The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-02-18
sILsBY ON LINCOLN
The Address of George A. Silsby De
livcred ut the Lincoln Memorial
5 was deli,ye
Friday Night.

IN ~ 4 WIN NSi1S
ed Friday evening at the celebrallCn
of the one hundredtn anniversary of
the birth OF Abraham Lincoln, de-
livered by George A. Silsby, OF this
city. In the course OF the address
Mr.. Silsby in%terjected a number OF
incidents in the life of MIR. Lincoln:
The defender OF his Country. lae
founder of liberty, and the l.lell of
man. History and tradition s..e eX-
plored in vain for a parallel - MS
character. In the annals OF nloae. a
greatness he stands lone anu ..e
noblest names OF antiquity To-
their lustre in his presence"
The lines just quoted form thu
opening sentences OF the matchless
panegyric dedicated to George W ash
lngton, shortly after his death. At
the time 1T was WrIttcl It's statements
were unquestionaDly true in every
particular. But .ince that time a
new luminary as burst in effu4gent
glory upon the horizon of the s.ale-
craft, that shines with meteo1ic
splendor, and today, in the ligut OF
history, we can apply with at least
equal truth, that matchless tribute
to Abraham Lincoln.
The one stands today in the esti-
nation of our people, as the fatner
of our country, the other as It's
savior.
But in a very large sense, each
represents an entirely different school
of American citizenship. Washing
ton was an a%ristocrat, and with has
elegant form. finely chisseled fea-
lures, was bounL to be recognized
as a gentlemen of the old school, one
who was %fastidious about his dress,
and n who always appeared dig
nifed and somewhat austere.
Lincoln, on the other hand, was
a plebeian, one of the common peo-
pie. A man that thought nothing of
dress, or of ceremonial manners;
and a man most easy of approach,
and with sympathies that sought to
soften the burdens Of others. And
yet each a gentlemen and the
embodiment of virtue. Each posses
sed "a combination and a form In
deed. where every god did seem to
set his seal to give the world assur-
ance of a man."
1t seems appropriate at this time
to briefly sketch some of the prin-
ciple incidents of Lincoln's life, but
from necessity l can simply trace the
leading events as presented by his
~biographer.
Abraham Lincoln was the eldest
son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lin
coin; born to them just 100 years
ago to-day. His father was a man
without education who could neither
read or write. He was always poor
and it is said not very thrifty. His
mother was a handsome young wo-
man of lowly condition but possess
ing qualities of intellect and charac-
could read, but not write. She was
very devout and possessed of most
excellent judgment and she left an
indellible impress on her son. From
her he inherited the serious temper
ament, frightened by the spirit of
pleasantly that was so prominent a
trait of the man throughout his
troubled career. She died in 1918,
and the boy Of nine deeply mourned
her loss. In later years he said: "All
that l am, and all that l hope to be,
I owe to my angel mother"
During his youth he received but
a single years schooling, and that
from men that never went beyond
reading, writing and figuring, to the
rule of three. But he eagerly de-
voured the few books that came with
in his reach. These were the Bible,
Aesop's Fables, Pilgrims Progress.
Robinson Crusoe and the lives of
Washington and 1.enry Clay.
While still a youth he practiced
speaking in public, his principal sub
jects being temperance and political
ones. At the age of 20 he had
grown to extraordinary stature, be-
ing nearly six feet four inches tall.
while his great muscular strength
was the talk Of the ne~ighborhood.
He had also developed his native
vein Of humor, which in later life
made him famous.
After attaining his majority he
continued to study and read and
gained quite an education, including
Euclid and the rudiments of survey
ing. He was a great hunter, and
had large experience in the woods
as an axman, and it is said he could
split more rails in a day than any
man he ever encountered. Later he
was a raftsman on the Mississippi,
but all the time storing his mind
from good books and the great
peecn OF n aOleSt statesmen OF
that day. Then he clerked in a
grocery, and still later served in the
Black-Hawk war. part of the time as
captain of volunteers, but saw no
fighting. Then he was a storekeep-
err, postmaster and occasionally did
surveying. In 1S34-42 he was a
Wing member Of the Illinois Legis-
lature, where he made a most credit
able record, and through his in
f%luence, the state capital was re-
moved from Vandalia to Springfield.
He was admitted to the bar in
1886. and soon began practicing at
Springfield. During these years he
met Stephen A. Douglas, the man
destined later to be his political ri
val. Lincoln was regarded as an
able lawyer, but was not considered
a learned jurist.
He still spent his leisure in gen.
eral reading. especially history and
political economy. He had mastered
grammar. and. more still. he had
mastered himself and he acquired
i much skill in composition by writing