A.MJ xC AJii A LINCOLN JAMES BALDWIN LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 founded by HARLAN HOYT HORNER and HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER > i ABRAHAM LINCOLN A TRUE LIFE BY JAMES BALDWIN Author of "Fifty Famous Stories Refold," "Old Greek Stories," " The Discovery of the Old Northwest," " The Conquest of the Old Northwest" "Baldwin's Readers," etc. o-i^oo- NEW YORK • CINCINNATI . CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1904, by AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Entered at Stationers' Hall, London. UNCOLN. w. P. 15 q73.7tfo5 TO THE SCHOOLBOYS OF AMERICA This book is dedicated to yon. It is the story of a hero greater than any of the heroes of fairy tale or rojuance. For while these latter were for the most part ideal and imaginary, the man of whom I shall tell you was a real persoji who lived a true life ajui did truly noble things. Concernifig no other American has so 7nuch been written. Of books about Lincoln there are already scores, even hundreds. Why, then, should /presume to write another ? Why, when it is plainly impossible to relate any new facts regarding our hero, should I ven- ture to add this volume to the multitude of existing biographies ? My answer and apology is this : While I cannot tell anything that has not already been told, yet I may be able to repeat some ivell-known facts in a manner particularly agreeable and under- standable to boys and girls, thus producing a boo^ adapted to school reading, free from tvearisome details as 7vell as from political bias or sectional prejudice. Then, again, it is my aim in this book to trace, as briefly as may be, the progress of our government frotn the time of its organization to the end of tlie great civil war ; and more particularly to make plain the causes and motives which brought about the tremendous crisis in which Abraham Lincoln bore .so con- spicuous a part. For to you. the schoolboys of America, the polit- ical history that centers around the life of our hero should have more than a passing interest. Although the chief issues then at stake have ceased to exist, yet the lessons of that history remain as beacon lights to guide and warn you, the future rulers and law- makers of our country. Other issues may arise, other jealousies may cause discord, other mistaken theories tfiay threaten the peace of the nation, — the salvation of this great 7-epublic will depend upon your unselfish patriotism. It is with the hope that this book may help to inspire you with such patriotism that I dedicate it to you. LAMES BALDWIN. 3 CONTENTS Prelude BOOK THE FIRST — PREPARATION CHAPTER PAGE I. A Humble Home .25 II. Boy Life in the Backwoods . 31 III. Restless Thomas Lincoln goes to Indian a 38 IV. A Winter in a Half-faced Camp . 41 V. How the Hevved-log House was built 44 VI. A Great Sorrow 47 VII. " My Angel Mother " . 50 VIII. Lonely Days at Pigeon Creek 54 IX. Improved Conditions .... 56 X. Not much Schooling, and yet a Little 61 XI. Conning Books by the Firelight . . 64 XII. Oratory at a Country Court . . 67 XIII. Lincoln the Boatman . 69 XIV. New Orleans and the Mississippi . • 73 XV. A Trial of New Fortunes • n XVI. The Winter of the Deep Snow . 81 XVII. Running a Village Store • 85 XVIII. Up in Black Hawk's Country . 89 XIX. Election — but not of Abraham Lincoln • 95 XX. " Law, Sir, Law ! " ... . 98 XXI. In the Postal Service . . 100 XXII. Following the Surveyor's Chain . . 103 XXIII. Entering Politics in Earnest . 5 . 106 Contents BOOK THE SECOND — PROBATION CHAPTER I. A Member of the Legislature II. Between Vandalia and New Salem III. Rag Barons vs. Sons of Toil IV. An Attorney at Law V. How Lincoln rode the Circuit VI. A Stirring Campaign VII. Master and Slave . VIII. Love and Poverty . IX. In Relation to Texas X. National Politics in 1844 XI. Contention with Mexico XII. One Term in Congress . XIII. Lincoln returns to Private Life XIV. New Phases of the Slavery Question XV. A Bill that proved to be a Firebrand XVI. The War in Kansas XVII. Rule or Ruin .... XVIII. Under Buchanan's Administration XIX. Estrangement between North and South XX. Lincoln and Douglas XXI. In Friendly Debate XXII. Fanatical John Brown . XXIII. Eloquence at Cooper Union . PAGE 118 119 135 143 144 146 149 156 164 176 181 188 192 195 200 206 BOOK THE THIRD— PERFORMANCE "Abraham Lincoln, the Rail Candidate" Balloting at Chicago L II. III. Revolt at Charleston IV. A Gloomy Prospect 208 210 214 218 Contents CHAPTER PACE V. Heart and Head 223 VI. Abraham Lincoln, President . 225 VII. Men of the Cabinet .... 229 VIII. Lincoln's First Call to Arms . 231 IX. In Sight of the Capitol .... 237 X. Never too Busy to help Others 240 XI. " Contraband of War " . 245 XII. '' One War at a Time " . 247 XIII. Listening to Advice .... 249 XIV. Nearing the Great Issue 254 XV. Antietam and Emancipation . 256 XVI. The Tide Turns 260 XVII. Renominated .... 266 XVIII. Union or Disunion ? . . . 269 XIX. Elected Again .... 270 XX. " Let us strive on to finish the Work " 272 XXI. In Richmond .... 276 XXII. Friday, the Fourteenth of April 279 XXIII. Elegy . 281 Index • • • e • 283 PRELUDE THE Fourth of July in America is a time of national reioicing. It is also a time of national remembrance. On that day we are reminded, in one way or another, that we are Americans, and that we have a country to which we should be loyal and true. We are reminded, also, that this is the land of freedom and that it was made so by the toils and sufferings of brave and wise men who lived and died amid scenes and circumstances to which we are strangers. It is fitting that we should think of all these things on the Fourth of July, for that day is the birth- day of our nation. There was once a time, however, when the people living in America could not boast that they had a country of their own ; for they were ruled by the king and parliament of Great Britain who made laws for their government without asking their consent. The American colonists, as the people were then called, could not say that this was a land of freedom ; for they were made to pay taxes to the king, and were denied many of the rights which free men hold dear. Then the 4th of July came and went without more notice than any other day : no flags were raised, no great guns were fired, no glad bells were rung ; for the nation had not yet been born. 9 lo Prelude But at length there came a day when the people would no longer be deprived of their rights. Then certain wise and brave men declared: "The king of England is a tyrant, and he is unfit to rule this land. The people shall make their own Jaws and choose their own rulers, for this is their right. These states, in which we live, are and ought to be free and independent." The day on which that declaration was made was the 4th of July, 1776; and since that time, as the years go by, it is remembered with great rejoicing as the day when the American nation had its beginning. But real inde- pendence was not won merely by a declaration. There followed a long war with England — the war of the Revo- lution — which lasted till the British king and parliament were forced to say that the country might be free. In this way the people won the right to be their own rulers and to make their own laws ; in this way they gained for them- selves and for us the freedom which all men so dearly prize. * * * It must not be thought that when our nation began its life it was rich and great as it now is. It was small and weak. Its possessions did not reach from ocean to ocean, as they do now, but only from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River. There were but thirteen states, and they were thinly settled. Nearly all the people Hved in that part of the country which is east of the Alleghany Mountains, and the different sections had but little to do with one another. The largest and richest of the states was Virginia, which claimed the land westward as far as to the Mississippi. The OJiio Re Hon II "■iy The broad region between the Alleghanies and the Mis- sissippi was, for the most part, an unknown land. It was covered for hundreds of miles by a dense, wild forest, where savage. beasts lurked and warlike Indians roamed. There was no way of getting into it except by pushing through the tangled woods, or by floating in small boats down the Ohio River, or by coasting along the shores of the Great Lakes which bordered it on the north. The only roads were the water courses or the winding paths made through the forests and prairies by wild deer and wandering herds of bisons. • Here and there, on the bank of some river, hidden far away in the forest, there was a little fort or a trading post, scarcely known or even heard of by the rest of the world. Now and then, a hunter, after months of roving in these wilds, would go back to his friends in the East, and tell wonderful stories of the fertility and beauty of that West- ern country. Now and then, some traders would return from the Ohio region with loads of skins and furs and with many a tale of danger and escape in the savage wilderness. No person could have dreamed that within less than a century, this unknown region would become, as it is to-day, covered with countless farms and dotted with busy towns — the home of millions of happy people. Indeed, there were thoughtful men who said that, for ages to come, there would be plenty of room in the states east of the Alleghany Mountains for all the inhabitants of our country, and that the territory to the west would remain a wild, unsettled hunting ground, perhaps forever. Prelude * » * But there were a few men who believed otherwise. They had listened to the stories that were told of the ex- tent and the hidden wealth of the lands in the Ohio Valley, and they believed that new states would soon be formed there. A year or more before the declaration of inde- pendence two companies of settlers, from Virginia and North Carolina, established themselves ir the beautiful region south of the Ohio. One, composed at first of men alone, built a stockade at the place now called Har- rodsburg. The other, among which were women and children, was led by the hunter, Daniel Boone, and the settle- ment which he founded was named Boonesborough. The country in which these daring pioneers made their homes was an uninhabited land and was known by its Indian name, Kentucky. It was in the very heart of the untraveled wilder- ness — two hundred miles from the near- est settlement in Virginia. But it was one of the fairest regions in the world. Eastward, back to the crest of the mountains, the forest stretched unbroken ; but westward, there were grassy openings between groves of woodland, and treeless meadows covered with rank herbage. Here .were the hunting grounds of the Indians. Herds of bisons, or buffaloes, grazed on the wild meadows or roamed among the trees. Huge elks, with branching horns, browsed in Kentucky 1 3 the forest openings ; and timid deer nipped the herbage in secluded places and sought shelter from the sun and rain in the shady woods. And there were other animals less harmless than these — bears in great plenty, packs of wolves, prowling panthers, not a few, and many smaller and more timid beasts. Thousands of squirrels played unscared among the branches of the trees ; and the forests and meadows seemed alive with birds of every kind. No Indians had their dwellings there. But the tribes beyond the Ohio, as well as those to the east, the south, and the west, sent their brave men there every year. It was common ground for them all — to hunt in, but not to live in — and many and fierce were the battles that were fought when the paths of hostile parties crossed each other. It was a daring thing for Boone and his friends to settle in that country, for every red man would be their foe. But they had come to stay, and stay they did. They built at Boonesborough a fort of round logs; and under its shadow they raised their log cabins, one for each family. Then around all they erected a stout stockade — a high fence made of heavy squared timbers, set upright in the ground and very tlose together. This being done, they felt themselves safe from any attacks the Indians might make ; and they began to clear away the forest trees and to make fields and plant corn. Very soon other people in Virginia and North Carolina heard of their success and ventured to follow them. Other settlements were made and other forts were built ; and before the war of the Revolution was quite ended many 14 Prelude eyes were turned toward Kentucky as the new land of promise in the far, far West. But it was like a fair island in the midst of a dangerous sea. The way to it was beset with perils ; and notwithstanding all the beauty and the richness of its land, it had little to promise its settlers but labor and privation. And so the most of those who ventured to go thither in search of homes were men careless of danger and used to all kinds of hardship. * * * At about this time there was living in Virginia a farmer whose name was Abraham Lincoln. He was a friend of Daniel Boone's, and had heard often of the wonderful country in the heart of the Western woods. He longed to go there himself, for he was something of a hunter as well as farmer; and Boone had sent him glowing accounts of the abundance of game and the richness of the soil. The state of Virginia, to which Kentucky then belonged, was selling land in the new territory very cheap. There would never be a better time to buy. And so, while the great war for independence was still going on, he sold his farm in Virginia and went to Ken- tucky to look for a new home. On Floyd's Fork, • near where the ■ city of Louisville now stands, he bought four hundred acres of rich bottom land. In another place he bought eight hundred acres of wood- land, and in another five hundred. Then he returned to Virginia for his family. 'The next year, with his wife and children, he was safely settled on the land near Floyd's Fork, and was clearing a farm in the midst of the woods. Lincoln the Pioneer 15 The Indians had begun to be troublesome, and were very dangerous. They were angry because their hunting grounds had been invaded, and because the wild game was being driven away. They had made up their minds to drive the white people out of Kentucky. And so, as a matter of precaution, Mr. Lincoln built his cabin within half a mile of a fort — Fort Beargrass, near the falls of the Ohio River. He did not believe that the Indians would dare to trouble him there. * * * Thus three years passed. In the meanwhile, peace had been made with England, and it had been agreed that the Mississippi River should be the western boundary of the United States. Great numbers of people began at once to cross the Alleghany Mountains to seek new fortunes in the fertile valley of the Ohio. Several settlements were made in the Kentucky country. Men were busy cutting down the trees, making roads through the woods, clearing farms, building for themselves homes in the new land. Soon there were more than six hundred people in the town of Louisville ; and other towns had sprung up, as if by magic, in places where lately the buffalo and the deer had roamed unharmed. * * One morning in summer, Farmer Lincoln went out into a cornfield near his cabin to do some work. His little son Thomas, who was only six years old, went with him. The two big boys, Mordecai and Josiah, were burning logs in another field close by. There were still so many dead trees and blackened stumps in the clearing that the corn 1 6 Pniudc had scarcely room to grow among them. On one side there was an open space through which one could see Fort Beargrass and the houses of other settlers nearly a mile away ; on the other side were green woods with dense thickets of briers and underbrush where birds sang and squirrels played and fierce beasts found lurking places. As the two big boys were busy with their smoking log heaps, they were suddenly alarmed by the sound of a gun. They looked across the clearing. They saw that their father had fallen to the ground. Their little brother was standing over him and screaming with fright. A faint cloud of smoke was rising from the bushes at the edge of the woods. " Indians ! " cried Josiah ; and he was off with a bound, running like a wild deer toward the fort. Mordecai ran to the house, calling to little Thomas to follow him. But the child stood by his father's side, cry- ing pitifully and not knowing what to do. A minute later the painted face of an Indian peered out from among the bushes. The child screamed louder than before, and turned to run. But the Indian was after him. Little Thomas heard the savage leaping over the fallen trees; he heard his swift feet ; he ran very fast, but his pursuer ran much faster. At the top of a little hill the child fell. The house was in plain sight, and Mordecai and his mother and sisters were safe inside. Thomas scrambled to his feet; but as he did so, the Indian's arm was about him. Then he heard the sharp crack of a rifle from the house, and the Indian, letting go of him, tumbled to the ground. The child did not stop to see more, but ran faster than Saved ffom Peril 1 7 ver. In another minute he was safe inside the cabin and 1 his mother's arms. Mordecai was standing guard by the window, with one ifle.in his hands and two others leaning near him against 16 wall. Now and then he would take aim and fire ; and ivage yells could be heard from the Indians who were irking in the edge of the woods. Then quite soon another ind of shout was heard in the clearing, on the farther side f the cabin. Josiah had come with a number of men rom the fort. " They have killed father," said Mordecai, opening the oor, "but the fellow who was trying to catch Thomas is y^ing dead in the field. Let us after them, and not leave ne of them alive ! " But the savages were already skulking away through he thick woods, and there was no use trying to overtake hem. *' I will have vengeance upon them," said Mor- ecai ; and from that time till the end of his life, he was bitter foe to all Indians. Thus the pioneer, Abraham Lincoln, like many another irave settler in the wilderness, found an untimely grave in he land where he had hoped to make a home for himself ,nd his children. * * After the death of his father, hard times were in store or Thomas Lincoln ; but they were perhaps no harder han those that came to other pioneer children in Ken- ucky. His mother thought it would be better to live in a nore thickly settled neighborhood ; and so the family soon noved some forty miles southeastward, and settled upon LINCOLN — 2 1 8 Prelude a large tract of land which their father had owned there. It was the law in Kentucky that when a man died, his eldest son should be heir to his whole estate. And so, when Mordecai Lincoln grew to be of age, he became the owner of all the property ; and Josiah and the two sisters and young Thomas were left without anything. But Josiah v.'as steady and industrious and found plenty of work, so that he was soon well-to-do in the world ; the girls were already married and settled in homes of their own; and the only one who really felt the pinch of poverty was little Thomas. He was allowed to grow up in a careless way, without much knowledge of the world in which he lived. There were no schools near his home, and so he never learned to read. He became very skillful in using a gun, and liked much better to be hunting in the woods than doing any kind of useful work at home. He was kind-hearted and gentle, slow to anger, and a pleasant companion. He was strong and brave, also, and no one dared impose too far upon his good nature. * * * While Thomas Lincoln was thus growing up, unheard- of and unknown, many great things were being done in the world of which he knew so little. From the states on the east side of the mountains settlers were still pouring into the new country. They came in wagons over a road which Daniel Boone had marked out years before ; they came in boats down the Ohio River. Wealthy families from Virginia came with their slaves and their cattle and Westci'Ji Progress 19 their fine manners to build up great estates in the Ohio Valley. So many people settled in Kentucky that, when Thomas was fourteen years old, it was separated from Virginia and became a state. It was the fifteenth state in the Union ; for the thirteen which had won independence had been joined by Vermont just the year before. Many pioneers from the Carolinas made their homes in the country south of Kentucky, and there, in 1796, the sixteenth state, Tennessee, was formed. The great terri- tory north of the Ohio River, which had been claimed by Virginia and other states, had finally been ceded to the United States, and was being rapidly settled by people from all parts of the East. But it was still the home of powerful tribes of Indians who were not willing to be de- prived of their lands and who were determined to defend their hunting grounds; and so for many years a cruel war was waged between the red men and the white. The backwoods settlements were often the scenes of terrible deeds. Battles were fought and treaties were made, and at last the Indians, knowing themselves beaten, sold their lands and went farther west. In 1802 the easternmost part of the territory north of the Ohio River became a state and was called Ohio. All the rest of that vast region of woodland and prairie was called Indiana Territory. It is not to be supposed that young Thomas Lincoln, growing up in the backwoods of Kentucky, knew very much about any of these things. I doubt whether at that time he had ever seen a newspaper; and, indeed, of what use would a newspaper have been to one who could not 20 Prelude read ? He probably did not know that about the time he was passing his tenth birthday, George Washington was elected the first President of the United States. In 1796, when John Adams was chosen to be the second President, the boy was eighteen, and it is likely that he heard some talk concerning the election, but without understanding or caring much about it. But in 1800, when Thomas Jeffer- son was elected, the young Kentuckian was of age and might have voted ; and yet we must believe that he cared far more for deer hunting in the woods than he did for election day or for politics. In 1803 a great change took place in the boundaries of our country. Until then, as has already been told, the United States reached only to the Mississippi River, and Kentucky was spoken of as being in the far, far West. But in that year President Jefferson bought from France all the country that lies between the great river and the Rocky Mountains. Look at a map of the United States, and you will see that more than half of our country lies there. Count the states that have since been formed out of the Louisiana Territory, as it was then called, and they are more than equal to the original thirteen that fought for independence. At that time, however, all that region was a wild land where few white men had ever dared to go. Just how wide it was, or how long, or where it ended, or what it contained, no one knew. By the purchase of this territory, however, the Mississippi River became all our own, and the people living in the West had now a free outlet by water to the Gulf of Mexico. They could send whatever TJiomas Lincoln 2i they had to sell down the river to New Orleans, and this was of much advantage to them. Within a very few years the Mississippi became the great highway of trade between the settlements in the West and the rest of the world. For you must know that there were no railroads at that time, nor until many years later. Indeed there were scarcely any roads of any kind ; and for the Western set- tlers to carry grain or goods of whatever sort to or from the states east of the mountains was a thing so difficult and costly that it was hardly to be thought of. * * * Thomas Lincoln was now twenty-five years old. Since early boyhood he had been obliged to make his own way in the world. Easy-going though he was, everybody liked him ; and so he was never without a home or something to do. He had been careful of his small savings, and was at last able to buy a piece of wild land in Hardin County not far from Elizabethtown. In Elizabethtown there lived a carpenter whose name was Joseph Hanks. He had known Thomas Lincoln for a long time, and he now asked him to come and live with him and help him at his trade. Young Lincoln was known to be very skillful with an ax or a froe, and that was about all the skill that a good carpenter needed in those days. For the building of a house was a very simple matter. The walls were made of round logs, and the roof and floor of boards split from a tree. Wooden pegs were used instead of nails, and often there was not a piece of iron or a pane of glass in any part of the house. 