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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0f8042 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52073 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52073) diff --git a/old/52073-0.txt b/old/52073-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index efca040..0000000 --- a/old/52073-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6881 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Backwoods Boy, by Horatio Alger Jr. - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Backwoods Boy - or The Boyhood and Manhood of Abraham Lincoln - -Author: Horatio Alger Jr. - -Release Date: May 15, 2016 [EBook #52073] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACKWOODS BOY *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - [Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.] - - - - - The Backwoods Boy - - OR - - THE BOYHOOD AND MANHOOD OF - ABRAHAM LINCOLN - - BY - - HORATIO ALGER, JR. - - AUTHOR OF - - “Canal Boy to President,” “Farm Boy to Senator,” “Dean - Dunham,” etc., etc. - - [Illustration: colophon] - - PHILADELPHIA - DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER - 610 South Washington Square - - Copyright, 1883 - By Horatio Alger, Jr. - - The Backwoods Boy - - - - -PREFACE. - - -I venture to say that among our public men there is not one whose life -can be studied with more interest and profit by American youth than that -of Abraham Lincoln. It is not alone that, born in an humble cabin, he -reached the highest position accessible to an American, but especially -because in every position which he was called upon to fill, he did his -duty as he understood it, and freely sacrificed personal ease and -comfort in the service of the humblest. I have prepared the story of -Lincoln’s boyhood and manhood as a companion volume to the life of -Garfield, which I published two years since, under the title, “From -Canal Boy to President.” The cordial welcome which this received has -encouraged me to persevere in my plan of furnishing readers, young and -old, with readable lives of the greatest and best men in our history. I -can hardly hope at this late day to have contributed many new facts, or -found much new material. I have been able, however, through the kindness -of friends, to include some anecdotes not hitherto published. But for -the most part I have relied upon the well-known and valuable lives of -Lincoln by Dr. Holland and Ward H. Lamon. I also acknowledge, with -pleasure, my indebtedness to “Six Months in the White House,” by F. B. -Carpenter; Henry J. Raymond’s “History of Lincoln’s Administration,” and -the “Life of Lincoln,” by D. W. Bartlett. I commend, with confidence, -either or all of these works to those of my readers who may desire a -more thorough and exhaustive life of “The Backwoods Boy.” - -Horatio Alger, Jr. - -New York, _July 4, 1883_. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - -CHAPTER PAGE - -I.--The Log-Cabin, 9 - -II.--The New Mother, 17 - -III.--Abe and his Family, 26 - -IV.--Abe’s Schooling, 34 - -V.--Abe and his Neighbors, 43 - -VI.--A River Trip, 51 - -VII.--Lincoln as a Clerk, 60 - -VIII.--In the Black Hawk Campaign, 69 - -IX.--In the Legislature, 78 - -X.--A Case in Court, 87 - -XI.--Mr. Lincoln forms two Partnerships, 96 - -XII.--The Lawyer in his Office and at Home, 105 - -XIII.--The Rail-Splitter enters Congress, 113 - -XIV.--The First Speech in Congress, 121 - -XV.--Mr. Lincoln’s Family, 136 - -XVI.--The Senatorial Campaign, 147 - -XVII.--The Two Giants, 155 - -XVIII.--Illinois declares for the Rail-Splitter, 164 - -XIX.--Nominated for President, 173 - -XX.--Farewell to Springfield, 183 - -XXI.--A Visit to Mr. Lincoln, 191 - -XXII.--The Inauguration, 198 - -XXIII.--The War Begins, 208 - -XXIV.--Mr. Lincoln in the White House, 217 - -XXV.--Mr. Lincoln and the little Boy--A Group of Incidents, 225 - -XXVI.--Mr. Lincoln’s Humanity, 237 - -XXVII.--Anecdotes of Mr. Lincoln, 246 - -XXVIII.--President Lincoln as a Religious Man, 256 - -XXIX.--Emancipating the Slaves, 264 - -XXX.--Elected for a Second Term, 269 - -XXXI.--The Speech at Gettysburg, 237 - -XXXII.--The Curtain Falls, 277 - -XXXIII.--Mr. Herndon’s Estimate of Mr. Lincoln, 285 - -XXXIV.--Mr. Lincoln’s Favorite Poem, 299 - - - - -THE BACKWOODS BOY. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE LOG-CABIN. - - -Three children stood in front of a rough log-cabin in a small clearing -won from the surrounding forest. The country round about was wild and -desolate. Not far away was a vast expanse of forest, including oaks, -beeches, walnuts and the usual variety of forest trees. - -We are in Indiana, and the patch of land on which the humble log-cabin -stood is between the forks of Big Pigeon and Little Pigeon Creeks, a -mile and a half east of Gentryville, a small village not then in -existence. - -The oldest of the three children was Nancy Lincoln, about twelve years -old. Leaning against the cabin in a careless attitude was a tall, -spindling boy, thin-faced, and preternaturally grave, with a swarthy -complexion. He was barefoot and ragged; the legs of his pantaloons, -which were much too short, revealing the lower part of his long legs; -for in his boyhood, as in after days, he ran chiefly to legs. - -Who in the wildest flight of a daring imagination would venture to -predict that this awkward, sad-faced, ragged boy would forty years later -sit in the chair of Washington, and become one of the rulers of the -earth? I know of nothing more wonderful in the Arabian Nights than this. - -The second boy was a cousin of the other two children--Dennis Hanks, -who, after the death of his parents, had come to live in the Lincoln -household. - -The sun was near its setting. It seemed already to have set, for it was -hidden by the forest trees behind which it had disappeared. - -“Abe,” said the girl, addressing her brother, “do you think father will -be home to-night?” - -“I reckon,” answered Abe laconically, shifting from one foot to the -other. - -“I hope so,” said Dennis. “It’s lonesome stayin’ here by ourselves.” - -“There some one comin’ with father,” said Nancy slowly. “We’re goin’ to -have a new mother. I hope we’ll like her.” - -“It’ll seem good to have a woman in the house,” said Dennis. “It seems -lonesome-like where they’re all men.” - -“I reckon you mean yourself and me,” said Abe smiling. - -The boy’s grave, thin face brightened up as he said this in a humorous -tone. - -“Then I ought to be considered a woman if you two are goin’ to set up as -men,” said Nancy. “But Dennis is right. It’ll be good for us if she’s -the right sort. Some step-mothers ain’t.” - -“I reckon you’re right,” said Abe again. - -“I’m afraid she won’t like the house,” said Nancy. “It ain’t as good as -it might be, though it’s better than the ‘camp’ we used to live in.” - -As she spoke her eyes turned toward an even more primitive dwelling -forty yards away. It was known as “a half-faced camp,” and was merely a -cabin enclosed on three sides and open on the fourth; built not of logs, -but of poles. It was fourteen feet square, and without a floor. Here it -was that the elder Lincoln lived with his family when first he settled -down in the Indiana wilderness after his removal from Kentucky. The -present dwelling was an improvement on the first, but how far it was -from being comfortable may be judged from a description. - -It was indeed a cabin, while the other had been only a camp, but it had -neither floor, door, nor window. There was a doorway for an entrance, -but there was nothing to keep out intruders. There was small temptation, -however, for the professional burglar. The possessions of the Lincolns -were altogether beneath the notice of even the poorest tramp. A few -three-legged stools served for chairs. In one corner of the cabin was an -extemporized bedstead made of poles stuck in the cracks of the logs, -while the other end rested in the crotch of a forked stick sunk in the -earthen floor. A bag of leaves covered with skins and old petticoats -rested on some boards laid over the poles. Here had slept the elder -Lincoln and his wife, while Abe laid himself down in the loft above. A -hewed puncheon supported by four legs served for a table. A few dishes -of pewter and tin completed the list of furniture. - -This was the home to which Thomas Lincoln was bringing his new wife. She -was a widow from Elizabethtown in Kentucky, where he had formerly lived. -She was an old flame of Mr. Lincoln, but had rejected him, being able, -as she thought, to do better. But when within a few years he became a -widower and she a widow, the suit was renewed and the answer was -favorable. - -Even now the married pair are on their way home. - -Mrs. Johnston considered herself a poor widow, but she was much better -off than the man she had just married. She was the owner of a bureau -that cost forty dollars; this alone being a value far greater than her -new husband’s entire stock of furniture. Other articles, too, she had, -including a table, a set of chairs, a large clothes chest, cooking -utensils, knives, forks, bedding, and other articles. - -“Look, Abe!” said Nancy in sudden excitement, pointing to an approaching -vehicle. - -Abe followed the direction of his sister’s finger, and he opened his -eyes in astonishment. A large four-horse team was in sight--a strange -and unusual spectacle in that wilderness. The children could not have -been more excited if Barnum’s grand procession of circus chariots had -filed into view--a vision of Oriental splendor. - -“There’s father!” exclaimed Abe, distinguishing with a boy’s keen vision -the well-known figure of his father sitting beside the driver. - -“Father and Uncle Ralph,” corrected Nancy. - -“And the team’s full of furniture. Can it be comin’ here?” - -“I reckon your new mother’s aboard,” said Dennis. - -This remark made the children thoughtful, because it recalled their own -sad-faced and gentle mother who had faded from life a year before and -gone uncomplainingly to her rest. Then, besides, the prospect of a -step-mother is apt to be disquieting when nothing is known of her -disposition or character. - -“Is all that furniture comin’ here?” soliloquized Nancy wonderingly. - -“I reckon so,” answered Abe. - -When the team came nearer another exciting discovery was made. There -were others aboard the wagon besides their father, their new mother, -and their uncle Ralph Krame, who was the owner of the team. There were -two girls and a boy, children of Mrs. Lincoln by her former marriage. -They were not far from the same age as the three children who were -awaiting their arrival, but they were much better dressed. It was clear -that the log-cabin would no longer be lonely. It would be full and -running over. The six children and their parents were to be crowded into -it. - -“That is my house, Sally,” said Thomas Lincoln, pointing out the cabin -in the woods to his new wife. - -“That!” she exclaimed in dismay, for her new husband had led her to -expect that he was tolerably well-to-do, not with any intention to -deceive, but mainly because they had different standards of comfort. - -We can imagine that the heart of the new wife must have sunk within her -as from the wagon she caught the first sight of her future home. She had -not been accustomed to luxury, but her old home was luxurious compared -with this. - -She relapsed into silence, and did not choose to make her husband -uncomfortable by revealing the true state of her feelings. She seems to -have been a capable woman, and probably made up her mind upon the -instant to make “the best of it.” Besides, she had already caught sight -of the children. - -“And those are Nancy and Abe?” she said. - -“Yes,” answered Thomas Lincoln. “That’s Abe with the long legs, and the -other boy is his cousin Dennis.” - -The new Mrs. Lincoln regarded with womanly compassion the three -neglected children, and in her heart she resolved to make their lot more -desirable. Perhaps the children read her face aright, for, as they -scanned her kindly face, all fear of the new step-mother disappeared, -and they responded shyly, but cordially, to her greeting. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE NEW MOTHER. - - -When the new Mrs. Lincoln entered the humble log-cabin which was to be -her future home, it may well be imagined that her heart sank within her -at the primitive accommodations, or rather, lack of accommodations. - -“How do you like it?” asked Thomas Lincoln, who was much more easily -satisfied than his wife. - -“Not at all at present. There are no doors or windows. There is not even -a plank floor.” - -“We have got along without them,” said her husband. - -“We can’t get along without them any longer. You are a carpenter, and -can easily provide them. I will put in my furniture, and after awhile we -will have things more comfortable.” - -“I don’t think we need the bureau. You say it cost forty dollars. You -had better sell it. It is sinful extravagance to have so much money in -furniture.” - -“I can’t consent to that,” said Mrs. Lincoln decidedly. “I have nothing -that is too good for us. I will see that you and the children live more -comfortably in future.” - -Abe and Nancy looked on with interest while the bureau and the other -possessions of their new mother were taken from the wagon by their -father and their uncle Ralph. They began to think they were going to -live in city style. In particular they admired the bureau which had cost -forty dollars. Why, their cabin had not cost that. They felt something -like the country minister of sixty years since, to whom his parishioners -presented a carpet for the “fore room.” When it was spread on the floor, -he gazed at it admiringly and ejaculated, “What, all this and heaven -too! This is too much!” - -Mrs. Lincoln was quite in earnest, and set her husband to work the next -day at the improvements she had specified. When after a time they were -completed; when the earthen floor was succeeded by one of boards; when -two windows had been set in the sides of the cabin, and a door closed -up the entrance; when the primitive bed and bedstead had been superseded -by the newcomer’s comfortable bedstead and bedding, and the three-legged -stools had been removed to give place to chairs, the three children were -very happy. - -And indeed it was a happy day for Thomas Lincoln and his young family -when his second wife took charge of his household. She was kind-hearted -and energetic, and though she had three children of her own, she was -never found wanting in care or affection for her husband’s children. She -took a special interest in young Abe. She read him better than his -father, and saw that there was that in him which it would pay to -develop. - -To begin with, she rigged him out in new clothes. His ragged condition -had excited her sympathy, and she rightly judged that neat attire helps -a boy’s or girl’s self-respect. I have no doubt that Abe, though he -never had a weakness for fine clothes, surveyed himself complacently -when for the first time he saw himself respectably dressed. - -This is the description of Abe’s step-mother given many years after by -Mrs. Chapman, the daughter of Dennis Hanks: - -“His wife, my grandmother, is a very tall woman, straight as an Indian; -fair complexion, and was, when I first remember her, very handsome, -sprightly, talkative, and proud; wore her hair curled till gray; is -kind-hearted and very charitable, and also very industrious.” - -It may be mentioned here that this good lady lived long enough to see -the neglected boy whom she so kindly took in hand elected to the highest -place in the gift of his countrymen. - -It was not long before Mrs. Lincoln began to broach her plans for the -benefit of her step-son. - -“Abe,” she said one day, “have you ever been to school?” - -“Yes, ma’am. I went to school a little while in Kentucky.” - -“You didn’t learn much, I suppose?” - -“Not much; I can read and write a little.” - -“That’s a good beginning. In this country, Abe, you will never amount to -much unless you get an education. Would you like to go to school?” - -“Yes,” answered the boy earnestly. - -“I will speak to your father about it. Is there any school near here?” - -“Yes, Mr. Dorsey keeps school about a mile and a half from here, near -the Little Pigeon Creek meeting-house.” - -“You and Nancy and Dennis must go there.” Mrs. Lincoln broached the -subject to her husband. - -“Abe ought to go to school, Thomas,” she said, “and so ought the other -children.” - -“I don’t know as I can spare him,” said his father. “I need his help in -the shop and on the farm.” - -“He can find time out of school hours. The boy must have an education.” - -“I agree to that, wife. It shall be as you say.” - -In Mr. Dorsey’s school Abe’s studies were elementary. His time was given -to reading, writing, and ciphering. The school-house was about as -primitive as the Lincoln cabin before the improvements were made on it. -It was built of unhewn logs, and holes stuffed with greased paper -supplied the place of windows. It was low-studded, being barely six feet -high. The scholars studied in classes, and Abe’s ambition was excited, -so that he soon came to be looked upon as one of the foremost scholars. - -A year or two later, in the same humble school-house, a new teacher -named Andrew Crawford wielded the ferule. He was, it may be inferred, a -better scholar than Mr. Dorsey, and was able to carry his pupils -further. - -Abe was now in his fifteenth year, and was growing at an alarming rate. -He was already nearly six feet in height, and must have presented a -singular appearance in the rustic garb in which he presented himself at -this temple of learning. I quote Mr. Lamon’s description of his physical -appearance and dress: - -“He was growing at a tremendous rate, and two years later attained his -full height of six feet four inches. He was long, wiry, and strong; -while his big feet and hands and the length of his legs and arms were -out of all proportion to his small trunk and head. His complexion was -very swarthy, and Mrs. Gentry says that his skin was shrivelled and -yellow even then. He wore low shoes, buckskin breeches, linsey-wolsey -shirt, and a cap made of the skin of an opposum or a coon. The breeches -clung close to his thighs and legs, but failed by a large space to meet -the tops of his shoes. Twelve inches remained uncovered and exposed that -much of ‘shin-bone--sharp, blue, and narrow.’ ‘He would always come to -school thus, good-humoredly and laughing,’ says his old friend, Nat -Grigsby. ‘He was always in good health, never was sick, had an excellent -constitution, and took care of it.’” - -It impresses us rather curiously to learn that the new teacher Crawford -undertook to teach “manners” to the rough brood that was under his -charge. It was certainly a desirable accomplishment, but the teaching -must have been attended with some difficulties. - -For the amusement of my young readers I will try to describe one of -these lessons. Mr. Crawford wished the boys to learn how to enter a room -and pay their respects to the assembled company. - -“Abe, it is your turn,” he says. - -Abe Lincoln, understanding what is meant, rose from his seat, and -retires from the room. A moment later a knock is heard at the door. A -scholar, specially deputed to do so--we will suppose Nat -Grigsby--advances to the door and opens it. - -Before him stands Abe--tall, awkward, with the lower part of his limbs -exposed. - -Nat bows, and, taking him by the arm, leads him from bench to bench, -presenting him to his fellow-pupils, as though he were a guest going the -rounds in a drawing-room. Abe, who was never without a sense of fun, no -doubt stole timorous glances askance at his rustic garb as he strode -here and there, bowing politely to the boys and girls whom he knew so -well. Yet it is possible that this exercise may have made it less -awkward for him in later days to attend to his social duties when events -brought him prominently before the country. - -So far from laughing at Master Crawford’s instruction in manners, I am -disposed to think very favorably of it. He must on the whole have been a -sensible man, and no doubt had a considerable influence over the rough -boys who submitted willingly to what possibly struck them as ludicrous. - -I doubt, however, with all his pains, whether he succeeded in making Abe -Lincoln graceful or courtly. On the whole, he was rather unpromising -material; being long, lank, and awkward. Yet this tall, gawky boy was -laying the foundation of a noble manhood. He was making the most of his -slender advantages, not dreaming what greatness the Future had in store -for him. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -ABE AND HIS FAMILY. - - -My young readers may naturally feel some curiosity as to the Lincoln -family and their previous history. - -The grandfather of Abraham was one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky. -About the year 1780 he removed from Rockingham County, Virginia, to what -was then an unsettled wilderness. His death was tragical. Four years -later, while at work in the field, at some distance from his cabin, he -was shot down by a prowling Indian. How his widow managed, with the care -of five helpless children, we do not accurately know, but God helps the -struggling, and she reared them all till they reached man’s and woman’s -estate. Thomas Lincoln, born in 1778, was the third child, and the -future President was his son. He was a good-natured, popular man, but -inefficient and unsuccessful, and whatever there was great in his -eminent son did not come from him. - -Nancy Hanks, Abe’s own mother, was born in Virginia, and was probably -related to some family emigrating from that State. Dr. Holland says of -her: “Mrs. Lincoln, the mother, was evidently a woman out of place among -these primitive surroundings. She was five feet five inches high, a -slender, pale, sad, and sensitive woman, with much in her nature that -was truly heroic, and much that shrank from the rude life around her. A -great man never drew his infant life from a purer or more womanly bosom -than her own.” Though she died young, she had taught her children to -read, and so laid the foundation of their education. - -When Thomas Lincoln had made up his mind to move from Kentucky, he sold -his humble home, or rather bartered it for ten barrels of whisky and -twenty dollars in money. It must not be inferred that he was an -intemperate man--this would not be true--but money was scarce in those -days, and it was common to barter, taking pay in commodities which were -marketable. This was before the days of temperance societies; whisky -was generally drunk, even by ministers, and there was little risk in -accepting it. - -So Thomas Lincoln, leaving home by himself to find a new residence for -his family, built a flat-boat, and launched it on the Rolling Fork, a -creek emptying into the Ohio River. He reached the river in safety, but -then came a disaster. His flat-boat was upset, and two-thirds of his -whisky, and many of his housekeeping and farm utensils were lost. He did -the best he could, however. With friendly assistance he saved all he was -able, and proceeding on his journey, carried his goods about eighteen -miles into Spencer County, Indiana, the place where we find him at the -commencement of our narrative. He returned to Kentucky for his family, -and brought them with him to the new home in the wilderness. Seven days, -we are told, were consumed on the journey, though the distance could not -have been very great. We can easily imagine what privations and -weariness of body this journey involved. People of to-day don’t know -what “moving” is. They should have lived in the year 1816, and made a -toilsome seven days’ march through the wilderness to understand what it -meant then. - -Nor were their trials and privations over when the moving was -accomplished. I am tempted to quote here from Mr. Ward H. Lamon’s -interesting life of Lincoln, an account of life in the new Indiana home, -contained in a letter from Mr. David Turnham, a school-fellow of Abe: - -“When my father came here in the Spring of 1819, he settled in Spencer -County, within one mile of Thomas Lincoln, then a widower. The chance -for schooling was poor; but, such as it was, Abraham and myself attended -the same schools. - -“We first had to go seven miles to mill; and then it was a hand-mill -that would grind from ten to fifteen bushels of corn in a day. There was -but little wheat grown at that time; and when we did have wheat, we had -to grind it on the mill described, and use it without bolting, as there -were no bolts in the country. In the course of two or three years, a man -by the name of Huffman built a mill on Anderson River, about twelve -miles distant. Abe and I had to do the milling on horseback, frequently -going twice to get one grist. Then they began building horse-mills of a -little better quality than the hand-mills. - -“The country was very rough, especially in the low lands, so thick with -brush that a man could scarcely get through on foot. These places were -called Roughs. The country abounded in game, such as bears, deer, -turkeys, and the smaller game. - -“At that time there were a great many deer-licks; and Abe and myself -would go to these licks sometimes, and watch of nights to kill deer, -though Abe was not so fond of a gun as I was. There were ten or twelve -of these licks in a small prairie on the creek, lying between Mr. -Lincoln’s and Mr. Wood’s. This gave it the name of Prairie Track of -Pigeon Creek.” - -I have already said that Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter. He did not, -however, understand his trade very well, and, though he was employed in -small jobs, there is no evidence that he was ever employed to build a -house, or was considered competent to do so. In fact, he derived but a -small income from his trade, and probably looked upon himself rather as -a farmer than a mechanic. It was a piece of good fortune for himself and -his children, that, shiftless and unambitious as he was, he should have -won a wife so much more capable and energetic than himself. He was much -shorter than his son Abe, being an inch or two under six feet. In some -respects they were alike, however, for Thomas Lincoln had a gift for -telling stories, and would sit about at “stores,” or under trees, and -amuse his neighbors with an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes. Of -education he had little or none. He could write his name, having learned -this much from his first wife, Abe’s mother, but he never had the -ambition or perseverance to go farther up the hill of learning. We are -told, however, that he was in favor of his children’s obtaining an -education, though it was probably the mother and step-mother to whom Abe -and his sister were especially indebted for such advantages as they -enjoyed. I may say, however, that the most valuable part of Abraham -Lincoln’s education was not derived from books. He was a close and keen -observer of men and things, and few men excelled him in insight into -human nature, and the motives, the weaknesses, and the subterfuges of -men. Yet with all this knowledge of the bad as well as the good that was -in men, he was always a kindly and sympathetic judge and critic. - -I suppose all boys at some time or other in their early years have a -narrow escape. My young readers may be interested to know how near we -came to losing our future President. It was when Abe was seven years -old, and before he removed to Indiana. - -He was accustomed to go on numerous tramps with his cousin, Dennis -Hanks, who sought to initiate him into the mysteries of fishing. On one -occasion he attempted to “coon” across Knot Creek, by swinging over on a -sycamore tree. But he lost his hold and tumbled into the deep water. He -would have drowned but for the exertions of his boy companion, who had -great difficulty in saving him. The readers of Garfield’s Life will -remember how he also came near death by drowning, when considerably -older than Abe was at this juncture. But God looks after the lives of -His chosen instruments, and saves them for His work. - -There is no doubt that Abe found plenty to do outside of school. In -fact, that did not take up much of his time, for we are told that, -adding together all the time he spent in attendance, the aggregate would -not exceed a year. - -As to the sort of work he did, his father found work for him on the land -which he had under cultivation. Then the “chores” which boys in such -households are always called upon to do, in his case exacted more time -on account of the lack of average accommodations. For instance, the -water had to be brought from a spring a mile away, and Abe and his -sister were employed to fetch it. There was no water to be had nearer, -except what was collected in holes in the ground after a rain, and this -was necessarily unfit for drinking, or, indeed, any other purpose unless -strained. But Abe is not to be pitied for the hardships of his lot. That -is the way strong men are made. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -ABE’S SCHOOLING. - - -“Spell _defied_!” - -This question was put a class in spelling by the master. - -The first pupil in the straggling line of backwoods boys and girls who -stood up in class, answered with some hesitation: “D-e-f-i-d-e, defied.” - -The master frowned. - -“Next!” he called sharply. - -The next improved upon the effort of the first speller, and in a -confident tone answered. - -“D-e-f-y-d-e.” - -“Wrong again! The next may try it,” said the teacher. - -“D-e-f-y-d!” said the third scholar. - -“Worse and worse! You are entitled to a medal!” said Crawford, -sarcastically. “Next!” - -“D-e-f-y-e-d!” was the next attempt. - -“Really, you do me great credit,” said the teacher, a frown gathering on -his brow. “You can’t spell an easy word of two syllables. It is -shameful. I’ll keep the whole class in all the rest of the day, if -necessary, till the word is spelled correctly.” - -It now became the turn of a young girl named Roby, who was a favorite -with Abe. She was a pretty girl, but, nevertheless, the terrible word -puzzled her. In her perplexity she chanced to turn toward the seat at -the window occupied by her long-legged friend, Abe. - -Abe was perhaps the best speller in school. A word like defied was easy -enough to him, and he wanted to help the girl through. - -As Miss Roby looked at him she saw a smile upon his face, as he -significantly touched his _eye_ with his finger. The girl took the hint, -and spelled the word correctly. - -“Right at last!” said Master Crawford, whose back was turned, and who -had not seen Abe’s dumb show. “It’s lucky for you all that one of the -class knew how to spell, or I would have kept my word, and kept you all -in.” - -Though Master Crawford’s school had a department of manners, there was -no department of English composition. Abe took this up on his own -account, according to his schoolmate Nat Grigsby, and probably the -teacher consented to examine his essays, though he did not require them -of his other pupils. Considering the kindness of heart which he -afterward exhibited on many occasions, my readers will not be surprised -to hear that his first composition was against cruelty to animals. This -is said to have been called forth by the conduct of some of his -fellow-pupils in catching terrapins and putting coals of fire on their -backs. - -After a time Master Crawford’s school was discontinued, and some two or -three years later Abe attended another, kept by a Mr. Swaney. It gives -us an idea of the boy’s earnest desire to obtain an education, when we -learn that he had to walk four and a half miles to it from his father’s -house, and this walk had to be repeated, of course, in the afternoon. -How many of my young readers would care sufficiently for an education to -walk nine miles a day, to and from school? - -We are told that the new school-house was no more impressive, -architecturally, than the first, already described. In fact, it was -very similar, though it had two chimneys instead of one. The course of -instruction does not seem to have been any higher than at Mr. Crawford’s -school. The department of “manners” was omitted, though it is doubtful -whether many of the pupils could have appeared to advantage in a city -ball-room. - -Probably Abe did not attend Mr. Swaney’s school many weeks, and this, we -are told, was the end of his school attendance anywhere. He had, -however, in that short time imbibed a love of learning, which is to be -credited rather to his own tastes than to the influence of his teachers, -and carried on by himself the studies of which he had learned something -in the humble backwoods school. We are told that he was already the -equal of his teachers in learning, which probably was not saying much. -Nevertheless he did not regard his education as finished. He had his -books, and kept on studying at home, or wherever he was employed. In the -hard work which fell to his lot he did not take much interest. He knew -that it was necessary, but he did not enjoy it. He preferred to labor -with his brain rather than with his hands, and often seemed so listless -and preoccupied that he got the reputation of being “awful lazy.” - -This is what his neighbor, Romine, says of him: “He worked for me; was -always reading and thinking; used to get mad at him. I say, Abe was -awful lazy; he would laugh, and talk, and crack jokes and tell stories -all the time; didn’t love work, but did dearly love his pay. He worked -for me frequently, a few days only at a time.... Lincoln said to me one -day, that his father taught him to work, but never learned him to love -it.” - -All the information we can obtain about this early time is interesting, -for it was then that Abe was laying the foundation of his future -eminence. His mind and character were slowly developing, and shaping -themselves for the future. - -From Mr. Lamon’s Life I quote a paragraph which will throw light upon -his habits and tastes at the age of seventeen: - -“Abe loved to lie under a shade-tree, or up in the loft of the cabin, -and read, cipher, and scribble. At night he sat by the chimney ‘jamb,’ -and ciphered by the light of the fire, on the wooden fire-shovel. When -the shovel was fairly covered, he would shave it off with Tom Lincoln’s -drawing-knife, and begin again. In the day-time he used boards for the -same purpose, out of doors, and went through the shaving process -everlastingly. His step-mother repeats often that ‘he read every book he -could lay his hands on.’ She says, ‘Abe read diligently. He read every -book he could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage that -struck him, he would write it down on boards if he had no paper, and -keep it there until he did get paper. Then he would rewrite it, look at -it, repeat it. He had a copy-book, a kind of scrap-book, in which he put -down all things, and thus preserved them.’” - -I am tempted also to quote a reminiscence of John Hanks, who lived with -the Lincolns from the time Abe was fourteen to the time he became -eighteen years of age: “When Lincoln--Abe--and I returned to the house -from work, he would go to the cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, -take down a book, sit down on a chair, cock his legs up as high as his -head, and read. He and I worked barefooted, grubbed it, ploughed, mowed, -and cradled together; ploughed corn, gathered it, and shucked corn. -Abraham read constantly when he had opportunity.” - -It may well be supposed, however, that the books upon which Abe could -lay hands were few in number. There were no libraries, either public or -private, in the neighborhood, and he was obliged to read what he could -get rather than those which he would have chosen, had he been able to -select from a large collection. Still, it is a matter of interest to -know what books he actually did read at this formative period. Some of -them certainly were worth reading, such as “Æsop’s Fables,” “Robinson -Crusoe,” “Pilgrim’s Progress,” a History of the United States, and -Weem’s “Life of Washington.” The last book Abe borrowed from a neighbor, -old Josiah Crawford, (I follow the statement of Mr. Lamon, rather than -of Dr. Holland, who says it was Master Crawford, his teacher). When not -reading it, he laid it away in a part of the cabin where he thought it -would be free from harm, but it so happened that just behind the shelf -on which he placed it was a great crack between the logs of the wall. -One night a storm came up suddenly, the rain beat in through the -crevice, and soaked the borrowed book through and through. The book was -almost utterly spoiled. Abe felt very uneasy, for a book was valuable -in his eyes, as well as in the eyes of its owner. - -He took the damaged volume and trudged over to Mr. Crawford’s in some -perplexity and mortification. - -“Well, Abe, what brings you over so early?” said Mr. Crawford. - -“I’ve got some bad news for you,” answered Abe, with lengthened face. - -“Bad news! What is it?” - -“You know the book you lent me--the ‘Life of Washington’?” - -“Yes, yes.” - -“Well, the rain last night spoiled it,” and Abe showed the book, wet to -a pulp inside, at the same time explaining how it had been injured. - -“It’s too bad, I vum! You’d ought to pay for it, Abe. You must have been -dreadful careless.” - -“I’d pay for it if I had any money, Mr. Crawford.” - -“If you’ve got no money, you can work it out,” said Crawford. - -“I’ll do whatever you think right.” - -So it was arranged that Abe should work three days for Crawford, -“pulling fodder,” the value of his labor being rated at twenty-five -cents a day. As the book had cost seventy-five cents this would be -regarded as satisfactory. So Abe worked his three days, and discharged -the debt. Mr. Lamon is disposed to find fault with Crawford for exacting -this penalty, but it appears to me only equitable, and I am glad to -think that Abe was willing to act honorably in the matter. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -ABE AND HIS NEIGHBORS. - - -If Abe’s knowledge had increased in proportion to the increase in his -stature, he would have been unusually learned at the age of seventeen, -for he stood at that time nearly six feet four inches in his stockings, -and, boy as he was, was taller than any man in the vicinity. - -I must not omit to state that he had a remarkable memory, and this was -of great service to him in his early efforts at oratory. Mr. Lamon tells -us that: - -“He frequently amused his young companions by repeating to them long -passages from the books he had been reading. On Monday mornings he would -mount a stump and deliver, with a wonderful approach to exactness, the -sermon he had heard the day before. His taste for public speaking -appeared to be natural and irresistible.” - -Let me describe one of the scenes in which Abe often took part. - -Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln have gone to church, for it is Sunday morning. The -children are excused on account of the distance, and are left at home to -fill up the time as they may. - -“Come in,” said Abe, appearing at the door of the cabin, “I’m going to -preach.” - -With more willingness, perhaps, than if the services were to be -conducted by a grown-up minister, the other young people in the family -enter and sit down in decorous style, while Abe pulls down the Bible, -reads a passage, and gives out a hymn. This is sung with more -earnestness than musical taste, and then the young preacher begins his -sermon. - -I am sure we should all like to have been present, and should have -listened with interest while the gaunt, awkward boy, gesticulating with -his long arms, delivered a homily not original with himself, but no -doubt marked by some of his peculiarities. - -We are told that this young audience, the girls probably, were sometimes -affected to tears. One might have been tempted to predict that the boy -would develop into a preacher when he grew to man’s estate. But Abe did -not confine himself to “preaching.” He was just as fond of other kinds -of public speaking. Sometimes in the harvest field he mounted a stump -and began to talk on political subjects. - -More than once Thomas Lincoln, going out to the field, found work at a -standstill, and a little group collected at one point, Abe being the -central figure. - -“What’s all this?” he would ask angrily. - -“It’s Abe,” one of the hands would answer. “He’s givin’ us a rousin’ -speech on politics.” - -“I’ll rouse him!” said the incensed father. “Only let me get at him!” - -So he would push his way into the crowd unseen by Abe, and would -suddenly seize his son by the collar and drag him from his extemporized -rostrum. - -“Now go to work!” he would exclaim in irritation. “You can’t make your -living by talking.” - -Abe, with a comical smile, would close his speech, to resume it on some -more auspicious occasion. - -I have already said that Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter, though a poor -one. Abe sometimes worked with him in the shop, but had no idea of -learning the trade. He preferred to work in the field, and, as he could -not fill up his time on the four acres his father cultivated, he hired -out to any one of the neighbors who required his services. - -No prediction could have surprised his employers more than that the -tall, awkward youth, who had grown out of his clothes, would hereafter -hold in his hands the destinies of the country, and guide it -triumphantly to the end of a protracted and bloody struggle. - -The career of Lincoln is a striking illustration of the often-repeated -saying that “Truth is stranger than fiction.” - -While there is room for suspicion that Abe was not fond of physical -labor, he is said to have worked very satisfactorily for those who -employed him. He had no troublesome pride, but was willing to do -anything that was asked, and pleased the women especially by never -objecting when called upon “to make a fire, carry water, or nurse a -baby.” - -I am tempted to quote from Mr. Lamon’s interesting volume an account -furnished him by Mrs. Elizabeth Crawford of the people among whom Abe -lived and some of their peculiarities. It throws light upon the homely -side of the future President’s character and speech: - -“You wish me to tell you how the people used to go to meeting--how far -they went. At that time we thought it nothing to go eight or ten miles. -The old ladies did not stop for the want of a shawl, or cloak, or -riding-dress, or two horses in the winter-time; but they would put on -their husbands’ old overcoats, and wrap up their little ones, and take -one or two of them on their beasts, and their husbands would walk, and -they would go to church, and stay in the neighborhood until the next -day, and then go home. The old men would start out of their fields from -their work, or out of the woods from hunting, with their guns on their -shoulders, and go to church. Some of them dressed in deer-skin pants and -moccasins, hunting-shirts, with a rope or leather strap around them. -They would come in laughing, shake hands all around, sit down and talk -about the game they had killed, or some other work they had done, and -smoke their pipes together with the old ladies. If in warm weather, they -would kindle up a little fire out in the meeting-house yard to light -their pipes. - -“If in winter-time, they would hold church in some of the neighbors’ -houses. At such times they were always treated with the utmost of -kindness; a bottle of whisky, a pitcher of water, sugar, and glass were -set out, or a basket of apples or turnips, or some pies and cakes. -Apples were scarce them times. Sometimes potatoes were used for a treat. -(I must tell you that the first treat I ever received in old Mr. -Linkhern’s house--that was our President’s father’s house--was a plate -of potatoes, washed and pared very nicely, and handed ’round. It was -something new to me, for I had never seen a raw potato eaten before. I -looked to see how they made use of them. They took off a potato, and ate -them like apples). - -“Thus they spent the time till time for preaching to commence, then they -would all take their seats; the preacher would take his stand, draw his -coat, open his shirt-collar, and commence service by singing and prayer; -take his text and preach till the sweat would roll off in great drops. -Shaking hands and singing then ended the service. The people seemed to -enjoy religion more in them days than they do now. They were glad to see -each other, and enjoyed themselves better than they do now.” - -Such is the testimony of an old lady, who, like old people generally, is -prone to praise the past at the expense of the present. - -The ladies in Abe’s early days wore “corn-field bonnets, scoop-shaped, -flaring in front, and long, though narrow behind.” They were as fond of -dancing as our city ladies, but did not find an elaborate toilet so -essential. It was not uncommon for both sexes to discard shoes and dance -barefooted. I have no doubt they enjoyed themselves as well, if not -better, in this absence of restraint, than their more polished sisters -who are to be found in city drawing-rooms to-day. - -Brought up in such an unconventional atmosphere, it is not surprising -that Abraham Lincoln never set much value upon form and ceremony, and -sometimes shocked his more conventional political associates. - -Mr. John B. Alley, a member of the Massachusetts Congressional -delegation during the war of the Rebellion, described to me on one -occasion how much shocked Senator Sumner was when, on calling upon the -President, in company with Lord Lyons, the English Minister, they found -him sitting at ease in true Western style, with his heels resting on the -table. - -“How are you, Sumner?” was the President’s greeting. “Take a seat, Lord -Lyons.” - -And all the while the good President did not seem to be aware that he -was acting in a manner unbecoming the dignity of a great ruler. Yet he -might have been aware of it, and secretly enjoyed the annoyance of his -distinguished guests. I am not prepared to recommend my young readers to -imitate Lincoln in this respect, but I wish them to understand how he -was affected by his early acquaintances and surroundings. We shall all -agree that there are many things more important than polished manners -and personal dignity, and we shall find hereafter that Abraham Lincoln, -in spite of his homely manners, was a Providential man, who served his -country in her hour of need, as probably no other could have done. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -A RIVER TRIP. - - -Thus passed the early years of Abraham Lincoln. He was approaching -manhood, well prepared physically to undertake its responsibilities, but -with a very slender stock of knowledge. He had, however, acquired a -taste for learning, and was a close, careful, and shrewd observer. He -had also the ability to speak fluently in rough-and-ready style on any -subject of which he knew anything. Of the world he had seen very little, -but his knowledge in that direction was to be extended by a trip down -the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, which he took at the age of nineteen. - -Early in 1828 he chanced to be in the employ of Mr. Gentry, the founder -of Gentryville, a village which had sprung up since Thomas Lincoln had -lived in the neighborhood. - -One morning Allen Gentry said to Lincoln: - -“Abe, how would you like to go to New Orleans with me?” - -“Are you going?” asked Abe eagerly. - -“Yes, I am almost sure of going. I have spoken to father about letting -me go on a trading trip down the river, and I should like to have you go -with me.” - -“I’ll go,” said Abe promptly, “if you’ll give me the chance.” - -“There is no one I would like better to have with me,” answered Allen, -“and I can’t go alone.” - -He had good reason for preferring Abe to any of his other friends, not -only that young Lincoln was very strong and capable, but because he had -then, as in after years, a pleasant humor, which showed itself in -stories which he had pat for any occasion. Though homely enough, they -were never destitute of point, and were brimming over with shrewd fun. - -To a backwoods boy the proposed trip was as fascinating--perhaps more -so, notwithstanding the hard work involved--as a European trip nowadays. -There was constant variety; there was a varying panorama of meadows and -villages, as they floated down the rapid current to the mouth of the -great river. - -Mr. Gentry favored his son’s plan, and preparations were speedily made. - -The craft on which the two young men embarked was a flat-boat, roughly -made. It was loaded with a cargo of bacon and other produce, such as it -was thought would sell readily down South. Abe was the leader of the -expedition, and the business was under his care, inexperienced as he -was. He was ready to take the responsibility then as in after years, -when he piloted the ship of State with its valuable cargo over rougher -waters. - -My young readers may be interested to know that he was paid eight -dollars per month, eating and sleeping on board, and that he was -furnished with free return passage on a steamboat. - -The custom was to stop at all important points and seek an opportunity -to trade. During the night the boat was tied up to the shore, and the -two young men slept on board in the little cabin. - -Generally, there was no risk of robbery or hostile attack; but one -night, a few miles below Baton Rouge, the two young men were startled -by hearing footsteps on board. - -“What’s that?” inquired Allen, starting. - -“We must have visitors,” replied Abe quietly. - -“Then they are not the right kind. They must be thieves.” - -“I reckon so. Let us get up and give them a reception.” - -Rising as quietly as possible, Abe and Allen Gentry looked out and saw -that the invading force consisted of seven stalwart negroes. They were -of the same class, only bolder, as the chicken thieves, who visit their -neighbors’ hen-roosts. - -“They are after our bacon,” said Abe. “We must try to save our bacon if -we can,” he added, with a humorous smile. - -Now, it requires some courage to get up in the dead of night and -confront a gang of thieves, especially when they are seven to two, but -the two young men were courageous, and they had no idea of submitting -tamely to robbery. - -“Bring the guns, Abe!” exclaimed Allen in a loud tone, intending to be -heard by the marauders. “Bring the guns; shoot them!” - -Lincoln had no gun, but he had a huge bludgeon, and he sprang upon -them, belaboring them with all the strength of his sinewy arm. No wonder -they were terrified as they surveyed the commanding stature of the -stripling and felt his terrible blows. Seven to two as they were, they -found discretion the better part of valor, and fled, some jumping into -the water. - -But Allen and Abe were not satisfied with this victory. They felt that -they must give their guilty visitors a lesson. So they chased them far -back into the country, and, on returning, thought it best to cut loose -and float down the river, lest they should have another call from their -unwelcome visitors, possibly reinforced by others of the same stripe. -These seven negroes little dreamed that the intrepid young man who so -belabored them was destined under the providence of God to be the -champion and deliverer of their race from the bondage under which they -groaned. I may add that Abe himself would perhaps have been even more -surprised could this have been revealed to him, as, bludgeon in hand, he -chased the flying negroes over the meadows. - -The time consumed in this river trip was about three months. The result -was satisfactory to his employer, and showed that his confidence in his -young neighbor was not misplaced. On his return, young Lincoln worked as -before, wherever opportunity offered, and probably, being under age, -turned in his earnings to the common fund. But the time was coming when -the family were to find a new home. Born in Kentucky, Abe had spent -rather more than half his life in Indiana, but a new State--the one -which now claims him as her most distinguished son--was soon to receive -him. In the spring of 1830, Thomas Lincoln pulled up stakes and moved to -Illinois. But his immediate family was smaller now than when he left -Kentucky. Abe’s sister had married early, and survived her marriage but -about a year. However, there were the step-children, and the families of -Dennis Hanks and Levi Hall, so that the company numbered thirteen in -all. Fifteen days’ journey brought them to a point ten miles west of -Decatur, where a small house was erected on the north bank of the north -fork of the Sangamon River. Abe and his cousin John broke up fifteen -acres of land and split rails enough to serve as a fence. This was the -first time, so far as we know, that young Lincoln justified the -appellation, which clung to him in after years, of _rail-splitter_. - -But young Lincoln was now nearing the age of twenty-one. Largely because -of his affection for his step-mother, to whom he was always ready to -acknowledge his obligations, he had remained about home much longer than -many sons, who forget filial duty under the impulse of ambition or -enterprise. So his twenty-first birthday found him still a member of the -home household. Then, naturally enough, he felt that it was time to set -up for himself. So in March or April he left home, but he seemed to have -formed no definite plans--none at least likely to carry him far away -from home. He was a candidate for labor, and took whatever offered, but -the proceeds went into his own pocket. - -One of the “jobs” which he undertook was splitting rails for a man named -Kirkpatrick. I quote from Dr. Holland in reference to this period: - -“A man who used to work with Abraham occasionally during his first year -in Illinois, says that at that time he was the roughest-looking person -he ever saw. He was tall, angular, and ungainly, and wore trousers made -of flax and tow, cut tight at the ankle, and out at both knees. He was -known to be very poor, but he was a welcome guest in every house in the -neighborhood. This informant speaks of splitting rails with Abraham, and -reveals some interesting facts concerning wages. Money was a commodity -never reckoned upon. Abraham split rails to get clothing, and he made a -bargain with Mrs. Nancy Miller to split four hundred rails for every -yard of brown jeans, dyed with white walnut bark, that would be -necessary to make him a pair of trousers. In those days he used to walk -four, six, and seven miles to his work.” - -My young readers will be interested in a story which relates to this -time. Abe was working for a Mr. Brown, “raising a crap,” when a traveler -stopped at the house and inquired if he could obtain accommodations for -the night, there being no tavern near. - -“Well,” said Mr. Brown, “we can feed your crittur and give you somethin’ -to eat, but we can’t lodge you unless you can sleep on the same bed with -the hired man.” - -The man, who was sprucely dressed, hesitated, and inquired: - -“Who is he?” - -“Well,” said Mr. Brown, “you can come and see him.” - -So the man followed the farmer to the back of the house, where young -Lincoln lay extended at full length on the ground in the shade. - -“There he is,” said Brown. - -“Well, I think he’ll do,” said the stranger, and he stayed and slept -with Abe, whom he then no doubt looked down upon as his “social” -inferior. Could he have looked forward with prophetic ken, he would have -felt honored by such chance association with a man destined to be -President of the United States. - -I am sorry that some doubts are thrown upon this story, but I have -ventured to tell it, for the vivid contrast between the position which -young Lincoln undoubtedly occupied at that time and that which in after -years he so adequately filled. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -LINCOLN AS A CLERK - - -Young Lincoln’s successful trip to New Orleans led to his engagement for -a similar trip in the early part of 1831. With him were associated John -Hanks and John Johnston. Their employer was a Mr. Denton Offutt, of -Lexington, Kentucky, and a part of the cargo consisted of a drove of -hogs. Each of the three was to be paid at the rate of fifty cents per -day, and the round sum of sixty dollars divided between them. Abe -considered this very good pay, and was very glad to make the engagement. -The three young men not only managed the boat, but built it, and this -retarded the expedition. We read with some interest that while they were -boarding themselves at Sangamontown, while building the boat, Abe -officiated as cook to the entire satisfaction of his associates. - -“At New Orleans,” says John Hanks, “we saw negroes chained, maltreated, -whipped, and scourged. Lincoln saw it; his heart bled, he said nothing -much, was silent from feeling, was sad, looked bad, felt bad, was -thoughtful and abstracted. I can say, knowing it, that it was on this -trip that he formed his opinions of slavery. It run its iron in him then -and there,--May, 1831. I have heard him say so often and often.” - -One day, soon after his return from his second river trip, Abe received -a visit from a muscular, powerfully-built man, who accosted him thus: -“You are Abe Lincoln, I reckon?” - -“Yes,” said Abe; “you are right there.” - -“I’ve heard you can wrestle some,” continued the stranger. - -“A little,” answered young Lincoln, modestly. - -“I’ve come to wrestle with you to see who’s the best man. My name’s -Daniel Needham.” - -The stranger announced his name with evident pride, and young Lincoln -recognized it as that of a man who had a high reputation as an amateur -pugilist. - -“I’m glad to know you,” said Lincoln, “and I don’t mind accepting your -challenge.” - -Abe valued his popularity among the boys, and, though he did not feel -sure of the result, he felt that it would not do to back out. He would -lose his reputation, which was considerable. - -“Where shall it be?” asked Needham. - -“Just where and when you like,” answered Abe, promptly. - -So the meeting was fixed in the “greenwood” at Wabash Point, and there -it was that the two met in friendly rivalry. - -Though Daniel Needham was older and more firmly knit, Lincoln was sinewy -and strong, and his superior height, and long arms and legs gave him a -great advantage--sufficient to compensate for his youth and spareness. - -The result was that Abe achieved victory in short order. He threw his -older opponent twice with so much ease that Needham rose to his feet -very much mortified as well as astonished. - -“Lincoln,” said he, making the confession reluctantly, “you have thrown -me twice, but you can’t whip me.” - -“Are you satisfied that I can throw you?” asked Abe. “If you are not, -and must be convinced through a thrashing, I will do that too for your -sake.” - -“I reckon we’ll put it off,” said Needham, finding his young rival more -willing than he had expected. He had hoped that, though not shrinking -from a friendly wrestling contest, Abe might hesitate to meet him in a -more serious encounter. - -I have told this story partly because I know my young readers would be -interested in it, partly to give an idea of the strength and athletic -power of the hero of my story. - -But wrestling contests would not earn a living for young Lincoln. He was -in search of employment, and found it. As one thing leads to another, -the same man who had sent him to New Orleans in charge of a flat-boat, -opened a store at New Salem, and needing a clerk, bethought himself of -young Lincoln. Abe unpacked the goods upon their arrival, and worked -energetically to put them in order. With a new store-book, serving as a -ledger, and a pen behind his ear, he made his début as a “first clerk” -of the leading mercantile establishment in the town. In the readiness -with which he turned from one thing to another, Abe might well be taken -for a typical Yankee, though born in Kentucky. - -We are now to look upon the future President in a new capacity. As a -clerk he proved honest and efficient, and my readers will be interested -in some illustrations of the former trait which I find in Dr. Holland’s -interesting volume. - -One day a woman came into the store and purchased sundry articles. They -footed up two dollars and six and a quarter cents, or the young clerk -thought they did. We do not hear nowadays of six and a quarter cents, -but this was a coin borrowed from the Spanish currency, and was well -known in my own boyhood. - -The bill was paid, and the woman was entirely satisfied. But the young -store-keeper, not feeling quite sure as to the accuracy of his -calculation, added up the items once more. To his dismay he found that -the sum total should have been but two dollars. - -“I’ve made her pay six and a quarter cents too much,” said Abe, -disturbed. - -It was a trifle, and many clerks would have dismissed it as such. But -Abe was too conscientious for that. - -“The money must be paid back,” he decided. - -This would have been easy enough had the woman lived “just round the -corner,” but, as the young man knew, she lived between two and three -miles away. This, however, did not alter the matter. It was night, but -he closed and locked the store, and walked to the residence of his -customer. Arrived there, he explained the matter, paid over the six and -a quarter cents, and returned satisfied. If I were a capitalist, I would -be willing to lend money to such a young man without security. - -Here is another illustration of young Lincoln’s strict honesty: - -A woman entered the store and asked for half a pound of tea. - -The young clerk weighed it out, and handed it to her in a parcel. This -was the last sale of the day. - -The next morning, when commencing his duties, Abe discovered a -four-ounce weight on the scales. It flashed upon him at once that he had -used this in the sale of the night previous, and so, of course, given -his customer short weight. I am afraid that there are many country -merchants who would not have been much worried by this discovery. Not so -the young clerk in whom we are interested. He weighed out the balance -of the half pound, shut up store, and carried it to the defrauded -customer. I think my young readers will begin to see that the name so -often given, in later times, to President Lincoln, of “Honest Old Abe,” -was well deserved. A man who begins by strict honesty in his youth is -not likely to change as he grows older, and mercantile honesty is some -guarantee of political honesty. - -There is another incident for which I am also indebted to Dr. Holland: - -The young clerk was waiting upon two or three ladies, when a noted bully -entered the store, and began to talk in a manner offensive not only to -the ladies, but to any person of refinement. - -Young Lincoln leaned over the counter, and said quietly, “Don’t you see -that ladies are present?” - -“What is that to me?” demanded the bully. - -“Out of respect for them, will you stop your rough talk?” - -“I will talk as I please, and I should like to see the man that will -stop me,” answered the bully, arrogantly. “If you think you are the -better man, we’ll try it on the spot.” - -Lincoln began to see that the man meant to - -[Illustration: ABE’S EARLY HOME. THE LOG CABIN. Page 9] - -force a quarrel upon him, and he did not shrink from it. - -“If you will wait till the ladies retire,” he said quietly, “I will give -you any satisfaction you wish.” - -The ladies had by this time completed their purchases, and were glad to -leave the store. - -No sooner had they left than the bully broke out into a storm of abuses -and insults. The young clerk listened with the quiet patience habitual -to him, and finally observed: “Well, if you must be whipped, I suppose I -may as well whip you as any other man.” - -“That’s what I’m after,” answered the bully. - -“Come outdoors, then,” said Lincoln. - -Abe, when they were fairly outside, thought there was no need of further -delay. He grappled with the bully, threw him upon the ground with ease, -and, holding him there, rubbed some “smart-weed” in his face and eyes -till he bellowed for mercy. - -“Do you give up?” asked Abe, in no way excited. - -“Yes, yes!” - -Upon this, Lincoln went for some water, washed his victim’s face, and -did what he could to alleviate his sufferings. It is safe to say that -the fellow never wanted another dose of the same medicine. It will -further interest my young readers to learn that, so far from feeling a -grudge against Lincoln, the bully became his fast friend, and behaved -henceforth in a more creditable manner. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -IN THE BLACK HAWK CAMPAIGN. - - -Though the young clerk proved faithful and efficient, his whole time was -not taken up by his duties in Offutt’s store. Knowing well the defects -of his education, it occurred to him that he could use profitably some -of his leisure by employing it in study. He knew little or nothing of -English grammar, and this was likely to interfere with him if called -upon to act in any public capacity where he would be required to make -speeches. - -“I have a notion to study English grammar,” he said to Mr. Graham, the -schoolmaster. - -“That is the best thing you can do, if you expect to enter political -life,” said the teacher in reply. - -“Where do you think I can find a grammar?” asked Lincoln. - -It must be remembered that educational books, and indeed books of any -kind, were scarce in those days. - -“I think you will find one at Vaner’s.” - -“I will go at once and see,” said Lincoln. - -He set out at once, though Vaner’s was six miles distant, but such a -walk did not trouble the young man at all. I am sure it will strike some -of my young readers who dislike grammar, as odd that he should be -willing to take so long a walk with such an object in view; but they too -might do the same if they were as earnestly bent upon self-improvement -as our hero. It is enough to say that he succeeded in obtaining the -coveted book, and began at once to study it. Sometimes he was able to go -out of doors and lie under a shade-tree; at other times he stretched his -long, ungainly form on the counter and pored intently over the little -book. I don’t know whether the obscure little text-book is still in -existence; if it were, it would be a valuable memorial of this -transition period in the young man’s mental growth. - -The time came for a change in young Lincoln’s mode of life. Mr. Offutt’s -business declined, and the store was closed. He was once more out of -employment. Now it happened about this time that the peace of this -region was disturbed by a series of Indian difficulties. Black Hawk, a -chief of the Sacs, was the instigator and Indian leader. He was a man of -commanding presence and superior abilities. In defiance of a warning -given him by General Atkinson, commanding the United States troops at -Rock Island, he left his reservation, and announced his intention of -ascending the Rock River to the territory of the Winnebagoes. The force -under General Atkinson being small, he issued a call for volunteers. One -company was raised in New Salem and the vicinity, and Lincoln enlisted. -Though without military experience, he was elected to the post of -Captain by a large majority of the company, and accepted, This was a -tribute to his popularity among his friends and neighbors. - -Though the Black Hawk campaign was in no way remarkable, and involved -very little fighting, it is noteworthy, as Dr. Holland remarks, that two -men afterward Presidents of the United States were engaged in it. These -were Zachary Taylor and Abraham Lincoln. I do not propose to enter into -a detailed account of this campaign and of Lincoln’s part in it; I -prefer to quote Mr. Lincoln’s own account of it, years afterward, when a -member of the House of Representatives at Washington. It was during the -political campaign when General Cass was the Democratic candidate, and -was intended to ridicule the claims of his friends, that he had rendered -distinguished military service to the republic. - -“By the way, Mr. Speaker,” said Mr. Lincoln, “do you know I am a -military hero? Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk war, I fought, -bled, and came away. Speaking of General Cass’ career reminds me of my -own. I was not at Sillman’s Defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass -to Hull’s surrender; and, like him, I saw the place soon afterward. It -is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break; but -I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion. If General Cass went in -advance of me in picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him in -charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indian, it -was more than I did; but I had a good many bloody struggles with the -mosquitoes, and although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can -truly say I was often very hungry.” - -When Mr. Lincoln himself became a candidate for the Presidency, an -attempt was made to make capital for him out of this military episode, -but fortunately he possessed more substantial claims than this. - -Though there was little fighting to be done, there was an occasion that -tested the young Captain’s courage and resolution. As the incident is -characteristic of Lincoln, and shows his love of justice and humanity, I -will transcribe, as better than any paraphrase of my own, the account -given by Mr. Lamon in his Life of Lincoln: - -“One day, during these many marches and counter-marches, an old Indian -found his way into the camp, weary, hungry, and helpless. He professed -to be a friend of the whites; and, although it was an exceedingly -perilous experiment for one of his color, he ventured to throw himself -upon the mercy of the soldiers. But the men first murmured, and then -broke out into fierce cries for his blood. - -“‘We have come out to fight the Indians,’ said they, ‘and by G--we -intend to do it!’ - -“The poor Indian, now in the extremity of his distress and trouble, did -what he ought to have done before: he threw down before his assailants a -soiled and crumpled paper which he implored them to read before his life -was taken. It was a letter of character and safe conduct from Gen. Cass, -pronouncing him a faithful man, who had done good service in the cause -for which this army was enlisted. But it was too late; the men refused -to read it, or thought it a forgery, and were rushing with fury upon the -defenceless old savage, when Capt. Lincoln bounded between them and -their appointed victim. - -“‘Men,’ said he, and his voice for a moment stilled the agitation around -him, ‘_this must not be done; he must not be shot and killed by us_.” - -“‘But,’ said some of them, ‘the Indian is a spy.’ - -“Lincoln knew that his own life was now in only less danger than that of -the poor creature that cowered behind him. During the whole of this -scene Capt. Lincoln seemed to rise to an unusual height of stature. The -towering form, the passion and resolution in his face, the physical -power and terrible will exhibited in every motion of his body, every -gesture of his arm, produced an effect upon the furious mob as -unexpected perhaps to him as to any one else. They paused, listened, -fell back, and then sullenly obeyed what seemed to be the voice of -reason as well as authority. But there were still some murmurs of -disappointed rage and half-suppressed exclamations, which looked toward -vengeance of some kind. At length one of the men, a little bolder than -the rest, but evidently feeling that he spoke for the whole, cried out: - -“‘This is cowardly on your part, Lincoln!’ - -“Whereupon the tall Captain’s figure stretched a few inches higher -again. He looked down upon these varlets who would have murdered a -defenceless old Indian and now quailed before his single hand, with -lofty contempt. The oldest of his acquaintances, even Bill Green, who -saw him grapple Jack Armstrong and defy the bullies at his back, never -saw him so much aroused before. - -“‘If any man thinks I am a coward, let him test it,’ said he. - -“‘Lincoln,’ responded a new voice, ‘you are stronger and heavier than we -are.’ - -“‘This you can guard against; choose your weapons,’ returned the rigid -Captain. - -“Whatever may be said of Mr. Lincoln’s choice of means for the -preservation of military discipline, it was certainly very effectual in -this case. There was no more disaffection in his camp, and the word -‘coward’ was never coupled with his name again. Mr. Lincoln understood -his men better than those who would be disposed to criticise his -conduct. He has often declared himself that his life and character were -both at stake, and would probably have been lost had he not at that -supremely critical moment forgotten the officer and asserted the man. To -have ordered the offenders under arrest would have created a powerful -mutiny; to have tried and punished them would have been impossible. They -could scarcely be called soldiers; they were merely armed citizens, with -a nominal military organization. They were but recently enlisted, and -their term of service was about to expire. Had he preferred charges -against them, and offered to submit their differences to a court of any -sort, it would have been regarded as an act of personal pusillanimity, -and his efficiency would have been gone forever.” - -Then, as afterward, Lincoln proved to be the man for the emergency. This -humble captain of volunteers was selected by Providence to guide and -direct his countrymen in the greatest and most bloody civil contest that -was ever waged, and at all times of doubt, danger, and perplexity he -manifested the same calm courage, the same firm resolution, and the same -humanity, which made him at the age of twenty-three the intrepid -champion of a friendless old Indian. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -IN THE LEGISLATURE. - - -My young readers will have noticed how extremely slender thus far had -been the educational advantages of young Lincoln. Of the thousands of -men who have risen to eminence in this country from similar poverty, few -have had so little to help them. In England the path of promotion is -more difficult, and I doubt whether any one circumstanced as Abraham -Lincoln was could ever have reached a commanding position. It will be -interesting in this connection to read the statement made by John Bright -at his recent installation as Lord Rector of Glasgow University. It will -show what a difference there is between limited advantages in England -and in America: - -“I am an entire stranger to University life in the University sense,” -says Mr. Bright. “I may be said to be a man who never had the -advantages of education. I had the teaching of some French--as -Englishmen teach French, and I had the advantages of a year’s -instruction in Latin by a most admirable tutor--a countryman of yours -from the University of Edinburgh. But there was not much Greek--not so -much that any trace of it is left. There was nothing in the shape of -mathematics or science. Looking at education as you take it, I am a -person who had the misfortune to have had almost none of it in my youth. -You will not, therefore, be surprised if I feel a certain humiliation in -seeming to teach you anything, and if I feel a strong sense of envy--but -not a blamable envy--that I never possessed the advantages which are -placed within your reach. But if I had no education such as colleges and -universities give, if my school-life ended at the precise time when your -university career begins; if I am unknown to literature and to science -and to arts, I ask myself what is it that has brought me within the -range of your sympathies--brought me to this distinguished position? I -suppose it must be because you have some sympathy with my labors. You -believe that I have been in some sort a political teacher; that I have -taken some pains and perhaps have been of some service in the -legislation and government of our country.” - -Had Lincoln possessed one-half the educational equipment of John Bright -when he entered upon political life he would have felt much better -satisfied. - -Abraham Lincoln on his return from the Black Hawk campaign was -twenty-three years old. Though he was about as poor as he had always -been, he was rich in the good opinion of his friends and neighbors. This -is evinced by an application then made to him to allow himself to run -for the Legislature. He consented, though surprised at the request, and -polled a vote considerably in advance of other candidates of the same -party. In New Salem he polled an almost unanimous vote, men voting for -him without regard to party lines. Still, he was defeated. A brief -speech which he made during the canvass has been preserved, and, as it -is characteristic, I quote it: - -“Gentlemen and Fellow-citizens: I presume you all know who I am. I am -humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become -a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like -the old woman’s dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor -of the internal improvement system and a high protective tariff. These -are my sentiments and political principles. If elected, I shall be -thankful; if not, it will be all the same.” - -It will be seen that Mr. Lincoln had cast in his lot with the Whig -party--the party of whom Henry Clay was at that time the most -distinguished representative, and for whom the young man had a strong -admiration. - -The great problem of how he was to make his living had not yet been -solved by young Lincoln. Dr. Holland is our authority for the statement -that he seriously took into consideration the project of learning the -blacksmith’s trade. An opportunity, however, offered for him to buy out -a stock of goods owned by a man of Radford, in connection with a man -named Berry. This supplied him employment for a time, but not of a -profitable nature, for his partner proved a hindrance rather than a -help, and failure ensued. Lincoln was involved in debt, and it was six -years before he freed himself from his obligations. About this time he -received his first political appointment--that of postmaster--from the -administration of General Jackson. It brought in very little revenue, -but gave him a privilege which he valued of reading all the newspapers -which came to the office. The office seemed to have been conducted in -free and easy style. When the young postmaster had occasion to go out he -closed the office and carried off the mail matter in his hat. - -When his store was closed permanently, young Lincoln received an offer -from the surveyor of Sangamon County to undertake all his work in the -immediate neighborhood of New Salem. Though Lincoln knew nothing of -surveying, either practically or theoretically, he qualified himself for -the work, procured a compass and chain, and went to work. It is an -interesting proof of the young surveyor’s thoroughness that, in spite of -his inadequate preparation, the accuracy of his surveys has never been -called in question. - -Two years later Lincoln ran again for the Legislature, and this time he -succeeded. Among his colleagues was Major John T. Stuart, a prosperous -lawyer of Springfield. He was a previous acquaintance of young Lincoln, -and their present companionship strengthened the interest of the older -man in his struggling young friend. - -“Why don’t you study law?” he asked Lincoln. - -“Because I am poor; I have no money to buy the necessary books,” said -Abe. - -“Have you ever thought of following the profession?” - -“Yes, I have already read law some.” - -“I believe you would succeed. If books are all you need, I have a large -law library and will lend you what you need.” - -Abe’s face lighted up with pleasure. - -“You are very kind,” he said, “and I will take you at your word. When -can I have the books?” - -“Whenever you will call for them.” - -This was not an offer which young Lincoln could afford to slight. At the -close of the canvass he walked to Springfield, called at the office of -his friend Stuart, and returned to New Salem with a load of books, which -he forthwith began to read and study. - -“Abe’s progress in the law,” says Mr. Lamon, “was as surprising as the -intensity of his application to study. He never lost a moment that might -be improved. It is even said that he read and recited to himself on the -road and by the wayside, as he came down from Springfield with the books -he had borrowed from Stuart. The first time he went up he had ‘mastered’ -forty pages of Blackstone before he got back. It was not long until, -with his restless desire to be doing something practical, he began to -turn his acquisitions to account in forwarding the business of his -neighbors. He wrote deeds, contracts, notes, and other legal papers, for -them, ‘using a small dictionary and an old form-book’; pettifogged -incessantly before the justice of the peace, and probably assisted that -functionary in the administration of justice as much as he benefited his -own clients. This species of country student practice was entered upon -very early, and kept up until long after he was a distinguished man in -the Legislature. But in all this he was only trying himself; as he was -not admitted to the bar until 1837, he did not regard it as legitimate -practice, and never charged a penny for his services.” - -Young Lincoln took part in the legislative work of the first session -during which he served as a member, but did not push himself forward. He -listened and took notes of what was done, and how it was done. He was -assigned to an honorable place on the Committee on Public Accounts and -Expenditures. It was about this time that he saw for the first time -Stephen A. Douglas, with whom he was in after years to be associated in -the memorable canvass for the Senatorship. Douglas, who was only about -five feet in height, was also slender, and in personal appearance -presented a striking contrast to the long-legged young legislator who -overtopped him by more than a foot. - -“He is the smallest man I ever saw,” said Lincoln. - -Douglas filled up as he grew older, till he came to deserve the title by -which he was so long known, of “The Little Giant.” He was not at that -time a member of the Legislature, but was a successful candidate for the -position of District Attorney for the district in which he lived. Unlike -Lincoln, he was not a Western man by birth, having been born and -“raised” in Vermont. In fact he had only come West during the previous -year; but he was not a man to hide his light under a bushel, and soon -worked himself into prominence in his new home. Two years later, in -1838, Douglas, as well as Lincoln, was elected to the Legislature, and -they served together. In public life, therefore, Lincoln preceded -Douglas by two years, but the latter advanced much more rapidly and -became a man of national reputation, while Lincoln was still -comparatively obscure. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -A CASE IN COURT - - -We are told by Mr. Lamon, that Mr. Lincoln got his license as an -attorney early in 1837, and commenced practice regularly as a lawyer in -the town of Springfield, in March of that year. It is with this place -that his name was associated for the remainder of his life. Though it -contained at that time less than two thousand inhabitants, it was a town -of considerable importance. The list of the local bar contained the -names of several men of ability and reputation. Stephen A. Douglas, -already referred to, was public prosecutor in 1836. Judge Stephen T. -Logan was on the bench of the Circuit Court. There was John T. Stuart -also, who had recommended young Lincoln to become a lawyer, and was now -his partner. - -The law office of Stuart and Lincoln was in the second story above the -court-room, in Hoffman’s Row. It was small and poorly furnished. -Lincoln slept in the office, and boarded with Hon. William Butler, who -appears to have been a politician and wire-puller. - -At last, then, after a youth of penury, a long hand-to-hand struggle -with privations in half a dozen different kinds of business, we find our -hero embarked in the profession which, for the remainder of his life, he -owned as mistress. He is twenty-eight years of age, with some -legislative experience, but a mere novice in law. But he was ambitious, -and in spite of his scanty equipment as regards book-knowledge, he made -up his mind to succeed, and he did succeed. - -Though I am thereby anticipating matters, I propose to relate an -incident of his law practice which I find quoted in “Raymond’s History” -of Lincoln’s Administrations, from the _Cleveland Leader_. It -illustrates not merely Mr. Lincoln’s methods and shrewdness as a lawyer, -but also his fidelity to friends. - -This is the story: - -“Some four years since, the eldest son of Mr. Lincoln’s old friend, the -chief supporter of his widowed mother--the good old man having some -time previously passed from earth--was arrested on a charge of murder. A -young man had been killed during a riotous _mélée_ in the night time at -a camp-meeting, and one of his associates stated that the death-wound -was inflicted by young Armstrong. A preliminary examination was gone -into, at which the accuser testified so positively, that there seemed no -doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, and therefore he was held for trial. - -“As is too often the case, the bloody act caused an undue degree of -excitement in the public mind. Every improper incident in the life of -the prisoner--each act which bore the least semblance of rowdyism--each -school-boy quarrel--was suddenly remembered and magnified, until they -pictured him as a fiend of the most horrible hue. As these rumors spread -abroad they were received as gospel truth, and a feverish desire for -vengeance seized upon the infatuated populace, whilst only prison bars -prevented a horrible death at the hands of the populace. The events were -heralded in the county papers, painted in the highest colors, -accompanied by rejoicing over the certainty punishment being meted out -to the guilty party. The prisoner, overwhelmed by the circumstances in -which he found himself placed, fell into a melancholy condition -bordering on despair, and the widowed mother, looking through her tears, -saw no cause for hope from earthly aid. - -“At this juncture the widow received a letter from Mr. Lincoln, -volunteering his services in an effort to save the youth from the -impending stroke. Gladly was his aid accepted, although it seemed -impossible for even his sagacity to prevail in such a desperate case; -but the heart of the attorney was in his work, and he set about it with -a will which knew no such word as fail. Feeling that the poisoned -condition of the public mind was such as to preclude the possibility of -impanelling an impartial jury in the court having jurisdiction, he -procured a change of venue and a postponement of the trial. He then went -studiously to work, unravelling the history of the case, and satisfied -himself that his client was the victim of malice, and that the -statements of the accuser were a tissue of falsehoods. - -“When the trial was called on, the prisoner, pale and emaciated, with -hopelessness written on every feature, and accompanied by his -half-hoping, half-despairing mother--whose only hope was in a mother’s -belief of her son’s innocence, in the justice of the God she worshipped, -and in the noble counsel, who, without hope of fee or reward upon earth, -had undertaken the cause--took his seat in the prisoners’ box, and, with -a ‘stony firmness,’ listened to the reading of the indictment. - -“Lincoln sat quietly by, whilst the large body of auditors looked on him -as though wondering what he could say in defence of one whose guilt they -looked upon as certain. The examination of the witnesses for the State -was begun, and a well-arranged mass of evidence, circumstantial and -positive, was introduced, which seemed to impale the prisoner beyond the -possibility of extrication. - -“The counsel for the defense propounded but few questions, and those of -a character which excited no uneasiness on the part of the -prosecutor--merely, in most cases, requiring the main witnesses to be -definite as to time and place. When the evidence of the prosecution was -ended, Lincoln introduced a few witnesses, to remove some erroneous -impressions in regard to the previous character of his client, who, -though somewhat rowdyish, had never been known to commit a vicious act; -and to show that a greater degree of ill-feeling existed between the -accuser and the accused than between the accused and the deceased. - -“The prosecutor felt that the case was a clear one, and his opening -speech was brief and formal. Lincoln arose, while a deathly silence -pervaded the vast audience, and, in a clear and moderate tone, began his -argument. Slowly and carefully he reviewed the testimony, pointing out -the hitherto unobserved discrepancies in the statements of the principal -witness. That which had seemed plain and plausible he made to appear -crooked as a serpent’s path. The witness had stated that the affair took -place at a certain hour in the evening, and that, by the brightly -shining moon, he saw the prisoner inflict the death-blow with a -slung-shot. Mr. Lincoln showed that at the hour referred to, the moon -had not yet appeared above the horizon, and, consequently, the whole -tale was a fabrication. - -“An almost instantaneous change seemed to have been wrought in the minds -of his auditors, and the verdict of ‘not guilty’ was at the end of every -tongue. But the advocate was not content with this intellectual -achievement. His whole being had for months been bound up in this work -of gratitude and mercy, and as the lava of the overcharged crater bursts -from its imprisonment, so great thoughts and burning words leaped forth -from the soul of the eloquent Lincoln. He drew a picture of the perjurer -so horrid and ghastly, that the accuser could sit under it no longer, -but reeled and staggered from the court-room, whilst the audience -fancied they could see the brand upon his brow. Then in words of -thrilling pathos, Lincoln appealed to the jurors as fathers of some who -might become fatherless, and as husbands of wives who might be widowed, -to yield to no previous impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, but to do -his client justice; and as he alluded to the debt of gratitude which he -owed the boy’s sire, tears were seen to fall from many eyes unused to -weeping. - -“It was near night when he concluded by saying that if justice were -done, as he believed it would be,--before the sun should set,--it would -shine upon his client a free man. - -“The jury retired, and the court adjourned for the day. Half an hour had -not elapsed, when, as the officers of the court and the volunteer -attorney sat at the tea-table of their hotel, a messenger announced -that the jury had returned to their seats. All repaired immediately to -the court-house, and whilst the prisoner was being brought from the -jail, the court-room was filled to overflowing with citizens from the -town. - -“When the prisoner and his mother entered, silence reigned as completely -as though the house were empty. The foreman of the jury, in answer to -the usual inquiry from the court, delivered the verdict of ‘Not Guilty!’ -The widow dropped into the arms of her son, who lifted her up, and told -her to look upon him as before, free and innocent. Then with the words, -‘Where is Mr. Lincoln?’ he rushed across the room, and grasped the hand -of his deliverer, whilst his heart was too full for utterance. Lincoln -turned his eyes toward the west, where the sun still lingered in view, -and then, turning to the youth, said: ‘It is not yet sundown, and you -are free.’ I confess that my cheeks were not wholly unwet by tears, and -I turned from the affecting scene. As I cast a glance behind, I saw -Abraham Lincoln obeying the Divine injunction by comforting the widowed -and fatherless.” - -When a lawyer can so bravely and affectionately rescue the innocent from -the machinations of the wicked, we feel that he is indeed the exponent -and representative of a noble profession. It is unfortunate that lawyers -so often lend themselves to help iniquity, and oppress the weak. Mr. -Lincoln always did his best when he felt that Right and Justice were on -his side. When he had any doubts on this point, he lost all his -enthusiasm and his courage, and labored mechanically. He believed in -justice, and would not willingly act on the wrong side. On one occasion -he discovered that he had been deceived by his client, and informed his -associate lawyer that he (Lincoln) would not make the plea. His -associate, therefore, did so, and to Lincoln’s surprise gained a -verdict. Convinced, nevertheless, that his client was wrong, he would -not accept any part of the handsome fee of nine hundred dollars, which -he paid. Only an honest and high-minded lawyer would have acted thus. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -MR. LINCOLN FORMS TWO PARTNERSHIPS - - -Practicing law in those days, and in that region, had some peculiar -features. It was the custom for lawyers to “ride the circuit,” that is, -to accompany the judges from one country-town to another, attending to -such business as might offer, in different sections of the State. -Railroads had not yet found their way out so far West, and the lawyer -was wont to travel on horseback, stopping at cabins on the way to eat -and sleep, and, in brief, to “rough it.” One brought up like Lincoln was -not likely to shrink from any hardships which this might entail. Indeed, -it is likely that, upon the whole, he enjoyed it, and that these -journeys increased his natural shrewdness and knowledge of human nature, -and furnished him with no inconsiderable part of the apposite stories -which he was wont to quote in later years. - -Here is an incident which will amuse my readers. It is told by Mr. -Francis E. Willard: “In one of my temperance pilgrimages through -Illinois, I met a gentleman who was the companion in a dreary ride which -Lincoln made in a light wagon, going the rounds of a Circuit Court where -he had clients to look after. The weather was rainy, the road heavy with -mud of the Southern Illinois pottery, never to be imagined as to its -blackness and profundity by him who has not seen it, and assuredly -needing no description to jostle the memory of one who has. Lincoln -enlivened the way with anecdote and recital, for few indeed were the -incidents that relieved the tedium of the trip. - -“At last, in wallowing through a ‘slough’ of the most approved Western -manufacture, they came upon a poor shark of a hog, who had succumbed to -gravitation, and was literally fast in the mud. The lawyers commented on -the poor creature’s pitiful condition, and drove on. About half a mile -was laboriously gone over, when Lincoln suddenly exclaimed: ‘I don’t -know how you feel about it, but I’ve got to go back and pull that hog -out of the slough.’ - -“His comrade laughed, thinking it merely a joke; but what was his -surprise when Lincoln dismounted, left him to his reflections, and, -striding slowly back, like a man on stilts, picking his way as his long -walking implements permitted, he grappled with the drowning hog, dragged -him out of the ditch, left him on its edge to recover his strength, -slowly measured off the distance back to his buggy, and the two men -drove off as if nothing had happened.” - -This little incident is given to show that Mr. Lincoln did not confine -his benevolence to his own race, but could put himself to inconvenience -to relieve the sufferings of an inferior animal. In fact, his heart -seemed to be animated by the spirit of kindness, and this is one of the -most important respects in which I am glad to hold him out as an example -to the young. Emulate that tenderness of heart which led him to -sympathize with “the meanest thing that breathes,” and, like him, you -will win the respect and attachment of the best men and women! - -The young lawyer, successful as he was in court, did not make money as -fast as some of his professional associates. One reason I have already -given--he would not willingly exert his power on the wrong side. -Moreover, he was modest, and refrained from exorbitant charges, and he -was known at times to remit fees justly due when his client was -unfortunate. One day he met a client who had given him a note, nearly -due, for professional services. - -“Mr. Lincoln,” he said, “I have been thinking of that note I owe you. I -don’t see how I am to meet it. I have been disabled by an explosion, and -that has affected my income.” - -“I heard of your accident,” said Lincoln, “and I sympathize with you -deeply. As to the note, here it is.” - -“But I can not meet it at present.” - -“I don’t want you to. Take it, and destroy it. I consider it paid.” - -No doubt many lawyers would have done the same, but it so happened that -Lincoln was at that moment greatly in need of money, and was obliged to -defer a journey on that account. It was not out of his abundance, but -out of his poverty, that he gave. - -As to his professional methods, they were peculiar. He was always -generous to an opponent. Instead of contesting point by point, he often -yielded more than was claimed, and excited alarm in the breast of his -client. But when this was done, he set to work and stated his own view -of the case so urgently that the strength of his opponent’s position was -undermined, his arguments torn to pieces, and the verdict secured. He -was remarkably fair, and stated his case so clearly that no juror of -fair intelligence could fail to understand him. - -It has already been said that Mr. Lincoln had a partner. It is a proof -of his scrupulous honesty that when upon his circuits he tried any cases -that were never entered at the office, he carefully set aside a part of -the remuneration for the absent partner, who otherwise would never have -known of them, and might be supposed hardly entitled to a share of the -fees. - -For the following anecdote, in further illustration of Mr. Lincoln’s -conscientiousness in money matters, I am indebted to Mr. Frank B. -Carpenter’s very interesting little volume, entitled “Six Months at the -White House”: “About the time Mr. Lincoln came to be known as a -successful lawyer, he was waited upon by a lady who held a real-estate -claim which she desired to have him prosecute,--putting into his hands, -with the necessary papers, a check for two hundred and fifty dollars as -a retaining fee. Mr. Lincoln said he would look the case over, and asked -her to call again the next day. Upon presenting herself, Mr. Lincoln -told her that he had gone through the papers very carefully, and he must -tell her frankly that there was not a ‘peg’ to hang her claim upon, and -he could not conscientiously advise her to bring an action. The lady was -satisfied, and, thanking him, rose to go. ‘Wait,’ said Mr. Lincoln, -fumbling in his vest pocket; ‘here is the check you left with me.’ ‘But, -Mr. Lincoln,’ returned the lady, ‘I think you have earned _that_.’ ‘No, -no,’ he responded, handing it back to her, ‘that would not be right. I -can’t take _pay_ for doing my duty.’” - -I must find a place here for one of Mr. Lincoln’s own stories, relating -to a professional adventure, which must have amused him. Mr. Carpenter -is my authority here also: - -“When I took to the law I was going to court one morning, with some ten -or twelve miles of bad road before me, when ---- overtook me in his -wagon. - -“‘Hello, Lincoln!’ said he; ‘going to the court-house? Come get in, and -I will give you a seat.’ - -“Well, I got in, and ---- went on reading his papers. Presently the wagon -struck a stump on one side of the road; then it hopped off to the other. -I looked out and saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his -seat; so said I, ‘Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a drop -too much this morning.’ - -“‘Well, I declare, Lincoln,’ said he, ‘I should not much wonder if you -are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since -starting.’ - -“So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted: ‘Why, you infernal -scoundrel, you are drunk!’ - -“Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great -gravity, the coachman said: ‘Bedad! but that’s the first rightful -decision your Honor has given for the last twelve months.’” - -Mr. Lincoln’s law partnership with Mr. Stuart was of brief duration. It -was dissolved in 1840, and in the same year he formed a new partnership -with Judge S. T. Logan, a lawyer of learning and ability. - -In 1842 he formed another partnership, of a still more important -character. He married Miss Mary Todd on the 4th of November of that -year. Miss Todd belonged to a family of social prominence, and it is a -matter of interest that, before marrying Mr. Lincoln, she is said to -have had an opportunity of marrying another person, whose name was -mentioned for the Presidency years before Mr. Lincoln’s. I refer to Hon. -Stephen A. Douglas, who is said to have been an unsuccessful suitor for -the hand of Miss Todd. - -Six months after marriage, in a private letter written to an intimate -friend, Mr. Lincoln refers thus to his domestic arrangements: “We are -not keeping house,” he writes, “but boarding at the Globe Tavern, which -is very well kept by a widow lady of the name of Beck. Our rooms are the -same Dr. Wallace occupied there, and boarding only costs four dollars a -week.” - -Abraham Lincoln had reached the age of thirty-three years before he -ventured to marry. Circumstances had until then proved unfavorable, for -his struggle with poverty had been unusually protracted. Now, however, -he was settled both matrimonially and professionally, and the most -important part of his life, for which he had been so long preparing, may -be said to have fairly begun. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE LAWYER IN HIS OFFICE AND AT HOME. - - -I have already told my readers something of Mr. Lincoln as a lawyer. I -may add that he stood high in the estimation of his professional -brethren. “For my single self,” says one, “I have for a quarter of a -century regarded Mr. Lincoln as one of the finest lawyers I ever knew, -and of a professional bearing so high-toned and honorable as justly, and -without derogating from the claims of others, entitling him to be -presented to the profession as a model well worthy of the closest -imitation.” - -Now these are general terms, and do not show us how the young lawyer who -had risen step by step from the hardest physical labor to an honorable -position at the bar, looked and spoke. Fortunately Judge Drummond, of -Chicago, gives us a graphic picture of him,--and I am glad to quote it: - -“With a voice by no means pleasant, and, indeed, when excited, in its -shrill tones almost disagreeable; without any of the personal graces of -the orator; without much in the outward man indicating superiority of -intellect; without great quickness of perception--still, his mind was so -vigorous, his comprehension so exact and clear, and his judgment so -sure, that he easily mastered the intricacies of his profession, and -became one of the ablest reasoners and most impressive speakers at our -bar. With a probity of character known of all, with an intuitive insight -into the human heart, with a clearness of statement which was itself an -argument, with uncommon power and felicity of illustration,--often, it -is true, of a plain and homely kind--and with that sincerity and -earnestness of manner which carried conviction, he was, perhaps, one of -the most successful jury lawyers we have ever had in the State. He -always tried a case fairly and honestly. He never intentionally -misrepresented the evidence of a witness or the argument of an opponent. -He met both squarely, and if he could not explain the one or answer the -other, substantially admitted it. He never misstated the law according -to his own intelligent view of it.” - -I hope my young readers will not skip this statement, but read it -carefully, because it will show them the secret of the young lawyer’s -success. _He inspired confidence!_ He was not constantly trying to gain -the advantage by fair means if possible, but at any rate to gain it. He -wanted justice to triumph, however it affected his own interests. I wish -there were more such lawyers. The law would then lose much of the odium -which unprincipled practitioners bring upon it. - -Let us look in upon Mr. Lincoln as he sits in his plain office, some -morning. He is writing busily, when a timid knock is heard at his door. - -“Come in!” he says, his pen still moving rapidly over the paper before -him. - -The door opens slowly, and an old woman, bending under the burden of -seventy-five years, enters, and stands irresolutely at the entrance. - -“Mr. Lincoln!” she says in a quivering voice. - -As these accents reach him, Mr. Lincoln woke up hastily, and seeing the -old lady hastily undoubles himself, and draws forward a chair. - -“Sit down, my good lady!” he says. “Do you wish to see me on business?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Tell me what I can do for you?” and he fixes his eyes on the frail old -woman, showing a respect and consideration for her, poor as she -evidently is, which a rich client might not so readily receive. - -Encouraged by the kindness of her reception she told her story. She was -entitled to a pension, as it appeared, on account of her husband, who -had fought in the Revolutionary war. This pension she had secured -through the agency of a certain pension agent, but he had charged her -the exorbitant sum of two hundred dollars for collecting her claim. This -was a heavy tax upon the poor old woman with her limited means, and she -was likely to be little better off for her pension if she should be -compelled to pay this money. - -“Two hundred dollars! That is shameful!” said the sympathetic lawyer. -“Who is this agent?” - -She told him. - -“Do you live in Springfield?” - -“No sir.” - -“Are you in need of money?” he inquired delicately. - -“Yes, sir, The agent has kept back what he has collected, and----” - -“I see. We will try to bring him to terms.” - -“Oh, sir if you can help me----” said the old lady, hopefully. - -“I will do my best. Here is some money for your immediate wants. Now I -will ask you a few questions, and we will see what we can do for you.” - -Mr. Lincoln immediately commenced suit against the agent to recover a -portion of the money which he had withheld. In his address to the jury -he did not omit to allude to the patriotism of the dead husband, and the -poverty of his widow, and no doubt castigated in fitting terms the -unfeeling rapacity of the claim agent. He gained the suit, and compelled -the fellow to disgorge one hundred dollars, which he had the pleasure of -paying over to his aged client. - -Meanwhile he was pleasantly situated. His income would now allow him to -live in comfortable style. He established himself in a pleasant -two-story house, built after a fashion quite common in New England, -with a room on each side of the front door, and an extension in the -rear. It was situated at the corner of two streets, and though neither -costly nor sumptuous, might be considered a palace when contrasted with -the rude cabins in which his earlier years were passed. - -Four children were born to him, and their childish ways were a source of -constant enjoyment, when he returned to his home, weary or perplexed. -One of these, Willie, died after his father became President; the -youngest, best known as Tad, who was the pet of the White House, is also -dead, and only the eldest, Robert Todd, now Secretary of War, survives. -It is said that he was a most indulgent father, and governed by Love -alone. His own father had often been stern and rough, but Abraham -Lincoln’s nature was full of a deep tenderness for all things weak, -small, or in distress, and he could not find it in his heart to be harsh -or stern at home. - -On pleasant summer mornings the young lawyer, with his tall figure, -might have been seen drawing one of his children to and fro along the -sidewalk in a child’s wagon. “Without hat or coat, and wearing a pair -of rough shoes, his hands behind him holding to the tongue of the wagon, -and his tall form bent forward to accommodate himself to the service, he -paced up and down the walk, forgetful of everything around him, and -intent only on some subject that absorbed his mind.” A young man, who as -a boy used to see him thus occupied, admits that he used to wonder “how -so rough and plain a man could live in so respectable a house.” - -I once asked a lady who for a considerable time lived opposite Mr. -Lincoln, at Springfield, whether he was really as plain as his pictures -all represented him. - -“I never saw one of his pictures that did not flatter him,” she -answered. - -“My oldest son was a companion and playfellow of Mr. Lincoln’s younger -boys,” she continued, “and was in and out of his house a dozen times a -day. He was a very quiet man. He used to stay at home in the evening, -and read or meditate, but Mrs. Lincoln was of a gayer temperament, and -cared more for company.” - -Mr. Lincoln was always a thoughtful man, and though amid social -surroundings he could tell a droll story with a humorous twinkle of the -eye, his features in repose were grave and even melancholy. As he walked -along the street, he often seemed abstracted, and would pass his best -friends without recognizing them. Even at the table he was often -self-absorbed, and ate his food mechanically, but there was nothing in -his silence to dull or make uncomfortable those around him. After a time -he would arise from his silence, and make himself companionable as he -was always able to do, and lead conversation into some channel in which -members of his family could take part. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE RAIL-SPLITTER ENTERS CONGRESS. - - -Abraham Lincoln’s professional success did not fill the measure of his -ambition. It certainly was a great step upward from the raw-boned, -ragged, barefooted lad to the prosperous lawyer, and our hero, if I may -so call him, doubtless felt complacent when he considered the change in -his position and surroundings. I may take occasion to say here that -Abe--to return to the name which he did not wholly lay aside when he -emerged from boyhood and youth--never put on airs because of his -elevation, nor looked down upon the humble relatives whom he had left -behind. Whenever in his journeyings he found himself near the residence -of any of his poorer relations, he took special pains to visit them, -and, if possible, to stay with them. Often he pressed upon them money -when they appeared to need it--not with the air of a liberal patron, -but with straight-forward friendliness and cordiality. Once when he was -urged to remain at the hotel with his professional friends, instead of -making a call upon an aged aunt, he said: - -“Why, aunt’s heart would be broken if I should leave town without -calling upon her.” - -Let me add that this call required something more than ordinary -good-natured consideration, for the aunt in question lived several miles -away, and her nephew had no horse at his command, but walked all the -way. I am very glad to call the attention of all my young friends to -this admirable trait in the character of President Lincoln. I wish it -were more common. I am sure we all admire the boy or girl who is always -thoughtful of the feelings and happiness of older relatives. - -But to return from this digression, let me repeat that Mr. Lincoln had -other aspirations than to succeed as a lawyer. It has been said that -nine out of ten American boys cherish a vague ambition to become -President. This is plainly an exaggeration, but it is certain that a -large number entertain the hope of some day entering public life, -either as legislator or Congressman, or at any rate as a salaried -officer. That is one reason why there is such a horde of office-seekers -swarming to our National or State capitals, ambitious to earn a living -at the expense of the Government. Some throw up good mercantile -positions and spend months in the attempt to secure a position as -department clerk, foreign consul, or poorly-paid postmaster. - -Abraham Lincoln’s ambition was of a more elevated character. He had a -pardonable ambition to take part in the government of his country, not -for the sake of the position so much, as because he felt within himself -the capacity to shape legislation to worthy ends. He was not alone in -this idea. His fellow-citizens had gauged him and felt that he was fit -to represent them. I have already spoken of his service in the State -Legislature; but he was only preparing himself there for a wider arena. -In 1846 he received the nomination for Congress from the Sangamon -district. Now it was not the fashion in those days for a candidate to -remain quietly at home pursuing his business as usual while waiting for -the popular verdict. It is perhaps the more dignified course to pursue, -but it would not have elected Mr. Lincoln. He understood at once that he -would have to “stump” the district. I need hardly explain to my young -readers what this means. He must visit the principal towns and villages, -and address public meetings of the people on political subjects of -present interest, explaining clearly how he stood, and how he proposed -to vote if elected. - -For this service Lincoln was very well fitted. He had a vigorous Saxon -style, and he knew how to make things clear even to the humblest -intellect. Then, again, he possessed a fund of homely, but pertinent -stories, which often produced more effect than a protracted argument. -However, he was not limited to such means of influencing his audiences. -He had a logical mind and a happy faculty of stating things clearly and -precisely, so as to convince the reason as well as to persuade the -judgment. - -There was no lack of topics on which to speak. The country was in an -excited state. Texas had been admitted to the Union, war with Mexico had -succeeded, and opinions were divided as to the wisdom of entering upon -it. The Whig party, of which Mr. Lincoln was a member, considered it -unnecessary and unjustifiable. So also did the Anti-Slavery party, then -coming into existence. Many of my young readers have doubtless read the -“Biglow Papers,” by our eminent poet and diplomatist, James Russell -Lowell, and have enjoyed the quaint and pungent sarcasm with which he -assails those who were instrumental in bringing on this ill-advised war. -I speak of it as ill-advised, for, though some of the results, notably -the acquisition of California, have proved beneficial, the object for -which the war was commenced and waged was far from commendable. The -tariff also had been recently repealed, and the result was a disturbance -of the business interests of the country. Clearly, Congress and the -country had plenty to talk about and plenty to legislate about. - -Mr. Lincoln’s speeches in this “stumping” tour have not been preserved, -but we have every reason to believe that he did himself credit, and -maintained the reputation he had already acquired as a strong and -forcible speaker. The best evidence we can adduce is his triumphant -election by much more than the usual party vote. Even Mr. Clay, with -all his popularity as a Presidential candidate in 1844, received a -majority less by about six hundred than were given to Abraham Lincoln in -his contest for a seat in Congress. - -So we chronicle one more step in the upward progress of the young -rail-splitter. On the 6th of December, 1847, he took his seat in the -Thirtieth Congress, as a Representative from his adopted State of -Illinois. At the same time his future rival, Stephen A. Douglas, took -his seat in the United States Senate, representing the same State. -Lincoln was the tallest man among the nearly three hundred who sat in -the House. Douglas was the shortest man in the Senate. Both were to -achieve high distinction, and to fill a remarkable place in the history -of their country. To Lincoln distinction came with slower steps, but he -was destined to mount higher and achieve a more enduring fame. Of the -two, Douglas was more of a politician, and he was more ready to -sacrifice principle in the interest of personal ambition. Years later -they were to stump the State as competitors for Senatorial honors in a -memorable canvass, and still later to be rival candidates for the -Presidency. In the first, Douglas secured the election; in the second, -Lincoln. It is to the credit of Douglas that when the last contest was -decided, and his competitor, who had secured the prize for which he had -labored earnestly for years, was about to take his seat, at a time when -the first faint rumblings of the Civil War were being heard, and -well-grounded fears were entertained for the safety of the -President-elect, he laid aside all the bitterness of personal feelings -and disappointed ambition, and rode with his old rival to the capital on -Inauguration Day, content to share any personal risk in which he might -be placed. - -The closing period of the life of Douglas does him great credit. It -shows him in the character of patriot, rather than as politician. In -former years he had been willing to make concessions to the slave power, -in order to further his own chances of the Presidential succession. Now, -when civil war was imminent and the integrity of the Government was -menaced, he forgot the politician and stood side by side with Lincoln -for the preservation of the Government which he had so long served. It -was a source of sincere regret to Abraham Lincoln that Douglas should -have been removed by death so early in the Civil War. It removed from -him a staunch friend and supporter, whose influence was all the greater -because he was perhaps the most prominent member of the opposition. - -I have a personal remembrance of Mr. Douglas, to whom I was introduced -on the occasion of a visit to Massachusetts. Short as he was, he had a -dignified and impressive presence, and his massive figure well entitled -him to the name by which he was so commonly known, “The Little Giant.” -He was not destined to achieve the object of his ambition, but he will -long be remembered as an influential actor in our political history. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -THE FIRST SPEECH IN CONGRESS. - - -The backwoods-boy is now in Congress. He is one of the law-makers of the -nation, and is an equal associate of eminent statesmen gathered from all -parts of the country. - -Let us look about us as we enter the old Hall of Representatives, and -see into what company the backwoods-boy has come. - -In the Speaker’s chair sits a dignified-looking man, an accomplished -parliamentarian, whom friends and opponents alike concede to be amply -competent to discharge the duties of his high place--this is Robert C. -Winthrop, of Massachusetts, living still in a dignified and honored old -age. Among the notable members of this Congress were John Quincy Adams, -who had already been President, but who was willing notwithstanding to -serve his country in an humble place; George Ashmun, also representing -Massachusetts; Jacob Collamer; Alexander H. Stephens, afterward -Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy; Robert Toombs; Andrew -Johnson, afterward associated with Mr. Lincoln as Vice-President, and -upon whose shoulders fell the mantle of his lamented chief; Marsh, -Truman Smith, Wilmot, Rhett, Giddings, and others, whose names were -already conspicuous. This will give some idea of the personnel of the -House; while in the Senate chamber, at the other end of the Capitol, -Webster, Calhoun, Dix, Dickinson, Hale, Crittenden, and Corwin lent -weight and dignity to that co-ordinate legislative branch of the -Government. - -Such were the men with whom the young Western member was to share the -labors of legislation. Time has given to some of them a fame which they -did not then possess. Their successors of our day may, after the lapse -of a generation, bear names as weighty; but I am afraid we shall look in -vain for successors of Webster, Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, A. H. -Stephens, and Crittenden. - -The question will occur to my young readers, What part did Abraham -Lincoln take in the national councils? Was he a cipher, an obscure -member, simply filling his seat and drawing his pay, or did he take an -active part in the business of the session? I will say in answer, that -he was by no means a cipher. Though he did not aspire to be a -leader--for in a new member that would have been in bad taste--he was -always ready to take part when he felt called upon to do so, and his -vote and words were such as he would not in after years have felt it -necessary to recall or apologize for. - -It is interesting to know that he arrayed himself with Mr. Giddings in -favor of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. Mr. Giddings -little suspected that the plain member from Illinois, whose co-operation -he had secured, was to be the instrument under Providence of abolishing -slavery, not only in the District of Columbia, but throughout the land. - -But slavery was not at that time the leading political question of the -day. Parties were divided upon the subject of the Mexican war. While -opposed to the war, Mr. Lincoln was in favor of voting for the necessary -supplies and appropriations, and he took care, in an elaborate speech, -to explain his position. He felt that it was his duty as a citizen and -a patriot to see that the army which had been sent to Mexico should be -properly sustained; but he did not for a moment concede that the war was -just or necessary. As President Polk saw fit to construe such a vote as -a formal approval of his action and of the war, Mr. Lincoln made an -elaborate speech in arraignment of his interpretation. As this was Mr. -Lincoln’s first speech in Congress, I shall make considerable quotations -from it, partly to show where he stood on this important question, and -partly to prove to my readers that he was no novice, but well qualified -for the high position to which he had been elected by the suffrages of -his fellow-citizens. I am quite aware that many of my young readers will -skip this portion as uninteresting; but I hope that if in after years -they are led to read this biography once more, they will count it worth -while to read it. - -After reviewing and controverting the reasons assigned by the President -for the statement that Mexico had invaded our soil, and that therefore -“by the act of the Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that -Government and the United States,” Mr. Lincoln proceeds: - -“I am now through the whole of the President’s evidence; and it is a -singular fact, that if any one should declare the President sent the -army into the midst of a settlement of Mexican people who had never -submitted, by consent or by force, to the authority of Texas or of the -United States, and that _there_ and _thereby_ the first blood of the war -was shed, there is not one word in all the President has said which -would either admit or deny the declaration. In this strange omission -chiefly consists the deception of the President’s evidence--an omission -which it does seem to me could scarcely have occurred but by design. My -way of living leads me to be about the courts of justice; and there I -have sometimes seen a good lawyer struggling for his client’s neck, in a -desperate case, employing every artifice to work round, befog, and cover -up with many words some position pressed upon him by the prosecution, -which he _dared_ not admit and yet _could_ not deny. Party bias may help -to make it appear so; but, with all the allowance I can make for such -bias, it still does appear to me that just such, and from such -necessity, are the President’s struggles in this case. - -“Some time after my colleague (Mr. Richardson) introduced the -resolutions I have mentioned, I introduced a preamble, resolution, and -interrogatories, intended to draw the President out, if possible, on -this hitherto untrodden ground. To show their relevancy, I propose to -state my understanding of the true rule for ascertaining the boundary -between Texas and Mexico. It is that _wherever_ Texas was _exercising_ -jurisdiction was hers; and wherever Mexico was exercising jurisdiction -was hers; and that whatever separated the actual exercise of -jurisdiction of the one from that of the other, was the true boundary -between them. If, as is probably true, Texas was exercising jurisdiction -along the western bank of the Nueces, and Mexico was exercising it along -the eastern bank of the Rio Grande; then neither river was the boundary, -but the uninhabited country between the two was. The extent of our -territory in that region depended not on any treaty-fixed boundary (for -no treaty had attempted it), but on revolution. Any people anywhere, -being inclined and having the power, have the _right_ to rise up and -shake off the existing Government, and form a new one that suits them -better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right--a right which, we -hope and believe, is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined -to cases in which the whole people of an existing Government may choose -to exercise it. Any portion of such people that _can_ may revolutionize -and make their own of so much of the territory as they inhabit. More -than this, a majority of any portion of such people may revolutionize, -putting down a minority, intermingled, or near about them, who may -oppose their movements. Such minority was precisely the case of the -Tories of our own Revolution. It is a quality of revolutions not to go -by old lines or old laws, but to break up both and make new ones. As to -the country now in question, we bought it of France in 1803 and sold it -to Spain in 1819, according to the President’s statement. After this, -all Mexico, including Texas, revolutionized against Spain; and still -later, Texas revolutionized against Mexico. In my view, just so far as -she carried her revolution by obtaining the _actual_, willing or -unwilling, submission of the people, _so far_ the country was hers and -no further. - -“Now, sir, for the purpose of obtaining the very best evidence as to -whether Texas had actually carried her revolution to the place where the -hostilities of the present war commenced, let the President answer the -interrogatories I proposed, as before mentioned, or some other similar -ones. Let him answer fully, fairly, and candidly; let him answer with -_facts_, and not with arguments. Let him remember he sits where -Washington sat; and, so remembering, let him answer as Washington would -answer. As a nation _should_ not, and the Almighty _will_ not be evaded, -so let him attempt no evasion, no equivocation; and if, so answering, he -can show that the soil was ours where the first blood of the war was -shed--that it was not within an inhabited country, or, if within such, -that the inhabitants had submitted themselves to the civil authority of -Texas or of the United States, and that the same is true of the site of -Fort Brown--then I am with him for his justification. In that case, I -shall be most happy to reverse the vote I gave the other day. I have a -selfish notion for desiring that the President may do this; I expect to -give some votes in connection with the war, which, without his so doing, -will be of doubtful propriety, in my own judgment, but which will be -free from the doubt, if he does so. - -“But if he _can not_ or _will not_ do this--if on any pretense, or no -pretense, he shall refuse or omit it--then I shall be fully convinced of -what I more than suspect already, that he is deeply conscious of being -in the wrong; that he feels the blood of this war, like the blood of -Abel, is crying to heaven against him; that he ordered General Taylor -into the midst of a peaceful Mexican settlement, purposely to bring on -war; that originally having some strong motive--what I will not stop now -to give my opinion concerning--to involve the two countries in a war, -and trusting to escape scrutiny by fixing the public gaze upon the -exceeding brightness of military glory--that attractive rainbow that -rises in showers of blood--that serpent’s eye that charms to destroy--he -plunged into it, and has swept _on_ and _on_, till, disappointed in his -calculation of the ease with which Mexico might be subdued, he now finds -himself he knows not where. How like the half-insane mumbling of a fever -dream is the whole war part of the last message! At one time telling us -that Mexico has nothing whatever that we can get but territory; at -another showing us how we can support the war by levying contributions -on Mexico; at one time urging the national honor, the security of the -future, the prevention of foreign interference, and even the good of -Mexico herself, as among the objects of the war; at another, telling us -that ‘to reject indemnity by refusing to accept a cession of territory -would be to abandon all our just demands, and to wage the war, bearing -all its expenses, _without a purpose or definite object_.’ - -“So then, the national honor, security of the future, and everything but -territorial indemnity, may be considered _no purposes_ and _indefinite_ -objects of the war! But having it now settled that territorial indemnity -is the only object, we are urged to seize, by legislation here, all that -he was content to take a few months ago, and the whole province of Lower -California to boot, and to still carry on the war--to take _all_ we are -fighting for, and _still_ fight on. Again the President is resolved, -under all circumstances, to have full territorial indemnity for the -expenses of the war; but he forgets to tell us how we are to get the -_excess_ after those expenses shall have surpassed the value - -[Illustration: THE YOUNG RAIL SPLITTER. Page 57.] - -of the _whole_ of the Mexican territory. So, again, he insists that the -separate national existence of Mexico shall be maintained; but he does -not tell us _how_ this can be done after we shall have taken _all_ her -territory. Lest the questions I here suggest be considered speculative -merely, let me be indulged a moment in trying to show they are not. - -“The war has gone on some twenty months, for the expenses of which, -together with an inconsiderable old score, the President now claims -about one-half of the Mexican territory, and that by far the better -half, so far as concerns our ability to make anything out of it. It is -comparatively uninhabited, so that we could establish land offices in -it, and raise money in that way. But the other half is already -inhabited, as I understand it, tolerably densely for the nature of the -country; and all its lands, or all that are valuable, already -appropriated as private property. How, then, are we to make anything out -of these lands with this incumbrance on them, or how remove the -incumbrance? I suppose no one will say we should kill the people, or -drive them out, or make slaves of them, or even confiscate their -property? How, then, can we make much out of this part of the territory? -If the prosecution of the war has, in expenses, already equalled the -_better_ half of the country, how long its future prosecution will be in -equalling the less valuable half is not a _speculative_ but a -_practical_ question, pressing closely upon us, and yet it is a question -which the President seems never to have thought of. - -“As to the mode of terminating the war and securing peace, the President -is equally wandering and indefinite. First, it is to be done by a more -vigorous prosecution of the war in the vital parts of the enemy’s -country; and, after apparently talking himself tired on this point, the -President drops down into a half-despairing tone, and tells us ‘that, -with a people distracted and divided by contending factions, and a -government subject to constant changes, by successive revolutions, _the -continued success of our arms may fail to obtain a satisfactory peace_.’ -Then he suggests the propriety of wheedling the Mexican people to desert -the counsels of their own leaders, and, trusting in our protection, to -set up a government from which we can obtain a satisfactory peace, -telling us that ‘_this may become the only mode of obtaining such a -peace_.’ But soon he falls into doubt of this too, and then drops back -on to the already abandoned ground of ‘more vigorous prosecution.’ All -this shows that the President is in no wise satisfied with his own -positions. First, he takes up one, and, in attempting to argue us into -it, he argues himself _out_ of it; then seizes another, and goes through -the same process; and then, confused at being able to think of nothing -new, he snatches up the old one again, which he has some time before -cast off. His mind, tasked beyond its power, is running hither and -thither, like some tortured creature on a burning surface, finding no -position on which it can settle down and be at ease. - -“Again, it a singular omission in the message, that it nowhere intimates -_when_ the President expects the war to terminate. At its beginning, -General Scott was, by this same President, driven into disfavor, if not -disgrace, for intimating that peace could not be conquered in less than -three or four months. But now, at the end of about twenty months, during -which time our arms have given us the most splendid successes--every -department and every part, land and water, officers and privateers, -regulars and volunteers, doing all that men could do, and hundreds of -things which it had ever before been thought that men could not do; -after all this, this same President gives us a long message without -showing us that, _as to the end_, he has himself even an imaginary -conception. As I have before said, he knows not where he is. He is a -bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man. God grant he may be -able to show that there is not something about his conscience more -painful than all his mental perplexity?” - -It will be seen that, new as he is to the halls of Congress, Mr. Lincoln -speaks with the freedom, and in the assured tone, of a veteran member. I -have nothing to say as to the sentiments contained in these extracts. I -wished my readers to see what sort of a speech the Illinois Congressman, -trained in the backwoods, and almost absolutely without educational -advantages, was able to make. It will be conceded that the result, all -things considered, is remarkable. When, twelve years later, he was -nominated for the post of Chief Magistrate, it was a fashion among many, -in both political parties, to speak of him as an obscure member of -Congress, who had never attracted any attention during his service in -the House. This was not correct. He took a prominent part in legislation -of all kinds, and made himself acquainted with whatever subjects came up -for consideration. - -It has often been said that fact is stranger than fiction, and I am -tempted to remark that the new Congressman who so boldly criticised -President Polk for his management of the war, was far from dreaming that -he himself would be subject to similar attacks when, as President, the -management of a far more important war devolved upon him. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -MR. LINCOLN’S FAMILY. - - -When Mr. Lincoln’s first Congressional term expired, he declined to be a -candidate for re-election. He was a delegate to the convention that -nominated General Taylor for the Presidency, and did what he could to -bring about his election. He would have preferred Henry Clay, who was -unquestionably far more fit for the position of Chief Magistrate, being -an experienced statesman, while Taylor was only a rough soldier; but -availability then, as now, controlled the choice of conventions, and -Clay was laid aside, failing, like Webster, to reach the Presidency. - -My young readers are aware that President Taylor died about a year after -his inauguration, and was succeeded by Millard Fillmore, the -Vice-President. Mr. Fillmore offered Lincoln the position of Governor of -Oregon, then a Territory. The offer was considered, and might have been -accepted but for the opposition of Mrs. Lincoln, who naturally objected -to going so far from home and friends. So, for the time, Mr. Lincoln -retired from politics, though he by no means ceased to feel an interest -in the state of the country. He, like other sagacious statesmen, saw -that slavery was to be the rock in the way of national harmony, and we -are told by Mr. Lamon, that when coming home to Springfield from the -Fremont Court in company with Mr. Stuart, he said: “The time will come -when we must all be Democrats or Abolitionists. When that time comes my -mind is made up. The slavery question can’t be compromised.” - -About this time his father, who had lived to see the first political -success of his son, was drawing near the end of his life. His latter -years had been made comfortable by the pecuniary help freely tendered by -his son, who gave, but not out of his abundance. Anxious that his father -should have every comfort which his case required, he wrote the -following letter, which I quote, because it illustrates not only his -solicitude for his family, but also exhibits his faith in his Maker: - -“Springfield, _January_ 12, 1851. - - “Dear Brother--On the day before yesterday I received a letter from - Harriet, written at Greenup. She says she has just returned from - your house, and that father is very low, and will hardly recover. - She also says that you have written me two letters, and, although I - have not answered them, it is not because I have forgotten them, or - not been interested about them, but because it appeared to me I - could write nothing which could do any good. You already know that - I desire that neither father nor mother shall be in want of any - comfort, either in health or sickness, while they live; and I feel - sure you have not failed to use my name, if necessary, to procure a - doctor or anything else for father in his present sickness. My - business is such that I could hardly leave home now, if it were - not, as it is, that my own wife is sick-a-bed. - - “I sincerely hope father may yet recover his health; but, at all - events, tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our great - and good and merciful Maker, who will not turn away from him in any - extremity. He notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of - our heads; and He will not forget the dying man who puts his trust - in him. Say to him that, if we could meet now, it is doubtful - whether it would not be more painful than pleasant, but that, if it - be his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyous meeting with loved - ones gone before, and where the rest of us, through the help of - God, hope ere long to join him. - - “Write me again when you receive this. - -“Affectionately, - -“A. Lincoln.” - - - -The money expended for his father and mother we may be sure that Mr. -Lincoln gave cheerfully, and I should have a very poor opinion of him if -it were otherwise; but he was also called upon to assist another member -of the family who was far less deserving. His step-brother, John -Johnston, was a rolling-stone, idle, shiftless, and always hard up. I am -going to quote here the greater part of a letter written to this -step-brother, because it contains some very practical advice, which most -of my young readers will not need, but it may fall under the eye of some -one who will be benefited by it. It appears that John had made -application for a loan of eighty dollars. Mr. Lincoln writes: - -“Your request for eighty dollars I do not think it best to comply with -now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said -to me, ‘We can get along very well now’; but in a very short time I find -you in the same difficulty again. Now this can only happen by some -defect in your conduct; what that defect is, I think I know. You are not -_lazy_, and still you are an _idler_. I doubt whether, since I saw you, -you have done a good whole day’s work in any one day. You do not very -much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it -does not seem to you that you could get much for it. This habit of -uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty; and it is vastly -important to you, and still more so to your children, that you should -break the habit. It is more important to them because they have longer -to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it easier -than they can get out after they are in. - -“You are now in need of some money; and what I propose is, that you -should go to work ‘tooth and nail’ for somebody who will give you money -for it. Let father and your boys take charge of things at home, prepare -for a crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best money, -wages, or in discharge of any debt you owe, that you can get; and, to -secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you that, for -every dollar you will, between this and the first of next May, get for -your own labor, either in money or your own indebtedness, I will then -give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars -a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month -for your work. In this I do not mean you shall go off to St. Louis, or -the lead mines, or the gold mines in California; but I mean for you to -go at it for the best wages you can get close to home, in Coles County. -Now, if you will do this, you will be soon out of debt, and, what is -better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting into debt -again. But, if I should now clear you out of debt, next year you would -be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in -heaven for seventy or eighty dollars. Then you value your place in -heaven very cheap; for I am sure you can, with the offer I make, get -the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months’ work. You say, if -I will furnish you the money, you will deed me the land, and, if you -don’t pay me the money back, you will deliver possession. Nonsense! If -you can’t now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You -have always been kind to me, and I do not mean to be unkind to you. On -the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth -more than eighty times eighty dollars to you.” - -This was certainly excellent advice, and the offer was a kind and -generous one. But it does not seem to have convinced the one who -received it, for we find him nursing plans of emigration. Shiftless -people are very apt to think they can earn a living away from home -better than at home. But the trouble is in themselves, not in their -surroundings. Abraham Lincoln finds it necessary, under date of November -4, 1851, to combat this fancy of his step-brother. I shall not apologize -for copying a second letter, and I hope all my young readers will -carefully read and consider it. - -“When I came into Charleston day before yesterday, I learned that you -are anxious to sell the land where you live, and move to Missouri. I -have been thinking of this ever since, and can not but think such a -notion is utterly foolish. What can you do in Missouri better than here? -Is the land any richer? Can you there, any more than here, raise corn -and wheat and oats without work? Will anybody there, any more than here, -do your work for you? If you intend to go to work, there is no better -place than right where you are; if you do not intend to go to work you -can not get along anywhere. - -“Squirming and crawling about from place to place can do no good. You -have raised no crop this year; and what you really want is to sell the -land, get the money, and spend it. Part with the land you have, and my -life upon it, you will never after own a spot big enough to bury you in. -Half you will get for the land you will spend in moving to Missouri, and -the other half you will eat and drink and wear out, and no foot of land -will be bought. Now, I feel it is my duty to have no hand in such a -piece of foolery. I feel that it is so even on your own account, and -particularly on mother’s account. The eastern forty acres I intend to -keep for mother while she lives; if you _will not cultivate it_, it will -rent for enough to support her; at least it will rent for something. Her -dower in the other two forties she can let you have, and no thanks to -me. Now, do not misunderstand this letter; I do not write it in any -unkindness--I write it, in order, if possible, to get you to _face_ the -truth, which truth is, you are destitute because you have idled away all -your time. Your thousand pretences for not getting along better are all -nonsense: they deceive nobody but yourself. _Go to work_ is the only -cure in your case.” - -Nothing can be plainer, or more in accordance with common sense than -this advice. Though it was written for the benefit of one person only, I -feel that I am doing my young, and possibly some older, readers a -service in transferring it to my pages, and commending them to heed it. -In my own experience, which is by no means exceptional, I have known -many who have been willing to move anywhere, and make any change, for -the chance of earning a living more easily. About thirty years ago, a -great wave of emigration flowed toward the far Pacific, and men of all -callings and professions, including not a few college graduates, put on -the miner’s humble garb and delved for gold among the mountains and by -the river-courses of California. Some came back rich, but in many cases -had they been willing to work as hard and live as frugally at the East, -they would have fared as well. In this case, perhaps, it was as well to -remove where the incentives to work overcame their natural indolence, -and awakened their ambition. - -In this country, fortunately, there are few places where an industrious -man can not get a living, if he is willing to accept such work as falls -in his way. This willingness often turns the scale, and converts -threatening ruin into prosperity and success. Some years since, I made -one of the passengers in a small steamer on Puget Sound. My attention -was drawn to a young man, apparently about twenty, who was accompanied -by his wife and two young children. They were emigrating from Indiana, I -believe. He was evidently an industrious man, and his brown face and -hands spoke of labor in the field, and under the summer sun. I entered -into conversation, and my new acquaintance told me with perfect -cheerfulness that when he arrived at Seattle, he would have just ten -dollars left, to keep himself and family till he could secure work. - -“How should I feel,” I could not help asking myself, “if I were placed -in similar circumstances, though I had myself only to provide for?” - -Yet the young man appeared quite undisturbed. He had faith in himself, -and in Providence, and borrowed no trouble. I have no doubt he found -something to do before his money gave out. He was not one of that -shiftless and restless class to whom it is very clear Mr. Lincoln’s -step-brother belonged. Such men thrive in a new country, and make a -living anywhere. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN. - - -Mr. Lincoln had served a term in the House of Representatives with -credit to himself and profit to the country. He was regarded as a rising -man, and every year made him more prominent. It is not strange that his -ambition should have coveted a seat in the Senate. In 1855 he was a -candidate before the Legislature to succeed General Shields, but, -failing to get the required number of votes, he counselled his friends -to vote for Judge Trumbull, who was elected. It was a personal -disappointment, for he wished to be Senator, but in the end it proved to -his advantage. A seat in the Senate would have stood in the way of his -later triumph, and some one else in all probability would have been -nominated and elected President of the United States in 1860. - -I have already spoken of Mr. Lincoln’s opposition to slavery. He was -not an extreme man, and he was never classed with the Abolitionists--that -intrepid band who worked early and late, and for years almost without -hope, against the colossal system of wrong whose life seemed so entwined -with the life of the republic that it looked as if both must fall -together. Abraham Lincoln moved slowly. He was not an impulsive man, but -took time to form a determination. Even in the war there were many who -blamed him for what appeared to be his slowness, but after a while they -were led to see that if slow he was sure, and struck only when the time -had come. - -The ten years before the war were years of political commotion. The -“irrepressible conflict” between slavery and the spirit of freedom had -commenced, and Abraham Lincoln arrayed himself among the champions of -freedom. There was a desperate struggle to introduce slavery into the -Territories, so that in course of time more slave States might be added -to the Union, and thus the slave system might be strengthened and -continue to retain the political ascendency it had possessed for years. -The rapid growth of the free Northwest alarmed the slave power, and a -counterpoise was required. Northern statesmen who cherished an ambition -to be President had notice served upon them that they must help the -slave power or forfeit its support. Among those who weakly yielded to -this arrogant demand was Stephen A. Douglas. He favored the principle of -“squatter sovereignty,” permitting the inhabitants of any Territory to -establish slavery within its limits if so disposed. In the year 1854, -Mr. Lincoln, in a public debate with Mr. Douglas held at Springfield at -the State fair, used this significant language: - -“My distinguished friend says it is an insult to the emigrants to Kansas -and Nebraska to suppose they are not able to govern themselves. We must -not slur over an argument of this kind because it tickles the ear. It -must be met and answered. I admit that the emigrant to Kansas and -Nebraska is able to govern _himself_, but,” the speaker rising to his -full height, “_I deny his right to govern any other person_ WITHOUT THAT -PERSON’S CONSENT.” - -This was but a preliminary skirmish. Four years later came the memorable -series of debates between Lincoln and Douglas, each being the nominee -of his party for the United States Senate. The platform on which Lincoln -stood contained two significant planks, and these furnished the key-note -for the speeches called forth by the campaign. I quote them both, and I -hope that my young friends will not skip them. - -“3. The present administration has proved recreant to the trusts -committed to its hands, and by its extraordinary, corrupt, unjust, and -undignified exertions, to give effect to the original intention and -purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, by forcing upon the people of -Kansas against their will, and in defiance of their known and -earnestly-expressed wishes, a constitution recognizing slavery as one of -their domestic institutions, it has forfeited all claim to the support -of the friends of free men, free labor, and free rights.” - -“5. While we deprecate all interference on the part of political -organizations with the action of the Judiciary, if such action is -limited to its appropriate sphere, yet we can not refrain from -expressing our condemnation of the principles and tendencies of the -extra judicial opinions of a majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court -of the United States in the matter of Dred Scott, wherein the political -heresy is put forth that the Federal Constitution extends slavery into -all the Territories of the republic, and so maintains it that neither -Congress nor people, through their territorial legislature, can by law -abolish it. We hold that Congress possesses sovereign power over the -Territories while they remain in a territorial condition, and that it is -the duty of the General Government to protect the Territories from the -curse of slavery, and to preserve the public domain for the occupation -of free men and free labor. And we declare that no power on earth can -carry and maintain slavery in the States against the will of the people -and the provisions of their constitutions and laws; and we fully endorse -the recent decision of the Supreme Court of our own State which declares -‘that property in persons is repugnant to the Constitution and laws of -Illinois, and that all persons within its jurisdiction are supposed to -be free; and that slavery, where it exists, is a municipal regulation -without any extra territorial operation.’” - -With the other points of difference we are not concerned. Whether -slavery should or should not be allowed to extend its blight over the -virgin soil of the new Territories, and thus make its final extinction -well-nigh impossible: that was the all-important issue, and not Illinois -alone, but the country at large, was profoundly interested in the -arguments of the two contestants. - -Which was likely to win? - -It might have been supposed at the outset that Lincoln would find -himself overmatched. He was hardly known outside his own State, though -he had served two years in Congress. Douglas was a statesman of national -reputation. For fifteen years he had been in the thick of the conflict. -He was a recognized leader of his party, and already he was looked upon -as a probable President at no distant period. In scholastic training he -was far ahead of Mr. Lincoln. He was a forcible speaker, an adroit and -experienced politician, and his recognized position lent a certain -weight to his words which his opponent could not claim. - -But, admitting all this, Mr. Douglas found himself confronted by no -inferior antagonist. Abraham Lincoln had a strong logical mind, quick to -detect sophistry and bold to expose it. He had a fine command of -language, a clear and pleasant voice, and a power of sarcasm which he -used with powerful execution at times. This is the way in which an -intelligent correspondent speaks of his speech at Galesburg: - -“For about forty minutes he spoke with a power which we have seldom -heard equalled. There was a grandeur in his thoughts, a -comprehensiveness in his arguments, and a binding force in his -conclusions, which were perfectly irresistible. The vast throng was -silent as death, every eye was fixed upon the speaker, and all gave him -serious attention. He was the tall man eloquent; his countenance glowed -with animation, and his eye glistened with an intelligence that made it -lustrous. He was no longer awkward and ungainly; but graceful, bold, and -commanding. - -“Mr. Douglas had been quietly smoking up to this time, but here he -forgot his cigar and listened with anxious attention. When he rose to -reply he appeared excited, disturbed, and his second effort seemed to us -vastly inferior to his first. Mr. Lincoln had given him a great task, -and Mr. Douglas had not time to answer him, even if he had the ability.” - -Yet there were many points of resemblance between the two contestants. -Both had been cradled in poverty, and had fought their way upward from -obscurity to distinction. Douglas had climbed the higher, but the -topmost round of the ladder on which he had for some time fixed longing -eyes, he was destined never to mount. He had sacrificed much to reach -the crowning distinction, but it was not for him. His awkward, -ungraceful opponent, obscure in comparison with him, was destined to -stride past him and sit in the coveted seat of power. But the smaller -prize--the Senatorship--was won by Douglas, though Lincoln carried the -popular vote. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -THE TWO GIANTS. - - -If I were writing a complete and exhaustive biography of Mr. Lincoln, I -should be tempted to quote freely from the speeches made by both -contestants in the memorable campaign which made Douglas a Senator, and -his opponent the next President of the United States. But neither my -space, nor the scope of my book, allows this. I will, however, quote, as -likely to be of general interest, the personal description of Lincoln -given by his distinguished rival: - -“In the remarks I have made on this platform,” said Judge Douglas, “and -the position of Mr. Lincoln upon it, I mean nothing personally -disrespectful or unkind to that gentleman. I have known him for nearly -twenty-five years. There were many points of sympathy between us when we -first got acquainted. We were both comparatively boys, and both -struggling with poverty in a strange land. I was a school-teacher in the -town of Winchester, and he a flourishing grocery-keeper in the town of -Salem. He was more successful in his occupation than I was in mine, and -hence more fortunate in this world’s goods. Lincoln is one of those -peculiar men who perform with admirable skill everything which they -undertake. I made as good a school-teacher as I could, and when a -cabinet-maker I made a good bedstead and tables, although my old boss -said I succeeded better with bureaus and secretaries than with anything -else; but I believe that Lincoln was always more successful in business -than I, for his business enabled him to get into the Legislature. I met -him there, however, and had a sympathy with him, because of the up-hill -struggle we both had in life. - -“He was then just as good at telling an anecdote as now. He could beat -any of the boys in wrestling, or running a foot-race, in pitching -quoits, or tossing a copper; could ruin more liquor than all the boys of -the town together, and the dignity and impartiality with which he -presided at a horse-race or a fist-fight, excited the admiration and -won the praise of everybody that was present and participated. I -sympathized with him because he was struggling with difficulties and so -was I. Mr. Lincoln served with me in the Legislature in 1836, when we -both retired, and he subsided, or became submerged, and he was lost -sight of as a public man for some years. In 1846, when Wilmot introduced -the celebrated proviso, and the Abolition tornado swept over the -country, Lincoln again turned up as a Member of Congress from the -Sangamon district. I was then in the Senate of the United States, and -was glad to welcome my old friend and companion. While in Congress, he -distinguished himself by his opposition to the Mexican war, taking the -side of our common enemy against his own country; and when he returned -home he found that the indignation of the people followed him -everywhere, and he was again submerged, or obliged to retire into -private life, forgotten by his former friends.” - -This sketch of Mr. Lincoln, though apparently friendly, was artfully -calculated to stir up prejudice against him, and the backwoods statesman -was not willing to leave it unanswered. Generally he was quite well -able to take care of himself, and did not fail in the present instance. - -This is his reply: - -“The Judge is wofully at fault about his early friend Lincoln being a -grocery-keeper. I don’t know as it would be a great sin if I had been; -but he is mistaken. Lincoln never kept a grocery anywhere in the world. -It is true that Lincoln did work the latter part of one winter in a -little still-house up at the head of a hollow. And so I think my friend, -the Judge, is equally at fault when he charges me at the time when I was -in Congress with having opposed our soldiers who were fighting in the -Mexican war. The Judge did not make his charge very distinctly, but I -can tell you what he can prove by referring to the record. You remember -I was an old Whig, and whenever the Democratic party tried to get me to -vote that the war had been righteously begun by the President, I would -not do it. But whenever they asked for any money, or land-warrants, or -anything to pay the soldiers there, during all that time I gave the same -vote that Judge Douglas did. You can think as you please as to whether -that was consistent. Such is the truth; and the Judge has a right to -make all he can out of it. But when he, by a general charge, conveys the -idea that I withheld supplies from the soldiers who were fighting in the -Mexican war, or did anything else to hinder the soldiers, he is, to say -the least, grossly and altogether mistaken, as a consultation of the -records will prove to him.” - -Not content with defending himself, Mr. Lincoln essayed on his side to -contrast his opponent and himself, and, like him, he indulged in -personal reminiscences. - -“Twenty-two years ago Judge Douglas and I first became acquainted; we -were both young then--he a trifle younger than I. Even then we were both -ambitious,--I perhaps quite as much so as he. With me the race of -ambition has been a failure,--a flat failure; with him it has been one -of splendid success. His name fills the nation, and is not unknown even -in foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has -reached,--so reached that the oppressed of my species might have shared -with me in the elevation. I would rather stand on that eminence than -wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch’s brow.” - -In another connection Mr. Lincoln says: “Senator Douglas is of -world-wide renown. All the anxious politicians of his party, or who had -been of his party for years past, have been looking upon him as -certainly, at no distant day, to be the President of the United States. -They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful face, post-offices, -land-offices, marshalships, and cabinet appointments, chargéships and -foreign missions, bursting and sprouting out in wonderful exuberance, -ready to be laid hold of by their greedy hands. And as they have been -gazing upon this attractive picture so long, they can not, in the little -distraction that has taken place in the party, bring themselves to give -up the charming hope; but, with greedier anxiety, they rush about him, -sustain him, and give him marches, triumphal entries, and receptions, -beyond what, even in the days of his highest prosperity, they could have -brought about in his favor. On the contrary, nobody has ever expected me -to be President. In _my_ poor, lean, lank face nobody has ever seen that -any cabbages were sprouting out. There are disadvantages, all taken -together, that the Republicans labor under. We have to fight this battle -upon principle, and upon principle alone.” - -It may be said, in summing up, that Mr. Lincoln proved himself to be -fully a match for Judge Douglas in this memorable campaign. I may go -further and say that he overmatched him, for he adroitly propounded -questions which his opponent was compelled to answer, and did answer in -a way that killed him as a Presidential candidate. Though he ran in -1860, it was as an independent candidate. He had failed to retain the -full confidence of his party, and could not secure the regular -nomination. Indeed, he contributed indirectly to Lincoln’s election, by -dividing his own party, so that Mr. Lincoln became President, though -receiving considerably less than one-half of the popular vote. It is -obvious that Mr. Lincoln, who admits, as we have seen, that he was quite -as ambitious as Douglas, was looking farther than the Senatorship. Yet -he was personally disappointed when the majority in the Legislature -proved to be for Douglas, and secured the election of the latter. He -expressed this in his usual quaint way when some one asked him how he -felt. He said, “that he felt like the boy that stubbed his toe,--it hurt -too bad to laugh, and he was too big to cry.” - -It is probable that Abraham Lincoln, though he says no one had ever -expected him to be President, was not without Presidential aspirations. -He thought no doubt that an election as Senator would help his chances, -and that the Senatorial position would prove a stepping-stone. Even the -shrewdest, however, are liable to make mistakes, and we are led to -believe that Mr. Lincoln was mistaken in this instance. If he had -triumphed over Douglas in 1858, it is more than likely that by some word -or act as Senator he would have aroused prejudices that would have made -him unavailable in 1860, and the nation would never have discovered the -leader who, under Providence, led it out of the wilderness, and -conducted it to peace and freedom. I do not want to moralize overmuch, -but can not help saying to my readers that in the lives of all there are -present disappointments that lead to ultimate success and prosperity. It -would not be hard to adduce convincing proofs. Washington and Garfield -both desired to go to sea when they were boys. Had their wishes been -gratified their after-careers might have been very different. Cromwell -had made all arrangements to sail for America when still obscure. He -was prevented, and remained in his own country to control its destiny, -and take a position at the head of affairs. Remember this when your -cherished plans are defeated. There is a higher wisdom than ours that -shapes and directs our lives. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -ILLINOIS DECLARES FOR THE RAIL-SPLITTER. - - -Henceforth Abraham Lincoln was a marked man. He had sprung into national -prominence. Limited as had been his tenure of office--including only two -years in the lower house of Congress--it is remarkable how suddenly he -came to be recognized as a leader. But at the East he was known only by -reputation. This was soon remedied. He received an invitation to lecture -in New York, or rather in Mr. Beecher’s church in Brooklyn. He was well -pleased to accept, but stipulated that he should be permitted to speak -on a political subject. When he reached New York, he found that a change -had been made in the place where he was to speak, and the Cooper -Institute, where at intervals nearly every eminent man in the country -has been heard, had been engaged for his début. - -It was not without a feeling of modest shyness that he surveyed the -immense audience gathered to hear him, and he was surprised to see the -most cultivated citizens of the great metropolis upon the platform. -Among them was William Cullen Bryant, who was president of the meeting, -and in that capacity introduced him as “an eminent citizen of the West, -hitherto known to you only by reputation.” - -Mr. Lincoln commenced his address in low tones, but his voice became -louder and his manner more confident as he proceeded. His speech was an -elaborate argument to prove that the original framers of the American -Government intended that the Federal Government should exercise absolute -control of the Federal territories, so far as the subject of slavery was -concerned, and had never surrendered this high privilege to local -legislation. This he established by incontrovertible proof, and in so -doing quite upset Senator Douglas’ theory of Squatter Sovereignty. -Incidentally he vindicated the right of the Republican party to exist. - -I have not room to quote from this remarkable speech. I am afraid I have -already introduced more extracts from speeches than my young readers -will enjoy. They are necessary, however, if we would understand what -were the views of Mr. Lincoln, and what made him President. - -The next day Mr. Lincoln’s speech was printed in full in two prominent -papers--the _Tribune_ and the _Evening Post_, accompanied by comments of -the most favorable character. The first was edited by Horace Greeley, -the latter by the poet Bryant, who was nearly as conspicuous a -politician as a poet. “No man ever before made such an impression on his -first appeal to a New York audience,” said the _Tribune_. - -Robert Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln’s oldest son, was a student at Harvard, and -his father travelled into New England to visit him. He was besieged by -applications to speak at Republican meetings, and accepted a few -invitations, being everywhere cordially received. This visit no doubt -bore fruit, and drew many voters to his standard, when he had been -formally presented to the country as a candidate for the Presidency. -That my readers may learn how he spoke, and how he appeared, I quote -from the Manchester (N. H.) _Mirror_, an independent paper: - -“He spoke an hour and a half with great fairness, great apparent candor, -and with wonderful interest. He did not abuse the South, the -administration, or the Democrats, or indulge in any personalities, with -the exception of a few hits at Douglas’ notions. He is far from -prepossessing in personal appearance, and his voice is disagreeable; and -yet he wins your attention and good-will from the start. He indulges in -no flowers of rhetoric, no eloquent passages. He is not a wit, a -humorist, or a clown; yet so great a vein of pleasantry and good-nature -pervades what he says, gilding over a deep current of practical argument -he keeps his hearers in a smiling mood, with their mouths open ready to -swallow all he says. His sense of the ludicrous is very keen; and an -exhibition of that is the clincher of all his arguments,--not the -ludicrous acts of persons, but ludicrous ideas. Hence he is never -offensive, and steals away willingly into his train of belief persons -who were opposed to him. For the first half hour his opponents would -agree with everything he uttered; and from that point he began to lead -them off little by little, until it seemed as if he had got them all -into his fold. He displays more shrewdness, more knowledge of the -masses of mankind, than any public speaker we have heard since Long Jim -Wilson left for California.” - -On the day succeeding his speech in Norwich, he met in the cars a -clergyman named Gulliver, who sought his acquaintance. - -“Mr. Lincoln,” he said, “I thought your speech last evening the most -remarkable I ever heard.” - -“You do not mean this?” said Mr. Lincoln, incredulously. - -“Indeed, sir,” said Gulliver, “I learned more of the art of public -speaking last evening than I could from a whole course of lectures on -rhetoric.” - -Mr. Lincoln was puzzled, for he was not a man to accept extravagant -compliments. - -“I should like very much to know what it was in my speech which you -thought so remarkable,” he said. - -“The clearness of your statements,” answered Gulliver, “the unanswerable -style of your reasoning, and especially your illustrations, which were -romance and pathos, and fun and logic, all welded together.” - -“I am much obliged to you for this,” said Mr. Lincoln. “I have been -wishing for a long time to find some one who would make this analysis -for me. It throws light on a subject which has been dark to me. I can -understand very readily how such a power as you have ascribed to me will -account for the effect which seems to be produced by my speeches. I hope -you have not been too flattering in your estimate. Certainly I have had -a most wonderful success for a man of my limited education.” - -“Mr. Lincoln, may I say one thing to you before we separate?” asked Mr. -Gulliver later. - -“Certainly; anything you please.” - -“You have spoken of the tendency of political life in Washington to -debase the moral convictions of our representatives there, by the -admixture of considerations of mere political expediency. You have -become, by the controversy with Mr. Douglas, one of our leaders in this -great struggle with slavery, which is undoubtedly _the_ struggle of the -nation and the age. What I would like to say is this, and I say it with -a full heart: _Be true to your principles, and we will be true to you, -and God will be true to us all!_” - -“I say amen to that! amen to that!” answered Mr. Lincoln, taking his -hand in both his own, while his face lighted up sympathetically. - -I may as well mention here the first public occasion on which Mr. -Lincoln’s name was mentioned for the Presidency. - -On the 9th and 10th of May the Republican State Convention met at -Decatur. Mr. Lincoln was present as a spectator, but he attracted the -attention of Gov. Oglesby, who rose, and said: “I am informed that a -distinguished citizen of Illinois, and one whom Illinois will ever -delight to honor, is present; and I wish to move that this body invite -him to a seat on the stand.” - -Public interest and curiosity were aroused. Who was this distinguished -citizen? - -The Governor paused a moment, and then uttered the name of Abraham -Lincoln. - -Instantly there was a roar of applause, there was a rush to where the -astonished Lincoln sat, he was seized, and the crowd being too dense to -press through, he was literally passed over the heads and shoulders of -the great throng until breathless he found himself on the platform. -Willing or unwilling he was literally for the time being “in the hands -of his friends.” - -Later on Gov. Oglesby rose once more and said: “There is an old Democrat -outside who has something which he wishes to present to the Convention.” - -“What is it?” “What is it?” “Receive it!” shouts the crowd. - -The door of the wigwam opens, and an old man, bluff and hearty, comes -forward, bearing on his shoulder two small rails, surmounted by a -banner, with this inscription:-- - -TWO RAILS - - From a lot made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks, in the Sangamon - Bottom, in the year 1830. - -This old man was John Hanks himself! His entrance was greeted with -tumultuous applause. - -“Lincoln! Lincoln! A speech!” shouts the crowd. - -Mr. Lincoln seemed amused. He rose at length and said: - -“Gentlemen, I suppose you want to know something about those things,” -(the rails). “Well, the truth is, John Hanks and I did make rails in -the Sangamon Bottom. I don’t know whether we made those rails or not; -fact is, I don’t think they are a credit to the makers,” (laughing as he -spoke). “But I do know this: I made rails then, and I think I could make -better ones than these now.” - -Before the Convention dissolved, a resolution was passed, declaring that -“Abraham Lincoln is the first choice of the Republican party of Illinois -for the Presidency, and instructing the delegates to the Chicago -Convention to use all honorable means to secure his nomination, and to -cast the vote of the State as a unit for him.” - -So Abraham Lincoln, “the rail-splitter,” as he was familiarly called, -was fairly in the field as a candidate for the highest office in the -gift of the nation. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT. - - -On the 16th of May the Republican Convention assembled in Chicago. -Considered with reference to its outcome, no more important convention -had assembled since the organization of the Government. Though this -could not be realized at the time, its deliberations were followed with -great interest all over the country. The opponents of the slave power -were, for the first time, to make a formidable effort to prevent its -extension and indefinite perpetuation. - -Of course, there had been more or less electioneering in advance. Half a -dozen candidates were in the field; but there were two who were -recognized as leading in strength and popularity. These were William H. -Seward and Abraham Lincoln. The former, in length and variety of public -service, in general culture, and national reputation, was far superior. -It was felt that he would make an admirable candidate, and that he -deserved the nomination; but there were many who were strongly opposed -to him. Three important States--Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and -Indiana--declared that, as against Douglas, they could do nothing if -Seward were the nominee. Illinois, of course, was for Lincoln, and this -giant of the Western prairies enjoyed a popularity which his more -experienced competitor could not boast. Yet for the first two days -Seward’s chances seemed the better of the two. The other candidates -whose names were presented to the Convention were Mr. Dayton, of New -Jersey; Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania; Edward Bates, of Missouri; and -Ohio offered two distinguished sons--Salmon P. Chase and John McLean. - -On the first and second ballots Mr. Seward led; but, on the third, Mr. -Lincoln lacked but a vote and a half of the number necessary to make him -the nominee. An Ohio delegate rose and changed four votes from Chase to -Lincoln. This was sufficient. He was nominated. The vast building shook -with the cheers of the dense throng. State after State changed its vote -to the man of destiny, and his nomination was made unanimous. In the -afternoon, Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for Vice-President. - -Meanwhile Mr. Lincoln was in Springfield, bearing the suspense as well -as he could. My boy readers will be interested to know that he spent a -considerable part of his time in playing baseball, his mind being too -preoccupied to do his ordinary work. Dispatches were received from time -to time, but nothing decisive. - -Mr. Lincoln and some of his friends were waiting in the office of the -_Journal_ when the local editor rushed in, in a fever of excitement. - -“What’s the news?” was the breathless inquiry. - -“The Convention has made a nomination,” he said, “and Mr. Seward----” - -A look of intense disappointment was beginning to show itself on the -faces of the listeners. They supposed that Seward was nominated. - -“And Seward is--the second man on the list,” continued the editor. - -He could no longer restrain himself. Jumping on the editorial table, he -shouted, “Gentlemen, I propose three cheers for Abraham Lincoln, the -next President of the United States.” - -The cheers were given with a will. - -The dispatch was handed to Mr. Lincoln, who read it quietly. - -Then he put it in his pocket, saying, “There is a little woman on Eighth -Street who will be interested to hear this,” and he walked home. - -In Springfield the news excited the greatest enthusiasm. All knew and -loved Abraham Lincoln. He set himself above no one, but greeted all with -cordial kindness. The nomination was felt to be a personal compliment to -Springfield. The country had come to them for a President, and to the -man above all others whom they would personally have selected. - -That day Mr. Lincoln had to keep open house. His modest residence proved -quite too small to contain the crowds who wanted to enter and shake -hands with the man who had become so suddenly of national importance. -They received a cordial welcome; and no one could detect in the nominee -any unusual elation nor any deviation from his usual plain and modest -deportment. - -The next day Mr. Lincoln was formally notified of his election by a -Committee of the Convention, with Mr. Ashmun at the head. This was his -response: - -“Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee:--I tender to you, and -through you to the Republican National Convention, and all the people -represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high honor done me, -which you now formally announce. Deeply and even painfully sensible of -the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor--a -responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the -far more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names -were before the Convention, I shall, by your leave, consider more fully -the resolutions of the Convention, denominated the platform, and, -without unnecessary and unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. -Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be found -satisfactory, and the nomination gratefully accepted. And now I will not -longer defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand.” - -Let us consider who were Mr. Lincoln’s rivals in the Presidential race. -Usually there are but two tickets in the field. This time there were -four. First in order of time had come the National Constitutional Union -Convention, made up largely of old Whigs. At this Convention John Bell, -of Tennessee, was nominated for President, and Edward Everett, of -Massachusetts, for Vice-President. The Democratic National Convention -had met at Charleston, but adjourned without deciding upon a candidate. -Mr. Douglas was the most prominent man before it, but extreme -Southerners doubted his entire devotion to slavery, and he was unable to -obtain the necessary two-thirds vote. The two factions into which the -Convention split afterward met: the one at Baltimore, the other at -Richmond. At the Baltimore Convention Stephen A. Douglas was nominated -for President, and Mr. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice-President. At the -Richmond Convention of Southern seceders, John C. Breckinridge, of -Kentucky, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, were selected as standard-bearers. - -In this division of the Democracy lay the hope of the new Republican -party. With the Democracy united they would have been unable to cope; -but they were stronger than either faction. When the eventful 6th of -November arrived, the result was what might have been anticipated. -Abraham Lincoln, the poor boy whose fortunes we have so long followed, -reached the highest step of political preferment. He received 1,857,610 -votes; Mr. Douglas came next, with 1,291,574; while Mr. Breckinridge -could muster only 850,082; Mr. Bell secured 646,124. Of the electoral -votes, however, Mr. Lincoln received a majority, namely, 180 out of 292. - -To go back a little. From the day of Mr. Lincoln’s nomination he was -beset by callers--some drawn by curiosity, and many by considerations of -private interest. They found him the same unaffected, plain man that he -had always been. He even answered the door-bell himself, and personally -ushered visitors in and out. My readers will be interested in two -anecdotes of this time, which I transcribe from the interesting volume -of Dr. Holland, already more than once referred to: - -“Mr. Lincoln being seated in conversation with a gentleman one day, two -raw, plainly-dressed young ‘Suckers’ entered the room and bashfully -lingered near the door. As soon as he observed them and apprehended -their embarrassment, he rose and walked to them, saying, ‘How do you do, -my good fellows? What can I do for you? Will you sit down?’ - -“The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of the two, declined to sit, and -explained the object of the call thus: he had had a talk about the -relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his companion, and had asserted his -belief that they were of exactly the same height. He had come in to -verify his judgment. Mr. Lincoln smiled, went and got his cane, and, -placing the end of it upon the wall, said, ‘Here, young man, come under -here.’ - -“The young man came under the cane, as Mr. Lincoln held it, and when it -was perfectly adjusted to his height, Mr. Lincoln said, ‘Now come out, -and hold up the cane.’ This he did, while Mr. Lincoln stepped under. -Rubbing his head back and forth to see that it worked easily under the -measurement, he stepped out, and declared to the sagacious fellow who -was curiously looking on, that he had guessed with remarkable -accuracy--that he and the young man were exactly of the same height. -Then he shook hands with them, and sent them on their way. Mr. Lincoln -would just as soon have thought of cutting off his right hand as he -would have thought of turning those boys away with the impression that -they had in any way insulted his dignity. - -“They had hardly disappeared when an old and modestly-dressed woman made -her appearance. She knew Mr. Lincoln, but Mr Lincoln did not at first -recognize her. Then she undertook to recall to his memory certain -incidents connected with his ride upon the Circuit--especially upon his -dining at her house upon the road at different times. Then he remembered -her and her home. Having fixed her own place in her recollection, she -tried to recall to him a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he -once ate at her house. He could not remember it; on the contrary, he -only remembered that he had always fared well at her house. ‘Well,’ said -she, ‘one day you came along after we had got through dinner, and we had -eaten up everything, and I could give you nothing but a bowl of bread -and milk; and you ate it; and when you got up you said it was good -enough for the President of the United States.’ The good old woman, -remembering the remark, had come in from the country, making a journey -of eight or ten miles, to relate to Mr. Lincoln this incident, which, in -her mind, had doubtless taken the form of prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed -the honest creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and -dismissed her in the most happy and complacent frame of mind.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -FAREWELL TO SPRINGFIELD. - - -However bitter and acrimonious a political campaign may have been, the -result is usually accepted good-naturedly. The defeated party hopes for -better luck next time, and awaits with interest the course of the new -Executive. But this was not the case after the election which made Mr. -Lincoln President. The South was sullen, the North divided in sentiment. -The party that sustained slavery had staked all on the issue of the -campaign. They were not disposed to acquiesce in the result. They were -quiet, but it was a dangerous quiet. They were biding their time, and -meant mischief. - -James Buchanan was President. He was an old man; cautious to timidity, -overawed by the bold, defiant spirits that constituted his Cabinet--not -seeing, or not caring to see, the evidences of their disloyalty. Never -did a President long more ardently for his term to close. He saw that a -storm was brewing, the like of which the country had never seen. He -earnestly hoped that it would not burst till he had laid down the -responsibilities of office. - -Abraham Lincoln waited quietly at Springfield for the time to come that -should separate him from the tranquil course of life he had led hitherto -and precipitate him into the maelstrom of political excitement at -Washington, wherein he was to be the central figure. Knowing him as in -after years we learned to know him, we can not doubt that at times he -felt almost overwhelmed by his coming burdens. It was well, perhaps, -that he was not permitted to be too much alone. His attention was -distracted by throngs of visitors,--autograph-hunters and office-seekers -being the most conspicuous--who consumed a large part of his time. - -As this story is written especially for young people, I will venture to -transcribe from Mr. Holland’s “Life” two incidents which connected him -with children: - -“He was holding a reception at the Tremont House in Chicago. A fond -father took in a little boy by the hand who was anxious to see the new -President. The moment the child entered the parlor door, he of his own -motion, and quite to the surprise of his father, took off his hat, and, -giving it a swing, cried, ‘Hurrah for Lincoln!’ There was a crowd, but -as soon as Mr. Lincoln could get hold of the little fellow, he lifted -him in his hands, and, tossing him toward the ceiling, laughingly -shouted, ‘Hurrah for you!’ - -“To Mr. Lincoln it was evidently a refreshing episode in the dreary work -of hand-shaking. - -“At a party in Chicago during this visit, he saw a little girl timidly -approaching him. He called her to him, and asked her what she wished -for. She replied that she wanted his name. Mr. Lincoln looked back into -the room, and said, ‘But here are other little girls--they would feel -badly if I should give my name only to you.’ The little girl replied -that there were eight in all. ‘Then,’ said Mr. Lincoln, ‘get me eight -sheets of paper and pen and ink and I will see what I can do for you.’ -The paper was brought, and Mr. Lincoln sat down in the crowded -drawing-room, and wrote a sentence upon each sheet, appending his name; -and thus every little girl carried off her souvenir.” - -On the 11th of February, 1861, Abraham Lincoln left his pleasant Western -home for the capital. It was to be a leisurely journey, for he would be -expected to stop at many points to meet friends and receive friendly -greetings. Three weeks were to elapse before he would be inaugurated, -but, as he bade farewell to his friends and neighbors, he felt that the -burden of care had already fallen upon him. How he felt may be -understood from the few farewell words which he spoke. As reported by -Mr. Lamon, they are as follows: - -“Friends:--No one who has never been placed in a like position can -understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel -at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have lived among -you, and, during all that time, I have received nothing but kindness at -your hands. Here I have lived from my youth, until now I am an old man. -Here the most sacred ties of earth were assumed. Here all my children -were born, and here one of them lies buried. To you, dear friends, I owe -all that I have--all that I am. All the strange, checkered past seems -to crowd upon my mind. To-day I leave you. I go to assume a task more -difficult than that which devolved upon Washington. Unless the great God -who assisted him shall be with and aid me, I must fail; but, if the same -Omniscient mind and almighty arm that directed and protected him shall -guide and support me, I shall not fail--I shall succeed. Let us all pray -that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now. To Him I commend you -all. Permit me to ask that, with equal security and faith, you will -invoke His wisdom and guidance for me. With these few words, I must -leave you; for how long, I know not. Friends, one and all, I must now -bid you an affectionate farewell.” - -I have already alluded to Mr. Lincoln’s constitutional melancholy -inherited from his mother. With it was joined a vein of superstition, -which at times darkened the shadow that seemed to hover about him. In -this connection, and as an illustration of this characteristic of the -President-elect, I quote an interesting reminiscence of John Hay, the -secretary of Mr. Lincoln, in the words of his chief: - -“It was just after my election in 1860, when the news had been coming in -thick and fast all day, and there had been a great ‘hurrah, boys!’ so -that I was well tired out, and went home to rest, throwing myself upon a -lounge in my chamber. Opposite to where I lay was a bureau with a -swinging glass upon it; and, in looking in that glass, I saw myself -reflected nearly at full length; but my face, I noticed, had two -separate and distinct images--the tip of the nose of one being about -three inches from the tip of the other. I was a little bothered--perhaps -startled, and got up and looked in the glass, but the illusion vanished. -On lying down again I saw it a second time--plainer, if possible, than -before; and then I noticed that one of the faces was a little -paler--say, five shades--than the other. I got up, and the thing melted -away; and I went off, and in the excitement of the hour forgot all about -it--nearly, but not quite; for the thing would once in a while come up -and give me a little pang, as if something uncomfortable had happened. -When I went home, I told my wife about it; and a few days after, I tried -the experiment again--when, sure enough, the thing came back again; but -I never succeeded in bringing back the ghost after that, though I once -tried very industriously to show it to my wife, who was worried about it -somewhat. She thought it was a ‘sign’ that I was to be elected to a -second term of office, and that the paleness of one of the faces was an -omen that I should not see life through the last term.” - -Mrs. Lincoln’s impression was curiously correct, as it turned out; but -we must set it down as a singular coincidence, and nothing more. -Campbell, in one of his spirited lyrics, tells us that “Coming events -cast their shadows before”; but it is hardly likely that in this case -God should have sent the President-elect a premonition of the fate which -was to overtake him some years later. It is better to consider that the -vision had a natural cause in the rumors of assassination which were -even then rife on account of the bitter feeling excited by the election -of a Republican President. Such rumors had been brought to Mr. Lincoln -himself, and he had been urged to take measures against assassination. -But he considered them useless. “If they want to kill me,” he said, -“there is nothing to prevent.” He felt that it would be easy enough for -an enemy to take his life, no matter how many guards he might have -around him. If it were his destiny to die, he felt that death would come -in spite of all precautions. - -I need hardly say that Mr. Lincoln was unfortunate in having such a -temperament. Fortunately, it is exceptional. A cheerful, sunny -temperament, that rejoices in prosperity and makes the best of -adversity, providing against ill-fortune, but not anticipating it, is a -happy possession. In Mr. Lincoln his morbid feelings were lighted up and -relieved by a strong sense of humor, which made him in his lighter -moments a very agreeable companion. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -A VISIT TO MR. LINCOLN. - - -Before proceeding to speak of Abraham Lincoln as President, I desire -that my readers may know him as well as possible, and for that purpose I -will transcribe an account of a visit to him by a correspondent of the -New York _Evening Post_. I find it in D. W. Bartlett’s book, entitled -“The Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln”: - -“It had been reported by some of Mr. Lincoln’s political enemies that he -was a man who lived in the lowest Hoosier style, and I thought I would -see for myself. Accordingly, as soon as the business of the Convention -was closed, I took the cars for Springfield. I found Mr. Lincoln living -in a handsome, but not pretentious, double two-story frame house, having -a wide hall running through the center, with parlors on both sides, -neatly, but not ostentatiously furnished. It was just such a dwelling -as a majority of the well-to-do residents of these fine Western towns -occupy. Everything about it had a look of comfort and independence. The -library I remarked in passing particularly, and I was pleased to see -long rows of books, which told of the scholarly tastes and culture of -the family. - -“Lincoln received us with great, and, to me, surprising, urbanity. I had -seen him before in New York, and brought with me an impression of his -awkward and ungainly manner; but in his own house, where he doubtless -feels himself freer than in the strange New York circles, he had thrown -this off, and appeared easy if not graceful. - -“He is, as you know, a tall, lank man, with a long neck, and his -ordinary movements are unusually angular, even out West. As soon, -however, as he gets interested in conversation, his face lights up, and -his attitudes and gestures assume a certain dignity and impressiveness. -His conversation is fluent, agreeable, and polite. You see at once from -it that he is a man of decided and original character. His views are all -his own; such as he has worked out from a patient and varied scrutiny -of life, and not such as he has learned from others. Yet he can not be -called opinionated. He listens to others like one eager to learn, and -his replies evince at the same time both modesty and self-reliance. I -should say that sound common-sense was the principal quality of his -mind, although at times a striking phrase or word reveals a peculiar -vein of thought. He tells a story well, with a strong idiomatic smack, -and seems to relish humor, both in himself and others. Our conversation -was mainly political, but of a general nature. One thing Mr. Lincoln -remarked which I will venture to repeat. He said that in the coming -Presidential canvass he was wholly uncommitted to any cabals or cliques, -and that he meant to keep himself free from them, and from all pledges -and promises. - -“I had the pleasure also of a brief interview with Mrs. Lincoln, and, in -the circumstances of these persons, I trust I am not trespassing on the -sanctities of private life, in saying a word in regard to that lady. -Whatever of awkwardness may be ascribed to her husband, there is none of -it in her. On the contrary, she is quite a pattern of ladylike courtesy -and polish. She converses with freedom and grace, and is thoroughly _au -fait_ in all the little amenities of society. Mrs. Lincoln belongs, by -the mother’s side, to the Preston family of Kentucky; has received a -liberal and refined education, and, should she ever reach it, will adorn -the White House. She is, I am told, a strict and consistent member of -the Presbyterian church. - -“Not a man of us who saw Mr. Lincoln but was impressed by his ability -and character. In illustration of the last, let me mention one or two -things which your readers, I think, will be pleased to hear. Mr. -Lincoln’s early life, as you know, was passed in the roughest kind of -experience on the frontier, and among the roughest sort of people. Yet, -I have been told, that, in the face of all these influences, he is a -strictly temperate man, never using wine or strong drink, and, stranger -still, he does not ‘twist the filthy weed,’ nor smoke, nor use profane -language of any kind. When we consider how common these vices are all -over our country, particularly in the West, it must be admitted that it -exhibits no little strength of character to have refrained from them. - -“Mr. Lincoln is popular with his friends and neighbors; the habitual -equity of his mind points him out as a peace-maker and composer of -difficulties; his integrity is proverbial; and his legal abilities are -regarded as of the highest order. The _sobriquet_ of ‘Honest Old Abe’ -has been won by years of upright conduct, and is the popular homage to -his probity. He carries the marks of honesty in his face and entire -deportment. - -“I am the more convinced by this personal intercourse with Mr. Lincoln, -that the action of our Convention was altogether judicious and proper.” - -I call the attention of my readers to what is said of Mr. Lincoln’s -freedom from bad habits of every kind, though brought up as he had been, -and with the surroundings of his early life, it would have been natural -for him to fall into them. - -During Mr. Lincoln’s visit to New York, he visited the Five Points House -of Industry. This was probably at the time of his first visit, already -referred to, when he made an address at the Cooper Institute. One who -was at that time a teacher in the House of Industry, gives this account -of the visit: - -“Our Sunday-school in the Five Points was assembled one Sabbath morning, -a few months since, when I noticed a tall and remarkable-looking man -enter the room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed -attention to our exercises, and his countenance manifested such genuine -interest that I approached him and suggested that he might be willing to -say something to the children. - -“He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming forward, -began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer, -and hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, -and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around -would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences of warning, and -would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once -or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shouts of -‘Go on!’ ‘Oh, do go on!’ would compel him to resume. As I looked upon -the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked his powerful head -and determined features, now touched into softness by the impressions of -the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn something more -about him, and when he was quietly leaving the room, I begged to know -his name. He courteously replied: - -“‘It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois!’” - -It is easy to understand how the sight of these poor children should -have touched the heart of the backwoods boy. Doubtless they recalled to -his memory his own neglected childhood, and his early privations, when -he was not in a position to learn even as well as these poor waifs from -the city streets. If only that speech could have been reported, with -what interest would we read it to-day. It must have been instinct with -sympathy to have made such a powerful impression on these poor children -and the teacher who tells the story. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -THE INAUGURATION. - - -There were unusual circumstances attending the close of Mr. Lincoln’s -journey to the Capital. So bitter was the feeling engendered among his -opponents that plots were entered into against his life. Dr. Holland -states that the President-elect was cognizant of his danger. An attempt -was made to throw the train off the track on which he journeyed from -Springfield. There was a rumor that when he reached Baltimore -conspirators would surround his carriage in the guise of friends, and -accomplish his assassination. These reports were probably exaggerated, -and Mr. Lamon discredits them altogether, but it is likely that they -were well founded. At any rate, measures were taken to ferret out the -conspiracy, and, by advice of General Scott and Senator Seward, then in -Washington, Mr. Lincoln quietly left Harrisburg by a special train in -advance of his party, and arrived in Washington at half-past six in the -morning, when no one expected him except those who had arranged this -deviation from the regular programme. The moment he left Harrisburg the -telegraph wires were cut, so that intelligence of his departure could -not be sent to a distance. - -It was strange and as yet unprecedented, this secret and -carefully-guarded journey, but the circumstances seemed to make it -necessary. His friends received him with a feeling of happy relief, and, -as the morning advanced, and it was learned that he was in the city, -Washington enjoyed a sensation. There were many at the time who -ridiculed the fears of Mr. Lincoln’s friends, and disapproved of the -caution which counselled his secret arrival; but sad events that have -since saddened and disgraced the nation, show that both he and his -friends were wise. The assassination of Lincoln on his way to the -Capital would have had far more disastrous effects than the unhappy -tragedy of April, 1865, and might have established Jefferson Davis in -the White House. - -There was a strong disloyal element in Washington, and there were more -perhaps who regarded Mr. Lincoln with hostility than with friendship, -but among those who probably were heartily glad to hear of his arrival -was President James Buchanan, who was anxious and eager to lay down the -sceptre, and transfer his high office to his lawful successor. Timid by -nature, he was not the pilot to guide the ship of State in a storm. No -one ever more willingly retired to the peace and security of private -life. - -Indeed, as we consider the condition of the country and the state of -public feeling, we are disposed rather to condole with the new President -than to congratulate him. In times of peace and prosperity the position -of Chief Magistrate is a prize worth competing for; but, in 1861, even a -strong man and experienced statesman might well have shrunk from -assuming its duties. - -General Winfield Scott was at that time in military command of -Washington. He was fearful that the inaugural exercises might be -interrupted by some violent demonstration, and made preparations -accordingly, but he was happily disappointed. The day dawned bright and -clear. Washington was in holiday attire. Business was generally -suspended, and there was an unusual interest to hear Mr. Lincoln’s -inaugural address. Among the attentive listeners were the retiring -President and Chief-Justice Taney, of the Supreme Court, a man whose -sympathies were with the slave power. It was a creditable and noteworthy -incident of this memorable occasion, that among the friends who stood by -Mr. Lincoln most staunchly, even holding his hat as he delivered his -inaugural, was his old Senatorial and Presidential competitor, Stephen -A. Douglas. Whatever his sentiments were on the issues of the day, he -was not willing to side with, or in any way assist, those who menaced -the national existence. Another defeated candidate, Mr. Breckinridge, -was present, having just surrendered the Vice-President’s chair to Mr. -Hamlin. It was a scene for an artist. There could be no more striking -picture than one which should faithfully represent Abraham Lincoln, -reading his first inaugural before an audience of representative men, -half of whom were hostile, and many of whom, three months later, were in -arms against the Government. All alike, foes as well as friends, were -eager to hear what the new President had to say. Had it been Seward -instead of Lincoln, they could have formed a reasonable conjecture, but -this giant from the Western prairies; this Backwoods Boy, who had grown -to maturity under the most unpromising circumstances; this man, with his -limited experience in but one national office, was an unknown quantity -in politics, and no one knew what manner of man he was. But we shall -never have such a picture. People had more important things to think of -then, and it is too late now. In a time of intense feeling, when the -national existence was at stake, and no one knew what events the next -week would bring forth, there was little taste or time for art. - -We, too, may well feel interested in the utterances of the -President-elect. I should be glad to quote the entire address, but as -this is impracticable, I will make a few significant extracts: - -“I do not consider it necessary at present,” said Mr. Lincoln, “for me -to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no -special anxiety or excitement. Apprehensions seem to exist among the -people of the Southern States, that, by the accession of a Republican -administration, their property and their peace and personal security -are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such -apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all -the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in -nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but -quote from one of those speeches, when I declare that ‘I have no -purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of -slavery in the States where it exists.’ I believe I have no lawful right -to do so; and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and -elected me did so with the full knowledge that I had made this, and made -many similar declarations, and had never recanted them.” - -Further on he says: - -“It is seventy-two years to-day since the first inauguration of a -President under our national Constitution. During that period fifteen -different and very distinguished citizens have, in succession, -administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted -it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all -this scope for precedent, I now enter upon the same task, for the brief -constitutional term of four years, under great and peculiar -difficulties. - -“A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now -formidably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation of universal law -and of the Constitution, the union of these States is perpetual. -Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all -national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper -ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. -Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national -Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to -destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument -itself. - -“It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, -can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that -effect are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State or -States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or -revolutionary, according to circumstances. - -“I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, -the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take -care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the -laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing -this, which I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, I shall -perfectly perform it, so far as is practicable, unless my rightful -masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisition, or in some -authoritative manner direct the contrary. - -“I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared -purpose of the Union, that it will constitutionally defend and maintain -itself.” - -After arguing at some length against separation, Mr. Lincoln closes his -address with an appeal to his fellow-citizens: - -“My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole -subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. - -“If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step -which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated -by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. - -“Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution -unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing, -under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if -it would, to change either. - -“If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side -in the dispute, there is still no single reason for precipitate action. -Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who -has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, -in the best way, all our present difficulties. - -“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is -the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. - -“You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You -have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I -shall have the most solemn one to ‘preserve, protect, and defend’ it. - -“I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be -enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds -of affection. - -“The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and -patriotic grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this -broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, -as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -THE WAR BEGINS. - - -No President ever assumed office under such circumstances as Abraham -Lincoln. Nominally chief magistrate of the whole United States, seven -members of the confederation had already seceded. These were South -Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana. -Some had been hurried out of the Union by a few hot-headed politicians, -against the wishes of a considerable part of their inhabitants. It is -known that General Lee and Alexander H. Stephens, though they ultimately -went with their States, were exceedingly reluctant to array themselves -in opposition to the Government. - -Mr. Stephens used these patriotic words in an address before the -Legislature of Georgia, Nov. 14, 1860, after the result of the election -was made known: “The first question that presents itself is, shall the -people of the South secede from the Union in consequence of the election -of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency of the United States? My countrymen, I -tell you candidly, frankly, and earnestly that I do not think that they -ought. In my judgment the election of no man, constitutionally chosen to -that high office, is sufficient cause for any State to separate from the -Union. It ought to stand by and aid still in maintaining the -Constitution of the country. To make a point of resistance to the -Government, to withdraw from it because a man has been constitutionally -elected, puts us in the wrong.... We went into the election with this -people. The result was different from what we wished; but the election -has been constitutionally held. Were we to make a point of resistance to -the Government, and go out of the Union on this account, the record -would be made up hereafter against us.” - -These wise and moderate counsels did not prevail. There was a feeling of -bitterness which impelled Southern men to extreme measures. More over, -the temper and firmness of the North were misunderstood. It was thought -they would make the most humiliating concessions to preserve the -integrity of the Union, while on the other hand the constancy and -determination of the Southern people were not sufficiently appreciated -at the North. - -Mr. Lincoln’s first necessary act was to make choice of a Cabinet. He -demonstrated his sagacity in surrounding himself with trained and -experienced statesmen, as will be seen at once by the following list: - -Secretary of State, William H. Seward, of New York; Secretary of the -Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio; Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, of -Pennsylvania; Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; -Secretary of the Interior, Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana; Postmaster-General, -Montgomery Blair, of Maryland; Attorney-General, Edward Bates, of -Missouri. - -These gentlemen were confirmed, and entered upon the discharge of their -duties. Thus the new Administration was complete. Simon Cameron, as -Secretary of War, was superseded in less than a year by Edwin M. -Stanton, who proved to be the right man in the right place. A man of -remarkable executive talent, never shrinking from the heavy burden of -labor and care which his office imposed, he worked indefatigably, and -though he may have offended some by his brusque manners, and unnecessary -sternness, it is doubtful whether a better man could have been selected -for his post. He had been a member of Mr. Buchanan’s Cabinet in its last -days, and did what he could to infuse something of his own vigor into -the timid and vacillating Executive. - -It will be seen that Mr. Lincoln called to the most important place in -the Cabinet the man who was his most prominent rival for the nomination, -William H. Seward. In doing this he strengthened his administration -largely in the minds of the people at large, for who was there who was -ignorant of Mr. Seward’s great ability and statesmanship? It may be -remarked here that the new President left to each of his Secretaries -large discretion in their respective departments, and did not interfere -with or overrule them except in cases of extreme necessity. A man of -smaller nature would have gratified his vanity and sense of importance -by meddling with, and so marring the work of his constitutional -advisers; but having selected the best men he could find, Mr. Lincoln -left them free to act, and held them responsible for the successful -management of their departments. - -The new President was not long left in uncertainty as to the intentions -of the seceding States. On the 13th of March he received a communication -from two gentlemen, claiming to be commissioners from a government -composed of the seven seceding States, expressing a desire to enter upon -negotiations for the adjustment of all questions growing out of the -separation. To have received them would have been to admit the fact and -right of secession, and therefore their request was denied. On the 11th -of April, General Beauregard, in accordance with instructions from the -rebel Secretary of War, demanded of Major Anderson, in command at Fort -Sumter, the surrender of the fort. Major Anderson declined, but was -compelled to do so on the morning of the 4th, after a bombardment of -thirty-three hours. Thus the South had taken the initiative, and had -made an armed attack upon the Government. Thus far the President had -pursued a conciliatory--some thought it a timid--policy, but when he -heard that Sumter had been taken forcible possession of by rebellious -citizens, he felt that there was no more room for hesitation. The time -had come to act. - -On the day succeeding the evacuation of the fort, he issued a -proclamation calling for 75,000 soldiers to recover possession of the -“forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union,” and -at the same time summoned an extra session of both Houses of Congress, -to assemble on Thursday, the fourth day of July, “to consider and -determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and -interest may seem to demand.” - -It is needless to say that the evacuation of Fort Sumter, and the -President’s proclamation, created a whirlwind of excitement. The South -was jubilant, the North was deeply stirred, and the proclamation was -generally approved and promptly responded to. These spirited lines of -the poet Whittier are well called - - -THE VOICE OF THE NORTH. - - Up the hill-side, down the glen - Rouse the sleeping citizen; - Summon out the might of men! - - Like a lion growling low-- - Like a night-storm rising slow-- - Like the tread of unseen foe-- - - It is coming--it is nigh! - Stand your homes and altars by, - On your own free threshold die! - - Clang the bells in all your spires, - On the grey hills of your sires - Fling to heaven your signal fires! - - Oh! for God and duty stand, - Heart to heart, and hand to hand, - Round the old graves of the land. - - Who so shrinks or falters now, - Who so to the yoke would bow, - Brand the craven on his brow. - - Freedom’s soil has only place - For a free and fearless race-- - None for traitors false and base. - - Perish party--perish clan, - Strike together while you can, - Like the strong arm of one man. - - Like the angel’s voice sublime, - Heard above a world of crime, - Crying for the end of Time. - - With one heart and with one mouth - Let the North speak to the South; - Speak the word befitting both. - -In contrast with this, I will cite a poem, which might be called, not -inappropriately, - - -THE VOICE OF THE SOUTH. - - Rebels! ’tis a holy name! - The name our fathers bore, - When battling in the cause of Right - Against the tyrant in his might, - In the dark days of yore. - - Rebels! ’tis our family name! - Our father, Washington, - Was the arch rebel in the fight, - And gave the name to us--aright - Of father unto son. - - Rebels! ’tis our given name! - Our mother Liberty - Received the title with her fame, - In days of grief, of fear and shame, - When at her breast were we. - - Rebels! ’tis our sealed name! - A baptism of blood! - The war--ay, and the din of strife-- - The fearful contest, life for life-- - The mingled crimson flood! - - Rebels! ’tis a patriot’s name! - In struggles it was given; - We bore it then when tyrants raved, - And through their curses ’twas engraved - On the doomsday book of heaven. - - Rebels! ’tis our fighting name! - For peace rules o’er the land, - Until they speak of craven woe-- - Until our rights received a blow, - From foes’ or brother’s hand. - - Rebels! ’tis our dying name! - For although life is dear, - Yet freemen born and freemen bred, - We’d rather live as freemen dead - Than live in slavish fear. - - Then call us Rebels if you will-- - We glory in the name; - For bending under unjust laws, - And swearing faith to an unjust cause. - We count a greater shame. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -MR. LINCOLN IN THE WHITE HOUSE. - - -And thus commenced the great war of the Rebellion--a war which in some -respects has never had its parallel. Commencing but a few weeks after -Mr. Lincoln’s administration began, it was at its last gasp when upon -the 4th of March, 1865, he was for the second time inaugurated. - -If I were to write a full account of Mr. Lincoln’s administration, it -must include a history of the war. I propose to do neither. As my title -imports, I have aimed only to show by what steps a backwoods boy, born -and brought up on the Western prairies, with the smallest possible -advantages of education and fortune, came to stand in the foremost place -among his fellow-citizens. I might, therefore, consider my task -accomplished; but, if I should stop here, I should have failed to set -forth fully the character and traits of this remarkable man; for it was -only in the years of his Presidency that the world, and, I may add, his -friends, came to know him as he was. I doubt even if he knew himself -until the responsibilities of office fell upon him; and, under the -burden, he expanded to the full stature of a providential man. There are -some aspects in which I shall consider him, and, in the incidents and -anecdotes I may have to relate, I shall not attempt to preserve the -order of time. - -First, then, the consciousness of official rank never appeared present -to Mr. Lincoln. In the White House, as in his modest Western home, he -was the same plain, unpretending Abraham Lincoln. Nor did he lose his -sympathy for the humble class from which he had himself sprung. Upon -this point I quote from Mr. F. B. Carpenter’s very interesting volume, -already referred to: - -“The Hon. Mr. Odell gave me a deeply interesting incident which occurred -in the winter of 1864 at one of the most crowded of the Presidential -levees, illustrating very perfectly Mr. Lincoln’s true politeness and -delicacy of feeling. - -“On the occasion referred to the pressure became so great that the usual -ceremony of hand-shaking was for once discontinued. The President had -been standing for some time, bowing his acknowledgments to the thronging -multitude, when his eye fell upon a couple who had entered unobserved--a -wounded soldier and his plainly-dressed mother. Before they could pass -out he made his way to where they stood, and, taking each of them by the -hand, with a delicacy and cordiality which brought tears to many eyes, -he assured them of his interest and welcome. Governors, Senators, and -diplomats passed with simply a nod; but that pale, young face he might -never see again. To him and to others like him did the nation owe his -life; and Abraham Lincoln was not the man to forget this, even in the -crowded and brilliant assembly of the distinguished of the land.” - -“Mr. Lincoln’s heart was always open to children,” says the same writer. -“I shall never forget his coming into the studio one day and finding my -own little boy of two summers playing on the floor. A member of the -Cabinet was with him, but, laying aside all restraint, he took the -little fellow at once in his arms, and they were soon on the best of -terms. - -“Old Daniel gave me a touching illustration of this element in his -character. A poor woman from Philadelphia had been waiting with a baby -in her arms for several days to see the President. It appeared by her -story that her husband had furnished a substitute for the army, but some -time afterward, in a state of intoxication, was induced to enlist. When -reaching the post assigned his regiment he deserted, thinking the -Government was not entitled to his services. Returning home he was -arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be shot. The sentence was -to be executed on a Saturday. On Monday his wife left her home with her -baby to endeavor to see the President. - -“Said Daniel, ‘She had been waiting here three days, and there was no -chance for her to get in. Late in the afternoon of the third day, the -President was going through the passage to his private room to get a cup -of tea. On the way he heard the baby cry. He instantly went back to his -office and rang the bell. - -“’“Daniel,” said he, “is there a woman with a baby in the anteroom?” - -“‘I said there was, and if he would allow me to say it, it was a case -he ought to see; for it was a matter of life and death. - -“’“Send her to me at once,” said he. - -“‘She went in, told her story, and the President pardoned her husband. -As the woman came out from his presence her eyes were lifted and her -lips moving in prayer, the tears streaming down her cheeks.’ Said -Daniel, ‘I went up to her, and, pulling her shawl, said, “Madam, it was -the baby that did it.”’” - -It may readily be supposed that a man of Mr. Lincoln’s democratic tastes -and training might on some occasions act very unconventionally, and in a -way to shock those who are sticklers for etiquette. Certainly, he was -very far from aping royalty, as may be judged from the following -incident: - -When the Prince of Wales was betrothed to the Princess Alexandra, Queen -Victoria announced the fact to each of the European sovereigns and to -the rulers of other countries by an autograph letter. Lord Lyons, the -British ambassador at Washington, who was a bachelor, called upon -President Lincoln to present this important document in person. - -“May it please your Excellency,” said the ambassador, with formal -dignity, “I hold in my hand an autograph letter from my royal mistress, -Queen Victoria, which I have been commanded to present to your -Excellency. In it she informs your Excellency that her son, His Royal -Highness, the Prince of Wales, is about to contract a matrimonial -alliance with Her Royal Highness, the Princess Alexandra, of Denmark.” - -The President’s eye twinkled as he answered, briefly, “Lord Lyons, go -thou and do likewise.” - -Says Dr. Holland: “Mr. Lincoln’s habits at the White House were as -simple as they were at his old home in Illinois. He never alluded to -himself as ‘President,’ or as occupying ‘the Presidency.’ His office he -always designated as ‘this place.’ ‘Call me Lincoln,’ said he to a -friend. ‘Mr. President’ had become so very tiresome to him. ‘If you see -a newsboy down the street, send him up this way,’ said he to a passenger -as he stood waiting for the morning news at his gate. - -“Friends cautioned him against exposing himself so openly in the midst -of enemies, but he never heeded them. He frequently walked the streets -at night entirely unprotected, and he felt any check upon his free -movements as a great annoyance. He delighted to see his familiar Western -friends, and he gave them always a cordial welcome. He met them on the -old footing, and fell at once into the accustomed habits of talking and -story-telling. An old acquaintance with his wife visited Washington. Mr. -and Mrs. Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the Presidential -carriage. It should be stated in advance that the two men had probably -never seen each other with gloves on in their lives, unless when they -were used as protection from the cold. The question of each--Mr. Lincoln -at the White House and his friend at the hotel--was whether he should -wear gloves. Of course, the ladies urged gloves; but Mr. Lincoln only -put his in his pocket, to be used or not, according to circumstances. - -“When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel to take in their -friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his wife’s persuasions, -very handsomely gloved. The moment he took his seat he began to draw off -the clinging kids, while Mr. Lincoln began to draw his on. - -“‘No, no, no!’ protested his friend, tugging at his gloves; ‘it is none -of my doings. Put up your gloves, Mr. Lincoln.’ - -“So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and had their ride -after their old fashion.” - -The President of the United States can afford to be more unconventional -than kings and emperors, but I should not be surprised to learn that -they too, at times, would be glad to escape from the rigid rules of -etiquette and enjoy the freedom of a private citizen. Even Queen -Victoria, it is related, can unbend when she meets her early friends, -and forget for the time that she must maintain the dignity of a Queen. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -MR. LINCOLN AND THE LITTLE BOY--A GROUP OF ANECDOTES. - - -Ex-Governor Rice, of Massachusetts, tells a story of President Lincoln, -which will prove of especial interest to my young readers. I transcribe -it from the _Union Signal_: - -On an occasion (while he was in Congress) he and Senator Wilson found it -necessary to visit the President on business, he says: - -“We were obliged to wait some time in the anteroom before we could be -received; and, when at length the door was opened to us, a small lad, -perhaps ten or twelve years old, who had been waiting for admission -several days without success, slipped in between us, and approached the -President in advance. - -“The latter gave the Senator and myself a cordial but brief salutation, -and turning immediately to the lad, said, ‘And who is the little boy?’ - -“During their conference the Senator and myself were apparently -forgotten. The boy soon told his story, which was in substance that he -had come to Washington seeking employment as a page in the House of -Representatives, and he wished the President to give him such an -appointment. To this the President replied that such appointments were -not at his disposal, and that application must be made to the -door-keeper of the House at the Capitol. - -“‘But, sir,’ said the lad, still undaunted, ‘I am a good boy, and have a -letter from my mother, and one from the supervisors of my town, and one -from my Sunday-school teacher; they all told me that I could earn enough -in one session of Congress to keep my mother and the rest of us -comfortable all the remainder of the year.’ - -“The President took the lad’s papers and ran his eye over them with that -penetrating and absorbent look so familiar to all who knew him, and then -took his pen and wrote upon the back of one of them. ‘If Capt. Goodnow -can give a place to - -[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIGNING THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. -PAGE 267] - -this good little boy, I shall be gratified,’ and signed it ‘A. Lincoln.’ - -“The boy’s face became radiant with hope, and he walked out of the room -with a step as light as though all the angels were whispering their -congratulations. - -“Only after the lad had gone did the President seem to realize that a -Senator and another person had been for some time waiting to see him. - -“Think for a moment of the President of a great nation, and that nation -engaged in one of the most terrible wars waged against men, himself worn -down with anxiety and labor, subjected to the alternations of success -and defeat, racked by complaints of the envious, the disloyal, and the -unreasonable, pressed to the decision of grave questions of public -policy, and encumbered by the numberless and nameless incidents of civil -and martial responsibility, yet able so far to forget them all as to -give himself up for the time being to the errand of a little boy, who -had braved an interview uninvited, and of whom he knew nothing, but that -he had a story to tell of his mother and of his ambition to serve her.” - -Of a different character, but equally characteristic of Mr. Lincoln, is -a story told by General Charles G. Dahlgren, brother of Admiral -Dahlgren: - -“As Mr. Lincoln and my brother were about to go to dinner, and while the -President was washing his hands, Secretary Stanton entered excitedly -with a telegram in his hand and said, ‘Mr. President, I have just -received a dispatch from Portland that Jake Thompson is there waiting to -take the steamer to England and I want to arrest him.’ Mr. Lincoln began -to wipe his hands on a towel, and said, in a long, drawling voice, -‘Better let him slide.’ - -“‘But, Mr. President,’ said Secretary Stanton, ‘this man is one of the -chief traitors--was one of Buchanan’s Cabinet, betrayed the country -then, and has fought against us ever since. He should be punished.’ - -“‘W-e-l-l,’ said the President, ‘if Jake Thompson is satisfied with the -issue of the war, I am. B-e-t-t-e-r let him slide.’ - -“‘Such men should be punished to the full extent of the law,’ said Mr. -Stanton. ‘Why, if we don’t punish the leaders of the rebellion, what -shall we say to their followers?’ - -“B-e-t-t-e-r let them slide, Stanton,” said the President, laying aside -his towel. - -“Mr. Stanton went out, evidently annoyed, and Mr. Lincoln, turning to my -brother, said: ‘Dahl, that is one of the things I don’t intend to allow. -When the war is over, I want it to stop, and let both sides go to work -and heal the wounds, which, Heaven knows, are bad enough; but jogging -and pulling them is not the best way to heal a sore.’ - -“And the old General, turning to his work, said, with a sigh, ‘If that -policy had been carried out, the wounds would have healed long ago.’” - -The following story, told by M. J. Ramsdell, shows that Mr. Lincoln -judged men sometimes by their spirit rather than their military -qualifications: - -“A sergeant of infantry, whom I shall call Dick Gower, commanded his -company in a great many battles in the West in the early days of the -war. His company officers had all been killed, but right royally did -Dick handle his men. At the first lull in the campaign, the officers of -his regiment, of his brigade, and of his division, united in -recommending him for a lieutenancy in the regular army. The commanding -officer joined in the recommendation. Mr. Lincoln ordered the -appointment. Forthwith, Sergeant Dick was ordered before an examining -board here in Washington, for the regular army officers were tenacious -of what they thought their superiority. Dick presented himself in a -soiled and faded sergeant’s uniform, his face and hands bronzed and -cracked by the winds and suns of a hot campaign. - -“The curled darling of Washington society, the perfumed graduates of -West Point, who had never seen a squadron set in the field, conducted -the examination to ascertain if Dick was fit to be an officer in the -regular army. They asked him questions as to engineering, mathematics, -philosophy, and ordnance, of harbor warfare, of field campaigns, and all -such stuff. Not a single question could Dick answer. ‘What is an -echelon?’ was asked. ‘I don’t know,’ answered Dick; ‘I never saw one.’ -‘What is an abbattis?’ was the next question? Dick answered: ‘You’ve got -me again. We haven’t got ’em in the West.’ ‘Well, what is a hollow -square?’ continued his tormentors. ‘Don’t know,’ said Dick sorrowfully; -‘I never heard of one.’ ‘Well,’ finally said a young snip in -eye-glasses, ‘what would you do in command of a company if the cavalry -should charge on you?’ They had at last got down to Dick’s -comprehension, and he answered with a resolute face and a flashing eye, -‘I’d give them Jesse, that’s what I’d do, and I’d make a hollow square -in every mother’s son of them.’ A few more technical questions were -asked, but poor Dick was not able to answer them, and the examination -closed. - -“The report was duly sent to the Secretary of War, who submitted it to -Mr. Lincoln, saying that evidently Dick would not do for an officer. Mr. -Lincoln, when through with the report, and found that Dick had not -answered a single question, but he came to where Dick said what he would -do if attacked by cavalry, and then he did what sensible Abe Lincoln did -in all such matters, he threw the report on his table and made a little -memorandum in pencil ordering the Secretary of War to appoint Dick Gower -a lieutenant in the regular army. Dick achieved distinction afterward, -and was everywhere known in the army as a man without fear, who never -made a mistake.” - -A correspondent of the Boston _Traveller_ furnishes a humorous story -told by President Lincoln, to show the embarrassment which he felt as to -the disposal of Jefferson Davis: - -“A gentleman told me a story recently which well illustrates Lincoln’s -immense fund of anecdotes. Said he: ‘Just after Jeff Davis had been -captured I called over at the White House to see President Lincoln. I -was ushered in, and asked him: “Well, Mr. President, what are you going -to do with Jeff Davis?” Lincoln looked at me for a moment, and then -said, in his peculiar, humorous way: “That reminds me of a story. A boy -’way out West caught a coon and tamed it to a considerable extent, but -the animal created such mischief about the house that his mother ordered -him to take it away and not to come home until he could return without -his pet. The boy went down-town with the coon, secured with a strong -piece of twine, and in about an hour he was found sitting on the edge of -the curbstone, holding the coon with one hand and crying as though his -heart would break. A big-hearted gentleman, who was passing, stopped and -kindly inquired: ‘Say, little boy, what is the matter?’ The boy wiped a -tear from his eye with his sleeve, and in an injured tone, howled: -‘Matter! Ask me what’s the matter! You see that coon there? Well, I -don’t know what to do with the darn thing. I can’t sell it, I can’t kill -it, and ma won’t let me take it home.’ That,” continued Lincoln, “is -precisely my case. I am like the boy with the coon. I can’t sell him, I -can’t kill him, and I can’t take him home!”’” - -I have already remarked that Mr. Lincoln was superstitious. He seemed to -be deeply impressed by dreams, and claimed to be notified in this way of -the approach of important events. - -“On the Friday of his death he called his Cabinet together at noon, and -he seemed dispirited. He said: ‘I wish I could hear from Sherman.’ -General Grant, who was present, said: ‘You will hear well from Sherman.’ -He said: ‘I don’t know. I have had a dream, the same that I had before -the battles of Bull Run, of Chancellorsville, and of Swan River. It -has,’ he said, ‘always boded disaster.’ It made a great impression on -all of the Cabinet and on General Grant. Mr. Lincoln had been -remonstrated with for going about unattended, but he said: ‘What is the -use of precautions? If they want to kill me they will kill me.’ He was -killed, but history will place him next to Washington in the list of -beloved Presidents. The skill displayed by him in managing Chase, -Stanton, Sumner, Fessenden, Wade, Seward, and other candidates for the -Presidency, was wonderful, and when there was any hitch he was reminded -of a story, illustrating the situation. His stories were, in short, -‘parables.’”--_Boston Budget._ - -Even in the hour of victory he was thoughtful, not jubilant. - -“When General Weitzel escorted President Lincoln and his companions -through the Capitol at Richmond the day after the occupation, in April, -1865, they reached what the rebels called the Cabinet room of the great -President of the Southern Confederacy. General Weitzel said: ‘This, Mr. -President, is the chair which has been so long occupied by President -Davis.’ He pulled it from the table and motioned the President to sit -down. Mr. Lincoln’s face took an extra look of care and melancholy. The -narrator says ‘he looked at it a moment and slowly approached and -wearily sat down. It was an hour of exultation with the soldiers; we -felt that the war was ended, and we knew that all over the North bells -were pealing, cannon booming, and the people were delirious with joy -over the prospect of peace. I expected to see the President manifest -some spirit of triumph as he sat in the seat so long occupied by the -rebel Government; but his great head fell into his broad hand and a sigh -that seemed to come from the soul of a nation, escaped his lips and -saddened every man present. His mind seemed to be travelling back -through the dark years of the war, and he was counting the cost in -treasure, life, and blood that made it possible for him to sit there. As -he rose without a word and left the room slowly and sadly, tears -involuntarily came to the eyes of every man present, and we soldiers -realized that we had not done all the suffering nor made all the -sacrifices.’” - -Where Abraham Lincoln obtained some of his anti-slavery ideas may be -learned from a recent article in the _Century_, by Leonard W. Bacon, who -describes the effects of his father’s writings upon this subject on the -mind of the future President: - -“‘These essays’--from the preface to which I have just quoted--had been -written at divers times from 1833 onward, and were collected, in 1846, -into a volume which has had a history. It is a book of exact -definitions, just discriminations, lucid and tenacious arguments; and it -deals with certain obstinate and elusive sophistries in an effective -way. It is not to be wondered at that when it fell into the hands of a -young Western lawyer, Abraham Lincoln,--whose characteristic was ‘not to -be content with an idea until he could bound it north, east, south, and -west,’--it should prove to be a book exactly after his mind. It was to -him not only a study on slavery, but a model in the rhetoric of debate. -It is not difficult to trace the influence of it in that great -stump-debate with Douglas, in which Lincoln’s main strength lay in his -cautious wisdom in declining to take the extreme positions into which -his wily antagonist tried to provoke or entice him. When, many years -after the little book had been forgotten by the public, and after -slavery had fallen before the President’s proclamation, it appeared from -Lincoln’s own declaration to Dr. Joseph P. Thompson that he owed to that -book his definite, reasonable, and irrefragable views on the slavery -question, my father felt to sing the _Nunc dimittis_.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -MR. LINCOLN’S HUMANITY. - - -Martial law is severe, and, doubtless, not without reason. Desertion in -time of war is a capital offence, and many a poor fellow suffered the -penalty during the terrible four years of the civil war. Many more would -have suffered but for the humane interposition of the President, who was -glad to find the slightest excuse for saving the life of the unfortunate -offender. As Dr. Holland observes, he had the deepest sympathy for the -soldiers who were fighting the battles of their country. He knew -something of their trials and privations, their longing for home, and -the strength of the temptation which sometimes led them to lapse from -duty. There was infinite tenderness in the heart of this man which made -him hard to consent to extreme punishment. - -I propose to cull from different sources illustrations of Mr. Lincoln’s -humanity. The first I find in a letter written to Dr. Holland by a -personal friend of the President: - -“I called on him one day in the early part of the war. He had just -written a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced to be shot, for -sleeping at his post as a sentinel. He remarked as he read it to me, ‘I -could not think of going into eternity with the blood of the poor young -man on my skirts.’ Then he added, ‘It is not to be wondered at that a -boy, raised on a farm, probably in the habit of going to bed at dark, -should, when required to watch, fall asleep, and I can not consent to -shoot him for such an act.’” - -Dr. Holland adds that Rev. Newman Hall, of London, in a sermon preached -upon and after Mr. Lincoln’s death, says that the dead body of this -youth was found among the slain on the field of Fredericksburg, wearing -next his heart the photograph of his preserver, beneath which he had -written, “God bless President Lincoln.” On another occasion, when Mr. -Lincoln was asked to assent to the capital punishment of twenty-four -deserters, sentenced to be shot for desertion, he said to the General -who pleaded the necessity of enforcing discipline, “No, General, there -are already too many weeping widows in the United States. For God’s -sake, don’t ask me to add to the number, for I won’t do it.” - -From Mr. Carpenter’s “Six Months at the White House,” I make the -following extract: - -“The Secretary of War and Generals in command were frequently much -annoyed at being overruled,--the discipline and efficiency of the -service being thereby, as they considered, greatly endangered. But there -was no going back of the simple signature, ‘A. Lincoln,’ attached to -proclamation or reprieve. - -“My friend Kellogg, Representative from Essex County, New York, received -a dispatch one evening from the army, to the effect that a young -townsman who had been induced to enlist through his instrumentality, -had, for a serious misdemeanor, been convicted by a court-martial, and -was to be shot the next day. Greatly agitated, Mr. Kellogg went to the -Secretary of War, and urged in the strongest manner, a reprieve. - -“Stanton was inexorable. - -“‘Too many cases of the kind had been let off,’ he said; ‘and it was -time an example was made.’ - -“Exhausting his eloquence in vain, Mr. Kellogg said: ‘Well, Mr. -Secretary, the boy is not going to be _shot_--of that I give you fair -warning!’ - -“Leaving the War Department, he went directly to the White House, -although the hour was late. The sentinel on duty told him that special -orders had been issued to admit no one that night. After a long parley, -by pledging himself to assume the responsibility of the act, the -Congressman passed in. The President had retired; but, indifferent to -etiquette or ceremony, Judge Kellogg pressed his way through all -obstacles to his sleeping apartment. In an excited manner he stated that -the dispatch announcing the hour of execution had but just reached him. - -“‘This man must not be shot, Mr. President,’ said he. ‘I can’t help what -he may have done. Why, he is an old neighbor of mine; I can’t allow him -to be shot!’ - -“Mr. Lincoln had remained in bed, quietly listening to the vehement -protestations of his old friend (they were in Congress together). He at -length said, ‘Well, I don’t believe _shooting_ him will do him any -good. Give me that pen. And, so saying, ‘red tape’ was unceremoniously -cut, and another poor fellow’s lease of life was indefinitely extended.” - -I continue to quote from Mr. Carpenter: - -“One night Speaker Colfax left all other business to ask the President -to respite the son of a constituent who was sentenced to be shot at -Davenport for desertion. He heard the story with his usual patience, -though he was wearied out with incessant calls and anxious for rest, and -then replied, ‘Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline -and subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but it makes -me rested after a hard day’s work if I can find some good excuse for -saving a man’s life, and I go to bed happy, as I think how joyous the -signing of my name will make him and his family and his friends.’ - -“The Hon. Thaddeus Stevens told me that on one occasion he called at the -White House with an elderly lady in great trouble, whose son had been in -the army, but for some offence had been court-martialed, and sentenced -either to death or imprisonment at hard labor for a long term. There -were some extenuating circumstances; and, after a full hearing, the -President turned to the Representative, and said: - -“‘Mr. Stevens, do you think this is a case which will warrant my -interference?’ - -“‘With my knowledge of the facts and the parties,’ was the reply, ‘I -should have no hesitation in granting a pardon.’ - -“‘Then,’ returned Mr. Lincoln, ‘I will pardon him,’ and he proceeded -forthwith to execute the paper. - -“The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, and not a word -was said between her and Mr. Stevens until they were half-way -down-stairs on their passage out, when she suddenly broke forth in an -excited manner with the words, ‘I knew it was a copperhead lie!’ - -“‘What do you refer to, madam?’ asked Mr. Stevens. - -“‘Why, they told me he was an ugly-looking man!’ she replied with -vehemence. ‘He is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life!’ - -“Doubtless the grateful mother voiced the feeling of many another, who, -in the rugged and care-worn face had read the sympathy and goodness of -the inner nature.” - - -_Another Case._ - -“A young man connected with a New York regiment had become to all -appearances a hardened criminal. He had deserted two or three times, -and, when at last detected and imprisoned, had attempted to poison his -guards, one of whom subsequently died from the effects of the poison -unconsciously taken. Of course, there seemed no defence possible in such -a case. But the fact came out that the boy had been of unsound mind. - -“Some friends of his mother took up the matter, and an appeal was made -to the Secretary of War. He declined positively to listen to it,--the -case was too aggravating. The prisoner (scarcely more than a boy) was -confined at Elmira, N.Y. The day for the execution of his sentence had -nearly arrived, when his mother made her way to the President. He -listened to her story, examined the record, and said that his opinion -accorded with that of the Secretary of War; he could do nothing for her. - -“Heart-broken, she was compelled to relinquish her last hope. One of the -friends who had become interested, upon learning the result of the -application, waited upon Senator Harris. That gentleman said that his -engagements utterly precluded his going to see the President upon the -subject, until twelve o’clock of the second night following. This -brought the time to Wednesday night, and the sentence was to be executed -on Thursday. Judge Harris, true to his word, called at the White House -at twelve o’clock on Wednesday night. The President had retired, but the -interview was granted. The point made was that the boy was insane,--thus -irresponsible, and his execution would be murder. Pardon was not asked, -but a reprieve, until a proper medical examination could be made. - -“This was so reasonable that Mr. Lincoln acquiesced in its justice. He -immediately ordered a telegram sent to Elmira, delaying the execution of -the sentence. Early the next morning he sent another by a different -line, and, before the hour of execution had arrived, he had sent no less -than four different reprieves by different lines to different -individuals in Elmira, so fearful was he that the message would fail or -be too late.” - -These are but a few of the stories that have been told in illustration -of President Lincoln’s humanity. Whatever may have been the opinion of -the generals in command, as to the expediency of his numerous pardons, -they throw a beautiful light upon his character, and will endear his -memory to all who can appreciate his tender sympathy for all, and his -genuine and unaffected goodness. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -ANECDOTES OF MR. LINCOLN. - - -A man’s character often is best disclosed by trifling incidents, and it -is for this reason, perhaps, that the public is eager to read anecdotes -of its illustrious men. I shall devote the present chapter to anecdotes -of President Lincoln, gathered from various quarters. I shall not use -quotation-marks, but content myself with saying at the outset that they -are all borrowed. - -At the reception at the President’s house one afternoon, many persons -present noticed three little girls poorly dressed, the children of some -mechanic or laboring man, who had followed the visitors fully into the -house to gratify their curiosity. They passed round from room to room, -and were hastening through the reception-room with some trepidation when -the President called to them, “Little girls, are you going to pass me -without shaking hands?” - -Then he bent his tall, awkward form down, and shook each little girl -warmly by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was spell-bound by the -incident--so simple in itself, yet revealing so much of Mr. Lincoln’s -character. - - -_The President and the Paymaster._ - -One of the numerous paymasters at Washington sought an introduction to -Mr. Lincoln. He arrived at the White House quite opportunely, and was -introduced to the President by the United States Marshal, with his -blandest smile. While shaking hands with the President the paymaster -remarked: - -“I have no official business with you, Mr. President; I only called to -pay my compliments.” - -“I understand,” was the reply, “and, from the complaints of the -soldiers, I think that is all you do pay.” - - -_The Interviewer._ - -An interviewer, with the best intentions in the world, once went to Mr. -Lincoln’s room in the White House while he was President, and inquired: - -“Mr. President, what do you think of the war and its end?” - -To which Mr. Lincoln politely and laughingly replied: - -“That question of yours puts me in mind of a story about something which -happened down in Egypt, in the southern part of Illinois.” - -The point of it was that a man burned his fingers by being in too much -haste. Mr. Lincoln told the story admirably well, walking up and down -the room, and heartily laughing all the while. The interviewer was quick -to see the point. As a matter of course he was cut to the quick, and -quickly down-stairs he rushed, saying to himself: - -“I’ll never interview that man again.” - - -_How Mr. Lincoln secured a Ride._ - -When Abraham Lincoln was a poor lawyer, he found himself one cold day at -a village some distance from Springfield, and with no means of -conveyance. - -Seeing a gentleman driving along the Springfield road in a carriage, he -ran up to him and politely said: - -“Sir, will you have the goodness to take my overcoat to town for me?” - -“With pleasure,” answered the gentleman. “But how will you get it -again?” - -“Oh, very easily,” said Mr. Lincoln, “as I intend to remain in it.” - -“Jump in,” said the gentleman laughing. And the future President had a -pleasant ride. - - -_The President’s Influence._ - -Judge Baldwin, of California, an old and highly respectable and sedate -gentleman, called on General Halleck, and, presuming on a familiar -acquaintance in California a few years since, solicited a pass outside -of the lines to see a brother in Virginia, not thinking he would meet -with a refusal, as both his brother and himself were good Union men. - -“We have been deceived too often,” said General Halleck, “and I regret I -can’t grant it.” - -Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of with the -same result. - -Finally he obtained an interview with Mr. Lincoln and stated his case. - -“Have you applied to General Halleck?” said the President. - -“And met with a flat refusal,” said Judge B. - -“Then you must see Stanton,” continued the President. - -“I have, and with the same result,” was the reply. - -“Well, then,” said the President, with a smile of good humor, “I can do -nothing, for you must know that I have very little influence with this -administration.” - - -_The German Lieutenant._ - -A lieutenant, whom debts compelled to leave his father-land, succeeded -in being admitted to President Lincoln, and, by reason of his -commendable and winning deportment and intelligent appearance, was -promised a lieutenant’s commission in a cavalry regiment. - -He was so enraptured with his success, that he deemed it a duty to -inform the President that he belonged to one of the oldest noble houses -in Germany. - -“Oh, never mind that,” said Mr. Lincoln, with a twinkle of the eye; “you -will not find that to be any obstacle to your advancement.” - - -_A Pass for Richmond._ - -A gentleman called on the President, and solicited a pass for Richmond. - -“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I would be very happy to oblige you if my -passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the last two -years, given passes to two hundred and fifty thousand men to go to -Richmond, and not one has got there yet.” - - -_Mr. Lincoln and the Preacher._ - -An officer under the Government called at the Executive Mansion, -accompanied by a clerical friend. - -“Mr. President,” said he, “allow me to present to you my friend, the -Rev. Mr. F., of ----. Mr. F. has expressed a desire to see you, and have -some conversation with you, and I am happy to be the means of -introducing him.” - -The President shook hands with Mr. F., desired him to be seated, and -took a seat himself. Then--his countenance having assumed an expression -of patient waiting--he said: “I am now ready to hear what you have to -say.” - -“Oh, bless you, sir,” said Mr. F., “I have nothing special to say. I -merely called to pay my respects to you, and, as one of the million, to -assure you of my hearty sympathy and support.” - -“My dear sir,” said the President, rising promptly, his face showing -instant relief, and with both hands grasping that of his visitor, “I am -very glad to see you; I am _very_ glad to see you, indeed. I thought you -had come to preach to me.” - - -_Mr. Lincoln and his Advisers._ - -Some gentlemen from the West waited upon the President. They were in a -critical mood. They felt that things were not going on as they should, -and they wanted to give advice. The President heard them patiently, and -then replied: - -“Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in gold, and you -had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the Niagara River on -a rope; would you shake the cable, or keep shouting out to -him--‘Blondin, stand up a little straighter!’ ‘Blondin, stoop a little -more!’ ‘Go a little faster!’ ‘Lean a little more to the North!’ ‘Lean a -little more to the South!’ No, you would hold your breath as well as -your tongue, and keep your hands off till he was safely over. The -Government is carrying an immense weight. Untold treasures are in its -hands. It is doing the best it can. Don’t badger it. Keep silence, and -we’ll get you safe across.” - -This simple illustration answered the complaints of half an hour, and -not only silenced but charmed the audience. - -Somewhat similar is the answer made to a Western farmer, who waited upon -Mr. Lincoln, with a plan for the successful prosecution of the war, to -which the President listened with as much patience as he could. When he -was through, he asked the opinion of the President upon his plan. - -“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I’ll answer by telling you a story. You have -heard of Mr. Blank, of Chicago? He was an immense loafer in his way--in -fact, never did anything in his life. One day he got crazy over a great -rise in the price of wheat, upon which many wheat speculators gained -large fortunes. Blank started off one morning to one of the most -successful of the wheat speculators, and, with much enthusiasm, laid -before him a plan by which he (the said Blank) was certain of becoming -independently rich. When he had finished he asked the opinion of his -hearer upon his plan of operations. The reply came as follows: ‘I advise -you to stick to your business.’ ‘But,’ asked Blank, ‘what is my -business?’ ‘I don’t know, I’m sure, what it is,’ said the merchant, ‘but -whatever it is, I advise you to stick to it.’ - -“And now,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I mean nothing offensive, for I know you -mean well, but I think you had better stick to your business, and leave -the war to those who have the responsibility of managing it.” - -It is said that Mr. Gladstone, the English premier, is known for his -skill in chopping wood. The following anecdote shows that President -Lincoln also was not without experience in the same direction: - -During one of the last visits that he made to James River, a short time -before the capture of Richmond, he spent some time in walking around -among the hospitals, and in visiting various fatigue parties at work in -putting up cabins and other buildings. - -He came upon one squad who were cutting logs for a house; and chatting a -moment with the hardy woodsmen, asked one of them to let him take his -axe. Mr. Lincoln grasped the helve with the easy air of one perfectly -familiar with the tool, and remarked that he used to be “good on the -chop.” - -The President then let in on a big log, making the chips fly, and making -as smooth a cut as the best lumberman in Maine could do. - -Meantime, the men crowded round to see the work; and, as he handed back -the axe, and walked away with a pleasant joke, the choppers gave him -three as hearty cheers as he ever heard in the whole of his political -career. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -PRESIDENT LINCOLN AS A RELIGIOUS MAN. - - -Soon after the death of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Noah Brooks published in -_Harper’s Monthly_ an interesting article, devoted to reminiscences of -his dead friend. From this article, I make a few extracts, for which my -readers will thank me: - -“Just after the last Presidential election, he said: ‘Being only mortal, -after all, I should have been a little mortified if I had been beaten in -this canvass; but that sting would have been more than compensated by -the thought that the people had notified me that all my official -responsibilities were soon to be lifted off my back.’ In reply to the -remark that in all these cares he was daily remembered by all who -prayed, not to be heard of men, as no man had ever before been -remembered, he caught at the homely phrase, and said, ‘Yes, I like that -phrase, “not to be heard of men,” and, again, it is generally true as -you say; at least I have been told so, and I have been a good deal -helped by just that thought.’ Then he solemnly and slowly added: ‘I -should be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this footstool, if I, for -one day, thought that I could discharge the duties which have come upon -me since I came into this place, without the aid and enlightenment of -One who is stronger and wiser than all others.’” - -“At another time he said cheerfully, ‘I am very sure that if I do not go -away from here a wise man, I shall go away a better man, for having -learned here what a very poor sort of man I am.’ Afterward, referring to -what he called a change of heart, he said he did not remember any -precise time when he passed through any special change of purpose or -heart; but he would say, that his own election to office, and the crisis -immediately following, influentially determined him in what he called ‘a -process of crystallization’ then going on in his mind. Reticent as he -was, and shy of discoursing much of his own mental exercises, these few -utterances now have a value with those who knew him, which his dying -words would scarcely have possessed.” - -“On Thursday of a certain week, two ladies from Tennessee came before -the President, asking the release of their husbands, held as prisoners -of war at Johnson’s Island. They were put off until Friday, when they -came again, and were again put off until Saturday. At each of the -interviews one of the ladies urged that her husband was a religious man. -On Saturday, when the President ordered the release of the prisoner, he -said to this lady: ‘You say your husband is a religious man: tell him, -when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a judge of religion, but -that, in my opinion, the religion which sets men to rebel and fight -against their Government, because, as they think, that Government does -not sufficiently help _some_ men to eat their bread in the sweat of -other men’s faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get -to heaven.’” - -“On an occasion I shall never forget,” says the Hon. H. C. Denning, of -Connecticut, “the conversation turned upon religious subjects, and Mr. -Lincoln made this impressive remark: ‘I have never united myself to any -church, because I have found difficulty in giving my assent, without -mental reservation, to the long, complicated statements of Christian -doctrine which characterize their Articles of Belief and Confessions of -Faith. When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole -qualification of membership, the Saviour’s condensed statement of the -substance of both Law and Gospel, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with -all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself,” that -church will I join with all my heart and with all my soul.’” - -Though Mr. Lincoln never formally united himself with any church, -doubtless for the reason given above, because he knew of none broad and -tolerant enough for him, it is clear that his mind was much occupied -with matters connected with religion. No one could charge him with -scoffing at sacred things. Had he even been so inclined, the bereavement -which visited him in the death of his son Willie, who died February -20th, 1862, would assuredly have changed him. Devoted as he was to his -children, this loss affected him deeply, and it was not till several -weeks had passed that he was in any measure reconciled. - -“Gentlemen,” said one of the guests at a dinner-party in Washington, -during which the President had been freely discussed, “you may talk as -you please about Mr. Lincoln’s capacity. I don’t believe him to be the -ablest statesman in America, by any means, and I voted against him on -both occasions of his candidacy. But I happened to see, or rather to -hear, something the other day that convinced me that, however deficient -he may be in the head, he is all right in the heart. I was up at the -White House, having called to see the President on business. I was shown -into the office of his private secretary, and told that Mr. Lincoln was -busy just then, but would be disengaged in a short time. While waiting, -I heard a very earnest prayer being uttered in a loud female voice in -the adjoining room. I inquired what it meant, and was told that an old -Quaker lady, a friend of the President’s, had called that afternoon and -taken tea at the White House, and that she was then praying with Mr. -Lincoln. After the lapse of a few minutes the prayer ceased, and the -President, accompanied by a Quakeress, not less than eighty years old, -entered the room where I was sitting. I made up my mind then, gentlemen, -that Mr. Lincoln was not a bad man; and I don’t think it will be easy -to efface the impression that the scene I witnessed, and the voice I -heard, made upon my mind!” - -To some members of the Christian Commission who were calling upon him, -Mr. Lincoln said: “If it were not for my firm belief in an overruling -Providence, it would be difficult for me, in the midst of such -complications of affairs, to keep my reason on its seat. But I am -confident that the Almighty has His plans, and will work them out; and, -whether we see it or not, they will be the wisest and best for us. I -have always taken counsel of Him, and referred to Him my plans, and have -never adopted a course of proceeding without being assured, as far as I -could be, of His approbation. To be sure, He has not conformed to my -desires, or else we should have been out of our trouble long ago. On the -other hand, His will does not seem to agree with the wish of our enemy -over there (pointing across the Potomac). He stands the Judge between -us, and we ought to be willing to accept His decision. We have reason to -anticipate that it will be favorable to us, for our cause is right.” - -It was during this interview, as Dr. Holland tells us, that the fact -was privately communicated to a member of the Commission that Mr. -Lincoln was in the habit of spending an early hour each day in prayer. - -It will hardly be necessary, after the reader has read thus far, to -answer the charge made in some quarters that Mr. Lincoln was an infidel. -Few of his critics possess his simple faith in God and his deep -reverence for the Almighty, whose instrument he firmly believed himself -to be. I can not deny myself the satisfaction of reproducing here Dr. -Holland’s remarks upon the life and character of the President: - -“Mr. Lincoln’s character was one which will grow. It will become the -basis of an ideal man. It was so pure, and so unselfish, and so rich in -its materials, that fine imaginations will spring from it to blossom and -bear fruit through all the centuries. This element was found in -Washington, whose human weaknesses seem to have faded entirely from -memory, leaving him a demi-god; and it will be found in Mr. Lincoln to a -still more remarkable degree. The black race have already crowned him. -With the black man, and particularly the black freedman, Mr. Lincoln’s -name is the saintliest which he pronounces, and the noblest he can -conceive. To the emancipated he is more than man--a being scarcely -second to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That old, white-headed negro, -who undertook to tell what ‘Massa Linkum’ was to his dark-minded -brethren, embodied the vague conceptions of his race in the words: -‘Massa Linkum, he ebery whar; he know ebery ting; he walk de earf like -de Lord.’ He was to these men the incarnation of power and goodness; and -his memory will live in the hearts of this unfortunate and oppressed -race while it shall exist upon the earth.” - -While the names of Lincoln and Washington are often associated, the -former holds a warmer place in the affections of the American people -than his great predecessor, who, with all his excellence, was far -removed by a certain coldness and reserve from the sympathies of the -common people. Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, was always -accessible, and his heart overflowed with sympathy for the oppressed and -the lowly. The people loved him, for they felt that he was one of -themselves. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -EMANCIPATING THE SLAVES. - - -The “great central act” of Mr. Lincoln’s administration, as he himself -calls it, was the emancipation of the slaves. At the stroke of a pen the -shackles fell from four millions of persons in a state of servitude. On -the 1st of January, 1863, emancipation was proclaimed, and the promise -was made that “the Executive Government of the United States, including -the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain -the freedom of said persons.” - -This important proclamation carried joy, not only to the persons most -interested, but to the friends of Freedom everywhere. - -Mr. Lincoln had been importuned to take this step before. Earnest -anti-slavery men like Charles Sumner and Horace Greeley felt that he -delayed too long; but the President was wiser than they. He had always -been an anti-slavery man, but his own wishes did not give him the right -to abolish slavery. I can not do better than to give Mr. Lincoln’s -reasons for the course he pursued, in his own words, spoken to George -Thompson, an eminent English anti-slavery man, in April, 1864: - -“Mr. Thompson,” said the President, “the people of Great Britain and of -other foreign governments were in one great error in reference to this -conflict. They seemed to think that, the moment I was President, I had -the power to abolish slavery, forgetting that, before I could have any -power whatever, I had to take the oath to support the Constitution of -the United States, and execute the laws as I found them. When the -Rebellion broke out, my duty did not admit of a question. I did not -consider that I had a _right_ to touch the ‘State’ institution of -slavery until all other measures for restoring the Union had failed. The -paramount idea of the Constitution is the preservation of the Union. It -may not be specified in so many words, but that this was the idea of its -founders is evident; for, without the Union, the Constitution would be -worthless. It seems clear, then, that in the last extremity, if any -local institution threatened the existence of the Union, the Executive -could not hesitate as to his duty. In our case, the moment came when I -felt that slavery must die--that the nation must live! I have sometimes -used the illustration in this connection of a man with a diseased limb -and his surgeon. So long as there is a chance of the patient’s -restoration, the surgeon is solemnly bound to try to save both life and -limb; but when the crisis comes, and the limb must be sacrificed as the -only chance of saving the life, no honest man will hesitate. - -“Many of my strongest supporters urged Emancipation before I thought it -indispensable, and, I may say, before I thought the country ready for -it. It is my conviction that, had the proclamation been issued even six -months earlier than it was, public sentiment would not have sustained -it. Just so as to the subsequent action in reference to enlisting blacks -in the Border States. The step, taken sooner, could not, in my judgment, -have been carried out. A man watches his pear-tree day after day, -impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the -process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently -wait, and the ripe pear at length falls into his lap! We have seen this -great revolution in public sentiment slowly, but _surely_, progressing, -so that, when final action came, the opposition was not strong enough to -defeat the purpose. I can now solemnly assert that I have a clear -conscience in regard to my action on this momentous question. I have -done what no man could have helped doing, standing in my place.” - -I find an interesting account in Mr. Carpenter’s volume, of the -circumstances attending Mr. Lincoln’s signing the Emancipation -Proclamation, quoted, I believe, from Col. Forney. It runs thus: - -“The roll containing the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. -Lincoln at noon on the 1st day of January, 1863, by Secretary Seward and -his son Frederick. - -“As it lay unrolled before him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in -ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held it a moment, -and then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little hesitation -he again took up the pen and went through the same movement as before. -Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward, and said: - -“‘I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning, and my -right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history it will -be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I -sign this Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say, -“He hesitated.”’ - -“He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and slowly, firmly -wrote that ‘Abraham Lincoln,’ with which the world is now familiar. He -looked up, smiled, and said: ‘That will do.’” - -That act linked the name of Abraham Lincoln with one of the greatest -acts in all history. That act gave him an earthly immortality! - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -ELECTED FOR A SECOND TERM. - - -In hard and incessant labor, under a burden of care and anxiety that -were making him an old man before his time, the term for which Mr. -Lincoln was elected President passed slowly away. And the question came -to the Nation, “Who shall be our next President? Shall it be the man who -has led us thus far through the wilderness, or shall we make choice of -another leader?” - -There was a difference of opinion. Some were in favor of General -Fremont, many favored Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, and -there is no doubt that both of these two eminent men wished for the -office. Mr. Lincoln, too, wished to be re-elected, not, I am sure, -because power was sweet, but because he wished to carry out to the end -the mighty work which it had been given to him to do. He knew that Mr. -Chase desired to succeed him, but it did not make him less friendly; -nor when it devolved upon him to appoint a successor to Chief-Justice -Taney, did it prevent him from conferring upon his chief rival that high -office. He considered Mr. Chase, of all men, most fit to fill the -position, and that with him was the paramount consideration. - -However politicians may have differed with regard to the Presidency, the -people were with Mr. Lincoln. They had learned to trust him, and the -politicians were obliged to acquiesce in their choice. He was nominated, -and duly elected, and the country breathed more freely. It was an -assurance that the war would proceed till the rebellion was crushed out, -and the restoration of the Union was now looked upon, under God, as -certain. - -During the campaign, Senator Sherman, of Ohio, in a speech at Sandusky, -gave this rough but accurate sketch of Mr. Lincoln and his claims to -support. It was addressed to a Western audience, and doubtless produced -a powerful impression: - -“I know old Abe,” said the Senator, “and I tell you there is not, at -this hour, a more patriotic or a truer man living than that man Abraham -Lincoln. Some say he is an imbecile; but he not only held his own in his -debates with Douglas, whose power is admitted, and whom I considered the -ablest intellect in the United States Senate, but got a little the -better of him. He has been deliberate and slow, but when he puts his -foot down it is with the determination and certainty with which our -generals take their steps; and, like them, when he takes a city he never -gives it up. This firm old man is noble and kind-hearted. He is a child -of the people. Go to him with a story of woe, and he will weep like a -child. This man so condemned works more hours than any President that -ever occupied the chair. His solicitude for the public welfare is -never-ceasing. I differed from him at first myself, but at last felt and -believed that he was right, and shall vote for this brave, true, -patriotic, kind-hearted man. All his faults and mistakes you have seen; -all his virtues you never can know. His patience in labor is wonderful. -He works far harder than any man in Erie County. At the head of this -great nation--look at it! He has all the bills to sign passed by -Congress. No one can be appointed to any office without his approval. -No one can be punished without the judgment receives his signature, and -no one pardoned without his hand. This man--always right, always -just--we propose to re-elect now to the Presidency.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -THE SPEECH AT GETTYSBURG. - - -One of the most important and critical battles of the Civil War took -place on the soil of Pennsylvania. The battle of Gettysburg commenced on -the 1st day of July, 1863, and lasted for three days. The invasion of -Pennsylvania by Lee’s forces was a bold turning of the tables upon the -Federal forces, but fortunately they had a brave, cool, and skillful -commander in General Meade, who beat back the Confederates with terrible -loss. - -It is needless to say that excitement, amounting to panic, prevailed -throughout the North. Had Lee been successful in his bold movement, he -would probably have continued his victories through the State, and -menaced more than one Northern city. The danger was averted, but the -victory was won at large cost. The Federal loss in dead, wounded, and -missing amounted to twenty-three thousand, though considerably less than -the losses on the other side. A piece of land adjoining the cemetery of -the town was given by the State as a last resting-place for the loyal -soldiers who had fallen in the battle, and on the 19th of November it -was dedicated. Two addresses were made--one by Hon. Edward Everett, -which was not unworthy of the eminent Massachusetts orator; but the -second, though brief, was a gem which will live longer than the stately -periods of Everett. It was by President Lincoln himself, and surprised -even those who best appreciated him. There are few of my readers to whom -it is not familiar, but I can not deny myself the pleasure of recording -it here: - -“Four score and seven years ago,” said Mr. Lincoln, “our fathers brought -forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and -dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are -engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation -so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great -battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that -field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that -that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we -should do this. But in a larger sense we can not dedicate, we can not -consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and -dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add -or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say -here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the -living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they -who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to -be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these -honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they -gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that -these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, -shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the -people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the -earth.” - -Is there anything to be found in the addresses of any orator, ancient or -modern, more elevated in sentiment or admirable in expression? Yet the -speaker had been reared in the backwoods, a stranger to schools and -colleges, and his eloquence was neither acquired nor inherited. This -speech alone proclaims Abraham Lincoln a man of genius. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -THE CURTAIN FALLS. - - -An Oriental monarch, fearing that in the plenitude of his power he might -forget the common fate, engaged a trusted attendant from time to time to -remind him of his mortality. - -Abraham Lincoln needed no such reminder. Before his first inauguration, -and at intervals during his official life, he received frequent -threatening letters, menacing him with death. These he kept in a package -by themselves. Though he never permitted them to influence his action, -they had their natural effect upon a mind and temperament subject to -despondency, and not free from superstition. Mr. Lincoln had a strong -impression that he would not live through his term of office. When, -however, he was inaugurated for a second time, amid the plaudits of the -nation, and the clouds of civil war seemed lifting to reveal a brighter -future, his spirits, too, became buoyant, and he permitted himself to -believe that all would end well, and he would be permitted to reconcile -the disaffected States, and bring them back into the national fold. His -heart was full of tenderness and magnanimity toward the States in -rebellion. His large heart was incapable of harboring malice, or -thirsting for revenge. - -But he was only to come in sight of the Promised Land. It was for -another leader to finish his weary and protracted task, and reap where -he had sown. - -On the evening of the fourteenth of April, 1865, President Lincoln and -wife with two friends occupied a box at Ford’s Theatre, by invitation of -the manager, to witness a performance of Tom Taylor’s “American Cousin.” -They arrived late, and their entrance was greeted with enthusiasm, the -large audience rising to their feet and cheering. - -Not long afterward, John Wilkes Booth, a young actor, who, throughout -the war, had made no secret of his sympathy with the Confederate cause, -entered the theatre, and, not without difficulty, made his way through -the crowded dress circle to the back of the box in which the President’s -party were seated. - -“The President has sent for me,” he said to the servant, showing his -card, and thus he gained admission. - -Standing in the door-way, after a hasty glance at the interior, he took -a small Derringer pistol in one hand, holding at the same time a -double-edged dagger in the other, he aimed deliberately at Mr. Lincoln, -who sat in an arm-chair, with his back to him. There was a quick report, -and the fatal bullet had entered Mr. Lincoln’s brain. Major Rathbone, -the only other gentleman present in the box, quickly comprehending the -truth, tried to seize the assassin, but he was too quick for him. -Striking at him with his dagger, he sprang to the front of the box, -leaped upon the stage, crying in a theatrical tone, “Sic semper -tyrannis!” and “The South is avenged!” and, favored by his knowledge of -the stage, escaped at the rear before the actors and audience, stupefied -by the suddenness of his act, could arrest his flight. - -Too well had the assassin done his work! The President never spoke, or -recovered consciousness. He was carried from the theatre to a house near -at hand, where, at twenty-two minutes past seven the next morning, he -expired, with his mourning friends around him. - -On the same evening another tragedy came near being enacted in another -part of the city--a branch, no doubt, of the same wicked conspiracy. Mr. -Seward, Secretary of State, lay sick at his house, having been thrown -from his carriage and severely injured a few days before. A man, who -proved to be Lewis Payne Powell, gained admission by a subterfuge, and, -though warned by the servant that no one was admitted to see Mr. Seward, -pushed past him into the Secretary’s chamber. At the entrance the -Secretary’s son, Mr. Frederick Seward, forbade him to enter, but Powell -struck him upon the forehead with the butt of a pistol, and, rushing to -the bed, stabbed the helpless Secretary three times, and would have -killed him but for his nurse, a soldier named Robinson, who grappled -with him, receiving severe blows in the struggle. Powell escaped from -the house, after stabbing no less than five persons. - -To describe the grief, anger, and consternation which these two -tragedies produced throughout the country, would be well-nigh -impossible. Then, for the first time, it became apparent how dear to the -popular heart was the plain, honest, untiring man who, for more than -four dark and gloomy years, had borne the national burden, and labored -as best he might to restore peace and harmony to a distracted land. - -The conspirators had been only too successful, but they had not -accomplished all they had in view. It had been expected that General -Grant would form one of the President’s party; fortunately, he had -excused himself, and left the city. Could he, too, have fallen a victim, -dark indeed would have been the dawning of the next day, and the -wide-spread feeling of horror would have been deepened. - -In a recent conversation General Grant thus speaks of this sad time: -“The darkest day of my life was the day I heard of Lincoln’s -assassination. I did not know what it meant. Here was the rebellion put -down in the field, and starting up again in the gutters; we had fought -it as war, now we had to fight it as assassination. Lincoln was killed -on the 14th of April. I was busy sending out orders to stop recruiting, -the purchase of supplies, and to muster out the army. Lincoln had -promised to go to the theatre, and wanted me to go with him. While I was -with the President a letter came from Mrs. Grant, saying that she must -leave Washington that night. She wanted to go to Burlington to see her -children. Some incident of a trifling nature had made her resolve to -leave that evening. I was glad to have it so, as I did not want to go to -the theatre. So I made my excuse to Lincoln, and, at the proper hour, we -started for the train. As we were driving along Pennsylvania Avenue, a -horseman rode past us on a gallop, and back again around our carriage, -looking into it. - -“Mrs. Grant said: ‘There is the man who sat near us at lunch to-day with -some other men, and tried to overhear our conversation. He was so rude -that we left the dining-room. Here he is now, riding after us.’ - -“I thought it was only curiosity, but learned afterwards that the -horseman was Booth. It seemed that I was to have been attacked, and Mrs. -Grant’s sudden resolve to leave changed the plan. A few days after I -received an anonymous letter from a man, saying that he had been -detailed to kill me; that he rode on my train as far as Havre de Grace, -and as my car was locked he failed to get in. He thanked God that he had -failed. I remembered that the conductor had locked the car, but how true -the letter was I can not say. I learned of the assassination as I was -passing through Philadelphia. I turned around, took a special train, and -came on to Washington. It was the gloomiest day of my life.” - -Of the imposing funeral ceremonies, and the manifestations of deep grief -throughout the nation, I need not speak. As Dr. Holland well says: -“Millions felt that they had lost a brother, or a father, or a dear -personal friend. It was a grief that brought the nation more into family -sympathy than it had been since the days of the Revolution. Men came -together in public meetings, to give expression to their grief.... There -were men engaged in the rebellion who turned from the deed with horror. -Many of these had learned something of the magnanimity of Mr. Lincoln’s -character; and they felt that the time would come when the South would -need his friendship.” - -There is no reason to believe that the Southern leaders countenanced or -instigated this atrocious deed. It was the act of a half-crazed -political fanatic, and the few who were in sympathy with him, and -cognizant of his plans, were men of like character. Justice overtook -them in the end, as might have been expected, but they had wrought -irreparable mischief, and plunged a whole people into mourning. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -MR. HERNDON’S ESTIMATE OF MR. LINCOLN. - - -No one probably was better fitted to give a discriminating analysis of -Mr. Lincoln’s character than Mr. W. H. Herndon, for more than twenty -years his law-partner. From an address delivered at Springfield, Ill., -Dec. 12, 1865, by that gentleman, I shall, therefore, quote freely, -without indorsing everything that is said, but submitting it as the -opinion of a man who knew Mr. Lincoln well: - -“Mr. Lincoln read _less_ and thought _more_ than any man in his sphere -in America. No man can put his finger on any great book written in the -last or present century that he read. When young he read the Bible, and -when of age he read Shakespeare, This latter book was scarcely ever out -of his mind. Mr. Lincoln is acknowledged to have been a great man, but -the question is, What made him great? I repeat that he read less and -thought more than any man of his standing in America, if not in the -world. He possessed originality and power of thought in an eminent -degree. He was cautious, cool, concentrated, with continuity of -reflection; was patient and enduring. These are some of the grounds of -his wonderful success. - -“Not only was nature, man, fact, and principle suggestive to Mr. -Lincoln--not only had he accurate and exact perceptions, but he was -causative; i.e., his mind ran back behind all facts, things, and -principles to their origin, history, and first cause,--to that point -where forces act at once as effect and cause. He would stop and stand in -the street and analyze a machine. He would whittle things to a point, -and then count the numberless inclined planes and their pitch, making -the point. Mastering and defining this, he would then cut that point -back and get a broad transverse section of his pine stick and point and -define that. Clocks, omnibuses, and language, paddle-wheels, and idioms, -never escaped his observation and analysis. Before he could form any -idea of anything--before he would express his opinion on any subject, -he must know it in origin and history, in substance and quality, in -magnitude and gravity. He must know his subject inside and outside, -upside and downside. He searched his own mind and nature thoroughly, as -I have often heard him say. He must analyze a sensation, an idea, and -words, and run them back to their origin, history, purpose, and -destiny.” - -“All things, facts, and principles had to run through his crucible and -be tested by the fires of his analytic mind; and hence, when he did -speak, his utterances rang out gold-like--quick, keen, and current--upon -the counters of the understanding. He reasoned logically, through -analogy and comparison. All opponents dreaded him in his originality of -idea, condensation, definition, and force of expression, and woe be to -the man who hugged to his bosom a secret error if Mr. Lincoln got on the -chase of it! I say, woe to him! Time could hide the error in no nook or -corner of space in which he would not detect and expose it.” - -“Mr. Lincoln was a peculiar man, having a peculiar mind. He was gifted -with a peculiarity--namely, a new lookout on nature. Everything had to -be newly created for him--facts newly gathered, newly arranged, and -newly classed. He had no faith, as already expressed. In order to -believe, he must see and feel and thrust his hand into the place. Such a -mind as this must act strongly,--must have its time. His forte and power -lay in his love of digging out for himself and hunting up for his own -mind its own food, to be assimilated unto itself; and then, in time, he -could and would form opinions and conclusions that no human power could -overthrow. They were as irresistible as iron thunder, as powerful as -logic embodied in mathematics.” - -“An additional question naturally suggests itself here, and it is this: -Had Mr. Lincoln great, good common sense? Different persons of equal -capacity and honesty hold different views on this question--one class -answering in the affirmative and the other in the negative. - -“These various opinions necessarily spring out of the question just -discussed. If the true test is that a man shall quickly, wisely, and -well judge the rapid rush and whirl of human transactions as accurately -as though indefinite time and proper conditions were at his disposal, -then I am compelled to follow the logic of things, and say that Mr. -Lincoln had no more than ordinary common sense. The world, men, and -their actions must be judged as they rush and pass along. They will not -wait on us--will not stay for our logic and analysis; they must be -seized as they run. We all our life act on the moment. Mr. Lincoln knew -himself, and never trusted his dollar or his fame on his casual -opinions--he never acted hastily on great matters.” - -“The great predominating elements of Mr. Lincoln’s peculiar character -were--first, his great capacity and power of reason; secondly, his -excellent understanding; thirdly, an exalted idea of the sense of right -and equity; and fourthly, his intense veneration of what was true and -good. His reason ruled despotically all other faculties and qualities of -his mind. His conscience and heart were ruled by it. His conscience was -ruled by one faculty--reason; his heart was ruled by two -faculties--reason and conscience. I know it is generally believed that -Mr. Lincoln’s heart, his love and kindness, his tenderness and -benevolence were his ruling qualities; but this opinion is erroneous in -every particular. First, as to his reason. He dwelt in the mind; not in -the conscience, and not in the heart. He lived and breathed and acted -from his reason,--the throne of logic and the home of principle, the -realm of Deity in man. It is from this point that Mr. Lincoln must be -viewed. His views were correct and original. He was cautious not to be -deceived; he was patient and enduring. He had concentration and great -continuity of thought; he had a profound analytic power; his vision was -clear, and he was emphatically the master of statement. His pursuit of -the truth was indefatigable--terrible. He reasoned from his well-chosen -principles with such clearness, force, and compactness, that the tallest -intellects in the land bowed to him with respect. He was the strongest -man I ever saw--looking at him from the stand-point of his reason, the -throne of his logic. He came from that height with an irresistible and -crushing force. His printed speeches will prove this; but his speeches -before courts, especially before the Supreme Courts of the State and -Nation, would demonstrate it. Unfortunately none of them have been -preserved. Here he demanded time to think and prepare. The office of -reason is to determine the truth. Truth is the power of reason--the -child of reason. He loved and idolized truth for its own sake. It was -reason’s food. - -“Conscience, the second great quality and forte of Mr. Lincoln’s -character, is that faculty which loves the just. Its office is justice; -right and equity are its correlatives. It decides upon all acts of all -people at all times. Mr. Lincoln had a deep, broad, living conscience. -His great reason told him what was true, good and bad, right, wrong, -just or unjust, and his conscience echoed back its decision; and it was -from this point that he acted and spoke and wove his character and fame -among us. His conscience ruled his heart; he was always just before he -was gracious. This was his motto--his glory; and this is as it should -be. It can not be truthfully said of any mortal man that he was always -just. Mr. Lincoln was not always just, but his general life was. It -follows that if Mr. Lincoln had great reason and great conscience, he -was an honest man. His great and general life was honest, and he was -justly and rightfully entitled to the appellation, ‘Honest Abe!’ Honesty -was his great polar star. - -“Mr. Lincoln had also a good understanding, that is, the faculty that -understands and comprehends the exact state of things, their near and -remote relation. The understanding does not necessarily inquire for the -reason of things. I must here repeat that Mr. Lincoln was an odd and -original man; he lived by himself and out of himself. He could not -absorb. He was a very sensitive man, unobtrusive and gentlemanly, and -often hid himself in the common mass of men, in order to prevent the -discovery of his individuality. He had no insulting egotism and no -pompous pride; no haughtiness and no aristocracy. He was not -indifferent, however, to approbation and public opinion. He was not an -upstart and had no insolence. He was a meek, quiet, unobtrusive -gentleman. These qualities of his nature merged somewhat his identities. -Read Mr. Lincoln’s speeches, letters, messages, and proclamations; read -his whole record in his actual life, and you can not fail to perceive -that he had good understanding. He understood and fully comprehended -himself; and what he did, and why he did it, better than most living -men.” - - * * * * * - -“There are two opinions--radically different opinions--expressed about -Mr. Lincoln’s will by men of equal and much capacity. One opinion is -that he had _no_ will, and the other is that he was _all_ -will--omnipotently so. These two opinions are loudly and honestly -affirmed. Mr. Lincoln’s mind loved the true, the right, and good--all -the great truths and principles in the mind of man. He loved the true -first, the right second, and the good the least. His mind struggled for -truths and his soul for substances. Neither in his heart nor in his soul -did he care for forms, methods, ways,--the _non_-substantial facts or -things. He could not by his very structure and formation in mind and -body care anything about them. He did not intensely or much care for -particular individual man--dollar, property, rank, order, manners, and -such like things. He had no avarice in his nature, or other like -vice.... What suited a little, narrow, critical mind, did not suit Mr. -Lincoln’s, any more than a child’s clothes did his body. Generally, Mr. -Lincoln did not take any interest in little local elections--town -meetings. He attended no gatherings that pertained to local or other -such interests, saving general political ones. He did not care (because -he could not in his nature) who succeeded to the presidency of this or -that Christian Association or Railroad Convention; who made the most -money; who was going to Philadelphia; when and for what; and what were -the costs of such a trip. He could not care who among friends got this -office or that--who got to be street inspector or alley commissioner. No -principle of goodness, of truth, or right was here. How could he be -moved by such things as these? He could not understand why men struggled -for such things. He made this remark to me one day--I think at -Washington: ‘If ever this free people--if this Government itself is ever -utterly demoralized, it will come from this human wriggle and struggle -for office; a way to live without work; from which nature I am not free -myself.’ It puzzled him a good deal at Washington to know and to get at -the root of this dread desire,--this contagious disease of national -robbery in the nation’s death-struggle. - -“Because Mr. Lincoln could not feel any interest in such little things -as I have spoken of, nor feel any particular interest in the success of -those who were then struggling and wriggling, he was called -indifferent--nay, ungrateful--to his friends. Especially is this the -case with men who have aided Mr. Lincoln all their life. Mr. Lincoln -always and everywhere wished his friends well; he loved his friends, and -clung to them tenaciously, like iron to iron welded; yet he could not be -actively and energetically aroused to the true sense of his friends’ -particularly strong feelings of anxiety for office. From this fact Mr. -Lincoln has been called ungrateful. He was not an ungrateful man by any -means. He may have been a cool man--a passive man in his general life; -yet he was not ungrateful. Ingratitude is too positive a word--it does -not convey the truth. Mr. Lincoln may not have measured his friendly -duties by the applicant’s hot desire; I admit this. He was not a selfish -man,--if by selfishness is meant that Mr. Lincoln would do any act, even -to promote himself to the Presidency, if by that act any human being was -wronged. If it is said that Abraham Lincoln preferred Abraham Lincoln to -any one else in the pursuit of his ambitions, and that, because of this, -he was a selfish man, then I can see no objections to such an idea, for -this is universal human nature. - -“It must be remembered that Mr. Lincoln’s mind acted logically, -cautiously, and slowly. Now, having stated the above facts, the question -of his will and its power is easily solved. Be it remembered that Mr. -Lincoln cared nothing for simple facts, manners, modes, ways, and such -like things. Be it remembered, that he _did_ care for truth, for right, -for principle, for all that pertains to the good. In relation to simple -facts, unrelated to substance, forms, rules, methods, ways, manners, he -cared nothing; and if he could be aroused, he would do anything for -anybody at any time, as well foe as friend. As a politician he would -courteously grant all facts and forms--all non-essential things--to his -opponent. He did so because he did not care for them; they were rubbish, -husks, trash. On the question of substance, he hung and clung with all -his might. On questions of truth, justice, right, the good, on -principle--his will was as firm as steel and as tenacious as iron.... -Ask Mr. Lincoln to do a wrong thing, and he would scorn the request; ask -him to do an unjust thing, and he would cry ‘Begone!’; ask him to -sacrifice his convictions of the truth, and his soul would indignantly -exclaim, ‘The world perish first!’” - - * * * * * - -“Mr. Lincoln sometimes walked our streets cheerily, good-humoredly, -perhaps joyously--and then it was, on meeting a friend, he cried, ‘How -d’ye?’ clasping one of his friend’s hands in both of his, giving a good, -hearty soul-welcome. Of a winter’s morning he might be seen stalking and -stilting it toward the market-house, basket on arm, his old gray shawl -wrapped around his neck, his little Willie or Tad running along at his -heels, asking a thousand little quick questions, which his father heard -not, not even then knowing that little Willie or Tad was there, so -abstracted was he. When he thus met a friend, he said that something put -him in mind of a story which he heard in Indiana or elsewhere, and tell -it he would, and there was no alternative but to listen. - -“Thus, I say, stood and walked and looked this singular man. He was odd, -but when that gray eye and face, and every feature were lit up by the -inward soul in fires of emotion, _then_ it was that all those apparently -ugly features sprang into organs of beauty, or sunk themselves into a -sea of inspiration that sometimes flooded his face. Sometimes it -appeared to me that Lincoln’s soul was just fresh from the presence of -its Creator.” - -“This man, this long, bony, wiry, sad man, floated into our county in -1831, in a frail canoe, down the north fork of the Sangamon River, -friendless, penniless, powerless, and alone--begging for work in this -city,--ragged, struggling for the common necessaries of life. This man, -this peculiar man, left us, in 1861, the President of the United States, -backed by friends and power, by fame and all human force; and it is well -to inquire _how?_ - -“To sum up, let us say, here is a sensitive, diffident, unobtrusive, -natural-made gentleman. His mind was strong and deep, sincere and -honest, patient and enduring; having no vices and having only negative -defects, with many positive virtues. His is a strong, honest, sagacious, -manly, noble life. He stands in the foremost rank of men in all -ages,--their equal,--one of the best types of this Christian -civilization.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -MR. LINCOLN’S FAVORITE POEM. - - -One evening when Mr. Carpenter, the artist, was alone with Mr. Lincoln -in his study, the President said: “There is a poem that has been a great -favorite with me for years, to which my attention was first called when -a young man, by a friend, and which I afterward saw and cut from a -newspaper and carried in my pocket till, by frequent reading, I had it -by heart. I would give a great deal to know who wrote it, but I could -never ascertain.” - -He then repeated the poem, now familiar to the public, commencing, “Oh! -why should the spirit of mortal be proud?” - -This poem, which was written by William Knox, a young Scotchman, a -contemporary of Sir Walter Scott, suits well the thoughtful, melancholy -mood habitual to Mr. Lincoln. It is said that a man may be known by his -favorite poem. Whether this can be said of men in general may be -doubted. In the case of Abraham Lincoln I think those who knew him best -would agree that the sadness underlying the poem found an echo in the -temperament he inherited from his mother. I am sure my readers will be -glad to find the poem recorded here, even though they may have met with -it before: - - Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud? - Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, - A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, - He passeth from life to his rest in the grave. - - The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, - Be scattered around and together be laid; - And the young and the old, the low and the high, - Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie-- - - The infant a mother attended and loved; - The mother that infant’s affection who proved: - The husband, that mother and infant who blest-- - Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest. - - The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye - Shone beauty and pleasure,--her triumphs are by; - And the memory of those who loved her and praised, - Are alike from the minds of the living erased. - - The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne, - The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn, - The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave, - Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. - - The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap, - The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep, - The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread, - Have faded away like the grass that we tread. - - The saint, who enjoyed the communion of Heaven, - The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven, - The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just, - Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust. - - So the multitude goes--like the flower or the weed - That withers away to let others succeed; - So the multitude comes--even those we behold, - To repeat every tale that has often been told. - - For we are the same our fathers have been; - We see the same sights our fathers have seen; - We drink the same stream, we view the same sun, - And run the same course our fathers have run. - - The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think; - From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink - To the life we are clinging, they also would cling,-- - But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing. - - They loved--but the story we can not unfold; - They scorned--but the heart of the haughty is cold; - They grieved--but no wail from their slumber will come; - They joyed--but the tongue of their gladness is dumb. - - They died--ay, they died; we things that are now, - That walk on the turf that lies over their brow, - And make in their dwellings a transient abode, - Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road. - - ’Tis the wink of an eye--’tis the draught of a breath-- - From the blossom of health to the paleness of death, - From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud:-- - Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud? - -The last stanza will call to mind the startling suddenness with which -Abraham Lincoln, the Chief Magistrate of a great nation, passed from the -summit of power to the solemn stillness of death. Was it a sad, -prophetic instinct that caused the mind of the great martyr to dwell so -constantly upon these solemn strains? - -No man seems to have been more clearly indicated as the instrument of -Providence than Abraham Lincoln. It seems strange in the eyes of men -that a rough youth, born and reared in the backwoods, without early -educational advantages, homely and awkward, and with no polish of manner -save that which proceeded from a good heart, should have been selected -as the Guide and Savior of a great nation. But God’s ways are not as our -ways, nor is His choice as ours. Mr. Lincoln had this advantage,--coming -from the ranks of the people, he never lost sight of his sympathy for -his class. His nature and his sympathies were broad and unconfined. - -He has been well described by one reared like himself, in the free -atmosphere of the West: “Nearly every great figure of history is a kind -of great monstrosity. We know nothing about Washington. He is a steel -engraving. No dirt of humanity clings to his boots. Lincoln lived where -men were free and equal, and was acquainted with the people, not much -with books. Every man is in some sort a book. He lived the poem of the -year in the fields, the woods, the blessed country. Lincoln had the -advantage of sociability. He was thoughtful, and saw on the horizon of -his future the perpetual star of hope. To him every field was a -landscape; every landscape a poem; every poem a lesson, and every grove -a fairy land. Oaks and elms are far more poetical than streets or -houses. A country life is in itself an education. It gives the man an -idea of home. He hears the rain on the roofs, the rustle of the breeze, -the music of nature’s fullest control. You have no idea how many men -education spoils. Lincoln’s education was derived from men and things, -and hence he had a chance to develop. He had many sides. He not only -had laughter, but he had tears, and never that kind of solemnity which -is a wash to hide the features. He was not afraid to seek for knowledge -where he had it not. When a man is too dignified he ceases to learn. He -was always honest with himself. He was an orator; that is, he was -natural. If you wish to be sublime you must keep close to the grass. You -must sit close to the heart of human experience--above the clouds it is -too cold. If you want to know the difference between an orator and a -speaker read the oration of Lincoln at Gettysburg, and then read the -speech of Everett at the same place. One came from the heart, the other -was from out of the voice. Lincoln’s speech will be remembered forever. -Everett’s no man will read. It was like plucked flowers. - -“If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. -Any man can stand adversity--only a great man can stand prosperity. It -is the glory of Abraham Lincoln that he never abused power only on the -side of mercy. When he had power he used it in mercy. He loved to see -the tears of the wife whose husband he had snatched from death.” - -I draw near the close of my task, having given, as I hope, some fair -idea of one whose memory will always remain dear to the hearts of his -countrymen. In that chequered life there is much to imitate, much to -admire, little to avoid or censure. Happy will be the day when our -public men copy his unselfishness, his patriotic devotion to duty! - -Within a few months, on the eighteenth anniversary of Mr. Lincoln’s -assassination, a poem was read at his grave by John H. Bryant, of -Princeton, which will fitly close my story of the Backwoods Boy: - - Not one of all earth’s wise and great - Hath earned a purer gratitude - Than the great Soul whose hallowed dust - This structure holds in sacred trust. - - How fierce the strife that rent the land, - When he was summoned to command; - With what wise care he led us through - The fearful storms that ’round us blew. - - Calm, patient, hopeful, undismayed, - He met the angry hosts arrayed - For bloody war, and overcame - Their haughty power in Freedom’s name. - - ’Mid taunts and doubts, the bondsman’s chain - With gentle force he cleft in twain, - And raised four million slaves to be - The chartered sons of Liberty. - - No debt he owed to wealth or birth; - By force of solid, honest worth - He climbed the topmost height of fame - And wrote thereon a spotless name. - - Oh! when the felon hand laid low - That sacred head, what sudden woe - Shot to the Nation’s farthest bound, - And every bosom felt the wound. - - Well might the Nation bow in grief, - And weep above the fallen chief, - Who ever strove, by word or pen, - For “peace on earth, good-will to men.” - - The people loved him, for they knew, - Each pulse of his large heart was true - To them, to Freedom, and the right, - Unswayed by gain, unawed by might. - - This tomb, by loving hands up-piled, - To him, the merciful and mild, - From age to age shall carry down - The glory of his great renown. - - As the long centuries onward flow, - As generations come and go, - Wide and more wide his fame shall spread, - And greener laurels crown his head. - - And when this pile is fall’n to dust, - Its bronzes crumbled into rust, - Thy name, O Lincoln! still shall be - Revered and loved from sea to sea. - - India’s swart millions, ’neath their palms, - Shall sing thy praise in grateful psalms, - And crowds by Congo’s turbid wave - Bless the good hand that freed the slave. - - Shine on, O Star of Freedom, shine, - Till all the realms of earth are thine; - And all the tribes, through countless days, - Shall bask in thy benignant rays. - - Lord of the Nations! grant us still - Another patriot sage, to fill - The seat of power, and save the State - From selfish greed. For this we wait. - - * * * * * - -_THE CREAM OF JUVENILE FICTION_ - -_THE_ BOYS’ OWN LIBRARY - -A Selection of the Best Books for Boys by the Most Popular Authors - - -The titles in this splendid juvenile series have been selected with -care, and as a result all the stories can be relied upon for their -excellence. They are bright and sparkling; not over-burdened with -lengthy descriptions, but brimful of adventure from the first page to -the last--in fact they are just the kind of yarns that appeal strongly -to the healthy boy who is fond of thrilling exploits and deeds of -heroism. Among the authors whose names are included in the Boys’ Own -Library are Horatio Alger, Jr., Edward S. Ellis, James Otis, Capt. Ralph -Bonehill, Burt L. Standish, Gilbert Patten and Frank H. Converse. - - -SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE BOYS’ OWN LIBRARY - -All the books in this series are copyrighted, printed on good paper, -large type, illustrated, printed wrappers, handsome cloth covers stamped -in inks and gold--fifteen special cover designs. - - -_146 Titles--Price, per Volume, 75 cents_ - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by -the publisher, - -DAVID McKAY, - -610 SO. WASHINGTON SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA, PA. - - * * * * * - - -HORATIO ALGER, Jr. - -One of the best known and most popular writers. Good, clean, healthy -stories for the American Boy. - - Adventures of a Telegraph Boy - Dean Dunham - Erie Train Boy, The - Five Hundred Dollar Check - From Canal Boy to President - From Farm Boy to Senator - Backwoods Boy, The - Mark Stanton - Ned Newton - New York Boy - Tom Brace - Tom Tracy - Walter Griffith - Young Acrobat - - -C. B. ASHLEY. - -One of the best stories ever written on hunting, trapping and adventure -in the West, after the Custer Massacre. - -Gilbert, the Boy Trapper - - -ANNIE ASHMORE. - -A splendid story, recording the adventures of a boy with smugglers. - -Smuggler’s Cave, The - - -CAPT. RALPH BONEHILL. - -Capt. Bonehill is in the very front rank as an author of boys’ stories. -These are two of his best works. - - Neka, the Boy Conjurer - Tour of the Zero Club - - -WALTER F. BRUNS. - -An excellent story of adventure in the celebrated Sunk Lands of Missouri -and Kansas. - -In the Sunk Lands - - -FRANK H. CONVERSE. - -This writer has established a splendid reputation as a boys’ author, and -although his books usually command $1.25 per volume, we offer the -following at a more popular price. - - Gold of Flat Top Mountain - Happy-Go-Lucky Jack - Heir to a Million - In Search of An Unknown Race - In Southern Seas - Mystery of a Diamond - That Treasure - Voyage to the Gold Coast - - -DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia. - - -HARRY COLLINGWOOD. - -One of England’s most successful writers of stories for boys. His best -story is - -Pirate Island - - -GEORGE H. COOMER. - -Two books we highly recommend. One is a splendid story of adventure at -sea, when American ships were in every port in the world, and the other -tells of adventures while the first railway in the Andes Mountains was -being built. - - Boys in the Forecastle - Old Man of the Mountain - - -WILLIAM DALTON. - -Three stories by one of the very greatest writers for boys. The stories -deal with boys’ adventures in India, China and Abyssinia. These books -are strongly recommended for boys’ reading, as they contain a large -amount of historical information. - - Tiger Prince - War Tiger - White Elephant - - -EDWARD S. ELLIS. - -These books are considered the best works this well-known writer ever -produced. No better reading for bright young Americans. - - Arthur Helmuth - Check No. 2134 - From Tent to White House - Perils of the Jungle - On the Trail of Geronimo - White Mustang - - -GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. - -For the past fifty years Mr. Fenn has been writing books for boys and -popular fiction. His books are justly popular throughout the -English-speaking world. We publish the following select list of his -boys’ books, which we consider the best he ever wrote. - - Commodore Junk - Dingo Boys - Golden Magnet - Grand Chaco - Weathercock - - -ENSIGN CLARKE FITCH, U. S. N. - -A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and thoroughly -familiar with all naval matters. Mr. Fitch has devoted himself to -literature, and has written a series of books for boys that every young -American should read. His stories are full of very interesting -information about the navy, training ships, etc. - - Bound for Annapolis - Clif, the Naval Cadet - Cruise of the Training Ship - From Port to Port - Strange Cruise, A - - -WILLIAM MURRAY GRAYDON. - -An author of world-wide popularity. Mr. Graydon is essentially a friend -of young people, and we offer herewith ten of his best works, wherein he -relates a great diversity of interesting adventures in various parts of -the world, combined with accurate historical data. - - Butcher of Cawnpore, The - Camp in the Snow, The - Campaigning with Braddock - Cryptogram, The - From Lake to Wilderness - In Barracks and Wigwam - In Fort and Prison - Jungles and Traitors - Rajah’s Fortress, The - White King of Africa, The - - -LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A. - -Every American boy takes a keen interest in the affairs of West Point. -No more capable writer on this popular subject could be found than -Lieut. Garrison, who vividly describes the life, adventures and unique -incidents that have occurred in that great institution--in these famous -West Point stories. - - Off for West Point - Cadet’s Honor, A - On Guard - West Point Treasure, The - West Point Rivals, The - - -HEADON HILL. - -The hunt for gold has always been a popular subject for consideration, -and Mr. Hill has added a splendid story on the subject in this romance -of the Klondyke. - -Spectre Gold - - -HENRY HARRISON LEWIS. - -Mr. Lewis is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has -written a great many books for boys. Among his best works are the -following titles--the subjects include a vast series of adventures in -all parts of the world. The historical data is correct, and they should -be read by all boys, for the excellent information they contain. - - Centreboard Jim - King of the Island - Midshipman Merrill - Ensign Merrill - Sword and Pen - Valley of Mystery, The - Yankee Boys in Japan - - -DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia. - - * * * * * - - -LIEUT. LIONEL LOUNSBERRY. - -A series of books embracing many adventures under our famous naval -commanders, and with our army during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. -Founded on sound history, these books are written for boys, with the -idea of combining pleasure with profit; to cultivate a fondness for -study--especially of what has been accomplished by our army and navy. - - Cadet Kit Carey - Captain Carey - Kit Carey’s Protegé - Lieut. Carey’s Luck - Out With Commodore Decatur - Randy, the Pilot - Tom Truxton’s School Days - Tom Truxton’s Ocean Trip - Treasure of the Golden Crater - Won at West Point - - -BROOKS McCORMICK. - -Four splendid books of adventure on sea and land, by this well-known -writer for boys. - - Giant Islanders, The - How He Won - Nature’s Young Nobleman - Rival Battalions - - -WALTER MORRIS. - -This charming story contains thirty-two chapters of just the sort of -school life that charms the boy readers. - -Bob Porter at Lakeview Academy - - -STANLEY NORRIS. - -Mr. Norris is without a rival as a writer of “Circus Stories” for boys. -These four books are full of thrilling adventures, but good, wholesome -reading for young Americans. - - Phil, the Showman - Young Showman’s Rivals, The - Young Showman’s Pluck, The - Young Showman’s Triumph - - -LIEUT. JAMES K. ORTON. - -When a boy has read one of Lieut. Orton’s books, it requires no urging -to induce him to read the others. Not a dull page in any of them. - - Beach Boy Joe - Last Chance Mine - Secret Chart, The - Tom Havens with the White Squadron - - -DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia. - - -JAMES OTIS. - -Mr. Otis is known by nearly every American boy, and needs no -introduction here. The following copyrights are among his best: - - Chased Through Norway - Inland Waterways - Unprovoked Mutiny - Wheeling for Fortune - Reuben Green’s Adventures at Yale - - -GILBERT PATTEN. - -Mr. Patten has had the distinction of having his books adopted by the U. -S. Government for all naval libraries on board our war ships. While -aiming to avoid the extravagant and sensational, the stories contain -enough thrilling incidents to please the lad who loves action and -adventure. In the Rockspur stories the description of their Baseball and -Football Games and other contests with rival clubs and teams make very -exciting and absorbing reading; and few boys with warm blood in their -veins, having once begun the perusal of one of these books, will -willingly lay it down till it is finished. - - Boy Boomers - Boy Cattle King - Boy from the West - Don Kirke’s Mine - Jud and Joe - Rockspur Nine, The - Rockspur Eleven, The - Rockspur Rivals, The - - -ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE. - -Mr. Rathborne’s stories for boys have the peculiar charm of dealing with -localities and conditions with which he is thoroughly familiar. The -scenes of these excellent stories are along the Florida coast and on the -western prairies. - - Canoe and Camp Fire - Paddling Under Palmettos - Rival Canoe Boys - Sunset Ranch - Chums of the Prairie - Young Range Riders - Gulf Cruisers - Shifting Winds - - -ARTHUR SEWELL. - -An American story by an American author. It relates how a Yankee boy -overcame many obstacles in school and out. Thoroughly interesting from -start to finish. - -Gay Dashleigh’s Academy Days - - -DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia. - - -CAPT. DAVID SOUTHWICK. - -An exceptionally good story of frontier life among the Indians in the -far West, during the early settlement period. - -Jack Wheeler - - -The Famous Frank Merriwell Stories. - -BURT L. STANDISH. - -No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like -the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell -Stories. There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, -as portrayed by the author, is a jolly whole-souled, honest, courageous -American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad -habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary -for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell’s -example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow. Six -volumes now ready: - - Frank Merriwell’s School Days - Frank Merriwell’s Chums - Frank Merriwell’s Foes - Frank Merriwell’s Trip West - Frank Merriwell Down South - Frank Merriwell’s Bravery - Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour - Frank Merriwell’s Races - Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield - Frank Merriwell at Yale - - -VICTOR ST. CLAIR. - -These books are full of good, clean adventure, thrilling enough to -please the full-blooded wide-awake boy, yet containing nothing to which -there can be any objection from those who are careful as to the kind of -books they put into the hands of the young. - - Cast Away in the Jungle - Comrades Under Castro - For Home and Honor - Zip, the Acrobat - From Switch to Lever - Little Snap, the Post Boy - Zig-Zag, the Boy Conjurer - Zip, the Acrobat - - -MATTHEW WHITE, JR. - -Good, healthy, strong books for the American lad. No more interesting -books for the young appear on our lists. - - Adventures of a Young Athlete - Eric Dane - Guy Hammersley - My Mysterious Fortune - Tour of a Private Car - Young Editor, The - - -ARTHUR M. WINFIELD. - -One of the most popular authors of boys’ books. Here are three of his -best. - - Mark Dale’s Stage Venture - Young Bank Clerk, The - Young Bridge Tender, The - - -GAYLE WINTERTON. - -This very interesting story relates the trials and triumphs of a Young -American Actor, including the solution of a very puzzling mystery. - - Young Actor, The - - -ERNEST A. YOUNG. - -This book is not a treatise on sports, as the title would indicate, but -relates a series of thrilling adventures among boy campers in the woods -of Maine. - - Boats, Bats and Bicycles - -DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia. - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Backwoods Boy, by Horatio Alger Jr. - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACKWOODS BOY *** - -***** This file should be named 52073-0.txt or 52073-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/7/52073/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Backwoods Boy - or The Boyhood and Manhood of Abraham Lincoln - -Author: Horatio Alger Jr. - -Release Date: May 15, 2016 [EBook #52073] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACKWOODS BOY *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/cover_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="322" height="500" alt="[Image of the bookcover -unavailable.]" title="" /></a> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/frontis_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="261" height="350" alt="Image unavailable: ABRAHAM LINCOLN." /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">ABRAHAM LINCOLN.</span> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a>{2}</span> </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a>{3}</span> </p> - -<h1>T h e B a c k wo o d s B o y<br /> -<small><small>OR -<br /> -THE BOYHOOD AND MANHOOD OF<br /> -ABRAHAM LINCOLN</small></small></h1> - -<p class="c"><small>BY</small> -<br /> -HORATIO ALGER, JR.<br /> -<small>AUTHOR OF</small><br /> - -<small>“Canal Boy to President,” “Farm Boy to Senator,” “Dean<br /> -Dunham,” etc., etc.</small><br /> -<br /> -<img src="images/colophon.png" -width="75" -height="79" -alt="" -/><br /> -<br /> -PHILADELPHIA<br /> -D A V I D M c K A Y, P U B L I S H E R<br /> -<small><span class="smcap">610 South Washington Square</span></small><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a>{4}</span><br /> -<br /> -<small>Copyright, 1883<br /> -By Horatio Alger, Jr.<br /> -———<br /> -The Backwoods Boy</small><br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a>{5}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">I venture</span> to say that among our public men there is not one whose life -can be studied with more interest and profit by American youth than that -of Abraham Lincoln. It is not alone that, born in an humble cabin, he -reached the highest position accessible to an American, but especially -because in every position which he was called upon to fill, he did his -duty as he understood it, and freely sacrificed personal ease and -comfort in the service of the humblest. I have prepared the story of -Lincoln’s boyhood and manhood as a companion volume to the life of -Garfield, which I published two years since, under the title, “From -Canal Boy to President.” The cordial welcome which this received has -encouraged me to persevere in my plan of furnishing readers, young and -old, with readable lives of the greatest<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a>{6}</span> and best men in our history. I -can hardly hope at this late day to have contributed many new facts, or -found much new material. I have been able, however, through the kindness -of friends, to include some anecdotes not hitherto published. But for -the most part I have relied upon the well-known and valuable lives of -Lincoln by Dr. Holland and Ward H. Lamon. I also acknowledge, with -pleasure, my indebtedness to “Six Months in the White House,” by F. B. -Carpenter; Henry J. Raymond’s “History of Lincoln’s Administration,” and -the “Life of Lincoln,” by D. W. Bartlett. I commend, with confidence, -either or all of these works to those of my readers who may desire a -more thorough and exhaustive life of “The Backwoods Boy.”</p> - -<p class="r"> -<span class="smcap">Horatio Alger, Jr.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">New York</span>, <i>July 4, 1883</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a>{7}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td> </td> -<td class="rt"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Log-Cabin</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_009">9</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The New Mother</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_017">17</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Abe and his Family</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_026">26</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Abe’s Schooling</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_034">34</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Abe and his Neighbors</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_043">43</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">A River Trip</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_051">51</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Lincoln as a Clerk</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_060">60</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">In the Black Hawk Campaign</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_069">69</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">In the Legislature</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_078">78</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">A Case in Court</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_087">87</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Mr. Lincoln forms two Partnerships</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_096">96</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Lawyer in his Office and at -Home</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_105">105</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Rail-Splitter enters Congress</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_113">113</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The First Speech in Congress</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_121">121</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Mr. Lincoln’s Family</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_136">136</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Senatorial Campaign</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_147">147</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Two Giants</span>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a>{8}</span></td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_155">155</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Illinois declares for the Rail-Splitter</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_164">164</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">XIX.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Nominated for President</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_173">173</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">XX.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Farewell to Springfield</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_183">183</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">XXI.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">A Visit to Mr. Lincoln</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_191">191</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">XXII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Inauguration</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_198">198</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">XXIII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The War Begins</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_208">208</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">XXIV.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Mr. Lincoln in the White House</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_217">217</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">XXV.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Mr. Lincoln and the little Boy—A -Group of Incidents</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_225">225</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">XXVI.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Mr. Lincoln’s Humanity</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_237">237</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">XXVII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Anecdotes of Mr. Lincoln</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_246">246</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">XXVIII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">President Lincoln as a Religious -Man</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_256">256</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">XXIX.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Emancipating the Slaves</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_264">264</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">XXX.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Elected for a Second Term</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_269">269</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">XXXI.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Speech at Gettysburg</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_237">237</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">XXXII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">The Curtain Falls</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_277">277</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">XXXIII.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Mr. Herndon’s Estimate of Mr. -Lincoln</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_285">285</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="rt" valign="top"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">XXXIV.</a></td><td>—<span class="smcap">Mr. Lincoln’s Favorite Poem</span>,</td><td class="rt" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_299">299</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a>{9}</span></p> - -<h1>THE BACKWOODS BOY.</h1> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE LOG-CABIN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Three</span> children stood in front of a rough log-cabin in a small clearing -won from the surrounding forest. The country round about was wild and -desolate. Not far away was a vast expanse of forest, including oaks, -beeches, walnuts and the usual variety of forest trees.</p> - -<p>We are in Indiana, and the patch of land on which the humble log-cabin -stood is between the forks of Big Pigeon and Little Pigeon Creeks, a -mile and a half east of Gentryville, a small village not then in -existence.</p> - -<p>The oldest of the three children was Nancy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a>{10}</span> Lincoln, about twelve years -old. Leaning against the cabin in a careless attitude was a tall, -spindling boy, thin-faced, and preternaturally grave, with a swarthy -complexion. He was barefoot and ragged; the legs of his pantaloons, -which were much too short, revealing the lower part of his long legs; -for in his boyhood, as in after days, he ran chiefly to legs.</p> - -<p>Who in the wildest flight of a daring imagination would venture to -predict that this awkward, sad-faced, ragged boy would forty years later -sit in the chair of Washington, and become one of the rulers of the -earth? I know of nothing more wonderful in the Arabian Nights than this.</p> - -<p>The second boy was a cousin of the other two children—Dennis Hanks, -who, after the death of his parents, had come to live in the Lincoln -household.</p> - -<p>The sun was near its setting. It seemed already to have set, for it was -hidden by the forest trees behind which it had disappeared.</p> - -<p>“Abe,” said the girl, addressing her brother, “do you think father will -be home to-night?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon,” answered Abe laconically, shifting from one foot to the -other.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a>{11}</span></p> - -<p>“I hope so,” said Dennis. “It’s lonesome stayin’ here by ourselves.”</p> - -<p>“There some one comin’ with father,” said Nancy slowly. “We’re goin’ to -have a new mother. I hope we’ll like her.”</p> - -<p>“It’ll seem good to have a woman in the house,” said Dennis. “It seems -lonesome-like where they’re all men.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you mean yourself and me,” said Abe smiling.</p> - -<p>The boy’s grave, thin face brightened up as he said this in a humorous -tone.</p> - -<p>“Then I ought to be considered a woman if you two are goin’ to set up as -men,” said Nancy. “But Dennis is right. It’ll be good for us if she’s -the right sort. Some step-mothers ain’t.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon you’re right,” said Abe again.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid she won’t like the house,” said Nancy. “It ain’t as good as -it might be, though it’s better than the ‘camp’ we used to live in.”</p> - -<p>As she spoke her eyes turned toward an even more primitive dwelling -forty yards away. It was known as “a half-faced camp,” and was merely a -cabin enclosed on three sides and open on the fourth; built not of logs, -but of poles. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a>{12}</span> was fourteen feet square, and without a floor. Here it -was that the elder Lincoln lived with his family when first he settled -down in the Indiana wilderness after his removal from Kentucky. The -present dwelling was an improvement on the first, but how far it was -from being comfortable may be judged from a description.</p> - -<p>It was indeed a cabin, while the other had been only a camp, but it had -neither floor, door, nor window. There was a doorway for an entrance, -but there was nothing to keep out intruders. There was small temptation, -however, for the professional burglar. The possessions of the Lincolns -were altogether beneath the notice of even the poorest tramp. A few -three-legged stools served for chairs. In one corner of the cabin was an -extemporized bedstead made of poles stuck in the cracks of the logs, -while the other end rested in the crotch of a forked stick sunk in the -earthen floor. A bag of leaves covered with skins and old petticoats -rested on some boards laid over the poles. Here had slept the elder -Lincoln and his wife, while Abe laid himself down in the loft above. A -hewed puncheon supported by four legs served for a table. A<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a>{13}</span> few dishes -of pewter and tin completed the list of furniture.</p> - -<p>This was the home to which Thomas Lincoln was bringing his new wife. She -was a widow from Elizabethtown in Kentucky, where he had formerly lived. -She was an old flame of Mr. Lincoln, but had rejected him, being able, -as she thought, to do better. But when within a few years he became a -widower and she a widow, the suit was renewed and the answer was -favorable.</p> - -<p>Even now the married pair are on their way home.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Johnston considered herself a poor widow, but she was much better -off than the man she had just married. She was the owner of a bureau -that cost forty dollars; this alone being a value far greater than her -new husband’s entire stock of furniture. Other articles, too, she had, -including a table, a set of chairs, a large clothes chest, cooking -utensils, knives, forks, bedding, and other articles.</p> - -<p>“Look, Abe!” said Nancy in sudden excitement, pointing to an approaching -vehicle.</p> - -<p>Abe followed the direction of his sister’s finger, and he opened his -eyes in astonishment. A large<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a>{14}</span> four-horse team was in sight—a strange -and unusual spectacle in that wilderness. The children could not have -been more excited if Barnum’s grand procession of circus chariots had -filed into view—a vision of Oriental splendor.</p> - -<p>“There’s father!” exclaimed Abe, distinguishing with a boy’s keen vision -the well-known figure of his father sitting beside the driver.</p> - -<p>“Father and Uncle Ralph,” corrected Nancy.</p> - -<p>“And the team’s full of furniture. Can it be comin’ here?”</p> - -<p>“I reckon your new mother’s aboard,” said Dennis.</p> - -<p>This remark made the children thoughtful, because it recalled their own -sad-faced and gentle mother who had faded from life a year before and -gone uncomplainingly to her rest. Then, besides, the prospect of a -step-mother is apt to be disquieting when nothing is known of her -disposition or character.</p> - -<p>“Is all that furniture comin’ here?” soliloquized Nancy wonderingly.</p> - -<p>“I reckon so,” answered Abe.</p> - -<p>When the team came nearer another exciting discovery was made. There -were others aboard<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a>{15}</span> the wagon besides their father, their new mother, -and their uncle Ralph Krame, who was the owner of the team. There were -two girls and a boy, children of Mrs. Lincoln by her former marriage. -They were not far from the same age as the three children who were -awaiting their arrival, but they were much better dressed. It was clear -that the log-cabin would no longer be lonely. It would be full and -running over. The six children and their parents were to be crowded into -it.</p> - -<p>“That is my house, Sally,” said Thomas Lincoln, pointing out the cabin -in the woods to his new wife.</p> - -<p>“That!” she exclaimed in dismay, for her new husband had led her to -expect that he was tolerably well-to-do, not with any intention to -deceive, but mainly because they had different standards of comfort.</p> - -<p>We can imagine that the heart of the new wife must have sunk within her -as from the wagon she caught the first sight of her future home. She had -not been accustomed to luxury, but her old home was luxurious compared -with this.</p> - -<p>She relapsed into silence, and did not choose to make her husband -uncomfortable by revealing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a>{16}</span> the true state of her feelings. She seems to -have been a capable woman, and probably made up her mind upon the -instant to make “the best of it.” Besides, she had already caught sight -of the children.</p> - -<p>“And those are Nancy and Abe?” she said.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Thomas Lincoln. “That’s Abe with the long legs, and the -other boy is his cousin Dennis.”</p> - -<p>The new Mrs. Lincoln regarded with womanly compassion the three -neglected children, and in her heart she resolved to make their lot more -desirable. Perhaps the children read her face aright, for, as they -scanned her kindly face, all fear of the new step-mother disappeared, -and they responded shyly, but cordially, to her greeting.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a>{17}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE NEW MOTHER.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the new Mrs. Lincoln entered the humble log-cabin which was to be -her future home, it may well be imagined that her heart sank within her -at the primitive accommodations, or rather, lack of accommodations.</p> - -<p>“How do you like it?” asked Thomas Lincoln, who was much more easily -satisfied than his wife.</p> - -<p>“Not at all at present. There are no doors or windows. There is not even -a plank floor.”</p> - -<p>“We have got along without them,” said her husband.</p> - -<p>“We can’t get along without them any longer. You are a carpenter, and -can easily provide them. I will put in my furniture, and after awhile we -will have things more comfortable.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t think we need the bureau. You say it cost forty dollars. You -had better sell it. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a>{18}</span> is sinful extravagance to have so much money in -furniture.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t consent to that,” said Mrs. Lincoln decidedly. “I have nothing -that is too good for us. I will see that you and the children live more -comfortably in future.”</p> - -<p>Abe and Nancy looked on with interest while the bureau and the other -possessions of their new mother were taken from the wagon by their -father and their uncle Ralph. They began to think they were going to -live in city style. In particular they admired the bureau which had cost -forty dollars. Why, their cabin had not cost that. They felt something -like the country minister of sixty years since, to whom his parishioners -presented a carpet for the “fore room.” When it was spread on the floor, -he gazed at it admiringly and ejaculated, “What, all this and heaven -too! This is too much!”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lincoln was quite in earnest, and set her husband to work the next -day at the improvements she had specified. When after a time they were -completed; when the earthen floor was succeeded by one of boards; when -two windows had been set in the sides of the cabin, and a door<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a>{19}</span> closed -up the entrance; when the primitive bed and bedstead had been superseded -by the newcomer’s comfortable bedstead and bedding, and the three-legged -stools had been removed to give place to chairs, the three children were -very happy.</p> - -<p>And indeed it was a happy day for Thomas Lincoln and his young family -when his second wife took charge of his household. She was kind-hearted -and energetic, and though she had three children of her own, she was -never found wanting in care or affection for her husband’s children. She -took a special interest in young Abe. She read him better than his -father, and saw that there was that in him which it would pay to -develop.</p> - -<p>To begin with, she rigged him out in new clothes. His ragged condition -had excited her sympathy, and she rightly judged that neat attire helps -a boy’s or girl’s self-respect. I have no doubt that Abe, though he -never had a weakness for fine clothes, surveyed himself complacently -when for the first time he saw himself respectably dressed.</p> - -<p>This is the description of Abe’s step-mother<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a>{20}</span> given many years after by -Mrs. Chapman, the daughter of Dennis Hanks:</p> - -<p>“His wife, my grandmother, is a very tall woman, straight as an Indian; -fair complexion, and was, when I first remember her, very handsome, -sprightly, talkative, and proud; wore her hair curled till gray; is -kind-hearted and very charitable, and also very industrious.”</p> - -<p>It may be mentioned here that this good lady lived long enough to see -the neglected boy whom she so kindly took in hand elected to the highest -place in the gift of his countrymen.</p> - -<p>It was not long before Mrs. Lincoln began to broach her plans for the -benefit of her step-son.</p> - -<p>“Abe,” she said one day, “have you ever been to school?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, ma’am. I went to school a little while in Kentucky.”</p> - -<p>“You didn’t learn much, I suppose?”</p> - -<p>“Not much; I can read and write a little.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a good beginning. In this country, Abe, you will never amount to -much unless you get an education. Would you like to go to school?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered the boy earnestly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a>{21}</span></p> - -<p>“I will speak to your father about it. Is there any school near here?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Mr. Dorsey keeps school about a mile and a half from here, near -the Little Pigeon Creek meeting-house.”</p> - -<p>“You and Nancy and Dennis must go there.” Mrs. Lincoln broached the -subject to her husband.</p> - -<p>“Abe ought to go to school, Thomas,” she said, “and so ought the other -children.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know as I can spare him,” said his father. “I need his help in -the shop and on the farm.”</p> - -<p>“He can find time out of school hours. The boy must have an education.”</p> - -<p>“I agree to that, wife. It shall be as you say.”</p> - -<p>In Mr. Dorsey’s school Abe’s studies were elementary. His time was given -to reading, writing, and ciphering. The school-house was about as -primitive as the Lincoln cabin before the improvements were made on it. -It was built of unhewn logs, and holes stuffed with greased paper -supplied the place of windows. It was low-studded, being barely six feet -high. The scholars studied in classes, and Abe’s ambition was excited,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a>{22}</span> -so that he soon came to be looked upon as one of the foremost scholars.</p> - -<p>A year or two later, in the same humble school-house, a new teacher -named Andrew Crawford wielded the ferule. He was, it may be inferred, a -better scholar than Mr. Dorsey, and was able to carry his pupils -further.</p> - -<p>Abe was now in his fifteenth year, and was growing at an alarming rate. -He was already nearly six feet in height, and must have presented a -singular appearance in the rustic garb in which he presented himself at -this temple of learning. I quote Mr. Lamon’s description of his physical -appearance and dress:</p> - -<p>“He was growing at a tremendous rate, and two years later attained his -full height of six feet four inches. He was long, wiry, and strong; -while his big feet and hands and the length of his legs and arms were -out of all proportion to his small trunk and head. His complexion was -very swarthy, and Mrs. Gentry says that his skin was shrivelled and -yellow even then. He wore low shoes, buckskin breeches, linsey-wolsey -shirt, and a cap made of the skin of an opposum or a coon. The breeches -clung close to his thighs and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a>{23}</span> legs, but failed by a large space to meet -the tops of his shoes. Twelve inches remained uncovered and exposed that -much of ‘shin-bone—sharp, blue, and narrow.’ ‘He would always come to -school thus, good-humoredly and laughing,’ says his old friend, Nat -Grigsby. ‘He was always in good health, never was sick, had an excellent -constitution, and took care of it.’ ”</p> - -<p>It impresses us rather curiously to learn that the new teacher Crawford -undertook to teach “manners” to the rough brood that was under his -charge. It was certainly a desirable accomplishment, but the teaching -must have been attended with some difficulties.</p> - -<p>For the amusement of my young readers I will try to describe one of -these lessons. Mr. Crawford wished the boys to learn how to enter a room -and pay their respects to the assembled company.</p> - -<p>“Abe, it is your turn,” he says.</p> - -<p>Abe Lincoln, understanding what is meant, rose from his seat, and -retires from the room. A moment later a knock is heard at the door. A -scholar, specially deputed to do so—we will<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a>{24}</span> suppose Nat -Grigsby—advances to the door and opens it.</p> - -<p>Before him stands Abe—tall, awkward, with the lower part of his limbs -exposed.</p> - -<p>Nat bows, and, taking him by the arm, leads him from bench to bench, -presenting him to his fellow-pupils, as though he were a guest going the -rounds in a drawing-room. Abe, who was never without a sense of fun, no -doubt stole timorous glances askance at his rustic garb as he strode -here and there, bowing politely to the boys and girls whom he knew so -well. Yet it is possible that this exercise may have made it less -awkward for him in later days to attend to his social duties when events -brought him prominently before the country.</p> - -<p>So far from laughing at Master Crawford’s instruction in manners, I am -disposed to think very favorably of it. He must on the whole have been a -sensible man, and no doubt had a considerable influence over the rough -boys who submitted willingly to what possibly struck them as ludicrous.</p> - -<p>I doubt, however, with all his pains, whether he succeeded in making Abe -Lincoln graceful or courtly. On the whole, he was rather unpromising<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a>{25}</span> -material; being long, lank, and awkward. Yet this tall, gawky boy was -laying the foundation of a noble manhood. He was making the most of his -slender advantages, not dreaming what greatness the Future had in store -for him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a>{26}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">ABE AND HIS FAMILY.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">My</span> young readers may naturally feel some curiosity as to the Lincoln -family and their previous history.</p> - -<p>The grandfather of Abraham was one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky. -About the year 1780 he removed from Rockingham County, Virginia, to what -was then an unsettled wilderness. His death was tragical. Four years -later, while at work in the field, at some distance from his cabin, he -was shot down by a prowling Indian. How his widow managed, with the care -of five helpless children, we do not accurately know, but God helps the -struggling, and she reared them all till they reached man’s and woman’s -estate. Thomas Lincoln, born in 1778, was the third child, and the -future President was his son. He was a good-natured, popular man, but -inefficient and unsuccessful,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a>{27}</span> and whatever there was great in his -eminent son did not come from him.</p> - -<p>Nancy Hanks, Abe’s own mother, was born in Virginia, and was probably -related to some family emigrating from that State. Dr. Holland says of -her: “Mrs. Lincoln, the mother, was evidently a woman out of place among -these primitive surroundings. She was five feet five inches high, a -slender, pale, sad, and sensitive woman, with much in her nature that -was truly heroic, and much that shrank from the rude life around her. A -great man never drew his infant life from a purer or more womanly bosom -than her own.” Though she died young, she had taught her children to -read, and so laid the foundation of their education.</p> - -<p>When Thomas Lincoln had made up his mind to move from Kentucky, he sold -his humble home, or rather bartered it for ten barrels of whisky and -twenty dollars in money. It must not be inferred that he was an -intemperate man—this would not be true—but money was scarce in those -days, and it was common to barter, taking pay in commodities which were -marketable. This was before the days of temperance societies; whisky<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a>{28}</span> -was generally drunk, even by ministers, and there was little risk in -accepting it.</p> - -<p>So Thomas Lincoln, leaving home by himself to find a new residence for -his family, built a flat-boat, and launched it on the Rolling Fork, a -creek emptying into the Ohio River. He reached the river in safety, but -then came a disaster. His flat-boat was upset, and two-thirds of his -whisky, and many of his housekeeping and farm utensils were lost. He did -the best he could, however. With friendly assistance he saved all he was -able, and proceeding on his journey, carried his goods about eighteen -miles into Spencer County, Indiana, the place where we find him at the -commencement of our narrative. He returned to Kentucky for his family, -and brought them with him to the new home in the wilderness. Seven days, -we are told, were consumed on the journey, though the distance could not -have been very great. We can easily imagine what privations and -weariness of body this journey involved. People of to-day don’t know -what “moving” is. They should have lived in the year 1816, and made a -toilsome seven days’ march through the wilderness to understand what it -meant then.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a>{29}</span></p> - -<p>Nor were their trials and privations over when the moving was -accomplished. I am tempted to quote here from Mr. Ward H. Lamon’s -interesting life of Lincoln, an account of life in the new Indiana home, -contained in a letter from Mr. David Turnham, a school-fellow of Abe:</p> - -<p>“When my father came here in the Spring of 1819, he settled in Spencer -County, within one mile of Thomas Lincoln, then a widower. The chance -for schooling was poor; but, such as it was, Abraham and myself attended -the same schools.</p> - -<p>“We first had to go seven miles to mill; and then it was a hand-mill -that would grind from ten to fifteen bushels of corn in a day. There was -but little wheat grown at that time; and when we did have wheat, we had -to grind it on the mill described, and use it without bolting, as there -were no bolts in the country. In the course of two or three years, a man -by the name of Huffman built a mill on Anderson River, about twelve -miles distant. Abe and I had to do the milling on horseback, frequently -going twice to get one grist. Then they began building horse-mills of a -little better quality than the hand-mills.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a>{30}</span></p> - -<p>“The country was very rough, especially in the low lands, so thick with -brush that a man could scarcely get through on foot. These places were -called Roughs. The country abounded in game, such as bears, deer, -turkeys, and the smaller game.</p> - -<p>“At that time there were a great many deer-licks; and Abe and myself -would go to these licks sometimes, and watch of nights to kill deer, -though Abe was not so fond of a gun as I was. There were ten or twelve -of these licks in a small prairie on the creek, lying between Mr. -Lincoln’s and Mr. Wood’s. This gave it the name of Prairie Track of -Pigeon Creek.”</p> - -<p>I have already said that Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter. He did not, -however, understand his trade very well, and, though he was employed in -small jobs, there is no evidence that he was ever employed to build a -house, or was considered competent to do so. In fact, he derived but a -small income from his trade, and probably looked upon himself rather as -a farmer than a mechanic. It was a piece of good fortune for himself and -his children, that, shiftless and unambitious as he was, he should have -won a wife so much more capable and energetic than himself. He was much -shorter<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a>{31}</span> than his son Abe, being an inch or two under six feet. In some -respects they were alike, however, for Thomas Lincoln had a gift for -telling stories, and would sit about at “stores,” or under trees, and -amuse his neighbors with an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes. Of -education he had little or none. He could write his name, having learned -this much from his first wife, Abe’s mother, but he never had the -ambition or perseverance to go farther up the hill of learning. We are -told, however, that he was in favor of his children’s obtaining an -education, though it was probably the mother and step-mother to whom Abe -and his sister were especially indebted for such advantages as they -enjoyed. I may say, however, that the most valuable part of Abraham -Lincoln’s education was not derived from books. He was a close and keen -observer of men and things, and few men excelled him in insight into -human nature, and the motives, the weaknesses, and the subterfuges of -men. Yet with all this knowledge of the bad as well as the good that was -in men, he was always a kindly and sympathetic judge and critic.</p> - -<p>I suppose all boys at some time or other in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a>{32}</span> early years have a -narrow escape. My young readers may be interested to know how near we -came to losing our future President. It was when Abe was seven years -old, and before he removed to Indiana.</p> - -<p>He was accustomed to go on numerous tramps with his cousin, Dennis -Hanks, who sought to initiate him into the mysteries of fishing. On one -occasion he attempted to “coon” across Knot Creek, by swinging over on a -sycamore tree. But he lost his hold and tumbled into the deep water. He -would have drowned but for the exertions of his boy companion, who had -great difficulty in saving him. The readers of Garfield’s Life will -remember how he also came near death by drowning, when considerably -older than Abe was at this juncture. But God looks after the lives of -His chosen instruments, and saves them for His work.</p> - -<p>There is no doubt that Abe found plenty to do outside of school. In -fact, that did not take up much of his time, for we are told that, -adding together all the time he spent in attendance, the aggregate would -not exceed a year.</p> - -<p>As to the sort of work he did, his father found work for him on the land -which he had under<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a>{33}</span> cultivation. Then the “chores” which boys in such -households are always called upon to do, in his case exacted more time -on account of the lack of average accommodations. For instance, the -water had to be brought from a spring a mile away, and Abe and his -sister were employed to fetch it. There was no water to be had nearer, -except what was collected in holes in the ground after a rain, and this -was necessarily unfit for drinking, or, indeed, any other purpose unless -strained. But Abe is not to be pitied for the hardships of his lot. That -is the way strong men are made.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a>{34}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">ABE’S SCHOOLING.</span></h2> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Spell</span> <i>defied</i>!”</p> - -<p>This question was put a class in spelling by the master.</p> - -<p>The first pupil in the straggling line of backwoods boys and girls who -stood up in class, answered with some hesitation: “D-e-f-i-d-e, defied.”</p> - -<p>The master frowned.</p> - -<p>“Next!” he called sharply.</p> - -<p>The next improved upon the effort of the first speller, and in a -confident tone answered.</p> - -<p>“D-e-f-y-d-e.”</p> - -<p>“Wrong again! The next may try it,” said the teacher.</p> - -<p>“D-e-f-y-d!” said the third scholar.</p> - -<p>“Worse and worse! You are entitled to a medal!” said Crawford, -sarcastically. “Next!”</p> - -<p>“D-e-f-y-e-d!” was the next attempt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a>{35}</span></p> - -<p>“Really, you do me great credit,” said the teacher, a frown gathering on -his brow. “You can’t spell an easy word of two syllables. It is -shameful. I’ll keep the whole class in all the rest of the day, if -necessary, till the word is spelled correctly.”</p> - -<p>It now became the turn of a young girl named Roby, who was a favorite -with Abe. She was a pretty girl, but, nevertheless, the terrible word -puzzled her. In her perplexity she chanced to turn toward the seat at -the window occupied by her long-legged friend, Abe.</p> - -<p>Abe was perhaps the best speller in school. A word like defied was easy -enough to him, and he wanted to help the girl through.</p> - -<p>As Miss Roby looked at him she saw a smile upon his face, as he -significantly touched his <i>eye</i> with his finger. The girl took the hint, -and spelled the word correctly.</p> - -<p>“Right at last!” said Master Crawford, whose back was turned, and who -had not seen Abe’s dumb show. “It’s lucky for you all that one of the -class knew how to spell, or I would have kept my word, and kept you all -in.”</p> - -<p>Though Master Crawford’s school had a department<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a>{36}</span> of manners, there was -no department of English composition. Abe took this up on his own -account, according to his schoolmate Nat Grigsby, and probably the -teacher consented to examine his essays, though he did not require them -of his other pupils. Considering the kindness of heart which he -afterward exhibited on many occasions, my readers will not be surprised -to hear that his first composition was against cruelty to animals. This -is said to have been called forth by the conduct of some of his -fellow-pupils in catching terrapins and putting coals of fire on their -backs.</p> - -<p>After a time Master Crawford’s school was discontinued, and some two or -three years later Abe attended another, kept by a Mr. Swaney. It gives -us an idea of the boy’s earnest desire to obtain an education, when we -learn that he had to walk four and a half miles to it from his father’s -house, and this walk had to be repeated, of course, in the afternoon. -How many of my young readers would care sufficiently for an education to -walk nine miles a day, to and from school?</p> - -<p>We are told that the new school-house was no more impressive, -architecturally, than the first, already<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a>{37}</span> described. In fact, it was -very similar, though it had two chimneys instead of one. The course of -instruction does not seem to have been any higher than at Mr. Crawford’s -school. The department of “manners” was omitted, though it is doubtful -whether many of the pupils could have appeared to advantage in a city -ball-room.</p> - -<p>Probably Abe did not attend Mr. Swaney’s school many weeks, and this, we -are told, was the end of his school attendance anywhere. He had, -however, in that short time imbibed a love of learning, which is to be -credited rather to his own tastes than to the influence of his teachers, -and carried on by himself the studies of which he had learned something -in the humble backwoods school. We are told that he was already the -equal of his teachers in learning, which probably was not saying much. -Nevertheless he did not regard his education as finished. He had his -books, and kept on studying at home, or wherever he was employed. In the -hard work which fell to his lot he did not take much interest. He knew -that it was necessary, but he did not enjoy it. He preferred to labor -with his brain rather than with his hands, and often seemed so listless -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a>{38}</span> preoccupied that he got the reputation of being “awful lazy.”</p> - -<p>This is what his neighbor, Romine, says of him: “He worked for me; was -always reading and thinking; used to get mad at him. I say, Abe was -awful lazy; he would laugh, and talk, and crack jokes and tell stories -all the time; didn’t love work, but did dearly love his pay. He worked -for me frequently, a few days only at a time.... Lincoln said to me one -day, that his father taught him to work, but never learned him to love -it.”</p> - -<p>All the information we can obtain about this early time is interesting, -for it was then that Abe was laying the foundation of his future -eminence. His mind and character were slowly developing, and shaping -themselves for the future.</p> - -<p>From Mr. Lamon’s Life I quote a paragraph which will throw light upon -his habits and tastes at the age of seventeen:</p> - -<p>“Abe loved to lie under a shade-tree, or up in the loft of the cabin, -and read, cipher, and scribble. At night he sat by the chimney ‘jamb,’ -and ciphered by the light of the fire, on the wooden fire-shovel. When -the shovel was fairly covered, he would shave it off with Tom Lincoln’s -drawing<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a>{39}</span>-knife, and begin again. In the day-time he used boards for the -same purpose, out of doors, and went through the shaving process -everlastingly. His step-mother repeats often that ‘he read every book he -could lay his hands on.’ She says, ‘Abe read diligently. He read every -book he could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage that -struck him, he would write it down on boards if he had no paper, and -keep it there until he did get paper. Then he would rewrite it, look at -it, repeat it. He had a copy-book, a kind of scrap-book, in which he put -down all things, and thus preserved them.’ ”</p> - -<p>I am tempted also to quote a reminiscence of John Hanks, who lived with -the Lincolns from the time Abe was fourteen to the time he became -eighteen years of age: “When Lincoln—Abe—and I returned to the house -from work, he would go to the cupboard, snatch a piece of corn-bread, -take down a book, sit down on a chair, cock his legs up as high as his -head, and read. He and I worked barefooted, grubbed it, ploughed, mowed, -and cradled together; ploughed corn, gathered it, and shucked corn. -Abraham read constantly when he had opportunity.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a>{40}</span></p> - -<p>It may well be supposed, however, that the books upon which Abe could -lay hands were few in number. There were no libraries, either public or -private, in the neighborhood, and he was obliged to read what he could -get rather than those which he would have chosen, had he been able to -select from a large collection. Still, it is a matter of interest to -know what books he actually did read at this formative period. Some of -them certainly were worth reading, such as “Æsop’s Fables,” “Robinson -Crusoe,” “Pilgrim’s Progress,” a History of the United States, and -Weem’s “Life of Washington.” The last book Abe borrowed from a neighbor, -old Josiah Crawford, (I follow the statement of Mr. Lamon, rather than -of Dr. Holland, who says it was Master Crawford, his teacher). When not -reading it, he laid it away in a part of the cabin where he thought it -would be free from harm, but it so happened that just behind the shelf -on which he placed it was a great crack between the logs of the wall. -One night a storm came up suddenly, the rain beat in through the -crevice, and soaked the borrowed book through and through. The book was -almost utterly spoiled. Abe felt very<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a>{41}</span> uneasy, for a book was valuable -in his eyes, as well as in the eyes of its owner.</p> - -<p>He took the damaged volume and trudged over to Mr. Crawford’s in some -perplexity and mortification.</p> - -<p>“Well, Abe, what brings you over so early?” said Mr. Crawford.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got some bad news for you,” answered Abe, with lengthened face.</p> - -<p>“Bad news! What is it?”</p> - -<p>“You know the book you lent me—the ‘Life of Washington’?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes.”</p> - -<p>“Well, the rain last night spoiled it,” and Abe showed the book, wet to -a pulp inside, at the same time explaining how it had been injured.</p> - -<p>“It’s too bad, I vum! You’d ought to pay for it, Abe. You must have been -dreadful careless.”</p> - -<p>“I’d pay for it if I had any money, Mr. Crawford.”</p> - -<p>“If you’ve got no money, you can work it out,” said Crawford.</p> - -<p>“I’ll do whatever you think right.”</p> - -<p>So it was arranged that Abe should work three days for Crawford, -“pulling fodder,” the value<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a>{42}</span> of his labor being rated at twenty-five -cents a day. As the book had cost seventy-five cents this would be -regarded as satisfactory. So Abe worked his three days, and discharged -the debt. Mr. Lamon is disposed to find fault with Crawford for exacting -this penalty, but it appears to me only equitable, and I am glad to -think that Abe was willing to act honorably in the matter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a>{43}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">ABE AND HIS NEIGHBORS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">If</span> Abe’s knowledge had increased in proportion to the increase in his -stature, he would have been unusually learned at the age of seventeen, -for he stood at that time nearly six feet four inches in his stockings, -and, boy as he was, was taller than any man in the vicinity.</p> - -<p>I must not omit to state that he had a remarkable memory, and this was -of great service to him in his early efforts at oratory. Mr. Lamon tells -us that:</p> - -<p>“He frequently amused his young companions by repeating to them long -passages from the books he had been reading. On Monday mornings he would -mount a stump and deliver, with a wonderful approach to exactness, the -sermon he had heard the day before. His taste for public speaking -appeared to be natural and irresistible.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a>{44}</span></p> - -<p>Let me describe one of the scenes in which Abe often took part.</p> - -<p>Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln have gone to church, for it is Sunday morning. The -children are excused on account of the distance, and are left at home to -fill up the time as they may.</p> - -<p>“Come in,” said Abe, appearing at the door of the cabin, “I’m going to -preach.”</p> - -<p>With more willingness, perhaps, than if the services were to be -conducted by a grown-up minister, the other young people in the family -enter and sit down in decorous style, while Abe pulls down the Bible, -reads a passage, and gives out a hymn. This is sung with more -earnestness than musical taste, and then the young preacher begins his -sermon.</p> - -<p>I am sure we should all like to have been present, and should have -listened with interest while the gaunt, awkward boy, gesticulating with -his long arms, delivered a homily not original with himself, but no -doubt marked by some of his peculiarities.</p> - -<p>We are told that this young audience, the girls probably, were sometimes -affected to tears. One might have been tempted to predict that the boy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a>{45}</span> -would develop into a preacher when he grew to man’s estate. But Abe did -not confine himself to “preaching.” He was just as fond of other kinds -of public speaking. Sometimes in the harvest field he mounted a stump -and began to talk on political subjects.</p> - -<p>More than once Thomas Lincoln, going out to the field, found work at a -standstill, and a little group collected at one point, Abe being the -central figure.</p> - -<p>“What’s all this?” he would ask angrily.</p> - -<p>“It’s Abe,” one of the hands would answer. “He’s givin’ us a rousin’ -speech on politics.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll rouse him!” said the incensed father. “Only let me get at him!”</p> - -<p>So he would push his way into the crowd unseen by Abe, and would -suddenly seize his son by the collar and drag him from his extemporized -rostrum.</p> - -<p>“Now go to work!” he would exclaim in irritation. “You can’t make your -living by talking.”</p> - -<p>Abe, with a comical smile, would close his speech, to resume it on some -more auspicious occasion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a>{46}</span></p> - -<p>I have already said that Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter, though a poor -one. Abe sometimes worked with him in the shop, but had no idea of -learning the trade. He preferred to work in the field, and, as he could -not fill up his time on the four acres his father cultivated, he hired -out to any one of the neighbors who required his services.</p> - -<p>No prediction could have surprised his employers more than that the -tall, awkward youth, who had grown out of his clothes, would hereafter -hold in his hands the destinies of the country, and guide it -triumphantly to the end of a protracted and bloody struggle.</p> - -<p>The career of Lincoln is a striking illustration of the often-repeated -saying that “Truth is stranger than fiction.”</p> - -<p>While there is room for suspicion that Abe was not fond of physical -labor, he is said to have worked very satisfactorily for those who -employed him. He had no troublesome pride, but was willing to do -anything that was asked, and pleased the women especially by never -objecting when called upon “to make a fire, carry water, or nurse a -baby.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a>{47}</span></p> - -<p>I am tempted to quote from Mr. Lamon’s interesting volume an account -furnished him by Mrs. Elizabeth Crawford of the people among whom Abe -lived and some of their peculiarities. It throws light upon the homely -side of the future President’s character and speech:</p> - -<p>“You wish me to tell you how the people used to go to meeting—how far -they went. At that time we thought it nothing to go eight or ten miles. -The old ladies did not stop for the want of a shawl, or cloak, or -riding-dress, or two horses in the winter-time; but they would put on -their husbands’ old overcoats, and wrap up their little ones, and take -one or two of them on their beasts, and their husbands would walk, and -they would go to church, and stay in the neighborhood until the next -day, and then go home. The old men would start out of their fields from -their work, or out of the woods from hunting, with their guns on their -shoulders, and go to church. Some of them dressed in deer-skin pants and -moccasins, hunting-shirts, with a rope or leather strap around them. -They would come in laughing, shake hands all around, sit down and talk -about the game they had killed, or some<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a>{48}</span> other work they had done, and -smoke their pipes together with the old ladies. If in warm weather, they -would kindle up a little fire out in the meeting-house yard to light -their pipes.</p> - -<p>“If in winter-time, they would hold church in some of the neighbors’ -houses. At such times they were always treated with the utmost of -kindness; a bottle of whisky, a pitcher of water, sugar, and glass were -set out, or a basket of apples or turnips, or some pies and cakes. -Apples were scarce them times. Sometimes potatoes were used for a treat. -(I must tell you that the first treat I ever received in old Mr. -Linkhern’s house—that was our President’s father’s house—was a plate -of potatoes, washed and pared very nicely, and handed ’round. It was -something new to me, for I had never seen a raw potato eaten before. I -looked to see how they made use of them. They took off a potato, and ate -them like apples).</p> - -<p>“Thus they spent the time till time for preaching to commence, then they -would all take their seats; the preacher would take his stand, draw his -coat, open his shirt-collar, and commence service by singing and prayer; -take his text and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a>{49}</span> preach till the sweat would roll off in great drops. -Shaking hands and singing then ended the service. The people seemed to -enjoy religion more in them days than they do now. They were glad to see -each other, and enjoyed themselves better than they do now.”</p> - -<p>Such is the testimony of an old lady, who, like old people generally, is -prone to praise the past at the expense of the present.</p> - -<p>The ladies in Abe’s early days wore “corn-field bonnets, scoop-shaped, -flaring in front, and long, though narrow behind.” They were as fond of -dancing as our city ladies, but did not find an elaborate toilet so -essential. It was not uncommon for both sexes to discard shoes and dance -barefooted. I have no doubt they enjoyed themselves as well, if not -better, in this absence of restraint, than their more polished sisters -who are to be found in city drawing-rooms to-day.</p> - -<p>Brought up in such an unconventional atmosphere, it is not surprising -that Abraham Lincoln never set much value upon form and ceremony, and -sometimes shocked his more conventional political associates.</p> - -<p>Mr. John B. Alley, a member of the Massachusetts<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a>{50}</span> Congressional -delegation during the war of the Rebellion, described to me on one -occasion how much shocked Senator Sumner was when, on calling upon the -President, in company with Lord Lyons, the English Minister, they found -him sitting at ease in true Western style, with his heels resting on the -table.</p> - -<p>“How are you, Sumner?” was the President’s greeting. “Take a seat, Lord -Lyons.”</p> - -<p>And all the while the good President did not seem to be aware that he -was acting in a manner unbecoming the dignity of a great ruler. Yet he -might have been aware of it, and secretly enjoyed the annoyance of his -distinguished guests. I am not prepared to recommend my young readers to -imitate Lincoln in this respect, but I wish them to understand how he -was affected by his early acquaintances and surroundings. We shall all -agree that there are many things more important than polished manners -and personal dignity, and we shall find hereafter that Abraham Lincoln, -in spite of his homely manners, was a Providential man, who served his -country in her hour of need, as probably no other could have done.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a>{51}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">A RIVER TRIP.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Thus</span> passed the early years of Abraham Lincoln. He was approaching -manhood, well prepared physically to undertake its responsibilities, but -with a very slender stock of knowledge. He had, however, acquired a -taste for learning, and was a close, careful, and shrewd observer. He -had also the ability to speak fluently in rough-and-ready style on any -subject of which he knew anything. Of the world he had seen very little, -but his knowledge in that direction was to be extended by a trip down -the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, which he took at the age of nineteen.</p> - -<p>Early in 1828 he chanced to be in the employ of Mr. Gentry, the founder -of Gentryville, a village which had sprung up since Thomas Lincoln had -lived in the neighborhood.</p> - -<p>One morning Allen Gentry said to Lincoln:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a>{52}</span></p> - -<p>“Abe, how would you like to go to New Orleans with me?”</p> - -<p>“Are you going?” asked Abe eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I am almost sure of going. I have spoken to father about letting -me go on a trading trip down the river, and I should like to have you go -with me.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll go,” said Abe promptly, “if you’ll give me the chance.”</p> - -<p>“There is no one I would like better to have with me,” answered Allen, -“and I can’t go alone.”</p> - -<p>He had good reason for preferring Abe to any of his other friends, not -only that young Lincoln was very strong and capable, but because he had -then, as in after years, a pleasant humor, which showed itself in -stories which he had pat for any occasion. Though homely enough, they -were never destitute of point, and were brimming over with shrewd fun.</p> - -<p>To a backwoods boy the proposed trip was as fascinating—perhaps more -so, notwithstanding the hard work involved—as a European trip nowadays. -There was constant variety; there was a varying panorama of meadows and -villages, as they floated<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a>{53}</span> down the rapid current to the mouth of the -great river.</p> - -<p>Mr. Gentry favored his son’s plan, and preparations were speedily made.</p> - -<p>The craft on which the two young men embarked was a flat-boat, roughly -made. It was loaded with a cargo of bacon and other produce, such as it -was thought would sell readily down South. Abe was the leader of the -expedition, and the business was under his care, inexperienced as he -was. He was ready to take the responsibility then as in after years, -when he piloted the ship of State with its valuable cargo over rougher -waters.</p> - -<p>My young readers may be interested to know that he was paid eight -dollars per month, eating and sleeping on board, and that he was -furnished with free return passage on a steamboat.</p> - -<p>The custom was to stop at all important points and seek an opportunity -to trade. During the night the boat was tied up to the shore, and the -two young men slept on board in the little cabin.</p> - -<p>Generally, there was no risk of robbery or hostile attack; but one -night, a few miles below<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a>{54}</span> Baton Rouge, the two young men were startled -by hearing footsteps on board.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” inquired Allen, starting.</p> - -<p>“We must have visitors,” replied Abe quietly.</p> - -<p>“Then they are not the right kind. They must be thieves.”</p> - -<p>“I reckon so. Let us get up and give them a reception.”</p> - -<p>Rising as quietly as possible, Abe and Allen Gentry looked out and saw -that the invading force consisted of seven stalwart negroes. They were -of the same class, only bolder, as the chicken thieves, who visit their -neighbors’ hen-roosts.</p> - -<p>“They are after our bacon,” said Abe. “We must try to save our bacon if -we can,” he added, with a humorous smile.</p> - -<p>Now, it requires some courage to get up in the dead of night and -confront a gang of thieves, especially when they are seven to two, but -the two young men were courageous, and they had no idea of submitting -tamely to robbery.</p> - -<p>“Bring the guns, Abe!” exclaimed Allen in a loud tone, intending to be -heard by the marauders. “Bring the guns; shoot them!”</p> - -<p>Lincoln had no gun, but he had a huge bludgeon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a>{55}</span> and he sprang upon -them, belaboring them with all the strength of his sinewy arm. No wonder -they were terrified as they surveyed the commanding stature of the -stripling and felt his terrible blows. Seven to two as they were, they -found discretion the better part of valor, and fled, some jumping into -the water.</p> - -<p>But Allen and Abe were not satisfied with this victory. They felt that -they must give their guilty visitors a lesson. So they chased them far -back into the country, and, on returning, thought it best to cut loose -and float down the river, lest they should have another call from their -unwelcome visitors, possibly reinforced by others of the same stripe. -These seven negroes little dreamed that the intrepid young man who so -belabored them was destined under the providence of God to be the -champion and deliverer of their race from the bondage under which they -groaned. I may add that Abe himself would perhaps have been even more -surprised could this have been revealed to him, as, bludgeon in hand, he -chased the flying negroes over the meadows.</p> - -<p>The time consumed in this river trip was about three months. The result -was satisfactory to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a>{56}</span> employer, and showed that his confidence in his -young neighbor was not misplaced. On his return, young Lincoln worked as -before, wherever opportunity offered, and probably, being under age, -turned in his earnings to the common fund. But the time was coming when -the family were to find a new home. Born in Kentucky, Abe had spent -rather more than half his life in Indiana, but a new State—the one -which now claims him as her most distinguished son—was soon to receive -him. In the spring of 1830, Thomas Lincoln pulled up stakes and moved to -Illinois. But his immediate family was smaller now than when he left -Kentucky. Abe’s sister had married early, and survived her marriage but -about a year. However, there were the step-children, and the families of -Dennis Hanks and Levi Hall, so that the company numbered thirteen in -all. Fifteen days’ journey brought them to a point ten miles west of -Decatur, where a small house was erected on the north bank of the north -fork of the Sangamon River. Abe and his cousin John broke up fifteen -acres of land and split rails enough to serve as a fence. This was the -first time, so far as we know, that young Lincoln justified<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a>{57}</span> the -appellation, which clung to him in after years, of <i>rail-splitter</i>.</p> - -<p>But young Lincoln was now nearing the age of twenty-one. Largely because -of his affection for his step-mother, to whom he was always ready to -acknowledge his obligations, he had remained about home much longer than -many sons, who forget filial duty under the impulse of ambition or -enterprise. So his twenty-first birthday found him still a member of the -home household. Then, naturally enough, he felt that it was time to set -up for himself. So in March or April he left home, but he seemed to have -formed no definite plans—none at least likely to carry him far away -from home. He was a candidate for labor, and took whatever offered, but -the proceeds went into his own pocket.</p> - -<p>One of the “jobs” which he undertook was splitting rails for a man named -Kirkpatrick. I quote from Dr. Holland in reference to this period:</p> - -<p>“A man who used to work with Abraham occasionally during his first year -in Illinois, says that at that time he was the roughest-looking person -he ever saw. He was tall, angular, and ungainly, and wore trousers made -of flax and tow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a>{58}</span> cut tight at the ankle, and out at both knees. He was -known to be very poor, but he was a welcome guest in every house in the -neighborhood. This informant speaks of splitting rails with Abraham, and -reveals some interesting facts concerning wages. Money was a commodity -never reckoned upon. Abraham split rails to get clothing, and he made a -bargain with Mrs. Nancy Miller to split four hundred rails for every -yard of brown jeans, dyed with white walnut bark, that would be -necessary to make him a pair of trousers. In those days he used to walk -four, six, and seven miles to his work.”</p> - -<p>My young readers will be interested in a story which relates to this -time. Abe was working for a Mr. Brown, “raising a crap,” when a traveler -stopped at the house and inquired if he could obtain accommodations for -the night, there being no tavern near.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Mr. Brown, “we can feed your crittur and give you somethin’ -to eat, but we can’t lodge you unless you can sleep on the same bed with -the hired man.”</p> - -<p>The man, who was sprucely dressed, hesitated, and inquired:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a>{59}</span></p> - -<p>“Who is he?”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Mr. Brown, “you can come and see him.”</p> - -<p>So the man followed the farmer to the back of the house, where young -Lincoln lay extended at full length on the ground in the shade.</p> - -<p>“There he is,” said Brown.</p> - -<p>“Well, I think he’ll do,” said the stranger, and he stayed and slept -with Abe, whom he then no doubt looked down upon as his “social” -inferior. Could he have looked forward with prophetic ken, he would have -felt honored by such chance association with a man destined to be -President of the United States.</p> - -<p>I am sorry that some doubts are thrown upon this story, but I have -ventured to tell it, for the vivid contrast between the position which -young Lincoln undoubtedly occupied at that time and that which in after -years he so adequately filled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a>{60}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">LINCOLN AS A CLERK</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Young</span> Lincoln’s successful trip to New Orleans led to his engagement for -a similar trip in the early part of 1831. With him were associated John -Hanks and John Johnston. Their employer was a Mr. Denton Offutt, of -Lexington, Kentucky, and a part of the cargo consisted of a drove of -hogs. Each of the three was to be paid at the rate of fifty cents per -day, and the round sum of sixty dollars divided between them. Abe -considered this very good pay, and was very glad to make the engagement. -The three young men not only managed the boat, but built it, and this -retarded the expedition. We read with some interest that while they were -boarding themselves at Sangamontown, while building the boat, Abe -officiated as cook to the entire satisfaction of his associates.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a>{61}</span></p> - -<p>“At New Orleans,” says John Hanks, “we saw negroes chained, maltreated, -whipped, and scourged. Lincoln saw it; his heart bled, he said nothing -much, was silent from feeling, was sad, looked bad, felt bad, was -thoughtful and abstracted. I can say, knowing it, that it was on this -trip that he formed his opinions of slavery. It run its iron in him then -and there,—May, 1831. I have heard him say so often and often.”</p> - -<p>One day, soon after his return from his second river trip, Abe received -a visit from a muscular, powerfully-built man, who accosted him thus: -“You are Abe Lincoln, I reckon?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Abe; “you are right there.”</p> - -<p>“I’ve heard you can wrestle some,” continued the stranger.</p> - -<p>“A little,” answered young Lincoln, modestly.</p> - -<p>“I’ve come to wrestle with you to see who’s the best man. My name’s -Daniel Needham.”</p> - -<p>The stranger announced his name with evident pride, and young Lincoln -recognized it as that of a man who had a high reputation as an amateur -pugilist.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad to know you,” said Lincoln, “and I don’t mind accepting your -challenge.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a>{62}</span></p> - -<p>Abe valued his popularity among the boys, and, though he did not feel -sure of the result, he felt that it would not do to back out. He would -lose his reputation, which was considerable.</p> - -<p>“Where shall it be?” asked Needham.</p> - -<p>“Just where and when you like,” answered Abe, promptly.</p> - -<p>So the meeting was fixed in the “greenwood” at Wabash Point, and there -it was that the two met in friendly rivalry.</p> - -<p>Though Daniel Needham was older and more firmly knit, Lincoln was sinewy -and strong, and his superior height, and long arms and legs gave him a -great advantage—sufficient to compensate for his youth and spareness.</p> - -<p>The result was that Abe achieved victory in short order. He threw his -older opponent twice with so much ease that Needham rose to his feet -very much mortified as well as astonished.</p> - -<p>“Lincoln,” said he, making the confession reluctantly, “you have thrown -me twice, but you can’t whip me.”</p> - -<p>“Are you satisfied that I can throw you?” asked Abe. “If you are not, -and must be convinced through a thrashing, I will do that too for your -sake.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a>{63}</span></p> - -<p>“I reckon we’ll put it off,” said Needham, finding his young rival more -willing than he had expected. He had hoped that, though not shrinking -from a friendly wrestling contest, Abe might hesitate to meet him in a -more serious encounter.</p> - -<p>I have told this story partly because I know my young readers would be -interested in it, partly to give an idea of the strength and athletic -power of the hero of my story.</p> - -<p>But wrestling contests would not earn a living for young Lincoln. He was -in search of employment, and found it. As one thing leads to another, -the same man who had sent him to New Orleans in charge of a flat-boat, -opened a store at New Salem, and needing a clerk, bethought himself of -young Lincoln. Abe unpacked the goods upon their arrival, and worked -energetically to put them in order. With a new store-book, serving as a -ledger, and a pen behind his ear, he made his début as a “first clerk” -of the leading mercantile establishment in the town. In the readiness -with which he turned from one thing to another, Abe might well be taken -for a typical Yankee, though born in Kentucky.</p> - -<p>We are now to look upon the future President<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a>{64}</span> in a new capacity. As a -clerk he proved honest and efficient, and my readers will be interested -in some illustrations of the former trait which I find in Dr. Holland’s -interesting volume.</p> - -<p>One day a woman came into the store and purchased sundry articles. They -footed up two dollars and six and a quarter cents, or the young clerk -thought they did. We do not hear nowadays of six and a quarter cents, -but this was a coin borrowed from the Spanish currency, and was well -known in my own boyhood.</p> - -<p>The bill was paid, and the woman was entirely satisfied. But the young -store-keeper, not feeling quite sure as to the accuracy of his -calculation, added up the items once more. To his dismay he found that -the sum total should have been but two dollars.</p> - -<p>“I’ve made her pay six and a quarter cents too much,” said Abe, -disturbed.</p> - -<p>It was a trifle, and many clerks would have dismissed it as such. But -Abe was too conscientious for that.</p> - -<p>“The money must be paid back,” he decided.</p> - -<p>This would have been easy enough had the woman lived “just round the -corner,” but, as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a>{65}</span> young man knew, she lived between two and three -miles away. This, however, did not alter the matter. It was night, but -he closed and locked the store, and walked to the residence of his -customer. Arrived there, he explained the matter, paid over the six and -a quarter cents, and returned satisfied. If I were a capitalist, I would -be willing to lend money to such a young man without security.</p> - -<p>Here is another illustration of young Lincoln’s strict honesty:</p> - -<p>A woman entered the store and asked for half a pound of tea.</p> - -<p>The young clerk weighed it out, and handed it to her in a parcel. This -was the last sale of the day.</p> - -<p>The next morning, when commencing his duties, Abe discovered a -four-ounce weight on the scales. It flashed upon him at once that he had -used this in the sale of the night previous, and so, of course, given -his customer short weight. I am afraid that there are many country -merchants who would not have been much worried by this discovery. Not so -the young clerk in whom we are interested. He weighed out the balance -of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a>{66}</span> the half pound, shut up store, and carried it to the defrauded -customer. I think my young readers will begin to see that the name so -often given, in later times, to President Lincoln, of “Honest Old Abe,” -was well deserved. A man who begins by strict honesty in his youth is -not likely to change as he grows older, and mercantile honesty is some -guarantee of political honesty.</p> - -<p>There is another incident for which I am also indebted to Dr. Holland:</p> - -<p>The young clerk was waiting upon two or three ladies, when a noted bully -entered the store, and began to talk in a manner offensive not only to -the ladies, but to any person of refinement.</p> - -<p>Young Lincoln leaned over the counter, and said quietly, “Don’t you see -that ladies are present?”</p> - -<p>“What is that to me?” demanded the bully.</p> - -<p>“Out of respect for them, will you stop your rough talk?”</p> - -<p>“I will talk as I please, and I should like to see the man that will -stop me,” answered the bully, arrogantly. “If you think you are the -better man, we’ll try it on the spot.”</p> - -<p>Lincoln began to see that the man meant to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a>{67}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/p066_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/p066.jpg" width="450" height="300" alt="Image unavailable: ABE’S EARLY HOME. THE LOG CABIN. Page 9" title="" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">ABE’S EARLY HOME. THE LOG CABIN. <a href="#page_009"><span class="smcap">Page</span> 9</a></span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">force a quarrel upon him, and he did not shrink from it.</p> - -<p>“If you will wait till the ladies retire,” he said quietly, “I will give -you any satisfaction you wish.”</p> - -<p>The ladies had by this time completed their purchases, and were glad to -leave the store.</p> - -<p>No sooner had they left than the bully broke out into a storm of abuses -and insults. The young clerk listened with the quiet patience habitual -to him, and finally observed: “Well, if you must be whipped, I suppose I -may as well whip you as any other man.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I’m after,” answered the bully.</p> - -<p>“Come outdoors, then,” said Lincoln.</p> - -<p>Abe, when they were fairly outside, thought there was no need of further -delay. He grappled with the bully, threw him upon the ground with ease, -and, holding him there, rubbed some “smart-weed” in his face and eyes -till he bellowed for mercy.</p> - -<p>“Do you give up?” asked Abe, in no way excited.</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes!”</p> - -<p>Upon this, Lincoln went for some water, washed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a>{68}</span> his victim’s face, and -did what he could to alleviate his sufferings. It is safe to say that -the fellow never wanted another dose of the same medicine. It will -further interest my young readers to learn that, so far from feeling a -grudge against Lincoln, the bully became his fast friend, and behaved -henceforth in a more creditable manner.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a>{69}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">IN THE BLACK HAWK CAMPAIGN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Though</span> the young clerk proved faithful and efficient, his whole time was -not taken up by his duties in Offutt’s store. Knowing well the defects -of his education, it occurred to him that he could use profitably some -of his leisure by employing it in study. He knew little or nothing of -English grammar, and this was likely to interfere with him if called -upon to act in any public capacity where he would be required to make -speeches.</p> - -<p>“I have a notion to study English grammar,” he said to Mr. Graham, the -schoolmaster.</p> - -<p>“That is the best thing you can do, if you expect to enter political -life,” said the teacher in reply.</p> - -<p>“Where do you think I can find a grammar?” asked Lincoln.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a>{70}</span></p> - -<p>It must be remembered that educational books, and indeed books of any -kind, were scarce in those days.</p> - -<p>“I think you will find one at Vaner’s.”</p> - -<p>“I will go at once and see,” said Lincoln.</p> - -<p>He set out at once, though Vaner’s was six miles distant, but such a -walk did not trouble the young man at all. I am sure it will strike some -of my young readers who dislike grammar, as odd that he should be -willing to take so long a walk with such an object in view; but they too -might do the same if they were as earnestly bent upon self-improvement -as our hero. It is enough to say that he succeeded in obtaining the -coveted book, and began at once to study it. Sometimes he was able to go -out of doors and lie under a shade-tree; at other times he stretched his -long, ungainly form on the counter and pored intently over the little -book. I don’t know whether the obscure little text-book is still in -existence; if it were, it would be a valuable memorial of this -transition period in the young man’s mental growth.</p> - -<p>The time came for a change in young Lincoln’s mode of life. Mr. Offutt’s -business declined,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>{71}</span> and the store was closed. He was once more out of -employment. Now it happened about this time that the peace of this -region was disturbed by a series of Indian difficulties. Black Hawk, a -chief of the Sacs, was the instigator and Indian leader. He was a man of -commanding presence and superior abilities. In defiance of a warning -given him by General Atkinson, commanding the United States troops at -Rock Island, he left his reservation, and announced his intention of -ascending the Rock River to the territory of the Winnebagoes. The force -under General Atkinson being small, he issued a call for volunteers. One -company was raised in New Salem and the vicinity, and Lincoln enlisted. -Though without military experience, he was elected to the post of -Captain by a large majority of the company, and accepted, This was a -tribute to his popularity among his friends and neighbors.</p> - -<p>Though the Black Hawk campaign was in no way remarkable, and involved -very little fighting, it is noteworthy, as Dr. Holland remarks, that two -men afterward Presidents of the United States were engaged in it. These -were Zachary Taylor and Abraham Lincoln. I do not propose<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a>{72}</span> to enter into -a detailed account of this campaign and of Lincoln’s part in it; I -prefer to quote Mr. Lincoln’s own account of it, years afterward, when a -member of the House of Representatives at Washington. It was during the -political campaign when General Cass was the Democratic candidate, and -was intended to ridicule the claims of his friends, that he had rendered -distinguished military service to the republic.</p> - -<p>“By the way, Mr. Speaker,” said Mr. Lincoln, “do you know I am a -military hero? Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk war, I fought, -bled, and came away. Speaking of General Cass’ career reminds me of my -own. I was not at Sillman’s Defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass -to Hull’s surrender; and, like him, I saw the place soon afterward. It -is quite certain I did not break my sword, for I had none to break; but -I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion. If General Cass went in -advance of me in picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him in -charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indian, it -was more than I did; but I had a good many bloody struggles with the -mosquitoes, and although I never fainted from<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a>{73}</span> loss of blood, I can -truly say I was often very hungry.”</p> - -<p>When Mr. Lincoln himself became a candidate for the Presidency, an -attempt was made to make capital for him out of this military episode, -but fortunately he possessed more substantial claims than this.</p> - -<p>Though there was little fighting to be done, there was an occasion that -tested the young Captain’s courage and resolution. As the incident is -characteristic of Lincoln, and shows his love of justice and humanity, I -will transcribe, as better than any paraphrase of my own, the account -given by Mr. Lamon in his Life of Lincoln:</p> - -<p>“One day, during these many marches and counter-marches, an old Indian -found his way into the camp, weary, hungry, and helpless. He professed -to be a friend of the whites; and, although it was an exceedingly -perilous experiment for one of his color, he ventured to throw himself -upon the mercy of the soldiers. But the men first murmured, and then -broke out into fierce cries for his blood.</p> - -<p>“ ‘We have come out to fight the Indians,’<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a>{74}</span> said they, ‘and by G—we -intend to do it!’</p> - -<p>“The poor Indian, now in the extremity of his distress and trouble, did -what he ought to have done before: he threw down before his assailants a -soiled and crumpled paper which he implored them to read before his life -was taken. It was a letter of character and safe conduct from Gen. Cass, -pronouncing him a faithful man, who had done good service in the cause -for which this army was enlisted. But it was too late; the men refused -to read it, or thought it a forgery, and were rushing with fury upon the -defenceless old savage, when Capt. Lincoln bounded between them and -their appointed victim.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Men,’ said he, and his voice for a moment stilled the agitation around -him, ‘<i>this must not be done; he must not be shot and killed by us</i>.”</p> - -<p>“ ‘But,’ said some of them, ‘the Indian is a spy.’</p> - -<p>“Lincoln knew that his own life was now in only less danger than that of -the poor creature that cowered behind him. During the whole of this -scene Capt. Lincoln seemed to rise to an unusual height of stature. The -towering form, the passion and resolution in his face, the physical -power and terrible will exhibited in every motion<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>{75}</span> of his body, every -gesture of his arm, produced an effect upon the furious mob as -unexpected perhaps to him as to any one else. They paused, listened, -fell back, and then sullenly obeyed what seemed to be the voice of -reason as well as authority. But there were still some murmurs of -disappointed rage and half-suppressed exclamations, which looked toward -vengeance of some kind. At length one of the men, a little bolder than -the rest, but evidently feeling that he spoke for the whole, cried out:</p> - -<p>“ ‘This is cowardly on your part, Lincoln!’</p> - -<p>“Whereupon the tall Captain’s figure stretched a few inches higher -again. He looked down upon these varlets who would have murdered a -defenceless old Indian and now quailed before his single hand, with -lofty contempt. The oldest of his acquaintances, even Bill Green, who -saw him grapple Jack Armstrong and defy the bullies at his back, never -saw him so much aroused before.</p> - -<p>“ ‘If any man thinks I am a coward, let him test it,’ said he.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Lincoln,’ responded a new voice, ‘you are stronger and heavier than we -are.’<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a>{76}</span></p> - -<p>“ ‘This you can guard against; choose your weapons,’ returned the rigid -Captain.</p> - -<p>“Whatever may be said of Mr. Lincoln’s choice of means for the -preservation of military discipline, it was certainly very effectual in -this case. There was no more disaffection in his camp, and the word -‘coward’ was never coupled with his name again. Mr. Lincoln understood -his men better than those who would be disposed to criticise his -conduct. He has often declared himself that his life and character were -both at stake, and would probably have been lost had he not at that -supremely critical moment forgotten the officer and asserted the man. To -have ordered the offenders under arrest would have created a powerful -mutiny; to have tried and punished them would have been impossible. They -could scarcely be called soldiers; they were merely armed citizens, with -a nominal military organization. They were but recently enlisted, and -their term of service was about to expire. Had he preferred charges -against them, and offered to submit their differences to a court of any -sort, it would have been regarded as an act of personal pusillanimity, -and his efficiency would have been gone forever.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a>{77}</span></p> - -<p>Then, as afterward, Lincoln proved to be the man for the emergency. This -humble captain of volunteers was selected by Providence to guide and -direct his countrymen in the greatest and most bloody civil contest that -was ever waged, and at all times of doubt, danger, and perplexity he -manifested the same calm courage, the same firm resolution, and the same -humanity, which made him at the age of twenty-three the intrepid -champion of a friendless old Indian.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>{78}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">IN THE LEGISLATURE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">My</span> young readers will have noticed how extremely slender thus far had -been the educational advantages of young Lincoln. Of the thousands of -men who have risen to eminence in this country from similar poverty, few -have had so little to help them. In England the path of promotion is -more difficult, and I doubt whether any one circumstanced as Abraham -Lincoln was could ever have reached a commanding position. It will be -interesting in this connection to read the statement made by John Bright -at his recent installation as Lord Rector of Glasgow University. It will -show what a difference there is between limited advantages in England -and in America:</p> - -<p>“I am an entire stranger to University life in the University sense,” -says Mr. Bright. “I may be said to be a man who never had the -advantages<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a>{79}</span> of education. I had the teaching of some French—as -Englishmen teach French, and I had the advantages of a year’s -instruction in Latin by a most admirable tutor—a countryman of yours -from the University of Edinburgh. But there was not much Greek—not so -much that any trace of it is left. There was nothing in the shape of -mathematics or science. Looking at education as you take it, I am a -person who had the misfortune to have had almost none of it in my youth. -You will not, therefore, be surprised if I feel a certain humiliation in -seeming to teach you anything, and if I feel a strong sense of envy—but -not a blamable envy—that I never possessed the advantages which are -placed within your reach. But if I had no education such as colleges and -universities give, if my school-life ended at the precise time when your -university career begins; if I am unknown to literature and to science -and to arts, I ask myself what is it that has brought me within the -range of your sympathies—brought me to this distinguished position? I -suppose it must be because you have some sympathy with my labors. You -believe that I have been in some sort a political teacher; that I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a>{80}</span> -taken some pains and perhaps have been of some service in the -legislation and government of our country.”</p> - -<p>Had Lincoln possessed one-half the educational equipment of John Bright -when he entered upon political life he would have felt much better -satisfied.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln on his return from the Black Hawk campaign was -twenty-three years old. Though he was about as poor as he had always -been, he was rich in the good opinion of his friends and neighbors. This -is evinced by an application then made to him to allow himself to run -for the Legislature. He consented, though surprised at the request, and -polled a vote considerably in advance of other candidates of the same -party. In New Salem he polled an almost unanimous vote, men voting for -him without regard to party lines. Still, he was defeated. A brief -speech which he made during the canvass has been preserved, and, as it -is characteristic, I quote it:</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Gentlemen and Fellow-citizens</span>: I presume you all know who I am. I am -humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>{81}</span> many friends to become -a candidate for the Legislature. My politics are short and sweet, like -the old woman’s dance. I am in favor of a national bank. I am in favor -of the internal improvement system and a high protective tariff. These -are my sentiments and political principles. If elected, I shall be -thankful; if not, it will be all the same.”</p> - -<p>It will be seen that Mr. Lincoln had cast in his lot with the Whig -party—the party of whom Henry Clay was at that time the most -distinguished representative, and for whom the young man had a strong -admiration.</p> - -<p>The great problem of how he was to make his living had not yet been -solved by young Lincoln. Dr. Holland is our authority for the statement -that he seriously took into consideration the project of learning the -blacksmith’s trade. An opportunity, however, offered for him to buy out -a stock of goods owned by a man of Radford, in connection with a man -named Berry. This supplied him employment for a time, but not of a -profitable nature, for his partner proved a hindrance rather than a -help, and failure ensued. Lincoln was involved in debt, and it was six -years before he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a>{82}</span> freed himself from his obligations. About this time he -received his first political appointment—that of postmaster—from the -administration of General Jackson. It brought in very little revenue, -but gave him a privilege which he valued of reading all the newspapers -which came to the office. The office seemed to have been conducted in -free and easy style. When the young postmaster had occasion to go out he -closed the office and carried off the mail matter in his hat.</p> - -<p>When his store was closed permanently, young Lincoln received an offer -from the surveyor of Sangamon County to undertake all his work in the -immediate neighborhood of New Salem. Though Lincoln knew nothing of -surveying, either practically or theoretically, he qualified himself for -the work, procured a compass and chain, and went to work. It is an -interesting proof of the young surveyor’s thoroughness that, in spite of -his inadequate preparation, the accuracy of his surveys has never been -called in question.</p> - -<p>Two years later Lincoln ran again for the Legislature, and this time he -succeeded. Among his colleagues was Major John T. Stuart, a prosperous<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a>{83}</span> -lawyer of Springfield. He was a previous acquaintance of young Lincoln, -and their present companionship strengthened the interest of the older -man in his struggling young friend.</p> - -<p>“Why don’t you study law?” he asked Lincoln.</p> - -<p>“Because I am poor; I have no money to buy the necessary books,” said -Abe.</p> - -<p>“Have you ever thought of following the profession?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I have already read law some.”</p> - -<p>“I believe you would succeed. If books are all you need, I have a large -law library and will lend you what you need.”</p> - -<p>Abe’s face lighted up with pleasure.</p> - -<p>“You are very kind,” he said, “and I will take you at your word. When -can I have the books?”</p> - -<p>“Whenever you will call for them.”</p> - -<p>This was not an offer which young Lincoln could afford to slight. At the -close of the canvass he walked to Springfield, called at the office of -his friend Stuart, and returned to New Salem with a load of books, which -he forthwith began to read and study.</p> - -<p>“Abe’s progress in the law,” says Mr. Lamon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a>{84}</span> “was as surprising as the -intensity of his application to study. He never lost a moment that might -be improved. It is even said that he read and recited to himself on the -road and by the wayside, as he came down from Springfield with the books -he had borrowed from Stuart. The first time he went up he had ‘mastered’ -forty pages of Blackstone before he got back. It was not long until, -with his restless desire to be doing something practical, he began to -turn his acquisitions to account in forwarding the business of his -neighbors. He wrote deeds, contracts, notes, and other legal papers, for -them, ‘using a small dictionary and an old form-book’; pettifogged -incessantly before the justice of the peace, and probably assisted that -functionary in the administration of justice as much as he benefited his -own clients. This species of country student practice was entered upon -very early, and kept up until long after he was a distinguished man in -the Legislature. But in all this he was only trying himself; as he was -not admitted to the bar until 1837, he did not regard it as legitimate -practice, and never charged a penny for his services.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a>{85}</span></p> - -<p>Young Lincoln took part in the legislative work of the first session -during which he served as a member, but did not push himself forward. He -listened and took notes of what was done, and how it was done. He was -assigned to an honorable place on the Committee on Public Accounts and -Expenditures. It was about this time that he saw for the first time -Stephen A. Douglas, with whom he was in after years to be associated in -the memorable canvass for the Senatorship. Douglas, who was only about -five feet in height, was also slender, and in personal appearance -presented a striking contrast to the long-legged young legislator who -overtopped him by more than a foot.</p> - -<p>“He is the smallest man I ever saw,” said Lincoln.</p> - -<p>Douglas filled up as he grew older, till he came to deserve the title by -which he was so long known, of “The Little Giant.” He was not at that -time a member of the Legislature, but was a successful candidate for the -position of District Attorney for the district in which he lived. Unlike -Lincoln, he was not a Western man by birth, having been born and -“raised” in Vermont. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>{86}</span> fact he had only come West during the previous -year; but he was not a man to hide his light under a bushel, and soon -worked himself into prominence in his new home. Two years later, in -1838, Douglas, as well as Lincoln, was elected to the Legislature, and -they served together. In public life, therefore, Lincoln preceded -Douglas by two years, but the latter advanced much more rapidly and -became a man of national reputation, while Lincoln was still -comparatively obscure.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a>{87}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">A CASE IN COURT</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">We</span> are told by Mr. Lamon, that Mr. Lincoln got his license as an -attorney early in 1837, and commenced practice regularly as a lawyer in -the town of Springfield, in March of that year. It is with this place -that his name was associated for the remainder of his life. Though it -contained at that time less than two thousand inhabitants, it was a town -of considerable importance. The list of the local bar contained the -names of several men of ability and reputation. Stephen A. Douglas, -already referred to, was public prosecutor in 1836. Judge Stephen T. -Logan was on the bench of the Circuit Court. There was John T. Stuart -also, who had recommended young Lincoln to become a lawyer, and was now -his partner.</p> - -<p>The law office of Stuart and Lincoln was in the second story above the -court-room, in Hoffman<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a>{88}</span>’s Row. It was small and poorly furnished. -Lincoln slept in the office, and boarded with Hon. William Butler, who -appears to have been a politician and wire-puller.</p> - -<p>At last, then, after a youth of penury, a long hand-to-hand struggle -with privations in half a dozen different kinds of business, we find our -hero embarked in the profession which, for the remainder of his life, he -owned as mistress. He is twenty-eight years of age, with some -legislative experience, but a mere novice in law. But he was ambitious, -and in spite of his scanty equipment as regards book-knowledge, he made -up his mind to succeed, and he did succeed.</p> - -<p>Though I am thereby anticipating matters, I propose to relate an -incident of his law practice which I find quoted in “Raymond’s History” -of Lincoln’s Administrations, from the <i>Cleveland Leader</i>. It -illustrates not merely Mr. Lincoln’s methods and shrewdness as a lawyer, -but also his fidelity to friends.</p> - -<p>This is the story:</p> - -<p>“Some four years since, the eldest son of Mr. Lincoln’s old friend, the -chief supporter of his widowed mother—the good old man having some<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a>{89}</span> -time previously passed from earth—was arrested on a charge of murder. A -young man had been killed during a riotous <i>mélée</i> in the night time at -a camp-meeting, and one of his associates stated that the death-wound -was inflicted by young Armstrong. A preliminary examination was gone -into, at which the accuser testified so positively, that there seemed no -doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, and therefore he was held for trial.</p> - -<p>“As is too often the case, the bloody act caused an undue degree of -excitement in the public mind. Every improper incident in the life of -the prisoner—each act which bore the least semblance of rowdyism—each -school-boy quarrel—was suddenly remembered and magnified, until they -pictured him as a fiend of the most horrible hue. As these rumors spread -abroad they were received as gospel truth, and a feverish desire for -vengeance seized upon the infatuated populace, whilst only prison bars -prevented a horrible death at the hands of the populace. The events were -heralded in the county papers, painted in the highest colors, -accompanied by rejoicing over the certainty punishment being meted out -to the guilty party. The prisoner, overwhelmed by the circumstances<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>{90}</span> in -which he found himself placed, fell into a melancholy condition -bordering on despair, and the widowed mother, looking through her tears, -saw no cause for hope from earthly aid.</p> - -<p>“At this juncture the widow received a letter from Mr. Lincoln, -volunteering his services in an effort to save the youth from the -impending stroke. Gladly was his aid accepted, although it seemed -impossible for even his sagacity to prevail in such a desperate case; -but the heart of the attorney was in his work, and he set about it with -a will which knew no such word as fail. Feeling that the poisoned -condition of the public mind was such as to preclude the possibility of -impanelling an impartial jury in the court having jurisdiction, he -procured a change of venue and a postponement of the trial. He then went -studiously to work, unravelling the history of the case, and satisfied -himself that his client was the victim of malice, and that the -statements of the accuser were a tissue of falsehoods.</p> - -<p>“When the trial was called on, the prisoner, pale and emaciated, with -hopelessness written on every feature, and accompanied by his -half-hoping, half-despairing mother—whose only hope was in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a>{91}</span> a mother’s -belief of her son’s innocence, in the justice of the God she worshipped, -and in the noble counsel, who, without hope of fee or reward upon earth, -had undertaken the cause—took his seat in the prisoners’ box, and, with -a ‘stony firmness,’ listened to the reading of the indictment.</p> - -<p>“Lincoln sat quietly by, whilst the large body of auditors looked on him -as though wondering what he could say in defence of one whose guilt they -looked upon as certain. The examination of the witnesses for the State -was begun, and a well-arranged mass of evidence, circumstantial and -positive, was introduced, which seemed to impale the prisoner beyond the -possibility of extrication.</p> - -<p>“The counsel for the defense propounded but few questions, and those of -a character which excited no uneasiness on the part of the -prosecutor—merely, in most cases, requiring the main witnesses to be -definite as to time and place. When the evidence of the prosecution was -ended, Lincoln introduced a few witnesses, to remove some erroneous -impressions in regard to the previous character of his client, who, -though somewhat rowdyish, had never been known to commit a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a>{92}</span> vicious act; -and to show that a greater degree of ill-feeling existed between the -accuser and the accused than between the accused and the deceased.</p> - -<p>“The prosecutor felt that the case was a clear one, and his opening -speech was brief and formal. Lincoln arose, while a deathly silence -pervaded the vast audience, and, in a clear and moderate tone, began his -argument. Slowly and carefully he reviewed the testimony, pointing out -the hitherto unobserved discrepancies in the statements of the principal -witness. That which had seemed plain and plausible he made to appear -crooked as a serpent’s path. The witness had stated that the affair took -place at a certain hour in the evening, and that, by the brightly -shining moon, he saw the prisoner inflict the death-blow with a -slung-shot. Mr. Lincoln showed that at the hour referred to, the moon -had not yet appeared above the horizon, and, consequently, the whole -tale was a fabrication.</p> - -<p>“An almost instantaneous change seemed to have been wrought in the minds -of his auditors, and the verdict of ‘not guilty’ was at the end of every -tongue. But the advocate was not content with this intellectual -achievement. His whole<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a>{93}</span> being had for months been bound up in this work -of gratitude and mercy, and as the lava of the overcharged crater bursts -from its imprisonment, so great thoughts and burning words leaped forth -from the soul of the eloquent Lincoln. He drew a picture of the perjurer -so horrid and ghastly, that the accuser could sit under it no longer, -but reeled and staggered from the court-room, whilst the audience -fancied they could see the brand upon his brow. Then in words of -thrilling pathos, Lincoln appealed to the jurors as fathers of some who -might become fatherless, and as husbands of wives who might be widowed, -to yield to no previous impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, but to do -his client justice; and as he alluded to the debt of gratitude which he -owed the boy’s sire, tears were seen to fall from many eyes unused to -weeping.</p> - -<p>“It was near night when he concluded by saying that if justice were -done, as he believed it would be,—before the sun should set,—it would -shine upon his client a free man.</p> - -<p>“The jury retired, and the court adjourned for the day. Half an hour had -not elapsed, when, as the officers of the court and the volunteer -attorney<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a>{94}</span> sat at the tea-table of their hotel, a messenger announced -that the jury had returned to their seats. All repaired immediately to -the court-house, and whilst the prisoner was being brought from the -jail, the court-room was filled to overflowing with citizens from the -town.</p> - -<p>“When the prisoner and his mother entered, silence reigned as completely -as though the house were empty. The foreman of the jury, in answer to -the usual inquiry from the court, delivered the verdict of ‘<span class="smcap">Not Guilty!</span>’ -The widow dropped into the arms of her son, who lifted her up, and told -her to look upon him as before, free and innocent. Then with the words, -‘Where is Mr. Lincoln?’ he rushed across the room, and grasped the hand -of his deliverer, whilst his heart was too full for utterance. Lincoln -turned his eyes toward the west, where the sun still lingered in view, -and then, turning to the youth, said: ‘It is not yet sundown, and you -are free.’ I confess that my cheeks were not wholly unwet by tears, and -I turned from the affecting scene. As I cast a glance behind, I saw -Abraham Lincoln obeying the Divine injunction by comforting the widowed -and fatherless.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a>{95}</span></p> - -<p>When a lawyer can so bravely and affectionately rescue the innocent from -the machinations of the wicked, we feel that he is indeed the exponent -and representative of a noble profession. It is unfortunate that lawyers -so often lend themselves to help iniquity, and oppress the weak. Mr. -Lincoln always did his best when he felt that Right and Justice were on -his side. When he had any doubts on this point, he lost all his -enthusiasm and his courage, and labored mechanically. He believed in -justice, and would not willingly act on the wrong side. On one occasion -he discovered that he had been deceived by his client, and informed his -associate lawyer that he (Lincoln) would not make the plea. His -associate, therefore, did so, and to Lincoln’s surprise gained a -verdict. Convinced, nevertheless, that his client was wrong, he would -not accept any part of the handsome fee of nine hundred dollars, which -he paid. Only an honest and high-minded lawyer would have acted thus.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a>{96}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">MR. LINCOLN FORMS TWO PARTNERSHIPS</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Practicing</span> law in those days, and in that region, had some peculiar -features. It was the custom for lawyers to “ride the circuit,” that is, -to accompany the judges from one country-town to another, attending to -such business as might offer, in different sections of the State. -Railroads had not yet found their way out so far West, and the lawyer -was wont to travel on horseback, stopping at cabins on the way to eat -and sleep, and, in brief, to “rough it.” One brought up like Lincoln was -not likely to shrink from any hardships which this might entail. Indeed, -it is likely that, upon the whole, he enjoyed it, and that these -journeys increased his natural shrewdness and knowledge of human nature, -and furnished him with no inconsiderable part of the apposite stories -which he was wont to quote in later years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a>{97}</span></p> - -<p>Here is an incident which will amuse my readers. It is told by Mr. -Francis E. Willard: “In one of my temperance pilgrimages through -Illinois, I met a gentleman who was the companion in a dreary ride which -Lincoln made in a light wagon, going the rounds of a Circuit Court where -he had clients to look after. The weather was rainy, the road heavy with -mud of the Southern Illinois pottery, never to be imagined as to its -blackness and profundity by him who has not seen it, and assuredly -needing no description to jostle the memory of one who has. Lincoln -enlivened the way with anecdote and recital, for few indeed were the -incidents that relieved the tedium of the trip.</p> - -<p>“At last, in wallowing through a ‘slough’ of the most approved Western -manufacture, they came upon a poor shark of a hog, who had succumbed to -gravitation, and was literally fast in the mud. The lawyers commented on -the poor creature’s pitiful condition, and drove on. About half a mile -was laboriously gone over, when Lincoln suddenly exclaimed: ‘I don’t -know how you feel about it, but I’ve got to go back and pull that hog -out of the slough.’<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a>{98}</span></p> - -<p>“His comrade laughed, thinking it merely a joke; but what was his -surprise when Lincoln dismounted, left him to his reflections, and, -striding slowly back, like a man on stilts, picking his way as his long -walking implements permitted, he grappled with the drowning hog, dragged -him out of the ditch, left him on its edge to recover his strength, -slowly measured off the distance back to his buggy, and the two men -drove off as if nothing had happened.”</p> - -<p>This little incident is given to show that Mr. Lincoln did not confine -his benevolence to his own race, but could put himself to inconvenience -to relieve the sufferings of an inferior animal. In fact, his heart -seemed to be animated by the spirit of kindness, and this is one of the -most important respects in which I am glad to hold him out as an example -to the young. Emulate that tenderness of heart which led him to -sympathize with “the meanest thing that breathes,” and, like him, you -will win the respect and attachment of the best men and women!</p> - -<p>The young lawyer, successful as he was in court, did not make money as -fast as some of his professional associates. One reason I have <span class="pagenum"><a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a>{99}</span>already -given—he would not willingly exert his power on the wrong side. -Moreover, he was modest, and refrained from exorbitant charges, and he -was known at times to remit fees justly due when his client was -unfortunate. One day he met a client who had given him a note, nearly -due, for professional services.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln,” he said, “I have been thinking of that note I owe you. I -don’t see how I am to meet it. I have been disabled by an explosion, and -that has affected my income.”</p> - -<p>“I heard of your accident,” said Lincoln, “and I sympathize with you -deeply. As to the note, here it is.”</p> - -<p>“But I can not meet it at present.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want you to. Take it, and destroy it. I consider it paid.”</p> - -<p>No doubt many lawyers would have done the same, but it so happened that -Lincoln was at that moment greatly in need of money, and was obliged to -defer a journey on that account. It was not out of his abundance, but -out of his poverty, that he gave.</p> - -<p>As to his professional methods, they were peculiar. He was always -generous to an opponent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>{100}</span> Instead of contesting point by point, he often -yielded more than was claimed, and excited alarm in the breast of his -client. But when this was done, he set to work and stated his own view -of the case so urgently that the strength of his opponent’s position was -undermined, his arguments torn to pieces, and the verdict secured. He -was remarkably fair, and stated his case so clearly that no juror of -fair intelligence could fail to understand him.</p> - -<p>It has already been said that Mr. Lincoln had a partner. It is a proof -of his scrupulous honesty that when upon his circuits he tried any cases -that were never entered at the office, he carefully set aside a part of -the remuneration for the absent partner, who otherwise would never have -known of them, and might be supposed hardly entitled to a share of the -fees.</p> - -<p>For the following anecdote, in further illustration of Mr. Lincoln’s -conscientiousness in money matters, I am indebted to Mr. Frank B. -Carpenter’s very interesting little volume, entitled “Six Months at the -White House”: “About the time Mr. Lincoln came to be known as a -successful lawyer, he was waited upon by a lady who held a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>{101}</span> real-estate -claim which she desired to have him prosecute,—putting into his hands, -with the necessary papers, a check for two hundred and fifty dollars as -a retaining fee. Mr. Lincoln said he would look the case over, and asked -her to call again the next day. Upon presenting herself, Mr. Lincoln -told her that he had gone through the papers very carefully, and he must -tell her frankly that there was not a ‘peg’ to hang her claim upon, and -he could not conscientiously advise her to bring an action. The lady was -satisfied, and, thanking him, rose to go. ‘Wait,’ said Mr. Lincoln, -fumbling in his vest pocket; ‘here is the check you left with me.’ ‘But, -Mr. Lincoln,’ returned the lady, ‘I think you have earned <i>that</i>.’ ‘No, -no,’ he responded, handing it back to her, ‘that would not be right. I -can’t take <i>pay</i> for doing my duty.’ ”</p> - -<p>I must find a place here for one of Mr. Lincoln’s own stories, relating -to a professional adventure, which must have amused him. Mr. Carpenter -is my authority here also:</p> - -<p>“When I took to the law I was going to court one morning, with some ten -<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a>{102}</span>or twelve miles of bad road before me, when —— overtook me in his -wagon.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Hello, Lincoln!’ said he; ‘going to the court-house? Come get in, and -I will give you a seat.’</p> - -<p>“Well, I got in, and —— went on reading his papers. Presently the wagon -struck a stump on one side of the road; then it hopped off to the other. -I looked out and saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his -seat; so said I, ‘Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a drop -too much this morning.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘Well, I declare, Lincoln,’ said he, ‘I should not much wonder if you -are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since -starting.’</p> - -<p>“So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted: ‘Why, you infernal -scoundrel, you are drunk!’</p> - -<p>“Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great -gravity, the coachman said: ‘Bedad! but that’s the first rightful -decision your Honor has given for the last twelve months.’ ”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln’s law partnership with Mr. Stuart was of brief duration. It -was dissolved in 1840,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a>{103}</span> and in the same year he formed a new partnership -with Judge S. T. Logan, a lawyer of learning and ability.</p> - -<p>In 1842 he formed another partnership, of a still more important -character. He married Miss Mary Todd on the 4th of November of that -year. Miss Todd belonged to a family of social prominence, and it is a -matter of interest that, before marrying Mr. Lincoln, she is said to -have had an opportunity of marrying another person, whose name was -mentioned for the Presidency years before Mr. Lincoln’s. I refer to Hon. -Stephen A. Douglas, who is said to have been an unsuccessful suitor for -the hand of Miss Todd.</p> - -<p>Six months after marriage, in a private letter written to an intimate -friend, Mr. Lincoln refers thus to his domestic arrangements: “We are -not keeping house,” he writes, “but boarding at the Globe Tavern, which -is very well kept by a widow lady of the name of Beck. Our rooms are the -same Dr. Wallace occupied there, and boarding only costs four dollars a -week.”</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln had reached the age of thirty-three years before he -ventured to marry. Circumstances had until then proved unfavorable, for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a>{104}</span> -his struggle with poverty had been unusually protracted. Now, however, -he was settled both matrimonially and professionally, and the most -important part of his life, for which he had been so long preparing, may -be said to have fairly begun.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a>{105}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE LAWYER IN HIS OFFICE AND AT HOME.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">I have</span> already told my readers something of Mr. Lincoln as a lawyer. I -may add that he stood high in the estimation of his professional -brethren. “For my single self,” says one, “I have for a quarter of a -century regarded Mr. Lincoln as one of the finest lawyers I ever knew, -and of a professional bearing so high-toned and honorable as justly, and -without derogating from the claims of others, entitling him to be -presented to the profession as a model well worthy of the closest -imitation.”</p> - -<p>Now these are general terms, and do not show us how the young lawyer who -had risen step by step from the hardest physical labor to an honorable -position at the bar, looked and spoke. Fortunately Judge Drummond, of -Chicago, gives us<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a>{106}</span> a graphic picture of him,—and I am glad to quote it:</p> - -<p>“With a voice by no means pleasant, and, indeed, when excited, in its -shrill tones almost disagreeable; without any of the personal graces of -the orator; without much in the outward man indicating superiority of -intellect; without great quickness of perception—still, his mind was so -vigorous, his comprehension so exact and clear, and his judgment so -sure, that he easily mastered the intricacies of his profession, and -became one of the ablest reasoners and most impressive speakers at our -bar. With a probity of character known of all, with an intuitive insight -into the human heart, with a clearness of statement which was itself an -argument, with uncommon power and felicity of illustration,—often, it -is true, of a plain and homely kind—and with that sincerity and -earnestness of manner which carried conviction, he was, perhaps, one of -the most successful jury lawyers we have ever had in the State. He -always tried a case fairly and honestly. He never intentionally -misrepresented the evidence of a witness or the argument of an opponent. -He met both squarely, and if he could not explain the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a>{107}</span> one or answer the -other, substantially admitted it. He never misstated the law according -to his own intelligent view of it.”</p> - -<p>I hope my young readers will not skip this statement, but read it -carefully, because it will show them the secret of the young lawyer’s -success. <i>He inspired confidence!</i> He was not constantly trying to gain -the advantage by fair means if possible, but at any rate to gain it. He -wanted justice to triumph, however it affected his own interests. I wish -there were more such lawyers. The law would then lose much of the odium -which unprincipled practitioners bring upon it.</p> - -<p>Let us look in upon Mr. Lincoln as he sits in his plain office, some -morning. He is writing busily, when a timid knock is heard at his door.</p> - -<p>“Come in!” he says, his pen still moving rapidly over the paper before -him.</p> - -<p>The door opens slowly, and an old woman, bending under the burden of -seventy-five years, enters, and stands irresolutely at the entrance.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln!” she says in a quivering voice.</p> - -<p>As these accents reach him, Mr. Lincoln woke up hastily, and seeing the -old lady hastily undoubles himself, and draws forward a chair.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a>{108}</span></p> - -<p>“Sit down, my good lady!” he says. “Do you wish to see me on business?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p>“Tell me what I can do for you?” and he fixes his eyes on the frail old -woman, showing a respect and consideration for her, poor as she -evidently is, which a rich client might not so readily receive.</p> - -<p>Encouraged by the kindness of her reception she told her story. She was -entitled to a pension, as it appeared, on account of her husband, who -had fought in the Revolutionary war. This pension she had secured -through the agency of a certain pension agent, but he had charged her -the exorbitant sum of two hundred dollars for collecting her claim. This -was a heavy tax upon the poor old woman with her limited means, and she -was likely to be little better off for her pension if she should be -compelled to pay this money.</p> - -<p>“Two hundred dollars! That is shameful!” said the sympathetic lawyer. -“Who is this agent?”</p> - -<p>She told him.</p> - -<p>“Do you live in Springfield?”</p> - -<p>“No sir.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a>{109}</span></p> - -<p>“Are you in need of money?” he inquired delicately.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir, The agent has kept back what he has collected, and——”</p> - -<p>“I see. We will try to bring him to terms.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, sir if you can help me——” said the old lady, hopefully.</p> - -<p>“I will do my best. Here is some money for your immediate wants. Now I -will ask you a few questions, and we will see what we can do for you.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln immediately commenced suit against the agent to recover a -portion of the money which he had withheld. In his address to the jury -he did not omit to allude to the patriotism of the dead husband, and the -poverty of his widow, and no doubt castigated in fitting terms the -unfeeling rapacity of the claim agent. He gained the suit, and compelled -the fellow to disgorge one hundred dollars, which he had the pleasure of -paying over to his aged client.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile he was pleasantly situated. His income would now allow him to -live in comfortable style. He established himself in a pleasant -two-story house, built after a fashion quite common<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a>{110}</span> in New England, -with a room on each side of the front door, and an extension in the -rear. It was situated at the corner of two streets, and though neither -costly nor sumptuous, might be considered a palace when contrasted with -the rude cabins in which his earlier years were passed.</p> - -<p>Four children were born to him, and their childish ways were a source of -constant enjoyment, when he returned to his home, weary or perplexed. -One of these, Willie, died after his father became President; the -youngest, best known as Tad, who was the pet of the White House, is also -dead, and only the eldest, Robert Todd, now Secretary of War, survives. -It is said that he was a most indulgent father, and governed by Love -alone. His own father had often been stern and rough, but Abraham -Lincoln’s nature was full of a deep tenderness for all things weak, -small, or in distress, and he could not find it in his heart to be harsh -or stern at home.</p> - -<p>On pleasant summer mornings the young lawyer, with his tall figure, -might have been seen drawing one of his children to and fro along the -sidewalk in a child’s wagon. “Without hat or<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a>{111}</span> coat, and wearing a pair -of rough shoes, his hands behind him holding to the tongue of the wagon, -and his tall form bent forward to accommodate himself to the service, he -paced up and down the walk, forgetful of everything around him, and -intent only on some subject that absorbed his mind.” A young man, who as -a boy used to see him thus occupied, admits that he used to wonder “how -so rough and plain a man could live in so respectable a house.”</p> - -<p>I once asked a lady who for a considerable time lived opposite Mr. -Lincoln, at Springfield, whether he was really as plain as his pictures -all represented him.</p> - -<p>“I never saw one of his pictures that did not flatter him,” she -answered.</p> - -<p>“My oldest son was a companion and playfellow of Mr. Lincoln’s younger -boys,” she continued, “and was in and out of his house a dozen times a -day. He was a very quiet man. He used to stay at home in the evening, -and read or meditate, but Mrs. Lincoln was of a gayer temperament, and -cared more for company.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln was always a thoughtful man, and though amid social -surroundings he could tell a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>{112}</span> droll story with a humorous twinkle of the -eye, his features in repose were grave and even melancholy. As he walked -along the street, he often seemed abstracted, and would pass his best -friends without recognizing them. Even at the table he was often -self-absorbed, and ate his food mechanically, but there was nothing in -his silence to dull or make uncomfortable those around him. After a time -he would arise from his silence, and make himself companionable as he -was always able to do, and lead conversation into some channel in which -members of his family could take part.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a>{113}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE RAIL-SPLITTER ENTERS CONGRESS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln’s</span> professional success did not fill the measure of his -ambition. It certainly was a great step upward from the raw-boned, -ragged, barefooted lad to the prosperous lawyer, and our hero, if I may -so call him, doubtless felt complacent when he considered the change in -his position and surroundings. I may take occasion to say here that -Abe—to return to the name which he did not wholly lay aside when he -emerged from boyhood and youth—never put on airs because of his -elevation, nor looked down upon the humble relatives whom he had left -behind. Whenever in his journeyings he found himself near the residence -of any of his poorer relations, he took special pains to visit them, -and, if possible, to stay with them. Often he pressed upon them money -when they appeared to need it—not<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a>{114}</span> with the air of a liberal patron, -but with straight-forward friendliness and cordiality. Once when he was -urged to remain at the hotel with his professional friends, instead of -making a call upon an aged aunt, he said:</p> - -<p>“Why, aunt’s heart would be broken if I should leave town without -calling upon her.”</p> - -<p>Let me add that this call required something more than ordinary -good-natured consideration, for the aunt in question lived several miles -away, and her nephew had no horse at his command, but walked all the -way. I am very glad to call the attention of all my young friends to -this admirable trait in the character of President Lincoln. I wish it -were more common. I am sure we all admire the boy or girl who is always -thoughtful of the feelings and happiness of older relatives.</p> - -<p>But to return from this digression, let me repeat that Mr. Lincoln had -other aspirations than to succeed as a lawyer. It has been said that -nine out of ten American boys cherish a vague ambition to become -President. This is plainly an exaggeration, but it is certain that a -large number entertain the hope of some day entering public<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a>{115}</span> life, -either as legislator or Congressman, or at any rate as a salaried -officer. That is one reason why there is such a horde of office-seekers -swarming to our National or State capitals, ambitious to earn a living -at the expense of the Government. Some throw up good mercantile -positions and spend months in the attempt to secure a position as -department clerk, foreign consul, or poorly-paid postmaster.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln’s ambition was of a more elevated character. He had a -pardonable ambition to take part in the government of his country, not -for the sake of the position so much, as because he felt within himself -the capacity to shape legislation to worthy ends. He was not alone in -this idea. His fellow-citizens had gauged him and felt that he was fit -to represent them. I have already spoken of his service in the State -Legislature; but he was only preparing himself there for a wider arena. -In 1846 he received the nomination for Congress from the Sangamon -district. Now it was not the fashion in those days for a candidate to -remain quietly at home pursuing his business as usual while waiting for -the popular verdict. It is perhaps the more dignified<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a>{116}</span> course to pursue, -but it would not have elected Mr. Lincoln. He understood at once that he -would have to “stump” the district. I need hardly explain to my young -readers what this means. He must visit the principal towns and villages, -and address public meetings of the people on political subjects of -present interest, explaining clearly how he stood, and how he proposed -to vote if elected.</p> - -<p>For this service Lincoln was very well fitted. He had a vigorous Saxon -style, and he knew how to make things clear even to the humblest -intellect. Then, again, he possessed a fund of homely, but pertinent -stories, which often produced more effect than a protracted argument. -However, he was not limited to such means of influencing his audiences. -He had a logical mind and a happy faculty of stating things clearly and -precisely, so as to convince the reason as well as to persuade the -judgment.</p> - -<p>There was no lack of topics on which to speak. The country was in an -excited state. Texas had been admitted to the Union, war with Mexico had -succeeded, and opinions were divided as to the wisdom of entering upon -it. The Whig party,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a>{117}</span> of which Mr. Lincoln was a member, considered it -unnecessary and unjustifiable. So also did the Anti-Slavery party, then -coming into existence. Many of my young readers have doubtless read the -“Biglow Papers,” by our eminent poet and diplomatist, James Russell -Lowell, and have enjoyed the quaint and pungent sarcasm with which he -assails those who were instrumental in bringing on this ill-advised war. -I speak of it as ill-advised, for, though some of the results, notably -the acquisition of California, have proved beneficial, the object for -which the war was commenced and waged was far from commendable. The -tariff also had been recently repealed, and the result was a disturbance -of the business interests of the country. Clearly, Congress and the -country had plenty to talk about and plenty to legislate about.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln’s speeches in this “stumping” tour have not been preserved, -but we have every reason to believe that he did himself credit, and -maintained the reputation he had already acquired as a strong and -forcible speaker. The best evidence we can adduce is his triumphant -election by much more than the usual party vote.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>{118}</span> Even Mr. Clay, with -all his popularity as a Presidential candidate in 1844, received a -majority less by about six hundred than were given to Abraham Lincoln in -his contest for a seat in Congress.</p> - -<p>So we chronicle one more step in the upward progress of the young -rail-splitter. On the 6th of December, 1847, he took his seat in the -Thirtieth Congress, as a Representative from his adopted State of -Illinois. At the same time his future rival, Stephen A. Douglas, took -his seat in the United States Senate, representing the same State. -Lincoln was the tallest man among the nearly three hundred who sat in -the House. Douglas was the shortest man in the Senate. Both were to -achieve high distinction, and to fill a remarkable place in the history -of their country. To Lincoln distinction came with slower steps, but he -was destined to mount higher and achieve a more enduring fame. Of the -two, Douglas was more of a politician, and he was more ready to -sacrifice principle in the interest of personal ambition. Years later -they were to stump the State as competitors for Senatorial honors in a -memorable canvass, and still later to be rival candidates for the -Presidency. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a>{119}</span> first, Douglas secured the election; in the second, -Lincoln. It is to the credit of Douglas that when the last contest was -decided, and his competitor, who had secured the prize for which he had -labored earnestly for years, was about to take his seat, at a time when -the first faint rumblings of the Civil War were being heard, and -well-grounded fears were entertained for the safety of the -President-elect, he laid aside all the bitterness of personal feelings -and disappointed ambition, and rode with his old rival to the capital on -Inauguration Day, content to share any personal risk in which he might -be placed.</p> - -<p>The closing period of the life of Douglas does him great credit. It -shows him in the character of patriot, rather than as politician. In -former years he had been willing to make concessions to the slave power, -in order to further his own chances of the Presidential succession. Now, -when civil war was imminent and the integrity of the Government was -menaced, he forgot the politician and stood side by side with Lincoln -for the preservation of the Government which he had so long served. It -was a source of sincere regret to Abraham Lincoln that Douglas should -have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>{120}</span> been removed by death so early in the Civil War. It removed from -him a staunch friend and supporter, whose influence was all the greater -because he was perhaps the most prominent member of the opposition.</p> - -<p>I have a personal remembrance of Mr. Douglas, to whom I was introduced -on the occasion of a visit to Massachusetts. Short as he was, he had a -dignified and impressive presence, and his massive figure well entitled -him to the name by which he was so commonly known, “The Little Giant.” -He was not destined to achieve the object of his ambition, but he will -long be remembered as an influential actor in our political history.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>{121}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE FIRST SPEECH IN CONGRESS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> backwoods-boy is now in Congress. He is one of the law-makers of the -nation, and is an equal associate of eminent statesmen gathered from all -parts of the country.</p> - -<p>Let us look about us as we enter the old Hall of Representatives, and -see into what company the backwoods-boy has come.</p> - -<p>In the Speaker’s chair sits a dignified-looking man, an accomplished -parliamentarian, whom friends and opponents alike concede to be amply -competent to discharge the duties of his high place—this is Robert C. -Winthrop, of Massachusetts, living still in a dignified and honored old -age. Among the notable members of this Congress were John Quincy Adams, -who had already been President, but who was willing notwithstanding to -serve his country in an humble<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a>{122}</span> place; George Ashmun, also representing -Massachusetts; Jacob Collamer; Alexander H. Stephens, afterward -Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy; Robert Toombs; Andrew -Johnson, afterward associated with Mr. Lincoln as Vice-President, and -upon whose shoulders fell the mantle of his lamented chief; Marsh, -Truman Smith, Wilmot, Rhett, Giddings, and others, whose names were -already conspicuous. This will give some idea of the personnel of the -House; while in the Senate chamber, at the other end of the Capitol, -Webster, Calhoun, Dix, Dickinson, Hale, Crittenden, and Corwin lent -weight and dignity to that co-ordinate legislative branch of the -Government.</p> - -<p>Such were the men with whom the young Western member was to share the -labors of legislation. Time has given to some of them a fame which they -did not then possess. Their successors of our day may, after the lapse -of a generation, bear names as weighty; but I am afraid we shall look in -vain for successors of Webster, Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, A. H. -Stephens, and Crittenden.</p> - -<p>The question will occur to my young readers, What part did Abraham -Lincoln take in the national councils? Was he a cipher, an obscure<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>{123}</span> -member, simply filling his seat and drawing his pay, or did he take an -active part in the business of the session? I will say in answer, that -he was by no means a cipher. Though he did not aspire to be a -leader—for in a new member that would have been in bad taste—he was -always ready to take part when he felt called upon to do so, and his -vote and words were such as he would not in after years have felt it -necessary to recall or apologize for.</p> - -<p>It is interesting to know that he arrayed himself with Mr. Giddings in -favor of abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. Mr. Giddings -little suspected that the plain member from Illinois, whose co-operation -he had secured, was to be the instrument under Providence of abolishing -slavery, not only in the District of Columbia, but throughout the land.</p> - -<p>But slavery was not at that time the leading political question of the -day. Parties were divided upon the subject of the Mexican war. While -opposed to the war, Mr. Lincoln was in favor of voting for the necessary -supplies and appropriations, and he took care, in an elaborate speech, -to explain his position. He felt that it<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>{124}</span> was his duty as a citizen and -a patriot to see that the army which had been sent to Mexico should be -properly sustained; but he did not for a moment concede that the war was -just or necessary. As President Polk saw fit to construe such a vote as -a formal approval of his action and of the war, Mr. Lincoln made an -elaborate speech in arraignment of his interpretation. As this was Mr. -Lincoln’s first speech in Congress, I shall make considerable quotations -from it, partly to show where he stood on this important question, and -partly to prove to my readers that he was no novice, but well qualified -for the high position to which he had been elected by the suffrages of -his fellow-citizens. I am quite aware that many of my young readers will -skip this portion as uninteresting; but I hope that if in after years -they are led to read this biography once more, they will count it worth -while to read it.</p> - -<p>After reviewing and controverting the reasons assigned by the President -for the statement that Mexico had invaded our soil, and that therefore -“by the act of the Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that -Government and the United States,” Mr. Lincoln proceeds:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a>{125}</span></p> - -<p>“I am now through the whole of the President’s evidence; and it is a -singular fact, that if any one should declare the President sent the -army into the midst of a settlement of Mexican people who had never -submitted, by consent or by force, to the authority of Texas or of the -United States, and that <i>there</i> and <i>thereby</i> the first blood of the war -was shed, there is not one word in all the President has said which -would either admit or deny the declaration. In this strange omission -chiefly consists the deception of the President’s evidence—an omission -which it does seem to me could scarcely have occurred but by design. My -way of living leads me to be about the courts of justice; and there I -have sometimes seen a good lawyer struggling for his client’s neck, in a -desperate case, employing every artifice to work round, befog, and cover -up with many words some position pressed upon him by the prosecution, -which he <i>dared</i> not admit and yet <i>could</i> not deny. Party bias may help -to make it appear so; but, with all the allowance I can make for such -bias, it still does appear to me that just such, and from such -necessity, are the President’s struggles in this case.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a>{126}</span></p> - -<p>“Some time after my colleague (Mr. Richardson) introduced the -resolutions I have mentioned, I introduced a preamble, resolution, and -interrogatories, intended to draw the President out, if possible, on -this hitherto untrodden ground. To show their relevancy, I propose to -state my understanding of the true rule for ascertaining the boundary -between Texas and Mexico. It is that <i>wherever</i> Texas was <i>exercising</i> -jurisdiction was hers; and wherever Mexico was exercising jurisdiction -was hers; and that whatever separated the actual exercise of -jurisdiction of the one from that of the other, was the true boundary -between them. If, as is probably true, Texas was exercising jurisdiction -along the western bank of the Nueces, and Mexico was exercising it along -the eastern bank of the Rio Grande; then neither river was the boundary, -but the uninhabited country between the two was. The extent of our -territory in that region depended not on any treaty-fixed boundary (for -no treaty had attempted it), but on revolution. Any people anywhere, -being inclined and having the power, have the <i>right</i> to rise up and -shake off the existing Government, and form a new one that suits<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a>{127}</span> them -better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right—a right which, we -hope and believe, is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined -to cases in which the whole people of an existing Government may choose -to exercise it. Any portion of such people that <i>can</i> may revolutionize -and make their own of so much of the territory as they inhabit. More -than this, a majority of any portion of such people may revolutionize, -putting down a minority, intermingled, or near about them, who may -oppose their movements. Such minority was precisely the case of the -Tories of our own Revolution. It is a quality of revolutions not to go -by old lines or old laws, but to break up both and make new ones. As to -the country now in question, we bought it of France in 1803 and sold it -to Spain in 1819, according to the President’s statement. After this, -all Mexico, including Texas, revolutionized against Spain; and still -later, Texas revolutionized against Mexico. In my view, just so far as -she carried her revolution by obtaining the <i>actual</i>, willing or -unwilling, submission of the people, <i>so far</i> the country was hers and -no further.</p> - -<p>“Now, sir, for the purpose of obtaining the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>{128}</span> very best evidence as to -whether Texas had actually carried her revolution to the place where the -hostilities of the present war commenced, let the President answer the -interrogatories I proposed, as before mentioned, or some other similar -ones. Let him answer fully, fairly, and candidly; let him answer with -<i>facts</i>, and not with arguments. Let him remember he sits where -Washington sat; and, so remembering, let him answer as Washington would -answer. As a nation <i>should</i> not, and the Almighty <i>will</i> not be evaded, -so let him attempt no evasion, no equivocation; and if, so answering, he -can show that the soil was ours where the first blood of the war was -shed—that it was not within an inhabited country, or, if within such, -that the inhabitants had submitted themselves to the civil authority of -Texas or of the United States, and that the same is true of the site of -Fort Brown—then I am with him for his justification. In that case, I -shall be most happy to reverse the vote I gave the other day. I have a -selfish notion for desiring that the President may do this; I expect to -give some votes in connection with the war, which, without his so doing, -will be of doubtful propriety, in my own<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a>{129}</span> judgment, but which will be -free from the doubt, if he does so.</p> - -<p>“But if he <i>can not</i> or <i>will not</i> do this—if on any pretense, or no -pretense, he shall refuse or omit it—then I shall be fully convinced of -what I more than suspect already, that he is deeply conscious of being -in the wrong; that he feels the blood of this war, like the blood of -Abel, is crying to heaven against him; that he ordered General Taylor -into the midst of a peaceful Mexican settlement, purposely to bring on -war; that originally having some strong motive—what I will not stop now -to give my opinion concerning—to involve the two countries in a war, -and trusting to escape scrutiny by fixing the public gaze upon the -exceeding brightness of military glory—that attractive rainbow that -rises in showers of blood—that serpent’s eye that charms to destroy—he -plunged into it, and has swept <i>on</i> and <i>on</i>, till, disappointed in his -calculation of the ease with which Mexico might be subdued, he now finds -himself he knows not where. How like the half-insane mumbling of a fever -dream is the whole war part of the last message! At one time telling us -that Mexico has nothing whatever<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a>{130}</span> that we can get but territory; at -another showing us how we can support the war by levying contributions -on Mexico; at one time urging the national honor, the security of the -future, the prevention of foreign interference, and even the good of -Mexico herself, as among the objects of the war; at another, telling us -that ‘to reject indemnity by refusing to accept a cession of territory -would be to abandon all our just demands, and to wage the war, bearing -all its expenses, <i>without a purpose or definite object</i>.’</p> - -<p>“So then, the national honor, security of the future, and everything but -territorial indemnity, may be considered <i>no purposes</i> and <i>indefinite</i> -objects of the war! But having it now settled that territorial indemnity -is the only object, we are urged to seize, by legislation here, all that -he was content to take a few months ago, and the whole province of Lower -California to boot, and to still carry on the war—to take <i>all</i> we are -fighting for, and <i>still</i> fight on. Again the President is resolved, -under all circumstances, to have full territorial indemnity for the -expenses of the war; but he forgets to tell us how we are to get the -<i>excess</i> after those expenses shall have surpassed the value<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a>{131}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/p130_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/p130.jpg" width="450" height="656" alt="Image unavailable: THE YOUNG RAIL SPLITTER. Page 57." title="" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">THE YOUNG RAIL SPLITTER. <a href="#page_057"><span class="smcap">Page</span> 57.</a></span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">of the <i>whole</i> of the Mexican territory. So, again, he insists that the -separate national existence of Mexico shall be maintained; but he does -not tell us <i>how</i> this can be done after we shall have taken <i>all</i> her -territory. Lest the questions I here suggest be considered speculative -merely, let me be indulged a moment in trying to show they are not.</p> - -<p>“The war has gone on some twenty months, for the expenses of which, -together with an inconsiderable old score, the President now claims -about one-half of the Mexican territory, and that by far the better -half, so far as concerns our ability to make anything out of it. It is -comparatively uninhabited, so that we could establish land offices in -it, and raise money in that way. But the other half is already -inhabited, as I understand it, tolerably densely for the nature of the -country; and all its lands, or all that are valuable, already -appropriated as private property. How, then, are we to make anything out -of these lands with this incumbrance on them, or how remove the -incumbrance? I suppose no one will say we should kill the people, or -drive them out, or make slaves of them, or even confiscate their<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a>{132}</span> -property? How, then, can we make much out of this part of the territory? -If the prosecution of the war has, in expenses, already equalled the -<i>better</i> half of the country, how long its future prosecution will be in -equalling the less valuable half is not a <i>speculative</i> but a -<i>practical</i> question, pressing closely upon us, and yet it is a question -which the President seems never to have thought of.</p> - -<p>“As to the mode of terminating the war and securing peace, the President -is equally wandering and indefinite. First, it is to be done by a more -vigorous prosecution of the war in the vital parts of the enemy’s -country; and, after apparently talking himself tired on this point, the -President drops down into a half-despairing tone, and tells us ‘that, -with a people distracted and divided by contending factions, and a -government subject to constant changes, by successive revolutions, <i>the -continued success of our arms may fail to obtain a satisfactory peace</i>.’ -Then he suggests the propriety of wheedling the Mexican people to desert -the counsels of their own leaders, and, trusting in our protection, to -set up a government from which we can obtain a satisfactory peace, -telling us that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a>{133}</span> ‘<i>this may become the only mode of obtaining such a -peace</i>.’ But soon he falls into doubt of this too, and then drops back -on to the already abandoned ground of ‘more vigorous prosecution.’ All -this shows that the President is in no wise satisfied with his own -positions. First, he takes up one, and, in attempting to argue us into -it, he argues himself <i>out</i> of it; then seizes another, and goes through -the same process; and then, confused at being able to think of nothing -new, he snatches up the old one again, which he has some time before -cast off. His mind, tasked beyond its power, is running hither and -thither, like some tortured creature on a burning surface, finding no -position on which it can settle down and be at ease.</p> - -<p>“Again, it a singular omission in the message, that it nowhere intimates -<i>when</i> the President expects the war to terminate. At its beginning, -General Scott was, by this same President, driven into disfavor, if not -disgrace, for intimating that peace could not be conquered in less than -three or four months. But now, at the end of about twenty months, during -which time our arms have given us the most splendid successes—every -department<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a>{134}</span> and every part, land and water, officers and privateers, -regulars and volunteers, doing all that men could do, and hundreds of -things which it had ever before been thought that men could not do; -after all this, this same President gives us a long message without -showing us that, <i>as to the end</i>, he has himself even an imaginary -conception. As I have before said, he knows not where he is. He is a -bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man. God grant he may be -able to show that there is not something about his conscience more -painful than all his mental perplexity?”</p> - -<p>It will be seen that, new as he is to the halls of Congress, Mr. Lincoln -speaks with the freedom, and in the assured tone, of a veteran member. I -have nothing to say as to the sentiments contained in these extracts. I -wished my readers to see what sort of a speech the Illinois Congressman, -trained in the backwoods, and almost absolutely without educational -advantages, was able to make. It will be conceded that the result, all -things considered, is remarkable. When, twelve years later, he was -nominated for the post of Chief Magistrate, it was a fashion among many, -in both political<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a>{135}</span> parties, to speak of him as an obscure member of -Congress, who had never attracted any attention during his service in -the House. This was not correct. He took a prominent part in legislation -of all kinds, and made himself acquainted with whatever subjects came up -for consideration.</p> - -<p>It has often been said that fact is stranger than fiction, and I am -tempted to remark that the new Congressman who so boldly criticised -President Polk for his management of the war, was far from dreaming that -he himself would be subject to similar attacks when, as President, the -management of a far more important war devolved upon him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a>{136}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">MR. LINCOLN’S FAMILY.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Mr. Lincoln’s first Congressional term expired, he declined to be a -candidate for re-election. He was a delegate to the convention that -nominated General Taylor for the Presidency, and did what he could to -bring about his election. He would have preferred Henry Clay, who was -unquestionably far more fit for the position of Chief Magistrate, being -an experienced statesman, while Taylor was only a rough soldier; but -availability then, as now, controlled the choice of conventions, and -Clay was laid aside, failing, like Webster, to reach the Presidency.</p> - -<p>My young readers are aware that President Taylor died about a year after -his inauguration, and was succeeded by Millard Fillmore, the -Vice-President. Mr. Fillmore offered Lincoln the position of Governor of -Oregon, then a Territory.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a>{137}</span> The offer was considered, and might have been -accepted but for the opposition of Mrs. Lincoln, who naturally objected -to going so far from home and friends. So, for the time, Mr. Lincoln -retired from politics, though he by no means ceased to feel an interest -in the state of the country. He, like other sagacious statesmen, saw -that slavery was to be the rock in the way of national harmony, and we -are told by Mr. Lamon, that when coming home to Springfield from the -Fremont Court in company with Mr. Stuart, he said: “The time will come -when we must all be Democrats or Abolitionists. When that time comes my -mind is made up. The slavery question can’t be compromised.”</p> - -<p>About this time his father, who had lived to see the first political -success of his son, was drawing near the end of his life. His latter -years had been made comfortable by the pecuniary help freely tendered by -his son, who gave, but not out of his abundance. Anxious that his father -should have every comfort which his case required, he wrote the -following letter, which I quote, because it illustrates not only his -solicitude for his family, but also exhibits his faith in his Maker:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a>{138}</span></p> - -<div class="blockquot"><p class="r"> -“<span class="smcap">Springfield</span>, <i>January</i> 12, 1851.<br /> -</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Dear Brother</span>—On the day before yesterday I received a letter from -Harriet, written at Greenup. She says she has just returned from -your house, and that father is very low, and will hardly recover. -She also says that you have written me two letters, and, although I -have not answered them, it is not because I have forgotten them, or -not been interested about them, but because it appeared to me I -could write nothing which could do any good. You already know that -I desire that neither father nor mother shall be in want of any -comfort, either in health or sickness, while they live; and I feel -sure you have not failed to use my name, if necessary, to procure a -doctor or anything else for father in his present sickness. My -business is such that I could hardly leave home now, if it were -not, as it is, that my own wife is sick-a-bed.</p> - -<p>“I sincerely hope father may yet recover his health; but, at all -events, tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our great -and good and merciful Maker, who will not turn away from him in any -extremity. He notes the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the hairs of -our heads; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a>{139}</span> He will not forget the dying man who puts his trust -in him. Say to him that, if we could meet now, it is doubtful -whether it would not be more painful than pleasant, but that, if it -be his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyous meeting with loved -ones gone before, and where the rest of us, through the help of -God, hope ere long to join him.</p> - -<p>“Write me again when you receive this.</p> - -<p class="c"> -“Affectionately,<br /> -</p> - -<p class="r"> -“<span class="smcap">A. Lincoln</span>.”<br /> -</p></div> - -<p>The money expended for his father and mother we may be sure that Mr. -Lincoln gave cheerfully, and I should have a very poor opinion of him if -it were otherwise; but he was also called upon to assist another member -of the family who was far less deserving. His step-brother, John -Johnston, was a rolling-stone, idle, shiftless, and always hard up. I am -going to quote here the greater part of a letter written to this -step-brother, because it contains some very practical advice, which most -of my young readers will not need, but it may fall under the eye of some -one who will be benefited by it. It appears that John had made<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a>{140}</span> -application for a loan of eighty dollars. Mr. Lincoln writes:</p> - -<p>“Your request for eighty dollars I do not think it best to comply with -now. At the various times when I have helped you a little, you have said -to me, ‘We can get along very well now’; but in a very short time I find -you in the same difficulty again. Now this can only happen by some -defect in your conduct; what that defect is, I think I know. You are not -<i>lazy</i>, and still you are an <i>idler</i>. I doubt whether, since I saw you, -you have done a good whole day’s work in any one day. You do not very -much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely because it -does not seem to you that you could get much for it. This habit of -uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty; and it is vastly -important to you, and still more so to your children, that you should -break the habit. It is more important to them because they have longer -to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before they are in it easier -than they can get out after they are in.</p> - -<p>“You are now in need of some money; and what I propose is, that you -should go to work ‘tooth and nail’ for somebody who will give you<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a>{141}</span> money -for it. Let father and your boys take charge of things at home, prepare -for a crop, and make the crop, and you go to work for the best money, -wages, or in discharge of any debt you owe, that you can get; and, to -secure you a fair reward for your labor, I now promise you that, for -every dollar you will, between this and the first of next May, get for -your own labor, either in money or your own indebtedness, I will then -give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars -a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month -for your work. In this I do not mean you shall go off to St. Louis, or -the lead mines, or the gold mines in California; but I mean for you to -go at it for the best wages you can get close to home, in Coles County. -Now, if you will do this, you will be soon out of debt, and, what is -better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting into debt -again. But, if I should now clear you out of debt, next year you would -be just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place in -heaven for seventy or eighty dollars. Then you value your place in -heaven very cheap; for I am sure you can, with the offer I make, get<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a>{142}</span> -the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months’ work. You say, if -I will furnish you the money, you will deed me the land, and, if you -don’t pay me the money back, you will deliver possession. Nonsense! If -you can’t now live with the land, how will you then live without it? You -have always been kind to me, and I do not mean to be unkind to you. On -the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth -more than eighty times eighty dollars to you.”</p> - -<p>This was certainly excellent advice, and the offer was a kind and -generous one. But it does not seem to have convinced the one who -received it, for we find him nursing plans of emigration. Shiftless -people are very apt to think they can earn a living away from home -better than at home. But the trouble is in themselves, not in their -surroundings. Abraham Lincoln finds it necessary, under date of November -4, 1851, to combat this fancy of his step-brother. I shall not apologize -for copying a second letter, and I hope all my young readers will -carefully read and consider it.</p> - -<p>“When I came into Charleston day before yesterday,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a>{143}</span> I learned that you -are anxious to sell the land where you live, and move to Missouri. I -have been thinking of this ever since, and can not but think such a -notion is utterly foolish. What can you do in Missouri better than here? -Is the land any richer? Can you there, any more than here, raise corn -and wheat and oats without work? Will anybody there, any more than here, -do your work for you? If you intend to go to work, there is no better -place than right where you are; if you do not intend to go to work you -can not get along anywhere.</p> - -<p>“Squirming and crawling about from place to place can do no good. You -have raised no crop this year; and what you really want is to sell the -land, get the money, and spend it. Part with the land you have, and my -life upon it, you will never after own a spot big enough to bury you in. -Half you will get for the land you will spend in moving to Missouri, and -the other half you will eat and drink and wear out, and no foot of land -will be bought. Now, I feel it is my duty to have no hand in such a -piece of foolery. I feel that it is so even on your own account, and -particularly on mother’s account. The eastern forty<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a>{144}</span> acres I intend to -keep for mother while she lives; if you <i>will not cultivate it</i>, it will -rent for enough to support her; at least it will rent for something. Her -dower in the other two forties she can let you have, and no thanks to -me. Now, do not misunderstand this letter; I do not write it in any -unkindness—I write it, in order, if possible, to get you to <i>face</i> the -truth, which truth is, you are destitute because you have idled away all -your time. Your thousand pretences for not getting along better are all -nonsense: they deceive nobody but yourself. <i>Go to work</i> is the only -cure in your case.”</p> - -<p>Nothing can be plainer, or more in accordance with common sense than -this advice. Though it was written for the benefit of one person only, I -feel that I am doing my young, and possibly some older, readers a -service in transferring it to my pages, and commending them to heed it. -In my own experience, which is by no means exceptional, I have known -many who have been willing to move anywhere, and make any change, for -the chance of earning a living more easily. About thirty years ago, a -great wave of emigration flowed toward the far Pacific, and men of all -callings<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>{145}</span> and professions, including not a few college graduates, put on -the miner’s humble garb and delved for gold among the mountains and by -the river-courses of California. Some came back rich, but in many cases -had they been willing to work as hard and live as frugally at the East, -they would have fared as well. In this case, perhaps, it was as well to -remove where the incentives to work overcame their natural indolence, -and awakened their ambition.</p> - -<p>In this country, fortunately, there are few places where an industrious -man can not get a living, if he is willing to accept such work as falls -in his way. This willingness often turns the scale, and converts -threatening ruin into prosperity and success. Some years since, I made -one of the passengers in a small steamer on Puget Sound. My attention -was drawn to a young man, apparently about twenty, who was accompanied -by his wife and two young children. They were emigrating from Indiana, I -believe. He was evidently an industrious man, and his brown face and -hands spoke of labor in the field, and under the summer sun. I entered -into conversation, and my new acquaintance told me with perfect<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a>{146}</span> -cheerfulness that when he arrived at Seattle, he would have just ten -dollars left, to keep himself and family till he could secure work.</p> - -<p>“How should I feel,” I could not help asking myself, “if I were placed -in similar circumstances, though I had myself only to provide for?”</p> - -<p>Yet the young man appeared quite undisturbed. He had faith in himself, -and in Providence, and borrowed no trouble. I have no doubt he found -something to do before his money gave out. He was not one of that -shiftless and restless class to whom it is very clear Mr. Lincoln’s -step-brother belonged. Such men thrive in a new country, and make a -living anywhere.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a>{147}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Lincoln</span> had served a term in the House of Representatives with -credit to himself and profit to the country. He was regarded as a rising -man, and every year made him more prominent. It is not strange that his -ambition should have coveted a seat in the Senate. In 1855 he was a -candidate before the Legislature to succeed General Shields, but, -failing to get the required number of votes, he counselled his friends -to vote for Judge Trumbull, who was elected. It was a personal -disappointment, for he wished to be Senator, but in the end it proved to -his advantage. A seat in the Senate would have stood in the way of his -later triumph, and some one else in all probability would have been -nominated and elected President of the United States in 1860.</p> - -<p>I have already spoken of Mr. Lincoln’s opposition<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a>{148}</span> to slavery. He was -not an extreme man, and he was never classed with the -Abolitionists—that intrepid band who worked early and late, and for -years almost without hope, against the colossal system of wrong whose -life seemed so entwined with the life of the republic that it looked as -if both must fall together. Abraham Lincoln moved slowly. He was not an -impulsive man, but took time to form a determination. Even in the war -there were many who blamed him for what appeared to be his slowness, but -after a while they were led to see that if slow he was sure, and struck -only when the time had come.</p> - -<p>The ten years before the war were years of political commotion. The -“irrepressible conflict” between slavery and the spirit of freedom had -commenced, and Abraham Lincoln arrayed himself among the champions of -freedom. There was a desperate struggle to introduce slavery into the -Territories, so that in course of time more slave States might be added -to the Union, and thus the slave system might be strengthened and -continue to retain the political ascendency it had possessed for years. -The rapid growth of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a>{149}</span> free Northwest alarmed the slave power, and a -counterpoise was required. Northern statesmen who cherished an ambition -to be President had notice served upon them that they must help the -slave power or forfeit its support. Among those who weakly yielded to -this arrogant demand was Stephen A. Douglas. He favored the principle of -“squatter sovereignty,” permitting the inhabitants of any Territory to -establish slavery within its limits if so disposed. In the year 1854, -Mr. Lincoln, in a public debate with Mr. Douglas held at Springfield at -the State fair, used this significant language:</p> - -<p>“My distinguished friend says it is an insult to the emigrants to Kansas -and Nebraska to suppose they are not able to govern themselves. We must -not slur over an argument of this kind because it tickles the ear. It -must be met and answered. I admit that the emigrant to Kansas and -Nebraska is able to govern <i>himself</i>, but,” the speaker rising to his -full height, “<i>I deny his right to govern any other person</i> <small>WITHOUT THAT -PERSON’S CONSENT</small>.”</p> - -<p>This was but a preliminary skirmish. Four years later came the memorable -series of debates<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a>{150}</span> between Lincoln and Douglas, each being the nominee -of his party for the United States Senate. The platform on which Lincoln -stood contained two significant planks, and these furnished the key-note -for the speeches called forth by the campaign. I quote them both, and I -hope that my young friends will not skip them.</p> - -<p>“3. The present administration has proved recreant to the trusts -committed to its hands, and by its extraordinary, corrupt, unjust, and -undignified exertions, to give effect to the original intention and -purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, by forcing upon the people of -Kansas against their will, and in defiance of their known and -earnestly-expressed wishes, a constitution recognizing slavery as one of -their domestic institutions, it has forfeited all claim to the support -of the friends of free men, free labor, and free rights.”</p> - -<p>“5. While we deprecate all interference on the part of political -organizations with the action of the Judiciary, if such action is -limited to its appropriate sphere, yet we can not refrain from -expressing our condemnation of the principles and tendencies of the -extra judicial opinions of a majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court -of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a>{151}</span> United States in the matter of Dred Scott, wherein the political -heresy is put forth that the Federal Constitution extends slavery into -all the Territories of the republic, and so maintains it that neither -Congress nor people, through their territorial legislature, can by law -abolish it. We hold that Congress possesses sovereign power over the -Territories while they remain in a territorial condition, and that it is -the duty of the General Government to protect the Territories from the -curse of slavery, and to preserve the public domain for the occupation -of free men and free labor. And we declare that no power on earth can -carry and maintain slavery in the States against the will of the people -and the provisions of their constitutions and laws; and we fully endorse -the recent decision of the Supreme Court of our own State which declares -‘that property in persons is repugnant to the Constitution and laws of -Illinois, and that all persons within its jurisdiction are supposed to -be free; and that slavery, where it exists, is a municipal regulation -without any extra territorial operation.’ ”</p> - -<p>With the other points of difference we are not concerned. Whether -slavery should or should not<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a>{152}</span> be allowed to extend its blight over the -virgin soil of the new Territories, and thus make its final extinction -well-nigh impossible: that was the all-important issue, and not Illinois -alone, but the country at large, was profoundly interested in the -arguments of the two contestants.</p> - -<p>Which was likely to win?</p> - -<p>It might have been supposed at the outset that Lincoln would find -himself overmatched. He was hardly known outside his own State, though -he had served two years in Congress. Douglas was a statesman of national -reputation. For fifteen years he had been in the thick of the conflict. -He was a recognized leader of his party, and already he was looked upon -as a probable President at no distant period. In scholastic training he -was far ahead of Mr. Lincoln. He was a forcible speaker, an adroit and -experienced politician, and his recognized position lent a certain -weight to his words which his opponent could not claim.</p> - -<p>But, admitting all this, Mr. Douglas found himself confronted by no -inferior antagonist. Abraham Lincoln had a strong logical mind, quick to -detect sophistry and bold to expose it. He had a fine command of -language, a clear and pleasant<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a>{153}</span> voice, and a power of sarcasm which he -used with powerful execution at times. This is the way in which an -intelligent correspondent speaks of his speech at Galesburg:</p> - -<p>“For about forty minutes he spoke with a power which we have seldom -heard equalled. There was a grandeur in his thoughts, a -comprehensiveness in his arguments, and a binding force in his -conclusions, which were perfectly irresistible. The vast throng was -silent as death, every eye was fixed upon the speaker, and all gave him -serious attention. He was the tall man eloquent; his countenance glowed -with animation, and his eye glistened with an intelligence that made it -lustrous. He was no longer awkward and ungainly; but graceful, bold, and -commanding.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Douglas had been quietly smoking up to this time, but here he -forgot his cigar and listened with anxious attention. When he rose to -reply he appeared excited, disturbed, and his second effort seemed to us -vastly inferior to his first. Mr. Lincoln had given him a great task, -and Mr. Douglas had not time to answer him, even if he had the ability.”</p> - -<p>Yet there were many points of resemblance between<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a>{154}</span> the two contestants. -Both had been cradled in poverty, and had fought their way upward from -obscurity to distinction. Douglas had climbed the higher, but the -topmost round of the ladder on which he had for some time fixed longing -eyes, he was destined never to mount. He had sacrificed much to reach -the crowning distinction, but it was not for him. His awkward, -ungraceful opponent, obscure in comparison with him, was destined to -stride past him and sit in the coveted seat of power. But the smaller -prize—the Senatorship—was won by Douglas, though Lincoln carried the -popular vote.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a>{155}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE TWO GIANTS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">If</span> I were writing a complete and exhaustive biography of Mr. Lincoln, I -should be tempted to quote freely from the speeches made by both -contestants in the memorable campaign which made Douglas a Senator, and -his opponent the next President of the United States. But neither my -space, nor the scope of my book, allows this. I will, however, quote, as -likely to be of general interest, the personal description of Lincoln -given by his distinguished rival:</p> - -<p>“In the remarks I have made on this platform,” said Judge Douglas, “and -the position of Mr. Lincoln upon it, I mean nothing personally -disrespectful or unkind to that gentleman. I have known him for nearly -twenty-five years. There were many points of sympathy between us when we -first got acquainted. We were both comparatively<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a>{156}</span> boys, and both -struggling with poverty in a strange land. I was a school-teacher in the -town of Winchester, and he a flourishing grocery-keeper in the town of -Salem. He was more successful in his occupation than I was in mine, and -hence more fortunate in this world’s goods. Lincoln is one of those -peculiar men who perform with admirable skill everything which they -undertake. I made as good a school-teacher as I could, and when a -cabinet-maker I made a good bedstead and tables, although my old boss -said I succeeded better with bureaus and secretaries than with anything -else; but I believe that Lincoln was always more successful in business -than I, for his business enabled him to get into the Legislature. I met -him there, however, and had a sympathy with him, because of the up-hill -struggle we both had in life.</p> - -<p>“He was then just as good at telling an anecdote as now. He could beat -any of the boys in wrestling, or running a foot-race, in pitching -quoits, or tossing a copper; could ruin more liquor than all the boys of -the town together, and the dignity and impartiality with which he -presided at a horse-race or a fist-fight, excited the admiration<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a>{157}</span> and -won the praise of everybody that was present and participated. I -sympathized with him because he was struggling with difficulties and so -was I. Mr. Lincoln served with me in the Legislature in 1836, when we -both retired, and he subsided, or became submerged, and he was lost -sight of as a public man for some years. In 1846, when Wilmot introduced -the celebrated proviso, and the Abolition tornado swept over the -country, Lincoln again turned up as a Member of Congress from the -Sangamon district. I was then in the Senate of the United States, and -was glad to welcome my old friend and companion. While in Congress, he -distinguished himself by his opposition to the Mexican war, taking the -side of our common enemy against his own country; and when he returned -home he found that the indignation of the people followed him -everywhere, and he was again submerged, or obliged to retire into -private life, forgotten by his former friends.”</p> - -<p>This sketch of Mr. Lincoln, though apparently friendly, was artfully -calculated to stir up prejudice against him, and the backwoods statesman -was not willing to leave it unanswered. Generally<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>{158}</span> he was quite well -able to take care of himself, and did not fail in the present instance.</p> - -<p>This is his reply:</p> - -<p>“The Judge is wofully at fault about his early friend Lincoln being a -grocery-keeper. I don’t know as it would be a great sin if I had been; -but he is mistaken. Lincoln never kept a grocery anywhere in the world. -It is true that Lincoln did work the latter part of one winter in a -little still-house up at the head of a hollow. And so I think my friend, -the Judge, is equally at fault when he charges me at the time when I was -in Congress with having opposed our soldiers who were fighting in the -Mexican war. The Judge did not make his charge very distinctly, but I -can tell you what he can prove by referring to the record. You remember -I was an old Whig, and whenever the Democratic party tried to get me to -vote that the war had been righteously begun by the President, I would -not do it. But whenever they asked for any money, or land-warrants, or -anything to pay the soldiers there, during all that time I gave the same -vote that Judge Douglas did. You can think as you please as to whether -that was consistent. Such is the truth; and the Judge has a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a>{159}</span> right to -make all he can out of it. But when he, by a general charge, conveys the -idea that I withheld supplies from the soldiers who were fighting in the -Mexican war, or did anything else to hinder the soldiers, he is, to say -the least, grossly and altogether mistaken, as a consultation of the -records will prove to him.”</p> - -<p>Not content with defending himself, Mr. Lincoln essayed on his side to -contrast his opponent and himself, and, like him, he indulged in -personal reminiscences.</p> - -<p>“Twenty-two years ago Judge Douglas and I first became acquainted; we -were both young then—he a trifle younger than I. Even then we were both -ambitious,—I perhaps quite as much so as he. With me the race of -ambition has been a failure,—a flat failure; with him it has been one -of splendid success. His name fills the nation, and is not unknown even -in foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has -reached,—so reached that the oppressed of my species might have shared -with me in the elevation. I would rather stand on that eminence than -wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch’s brow.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a>{160}</span></p> - -<p>In another connection Mr. Lincoln says: “Senator Douglas is of -world-wide renown. All the anxious politicians of his party, or who had -been of his party for years past, have been looking upon him as -certainly, at no distant day, to be the President of the United States. -They have seen in his round, jolly, fruitful face, post-offices, -land-offices, marshalships, and cabinet appointments, chargéships and -foreign missions, bursting and sprouting out in wonderful exuberance, -ready to be laid hold of by their greedy hands. And as they have been -gazing upon this attractive picture so long, they can not, in the little -distraction that has taken place in the party, bring themselves to give -up the charming hope; but, with greedier anxiety, they rush about him, -sustain him, and give him marches, triumphal entries, and receptions, -beyond what, even in the days of his highest prosperity, they could have -brought about in his favor. On the contrary, nobody has ever expected me -to be President. In <i>my</i> poor, lean, lank face nobody has ever seen that -any cabbages were sprouting out. There are disadvantages, all taken -together, that the Republicans labor under. We have to fight this battle -upon principle, and upon principle alone.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a>{161}</span></p> - -<p>It may be said, in summing up, that Mr. Lincoln proved himself to be -fully a match for Judge Douglas in this memorable campaign. I may go -further and say that he overmatched him, for he adroitly propounded -questions which his opponent was compelled to answer, and did answer in -a way that killed him as a Presidential candidate. Though he ran in -1860, it was as an independent candidate. He had failed to retain the -full confidence of his party, and could not secure the regular -nomination. Indeed, he contributed indirectly to Lincoln’s election, by -dividing his own party, so that Mr. Lincoln became President, though -receiving considerably less than one-half of the popular vote. It is -obvious that Mr. Lincoln, who admits, as we have seen, that he was quite -as ambitious as Douglas, was looking farther than the Senatorship. Yet -he was personally disappointed when the majority in the Legislature -proved to be for Douglas, and secured the election of the latter. He -expressed this in his usual quaint way when some one asked him how he -felt. He said, “that he felt like the boy that stubbed his toe,—it hurt -too bad to laugh, and he was too big to cry.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a>{162}</span></p> - -<p>It is probable that Abraham Lincoln, though he says no one had ever -expected him to be President, was not without Presidential aspirations. -He thought no doubt that an election as Senator would help his chances, -and that the Senatorial position would prove a stepping-stone. Even the -shrewdest, however, are liable to make mistakes, and we are led to -believe that Mr. Lincoln was mistaken in this instance. If he had -triumphed over Douglas in 1858, it is more than likely that by some word -or act as Senator he would have aroused prejudices that would have made -him unavailable in 1860, and the nation would never have discovered the -leader who, under Providence, led it out of the wilderness, and -conducted it to peace and freedom. I do not want to moralize overmuch, -but can not help saying to my readers that in the lives of all there are -present disappointments that lead to ultimate success and prosperity. It -would not be hard to adduce convincing proofs. Washington and Garfield -both desired to go to sea when they were boys. Had their wishes been -gratified their after-careers might have been very different. Cromwell -had made all arrangements to sail for America when still obscure. He -was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a>{163}</span> prevented, and remained in his own country to control its destiny, -and take a position at the head of affairs. Remember this when your -cherished plans are defeated. There is a higher wisdom than ours that -shapes and directs our lives.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>{164}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">ILLINOIS DECLARES FOR THE RAIL-SPLITTER.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Henceforth</span> Abraham Lincoln was a marked man. He had sprung into national -prominence. Limited as had been his tenure of office—including only two -years in the lower house of Congress—it is remarkable how suddenly he -came to be recognized as a leader. But at the East he was known only by -reputation. This was soon remedied. He received an invitation to lecture -in New York, or rather in Mr. Beecher’s church in Brooklyn. He was well -pleased to accept, but stipulated that he should be permitted to speak -on a political subject. When he reached New York, he found that a change -had been made in the place where he was to speak, and the Cooper -Institute, where at intervals nearly every eminent man in the country -has been heard, had been engaged for his début.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a>{165}</span></p> - -<p>It was not without a feeling of modest shyness that he surveyed the -immense audience gathered to hear him, and he was surprised to see the -most cultivated citizens of the great metropolis upon the platform. -Among them was William Cullen Bryant, who was president of the meeting, -and in that capacity introduced him as “an eminent citizen of the West, -hitherto known to you only by reputation.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln commenced his address in low tones, but his voice became -louder and his manner more confident as he proceeded. His speech was an -elaborate argument to prove that the original framers of the American -Government intended that the Federal Government should exercise absolute -control of the Federal territories, so far as the subject of slavery was -concerned, and had never surrendered this high privilege to local -legislation. This he established by incontrovertible proof, and in so -doing quite upset Senator Douglas’ theory of Squatter Sovereignty. -Incidentally he vindicated the right of the Republican party to exist.</p> - -<p>I have not room to quote from this remarkable speech. I am afraid I have -already introduced<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a>{166}</span> more extracts from speeches than my young readers -will enjoy. They are necessary, however, if we would understand what -were the views of Mr. Lincoln, and what made him President.</p> - -<p>The next day Mr. Lincoln’s speech was printed in full in two prominent -papers—the <i>Tribune</i> and the <i>Evening Post</i>, accompanied by comments of -the most favorable character. The first was edited by Horace Greeley, -the latter by the poet Bryant, who was nearly as conspicuous a -politician as a poet. “No man ever before made such an impression on his -first appeal to a New York audience,” said the <i>Tribune</i>.</p> - -<p>Robert Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln’s oldest son, was a student at Harvard, and -his father travelled into New England to visit him. He was besieged by -applications to speak at Republican meetings, and accepted a few -invitations, being everywhere cordially received. This visit no doubt -bore fruit, and drew many voters to his standard, when he had been -formally presented to the country as a candidate for the Presidency. -That my readers may learn how he spoke, and how he appeared, I quote -from the Manchester (N. H.) <i>Mirror</i>, an independent paper:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a>{167}</span></p> - -<p>“He spoke an hour and a half with great fairness, great apparent candor, -and with wonderful interest. He did not abuse the South, the -administration, or the Democrats, or indulge in any personalities, with -the exception of a few hits at Douglas’ notions. He is far from -prepossessing in personal appearance, and his voice is disagreeable; and -yet he wins your attention and good-will from the start. He indulges in -no flowers of rhetoric, no eloquent passages. He is not a wit, a -humorist, or a clown; yet so great a vein of pleasantry and good-nature -pervades what he says, gilding over a deep current of practical argument -he keeps his hearers in a smiling mood, with their mouths open ready to -swallow all he says. His sense of the ludicrous is very keen; and an -exhibition of that is the clincher of all his arguments,—not the -ludicrous acts of persons, but ludicrous ideas. Hence he is never -offensive, and steals away willingly into his train of belief persons -who were opposed to him. For the first half hour his opponents would -agree with everything he uttered; and from that point he began to lead -them off little by little, until it seemed as if he had got them all -into his fold. He displays<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a>{168}</span> more shrewdness, more knowledge of the -masses of mankind, than any public speaker we have heard since Long Jim -Wilson left for California.”</p> - -<p>On the day succeeding his speech in Norwich, he met in the cars a -clergyman named Gulliver, who sought his acquaintance.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln,” he said, “I thought your speech last evening the most -remarkable I ever heard.”</p> - -<p>“You do not mean this?” said Mr. Lincoln, incredulously.</p> - -<p>“Indeed, sir,” said Gulliver, “I learned more of the art of public -speaking last evening than I could from a whole course of lectures on -rhetoric.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln was puzzled, for he was not a man to accept extravagant -compliments.</p> - -<p>“I should like very much to know what it was in my speech which you -thought so remarkable,” he said.</p> - -<p>“The clearness of your statements,” answered Gulliver, “the unanswerable -style of your reasoning, and especially your illustrations, which were -romance and pathos, and fun and logic, all welded together.”</p> - -<p>“I am much obliged to you for this,” said Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a>{169}</span> Lincoln. “I have been -wishing for a long time to find some one who would make this analysis -for me. It throws light on a subject which has been dark to me. I can -understand very readily how such a power as you have ascribed to me will -account for the effect which seems to be produced by my speeches. I hope -you have not been too flattering in your estimate. Certainly I have had -a most wonderful success for a man of my limited education.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln, may I say one thing to you before we separate?” asked Mr. -Gulliver later.</p> - -<p>“Certainly; anything you please.”</p> - -<p>“You have spoken of the tendency of political life in Washington to -debase the moral convictions of our representatives there, by the -admixture of considerations of mere political expediency. You have -become, by the controversy with Mr. Douglas, one of our leaders in this -great struggle with slavery, which is undoubtedly <i>the</i> struggle of the -nation and the age. What I would like to say is this, and I say it with -a full heart: <i>Be true to your principles, and we will be true to you, -and God will be true to us all!</i>”</p> - -<p>“I say amen to that! amen to that!” answered<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a>{170}</span> Mr. Lincoln, taking his -hand in both his own, while his face lighted up sympathetically.</p> - -<p>I may as well mention here the first public occasion on which Mr. -Lincoln’s name was mentioned for the Presidency.</p> - -<p>On the 9th and 10th of May the Republican State Convention met at -Decatur. Mr. Lincoln was present as a spectator, but he attracted the -attention of Gov. Oglesby, who rose, and said: “I am informed that a -distinguished citizen of Illinois, and one whom Illinois will ever -delight to honor, is present; and I wish to move that this body invite -him to a seat on the stand.”</p> - -<p>Public interest and curiosity were aroused. Who was this distinguished -citizen?</p> - -<p>The Governor paused a moment, and then uttered the name of Abraham -Lincoln.</p> - -<p>Instantly there was a roar of applause, there was a rush to where the -astonished Lincoln sat, he was seized, and the crowd being too dense to -press through, he was literally passed over the heads and shoulders of -the great throng until breathless he found himself on the platform. -Willing or unwilling he was literally for the time being “in the hands -of his friends.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a>{171}</span></p> - -<p>Later on Gov. Oglesby rose once more and said: “There is an old Democrat -outside who has something which he wishes to present to the Convention.”</p> - -<p>“What is it?” “What is it?” “Receive it!” shouts the crowd.</p> - -<p>The door of the wigwam opens, and an old man, bluff and hearty, comes -forward, bearing on his shoulder two small rails, surmounted by a -banner, with this inscription:—</p> - -<h3>TWO RAILS</h3> - -<div class="blockk"> -<p class="hang"><span class="smcap">From a lot made by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks, in the Sangamon -Bottom, in the year 1830.</span></p></div> - -<p>This old man was John Hanks himself! His entrance was greeted with -tumultuous applause.</p> - -<p>“Lincoln! Lincoln! A speech!” shouts the crowd.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln seemed amused. He rose at length and said:</p> - -<p>“Gentlemen, I suppose you want to know something about those things,” -(the rails). “Well, the truth is, John Hanks and I did make rails in<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a>{172}</span> -the Sangamon Bottom. I don’t know whether we made those rails or not; -fact is, I don’t think they are a credit to the makers,” (laughing as he -spoke). “But I do know this: I made rails then, and I think I could make -better ones than these now.”</p> - -<p>Before the Convention dissolved, a resolution was passed, declaring that -“Abraham Lincoln is the first choice of the Republican party of Illinois -for the Presidency, and instructing the delegates to the Chicago -Convention to use all honorable means to secure his nomination, and to -cast the vote of the State as a unit for him.”</p> - -<p>So Abraham Lincoln, “the rail-splitter,” as he was familiarly called, -was fairly in the field as a candidate for the highest office in the -gift of the nation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a>{173}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">On</span> the 16th of May the Republican Convention assembled in Chicago. -Considered with reference to its outcome, no more important convention -had assembled since the organization of the Government. Though this -could not be realized at the time, its deliberations were followed with -great interest all over the country. The opponents of the slave power -were, for the first time, to make a formidable effort to prevent its -extension and indefinite perpetuation.</p> - -<p>Of course, there had been more or less electioneering in advance. Half a -dozen candidates were in the field; but there were two who were -recognized as leading in strength and popularity. These were William H. -Seward and Abraham Lincoln. The former, in length and variety of public -service, in general culture, and national<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a>{174}</span> reputation, was far superior. -It was felt that he would make an admirable candidate, and that he -deserved the nomination; but there were many who were strongly opposed -to him. Three important States—Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and -Indiana—declared that, as against Douglas, they could do nothing if -Seward were the nominee. Illinois, of course, was for Lincoln, and this -giant of the Western prairies enjoyed a popularity which his more -experienced competitor could not boast. Yet for the first two days -Seward’s chances seemed the better of the two. The other candidates -whose names were presented to the Convention were Mr. Dayton, of New -Jersey; Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania; Edward Bates, of Missouri; and -Ohio offered two distinguished sons—Salmon P. Chase and John McLean.</p> - -<p>On the first and second ballots Mr. Seward led; but, on the third, Mr. -Lincoln lacked but a vote and a half of the number necessary to make him -the nominee. An Ohio delegate rose and changed four votes from Chase to -Lincoln. This was sufficient. He was nominated. The vast building shook -with the cheers of the dense throng. State<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a>{175}</span> after State changed its vote -to the man of destiny, and his nomination was made unanimous. In the -afternoon, Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, was nominated for Vice-President.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Mr. Lincoln was in Springfield, bearing the suspense as well -as he could. My boy readers will be interested to know that he spent a -considerable part of his time in playing baseball, his mind being too -preoccupied to do his ordinary work. Dispatches were received from time -to time, but nothing decisive.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln and some of his friends were waiting in the office of the -<i>Journal</i> when the local editor rushed in, in a fever of excitement.</p> - -<p>“What’s the news?” was the breathless inquiry.</p> - -<p>“The Convention has made a nomination,” he said, “and Mr. Seward——”</p> - -<p>A look of intense disappointment was beginning to show itself on the -faces of the listeners. They supposed that Seward was nominated.</p> - -<p>“And Seward is—the second man on the list,” continued the editor.</p> - -<p>He could no longer restrain himself. Jumping on the editorial table, he -shouted, “Gentlemen, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a>{176}</span> propose three cheers for Abraham Lincoln, the -next President of the United States.”</p> - -<p>The cheers were given with a will.</p> - -<p>The dispatch was handed to Mr. Lincoln, who read it quietly.</p> - -<p>Then he put it in his pocket, saying, “There is a little woman on Eighth -Street who will be interested to hear this,” and he walked home.</p> - -<p>In Springfield the news excited the greatest enthusiasm. All knew and -loved Abraham Lincoln. He set himself above no one, but greeted all with -cordial kindness. The nomination was felt to be a personal compliment to -Springfield. The country had come to them for a President, and to the -man above all others whom they would personally have selected.</p> - -<p>That day Mr. Lincoln had to keep open house. His modest residence proved -quite too small to contain the crowds who wanted to enter and shake -hands with the man who had become so suddenly of national importance. -They received a cordial welcome; and no one could detect in the nominee -any unusual elation nor any deviation from his usual plain and modest -deportment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a>{177}</span></p> - -<p>The next day Mr. Lincoln was formally notified of his election by a -Committee of the Convention, with Mr. Ashmun at the head. This was his -response:</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee</span>:—I tender to you, and -through you to the Republican National Convention, and all the people -represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high honor done me, -which you now formally announce. Deeply and even painfully sensible of -the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor—a -responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the -far more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished names -were before the Convention, I shall, by your leave, consider more fully -the resolutions of the Convention, denominated the platform, and, -without unnecessary and unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. -Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be found -satisfactory, and the nomination gratefully accepted. And now I will not -longer defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of you, by the hand.”</p> - -<p>Let us consider who were Mr. Lincoln’s rivals<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a>{178}</span> in the Presidential race. -Usually there are but two tickets in the field. This time there were -four. First in order of time had come the National Constitutional Union -Convention, made up largely of old Whigs. At this Convention John Bell, -of Tennessee, was nominated for President, and Edward Everett, of -Massachusetts, for Vice-President. The Democratic National Convention -had met at Charleston, but adjourned without deciding upon a candidate. -Mr. Douglas was the most prominent man before it, but extreme -Southerners doubted his entire devotion to slavery, and he was unable to -obtain the necessary two-thirds vote. The two factions into which the -Convention split afterward met: the one at Baltimore, the other at -Richmond. At the Baltimore Convention Stephen A. Douglas was nominated -for President, and Mr. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice-President. At the -Richmond Convention of Southern seceders, John C. Breckinridge, of -Kentucky, and Joseph Lane, of Oregon, were selected as standard-bearers.</p> - -<p>In this division of the Democracy lay the hope of the new Republican -party. With the Democracy united they would have been unable to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a>{179}</span> cope; -but they were stronger than either faction. When the eventful 6th of -November arrived, the result was what might have been anticipated. -Abraham Lincoln, the poor boy whose fortunes we have so long followed, -reached the highest step of political preferment. He received 1,857,610 -votes; Mr. Douglas came next, with 1,291,574; while Mr. Breckinridge -could muster only 850,082; Mr. Bell secured 646,124. Of the electoral -votes, however, Mr. Lincoln received a majority, namely, 180 out of 292.</p> - -<p>To go back a little. From the day of Mr. Lincoln’s nomination he was -beset by callers—some drawn by curiosity, and many by considerations of -private interest. They found him the same unaffected, plain man that he -had always been. He even answered the door-bell himself, and personally -ushered visitors in and out. My readers will be interested in two -anecdotes of this time, which I transcribe from the interesting volume -of Dr. Holland, already more than once referred to:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln being seated in conversation with a gentleman one day, two -raw, plainly-dressed young ‘Suckers’ entered the room and bashfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a>{180}</span> -lingered near the door. As soon as he observed them and apprehended -their embarrassment, he rose and walked to them, saying, ‘How do you do, -my good fellows? What can I do for you? Will you sit down?’</p> - -<p>“The spokesman of the pair, the shorter of the two, declined to sit, and -explained the object of the call thus: he had had a talk about the -relative height of Mr. Lincoln and his companion, and had asserted his -belief that they were of exactly the same height. He had come in to -verify his judgment. Mr. Lincoln smiled, went and got his cane, and, -placing the end of it upon the wall, said, ‘Here, young man, come under -here.’</p> - -<p>“The young man came under the cane, as Mr. Lincoln held it, and when it -was perfectly adjusted to his height, Mr. Lincoln said, ‘Now come out, -and hold up the cane.’ This he did, while Mr. Lincoln stepped under. -Rubbing his head back and forth to see that it worked easily under the -measurement, he stepped out, and declared to the sagacious fellow who -was curiously looking on, that he had guessed with remarkable -accuracy—that he and the young man were exactly<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a>{181}</span> of the same height. -Then he shook hands with them, and sent them on their way. Mr. Lincoln -would just as soon have thought of cutting off his right hand as he -would have thought of turning those boys away with the impression that -they had in any way insulted his dignity.</p> - -<p>“They had hardly disappeared when an old and modestly-dressed woman made -her appearance. She knew Mr. Lincoln, but Mr Lincoln did not at first -recognize her. Then she undertook to recall to his memory certain -incidents connected with his ride upon the Circuit—especially upon his -dining at her house upon the road at different times. Then he remembered -her and her home. Having fixed her own place in her recollection, she -tried to recall to him a certain scanty dinner of bread and milk that he -once ate at her house. He could not remember it; on the contrary, he -only remembered that he had always fared well at her house. ‘Well,’ said -she, ‘one day you came along after we had got through dinner, and we had -eaten up everything, and I could give you nothing but a bowl of bread -and milk; and you ate it; and when you got up you said it was good -enough for the President of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a>{182}</span> United States.’ The good old woman, -remembering the remark, had come in from the country, making a journey -of eight or ten miles, to relate to Mr. Lincoln this incident, which, in -her mind, had doubtless taken the form of prophecy. Mr. Lincoln placed -the honest creature at her ease, chatted with her of old times, and -dismissed her in the most happy and complacent frame of mind.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a>{183}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">FAREWELL TO SPRINGFIELD.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">However</span> bitter and acrimonious a political campaign may have been, the -result is usually accepted good-naturedly. The defeated party hopes for -better luck next time, and awaits with interest the course of the new -Executive. But this was not the case after the election which made Mr. -Lincoln President. The South was sullen, the North divided in sentiment. -The party that sustained slavery had staked all on the issue of the -campaign. They were not disposed to acquiesce in the result. They were -quiet, but it was a dangerous quiet. They were biding their time, and -meant mischief.</p> - -<p>James Buchanan was President. He was an old man; cautious to timidity, -overawed by the bold, defiant spirits that constituted his Cabinet—not -seeing, or not caring to see, the evidences of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>{184}</span> their disloyalty. Never -did a President long more ardently for his term to close. He saw that a -storm was brewing, the like of which the country had never seen. He -earnestly hoped that it would not burst till he had laid down the -responsibilities of office.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln waited quietly at Springfield for the time to come that -should separate him from the tranquil course of life he had led hitherto -and precipitate him into the maelstrom of political excitement at -Washington, wherein he was to be the central figure. Knowing him as in -after years we learned to know him, we can not doubt that at times he -felt almost overwhelmed by his coming burdens. It was well, perhaps, -that he was not permitted to be too much alone. His attention was -distracted by throngs of visitors,—autograph-hunters and office-seekers -being the most conspicuous—who consumed a large part of his time.</p> - -<p>As this story is written especially for young people, I will venture to -transcribe from Mr. Holland’s “Life” two incidents which connected him -with children:</p> - -<p>“He was holding a reception at the Tremont<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>{185}</span> House in Chicago. A fond -father took in a little boy by the hand who was anxious to see the new -President. The moment the child entered the parlor door, he of his own -motion, and quite to the surprise of his father, took off his hat, and, -giving it a swing, cried, ‘Hurrah for Lincoln!’ There was a crowd, but -as soon as Mr. Lincoln could get hold of the little fellow, he lifted -him in his hands, and, tossing him toward the ceiling, laughingly -shouted, ‘Hurrah for you!’</p> - -<p>“To Mr. Lincoln it was evidently a refreshing episode in the dreary work -of hand-shaking.</p> - -<p>“At a party in Chicago during this visit, he saw a little girl timidly -approaching him. He called her to him, and asked her what she wished -for. She replied that she wanted his name. Mr. Lincoln looked back into -the room, and said, ‘But here are other little girls—they would feel -badly if I should give my name only to you.’ The little girl replied -that there were eight in all. ‘Then,’ said Mr. Lincoln, ‘get me eight -sheets of paper and pen and ink and I will see what I can do for you.’ -The paper was brought, and Mr. Lincoln sat down in the crowded -drawing-room, and wrote a sentence upon each sheet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a>{186}</span> appending his name; -and thus every little girl carried off her souvenir.”</p> - -<p>On the 11th of February, 1861, Abraham Lincoln left his pleasant Western -home for the capital. It was to be a leisurely journey, for he would be -expected to stop at many points to meet friends and receive friendly -greetings. Three weeks were to elapse before he would be inaugurated, -but, as he bade farewell to his friends and neighbors, he felt that the -burden of care had already fallen upon him. How he felt may be -understood from the few farewell words which he spoke. As reported by -Mr. Lamon, they are as follows:</p> - -<p>“<span class="smcap">Friends</span>:—No one who has never been placed in a like position can -understand my feelings at this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel -at this parting. For more than a quarter of a century I have lived among -you, and, during all that time, I have received nothing but kindness at -your hands. Here I have lived from my youth, until now I am an old man. -Here the most sacred ties of earth were assumed. Here all my children -were born, and here one of them lies buried. To you, dear friends, I owe -all that I have—all<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a>{187}</span> that I am. All the strange, checkered past seems -to crowd upon my mind. To-day I leave you. I go to assume a task more -difficult than that which devolved upon Washington. Unless the great God -who assisted him shall be with and aid me, I must fail; but, if the same -Omniscient mind and almighty arm that directed and protected him shall -guide and support me, I shall not fail—I shall succeed. Let us all pray -that the God of our fathers may not forsake us now. To Him I commend you -all. Permit me to ask that, with equal security and faith, you will -invoke His wisdom and guidance for me. With these few words, I must -leave you; for how long, I know not. Friends, one and all, I must now -bid you an affectionate farewell.”</p> - -<p>I have already alluded to Mr. Lincoln’s constitutional melancholy -inherited from his mother. With it was joined a vein of superstition, -which at times darkened the shadow that seemed to hover about him. In -this connection, and as an illustration of this characteristic of the -President-elect, I quote an interesting reminiscence of John Hay, the -secretary of Mr. Lincoln, in the words of his chief:<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a>{188}</span></p> - -<p>“It was just after my election in 1860, when the news had been coming in -thick and fast all day, and there had been a great ‘hurrah, boys!’ so -that I was well tired out, and went home to rest, throwing myself upon a -lounge in my chamber. Opposite to where I lay was a bureau with a -swinging glass upon it; and, in looking in that glass, I saw myself -reflected nearly at full length; but my face, I noticed, had two -separate and distinct images—the tip of the nose of one being about -three inches from the tip of the other. I was a little bothered—perhaps -startled, and got up and looked in the glass, but the illusion vanished. -On lying down again I saw it a second time—plainer, if possible, than -before; and then I noticed that one of the faces was a little -paler—say, five shades—than the other. I got up, and the thing melted -away; and I went off, and in the excitement of the hour forgot all about -it—nearly, but not quite; for the thing would once in a while come up -and give me a little pang, as if something uncomfortable had happened. -When I went home, I told my wife about it; and a few days after, I tried -the experiment again—when, sure enough, the thing came back again; but -I<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a>{189}</span> never succeeded in bringing back the ghost after that, though I once -tried very industriously to show it to my wife, who was worried about it -somewhat. She thought it was a ‘sign’ that I was to be elected to a -second term of office, and that the paleness of one of the faces was an -omen that I should not see life through the last term.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lincoln’s impression was curiously correct, as it turned out; but -we must set it down as a singular coincidence, and nothing more. -Campbell, in one of his spirited lyrics, tells us that “Coming events -cast their shadows before”; but it is hardly likely that in this case -God should have sent the President-elect a premonition of the fate which -was to overtake him some years later. It is better to consider that the -vision had a natural cause in the rumors of assassination which were -even then rife on account of the bitter feeling excited by the election -of a Republican President. Such rumors had been brought to Mr. Lincoln -himself, and he had been urged to take measures against assassination. -But he considered them useless. “If they want to kill me,” he said, -“there is nothing to prevent.” He felt that it would be easy enough for -an enemy to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a>{190}</span> take his life, no matter how many guards he might have -around him. If it were his destiny to die, he felt that death would come -in spite of all precautions.</p> - -<p>I need hardly say that Mr. Lincoln was unfortunate in having such a -temperament. Fortunately, it is exceptional. A cheerful, sunny -temperament, that rejoices in prosperity and makes the best of -adversity, providing against ill-fortune, but not anticipating it, is a -happy possession. In Mr. Lincoln his morbid feelings were lighted up and -relieved by a strong sense of humor, which made him in his lighter -moments a very agreeable companion.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a>{191}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">A VISIT TO MR. LINCOLN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Before</span> proceeding to speak of Abraham Lincoln as President, I desire -that my readers may know him as well as possible, and for that purpose I -will transcribe an account of a visit to him by a correspondent of the -New York <i>Evening Post</i>. I find it in D. W. Bartlett’s book, entitled -“The Life and Public Services of Hon. Abraham Lincoln”:</p> - -<p>“It had been reported by some of Mr. Lincoln’s political enemies that he -was a man who lived in the lowest Hoosier style, and I thought I would -see for myself. Accordingly, as soon as the business of the Convention -was closed, I took the cars for Springfield. I found Mr. Lincoln living -in a handsome, but not pretentious, double two-story frame house, having -a wide hall running through the center, with parlors on both sides, -neatly, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a>{192}</span> not ostentatiously furnished. It was just such a dwelling -as a majority of the well-to-do residents of these fine Western towns -occupy. Everything about it had a look of comfort and independence. The -library I remarked in passing particularly, and I was pleased to see -long rows of books, which told of the scholarly tastes and culture of -the family.</p> - -<p>“Lincoln received us with great, and, to me, surprising, urbanity. I had -seen him before in New York, and brought with me an impression of his -awkward and ungainly manner; but in his own house, where he doubtless -feels himself freer than in the strange New York circles, he had thrown -this off, and appeared easy if not graceful.</p> - -<p>“He is, as you know, a tall, lank man, with a long neck, and his -ordinary movements are unusually angular, even out West. As soon, -however, as he gets interested in conversation, his face lights up, and -his attitudes and gestures assume a certain dignity and impressiveness. -His conversation is fluent, agreeable, and polite. You see at once from -it that he is a man of decided and original character. His views are all -his own; such as he has worked out from a patient and varied<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a>{193}</span> scrutiny -of life, and not such as he has learned from others. Yet he can not be -called opinionated. He listens to others like one eager to learn, and -his replies evince at the same time both modesty and self-reliance. I -should say that sound common-sense was the principal quality of his -mind, although at times a striking phrase or word reveals a peculiar -vein of thought. He tells a story well, with a strong idiomatic smack, -and seems to relish humor, both in himself and others. Our conversation -was mainly political, but of a general nature. One thing Mr. Lincoln -remarked which I will venture to repeat. He said that in the coming -Presidential canvass he was wholly uncommitted to any cabals or cliques, -and that he meant to keep himself free from them, and from all pledges -and promises.</p> - -<p>“I had the pleasure also of a brief interview with Mrs. Lincoln, and, in -the circumstances of these persons, I trust I am not trespassing on the -sanctities of private life, in saying a word in regard to that lady. -Whatever of awkwardness may be ascribed to her husband, there is none of -it in her. On the contrary, she is quite a pattern of ladylike courtesy -and polish. She converses<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a>{194}</span> with freedom and grace, and is thoroughly <i>au -fait</i> in all the little amenities of society. Mrs. Lincoln belongs, by -the mother’s side, to the Preston family of Kentucky; has received a -liberal and refined education, and, should she ever reach it, will adorn -the White House. She is, I am told, a strict and consistent member of -the Presbyterian church.</p> - -<p>“Not a man of us who saw Mr. Lincoln but was impressed by his ability -and character. In illustration of the last, let me mention one or two -things which your readers, I think, will be pleased to hear. Mr. -Lincoln’s early life, as you know, was passed in the roughest kind of -experience on the frontier, and among the roughest sort of people. Yet, -I have been told, that, in the face of all these influences, he is a -strictly temperate man, never using wine or strong drink, and, stranger -still, he does not ‘twist the filthy weed,’ nor smoke, nor use profane -language of any kind. When we consider how common these vices are all -over our country, particularly in the West, it must be admitted that it -exhibits no little strength of character to have refrained from them.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln is popular with his friends and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a>{195}</span> neighbors; the habitual -equity of his mind points him out as a peace-maker and composer of -difficulties; his integrity is proverbial; and his legal abilities are -regarded as of the highest order. The <i>sobriquet</i> of ‘Honest Old Abe’ -has been won by years of upright conduct, and is the popular homage to -his probity. He carries the marks of honesty in his face and entire -deportment.</p> - -<p>“I am the more convinced by this personal intercourse with Mr. Lincoln, -that the action of our Convention was altogether judicious and proper.”</p> - -<p>I call the attention of my readers to what is said of Mr. Lincoln’s -freedom from bad habits of every kind, though brought up as he had been, -and with the surroundings of his early life, it would have been natural -for him to fall into them.</p> - -<p>During Mr. Lincoln’s visit to New York, he visited the Five Points House -of Industry. This was probably at the time of his first visit, already -referred to, when he made an address at the Cooper Institute. One who -was at that time a teacher in the House of Industry, gives this account -of the visit:</p> - -<p>“Our Sunday-school in the Five Points was assembled one Sabbath morning, -a few months<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a>{196}</span> since, when I noticed a tall and remarkable-looking man -enter the room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed -attention to our exercises, and his countenance manifested such genuine -interest that I approached him and suggested that he might be willing to -say something to the children.</p> - -<p>“He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure, and, coming forward, -began a simple address, which at once fascinated every little hearer, -and hushed the room into silence. His language was strikingly beautiful, -and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The little faces around -would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences of warning, and -would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words of promise. Once -or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but the imperative shouts of -‘Go on!’ ‘Oh, do go on!’ would compel him to resume. As I looked upon -the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, and marked his powerful head -and determined features, now touched into softness by the impressions of -the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity to learn something more -about him, and when he was quietly leaving the room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a>{197}</span> I begged to know -his name. He courteously replied:</p> - -<p>“ ‘It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois!’ ”</p> - -<p>It is easy to understand how the sight of these poor children should -have touched the heart of the backwoods boy. Doubtless they recalled to -his memory his own neglected childhood, and his early privations, when -he was not in a position to learn even as well as these poor waifs from -the city streets. If only that speech could have been reported, with -what interest would we read it to-day. It must have been instinct with -sympathy to have made such a powerful impression on these poor children -and the teacher who tells the story.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a>{198}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE INAUGURATION.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">There</span> were unusual circumstances attending the close of Mr. Lincoln’s -journey to the Capital. So bitter was the feeling engendered among his -opponents that plots were entered into against his life. Dr. Holland -states that the President-elect was cognizant of his danger. An attempt -was made to throw the train off the track on which he journeyed from -Springfield. There was a rumor that when he reached Baltimore -conspirators would surround his carriage in the guise of friends, and -accomplish his assassination. These reports were probably exaggerated, -and Mr. Lamon discredits them altogether, but it is likely that they -were well founded. At any rate, measures were taken to ferret out the -conspiracy, and, by advice of General Scott and Senator Seward, then in -Washington, Mr. Lincoln quietly left<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a>{199}</span> Harrisburg by a special train in -advance of his party, and arrived in Washington at half-past six in the -morning, when no one expected him except those who had arranged this -deviation from the regular programme. The moment he left Harrisburg the -telegraph wires were cut, so that intelligence of his departure could -not be sent to a distance.</p> - -<p>It was strange and as yet unprecedented, this secret and -carefully-guarded journey, but the circumstances seemed to make it -necessary. His friends received him with a feeling of happy relief, and, -as the morning advanced, and it was learned that he was in the city, -Washington enjoyed a sensation. There were many at the time who -ridiculed the fears of Mr. Lincoln’s friends, and disapproved of the -caution which counselled his secret arrival; but sad events that have -since saddened and disgraced the nation, show that both he and his -friends were wise. The assassination of Lincoln on his way to the -Capital would have had far more disastrous effects than the unhappy -tragedy of April, 1865, and might have established Jefferson Davis in -the White House.</p> - -<p>There was a strong disloyal element in Washington,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a>{200}</span> and there were more -perhaps who regarded Mr. Lincoln with hostility than with friendship, -but among those who probably were heartily glad to hear of his arrival -was President James Buchanan, who was anxious and eager to lay down the -sceptre, and transfer his high office to his lawful successor. Timid by -nature, he was not the pilot to guide the ship of State in a storm. No -one ever more willingly retired to the peace and security of private -life.</p> - -<p>Indeed, as we consider the condition of the country and the state of -public feeling, we are disposed rather to condole with the new President -than to congratulate him. In times of peace and prosperity the position -of Chief Magistrate is a prize worth competing for; but, in 1861, even a -strong man and experienced statesman might well have shrunk from -assuming its duties.</p> - -<p>General Winfield Scott was at that time in military command of -Washington. He was fearful that the inaugural exercises might be -interrupted by some violent demonstration, and made preparations -accordingly, but he was happily disappointed. The day dawned bright and -clear. Washington was in holiday attire. Business was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a>{201}</span> generally -suspended, and there was an unusual interest to hear Mr. Lincoln’s -inaugural address. Among the attentive listeners were the retiring -President and Chief-Justice Taney, of the Supreme Court, a man whose -sympathies were with the slave power. It was a creditable and noteworthy -incident of this memorable occasion, that among the friends who stood by -Mr. Lincoln most staunchly, even holding his hat as he delivered his -inaugural, was his old Senatorial and Presidential competitor, Stephen -A. Douglas. Whatever his sentiments were on the issues of the day, he -was not willing to side with, or in any way assist, those who menaced -the national existence. Another defeated candidate, Mr. Breckinridge, -was present, having just surrendered the Vice-President’s chair to Mr. -Hamlin. It was a scene for an artist. There could be no more striking -picture than one which should faithfully represent Abraham Lincoln, -reading his first inaugural before an audience of representative men, -half of whom were hostile, and many of whom, three months later, were in -arms against the Government. All alike, foes as well as friends, were -eager to hear what the new President had to say<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a>{202}</span>. Had it been Seward -instead of Lincoln, they could have formed a reasonable conjecture, but -this giant from the Western prairies; this Backwoods Boy, who had grown -to maturity under the most unpromising circumstances; this man, with his -limited experience in but one national office, was an unknown quantity -in politics, and no one knew what manner of man he was. But we shall -never have such a picture. People had more important things to think of -then, and it is too late now. In a time of intense feeling, when the -national existence was at stake, and no one knew what events the next -week would bring forth, there was little taste or time for art.</p> - -<p>We, too, may well feel interested in the utterances of the -President-elect. I should be glad to quote the entire address, but as -this is impracticable, I will make a few significant extracts:</p> - -<p>“I do not consider it necessary at present,” said Mr. Lincoln, “for me -to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no -special anxiety or excitement. Apprehensions seem to exist among the -people of the Southern States, that, by the accession of a Republican -administration, their property and their peace and<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a>{203}</span> personal security -are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such -apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all -the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in -nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but -quote from one of those speeches, when I declare that ‘I have no -purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of -slavery in the States where it exists.’ I believe I have no lawful right -to do so; and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and -elected me did so with the full knowledge that I had made this, and made -many similar declarations, and had never recanted them.”</p> - -<p>Further on he says:</p> - -<p>“It is seventy-two years to-day since the first inauguration of a -President under our national Constitution. During that period fifteen -different and very distinguished citizens have, in succession, -administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted -it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all -this scope for precedent, I now enter upon the same task, for the brief -constitutional<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a>{204}</span> term of four years, under great and peculiar -difficulties.</p> - -<p>“A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now -formidably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation of universal law -and of the Constitution, the union of these States is perpetual. -Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all -national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper -ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. -Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national -Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to -destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument -itself.</p> - -<p>“It follows from these views that no State, upon its own mere motion, -can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that -effect are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State or -States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or -revolutionary, according to circumstances.</p> - -<p>“I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, -the Union is unbroken, and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take -care,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a>{205}</span> as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the -laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing -this, which I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, I shall -perfectly perform it, so far as is practicable, unless my rightful -masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisition, or in some -authoritative manner direct the contrary.</p> - -<p>“I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared -purpose of the Union, that it will constitutionally defend and maintain -itself.”</p> - -<p>After arguing at some length against separation, Mr. Lincoln closes his -address with an appeal to his fellow-citizens:</p> - -<p>“My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole -subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time.</p> - -<p>“If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step -which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated -by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it.</p> - -<p>“Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a>{206}</span> the old Constitution -unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing, -under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if -it would, to change either.</p> - -<p>“If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side -in the dispute, there is still no single reason for precipitate action. -Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who -has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, -in the best way, all our present difficulties.</p> - -<p>“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is -the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you.</p> - -<p>“You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You -have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I -shall have the most solemn one to ‘preserve, protect, and defend’ it.</p> - -<p>“I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be -enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds -of affection.</p> - -<p>“The mystic chords of memory, stretching from<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a>{207}</span> every battle-field and -patriotic grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this -broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, -as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a>{208}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE WAR BEGINS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">No</span> President ever assumed office under such circumstances as Abraham -Lincoln. Nominally chief magistrate of the whole United States, seven -members of the confederation had already seceded. These were South -Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana. -Some had been hurried out of the Union by a few hot-headed politicians, -against the wishes of a considerable part of their inhabitants. It is -known that General Lee and Alexander H. Stephens, though they ultimately -went with their States, were exceedingly reluctant to array themselves -in opposition to the Government.</p> - -<p>Mr. Stephens used these patriotic words in an address before the -Legislature of Georgia, Nov. 14, 1860, after the result of the election -was made known: “The first question that presents itself<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a>{209}</span> is, shall the -people of the South secede from the Union in consequence of the election -of Mr. Lincoln to the Presidency of the United States? My countrymen, I -tell you candidly, frankly, and earnestly that I do not think that they -ought. In my judgment the election of no man, constitutionally chosen to -that high office, is sufficient cause for any State to separate from the -Union. It ought to stand by and aid still in maintaining the -Constitution of the country. To make a point of resistance to the -Government, to withdraw from it because a man has been constitutionally -elected, puts us in the wrong.... We went into the election with this -people. The result was different from what we wished; but the election -has been constitutionally held. Were we to make a point of resistance to -the Government, and go out of the Union on this account, the record -would be made up hereafter against us.”</p> - -<p>These wise and moderate counsels did not prevail. There was a feeling of -bitterness which impelled Southern men to extreme measures. More over, -the temper and firmness of the North were misunderstood. It was thought -they would make the most humiliating concessions to preserve the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a>{210}</span> -integrity of the Union, while on the other hand the constancy and -determination of the Southern people were not sufficiently appreciated -at the North.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln’s first necessary act was to make choice of a Cabinet. He -demonstrated his sagacity in surrounding himself with trained and -experienced statesmen, as will be seen at once by the following list:</p> - -<p>Secretary of State, William H. Seward, of New York; Secretary of the -Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio; Secretary of War, Simon Cameron, of -Pennsylvania; Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, of Connecticut; -Secretary of the Interior, Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana; -Postmaster-General, Montgomery Blair, of Maryland; Attorney-General, -Edward Bates, of Missouri.</p> - -<p>These gentlemen were confirmed, and entered upon the discharge of their -duties. Thus the new Administration was complete. Simon Cameron, as -Secretary of War, was superseded in less than a year by Edwin M. -Stanton, who proved to be the right man in the right place. A man of -remarkable executive talent, never shrinking from the heavy burden of -labor and care which<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>{211}</span> his office imposed, he worked indefatigably, and -though he may have offended some by his brusque manners, and unnecessary -sternness, it is doubtful whether a better man could have been selected -for his post. He had been a member of Mr. Buchanan’s Cabinet in its last -days, and did what he could to infuse something of his own vigor into -the timid and vacillating Executive.</p> - -<p>It will be seen that Mr. Lincoln called to the most important place in -the Cabinet the man who was his most prominent rival for the nomination, -William H. Seward. In doing this he strengthened his administration -largely in the minds of the people at large, for who was there who was -ignorant of Mr. Seward’s great ability and statesmanship? It may be -remarked here that the new President left to each of his Secretaries -large discretion in their respective departments, and did not interfere -with or overrule them except in cases of extreme necessity. A man of -smaller nature would have gratified his vanity and sense of importance -by meddling with, and so marring the work of his constitutional -advisers; but having selected the best men he could find, Mr. Lincoln -left them free to act, and held them responsible<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a>{212}</span> for the successful -management of their departments.</p> - -<p>The new President was not long left in uncertainty as to the intentions -of the seceding States. On the 13th of March he received a communication -from two gentlemen, claiming to be commissioners from a government -composed of the seven seceding States, expressing a desire to enter upon -negotiations for the adjustment of all questions growing out of the -separation. To have received them would have been to admit the fact and -right of secession, and therefore their request was denied. On the 11th -of April, General Beauregard, in accordance with instructions from the -rebel Secretary of War, demanded of Major Anderson, in command at Fort -Sumter, the surrender of the fort. Major Anderson declined, but was -compelled to do so on the morning of the 4th, after a bombardment of -thirty-three hours. Thus the South had taken the initiative, and had -made an armed attack upon the Government. Thus far the President had -pursued a conciliatory—some thought it a timid—policy, but when he -heard that Sumter had been taken forcible possession of by rebellious -citizens, he felt that<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a>{213}</span> there was no more room for hesitation. The time -had come to act.</p> - -<p>On the day succeeding the evacuation of the fort, he issued a -proclamation calling for 75,000 soldiers to recover possession of the -“forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union,” and -at the same time summoned an extra session of both Houses of Congress, -to assemble on Thursday, the fourth day of July, “to consider and -determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and -interest may seem to demand.”</p> - -<p>It is needless to say that the evacuation of Fort Sumter, and the -President’s proclamation, created a whirlwind of excitement. The South -was jubilant, the North was deeply stirred, and the proclamation was -generally approved and promptly responded to. These spirited lines of -the poet Whittier are well called</p> - -<h3>THE VOICE OF THE NORTH.</h3> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Up the hill-side, down the glen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rouse the sleeping citizen;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Summon out the might of men!<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Like a lion growling low—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like a night-storm rising slow—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like the tread of unseen foe—<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a>{214}</span><br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">It is coming—it is nigh!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Stand your homes and altars by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On your own free threshold die!<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Clang the bells in all your spires,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On the grey hills of your sires<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fling to heaven your signal fires!<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Oh! for God and duty stand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Heart to heart, and hand to hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Round the old graves of the land.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Who so shrinks or falters now,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who so to the yoke would bow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Brand the craven on his brow.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Freedom’s soil has only place<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For a free and fearless race—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">None for traitors false and base.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Perish party—perish clan,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Strike together while you can,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like the strong arm of one man.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Like the angel’s voice sublime,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Heard above a world of crime,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Crying for the end of Time.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">With one heart and with one mouth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let the North speak to the South;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speak the word befitting both.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>In contrast with this, I will cite a poem, which might be called, not -inappropriately,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a>{215}</span></p> - -<h3>THE VOICE OF THE SOUTH.</h3> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rebels! ’tis a holy name!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The name our fathers bore,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When battling in the cause of Right<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against the tyrant in his might,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In the dark days of yore.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rebels! ’tis our family name!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Our father, Washington,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was the arch rebel in the fight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And gave the name to us—aright<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Of father unto son.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rebels! ’tis our given name!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Our mother Liberty<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Received the title with her fame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In days of grief, of fear and shame,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">When at her breast were we.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rebels! ’tis our sealed name!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">A baptism of blood!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The war—ay, and the din of strife—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fearful contest, life for life—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The mingled crimson flood!<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rebels! ’tis a patriot’s name!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">In struggles it was given;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We bore it then when tyrants raved,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And through their curses ’twas engraved<br /></span> -<span class="i2">On the doomsday book of heaven.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rebels! ’tis our fighting name!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">For peace rules o’er the land,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a>{216}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Until they speak of craven woe—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Until our rights received a blow,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">From foes’ or brother’s hand.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Rebels! ’tis our dying name!<br /></span> -<span class="i2">For although life is dear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet freemen born and freemen bred,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We’d rather live as freemen dead<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Than live in slavish fear.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Then call us Rebels if you will—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">We glory in the name;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For bending under unjust laws,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And swearing faith to an unjust cause.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">We count a greater shame.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a>{217}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">MR. LINCOLN IN THE WHITE HOUSE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">And</span> thus commenced the great war of the Rebellion—a war which in some -respects has never had its parallel. Commencing but a few weeks after -Mr. Lincoln’s administration began, it was at its last gasp when upon -the 4th of March, 1865, he was for the second time inaugurated.</p> - -<p>If I were to write a full account of Mr. Lincoln’s administration, it -must include a history of the war. I propose to do neither. As my title -imports, I have aimed only to show by what steps a backwoods boy, born -and brought up on the Western prairies, with the smallest possible -advantages of education and fortune, came to stand in the foremost place -among his fellow-citizens. I might, therefore, consider my task -accomplished; but, if I should stop here, I should have failed to set -forth fully the character<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a>{218}</span> and traits of this remarkable man; for it was -only in the years of his Presidency that the world, and, I may add, his -friends, came to know him as he was. I doubt even if he knew himself -until the responsibilities of office fell upon him; and, under the -burden, he expanded to the full stature of a providential man. There are -some aspects in which I shall consider him, and, in the incidents and -anecdotes I may have to relate, I shall not attempt to preserve the -order of time.</p> - -<p>First, then, the consciousness of official rank never appeared present -to Mr. Lincoln. In the White House, as in his modest Western home, he -was the same plain, unpretending Abraham Lincoln. Nor did he lose his -sympathy for the humble class from which he had himself sprung. Upon -this point I quote from Mr. F. B. Carpenter’s very interesting volume, -already referred to:</p> - -<p>“The Hon. Mr. Odell gave me a deeply interesting incident which occurred -in the winter of 1864 at one of the most crowded of the Presidential -levees, illustrating very perfectly Mr. Lincoln’s true politeness and -delicacy of feeling.</p> - -<p>“On the occasion referred to the pressure became so great that the usual -ceremony of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a>{219}</span>hand-shaking was for once discontinued. The President had -been standing for some time, bowing his acknowledgments to the thronging -multitude, when his eye fell upon a couple who had entered unobserved—a -wounded soldier and his plainly-dressed mother. Before they could pass -out he made his way to where they stood, and, taking each of them by the -hand, with a delicacy and cordiality which brought tears to many eyes, -he assured them of his interest and welcome. Governors, Senators, and -diplomats passed with simply a nod; but that pale, young face he might -never see again. To him and to others like him did the nation owe his -life; and Abraham Lincoln was not the man to forget this, even in the -crowded and brilliant assembly of the distinguished of the land.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln’s heart was always open to children,” says the same writer. -“I shall never forget his coming into the studio one day and finding my -own little boy of two summers playing on the floor. A member of the -Cabinet was with him, but, laying aside all restraint, he took the -little fellow at once in his arms, and they were soon on the best of -terms.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a>{220}</span></p> - -<p>“Old Daniel gave me a touching illustration of this element in his -character. A poor woman from Philadelphia had been waiting with a baby -in her arms for several days to see the President. It appeared by her -story that her husband had furnished a substitute for the army, but some -time afterward, in a state of intoxication, was induced to enlist. When -reaching the post assigned his regiment he deserted, thinking the -Government was not entitled to his services. Returning home he was -arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be shot. The sentence was -to be executed on a Saturday. On Monday his wife left her home with her -baby to endeavor to see the President.</p> - -<p>“Said Daniel, ‘She had been waiting here three days, and there was no -chance for her to get in. Late in the afternoon of the third day, the -President was going through the passage to his private room to get a cup -of tea. On the way he heard the baby cry. He instantly went back to his -office and rang the bell.</p> - -<p>“ ’ “Daniel,” said he, “is there a woman with a baby in the anteroom?”</p> - -<p>“ ‘I said there was, and if he would allow me<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a>{221}</span> to say it, it was a case -he ought to see; for it was a matter of life and death.</p> - -<p>“ ’ “Send her to me at once,” said he.</p> - -<p>“ ‘She went in, told her story, and the President pardoned her husband. -As the woman came out from his presence her eyes were lifted and her -lips moving in prayer, the tears streaming down her cheeks.’ Said -Daniel, ‘I went up to her, and, pulling her shawl, said, “Madam, it was -the baby that did it.” ’ ”</p> - -<p>It may readily be supposed that a man of Mr. Lincoln’s democratic tastes -and training might on some occasions act very unconventionally, and in a -way to shock those who are sticklers for etiquette. Certainly, he was -very far from aping royalty, as may be judged from the following -incident:</p> - -<p>When the Prince of Wales was betrothed to the Princess Alexandra, Queen -Victoria announced the fact to each of the European sovereigns and to -the rulers of other countries by an autograph letter. Lord Lyons, the -British ambassador at Washington, who was a bachelor, called upon -President Lincoln to present this important document in person.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a>{222}</span></p> - -<p>“May it please your Excellency,” said the ambassador, with formal -dignity, “I hold in my hand an autograph letter from my royal mistress, -Queen Victoria, which I have been commanded to present to your -Excellency. In it she informs your Excellency that her son, His Royal -Highness, the Prince of Wales, is about to contract a matrimonial -alliance with Her Royal Highness, the Princess Alexandra, of Denmark.”</p> - -<p>The President’s eye twinkled as he answered, briefly, “Lord Lyons, go -thou and do likewise.”</p> - -<p>Says Dr. Holland: “Mr. Lincoln’s habits at the White House were as -simple as they were at his old home in Illinois. He never alluded to -himself as ‘President,’ or as occupying ‘the Presidency.’ His office he -always designated as ‘this place.’ ‘Call me Lincoln,’ said he to a -friend. ‘Mr. President’ had become so very tiresome to him. ‘If you see -a newsboy down the street, send him up this way,’ said he to a passenger -as he stood waiting for the morning news at his gate.</p> - -<p>“Friends cautioned him against exposing himself so openly in the midst -of enemies, but he never heeded them. He frequently walked the streets -at<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a>{223}</span> night entirely unprotected, and he felt any check upon his free -movements as a great annoyance. He delighted to see his familiar Western -friends, and he gave them always a cordial welcome. He met them on the -old footing, and fell at once into the accustomed habits of talking and -story-telling. An old acquaintance with his wife visited Washington. Mr. -and Mrs. Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the Presidential -carriage. It should be stated in advance that the two men had probably -never seen each other with gloves on in their lives, unless when they -were used as protection from the cold. The question of each—Mr. Lincoln -at the White House and his friend at the hotel—was whether he should -wear gloves. Of course, the ladies urged gloves; but Mr. Lincoln only -put his in his pocket, to be used or not, according to circumstances.</p> - -<p>“When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel to take in their -friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his wife’s persuasions, -very handsomely gloved. The moment he took his seat he began to draw off -the clinging kids, while Mr. Lincoln began to draw his on.</p> - -<p>“ ‘No, no, no!’ protested his friend, tugging<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a>{224}</span> at his gloves; ‘it is none -of my doings. Put up your gloves, Mr. Lincoln.’</p> - -<p>“So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and had their ride -after their old fashion.”</p> - -<p>The President of the United States can afford to be more unconventional -than kings and emperors, but I should not be surprised to learn that -they too, at times, would be glad to escape from the rigid rules of -etiquette and enjoy the freedom of a private citizen. Even Queen -Victoria, it is related, can unbend when she meets her early friends, -and forget for the time that she must maintain the dignity of a Queen.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a>{225}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">MR. LINCOLN AND THE LITTLE BOY—A GROUP OF ANECDOTES.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ex-Governor Rice</span>, of Massachusetts, tells a story of President Lincoln, -which will prove of especial interest to my young readers. I transcribe -it from the <i>Union Signal</i>:</p> - -<p>On an occasion (while he was in Congress) he and Senator Wilson found it -necessary to visit the President on business, he says:</p> - -<p>“We were obliged to wait some time in the anteroom before we could be -received; and, when at length the door was opened to us, a small lad, -perhaps ten or twelve years old, who had been waiting for admission -several days without success, slipped in between us, and approached the -President in advance.</p> - -<p>“The latter gave the Senator and myself a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a>{226}</span> cordial but brief salutation, -and turning immediately to the lad, said, ‘And who is the little boy?’</p> - -<p>“During their conference the Senator and myself were apparently -forgotten. The boy soon told his story, which was in substance that he -had come to Washington seeking employment as a page in the House of -Representatives, and he wished the President to give him such an -appointment. To this the President replied that such appointments were -not at his disposal, and that application must be made to the -door-keeper of the House at the Capitol.</p> - -<p>“ ‘But, sir,’ said the lad, still undaunted, ‘I am a good boy, and have a -letter from my mother, and one from the supervisors of my town, and one -from my Sunday-school teacher; they all told me that I could earn enough -in one session of Congress to keep my mother and the rest of us -comfortable all the remainder of the year.’</p> - -<p>“The President took the lad’s papers and ran his eye over them with that -penetrating and absorbent look so familiar to all who knew him, and then -took his pen and wrote upon the back of one of them. ‘If Capt. Goodnow -can give a place to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a>{227}</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<a href="images/p266_lg.jpg"> -<img src="images/p266.jpg" width="450" height="317" alt="Image unavailable: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIGNING THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. -PAGE 267" title="" /></a> -<br /> -<span class="caption">ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIGNING THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. -<a href="#page_267"><span class="smcap">Page</span> 267</a></span> -</div> - -<p class="nind">this good little boy, I shall be gratified,’ and signed it ‘A. Lincoln.’</p> - -<p>“The boy’s face became radiant with hope, and he walked out of the room -with a step as light as though all the angels were whispering their -congratulations.</p> - -<p>“Only after the lad had gone did the President seem to realize that a -Senator and another person had been for some time waiting to see him.</p> - -<p>“Think for a moment of the President of a great nation, and that nation -engaged in one of the most terrible wars waged against men, himself worn -down with anxiety and labor, subjected to the alternations of success -and defeat, racked by complaints of the envious, the disloyal, and the -unreasonable, pressed to the decision of grave questions of public -policy, and encumbered by the numberless and nameless incidents of civil -and martial responsibility, yet able so far to forget them all as to -give himself up for the time being to the errand of a little boy, who -had braved an interview uninvited, and of whom he knew nothing, but that -he had a story to tell of his mother and of his ambition to serve her.”</p> - -<p>Of a different character, but equally characteristic<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a>{228}</span> of Mr. Lincoln, is -a story told by General Charles G. Dahlgren, brother of Admiral -Dahlgren:</p> - -<p>“As Mr. Lincoln and my brother were about to go to dinner, and while the -President was washing his hands, Secretary Stanton entered excitedly -with a telegram in his hand and said, ‘Mr. President, I have just -received a dispatch from Portland that Jake Thompson is there waiting to -take the steamer to England and I want to arrest him.’ Mr. Lincoln began -to wipe his hands on a towel, and said, in a long, drawling voice, -‘Better let him slide.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘But, Mr. President,’ said Secretary Stanton, ‘this man is one of the -chief traitors—was one of Buchanan’s Cabinet, betrayed the country -then, and has fought against us ever since. He should be punished.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘W-e-l-l,’ said the President, ‘if Jake Thompson is satisfied with the -issue of the war, I am. B-e-t-t-e-r let him slide.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘Such men should be punished to the full extent of the law,’ said Mr. -Stanton. ‘Why, if we don’t punish the leaders of the rebellion, what -shall we say to their followers?’<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a>{229}</span></p> - -<p>“B-e-t-t-e-r let them slide, Stanton,” said the President, laying aside -his towel.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Stanton went out, evidently annoyed, and Mr. Lincoln, turning to my -brother, said: ‘Dahl, that is one of the things I don’t intend to allow. -When the war is over, I want it to stop, and let both sides go to work -and heal the wounds, which, Heaven knows, are bad enough; but jogging -and pulling them is not the best way to heal a sore.’</p> - -<p>“And the old General, turning to his work, said, with a sigh, ‘If that -policy had been carried out, the wounds would have healed long ago.’ ”</p> - -<p>The following story, told by M. J. Ramsdell, shows that Mr. Lincoln -judged men sometimes by their spirit rather than their military -qualifications:</p> - -<p>“A sergeant of infantry, whom I shall call Dick Gower, commanded his -company in a great many battles in the West in the early days of the -war. His company officers had all been killed, but right royally did -Dick handle his men. At the first lull in the campaign, the officers of -his regiment, of his brigade, and of his division, united in -recommending him for a lieutenancy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a>{230}</span> in the regular army. The commanding -officer joined in the recommendation. Mr. Lincoln ordered the -appointment. Forthwith, Sergeant Dick was ordered before an examining -board here in Washington, for the regular army officers were tenacious -of what they thought their superiority. Dick presented himself in a -soiled and faded sergeant’s uniform, his face and hands bronzed and -cracked by the winds and suns of a hot campaign.</p> - -<p>“The curled darling of Washington society, the perfumed graduates of -West Point, who had never seen a squadron set in the field, conducted -the examination to ascertain if Dick was fit to be an officer in the -regular army. They asked him questions as to engineering, mathematics, -philosophy, and ordnance, of harbor warfare, of field campaigns, and all -such stuff. Not a single question could Dick answer. ‘What is an -echelon?’ was asked. ‘I don’t know,’ answered Dick; ‘I never saw one.’ -‘What is an abbattis?’ was the next question? Dick answered: ‘You’ve got -me again. We haven’t got ’em in the West.’ ‘Well, what is a hollow -square?’ continued his tormentors. ‘Don’t know,’ said Dick sorrowfully; -‘I<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a>{231}</span> never heard of one.’ ‘Well,’ finally said a young snip in -eye-glasses, ‘what would you do in command of a company if the cavalry -should charge on you?’ They had at last got down to Dick’s -comprehension, and he answered with a resolute face and a flashing eye, -‘I’d give them Jesse, that’s what I’d do, and I’d make a hollow square -in every mother’s son of them.’ A few more technical questions were -asked, but poor Dick was not able to answer them, and the examination -closed.</p> - -<p>“The report was duly sent to the Secretary of War, who submitted it to -Mr. Lincoln, saying that evidently Dick would not do for an officer. Mr. -Lincoln, when through with the report, and found that Dick had not -answered a single question, but he came to where Dick said what he would -do if attacked by cavalry, and then he did what sensible Abe Lincoln did -in all such matters, he threw the report on his table and made a little -memorandum in pencil ordering the Secretary of War to appoint Dick Gower -a lieutenant in the regular army. Dick achieved distinction afterward, -and was everywhere known in the army as a man without fear, who never -made a mistake.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a>{232}</span></p> - -<p>A correspondent of the Boston <i>Traveller</i> furnishes a humorous story -told by President Lincoln, to show the embarrassment which he felt as to -the disposal of Jefferson Davis:</p> - -<p>“A gentleman told me a story recently which well illustrates Lincoln’s -immense fund of anecdotes. Said he: ‘Just after Jeff Davis had been -captured I called over at the White House to see President Lincoln. I -was ushered in, and asked him: “Well, Mr. President, what are you going -to do with Jeff Davis?” Lincoln looked at me for a moment, and then -said, in his peculiar, humorous way: “That reminds me of a story. A boy -’way out West caught a coon and tamed it to a considerable extent, but -the animal created such mischief about the house that his mother ordered -him to take it away and not to come home until he could return without -his pet. The boy went down-town with the coon, secured with a strong -piece of twine, and in about an hour he was found sitting on the edge of -the curbstone, holding the coon with one hand and crying as though his -heart would break. A big-hearted gentleman, who was passing, stopped and -kindly inquired: ‘Say, little boy, what is the matter?’ The boy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a>{233}</span> wiped a -tear from his eye with his sleeve, and in an injured tone, howled: -‘Matter! Ask me what’s the matter! You see that coon there? Well, I -don’t know what to do with the darn thing. I can’t sell it, I can’t kill -it, and ma won’t let me take it home.’ That,” continued Lincoln, “is -precisely my case. I am like the boy with the coon. I can’t sell him, I -can’t kill him, and I can’t take him home!” ’ ”</p> - -<p>I have already remarked that Mr. Lincoln was superstitious. He seemed to -be deeply impressed by dreams, and claimed to be notified in this way of -the approach of important events.</p> - -<p>“On the Friday of his death he called his Cabinet together at noon, and -he seemed dispirited. He said: ‘I wish I could hear from Sherman.’ -General Grant, who was present, said: ‘You will hear well from Sherman.’ -He said: ‘I don’t know. I have had a dream, the same that I had before -the battles of Bull Run, of Chancellorsville, and of Swan River. It -has,’ he said, ‘always boded disaster.’ It made a great impression on -all of the Cabinet and on General Grant. Mr. Lincoln had been -remonstrated with for going about unattended, but he said: ‘What is the -use<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a>{234}</span> of precautions? If they want to kill me they will kill me.’ He was -killed, but history will place him next to Washington in the list of -beloved Presidents. The skill displayed by him in managing Chase, -Stanton, Sumner, Fessenden, Wade, Seward, and other candidates for the -Presidency, was wonderful, and when there was any hitch he was reminded -of a story, illustrating the situation. His stories were, in short, -‘parables.’ ”—<i>Boston Budget.</i></p> - -<p>Even in the hour of victory he was thoughtful, not jubilant.</p> - -<p>“When General Weitzel escorted President Lincoln and his companions -through the Capitol at Richmond the day after the occupation, in April, -1865, they reached what the rebels called the Cabinet room of the great -President of the Southern Confederacy. General Weitzel said: ‘This, Mr. -President, is the chair which has been so long occupied by President -Davis.’ He pulled it from the table and motioned the President to sit -down. Mr. Lincoln’s face took an extra look of care and melancholy. The -narrator says ‘he looked at it a moment and slowly approached and -wearily sat down. It was an hour of exultation<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a>{235}</span> with the soldiers; we -felt that the war was ended, and we knew that all over the North bells -were pealing, cannon booming, and the people were delirious with joy -over the prospect of peace. I expected to see the President manifest -some spirit of triumph as he sat in the seat so long occupied by the -rebel Government; but his great head fell into his broad hand and a sigh -that seemed to come from the soul of a nation, escaped his lips and -saddened every man present. His mind seemed to be travelling back -through the dark years of the war, and he was counting the cost in -treasure, life, and blood that made it possible for him to sit there. As -he rose without a word and left the room slowly and sadly, tears -involuntarily came to the eyes of every man present, and we soldiers -realized that we had not done all the suffering nor made all the -sacrifices.’ ”</p> - -<p>Where Abraham Lincoln obtained some of his anti-slavery ideas may be -learned from a recent article in the <i>Century</i>, by Leonard W. Bacon, who -describes the effects of his father’s writings upon this subject on the -mind of the future President:</p> - -<p>“ ‘These essays’—from the preface to which I have just quoted—had been -written at divers<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a>{236}</span> times from 1833 onward, and were collected, in 1846, -into a volume which has had a history. It is a book of exact -definitions, just discriminations, lucid and tenacious arguments; and it -deals with certain obstinate and elusive sophistries in an effective -way. It is not to be wondered at that when it fell into the hands of a -young Western lawyer, Abraham Lincoln,—whose characteristic was ‘not to -be content with an idea until he could bound it north, east, south, and -west,’—it should prove to be a book exactly after his mind. It was to -him not only a study on slavery, but a model in the rhetoric of debate. -It is not difficult to trace the influence of it in that great -stump-debate with Douglas, in which Lincoln’s main strength lay in his -cautious wisdom in declining to take the extreme positions into which -his wily antagonist tried to provoke or entice him. When, many years -after the little book had been forgotten by the public, and after -slavery had fallen before the President’s proclamation, it appeared from -Lincoln’s own declaration to Dr. Joseph P. Thompson that he owed to that -book his definite, reasonable, and irrefragable views on the slavery -question, my father felt to sing the <i>Nunc dimittis</i>.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a>{237}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">MR. LINCOLN’S HUMANITY.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Martial</span> law is severe, and, doubtless, not without reason. Desertion in -time of war is a capital offence, and many a poor fellow suffered the -penalty during the terrible four years of the civil war. Many more would -have suffered but for the humane interposition of the President, who was -glad to find the slightest excuse for saving the life of the unfortunate -offender. As Dr. Holland observes, he had the deepest sympathy for the -soldiers who were fighting the battles of their country. He knew -something of their trials and privations, their longing for home, and -the strength of the temptation which sometimes led them to lapse from -duty. There was infinite tenderness in the heart of this man which made -him hard to consent to extreme punishment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a>{238}</span></p> - -<p>I propose to cull from different sources illustrations of Mr. Lincoln’s -humanity. The first I find in a letter written to Dr. Holland by a -personal friend of the President:</p> - -<p>“I called on him one day in the early part of the war. He had just -written a pardon for a young man who had been sentenced to be shot, for -sleeping at his post as a sentinel. He remarked as he read it to me, ‘I -could not think of going into eternity with the blood of the poor young -man on my skirts.’ Then he added, ‘It is not to be wondered at that a -boy, raised on a farm, probably in the habit of going to bed at dark, -should, when required to watch, fall asleep, and I can not consent to -shoot him for such an act.’ ”</p> - -<p>Dr. Holland adds that Rev. Newman Hall, of London, in a sermon preached -upon and after Mr. Lincoln’s death, says that the dead body of this -youth was found among the slain on the field of Fredericksburg, wearing -next his heart the photograph of his preserver, beneath which he had -written, “God bless President Lincoln.” On another occasion, when Mr. -Lincoln was asked to assent to the capital punishment of twenty-four -deserters, sentenced to be shot for desertion, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a>{239}</span> said to the General -who pleaded the necessity of enforcing discipline, “No, General, there -are already too many weeping widows in the United States. For God’s -sake, don’t ask me to add to the number, for I won’t do it.”</p> - -<p>From Mr. Carpenter’s “Six Months at the White House,” I make the -following extract:</p> - -<p>“The Secretary of War and Generals in command were frequently much -annoyed at being overruled,—the discipline and efficiency of the -service being thereby, as they considered, greatly endangered. But there -was no going back of the simple signature, ‘A. Lincoln,’ attached to -proclamation or reprieve.</p> - -<p>“My friend Kellogg, Representative from Essex County, New York, received -a dispatch one evening from the army, to the effect that a young -townsman who had been induced to enlist through his instrumentality, -had, for a serious misdemeanor, been convicted by a court-martial, and -was to be shot the next day. Greatly agitated, Mr. Kellogg went to the -Secretary of War, and urged in the strongest manner, a reprieve.</p> - -<p>“Stanton was inexorable.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Too many cases of the kind had been let<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a>{240}</span> off,’ he said; ‘and it was -time an example was made.’</p> - -<p>“Exhausting his eloquence in vain, Mr. Kellogg said: ‘Well, Mr. -Secretary, the boy is not going to be <i>shot</i>—of that I give you fair -warning!’</p> - -<p>“Leaving the War Department, he went directly to the White House, -although the hour was late. The sentinel on duty told him that special -orders had been issued to admit no one that night. After a long parley, -by pledging himself to assume the responsibility of the act, the -Congressman passed in. The President had retired; but, indifferent to -etiquette or ceremony, Judge Kellogg pressed his way through all -obstacles to his sleeping apartment. In an excited manner he stated that -the dispatch announcing the hour of execution had but just reached him.</p> - -<p>“ ‘This man must not be shot, Mr. President,’ said he. ‘I can’t help what -he may have done. Why, he is an old neighbor of mine; I can’t allow him -to be shot!’</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln had remained in bed, quietly listening to the vehement -protestations of his old friend (they were in Congress together). He at -length said, ‘Well, I don’t believe <i>shooting</i> him<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a>{241}</span> will do him any -good. Give me that pen. And, so saying, ‘red tape’ was unceremoniously -cut, and another poor fellow’s lease of life was indefinitely extended.”</p> - -<p>I continue to quote from Mr. Carpenter:</p> - -<p>“One night Speaker Colfax left all other business to ask the President -to respite the son of a constituent who was sentenced to be shot at -Davenport for desertion. He heard the story with his usual patience, -though he was wearied out with incessant calls and anxious for rest, and -then replied, ‘Some of our generals complain that I impair discipline -and subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but it makes -me rested after a hard day’s work if I can find some good excuse for -saving a man’s life, and I go to bed happy, as I think how joyous the -signing of my name will make him and his family and his friends.’</p> - -<p>“The Hon. Thaddeus Stevens told me that on one occasion he called at the -White House with an elderly lady in great trouble, whose son had been in -the army, but for some offence had been court-martialed, and sentenced -either to death or imprisonment at hard labor for a long term.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a>{242}</span> There -were some extenuating circumstances; and, after a full hearing, the -President turned to the Representative, and said:</p> - -<p>“ ‘Mr. Stevens, do you think this is a case which will warrant my -interference?’</p> - -<p>“ ‘With my knowledge of the facts and the parties,’ was the reply, ‘I -should have no hesitation in granting a pardon.’</p> - -<p>“ ‘Then,’ returned Mr. Lincoln, ‘I will pardon him,’ and he proceeded -forthwith to execute the paper.</p> - -<p>“The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, and not a word -was said between her and Mr. Stevens until they were half-way -down-stairs on their passage out, when she suddenly broke forth in an -excited manner with the words, ‘I knew it was a copperhead lie!’</p> - -<p>“ ‘What do you refer to, madam?’ asked Mr. Stevens.</p> - -<p>“ ‘Why, they told me he was an ugly-looking man!’ she replied with -vehemence. ‘He is the handsomest man I ever saw in my life!’</p> - -<p>“Doubtless the grateful mother voiced the feeling of many another, who, -in the rugged and care-worn face had read the sympathy and goodness of -the inner nature.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a>{243}</span></p> - -<h3><i>Another Case.</i></h3> - -<p>“A young man connected with a New York regiment had become to all -appearances a hardened criminal. He had deserted two or three times, -and, when at last detected and imprisoned, had attempted to poison his -guards, one of whom subsequently died from the effects of the poison -unconsciously taken. Of course, there seemed no defence possible in such -a case. But the fact came out that the boy had been of unsound mind.</p> - -<p>“Some friends of his mother took up the matter, and an appeal was made -to the Secretary of War. He declined positively to listen to it,—the -case was too aggravating. The prisoner (scarcely more than a boy) was -confined at Elmira, N.Y. The day for the execution of his sentence had -nearly arrived, when his mother made her way to the President. He -listened to her story, examined the record, and said that his opinion -accorded with that of the Secretary of War; he could do nothing for her.</p> - -<p>“Heart-broken, she was compelled to relinquish her last hope. One of the -friends who had become interested, upon learning the result of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a>{244}</span> the -application, waited upon Senator Harris. That gentleman said that his -engagements utterly precluded his going to see the President upon the -subject, until twelve o’clock of the second night following. This -brought the time to Wednesday night, and the sentence was to be executed -on Thursday. Judge Harris, true to his word, called at the White House -at twelve o’clock on Wednesday night. The President had retired, but the -interview was granted. The point made was that the boy was insane,—thus -irresponsible, and his execution would be murder. Pardon was not asked, -but a reprieve, until a proper medical examination could be made.</p> - -<p>“This was so reasonable that Mr. Lincoln acquiesced in its justice. He -immediately ordered a telegram sent to Elmira, delaying the execution of -the sentence. Early the next morning he sent another by a different -line, and, before the hour of execution had arrived, he had sent no less -than four different reprieves by different lines to different -individuals in Elmira, so fearful was he that the message would fail or -be too late.”</p> - -<p>These are but a few of the stories that have been told in illustration -of President Lincoln<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a>{245}</span>’s humanity. Whatever may have been the opinion of -the generals in command, as to the expediency of his numerous pardons, -they throw a beautiful light upon his character, and will endear his -memory to all who can appreciate his tender sympathy for all, and his -genuine and unaffected goodness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a>{246}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">ANECDOTES OF MR. LINCOLN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A man’s</span> character often is best disclosed by trifling incidents, and it -is for this reason, perhaps, that the public is eager to read anecdotes -of its illustrious men. I shall devote the present chapter to anecdotes -of President Lincoln, gathered from various quarters. I shall not use -quotation-marks, but content myself with saying at the outset that they -are all borrowed.</p> - -<p>At the reception at the President’s house one afternoon, many persons -present noticed three little girls poorly dressed, the children of some -mechanic or laboring man, who had followed the visitors fully into the -house to gratify their curiosity. They passed round from room to room, -and were hastening through the reception-room with some trepidation when -the President called<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a>{247}</span> to them, “Little girls, are you going to pass me -without shaking hands?”</p> - -<p>Then he bent his tall, awkward form down, and shook each little girl -warmly by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was spell-bound by the -incident—so simple in itself, yet revealing so much of Mr. Lincoln’s -character.</p> - -<h3><i>The President and the Paymaster.</i></h3> - -<p>One of the numerous paymasters at Washington sought an introduction to -Mr. Lincoln. He arrived at the White House quite opportunely, and was -introduced to the President by the United States Marshal, with his -blandest smile. While shaking hands with the President the paymaster -remarked:</p> - -<p>“I have no official business with you, Mr. President; I only called to -pay my compliments.”</p> - -<p>“I understand,” was the reply, “and, from the complaints of the -soldiers, I think that is all you do pay.”</p> - -<h3><i>The Interviewer.</i></h3> - -<p>An interviewer, with the best intentions in the world, once went to Mr. -Lincoln’s room in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a>{248}</span> White House while he was President, and inquired:</p> - -<p>“Mr. President, what do you think of the war and its end?”</p> - -<p>To which Mr. Lincoln politely and laughingly replied:</p> - -<p>“That question of yours puts me in mind of a story about something which -happened down in Egypt, in the southern part of Illinois.”</p> - -<p>The point of it was that a man burned his fingers by being in too much -haste. Mr. Lincoln told the story admirably well, walking up and down -the room, and heartily laughing all the while. The interviewer was quick -to see the point. As a matter of course he was cut to the quick, and -quickly down-stairs he rushed, saying to himself:</p> - -<p>“I’ll never interview that man again.”</p> - -<h3><i>How Mr. Lincoln secured a Ride.</i></h3> - -<p>When Abraham Lincoln was a poor lawyer, he found himself one cold day at -a village some distance from Springfield, and with no means of -conveyance.</p> - -<p>Seeing a gentleman driving along the Springfield<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a>{249}</span> road in a carriage, he -ran up to him and politely said:</p> - -<p>“Sir, will you have the goodness to take my overcoat to town for me?”</p> - -<p>“With pleasure,” answered the gentleman. “But how will you get it -again?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, very easily,” said Mr. Lincoln, “as I intend to remain in it.”</p> - -<p>“Jump in,” said the gentleman laughing. And the future President had a -pleasant ride.</p> - -<h3><i>The President’s Influence.