The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-13
VIEW OF
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Ambas. ador Takahira Delivers
 An Eloquent Address LEADER IN DIPLOMACY MT. Takahira Says That Lincoln Fol- lowed the Golden Rule In inter-
 national Questions, Which
 Japan Is Observing.
LEADER IN DIPLOMACY

Peoria, H., February 12.-With 600 ban queters assembled beneath canopy of entwined and. intermingled Stars and Stripes, and the sun flag of Japan, Ko- mura Takahira, Japanese ambassador to the United States, was tonight one of the prominent guests of honor at the CreNe Occur clubs banquet in honor of the centennial birthday of Lincoln. Charles Magoon, late provisional governor of Cuba Curtis Guild Jr., governor of Mas sachusetts, and Prof John Clark Free man were the other speakers of the even ing
 Ambassador Takahira was enthusias- tically received. In his address he gave a brilliant eulogy on the life of the great etnancipator from a foreign point of view.
 Governor Magoon spoke on Abraham Lincoln,' and paid a splendid tribute.
 Gov. Curtis Guild, Jr., responded to the toast, Liberty and the Union,' and Pro lessor Freeman dwelt on the Life of Lincoln"
 MT. Takahira said:
 Takahira's Address.
 MT. Chairman and Gentemen l feel highly gratiied to be able to avail my self of your courteous invitation to at tend your banquet this evening, which is given in commemoration of the tooth an- niversary of the birth of your great mar tyred President Abraham Lincoln.
 T first received your invitation, if l remember rightly, as long ago as last March. You gave me ample time to pre- pare a good speech, but 1 confess I have spent the most part of it carelessly, as I have always thought l had plenty of time to do it. and when I began to prepare my speech a few days ago l found that Mr. Lincolns greatness as a man and as a public servant has been exhaustively de- scribed in his so many lifes and biog- raphies that the patriotic citizen of this country must be fully familiar with it. There is no room for any additional re- marks from such a stranger myself. If, however l should be required to say what has impressed me most strongly in his life and character, I would mention that the nobleness of his heart and the generosity of his mind, amply verified in every detail by his acts and contact, which leave no trace of personal motives in his management of public affairs, but abound in every proof of the sincerity of his desire for the benefit of his country and fellow beings, are fully illustrative of the life and character of the states man, idealized by all men of every na- tionality.
 A Great Example.
 "Mr. Lincoln, therefore, left his life a great example of public man. not only of his own. but of all countries. It is no wonder that his fame Is world wide and adorns the universal history of the modern age, one of the great est men that ever lived.
 Another feature of his life, which appears particularly interesting and in structive to me as a diplomat, was ifs method of conducting foreign a1Iairs aP lie fr-xr iHil x1rar much to endanger the international position of the United States as 1t threatened the internal solidty of the Union, and in such a great adYersity, it must have required extraordinary pow CT of foresight and precision as well as the unusual faculty of resolution and courage to handle so intricate ques- tions of foreign affairs as the United States had to face at that time. It is true that MT. Lincoln had a great, able man for his Secretary of State, in the person of William H.-Seward, but if his biographers whom I have read are to be depended upon, MT. Lincoln had often to examine himself some impor- tant diplomatic documents drawn by Secretary Seward with great skill and care, and to amend them in many par ticulars in order to communicate to the powers interested the exact motives and intentions of the American government with these straigh tforward and force ful expressions, coupled with the sense of moderation and dignity which made the American diplomacy so famous at the chancelieries of those powers.
 Lincoln Diplomacy.
 "Those who learned to admire his methods in diplomatic transactions called it Lincoln diplomacy the diplo- macy which upheld the dignity and in terest of the United States len she still remained in a less important posi- tion and under very adverse circum stances
 "The history of the diplomatic rela- tions hatUeen the ITnited States and