22 Prelude Being always careful to do his work well, Thomas Lincoln soon became known as a first-rate carpenter. But the habits of his boyhood still clung to him. He was * contented with earning simply his food and clothing ; he loved his rifle better than his ax; and he would rather hunt deer than build houses. It was while living thus in Elizabethtown that he first met Nancy Hanks, the niece of his employer. She was a fair and delicate girl ; but like young Lincoln she had been used to hardships all her life. Her parents had been neighbors and friends of old Abraham Lincoln years before, when all lived in Virginia. They had also been friends of Daniel Boone and had been drawn to Kentucky by the glowing accounts that were given of the richness of its soil and the plentifulness of everything necessary to support life. There were few girls in that neighborhood who were the equals of Nancy Hanks. She could read and write, and they could not. She had learned that somewhere outside of the Western country there was a great, busy world where people lived and thought in ways quite dif- ferent from those of the folk whom she knew; and she had a vague longing for something better in life than what the rude settlements in the backwoods could ever give her. But her companions were content with the little world which they could see around them, and did not feel the hardships which were a part of their lives. In the midst of rudeness and coarseness, Nancy Hanks was always gentle and refined. We cannot wonder that when Thomas Lincoln came to live in the same town with Our Coicntry in 1808 23 her, he lost his heart. And we must believe that when she at last promised to be his wife, she had been won by his kindly nature and his jovial manners rather than by any energy of character which he possessed. It was in June, 1806, that the wedding took place. The bride was twenty-three years old, and the groom was five years older. For a year and more they lived in Elizabethtown, and Thomas Lincoln went hunting often and tinkered occasionally at his trade, thus con- triving to find food for both himself and his wife. There were not many houses to be built, and there were other carpenters more energetic than he ; and so there was but little work to be done, and no prospect of more. A little daughter was born to the young couple ; and then it was decided to move out to the land which Thomas owned on Nolin Creek ; for game was still plentiful in the woods, and corn could be raised in the clearings, and life would be easier in a home which they could call their own. * * * And now while Thomas Lincoln is building his cabin, and before we begin the story of the great man who was born there, let us take a brief view of the condition of our country at that time. Thirty-two years have passed since that 4th of July when independence was declared. Great changes have taken place, some of which we already know. ^ . 1808 The country is no longer bounded on the west by the Mississippi River, but reaches all the way to the Rocky Mountains. Yet it does not include Florida or Texas, or New Mexico, or California : for these are 24 Prelude still held by Spain. The region between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi is dotted in many places with little settlements ; the forests are being rapidly cut away to give place to fields and orchards and roads. Instead of thirteen states, there are seventeen ; and three of these lie west of the mountains. The Indians still live in the territory north of the Ohio ; but they have sold a large part of their land and many of them have moved across the Mississippi ; they are still feared in the Northwest, but in Kentucky they are no longer the dreaded foes that they once were. James Madison has been elected the fourth President of the United States, and on the 4th of March, 1809, he will take his seat. In the Eastern states men are excited and troubled, for they fear that another war with England is at hand. But in the West, people hear little news of what is going on ; and they are so busy, clearing the woods and fencing their farms and building homes that they have little time to think about other matters. ABRAHAM LINCOLN -o-O^^JrJOO- BOOK THE FIRST — PREPARATION I. A HUMBLE HOME NEARLY a hundred years ago in what was then Har- din County, Kentucky, a child was born who was 1809 destined to become one of the greatest of men. The day was the 12th of February; the year was One Thousand Eight Hundred Nine. The parents of the child were very poor, and the house in which they lived was poorer than any you have ever seen. Humble 25 26 Abraham Lincoln and unknown, they little dreamed that through the birth of that child they would be remembered and honored by millions of people and for unnumbered years thereafter. "What shall we name this baby boy of ours?" asked the gentle mother. "Let us call him Abraham," said the father. "The Lincoln family has always had an Abraham in it." The child was not at all pretty, but he was strong and grew fast. The poor log cabin where he first saw the light was not an unpleasant place to him. True, it was dark and cold, doorless and floorless, and the chilling wind whistled through the crevices in the rough walls ; but, safe from harm, the child lay in his mother's arms and was as happy as any little prince could be in the marble chambers of a king's palace. When the boy became old enough to walk and run, he spent much of the time playing with his sister Sarah, who was two years older than himself. The children had no toys, — they did not know what toys were, — but they were happy without them. On warm, fair days they were allowed to run among the trees in the grove close by the house ; and Abraham learned very early to love the birds, the squirrels, and all the timid, pretty things that make their homes in the woods. Sometimes, cling- ing to his mother's gown, he would trudge with her across the fields to a neighbor's house, or to the spring for a pail of water, or to the meadow to see her milk the cow. Often of an evening he would run down the wood- land path to meet his father coming home with an ax or a gun, or perhaps with a deer on his shoulder. A Humble Home 27 The child had no shoes for his feet; and his clothing was scanty and poor. His father had no money to buy flannel or calico or cloth of any kind ; and so the little that Abraham had to wear was made by his mother at home. She made him trousers of deerskin, and a shirt and jacket of coarse tow cloth. He had no hat; but when he grew larger she made him a coonskin cap which he wore with the ringed tail of the animal hanging down his back. And he was well pleased with his clothing ; for his father was dressed no better, and his little sister hardly as well. There was only one room in the log cabin. It served as parlor, sitting room, bedroom, and kitchen, all at the same time. There was no iloor, but only the bare ground, made very hard and smooth. Sometimes in cold weather the mother would spread a bearskin before the fire for the children to sit upon ; and this was the only carpet they ever knew. There was no door, but only some rough boards leaned up in the doorway at night, or perhaps the bearskin was hung over it to keep out the snow and sleet. There was no ceiling overhead, but only the smoky joists and the rough boards of the roof ; and on clear nights the children could look up from their bed and see the stars peeping down through the cracks between. There was no glass in the one little window, and no way to close it but by hanging the skin of a deer or some smaller animal before it, thus shutting out not only the cold but the Hght also. At one corner of the room there was a rude bedstead made of rough poles from the woods. On it was a pile of 28 Abraham Lmcoln t furry skins, and, for aught I know, a thin feather bed ; and covering all was a quilt of>a,re patchwork, made by the mother when she was a light-hearted girl and her name was Nancy Hanks. There were no chairs, but only some rough wooden blocks to sit upon ; and the table was merely a broad shelf, made by driving two long pegs into the wall and then laying a smooth board upon them. At the end of the room farthest from the bed there Avas a huge fireplace made of stones and clay. It was so large that logs as big as a man's body were rolled into it and heaped one upon another for the winter fire; and although these logs would crackle and blaze at a great rate, and the flames would roar in the chimney, and the firelight would fill the room with its brightness, the cabin in winter was often a very cold and comfortless place. It was by this fireplace that the mother did all her cook- ing. But she had not many things to cook. For meat there was usually plenty of venison. It was boiled in a pot hung over the fire, or sometimes broiled on the live coals. The bread was made by mixing corn meal with water or sour milk, so as to form cakes of thick dough, which were then covered with the hot ashes in the fireplace. Some- times the dough was put into a Dutch oven, the oven was set upon the hearth, and red-hot coals were kept beneath and upon it until the bread was baked. Wheat bread was a luxury which only the richest people could afford ; the Lincolns scarcely knew how it tasted. In one corner by the chimney were the dishes, ranged upon a shelf : a few pewter plates, a tin cup or two, some treasured pieces of earthenware, and a wooden trencher — A Hnviblc Home 29 and that was all. In. the other corner, resting on two pegs, was the father's rifle ; and hanging from one of the pegs were his powderhorn, his bullet pouch, and his hunter's belt. Over the fireplace were some bunches of dried herbs to be used for tea in case of sickness ; and perhaps also a few simple trinkets and keepsakes were hung there, as ornaments and as reminders of absent friends. And on the hearth were ranged the cooking utensils — the Dutch oven, a pot or two, and a skillet or frying pan. If you had visited that poor cabin, you would hardly have seen more than I have told you about. To you it would have seemed a wretched place with none of the comforts of home. But to those who lived in it, it did not seem so ; for it was as good a home as many of their neighbors had, and their minds were cheered day by day with the hope that better times were coming. To the children who had never known any other home, little else seemed needed. Here were kind parents, shelter, and food, a bed to sleep in, a fire to warm one's self by — and what more could anybody want .-' As soon as Abraham Lincoln was old enough to under- stand, his mother took great pains to teach him to be duti- ful and true. Taking him upon her lap, she would tell him stories which he never forgot of brave and good men, who had lived beautiful lives and done noble deeds. And often in the evenings by the glow of the fireUght, while A Dutch Oven 30 Abraham Lincoln the children nestled at her feet on the warm hearth, she would read to them from a wonderful Book which she kept with great care among her little treasures. The boy could not understand much that he heard ; but the sound of his mother's voice pleased him, and he wished that he too could learn to read. And so it was a pleasant task for his mother to teach him the letters of the alphabet, and for him to learn how to spell easy words long before he could go to school. The father, Thomas Lincoln, could not read; he did not even know the alphabet until his wife taught it to him. But he could tell strange, true stories — stories of things that he had seen or heard, or that had happened to himself. He liked best to tell about hunting, and about wild animals, and wild Indians, and about the brave pio- neers who had settled Kentucky when all the land was covered with woods. There was one story in particular which he related over and over to his delighted listeners : It was about a bold settler who went out one morning to work in his field. The settler's little boy, six years old, was with him, very glad to help his father pull up the weeds from among the growing corn. All at once, the child was startled by hearing the sharp report of a gun. He looked up and saw his father stagger and fall to the ground. He saw an Indian leap from among some bushes and run toward him. With wild screams he turned and fled across the field as fast as his little legs would carry him ; but the Indian was soon upon him — had caught him ?.n his rude arms — was carrying him away to the Boy Life in the Backwoods 31 woods. Then there was another sharp crack of a gun ; the Indian tumbled headlong in the dust ; and the little boy, thus set free, ran swiftly to the house and to his mother's safe embrace. His brother had saved him by shooting the cruel Indian. When Thomas Lincoln had finished this story he would look at the children and say : " The poor man whom the savage Indian killed was your own grandfather ; his name was the same as yours — Abraham Lincoln ; and the little fellow who ran so fast and screamed so loud grew up to be a man — and he is your own father." And then, as the children crept nearer to him, clinging to his knees, he would tell them that they need not be afraid of Indians, for those savage people had been driven far away, and now very few of them were ever seen in Kentucky. II. BOY LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS When Abraham Lincoln was four years old his father sold his first farm and bought another which was thought to be much better ; and so the family moved over the hills and settled in a new place on the banks of a small stream called Knob Creek. But the cabin which sheltered them was little better than the one they had left, and to the tender mother it never seemed so much like home. There were three children now ; for besides Sarah and Abraham there was a baby brother who was called Thomas, after his father. He was always a feeble little l^ A braha ui L iiicoln fellow, and with every care that his mother was able to give him he could gather no strength. One day, with wondering eyes, the brother and sister saw the baby laid tenderly in a rude box which their father had nailed together; and when they had kissed his cold cheeks, a neighbor lifted the box upon his shoulders and carried it out of the cabin ; and then with awed foot- steps, and holding their weeping they followed the man far down the winding S scarcely knowing went or what mother's hand, and his burden meadow path, whither they happened at the end of the journey. The baby never re- turned to the poor cabin. After that, so long as the sum- mer lasted, they went daily with their mother to see a little mound of fresh earth that had been made' under the trees near the path ; and on the way they gathered violets and daisies and red clover 'blossoms which their mother laid upon the mound and watered with her tears. It was all very strange and sad ; and they did not notice at the time that a light had The Knob Creek Home Boy Life in tJie Backzvoods 33 gone out of their mother's eyes which would nevermore return. This was the boy's first knowledge of sorrow ; but he very soon began to learn much about the hardships and distresses that are the lot of the poor. His father was in constant trouble concerning the ownership of the land, which he had bought in good faith, but which he now found was claimed by other persons ; his mother, worn with anxiety and care, grieved for her lost baby and could not be comforted ; the poor log cabin at Knob Creek had but few comforts and still fewer pleasures to offer its inmates. When Abraham was about five years old, a wandering schoolmaster came into the settlement. His name was Zachariah Riney, and he was a Catholic. There was no schoolhouse ; but one of the neighbors offered him the use of an old log cabin if he would open a school in it. The poor people could not pay him much for teaching their children ; for none of them had any money. But they agreed to give him what they could — some to give him board and lodging, some to wash and mend his clothing, and some to do him other kinds of ser- vice — and so he came to stay a little while among them and teach their children as best he could. I think this must have been the first school that was ever taught in that neighborhood. Most of the scholars were big boys and girls who had grown up without seeing books. Very few of them could read ; and there were young men and young women among them who did not so much as know one letter from another. H LINCOLN — 3 34 Abraham Lincoln To this school Abraham Lincoln and his sister Sarah were sent. It was their mother's doing, for the father did not care for book learning. "I never went to school," he said, "and I guess I've got along just as fairly as other people. If a man knows how to chop well and shoot straight, he don't need to be a scholar." But Mrs. Lin- coln thought otherwise. Abraham was the youngest of the pupils ; and the big boys and girls were surprised to find that he could outspell them all. For spelling was the only branch of study taught at that school. No other book was used but a little blue-backed spelling book with a few reading lessons at the end; and it was thought that if any one should learn all the words in that volume he would be very wise indeed. But it was only for a few weeks that the school could be kept up. The boys and girls were needed at home, and the people could not pay the master to stay longer. The next year another schoolmaster came. His name was Caleb Hazel, and he opened a school in the same old cabin. The same boys and girls, with some of the younger children in the settlement, were his pupils. The master was thought to be very bright; for he was a good speller, and was strong enough to whip the biggest boy in the district. But nobody seemed to know what the school was for. There was nothing to be learned but the letters of the alphabet and long lists of words. The girls were idle and thoughtless ; and the boys cared for nothing but to annoy the master. Little Abraham Lincoln kept his Boy Life in the Backivoods 35 place at the head of his class, and for that reason was admired by some and disliked by others who were much older than himself. Within less than three months this school also came to an end ; but the boy did not stop learning. Young as he was, study had already become a pleasure to him. The Bible, that wonderful old book which his mother loved, was often in his hands. In the long winter evenings he would sit on the hearth and read by the flickering light of the fire. Sometimes when the flames died down he would gather bits of spice- wood brush and throw them, a few at a time, upon the coals so that they might blaze up and serve him as candles. All his studying was aloud, and when he came to a big word which he could not make out, his mother would help him pronounce it. There were no churches in that part of the country. But wandering preachers often came and held meetings, sometimes in the cabins of friendly settlers, sometimes under the trees in the open air. At Little Mound, several miles away, there was a cabin where there was preaching quite often, and the Lincoln family were very fond of going there. Sometimes the meetings would be nearer home, at the house of a neigh- bor. Sometimes the preacher would visit them in their own cabin, to taste of their venison and corn cake and talk with them on many subjects regarding both this life and the life to come. Among these preachers there was one for whom the family felt a more than common friendship. His name 36 . Abraham Lijuoln was David Elkin, and to him, more than any other, they confided the story of their hardships, their griefs, and their hopes. The only way in which he could help them was by giving them his kindly sympathy, for he was even poorer than they. The young lad found much delight in listening to these preachers. He looked upon them as indeed great men ; and his hope was that, some day, he himself might be a public speaker like them. Often when he came home from meeting, he would stand up on the hearth and play the preacher while his mother and sister listened to his noisy shouting ; and when the neighbors' children came to visit them, he would mount upon a log or a stump and make queer speeches until they were tired of hearing. No newspapers were seen in the cabins of the Knob Creek settlers ; and it was only through rumors and the talk of neighbors that anything was known of the busy world. It was by listening to such talk and by asking questions of his mother that Abraham got his first knowl- edge of the great country of which he would one day be the ruler. But his thoughts about it were very crude and simple. One day when he was playing by the creek, he caught a little fish in his hands. He was much pleased and hur- ried to carry it home. But as he was running along the road, he met a man who wore a faded blue cap and had brass buttons on his coat. He had seen a man dressed in a similar fashion once before, and had been told that he was a soldier. And so he stopped and asked, "Are you a soldier ? " Boy Life in iJic Backwoods 37 "Yes," was the answer. " I was with General Jackson, and I fought through the war." The boy laid the little fish in the man's hand, and ran home happier than if he had caught a dozen fishes. His mother had taught him that he should always be kind to soldiers, and so he had given to this one the only thing in the world that he could call his own. Had he been a little older he would have understood much more about the war which had just then been ended. But he was only three years old when it began, and now he was barely six. The War of 1812, as it is called, was caused by Eng- land's overbearing acts toward Americans. For months before the beginning of the war, the whole country was in a state of dread and distress. The chief fear of the people in the West had been lest the Indians should unite with the English and again attack the settlements. But Ameri- can soldiers under General Harrison had met a large band of Indians at Tippecanoe, in Indiana. A great fight had taken place, in which the red men were so badly beaten that they did not dare to give any more trouble in that region for a long time to come. During the war many battles were fought on sea and land, and the distress of the people increased. Finally, the American soldiers under General Jackson gained a wonderful victory over the English in the famous fight at New Orleans. It was of these things that Abraham Lincoln had heard much talk which he could not understand. But this at least was clear to him, that it was one's duty to stand up for his country and to be kind to the soldiers who risked their lives in its defense. 