, 1873-06-04

nothing particular. Such was the father OF
the President.
The mistress of this log-hut, the mother
of the President, named Nancy-Hanks be-
fore her marriage, was superior to her
husband in mental accomplishments. She
could read and write, and even taught her
good-for-nothing husband how to sign his
name A pretty brunette, Of pleasing,
symmetrical form, at twenty-three, when
she married Thomas Lincoln; but a few
years Of hardship and toll obliterated every
trace OF beauty, and brought upon her face
that woefuI, dispearing expression which
her sons cOuntenance often exhibited In
repose. Nothing but good is remember
ed of her and it must have been from
her that her son derived the celestial
spark, his mind, the culture of which
lifted him out of the mire of his early cir
cumstances, and made him at length the
the peer of the West.
The first home of Thomas and Nancy
Lincoln was a mean shed in an alley Of
Elizabeth-town, Hardin county, Ken
lucky. about twenty miles north of the
Mammoth Cave. This shed was fourteen
feet square, with scarcey any furniture
In if, and 60 unfit for human habitation
that, although it EXISTS to this day, it has
only served, since the LjacoIns left it. as a
stable or a slaughter house. In this shed
Abraham Lincoln only sister was born, in
1907.
Tired Of capentering. Thomas Lincoln
removed, soon after, thirteen miles into
the country, to a f%0riorn and miserable
cabin, in a barren and desoIate place. A
few stones Iyiog about loose still mark the
spot where Ills cabin stood. Here, on the
10th of February, 1909, Abraham Lincoln
was BOW, aai here he passed the 6o~r four
years Of his life in SOU lid poverty. HON
as Lincoln meanwhile gained neither pro-
perty nor credit, nor indeed did be care
mich for either. He could live very well
on c~orn-bread, and if good luck sent him q
piece Of bacon to eat with it, he was con-
tent. 1t was not in his disposition, how
ever, to remain very long in a place and
when Abraham wa six years Of age, a
circumstances occurred which set him adritt
again. He had a quarrel with a man OF
the n~eighbourhood which ended in q most
desperate and bloody fight. Mr.. Lamon,
the faithful bjograpAer Of the President,
says, "They fought like savages." But
sayages never fight so with one another,
for Tom Lincoln ended this fight by biting
off his antagonists nose. Being a peace
able and good-tempered man, the victor
was so annoyed by the spectacle Of his
n~oseless adversary that he moved his FAINT
ly TO one of the southern countries. Of In
diane, where he 5uiIt The LOG. hat described
above.
The family then consisted of four per-
sons the idle, shiltless father the sad,
heavy laden mother and the two ragged,
dirty, neglected little children, Nancy and
Abraham. How hopeless the lot Of this
boy What was there to hinder his grow
ing up as ignorant and worthless as his
father? What avenu4 of escape was there
for him?
When the family had lived there two
years, Nancy Lincoln, the mother OF the
President rested from her labours and her
husband sawed up some planks from a
green log, and male a long, rough box, aud
placed the remains of his wife III it, aud
dug a grave on the summit OF a heavily
wooded knoll, half a mile from his cabin.
and invited his neighbours to come to the
burial. They carried her out, through the
woods, a dozen persons following, anc
buried her in silence and without ceremo-
NAL. But a few months after, when {
49, Ill KorA1nlrx