LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 324Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius

TEN CENT POCKET SERIES NO. 324

Life of AbrahamLincoln

John Hugh Bowers, Ph. D. , LL. B. 

Dept. History and Social Sciences, State Teachers' College, Pittsburg, Kans. 

HALDEMAN-JULIUS COMPANYGIRARD, KANSASCopyright, 1922, Haldeman-Julius Company

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

The story of Lincoln, revealing how one American, by his own honestefforts, rose from the most humble beginning to the most high station ofhonor and worth, has inspired millions and will inspire millions more. The log cabin in which he was born, the ax with which he split therails, the few books with which he got the rudiments of an education, the light of pine knots by which he studied, the flatboat on which hemade the long trip to New Orleans, the slave mart at sight of which hissympathetic soul revolted against the institution of humanslavery--these are all fraught with intense interest as the rude forcesby which he slowly builded his great character. 

Great suffering taught him great sympathy. His great sympathy for mengave him great influence over men. As a lonely motherless little boyliving in the pitiless poverty of the backwoods he learned both humilityand appreciation. Then from a gentle step-mother he learned the beauty ofkindness. 

As a clerk in a small store that failed, as a defeated candidate for thelegislature, as Captain in the Black Hawk War, as student of Law in hisleisure moments, as partner in a small store that failed, as Postmasterat the little village of New Salem, as Deputy Surveyor of SangamonCounty, as successful candidate for the legislature, as member of thelegislature and as country lawyer, he was learning to love his fellowmen and to get along well with them, while keeping his own conscienceand building a reputation for honesty. When as a member of Congress andas a successful lawyer his proved ability brings him a measure ofsecurity and comfort he is not elated. And when his fellow men, reciprocating his great love for them, and manifesting their confidencein his integrity, make him President of the Republic he still remainsthe humble brother of the common people. 

But fate did not decree that he should enjoy the honors he had so richlydeserved. The White House was not a resting place for him. In the hourof his election the Nation for which he prayed was divided and the menthat he loved as brothers were rushing headlong toward fratricidal war. He who loved peace was to see no more peace except just a few hopefuldays before his own tragic end. He who hated war must captain his dearpeople through their long and mighty struggle and share in his gentleheart their great sacrifices. As the kindly harmonizer of jealousrivals, as the unifier of a distracted people, as the sagacious leaderof discordant factions, he proved his true greatness in the hours ofthe nation's peril. In many a grave crisis when it seemed that theConfederacy would win and the Union be lost the almost superhuman wisdomof Lincoln would see the one right way through the storm. For goodreasons, the followers of Lincoln came to believe that he was beingguided by God Himself to save the Union. 

The genealogists of Lincoln trace his ancestry back to Virginia and toMassachusetts and to those Lincolns who came from England about 1635. The name Abraham recurs frequently among the Lincolns and our Presidentseems to have been named after his grandfather Abraham who was killed bythe Indians in Kentucky in 1778, when Thomas, the father of thePresident, was only ten years of age. Thus left fatherless at a tenderage in a rude pioneer community, Thomas did not even learn to read. Heworked about as best he could to live, became a carpenter, and in 1806married his cousin, Nancy Hanks, the daughter of Joseph Hanks and hiswife, Nannie Shipley, a sister of Thomas Lincoln's mother, Mary. 

The first child of Thomas Lincoln and his wife Nancy was a daughter. OurPresident, the second child, was born February 12, 1809, in a log cabin, three miles from Hodgensville, then Hardin, now LaRue County, Kentucky. When little Abraham was seven years old his father moved to Indiana andtook up a claim near Gentryville, Spencer County, and built a rudeshelter of unhewn logs without a floor, the large opening protected onlyby hanging skins. In this discomfort they lived for a year, when theyerected a log cabin. There was plenty of game, but otherwise the farewas very poor and the life was hard. In 1818 little Abraham's mother, delicate, refined, pathetic and too frail for such rude life, sickenedand felt that the end was near. She called her little children to herbed of leaves and skins and told them to "love their kindred and worshipGod, " and then she died and left them only the memory of her love. 

Thomas Lincoln made a rude coffin himself, but there were no ceremoniesat that most pathetic funeral when he laid his young wife in herdesolate grave in the forest. Little Lincoln was nine years old, and themystery of death, the pitiless winter, the lone grave, the deepforest--shivering with his sister in the cold cabin--it all made a deepimpression on the sensitive boy. 

Late in the year 1819 Thomas Lincoln went back to Kentucky, and therecourted and married a widow named Sarah Buck Johnston, who had once beenhis sweetheart. She brought with her some household goods and her ownthree children. She dressed the forlorn little Lincolns in some of theclothing belonging to her children. She was described as tall, straightas an Indian, handsome, fair, talkative and proud. Also she had theabundant strength for hard labor. She and little Abraham learned to loveeach other dearly. 

Abraham went to school in all less than a year, but this good step-motherencouraged him to study at home and he read every book he heard ofwithin a circuit of many miles. He read the Bible, Aesop's Fables, Murray's English Reader, Robinson Crusoe, The Pilgrim's Progress, AHistory of the United States, Weem's Life of Washington and the RevisedStatutes of Indiana. He studied by the fire-light and practiced writingwith a pen made from a buzzard's quill dipped in ink made from brierroots. He practiced writing on the subjects of Temperance, Government, and Cruelty to Animals. The unkindness so often common to those frontierfolks shocked his sensitive soul. He practiced speaking by imitating theitinerant preacher and by telling stories to any who would give him anaudience. He walked fifteen miles to Boonville to attend court andlisten to the lawyers. 

At nineteen he was six feet and two inches tall, weighed one hundred andfifty pounds, had long arms and legs, slender body, large and awkwardhands and feet, but not a large head. He is pictured as wearingcoon-skin cap, linsey-woolsey shirt, and buckskin breeches that wereoften too short. He said that his father taught him to work but nevertaught him to love it--but he did work hard and without complaining. Hewas said to do much more work than any ordinary man at splitting rails, chopping, mowing, ploughing, doing everything that he was asked to dowith all his might. It was at this age that he went on the first tripwith a flat boat down to New Orleans. This was an interesting adventure;and there had been sorrows, also; his sister Sarah had married and diedin child-birth. 

In the spring of 1830 the roving spirit of Thomas Lincoln felt the callof the West and they set out for Illinois. John Hanks met them fivemiles northwest of Decatur in Macon County, where on a bluffoverlooking the muddy Sangamon they built a cabin, split rails, fencedfifteen acres and broke the prairie. Young Lincoln was twenty-one andfree, but he remained at home during the summer, helping his father andhis devoted step-mother to establish their new home. The followingwinter he split the historic rails for Mrs. Nancy Miller--"four hundredfor every yard of jeans dyed with walnut juice necessary to make him apair of trowsers. "

In the spring, a pioneer adventurer, Denton Offut, engaged Abraham, withHanks and one other helper, to take a boat load of provisions to NewOrleans, for the wages of fifty cents a day and a bonus of sixty dollarsfor the three. This and the preceding trip down the river gave Lincolnthe sight of slavery which caused him to say, "If ever I get a chanceto hit that thing I'll hit it hard. "

New Salem was a very small village destined to be of only a few yearsduration. Here Offut erected a small general store and placed Lincoln incharge while Offut having other unimportant business ventures went aboutthe community bragging that his clerk, Lincoln, was the best man in thecountry and would some day be president of the United States. Offut'sboasting attracted the attention of the Clary's Grove boys, who livednear New Salem, and they determined upon a wrestling match betweenLincoln and their champion bully, Jack Armstrong. Lincoln did his bestto avoid it, and a prominent citizen stopped the encounter. The resultwas that Armstrong and his gang became Lincoln's friends and later gavehim the most hearty political support at times when the support of justsuch men as Armstrong was an important political asset. 

During this time Lincoln continued his studies, and feeling the need tostudy English Grammar he ransacked the neighborhood until he found traceof one some six miles away and walked over to buy or borrow it; broughtit back in triumph and studied it exhaustively. 

About this time we have some narratives concerning his honesty thatcompare favorably with the story of Washington and the cherry tree. While he was keeping Offut's store a woman overpaid him four pence andwhen he found the mistake he walked several miles that evening to returnthe pennies before he slept. On another occasion in selling a half poundof tea he discovered that he had used too small a weight and he hastenedforth to make good the deficiency. Indeed one of his chief traits allhis life was absolute honesty. 

He was chosen to pilot the first steamboat, the Talisman, up theSangamon. At Springfield they held a banquet to celebrate the event butLincoln was not invited because they only invited the "gentlemen" andLincoln was only the pilot. 

He spent all his spare time studying Law or History, and had been fromhis youth an admirer of the romantic figure of Henry Clay. He adoptedmost of Clay's principles as his own, especially that of the gradual, compensated emancipation of slaves, to which ideal he clung all hislife. With such interests, it was natural that when Offut failed andhis job as store clerk ended, he should announce himself as a candidatefor the legislature. His campaign was interrupted by the Black Hawk War. Lincoln volunteered. The Clary's Grove boys enlisted and elected himcaptain. He showed his kindness and courage when during the campaign hefound his whole command, mutinous and threatening; and facing them heplaced his own body between them and a poor friendly Indian, who, withsafe conduct from General Cass, had taken refuge in camp. He saw nofighting and killed no Indians but was long afterward able to convulseCongress with a humorous account of his "war record. " The war ended intime for him to get back and stump the county just before the electionin which he was defeated. 

