Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-02-14
AS EMERSON SAW LINCOLN

~ w. GHiSIsOH vi April ~, loOO.
We meet under the gloom of ca
lamity which darkens over all civil So
ciety, rs the fearful tidings travel
over sea, over land, from country to
country, like the shadow of an I'M
calculated eclipse over the planet.
But the first despair was brief; the
man was not so to be mourned. He
was the most active and hopeful of
men; and his work had not peirshed;
but acclamations of praise for the
task he had accomplished burst out
into song Of triumph, which even
tears for his death could not keep
down.
He was thoroughly American; had
never crossed the sea; had never been
spoiled by English insularity or
French dissipation; quiet, native
aboriginal man, as an acorn from the
oak. No aping of foreigners, no
frivolous accomplishments, Kentuck-
ian born, working on a farm, fiat
boat man, a captain in the Black
Hawk war, country lawyer, repre-
sentative in the rural legislature of
lliinois;-on such modest foundations
the broad structure of his fame was
laid. A plain man of the people, an
extraordinary fortune attended him.
He offered no shining light at the first
encounter; he did not offend by SUI
periority. He had face and man
ner which disarmcd suspicion, which
inspired confidence, which confirmed
good will. He was a man without
vices. He had strong sense of duty,
which it was very easy for him to
obey. He had what farmers call ga
long head" was excellent in working
out the sum for himself; in arguing
his case and convincing you fairly and
firmly. Then it turned out that he
was great worker; had prodigious
faculty of performance; worked easily.
A good worker is so rare; everybody
has some disabling qualities. But
this man was sound to the core, cheer
full, persistent, all right for labor, an9
liked nothing so we'll.
He had vast good nature, which
made him tolerent and accessible to
all; fairminded, leaning to the claim
of the petitioner; affable, and not SEN
s:ble to the infection which innumer-
able visits would have brought to any
one else. And how this good nature
became noble humanity, in many a
tragic case which the events of the
war brought to him, everyone will re-
member. And with what increasing
tenderness he dealt, when whole
race was thrown on his compassion!
His broad good humor, running cas-
lily into ocular talk Tin which he de-
lighted and excelled) was rich gift
to this wise man. 1t enabled him to
keep his secret; to meet every man
and every rank in society; to take off
the edge of the severest decisions
to mask his own purpose and sound
his companion; and to catch with true
instinct the temper. of every company
he addressed. More than all, to a
man of severe labor, in anxious and
eShausting crises, it is the natural
restorative, good as sleep; the protec-
ton of the overdriven brain against
ranor and insanity.
He is the author of a multitude of
good sayings, so disguised as pleas
antries that they had no reputation at
first but as jests, and only later turn
out to be the wisdom of the hour.
And the weight and penetration of
many passages in his letters, mes
sages and speeches,-hidden now by
the very closeness of their application
to the moment,-are destined hereaf-
ter to wide fame. What pregnant
definitions! what unerring common
sense and foresight! and on great o.
casions what lofty ara more than
national. what humu tone! His
brief speech at Getfv-'a,rg will not
easily be surpassed b. lords on any
recorded occasion. r-iis and one