Chapter 5 No.5

After settling in Springfield, Mr. Lincoln formed a law partnership with Mr. John T. Stewart, who was known as one of the leading lawyers in Springfield. They were quite successful. At that time it was customary for the lawyers to go around with the judge from one county-seat to another where court was held in the district. Judge David Davis was Circuit Judge at this time, and there were a number of men in the group that went around Central Illinois together, who afterward became famous men. Mr.

Lincoln was one of the most popular in the crowd, for he was a splendid story-teller, and would keep the crowd amused for hours with funny stories after court was over for the day. One time the son of Jack Armstrong, whom Abraham had thrown in the wrestling match at New Salem, was accused of committing a murder. His mother was poor and Jack Armstrong was dead. She came to Mr. Lincoln and told him she had no money, but wished very much he could help her and defend her son. He did so. A man at the trial swore he saw by the moonlight this young Armstrong strike the man who was killed. Mr. Lincoln got the almanac and proved by it that there was no moon shining at that time. Then when he told the jury with tears in his eyes how the poor old mother was down in the pasture waiting with a sad heart for the verdict and that he believed the young man was innocent, they all believed him, for they knew him as "Honest Abe Lincoln," so they cleared young Armstrong and sent him to support his poor old mother. Mr. Lincoln used to win very many cases, for the juries all believed him. You remember he was so honest in the little New Salem store that he got the name of "Honest Abe Lincoln." Thus it was proved in his case very clearly that "honesty is the best policy." He never made much money, although he was so successful, because he was low in his charges and he was never a rich man. He tried many cases for poor people without charging them anything. One day as the lawyers were riding their horses along the road, some one said: "Where is Abe?" and another lawyer spoke up and said: "I left him back there hunting the nest for some birds that had lost it." You see by this how kind-hearted he was even towards birds and animals.

They used to have debating societies in Springfield and Abraham was fond of taking part. The practice he got in this way helped make him a fine speaker. The Washingtonian society was a strong temperance organization at that time. At one of its meetings, February 22, 1842, Mr. Lincoln spoke and said what has often been quoted since: "When the victory shall be complete, when there shall be neither a slave nor a drunkard on the earth, how proud the title of that land which may claim to be the birth-place and cradle of those resolutions that shall have ended in victory."

You see by this, that as far back as 1842 Mr. Lincoln was a strong temperance man as well as opposer of slavery. When the committee came to notify him of his nomination for president, instead of treating them to wine, as was the custom, Mr. Lincoln gave them water and remarked that he would continue his habit of using and giving his guests "Adam's Ale," or pure water. Mr. Lincoln ran for congress against the famous Illinois pioneer preacher, Peter Cartwright. Mr. Cartwright was a very noted and popular man and it is therefore all the more to the credit of Mr. Lincoln that he was elected. He was only two years in congress and was not able in that length of time to make much of a record, as new men do not get heard very easily.

A beautiful young lady, Miss Mary Todd, came from Kentucky to live with her sister, Mrs. Edwards, in Springfield. The Edwards family was very prominent for the father had been governor of Illinois. Miss Todd was one of the popular belles in Springfield and was courted by many of the leading young men. Mr. Lincoln was the successful suitor, however, and they were married November 4, 1842. They had three boys. Only one of them is living now; the Honorable Robert Lincoln, a lawyer in Chicago and former American minister to Great Britain. The other boys died while little fellows.

Two young men who became very famous in the history of our country really started their careers at Springfield, Illinois. One was Stephen A. Douglas and the other Abraham Lincoln. It would be hard to say which of these young men was the smarter; they were both brilliant and hard workers. That is, they studied hard and that made them successful. Although they were both great men, they were not much alike in appearance or in disposition or in the quality of their minds.

Mr. Lincoln came from the South where they liked slavery and Mr. Douglas from Vermont where they hated slavery. They both came to Illinois at about the age of twenty-one, when they became citizens according to the law.

At this time Illinois was a sort of debating battle-ground. Emigrants came to it from the north and east, who were opposed to slavery; others came from the south, who were in favor of slavery, and these two classes, in the absence of slavery and on rather mutual ground, debated the rights and wrongs of slavery with constant and energetic debate.

The Democratic party at this time was mostly in the South and the Whig party mostly in the North. Slavery was in the South, but not in the North. Naturally, therefore, the Democratic party favored slavery, and the Whig party, while it did not oppose slavery, yet did not favor it. You would think, under the circumstances, that Mr. Lincoln coming from the South, would have been a Democrat, and Mr. Douglas coming from the North would have been a Whig. But they each did the opposite. The Democratic party was in the majority in Illinois at this time and I presume Mr. Douglas, coming to the state, ambitious to succeed, thought he could best succeed if he went in with the popular party, for it had control of the offices and could give him a place and then advance him higher and higher as he proved his worth. After events proved that he was thus advanced and to very great honors.

When Mr. Lincoln was making a speech at Charleston, Illinois, one time, a man in the audience tried to ridicule him, and shouted out: "Say, Lincoln, when you came to Illinois, didn't you come barefoot and driving a yoke of oxen?"

Showing how coming poor from a slave state, he was helped to be what he was, by the free state of Illinois. Mr. Lincoln wound up the reply with these magnificent words:

"Yes, and we will speak for freedom and against slavery as long as the constitution of our country guarantees free speech, until everywhere on this wide land, the sun shall shine and the rain fall and the wind blow upon no man who goes forth to unrequited toil."

Thus you see Mr. Lincoln was opposed to slavery, and though he was as ambitious as Mr. Douglas and would have been glad to be on the successful and winning side so he could be advanced, he was nevertheless so strictly honest that he would not join the popular party because it endorsed slavery, and he was so determined to be strictly honest in his politics as well as everything else that he was willing to apparently throw away his chances of success and join the unpopular party because it did not endorse slavery, which he thought a wicked institution.

So these two young men started out. One went into the popular and successful party and succeeded with it. The other went into the unpopular and unsuccessful party and failed with it, yet did not fail, because he kept his principles. Mr. Douglas went on higher and higher in honors and fame and was United States senator a number of years. In the senate he ranked as one of the greatest statesmen of the day.

