New-York tribune., 1910-12-08


sne new about him
You have done me the great honor 20
ssk from me the closing address in the
course you have provided on Makers "f
History" and have assigned to me that
particular history maker out of your
Interesting and suggestive list 10 whom
we may apply Mr. Shorter's remark
with tho utmost emphasis Libraries
have Been written about him His de-
voted and accomplished secretaries pre-
pared monumental work telling all 1t
seemed proper that the public should ne
told Of him and Of his great days as seen
from the White House. A kind of in
fe-ior Boswell. but more communicative
and even less fastidious appeared IN the
person Of his owu partner in his ILLINOIS
law office Senator'S and Representa-
rives in Congress Wed with each other
'in biographies and eulogies. Every
clerk that served him. every politician
.f7at gained access To him. every civilian
soldier that owed him promotion-or par
oon-the very employees in the depart
rreuts the captains OF tens Ur hundreoS
q, the re1noter party organizations, ana
o. course the member of the press. who
sr7 pursuit o. their duty followed his foot
e.ers and guessed al his purposes-ell
Sel7 bound 10 record and generally 70
publish their facts and their observa-
.ious. The statesmen and the press of
al nations studied MIN. analyzed him.
weighed and estimated him: and Al the
end the civilized world paid him homage
Certainly No shall be the better for
talking about him and praising him to
night: but * certainly We can say moth
ing new about him.
shall try IL avoid saying some Of the
old things IN fact 7 should not have
chosen the subject at all for this audi
enc er this country: but as II Is chosen
eor M 7 am Troud 20 respond 10 your
call. had the honor OF knowing Mr.
Lincoln little before his nomination
for tl,o Presidency-in fact, Of having
F.oer7 among -he first if not the first, OF
Republican editors outside his state TO
propose eis nomination IL preference 70
our own state candidate The acQGaint-
arc. thus formed never. Of course. be
came intimate was only an unimpor-
tant lov-tut he was always kind 70
-nie. ard 7 continued 10 see him from
tir,7e 70 time till I sat near his bier IN
th. White House and afterward watched
from che ROOF of the Treasury the long
procession pass through Pennsylvania
avenue and up the Capitol Hill-the
s---ar- renewed procession that lasted for
I. fortnight that swept great cities into
f,s ranks. and crossed half the country.
70 lay him al last at rest. amid The
scenes Of his youthful struggles and tri-
unpls.
But never hitherto have I seriously
undertaken before any audience. even in
nv own land. 70 characterize OF TO esti-
mate him. The eulogy often seemed 10
me. 81 the time Of his death and long
ssf1erTya ard. - 10 run into uninformed
zpotheosis: and sentimeutalists with
whom ! knew him to have no sympathy
Seized upon him. after the manner Of
their kind. as their own particular hero,
fOr their own particular purposes
Tour concern tonight. Mr- Chairman,
= with The Makers Of History in the
Nineteenth Century.~ and you have al
ready dealt with a goodly list. Pardon
4
attempt Disgusting it-but DO not attrib-
'Ite ruy judgment merely To that. when
without an instant's hesitation ! place
r5- far above any other or your shin
inz list-far above Bismarck. VINO ere
etsG an empire. far above GambeJta,
who - ved q fallen people. or Mazzini,
- 10 helped put new soul in another;
o. the Marquis Ito who transformed
some hermit islanders into the present
first of Asiatic and peer Of European
J.overs J vvoul6 not even except the
c-eat intellectual and material leader
whom vou. Nr. Chairman. so wor1hily
presented y the beginning of your
rp1-se. apostle Of that modern science
7nIch more and more controls and must
,-or7rrc7 The world. or those two states
men -ae rival gloT1es during the last
half centurr- OF the British Empire
-Fhich each o. them ruled IN turn. and
whose legacies. for good or evil. YOU are
--iI- engaged n distributing Far be Il
rom rne 70 depreciste or even 10 esti-
mate tne net amount Of good which the
,-ucible CT time may disclose in its last
ANALYSIS Of the life work by any one OF
these famous historic figures. I only
recognize the present obvious fact. when
7 put above any or all or them the man
7-ho saved for liberty and humanity the
greatest Republic OF modern times, a
continental Repu bic OF now ninety
millions Of souls, besides its teeming isl
and dependencies in both henlispheres
me man who crowned This patriotic duty
rv freeing three millions Of slaves. whom
others and not 1e had enslaved.
In the further remarks concerning
Abraham Lincoln which 7 shall venture
70 submit would like first 70 strip his
name and fame IN -our minds from the
;ncongruous and imaginary attri butes
under which SO many eulogists have dis
Euised him. Let me say AZ once. then
that this untaught offspring Of the poor
whites Of Kentucky was not AZ the out
set and never became that favorite type
of some publicists. z retiring citizen, in
attentive IN general to other interests
than those near him, entirely content
with private life till reused by an unex-
r,ected cali 20 public duty The Illinois
swamps of those days developed no such
Cincinnatus amid their malaria On the
coutrary. though personally modest and