The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-02-13
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S
L0WLY ORIGIN.
The Rev. r. F. Lowe Gave Most Inter
esting Address on Great American
at Hedding Church Last
Evening.

t~1N'cao tN1ttAAaf tOA diltliA
Lincoln, the First American" Mr.. Lowe
in opening said that people might think
that bis subject was rather of secular
nature, but that he did not consider it
50, for one of the things that this
country needs is broad patriotism like
Lincoln's; and he went on to say that
he thought if Lincoln had lived at the
time of Moses and Joshua, there would
have been book of Lincoln in the
Bible. The speaker mentioned the fact
that there was at least one in the
audience who had seen Lincoln.
@The year 1909 was the year which
raarked the birth Of several great men,
notably, Charles Darwin, William Glad.
stone, and Abraham Lincoln. Abraham
Lincoln is, next to George Washington,
the greatest American, and ii the hearts
Of his countrymen stands perhaps first.
He was born in Harding County, Ken
lucky, Feb. 10, 1909 In no way can
his ancestry be called distinguished, al
though his grandfather did serve in the
Revolution. Thomas Lincoln, father Of
the great Lincoln, married Nancy Hanks
and took her TO live in what, out OF
courtesy, has been called a log cabin,
but in reality it was nothing more
than hut with floor Of earth, and
which, il sold at auction, would not
have brought $25.
"Lincoln's early life was bare. every
thing in his home was squalid. No great
man in our history started so low III
the scale Of life, Lineoln's school edu-
cation being limited to less than one
year. Lincoln borrowed from his neigh
bors oil the books he could; among ttem
were the Bible, Shakespeare's works,
Pilgrims Progress, Robinson Crusoe,
Aesop's Fables, and the Life Of Washing
ton. Lincoln read less and thought more
than any other public man. As lad,
he used 10 practice penmanship on birch
bark which he had pealed from trees
in the forest, and in the evening, BY
the light Of a burning pine knot, he
would do sums on the back of a bass
wood shovel, with piece Of charred
wood from the fire place. When the
back Of the shovel was covered, he
would shave it of 2
I.incoln's personal appearance was
not prepossessing. He was unuainly and
awkward, with straight black hair, light
blue eyes and large nose He was
tall and narrow, giving one the impress
sion that be would become the victim
Of consumption, of which disease his
mother died. His arms and legs were
Of unusual length. When lie sat down,
he looked like d common sized man, but
when he stood up, he measured six feet,
four inches. When he was 10 or 20 he
had his first glimpse Of slavery. While
on a trip to New Orleans on a fat
boat loaded with produce for sale, he
saw an auction sale of negroes. That
seemed 10 burn in his brain, and he
said TO his companion TINT if he ever
got a chance he would strike slavery,
and strike hard
Mr.. Lowe went on to tell Of Lincoln's
experience as a store keeper, how he
failed and worked for fifteen years to
pay up debts which if he had not been
SO honest, never would have been paid.
During the time Of his keeping store
he also studied law; he was admitted
to the Illinois bar, and in due course Of
tAtUE N{tlIt JO NC OuE VI NftG 4tAQlilH
lawyers in the state. He did not come
to national notice, however, until 1853,
although he had previous to that date,
served one term in Congress, and eight
terms in the Illinois state legislature.
In 1853, Stephen A. Douglass, senator
from Illinois, came up for reelection.
Lincoln was put up by the newly or
ganized Republican party TO run in OPP
position TO Douglass.
The speaker told how Lincoln lost
the election, but won the admiration
of the whole nation, by his fearless and
powerful speeches II was iii the first
Of these debates with Douglass that
Lincoln opened bis argument with the
famous words: "A house divided against
itself cannot stand; this country cannot
remain half slave and half free, etc
Mr.. Lowe told of Iineoln's coming to
New York, of winning great audiences
to his support BY his powerful speeches;
Of his nomination and election to he
President Of these United States; OF the
outbreak Of the great Civil War: Of
the emancipation Of 100000 slaves,
etc Lincoln was the only man who at
all times during the Civil War, coInpre-
hended the whole situation His was
the master mind that engineered The
whole war. His friends feared lest lie
would not be renominated at the ex
piration OF his term Of Office, but Mr.. |
Lincoln thought nothing about It, and
was renominated A famous Southerner
has said that the South lost its best
friend when Abraham Lincoln was as
sassinated.p
"Lineoln was not an imaginative man,
but he reasoned out every thing. He
always searched for the fundamental
principle Of thing. When he was
practising law, woe be to the opposing
lawyer who did not base his argument
on fact. His reasoning was invincible, |
bis mind was calm, slow and reasonable.
Another great quality Of his mind was
his perception of the great forces In So
ciety. His moral courage was shown in
his debates with Douglass. Besides
these qualities, Mr.. Lowe spoke of his
great tenderness of heart, and his mag
nanimity.
"Mr Lincoln never was a member Of
any church yet, as he grew older, he
became more and more religious. When
one thinks Of his early environment his
religion is wonderful"
Mr. Lincoln died pronouncing bene.
diction on his enemies. The inscription |
~, bio ranr,,tannt raods. sfItTffh tsaalfrn |