Part 7 (1/2)
”We have asse events in history In the humblest of homes in the wilds of a new and sparsely settled State, Abrahao, this day
”The twelfth day of February, like the twenty-second day of the same month, is one of the sacred days in the American calendar
It is well that this day be set apart fro rush in the crowded islative halls be hushed, and that the An lands, or upon the deep--honor the the memory of the man of whose birth this day is the first centennial
”This co observance
To this man, more than to any other, are we indebted for the supreme fact that ninety millions of people are at this hour, in the loftiest sense of the expression, fellow-citizens of a coh the mists of half a century, distinctly recall the earnest tones in which Mr Lincoln in public speech uttered the words, 'My fellow-citizens' Truly the ical words 'fellow-citizens' never fail to touch a responsive chord in the patriotic heart Was it the gifted Prentiss who at a critical moment of our history exclaimed:
”'For whether upon the Sabine or the St John's; standing in the shadow of Bunker Hill or areat northern lakes or within the sound of the Father of Waters flowing unvexed to the sea; in the crowded e of the continent, where the restless tide of eration is stayed only by the ocean--everywhere upon this broad domain, thank God, I can still say ”fellow-citizens”!'
”Let us pause for a ht out by the toil, strife, and sacrifice of the century whose close we coe place in history The author of the Declaration of Independence was upon the eve of final retirement from public place, and the Presidential ter cabin near the western verge of civilization the eyes of Abraham Lincoln first opened upon the world The vast area stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean was under the dominion of Spain Two decades only had passed since the establishment of the United States Governuration of Washi+ngton as its first President Lewis and Clark had but recently returned froon,--an expedition fraught with enerations of the Republic Only five years had passed since President Jefferson had purchased, for fifteen millions of dollars fro from the Gulf of Mexico to the frozen lakes, out of which were to be carved sixteenparts of the American Republic Froed the Atlantic, a tide of hardy eardless of privation or danger, laying the sure foundation of future commonwealths Four States only had been admitted into the Federal Union, and the population of the entire country was less than that of the State of New York to-day This saanization of Illinois into a distinct political coress, as the Territory of Illinois, with a white population less than one-twentieth of that of this good county to-day The United States having barely escaped a ith France,--our ally in securing our independence,--was earnestly struggling for distinct place aht with deep consequences, were events occurring in the Old Worlds The year 1809 witnessed the birth of Darwin and Gladstone The despotises still brooded over Continental Europe, and whatever savored of popular public rule--even in its mildest form--was yet in the distant future Alexander the First was on the throne of Russia,-- and her millions of serfs were oppressed as by the iron hand of the Caesars The splendid German Empire of to-day had no place on the map of the world; its present powerful constituencies were antagonistic provinces and warring independent cities Napoleon Bonaparte--'calling Fate into the lists'--by a succession of victories unparalleled in history had overturned thrones, cos upon bended knee to sue for peace, and substituted those of his own household for dynasties that reached back the entire length of human history With his star still in the ascendant, disturbed by no forecast of the horrid nightions scattered by the artillery of the snows and the cavalry of the winds,' tortured by no dream of Leipsic, of Elba, of Waterloo, of St Helena, he was still the 'nis fatuus_ of universal empire
”The year that witnessed the birth of Abraha elements that were to precipitate the second ith the e the Third still upon the throne--by insulting and cruel search of A inevitable the declaration of war by Congress,--a war of huraceful surrender of Hull at Detroit and the wanton burning of our Capitol, but croith honor by the naval victories of Lawrence, Decatur, and Perry, and eventually terminated by the capture of the British army at New Orleans As an object lesson of thecentury, an event of such momentous consequence to the world as the formulation of the Treaty of Ghent, by which peace was restored between England and America, would to-day be known at every fireside a few hours after its occurrence And yet, within the now closing century, the battle of New Orleans was fought twenty-three days after the Treaty of Ghent, co vessels across the Atlantic, had received the signature of our commissioners; all unsettled accounts squared eternally between America and Great Britain; and the United States, by valor no less than by diplo the nations
