The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1916-02-17

editors exclaimed, Hannibal Hamlin, Lin
coins running mate. has negro blood in
his VEINS Aha! q rail-splitter and anigger at
the head of our government The opposition
OF those days used gall for ink, venom for ideas.
and the passions of He'll for inspiration! But
those two-the heroic Lincoln and Hamlin, the
smoke curling upward about their brows, stood
there erect in dignified silence. their eyes on
God and no fear in their hearts.
Glory of Lincoln's Administration.
"'But'-you heard it on the street. at cafes.
in all social circles. But With tense nerves
everybody waited to see what would happen.
The answer Of the South to that election was
to secede and fire on Sumter. Was Lincoln
fitted to rule in this terrible emergency? Sc
ward, his Secretary of State, thought not; he
expected to be the brains of the administra-
tion; he expected to guide behind Lincoln as
a fgurehead. and frankly said SO to Lincoln.
With quiet dignity he replied, 4 will be Presi-
dent; you will be Secretary-no more!
"The slave party launched its thunderbolt
Lincoln turned to meet it. He lifted up his
voice, and from every hamlet, city and town in
the North, came the thrilling answer, we are
coming, Father Abraham, 100. 900 strong He
lifted up his voice the second time and Boys in
Blue. like the stars in beauty and for numbers,
swarmed to the front. He lifted up his hand,
and new navies were born and swept cut to
meet and vanquish hostile fleets. o, Father
Abraham knew how to rule! He. President
statesman, prophet, combined in one conse-
Grated soul. sublimely rose to the situation
He was the one man for the hour! For two
years he'd held no regular and formal meetings
of the Cabinet. There were combinations
of politicians controlling the government
Lincoln assumed the whole stupendous respon-
sibility. Necessity compelled the suspension
of 'habeas corpus; to embarrass the admins.
tration. enemies threatened to prosecute the
Secretary of War for alleged false arrests.
Lincoln accepted the whole burden. saying: 4
ordered it. Stand off, And they kept hands
off. Lincoln stood there alone-with the peo-
ple-there was no third but Jehovah!
Was Close to the People,
Every official document of those terrible
days bears the coinage of Lncoln's individua-
ton, cautious, unfatering, steadfast. was
Lincon's praying and thinking embodied. He
their President. could hear the hearts of the
people beat, and he, the man from the forest,
knew how to interpret their will. o, what
superlative genius was this! There was the
din of contending parties, the intrigue of de-
signing politicians. the clamor of rapacious
lato ha tot Of
the press; yet, despite the whole horrid tur-
moil, Lincoln never failed to discover what the
masses of the people honestly desired. He,
their President, was there to give 1t to them.
He believed that in all righteous government
the ruler is the peoples servant; that as SER
want the ruler is bound in all right things and
honest ways to do their will. And Lincoln and
the people, plus Gods benediction upon such
marriage, went on and saved the Union.
"In the history of America, no other adminis-
tration ever had SO many sides. The Civil
War did not absorb exhaust its energies
That horrld war was only one of its incidents.
The Pacific railroad, agriculture all the fol- eign
and domestic interests of the republic received
the same thoughtful. successful care as if the
nation were in profound peace. His State
papers, his writings, his addresses, are so clear
rich in thought, earnest purpose, SO
reliant upon the people of the nation and upon
God, that now, though the strife is long past,
we cannot read them without throbbing hearts.
"As we look back upon that period when the
belching of cannon formed the morning an
them, and the smoke of battle was the evening
pail, we can see that calm, consecrated genius
overcoming it all. There was a mighty re
bellion lashing the waters into foam, and he
kept the ship of State off the rocks! The
hostile powers of the old world were looking
for an opening into which to thrust their
talons, and Lincoln kept the crowned buzzards
on their roosts There was an entire race of
of bondmen wailing for liberty. and he, by
stroke of the pen, struck off their shackles
without overturning the social fabric! With
an awful debt piling up like mountains kissing
black sky, he prevented bankruptcy, saved
the national credit and kept the Boys in Blue
marching till they reached Appomattox No
monarch wearing crown and purple robe ever
achieved such an everlasting victory as he
from the log cabin. Lincoln may not have had
royal blood in his veins, but he was superlative-
ly royal of soul.
"Wonderful Lincoln, grander than King.
Exalting thyself from humbiest state;
Honor supreme to thee We bring
Our country ruler, wise and great.
Impartial History Vindicates Him.
"He was inspired of God. as Moses in
spired; that was why he could see clear through
the maze, and select the very means which
would extripate slavery and division and renew
union and prosperity. Knowing be was right.
he never changed his principles or policies.
The whole gigantic problem solved exactly
as he predicted. The house ceased to be di-
vided; the Union was forever welded together,
and the sign was lifted up high on the wall,
which tells all usurpers what it will cost if one
class ever attempts to enslave any portion of
the American people. Lincoln made Liberty
of the people immortal. Had Lincolns fore
sight betrayed him, the autocrats of Europe
would have become more despotic, The VIC
tory which Lincoln achiev ed for the people has