The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-13
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

miraoiy engraved by L. johnson from an
original negative of 1860 The first Illus
trations indicate that this part of the work
will be worthy of the text. How valuable
that text is to be one may find revealed
in this first notable paper as we'll as in
the authors preface.
ITO write the life OF this great American
in such way as to show his relations to
the times in which he moved, the stu
pendous issues he controlled, the remark
able men by whom he was surrounded;
has been the purpose which the authors
have diligently pursued for many years.
We can say nothing of the result of our
labor; only those who have been similarly
employed can appreciate the sense of in
adequate performance with which we re-
gard what we have accomplished. We
can only claim for our work that we
have devoted to it sixteen years of
almost unremitting assiduity; that we
have neglected no means in our power to-
ascertain the truth; that we have rejected
no authentic facts essential to candid
story; that we have had no theory to
establish, no personal grudge to crafty,
no uuavowed objects to subserve. We
have aimed to write sufficiently full and
absolutely honest history OF a great
man and great time; and although we
take it for granted that we have made
mistakes, that we have fallen into such
errors and inaccuracies as are unavoid-
able in so large work, we promise there
shall not be found line in all these
chapters dictated by malice or unfair
ness"
The following paragraphs give some
taste of the quality of this eagerly antici-
pated work:
THE BOYS THIRST FOR EDUCATION.
A thirst for knowledge as means of
rising in the world was innate in him. It
had nothing to do with that love of
science for its own sake which has been
SO often seen in lowly savants who have
sacrificed their lives to the pure desire
of knowing the works of God. All the
little learning he ever acquired he seized
as tool to better his. condition. He
learned his letters that he might read
books and see how men in the great
world outside of his woods had borne
themselves in the fight for which he
longed. He learned to write, first, that
ho MIGHT bova an onoonoplicbyoopf bic
playniates had not; then that he might
help his elders by writing their letters,
and enjoy the feeling of usefulness which
this gave him; and finally that he might
copy what struck him in his reading and
thus make it his own for future use. He
learned to cipher, certainly from no love
of mathematics, but because it might
come in play in some more congenial
business than the farm work which
bounded the horizon of his contempo-
raries. Had it not been for that interior
spur which kept his clear spirit at its
task, his schools could have done little
for him; for, counting his attendance un-
der Riney and Hazel, in Kentucky, and
under Dorsey, Crawford and Swaney, in
Indiana, it amounted to less than year
in all.
THE BOOKS HE READ.
It would hardly be possible to select
better handful of classics for youth in
his circumstances than the few volumes
he turned with nightly and daily hand
the Bible, Esop's Fables" " Robin
son Crusoe," The Pilgrims Progress"
History of the United States" and
Weems's Life of Washington" These
were the best, and these he read over and
over till he knew them almost by heart.
But his voracity for anything printed
was Unsuitable. He would sit in the
twilight and read dictionary as long as
he could see. He used to go to David
Turnham's, the town constable, and de-
your the Revised Statutes of Indiana, as
boys in our day do the "Three Guards
men," OF the books he did not own he
took voluminous notes, filling his copy
book with choice extracts, and pouring
over them until they were fixed in his
memory. He could not efford to waste
paper ON his own original compositions.
He would sit by the fire at night and
cover the wooden shovel with essays and
arithmetical exercises, which he would
shave off and begin again. 1t is touching
to think of this great spirited child, bat
Ting year after year against his evil star,
and wasting his ingenuity upon devices
and makeshifts, his high intelligence
starving for want of the simple appli-
ances of education which are now offered
gratis to the poorest and the most indif-
erent.
HIS KINDLY NATURE.
Otherwise his life at this time differed
little from that of ordinary farm hands.
His great strength and intelligence made
him valuable laborer, and his unfailing
good temper and flow OF rude rustic
wit rendered him the most agreeable
of comrades. He was always ready with
some kindly act or word for others. Once
he saved the life of town drunkard,
whom he found freezing by the roadside,
by carrying him in his strong arms to the
tavern, and working over him until he
revived. 1t is curious fact that this
act of common humanity was regarded
as something remarkable in the neigh