Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln: An Address, Delivered at the Hall of the Normal University, April 19th, 1865
For the few moments, then, during which we Shall remain together, let us endeavor to study somewhat the significance of these terrible events, and some of the lessons taught us, as individuals and as a na tion, by the life and death of abraham lincoln. For greatmen are given to the race for high and noble purposes. Every mighty intel lect, every mind that can soar to the contemplation of the glorious works Of God, or penetrate to the profound mysteries of his eternal plans, that can translate into ordinary speech the laws of the material universe and of mind, that can discern and interpret God's truth in nature, in history, or in revelation; or every great soul, cherishing high moral purposes, smitten with the love of virtue, scorning all meanness and defying all per-i], hearing in its own conscience a voice louder than threatenings and thunders, reposing an unfaltering trust in God in the darkest hour, ever ready to be Offered up on the altar of its country or of mankind, every such mind and soul is a gift of God to man. When men have gone on for ages, and lost the vitality of some truth, mistaking for its essence some old form in which it had been clothed to meet the appreciation of a rude age, a new mes senger is sent, - a seer, - one whose intellectual vision or moral insight is clearer than that of his fellows, who, seeing what others fail to see, is prepared to restate or reenact the great principle, in a form befitting the needs of his own and Of future generations and men once more emerge from the darkness, and another morning dawns upon their eyes. Ever and anon, along the pathway of the centuries, we find a bright beacon of this kind, set up for the illumination of succeeding times, - a Socrates or a Luther, a Tell or a Washington, a H ampden or a Lincoln. These are the gifts of a loving Father to his benighted 'and fallen children. They are sent as powers to lift the race into higher and higher planes of being. By successive and cumulative labors the progress of man is secured. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
