erf • £ L02ZC8 woo SS3dONOOdOAUVHail E 457 .R82 Copy 1 ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY RILEY R. ROSS NEW YORK CITY 1910 ' Copyright, 1910 By R. R. Ross ©CU2685 TO MY LIFELONG FRIEND DR. WILLIAM H. CRAWFORD PRESIDENT ALLEGHENY COLLEGE THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED ABRAHAM LINCOLN In 1769, Daniel Boone started from his home to explore that part of Virginia then known as the " Country of Kentucky." Forty years later, on the 12th of February, 1809, was born, in Hardin County, now Larue County, Kentucky, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. His parents were known as " Poor whites," which sig- nified at that time that they were even poorer than the Negro slave, because the poor white man, with no capital but his labor, was unable to sell it in competition with the free labor of the slave. Doubtless in part, at least, due to this condition, Abraham Lincoln's father disposed of his farm and in the autumn of 1816, moved to Indiana. The house in which the Lincoln family lived was what was known as a half-faced camp. That is, it was closed on three sides to protect the inmates against the weather; no floor, the flat side of a split log, resting on four posts, as a table, three-legged stools as chairs, pins driven into logs at the corner as a ladder by which Abraham ascended to an attic, where was his bed of leaves. The bedstead downstairs was simply made by sticks driven between the logs at the corner, the inside angle being supported by a forked stick driven into the ground, on which rude and primitive support a bed was made. It is no wonder that in the rigorous Indiana climate, in such a comfortless home, Abraham's mother was stricken with a fatal illness. Abraham was then scarcely ten years old, but it is said that during her sickness he cared for her as tenderly as a girl ; tha£ he often sat at her side and read the Bible to her for hours. That she had impressed upon him the influence of her life is shown by his remark in later years, when he said : — " All I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother." Abraham Lincoln felt that some religious ceremony should be held over her remains, and at once wrote to Par- son Elkins, in Kentucky, asking him to preach a funeral sermon over her grave. In due time an answer came and a date was fixed. Through the pathless forests of Kentucky and Indiana this preacher guided his horse to the cabin of Thomas Lincoln, where the people for twenty miles around 6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN had assembled to listen to this, probably the first sermon preached in that section. It requires but little imagination to picture this scene. The newly made grave in the midst of the unbroken forest, the sturdy, rough, but kindly disposed settlers assembled to listen to the discourse. By the side of his father sat Abraham Lincoln — the ten-year-old boy, without hat, coat or shoes — drinking in every word as it fell from Parson Elkins' lips. In after life, even during the stormy days of the rebellion, Abraham Lincoln said that the prayer offered at this time, in which he, the motherless boy, was com- mended to the care and guardianship of the Supreme, All- powerful and Ever-present Being, greatly influenced his life for good, and created within him a hopefulness which prompted both friends and enemies to stamp him as a " fatalist." In his own mind, his fate seemed to lead him on, through the guidance of a kind Providence to the salvation of the country and the liberation of its slaves. From this time Abraham Lincoln's history began. His library at first was composed only of the Bible, iEsop's Fables, Pilgrim's Progress, and, later, "Weem's Life of Washington, and The Life of Henry Clay and that of Franklin. Each volume was mastered, before being put aside, and he seemed to have the rare faculty of extracting from these few books many of the truths and teachings which helped him in future life. Eeading Weems' Life of Washington prompted him, even when a boy, to say : — " There must have been something more than common, for which our forefathers struggled." Abraham Lincoln's father removed to Illinois in 1830 prior to which time Abraham got a glimpse of the outside world by frequent trips down the Ohio river and, later, his trip to Natchez and New Orleans. Indeed, this latter trip made upon his mind the first great impressions re- garding the evils of slavery. Later, when a lawyer in Springfield, a negro woman came to him, and with tears in her eyes, advised him that her son, who had gone down the river on a boat, impru- dently went ashore, was snatched by the police in accord- ance with the law then in force concerning free negroes from other states, was tried, fined and put up for sale for the payment of his fine. Lincoln at once approached the Governor of the state, and insisted that he should interest himself in the poor negro boy. When told by the Governor that he, the Gov- ernor, had no legal or constitutional right to do anything, ABRAHAM LINCOLN 7 Lincoln rose to his feet and exclaimed : " By the Almighty I will have that boy back or I will make such an agitation in Illinois that the Governor will have the legal and con- stitutional right to do something in the premises." Among his friends he was able to raise sufficient money to accomplish his purpose and in a short time had the pleas- ure of seeing the boy back with his mother, but the im- pression of this inhuman and unjust act was one which never could be effaced, and not until thirty years later, when he struck the chains from four millions of slaves, did he feel that he had done all that could be done for that unfortunate race. At the age of twenty-one, George Washington was sent on an important mission through pathless forests to visit forts in western Pennsylvania. Thus began his public life, which finally resulted in his being chosen as the man who should bring together the discordant elements of the col- onies so as to form one complete whole, namely, the United States of America. At the same age Abraham Lincoln was winning his title, the " Bail Splitter of Illinois," by splitting rails to enclose the home he had already built for his father in that state. By his dealings with his fellow-men he had by that time acquired the title which remained with him through life, namely, " Honest Abe." During these twenty-one years he laid a broad, firm, foundation for future greatness. Born and reared in a section of our country which could justly be called the frontier, where might often triumphed over right, he never acquired a vice. No stimulant ever entered his lips; no profanity ever came from them. The part he took, how- ever, in the activities of life gave him the physical develop- ment necessary for the great work that awaited him. His mother's best gift was the old family Bible, which he read, re-read and thoroughly mastered, thus laying the foundation for a moral character which blossomed out in every speech he uttered, in every letter he wrote, and in almost every conversation. This book not only influenced his life, but molded his mind, made great his manhood and gave to America the matchless man. While the precepts of the Bible were the foundation for his character, it was so fashioned and polished by a mother's teachings, so nourished by her prayers and so strengthened by her memory that it will live through eternity. While we revere the memory of Abraham Lincoln, let us not forget his mother's teach- ings laid the foundation for his greatness. The spirit of the Bible was built into his boyhood, expanded in his 8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN manhood, ripened in his middle-age; sustained him when sorrows seared his soul and gave him a grip upon God, man, freedom, immortality. His education, as I have said, consisted of less than a single year's schooling, yet no man of the present day has the opportunity for the self-educating process as had Abra- ham Lincoln. With the Bible as his first book, followed by ^Esop's Fables, he acquired from the reading and master- ing of these fables the happy faculty which characterized him in public life — that of being able