The mirror., 1920-02-12


tlNNgl his personality is the most magi-
cal in American history. There is no mys-
terry about this. The explanation is simple.
Lincoln was a president who was human.
Human in his genius for craftsmanship
and in his frailties Human in his love for
story telling and relaxation, and intensely
filled with the humanity that will not know
ingly do an unkind or unjust act.
1t is not that he was perfection in any
of the walks of life in which fate turned his
steps, for there were better lawyers in his
time; there were even better story tellers
than Lincoln; surely it would not be difficult
to name better military officers than Lincoln
was, or more learned men and greater ora
tors than he. But Lincoln was man of the
people and Americans like that kind of man,
writes Joseph Jackson in the Philadelphia
Public Ledger.
They hoard every scrap of writing that
the man ever wrote. His walking sticks, his
dilapidated old law books, his broken-down
bookcase, everything that once belonged to
him or in which he had set his name, is treas
ured.
Not long ago in New York they sold at
auction slip of paper on which he showed
that, good politician as he was thought to be,
he was poor hand at guessing results of
presidential election, Yet this slip of paper
brought $1,025, and Lincoln had not even
signed it, but it was known to have been
written by him.
1t might be mentioned here that Lincoln
proved himself to be very poor prophet,
and overestimated the strength of General
Mcclellan, his political opponent in the cleo
ton of 1864. According to Lincoln's esti-
mate he felt sure of the New England states
and few others, totaling 120 votes in the
electoral college, and he set down as "the
supposed Copperhead vote" the states of
New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Della
ware, Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky and
Illinois, and their ia votes he believed
would be cast for General Mcclellan. As a
matter of fact, however, only New Jersey,
Delaware and Kentucky went against him,
and he carried the election by vote of 212
to p.
There were reasons for Lincoln's be-
lief that the states he had set down as Cop
perhead" would 60 against him. The drafts
of men had been resisted in more or less
energetic form in many of these common
wealths, notably New York and Illinois, and
the large number of sympathizers there
might easily lead to his conclusion. But
what he had not taken into the fullest ac-
count was that the majority of men in the
North were loyal to the Union, regardless of
politics or their natural sympathies, and they
stood by Lincoln to the end.
If anyone were asked to name the most
illustrious example of what we have called
the self-made man in America, there would
instantly occur the name of Lincoln. In a
country of self-made men he stands in high
relief. There is no one to take place be-
side him, for not only did he overcome every
natural difficulty placed in his way, in his
determination to achieve an education, and
they were numerous, but along with it al
ways went that equally strong determine
ton not to achieve success by any unfair
means.
He sadmitted that his education was
defective" and that was weak word for
it. Many men with great deal more have
been failures. And Lincoln had every op-
portunity of becoming failure, but he rea-
lized his educational weaknesses and strove
to remove them. That he did remove them
seems to be testified to by many writers.
At one probably it is to be seen
there yet-there was exhibited in one of the
colleges at Oxford printed copy of letter
Lincoln wrote to mother who had given
five sons that the Union might be preserved
A label beneath this copy of the letter bears
the simple comment that this is zone of the
finest specimens of pure English extant."
And that comment by one of the great
est universities in the world is on the work OF
man who never had years schooling in
his life.