The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1903-07-18

ored strength of the Church in separate
tables, are followed by a summary of sta
bership in America is over 4,S30,000. an
increase of over 10000 since last year. I
THE TRUE ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 4
The True Abraham Lincoln. BY Will
liam Eleroy Curtis, author of The True
y SHw% Sg4
Lippincott Company.
There are few. rare characters in
history, the record of whose lives grow in
interest with each succeeding generation,
and which geam brgtsP as time
of men. and things, by which they were
environed.
These characters are unique and orig
inal and bear striking analogies to each
their self dedication to truth.
They may be called the guide posts Of
civilization and may be named as, Christ,
Socrates, Luther and Lincoln. It is about
the latter that William Eleroy Curtis has
written under the title, 1.-The True Abra-
ham Lincoln
ing and full of human interest. The vol
umes which have been written about him
would stock a library of large dimensions
we have, however, read none of them
detail, Mr.. Curtis publication. de NOR
tuis nil nisi bonum' has exerted such
profound influence on western thought,
that it's literature fails to throw much
light upon many of the eminent careers
of distinguished statesmen and soldiers.
Mr.. Curtis, however, writes in a natural
manner about natural man. and does
not fail to remind us that Mr.. Lincoln
had faults, as youth, and as man.
These faults. however, serve as a strik
ing contrast to- the sublimity OF his char
acter. which had been attained before
his assassination.
nh
of them appear for the first time in a
| published biography of the Great Emancl-
pator's life.
Lincoln: the Leader of the Springfield
traces his intellectual development, from
that of the average pioneer, upward and
onward until he became pleader of such
striking power, and force as to easily sur
cases men who had been trained in in
>stitutions of higher education.
| 1.-THE occasion upon which Lincoln dis
! played unusual power as an orator was
the Bloomington Convention for the Or
in 1856. Never was an audience more
completely electrified by human speech:
The Convention, which was composed of
had f4r i''e adopted t the name Republican, had
taken extreme grounds against slavery,
and hao launched a new. political organi-
cation; but it contained st;5 many dsG 6ae
l
who had watched the proceedings were
anxious and apprehensive of dissention
and jealousy, and Lincoln, with his acute
political perceptions, realized the danger,
perhaps more keenly than any other man
| in the assembly. He saw before him a
group of earnest, jealous, sincere men;
willing to make tremendous. sacrifices
| and undertake Titanic tasks, but at the
same time most of them chung to their
own theories and advocated their i 11ca.
promised to defeat their common purpose.
Therefore. when he arose in response to
the unanimous demand for speech from
| the great orator of Springfield, his soul
was flooded with a desire and purpose
to harmonic and amalgamate the patri-
| otto emotions of his associates.
Those who were present say that at
first he spoke slowly, cautiously, and in
| a monotone, but gradually his words grew
| in force and intensity until he swept the
discordant souls Of the assembly together get ie1
| with pale faces and quivering lips and
pressed unconsciously towards him." His
| influence was irresistible.