diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/68423-h/68423-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68423-h/68423-h.htm | 4471 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 4471 deletions
diff --git a/old/68423-h/68423-h.htm b/old/68423-h/68423-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 70795e8..0000000 --- a/old/68423-h/68423-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4471 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Story of Abraham Lincoln, by Mary A. Hamilton—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - font-size: 110%;} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both;} - -p { margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; - text-indent: 1.5em} - -.no-indent {text-indent: 0;} - -.ph1 {text-align: center; - margin-top: .51em; - margin-bottom: .49em; - font-size: xx-large; - font-weight: bold; - text-indent: 0;} - -.ph2 {text-align: center; - margin-top: .51em; - margin-bottom: .49em; - font-size: x-large; - font-weight: bold; - text-indent: 0;} - -.p15b {margin-bottom: 1.5em;} -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} -.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} -.p4b {margin-bottom: 4em;} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both;} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } -hr.full {width: 40%; text-align: left; margin-left: 0; margin-top: .10em;} - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto;} - -.tdl {text-align: left;} -.tdc {text-align: center;} -.tdbr {text-align: right; - vertical-align: bottom;} -.tdch {text-align: right; - vertical-align: top;} - -.hang {padding-left: 1em; - text-indent: -3em;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} /* page numbers */ - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right; - margin-right:35%;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.smaller {font-size: 85%;} - -.adblock {margin-left: 20%; - margin-right:20%;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold; - text-align: center;} - -.dropcap {float:left; - font-size: 40px; - line-height: 22.5px; - padding-top: 2px; - padding-bottom: .25px;} - -/* Images */ - -img { - max-width: 100%; - height: auto;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; - max-width: 100%;} - -/* Poetry */ -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} -/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */ -.poetry {display: inline-block;} -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} -/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */ -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - margin-left: 20%; - margin-right: 20%; - font-family:sans-serif, serif;} - -/* Poetry indents */ -.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} -.poetry .indent12 {text-indent: 3em;} -.poetry .indent14 {text-indent: 4em;} -.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} - -.x-ebookmaker-drop .hide {display: none; visibility: hidden;} - -.x-ebookmaker .hide {display: none; visibility: hidden;} - -.x-ebookmaker .figcenter {width:100%} - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The story of Abraham Lincoln, by Mary A. Hamilton</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The story of Abraham Lincoln</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>The children's heroes series</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Mary A. Hamilton</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Editor: John Lang</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: S. T. Dadd</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 29, 2022 [eBook #68423]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: D A Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was created from images of public domain material made available by the University of Toronto Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter hide"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="40%" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter adblock"> -<p class="no-indent">THE CHILDREN’S HEROES SERIES</p> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap">Edited by John Lang</span></p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="ph2 center no-indent"><span class="smaller">THE STORY OF</span><br /> -ABRAHAM LINCOLN</p></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 626px;"> -<img src="images/i_map.jpg" width="626" alt="Map of Southern United States" /></div></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="Frontispiece"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" width="400" alt="For the first time he saw negroes being scourged" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">For the first time he saw negroes being scourged</p></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h1><span class="smaller">THE STORY OF</span><br /> -ABRAHAM<br /> -LINCOLN</h1> - -<p class="center p4b no-indent">BY MARY A. HAMILTON<br /> -WITH PICTURES BY S. T. DADD</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 180px;"> -<img src="images/i_logo.jpg" width="180" alt="Publishers Logo" /></div> - -<p class="center no-indent p4">LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK<br /> -NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center no-indent">TO<br /> -MARGOT</p></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class=" ph2 nobreak">O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!</p> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;</div> - <div class="verse indent12">But O heart! heart! heart!</div> - <div class="verse indent12">O the bleeding drops of red,</div> - <div class="verse indent12">Where on the deck my Captain lies,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Fallen cold and dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;</div> - <div class="verse indent12">Here Captain! dear father!</div> - <div class="verse indent12">This arm beneath your head!</div> - <div class="verse indent12">It is some dream that on the deck</div> - <div class="verse indent14">You’ve fallen cold and dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;</div> - <div class="verse indent12">Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!</div> - <div class="verse indent12">But I with mournful tread</div> - <div class="verse indent12">Walk the deck; my Captain lies,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Fallen cold and dead.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right no-indent">—<i>Walt Whitman.</i></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="nobreak ph2">CONTENTS</p></div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" summary="CONTENTS"> - -<tr><td class="tdc"><small>Chapter</small></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdl"><small>Page</small></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">I.</td> -<td class="tdl">Boyhood</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">II.</td> -<td class="tdl">The Young Backwoodsman</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">III.</td> -<td class="tdl">Slavery</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">IV.</td> -<td class="tdl">Lincoln the Lawyer</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">V.</td> -<td class="tdl">Defeat of the Little Giant</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">VI.</td> -<td class="tdl">The New President and Secession</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">VII.</td> -<td class="tdl">The War</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">VIII.</td> -<td class="tdl">Victory</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdch">IX.</td> -<td class="tdl">“O Captain! My Captain!”</td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2 nobreak">LIST OF PICTURES</p></div> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3" summary="LIST OF PICTURES"> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“For the first time he saw negroes being<br /> -<span class="hang">scourged”</span></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#Frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“The bullet passed right through his heart”</td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo1">6</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“Sometimes he did sums on the wooden shovel”</td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo2">14</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“His huge arms closed round Armstrong like a<br /> -<span class="hang">vice”</span></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo3">24</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“Springing to his feet, he poured out what was in<br /> -<span class="hang">his mind”</span></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo4">58</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Lincoln reading Emancipation Proclamation to his<br /> -<span class="hang">Cabinet</span></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo5">94</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">Lincoln discussing plan of campaign with General<br /> -<span class="hang">Grant</span></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo6">104</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td class="tdl">“Lincoln visited all the divisions of his army in<br /> -<span class="hang">turns”</span></td> -<td> </td> -<td class="tdbr"><a href="#illo7">110</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> - -<p class="ph1 nobreak">THE STORY OF<br /> -ABRAHAM LINCOLN</p></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> -<span class="smaller">BOYHOOD</span></h2> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">I</span>n</span> this little book I am going to try to tell -you something about Abraham Lincoln. -There is far more to say about him than can -be fitted into so small a space; and perhaps -when you are older you will read about -him for yourselves, and read his wonderful -speeches.</p> - -<p>The greatest names in American history are -those of George Washington and Abraham -Lincoln. These two men are great in the -true sense of the word; they are great because -they loved their country, purely and -passionately, better than themselves, and -gave their lives to its service. They thought -nothing of their own honour and glory: to -the last they were simple and true. Americans<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span> -may well be proud of two such patriots; -and from them every one may be glad to learn -what real greatness means. Their work has -made America what it is.</p> - -<p>Less than forty years before Abraham -Lincoln was born, America belonged to England. -In the time of Charles I., numbers of -people who loved freedom and hated the -wrongful government of the king left their -country and sailed to the New World. -Samuel Lincoln was one of these men.</p> - -<p>For a long time they were few in number. -The greatest part of the country was unknown -forest, inhabited by wild beasts, or -vast plains which belonged to fierce tribes of -Red Indians. Life for the early settlers was -very hard and rough. They had to cut down -trees to build their houses, and to kill wild -animals to get their food. Nevertheless they -soon grew to love the country where they -lived, where they married and brought up -their children; and their wild open life made -freedom more precious to them than anything -else. They began to resent the action -of the English Government, which wanted to -tax them to pay for wars which were agreed -upon in the Parliament in London, where -America had no voice to speak for her. On -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span>July 4, 1776, in the reign of George III., the -chief citizens met together and declared that -America was a free united country, with a -right to govern itself. The 4th of July—“Independence -Day”—is the greatest day of -all in America.</p> - -<p>For seven years there was war. In this -war Abraham’s great-grandfather, John Lincoln, -served as a soldier. The Americans -were led by George Washington.</p> - -<p>England was defeated, and America—the -United States of America—was a free -country. From this time on, America belonged -to the Americans. But a great many -years had to pass before they made of the -country the America that we know. Now -there are towns everywhere: you can get -from one end to the other of the great -country, far bigger than the whole of Europe, -by trains that travel day and night from -north to south and east to west. Then -there were very few towns, most of them -along the coast, and no railways. All the -west was unknown.</p> - -<p>After the war was over, bands of explorers -set out to fight the Indians and to find new -homes for themselves. And Abraham Lincoln’s -grandfather, after whom he was -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span>named, was one of the first of these explorers. -He sold his little piece of land in -Virginia, and tramped through the forests -till he found a place to build a new home, -carrying his youngest son Thomas on one -shoulder, and with his loaded rifle in his -other hand ready to shoot any Indian who -should attack him. In Kentucky some -white men had already settled and built a -small fort; near it Lincoln cut down trees -and built a hut for himself and his wife and -his three sons to live in.</p> - -<p>When Abraham was a small boy he used -to listen to the stories which his father -Thomas told of their life there in the constant -fear of Indian attack. There was one -story which Thomas told very often, the -story of his father’s death.</p> - -<p>He was at work cutting down the trees, -so as to clear an open space near the house -which he could plough and then sow with -seed.</p> - -<p>One morning he set out as usual with his -three boys. They were talking together as -they walked, and none of them saw that -behind one of the trees an Indian was -hiding, his dark skin strangely painted -with arrows and circles in white and -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span>scarlet, and on his head a tuft of black -feathers standing upright and waving as -he moved. In his hand he had a gun. As -soon as the father had passed, the Indian -came out from behind the tree, moving -without making any sound. He shot -at Abraham from behind, and the bullet -passed right through his heart. The father -fell down dead before the eyes of his sons. -They were terrified. The two eldest ran -off, one to the house and the other to the -fort, to bring help. Thomas, the youngest, -was only six. He could not run so fast -as his brothers, and he was too much -frightened to try. He stood still beside his -father’s body, not understanding what had -happened. His eldest brother, Mordecai, -made all speed to the house. As soon as -he reached it he took down a gun, loaded -it, and jumped up to the window so that -he might shoot at the Indian out of it. As -he looked out he saw the Indian walk up to -the place where the dead body lay, look -at it for a moment, then pick up little -Thomas, put him under his arm, and turn -to walk away with him. Mordecai felt his -heart stand still with fear; but he was a -brave boy, and his father had taught him -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span>how to shoot at a long distance. He -aimed straight at the white star painted on -the Indian’s naked chest. There was an -awful moment. Then the Indian fell back -dead upon the ground, dropping the child -from his arms. Thomas ran to the house -as fast as his legs would carry him, screaming -with fear, for now several other Indians -began to appear from the wood. Mordecai -fired again and again at them from the -house; and people came from the fort, -brought by his brother, and drove the -Indians away.</p> - -<p class="p15b">Mordecai, when he grew up, spent his life -in waging war upon the Indians, killing -them wherever he met them. Thomas was -neither so strong nor so clever as his -brother. He became a carpenter, but he -was never a very good carpenter. He was -not very good at anything but sitting by -the fire telling stories. He did that very -well indeed, and people generally were -fond of him; but he was not a successful -person. He had none of his son’s wonderful -power of work; he always wanted to -do something else, not the thing before -him, and live somewhere else, not settle -down to work where he was.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="illo1"><img src="images/i_007.jpg" width="400" alt="The bullet passed right through his heart" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">The bullet passed right through his heart</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> - -<p class="p2">He built himself a log-cabin at Elizabethtown, -on the edge of the forest, and when -he was twenty-eight he got married and -took his wife to live there.</p> - -<p>It is said that all great men have had -great mothers. Nancy Hanks had much -more character than her husband, and her -son was much more like her. She had a -very sweet, unselfish nature, and every one -loved her. She had had more education than -her husband, and could read and write: she -taught him to sign his name.</p> - -<p>After their first child came—a daughter -called Sarah—Thomas Lincoln, who always -thought he could make a fortune somewhere -else, moved farther west to a place -called Nolin’s Creek. The place was not -at all attractive, but it was cheap. The -soil was hard; it was rocky and barren, -and nothing but weeds seemed to grow in -it. Only a very energetic man could have -made much out of it, and Thomas was not -very energetic. They were very poor.</p> - -<p>It was here, in an uncomfortable log-cabin, -that his son Abraham was born, on the 12th -of February 1809; and here he lived until -he was seven.</p> - -<p>The hut had only one room. It was very -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>roughly built. Stout logs had been laid on -top of one another, then bound together -with twigs, and the holes filled up with -clay and grass and handfuls of dead leaves. -There was no ceiling, only the log roof.</p> - -<p>The two children climbed up a shaky ladder -to a loft in the roof, where they slept on -a bed of dry leaves, covered with an old deerskin, -lying close together to keep themselves -warm. As they lay there, they could count -the stars that looked in through the spaces -between the logs that made the roof. The -windows had no glass; the door was only -an opening over which a deerskin was hung -as a curtain. In winter it was terrible. The -wind blew in, icy cold; there was nothing to -keep it out, except when sometimes the -entrance was blocked up with snow, and no -one could go out or come in until a pathway -had been dug.</p> - -<p>In the autumn the house used to be -full of dead leaves that whirled about in -the middle of the floor. The only comfort -in the hut was the huge fire; it filled -up nearly the whole of one side, and in -front of it was a great bearskin rug. On -this the two children spent the days in -winter, playing together, or leaning against -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>their mother’s knee while she told them -stories—fairy tales, or true stories about -Indians and old American history, or parables -from the Bible. In the winter you could not -keep warm anywhere else; and in the -autumn there were damp fogs that made it -unwholesome outside, or heavy rains that -came through the roof; the only thing to -do was to get as near the fire as possible. -Above it were ranged all the household pots -and pans; the meat, a haunch of venison, -or a couple of rabbits, hung from the roof. -Cooking was very simple, for there was no -choice of food: it consisted of game shot in -the forest, or fish caught in the streams, -roots and berries from the wood; bread -was made of flour ground from Indian corn, -which was the only thing that grew in the -rough fields. Until he was a grown man -Abraham had never tasted any other sort -of bread.