The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1903-02-27

e.
impossible for him to be honored by the
men of the South, because he represent
"a 10 them the opposition to their own
theories moulded into the person Of one
man. Likewise. those who were on
his side were t'o near 10 him 70 be alto
gether free from unfavOiable impres -
ions ofawkWarduess levity, and n SEEM
iprly unframed past 1t is very sell
dom that great general appears great
10 bis own valet; for the simple reason
that the valet knows the f0ibles of his
master. and is not great enough to I'M
derstand bis greatness. We are near
ing four decades since LincOln's life
went ont, and each year sees luminosity
towards Lincoln disappearing where
be was once hated; while those who
appreciated him in the past grow more
10 reverence the rugged nobility and
pure uuselfishness of the man in time
when even patriots" were making for
tunes out Of the agony and throes OF
their native land Within a month
Congressman Hit has told Of some OF
these money-making scandals, aud how
the reports Of them were suppressed
for fear of bad effects upon people
rent with fratricidal hate.
Looking back with calmer feeling,
the South now realizes that its own
hope Of growth, prosperity, and person
al betterment, never lay in the direction
Of slave labor. She now sees as clearly
as the North that the strength of a
nation does not rest in the hands Of the
arstocrstic few, but is safe only when
il dwells in the hearts of the many.
selfsuficient, not dependent; self-cOn-
fdent, not parasitic.
The Southland feels that its own
young men, living in "a day when to
labor is no shame, are themselves bet
ter, stronger, cleaner, nobler, because
they are no longer surrounded by the
atmosphere Of helpless dependents to
whom the favor Of the master was
much, ard who from their very position
toward the master eneryated him and
set him aside from successful share in the
rush and the push of empire-conQuest
thatthrlled the nation fifty years ago.
The southern man, dependent upon
the hands Of his slaves, is now seen to
have been unequal 10 cope with the
man dependent only upon the hands
that God gave him, and that which
they could wrest from unwilling
Nature.
The war Of 81 had to be. 1t is only
drastic treatment that will drive dis
ease germs from the body. The slave
was in our body polite, q germ of
national weakness. He stood as a
hindrsnce when our nation wished to
take its place in the line of all progress
i've nations yet, as with insidious dis
ease, those who suffered most from
him appreciated least the harm that
he was doing. Their views and the
views Of those who disagreed with them
were irreconcilable, and could alone be
changed by a test Of strength.
Il was at the moment when volcanic
forces rent the country asunder that, as
ever in the histories Of great people,
the man for the hour was found when
the hour struck. For our nation that
man was Lincoln, coming to his task
redolent Of the soil, fresh from the
backwOOds where there was no diplo-
macy but right, trained in a pioneer
school Of strenuous life where selfgain
was the last thought and right doing a
passion. His head lowered high over
the business and narrOwness Of smaller
men, AID his eye looked forward %
the end almost like prophet Of Fate.
No small man, no mere politician,
no self-seeker who dared for q moment
to turn aside, would have done for the
task. Both North and South now see
this, and both North and South join in
acclaiming Lincoln, not merely as a
great President for in that thought turks
unpleasant history, but as a true Am
erlcan whose heart loved his whole
country, both North and South.
We believe that as Washington car
ried nation in his arms for eight
years, that as Lincoln, with the kindly
cruelty Of surgeon excise a destructive
cancer in his years Of power, so there
shall ever rise In the providence Of the
Father Of nations the strong man for
the great problem whenever in the
future it shall confront our nation.
LINCOLN.
Once more Columbia calls.
Fling wide the portals
Enter the silent halls
Ofthe immortalsi
not ours the splendor spread
Nestmeh. and jewel
Irappings ofregal dead,
Gorgeous and cruel.
Simple our laural wreath,
Plain our Oblation
A. he who sleeps beneath,
Type ofour nation.
Free Of the free begot
Meath Freedoms charter
Lioertys patriot,
Liberty martyr.
SUI shall our country be-
BY bis lfe bettered,
Perfect in unity,
strong and unfottcrcd.
HaIrrF D.. tt..t ftr. ..tf.t d..