Dear, dear, who can believe it?
Dear, dear, who can conceive it?
Dear, dear, we scarce can believe that
Never did he tell a lie.
O, surely temptation must oft have assailed him,
But courage and honor we know never failed him,
So let us all follow his wondrous example,
And never, no never tell lies.
And never, no never, tell lies.
THIRD SPEAKER: A brave and manly boy, he began work early in life,
and, in 1748, when only sixteen years old, he was a surveyor of lands,
and took long tramps into the wilderness. In 1775 came the
Revolutionary War, and he was appointed commander-in-chief of the
American Army. In 1787 he was elected president of the convention
which framed the constitution of our country.
FOURTH SPEAKER: In 1789 he was chosen first president of the United
States. He was re-elected in 1793 and, at the close of the second term
he retired to private life at his beautiful and beloved home, Mt.
Vernon. He died there, Dec. 14, 1799, honored and mourned by the whole
nation, and leaving to the world a life which is a "pattern for all
public men, teaching what greatness is and what is the pathway to
undying fame," and richly deserving the title, "Father of his
country."
ALL: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen," he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes
of private life.
BOYS REPRESENTING LINCOLN: Washington was a great and good man, and
so, too, was the man whom we delight to honor, whose title, "Honest
Abe," has passed into the language of our times as a synonym for all
that is just and honest in man.
FIRST SPEAKER ON THE LINCOLN SIDE: Kentucky is proud to claim Abraham
Lincoln as one of her honored sons, and she bids me say that he was
born in that state in Hardin County, Feb. 12, 1809. Indiana, too,
claims him, he was her son by adoption, for, when but seven years old,
his father moved to the southwestern part of that state. Illinois also
has a claim upon him. It was there that he helped build a log cabin
for a new home, and split rails to fence in a cornfield. Afterwards he
split rails for a suit of clothes, one hundred rails for every yard of
cloth, and so won the name, "The Rail-splitter."
SECOND SPEAKER: In 1828 he became a flat-boatman and twice went down
the river to New Orleans. In 1832 he served as captain of a company in
the Black Hawk War. After the war he kept a country store, and won a
reputation for honesty. Then, for a while, he was a surveyor, next, a
lawyer, and in 1834 he was elected to the Legislature of Illinois.
THIRD SPEAKER: In 1846 he was made a member of Congress, in 1860 he
was elected president of the United States.
FOURTH SPEAKER: The Civil War followed, and in 1864 he was elected
president for the second term. On April 14 he was shot by an assassin
and died on the morning of the 15th.