always to illustrate every occasion and condition with a fitting story. Later he took up the study of Mathematics, Geometry and Surveying, and was compelled to master these intricate subjects unaided except by his few technical books. He acquired the habit of arriving at a definite, logical, accurate and final conclusion, which training he could never have secured in institutions of learning. As Lincoln progressed in this mind-molding and char- acter-forming course, he took up the study of history of this and other countries, and, being without any instructor or teacher, he made his own deductions and arrived at his own conclusions regarding historical events. During this self-educating process he imbibed a spirit of liberty, independence, justice and love for humanity which ever characterized his conduct in private and public affairs. He was distinctively a self-trained man, and the value of this training showed itself in his speeches, argu- ments and correspondence. If his future could have been foreseen and the best possible training outlined to fit him for that future work, it could not have been better devised or more logically arranged. His absolute, unwavering faith in a Supreme Being; his thorough knowledge and practical familiarity with the Bible ; his logically trained mind, by means of which, in the consideration of delicate and intricate problems, he arrived invariably at proper conclusions; his patriotic, far-seeing and almost prophetic faith in the future of the Republic, coupled with his sympathetic nature, his love for justice and humanity, were in themselves sufficient to have made him a most prominent figure in the nation even though there had been no race to release, no national honor to re- deem, no country to save. In 1832, he enlisted as captain in the Black Hawk War. When his term of enlistment had expired, he again enlisted, at the request of the Governor, but as a private. When mustered out of service his release was signed by Robert Anderson, who twenty-nine years later was the defender of ABRAHAM LINCOLN 9 the flag at Fort Sumter. On his return he was nominated to the Legislature, but defeated. During the next two years he acted as a surveyor and was rapidly becoming known as a public speaker. In 1834, he was again nominated for the Legislature and elected, also in 1836. Then it was that he first met the man whom he described as " The smallest man he ever saw " — Stephen A. Douglas. Here began the public life of two men who were destined to influence this country more, per- haps, than any other two men in its history, Douglas bat- tling to satisfy his ambitions, with the Presidential Chair as the prize to win if possible; Lincoln kind-hearted, great- souled, his highest ambition the righting of a wrong and the befriending of an unfortunate race. In the accom- plishing of this great and noble object he realized his highest dreams of achievement and renown, and suffered for the cause he loved the martyrdom that crowns his memory with an undying glory. At that session of the Legislature resolutions were in- troduced of a pro-slavery character, and an attempt was made to fix the stigma of " Abolitionist " on all who did not endorse them. These resolutions were carried by a large majority. The only votes recorded against them were cast by Abraham Lincoln and Daniel Stone. They not only voted against the resolutions but entered their protest on the journal of the House. This protest was that Congress had no power under the Constitution to interfere with slavery in the different States, but could abolish it in the District of Columbia; that slavery was founded on injustice and bad policy. This little protest was the outline of a platform upon which he first stood alone, and finally, fought and won his great anti-slavery battles, whose trophies were four million freedmen, and a nation redeemed to justice and humanity. Lincoln served four years in the Legislature, during which time he pursued the study of law. He studied while he had bread to eat; when necessary he went out as surveyor to earn more. With no instructor but his own thoughts, no college building other than the trees under which he worked, this self-training process was all the time developing in him that self-reliance and in- dependence of thought which characterized him later on. This, together with his absolute trust and dependence in God made him a tower of strength to the nation and a marvel and enigma to those about him. In 1836 he was admitted to the bar, removed to Spring- field, and, in 1837, became the law partner of Major 10 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Stuart. He was now recognized as the greatest story-teller of the age; a debater with whom few were willing to measure swords; a man who would never lend himself to injustice, who refused to take a fee on the wrong side of the case. In 1840, through the publication of a poem in the San- gamon Journal, he was challenged to a duel, accepted, selected broad-swords as the weapons for the encounter, and immediately began taking instruction so as to perfect himself with that weapon. Fortunately friends interfered and the duel was not fought. One of the epochs of Lincoln's life was his visit to Lex- ington, in 1846, where he heard Henry Clay deliver a speech in favor of gradual emancipation. After the ad- dress he secured an introduction to Mr. Clay, and was invited to a private interview, which was as unsatisfactory as the speech to which he listened. Clay was proud, princely, distant, dignified; a man who received others with barely the deference due them. Lincoln, on the other hand, was humble, lowly, an individual who received others with an uncomfortable sense of his own unworthiness. Although Lincoln was greatly disappointed in his previous estimate of Clay as a man, yet when Clay died in 1852 the citizens of Springfield thought no man so competent to do his memory justice as Abraham Lincoln. The speech delivered in the State House before a large assemblage of people, was in a measure prophetic. It closed with these words : — " Such a man the times have demanded, and such, in the Provi- dence of God, was given us. But he is gone. Let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that in future national emergencies He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security." In 1847 he took his seat in the Thirtieth Congress at Washington. At the same time Stephen A. Douglas took his seat in the Senate of the United States; one the tallest man in Congress, and the other the shortest man in the Senate, yet these two men were destined in the next few years to hold, spellbound, an entire nation. The 4th of March, 1849, brought to a close his congres- sional career. During the two years that he had been in Congress he had made no great impression upon the House nor upon the country and his highest honors were yet to be won in another field. His return to Springfield found his law practice practically dissipated and he was compelled to begin life anew. Let us for a moment look back and note the leading ABRAHAM LINCOLN 11 facts regarding the history of slavery in this country. The German slaver which landed the first cargo of slaves in 1619 on the banks of the James River, carried with her the inception of secession, while the Mayflower, pre- ceding this vessel only a short time, brought the germs of freedom, which actuated Lincoln and the Republican party during the trying times of 1860. The first great landmark in the history of slavery was the ordinance of 1787, which was intended to check the spread of slavery and establish the form of territorial government, and by a vote of three northern and five southern states, all in the affirmative, ordained the immediate and perpetual pro- hibition of slavery in the territories. At the close of the Revolution more than half a million slaves were to be found in the five southern states, and strange as it may seem, the balance of power was almost equally divided between the South and the North. Indeed, after the adop- tion of the Constitution, the admission of states was as follows : — Vermont, a free state, followed by Kentucky, a slave state; Tennessee, a