Show LINCOLN LIFE AN inspiration why he will for all time be numbered with the greatest of the earth HERE are characters so BO great that their memorials are tributes to those who read them it Is so with abraham lincoln to pro preserve a fame that Is undying the appropriation by congress of was not needed As proof of a nations grateful appreciation it was wise and generous we hear much these days dais of philosophy most of it not understandable there are societies that study profoundly and profess to comar comprehend bhend these circles are small and the results that they gain are uncertain but the philosophy of a life like Lincol ns takes tabes hold bold upon millions it abides in the hearts and minds of men it influences nations it inspires whole races in comparison with it what other Is worth while born bom in wretched poverty an ill favored child upon whom and whose parents our learned professors would have frowned and always poor he ha had been numbered with the greatest of the earth never in his lifetime regarded as aa an orator he be Is enrolled among tho the most gifted pleaders plea ders of all ages never educated never widely read never a traveler he Is conceded to have been one of the wisest of men never a trained soldier he commanded in war greater armies than any monarch or general never having had more than local celebrity as a lawyer he had bad conceptions copt ions of justice that were unknown to distinguished jurists of his time never assuming to be a statesman or an economist and never until his call to the presidency a successful manager of any enterprise he be became a ruler wo will bof be celebrated forever tor for wisdom sagacity and firmness I 1 never the author of a verse he has given us poetry poetry in prose that Is imperishable the humblest the least assertive of men it fell to him in an hour of crushing responsibility as command er ln in chief by the sovereign stroke of a pen to put human slavery in the way of extinction there to Is no obscurity in the iho philosophy of such bucha a life it touches every human being high or low rich or poor wise or simple strong or weak it Is the flesh and blood life the life of struggle sorrow and achievement its lessons leemons are for all what have science reason and recondite theory to offer in place of such a life nothing but words most of them mean meaningless inglessi |