</i></h3> - -<p>Judge Baldwin, of California, an old and highly respectable and sedate -gentleman, called on General Halleck, and, presuming on a familiar -acquaintance in California a few years since, solicited a pass outside -of the lines to see a brother in Virginia, not thinking he would meet -with a refusal, as both his brother and himself were good Union men.</p> - -<p>“We have been deceived too often,” said General Halleck, “and I regret I -can’t grant it.”</p> - -<p>Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of with the -same result.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a>{250}</span></p> - -<p>Finally he obtained an interview with Mr. Lincoln and stated his case.</p> - -<p>“Have you applied to General Halleck?” said the President.</p> - -<p>“And met with a flat refusal,” said Judge B.</p> - -<p>“Then you must see Stanton,” continued the President.</p> - -<p>“I have, and with the same result,” was the reply.</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” said the President, with a smile of good humor, “I can do -nothing, for you must know that I have very little influence with this -administration.”</p> - -<h3><i>The German Lieutenant.</i></h3> - -<p>A lieutenant, whom debts compelled to leave his father-land, succeeded -in being admitted to President Lincoln, and, by reason of his -commendable and winning deportment and intelligent appearance, was -promised a lieutenant’s commission in a cavalry regiment.</p> - -<p>He was so enraptured with his success, that he deemed it a duty to -inform the President that he belonged to one of the oldest noble houses -in Germany.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a>{251}</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, never mind that,” said Mr. Lincoln, with a twinkle of the eye; “you -will not find that to be any obstacle to your advancement.”</p> - -<h3><i>A Pass for Richmond.</i></h3> - -<p>A gentleman called on the President, and solicited a pass for Richmond.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I would be very happy to oblige you if my -passes were respected; but the fact is, sir, I have, within the last two -years, given passes to two hundred and fifty thousand men to go to -Richmond, and not one has got there yet.”</p> - -<h3><i>Mr. Lincoln and the Preacher.</i></h3> - -<p>An officer under the Government called at the Executive Mansion, -accompanied by a clerical friend.</p> - -<p>“Mr. President,” said he, “allow me to present to you my friend, the -Rev. Mr. F., of ——. Mr. F. has expressed a desire to see you, and have -some conversation with you, and I am happy to be the means of -introducing him.”</p> - -<p>The President shook hands with Mr. F., desired him to be seated, and -took a seat himself. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a>{252}</span>Then—his countenance having assumed an expression -of patient waiting—he said: “I am now ready to hear what you have to -say.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, bless you, sir,” said Mr. F., “I have nothing special to say. I -merely called to pay my respects to you, and, as one of the million, to -assure you of my hearty sympathy and support.”</p> - -<p>“My dear sir,” said the President, rising promptly, his face showing -instant relief, and with both hands grasping that of his visitor, “I am -very glad to see you; I am <i>very</i> glad to see you, indeed. I thought you -had come to preach to me.”</p> - -<h3><i>Mr. Lincoln and his Advisers.</i></h3> - -<p>Some gentlemen from the West waited upon the President. They were in a -critical mood. They felt that things were not going on as they should, -and they wanted to give advice. The President heard them patiently, and -then replied:</p> - -<p>“Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in gold, and you -had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across the Niagara River on -a rope; would you shake the cable, or keep shouting out to -him—‘Blondin, stand up a<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a>{253}</span> little straighter!’ ‘Blondin, stoop a little -more!’ ‘Go a little faster!’ ‘Lean a little more to the North!’ ‘Lean a -little more to the South!’ No, you would hold your breath as well as -your tongue, and keep your hands off till he was safely over. The -Government is carrying an immense weight. Untold treasures are in its -hands. It is doing the best it can. Don’t badger it. Keep silence, and -we’ll get you safe across.”</p> - -<p>This simple illustration answered the complaints of half an hour, and -not only silenced but charmed the audience.</p> - -<p>Somewhat similar is the answer made to a Western farmer, who waited upon -Mr. Lincoln, with a plan for the successful prosecution of the war, to -which the President listened with as much patience as he could. When he -was through, he asked the opinion of the President upon his plan.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I’ll answer by telling you a story. You have -heard of Mr. Blank, of Chicago? He was an immense loafer in his way—in -fact, never did anything in his life. One day he got crazy over a great -rise in the price of wheat, upon which many wheat speculators gained -large fortunes. Blank started off one morning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a>{254}</span> one of the most -successful of the wheat speculators, and, with much enthusiasm, laid -before him a plan by which he (the said Blank) was certain of becoming -independently rich. When he had finished he asked the opinion of his -hearer upon his plan of operations. The reply came as follows: ‘I advise -you to stick to your business.’ ‘But,’ asked Blank, ‘what is my -business?’ ‘I don’t know, I’m sure, what it is,’ said the merchant, ‘but -whatever it is, I advise you to stick to it.’</p> - -<p>“And now,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I mean nothing offensive, for I know you -mean well, but I think you had better stick to your business, and leave -the war to those who have the responsibility of managing it.”</p> - -<p>It is said that Mr. Gladstone, the English premier, is known for his -skill in chopping wood. The following anecdote shows that President -Lincoln also was not without experience in the same direction:</p> - -<p>During one of the last visits that he made to James River, a short time -before the capture of Richmond, he spent some time in walking around -among the hospitals, and in visiting various fatigue<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a>{255}</span> parties at work in -putting up cabins and other buildings.</p> - -<p>He came upon one squad who were cutting logs for a house; and chatting a -moment with the hardy woodsmen, asked one of them to let him take his -axe. Mr. Lincoln grasped the helve with the easy air of one perfectly -familiar with the tool, and remarked that he used to be “good on the -chop.”</p> - -<p>The President then let in on a big log, making the chips fly, and making -as smooth a cut as the best lumberman in Maine could do.</p> - -<p>Meantime, the men crowded round to see the work; and, as he handed back -the axe, and walked away with a pleasant joke, the choppers gave him -three as hearty cheers as he ever heard in the whole of his political -career.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a>{256}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">PRESIDENT LINCOLN AS A RELIGIOUS MAN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Soon</span> after the death of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Noah Brooks published in -<i>Harper’s Monthly</i> an interesting article, devoted to reminiscences of -his dead friend. From this article, I make a few extracts, for which my -readers will thank me:</p> - -<p>“Just after the last Presidential election, he said: ‘Being only mortal, -after all, I should have been a little mortified if I had been beaten in -this canvass; but that sting would have been more than compensated by -the thought that the people had notified me that all my official -responsibilities were soon to be lifted off my back.’ In reply to the -remark that in all these cares he was daily remembered by all who -prayed, not to be heard of men, as no man had ever before been -remembered, he caught at the homely phrase, and said, ‘Yes, I like that -phrase, “not to be heard of<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a>{257}</span> men,” and, again, it is generally true as -you say; at least I have been told so, and I have been a good deal -helped by just that thought.’ Then he solemnly and slowly added: ‘I -should be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this footstool, if I, for -one day, thought that I could discharge the duties which have come upon -me since I came into this place, without the aid and enlightenment of -One who is stronger and wiser than all others.’ ”</p> - -<p>“At another time he said cheerfully, ‘I am very sure that if I do not go -away from here a wise man, I shall go away a better man, for having -learned here what a very poor sort of man I am.’ Afterward, referring to -what he called a change of heart, he said he did not remember any -precise time when he passed through any special change of purpose or -heart; but he would say, that his own election to office, and the crisis -immediately following, influentially determined him in what he called ‘a -process of crystallization’ then going on in his mind. Reticent as he -was, and shy of discoursing much of his own mental exercises, these few -utterances now have a value with those who knew him, which his dying -words would scarcely have possessed.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a>{258}</span></p> - -<p>“On Thursday of a certain week, two ladies from Tennessee came before -the President, asking the release of their husbands, held as prisoners -of war at Johnson’s Island. They were put off until Friday, when they -came again, and were again put off until Saturday. At each of the -interviews one of the ladies urged that her husband was a religious man. -On Saturday, when the President ordered the release of the prisoner, he -said to this lady: ‘You say your husband is a religious man: tell him, -when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a judge of religion, but -that, in my opinion, the religion which sets men to rebel and fight -against their Government, because, as they think, that Government does -not sufficiently help <i>some</i> men to eat their bread in the sweat of -other men’s faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get -to heaven.’ ”</p> - -<p>“On an occasion I shall never forget,” says the Hon. H. C. Denning, of -Connecticut, “the conversation turned upon religious subjects, and Mr. -Lincoln made this impressive remark: ‘I have never united myself to any -church, because I have found difficulty in giving my assent, without -mental<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a>{259}</span> reservation, to the long, complicated statements of Christian -doctrine which characterize their Articles of Belief and Confessions of -Faith. When any church will inscribe over its altar, as its sole -qualification of membership, the Saviour’s condensed statement of the -substance of both Law and Gospel, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with -all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself,” that -church will I join with all my heart and with all my soul.’ ”</p> - -<p>Though Mr. Lincoln never formally united himself with any church, -doubtless for the reason given above, because he knew of none broad and -tolerant enough for him, it is clear that his mind was much occupied -with matters connected with religion. No one could charge him with -scoffing at sacred things. Had he even been so inclined, the bereavement -which visited him in the death of his son Willie, who died February -20th, 1862, would assuredly have changed him. Devoted as he was to his -children, this loss affected him deeply, and it was not till several -weeks had passed that he was in any measure reconciled.</p> - -<p>“Gentlemen,” said one of the guests at a dinner<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a>{260}</span>-party in Washington, -during which the President had been freely discussed, “you may talk as -you please about Mr. Lincoln’s capacity. I don’t believe him to be the -ablest statesman in America, by any means, and I voted against him on -both occasions of his candidacy. But I happened to see, or rather to -hear, something the other day that convinced me that, however deficient -he may be in the head, he is all right in the heart. I was up at the -White House, having called to see the President on business. I was shown -into the office of his private secretary, and told that Mr. Lincoln was -busy just then, but would be disengaged in a short time. While waiting, -I heard a very earnest prayer being uttered in a loud female voice in -the adjoining room. I inquired what it meant, and was told that an old -Quaker lady, a friend of the President’s, had called that afternoon and -taken tea at the White House, and that she was then praying with Mr. -Lincoln. After the lapse of a few minutes the prayer ceased, and the -President, accompanied by a Quakeress, not less than eighty years old, -entered the room where I was sitting. I made up my mind then, gentlemen, -that Mr. Lincoln was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a>{261}</span> a bad man; and I don’t think it will be easy -to efface the impression that the scene I witnessed, and the voice I -heard, made upon my mind!”</p> - -<p>To some members of the Christian Commission who were calling upon him, -Mr. Lincoln said: “If it were not for my firm belief in an overruling -Providence, it would be difficult for me, in the midst of such -complications of affairs, to keep my reason on its seat. But I am -confident that the Almighty has His plans, and will work them out; and, -whether we see it or not, they will be the wisest and best for us. I -have always taken counsel of Him, and referred to Him my plans, and have -never adopted a course of proceeding without being assured, as far as I -could be, of His approbation. To be sure, He has not conformed to my -desires, or else we should have been out of our trouble long ago. On the -other hand, His will does not seem to agree with the wish of our enemy -over there (pointing across the Potomac). He stands the Judge between -us, and we ought to be willing to accept His decision. We have reason to -anticipate that it will be favorable to us, for our cause is right.”</p> - -<p>It was during this interview, as Dr. Holland<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a>{262}</span> tells us, that the fact -was privately communicated to a member of the Commission that Mr. -Lincoln was in the habit of spending an early hour each day in prayer.</p> - -<p>It will hardly be necessary, after the reader has read thus far, to -answer the charge made in some quarters that Mr. Lincoln was an infidel. -Few of his critics possess his simple faith in God and his deep -reverence for the Almighty, whose instrument he firmly believed himself -to be. I can not deny myself the satisfaction of reproducing here Dr. -Holland’s remarks upon the life and character of the President:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln’s character was one which will grow. It will become the -basis of an ideal man. It was so pure, and so unselfish, and so rich in -its materials, that fine imaginations will spring from it to blossom and -bear fruit through all the centuries. This element was found in -Washington, whose human weaknesses seem to have faded entirely from -memory, leaving him a demi-god; and it will be found in Mr. Lincoln to a -still more remarkable degree. The black race have already crowned him. -With the black man, and particularly the black freedman, Mr. Lincoln’s -name is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a>{263}</span> saintliest which he pronounces, and the noblest he can -conceive. To the emancipated he is more than man—a being scarcely -second to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That old, white-headed negro, -who undertook to tell what ‘Massa Linkum’ was to his dark-minded -brethren, embodied the vague conceptions of his race in the words: -‘Massa Linkum, he ebery whar; he know ebery ting; he walk de earf like -de Lord.’ He was to these men the incarnation of power and goodness; and -his memory will live in the hearts of this unfortunate and oppressed -race while it shall exist upon the earth.”</p> - -<p>While the names of Lincoln and Washington are often associated, the -former holds a warmer place in the affections of the American people -than his great predecessor, who, with all his excellence, was far -removed by a certain coldness and reserve from the sympathies of the -common people. Abraham Lincoln, on the other hand, was always -accessible, and his heart overflowed with sympathy for the oppressed and -the lowly. The people loved him, for they felt that he was one of -themselves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a>{264}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">EMANCIPATING THE SLAVES.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> “great central act” of Mr. Lincoln’s administration, as he himself -calls it, was the emancipation of the slaves. At the stroke of a pen the -shackles fell from four millions of persons in a state of servitude. On -the 1st of January, 1863, emancipation was proclaimed, and the promise -was made that “the Executive Government of the United States, including -the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain -the freedom of said persons.”</p> - -<p>This important proclamation carried joy, not only to the persons most -interested, but to the friends of Freedom everywhere.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lincoln had been importuned to take this step before. Earnest -anti-slavery men like Charles Sumner and Horace Greeley felt that he -delayed<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a>{265}</span> too long; but the President was wiser than they. He had always -been an anti-slavery man, but his own wishes did not give him the right -to abolish slavery. I can not do better than to give Mr. Lincoln’s -reasons for the course he pursued, in his own words, spoken to George -Thompson, an eminent English anti-slavery man, in April, 1864:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Thompson,” said the President, “the people of Great Britain and of -other foreign governments were in one great error in reference to this -conflict. They seemed to think that, the moment I was President, I had -the power to abolish slavery, forgetting that, before I could have any -power whatever, I had to take the oath to support the Constitution of -the United States, and execute the laws as I found them. When the -Rebellion broke out, my duty did not admit of a question. I did not -consider that I had a <i>right</i> to touch the ‘State’ institution of -slavery until all other measures for restoring the Union had failed. The -paramount idea of the Constitution is the preservation of the Union. It -may not be specified in so many words, but that this was the idea of its -founders is evident; for, without<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a>{266}</span> the Union, the Constitution would be -worthless. It seems clear, then, that in the last extremity, if any -local institution threatened the existence of the Union, the Executive -could not hesitate as to his duty. In our case, the moment came when I -felt that slavery must die—that the nation must live! I have sometimes -used the illustration in this connection of a man with a diseased limb -and his surgeon. So long as there is a chance of the patient’s -restoration, the surgeon is solemnly bound to try to save both life and -limb; but when the crisis comes, and the limb must be sacrificed as the -only chance of saving the life, no honest man will hesitate.</p> - -<p>“Many of my strongest supporters urged Emancipation before I thought it -indispensable, and, I may say, before I thought the country ready for -it. It is my conviction that, had the proclamation been issued even six -months earlier than it was, public sentiment would not have sustained -it. Just so as to the subsequent action in reference to enlisting blacks -in the Border States. The step, taken sooner, could not, in my judgment, -have been carried out. A man watches his pear-tree day after day, -impatient for the ripening<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a>{267}</span> of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the -process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently -wait, and the ripe pear at length falls into his lap! We have seen this -great revolution in public sentiment slowly, but <i>surely</i>, progressing, -so that, when final action came, the opposition was not strong enough to -defeat the purpose. I can now solemnly assert that I have a clear -conscience in regard to my action on this momentous question. I have -done what no man could have helped doing, standing in my place.”</p> - -<p>I find an interesting account in Mr. Carpenter’s volume, of the -circumstances attending Mr. Lincoln’s signing the Emancipation -Proclamation, quoted, I believe, from Col. Forney. It runs thus:</p> - -<p>“The roll containing the Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. -Lincoln at noon on the 1st day of January, 1863, by Secretary Seward and -his son Frederick.</p> - -<p>“As it lay unrolled before him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in -ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held it a moment, -and then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little hesitation -he again took up the pen<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a>{268}</span> and went through the same movement as before. -Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward, and said:</p> - -<p>“ ‘I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning, and my -right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history it will -be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I -sign this Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say, -“He hesitated.” ’</p> - -<p>“He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, and slowly, firmly -wrote that ‘Abraham Lincoln,’ with which the world is now familiar. He -looked up, smiled, and said: ‘That will do.’ ”</p> - -<p>That act linked the name of Abraham Lincoln with one of the greatest -acts in all history. That act gave him an earthly immortality!<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a>{269}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">ELECTED FOR A SECOND TERM.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> hard and incessant labor, under a burden of care and anxiety that -were making him an old man before his time, the term for which Mr. -Lincoln was elected President passed slowly away. And the question came -to the Nation, “Who shall be our next President? Shall it be the man who -has led us thus far through the wilderness, or shall we make choice of -another leader?”</p> - -<p>There was a difference of opinion. Some were in favor of General -Fremont, many favored Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, and -there is no doubt that both of these two eminent men wished for the -office. Mr. Lincoln, too, wished to be re-elected, not, I am sure, -because power was sweet, but because he wished to carry out to the end -the mighty work which it had been given to him to do. He knew that Mr. -Chase desired<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a>{270}</span> to succeed him, but it did not make him less friendly; -nor when it devolved upon him to appoint a successor to Chief-Justice -Taney, did it prevent him from conferring upon his chief rival that high -office. He considered Mr. Chase, of all men, most fit to fill the -position, and that with him was the paramount consideration.</p> - -<p>However politicians may have differed with regard to the Presidency, the -people were with Mr. Lincoln. They had learned to trust him, and the -politicians were obliged to acquiesce in their choice. He was nominated, -and duly elected, and the country breathed more freely. It was an -assurance that the war would proceed till the rebellion was crushed out, -and the restoration of the Union was now looked upon, under God, as -certain.</p> - -<p>During the campaign, Senator Sherman, of Ohio, in a speech at Sandusky, -gave this rough but accurate sketch of Mr. Lincoln and his claims to -support. It was addressed to a Western audience, and doubtless produced -a powerful impression:</p> - -<p>“I know old Abe,” said the Senator, “and I tell you there is not, at -this hour, a more patriotic<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a>{271}</span> or a truer man living than that man Abraham -Lincoln. Some say he is an imbecile; but he not only held his own in his -debates with Douglas, whose power is admitted, and whom I considered the -ablest intellect in the United States Senate, but got a little the -better of him. He has been deliberate and slow, but when he puts his -foot down it is with the determination and certainty with which our -generals take their steps; and, like them, when he takes a city he never -gives it up. This firm old man is noble and kind-hearted. He is a child -of the people. Go to him with a story of woe, and he will weep like a -child. This man so condemned works more hours than any President that -ever occupied the chair. His solicitude for the public welfare is -never-ceasing. I differed from him at first myself, but at last felt and -believed that he was right, and shall vote for this brave, true, -patriotic, kind-hearted man. All his faults and mistakes you have seen; -all his virtues you never can know. His patience in labor is wonderful. -He works far harder than any man in Erie County. At the head of this -great nation—look at it! He has all the bills to sign passed by -Congress. No one can be appointed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a>{272}</span> any office without his approval. -No one can be punished without the judgment receives his signature, and -no one pardoned without his hand. This man—always right, always -just—we propose to re-elect now to the Presidency.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a>{273}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE SPEECH AT GETTYSBURG.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">One</span> of the most important and critical battles of the Civil War took -place on the soil of Pennsylvania. The battle of Gettysburg commenced on -the 1st day of July, 1863, and lasted for three days. The invasion of -Pennsylvania by Lee’s forces was a bold turning of the tables upon the -Federal forces, but fortunately they had a brave, cool, and skillful -commander in General Meade, who beat back the Confederates with terrible -loss.</p> - -<p>It is needless to say that excitement, amounting to panic, prevailed -throughout the North. Had Lee been successful in his bold movement, he -would probably have continued his victories through the State, and -menaced more than one Northern city. The danger was averted, but the -victory was won at large cost. The Federal loss<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a>{274}</span> in dead, wounded, and -missing amounted to twenty-three thousand, though considerably less than -the losses on the other side. A piece of land adjoining the cemetery of -the town was given by the State as a last resting-place for the loyal -soldiers who had fallen in the battle, and on the 19th of November it -was dedicated. Two addresses were made—one by Hon. Edward Everett, -which was not unworthy of the eminent Massachusetts orator; but the -second, though brief, was a gem which will live longer than the stately -periods of Everett. It was by President Lincoln himself, and surprised -even those who best appreciated him. There are few of my readers to whom -it is not familiar, but I can not deny myself the pleasure of recording -it here:</p> - -<p>“Four score and seven years ago,” said Mr. Lincoln, “our fathers brought -forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and -dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are -engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation -so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great -battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a>{275}</span> of that -field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that -that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we -should do this. But in a larger sense we can not dedicate, we can not -consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and -dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add -or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say -here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the -living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they -who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to -be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these -honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they -gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that -these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, -shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the -people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the -earth.”</p> - -<p>Is there anything to be found in the addresses of any orator, ancient or -modern, more elevated in sentiment or admirable in expression? Yet the<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a>{276}</span> -speaker had been reared in the backwoods, a stranger to schools and -colleges, and his eloquence was neither acquired nor inherited. This -speech alone proclaims Abraham Lincoln a man of genius.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a>{277}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">THE CURTAIN FALLS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">An</span> Oriental monarch, fearing that in the plenitude of his power he might -forget the common fate, engaged a trusted attendant from time to time to -remind him of his mortality.</p> - -<p>Abraham Lincoln needed no such reminder. Before his first inauguration, -and at intervals during his official life, he received frequent -threatening letters, menacing him with death. These he kept in a package -by themselves. Though he never permitted them to influence his action, -they had their natural effect upon a mind and temperament subject to -despondency, and not free from superstition. Mr. Lincoln had a strong -impression that he would not live through his term of office. When, -however, he was inaugurated for a second time, amid the plaudits of the -nation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a>{278}</span> and the clouds of civil war seemed lifting to reveal a brighter -future, his spirits, too, became buoyant, and he permitted himself to -believe that all would end well, and he would be permitted to reconcile -the disaffected States, and bring them back into the national fold. His -heart was full of tenderness and magnanimity toward the States in -rebellion. His large heart was incapable of harboring malice, or -thirsting for revenge.</p> - -<p>But he was only to come in sight of the Promised Land. It was for -another leader to finish his weary and protracted task, and reap where -he had sown.</p> - -<p>On the evening of the fourteenth of April, 1865, President Lincoln and -wife with two friends occupied a box at Ford’s Theatre, by invitation of -the manager, to witness a performance of Tom Taylor’s “American Cousin.” -They arrived late, and their entrance was greeted with enthusiasm, the -large audience rising to their feet and cheering.</p> - -<p>Not long afterward, John Wilkes Booth, a young actor, who, throughout -the war, had made no secret of his sympathy with the Confederate cause, -entered the theatre, and, not without difficulty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a>{279}</span> made his way through -the crowded dress circle to the back of the box in which the President’s -party were seated.</p> - -<p>“The President has sent for me,” he said to the servant, showing his -card, and thus he gained admission.</p> - -<p>Standing in the door-way, after a hasty glance at the interior, he took -a small Derringer pistol in one hand, holding at the same time a -double-edged dagger in the other, he aimed deliberately at Mr. Lincoln, -who sat in an arm-chair, with his back to him. There was a quick report, -and the fatal bullet had entered Mr. Lincoln’s brain. Major Rathbone, -the only other gentleman present in the box, quickly comprehending the -truth, tried to seize the assassin, but he was too quick for him. -Striking at him with his dagger, he sprang to the front of the box, -leaped upon the stage, crying in a theatrical tone, “Sic semper -tyrannis!” and “The South is avenged!” and, favored by his knowledge of -the stage, escaped at the rear before the actors and audience, stupefied -by the suddenness of his act, could arrest his flight.</p> - -<p>Too well had the assassin done his work! The<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_280" id="page_280"></a>{280}</span> President never spoke, or -recovered consciousness. He was carried from the theatre to a house near -at hand, where, at twenty-two minutes past seven the next morning, he -expired, with his mourning friends around him.</p> - -<p>On the same evening another tragedy came near being enacted in another -part of the city—a branch, no doubt, of the same wicked conspiracy. Mr. -Seward, Secretary of State, lay sick at his house, having been thrown -from his carriage and severely injured a few days before. A man, who -proved to be Lewis Payne Powell, gained admission by a subterfuge, and, -though warned by the servant that no one was admitted to see Mr. Seward, -pushed past him into the Secretary’s chamber. At the entrance the -Secretary’s son, Mr. Frederick Seward, forbade him to enter, but Powell -struck him upon the forehead with the butt of a pistol, and, rushing to -the bed, stabbed the helpless Secretary three times, and would have -killed him but for his nurse, a soldier named Robinson, who grappled -with him, receiving severe blows in the struggle. Powell escaped from -the house, after stabbing no less than five persons.</p> - -<p>To describe the grief, anger, and consternation<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_281" id="page_281"></a>{281}</span> which these two -tragedies produced throughout the country, would be well-nigh -impossible. Then, for the first time, it became apparent how dear to the -popular heart was the plain, honest, untiring man who, for more than -four dark and gloomy years, had borne the national burden, and labored -as best he might to restore peace and harmony to a distracted land.</p> - -<p>The conspirators had been only too successful, but they had not -accomplished all they had in view. It had been expected that General -Grant would form one of the President’s party; fortunately, he had -excused himself, and left the city. Could he, too, have fallen a victim, -dark indeed would have been the dawning of the next day, and the -wide-spread feeling of horror would have been deepened.</p> - -<p>In a recent conversation General Grant thus speaks of this sad time: -“The darkest day of my life was the day I heard of Lincoln’s -assassination. I did not know what it meant. Here was the rebellion put -down in the field, and starting up again in the gutters; we had fought -it as war, now we had to fight it as assassination. Lincoln was killed -on the 14th of April. I was busy<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a>{282}</span> sending out orders to stop recruiting, -the purchase of supplies, and to muster out the army. Lincoln had -promised to go to the theatre, and wanted me to go with him. While I was -with the President a letter came from Mrs. Grant, saying that she must -leave Washington that night. She wanted to go to Burlington to see her -children. Some incident of a trifling nature had made her resolve to -leave that evening. I was glad to have it so, as I did not want to go to -the theatre. So I made my excuse to Lincoln, and, at the proper hour, we -started for the train. As we were driving along Pennsylvania Avenue, a -horseman rode past us on a gallop, and back again around our carriage, -looking into it.</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Grant said: ‘There is the man who sat near us at lunch to-day with -some other men, and tried to overhear our conversation. He was so rude -that we left the dining-room. Here he is now, riding after us.’</p> - -<p>“I thought it was only curiosity, but learned afterwards that the -horseman was Booth. It seemed that I was to have been attacked, and Mrs. -Grant’s sudden resolve to leave changed the plan. A few days after I -received an anonymous<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a>{283}</span> letter from a man, saying that he had been -detailed to kill me; that he rode on my train as far as Havre de Grace, -and as my car was locked he failed to get in. He thanked God that he had -failed. I remembered that the conductor had locked the car, but how true -the letter was I can not say. I learned of the assassination as I was -passing through Philadelphia. I turned around, took a special train, and -came on to Washington. It was the gloomiest day of my life.”</p> - -<p>Of the imposing funeral ceremonies, and the manifestations of deep grief -throughout the nation, I need not speak. As Dr. Holland well says: -“Millions felt that they had lost a brother, or a father, or a dear -personal friend. It was a grief that brought the nation more into family -sympathy than it had been since the days of the Revolution. Men came -together in public meetings, to give expression to their grief.... There -were men engaged in the rebellion who turned from the deed with horror. -Many of these had learned something of the magnanimity of Mr. Lincoln’s -character; and they felt that the time would come when the South would -need his friendship.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a>{284}</span></p> - -<p>There is no reason to believe that the Southern leaders countenanced or -instigated this atrocious deed. It was the act of a half-crazed -political fanatic, and the few who were in sympathy with him, and -cognizant of his plans, were men of like character. Justice overtook -them in the end, as might have been expected, but they had wrought -irreparable mischief, and plunged a whole people into mourning.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a>{285}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">MR. HERNDON’S ESTIMATE OF MR. LINCOLN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">No</span> one probably was better fitted to give a discriminating analysis of -Mr. Lincoln’s character than Mr. W. H. Herndon, for more than twenty -years his law-partner. From an address delivered at Springfield, Ill., -Dec. 12, 1865, by that gentleman, I shall, therefore, quote freely, -without indorsing everything that is said, but submitting it as the -opinion of a man who knew Mr. Lincoln well:</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln read <i>less</i> and thought <i>more</i> than any man in his sphere -in America. No man can put his finger on any great book written in the -last or present century that he read. When young he read the Bible, and -when of age he read Shakespeare, This latter book was scarcely ever out -of his mind. Mr. Lincoln is acknowledged<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_286" id="page_286"></a>{286}</span> to have been a great man, but -the question is, What made him great? I repeat that he read less and -thought more than any man of his standing in America, if not in the -world. He possessed originality and power of thought in an eminent -degree. He was cautious, cool, concentrated, with continuity of -reflection; was patient and enduring. These are some of the grounds of -his wonderful success.</p> - -<p>“Not only was nature, man, fact, and principle suggestive to Mr. -Lincoln—not only had he accurate and exact perceptions, but he was -causative; i.e., his mind ran back behind all facts, things, and -principles to their origin, history, and first cause,—to that point -where forces act at once as effect and cause. He would stop and stand in -the street and analyze a machine. He would whittle things to a point, -and then count the numberless inclined planes and their pitch, making -the point. Mastering and defining this, he would then cut that point -back and get a broad transverse section of his pine stick and point and -define that. Clocks, omnibuses, and language, paddle-wheels, and idioms, -never escaped his observation and analysis. Before he could form any -idea of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page_287" id="page_287"></a>{287}</span>anything—before he would express his opinion on any subject, -he must know it in origin and history, in substance and quality, in -magnitude and gravity. He must know his subject inside and outside, -upside and downside. He searched his own mind and nature thoroughly, as -I have often heard him say. He must analyze a sensation, an idea, and -words, and run them back to their origin, history, purpose, and -destiny.”</p> - -<p>“All things, facts, and principles had to run through his crucible and -be tested by the fires of his analytic mind; and hence, when he did -speak, his utterances rang out gold-like—quick, keen, and current—upon -the counters of the understanding. He reasoned logically, through -analogy and comparison. All opponents dreaded him in his originality of -idea, condensation, definition, and force of expression, and woe be to -the man who hugged to his bosom a secret error if Mr. Lincoln got on the -chase of it! I say, woe to him! Time could hide the error in no nook or -corner of space in which he would not detect and expose it.”</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln was a peculiar man, having a peculiar mind. He was gifted -with a peculiarity—<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_288" id="page_288"></a>{288}</span>namely, a new lookout on nature. Everything had to -be newly created for him—facts newly gathered, newly arranged, and -newly classed. He had no faith, as already expressed. In order to -believe, he must see and feel and thrust his hand into the place. Such a -mind as this must act strongly,—must have its time. His forte and power -lay in his love of digging out for himself and hunting up for his own -mind its own food, to be assimilated unto itself; and then, in time, he -could and would form opinions and conclusions that no human power could -overthrow. They were as irresistible as iron thunder, as powerful as -logic embodied in mathematics.”</p> - -<p>“An additional question naturally suggests itself here, and it is this: -Had Mr. Lincoln great, good common sense? Different persons of equal -capacity and honesty hold different views on this question—one class -answering in the affirmative and the other in the negative.</p> - -<p>“These various opinions necessarily spring out of the question just -discussed. If the true test is that a man shall quickly, wisely, and -well judge the rapid rush and whirl of human transactions as accurately -as though indefinite time and proper<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_289" id="page_289"></a>{289}</span> conditions were at his disposal, -then I am compelled to follow the logic of things, and say that Mr. -Lincoln had no more than ordinary common sense. The world, men, and -their actions must be judged as they rush and pass along. They will not -wait on us—will not stay for our logic and analysis; they must be -seized as they run. We all our life act on the moment. Mr. Lincoln knew -himself, and never trusted his dollar or his fame on his casual -opinions—he never acted hastily on great matters.”</p> - -<p>“The great predominating elements of Mr. Lincoln’s peculiar character -were—first, his great capacity and power of reason; secondly, his -excellent understanding; thirdly, an exalted idea of the sense of right -and equity; and fourthly, his intense veneration of what was true and -good. His reason ruled despotically all other faculties and qualities of -his mind. His conscience and heart were ruled by it. His conscience was -ruled by one faculty—reason; his heart was ruled by two -faculties—reason and conscience. I know it is generally believed that -Mr. Lincoln’s heart, his love and kindness, his tenderness and -benevolence were his ruling qualities; but this opinion is erroneous<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a>{290}</span> in -every particular. First, as to his reason. He dwelt in the mind; not in -the conscience, and not in the heart. He lived and breathed and acted -from his reason,—the throne of logic and the home of principle, the -realm of Deity in man. It is from this point that Mr. Lincoln must be -viewed. His views were correct and original. He was cautious not to be -deceived; he was patient and enduring. He had concentration and great -continuity of thought; he had a profound analytic power; his vision was -clear, and he was emphatically the master of statement. His pursuit of -the truth was indefatigable—terrible. He reasoned from his well-chosen -principles with such clearness, force, and compactness, that the tallest -intellects in the land bowed to him with respect. He was the strongest -man I ever saw—looking at him from the stand-point of his reason, the -throne of his logic. He came from that height with an irresistible and -crushing force. His printed speeches will prove this; but his speeches -before courts, especially before the Supreme Courts of the State and -Nation, would demonstrate it. Unfortunately none of them have been -preserved. Here he demanded<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a>{291}</span> time to think and prepare. The office of -reason is to determine the truth. Truth is the power of reason—the -child of reason. He loved and idolized truth for its own sake. It was -reason’s food.</p> - -<p>“Conscience, the second great quality and forte of Mr. Lincoln’s -character, is that faculty which loves the just. Its office is justice; -right and equity are its correlatives. It decides upon all acts of all -people at all times. Mr. Lincoln had a deep, broad, living conscience. -His great reason told him what was true, good and bad, right, wrong, -just or unjust, and his conscience echoed back its decision; and it was -from this point that he acted and spoke and wove his character and fame -among us. His conscience ruled his heart; he was always just before he -was gracious. This was his motto—his glory; and this is as it should -be. It can not be truthfully said of any mortal man that he was always -just. Mr. Lincoln was not always just, but his general life was. It -follows that if Mr. Lincoln had great reason and great conscience, he -was an honest man. His great and general life was honest, and he was -justly and rightfully entitled to the appellation, ‘Honest Abe!’ Honesty -was his great polar star.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_292" id="page_292"></a>{292}</span></p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln had also a good understanding, that is, the faculty that -understands and comprehends the exact state of things, their near and -remote relation. The understanding does not necessarily inquire for the -reason of things. I must here repeat that Mr. Lincoln was an odd and -original man; he lived by himself and out of himself. He could not -absorb. He was a very sensitive man, unobtrusive and gentlemanly, and -often hid himself in the common mass of men, in order to prevent the -discovery of his individuality. He had no insulting egotism and no -pompous pride; no haughtiness and no aristocracy. He was not -indifferent, however, to approbation and public opinion. He was not an -upstart and had no insolence. He was a meek, quiet, unobtrusive -gentleman. These qualities of his nature merged somewhat his identities. -Read Mr. Lincoln’s speeches, letters, messages, and proclamations; read -his whole record in his actual life, and you can not fail to perceive -that he had good understanding. He understood and fully comprehended -himself; and what he did, and why he did it, better than most living -men.”</p> - -<p class="cb">. . . . . . . . . . . . .</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_293" id="page_293"></a>{293}</span></p> - -<p>“There are two opinions—radically different opinions—expressed about -Mr. Lincoln’s will by men of equal and much capacity. One opinion is -that he had <i>no</i> will, and the other is that he was <i>all</i> -will—omnipotently so. These two opinions are loudly and honestly -affirmed. Mr. Lincoln’s mind loved the true, the right, and good—all -the great truths and principles in the mind of man. He loved the true -first, the right second, and the good the least. His mind struggled for -truths and his soul for substances. Neither in his heart nor in his soul -did he care for forms, methods, ways,—the <i>non</i>-substantial facts or -things. He could not by his very structure and formation in mind and -body care anything about them. He did not intensely or much care for -particular individual man—dollar, property, rank, order, manners, and -such like things. He had no avarice in his nature, or other like -vice.... What suited a little, narrow, critical mind, did not suit Mr. -Lincoln’s, any more than a child’s clothes did his body. Generally, Mr. -Lincoln did not take any interest in little local elections—town -meetings. He attended no gatherings that pertained to local or other -such interests, saving general political<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_294" id="page_294"></a>{294}</span> ones. He did not care (because -he could not in his nature) who succeeded to the presidency of this or -that Christian Association or Railroad Convention; who made the most -money; who was going to Philadelphia; when and for what; and what were -the costs of such a trip. He could not care who among friends got this -office or that—who got to be street inspector or alley commissioner. No -principle of goodness, of truth, or right was here. How could he be -moved by such things as these? He could not understand why men struggled -for such things. He made this remark to me one day—I think at -Washington: ‘If ever this free people—if this Government itself is ever -utterly demoralized, it will come from this human wriggle and struggle -for office; a way to live without work; from which nature I am not free -myself.’ It puzzled him a good deal at Washington to know and to get at -the root of this dread desire,—this contagious disease of national -robbery in the nation’s death-struggle.</p> - -<p>“Because Mr. Lincoln could not feel any interest in such little things -as I have spoken of, nor feel any particular interest in the success of -those who were then struggling and wriggling, he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_295" id="page_295"></a>{295}</span> called -indifferent—nay, ungrateful—to his friends. Especially is this the -case with men who have aided Mr. Lincoln all their life. Mr. Lincoln -always and everywhere wished his friends well; he loved his friends, and -clung to them tenaciously, like iron to iron welded; yet he could not be -actively and energetically aroused to the true sense of his friends’ -particularly strong feelings of anxiety for office. From this fact Mr. -Lincoln has been called ungrateful. He was not an ungrateful man by any -means. He may have been a cool man—a passive man in his general life; -yet he was not ungrateful. Ingratitude is too positive a word—it does -not convey the truth. Mr. Lincoln may not have measured his friendly -duties by the applicant’s hot desire; I admit this. He was not a selfish -man,—if by selfishness is meant that Mr. Lincoln would do any act, even -to promote himself to the Presidency, if by that act any human being was -wronged. If it is said that Abraham Lincoln preferred Abraham Lincoln to -any one else in the pursuit of his ambitions, and that, because of this, -he was a selfish man, then I can see no objections to such an idea, for -this is universal human nature.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_296" id="page_296"></a>{296}</span></p> - -<p>“It must be remembered that Mr. Lincoln’s mind acted logically, -cautiously, and slowly. Now, having stated the above facts, the question -of his will and its power is easily solved. Be it remembered that Mr. -Lincoln cared nothing for simple facts, manners, modes, ways, and such -like things. Be it remembered, that he <i>did</i> care for truth, for right, -for principle, for all that pertains to the good. In relation to simple -facts, unrelated to substance, forms, rules, methods, ways, manners, he -cared nothing; and if he could be aroused, he would do anything for -anybody at any time, as well foe as friend. As a politician he would -courteously grant all facts and forms—all non-essential things—to his -opponent. He did so because he did not care for them; they were rubbish, -husks, trash. On the question of substance, he hung and clung with all -his might. On questions of truth, justice, right, the good, on -principle—his will was as firm as steel and as tenacious as iron.... -Ask Mr. Lincoln to do a wrong thing, and he would scorn the request; ask -him to do an unjust thing, and he would cry ‘Begone!’; ask him to -sacrifice his<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_297" id="page_297"></a>{297}</span> convictions of the truth, and his soul would indignantly -exclaim, ‘The world perish first!’ ”</p> - -<p class="cb">. . . . . . . . . . . . .</p> - -<p>“Mr. Lincoln sometimes walked our streets cheerily, good-humoredly, -perhaps joyously—and then it was, on meeting a friend, he cried, ‘How -d’ye?’ clasping one of his friend’s hands in both of his, giving a good, -hearty soul-welcome. Of a winter’s morning he might be seen stalking and -stilting it toward the market-house, basket on arm, his old gray shawl -wrapped around his neck, his little Willie or Tad running along at his -heels, asking a thousand little quick questions, which his father heard -not, not even then knowing that little Willie or Tad was there, so -abstracted was he. When he thus met a friend, he said that something put -him in mind of a story which he heard in Indiana or elsewhere, and tell -it he would, and there was no alternative but to listen.</p> - -<p>“Thus, I say, stood and walked and looked this singular man. He was odd, -but when that gray eye and face, and every feature were lit up by the -inward soul in fires of emotion, <i>then</i> it was that all those apparently -ugly features sprang into organs<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_298" id="page_298"></a>{298}</span> of beauty, or sunk themselves into a -sea of inspiration that sometimes flooded his face. Sometimes it -appeared to me that Lincoln’s soul was just fresh from the presence of -its Creator.”</p> - -<p>“This man, this long, bony, wiry, sad man, floated into our county in -1831, in a frail canoe, down the north fork of the Sangamon River, -friendless, penniless, powerless, and alone—begging for work in this -city,—ragged, struggling for the common necessaries of life. This man, -this peculiar man, left us, in 1861, the President of the United States, -backed by friends and power, by fame and all human force; and it is well -to inquire <i>how?</i></p> - -<p>“To sum up, let us say, here is a sensitive, diffident, unobtrusive, -natural-made gentleman. His mind was strong and deep, sincere and -honest, patient and enduring; having no vices and having only negative -defects, with many positive virtues. His is a strong, honest, sagacious, -manly, noble life. He stands in the foremost rank of men in all -ages,—their equal,—one of the best types of this Christian -civilization.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_299" id="page_299"></a>{299}</span></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.<br /><br /> -<span class="chead">MR. LINCOLN’S FAVORITE POEM.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">One</span> evening when Mr. Carpenter, the artist, was alone with Mr. Lincoln -in his study, the President said: “There is a poem that has been a great -favorite with me for years, to which my attention was first called when -a young man, by a friend, and which I afterward saw and cut from a -newspaper and carried in my pocket till, by frequent reading, I had it -by heart. I would give a great deal to know who wrote it, but I could -never ascertain.”</p> - -<p>He then repeated the poem, now familiar to the public, commencing, “Oh! -why should the spirit of mortal be proud?”</p> - -<p>This poem, which was written by William Knox, a young Scotchman, a -contemporary of Sir Walter Scott, suits well the thoughtful, melancholy -mood habitual to Mr. Lincoln. It is said<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_300" id="page_300"></a>{300}</span> that a man may be known by his -favorite poem. Whether this can be said of men in general may be -doubted. In the case of Abraham Lincoln I think those who knew him best -would agree that the sadness underlying the poem found an echo in the -temperament he inherited from his mother. I am sure my readers will be -glad to find the poem recorded here, even though they may have met with -it before:</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He passeth from life to his rest in the grave.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be scattered around and together be laid;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the young and the old, the low and the high,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie—<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The infant a mother attended and loved;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mother that infant’s affection who proved:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The husband, that mother and infant who blest—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shone beauty and pleasure,—her triumphs are by;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the memory of those who loved her and praised,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are alike from the minds of the living erased.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The hand of the king that the sceptre hath borne,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The brow of the priest that the mitre hath worn,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_301" id="page_301"></a>{301}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">The eye of the sage and the heart of the brave,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have faded away like the grass that we tread.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The saint, who enjoyed the communion of Heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have quietly mingled their bones in the dust.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">So the multitude goes—like the flower or the weed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That withers away to let others succeed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So the multitude comes—even those we behold,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To repeat every tale that has often been told.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">For we are the same our fathers have been;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We see the same sights our fathers have seen;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We drink the same stream, we view the same sun,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And run the same course our fathers have run.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The thoughts we are thinking our fathers would think;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To the life we are clinging, they also would cling,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They loved—but the story we can not unfold;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They scorned—but the heart of the haughty is cold;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They grieved—but no wail from their slumber will come;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They joyed—but the tongue of their gladness is dumb.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They died—ay, they died; we things that are now,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That walk on the turf that lies over their brow,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_302" id="page_302"></a>{302}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">And make in their dwellings a transient abode,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Meet the things that they met on their pilgrimage road.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">’Tis the wink of an eye—’tis the draught of a breath—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From the blossom of health to the paleness of death,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud:—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>The last stanza will call to mind the startling suddenness with which -Abraham Lincoln, the Chief Magistrate of a great nation, passed from the -summit of power to the solemn stillness of death. Was it a sad, -prophetic instinct that caused the mind of the great martyr to dwell so -constantly upon these solemn strains?</p> - -<p>No man seems to have been more clearly indicated as the instrument of -Providence than Abraham Lincoln. It seems strange in the eyes of men -that a rough youth, born and reared in the backwoods, without early -educational advantages, homely and awkward, and with no polish of manner -save that which proceeded from a good heart, should have been selected -as the Guide and Savior of a great nation. But God’s ways are not as our -ways, nor is His choice as ours. Mr. Lincoln had this advantage,—coming -from the ranks of the people, he never lost sight of his sympathy for<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_303" id="page_303"></a>{303}</span> -his class. His nature and his sympathies were broad and unconfined.</p> - -<p>He has been well described by one reared like himself, in the free -atmosphere of the West: “Nearly every great figure of history is a kind -of great monstrosity. We know nothing about Washington. He is a steel -engraving. No dirt of humanity clings to his boots. Lincoln lived where -men were free and equal, and was acquainted with the people, not much -with books. Every man is in some sort a book. He lived the poem of the -year in the fields, the woods, the blessed country. Lincoln had the -advantage of sociability. He was thoughtful, and saw on the horizon of -his future the perpetual star of hope. To him every field was a -landscape; every landscape a poem; every poem a lesson, and every grove -a fairy land. Oaks and elms are far more poetical than streets or -houses. A country life is in itself an education. It gives the man an -idea of home. He hears the rain on the roofs, the rustle of the breeze, -the music of nature’s fullest control. You have no idea how many men -education spoils. Lincoln’s education was derived from men and things, -and hence he had a chance to develop.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_304" id="page_304"></a>{304}</span> He had many sides. He not only -had laughter, but he had tears, and never that kind of solemnity which -is a wash to hide the features. He was not afraid to seek for knowledge -where he had it not. When a man is too dignified he ceases to learn. He -was always honest with himself. He was an orator; that is, he was -natural. If you wish to be sublime you must keep close to the grass. You -must sit close to the heart of human experience—above the clouds it is -too cold. If you want to know the difference between an orator and a -speaker read the oration of Lincoln at Gettysburg, and then read the -speech of Everett at the same place. One came from the heart, the other -was from out of the voice. Lincoln’s speech will be remembered forever. -Everett’s no man will read. It was like plucked flowers.</p> - -<p>“If you want to find out what a man is to the bottom, give him power. -Any man can stand adversity—only a great man can stand prosperity. It -is the glory of Abraham Lincoln that he never abused power only on the -side of mercy. When he had power he used it in mercy. He loved to see -the tears of the wife whose husband he had snatched from death.”<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_305" id="page_305"></a>{305}</span></p> - -<p>I draw near the close of my task, having given, as I hope, some fair -idea of one whose memory will always remain dear to the hearts of his -countrymen. In that chequered life there is much to imitate, much to -admire, little to avoid or censure. Happy will be the day when our -public men copy his unselfishness, his patriotic devotion to duty!</p> - -<p>Within a few months, on the eighteenth anniversary of Mr. Lincoln’s -assassination, a poem was read at his grave by John H. Bryant, of -Princeton, which will fitly close my story of the Backwoods Boy:</p> - -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Not one of all earth’s wise and great<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hath earned a purer gratitude<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Than the great Soul whose hallowed dust<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This structure holds in sacred trust.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">How fierce the strife that rent the land,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When he was summoned to command;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With what wise care he led us through<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fearful storms that ’round us blew.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Calm, patient, hopeful, undismayed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He met the angry hosts arrayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For bloody war, and overcame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their haughty power in Freedom’s name.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">’Mid taunts and doubts, the bondsman’s chain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With gentle force he cleft in twain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_306" id="page_306"></a>{306}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">And raised four million slaves to be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The chartered sons of Liberty.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">No debt he owed to wealth or birth;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By force of solid, honest worth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He climbed the topmost height of fame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And wrote thereon a spotless name.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Oh! when the felon hand laid low<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That sacred head, what sudden woe<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shot to the Nation’s farthest bound,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And every bosom felt the wound.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Well might the Nation bow in grief,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And weep above the fallen chief,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who ever strove, by word or pen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For “peace on earth, good-will to men.”<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">The people loved him, for they knew,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each pulse of his large heart was true<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To them, to Freedom, and the right,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unswayed by gain, unawed by might.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">This tomb, by loving hands up-piled,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To him, the merciful and mild,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From age to age shall carry down<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The glory of his great renown.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">As the long centuries onward flow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As generations come and go,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wide and more wide his fame shall spread,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And greener laurels crown his head.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">And when this pile is fall’n to dust,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its bronzes crumbled into rust,<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_307" id="page_307"></a>{307}</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy name, O Lincoln! still shall be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Revered and loved from sea to sea.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">India’s swart millions, ’neath their palms,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall sing thy praise in grateful psalms,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And crowds by Congo’s turbid wave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bless the good hand that freed the slave.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Shine on, O Star of Freedom, shine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till all the realms of earth are thine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all the tribes, through countless days,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall bask in thy benignant rays.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Lord of the Nations! grant us still<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Another patriot sage, to fill<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The seat of power, and save the State<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From selfish greed. For this we wait.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_308" id="page_308"></a>{308}</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_309" id="page_309"></a>{309}</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="cund">THE CREAM OF JUVENILE FICTION</p> - -<p class="cund">THE<br /> <big><big>BOYS’ OWN<br /> LIBRARY</big></big></p> - -<p class="c">A Selection of the Best Books for Boys by the Most Popular Authors</p> - -<p class="nind">The titles in this splendid juvenile series have been selected with -care, and as a result all the stories can be relied upon for their -excellence. They are bright and sparkling; not over-burdened with -lengthy descriptions, but brimful of adventure from the first page to -the last—in fact they are just the kind of yarns that appeal strongly -to the healthy boy who is fond of thrilling exploits and deeds of -heroism. Among the authors whose names are included in the Boys’ Own -Library are Horatio Alger, Jr., Edward S. Ellis, James Otis, Capt. Ralph -Bonehill, Burt L. Standish, Gilbert Patten and Frank H. Converse.</p> - -<p class="cb">SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE BOYS’ OWN LIBRARY</p> - -<p>All the books in this series are copyrighted, printed on good paper, -large type, illustrated, printed wrappers, handsome cloth covers stamped -in inks and gold—fifteen special cover designs.</p> - -<p class="cund"><i>146 Titles—Price, per Volume, 75 cents</i></p> - -<p>For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by -the publisher,</p> - -<p class="cb">DAVID McKAY,<br /> -610 SO. WASHINGTON SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA, PA.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_310" id="page_310"></a>{310}</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="cbbig">HORATIO ALGER, Jr.</p> - -<p>One of the best known and most popular writers. Good, clean, healthy -stories for the American Boy.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Adventures of a Telegraph Boy <br /> -Dean Dunham<br /> -Erie Train Boy, The<br /> -Five Hundred Dollar Check<br /> -From Canal Boy to President<br /> -From Farm Boy to Senator<br /> -Backwoods Boy, The</td> -<td>Mark Stanton<br /> -Ned Newton<br /> -New York Boy<br /> -Tom Brace<br /> -Tom Tracy<br /> -Walter Griffith<br /> -Young Acrobat</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">C. B. ASHLEY.</p> - -<p>One of the best stories ever written on hunting, trapping and adventure -in the West, after the Custer Massacre.</p> - -<p>Gilbert, the Boy Trapper</p> - -<p class="cbbig">ANNIE ASHMORE.</p> - -<p>A splendid story, recording the adventures of a boy with smugglers.</p> - -<p>Smuggler’s Cave, The</p> - -<p class="cbbig">CAPT. RALPH BONEHILL.</p> - -<p>Capt. Bonehill is in the very front rank as an author of boys’ stories. -These are two of his best works.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Neka, the Boy Conjurer</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tour of the Zero Club</span><br /> -</p> - -<p class="cbbig">WALTER F. BRUNS.</p> - -<p>An excellent story of adventure in the celebrated Sunk Lands of Missouri -and Kansas.</p> - -<p>In the Sunk Lands</p> - -<p class="cbbig">FRANK H. CONVERSE.</p> - -<p>This writer has established a splendid reputation as a boys’ author, and -although his books usually command $1.25 per volume, we offer the -following at a more popular price.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Gold of Flat Top Mountain<br /> -Happy-Go-Lucky Jack<br /> -Heir to a Million<br /> -In Search of An Unknown Race </td> -<td>In Southern Seas<br /> -Mystery of a Diamond<br /> -That Treasure<br /> -Voyage to the Gold Coast</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cb">DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_311" id="page_311"></a>{311}</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="cbbig">HARRY COLLINGWOOD.</p> - -<p>One of England’s most successful writers of stories for boys. His best -story is</p> - -<p class="c">Pirate Island</p> - -<p class="cbbig">GEORGE H. COOMER.</p> - -<p>Two books we highly recommend. One is a splendid story of adventure at -sea, when American ships were in every port in the world, and the other -tells of adventures while the first railway in the Andes Mountains was -being built.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left">Boys in the Forecastle </td><td align="left">Old Man of the Mountain</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">WILLIAM DALTON.</p> - -<p>Three stories by one of the very greatest writers for boys. The stories -deal with boys’ adventures in India, China and Abyssinia. These books -are strongly recommended for boys’ reading, as they contain a large -amount of historical information.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left">Tiger Prince</td><td> </td> -<td align="left">White Elephant</td><td> </td><td align="left">War Tiger</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">EDWARD S. ELLIS.</p> - -<p>These books are considered the best works this well-known writer ever -produced. No better reading for bright young Americans.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Arthur Helmuth<br /> -Check No. 2134<br /> -From Tent to White House </td> -<td>Perils of the Jungle<br /> -On the Trail of Geronimo<br /> -White Mustang</td></tr> - -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.</p> - -<p>For the past fifty years Mr. Fenn has been writing books for boys and -popular fiction. His books are justly popular throughout the -English-speaking world. We publish the following select list of his -boys’ books, which we consider the best he ever wrote.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr valign="bottom"><td>Commodore Junk<br /> -Dingo Boys</td> - -<td>Weathercock </td> - -<td>Golden Magnet<br /> -Grand Chaco</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">ENSIGN CLARKE FITCH, U. S. N.</p> - -<p>A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and thoroughly -familiar with all naval matters. Mr. Fitch has devoted himself to -literature, and has written a series of books for boys that every<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_312" id="page_312"></a>{312}</span> young -American should read. His stories are full of very interesting -information about the navy, training ships, etc.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Bound for Annapolis <br /> -Clif, the Naval Cadet </td> -<td>Cruise of the Training Ship<br /> -From Port to Port</td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="3" class="c">Strange Cruise, A</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">WILLIAM MURRAY GRAYDON.</p> - -<p>An author of world-wide popularity. Mr. Graydon is essentially a friend -of young people, and we offer herewith ten of his best works, wherein he -relates a great diversity of interesting adventures in various parts of -the world, combined with accurate historical data.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Butcher of Cawnpore, The <br /> -Camp in the Snow, The<br /> -Campaigning with Braddock <br /> -Cryptogram, The<br /> -From Lake to Wilderness</td> -<td>In Barracks and Wigwam <br /> -In Fort and Prison<br /> -Jungles and Traitors<br /> -Rajah’s Fortress, The<br /> -White King of Africa, The</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A.</p> - -<p>Every American boy takes a keen interest in the affairs of West Point. -No more capable writer on this popular subject could be found than -Lieut. Garrison, who vividly describes the life, adventures and unique -incidents that have occurred in that great institution—in these famous -West Point stories.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Off for West Point<br /> -Cadet’s Honor, A </td> -<td>On Guard<br /> -West Point Treasure, The</td></tr> - -<tr><td colspan="2" class="c">West Point Rivals, The</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">HEADON HILL.</p> - -<p>The hunt for gold has always been a popular subject for consideration, -and Mr. Hill has added a splendid story on the subject in this romance -of the Klondyke.</p> - -<p class="c">Spectre Gold</p> - -<p class="cbbig">HENRY HARRISON LEWIS.</p> - -<p>Mr. Lewis is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has -written a great many books for boys. Among his best works are the -following titles—the subjects include a vast series of adventures in -all parts of the world. The historical data is correct, and they should -be read by all boys, for the excellent information they contain.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Centreboard Jim<br /> -King of the Island<br /> -Midshipman Merrill</td> -<td>Ensign Merrill<br /> -Sword and Pen<br /> -Valley of Mystery, The</td></tr> -<tr><td colspan="2" class="c">Yankee Boys in Japan</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cb">DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_313" id="page_313"></a>{313}</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="cbbig">LIEUT. LIONEL LOUNSBERRY.</p> - -<p>A series of books embracing many adventures under our famous naval -commanders, and with our army during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. -Founded on sound history, these books are written for boys, with the -idea of combining pleasure with profit; to cultivate a fondness for -study—especially of what has been accomplished by our army and navy.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Cadet Kit Carey<br /> -Captain Carey<br /> -Kit Carey’s Protegé<br /> -Lieut. Carey’s Luck<br /> -Out With Commodore Decatur </td> -<td>Randy, the Pilot<br /> -Tom Truxton’s School Days<br /> -Tom Truxton’s Ocean Trip<br /> -Treasure of the Golden Crater<br /> -Won at West Point</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">BROOKS McCORMICK.</p> - -<p>Four splendid books of adventure on sea and land, by this well-known -writer for boys.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left">Giant Islanders, The </td><td>Nature's Young Nobleman</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">How He Won</td><td align="left">Rival Battalions</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">WALTER MORRIS.</p> - -<p>This charming story contains thirty-two chapters of just the sort of -school life that charms the boy readers.</p> - -<p class="c">Bob Porter at Lakeview Academy</p> - -<p class="cbbig">STANLEY NORRIS.</p> - -<p>Mr. Norris is without a rival as a writer of “Circus Stories” for boys. -These four books are full of thrilling adventures, but good, wholesome -reading for young Americans.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Phil, the Showman<br /> -Young Showman’s Rivals, The </td> -<td>Young Showman’s Pluck, The<br /> -Young Showman’s Triumph</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">LIEUT. JAMES K. ORTON.</p> - -<p>When a boy has read one of Lieut. Orton’s books, it requires no urging -to induce him to read the others. Not a dull page in any of them.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Beach Boy Joe<br /> -Last Chance Mine</td> -<td>Secret Chart, The<br /> -Tom Havens with the White Squadron </td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cb">DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_314" id="page_314"></a>{314}</span></p> - -<p class="cbbig">JAMES OTIS.</p> - -<p>Mr. Otis is known by nearly every American boy, and needs no -introduction here. The following copyrights are among his best:</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Chased Through Norway <br /> -Inland Waterways</td> -<td>Unprovoked Mutiny<br /> -Wheeling for Fortune</td></tr> -<tr><td class="c" colspan="2"> -Reuben Green’s Adventures at Yale</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">GILBERT PATTEN.</p> - -<p>Mr. Patten has had the distinction of having his books adopted by the U. -S. Government for all naval libraries on board our war ships. While -aiming to avoid the extravagant and sensational, the stories contain -enough thrilling incidents to please the lad who loves action and -adventure. In the Rockspur stories the description of their Baseball and -Football Games and other contests with rival clubs and teams make very -exciting and absorbing reading; and few boys with warm blood in their -veins, having once begun the perusal of one of these books, will -willingly lay it down till it is finished.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td> -Boy Boomers<br /> -Boy Cattle King<br /> -Boy from the West <br /> -Don Kirke’s Mine</td> -<td>Jud and Joe<br /> -Rockspur Nine, The<br /> -Rockspur Eleven, The<br /> -Rockspur Rivals, The </td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE.</p> - -<p>Mr. Rathborne’s stories for boys have the peculiar charm of dealing with -localities and conditions with which he is thoroughly familiar. The -scenes of these excellent stories are along the Florida coast and on the -western prairies.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr> -<td>Canoe and Camp Fire<br /> -Paddling Under Palmettos<br /> -Rival Canoe Boys<br /> -Sunset Ranch</td> -<td>Chums of the Prairie <br /> -Young Range Riders<br /> -Gulf Cruisers<br /> -Shifting Winds</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">ARTHUR SEWELL.</p> - -<p>An American story by an American author. It relates how a Yankee boy -overcame many obstacles in school and out. Thoroughly interesting from -start to finish.</p> - -<p class="c">Gay Dashleigh’s Academy Days</p> - -<p class="cb">DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="page_315" id="page_315"></a>{315}</span></p> - -<hr /> -<p class="cbbig">CAPT. DAVID SOUTHWICK.</p> - -<p>An exceptionally good story of frontier life among the Indians in the -far West, during the early settlement period.</p> - -<p class="c">Jack Wheeler</p> - -<p class="cb">The Famous Frank Merriwell Stories.</p> - -<p class="cbbig">BURT L. STANDISH.</p> - -<p>No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like -the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell -Stories. There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, -as portrayed by the author, is a jolly whole-souled, honest, courageous -American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad -habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary -for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell’s -example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow. Six -volumes now ready:</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Frank Merriwell’s School Days <br /> -Frank Merriwell’s Chums<br /> -Frank Merriwell’s Foes<br /> -Frank Merriwell’s Trip West<br /> -Frank Merriwell Down South</td> -<td>Frank Merriwell’s Bravery<br /> -Frank Merriwell’s Hunting Tour<br /> -Frank Merriwell’s Races<br /> -Frank Merriwell’s Sports Afield <br /> -Frank Merriwell at Yale</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">VICTOR ST. CLAIR.</p> - -<p>These books are full of good, clean adventure, thrilling enough to -please the full-blooded wide-awake boy, yet containing nothing to which -there can be any objection from those who are careful as to the kind of -books they put into the hands of the young.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> - -<tr><td>Cast Away in the Jungle <br /> -Comrades Under Castro<br /> -For Home and Honor<br /> -Zip, the Acrobat</td> -<td>From Switch to Lever<br /> -Little Snap, the Post Boy<br /> -Zig-Zag, the Boy Conjurer<br /> -Zip, the Acrobat</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">MATTHEW WHITE, JR.</p> - -<p>Good, healthy, strong books for the American lad. No more interesting -books for the young appear on our lists.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td>Adventures of a Young Athlete <br /> -Eric Dane<br /> -Guy Hammersley</td> -<td>My Mysterious Fortune<br /> -Tour of a Private Car<br /> -Young Editor, The</td></tr> -</table> - -<p class="cbbig">ARTHUR M. WINFIELD.</p> - -<p>One of the most popular authors of boys’ books. Here are three of his -best.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left">Mark Dale’s Stage Venture </td><td align="left">Young Bank Clerk, The</td></tr> -<tr><td class="c" colspan="2">Young Bridge Tender, The</td></tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page_316" id="page_316"></a>{316}</span></p> - -<p class="cbbig">GAYLE WINTERTON.</p> - -<p>This very interesting story relates the trials and triumphs of a Young -American Actor, including the solution of a very puzzling mystery.</p> - -<p class="c"> -Young Actor, The</p> - -<p class="cbbig">ERNEST A. YOUNG.</p> - -<p>This book is not a treatise on sports, as the title would indicate, but -relates a series of thrilling adventures among boy campers in the woods -of Maine.</p> - -<p class="c">Boats, Bats and Bicycles</p> - -<p class="cb">DAVID McKAY, Publisher, Philadelphia.</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Backwoods Boy, by Horatio Alger Jr. - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BACKWOODS BOY *** - -***** This file should be named 52073-h.htm or 52073-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/0/7/52073/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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