2B A LECTURE BY ROBERT G. INGERSOLL. chains from the bodies of men nothing r than to destroy the phantoms of the soul NEW YORK. C. P. FARRELL, PUBLISHER, 1895. PROSE-POEMS AND SELECTIONS, BY ROBERT ft TNGERSOLL. _^^_. VA A_ --- --- Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 'aan&some Quarto, con\,ammg oner 30O pages. HIS is, beyond question, the most elegant volume in Liberal literature. Its mechanical finish is worthy of its intrinsic excellence. No expense has been spared to make it the thing of beauty it is. The type is large and clear, the paper heavy, highly calendered and richly tinted, the press-work faultless, and th binding as perfect as the best materials and skill can make it. The book is in every way an artistic triumph. As to the contents, it is enough to say that they include some of the choicest utterances of the greatest writer on the topics treated that has ever lived. Those who have not the good fortune to own all of Mr. Ingersoll's published works, will have in this book of selections many bright samples of his lofty thought, his matchless eloquence, his wonderful imagery, and his epigrammatic and poetic power. The collection includes all of the " Tributes " that have become famous in literature notably those to his brother E. C. Ingersoll, Lincoln, Grant, Beecher and Elizur Wright; his peerless monograms on "The Vision of War," Love, Liberty, Science, Nature, The Imagination, Decoration Day Oration, and on the great heroes of intellectual liberty. Besides these are innumerable gems taken here and there from the orations, speeches, arguments, toasts, lectures, letters, and day to day con- versations of the author. The book is designed for, and will be accepted by, admiring friends as a rare personal souvenir. To help it serve this purpose, a fine steel portrait, with autograph fac-simile, has been prepared especially for it. In the more elegant styles of binding it is eminently suited for presentation purposes, for any season or occasion. PRICES. In Cloth, beveled boards, gilt edges, - $2.5O In Half Morocco, gilt edges, - - 5.OO In Half Calf, mottled edges, library style, - 4.5O In Full Turkey Morocco, gilt, exquisitely fine, 7.5O In Full Tree-Calf, highest possible finish, - - 9.OO Sent to any address, by express, prepaid, or mail, post free, on receipt of price. ADDRESS C. F\ KARRELL, PUBLISHER, 4OO Fifth Avenue, New Vprk City. Abraham Lincoln. By permission of the Century Co. A LECTURE BY ROBERT G. INGERSOLL Nothing is grander than to break chains from the bodies of men nothing nobler than to destroy the phantoms of the soul. NEW YORK. C. P. FARRELL, PUBLISHER, 1895, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, BY ROBERT G. INGERSOLL, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. . THE. ECK.LER PREJ-J. 33 TULTON v5r. NEW YORK. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. i. the 1 2th of February, 1809, two babes were born one in the woods of Kentucky, amid the hardships and poverty of pioneers ; one in Eng- land, surrounded by wealth and culture. One was educated in the University of Nature, the other at Cambridge. One associated his name with the enfranchisement of labor, with the emancipation of millions, with the salvation of the Republic. He is known to us as Abraham Lincoln. The other broke the chains of superstition and filled the world with intellectual light, and he is known as Charles Darwin. Nothing is grander than to break chains from the 4 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. bodies of men nothing nobler than to destroy the phantoms of the soul. Because of these two men the Nineteenth Century is illustrious. A few men and women make a nation glorious Shakespeare made England immortal, Voltaire civil- ized and humanized France, Goethe, Schiller and Humboldt lifted Germany into the light. Angelo, Raphael, Galileo and Bruno crowned with fadeless laurel the Italian brow, and now the most precious treasure of the Great Republic is the memory of Abraham Lincoln. Every generation has its heroes, its iconoclasts, its pioneers, its ideals. The people always have been and still are divided, at least into classes the many, who with their backs to the sunrise worship the past, and the few, who keep their faces towards the dawn the many, who are satisfied with the world as it is ; the few, who labor and suffer for the future, for those to be, and who seek to rescue the op- pressed, to destroy the cruel distinctions of caste, and to civilize mankind. Yet it sometimes happens that the liberator of one age becomes the oppressor of the next. His repu- tation becomes so great he is so revered and wor- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 5 shipped that his followers, in his name, attack the hero who endeavors to take another step in advance. The heroes of the Revolution, forgetting the jus- tice for which they fought, put chains upon the limbs of others, and in their names the lovers of liberty were denounced as ingrates and traitors. During the Revolution our fathers to justify their rebellion dug down to the bed-rock of human rights and planted their standard there. They declared that all men were entitled to liberty and that govern- ment derived its power from the consent of the governed. But when victory came, the great prin- ciples