Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-05-31
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stands second only to Washington in
the hearts of his countrymen. The
manliness of his character, the hon
esty of his purpose, the sincerity of
his motives, the noblenesS of his
heart, and his self-sacrificing devo-
ton to the Union won for this great
American, the love and reverence of
the high and the lowly, of the proud
poor alike. So favorably was he
known and so universally was he adj
mired wherever liberty was cherished
and civilization prevailed that the
whole earth became willing pedestal
to his fame
There are men who now and then
step out from the shadows of the cen
turtles and tower above their fellows
like mountain peaks above the ranges,
whose lives mark epochs in the
worlds progress. They do not come
from high-titled parentage. nor from
purpled hereditary dignitaries: they
come up from natures wilderness, I'M
heralded and unknown until their
genius or power or strength or great
ness flashes meteor-like across the
horizon that bounds the vision of the
human race. Such We're Homer and
Shakespeare. Such were Michael
Angelo and Noltaire. Such We're Ma
homet and Martin Luther. Such were
Cromwell and Napoleon. Such was
Moses, and such was the American
colossus, Abraham Lincoln. When
he came it was as though God had
said, Let there be light, and there
was light
When Washington battled for the
liberties and the independence of the
colonies, there were the lights of the
revolutionary camp fires to kindle pa
tliotism in the hearts of the people.
When he sat in the presidential chair
his wisdom, aided by the genius of
Hamilton. gave to the nation fed
-sra1zssor7scter whose splendor shed
c7.t France saw, and England
admired. Then followed the forest
fires of discussion and dissention, and
from thence the descent into dark
ness. Now and then, in emergencies,
the light of strong federal senti-
ment touched the hearts of the people,
and the country rose again to the
dignity of nation. So it was during
the war of 1872. So it was when I'M
der threatening circumstances the
Monroe doctrine was proclaimed. So
1t was in the north when Webster
made that mastery reply to Hayne.
But the country degenerated again in
to the gloomy period of a fragile COM
pact between states.
Then began still darker period
the period of the contest of human
slavery against human freedom. of
slave labor against free labor Henry
Clay. by his resistless eloquence and
overmastering personality might APP
pease by compromises and irreconcil-
able conditions that threw themselves
across the pathway of conservative
craftsmanship; but the agitation
would not down. Out of Kansas came
John Brown, whose figure stands forth
as unique in the annals of America,
as does that of Savonarola in Italy
and Joan of Arc in France, and
whose voice was as the voice of one
crying in the wilderness; and what he
said was true. When he flung his
life away at Harper's Ferry, like Win-
kelreid of old, he gathered to his
breast the spears of the slave owners
and the cry of abolition rose to a
roar The life of the nation was in
the darkest peril Then it was that
the light of the wisdom of the i'm
mortal Lincoln broke over the land.
"One of the strongest tests of Lin
coins greatness was his courage pub
licly to express and rigidly to adhere
to his earnest convictions of political
truth and Justice In his speech at
Independence Hall, in the city of Phil
adelphia, made at a time when he be-
lieved, and the whole north believed,
that his life was threatened because
of his political opinions. he said that
he would rather be asSaSsinated where
he stood than surrender the sentiment
in the Declaration of independence
which gave liberty to the country and
hope to the world
He was prompted by no less of
courage when, during his campaign
for the United States senate in the
state of illinois he said "A house di-
vided against itself cannot stand. l
believe this government cannot per-
manently endure half free and half
slave. / do not expect the house to
fall; but ] do expect it will cease to
be divided
What Lincoln then said. thousands
of men believed. and hundreds of men
must have thought before, but they
dared not say it. Jefferson must have
1ieved that Clay must have be-
lieved that. Webster and Benton
must have believed that But, falter-
ing between compromises and pallia-
ton they did not have the courage
to say it. Abraham Lincolns closest
personal friends advised him not to
say it. But he declared it must be
said. and he did say it. When he said
ii. he endangered his chances for a
seat in the United States senate but,
losing the toga of senator he won
the laurel wreath of glory and mar
tyrdom in the chief magistrates chair
OF the nation
"A French writer has said. Lib
erty is the first aspiration of youth,
as well as the sublime invocation of
old age Abraham Lincoln got his
first impression of the value of lib
erty when in his boyhood days as "a
flatboatman he went TO the city of
New Orleans. There he say family
of slaves separated ai8 I'D at ,auc-
e. l,SN,, ,.l 4.
say, My heart bled at seeing that fam