”The fifty-six years that compassed the life of Abrahanificance to our country While he was yet in his rude cradle the African slave trade had just terminated by constitutional inhibition While Lincoln was still in attendance upon the old field school, Henry Clay--yet to be known as the 'great pacificator'--was pressing the admission of Missouri into the Union under the first compromise upon the question of slavery since the adoption of the Federal Constitution From the establishment of the Government the question of human slavery was the one perilous question,--the one constant menace to national unity, until its final extinction amid the flames of war
Marvellous to hty What seer could have foretold that, fro the man who at the crucial ive to the ages enlarged and grander conception of the deathless principles of the declaration of hureat events Stride on before the events, And in to-day already walks to-uration of President Lincoln noted the hour of breaking with the past It was a period of gloom, when the very foundations were shaken, when nomen trembled at the possibility of the destruction of our Government
”Pause a moment, and recall the man who, under the conditions mentioned, on the fourth of March, 1861, entered upon the duties of the great office to which he had been chosen He came from the common walks of life--froreat middle class His early hoer to the luxuries and to many of the ordinary comforts of life His opportunities for education were only such as were common in the reo
”Under such conditions, began a career which in grandeur and achievele counterpart in our history And what a splendid commentary this upon our free institutions,--upon the subli to the youth of high aims every incident of the pathway that led from the frontier cabin to the Executive Mansion,--from the humblest position to the most exalted yet attained by man! In no other country than ours could such attainment have been possible for the boy whose hands were inured to toil, whose bread was eaten under the hard conditions that poverty irity, lofty aotten that the rity that could know no temptation, a purity of life that was never questioned, a patriotism that no sectional lines could li
”The decade extending frouration of Washi+ngton has been truly denominated the critical period of our history The eloquence of Ada courage of Washi+ngton and his comrades had secured independence; but theup the fruits of victory by stable government was yet to be achieved The hour for the constructive statesman had arrived, and Jaency, formulated the Federal Constitution
”No less critical was the period that bounded the active life of the man whose memory we honor to-day One perilous question to national unity which for nearly three-quarters of a century had been the subject of repeated compro sectional antagonisinning,--was now for weal or woe to find deterry debate in the Senate and upon the forum was now hushed, and the supreme question that took hold of national life was to find enduring arbitrament in the dread tribunal of war
”It ell that in such an hour, with such tremendous issues in the balance, a steady hand was at the helm; that a conservative statesman--one whose h place of responsibility and power It booted little then that he was untaught of schools, unskilled in the ways of courts, but it was of suprereat American heart, all-important that his very soul yearned for the preservation of the Governeneration that had gone How hopeless the Republic in that dark hour, had its destiny hung upon the statecraft of Talleyrand, the eloquence of Mirabeau, or the genius of Napoleon! It was fortunate indeed that the ark of our covenant was then borne by the plain, brave man of conciliatory spirit and kind words, whose heart, as Ee as the world, but nowhere had roo'
”nobler words have never fallen froural uttered on one of the pivotal days of hu the oath to preserve, protect, and defend his country:
”'I ah passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection
Thefrorave to every heart and hearthstone of this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when touched as they will be by the better angels of our nature'
”In the light ofknoell, nothing is hazarded in saying that the death of no rievous to be borne, as that of Abrahaton died his as done, his life well rounded out Save one, the years allotted had been passed
Not so with Lincoln To hi, one no other could so well perform The assassin's pistol proved the veritable Pandora's box fro evils untold,--whose consequences have never been measured--to one-third of the States of our Union But for his untied,--and many a sad chapter remained unwritten!
How earnestly he desired a restored Union, and that the blessings of peace and of concord should be the coe of every section, is known to all
”When in the loom of time have such words been heard above the din of fierce conflict as his subliic death--
”'With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firht, let us strive on to finish the e are in, to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for hisand his orphan, to do all whichourselves, and with all nations'
”No fitter occasion than this can ever arise in which to refer to two historical events that at crucialstatesmanshi+p of President Lincoln