ABRAHAM 
 
 LINCOLN 
 
 vr\d thve 
 
 IRREPRESSIBLE 
 
 CONFLICT 
 
 O. L. BARLER
 
 A STUDY 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 THE LAST 
 AND GLORIFIED DECADE 
 
 of HIS 
 EVENTFUL LIFE 
 
 By O. L. BARLER. 
 
 BEATRICE, NEB.: 
 
 PA0L SPRINGER, PRINTER AND BINDER. 
 1903
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Irrepressible Conflict. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Return to Springfield. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Lincoln Monument at Oak Park. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Lincoln Anecdotes Tersely Told. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Lincoln Memorial University. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Lincoln's Religious Views.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The Frenchman says: "After Hugo, 
 God." But Abraham Lincoln is easily the 
 world's incomparable man; and at this remove 
 of forty years, he is still growing on our vis- 
 ion. Our children will know and appreciate 
 him more than we, and our grand children 
 more than they. 
 
 This contribution to the great mass of 
 
 Lincoln literature extant fills an empty space, 
 in this; it is brief, and tells only what bears 
 
 oft repeating. It can be read by the busy man 
 at a sitting. It would make fit supplementary 
 reading in public and private schools; and 
 the author has, in its preparation, an eye to 
 this use.
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 
 CHAPTER I. - 
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN is one of the 
 two greatest characters in American 
 history. Washing-ton the father, Lincoln 
 the savior of his country. 
 
 But the great man was modest in the 
 extreme; and when the nation called him, 
 he said in all sincerity: 
 
 "I am not fit to be president.' 
 When in 1860, it became evident that 
 he would be the Republican nominee for 
 the presidency, one of the editors of the 
 Chicago Tribune (Scripps) applied to him 
 for material from which to write a first
 
 6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 biography of his life. Mr. Lincoln made 
 protest, and said: 
 
 "There is nothing- to write; one line 
 of Oliver Goldsmith tells it all, 
 
 4 ' 'The short and simple annals of the 
 poor.' " .. . -,-... .... 
 
 When Lincoln was nineteen years of 
 age, having reached a stature of nearly 
 six feet and four inches, he had a yearning 
 to see the world outside. He piloted flat- 
 boats of produce upon the Illinois and Mis- 
 sissippi rivers to New Orleans; and here 
 witnessed the horrors of slavery. He said, 
 then: 
 
 "If I ever get a chance, I'll hit that 
 thing hard.' 
 
 When twenty-five years old, and a 
 member of the legislative body of his state, 
 he put on record his vote and protest 
 against slavery, declaring it to be "founded 
 on injustice and in bad policy.' This was
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 7 
 
 in the year 1834, the year that Lovejoy 
 suffered martyrdom at Alton for the same 
 cause; and in that same year, Garrison was 
 dragged by a mob through the streets of 
 Boston. 
 
 In 1840, Mr. Lincoln was a presiden- 
 tial elector on the Whig national ticket, 
 and four years later he was active in the 
 presidential campaign for Henry Clay. I 
 first saw him in that campaign, and heard 
 him speak at Washington, Tasewell Co., 
 Illinois, on the tariff question. 
 
 In 1846 his district in Illinois elected 
 him to congress, and in that congress he 
 introduced a bill looking to the emancipa- 
 tion of the slaves in the District of Colum- 
 bia, and compensation therefor. Mr. Lin- 
 coln gave further expression of his anti- 
 slavery impulses by voting for the Wilmot 
 Proviso, "more than forty times in one 
 way or another,' he says.
 
 S ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 But such was the pro-slavery senti- 
 ment of the time, he despaired of ever see- 
 ing* the day when the cause of Freedom 
 the cause nearest his heart could get a 
 Hearing-. 
 
 And when his congressional term of 
 service expired in 1849, he left his seat 
 discouraged; his interest in politics waned, 
 and he quit the field, and g-ave himself up 
 to the practice of his profession. 
 
 The repeal of the "Missouri Compro- 
 mise" bill in 1854, which opened the terri- 
 tories of the United States to the invasion 
 of slavery, aroused the sleeping" lion in 
 Mr. Lincoln's breast. His time had come! 
 The throes preceeding- the birth of the 
 Republican party were on, and Mr. Lin- 
 coln was easily the leader of the new party. 
 
 
 
 It was in May, 1856, at Blooming-ton, 
 that the first Republican State Conven- 
 tion was held. Two years of wrestling*
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 9 
 
 with opposition, and preparation had been 
 looking- forward to this event. Editor 
 Medill, of the Chicag-o Tribune, had in- 
 sisted and his insistance prevailed that 
 the infant party should be christened, 
 "The National Republican," and he and 
 Rufus Spaulding- wrote the platform: "No 
 more slave states ; no more slave territory. ' 
 John C. Vaug-han added the two clauses: 
 "Slavery is sectional; Liberty is national.^ 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was present at the meet- 
 ing-, which was held in a church. He was 
 not a deleg-ate, and by chance or other- 
 wise, he addressed the Convention and 
 made a speech which was said to be the 
 most eloquent of his life. 
 
 W. C. Lovejoy had just spoken, when 
 a cry over the house was made for "Lin- 
 coln," 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had taken no part in the 
 proceeding's, and was sitting- in the back
 
 10 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 part of the house. When his name was 
 called, he "stalked forthwith a swing-ing-, 
 g-iraffe lope; ' he never walked straig-ht 
 like other men. Standing- in front of the 
 pulpit, he began: 
 
 "Gentlemen of the Convention, I am not 
 here as a delegate; I have no credentials; I 
 might be taken as an interloper. But you 
 have given me a call to speak, and, I have, 
 like a Methodist minister, responded." 
 
 Shouts of "Take the pulpit!" went 
 up from every part of the house. He took 
 the pulpit, and continued: 
 
 "A few of us got together in my office 
 yesterday at Springfield, and we elected our- 
 selves sympathetic visitors to this Conven- 
 tion. We have no Republican party in 
 Springfield, and I forsee perturbations that 
 will tax the wisest of men to keep American 
 citizens from imbruing their hands in the 
 blood of their brothers."
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 11 
 
 Then he drew a picture of slavery, 
 and delivered a most terrible invective 
 upon that institution. 
 
 It is to be regretted that this great 
 speech of Lincoln's, said to be the first in 
 a series of events that made him president, 
 was not preserved. 
 
 Mr. Medill said; "I have often tried 
 to reproduce that speech from memory, but 
 have as often failed, and had to give it up, 
 and it is lost to the world. I remember 
 the last sentence: 'Come what will, you 
 may count on Abraham Lincoln to the bitter 
 end,'' -but I do not pretend to remember 
 more; and when the speech was ended, I 
 found myself standing- on the top of the 
 table, shouting 1 and yelling- like one pos- 
 sessed; but I had no notes and my fellow 
 reporters were in a like fix.' 
 
 Another account of this Blooming-ton 
 speech is g-iven by Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's
 
 12 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 partner in business. He relates that he 
 attempted, for a few minutes, to take notes 
 as usual, but presently threw pen and pa- 
 per to the winds and lived in the inspira- 
 tion of the hour. 
 
 "L/incoln came forward,' said Mr. 
 
 Herndon," in answer to repeated calls, and 
 made a speech, the grandest effort of his 
 life. Hitherto he had argued the slavery 
 question on the ground of policy. Now, 
 he was newly baptized and freshly born, 
 and he had all the fervor of a new convert. 
 The smothered flame broke out, his face 
 all ag-low, his eyes afire, and he spoke 
 rig-lit on, and out, as one inspired. 
 
 "His speech overflowed with fun, and 
 force, and fury. It was log-ic; it was 
 pathos; it was enthusiasm refined. It was 
 justice and truth, all ablaze from a soul 
 maddened by great wrong-. 'Slavery is 
 wrong-, or nothing- is wrong",' he shouted 
 at the top of his voice.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 13 
 
 4 'It was in his heart, then, to say; 'I 
 believe this government cannot endure per- 
 manently, half slave and half free; it will 
 become all the one thing- or all the other.' 
 He had, as I knew, incorporated these 
 words in this Bloomington address, but 
 had yielded at the last moment to the 
 pleadings of his friend, Judge Dickey, and 
 withheld them 'for this campaign only.'' 
 But, with this phrasing of words out, the 
 speech was heavy, hard, knotty, and a 
 righteous indignation and wrath lay back 
 of it all. 
 
 4 'If ordinarily the speaker was six feet 
 and four inches high, at Bloomington, on 
 that day in May, he was seven feet. 
 
 "He felt the weight of a great cross 
 upon him. A great idea held him firmly; 
 he nursed it, and taught it to others. He 
 lived, henceforth, in the light of it, and 
 was at last, a martyr to it. '
 
 14 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Manifestly, only one born great is 
 fitted to lead in the supreme hour; there 
 must be greatness of soul for great achiev- 
 ing-. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's advantage over his op- 
 ponents was, other thing's being- equal, 
 that "he instinctively felt that he had jus- 
 tice, philosophy, the constitution, and the 
 enlig-htened opinion of mankind upon his 
 side." 
 
 It was in June, 1858, at the State Con- 
 vention, assembled at Spring-field, that 
 Lincoln first stated publicly the one great 
 issue in the political campaig-n, as he had 
 conceived it two years before, and which 
 statement he reluctantly withheld at the 
 ever memorable Blooming-ton meeting*. He 
 said, in that convention in Spring-field: 
 
 "In my opinion it will not cease," mean- 
 ing the slavery agitation, "until a crisis shall 
 have been reached and passed. 'A house di- 
 vided against itself cannot stand. ' I believe
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 15 
 
 bhis government cannot endure permanently 
 half slave and half free. I do not expect the 
 union to be dissolved; I do not expect the 
 house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to 
 be divided. It will become all one thing, or 
 all the other. " 
 
 These brave, prophetic words did de- 
 feat Lincoln for the Senate, as his anxious 
 friends had predicted that they would; 
 but, better than they knew, they con- 
 tributed to make him president. When, 
 in later years, Mr. Lincoln was ques- 
 tioned as to why he made that speech 
 in Springfield, so in advance of that day, 
 and so in advance even of his own party, he 
 answered simply: "I made up my mind it 
 was time to sa}^ something-." And what 
 he said led to the great Lincoln-Doug-las 
 Debate. Doug-las promptly answered in 
 Chicag-o, the "House Divided Ag-ainst It- 
 self" speech. Lincoln's challeng-e to de- 
 bate followed; the result is well known.
 
 16 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 The immediate effect of Lincoln's bold 
 front and words lost him many old friends, 
 who would not g"o so far, even with him. 
 But "Abe" Lincoln was steadfast. "I 
 would rather g-o down in defeat, with 
 these words in my speech and held up and 
 discussed before the people, than to be 
 victorious without them.' ; To his loyal 
 friends, Mr. Lincoln said: 
 
 "This thing has been retarded long 
 enough. The time has come when these sen- 
 timents should be uttered, and if it is decreed 
 that I shall go down for uttering them, then 
 let me go down; let me die for the truth and the 
 right." 
 
 But one of a dozen leading Republicans 
 to whom Lincoln read his speech, approved 
 of it. That one was Herndon. He said, 
 "Deliver the speech as you have it, and it 
 %uill make you president.' 
 
 One other thing- said, in that famous 
 Spring-field address, was prophetic, Mr.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 17 
 
 Lincoln had complimented his opponent by 
 saying, 
 
 "Senator Douglas holds, we know, that a 
 man may rightfully be wiser today than he 
 was yesterday. Now, whenever, if ever, 
 Judge Douglas and we can come together on 
 principle, so our cause may have assistance 
 from his great ability, I hope to have inter- 
 posed no adventitious obstacle I wish now, 
 as ever, not to misrepresent Judge Douglas' 
 position, or do ought that can be personally 
 offensive to him." 
 
 " Whenever, if ever, Judg-e Dotiglas 
 and we can come together !" History tells 
 how quickly "Judge Doug-las and we' 
 came together and how we did have the 
 "assistance of his great ability,' For 
 when the great rebellion broke out and be- 
 fore Mr. Lincoln had taken his seat, Judg-e 
 Douglas went to him and offered his loyal 
 services to the g-overnment and was accept- 
 ed.
 
 18 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 At the first inauguration, Douglas 
 stood near the president and held his hat 
 while, from the steps of the capitol, L/in 
 coin read his address. Douglas, it is report 
 ed, was his closest hearer and nodded ap 
 proval repeatedly. When the presiden 
 had taken the oath, Judge Douglas was 
 first to grasp his hand and extend congrat 
 ulations. 
 
 Although Douglas died within a fev 
 weeks from that date and before the wa: 
 had much progressed, his great influeno 
 lived and was potent in the North to thi 
 end of the struggle. . 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had said in his debafr 
 with Judge Douglas on the occasion jus 
 alluded to: 
 
 "But clearly, .Judge Douglas is not wit! 
 us now; he does not pretend to be with us; hi 
 does not pretend ever to be with us. Plain 
 ly, then, we must appeal to our undoubtei 
 friends for support of our cause.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. - 19 
 
 "Two years ago, the Republicans of the 
 nation mustered but thirteen thousand strong, 
 and we fought the battle through under the 
 constant, hot fire of a disciplined, proud and 
 pampered enemy. Did we brave all then, to 
 falter now? now, when that same enemy is 
 wavering, dissevered and belligerent? 
 
 
 
 "The result is not doubtful; we shall not 
 fail; if we stand firm we shall not fail. Wise 
 sounsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, 
 but sooner or later, the victory is sure to 
 
 come.' 
 
 Mr. L/incoln, in his subsequent debates 
 with Douglas, warmed over the substance 
 of the ' 'House divided against itself 
 speech; but his illustrations and word pic- 
 turing" were so fresh and forceful that it 
 did not seem like repetition. 
 
 Lincoln confuted Senator Douglas' in- 
 terpretation of The Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. Douglas had said that the 
 framers of that Declaration meant by "all
 
 20 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 men" all "British subjects," and no other 
 were meant. Lincoln said they meant a 
 men; that "all men are created equal. 
 Not equal in all respects, but "equal i 
 some respects." Men are "not equal i 
 color, nor in size, nor in intellect, nor i 
 moral developement nor in social capacity 
 but all are equal in certain inalienabl 
 rig-hts, among- which are life, liberty, am 
 
 pursuit of happiness.' 
 
 Mr. Lincoln explained that the fram 
 
 ers of The Declaration of Independence di 
 not mean to assert that "all men are actu 
 ally in the enjoyment of their inalienabl 
 rights,' nor did they mean that the Dec 
 laration of Rights did or could confer in 
 alienable rig-hts. The authors of Th 
 Declaration meant to declare the rig-hts t 
 which man, as man, is entitled, and the_ 
 left the consummation of what oug-ht to b 
 to follow as best it could and when i 
 could.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 21 
 
 "They set up the standard for free society 
 vhich should be recognized by all, revered 
 >y all and constantly strived for by all; and 
 ;hough never attained, should be constantly 
 ipproximated. It was placed in The Declara- 
 tion not for use in our separation from Great 
 Britain, but for future use. It vas meant to 
 :>e a stumbling block for all who seek to en- 
 slave men; it was meant to be a hard nut for 
 tyrants to crack" 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had now a. national repu- 
 tation, won through his contact with 
 Douglas in the great debates. As the 
 year 1860 drew near, Lincoln's name was 
 being freely mentioned in the West in con- 
 nection with the presidency. The eastern 
 cities wanted to see and hear this strange 
 illiterate man of the forest, the fame of 
 whose exploiting in the West had reached 
 them. 
 
 It was arranged that he should go to 
 New York City, and he accepted an invita-
 
 22 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 tion to speak in Mr. Beechers' church ii 
 Brooklyn. After his arrival in the metrop 
 olis, the place of meeting" was changed t 
 the "Cooper Union Institute," so man; 
 wished to hear him. 
 
 The address he made on that occasioi 
 has been lauded as "one of the most logic 
 al and convincing political speeches eve: 
 made in this country.' Hon. Jos. H 
 Choate, of New York City, gives the fol 
 lowing graphic account of the man and hi; 
 effort: 
 
 ' 'It is now forty years since I first sa~v 
 and heard Abraham Lincoln, but the impres 
 sion which he Jeft on my mind is ineffacable 
 He appeared in every sense of the word lik< 
 one of the plain people among whom he 
 loved to be counted. 
 
 "As he talked with me before the houi 
 of meeting at Cooper Union, he seemed ill ai 
 ease with that sort of apprehension a youn^ 
 man might feel before presenting himself tc
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 23 
 
 b new and strange audience whose critical 
 Lisposition he dreaded. 
 
 "It was a great audience including all the 
 aost noted men, all the learned and cultured 
 if his party in New York, editors, clergymen, 
 tatesmen, lawyers, merchants, critics. All 
 yere very curious to hear him . His fame as 
 ) powerful speaker had proceeded him and 
 ixaggerated rumor of his wit had reached the 
 ast. 
 
 "When from the high platform of the 
 hooper Institute William Cullen Bryant pre- 
 ented him, a vast sea of eager, upturned 
 aces greeted him, full of intense curiosity to 
 ee what this rude child of the people was 
 ike. 
 
 "He loas equal to the occasion. When he 
 
 * 
 
 poke, he was transformed, his eye kindled, 
 ds voice rang, his face shone and seemed to 
 ight up the whole assembly. For an hour and 
 t half he held that audience in the hollow of 
 lis hand. 
 
 "His style, and speech, and manner of
 
 24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 delivery, were severely simple. 'The grand 
 simplicities of the Bible' as Lowell says, wit! 
 which he was so familiar were reflected in hi 
 discourse. With no attempt at ornament o 
 rhetoric, without parade or pretense, h< 
 spoke straight to the point. If any came ex 
 pecting the turgid eloquence or ribaldry o 
 the frontier, they must have been startled a 
 the earnest and sincere purity of his utter 
 ance. 
 
 "It was marvelous to see how this untu 
 tored man by mere self dicipline and th> 
 chastening of his own spirit, had outgrown al 
 meretricious arts and found his way to th< 
 grandure and strength of absolute simplicity 
 In the kindliest spirit, he protested against th< 
 avowed threat of the Southern States to de 
 stroy the Union, if, in order to secure free 
 dom in those vast regions out of whicl 
 future states were to be carved, a Repub 
 lican president were elected. 
 
 "He closed with an appeal to his audience 
 spoken with all the fire of his aroused an<
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 25 
 
 4 
 
 kindled conscience, with, a full outpouring of 
 his love of justice and liberty, to maintain 
 their political purpose on that lofty and unas- 
 sailable issue of right and wrong which alone 
 could justify it and not to be intimidated 
 from their high resolve and sacred duty by 
 any threats of destruction to the government 
 or of ruin to themselves. He concluded 
 with this telling sentence which drove the 
 whole argument home to all our hearts: 
 
 ** 'Let us have faith that right makes 
 might and in that faith let us to the end dare 
 to do our duty as we understand it. ' 
 
 "That night the great Hall, and the next 
 day, the whole city rang with delighted ap- 
 plause and congratulations, and he who had 
 come as a stranger departed with the laurels 
 of a great triumph." 
 
 Another witness of this scene said; 
 
 "When Lincoln rose to speak, I was 
 greatly disappointed, so tall was he and ang- 
 ular and so awkward. For an instant, I felt 
 pity for so ungainly, a man. But he had
 
 26 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 spoken not many words when he straighten- 
 ed up, made regular and graceful gestures; 
 his face lighted as from an inward fire; the 
 whole man was transfigured before that great 
 multitude. 
 
 "I forgot his personal appearance and 
 his individual peculiarities; and, forgetting 
 myself, I was on my feet with the rest, yelling 
 like a wild Indian and cheering the wonderful 
 man. 
 
 "In the closing parts of his argument you 
 could hear the sizzling of the gas burners, 
 
 and when he reached a climax, the thunders 
 of applause were terrific! 
 
 41 It was a great speech. When I came out 
 of the hall my face was glowing with excite- 
 ment, and my frame all a quiver. A friend in 
 the audience asked me what I thought of Abe 
 Lincoln. I answered, 'He's the greatest man 
 since St. Paul I ' And I think so yet. " 
 
 It was now apparent to many what 
 would happen in the near future; that at 
 the great Olympiad at Chicago, May
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 27 
 
 16th, Abraham Lincoln would be the nom- 
 inee for president, and in November would 
 be elected. 
 
 He had the votes, it was believed, and 
 the voters were flinging- his name against 
 the sky. "// is the voice of God" they cry. 
 
 But would the election of a Republi- 
 can president bring dis-union and a civil 
 war? These were threatened, but it was 
 not believed that the people, either north 
 or south, wanted war, or expected it. Mr. 
 Lincoln, himself, scarcely believed it. 
 
 "Surely it will not come to this; only 
 madness could go so far." 
 
 This Lincoln thought, and he made it 
 known, that he would not be the aggres- 
 sor. But there were leaders in the rebel- 
 lion who meant war, beyond what was 
 then commonly known. They had long 
 openly threatened it and longer secretly 
 prepared for it.
 
 28 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 The election in November was nc 
 sooner declared, than the dis-union move- 
 ment in the south broke out in open revolt 
 and in reckless haste, seven states (after- 
 wards eleven in all) adopted ordinances oJ 
 secession and formed an independent con- 
 federacy, electing" Jefferson Davis, presi- 
 dent. 
 
 This was some weeks before Lincoln 
 was inaugurated, and before he could lif 
 a fing-er to stay the revolt against the gov 
 ernment, in which the reigning* administra 
 tion of Buchanan seemed to have no heart 
 and no purpose to check; so the cause o1 
 .the Union had to suffer, L/incoln's hands 
 tied, until the 4th of March. 
 
 On Peb. llth, L/incoln left his home it 
 Springfield on his w^ay to Washington, t< 
 take his seat at the head of the governmen 
 and pilot the Ship of State through th" 
 roug^h seas of unreason and passion. T<
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 29 
 
 his many friends who met him at his home 
 depot, he said; 
 
 "No one, not in my position, can know 
 the sadness I feel at this parting. To this 
 people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived 
 more than quarter of a century; here my 
 children were born, and here one of them lies 
 buried. I know not how soon I shall see you 
 again. A duty devolves upon me, greater, 
 perhaps, than has devolved upon any man 
 since the days of Washington. My friends, 
 pray that I may receive the Divine assistance, 
 without which I cannot succeed, but with 
 which I cannot fail." 
 
 At Cincinnati, on his way east, Lin- 
 coln addressed himself to the Kentuckians, 
 many of whom were present to hear him. 
 He reminded them of what he told them 
 in the same city a year before. 
 
 "I said then: 'When we beat you in the 
 elections, as we expect to do, you will want to 
 know, perhaps, what we intend to do with 
 you I told you what we intended. I will tell
 
 30 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 you now, as far as I am authorized to speak 
 what we mean to do with you, 
 
 "We mean to treat you, as near as w 
 possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson an 
 Madison treated you. We mean to leave yo 
 alone, and in no way to interfere with you 
 institutions, and to abide by all and ever 
 compromise of the Constitution. " 
 
 The train carrying 1 the president an< 
 his body guard to the national Capital ar 
 rived in Philadelphia on Washington' 
 birthday. It was arranged that the pres 
 ident should raise a new American flag ove 
 Independence Hall, on which occasion h 
 made the happiest little impromptu speed 
 
 of his life, 
 
 "All the political sentiments I entertair 
 
 have been drawn, so far as I have been abl 
 to draw them, from the sentiments whicl 
 originated in, and were given to the worl 
 from this Hall. I have never had a feeling 
 politically, that did not spring from the ser 
 timents embodied in the Declaration of Ind(
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 31 
 
 )endence, sentiments which allow liberty not 
 >nly in this country, but to all the world and, 
 or all time. 
 
 "Now, my friends, can this country be 
 ;aved upon this basis? If it can, I will con- 
 sider myself one of the happiest men in the 
 vorld if I can help save it. But if this coun- 
 ty cannot be saved without giving up that 
 )rinciple, I was about to say I would rather be 
 assassinated on this spot than surrender it." 
 
 It was here the friends of Lincoln 
 earned of a plot in Baltimore to assassi- 
 late him as his train passed through that 
 ;ity. Once, in Indiana, an attempt was 
 nade to wreck the presidential train by 
 placing- obstructions on the track. A sim- 
 lar attempt was made in Ohio by the use 
 >f dynamite. 
 
 But the Baltimore conspiracy was so 
 past, some twenty persons being- involved 
 in it, that detectives were put upon their 
 track, and Mr. L/incoln at last yielded to
 
 32 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 the insistence of his friends, that he shoul 
 steal his way through the disloyal city : 
 the night, on an earlier train, and his parl 
 follow on schedule time. This was done, 
 telegram having announced the president 
 advanced arrival, the regular train carr; 
 ing the presidential party was not moleste* 
 The city of Washington was filk 
 with enemies of the administration, and 
 was by no means sure that Mr. L/incol 
 would be inaugurated into his great offic 
 
 without farther attempt to take his life. 
 On the 4th of March, however, L/ii 
 
 coin was duly and safely inaugurated an 
 his address sent forth to the people, a ma: 
 terpiece of persuasive speech, and of f; 
 therly counsel, in the kindliest words, ; 
 though to wayward children, whom he fa : 
 
 would turn from going in perilous way 
 He assured the people of the souther 
 
 states that their property and personal s< 
 curity were not in the least endangered t
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 33 
 
 ie accession of a Republican administra- 
 on to power, and he referred to declara- 
 ons of his, oft repeated, and found in 
 early all his published speeches. 
 
 "I do but quote from one of these, when I 
 ^clare I have no purpose, directly or indi- 
 5Ctly, to interfere with the institution of 
 avery in the states where it exists. I be- 
 Bve I have no lawful right to do so, and I 
 ive no inclination to do this." 
 
 And after affectionately reasoning- with 
 lem on this point, he said: 
 
 "I shall take care, as the constitution it- 
 ilf expressly enjoines upon me, that the 
 ,ws of the Union be faithfully executed in all 
 ie states. Doing this, I deem it to be only a 
 mple duty on my part, and I shall perform it, 
 > far as practicable, unless my rightful mas- 
 srs, the American people, shall withhold the 
 squisite means, or in some authorative man- 
 3r direct to the contrary. 
 
 i 
 
 "In doing this, there need be no blood- 
 ied or violence, and there shall be none, un-
 
 34 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 less it be forced upon the national authorit 
 That there are persons, in one section or 
 another, who seek to destroy the Union at i 
 events, and are glad of any pretext to do so, 
 will neither affirm nor deny; but if there 1 
 such, I need address no word to them. 
 
 "To those, however, who really love tl 
 Union, may I not speak? Before entering u 
 on so grave a matter as the destruction of o 
 national fabric, with all its benefits, its mei 
 ories, and its hopes, would it not be wise 
 ascertain precisely why we do it? 
 
 "Will you hazard so desperate a ste 
 when the certain ills you fly to are great 
 than the real or imaginary ones you fly froc 
 Will you risk the commission of so fearful 
 mistake? 
 
 'All profess to be content in the Union, 
 all constitutional rights can be maintaine 
 Is it true, that any right, plainly written 
 the Constitution has been denied? I tbii 
 not. Happily, the human mind is so cons 
 tuted that no party can reach to the audaci 
 of doing this.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 35 
 
 "Think, if you can, of a single instance 
 i which a plain written provision of the Con- 
 itution has ever been denied. No. We di- 
 ide upon questions where the Constitution 
 Des not expressly answer. From questions 
 f this class spring all our constitutional con- 
 oversies, and we divide upon them in maj or- 
 es and minorities. If the minority will not 
 ^quiesce. the majority must, or the govern- 
 ent must cease. 
 
 "One section of our country believes 
 avery is right, and ought to be extended, 
 hile the other believes it is wrong and ought 
 ot to be extended. This is the only substan- 
 al dispute. Physically speaking, we cannot 
 iparate; we cannot remove our respective 
 actions from each other, nor build an impas- 
 ible wall between them. A husband and wife 
 iay be divorced, and go out of the presence 
 f each other; but the different parts of our 
 3untry cannot do this; they cannot but re- 
 lain face to face, and intercourse, either am- 
 jable or hostile, must continue between them.
 
 36 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 "Is it possible then, to make that inte 
 course more advantageous, or more satisfa 
 
 tory after separation than before? Can aliei 
 make treaties easier than friends can mal 
 laws? Can treaties be more faithfully e 
 forced between aliens than laws can be b 
 tween friends? 
 
 "Suppose you go to war. You cann 
 fight always, and when after much loss ( 
 both sides, and no gain on either, you ceai 
 fighting; the identical old questions as 
 terms of intercourse are again upon you." 
 
 "My countrymen, one and all, think calc 
 ly and well upon this whole subject. Nothir 
 valuable can be lost by taking time. If thei 
 be an object to hurry any of you in hot hast 
 to take a step which you would never take d 
 liberately, that object will be frustrated t 
 taking time, but no good object can be fru 
 trated by it. 
 
 "I am loathe to close. We are not em 
 mies, but friends. We must not be enemiei 
 Though passion may have strained, it mu/
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 31 
 
 3t break our bond of affection. The mystic 
 lords of memory, stretching from every bat- 
 e field and patriot grave to every living 
 3art and hearthstone all over this broad 
 nd, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, 
 hen again touched, as surely they will be, 
 JT the better angels of our nature. " 
 
 The cautious and pacific policy shad- 
 wed forth in this first inaugural address 
 ras admirable. Nothing- could be written 
 lore to the purpose; and yet these concili- 
 tory, wise, and just words had no effect 
 pon the secessionists; upon the^vavering, 
 ine minds of the north they had a power- 
 'il effect. But the radical element in the 
 Republican party was not satisfied. They 
 rould have been pleased to have had a 
 lore drastic paper, and a war with slavery 
 t once.. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln would, because he felt lie 
 mst, allow to slavery all the protection 
 be Constitution expressly gave; he would
 
 38 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 
 
 not disturb it in the states where it w; 
 established, and where it had constitutio; 
 al rights. Lincoln's policy was, not to i 
 augurate bloodshed. He would wait f< 
 the enemies of the Union to strike the fir 
 blow. Then, "if the one side would g 
 to war for disunion, for no other purpoi 
 
 than to preserve slavery, then the w; 
 must continue, on the other side, for tl 
 
 Union, to destroy slavery. ' : 
 
 In that first inaugural address Linco" 
 had said: 
 
 4 'In your hands, my dissatisfied countr; 
 men, and not in mine, is the momentous issi 
 of Civil War; the government will not assau 
 you. You can have no conflict without beinj 
 yourselves, the aggressors. You have i 
 oath registered in Heaven to destroy the go 1 
 ernment, while I have the most solemn on< 
 'to preserve, protect and defend it.' 
 
 And now, Lincoln, at the head of tt 
 government, and the Commander in Chie
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 39 
 
 F the Army and Navy of the United States, 
 r as confronted with the fact that he had 
 either army nor navy, save a remnant of 
 
 ich on hand. The outgoing administra- 
 on, sympathizing- with the Rebellion, had 
 
 urposely or helplessly, allowed the plot- 
 jrs of internal dissentions to scatter the 
 [ready too small army and navy to distant 
 uarters of the globe, that they might not 
 2 on hand when needed; at a time these 
 ?cret enemies of the government saw 
 )tning, a time they meant should come. 
 
 The forts and arsenals in reach had 
 sen appropriated, and held for service 
 gainst the union, when the hour arrived. 
 'he treasury was empty, and there were 
 Dt guns on hand to arm volunteers, 
 forse than all, the northern states were 
 Dt united in the purpose of the govern- 
 ent to preserve the union, at all hazards. 
 
 Never was president beset with such 
 faculties. "A task greater than Wash-
 
 40 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 ington's" was on his hands. But he ne 
 er faltered or despaired of success. E 
 grew to the work he had confronting- hit 
 and met the emergency of each day as 
 arrived, proving- himself^equal to the tas 
 When the border states were anxious ai 
 
 hesitating, undecided whether to cast the 
 lot on the side of union or disunion, th< 
 
 plied the president with questions a's 
 what course he would pursue in treatit 
 with the rebellious states. Lincoln nev 
 prevaricated, or g^ave any uncertain soun 
 His policy, from the first, he cleary state 
 
 When a committee from the Virgin 
 Convention, just after the firing on Po 
 Sumpter, called on him, asking- concernir 
 the policy the federal executive intended 
 pursue in reg-ard to the confederate state 
 he answered: 
 
 "It is my purpose to use the power co 
 fided in me to hold, occupy and possess pro 
 erty and places belonging to the governmer
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 41 
 
 ,nd to collect the duties and imports; but be- 
 ond what is necessary for these objects, there 
 rill be no invasion, no use of force against or 
 ,mong the people anywhere. In case it 
 >roves true, as is reported, that Fort Sumpt- 
 T has been assaulted, I shall hold myself at 
 iberty to repossess it, if I can; and in any 
 vent, I shall, to the best of my ability, repel 
 orce by force." 
 
 Lincoln kept his promise to make no 
 nvasion, use no force against any people 
 ,ny where, and least of all, to inaugurate 
 >lood-shed when blood had to be shed. 
 