38 Abraham Lincoln III. RESTLESS THOMAS LINCOLN GOES TO INDIANA When Abraham Lincoln was seven years old his father sold the land which he had in the Knob Creek settlement. He had never been sure of his title to it, for there were other men who claimed to have an earlier and better right to it; and so he was glad to be rid of the worry of it, although he had to sell it for very Httle. He was a dreamy, restless man, fond of the freedom of the backwoods, and caring but little for the comforts of civilized life. Such men are always found pushing on toward the frontier and clearing the way for settlers of a more enterprising class. He had heard that north of the Ohio River, in Indiana, there was a wild and wonderful region, where the soil was rich and game was plentiful, and where one might soon have everything he needed, and a free title to his land could not be disputed. So he made up his mind to go across the Ohio, and find in that newer country a better home for his family than he had yet been able to give them. Indiana was still a thinly settled territory ; but it was to become a state that very year, and people were crowding into it and buying up the land very fast. Thomas Lincoln felt that now was the time to bet- ter himself if he ever meant to do so. With his ax and saw he set to work and built a rude raft which he launched on the waters of a small but deep stream called Rolling Fork — a stream that emptied after a few miles into Salt River, a tributary of the Ohio. On this raft he loaded his kit of carpenter's tools and some Restless Thomas Lincoln goes to Indiana 39 barrels of liquor which he had received in part pay for his farm. He thought that in the new settlements, where many houses were being built, he could make good use of the tools ; and he believed that he could also find a market for the liquor. The two children and their mother watched him with tearful eyes as he pushed off from the shore and floated slowly down the creek toward the unknown land of prom- ise. When he was lost to view in a bend of the stream, they returned to the lonely cabin, which was now no longer their own, but which they would be allowed to occupy until his return. When the raftsman reached the Ohio River, he found that the eddies and currents were too strong for him. His little raft was driven here and there among the rocks and snags until it was tipped over and the barrels and tools were tumbled off. Happily the water at that spot was not deep, and the shore was close at hand. With the help of a friendly boatman who happened to be near, almost everything was saved ; and a few days later, Thomas Lin- coln stood on the Indiana shore with all his little property piled up before him. He was told that only a few miles farther north there was plenty of fine land waiting for any one who was wilUng to buy it at the government price, which was two dollars an acre, payable in small install- ments. And so having disposed of his barreled goods to his satisfaction, he started on foot through a dense forest, looking for a place to make his home. He did not go far. Late in the afternoon of the first day, he arrived at a spot which seemed to him to be the best 40 Abraham Lincoln in all that region. Here was a stretch of rich bottom land, with a stream called Pigeon Creek flowing through it, and on either side were gently sloping hills covered with a mighty growth of trees. Settlers were already beginning to buy in the neighborhood, and one of them, whose name was Gentry, was talking of setting up a store and starting a village. Thomas Lincoln lost no time, therefore, in choosing a site for his farm ; and there he drove a stake into the ground to show that he had the first claim upon it. The next day, at dawn, he set out, with his gun on his shoulder, to walk to the land office at Vincennes, seventy miles away. It was a long and hard journey, and we are not told how many days he spent on the way. Vincennes was then the chief town in Indiana. It had been settled by the French nearly a hundred years before, but it was still a backwoods village. Thomas Lincoln found its streets crowded with hunters and traders and land buyers from all parts of the territory. He made his way directly to the land office, where he laid out every dollar that he had in the world, in part payment for one hundred and sixty acres of land lying near Pigeon Creek in Spencer County, about eighteen miles north of the Ohio River. He then started back to Kentucky, to bring his wife and children to their new home. A Flintlock Rifle A Winter in a J I a If -faced Cavtp 41 IV. A WINTER IN A HALF-FACED CAMP It was late in the fall when the Lincoln family bade good-by to the Kentucky settlement on Knob Creek and began their journey through the wilderness. They had not much to take with them. The few cooking utensils and the little bedding which they owned were strapped on the backs of two borrowed horses. Then all set out on foot, by the nearest road, to the Ohio River. At night they camped in the woods by the roadside. The father with his rifle killed plenty of wild game for their food ; and friendly settlers along the road often invited them to share their humble meals. The distance from the old home to the new, measured upon a straight line, was but Httle more than forty miles. But they traveled very slowly, and it was a full week before they reached their journey's end. Over a great part of the way there was no road of any kind ; and there they had to cut their way through the thick woods. At last, one cold November day, they reached the spot which the father had chosen. It was a desolate outlook : no house^ no shelter, no neighbors to welcome them lo their firesides. The leaves had fallen from the trees ; the air was chill and damp ; the sky was hidden behind leaden clouds from 42 AbraJiani Lincoln which a few snovvflakcs were slowly falling. Was there ever a home-coming so empty of joy ? And yet Thomas Lincoln and his wife were not down- hearted. The thought that this spot was to be their home gave delight to the dreary scene. The father was strong, and easily contented with any lot; but the frail, delicate mother was little able to endure the added dis- comforts which must now be theirs. Soon the father and little Abraham were busy felling trees and clearing a small opening in the woods. It was the work of only a few hours to build what the settlers called a " half-faced camp." This was nothing more than a shed made of poles and covered with broad pieces of bark. The three sides that were most exposed to the winter winds were inclosed ; but the greater part of the south side was left open. The cracks between the poles were filled with leaves or sticks and pieces of clay ; and a part of the opened side was screened with skins hanging down from the roof pole. At one end of the shed was the bed where the family slept. Opposite the open south side, a fire blazed between two great logs, and there the meals were cooked and eaten. This fire was kept burning night and day, and its warm rays made a part of the shed quite comfortable, even in the chilliest weather. In this rude shelter the Lincoln family lived all that winter. The father was busy every day with his ax, cut- ting down trees, hewing logs for a new house, and making a clearing for a cornfield. The patient mother kept things as tidy as she could, and cooked their simple meals. They had meat in plenty ; for the woods were full of A Winter tn a Half-faced Camp 43 squirrels and wild turkeys. Deer, too, often came within gunshot range of the camp. The mother knew how to handle the rifle well, and more than one dinner of venison was secured by her skill. One morning Abraham, hearing the gobble of wild turkeys, peeped out and saw a flock of the big birds marching close by the camp. Their leader was a noble old fellow, as fine a gobbler as was ever seen. The lad ran quickly and took his father's rifle from the pegs where it hung. Then he pushed its muzzle through a crack in the wall, took aim, and fired. When the smoke cleared away, he saw the gobbler stretched dead upon the ground. At first he was proud of having brought down such noble game ; and then his pride gave way to pain at the thought of having taken the life of an innocent creature. It was the first time that he had knowingly harmed any living being. After that he often followed game in the wild woods, but only when the family were in need of meat for food. The gentle-hearted lad, unlike his father, could not see any sport in hunting. There were many cold days during that lonely winter, when the barefoot boy could not go out to help his father in the clearing. On such days he would stay in the camp with his mother and read. Among the two or three books which they had brought from Kentucky there was a little pamphlet that he liked to read very much. It was a brief true story of a young man named Henry Clay, who by hard labor and perseverance had made himself a leader in the councils of the nation. Like Abraham himself, he had been a poor boy, — he had been called "The Mill Boy 44 AbraJimn Lincoln of the Slashes," — but now he was a very great man whom everybody honored. The lad could not fully understand all the story, but it pleased him and he read it over and over many times. It was during these days also that he learned to write. His mother was his teacher, and his first copies were probably made with charcoal on smooth pieces of bark. Paper was a precious thing — too precious to be found in that poor camp. Ink there was none, unless it may have been the juice of poke berries or of walnut hulls. But Abraham Lincoln did the best that he could with whatever came to hand, and before the winter was well over he could write fairly well. Had it not been for this early habit of his, of making the best of his small oppor- tunities, it is not likely that, in after years, he would have done anything that you or I would care, to-day, to read about. V. HOW THE HEWED-LOG HOUSE WAS BUILT ^?^ When spring came, all hands were ^ 5 busy burning logs and brush heaps in the clearing, and planting corn in the rich soil among the stumps. It was not till late in the summer that A Broad Ax, used for Thomas Lincoln had all the logs ^^^"^ ready with which to build their new house. He had promised himself and his wife that this house should be much better than the one they had left in Kentucky, and so he had carefully hewed and squared Hoiv the Hctvcd-log House ivas Built 45 the logs, and had notched their ends so that they would fit snugly one upon another when they were put in place. In September all the neighbors for miles around were invited to come to the house raising ; and a fine dinner of venison and green corn with stewed pumpkin and a relish of wild plums, was served in the grove near the half-faced camp. When the walls had been raised and the roof of rough clapboards was laid over all, everybody looked with admiration at the new building and said that Thomas Lin- coln was certainly a good carpenter and that there was no better house in the Pigeon Creek settlement, if indeed in the whole new state of Indiana. The family had become so tired of the half-faced camp, that they moved into the new house at once. It was far from being finished ; and many a day elapsed before its easy-going builder found time to make it a comfortable place to live in. There was a fireplace and chimney at one end of the single room, just as there was in the old Ken- tucky cabin. A floor had been promised, but sawed pianks were things not plentiful where there were no saw mills, and it would take time and much hard work to split and hew flat " puncheons " to be used instead. There were places for two windows, but no glass was bought to put into them. There was but one doorway, and yet Thomas Lincoln, the carpenter, would rather hunt deer in the woods than make a door with which to shut out the wind in stormy weather. The logs had ])een nicely hewn and smoothed, but nothing had yet been done to "chink" the cracks between them. 46 Ahi-aJiain Lincoln The walls had been built high, so as to make an upper half-story ; but there were only bare joists of round poles to show where the lower room ended and the upper room began. Some time after this, a few clapboards were laid across the joists, and in one corner of the loft thus formed, a bed of leaves and straw was thrown down. This was Abraham's bedchamber, and the only way of getting into it was by cHmbing a ladder made by driving long pegs one above another into the wall below. You would think this unfinished cabin a dreary place indeed ; but to the Lincolns it was so much better than the half-faced camp that it seemed as good as a palace. Mrs. Lincoln's aunt, Betty Sparrow, and her husband, Thomas Sparrow, now moved into the camp. They had but lately come from Kentucky, and were even poorer than the Lincolns. They had no children of their own, but they brought with them a young nephew who was a few years older than Abraham, and whose name was Dennis Hanks. Thomas Lincoln's one great fault was the putting off of things. When the family moved into the unfinished cabin, he fully intended to put everything into perfect shape very soon. But the weather was warm, and everybody was comfortable, and why need he hurry } There was work to be done in the clearing ; and the woods were so full of game that he must go hunting. When the weather grew colder, the corn had to be gathered ; and when winter came, with its snow and wind, it was not pleasant to do any kind of work, and the family could live in the house as it was until spring. In the spring the crops had to be planted, A Great Sorrow 47 and there was so much plowing and grubbing and log- rolling to be done that Mr. Lincoln had no time to think of floors and doors and of chinks in the walls. In the summer the weather was so hot that it would be foolish to close up the windows or hang the door or daub the cracks which let in the welcome breezes. And so time passed, and the fine, comfortable house that had been promised was never finished. There are people, known to both you and me, who have this habit of putting off things ; but they are not people who succeed well in life. VI. A GREAT SORROW The second summer in Indiana, like the first, was a summer of much hard work and little play. Abraham Lincoln was now in his ninth year, and there were lo lo many things that he could do. He could do almost a man's work with an ax ; and much of his time was spent in the clearings, chopping down trees, piling brash, and burning logs. Sometimes he helped his mother about the house and garden ; and sometimes he went on errands to the neighbors or to the little village of Gentry- ville which had sprung up two miles away. If you could see him as he was, you would think him an odd-looking child. He was tall for his age, and very homely. He was dressed much as we saw him in the old Kentucky home, in trousers of tanned deerskin and shirt of homespun tow or linsey-woolsey. During most of the year he wore nothing more. If he had a coat for Sundays, 48 Abraham Lincoln it was made of the coarsest home-made goods, and per- haps had aheady done service as the garment of another. For shoes he had a pair of moccasins which his mother had made for him, and these he wore only when the weather was very cold. Stockings he had none, nor did he ever wear any until he was a grown-up man. He did not think it a hardship to be thus so poorly clad ; for the rest of the family, and other men whom he knew, were dressed in the same poor fashion. Autumn came again, and with it came trouble and sorrow. A strange disease had broken out among the settlers. It was believed to be caused by some plant which grew in the woods. If cows ate the plant, their milk was made poisonous, and those who drank of it ■grew sick and were almost sure to die. On account of this belief the disease was called " milk-sick." Some- times the cows themselves died ; but nobody could ever find the strange plant, or describe its appearance or manner of growth. The disease was known only in new settlements among the clearings and the woods ; and physicians, even to this day, have been unable to tell what was its true cause. Thomas Sparrow and his wife were the first to be attacked by this dreadful sickness. The narrow half- faced camp which was their home was a cheerless place at its best, and the disease did its work quickly. Two graves were made side by side, on the sunny slope of a hill, and there the poor people were laid by their sorrow- ing kinsfolk and neighbors. And then Abraham Lin- coln's mother was stricken down. The hardships of the A Great Sorrow 49 past two years had already taken the Hush of health from her cheeks. Ivxposure to dampness and cold in the camp and the unfinished cabin had robbed her of her strength and made her an easy victim to the disease. Her husband and children nursed her with tender care, and did all they could to help her. There was no doctor for whom they could send ; but they gave her such simple remedies as they had, and were always at her bedside, watching her with loving eyes. One morning very early, when the gray daylight was beginning to struggle through the chinks of the cabin, she reached out her arms and drew the lad Abraham toward her. " My boy, I am going away, and you will not see me again. Be good — I know you will. Help your father. Take good care of your sister. Live as I have taught you, and love God always." And then the end came. With his own hands Thomas Lincoln made a rude coffin of boards for his wife; for there was no one in all the settlement whom they could ask to do this sad service. Then, one quiet afternoon, when the nuts were falling in the woods and the trees were dropping their brown and yellow leaves, they bore her to her last resting place. Under the spreading branches of a sycamore tree, on the side of a hillock some distance from the cabin, they buried her silently and with much sorrow. The grave had been made in the place which she herself had chosen when still in health. In all that backwoods country there was as yet no place of public worship. There was no preacher who could be LINCOLN — 4 50 Abraham Lincoln invited to come to the funeral and speak words of comfort and hope to the mourners. The few neighbors who had come in kindness to do what they could returned sadly to their homes, each having his own griefs and burdens to bear. And with hearts bowed down with their great sorrow, the lad Abraham and his sister Sarah slowly followed their father back to their desolate cabin. VII. "MY ANGEL MOTHER" To the sorrowing child, not yet ten years old, it seemed a terrible thing that his mother should be laid in the ground and no religious services be held above her. " If 1818 only some good ^ man were here," he thought — " if only some traveling preacher would come into the settlement ! " Then he thought of good David Elkin, whom they had known in the old Kentucky home. If he could be told of their loss, perhaps he would come even now and preach a sermon by her grave. But how could he be told } Sitting by the lonely hearth at home, Abraham thought of a plan. He would write a letter to his mother's old friend. He would tell him of their sorrow, and ask him to come. But this was no easy task. Where could he find paper and pen and ink } Who would carry the letter after it was written } And where, indeed, was David Elkin, the wandering preacher, to be found } In the backwoods people learn to do much with but little. They are not daunted by difficulties. In the thumb-worn spelling book which the lad had studied " My Angel Mother'' 51 at Caleb Hazel's school there was a blank fly leaf, and this was paper enough. Poke berries were hanging ripe on their stalks by many a charred stump in the clear- ing, and their blood-red juice would serve very well for ink. In the wings of the wild turkey which the father had killed in the woods there were plenty of quills, and of one of these a pen could be made. The letter was written, and folded, and addressed to David Elkin in Kentucky. But there was no post office, and there were no carriers of mail in that part of the country. How was it to be sent to its destination } One of the neighbors was about to start on some sort of business to a point on the Ohio River. He would carry the letter as far as he went, and then give it to some other person who was going still farther in the right direction. This second person would hand it to another, and he, perhaps, to still another, until at last, if no mischance happened, it would reach the hands of the one to whom it was directed. To Abraham Lincoln there was nothing strange about this way of sending a letter — it was the only way that he knew ; it was the common custom in that early day among the people of the West. The dreary winter came, the dreariest that the boy had ever known. The wind whistled through the open chinks in the walls, the snow and sleet beat in at the unprotected door. The comfortless cabin was more comfortless than ever before, for she who had been the light of the home was no longer there. Little Sarah, eleven years old, was the housekeeper. The father, still putting off the things that needed most to be done, sat by the fire at home, or 52 AbraJiajH Lincoln wandered about the clearings with his ax or his gun. Dennis Hanks, since the death of his aunt, Betty Sparrow, had come to Uve with the Lincolns ; for he had no other kinsfolk or friends to give him food or shelter. He was older than Abraham, and made himself useful, chopping wood and feeding the stock and hunting game in the woods. At last the days grew longer and cheerier. Spring came, and the woods were gay with wild flowers, and full of the melody of singing birds ; and then, one day, David Elkin, the preacher, rode up to the cabin door. He had received Abraham's letter. In response to it he had rid- den a hundred miles through the wild, new country, often without so much as a path to guide him ; he had swum rivers which the spring rains had swollen into torrents ; he had slept in the woods while wolves howled in the thickets about him ; he had braved all sorts of danger, suffered weariness, endured hunger — and for what } Merely to stand by the closed grave of a poor woman, to tell about her goodness and gentleness, and to speak encouragement to those who had loved her. For this he expected no reward, neither gifts nor gold, nor the praise of men, but only the satisfying thought that he had done his duty. Certainly, when the roll of the world's heroes is made up, the name of humble David Elkin will stand far higher than those of many men who have done greater deeds but done them selfishly. Word was sent to the neighbors that a preacher had