The Poets' Lincoln Part 29

HOMAGE DUE TO LINCOLN

Well may we all to Lincoln homage pay, For patriotic duty points the way, And tells the story of the debt we owe-- A debt of grat.i.tude that all should know; And ne'er will perish that historic tale.

To him, the Union's great defender, hail!

Through battling years he steered the ship of state, And ever proved a captain just and great.

Through storm and tempest, and unnumbered woes, While oft a.s.sailed in fury by his foes, He held his course, and triumphed over all, Responding ever to his country's call; And more divine than human seemed the deed When he the slave from h.e.l.lish bondage freed, And from the South its human chattels tore.

'Twas his to Man his manhood to restore.

That righteous action sealed rebellion's doom, And paved secession's pathway to the tomb.

But, lo! when Peace with Union glory, came, And all the country rang with his acclaim-- A reunited country, great and strong-- A foul a.s.sa.s.sin marked him for his prey; A bullet sped, and Lincoln dying lay.

Alas! Alas! that he should thus have died-- His country's leader, and his country's pride!

No deed more infamous than this-- No fate more cruel and unjust than his-- Can in the annals of the world be found.

The Nation shuddered in its grief profound, And mourning emblems draped the country o'er Alas! Alas! its leader was no more!

But still he lives in his immortal fame, And evermore will Glory gild his name, And keep his memory in eternal view, And o'er his grave unfading garlands strew.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STATUE OF LINCOLN

At Edinburgh, Scotland, George E. Bissell, sculptor]

It is within an inclosed cemetery, known as the Calton burying ground, which is separated from the Calton Hill by a wide thoroughfare. The statue is the work of an American sculptor, George E. Bissell. It is a fine bronze figure, and rests on a ma.s.sive granite pedestal. The figure at the base is that of a freed negro holding up a wreath. On one face of the pedestal are Lincoln's words, "To preserve the jewel of liberty in the framework of freedom." The statue is a memorial not alone to Lincoln; the legend on the pedestal tells that this plot of ground was given by the lord provost and town council of Edinburgh to Wallace Bruce, United States Consul, and dedicated as a burial place for Scottish soldiers of the American Civil War, 1861-65. Cut in the granite are the names and records of Scots who fought to preserve the Union, and who have found their last resting place in this old burying ground at the Scottish capital.

David K. Watson was born near London, Madison County, Ohio, June 18, 1849. Moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1875, where he now resides. Was a.s.sistant United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 1881 to 1885. Elected Attorney-General of Ohio in 1887 and re-elected in 1889. Member of the fifty-fourth Congress. Was member of the Commission to revise the Federal Statutes. Author of _History of American Coinage_ and _Watson on the Const.i.tution of the United States_.

THE SCOTLAND STATUE

O Scotland! It was a gracious act in thee To build a monument beside the sea To Lincoln, who wrote the word, And slavery's shackles fell From off a race Which ne'er before could tell What freedom was.

To Lincoln, whose soul was great enough to know That beings born in likeness of their G.o.d Were meant to live as freemen, Not as slaves, and ruled by slavery's rod.

To Lincoln, who more than any of his race Uplifted men and women to the place G.o.d made for them.

To Lincoln, who never saw your land, And in whose veins no Scottish blood had run; But yet, because of deeds which he had done, His mighty name Had filled the world with fame And taught the people of each land That in G.o.d's hand Is held the destiny of races and of man.

Immortal patriot! through the mist of years That in the future are to come,-- When we who saw thee here are gone,-- We view thy heaven-aspiring tomb Illumined by the roseate dawn Of the millennial day, When Peace shall hold her sway, And bring Saturnian eras; when the roar O' the battle's thunder shall be heard no more.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STATUE OF LINCOLN

At Newark, N. J. Gutzon Borglum, sculptor]

The statue was unveiled May 30, 1911. It is the gift of Amos H. Van Horn, who died December 26, 1908. In his will he set aside $25,000 for a memorial to Abraham Lincoln, to be dedicated in memory of Lincoln Post, No. 11, Department of New Jersey, G. A. R., of which he was a charter member.

Joseph Fulford Folsom, Presbyterian clergyman, miscellaneous writer and local historian, is a native of Bloomfield, New Jersey. He is a direct descendant of John Folsom who arrived at Boston in the Diligent on August 10, 1638, and settled at Hingham, Ma.s.sachusetts.

Mr. Folsom is the pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, South, of Newark, New Jersey. He has served two terms as Chaplain General of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America. Is Librarian and Recording Secretary of the New Jersey Historical Society. Edited and wrote three chapters of _Bloomfield, Old and New_, a history of that town published in 1912. Wrote the history of the churches of Newark, including the _History of Newark, New Jersey_, published in 1913. His poem, _The Ballad of Daniel Bray_, is found in the _Patriotic Poems of New Jersey_. He is an occasional writer of poems, and contributes regularly a column of historical matters, signed "The Lorist."

THE UNFINISHED WORK

The crowd was gone, and to the side Of Borglum's Lincoln, deep in awe, I crept. It seem'd a mighty tide Within those aching eyes I saw.

"Great heart," I said, "why grieve alway?

The battle's ended and the shout Shall ring forever and a day,-- Why sorrow yet, or darkly doubt?"

"Freedom," I plead, "so n.o.bly won For all mankind, and equal right, Shall with the ages travel on Till time shall cease, and day be night."

No answer--then; but up the slope, With broken gait, and hands in clench, A toiler came, bereft of hope, And sank beside him on the bench.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHILDREN ON THE BORGLUM STATUE]

Wendell Phillips Stafford, son of Frank and Sarah (Noyes) Stafford, born at Barre, Vermont, May 1, 1861. Educated at Barre Academy and St.

Johnsbury Academy. Studied law and attended Boston University Law School, graduating therefrom in 1883. Admitted to the bar in 1883.

Practiced law in St. Johnsbury until 1900. Was then appointed to the Supreme Court of Vermont. Appointed to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in 1904, which position he still holds.

Married February 24, 1886, to Miss Florence Sinclair Goss of St.

Johnsbury. Has contributed to the _Atlantic Monthly_ and other magazines. Publications: _North Flowers_ (poems), 1902; _Dorian Days_ (poems), 1909; _Speeches_, 1913.

ONE OF OUR PRESIDENTS

(_See page 80_)

He sits there on the low, rude, backless bench, With his tall hat beside him, and one arm Flung, thus, across his knee. The other hand Rests, flat, palm downward, by him on the seat.

So aesop may have sat; so Lincoln did.

For all the sadness in the sunken eyes, For all the kingship in the uncrowned brow, The great form leans so friendly, father-like, It is a call to children. I have watched Eight at a time swarming upon him there, All clinging to him--riding upon his knees, Cuddling between his arms, clasping his neck, Perched on his shoulders, even on his head; And one small, play-stained hand I saw reached up And laid most softly on the kind bronze lips As if it claimed them. These were the children Of foreigners we call them, but not so They call themselves; for when we asked of one, A restless dark-eyed girl, who this man was, She answered straight, "One of our Presidents."

"Let all the winds of h.e.l.l blow in our sails,"

I thought, "thank G.o.d, thank G.o.d the ship rides true!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: HEAD OF LINCOLN

This medal was struck for the Grand Army of the Republic in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln]