The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-01-28
LEADS ALL M0RTH CAROLINA DAES M NEWS AND G0RGL AT10M
THE PERSONALITY OF LINCOLN
Prof. Basset Thinks He Was the First
Imperialist.


cial.)-The students and people Of the
hill were much instructed and exceed
! ingly entertained last evening by lee
ture by Prof. J. s. Bassett, from Trim
ity College. His lecture was upon The
Personality of Abraham Lincoln"
Throughout his lecture he used illustra-
tons which very aptly conveyed to the
minds of his audience, with the humor,
| the thought which he came to present.
The sketch Of the environment Of Alr.
Lincoln was necessary to show the per-
SOnalty of the man was very striking.
Below | give q short sketch which can
by no means do justice to such an able
discourse:
He said "Lincoln's distinguishing men,
tai characteristic l may call directness.
He thought close to nature in the sense
in which Roman philosophers used the
word nature. He saw thing as it was,
as God might have seen it, perhaps. He
understood it's distant relations, its fu-
ture consequences. To him his political
career was a whole ending at the high
est point Of his ambition and he never
forgot this Had he been otherwise,
had he looked TO the emergency merely,
he would have been United States Sena-
tor perhaps, but not President; or he
would have been a fire-cating abolition
ist like IIovejoy, but he would never
have founded a great political party.
'Lincoln's early environment was the
plainest. There was no free man in
the nation more humbly born: he could
not even assert that lie came Of respect
able parents; no bounty of nature made
him goodly TO look upon; his education
was the most elementary. His taste
in dress and his bearing in company
were characteristic Of the humblest peo-
pie in the world. 1t seemed as if he was
stamped in the mint OF creation with
all the outward marks OF a clout, in
order to remind him forever of his kin
ship with the lowHest. This directness
Of genius and this sympathy with the
masses made him the ideal Democrat.
Mr. Hapgood says with the highest he
never entirely lost the air Of familiarity.
When easily meeting the lowliest it was
with an inalienable dignity"
The speaker then touched upon the
early career Of Lincoln and brought it
up TO the beginning OF the war. Lin
coln," said he was elected by the
North 10 put slavery in n way Of nlti-
mate extinction, and that he meant to
do. He had read the Charleston and
Richmond papers, and feared the
force of the argument that better terms
could be made ont of the Union than
in it and he wrote 10 his friends to make
no bargains that would allow slavery ex-
tension. There IS no possible c0tiffsivir
mise upon il, said he, ''but what puts
us under again and all our work TO
do over again He dio not want war
and wanted a Union man from the South
in his Cabinet. He offered the place to
Gilmer OF North Carolina, but it was
refused. The inaugural address was
anyiously awaited. When it came he
said one thing plainly enough; it said
there must be no disunion. 1t said it
in the spirit of the greatest kindness.
Lincoln was almost alone in this posi-
tion. At first only Cne man in his Cabi-
net Supported him in his desire TO retain
Sumter. Lincoln was a master of poll
tics and set all his skill to work TO
bring the country TO his support in order
to save the Union.
THE great meaning of L;ncoln's lie
was that he stood for nationality. I'VE
are not" said the speaker. eve shall
never be again. just what we We're be-
fore the war. In that struggle We learn
ed a lesson, both the North and the
South. III was the lesson of nationality
which brings US confidence in ourselves
as nation among nations, doing the
work of humanity in the clear eye OF the
Master. My heart fights with Lee.
eXult over Charlottesville and weep
over Gettysburg.s because / am South
erner; but l thank God for Appomattox,
heroic as it was, because | am an Am.
orican. What advantage could
cone 10 us frem saving the Union. Ii
is this: We are better able TO serve
cur turn as teachers of the untaught.
Without Alpomattox there could have
been no Manila Bay. A century hence
EngIish speaking Filipinos and Cubans
will bless name Of him who gave national
ity to America and through that gave
light TO the dark corners of the earth
There are men who doubt our ability
to give this blessing to the world. There
were men in 1861 who doubted the abii-
i,y Of the nation 10 preserve its en-
tirety. 1t was Lincoln who taught them
TO have faith in themselves. Out of
his faith came his slccess. Out Of it
may we'll cone the further faith that
We. his SUCCESSOR, may manage foreign
affairs. and internal affairs at least az
we'll as other nations. His life teaches.
us to stand to cur task in such way
that at the judgment OF nations we shall
not say: i was afraid and hid it in a
nation.