</p> - -<p>The life was uncomfortable, often dangerous—for -an Indian attack was possible at -any time—and always the same. No visitors -came to see the Lincolns; there were few -friends for them to go and see, only the -scattered settlers living in huts like their -own.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span></p> - -<p>Abraham very soon learnt to make himself -useful. He would cut and bring -home wood for the fire; help his mother -in the house, or his father out-of-doors. -In summer he spent long hours roaming -about the woods. He soon learned to -use a rifle, for it was not safe to go far -unarmed, and he became a good shot. He -remembered very little about this time when -he grew older. One day he had been out -fishing, and at the end of it he caught a -single fish. With this he was walking -home to supper, when he met a soldier. -His mother had taught him he must always -be good to soldiers, who fought for their -country, and therefore the little boy gave -the soldier his fish.</p> - -<p>His father always thought that he should -be better off somewhere else. He heard that -across the Ohio River there was rich land -which any one could have who chose to go -and take it: so when Abraham was seven, -and his sister nine, they moved. The father -built a raft, and put his family and all -the goods he had, after selling his house, on -to it, and they sailed down the river, getting -food on the way by shooting and fishing, -till they came to a place they liked called -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>Little Pigeon Creek. It was simply an opening -in the forest.</p> - -<p>Here they disembarked, and for a year -they lived in a roughly built shelter, without -a floor or doors or windows, while the -father and his son built a better cabin, and -cut down trees and shrubs to clear a place -for planting corn. When it was finished, -Abraham’s aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. -Sparrow, and two cousins, John and Denis -Hanks, came to live with them. The three -boys were great friends, and they worked -together on the farm until they all grew -up.</p> - -<p>Abe, as they called him, was a very tall -boy for his age: his long legs were always -in his way, and they seemed to get longer -every day. He never wore stockings until -he was a young man, but moccasins, such as -the Indians wear—shoes of leather, with a -fringe round the top—and long deerskin -leggings; a deerskin shirt which his mother -had made him, and a cap which was seldom -on his head, it being covered enough -by his thick black hair. His hair was never -tidy; always in his eyes, and having to be -pushed back. Abe was clever with his axe, -and a good workman; his mother had taught -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>him to spell, but there was little chance of -learning in Pigeon’s Creek.</p> - -<p>For a year the little family lived there -very happily; then a mysterious sickness -broke out in the place, no one knew why -or how to cure it. They called it the milk -sickness; many people fell ill of it, and hardly -any one recovered. Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow -both died of it in the autumn, and a few -days afterwards Mrs. Lincoln sickened and -died too. To her children this was a terrible -grief. Abraham, though a boy when she -died, never forgot his mother: she had -taught him his first lessons, and from her -came that sweetness of nature, that power -of thinking first of others, that made every one -who knew him love him. It was at the -time of his mother’s death that the sadness -which never left him came upon him. In -later life, people who really knew him said -that, in spite of his fun and power of making -other people laugh, he was the saddest man -they ever knew.</p> - -<p>A dreary winter followed. At the end of -it Thomas Lincoln brought home a new -wife to his little cabin. Sally Bush was -a widow, with three children; she was a -good and kind woman, and Abe really loved -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>her and she him. She said afterwards that -he had never all his life given her a cross -word or look, or refused to do anything she -asked him; that he was the best boy she -had ever seen. He was indeed the sunshine -of the house; but in many ways he was -very lonely. He was hungry for knowledge, -for books and teaching. All the schooling -he ever had was a month now and then -with a travelling teacher who passed through -Pigeon’s Creek on his way to somewhere -else; but none of these teachers knew much -beyond the three R’s: one who knew Latin -was regarded as a sort of magician. In all, -he had not so much as one year at school, -taught by five different teachers.</p> - -<p>But Abe was not the sort of boy to learn -nothing because there was nobody to teach -him. He had a few books that had been -his mother’s, and he read them again and -again until he knew everything that was -in them. John Hanks, his cousin, says of -him: “When 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, cock his legs as high as his -head, and read.” The Bible and “Pilgrim’s -Progress,” “Æsop’s Fables,” and “Robinson -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>Crusoe,” these were his books; he knew -them by heart. In the intervals of work -he used to tell them to his companions. He -thought over every word until he understood -it. In this way he learned more from a few -books than many people do from whole -libraries, because he learned to think. He -questioned everything, and asked himself if -he thought so too, and why he thought so.</p> - -<p class="p15b">One day he borrowed the life of George -Washington from a farmer who lived near; -as he lay in the loft he read it with eagerness. -In the middle he was called away to -work, and in the meantime the rain came -in and ruined the book. Abraham went in -despair to the farmer and told him what -had happened. “Never mind,” said the -farmer. “You do three days’ work for me -for nothing and you may keep the book; I -don’t want it.” To his joy he thus became -possessed of a new treasure to be studied -again and again. This book more than -any other made him a patriot: he longed -to get out into the great big world where -he could serve his country. In the evenings -he used to sit silent for hours, thinking. -Sometimes he did sums of all sorts on the -wooden shovel; making figures on it with -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>a piece of charcoal. When it was quite full -he shaved off the top with his knife so as -to have a clean slate in the morning.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="illo2"><img src="images/i_014.jpg" width="400" alt="Sometimes he did sums on the wooden shovel" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">Sometimes he did sums on the wooden shovel</p> - -<p class="p2">All his companions liked Abe and admired -him. He worked very hard, but farm work -did not interest him; he liked dinner and -play better; and sometimes he used to stop -work and climb on to a gate or a dead tree-stump, -and make absurd speeches or comic -sermons to his companions, or recite passages -from his favourite books.</p> - -<p>They thought him a quaint fellow, with -some strange ideas. One of these strange -ideas was his tenderness to animals. He -never cared much for sport, because it -seemed to him cruel. He showed his tenderness -to animals when quite a small boy. -One day he was playing in the woods with -a boy called John Davis. In their game -they ran a hedgehog into a crevice between -two rocks, and it got caught fast. For two -hours they tried every sort of plan to get it -out, but without any success. They were -not able to pull it out, and it could not move -itself. Abraham could not bear to leave the -poor thing to die in pain. He ran off to -the blacksmith’s shop, quite a quarter of a -mile away, and borrowed a pole with an iron -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>hook fastened to the end; with this they -were able to set the little animal free. This -care for animals was only one sign of Abraham’s -tenderness of heart. All little children -and old people trusted him and his word. -He was very soon known as “Honest -Abe.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE YOUNG BACKWOODSMAN</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">F</span>or</span> Abraham life was dull and very -monotonous: the round of work was -much the same, summer and winter. He -longed to escape from the dull work of a -farm labourer; to go out and see the world. -Until he was twenty-one, however, he was -bound to serve his father; and his father -seems to have had no idea that his son -was fit for anything better than ordinary -farm work. Other people nevertheless were -struck by Abraham.</p> - -<p>Until he was nineteen he had not left -home at all; but then one day a rich landowner -who lived near came to him. He -wanted some one to help his son to take -a raft loaded with different kinds of goods -down the Ohio River, selling the goods at -the different places they passed. Abraham -had struck this Mr. Gentry as being an -honest and capable lad; he therefore asked -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>him to undertake the voyage, and Abraham -consented at once, glad of any chance of seeing -something of life outside the settlement.</p> - -<p>He took charge of the raft and steered -it successfully down the river; the voyage -took them past the great southern sugar -plantations, right down to New Orleans. -They had no adventures of any sort until -they had almost come to New Orleans.</p> - -<p>One night they encamped at Baton Rouge, -a place on the bank of the river. Here they -fastened their raft, and lay down to sleep -on it for the night, wrapped up in thick -blankets. They were both sound asleep. -Suddenly Abraham started up. He heard -the sound of many soft footsteps all round -him. In the darkness, at first, he could see -nothing; then he became aware that a band -of negroes was attacking the raft, ready to -steal their goods and to murder them. -Abraham’s cry waked up his companion, -young Allan Gentry, and they threw themselves -upon the negroes. If Abraham had -not been uncommonly strong and active -they must both have lost their lives, for -the negroes far outnumbered them. He -seized a huge log of wood, which served -him as a club, and brandished it in his -hand. His great height and the unknown -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>weapon which he whirled round his head, -terrified the negroes. He hit first one and -then another on the head and threw them -overboard, Allan Gentry helping. The fight -was very fierce for a few moments, and then -the negroes turned and fled. Abraham and -Allan pursued them a long way into the -darkness, but the thieves did not dare to -return, though two men could not have held -their own for long against such numbers.</p> - -<p>The voyage ended successfully, and Abraham -returned home for two more years. -At the end of that time his father again -moved. John Hanks had gone west to -Illinois; he wrote to his uncle, praising the -new country, and urging him to come there -too. Thomas Lincoln was always ready to -try something new: he sold his farm and -his land to a neighbour. All the goods of -the household were packed in a waggon -drawn by oxen; the family walked beside -it. They tramped for more than a week -until they came to the new State; the journey -was not easy. It was February. The -forest roads were ankle-deep in mud; the -prairie a mere swamp, very difficult for walking. -They had to cross streams that were -swollen into rivers by the rains.</p> - -<p>At last they arrived. John Hanks had -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>chosen a plantation for them, and got logs -ready for building the house. Abraham -worked very hard, and helped his father and -John Hanks to make a cabin; then, with his -own hands, he ploughed fifteen acres of -ground. When that was done he cut down -walnut trees, split them, and built a high -and solid fence which went right round his -father’s property.</p> - -<p>Abraham lived in Illinois until he was -made President of the United States. Once -he was addressing a meeting there, years -after this, and Denis Hanks marched in -amid the shouts and applause of the crowd, -carrying on his shoulder a piece of the railing -that Abraham had made for his father. -It is now in the Museum at Washington, -kept as a national treasure. How little -could Abraham himself or any one who knew -him at this time, have dreamed that this -rail-splitter was to be the greatest man in -America.</p> - -<p>The winter that followed was one of the -most severe ever known in Illinois; it is -always referred to as the winter of deep -snow. When spring came at last, Abraham -said good-bye to his father and mother, and -went out into the world to make a livelihood -for himself. His boyish days were over. He -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span>was now twenty-one, and very tall and -strong for his age. More than six feet four -inches in height, he seldom met a man taller -than himself. He is a great exception to -the saying that all great men have been -small—for example, Napoleon, Cæsar, Hannibal, -Shakespeare. Abraham was very well -built; it was not till he stood up among -other men that you realised that he was head -and shoulders taller than most of them.</p> - -<p>In the ordinary sense of the word, he had -had no education. He knew no language -but his own, and that not very well at this -time. When asked could he write, he replied, -“Well, I guess I could make a few -rabbit-tracks.” He had taught himself all -the arithmetic he knew. But he knew two -things that are the most important that can -be got from any training: how to think, and -how to work. When he made clear to himself -what it was right to do, he did it without -talking about it, all his life.</p> - -<p>His experience in taking Mr. Gentry’s -cargo down to New Orleans induced a -merchant called Offutt to offer him another -job of the same kind. Offutt was an adventurous -sort of dealer, who did all kinds of -business. He wanted some one to help him -who had a head on his shoulders, and he -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>soon saw that Lincoln had plenty of sense. -He therefore engaged him, and Lincoln took -his cousin, John Hanks, to help him. They -did not make much money by the voyage, -but Lincoln showed great skill in managing -the raft.</p> - -<p>On this trip Lincoln came for the first -time really face to face with slavery. New -Orleans was a great slave market, and they -spent some time there. For the first time -he saw negroes being sold in the open -streets, chained together in gangs. For the -first time, too, he saw negroes being beaten; -fastened to a block and scourged till the -blood ran from their backs. Every one -took it all as a matter of course, but Lincoln -was deeply struck. His heart bled. -At the time he said nothing, but he was -silent for a long while afterwards, thinking -over what he had seen. There and then, -as his cousin used to tell afterwards, slavery -ran its iron into him: to see these men -chained was a torment to him, and he never -forgot it: the picture was printed on his -memory never to be forgotten, only to be -wiped out when there were no more slaves -in America. He was often in the slave states -after this; but slavery always seemed to him -horrible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span></p> - -<p>Offutt was quite satisfied with the way -in which the young backwoodsman had -managed the trip. After his return he -offered him a post in his grocery store -at New Salem. He had a kind of half -shop, half office, with a mill behind it; here -he sold everything that any one could want -to buy—grocery, drapery, stationery, miscellaneous -goods of all kinds. Lincoln was -clerk, superintendent of the mill, and general -assistant.</p> - -<p>Offutt soon began to admire his assistant -immensely. He declared that Lincoln was -the cleverest fellow he knew—he could read, -and talk like a book; he was so strong -and active that he could beat any one at -running, jumping, or wrestling. Lincoln -did not know any one in New Salem, and -this “wooling and pulling,” as he called -it, of Offutt’s annoyed him a good deal; as -he knew, it was not at all likely to make -people like him. The young fellows of the -place did not mind his supposed cleverness; -they knew nothing about that, and cared -nothing; but they did resent the idea that -he was stronger than they were.</p> - -<p>At first they did nothing: he looked rather -a dangerous person to attack, and not at all -likely to take things meekly. Offutt’s loud -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>and continual praise, however, was more -than they could stand. As Lincoln was on -his way home one evening a group of the -strongest fellows in New Salem, the “boys -of Clary’s Grove,” attacked him. Jock Armstrong, -the biggest and burliest of them all, -challenged him to a “wrastle.” Jock was -not as tall as Lincoln, but he was much -more solidly built, with huge shoulders like -an ox and immensely strong arms: no one -in New Salem had ever been able to throw -him, and he expected an easy victory over -this strange clerk.</p> - -<p class="p15b">But Abe was as strong and as skilful as -Jock: though he was thin his muscles were -made of iron; his huge arms closed round -the burly fellow like a vice. Even when his -companions came to the champion’s rescue -Abe was a match for them. Armstrong was a -sportsman and not ashamed to take a beating: -he admired a man who was able to throw -him. After this Lincoln had no stauncher -friend, and he soon grew to be a person of -importance in New Salem. His strength -and his honesty made him respected.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="illo3"><img src="images/i_024.jpg" width="400" alt="His huge arms closed round Armstrong like a vice" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">His huge arms closed round Armstrong like a vice</p> - -<p class="p2">Of his honesty there are numberless -stories. One evening he was making up -his accounts for the day. While doing so -he found that he had charged a woman, who -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>had come in in the morning to buy a great -number of little things, 6-1/4 cents—that is, -about 3d.—too much. Until it was time to -shut up the shop the money seemed to burn -in his pocket. It was late when the time -for locking up came, but he could not wait. -He started off at once for the woman’s house, -though it was several miles off, and walked -there and back in the darkness to pay her -her 3d. before he went to bed. He knew -he could not sleep until he had done so.