LINCOLN CENTENNIAL: LINCOLN LIBRARY
The name of Springfield will forever be immortalized as the home
and burial-place of Abraham Lincoln. As the hundredth anniversary
of his birth approached, it was determined to hold a great celebration,
and it was generally agreed that Springfield was the fitting and
proper place in which to hold it.
In 1907 the Legislature of Illinois passed a joint resolution
providing:
"Whereas, the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham
Lincoln will occur on the twelfth day of February, 1909; and,
"Whereas, it is fitting and proper that the State of Illinois should
celebrate the anniversary of the birth of this greatest of all
American statesmen; therefore, be it
"Resolved, by the Senate of the State of Illinois, the House of
Representatives concurring therein, that the one hundredth anniversary
of the birth of Abraham Lincoln be celebrated in the City of
Springfield, on the twelfth day of February, 1909, and, be it
further
"Resolved, that the Governor is hereby authorized and empowered to
appoint a commission of fifteen representative citizens of this
State to have charge of all arrangements for such celebration."
The Governor thereupon appointed fifteen of the most distinguished
citizens of Springfield as the State Centennial Commission to have
charge of the celebration.
It was determined that the celebration should not be a local one,
but should be more in the nature of a State celebration, and that
it would be well to incorporate it under the name of "The Lincoln
Centennial Association." The original incorporators were:
The Hon. Melville W. Fuller, Chief Justice of the United States;
the Hon. Shelby M. Cullom, United States Senator; the Hon. Albert
J. Hopkins, United States Senator; the Hon. Joseph G. Cannon,
Speaker of the National House of Representatives; the Hon. Adlai
E. Stevenson; the Hon. Charles S. Deneen, Governor of Illinois;
the Hon. John P. Hand, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
State of Illinois; the Hon. J. Otis Humphrey, Judge of the United
States District Court; the Hon. James A. Rose, Secretary of State
of Illinois; the Hon. Ben. F. Caldwell, Member of Congress; the
Hon. Richard Yates; Melville E. Stone, Esq.; Horace White, Esq.;
John W. Bunn, Esq.; and Dr. William Jayne.
I was requested to secure speakers of national reputation, and it
at once occurred to me that I would invite the Ambassadors of France
and Great Britain, and Senator J. P. Dolliver, to visit Springfield,
on February 12, 1909, and deliver addresses. These distinguished
gentlemen at once accepted the invitation which I extended them on
behalf of the Governor and the committee. Later, the Hon. William
Jennings Bryan was invited to be present also and deliver an address,
which invitation he accepted.
The memorial exercises celebrating the hundredth anniversary of
Lincoln's birth were held under the direction of the State Centennial
Commission, appointed by the Governor, working in conjunction with
the Lincoln Centennial Association. There were a number of distinct
events, but the most important were the great memorial exercises
held in the State Armory, at which addresses were made by Ambassadors
Jusserand and Bryce, and by Senator Dolliver and Mr. Bryan, and a
banquet served to eight hundred guests. The celebration was in
every way a great success, largely due to the efforts of Judge
Humphrey.
It was quite an event in the history of Springfield, as it was the
first time, so far as I know, that the Ambassadors of two great
Nations visited Springfield.
I regretted very much that I was so engaged in matters pertaining
to my official duties in Washington that it seemed impossible for
me to be present. I was requested to write something which could
be read at the banquet, and so I addressed to Judge Humphrey the
following letter:
"Washington, D. C.,
"_February 6, 1909_.
"Hon. J. Otis Humphrey,
"President Lincoln Centennial Association,
"Springfield, Illinois.
"My dear Judge:
"It is a matter of sincere regret to me that I am unable to be
present at your great anniversary celebration of the birth of the
immortal Lincoln, and to welcome to my home city the Ambassadors
of Great Britain and France and the distinguished guests who are
to be with you.
"Abraham Lincoln, greatest of Americans, greatest of men, emancipator,
martyr, his service to his country has not been equalled by any
American citizen, not even by Washington. His name and life have
been an inspiration to me from my earliest recollection.
"On this one hundredth anniversary of his birth, the people, without
regard to creed, color, condition, or section, in all parts of this
Union which he saved, are striving to do honor to his memory. No
American has ever before received such deserved universal praise.
