Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1909-02-17
FRENCH AMBASSADOR SPEAKS
FITTINeLY OF LIFE OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
JAMES BRYCE DELIVERS EULOGY
OF GREAT "HERo OF
THE RACE


Lincoln day celebration yesterday.
Reviewing the life of the emanci
pator and fifty characterizing his SUD-
ject, M. Jusserand said: He was oc-
customed not to be surprised, Dull TO
decide and act. And so, CONFRONTED
with circumstances which were SO
extraordinary as to be new to all, he
was the man least astonished in the
government. His rough and shreWd
instinct proved of better avail tha1
the clever minds of his more renned
and better instructed seconds. u
was Lincoln's instinct which checked
Stewards complicated schemes and
dangerous calculations. Lincoln could
not calculate so cleverly, but he
could guess better. His instinct, MS
good sense, his personal disinterested-
ness. his warmth of heart for friend
or foe, his high aims, led him through
the awful years of anguish and blood
shed during which, ceaSelessly, were
increased the number of fields decked
with tombS, and no one knew whether
there would be one powerful nation or
two weaker ones, the odds were so
great They led him through the
worst and through the best hours;
and that of triumph found him none
other than what he had ever been
before, a man of duty, the devoted
servant of his century, with deeper
burrows on his face and more melan-
choly in his heart. And so, after
having saved the nation, he
went to his doom and fell, as he
had long foreseen, a victim to the
cause for which he had fought. The
emotion caused by the event was I'M
mense. Among my compatriots, part
were for the south, part for the
north; they should not be blamed; 1t
was the same in America.
" When the catastrophe happened,
the whole French nation was united
in feeling. From the emperor and
empress who telegraphed to Mrs.
Lincoln, to the humblest workman,
the emotion was the same; a wave Of
sympathy covered the country, such
a one as was never seen. subscrlp-
ton was opened to have a medal
struck, and a copy in gold presented
to Mrs. Lincoln. In order that 1t
might be a truly national offering, it
was decided that no one would be
permitted to subscribe more than two
cents. The necessary money was
collected in an instant, and the medal
was struck bearing these memorable
words: Dedicated by French Democ-
racy to Lincoln, honest man, who
abolished slavery, reestablished the
Union, saved the republic, without
yelling the statue of Liberty
The French press was unanimous
in expressions of admiration and of
sorrow. "A christian said the Gazette
de France, has just ascended before
the throne of the final judge, accom-
panied by the souls of 100000
slaves, created like ours in the image
of God, and who have been endowed
with freedom by word from him.
when, in a log cabin of Kentucky,
hundred years ago this day, that
child was born who was named after
his grandfather killed by the In
dams, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon
first swayed Europe, Jefferson was
president of the United States and the
second war of independence had not
yet come to pass. 1t seems all very
=
great man whom we try to honor to-
day is as fresh in everybody's mind
as if he had only just left us. 1t is
says Plutarch. the fortune of all good
men that their virtue rises in glory
after their death, and that the envy
which any evil man may have con-
ceived against them never survives
the envious. Such was the fate of
Lincoln"
Bryce Pronounces EuIogium.
British Ambassador James Bryce
also spoke of the great president and
in conclusion said
TO you, men of Illinois, Lincoln is
the most famous and worthy of all
those who have adorned your common
wealth. To you, citizens of the United
States, he is the president who carried
you through terrible conflict and
sayed the union. To us in England
he is one of the heroes in the race
whence you and we spring We honor
his memory as you do and it is fit
ting that one who is privileged here
to represent the land from which his
forefathers came should bring on be-
half of England a tribute of admira-
ton for him and of thankfulness to the
Providence which gave him to you in
your hour of need.
Great men are the noblest posses
sion of nation, and are potent forces
in the moulding of national character.
Their influence lives after them, and
ii they be good as well AZ great tbav