The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-02-15
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1909 1909 I
The Lincoln Centenary !
By James A. Edse.ton

Copyright. 1908. by the
American Press Association

ing man who was one of themselves.
They are the final arbiters of all mems
fame, and he who is secure in their
regard is established for the ages.
One of the features of the centenary
at Springfield will be the meeting Of
those who knew "Old Abe" and who
can give history first hand. We have
SO much secondhand history in the
world that this will be an improve
ment. If we could only have conven-
tion of those who knew julius Caesar
or Charlemagne or Oliver Cromwell,
how many errors could be corrected.
An experience meeting of the friends
of Shakespeare would likewise be
worth going miles to attend We new
cut of reach. While he is on earth we
say ooh, yes, old So-and-so-everybo
knows him. But 200 years after he is
dead the world discovers that it does
not know him. but wishes il did. 1t is
fortunate that we have taken this
great interest in Lincoln while some
of those who used to meet him behind
the grocery stove and argue politics
and swap stories with him at the post
Office are still on earth Otherwise we
should be in the same deplorable state
Of misinformation we are in concerning
Washington, in whose case we have to
depend on the Sparkses and Weemses
for some historical fairy tales.
Lincoln has not entirely escaped
from these romancers even as it is,
but they started their fiction factories
so soon that it has been possible to
overtake and brand most of the out
put. For example. there We're. a lot
of the Oldest inhabitants in several
southern states who felt it their
bounden duty to reflect on his pater
nifty. All of these stories have been
traced to their origin, proved to be
erroneous and branded. Then some
body came to the surface who said
he had heard somebody say that had
heard somebody else say that Mr.. Lin
coin was not born on the birthplace
farm. but in an entirely different part
of Kentucky. He made some sort of
say testimony. Now, it is fortunate
all this happened while there were
reliable. truth loving people on earth
who knew just where Lincoln was
born. Thus the thing could be DEM
onstrated beyond cayil. nailed down
and established for the ages. This
saves posterity a lot of unnecessary
speculation, investigation and trouble.
Suppose these stories had been sprung
after everybody Slat knew Lincoln
was dead. All this inaccuracy might
have trickled it's way down through
the centuries. a very large portion
Of ancient history belongs in the fic-
ton department of our libraries.
We are fortunate in another respect.
Many of those who have written lives
of Mr.. Lincoln associated with him
daily. He was great enough to seem
great to his secretaries and partners.
The telegraph operators at the war
department. the attendants about the
White House, the common soldiers
who saw their commander in chief,
all had some sort of inner prompting
that this was not just an ordinary
president, but that here was the sort
of man that would interest the TWEEN
ty-second century. SO they made
mental notes and printed them. The
world has grown in 1000 years so
that now a prophet has honor in his
own country and among those of his
all of his greatness, but if they even
measure some angles of it these fur
nish basis for future computations
If Lincoln had lived back in the days
of Pericles or Augustus l have often
imagined the sort of rich story Plu-
tarch would have made Of him. At a
little earlier period, back in that en-
chanting but uncertain dawn of his
tory before the shadows had quite lift
ed, men would have created of him an
Odin or one of those delightful old
pagan demigods that strangled drag
ons with their naked hands. But we
have not so much to crow over. for
they almost did that with Washington
in our own day.
Let us beware of putting Lincoln on
a pedestal. 1t is the sweet and every
day humanity of the man that is his
chief charm. 1t is easy to marvel at a
higher order of beings. but hard to
love them. Lincoln is close enough to
us to love. and we must keep him
so. There are enough little tin del
ties, but we need this man for our
common humanity. He is too big, too
warm and too precious to set him out
of reach. They have robbed us of
most of our heroes by making them
unhuman and impossible, but they
shall not 90 it with Lincoln. He be-
longs to our man and woman world,
and we are going to keep him for our
own. The far shining greatness of his
soul makes his gnarlsd hands and
wrinkled face all the more precious to
us. Let us have all the centenaries
Of him that the passage of the years
will permit. let us have Libraries full
of books about him, but never let him
ha <hn lot fIof