The morning journal-courier., 1908-02-13

and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" John S:31-32.
 One Side of Lincoln's Character.
 For three hundred years after the battle of Thermopylae, it was the GUS tom in the schools of Greece, for the children to recite from memory, the names of those who had fallen in that heroic defense of their country. Could there have been established a wiser custom-one better designed to culti- vate in the souls of the Spartan youth those sentiments of patriotism that constitute the true strength of peo- pie? Not alone did they render fitting tribute to the heroic dead; they pre- pared themselves also for heroic liv- isnes only as 1t strikes its roots deep down into the rich soil of the past, drawing nourishment from the noble Geeds of those who were builders of the nation.
 Are we not, then, to congratulate ourselves as a people that we have so many memorial days? Should we not rejoice in these opportunities to pay loving tribute to the immortal dead ? In honoring them for what they ac- complished in the past, we strengthen ourselves for what remains to be done in the future. It were a shame to lose out of mind, even for day, such great yUyo e1., T1ef ilton, Franklin, Marshall, Webster and Lincoln. Around these names gather the most sacred memorials of our his tory. The study of their words their deeds, their characters, yet remains, as it will so long as the republic endures. the surest preparation for high type of citizenship. We cannot too often ap- peal to the youth of the nation to lift up their eyes from beholding the lit- tie men, who clamor for public office that they may reap private gain-to l lift up their eyes and fix them on those who have given us immortal ideals of patriotism.
 1 My purpose in speaking to you to- night is deeply serious. This is the an- niversary of the birth of man who 1 won, as no ether in history ever did, 1 the love of a free people. To Wash i ington we yield our spirits in rever- ence but to Lincoln we have given our i hearts. I would have you, on this an- niversary occasion, feed anew the i flame of that sacred passion. I would ] have you read once again the story ] of those stirring times. l would have you refresh your memories with those great passages out of the published papers and speeches of our martyred i president. 1 would have you. especially i dwell upon his character until the con yiction has branded itself as with a i hot iron upon your soul, that what 8 man is, may be infinitely greater than anything a man can do. Gather up his words as jewels that have been scat tered from a careless hand; number his deeds as you would count the golden 1 days in a peoples history, and it yei remains true that the thing he gave
 the nation of priceless value was him. self--Lincoln, the man. It is of the man that l would speak tonight, and
 not of the times in which he lived. Il i is of the man-not the externals of his
 life, but it's inner spirit ii is of this
 that 1 would speak; and l would have
 my words as plain as was his face, a:
 transparent and simple as was hi: character.
 It may seem to many that the at
 tempt to say anything new on the i character of Lincoln is like threshine
 over old straw. Has not everything
 been said? 1t may well be asked ] Perhaps so. But for a long time il
 has seemed to me that there was one
 side of Lincoln's character that has
 not been studied from the right poln'
 of yiew-I mean the religious side A many sided man was he, and 1t Is my purpose tonight to confine myself
 to this one side of him, 10 this ono aspect of his character. You under
 stand, 1 speak as a young man, one
 born years after Lincoln died My
 judgments, therefore, must be found
 ed entirely upon the written records o.
 his life. Of those records l have beer
 fairly patient student and what
 bring 10 you tonight is the result oi 4 earnest and loving inquiry into those evidences pertaining to his spiritua
 life. I believe him to have been one
 of the most profoundly religious souls
 who ever lived Many have denied
 that he was a man of faith. because
 he did not conform 10 the convention.
 al standards: just as to-day in Rus
 sia men deny that Tolstoi is a man ot
 faith because he feels it his duty tC
 attack conventional beliefs. The few
 who have written on the religion!
 aspect of Lincoln's character hay, consistently endeavored to twist hi:
 words and attitude into conformit, with the accepted doctrines of thi