In partnership with a man named Berry they bought out the little storein New Salem; but Berry drank and neglected the business. Lincoln wasstrictly temperate, but he spent all his spare moments studyingBlackstone, a copy of which legal classic he had fortunately found in abarrel of rubbish he had obligingly bought from a poor fellow introuble. 

With both members of the firm thus preoccupied the business "winkedout. " Berry died, leaving Lincoln the debts of the firm, twelve hundreddollars, --to him an appalling sum, which he humorously called "thenational debt"; and on which he continued to make payments when he couldfor the next fifteen years. For a time he was postmaster of New Salem, an office so small that Andrew Jackson must have overlooked it. But theexperience shows how scrupulous he always was; for when years afterwarda government agent came to Springfield to make settlement Lincoln drewforth the very coins that he had collected in the postoffice, and thoughhe had sorely needed the loan of them he had never even borrowed themfor temporary use. 

For a time he had a better position as Deputy Surveyor of SangamonCounty. His work was accurate and he was doing well when in 1834 heagain announced as a candidate for the legislature and was elected. 

At Vandalia at the session of the legislature he first saw Stephen A. Douglas, then a lobbyist, and said of him, "He is the least man I eversaw. " Lincoln at this session seemed to be learning, studying men andmethods and prudently preparing for future success rather thanendeavoring to seize opportunities prematurely. 

This is the time when Lincoln fell in love with Ann Rutledge, abeautiful young woman of New Salem who was already betrothed to another. The other lover went East and did not return. Lincoln had hopes, but Anntook sick and died of brain fever. He was allowed to see her as she laynear the end, and the effect upon his kindly nature was terrible. Theresettled upon him a deep despondency. That fall and winter he wanderedalone in the woods along the Sangamon, almost distracted with sorrow. When he seemed on the verge of insanity a friend, Bowling Green, tookhim to his own home and nursed him back to health, and the griefsettled into that temperamental melancholy, which, relieved only by hishumor, was part of the deep mystic there was in him, part of theprophet, the sadness that so early baptised him in the tragedy of life, and taught him to pity a suffering world. 

Again he ran for the legislature, announcing his policy: "for allsharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing itsburdens; for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxesor bear arms (by no means excluding females). If elected, I shallconsider the whole people of Sangamon as my constituents, as well thosethat oppose as those that support me. While acting as theirrepresentative I shall be governed by their will upon all subjects uponwhich I have the means of knowing what their will is; and upon allothers I shall do what my own judgment teaches me will best advancetheir interests. " He was always fundamentally democratic, was so closeto the heart of humanity that he felt its mighty pulsations and knewintuitively what his people were thinking. His contemporaries thoughtthat he had a dependable occult sense of public opinion. 

One incident of this campaign shows Lincoln's versatility at repartee. George Forquer, who had been a Whig, changed over to be a Democrat andwas appointed Register of the Land Office. His house, the finest inSpringfield, had a lightning rod, the only one that Springfield had everseen. At a meeting near Springfield, Lincoln spoke, and when he hadfinished, Forquer replied with some condescension, calling Lincoln the"young man. " Lincoln listened to the attack with folded arms and thenmade a spirited reply ending with the words: "The gentleman calls me ayoung man. I am older in years than I am in the tricks and trades ofpoliticians. I desire to live and I desire place and distinction, but Iwould rather die now than, like the gentleman, live to see the day thatI would change my politics for an office worth three thousand dollarsper year, and then feel compelled to erect a lightning rod to protect aguilty conscience from an offended God. "

The Whig ticket was elected, Lincoln leading, and the Sangamondelegation, seven representatives and two senators all over six feettall were called the "Long Nine. " At Vandalia Lincoln was the leader ofthe Long Nine and labored to advance legislation for public improvementsto be financed by the sale of public lands. He confided to a friend thathe was dreaming of the Governorship and was ambitious to become the"DeWitt Clinton of Illinois. "

The Assembly voted for a colossal scheme of railroads and canals, andauthorized a loan of twelve millions. These vast projects affordedunlimited opportunities for special legislation and in all thisatmosphere of manoeuvre Lincoln was most skillful. He knew human natureand how to handle it. Log-rolling was the order of the day and soskillfully did the Long Nine function that they succeeded in removingthe capital from Vandalia to Springfield. Though Lincoln did prove thathe knew "the tricks and trades of the politician" he was true to hisconvictions; as shown by the fact that, when the legislature passedresolutions "highly disapproving" of the formation of abolitionsocieties and the doctrines promulgated by them, he voted against theresolutions; and furthermore he drew up a protest against theresolutions, and inducing his colleague, Dan Stone, to sign it with him, had his protest entered on the journal for March 3, 1837. While thisprotest was cautiously worded it did declare "the institution of slaveryis founded upon injustice and bad policy. " This was a real gratuitousexpression of a worthy ideal contrary to self interest, for hisconstituents were at that time certainly not in any way opposed toslavery. It was only within a few months after this very time that theatrocious persecution and murder of Lovejoy occurred in the neighboringtown of Alton. 

When the Long Nine came home bringing the capital with them Springfieldplanned such a celebration as had not been seen since the day theTalisman came up the Sangamon. To this banquet Lincoln was not onlyinvited but placed at the head of the board; having been only the pilotof the enterprise this time did not exclude him. He made a speech andmade many friends in Springfield. The time was now opportune for him tomove to Springfield. So in the year 1837, Abraham Lincoln, beingtwenty-eight years of age and a lawyer, packed his meager possessions ina pair of saddle-bags and moved to the new Capital, then a town of lessthan two thousand inhabitants, here to begin a new era in his life. Besides being very poor he still carried the burden of the "nationaldebt" left to him from the failure of the partnership with Berry, but hehad friends and a reputation for honesty. In time he pays the debt, andhis friends increase in numbers. 

The morning that Lincoln went into the store of Joshua Speed inSpringfield, and indicated that he was looking for a place to stay, Speed said: "The young man had the saddest face I ever saw. " Speedindicated that Lincoln could share Speed's own bed in a room above;Lincoln shambled up, dropped his saddle bags, shambled down again andsaid: "Well, Speed, I am moved. " With John T. Stewart, his comrade inthe Black Hawk campaign, he formed a law partnership. Lincoln andStewart were both too much interested in politics to give theirundivided devotion to the law. During their four years together theymade a living, and had work enough to keep them busy but it was not ofthe kind that proved either very interesting or lucrative. 

He spent much time making public speeches on a variety of occasions andsubjects, obviously practicing the art of eloquent address for his ownimprovement. In 1838 he was again elected to the legislature and wasminority candidate for Speaker. 

Now Mrs. N. W. Edwards was one of the local aristocrats of Springfield, and her sister, Mary Todd from Kentucky, came to visit her. Mary Toddwas beautiful and Lincoln and Douglas were rivals for her hand. Observers at the time thought that with a brilliant and talented girlthe graceful and dashing Douglas would surely be preferred. But MissTodd made her own selection and she and Lincoln were engaged to bemarried on New Year's day, 1841. 

The day came and the wedding was not solemnized. Now there came upon himagain that black and awful melancholy. He wandered about in utter gloom. To help him, his good friend Joshua Speed took him away to Kentucky fora trip. Upon his return a reconciliation with Mary Todd led to theirmarriage, November, 1842. To Lincoln's kindly manner, hisconsiderateness and his self-control, she was the opposite. The rule"opposites attract" may explain the union, and if the marriage was notideally happy it may be conjectured that one more happy might haveinterfered with that career for which Destiny was preparing him. 

In 1841, Stewart went to Congress and Lincoln dissolved the partnershipto form another with Judge Stephen T. Logan who was accounted the bestlawyer in Illinois. Contact with Logan made Lincoln a more diligentstudent and an abler practitioner of the law. But two such positivepersonalities could not long work in harmony, so in 1843 Lincoln formeda partnership with William H. Herndon, a man of abolitionistinclinations who remained Lincoln's junior partner until Lincoln's deathand became his biographer. But they were very poor. The struggle washard, and Lincoln and his bride were of necessity very frugal. In 1841he might have had the nomination for Governor, but he declined it;having given up his ambition to become the "DeWitt Clinton of Illinois. "It will be remembered that the internal improvement theories had notworked so well in practice. The panic of 1837 had convinced both him andhis supporters of the unwisdom of attempting such improvements on toolarge a scale at one time. Though he had been mistaken he seems not tohave lost the support of his followers, for they were mistaken with him;and the experience shows that "it is more popular for a politician to bewith his constituents in the wrong than to be in the right againstthem. "

Though he declined the nomination for Governor, his ambitious wifeencouraged his natural inclination to keep his eye on the politicalfield, and to glance in the direction of Congress. His ambitions weretemporarily thwarted. On Washington's birthday in 1842, during theWashington Temperance movement he made a speech on temperance. While thewhole address was admirable and conceived in a high humanitarian toneit did not please all. He was full of a wise and gentle tolerance thatsprang alike from his knowledge and his love of men. 

When accused of being a temperance man he said "I don't drink. "

He was criticised, and because of this, and because his wife was anEpiscopalian, and an aristocrat, and because he had once accepted achallenge to fight a duel, which friends prevented, his congressionalambitions had to be postponed. Also there were other candidates. Hestood aside for Hardin and for Baker. In 1844 he was on the Whigelectoral ticket and stumped the state for Henry Clay whom he greatlyadmired. 