slave state, followed almost immediately by Ohio, a free state; Louisiana, a slave state, followed by Indiana, a free state ; then Mississippi, a slave state and Illinois, a free state. At this time there were eleven northern and ten southern states. Alabama was ready for admission as a slave state. The question then came up regarding Missouri and Arkansas, both slave states. The North hesitated to grant the balance of power to the South, from which discussion came the Mis- souri Compromise, of 1820, namely, that all territory south of 30° 30' should be slave, and all territory north should be free, except the State of Missouri. It was then supposed that slavery was absolutely and positively con- fined within certain boundaries; that the South should be its confines, while the North should be free. When Missouri was admitted, on the same date was admitted Maine, thus keeping the balance of power even. When Arkansas was admitted, on the same day Michigan, a free state, was admitted. These tactics were again re- peated in 1845 when on the 3d of March, Iowa, a free state, and Florida, a slave state, were admitted, but the admis- sion of Florida exhausted all of the slave territory in the South, while the North had the great undeveloped, and practically unknown northwest all dedicated to freedom. The bill authorizing the acquisition, annexation and admission of Texas contained a guarantee that new states, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in ad- dition to the State of Texas, should be formed out of her 12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN territory, and hereafter would be entitled to admission as states, the Missouri Compromise to govern the slavery question in them. Texas was admitted in 1845, which gave the slave states a majority of one, but to counteract this, Wisconsin was added, which again restored the equi- librium. The action of the slavery congress, regarding the in- dependence of Texas, resulted in the war with Mexico. Here seemed a stroke of policy on the part of the South, for if Texas came into the Union, she not only came as a slave state, but the resolution provided that four additional states should be carved out of her domain, thus adding not only one, but five slave states. In the meantime, the spirit of invention, which is the spirit of progress, was striking death blows to slavery. McCormick had invented his great reaper, Elias Howe his sewing-machine, steam had changed rivers which hitherto had borne only the savage in his birch-bark canoe on missions of destruction, into highways of commerce, bearing on their bosom vessels laden with the production of lands whose riches knew no parallel in the history of the world, railroads were belting the country with bands of steel. These were industries and inventions to be handled by the fingers and controlled by the minds of free men, and not by slaves. The South was practically stand- ing still, while the North was progressing. To make conditions still more complex, in 1849 Cal- ifornia, to the surprise of the slave power, adopted a con- stitution in which slavery was prohibited, and asked for admission to the Union. Next comes Henry Clay's Compromise of 1850. This Compromise granted the admission of California as a free state, a law prohibiting slave trade in the District of Columbia, the organization of New Mexico and Utah as territories, with no reference to slavery, a more stringent fugitive slave law, and an appropriation of $10,000,000 for the adjustment of Texas boundary. This Compromise was accepted by both parties of the campaign as finality planks in their platform and the great slavery question was once more regarded as forever settled. Both conventions of 1852 solemnly resolved that they would discountenance and resist, in Congress and out of it, whenever, wherever, or however, or under whatever color or shape, any further renewal of the slavery agita- tion. This determination was echoed and re-echoed, affirmed and re-affirmed by the recognized organs of the public voice, from the village newspaper to the President- ABRAHAM LINCOLN 13 ial message, from the country debating school to the measured utterances of senatorial discussion. Grave doubts, however, found occasional expression of distrust, none, perhaps, more forcibly than in the following news- paper epigram, describing the word " Finality " : — To kill twice dead a rattle-snake, And off his scaley skin to take, And through his head to drive a stake, And every bone within him break, And of his flesh mince-meat to make; To burn, to sear, to boil and bake, And over it the besom shake, And sink it fathoms in the lake; Whence, after all, quite wide awake, Comes back that very same old snake. And so with slavery. Probably no man of that time was more decided and determined never to make another speech on slavery than Stephen A. Douglas. However, later he became Chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories, and with the co-operation of Atkinson, then acting Vice-President, and Dixon, United States Senator from Kentucky, a bill was finally drafted, in 1854, for the organization of Kansas and Nebraska, with the right to choose for themselves their form of government, thus disregarding and repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820. This was quickly followed in 1857 by the Dred Scott Decision which protected the slave owner in the pos- session of his property whether in a slave state, an or- ganized territory or a free state. By this Dred Scott Decision a slave owner could remove a slave into a free state and the law protected him in the possession of his slaves. The North stood aghast at the possibilities re- sulting from this decision, while the South seemed jubi- lant over the result. There was probably no period in the history of this country when a leader was more greatly needed than in the beginning of 1858. Lincoln had practically retired from the political contest. Douglas again sought re- election as United States Senator from Illinois. The slave power controlled the President, his Cabinet, the Senate, Congress and the Supreme Court. Slavery pre- sented an undivided front, compact, solid, determined, sullen, and thus far successful. The North had her peace parties, her anti-slavery or- ganizations, her abolitionists, but no great leader whom the masses could follow. 14 ABRAHAM LINCOLN At this time, when the fate of our free institutions trembled in the balance, when the dark clouds of dis- aster and disappointment hovered over us as a Nation, when the clanking of the manacles and chains of the slave resounded through the North, and to his weeping and crying for help came no succor; when God himself seemed to have turned a deaf ear to his supplication, then, as the savior of the nation, as the liberator of its slaves, came that great, immortal character, — Abraham Lincoln. He was six feet four inches in height, lean, lank, thin, almost emaciated in appearance; his extremely long legs, long fingers, long face, hollow breast and stooped figure made him directly the opposite of his opponent, Doug- las, in physical development and stature. Douglas was known to the entire nation. He was the leading man of the Democratic party, the recog- nized leader in Illinois and had crossed swords on the floor of the Senate with Webster, Chase, Fessenden and Trumbull. Small of stature, his massive head, his strong, square features, his eager eyes flashing fire be- neath his broad forehead, proclaimed him an orator to the manor born. Between these two men began a debate which not only clarified Lincoln's mind on the injustice and the inhumanity of slavery, but permanently placed him in the front rank as a national character. In a speech of three hours and ten minutes he an- swered Judge Douglas's first defense of his Kansas- Nebraska proposition. Douglas exclaimed that the people of Kansas and Nebraska were competent to govern them- selves and would say whether or not slavery should exist in that territory. Lincoln admitted that the people of those states were competent to govern themselves, " But," rising to his full height he proclaimed in a voice which vibrated from the Atlantic to the