Mr. Lincoln was only a well-to-do lawyer, unknown out of Central Illinois. Twenty years after their start he thus wrote of it:

"Twenty years ago Douglas and I first became acquainted. We were both young then. Even then we were both ambitious. I, perhaps quite as much as he. With me the race of ambition has been a failure-a flat failure. With him it has been one of splendid success. His name fills the nation and is not unknown even in foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has reached. So reached, that the oppressed of my species might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on that eminence than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow."

By this you see he appreciated Mr. Douglas' honors, but would not accept them himself if to do so, he had to endorse slavery.

In 1858 Mr. Douglas was generally recognized as the ablest man in the Democratic party, and it was thought that two years later, he would be the Democratic nominee for president, and as the Democrats were in the majority he would certainly be the next president of the United States. Mr. Lincoln was not known much outside of Central Illinois, where he practiced law.

One of the political doctrines of Mr. Douglas was called "Squatter Sovereignty." It meant that in the new territories and states being added to the Union, that if they wanted slavery there, the people could vote to have it or they could vote not to have it. Mr. Lincoln was opposed to this, and wanted no more slave states added to the Union. He challenged Mr. Douglas, as the representative of Illinois in the United States senate to a joint debate. Mr. Douglas finally agreed, and they held seven wonderful debates in different parts of the state. Great crowds came from far and near to hear them. They were drawn by the fame of Mr. Douglas, who rode on special trains and had bands of music, and cannons fired off when he entered the town. Mr. Lincoln often rode in the caboose of a freight train or was hauled over-land in the wagon of some farmer friend. The people, when they had heard these debates, went home and talked them over, and it was seen that two wonderful men had met in the political battlefield. Mr. Douglas seemed just as able as Mr. Lincoln, and they said so; but they saw Mr. Lincoln was right, and standing by a principle, while Douglas was wrong, and compromising with a principle. Mr. Douglas did receive the Democratic nomination for president although his party split.

These debates and Mr. Lincoln's right stand made him suddenly famous. His fame spread rapidly over the whole country east and west. He was asked to go and speak in New York city in Cooper Institute, and delivered a wonderful address there and at other places in the East. He came to Bloomington, Illinois and delivered a speech in which he said: "As long as Almighty God reigns and the school children read, this foul, black lie of African slavery shall not continue; it shall not remain half slave and half free." Mr. Seward, of New York, a great statesman, who was the author of the famous "irrepressible conflict" expression was thought to be the man who would be nominated for president by the Republican party which had taken the place of the Whig party and was standing stronger against slavery. There were several others, like Mr. Chase, of Ohio, and Mr. Stanton, who it was thought might also receive the nomination. Some were advocating Mr. Lincoln for vice president; but he said he would not have that. The Illinois state convention met at Decatur, and in the midst of it, some men came in carrying a banner supported by two fence rails on which was this: "Abraham Lincoln, the rail candidate for president in 1860. Two rails from a lot of three thousand made in 1830 by Thomas Hanks and Abraham Lincoln, whose father was the first pioneer of Macon county." This created a wonderful excitement, and the vote of Illinois became in favor of Lincoln as the nominee for president.

A large, rough building was erected in Chicago, called the Wigwam, in which the Republican convention was held. Large delegations with bands of music came on special trains from all over the country. The excitement was great. Illinois sent thousands to shout for Mr. Lincoln. The hotels were packed with noisy people. Banners and mottes in profusion floated from the business houses and public buildings. But a small part of the crowd could get into the Wigwam, although it held several thousand. Mr. Seward, of New York, the author of "the irrepressible conflict" was the most popular and most noted of the candidates and it was thought he would receive the nomination. The Illinois men and Mr. Lincoln's friends started to work for Mr. Lincoln's nomination. They worked day and night, scarcely eating or sleeping. The first ballot showed Mr. Seward to be considerably ahead but not enough to win. Then breaking began on the following ballots from the smaller candidates to Mr. Lincoln, and he received a majority of the votes and was nominated as the Republican candidate for president May 16, 1860. A man was on top of the Wigwam; as soon as the result of the last ballot was announced he shouted to a man on the edge of the building, "Fire the salute, Lincoln is nominated." He passed it on to others. Soon the bells began to ring, cannon were fired and the people on the streets were wild with enthusiasm.

Mr. Douglas received the Democratic nomination, but that party split and Mr. Breckenridge was nominated by a few. There was now the direct conflict between the extension and non-extension of slavery. Mr. Lincoln became very much worked up on the slavery question, and talking to Dr. Bateman, whose room, as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, was next his in the capital at Springfield, he said:

"I know there is a God, and he hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming. I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place for me and work for me and I think He has-I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say the same and they will find it so. Douglas don't care whether slavery is voted up or down, but God cares and humanity cares and I care; and with God's help I shall not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come and I shall be vindicated and these men will find that they have not read their Bible right."

The election came off in November, and Mr. Lincoln found the people had read their Bibles' right on slavery and elected him by a tremendous majority.

March 4, 1861, Mr. Lincoln stood at the Capitol building to deliver his inaugural address as president of the United States. He did not see a place to put his hat and Mr. Douglas reached forward, took it and held it while Mr. Lincoln spoke.

Now you see the outcome of these two men. One compromised with this great principle, and, after thus holding the hat of his successful rival, who would not compromise with the principle, went out and died a few months afterward with a broken heart for his lost ambition. Before he died, however, Mr. Douglas became an outspoken defender of the Union and opposed to the war of the rebellion. On the other hand, Mr. Lincoln, true to this principle suffered defeat for many years, but in the end won the greatest honor and became the greatest president of our nation. It pays to be true to principle, no matter how unpopular it may be and though seeming defeat of our ambitions stare us in the face. "This above all things, to thine own self be true," was the wise advice of Polonius to his son in Shakespeare's play of Hamlet.

