Show I o. o 1 I. I N i L liT 0 III I c y meo ea h D. D S k You in o Jy f t Y 1 j f X j l t b 1 f 7 ri I It t 1 l Most Illustrious i Mart red President V t Example o of What World Galls Calls the theY 1 f L t t 2 jP ft r l h I f l Y 1 V J i t Self Self Made Made Man Man f. 9 t P J 1 J. J t ie a j 6 l r S Al N WA l 1 I v 9 k t 4 r 1 Sirs r r ri ORE than ha half a century after his his death Abraham Lincoln tIll still is the most influential MORE IMI name and his personality is the most magical In American history t ETA There Is no mst mystery r a about A is sim this Th The explanation pl pie Lincoln was a president who was i. huma t Human In his genius for statesmanship and In his frailties Human In his bis love iove for story telling and relaxation and intensely intensely intense intense- ly Iy filled with the humanity that will not kno mowing knowing ving ly do an unkind or or unjust act OJ r It Is not Dol that he was perfection In an any o of the walks mlles of life lUe in which fate turned his steps steps' for there ther were better lawyers lawyers' in his time there w were re even better story tellers than Lincoln surely it wo would ld not be difficult to name better military officers officers cers cers than Lincoln was or or- more learned men and greater orators than he But Lincoln was a man manof manof manof of the people and Americans and like that that kind of man writes Joseph Jackson In the Philadelphia Public j Ledger They hoard every scrap scrap of writing that the theman theman man Dan ever His walking sticks his dated old law books his down broken case book bookcase everything everything that once once belonged to him or In which he had set his name Is treasured Not long ago In New York they s sold ld at auction auction I Ia a sUp slip of paper r on which h 6 d politician as he was thought to be he was a poor hand at nt guessing results o of a presidential election elec elec- tion Yet this slip o of paper brought 1025 and and Lincoln had not even signed even signed it but it was known n to have been written by him v vIt It might be mentioned here that Lincoln himself to be a very poor prophet and mated the tile strength of General McC McClellan ellan his po political political po po- po opponent In the election of 1864 1804 AccordIng Accord Accord- Ing lag to Lincoln's estimate he felt sure o of the New England states tate and a few others totaling votes otes In the electoral college and he le set down as' as the supposed Copperhead vote the states o of New NewYork York Penns Pennsylvania New Jersey Delaware Maryland Missouri Kentucky and Illinois and their votes he believed would woula be cast for General Gen Gen- oral eral McClellan As a matter o of fact tact however only New Jersey Delaware and Kentucky went against him and he carried the tile election by a vote o of r to 22 there were reasons for Lincoln's bell belief f that that the states he ho had set down as Copperhead ad would go against him The drafts o of m men n had been resisted In more or or less energetic fonn formin In Inmany many ninny o of these coI commonwealths 1 n notably New York and Illinois and the large number p of ors ers there might easily lead to his conclusion But what lie he had not tale taken en Into nto the fullest a account count was that the majority o of m men men Ii In the North were loyal to the Union regardless of politics or their or-their their natural sympathies and they stood b by Lincoln oln to toI to I he the end T Was Real Self Made Man Man I If anyone w were were re asked to nahe the name th most illustrious Illus Illus- illus illus- example o of what we have hae called the he se self self- made lUn In America there would c the name o of Lincoln In a country of pt self made men he Ito stands In high relief relle There Ther Is no on one oneto to take a place beside him for not only dId h come ev every ry natural difficulty placed in his way In his determination to an education and they were numerous but along with It It Ita a always ways went ent that equally strong trong d determination not i to to achieve success by any unfair mt ns lIe He admitted that his edu education at n. n was vas defective c and that was a weak weale word for Sor It Many men I. I with a a great deal m more re h have haye ve been beeri beel failures s. s And Lincoln had every opp opportunity y of becoming a tull tall are but h ho lie realized his 1118 educational weaknesses and strove to remove them That h he d did d remove them seems tobe to-be testified to to by many writers At one time time probably probably It Is to be seen there yet there was exhibited In one of the colleges at atI I p a printed copy o of a letter Lincoln wrote td to a n mother who had given five sons that the Union might be preserved A label benl beneath ath this copy of the letter bears the simple comment th that t this Is one of th the finest specimens o of pure English extant j And that that comment by one of the great greatest t universities universities uni uni- In th the world Is on the work vork of a road man man who never had a years year's schooling In 11 his It is small wonder that Lincoln's lif life Is upheld to the poor boy as a shining example of what determinatIon determination de- de termination to learn and succeed