Bisbee daily review., 1909-02-06
LINCOLN WAS
 A PRODUCT OF
 SELF D|C|PL|NE

already myth. culoey. tradition and romance are busy with his memory, weaving the mantle of greatness about him in such fashion that all the rugged outlines of his very human per. sonality may soon be shrouded from our view and The man himself trans lated to tho realm If heroes whose achievements are eh2 despair of all or dlnary mortals There is very little incentive in tho carUer of anyone whose success is incxplieGble. Mar velously endowed individuals may ex- cite our admiration or our wonder, but they do not aarcsd much inspira- ucn for the rank and hie of struggling humanity.
 Bnt Lincoln vas ceither heaven born genius nor the miraculous prod act oi chance. His lot vas not css5 among the favored few. but among men of common mold, and his fife was lived. in no small measure. for tine benefit and encouragement of his icl- low counirymcn of average ability and ordinary caliber. IT ere Is nothing ob scure about his development. All his achievements can be readily under stood. They were tee direct results of q mental and moral discipline and training to which eBy manly minded man may subject himself-2ot with the same political results. it Is true, but with lasting benefit to himself and corresponding advantage Co the com munity of which he may be a member. The results in LincclD's case are for history and the historian; the pro cesses by which ie arrived at those results are for the ildividual-for the by-and- large of American citizens.
 Few Americans cf this day and gen eration begin life kith the foriorn out look which greeted Lincoln at his birth. It is well-nigh impossible to exageerate the adverse conditions which surrounded him. The cabin where he first saw the light was moi much more than Woodman's shack, with a flooring of hard earth. devoid of most of the comforts and many Of the deccncies of life The land about it was practically m uhreciaImed vii derness: the whole countryside was lonely to the point Of desoIation: each day was a dreary struggle for food From almost every aspect poverty was his portion. It was rot degrading pow eTty, because it was not dependent. but it was the sort that weakens self respect and affords no prospect of es- cape.
 But material poverty was not hls most discouraging inheritance. Ills mother undoubtedly did her best to
 lindle spark of ambition in her son, but she was an uneducated. delicate, and even sickly house drudge. who died while he was still q child. leay- ing him prone to the suspicion that he had inherited tendency to consump- ton. His father was an illiterate. shiftless farmer aad carpenter, with out skill or training at either calling, who regarded education as a waste of time and would not permit the boy to attend schol except at rare intervals Indeed, the only effort he made to in struct his son was . half-hearted at tempt to teach him carpentry. which was soon abandoned when he found that he could hire him out to other farmers in need of an extra hand.
 Uninspiring a5 his home influence was, that of the reignoorhood was even more so. There was practical ly nothing in his surroundings in Ken lucky, or at GentTyyilie, Ind, where he lived after his iSother's death, to touch the imagination of a growing boy or quicken his ambition The country was sparsely settled and the life was not really Eving-it was an animal-like existence. Surely no Amer ican ever had better reason to com plain Of his chance fin life. It was not fair chance. IL was practically no chance at all. But Lincoln was searching for opportunities. not ex. cuses, and he found what he was seek ing.
 This was not the result of luck or favor Or any consciousness of dawn ing powers. He was nc inspired dream CT. who. in the midst Or nard reali- ties. saw a vision Of coming greatness.
 He lived, not in fhe future, bit one
 day at time, and neither during this
 nor any ether period of his life did
 Lincoln every hurry. He had com
 mon sense enough tO realize that hIs chance of advancement lay in educ;a- tion, but instead of fretting over the
 disadvantages under which he labored he endeavored to overcome them. Z Thus. while he performed the dull routine tasks about his fathcr's house and farm, he acquired the habit of ! thinking of others rather than of him. self, until the neigkbors gradually came to recognize that he was one of ] the few persons in the community ] who could be confidently relied upon for every sort of friendly office and i kindness, from roofing a barn to rock ' ing q baby. This vas a very homely ! distinction. but it was quite as rare | then as it is today. and though wha; he did was done without thought Of ., | return it brought is own reward. Peo- I pie took an interest ir this unostenta- : ious, uBselfish boy, and they loaned him their books with such freedom { that he soon secured all that were available within a radius of many miles. It was no anointed youth. how | ever. who bored over those volumes 1 by the light of his fathers fire. but d very practical young man who kept | his ambitions well within bounds and was satisfied to progress step by step i Once he accidentally injured one of
 the borrowed books. and when the not ! too generous lender demanded com pensation he worked out the dana ges at 25 cents a day ia no saintlike spir-
 1t, but as a matter of justice, and this
 lone of the few veil authenticated | stories of his early life-afIords a clear glimpse of the man in the mak- i ing.
 l Those who picture Lincoln as a pre- cocious youth of angelic disposition | do not understand his character at