 On the 12th day of April following- the 
 nauguration, Beauregard with a hostile 
 ,rmy fired upon Fort Sumpter, in Charles- 
 on Harbor. It was the first gun in the 
 freat strife, --the world's most terrible 
 y\v\l War. On the Union side alone, two 
 nillion soldiers and 5 billions of treasure 
 vere involved, covering four years of dur- 
 ition.
 
 42 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Now let us follow this man of destiny 
 who from this on, was continully doini 
 what only the greatest men of history ar 
 wise enough to do. L/incoln made hi 
 rivals and personal enemies member 
 of his cabinet, Seward and Chase, am 
 a little later, Stanton. These me: 
 had been unfriendly to L/incoln. They di< 
 not consider him in their class. 
 
 Seward especially, was smarting" un 
 der the wrong", as he conceived it, his par 
 ty had done him, in choosing this uncul 
 tured man of the West before himself fo 
 president. And in his thought of superior 
 ity, Seward undertook to dictate to Mr 
 L/incoln. He wrote out a memorandum o 
 things to do, telling him that he, the presi 
 dent, had no policy, domestic or foreign 
 and that he ought to do this and that. 
 
 Had another man been president, th 
 
 affront would have been a mortal insult 
 and Mr. Seward would have been, the nex
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 43 
 
 ay, a private citizen. But Lincoln ig-- 
 ;ored the insult, and retained the services 
 f his really great secretary; but he was 
 areful to refresh his memory with the in- 
 3rmation that the administration did have 
 very decided domestic policy, clearly 
 tated, as laid down in the inaugural ad- 
 ress, with his, (Seward's,) approval; that 
 he administration had also a foreign pol- 
 :y, as declared in his own, (Seward's) 
 dispatches, with the President's approv- 
 1.' And he further tutored his cabinet 
 fficer, that if any policy was to be main- 
 lined, or changed, that he, the president, 
 r ould direct that policy on his own re- 
 ponsibility, and in performing" that duty, 
 e said, "/ have a right to the advice of my 
 ?cretaries" 
 
 There was never afterwards a repeti- 
 
 on of this offense, which first offense was 
 pardoned as a temporal abberration of a 
 reat mind" and Mr. Seward atoned for it
 
 44 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 afterwards by devoted personal loyalty 
 and through great service rendered th 
 union cause. 
 
 After the firing on Port Sumpter, th 
 president's call for seventy-five thousan 
 fighting men had quick response. The loya 
 citizen would now go to war to save th 
 union, but not yet, would the norther 
 states fight to destroy slavery. L/incol 
 knew this; he understood the people bette 
 than any other man; he knew one othe 
 thing, that if the war continued for an 
 considerable time, slavery could notsurviv 
 
 Mr. L/incoln reasoned that the goverr 
 ment had no right to make war to destro 
 slavery where it existed, in the beginning 
 but the slave power making war to pn 
 serve and extend slavery, must forfeit il 
 right and lose in the end. 
 
 The government had a right to d< 
 stroy any power, as a war measure, tha
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 45 
 
 hreatened to destroy the existence of the 
 overnment. Lincoln foresaw, that if the 
 yar continued, the time would come, when 
 s a necessary measure, he must exert all 
 he executive power of the government to 
 .estroy slavery, root and branch. 
 
 When it becomes a necessity of war to 
 ave the Union, the institution, or thing- 
 hat caused the war, must fall. This 
 pas Mr. Lincoln's position from the first. 
 Dhat time, in his opinion, had not yet ar- 
 ived; but, clearer than others, Lincoln 
 aw it coming. "Wait for it,' he said to 
 .is dissatisfied friends, "and you will see 
 b.' Lincoln would not act before the 
 ime, as some would have him do. "Events 
 ontrol me/ he said, "1 cannot control 
 vents.' 
 
 It was in July, 1862, when the presi- 
 ient surprised his cabinet with a draft of 
 lis Emancipation Proclamation. The pa- 
 >er in its conception and phrasing was Lin-
 
 46 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 coin's. He laid it before his secretaries c 
 a war measure, on which his mind ws 
 made up. He asked for suggestions i 
 details only. Secretary Seward favore 
 delaying the public proclamation a littL 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's idea was to make th 
 preliminary announcement, giving notic* 
 that on the first day of January, 1863, \ 
 would issue another proclamation, declai 
 ing that: "All persons held as slave 
 within any state, the people whereof sha 
 then be in rebellion against the Unite 
 States, shall be henceforth and forev< 
 free.' In the cabinet meeting Mr. L/ii 
 coin yielded to pressure, and consented 1 
 wait for the next victory that would con: 
 to the Union Arms, before issuing Tt 
 Proclamation. 
 
 On the 17th of September, the batt' 
 
 of Antietam was fought, and won. Tl: 
 president called his cabinet members t< 
 gether and informed them, that the tin
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 47 
 
 >r promulgating- the Emancipation policy 
 id arrived, and in a low and reverent 
 >ne he said: "7 have promised my God 
 at I will do it. ' 
 
 Mr. Chase said; "Do I understand 
 DU correctly, Mr. President?' 5 
 
 Lincoln replied: "I have made a 
 >lemn vow before God, that if General 
 ee should be driven back from Pennsyl- 
 mia, I would crown the result by the 
 iclaration of freedom to the slaves.' And 
 i Monday, September 22d, the prelimi- 
 iry proclamation was issued. 
 
 This proclamation gave one hundred 
 iys' notice of what would come on Jan- 
 iry 1st, 1863. No attention, whatever, 
 the slave states, was given to this proc- 
 mation. January 1st, 1863, came-, and 
 ith it went forth the great Emancipation 
 roclamation, the one great act of Abra- 
 im Lincoln's life, that will never be for-
 
 48 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 gotten, and that crowns him the deliver* 
 and benefactor, not only of the colore 
 man, but of the human race. 
 
 "Rarely does the happy fortune come 
 one man to render such a service to his kim 
 to proclaim liberty throughout the land uni 
 all the inhabitants thereof". (Choate) 
 
 "A great historic event, sublime in i 
 magnitude, momentous in its far-reaching coi 
 
 sequences, and eminently just and righ 
 alike to the oppressor and oppressed 
 (Garrison. ) 
 
 When Mr. Lincoln signed this men 
 orable document, Mr. Seward alone wa 
 present and he said to his secretary: 
 
 "If my name ever goes into history, it w\ 
 be for this act, and my whole soul is in it." 
 
 The proclamation came not a day tc 
 soon, but public sentiment had to be edv 
 cated up to it, and would not have sus 
 tained it sooner, Simultaneously with ii 
 
 publication came the news of the victor 
 at Stone's River,, and of the general ac
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 49 
 
 ince of the Union armies both east and 
 est, and there was a turn in the fortunes 
 : war favorable to the cause of freedom 
 om that moment and henceforth. 
 
 On July 1st of that year, the two im- 
 ense armies of the north and the south 
 et at Gettysburg*, in what was meant to 
 3 a decisive battle; for three days the 
 ?lds ran blood, the bloodiest battle of the 
 ar. The northern armies won, at a tre- 
 endous cost for victory. 
 
 Next day, the fourth of July, Vicks- 
 irg surrendered, and the fate of the ill- 
 arred Rebellion was virtually decided, 
 lough the final end came later, the lost 
 Luse dying hard, still giving and receiv- 
 g much punishment. 
 
 The state of Pennsylvania immediate- 
 purchased a piece of the battlefield at 
 ettysburg, and set it apart as a burrying 
 round for the loyal soldiers who had there
 
 50 ABUAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 fallen by thousands, giving up their Ir 
 a free will offering, that the nation mi 
 live. Before the year closed, four and ( 
 half months after the battle, the grou 
 was dedicated by an oration from the H< 
 Edward Everett, in the presence of ft 
 Lincoln and his cabinet, and a large c< 
 course of people assembled. 
 
 After the set oration of the day, i 
 president gave a two minute addre 
 which to-day is read in the schools as 
 Gem in literature, and which, at the tin 
 the Hon. Mr. Everett complimented 
 saying, that he would gladly exchange '. 
 forty pages for this brief address of 1 
 president. Mr. L/incoln said: 
 
 "Four score and seven years ago c 
 fathers brought forth upon this continent an 
 nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated 
 the proposition that all men are creal 
 equal.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 51 
 
 'Now we are engaged in a great civil war, 
 jsting whether that nation, or any nation so 
 mceived and so dedicated, can long endure. 
 
 are met on a great battle field of that war. 
 
 have come to dedicate a portion of that 
 
 
 
 eld as a final resting place for those who 
 ere gave their lives that that nation might 
 ve. It is altogether fitting and proper that 
 r e should do this. But in a larger sense we 
 annot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we 
 annot hallow this ground. The brave men, 
 ving and dead, who struggled here, have 
 onsecrated it far above our poor power to 
 dd or detract. The world will little note, 
 or long remember what we say here, but it 
 an never forget, what they did here. 
 
 1 'It is for us, the living, rather to be dedi- 
 ated here to the unfinished work which they 
 rho fought here have thus far so nobly ad- 
 anced. It is rather for us to be here dedi- 
 ated to the great task remaining before us, 
 3 that cause for which they gave the last full 
 leasure of devotion; that from these honored
 
 52 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 dead we take increased devotion; that we he 
 highly resolve that these dead shall not ha 
 died in vain; that this nation under God sh 
 have a new birth of freedom; and that govei 
 inent of the people, by the people, for t 
 people, shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "wh< 
 an orator rises in his thought, he descem 
 in his language to a level with the ear 
 all his audience/ It was marvellously 
 on this November day. The presidenl 
 great speech, instantly telegraphed, ele 
 
 trified the whole country. The peopl 
 lettered and unlettered, caught the insj 
 
 ration of the words that went straight 
 every heart the best specimens of el 
 quence we have had in this country.' 
 
 There were union men opposed 
 President Lincoln's policy of making ui 
 of the colored people for soldiers, seam< 
 and helpers in the army. To them he r 
 plied:
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 53 
 
 '*! am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery 
 not wrong, nothing is wrong. I cannot re- 
 Bmber when I did not so think and feel, and 
 it I have never understood that the presi- 
 sncy conferred upon me an unrestricted 
 ?ht to act officially upon this judgment and 
 eling. I aver that to this day, I have done 
 > official act in mere deference to my ab- 
 ract judgment and feeling on slavery. 
 
 "I did understand, however, that my 
 Lth to preserve the constitution to the best 
 my ability, imposed upon me the duty of 
 eserving that government, that nation, of 
 hich that constitution was the organic law. 
 'as it possible to lose the nation and yet pre- 
 Tve the constitution? I felt that measures 
 herwise unconstitutional might become law- 
 .1 by becoming indispensable to the preser- 
 ition of the constitution through the preser- 
 ition of the nation. I assumed this ground 
 id now avow it. I could not feel that I had 
 r en tried to preserve the constitution, if to 
 >ve slavery or any minor matter, I had per-
 
 54 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 mitted the wreck of government, constitutio 
 
 and all together. 
 
