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<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 52007 ***</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1">1</a></span></p>
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 397px;">
<img src="images/i_frontis.jpg" width="397" height="600" alt="" />
<div class="caption"><p><i>Abraham Lincoln</i></p></div>
</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2">2</a></span></p>
<div class="figcenter" style="width: 397px;">
<img src="images/i_title.jpg" width="397" height="600" alt="Title page" />
</div>
<h1 class="vspace">
<span class="larger">DISCOVERIES<br />
<span class="small">AND</span><br />
INVENTIONS</span></h1>
<p class="p2 center vspace large">A LECTURE BY<br />
ABRAHAM LINCOLN<br />
DELIVERED IN<br />
1860</p>
<p class="p2 center vspace">SAN FRANCISCO<br />
<span class="larger">JOHN HOWELL</span><br />
1915
</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3">3</a></span></p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4">4</a></span></p>
<p class="newpage p4 center">COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY JOHN HOWELL</p>
<hr />
<div class="chapter">
<h2><a id="A_PREFATORY_NOTE"></a>A PREFATORY NOTE</h2>
<p><i>The Lecture—“Discoveries and Inventions”—by
our greatest American,
presents a phase of Lincoln’s activity
about which little is generally known.
It shows as clearly as any of his other
writings how great was Lincoln’s
knowledge of the progress of mankind,
particularly as related in the Bible, and
it reveals also his debt to that Book of
Books for inspiration and illustration,
as well as his masterly use of pure
English, largely gained through that
study.</i></p>
<p><i>In the fateful year of 1860, the year
of his election to the presidency, Lincoln
took up, in the pause of his affairs after
the long debate with Douglas, the custom
of lyceum lecturing, then in great<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5">5</a></span>
vogue. This lecture on “Discoveries and
Inventions” was delivered in towns
near his home, Springfield, Illinois, and
in Springfield itself on Washington’s
birthday. Five days later Lincoln made
his great speech at Cooper Union in
New York.</i></p>
<p><i>The lecture is not included with any
collection of Lincoln’s addresses. It appeared
in print for the first time in <cite class="n">Sunset
Magazine</cite> in 1909—the centennial
of Lincoln’s birth</i>.</p>
<p><i>The original manuscript, from which
this edition, the first in book form, is
made, was a cherished possession of the
late Dr. Samuel Houston Melvin, of
Oakland, California, formerly a resident
of Springfield, Illinois, and a
friend of Mr. Lincoln. Just prior to
Dr. Melvin’s death, in 1898, he made<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6">6</a></span>
an affidavit setting forth the history
of the manuscript; that statement is as
follows</i>:</p>
<blockquote>
<h3 class="center vspace">MEMORANDUM OF<br />
CERTAIN FACTS FOR INFORMATION OF<br />
THOSE WHO FOLLOW AFTER</h3>
<p><i>In the month of February, 1861, being at that
time a resident of Springfield, Illinois, I called one
evening at the residence of my friend, Dr. John Todd.
The doctor was an uncle of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.
While there Mr. Lincoln came in, bringing with
him a well-filled satchel, remarking as he set it down
that it contained his literary bureau. Mr. Lincoln
remained some fifteen or twenty minutes, conversing
mainly about the details of his prospective trip to
Washington the following week, and told us of the
arrangements agreed upon for the family to follow
him a few days later. When about to leave he handed
the grip above referred to to Mrs. Grimsley, the
only daughter of Dr. Todd, who was then a widow
but who subsequently became the wife of Rev. Dr.
John H. Brown, a Presbyterian minister located in
Springfield, remarking as he did so that he would
leave the bureau in her charge; that if he ever returned
to Springfield he would claim it, but if not
she might make such disposition of its contents as she
deemed proper. A tone of indescribable sadness was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">7</a></span>
noted in the latter part of the sentence. Lincoln had
shown me quite a number of letters a few days before,
threatening his life, some predicting that he
never would be inaugurated, and it was apparent
to me that they were making an impression upon his
mind, although he tried to laugh the matter off.
