973.7L33 
 FM193L 
 
 McKelvie, Samuel toy. 
 
 Lincoln night: 
 Middlesex Club, ^Boston, 
 
 February 12, 1923. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
LINCOLN NIGHT 
 
 Middlesex Club 
 Boston 
 
 February 12 
 1923 
 
 ADDRESSES 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. SAMUEL ROYMcKELVIE 
 
 Rev. MAXWELL SAVAGE 
 
 Maj. Gen. ANDRE BREWSTER, U. S. A 
 
 The Middlesex Club, True to the Faith of Washington, 
 Holds fast the Principles of Lincoln, Grant, and Roosevelt 
 
 PRINTED BY THE CLUB 
 1923 
 
OFFICERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MIDDLESEX CLUB 
 
 1922-1923 
 
 PRESIDENT 
 
 LOUIS A. COOLIDGE 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENTS 
 
 Calvin Coolidge Samuel L. Powers 
 
 Henry Cabot Lodge John W. Weeks 
 
 John L. Bates 
 
 SECRETARY ASST. SECRETARY 
 
 Benjamin F. Felt Walter R. Meins 
 
 TREASURER 
 
 Charles H. Ramsay 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 
 
 Charles S. Proctor, Chairman 
 A. S. Apsey 
 
 Gaspar G. Bacon 
 James E. Baker 
 
 Charles G. Bancroft 
 
 Herbert E. Fletcher 
 Charles T. Cottrell 
 Joseph W. Gerry 
 
 Sidney M. Hedges 
 
 Charles H. Innes 
 
 Charles E. Fay 
 
 Edward C. Mansfield 
 Lincoln R. Welch 
 
 John Jacob Rogers 
 Paul S. Burns 
 
 Seward W. Jones 
 
 George H. Doty 
 
 Frank W. Stearns 
 
 Edward E. Jameson 
 
 Joseph B. Jamieson 
 
' f sl 
 
 ADDRESSES 
 
 BY 
 
 HON. SAMUEL ROY McKELVIE, 
 
 REV. MAXWELL SAVAGE, 
 
 AND MAJ. GEN. ANDRE BREWSTER 
 
 BEFORE THE MIDDLESEX CLUB, "LINCOLN NIGHT," AT 
 
 HOTEL SOMERSET, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 12, 1923 
 
 LOUIS A. COOLIDGE, "President 
 
 Samuel L. Powers, Toastmaster 
 
 Toastm aster POWERS. Gentlemen, and guests of the 
 Middlesex Club: 
 
 I regret as you do the absence of our president to-day, who is 
 detained in Washington by reason of illness. I understand that 
 his illness is not of a serious nature, and that he hopes to be back 
 in Boston within a few days. I am going to ask you all to rise 
 and drink to the speedy recovery of our distinguished president. 
 [The members and guests rise and drink the toast, — but in water.] 
 
 Toastmaster POWERS. I think you will agree with me, 
 gentlemen, that we could have made no greater sacrifice to Louis 
 than to have drunk what we have. [Laughter.] I never ex- 
 pected that this job would ever come back to me again. I had 
 it I think for thirteen years, when it descended by right of in- 
 heritance to Mr. Coolidge. I don't, however, very often get 
 into the limelight these days. I never get into the public lime- 
 light unless some misfortune happens to someone else. 
 [Laughter.] I play on the second team, and when someone is 
 injured on the first team I get called in from the side lines. 
 [Laughter.] That is the situation to-night. 
 
 (3) 
 
I remember the old days of this Club when I first joined it, 
 and it seems to me that the very men that belonged to it then 
 are with us to-night. And what is best of all, you don't grow 
 old. I have an idea that the adoption of a recent amendment 
 to the Constitution [cries of "Hear! Hear!"] is prolonging your 
 lives. [Laughter.] You remember that old skit that Charlie 
 Hoyt had in his play when one actor asked another actor on the 
 stage whether married men live longer than single men, and he 
 replied: "No, but it seems longer." [Laughter.] 
 
 Now I don't doubt life may seem longer to you by reason of 
 the discipline that you have now been placed under. I want to 
 assure all you members of the Middlesex Club that you will get 
 used to it after a time and you will be far happier than ever 
 before. I speak from experience. [Laughter.] 
 
 We have here at the head table to-night a very distinguished 
 galaxy of distinguished men. I noticed at one of these dinners 
 not long since that Mr. Coolidge took occasion to introduce them 
 to you, telling you who they were. It is enough, perhaps, that I 
 say to you that we have with us to-night all the important State 
 officers of the Commonwealth. Of course the Governor is not 
 here, nor the Lieutenant-Governor [laughter], but they are mere 
 figureheads at most. The real active working force of the 
 Commonwealth honors the head table to-night. We have here 
 the new Attorney-General, and the old Attorney-General. I 
 asked "General" Allen to-night if he was quite sure that his 
 authority had ceased. [Laughter.] He assured me that he 
 could not do us any harm, and that we are absolutely safe, even 
 in his presence. [Laughter.] As to the new Attorney- General, 
 we have not tried him out yet, but I imagine that he is a safer 
 man than the old one. [Prolonged laughter and applause.] 
 
 Then we have with us the Treasurer and Receiver General, 
 whatever that may mean, of the Commonwealth. I don't know 
 whether he is the man who collects the taxes or not. If he is 
 collecting the taxes, he is doing a big job, because he is collecting 
 more than we are able to pay. [Laughter.] We also have the 
 Secretary of State. I saw him the other night at the Clover 
 Club. He made a good speech, but I could not see any reason 
 why the Secretary of State should have to make speeches for the 
 Governor. He made an excellent speech there, and was intro- 
 
 (4) 
 
duced well, I will not say how he was introduced. I think he 
 was introduced as the King of Somerville, or something of that 
 kind. 
 
 To-night we have upon the list, as you have noticed, but two 
 speakers. I am going to reserve the right after we have heard 
 those two speakers, if we are not satisfied with the way they 
 have spoken and what they have said, to call upon others, possibly 
 from the floor, so that you will have whatever speaking you 
 want. [Laughter.] 
 
 I remember in the old days we used to try to adjourn this Club 
 at ten o'clock, and in order that there might be a reunion outside 
 [laughter], usually on the ground floor. It looks, however, as 
 though we would get through to-night before ten o'clock, but I 
 doubt if there is any reunion. 
 
 The first speaker on the program comes from that great 
 Western country beyond the Mississippi which has been settled 
 more or less by people from New England, has been developed 
 more or less by capital from the East. When I met the Governor 
 from Nebraska, I was a little surprised. I had expected to see 
 a man about seventy years old, or more, with rather long 
 whiskers [laughter], turning gray, and representing some of the 
 earlier statesmen that I had met from his State. Instead of that, 
 this young man who does not look over twenty-seven years of 
 age [laughter], who had served his State with conspicuous 
 ability during two terms, has now retired preparatory to going 
 to the Senate if he yields to the wishes of the people of Nebraska 
 [laughter], and he looks young. I want to say to the Governor 
 that a man of his age cannot get beyond the Common Council in 
 Massachusetts. [Laughter.] Some of the oldest men whom 
 you see before you to-night have not got started yet. But I want 
 to say to the Governor that we are glad to see him in Boston. He 
 tells me that he is not a politician, but that he is a farmer. Well, 
 I have always been a farmer, I have a farm to-day in New 
 Hampshire, and I have always wished that I had lived on that 
 farm instead of coming down here and wasting my time in Mass- 
 achusetts. [Laughter.] But, to be a farmer in Massachusetts 
 and to be a Governor is something that we have never heard of. 
 I think our treasurer here is a farmer, and some say he is going 
 to be the governor. But he will be the first farmer who ever 
 has been governor in Massachusetts. [Laughter.] 
 