</p> - -<p>People trusted him: those who were in -trouble soon found out how wise and gentle -he was, and they went to him for advice and -help. He had a wonderful way of quite -forgetting himself, and only thinking of -making other people happy: generally -silent, he could tell stories so that every -one laughed. But though he enjoyed talking -and going to see people, he always -worked very hard.</p> - -<p>And he did not only work in the shop: -he was always eager to learn more. After -the day’s task was done, he would walk -miles to get hold of some book that he -wanted, and read it on the way home. -When his cousin, a lazy fellow, wrote to -ask his advice, he replied: “What is wrong -with you is your habit of needlessly wasting -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>time: go to work; that is the only cure for -your difficulty.”</p> - -<p>When he came to New Salem he met -people who had been well educated, and -he was at once struck by the difference -between their way of speaking and his. -He resolved to learn to speak correctly. -One evening he walked to Kirkham and -back—it was twelve miles away—and -bought a grammar there. For the next -few weeks he spent all his spare time in -studying it: he used to sit with his feet -on the mantelpiece and work for hours -without moving. In this way he soon knew -all there was to know about grammar. -When you read his speeches you will find -that they are written in English as beautiful -and simple as that of the Bible, which -was the book he knew best of all.</p> - -<p>He only remained with Offutt for a year. -Offutt was too fond of talking to make his -business a success, and he had to give up -the store. It was Lincoln’s first attempt -at earning his living, and learning a trade -did not seem very successful. Instead of -at once looking for some new work of the -same sort he enlisted as a soldier. The -State of Illinois was thrown into a state of -wild excitement by an attack made at this -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>time by a powerful Indian tribe. Black -Hawk crossed the Mississippi at the head -of an army of red warriors. To drive them -back, the Government of the country called -for volunteers, and Abraham, who was one -of the first to offer himself, was made -a captain. The men entered for three -months, during which they did a great -deal of skirmishing and marching about, -but took part in no regular battles. At the -end of the time most of them went back to -work. Abraham enlisted again; this time -as a private in a battalion of scouts. He -was not present at any battle, but he learnt -something of war and a good deal of soldiers; -it was hard work and not much glory. By -the autumn Black Hawk was captured, -and the war was at an end. Lincoln’s horse -had been stolen, and he had to walk back to -New Salem, a three days’ tramp. His campaigning -had not been a great success.</p> - -<p>When he returned, the elections for members -of the Illinois Parliament were going -on, and he offered himself as a candidate; -spending the ten days between his return -from the war and the time of election in -making speeches. In New Salem he was -popular, but he was not yet well known -even there; he was young, and had had no -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>experience. He was not elected, but he -made good friends at the election time, and -he began to be a capital speaker.</p> - -<p>Meetings were not very formal in those -days. One day when Lincoln was addressing -a large hall full of people, in the middle of -his speech he saw that a ruffian in the -crowd was attacking a friend of his; they -were struggling together, and his friend -seemed to be having the worst of it. Lincoln -jumped down from the platform where he -stood, and marched to the middle of the -room. He picked up the ruffian in his -mighty arms and threw him some ten feet, -so that he fell right outside the hall. There -he lay, and did not attempt to return. Lincoln -came back on to the platform and went on with -his speech, just as if nothing had happened.</p> - -<p>After the election he thought of becoming -a blacksmith. Instead of this, he joined -with a man called Berry in buying a store. -Berry was a stupid and not very honest -man. He got into debt; then he took to -drinking, and soon afterwards died, leaving -Lincoln with the business ruined and a lot -of debts to pay.</p> - -<p>After this he did not try storekeeping -again: he was made postmaster of New -Salem. This meant very little work: few -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>people wrote letters there: he could carry -the whole post in his hat, and he read every -newspaper that came. He now had plenty -of time for reading, and he read ceaselessly. -Most of all, he read American history. -The “Life of Washington” had been his -earliest treasure; and as a boy he had pored -over an old copy of the statutes of Indiana. -This was, perhaps, the beginning of his -interest in law. Now he was in a town, -though a small one, and it was possible to -get hold of books. He used to lie on his -back under a tree, with his feet high up -against the trunk, only moving so as to -keep in the shade, and laying down the book -now and then to think over what he had read -and make sure that he understood it.</p> - -<p>He studied surveying in this way for six -weeks, and John Calhoun, the surveyor of the -county, was so much astonished by his knowledge -that he made him his assistant. His -reading in law and history deepened his interest -in politics: nothing interested him so -much. He was resolved sooner or later to -get into Parliament. One failure could not -make him despair. There was a great world -outside, and the door into Parliament was -the door into that world. He was resolved -to make his way in.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -<span class="smaller">SLAVERY</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">I</span>t</span> would be a great mistake to think -that Abraham Lincoln won success -easily.</p> - -<p>Looking back over the lives of great men, -one is apt to think “How fortune helped -them;” “What astonishing luck they must -have had;” when one knows the end, it -seems certain from the beginning. But -when you know more about any one really -great man, you are sure to find that he has -risen only by endless hard work, and by -knowing from the beginning what he -wanted to be and do, and thinking only of -that.</p> - -<p>Success is never easy, and for Lincoln -the path to it was a hard and uphill way. -You have seen in what difficulties his life -began; how he taught himself everything -he learned, and made for himself every -penny that he possessed. His first effort to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>get into Parliament, like his first efforts to -make a living, seemed a failure. But this -did not make him despair. Other people -had risen, and he was going to rise. He -was sure of one thing, that there is always -plenty of room at the top, and he meant to -reach the top. There is always a place for -a man of strong purpose, who is honest, and -who can think for himself. If a man really -wants to serve his country, nothing need -prevent him from doing it. And Lincoln -saw that the first step to serving your -country well is to be a good workman, a -good friend, and a good citizen of your own -town.</p> - -<p>When the next election came he stood -again, and this time he was elected; and -after his two years of service came to an -end, he was elected again. For eight -years he was a member of the Parliament -of his own State of Illinois; then, after -four years away from politics, he was -made member of Congress—that is, of the -American Parliament, to which the States -send representatives.</p> - -<p>To be in Parliament was to be in touch -with the big world; to have a share in -the settlement of big questions. In the -Illinois Parliament, Lincoln met a great -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>many clever men; men who rose to important -posts later. Few of them suspected -that this tall, awkward, country-looking -young lawyer, who did not speak -much, but could tell such extraordinarily -funny stories when he chose, was going to -rise to be American President, to prove -himself greater than any American of their -time. Most of the members were small -lawyers like himself. They were sent to -Parliament because they were men in whom -their fellow-citizens had confidence. They -were honest men, but few of them had any -more knowledge of politics than Lincoln -himself.</p> - -<p>The State of Illinois was very new, and -its affairs had not yet become complicated. -Lincoln soon learnt the ins and outs of -parliamentary business; and he only found -one man who was a better speaker than -himself. This was a man with whom he -was to have a great deal to do all his -life; a man already well known in politics, -and followed by a large party.</p> - -<p>His name was Stephen Arnold Douglas. -He was two years younger than Lincoln; -like him he had been brought up in the -rough surroundings of the West, where he -had gone as a boy. His father was poor, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>but he was a gentleman. Well educated -himself, he had given his son a good education -of a sort.</p> - -<p>When he was twenty-one Douglas became -a lawyer. Very soon he became the -foremost barrister in North Illinois, and -soon entered the State Parliament. In -the year of Lincoln’s election he had been -made Secretary of State; he was therefore -a person of importance. Douglas was extremely -clever; as a boy he learnt things -quickly, and remembered them easily, unlike -Lincoln, who learnt very slowly; he had a -wonderful power of speech: he was ready -and able to speak on any subject, and, -even if he really knew very little about it, he -always gave people the impression that he -knew everything. He used to tell people -what they wanted to hear, whereas Lincoln -had a way of speaking the truth -whether it was pleasant or not.</p> - -<p>Douglas was very popular: he understood -how to rule men, and he was intensely ambitious. -Ambition was the strongest feeling in -his heart; and his ambition was for himself: -he dreamed already of being President of -the United States. He was a short, thickly-built -man; but it was the smallness of his -mind, his selfish aims, that made Lincoln -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>say that Douglas was the least man that -he had ever met: he seemed to “Honest -Abe” to care not at all for what he said -or did, so long as his own success was -safe; success was his one object.</p> - -<p>It was an ambition very different from -Lincoln’s. Indeed, Lincoln was unlike any -of the members whom he met: his aims -were quite different from theirs. He looked -to a future beyond himself. He did not -think of his own success. What he wanted -to attain by success was the power to help -his country. Patriotism was his first and -strongest feeling, and his patriotism was of -the truest kind. He did not want to make -America great because she ruled over a vast -extent of territory: such greatness did not -appeal to him at all. He wanted her to be -great in the sense that she really lived up -to the ideal set before her for ever in the -Declaration of Independence—the ideal of a -union of free men governing themselves well.</p> - -<p>And Lincoln’s ideals were real to him: in -every question he was guided by his patriotism. -He did not mind saying what he -thought, whether people liked him for it or -not: they must like him for what he was, -and not for what he said, and unless they -loved what was right, their liking was not -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>worth having. When, after long thinking, -he came to see what he thought the truth -on any subject, he spoke out so that every -one who heard must understand: he never -said one thing and meant another, as -Douglas did: he was as honest in his -thoughts as in his actions.</p> - -<p>Now in American politics there was one -great question, more important than every -other, the question of slavery. Cautious -politicians, men with an eye to their own -success, thought that this question had better -be left alone. Really thoughtful men, men -like Lincoln, saw that this question could -not be left alone for ever. Some day, and -the sooner the better, it must be settled. -Anyhow, it was every honest man’s duty to -say what he thought. It is difficult now to -realise quite what slavery meant. Perhaps -you have read or heard of a book called -“Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” It was written about -this time by an American lady, who wanted -to make all Americans see what slavery did -mean—how terrible it could be.</p> - -<p>If you drew a line across America just -south of Lincoln’s State of Illinois, slavery -did not exist in the Northern States; it did -exist in all the Southern States. Whenever -the question was discussed, most people from -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>the North thought it rather a bad thing, -some thought it a very bad thing; people -from the South all thought it was a good, or -at least, a necessary, thing. They all agreed -as a rule in thinking that, whether it was a -good thing or a bad thing, there it was, and -there was no good discussing it.</p> - -<p>The real wrong lay far back in the past. -Centuries ago, merchants had brought -negroes over from Africa, and sold them -in America as slaves.</p> - -<p>As is always the case, when once the -wrong had been brought in, when the evil -had begun, it was almost impossible to get -rid of it when people had grown used to it. -When people could buy slaves who did not -cost very much to do work for them, they -did not want to do it themselves, especially -if the work was disagreeable. They began -to believe that black men were intended by -nature to do all the disagreeable things. -English merchants made great fortunes by -bringing slaves to America; and the English -Government supported them. And when, -after the war, America was a free country, -the Union of States which made it so was -half composed of States that held slaves. -These slaves were most valuable property. -The men who drew up the Constitution, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>George Washington and Thomas Jefferson -and Alexander Hamilton, declared in it, -“All men are free and equal: all men possess -rights, which no one can take away -from them.” The Northern States gave up -their slaves, and decided that slavery was -illegal: the Southern States did not. They -refused to join the Union unless they were -allowed to keep their slaves. Now of course -it was absurd to call a country free where -slavery existed, or to say that all men have -rights when millions of black men had no -rights at all.</p> - -<p>To the Southerner a black man was not -a man, but a piece of property.</p> - -<p>But it would not be quite fair to think -that the Northerners who gave up slaves -had always more lofty ideas than the Southerners. -You must remember that slaves -were much more useful in the South than -in the North. The climate of the North -was cold, and the work not of the sort -that could be well done by untrained -negroes. In the South it was so hot that -it was difficult for white men to work, and -work on the plantations needed no special -skill.</p> - -<p>At the time when the Declaration of -Independence was drawn up and signed, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>one thing seemed to every American more -important than anything else: that the -country should be united in one whole. -North and South must join together; no -difference could outweigh a common nationality. -The Southerners would not join the -Union unless they were allowed to keep their -slaves: therefore the Northerners left slavery -in the South. They hoped, however, that -it would gradually die out; and therefore -a law was passed which declared that after -twenty years no more slaves were to be -brought from Africa.</p> - -<p>When Southerners declared, as they very -often did, that slaves were very well treated, -that they were much happier and more -comfortable than if they were free, this was -true to a certain extent. Those slaves who -were employed in the houses and gardens -of their masters, those who were used as -servants, were often very well treated. But -however well they were treated, it is wrong -for a man to have other men entirely in his -power; wrong for him, and wrong for them. -And although some masters did not abuse -their power, some did—and all could, if -ever they wanted to—without feeling that -they were doing anything wrong. A white -gentleman could beat his black slave to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>death if he chose; he would not be punished -any more than if he beat a dog to -death, and his friends would still think him -a gentleman. Moreover, far the greater -number of the slaves were not used as -servants, but used as labourers on the -cotton plantations. Here they were under -the charge of an overseer. His one idea -was to get as much work out of them as -possible. They worked all day, and at -night were often herded together in any -sort of shed.</p> - -<p>After Eli Whitney, a young American, -invented a machine called the cotton gin, -by using which one negro could pick twenty -times as much cotton in a day as before, -the business of working the cotton plantations -with slaves made the Southern landowners -very rich. Slaves were cheap: in a -few days they made as much for their -masters as they cost them, and their masters -could make them work as hard as they -liked. They were quite ignorant: their -masters taught them nothing; they had no -way of escape; they were absolutely at the -mercy of the overseer with his whip. The -masters came to regard these black fellow-beings -simply as property: not so valuable -as a horse, rather more useful than a dog; -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>they often forgot that they had any feelings. -Children were sold away from their parents; -a husband was sent to one plantation, and -his wife to another. They were sometimes -beaten for the smallest fault. If they tried -to escape, bloodhounds were used to hunt -them down. Dealers led them about in -chains, and sold them in the public market -exactly like animals. People who came -from the North to the South, as Abraham -Lincoln did, on his trip down the Ohio, -and saw how the slaves were treated, were -often shocked; but in the South people -were used to it.</p> - -<p>North of a certain line, slavery did not -exist. Slaves used sometimes to run away -from their masters and escape across this -line; but in every Northern State there was -a law, that escaped slaves had to be handed -back to their master if he claimed them. -The masters used to offer a reward to any -one who handed back to them the body of -their slave, alive or dead. This led to all -sorts of difficulties, because in the Northern -States a great many free negroes lived. -Very often some one who was eager for the -reward would capture an innocent free negro -and hand him over to the master, declaring -that he answered to the description of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>missing slave. The question as to whether -he was, or not, was decided not in the -Northern State where he had been captured, -but in the Southern State where the master -lived, and no Southern court could be trusted -to decide fairly in a case between a white -man and a black.