The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-02-03
Lincoln, A 18th
 Century Hero,
 Says Dr. Cadman

IL The second in the series of free | lectures at the First Methodist Epis II copal church. which the pastor. Rev II Chester c. Marshall, D. D.. aptlJ | termed "a contribution to the artistic and cultured life of the community | brought to Bridgeport last night Dr. If S. Parkes Cadman of Brooklyn, one | Of the most eloquent and widely ap- preciated divines in America of any Il ham Lincoln. pr. Cadman was
 greeted by an audience which filled
 all the available space in the church II and for nearly two hours portrayed
 the life and character of Lincoln in | such vivid and stirring terms that l! the spirit of the martyred president
 appeared to hover over the church. Il Through the courtesy of Christ church, the flag that hoated over the home of Frederick Wood of this city i when Abraham Lincoln was a guest | at his home, was draped back of the | speaker.
 II Dr. Cadman declared in opening that two men, both born in the month of February, Lincoln and Washington l were the only men in the history of
 the United States recognized by the world at large as truly great, and l the greater of these was Lincoln, pointing out that while Washington
 was a favorite of fortune, born an ar | istocrat and endowed by nature with
 commanding gifts, upon whom ad- vantages and opportunities were boun | teously bestowed early in life, Lincoln was a product of pioneer life who had to hew his own career and was nearly l fifty years old before he had by sheer | determination, industry and force of | character risen above the level on l which he found himself at birth,
 adding that in the ten years of Lin l coln's greatness he accomplished more
 than Washington did in forty years
 of rich opportunity. pr. Cadman
 stated that there were other Ameri- l cans who had been termed great. but
 about whose greatness there was some dispute, citing particularly Woodrow Wilson as a man whose | eulogists leave nothing for Heaven to add and whose enemies leave nothing 1 for the other place to contribute" But" said Dr. Cadman, when we speak of an individuality towering as Mount Shasta towers on the distant sIopes of the Pacific Ocean, there are only two men upon whom the vision of America rests, two mighty mag1s- trates, pure and full of probity in their private life, and advancing the will of God in political estate as it is sell dom given to any magistrate to do. "Of these two Lincoln was the greatest, in fact Washington was not han American in the modern accept. ance of the term. He was colonial gentleman, and would have been se- riousIy hampered if he had offered himself for election to public office in New York city at the present time, because he was pure English on both sides. He was representative or the l 18th century l
  when men were supreme and women subordinate. Iii this day that posi- l ton has been reversed. In those days man dressed women do today. Men painted, hounced and furbelowed, men | went to banquetS and displayed inn ported hosiery. Today women have all those artifices and ornaments, and poor man waits outside shut from the preparations that he may view the general result and thank God it is no worse.
 
 spirit of his day MT. Lincoln was a 9th century hero and a leader and his dress betokened it. As a youth Of 16, already more than six feet, he was lean and Iank and sinewy. He had on 8 pair of pants that shortened up | every time 1t rained, and if it didn't | rain he was always growing taller, so there was a state of continual watch fu1 waiting between his pants and socks. He had a coonskin cap and vest and his huge hand was almost as large 8 Virginia ham, yet if had the brush of a Rembrandt and could paint with a few strokes the very blood of this republic, I would linn out Lincoln at 16 and would write This is the stuff out of which God makes free men, '''
 Dr. Cadman expressed the opin- ton that to much had been attributed to the 18th century and stated that one-third of the histories used in the public schools are unfit for use because they do not transmit the right ideas and are careless about '"rhese men of the 18th century were not always the premier men they have been represented to be, and cer- tainly not the supernal men they have been painted to be by a fond imagination. The men who left be- hind their luxurious palaces on the James and the- Potomac and the stately homes of New England mag mates and who penetrated the Alle- ghanies and the boundaries of the white mans civilization of the day America dominated by the gentry of a former aristocratic period Of so- cfety. Lincoln was the first great American. He was neither a North ern or a Southern man, an Fastener or a Westerner, but large enough to fill all the dimensions
 pr. Cadman declared that every great man was himself plus the books he had read, that nothing real ly original had been written since inspiration was primarily the Bible. the first book he read and the last he studied. The lecturer described Lin- coins boyhood love affair and de- clared it the spark which fired Lin coins ambition, spoke feelingly of his days in the White House, and closed with a tribute to his Niagara like moral courage"
 Dr. Marshall announced at the close of the lecture that the remain ing numbers in the course would be: Feb. '. Bishop William A. QuayIe on Jean Valjean"; March 2, Prof Hugh Black on America Through Scot tish Eyes;" March 16, the Gloria Trumpeters. and March 30, the Wes- 1eyan Glee Club and Choir.
 \ CAVALIERI CAUSE