 "Early in the war, General Fremont a 
 
 tempted military emancipation. I forbade i 
 not deeming it then an indispensable nece 
 sity. General Cameron, Secretary of Wa 
 suggested arming the blacks; I objected; d 
 not think the indispensable time had com 
 General Hunter attempted military emanc 
 pation; I again forbade it, believing the tin 
 
 had not yet come. 
 
 "In March, May and July of 1862, I mac 
 
 earnest and successive appeals to the bord< 
 states to favor compensated emancipation, 
 believed that the indispensable necessity f< 
 military emancipation and arming the blacl 
 would come, unless averted by this measur 
 They declined the proposition, and I wi 
 driven to choose between surrendering tl 
 Union, or laying a strong hand on the colore 
 element. I chose the latter; and more than 
 
 year of trial shows the wisdom of the choic< 
 We have gained a hundred and thirty thoi 
 sand soldiers, seamen and laborers.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 55 
 
 "And now let any Union man who com- 
 lins of the measure, look at these palpable 
 its; he is for taking these hundred and 
 rty thousand men from the Union side, and 
 ice them where they would be for the meas- 
 j he condemns. If he cannot face his case 
 stated, it is only because he cannot face the 
 \th." ;.";" '":'/;'> ' ' " * 
 
 The cruel and needless war had now 
 itinued for three years, and in the first 
 If of 1864, the financial difficulties that 
 set the union were formidable. The 
 itional currency was greatly deprecia- 
 I, until it required nearly three dollars- 
 purchase one of gold. 
 
 In May of that year, General Grant 
 nmenced his campaign in the east, and 
 a,ch day's slaughter was an army;" but 
 ; invincible general held his grip, and 
 itinued to advance. Meantime General 
 erman was on his march of a thousand 
 les through the confederate states, and
 
 56 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 purposed to reach the sea; and during t 
 whole year; the union forces were victo; 
 ous on every important battlefield. Ne 
 ertheless, it was seen, that the war wou 
 drag" its slow length along into the ne 
 
 administration. 
 
 Lincoln's second nomination was o 
 
 posed by dissatisfied radicals, and othe 
 of his own party; but when, at the Natio 
 al convention in Baltimore, the votes we 
 counted, Lincoln won, receiving every vo 
 save that of Missouri; and by motion of 
 Missouri delegate the nomination w 
 made unanimous. 
 
 With November came the day of ele 
 tion, Lincoln receiving two hundred ai 
 twelve electoral votes and the oppositi< 
 the remaining twenty-one. The last ho] 
 of the rebellion was now gone, and it ne 
 er after gained a substantial victory. 
 
 In the hour of his vindication and ti 
 nmph Lincoln said to his late opponents:
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 57 
 
 * 'Now that the election is over, may we 
 ot all have a common interest, unite in a 
 ommon effort to save our common country, 
 'or my own part, I have striven and will 
 brive to place no obstacle in the way. So 
 >ng as I have been here, I have not willingly 
 lanted a thorn in any man's bosom. I do 
 ot impugn the motives of any man who op- 
 oses me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph 
 ver any one; but I give thanks for this evi- 
 ence of the people's resolution to stand by 
 ree government, and the rights of humanity, 
 have never done an official act with a view 
 o my own personal aggrandizement." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln in his message to Con- 
 ress in December, after his re-election, 
 eminded them of the advanced position of 
 he American people upon the subject of 
 lavery, and urged them to pass a joint 
 esolution submitting an amendment to the 
 onstitution of the United States, abolish- 
 ag slavery throughout the Union, to the
 
 58 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 legislatures of the several states. He sai( 
 "it must come to this and the sooner i 
 comes the better.' In closing- his message 
 
 he said: 
 
 "I retract nothing heretofore said as t< 
 
 slavery. I repeat the declaration made a yea: 
 ago, that while I remain in my present posi 
 tion, I shall not attempt to retract or modify 
 the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall '. 
 return to slavery any person who is free ty 
 the terms of that proclamation, or by the acti 
 of congress. If the people should, by what 
 ever mode or means, make it an executive 
 duty to re enslave such persons, another anc 
 not I, must be their instrument to perform it. ' 
 The joint resolution for the extinc- 
 tion of slavery passed Congress Jan. 31st, 
 1865, which was quickly ratified by more 
 than the three fourths required of the state 
 L/egfislatures and the thirteenth amend- 
 ment to the Constitution was added, and 
 
 the proclamation made throug-hout the 
 land.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 59 
 
 The time is short; events hasten; the 
 cond inaugural address made forty days 
 :fore the assassination had gone to the 
 ;ople. In that address, "greater than 
 e Gettysburg address' ' says Carl Schurz, 
 d it is not much longer, the president 
 >urs out the whole devotion of his great 
 ul. No president or ruler in any land 
 er found such words in the depths of his 
 art as these: 
 
 "On the occasion, corresponding to this, 
 jr years ago, all thoughts were anxiously 
 *ected to an impending civil war. All 
 saded it; all sought to avoid it. One party 
 >uld make war rather than let the nation 
 rvive; and the other party would accept war 
 mer than let it perish. And the war came. 
 
 "Neither party expected for the war the 
 
 bgnitude,or the duration which it has already 
 
 :ained. Neither anticipated that the cause 
 
 the conflict might cease with, or 4 even be- 
 
 *e the conflict itself should cease. Each
 
 60 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 looked for an easier triumph, and a result le 
 fundamental and astonishing. Both read tl 
 same Bible and prayed to the same God; ai 
 each invoked his aid against the other. Tl 
 prayers of both could not be answered; th 
 of neither has been answered fully. 
 
 "Fondly do we hope, fervently do T 
 pray, that this mighty scourge of war mj 
 speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that 
 continue, until all the wealth piled by t] 
 bondman's two hundred years of unrequit< 
 toil shall be sunk, and until every drop 
 blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by a 
 other drawn with the sword, as was sa 
 three thousand years ago, so still it must 1 
 said: 'The judgments of the Lord are tn 
 and righteous, altogether.' 
 
 "With malice toward none, with chari 
 for all; with firmness in the right, as G< 
 gives us to see the right, let us strive on 
 finish the work we are in; to bind up tl 
 nation's wounds, to care for him who sha 
 have borne the battle, and for his widow ai
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 61 
 
 ;s orphan; to do all which may achieve and 
 lerish a just and lasting peace among our- 
 ilves and with all nations." 
 
 More hastily than any knew, the clos- 
 g scenes of the great war were being 
 lacted. History was making fast. The 
 :bel Congress, in desperation, itself, en- 
 :ted a law, at the last minute, giving 
 eedom to the slave, on condition that he 
 ould enter the military service and fight 
 >r the confederacy. But it was too late, 
 heir schemes all failed and the revelation 
 failure was quickly published to all the 
 orld. 
 
 Grant moved irresistibly against the 
 :bel works at Petersburg, and on to Rich- 
 ond; only to find the city evacuated, and 
 ady to receive the victorious army. 
 
 Ten days were left President Lincoln 
 
 complete his work, when he entered the 
 
 lien capital of the confederacy. Five 
 
 lys were Lincoln's when the whole rebel
 
 63 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 army under General L/ee surrendered 1 
 General Grant, at Appomattox, and tl 
 monster rebellion collapsed. Loyal mi 
 lions all over the land in the thought of a 
 danger past, now gave way to shouts < 
 " Victory and peace; peace and victory. 
 Three days were left when Preside! 
 L/incoln addressed the public for the la: 
 time, reconstruction the theme. There 
 to be no more tearing down, but a builditi 
 up. A reconstructed Union, stronger tha 
 ever, will arise; and to use his word 
 "The mystic chords of memory, stretchic 
 from battlefield and patriot grave to evei 
 living heart and hearthstone, will again 1 
 touched by the angels of man's better n; 
 
 ture." 
 
 Less than one day remained! "*T 
 
 the fourth anniversary of the disloyal hau 
 ing down of the American flag on Po 
 Sumpter and by order of the Presiden 
 that flag, this fourteenth day of April,
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 63 
 
 3 be replaced and the day made celebrate, 
 o far as practicable, in all loyal homes. 
 
 The commander in chief of all the Un- 
 )n armies on land and sea at length would 
 nbend himself. "The play's the thing 1 .' 
 laking one of a party of four, including 
 is wife, he went to the theatre. 
 
 It was nine o'clock when the presiden- 
 tal party entered their box. It was ten 
 'clock when the assassin entered by 
 tealth, a lie upon his lips. He said to the 
 entinel, that the President had sent for 
 
 im. 
 
 A pistol shot! a scream/ a leap to the 
 
 tage below. The murderer's spur, catch- 
 ig in the folds of a near-by American flag, 
 hrew him to the floor, where he was at 
 nee recognized as J. Wilkes Booth. Re- 
 overing himself, and brandis.hing a drawn 
 agger, he cleared his way to a back door, 
 nd quickly escaped on a fleet horse held in 
 waiting by an accomplice. All this was
 
 64 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 enacted in moments of time, and before 
 was known, in the packed audience, wh 
 had happened. 
 
 A pause! and then the cry: "he h 
 shot the President.' Terror and conf 
 sion seized the crowd; bedlam reigne 
 men yelled, women fainted and the we; 
 fell and were trodden upon. The Pre 
 dent's guard, two hundred strong, entere 
 charged the crowd and cleared the buil 
 
 ing. 
 
 Never was so wild a scene in any pla 
 
 house since the world began. A real tra< 
 edy was there, where before there had o 
 ly been mimic ones; nor ever again d 
 Ford's theatre open to please or terrori 
 the public. 
 
 The story of President Lincoln's a 
 sassination is the saddest page in Amei 
 can history. And in Lincoln's murder tl 
 unfortunate, [but fortunately vanquisher 
 south lost their very best friend. "Wil
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 65 
 
 ilice toward none and with charity for 
 
 I," he would have been a brother to them 
 
 their sorest need. He made the wrath 
 
 his enemies to praise him. The south, 
 
 arcely less than the north regretted the 
 
 olent ending* of the great war President's 
 
 i 
 
 e, 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had a presentiment, more 
 an once expressed, that he would have a 
 olent death, that he would not outlive 
 e rebellion, that he would die with it* 
 is parting- with his mother in 1861, just 
 ifore going- to his first inauguration in 
 r ashing-ton was pathetic. The mother 
 id "they will kill }'ou." He answered 
 T, "if they kill me, I will never die 
 
 rain/ 
 
 Who knows? Abraham Lincoln may 
 ive at this juncture of affairs served his 
 untry better by his death, than he could 
 ive served it by a further continuance of 
 : e. May he not have been "too full of the
 
 66 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 milk of human kindness" for the rough a 
 critical work needed in the reconstruct! 
 period? 
 
 "There is a Providence that rules t 
 fate of peoples, that makes little account 
 time and no account of disasters; that cc 
 quers alike by what is called defeats, as 
 what is called victory; that thrusts aside t 
 unfit, everything that resists the moral la 
 of the world, and ordains that only that 1 
 which combines perfectly with the virtues 
 all shall endure/' -Emerson. 
 
 That Lincoln in his life and in \ 
 death served the whole country is now t 
 lieved by all--by the North and by t 
 South. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln loved man and hat 
 all injustice. 
 
 "The kindly, earnest, brave, forese 
 ing- man.' -Lowell. 
 