 (5) 
 
We are all pleased to have the Governor here to-night. I have 
 not the slightest idea of what he is going to talk on, outside of 
 talking on Lincoln. He comes from the West where Lincoln 
 was born, and where he was reared in that great State of Illinois. 
 I once heard Uncle Joe Cannon say that when he went to Illinois 
 it was still a territory. States grow fast. Think of the State of 
 Nebraska, a tremendous State, almost an empire in itself, with 
 a great population, and a State that sooner or later will be one 
 of commanding influence in the country. And so I want to say 
 to you, Governor, that you are to-night in the home of your 
 friends, and if you ever get tired of Nebraska we will give you a 
 farm in Massachusetts, if you will only come and live with us. 
 [Laughter.] Treasurer Jackson says he is prepared to give up 
 his farm. I imagine that he is not getting the income out of it 
 that he expected, or else the income is so large that it makes his 
 taxes unwieldy. 
 
 I remember a few years ago when Mr. William M. Evarts 
 established a stock farm up in Windsor, Vermont, near where I 
 was born, and after he had run it a few years he found the 
 income would hardly keep pace with the outgo. He was serving 
 a supper to some of his New York friends and he served milk 
 and champagne. And he said : "Ladies and gentlemen, take your 
 choice, they cost me just the same." [Laughter.] 
 
 I take pleasure now in presenting to you Governor — I shall 
 not put any "ex" on it — Governor McKelvie of Nebraska. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 Honorable SAMUEL ROY McKELVIE 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster, Members of the Middlesex Club, Fellow 
 Republicans: 
 
 As your toastmaster was proceeding with his remarks bearing 
 upon his observations of myself, I was reminded of one of the 
 first experiences I had after I was elected Governor of Nebraska. 
 The second day after the election I left the State in order that 
 the faithful might have time to get themselves together and de- 
 cide on the places that they would prefer. [Laughter.] And I 
 stopped first at Chicago. I went there to the Club where I was 
 accustomed to stop. It was on the premature celebration of the 
 Armistice. I met there my old friend, Senator Sam Aronel, and 
 
 (6) 
 
he was even more pleased over my achievement than I was 
 myself. And he was introducing me to all his friends at the 
 Club. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon we saw a man there who Sam 
 explained to me was Bill Simpson. He said, "Bill has an only 
 daughter. She is married and her husband is in France and 
 Bill has been saying that no sooner will the whistle begin to 
 blow than he will stage an old-fashioned celebration." And I 
 guess he had done it. That evening I came in and found him 
 there somewhat unsteady on his feet, and Sam joined me and 
 said, "I want you to meet Bill." I said I would be happy to and 
 he called him, saying, "Bill, this is Sam McKelvie, just been 
 elected Governor of Nebraska." Bill said, "What?" Sam said, 
 "This is Sam McKelvie, just elected Governor of Nebraska." 
 Bill said, "Well, I may be drunk, but I am not that damned 
 drunk." [Loud laughter.] And if I could see Bill to-day I 
 would have to remind him that after these four years I am sure 
 that he is not alone in the determination. 
 
 I heard a definition of an after-dinner speaker the other day. 
 An after-dinner speaker is one who is willing to sacrifice you for 
 his country. [Laughter.] I hope not to do that this evening, 
 for I do feel that I am among friends. I feel at home in Boston, 
 though it is rather a far cry from here to the Middle West. 
 When we think of Boston and of Massachusetts, we think of the 
 Pilgrims. I regret that I cannot trace my ancestry to that noble 
 lineage, but I feel that I am the descendant of Pilgrims neverthe- 
 less. The visions, the ideals, the hopes, the aspirations of the 
 Pilgrims were those of the pioneer. It was this that gave them 
 courage to undertake the hardships of settling in this new land, 
 and so it was of the pioneers who followed the star of the empire 
 west, across the Alleghenies and ever westward until they came 
 to the broad and fertile prairies of Nebraska. They were Pil- 
 grims, too, and the imprint of the hand of the Pilgrims marked 
 their achievements no less than do the acts and deeds of the 
 Pilgrims who wended their way westward from Leyden. So, in 
 that sentiment we feel a bond of union. We feel that there is 
 no place for sectionalism in this country. We feel the common 
 responsibilities of citizenship. We pledge ourselves alike in en- 
 during faith to the course which was marked out by our fathers. 
 
 (?) 
 
As we assemble this evening we come together to worship at 
 the shrine of the memory of the greatest American, and to re- 
 affirm our allegiance to the principles of the political party of 
 which he was the first distinguished leader. In doing this we 
 must of necessity recognize the profound principles of American- 
 ism. Boston is recognized as the Cradle of Liberty, and the 
 Middlesex Club is recognized for its traditional Americanism. 
 And if you will permit me, I desire to refer to some notes that I 
 have made, — not that I am afraid of being misquoted, for I 
 think I should profit by that, perhaps, but that I am rather hard 
 up for terminal facilities; and I was advised by Mr. Louis 
 Coolidge before I came of the time that I should occupy upon 
 this program, and so also I recognize the distinguished gentlemen 
 and able orators who are to follow me. 
 
 I believe this to be true that, as those of each succeeding 
 generation are farther removed from the guiding events that 
 surrounded our early American history, there is a growing mis- 
 understanding of the principles that underlie the Republic. This 
 prompts me to recall the simple truths that surrounded the life 
 of Abraham Lincoln. As I proceed to this pleasant duty, I must 
 demur against being regarded as an idealist though promptly 
 admitting that I am a profound believer in ideals. The difference 
 between the two, as I see it, is that the one would progress by 
 principles that are proven, while the other is the advocate of 
 untried theories. 
 
 It would be futile for me to attempt adequately to eulogize 
 the acts and deeds of him who served the nation in the hour of 
 its only serious internal crisis. This has been done so oft and 
 well by those of readier expression than I, that the simple truths 
 regarding his life are upon the lips of children. The place of 
 his lowly birth, the noble mother who bore him, the struggles of 
 his childhood, the meager education that he obtained, the toilsome 
 labor that marked his youth and early manhood, his determination 
 to surmount obstacles, his striking personality, his wisdom as an 
 advocate and his ability in debate, his readiness of wit and ap- 
 preciation of humor, his simplicity of character and of speech, 
 his courage to meet the most difficult of situations, his charity 
 toward others, including even those who opposed him, his tender- 
 ness of heart for those in trouble, his unmeasured service to the 
 
 (8) 
 
nation, his prophetic vision, his adherence to the Constitution, 
 and his belief in Almighty God, these and many more were the 
 qualities that endeared him to the nation and wrote his name 
 highest upon the scroll of fame. 
 
