Newark post., 1910-02-16

SOIL, DarrlCaued on the west by track
less waste OF wilderness; to the North
of him in the storm swept plains of
well-nigh unknown and unclaimed ter
ritory; to the South of him, the tradi-
tions OF birth, culture and the grandest
vision OF feudalistic splendor that ever
dawned on the sight of man; to the
East OF him a growing and prosperous
civilization with social compact so
rigidly drawn as to make his boundary
as invulnerable as the other three. Only
the air ABOVE him was unfettered He
needs must look up to be free.
And from this-from this to that
tragic elimination of April 10, 1866,
and all that lay between-what lofty
inspirations must have thrilled and
touched his souls cords into divine
Harmony! What noble ambition must
have filled mis- heart and brain!
He partook not Of the savage en-
vironment that incompassed him
about, man and his savage destituton
seemed to be no part OF him; but ra-
ther his noble spirit made kinship with
the great deep calm of the wilderness
and the wonderous solitude OF the
plains
1t was Lincoln in the making who in
the years to come was to pour oil on
the troubled waters OF political strife,
still the dscordant brains in the Nor
thern States and feed them into a
common cause.
"A man OF giant. stature, Of iron
frame, towering above his contempor-
aries in an intellectual capacity OF gi-
gantc mould; yet gentle of spirit, low
ing OF heart, such a tender compari-
son and infinite sadness upon that
noble brow and face, that he may be
truly called, "a man OF sorrow acquant-
ed with grief"
Where in all history do we find the
name OF one so great, so mighty, yet
SO loving, SO tender and so kind.
The great Washington could be
sweet, patient gentle and kind to those
he had iondly gathered about him;
but his anger broke in tempestous
fury upon those who brooked not his
command. Those who saw him when
he met Lee in retreat on the battle
field of Monmouth, never forgot the
surging storm of anger that swept
across his brow and gave terror to his
voice.
1t was with beating heart and trembl-
ing step that General st. Clair went
into the presence of his awful chief af-
ter he had dsobeyed Washington's
command, and had led his troop into
the maelstrom of massacre But not
so with Lincoln: his enemies had no
reason for terror. and battle after bat
tie could be lest, yet no General need
fear his chief. Anger seemd to have
no place in Lincoln's nature There
seemed something in its stead saAre
akin to divine love and pity. And out
of this he wove together the petty
striies and sectional differences to the
music OF one harmonious real. And
we might view the comparison of this
gertleness and patience, little further
down the line.
The imperious Hamilton could con-
struct and build after the fashion of his
own imperial WILL but unlike Lincoln
he could not knit up the broken
threads, build up the sorrowing heart
and offer pardon where pardon had not
been craved. The great Webster, out
OF a great and passionate love of un-
ion, could make a majestic appeal, an
unanswerble defense, for the indes-
tructible federation of American States,
but the great Webster with all his elo-
quence and power, could not have sung
that sweet memorial ode, as Lincoln
did. upon the battlefield of Gettysburg
with her tens of thousands slain.
| Henry Clay, the great pacifcator,
could obviate and delay that awful
clash between North and South, until
the only man big enough to stand
amid the wreckage of Nation rent in
twain, with voice powerful enough
to be heard above the battles din could
come to maturity. But Henry Clay
possessed not that magnanimty of
spirit, that could say to a fellow foe,
with malice toward none, but with
charity for ALL Such words ring out
but here and there as sentinel cries
across the centuries.
Lincoln preserved what Washington
created, and the savior OF any cause
must always embody more love, more
sweetness, more charity than is essen
tial to the personality Of its creator.
What a contrast between this gentle
loving man and the bluff stern spirit of