The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-02-10

~ lected as repre-
senting the views of the poetic philoso-
pher, the frank and dispassionate for.
eigner and the equally candid political
foeman. Ralph Waldo Emerson's
thoughts were spoken April 10, 1866,
at the funeral services held in Concord.
After briefly recalling the marvellous
rise Of Lincoln from comparative OBJ.
sourity to worldwide greatness Mr..
Emerson proceeded:
IA plain man of the people, an ex-
traordinary fortune attended him. Lord
Bacon says: Manifest virtues procure
reputation; occult ones, fortune He
offered no shining qualities at the first
encounter; he did not offend by superb
ority. He had face and manner which
disarmed suspicion, which inspired
confidence, which confirmed good will.
He was man without vices. He had q
strong sense Of duty which it was very
easy for him to obey. Then he had what
farmers call a long head; was excellent
in working out the sum for himself; in
arguing his case and convincing you
fairly and firmly. Then it turned out
that he was great worker, had prodi-
gious faculty Of performance worked
easily. A good worker is SO rare every
body has some disabling quality. In a
host Of young men that start together
and promise SO many brilliant leaders
for the next age each fails ON trial-one
by bad health, one by conoeit or by love
Of pleasure, or by lethargy, or by a
hasty temper-each has some disqual-
flying fault that throws him out of the
career. But this man was sound to the
core, cheerful, persistent, all right for
labor, and liked nothing so we'll.
Ellis occupying the chair Of state was
a triumph of the good sense of mankind
and Of the public conscience. This mid
die class country had got middle class
president at last. Yes, in manners,
sympathies, but not in powers, for his
powers were superior. His mind mas
tered the problem of the day, and, as
the problem grew, so did his compre-
hension of it. Rarely was man so fitted
to the event. In the midst of fears and
jealousies, in the Babel of counsels and
parties, this man wrought incessantly
with all his might and all his honesty,
laboring to find what the people wanted,
and how to obtain that. 1t cannot be
said there is any exaggeration Of his
worth. If ever man was fairly tested,
he was. There was no lack of resist
anoe, nor of slander, nor Of ridioule.
"Then, what an occasion was the
whirlwind of the war. Here was place
for no holiday magistrate, no fair
weather sailor; the new pilot was hur-
ried to the helm in tornado. In four
years-four years of battle days-his
endurance, his fertility of resources, his
magnanimity, were sorely tried and
never found wanting. There, by his
courage, his justice, his even temper, his
fertile counsel, his humanity, he stood
heroic figure in the center of he
roio epoch He is the true history of the
American people in his time. Step by
step he walked before themi slow with
their slowness, quiokening his march
to theirs; tia true representative of
this continent; an entirely public man
father Of his country, the pulse Of 90,
600, 900 throbbing in his heart, the
thought of their minds articulated by
his tongue.
A year after the assassination of Lin
coin there appeared in Blackwood's S Ed
inburgh Magazine a critical review Of
the careers of Presidents Andrew Jack
son and Abraham Lincoln. Both were
classed as saviors Of the American
Union. Passing from the discussion of
free trade, protection and notification
as the causes of strife betwixt the Sec
tions, the review enters upon the crisis
which confronted Lincoln in 1861
1T fell to the lot of man very differ
ent from Andrew jackson to wage the
second battle for the preservation of the
Union, on plea more exasperating
than free trade, ON an issue more stu
pendous and on scale of grandeur
which no war between the states in
Jackson's comparatively early time
could possible have equaled. From 1888
to 1860 southern statesmen had been
contemplating, il they had not been
planning, the disruption of the Union.
Northern statesmen were aware of the
fact Some Of them were reoonciled to
it, and others wore resolved to aid in its
contamination. not few of them for
the sake Of the north itself, which they
imagined would be better without south-
ern oompanionship. Time but increased
the bitterness and widened the estrange-
ment of one section against the other.
When secession at last was accom-
plished, the south was prepared at
most points, the north at none, and a
man was at the head of affairs who ON
a hasty or superficial judgment might
have been pronounced singularly in
efficient and unsuited for the task of CO.
eroion which cruel fate had thrust upon
him. Like his great predecessor jackson.
ne was a man of the people, ".,Aoul
culture or manners. Unlike jackson
however, he had the instincts, If not thu
education, of a gentleman; was no row
dy, no drunkard, no profane swearer
but plain, honest, quiet, quaint, goot
man, with no strong will, but with
very strong sense of duty jackson care'
little either for free trade or protection
but he cared very much for the Union
In like manner Abraham Lincoln care
little for the negro or his freedom
though he disliked slavery, but he care
greatly and with his whole heart an
soul for the Union
Pushed on and backed uD by tn