were Abraham Lin
coin.
This long, bony, sad man 1oated down
tho Sangamon river in q frail canoe in tho
spring OF 1881. Like piece of driftwood,
he lodged at last without history,
strange, penniless and alone. In sight Of,
tho capital Of Illinois, in the fatigue Of
daily toll he struggled for the neoessaries
of life. Thirty years later this same pecul-
lar man left the Sangamon river, backed,
by friends, by power, by the patriotic pray
ers of millions Of people, to be the ruler OF
the greatest nation in the world.
Had it not been for his conservative
craftsmanship, his supreme confidence in
the wisdom Of the people, his extreme care
in cropping his way among facts and be-
fore ideas, this nation might have been
two governments today. The low and fee-I
bio circulation Of his blood, his healthfulI
irritability, which responded SO slowly to
tho effects of stimuli, the strength of his
herculean frame, his peculiar organism,
conserving it's force, his sublime patience,
his wonderful endurance, his great hand
and heart, saved this country from divi-.
sion when division meant its irreparablo
ruin.
The central figure of our national his.
tory, the sublime type of our civilization,
posterity, with the record Of his career and
actions before 1t, will decree that, whether
Providence so ordained it or not, Abraham
Lincoln was the man for the hour.
Tribute by Colleague at the Bar.
1.-THE weird and melancholy association
of eloquence and poetry had a strong fas-
cination for Mr.. Lincoln's mind. Taste
full composition, either Of prose or poetry,
which faithfully contrasted the realities of
eternity with the unstable and tickle for
tunes of time, made strong impression
on his mind. In the indulgence of this
melancholy taste it is related Of him that
the poem, Immortality, he knew by rote
and appreciated very highly. He had
strange liking for tho verses, and they
bear q just resemblance to his fortune.
Mr.. Lincoln at the time of his assassina-
tion was encircled by halo Of immortal
glory such as had never before graced the
brow of mortal man. He had driven trea-
son from its capital city, had slept in the
palace of its once proud and defiant but
now vanquished leader and had saved his
country and its accrued glories of three
quarters of century from destruction.
He rode, not with the naughty and imperi-,
Gus brow of an ancient conqueror, but
with the placid complacency of pure pa
triot, through the streets of the political
Babylon of modern times. He had ridden
over battleflelds immortal in history
when, in power at least, he was the lead
er. Having assured the misguided citi-
zens of the south that he meant them no
hovnnd inc 3nv, 70 oin inf nj
the government, he returned buoyant with
hope to the executive mansion where for
four long years he had been held, as it
were, prisoner.
Weary with tho stories of state, he
goes to seek the relaxation of amusement
at the theater; sees the gay crowd as he
passes in; is cheered and graciously smiled
upon by fair women and brave men; be-
holds tho gorgeous paraphernalia of the
stage, the brilliantly lighted scene, the
arched ceiling with it's grotesque and inim-
liable figuring to heighten the effect and
make the occasion one of unalloyed pleas
ure. The hearts of tho people beat in uni
son with his over redeemed and ran
somed land A. pause in the playa faint
pistol shot is heard. No one knows it's
significance save the hellish few who are
in the plot. A wild shrek, such as MUIR
der wrings from the heart of woman, fol-
lows. The proud form of Mr.. Lincoln has
sunk in death. The scene is changed to a
wild confusion such as no poet can de-
scribe, no painter delineate. Well might
the murdered have said and oft repeated:
'Tis the wink Of an eye. tits the draft Of
breath,
From the blossom of health to the paleness of
death,
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the
shroud-
Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proudp"
An interrupted Opera.
Lincoln and host of notables were
present at the old National in Washington
when 'Norma" was given the greatest