457 A9 NRLF EM? ALEXANDER GOLDSTEIN ALEXANDER GOLDSTEIN 4 , LINCOLN IN 1861 From "Life of Lincoln," published by Doubleday, Page & Co. Photograph taken by Hesler of Chicago. Now the property of Mr. Frank A. Brown of Minneapolis. 773191 LINCOLN CENTENNIAL MEDAL. Struck by United States Mint. LINCOLN CENTENNIAL MEDAL. Struck by United States Mint. THE GIANT WHO CAME OUT OF THE WEST. From an oldtime wet-plate original negative made by Alexander Hesler, of Chicago, at the request of the National Republican Committee, directly after Mr. Lincoln s nomination, in 1860. (See page 26). From the collection of Henry C. Brown, Esq., Hastings-on-Hudson, N. Y. INDEPENDENCE DAY has come again with its memories of the brave men who in the long ago, in this very city, pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor that this land might enjoy the blessings of liberty. For some years we have on this anniversary published a booklet on one of the worthy men of other days. As every one knows, this is Lincoln s Centennial Year ; and this fact has determined that our subject now should be the man who, better than any other, caught the spirit and established the work of the builders of our Nation strong, wise, #ble, Joying, faithful Father Abraham. This is not a life of Lincoln. It is merely a* reminder of ; him. It is not an attempt to tell something new, but simply to tell again by word and picture to recall the man. Multi tudes love to read about him, to think about him, to talk about him ; here, then, those who wish may see his birthplace as it was and as it is to be ; the book he studied and the rails he split; his hand and the maul it swung: his home and his tomb ; his form and his face ; the clear writing of his hand and the clearer thoughts of his brain ; reminders all of our Lincoln the one we love the best of all. PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENCE DAY NINETEEN NINE HOUSE IN WHICH ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN From Harper s Weekly, February 13, 1909 IN THIS. LITTLE CABIN, ON A LITTLE FARM NEAR HODGEN- feNTUGKY, WAS BORN ON FEBRUARY 12, 1809, TO AND-. -NANCY HANKS LINCOLN, THE SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ABRAHAM LINCOLN PIONEER, RAIL-SPLITTER, LAWYER, PRESIDENT, STATESMAN, PHILOSOPHER, FATHER, BOATMAN, STORE-KEEPER, LEGISLATOR, COMMANDER, DIPLOMATIST, RECONCILER, EMANCIPATOR, PROTECTOR OF ALL LIFE, LOVER OF ALL MANKIND. LABORER, SURVEYOR, ORATOR, PARDONER, PATRIOT, SHEPHERD, MARTYR, WPfr^ MEMORIAL BUILDING TO BE ERECTED ON THE LINCOLN FARM. From Collier s Weekly, February 13, 1909. The Lincoln Farm Association is a patriotic organization formed of American citizens for the purpose of preserving as a National Park the farm on which Abraham Lincoln was born. It has already purchased the farm of one hundred and ten acres, which is situated two miles from Hodgenville, in the geographic center of Kentucky. It has also obtained possession of the log cabin which sheltered Nancy Hanks Lincoln and her won derful child. This will be preserved for all time in the granite memorial shown above. The corner-stone of this building was laid by President Roosevelt on Lincoln s Centen nial, February 12, 1909, and President Taft is to dedicate it in the near future. The Lincoln Farm Association has already over 100,000 members, who have con tributed over $100,000. The officers and directors are men of national prominence and recognized public spirit. A handsome certificate of membership is sent to every one who contributes 25 cents or more. The names of contributors, classified geographically, are to be preserved in the fireproof memorial building. This is a popular movement, and there is room and a welcome in it for all the plain people whom Lincoln so understood and loved. Send your contribution to Clarence H. Mackay, Treasurer Lincoln Farm Association, 74 Broadway, New York City, and have a part in making "the little farm that raised a man" a nation s shrine, and join the host of those who would do honor to the one we love the best of all. ENGLISH GRAMMAR- THE KIRKHAM S GRAMMAR USED BY LINCOLN AT NEW SALEM From "Life of Lincoln," published by Doubleday, Page & Co. In 1831, while clerking in a grocery store at New Salem, Illinois, Lincoln de termined to study grammar in order to fit himself better for public speaking and writing. He walked fourteen miles for this book. On the counter of the store, or in the shade of a tree, he worked for hours on its rules. He later gave this book to Ann Rutledge, his early sweet heart. The words on the title page, "Ann M. Rutledge is now learning grammar," were written by Lincoln. The order in Lincoln s hand on James Rutledge was later pasted on the inner cover by Robert Rutledge, whose widow came into pos session of this most interesting relic. Lincoln worked for his learning; worked for it long and hard ; worked for it in a way only less remarkable than the result he obtained. He had the