The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1909-02-17

~ great and other men ~ good: but -
al the history Of mankind there are NO
other two great men ~ good - these.
no other two good men a. great. Wide
" though the problems Of to-day difei
from the problems set for solution to
&c Lincoln when he saved 1t and freed
the slave. yet the qualities they showed
in meeting these problems are exactly
the same AZ those we should show In
doing our work to-day.
lincoin's Deep Foresight.
Lincoln saw into the future with the
prophetic imagination usue lily vouchsafed
only to the poet and the seer. He had
In him all the lift toward greatness of
the visionary. without any Of the vision
ary's fanaticism or egotism. without any
of the visionary's narrow jealousy Of the
practical man and inability to strive in
practical fashion for the realization of
an ideal. He had the practical mans
hard common sense and willingness to
adapt means to ends: but there was in
him none Of that morbid growth of mind
and soul which blinds so many practical
men to the higher things of life. No
more practical man ever lived than this
homely backwoods idealist; but he had
nothing in common with those practical
men whose consciences are warped until
they fail to distinguish between good and
evil. fail to understand that strength.
ability. shrewdness. whether in the world
Of business or of politics. only serve &c
make their possessor more noXious. a
more evil member Of the community. II
they are not guided and controlled by
fine and high moral sense.
Lessons from Lincoln's Life
I'VE of this day must try to solve
many social and industrial problems.
requiring to an especial degree the
combination Of indomitable resolution
with cool-headed sanity. We can profit
by the way in which Lincoln used both
these traits as he strove for reform. We
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 wav
cred in devotion to his principles. in his
love for the union. and in his abhOr-
renee OF slavery. Timid and lukewarm
people were always denOuncins 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 a fervor which now seems to us fam
tastic in its dedication 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-
litionist 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 20 forward at all. The goal was
never dim before his vision: but he picked
his way cautiously. without either halt or
hurry, as he STROBE toward it, through
such a morass Of difficulty that no man