Finally in 1846 the Whigs nominated him for Congress. The Democratsnominated the pioneer Methodist preacher, Peter Cartwright, who used theWashington's birthday address against Lincoln and even the charge ofatheism, which had no worthy foundation, for Lincoln was profoundlyreligious, though he never united with any church. He said that wheneverany church would inscribe over its altar as the only condition formembership the words of Jesus: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God withall thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength, and thyneighbor as thyself;" he would join that church. Lincoln's life provedhis sincerity in this statement. 

Lincoln made a thorough campaign, watching most carefully all the manyinterests which can contribute to the success of a candidate, and waselected by an unusual majority. Moreover, he was the only Whig whosecured a place in the Illinois delegation that year. 

In 1847, when he took his seat in the thirtieth Congress, he saw therethe last of the giants of the old days, --Webster, Calhoun, Clay and oldJohn Quincy Adams, dying in his seat before the session ended. Therewere also Andrew Johnson, Alexander H. Stephens and David Wilmot. Douglas was there to take his new seat in the Senate. The Mexican Warwas drawing to its close. The Whig party condemned the war as one thathad been brought on simply to expand slave territory. Generals Taylorand Scott as well as many other prominent army officers were Whigs. Thisfact aided materially in justifying the Whig policy of denouncing theDemocrats for entering into the war and at the same time voting adequatesupplies for the prosecution of the war. Lincoln entered heartily intothis party policy. 

A few days after he had taken his seat in Congress he wrote back toHerndon a letter which closed humorously: "As you are all so anxious forme to distinguish myself I have concluded to do so before long. "Accordingly, soon after he introduced a series of resolutions whichbecame known as the "Spot Resolutions. "

These resolutions referred to the President's message of May 11, 1846, in which the President expressed the reasons of the administration forbeginning the war and said the Mexicans had "invaded our territory andshed the blood of our own citizens on our own soil. " Lincoln quotedthese lines and then asked the President to state the "exact spot" wherethese and other alleged occurrences had taken place. While theseresolutions were never acted upon, they did afford him an opportunity tomake a speech; and he made a good speech; not of the florid and fervidstyle that had characterized some of his early efforts; but a strong, logical speech that brought out the facts and made a favorableimpression, thus saving him from being among the entirely unknown in theHouse. 

With reference to his future career a paragraph concerning Texas is herequoted. He says: "Any people, anywhere being inclined and having thepower, have the right to raise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, amost sacred right, --a right which we hope and believe is to liberate theworld. Nor is this right confined to a case in which the whole people ofan existing government choose to exercise it. Any portion of suchpeople, that can, may revolutionize, and make their own of so much ofthe territory as they inhabit. " This political philosophy, socomfortably applied to Texas in 1846, is just what the Confederacywished in 1861; and just exactly what Lincoln did not wish in 1861. 

As Lincoln knew all along, his course concerning the war and theadministration was displeasing some of his constituents; some of whomwould rather be warlike than to be right, others honestly favoredexpansion. Like most of the other Whigs he had voted for the Ashmunamendment which said that the war had been "unnecessary andunconstitutionally commenced by the President. " He learned that some ofthe people of Springfield would be displeased with an attitude thatseemed to weaken the administration in a time of stress, but withLincoln it was a matter of conscience and he met it fairly withoutevasion or any sort of coloring. And later when Douglas accused him ofbeing unpatriotic he replied that he had not chosen to skulk, that hehad voted for what he thought was the truth, and also reminded hishearers that he had always voted with the rest of the Whigs for thenecessary supplies to carry on the war after it had been commenced. Hewould have liked renomination, but Judge Logan was nominated and was notelected. 

He was on the electoral ticket and stumped New England and Illinois forTaylor, as soon as Congress adjourned. The New England speeches werefull of moral earnestness. In Boston he heard Governor Seward speak andsaid: "I reckon you are right. We have got to deal with this slaveryquestion and give more time to it hereafter than we have been giving. "In December he went back to Washington for the second session and workedconsistently for the Wilmot Proviso, designed to exclude slavery fromterritory acquired from Mexico. At this second session he voted againsta bill to exclude slavery from the District of Columbia, because he didnot like the form of the bill and then introduced a measure himselfdesigned to serve the same purpose. 

When his term as Congressman expired he sought but failed to obtain theposition of Commissioner of the General Land Office. He was offered theposition of Governor of the newly organized territory of Oregon, butthis, due somewhat to the sensible advice of his wife, he declined. Thenhe went back to Springfield to practice law again, and to travel themuddy roads of the old Eighth Circuit, a somewhat disappointed anddisillusioned man; but as ever the same sincere, kindly brother to allhis fellow men. 

During the years from 1850 to 1860 the tall figure of Lincoln, garbedin black, continued to be familiar to the people of Springfield, as hestrode along the street between his dingy law office on the square andhis home on Eighth Street. He was clean in person and in dress, anddiligent in his law practice, but he was not good at collecting what wascoming to him; badly as he needed money in those days. He had finallypaid off his debts, but the death of his father had left his devotedstep-mother needing some help; and his shiftless stepbrother to beexpostulated with in letters full of very kindly interest and wholesomeadvice. 

He worked hard and was rapidly becoming known as an excellent lawyer. Hemade friends of the best men in the state, and they referred to himaffectionately as "Honest Abe" or "Old Abe, " but they always addressedhim respectfully as "Mr. Lincoln. " His humor, never peccant, was relatedto his brooding melancholy, and was designed to smooth out the littlerough places in life, which he so well understood, with all itstragedies and tears. Men loved him, not alone for his stories, but forhis simplicity of life, his genuine kindness, his utter lack ofselfishness. There was a fascination about his personality. He seemedsomehow mysterious and at the same time simple. In fact he was alwaystrying to make ideas seem simple and clear, and told stories toaccomplish that purpose. He tried to make the case clear to the jury, and the issues clear to his hearers. In all his life which had ever itsheavy sorrows, these years were probably the brightest for him. Heenjoyed the confidence of his people and the devotion of his friends. His fellow men of whatever degree in life, judge, lawyers, witnesses, jurors, litigants, all gathered affectionately around him to hear himtalk and to tell stories. But he was not a mere story teller. Hisconversation was such as to draw men to him for its very worth. He wasfundamentally serious, dignified, and never given to uncouthfamiliarities. 

Though so notably kind, so deeply sympathetic, and at times so given tohumor, when he was aroused he was terrible in his firmness, hisresolution to win for the cause that was right, his stern rebuke forinjustice, his merciless excoriation of falsehood and his relentlessdetermination to see the truth prevail. False or careless witnessesdreaded his cross-examinations, and his opponents dreaded hiseffectiveness in handling a case before a jury. 

Though he was called homely, there was a commanding dignity about hispresence; his appearance inspired confidence; and when in the heat andpassion of forensic effort, his features lighted up with a strange andcompelling beauty and attractiveness. He was never petty, never quibbledand never tried to gain an unfair advantage or even use an unworthymeans of attaining a worthy end. Consequently courts and juries believedwhat he said. He was a poor lawyer when on the wrong side of the case, and would not take a bad case if he knew it. Upon one occasion, when, inthe very midst of a trial, he discovered that his client had actedfraudulently, he left the courtroom and when the judge sent for him, hesent word back that he "had gone to wash his hands. " He had too muchhuman sympathy to be the most effective prosecutor unless there was aclear case of Justice on his side; and he was too sympathetic to makemoney--for his charges were so small that Herndon and the other lawyersand even the judge expostulated with him. Though his name appears in theIllinois Reports in one hundred and seventy-three cases, --a recordgiving him first rank among the lawyers of the state, his income wasprobably not much over two or three thousand a year. And he was engagedin some of the most important cases in the state, such as IllinoisCentral Railroad Company v. The County of McLean, in which he wasretained by the railroad and successfully prevented the taxation of landceded to the railroad by the State, --and then had to sue to recover hismodest fee of five thousand, which was the largest he ever received. Inthe McCormick reaper patent litigation he was engaged with Edwin M. Stanton, who treated him with discourtesy in the Federal Court atCincinnati, called him "that giraffe, " and prevented him from deliveringthe argument which he had so carefully and solicitously prepared. Suchan experience was, of course, very painful to his sensitive nature, andit shows how great he was that he could forgive the injury entirely ashe did later when he appointed Stanton as his Secretary of War, despitethe protest of friends who recalled it all to him. 

In one of his most notable murder cases he defended William or "Duff"Armstrong, the son of his old friend, Jack Armstrong. It was adesperate case for William and for his mother Hannah, who had also beena warm friend to Lincoln when he was young. The youth was one of thewildest of the Clary's Grove boys, and a prosecuting witness told how, by the light of the moon, he saw the blow struck. Lincoln subjected thewitness to one of his dreadful cross-examinations and then confrontedhim with the almanac of the year in which the crime was committed toshow that the moon had set at the hour at which the witness claimed tohave seen the blow struck by Armstrong. The boy was acquitted andLincoln would accept no fee but the tears and gratitude of his oldfriends. 

Another interesting case was one in which a principal witness was theaged Peter Cartright who had more than ten years before waged a campaignagainst Lincoln for Congress. Cartright was the grandfather of "Peachy"Harrison who was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton. It was adramatic moment when the old Methodist minister took the stand in frontof Lincoln, and as his white head bowed, Lincoln had him tell how, asGreek Crafton lay dying, among his last words were "I want you to say tothe man who killed me that I forgive him. " After such a dyingdeclaration and such a scene Lincoln was sure to make a speech thatwould move the hearts of any jury with pity and forgiveness such as hehimself always felt for all souls in trouble; and Harrison wasacquitted. It was such experiences at the bar that made him the greatlawyer that he was; and the great advocate of whatever he believed tobe right; and prepared him to win the great cause of humanity beforethe whole people of the nation and of the world. 

