The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1923-02-07
WORLD PAYS TRIBUTE
TO THE "GREATEST
AMERICAN"

On February II, everywhere ever
this country-in Its schools ard It's
public gatherings, or in the silent rev.
erence Of the hearts of it's hu rying
thrOngs-the people pay tribute % the
memory of Abraham Lincoln, on the
one hundred and fourteenth annlver-
pary Of his birth. And I think that, al
most instlnctively, will come the uni
versal longing that he were with us
again today, with his sympathetic I'M
Outstanding of men, kindly phlloSo-
ply and far-seeing vision, to help guide
US through the problems and dangers
Of the reconstruction period.
But as we do SO. we should realize
that the reverence we now accord his
sainted memory has been the growth
| Of years, and that in his life, fully as
much as in his death, he suffered the
martyrdOm which the world usually
accords its saints and seers. 1t Is moi
Abraham Lincoln who has grown, but
the nation which, with the passing
| years, has come into a realization OF
his true greatness. I am reminded, In
! this connection, Of the eloquent words
Of Brand Whitlock, spoken regarding
Lincoln, In 1908, as follows:
, "HIs beautiful dream was not to be.
Shrewd, logical reaIist though he was,
nevertheless he was essentially an
fdealist, and his ideal was too high,
too far, Mutual forgiveness, immediate
reconciliation, ~brOtheriy love, were not
for his contemporaries, and their
hatred bore Its inevitable fruit In the
bitter days Of reconstruction that fol
lowed. Because they could not under.
stand him, the men Of his time reviled
and ridiculed him, measured him BY
the standards with which they meas
ured themselves, and, in judging him
judged only themselves Themselves
impractical, they thought him imprac
teal, who was the most practical Of
men; thought him ignorant, who wa.
the wisest Of men; sneered at him a!
uneducated-him on whom degrees ans
doctors hoods would have appeared
pinchbeck and ridiculousl AS tbs
scenes Of the great war receded, a
the perspective heightened and pas
siOns cooled, men came to see how
great, how mighty, how original h
was. As slowly they grew in the ma
= tionaI spirit he breathed into them, a
mankind In its upward striving reaches
toward his stature, they began to rec
Ognize In him not only the first, bu
the ideal American, realizing In hi
life all that America Is and dream:
And more and more, as time goes OF
he grows upon the mind Of the woriC
The figure Of Washington, the first G
American heroes. has taken on tn
cold and classic isolation Of a marbl
statue. But Lincoln, even though II
evitable legend has developed him I
its refracting atmosphere, remain
dearly human, and the common ma
may look upon his sad and homel
face, and find in 1t that quality Of cha
acter which causes him to revere an
love him as a familiar friend-One
the common people whom, as he on
humOrOusly said. God must have love
because He made so many Of then
Thus he remains close to the hear
Just as IL he had lived on through Il
years, essentially and forever huma
not alone the possession Of III ow
people; not of a nation only, bat
the whole human brotherhood he lovs
with such perfect devotion, n tn
humanity to which he gave his life."
In connection with the above. / a
reminded of another inspired and
spring tribute TO Lincoln. this
verse, written by James RuaBs
Lowell, whose most familiar stams
run:
Nature. they Gag 8a<n @s&as
ANA eassas ASK o azsm