The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-08
STAMFORD
Sermoa on LincoIn-Lesson on His Life Equal Privileges for All - Lady Rogerson-Judge Beers on Holland New Fire Department.

A large audience filled the Congrega- <ional church yesterday morning to lis-
 ten toA a sermon by Packard on Abra-
 ham Lincoln. The pulpit was drap-
 cd with the national flag and from its
 front there was displayed a fine por-
 trait of the great President. The or
 gan loft was also draped with flags.
 Among other things Dr. Packard said
 that during great crisis in human his-
 tory, heroes are discovered in uneX-
 pected places; strong souls are brought
 out for our safety and from them
 comes inspiration for other souls. 1t
 is about 60 years ago. he said, since i the 'irrepressible conflict" began to
 awaken the consciences and arouse
 the attention of the North. At last ! the hour struck; the call came for a
 leader and commander of the people,
 and God raised up Abraham Lincoln.
 He was of the spirit of the gospel of
 Jesus. The people were not unready-
 those were great days and they found
 men brave. It is almost half a cen- : tury now since the children of the na-
 ton began to notice this great saviour of the people. We may think of Lin-
 coln surrounded by his cabinet, but
 while the names of these men fade
 away in the mists of obscurity. Lin
 colnas form rises higher. than all the others and causes us to remember
 more and more the one-the Saviour
 of niankind. Quoting from the scrip
 lures MT. Packard said: "Behold my
 servant, my elect; I have poured my
 spirit upon him." etc "He shall bring forth Judgment and truth" He was
 man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; he knows the sorrows of the peo- pie. Castelar, in the Spanish parlia-
 nlent, paid a high tribute to Lincoln. This was quoted at length. Abraham ,IIincoln's life shows that he was pre- pared through the providence of God,
 to meet such a great crisis ln our na-
 tion's history. In 8 mountain cabin in
 Hardin county, Kentucky, on Feb. 12, 1909, he was born. The conditions of his early life were humble and narrow. He had only three books in his entire
 list, little paper or pens and only few months of schooling. He learned
 to write by tracing his name in the soft earth between rows of corn which
 he was hoeing. Abraham Lincoln, name written upon the great state pa pers of the nation and on the Ernanci- patton Proclamation which released from bondage four million people, was probably first traced in the ground on the mountain side. From clerk, flat boatman, grocer, surveyor and lawyer, by steady development Abraham Lin colr rose to the Presidency, Comman- der in Chief of the Army and Navy of this great nation. His simple, honest, N1S0t1lSn IlIG was HIS gI6dltSL COIIIll-
 button and that to which every one may attain. As Castelar, said: "He arms two million of men; fights 500 battles: emancipates four million slaves and dies in the moment of vic tory. Let us trace some of the nov ings of the hand of God in this history. At 19 in New Orleans Lincoln saw the horrors of slavery; families sold and separated: young women traded as
 and he said: "If ever I get a chance I will strike this thing hard" And he did. He came from the soil of the common people. It is in the west that the spirit of New Eng land prevails, and from that part of the country we look for the model
 man. God brought him suddenly for. word He was unknown in the East.
 At the time he made his Cooper Un- ion speech I was. in college, reading Demosthenes and I remarked how much Lincoln's style was like that of the Greek orator. So it is with all great men and orators-they speak in simple and pure language which all men can understand. There were years when Lincoln only earned his scanty bread, and saw no signs of his com
 ing greatness. So it was with our great General Grant. No life is sub- lime all the way through. We must wait until it is finished, and then it will be known whether it will die down into ashes, or become a star in the hky. Lincoln possessed much of the child We must have the spirit of the child. He was an incurable boy to the last. | His jokes were better than messages to Congress. He possessed the sav- ing grace of hunlor. His mental play, and it was only play, was the action of a mind intensely serious. He was never lifted above the feelings of a child. It wa. hard for him to sign a death warrant. Once he said--"My daer Stanton, won't do it"'
 Illusion was made to Lincoln's great speech, "A House Divided Against It. self'' in which he said: T see the storm coming; know liberty is right | for it is the teaching of Christ, and if there Is anything for me to do 1 am ready. He is known as the emanc1- pator Of a race. man of the highest order comprehends elemental princi- pies. While other men were utterlng other cries about the war, Lincoln sald: Let us save the Union.' The | Emanclpation proclamation is the greatest charter of freedom ever pen-