The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1928-02-16
= SPARKS FROM AN !
= OAKLAND PULPIT i
LINCOLN-THE IDEAL SCOUT.
(From a sermon preached Sunday,
February IL, to Oakland Troop,
Pow Scouts IF america \

SDIudfy L, W Odhldllu lIOOP;
Boy Scouts Of America.)
When Abraham Lincoln was a boy
he formulated for himself the Scout
motto: 81 will study and prepare and
perhaps my time will come"
Lincoln had none of the advantages
which you and 1 enjoy. He had to
create his own opportunities and then,
at the cost Of stupendous labor and
self-denial make the most of them.
And when fate called him to the Pres
idency of. the nation, when destiny
summoned him to take the helm of the
ship of state and guide her through
the most terrible storm of her voyage,
Lincoln was ready. His motto was:
Be Prepared.
He was prepared. physically. The
rail-splitter had toughened his mus
cles and had given to his great
physique a herculean strength, every
ounce of which he was in need in car
rying the tremendous burdens which
his country was to place upon his
shoulders.
He was prepared, mentally. Lin
coin had to fight for his education.
Incredible obstacles lay in his path.
For instance, he used to do the chores
in the morning and walk to Boone
vile, seventeen miles away, to listen
to John A. Breckenridge, a prominent
lawyer of those days; then seventeen
miles home again to do the chores at
night. Day after day he did this while
the court was in session. At such cost
he gained his legal training. Lincoln
struggled as desperately to get an
education as many a boy struggles to
get away from one.
Thus he prepared himself mentally
so that when in later years he was
called to meet in debate the keenest
men in America, such as Stephen
Douglas, Lincoln was able to hold his
own; yes, and more than hold his own.
He was prepared, morally. No hu-
man being ever lived straighter,
cleaner life. Honest Abe" his neigh
bors called him. His was an absolute
integrity of soul which all the wealth
of Midas could not buy, which all the
fattery of the devil could not sway,
which all the threats of million en-
emies could not shake. with malice
toward none, with charity for all,
Abraham Lincoln was the very incar-
nation of the spirit of Christlikeness.
Lincoln never let an opportunity go
by to do a good turn to someone in
trouble. He was as chivalrous as any
legendary knight of King Arthur's
Round Table. Wherever he was, that
strong hand of his was always help
ing hand. His heart was a heart OF
compassion which embraced not only
the whole of humanity, but even the
dumb brutes of the field and the wild
things of the wood.
An attorney who was associated
with him during the period of his
legal practice in Illinois used to tell
the story of how Lincoln spoiled his
best suit of clothes on the way to the
court house one day because he sim
ply had to go back to lonely spot in
the road where he had seen a pig
helplessly struggling in quicksand,
and build a platform of rails and pull
the pig out. Yes, many creature
and many man did Lincoln stop to
pull out of some hole of misfortune.
Again and again Lincoln amazed
his associates by rendering uneXpect-
ed services to men who hated and de-
spised him; as, for example, when he
appointed to the all-important posi-
ton of Secretary of War the very
man who, years before, had publicly
insulted him in a crowded court room.
Thus it was his habit to return good
for evil and to love not only his neigh
Dor but even his enemy as himself.
Surely, Abraham Lincoln was the
truest Scout who ever lived, for in
unique sense he lived the Scout oath:
con my honor, I will do my best to do
my duty to God and my country; to
help other people at all times; to keep
myself physically strong, mentally
awake and morally straight"