Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-03-22
A STUDY OF LINCOLN.
Paper BY Ethelyn Remick, Of Bayside, read
ct the meeting Of Green Mountain Pomona
Grange 1t Hancock, Feb. Ill

Paper BY Ethelyn Remtck, OF Baysfde, reAd
ct the meeting Of Green Mountsin Pomona
Grange 1t Hancock. Feb. Ill
On receiving the assignment'to present
. paper to Green Mountain Pomona,
was reminded Of the poor minister, father
OF seven children, whose family was in
creased to eight. He told his oldest child,
q daughter, about the new baby. "Well,
father, I" she said, ~ suppose it's all right,
but there are lots Of things we needed
more"
The introduction Of the word "study" in
the subject assigned me, however made, it
possible for me to attempt, not q eulogy,
but Patrons Study OF Lincoln. Study is
defined is its broadcast sense as ''applica-
ton OF the mind to learn what is not be-
fore known, SO set myself to read all
the Lincoln literature available, and to-
day present to you what l have learned,
remembering what recently read, "a
good writer quotes bravely, not drawing
on his memory for words which would do
as well.''
Every man, woman and child in the
United States to-day is familiar with the
facts concerning Lincoln's his SPRING
ing from an obscure and poverty-stricken
childhood to the greatest honor we can
bestow on any man 1.-The presidency of the
United States. Most are familiar from
too, with the stories OF his in
ordinate ambition and his struggles to &C.
quire an education, and how finally that
education was obtained.
From the beginning his aspirations were
political, and when twenty-five he offered
himself candidate for the state legisla-
ture. His maiden speech is reported as fol-
lows:
"Fellow-citizens, am simple Abraham Lin
coin. My politics are short and sweet. like
the old womans dance. ! am in favor OF a
national bank, Of internal improvements and
q high protective tariff. These are my senti-
ments. II elected, shall be thankful: il not,
it will be all the same
: Thirty years later the author OF this
speech delivered another, his own, at the
dedication OF Gettysburg, which over
shadows the rhetoric OF the greatest ora
tors OF his time, and stands to-day, I'M
studied as it was, probably the most COM
plete and effective utterance known in the
last century.
! read somewhere recently that ''the
great test Of individual character was not
failure, but success; not adversely, but
prosperity; that nature, when she wants
to put q man through the third degree,
puts before him the laurel wreaths OF
victory. There are few who go through
successfully, but when, once through it,
all remains sincere, kindly, strong, SYM
pathetic and unspoiled, nature is forced to
admit she has found real man, big man,
q great man.
Such man was Abraham Lincoln. He
stood the test under the most adverse cir
cumstances, proving his greatness by his
simplicity. That he was unspoiled, un-
stained BY any act Of arrogance, OF pride,
OF snobbishness, we have only to read Ida
Tarbell's "He Knew Lincoln" stories, Nc
Clure's "Lincoln and Men of War Times,
to know. Why, he was even criticised for
being the same simple, kindly man after
he became President that he was before.
These lines by Harvard Arnold Walter,
published last year, seem SO peculiarly
true OF Lincoln, SO descriptive, SO much
motto that he might have had for his own,
that give them here:
MY MOTTO.
l would be true, for there are those who trust
me:
would be pure for there are those who
care;
i WOnld har Is urh 49, 49,.
would be brave, for there is much to dare.
would be friends to all--the foe, the friend
less;
would be giving and forget the gift;
would be humble. for know my weakness;
would look up, laugh, and love, and lift.
"Lincoln's great fame,n writes one
biographer, s'rests on his moral character,
his Identification with a great cause,
his marvellous ability as a conservative
defender of radical principles, and his
wonderful tact as leader of men. He
loved truth for truths sake. We never
read OF MIN that he couldn't tell lie, but
we never read that he did,
The greatest men are ever the simplest.
and 80 we many conclude our study OF
Lincoln with Loweii's Recommendation
Ode", in which he has set forth his
loneliness, his patience, his simplicity
and his greatness.
" Here was type of the true elder race,
And one OF Piutarch's men talked with us face
to face;
praise him not; it were too late;
And some innative weakness there must be
In him who condesce nds TO victory
Such as the Present gives, and cannot wait.
Safe in himself as in q fate.
SO always firmly he;
He knew to bide his time,
And can his fame abide,
Stiil patient in his sim pie faith sublime
Till the wise years decide.
Great captains, with their guns and drums,
Disturb our judgment for the hour,
But at last silence comes;
These all are gone, and, standing like tower,
Our children shall behold his fame,
The kindly, earnest, brave, foreseeinR man.
Sagacious, patient; dreading praise, not