The New York herald., 1922-10-24
Lyman Abbott.

In the passing Of LYMAN ABBOTT
this city and this country lose one
Of their great forces for light and
truth. He was one of those rare
men to whom a whole people turn
for advice and example, and when
Americans turned to LYMAN ABBOTT
he never failed to help.
New England has been generous
in giving to the world men and
women, sometimes whole families.
whose leadership. spirituality and
scholarship have been of tremendous
benefit to their fellows. LYMAN
ABBOTT came Of one of those families,
each generation of which sought to
outdo its predecessor in good works.
He had the New England energy, the
New England heritage of justice.
LYMAN ARBoTT might have made
great name for himself at the bar
as two Of his brothers did. if he had
not chosen to turn to the pulpit.
1t was as preacher that he first
attracted the attention Of the coun-
try to his intellectual powers and the
breadth Of his great mind. It was
no easy task to attempt to take the
place Of HENRY WARD BEEcHER as
the pastor Of Plymouth Church, but
DR.. ABBOTT took it and kept it. II
he lacked BEEcHER's magnetism and
fire he made up for them in his SER
mons with the clearness Of his logic
and the genuine warmth OF his
friendship for humanity.
1t was in literature rather than in
the pulpit, however, that DR.. ABBOTT
reached his greatest audiences. AS
the editor of the Outlook he was able
to convey his valuable opinions to the
entire intellectual public. Nor were
these opinions limited to the field Of
religion. LYMAN ABBOTT lived in
times Of strife. He was no mere
scholar, apart from the struggle of
bis fellows. He knew that it was
impossible to separate religion and
human events: social and spiritual
things were too closely intertwined
for that. He knew how weak and
how strong humanity could be, and
tried to turn its strength into the
right channels.
Christianity was ever uppermost in
LYMAN ABBoTT's soul He saw that
the largest need Of his day was to
make that Christianity applicable to
the days problems. political or other
wise. He was sincere, and he tried
to make his world sincere. He was
sane and he preached sanity. He
was moderate, relying upon the clar-
ity Of his fine argumentative powers
to convince.
There was no necessary reform
that could not rely upon DR.. ABBOTT
for advice and aid. He was willing
always to give his pen or his voice
to worthy cause. He worked for
| his city. his State. his country and
! indeed for the well being OF the whole
world. And his ability. his person
ality. his remarkable quality of seeing
the right way to do the right thing
attracted to him many other men Of
vision who worked with him in his
chosen vineyards. One of these was
THEODORE ROOSEVELT. who served on
the Outlook with DR.. ABBOTT and
with whose name LYMAN ABBoTr's
will always be linked.
The story of DR.. ABBOTT is one Of
the finest pages in the. history Of
unselfish endeavor. He worked un-
ceasingly all the life that has just
ended in its eighty-seveuth year. So
long as there was some new spiritual
problem, some social question at
which to direct the clear light Of his
mind, LYMAN ABBOTT would not rest
But at last the strong hands are
folded in sleep and the compelling
voice is still. He was like patriarch
who had fingered because the people
needed him.