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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. How American history would dwindle if that name were taken out of it! Washington was great. Grant was great. Lee was great. Many others have been and are great in all the walks of life. But Lincoln, who came out of the lowly heart of the people, will come back nearer to that heart than any other man probably that the nation has known. There have been men of war and there have been men of peace, but there has been no such man of peace in war as Lincoln. Why is it we never tire of
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LINCOLN’S GREAT STRENGTH AS A BOY.
LINCOLN’S GREAT STRENGTH AS A BOY.
The strength Lincoln displayed when he was ten years old is remarkable. At that age he was almost constantly using an axe in chopping and splitting wood and he used it with great skill, sinking it deeper into the wood than any other person. He cut the elm and linn brush used for feeding the stock, drove the team, handled the old shovel-plow, wielded the sickle, threshed wheat with a flail, fanned and cleaned it with a sheet and performed other labor that few men of to-day could do so well. He wi
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WAS PROUD OF HIS STRENGTH.
WAS PROUD OF HIS STRENGTH.
Mr. Lincoln was a remarkably strong man; he was strong as well as tall. He was in the habit of measuring his height with other tall men,—he did this even in the White House. In 1859 he visited the Wisconsin State Fair at Milwaukee and was led around by the then Governor Hoyt. They entered a tent where a “strong man” was performing with huge iron balls. His feats amazed and interested Lincoln. The governor told him to go up on the platform and be introduced to the athlete, by whose exhibition of
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LINCOLN A POWERFUL WRESTLER.
LINCOLN A POWERFUL WRESTLER.
While a clerk in a general store at New Salem, Ill., Lincoln gained the reputation of being a skillful and powerful wrestler. Near New Salem was a settlement known as Clary’s Grove, in which lived an organization known as “Clary’s Grove Boys.” They were rude in their manners and rough and boastful in their ways, being what would to-day be called “a set of rowdies.” The leader of this organization, and the strongest of the lot, was a young man named Armstrong. It had been said that Lincoln could
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LINCOLN SPLIT 400 RAILS FOR A YARD OF BROWN JEANS.
LINCOLN SPLIT 400 RAILS FOR A YARD OF BROWN JEANS.
When Lincoln lived in Illinois (New Salem) he wore trousers made of flax and tow cut tight at the ankles and out at both knees. Though a very poor young man he was universally welcomed in every house of the neighborhood. Money was so scarce in those days that it is known that Lincoln once split 400 rails for every yard of brown jeans, dyed with white walnut bark, that would be necessary to make him a pair of trousers....
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LINCOLN AS A VERSE WRITER.
LINCOLN AS A VERSE WRITER.
Even when he was a boy Lincoln was sometimes called upon to write poetry. The following are among his earliest attempts at rhyme: It is needless to say that Lincoln himself carried out what he wrote so well; in other words, he “practiced what he preached.” It was in a great measure owing to his constant application to his books that he afterward became a great man. The following poem Mr. Lincoln wrote in 1844, while on a visit to the home of his childhood:...
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LINCOLN’S QUICK WIT IN HELPING A GIRL TO SPELL A WORD.
LINCOLN’S QUICK WIT IN HELPING A GIRL TO SPELL A WORD.
“Abe” Lincoln was always ready and willing to help any one. Once he was in a spelling match at school when the word “defied” had been given out by the teacher. It had been misspelled several times when it came the turn of a girl friend of Lincoln’s to spell. The pupils were arranged on opposite sides of the room and “Abe” was watching his friend as she struggled with the spelling. She began d-e-f, and stopped, being unable to decide whether to proceed with an i or a y. Happening to look up, she
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LINCOLN AS A NOTION PEDDLER.
LINCOLN AS A NOTION PEDDLER.
In March, 1830, the Lincoln family moved from Gentryville, Indiana, to near Decatur, Illinois, their household goods being packed in a wagon drawn by four oxen driven by “Abe.” The winter previous Lincoln had worked in a country store in Gentryville and before undertaking the journey he invested all the money he had, some thirty dollars, in notions, such as needles, pins, thread, buttons and other domestic necessities. These he sold to families along the route and made a profit of about one hund
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LINCOLN SAVED FROM DROWNING.
LINCOLN SAVED FROM DROWNING.
The life of Lincoln during the time the family lived in Kentucky appears to have been entirely uneventful. He helped his mother—after he was 3 years old—in the simple household duties, went to the district school, and played with the children of the neighborhood. The only one of young Lincoln’s playmates now living is an old man nearly 100 years old named Austin Gollaher, whose mind is bright and clear, and who never tires of telling of the days Lincoln and he “were little tikes and played toget
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LINCOLN’S YOUTHFUL ELOQUENCE.
LINCOLN’S YOUTHFUL ELOQUENCE.
One man in Gentryville, Ind., a Mr. Jones, the storekeeper, took a Louisville paper, and here Lincoln went regularly to read and discuss its contents. All the men and boys of the neighborhood gathered there, and everything which the paper related was subjected to their keen, shrewd common sense. It was not long before young Lincoln became the favorite member of the group and the one listened to most eagerly. Politics was warmly discussed by these Gentryville citizens, and it may be that sitting
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ONE OF LINCOLN’S SONGS.
ONE OF LINCOLN’S SONGS.
As will be learned elsewhere in this book Annie Rutledge was Lincoln’s first love. Mrs. William Prewitt, of Fairfield, Iowa, is a sister of Annie Rutledge. She is a widow in comfortable circumstances and lives with one of her sons. This is what she says of her dead sister and Lincoln: “Her death made a great impression upon him I could see. We never knew him to jolly or laugh afterward. Annie was next to the oldest girl in our family, and she had a great deal of the housework to do. I remember s
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LINCOLN’S FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH.
LINCOLN’S FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH.
A citizen of Buffalo has found among his papers an account of the circumstances under which Abraham Lincoln made his maiden speech. It was originally printed in the Springfield (Ill.) Republican, and is as follows: “The President of the United States made his maiden speech in Sangamon County, at Pappsville (or Richland), in the year 1832. He was then a Whig and a candidate for the Legislature of this State. The speech is sharp and sensible. To understand why it was so short the following facts w
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HOW LINCOLN BECAME KNOWN AS “HONEST ABE.”
HOW LINCOLN BECAME KNOWN AS “HONEST ABE.”
As a grocery clerk at New Salem Lincoln was scrupulously honest. This trait of his soon became known, but the two following incidents are particularly responsible for the appellation of “Honest Abe,” given him and by which he has been so familiarly known. He once took six and a quarter cents too much from a customer. He did not say to himself, “never mind such little things,” but walked three miles that evening, after closing his store, to return the money. On another occasion he weighed out a h
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LINCOLN WAS AN “OBLIGING” MAN.