will do Lincoln's grandfather like JIke m many n others follow followed followed fol fol- fol- fol low lowed d the magnetic Daniel Danie Boone l Into to the wilderness wilderness wilderness wilder wilder- ness of Kentucky The at att that time were not poor folks as many y have believed believed for forthe forthe forthe the grandfather whose name also was Abraham sold his property for before he set out put for forthe forthe the unclaimed lands where e s some me say say the the mammoths mammoths mam Dam moths still existed B But t when later he died Thomas the father of the future president did not Inherit much If anything anything any any- thing and had bad to start out for himself at an early age H He married Nancy Hans Hanks the niece of the theman theman theman man he worked for and ana she became the mother o of Abraham Lincoln the president Little Chance for Education Kent Kentucky then 1809 had been a state tate for seventeen seventeen seven seven- teen ye years rs but It was a wild wilderness of a land There were few books no schools In the modern sense and nd lItt little hope for anything but hard work It was exactly the kind of country for a great greatman greatman greatman man to make a start In tn for unless ss he had he had some elements elements' of greatness he never would achieve his go goal 1 It was was a country of hard knocks as well as hard work work and it It all m made de for economy o of time tIm and aUll study Lincoln's s mother who was a bright dell dell- cate woman woman ta taught her son as as' as much as she could A visiting schoolmaster gave gaye him some lessons In Inthe the tho ordinary Three Rs ns The country waS was so so spars sparsely l settled se ed and so distant from civilization that at the little church the services that were field beld were conducted by itinerant clergymen The boy Lincoln grew up here In a small log cabin that was without windows and whose wide cl was built on the outside of ot the cabin At night a log In the fireplace c gave all the m Illum ilium Illumination m. m the place afforded By this firelight to the tM music of the crackling burning logs young Lincoln extended flat fiat on tl the e floor stu studied Hed and andt nd t worked out little problems in arithmetic which in In that section was regarded as o of grent greater r Importance Im than a deep knowledge e o of En English gUsh liter Lincoln's mother died when he was nine years of o of age or 01 about a year after his father moved ino moved ed t to Indiana and and the following year his father n married ed Mrs Sally B Bush Bush h Johnston Contrary to the Ira Ira- lI mainly al ly created by the old fairy tales the second Mrs Lincoln was a model stepmother St Studied While Working At the same time young yo Lincoln was working as a farm hand m He bo borrowed borrowed rowed books from neighbors neighbors neigh neigh- bors bor and greedily devoured them The one book t that impressed him mo most t was was a Weems' Weems Life Lifee o of Washington He ire JI re received hl his exalted idea of the Father o of His Country from that book boo w which deified the first pr president sid nt rather than told his life But Lincoln believed elie In hi It and it Influenced his life lie He read Robinson Crusoe Cruso 1 and Bunyan's Pil PH Pilgrims grims grim's Progress and a history o of the United Stat States s. s and andt It w was s on these that he founded all his knowledge o of biography history and literature But he lie knew those books for tor lie for he had bad to memorize them as as they all aU were borrowed He lIe walked miles nukes to a a. a store where a St. St Louis newspaper newspaper news news- paper was taken t to borrow it and thus he received received received re re- re- re his news o of current events And all aU the while he was working and working hard hurd Now ferrying now plowing but i always in la inthis inthis lathis this backwoods country for he was quite quire a young man when his father removed tc to Illinois Lincoln was about twenty two twenty two at t the tw time when M he forsook farming and sought a a position as a clerk In a country store stor Whether Lincoln ever would have been heard o of h had d not the Black lack Hawk war occurred red tred ab about u a year after he be went to work at New Salem Sangamon Sangamon Sanga- Sanga mon on c county remains a question It need n not t bother any anyone one however because the war did occur and Lincoln did go into It as a captain o of volunteers This might be said to have been the turning point In Inh is 8 career Up to this time tim he had not found himself He lie was studying but drifting He does not appear to have had any aim In life beYOnd beyond beyond be be- yond the ambition to educate himself and to suc sue coed Lincoln aft afterward s said id that his experience In Inthe Inthe Inthe the Black ck Hawk war wai war gave him bim greater pleasure than anything that had occurred to him up to that time He had no no opportunity to distinguish his himself In that little conflict but he returned to New Salem a man o of more public importance than when he left it He started a store but it failed and und the debts fell feli upon him He was appo appointed postmaster the first federal office he ever held He ran for the legislature