Patriot-Statesman-Martyr
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
A Brief Recital of the Noble Life of L o
"Rail Splitter" President; The Un
natural Struggle of Brethren,--The
Triumph and the End.
WHILE North and South were at
death grips, while the nation
seemed forever rent asunder,
while graft, Incompetence, cross pur
poses and factional strife hampered
3he Government's movements the
jtorm ever centred about one quaint,
pfcturesqtio figure Abraham Lin
coln. t
A gigantically tall, bony, ungain
ly body; a wrinkled, rugged face,
aly redeemed from grotesque hide
usness by Its luminous, melancholy
tark eyes; a slow speech, Interlarded
with keen rustic wit; an awkward
manner and a personality wherein
arude strength and Infinite gentle
ness were curiously mingled, such,
tt a glance, was Abraham Lincoln,
jsnancipator and martyr.
Born In utter poverty in the Ken
tucky backwoods and working his
way up gradually as rail splitter,
trra hand, boatman, store clerk and
Tnally lawyer, Lincoln wrote later
ibout his early chance:
"When I came of age I didn't
tnow much. Still, somehow, I oould
rd, write and cipher; but that was
ill. I have not been to school since.
, Tk little advance I now have upon
cats store of education I have picked
in from time to time under the
acessure of necessity."
Countless other men, with the
me or better start remained till
ttath at shop counter or farm work.
fat the drawbacks which would
-mm strangled the ambitions of most
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
-uths only strengthened the young
'"ekwoodsman's. Picking up a legal
ducatlon, he forged his way ahead
Btil In 1846 he was sent to Con
gress. When the slavery question
. -rose Lincoln enrolled himself heart
nd soul upon the "no extension"
de and became known as one of
anti-slavery movement's stanch
rt supporters. Avoiding the radl-
U.hysterical methods of the ex
Jae Abolitionists, he was' never
teless a firm champion of liberty,
id sprang quickly to prominence
t the new Republican party. When
tat party elected him President In
S60, the South, knowing his strong
eas on the slave question, almost
t once withdrew from the Union.
Ineoln replied to the Secessionists:
"You can have no conflict without
elng yourselves the aggressors!"
Then came the Civil War. And for
ie next four years Lincoln endured
e most trying position ever forced
r an American. He had not even
. eorgo" Washington's consolation of
nowlng, in darkest hours, that his
'How-countrymen loved and he
aved in him. The South and many
v ortherners regarded him as a tyran
Ical oppressor. The more rabid, ex-
table faction at the North fiercely
vmdemned his conservative calm In
fusing to be swept off his feet In
e general delirium and uproad.
"lose who mistook hysterics for pa
iotlsm doubted his ability and even
s loyalty.
For the mistakes of the War De
triment, for the failures of the
lion generals, for the humiliating
feats caused by Incompetent Jacks
' office, Lincoln received the full
ame. Because he worked out his
eat plans with the quiet slowness
cessary for their success he was re
!ed as inefficient and lazy. A large
rt of the English speaking world
?ered at his awkward, countrified
mners and mocked his ugly, gen
.face. His homeliness, his huge,
in figure, the uncouth vulgarisms
it he had not been able to shake
' these and other defocts were the
-gets for Jokes, contempt, denun-
. .Hon.
Through It all Lincoln pursued his
m, unswerving course, toward the
. al he had set himself the goal of
.'ree, united American nation. Deaf
abuse and scorn, holding the wild
ticals back, urging the timid con
rvatlves forward, guiding the Ship
State through hurricanes that
urly threatened to swamp it, the
esldent continued along his chosen
He selected the exact "psy-
, ological moment" for freeing the
vea; a moment when the move
ant everything to the Union cause,
igland and Franco more than once
med about to take sides with the
-.mth. Lincoln'! .consummate tact
averted these perils and kept the
country free from foreign complica
tions. At last his plans began to work
out. Little by little the nation real
ized all he had done and was doing
for It. Europo too commenced, to
understand that the despised back
woodsman was a statesman and pa
triot to whom the whole world might
well do reverence. He had carried
the country safely through Its most
terrible crisis. And the country,
somewhat late In the day, adored the
nan It had mocked.
The war was over, the Union pre
served, the slaves freed. No praise
was high enough for the man who
had achieved these miracles. And In
the brief moment of his boundless
popularity Lincoln preserved the
same gentle, strong calm that had
marked his days of adversity.