were forgotten and chains were put upon the limbs of men. Both of the great political parties were controlled by greed and selfishness. Both were the defenders and protectors of slavery. For nearly three-quarters of a century these parties had control of the Republic. The principal object of both parties was the protection of the infamous in- stitution. Both were eager to secure the Southern vote and both sacrificed principle and honor upon the altar of success. At last the Whig party died and the Republican was born. This party was opposed to the further extension of slavery. The Democratic party of the 6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. South wished to make the " divine institution " national while the Democrats of the North wanted the question decided by each territory for itself. Each of these parties had conservatives and ex- tremists. The extremists of the Democratic party were in the rear and wished to go back ; the ex- tremists of the Republican party were in the front, and wished to go forward. The extreme Democrat was willing to destroy the Union for the sake of slavery, and the extreme Republican was willing to destroy the Union for the sake of liberty. Neither party could succeed without the votes of its extremists. This was the condition in i858-6o. When Lincoln was a child his parents removed from Kentucky to Indiana. A few trees were felled a log hut open to the south, no floor, no window, was built a little land plowed and here the Lincolns lived. Here the patient, thoughtful, silent, loving mother died died in the wide forest as a leaf dies, leaving nothing to her son but the memory of her love. In a few years the family moved to Illinois. Lin- coln then almost grown, clad in skins, with no woven stitch upon his body walking and driving the ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 7 cattle. Another farm was opened a few acres subdued and enough raised to keep the wolf from the door. Lincoln quit the farm went down the Ohio and Mississippi as a hand on a flat-boat afterwards clerked in a country store then in part- nership with another bought the store failed. Nothing left but a few debts learned the art of surveying made about half a living and paid some- thing on the debts read law admitted to the bar *_> tried a few small cases nominated for the legis- lature and made a speech. This speech was in favor of a tariff, not only for revenue, but to encourage American manufacturers and to protect American workingmen. Lincoln knew then as well as we do now, that everything, to the limits of the possible, that Americans use should be produced by the energy, skill and in- genuity of Americans. He knew that the more industries we had, the greater variety of things we made, the greater would be the development of the American brain. And he knew that great men and great women are the best things that a nation can produce, the finest crop a country can possibly raise. He knew that a nation that sells raw material will o ABRAHAM LINCOLN. grow ignorant and poor, while the people who man- ufacture will grow intelligent and rich. To dig, to chop, to plow, requires more muscle than mind, more strength than thought. To invent, to manufacture, to take advantage of the forces of nature this requires thought, talent, genius. This develops the brain and gives wings to the imagination. It is better for Americans to purchase from Amer- icans, even if the things purchased cost more. If we purchase a ton of steel rails from England for twenty dollars, then we have the rails and Eng- land the money. But if we buy a ton of steel rails from an American for twenty-five dollars, then America has the rails and the money both. Judging from the present universal depression and the recent elections, Lincoln, in his first speech, stood on solid rock and was absolutely right. Lin- coln was educated in the University of Nature educated by cloud and star by field and winding stream by billowed plains and solemn forests by morning's birth and death of clay by storm and night by the ever eager Spring by Summer's wealth of leaf and vine and flower the sad and transient o-lories of the Autumn woods and Win- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 9 ter, builder of home and fireside, and whose storms without, create the social warmth within. He was perfectly acquainted with the political questions of the day heard them discussed at taverns and country stores, at voting places and courts and on the stump. He knew all the argu- ments for and against, and no man of his time was better equipped for intellectual conflict. He knew the average mind the thoughts of the people, the hopes and prejudices of his fellow-men. He had the power of accurate statement. He was logical, candid and sincere. In addition, he had the " touch of nature that makes the whole world kin." In 1 858 he was a candidate for the Senate against Stephen A. Douglas. The extreme Democrats would not vote for Dou^- o las, but the extreme Republicans did vote for Lin- coln. Lincoln occupied the middle ground, and was the compromise candidate of his own party. He had lived for many years in the intellectual territory of compromise in a part of our country settled by Northern and Southern men where Northern and Southern ideas met, and