come to preach Nancy Lincoln's funeral sermon. Neigh- bors carried the news to neighbors, and when the next ''My Angel Mother'' 53 Sabbath came, the settlers quietly met together on the hillside near the spreading sycamore. Many of them had walked long distances, some had come on horseback, some in wagons. This preaching of a funeral sermon was a great event, and men, women, and children were anxious to hear it. More than two hundred persons were there. It was a greater company than had ever before been gathered together in that scattering settlement. When the sun had al- most reached the place of noon, the preacher gave out a hymn, line by line — for there were no hymn books for the worshipers — and, line by line, the women and girls, with their sweet, but untrained voices, joined him in sing- ing it. A short prayer was offered ; and then the preacher began his sermon. It was not a scholarly sermon, but it was full of earnestness and feeling, and was just the kind of speech which the unlearned listeners could understand. Its subject was, of course, the gentle woman whose memory was so dear to all who had known her. And the preacher spoke most feelingly of her patience and faith, and of her high ideals of life — ideals which she had, with loving care, taught and imparted to her children. The Grave of Lincoln's Mother as it now appears 54 Abraham Lincoht At length the sermon was ended ; another hymn was sung ; the benediction was pronounced ; and then the people slowly separated, and went thoughtfully homeward. As for the lad, Abraham Lincoln, he felt that now one great duty to his mother had been performed, and he was happier than he had been since she went away. But a still greater duty remained : to shape his life from that day forward in accordance with her teachings, and to make his character such as he knew she would like it to be. He went home with noble thoughts in his heart. Although but ten years old, he was no longer a child. He was resolved to be a man of the type which his mother would admire and commend. Long years afterward, when he had won honor and fame, and was assured of a place among the great men of the world, he said, " All that I am, and all that I hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." VIII. LONELY DAYS AT PIGEON CREEK There was much hard work to be done on the farm, and the two boys, Abraham Lincoln and Dennis Hanks, _ were busy early and late. Between the plantins: 1819 v ^ and hoeing, the grubbing and logrolling, the splitting of rails and the building of fences, there was little time for play. Dennis Hanks and the neighbors' boys took much pleasure in trapping possums and wild turkeys, and sometimes on moonlit nights they went out coofi hunting with their dogs, and had grand fun. Some- times they would persuade Abraham to go with them ; but Lonely Days at Pigeon Creek 55 in the heat of the chase he was sure to lag far behind, for it pained him to see any creature tortured or put to death. He was far better pleased when he could sit at home in the chimney corner and pore over his books. He had only two or three, but he read them again and again. It was his habit to read aloud — the thoughts seemed so much more vivid to him when he could hear the words as well as see them. This habit I suppose began with his first reading, when his mother was his teacher and most delighted listener. It was a habit which he retained to the end of his life. About this time two new books came into his hands, but where he got them I cannot tell. One was an arithmetic ; and many were the evenings which he spent, studying the rules, and ciphering by the dim light of the fire. He had no slate — ^ perhaps had never seen one; but he made his figures on a smooth clapboard or wooden shovel, using a piece of charcoal for a pencil. The other book was a worn and torn copy of " yEsop's Fables." It was a delightful book. Its queer conceits tickled the boy's fancy, and he liked to repeat to the other lads its quaint anecdotes about talking beasts and birds. In this way he began to acquire that pleasant art for which he was always noted — the art of telling enter- taining stories. One day in the late fall Thomas Lincoln put on his best suit of homespun, shouldered his gun, and left home. He did not tell any one where he was going, but said that it might be a few days before he would come back. The three children thus left alone, were not much troubled 5 6 Abraham Lincoln by his absence, for they were used to taking care of themselves. In the woods were squirrels and turkeys and deer ; and Dennis Hanks, with his traps and gun, would supply them with meat. There was plenty of corn in the cabin loft ; and Abraham Lincoln, with the tin "gritter," would grit as much meal as they wanted for bread. There was a cow in the field, and milk to be had for the milking; and Sarah Lincoln, twelve years old, knew how to broil venison on the coals and bake corn dodgers in the Dutch oven. Although there was no danger of starving, yet the poor children were in a sad plight for clothes. Since their mother had gone from them, more than a year before, they had had no one to care for them. They were in rags. The boys had outgrown their deerskin trousers. Winter was coming, and they had not clothing enough to keep them warm. Days and weeks passed, and the father did not come home. The house of the nearest neighbor was so far away that the children seldom saw any one but themselves. The unfinished log house seemed drearier and lonelier than ever before. IX. IMPROVED CONDITIONS Early one December morning before the sun was above the trees, the children in the house heard some one halloo from the edge of the woods. They ran out, and were surprised to see a wagon with four horses coming down the lane toward the house. A stranger was driving; and Improved Conditions 57 A Buckeye Broom on the seat beside him was their father ; and peeping out from beneath the white wagon cover were the faces of a woman and three children. Abraham and Sarah Lincohi could hardly believe their eyes, as they waited in silent wonder by the door, not knowing what change of fortune was at hand. The wagon drew up before the house, and their father leaped to the ground. Then the woman and the children climbed out over the wheels. " Abraham and Sarah," said their father, "this is your new mother. And I have brought you a new brother and two new sisters, too." They saw that the woman had a kind, good face, and that the children, who were about their own age, were dressed in warm, neat clothes. The new mother greeted them very pleasantly, making them feel at once as though they had found a friend. And when she went into the cabin, it seemed already a cheerier place than it had been for many a month. Soon the wagon was unloaded, and Abraham and Sarah were surprised to see the many fine and wonderful things that the new mother had brought with her. There were chairs, and a feather bed, and a bureau with drawers, and a wooden chest, and many other things such as their poor house had never known. And from the wooden chest the kind woman lifted such a supply of clothing as they had not seen before ; and soon the children had put off their rags and tatters, and were dressed in neat homespun 58 AbraJiatn Lincoln which made them feel so awkward, and yet so warm, that they scarcely knew themselves. Thomas Lincoln, when he left home, had gone back to Elizabethtown in Kentucky, where in his younger days he had learned the trade of carpenter. He went for the purpose of calling upon Mrs. Sarah Johnston, a widow lady who lived there with her three children, John, Sarah, and Matilda. He had known Mrs. Johnston when she was a young girl and her name was Sarah Bush ; and now it was quite easy to persuade her to become his wife, and be a second mother to his children. In Elizabethtown there lived a man whose name was Ralph Crume, and whose wife was Thomas Lincoln's sister. He owned a good four-horse team, and a stout wagon that had been built for Kentucky roads. He was glad of an excuse to see the new country beyond the Ohio ; and so he readily agreed to take Mr. Lincoln, with his bride and his stepchildren and some household goods, back to the home in Indiana. This Ralph Crume was the stranger whom Abraham and Sarah first saw when they ran to the door in answer to their father's shout. To them he seemed to be a very great man with his four horses and his big wagon. The coming of the new mother wrought many changes. Thomas Lincoln was soon partly cured of his habit of put- ting off things. I suppose that he must have been anxious to show his wife how good a carpenter he could be when he chose to try. For he set to work at once, with ax and broad- ax, to hew smooth " puncheons," or slabs, for the floor of his cabin. When these were laid in their places and fastened Improved Conditions 59 down with wooden pegs, the house began to look much more habitable. Then, with the help of the boys, the cracks in the wall were chinked with clay, and a sufficient number of rough clapboards were rived to make a good floor for the loft. The crowning piece of work was the door, which was made of sawed planks, battened together, and was hung on wooden hinges. When closed it was fastened with a wooden latch which could be lifted with a string. During the day, the end of this string was passed through a hole and hung on the outside of the door. Then " the latch- string was out" to all comers, and any person could open the door and enter. But at night the string was drawn inside, and then no one could come in without first knock- ing for admission. As for the windows, there was no use thinking of glass ; and so Mr. Lincoln fitted wooden frames into the openings, and Mrs. Lincoln hung neat curtains before them which could be closed when the weather was rough, and drawn when it was fine. And thus, after more than two years of putting off, the cabin was finished. It was a pleasanter place than you would imagine; and it had been made so by the good management of the new mother. There were now six children in the family — three boys and three girls — and every one was old enough to lend a hand and be useful. There were merry times in the cabin and in the fields and clearings, and plenty of drudging work had to be done. In the clearings trees were to be cut down, logs piled and burned, roots grubbed up, and fences built. In the fields there was an 60 A bra //a m L incohi endless round of plowing, and planting, and sowing, and reaping, and gathering. And in all this labor Abraham bore a part. He did not like to work, and never found pleasure in it; but he always did his best, and did it with- out complaining. He was already old enough to see that labor was the only means of bettering his life, and he had made up his mind to rise in the world as high as he could. In and about the house the mother and daughters found no end of duties. They carded the wool and hackled the flax; they spun and wove these into cloth, which they dyed and made up into clothing ; they milked the cows, and cared for the chick- ens ; they churned butter and boiled soap and knit them- selves stockings ; and in time of corn plant- ing or harvesting, they thought nothing of putting on sunbonnets, and helping the " men folks " in the fields. With the new mother's bureau and chairs, the house was more elegantly furnished than any other in the neighborhood ; and although the brooms were made of buckeye splints rudely tied together, the floor was always a model of cleanliness. The cooking was done on the hearth, or over the blazing fire. The family ate from Home-made Cooking Utensils Not Much Schooling, and yet a Little 6i pewter plates, and without forks; and they drank from tin cups or from the shells of gourds. And thus with hard work and homely fare the days went by unnumbered. X. NOT MUCH SCHOOLING, AND YET A LITTLE When Abraham was thirteen years old, the people in the Pigeon Creek settlement decided to build a schoolhouse. It would not do, they said, to let their children grow up in ignorance. One morning in autumn, when the crops had been " laid by," and there was a lull in the work on the farms, all the men met together at the crossroads, where a plot of ground had been given for school purposes. Axes rang in the woods, trees crashed to the ground, logs were cut in proper lengths and laid one above another — and before nightfall the schoolhouse was finished. It was much like any other log cabin. The door was at one end; and on either side there was a small square window. Nearly the whole of the other end was taken up by the fireplace — a huge affair, built of blue clay and flat stones. Benches made of logs split in halves were placed around the inside of the room for seats. A rude shelf was put up near the door to serve as a desk, before which the few pupils who wished to study writing could stand by turns and trace their copies. Of course there was no floor. There was no glass in the windows, but it was expected that when the weather grew cold the master would paste a sheet of greased paper over each opening — and this would serve just as well. 62 AbraJiam Littcoln The first master was Azel Dorsey ; and the boys and girls from the Lincoln cabin were among the pupils. School began at sunrise and was not dismissed until the sun was setting. It was scarcely dayhght when the children started to school, for the house was three or four miles away, and often the stars were shining before all were back at the home fireside. The master had agreed to teach spelling, reading, writing, and arithmetic " to the rule of three "; but only a few of the scholars studied anything but spelling. Of course, Abraham Lincoln stood at the head of his classes, not because he could learn more easily than his schoolmates, but because he studied harder. He was the only one who saw that the way to rise in the world is by hard labor and by getting knowledge. The other boys cared for nothing so much as being good wrestlers and fast runners, hard hitters and straight throwers. They looked with scorn upon book-learning, and would have made things very unpleasant for Abraham if he had not shown them that, with all his love for books, he could wrestle and run and strike and throw as well as the best of them. On the fly leaf of an arithmetic which he used at about this time, one may still read these lines written by himself : — " Abraham Lincoln, His hand and pea; He will be good, But God knows when.'"' Azel Dorsey's school soon came to an end, and it was two years before another master was employed to teach in the little log schoolhouse. But all this while, Abraham was quietly teaching himself at home ; and it is not Not Much Schooling, and yet a L ittle 63 likely that any backwoods schoolmaster could have taught him better. His father thought that it was folly for him to learn anything more, and that so much reading of books was a great waste of time. But when Andrew Crawford at last opened another school in the little cabin, Mrs. Lincoln declared that the six children should attend it — and so they did. It was at this school that Abraham wrote his first com- position of which we have any account. Its subject was " Cruelty to Animals," and knowing how gentle-hearted he was toward all living creatures, we can easily guess some of the things he said. The second school was even shorter than the first. The settlers seemed to think that a very little learning was suffi- cient, and so it was a long time before the log schoolhouse again echoed with the voices of children conning their spelling books. When Abraham was nearly seventeen years old, a wan- dering schoolmaster whose name was Swaney, opened a school in a deserted cabin four and a half miles from the Lincoln home. Of course young Lincoln was one of the scholars. He was so anxious to learn, that he thought nothing of walking nine miles every day to gain what little he could from a man who knew far less than himself. But his father soon came forward and declared that the boy had already had more schooling than was good for him, and that he must stop all such nonsense and go to work. And so Abraham Lincoln's school days were at an end. If all had been put together, they would not have made a twelvemonth. 64 AbraJiavi Liiiro/ii XI. CONNINC, noOKS BY TIILC FIRELK^IIT During all this time Abraham Lincoln's love of books continued. He read everything that he could get hold of. If he heard of a book anywhere in the settlement, he could not rest until he had borrowed it. Once he walked bare- footed twelve miles to borrow a book containing the laws of Indiana. When he was plowing in the fields, he would almost always have a book with him to read while he gave the horse a few moments' rest at the end of the row. His father was not in favor of so much reading. He thought that it unfitted the boy for his work and made him lazy, but the good mother pleaded in his behalf, and begged that he should be allowed to have his own way. " He was always a dutiful son to me," she afterward said, "and we took pains when he was reading not to disturb him. We would let him read on and on till he quit of his own accord." He would sit by the fireplace at night and read as long as the fire lasted. Often he would have a pile of hickory bark at his side which he would throw in, piece by piece, as the flames died down. In the Pigeon Creek settlement a candle was a luxury which common people could not think of using save on special occasions. Whenever Abraham found anything in his reading which seemed to be too good to be forgotten, he would take note of it in whatever way he could. If he had no paper, he would write with charcoal, or with a piece of red " keel," on the side of a smooth board. The logs in the chimney corner were covered with his rude notes. When he had Connijig Books by the Firelight 65 learned his notes by heart, he would rub them out to give place for others. Paper was a rare article, and every piece that he could get was kept with great care. He made ink from poke berries, or walnut hulls, or the sap of brier roots. His pens were of goose quills and turkey quills, and no one in those times had better. Some pages of his exercise books, filled with figures and examples in arithmetic, have been found and may still be seen. One autumn he heard that a settler whose name was Josiah Crawford owned a book about the first President of the United States. He set out at once to borrow it. Mr. Crawford very kindly allowed him to take it, telling him to be careful not to soil it. The lad no sooner turned his face homeward than he opened the book and began to read. It was Weems's " Life of Washington," and to him it seemed a wonderful story, filling his heart with noble thoughts and with aspirations higher than he had ever felt before. Walking slowly homeward, he read until darkness over- took him. After supper, in his corner by the fire, he read until the last log of wood had been burned to ashes and there was no longer the slightest flame flickering upon the hearth. It must have been past midnight when he crept up the ladder to his bed in the loft. He carried the book with him, and laid it in a crack between two logs so that, at the earliest peep of day, he could take it and resume his reading while still lying in bed. In the morning he was awakened by the sound of rain pattering on the roof over his head. He reached out and LINCOLN — 5 66 Abraham Lincoln took the book, but was dismayed to find that it was soaked with the rain. The back was ready to drop off, and the leaves were stuck together. He hurried down, built a fire, and dried the volume so that he could finish the reading of it — but, do whatever he could, it would never look like the same book. After breakfast he carried it back to its owner and ex- plained what had happened. " I am very sorry," he said, " and I am willing to do anything that I can to make it right with you." Mr. Crawford said that the book was worth about seventy-five cents, and that if Abraham would work three days for him he would be satisfied. " Do you mean that the three days' work will pay you for the book," asked the boy, "or will it only pay for the damage done to it } " " I mean that you may have the book," said Mr. Craw- ford. " It will be of no further use to me." And so, for three days, Abraham husked corn and stripped fodder, and then proudly carried the book home again. It was his own, — the first thing he had ever bought directly with his own labor. He read tht: volume again and again. In the clearings and the fields he thought of the won- derful career of Washington — the greatest of American heroes — and he was strengthened in his resolution to live a manly life and to do his best at all times. Might not he too be a patriot and hero .■' Although he might never be President, he certainly could make himself worthy of that great honor. Oratory at a Country Court 6/ XII. ORATORY AT A COUNTRY COURT Young Lincoln was now more than ever determined to gain for himself a good education. It was hard for him to learn ; he could not go to school ; he had but few books ; there was no person who could help him: but in spite of all such difficulties, he kept steadily on, doing his best every day, and learning whatever he could. He studied hard and did everything thoroughly ; and so you need not wonder if he learned more than some boys do nowadays who have every opportunity and yet are lazy and careless. About the time that his father took him from Master Swaney's school, a book on elementary surveying came into his hands. He at once set himself to learn the principles of the science, and — perhaps because he knew that George Washington had once measured land — Abra- ham Lincoln dreamed of becoming a surveyor. I have already told you how, when he was but a little child, he delighted to imitate the wandering preachers who came into the Knob Creek settlement. As he grew older he still cherished the ambition to become a public speaker. Few thliigs pleased him better than to stand on a stump or a log and, with the other five children as Hsteners, deliver a funny speech on some subject of common interest. As he was always greeted with applause, he became bolder and would sometimes practice speaking before a crowd of country people at the village store. In harvest time his father forbade his speech-making in the fields, " for when Abe begins to speak," he said, " all the hands stop work and listen." 