LINCOLN WAS AN “OBLIGING” MAN.
Lincoln was always ready to help any man, woman, child or animal. He was naturally kindhearted, and “possessed in an extraordinary degree the power of entering into the interests of others, a power found only in reflective, unselfish natures.” He loved his friends and sympathized with them in their troubles. He was anxious always to do his share in making their labors day after day as light as possible. Thus we are told by his neighbors (biography by Mr. Herndon and others) that he cared for the
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HOW LINCOLN PAID A LARGE DEBT.
HOW LINCOLN PAID A LARGE DEBT.
Mr. Lincoln went into partnership in the grocery business in New Salem. Ill., with a man named Berry. This man Berry mismanaged the business while Lincoln was away surveying. Eventually he died, leaving Lincoln to pay a debt of eleven hundred dollars contracted by the firm. In those days it was the fashion for business men who had failed to “clear out,” that is, skip the town and settle elsewhere. Not so with “Abe.” He quietly settled down among the men he owed and promised to pay them. He asked
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HIS FIRST SIGHT OF SLAVERY.
HIS FIRST SIGHT OF SLAVERY.
In May, 1831, Lincoln and a few companions went to New Orleans on a flat-boat and remained there a month. It was there that he witnessed for the first time negro men and women sold like animals. The poor beings were chained, whipped and scourged. “Against this inhumanity his sense of right and justice rebelled, and his mind and conscience were awakened to a realization of what he had often heard and read,” writes one of his biographers, Ida M. Tarbell. One morning, in his rambles with his friend
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LINCOLN AND DAVIS IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
LINCOLN AND DAVIS IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
Abraham Lincoln had a very brief experience with actual warfare. He enlisted with a company of volunteers to take part in the Black Hawk war. It was the custom in those days for each company to elect its own Captain, and Lincoln was chosen Captain of his company almost unanimously. He was heard to say many times in after life that no other success in his life had given him such pleasure as did this one. His command did little, as they were never engaged in a pitched battle, so Lincoln had to be
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LINCOLN’S GLOWING TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER.
LINCOLN’S GLOWING TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER.
These famous words originated with the good and lowly Abraham Lincoln: “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” His affection for his mother was very strong, and long after her death he would speak of her affectionately and tearfully. She was a woman five feet five inches in height, slender of figure, pale of complexion, sad of expression, and of a sensitive nature. Of a heroic nature, she yet shrank from the rude life around her. About two years after her removal from Kentucky
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WHAT LINCOLN’S STEP-MOTHER SAID OF HIM.
WHAT LINCOLN’S STEP-MOTHER SAID OF HIM.
“Abe was a good boy, and I can say what scarcely one woman—a mother—can say in a thousand: Abe never gave me a cross word or look, and never refused, in fact or appearance, to do anything I requested him. I never gave him a cross word in all my life. … His mind and mine—what little I had—seemed to run together. He was here after he was elected President. He was a dutiful son to me always. I think he loved me truly. I had a son, John, who was raised with Abe. Both were good boys; but I must say,
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LINCOLN’S FIRST LOVE.
LINCOLN’S FIRST LOVE.
Lincoln’s first love was Anna Rutledge, of New Salem, whose father was keeper of the Rutledge tavern where “Abe” boarded. The girl had been engaged to a young man named John McNeill, whom, we are informed, the village community pronounced an adventurer and a man unworthy the girl’s love. He left for the east, promising, however, to return within a year and claim her as his wife, so the story reads. According to Mrs. William Prewitt, a sister of Anna Rutledge, who is at present (1898) living, the
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THE DUEL LINCOLN DIDN’T FIGHT.
THE DUEL LINCOLN DIDN’T FIGHT.
President Abraham Lincoln and General Joe Shields, who married sisters, once arranged to fight a duel at Alton, Ill. It is remembered yet by the old settlers. Shields had offended a young lady at Springfield, and she got even by sending an article about it to a Springfield paper, signing a nom de plume. The next day General Shields called upon the editor and gave him 24 hours during which to divulge the name of the author or to take the consequences. The editor, who was a friend of Abraham Linco
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LINCOLN AS A DANCER.
LINCOLN AS A DANCER.
Lincoln made his first appearance in society when he was first sent to Springfield, Ill., as a member of the state legislature. It was not an imposing figure which he cut in a ballroom, but still he was occasionally to be found there. Miss Mary Todd, who afterward became his wife, was the magnet which drew the tall, awkward young man from his den. One evening Lincoln approached Miss Todd and said, in his peculiar idiom: “Miss Todd, I should like to dance with you the worst way.” The young woman
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LINCOLN’S COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.
LINCOLN’S COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.
In 1839 Miss Mary Todd, of Kentucky, arrived in Springfield to visit a married sister, Mrs. Edwards. At the instance of his friend Speed, who was also a Kentuckian, Lincoln became a visitor at the Edwards’, and before long it was apparent to the observant among those in Springfield that the lively young lady held him captive. Engagements at that time and in that neighborhood were not announced as soon as they were made, and it is not at all impossible that Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln were betrothe
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LINCOLN’S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
LINCOLN’S PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
That Lincoln was a man of extraordinary personal appearance is well known. He measured six feet four inches, and as most men are below six feet it will be seen that he was considerably taller than the average. He possessed great strength, both bodily and mental, and had a superabundance of patience, which he displayed constantly, and treated even those who differed with him with respect and kindness. One who had sustained close relations with Lincoln and knew him intimately, the late Charles A.
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LINCOLNS’ MOTHER.
LINCOLNS’ MOTHER.
Not long before his tragic death, Mr. Lincoln said: “All that I am, and all that I hope to be, I owe to my mother.” That mother died when little Abe was nine years of age. But she had already woven the texture of her deepest character into the habits and purposes of her boy. Her own origin had been humble. But there were certain elements in her character that prepared her for grand motherhood. When Nancy Hanks, at the age of twenty-three, gave her heart and hand to Thomas Lincoln, she was a youn
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LINCOLN’S MELANCHOLIA.
LINCOLN’S MELANCHOLIA.
A friend of Lincoln writes: Lincoln’s periods of melancholy are proverbial. On one occasion, while in court in 1855, Maj. H. C. Whitney describes him as “sitting alone in one corner of the room remote from any one else, wrapped in abstraction and gloom. It was a sad but interesting study for me, and I watched him for some time. It appeared as if he were pursuing in his mind some sad subject through various sinuosities, and his face would assume at times the deepest phases of seeming pain, but no
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LINCOLN’S HEIGHT.
LINCOLN’S HEIGHT.
Emma Gurley Adams in the New York Press. Sir:—The admirable speech of Hon. Thomas B. Reed in your paper of Feb. 9 contains one error which I would like to correct. Mr. Reed says Mr. Lincoln was six feet four inches in height. Mr. Lincoln told my father that he was exactly six feet three inches only a short time before his tragic death. Mr. Lincoln was very fond of tall men, and generally knew their exact height and never hesitated to say: “I am exactly six feet three.”...
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HOW LINCOLN BECAME A LAWYER.
HOW LINCOLN BECAME A LAWYER.
That Lincoln was a skilled lawyer is well known. It is not, however, generally known that he learned law himself, never having studied with anyone, or having attended any law school. He was preëminently a self-educated man. He borrowed law books of his friend Stuart, of Springfield, Ill., took them home (twenty miles away) and studied them hard. He walked all the way to Springfield and back, and usually read while walking. He often read aloud during these trips. Twenty years afterward, while he
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LINCOLN AS A LAWYER.
LINCOLN AS A LAWYER.
When Lincoln became a lawyer, he carried to the bar his habitual honesty. His associates were often surprised by his utter disregard of self-interest, while they could but admire his conscientious defense of what he considered right. One day a stranger called to secure his services. “State your case,” said Lincoln. A history of the case was given, when Lincoln astonished him by saying: “I cannot serve you; for you are wrong, and the other party is right.” “That is none of your business, if I hir
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LINCOLN’S CONSCIENTIOUSNESS IN TAKING CASES.
LINCOLN’S CONSCIENTIOUSNESS IN TAKING CASES.
Even as early as 1852 Lincoln had acquired a reputation for story telling. When not busy during the session of the court he was “habitually whispering stories to his neighbors, frequently to the annoyance of Judge Davis, who presided over the Eighth circuit.” If Lincoln persisted too long the judge would rap on the chair and exclaim: “Come, come, Mr. Lincoln; I can’t stand this! There is no use trying to carry on two courts. I must adjourn mine or yours, and I think you will have to be the one.”
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THE JURY UNDERSTOOD.
THE JURY UNDERSTOOD.
Another one of these anecdotes is related in connection with a case involving a bodily attack. Mr. Lincoln defended, and told the jury that his client was in the fix of a man who, in going along the highway with a pitchfork over his shoulder, was attacked by a fierce dog that ran out at him from a farmer’s door-yard. In parrying off the brute with the fork its prongs stuck into him and killed him. “What made you kill my dog?” said the farmer. “What made him bite me?” “But why did you not go afte
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LINCOLN’S HONESTY WITH A LADY CLIENT.
LINCOLN’S HONESTY WITH A LADY CLIENT.
A lady who had a real estate claim which she desired prosecuted once called on Lincoln and wished him to take up her case. She left the claim in his hands, together with a check for two hundred dollars as a retaining fee. Lincoln told her to call the next day, and meanwhile he would examine her claim. Upon presenting herself the next day the lady was informed that he had examined the case carefully, and told her frankly that she had no valid or legal grounds on which to base her claim. He theref
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LINCOLN WINS A CELEBRATED CASE.
LINCOLN WINS A CELEBRATED CASE.
The son of Lincoln’s old friend and former employer, who had loaned him books, was charged with a murder committed in a riot at a camp-meeting. Lincoln volunteered for the defense. A witness swore that he saw the prisoner strike the fatal blow. It was night, but he swore that the full moon was shining clear, and he saw everything distinctly. The case seemed hopeless, but Lincoln produced an almanac, and showed that at that hour there was no moon. “Then he depicted the crime of perjury with such
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LINCOLN’S “SELFISHNESS.”
LINCOLN’S “SELFISHNESS.”
Mr. Lincoln once remarked to a fellow-passenger on the old-time mud-wagon coach, on the corduroy road which antedated railroads, that all men were prompted by selfishness in doing good or evil. His fellow-passenger was antagonizing his position when they were passing over a corduroy bridge that spanned a slough. As they crossed this bridge, and the mud-wagon was shaking like a sucker with chills, they espied an old, razor-back sow on the bank of the slough, making a terrible noise because her pi
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LINCOLN REMOVES A LICENSE ON THEATRES.
LINCOLN REMOVES A LICENSE ON THEATRES.
One of the most interesting anecdotes about the beloved Lincoln is the one quoted from Joe Jefferson’s autobiography. Jefferson and his father were playing at Springfield during the session of the legislature, and, as there was no theaters in town, had gone to the expense of building one. Hardly had this been done when a religious revival broke out. The church people condemned the theater and prevailed upon the authorities to impose a license which was practically prohibition. “In the midst of o
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HOW LINCOLN GOT THE WORST OF A HORSE TRADE.
HOW LINCOLN GOT THE WORST OF A HORSE TRADE.
Abraham Lincoln was fond of a good story, and it is a well-known fact that he often illustrated an important point in the business at hand by resorting to his favorite pastime. Probably one of the best he ever told he related of himself when he was a lawyer in Illinois. One day Lincoln and a certain judge, who was an intimate friend of his, were bantering each other about horses, a favorite topic of theirs. Finally Lincoln said: “Well, look here. Judge, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll make a ho
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LINCOLN HELPED HIM TO WIN.
LINCOLN HELPED HIM TO WIN.
His first case at the bar will never be forgotten by ex-Senator John C. S. Blackburn, of Kentucky, for Abraham Lincoln played a conspicuous part in helping the young Kentuckian to win his suit. Lincoln was merely an attorney, waiting for one of his cases to be called, when the incident occurred. Ex-Senator Blackburn was but 20 years old when he began the practice of law, having graduated at Center College, Danville, Ky. His first case was in the United States court in Chicago, presided over by J
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LINCOLN SETTLES A QUARREL WITHOUT GOING TO LAW.
LINCOLN SETTLES A QUARREL WITHOUT GOING TO LAW.
When Abe Lincoln used to be drifting around the country practicing law in Fulton and Menard counties, Illinois, an old fellow met him going to Lewistown, riding a horse which, while it was a serviceable enough an animal, was not of the kind to be truthfully called a fine saddler. It was a weather-beaten nag, patient and plodding and it toiled along with Abe—and Abe’s books, tucked away in saddle-bags, lay heavy on the horse’s flank. “Hello, Uncle Tommy,” said Abe. “Hello, Abe,” responded Uncle T
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A LINCOLN STORY ABOUT LITTLE DAN WEBSTER’S SOILED HANDS.
