The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1909-02-12

''ONE GREATER THAN o,o,r b;s imam
49,. ,.,nTu., ing made use OF
this figure:
Go To the river bank with Il coarse
sieve and I'LL it with gravel After
vigorous shaking you will observe that
the small pebbles and sand have sunk
from view and fallen to the ground.
The next larger In size. unable to slip
between the wires, will still be found
within the sieve. BY thorough and
repeated shakings you will find that
Of the pebbles still left in the sieve
the largest ones will have risen to the
top. Now" lie continued, IF. as yOL
say, war is inevitable and will shake
the country from center to circumfer-
ence. you will lind that the little men
will fall out of view in the shaking
The masses will rest on some solid
founda ton. and the big men will have
climbed to the top. OF these latter
one greater than all the rest will leap
forth armed and e4uipped-the peO-
pies leader In the conflict"
How perfectly the history Of the war
bore out the prophecy, the leader
being himself! Poor Herndon, like
others who lived too close to greatness,
did not recognize one Of the immortals,
though rubbing elbows with him every
day.
My own view Of Lincoln | find in
peculiar harmony with that which has
grown up about him in the hearts Of
the common people. From the begin
ming the masses had truer conception
of Lincoln's greatness than did the
leaders. | think the masses have
truer concept OF him today than have
the leaders. the professed historians or
any other Of the assumed superior
minds. Whenever a man fancies him
self better or wiser than the masses.
that moment he gets out of touch with
Abraham Lincoln. The plain people
ne loved. and they loved him. There
was mutual understanding between
them. They were the ones who
brought him forward. who elected
him to Office. who stood by him in all
his trials. who held up his hands, who
SwOre by him when others were
swearing at him. who nominated and
elected him overwhelmingly for a Sec
ond term. and that In spite of the
leaders In both parties. and who
grievcd most profoundly for him in
death. These were his real friends.
] would rather take their estimate of
him than that of the Pharisees and
hypocrites. the holier- than thous and
knowit-alls who profess to be more
competent to form judgments than
those they are pleased to call 1.-The
mob" Well. they can go on forming
their judgments. But the verdict on
Abraham Lincoln that will live will
be made by the common people.
Briefly put, this verdict Is that Lin
coin was prophet sent Of God to save
the Union and end slavery, and when
his work was done he was called home.
Despite the sneers Of the so called
wise, l humbly announce that am
convinced Of the substantial correct
ness of this view. Being convinced, I
would be less than honest If did not
frankly say SO. Every new light on
the man, every glimpse Of his pure
and prophetic soul, adds to the convic-
tion. The people are right. They
knew him all along. History will write
his epitaph as they have written it al
ready In their hearts, and it will con.
sist Of the essential thought here stated
Back Of his coarse exterior, Of bis
humble dress and ways, Lincoln was
one Of the whitest, sweetest, greatest
souls that have come to earth. He be
longed to the lowly. as do all the su.
premely great. He was correct in his
life without uncharitableness, of grea,
intellect without dogmatism. Of the
deepest religion without Journalism OF
cant and with the finest idea Of justice
without harshness or severity. He was
strong on every plane. in body, MIND
and spirit, yet his strength was EN-
ployed chiefly to protect and uplift the
weak. He had bulldog tenacity, ye
to others 1t appeared only in the guist
of unwearying patience. He was IL
the thick of conflict all his life, yet hi:
utterances are singularly free from
malicious statements concerning hi
enemies. He had no extraneous helps
not from blood, wealth, education o.
environment. What he gained he dut
out of his books, out Of the world an(
out of himself. He was more than
self made man, he was natu:e- mao
and God-made man who had not ont
artificial thing about him.