 I have a love for the memory of Abraham Lincoln that is kin 
 to that of my Maker. I regard him as the Ideal American, but I 
 would not place a construction upon the works of his life that 
 would be intended merely to prove a point in which I believe. 
 My purpose in discussing the things for which Lincoln stood is 
 to apply them to some of the problems that are pressing for 
 solution now, for I believe that he more nearly than anyone else 
 in the nation's history divined the principles of true Americanism, 
 not only to advocate them but to give them practical expression. 
 
 The first American ideal is a belief in Almighty God. This 
 is the spirit that encouraged the Pilgrims of the Mayflower to 
 undertake their perilous voyage upon an uncertain sea. Under 
 His guidance these seekers after the Truth were brought se- 
 curely into port, and they sowed here the seeds from which this 
 Republic sprung. Since then there has run all through our his- 
 tory like a golden thread a deeply religious vein. Nor has the 
 nation ever had a great leader who was not inspired by this 
 sublime faith. 
 
 That the immortal Lincoln was guided in his progress by 
 Christian ideals is abundantly proven. In asserting his belief 
 that God created man to be a free agent, he said : "Freedom is the 
 natural condition of the human race in which the Almighty 
 intended man to live. Those who fight the purpose of the Al- 
 mighty will not succeed. They always have been, they always 
 will be, beaten." 
 
 During the period of the nation's greatest internal peril it 
 would seem that the leadership of Lincoln was inspired. To 
 the question of what would happen if, in the first encounter 
 between the steel armoured vessels, the Monitor and the Mer- 
 rimac, the latter should emerge victorious, Lincoln promptly 
 replied : "I do not fear, for this is God's fight and He will win it 
 in His own good time. He will take care that our enemies do 
 not push us too far." Such a sublime faith ! Can you not 
 believe with me that this is the force that guided him safely 
 through all of those perilous days of the Civil War? 
 
 (9) 
 
In his charity of spirit and loving kindness, it appears that 
 Lincoln was supremely endowed. Note the final words in his 
 inaugural message: "I am loath to close. We are not enemies, 
 but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may 
 have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The 
 mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and 
 patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this 
 broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again 
 touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our 
 nature." Finally, when the war was over and it became a ques- 
 tion of what his attitude would be towards the people of the 
 South, he said: "I shall treat them as though they had not been 
 away." 
 
 The nation needs a revival of that glorious spirit to-day. We 
 are being consumed by selfishness. We do not understand our 
 fellows, for we will not permit the governing spirit of Him "Who 
 doeth all things well" to enter the councils of our affairs. The 
 guiding star of the nation's destiny always has been, always will 
 be, the precepts that were given from the Mount. Until we 
 understand those principles to apply them, we shall be plagued by 
 the twin evils of hate and greed. 
 
 Next to Divine Guidance as an American ideal is a belief in 
 the Constitution of the United States. I shall always hold that 
 that immortal document was inspired of God. When the Re- 
 public was born, it was His hand stretched across the labors 
 of the founding fathers that brought the event to a successful 
 issue. May I not remind you that, after the Constitutional 
 Convention had been in session for five weeks and the repre- 
 sentatives assembled there, patriotic and well-meaning as they 
 were, had been unable to meet upon a common ground, Benjamin 
 Franklin arose and addressed the chair with these words : 
 
 "I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, 
 the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that 
 God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow 
 cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it 
 probable that an empire can rise without His aid ? We 
 have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 
 'except the Lord build the house they labor in vain that 
 build it'." 
 
 (10) 
 
Upon this belief, they repaired to their labors and the greatest 
 human document of all history was born. In closing his address 
 to the Convention, George Washington said: "Let us raise a 
 standard to which the wise and honest can repair. The event 
 is in the hands of God." 
 
 Hamilton was the greatest advocate of the Constitution, Mar- 
 shall the ablest interpreter of it, but it remained for Abraham 
 Lincoln to give it expression and application in a time when a 
 departure from it would have resulted in the dissolution of the 
 Union. The nation has never had a firmer believer in the Con- 
 stitution, nor a closer adherent of it, than Abraham Lincoln. 
 This and the Declaration of Independence afforded the basis of 
 his entire political training and belief. Mark these his words: 
 "I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from 
 the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence." 
 
 When Lincoln was elected to the presidency he was relatively 
 little known to the nation. To all he was "the rail-splitter". By 
 some he was regarded as the teller of uncouth stories. He had 
 served in Congress, and his debates with Douglas had brought 
 him some acquaintance beyond the borders of his State. The 
 nation was upon the brink of civil war and consternation was 
 abroad in the land. What type of man was this, then, who had 
 been chosen to pilot the Ship of State upon such an angry sea? 
 What would be his policy? 
 
 Conditions had become so intense, incident to the question 
 of slavery, that a peace conference was called in Washington. 
 Delegate representatives from the North and the South as- 
 sembled at this conference. After many months of bitter debate, 
 the members of the conference had made no progress. Finally, 
 Mr. Lincoln arrived in Washington, prior to assuming the duties 
 of the Presidency, and met the members of the conference. 
 The delegates met Mr. Lincoln with mingled misgivings. So 
 much depended upon the course he would follow as President! 
 They were not kept waiting for the truth. Governor Rives of 
 Virginia addressed this statement to him : "The clouds that hang 
 over the Union are very dark. Everything now depends on 
 you." In response the great Lincoln went directly to the heart 
 of the subject: "My course is as plain as a turnpiked road. It 
 is marked out by the Constitution. There is no doubt which 
 way to go." 
 
 (11) 
 
When Lincoln was inducted into the office of President, the 
 opening feature of his inaugural address was : "I hold that in 
 the contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the 
 union of these States is perpetual. I shall take care, as the 
 Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of 
 the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States." When 
 the people heard these words, they were inspired and believed 
 in him. 
 
 If there is one who would ignore the ideals of our America 
 or who would remove the ancient landmarks that were set by our 
 fathers, let him seek to destroy constitutional government. I 
 know of no surer course of destruction of the Republic than 
 this. The Constitution is the anchor which holds the Ship of 
 State secure against the threshing winds of time. Its strength 
 is reflected in the respect that the people have for law, and in 
 the support that they give to the orderly processes of government. 
 This belief permeated every fibre of the being of Lincoln. In 
 support of it, he said: 
 
 "Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher 
 of his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution never to 
 violate in the least particular the laws of the country, and never 
 to tolerate their violation by others. Let reverence for the law 
 be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that 
 prattles on her lap; let it be taught in the schools, in the sem- 
 inaries, and in colleges ; let it be written in primers, in spelling 
 books, and in almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpits, 
 proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in the courts of 
 justice. Let it become the political religion of the nation, and 
 let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and 
 the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions 
 sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars." 
 
 There was never a time in the history of the nation when 
 there was greater need than now for an impartial adherence to 
 the edicts of law and order. Upon nearly every hand we see 
 the disregard in which the law is held by the people of all classes 
 and conditions. I cannot account for this, unless it be that the 
 multiplicity and complexity of our laws have become so pro- 
 nounced^ that on the one hand it is impossible for the people to 
 comprehend their meaning, and on the other hand it is impossible 
 
 ( J2 ) 
 
for the officers of state to enforce them. If this is true, and I 
 believe it to be so, it is high time that legislative bodies should 
 retrench from their law-making proclivities. [Applause.] 
 