the ideas of the two sec- tions were brought together and compared. The sympathies of Lincoln, his ties of kindred, IO ABRAHAM LINCOLN. were with the South. His convictions, his sense of justice, and his ideals, were with the North. He knew the horrors of slavery, and he felt the un- speakable ecstacies and glories of freedom. He had the kindness, the gentleness, of true greatness, and he could not have been a master ; he had the man- hood and independence of true greatness, and he could not have been a slave. He was just, and was incapable of putting a burden upon others that he himself would not willingly bear. He was merciful and profound, and it was not necessary for him to read the history of the world to know that liberty and slavery could not live in the same nation, or in the same brain. Lincoln was a statesman. And there is this difference between a politician and a statesman. A politician schemes and works in every way to make the people do something for him. A statesman wishes to do some- thing for the people. With him place and power are means to an end, and the end is the good of his country. In this campaign Lincoln demonstrated three things first, that he was the intellectual superior of his op- ponent ; second, that he was right ; and third, that a majority of the voters of Illinois were on his side. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I I II. TN 1860 the Republic reached a crisis. The con- flict between liberty and slavery could no longer be delayed. For three-quarters of a century the forces had been gathering for the battle. After the Revolution, principle was sacrificed for the sake of gain. The Constitution contradicted the Declaration. Liberty as a principle was held in con- tempt. Slavery took possession of the Government. Slavery made the laws, corrupted courts, dominated presidents and demoralized the people. I do not hold the South responsible for slavery any more than I do the North, The fact is, that individuals and nations act as they must. There is no chance. Back of every event of every hope, prejudice, fancy and dream of every opinion and belief of every vice and virtue of every smile and curse, is the efficient cause. The present mo- ment is the child, and the necessary child, of all the past. Northern politicians wanted office, and so they defended slavery Northern merchants wanted to sell their goods to the South, and so they were the enemies of freedom. The preacher wished to please 12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. the people who paid his salary, and so he denounced the slave for not being satisfied with the position in which the good God had placed him. The respectable, the rich, the prosperous, the holders of and the seekers for office, held liberty in contempt. They regarded the Constitution as far more sacred than the rights of men. Candidates for the presidency were applauded because they had tried to make slave States of free territory, and the highest Court solemnly and ignorantly decided that colored men and women had no rights. Men who insisted that freedom was better than slavery, and that mothers should not be robbed of their babes, were hated, despised and mobbed. Mr. Douglas voiced the feelings of millions when he declared that he did not care whether slavery was voted up or down. Upon this question the people, a majority of them, were almost savages. Honor, manhood, conscience, principle all sacrificed for the sake of gain or office. From the heights of philosophy standing above the contending hosts, above the prejudices, the sentimentalities of the day Lincoln was great enough and brave enough and wise enough to utter these prophetic words : ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 13 "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot permanently endure half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved ; I do not ex- pect the house to fall ; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all the one thing or the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it further until it becomes alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as well as South." This declaration was the standard around which gathered the grandest political party the world has ever seen, and this declaration made Lincoln the leader of that vast host. In this, the first great crisis, Lincoln uttered the victorious truth that made him the foremost man in the Republic. The Republican party nominated him for the presidency and the people decided at the polls that a house divided against itself could not stand, and that slavery had cursed soul and soil enough. It is not a common thing to elect a really great man to fill the highest official position. I do not say that the great presidents have been chosen by acci- dent. Probably it would be better to say that they were the favorites of a happy chance. The average man is afraid of genius. He feels as 14 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. an awkward man feels in the presence of a sleight- of-hand performer. He admires and suspects. Genius appears to carry too much sail to lack prudence, has too much courage. The ballast of dullness inspires confidence. By a happy chance Lincoln was nominated and elected in spite of his fitness and the