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 LINCOLN : A TYPICAL AMERICAN 
 
 AN ADDRESS BY 
 
 THOMAS W. CRIDLER 
 
 AT THE BANQUET OF THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF 
 BROOKLYN, FEBRUARY 12, 1901 
 
Gift 
 
 HonH.C.Lodgft 
 June 16 o« 
 

 LINCOI^N: THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 
 
 I confess to no little trepidation in rising; to 
 address this company on the ninety-second anni- 
 versary of the birth of the lamented Abraham 
 Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States. 
 Certainly the theme is sufficiently inspiring, but 
 when he was at the zenith of his fame — and he was 
 that when he was murdered — I was a mere school- 
 boy and naturally less interested in the political 
 history of our country than I am to-day. 
 
 I can not hope to say much that is interesting or 
 anything that is new or that will materially enhance 
 the name and fame of that great man. All this 
 has been said years ago — said by abler men in their 
 own novel and inimitable way. The official record 
 proclaims it ; history records it. There is, there- 
 fore, little concerning Lincoln that the world does 
 not know and nothing that it does not justly admire. 
 A few thoughts, however, suggest themselves ; and, 
 if your patience will bear the strain, I will endeavor 
 to give expression to them. 
 
 It is not my province to even briefly review the 
 life of Lincoln. That would be a useless task, 
 quite out of keeping on such an occasion, since 
 
these details are well known to you as to all patri- 
 otic Americans. Indeed, save Washington alone, 
 the world at large (to which Lincoln belonged in 
 its broadest sense) is more familiar with his life, his 
 character, and his career than with those of any 
 other American who ever lived. 
 
 Lincoln was a product peculiarly indigenous to 
 our soil ; yet a specimen most rare, for Nature, even 
 in the abundance of her power, is far too stingy in 
 presenting reproductions of the like of that remark- 
 able man. Perhaps, in the fullness of her wisdom, 
 she prefers to let him, like the solitary diamond, 
 large and resplendent, shine with unique effulgence 
 in the galaxy of Presidents as the beacon to which 
 his countrymen can point, justly proclaiming him 
 as the savior of our common country — the preserver 
 of the glorious heritage Washington won for us. 
 Lincoln was molded and fashioned by Nature 
 out of her own plan. He was unlike any other. 
 He seemed destined by the hand that created him 
 for the time in which he lived and for the brief 
 period wherein he largely held, and was responsible 
 for, the destinies of our country. The world, too, 
 is better because he lived in it ; he was a part of the 
 mass of humanity by birth, by nature, by instinct. 
 He belonged to that great majority — the "plain 
 people" — from whom he sprang. He made their 
 cause his cause; he knew their instincts; their char- 
 
acteristics ; he intuitiv^ely felt their pulse, their heart 
 throbs. In the hour of his supremest s^lory and 
 a^reatest triumphs he never ceased to kindly remem- 
 ber them ; never tired of doing their biddincr; never 
 forgot their wants. Their condition constantly ap- 
 pealed to him. The im})ression left upon civiliza- 
 tion everywhere by this great man, whose nobilit)' 
 of character and wealth of goodness will live while 
 language is spoken, is as precious, as fadeless, as 
 bright, and as honorable as anything in the history 
 or annals of any land or an\' time. It will always 
 remain so. He had no superior; no e(]ual. 
 
 Lincoln was a simple man, easy of access and a 
 student of the people, whom he knew so well. In 
 this res})ect his foresight seemed almost superhuman. 
 He was courageous and heroic, fearing nothing ex- 
 cept wrong. He was a man of immense energy; of 
 great tenacity of pur})ose ; yet gentle, kind, and lov^- 
 able. He was genuine; he was true. He had the 
 ring of sincerity. He was an orator, profound and 
 logical; he was gifted with the art of story -telling, 
 although many of the anecdotes attributed to him 
 may never have had the slightest authenticity; yet 
 those he really narrated were told with a charming 
 grace and a well-defined purpose, but never to in- 
 ilict pain or injury, of both of which he was incap- 
 able, if it could be avoided. He was resolute, yet 
 merciful and forbearing. 
 
Lincoln was wholly without scholastic training; 
 notwithstanding this, he was master of the art of 
 composition, and his style was pure, terse, and force- 
 ful. His second inaugural address stands without 
 doubt as one of the greatest of his papers, but there 
 are many others of wondrous beauty and grandeur. 
 He was a student ever — a ceaseless gleaner after 
 knowledge and truth. 
 