 A conscientious understanding of the Constitution is well-nigh 
 futile with the continual enactment of laws, some of which are 
 a distinct departure from the meaning and purposes of the Con- 
 stitution while others serve only to increase the number of em- 
 ployees of the State. If we can get away from this tendency, 
 we will have taken the first step towards lower taxes, better law 
 enforcement, and a higher respect for law. Also, there will be 
 less reason for the existence of professional politicians and dem- 
 agogues, with their obnoxious political nostrums that are war- 
 ranted to cure every ill to which society falls heir. 
 
 Dangerous as is the disrespect for laws that are intended to 
 influence the social and moral welfare of the people, it is even 
 more hazardous to the national welfare that the parties to indus- 
 trial disputes should disregard the law and seek to force their 
 issues by direct action. When the parties to any suit in which 
 the public interest is involved refuse to bring their case into 
 court to be decided by judge or jury, the violations of the rights 
 of life and property that ensue are immediately subversive of 
 orderly government and strike at the very foundations of the 
 Republic. 
 
 Within a six months' period we have had two striking illus- 
 trations of the disastrous effects that follow violations of the 
 principles of law and order. One of these took place at Herrin, 
 Illinois, and more recently another occurred in certain sections 
 of Arkansas. Both of these were the outgrowth of industrial 
 strife. In the one instance, the workers attempted to thwart the 
 effort of the mine owners to operate their plants, and a large 
 number of human lives was sacrificed in the endeavor. In the 
 other instance, the citizens of the community sought arbitrarily 
 to punish certain striking railroad employees, and here again the 
 sacrifice of human life was taken as a toll against sabotage and 
 destruction of property. 
 
 Both of these acts were in direct violation of the orderly pro- 
 cesses of government and serve to prove the results that inevitably 
 follow after a disrespect for law. The one effective way of 
 preventing such incipient acts of violence is for public officials to 
 
 (13) 
 
see that the law is enforced vigorously and impartially. In this, 
 I hold that there is no end to which a duly constituted law en- 
 forcement official may not go, and the official who does less than 
 this violates his oath of office. [Applause.] 
 
 Lincoln said in his day: "In a choice of evils, war may not 
 always be the worst. Still, I would do all in my power to avert 
 it, except to neglect a constitutional duty." Had Lincoln taken 
 any other position than this, and had he attempted to temporize 
 with a situation that was in direct violation of the purposes of the 
 Constitution, it is highly probable that the nation would have 
 been dismantled and the strength of the Republic destroyed. 
 Conditions are not the same to-day as they were then, but the 
 principles of government that he enforced are precisely the same. 
 The government must be strong enough in its position of authority 
 to enforce the law and to punish every violator of the law. To 
 do less than this is to invite national decay. 
 
 As between the contending factions in industrial disputes, 
 Lincoln had the vision by which the remedy may be found for 
 our present-day troubles. He believed in labor as the pursuit 
 to which the life of every normal man is ordained. There are 
 few questions to which he made more frequent reference than he 
 did to this. Upon one occasion he addressed a note to Major 
 Ramsey, as follows: "My dear Sir: The lady bearer of this says 
 she has two sons who want to work. Set them at it, if possible. 
 Wanting to work is so rare a want, that it should be encouraged. ,, 
 Conditions have not changed much in sixty years. [Laughter.] 
 In another instance he said: "If you intend to go to work, there 
 is no better place than right where you are. If you do not 
 intend to go to work, you cannot get along anywhere." And 
 again he said : "I am always for the man who wishes to work." 
 
 As between the interests of property and labor, he expressed 
 this wise opinion : "I take it that it is best for all to leave every 
 man free to acquire property as fast as he can. Some will get 
 wealthy. I don't believe in a law to prevent a man getting rich, 
 it would do more harm than good. So while we do not propose 
 any war upon capital, we do wish to allow the humblest man an 
 equal chance to get rich with everybody else. When one starts 
 poor as most do in the race of life, free society is such that he 
 knows he can better his condition ; he knows that there is no fixed 
 
 (14) 
 
condition of labor for his whole life. I am not ashamed to con- 
 fess that twenty-five years ago I was a hired laborer mauling 
 rails, at work on a life-boat — just what might happen to any 
 poor man's son. I want every man to have a chance." 
 
 The application of these simple laws of personal conduct 
 would be sufficient in themselves to-day to bring the solution to 
 every recurring difference between employer and employee. 
 There must be no violation of the right of a man to work. 
 This right is inherent in the Constitution. It must not be 
 abridged, lest men dictate by their own selfish interests not only 
 the conditions under which they shall work, but the pay that they 
 shall receive. This would create an intolerable condition. The 
 nation is suffering now from a too high level of wages. At a 
 time when there is need for the greatest economy of production 
 as a means towards removing the disparity in exchange value 
 that exists between the raw products of the farm and the finished 
 products of the factory, it is a striking fact, borne out by depend- 
 able figures, that the established scale of wages to-day will buy 
 more commodities than at any previous time on record. 
 
 Agriculture is the nation's basic industry, and upon the pros- 
 perity of the farmer depends the ultimate prosperity of the people 
 who are engaged in every other line of endeavor. So long as 
 this high scale of wages continues, the farmer will have to bear a 
 burden that is economically unsound, and the delayed return of 
 post-war readjustment will increase the hardships upon all. And 
 I may say to you, my friends, that we of the Middle West are 
 feeling the impress of that very condition to-day. The disparity 
 in exchange value between the articles that are manufactured 
 here and the things that are produced by the farmers in the 
 Middle West and exchanged for your manufactured articles is 
 too great, and I recognize as the first item that enters into this 
 question of price or economy is the enormous scale of wages 
 that is being paid. 
 
 The farmer, too, is doing his utmost to rehabilitate the nation 
 and bring about a revival of normal prosperity. He is making 
 splendid progress, and his lot is not nearly so hard as it has 
 been at many other times in the past. But there is not yet a 
 complete equality between him in his labors and those who toil 
 in other lines. A simple application of the precepts of our nat- 
 
 (15) 
 
ional patron saint would accomplish wonders in remedying this 
 condition. 
 
 Lincoln was a great man, but he was not conscious of it. He 
 was great because he had the power of correct analyses of human 
 problems and the force of character to support his beliefs. He 
 was partisan, the first great Republican, and he had much to do 
 with the origin of this party, but he was in no sense a politician. 
 Were he living to-day, he would be ashamed and chagrined by 
 the political maneuvers of many of those in public life who are 
 ignoring the national welfare in an effort to promote their own 
 selfish interests. 
 
 Now, gentlemen, I recognize that this is a Republican organi- 
 zation and you are proud, every one of you, to think upon the 
 things that Lincoln did, the things that Lincoln stood for, and 
 you recognize that Lincoln adhered to the things that are funda- 
 mentally sound and true and that have always been the founda- 
 tion for progress in this country. The greatest era of progress 
 that America ever knew was the fifty years that followed the 
 Civil War. Not all of those years, for some of them were bad 
 years, but on the whole it was the greatest era of progress in 
 our history ; and during that period you recall that the people 
 were not resorting to measures political to lift them from their 
 difficulties. They were depending upon themselves, and all they 
 asked from the Government was that they be given equality of 
 opportunity and encouragement to exercise the initiative that 
 they then had. 
 