The preceding president had been favorable to the South and slavery and many of their men were in command of the military posts and other important parts. The navy was scattered to distant ports and large quantities of arms and ammunition were stored in the Southern forts. The election of Mr. Lincoln seemed to anger the Southern men beyond endurance and there were loud threats of secession. When he delivered his inaugural address he saw many scowling, angry faces in front of him. In great kindness he appealed to them and his last thought was very beautiful when he said:

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, are the momentous issues of civil war.

"You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government. While I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it.

"We are not enemies, but friends. 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 living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

It was all in vain and South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas in turn led off in secession. They met at Montgomery, Alabama and formed the "Confederate States of America," with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi as president and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia as vice-president. Arsenals, custom-houses, forts and ships of the United States were seized. Fort Sumter was fired upon by Gen. Beauregard April 14, 1861, and the great Civil war, the greatest in history, began.

This was the hardest place a president of the United States was ever in. There was but a small army, and as I said the navy was scattered. President Lincoln at once called for volunteer troops. The attack on Fort Sumter so aroused the North that men rapidly left their families and homes, that which one most loves, and rushed to enlist as volunteer soldiers. They had a song in which were these words:

"We are coming Father Abraham, Three hundred thousand strong."

Thus they called the great president "Father Abraham" and showed how much they loved him.

Gen. George B. McClellan was put in command of the army. The first battle of any note was that of Bull Run, near Washington. In this the Northern soldiers were driven back and beaten. It seemed very discouraging then for the cause of the Union.

More soldiers enlisted and the army was trained and drilled until Mr. Lincoln thought they ought to attack Gen. Lee, who commanded the Confederate army. He felt sure as they had more men they could defeat him and capture Richmond, which was now the capital of the Confederate States. General McClellan seemed to be afraid to move forward and wanted more time to drill the men he had and make other preparations and also wanted more men. In the meantime, of course Gen. Lee was making stronger his army and preparing more defences around Richmond so that it was harder to defeat him.

The army in the West was not doing very well either. But at last Illinois furnished another son in the person of General Grant, who won great and decisive victories. Vicksburg, which was the great stronghold of the Southern army in the West surrendered to him July 4, 1863. President Lincoln had been trying in every way to get General McClellan to move on the enemy but could not, and at last the general was moved from command. General Meade had command of the Eastern army which fought the battle of Gettysburg and won that great victory on the same Fourth of July that General Grant captured Vicksburg.

The battle of Gettysburg is said to have been about the greatest in history; 23,000 soldiers were killed. Now there was great rejoicing in the North. In these early years of the war, President Lincoln was placed in a very hard position. The abolitionists abused him because he did not issue the emancipation proclamation, freeing the slaves; the Middle states, that had not seceded, threatened to do so if he did. Some of his own Cabinet were not true to him. The people cried out because General McClellan would not move forward, and Mr. Lincoln tried in vain to get him to do so. Therefore these great victories of Vicksburg and Gettysburg came to him as a wonderful blessing and relief from the awful strain he had been enduring. General Grant had won some other grand victories preceding the capture of Vicksburg, and the Union, as the old ship of state, seemed to be sailing into more peaceful waters.

"Sail on, O ship of state,

Sail on, O Union, strong and great;

Humanity with all its fears,

With all its hopes of future years,

Is hanging breathless on thy fate.

In spite of rock and tempest roar,

In spite of false lights on the shore;

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea,

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers are all with thee."

General Grant was given command of the Eastern army, and pushing the enemy hard, victory after victory came to the North. Gen. Sherman marched his army right through the middle of the enemy, dividing it into two parts. He captured Atlanta and then went on to the sea. The song, "Marching through Georgia," was written over this wonderful march. There were more victories in the South and West. General Grant was made commander-in-chief of the armies, and it soon became clear that the cause of secession was lost.

Mr. Lincoln had written an emancipation proclamation and was working it over, thinking and consulting about it. He did not know just when was the best time to issue so momentous a document, that would set free four million of colored men in the degradation and bondage of human slavery. Mr. Seward was Secretary of State and a very wise man; he gave him some good advice about it. Mr. Carpenter quotes Mr. Lincoln's words as follows:

"I put the draft of the proclamation aside, waiting for a victory. Well, the next news we had was of Pope's disaster at Bull Run. Things looked darker than ever. Finally came the week of the battle of Antietam. I determined to wait no longer. The news came, I think on Wednesday, that the advantage was on our side. I was then staying at the Soldiers' Home. Here I finished writing the second draft of the proclamation; came up on Saturday; called the Cabinet together to hear it, and it was published the following Monday. I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was driven back from Maryland I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves."

The Emancipation Proclamation is certainly the greatest thing in the nineteenth century.

The Confederate army continued to grow weaker. They were short of food and rest. General Grant's army gave them no rest but pushed after them day and night. They made one more gallant and brave attack on the Union forces, but in vain, and April 9, 1865, Gen. Lee surrendered unconditionally to Gen. Grant at Appomatox Court House, Va. At the instance of President Lincoln, Gen. Lee's soldiers were allowed to ride home their horses, and, no longer rebel soldiers, but American citizens, begin to plow the ground with their horses, to till the soil and make a living for themselves and families. To-day there are none that rejoice more than the men of the South that African slavery is forever abolished.

In 1864 Mr. Lincoln was again elected president by a very large majority over Gen. McClellan, the Democratic nominee. At his second inaugural he uttered some very fine things. Some of them are as follows:

"Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration it has already obtained. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces. But let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. * * * The Almighty had his own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of these offenses, which in the providence of God must needs come * * * and he gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern there any departure from those divine attributes, which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said that 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'"

Saturday, April 8, 1865, was a glad day throughout the North. Men met each other early on that day and shook hands with smiling faces. Many shouted and threw their hats in the air. Great bonfires were kindled and bands came out and played happy airs. Flags floated everywhere. That morning word came on the telegraph wires that Richmond had been captured. Lee had surrendered and the war was over.

Just one week later men met each other on the street with tears in their eyes; signs of mourning were seen everywhere, and the bands played sad tunes. Word came on the telegraph wire that morning that the beloved president was dead; killed by an assassin's bullet.

