Connecticut western news., 1919-02-13


 ether work which helped to e"rn ar honest living. His schooling cO@lC c&Gily be summed Up in cne year bat whatever he undertook he mas tered. The genuine New England spirit was ever manifest.
 During the Black Hawk war which broke out in 1882, he distin. CIished himself as a leader. At the age of twenty-five he became 8 member of the Legislature in Illinois and held that position for eight years. Little by little he rose to prominence and became one of the most effective public speakers in the West.
 He was an implicit believer in that principle of the Declaration of Inde- pendence that all men are vested with certain inalienable rights, the equal rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. During the entire decade from 1850 to 1860 the agitation of the slavery question was at the boiling point.
 Honest Abe" has passed into the language of our time and country as a synonym for all that is just and honest in men. His friends called him "perversely honest". Lincoln inherited no opportunities, and ac- quired nothing by luck. His good fortune consisted of an untiring perseverance. and good heart. In connection with his wise saying, You may deceive all the people some of the time, some of. the people all of the time, but not all of the people all of the time", we neglect to add as Lincoln did. "We cannot deceive our selves any of the time, and the only way to enjoy our own respect is to deserve it. We stamp our value on ourselves and cannot expect to pass for more."
 It was character, not ability that elected Lincoln to the presidency. At the age of fifty-one years this child of the wilderness, farm laborer, rail-splitter, flat-boat man, surveyor, lawyer, orator, statesman and patriot was elected to the highest office in the country. His mind mastered the leading problem of the day, and as the problem grew so did his compre- hension of it. The new pilot was hurried to the helm in a tornado tornado to continue for four long years of civil war.
 Never was a new ruler in a more desperate plight than Lincoln when he entered office March fourth 1861, but he lived to see his work endorsed by an overwhelming majority of his countrymen.
 His is, no doubt, the most remark able example recorded in history, showing the possibilities of our country. His will made his way. his maxim was begging away" He had that rare nerve that cared not for ridicule and was not swerved by public clamor.. He had what might, well be termed, pure grit.
 During his. brief term of power, he was no doubt the object of more abuse and ridicule than any other man in the world, but when he fell by the brand of an assassin, at the very moment of his stupendous vic tory, all nations of the earth vied with one another in paying homage to his name, and the fifty-four years that have since elapsed have estab- lished his place in history as one of the greatest benefactors of his own country as well as of the human race. His two minute speech at Gettysburg alone would have immor- talized him. Lincoln stands before the world as the great emancipator. Although not versed in the refine ment> of society he was gifted by nature with an unusual amount of common sense, kind, earnest, faith ful, sympathic and democratic he was always anxious to serve his country. When he died by the ass- assins hand, in the supreme hour of victory, the vanquished lost their best friend, and the human race. one of its noblest examples-friends of freedom and justice, in whose cause he lived and died joined hands as mourners at his grave. with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the { right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our selves, and with all nations. ."A-Con- tributed.
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