Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1922-03-10

fame. All that we can 90
ay our humble tribute to his
l0ly, which should inspire I'LL
americans to rise to his level
oral character. No one needs
o told that Plato was the great
thinker that Greece ever pro-
ced. or that Shakespeare was the
reltest poet of his age, perhaps OF
nv age. For the same reason II
9 needless to tell an American aud
fence that Lincoln stands in class
himself. He is held in such
Ugh esteem that any book which
ellis the story of his life at once
becomes "a best seller" Any ACTOR
who can approach fair impersona-
ton of him never fails to appear
before a crowded house. Any man
who shows a faint resemblance to
him is the hero and idol of his COM
munity.
(b) On the intellectual side. His
wisdom has illuminated the words
of the wise. His phrase are re-
Gated wherever the English Ian
guage Is spoken. His political Ideas
ere the current coin of all classes
of men-the conservative, the radi-
cal the idealist. 1t is doubtful IL
even yet men measure him accord
ing to his full height. His charac-
ter cannot stand out in all Its
grandeur until the last vestige OF
passion has died out. He was the
gift, not OF the nation, but of
God, who ordained him from above
as surely as he ordained Moses and
Elijah to become prophets of right
eousness.
A GREAT STATESMAN
Lincoln lived in an age of great
men. 1t was the age of great sol
diers like Grant, Jackson, and Lee.
1t was an era of great statesmen
like Webster, Calhoun and Clay. 1t
was an age of great orators like
Phillips, Beecher, and Simpson. But
Lincoln towers above them all as a
world figure. Great minds had in
vain attempted to establish equality
among men. In England Gladstone
and John Bright worked on the
problem. In America Clay, Calhoun
and Webster we're wrestling with it.
But the wisdom of these great minds
, was unequal to the problem. What
the greatest statemen of Europe and
coin did. The more you contrast
Lincoln with other giants, the more
striking becomes the supremacy Of
our martyr president
A GREAT ORATOR
Time is a great avenger. Afte1
7 1ol LII; q
Gettysburg, Horace Greeley's papel
published in full the Grafton of Ed
ward Everett. In his editorial com
ment on the events of the day
Greeley remarked sarcastically
After Everett's grafton, Presiden
Lincoln made few rambling re
marks" The Presidents speech
! should have been printed in full
but the New York Tribune passed i
up, while the grafton of Everett wa
, praised in silvery tones. Severa
months passed by. One day tn
Westminster Review, the grea
English quarterly, published an pr
ticle on Lincoln as a master of Eng
lish speech. Lincoln's speech wa
analized in the following terms: Il
has but one equal, i. e., that pro
nounced upon the Athenian soldier
who fell in the first Pelonesial
War. 1t is superior to that grea
speech, however, because it wa
really delivered. Nature takes prec
edence of art. even though it b
the art of Pericles.''
] In his estimate of the Gettysbur
address. Bigelow said: THAT speed
represents the difference between
oratory and inspiration. Everett
was the orator and Lincoln the in
spired prophet. 1t was the most en-
during bit of eloquence that ha
ever been uttered on this continent
A MASTER OF MEN
Lincoln was always a master @
men. This he did not accomplis
by surrounding himself with med
OGRE men. On the contrary
called to his side the greatest me
In the nation. Nothing more ade
quately proves a mans superiorit
than an open contest with grea
minds. Lincoln's superiority owe
other men was subjected to the aci
test when he matched wits wit
such men as Seward and Stanton
At the beginning of his ADMINISTERS
ton he was burdened by the pal
ronizing attitude of Seward. In
mediately after the inauguration
Seward wrote letter to LincOlI
Offering to come to the rescue q
residential successor in case tn
President should find himself In
competent to fill his great Office
But Lincoln knew his own strength
and the members of his cabine
soon acknowledged his superorit,
At the time that Seward wrote hi
letter, a crisis developed in foreig
affairs. Lincoln called a meeting c
the cabinet and asked Seward t
prepare a paper for discussion. Sew
b ird took counsel with the leadin