In 1852 Lincoln campaigned for Scott. In 1854 he seemed to be losinginterest in politics when the news of the abrogation of the MissouriCompromise aroused him. This had been brought about by Douglas, the newleader of the Democrats, then one of the most influential men inCongress, and after the days of Webster, Clay and Calhoun, one of theforemost politicians in America. Douglas came back to Illinois to findmany of his constituents in the North displeased with what they thoughthe had done to please the Democrats of the South. They thought that hewas sacrificing the ideal of limiting slavery in order to advance hisambitions to become President. He set about to win back his state. Hespoke in Springfield; and a few days later, Lincoln replied in a speechthat delighted his friends and convinced them that in him they had achampion afire with enthusiasm for the cause of freedom. 

Somewhat against his will he was nominated and elected to thelegislature in the fall of 1854, but when he saw the dissatisfaction inthe Democratic party he was encouraged to resign from the legislatureand become a candidate for the United States Senate. The Democrats, though not in perfect harmony, had a majority, and he could not beelected, but helped to turn the tide for the revolting faction of theDemocrats. Though disappointed he knew that the struggle was onlybegun. 

The nation was aroused over the question of slavery. While many goodpeople desired peace rather than agitation concerning such an irritatingproblem, the question of slavery in the territories had to be decidedand the whole question of slavery would not down. In 1856 the Republicanparty was organized for the state of Illinois in a big convention atBloomington at which Lincoln made a strong speech; and in the RepublicanNational Convention held in Philadelphia a few weeks later he was given110 votes for Vice-President. He was committed to the new Republicanparty and campaigned vigorously for Fremont, their candidate forPresident. 

Lincoln's enthusiastic friends said he was already on the track for thePresidency. As the contest of 1858 for the Senate approached, it againappeared that the Democrats would be divided and Lincoln had someconfidence of success. Out in Kansas the proslavery men, by an unfairvote, had adopted the Lecompton Constitution favoring slavery; PresidentBuchanan urged Congress to admit Kansas with that fraudulentconstitution; Douglas opposed that constitution and voted against theadmission of Kansas as a slave state; thus angering the President andthe South and delighting the Republicans of the North. 

Now the time was approaching when, in the 1859 session of the Illinoislegislature, Douglas would have to stand for re-election to the UnitedStates Senate. The legislators would be chosen in the campaign of 1858largely on that issue. Douglas had become the foremost man in theDemocratic party, and any man who could beat him would have nationalrecognition. The Republicans of Illinois nominated Lincoln, whochallenged Douglas to a series of joint debates. 

The famous Lincoln-Douglas Debates are full of interest and repay a fulland careful study, but they will be treated very briefly in this volume. 

Lincoln entered upon these debates in a lofty spirit and to the endpursued a high course, fraught with kindness, fairness, magnanimity andmost commendable dignity. He said, "While pretending no indifference toearthly honors, I do claim, in this contest, to be actuated by somethinghigher than anxiety for office, " and apparently he was. 

Lincoln looked into the future and foresaw the coming campaign of 1860for the Presidency. He foresaw that Douglas would be the leader of theDemocrats in that campaign and conducted the debate accordingly. 

Lincoln thought not alone of momentary issues, but also of eternalverities. Some things which his friends wished him not to say, for fearit would lose him votes, he said, because they were things that weretrue and ought to be said: for example, "This nation cannot endure halfslave and half free. .. . A house divided against itself cannot stand. .. . Ido not expect the house to fall. .. . I do not expect the Union to bedissolved. I do expect it to cease to be divided. It will become all onething or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrestthe further spread of it and place it where in the public mind it is inthe course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it untilit will become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, Northas well as South. " While such utterances probably did cost him votes atthe time, later his people could see that his prophetic vision had beenright and their confidence in him, always strong, was accordinglyincreased. 

Lincoln, with the training of the lawyer, the wily cross-examiner, theprofound jurist, the farsighted statesman, forced Douglas into a dilemmabetween the northern Democrats of Illinois and the southern Democrats ofthe slave states. Lincoln was warned by his friends that Douglas wouldprobably choose to please the Democrats of Illinois and be electedUnited States Senator; but Lincoln replied to his friends: "I am afterlarger game: the battle of 1860 is worth a hundred of this. " Time provedthat Lincoln was right. While Lincoln's friends guessed wisely as to theprediction that Douglas would choose to secure the Senatorship bypleasing the Democrats of Illinois, many of whom were opposed toslavery, Lincoln was wise in his prediction concerning the effect on thecampaign of 1860 for President. 

For example, one of the questions Lincoln asked was: "Can the people ofa United States Territory, in any lawful way, against the wishes of anycitizen of the United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior tothe formation of a state constitution?" If Douglas should answer, "No, "he would alienate Illinois; and if he should answer "Yes, " he wouldalienate the South. In a remarkably adroit manner Douglas answered, "Yes, " and delighted his friends in Illinois; but later the effect inthe South was clearly against him. 

In the United States Senate Douglas had proved a match for the bestdebaters in the land, but he remarked after his series of debates withLincoln that in all his sixteen years in the Senate he had not met onewhom he would not rather encounter than Lincoln. 

To the very end of the debate Lincoln kept the argument pitched on avery high plane of dignified logical search for clear truth; which wassomething unusual in political contests. He kept referring to such ideasas, "Is slavery right or wrong?" "It is the eternal struggle betweenright and wrong. " Lincoln was pleading for humanity. 

The debates were continued in seven of the largest cities of the states, and between the joint engagements the protagonists were speaking dailyunder circumstances of great strain. The prestige of being a Senatorgave to Douglas comforts of travel not always accorded to Lincoln and atthe end of the campaign he was worn out. When the election was over thepopular vote was very close, but the members of the legislature gaveDouglas a majority and he was returned to the Senate. But the campaignsplit the Democratic party and made Lincoln a national figure. 

Lincoln, tired and disappointed and financially embarrassed by hispersonal expenses, could still cheer his friends with a joke. He said, "I am like the boy that stumped his toe--it hurt too bad to laugh, buthe was too big to cry. " He added, "However, I am glad I made the race. It gave me a hearing on the great and durable question of the age whichI could have had in no other way; and though I shall now sink from viewand be forgotten, I believe that I have made some marks for the cause ofcivil liberty which will endure long after I am gone. "

But he was not to be forgotten. He received congratulations from allparts of the nation. He got many calls to come and speak in the largestcities, most of which he declined, because he must return to his lawpractice and earn some money. However, when Douglas appeared in theGubernatorial contest in Ohio, the temptation was too great, and heaccepted calls to reply in Columbus and Cincinnati before very largeaudiences. He also accepted a call to speak in Cooper Union Institute inNew York City, where he delivered a notable speech before a large anddistinguished audience presided over by William Cullen Bryant. Lincolnsays that he felt uncomfortable and "imagined that the audience noticedthe contrast between his western clothes and the neat fitting suits ofMr. Bryant and others who sat on the platform. " He spoke with greatearnestness, and the next day in the Tribune, Horace Greeley said: "Noother man ever made such an impression in his first appeal to a New Yorkaudience. " From New York he went on a speaking trip through New Englandwhere he made a deep impression. He went home with a nationalreputation. The strange story of his early life appealed to the massesof the people of the North; he was the subject of conversation and ofinquiry. A friend sought data for a biography. 

He said, "I admit that I am ambitious and that I would like to bePresident. I am not insensible to the compliment that you pay me and theinterest that you manifest in the matter, but there is no such good luckin store for me as the Presidency of the United States. Besides, thereis nothing in my early history that would interest you or anybody else. "He also added, "I do not think that I am fitted for the Presidency"; andthat, "men like Seward and Chase were entitled to take precedence. " Butthe editor of the Central Illinois Gazette brought him out and afterthat the movement spread strongly. 

Such friends as Davis, Sweet, Logan and Palmer and also his faithfulpartner, Herndon, continued to urge him to become an active candidate. He finally consented and became busy at the work of marshalling thesupport of his friends. He used all his well-known skill as a politicianto forward his campaign, though nothing derogatory is to be inferredfrom these words concerning his methods, which were entirely honorable. He wrote a friend: "I am not in a position where it would hurt me muchnot to be nominated on the national ticket; but it would hurt me not toget the Illinois delegation . .. Can you help me a little in this matterat your end of the vineyard?" The allegiance of his own state was soonassured. At Decatur, May 9 and 10, 1860, the Republican state conventionmet in the big Wigwam, and Governor Oglesby, who presided, said, "Adistinguished citizen whom Illinois is delighted to honor is present andshould be invited to a place on the platform. " Amid tumultuous applauseLincoln was lifted over the heads of the crowd to the platform. At thatmoment John Hanks theatrically entered bearing a couple of old fencerails and a flag and a placard on the rails, "Made in Sangamon bottom in1830 by Abraham Lincoln and John Hanks. " Again there was a sympatheticuproar and Lincoln made a speech appropriate for the occasion. When thetumult subsided the convention resolved that "Abraham Lincoln is thefirst choice of the Republicans of Illinois for the Presidency and theirdelegates are instructed to use every honorable means to secure hisnomination, and to cast the vote of the state as a unit for him. "

One week later, May 16, the national Republican convention met atChicago in the "Wigwam, " which had been built to hold ten thousandpersons. Lincoln's friends, Davis, Judd, Palmer, Swett, Oglesby, werethere working "like nailers, " night and day without sleep. Thecandidates were Seward of New York, Lincoln of Illinois, Cameron ofPennsylvania, Chase of Ohio, Bates of Missouri; and others of less note. Seward's friends hoped, as Lincoln's friends dreaded, that Seward mightbe nominated by a rush on the first ballot. Lincoln's followers, contrary to his wishes, made a "necessary arrangement" with Cameron ofPennsylvania by which he was to have a cabinet place in return forgiving his support to Lincoln, who was nominated on the third ballot. William M. Evarts, who had led for Seward, made the usual motion to makethe choice unanimous, which was done with tremendous tumult of applause. Hannibal Hamlin of Maine was nominated for Vice-president. Blaine saysof Hamlin, "In strong common sense, in sagacity and sound judgment, inrugged integrity of character, Mr. Hamlin has had no superior amongpublic men. "

Down in Springfield, Lincoln was waiting, and when he got the news, hesaid, "There is a little woman down on Eighth Street who will be glad tohear this news, " and he strode away to tell her. 

