Tribute on Abraham Lincoln's Birthday.

My dear Mr. Maresh:

The Association over which you preside is fortunate in the possession of a "Lincoln Shrine"; and I congratulate you and the 'citizens of your State upon having within your borders a symbol which serves to make more real the memory of him to whom you this day pay homage.

Abraham Lincoln was not a son of the North or of the South. Born in Kentucky and nurtured in the very heart of our land, the scope of his intellect and of his sympathies was co-extensive with the length and breadth of our domain. Nor could Abraham Lincoln have come from any class that did not know, through daily struggle, the grim realities of life. Self-sustained, self-educated, and grounded in common sense through contact with his fellow man, he developed that homely philosophy with which we have come to associate his name and with which he was to solve the problems of a distraught Nation.

From such an origin and from such a school, there emerged a character destined to transfuse with new meaning the concepts of our constitutional fathers and to assure a Government having for its broad purpose the promotion of the life, liberty, and happiness of all the people.

Very sincerely yours,

A. L. Maresh,

Lincoln Association,

Cleveland, Ohio.