Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-02-16


spirit. The Lincoln thought was
that every man stood upon plane
of equality before God. Look at the
operations of our senators; they
think in terms of the north, Of the
south. of the northwest, of the south
west. but Lincoln thought in terms
of the people.
Had it not been for Lincoln's
| sense of humor, we would not have
| had Lincolns craftsmanship. lie
used his humor for recreation. He
had a wonderful admiration for the
gift of humor. Something is wrong
with the man with no sense Of hum
or. (Here were repeated several in
cidents illustrative of Lincoln's sense
of humor.)
The humor of Lincoln was vent
for his sadness. Lincoln was said by
famous portrait painter to possess
the saddest of faces. Poverty was
partially responsible for this look Of
sadness, and he had lived in the
gloom of the forest. His face was
suggestive of the long, gloomy, for
est aisles where the sun never pene-
trated. He was also a dyspeptic.
which doubtless had much to do with
| his melancholy. LincOln's tragic,
poignant love affair with psweet Ann
Rutledge was one of the saddest in
history, and the less said about his
marriage with Mary Todd the better.
He bore the burdens of race, their
griefs, their SORROWS, and his Shout
ders dropped because God Almighty
had laid on them the weight of the
continent. He always pardoned ev-
cry soldier condemned to die, unless
it was man totally depraved; no
wonder the people loved him, for his
love was nearest akin to the love If
Christ. In all his seven years of
public life of the most trying kind,
|
The secret of Lincoln's soul was
his mysticism. Some of us think of
God as far-off theory, a kind of in
dividual located in space somewhere.
God was more real to Lincoln than
his own body-than the sun or the
stars. This conviction that God is
that God was in the civil war was
the thing deepest in Lincoln's soul.
He was a moral fatalist, believing
that man is an agency in the hands
of an all-wise, loving, righteous
Father.
The sense of God was the asylum
to which he went to escape the in
sufferable moments. His intimacy
with God was the secret of Lincoln's
greatness, and his never ending
charm for the American people. The
beauty of Lincoln was not due to any
Apollo-like features, but his soul
was white as no fuller's earth could
whiten.
Captain, My Captain" wrote
Walt Whitman after the death Of
Lincoln.
20 Captain! My Captain!
Our fearful trip is done.
The ship has weathered every rack
The prize we sought is won.
The port is near, the bells | hear,
the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel,
the vessel grim and daring;
I But o heart! heart! heart!
o the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies
Fallen cold and dead.
, O Captain. My Captain!
Rise up and hear the bells
Rise up-for you the flag is flung,
for you the bugle trills;
| For you bouquets and ribboned
wreathes-for you the shores a
/ crowding;
For you they call-the swaying
mass, their eager faces turning.
Here Captain, dear father,
This arm beneath your head,
1t is some dream that on the deck
You've fallen cold and dead.
Ny Captain does hot answer
His lips are pale and still
My father does not feel my arm, he
has no pulse nor will.
The ship is anchored safe and sound,
it's voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship
comes in with object won;
Exult, o shores and ring o bells!
But !, with mournful tread
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen, cold and dead.
Ray P. Gano is spending the day
in this city. He expects to leave to-
night for Newell, where Mrs. Gano
is visiting her parents. They have