28 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
JUDGE BLAKE’S ADDRESS ON LINCOLN, BEVERLY FARMS 
BAPTIST: CHURCH TERE as 
Last Sunday evening, the atten- 
dants at the Beverly Farms Baptist 
church had the privilege to hear 
Judge Blake’s scholarly address on 
Abraham Lincoln. Judge Blake, who 
is a native of Helena, Montana, has 
recently become a resident of the 
Farms and is much esteemed. He isa 
graduate of the Harvard Law school. 
At the last commencement, he de- 
livered an address at the Alumni 
gathering at the Harvard Union. 
The salient points of Judge Blake’s 
address introduced Abraham Lincoln 
as a child reared in squalor and pen- 
ury and deprived of the common 
pleasures of youth. His parents had 
a very limited education. He grew 
up in a region typical of “bare exis- 
ence.” 
Every spare moment Lincoln had 
from drudgery, he devoted to read- 
ing. His small list of books com- 
prised the Bible, Aesop’s Fables, Rob- 
inson Crusoe, A History of the United 
States, Weem’s Life of Washington, 
the Pilgrim’s Progress and the Stat- 
utes of Indiana. He absorbed these 
books so that they were engraved on 
his memory. He became a good pen- 
man by practice. Such was the 
foundation of his cogent and lumin- 
ous style, which astonished and de- 
lighted the world. When twenty-two 
years old, he walked twelve miles to 
secure a copy of the first grammar he 
studied. 
Judge Blake impressed upon his 
hearers how the pupils of this genera- 
tion should appreciate the superior 
facilities bestowed on them for educa- 
tion without stint, by the tax payers, 
through the numerous instrumentali- 
ties in the modern methods of in- 
struction. 
When Lincoln reached his majority, 
despite the adverse influences of fron- 
tier life, his character was established 
for honesty, integrity, justice, truth- 
fulness and simplicity. Lincoln was 
a good man. His stepmother is quot- 
ed as saying, “He was the best boy 
I ever saw or expect to see.” 
His public career began in 1832 
during the Black Hawk Indian War. 
There was a call for volunteers. 
Lincoln was among the first to re- 
spond. He received an_ honorable 
discharge after its close. 
His insatiable love for books led 
him to become a lawyer. 
His first political triumph was his 
election in 1834 to the lower house in 
the Legislature of Illinois. He was 
re-elected several times. In 1846 he 
was chosen a member of the National 
House of Representatives. He was a 
stump speaker in political campaigns. 
His political defeats proved in his 
career blessings in disguise. He was 
an applicant for the office of Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office also 
for United States Senator. His de- 
feat in these respects were considered 
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providential in respect to his future 
career mapped out by the hand of God. 
An event which commanded the at- 
tention of every citizen of the repub- 
lic in 1858 was Lincoln’s debate with 
Stephen A. Douglass. They were 
both giants in those eventful days. 
This debate placed Lincoln in the 
front rank of the logical and elo- 
quent orators of America. After that 
Lincoln was a national figure of co- 
lossal proportions. 
An able address in New York i 
1860 enhanced his reputation as a 
profound constitutional lawyer. 
Lincoln was nominated for presi- 
dent on the third ballot in 1860. They 
builded better than they knew. In the 
light of subsequent events the nomin- 
ation was an inspiration of the deep- 
est wisdom and statesmanship. 2 
“God moves in a mysterious way — 
His wonders to perform.” :~ 
A bitter and exciting campaign en- 
sued. Lincoln was a target for ridi- 
cule and villification. Despite this, 
Lincoln won and proved himself ev- 
ery inch a President. He was re- 
elected in 1864. Judge Blake him- 
self, was enrolled in the “Lincoln 
Wide Awakes.” 
It was his patriotic talk to preserve - 
the union and crush the rebellion. — 
In 1863, he issued his immortal proc-_ 
lamation for the freedom of three — 
million of slaves. He was always 
swayed by mercy and sympathy. He 
was the servant of the people, the per- 
fect type of the ideal American citi- 
zen. He met his tragic death April 
15, 1865 at the hands of an assassin. 
The lessons from his life are these: 
By labor he burst the bonds of his 
8 
narrow environment and _ gained 
mental freedom; he never ceased 
adding mental treasures to the 
wealth of his mind; his addresses 
and state papers were marvelous prod- 
ucts of a brain that was never idle. 
His sterling character was built on an. 
everlasting rock. iy 
His rise to fame from the lowest to 
the highest round of the ladder was 
what? 
“Some call it evolution 
And others call it God.” 
Deacon Edwin Pride is quite ill at 
the home of his son, Edwin L. Pride 
of Winter Hill, Somerville, where 
Deacon Pride is spending the winter. 
His illness caused Mr. and Mrs. Will-— 
is A. Pride to go to Somerville this’ 
week. 
Postmaster Wm. R. Brooks, who 
has been ill for an extended period, is 
able to be out with the aid of a cane. 
He expects to resume his duties on 
Monday. 
