The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-04-22

.o and to m a ke
Az Tgr nES.r W. clear his mean
LEAP FoRTH,, ing made use of
this figure:
go to the river bank with coarse
sieve and fill it with gravel. After a
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" he continued, ''if, as you
say, war is inevitable and will shake
the country from center to circumfer-
ence, you will find that the little men
will fall out of view in the shaking.
The masses will rest on some solid
foundation, and the big men will have
climbed to the top. Of these latter
one greater than all the rest will leap
forth armed and equipped-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 l 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 a truer conception
Of Lincoln's greatness than did the
leaders. l think the masses have a
truer concept of him today than have
the leaders, the professed historians or
| any other Of the assumed superior
| minds. Whenever q man fancies him
self better or wiser than the masses,
| that moment he gets out of touch with
Abraham Lincoln. The plain people
he 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
grieved most profoundly for him in
death. These were his real friends.
l would rather take their estimate Of
him than that Of the Pharisees and
hypocrites, the holier-than-thouS and
know-it-alls who profess to be more
competent to form judgments than
those they are pleased to call "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, i humbly announce that 1 am
| convinced Of the substantial correct
ness Of this view. Being convinced,
would be less than honest if l did not
frankly say so. Every new light On
the man, every glimpse of his pure
and prophetic soul, adds to the conyic-
ton. 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 his
humble dress and ways, Lincoln was
one Of the whitest, sweetest, greatest
souls that have come to earth. He be-
Ionged to the lowly, as do all the 'su-
premely great. He was correct in his
life without uncharitableness, Of great
intellect without dogmatism, Of the
deepest religion without Journalism or
can't 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-
.,loyed chiefly to protect and uplift the
weak. He had bulldog tenacity, yet
to others 1t appeared. only in the guise
Of unwearylng patience. He was in
the thick of conflict all his life, yet his
utterances are singularly free from
malicious statements concerning his
enemies. He had no extraneous helps
mot from blood. wealth, education or
environment. What he gained he dug
out Of his books, out of the world and
ont of himself. He was more than
self made man; he was nature-made
and God-made man who had not one
artificial thing about him.