Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-30
LINCOLN AND HIS MEMORIAL
AND THE MEANINGS OF BOTH
II 10 Something to See the Greatest
Monument In America Erected to .
Man Who Couldn't Hate ANYBODY

Monument In America Erected to
Man Who Couldn't Hate Anybody
DEMOCRACY in government the thing
- that all people are talking and quarrel
ing about nowadays, is not all that 1t ought
to be. But it is as good as people. 1t can
be no better. 1t will improve only as people
improve and as human life becomes express
sive of the wisdom of the spirit rather than
the mere reflection of transient accomplish
ments Of mind
Now and then. at rare intervals, a man
appears somewhere in the world to be the
voice of the secret. silent and imprisoned
heart of mankind where is the source of all
truth and understanding. And instantly
people kneel, knowing that they are in the
presence of divine thing. So 1t will be In
Washington this Memorial Day when the
new Lincoln Memorial is dedicated formally
Lincoln's soul was free. He let it lead
him. He spoke its language. The inhbi-
tions grounded in fear. ignorance and self
interest that impose silence upon the hearts
Of most men were unknown to him. And
so Lincoln is at home at last. n colossal
figure seemingly of light In the midst of vast
white spaces; figure Of strength and
patience with a face of grief. He did what
innumerable men would like to do In smaller
ways If a thousand chains Of circumstance
were not too strong for them. he was man.
kind liberated.
He was all the men who died in the Civil
War and all the men who died IN France,
trusting the world even while 1t slew them and
somehow justifying their own miraculous
faith. He was all lonely people and all those
who suffer without crying out and oil those
who, to this day, endure misunderstanding
and martyrdom and death and shame be-
cause of compassion rooted mysteriously
and ineradcably at their souls foundations.
He was ali that part of humanity that nor
mally has no voice. though its charity and
strength save the world from itself at least
once in every twenty -four hours.
He spoke with the voice of all people
whose hearts guide them. And his voice
was one of the most wonderful that any
nation ever heard. You can hear It yet
You will always be able 10 hear It. 1t
echoes wherever men are breaking away
| from old and cruel ways Of life and govern
ment. 1t is upon every wind nowadays and
the country lasts. as long as people have
| memories. they will 60 to the Lincoln
Memorial and looking up. they will seldom
be able to see clearly the outlines of the
marble figure incosed there. They will see
1 it through the mists that come 10 people 5
eyes now and then as If to shroud things
almost intOlerably beautiful. For they will
look into the eyes of n man who had heart
sensitive enough TO share all the sorrows Of
n world and strong enough TO sustain the
| burden without breaking
| It Is no wonder that Lincoln rather than
Washington. is coming to be regarded rs
the greatest American. The spirit OF God
walked in him. The record Of his whole life
might be condensed into a query: OF what
use are hate and fear and selfshness and
any sort of cruelty? What have such quail =
ties of mind ever accomplished but destruc.
I tion?
The virtues Of common men, qualities OF
| feeling that are never absent from the
majority in any crowd though they are con .
| fused and thwarted and bound inexorabIy by
circumstance. had free play and complete
! growth in Abraham Lincoln. And any
statesman who would wish to be like Lin
coin must be like unspoiled humanity.
There could be no more fitting ceremonial
! at the national capital on Memorial Day
| none so packed with significance. as that
| which attends the dedication Of the Lincoln
| Memorial. 1t will suggest innumerable
things worth remembering.
Turn your eyes for moment upon the
| serene and majestic figure upon its enormous
pedestal. and all the pickering and SQUAD
bling that disgrace the seats of the world
Governments will seem like noises from q
jungle And I.incoln's life, as it was lived
suggests how far we wander from truth ir
| the current estimates of worldly success
| Its implications are not new. But they are
here justified with startling clearness
Again, in this most magnificent building cvel
erected to the memory Of man, the world II
reminded that adversely may be one of tn,
rarest gifts Of Heaven: that it Is from tn,
humble that you must seek truth; tha
gentleness is, in the last analysis. the onl,
real proof Of strength, and that wisdom ma
be far different thing from learning.
|
SAN ANTONIO ERUPTS