The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-02-13

were filter to have high place than
he-and many there We're wlo agreed
with them. But no one would say
that now Though there were gil
ants in those days. created or
brought to view by the. high exigen.
cies of that crisis period as we see
them together he towers above them
as some "heaven-kissing hill" rises
above the mountain range. Let us
look into the character of this man
whom We not only reverence for his
greatness and his service to us and to
humanity, but love as man of our
own kin and kind
He was man of utmost and con-
slant honesty. When he went through
the storm and the dark of night to
find woman to whom he had given
wrong change in a country store trans
action of the day; when, amid poverty
and need, he kept hid in his trunk the
cash to settle the little balance owed
/ to the government on retiring from
! his humble postmastership; when he
| did those other deeds which gave him
/ the name of Honest Abe among his
rustic associates, he was but display
/ ing in smaller ways the trait which
was characteristic of him in largest
! things. More than with his neighbor.
/ he was honest with himself, with his
own soul. He never refused to face
| a fact nor sought to gid a lie into
/ the semblance of truth. AS a law
yer ne would not take case in which
1 he did not feel that he could in all
/ honesty ask a verdict for his client
and his cause. Yes" he said to
prospective client, II could take your
case. and | guess | could win it. But
4 all the time | would be saying to N.Y.
self, You are liar and | won't do
it," And TO another, who had case
good enough in law, but bad in
| equity, You seem to be a sprightly
4 young man. Now my advise to you
is that you go out and make 5000 some
other way than by depriving poor
woman of her farm In his search
for essential truth lying at the heart
| of question he would diSdain all
minor elements to find the core. And
when he had found it, it could not be
turned from it. 1T is this man who
never rested until he had found what
he believed to be right, and when he
! had found it could never be turned
| from it. who is the real Lincoln, is
we'll said of him by one who knew him
best
He stripped political questions to
the heart, found the great principles
which wel> involved, and dealt with
them in all honesty, never clouding
them with casuistry nor decking them
! with the tinse trappings of mere
| tricious oratory. In his earliest adj
dress to voters, when he was first
! candidate, he said, Il have no other
ambition so great as that of being
truly esteemed of my fellow-men by
rendering myself worthy of their es-
TEEN
He saw the preservation OF the I'M
ion as the one great question, and the
one great duty thrust upon him, and
TO that duty ne devoted himself so sin
Civ that he scarce saw anything else to
be important. He would follow his
convictions to the ultimate end, at
whatever cost He could not love nor
live a lie whatever advantage it might
promise him.
He was a man Of utmost humility.
]. He knew himself through and through.
and understood his limitations. In
deed. sometimes he moderated him.
self as he compared himself with
those whose advantages of education
had been larger. After the trial OF the
I Mccormick case in Cincinnati, where
for the first time he took the measure
of the best eastern lawyers, he said to
a friend, Il am going home to study
law" Though he stood almost at the
head of the Illinois bar, he realized
that he lacked in thoroughness OF
training which he must have If he
would compete successfully with these
who had ii. And he said, Il am going
home to study law. These college
men are coming west. They have got
as far as Cincinnati now Soon they
will be in Illinois When they get there
will be ready for them
In discussing himself and his polit-
cal prospects as related to the move
ment of events. he said, Il am nothing,
but truth and Justice are everything.
He meant it when he said In all cam
dor I do not think myself fit for the
| presidency He was not. But he
came to be. And with all this humil-
itv there was no distrust of self nor
cowardice TO duty He never refused
a summons to the service OF cause
| which he felt to be righteous.
He was a man of patience and toler-
ance. These were illustrated in r
t thousand ways. especially in the years
e of the war. He was beset on either
\ hand by conservatives and radicals,
j urging him toward or from this course
or the other. in connection with plans
e for the war. with the selection of lead
Y ers. with the question of emancipation
e with matters of legislation, with every
conceivable and inconcetyeable-p