A LINCOLN STORY ABOUT LITTLE DAN WEBSTER’S SOILED HANDS.
Mr. Lincoln, on one occasion narrated to Hon. Mr. Odell and others, with much zest, the following story about young Daniel Webster: When quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty of a gross violation of the rules. He was detected in the act, and called up by the teacher for punishment. This was to be the old-fashioned “feruling” of the hand. His hands happened to be very dirty. Knowing this, on his way to the teacher’s desk, he spit upon the palm of his right hand, wiping it off upon the
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LINCOLN’S LONG LIMBS DRIVE A MAN OUT OF HIS BERTH.
LINCOLN’S LONG LIMBS DRIVE A MAN OUT OF HIS BERTH.
There was one story of his career that the late George M. Pullman told with manifest delight, which is thus related by an intimate friend. One night going out of Chicago, a long, lean, ugly man, with a wart on his cheek, came into the depot. He paid George M. Pullman 50 cents, and half a berth was assigned him. Then he took off his coat and vest and hung them up, and they fitted the peg about as well as they fitted him. Then he kicked off his boots, which were of surprising length, turned into t
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LINCOLN’S JOKE ON DOUGLAS.
LINCOLN’S JOKE ON DOUGLAS.
On one occasion, when Lincoln and Douglas were “stumping” the State of Illinois together as political opponents, Douglas, who had the first speech, remarked that in early life, his father, who he said was an excellent cooper by trade, apprenticed him out to learn the cabinet business. This was too good for Lincoln to let pass, so when his turn came to reply, he said: “I had understood before that Mr. Douglas had been bound out to learn the cabinet-making business, which is all well enough, but I
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LINCOLN SHREWDLY TRAPS DOUGLAS.
LINCOLN SHREWDLY TRAPS DOUGLAS.
Perhaps no anecdote ever told of Mr. Lincoln illustrates more forcibly his “longheadedness” in laying plans, not even that incident when he asked the “Jedge” a question in his debate with Mr. Douglas, which may be told as follows: One afternoon during that joint debate Mr. Lincoln was sitting with his friends, planning the program, when he was observed to go off in a kind of reverie, and for some time appeared totally oblivious of everything around him. Then slowly bringing his right hand up, ho
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LINCOLN’S FAIRNESS IN DEBATE.
LINCOLN’S FAIRNESS IN DEBATE.
The first time I met Mr. Lincoln was during his contest with Douglas. I was a young clergyman in a small Illinois country town. I was almost a stranger there when Lincoln was announced to make a speech. I went to the hall, got a seat well forward and asked a neighbor to point out Mr. Lincoln when he came in. “You won’t have no trouble knowin’ him when he comes,” said my friend, and I didn’t. Soon a tall, gaunt man came down the aisle and was greeted with hearty applause. I was specially impresse
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LINCOLN ASKED HIS FRIEND’S HELP FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
LINCOLN ASKED HIS FRIEND’S HELP FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE.
One of the most valued possessions of the Gillespie family of Edwardsville, Ill., is a package of old letters, the paper stained by time and the ink faded, but each missive rendered invaluable, to them at least, by the well-known signature of Abraham Lincoln which adorns it. These letters, so carefully preserved, are nearly all of a political nature, and are addressed to Hon. Joseph Gillespie, before the war one of the leading politicians of Illinois, a famous stump speaker, several times member
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MAKING LINCOLN PRESENTABLE.
MAKING LINCOLN PRESENTABLE.
In narrating “When Lincoln Was First Inaugurated,” Stephen Fiske tells of Mrs. Lincoln’s efforts to have her husband look presentable when receiving a delegation that was to greet them upon reaching New York City. “The train stopped,” writes Mr. Fiske, “and through the windows immense crowds could be seen; the cheering drowning the blowing off of steam of the locomotive. Then Mrs. Lincoln opened her hand bag and said: “‘Abraham, I must fix you up a bit for these city folks.’ “Mr. Lincoln gently
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EVIDENCE OF LINCOLN’S RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
EVIDENCE OF LINCOLN’S RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
There has been much controversy over Lincoln’s religious beliefs, many claiming that he was a deist while others have sought to prove that he was an infidel. Although never a member of any church, there is much documentary as well as corroborative evidence which show him to have been a believer in Providence; and in his parting address to his Springfield neighbors, when leaving for Washington, he said: “Washington would never have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he
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LINCOLN A TEMPERANCE MAN.
LINCOLN A TEMPERANCE MAN.
After his nomination for the Presidency at the Republican convention of Chicago, a committee visited him in Springfield and gave him official notification of his nomination. The ceremony over, Lincoln informed the company that custom demanded that he should treat them with something to drink. He thereupon opened a door that led into a room in the rear and called a girl servant. When she appeared Lincoln spoke something to her in an undertone, and returned to his guests. In a few minutes the girl
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LINCOLN’S FAMOUS GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
LINCOLN’S FAMOUS GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
Speaking of the dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg and President Lincoln’s famous address, delivered on that occasion, Nov. 19, 1863, Gov. Curtain, of Pennsylvania, said that there had been much discussion as to how and when that address was written, and he continued: “I can tell you all about that. Of course I was there, and the President and his cabinet had arrived and were at the hotel. Soon after his arrival, as we were sitting around in the parlor, Mr. Lincoln looked thoughtf
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THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.
“Ladies and Gentlemen: Four score and seven years ago your fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that the n
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LINCOLN AS A RULER.
LINCOLN AS A RULER.
Mr. Henry Watterson, the distinguished and scholarly editor of the widely-read Louisville Courier Journal, once delivered a lecture on “Lincoln.” The following is part of what he said: “After he was inaugurated President, Mr. Lincoln evinced four great qualities of mind and heart so great indeed that it is doubtful if such a combination of kingly talents was ever before or since concentrated in the same man.” Mr. Watterson then elaborated from historical facts, incidents, and conclusions, as als
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LINCOLN’S REAL OBJECT IN CONDUCTING THE WAR.
LINCOLN’S REAL OBJECT IN CONDUCTING THE WAR.
The great Horace Greeley was wont to criticize Lincoln’s plan of conducting the war. He finally wanted to know “what were the purposes and aims of the President, anyway?” The following is Lincoln’s reply, showing that his sole purpose was to save the Union at whatever cost. “If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I d
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LINCOLN ASKED FOR SOME OF GRANT’S WHISKY.
LINCOLN ASKED FOR SOME OF GRANT’S WHISKY.