 What wonder, if multitudes of stroi 
 men everywhere wept for the death of o
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 67 
 
 ey had never seen? It was pardonable 
 the poet who seemed to think himself a 
 litary mourner. 
 ), Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is 
 
 done; 
 ?he ship has weathered every wrack, the 
 
 prize we sought is won; 
 Fhe port is near, the bells I hear, the people 
 
 all exulting, 
 
 AThile follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel 
 grim and daring; 
 
 But O. heart! heart! heart! 
 
 0, the bleeding drops of red, 
 Wtoere on the deck my Captain lies, 
 Fallen, cold and dead, 
 
 3, Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear 
 
 the bells; 
 Rise up! for you the flag is flung, for you 
 
 the bugle trills; 
 For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths, for 
 
 you the shores a crowding; 
 For you they call, the swaying mass, their 
 
 eager faces turning;
 
 68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Here, Captain! dear father! 
 
 This arm beneath your head; 
 It is some dream that on the deck 
 
 You've fallen cold and dead. 
 
 44 My Captain does not answer, his lips a 
 
 pale and still; 
 My father does not feal my arm, he has ] 
 
 pulse nor will; 
 The ship is anchored safe and sound, i 
 
 voyage closed and done; 
 From fearful trip the victor ship comes 
 with object won; 
 
 Exult, O, shores; and ring, O, bells; 
 
 But I with mournful tread, 
 Walk the deck my Captain lies 
 Fallen, cold and dead. 
 
 Walt Whitman.
 
 CHAPTER II. *'' 
 
 THE RETURN TO SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 The seventh day after the tragical 
 :ath of President Lincoln, the funeral 
 rtege left Washing-ton, on its long and 
 rcuitous journey of sixteen hundred miles 
 the old home in Illinois. The interest 
 id devotion of the people everywhere 
 ong the line were the same, unaffected, 
 ncere and profound. Everybody at farm- 
 mse, hamlet, town and city, seemed to be 
 i hand with their offering- of tears and 
 r mpathy. 
 
 No president or monarch, or mortal 
 an ever had such triumphal march to the 
 rave, spontaneous and genuine, as it was 
 liversal in tribute to worth and great- 
 
 iSS. 
 
 BALTIMORE. 
 
 Baltimore was the first stop from
 
 70 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Washing-ton. Four years before, the pr< 
 ident did not dare pass openly through tl 
 city, for fear of assassination. Now, ] 
 martyred remains were tearfully recei^v 
 with every possible mark of respect 
 thousands who viewed them in the mi 
 chant's exchange building, where they 1 
 in state. It was said, in no city were t 
 manifestations of grief more sincere th 
 in Baltimore. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 In Philadelphia "the people we 
 counted not by thousands but by acres 
 The body of the president was conveyed 
 Independence Hall, the procession marc 
 ing with uncovered heads to the sound 
 a dirge performed by a band in the obsei 
 atory over the hall. Prom the barracl- 
 cannon were booming, and the bells we 
 tolling throughout the city. At Inc 
 pendence Hall, the remains lay in state f
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 71 
 
 vo days and two nights, and was open to 
 le public until midnight of each day. 
 
 Four years before Lincoln stood upon 
 te platform whereon his body now lay* 
 emorable were his words. He had flung* 
 new American flag to the breeze. In his 
 rief address, he referred to the declara- 
 on of Independence, which had its birth 
 , and its dissemination from that hall, and 
 3 said: 
 
 * 'There is something in that Declaration 
 at gives hope to the world. There is in it 
 te promise, that in due time the weights 
 tall be lifted from the shoulders of all men, 
 id that all shall have an equal chance. Now 
 y friends, can this country be saved on that 
 LSIS? If it can. I will consider myself one of 
 e happiest of men, if I can help save it; but 
 it cannot be saved without giving up that 
 inciple, I was about to say, I would rather 
 j assassinated upon this spot than surrender
 
 72 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 ; He saved the country "on that princ 
 pie,' nor yet escape the assassination. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 At the ferry landing 1 in New Yot 
 City, the coffined remains of the presidei 
 were transferred to a magnificent canopi( 
 hearse or funeral car sixteen feet long" at 
 twenty-three feet high. On the platfort 
 five feet from the ground, was a long t; 
 ble on which the coffin rested and from th 
 elevation it could easily be seen over tl 
 heads of the multitude. Over the dais < 
 table, the canopy was supported by co 
 umns and by a miniature temple of liberi 
 which temple was represented as despoile 
 
 The platform was covered by blac 
 cloth hung nearly to the ground, edg< 
 and festooned with silver bullion fring 
 The canopy was trimmed in the same ma 
 tier, with black cloth festooned and spa: 
 gled with silver bullion, with corners su
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 73 
 
 ounted by rich plumes of black and white 
 athers. At the base of each column, 
 iree American flag's inclined outward, 
 stooned with crape. The inside of the 
 ,r was lined with white satin. 
 
 In the center of this canopy hung" a 
 rge eagle, with outspread wings, and in 
 s talons a laurel wreath. The platform 
 ound the coffin was strewn with flowers. 
 
 The funeral car was drawn by sixteen 
 hite horses, covered with black cloth 
 imming, each horse led by a groom. The 
 ocession was most imposing, as it moved 
 .rough a sea of humanity on all sides as 
 ,r as the eye could see. Every house was 
 aped in mourning, and in every direction 
 igs flying at half mast. Minute guns 
 -ing in the distance, church bells tolling, 
 d Trinity's chime bells wailing forth 
 31d Hundred" in a solemn and impres- 
 ve manner.
 
 74 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 At the city hall the body of the ma 
 tyred president lay in state. All day, at 
 all night long, the stream of humanity co: 
 tinued to flow through the great hall; bi 
 thousands upon thousands who had stoc 
 in line for hours never reached the coffins 
 remains. A military force of fifteen tho 
 sand men joined in the great demonstr; 
 tion. 
 
 CLEVELAND. 
 
 The largest expenditure made by at 
 city on the route to provide a resting pla; 
 for a few hours for the remains of Abr; 
 ham Lincoln was at Cleveland, Ohio. ] 
 a public park a beautiful temple had bee 
 erected. Within was a gorgeous cat; 
 falque or tomb. 
 
 "This temple seemed in daylight as if 
 was a creation of fairy land, and when lighte 
 up at night with all the lanterns, and stan< 
 ing out amid the surrounding darkness, looke
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 75 
 
 ore like the realization of an enchanted 
 tstle, than the work of men's hands." 
 
 COLUMBUS. 
 
 At Columbus, Ohio, the magnificent 
 >arse which the citizens provided for the 
 :casion, was as large and richly furnished 
 > that at New York, and the procession 
 y far the most imposing* that had ever 
 issed through the streets of Ohio's capi- 
 ,1. Battle flags, torn and riddled with 
 illets in fights for the Union, were borne 
 r Ohio regiments or drooped sadly around 
 le place where rested the lifeless clay of 
 braham Lincoln. The address of the 
 on. Job Stevenson on the occasion was 
 >table. He said: 
 
 ' 'President Lincoln pleaded and prayed 
 r peace; 'long declined the war,' and only 
 len the storm in fury burst upon the flag, 
 i he arm for the Union. Tried by dire dis- 
 ter, he stood firm; he trusted in God, and
 
 76 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 the people; and the people trusted in God ai 
 in him. Tried by civil affairs which won 
 have tested the .powers of Jefferson, Hami 
 ton and Washington, he administered them j 
 wisely and well, that after three years 
 Washington, no man was found to take h 
 place. Tried in every way, he comes for 
 the greatest of living men. 
 
 "What have we here? After four sho 
 years of sarvice he returns, borne upon tl 
 bosom of millions of men; his way water< 
 with tears and strewn with flowers. He w 
 the true friend of the south as Jesus* was tl 
 friend of sinners, ready to forgive and sa- 
 when they repent. Ours is the grief, thei 
 the loss and his the gain. He died for liber 
 and Union, and now he wears the martyi 
 glorious crown; he is our crowned presides 
 The imperial free Republic, the best ai 
 strongest government on earth, will be a mo 
 ument to his glory, while over and above 2 
 shall rise and swell the great dome of b 
 fame."
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 77 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 Approaching* Chicago, one hundred 
 iles out, the funeral escort was met by a 
 bizen's committee of one hundred mem- 
 rs. The train halted at L/ake Park, 
 here three immense Gothic funeral arches 
 .d been erected. Fifty American flag's 
 ith drapery interwoven, were used for 
 coration. Busts and portraits of Lin- 
 In and two figures of the American eagle, 
 id. appropriate inscriptions were added, 
 ^re the coffined bodily form of the presi- 
 nt rested for a while. 
 
 Thirty six young lady pupils from the 
 g-h schools, representing the thirty six 
 ites, dressed in white, walked around 
 e bier and deposited floral gifts, while 
 e Light Guard Band played the L/incoln 
 quiem, composed for the occasion. The 
 sket was then placed in a funeral car, 
 d the immense procession passed through
 
 78 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 the streets, according' to the prograi 
 which had been definitely prescribed, a 
 in due time arrived at the Court Hous 
 Over the door were inscribed the wore 
 "The beauty of Israel is slain upon 1: 
 high places.' 
 
 A gorgeously prepared catafalque i 
 ceived the coffin, and there for twen 
 eight hours the remains of Abraham L/i 
 coin lay, while a continuous stream of peo| 
 passed, through the long hours of the d 
 and night, to take a last view of the foi 
 of him they loved. Some conception of t 
 princely offerings made, may be inferr 
 from the fact that the City Council pc 
 fifteen thousand dollars for the two iten 
 the construction of the arches and the d< 
 oration of the Court House, which repi 
 sented not a tithe of the total expenditt 
 by citizens and associations. 
 "Nor wood nor stone can fit memorial yie 
 For deeds of valor on life's battlefield,"
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 79 
 
 WILLIAMSVILLE. 
 
 At Williamsville, near Spring-field, 
 .e people had thrown an arch over the 
 ilroad- track, bearing 1 the inscription, 
 
 1 ' He has fulfilled his mission. ' 
 SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 It is the twelfth day from Washing- 
 u. Home at last. But a hearse, and not 
 ie usual carriage, meets him and takes 
 m from the train. Four years before on 
 aving, he had said to his neighbors, "I 
 low not how soon I may return." He 
 is now returned. Imagine the scene 
 nong his lifelong friends, at this unto- 
 ard home coming. 
 
 Forty centuries ago, the Patriarch 
 Lcob was followed to "the cave of his 
 thers" by two thousand dependents of 
 ie deceased, and by order of his premier 
 >n, Joseph, all the chief men of the land
 
 80 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 were commanded "to report for additiot 
 escort.' That was an imposing funei 
 scene, but this is a spontaneous outbui 
 of feeling-, and a virtual following- to t 
 tomb, that surpassed anything the woi 
 had ever seen.
 
 CHAPTER III. , ,:" 
 
 e LINCOLN MONUMENT AT OAK PARK. 
 
 The funeral escort had not reached 
 ringfield ere there was a common move- 
 it on foot to build a National Monu- 
 it to the memory of the martyred 'pres- 
 nt. Three years were consumed in se- 
 ing funds and plans for the monumen- 
 pile, and in getting all in readiness. 
 
