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Show , j M LINCOLN - H Tlicro aro men Hint, llk0 great .mpuntnln peaks, H x t. R'rw na wo recedo' from them. Willi mountains It Is H distance that' gives perspective nnd a truo realization Hj (of their magnitude. Standing noar them, wo sea oth- H ta'pchko 'that' seem lq be as high, or higher, but us j wo withdraw, tho 0110 pteomlnont summit pushes H 'gradually up" Into tho blue, and tlioao about It shrink', iM until at last wo reach a point whore doubt Is nb H iongeV possible and our ostlmato Is first and. final. H With men the great clarlfier of tho Judgment Is time, asssH jJ Few men, perhaps none, arq valued at thulr truo H worth by their contemporaries, H No bettor Illustration of thut truth can be found H y ' than Abraham Lincoln. In his lifetime, thouch ho H j .. , was revered ana trusted and lorod' by those who H r yore Rifted above other men with clearness of polltl- M U$ cat vision, ho was also depreciated anil reviled by m ., raany even, of those who woro ardent supporters of tha sbbbbbI f M if cause ho represented. H DUt year by year stare bis death, apd especially H during the last decade., when bis life bas been tho H subject of renewed study by historians anh students H ot social conditions, hla fame has grown, Until aow 8 there Is no longer' any question of his place as the M greatest American; he Is na of the great flenres of H the world, and of all time. M 1 '' The'ro Is constant temptation, to writing ot hlw, M t to apeak ot the ''rayatory of Lincoln" or the "mtra-cte M 'of Lincoln;" fob that a man of humble birth, his H ') crude and harsh surroundings and bis lack ot educa- H Mi 3m 1 r 11 "' tlonal facilities shoul have attained h,ls plco In tho' great oycl'o of human event (a both mysterious and miraculous If We judge only by the, lfrcs.rif ordinary man. Perhaps It Is because we do so Judge, or havo so judged, that we Americans havo bocn slower than foreigners to recognlio tho magnitude of his great-ness. great-ness. So long ago as 1868 there was a statue of hlm-ln Edlnboro, the gift ot Scotch, admirers, who ritlsed the necessnry fund by penny subscriptions. 1 Scandinavian Immigrant!) to America gave a ' sfatuo of him 0 their home land, and last summer a replica of St Oaudcn'e noble work was unveiled) In "London by tho aide ot Westminister Abbeyln full view of the Houses of Parliament; and no one ovef paid to Lincoln n finer or more feeling tribute than did tha llrltlsh Prime Minister on that occasion. "In his life he was a great American," ho said, "but he Is nn American no longer. Ha Is one of those giant figures of whom there are vgry few In history, who lose their nationality In death. They aro no longer Greek or Hebrew or English-or American Amer-ican thoy belong to mankind. I wonder whether I shall bo forgiven for saying that George Washington was a great American, but Abrahani Lincoln belongs to-the common people of nil time. 'They '" love Unit hnggard face, .with tho sad nnd tender eyes. There Isworshlp In their regard There la afiiltli and a. Uiopn In that wdrshlp," , ,(. And. what ,of the "mystoryV the '.'miracle'." We shall find It, If jvo find It at all. In-thor.Jic'art rather than In the mind ot tho man In ls alienee', his humility, his Kindness, his clemency, his bellet In democracy, de-mocracy, his I0V0 for and trust In, the common pco-pte. pco-pte. It was not tho brain of Lincoln, great and vigorous vig-orous as It was that pardoned tho Utile soldier boy who slept on his post; that wrote tho immortal lettor to Mrs. Dlxby; that penned the oddrcwat Gettysburg, and all' through tho blttor struggle of the war did countless other slmpla deeds that made htm the ' "Father Abraham" of half the country; It was the ' sensitive heart that made the brain see true. There are men In public Ufa today who might be Llncolns If ihey eould rid themselves, as be did, of jartlaanahlp and expediency and self-conceit and selfishness. There are young men who will read thla page who may be Lincoln on tho eame oonltlon. The Open Hoad. |