( lass Book l PRI si rn THE FAME OF ftiiu ABRAHAM LINCOLN ( BY PHILIP JOSEPH THE FAME OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ORATION DELIVERED BEFORE THE EUEPIA DEBATING SOCIETY OF THE MOLINE HIGH SCHOOL APRIL 16, 1904 BY PHILIP JOSEPH Class of '04 MOLINE, ILLINOIS 1905 Published for Private Distribution by Courtesy of Joseph B. Oakleaf 1905 Fifty Copies Printed Gift Publls' ttlK&fl & CO. Printer-. Moline, Illinois The Fame of Abraham Lincoln. THE FAME OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WHEN in the year 1789 the genius of the American people, embodied in the minds of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, framed that constitution so justly titled the " finest speci- men of constructive statesmanship the world has ever seen," there were many expressions of doubt as to the stability of such a form of government. Indeed, it seemed preposterous that separate states could live peacefully side by side, settling disputes in common and being loyal to each other under this mutual form of government, but the wisdom of the heroes of the revolution convinced the people that at least a trial was advisable. The result was satisfactory and through sixty- . five years the United States of America developed into a flourishing nation, which braved foreign perils with the greatest success. At the end of that time, however, an internal enemy had developed, more to be feared than the greatest of foes from without. The insti- tution of slavery had grown to be a serious public menace. It was no longer a question of Can we withstand an attack from without ? but, Is that document what it is represented to be ; can it hold us together? And although the fate of the negro race was the cause which led directly to that terrible strife, it was by no means the vital question. It was not, Is slavery right or wrong? but Can we save the Union? How kin fought kin in the bloodiest of battles for nearly four years ; how thousands and thousands of lives were sacrificed upon 5 both sides, and how finally the Union was saved, the American people know full well. The millions of brave soldiers and sailors — North and South — blue and gray — dead and living — who fought each other upon those well-trod battlefields, command our deepest respect and most fond a'dmiration. But among all these stands forth one figure as a pilot of a great ship. A figure that reminds us of Wash- ington, but seems nearer to us ; one who came from among us, "new birth of a new soil— The First American"— ABRAHAM LINCOLN. In estimating the fame of the great "war president," we must bear two things in mind. First, contrary to the impression of many of the American people, even at this late date, it is not because he emancipated the slaves that Lincoln's name is so deeply carved upon the hearts of the people of this nation, but because he so val- iantly guided the ship of state through those four trying years of seces- sion, and saved the Union from inevitable destruction. Secondly, his fame rests solely upon what he made of himself and those traits of his character, the presence and development of which we can trace through every period of his life. Born in a lowly hut, with a shiftless father ; with a mother who displayed but a few of her son's noble traits, although worthy of the statement that to her "he owed all he ever was or hoped to be," the boy, Abraham, "did not lure by any cheat of birth." He lived in a wilderness, with hard labor from sunrise to sunset; he had few com- panions, and the only six months of schooling ever received was gained in an old log school-house — but it was right here that despite his surroundings his honesty and integrity first showed forth when " Honest Abe " was asked to umpire this game or decide that dis- pute, and when that "store boy" walked so far to return the widow's change. Honesty is better than gold wherever found, but when it is sur- rounded by temptations its worth is doubled. In this regard there exists a mistake in the minds of the public which time alone can change. Which of the following is a household story, known to the 6 young American almost as soon as he has learned his alphabet? Compare the two: Upon my left I see a boy clad in the ancient colonial garb, a new sharp hatchet in his hand with which he has felled one of the most promising of a little grove of choice cherry trees. An angry father approaches: "Who chopped that tree down?" Firm and steady comes the answer, " I cannot tell a lie, father, I did it with my little hatchet." Are you familiar with that ? How often we have heard it. Upon my right I see a tall, lank, ungainly youth of eighteen or nineteen years, dressed in simple homespun. He has just given up the position of village postmaster, but still has in his possession sixteen dollars and some cents for which he has turned in an account, but for some reason or other the government has failed to make a demand for it. Several years have passed. In the meantime many hardships have been endured. Money has been scarce, and many times this lad has had to borrow from friends to keep his back covered with clothes. One day, unannounced, an agent of the government comes to his shabby little room with a bill for sixteen dollars. The young man goes to a trunk, pulls out an old brown stocking, from which roll the identical coins with which his New Salem neighbors had purchased stamps. How many of you knew that? Yet which is the greater test for honesty ? That is but one of the hundreds of stories and anecdotes of Lincoln's life, illustrating his traits of character, which today fill volumes, while stray ones repeatedly find their way to the press. We find in the next period of his life the same splendid qualities of manhood, even more strongly marked. It is not eloquence as a public speaker that in Lincoln's law career won fame for him, but the same sterling worth of his character. It is not that Lincoln could make his audience laugh and cry in the 7 same breath that enabled him to win the verdict in so many of his cases. He convinced the jury through his ever-present honesty, his clearness in portraying and stating whatever he wished to say, his skill in turning even' sentence and phrase into language so simple that all could understand, and his ability to tell and apply an anec- dote or story to almost any case with which he was concerned. The culmination of this period came in the famous Lincoln- Douglas debates delivered throughout