Show TI TIME AE ADDS TO LINCOLN'S FAr FAME FAMEL E Passing Years Bring In Increased Increased In- In creased Acknowledgment of His Ibis Wise States States- I manship j N the mere recital of the facts IN of Lincoln's life there Is little to account for tor his being the only American except Washington whose birthday has been made a national national national na na- nai hold y His origin was English Eng Eng- lish as he descended from English Quakers w who settled In Pennsylvania His Isis own branch of the family went to Virginia an ani anS thence to Kentucky Indiana In In- diana dlana and Illinois Ills His birthplace though rud rude was not unlike those about him the one roomed roomed cabin of the Western Wester pioneer situated in a wild region and with only the rudest necessities There was wail little In his boyhood to to mark It t out from his fellows save Inthe in inthe inthe the thorough use he made of ot his scanty opportunities for Improvement He lie possessed a handful of books books- the Bible 4 Aesop's Fables Pilgrims Pilgrim's Progress Robinson Crusoe the lives of Washington and Henry Clay Clay but but butof of these by continual study he made himself complete master Meanwhile the difficulties of his daily life made him strong and vigorous stimulating a n wholesome growth of body and mind The Importance of ot this foundation of health can hardly be ov overestimated In view of ot the strain he was to bear ben r in later life lite That he retained this early vigor Is evident from anecdotes anecdote s of his delight in feats of ot strength even after he attained the tho presidency 13 By y means of farm work that In those days included every form of b rU Y exercise by a short experience is ts a i Country storekeeper by an alm almost t ri ti ridiculous rI military training Lincoln si st r v In essence something of ever every y tl lm m of life Ute and saw each form torm In n it its s I b barest rest simplicity From these crudest t to facts ets he drew the homely directness ol of thinking a n readiness In to analysis a simplicity of ot view slew and a keenness a of ot f humor that tinctured his whole mind HI Hie HI Early Studies There Is n nothing that gives us a better better better bet bet- ter insight into the origin of Df his greatness great great- ness nags than the 8 story Ory he he tells of his s early methods of study Even as ashey a n hey boy h he says he be was accustomed t to p hear discussed public questions o of f very i-very sort The language and rhetoric c of his elders was far beyond his comprehension comprehension com com- but with the true pioneer r spirit the boy Lincoln educated t to overcome difficulties by Ms Ills daily dally life ure not tired by a n multiplicity of subjects was never willing to abandon a subject subject sub sub- without understanding it If He lie S would after hearing a knotty debate go over the whole controversy by him him- self pelf elf until he was satisfied that he had ham d extracted from it every root and gist gig t of the tho matter This done Bono LIn Lincoln Lincol oln n says h Ill M strove to put Into the simplest simples t language what he had learned in Ia o or or- r her ler er that It might be within the under under- handing of any hearer Thus It was that he learned to a an- an n and solve political questions an and amI d having cuing solved them to present th the e matters In such form as to be understood under under- stood by the simplest of 01 hi hl his hen r. hll W I nu m. In the days dars when personal a su su- n came mainly from the power of oratory or convincing speech there was co no surer road to leadership Sure to Become a Power With a mind thus trained self and kept from the world until manhood L Lincoln was sure to come Into promInence prominence prominence prom prom- as soon as he could In to any way secure a public hearing As Woodrow Wilson puts it He lie had had the Instinct Instinct In In- s of ot the student in the midst of affairs and had made himself a master master master mas mas- ter of Ideas and of language as an Instrument of ot mastery He lIe had devised devised de de- de- de v for himself straight thrusts o of f speech and the use of words that acted always like the application of light Such a man will ever be put forward forwar d as champion by any party to which he lends his services When therefore therefore there there- f fore ore in to the days of controversy between between be be- t tween North and South over the great t i issue of ot whether the new territories should be slave or free the Dred Scott i d decision declared that th the people o oa of ot a n territory had no power to kee keea keep p a slave owner from bringing his property property prop pro erty arty Into their community and ancl this became the burning question of ot the day tiny around which gathered those who were opposed as well on a n dozen other other oth oth- e er r grounds Lincoln was put forward as the the c champion Free Soil party against Senator Douglas who upheld the constitutional sanction of slavery Lincoln's plain way of putting things thing was evident in his famous declaration declaration declara declara- t tion ion A house divided against itself cannot stand I believe this country cannot endure half slave and half free I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect It will cease to be lie e divided di dI- vided Put Douglas In Dilemma By a clever set of questions Lincoln put Douglas Into a dilemma that required required re reo him to lose either his following in Illinois or his following among the southern party Dou Douglas las made his choice antagonized d the South won th the against Lincoln but put out of the running for the pr pr's ency Then came the on led b John on by Brown and the feel- feel Ins Inz excited by this event still ran elec- elec high during the next presidential tron tion Douglas had be been n forced to sta stand d for the right of the ilia people ofa of ot ota ofa a territory exclude to slavery and thus set himself against the Dred Scott decision decision de de- de- de permitting slave owners to bring their property into the territories Upon Upon Up Up- on this question the Democratic party split The Republicans met In Chica go and here the Illinois men so 80 ably presented and advocated their new champion Lincoln that Seward 10 lost t the nomination and Lincoln won wan It In the following election Lincoln I succeeded eded over his s rival by a narrow majority and r realty really represented so far tar as votes were concerned a minority of the nation Having Haring stD staked ed upon this election the whole doctrine of ot state rights and the extension of slavery the leading southern states looked upon upon up up- on Lincoln's election as a n defiance of t the e whole course of ot legislation looking to the upholding of the ilia southern view clew Determined on Secession The war wan followed for the South con con- state rights and slave labor as the foundation of ot their prosperity and POw power r especially since the Invention Im of the cotton gin had made as th they Phrased It it t cotton the y world of ot king of t the commerce Woodrow Wit wu son po poInts out that In the northern opposition to slavery sla the South felt keen a sense of Injustice They believed that the worst side of ot the time institution was willfully presented that Its stiles and Its better side aide were willfully suppressed In the election ot at Lincoln they hey t saw the l to an altern attempt dominate them t completely It t r u seemed the outcome of a continual battle battle bat bat- ba batie t t tle tie ie against them and their institutions institution and they saw no escape except by secession se 59 cession from the Union As president Lincoln disappointed Ite d the abolitionists and the wore ware rabid rabi d opponents of the South H II Ht waited waite d until he believed that there was ame med o.-med d resistance to the federal laws b but bu t when this crisis came acted promptly y and effectively The long conflict followed followed fol fol- fo l- l l lowed owed and belongs to history Ever since those days Lincoln's fame has been growing and th the oe est oest t students agree that his was the broadest broad broad- est statesmanship and the wisest brain brai n of all tested in those troubled times More and more the country hat haft come cometo cometo to see that he best tho the problems and best solved them His assassination was a blunder for which the country both North and South paid dear His speeches his public pub documents documents documents doc doc- his state papers r reveal veal a n greater man as they are studied d more deeply and today the leaders leader 9 of ot I thought both North and South pay to his memory due meed mead of r reverence |