 In Sept., 1869, the ground was broken 
 the foundations were laid before the 
 of that year. In 1871, the cap stone 
 s placed upon the towering obelisk and 
 September the monument was so far ad- 
 iced in its construction that the presi- 
 t's remains were removed from their 
 iporary vault to their permanent resting 
 :e in the monument. 
 
 The bronze statue of Lincoln, the 
 -k of the artist L. G. Mead, was un- 
 ed on Oct. 15, 1874. The notable event
 
 82 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 on that occasion, other than the preser 
 of President Grant, and other high offici; 
 of the government, was the oration 
 Governor Oglesby, which ended: 
 
 "This imposing monument and testimon 
 to the worth of the man will endure so lo 
 as dust shall mark the spot where man h 
 fallen." 
 
 A poem written on the occasion h 
 these lines: 
 
 "Not to the dust but to the deeds alone, 
 A grateful people raise the historic stone, 
 And cunning art shall here her triumph brir 
 And laurelled bards their choicest anthei 
 : sing, 
 Here youth and manhood from their wal 
 
 profound, 
 
 Shall come and halt as if on hallowed grout 
 The spot where rests one of the noble few 
 Who saw the right and dared the right to dc
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LINCOLN ANECDOTES TERSELY TOLD. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was addressing a jury of 
 elve men and he told them this story. 
 A.y client is in the fix of the man, who, in 
 ing along the highway with a pitchfork 
 er his shoulder, was attacked by a fierce 
 g that ran out at him from a farmer's door 
 rd. In defending himself with the pitch- 
 rk, its tines or prongs stuck into the dog 
 d killed him. "What made you kill my 
 g?" shouted the enraged farmer. "What 
 ide him bite me?" said the man. "Why 
 In't you come at him with the other end of 
 e fork?" "Why didn't he come at me with 
 f other end?" quickly responded the man. 
 
 
 
 Judge Davis of Illinois and Mr. Lincoln 
 jre great friends. Mr. Lincoln was habit- 
 lly whispering stories to his neighbor, 
 lile sitting in the court room ; often to the 
 eat annoyance of Judge Davis. When the 
 ing went too far, the Judge would rap the
 
 84 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 desk; "come, come, Mr. Lincoln, it is no us 
 trying to carry on two courts in this room 
 the same time. I must adjourn mine or yo 
 yours, and I think you will have to be th 
 one." Then as soon as court was adjournec 
 the judge would call the man to him; "whc 
 was that Lincoln was telling?" 
 
 Lincoln's ever readiness to help one i 
 need, was illustrated at a spelling match, i 
 girl friend of his was wrestling with an obsti 
 nate word. She began, "d-e-f" hesitathij 
 whether to proceed with an "i" or a "y. 
 Just then she caught sight of "Abe" whowa 
 grinning, and pointing his index finger at hi 
 organ of sight. She took the hint and wen 
 through all right. 
 
 After Mr. Lincoln's first nomination, i 
 committee visited him to give him notifies 
 tion: When the ceremony was over, Mr 
 Lincoln said: "Gentlemen, we must pledg< 
 
 our mutual healths in the most healthful bev 
 
 
 
 erage which God has given to man. It is th<
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 85 
 
 
 
 ily beverage I have ever used. It is pure 
 dam's ale from the spring." 
 
 He then took a tumbler, poured out the 
 ystal stream, and touched it to his lips, and 
 edged them his highest respects in a cup of 
 >ld water; and they, out of respect to him, 
 llowed his example. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was exasperated at the dis- 
 epancy between the number of troops sent 
 General McClellan, and the number the 
 eneral reported as reaching him, and he ex- 
 aimed with much impatience: "Sending 
 en to that army is like shoveling fleas across 
 barnyard, half of them never get there." 
 
 When I was a boy, a man lecturing on 
 mperance stayed at our house over night. 
 
 was cold, and the man was chilled through 
 hen he got there after the meeting. The 
 an said, if we could give him a hot lemon- 
 le, it would keep him most likely, from tak- 
 L g cold. It was suggested that some whisky 
 Ided might help(?). "Well," he said, "you 
 
 glit put in some unbeknown to me. "
 
 86 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 The son of a poor widow was charg( 
 with murder, committed in a riot at a can 
 meeting. Lincoln defended the boy. A wi 
 
 * 
 
 ness swore that he saw the prisoner stril 
 the blow. It was night, but by the light < 
 the moon that was shining brightly, he sa 
 all distinctly. The case seemed hopeless f< 
 the accused. 
 
 Lincoln produced an almanac, and showe 
 that at that hour on that night there was i 
 moon. And then he proceeded to picture tl 
 crime of perjury with such eloquence and e 
 feet, that the false witness fled the seen 
 The day was closing when Mr. Lincoln coi 
 eluded with this sentence: "If justice is don< 
 before sunset my client will be a free man 
 The court charged the jury briefly, and a ve 
 diet was quickly given, "not guilty.'" 
 
 The prisoner fell into his mother's am 
 
 and both fell upon their knees to Lincoli 
 who made no charge for his services. "See, 
 he said, "it is not yet sundown and you are 
 free man." An eye-witness said: "It was tli 
 most affecting scene I ever witnessed. "
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 8T 
 
 Mr. Shrigley had been nominated for 
 iplain in the army. There was opposition 
 him, and a delegation called on Mr. Lincoln 
 protest against his appointment, on the 
 >und that the minister was not sound in his 
 igious opinions. President Lincoln in- 
 red, "on what question is the minister un- 
 ind?" ' 'He does not believe in endless pun- 
 ment, and furthermore, he believes that 
 
 rebels themselves, can be saved." 
 
 "7s that so?" ejaculated Mr. Lincoln, and 
 n he added solemnly, ' 'if that is so as you 
 ; and if there is any way under heaven 
 ereby the rebels can be saved, then, for 
 i's sake, and for their own sake, let Mr. 
 rigley be appointed." 
 
 A party, including Mr. Lincoln, was rid- 
 over a rough, corduroy road to army 
 udquarters on a certain occasion, and were 
 loyed with the driver's occasional volley of 
 f suppressed oaths at his wild team of six 
 les. Finally Mr. Lincoln touched the dri-
 
 88 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 ver on the shoulder. ' 'Excuse me, are you 
 Episcopalian?" 
 
 The surprised man was frustrated fo 
 moment, but recovered himself and answer* 
 "No, Mr. President, I am a Methodis 
 "Well, I thought you must be an Episcopc 
 an," said Lincoln, "because you swear ji 
 like Governor Seward, who is a church w 
 den." 
 
 A man convicted by court martial was 
 be shot next day. Congressman Kello 
 pleaded for the man's life. Secretary StJ 
 ton was inexorable. Kellogg went to pre 
 dent Lincoln at dead of night, but althou 
 gone to bed, Mr. Lincoln heard the Congre 
 man's plea for the man's life and wrote out ] 
 reprieve, saying, "/ don't believe shooting ^ 
 do him any good." 
 
 During the war an Austrian Count appl: 
 to President Lincoln for a position in the 
 my, and he proceeded to explain his nobil 
 and high standing. "Never mind,'' said ^
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 89 
 
 Lincoln, ''you shall be treated with just as much 
 consideration for all that.*' 
 
 General Halleck wanted General Grant 
 'to let up" a little in his strenuous campaign 
 n Virginia, and send a part of his army to 
 lelp him enforce the draft. The president 
 ielegraphed to General Grant. "I have seen 
 four dispatch, expressing your unwillingness 
 ;o break your hold where we are, nor am I 
 milling. Hold on with a bull dog grip, and 
 'hew, and chew, and choke as much as possible." 
 
 A man came to Mr. Lincoln to employ his 
 egal sei vices. "State your case," said Mr. 
 Lincoln. The man stated his case in detail 
 vhen Mr. Lincoln promptly informed him, 
 'you will have to excuse me, for I cannot 
 >erve you; you are in the wrong, and the oth- 
 jr party is in the right." 
 
 "But, Mr. Lincoln, that is none of your 
 Dusiness. I pay you for your services to win 
 the case." 
 
 "My business is never to defend the 
 wrong in any case whatsoever, affirmed Mr.
 
 90 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Lincoln. "Not for any amount of money?" 
 asked the stranger in great surprise. "Not 
 for all you are worth, and now," added Mr. 
 Lincoln. "I will give you this advice free of 
 charge. Go and earn six hundred dollars in 
 some other way" 
 
 President Lincoln appointed a society 
 man as consul to a South American country. 
 A wag, meeting the appointee, a "dandy" 
 sort of man. on his way to the White House 
 to confer with the President, volunteered the 
 information that the country to which he was 
 appointed, was full of bugs, and that they 
 would make life miserable. 
 
 At the White House, this aspirant for 
 honors mentioned the matter to President 
 Lincoln. "I have been informed," he said, 
 "that the place was full of vermin, and that 
 they would eat me up in a week's time." "In 
 that case," remarked Mr. Lincoln, scanning 
 the young man from head to foot, "they would 
 leave a mighty Jine suit of clothes."
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 91 
 
 One day on a railroad train Mr. Lincoln 
 iet a stranger. ' 'Excuse ine, " said the stran- 
 er, "but I have an article in my possession 
 lat belongs to you. " "How so?" inquired 
 [r. Lincoln. The man drew a jack knife 
 om his pocket, saying at the same time: 
 This knife was placed in my hands some 
 ears ago, with the injunction that I was to 
 eep it until I met a man uglier than myself, 
 think you are fairly entitled to the property, 
 hich I now transfer to you. " 
 
 General Hunter said that the 'blacks" 
 ould not work if you give them freedom, 
 incoln replied, "That reminds me of a man 
 at in Illinois, by the name of Case, who 
 lought to raise a large herd of hogs, but he 
 id not want the trouble of feeding them, so 
 3 hit upon the expedient of planting an im- 
 tense potato field, and when the potatoes 
 rere sufficently grown, he would turn the hogs 
 :to the field and let them have full swing. 
 
 "But, Mr. Case," said a neighbor, "that 
 all very fine in summer time, but out here
 
 92 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 in Illinois the ground freezes a foot deep whe 
 winter comes, and then, what are your hog 
 going to do?" Mr. Case had not taken the 
 into account. Scratching his head as if t 
 quicken his thought, he said: "Well, it may b 
 hard on their snouts, but 'twill be root hog o 
 die." 
 
 Just after the battle at Fredericksburc 
 so disastrous to the Union forces, a messer 
 ger carried the news to Washington. Th 
 President had received ugly rumors of the dt 
 feat and the messenger saw in his face his dig 
 tress and dreaded to add to it by telling hie 
 the worst, and said to him, "I wish, ' Mr 
 President, I could tell you how to conquer o 
 get rid of the rebel states." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's face brightened as he said 
 "That reminds me of a story. Two boys i 
 my state were out gunning, and in the middl 
 of the wood they saw in the near distance 
 large, vicious dog bounding toward them 
 One boy had time to take refuge in a tree, th 
 other missed his chance to escape up the tre
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 93 
 
 .d kept in the circle, running around it, the 
 >g after him. By drawing in the circle he 
 ,ined on the dog, and when near enough, he 
 ught him by the tail, and the spin around 
 e tree went on. It was a desperate grip he 
 ,d, but dangerous. He would gladly let go, 
 .t dared not, and appealed to his comrade in 
 e tree to come down and help Mm to let go. 
 id that is my fix. I can't let go the hold 
 the rebel states. " 
 
 One of Mr. Lincoln's rivals, a liveryman, 
 ovided him with a slow horse to ride to a 
 litical convention, in the hope that he would 
 t reach his destination on time. He got 
 ere, however, and on returning the animal, 
 ncoln said to the liveryman: "You keep this 
 rse for funerals, don't you?" '-Oh no," re- 
 ied the man. "Well, I'm glad of that, for 
 you did you'd never get the corpse to the 
 ave in time for the resurrection." 
 
