Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1908-06-12
q. A. R. HoNoRs LINCOLN.
A Bronze Tablet Placed In Position
On Liner Named President Lincoln

new lOrk, June o.-Under the aus
pices Of the Grand Army Of the Re.
public. a bronze tablet containing the
famous Gettysburg speech Of Lin
coin, which had been placed on the
liner President Lincoln, was prop
erly unveiled late yesterday. Com.
mander in Chief Burton was present,
and Warren Lee Goss, national pat.
riotiic inspector Of the G. A. R. de-
livered an address. He spoke as fol
lows:
Upon tablets Of enduring bronze We.
have inscribed tincoln's Gettysburg
address as the best fitted Of all huh
man utterances, both for the teaching
Of sentiments Of patriotism and Tor
embalming the memory Of those who
fought or suffered or died for the
Republic. Today. strong, not only in
preserved and perfected Union but
in our alliances with our sister nation
we have met to place, in imperish-
able form, Lincoln's great address in
the cabin Of steamship which will
bear his name to and fro between
great and friendly powers.
By force of great qualities Abra-
ham Licoln became the center Of an
heroic epoch in which we of the
Grand Army of the Republic are prout
to have had a part. Reared In thel
bosom of the great West, a child Of
poor and laboring parents, self edu-
Gated among the contentious and the
many voices Of democracy, pure ant
culture or grace, with malice toward
none, and with charity for all, every
blow against the nation was felt on
his great manly heart. Strong In
common sense, acute in his pereep-
tons Of truth. beautiful in his man.
illness only, he was the grandest rep
resentative Of the people that ever
stood at the helm of State. From
first to last he was in sympathetic
touch with the great mass of Amer
leans, of whom he was so DISTINCT
ly a representative that at his death
Emerson declared He is the true
history of the American people of
his time, the pulse of twenty mil
lions throbbing in his breast, their
thoughts articulated by his tongue"
1t can be said OF Lincoln that he
occupies by accident his great posi-
ton in history. Called to the helm
in the midst of the storm, by great
qualities of heart and brain, of cour-
age and devotion, of honesty and of
rare magnanimity he brought our
ship of State safely into port.
Through SANDER and malice and
ridicule, amid the most terrible tur.
MOL and bitterness ever evoked by
civil war, he emerged from the con.
flict with his purity unstained, his in.
tegrity. unquestioned, and his great.
ness moreand more apparent as the
YEARS roll Oy.
Although with him the safety of
the Republic was the supremelaw,"
ne held no resentments against those
who fought against him. He won all
hearts BY his simple goodness, and
though, not in theory, a Christian, in
his spirit of charity and forbearance
he reflected more of Christ than any
ruler OF any time. He was incapa-
BILE of bitterness, and in this doth
his greatness nose appear, that hav.
ing enemies he hated them not, hay.
ing defamers he retorted not.
Though dead he speaketh; the
ages will be his audience; his mem.
Dry will lie like growing wreath,
taking root in he soil that covers it.
bringing forth leaves and flowers per.
ennially." May we not say of him
as was said of Washington by the
Irish orator: mo country can claim,
no country appropriate him; a boon
Of providence to the human race his
fame is eternity, his inheritance ere
ation"