The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-02-18
HIS FAMOUS SPEECH At GETTYSBURG
A BRIEF But INTERESTING SKETCH
OF A GREAT MAN.
EARLY STRUGGLES FOR AN EDUCATION.
THE POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS wJVIt
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS,

So much has been told and written
about this great man that 1t is not easy
to find anything new to say regarding
him. No other American, not even
Washington, has been the subject of so
many books, lectures, poems, etc. The
Lincoln photography is enormous, COM
prising thousands of volumes. One BIZ
ography alone-that by his secretaries,
Nicolay and Hay-consists of about ten
or twelve huge volumes. To do justice
to so great man IN the short space that
we can afford would be impossible, and
our readers must be content with a.
brief sketch of his eventful life. Abra-
ham Lincoln was born In Hardin (now
Larne) county, KY, on Feb. 12, 1903. In
1916 his father, Thomas Lincoln, who
was born in Virginia, removed to what
is now Spencer county, Ind. Lincoln
afterward described the neighborhood of
the farm on which he worked with his
father as one of the toughest. "1t was a
wild region" he said, with many bears
and other wild animals still in the
woods, and there were some schools, So
called; but no qualification was ever re-
quired Of teacher beyond readin', writ
in, and cipherin' to the rule Of three. If
straggler supposed to understand Latin
happened to sojourn in the neighborhood
he was looked upon as a wizard. There
was absolutely nothing to excite am
bition for education" In the face Of
these difficulties Lincoln made the best
use of the limited opportunities afforded
him, and learned all that the half-edu-
Gated backwoods pedagogues could teach
him. Besides this he read over and over
all the books he could find. He prac-
ticed constantly the rules of arithmetic.
which he had acquired at school, and be-
gan, even in his early childhood, to put
in writing his recollections of what he
had read and his impressions of what
remarkably clear and serviceable hand
writing, and by the time he was 19 years
of age he showed sufficient business ca
pacity to be intrusted with a cargo of
farm products, which he took to New
Orleans and sold.
In 1880 the Lincoln family removed to
Macon county, III. Abraham had by this
time attained his extraordinary stature
of feet inches, and with it enormous
muscular strength, which was at once
put at the disposal Of his father in
building his cabin, clearing the field, and
splitting from the walnut forests, which
were plentiful in that country, the rails
with which the farm was fenced. To-
gether with his half brother and brother
in-law, Lincoln in 1881 built a Hatboat
and sailed to New Orleans with a mer-
chant cargo. 1t was on this trip to New
Orleans that he first saw slaves chained
and scourged and from this dates his
lifelong hatred and horror for the bar
barous system of buying and selling hu-
man beings.
LllS ploJ IllC VI
labor he led, Lincoln found time to
study law, and in 1897 he was admitted
to the bar. He Immediately opened an
office in Springfield, and soon became
noted for his abilities in jury trials. He
married Mary, daughter of Hon. r. S.
Todd, Of Lexington, KY, on Nov. 4, 1912.
In 184O and 1874 he stumped the state in
the interests of the Whig candidate for
the presidency, and had many debates
with that well-known upholder of slav-
cry, Stephen A. Douglas. In 1886 he was
speeches denouncing the pro-slavery pol
icy of the administration.
In 1858 Lincoln opposed the re-elec-
tion Of Stephen A. Douglas to the United
States senate in several speeches Of
great eloquence and power, and chal-
lenged Douglas to series of joint dis
cussions. The challenge was accepted.
and the most remarkable oratorical COM
bat the state ever witnessed took place
between them during the summer. In a
speech in which he accepted the cham
pionship of his party, before the Repub-
lican convention of June 16, 1858, Lin
coin uttered these prophetic words: "a
house divided against itself cannot
stand I believe this government can
not endure permanently half slave and
half free. l do not expect the union to
be dissolved; / do not expect the house
to fall; but do expect that 1t will cease
to be divided. 1t will become all the
one thing or all the other. Either the
opponents of slavery will arrest the fur
ther spread Of it and place it where the
public mind shall rest in the belief that
It is in course OF ultimate extinction, or
its advocates will push it forward until
it shall become alike lawful in all the
states, old as well as new, north as we'll
as SOUTH" This remarkable address be-