Mr. Lincoln and his wife were out riding around Washington, and he said, "Mary, we have had a stormy life in Washington, and after this term of office is over, we will go back to Springfield and live a quiet life." But God had willed otherwise. That evening while he was resting from his hard labors and duties as president by attending Ford's theater, John Wilkes Booth, a wild fanatic, who had been a southern rebel, stole upon him from the rear and shot him in the back of the head, then jumped to the stage, and shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis." Booth then leaped out of the window. Although his leg had been broken by the first jump, he got on a horse and rode day and night until he got into Virginia, and there hid in a barn. When they tried to capture him, he would not come out of the barn, so they set the barn on fire, and when he came out they shot him. Several others who were in this plot were hung. They carried President Lincoln to the house across the street, where, as the dawn of day came, his soul departed to its everlasting rest in Heaven.

There probably has never been a death more sudden and unexpected and terrible in the history of the nations. Not only in this country did men everywhere cease their work as people do when a relative dies; but even in the countries of Europe they did so. All organizations passed resolutions of sympathy and the governments universally expressed theirs. It was a world-wide calamity.

He had gone through the four years of a terrible civil war unharmed, and now, when he had saved his country, conquered the enemy, and made him a friend again, and beautiful peace had come everywhere, to think his life should be taken by a cruel murderer, seemed more than men could bear. Every family mourned as though one of its own number had died suddenly.

The Washington funeral took place at the White House, Wednesday, April 19. The body was then taken to the rotunda of the capitol and covered with flowers. It lay in state until Friday, April 21. Thousands of people came to look at the calm, sad face that so many had looked at for hope through the long years of the awful war. It was now cold in death, but had a peaceful, natural look.

A great funeral train was formed that moved slowly across the country, going back along the route he came as the new president in 1861. It was over a week on the journey, as at many of the cities and towns it had to be stopped, so memorial exercises might be held and the people get a chance to see for the last time, the face of the martyr president. More than a million people, no doubt, thus looked on the dead face of President Lincoln.

They reached Springfield May 3 and there the greatest funeral ceremony took place and he was buried in Oakwood cemetery. Bishop Simpson preached the funeral sermon. In the beautiful tomb and under the magnificent monument since erected, Abraham Lincoln, his wife and two sons now sleep, awaiting the great resurrection day.

The nations of the world passed so many tributes in his honor that they were bound into a book of nearly a thousand pages.

As Mr. Lincoln was returning from Richmond on the steamer, the last Sunday of his life, he read aloud to some friends this seeming tribute for himself, from Shakespeare:

"Duncan is in his grave;

After life's fitful fever he sleeps well;

Treason has done his worst; nor steel nor poison,

Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing

Can touch him further."

The other passage might have been well added:

"This Duncan

Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been

So clear in his great office, that his virtues

Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against

The deep damnation of his taking off."

May we be able to imitate the virtues of Abraham Lincoln.

"Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime

And departing leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time."

* * *

Little Stories of Lincoln.

There always cluster around a great man like Mr. Lincoln, many interesting incidents and stories. They are not always entirely true, and it is not always possible to prove or disprove them. Nevertheless, they often show true traits of the character, and as side lights help us form the proper estimate. I have therefore added some of these incidents and stories.

* * *

HOW HE LOOKED.

Mr. Lincoln was tall and rugged. His face had even more strength than his person. He had very simple manners and as natural as though among neighbors. He wrote a plain hand. He was very kind-hearted and inclined to pardon those who did wrong, particularly those who from fatigue fell asleep when on guard. He was kind to the poor and thoughtful of their needs. He was an example of that saying-"There is nothing so kingly as kindness." He was a very modest man and without pretense or jealousy. He often appointed to places of honor, those who had been his rivals and even those who had said ugly things about him.

* * *

FREEDOM IN THE CABINET.

Secretary Usher relates some interesting facts.

"I was in the Cabinet somewhat more than two years. It was very ill-assorted. There was hardly ever such a thing as a regular cabinet meeting in the sense of form. Under Johnson and Grant the chairs were placed in regular order around the table. Nothing of the kind ever occurred in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet. Seward would come in and lie down on a settee. Stanton hardly ever stayed more than five or ten minutes. Sometimes Seward would tell the president the outline of some paper he was writing on a State matter. Lincoln generally stood up and walked about. In fact every member of the Cabinet ran his own department in his own way. I don't suppose that such a historic period was ever so simply operated. Lincoln trusted all his subordinates and they worked out their own performances."

* * *

A GREAT MAN.

He was one of the greatest men who ever lived. It has now been many years since I was in his Cabinet and some of the things which happened there have been forgotten, and the whole of it is rather dreamy. But Lincoln's extraordinary personality is still one of the most distinct things in my memory. He was as wise as a serpent. He had the skill of the greatest statesman in the world. Everything he handled came to success. Nobody took up his work and brought it to the same perfection.

* * *

A FORGIVING MAN.

That Mr. Lincoln was not only kind-hearted, but forgiving, is shown by his treatment of the secession leaders. He never spoke unkindly of them, including even Jefferson Davis, who caused so much of the trouble. Some at the close of the war said: "Do not let Davis escape. He must be hanged." To which Mr. Lincoln replied: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." When he was assassinated he was planning pardon and kind treatment for those who were defeated in the rebellion.

* * *

KIND OF LAWYER.

Fairness was the predominating quality of Mr. Lincoln as a trial lawyer. He did not claim his side was all right and the other side all wrong. Sometimes he would say: "I do not think my client is entitled to the whole of what he claims. In this or that point he may be in error." He was not abusive, as so many lawyers are, of the opposing side, but if he said a stern thing under necessity he would qualify it by saying he was sorry to have to make a severe statement.

* * *

AN UGLY MAN.

Mr. Lincoln was not vain of his personal appearance. Indeed if you look at his picture in the front of this book you will see he was a homely man. He only wore a beard while president. Previous to that time he shaved all his beard. He would laugh at a joke on himself as heartily as anyone else. He used to tell and laugh over the following:

"When I was traveling the circuit in Illinois, practicing law, I was accosted one day on the cars by a stranger who said:

"'Excuse me, sir, but I have an article which belongs to you.'