Not only in his own country, but throughout the civilized world,
Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the few, the very few, truly
great men in history. His memory is as fresh to-day in the minds
and hearts of the people as it was forty years ago, and the passing
years only add to his fame and serve to give us a truer conception
of his noble character. The events of his life, his words of
wisdom, have been gathered together in countless volumes to be
treasured up and handed down to generations yet to come.
"I knew him intimately in Springfield; I heard him utter his simple
farewell to his friends and neighbors when he departed to assume
a task greater than any President had been called upon to assume
in our history; it was my sad duty to accompany his mortal remains
from the capital of the Nation to the capital of Illinois; and as
I gazed upon his face the last time, I thanked God it had been my
privilege to know him as a friend; and I felt then, as I more fully
realize now, that the good he had done would live through all the
ages to bless the world.
"Springfield, his only real home, the scene of his great political
triumph, was his fitting resting-place. In the midst of this great
continent his dust shall rest a sacred treasure to myriads who
shall pilgrim to his shrine to kindle anew their zeal and
patriotism.
"Again expressing regret that I can not be with you to take part
in honoring the memory of our greatest President, on the one
hundredth anniversary of his birth, and feeling sure that the
Springfield celebration will be the most notable of all, as it
should be, I remain
"Sincerely yours,
"(Signed) S. M. Cullom."
Of all the notable celebrations held on the one hundredth anniversary
of the birth of Lincoln in every part of the United States, the
Springfield observance was the most dignified and impressive; and
it was determined that on Lincoln's birthday each year, under the
auspices of the Lincoln Centennial Association, fitting memorial
exercises should take place in Springfield, to which guests and
speakers of national and international renown, from all parts of
the United States, should be invited.
Springfield has a great public library, called the "Lincoln Library,"
toward which Andrew Carnegie very generously contributed seventy-
five thousand dollars. I took considerable interest in the
Springfield Library, and I did what I could to prevail upon Mr.
Carnegie to make as generous a contribution as he would toward the
project. I remember that I wrote him a letter on the subject.
It was at first proposed by the Springfield people to name the
Library "The Lincoln-Carnegie Memorial Library"; but after Mr.
Carnegie had made his contribution, through his secretary he informed
the Rev. E. S. Walker, of Springfield, who carried on the correspondence
with him, that he would consider it a desecration to have any name
listed with that of Lincoln. "He trusts that the library will be
known as the 'Lincoln Library,' not the 'Lincoln Memorial Library,'
as Lincoln needs no memorial, being one of the dozen supremely
great rulers of men the world has ever seen."
The Library was completed in 1904, and I was invited to deliver
the dedicatory address, which invitation I was very glad to accept.
It was an interesting occasion, held in the main room of the library
building, which was crowded with the very best people of the city.
I give a few extracts from the speech I delivered that evening:
"Mr. Chairman: It was a great pleasure to me to be invited by your
library board to participate in these exercises attending the
opening of this splendid library building.
"I can not resist on this occasion the inclination to say a few
words in reference to Springfield and my early relations to it.
"Old historic Springfield! Here have taken place many of the most
important events in the history of Illinois. Springfield has been
the centre of the political struggles of both parties since it has
been the capital of the State. Many of the great statesmen of
Illinois have occupied seats in the legislative hall in Springfield.
Here were mobilized during the Civil War the thousands of troops
who went forth to do and die for the Union. Here the greatest
General of the age received his first command. Here Lincoln and
Douglas met, and from here Lincoln went forth to assume a task
greater than any President has been called upon to undertake in
all our history.
"Springfield is endeared to me by all the sacred memories of
friendship, family, and home.
"I came here fifty years ago. In Springfield I received my legal
education, was admitted to the Bar, and in your old courthouse here
I practised my profession. In Springfield I married and reared my
family, and here my children are laid in their final resting-place.
"Those early days of my residence here are among the happiest of
my life. Official duties have necessitated my absence a great part
of the time for the past twenty years, but my heart lingers with
it, and the ties which made those early days so happy will never
be broken so long as I shall live."
After giving a history of the library and referring to the generosity
of Mr. Carnegie, I continued:
"This is a material age. Carnegie, the great captain of industry,
is a typical representative of the leaders of this age. It is well
worth our while to stop to consider why he should devote a part of
his great wealth to the founding of public libraries.