</p> - -<p>Gradually this injustice roused a small -party in the North, which openly declared -that slavery was an abominable thing, and -ought not to exist in America. The Abolitionists, -as they called themselves, said that -it was a disgrace to a free country that -slavery should exist in it; that as long as -it did exist, the Declaration of Independence -had no meaning. Slavery ought to be -abolished.</p> - -<p>When Abraham Lincoln was about twenty-one, -a paper called <i>The Liberator</i> began to -appear. It was edited by a great man -called William Lloyd Garrison. Its object -was to rouse people to see the evils of slavery, -and to get it made illegal. The Abolitionists -were few in number, and very unpopular. -They had to suffer for their beliefs in the -North as well as in the South. The offices -where <i>The Liberator</i> was printed were -attacked by mobs of furious people, who -burst in at the doors, broke every pane of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>glass in the windows, destroyed the printing -press, and threw the type into the river. -In St. Louis, William Lloyd Garrison was -dragged round the town with a rope round -his waist, while crowds of angry people -hooted and hissed, spat at him, and threw -rotten eggs and stones at his head. He only -just escaped death. Many of his followers -were murdered in the open streets. Even -in Illinois, an innocent preacher, who had -sympathised with them, was thrown into the -river and drowned.</p> - -<p>The Southern States were roused to fury. -In the North, even sensible people who did -not like slavery thought it very unwise to -say anything against it. Slavery was a fact—it -was no good to discuss it. Several -Northern States sent petitions to Parliament, -declaring their opinion that it was very -unwise to discuss Abolition.</p> - -<p>In Illinois, this was the view taken by -nearly all Lincoln’s friends. Lincoln did not -agree with them. He thought the Abolitionists -very often unwise; nothing, he saw, -could be more dangerous than to rouse the -feeling of the South: but nothing could -make him seem to approve of slavery.</p> - -<p>For Lincoln to see that any action was -right, and to do it, was the same thing. He -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>and one other man, called Stone, sent in a -protest to the Illinois Parliament; in it -they declared that they believed slavery to -be founded upon injustice and upon bad -policy. Lincoln spoke because he must. -He had seen what slavery meant, and he -hated slavery. But he saw that the South -would not allow slavery to be abolished: if -the North tried to do it, the country would -be divided into two halves. He was not -ready to face that. His love for his country -came before everything. Everything must -be borne, rather than that it should be -divided.</p> - -<p>The Abolitionists were a small party; and -for the next seventeen years, the question -of slavery was left as it was, as far as -Parliament was concerned. During these -seventeen years, Lincoln was perpetually -turning it over in his mind; thinking and -reading about it, and helping other people -to think about it too.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span class="smaller">LINCOLN THE LAWYER</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">T</span>wo</span> years after Lincoln entered the -Illinois Parliament, its meetings, which -had been held at Vandalia, were transferred -to Springfield. In Springfield Lincoln -lived for the next five-and-twenty -years, until he left it to go to Washington as -President of the United States. Springfield -was a country town, which thought itself -rather important. The people paid a good -deal of attention to dress; they gave evening -parties of a quiet sort, where they -played cards and talked politics. The business -of the most prominent persons in the -town was law. Almost all the members of -Parliament were lawyers.</p> - -<p>Lincoln found that his surveying did not -occupy his time, or bring in a very large -income; he had studied law-books, and -knew very nearly as much as most of -the young barristers of Springfield. Major -Stuart, under whom he had served in the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>war against Black Hawk, took him into -partnership. The partnership was not very -successful. Lincoln was rather ignorant, -and Stuart was too much occupied with -his duties as member of Congress—the -American Parliament—to teach him much.</p> - -<p>After four years Lincoln left Stuart -and joined another friend, Judge Stephen -D. Logan. Logan had made Lincoln’s -acquaintance at the time of his first unsuccessful -candidature for the Illinois Parliament. -He had then greatly admired the -young man’s pluck and good sense, and -the cheerful way in which he accepted his -defeat. Later, he had been struck by the -sound reasoning of his political speeches. -Logan himself was not only a first-rate -lawyer, he was a man of wide education -and culture: Abraham learned more than -law from him. Even after Lincoln left the -partnership, and set up an office of his -own, the two men remained close friends.</p> - -<p>Although busy during the winter in Parliament, -Lincoln worked very hard at his -business. He knew that no one can succeed -in anything without hard work, and -he saw that to become a really good -lawyer would help him in politics, and -make him a more useful citizen of the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>State. Moreover, he understood, more -clearly than most men have done, that -every deed in life is connected to every -other; no man can escape the consequences -of what he is and does. Every -act and every speech is important.</p> - -<p>Lincoln was four times elected to the -Illinois Parliament—that is, he sat in it for -eight years. For four years—between -1845-49—he was member for Illinois in -Congress. In Congress he spoke and -voted against the war that was being -waged against Mexico. The aim of the -war was the conquest of Texas and California. -The South urged this because they -wanted the number of slave-owning States -to be equal to the number of free States. -They were always afraid that new States -would be created out of the undeveloped -territory in the North-West; and, if this -were to happen, the slave States would be -in a minority in Congress. If Texas were -added as a slave State, the slave States -would have a majority of one: there would -be fourteen free and fifteen slave States. -The Northern members, for the most part, -did not see the point; they did not unite -against the Southern demands; and consequently -the South succeeded. In the war -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>Mexico was defeated, and Texas was added -to the Union.</p> - -<p>At the end of his last year of membership, -1849, Lincoln applied for a post in -the Government office. Why he did so it -is difficult to understand, for it would have -put an end to his political career, as -officials may not sit in the House. Fortunately -his request was refused.</p> - -<p>He returned to his home in Springfield, -where he lived in a big, plain house, painted -a dirty yellow, with a big piece of untidy -garden behind, and a small field at the side. -He had married seven years before, and had -now three sons. He was devoted to these -boys, and used to play all sorts of games -with them, as they grew bigger.</p> - -<p>For the next five years he devoted himself -mainly to his work as a lawyer. He -was now forty years of age. In Springfield -and everywhere in Illinois he was admired, -respected, and loved. But the high opinion -of other people never made him easily satisfied -with himself. To the end of his life he -never stopped working and learning. He -now resolved to become a really good lawyer. -He knew that in law he could learn the art -of persuading people, and of expressing -clearly what he wanted to say. To help in -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>this he took up the study of mathematics -with extraordinary energy. Examining his -own speeches, he seemed to find in them -some confusion of thought. To make his -own ideas clear, and to be sure that he expressed -them clearly and truly, and never -conveyed to others an impression that was -not true, he bought a text-book of Euclid. -The first six books of this he learnt by heart. -He said “I wanted to know what was the -meaning of the word ‘demonstrate.’ Euclid -taught me what demonstration was.”</p> - -<p>After a year or two Lincoln was regarded -as the equal of any lawyer in Springfield. -He had one weakness, however. If he did -not believe in the justice of his case, or if he -thought the man for whom he had to speak -was not quite honest, he did not defend well. -His friend Judge Davis says, “A wrong -cause was poorly defended by him.”</p> - -<p>A story is told of a man who came -to Lincoln’s office and asked his help in -getting six hundred dollars from a poor -widow. Lincoln listened to the man and -then said, “Yes, there is no reasonable doubt -but I can gain your case for you. I can set -a whole neighbourhood at loggerheads. I -can distress a widowed mother and her six -fatherless children, and thereby get for you -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>six hundred dollars which rightfully belong, -as it appears to me, as much to them as it -does to you. I advise you to try your hand at -making six hundred dollars some other way.”</p> - -<p>Every one in Springfield valued “Honest -Abe’s” opinion. All sorts of people brought -their troubles to him. His sympathy and -his tenderness of heart made them trust -him. He was one of the people; he never -felt himself above them. To the end of his -life he did not grow proud, and he was -never ashamed of his early poverty. When -he was President he told some of his friends -of a dream he had had, which might very -well have been true. He dreamt that at -some big public meeting he was walking -through the hall up to the platform, from -which he was going to speak. As he passed, -a lady sitting at the end of one of the rows -of seats said to another sitting next her, so -loudly that he could hear: “Is that Mr. -Lincoln? Why, he looks a very common -sort of person!” “I thought to myself in -my dream,” said Lincoln, “that it was true, -but that God Almighty seemed to prefer -common people, for He had made so many -of them.”</p> - -<p>Nothing in Lincoln is more truly great -than his power of seeing the value of common<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> -things and common people. He knew -that the things which appeal to men as -men, which are common to humanity, are -the most valuable of all. He counted on -this when he abolished slavery. Freedom -is a right common to all men; and there is -somewhere in every one an instinct which -knows that it is wrong to make other people -do things which are too disagreeable to do -yourself.</p> - -<p>During these years at Springfield, Abraham -read a great deal. Shakespeare and Burns -were his favourite poets: he knew Shakespeare -better than any other book except -the Bible. He read and thought unceasingly -about politics, and he talked about them -with his friends. The history of America -he studied until he knew everything there -was to know. Above all, he thought about -slavery. Events were taking place which -made it plain that the question of slavery -could not be left where it was. It was no -longer possible to act as if the difference -between North and South did not exist.</p> - -<p>As years went on the difference became -more and more plain. The North, which -had been poor and barren, only half cultivated -by ignorant and uneducated settlers, was -growing richer than the prosperous lazy -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>South. Workmen came to the North -from all parts of the world: poor men with -good brains and strong arms, ready and able -to work intelligently, to improve the land, to -make wheat grow where stones and bushes -had been. None of these men went to the -South, for there work was done by slaves so -cheaply that no paid worker had a chance. -But the difference between the intelligent -labour of free men working for themselves, -and the mechanical labour of slaves working -for their masters, soon began to tell.</p> - -<p>In the North schools sprang up everywhere: -the people became better and better -educated. Men who had grown up in the -backwoods, like Abraham Lincoln, taught -themselves, and rose to be lawyers and statesmen -by their own efforts; others who had -had the chance of being taught, did the same. -It was possible for any man of brains to rise -from the bottom to the top. Inventions were -made which enabled all kinds of new work -to be done and new wealth produced. The -North was rich in material: richer in the -men she had to work it, who were helped -and encouraged by the freedom which threw -every career open to real talent.</p> - -<p>In the South all power was in the hands -of the aristocratic families, who had had it -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>always. The work was done by slaves: -owners did not want to educate their slaves, -for then they were afraid that they would -want their freedom. The coal mines of the -South were not discovered; they could not -have been worked by slaves. The South -began to be very jealous of the North, and -the North began to disapprove of the South. -More and more people began to see that -slavery was wrong: people were not yet -ready to say that slavery ought to cease -to be, but they were ready to say that it -must not be extended.</p> - -<p>At the time of the Mexican war the South -had shown that it wanted to extend slavery. -This frightened the North. In 1850 an agreement -was made, known as the Missouri Compromise. -By this a line (36°30’), called Mason -and Dixon’s line, was drawn across the map -of America. North of this line, slavery was -never to exist. Speakers on both sides declared -that the Missouri Compromise was -as fixed as the Constitution itself. Stephen -Arnold Douglas was the loudest in expressing -this opinion. “It is eternal and fundamental,” -he declared.</p> - -<p>Douglas was a trader of the great party -known as the Democrats. He held that the -people of every State had a right to decide -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>questions affecting that State, and not the -Central American Government.</p> - -<p>Douglas had one great aim, which was to -him far more important than any question of -political right or wrong: he wanted to be made -President. To secure this, he saw that he -must get the support of the South. To win -the support of the South, he took a most dangerous -and important step: one which was the -immediate cause of the war which broke out -six years later. He declared that the people -of any state or territory could decide whether -or not they would have slavery in their State: -they could establish it or prohibit it.</p> - -<p>He went further than this. Two new territories -had been organised in the north-west—Nebraska -and Kansas. They claimed to -be admitted to the Union as States. Both -States were, of course, north of Mason and -Dixon’s line, and therefore by the Missouri -Compromise they must be free States. But -the South was bent on creating new slave -States as fast as the North could create free -States: they wanted to make Kansas a slave -State. Stephen Douglas therefore introduced, -in 1854, the famous Kansas-Nebraska -Bill. It declared that Kansas might be slave-holding -or free, as the people of the territory -should decide.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span></p> - -<p>The result of this Bill was for the first time -to unite together a strong party in the North -in opposition to the Democrats, who were -allied to the South. This new party called -itself Republican. Lincoln was a spokesman -of their views. They declared, firstly, -that Congress, which is the Parliament -representing all the States which together -formed the Union, has the right to decide -whether slavery shall be lawful in any particular -State or not, and not the people of -that State alone. Secondly, they declared -that, in the case of Kansas, Congress had -already, four years ago, decided that Kansas -could not have slavery, because it lay beyond -the line, north of which slavery could not -exist. Resolutions were passed in many of -the Northern State Parliaments against the -Kansas-Nebraska Bill. The Parliament of -Illinois sent one.</p> - -<p>Now it was quite clear to keen-sighted -politicians that, while Douglas and his party -pretended that they wanted to give the -people of Kansas the choice between owning -slaves and not doing so, what they -really wanted was to force Kansas to have -slaves. Those who supported the Missouri -Congress declared that it was illegal to give -Kansas the choice however she used it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span></p> - -<p>Events soon proved that Kansas was not -to have any choice at all. Kansas had few -inhabitants; but the opinion of the people -of the State was against slavery. Next -door to Kansas, however, on the east, was -the slave-holding State of Missouri. From -Missouri bands of armed men came into -Kansas in order to vote for slavery at the -election and to prevent the real voters from -using their votes against it. Free fighting -went on in the State. An election was held -at which armed men kept away those who -would have voted for freedom, and a pro-slavery -man was chosen. But few of the -people of Kansas had been allowed to vote. -The free party met at another place afterwards, -and a genuine popular vote elected -an anti-slavery man. Civil war went on in -Kansas for two years.</p> - -<p>Now the importance of these events is -this. Up till now most people in the North -had believed that slavery ought to be left -alone, because it would gradually die out. -The Kansas-Nebraska Bill and the Kansas -election made it perfectly clear that the -South was not going to let slavery die out; -on the contrary, they wanted to spread it to -strengthen themselves against the North.</p> - -<p>Douglas was member for Chicago, in the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>north of Illinois. He came down to Illinois -to win the State to his views, and made a -series of speeches there. This at once called -Lincoln to the fore. He saw more clearly, -perhaps, than any man in America what the -Kansas Bill meant. It meant that either -North and South must separate, as the -Abolitionists—that is, the party which held -that slavery ought to cease to be—and some -people in the South hoped; or that the -North would have to force the South to -abandon the attempt to spread slavery. He -made a series of great speeches in Illinois, -in which he made it quite clear that Douglas -and his followers, and the men of the South, -might say that they wanted to leave States -free to have slavery or not as they chose, -but what they really desired was to force -them to have slavery whether they chose or -not. “This declared indifference, but, as I -must think, covert real zeal for the spread -of slavery, I cannot but hate: I hate it because -of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself ... I -say that no man is good enough to govern -another man without that man’s consent. -Slavery is founded upon the selfishness of -man’s nature; opposition to it, on his love -of justice.