Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-02-12

has for yea made Il special study OF
Lincoln in the sub-soil of his life. He
has written one of the latest and best
approved volumes on Lincoln, enti-
tied: "The Voice of Lincoln,' pub
lished by Charles Scribner's Sons.
to prepare this brief summary for
the benefit of our readers.)
A distinguished and successful
business man once said to me:
Il was born to a condition I would
not accept. L changed it."
The spirit of these last three words
Declaration OF Independence, made
America and our great Americans.
1t vas peculiarly the ruling spirit
Of Abraham Lincoln.
Born in a Kentucky cabin that
| was doorless, foorless and window
less. truly he was Humility's child,
| but he became Humanity's man,
! how?
How did he become the leading
lawyer Of his bar, the party leader of
his state, the orator of his people
and the statesman OF his age?
Herndon, his law partner for more
than sixteen years, knew him most
intimately and wrote of him.:
His conscience, his heart and all
the faculties n qualities Of his mind
bowed submissively to the d~espotism
Of his reason. He live and acted
from the standard of reason-that
throne of logic, home of principle,
the realm of deity in a 1t is from
this point Mr.. Lincoln must be view-
ed"
Thousands OF volumes have been
written. tens Of thousands of speech
es have been made on the "outside'
of Lincoln. AS yet very little has
been written or spoken about the
inside of Lincoln.
God Almighty seems to have ex-
hausted all natures on the
inside equipment of Lincoln. There
was little left for outside finish.
The story of how Lincoln develop
| ed his mental and moral forces, and
how he modified II utilized them
In action, should be of peculiar inter-
est to all Americans, young n old.
Let Lincoln himself tell this story as
he did in 1850, before his nomination
to the presidency. The more perth
nent part is as follows:
II could not sleep although I tried
to. when / got on such a hunt for an
idea, until I had caught it; and when
I thought I had got it, l was not
satisfied until 1 had repeated it over
and owe again, until I had put it In
language plain enough as 1 thought
for any boy 1 knew to comprehend.
This was a kind Of passion with me,
and it has stuck by me-; for l am
never easy now when I am handling
a thought, until I have bounded it
north, bounded 1t south, bounded 1t
east and bounded it west"
Lincoln was a student in school
but six months, according to his own
statement, but he was a student out
of school all the rest OF his life.
He was his own teacher-his own
| pupil. What a teacher. What a pupil.
! What results. This brief interview
furnishes to the student. young and
| old, his four great commandments to
knowledge and reason:
Commandment l. Hunted for an
| idea until I had caught it," The pas
sion of the hunter that pursues the
game until captured.
Commandment 2: Repeated it
| over and yer again." Study it. As
| simulate ito utilize it.
Commandment 8. Put 1t in Ian
knew to comprehend" Simplicity
and strength of speech. He got 1t
chiefly from the Bible, Bunyan's Pill
grim's Progress, Aesop, De Foe, the
dictionary.
Lincoln avoided s%uperlatives and
pollysylables, and used the simple
short word-the concrete noun
" >1 IN eSAN
j burg speech.
Commandment 4. Bounded 1t
| north, bounded 1t south, bounded it
| east, bounded it west" This sounds
| like a lesson in geography. 1t Is the
! language of the surveyor. Lincoln
became a surveyor at twenty-three,
! and as he surveyed lots and lands, so
| also he surveyed ideas with the chart
and compass of his keen analytic
mind.
These Lincoln rules for mental and
moral conduct in studying any given
situation, it's fundamental facts, It's
! primary principles, can be appropri-
ated and assimilated and then APP
piled by any average American stu
dent. They furnish the key to his
very great efficiency, which made
him the master Of every situation in
which he was placed as man, as
lawyer, as debater. as leader, as
stateman. This enabled him to I'M
derstand men and measures, for he
surveyed them both before he pro-
nounced judgment,
Lincoln was q man of passions.
His two primary, paramount passions
were:
First-A passion for knowledge.
Second-A passion for Justice.
Every question submitted to him
was first tried out in Gods court, the
court Of conscience. 1t was there he