When officious intermeddlers went to President Lincoln and demanded Gen. Grant’s removal from the command of the armies, charging that he was in the habit of getting drunk, Lincoln coolly asked them where he could get some of the brand of whisky that Grant was using; he wanted to supply it to his other generals. This remark of his silenced his callers, and he heard no more complaints about Grant getting drunk....
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LINCOLN BELIEVED HIMSELF UGLY.
LINCOLN BELIEVED HIMSELF UGLY.
Mrs. Benjamin Price, of Baltimore, told, at a meeting of the Woman’s Literary Club of that city, two anecdotes of Abraham Lincoln. In one of them she said that her father-in-law had at one time been appointed to a government position in place of Mr. Addison, who was a most polished but notably plain-featured man. The two gentlemen went together to call upon President Lincoln, who received them cheerfully in the midst of the somewhat embarrassing operation of shaving. His face was a lather of soa
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LINCOLN’S KINDNESS TO A DISABLED SOLDIER.
LINCOLN’S KINDNESS TO A DISABLED SOLDIER.
One summer morning, shortly before the close of the civil war, the not unusual sight in Washington of an old veteran hobbling along could have been seen on a shady path that led from the executive mansion to the war office. The old man was in pain, and the pale, sunken cheeks and vague, far-away stare in his eyes betokened a short-lived existence. He halted a moment and then slowly approached a tall gentleman who was walking along. “Good morning, sir. I am an old soldier and would like to ask yo
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A SAMPLE OF LINCOLN’S STATESMANSHIP.
A SAMPLE OF LINCOLN’S STATESMANSHIP.
President Lincoln, the man who said and did so many kindly things, taught Seward how to write state papers. He was not only master of the situation in this country, but when England and France were about combining to recognize the Confederacy he so won the admiration of Lord Lyon, the British ambassador at Washington, that that official informed Lord Russell that he was in error when he sent instructions to prepare the government for the recognition of the South by England, and Lord Lyon afterwa
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TWO GOOD STORIES.
TWO GOOD STORIES.
At a cabinet meeting once the advisability of putting a legend on greenbacks similar to the In God We Trust legend on the silver coins was discussed, and the President was asked what his view was. He replied: “If you are going to put a legend on the greenbacks I would suggest that of Peter and Paul: ‘Silver and gold we have not, but what we have we’ll give you.’” On another occasion when Mr. Lincoln was going to attend a political convention one of his rivals, a liveryman, provided him with a sl
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LINCOLN RAISES A WARNING VOICE AGAINST THE CONCENTRATION OF GREAT WEALTH.
LINCOLN RAISES A WARNING VOICE AGAINST THE CONCENTRATION OF GREAT WEALTH.
“Liberty cannot long endure,” said Webster, “when the tendency is to concentrate wealth in the hands of a few.” President Lincoln, in a message to Congress, said of this danger: “Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people. In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to omit raising a warning voice against approaching despotism. There is one point to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing w
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LINCOLN AND THE DYING SOLDIER BOY.
LINCOLN AND THE DYING SOLDIER BOY.
One day in May, 1863, while the great war was raging between the North and South, President Lincoln paid a visit to one of the military hospitals, says an exchange. He had spoken many cheering words of sympathy to the wounded as he proceeded through the various wards, and now he was at the bedside of a Vermont boy of about sixteen years of age, who lay there mortally wounded. Taking the dying boy’s thin, white hands in his own, the President said, in a tender tone: “Well, my poor boy, what can I
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THE DANDY, THE BUGS AND THE PRESIDENT.
THE DANDY, THE BUGS AND THE PRESIDENT.
President Lincoln appointed as consul to a South American country a young man from Ohio who was a dandy. A wag met the new appointee on his way to the White House to thank the President. He was dressed in the most extravagant style. The wag horrified him by telling him that the country to which he was assigned was noted chiefly for the bugs that abounded there and made life unbearable. “They’ll bore a hole clean through you before a week has passed,” was the comforting assurance of the wag as th
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LINCOLN UPHELD THE HANDS OF GENERAL GRANT.
LINCOLN UPHELD THE HANDS OF GENERAL GRANT.
In his “Campaigning With Grant,” in the Century, Gen. Horace Porter told of Gen. Halleck’s fear of trouble from enforcing of the draft, and his desire that Grant should send troops to the Northern cities. Gen. Porter says: On the evening of August 17 General Grant was sitting in front of his quarters, with several staff officers about him, when the telegraph operator came over from his tent and handed him a dispatch. He opened it, and as he proceeded with the reading of it his face became suffus
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WHY LINCOLN TOLD STORIES.
WHY LINCOLN TOLD STORIES.
Mr. Edward Rosewater, editor of the Omaha Bee, said he believed Lincoln got relaxation by his story telling, and that the hearing of a good story gave him the mental rest that he so much needed during those brain-taxing days. These stories came out under the most trying circumstances and at the most solemn times. A striking instance of this was just after the battle of Fredericksburg. After the Union armies were defeated an official who had seen the battle hurried to Washington. He reached there
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LINCOLN REWARDS A MAN FOR KINDNESS THIRTY YEARS AFTER THE OCCURRENCE.
LINCOLN REWARDS A MAN FOR KINDNESS THIRTY YEARS AFTER THE OCCURRENCE.
Lincoln’s indebtedness, in consequence of the closing out of his general store at New Salem, was such that it took him many years to extinguish all. There was one man among his creditors who would not wait, but secured a judgment against Lincoln and his personal effects were levied upon. Among them was his surveying instrument on which he depended for his living. At the sale a farmer friend of Lincoln’s named James Short bought the horse and surveying instruments for $120 and generously turned t
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LINCOLN A MERCIFUL MAN.
LINCOLN A MERCIFUL MAN.
Abraham Lincoln had a heart that was full of mercy; he could not bear to see even an animal suffer, and would not tolerate any wanton cruelty to animals. There are numerous instances of his mercifulness, but the following story will serve to show how kindly disposed the man was: One day the major-general commanding the forces in and around Washington, came to the office of Mr. Dana with a spy whom one of his men had captured. Mr. Dana was assistant secretary of war. The officer informed Mr. Dana
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LINCOLN’S HUMOROUS ADVICE TO A DISTINGUISHED BACHELOR.
LINCOLN’S HUMOROUS ADVICE TO A DISTINGUISHED BACHELOR.