68 Abraham Lincoln He was nearly eighteen years old when he walked bare- footed to Boonville, fifteen miles away, to attend a murder trial that was being held there. It was his first visit to any court of justice, and the first time that he saw lawyers at their work. He was filled with admiration for the judge, who seemed to him the greatest and wisest of living men. He listened with intense interest to all that was going on ; and when one of the lawyers arose and made a speech in defense of the prisoner, he was delighted beyond measure. The lawyer's name was Breckenridge, and he was from Kentucky. When he had finished speaking, Abraham Lincoln could no longer hold himself. He rose from his seat, pushed his way across the courtroom, and held out his hand to the astonished lawyer. " That was the best speech I ever heard," he said. It was a strange scene. The gawky youth, nearly six feet four inches in height, stood with outstretched hand, forgetful of everything but the wonderful speech. Dressed in a suit of buckskin, with no shoes on his feet, and a coon- skin cap on his head, he never thought of the inequality between himself and the young lawyer in broadcloth and fine linen. But Mr. Breckenridge, with a sneer on his face, turned away and took no further notice of his admirer. Young Lincoln, unused as he was to the ways of the world, felt this rebuff keenly. It was his first ex- perience of the inequalities of society. It was the first time that he had met any one who looked down upon him as an inferior. I doubt not that he then and there resolved to win his way to such a position that some day even Mr. Oratory at a Country Cotirt 69 Breckenridge would be glad to take his hand. Many years afterward the two men met again ; and Mr. Lincoln, who was then the greatest man in our country, reminded Mr. Breckenridge of this scene in the courtroom — a scene which the proud Kentuckian had forgotten, but which the humble backwoodsman could not forget. After this visit to Boonville, Abraham's mind was wholly bent upon being a lawyer. He did not expect to become a lawyer at once, or indeed without much study and labor. He would do whatever came to his hand, and he would do it well; he would be anything that it was necessary for him to be, and he would not give way to impatience or despair ; but the end which he kept steadily in view was a career of honor and usefulness in the practice of law. Although he could not help but dishke the hard work on the farm, yet he took pains to learn how to do everything there in the best possible way. He had grown to be very tall, and his strength was some- thing wonderful. He couid outlift, outchop, and outwrestle any man in the settlement. And best of all, he was known among his acquaintances as being kind-hearted, brave, and honest to a degree that was not common among boys in any community. XIII. LINCOLN THE BOATMAN Thomas Lincoln thought that a boy who was so big and active ought to be earning some money. And so in the fall, when the crops had been cared for and there was not much to be done on the farm, he sent Abraham down to yo Abraham Lincoln the Ohio River, and hired him out as ferry boy to a man whose name was James Taylor. The lad was put in charge of a fiat-bottomed rowboat, and it was his duty to carry passengers across the river, between the Indiana and Ken- tucky shores. For this work it was agreed that he should have his board, and his father should receive two dollars and fifty cents a week. Abraham Lincoln now gained much knowledge of the world that was new to him. He had never studied geog- raphy, and his ideas about the extent of our country were not very clear. He saw the steamboats passing up the river to Cincinnati or Pittsburg, and down toward St. Louis or New Orleans. But he had never seen a city, and the accounts which he heard of these places seemed to him Hke fairy tales. There were but few travelers to be ferried across the river, and so, on some days there was not much to be done. At such times it was pleasant, in the warm autumn weather, to lie on the bank and watch the "flatboats and other craft go floating down the stream. But young Lincoln was not satisfied to waste his time in idleness. Judge Pitcher, who lived near the landing, was the owner of a shelfful of books. While waiting for passengers, the ferry boy often ran into the judge's office to look at these books; and the judge, seeing how fond he was of reading, kindly allowed him to take down and peruse as many as he chose. Sometimes the boy would amuse himself by writing on paper his thoughts about certain subjects. One of the com- positions thus written was on temperance. When Judge Pitcher read it, he was so pleased with the good sense of it Lincoln the Boatman 71 all that he handed it to a preacher who sent it to Ohio, where it was published in a paper. Another of young Lincoln's essays was on " National Politics." It is not likely that at this time he had ever seen a newspaper, and so it seems strange that he could know anything about politics. But the essay was so well written and displayed so much knowledge of the subject that a lawyer to whom it was shown declared " the world couldn't beat it." Abraham's service as a ferry boy did not continue long. Winter came, ice formed in the river, and there were so few travelers that the boat was hauled up on the shore and the ferry stopped business. The lad went cheerfully back to Pigeon Creek, carrying to his father the money which he had earned. The world seemed a great deal larger to him now than ever before, and he longed for the time to come when he could go out and see what was taking place in its busy marts. These thoughts led him to form a project for building a flatboat and taking the farm produce to the river where it might be sold for a good price. All that winter he was busy thinking and working, cutting timber for his boat and putting the pieces together. His father was easily per- suaded that something might be made out of the venture ; but his mother shook her head, and was unwilHng to let the lad leave home. When the spring rains finally came, and Little Pigeon Creek was overflowing its banks, Abra- ham launched his boat upon the stream and, having at last gotten his mother's leave, made a trial trip to the Ohio. The little craft was stanch enough so long as it was floating in the narrow channel of the creek ; but when it 72 Abraham Lincoln came out upon the rolling waters of the great river it seemed very frail indeed. Young Lincoln dared not ven- ture far into the stream. He moored his boat to the shore, and began to study whether there was any way by which to make it stronger and safer. Two strangers with their trunks were on the landing, waiting for a steamboat that was coming down the river. The steamboat would not come to the shore, for there was no wharf. But if there were any passengers to be taken on, she would stop in midstream and wait for them to be rowed out to her. The two strangers looked at the different boats that were moored by the landing, and at last came to young Lincoln's. They seemed to like the stout new vessel, for they said, " Will you take us and our trunks out to the steamer } " " Certainly," said Lincoln ; for he knew that with his great strength he could manage the boat during that short trip, and he hoped that the men would pay him at least a " fip " for his trouble. The trunks were put into the boat, the men seated them- selves, and the tall, brawny young man soon sculled them out to the steamer. He knew how to handle his boat, even in the strong current. The men climbed into the steamer, and their trunks were lifted upon the deck. The pilot rang the bell ; the engineer began to put on steam ; " You have forgotten to pay me ! " shouted Lincoln. Then each of the men took a silver half-dollar and tossed it into the little vessel. The engine puffed, the paddle wheels went round, and the steamer pushed on down the rolling stream. The young man could scarcely believe Neiv Orleans and the Mississippi 73 his senses when he picked up the two pieces of silver. It was the first money that he had ever earned for himself, and it seemed to him a very great sum indeed. That he, a poor lad from the backwoods, could earn so much in so short a time, was almost too wonderful to believe. XIV. NEW ORLEANS AND THE MISSISSIPPI What became of Abraham Lincoln's Httle flatboat, and why he gave up his intended voyage, we do not know. But when next we hear of him he is engaged by Mr. Gentry, the storekeeper at Gentryville, to pilot a much larger vessel down the river to the markets of New Orleans. This vessel was of the kind called by the river people a "broadhorn." It was wide and flat-bottomed, with a little caboose or shelter in the middle where the men could sleep. Close by the caboose there was a hearth of clay where they could build a fire and cook their meals. The boat was loaded with pork and corn and other products of the new country ; and young Lincoln, who was the cap- tain, worked the front oars. He was promised that if he made the trip safely, he should receive money enough to pay his passage back on a steamboat, and his father should have two dollars for every week he was absent. His only companion and helper was Allan Gentry, his employer's son. You must know that at this time there were no railroads in the world. In the Western country there were but few roads of any kind, and these were mostly mere wagon tracks through the woods. To bring goods over the 74 AbraJiam Lincoln mountains from the East was a difficult and expensive undertaking. To send the corn and wheat and pork of the fertile West over the same mountains to the market cities of New York or Philadelphia was a thing impossible because of the great cost. It was only by means of the water courses that the settlers could find any market for their surplus produce. And as all the great streams of that region flow into the Ohio or the Mississippi, these two rivers became the chief A Mississippi Flatboat highways of traffic. New Orleans, near the mouth of the latter stream, was the center of trade for the West and South, and the busiest city in the United States. As Abraham Lincoln guided Mr. Gentry's broadhorn down the great waterway to New Orleans, he saw many sights that were wholly new and strange to him. There was much busy life on the river. Boats of every kind were floating down — flatboats, barges, house boats, tim- ber rafts — nearly all bound for the same place. Steam boats with loads of freight and passengers went paddling by, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in the other. To the young men whose lives had been passed in the quiet of Nczv Orleans and the Mississippi 75 the backwoods this bustle and movement must have seemed very wonderful indeed. For hundreds of miles along the river there were no towns. Now and then a lonely clearing might be seen on the higher ground back from the stream. Now and then they passed in sight of some bold settler's cabin half hid- den by the underwoods which lined the banks. On their left, near where Memphis now stands, they saw the long stretch of woodland where the Cherokee Indians still had their hunting ground. Thousands of wild ducks and other swimming birds flocked in the creeks and coves, and now and then the boatmen caught sight of timid deer running among the trees or seeking to hide themselves in the thick underwoods. Every day the weather grew a little warmer. Every day the shores became a little greener. Trees and flowers of kinds which the young men had never seen began to appear. Floating onward, they came, little by little, into what seemed to be a new world. They passed now and then a plantation of cotton or of sugar cane, and saw gangs of slaves working in the fields. Alligators basked in the sun, or paddled lazily about in the creeks and inlets. Strange birds wheeled and screamed above them. Spread- ing trees, with long moss pendent from their branches, lined some parts of the shore. They passed an old town called Natchez, where all the people talked French — for it must be remembered that Louisiana was first settled by pioneers from France. At last, after many adventures they reached the busy wharves of New Orleans, and were at the end of their voyage. 'J^ AhraJiam Lincoln It would be interesting to follow young Lincoln about the streets of the city and to know what he thought of the strange sights that were everywhere presented. Here were people of all classes and of many nations : mer- chants, sailors, planters, slaves; backwoodsmen like him- self ; hunters and trappers from the far Northwest ; and ship captains from beyond the sea. Here, too, were all kinds of merchandise. The wharves were lined with steamboats and other river craft. Sailing vessels from ocean ports were anchored in the stream. Indeed, it seemed as if the whole wonderful world had been brought together in this great market place. But the two young men did not stay long among these interesting scenes. They had come to New Orleans on business and not for pleasure. It took only a few hours to sell their little cargo of pork and corn. Then they dis- posed of their flatboat, which had been made to float only with the stream, and was now good for nothing but fire- wood ; and, without losing more time than necessary, they embarked on an up-river steamboat and were soon voyag- ing homeward at a rate which was then thought to be very rapid indeed. When, at last, the young men again set foot in Indiana, they had many wonderful stories to tell of their adven- tures ; and when they paid to Mr. Gentry the money which they had gotten for his goods, they were made happy by his saying that no man could have managed the business better. Abraham Lincoln was now nineteen years old. After having seen so much of the world, he began to tire of the A Trial of New Fortunes jy dull round of life at Pigeon Creek. He had done a great deal of hard work, for a boy of his age, and yet his father had claimed all his earnings. He had never had but one dollar that he could call his own. Was it not time that he should be doing something for himself .-* The captain of an Ohio steamboat offered to hire him as a deck hand. The money would be his own. He would see still more of the world and its busy people. Why not go .'' He did not speak to any one at home about this matter ; but went down to the landing where he had worked as ferry boy to see a friend whom he trusted. " William Wood," said he, " what ought I to do .? Ought I to strike out for myself, or ought I to stay with my father and serve him, as I have been doing, for nothing .-* " "Abraham," said William Wood, "you are only nine- teen years old. Your time until you are twenty-one be- longs by right to your father. Help your father." And then the young man remembered that these were the last words of his angel mother : " Help your father. Live as I have taught you, and love God always." He at once put aside all thoughts of leaving home. He made up his mind that he would manfully do his duty, and trust in God for what might follow. He went cheerfully back to his home, and without a word took up his accustomed work on the farm. XV. A TRIAL OF NEW FORTUNES In February, 1830, Abraham Lincoln was twenty-one years old. He was now his own master and might go 78 Abraham. Lincoln where he chose. But another great change was about to take place in the life of the family, and he made up his mind to help his father a little longer. All that winter letters had been coming to Thomas Lincoln. They were written by Abraham's cousin, John Hanks, who was living near Decatur in Illinois. They were full of glowing accounts of that new country in the valley of the Sangamon River ; they told wonderful stories of the great prairies and of the wooded bottom lands ; and they ended always with words of persuasion : " Sell your Indiana farm and come. Come, while you can have your choice of government land at only one dollar and twenty- five cents an acre." At last, a letter more urgent still was received. John Hanks had chosen a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, the best in all that region, and would hold it for Thomas Lincoln if he would be sure to come in the spring. More than that, he would have logs cut and hauled for a cabin, so that the Lincolns might find a new home ready for them as soon as they came. Thomas Lincoln did not need so much persuasion. He was always ready to move. If his more cautious wife had been as willing as he to leave their old home for a new, he would have moved long before. It was now more than thirteen years since he had settled on Pigeon Creek, and he was still a poor man. Life in Illinois could not be harder than life in Indiana : it might be a great deal easier. At any rate, where land was so rich and so plenti- ful and cheap, there would be a better chance for the younger people who were just beginning life. And so at last, the members of the Lincoln family A Trial of New Fortimes 79 agreed to try their fortunes in the new country of "the Illinois." The farm, which was not yet paid for, was bargained away, the stock and crops were sold, and at the time of Abraham's twenty-first birthday everybody was busy getting ready for the long, hard journey. It was in March when they started. All the household goods had been packed into a long, covered wagon drawn by four yoke of oxen. There were eight persons in the company : Thomas Lincoln and his wife ; the two step- daughters and their husbands, Dennis Hanks and Levi Hall; Mrs. Lincoln's son, John Johnston; and Abraham Lincoln. The sister, Sarah Lincoln, had married Aaron Grigsby some years before, and was now dead. Of course it was not possible for everybody to ride — for the wagon was already crowded with the beds and cooking utensils and farming tools ; and so the five men trudged along on foot, and sometimes the women also found it better to walk than to add their weight to the heavy load. Abraham was the driver, and through slush and mire, with whip in hand, he strode by the side of the slow- moving team, encouraging the oxen, sometimes by a word and sometimes by a sharp touch of the lash. The ground had not yet fully thawed after the winter's freezing. The brooks were overflowing, for the spring freshets had set in. The rivers were full of floating ice. The air was damp and chilly. Sometimes the wagon sank to the hubs in the oozy mire, and then all hands had to lay hold and help the team lift it out. At night a camp fire was built in the woods or by the roadside, and while some slept in the wagon the others lay on the ground with 8o AbraJiam Lincoln their feet toward the blaze. One can hardly think of a harder or more disagreeable journey. From Pigeon Creek to Decatur, the distance is less than two hundred miles ; and yet the family were two whole weeks on the road. John Hanks gave them a hearty welcome. The logs for the new cabin had been cut and hauled according to promise. For six sturdy men, accustomed to such work, it was the task of only a few days to roll these logs into place, and put a roof over them. And so, long before the end of April, the Lincolns were snugly housed in their new home near the north fork of the Sangamon River. At this time Illinois had been a state for nearly twelve years, for it had come into the Union only two years later than Indiana. But people had been slow in going there, and thousands of fertile acres still lay unclaimed — the prop- erty of the United States government. The first settlers, strange to say, had shunned the prairies and made their homes in the woods and groves which bordered the larger streams. They thought that the treeless plains were, for some reason, unsuited for farming, and that for ages to come they would be used only for the pasturage of herds and flocks. And so, when Abraham Lincoln first went to IMinois, the state was but thinly settled, nearly all the inhabitants living in the wooded portions, or near the rivers. Most of those who occupied the southern and central parts had come from Kentucky and the neighboring states of the South. Those who lived farther north were chiefly from the New England states or New York. Among all these pioneers, life was much as we have already seen it to be The Winter of tJie Deep Snozv 8 1 ill Indiana. There were bnt few schools and fewer churches. The people were, as a rule, rude and uncouth in manners, and yet kind-hearted and obliging. They seldom saw any money, and almost all their buying and selling was by barter. Each family had to raise its own food and, generally, to make its own clothing. Everybody was poor ; and so the Lincolns, humble though they were, found themselves no worse off than their neighbors. They began life in their new home with much hopefulness, and yet without any great expectations ; for they had long ago learned to be content with little. XVI. THE WINTER OF THE DEEP SNOW Before leaving home to begin life for himself Abraham Lincoln thought it his duty to see his father well started on his new farm. For many days the grove near the cabin rang with the sound of his ax and maul. He was cutting down trees and sphtting the logs into rails. " And how he would chop!" said Dennis Hanks, long afterward. " His ax would flash and bite into a sugar tree or syca- more, and down it would come. If you heard him felling trees, you would think there were three men at work, they came down so fast." to With the rails he helped his father build a fence around ten acres of prairie land. Then he yoked the oxen to a plow and helped him turn the sod and make the field ready for the corn planting. Everything seemed now to be fairly under way, and the young man began to think of looking for work somewhere else. LINCOLN — 6 82 Abraham Lincoln He still wore the buckskin trousers that had been made for him before he was grown, and they were much too short for him. He had no clothing that was fit to be worn away from home. He had not a dollar with which to buy what he needed. A few miles from his father's cabin there lived a woman whose name was Nancy Miller. She had a flock of sheep, and a spinning wheel, and a loom. She was a very busy woman and wove more jeans and linsey-woolsey than her own family could use. Abraham heard that she wanted some rails split with which to build a fence around a part of her pas- ture land. Here was a chance for new ■' ^=**^'' clothmg. He went to see her, l^yr%^.', and a bargain was soon made. She agreed to make him a pair of trousers "of brown jeans dyed with white wal- nut bark " ; and he, in return, engaged to split four hundred rails, each ten feet in length and of convenient size, for each yard of jeans so used — or fourteen hundred rails in all. And so, what with helping his father and what with doing odd jobs for the neighbors, the summer passed and another winter came. It was a winter long re- membered in Illinois — the "winter of the deep snow." The snow began falling on Christmas day, and in a short time it was three feet deep. Then there came a drizzling rain which froze as fast as it fell ; the air grew 1831 The Winter of tJic Deep Snozv 83 very cold ; and the whole great expanse of snow became a thick sheet of ice. Many of the settlers perished in the storm. To those who lived through it, the days that followed were full of distress and discomfort. • The deer and other wild animals that had hitherto been plentiful, died of starvation ; or venturing too near the homes of men they were easily captured in the treacherous snow. At about the time of the final thawing of the deep snow, Abraham Lincoln made the acquaintance of an adventur- ous young man whose name was Denton Offut. Mr. Offut was buying produce to send to New Orleans on a flatboat, and when he learned that young Lincoln had already made one trip down the river, he was anxious to engage him as a helper. As Abraham had nothing else to do, a bargain was soon made. The crew consisted of Lincoln, his cousin John Hanks, and his stepbrother John Johnston, while Offut himself went along as captain. Each of the young men was to receive fifty cents a day, and if the venture proved to be a profitable one, he was in the end to be given a bonus of twenty dollars. Of that second voyage down the Mississippi River little need be said. Everything seems to have prospered with the little company ; they reached New Orleans in safety, and the produce was sold at a good profit. While wait- ing for the steamboat which was to carry them homeward, the young men had time to see a good deal of the great Southern city. They visited the French quarters and also the section that had been settled by the Spanish. They spent many hours among the shipping and in the great markets. They saw negro slaves at work everywhere. 