The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-07

and Chase a man Of different temper
or other training would doubtless have
quarreIed with those masterfuf men or
been himself torn apart, by them IN
their struggles for supremacy, but Lin
coin handled them with sure touch
and made them work together Tor the
nation. Thus when Stanton attempted
to browbeat him at the very outset of
his career, he stood unmoved by his
gusty outbursts and employed his
fanaticaI egotism to the fullest possible
advantage. Chase played for the presi-
dency even as ne sat at the cabinet
table. thinking that his masked moves
would escape the attention of the coun-
try. ''nsst-fed'' lawyer, only to find
himself skiifully checked and delicately
unanswered into a resignation; and
Seward, whose temporary mania OF
grandeur once took the form of i'm
agining himself a dictator clothed with
power to avert the civil perils by in
stigating a foreign war. found himself
tactfully disilIusioned and his reputa-
ton protected by the msgnanimous
silence of the man he had endeaVored
to supp,ant.
Mastery of His Work.
But while he vas thus taking the
measure Of his associates. Lincoln was
slowly but surely mastering the in
Vulnerable duties of his Office. meeting
its responsibilities as they developed,
and famiIiarizing himself with his
mighty powers. Ingersoil had said that
1T is easy of the weak to be gentle;
most people can bear adversely; but If
you wish to know what a man, really is,
give him power. That is the supreme
test" Lincoln was not afraid to use
1. t. 1,n a
Though invested, as president. with al
most supreme authority, he never for
got it's source: he never ceased to be
one of the people, and the exercise of
his prerogatives, instead of making him
arrogant and careless of the rights of
others. only added to his burden of
care.
To relieve the constant strain of that
burden he relied on humor, and his OPP
ponents called him trifieT; to simplify
momentous questions he sought homely
parallels. and the world concluded. that
he lacked capacity to grasp affairs of
state; to humanize official action he
employed droll anecdotes and iliustra=
tons, and the solemn and the pompous
proclaimed him a buffoon. Absolutely
free Of affectation himself. he scandal
lied and embarrassed those whose dig
who fancied themselves privileged to
indulge in undue liberties at his expense
did not make the error twice. Slow in
action, calm in danger, sincere in
thought, kindly I'm feeling. wise in coun-
sci. this devoted servant of the state
guided the nation to safety and then
found rest from the labors that had
worn and saddened him for five long,
stormy years.
The political passions and prejudices
of the times often afford strange read
ing in the light of history's verdict
Americans who are taught to believe
that their public men, whom they them
selves elect to Office, become lost to
honor and dead to shame almost from
the moment they are clothed with
power, can learn a lesson by re-
Numbering that many of those who
sought to guide popular opinion in the
early days of the republic denounced
Washington as a traitor, and that vol
umes of contemporaneous libel could be
collected to prove that Lincoln was
something worse. Certainly there never
was human being more unsparingly
condemned than he. Ingenuity ex-
hausted itself on efforts to Insult him
partisan malice and personal spite, both
north and south, shamelessly con-
tended to sting him with abuse: Wifi
cation strOve to pillory him at every
turn. But no savage word ever escaped
his lips The iron did not enter into
his soul. He sought neither vindica-
ton nor revenge. Through the miasma
of hatred and distrust he saw the dawn
! ing of his hopes. Before he died he
heard the Kisses turn to cheers"
Lincoln was a great executive, but he
was greater man. He left the world
the better for his having been in it
That-his greatest achievements not
| beyond the power of the humblest in
the land, and every American who
strives to make his world-no matter
how small that world may be-the bet
ter Tor his presence crowns Lincoln's
coura ge and shares his glory.