"'How is that?' I asked, astonished.

"The stranger took a pocket knife out and said: 'This knife was put in my hands some time ago with the instruction that I was to keep it until I found an uglier man than myself. I have carried it ever since. Allow me to say I think it now rightly belongs to you, sir, and I respectfully hand you your property.'"

* * *

THE BULL STORY.

One day when he was crossing a field a fierce bull saw him and made a charge. Mr. Lincoln ran for the fence but even his long legs could not go fast enough to reach it before the bull would catch him, so he ran to a hay-stack and began running around it. The bull could not make the sharp curves around the hay-stack as well as Mr. Lincoln, so he began to gain on the bull, until instead of the bull overtaking him, he began to overtake the bull and at last catching up, he seized the tail of the bull with a tight grip. Then as often as he could, he began to kick the bull until he bellowed in pain and dashed across the field with Mr. Lincoln still hanging to his tail, kicking him whenever he could and shouting "Who began this fight, anyhow?"

* * *

THE LITTLE WOMAN.

Mr. Lincoln was seated in the Journal office at Springfield with some friends, when a telegraph boy came running across the street from the telegraph office, waving a telegram, and shouting, "Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated." His friends gathered around to shake his hand in congratulation as he stood reading the momentous little yellow sheet. In a sort of absent-minded way he shook hands with them and then said: "Gentlemen, excuse me, there is a little woman down the street that is more interested in this than I am, and I will take it to her." He then started down the street with long strides toward his home. This nicely shows how thoughtful he was of his wife and how much he loved her. She was the first to him in his hour of great success and honor.

* * *

NOT AFRAID.

In the time of the Civil war there was a danger that Mr. Lincoln might be killed because he was president and conducting the war. It was thought that some traitor might watch until he got a good chance, when the president was unprotected, and then shoot him. Mr. Lincoln never seemed to fear this, however. He would walk over from the White House to the War department at night and alone. It would be midnight and two o'clock in the morning sometimes. At the War department Secretary Stanton would receive dispatches from the officers in the army on the situation at the front and Mr. Lincoln, after the day's work desired to get the latest word from the battles. When he was cautioned about danger he said: "If anyone desires to kill me, I do not suppose any amount of care could prevent it." How sadly true this was even when the war was over.

* * *

KIND OF RELIGION.

A while before his assassination, two Tennessee ladies called on the president, asking for the release of their husbands, who were prisoners of war at Johnson's Island. One of the ladies urged upon the president as a cause for her husband's release, that he was a religious man. He finally released them, but said:

"You say your husband is a religious man: tell him when you meet him that I say I am not much of a judge of religion, but that in my opinion, the religion that sets men to rebel and fight against their government, because, as they think, that government does not sufficiently help some men to eat their bread by the sweat of other men's faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people can get to Heaven."

* * *

MR. LINCOLN'S FIRST DOLLAR.

In the president's chamber some men were conversing one evening, and the conversation running on that line Mr. Lincoln said: "Seward, you never heard, did you, how I earned my first dollar? I was about eighteen years old and we were quite poor. We had raised some produce and I got mother's consent to take it down the river on a flat boat and sell it. There were then no wharves on the river. I was down at the bank looking over my flat boat to see that it was all right before I started out. Two men came along and wanted to get out to a steamer in the river and asked me if I would take them and their trunks out. I said, 'Certainly.' So they got on the flat boat and I pulled them out to the steamer and they got aboard and I lifted on the trunks. The steamer was about to go and the men had forgotten to pay me, so I shouted to them and each of them threw a silver half dollar on the floor of my boat. I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw the amount of the money. It may seem a small sum to you gentlemen, but it seemed an immense sum to me. To think that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day and by honest work, was almost too good to be true. But there it was and the world did not not seem such an awful big and terrible place after all, and I thought perhaps I could do great things yet, even if I was such a poor and helpless chap."

* * *

MR. LINCOLN AT SUNDAY SCHOOL.

Five Points in New York for many years was considered about the most wicked place in the city. They started missions there and made it better. One Sunday morning when Sunday School commenced, a tall, strange looking man entered and sat down. He listened with close attention to the exercises and when the lesson was over, the superintendent asked him if he would say something to the children. He said he would gladly; and going forward he talked in a plain, simple, earnest way and fascinated the children so that they all became very quiet and listened to all he had to say very eagerly. The faces of the children would brighten as he told some beautiful lesson or break into laughter as he quaintly told a humorous incident and then they would look serious as he warned them of sin and wrong and what would follow. Once or twice he tried to stop, but the little folks shouted, "Go on, Oh, do go on!" The superintendent wondered who this unusually interesting man was and when he was leaving, asked his name. The reply was, "I am Abraham Lincoln."

* * *

TRIBUTE TO THE WOMEN.

During the war many fairs were held to raise money to send extra food, clothing and medicine to the soldiers in the fields and hospitals. The ladies generally managed these fairs in the different towns. They asked Mr. Lincoln to speak at one of them and he gladly consented. He said:

"This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily on all classes of people, but the most heavily on the soldier. For it has been said, 'All that a man hath will he give for his life.' And while all contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life at stake and often yields it up in his country's cause. The highest merit, then, is due the soldier. In this war extraordinary developments have manifested themselves, such as have not been seen in former wars, and among these manifestations, nothing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the relief of suffering soldiers and their families. The chief agents of these fairs are the women of America. I am not accustomed to the language of eulogy; I have never studied the art of paying compliments to women; but I must say that, if all that has been said by orators and poets were applied to the women of America, it would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will close by saying, God bless the women of America."

* * *

MORE LIGHT WANTED.

Another of Mr. Lincoln's stories was this:

A traveler on the frontier lost his way one stormy night. It was a terrible thunder storm. He floundered along until his horse played out. He could see only when the flashes of lightning came. The peals of thunder, however, were proportionately strong and frightening. One roar and all around him seemed crashing; he fell on his knees. He was not much given to praying so his prayer was short:

"O, Lord, if it's all the same to you, give us a little more light and a little less noise."

* * *

THE SHOOTING STORY.