On the night of April 14, 18C5, a
gala performance was given at a
Washington theatre to celebrate the
triumphal close of the war. As
President Lincoln sat watching the
play (his appearance having been
greeted with mad applause), a dis
reputable actor, John Wilkes Booth,
member of a gang of conspirators
who sought to avenge the defeat of
the South, crept behind him and
shot him through the brain.
Thus died Abraham Lincoln, hero
martyr; struck down at the moment
when unjust hatred and ridicule
Against him had changed to admiring
love struck down when he had
barely ta&ted the reward of his years
ef thankless labor. He had saved
his country; and he gave his own
blameless life In payment.
HOW LINCOLN WORKED.
In Harper's for December W. H.
Crook, who was Lincoln's bodyguard,
gives a dramatic picture of Lincoln
In war-time. He pictures one of the
levees at the White House and then:
"The levee was supposed to be
over at eleven, but some people re
mained until nearly twelve. After
they had all left, Mr. Lincoln wrap
ped himself In the rough gray shawl
he usually wore out-of-doors, put on
his tall beaver hat, and slipped out
of the White House through the
base ment
According to
my orders I
followed
him, and
was alone
with Presi
dent Lincoln
for the first
time.
"We cross
ed the gar-
Jen, which
:y where
the execu
tive offices are now. Mr. Lincoln
was bent on his nighty visit to Sec
retary Stanton at the War Depart
ment. I stole a glance up at him,
at the homely face rising so far
above me. The Btrength of It la
not lessened in my memory by what
would seem to me now the grotesque
setting of rough shawl and silk hat.
"That night," as I said, I waa a
little nervous. The President no
ticed it. He seemed to know how I
felt, too. I had fallen into line be
hind him, but he motioned me to
walk by his side. The statesman who
came to consult him, those who had it
In their power to Influence the policy
of the party which had chosen him,
never had the consideration from Mr.
Lincoln that he gave the humblest
of those who served him.
"A few strides of the President's
long legs a few more 'of mine
brought us to the old-fashioned turn
stile that divided the White House
grounds from the enclosure of the
War Department. Mr. Lincoln
talked, in his soft low voice, chiefly
about the reception through which
he had Just gone.
" 'I am glad it is over, he said.
!'.I.VentUred t0 ask ,f he waB tlred
" 'Tea, It does tire me to shake
hands with bo many people,' he ans
wered. 'Especially now when there
Is so much other work to do. And
most of the guests come out of mere
curiosity.'
"With these words and the half
sigh which followed we entered the
east door of the War Department.
In those days that was a small, mean
two-story building, Just in front of
the Navy Department. We went im
mediately to Mr. Stanton's office,
which was on the second floor, on
the north front, and overlooked
Pennsylvania Avenue and the White
House. There, at the door, I waited
for him until his conference with
Secretary Stanton wbb over. Then I
accompanied him back to the White
House. From the moment Mr. Lin
coln spoke to me so kindly I felt at
home in my new duties. I never
lost the feeling which came then
that while the President was so
great, be was my friend. The White
House never awed me again."
mm
I V0 SSSOv
THE COLUMBIAN, BLOOMSBUuS.
0 LINCOLN;
BY
fThcron Brown
THE night was bloodshot: thro' the
dark
Hod furrows split the welkin wide,
And pallid households shrank and
cried
As dogs at thunder moan and bark.
On rustic eyes the awful show
Wrote "Judgment" swift on
vengeful wing.
They saw the heavens toss and
swing
And shed their stars like fiery
snow.
One gazer faced the frightening
glare
Like AJax In his youthful might;
He looked beyond the ethereal
fight,
And saw Arcturus shining there.
Untaught, but wise,' he scorned the
fret
That random drove the quailing
crowd.
nnw nn .nfrii .mi mi
"With Malice Toward None,
Charity To All, Following the Right
As God Gives Us to See the Right."
j.n iim nti 114.111111 1111
ABRAHAM
w 1
"The skfes are calm!" he chou'isi
loud.
"The ancient start are stan.l;:i;,
yet!" He towered alone. With vl.-'
blear
Gray elders round the stih
Like all the scare-blind to ...
went mad,
And Lincoln was the only seer.
,
The years went by. In Ftcr.
form
Came service; and the man c
great
Till, captain of the sovereign sir
He faced a wilder meteor storm.
Men saw the planets sore dlstressM,
They saw the rival tropics hurled
To combat thro' the stellar world,
But he was taller than the rest.
He scanned the purple height su
preme, With all Its endless lights aglow,
And knew the flaming strife be
low Was passion's threat and ruin's
dream.