wisdom to recognize that an education was indis pensable to him, and the courage, like wise, to pay the price. His grammar he knew by heart, his law books became a part of his mind. He says his habit was to bound a subject north, south, east and west, and so to grasp it and make it his own. With this habit of mind, with the Bible as his model, with Shakespeare, Burns and Bunyan for his intimate com panions, he in time became able to produce a letter like that herewith, which hangs to-day on the wall at Oxford, the ancient seat of learning, as an example of the English language at its best. A letter to Mrs. Bixley of Boston, November 21, 1864 : "DEAR MADAM : I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to be guile you from a loss so overwhelming, but I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacri fice on the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, ABRAHAM LINCOLN." ABRAHAM LINCOLN READING LAW IN THE GROCERY STORE AT NEW SALEM, ILLINOIS, OF WHICH HE WAS PART OWNER From Century Magazine, February 1909 SINCE LINCOLN In the life and achievements of Abraham Lincoln every humble and deserving child of toil may see the promise of a better day. Since Thomas Lincoln, what father, however poor his condition and heavy his toil, may not as he eats the bread of honest sweat, cherish the hope that standing on the shoulders of his father s faith ful work and honorable conduct, his son shall rise to a position of greater usefulness and higher honor than he himself has attained. And since Nancy Hanks Lincoln, what mother may not as she holds her little one to her breast, pondering, like Mary of Nazareth, on the deep, mysterious things of life, breathe the faith-filled prayer that her child may prove a blessing to her country and her race. And since Sarah Bush Lincoln, what woman when called upon to be a mother to one who is not her son, shall not the more freely give of her love and her sympathy, her instruction, and her encour agement to the needy young life that has been placed in her care, knowing since her day of that stepmother s exceeding great reward. And since Abraham Lincoln, what American boy need lack courage or high aim ? Who shall cheat him of his birthright, made more sure by Lincoln s achievements? Who shall not hence forth know that no matter how humble his birth or great his obstacles, with faith in God, in man and in work " With faith in the right as God gives us to see the right," there lies open before him the pathway to usefulness, honor and success. LINCOLN S RAIL-SPLITTING MAUL This maul was obtained in 1860 of John Hanks of Sangamon County, Illinois, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, with whom he worked at splitting rails, and was certified by Hanks to have been used by Lincoln. It was obtained of Hanks by Thomas S. Mather, Adjutant General of Illinois, at the request of Jonathan F. Morris, of Hartford, Connecticut, for the political organization of "Wide Awakes" of Hartford. Mather took the maul to Lincoln, who was at the time using the offices of the Governor of the State of Illinois as his headquarters in the campaign of 1860. Lincoln stated that it was in his opinion genuine, and that whatever John Hanks said of it was to be believed, as he was a truthful man. After being used by the "Wide Awakes," to whom it was presented in I860, the maul remained in the possession of Vincent Whiting, from whose widow it again came into the possession of Mr. Morris, who soon after, on May 7th, 1895, presented it to the Connecticut Historical Society. 10 CAST FROM THE RIGHT HAND OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN Made by Leonard W. Volk, at Springfield, 1860. From the Century Magazine, February 1909. (See page 26) For untold ages hands have wrought and hands have written, but, of the countless millions, to this hand only was it given to convey to the human race these pregnant words : "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States are, and henceforward shall be, free. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God." Look on this cast, and know the hand That bore a nation in its hold ; From this mute witness understand What Lincoln was how large of mold. What better than this voiceless cast To tell of such a one as he, Since through its living semblance passed The thought that bade a race be free ! F.DMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN 11 LINCOLN HOME, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS From "Life of Lincoln," published by Doubleday, Page & Co. Photograph by A. J. Whipple of Boston. Mr. Lincoln and one of his sons stand inside the fence. House is located at Eighth Street and Capitol avenue. It was built in 1839. Purchased by Lincoln in 1844, and his home until he left for Washington. Originally one and a half stories, Mrs. Lincoln had it raised to its present height as a surprise to Mr. Lincoln while he was once absent on "the circuit." In 1883 