on and
the British conservatism of Hamilton. He invited each of them into his
cabinet; he refused to allow either of them to dictate his policy. His
enemies could not terrify him by assault; his friends could not deceive
him with flattery. In this respect he resembled in marked degree the
splendid character of Lincoln.

The single light that led Lincoln's feet along the hard highway of life
was justice; the single thought that throbbed his brain to sleep at
night was justice; the single prayer that put in whispered words the
might and meaning of his soul was justice; the single impulse that
lingered in a heart already wrung by a nation's grief was justice; in
every word that fell from him in touching speech there was the sad and
sober spirit of justice. He sat upon the storm when the nation shook
with passion. Treason, wrong, injustice, crime, graft, a thousand wrongs
in system and in single added to the burden of this melancholy spirit.
Silently, as the soul of the just makes war on sin; silently, as the
spirit of the mighty withstands the spite of wrong; silently, as the
heart of the truly brave resists the assault of the coward, this prince
of patience and peace endured the calumny of the country he died to
save.

Lincoln blazed the way from the cabin to the crown; working away in the
silence of the woods, he heard the murmur of a storm; toiling in the
forest of flashing leaf and armored oak, he heard Lexington calling unto
Sumter, Valley Forge crying unto Gettysburg, and Yorktown shouting unto
Appomattox. Lingering before the dying fires in a humble hut, he saw
with sorrowful heart the blazing camps of Virginia, and felt the awful
stillness of slumbering armies. Beneath it all he saw the strained
muscles of the slave, the broken spirit of the serf, the bondage of
immortal souls; and beyond it all, looking through the tears that broke
from a breaking heart, he saw the widow by the empty chair, the aged
father's fruitless vigil at the gate, the daughter's dreary watch
beside the door, and the son's solemn step from boyhood to old age. And
behind this picture he saw the lonely family altar upon which was
offered the incense of tears coming from millions of broken hearts; and
looking still beyond he saw the battle-fields where silent slabs told of
the death of those who died in deathless valor. He saw the desolated
earth, where golden grain no more broke from the rich, resourceful soil,
where the bannered wheat no lon