Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-10-26
LINcoLN'S SELF-coNTRoL.

His Letter to a QuarreIsome Young
Offieer-Reply to Stanton's Blunt
Speech. ..
The keynote Of the presidents young
life had been persevering industry.
That of his mature years was self
control and generous forgiveness. And
surely his remark on the night Of his
second election for president, that he
did not think resentment paid" and
that no man had time to spend half his
life in quarrels. was we'll borne out by
the fruit Of his action. It was this
spirit alone which made possible much
that he was able to accomplish.
His rule Of conduct toward all men
Is summed up, writes Helen Nicolay
In st. Nicholas. in a letter of reprf-
mand that 1t became his duty while
he was president to send to one young
officer accused of quarrelling with an
other. It deserves to be written in let
ters of gold on the walls Of every
school and college throughout the land:
Beware of an entrance to a quarrel,
but, being in, bear 1t that the opposed
may beware Of thee is good, but not
the best Quarrel not at all. No man
resolved to make the most Of himself
can spare time for personal contention.
Still less can he afford to take all the
consequence. including the vitiating OF
his temper and the loss Of self-con-
troll. Yield larger things to which you
can show no more than equal rights,
and yield lesser ones though clearly
your own. Better to give your path
to a dog than be bitten by him in con-
dog would not cure the bite"
It was this willingness Of his to give
up the lesser things" and even the
things to which he could claim an
equal right which kept peace in his
cabinet. made up Of men of strong
Wills and conflicting natures. Their
devotion to the Union, great as 1t was,
would not have sufficed in such a
strangely assorted official family, but
his unfailing kindness and good sense
led him to overlook many things that
another man might have regarded as
deliberate insults, while his great tact
and knowledge Of human nature ena-
bled him to bring out the best in peo-
pie about him and at times to turn
their very weakness into sources OF
strength.
1t made it possible for him to keep
the regard of every one of them. Be-
fore he had been in office a month II
had transformed Secretary Seward
from his rival into his lasting friend
1t made a warm friend out of the
blunt. positive. hot tempered Edwin
NJ Stanton, who became secretary OF
war in place of Mr.. Cameron. He was
man of strong will and great endur-
ance and gave his department a rec
ord for hard and effective work that il
would be difficult to equal. Many sto-
ries are told of the disrespect he show
ed the president and the cross pur-
poses at which they labored. The
truth is that they understood each
other perfectly on all important mat
ters and worked together through three
busy years with ever increasing affec-
tion and regard.
The presidents kindly humor for
gave his secretary many blunt
speeches. stanton says l am fool?
he is reported to have asked busy
body who came fleet footed to tell him
of the secretary's hasty comment on
an order of little moment. stanton
says am a fool? Welr'-with a
whimsical glance at his informant
then suppose l must be. Stanton Is
nearly always right" Knowing that
Stanton was nearly always right
1t made little difference to his chief
what he might say in the heat OF mo-
mentary annoyance.-New York Sun.