Pacific, " I deny their right to govern any other person without that person's consent." During this year Lincoln made his great contest with Douglas for the United States Senatorship from Il- linois. Douglas was the champion of popular sovereignty and Lincoln was the champion of anti-slavery. Lin- coln was asked to address the Illinois State Convention, and made his famous " House Divided against Itself " speech, which was heralded from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Time prevents our going into detail further than to say that during the series of debates, covering about ''our ABRAHAM LINCOLN 15 months, by these champions of the Republican and Dem- ocratic parties, the enormity and injustice of slavery was so pictured to the American people that Lincoln soon gathered about him, as stanch supporters, thousands who were apathetic only a few months before. In these debates the two ablest men in the nation were the champions. The Constitution, the platform on which they stood; the American people, the audience they ad- dressed; the great prairies, the amphitheatre in which they spoke; and on the solution of the problem involved depended the honor of a nation and the happinesss of a race. The election was followed by the selection of Doug- las for United States Senator, but as Lincoln said to his friends, he was looking for still greater game, and that game was the Presidency. He secured it two years later. Indeed, he had so effectively forced the issue dur- ing these debates and so held up to the public gaze Douglas, his opponent, that while he secured the nom- ination for the Presidency from the Northern Demo- crats, the election gave him but twelve electoral votes. During the latter part of the year 1859 and the be- ginning of 1860, Lincoln delivered speeches in different sections of the country, always effectively answering statements previously made by Douglas either from the rostrum or in the public press. On invitation of Henry Ward Beecher, Lincoln visited New York City on February 27, I860. In an ill-fitting suit of black, not improved by several hours in the cramped quarters of his suit case, he appeared in Cooper Union before a tremendous audience. His nervousness was apparent when he began by placing his thumbs under his sus- penders, raising them to a level with his ears and then letting them go, apparently unconscious of the act, or the amusing effect upon his audience, but as he warmed up to his subject the audience lost sight of the ill-fitting suit, his gaunt appearance, and his peculiar manner. In this speech he most carefully reviewed the attitude of the founders of the republic, and proved conclusively that at no period were they favorable to the extension of slavery. This speech, masterful in its array of facts, delivered by one whom the masses looked upon as an untutored, ignorant product of the western frontier, was heard with intense interest by the brightest, brainiest, the most learned and the most cultured men of New York City. Weeks and months of the most careful searching and exhaustive study must have been given 16 ABRAHAM LINCOLN to its preparation. His arguments, backed by facts, were unanswerable, his logic unassailable and his conclusions inevitable. The next day his entire speech appeared in four New York newspapers, and William Cullen Bryant, then edi- tor of the New York Post, stated that the pages of that journal were " indefinitely elastic for the publication of such words of weight and wisdom as those uttered by Mr. Lincoln the previous night." From New York he went to New Haven and Hart- ford and other points in New England, everywhere lis- tened to with rapt attention by the brightest minds of the day. In April the Democratic Convention con- vened in Charleston, and without naming a candidate for President, adjourned to meet in Baltimore. The National Constitutional Union Convention met in Bal- timore and nominated John Bell for the Presidency. The Northern Democrats nominated Stephen A. Doug- lass; the Southern Democrats, John C. Breckinridge. The Republican Convention met in Chicago and nom- inated Lincoln on the third ballot. His notification and election are matters of history. February 11, 1861, he left his home in Springfield for Washington, and before leaving, bade his friends and neighbors good-bye in these words : — " My friends, no one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. A duty devolves upon me which is greater, perhaps, than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have suc- ceeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained him, and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support; and I hope you, my friends, will pray that I may receive that Divine assistance with- out which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. Again, I bid you all an affectionate farewell." From Springfield Lincoln visited Indianapolis, Cin- cinnati, Columbus, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Buffalo, Al- bany, New York, Trenton, Philadelphia and Harrisburg. At each place he was met by thousands of people anx- ious to get a glimpse of the man destined to steer the Ship of State safely through the troubled waters during the next four years. We have now followed Lincoln through fifty-two years of his life and stop to ask ourselves if his ancestors, the circumstances of his birth, his education, his environ- ments or his friends are to be credited with his wonder- ABRAHAM LINCOLN 17 ful progress. He began in the poorest of circumstances, born a "poor white" in a Kentucky cabin. When fifty- two years of age he was elected to the highest office in the gift of the American people. His success cannot be attrib- uted to his birth, because he was born a little lower than the slave, who was his master's property. It cannot be at- tributed to his parents, because his father, Thomas Lin- coln, was what was considered, in those days, a " Ne'er do well." It cannot be attributed to education, because his schooling consisted of less than a single year. It cannot be credited to environment, because living as he did, a frontier life, many of his environments were such as degraded rather than elevated his nature. His success was not due to wealthy friends, for he had none. He was accustomed to say that the " Lord loved the poor people, because he made so many of them." When asked to write a biography of his life, he said it was described practically by a single line from Gray's elegy when he wrote the " Short and Simple Annals of the Poor." Certainly none of these things contributed to his great- ness. W^e, therefore, must look within, rather than with- out, for the contributory causes. His greatness may be traced from the day when he stood beside the closed grave of his mother, listening to the eulogy pronounced upon her by Elder Perkins. On that occasion Abraham Lincoln was commended to the care and keeping of a Higher Power. The lasting impression made upon his mind by this prayer can be seen through every epoch of his life and in the darkest days of the Republic, Abraham Lincoln felt that he was the chosen instrument in God's hands for the redeeming of the nation. Just before the presidential election of 1860, in con- versation with Mr. Bateman, then Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Illinois, Lincoln said: " I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see a storm coming, and I know His hand is in it. If He has a place for me to work, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know that 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 does not care whether slavery is voted up or voted 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 shall come and I shall be vindicated. A revelation could not make plainer to me that slavery or the government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this rock on which I stand " 2 18 ABRAHAM LINCOLN (alluding to a Testament which he held in his hand). " It seems as if God had borne with this thing (slavery) until the very teachers of religion have come to defend it from the Bible and to claim for it a divine character and sanction, and now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured out." Thus spoke Abraham Lincoln, in the quiet of his room, to his bosom friend, Mr. Bateman. These words are the index to his character. They show the rock on which he stood, the source from which he gained his strength and the course which he meant to pursue. Here let us glance at the condition of affairs at this time when he took upon himself the oath of office. He left a divided North, faced a seceding and angry South and en- tered the capitol, honeycombed with secession. Indeed, it was said that more than half the people of Washing- ton secretly wished for the success of the rebellion. The Senators from South Carolina had resigned their seats; the Secretary of the Treasury for the United States, Howell Cobb, resigned on the 10th of December, de- claring his inability to relieve the treasury from its em- barrassment. The Secretary of War, Floyd, had. sent 115,000 muskets from the northern armories to southern arsenals. The Attorney-General, Black, had given his official opinion that Congress had no right to carry on war against any state. The President, Buchanan, was a weak instrument and consented to have his hands tied. The Secretary of the Navy had sent available war vessels into places where they would be of the least value to the north. The secession of South Carolina was quickly fol- lowed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisi- ana and Texas. The forts and arsenals in the seceded states were seized. Jefferson Davis was elected President of the southern confederacy and yet responsible and con- fidential positions in the government at Washington were still held by men whose hearts were closely linked with the confederacy. So general was the feeling of sympathy for the South that it seemed there was no man willing to denounce these acts of treason. Finally, when the Sec- retary of the Interior in the Cabinet demanded that the forts of Charleston should be evacuated and President Buchanan was too weak to take action against him, one man in the Cabinet, Attorney-General Edwin M. Stan- ton, rose and said : — " Mr. President, it is my duty as your legal adviser, to say that you have no right to give up the property of the government or abandon the soldiers of the United States to its enemies, and the course proposed by the Secretary of the interior, if followed, is treason and will involve you and all concerned in treason." ABRAHAM LINCOLN 19 This statement of Mr. Stanton sent an electric thrill throughout the country, which was felt in every section. March 4, 1861, Lincoln took the oath as President. His speech on that occasion is a matter of history, concilia- tory in point, almost pathetic in its appeal to the South, but with a determination to protect the government and the government's interests. He closed with these his- toric words : — " We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearth- stone 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." The day before Lincoln uttered these words, Alexander II, autocrat of all the Russians, by imperial decree, eman- cipated his serfs, while the United States, a Christian country, supposedly far in advance of Russia in civili- zation and humanity, was divided on this question of slav- ery, and the South headed by Jefferson Davis, was plan- ning for the greatest war of modern times, not only to perpetuate, but extend this nefarious traffic in human Here began the great work of Lincoln's life. Reared in a log cabin, and now occupying the most responsible place in the nation in the most perilous period of that nation's existence. Thus far we have seen Lincoln as a man among men, great-souled, kind-hearted, none too low to be beneath his notice; a friend of the friendless, a defender of the down- trodden. Now we must look upon Lincoln as a states- man. Indeed, some at the time called him a politician, but if so, he was a politician of the highest order. In his selection of a Cabinet, his resolve was to have about him only men who were true, honest and patriotic. William H. Seward, the most prominent man in the Republican party, was selected as Secretary of State. Salmon P. Chase, the acknowledged leader of the Republi- can party in Ohio, Ex-Governor, now United States Sen- ator, a great, dignified leader, he selected as Secretary of the Treasury. Simon Cameron, who continued for less than a year, then Edwin M. Stanton, as Secretary of War. Montgomery Blair, a former Democrat, of Maryland, as Postmaster General. Seward had but little faith in Lincoln as a man to handle the affairs of the government. The country in 20 ABRAHAM LINCOLN general looked upon Seward as, to all intents and pur- poses, the backbone of the administration. The first test of power came when the question of sending provisions to Fort Sumter was considered by the Cabinet. Major Anderson's report reached Lincoln the day after his in- auguration. The officer said that unless succored, starva- tion would compel him to surrender in a few weeks. General Scott, commander-in-chief, wrote, regarding his report : — " Evacuation seems inevitable, and in this our chief engineer concurs," but Abraham Lincoln did not concur. Indeed, he could not abandon so important a stronghold as Fort Sumter without a struggle. He turned to his Cabinet for counsel, and almost to a man they agreed that the fort must be evacuated immedi- ately and provisions should not be sent. The notable ex- ception was Postmaster Blair, a Democrat of the Jeffer- sonian school, and the youngest man of the Cabinet. Here was a crisis indeed. In almost the first Cabinet meeting, Lincoln found against him not only the military experts, but all except the youngest member of his Cabinet. He asked for time to consider and again consulted Scott, who said : — " The fort can neither be provisioned nor reinforced," and sub- mitted an order for evacuation for the President's sig- nature. Instead Lincoln called another meeting of his Cabinet, at which Blair and Chase voted with the Presi- dent, the other five against him, Seward being the leader of the opposition. At the next meeting six were present; three agreed with Lincoln, one was non-committal and one for evacuation on a purely military basis, while Seward still advised that evacuation was necessary. When the Cabinet adjourned, Lincoln instructed the Secretaries of War and Navy to arrange for a relief vessel carrying supplies to General Anderson. Not only did Lincoln's advice prevail, but with the concurrence and ap- proval of practically every man in the Cabinet, except Sew- ard. As we know, supplies were sent, Sumter was bom- barded, the Civil War began, and from this moment the history of the United States is a history of Abraham Lin- coln. The shot which opened the war woke an echo from sea to sea and cemented together all parties, creeds and classes for the defense of their country. While this leaden hail was falling on the walls of Fort Sumter, a man, second only in importance to Abraham Lincoln, was seen to wend his way through the streets of Washington to the White House, and when he emerged from that conference he announced to the world that he ABRAHAM LINCOLN 21 had promised the President his support, and called on all his friends and followers to do likewise. This man was Stephen A. Douglas, and of him it might truly be said : — " One blast upon his bugle horn was worth a million men." Still a greater proof of Lincoln's statesmanship, tact and diplomacy was seen when Chase and Seward placed in his hands their resignation, as a result of the Republican caucus, really due to the influence of Chase, demanding Seward's dismissal. Lincoln listened to the nine Senators who made the report, and then asked them to return in the evening. At the same time he called a meeting of his Cab- inet, with the exception of Seward. The matter was dis- cussed until midnight, the members of the Cabinet, in- cluding Chase, defending their absent member Seward. As a result of this conference neither resignation was ac- cepted, and what was intended to dismiss one of the strong- est men from the Cabinet, resulted in cementing of friendship of each for the other, and all for their Chief. Probably the most