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -<span class="smaller">DEFEAT OF THE LITTLE GIANT</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">L</span>incoln</span> had worked very hard in Illinois. -All this year he was making -speeches; educating the people of the -State; helping them to understand the big -questions before them; making things clear -in his own mind by putting them into the -clear and simple words that would carry -their importance to the minds of others.</p> - -<p>A great meeting was held, summoned by -the editors of the newspapers that were -against the Kansas Bill; they invited prominent -men from different parts of the -country to come and address them.</p> - -<p>Lincoln was among those who went, and -his speech was by far the most important -of all that were delivered there. He had -not, indeed, intended to say anything; but -he was roused by the weakness of those -who did address the meeting. Springing -to his feet, he poured out what was in his -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>mind, and could not be kept back, in -such burning and eloquent words that -the reporters dropped their pencils and -listened spellbound. The whole audience -was carried away by excitement: it was -one of the greatest speeches that Lincoln -ever made, we are told by all who heard it, -but there is no record of it. Lincoln himself -spoke in a transport of enthusiasm: -the words came, how he hardly knew; he -could not afterwards write down what he -had said. The reporters were so deeply -moved that they only took down a sentence -here and there. The speech was a warning -to the growing Republican party: sentences -were quoted and remembered.</p> - -<p class="p15b">The North was indeed beginning to -awaken to the need of uniting against -slavery; but it took four years before it -fully awoke. And as long as the North -was divided the South was irresistible. -When the presidential election came, in -1856, the votes of the South carried the day.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="illo4"><img src="images/i_058.jpg" width="400" alt="Springing to his feet, he poured out what was in his mind" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">Springing to his feet, he poured out what was in his mind</p> - -<p class="p2">Had a strong man, with definite and -wise views, been elected, had Lincoln been -elected, the war between North and South -that came four years later might have been -prevented. But Lincoln’s fame had not yet -travelled far beyond Illinois; he was not -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>even nominated. Mr. Buchanan, the new -President, called himself a Democrat: he -believed in Douglas’s policy of State rights; -but he was a tool in the hands of the -South. Weak and undecided, his stupid -administration made war inevitable. He -did not satisfy the South; and he showed -the North how great a danger they were -in, so that when the next election came -they were ready to act.</p> - -<p>The Republican party gradually grew -strong. More and more Northern voters -came to see that its policy, no extension of -slavery, was the only right one. The pro-slavery -party in Kansas continued to behave -in the most violent way; civil war continued.</p> - -<p>In Congress, Charles Sumner made a -number of eloquent speeches on what he -called the “crime against Kansas”; and -in them he openly attacked slavery. One -day, as he was sitting in the members’ -reading-room, a Southern member called -Brookes came in. Although there were -several other people in the room, Brookes -fell upon Sumner, and with his heavy walking-stick, -which was weighted with lead at -the end, beat him within an inch of his life. -For the next four years Sumner was an -invalid, and unable to take part in politics. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>This incident caused great indignation in -the North; their indignation was heightened -by the attempt to force slavery on Kansas, -till it grew in very many cases to a real -hatred of slavery itself.</p> - -<p>But there was still a large party in the -North which did not disapprove of slavery. -This party was led, of course, by Douglas. -Douglas had been successful up till now, -because he represented the ordinary man -of the North, whose conscience was not -yet awake, who did not see that slavery, -in itself, was wrong. Lincoln had never -really succeeded until now, because his conscience -had always been awake, and the -ordinary Northerner was not ready to follow -him.</p> - -<p>The whole question of slavery was brought -under discussion in the next year—1857—by -the famous case of a negro called Dred Scott. -Dred Scott claimed his freedom before the -United States courts, because his master, a -doctor, had taken him to live in the free State -of Illinois. The chief-justice—Taney—was -an extreme pro-slavery man. He was not -satisfied with deciding the case against Dred -Scott; he went much further, and declared -that since a negro is property and not a -person in the legal sense, he could not bring -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>a case before an American court. A negro, -he declared, has no rights which a white -man is bound to respect.</p> - -<p>The South, of course, was delighted with -this verdict. What it meant was this. When -the Declaration of Independence declared -that all men are equal, and possess right to -life and liberty, what was intended was not -all men, but all white men, since black men -are not legally men. And yet free negroes -had fought in the War of Independence, and -signed the Declaration.</p> - -<p>To the North such reasoning was hateful. -People like Mr. Seward of New York -began to say, If slavery is part of the Constitution -of America, there is a law that is -higher than the Constitution—the moral law. -Abraham Lincoln in a noble speech declared: -“In some respects the black woman is -certainly not my equal, but in her natural -right to eat the bread she earns with her -own hands she is my equal, and the equal of -all others.” The point was, could a negro -have rights? The Dred Scott decision declared -“no,” the South shouted “no.” The -Republican party said “yes.” In this same -year a free election at last took place in -Kansas; and a huge majority decided that -the State should not hold slaves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></p> - -<p>All these events showed that troublous -times were coming.</p> - -<p>In the next year a set of speeches was -made which showed people how things stood. -In 1858 Lincoln stood against Douglas as -candidate for the State of Illinois. Douglas -was one of the most famous and popular -men then living in America. He was far the -cleverest man and the best speaker of his -party; he stood for all those who, though -they might not want to have slaves themselves, -thought that slavery was not wrong; -that black men were intended by a kind -Providence to be useful to white men. If -any State wanted slaves, let them have them—why -not?</p> - -<p>As Lincoln said, “Douglas is so put up -by nature, that a lash upon his back would -hurt him, but a lash upon anybody else’s -back does not hurt him.”</p> - -<p>Those who did not know Lincoln thought -it absurd that he, an unknown man from -the country, should dare to stand against -Douglas, the “Little Giant.” But Lincoln -was not afraid; he did not think of himself; -he wanted people to hear what he had to say. -He arranged with Douglas that they should -hold a number of meetings together in Illinois. -They arranged it in this way. At half the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>meetings Douglas spoke first for an hour; -then Lincoln replied, speaking for an hour -and a half, and Douglas answered him in -half-an-hour’s speech. At the other half, -Lincoln began and Douglas followed, Lincoln -ending.</p> - -<p>You can imagine one of these meetings. -A large hall, roughly built for the most part, -the seats often made of planks laid on top -of unhewn logs, packed with two or three -thousand people, intensely eager to hear -and learn. Some of them were already -followers of Douglas, the most popular man -in America: all of them had heard of -the “Little Giant,” the cleverest speaker in -the States. Immense cheering as Douglas -rose to his feet. A small man with a big -head: a handsome face with quickly moving, -keen, dark eyes; faultlessly dressed. A well-bred -gentleman, secure of himself—a lawyer -with all his art at the end of his tongue: able -to persuade any one that black was white, -to wrap up anything in so many charming -words that only the cleverest could see when -one statement did not follow from another, -when an argument was not a proof: quick -to see and stab the weak points in any one -else. A voice rich and mellow, various and -well trained, pleased all who heard it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span></p> - -<p>For an hour he spoke, amid complete -silence, only broken by outbursts of applause. -When he ended, there were deafening cheers—then -a pause, and “Lincoln,” “Lincoln,” -from all parts of the hall.</p> - -<p>Lincoln seemed an awkward countryman -beside the senator. His tall body seemed -too big for the platform, and his ill-fitting -black clothes hung loosely upon it, as if -they had been made for some one else. -When he began to speak his voice was -harsh and shrill. His huge hands, the -hands of a labourer, with the big knuckles -and red, ugly wrists, got knotted together -as if nothing could unfix them. Soon, -however, he became absorbed in what he -was saying; he ceased to be nervous; -everything seemed to change. As he forgot -himself, his body seemed to expand -and straighten itself, so that every one else -looked small and mean beside him; his -voice became deep and clear, reaching to the -farthest end of the hall, and his face, that -had appeared ugly, was lit up with an -inner light that made it more than beautiful. -The deep grey eyes seemed to each -man in the hall to be looking at him and -piercing his soul. The language was so -simple that the most ignorant man in the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>hall could follow it and understand. Everything -was clear. There was no hiding under -fine words; nothing was left out, nothing -unnecessary was said. No one could doubt -what Lincoln meant; and he was not going -to let any one doubt what Douglas meant.</p> - -<p>The greatest debate of all was that at -the meeting at Freeport. At Freeport -Lincoln asked Douglas a question, against -the advice of all his friends. He asked -whether, if a State wanted not to have -slavery, it could so decide? Lincoln knew -that if Douglas said “No. A state which -had slavery must keep it,” the people of -Illinois would not vote for him, and he -would lose this election. If he said “yes” -he would be elected, and not Lincoln. -Lincoln knew this; he knew that if Douglas -said “yes,” he was safe, and he would say -“yes.”</p> - -<p>“Where do you come in, then?” his friends -asked him. “Why do you ask him this? -If you do, Douglas is sure to get in. You -are ruining your own chances.”</p> - -<p>“I do not come in anywhere,” said Lincoln; -“but that does not matter. What -does matter is this. If Douglas says -‘yes,’ as he will, he will get into the -Senate now; but two years after this -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>he will stand for election as President. -If he says ‘yes’ now, the South will vote -against him then, and he will not be -elected. He must not be elected. No one -who believes in spreading slavery must be -elected. It does not matter about me.”</p> - -<p>Lincoln was quite right. He saw further -than any one else. Douglas said “yes,” and -he was elected for Illinois. But the Democratic -party in the South, whose support -had made him strong, began to -distrust him. “Douglas,” said Lincoln, “is -followed by a crowd of blind men; I want to -make some of these blind men see.”</p> - -<p>Lincoln was defeated, but he did not -think of himself. His speeches against -Douglas were printed and read all over -America. He was invited to speak in Ohio; -and in the next year, in the beginning of -1860, a society in New York asked him to -come and give them an address on politics.</p> - -<p>A huge audience, in which were all the -best known and most brilliant men of the -day, gathered to hear him; an audience -very much unlike any that he had addressed -before. They were all anxious to see what -he was like—this backwoodsman and farm-labourer, -who had met the great Stephen -Arnold Douglas and proved a match for -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>him in argument; whose speeches had been -printed to express the views of a whole party.</p> - -<p>His appearance was strange and impressive. -When he stood up his height was -astonishing, because his legs were very -long, and when sitting he did not appear -tall. His face, thin and marked by deep -lines, was very sad. A mass of black hair -was pushed back from his high forehead: -his eyebrows were black too, and stood out -in his pale face: his dark-grey eyes were -set deep in his head. The mouth could -smile, but now it was stern and sad. The -face was unlike other faces: when he spoke -it was beautiful, for he felt everything he -said. Abraham Lincoln was a common man: -he had had no advantages of birth, of training: -he had known extreme poverty: for -years he had struggled without success in -mean and small occupations: he had no -knowledge but what he had taught himself. -But no one who heard him speak could think -him common.</p> - -<p>Speaking now to an audience in which -were the cleverest people in New York, -people who had read everything and seen -everything and been everywhere, who had -had every opportunity that he had not, he -impressed them as much as he had impressed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> -the people of Illinois. He was one -of the greatest orators that ever lived. His -words went straight to the people to whom -they were spoken. What he said was as -straightforward and as certain as a sum in -arithmetic, as easy to follow: and behind -it all you felt that the man believed every -word of what he said, and spoke because -he must. The truth was in him.</p> - -<p>Lincoln’s address in New York convinced -the Republican party that here was the man -they wanted.</p> - -<p>In 1860 there came the presidential election, -always the most important event in -American politics; this year more important -than ever before.</p> - -<p>For the last half-century almost the -Democratic party had been in power. They -had been strong because they were united: -they united the people of the South and -those people in the North who thought -that it was waste of time to discuss slavery, -since slavery was part of the Constitution. -Their policy on slavery had been to leave -it alone. As long as they did this there -was nothing to create another party in the -North strong enough to oppose them. But -when Douglas, in order to make his own -position strong in the South, made slavery -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>practical politics by bringing in a bill to allow -Kansas to have slaves; and when the judges -in the Dred Scott case roused sympathy with -the negroes by declaring that slaves were -not men but property, then the question -united the divided North into a strong -Republican party in which all were agreed. -There was to be no slavery north of Mason -and Dixon’s line. The attempt to force -slavery on Kansas split the Democratic -party. One section was led by Douglas, -who had gone as far as he could: he was -not ready to force Kansas to have slaves, if -she did not want them, because people from -Missouri wanted her to have them. He saw -that to force slavery on the North in this -way would mean division and war, and therefore -he refused to go any further. By this -refusal Douglas lost his supporters in the -South. They joined the section led by Jefferson -Davis—the Southern candidate for the -presidentship.</p> - -<p>Jefferson Davis was the true leader of the -South. Douglas as well as Lincoln had -begun life as the child of a poor pioneer: -each had risen by his own abilities and by -constant hard work. Jefferson Davis was -a true aristocrat. He was the son of rich -and educated parents. All his life he had -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span>been waited on by slaves and surrounded by -every comfort. While Lincoln was ploughing -or hewing wood, while Douglas was -working hard at the bar, Davis went first -to the university at Kentucky and then to -the military academy at West Point, from -which he passed to the army. He served as -a lieutenant at the time of the Black Hawk -war, and it is very likely that he came across -Lincoln, who was serving as a volunteer. -After serving seven years in the army he -married and settled down as a cotton planter -in Mississippi. His estates were worked by -slaves, of course. To him the negro was an -animal, quite different from the white man, -meant by nature to be under him and to -serve him. Black men, unlike white, did -not exist for themselves, with the equal -right to live possessed by a man, an insect, -or a tree, but had been created solely -to be useful to white men.</p> - -<p>No two men could be more unlike than -Lincoln and Davis. The groundwork of -Davis’ nature was an intense pride. A friend -described him as “as ambitious as Lucifer -and as cold as a lizard.” He was cold in -manner and seldom laughed. Lincoln was -entirely humble-minded, full of passionate -longing to help the weak. To Lincoln -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span>what was common was therefore precious. -Jefferson Davis said the minority, and not -the majority, ought to rule. And their looks -were as unlike as their minds. Jefferson -Davis, with his beautiful proud face, as cold -and as handsome as a statue, expressed the -utter contempt and scorn of the aristocrat -for everything and every one beneath him.</p> - -<p>When the Democratic party met at Charleston -to nominate their candidate for the -presidentship, they were hopelessly divided. -Douglas’s Freeport speech had set the South -against him. For the last four years there -had been a growing section which said that, -as long as the South was fastened to the -North, slavery was not safe. Now seven -states, led by South Carolina, left the -Democratic meeting and nominated Davis -as their candidate.</p> - -<p>The Republican party met at Chicago. -There was only one man strong, reasonable, -and sane enough for every section of the -party to accept. This was Abraham Lincoln. -At the time of his nomination, Lincoln was -playing barnball with his children in the -field behind his house. When told that he -had been chosen, he said, “You must be -able to find some better man than me.” But -he was ready to take up the difficult task. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>He knew that he could serve his country, -and he was not afraid. He had a clear ideal -before him—to preserve America as one -united whole. He saw that war might come. -As he had said, five years before, America -could not endure for ever half slave and -half free—it must be all free: and the -South would not let slavery go without war.</p> - -<p>The election came in November. The -result was that Lincoln was elected President. -For four years the destiny of his -country was in his hands.