Abraham Lincoln was a self-made man, born in obscurity, reared in poverty, and unaided, forged his way from a log hut in the wilderness of Kentucky, onward and upward, until he attained the Presidency of the great American Republic. He was inaugurated March 4th, 1861, assassinated April 14th, 1865, only a few days subsequent to the surrender of the Confederate Armies and declaration of peace.
He was twice elected President of the United States of America, and successfully sailed the Ship of State through the tempestuous seas of secession and rebellion, and with patriotic courage and devotion, and masterful ability overcame and subdued the most gigantic inter-necine war of history. He was a man of the people, the conspicuous commoner of his generation magnanimous, honest, and born with a heart that ever pulsated with sorrow for the unfortunate, and distressed. His lofty ambition culminated in the immortal proclamation of the Emancipation of American Slavery. No man ever accomplished so much for the immortal principles of humanity and justice.
He still lives in the hearts of all that hate bondage and love liberty, and will until the end of time. His sublime conviction of right and wrong, his noble aspirations, his mighty grasp of the great problems that agitated the public conscience and the affairs of government, and threatened to assail and dissolve the union pre-eminently qualified President Lincoln for the herculean and super-human task of saving the Union. This great man of the Republic from early manhood had given his brilliant mind to the careful study of the questions so forcibly expressed in the Constitution that bound us together, that made him above all men of his day the safe commander of the Ship of State. His brilliant career, and what he did, unquestionably gives him a place second to none of the great and distinguished Presidents of the United States of America.
He zealously sought to be right and just and had the courage of his convictions. His life and character has ever been, and will continue to be the inspiration for the youth of this land to emulate and magnify.
Such men leave behind them a legacy of inestimable and imperishable value. The goal of his sublime ambition was equality and justice. These immortal attributes prompted and controlled his public and private life. This great leader of the Republican Party as President of the United States so directed the affairs of government in the early days of his administration, when assailed by treason and almost overcome by disaster and discouragement, as to save and preserve the Union. His conduct of the war fully justifies the statement that he was the foremost man of his day and generation. He was truly called for the great work he accomplished.
His solicitude and great anxiety during the Gettysburg Campaign, his wrestling with the God of battles for victory, demonstrated his sublime faith in an overruling Providence. He was a Christian Hero and believed in the efficacy of prayer. His glorious memory, his deeds, will be cherished by all true patriots for ever and ever. He had accomplished his divine mission. His work was finished and he was prepared for the great and awful sacrifice on the altar of his country.
Not one of all the good and distinguished men of this mighty and magnificient Republic has left behind a more inspiring and elevating influence upon the world than Abraham Lincoln. His greatness is measured by the needs of the whole human family to hasten the day of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God.
~ History of the 13th Regiment, Vermont Volunteers, War of 1861-1865, written in 1910 by Ralph Orson Sturtevant, pages 10 & 11.
You can visit the memorial page for Abraham Lincoln.
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