About five years later the Nation was startled by
the announcement of Lincoln’s assassination. The
corporation of Springfield selected twelve of its citizens
to proceed at once to Washington and accompany
the remains of the dead President back to his
old home. I was one of that number, and shall never
forget the indescribable sadness manifested by millions
of mourners along the route of travel of the
funeral cortège as it wended its way westward over
two thousand miles. A few evenings after his body
was laid to rest, I again called upon my neighbors,
the family of Dr. Todd. Scenes and incidents connected
with the assassination and funeral of the dead
President were discussed, and the remark made by
Lincoln on his last visit to the house was referred
to as indicating a presentiment that he would not
return alive. This recalled the fact of his having
left his so-called literary bureau, and his injunction
as to its disposition. Mrs. Grimsley brought the grip
from the place where it had been stored, and opened
it with a view to examining its contents. Among
them was found this manuscript, and attached to it
by means of a piece of red tape was another of like
character. They proved to be manuscripts of two<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">8</a></span>
lectures which he had prepared and delivered within
a year prior to his election to the presidency—one
at Jacksonville, Illinois, and a few days later at Decatur,
Illinois; the other a little later at Cook’s Hall,
Springfield, Illinois, at which I was present. Mrs.
Grimsley told me to select from the contents of the
bureau any one of the manuscripts it contained; and
supposing at that time that the two manuscripts belonged
to the same lecture, I selected them. On subsequent
examination I discovered that while they
both treated upon the same subject (Inventions and
Discoveries) they were separate lectures. Twenty-five
years later I disposed of one of the manuscripts
to Mr. Gunther<a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">A</a> of Chicago. The other it is my hope
and desire shall remain in possession of my family
and its descendants.</i></p></blockquote>
<p><i>The manuscript is now owned by Dr.
Melvin’s son, the Honorable Henry A.
Melvin, a Justice of the Supreme Court
of California, through whose courtesy
this edition is published.</i></p>
<div class="footnote">
<p><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A" class="fnanchor">A</a> <i>This was published in “<cite>Addresses and Letters of Lincoln</cite>,” The Century
Company, 1904.</i></p></div>
</div>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">10</a></span></p>
<div class="chapter">
<h2 id="Lecture">DISCOVERIES AND INVENTIONS<br />
<span class="subhead">A LECTURE BY<br />
ABRAHAM LINCOLN</span></h2>
<p class="drop-cap al"><span class="smcap1">All</span> creation is a mine, and every man
a miner.</p>
<p>The whole earth, and all <em>within</em>
it, <em>upon</em> it, and <em>round about</em> it, including
<em>himself</em>, in his physical, moral, and
intellectual nature, and his susceptibilities,
are the infinitely various “leads” from which,
man, from the first, was to dig out his destiny.</p>
<p>In the beginning, the mine was unopened,
and the miner stood <em>naked</em>, and <em>knowledgeless</em>,
upon it.</p>
<p>Fishes, birds, beasts, and creeping things,
are not miners, but <em>feeders</em> and <em>lodgers</em> merely.
Beavers build houses; but they build them in
nowise differently, or better now, than they
did, five thousand years ago. Ants and honey
bees provide food for winter; but just in the
<em>same way</em> they did, when Solomon referred
the sluggard to them as patterns of prudence.</p>
<p>Man is not the only animal who labors;
but he is the only one who <em>improves</em> his
workmanship. This improvement he effects<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">11</a></span>
by <em>Discoveries</em> and <em>Inventions</em>. His first important
discovery was the fact that he was
naked; and his first invention was the fig-leaf
apron. This simple article, the apron, made
of leaves, seems to have been the origin of
<em>clothing</em>—the one thing for which nearly half
of the toil and care of the human race has
ever since been expended. The most important
improvement ever made in connection
with clothing, was the invention of <em>spinning</em>
and <em>weaving</em>. The spinning jenny, and power
loom, invented in modern times, though
great <em>improvements</em>, do not, <em>as inventions</em>, rank
with the ancient arts of spinning and weaving.
Spinning and weaving brought into
the department of clothing such abundance
and variety of material. Wool, the hair of
several species of animals, hemp, flax, cotton,
silk, and perhaps other articles, were all
suited to it, affording garments not only
adapted to wet and dry, heat and cold, but
also susceptible of high degrees of ornamental
finish. Exactly <em>when</em>, or <em>where</em>, spinning
and weaving originated is not known.