Captain O. H. Oldroyd rented the house and opened its doors to the people. He maintained this at his own expense until 1887, when by the gift of Hon. Robert T. Lincoln the State of Illinois became the owner of the place and ap pointed Captain Oldroyd its first custodian. It contains many valuable relics. On Monday morning, February 11, 1861, at the railway station, Springfield, from the platform of the car, in a pouring rain, with uncovered head and uplifted hand, Abraham Lincoln spake these words : "My friends, no one not in my situation can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kind ness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him, who can go with me and remain with you, and be every where for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care com mending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an af fectionate farewell." The great soul of Abraham Lincoln was liberated Saturday, April 15, 1865. The body which had housed it was taken from Washington to Springfield by way of Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis and Chicago. On every mile of this sad journey the martyr s body called forth such love, re- respect and grief as the world had never witnessed. In large cities elaborate exer cises were held, and countless thousands spent the nights as well as days in passing before his face, while at every railway station, hamlet or lonely farmhouse along the track the grief-stricken people gave sad salute. On May 3rd the funeral train reached Springfield, and on the following day, after an oration by Bishop Simpson, and the reading of his Second Inaugural over the open grave, the body of The Great American was finally laid to rest. "We rest in peace where his sad eyes Saw peril, strife and pain ; His was the awful sacrifice, And ours the priceless gain." 12 Jbt LINCOLN S FINAL RESTING PLACE, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS From Harper s Weekly, February 13, 1909 Great as was Lincoln s influence on the men of his time, greater still is it on the men of to-day. Ask a hundred Ameri cans what public character they most admire, most care to read about, think about, hear about, and the almost unani mous answer will be Lincoln. As Secre tary Stanton declared when the light in Lincoln s tired eyes went out forever : "Now he belongs to the ages." Right, stern, duty-doing War Secretary ! Right ! So has it been ! So will it be ! Those of every age to come who wish to express the best and suppress the worst in them selves and in public life will find in Lincoln s struggles and success their greatest encouragement and inspiration. Among countless tributes to Lincoln, that of Lowell stands conspicuous. It is all the more remarkable because of its date. It was read at the Harvard Com memoration within a few months of his death, yet its wonderful comprehension of the man, its deep feeling and its beau tiful expression leave nothing to be de sired after forty years. It should be read and studied as an aid to forming a mental picture of the one we love the best of all. COMMEMORATION ODE Nature, they say, doth dote, And cannot make a man Save on some worn-out plan, Repeating us by rote ; For him her Old World moulds aside she threw, And, choosing sweet clay from the breast Of the unexhausted West, With stuff untainted shaped a hero new, Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. How beautiful to see Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed, Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead ; One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, Not lured by any cheat of birth But by his clear-grained human worth, And brave old wisdom of sincerity ! They knew that outward grace is dust ; They could not choose but trust In that sure-footed mind s unfaltering skill And supple-tempered will That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. He knew to bide his time, And can his fame abide, Still patient in his simple faith sublime, Till the wise years decide. Great captains with their guns and drums, Disturb our judgment for the hour, But, at last, silence comes ; These all are gone, and standing like a tower, Our children shall behold his fame, The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man. Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, New birth of our new soil, the first American. 