The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1909-02-18

UTanJ was the world IS leader IN war
without uttering an oath and Lincoln,
the world S leader of all leaders with
out practicing deceit. His honesty
was SO pure, so transparent, that friend
and foe were compelled by the might
Of it's irresistible majesty to bow before
it.
Shame was ashamed to sit upon
his brow,
For twas a throne where honor
fair was crowned
Sole monarch Of the Universal
world
With HAristides the JUST will go
down through all the ages, Honest
old Abe. =
Hope, the prophet in every heart,
was king and priest besides in his. 1t
ruled his life and consecrated his
deeds. Other men turned their backs
in despair on the Republic s future;
he, through densest darkness saw with
steadfast gaze the glory Of the com
ing day.
70 some of his contemporaries he
was as root Of the dry ground, and
there was no beauty that they should
desire him. But if the soul Of a seraph
dwelt in the form Of satyr in glori
GUS old Socrates, in the ungainly figure
of Lincoln dwelt the Respondent beau
ty of virtue unexcelled in living man
before.
Many could not comprehend the
blending of mirthfulness with the most
serious thoughtfulness, the twin ele-
ments Of his lnnermost being, which,
in alternate succession were seen in the
play and repose Of his face.
They forgot that "a sense Of the
ludicrous is always essential to prevent
us from becoming ridiculous Lin
coin used this sense with rarest skill,
and with the deepest reason.
And when the carping critics around
him heard with i'll concealed Impotence
on mementous occasions, what was to
them an ill-timed story, they were sim
ply blind to the profoundest philosophy
Of human nature, and the surprising
greatness of the man who was thus
enabled to carry the superhuman load
heaped upon him, which else would
have crushed out his very existence
Lincoln had supreme self-reliance,
" that iron string to which all hearts
vibrate, - and yet was not self-willed.
70 70 of {
cabinet" but all the masters there
combined could not move that one
master from his purpose, when he felt
Duty was at stake.
1t was of these minor things that
he used playfully to say: II have no
influence with this administration. -
In non-essential things he was as
pliable as a reed, in essential things as
immovable as the everlasting hills
Other men were trying to hurry the
march of progress, and demanding
that the supreme action of his life
should be taken. He said 81 wait on
Providence and will not force events. =
He waited until the hour Of high noon
in American History had struck and
then, with the sweep Of his pen, sent
whole race to Freedom and to Fortune
He rose to the height of every oc-
casion, and yet in doing so, it was
easy to see "that half his strength he
put not FORTH He knew, while US
ing every plea for peace, which human
responsiveness could prompt, that the
Rebellion could not be put down with
rose and lavender water. He knew it
would not answer to use the rap Of a
kid covered knuckle or the button
hole touch of a super animated remon-
STRANGE as some desired, but the fist
of authority trimmed with iron. And
so we sang: eve dare not look behind
us but steadfastly before We are
coming; we are coming; our Union to
restore. We are coming Father Abra-
nam; one hundred thousand, three
hundred thousand, six hundred thous-
and more. !" And we would have gone
on singing if need be. "Still there s
more to follow
OIltlOo WILL was SuGCOuS-
ness guided by common sense, and a
politician lacking either can never be-
come statesman.
Lincoln as econsummate statesman,
had at last to call out two hundred
thousand blacks in blue, to make pos
sible the Union Of the States for
ever.
His daring action made an entire
revision Of the American Arithmetic
| in which one was to count one, whether
| the merchant millionaire in his city
counting room or the liberty loving son
/ of Erin, coming from his native soil
to raise corn for his pigs in some of
the impossible streets and alleys of
Chicago; whether the Southern planter
on his broad, paternal acres or the
dusky laborer who whitens his fields
with the snow OF the cotton harvest.
Lincoln, who always glorifed man
hood and recognized fitness for place,
could not forget his obligations to the
colored people, whom we cannot con-
slider as aliens among us. Our soldier
President, General Grant did not forget