The Winchester news. [volume] (Winchester, Ky.) 1908-19??, 1909-02-12


ception and q
THE WORLDS TRIBUTE few others less
notable Lincoln in his own day had lit
tie friendship in Europe. He was not
Of type to appeal to bureaucracy and
formal INSTRUMENTATION. At the begin
ming Of the war he was little known
or, if known at all. was regarded as a
country lawyer of slight education. lit
tie experience and inferior talents.
His method of handling the Mason
and Slidell episode and the general
conduct of our diplomatic affairs raised
the worlds opinion of him as his ad-
ministration progressed. but still the
feeling was not cordial. The temper Of
Europe was such in that contest that
slight misstep might have plunged
US into war. One of L1ncoln's greatest
triumphs was that be kept us clear Of
these foreign difficulties. 1t was not
SO much hostility to Lincoln as 1t was
hostility to the Union that had to be
feared. By caution. patience and
craftsmanship all this hostility wac
made powerless to work us harm, and
gradually the chancellories Of Europe
awakened to the fact that master
mind was In charge at Washington.
They also began to understand that
the master mind was Lincoln, the
country lawyer" and not Seward, his
secretary Of state. If Seward had been
given his way war with one or more
European nations could scarcely have
been averted.
The triumph Of the north had a pow
erful influence in melting foreign hos
tility. Success succeeds even better
with diplomats than with ordinary
mortals. The republic divided and
threatened with humiliation was one
thing. The same republic reunited
and more firmly established than ever
was quite another. The change of
attitude naturally included the bead Of
the nation as well as the nation itself
1t must not be imagined, however,
that all European sentiment was
hostile TO the Union. Many Of the best
men and women In ali lands were
naturally our friends both because of
opposition to slavery and friendship
to republicanism The hearts of the
masses for the most part were with us
as they ever have been. This seuti-
ment was augmented as the struggle
neared q close.
LincOln'S assassination brought out
all the latent and active friendship for
him abroad as well as at home. 1t
silenced the tongues Of his enemies.
Following so close upon the termina-
ton Of the war, it focused the atten-
world. The universal and profound
grief shown for the murdered presi-
dent In his own land revealed 70 those
Of other lands that he was a man
out OF the ordinary. a fact that they
had already begun to suspect The
changed attitude toward him was
shown in the fine poem written by the
editor of the London Punch.
When the worlds universal republic
is established. of which our own re-
public is but the fOrerunner; when
there is liberation in all lands that are
about the earth: when self government
and the individual strength it fosters
have become as common as the sun
shine and the rain: when there is uni
versal religion based on the divinity In
man and the common, love Of God and
humanity: when purity OF life. Loyalty
to truth and the sacrifice of self on the
altar of the common good are every
where recognized and practiced. then
Abraham Lincoln. who stood for all Of
these things. will have taken his place
among the worlds few supremacy
great souls. That day for all mankind
is much nearer because be lived and
died. If this nation had been rent
asunder in the civil war. II free gov
ernment had then proved failure. IL
slavery had triumphed over freedom.
that new era for mankind might have
been delayed for centuries or forever
Therefore Lincolns work in that crisis
was not for his own land alone. but
for all lands. 1t was not only to give
the black race liberty. but TO give all
races liberty. 1t was not merely to as
sure the Union Of these states. but
meant eventually that there should be
union for peace, and for universal
freedom as wide as the earth and as
long as the ages
All these things Lincoln's life and
death helped TO make possible. There
fore when the parliament of men"
shall fndoQd corno HE name ehofyId ne
one of the foremost honored among