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE NEW PRESIDENT AND SECESSION</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">L</span>incoln’s</span> election was a thunderbolt -to the South. It meant that the great -question of slavery would have to be decided -one way or another. Lincoln was a man -who had opinions, and opinions in which -he believed, for which he would fight; he -would not let things drift as Buchanan did. -Buchanan’s policy would have ended in -allowing the South to separate itself from -the North; the Southern politicians knew -this, and they wanted Buchanan’s policy -carried on, so as to make that separation -possible.</p> - -<p>Few men in the North, although many in -the South, understood as clearly as Lincoln -did the position of affairs. He saw that -the time had come when active measures -must be taken, a strong and decided -policy maintained, if the Union was to be -held together. He was a true patriot. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>He believed in the Union; he thought it -a great and glorious thing. That North -and South should be separated was to him -like separating husband and wife; their -strength and happiness lay in each other; -they had grown together for eighty-four -years; if they parted now, each must lose -something it could never regain. He loved -his country. He loved the South as well as -the North. He believed that if the South -tried to separate, the North would be -justified, in the true interests of the American -nation, in compelling her to remain.</p> - -<p>The great problem was now, as he saw: -Could America hold together as one nation, -half slave and half free? Could the Union -be a real Union while there was this deep -division, a division which it was now clear -could not be got rid of, as the Northerners -had hoped for so long, by the slow passage -of time? Time alone would not induce the -South to give up slavery. Slavery was a -barbarous institution, degrading to the -slaves and to those who owned them; -the North could not accept it. If North -and South were to hold together slavery -must go. The great thing was to keep -North and South united. This and this -only was Lincoln’s great purpose. He -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>hated slavery, but he would not have compelled -the South to give up slavery if he -had believed that the Union could have -been maintained without that. North and -South must hold together whatever it cost; -only so could each part of the nation, and -the nation as a whole, attain the best that -was possible for it.</p> - -<p>Lincoln’s great difficulty was this. The -South saw that the nation could not hold -together for ever half slave and half free. -Two years before Lincoln’s election, one -of the members for South Carolina had -written what was afterwards known as the -Scarlet Letter. In it he declared, “We -can make a revolution in the cotton States,” -and there were many, even at that time, -who shared his views. The South saw -that, if they were to remain united to the -North, slavery must go, and they were -ready to separate from the North in order -to keep slavery.</p> - -<p>But, while the South understood the position, -the North did not. It did not understand -it fully at the time of Lincoln’s election, -or, indeed, until the end of the second -year of the war. And because they did -not understand they could not appreciate -Lincoln’s policy, or support it as they -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>ought to have done. All the time they -criticised, blamed, and abused him, making -his hard task harder.</p> - -<p>Not until after his death did all the -Northerners see how great and how right -he had been. Not until his death did -Americans realise that had it not been for -Lincoln the United States might have -ceased to be.</p> - -<p>Lincoln’s speeches had been plain and outspoken -enough; the South was terrified -by his election. They resolved on separation.</p> - -<p>Lincoln, though elected in November 1860, -did not actually become President until -February 1861. During these three months -he remained in the plain, yellow house at -Springfield, his little office crowded every -day with visitors who came to consult him, -to advise him, or often merely to shake his -hand. “Honest old Abe,” as they called -him, had a joke or a kindly word for all of -them. He was presented with many quaint -gifts. An old woman came one day, and, -after shaking hands with Lincoln, produced -from under her huge cloak a vast pair of -knitted stockings for the President to wear -in winter. Lincoln thanked her graciously -and led her out; then returning, he lifted -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>up the stockings, and showing the enormous -feet, said to his secretary, “The old -lady seems to have guessed the latitude and -longitude about right!”</p> - -<p>Lincoln spent the time reading and writing, -drawing up memoranda, choosing his -Cabinet, learning the difficult ins and outs -of the new work before him. All these -months he was thinking hard. His purpose -was already clear: but the presidentship, -always a heavy burden, had never been so -heavy as it was to be for Lincoln.</p> - -<p>Things grew more serious every day. -The weakness of Buchanan, who had no -plan or purpose, allowed the South to do -as it chose. The only chance of avoiding -war lay in firm action now; but it was not -in Buchanan’s nature to be firm. He had -been made President by the votes of the -South because he was not firm, because he -would allow them to do as they chose. -They dreaded Lincoln because he was firm, -and therefore acted while there was yet -time.</p> - -<p>On December 20, 1860, the chief men of -South Carolina met together and declared -the Union to be dissolved. Posters appeared -all over the State: the South was in a state -of feverish excitement. Within the month -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>the States of Missouri, Alabama, Florida, -Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas—the chief -cotton-growing, slave-owning States—also -declared themselves to be separated from -the Union; and these six States joined -with South Carolina to form what they -called the Southern Confederation, independent -of the North. They chose for -their first President Jefferson Davis.</p> - -<p>Buchanan did not know what to do. The -question was: Has a State any right to -leave the Union? America, of course, is -a Federation: at the time of the Declaration -of Independence the thirteen States -that then existed joined themselves together -for ever, and created a common Federal -Government for common purposes, with a -President at its head. Lincoln would have -said one State has no more right to leave -the others than an English county has to -declare that it is a separate kingdom, not -bound by the common law. Buchanan said -“no,” too; but he also said, if a State does -leave, the Federal Government has no right -to force it to stay: which meant a standstill. -“You ought not to want to go; but -if you do, we have no right to prevent -you.” Buchanan’s one idea, indeed, was -to let things drift.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span></p> - -<p>There was one great and immediate difficulty. -In each of the coast States of the -Union the Federal Government had armed -forts: in South Carolina there were two -important ones, Fort Moultrie and Fort -Sumter, with a small garrison in each, -commanded by Major Anderson. South -Carolina demanded that the garrisons -should be withdrawn. Now to withdraw -the garrisons and abandon the forts was to -admit that South Carolina had a right to -leave the Union, and to recognise the -Southern Confederation as independent of -the Federal Government. To maintain the -forts more forces must be sent. Anderson -wrote to say that he was not strong enough -to hold out against an attack. Buchanan -did nothing. Anderson, believing that an -attack was going to be made on Fort -Moultrie, which he was too weak to defend, -removed all his men to Fort Sumter. -The militia of South Carolina at once -occupied Fort Moultrie.</p> - -<p>In the second week of the new year, 1861, -a Government vessel, the <i>Star of the West</i>, -sailed into the harbour of Charleston to bring -provisions for Anderson. The <i>South Carolina</i>, -having attacked the <i>Star of the West</i>, fired -on the United States flag which it carried, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>and drove it out of the harbour. The Confederate -Government, led by Jefferson Davis, -then demanded that Fort Sumter should be -given up to them. When Anderson refused, -it was blockaded by much superior forces, -and by the 12th of April it was taken by -General Beauregard.</p> - -<p>Under these circumstances, when war was -at hand, when half the nation was ready to -take up arms against the other half, Lincoln -took up the burden of office. It was a -burden, indeed, which no ordinary man could -have borne. Buchanan had simply looked -on while rebellion was preparing itself; for -Lincoln was the task of quelling it. But the -fact of rebellion was not his greatest difficulty. -This was the disunion of the North. -One section—the Abolitionists—rejoiced at -the secession of the South. “We shall no -more be chained to the slave-owners.” -Another section thought that, if the South -wanted to go, why not let them.</p> - -<p>There was as yet only a very small section -able to agree with Lincoln. Lincoln hated -slavery but not slave-owners. He loved the -South as much as the North. It was agony -to him to know his country divided against -itself. Well might he say, in the speech he -made on leaving his old home at Springfield -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>for ever, “There is a task before me greater -than that which rested upon Washington.”</p> - -<p>It was very natural that men who had -not known Lincoln should fear to have the -fate of their country at so critical a time -entrusted to a man of so small experience. -But any one who knew Lincoln felt absolute -confidence in him. Years of difficulty -and disappointment, of constant struggle -against every kind of obstacle, had made -him what he was: clear-eyed to see where -the right was; steadfast and unflinching to -pursue it; tender-hearted and generous to -sympathise with all those who stumbled on -the way.</p> - -<p>Few people, indeed, understood him. In -the years to come nearly all at one time or -another abused him and distrusted him, and -blamed him when things went wrong. For -four years he bore the whole burden of a -great responsibility; patiently and silently -he endured disappointment and reproach. -In the end he could say that if Washington -had made America one, he had remade it so -that it could never again be unmade.</p> - -<p>The speech he made when he entered on -his duties as President showed how little -bitterness there was in his heart towards -the South. He said, “We are not enemies, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>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 battlefield and patriot grave to every -heart and hearthstone all over this broad -land, will yet swell the chorus of the -Union when touched, as surely they will -be, by the better angels of our nature.”</p> - -<p>The attack on Sumter and its fall made -war inevitable. Lincoln was no Buchanan. -War was horrible; civil war—war between -men of the same country, between friends, -often between relations—most horrible of -all. But he could not, at whatever cost, -allow the Union, for which his countrymen -had fought so heroically eighty-four years -ago, which had stood so long for such a -high ideal of freedom all over the world—he -could not allow the Union to be destroyed -without fighting to preserve it. To him the -secession of the Southern States meant -something as unnatural as a separate kingdom -in Scotland would be to us, and a -kingdom based on something which we -thought wholly wrong.</p> - -<p>“The question is,” he said, “whether in a -free Government the minority have a right -to break it up whenever they choose.” -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>He declared that they had no such right. -The whole population of the slave-holding -States was much smaller than that of -the free States, and among those States, -while seven had seceded, eight remained at -least nominally in the Union; and even in -the seceding States themselves, there was a -party in each that was ready to remain -faithful to the Union, and not prepared to -take up arms against it.</p> - -<p>They wanted war: their attack on Fort -Sumter was a call to arms. They wanted -war: they should have it. In the long run -the North was bound to win: its population -was half as great again, and its resources as -much superior.</p> - -<p>Almost the first act of Lincoln’s Government -was to call for 75,000 volunteers.</p> - -<p>The attack upon Sumter and Lincoln’s -call to arms roused the North from its -apathy. Excitement grew when the 7th -Massachusetts regiment, passing through -Baltimore on its way to headquarters, was -violently attacked by the mob: when the -Southern army, already in the field, captured -Harper’s Ferry and seized the Union arsenal -at Gosport.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE WAR</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">W</span>ar</span> began in Virginia. West Virginia -was free, East Virginia slave-holding; -the State was the natural meeting-place for -the two armies. On the 21st July they met -at Bull Run: the engagement could hardly -be called a battle—on neither side was there -any order or discipline. More than once -during the day the Southern army seemed to -be beaten, but it rallied, and the Federalists, -as the Union soldiers were called, broke into -a disgraceful retreat, which became an awful -panic. The fugitives poured into Washington, -haggard and dust-stained: everything -seemed lost. Lincoln did not go to bed all -night; he paced up and down in his room, -expecting that the victorious Confederate -army would march upon Washington, and -the war be at an end. It did not come. -The opportunity was lost. A battle had -been gained; that was all.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span></p> - -<p>The moral effect of the battle of Bull Run -was very great indeed. The South thought -the war was over, the North saw that it -had only begun.</p> - -<p>At first, the Confederates seemed to have -great advantages. The army was the one -profession for a Southern gentleman; nearly -all their young men were trained at the -military academy at West Point, and a great -many of the officers of the United States -army had been Southerners. These men -now left the Union army and gave their -services to the Confederates; among them -was General Robert Lee, who became -General-in-Chief of the Confederate army. -Lincoln’s difficulties were greatly increased -by the fact that so many officers and men -went over to the Confederates. At the -beginning, the South had a larger and better-trained -army in the field; and at first there -were plenty of volunteers. But after Bull -Run, she thought the war was finished; and -events proved that, in a long war, the North -must win by reason of her greater staying -power.</p> - -<p>The South was as enthusiastic as the -North, and at the beginning better prepared, -but not equal in resources of any -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>sort. The South was entirely dependent on -agriculture; all the necessaries of life came -from the North and from Europe. Whereas -the South had to import all her ammunition, -the North had powder-magazines of her own, -and a people of mechanics. And the Confederacy -was soon to find that men are useless -without arms. Great sufferings were endured, -wonderful invention and patience was -shown, on both sides there was great heroism; -but in the end the resources of the North -decided the day.</p> - -<p>Lincoln threw all his energy into the task -of getting ready an army, and in a short -time the Northern soldier was as well -trained and equipped as the Southern.</p> - -<p>The battle of Bull Run roused the North: -quickened by shame, the people were ready -to fight to the bitter end. For the next two -years, however, they were disheartened by -continual disaster: army after army was -destroyed, position after position lost: gloom -descended on the nation. In the dark times -of defeat men turned upon Lincoln and -blamed him for everything.</p> - -<p>His position was difficult indeed. As head -of the State, he was also commander of the -army; but he had to entrust the actual management<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> -of the campaigns to others. He -followed and understood their tactics, but -was too wise to try to direct their movements. -Only occasionally did he offer advice—wise -advice, which his generals were not -always wise enough to accept. At first the -generals were not men of great ability. -M’Clellan, the commander, drilled his army -in a wonderful way, but never used it to any -effect. In the Virginian campaign of 1861 -and 1862 he threw away numberless opportunities. -His place was taken by Burnside -at the end of 1862; but not until the rise -of Ulysses S. Grant did Lincoln discover -a really great commander. The generals -quarrelled with one another, and all were -ready to complain of the President. Lincoln’s -difficulties were increased by the fact that -many people, when they found that the North -was not going to conquer immediately, said -that the war was a mistake: the South -ought to be allowed to go if it wanted to. -Lincoln did not think it right to let the South -go: and because to keep it was proving -difficult, was never to him a reason for ceasing -to do what he saw to be right.</p> - -<p>The newspapers abused Lincoln because -the war, instead of being finished in three -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span>months, seemed likely to last for years. For -long his own Cabinet was hardly loyal to -him: each member thought he could manage -affairs better himself. Seward, who was -Chief Secretary, thought Lincoln stupid, and -was anxious to arrange everything; but as -experience of his chief taught him he became -Lincoln’s devoted admirer. Chase the -Treasurer plotted against him: Stanton the -War Secretary openly declared that “things -would go all right but for the imbecile at the -head.” Stanton had no sense of humour, and -an ungovernable temper. He did not understand -Lincoln at all for a long time: his -jokes puzzled and annoyed him, and he used -to jump up and down with rage. He did -not see that to a man of a deeply melancholy -nature like Lincoln, a dreamer and -something of a poet, some outlet, some -way of escaping from himself, was necessary. -Lincoln was marvellously patient with -Stanton, and won his deep affection. The -Cabinet might criticise; but Lincoln’s firm -will dominated them all. The policy of the -Government was the President’s policy.