Lincoln centennial number . from the first, notunlike Washingtonsand that of other found-ers of the Republic. Hisattitude was unyieldingas to principle. Helooked upon the insti-tution as intrinsicallyevil: inimical to the in-terests of free labor;anomalous, and impos-sible of perpetuity, in apolitically free com-munity ; something tobe thwarted, dimin-ished, and ultimatelymade to cease by just,constitutional, and rea-sonable means. He sat-isfied the extremists onneither side of the greatdebate; for while hewould never compromise as to principle,he was too profoundly the statesman torefuse to c
Lincoln centennial number . from the first, notunlike Washingtonsand that of other found-ers of the Republic. Hisattitude was unyieldingas to principle. Helooked upon the insti-tution as intrinsicallyevil: inimical to the in-terests of free labor;anomalous, and impos-sible of perpetuity, in apolitically free com-munity ; something tobe thwarted, dimin-ished, and ultimatelymade to cease by just,constitutional, and rea-sonable means. He sat-isfied the extremists onneither side of the greatdebate; for while hewould never compromise as to principle,he was too profoundly the statesman torefuse to compromise as to details of timeand method. Lincoln the Leader in dealing with thechief perplexity of the situation, — thiscomplex question of slavery and theUnion,—was helped by his own intenselyhuman make-up. The average traits ofmankind were in him strongly was in close touch with his kind; hesympathized with men on the plane ofhumanity, and regarded them in the spiritof philosophy. He was called a great. joker; but Lincolns seeing of thejoke meant a good deal more than withordinary minds; it meant, frequentlyenough, that he saw through pretensionand falsity. And the jokes that he toldoften had the wisdom of the ancientparables. Lincolns democracy was a matter moreof instinct than of reason. He com-prehended human motives, human preju-dices, littlenesses, andnobilities. It was hewho once describedhonest statesmanship asthe employment of in-dividual meannesses forthe public good. Ac-quainted with human-ity, he knew how tobear with its infirmities,and he moved towardhis inflexible purpose,over what to otherswould have been heart-breaking obstacles, witha long-suffering pa-tience that had in itsomething of the divine. Drawn by Kenyon Cox from a copy of the maskmade by Clark Mills ill February, 1865 LIFE-MASK OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN A STATESMAN WITH THE HEART OF A PROPHET The original mask was owned by the late JohnHay, who in an article on Life in the WhiteHouse in t
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