Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1912-11-07

1
S|I,S Ing naemesy Of the ons
handredth anniSersary d
~ the birth 81 Abraham
Aiuecln. WItA tie recollec
ticn Of titat vast volumG 81 enIOgy still
fresh upon us. Il naaE sound para
dcxical to hint that Lincoln Is even
now without honor In his own cOun'
try.
Perhaps you have noticed that whils
paradOxeG are mot alwaVa trua, as Mr..
@. X Clestefton wUml1 have us be.
lieve an astOnishingIg large number
have much truth I'm thelm 80 It u
with this enc.
lOf OonEso We aTS alE able to re-
count anecdotes about the young rail-
splitter, tho country mt0EekeapeF. the
struggling lhwyeF, tie stanap speaker,
the prestdbntiaI nominee. tAe Great
EmancipatOr. We csR tell some Of his
own yarns and jokes ! wonder e
Lincolhi& habit Of jslEing Il not the
very reason we have withheld his
full mead Of worshfDl We are so
prone to laugh 81. % wen e. with, the
nan wlio, seems TO aim ct entertain
Ineut. Let us not iesget that LencoIn's
stories and rnasteBlE ianmlng were
only escape valves for his feelings.
Well. all these superficial things. !
say, we know and appFec1ate, to be
sure; We listen to- little sermons on
qualities that he ID R&fa to have
possessed: we haNa heroic half mys-
tiCali notions about hfms be has be-
come a myth. hut do we know his
words? Have We drunk his bottom
less wisdom2 ARE we vaceinated BY
the lincoln, l1teratuTN against cant
and ecwardicar
The man, Statesman. martyr, Is writ
TEN "a letters b largo that % many 1t
may seem antkelimaH to tprn to the
pEint and Esad lincoln. the
writer Of letters ana maker Of speech
ss1 Yet here I venture that he is no
less great. No real man o. letters is
u mere man Of letters, You and / and
IN sensible people have no patience
With the man who writes or talks, not
because 10 must. hut because he cam
rhe writer who has NO purpose in
writing other than literary style may
not be- as obnoxious as some other
parasites, hat his importance In the
'eal world o. victory and defeat Ii
certainly represented by a nifsns
sign Lincoln 81 one Of the. FOR
unate few whose genius kept pace
IN all sides.
Loyal Americans have perhaps been
90 close to the massive features Of /
heir hero to admire sufflciently his !
symmetry. The colossal effect has |
blinded us to some Of the colossal de-
ais, The British have done better. I /
understand that one and only ore
ipecimen Of American oratory is, pro
perfect at Oxford university
Ind studied with lowing care OF
,Ourse this Is the Gettysburg speech.
! know there are good reasons why
dislike the speeches Of
ohm Adams and Patrick Henry, but
heir judgment Is right In this case,
Iespite their prejudice.l No more
learly perfect utterance ever issued
rom the mouth of man.
More or less homage. certainly, has
,een paid to the Gettysburg address
That government OF the people. by
he people. for the people, shan not
,erish from the earth" Il becoming
he slogan Of. q newly awakened
America IN her battle against "princi-
Iallties and powers The second In
iugural address also. and the Cooper
institute speech with it's famous end.
ng.
sLet Us have faith that makes Fiehf,
nd in that faith let a. to the end dare
o DO our duty as we understnnd e
re fairly welI known BY name. ana
ometimes read
But there are 90 many wise. tender,
things from the pen Of
lincoln. which. though they are With
D the reach 81 al. remain practically
nread. We don our hats to them.
hen they are referred to. and take
hem al 4 matter Of coufrsA Matter