Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-17

Abraham Lincoln The other day I was
rereading-on the suggestion of Mr.. Hay-a
little speech not often quoted of his, yet
which seems to me one of the most remark
BILE that he ever made, delivered right
after his reelection I think, to body Of
serenaders who had tcome, if my memory is
correct, from Baltimore. or Maryland, and
called for an address from him from the
White House. 1t is extraordinary to read
that speech, and to realize that the man
who made 1t had just come successfully
through a great political contest in which
he felt that so much was at stake for the
ma ton that he had no time to think whether
or not anything was at stake for him him
self The speech is devoid of the least
shade of bitterness There is not word
of unseemly triumph over those who have
been defeated There is not a word of
Qualification of himself in any improper
sense of his party. There is earnest APP
peal, now that the election is over, now
that the civic strife has been completed,
for all decent men who love the country to
join together in service to the country; and
in the speech he uses thoroughly Lincoln
like phrase when he says, Il have not will
ingy planted thorn in the breast of any
man. thus trying to make clear that he
has nothing to say against any opponent,
no bitterness toward any opponent; that
all he wished was that those who opposed
him should join with those who favored
him in working toward a common end.
1t would be trite to say anything about
Lincoln, and yet am going to point to one
thing: In reading his works and speeches,
his addresses, one is struck by the fact
that as he went higher and higher all
personal bitterness seemed to die out of
him. In the Lincoln-Douglas debates one
can still catch now and then note of
personal antagonism The man was In the
arena and as the blows We're given and
taken you could see now and then that he
had a feeling against his antagonist. When
he became President and faced the crisis
that he had to face from that time on
do, NOT N a
sion a speech of Lincoln S, a word OF LIN
coins. written or spoken, IN which bitter
ness is shown to any man. His devotion
to the cause was SO great that he neither
could nor would have feeling against any
individual.
In closing. Mr. Justice, let me say, in
thanking you of this church, the church so
closely kindred to my own Dutch Reformed
Church. in thanking you for asking me
here, let me say how peculiarly glad am
that in the chair sits one man, justice of
the Supreme Court and that l could be
escorted here by another man, who has
lust severed his connection from one of the
highest places in the United states army,
both of whom-you. Justice Harlan; you,
General Brecknrdge-both of whom had
enioved the wonderful privilege of proving
by their deeds the faith that was in them
in the days that tried mems souls; both of
whom did their part in holding up the hands
of mighty Lincoln and both of whom were
born in the state of Lincoln's birth
The President was frequently applauded.
Secretary Hay Introduced.
Secretary Hay was then introduced by
Jnstice Harlan in the following words:
.No higher praise could be given to man
a hundred years ago than to say that he
enioyed the confidence and faith of the
father of his country. No higher praise
can be given to a man today than to say
that he enjoyed the confidence and faith of
the savior of his country. l allude, of
course, to our distinguished Secretary Of
State who was once the private secretary
of Lincoln No man has stood closer to
Lincoln than Secretary Hay. l hope that
he will speak from, his place, where he
often sat with the martyred President"
Secretary Hay spoke as follows:
Mr.. President, ladies and gentlemen: l
could not find it in ImyEheart TO keep you
by any words of mine, but l thought you
would like to listen to some words of his
spoken in this city many years ago-words
of that great man to whom Justice Harlan
has lust referred. Itais true that / have
sat here beside him-often. Some of you
can share with me the memories this place
and occa sion arouse. And there is one thing
we all should never forget, that Abraham
Lincoln was one of the most faithful and
devoted servants of Almighty God who ever
sat in high places. When he stood on the
rear platform of the car that was about to
bear him from his home to the capital of
the nation he spoke To his people, ac
knowledging his dependence on God, and
asked their prayers. And from that time on
he again and again decllred his faith in Dr.
vine Providence. In 1852 in addressing a
Presbyterian committee that had called on
| him, he said: From the very beginning 1
saw that the issue of our struggle depended
| on the interposition of God Later he said
| to a committee from a Methodist con-
| ference: God bless the Methodist Church;
| God bless all our churches
The Secretary of State ended his brief
| remarks by reading a short extract from
| what he called a meditation written by
President Lincoln in September. 1862, which
| the Secretary declared showed the awful
| sincerity of the man. The passage was to
| the effect that the writer trusted the out
! come of the civil conflict to God realizing
| it must progress according to the Divine
! will and come to an end only at Gods de-
| cree.
Closing Remarks.
| When Mr.. Hay had resumed his sea-.
| Justice Harlan thanked him for his re-