The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-02-12

Lincoln's Greatness

The nation commentaries today the anniver-
sary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, emanci-
pator of race, preserver of republic, and
acclaimed by liberty loving peoples everywhere
as one of the colossal characters of history.
Three scores of years hardly have passed
since his death, and yet this offspring of hardy
pioneer family, elevated by the suffrage of his
fellow men to the presidency where he was more
misunderstood and misrepresented than any man
who ever sat in the chief executives chair, today
receives the grateful homage of the whole world.
Of him, Lloyd George, at the unwilling of a
statue near Westminster Abbey, said:
HE is an American no longer. He is one of
those giant figures, of whom there are very few
in history, who lose their nationality in death.
They are no longer Greek or Hebrew or English
or American-they belong to mankind. l Won
der whether I will be forgiven for saying that
George Washington was great American, but
Abraham Lincoln belongs to the common people
of every land.
What was the secret of the success of this
remarkable man? Whence came the mighty i'm
pulses that surged through his soul and mani
tested themselves in principles of conduct and
action that have elevated him to the highest peak
of human greatness?
The answer is a simple one, and because it is
so obvious mankind overlooks or ignores it.
Lincoln sought fundamentals, eternal prin-
ciples, everlasting verities that abide inflexible
and immutable despite the ravages of time and
the attacks of evil and corrupt forces No
American statesman, no diplomat trained in the
finesse of his art, excelled his grasp of eternal
principles and his ability to express them so
clearly that mankind could appropriate them in
stantly and act upon them.
Truth was the fundamental principle upon
which he based every discussion as he grew in
mind and morals,' says John Wesley HILL chan
celor of Lincoln Memorial university in his
recent book abraham Lincoln Man of God"
"He would not lie, nor permit his political OPP
ponents to lie. What is right? What is truth !?
were tests he always applied to the solution of
social and political problems Finding for him
self the answers to these questions, no power
could turn him from advocating the right and
proclaiming the TRUTH
Here, then, is the explanation of the career
of this remarkable He sought justice and
truth. He applied them to the solution of per-
sonal and national problems. If it right, Lin
coin espoused it; if wrong, he rejected it. Face
to face with the momentous issue of slavery and
the preservation of the Union, he could see only
the injustice of the former and the moral obliga-
ton of the people of the United States to defeat
the theory that state has the right to with
draw from the republic. Neither eXpedency nor
compromise could sway him, convinced that he
was right and his course based on truth.
We have need today never before to study
the guiding principles of Lincoln's life to obtain
sound theories to apply to great national prob
lens that challenge u.s. If we approached their
solution with open minds and clean souls, asking
What is right? What is true? many of their per-
plexties and intricacies would as if by magic dis
appear and simple course Of procedure present
itself. There was nothing complex or intricate
about Lincoln's methods. Their very simplicity
dumbfounded his friends and foes. And so to-
day, we would do we'll to return to Lncoln's prin-
cples of life and conduct, making justice and
truth the tests Of every national policy and the
controlling factors of our lives.