Evening star., 1945-02-12
Lincoln

The one hundred and thirty sixth
anniversary of his birthday is a
proper occasion for pointing out
that Abraham Lincoln, though dead
nearly eighty years, still is very close
to the American people. He was
distinctly a modern man, and the
more his writings are studied the
more clear it becomes that he was
endowed by genius constructively
prophetic in character.
To illustrate his gift of vision and
comprehension, a casual glance over
his state papers will suffice. Par
ticularly as the end of the record
is approached it is plain and clear
that he was, in fact, living ahead of
his times. The great struggle to
preserve the Union had cost him
much. In common with thousands
of his countrymen, he was bearing
a heavy burden of grief; but, unlike
them, his responsibility was unique.
He realized, as his contemporaries
could not, that it was his duty not
only to save the Republic but to
make its salvation worth the price.
And the justification which he
sought in the reconstruction he
planned was not to be limited to an
immediate future. Lincoln was con-
scious of uncounted centuries of
American progress.
But largely because he was a seer
and prophet in the best and most
accurate meanings of those words
he was troubled in his spirit. On
February II, 1865, he was fifty-six
years old. How little of his life re-
manned to him he could not know,
yet he could guess. The number, the
scope and the span of his generous
acts of mercy hint at the thought
in his mind as we'll as the compass
sionate emotion in his heart. Gen.
eral Sherman's capture of Savannah
had given him reason to believe that
the war soon could be ended, and
the meeting with the Confederate
commissioners at Fortress Monroe
had confirmed him in that faith.
Soon, by mandate of the people, he
would appear at the Capitol to take
the presidential oath on a second
occasion. He naturally would wish
to make the most of the opportunity
to contribute not merely to the vic
tory for which he longed, but also
to the vindication of his administra-
ton for which he was so gravely
concerned.
All the world knows what he said,
but not every citizen who reads the
partial text on the walls of his
Memorial is apt to understand that
the words were spoken not eXpedi-
emily and i'm application to a single
problem, but with a vast, inclusive
idealiSm which is as compelling and
inspiring in 1945 as it was eight long
decades ago. The President, so soon
to die, reaffirmed the essential doc
trine of his address at Gettysburg
and reasserted the basic moral prin-
ciple which above all else relates
him to men and women and even
to children now living. Much repeti-
ton has not hurt the beauty or the
truth of his declaration Americans
of prevailing generations have
learned by processes of loss and pain,
as Lincoln did, the impact and the
significance expressed in the passage:
With malice toward none; with
charity for all; with firmness in the
right, as God gives us to see the
right, let us strive on to finish the
work we are in; to bind up the Ma
tion's wounds; to care for him who
shall have borne the battle, and for
his widow, and his orphan-to do all
which may achieve and cherish Just
and lasting peace among ourselves,
and with all nations.