84 Abraham Lincoln One day they attended a slave auction where a number of negroes were offered for sale, like so many cattle or other dumb beasts. The sight made a strong impression upon the kind-hearted Lincoln. To see men and women ^5 'I Thomas Lincoln's House in Coles County chained in gangs, whipped, and otherwise cruelly treated, touched his tender heart. John Hanks long afterward said : " It was on this trip that Lincoln formed his opinion of slavery. It run its iron in him then and there, May, 183 1. I have heard him say so often." The young men did not stay long in New Orleans. They took passage on the first steamboat that was bound Riinning a VilliXgc Store 85 up the river, and in a few days landed in St. Louis. Here Abraham Lincohi and his stepbrother took their leave of Mr. Offut and started homeward across the wild prairie lands of Illinois. They walked all the way to Coles County where Thomas Lincoln was then living. For the uneasy man had not been pleased with the land which John Hanks had chosen for him in the valley of the Sangamon, and so, before a year had passed, had left it and moved again. XVII. RUNNING A VILLAGE STORE Toward the end of that same summer, Mr. Offut set up a little store in the town of New Salem, and sent for young Lincoln to come and be his salesman. New Salem was a very small place. It stood near the Sanga- mon River, about twelve miles below Springfield. If you should look for it on the maps in your school geography, you would not find it ; for its life as a town was very brief, and there is now not a single house to show that it ever had existence. In place of streets and dwellings, one sees an open field and the sloping river bank overgrown with weeds and bushes. In 1831, however, a mill was there, and near it was a cluster of small houses. People were moving in and building, and everybody thought it was just the place for a thriving town. Indeed, being close to the river where water power could be had, it had more natural advantages than Springfield which was then in the open prairie with only a small stream called Spring Creek flowing through it. New Salem was thought to be a S6 AbraJ:ain Lincoln good place for a store, and Mr. Offut perhaps never showed better judgment than when he placed his business there in charge of young Abraham Lincoln. The store soon became a place of much interest to everybody in the neighberhood. The men, while waiting for their corn to be ground at the mill, gathered there to talk about cattle and crops and the weather. The women came to buy needles and thread and cheap calico. They seldom had any money, and so they paid for their goods with the butter and eggs that were not needed for the table at home. The tall, ungainly " clerk " who had charge of the store did not have many of the graces of a gentleman, as they are commonly thought to be ; for in the backwoods the ordinary forms of politeness were but little known. But, awkward as he was, the kindness of his heart was shown in his pleasant manners to all, and he Svjon had many friends. He was so truthful and trustworthy that the rough settlers gave him the nickname of " Honest Abe " — a title which he kept until the end of his life. Many stories are told of the way in which he distin- guished himself during that year in the little town of Salem. He was the peacemaker of the neighborhood. Quarrels very often arose among the rude fellows who were in the habit of gathering at the store ; and these would sometimes have ended in bloodshed had it not been for young Lincoln's friendly interference. He was brave and strong, and everybody respected him because he was always on the side of right and justice. And so he could stop a fight and make old enemies forget their anger when Running a Village Store 87 no other man would have been Hstened to for a moment. Twice, at least, he was forced to defend himself against young bullies who were anxious to try his mettle. But when he had punished them as they deserved, he at once made friends with them and showed them that he bore them no ill-will. He had none of the bad habits that were so common among the young men in the new settlements. He did not use tobacco, or drink strong liquor, or bet on cards, or impose upon the weak and helpless, or quarrel with those who tried to wrong him. But he was in every way a manly young man, and withal so just and true that both the rude and the gentle respected and loved him. I have said that there was not much money in the West at that time. There were households where hardly so much as a dollar was seen in a whole year. When anything was bought at the store, it was paid for in some kind of produce — it might be in corn, or wool, or goose feathers, or butter, or eggs, or live fowls, or smoked meat, or any other of the many things that could be spared from the farm. The little money that passed from hand to hand was not much like that which we see nowadays. Nearly all the silver pieces were of Spanish coinage. One of the most common of these was the Spanish half real, which the settlers called a "fip,"^ and which was worth about six cents. Another piece, worth twice as much, was called a levy."^ One day a customer came into Mr. Offut's store and bought some goods for which he paid cash. After he ^ Short for " fippenny bit," or fivcpencc. ^ Short for eleven pence, " eleven penny bit," 88 Abnihavi Lincoln had gone home, young Lincoln noticed that a mistake had been made and that the customer had given him a fip too much. All day long that little silver piece was in his thoughts ; and as soon as he could close the store in the evening, he started off on a walk of several miles across the prairie, to restore the coin to its rightful owner. At another time when he was just closing the store for the night a woman came in to buy a half pound of tea. He had already blown out the candle, and rather than relight it, he felt around in the darKness and weighed the tea without seeing it. The next morning when he came to the store he saw by the weight which was still in the scale that he had given the woman only half enough. He could not rest until he had weighed out the remaining quarter of a pound and carried it to her. While working for Mr. Offut he did not neglect the studies which he felt would sometime be of use to him. He had heard that in order to speak and write correctly, one should understand the rules of grammar. He had never seen a text-book on Enghsh grammar, and he asked the schoolmaster at New Salem if he knew where such a book could be obtained. "There is a man halfway between here and Springfield who used to teach school down East," was the answer. " He has an old copy of Kirkham's Grammar, and I am sure that he would lend it to you." " But do you think that I could understand it without the help of a teacher .>'" " I am quite sure that you can. With hard study and a good memory any one can learn all the rules in it " up in Black IJaivk's Country 89 "Well, I think I have a good memory, and I guess 1 can study pretty hard," said Lincoln; "and so I will see what I can do." That very night he set out to borrow the book, and after a walk of twelve miles returned with it under his arm. For several days he kept it close by him, and whenever there was a leisure moment he was studying from its pages. In a short time he had learned all the rules by heart, but he found that he still made mistakes in the use of lan- guage. It was only by taking great pains with his speech, and by trying very hard all the time, that he was at last able to avoid most of these errors and to use really good English both in talking and in writing. Mr. Offut did not prove to be a successful business man. He undertook too many ventures, and lost money. In a few months the store at New Salem had to be closed, and Abraham Lincoln was again looking for employment. XVIII. UP IN BLACK HAWK'S COUNTRY In the valley of the Rock River in northern Illinois there once lived a tribe of Indians called the Sacs. Their neighbors and kinsfolk were the Fox Indians; and all had lived so long in that beautiful region that they had come to love it just as we, who think ourselves more civilized, love the land of our birth.^ But there were white people who saw that the hunting grounds and cornfields of these Indians included some of the richest farming lands in the world. "What a pity," they said, "that such fine lands should remain in the [possession of savages!" 90 AbraJiam Lincohi The Indians did not want to part with their lands, but they were so hard pressed by the white men that they could not long resist. Finally some of the braves, while half-drunk with strong liquor, were persuaded to make a treaty with the United States, agreeing to give up their old hunting grounds in exchange for a reservation on the western side of the Mississippi. Many of the people were unwilling to leave their homes, and it was not until force was threatened, that all were persuaded to remove across the river. One of the leading men among the Sacs was a brave warrior called Black Hawk. He was then more than sixty years old, and he had always been opposed to selling the lands. He said that the braves did not know what they were doing when they made the treaty, and that it was not right for the whites to take advantage of them. He was much dissatisfied with the new home to which his people had been removed, and his heart was filled with 18^2 bitterness because of the wrongs they had suf- fered. After remaining quiet for some months, he put himself at the head of a band of Sacs and Foxes, and recrossed the Mississippi. When asked what he meant to do, he answered, " We are going into the Rock River valley to plant corn in the fields that are still our own." Some of his followers were hard to control. They scat- tered here and there, burning farmhouses and killing the white people that came in their way. There was a company of United States troops at Rock Island, but they were too few to fight against so large a force of savages. The whole state was alarmed, and the governor hastened up in Black Hazvk's Country 9 1 to call for volunteers to help drive the Indians back to their own place. It was only a few days after the closing of Mr. Offut's store that the governor's call was made public ; and Abra- ham' Lincoln, having nothmg else to do, enlisted at once. Several other young men in the neighborhood also volun- teered, and a company was formed. One of the first things to do, after they had come to- gether, was to elect officers. There were two candidates for captain, Abraham Lincoln and an older man whose name was Kirkpatrick. The word was passed round : " Let all who want Lincoln for captain follow him to the left hand side of the road ; and let all who would rather have Kirk- patrick stand on the right hand side of the road." It was an odd kind of election ; but when all had taken their stand it was found that there were twice as many men on Lincoln's side as on Kirkpatrick's. This was Abra- ham Lincoln's first success in public life. Thirty years later, when he was President of the United States, he was heard to say that no other victory of his life had ever brought with it so much satisfaction. Captain Lincoln and his company marched across the state toward the place where the Indians were making trouble. They were ordered into camp on the banks of the Mississippi, and there they remained, waiting for a boat that was to carry them up the river. The young men who had thus come together from the groves and prairie farms were an uncouth set of fellows, very rough and rude and hard to control : and Captain Lincoln had enough to do to keep them in any kind of order. He took part in 92 Ahra/iam Lincoln their games, and won their respect by being the hardest hitter and with one exception the best wrestler in the company. One day a poor, half-starved Indian came into the camp. He had with him a letter from General Cass, saying that he was friendly to the whites and could be trusted. But he did not show the letter at first. The soldiers ran toward him. " Kill the Indian ! " they cried. " He is a spy." Then the Indian held up his letter ; and some one, snatching it from him, read it aloud. " It's a forgery," shouted some of the rude fellows. " General Cass didn't write it." " Shoot him ! " cried still others. " He is like all the savasfes, and who ever heard of one that could be trusted } " " Yes ! " said a burly Kentuckian. " Think of the women and children the dog has murdered." "Shoot him we will!" answered many rough voices; and a dozen muskets were leveled toward him. " No, you won't shoot him ! " said Captain Lincoln, stepping between the Indian and his angry foes. " He is under my protection, and the first man that touches him dies ! " One by one the weapons were lowered, and the grum- bhng soldiers walked sullenly away. A man who was present said long afterward that never in his life had he seen Lincoln " so roused over anything." Days passed, and the boat did not arrive. Finally the time for which the company had enlisted expired. Most up in Black Hawk's Country 93 of the men had had enough of soldiering and were glad to make excuses and hurry home. But the Indians were still on the war path, and Lincoln was no sooner mustered out than he reenlisted as a private in another company. This new company was known as the " Independent Spy Battalion of Mounted Rangers," and it soon went into camp on the banks of Rock River not far from where the city of Dixon, Illinois, now stands. To this camp came other soldiers, some of whom, then unknown, were destined to become famous in the history of their country. Among these were Zachary Taylor, a lieutenant colonel, who seventeen years later was to be President of the United States. With him was Jefferson Davis, a lieutenant, who thirty years later was to be President of the Confederate States of America. It is not at all likely that Abraham Lincoln, the raw-boned recruit from the Sangamon, ever received so much as a passing glance from these fine officers whose birth and station were so much above his own. But among the volunteers he was well known for his courage and good humor; and he was long afterward remembered as the best story-teller, and on all accounts the best soldier, in the Spy Battalion. But he was to have no chance to show his bravery on the field of battle. Before the Spy Battalion had reached the place where the enemy was supposed to be, and before Abraham Lincoln had seen a single hostile Indian, the war was ended. In July a part of the army had fallen upon Black Hawk's camp on the bluffs of the Wisconsin, and defeated his warriors with great slaughter. Those who escaped fled toward the Mississippi, anxious now 94 AbraJiatn Lincoln above all things to cross it, and return to their reserva- tion. But they were overtaken at Bad Axe on the eastern shore of the great river, and in the bloody scene which followed, nearly all of them were barbarously slain. Black Hawk escaped with his life, but was captured a few days later. He was taken to Washington, and on the way was exhibited in many of the Northern cities. When at last the fearless old man stood before President Jackson, he made a little speech which will never be forgotten. "I am a man," he said, "and you are another. I did not expect to conquer the white people. I took up the hatchet to avenge injuries which could no longer be borne. Had I borne them longer, my people would have said : ' Black Hawk is a squaw ; he is too old to be a chief ; he is no Sac' This caused me to raise the war whoop. I say no more of it; all is known to you." Thus ended the last Indian war in that part of our country between the Mississippi and the Alleghanies. Step by step the red men had disputed the westward march of civilization ; step by step the white men had driven them from their hunting grounds and taken posses- sion of their lands. And now in all that region there remained scarcely a spot which the Indian could truthfully claim as his own. The war being over, the volunteer soldiers were of course discharged. The Independent Spy Battalion was mustered out by a young officer of the United States army, Lieutenant Robert -Anderson — famous twenty- nine years later as the commander of Fort Sumter when the first shot was fired in the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, Election — but not of Abraham Lhicoln 95 with one companion, set out for home, walking most of the way from the Rock River valley to New Salem. XIX. ELECTION — BUT NOT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN When Lincoln arrived at the little town on the Sanga- mon, everybody was glad to see him and anxious to shake hands with him. In ten days an election was to be held, and the people of the district were to choose a man to represent them in the legislature. Young Lincoln had already announced that he would be a candidate ; and now all his old neighbors joined in urging others to vote for him. It was the custom for all the candidates to make speeches at different places in the district, and to explain what they would do for the people in case they should be elected. The election being so close at hand, there was but little time for Abraham Lincoln to prepare for speech- making ; but he entered into the contest with great energy and spirit. On the very next day after his return, there was a public sale of pigs and cattle at a crossroad, twelve miles from Springfield, and at its close there was to be a great political meeting. All the farmers and stock raisers for miles around were there, and the talk of the day was divided between cattle and politics. A platform had been built for the speakers, and on it was placed a long bench for the candidates to sit upon. Lawyers were there from Springfield, and smart young men from other towns. The crowd was a rude and boisterous one ; few of the men q6 Abraham Lincoln wore coats, and many were barefooted. They were not likely to look with favor upon a candidate dressed in broadcloth and tine linen. Abraham Lincoln was the last to make a speech. He stood up on the platform, and his appearance at once gained the respect of the farmers. He was a gawky, rough-looking fellow, six feet and four inches tall. He wore a loose coat made of coarse blue jeans, a pair of home-made trousers that were at least six inches too short, and cowhide boots that had seen much tramping through the black mud of the prairies. Looking straight at his audience, he began : — " Gentlemen and Fellow-citizens : I presume you all know who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candi- date for the legislature. My politics are short and sweet. I am in favor of a national bank ; 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." This was Abraham Lincoln's first political speech. During the week which followed he spoke at Springfield and perhaps at other places, but there is no record of what he said. The district was a very large one, and as it was impossible for him to see every voter, he sent out a handbill to tell the people what they might expect from him if he should be elected. In this handbill he said : — " I am young, and unknown to many of you. I was Election — but not of Ab^'aJiain Lincoln 97 born and have ever remained in the most humble walks of life. I have no wealthy or powerful relations or friends to recommend me. My case is thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of the county ; and, if elected, they will have conferred a favor upon me for' which I shall be unremitting in my labors to compensate. But if the good people in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, I have been too familiar with disappoint- ments to be very much chagrined." Election day came, and every man in New Salem, whether Democrat or Whig, voted for Abraham Lincoln. But when the ballots in Springfield and the remote town- ships were counted, it was found that he had been defeated. Since this was the first time that his name had been put before the people, he had not hoped for much, and so he was not " very much chagrined." Indeed, he was only twenty-three years old, and what need had he to feel discouraged } During the next few months he was busy in many ways. He thought of becoming a blacksmith, and was casting about for a place to set up his shop, when he was per- suaded to buy the half of a little store in New Salem. He had not a dollar with which to pay for it, but his honesty was so well known that his notes were believed to be as good as money. This venture was, however, an unlucky one. His partner proved to be a worthless fellow, who mismanaged the business and spent everything for liquor. In a very short time the store was closed, and Lincoln was left responsible for the notes which he had given. It was six years before this debt was entirely settled, and within LINCOLN — 7 98 AbraJiani Lincoln that time he had many a hard struggle ; but in the end every cent was paid. 1833 XX. "LAW, SIR, LAW!" Ever since he had attended that famous trial in Indiana, Abraham Lincoln had cherished an ambition to become a lawyer. Whether he was poling a flatboat down the Mississippi, or splitting rails in the woods, or seUing pins and calico to the farmers' wives, or leading his little company of Illinois volunteers, he had al- ways this thing in mind. About the time he was trying to be a storekeeper he happened to, visit Springfield, and there he bought a second-hand copy of Black- stone's " Commentaries." This work, as you may know, has been for more than a cen- tury the standard authority 'iT A?