Mr. Lincoln used to tell the story of a shaggy old man, who was a great hunter and lived in the edge of the timber. One morning he stood out in front of his door firing away at a squirrel in a tree. He kept shooting, but the squirrel did not come down. His son came up and asked what he was firing at. The father said: "Don't you see that squirrel up there in the tree?" The son looked and looked in every possible way but could see no squirrel. Still the father kept firing away. At last the son looking at him said: "Father I see what's the matter. There is an ant hanging on the end of your eyebrow and you have been looking at it."

* * *

FIRST RIGHTFUL DECISION.

Attorney-General Bates objected to the appointment of a certain Judge to a government position. Mr. Lincoln said: "He did me a favor once, let me tell you about it."

"I was walking to court one morning with ten miles of bad road before me. The Judge overtook me and said:

"'Hello, Lincoln, going to the court house? Get in and I will give you a ride.'

"I got in and the Judge went on reading some court papers. Soon the carriage struck a stump on one side of the road and then something else on the other side. I looked out and saw the driver jerking from one side to the other on his seat, so I said, 'Judge I think your driver has taken a drop too much of liquor this morning.'

"'Well I declare Lincoln,' said he, 'I should not much wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since starting.' Putting his head out of the window he shouted, 'You scoundrel, you are drunk.'

"Upon which pulling up his horses and turning around with gravity, the driver said, 'Golly, but that's the first rightful decision your honor has given for the last twelve months.'"

* * *

GOD NEEDED CHURCH FOR SOLDIERS.

"Among the numerous applicants who visited the White House one day was a well-dressed lady. She came forward without apparent embarassment in her air or manner, and addressed the president. Giving her a very close and scrutinizing look, he said:

"'Well, madam, what can I do for you?'

"She told him that she lived in Alexandria; that the church where she worshiped had been taken for a hospital.

"'What church, madam?' Mr. Lincoln asked in a quick, nervous manner.

"'The -- Church,' she replied; 'and as there are only two or three wounded soldiers in it, I came to see if you would not let us have it, as we want it very much to worship God in.'

"'Madam, have you been to see the Post Surgeon at Alexandria about this matter?'

"'Yes sir; but we could do nothing with him.'

"'Well, we put him there to attend to just such business, and it is reasonable to suppose that he knows better what should be done under the circumstances than I do. See here; you say you live in Alexandria; probably you own property there. How much will you give to assist in building a hospital?"

"'You know, Mr. Lincoln, our property is very much embarassed by the war;-so, really, I could hardly afford to give much for such a purpose.'

"'Well, madam, I expect we shall have another fight soon; and my opinion is, God wants that church for poor wounded Union soldiers as much as he does for secesh people to worship in.' Turning to his table he said, quite abruptly: 'You will excuse me; I can do nothing for you. Good day, madam.'"

* * *

A DOUBTFUL ABUTMENT.

In Abbott's "History of the Civil War," the following story is told as one of Lincoln's "hardest hits:"

"I once knew," said Lincoln, "a sound churchman by the name of Brown, who was a member of a very sober and pious committee having in charge the erection of a bridge over a dangerous and rapid river. Several architects failed, and at last Brown said he had a friend named Jones, who had built several bridges and undoubtedly could build that one. So Mr. Jones was called in.

"'Can you build this bridge?' inquired the committee.

"'Yes,' replied Jones, 'or any other. I could build a bridge to the infernal regions if necessary!'

"The committee was shocked, and Brown felt called upon to defend his friend. 'I know Jones so well,' said he, 'and he is so honest a man and so good an architect, that if he states soberly and positively that he can build a bridge to-to-why, I believe it; but I feel bound to say that I have my doubts about the abutment on the infernal side.'

"So," said Mr. Lincoln, "when politicians told me that the northern and southern wings of the Democracy could be harmonized, why, I believed them, of course; but I always had my doubts about the 'abutment' on the other side."

* * *

SIGNING EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

"The Emancipation Proclamation was taken to Mr. Lincoln at noon on the first day of January, 1863, by Secretary Seward and Frederick, his son. As it lay unrolled before him, Mr. Lincoln took a pen, dipped it in ink, moved his hand to the place for the signature, held it for a moment, and then removed his hand and dropped the pen. After a little hesitation he again took up the pen and went through the same movement as before. Mr. Lincoln then turned to Mr. Seward, and said:

"'I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning, and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say, 'He hesitated.'

"He then turned to the table, took up the pen again, slowly and firmly wrote 'Abraham Lincoln,' with which the whole world is now familiar. He then looked up, smiled and said: 'That will do.'"

* * *

MR. LINCOLN'S ENDURANCE.

"On the Monday before the assassination, when the President was on his return from Richmond, he stopped at City Point. Calling upon the head surgeon at that place, Mr. Lincoln told him he wished to visit all the hospitals under his charge, and shake hands with every soldier. The surgeon asked him if he knew what he was undertaking, there being five or six thousand soldiers at that place, and it would be quite a tax upon his strength to visit all the wards and shake hands with every soldier. Mr. Lincoln answered, with a smile, he 'guessed he was equal to the task; at any rate he would try, and go as far as he could; he should never, probably, see the boys again, and he wanted them to know that he appreciated what they had done for their country.'

"Finding it useless to try to dissuade him, the surgeon began his rounds with the President, who walked from bed to bed, extending his hand to all, saying a few words of sympathy to some, making kind inquiries of others, and welcomed by all with the heartiest cordiality.

"As they passed along they came to a ward in which lay a rebel who had been wounded and was then a prisoner. As the tall figure of the kindly visitor appeared in sight, he was recognized by the rebel soldier who, raising himself on his elbow in bed, watched Mr. Lincoln as he approached and, extending his hand, exclaimed while tears ran down his cheeks:

"'Mr. Lincoln, I have long wanted to see you, to ask your forgiveness for ever raising my hand against the old flag.'