1:5 Abraham Lincoln was a lover, an ex ponent of "the love that stronger is than hate" a modern Ben Adhem, who loved his fellowmen and his God ; whose love of God was oftenest shown in his love For all God s children everywhere. A good way to observe Independence Day is to thank God for Abraham Lincoln, a man who lived years in advance of his time, a man of the people, who, in the midst of unique difficulties and misunder- LIFE MASK OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN Made in Chicago in 1862 by Leonard W. Volk. Engraved on wood by Thomas Johnson. From Century Magazine, February 1909 standings, guided our Nation through the fiercest Civil War, treating all issues with a fairness and all men with a kind ness that it has taken his countrymen two generations of peace to acquire. So let every American thank God for him to-day, and if he values his country and his blessings, let him see that some of those who are coming after us are taught to love Lincoln, to revere his name and to follow his great example. Lincoln s supremacy in American hearts is due to many causes : We love him for his victory over poverty and appalling obstacles ; for his fidelity to duty ; for his loyalty to the right ; for his great unselfishness ; for his patience and self-control ; for his wisdom and fair ness ; for his tenderness and forgive ness ; for his courage and sincerity ; for his humor and humanity ; for his love of God and man and country ; in short, we love him for the - - -:-..--_ = 4 qualities that ap peal to human hearts the world over, qualities that in our better mo ments each of us would like to have control our individual lives. Because Lincoln lived and loved and did his best our lives are bet ter, and the lives of millions yet un born will be better still. Yes, and be cause he lived and did his best, our best is due those among whom we live and the ob jects to which he devoted his pow ers and for which he gave his life. A charming- trait in Lincoln s character was sin cerity. His heart was like the clear, deep spring from which we slaked our thirst in child hood s days, look ing the while into its quiet depths and finding it sweet and clear to the very bottom. A heart pure and transparent, not muddy with strife nor tinctured with bitterness, a spring of love flowing on and on for all. It was this sincerity that gained for him the name of "Honest Abe." This did not alone or mainly mean that he was honest in dol lars and cents, but that he was honest in purpose, in speech, in deed ; honest in all ways, honest at all times. "Honest Abe." U HEROIC BUST OF LINCOLN From American Magazine, February 1908, when it was first published. Sculptured in marble by Gutzon Borglum. Finished December, 1908. Purchased by Mr. Eugene Meyer, Jr., of New York, and presented to the United States Government. Now in the Capitol at Washington. We ought never to forget that Abraham Lincoln, one of the mightiest masters of statecraft that history has ever known, was also one of the most devoted and faithful servants of Almighty God who has ever sat in the high placesof the world. J. G. Blaine. He was one whom responsibility edu cated, and he showed himself more and more nearly equal to duty as year after year laid on him ever fresh burdens. God-given and God-led and sustained, we must ever believe him. Wendell Phillips. GRAND REVIEW OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BY From "Life of Lincoln," A mighty chorus this ! Lumbermen from the forest, mechanics from the shops, merchants from the stores, students from the schools, lawyers from the courts, ministers from the pulpits, farmers from the land, sailors from the sea, realizing that life was not the greatest blessing, joined the host and pledged their lives to the preservation of a government of and for and by the people as they sang, "We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more." 16 PRESIDENT LINCOLN, AT FALMOUTH, VA., IN APRIL 1863. Published by Doubleday, Page & Co. One of the sons of Father Abraham, present at this review, wrote, "We had no eyes save for our revered President, the Commander-in-chief. We passed close to him, so that he could look into our faces and we into his. None of us to our dying days can forget that countenance ! Concentrated in that one great, strong yet tender face, the agony of the life or death struggle of the hour was revealed as we had never seen it before. With new understanding we knew why we were soldiers." 17 SAINT GAUDEN S STATUE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO From the Century Magazine, February 1909 A work of great dignity and artistic excellence. The more it is studied the more impressive it appears. Its simplicity and naturalness are charming. It is indeed fortunate for our coming generations that the great American has been preserved for them in this way by our great artist. IS I ENDORSEMENT BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN From Putnam s Magazine, February 1909 The above endorsement was made by President Lincoln on the original manu script of the Second Inaugural, which he presented to his secretary, John Hay, later our country s great Secretary of State. This most interesting manuscript, which is presented in the following pages, was first reproduced in Putnam s Maga zine of February 1909, and is printed here by their permission. In the following pages there is also presented an autograph copy of Lincoln s address at Gettysburg. It is hoped that a perusal of these famous words in their original form