Woodruff County news., 1909-02-18

can learn much of value from the very attacks which following that course brought upon his head. attacks alike by the extremists of revolution and by the extremists of reaction. He never way cred in devotion to his principles, in his love for the union, and sl his abhor- renee of slavery. Timid and lukewarm people were always denouncing him be- cause he was extreme; but as a matter of fact he never went to extremes, he worked step by step; and because of this the extremists hated and denounced him with fervor which now seems to us fan tastic in its deifcation of the unreal and the impossible At the very time when one side was holding him up as the apostle of social revolution because he was against slavery, the leading abo- htionist denounced him as the slave hound of Illinois," When he was the sec- ond time candidate for president, the ma- jority of his opponents attacked him be- cause of what they termed his extreme radicalism, while a minority threatened to bolt his nomination because he was not radical enough. He had continually to check those who wished to go forward too fast, at the very time that he over rode the opposition of those who wished not to go forward at all. The goal was never dim before his vision; but he picked his way cautiously, without either halt or hurry, as he strode toward it, through such a morass of difficulty that no man of less courage would have attempted it, while it would surely have overwhelmed any man of judgment less serene
 Man of Great Toleration.
 Yet, perhaps the most wonderful thing of all. and. from the standpoint of the American of to-day and of the future the most vitally important, was the extraordinary way in which Lincoln could fight valiantly against what he deemed wrong, and yet preserve undi- unfinished his love and respect for the brother from whom he differed.
 Strong Sense of Justice.
 He lived in days that were great and terrible when brother fought against brother for what each sincerely deemed to be the right. In a contest so grim the strong men who alone can carry it through are rarely able to do justice to the deep convictions of those with whom they grapple in mortal strife. At such times men see through glass dark ly; to only the rarest and loftiest spirits is vouchsafed that clear vision which gradually comes to all, even to the lesser, as the struggle fades into distance and wounds are forgotten, and peace creeps back to the hearts that were hurt. But Lincoln was given this supreme vision. He did not hate the man from whom he differed Weakness was as foreign as wicked to his strong, gentle nature; but his courage was of a quality so high that 1t needed no bolstering of dark pas sion. He saw clearly that the same high qualities, the same courage and willingness for self-sacrifce, and devo- tion to the right as it was given them to see the right, belonged both to the men of the north and to the men of the south. As the years roll by. and as all of us, wherever we dwell, grow to feel an equal pride in the valor and self-devo- tion alike of the men who wore the blue and the men who wore the gray. so this whole nation will grow to feel a peculiar sense of pride in the mightiest of the mighty men who mastered the mighty days; the lover of his country and of all mankind the man whose blood was shed for the union of his people. and for the freedom of race. Abraham Lincoln