"Mr. Lincoln was moved to tears. He heartily shook the hand of the repentant rebel, and assured him of his good-will, and with a few words of kind advice passed on. After some hours the tour of the various hospitals was made, and Mr. Lincoln returned with the surgeon to his office. They had scarcely entered, however, when a messenger boy came, saying that one ward had been omitted, and 'the boys' wanted to see the President. The surgeon who was thoroughly tired and knew Mr. Lincoln must be, tried to dissuade him from going; but the good man said he must go back; he would not knowingly omit any one; 'the boys' would be so disappointed. So he went with the messenger, accompanied by the surgeon, and shook hands with the gratified soldiers, and then returned again to his office.

"The surgeon expressed the fear that the President's arm would be lamed with so much hand-shaking, saying that it certainly must ache. Mr. Lincoln smiled, and saying something about his 'strong muscles,' stepped out at the open door, took up a very large, heavy axe which lay there by a log of wood, and chopped vigorously for a few moments, sending the chips flying in all directions; and then pausing, he extended his right arm to its full length, holding the axe out horizontally, without its even quivering as he held it. Strong men who looked on-men accustomed to manual labor-could not hold that same axe in that position for a moment. Returning to the office, he took a glass of lemonade, for he would take no stronger beverage; and while he was within, the chips he had chopped were gathered up and safely cared for by the hospital steward, because they were 'the chips that Abraham Lincoln chopped.'"

* * *

GENERAL FISK'S SWEARING STORY.

"General Fisk, attending the reception at the White House, on one occasion saw, waiting in the ante-room, a poor old man from Tennessee. Sitting down beside him, he inquired his errand, and learned that he had been waiting three or four days to get an audience, he said that on seeing Mr. Lincoln probably depended the life of his son, who was under sentence of death for some military offense.

"General Fisk wrote his case in outline on a card, and sent it in, with a special request that the President would see the man. In a moment the order came; and past senators, governors and generals, waiting impatiently, the old man went into the President's presence.

"He showed Mr. Lincoln his papers, and he, on taking them, said he would look into the case and give him the result on the following day.

"'To-morrow may be too late! My son is under sentence of death! The decision ought to be made now!' and the streaming tears told how much he was moved.

"'Come,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'wait a bit, and I'll tell you a story;' and then he told the old man General Fisk's story about the swearing driver, as follows:

"'The General had begun his military life as a Colonel, and, as he was a religious man, he proposed to his men that he should do all the swearing of the regiment. They assented; and for months no instance was known of the violation of this promise. The Colonel had a teamster named John Todd, who, as roads were not always the best, had some difficulty in commanding his temper and his tongue. John happened to be driving a mule-team through a series of mud holes a little worse than usual, when, unable to restrain himself any longer, he burst forth into a volley of energetic oaths. The Colonel took notice of the offense, and brought John to an account."

"'John,' said he, 'didn't you promise to let me do all the swearing of the regiment?'

"'Yes I did, Colonel,' he replied, 'but the fact was the swearing had to be done then or not at all, and you were not there to do it.'

"As he told the story, the old man forgot his boy, and both the President and his listener had a hearty laugh together at its conclusion. Then he wrote a few words which the old man read, and in which he found new occasion for tears; but these tears were tears of joy, for the words saved the life of his son."

* * *

GETTING RID OF A BORE.

President Lincoln was quite ill one winter at Washington, and was not inclined to listen to all the bores who called at the White House. One day just as one of these pests had seated himself for a long interview, the President's physician happened to enter the room, and Mr. Lincoln said, holding out his hands: "Doctor, what are those blotches?" "That's variloid, or mild small-pox," said the doctor. "They're all over me. It is contagious, I believe?" said Mr. Lincoln. "I just called to see how you were," said the visitor. "Oh, don't be in a hurry sir," placidly remarked the executive. "Thank you sir; I'll call again," replied the visitor, making towards the door. "Do sir," said the President. "Some people said they could not take very well to my proclamation, but now I have something everybody can take." By this time the visitor was quite out of sight.

* * *

LITTLE INFLUENCE WITH ADMINISTRATION.

"Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington, called one day on General Halleck, and, presuming upon a familiar acquaintance in California a few years before, solicited a pass outside of our lines to see a brother in Virginia, not thinking that he would meet with a refusal, as both his brother and himself were good Union men.

"'We have been deceived too often,' said General Halleck, 'and I regret I can't grant it.'

"Judge Baldwin then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of, with the same result. Finally, he obtained an interview with Mr. Lincoln, and stated his case.

"'Have you applied to General Halleck?' inquired the President.

"'Yes, and met with a flat refusal,' said Judge Baldwin.

"'Then you must see Stanton,' continued the President.

"'I have, and with the same result,' was the reply.

"'Well, then,' said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, 'I can do nothing; for you must know that I have very little influence with this Administration."

* * *

MR. LINCOLN'S HORSE TRADE.

"When Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in Illinois, he and a certain Judge once got to bantering one another about trading horses; and it was agreed that the next morning at 9 o'clock they should make a trade, the horse to be unseen up to that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture of $25.00.

"At the hour appointed the Judge came up, leading the sorriest looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching with a wooden saw-horse upon his shoulders. Great were the shouts and the laughter of the crowd, and both were greatly increased when Mr. Lincoln, on surveying the Judge's animal, set down his saw-horse, and exclaimed: 'Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade.'"

* * *

HIS FIRST SPEECH.

"The following first speech of Abraham Lincoln was delivered at Poppsville, Ill., just after the close of a public sale, at which time and in those early days speaking was in order. Mr. Lincoln was then but twenty-three years of age, but being called for, mounted a stump and gave a concise statement of his policy:

"'Gentlemen, fellow-citizens: I presume you know who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidate for the legislature. My politics can be briefly stated. I am in favor of the internal improvement system, and a high protective tariff. These are my sentiments and political principles. If elected, I shall be thankful. If not it will be all the same.'"

* * *

HOW HE DIVIDED MONEY.

"A little fact in Mr. Lincoln's work will illustrate his ever present desire to deal honestly and justly with men. He had always a partner in his professional life, and, when he went out upon the circuit, this partner was usually at home. While out, he frequently took up and disposed of cases that were never entered at the office. In these cases, after receiving his fees, he divided the money in his pocket-book, labeling each sum (wrapped in a piece of paper), that belonged to his partner, stating his name, and the case on which it was received. He could not be content to keep an account. He divided the money, so that if he, by any casualty, should fail of an opportunity to pay it over, there could be no dispute as to the exact amount that was his partner's due. This may seem trivial, nay, boyish, but it was like Mr. Lincoln."