 In these later years there has come to the fore an apparent 
 theory of progress that we must legislate success and prosperity 
 on the people, whether they earn it or not. And I submit to you 
 that it cannot be done. Instead of that we are placing barriers 
 and substantial barriers against progress, and we are striking at 
 the very foundation of this Republic. [Applause.] 
 
 Progress, my friends, is not education. Progress is building 
 upon firm and sound foundations, and as we are troubled to-day 
 with the problems that are imposed upon us through this world- 
 wide conflagration, we must recognize the burdens that rest upon 
 us ; and they must be borne by you and me, and they can be 
 borne only by us and not alone by the Government. 
 
 The Government is only a medium through which we may 
 
 (16) 
 
exercise our initiative. When I think of our national adminis- 
 tration I recognize that not since the time of Lincoln has any 
 administration ever come into the White House to find itself con- 
 fronted with such troublous and perplexing problems as have 
 confronted our present President of the United States [applause] ; 
 and I say, and I believe that you agree with me, that that great 
 mind in the White House, unmoved by the blare of trumpets, 
 constantly adhering to fundamental principles, is hewing away 
 on these national problems along the right line. Should he ap- 
 peal to mere sentiment? Should he seek merely to be popular? 
 Should he adopt the practices of political expediency ? No ! A 
 thousand times, No! I do not know whether he shall be re- 
 nominated; I think he will. I don't know whether the Repub- 
 lican party will win in the next campaign. But so far as I am 
 concerned, that does not trouble me nearly as much as it troubles 
 me whether the Republican party is going to adhere to sound 
 principles and struggle and fight for them, even though they lose 
 the election, rather than to submit to things that must certainly 
 thwart the ultimate purpose that we would attain. [Applause.] 
 
 You look to the West, and you think of a country, perhaps, 
 that is torn with dissension and dissatisfaction, but I will say to 
 you that you have painted before you a picture that is untrue; 
 for, while we have suffered some conditions in Nebraska that 
 have been uncomfortable, even as young a man as I am can recall 
 the conditions of the early '90s when conditions were so much 
 worse that there is no comparison between then and now. Our 
 farmers have turned the corner and they are on their way again. 
 Their agricultural products have increased in value fifteen per 
 cent in the last few months, and while we feel there is some 
 injustice there, it is not to the extent that we would array that 
 great Central West from which Lincoln came against any other 
 section of this country. [Applause.] 
 
 We know the things for which Lincoln struggled. We know 
 that Lincoln realized the bond of interdependence that existed 
 between the North and the South, and he recognized it to the 
 extent that he would call upon the people of this country to give 
 them support in order that unity of action might obtain. And it 
 was given. And that is the reason why you and I sit comfort- 
 ably about this banquet board to-night and praise our America. 
 
 (17) 
 
For us to attempt to divide our country into sections, or classes, 
 or creeds would be as destructive of the purpose of America as 
 she was founded by our fathers as would have been the division of 
 the North and the South. And whoever attempts to speak against 
 the West in terms that would cause you to believe that there is a 
 class or section conscience there that would hold themselves out 
 against you, does not know whereof he speaks. For, in times of 
 this nation's trouble, all sections of the nation arose as a single 
 man and we are just as proud of them all as we are proud of 
 our patriotic Nebraskans. 
 
 We need party solidarity. In Lincoln's time he was plagued 
 by those who would subserve the national interests to their own 
 advantage, and President Harding is being plagued by the same 
 thing to-day; not in his cabinet, but in a co-ordinate branch of 
 Government that has just as great responsibility in bringing 
 about the restoration of normal conditions that we need in this 
 country to-day. 
 
 I am a partisan, and I believe in party responsibility, and I 
 think that everything that tends away from it is destructive of 
 our Republican form of Government ; and therefore I believe 
 that when a party is in power it is the duty of those who have 
 been elected through that party to give their adherence to the 
 principles that have been enunciated for its conduct and which 
 constitute a part of its program. [Applause.] 
 
 There is but one way to emulate the life of Lincoln : that is to 
 follow the unselfish and understanding course that he marked out. 
 If we do this, we may yet reverently breathe again the inspiring 
 sentiments and everlasting ideals that were his. 
 
 During the short life of Lincoln he inculcated in the hearts of 
 the people a patriotism that endured through the intervening 
 years. The threads of blue and of gray were knit into a com- 
 plete fabric of national solidarity. Then there was no North, 
 no South, only the bonds of union. How much this has meant 
 to us, we cannot realize now. We only know that the call of 
 national necessity has been heard and answered in every section 
 of the land, and the love of Americans for their America has been 
 measured again in the terms of scarlet that ebbed from the hearts 
 of our choicest sons. 
 
 Four years ago I was called to witness the most inspiring sight 
 
 (18) 
 
that it has been my privilege to view. This was upon the return 
 of our boys from France. A delegation from Nebraska had 
 chartered a little boat and sailed out into the harbor at New 
 York to welcome our victorious Eighty-ninth. The clouds hung 
 heavy over the harbor. Finally a great boat — the Leviathan — 
 emerged from the mists. As it drew towards our little craft, it 
 looked not unlike a great mountain of khaki. Finally, it came 
 near enough so that the boys from home could read the banners, 
 "Welcome Home to America", "Welcome Home to Nebraska", 
 "Welcome Home to Friends and Loved Ones", and a cheer went 
 up that sounded and resounded across the harbor. Then our 
 band played "Home Sweet Home", and out of that cheering 
 throng there came a stillness as of death. As I looked out across 
 the scene, there stood the Goddess of Liberty, tall and stark in 
 the mists of the morning, and she too seemed to be weeping for 
 the return of her gallant sons. 
 
 I do not know, we cannot know, the deeper sentiment that 
 was in the hearts of those men, but I do know that they took 
 up the torch that fell from the hands of the immortal Lincoln 
 and insured for all time that "a nation conceived in liberty and 
 dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" can 
 endure. [Applause.] 
 
 Toastm aster POWERS. I would like to say to the young 
 Governor, in behalf of the Middlesex Club, that if he would Kke 
 to be Governor of the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts all 
 he has got to do is to take up his residence on her soil. [Ap- 
 plause.] 
 