He lived to shame the false des
pair. The civic firmament was peace;
Its banner spread to every breeze,
And not a star was missing there.
wfrti nn nn -n-an mi iin u-j
infra mm 1111 -114.11 mi un
LINCOLN.
A laboring man with horny hands,
Who swung the axo, who tilled his
lands j
Who shrank from nothing new, j
Bat did as poor men do. j
One of the people. Born to be
Their curious epitome, 1
To Share, yet rise above, -' . !
Their shifting hate and love.
Common his mind, It seemed so then,
His thoughts tho thoughts of other
men,
Tlaln were his words, and poor .
But now they will endure.
No hasty fool of stubborn will,
But prudent, cautious, still
Who, since his work waa good.
Would do it un he could.
No hero, thin, of Roinnn mold
Nor like our stately sires of old.
Perhaps he was not grout
But he preserved the afeite.
4
O, honest face, which all men know,
O, tender heart, but known to few
O, wonder of the ago,
Cut off by tragic rage,
!V By R. H. Stoddard.
if
LINCOLN'S STORY
OF HIS LIFE
Here is Lincoln's Story of His
Own Life, Supplied by Him to
J. W. Fell. It Was All He
Thought Worth While to Say.
I WAS born February 12, 1809,
In Hardin County, Kentucky.
My parents were both born In
Virginia, of undistinguished
families second families,
perhaps I should say. My mother,
who died In my tenth year, was of
a family of the name of Hanks, some
of whom now reside In Adams and
others In Macon County, Illinois.-My
paternal grandfather, Abraham Lin
coln, emigrated from Kocklngham
County, Virginia, to Kentucky about
1781 or 1782, where, a year or two
later, he was killed by the Indians,
not in battle, but by stealth, when
he was laboring to open a farm In
the forest. Ills ancptors who were
Quakers, went to Virginia from
Berks County, Pennsylvania. An ef
fort to identify them with the New
England family of the same name
ended in nothing more definite than
a similarity of Christian names In
both families, such as Enoch, Levi,
Mordecal, Solomon Abraham and
the like.
My father at the death of his
father, waa but six years of age, and
he grew up literally without educa
tion. He removed from Kentucky to
what Is now Spencer County, Indi
ana, in my eighth year. We reach
ed our new home about the time
the State came Into tho Union. It
(was a wild region, with many bears
hnd other wild animals still In the
woods. There I grew up. There
were some schools, so called, but
no qualification was ever required
pf a teacher beyond 'readln', wrltln'
and r.lpherin' ' to the rule of three.
If a straggler supposed to under
stand Latin happened to sojourn in
the neighborhood he was looked
upon as a wizard. There was abso
lutely nothing to excite ambition for
education. Of course, when I came
of age I did not know much. Still,
somehow, I could read, write and
cipher to the rule of three but that
was all. I have not been to school
since. The little advance I now
have upon this store of education I
have picked up from time to time
under the pressure of necessity.
I was raised to farm work, which
1 continued until I was twenty-two.
At twenty-one I came to Illinois
Macon County. Then I got to New
Salem, at that time in Sangamon,
now In Menard County, where I re
mained a year as a sort of clerk In
a store. Then came the Black Hawk
war, and I was elected a captain of
volunteers, a success which gave me
more pleasure than any I have had
since. I went through the campaign,
was elated, ran for the Legislature
the same year (1832), and was beat
en the only time I ever have been
beaten by the people. The next and
three succeeding biennial electiona I
was elected to the legislature. I
was not a candidate afterward. Dur
ing this legislative period I had
studied law and removed to Spring
field to practice it. In 184G I was
once elected to the lower house of
Congress. Was not a candidate for
re-eiectlon. From 1849 to 1854,
both Inclusive, I practiced law more
assiduously than ever before. Al
ways a Whig In politics, and gen
erally on the Whig electorlal tickets,
making active canvasses, I was los
ing interest In politics when the re
peal of the Missouri compromise
aroused me again. What I have
done since then la pretty well known.
If any personal description of me
la thought desirable It may be Bald
I am, In height, six feet four Inches,
nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an
average one hundred and eighty
pounds; dark complexion with coarse
black hair and gray eyes. No other
marks or brands recollected.