When the Prince of Wales was betrothed to the Princess Alexandria, Queen Victoria sent a letter to every sovereign of Europe, and to President Lincoln, announcing the fact. The ambassador of England then at Washington was Lord Lyons, and he was a bachelor. He requested an audience with President Lincoln in order that he might present the important letter in person. He called at the White House in company with Secretary Seward and addressed the President as follows: “May it please your Excellency
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HOW LINCOLN ANSWERED A DELICATE QUESTION.
HOW LINCOLN ANSWERED A DELICATE QUESTION.
At the time when the Union soldiers were hunting for Jeff Davis, some one asked the President: “Mr. Lincoln, suppose they were to find Davis, and, in order to capture him, it was necessary to shoot him. Would you want them to do so?” Mr. Lincoln said: “When I was a boy, a man lecturing on temperance stayed at our house over night. It was a cold, stormy night, and the man was quite chilled when he reached home after the meeting. He said if they would give him a hot lemonade he thought it would pr
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LINCOLN ILLUSTRATES A CASE HUMOROUSLY.
LINCOLN ILLUSTRATES A CASE HUMOROUSLY.
On one occasion, exasperated at the discrepancy between the aggregate of troops forwarded to McClellan and the number the same general reported as having received, Lincoln exclaimed, “Sending men to that army is like shoveling fleas across a barnyard—half of them never get there.” To a politician who had criticized his course he wrote, “Would you have me drop the war where it is, or would you prosecute it in future with elder stalk squirts charged with rosewater?” When, on his first arrival in W
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WHY LINCOLN MISTOOK A DRIVER TO BE AN EPISCOPALIAN.
WHY LINCOLN MISTOOK A DRIVER TO BE AN EPISCOPALIAN.
The first corps of the army commanded by General Reynolds was once reviewed by the President on a beautiful plain at the north of Potomac Creek, about eight miles from Hooker’s headquarters. The party rode thither in an ambulance over a rough, corduroy road, and as they passed over some of the more difficult portions of the jolting way the ambulance driver, who sat well in front, occasionally let fly a volley of suppressed oaths at his wild team of six mules. Finally, Mr. Lincoln, leaning forwar
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A CLERGYMAN WHO TALKED BUT LITTLE.
A CLERGYMAN WHO TALKED BUT LITTLE.
A clergyman of some prominence was one day presented to Lincoln, who gave the visitor a chair and said, with an air of patient waiting: “I am now ready to hear what you have to say.” “Oh, bless you, sir,” replied the clergyman, “I have nothing special to say. I merely called to pay my respects.” “My dear sir,” said the President, rising promptly, his face showing instant relief, and with both hands grasping that of his visitor; “I am very glad to see you, indeed. It is a relief to find a clergym
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HOW LINCOLN RECEIVED A JACKKNIFE AS A PRESENT.
HOW LINCOLN RECEIVED A JACKKNIFE AS A PRESENT.
Considering his own personality Lincoln was very indifferent. He was perfectly aware that many people talked about his “awkwardness” and homely personal appearance. Far from feeling hurt at the remarks occasionally flung at him he rather enjoyed them. One day he was traveling in a train. He was addressed, without any formal introduction, by a stranger in the car, who said: “Excuse me, sir, but I have an article in my possession which belongs to you.” “How is that?” Lincoln inquired, much surpris
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THE BEST CAR FOR HIS CORPSE.
THE BEST CAR FOR HIS CORPSE.
Lincoln had the following good story on President Tyler: “During Mr. Tyler’s incumbency of the office he arranged to make an excursion in some direction and sent his son, ‘Bob,’ to arrange for a special train. It happened that the railroad superintendent was a strong Whig. As such he had no favors to bestow upon the President and informed Bob that the road did not run any special trains for the President. “‘What,’ said Bob Tyler, ‘did you not furnish a special for the funeral of Gen. Harrison?’
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HIS TITLE DID HOT HELP ANY.
HIS TITLE DID HOT HELP ANY.
During the war an Austrian count applied to President Lincoln for a position in the army. He was introduced by the Austrian Minister, but as if fearing that his importance might not be duly appreciated, he proceeded to explain his nobility and high standing. With a merry twinkle in his eye, Mr. Lincoln laid his hand on the count’s shoulder and said: “Never mind: you shall be treated with just as much consideration for all that.”...
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ONE OF MR. LINCOLN’S AUTOGRAPHS.
ONE OF MR. LINCOLN’S AUTOGRAPHS.
Abraham Lincoln once received a letter asking for a “sentiment” and his autograph. He replied: “Dear Madam: When you ask a stranger for that which is of interest only to yourself always inclose a stamp. Abraham Lincoln.”...
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LINCOLN’S SUBSTITUTE.
LINCOLN’S SUBSTITUTE.
It is not generally known that Abraham Lincoln sent a substitute to the war against the South, but such is a fact. During the earlier days of the war it seems to have been the desire of all prominent men in Washington to have a representative in the ranks, and Lincoln was no exception to the rule. At that time there was a minister named Staples in Washington, one of whose sons, then aged nineteen, had a desire to go to the front. Lincoln heard of him, and after a conference selected him as his r
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LINCOLN’S ESTIMATE OF THE FINANCIAL STANDING OF A NEIGHBOR.
LINCOLN’S ESTIMATE OF THE FINANCIAL STANDING OF A NEIGHBOR.
A New York firm applied to Abraham Lincoln some years before he became President for information as to the financial standing of one of his neighbors. Mr. Lincoln replied: “I am well acquainted with Mr. ——, and know his circumstances. First of all, he has a wife and baby; together they ought to be worth $50,000 to any man. Secondly, he has an office in which there is a table worth $1.50 and three chairs worth, say, $1. Last of all, there is in one corner a large rat hole, which will bear looking
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LINCOLN’S QUERY PUZZLED THE MAN.
LINCOLN’S QUERY PUZZLED THE MAN.
At a time when the war crisis was at its height one of those persons who were ever ready to give the President free advice on how to conduct the war, had just finished explaining an elaborate idea, when Mr. Lincoln remarked: “That reminds me of a man in Illinois, who, in driving the hoops of a hogshead to ‘head it up,’ was much annoyed by the constant falling in of the top. At length a bright idea struck him of putting his little boy inside to hold it up. This he did. But when the job was comple
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LINCOLN’S INAUGURATION.
LINCOLN’S INAUGURATION.
In the March “Ladies’ Home Journal” Stephen Fiske graphically recalls the excitement and apprehension and the condition of the country “When Lincoln Was First Inaugurated.” He tells the incidents of the memorable journey to the capitol, of Mr. Lincoln’s reception, and gives a rather grewsome picture of the inaugural ceremonies. “As I walked up to the capitol the wide, dusty streets were already crowded,” he writes; “regular troops were posted at intervals along Pennsylvania avenue. Sharpshooters
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JOHN SHERMAN’S FIRST MEETING WITH LINCOLN.