At the first interview of the Almighty with
Adam and Eve, after the fall, He made<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">12</a></span>
“coats of skins, and clothed them” (<cite class="n">Genesis
iii: 21</cite>).</p>
<p>The Bible makes no other allusion to clothing,
<em>before</em> the flood. Soon <em>after</em> the deluge
Noah’s two sons covered him with a <em>garment</em>;
but of what <em>material</em> the garment was
made is not mentioned (<cite class="n">Genesis ix: 23</cite>).</p>
<p>Abraham mentions “<em>thread</em>” in such connection
as to indicate that spinning and weaving
were in use in his day (<cite class="n">Genesis xiv: 23</cite>),
and soon after, reference to the art is frequently
made. “<em>Linen breeches</em>” are mentioned
(<cite class="n">Exodus xxviii: 42</cite>), and it is said “all the
women that were wise-hearted did <em>spin</em> with
their hands” (<cite class="n">Exodus xxxv: 25</cite>), and, “all
the women whose heart stirred them up in
wisdom <em>spun</em> goats’ hair” (<cite class="n">Exodus xxxv: 26</cite>).
The work of the “<em>weaver</em>” is mentioned
(<cite class="n">Exodus xxxv: 35</cite>). In the book of Job, a
very old book, date not exactly known, the
“<em>weavers’ shuttle</em>” is mentioned.</p>
<p>The above mention of “<em>thread</em>” by Abraham
is the oldest recorded allusion to spinning
and weaving; and <em>it</em> was made about two
thousand years after the creation of man, and
now, near four thousand years ago. Profane<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">13</a></span>
authors think these arts originated in Egypt;
and this is not contradicted, or made improbable,
by anything in the Bible; for the allusion
of Abraham, mentioned, was not made
until after he had sojourned in Egypt.</p>
<p>The discovery of the properties of <em>iron</em>,
and the making of <em>iron tools</em>, must have been
among the earliest of important discoveries
and inventions. We can scarcely conceive
the possibility of making much of anything
else, without the use of iron tools. Indeed,
an iron <em>hammer</em> must have been very much
needed to make the <em>first</em> iron hammer with.
A <em>stone</em> probably served as a substitute. How
could the “<em>gopher wood</em>” for the Ark have
been gotten out without an axe? It seems to
me an axe, or a miracle, was indispensable.
Corresponding with the prime necessity for
iron, we find at least one very early notice
of it. Tubal-Cain was “an instructor of every
artificer in <em>brass</em> and <em>iron</em>” (<cite class="n">Genesis iv: 22</cite>).
Tubal-Cain was the seventh in descent from
Adam; and his birth was about one thousand
years before the flood. <em>After</em> the flood, frequent
mention is made of <em>iron</em>, and <em>instruments</em>
made of iron. Thus “instrument of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">14</a></span>
iron” at Numbers xxxv: 16; “bedstead of
iron” at Deuteronomy iii: 11; “the iron furnace”
at Deuteronomy iv: 20, and “iron
tool” at Deuteronomy xxvii: 5. At Deuteronomy
xix: 5, very distinct mention of “the
ax to cut down the tree” is made; and also
at Deuteronomy viii: 9, the promised land
is described as “a land whose stones are iron,
and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.”
From the somewhat frequent mention of
brass in connection with iron, it is not improbable
that brass—perhaps what we now
call copper—was used by the ancients for
some of the same purposes as iron.</p>
<p><em>Transportation</em>—the removal of person and
goods from place to place—would be an early
<em>object</em>, if not a <em>necessity</em>, with man. By his
natural powers of locomotion, and without
much assistance from discovery and invention,
he could move himself about with considerable
facility; and even, could carry small
burthens with him. But very soon he would
wish to lessen the labor, while he might, at
the same time, extend, and expedite the business.
