Smyrna times., 1922-07-19
Had Justice and Tender Convictions

had JuStlce ana lender CONVICTIONS
With justice on his side he was in
vincible in a lawsuit; in its absence !
he could not and did not fight, so
tender We're his convictions of right .
and wrong. Justly, was he called .
Honest Abe Lincoln" He never .
aided any pet or selfish schemes. He
was patient in all things; had faith
in the plain people and in their homes .
ty and fairness; he strOve long to ed {
ucate them to his view; knew their /
mind, waited for it to consolidate, be- /
fore putting up to them public ques-
tiOns for final solution.
Though certainly ahead of most
politicians, and apparently in advance
of the majority, when he issued his /
proclamation of emancipation, he
knew the people and bided his time
until he saw they realized slavery was
the real impediment to lasting union;
that to get it they were ready to de-
strOy slavery.
Reluctantly accepting the challenge
of war, time and victory enabled Lin
coin to do that. By invoking war, the
devotees of slavery hastened a century
its complete abolition. No man was
more reviled than Lincoln; called
meaner names and charged with more
crimes, especially by the Copperhead
press, which favored the South. He
refused to suppress it, saying that ex-
preston of adverse sentiment was the
essence of liberty; that it was a cor
rective and confirmation of men in
office, and exercising power, who err
red; and that the best friends public
men could have were critical enemies,
who compelled them to deliberate
carefully before acting and to reverse
| their error and resume their Judge
ment.
He never hated men who differed
T. from him; never said they "were with
out vision; were pigmy minded" and
fought to be hung with their heads
Z Observation-Disclosures" He believed
liberty to be the right of every man
to enjoy privileges and to think as
freely and talk as candidly on all pub
lie questions as he did. In all his
speeches and letters, personalities are
completely absent.
Lincoln sympathized with and help
ed all men, women and children he
knew, because he was a very kind
hearted, unselfish man. From back
woods to the White House that trait
made him very many interchangeable
friends. He was never avaracious fol
money; only cared to make enough tt
live on, paying 10 per cent compound
interest for years on early accumulat
ed debts. Lincoln was never wortl
| $4,000.
, The Most Loved of All the President
His sound sense, good judgment
, patience and profound interest il
, every individual he knew, and hi
tender merciful heart, were his stronj
, est characteristics; the ones which to
day makes him the most loved of a.
> the Presidents.
!, He deeply felt the woes of all hu
y manity; he believed in and livet
= POpe's Universal Prayer:
> Teach me to feel another's woe,
i To help the fault see;
:, That mercy |, to others show,
. That mercy shown to me-"
His tenderness to Confederat
: wounded soldier prisoners, as show
in his visit to the hospital at Cit
:, Point, Virginia, the last week of h
!, life, wherein he cOnsoled and chez
- ed them and told them, "they shou
!, live in peace again in the house
:. their father" was Christ-like.
His sense of fairness and justice W;
never obscured. Witness, Lincoln
. last prepared message to Congress
advocating the payment by the Unite
- States Government for the slaves
70 the south. That was within a wee
after the Hampton Roads, Virgini
=, conference, six weeks before Lees su
:, render, at which the Confederate Cor
!, missioners, under the order of Jeffe
a.. son Davis, rejected all terms of peaC
=, except the unconditional recogniti,
- of the Confederate States. Lincoln
If Cabinet was against that plan. Ii
~ coin died with the fixed purpose OF S
l., curing its enactment by Congress. HI
~ he lived, he would have secured it;
=. had never failed in securing a law
=, wished passed. Lincolns good jud
l.. ment and sound common sense, we
-, next too his humanity and mercy.
WIZ His humor and wit relieved
~ natural melancholy, which twice in I
~ ~ life, especially after the death of A
or Rutledge, drove him to the verge
A. insanity.
nc Never. was Lincoln a demagog;
od never showed the slightest taint
be ldemagogemy; yet he was at all tim
profoundly ambitious, always seeki
office, never losing sight of his lor
Id ing for office to publicly distingui
IS himself. But he relied on ideas. a