The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-02-11
GREATNESS OF
LINCOLN TOLD
BY MR.. DEVINE
State Commissioner of Immi-
cation Speaks at Univer-
sity Convention
HAD DEEP EMOTION

Grand Forks. n. D., Feb. Ill. NJ.
Devine, Commissioner Of lmmigra-
ton, spoke today at convocation at
the University of North Dakota, on
the subject of Abraham Lincoln. Mr..
Devine said in part:
abraham Lincoln was man Of
deep emotion, broad sympathy. in
tense feeling. Constant as the stars,
gentle and tender as woman, broad
as the Republic in his patriotism
and as wide as the Universe in his
humanity. The more we know Of
him and the nearer we get to him the
bigger he grows. He surpassed all
orators in eloquence, all diplomats
in wisdom and the most ambitious in
fame. In many respects no one in
the life Of our nation fills our ideal
as does this wise, simple minded,
self made. scif-reliant man who came
TO US as a gift of the people, from
the hearts, homes and forests of
Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. Born
and reared in absolute poverty, sur
rounded on every hand by Difficult
ties, seemingly unsurmountable but
for the intervening and guiding hand
of Providence. Lincoln grew every
day and every year into grander in
tellectual power and vigor.
Life of Hardship
"The first twelve years Of his life
were spent in a half-faced camp or
cabin, yet. even among these miser-
able surroundings the boy learned to
read. write, cipher, think and declaim
beyond his years and time. All his
days in a school house added to-
gether would not make single
year; but every day of his life was
constant drill in the great school
of nature and experience. He did
not read many books but he obtained
from the few he did read more than
any other reader. Wish you would
note especially the books he read.
namely: The Bible, Shakespeare, Pill
.rims Progress, Aesops Fables.
Burns, Weems Life of Washington.
and the Statutes of the State of In
diana. These are not many but they
contain about all that is great in
English literature and in the hands
of boy like Lincoln they constitute
magnificent literary and might
almost add.-liberal education. But
it was strength Of mind as well as
OF body that made Lincoln's great
career possible. Nothing could
daunt him. He might have but
single tow linen shirt or pair Of
jean pantaloons, he often did not
know where his next dollar was to
ty-six years of age he had mastered
English Grammar and Composition.
Arithmetic, Geometry, Logic and
Law.
'He was always accessible to the
people and they in turn trusted him
as they have no one great man since.
His first public utterance is marked
by this trust and confidence. On
March 8, 1882, when announcing him
self as candidate for the Illinois
Legislature in strong democratic
district he said: Every man has his
own particular ambition. must
confess that for one have no higher
ambition than to win the confidence
and esteem of my fellow-men. How
we'll l shall succeed the future only
can show. | have no rich relatives,
TO affluent friends, l have always
been accustomed to walk in the COM
mon pathways of life. My case
rests solely upon the independent
voters Of this district. If you see
fit to keep me in the background l
have been too long accustomed to
hardships and disappointments to be
very much chagrined" In this re-
markable speech so earnest and so
honest made when he was but TWEEN
ty-three years of age, the main fea-
lures of Lincoln's character and the
elements which made his great ca
reer possible, are revealed with
startling distinctness.
A Great Figure
"Today Lincoln stands resplendent
among the great figures of history;
with William of Orange, John Ham
den and George Washington, that
small but transcendent group Of
moral heroes who shed their lustre
upon the three great decisive epochs
in the onward march of human lib,
erty
"Lincoln was providentially design
ed and carefully trained for the su-
preme tasks which came to him; his
harsh and early hapless life, his
many trials and disappointments was