JOHN SHERMAN’S FIRST MEETING WITH LINCOLN.
Secretary Sherman says he never will forget his first meeting with a President. It was shortly after Lincoln’s inauguration, and he attended a public reception, fell into line, and awaited an hour or two for a chance to shake hands with the Great Emancipator. “During this time,” says Mr. Sherman, “I was wondering what I should say and what Lincoln would do when we met. At last it came my turn to be presented. Lincoln looked at me a moment, extended his hand, and said: ‘You’re a pretty tall fello
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LINCOLN AND THE SENTINEL.
LINCOLN AND THE SENTINEL.
A slight variation of the traditional sentry story is related by C. C. Buel, in the current Century. It was a cold, blusterous winter night. Says Mr. Buel: “Mr. Lincoln emerged from the front door, his lank figure bent over as he drew tightly about his shoulders the shawl which he employed for such protection; for he was on his way to the War Department, at the west corner of the grounds, where in times of battle he was wont to get the midnight despatches from the field. As the blast struck him
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ORIGIN OF “WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE, ETC.”
ORIGIN OF “WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE, ETC.”
It was during Lincoln’s second inauguration as President of the United States that he gave voice to these famous and oft-quoted words: The above occur in the last paragraph in his second inaugural speech, delivered at Washington, D. C., March 4, 1865....
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HIS GOOD MEMORY OF NAMES.
HIS GOOD MEMORY OF NAMES.
The following story illustrates the power of Mr. Lincoln’s memory of names and faces. When he was a comparatively young man and a candidate for the Illinois Legislature, he made a personal canvass of the district. While “swinging around the circle” he stopped one day and took dinner with a farmer in Sangamon county. Years afterward, when Mr. Lincoln had become President, a soldier came to call on him at the White House. At the first glance the Chief Executive said: “Yes, I remember; you used to
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LINCOLN’S GRIEF OVER THE DEFEAT OF THE UNION ARMY.
LINCOLN’S GRIEF OVER THE DEFEAT OF THE UNION ARMY.
We had been talking of the war, and the late Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, broke out suddenly and said: “It was just after the battle of Fredericksburg. I had been down there and came up to Washington by the night boat. I arrived at the foot of Seventh street a little after midnight. Just as I landed a messenger met me, saying that the President wanted to see me at once at the White House. I took a carriage and went directly there. I sent in my card, and word came back that the President had
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THREE STORIES OF LINCOLN BY SENATOR PALMER.
THREE STORIES OF LINCOLN BY SENATOR PALMER.
“Speaking of Lincoln’s birthday,” said Senator Palmer yesterday, “reminds me that the very last case Lincoln ever tried was one in which I, too, was engaged. It was in Springfield, in June, 1860, after Mr. Lincoln had received the Presidential nomination. Old David Baker, who had been a Senator in the early days, had sued the trustees of Shurtleff College, my alma mater, for expelling his grandson, a lad named Will Gilbert. Mr. Lincoln appeared for the prosecution. I was the college attorney. Mr
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HIS FAMOUS SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
HIS FAMOUS SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Lincoln was an orator as well as a statesman and many of his speeches will go down in history through all time. In his second inaugural address he made use of the following striking expressions: “On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish; and the war came. Both read the s
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LINCOLN SAID EVEN A REBEL COULD BE SAVED.
LINCOLN SAID EVEN A REBEL COULD BE SAVED.
This story well illustrates Lincoln’s humanity of character which found expression in his famous words of “charity for all, and malice toward none.” It appears that Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, a Universalist, had been nominated for hospital chaplain. A protesting delegation went to Washington to see President Lincoln on the subject. The following was the interview: “We have called, Mr. President, to confer with you in regard to the appointment of Mr. Shrigley, of Philadelphia, as hospital cha
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WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN COMPARED.
WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN COMPARED.
At a banquet given in his honor on Washington’s birthday, in New York, February 22, 1897, the eloquent and gifted Chauncey M. Depew made the following comparison between America’s two greatest heroes: “This February, for the first time, both Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays have been made legal holidays. Never since the creation of man were two human beings so unlike, so nearly the extremes of opposition to each other, as Washington and Lincoln. The one an aristocrat by birth, by breeding, a
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LINCOLN REMEMBERED HIM.
LINCOLN REMEMBERED HIM.
A stair-carpenter happened to see a picture of the martyred President. Instantly the tones of his voice softened, his eyes grew moist with tears, and the whole expression of his face changed. Then he told us his “story of Lincoln.” He had been shot through the lungs when on picket in ’63, and was in the hospital at Fortress Monroe. For weeks he had been lying there, till he had grown dreadfully homesick, and felt as if the only thing that could cure him was to get home to Maryland. One morning L
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WHY LINCOLN PARDONED THEM.
WHY LINCOLN PARDONED THEM.
It was President Lincoln’s intense love for his fellow men that led him to disapprove of the findings of court-martial, whenever there was a possible excuse, particularly in the cases of soldiers charged with desertion, with having fallen asleep at a post of duty, or with other offenses. Secretary Stanton always insisted upon the strictest discipline in the army and frequently urged that derelict soldiers receive the severest punishment of military law and custom, but Lincoln rarely took any adv
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THE LINCOLN PORTRAITS.
THE LINCOLN PORTRAITS.
The Lincoln apotheosis is much more satisfactory than the Napoleon apotheosis. Lincoln is not only our own, but a greater, purer, sweeter, really stronger man than Napoleon. It is a good thing to bring out the little-known portraits of Lincoln. What a marvelous face! It is full of strength—with just enough of the big child in it to kindle love and sympathy. Has anyone ever noticed the way in which Lincoln’s face is cast on the lines of the North American Indian? We have never heard that Lincoln
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LINCOLN’S FAITH IN PROVIDENCE.
LINCOLN’S FAITH IN PROVIDENCE.
The raid made by the Confederate general, J. E. B. Stuart, in June, 1862, around the Union army commanded by General McClellan, caused great anxiety in Washington. One of its results was the interruption of communication between the capital and the army of the Potomac. What this portended no one could affirm. That it suggested the gravest possibilities was felt by all. While this feeling was dominating all circles, several gentlemen, myself among them, called on President Lincoln in order to be
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LINCOLN’S LAST WORDS.
LINCOLN’S LAST WORDS.