* * *

HELPED HIS STEP-MOTHER.

"Soon after Mr. Lincoln entered upon his profession at Springfield, he was engaged in a criminal case, in which it was thought there was little chance of success. Throwing all his powers into it, he came off victorious, and promptly received for his services five hundred dollars. A legal friend, calling upon him the next morning, found him sitting before a table, upon which his money was spread out, counting it over and over.

"'Look here, Judge,' said Lincoln; 'see what a heap of money I've got from the -- case. Did you ever see anything like it? Why, I never had so much money in my life before, put it all together.' Then crossing his arms upon the table, his manner sobering down, he added, 'I have got just five hundred dollars; if it were only seven hundred and fifty, I would go directly and purchase a quarter section of land and settle it upon my old step-mother.'

"His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed he would loan him the amount, taking his note, to which Mr. Lincoln instantly acceded.

"His friend then said: 'Lincoln, I would not do just what you have indicated. Your step-mother is getting old, and will not probably live many years. I would settle the property upon her for her use during her lifetime, to revert to you upon her death.'

"With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied: 'I shall do no such thing. It is a poor return at the best, for all the good woman's devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not going to be any half-way business about it" and so saying he gathered up his money and proceeded forthwith to carry out his long-cherished purpose into execution.

* * *

A SMALL AUDIENCE.

Mr. Herndon got out a huge poster announcing a speech by Mr. Lincoln, employed a band to drum up the crowd, and bells were rung, but only three persons were present. Mr. Lincoln was to have spoken on the slavery question.

Gentlemen: This meeting is larger than I knew it would be, as I knew Herndon (Lincoln's partner) and myself would be here, but I did not know any one else would be here: and yet another has come-you John Pain, (the janitor.)

These are bad times, and seem out of joint. All seems dead, dead, dead: but the age is not yet dead; it liveth as our Maker liveth. Under all this seeming want of life and motion, the world does move nevertheless.

Be hopeful. And now let us adjourn and appeal to the people.

* * *

NOISE DON'T HURT.

"When General Phelps took possession of Ship Island, near New Orleans, early in the war it will be remembered that he issued a proclamation, somewhat bombastic in tone, freeing the slaves. To the surprise of many people, on both sides, the President took no official notice of this movement. Some time had elapsed, when one day a friend took him to task for his seeming indifference on so important a matter.

"'Well,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'I feel about that a good deal as a man whom I will call 'Jones,' whom I once knew, did about his wife. He was one of your meek men, and had the reputation of being badly henpecked. At last, one day his wife was seen switching him out of the house. A day or two afterward a friend met him on the street, and said: 'Jones, I have always stood up for you, as you know; but I am not going to do it any longer. Any man who will stand quietly and take a switching from his wife, deserves to be horsewhipped.' Jones looked up with a wink, patting his friend on the back. 'Now don't,' said he: 'why, it didn't hurt me any, and you've no idea what a power of good it did Sarah Ann.'"

* * *

LINCOLN ON TEMPERANCE.

In response to an address from the Sons of Temperance in Washington, on the 29th of September, 1863, Mr. Lincoln made the following remarks:

"As a matter of course, it will not be possible for me to make a response co-extensive with the address which you have presented to me. If I were better known than I am, you would not need to be told that, in the advocacy of the cause of temperance, you have a friend and sympathiser in me. When a young man-long ago-before the Sons of Temperance, as an organization had an existence, I, in an humble way, made temperance speeches, and I think I may say that to this day I have never, by my example belied what I then said.

"I think the reasonable men of the world have long since agreed that intemperance is one of the greatest, if not the very greatest of all evils among mankind. That is not a matter of dispute, I believe. That the disease exists, and that it is a very great one, is agreed upon by all. The mode of cure is one about which there may be differences of opinions. You have suggested that in an army-our army, drunkenness is a great evil, and one which while it exists to a very great extent, we cannot expect to overcome so entirely as to leave such success in our arms as we might have without it. This, undoubtedly, is true, and while it is, perhaps rather a bad source to derive comfort from, nevertheless, in a hard struggle, I do not know but what it is some consolation to be aware that there is some intemperance on the other side, too; and that they have no right to beat us in physical combat on that ground."

* * *

MR. LINCOLN'S POEM.

Mr. Lincoln, in 1844 upon a visit to the old neighborhood in which he was raised was moved to write the following little poem. It is the only one he is known to have written.

"My childhood's home I see again,

And sadden with the view;

And still, as memory crowds my brain,

There's pleasure in it too.

"O Memory! thou midway world

'Twixt earth and paradise,

Where things decayed and loved ones lost

In dreamy shadows rise.

"And, freed from all that's earthly vile,

Seem hallowed, pure and bright,

Like scenes in some enchanted isle

All bathed in liquid light."

* * *

To Be Memorized.

Mr. Lincoln wrote many passages worthy of being committed to memory. His phrase "Government of the people, for the people and by the people," is more quoted than any other on the question of government. I add a few that are well worthy of memorizing and remark, that every boy and girl in America ought to be able to recite the Gettysburg speech.

* * *

"Let us have faith that right makes might and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it."

* * *

"With malice toward none and charity to all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in."

* * *

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot permanently endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing or the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it further until it becomes alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as well as South."

* * *

"We are not enemies but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot's grave to every loving heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

* * *

"We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth."

* * *

"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free."

* * *

"'The Father of Waters' again goes unvexed to the sea."

* * *

"Among free men there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet."

* * *

"And then there will be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue, and clinched teeth and steady eye and well-poised bayonet they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while I fear there will be some white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful speech they strove to hinder it."

* * *

LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG SPEECH.

Four score and ten years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived or so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting place of those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion, that we here highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation shall under God, have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.

* * *

[1] Charles Dickens.