The San Francisco call., 1906-07-05

ne mas done 1t is pretty sure PROOF tnal
he ought TO have done 1t little differ
emily. and so as regards most OF what
have done 1 must let 1t speak for It
self.
TAKES TEXT FROM LINCOLN.
But there are two or three things
about which i want TO talk to you to-
day. and if in the presence OF dominies
may venture to speak from text, 1
shall take as my text the words OF
Abraham Lincoln which he spoke In q
remarkable little address delivered to a
band of people who were surrounding
him at the White House just after his
reelection to the Presidency. He said
Q quote from memory only): In any
great national trial hereafter the men
of that day as compared with those or
this will be as weak and as strong, as
silly and as wise, as bad and as good.
Let US therefore study the incidents OF
this philosophy to learn wisdom, and
not as wrongs to be avenged and he
added later In the speech touching
and characteristic expression OF his,
saying, so long as have been here I
have not willingly planted thorn In
any mans breast
mo, friends; remember that Lincoln
faced the greatest crisis that this ma
tfon has seen since the Revolutionary
war, as great a crisis as the nation can
ever idCe, AOT II was q CTisiS WuACt1f
cordiDg to the result, meant national
life or national death. and yet with all
his firm resolution of purpose, with all
the unbending strength OF his Will, with
all the deep-seated intensity and sin
certify of belief which alone could have
borne him UP through the trials such
as those had to face. 1t was yet possible
for him to say with entire truth that he
bore no malice even toward those who
had gone hopelessly wrong; that while
endeavoring to ruthlessly cut out the
evil he yet did his work without hatred
TO the doer of the evil; that while
never for one moment binding himself
to the truth, to the philosophy of what
was round about him, he yet did not
treat anything that was done against
him as a wrong to be avenged. He
treated the wrong as calling Tor a
remedy, not as calling for vengeance
"CALLs DOWN. AN AUDITOR.
ut Is in just that spirit that we as
a nation, if we possess the power Of
learning Alright the lessons to be
taught us by Lincoln's life, will ap-
proach our problems of to-day. We
have not got the same problems, not as
great problems as those with which the
men of Lincoln's generation. Were
brought face to face, and yet our
problems are real and great. and upon
the way in which we solve them will
depend whether or not our children
have cause to feel pride or shame as
American citizens. II Lincoln and the
men of his generation. the men who
followed Grant in the field. the men
who upheld the statesmanship of Lin
coin himself in the council chamber.
If these men had not done their full
duty, not a man here would carry his
head high as an American citizen"
Heart hearr came from the as
sembled crowd
"Win you stop talking over there" :"
calculated the President. pointing TO a
distant carriage in which some persons
were talking.
rs he deaf?" he added. as the con-
versation continued.
Wen make him dumb also"
Uaughter.)
Thank YOU" added the President
as the annoyance ceased.
Now any work done by any man
must largely have it's influence. not
upon the life of that man. but upon the
lives Of those coming after him; and
just as this was true of the man OF
Lincoln's generation, so il will be true
of those that follow US. We who did
not fight in the Civil War have reaped
the immeasurable benefit of the cour-
age and self-devotion OF those who did
fight. Had the grapes that passed the
Presidents lips been sour the world
would have been set on edge Had
these men been towards our heads
would be bowed in shame So if we OF
this generation do our duty when face
to face with our special industrial,
social and political problems, our chill
dren and childrens children shall be
the better for it. If we fail in our
duty, If you men here of middle life.
you men with children, if you fail in
your duty, by just so much do you
add to the weight of the burdens that
your children shall bear.
HONESTY AND COURAGE.
Our duty, first of all, calls of course
for the qualities of honesty and cour-
age. / use honesty in the broadcast
sense, honesty in the sense of disin-
terested devotion to what Is right, dis
Interested devotion to the ideals of our
national life. If we have not these
qualities first then all else shall avail
us little.
IN 1861 the first qualities necessary
were the qualities of the heart which
made the citizen resolute when at the
cost of his own life the Union should
be preserved; which gave him the
power to appreciate what was meant
by lofty devotion to an ideal and the
power TO put into actual fact that de-
votion The man needed to feel the
lift of patriotism first and then he
needed the courage to make his pa
triotism of avail
There are old soldiers in this as in
every other audience that / address.
and these men know that first and
foremost 1t was necessary TO have the
power of love for the Union, OF love
for the nation, and that next 1t was
necessary to have the courage to make
that love good l do not care how de-
voted the old soldier was to the Union,
II when the crisis came he ran away,
his devotion did not count; and, on the
other hand, no actuality of courage
availed the man If he had not In him
the spur that drove that courage into
action, that made the courage of avail
to his neighbors.
REMEDY WITHOUT RANCOR.
I'VE have heard a great deal during
the past year or two of the. frightful
iniquities in our politics and our busi-
ness and the frightful wrongdoing In
our social life. Now there is plenty
of iniquity in business, in politics, In
our social life. There is every war
rant for our acknowledging these great
evils. But there is no warrant for
growing hysterical about them. II is
poor trick TO spend nine-tenths of