For this object, wheel-carriages, and water-crafts—wagons
and boats—are the most<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">15</a></span>
important inventions. The use of the wheel
and axle has been so long known, that it is difficult,
without reflection, to estimate it at its
true value. The oldest recorded allusion to the
wheel and axle is the mention of a “chariot”
(<cite class="n">Genesis xli: 43</cite>). This was in Egypt, upon
the occasion of Joseph being made governor
by Pharaoh. It was about twenty-five hundred
years after the creation of Adam. That
the chariot then mentioned was a wheel-carriage
drawn by animals is sufficiently
evidenced by the mention of chariot <em>wheels</em>
(<cite class="n">Exodus xiv: 25</cite>), and the mention of chariots
in connection with <em>horses</em> in the same
chapter, verses 9 and 23. So much, at present,
for land transportation.</p>
<p>Now, as to transportation by <em>water</em>, I have
concluded, without sufficient authority perhaps,
to use the term “boat” as a general
name for all water-craft. The boat is indispensable
to navigation. It is not probable
that the philosophical principle upon which
the use of the boat primarily depends—to-wit,
the <em>principle</em>, that anything will float,
which cannot sink without displacing more
than its own <em>weight</em> of water—was known,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">16</a></span>
or even thought of, before the first boats were
made. The sight of a crow standing on a
piece of driftwood floating down the swollen
current of a creek or river, might well enough
suggest the specific idea to a savage, that he
could himself get upon a log, or on two logs
tied together, and somehow work his way
to the opposite shore of the same stream.
Such a suggestion, so taken, would be the
birth of navigation; and such, not improbably,
it really was. The leading idea was thus
caught; and whatever came afterwards, were
but improvements upon, and auxiliaries to, it.</p>
<p>As man is a land animal, it might be expected
he would learn to travel by land somewhat
earlier than he would by water. Still
the crossing of streams, somewhat too deep
for wading, would be an early necessity with
him. If we pass by the Ark, which may be
regarded as belonging rather to the <em>miraculous</em>
than to <em>human</em> invention, the first notice
we have of water-craft is the mention of
“ships” by Jacob (<cite class="n">Genesis xlix: 13</cite>). It is not
till we reach the book of Isaiah that we meet
with the mention of “oars” and “sails.”</p>
<p>As man’s <em>food</em>—his first necessity—was to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">17</a></span>
be derived from the vegetation of the earth,
it was natural that his first care should be
directed to the assistance of that vegetation.
And accordingly we find that, even before
the fall, the man was put into the garden of
Eden “to dress it, and to keep it.” And when
afterwards, in consequence of the first transgression,
<em>labor</em> was imposed on the race, as a
<em>penalty</em>—a <em>curse</em>—we find the first born man—the
first heir of the curse—was “a tiller of
the ground.” This was the beginning of agriculture;
and although, both in point of time,
and of importance, it stands at the head of
all branches of human industry, it has derived
less direct advantage from Discovery
and Invention, than almost any other. The
plow, of very early origin; and reaping, and
threshing, machines, of modern invention
are, at this day, the principal improvements
in agriculture. And even the oldest of these,
the plow, could not have been conceived of,
until a precedent conception had been caught,
and put into practice—I mean the conception,
or idea, of substituting other forces in
nature, for man’s own muscular power. These
other forces, as now used, are principally, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">18</a></span>
<em>strength</em> of animals, and the <em>power</em> of the
wind, of running streams, and of steam.</p>
<p>Climbing upon the back of an animal, and
making it carry us, might not occur very
readily. I think the back of the camel would
never have suggested it. It was, however, a
matter of vast importance. The earliest instance
of it mentioned, is when “Abraham
rose up early in the morning, and saddled his
ass” (<cite class="n">Genesis xxii: 3</cite>), preparatory to sacrificing
Isaac as a burnt-offering; but the allusion
to the <em>saddle</em> indicates that riding had
been in use some time; for it is quite probable
they rode bare-backed awhile, at least,
before they invented saddles.</p>
<p>The <em>idea</em>, being once conceived, of riding
<em>one</em> species of animals, would soon be extended
to others. Accordingly we find that
when the servant of Abraham went in search
of a wife for Isaac, he took ten <em>camels</em> with
him; and, on his return trip, “Rebekah arose,
and her damsels, and they rode upon the
camels, and followed the man” (<cite class="n">Genesis
xxiv: 61</cite>).</p>
<p>The <em>horse</em>, too, as a riding animal, is mentioned
early. The Red Sea being safely passed,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">19</a></span>
Moses and the children of Israel sang to the
Lord “the <em>horse</em> and his <em>rider</em> hath he thrown
into the sea” (<cite class="n">Exodus xv: 1</cite>).</p>
<p>Seeing that animals could bear <em>man</em> upon
their backs, it would soon occur that they
could also bear other burthens. Accordingly
we find that Joseph’s brethren, on their first
visit to Egypt, “laded their asses with the
corn, and departed thence” (<cite class="n">Genesis xlii: 26</cite>).</p>
<p>Also it would occur that animals could be
made to <em>draw</em> burthens <em>after</em> them, as well
as to bear them upon their backs; and hence
plows and chariots came into use early enough
to be often mentioned in the books of Moses
(<cite class="n">Deuteronomy xxii: 10</cite>; <cite>Genesis xli: 43</cite>;
<cite class="n">xlvi: 29</cite>; <cite>Exodus xiv: 25</cite>).</p>
<p>Of all the forces of nature, I should think
the <em>wind</em> contains the largest amount of <em>motive
power</em>—that is, power to move things.
