The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1909-02-11
MEN LIKE LINCOLN
THE NEED OF THE DAY

Rev. DR.. e. o. Buxton, pastor of the
First M. E. church, in commemora-
tion of the one hundredth anniversary
of the birth of Abraham Lincoln last
night, made the life and work of the
martyred president the theme of his
sermon. The discourse was of the
popular, sketchey order and included
many anecdotes and Incidents illus
trating the character of the man. A
large congregation was present and
the pastor was given close attention
which indicates deep interest.
DR.. BuXton's text was John 1150.
"It is expedient for you that man
should die for the people and that
the nation perish not"
The lesson drawn from the text was
that 1t was necessary to the end that
the country might survive that this
great and loving and beloved man
should be sacrificed, and the willing
ness with which he made sacrifices
throughout his life was emphasized as
one of his most noble qualities.
Introducing Lincoln as one of a re-
markable group of men born to en-
during fame in the year 1909, includ-
ing Darwin, the scientist; Poe and
Tennyson, the poets, and Gladstone,
the statesman, DR.. Buxton first took
up the education of the great emau-
cipator and referred to the great leg
acies he left to literature as nothing
less than marvellous, coming from one
who had had so few educational ad-
vantages-a total of three months of
schooling in an Indifferent backwOods
school.
With apologies to the, father, honest
but shiftless and improYident, the pas
tor feelingly described the relations
between the young boy and the fos-
ter-mother, who early came into his
life, ascribing to her a great measure
of credit for what Lincoln became in
after life. 1t was this foster-mother,
he said, who inspired in the lad the
desire Ito be something in the
world" as he himself expressed it, and
it was she who saved him from alb
solute encouragement during the most
trying periods of his young life AS
boy just entering his teens the flu
ture president had read every book
within a radiaus of fifty miles of his
home in the woods of Illinois and on
one occasion had walked A miles to
borrow a single volume He not only
read, but he absorbed what he read
and also made copious notes there
from to be preserved for future use.
Taking these exercises and the
thoughts they aroused, 1t was his prac-
tice to re-write, not only once, but
time and again, these thoughts, seek
ing each time to improve the pre-
vious effort and to more forcibly pre-
sent the thought. 1t was this habit, the
pastor said, that gave him his wonder
full power of forceful expressionu and
made Of the writings and utterance
he left such rich heritages.
p Likewise, 1t was the unwavering pol
icy of the boy as we'll as the man
not to offer an argument or urge a
thought unless he fully believed in
and supported its every phase that
made him the great orator he was.
This honesty and deep-rooted convic-
tion gave him a commanding power
before the court or jury, in debate or
on the stump that was not possessed
by his sincere adversaries.
1t was this trait that prompted him
as a lawyer never TO accept a case in
which he did not believe the prospec-
tive client was right and had a just
cause. The poverty in which he al
ways lived and the things he desired