The National tribune., 1900-08-16
GRAFTON BY R. W. EMERSON.

Lie 1TSSlCcllJ StOOQ DelOTe us d Iltil VI
the people. He was thoroughly American,
had never crossed the sea, had never been
spoiled by English insularity or French
dissipation; q quiet, native, aboriginal
man, as an acorn from the oak; no aping
of foreigners, no frivolous accomplish
ments, kentuckian born, working on a
farm, a fiatboatman, a Captain in the
Black Hawk war, a country lawyer, a
Representative in the rural Legislature of
nlinois-on such modest foundations the
broad structure of his fame was laid. How
slowly, and yet by happily prepared steps,
he came to his place. ~
A plain man of the people,
extraordinary fortune attended him. -Itrd
Bacon says: Manifest virtues procure
reputation; occult ones, fortune" He
offered no shining qualities at the firstten-
counter; he did not offend by superiority
He had face and manner which disarmed
suspicion, which inspired confidence, which
confirmed good will. He was man with
out vices. He had a strong sense of duty
which it was very easy for him to obey.
Then he had what farmers call long head;
was excellent in working out the sum for
himself; in arguing his case, and con-
vincing you fairly and firmly. Then it
turned out that he was great worker; had
prodigious faculty of performance; wo-ked
easily. a good worker is so rare; everybody
has some disabling quality In 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 conceit or by love of pleasure, or by
lethargy, or by hasty temper-each has
some disquaIfying 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 well.
Then he had a vast good nature, which
made him tolerant and accessible to all;
fair-minded, leaning TO the claim of the
petitioner; affable, and not sensible to the
affiction which the innumerable visits,
paid TO him when President, would have
brought to anyone else. And how this
good nature became a noble humanity, in
many tragic case which the events of the
war brought to him, every one will remem-
Der, and with what increasing tenderness
he dealt, when a whole race was thrown on
his compassion. The poor negro said of
him, on an impressive occasion: "Massa
Linkum am everywhere"
Then his broad good humor, running
easily into jocular talk, in which he de-
lighted, and in which he excelled, was
rich gift to this wise man. 1t enabled him
70 keep his secret, to meet every kind of
man, and every rank in society; TO take off
the edge Of the severest decisions, to mask
his own purpose and sound his companion,
md 10 catch a.,
of every company he addressed. And,
more than all, it is to a man Of severe labor,
In anxious and exhausting crises, the
natural restorative, good as sleep, and is
the protection Of the overdriven brain
against rancor and insanity
He is the author of multitude of good
sayings, so disguised as pleasantries that
1t Is certain they had no reputation at first
but as Jests; and only later, by the very
acceptance and adoption they find in the
mouths OF millions, turn out to be the
wisdom OF the hour. / am sure if this man
had ruled in a period Of less facility of print
ing, he would have become NEUROLOGICAL
in a very few years, like Esop or Pilpay.
or one Of the Seven Wise Masters, by his
fables and proverbs. But the weight and
messages, and speeches, hidden now by
the very closeness Of their application to
the moment, are destined hereafter TO wide
fame. What pregnant definitions; what
unerring common sense; what foresight;
and, on great occasion, what lofty, and.
more than national, what humane tone,
His brief speech at Gettysburg will not
easily be surpassed by words on any re-
corded occasion.
1t cannot be said there is any exaggera-
ton Of his worth. II ever man was fairly
tested, he was. There was no lack of
resistance, nor Of slander, nor of ridicule
The times have allowed no state secrets:
the Nation has been in such a ferment
such multitudeS had to be trusted. that no
secret could be kept. Every door was
aJar, and we knew all that befel
Then, what an occasion was the whirl-
wind Of the war. Here was place for no
holiday magistrate. no fair-weather sailor.
the new pilot WAS hurried 10 the helm i'm n
tornado. In four years,-four wears of
battle-days,- endurance, his fertility
OF resources, his magnanimitv, were soraly
tried and never found wanting. There
by his courage, his justice, his even temper,
his fertile council his humanity, he stood
an heroic figure in the center of an heroic
epoch. He Is the true history of the AIaeri
can people in his time. Step by step he
walked before them; slow with their slow-
true representative of this continent: an
ontirely public man; father of his country.
the pulse of 20,000,00O ihrobbing in his
heart, the thought of their minds articulated
by his tongue.-tEItrdct.l
POEM BY EDWARD ROWLAND SILL.
Were there no crowns on earth.
n lyrl 10