difficult man for Lincoln to handle in the Cabinet was Stanton, Secretary of War. That Lin- coln appreciated his difficulties was shown by his reply to some Congressmen who wished an appointment made. Stanton had given an emphatic " no." They appealed to Lincoln who said: — " Gentlemen, it is my duty to submit. I cannot add to Mr. Stanton's troubles. His position is one of the most difficult in the world. Without him I should be destroyed. He performs his task superhumanly. Now, do not mind this matter, for Mr. Stanton is right, and I cannot wrongly interfere with him." At one time a committee of western men, headed by Con- gressman Owen Lovejoy of Illinois, called upon the Presi- dent and urged the mingling of the eastern and western troops. The plan interested Lincoln, who wrote a letter recommending this plan to the Secretary of War, Stanton. As this scheme seemed impracticable to Mr. Stanton, he refused to carry it out. " But we have the President's order, sir," said Mr. Lovejoy. " Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind ? " said the Secretary. " He did, Sir." " Then he is an old fool," was the response. " Do you mean to say that the President is an old fool ? " asked the Congressman in amazement. "Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that." 22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN Returning to the executive mansion he reported the re- sult of the conversation. "Did Stanton say that?" asked President Lincoln. " He did, Sir, and repeated it." " Well, Stanton is nearly always right, and if he said I am an old fool then I must be one." One of the sorest trials in Stanton's life was when Lin- coln's great human nature prompted him to interfere with the death sentence. Many instances of this kind are re- corded, to only one of which we will refer. It was at a time when an old man came trembling before him and asked for a pardon for his son who had been sentenced to be shot for desertion. Lincoln asked the old man to tell his story. It was this : — " We had three boys ; one was killed in battle, one still serves in the army under Sherman and the third (the youngest) has been tried for desertion and sentenced to be shot. I am here at his mother's request; the carrying out of this sentence will kill her, as he is her favorite boy. The boy never deserted, he could not desert; it is not in his blood." Without another word Lincoln wrote a telegram to General Butler, ordering the sentence cancelled and the boy set free. As the boy was sentenced to be shot two days later the father hesitated to return home lest Lin- coln might change his mind and send a different telegram the next day, and so expressed himself to the President, to which Lincoln replied : — "If he lives to get my first tele- gram he will live to be older than Methuselah before he gets a second telegram countermanding the order." Lincoln told the story of how a great, homely giant of a man once put a pistol to his face and threatened to shoot. Lincoln coolly asked why he thus threatened his life. He replied that he had promised his wife and God that if he ever met a man more homely than himself he would shoot him on sight, to which statement Lincoln replied : — " If I am more homely than you I should die. Go ahead and shoot." Being master of himself he was easily master of those about him. His Cabinet realized his strength, but knew not yet the source of his power. The press reviled, criti- cised, condemned and ridiculed him, but could not move him from his purpose. Neither friends nor enemies, poli- ticians nor statesmen, saints nor sinners, changed the man from what he believed God wished him to do. He stood on the high plain of truth, justice and humanity, far above the masses — a self-made man, a God-endowed hero. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 23 That the emancipation of the slaves was secondary and the saving of the Union his first object, is shown by a letter written about this time to Horace Greeley. In it he said : — " My paramount object is to save the Union, and neither to save nor destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union." Even before this letter was penned Lincoln had in his possession the original draft of the Emancipation Proc- lamation. It had been written in June, submitted to the Cabinet for criticism and discussion in July, but he did not feel that the time was yet ripe to issue it. Probably in no one thing did Lincoln show himself the master of himself and the master of men more truly than in his handling of the Emancipation Proclamation. He was besieged by statesmen and politicians, clergymen and military men, by editors and diplomats, and, in fact, by all classes and creeds, occupations and professions, but was still unwilling to yield to their requests until the proper time had arrived. To his closest friends he said he must wait for a victory before issuing the Proclamation. The battle of Antietam was fought and won, but only vague reports drifted in to the President; nothing on which he could absolutely rely. It was his custom to spend his nights at the Soldiers' Home, a few miles out of Washington, but this night he spent with his boy Tad, now six years old, at the White House. As night closed upon him, and his last visitor had left, he placed the sleepy, tired boy to rest for the night, and alone paced the floor, his vigil broken only by his occasional look at the sleeping boy, unconscious of the great burden the father was bearing. Ten, eleven and twelve o'clock passed. About one o'clock in the morning a messenger arrived from McClellan's army with the definite news that Lee had been driven across the Potomac out of Maryland and into Vir- ginia. He immediately decided to call a meeting of the Cabinet, and at high noon on the 22d day of September, 1862, a Cabinet meeting was held, the significance of which can- not be expressed in words. When Lincoln entered he car- ried in his hand a recently published volume by Artemus Ward and read from it until the entire Cabinet, with the 24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN exception of Stanton, was convulsed with laughter. Un- able longer to withstand the levity of the situation, Stan- ton said : — " Gentlemen, I feel that the condition of the country demands our most serious attention." Where- upon Lincoln laid aside his volume. His face assumed a rigid, deathlike paleness characteristic when some mo- mentous question was to be considered, and in his homely, frank and honest manner said — " Stanton, you are right, but I had to read something of this nature, else the bur- den would have been too great to bear, and I would have yielded to a broken heart." He then drew from his pocket the original draft of the Emancipation Proclama- tion. He said " Gentlemen, I have not brought you together for discussion or advice. I promised myself and God that if Lee were driven across the Potomac I would crown the act with the liberation of the slaves, and am now ready to fulfill my promise. The act is mine and I stand responsible for the result." Thus, before his Cabinet he stood in the lime-light of civilization, placed a mile-stone on the pathway of prog- ress, a beacon on the hill-top of liberty, a guide-post for future generations, and thus showed the majesty and the greatness of his manhood, the breadth and strength of his mind, the depth and tenderness of his humanity and his confidence and faith in Almighty God. This preliminary proclamation was signed, and pub- lished in the newspapers that evening. It was received with profound interest by the whole country, rejoicing by the North and gnashing of teeth by the slaveholders of the South. The final proclamation was issued January 1, 1863. No wonder during these months Lincoln grew sad and grave when disaster was followed by defeat, and defeat by treachery and treason. First Sumter was bombarded and captured, then fort after fort fell into the hands of the confederacy. Virginia, which Lincoln hoped to re- tain in the Union, seceded; Harper's Ferry was burned; next the Baltimore riot, the destruction of the great navy yard and ships at Norfolk. The railroad bridges, and in- deed, the railroads