The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1896-04-16
LINCOLN AND HIS 6ABINET
A Lecture Delivered on Tuesday
March 10th, by G. A. Dana
of New York.
CONTINUED.

| made speech of perhaps forty or nifty lines
Everett's is the speech of a scholar, polished
| to the last possibility. It is elegant and it il
| learned: but Lincolns speech will be reaC
by thousand men where one reads Ever
etts. and will be remembered as long a.
anybodys speeches are remembered who
speaks in the English language"
That was the truth. If you will take those
two speeches now. you will get an idea nov
superior genius is to education: how superior
that intellectual faculty which sees the vi
tally of question and knows how to state
| it, how superior that intellectual faculty /:
| which regards everything with the fire o.
earnestness in the soul, with the relentless
purpose of a heart devoted to objects beyond
literature.
| Another remarkable popularity of Mr.
Lincoln was that he seemed to have no illu
sions. He had no freakish notions thai
things were so or might be so, when they
were not So All his thinking and all his
reasoning, all his mind. in short, was based
continually upon actual facts and upon facts
of which, as I said, he saw the essence.
never heard him say anything that was moi
so. never heard him foretell things. He
| told what they were. But 1 never heard him
| intimate that such and such consequences
| were likely to happen, without the conse-
quences following. l should say, perhaps
that his greatest quality was wisdom. And
that is something superior to talent, super
ior to education. do not think it can be &C
quired. He had it. He was wise; he was
not mistaken: he saw things as they were.
All the advice that he gave was wise. 1t was
judicious; and it was always timely. This
wisdom, it is scarcely necessary to add, had
its animating philosophy in his own famous
words: with charity toward all; with NAL
ice toward none" Or to afford a more ex-
tended illustration, let me quote from NiCo-
lay and History the main part of his most
admirable letter of August %, 1862, to Hor-
ace Greeley:
'If there be those who would not save the
Union unless they could at the same time
save slavery, do not agree with them. If
there be those who would not save the Union
unless at the same time they could destroy
slavery 1 do not agree wish them. My para
mount object in this struggle is to save the
Union, and is not either to save or destroy
slavery. If I could save the Union without
freeing any slave 1 would do it; and if
could save it by freeing all the slaves 1 would
do it; and if could save it by freeing some
and leaving others alone, 1 would also do
that. What do about slavery and the col
ored race, do because 1 believe it helps to
save the Union; and what l forbear, I for
bear because do not believe it would help
to save the Union. shall do less whenever
I shall believe what I am doing hurts the
cause, and do more whenever shall believe
doing more helps the cause l shall. try to
correct errors when shown to be errors, and
l shall adopt new views so fast as they shall
appear to be true views. 1 have here stated
my purpose according to my view Of official
duty; and intend no modification of my oft
expressed personal wish that all men every
where could be free.
Another remarkable quality was his per-
sonal kindness. He was kind at heart not
say an unkind thing about anybody. Now
and then he would laugh at something jocose
or satirical that somebody had done or said,
but it was always pleasant humor. noticed
his sweetness of nature particularly with
his little son, child at that time perhaps
six or eight years old, who used to roam the
departments, and whom everybody called
Tad. He had defective palate and couldn't
speak very plainly. Often have sat by his
father reporting to him about some import
ant matter that had been ordered to inquire
into, and he would have this boy on his knee;
and, while he would perfectly understand
the report the striking thing about him was
his affection for the child. He was good to
everybody. Once there was a gathering at
the White House on New Years Day, and all
the diplOmatistS came in their uniforms, and
all the officers of the army and navy in
Washington were in full costume A little
girl of mine said: Papa, couldn't you take
me over to see that" 1 said yes; so took
her over, and put her in a corner where she
finished, 1 went up to Mr.. Lincoln and said:
II have little girl here who wants to shake
hands with you" He went over to her and
took her up and kissed her and talked to her.
She will never forget it if she lives to be a
thousand years old That was the nature of
the man. I must tell another story to il
luStrate the same point.
Whenever an important campaign Of the
armies began, Mr.. Lincoln liked to send me,
because when I went with my newspaper
experience, he got clear report of every
thing that happened The Generals didn't
like to sit down, after fighting all day, and
write report, and they were always glad
to have me come to them. Well when Gen.
Grant went out for the campaign in the Will
derness-that was the last great campaign
which ended in the surrender of Richmond
for two days we had no reports. One even
ing got a message to come TO the War De-
partment. There found the President and
Mr.. Stanton. Lincoln said: "We are troubled
about this business down in the Wilderness.
We don't know what is going on. would like
you to go down. said: Certainly"
How soon can you be ready?". said he. I
told him that it would take twenty minutes
to go home and change my clothes and get
the things wanted to take. get my horse
saddled, and 20 minutes more to get a train.
Besides an escort was necessary.
Well said he, you are willing to go:"
why, yes I said, II am delighted. I
want to see it." So I went and ordered a
train got my things all ready, and got an es-
cort provided to defend the train after we
had got beyond our lines, and then went
down and got into car. Somehow, we did
mt start, and presently there came man on
horseback, who said to me: "The President
wants you at the War Department" So I
rode back to the War Department and there