Douglas was in Washington when he heard the news, and remarked, "Therewill not be a tar barrel left in Illinois tonight. "

At once a committee of the convention were deputed to go to Springfieldand give Lincoln formal notice. This ceremony, so elaborate in laterdays, was then very simple and immediate. They called upon Lincoln athis own home, where he was already feeling gloomy with theresponsibility. The committee felt much misgiving as they noted hisappearance and got their first impressions; but later, when he becamearoused and spoke fitting words to which life were added by the fire ofhis earnest countenance, they felt reassured, and went away delighted. 

In all the history of America, the selection of George Washington tolead the army of the Revolution, is the only event to be compared ingood fortune with this nomination of Abraham Lincoln; but to the countryas a whole he was comparatively obscure and unknown. The "wise men" ofthe nation had some misgivings. While "Honest Abe, the rail splitter, "might sound well to the masses, the party leaders could not be assuredthat rail splitting and mere honesty were sufficient qualifications forthe President of a great republic in a great crisis. Nevertheless Sewardand Chase supported him with a sincerity that delighted him, and theentire party entered into the campaign with great enthusiasm. 

And very early in the campaign it seemed that the Republicans were quitelikely to win; for the Democrats, in their convention at Charleston, divided; the Northern Democrats being for Douglas and the SouthernDemocrats against him. They adjourned to Baltimore, where Douglas wasnominated, after which the extreme Southerners bolted and nominatedBreckenridge. Also the border states organized a new party which theycalled the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell. 

Douglas made a most energetic campaign, even making speeches in theSouth, but the questions that Lincoln had made him answer in the greatdebate in Illinois in 1858 were not forgotten by the Southerners, whowould have nothing to do with him, but supported Breckenridge. 

Lincoln remained quietly in Springfield during the campaign, exercisingmost careful discretion as to what he said and the little that hewrote. The Governor placed his own rooms at the statehouse at Lincoln'sdisposal, where he met callers and talked and joked pleasantly with allwho came, but was careful to say nothing that would add to the confusionof tongues that already existed. 

Some of the most radical abolitionists of the North were not at allpleased with Lincoln because he was conservative, practical, recognizedslavery as existing under the constitution, stood for preserving theUnion as the first consideration, restricting the extension of slavery, and hoped for gradual compensated emancipation, but favored nothingrevolutionary or threatening to the integrity of the Union. 

Many of the most ardent, but reasonable, abolitionists supported him ashaving the most practical policy for the time being. 

The total popular vote was 4, 680, 000. Lincoln got 1, 866, 000; Douglas, 1, 375, 000; Breckenridge, 846, 900; Bell, 590, 000. Of the electoral vote, Lincoln got 180; Douglas, 12; Breckenridge, 72; Bell, 39. Lincolncarried the Northern States, Breckenridge the Southern States, Bell theborder states of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and Douglas NewJersey and Missouri. To show how the people were divided, Douglas, Breckenridge and Bell had some votes in nearly all states both North andSouth. Lincoln had no votes in the states farthest south, but carriedall states north of the border states. 

The career of Lincoln as President was made infinitely more difficultas well as all the more creditable to him by reason of the fact that hewas not the choice of the majority of the people, but of less than halfof them; even less than half of the people of the Northern States. 

South Carolina "hailed with delight" the news of the election of Lincolnas a justification for immediate secession, which they desired, ratherthan compromise or postponement; their Senators resigned; beforeChristmas the Palmetto flag floated over every federal building in thatstate, and early in January they fired on the ship "Star of the West" asshe entered Charleston harbor with supplies for Fort Sumpter. ByFebruary seven of the Southern States--South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas--had seceded from theUnion and formed "the Confederate States of America, " with JeffersonDavis of Mississippi as President, and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgiaas Vice-President. 

Lincoln could, meanwhile, only wait in Springfield, during this mosttrying interregnum; while the uncertain and impotent Buchanan allowedthe reins of government to slip from his weak hands, and manyinfluential men at the North counselled for peace at any price. Lincolnwas distressed, absent-minded, sad but also calm as he worked on hisinaugural address--a tremendous responsibility under the circumstances;for in that address he must announce a policy in one of the gravestcrises that ever confronted a ruler in this world--sorrowful unto death, he said, "I shall never be glad any more. " Also he was beset withoffice-seekers and troubled with his cabinet appointments; for theagreement that Judge Davis had made at the Chicago convention withCameron of Pennsylvania was not to his liking. 

As the time approached for his inauguration he visited his step-mother, made a pilgrimage to the grave of his father, and on February 11 startedfor Washington, after taking leave at Springfield, of his old friends, who gathered at the station early in the morning and stood bareheaded inthe rain while he spoke these beautiful words of affectionate farewellfrom the platform of the coach:

"My friends, no one not in my situation can appreciate my feelings ofsadness at this parting. To this place and the kindness of these peopleI owe everything. Here I have lived for a quarter of a century andpassed from a young man to an old man. Here my children have been bornand one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I mayreturn, with a task before me greater than that which rested uponWashington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who everattended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting to Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and beeverywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commendme, I bid you an affectionate farewell. "

On the way he made short informal speeches--tactfully avoiding anyannouncement of policy--at Columbus, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany and NewYork. On Washington's birthday at Philadelphia, he celebrated theadmission of Kansas as a free state by raising over Independence Hall anew flag of thirty-four stars. He was deeply moved and spoke ferventlyof "that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which givesliberty, not alone to the people of this country, but also hope to allthe people of the world for all future times; which gave promise that indue time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, andthat all should have an equal chance. " And finally, "If this countrycannot be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say Iwould rather be assassinated on this spot than to surrender it. "

His reference to assassination may have been due to the report ofdetectives that they had discovered a plot to kill him as he wentthrough Baltimore. Contrary to advice concerning his personal safety, hekept his engagement to address the legislature at Harrisburg beforegoing on to Washington. In the Capital and the country thereabout weremany Confederate sympathizers. 

Even during the few days that he was in Washington before hisinauguration, men over the country were betting that he would never beinaugurated. March 4, 1861, dawned in bright sunshine. At noon the agedBuchanan called upon Lincoln to escort him to the Capital, there toplace upon the shoulders of the great Westerner the burden which hadbeen too heavy for the infirm old diplomat. Together they drove downPennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol where the ceremony was held in theeast portico. Distinguished officials were there, but the crowd wassmall, because of the rumors of tragedy--and the aged Commander Scotthad posted troops with instructions, "if any of them raise their headsor show a finger, shoot to kill. "

The moment came for the new President to take the oath of office. Lincoln, attired in clothes obviously new, was plainly embarrassed, andstood for an awkward moment holding his high hat in one hand and in theother a gold-headed ebony stick. Douglas, his old rival, steppedpromptly forward with delightful grace and relieved him of hat and caneand held them for him--a beautiful incident the significance of whichwas long remembered. Senator Baker of Oregon--one of his old Springfieldfriends--formally presented him, and after he had read his address, theaged Chief Justice Taney, who had written the Dred Scott Decision, administered the oath of office. 

His address, for which the nation had long been waiting, was readdistinctly, so that all could hear--hear him say that "misunderstandingshad caused differences;"--disavow any intentions to interfere with theexisting institution of slavery, and even declare himself in favor of anew fugitive slave law. But concerning the Union he was firm. He clearlyput the Union above any issue concerning slavery. He said: "The Union ofthese States is perpetual. .. . No state upon its own mere motion canlawfully get out of the Union. .. . I shall take care, as the Constitutionitself expressly enjoins me, that the laws of the Union be faithfullyexecuted in all of the States, " and he was determined "to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government and tocollect the duties and imposts. " And he closed with the beautifulperoration founded upon one of Seward's suggestions: "I am loathe toclose. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Thoughpassion may have strained, it must not break the bonds of our affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield andpatriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broadland, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, assurely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. "

The four years and forty days that remain of Lincoln's life is but thestory of his wonderful part in our great Civil War. 

