l have borne the battle, and for his
widow and orphan; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and
lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

XII

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: THE MARTYRED PRESIDENT

Among the heroes who helped save the Republic, the last, best hope of
earth, in that it gives liberty to the slaves, that it might assure
freedom to the free, stands Abraham Lincoln, the emancipator and martyr.
Take him all in all, Abraham Lincoln is the greatest thing the Republic
has achieved. History tells of no child who passed from a cradle so
humble to a grave so illustrious. The institutions of the Republic were
founded for the manufacture of a good quality of soul. In the presence
of the greatest men of history we can point with pride to Lincoln,
saying, "This is the kind of man the institutions of the Republic can
produce." For Lincoln's most striking characteristic was his
Americanism. At best, Washington was a patrician, the fine product of
aristocratic institutions, so that England claimed him. Washington was
the richest man of his era, his home an old manor house, his estate
wide inherited acres, his relative an English baronet, his brother the
child of Oxford University. The books he read were English books, the
teachers he had were English tutors. The root was planted in English
soil, though it fruited under American skies. But Americanism is the
very essence of Lincoln's thoughts, Lincoln's enthusiasm, Lincoln's
utterances, and Lincoln's character. One of the golden words of the
Republic is the word "opportunity." Here, all the highways that lead to
office, land and honour must be open unto all young feet. A banker's son
may climb to the governor's mansion, or the White House, but so may the
washerwoman's. The widow's son practices eloquence in the corn fields of
Virginia, but he has ability and patriotism, and we bring Henry Clay to
the Senate chamber. A child out in Ohio goes barefooted over the October
grass, driving an old red cow to the barn lot, but we bring McKinley to
the White House.

Yonder stands the Temple of Fame. The door is open by day and by night,
and a tall, thin, sallow boy turns his back upon a log cabin in Illinois
and seeks entrance. But the angel at the threshold asks hard questions:
"Can you eat crusts? Can you wear rags? Can you sleep in a garret? Can
you endure sleepless nights and days of toil? Can you bear up against
every wind that assails your bark? Can you liv