</p> - -<p>No quality is so hard to appreciate, until -it succeeds, as patience; and for two years -Lincoln was patient, and few understood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span></p> - -<p>England and France were inclined to recognise -the Confederacy. The English point -of view was not one which reflected any glory -on the nation. Lord Palmerston said, “We -do not like slavery, but we want cotton.” -And a poem in <i>Punch</i> expressed the general -point of view, against which only a few -Englishmen protested—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Though with the North we sympathise,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It must not be forgotten</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That with the South we’ve stronger ties,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which are composed of cotton,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whereof our imports mount unto</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A sum of many figures;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And where would be our calico</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But for the toil of niggers?”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>France agreed with England. Under such -circumstances there was a great danger -that, unless the North proved itself able to -cope with the Rebellion, England or France -might send help to the Confederates. For -two years the North did not prove this; -for two years it seemed, except to the -very far-seeing, almost certain that the -South would win.</p> - -<p>The Northern plan of campaign was to -attack and close round the Confederacy: -to do this it was necessary to cross the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>Potomac river, and clear away the Southern -armies that blockaded it. The Potomac -was the centre of operations, while fighting -went on constantly in Virginia and -Missouri. Everything went against the -North.</p> - -<p>On the 9th of August a desperate encounter -took place at Wilson’s Creek, at -which the Union army lost nearly two -thousand men, including prisoners, and -large supplies of arms and ammunition. -In September the Confederates won a victory -at Lexington, and in October the -Federal troops were defeated at Ball’s -Bluff.</p> - -<p>Lincoln’s plan was gradually to shut -the South in, driving it behind its own -boundaries by means of the armies invading -from north and west, and blockading -the ports from the sea. So far the first -half of the plan was not successful. But -the Civil War was won to a very large extent -by the Northern navy. By blockading -the Southern ports it prevented the South -from getting supplies from Europe; and -since the South depended for supplies of -every sort from abroad, it was in a desperate -position when cut off from the sea.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> - -<p>More fortunate on sea than on land, -Lincoln found in David Farragut an admiral -almost as great as Nelson. Farragut -was a Southerner by birth, but he had served -for fifty years in the United States navy, -and refused to desert it now. Patriotism -to him meant devotion not to the pride but -to the best interests of his country, and he -thought that North and South could only -attain their best interests when united. In -April the Northern army suffered a severe -defeat on land at the battle of Shiloh—the -most disastrous yet experienced; but -the news was balanced by the tidings of -Farragut’s capture of New Orleans. The -fighting in the harbour was tremendous.</p> - -<p>“Don’t flinch from that fire, boys,” cried -the admiral; “there is a hotter fire for -those who don’t do their duty!”</p> - -<p>Inspired by his example, his men did not -flinch, and the town was captured. The -North needed all the encouragement such -naval victory could give it, for things were -going very badly. Stonewall Jackson, the -Southern commander, carried everything -before him in Virginia. Washington was -in danger; there was a panic in the capital. -Jackson, however, did not want to attack -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>Washington. His plan was to compel -M’Clellan, who was slowly moving south -to attack the Confederate capital at Richmond, -to turn north again.</p> - -<p>There was fighting all through June; -Jackson had been joined by Lee, the -Confederate Commander-in-Chief. On the -1st of July a battle was fought at Malvern -Hill. Lee and Jackson were defeated. -M’Clellan ought now to have pushed on -to Richmond, the Confederate capital, instead -of which, with extraordinary stupidity, -he continued to retreat.</p> - -<p>In August, the second battle of Bull Run -resulted in another victory for the South. -Both sides lost an extraordinary number -of men. The panic in Washington grew -more acute when, early in September, Lee -prepared to invade Maryland. M’Clellan -again delayed when he ought to have -forced an engagement. The people of -Maryland received the Southern army very -coldly. On the 17th the armies met at -Antietam. The battle was not really decisive; -the losses of the North were as -great as those of the South; but it put -an end to their invasion. Lee recrossed -the Potomac River to Virginia. M’Clellan -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>again wasted time. He waited six weeks -before pursuing Lee. In November M’Clellan -was at last superseded.</p> - -<p>Events had gradually led Lincoln to see -the necessity of taking one great step—the -freeing of the slaves. The question -of slavery was at the bottom of the war; -it was the great division between North -and South. Two reasons led Lincoln to -take this step now. One was that he -knew the negroes when free would fight, -for the most part, for the North; and the -North needed every help she could find. -The other was the great difficulty of knowing -what to do with the negro slaves -which fell into the hands of the conquerors -of any part of Southern territory. On the -22nd of September, very soon after the -news of the battle of Antietam and Lee’s -retreat from Maryland had arrived, Lincoln -called a meeting of his Cabinet. None -of them knew why he had summoned -them.</p> - -<p>They found the President reading Artemus -Ward; one story amused him so -much that he read it aloud. They all -laughed a great deal except Stanton, who -could never see a joke, and did not understand<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> -that Lincoln must have broken down -altogether under the fearful strain of all he -had to bear, if he had not been able sometimes -to forget himself. When he had -finished reading the story, the President’s -face grew grave again. He drew from his -pocket a large sheet of foolscap, covered -with his straight, regular writing, and -read it to the Cabinet.</p> - -<p class="p15b">It was the Emancipation Proclamation, -which declared that, after January 1st of -the coming year, all slaves were to be -free; that Government would pay some -compensation to loyal owners. No one -dared oppose Lincoln when his mind was -made up. His reason for introducing -Emancipation now was, that he thought -it would help the cause of Union, and -that cause was to him sacred beyond -everything. “As long as I am President,” -he said later, “this war shall be -carried on for the sole purpose of restoring -the Union. But no human power -can subdue this rebellion without the use -of the Emancipation policy.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="illo5"><img src="images/i_094.jpg" width="400" alt="Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet</p> - -<p class="p2">His first object in everything was to -hold the American nation together as one -whole. But, at the same time, he detested<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> -slavery as much as any man. “If -slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” -An opportunity had now come when to -strike a blow at slavery was to assist -the Union cause. By freeing the blacks, -Lincoln provided the North with a new -resource, at the time when the South had -nowhere to turn to for fresh resources. By -declaring the abolition of slavery an unchangeable -part of the Union, which the -South must accept before peace could be -made, he won the sympathy of Europe -for the North, and prevented it from sending -help to the South at a time when -such help would have changed the balance -of affairs.</p> - -<p>Up till now both England and France -had shown themselves ready to sympathise -with the South. English newspapers abused -Lincoln and the North in the most violent -language. In the English dockyards vessels -had been built and equipped which were -used by the South as privateers to do great -damage to the Northern navy. One of -these was the famous <i>Alabama</i>. But when -the war was a war against slavery, English -feeling was all on the side of the North.</p> - -<p>The United States was made a really free -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>country: slavery, which had made such a -name a mockery, was wiped off the statute -book.</p> - -<p>Lincoln showed rare judgment and -courage in doing what he did at this time. -At first a large section in the North was -opposed to Emancipation, but gradually all -united in admiring the wisdom of Lincoln’s -action. The South knew that if they were -conquered slavery was gone. And however -black things might look, Lincoln and -the North were not going to give in till -they did conquer. They had set their teeth; -they were going to fight to the bitter end.</p> - -<p>M’Clellan had been dismissed, but his -successors were not much more successful. -In December Burnside threw away -thousands of lives in an attempt to scale -Mary’s Heights. Men were shot down in -heaps by the enemy, and the army fell into -a panic; a battle against overwhelming -odds ended in a complete defeat. Lincoln’s -heart bled for the loss of so many splendid -citizens: there was deep indignation in -Washington, much of it vented against the -President.</p> - -<p>The darkest moment of the war came -when, in May, the news of the battle of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>Chancellorsville reached the Government. -Hooker met Jackson: a long and fearfully -bloody battle followed. There were dreadful -losses on both sides: another valuable opportunity -of pressing south was lost. In the -battle “Stonewall” Jackson was killed, shot -accidentally by his own men; a disastrous -loss to the Southern side, though the North -was defeated.</p> - -<p>All hope seemed gone from the North.</p> - -<p>Up till now the North had lost more than -the South. It had suffered most of all from -a lack of really able commanders. Now, -however, Lincoln discovered a really great -general in Ulysses S. Grant, and from this -time on the fortune of the war began to -change.</p> - -<p>The North was richer: it had more men, -money, and resources to draw on; in a long -struggle the South was bound to be worn -out. Grant saw this and planned accordingly. -Grant had distinguished himself -early in the war by the capture of Fort -Henry and Fort Donelson, on the Mississippi, -in February 1862; in the following April he -had driven the Confederates back to Corinth -after one of the most expensive battles of -the war. Grant was a man of the most -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>reckless personal courage; as a general -his great fault was that he exposed his -men needlessly. Complaints were early -made of him to Lincoln; but Lincoln’s -wonderful eye discerned a great soldier in -Grant. “I can’t spare that man; he fights.” -Later he was told that Grant drank. “Pray -tell me what brand of whisky he takes, -that I may send a barrel to each of my -other generals.”</p> - -<p>Lincoln and Grant always understood -each other. Each was a man of intense -strength of character, given to doing things -rather than talking of them. Grant had -not Lincoln’s tenderness of heart, or the -beauty of his pure and generous nature; -but he had his power of concentrating his -whole mind upon the task in hand. He -knew Lincoln’s secret: “Work, work, is -the main thing.”</p> - -<p>The battle of Chancellorsville, May 1863, -was for the North the darkest moment of -the war; things were never so dark again. -Only Lincoln’s supreme faith and courage -could have risen from such a series of -defeats unshaken. The newspapers were -full of abuse of the President; plots were -on foot against him to prevent his re-election<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span> -when the time came. In February -he had lost his son Willie after a long and -painful illness. But he never quailed.</p> - -<p>And his patience was at last to be rewarded. -After Chancellorsville his unflinching -belief in the justice of his course, in -spite of opposition and discontent, was to -be rewarded: he was to look, if only for -a moment, upon an America not only free -but united.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span class="smaller">VICTORY</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">A</span>fter</span> Chancellorsville the South thought -that all was won, and a movement was -set on foot to attack Washington. Lee -marched north with an army that, though -only half fed, was full of enthusiasm, and on -July 1 took up his position at Gettysburg, -where he was faced by the Federal army -under General Meade. The battle lasted -three days, and the slaughter was terrific; -in spite of the desperate determination of -the Confederates, the day ended in a victory -for the Union.</p> - -<p>Lee was driven back, and forced to retreat -into Virginia. The invasion was at an -end. The victory, though brilliant, was not -followed up, perhaps because of the heavy -losses of the Union army; but it was the -turning-point of the war. Washington was -never again in such danger; the Confederates<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> -had lost the one great opportunity -of attack since Bull Run.</p> - -<p>Deep national thankfulness was felt at this, -the first great victory for the North. The -battlefield was only a few miles from the -capital, and many of the citizens and the -most prominent men of the town assembled -to perform a service for the dead who had -fallen there. Lincoln was called upon to -speak. He had not prepared anything, but -the short speech which he gave made a -deep impression upon all who heard it, and -puts into very noble words the thoughts -that were always present to his mind.</p> - -<p>“Fourscore and seven years ago, our -fathers brought forth a new nation upon -this continent, 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 meet to dedicate a -portion of it as a final resting-place of those -who here gave their lives that the nation -might live. It is altogether fitting and -proper that we should do this. But, in a -larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot -consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>The brave men, living and dead, who -struggled here, have consecrated it far above -our power to add or detract. The world will -take 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 that -they have thus far so nobly carried on. It -is rather for us to be dedicated here to the -great task remaining before us: that from -these honoured dead we take increased devotion -for the cause for which they here gave -the last full measure of devotion; that we -here highly resolve that these dead shall -not have died in vain; that this nation shall, -under God, 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>In words like these, Lincoln inspired the -people of the North to see the greatness of -the cause for which they were fighting; they -were fighting for liberty, for a free government -of free men, for a United America that -might be to the world a pattern of such a -free government. If the South won, if America -were a house divided for ever against -itself, one half would have slavery; if -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>the North won, and America were a -whole again, slavery was gone; the Declaration -of Independence, proclaiming the -equal rights of all men to life and liberty, -would be for the first time fully realised.</p> - -<p>And encouragement came at last. On -the Fourth of July, on Independence Day, -Grant telegraphed to Lincoln the news -of the capture of Vicksburg. In the -beginning of May Grant had defeated -Pemberton, the Confederate general, and -shut him up in the town with his great -army. After an unsuccessful assault in -the end of May, he sat down patiently -before the town, prepared to wear out -its resistance. After great sufferings, the -famishing garrison surrendered; Pemberton -and 30,000 men, whom the South -could but ill spare, were prisoners of war. -Hundreds of cannon and thousands of -muskets fell into the victor’s hands. Vicksburg -was a position of importance, the key -to the Mississippi. Lincoln could now say, -“The Father of Waters again goes unvexed -to the sea.”</p> - -<p>The joy in the North over these two -victories was intense. The drooping spirits -began to rise again; and as things went -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>better, men turned with new confidence to -the patient man whose courage had never -failed him. With renewed spirit the North -set itself to the great task before it.</p> - -<p class="p15b">Lincoln now had men who were able to -carry out great designs. By the end of -1863 things looked hopeful. The army had -a nucleus of veterans who had received the -best possible training, and a set of generals -whose positions had been won not -by political influence, but by hard work. -Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan were men of -ability, experience, and power.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="illo6"><img src="images/i_104.jpg" width="400" alt="Lincoln discussing the plan of campaign with General Grant" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">Lincoln discussing the plan of campaign with General Grant</p> - -<p class="p2">The plan of campaign for 1864, drawn -up, under Lincoln’s advice, by Grant and -Sherman, was masterly; carried out magnificently, -it led to the complete triumph of the -North. It was the complete development -of Lincoln’s earlier plans. Grant, with the -army of the west, was to face Lee in -Virginia and drive him south; finally, -to capture Richmond, the Confederate headquarters, -and force Lee to yield. Sherman, -marching south and east, was to carry the -war into the heart of the Confederacy; to -follow General Johnson, push him to the -sea, and capture him. “We intend,” said -Sherman, “to fight Joseph Johnson till he is -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>satisfied.” Then Sherman, marching north, -was to co-operate with Grant by cutting off -Lee’s retreat. Meantime Sheridan was to -deal with General Early in the Shenandoah -valley, west and south of Washington.</p> - -<p>By May 1864 Grant crossed the Potomac -and entered the wild district, full of hills -and woods and undergrowth, known as the -Wilderness, where the Union armies had -suffered so many defeats. Grant saw that -the only thing was to wear the Southern -army out by hard fighting; and he fought -hard all summer. He lost some thirty thousand -men in the Wilderness. His policy -was to bear so continuously on the enemy -that they, having fewer men, and less possibility -of recruiting, must be worn out. -Slowly, with an immense loss of life on -both sides, Grant forced Lee south.</p> - -<p>Sherman meantime was fighting his way -to Georgia. His task was as difficult as -Grant’s. The country was wild, and well -adapted for concealing the enemy. It was -impossible for him to communicate with the -rest of the army.</p> - -<p>After an expedition into Alabama, Sherman -started on his “March to the Sea.” -Johnson disputed every inch of the way. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>There was incessant skirmishing, but Sherman -advanced step by step.