 The next speaker on the list I observe is a Unitarian clergy- 
 man. When I used to be active in the affairs of this Club we 
 were a Baptist club, as I remember it [laughter], and we elected 
 as our chaplain the Reverend Ashley Jones who came here each 
 year for a number of years and preached to us the real old 
 Baptist doctrine. It was the doctrine of immersion in those 
 days. I imagine that one of the amendments to the Constitution 
 has probably changed the religion of the Club. [Laughter.] But 
 we all remember with the greatest pleasure the Reverend Ashley 
 Jones. He was a typical Southerner and told his stories in a 
 typical way. And there was one story that he told the third 
 time he came here, the last time I heard him, which has always 
 
 (19) 
 
remained in my mind. I feel sure the Middlesex Club made an 
 excellent impression on the parson. Do you remember that story 
 he told when he rose to make his last speech before this Club? 
 It ran something like this : 
 
 Uncle 'Rastus was sitting on a doorstep and Aunt Chloe was 
 standing in the door. The gate was open and the chickens were 
 going down towards the gate, and Uncle 'Rastus ran down and 
 closed the gate. When he came back Aunt Chloe said, "What 
 fo' you close dat gate? Was you 'fraid those chickens wouldn't 
 come home?" And he said, "I was afraid they would go home." 
 [Laughter.] And then he concluded by saying: "Whenever I 
 see the gate of the Middlesex Club open, I always come through 
 it because I feel I am coming home." [Laughter.] 
 
 Now we have changed our religion, and we have taken up a 
 more liberal religion. I want to say that that is not at all dis- 
 pleasing to me. [Laughter.] My church has always been the 
 Unitarian church, — at least, my wife attends that church. 
 [Laughter.] But I remember in the old days when I wanted to 
 hear a real good sermon I used to go up to what I think they 
 called Unity Church and listen to the Reverend Minot J. Savage, 
 who was one of the great pulpit orators of his day. To-night 
 we have with us his son, who is a clergyman in Worcester, and I 
 take great pleasure now in presenting to you the Reverend Max- 
 well Savage of Worcester, Massachusetts. [Applause.] 
 
 Reverend MAXWELL SAVAGE 
 
 Mr. Chairman: 
 
 I am going to trust my watch to the gentleman on my right, 
 and Mr. Farley on my left, because I am going back to Wor- 
 cester to-night, especially, as there is no after-meeting on the 
 lower floor. [Laughter.] Whether you have a room upstairs 
 or not I do not know. [Laughter.] But may I say in begin- 
 ning that if the chairman to-night lived in Worcester he would 
 not be allowed to have his religion, like his property, in his 
 wife's name. [Laughter.] 
 
 Some years ago I gave a series of after-dinner talks, or wan- 
 dering talks, in the far-off city of Budapest and ever since that 
 time I have wondered why Americans have not adopted that 
 
 (20) 
 
plan. There was no after-dinner speaking in the literal sense 
 of the word, but as soon as the first course was put on the table 
 they began to call on the speakers. I have spoken through the 
 oysters and the fish, through the fish and the roast, through the 
 roast and the salad, and then people went on eating and listened 
 or not as they pleased; and by the time the meal was over, the 
 speaking was over. It was easier on the listener, and so much 
 easier on the speaker, because here, while you have been eating 
 this goodly meal I have been munching this coarse bread, drink- 
 ing as much coffee as I could find about me, and not really been 
 able to feast and fill myself as my natural proclivities would lead 
 me to do. 
 
 I have no manuscript. Perhaps it is too bad for you that I 
 have not. I have some notes, but I have written them so small 
 that I am afraid I cannot see them, and so I shall have to ask 
 you to bear with me, as my dentist said, for the allotted time 
 which Mr. Coolidge gave me. I notice that, having given me 
 this time, he is not here. [Laughter.] 
 
 Now the average minister of course uses his text as a diver 
 uses his springboard very often, to leap from and never to return 
 to. And like a good many speakers, having leaped into the 
 stream of my material I find that I do not swim very well and 
 sometimes, like some swimmers, sink and drown in the midst of 
 ideas that I cannot put into adequate words. But I hope you 
 will not sit and look at me in my drowning condition as a certain 
 longshore farmer living near me in Maine did a few years ago. 
 The farmer ran down to the shore and he noticed a man tip over 
 in a boat out in the lake. He did not pay much attention to him 
 and went into the house, and later on went down to the post 
 office. Somebody said to him, "Well, your nephew was drowned 
 this afternoon," and the man said, "Pshaw ! I saw it but I 
 thought it was one of those damned summer boarders." 
 [Laughter.] 
 
 I hope you will have more leniency and patience with what I 
 want to talk over with you regarding Lincoln, and I have taken as 
 my text for my speech an idea that came to me out of Steven- 
 son's "Life of Lincoln", a new, one-volume story of his life which 
 is a wonderful book, in which he points out that the great con- 
 tribution which Lincoln made to government and the activity of 
 
 (21) 
 
politicians was to show the moral obligation not to use power. 
 This has nothing whatever to do with pacifism. In fact, very much 
 to the contrary. While Lincoln recognized power he never exer- 
 cised it unless it were for the fulfilling of some moral law. He 
 never resorted to power offhand. He was very slow in using it 
 and he trusted the conscience of the people to work out their 
 problems, rather than to have laws, the power of government, 
 superimposed upon them all the time. And he had little use 
 for the growing popularity to-day of coercion by government. 
 
 That perhaps was one of his strongest attributes, and we find 
 it in most of his activities, that patience, that willingness to 
 abide the issue of circumstances, that method of letting people 
 work out the thing for themselves. So that not hesitancy, but 
 that inherent, quiet power of his way, and to not care so much 
 about the outer form of things, showed itself in most of his 
 activities. For instance, I don't know how many lawyers there 
 are here but in his relation to the law he was a poor lawyer in 
 so far as technicalities were concerned. He did not care much 
 about them, but he was interested in law only as it stood to ap- 
 proximate, in the affairs of man, the justice and the will of God. 
 And that is why he said to his fellow lawyers, "Discourage 
 litigation; there will still be enough business! to go around." 
 And we know to-day that the best type of lawyer is the man that 
 does not drag litigation into court all the time, but settles quietly 
 and reasonably by the use of the quiet power of conscience on 
 the outside. 
 
 The same tendency showed itself in regard to Lincoln in the 
 matter of religion. In the common-sense view of that word, he 
 was not a Christian and did not care for the use of power of 
 churches. And yet there is no doubt about it that nobody on 
 earth since the Nazarene has been so spiritually and so morally 
 Christian in his attitude towards his fellow man. And so he 
 loved, as he approached the problems of his time, to keep in the 
 midst of them with the quiet, inexorable power of the natural 
 force, you might say, plus what a natural force never has, and 
 that is kindness. 
 
 Now what are our tendencies to-day, in the midst of our pro- 
 blems? After all, are they not summed up in the word "char- 
 acter"? Have not we attained to a higher-mindedness that 
 
 (22) 
 
wants things done very quickly indeed, rather than to be patient ? 
 Aren't we surprisingly subservient under power to make us do 
 lots of things, forestalling morality and natural growth and 
 education? The impatience and the temper of the time as con- 
 trasted with Lincoln's own patience are fully manifest, and you 
 will recall that in his own day they called him "Father Abraham". 
 The grown-up children of his own time, feeling that he had that 
 power, looked upon him as of that rare type of father who exer- 
 cised such power over his own children. I wish I had it over 
 my own boys, that quiet power to command that can bring the 
 right sort of results. 
 
 I noticed in the Middlesex Creed which was sent to me one or 
 two articles of faith, and hope, and perhaps of charity, that I 
 want to speak about in passing to-night, speaking of what seems 
 to me is the Lincolnian idea and what our tendency is to-day. 
 
