he did not know what to do with his hands, but they learned at last that his mind fitted him perfectly, and he used his hands for his supreme tasks. We are obliged to go back to the Bible for the words to describe him, "He was a shepherd who had led his flock according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands." He kept in close touch with the common people, and kept ahead of them. He kept in touch and moved on. He used all the strong men in all parties, and was used by none of them. He has been called by one biographer, "The Master of Men." But never was any man less of a tyrant. His mastery was due to that gentleness which made him great. He could neither be a tyrant nor a tool, a slave driver nor a slave. He led, not because he wanted to be served, but because he wanted to serve. His secrets were few because his purposes were great. Without arrogance, without vanity, with eternal charity, and without malice, as God gave him to see the right, he held on his steady way. Men were impatient; his Cabinet was vexed; he was assailed by the radicals and by his compromisers; he endured the storms of ridicule, of slander, of scorn; insult and accusation were heaped upon him like a mountain; news from the front broke his heart, scramble for spoils cursed his days; he lived through passion and prejudice, relieving his melancholy soul with stories that brought more criticism, and at last "he heard the hisses turn to cheers" and stood alone in a glory no man could endure. He had a genius for stating eternal matters in such a way that men felt as under a call to battle. Away yonder on the plains of Palestine, the saddest man of history declared that a "house divided against itself shall not stand." Long afterward, on the plains of Illinois, this Lincoln reached back to that other's word and said: "A house divided against itself can not stand. I believe this government can not permanently endure half slave and half free." Friends urged him not to say it. It was too clear, too plain and unmistakable. It was not good politics to say it. But Lincoln replied, "It is true, and I will deliver it as written." There was forwarded by Grant to the President, the President instantly wrote the following instructions for Secretary Stanton to transmit to General Grant: "The President directs me to say that he wishes you to have no conference with General Lee unless it be for capitulation of General Lee's army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political questions. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no military conferences or conventions. Meanwhile you are to press to the utmost your military advantages." Thus did the simple democratic ruler of a free people assume the responsibilities, and assert the prerogatives, of his high office. It was not a desire to claim any superiority which he felt over his brother man; it was simply, to him, the discharge of duty in a supreme crisis, and the assumption before the American people of a responsibility which he dared not shirk, and of which his intellectual strength and sturdy conscience made him unafraid. Despite the vicissitudes of the stormy period in which he played so important a part, he retained his confidence in the people. "Why" he said, "should we not have patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the American people?" Why not, indeed! They have abundant opportunities for education. If we can only feel as Lincoln felt, and derive our political sentiments from a study of the Declaration of Independence, and proceed as Lincoln did with inexorable logic and high purpose to the consideration of every exigency, there can be no question but that each problem will be solved, that every decade of American history will witness a fresh advance, and that the prosperity of the future will far transcend anything that we have realized in the past. The strength of the nation lies in the influence of the highest ideals of character. We cannot become sordid or base so long as we cherish the memory of Washington who won our liberties, and of Lincoln who preserved them. But we must see these men in a true perspective, not as demigods, splendid with power and victory, but as men, vigorous and alert, struggling against tremendous odds, perplexed with difficulties, embarrassed by conflicting voices, assailed by calumny, but still able unflinchingly to adhere to profound conviction, steadfastly to pursue great aims, and in their self-sacrificing devotion to display those virtues of character which may inspire all of us in our lesser spheres to the noble conduct of our lives. And in commemorating their achievements and inculcating the lessons of their efforts, we may conserve those moral resources without which free institutions would become a mockery. |