The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1923-02-08
WORLD PAYS TRIBUTE
TO THE "GREATEST
AMERICAN"

On February IL, everywhere over
public gatherings, or in the silent rev.
erence Of the hearts Of its hurrying
throngs-the people pay tribute to the
memory of Abraham Lincoln, on the
one hundred and fourteenth anniver-
sary of his birth And think that, al
most instinctively, will come the uni
versal longing that he were with us
again today. with his sympathetic I'M
Outstanding of men, kindly philoso-
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 it's saints and seers. 1t Is not
Abraham Lincoln who has grown, but
the nation which. with the passing
years, has come into realization of
his true greatness I am reminded, In
this connection, Of the eloquent words
of Brand Whitlock, spoken regarding
Lincoln, In 7908, as follows:
His beautiful dream was not to be.
Shrewd, logical realist though he was,
nevertheless he was essentially an
idealist, and his ideal was too high,
too far. Mutual forgiveness, immediate
reconciliation, brotherly 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 was
the wisest OF men; sneered at him as
misunderstanding on whom degrees and
doctors hoods would have appeared
pinchbeck and ridiculousl AS the
scenes of the great war receded, as
the perspective heightened and pas
sions cooled, men came to see how
great, how mighty. how original he
was. AS slowly they grew In the ma
tional spirit he breathed into them, as
mankind In Its upward striving reached
toward his stature, they began to rec
ognize In him not only the first, but
the ideal American, realizing in his
life ali that America Ia and dreams.
And more and more, as time goes on,
he grows upon the mind of the world.
The figure Of Washington, the first OF
American heroes. has taken on the
cold and classic isolation of a marble
statue. But Lincoln, even though IN
evitable legend has enyeloped him IN
its refracting atmosphere, remains
dearly human. and the common man
may look upon his sad and homely
face, and find In 1t that quality OF char
acter which causes him to revere and
love him as familiar friend-one OF
the common people whom, as he once
humorously said, God must have loved
because He made so many OF them.
Thus he remains close to the heart,
Just as If he had lived on through the
years, essentially and forever human,
not alone the possession Of our own
people; not of nation only, but OF
the whole human brotherhood he loved
with such perfect devotion, and that
, humanity to which he gave his life."
In connection with the above, am
reminded Of another inspired and In
spring tribute to Lincoln, this one In
verse, written by James Russell
/ Lowell, whose most familiar stanzas
run:
Nature, they say. doth dote.
And cannot make = man
Save on some wsrn-eut plan.