</p> - -<p>While Sherman and Grant were thus -slowly wearing down the resistance of the -enemy, the Unionists were once more encouraged -by a brilliant naval success. In -August Farragut came victorious out of a -terrific fight in Mobile Bay. Entering the -harbour in spite of the line of mines, he -“plucked victory out of the very jaws of -defeat.”</p> - -<p>Sherman was now besieging Atlanta, which -he captured on September 1. About the -same date Sheridan defeated Early at Winchester -in the Shenandoah Valley.</p> - -<p>These successes decided the presidential -election. Lincoln had been unanimously -nominated as the Republican candidate, -“not,” as he said, “because they have decided -I am the greatest or best man in -America, but rather they have concluded -that it is not wise to swop horses while -crossing a river, and have further concluded -that I am not so poor a horse that they -might not make a botch of it in trying to -swop.” Against him the Democratic party, -whose main principle was opposition to the -war, supported ex-General M’Clellan, declaring<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> -“the war is a failure.” The Democrats -found their main supporters among -those (and they were fairly numerous) who -disliked Lincoln’s Emancipation proclamation.</p> - -<p>Lincoln made no efforts to secure his re-election. -He had been before the nation as -President for four years: his policy was -tried, his opinions known. Even M’Clellan -did not dare to propose to abandon the -Union. On that point the North was now -united, and that being so the successes of -September made Lincoln’s re-election practically -certain. Out of 233 electoral votes -Lincoln received 212; he had a majority in -every free State save one. The election was -a complete triumph for the President.</p> - -<p>The noble words of the address which -he delivered on taking up his duties for -a second time mark the spirit in which -he celebrated that triumph. “With malice -toward none; with charity for all; with -firmness in the right as God gives us to -see the right, let us strive on to finish the -work we are in: to bind up the nation’s -wounds; to care for him who shall have -borne the battle, and for his widow and -his orphan—to do all that may achieve -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span>and cherish a just and lasting peace among -ourselves and with all nations.”</p> - -<p>On November 16 Sherman marched on by -Atlanta. By December he had reached -Savannah and began to bombard the city. -It surrendered on December 21, and Sherman -wrote to Lincoln: “I beg to present to -you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.” -Leaving Savannah early in the -New Year, 1865, the army marched, ravaging, -through South Carolina. Columbia was -burned and Charleston captured. By March, -Sherman was in North Carolina and in -communication with Grant. The net was -ready to be drawn round the Confederate -army.</p> - -<p>Grant meantime was bearing steadily on. -The losses of the Union armies were enormous, -and made the President’s tender -heart bleed. Grant began to be hampered -by the inferior quality of his troops, and -during the summer months matters seemed -to be going ill with the North. In September, -however, Sheridan inflicted a series -of defeats upon Early in the Shenandoah -Valley, and on October 18 vanquished him -decisively at Cedar Creek.</p> - -<p>The remaining Confederate army, under -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>Hood, was defeated at Nashville in the -West, and now Lee’s was the only army in -the field. The Confederacy was “surrounded -by a band of fire.” The sea was in the hands -of the Union; the Mississippi shut off any -help from the coast. Sherman had harried -Georgia and Carolina, destroying their supplies; -Sheridan had raided Virginia; Grant -was at the gates of Richmond.</p> - -<p>Through the whole summer of 1864 and -the winter of 1865 Grant besieged Richmond. -There were indecisive engagements, but the -armies did no more than “feel” each other. -With the spring, however, Grant took the -offensive again. On March 31 Sheridan -gained a brilliant victory at Five Forks, -and this enabled Grant to break Lee’s lines. -On April 3 the Stars and Stripes floated -over Richmond. On April 9 Lee and his -army surrendered to Grant at Appomatox.</p> - -<p>The war was at an end.</p> - -<p>Lincoln had been with Grant’s army during -the closing days of March; he entered -Richmond on April 3. Everywhere the -negroes saluted him as their liberator, kneeling -on the ground before him and clasping -his knees: “May de Lawd bress and keep -you, Massa Presidum Linkum.”</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span class="smaller">“O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!”</span></h2></div> - -<p class="no-indent"><span class="smcap"><span class="dropcap">N</span>o</span> one had suffered more deeply during -the war than the President. His purpose -never faltered. Even at the moment -when success seemed farthest distant, his -resolve stood firm; cost what it might the -Union must be preserved. When almost -every other man despaired of the Northern -cause, Lincoln’s invincible faith in the right -and justice of their purpose sustained his -country.</p> - -<p class="p15b">To attain that purpose thousands of lives -had to be sacrificed; but the purpose -was worth the loss of thousands of lives. -Yet Lincoln’s heart bled for every one of -them.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> -<a id="illo7"><img src="images/i_110.jpg" width="400" alt="Lincoln visited all the divisions of his army in turn" /></a></div> - -<p class="caption no-indent">Lincoln visited all the divisions of his army in turn</p> - -<p class="p2">All day long he received visits from -distracted relations, mothers and wives -asking him to pardon their sons or husbands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> -in prison as deserters or captured -from the enemy; asking for tidings of -their beloved ones at the front. His -generals complained that he undermined -the discipline of the army by pardoning -what he called his “leg” cases—cases where -men had run away before the enemy. “If -Almighty God gives a man a cowardly -pair of legs, how can he help their running -away with him?” said Lincoln.</p> - -<p>The story of William Scott is a case which -shows the way in which Lincoln used to -act. William Scott was a young boy from -a Northern farm, who, after marching for -forty-eight hours without sleep, offered to -stand on guard duty for a sick comrade. -Worn out, he fell asleep, and was condemned -to be shot for being asleep on -duty in face of the enemy. Lincoln made -it his custom to visit all the divisions of -his army in turns, and, as it happened, -two days before the execution he was -with the division in which Willie Scott was, -and heard of the case. He went to see -the boy, and talked to him about his home -and his mother. As he was leaving the -prison tent he put his hands on the lad’s -shoulders, and said—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span></p> - -<p>“My boy, you are not going to be shot -to-morrow.... I am going to trust you -and send you back to your regiment. -But I have been put to a great deal -of trouble on your account. I have come -here from Washington, where I had a -great deal to do. Now, what I want to -know is, how are you going to pay my -bill?”</p> - -<p>Willie did not know what to say: perhaps -he could get his friends to help him, he said -at last.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Lincoln, “friends cannot pay -it; only one man in the world can pay it, -and that is William Scott. If from this -day on William Scott does his duty, my -bill is paid.”</p> - -<p>William Scott never forgot these words. -Just before his death in one of the later -battles of the war, he asked his comrades -to tell President Lincoln that he had never -forgotten what he had said.</p> - -<p>All the time, people who did not know the -President threw on his shoulders all the -blame for the long continuance of the war. -Until the last year of the war, the newspapers -abused him continually. The horrible loss -of life in Grant’s last campaign was laid to -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>his charge. Only those who came to the -President to ask his help in their own suffering, -understood what his suffering was; he -suffered with each of them—he suffered with -the South as well as the North. After -Antietam, he had said, “I shall not live -to see the end; this war is killing me.” -The crushing burden he had borne so long -and patiently had bent even his strong -shoulders.</p> - -<p>But it had not been borne in vain. The -time seemed at last to have come when all -America would understand how much they -owed to the patient endurance of the President. -And there was work still to be done -which needed all his wisdom. The South -was conquered. It had to be made one with -the North. The pride of the conquerors had -to be curbed, the bitterness of the conquered -softened.</p> - -<p>Lincoln returned from Richmond to Washington, -in his heart the profound resolve “to -bind up the nation’s wounds” as he, and only -he, could do it.</p> - -<p>April 14 was Good Friday, and a day of -deep thankfulness in the North. In the -morning Lincoln held a Cabinet meeting, at -which General Grant was present. The -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>question of reconstruction, of making one -whole out of the divided halves, was discussed. -Some of the Cabinet were anxious -to wreak vengeance on the South, to -execute the leaders of the rebellion. Such -was not Lincoln’s view.</p> - -<p>“Enough lives have been sacrificed. We -must extinguish our resentments if we -expect harmony and union.”</p> - -<p>His noble patriotism could still say to the -South, “We are not enemies, but friends.” -His life was now even more precious to the -South than to the North.</p> - -<p>After the Cabinet meeting, Lincoln spent -some time in talking with his son Robert, -who had returned from the field with General -Grant, under whom he had served as a -captain. In the afternoon he went for a -drive with Mrs. Lincoln. His mood was -calm and happy: for the first time for four -years he could look forward peacefully to -the future, and to the great tasks still before -him.</p> - -<p>In the evening he went to the theatre with -his wife and two young friends: the play -was “Our American Cousin.” The President -was fond of the theatre—it was one of his few -recreations: his appearance on this night -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>was something of a public ceremony; therefore, -although he was tired when evening -came, he went because he knew that many -people would be disappointed if he did not. -The President had a box to the left of the -stage. Suddenly, about the middle of the -last act, a man appeared at the back of the -box, a knife in one hand and a pistol in the -other, put the pistol to the President’s head -and fired; then wounding Major Rathbone, -the only other man in the box, with his -knife, he vaulted on to the stage. As he -leapt his spur caught the flag hanging from -the box and he fell, breaking his leg. Nevertheless -he rose instantly, and brandishing -his knife and crying, “<i>Sic semper tyrannis!</i>”—“The -South is avenged!” fled across the -stage and out of sight.</p> - -<p>The horrified audience was thunderstruck. -The President lay quite still: the bullet had -passed right through his head. The wound -was mortal. He was carried to a house -across the street, where he lay, quite unconscious, -till the morning, surrounded by his -friends, their faces as pale and haggard as -his own. About seven, “a look of unspeakable -peace came upon his worn features.” -Stanton, the War Secretary, rose from his -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>knees by his side, saying, “Now he belongs -to the ages.”</p> - -<p>There was profound sorrow through the -whole of America; sorrow that checked all -rejoicings over the victory of the North. -Thus, indirectly, Lincoln’s death helped the -reconciliation between North and South, -though nothing could counterbalance the -loss of his wise guidance.</p> - -<p>Washington was shrouded in black: even -the poorest inhabitants showing their sorrow -in their dress. The body was taken to -Springfield, Illinois, to be buried; and all -the towns on the way showed their deep -mourning and respect. Now, and not till -now, did Americans begin to understand -what a man they had lost.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He knew to bide his time,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And can his fame abide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still patient in his simple faith sublime</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till the wise years decide.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Great captains with their guns and drums</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Disturb our judgment for the hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But at last silence comes:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">These all are gone, and, standing like a tower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our children shall behold his fame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The kindly, earnest, brave, far-seeing man,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">New birth of our new soil, the first American.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span></p> -<p>So James Russell Lowell wrote of Lincoln -when the celebration of Independence Day in -the year of his death revived the vivid sense -of loss.</p> - -<p>The passage of years have only made -clearer how great he was. Perfectly simple, -perfectly sincere, he thought out for himself -an ideal, and spent the whole of his life and -all his strength in pursuing it.</p> - -<p>He loved America, not because it was -powerful and strong, but because it had -been based on a great idea—the idea of -liberty: his work for America was to -realise that idea. He never thought of -his own personal success: he wanted to -be President because he saw a great -work to be done and believed that he -could do it. He never became rich: his -own tastes remained entirely simple. He -was said to have worn the same top-hat -all his life.</p> - -<p>The first thing that struck any one about -Lincoln was his extraordinary appearance. -He always dressed in black, with a big black -tie, very often untied, or in the wrong place: -his clothes looked as if they had been made -to fit some one else, and had never been -new. His feet were enormous; so were his -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span>hands, covered on state occasions with white -kid gloves.</p> - -<p>In cold weather he used to wear a large -grey shawl instead of an overcoat. One -day, before he was made President, some -friends were discussing Lincoln and Douglas, -and comparing their heights. When Lincoln -came into the room some one asked -him, “How long ought a man’s legs to -be?”</p> - -<p>“Long enough to reach from his body -to the ground,” said Lincoln coolly.</p> - -<p>Lincoln might look uncouth or even grotesque, -but he did not look weak: he -was the most striking figure wherever -he went. No one who saw him often, no -one who went to him in trouble, or to -ask his advice, thought long of his appearance. -Those who had once felt the -sympathy of his wonderful, sad eyes, thought -of that only. Those who really knew him, -knew him to be the best man they had -ever met.</p> - -<p>Lincoln was often profoundly sad, and -then suddenly boisterously gay. He enjoyed -a joke or a funny story immensely: -he often used to shock thoughtless people -by telling some comic story on what they -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span>thought an unsuitable occasion; but he -told it so well that however much they -might disapprove they were generally forced -to laugh.</p> - -<p>Always rather a dreamer, he was fond of -poetry. He knew long passages of Shakespeare -by heart, especially Hamlet, Macbeth, -and Richard III. The Bible he had known -from his childhood; of Burns he was very -fond.</p> - -<p>Lincoln’s rise to power, as even so short -an account as this will have shown you, was -not due to any extraordinary good fortune -or any advantages at start. He taught himself -all that he knew; he made himself -what he was.</p> - -<p>It was his character more than anything -else that made him great. His -early struggles had taught him that self-reliance -which enabled him to persevere -in a course which he thought right in -spite of opposition, disloyalty, and abuse; -they taught him the toleration which -made him slow to judge others, generous -to praise them, little apt to expect them -to understand or praise him. He stood -alone.</p> - -<p>Not till he had gone did his people realise -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>how much he had given them; how much -they had lost in him. He gave them, indeed, -the most priceless gift a patriot can give his -country—the example of sincere, devoted, -and unselfish service.</p> - -<p class="center no-indent">THE END</p> - -<p class="center no-indent">Printed by <span class="smcap">Ballantyne, Hanson</span> & <span class="smcap">Co.</span><br /> -Edinburgh & London<br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="transnote"><div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph2 nobreak"><span class="smcap">Transcriber’s Notes:</span></p> -</div> - -<p class="no-indent">Illustrations occurring in the middle of a paragraph have been -moved to avoid interrupting the paragraph flow.</p> - -<p class="no-indent">On page 65, “yes,” has been changed to ‘yes,’ to conform to standard -usage.</p> - -<p class="no-indent">All other variant spellings, punctuation and hyphenation have -been left as typeset.</p></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. -</div> - -<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person -or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the -Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when -you share it without charge with others. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work -on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the -phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: -</div> - -<blockquote> - <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most - other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you - are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws - of the country where you are located before using this eBook. - </div> -</blockquote> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg™ License. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format -other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain -Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -provided that: -</div> - -<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation.” - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ - works. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. - </div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right -of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread -public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state -visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. -</div> - -</div> -</body> -</html> |