 A lady called upon Mr. Lincoln who had 
 *eal estate claim, or thought she had, and 
 shed him to take up her case and she left a
 
 94 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 check, a retainer, in his hands, of two nun 
 dred dollars. . Mr Lincoln examined her clain 
 and when she called again he told her frank 
 ly, that she had no legal ground upon whicl 
 to base her claim, and advised her not to presi 
 the suit. 
 
 The lady had confidence in his word, an< 
 was satisfied, and was leaving, when Mr, Lin 
 coin took from his vest pocket the $200 check 
 saying, "here is the money you left with me. 
 "But, Mr. Lincoln," said the woman, "it ii 
 yours, you have earned it. " "No, that woul< 
 not be right," Mr. Lincoln insisted, and he hcu 
 his way. 
 
 An officer under General Sherman com 
 plained to Mr. Lincoln that General Shermai 
 threatened to shoot him. "Threatened t< 
 shoot you!" exclaimed Lincoln, and then ii 
 a stage whisper he said, "If I was in youi 
 place and he had threatened to shoot, I woulc 
 not trust him, for I believe he would do it. " 
 
 Friends were beseeching Mr. Lincoln t( 
 grant their ward a commission to serve th<
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 95 
 
 overnment in the Sandwich Islands, and 
 ley urged not only his virtues, but the fact 
 f his poor health, as a reason why he should 
 3 favored; whereupon Mr. Lincoln con- 
 onted them with the more stubborn fact, 
 lat "there were eight other applicants for 
 lat one position, and they are all sicker than 
 
 IUT man. ' 
 
 At the second inauguration the day being 
 loudy and dark, just as Mr. Lincoln stepped 
 >rward to take the oath of office, the sun 
 urst forth in splendor through the cloud, 
 'n the next day, Mr. Lincoln spoke of the 
 icident to friends. ''Did you notice that sun 
 urst? It made my heart jump." 
 
 When President Lincoln first arrived in 
 Washington, he found himself so besieged 
 ith office seekers, and men clamoring for 
 lace and position, he declared, "I feel like a 
 tan letting lodgings at one end of the house, 
 hile the other end is on fire." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln and another gentleman were 
 ding through the country on an old time
 
 96 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 mud coach and they were arguing on ethical 
 subjects. Mr. Lincoln had said that all men 
 were prompted by selfishness in what they 
 did, whether it be good or evil. His fellow 
 passenger took exception to this statement; 
 he did not think it a true statement. Just then 
 they were crossing one of those common-in- 
 that-day corduroy bridges laid through the 
 swamp, and that made the old mud-wagon 
 shake like a man in an ague fit. Hard by was 
 an old "razor back," a mother hog, making a 
 great noise, because some of her pigs had got 
 into the slough, and were unable to get out. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln called out: "Driver, can't 
 you stop just a moment, and let me help those 
 pigs out of the water?" The driver replied, 
 "If the other feller don't object." The other 
 "feller" was Col. E. D. Baker, the gallant 
 General who fell in the battle at Ball's Bluff, 
 and he did not object. Mr. Lincoln quickly 
 jumped out, and tenderly lifted the pigs out 
 of the mud and slush, and placed them safely 
 on the bank.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 97 
 
 "Now, Abe," said Col. Baker, when he 
 eturned to his seat in the hack, "where does 
 elfishness come in in this little episode?'' 
 Why, bless your soul, Ed. . that was the very 
 ssence of selfishness. I would have had no 
 eace of mind all day, had I gone on and left 
 tiat suffering old sow worrying over those 
 igs. / did it to get peace of mind, and this is 
 jhat I mean by selfishness. ' : 
 
 One of the last official acts of Mr. Lincoln 
 fas, on the day of the night he was murdered, 
 o sign a pardon of a soldier sentenced to be 
 hot, saying, "I think the boy can do us more 
 ood above the ground than under it."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY. 
 
 At the opening* of the Twentieth Cen- 
 tury, foundations are laid, upon which are 
 rising 1 a monument to Abraham L/incoln, 
 more durable than stone or bronze, or any- 
 thing- mechanics can pile, or artificers 
 mould; a memorial, altogether worthy of 
 the man and of his deeds. 
 
 General Howard conceived the idea 
 that a "L/incoln Memorial University' 
 would be the greatest and most becoming- 
 monument to perpetuate the name and 
 fame of the man, most in the thoug-hts of 
 the American people. 
 
 The location of the Lincoln Memorial 
 University is at Cumberland Gap, at the 
 cornering- of the three states, Tennessee, 
 Kentucky and Virg-inia, and in the center 
 of a population of mountain people, two 
 millions strong-, rich in heredity, Scotch-
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 99 
 
 ish, French-Huguenots, English and 
 erman. These Apalachian mountains, 
 Dm the days of the American revolution, 
 ,ve seemed to beget the spirit of liberty 
 d sympathy with free institutions; and 
 the Civil War these warm hearted peo- 
 e, "loyal refugees,' Mr. Lincoln called 
 em, endured and suffered much. 
 
 It was proper and right that the 
 merican people should provide for these 
 irds of the nation, and provide in this 
 ly, and in the name of Abraham Lin- 
 In. Already the movers of this enter- 
 ise are at work, building up a group of 
 dustrialSchoolsin thisTennessee district 
 t far distant from Lincoln's birthplace, 
 d near where his grandsire was assassi- 
 ted by hostile Indians. 
 
 The first purpose of this movement is 
 
 * 
 
 build up an educational institution for the 
 tterment of the people of all that region, 
 le second and incidental purpose is, to
 
 100 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 rear in the Allegheny mountains a sub- 
 stantial and lasting monument, in 
 memory of the name and deeds of Abraham 
 Lincoln. The charter of the University 
 reads: "said University shall seek to make 
 education possible to the children of the 
 'plain' people, among whom Abraham 
 Lincoln was born.' 
 
 Providentially, the way opened to do 
 this thing; nor the least item was that the 
 Cumberland Park Co.'s property, costing 
 over one million dollars, was bought for a 
 fraction of that sum, as a site for the Uni- 
 versity campus and farms. The property 
 consisting of five hundred acres of good 
 farming lands, with seven buildings and 
 machinery. 
 
 The schools now have three hundred 
 students and sixteen teachers. The large 
 farms belonging to the University give ev- 
 ery facility for carrying on agricultural 
 and horticultural operations, the work all
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 101 
 
 eing done by the students, giving support 
 > those who need it. 
 
 The schools publish an illustrated 
 mrnal, called "The Mountain Herald, 71 
 esides doing- the work of a job office. The 
 ^udents do both the mechanical and head 
 rork in the publishing- house, serving" un- 
 er the superintendency of a professional 
 rinter. A skilled draughstman and pat- 
 srn maker has a class of young- men in me- 
 hanical drawing- and wood working 1 . 
 A hese artisans and artists, as they grow 
 roficient will take a hand in the construc- 
 ion of the new building's to g-o up now and 
 enceforth. Students do all the labor, 
 erving- under competent mechanics, who 
 re the teachers in the several industries, 
 r departments of labor. 
 
 The mission of the schools is ever kept 
 n mind, namely, to provide a practical, 
 msiness education to the young people of 
 >oth sexes, to the "American Highland-
 
 102 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 ers,' ; as Prof. Larry speaks of the people 
 of all that mountainous and heretofore neg- 
 lected region. 
 
 General Howard relates that in his 
 last interview with President Lincoln, he 
 received from him special charge to look 
 after, and provide as far as possible, for 
 these mountain "refugees/ who, living 
 upon the border between the two fighting 
 armies in the late war, were the greater 
 sufferers.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 MR. LINCOLN'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 
 
 The crude theology of the backwoods 
 preachers in Indiana and Illinois, which 
 prevailed when Mr. Lincoln was a young 
 nan, was not relished by him. 
 
 And assuming- that the Bible taug-ht 
 vhat they preached, it was not strange 
 ;hat young- Lincoln should be impelled 
 rom love of truth to write, at the ag-e of 
 ;wenty three, a little book, in which he un- 
 lertook to prove that the Bible was not 
 ;he work of God, if it taug-ht these thing's, 
 ind for the reason that God would not be 
 )art\ r to wrong". 
 
 Lincoln intended to publish his pam- 
 phlet, but his friend and employer, Samu- 
 jl Hill, knowing- that to publish such views 
 vould prejudice the people ag-ainst him, 
 matched the manuscript from Lincoln's 
 lands and thrust it into the stove. The
 
 104 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 book was never published. He gradually 
 grew more reticent and cautious, however, 
 and talked only to his friends, some of 
 whom he shocked with his seeming' infidel- 
 ity, but only seeming*. 
 
 Lincoln hated hypocrisy, and every 
 form of injustice, and wrong*. Insincerity 
 was a trait of character wholly lacking 1 in 
 his nature. 
 
 He worshipped the g*ood and the true, 
 wherever he found it, not on Sundays only, 
 but on every day of the week. His wor- 
 ship was love of truth, and helpful serv- 
 ice to man as man. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's religious views were fit- 
 ted to right conduct; they were practical 
 in their working. When, on a certain oc- 
 casion he was asked for a statement of his 
 faith, he said: 
 
 "I am like an old man I knew in Indiana, 
 who, in a church meeting said, 'when I do
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 105 
 
 good I feel good, and when I do bad, I feel 
 bad,' and that is my religion." 
 
 On another occasion he said: "Show 
 me a church with the two Great Com- 
 mandments for its creed and I will join 
 it." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln's religious life was built 
 solidly on the right, as he saw the right. 
 He would not move a hair's breadth away 
 from the truth and the right; he would die 
 for the right and did. "I would, rather 
 than give up this principle, be assassinated 
 on this spot.' 
 
 Lincoln believed devoutly in the broth- 
 erhood of man and in the fatherhood of 
 God; and he believed in the life immortal 
 and in rest after the world's well fought 
 battle. 
 
 During the four long years of the civil 
 war, Mr. Lincoln gave abundant expres- 
 sion to his unwavering trust in the justice, 
 mercy and providence of God. "I know,'
 
 106 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 he said, "that God hates injustice, and sla- 
 very. Pray that I may receive the Divine 
 assistance, without which I cannot succeed, 
 but with which I cannot fail.' 
 
 Mr. Lincoln never, even in the dark- 
 est days in the middle years of the Rebel- 
 lion's continuance, despaired of the gov- 
 ernment; he believed that right made 
 might, and that forever right was strong- 
 er than wrong and that in the end, it must 
 prevail. 
 
 END.