patient, gentle, just and loving man was called upon to bear as great a burden as man has ever borne. III. r ~PHEN came another crisis the crisis of Seces- sion, and Civil War. Again Lincoln spoke the deepest feeling and the highest thought of the Nation. In his first message he said : "The central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy." He also showed conclusively that the North and South, in spite of secession, must remain face to face that physically they could not separate that they must have more or less commerce, and that this commerce must be carried on, either between the two sections as friends, or as aliens : This situation and its consequences he pointed out to absolute perfection in these words : ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I 5 ' ' Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws ? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws among friends ? ' ' After having stated fully and fairly the philosophy of the conflict, after having said enough to satisfy any calm and thoughtful mind, he addressed himself to the hearts of America. Probably there are few finer passages in literature than the close of Lin- coln's inaugural address : " I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break, our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriotic grave to every loving heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. ' ' These noble, these touching, these pathetic words, were delivered in the presence of rebellion, in the midst of spies and conspirators surrounded by but few friends, most of whom were unknown, and some of whom were wavering in their fidelity at a time when secession was arrogant and organized, when patriotism was silent, and when, to quote the ex- pressive words of Lincoln himself, " Sinners were calling the righteous to repentance." When Lincoln became President, he was held in 1 6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. contempt by the South underrated by the North and East not appreciated even by his cabinet and yet he was not only one of the wisest, but one of the shrewdest of mankind. Knowing that he had the right to enforce the laws of the Union in all parts of the United States and Territories know- ing, as he did, that the secessionists were in the wrong, he also knew that they had sympathizers not only in the North but in other lands. Consequently he felt that it was of the utmost im- portance that the South should fire the first shot, should do some act that would solidify the North and gain for us the justification of the civilized world. He proposed to give food to the soldiers at Sum- ter. He asked the advice of all his cabinet on this question, and all, with the exception of Montgomery Blair, answered in the negative, giving their reasons in writing. In spite of this, Lincoln took his own course endeavored to send the supplies, and while thus engaged, doing his simple duty, the South commenced actual hostilities and fired on the fort. The course pursued by Lincoln was absolutely right, and the act of the South to a great extent solidified the North, and gained for the Republic the justifica- tion of a great number of people in other lands. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I 7 At that time Lincoln appreciated the scope and consequences of the impending conflict. Above all other thoughts in his mind was this : " This conflict will settle the question, at least for " centuries to come, whether man is capable of " governing himself, and consequently is of greater " importance to the free than to the enslaved." He knew what depended on the issue and he said : " We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, " best hope of earth." IV. TPHEN came a crisis in the North. It became clearer and clearer to Lincoln's mind, day by day, that the rebellion was slavery, and that it was necessary to keep the border States on the side of the Union. For this purpose he proposed a scheme of emancipation and colonization a scheme by which the owners of slaves should be paid the full value of what they called their " property." He knew that if the border States agreed to grad- ual emancipation, and received compensation for their slaves, they would be forever lost to the Con- federacy, whether secession succeeded or not. It was objected at the time, by some, that the scheme 1 8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. was far too expensive ; but Lincoln, wiser than his advisers far wiser than his enemies demon- strated that from an economical point of view, his course was best. He proposed that $400 be paid for slaves, includ- ing men, women and children. This was a large price, and yet he show r ed how much cheaper it was to purchase than to carry on the war. At that time, at the price mentioned, there were about $75o,ooo worth of slaves in Delaware. The cost of carrying on the war was at least two millions of dollars a day, and for one-third of one day's ex- penses, all the slaves in Delaware could be purchased. He also showed that all the slaves in Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri could be bought, at the same price, for less than the expense of carry- ing on the war for eighty-seven days. This was the wisest thing that could have been proposed, and yet such was the madness of the South, such the indignation of the North, that the advice was unheeded. Again, in July, 1862, he urged on the Representa- tives of the border States a scheme of gradual com- pensated emancipation ; but the Representatives were too deaf to hear, too blind to see. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 19 Lincoln always hated slavery, and yet he felt the obligations and duties of his position. In his first message he assured the South that the laws, includ- ing the most odious of all the law for the return o of fugitive slaves would be enforced. The South would not hear. Afterwards he proposed to pur- chase the slaves of the border States, but the propo- sition was hardly discussed hardly heard. Events came thick and fast ; theories gave way to facts, and everything was left to force. The extreme Democrat of the North was fearful that slavery might be destroyed, that the Constitu- tion might be broken, and that Lincoln, after all, could not be trusted ; and at the same time the radi- cal Republican feared that Lincoln loved the Union more than he did liberty. The fact is, that he tried to discharge the obliga- tions of his great office, knowing from the first that slavery must perish. The course pursued by Lin- coln was so gentle, so kind and persistent, so wise and logical, that millions of Northern Democrats sprang to the defence, not only of the Union, but of his administration. Lincoln refused to be led or hurried by Fremont or Hunter, by Greeley or Sum- ner. From first to last he was the real leader, and he kept step with events. 2O ABRAHAM LINCOLN. V. the 22cl of July, 1862, Lincoln sent word to the members of his cabinet that he wished to see them. It so happened that Secretary Chase was the first to arrive. He found Lincoln reading a book. Looking up from the page, the President said : " Chase, did you ever read this book ?" "What book is it ?" asked Chase. "Artemus Ward," re- plied Lincoln. " Let me read you this chapter, entitled ' Wax Wurx in Albany! ' And so he began reading while the other members of the cabinet one by one came in. At last Stanton told Mr. Lincoln that he was in a great hurry, and if any business was to be done he would like to do it at once. Where- upon Mr. Lincoln laid down the open book opened a drawer, took out a paper and said : " Gentlemen, I have called you together to notify you what I have determined to do I want no advice. Nothing can change my mind." He then read the Proclamation of Emancipation - Chase thought there ought to be something about God at the close, to which Lincoln replied : " Put it in, it won't hurt it." It was also agreed that the ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 21 President would wait for a victory in the field before giving the Proclamation to the world. The meeting was over, the members went their way. Mr. Chase was the last to go, and as he went through the door looked back and saw that Mr. Lin- coln had taken up the book and was again engrossed in the Wax Wurx at Albany. This was on the 22d of July, 1862. On the 22d of August of the same year after Lincoln wrote his celebrated letter to Horace Greeley, in which he stated that his object was to save the Union ; that he would save it with slavery if he could ; that if it was necessary to destroy slavery in order to save the Union, he would ; in other words, he would do what was necessary to save the Union. This letter disheartened, to a great degree, thou- sands and millions of the friends of freedom. They felt that Mr. Lincoln had not attained the moral height upon which they supposed he stood. And yet, when this letter was written, the Emancipation Proclamation was in his hands, and had been for thirty days, waiting only an opportunity to give it to the world. Some two weeks after the letter to Greeley, Lin- coln was waited on by a committee of clergymen, 22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and was by them informed that it was God's will that he should issue a Proclamation of Emancipation. He replied to them, in substance, that the day of miracles had passed. He also mildly and kindly suggested that if it were God's will this Proclamation should be issued, certainly God would have made known that will to him to the person whose duty it was to issue it. On the 22d day of September, 1862, the most glorious date in the history of the Republic, the Proclamation of Emancipation was issued. Lincoln had reached the generalization of all argu- ment upon the question of slavery and freedom a generalization that never has been, and probably never will be, excelled : ' ' In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free." This is absolutely true. Liberty can be retained, can be enjoyed, only by giving it to others. The spendthrift saves, the miser is prodigal. In the realm of Freedom, waste is husbandry. He who puts chains upon the body of another shackles his own soul. The moment the Proclamation was issued, the cause of the Republic became sacred. From that moment the North fought for the human race. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 23 From that moment the North stood under the blue and stars, the flag of Nature sublime and free. In 1831, Lincoln went down the Mississippi on a flat-boat. He received the extravagant salary of ten dollars a month. When he reached New Or- leans, he and some of his companions went about the city. Among other places, they visited a slave market, where men and women were being sold at auction. A young colored girl was on the block. Lincoln heard the brutal words of the auctioneer the savage remarks of bidders. The scene filled his soul with indignation and horror. Turning to his companions, he said, " Boys, if I ever get a chance to hit slavery, by God I'll hit it hard ! " The helpless girl, unconsciously, had planted in a great heart the seeds of the Proclamation. Thirty-one years afterwards the chance came, the oath was kept, and to four millions of slaves, of men, women and children, was restored liberty, the jewel of the soul. In the history, in the fiction of the world, there is nothing more intensely dramatic than this. Lincoln held within his brain the grandest truths, 24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and he held them as unconsciously, as easily, as naturally, as a waveless pool holds within its stainless breast a thousand stars. In these two years we had traveled from the Or- dinance of Secession to the Proclamation of Eman- cipation. VI. T \ TE were surrounded by enemies. Many of the so-called great in Europe and England were against us. They hated the Republic, despised our institutions, and sought in many ways to aid the South. Mr. Gladstone announced that Jefferson Davis had made a nation, and that he did not believe the restor- ation of the American Union by force attainable. From the Vatican came words of encouragement for the South. It was declared that the North was fighting for empire and the South for independence. The Marquis of Salisbury said : " The people of the South are the natural allies of England. The North keeps an opposition shop in the same depart- ment of trade as ourselves." Not a very elevated sentiment but English. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 25 Some of their statesmen declared that the subju- gation of the South by the North would be a calamity to the world. Louis Napoleon was another enemy, and he en- deavored to establish a monarchy in Mexico, to the end that the great North might be destroyed. But the patience, the uncommon common sense, the statesmanship of Lincoln in spite of foreign hate and Northern division triumphed over all. And now we forgive all foes. Victory makes forgiveness easy. Lincoln was, by nature, a diplomat. He knew the art of sailing against the wind. He had as much shrewdness as is consistent with honesty. He understood, not only the rights of individ- uals, but of nations. In all his correspondence with other governments he neither wrote nor sanctioned a line which afterwards was used to tie his hands. In the use of perfect English he easily rose above all his advisers and all his fellows. No one claims that Lincoln did all. He could have done nothing without the generals in the field ; and the generals could have done nothing without their armies. The praise is due to all to the 26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. private as much as to the officer ; to the lowest who did his duty, as much as to the highest. My heart goes out to the brave private as much as to the leader of the host. But Lincoln stood at the centre and with infinite patience, with consummate skill, with the genius of goodness, directed, cheered, consoled and conquered. VII. OLAVERY was the cause of the war, and slavery was the perpetual stumbling-block. As the war went on, question after question arose questions that could not be answered by theories. Should we hand back the slave to his master, when the master was using his slave to destroy the Union ? If the South was right, slaves were property, and by the laws of war anything that might be used to the ad- vantage of the enemy might be confiscated by us. Events did not wait for discussion. General Butler denominated the negro as " a contraband." Con- gress provided that the property of the rebels might be confiscated. The extreme Democrats of the North regarded the slave as more sacred than life. It was no harm ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 2? to kill the master to burn his house, to ravage his fields but you must not free his slave. If in war, a nation has the right to take the prop- erty of its citizens of its friends certainly it has the right to take the property of those it has the right to kill. Lincoln was wise enough to know that war is governed by the laws of war, and that dur- ing the conflict constitutions are silent. All that he could do he did in the interests of peace. He offered to execute every law in- cluding the most infamous of all to buy the slaves in the border States to establish grad- ual, compensated emancipation ; but the South would not hear. Then he confiscated the prop- erty of rebels treated the slaves as contraband of war, used them to put down the rebellion, armed them and clothed them in the uniform of the Republic was in favor of making them citizens and allowing them to stand on an equality with their white brethren under the flag of the Nation. During these years Lincoln moved with events, and every step he took has been justified by the considerate judgment of man- kind. 2& ABRAHAM LINCOLN. VIII. T