will give increased satisfac tion to those who have long recognized them as among the most wonderful speci mens of human speech. The scholars of old Judea voiced an attitude common before and since their day when they exclaimed regarding the Carpenter of Nazareth, "Whence hath this man letters, having never learned?" In their amazement at its form and source they failed to grasp the value of the truth expressed. It is not enough for us to wonder that this unschooled backwoods man could by infinite toil so develop his mind and his speech ; it is far more im portant to study his message and extend his spirit to those among whom we live ; to take, for instance, his famous words, "With malice toward none, with charity for all," and to practice them, to live them until lawlessness and lynching shall no more be found among us, and class hatred and race hatred shall be lost in the broad humanity of which Lincoln was the world s best example. Till the day fore shadowed in one of his favorite poems, Burns "A man s a man for all that." " For all that and all that, It s coming yet for all that ; When man to man the world o er Shall brothers be for all that." THE LAST CHANCE On top of Lincoln s desk when he was practising law lay a bundle of papers labeled in this way. 19 SECOND INAUGURAL ,&& tLu^^-4>^*<j <-&& (2^?^SitsL^Ct-r^> fj,*^ 3 f^/^Ct^c^ fasC^&~&^cj / h-^J^l&j ff^f jtsfijU O/Ui^^Ti /l^^i^^y-^o X>Ac-> (2s*^^-esi-f<<-*-? / " J.s^j w^J2-^si+^ttL^t-3 ,, Qf~r\j& fo*-0- t>fiji> *JV2SI^>U^4 O<L+si frrtn^ *fcU fijZe^j^ 20 SECOND INAUGURAL ifa* jLo oU4 tf^j X^je> IUsm4rU f o>x&voo &i^+si^*J effects ^ y . / <&#Liv /L^KW-xJ ff , l^JL&LJU-4*v I * Oj i^cX7 /ri o * irv / /j-i^/n tb rfcfcv Onaa- 21 SECOND INAUGURAL c/K^ C-axx^Lo trf &&*-> C-^K^pC<L D V fyilJr&> QSI*-&<- aA&>l*-*^0ttstoA , ^io-* o//t7 />>u<w / a / /?-CcWu^-dLe( , H I/Y ^>/ sfafL+/i*~+ o/t^rt^ 22 SECOND INAUGURAL. *- a ff i* / / * / / / i / V U V ^.S / ^pj&st, ^j /UuuoO L<^<^ ^%>^exi^iTx^^^^x/ tLOsO a <J / a / j ^ /LTL^pV L^/ru <^ to CU^M^ JT-CTY /fLtsn^ isJ~K# /3^fC&-g/^ <u~~tn^n-iu TULA a * #***+**> 23 GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. ^s0~i<*^/ / &<*&t~-<* <Zi^**^4j ^-e~*s-&^\*/ faJZ-&*- j *^& if <V^L ^e-^C / v4 ? / &^C&e^--^ jfas^~f ff/l*4f~ls^\~~<J , GTA^/I /o/>^tx-o ?>v^xu/ f^t^^i^t^o G-^t^e*^/ &^e~&^&CS l~J~~**-0 P^"***** M^ 24 GETTYSBURG ADDRESS o^n^^^y^y^e^^fj LINCOLN AS SEEN BY CONTEMPORARIES It seems less difficult to understand and appreciate Lincoln in our time than it was in his time, and this fact adds greatly to the credit of those who through the haze of dispute and the clouds of battle recognized and proclaimed his greatness. "The whitest soul a nation knew." Edmund Clarence Stedman. "Lincoln is the honestest man I ever knew." Stephen A. Douglass. "The most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen." Edwin M. Stanton. "God-given and God-led and sustained we must ever believe him." Wendell Phillips. "A man of destiny, with character made and moulded by Divine power to save a nation." W. H. Seward. "Dead, he speaks to men who now willingly hear what before they refused to listen to." //. U^. Beecher. "A patriot and a wise man. His death was a calamity for the country, but it left his fame without a fault or criticism. -Charles A. Dana. "Of all the men I ever met he seems to possess more of the elements of greatness combined with good ness than any other." W. T. Sherman. "There is no man in the country so wise, so gentle and so firm. I believe the hand of God placed him where he is." John Hay (in August, 1863). "The true representative of this continent, father of his country, the pulse of twenty millions throbbing in his heart, the thought of their minds articulated by his tongue. Ralph Waldo Emerson. "As a child in a dark night on a rugged way catches hold of the hand of its father for guidance and sup port, Lincoln clung fast to the hand of the people, and moved calmly through the gloom." George Bancroft. "Unquestionably the greatest man I have ever encountered. He will take rank in history alongside of Washington. His fame will grow brighter as time passes and his great work is better understood." U. S. Grant (who knew Lincoln but little more than a year). 