themselves, leading into Baltimore, were destroyed; Maryland served a notice upon Lincoln that troops should not pass through Baltimore or Maryland to defend the National Capital.. Lee, educated at West Point, hesitating, undecided, finally went with his state, and cast his lot with the confederacy. John B. McGruder, because of his ability, and the con- fidence which General Scott and Lincoln had in him, was ABRAHAM LINCOLN 25 assigned a light battery for the special defense of Wash- ington. He, with others, went with the confederacy. Even the Governor of Maryland denied the 8th from Massachusetts and the 7th from New York the right to land on her shores. While Washington was threatened from without and honey-combed with traitors within, Lincoln, knowing these regiments had left Massachusetts and New York, paced the floor, unable to understand the unaccountable delay. Day faded into night, night changed to day, the telegraph wires from Baltimore were cut, so that com- munication with the North was severed, and for four long, dreary days, the authorities at Washington, restless, sleepless and anxious looked out upon the broad Potomac, asking the question, "Will they ever come?" Finally, April 25th, when the famous 7th from New York, with their well formed ranks, perfect military step and gaily floating flags, with inspiring music of their regimental band, swept up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, they brought fresh hope, a real help and substantial aid to the nation. These discouragements were followed by such disasters as the battles of Big Bethel, Bull Eun, Wilson's Creek and McClellan's seven days of defeat in changing his base to the James River. It was defeat, defeat, defeat; disaster after disaster; enemies at home reviled him; friends began to doubt him; the nation listened, almost hope- lessly wondering if victory ever could be secured. God only sustained Lincoln in these trying hours. No wonder that in rapid succession Hallock succeeded McClellan, Burnside followed Hallock, Hooker followed Burnside, and then Meade, who turned the tide of battle and brought victory out of defeat at Gettysburg, which battle became the turning point of the war. At the same time Grant captured Vicksburg and from this time on God's messenger, electricity, brought tidings of victory instead of defeat. Hooker fought his Battle above the Clouds on Lookout Mountain, Sherman cut his way to the sea, and Lincoln found Grant, who, as he said, "would fight," and placed him in command of the armies of the nation. With a critic's eye he had watched Grant from the time of his first victory at Paducah in September, 1861, as he captured Fort Henry and Fort Donaldson, won Shiloh and Iuka, celebrated the nation's birthday by allowing the waters of the Mississippi to flow untroubled to the sea by his great victory at Vicksburg, won for himself unfading 26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN laurels at Chattanooga, and yet during all of this time Lincoln had never personally met Grant. When at a public reception in Washington, Grant appeared with hundreds of others, to pay his respects to the President, he was quickly recognized and as Lincoln took him by the hand the two great characters of the war met; one the embodiment of patience, for Lincoln had waited three years to find his ideal, and the other the embodiment of deter- mination and success, for Grant had worked three years to merit this opportunity. Fortunate indeed was the country that at this first interview between Grant and Lincoln each should have been so favorably impressed with the other. In their hands was the destiny of the country. They were co-operating for the preservation of the Union and the liberty of man. Probably no meeting in the history of the nation was so momentous and so memorable as this, which marked the beginning of the end of the Civil War. The next day Grant was made Commander-in-Chief and began systematically, persistently, and with a bull-dog's tenacity, to lay his plans for the capture of Eichmond and the surrender of Lee. What Grant did was summarized by Eoscoe Conkling, at Chicago, when he nominated him, using the follow- ing verse : — If asked what State he hails from My sole reply shall be He comes from Appomattox, And its famous apple-tree. The great, immortal battle of Gettysburg, upon the issue of which hung the fate of the nation, was fought July 1st, 2d and 3d, 1863, with a loss on the Union side of three thousand killed and fourteen thousand wounded. The State of Pennsylvania set apart a portion of this battle-field as a national cemetery. In November following, Senator Edward Everett was selected as the speaker at the dedication. Accompanying him was Abraham Lincoln, and as he was expected to say a few words, on his way there, in the midst of conversation, he scribbled down on a piece of paper a few words, which, spoken on that memorable occasion, form one of the bright- est gems in the field of literature. Spoken amid absolute silence, these words elicited not a single note of applause, but they were the reflex of his thoughts, of his great nature, at that time as little appre- ciated by the masses as the great Emancipator himself. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 27 While the studied oration of Senator Everett, delivered amid the applause of the people, has been forgotten, this gem in the field of American literature still lives, and ever will live. By act of Congress this entire Gettysburg speech has been cast in bronze and ordered erected in every national cemetery and military park in the United States. It has also been placed at the entrance to our great colleges, universities, clubs and libraries. Not only in bronze has it been thus immortalized, but to-day it is engraved upon the tablet of the memory of every school boy and is a part of every collection of choice literature. Never before, so far as history records, has such an honor been given to the words or writings of any one man. These words embrace not simply Lincoln's thought, but his soul, his life, his nature, his character, himself. Patri- otic in sentiment, sublime in diction, with a father's tender reference to the past and a divine hopefulness for the future, a tribute of praise for the living, and a wreath of affection for the dead, they appeal to the best in our nature and show his prophetic vision of the vitality, stability, sincerity and greatness of our nation. The nation stood in silence as he spoke. His words were too deep and too solemn for applause, too sacred for war; but when the sunshine of peace again hovered over our land, when his work was completed and God said " Come up higher," then, and not until then did the nation and the world appreciate the greatness of the man who for fifty years was in God's training for the great work of releasing a race and redeeming and saving a nation. In June, 1864, the Eepublican National Convention assembled at Baltimore, and on the first ballot nominated Abraham Lincoln as President for a second term. He was almost unanimously elected, securing two hundred and twelve out of two hundred and forty-three elective votes, carrying every state except New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky. This verdict of the people he accepted as an approval of his actions and efforts to preserve the country and uphold the constitution. In vindication of his Emanci- pation Proclamation the thirteenth amendment absolutely abolishing slavery, was adopted January 31, 1865. When the final vote was announced, members, regardless of par- liamentary rules, sprang to their feet and embraced each other, amid the clapping of hands, waving of handker- chiefs and cheers which arose from all parts of the house. During this excitement Ebon C. Ingersol, of Illinois, 28 ABRAHAM LINCOLN securing the attention of the speaker said " In honor of this immortal and sublime event I move the house do now adjourn," which motion was put and unanimously carried. When this amendment was ratified by three-fourths of the whole number of states a final proclamation was made that it become a valid part of the constitution. Thus, after two hundred and fifty