^/ on English common law, and it is one of the first books that a young law student is ex- pected to master. The copy which Lincoln bought was old and worn, but it was complete, and he carried it home as he would a precious treasure. Every moment that he could snatch from other duties, was now given to the study of this volume, and within a few weeks he had mastered all that was in it. But the knowledge ''Law, Sir, Law!'' 99 thus gained only made him eager for more. If he only had the necessary books, how much he might learn ! If he only had money, how soon would the books be forth- coming ! He was thinking of this one day when he remembered that, in the soldiers' camp on Rock River, he had met and become acquainted with a young lawyer whose name was John T. Stuart. This Mr. Stuart lived in Springfield, and was said to have a very good library. Perhaps he would lend a volume now and then. No sooner had this thought come into Lincoln's mind than he put on his hat and started to walk to Springfield to see his friend. Mr. Stuart was very kind. " Certainly," he said. " You are welcome not only to a volume, but to every volume in my library ; " and then he gave some very sensible advice about the best books to be read and the order in which they should be studied. When young Lincoln began his long walk homeward that evening he held an open book in his hand ; and before he had reached New Salem he had mas- tered thirty or forty pages of it. After the failure of the store he supported himself by doing any odd jobs that he could find. Sometimes he shouldered his ax and went out to the woods to chop down trees for fuel ; sometimes he helped a busy neighbor gather his crops ; but there was never a leisure moment when he was not studying. One day Farmer Godby hired him to do some work in a distant field. Going out in the afternoon to see how matters were progressing, the farmer was surprised to find the young man sitting on a stump with a book in his hand. 100 ' Abraham Lincoln " Hello, Abe ! " he cried ; " what are you reading ? " " I am not reading," answered Lincoln, " I am study- ing." " Well, well ! then tell me what you are studying." " Law, sir, law ! " was the reply. The farmer was so much astonished that he had not words to express himself ; and he was still more astonished when he saw that his hired man had wasted no time over the book, but had already done a full day's work. Everywhere he went, Lincoln was pretty sure to carry a book with him. While walking along the road he would often be so deep in study that his best friends might pass him without being noticed. On hot summer days it was common to see him lying in the shade of a tree and poring over some dry treatise on law. People said that he was going crazy over books. But soon he began to make use of his knowledge. The neighbors, having great confidence in his wisdom, came to him for legal advice. They sought his help in drawing up deeds and mortgages and other written con- tracts ; and now and then he was given the management of some case at law that was being tried before a justice of the peace. XXI. IN THE POSTAL SERVICE About this time young Lincoln was appointed post- master at New Salem. Once a week a postman, riding on horseback, with a pair of saddlebags beneath him, brought the mail to the town. It was not a large mail — perhaps a dozen letters and three or four newspapers. Postmaster In the Postal Scj-vice lOI Lincoln was always ready to receive it when it came It was not worth while to rent a room for a postoffice ; but he put the letters in his hat and kept them there until called for ; or, if he had the time to do so, he would kindly carry them to the people for whom they were intended. Of course there was not much salary attached to a postoffice that was carried in one's hat. There were no postage stamps at that time, and there were no envelopes. When any one wished to mail a letter, it was brought to the postmaster, who kept it until the mail carrier made his next weekly visit. Sometimes the sender paid the post- age, and then the postmaster would write, in big, plain characters on the face of it, the word Paid. But the rates of postage were very high, and it generally happened that the sender did not pay any part of it, but left the whole to be collected from the person to whom it was addressed. Lincoln the Postmaster I02 Abraham Lincoln It was, therefore, not always a pleasant thing to receive a letter. The postmaster collected the money that was due for postage and kept it until an agent from the general postoffice called for it. Mr. Lincoln was the last postmaster that New Salem ever had. People were already moving away from the village and finding better homes in the more promising settlements above and below. The amount of mail sent out and received became less with each passing month, and in a little over two years the office was discontinued. At this time the young postmaster had on hand about seventeen dollars which had been paid to him for postage. For some reason the agent failed to come after this money, and several years passed before it was called for. In the meanwhile Mr. Lincoln had removed to Springfield; he was in debt, and so poor that he was often in need of the common comforts of life. At last one day, when he least expected it, the agent of the government called at his little law office and presented the long-neglected account. "Sit down and wait a minute," said Mr. Lincoln; and leaving the office, he strode rapidly down the street. Had he gone out to borrow the money of some of his friends .'' In a few moments he returned with an old blue stock- ing in his hand. " Here is the money," he said. " It has been waiting for you a long time ; " and he poured from the stocking a great number of copper cents and little pieces of silver, such as the country people had used in paying postage. " I believe it is all here," he said. And when the agent Following the Surveyor's Chain 103 counted it, he found it to be exactly the sum that was due. Notwithstanding his great poverty and his frequent need, Mr. Lincoln had not touched a cent of the money that he was holding in trust for the government. " I never use any man's money but my own," he said. XXII. FOLLOWING THE SURVEYOR'S CHAIN Abraham Lincoln was now nearly twenty-five years of age. Never for a day had he given up the idea of becom- ing a lawyer ; and every spare moment was spent in study. But he must have food to eat, and a place to sleep ; and to earn money to pay for these, he still had to work hard with his hands. One day when he was split- ting rails in the woods, word came to him that Mr. Cal- houn, the county surveyor, was at his boarding place and wished to see him. He shouldered his ax and maul, and with long strides made his way back to the village, won- dering what the surveyor could want with him. " Abe, do you know anything about surveying } " asked Mr. Calhoun. Young Lincoln was obliged to confess that although he had once read a book on that subject, he did not know much about it. Then Mr. Calhoun told him that he was overcrowded with work and must have help. If Lincoln would take the little book which he had, and study it until he had mastered the principal rules, he would make him assistant surveyor and pay him good wages. Lincoln looked at the book and thought that he had mastered many things more difficult. 104 A brahain L incohi "I will do my best," he said; " and when I am ready 1 will report to you." The schoolmaster, Menton Graham, offered to help him with the knotty problems ; and after six weeks of hard study, Lincoln was ready for the work of a sur- Lincoln the Surveyor veyor. With the money which he had saved he bought a horse and a pair of saddlebags, a compass and chain, and other things needful in his business. The county was a large one, and there was much to be done, first in this part, then in that. A new village called Petersburg ■ Folloiving tJic Surveyor s Chain 105 had been laid out two miles below New Salem, and Lincoln was sent down to survey and mark off the lots and streets. The boundary lines of many farms were to be determined and the corner stones set in place. New roads were to be marked out, and old ones were to be improved. And in work of this kind the young surveyor found plenty to do. This business brought him into contact with all kinds of people, and he made many acquaintances in every part of the county. Although it took him away from his law studies for a while, it was the best possible preparation for the career that was now beginning to open before him. Every one who knew him soon became his fast friend ; for to the settlers on the prairie he seemed to have all the virtues and accomplishments that were desirable in any man. He not only knew much about books, but he understood woodcraft better than any hunter or back- woodsman in that region. He was a good judge of horses, and as the umpire of a horse race he had no equal. His strength was a thing to be wondered at even in that country of strong men. It was said that at the mill in New Salem he once lifted a box of stones weighing more than a thousand pounds ; and in wrestling, leaping, and other feats of strength in which the people of a newly settled region delight, he was the admiration of all. Although during the greater part of his life he had been in constant contact with rudeness and vulgarity, yet his manners were free from coarseness, and his language from uncleanness and profanity. Any other person thus standing aloof from the bad habits so common to the io6 Abraham Lincoln backwoods would have been treated with scorn and abuse, as one trying to appear better than his fellows. But with Lincoln the matter was quite otherwise. He never did anything in a boastful way, and neither in manner nor in word did he claim for himself superiority over others. Yet the uncultured people with whom he was cast knew that he was their superior, and while they themselves did not practice virtue, they were proud and pleased to see it practiced by him. XXIII. ENTERING POLITICS IN EARNEST While busy surveying farms and making new acquaint- ances, Abraham Lincoln still kept thinking of the future. Hardly a day passed that he did not do something to increase his knowledge and improve his mind. He was almost the only man in New Salem who was a regular subscriber to a newspaper; and among all his acquaintances there was no one who knew as much about politics as he. The name of Henry Clay had always a strange charm for him. We have seen how, when a mere child in the wretched half-faced camp at Pigeon Creek, he read the story of the poor " mill boy of the Slashes." He had then and there adopted Henry Clay as his ideal of pluck and perseverance. When he grew up to manhood, he chose the same person as his political leader. At New Salem he was the constant reader of Henry Clay's newspaper, the Loii isville Joii imal. It was a great pleasure to him on Saturday afternoons Ejitering Politics in Earnest 107 to sit on an empty goods box in front of the village store and read the news to a group of listening farmers ; and then he would explain the editorials in the Journal , and cause great mirth by quoting the bright, witty sayings which were then a prominent feature of that able paper. He took much pains to keep abreast of the public questions of the day, and he was the oracle to whom all his neighbors went for in- formation. " If you want to learn anything about politics," they would say, " go and ask Abe Lincoln. He'll tell you all that's worth knowing." What were some of the things that he talked about and ex- Henry Clay plained to his little Saturday audience at the village store } Let us see. There were then, as there are now, two great political parties ; and nearly .every man in the country "belonged " to one or the other of these parties. They were known as the Democratic party and the Whig party. The Demo- cratic party had been in existence many years ; people said that it was founded (although under a slightly different name) by the great Thomas Jefferson. The Whig party, I08 AbrahaDi Lijicohi on the other hand, was very new ; indeed, it had just been formed, and the foremost man in its ranks was Henry Clay. The leader of the Democratic party at that time was Andrew Jackson, the President of the United States. He had already served one term as President, and was now near the middle of his second term. In order to under- stand the great questions of the time, young Lincoln some- times found it necessary to refer to some of the events of Jackson's iirst term. In order to understand the influences which shaped the political life of Abraham Lincoln, it will be well for us to follow a similar course. At Jackson's first election — which took place in 1828 — there were no Whigs, but those who opposed him called themselves National Republicans. The leaders of the National Republicans were Henry Clay and Daniel Web- ster. Their candidate for the presidency was John Quincy Adams. The chief question between the parties at that time, as at several times since, was the tariff, or tax on goods brought into this country from foreign lands. Did a high tariff promote national prosperity, or did it not } The answer to this question was given quite differently by different per- sons : it depended upon the place in which one lived and the business in which he was employed ; it was dictated by personal interest rather than by patriotism. In the North — particularly in the New England states — a great many people were engaged in manufacturing; and they believed that a high tariff would prevent many foreign goods from being brought to our country, and thus Entering Politics in Earnest 109 make a better market and more general demand for American goods. The result of this would be more work and better wages for the workingmen. But in the South there were no manufactories and but few mills of any kind. Nearly all the labor was done by slaves, and the chief products were sugar, cotton, and tobacco. The people of that section believed that a high protective tariff would be an injury to them ; it would increase the price of such goods as they did not make, but were obliged to buy ; it would make no better market for the things they had to sell. Just before the election of Jackson, Congress had passed an act increasing the tariff on woolen manufactures, iron goods, and many other articles. The act was intended most of all to benefit the woolen industry in the North ; and it was favored by great numbers of people who thought that it would also benefit the country at large. In the South, and especially in South Carolina, the feeling against it was very bitter. When Andrew Jackson became Presi- dent, it was supposed that his influence would cause the law to be repealed ; but its friends were numerous and powerful, and it remained in force. Toward the end of Jackson's first term the dissatisfac- tion became greater. The people of South Carolina met in convention and adopted what has since been known as the Nullification Ordinance. This was a resolution asserting that the tariff act was null and void in South Carolina, and declaring that if the United States government attempted to enforce it there, the state would secede from the Union. no Abrakatn Lincoln It was believed that the President, who was a Southern man and opposed to a high tariff, would quietly permit the South Carolinians to have their own way. People were surprised, therefore, when on the loth of December he issued a proclamation against the nullifiers. " The Constitution of the United States," he said, " forms a government, not a league. Our Constitution does not contain the absurdity of giving power to make laws, and another power to resist them. To say that any state may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States are not a nation." Throughout the North, this action of President Jackson was heartily ap- proved, even by many who were not Democrats and had voted against him. But the South Carolinians held their ground. John C. Calhoun, the Vice President of the United States, was a South Carolinian and the leader of the nullifiers. He at once resigned his position in order that he might do greater service to his state. Troublesome times seemed to be at hand. Congress passed a law instructing the President to force the state of John C. Calhoun Entering Politics in Earnest ill South Carolina to obey the laws of the United States. If he should attempt to do this, civil war would certainly follow. But at this perilous moment Henry Clay of Kentucky came forward with a compromise bill. Henry Clay was noted for doing such things. More than once, when sec- tional feeling had threatened to destroy the very life of our nation, he had found a way to please both parties and restore harmony and peace. " Come, my friends," he would say, "we cannot all have what we want. But we can meet on middle ground, and each one, by giving up only a little to the other, may gain more than can possibly be gotten by strife." And it was by such friendly services as this that the Union was preserved through more than one crisis, and Clay became known in history as the Great Pacificator. The compromise which he suggested at this time pro- vided that South Carolina should give up her nullification scheme and stay peaceably in the Union, while, on the other hand, the odious tariff should be reduced little by little for ten years, or until every section of the country should be satisfied with it. This was a simple and easy way of settling an ugly dis- pute, and everybody was glad to agree to it. South Caro- lina showed her loyalty by obeying a law which she thought harmful to the interests of her people. The friends of high tariff showed their loyalty by bending to the wishes of their fellow-citizens whose circumstances were not the same as their own. We shall find, however, that it was many years before 112 Abraham Lincoln the South Carolinians were ready to give up the idea that their state might withdraw from the Union whenever she chose to do so. In the earher history of our country, loyalty to one's state was held to be more praiseworthy than loyalty to the Union. This was true in the North as well as in the South, and it gave rise to the doctrine of States' Rights, which regarded the United States as a league and not as a nation. " The state first, the United States second " — that was the original idea of patriotism, and it was the idea which John C Calhoun and his followers believed to be the true one. But it was not the doctrine of Andrew Jackson ; it was not the doctrine of Henry Clay. We may imagine Abraham Lincoln discussing these matters with his farmer friends at New Salem, and sup- porting his arguments by reading extracts from the Louis- ville Journal. They were important issues at that time, and every voter in the country had his opinion about them. Andrew Jackson — "Old Hickory" as his friends liked to call him — was a great favorite in the West ; and in Illinois most of the people were Democrats. His second election (in 1832) was a famous victory. The National Republican party, with Henry Clay as its candidate, had made a strong fight against him ; but it was beaten so badly that its leaders found it necessary to disband in order that a new party might be formed under another name. Two years later, therefore, the Whig party was organ- ized. It was intended to attract to its ranks all who, for Rule ring Politics in Earnest 1 13 any reason, disliked the ])()lic'y of President Jackson. It included not only those who had formerly called them- selves National Republicans, but also the nullifiers and states'-rights men of the South, and many dissatisfied Democrats. The leaders of this new party were Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. These three men were the political giants of that time ; and they are to be remembered as probably the ablest statesmen that our country has ever known. On many important questions they held the most widely differing opinions ; and it was only in their opposition to the high-handed measures of Andrew Jackson that they were ever really in agreement. It was with this new party, as represented by his political ideal, Henry Clay, that Abraham Lincoln, at the age of twenty-five, aUied himself. LINCOLN — 6 BOOK THE SECOND — PROBATION I. A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE IN 1834 there was another state election in Illinois, and Abraham Lincoln again announced himself as a candi- date for the legislature. At that time it was not customary for parties to hold political conventions, as they do now, to make up the ticket which is to be voted for at the coming election. If a man wanted an office, he informed the public that he was a candidate, and he declared that if he should be elected he would support or oppose certain measures. This plan made it possible for a great many candidates to present themselves for the same office, and the votes were sometimes very scattering. But the convention sys- tem was beginning to be adopted in some states. It not only avoided the inconvenience of too many candidates, but it drew a more distinct line between the parties. It was favored especially by the Jackson Democrats ; but the Whigs — and among them Abraham Lincoln — were slow to approve of it. Mr. Lincoln had made so many acquaintances within the past year that there was now little need for him to tell the people who he was or what were his principles. Almost every man who knew him was eager to vote for him ; and he was elected by a, large majority. 