this state in 1858. When Lincoln confided the contents of one of these speeches to a few of his closest friends for their criticism, they advised him, begged and implored him to omit the startling truths concerning slavery, for if he uttered them, they said, he was sure to be defeated for the senate. " I would rather," said he, " lose the election to the senate a dozen times with that in my speech, than be elected without it." As a politician. Lincoln stands forth an ideal, without a stain from contact with any corruption. He could face the truth with as much ease upon the platform as behind the counter. What politician of then or today had nobler aims than the author of the following wonU: "You may do anything with me you choose, if you will but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for the senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I do claim to be actuated in this con- test by something higher than anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and insignificant thought for any man's success. It is nothing, I am nothing. Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity — the Declaration of American Independence." We will not tarry upon that famous convention in the Wigwam in Chicago in 1860, when to the surprise of everyone present, Abraham Lincoln was so enthusiastically nominated. But before passing to his career as president we will recall an incident in his early life which bears directly upon it. In 1831, when still a young 8 man, Lincoln took a trip down the Mississippi to New Orleans with a steamboat captain. While in the southern metropolis he saw a colored girl sold at auction. The scene filled his soul with indignation and horror. Turning to his companions he said, " Boys, if ever I get a chance to hit that institution I'll hit it hard." Thirty one years later the chance came ; the oath was kept, and 4,000,000 slaves — men, women and children — were given liberty. Upon that day he undertook as a life work a task such as no man ever faced before, but although he went about this life work with enthusiasm, in the thickest smoke of battle, in the deepest problems of statecraft, not once did he let it swerve him from the duty of the moment. Although in his eyes nothing was meaner than slavery, he sent to his old friend, Horace Greeley, the following, which has been inscribed at the base of the famous Lincoln monu- ment in Chicago : " If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves I would do it. If I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union." In the words of one of his biographers, Lincoln would " sacrifice any thing, any man, all the resources at his command, tears, treas- ures, troops, the blood of the bravest men, his own strength, pride and ambitions, but he would not sacrifice the Union." In America there are two classes of men whose names endure : the men of great achievements — that is, founders of states and con- querors — and the great writers. Lincoln belongs to both. Upon both his renown is securely built. He would have been amazed when he 9 lived, had he been told that he was a man of letters, but this age has produced few greater writers. We mention here the judgment of one of his peers, Emerson, who said, "The phrases and passages in his letters, messages and speeches, hidden now by the very choice- ness of their application to the moment, are destined to a wide fame." In the most critical time of the war he was called to make a "few appropriate remarks" at the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery. Edward Everett was to be the speaker of the day. The highly edu- cated man had the date changed for his convenience, and had over two months in which to prepare. Until two days before the appointed date, Lincoln did not know if he could spare the time for the trip. He wrote about half of his speech the night before, and finished it on the morning of the dedication. Under such conditions, Lincoln accomplished more in five minutes than the college man in two hours. Every clause, phrase, expression, and even word, in the Gettysburg speech has been carefully studied and found marvelous. Many times it has been said that every American school boy knows it. I do not believe that strictly true, but I am positive that every American school boy who does read it will never forget it. A brief review of Lincoln's life shows that his fame rests almost wholly upon the traits of his character which can be distinctly seen in every period of his life. As a boy he was faithful to his parents, honest and fair with his companions. As a young man he deserved every cent he pulled across the counter, and was still "Honest Abe" with the same integrity. As a lawyer and politician he was famed as a successful advocate, because of the same splendid traits. As a president, Abraham Lincoln, an honest man, abolished slavery, re-established the Union and saved the Republic. Such a life needed but the martyr's crown to make a fame so justly won, a fame everlasting. Upon April 14, 1865, for the first time in four years, the sun looked down upon a people no longer disrupted, upon a race no longer slaves. The boom of cannon had given place to cries of rejoicing, 10 and for twelve hours Abraham Lincoln was permitted to look upon the completion of his life work. Upon April 15 the end came, the story of which is known too well to need repetition. Sorrow more deep and universal than that which enveloped the land cannot be imagined. The next day — Sunday, April 16, 1865 — thirty-nine years ago today, the altar of Freedom received its noblest sacrifice. The grief of the nation can best be expressed in the words of Henry Ward Beecher : "Illinois, we took from your midst an untried man, and from among the people. We return him to you a mighty conqueror. Not thine any more, but the nation's ; not ours, but the world's. Give him place, ye prairies ! In the midst of this great continent his dust shall rest, a sacred treasure to myriads who shall pilgrim to that shrine to kindle anew their zeal and patriotism. Ye winds that move over the mighty of the west, chant his requiem. Ye behold a martyr whose blood, as so many articulate words, pleads for fidelity, for law and for liberty." In his heart or mind, each one of us finds something of his own. Each one of us claims him as his own ! Never will we, never will our children, never will the descendants of Americans forget the memory of the name of ABRAHAM LINCOLN. r*. i