Take any given space of the earth’s surface—for
instance, Illinois; and all the power exerted
by all the men, and beasts, and running-water,
and steam, over and upon it, shall not
equal the one hundredth part of what is exerted
by the blowing of the wind over and
upon the same space. And yet it has not, so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">20</a></span>
far in the world’s history, become proportionably
<em>valuable</em> as a motive power. It is applied
extensively, and advantageously, to sail-vessels
in navigation. Add to this a few windmills,
and pumps, and you have about all.
That, as yet, no very successful mode of <em>controlling</em>,
and <em>directing</em> the wind, has been discovered;
and that, naturally, it moves by fits
and starts—now so gently as to scarcely stir a
leaf, and now so roughly as to level a forest—doubtless
have been the insurmountable difficulties.
As yet, the wind is an <em>untamed</em>, and
<em>unharnessed</em> force; and quite possibly one of
the greatest discoveries hereafter to be made,
will be the taming, and harnessing of it. That
the difficulties of controlling this power are
very great is quite evident by the fact that they
have already been perceived, and struggled
with more than three thousand years; for
that power was applied to sail-vessels, at least
as early as the time of the prophet Isaiah.</p>
<p>In speaking of <em>running streams</em>, as a motive
power, I mean its application to mills and
other machinery by means of the “<em>water
wheel</em>”—a thing now well known, and extensively
used; but, of which, no mention is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">21</a></span>
made in the Bible, though it is thought to
have been in use among the Romans. (<cite class="n">Am.
Ency.</cite>—Mill), the language of the Saviour
“Two women shall be grinding at the mill,
etc.” indicates that, even in the populous city
of Jerusalem, at that day, mills were operated
by hand—having, as yet had no other
than human power applied to them.</p>
<p>The advantageous use of <em>Steam-power</em> is,
unquestionably, a modern discovery. And yet,
as much as two thousand years ago the power
of steam was not only observed, but an ingenious
toy was actually made and put in
motion by it, at Alexandria in Egypt. What
appears strange is, that neither the inventor
of the toy, nor any one else, for so long a
time afterwards, should perceive that steam
would move <em>useful</em> machinery as well as a toy.</p>
</div>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">22</a></span></p>
<blockquote class="newpage p4 vspace narrow">
<p class="in0">OF THIS BOOK 250 COPIES WERE
PRINTED ON FABRIANO ITALIAN
HAND-MADE PAPER AND 1000
COPIES ON AMERICAN DRAWING
PAPER. THE FRONTISPIECE IS BY
RAY F. COYLE. PRINTED BY THE
BLAIR-MURDOCK COMPANY, SAN
FRANCISCO, UNDER THE DIRECTION
OF JOHN HENRY NASH, IN
THE MONTH OF OCTOBER, 1915</p></blockquote>
<div class="chapter">
<div class="transnote">
<h2 class="nobreak p1"><a id="Transcribers_Note"></a>Transcriber’s Note</h2>
<p>All pages were enclosed in the decorative border shown here only on the
Title page.</p>
</div></div>
<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 52007 ***</div>
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