The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-02-12
FAIRMONT WEST VIRGINIA. FRLDDAY, FEBRUARY ~ 1909.

public at the moment when that leaderi
ship Ind become the stupendous world; ;
task c. rs time he grew to know
greatness. but never ease. succeNs
came to him. hut never happiness. sn We
that which springs from doing well q
painful and a vital task. Power was.
bis. but not pleasure The burrows
deepencd on bis brow. but his eyes
were undlmmed by either hate or fear.'
His gaunt shoulders we're bowed. but
his steel thews never faltercd as he
bore for burden the destlnlcs Of bis
people. Ills great and tender heart
shrank from giving pain. and the tnsk
allotted him was to pour out like wa
ter the lIfeblood Of tue young men
and to feel In his every fiber the sor..
row Of the women. Disaster saddened
but never dIsmnyed him. Triumph was
his ut the last. and barely had he inst.
ed II before murder found hIm. and the
the kindly. patient, fearless eyes were
closed forever. '}} IN i$}i
y Lincoln and Washington.
AS a people we are Indeed beyond
measure fortunate In the characters Of
the two greatest Of our public men.
Washington and Lincoln. They were
alike In essentluls-they were Mike iE
the great qualities which rendered each
able to render service to his nation
and to nll mankind such ns no other
man OF bis generation could or did
render. There have been other men as
grcnt and other men as good. but In
all the history Of mankind there art
no other two great men as good 4:
these, no other two good tnen rs grea.
Widely though the problems Of today
differ from the problems set for solu
tion to Washington when he founded
this nation. to Lincoln wlten he saved
II and freed the slave. jet thr qualities
they showed In meeting these prob
lens are exactly the same as those VT
should show In doing our work today.
Llnrn!u saw into the future with ttn
prophetic Imagination usualy vouch
safcd only to the poet md the. seer
Re Ind in him NIL the lift toward
greatness Of the visionary, without
any Of the vIslonary's fanat!cIsm Of
egotlsm. without any Of the vision
ary's narrow Jealousy OF .hr practical
man and inability to strive In prnc'
tical fashion for the realization of m
Ideal. No more practical man ever liz.
ed than this homcly backwoods ideal
LIST, but lie had nothing In common With
those practical men whose conscicnces
are warped until they fall to distln.
sulsh between good and evil. fall to
understand that strength. ability.
shrcwdncss, whether In the world Of
business or of politics, only serve to
make their possessor. more noxious.
more. evil member Of the communi.
ty, II they are not guided and con-
trolled by a flne and high moral sense.
= LineoIn's Qualities Nesdod Now.
I We 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 hls head, attacks
alike BY the. extremists Of revelation
and by the extremists of.reactlon. he
never wavered In devotion to bis prln.
ciples, IN his love for the Union and In
his abhorrence Of slavery. TimId and
lukewarm people were always denounc.
Ing him because be was too extreme:
but, as a matter Of fact, be never went
to extremes. fA & p fi' h
Z Yet perhaps the most wonderful
thing Of nll and. from the standpoint
Of the America Of today and Of the
future, the most vitality important was
the extraordinary way In which Lin
coin could fight valiantly against
what be deemed wrong and yet pre-
serve undiminished bis love and re-
spect for the brother from whom be
differed. In the hour of n triumph
that would have turned any weaker
mans head. In the heat Of n struggle
which spurred many good man to
dreadful vindlctlveness, he said truth.
fully that 40 long rs he had been In
his Office be had never Willingly plant
ed a thorn in any mans bosom and
besousht his supporters to study the
Incidents Of the trial through which
they were passing as philosophy from
which to learn wisdom and not as
wrongs to be avenged. ending with
the solemn exhortatIon that. as the
strife was over. all should reunIte IN
I common effort to save their common
The GettvSb