 I noted, as one article of your creed, the belief in a triumphant 
 peace. That article must have been written some time ago for 
 there was no triumph, and therefore there is no peace. I know 
 of no situation in history better discribed by the gentle sarcasm 
 of Jeremiah than the present situation. You will remember that 
 Jeremiah said: "For they have healed the hurt of the daughter 
 of my people slightly by crying 'peace, peace', when there is no 
 peace." 
 
 I know it is not the popular church point of view at all, and 
 yet under similar circumstances to those a few years ago it was 
 the Lincolnian point of view, when Lincoln saw that the moral 
 obligation not to use power began only after victory. We did 
 not see that. The psychology of the situation seems to me to be 
 thus summed up in a simple crude illustration out of ordinary 
 life. It happens in my church in Worcester there are about 
 fifty Boy Scouts. Two of those small devils about twelve years 
 of age have been picking on each other for the last six or seven 
 months. They have been scrapping whenever they came within 
 a few feet of each other. The Scoutmaster reported it to me, 
 and I took two pairs of boxing gloves over there two months 
 ago. And we settled it. [Applause.] Nobody hurt, — you 
 know how a small boy fights, with the edge of his wrists more 
 than he does with strong fist jabs. But one boy was licked. I 
 saw to it, also, that the other boy was licked by still another boy, 
 
 (23) 
 
to avoid his being too cocky. But the relationship between 
 those two boys since the inter-relationship of the two was de- 
 finitely settled has been that of peace, happiness, and even that 
 of good will. 
 
 A few years ago neither in the northwest of Europe nor in 
 the southeast did we settle definitely the question, and the result 
 is still cynicism, bitterness, and hate because no nation knows 
 just what its relation to the other nation should be. Now under 
 similar circumstances Abraham Lincoln was importuned by 
 pacifists and by men believing in wonderfully fine ideals, which 
 are good in themselves but which grown-up children have no 
 more reached than those boys in my church have reached. Lin- 
 coln was importuned to declare an armistice before the war was 
 finished, and his reply was simply to tell General Grant to hold 
 no conferences with General Lee unless it be for the capitulation 
 of his army. In those dark days in the latter part of the Civil 
 War Lincoln was maligned, cursed by pacifists, cursed by Horace 
 Greeley, and yet he nailed his colors and he won. And he 
 destroyed the ideals, and then having destroyed those ideals, in 
 victory there was no vindictiveness in his heart or mind, but it 
 was victory, not vindictive but decisive. And I cannot help but 
 wonder in these days if there would not have been better peace, 
 better good-will and fewer of these terrific problems, if we had 
 had a decision. If we had followed out the ideal which Lincoln 
 followed to the bitter and then to the sweet and put an end to 
 indecision. 
 
 Lincoln was primarily a Nationalist, you remember. He be- 
 lieved that loyalty, like charity, begins at home, and that then it 
 extends as far and wide as man is capable of having it go, — 
 and no further. Some people whose ideals are so broad, — I am 
 always a little suspicious of those people who begin by saying 
 that they love all humanity — I wonder if they love their next- 
 door neighbor. I remember some years ago; taking a canoe 
 down the Colorado River from the Grand Canyon to Mexico, 
 where the river came down with a great flood and broke through 
 the bank and stretched all over the country. We went right 
 from the Grand Canyon to Yuma and down below there we 
 found the river thirty-six miles wide and two inches and a half 
 deep. [Laughter.] 
 
 (24) 
 
Now certain people who broadcast their sympathies are a 
 good deal like that river below Yuma. Lincoln was more like 
 the river above Yuma, and yet remember, — and I know I tread 
 on thin ice in the Middlesex Club — he was ethically an inter- 
 nationalist. He knew as he remarked more than once — I will not 
 take the time to quote it — that the ethics of the people extend 
 far beyond the boundaries of any one country ; and although it 
 is utterly unfair to put into the mouth of a man not living what 
 you think he would say, still I feel this much, that he would 
 have no sympathy with a certain type of mind in this country 
 to-day that is well illustrated in its attitude of non-responsibility, 
 of non-ethical interest in world affairs for this country, by my 
 three-year-old son. 
 
 The other day I came home and being late in the afternoon 
 I went into the dining room, and there in the middle of the great 
 rug was this little fellow down on his knees and his elbows, his 
 face buried in his two small fat hands. He usually greets me, 
 but he did not move. And I turned to the nurse and said, 
 "What is he doing ?" I had walked all around him, and made 
 more or less noise. And she said, "He is hiding." And there 
 he was hiding right in the middle of the floor. That is cunning 
 in him, and lovable, but if my twelve-year-old boy did it I would 
 send for the alienist. And yet certain people in this country 
 think that this country can take that position, and I don't believe 
 ethically it possibly can. 
 
 Another article of your creed: "Stop the insidious growth of 
 bureaucratic government and put an end to petty tyranny of 
 manifold commissions." And another: "Having fought to rid 
 the world of Prussianism, let us not Prussianize ourselves." 
 Now let us define Prussianism. It is the clattering of the sword, 
 the jangling of arms. To me that is merely one small outward 
 manifestation of an inner reality, which is diametrically opposed 
 to the reality of the Lincolnian idea and what I have always 
 supposed to be the American idea. The Prussian idea is the 
 superimposing of the power of Government, every day and in 
 every way, on the individual. Now the average modern German 
 that I have met over there, the average modern Russian that I 
 have read about, and I have met a few of them, have no concep- 
 tion of responsible individual liberty coexistent with a free 
 
 (25) 
 
social order. That is not their fault, but they are not our model 
 or our pattern. And yet, when I look about this country to-day 
 I sometimes wonder if they are not becoming our model. 
 
 This whole question, and it is a serious one, not for funny 
 stories after dinner, this whole subject it seems to me is a matter 
 as to where you find your sanctions for conduct, and as to where 
 you are going to touch the people — and particularly your young 
 people in this country — as to where they are to find their sanc- 
 tions for conduct. 
 
 Look over history. Long ago it was the church. You could 
 put your conscience in the care of the church and there you 
 found your sanctions for conduct. Read the book of Benjamin 
 and see how he carried that out. At another time it was the 
 State. And then I learned history after this fashion, that begin- 
 ning at about the Reformation, it began to be the individual that 
 you found your sanctions for, and the conduct within yourself, 
 not in any outside group, either religious or civic; and I wonder 
 where that idea is going to, to-day, in this country. 
 
 We look around and see that many people have lost those 
 sanctions for conscience, and they are milling at night. I have 
 seen the animals mill at night, when men had to ride around to 
 keep them quiet, not knowing what would come next. And so 
 thousands of people are milling to-day. They have lost their old 
 artificial sanctions of conduct, and they don't realize that the 
 sanctions for conduct which Lincoln found are in the nature of 
 things and in the nature of man. So we see many people to-day 
 living out the logic of Paul, — Let us eat, drink, and be merry, 
 because after all there are no real sanctions for the great ideals. 
 And you find thousands and thousands of other people, — I call 
 them trellis people. They have no stalk of their town, they are 
 like a vine, they have to have some support. They have never 
 grown any big roots or any strong trunk, so that they can stand 
 on their own hind legs. These people are all about us to-day. 
 These people are forever organizing, forever asking for associ- 
 ation, forever seeking to put crutches, moral and civic crutches, 
 under the shoulders of the people of the day. 
 
