The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1922-02-10
HIS fame CROWS
Interest in. Lincoln Increases
With the Passing Years.
Whole World Has Como to Honor the
Man Most WorthiIy Termed 1.-THE
First American"

With every passing year the inter
est In Abraham Lincoln-and It II
coming to be a worldwide interest
increases. From the days Of Lowell
and Whitman down to the present mo.
ment he has been the theme Of poet
essayist, novelist, dramatist and biog'
rapher. Within the last few years We
have had MIR. Bachelors novel, Mr.
Drinkwater's play and Lord Charm
woods noble biography. Englishmen
hardly less than Americans, have done
honor and paid reverent tribute to the
memory Of the American President
and thus this great man, though dead
has proved to be a bond Of union be
tween the two peoples, says a writer
In the Indianapolis News. The more
Lincoln's life and character are stud
led the larger does his greatness loom
Other men, who made a great stir ir
the world, have shrunk with the pass
ing years.
Lincoln's has been a growing fame
Nor is 1t a fame that was sought
rather It was Stunned. There 10 moth
ing manufactured in 1t, as indeed there
never IL in a fame that is lasting and
noble. Here is a man who Is honored
and this is q fine tribute to democ
racy-for the sole reason that he de
serves to be honored.
Really a Great Man.
Much has been made Of the sim
plicity Of Lincoln's character, and yet
In a sense 1t was not simple at all. The
mystery connected with it has not
been conjured up by men desiring tt
show their ingenuity. He was, as Ten
nyson says Of the duke Of wellington
rich in saving common sense" and
"as the greatest only are, in his sim
plicity sublime" GAS the Creates
only are"-the qualifying phrase is i'm
portant. There were depths in Lin
coins nature that never have beer
and never will be plumbed. To hin
"whO only sees one way at once" Lin
coin may seem to be- merely a good
natured, tolerant man. Yet, though he
OverflOwed with the spirit Of mercy
AO SOuAu 10 a. Alulu oS "AS
occasion required. Humble though he
was, he could take a position, and
hold it with a self assertiveness thai
was sublime. Utterly without pride
he yet trusted his own judgment, and
even his intuitions implicitly. "Ricf
in saving common sense" he was YET
beyond question a mystic. In what
Swinburne said was the greatest
threnody in the English language
Whitman spoke Of Lincoln as "the
sweetest, wisest soul Of all my days
and lands" More than any other
American, Lincoln had that remarka'
BILE quality which Arnold praised &c
highly, "sweet reasonableness." This
character, therefore, is not simple, but
in the highest degree complex. The
simplicity Is found in the moral nature
To follow conscience and do the RICH
was the rule of this mans life. There
is an appearance OF simplicity, due tt
the fact that the character, composite
as 1t was, was so well rounded, sc
marked by totality as to blind men t(
the struggles by which the unity was
achieved. 1t may be said Of Lincoln
as of Brutus, but with much more
truth:
His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed In him that nature might stand
up
And say to all the world: ''This was g
mani
So, though he was "in his simplicity
sublime" it was "as the greatest only
are" He was one "who loved hi.
charge, but never loved to lead" ant
his surely was "the brave old wisdom
of sincerity"
His Sense Of Humor.
There are, however, two elements Of
Lincoln's character that are supposed
to be In conflict, but mistakenly so. II
Is often wondered how there coul(
V been anything of the jester in 8
man whose nature was so deeply mel
ancholy. Yet tragedy and comedy are
not antithetical. On the contrary
they are close Of kin. 1t has been said
that "Humor was the only test OF
gravity, and gravity Of humOr"; that
"A subject which would not bear rail
lery. was suspicious, and a Jest which
would not bear a serious examination
was certainly false wit" Socrates was
a great humorist as well as a great
philosopher, and Shakespeare was
master Of the most b%oisterous comedy