INCOLN not only watched the war, but kept his * - ' hand on the political pulse. In 1863 a tide set in against the administration. A Republican meet- ing was to be held in Springfield, Illinois, and Lin- coln wrote a letter to be read at this convention. It was in his happiest vein. It was a perfect defense of his administration, including the Proclamation of Emancipation. Among other things he said : " But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or it is not valid. If it is not valid it needs no retraction, but if it is valid it cannot be retracted, any more than the dead can be brought to life." To the Northern Democrats who said they would not fight for negroes, Lincoln replied : ' ' Some of them seem willing to fight for you but no matter." Of negro soldiers : ' ' But negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should they do anything for us if we will do nothing for them ? If they stake their lives for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive even the promise of freedom. And the promise, being made, must be kept." ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 2Q There is one line in this letter that will give it immortality : ' ' The Father of waters again goes unvexed to the sea. ' ' This line is worthy of Shakespeare. Another : "Among free men there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet." He draws a comparison between the white men against us and the black men for us : "And then there will be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue and clenched teeth and steady eye and well-poised bayonet they have helped mankind on to this great consummation ; while I fear there will be some white ones un- able to forget that with malignant heart and deceitful speech they strove to hinder it. ' ' Under the influence of this letter, the love of coun- try, of the Union, and above all, the love of liberty, took possession of the heroic North. There was the greatest moral exaltation ever known. The spirit of liberty took possession of the people. The masses became sublime. To fight for yourself is natural to fight for others is grand to fight for your country is noble to 3O ABRAHAM LINCOLN. fight for the human race for the liberty of hand and brain is nobler still. As a matter of fact, the defenders of slavery had sown the seeds of their own defeat. They dug the pit in which they fell. Clay and Webster and thou- sands of others, had by their eloquence made the Union almost sacred. The Union was the very tree of life, the source and stream and sea of liberty and law. For the sake of slavery millions stood by the Union, for the sake of liberty millions knelt at the altar of the Union ; and this love of the Union is what, at last, overwhelmed the Confederate hosts. It does not seem possible that only a few years ago our Constitution, our laws, our Courts, the Pulpit and the Press defended and upheld the institution of slavery that it was a crime to feed the hungry to give water to the lips of thirst shelter to a woman flying from the whip and chain ! The old flag still flies the stars are there the stains have gone. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 31 IX. T INCOLN always saw the end. He was unmoved *-* by the storms and currents of the times. He advanced too rapidly for the conservative politicians, too slowly for the radical enthusiasts. He occupied the line of safety, and held by his personality by the force of his great character, by his charming candor the masses on his side. The soldiers thought of him as a father. All who had lost their sons in battle felt that they had his sympathy felt that his face was as sad as theirs. They knew that Lincoln was actuated by one motive, and that his energies were bent to the attainment of one end the salvation of the Re- public. They knew that he was kind, sincere and merci- ful. They knew that in his veins there was no drop of tyrants' blood. They knew that he used his power to protect the innocent, to save reputation and life that he had the brain of a philosopher the heart of a mother. During all the years of war, Lincoln stood the embodiment of mercy, between discipline and death. He pitied the imprisoned and condemned. He took 32 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. the unfortunate in his arms, and was the friend even of the convict. He knew temptation's strength the weakness of the will and how in fury's sudden flame the judgment drops the scales, and passion blind and deaf usurps the throne. One day a woman, accompanied by a Senator, called on the President. The woman was the wife of one of Mosby's men. Her husband had been captured, tried and condemned to be shot. She came to ask for the pardon of her husband. The President heard her story and then asked what kind of man her husband was. " Is he intemperate, does he abuse the children and beat you ? " " No, no," said the wife, " he is a good man, a good husband, he loves me and he loves the children, and we can- not live without him. The only trouble is that he is a fool about politics I live in the North, born there, and if I get him home, he will do no more fighting for the South." " Well," said Mr. Lincoln, after examining the papers, " I will pardon your husband and turn him over to you for safe keeping." The