Show ll 11 N at rt T J ass filore than seventy years ago u 0 o a gaunt unhandsome whose face was wag careworn and who whose figure was stooped revealing re ealing the agony that was ns almost him delivered a speech of only about three hundred words woi ds in len length th scarcely any attention was paid to that man or to the words that he uttered at the time it was because lie was vas the nations brulor that lie ho had bad been given ghen the opportunity to make any remarks on tills this occasion not abraham lincoln resident president of the united states hut but another ninn man idward Id word everett a noted orator had been chosen as the principal speaker i and lie he spoke first ile he hold held the crowd spellbound two hours and newspapers tile riet next day devoted much aiace apace to a report of ills his nia masterly sterly efort of the other mans speech most newspapers made no mention be yom saying savin that lie also spoke A few of tile the larger papers printed alin hat t lie said s riad but with out comment about e everybody embody forgot what tha man who ho spoke two hours had said the other mans utterance because ot of its brevity and manner of delivery began to be recalled by its hearers and for decides decades it his has been classed among i the worlds 11 masterpieces ll it was only i hance chance that president lincoln spoke nt at till all for had the original date chosen for the dedication been observed it la Is likely that he would liae have pronounced only the alm simple lor miili of off official iclal dedication tho illic date set wits was october 23 21 but everett advised that he could not conveniently be there then the dodi dedication cAllon was postponed to november W U no invitation was sent to the until november Ho vember 2 tapi ile was waa very for sicily mally told that lion hon edward everett 4 asa E n H A 71 3 bl 1 will deliver the oration it Is the desire after the oration you ns as chief executive of the nation formally set bet apart these grounds to their sacred use by a lew few appropriate remarks with the invitation imitation went a note from an off official iclal of the soldiers national cemetery board tolling telling the president the alie writer hoped nir mr lincoln would feel it tits his duty to lay aside pressing business for a day and come to get to perform tills late mad bad rite to our brave sold soldiers lers thus the prell ident virtually was commanded to attend a dedication ceremony that had bad been postponed for the convenience of another it wits was rather hoped by the committee in charge of the arrangements that old abe would not attempt to make a speech the tha me members feared his uncouth appearance and homely vernacular would not make a good impression on 0 n the rich and cultured supporters of the cemetery project lincoln seemed not to notice the slight and accepted the invitation his HI anxiety was aa not that two weeks wall too short a time in which to prepare a speech sp eccli but that uncertain train connections cause him to be late and thus delay the dedication sime same still tire alvin living who heard him speak and they can have no more precious memory observes ea a writer in the washington star the martyred marty red presidents Ide tits words have become a world c classic their immortality guaranteed by their m majestic but simple beauty spoken for a particular cular moment intended to serve sene but an instants need tile the nobility of both the thought and V lincoln se seamed med not to notice the accepted the utterance was so compelling that multitudes far removed from the orl original occasion feel the power of the message and respond to its appeal no other oration of modern times has been its equal it stands alone an unparalleled expression of the grandeur of a master spirit the elemental splendor of an illuminated soul critics have declared that the text abeen may be scanned and it frequently has been printed in the typographical arrangement ran ram gement of poetry to the question as a to the source of its music analysts have replied by citing the psalms and shakespeare but it Is not exclusively a mechanical trick of rhythm which given it its mystic character of limpid and harmonious prose in point of fact the address may be explained only in terms of aspiration it Is like a fragment of opalescent sky a flash of climbing flame a scrap of verdant windswept wind swept hillside or a mighty wave of the illimitable sea it Is dynamic KS as these things are natural and authentic as the universe Is lincoln shired shared with the psalmist and the bard of avon the instinctive capacity judgment and charity cliar ltv which are aspects of divinity yet et are deeply human the address then must have come out of the infinite and it was america that spoke at gettysburg so viewed the emancipators phrases signify the dedication not merely of a battlefield but of a nation Con secra tion Is in them patriotism ani and loyalty shine front froni them and love and mercy reach out through them to touch the heart of mankind otte one by one in un an unending sequence the curtain of the ages will full fall and lincoln and his vision will remain without t built and with pure purpose pur pote let us r new our emst lit in god cod ani and go forward atio it fear ear abid nd with manly heartt hearts abrahim Lir lincolnia Lincol icelo ni mrs arvilla Arvill pt anderson and miss thelma george of escalante were visiting at the home of ella ipson apson over the wee k end they the bas baguet ballf game and idan dance ceat at marysvale Marys vale friday night |