"Andrew Carnegie was a poor boy, enjoying none of the advantages
and opportunities which are afforded by a good library. He missed
in his early life the opportunity for culture which is now obtained
through the facilities supplied by libraries in the towns and
cities. He knew that there was no other agency so valuable for
the purpose of spreading culture among the people as the public
library. No word so precisely describes the influence of good
reading as does the word 'culture'. Emerson tells us that the word
of ambition of the present day is 'culture.'
"Andrew Carnegie, the great leader of the industrial world, desiring
to give to the young men and the young women of this day an
opportunity for education, for culture, whose value to the young
he realizes so well, has devoted the enormous fortune of over one
hundred million dollars for the founding of public libraries. . . .
"There should be no pleasure like the pleasure derived from reading
a good book. Emerson, expressing our debt to a book says: 'Let
us not forget the genial, miraculous, we have known to proceed from
a book. We go musing into the vaults of day and night; no
constellation shines, no muse descends, the stars are white points,
the roses brick-colored leaves; and frogs pipe, mice cheep, and
wagons creak along the road. We return to the house and take up
Plutarch or Augustine, and read a few sentences or pages, and lo,
the air swims with life, secrets of magnanimity and grandeur invite
us on every hand, life is made of them. Such is our debt to a
book.'
"The founding of public libraries is the surest mark of advanced
civilization. The origin of libraries is lost in the dim twilight
of the early ages. When they commenced, how they commenced, we do
not know; but we have authentic records that centuries before the
Christian era the temples of those countries of the East where
civilization had made the greatest advances, contained libraries
of clay tablets, carefully shelved in regular order. Among the
Greeks, private libraries existed at least four hundred years before
the birth of Christ. The Roman Caesars returning from conquest to
the development of the arts of peace, established libraries in the
then great Capital of the World.
"But the United States is pre-eminently the home of the free public
libraries, supported by taxation. This country has more free public
libraries than any other country in the world.
"What a great thing it is for our people to have these advantages!
The foundations of our Republic are being well laid. The family,
the church, the school--and the library! A people who will adhere
to the great principles of the sacredness of the family, the church,
and the school, will not perish from the earth. Virtue and
intelligence are the necessary foundations on which a republic must
rest. Education is more necessary in a republic, where the people
are the sovereigns, than it is in a monarchy, where the people are
subjects. With education and the library comes culture. The
family, the church, the school, and the library are all necessary
to qualify the citizen for the great duties of life. . . .
"Mr. Carnegie has given us this building and has requested that it
be named in honor of the great emancipator, Abraham Lincoln. Like
a number of others who are in this room to-night, I knew Abraham
Lincoln intimately and well. We are proud that this city was the
home of Abraham Lincoln while living, and now that he has passed
away, it is the home of his sacred dust. The words of Mr. Carnegie,
that no name should be coupled with the name of Mr. Lincoln manifested
the highest appreciation by him of the great name of Lincoln. He
was a noble man. Only forty-three years ago, he was going in and
out among us, interested in the local affairs of our city, doing
his duty in the common affairs of our community, and at the same
time grappling with the great questions pressing upon the attention
of the people and touching the life of the Nation.
"My friends, in the language of Mr. Carnegie, Lincoln has been 'one
of a dozen supremely great rulers of men that the world has seen.'
He was one of a few men in the world's history whose great and
noble life and deeds will be remembered forever. I rejoice that
he lived among us and that he was loved by our people while he
lived, and that his memory is fresh and green in our hearts.
"My friends, as we reflect upon the progress of our Nation in wealth
and power and influence among the Nations of the world in the
century just closed, our hearts swell with pride and thankfulness
that we have been so favored. As a Nation we are now in the first
rank of the nations of the earth.
"Let us do our part in maintaining our national supremacy. We can
hold our place by standing by the right as a community, as a State,
and as a Nation, adhering rigidly to the foundation principles of
our Republican Government, cherishing liberty, and obeying law;
upholding the sacredness of the family, the church, and the school;
with school, the library will follow, and in the time to come our
Nation will endure, and its people will cultivate from generation
to generation, a better and higher civilization."