When Lincoln turned from his inauguration to take up the duties of hisoffice he faced a responsibility greater than that which had rested uponWashington, as great as had ever rested upon any man on this planet inall the ages. His own dear country--that nation which lovers of mankindhad hoped would lead the world in advancing human welfare, was alreadyrent asunder and everywhere the men who had been accustomed to lead inthought and action were divided. Men of influence at the North advisedpeaceful separation. Radials at the South declared that they would takeWashington and make it the Confederate Capital. Prominent men at theNorth declared that the South could not be and should not be coerced. And with these terrible problems puzzling him, Lincoln was also pesteredwith office-seekers until he remarked, "This struggle and scramble foroffice will yet test our institutions. " For his Cabinet he chose WilliamH. Seward, Secretary of State; Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of theTreasury; Simon Cameron, Secretary of War; Gideon Wells, Secretary ofthe Navy; Caleb B. Smith, Secretary of the Interior; Edward Bates, Attorney-General; Montgomery Blair, Postmaster-General. 

The first day after inauguration the whole problem was presented to himin a letter from Major Anderson with his hungry soldiers at FortSumpter. He wanted provisions and reinforcements; twenty thousandsoldiers would be necessary to hold the fort, and the whole standingarmy numbered sixteen thousand men. General Scott advised evacuation. Lincoln said, "When Anderson goes out of Fort Sumpter I shall have to goout of the White House. " The military advisers differed: the cabinetdiffered; and while Lincoln pondered over the problem, Seward acquiescedin the general assumption that he rather than Lincoln was the real headof the Government; and accordingly prepared and laid before Lincoln"Some Thoughts for the President's Consideration, " in which aftercomplaining of the "lack of policy" he boldly proposed to make war onSpain and France, and seek "explanations from Great Britain and Russia, "and suggested that the direction of this policy be devolved by thePresident "upon some member of his cabinet, " and indicating with modestsignificance "it is not my especial province; but I neither seek toassume or evade responsibility. " Lincoln met this proposal in amagnanimous spirit, saying, "As to the proposed policy, if this must bedone I must do it. .. . When a general line of policy is adopted, Iapprehend that there is no danger of it being changed without goodreason, or continuing to be a subject of unnecessary debate; still, uponpoints arising in its progress I wish, and suppose that I am entitled tohave, the advice of all the cabinet. "

Thus Seward came to understand, as the nation later understood, who wasthe head of the government, and how wise and capable he was; and thissuperiority, Seward was great enough to freely acknowledge two monthslater in the words: "Executive force and vigor are rare qualities . .. The President is the best of us. "

On April 12 the Confederates fired on Fort Sumpter, and by that act ofaggression unified and aroused the North. Douglas promptly assured thePresident of his support and telegraphed his followers that he had givenhis pledge "to sustain the President in the exercise of hisconstitutional functions to preserve the Union, maintain the governmentand defend the Federal Capital. " Thus ended the talk of compromise, conciliation, concession, and also the discussion of the right or wrongof slavery. The President in his patient, kindly wisdom hadsubstituted the issue of Union, and had waited until the Confederacy wasthe aggressor. On April 15 he called for 75, 000 volunteers and calledCongress to convene in extra session July 4. 

The response was immediate and resolute. The North, glad that the longsuspense was over, offered hundreds of thousands of men for the Union. The Confederates threatened to capture Washington and make it theConfederate capital, and for a few days there was grave fear that theywould do so. The Sixth Massachusetts was assaulted by a mob in thestreets of Baltimore, four soldiers and twelve rioters killed and manywounded; and the Southern sympathisers in Maryland objected to thepassing of soldiers through that state. The President, as usualconciliatory and patient but firm, said, "there is no piece of Americansoil too good to be pressed by the foot of a loyal soldier as he marchesto the defense of the capital of his country. "

Among the President's great tasks then were to prevent the secession ofany more states, to prevent European recognition of the Confederacy, andto create an army and navy. His diplomacy saved for the Union Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. 

With increasing confidence and power the President watched over men andevents; cautiously and patiently, with mistakes and successes; amidacrid criticism, noisy abuse and malignant misrepresentation, he madehis slow sure way. 

The first disaster at Manassas staggered and steadied the North. ThePresident called to the command of the army of the Potomac, GeneralGeorge B. McClellan, who had been winning small successes and sendinglarge telegrams in Western Virginia. He was brilliant, bold, spectacular, a good organizer and soon trained the strong young rawrecruits--farmers and artisans--into one of the finest armies the worldhad ever witnessed. While McClellan was drilling and preparing in theEast, Fremont in the West assumed the authority to issue a proclamationemancipating the slaves of all non-Union men in Missouri; an act whichdelighted the abolitionists of the North but created consternation inthe border states and added to the perplexities of the President. Inorder to save for the Union cause the border states of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri the President had to revoke the proclamation ofFremont and suffer the thoughtless abuse of the abolitionists who eventalked of impeachment. They saw only the immediate and moral issue ofslavery rather than the ultimate political issue of Union--in theirpremature haste to free a few slaves they would have lost the wholecause both of freedom and of Union. Lincoln loved freedom as much asthey but was more wise; nevertheless the patient President suffered muchfrom the misunderstanding. His patience was never exhausted thoughterribly tried by the unjust criticism from many sources, by the piquesand prides of new-made Generals who felt able to command armies thoughthey could not command their own tempers; by the impertinent Buell whofailed to move into East Tennessee and stop the Confederatedepredations against loyal citizens; and by the unappreciative McClellanwho was too young to understand the President's fatherly solicitude, andwho drilled and drilled but did not go forward to fight. 

In the light of the troubles that the President had with embryo-Generalsone can appreciate the narrative that a caller finding him ponderingover some papers asked what he was doing and got the reply, "O nothingmuch--just making a few Generals. " And once when a message bearergravely told him that the enemy had captured a couple of Generals andsome mules, he replied, "What a pity to lose all those mules. "

Bull Run had made the people more cautious about crying "on toRichmond, " and so all Washington took holidays and enjoyed going out tosee McClellan's grand army manoeuvres--all except the President for whomthere was to be no more joy--no more holidays. To a sympathetic friendhe replied, "I want not sympathy for myself but success for our cause. "

Again the wisdom of the President was tested and proved in the case ofMason and Slidell, the Confederate commissioners to Great Britain, whoma Federal warship had taken from a British mail packet. A Britishultimatum demanded immediate restitution and apology, while publicsentiment at home demanded that they be retained; but the Presidentaverted trouble with England by sending the commissioners on their way. 

In the President's message to Congress, some days later, he made noreference at all to this affair because he knew when to be silent aswell as when to explain. 

Evidence of the true greatness and the forgiveness of the President andthat he put the cause far above any personal consideration is in thefact of his appointing Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War, to succeedCameron to whom he had given the post as Minister to Russia. Stanton wasa Democrat, a friend of McClellan, and had never ceased to speak ofLincoln with that gross abuse with which he had greeted Lincoln thelawyer in the McCormick case at Cincinnati in 1859. But with allStanton's injustice to Lincoln--his revilings and his insults--heaccepted the cabinet place when Lincoln offered it to him. But ifStanton was truculent, a tyrant and a bully--infinitely moreimportant--he was honest and strong in office and broke the ring ofgrafters who had been robbing the government, and did his workheroically. That was what the President wished. And Stanton soon learnedas others learned that Lincoln was master of every situation. Lincoln'sfriends opposed the appointment of Stanton and reminded the President ofhow crudely Stanton had treated him at Cincinnati, but the President hadno thought for himself or his own future. He was concerned only to getthe men who could best serve the great cause. 

Lincoln's peculiar fitness for the tremendous tribulations of thePresidency at that time is further proved by his experiences with therecalcitrant McClellan. The General had been drilling and gettingready for six months, --both President and public desired action; but theGeneral wished to become so fully prepared that an assured and decisivevictory would end the war. The President was patient, persuasive, reasonable: the General was querulous, petty and sometimes actuallyinsulting. The two differed as to their plans for advancing upon theConfederates. While the General assumed a contempt for the opinions of acivilian, time has shown that the President was wise. 

Burdened as the great heart was with the weight of the nation, additional sorrows came into the White House when his two boys, Willieand Tad, fell ill with typhoid fever. By day and by night thegrief-crazed father divided his time between watching the bedside of hisboys and watching over the struggling nation. Though always religious inthe deepest sense, the death of Willie seemed to strengthen his insightinto the mysteries of the spiritual life. For awhile he seemedgrief-crazed, and ever after, the great soul that had always beencompassionate was even more tender in its broodings over all the peopleof the nation, both South and North, and in many beautiful instances hesoftened the severities of war. 

During the early part of the war the North was not at all unanimous inits opposition to slavery, and could only be united in the purpose tosave the Union; but slavery could not be ignored. From the Southernstandpoint the war was caused by slavery, and even the Union generalswere compelled to deal with fugitive slaves that came within theirlines. Halleck sent them out of camp; Buell and Hooker allowed theirowners to come and take them; Butler held them as "contraband of war. "As the war dragged on longer than the people had anticipated theabolition sentiment in the North grew until from press and pulpit therecame adjurations to "free the slaves. " The politicians told thePresident the "will of the people, " and the preachers told him the "willof God"; but the great mind of the President held his own counsel, forhe knew that the slave-holding but loyal border states presented apeculiar problem. 