114 A Member of the Legislature 115 He was only twenty-five years old — a homely, awk- ward fellow who knew little of the ways of the world ; but by reason of his true worth and his untiring persever- ance, he had at this early age reached one of the most honorable positions in his state. He had now come to the first dividing line in his life : the years that were past had been his period of preparation ; the years that were to come would be periods of probation and achievement. The capital of Illinois at that time was Vandalia, a small town sixty or seventy miles southeast of Springfield. When the time came for Mr. Lincoln to start to the legis- lature, he found himself without money ; and his thread- bare coat and ill-fitting trousers were not such as a lawmaker might wear with credit. But his friends were ready and eager to help him ; and so, one day early in winter, feeling very strange in a brand new suit of jeans, he set out for the capital. He did not distinguish himself at that session of the legislature. He made no speeches, he proposed no new laws. But he was a listener and learner, and was ready with his vote in favor of whatever measure he thought would be best for the people of the state. He became acquainted with men of culture and intelligence ; he learned some of the ways of refined society ; and he impressed everybody with the fact that he was a quiet and sensible young man who was determined to make the best of everything that came in his way. The session was a short one, and in a few weeks Mr. Lincoln was back among his old friends at New Salem. Between studying law and surveying farms and roads, 1 1 6 Abraham Lincoln the summer months seemed very short to Mr. Lincoln, and another autumn passed unmarked by any unusual happening. At the beginning of winter, he was again among the lawmakers at Vandalia. It was at this second session of the legislature that Mr. Lincoln first met the man who was to be for many years his most powerful political rival. That man was Stephen A. Douglas, a young lawyer from Morgan County, who had lately been appointed circuit attorney. Mr. Douglas was at that time only twenty-two years old. Like Lincoln, he was poor ; but he had had opportunities of a kind which Mr. Lincoln had never known. Douglas was born at Brandon, Vermont, and when a mere babe had lost his father. His mother, who was a woman of culture, did all that she could to give him a good education. She taught him at home. When he was older she sent him to a small country school through the winter months; but during the rest of the year he had to work on the farm. He soon learned all that the district schoolmaster could teach him, and was anxious to know more ; but his mother was too poor to send him to college. At the age of fifteen he learned cabinet-making ; and by the practice of this trade he earned money enough to pay his tuition at an academy for nearly a year. Soon after this young Douglas's mother married again, and when he was seventeen, he went to live with her n.ear Canandaigua, New York, whither she had removed with her husband. There Douglas taught a short term of A Membej- of the Legislature 117 school, after which he attended an academy a few weeks, and then began the study of law. Having learned some of the first principles of his jjrofession, he made up his mind to seek his fortune in the West. Late in the autumn of 1833, he arrived at the village of Winchester, in IlHnois,, with no money in his pockets save three silver "levies" (373 cents), and no friend to whom he could apply for help. Like Abraham Lincoln, however, he was not the man to be cast down by trifles. He braced himself man- fully, and went right forward. Within three days he had made him- self so well known to the people of Win- chester that they chose him to teach their vil- lage school. At the end of the year he went to Jacksonville ; and in the very month that he was twenty-one, he was licensed to prac- tice law in the courts of Illinois. Two weeks thereafter he made a public speech in defense of President Jackson which so wrought upon his hearers that he at once became the most popular man in that part of the country. That speech won for him the office of circuit attorney Stephen A. Douglas Il8 Abraham Lincoln II. BETWEEN VANDALIA AND NEW SALEM The second session of the legislature of 183 5-1 836 was but little longer than the first, for it ended about the middle of January. Mr. Lincoln made but little prog- ress toward winning distinction. .Nevertheless he deliv- ered one or two short speeches which were listened to with attention ; and he talked so well on matters of public interest that everybody admired his sound judgment and the courage with which he defended his convictions. With the ending of the session the term for which he was elected expired. He returned to New Salem and announced himself as a candidate for reelection. This was the year also for the presidential election, when some one must be chosen to succeed Andrew Jack- son, whose second term would expire on the 4th of the following March. The campaign in Sangamon County was carried on with much vigor, and Mr. Lincoln distin- guished himself as a strong opponent of the Jackson democracy. " I go," he said, " for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its burdens. Conse- quently, I go for admitting all whites to the right of suf- frage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding females). . . . Whether elected or not, I go for distribu- ting the proceeds of the sales of the public lands to the several states, to enable our state, in common with others, to dig canals and construct railroads without borrowing money and paying interest on it." It is well to remember that there were at that time no Rag Barons vs. Sons of Toil 119 railroads in Illinois. The state was yet in its infancy. The great prairies were for the most part still unoccupied ; and in the northern section of the state there were wide stretches of unclaimed lands, broken only here and there by straggling, feeble settlements. But immigrants from the older states were coming in rapidly, and great changes were beginning to be made. It was just the time for an energetic young man to step to the front and make his influence felt ; and in Illinois there were two such men, Lincoln and Douglas. Abraham Lincoln spent more than half of the summer in traveling from one part of his district to another and making speeches — " stumping it," as people in the West would say. Sometimes he walked from town to town ; sometimes he rode astride of a farm horse which he described as being " plainly marked with harness " and as " having lost some of its shoes." His speeches were so interesting and convincing, and they were delivered with such force and ease, that he soon became known as one of the foremost orators of the state. III. RAG BARONS vs. SONS OF TOIL It was a favorite plea of the Democrats that theirs was the party of the common people — that it was the party of the sons of toil, the plain farmer and the humble laborer; and they ridiculed the Whigs as being the party of the kid-gloved gentry — of the rich speculator and the bloated aristocrat. All this had much weight among the hard- I20 Abraham Lincoln handed pioneers of the West ; and it gained many votes for Andrew Jackson and his friends. Among the Democratic speakers in Sangamon County there was a certain busy, bustling httle dandy known as Colonel Dick Taylor. When in town he took great pride in appearing well dressed. His clothing was of the most fashionable cut. He wore kid gloves and patent leather boots, and delighted in a gaudy display of diamond shirt studs and a gold watch chain with costly seals and charms. But when he went into the country to address the plain farmers and warn them against the Whigs, he cunningly put on a long linen " duster " to conceal all this finery of which he was so fond. He could then make his hearers believe that he too was a humble workingman, earning his bread by the sweat of his brow, and therefore in hearty sympathy with the "common people." On a certain day Colonel Taylor and Mr. Lincoln were to speak at the same political meeting. A great many farmers were there, eager to hear the questions of the day discussed. A few of them were Whigs ; but most were Democrats, and " Old Hickory " was their idol. Mr. Lincoln was dressed in a suit of coarse jeans; his coat was too large, his trousers were too short, his blue " hickory " shirt had neither collar nor cuffs, his cowhide boots were strangers to polish. Colonel Taylor, with his linen duster buttoned closely around him, also appeared to be a very plain man indeed. The colonel spoke first. He began by praising the wis- dom of President Jackson. Then he spoke briefly of the tariff and of the internal improvements and of the great Rag Barons vs. Sons of Toil 121 things which the Democratic party had done for the state of Illinois. As he enlarged upon this, he informed the lis- tening farmers that the Democrats — of whom he was one of the humblest — were the very "bone and sinew of the land " ; that they were the laborers, the producers ; that they were the plain people, the "hard-handed sons of toil," the despisers of luxury ; and, further, that they were the sole promoters of national prosperity. On the other hand, he described the Whigs as the "silk-stockinged gentry," the bloated aristocrats with "lily-white hands" unused to labor, the "rag barons" who fare sumptuously at the expense of the poor. He saw that his words were having an effect upon his hearers. He waxed very elo- quent, and in his wild enthusiasm made the most violent gestures, pacing the platform and sawing the air with his arms. At the very climax of his speech a sudden movement loosed the buttons from his worn duster. A gust of wind blew the long tails apart and exposed to view the faultless attire of the elegant dandy — his ruffled shirt front, his dia- mond studs, and his gold watch chain with sparkling pend- ants. Taylor was so taken aback that he paused in his harangue, and before he could say another word, Lincoln arose and stepped forward. Pointing to the finely dressed colonel, he cried out: "Behold the hard-handed son of toil ! Look, my friends, at this specimen of bone and sinew." Then, standing where all could see him, he laid his great bony hands upon his own breast and said: " But here is your rag baron with the lily-white hands ! Here, at your service, is one of your silk-stockinged 122 Abraham Lincoln gentry ! Yes, I suppose that I am even a bloated aristo- crat ! " He needed to say no more. The crowd burst into shouts of laughter and applause. He had won the day. The colonel, in great confusion, retired from the plat- form ; and it was many a day before he heard the last of the " rag barons " and the " hard-handed sons of toil." The Democratic candidate for the presidency that year was Martin Van Buren, who had been Vice President dur- ing Jackson's second term. His supporters were assured of his fitness for the office by his declaration that he would "follow in the footsteps of his predecessor." The Whigs very foolishly divided their votes among four candidates, and of course were badly beaten. The election again placed the power in the hands of the Democrats, and it was settled that " Old Hickory's " policy would control the government for at least four years longer. In some of the state and local elections, however, the Democrats suffered great losses, and this encouraged the Whigs to persevere in their opposition. Sangamon County, Illinois, was entitled to send nine delegates to the state legislature — two senators and seven representatives. When the election came off, it was found that the nine chosen were all Whigs; and of these, Mr. Lincoln received a higher number of votes than any other candidate. A very odd thing about this delegation was that each man was more than six feet in height. They were nicknamed the " Long Nine "; and Lincoln, because he was the tallest of all, was called the " Sangamon Chief." An Attorney at Law 1 23 IV. AN ATTORNEY AT LAW When winter came and the legislature met again at Vandaha, Mr. Lincoln was in his old seat. He was looked upon now as one of the leaders among the Whigs, and there were few more active members in the lower house of lawmakers. If all the laws which he advocated had been passed, the state would soon have been bankrupt. The people of his county had said, " Vote for a general system of pubhc improvements," and he took them at their word. He voted for railroads where there could be neither freight nor passengers, and for public highways where there was no one to travel them ; and he suggested the digging of a ship canal between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi along the same route that is now traversed by the great Drainage Canal of Chicago. His object in sup- porting these measures was to increase and develop the trade of the state, and thus bring capital into it and tempt enterprising men to become its citizens. It had been provided by law that the legislature should, at the proper time, select some permanent place for the seat of government — a place as convenient as might be to all of the inhabitants of the state. This duty devolved upon the legislature of 1 837-1 838. Vandalia was but a little village, not easy of access, and far from the center of the state. Everybody knew that it could not remain the capi- tal. The Long Nine of Sangamon proposed that Spring- field should be the favored place. They chose Mr. Lincoln to manage the project in the legislature; and such 124 AbraJiam Lincoln was his influence with the other members that the meas- ure was carried. The people of Sangamon County were delighted with what had been done. Many other towns had aspired to become the capital; and but for Mr. Lincoln's energy and good management, Springfield would hardly have won the prize. When the Long Nine returned home at the close of the legislature, the citizens of Springfield gave them a public welcome and entertained them at a banquet. Among the toasts given at this banquet was one in honor of Abraham Lincoln : " He has fulfilled the expecta- tions of his friends, and disappointed the hopes of his enemies." This was no doubt pleasing to him, but it was not just what he wanted at that time. It did not answer a question that was causing him great uneasiness. That question was. What should he do next.? He was now twenty-eight years old. He had not yet begun, except in a very small way, the practice of the pro- fession for which he had been so long trying to prepare himself. He was in debt. He was discouraged, and felt that he had not yet made any real start in hfe. Should he return to the dead village of New Salem, and again earn his support by surveying farms and doing odd jobs for his neighbors } William Butler, one of the citizens who had been most anxious to have the capital removed to Springfield, noticed the young man's dejection. " Lincoln," he said, " now that the legislature has adjourned, what are you going to do for a living ? " " I really don't know," was the answer. " If I could An Attorney at Law 1 25 afford it, I should like to make my home in Springfield and begin the practice of law." "And why not afford it?" said Mr. Butler. "You shall come to my house, and make your home with me as long as you please." That was indeed a generous offer on the part of Mr. Butler. Abraham Lincoln knew that it was sincere, and he accepted it, feeling more grateful than words could express. In the same year, therefore, that Springfield was chosen as the permanent capital of the state, it was honored by becoming the home of the man that was finally to be its most illustrious citizen. During the next three or four years, Mr. Lincoln took his meals at the house of Mr. Butler ; but he lodged in a very plain little room which he shared with a young Kentucky merchant named Joshua Speed. Springfield was at that time a mere village of straggling wooden houses, most of which were only one story in height. The streets were wastes of black dust in dry weather, and sloughs of blacker mud in wet weather. There were no sidewalks, and the only crossings were those made by throwing blocks of wood into the roadway. In the big county of Sangamon, from which several other counties have since been carved, there were about eighteen thousand people ; and of these, not one tenth were residents of the new state capital. Many of the people had come from Kentucky, and among the better class much attention was paid to social matters and to dress, 126 Abraham Lincoln and (as Lincoln himself quaintly said) there was " a good deal of flourishing about in carriages." The rude customs of pioneer days, however, had not entirely disappeared. It was still not uncommon to see men on the street clad in buckskin breeches and shirts of linsey- woolsey, with deerskin mocca- sins on their feet and carrying hunting knives in their belts. The women on the farms dressed very simply in homespun frocks ; they wore calico sunbonnets to church ; and they thought nothing of going bare- footed during the warm seasons of the year. Throughout the country there was a lingering prejudice against the finery of the " city folks," and many an honest farmer thought that he saw in the growing luxury of the times the causes that would in time bring dire disaster to the state and nation. It is very possible that the rough clothing which Mr. Law Office of Stuart & Lincoln, upstairs Hoxv Lincoln rode the Circuit 127 Lincoln wore, his toil-hardened hands, and his simple country manners, had much to do with his early popularity in Sangamon County. But it was his sterling good sense, his inborn kindness of heart, and his native qualities as a leader that won for him the esteem of the intelligent people of Illinois. He had scarcely become settled in Springfield before Major John T. Stuart, the lawyer who had lent him books and helped him in his studies, asked him to become his partner. And so, in a cramped and dusty little office overlooking the main street of the village, he established himself as the junior member of the firm of STUART & LINCOLN Attorneys-at-Law V. HOW LINCOLN RODE THE CIRCUIT Mr. Stuart was at that time very deeply engaged in politics, for it was the ambition of his life to be elected to Congress. He had been a candidate at the last election, and had been defeated. He was now laying his wires for the next election, and did not take much interest in the practice of law. It followed, therefore, that most of the business of the firm was done by Abraham Lincoln. But there was not a great deal to be done, and so there was plenty of time for study — which was just what Mr, 128 AbraJiavi Lincoln Lincoln needed. There were also many occasions for dis- cussing the political questions of the day, and much leisure for the telling of droll stories and the entertainment of idle friends. To all these duties and opportunities, Lin- coln applied himself with the same honest energy that had made him a good rail splitter and a successful surveyor. It must not be thought that he had retired from the leg- islature. He was reelected in 1838 and again in 1840, thus serving eight years in that body. But the sessions each year were short, and Mr. Lincoln managed to attend them without neglecting his work as an attorney. Sometimes this work required his attendance at court in another county ; and it often became necessary to follow the judge to several places in his judicial district. This was called "riding the circuit," and in those early times it was a regular part of every lawyer's business. The courthouses were rude affairs, often built of logs and almost as comfortless as barns. But whenever court was in session at any one of them, the people flocked to it from all the country round ; and the courtroom was crowded with interested listeners. Thus it was, that even the most illiterate farmers came to have a fair knowledge of the foundation principles of law. The county courts were, in one sense of the word, schools where good citizen- ship was taught. For twenty-one years Mr. Lincoln, in his capacity of attorney, attended these courts ; ^ and within that time he ^ His partnership with Mr. Stuart continued only two or three years. He then formed a connection with Judge Stephen T. Logan, which lasted scarcely as long. In 1843 he entered into partnership with a young lawyer, Hotv Lincobi rode the Circuit 129 fiad the management of many important cases. He was by no means a learned lawyer. How could he be, having had no teachers and none of the usual opportuni- ties ? But he was well liked by his fellow-lawyers ; he was respected by the judges on the bench; and he knew very well how to win the sympathies of juries. In that new country the cases that came before the courts were, for the most part, of a very simple character ; they re- quired no fine scholarship to discover all their points. There were no vast, intricate problems to be solved, such as now require legal talent of the highest order. And Mr. Lincoln was seldom on the wrong side of a case. His conscience would not permit him to support a cause which he believed to be unjust, or to defend a person whom he knew to be guilty. Those were great times for the lawyers in that Western country. While following the judge on his circuit, they were often obliged to go long distances in all sorts of weather. Sometimes they rode on horseback, with saddle- bags dangling on either side. Sometimes, when fees had not been plentiful, they trudged on foot along grassy by- paths or through the black mud of the prairie roads. Usually, when going from county seat to county seat, sev- eral lawyers would travel in company. No matter how bitterly they might oppose one another in the courts, they were always kind, jovial companions on the road. There were no bridges over the prairie streams, and these, although dry in summer, were often foaming torrents in William H. Herndon, and the two remained together until Mr. Lincoln was elected President. LINCOLN — 9 130 AbraJiavi Lincobt the sprin<;. Tiie only way to cross them at such times, was by finding the shallowest places and fording. The lawyers of Sangamon County when " riding the circuit," often found their way impeded by one of these streams. Then Abraham Lincoln, having the longest legs, was sent forward to find how deep the water was. He would take off his boots, roll up his trousers, and wade boldly in, look- ing for a good fording place. When he had found it, he would kindly help the rest of the party across — showing them where to step, and sometimes giving the smaller ones a generous lift with his strong arms. One summer day several lawyers were returning to Springfield from a neighboring county seat, where they had been attending court. They were riding on horse- back, along a narrow wagon way that was bordered on either side by a growth of underwoods, such as hawthorn bushes and wild plum trees. When nearly through the thicket, they came to a brook, where they stopped to let their horses drink. Then it was noticed that one of their number was missing. " Where is Lincoln } " they asked. The man who had been riding with him said that he had stopped at some distance back in order to pick up some young birds that the wind had blown from their nest. No doubt he was hunting the nest, to put them into it again. They rode on slowly, and by and by Lincoln overtook them. " Well, Abe, did you find that bird's nest .? " " I did," he answered; "although it was no easy thing A Sdrrhig Caiiipaign 131 to get at. 1 could not have slept to-night if I had left those poor creatures on the ground and not restored them to their mother." Think of his great, sturdy frame, and then -of his gentle- ness of heart — of his tenderness for all things weak and helpless. It was this very tenderness and sympathy that made him the noble man that he was. It was his gentle- ness that afterward endeared him to multitudes of his fellow-beings. VI. A STIRRING CAMPAIGN The years passed swiftly now, and the time soon came for another presidential election. The Democrats, as a matter of course, renominated Martin Van Buren. 1840 The Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison of Ohio for President, and John Tyler of Virginia for Vice President. The Democrats declared themselves opposed to any system that would favor the industries of one section of the country at the expense of another section ; and they asserted that Congress had no power to interfere with the practice of slaveholding in any of the states. The Whigs made no declaration of principles. They aimed only at the overthrow of the Democratic party and the defeat of Martin Van Buren. The campaign was the most remarkable that had ever been known. Somebody had ridiculed General Harrison by saying that he lived in a log cabin and that all he wanted was a small pension from the government and a 15* Lsmrg&t "5- ipKHlTtl ^ ^: =in < ii. a Hsr tr p iiie pZEEI TS' tirr fait tfeffit HsiliSfiBtt was 2. ^B2I1> m, and evesybufiij ^b3s wdkxmse t& hesz af it xr^i -aiigd. A Stirring Campaign 133 was long remembered as a time of intense excitement, especially in the West. All summer long Abraham Lincoln was busy making speeches for the Whig party, for General Harrison, and for himself — for he was again a candidate for the legisla- ture. General Harrison had once defeated the Indians in a fierce battle near Tippecanoe in Indiana. He was there- fore often called "Old Tippecanoe," and the rallying cry of his party was " Tippecanoe and Tyler, too ! " Election day came, and Harrison was chosen President by a very large majority. The Whigs were almost every- where victorious. Abraham Lincoln was elected to the legislature for the fourth time. Jacksonian democracy became, for the time being, a thing of the past.^ The contest between the two great parties had been so full of interest that many people did not even hear of a third party which came into notice for the first time during the campaign of 1840. It was a party which boldly took up as an issue the very question which the other parties were an.xious to say nothing about — the question of slavery. Both Whigs and Democrats claimed that any discussion of that subject was unwise and should be avoided. 1 On the 4th of March, 1841, Presirlent Harrison was inauguratefl, and the Whigs looked forward to at least four years of supremacy in the government of the United States. But their hopes were soon dashed to the ground. Just one month after his inauguration the President died. The Vice President, John Tyler, who succeeded him, was a .Southern Whig — a follower of John C. Cal houn — who had l>ut little sympathy with the majority of the party. He was soon in ojjcn disagreement with the men who had elected liim. The Whig lca