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The masses of any people; however intelligent; are very little moved

by abstract principles of humanity and justice; until those principles

are interpreted for them by the stinging commentary of some

infringement upon their own rights; and then their instincts and

passions; once aroused; do indeed derive an incalculable

reinforcement of impulse and intensity from those higher ideas;

those sublime traditions; which have no motive political force till

they are allied with a sense of immediate personal wrong or

imminent peril。  Then at last the stars in their courses begin to fight

against Sisera。  Had any one doubted before that the rights of

human nature are unitary; that oppression is of one hue the world

over; no matter what the color of the oppressed;had any one

failed to see what the real essence of the contest was;the efforts of

the advocates of slavery among ourselves to throw discredit upon

the fundamental axioms of the Declaration of Independence and the

radical doctrines of Christianity; could not fail to sharpen his eyes。 



(1) A Danish antiquary and theologian。



While every day was bringing the people nearer to the conclusion

which all thinking men saw to be inevitable from the beginning; it

was wise in Mr。 Lincoln to leave the shaping of his policy to events。 

In this country; where the rough and ready understanding of the

people is sure at last to be the controlling power; a profound

common…sense is the best genius for statesmanship。  Hitherto the

wisdom of the President's measures has been justified by the fact

that they have always resulted in more firmly uniting public opinion。 

One of the things particularly admirable in the public utterances of

President Lincoln is a certain tone of familiar dignity; which; while

it is perhaps the most difficult attainment of mere style; is also no

doubtful indication of personal character。  There must be something

essentially noble in an elective ruler who can descend to the level of

confidential ease without losing respect; something very manly in

one who can break through the etiquette of his conventional rank

and trust himself to the reason and intelligence of those who have

elected him。  No higher compliment was ever paid to a nation than

the simple confidence; the fireside plainness; with which Mr。

Lincoln always addresses himself to the reason of the American

people。  This was; indeed; a true democrat; who grounded himself

on the assumption that a democracy can think。  〃Come; let us

reason together about this matter;〃 has been the tone of all his

addresses to the people; and accordingly we have never had a chief

magistrate who so won to himself the love and at the same time the

judgment of his countrymen。  To us; that simple confidence of his in

the right…mindedness of his fellowmen is very touching; and its

success is as strong an argument as we have ever seen in favor of

the theory that men can govern themselves。  He never appeals to

any vulgar sentiment; he never alludes to the humbleness of his

origin; it probably never occurred to him; indeed; that there was

anything higher to start from than manhood; and he put himself on a

level with those he addressed; not by going down to them; but only

by taking it for granted that they had brains and would come up to

a common ground of reason。  In an article lately printed in *The

Nation;* Mr。 Bayard Taylor mentions the striking fact; that in the

foulest dens of the Five Points he found the portrait of Lincoln。 

The wretched population that makes its hive there threw all its

votes and more against him; and yet paid this instinctive tribute to

the sweet humanity of his nature。  Their ignorance sold its vote and

took its money; but all that was left of manhood in them recognized

its saint and martyr。



Mr。 Lincoln is not in the habit of saying; 〃This is *my* opinion; or

*my* theory;〃 but 〃This is the conclusion to which; in my

judgment; the time has come; and to which; accordingly; the sooner

we come the better for us。〃  His policy has been the policy of public

opinion based on adequate discussion and on a timely recognition

of the influence of passing events in shaping the features of events

to come。



One secret of Mr。 Lincoln's remarkable success in captivating the

popular mind is undoubtedly an unconsciousness of self which

enables him; though under the necessity of constantly using the

capital *I*; to do it without any suggestion of egotism。  There is no

single vowel which men's mouths can pronounce with such

difference of effect。  That which one shall hide away; as it were;

behind the substance of his discourse; or; if he bring it to the front;

shall use merely to give an agreeable accent of individuality to what

he says; another shall make an offensive challenge to the self…

satisfaction of all his hearers; and an unwarranted intrusion upon

each man's sense of personal importance; irritating every pore of his

vanity; like a dry northeast wind; to a goose…flesh of opposition and

hostility。  Mr。 Lincoln has never studied Quintilian;(1) but he has; in

the earnest simplicity and unaffected Americanism of his own

character; one art of oratory worth all the rest。  He forgets himself

so entirely in his object as to give his *I* the sympathetic and

persuasive effect of *We* with the great body of his countrymen。 

Homely; dispassionate; showing all the rough…edged process of his

thought as it goes along; yet arriving at his conclusions with an

honest kind of every…day logic; he is so eminently our

representative man; that; when he speaks; it seems as if the people

were listening to their own thinking aloud。  The dignity of his

thought owes nothing to any ceremonial garb of words; but to the

manly movement that comes of settled purpose and an energy of

reason that knows not what rhetoric means。  There has been

nothing of Cleon; still less of Strepsiades(2) striving to underbid

him in demagogism; to be found in the public utterances of Mr。

Lincoln。  He has always addressed the intelligence of men; never

their prejudice; their passion; or their ignorance。



(1) A famous Latin writer on the *Art of Oratory。*

(2) Two Athenian demagogues; satirized by the dramatist

Aristophanes。



                      __________________________



On the day of his death; this simple Western attorney; who

according to one party was a vulgar joker; and whom the

*doctrinaires* among his own supporters accused of wanting every

element of statesmanship; was the most absolute ruler in

Christendom; and this solely by the hold his good…humored sagacity

had laid on the hearts and understandings of his countrymen。  Nor

was this all; for it appeared that he had drawn the great majority;

not only of his fellow…citizens; but of mankind also; to his side。  So

strong and so persuasive is honest manliness without a single

quality of romance or unreal sentiment to help it!  A civilian during

times of the most captivating military achievement; awkward; with

no skill in the lower technicalities of manners; he left behind him a

fame beyond that of any conqueror; the memory of a grace higher

than that of outward person; and of a gentlemanliness deeper than

mere breeding。  Never before that startled April morning did such

multitudes of men shed tears for the death of one they had never

seen; as if with him a friendly presence had been taken away from

their lives; leaving them colder and darker。  Never was funeral

panegyric so eloquent as the silent look of sympathy which

strangers exchanged when they met on that day。  Their common

manhood had lost a kinsman。











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