As the state of society in which Abraham Lincoln grew up
passes away, the world will read with increasing wonder of the man who,
not only of the humblest origin, but remaining the simplest and most
unpretending of citizens, was raised to a position of power unprecedented
in our history; who was the gentlest and most peace-loving of mortals,
unable to see any creature suffer without a pang in his own breast, and
suddenly found himself called to conduct the greatest and bloodiest of
our wars; who wielded the power of government when stern resolution and
relentless force were the order of the day and then won and ruled the
popular mind and heart by the tender sympathies of his nature; who was a
cautious conservative by temperament and mental habit, and led the most
sudden and sweeping social revolution of our time; who, preserving his
homely speech and rustic manner even in the most conspicuous position of
that period, drew upon himself the scoffs of polite society, and then
thrilled the soul of mankind with utterances of wonderful beauty and
grandeur; who, in his heart the best friend of the defeated South, was
murdered because a crazy fanatic took him for its most cruel enemy; who,
while in power, was beyond measure lampooned and maligned by sectional
passion and an excited party spirit, and around whose bier friend and foe
gathered to praise him which they have since never ceased to do--as one
of the greatest of Americans and the best of men.
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