 Lincoln was a man of many sides — noble, grand, 
 lovable, ingenuous, yet shrewd ; a solitary in his 
 genius, but companionable ; a lover of his fellow- 
 men. His heart was one of tenderness; his sympa- 
 thies easily touched; he never saw a fellow-creature 
 suffer without feeling the pangs himself. It was 
 his nature. He was suddenly raised to the highest 
 place of power within the gift of his fellow-citizens, 
 but he never swerved from his duty under the most 
 trying circumstance, nor did he ever cease to be 
 just, generous, and humane. He did not know how 
 to be otherwise. How true and how beautiful are 
 the words of Robert G. Ingersoll — a past master of 
 poetic thought : 
 
 Nothing discloses real character like the use of 
 power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most 
 people can bear adversity. But if you wish to 
 know what a man really is, give him power. That 
 is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, 
 having almost absolute power, he never abused it, 
 except upon the side of mercy. 
 
Usually, in considering the life of Lincoln, we 
 dwell almost exclusively upon his wonderful services 
 to the country in the purely domestic phases of the 
 struggle for the Union. His figure stands out above 
 all else in its relation to the course of events here 
 at home during that trying and unhappy period. 
 Wc naturally think of him as the guiding hand of 
 the great forces which he marshaled and set in mo- 
 tion and patiently reinforced and stimulated in the 
 darkest hours. But it is not only as the calm, un- 
 flinching pilot in the storm that swept over our land 
 that he was great. As one whose attention has 
 been given for many years to the foreign affairs of 
 our Government, 1 have been impressed by a fea- 
 ture of his career as President which is not so often 
 made prominent in eulogies of him. The perils 
 which he had to face in the military strength of the 
 South, with political disaffection in his rear, are, of 
 course, the most obvious and the most dramatic; 
 but there were foes without, with wh(Hii, at times, 
 it was even more difficult to deal. All the world 
 knows now, what was more or less secret history at 
 the time, that powerful intluences were at work in 
 Europe to aid the seceding States, and that it was 
 due to him that they were frustrated. I am far 
 from wishing to detract from the consummate abil- 
 ity of his Secretary of State, Seward, who, in my 
 judgment, has never received the full measure of 
 
credit due him; but, invaluable as his assistance was 
 to Lincoln, there can be no doubt that at some of 
 the most critical stages of our diplomacy it was the 
 President's sound judgment and tact that averted 
 the storm or smoothed the angry waters for the 
 ship of state. It was his master hand that guided 
 the rudder and steered the course clear of the 
 breakers, frequently threatening, dark, and gloomy. 
 
 The skill with which Lincoln handled the foreign 
 relations of the United States during this critical 
 period, with the aid of Seward, is, in fact, one of 
 the most remarkable illustrations of his genius, and 
 it has a larger significance as showing the natural 
 versatility of a typical American. Lincoln was, 
 before all else, a specimen of that numerous class — 
 a potent element of our national life — the self-made 
 American. He was, as I have said, something 
 more than a type ; he stands alone, confident in his 
 own strength, firm and unyielding in the right. 
 Born to command, for he possessed a perfect 
 knowledge of himself and a capacity to understand 
 and control those with whom he was surrounded, 
 he plodded on, in his own way, to a successful 
 end. Patience, firmness, and heroism — a constella- 
 tion of strength which adorns great minds — were 
 his distinguishing traits. 
 
 But, as you are all aware, Lincoln had very few 
 opportunities of education, of culture, and knew 
 
but little of the machinery, the proprieties, the 
 etiquette of diplomatic intercourse. Nevertheless, 
 when he was called upon to deal with delicate ques- 
 tions of international comity, he proved himself 
 fully equal to the emergency. He is perhaps the 
 most conspicuous of all the examples in our history 
 of the efificiency of common sense in even what 
 may be termed the polite profession of diplomacy. 
 It is too much the fashion to insist upon superficial 
 accomplishments on the part of our statesmen, and 
 especially of our representatives abroad in dealing 
 with foreign nations. I would not, for one moment, 
 belittle the importance of culture and refinement 
 and special qualifications for officers of the Govern- 
 ment who have delicate duties to discharge, or who 
 are called upon to support the national dignity in 
 foreign lands ; but these duties, after all — if I may 
 be pardoned the expression — are but the millinery 
 of official life. It seems to me to be far more im- 
 portant that those who transact business for the 
 Government, either at home or abroad, should pos- 
 sess the }iractical (pialities, the shrewd insight into 
 human character which is gained only by actual, 
 everyday contact with men, the ready adaptability 
 to new conditions which Lincoln showed in his alert 
 and facile Americanism. These qualities were not 
 peculiar to him, but are so common among our 
 countrymen that it is the rule, rather than the 
 
8 
 
 exception, that men who have risen to such influence 
 among us that they are chosen for important posts 
 exhibit a capacity which is often, no doubt, surpris- 
 ing to themselves. It certainly excites the astonish- 
 ment of foreigners; and the very novelty of our 
 methods in diplomacy, the directness and prompti- 
 tude with which we go to the root of matters, often 
 give us a distinct advantage. If we look back 
 upon the diplomatic history of the United States, 
 I think it will be found that we have made but few 
 serious errors and none that were capital. 
 