 Lincoln was right, it seems to me, in saying that the State had 
 the right to do so and so, as long as it did not run afoul of the 
 charter of liberties. And he asked, as you will remember, 
 
 (26) 
 
"Must a government be too strong for the liberties of its people ?" 
 And the answer to-day, resounding all over this country is, 
 "Yes." A great number of people that I run across, as I wander 
 over this country, seem to put their hope of salvation in legis- 
 lation. By shifting the affairs of men from the realm of con- 
 science, where Lincoln would have left them, over into the realm 
 of law, they have put their hope of salvation in legislation. 
 And you and I know very well that whenever anything be- 
 comes a law in this country, how we treat it. [Laughter.] 
 Conscience is no longer to be found. 
 
 This hurry, this impatience, this wanting to have things done 
 overnight reminds you of Lincoln's remark to his law partner: 
 "Billy, you are not to be rampant and excited." And these 
 people who seek to lead us by the nose in the way of morals 
 and education and all the rest, it seems to me are too rampant, 
 too excitable. I find them in the pulpit, men aptly described 
 by a friend of mine as amateur economists ; I find them among 
 politicians, I find them among both professional and amateur 
 reformers. There is a parable that many a reformer to-day 
 could well read and learn, a legend, that represents a statesman 
 coming to the old philosopher, Confucius, and asking him the 
 best system of government. And the statesman said to Con- 
 fucius, "Do you see my teeth?" And Confucius replied, "You 
 no longer have any." And the statesman said, "Can you see my 
 tongue?" And Confucius replied, "Naturally, because you are 
 talking with it." "So, you see," said Li Hung Chang, "my 
 teeth which were hard are gone, while my tongue which was 
 soft survived." Your rigid laws which were substantial will 
 tumble. Your modern philosophy will survive. 
 
 For several years I was chairman of the Case Committee of 
 the Associated Charities, of Louisville, Kentucky, the last Court 
 of Appeals in many cases. I had a very hard case there which 
 had been on the books of the Charities for years. A young 
 visitor came one day and said that she would like to do some 
 work in charity, so I gave her this very hard case. She went 
 to them down the dark alley, and knocked on the door of the 
 negro shack, and there stood a broad-shouldered woman, a 
 worthless husband, and seventeen pickaninnies, and said to her, 
 "Mandy, I have come to put you on your feet." And Mandy, 
 
 (27) 
 
with native wit, said, "Yes, Miss, but who is going to keep me 
 there?" [Laughter.] She had been put on her feet about 
 fifteen times, had grown no leg muscles and was unable to stand 
 on her own feet. And so this superimposing of all sorts of laws 
 for our manners and morals, and our way of running ourselves, 
 is putting us on our feet perhaps, but are we going to stay there, 
 and who will keep us there? Nobody, according to Lincoln or 
 according to the American way, excepting ourselves, by the 
 slower process of education from the inside out towards the 
 circumference. And yet, as I say, we run about in a hurry 
 seeking to establish a sort of group morality, which I beg you to 
 realize would always undermine the individual morality. 
 
 My time is almost up, but may I say that with all this going 
 on, with this tendency to the wholesale rather than the enduring 
 retail work which is the work that lasts, with this tendency to 
 get well quick and get rich quick, to get government quick, to 
 get civic righteousness quick, we need to realize, looking over 
 history and the method of Lincoln, that the long-time game has 
 always been the moral game, it has always been the game that 
 endures. So we have all these problems that you gentlemen 
 know of, as well as I do, and it seems a pity to me at times that 
 the foreground of life at such a time as this is cluttered 
 with all sorts of people who feel that they must express their 
 own souls, whether their souls are worth expressing or not, 
 people that have mental adenoids, you might say, rather than 
 brains, and that are thinking with their circulation rather than 
 their brains. People are putting : in the place of reason, the 
 impulse, with the idea that so long as you assert yourself, 
 whether it is worth anything or not, you are contributing some- 
 thing to society. So we see these people, some with minds 
 so shut that no idea can get in and some with minds so open 
 that nothing can stay in; and it seems to me in closing that it 
 might be wise for us, that it might be wise for any party that 
 seeks to carry on the reins of government wisely in this country, 
 to insist as the good Governor says, no matter what it costs, 
 upon more self -direction, more self-responsibility, and more self- 
 control rather than resort to this blind Prussian institutionalizing 
 of every single thing in our midst. 
 
 You are not going to root out evils, you are not going to plant 
 
 (28) 
 
the good wheat, merely by changing the outward form. Men can 
 only slowly and surely be converted to any real sense of appreci- 
 ation, to hold dear and appreciate individual liberty, coexistent 
 with ethical social order, as Lincoln appreciated it and held it, 
 whose loyalty to it began at home and became more than national. 
 You cannot force, you cannot forestall the growth of citizenship, 
 but you can remove the obstacles and trust the people to grow 
 to the occasion as Lincoln did. Problems now and then are not 
 problems of external force, but of inner ideas, and of character; 
 and there is no better character for us to follow than Lincoln 
 who was obedient all his days, no matter what excitement might 
 have been around him, to the slow, divine growth of nature. 
 So, let us remember, that he is free who is willingly followed 
 by free men. He is free who is followed by free men, men 
 who are free politically and morally and are of their own con- 
 science glad and free to serve and to obey. [Applause.] 
 
 Toastm aster POWERS. I feel sure, gentlemen, that you 
 would not forgive me if I did not give you an opportunity to 
 hear a few words from a great soldier. The Inspector General 
 of our Army in France, a soldier who has been decorated in 
 many orders, and who has come to Massachusetts to this Area 
 as the commander of this territory in which we live. And so 
 I present to you for a few words, Major General Andre Brewster, 
 of the United States Army. [Applause.] 
 
 Major General ANDRE BREWSTER, U.S.A. 
 
 Mr. Toastmaster, Gentlemen of the Middlesex Club: 
 
 I feel that I am in the house of my friends. I have eaten their 
 salt, and the words that can best come from me are from the 
 bottom of my heart rather than the top of my head. But my 
 head and heart lines cross and give birth to expressions of great 
 gratitude and appreciation of your kind hospitality and your very 
 kind reception, and, Mr. Toastmaster, your very kind and gracious 
 words in introducing me. 
 
 After the eloquent addresses you have heard to-night you will 
 not expect many words from a simple soldier, who is not used to 
 speaking. There are probably two hundred men present here 
 who make very good speeches, and I can say with great humility 
 
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I would rather try to be guided in action and in conduct by the 
 utterances of our immortal Lincoln than to make a futile attempt 
 to imitate him in oratory. 
 
 I feel, gentlemen, that the Army is in the hands of its friends, 
 Republican or Democratic, and what you have done to us, first 
 with one hand and then the other, leaves very little of us any- 
 how. [Laughter.] I thank you again for your great kindness 
 to me. [Applause.] 
 
 Toastm aster POWERS. Gentlemen, that closes the cere- 
 monies. I wish you all good-night. I want to say to you that 
 if any of your presiding officers are ill, or an accident happens 
 to any of them in the next forty years, just send for me. 
 [Applause.] 
 
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