The Portland daily press., 1900-02-13

tns rlRut place.
1t was source Of regret to all present
chat President Virgin Of the club was
unable to be present. owing to illness. In
lis place ex-Pr, sldent Carroll w. Morrill,
made almost graceful and acceptable pre-
siding ofiicsr. 1t was ten o'clock when
Mr.. Morrill, called the company to order
and iraugurated the pest prandial exer-
discs with appropriate rsuarks. Mr.. Nor
rill said:
MR.. MoRRILL'S SPEECH.
Gsntl.msn OF the Lincoln Club and
Friends:
1t Is a misfortune to all present and q
sad disappointment to him that President
Virgin is prevent ID by Illness from pre-
Gliding at this banquet. We all regrst
his absenos and earnestly hops for bis
speedy r.covery. Through his COURTESY
and BY reason OF the extreme modesty OF
your vics-presldents this honor has come
10 me and Is fully apTrscisted. An ox-
president who made his nrst bow % you
ten years ago and for four years presided
at your banqusts certainly lacks tbs sd-
vantage Of novelty, but am sure you
will indulge me while attempt to piteh
the key not3 Of the evening and present
the eloquent gentlemen who ara to ad-
dress you.
To our invited guests and honorary
members we extend a cordial welcome.
and thank them f,r the pains they have
taken to grace this occasion and to unite
with us In q suitable commenioration OF
the anriv srsary OF the birth Of Abraham
Lincoln.
Year by year the glory Of that great
uame br ehtels. Year by year his I'm
psrishaDle fame wakes mors Respondent.
The twelfth If February, like tie ami
yersary of TIE birth OF Washington, Is
10 ~ nj, ~
In many cities tonight exercises simil'r
TO these are being held, tarnest and elo-
Quent men are thinking and talking o,
the life. character, public services and
tragic fate of the great marsyr whose
brain was q temple of wisdom and whote
soul was temple of liberty.
A disting uished American has said;
1.-THE men we honor and the maxims We
lay down in measuring our tavorlfes
show the level and morals OF the times"
High Indeed must be the character and
the morals OF people emuious to honor
with equal reverence Washington, the
rather Of his country and Lincoln, the
pressryer of It's life and liber les.
Why has this man won and retained
such q strong hold upon the growing
affections Of tie people; simpy te'suss
he was as honest and true as he was
great. His was greatness founded upon
the bedrock Sf solid integrity.
Measured by the reoogDized oanons OF
intellectual greatness Abraham Lincoln
was an intellectual prodigy. poor boy
without the advantages OF high rapk,
ample fortune or liberal education, he
became = great ls1yer. n great crater.
q great statesman. . great ruler. Presi
dent of this great Republic, no NOR arch
that ever sat upon q throne could do
him honor.
In his youth his only books were the
Bible, Pilgrims Progress ami the PIsys
of Shakespeare. HIS best teachers were
the silen forests and the stars. He stool
mere than six feet in his stockings before
he saw an English Gramn ar He had sat
as q repfes ,ntIve In TIE Legislature Of his
adopted State before be had learned to
demon;t ate u proposition In geometry.
In spite Of h lack of early advantages
this wonderful. man. long tefore he was
generally known to the public, wa pro-
noanosd By Jssss. sss Cation. dh, BIe's, sl n1d
nois, the geat9st jury lawyer they ever
knew.
As an orator he was ore of the most
eloquent and forceful thai America has
yet produced. HIS public addIeIses con-
tain Eomo OF TIE Rubllmest pasFages In
the English language. At the dedication
Of Gettysburg Cemetery the polished ora
tlon of Edward Everett perhaps the most
consummate orator Of bis generation, did
net excel in beauty OF fentiment, tender
ness Of feeling and splendor of dietion
hastily written on his way from Washing
ton to lhs place of meeting.
AS a master OF the art OF logical writ
ing and sIeaking, he had no superior
His politics arguments in that memora-
bic series ef joint debates with Douglas
are an intellectual marvel; fer oloseness,
compRctness, consistency and strength,
they have never been surpassed, and
rarely equallei.
lis rhetoric was as pure and beautiful
rs his logic was masculins. A pro!e isor
OF rhetoric from Yale College followed
paigning tour In the State Of New York,
took notss Of his speschss and made
them the theme of lectures before his
clasfes.
While we admire A brahan Lincoln for |
the amplitude OF his mind and the versa |
tility OF his intslleet we revere him for |
taose higher qualities which marked hi m
as God S anointsd fundamentally for the |
salvation OF distracted nation.
He came ito public life at the most
exigent period Of our countrJ's history,
psriod destined to t,et the experiment. OF |
our forefathers and to grove that the
Amt rlcan people were oaI able Of sslf-gov- |
erpmsnt, thai church without bishop |
and state without Q king were possible,
that the United States OF America were |
cen eni ed into a Union SO strong that not |
even slavery could permanently sever
thsm. The lurid clouds that had low
cred over his republic for years filing |
the ni1ds OF Webster, Clay and the elder |
ktatesn on with dian al forsbooi logs. had
gaths red in q st t1rm Of terrific violence at
the time Of his inauguration.
No man s nos the days OF the Revolu-
tion had lean called to such post OF
honorous duty. and how sadly and sensi-
bly, he felt i.. To his old friends and
neighb bors who gathered et Springfield to
rid him God spesd on his way to the
Capital he said, ~ know net how soon
shall ses you again. A duty has desolved
upon me er ater tran that which has de-
any other man sinceWashing-
ton" At the capital Of Ohio he said,
without a name. without reason why
should have name, there has fallen
upon me a task such as not rest upon
the father OF his tountry." He measured
the difficult es that teEe. bin aud resc lied