:ooooooooccocccc
THE LINCOLN FARM CELEBRATION
The following is the inscrln-
tion on the memorial tablet to
be unveiled at the T.in
Farm Celebration on February
12, 1909:
Here, on the twelfth day of
February, eighteen hundred
and nine, into the cabin home
of Thomas and Nancy Hanks
Lincoln was horn the sixteenth
President of the United States,
Abraham Lincoln pioneer,
crator, Jurist, statesman, pnr
doner, reconciler, emancipator,
lover and protector of all life
beloved of
HUMANITY.
Through the bitterness of war
ho freed the alnvn
served the Union. Through a
martyr's deuth ho li,iii.i
wounds of the sword and ce
mented in love tho reunited
people who dedicate this farm
10 msiory, . patriotism
peace.
and
50000000000COOODOOC0000030
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S MOTHER
She lived till he was 10.
She taught him to Bpell and read.
She instructed him in various
ways.
She was a most excellent Chris
tian woman.
the Bible.
Little Abe learned to read that he
night do this.
THE LINCOLN
FARM
CELEBRATION
One Hundredth Anniversary of
of the Birth of Abraham Lino
o!n to be Observed on Feb. 12
The nation will observe on Feb.
12 the one hundredth anniversary of
the birth of Abraham Lincoln, tb
mnn raised up by Dlvlno Provldem
to preserve the unity of tho American
people and leave no slave undw
their flag.
Recognizing tho patriotic slgnlfr.
(ante of tills centennial, a group of
American citlzeus two years ago or
ganized and Incorporated under the
lnws of the State of New York the
Lincoln Farm Association, which
proposed to mako of Lincoln's hum
bin birthplace a national shrlno, sad
on the one hundredth anniversary
of his birth to dedicate it to the
American pcoplo as the abiding sym
bol of the opportunity with whlck
democracy endows Its men.
Through tho generosity of one of
Its directors, t:ie Association, almost
at Its inception, acquired the full
title to the Lincoln birthplace farm
and the rude little cabin in whici
he waa born. Thus equipped, the
Association began its preparation
for an appropriate national 'celebra
tion on the twelfth day of February.
1909.
That some sort of an enduring
memorial should be placed on tola
historic ground all were agreed.
In the two years' history of the
Lincoln Farm Association the pro
gramme for the centennial has takes,
very ful and concrete form. It was
decided by the Association's Execu
tive Committee to build on the birth
place farm, whlcn Is in the geograph
ic centre of the State of Kentucky, a
memorial museum, which U to cost
about two hundred and fifty thou
sand dollars, and which will tell the
stcry of the early yeomanry life out
of which Lincoln came. This museum
will house, as Its central object of
Interest, the weather-worn little log
ca'jln in which Abraham Lincoln waa
born. The farm, a rough little patch
of one hundred and ten acres, bisect
ed by tho old Louisville and Nash
ville Pike, will be kept a farm, grow
ing corn and squash, bluegrass and
grain, as it has always done since the
clay that Thomas Lincoln took his
Utile family to venture Into the
wilderness beyond the broad Ohio.
On these broken and uneven acres
Lincoln's countrymen will lay their
tribute a broad green plaza, with the
Memorial Hall at one end and a sim
ple shaft at the other, to mark the
ground on which stood the first home
of him "whose memory is the strong
est, teuderest tie that binds all hearts
together now, and holds all States be
neath the Nation's flag."
The building will be constructed
of Tennessee marble and fireproof
material throughout. It will contain
a central court, over which will be
built a movable roof, and In which
the birthplace cabin will be restored.
Around this will be the museum
halls, the main room being converti
ble Into an auditorium for the use
of any patriotic gatherings that may
choose to use It in this way. One
every year at least, onv the twelftk
day of each February, the nation will
hold In this ball the central Lincoln'
birthday celebration. Lying, as this
birthplace does, almost at the cen
tre of our population, it will be the
most accessible national shrine, and.
in many ways it will be the most sig
nificant, if not the most inspiring, it
will become the Nation's Commons,
the meeting-place of North and
South, of East and West, a great na
tional school of peace and unity,
where all sectional animosity wilt
forever be buried. President Roose
velt has called It "A National Tem
ple of Patriotic Righteousness."
One hundred years have passed
since this rough little patch of Ken
tucky ground laid claim to the affeo
tions of coming generations. In these
years the American people have
grown to love the man of tender
strength who was cradled on that
soil. On the twelftn day of February.
1909, the Lincoln Farm Association
will open and dedicate to the Ameri
can people this birthplace farm.
President Roosevelt a year ago ao
cepted the invitation from the Asso
ciation's Board of Directors to deliv
er the dedicatory address.
kill