 We have now entered upon a wholly new relation 
 to the rest of the world. The old days of isolation 
 ended even before the Spanish war demonstrated to 
 the world the fact that we were capable of taking a 
 place among the great powers; they had ended be- 
 cause we had begun to invade the markets of the 
 w^orld with our goods — surely a peaceable and laud- 
 able undertaking. At first, we hardly looked upon 
 it as a serious business. It originated in the need of 
 our manufacturers to get rid of their surplus prod- 
 uct. The industrial system of the United States 
 had developed to the point where its productive 
 capacity largely exceeded the demands of the home 
 market. Instinctively, we sought new markets 
 abroad. The movement has gone on with results 
 that have surprised ourselves and amazed the world. 
 It might be supposed that to claim preeminence 
 
among the nations competing in commerce was a 
 mere exaggeration, or, at best, a wish that was 
 father to the thought, if it were l)ased upon our 
 own estimate of our achievements; hut the general 
 testimony of the very nations who are feeling our 
 competition most keenly concedes to us a i)osition 
 of eminence in the world's markets which, to quote 
 from a recent letter of the Secretary of State — 
 
 Ma}^ result in shifting tlie center, not only of 
 industrial, but of commercial, activity and the 
 money power of the world to our marts. 
 
 I cite this great fact, the most surprising, per- 
 haps, in the economic history of the world in recent 
 days, because it brings to a focus, as it were, the 
 qualities (which 1 believe to be peculiar to Ameri- 
 cans) that made Lincoln at once so great a man and 
 so genuine a representative of the great mass of his 
 countrymen. iVnd pursuing the subject further, 
 we find strong confirmation of my theory in two 
 widely dissimilar forms of activity — I refer to pri- 
 vate enterprise and official service. Usually, as was 
 remarked recently by the Secretary of the Navy, 
 official service follows in the wake of private enter- 
 prise; but in the commercial expansion of the 
 United States we find that the two have gone 
 together hand in hand, and that official service, 
 far from treading tamely in the rear, has in many 
 
lO 
 
 instances blazed the way for our industries and trade. 
 Upon the one hand, American manufacturers have 
 shown surprising capacity to adapt themselves to 
 the requirements of foreign markets and actually 
 to undersell the most advanced industries of Europe 
 in their own homes. A striking illustration of this 
 is found in the fact that we are selling cutlery 
 in Sheffield; tin plate in Wales; hoots, shoes, 
 and hosiery in Leicester ; and the shipment of 
 American coal to England may actually be said 
 to be "carrying coals to Newcastle." Upon 
 the other hand, I do not hesitate to assert that 
 the success of our exporters in thus invading 
 markets that might have been considered hermet- 
 ically sealed has been largely due to the activity 
 of our consular officers and the rapidity with 
 which their reports are printed and distributed. 
 You have all, doubtless, heard a good deal about 
 the defects of our consular system. That there is 
 room for improvement, none can deny ; but the 
 consular officers, drawn from the great body of 
 the people, have shown themselves to be so intelli- 
 gent in comprehending the needs of American trade 
 and so zealous in promoting it that our service, 
 defective though it may be, has excited the admi- 
 ration and the envy of great trading nations like 
 England and German\', whose consular corps for 
 years have been held up to us as models for our 
 
1 1 
 
 own. All this serves, to mv mind, to emphasize 
 the praetical superiority of the national type which 
 we have unconsciously evolved, and to cast an even 
 stronger and more vivid light upon the national 
 characteristics of which Lincoln was so great an 
 e.\j)oncnt. .\side from his individual (jualities of 
 mind, of heart, of character, he stands to-day, as he 
 was in life, in the fullest sense a heroic figure of 
 Americanism — the Americanism which we now see 
 rapidly spreading itself over the face of the earth, 
 to the envv of the world. 
 
 I make no pretense at ])r()j)hecv; the plain, prac- 
 tical things of life appeal to me, little of the senti- 
 mental and none of the theoretical. Vet I venture 
 this conjecture : that if, in Ood's providence, Lincoln 
 were aliv^e, he would unquestionably be on the side 
 of the greater L'^nited States — not greater strictlv in 
 the sense of its material wealth and j)hvsical power, 
 but in the higher and nobler sense of its wide and 
 widening inlluence as a controlling power among the 
 nations and peoples of the earth, of which, I think, 
 we are the greatest to-day. And I confidently believe 
 that Lincoln's commanding influence would be on 
 the side of the great majority in the movement 
 for the advancement of the power and the glory of 
 our country at home and abroad, since he is every- 
 where recognized, with universal accord, as "one of 
 the greatest Americans and best of men." 
 
12 
 
 In closing, since Lincoln blossomed and broad- 
 ened under the trying days of 1861-65, what more 
 beautiful sentiment can I employ than to quote the 
 poetic Ingersoll again? 
 
 Lincoln was the grandest figure of the fiercest 
 civil war. He is the gentlest memory of our world. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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