25 TABLET ON CLAYPOOL HOTEL, INDIANAPOLIS Within two squares of the place where these words were spoken, on its most impressive monument, To Indiana s Silent Victors," it can to-day be seen how the men of that State responded to this appeal made by one they well knew and trusted and counted as their own. On that noble shaft it is written that two hundred and ten thousand four hun dred and ninety-seven men of Indiana responded to their country s call, of whom twenty-four thousand four hundred six teen gave their lives in order that, as Lincoln put it, "this government of the people, by the people and for the people should not perish from the earth." Space forbids extended reference to the great struggle in which nine out of every twenty able-bodied men in the free states and territories took part ; in which over two and a quarter million men en listed ; over three hundred thousand were lost; and for which twenty-seven hundred and fifty million dollars were appropri ated in four years. For this contest, in which there were six hundred and twenty- five battles and skirmishes, New York furnished three hundred ninety-two thou sand two hundred seventy men ; Penn sylvania, two hundred sixty-five thousand five hundred seventeen ; Ohio, two hun dred forty thousand five hundred four teen, and Illinois two hundred fourteen thousand one hundred thirty-three, while other states met the call in proportionate numbers. In four weeks Ohio organized and placed in the field forty-two regi ments of infantry nearly thirty-six thou sand men. THE HESLER PHOTOGRAPH By means of this wonderful photo graph the world is fast becoming ac quainted with Lincoln s striking features without the beard, which he first grew in 1860, at the suggestion of Grace Bedell, an unknown little girl, living in Western New York. Being disappointed at a crude poster of Lincoln which she had seen, the little girl wrote him a letter suggesting that a beard might improve his picture. This naive epistle pleased Lincoln, who later, on his way to Washington, when his train stopped at Westfield, inquired for the little maiden, showed her how his new beard looked, and gave her a kiss to be remembered forever. This negative became the property of George B. Ayres when he purchased the Hesler photograph gallery. After some years he began to realize its historic in terest, and placed it with another taken at the same time among his personal effects when he moved from Chicago in 1867. In this way they escaped the great Chicago fire of October, 1871. Mr. Ayres after ward moved to Philadelphia, where he resided till his death in 1907. Of this photograph Lincoln himself said: "Well, that looks better and ex presses me better than any I have seen. If it pleases the people I am satisfied." Lincoln s early companions, those who knew him before war and worry had used him for an anvil, pronounced the photograph a beautiful and truthful rep resentation of their friend. THE CAST OF LINCOLN S HAND This was made by L. W. Volk at Lincoln s Springfield home. Asked to clench his fist about some object, Lincoln went to his wood-shed, placed an old broom handle on the sawbuck, and sawed the section shown in the cast. Replying to Volk s apology for the trouble he had made, Lincoln remarked: "I have always been my own wood sawyer." 26 LINCOLN IN 1860 From Pearson s Magazine, October 1908, when it was first published. The photograph is owned by Mr. Charles W. McLellan of New York. The frame is of walnut logs split by Lincoln in his wood-chopper days, when he earned thirty-seven cents a day. LINCOLN S NAME From what people love the most you may likely learn what those people are. Notice, and you will find that people do not mention Lincoln s name with a racket and hurrah ; the men of his day doubtless did that, but the years have carried him into a better place. At a certain depth all human hearts com municate, and far down below the level of agitation, or dispute or indifference, with the name of mother, of the old home, of our dear departed, in every American heart is enshrined the name of Lincoln. LINCOLN ON LABOR "I am not ashamed to confess that twenty-five years ago I was a hired laborer mending rails, at work on a flatboat just what might happen to a poor man s son. I want every man to have the chance and I believe a black man is entitled to it in which he can better his condition ; when he may look forward and hope to be a hired laborer this year and the next, work for himself afterward, and finally to hire men to work for him. That is the true system. Then you can better your con dition, and so it may go on and on." 27 "BACK TO THE DECLARATION" The men who took that momentous step at Philadelphia in 1776 spoke for Abraham Lincoln, then unborn. Their startling declaration that all men are created equal found in Lincoln s heart its most sincere acceptance, and in his life its strongest champion. With Lincoln the Declaration of Independence was no "glittering generality"; his conduct was ever in line with its words. Standing in Independence Hall at Philadelphia, on February 22, 1861, on his way to Washington to assume the presidency, Lincoln made the following solemn and prophetic address : "I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing in this place, where were collected together the wis dom, the patriotism, the devotion to principle from which sprang the institutions under which we live. You have kindly sug gested to me that in my hands is the task of re storing peace to our dis tracted country. I can say in return, sir, that all the political sentiments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, from the sentiments which originated in and were given to the world from this hall. I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I have often pondered over the dan gers which were incurred by the men who assembled here and framed and adopted that Declaration. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that independence. I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. It was that which gave "For thou art Freedom s now, and Fame s - One of the few, the immortal names That were not born to die." promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this country be saved on that basis? If it can, I will con sider myself one of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say that I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. My friends, this is wholly an unpre pared speech. I did not expect to be called on to say a word when I came here. I supposed I was merely to do something toward rais ing a flag; I may, therefore, have said something indis creet. But I have said nothing but what I am will ing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by." These significant words spoken, Mr. Lincoln went outside and raised to the top of the building he so venerated the flag he so much loved. There was a new star added to it that day for Kansas. Thirty- four this made it, and thirty-four they were to remain as the old flag rode all through the fierce conflict till peace wel comed back the other States to the stars that had awaited their return. In the speech given above Lincoln s address at Gettysburg was foreshadowed and embodied. He looked upon this gov ernment of ours as the hope of the race ; he looked to it to improve the condition of the people ; to "lift the weights from the shoulders of all men." He regarded the war as a test if this were possible. His faith in the people and the people s God made him sure of the result ; made him willing to bide his time ; made him each day dedicate himself anew to the task remain ing before him in order that "government of the people, by the people and for the people should not perish from the earth." 28 LINCOLN CRYSTALS If a crystal may be defined as a thing of perfect symmetrical form and transparent character, then many of the utterances of Abraham Lincoln might be so called. When passed through his clear mind and expressed in his clear language, the issues of his time were crystallized indeed. Here are a few specimens. With public sentiment, nothing can fail ; without it nothing can succeed. Faith in God is indispensable to suc cessful statesmanship. Work, Work, Work is the main thing. For those who like this kind of book, this is the kind of book they will like. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in. That some are rich shows that others may become rich. The Lord must love the common peo plethat s why he made so many of them. Although volume upon volume is written to prove slavery a very good thing, we never hear of a man who wishes to take the good of it by being a slave himself. I should be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this footstool if I for one day thought that I could discharge the duties which have come upon me since I came into this office without the aid and enlightenment of One who is stronger and wiser than all others. Our Government rests in public opinion. Who ever can change public opinion can change the Government practically just so much. Public opinion on any subject always has a "central idea." That central idea in our political public opinion at the beginning was "the equality of men." And its con stant working has been a steady progress toward a practical equality of all men. One war at a time is enough. I know I am right because I know Liberty is right. If men never began to drink they would never become drunkards. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself. "His life was gentle, And the elements so mixed in him That Nature might stand up And say to all the world, This was a man. " There is no grievance that is a fit ob ject of redress by mob law. 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. Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor and could never have existed first. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty. A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this Goverment cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. In the right to eat the bread which his own hand earns the negro is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglass, and the equal of every living man. You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. What I say is that no man is good enough to gov ern another man without that other s consent. This is the leading principle the sheet anchor of American republicanism. Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true ; I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have. I have no prejudice against the South ern people. They are just what we would be in their situation. If slavery did not now exist among them they would not en dorse it. If it did now exist among us, we should not instantly give it up. What is inherently right is politically safe. 29 A SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE To a great and glorious army of her sons there was given, as to Abraham Lincoln, the great honor to die for our country; but to none of them was it also given to love and labor for it so effectively as he. We must not in his goodness lose sight of his greatness. Like many others, he was a man of the people, but to an unusual degree he was the people s man : he understood them, he sympathized with them, he thought of them, he consulted with them, and it was always his highest satisfaction to know and do their will. this same compass, soon to mislay it, but Lincoln used it to the end. "The people ! the people !" this was the keynote of his service, the foundation of his statesman ship. An unfailing faith in the common people and the common righteousness of the plain people, as he called them, was the compass by which he ever steered his difficult course. This compass brought him to his great goal, and made him ever more the answer of Democracy when challenged by the nations of the world, "Show us your man." THE EARLIEST PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. From "Life of Lincoln," published by Doubleday, Page & Co. From the original daguerreotype owned by the Hon. Robert T. Lincoln. Date thought to be 1848, when Lincoln was 39. He declared : "The one great living prin ciple of all democratic government is that the representative is bound to carry out the known will of his constituents." At the very beginning of his public service he said: "While acting as their repre sentative I shall be governed by their will on all subjects on which I have the means of knowing what their will is ; and upon all others I will do what my own judgment teaches me will advance their interests." Many officeholders have started out with A GROWING FAME Every year since Lincoln s death has carried his name and fame higher in the es timation of mankind. There are at least five hundred Lincoln col lections and a grow ing Lincoln litera ture. There are said to be three thousand books and pamphlets on Lincoln, not in cluding periodical literature, engrav ings, lithographs, paintings and music. There are, besides, large collections of photographs and also of relics such as that of Mr. Oldroyd, in the house at Washington in which Lincoln died. Lives of Lincoln have been published in all leading foreign lan guages. The words of Lincoln have become the common property of mankind and they are everywhere used in conversation and in literature as are those of his favor ite authors, Shakespeare and Burns, or of the Bible, from which he himself so fre quently and so effectively drew. And so it is that Lincoln is to-day a growing in fluence in the affairs of men ; and so will it be as each succeeding year further car ries his words into the language, his ideas into the government and his mem ory into the hearts of his countrymen. 30 STATUE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, UNVEILED IN HIS NATIVE TOWN, HODGENVILLE, KY. MEMORIAL DAY, 1909. ADOLPH A. WEINMAN, SCULPTOR. From Collier s Weekly, June 19, 1909. This statue is an outgrowth of the work of the Lincoln Farm Association, in pre serving and popularizing Lincoln s birthplace. It is the gift of the State and the Nation to the little town near which the great Emancipator first saw the light of day. The statue is located in the Court House Square. The unveiling ceremony was beau tiful and impressive. A long procession of school children, all in white, each carrying a wreath of roses, acted as escorts to the carriages containing the guests. Among these were Honorable Robert T. Lincoln and Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm, a sister of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, who unveiled the statue. The photograph gives a happy picture of this inter esting event : with flowers and garlands, with singing children, with veterans of the blue and the gray, with the grandchildren of Lincoln s neighbors, with his only surviving son, with the sister of his wife, with the strains of the "Star Spangled Banner", "My Old Kentucky Home" and "America", with the old flag over all, the men and women of Kentucky did honor to her most famous son. Colonel Henry Watterson, a Confederate veteran, and doubtless the best known Kentuckian living, in his address said: "Lincoln s one aim, his single purpose, was to save the Union. We owe its preservation to his wisdom, to his integrity, to his firmness and his courage. As none other than Washington could have led the armies of the Revolution from Valley Forge to Yorktown, none other than Lincoln could have main tained the government from Sumter to Appomattox. All of us are Unionists now." 31 PRESS OF W. AY ER & SON PH I LADELPH I A