poor woman, overcome with joy, sobbed as though her heart would break. " My dear woman," said Lincoln, " if I had known how badly it was going to make you feel, I never ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 33 would have pardoned him." " You do not under- stand me," she cried between her sobs. " You do not understand me." " Yes, yes, I do," answered the President, " and if you do not go away at once I shall be crying with you." On another occasion, a member of Congress, on his way to see Lincoln, found in one of the ante- rooms of the White House an old white-haired man, sobbing his wrinkled face wet with tears. The old man told him that for several days he had tried to see the President that he wanted a pardon for his son. The Congressman told the old man to come with him and he would introduce him to Mr. Lincoln. On being introduced, the old man said : " Mr. Lincoln, my wife sent me to you. We had three boys. They all joined your army. One of 'em has been killed one's a fighting now, and one of 'em, the youngest, has been tried for deserting and he's going to be shot day after to-morrow. He never deserted. He's wild, and he may have drunk too much and wandered off, but he never deserted, Taint in the blood - he's his mother's favorite, and if he's shot, I know she'll die." The President, turning to his secretary, said : " Telegraph General Butler to suspend the execution in the case of 34 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. [giving the name] until further orders from me, and ask him to answer - ." The Congressman congratulated the old man on his success but the old man did not respond. He was not satisfied. " Mr. President," he began, id;iy Under Three Heads. AS it is; as Sabbath bin would make i: ; and as it might be made. By Charles Dickens. Illustrated by Phiz. Portrait. Preface by Peter Eckler. Cloth 50 cts., paper 25 cts. Pa i ne's Religious and Theological Works Complete, with Portraits of Paine, Samuel Adams, Thomas Erskine, Camille Jordan, Richard Watson, etc. One vol., post 8vo., 432 pages, paper 50 cts., cloth $1.00. Paine's Political Works Complete, in two volumes, post 8vo, doth, illustrated, containing over 500 pages each. Price $1.00 per volume. Common Sense. Paine's first and most important political work. Paper isc The Crisis. Containing the full XVI. numbers. Cloth 50 cts. ; paper 30 cts. Rights Of jVIail. A work almost without a peer. 279 pp. Cloth soc. paper 300. The Age Of Reason. For nearly one hundred years the clergy have been vainly trying to answer this book. 186 pages. Cloth 50 cts.; paper 25 cts. Life Ot Paine, with :j;any portraits and illustrations. Cloth 7->c. paper soc. INGERSOLL'S LECTURES, + IN ONE VOLUME, t* CONTENTS: THE GODS. HUMBOLDT, INDIVIDUALITY, THOMAS PAINE, HERETICS AND HERESIES. THE GHOSTS. THE LIBERTY OF MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD, THE CENTENNIAL ORATION, OR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, July 4, 1876. WHAT I KNOW ABOUT FARMING IN ILLINOIS. SPEECH AT CINCINNATI IN 1876, nominating James G. Elaine for the Presidency. THE PAST RISES BEFORE ME; OR, VISION OF WAR, an extract from a Speech made at the Soldiers and Sailors Reunion at Indianapolis, Indiana, Sept. 21, 1876. A TRIBUTE TO EBON C. INGERSOLL. SOME MISTAKES OF MOSES. WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE SAVED? SIX INTERVIEWS WITH ROBERT G. INGERSOLL ON SIX SERMONS BY THE Rev. T. DEWITT TALMAGE, D. D. ; to which is added a TALMAGIAN CATECHISM. And FOUR PREFACES, which contain some of Mr. Ingersoll's wittiest and brightest sayings. This volume contains a fine steel portrait of the author, and has had the greatest popularity, is beautifully bound in Half Morocco, mottled edges, 1,300 pages, good paper, large type, small 8vo. ^ Price, post paid, $5.00. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIinil lltllllllllllHI1Hf[IIIIIIIHIHllllll!!llllllllllllllllllllll!ltll!IIIIHIIIHI1l|i New Books by Col. R. G. Ingersoll. A NEW LECTURE Price, paper, Twenty-five cents. a* Sin. *? "SOMETHING BRAND NEW!" TXGERSOLL'S startling, brilliant and . thr'llingly eloquent letters, which crea- 1 ated $uch a sensation when published in the Aerv York World, to;.. with the replies of famous clergymen and writers, a verdict from a jury o inent men uf New York, Curious Facts About Suicides, celebrated Essays and Opinions of noted men, and an astonishing and original chapter, Great Suicides of History ! Price, heavy paper, with portrait of Col. Ingersoll, 25 cents. Tlie Amer: s: "This is something brand new curious, en- tertaining, and startling The letters are among the finest products of Colonel Ingersoli's genius. * * * Bound to have a wide sale." HIS GREAT: LECTURE ON SHAKESPEARE Paper, Twenty-five cents. 1 Lecture on Abraham Lincoln 1 Price, T^wenty-flve cents, paper. I THE GREAT INGERSOLL CONTROVERSY. | CONTAINING THE FAMOUS CHRISTMAS SERMON, BY COL. R. G. INGERSOLL, = The indignant protests thereby evoked from Ministers of various denomina- tions, and Colonel Ingersoli's replies to the same. A work of tremendous interest to ev&liinkinx Man and Woman. Reprinted in full from the Correspondence oThe Subject by Special Permission of "The Evening Telegram." Price, paper, 25 cents. = Address C. !. FA.K,REL,L, <4OO Fifth A.ve., JV.