Early in 1862 he recommended to Congress the adoption of a jointresolution that the "United States co-operate with any state which mayadopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such state pecuniaryaid. " The resolution was adopted, but the border states would havenothing to do with the plan. Later General Hunter in proclaiming martiallaw over certain Southern territory, proclaimed "the persons in thesestates, heretofore held as slaves, forever free. " The President revokedthe order as he had revoked a similar action on the part of Fremont, adding firmly, "whether it be competent for me as Commander-in-Chief ofthe Army and Navy, to declare the slaves of any state or states free, and whether at any time, in any case, it shall have become a necessityof government to exercise such supposed power, are questions which, under my responsibility, I reserve to myself. " And again he appealed tothe people of the border states to adopt his plan of gradual compensatedemancipation, proved the wisdom of his plan by unanswerable logic, andshowed that the cost of such compensation was much less than the cost ofthe probable prolongation of the war. The loyal slave-holders of theborder states were not ready to give up their slaves. 

Then the President began to contemplate emancipation, but kept hispurposes to himself; kept his secret so well that even after he haddetermined upon emancipation and was being criticised for not takingthat step he replied to his critics, "My paramount object is to save theUnion and not either to save or destroy slavery. " Horace Greeleyretorted with abuse, indicating that Greeley was unable to see thewisdom of the President's policy--for those whose support was necessaryto win the war were not yet ready for emancipation. 

When preachers called to reveal to him, "the will of God" he replied, "If it is probable that God would reveal His will to others on a pointso connected with my duty, it might be supposed He would reveal itdirectly to me. "

All these months he had been at work with his slow but accurate thought, framing in secret the most momentous document in American history sincethe Declaration of Independence. He did this in the cipher-room of theWar Department telegraph office, where he was accustomed to spendanxious hours waiting for news from the boys at the front, and also toseek what rest he could in thus hiding away from the never-ending streamof tormentors, office-seekers, politicians and emissaries of sageadvice. 

Emancipation was in his mind even while, for good reasons, he made noreference to it. He waited for the right time--waited forvictory--waited in great patience and great anguish. And when he didfirst announce his purpose of emancipation it was to apply only to those"persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a statethe people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the UnitedStates. " Thus sparing the loyal border states holding slaves, andallowing a way of escape for others that should cease their rebellion. It was conservative but wise. On the one hand the radical abolitionistswere not satisfied, and on the other hand the masses were not all readyto give him hearty support in it. But he said, "I must do the best I canand bear the responsibility of taking the course which I think I oughtto take. " It was thus this silent self-reliant man, without intimates, without supporting friends, bore almost alone on his resolute shoulders, the mighty weight of responsibility. Once more he urged upon Congresshis old policy of gradual compensated emancipation. He plead:--"We saythat we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows that we know how to saveit. We--even we here--hold the power and bear the responsibility. Ingiving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free, --honorablealike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save ormeanly LOSE THE LAST BEST HOPE OF EARTH. Other means may succeed, thiscannot fail. The way is peaceful; generous; just; a way which, iffollowed, the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless. "But they would not, and the lonely man in the White House, --kind eyesmore deeply sunken, bronze face more deeply furrowed, sad tones moredeeply affected--went about his duties asking sympathy nor counsel ofanyone. 

On New Year's Day, 1863, after the great reception was over, he signedthe final Proclamation of Emancipation. Though at home there was stillridicule and abuse, in England the effect of the Proclamation wassignificant; for there the laboring men were in dire distress becausethey could get no cotton for their mills; but these Englishlaborers--hearing of the Emancipation Proclamation--felt that the causeof the Union was the cause of freedom and of labor--and though thewealthy mill-owners of England, who were not suffering would, some ofthem, gladly have destroyed the Union and perpetuated slavery to getcotton; the laborers--even while starving--brought pressure to bear uponthe English government to prevent further aid to the Confederacy, heroically preferring starvation in the cause of freedom. Lincolnreferred to these actions on the part of England's laborers as "aninstance of Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age orany country. " And later those English laborers built a monument toLincoln on which they inscribed, "Lover of Humanity. "

Everyone but Lincoln had lost patience with McClellan's overcautiousnessand when he failed to follow Lee's retreat from Antietam, Lincolnremoved him and placed in command Burnside, whose defeat atFredericksburg caused him to be replaced by Hooker, whose defeat atChancellorsville caused him to be replaced by Meade, who disappointedthe President in not following up the victory at Gettysburg. 

July 4, 1863, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, decisive victories, comingtogether should have ended the war. The Confederates could not win afterthat, but still they fought on. On November 19, 1863, the NationalCemetery at the battlefield of Gettysburg was dedicated; and afterEdward Everett had delivered the formal oration of the occasion, Lincolndelivered the most notable short speech that has ever been delivered inthe English language. A copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is given inanother volume of this series called "Speeches of Lincoln. "

The tide has turned but much costly fighting is still necessary, firstin East Tennessee, and later in Virginia, and also Sherman must fighthis way into the very heart of the South and break its lines ofcommunication before the resolute Confederates will yield. 

In the West, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Pittsburgh Landing, andVicksburg were the victories that made Grant known as the mostsuccessful Union general. The President advanced him to the rank ofLieutenant General, brought him East, placed him in command of all thearmies, and gave him the task of beating Lee, taking Richmond and endingthe war. 

In the fall of 1864, notwithstanding some opposition, Lincoln wasre-elected President. Again during this campaign, his attitude towardhis critics and his opponents attested still further his true greatness, magnanimity and devotion to duty. Though he desired to be re-elected hewould make no effort toward that end, but instead gave his entireenergies to the work of saving the Union. Chase in the cabinet was anopen candidate against his chief. Lincoln proved that he had noresentment by later appointing Chase as Chief Justice in the place ofthe aged Roger B. Taney who died. When friends told the President thathe would surely be defeated for re-election if he approved another draftof soldiers, he replied that the cause did not require his re-electionbut did require more soldiers--and at once ordered a new draft for500, 000 additional men. 

Lincoln breathed a most beautiful spirit of forgiveness in his SecondInaugural Address which is printed in full in the volume of this series, "Speeches of Lincoln. "

In March, 1865, Grant sent a message saying that he was about to closein on Lee and end the war, and invited Lincoln to visit Grant'sheadquarters. And that is how it was that the President, being atGrant's headquarters, could enter Richmond the day after theConfederates retreated. So Lincoln, with his small son Tad and AdmiralPorter, escorted by a little group of sailors, simply, on foot, enteredthe abandoned capital, not as one bringing the vengeance of a conqueror, but the love of a liberator. One of the great moments of all historywas when an aged negro, baring his white wool, made reverent obeisanceto the President, and Lincoln in recognition took off his high hat. 

He remained two days in Richmond discussing the plans for therestoration of federal authority, counseling kindness and forgiveness. "Let them down easy, " he said to the military governor; "get them toplowing and gathering in their own little crops. " Thus he was preparingto "bind up the nation's wounds, " with a spiritual development so farbeyond his contemporaries that they could not even understand him. 

Then he went back to Washington where he heard of Lee's surrender, andtwo days later, to a large crowd at the White House, delivered acarefully prepared speech outlining his policy of reconstruction, suchas he had already begun in Louisiana. Already he was being criticisedfor being "too kind to the rebels. "

That was the last speech he ever made. 

Little Tad said, "Father has never been happy since we came toWashington. " His laughter had failed, he had aged rapidly, his shoulderswere bent, dreadful dreams had haunted him and on the night of the 13thhe had one which oppressed him. But the next day was the fourthanniversary of the evacuation of Fort Sumpter, --Good Friday, April 14. And at last he was happy, sharing with his people the joy that came withthe end of the war. 

He took a drive with Mrs. Lincoln and they planned for the future--theywould save a little money and go back to Springfield and he wouldpractice law again. To his wife this unnatural joy was portentous--sheremembered that he had been like this just before little Willie died. Inthe evening they went to Ford's Theatre. Stanton tried to dissuade thembecause the secret service had heard rumors of assassination. BecauseStanton insisted on a guard Major Rathbone was along. At 9 o'clock theparty entered the President's box--the President was very happy--at10:20 a shot was heard--Major Rathbone sprang to grapple with theassassin and was slashed with a dagger. The assassin fell as he sprangfrom the box to the stage, where he brandished his bloody dagger, yelledwith terrible theatricalism, "_sic semper tyrannis_, " and stalkinglamely from the platform disappeared in the darkness and rode away. ThePresident was unconscious from the first, and as they bore him from thetheatre a lodger from a house across the street said "Take him up to myroom, " where he lay unconscious until next morning when he ceased tobreathe; and Stanton at his bedside said, "Now he belongs to the Ages. "

Someone had recognized the assassin as John Wilkes Booth, an actor, afanatic in the Southern cause. And in killing Lincoln he did his peopleof the South the greatest possible harm. 

The North had been decorated with celebration of victory; now it wasbowed and dazed with grief and rage. Those that had abused him andmaligned him and opposed him now came to understand him as in a newlight they saw him transfigured by his great sacrifices. 

They reverently folded the body in the flag and carried it first to theWhite House and then to the Capitol where it lay in state; and then theybegan that long journey back to Springfield over the very route he hadcome on his way to the Capital in 1861. Everywhere in cities and intowns great crowds gathered, heedless of night or rain or storm, andeven as the train sped over the open country at night little groups offarmers could be seen by the roadside in the dim light watching for thetrain and waving their lanterns in a sad farewell. 

Whatever anger and resentment the North may have felt, the weepingthousands who looked upon the face of Lincoln as it was borne homewardsaw only forgiveness and peace. 

But his beautiful dream of amnesty was not to be realized. Mutualforgiveness and reconciliation were ideals too high for many of hiscontemporaries at that time, and their spirit of revenge bore itsinevitable fruit of injustice and bitterness in the days ofreconstruction that followed. How different it might all have been hadLincoln continued to live. How his great influence would have helped inthe solution of the nation's problems after the war. A besotted wretchsnuffed out the most important life on earth that day. 