but was wa defeated But the next election he ran again and was elected and later l' l returned turned for another term Law La and Politics While he was keeping a general store he began the study o of law He once said that one o of h his his first books was a copy of of- the laws of Indiana and that wl was s about all the law he knew up to tb that tha t time It was while serving as a legislator in Illinois that Lincoln first turned his attention to to the blot blot theall of slavery which he began to oppose with with all his might and influence After he decided to retire from tl the legislature he started to practice law having be to practice In fn 1837 He removed removed removed re re- re- re moved moved to to Springfield where the remainder o of his days clays until he went to Washington as president k were mainly spent I In 1840 1846 he was elected to a seat In cong congress ess but he declined re-election re and settled down to the practice e of his profession in Springfield Lincoln spent his spare time In the store o of his friend frien l Jos Joshua ua Speed Speed which h was th the rendezvous of f many pro prominent men In that section He was famed famed for his is stories and for his keenness In hi de do- bate It Jt was was In this little general store stor that Lincoln Lin Lin- coIn coln first met mett Do Douglas glas In d debate b te Douglas wa was T regarded far u and Lind wide as a little giant in debate and he remarked that the store store was no place for fot him to debate any question with with- Lincoln By this time Lincoln had b become come something of ot a politician His party party was the Whig He took a alively alively alively lively Interest In political affairs and fina finally Y took part on the Whig side In a joint debate with the Democrats Lincoln was the last speaker In that debate but his words took the deepest hold o of the spectators and added greatly to his reputation It was as In Springfield that Lincoln married Mary Todd Todd who It Jt Is Interesting to note was also sought In marriage by Douglas who thus became Lincoln's opponent in love as well as In politics but was beaten by him In n both As a n lawyer Lincoln might have appeared lazy t to td tl those ose wh who did not understand his Ills methods He disliked office work and the drawing o of legal papers pa par pers pers but when a case cas h had d to be brought to to the the attention of a jury or a court Lincoln was In his element He was was a bo born n debater and story He knew how to get the Jury In good humor and how to make his point point- to them reach home He had the the genIus genius for putting the human touch to all aU he lie did and his homely similes and good stories often went further than his opponents opponent's knowledge of the law i I Apostle of f Abolition But It should not riot be imagined that Lincoln knew no law for that would be a mistake He often would sit up to the small hours o of the night reading readIng read read- Ing lug law and studying a case while his opponents probably would be soundly sleeping When he went into court he was master of his case and that go goes s a long way toward winning a verdict The practice of law was beginning to take a aarm firm arm hold on Lincoln oln to the exclusion o of poll politics tics when the the 1 Missouri Compromise was enacted That roused him and from that time onward he was strongly for th the a abolition o of slavery His position w was Nos s k known throughout the country country coun coun- try for he had stumped the East fo for Taylor years before and the st stories ries of his quiet humor and fund o of anecdote had penetrated the East consequently consequently conse conse- Wh when ii It It t was vas as evident to the country that It stood stood on th the eve of pf a conflict between slavery and abolition Lincoln was Vas made the nominee o of the party that was firmly finnly In on the principle principle prin prin- ciple o of n no compromise with sl He lIe was vas nominated and was enthusiastically elected at the national election In 1800 He TIe had scarcely taken his seat when the war burst u n the country It was a trying time and aud no one one suffered I If more more than did Lincoln himself But nut he be meant to do his duty and as always always had been his ha habit it he le did It then although It was most unpleasant nt and nd most difficult When the war made D e its Inroads Into many homes h Lincoln had an unpleasant duty to per per- form Ho sympathized with the mothers left at home an and did what he could for their boys at the front He lie received the mothers at tha White WhiteHouse llo House se talked thi things gs over with them and nearly ev every ry one o of them left feeling that her boy had a friend who looked after him although he was far faraway faraway faraway away In an army corps doing his duty dp It was vas this gentle character who was coldly struck down just when hen the war was at an end and the was getting ready to rejoice at atthe atthe atthe the glorious news The whole country South as aswell aswell aswell well as N North rth mourned the loss for tor even In the South where the war had been most the name o of Lincoln was joined In memory with witha a grand human just character who was even more than man j |