The very last words Lincoln delivered on the afternoon before the assassination—last of those great utterances that for six or seven years electrified and enlightened half the world—were a message of suggestion and encouragement to the miners of the Rockies. Schuyler Colfax was going thither and was paying his final call at the White House. Lincoln said to him: “Mr. Colfax, I want you to take a message from me to the miners whom you visit. I have very large ideas of the mineral wealth of our nat
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A CHICAGOAN WHO SAW LINCOLN SHOT.
A CHICAGOAN WHO SAW LINCOLN SHOT.
Mr. George C. Read, of Chicago, at the time of President Lincoln’s assassination, was a foot orderly under Generals Griffin and Ayers. He was in Washington on the fateful April 14, 1865, and was an eyewitness to the tragedy. He tells of it as follows: “Some time in the latter part of March, 1865, I was sent to Washington on account of the loss of my voice. I remained there most of the time in barracks on east Capitol Hill. On the afternoon of the fated April 14, 1865, I happened in the saloon ne
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MARTYRED LINCOLN’S BLOOD.
MARTYRED LINCOLN’S BLOOD.
An interesting and valuable relic, which brings vividly to the mind the historic scene in Ford’s Theater, Washington, on the night of April 14, 1865, is owned by Colonel James S. Case, at one time a resident of Philadelphia, but whose home is now in Brooklyn. It is only a play bill, but upon it is a discoloration made by a tiny drop of President Lincoln’s blood. It was picked up just after the tragedy by John T. Ford, the manager of the theater. He found it on the floor of the box where it had f
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A STRANGE COINCIDENCE IN THE LIVES OF LINCOLN AND HIS SLAYER.
A STRANGE COINCIDENCE IN THE LIVES OF LINCOLN AND HIS SLAYER.
When President Lincoln was assassinated on the night of April 14, 1865, while witnessing a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, he was removed to the Peterson house, which was directly opposite the theater. The late John T. Ford related that he had occasion to visit John Wilkes Booth at the Peterson house once. The Davenport-Wallack combination was playing “Julius Cæsar” at Ford’s theater. Booth had been cast to play Marc Antony and was late in coming to rehearsal. Ford went over to the house t
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WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION?
WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION?
When Lincoln went to Washington he had a sale of the furniture of the Eighth street home at Springfield. Most of the articles were bought by a well-to-do family named Tilton, who admired the President in such a way as to make what had belonged to him things to be treasured. When the troops passed through Springfield to the front they visited the house “where Uncle Abe had lived,” and the Tiltons used to confer great favor by permitting the boys in blue to sit down in the dining room and have a g
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MR. GRIFFITHS ON LINCOLN.
MR. GRIFFITHS ON LINCOLN.
“No other public man has been subjected to such scrutiny from the time he was born until the end of his tragic career as was Lincoln,” said Mr. Griffiths in a lecture. “He obtained his early education from ‘Æsop’s Fables,’ ‘Robinson Crusoe,’ the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ and a copy of the Indiana statutes. This was before some of our later legislatures had made their records or his education might have been marred instead of made. “When he was elected President,” Mr. Griffiths continued, “he was a pl
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A FAMOUS CHICAGO LAWYER’S VIEWS.
A FAMOUS CHICAGO LAWYER’S VIEWS.
“Into the story of the republic from 1861 to 1865 the patriot does well to enter, there to find for instruction and example the manliest of Americans, the highest type of Americanism, the central figure of the century, Abraham Lincoln. The fierce partisanship which assailed him during his short period of leadership became silent at his death, and each succeeding year but serves to exalt his work and character. “The judgment of time has already shown to be colossal him who was called common—the h
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LINCOLN WAS PLAIN BUT GREAT.
LINCOLN WAS PLAIN BUT GREAT.
Lincoln’s forefathers were independent owners of the land they trod on, barons, not serfs. You will say, perhaps, that Lincoln had little education. We are apt to say that of our great men. Lincoln knew how to speak, read and write. What more do we teach our boys to-day? He knew the Bible, which cannot be said of everybody in Boston. He read Burns, and this with the Bible gave him his inspiration and sentiment. Æsop and “Pilgrim’s Progress” taught him aptness and pregnant illustration. The incid
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LINCOLN’S SPECIFIC LIFE WORK.
LINCOLN’S SPECIFIC LIFE WORK.
One often thinks of his life as cut off, but no great man since Cæsar has seen his life work ended as did Lincoln. Napoleon died upon a desert rock, but not until Austerlitz and Wagram had become memories, and the dust of the empire even as all dust. Cromwell knew that England had not at heart materially altered. Washington did not know that he had created one of the great, perhaps the greatest, empires to be known to man. But Lincoln had a specific task to do—to save his country and to make it
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THE PROPOSED PURCHASE OF THE SLAVES.
THE PROPOSED PURCHASE OF THE SLAVES.
The discussion on the question of whether or not Abraham Lincoln suggested at the conference with the southern commissioners at the so-called Fortress Monroe meeting, that he was prepared to pay $400,000,000 for the slaves in the Southern States provided peace with union could be obtained, is hardly likely to lead to any definite conclusion, for the reason that the few who should have known definitely about it are distinctly divided in their opinions. We are inclined to believe that, if the prop
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SENATOR THURSTON’S SPEECH.
SENATOR THURSTON’S SPEECH.
Senator John M. Thurston said in part at a banquet of the Baptist Social Union, New York, on Lincoln’s birthday, in 1897: “This is an entirely different gathering than that to which I have been recently accustomed. I come from a forty days’ session of a moot court, in which the question of silver has been discussed and passed upon without any hope of legislation. There I have been used to having my audiences rise and leave as soon as I began to speak. “Mr. President, if I have any purpose to-nig
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LINCOLN ANALYZED.
LINCOLN ANALYZED.
There is something in Washington or in Lincoln or Grant, that defies analysis. It is a moral elevation, a magnanimity, a nobleness and profoundness of mind. It is force of character and ability by which man is able to meet great emergencies. This is true greatness. Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. If you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. Judged by this standard Abraham Lincoln stands out one of the purest, grandest and noblest cha
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THE RELIGION OF THE PRESIDENTS.
THE RELIGION OF THE PRESIDENTS.
George Washington was a communicant of the Episcopal Church. Thomas Jefferson was a member of no church. He was a deist. John Adams was a Unitarian. James Madison was an Episcopalian. James Monroe was an Episcopalian. John Quincy Adams was a Unitarian. Andrew Jackson became a member of the Presbyterian Church after the death of his wife. Martin Van Buren regularly attended the Dutch Reformed Church at Kinderhook, N. Y., but was not a member. William Henry Harrison was a communicant in the Episco
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