Misguided men of his time ridiculed him because they were unable tocomprehend his lofty ideals or see the practical wisdom of his greatpurposes. They measured him by their own puny standards and incondemning him only condemned themselves. His sad life, his tragicdeath, his immortal glory are one with all the reformers, prophets andsaviors of the world. As war scenes receded, as men's prejudices cooled, as the mighty issues were better understood, men came to see how trulygreat he was. He finished successfully the most important and mostdifficult task ever bequeathed to one mortal man in all history. 

 * * * * *

Other Titles in Pocket Series

Drama

 46 Salome. Oscar Wilde. 50 Pillars of Society. Ibsen. 131 Redemption. Tolstoi. 99 Tartuffe. Moliere. 54 Importance of Being Earnest. Oscar Wilde. 81 Pelleas and Melisande. Maeterlinck. 8 Lady Windermere's Fan. Oscar Wilde. 226 Prof. Bernhardi. Schnitzler. 

Fiction

 6 De Maupassant's Stories. 15 Balzac's Stories. 178 One of Cleopatra's Nights. Gautier. 58 Boccaccio's Stories. 45 Tolstoi's Stories. 12 Poe's Tales. 145 Great Ghost Stories. 21 Carmen. Merimee. 38 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 27 Last Days of a Condemned Man. Hugo. 151 Man Who Would Be King. Kipling. 47 He Renounced the Faith. Jack London. 41 Christmas Carol. 57 Rip Van Winkle. 100 Red Laugh. Andreyev. 148 Strength of the Strong. London. 105 Seven That Were Hanged. Andreyev. 102 Sherlock Holmes Tales. 161 Country of the Blind. H. G. Wells. 85 Attack on the Mill. Zela. 156 Andersen's Fairy Tales. 158 Alice in Wonderland. 37 Dream of John Bull. 40 House and the Brain. 12 Color of Life. E. Haldeman-Julius. 198 Majesty of Justice. Anatole France. 215 The Miraculous Revenge. Bernard Shaw. 24 The Kiss and Other Stories. Chekhov. 219 The Human Tragedy. Anatole France. 196 The Marquise. Sand. 230 The Fleece of Gold. Theophile Gautier. 232 Three Strangers. Hardy. 239 Twenty-Six Men and a Girl. Maxium Gorki. 29 Dreams. Schreiner. 

History, Biography

 126 History of Rome. 128 Caesar: Who He Was. 185 History of Printing. 175 Science of History. Froude. 52 Voltaire. Victor Hugo. 125 War Speeches of Woodrow Wilson. 142 Bismarck and the German Empire. 51 Bruno: His Life and Martyrdom. 147 Cromwell and His Day. 236 State and Heart Affairs of Henry VIII. 50 Paine's Common Sense. 88 Vindication of Paine. Ingersoll. 33 Smasher of Shams. 163 Sex Life in Greece and Rome. 214 Speeches of Lincoln. 144 Was Poe Immoral? Whitman. 104 Battle of Waterloo. Victor Hugo. 159 Lincoln and the Working Class. 223 Essay on Swinburne. Quiller-Couch. 229 Diderot. Ellis. 227 Keats. The Man. His Work and His Friends. 201 Satan and the Saints. H. M. Tichenor. 67 Church History. Tichenor. 139 Life of Dante. 

Humor

 18 Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. Jerome. 20 Let's Laugh. Nasby. 166 English as She Is Spoke. Mark Twain. 205 Artemus Ward. His Book. 187 Whistler's Humor. 216 Wit of Heinrich Heine. Geo. Eliot. 231 8 Humorous Sketches. Mark Twain. 

Literature

 97 Love Letters of King Henry VIII. 36 Soul of Man Under Socialism. O. Wilde. 28 Toleration. Voltaire. 89 Love Letters of Men and Women of Genius. 87 Love. Montaigne. 48 Bacon's Essays. 60 Emerson's Essays. 84 Love Letters of a Nun. 26 On Going to Church. Shaw. 61 Tolstoi's Essays. 176 Four Essays. Ellis. 160 Shakespeare. Ingersoll. 186 How I Write "The Raven. " Poe. 75 Choice of Books. Carlyle. 76 Prince of Peace. Bryan. 86 On Reading. Brandes. 95 Confessions of An Opium Eater. 188 How Voltaire Fooled Priest and King. 3 18 Essays. Voltaire. 213 Lincoln. Ingersoll. 183 Realism in Art and Literature. Darrow. 177 Subjection of Women. John Stuart Mill. 17 On Walking. Thoreau. 70 Lamb's Essays. 135 Socialism for Millionaires. G. B. Shaw. 235 Essays. G. K. Chesterton. 7 A Liberal Education. Thomas Huxley. 233 Thoughts on Literature and Art. Goethe. 225 Condescension in Foreigners. J. R. Lowell. 221 Women, and Other Essays. Maeterlinck. 218 Essays. Jean Jaures. 10 Shelley. F. Thompson. 

Maxims and Epigrams

 56 Wisdom of Ingersoll. 106 Aphorisms. Geo. Sand. 168 Epigrams. O. Wilde. 59 Epigrams of Wit. 35 Maxims. Rochefoucauld. 154 Epigrams of Ibsen. 197 Witticisms. De Sevigne. 180 Epigrams. G. B. Shaw. 155 Maxims. Napoleon. 113 Proverbs of England. 114 Proverbs of France. 115 Proverbs of Japan. 116 Proverbs of China. 117 Proverbs of Italy. 118 Proverbs of Russia. 119 Proverbs of Ireland. 120 Proverbs of Spain. 121 Proverbs of Arabia. 181 Epigrams. Thoreau. 228 Aphorisms. Huxley. 

Philosophy, Religion

 62 Schopenhauer's Essays. 94 Trial and Death of Socrates. 65 Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. 44 Aesop's Fables. 165 Discovery of the Future. H. G. Wells. 96 Dialogues of Plato. 103 Pocket Theology. Voltaire. 132 Foundations of Religion. 138 Studies in Pessimism. Schopenhauer. 211 Idea of God in Nature. John Stuart Mill. 212 Life and Character. Goethe. 200 Ignorant Philosopher. Voltaire. 101 Thoughts of Pascal. 207 Olympian Gods. H. M. Tichenor. 210 The Stoic Philosophy. Prof. Gilbert Murray. 220 Essays on New Testament. Blatchford. 224 God: Known and Unknown. Butler. 19 Nietzsche. Who He Was and What He Stood For. 204 Sun Worship and Later Beliefs. Tichenor. 184 Primitive Beliefs. H. M. Tichenor. 

Poetry

 1 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. 73 Whitman's Poems. 2 Wilde's Reading Jail. 32 Poe's Poems. 164 Michael Angelo's Sonnets 71 Poems of Evolution. 146 Snow-Bound, Pied Piper. 9 Great English Poems. 79 Enoch Arden. Tennyson. 68 Shakespeare's Sonnets. 173 Vision of Sir Launfal. 222 The Vampire and Other Poems. Kipling. 237 Prose Poems. Baudelaire. 

Science

 190 Psycho-Analysis--The Key to Human Behavior. Fielding. 49 Three Lectures on Evolution. Haeckel. 42 From Monkey to Man. 288 Reflections on Modern Science. Huxley. 202 Survival of the Fittest. H. M. Tichenor. 191 Evolution vs. Religion. Balmforth. 133 Electricity Explained. 92 Hypnotism Made Plain. 53 Insects and Men: Instinct and Reason Darrow. 189 Eugenics. Ellis. 107 How to Strengthen Mind and Memory. 108 How to Develop a Healthy Mind. 109 How to Develop a Strong Will. 110 How to Develop a Magnetic Personality. 111 How to Attract Friends. 112 How to Be a Leader of Others. 140 Biology and Spiritual Philosophy. Tichenor. 

Series of Debates

 11 Debate on Religion. John H. Holmes and George Bowne. 39 Did Jesus Ever Live? 130 Controversy on Christianity. Ingersoll and Gladstone. 43 Marriage and Divorce. Horace Greeley and Robert Owen. 208 Debate on Birth Control. Mrs. Sanger and Winter Russell. 121 Rome or Reason. Ingersoll and Manning. 122 Spiritualism. Conan Doyle and McCabe. 171 Has Life Meaning? 206 Capitalism vs. Socialism. Seligman and Nearing. 13 Is Free Will a Fact or a Fallacy? 234 McNeal-Sinclair Debate on Socialism. 

Miscellaneous

 192 Book of Synonyms. 25 Rhyming Dictionary. 78 How to Be an Orator. 82 Common Faults in Writing English. 127 What Expectant Mothers Should Know. 81 Care of the Baby. 136 Child Training. 137 Home Nursing. 14 What Every Girl Should Know. Mrs. Sanger. 34 Case for Birth Control. 91 Manhood: Facts of Life Presented to Men. 83 Marriage Past, Present and Future. Besant. 74 On Threshold of Sex. 98 How to Love. 172 Evolution of Love. Key. 203 Rights of Women. Ellis. 209 Aspects of Birth Control. Medical, Moral, Sociological. 143 Pope Leo on Socialism. 152 Foundations of Labor Movement. Phillips. 30 What Life Means to Me. Jack London. 93 How to Live 100 Years. 167 Plutarch on Health.