Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-02-15
lincoln Takes Place as
One of Worlds Greatest
WORLD PAYS TRIBUTE TO ABRA-
HAM LINCOLN THE "GREAT-
EST AMERICAN

ublic gatherings, or in the silent
everence of the hearts of it's hurry
lg throngs-the people pay tribute
the memory of Abraham Lincoln,
n the one hundred and fourteenth
anniversary of his birth. And / think
hat, almost instinctively, will come
he universal longing that he were
nth us again today, with his sym
athletic understanding of men, kindly
Philosophy and far-seeing vision, to
clip guide us through the problems
nd dangers of the reconstruction
eriod.
But as we do so, we should realize
lat the reverence we now accord his
ainted memory has been the growth
f years, and that in his life, fully as
luch as in his death, he suffered the
lartyrdom which the world usually
ccords it's saints and seers. 1t is not
braham Lincoln who has grown, but
he nation which. with the passing
ears, has come into a realization of
lis true greatness. am reminded, in
this connection, of the eloquent words
IF Brand Whitlock, spoken regarding
Lincoln, in 1908, as follows:
Ellis beautiful dream was not to be
shrewd, logical realist though he was,
nevertheless he was essentially an
dealist, and his ideal was too high,
too far Mutual forgiveness, immediate
cancellation, brotherly love, were not
or his contemporaries, and their
hatred bore it's inevitable fruit in the
litter days of reconstruction that fol
owed. Because they could not under
tandhim, the men of his time reviled
nd ridiculed him, measured him by
he standards with which they meas
red themselves, and, in judging him,
judged only themselves. Themselves
impractical, they thought him imprac-
cal, who was the most practical of
aen, thought him ignorant, who was
he wisest Of men, sneered at him as
neducated- on whom degrees
nd DOCTORS hoods would have appear
pinchbeck and ridiculous! AS the
Genes of the great war receded, as
he perspective heightened and pas
ions cooled, men came to see how
.reat, how mighty, how original he
as. AS owl they grewzin be -
ona1 spirit he breathed into them,
mankind in it's upward striving
cached toward his statue, they began
8 recognize in him not only the first
ut the ideal American, realizing in
is life all that America is and dreams
nd more and more, as time goes on,
se grows upon the mind of the world
he figure of Washington, the first of
.merican heroes, has taken on the
;oId and classic isolation of marble
tatue. But Lincoln, even though in
vitable legend has enveloped him in
IS refreshing atmosphere, remains
early human, and the common man
aay look upon his sad and homeiy
ace and find in it that quality of
character which causes him to revere
nd love him as familiar friend
me of the common people whom as
le once humorously said, God must
ave loved because He made so many
# them Thus he remains close to
he heart, just as if he had lived on
through the years, essentially and for
yer, human not alone the possession
f our own people, not of nation only
tut of the whole human brotherhood
le loved with such perfect devotion,
md that humanity to which he gave
lis life"
Nature, they say, doth dote,
And cannot make a man
Save on some worn-out plan,
Repeating us by rote:
For him her old-world mold aside she
threw,
And choosing sweet clay from the
breast
Of the unexhausted West,
With stuff untainted, shaped a hero
new,
Wise, steadfast in the strength of God
and true.
His was no lonely mountain-peak of
mind,
Thrusting to thin air DER our cloudy
bars
A scar mark now-now lost in vapors
blind;
Broad prairie rather, genial, level
lined,
Fruitful and friendly for all human
kind,
Yet also night to Heaven and the
Hottest stars.
The place of Abraham Lincoln in
history is not only secure, but it is
one which will grow from year to
year. His name stands first in the
Pantheon of this republic, and his star
will shine down the vista of the cen
turtles, guiding light to all who fol
low. To the cause Of liberty and equal
ity to the nation and all humanity he
gave him self in life and death, and
a Savior could not do more. That is
what constitutes his universal appeal
to the common people of all nations
and all decades, and that is why we