years, slavery, the curse of our country, the virus of which had well-nigh poisoned the life blood of our nation, was by official amendment to the Constitution swept out of existence, and the " new birth of freedom," which Lincoln invoked in his Gettys- burg address was finally accomplished. This country was established on the principle that all men are created equal with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. George Washington, the first President, was the embodi- ment of this principle. At the end of his second term, in his farewell address, he used these words: — " Observe good faith and justice toward all nations ; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct. It will be worthy of a free, intelligent and at no distant period a great nation to give to mankind a magnanimous example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence." Acting upon and following this advice, the great men who have followed him have reiterated this principle so that while our country was founded on liberty, justice, right and equality, even during the darkest days of slavery our people did not drift so far from their original moor- ings as to lose sight of this foundation. That Abraham Lincoln was guided by the same prin- ciple we quote his closing words in his second inaugural address : — " With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firm- ness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have fought the battle, for his widow and his orphan. To do all which may achieve a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." This is the principle which actuated him in his every thought and act. Following the broad foundation of jus- tice laid down by our forefathers, the country has grown through successive administrations until under the lamented McKinley we assumed the position of a world power; a country second to none in wealth, justice and influence. Unfortunately our country stands alone in its influence, and cannot be compared in growth with nations of cor- ABRAHAM LINCOLN 29 responding years. However, almost at the same time when Washington uttered his farewell address, Napoleon had crossed the Alps and at the head of the army of Italy addressed his soldiers in these words: — " Soldiers, you are half starved and half naked. The Govern- ment owes you much, but can do nothing for you. I am to lead you into the most fertile valleys of the world. There you will find flourishing cities; there you will reap honor, glory and riches." Compare the principles enunciated by Washington when he asked our country to observe good faith and justice toward all nations, and the address of Napoleon urging his soldiers to rapine, plunder and destruction. What has been the result? Napoleon built on the principle that might makes right; Lincoln on the principle that right makes might. Napoleon said " God is on the side of the heaviest artillery." Lincoln said " God is on the side of justice, right and humanity." France, following the ad- vice given by Napoleon to his soldiers, retains to-day not a foot of soil gained in her conquests, but stands on a level with Spain and Italy, the natural result of following the course outlined above. The United States, following the advice of Washington, " has given to mankind a magnani- mous example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence." She has extended her boundary from Ocean to Ocean, reached a helping hand to the oppressed islands of the sea, her flag honored and respected in every wind that blows. Clad in the vestments of right and truth, she had taken her place beside the greatest nations of the earth, and to-day stands forth before the world as the land of the free and the home of the brave. One thought seemed always uppermost in Lincoln's mind, — the preservation and the unifying of the nation. By kindness and tact he held together the discordant elements of his Cabinet and thus united the various factions and parties of the North; averted a foreign war by his successful conducting of the Trent affair; retained the border states in the Union by his masterful handling of the Emancipation Proclamation; preserved the friendship and utilized the influence of McClellan; discovered and defended Grant against those who tried to supersede him; upheld Sherman in his determination to cut the con- federacy in two; found and befriended Sheridan; ap- pointed Meade; and in short, became the soldier's friend, the nation's idol, and the world's wonder. Yet in the midst of rejoicing over the war's ending, and the successful achievement of his plans, while at the pinnacle of his fame, 30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN at the zenith of his glory, at the height of his power, he was struck down by the assassin's blow, a blow fatal to itself, fatal to the reconstruction of the South, fatal to the best friend the South ever had. Some of us can remember the pall of blackness which spread over the country on that Saturday morning in April when his death was announced, but like the attack on Sumter which heralded the beginning of the Civil War, at the same time uniting all classes and creeds in the defense of the country, the blow which deprived the nation of its leader showed that his friends were numbered by the million. Even his enemies in the South deplored the act; the nation stood weeping with the passion of an angry grief. Foreign representatives strove with each other to do him honor. Soldiers who had unflinchingly met death on a hundred fields of battle, civilians never known to weep over their own personal troubles or private cares, mothers who with aching heart but tearless eyes gave their boys that the country might live; the strong, the weak; the old, the young ; the rich, the poor, all alike broke down and cried like children when they heard of the murder of Abraham Lincoln. Children, alarmed, found their parents' eyes red and cheeks wet with weeping as they were kissed awake that Saturday morning, and heard in a choked voice, trembling with suppressed emotion, the words — "LINCOLN IS DEAD." When the attending surgeon made known to the iron- hearted Stanton that the wound was fatal, his great breast heaving with emotion, he exclaimed : — " He must not, he cannot die ! " His words were prophetic. To-day Lincoln lives not only in the literature of our country, in the storied history of our nation, in the songs of our people and on the enduring canvas, but his name is as imperishable as the marble into which his likeness has been chiseled. Educated in the great school of experience, all, from the country school on the hillside to the great university in the city, vied each with the other to do him honor. With a creed too broad for any religious denomination he is to-day the ideal to which religious denominations aspire and to whom they point with pride. With his love of right, justice and humanity he made not only this nation, but the world, his debtor. He was a Cromwell in courage, a Demosthenes in eloquence, a Plato in reasoning, a Solon in wisdom and statecraft, a Napoleon in leadership and a Bismark in firm- ness, and a Washington in patriotism. At the same time he was like a mother in tenderness and devotion to duty, a father in kindness, and a child in simplicity. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 31 No wonder at his death Stanton said " He now belongs to the ages." He was a God-made man, a world-lamented hero; greater than the country he saved he now belongs to the world ; greater than the age in which he lived, he now belongs to eternity. He built his own monument — a race released from bondage, a nation redeemed to justice and humanity, a country united, and a flag from which not a single stripe has been erased nor a single star obscured. So long as this flag floats over a free and liberty-loving people, so long as right and love of humanity find a place in the human heart, so long as justice and liberty — those eternal truths given by God himself — stand as a foundation for our Republic, so long will be remembered the life and work of Abraham Lincoln. M %7 3910 One copy del. to Cat. Div. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 837 201 3