The New York herald., 1922-12-31


historical figures to do either one
of two things. They have made picture
of an ideal man of spotless record with
few if any faults or they have depicted
a shadowy figure who was born on such
a date, became a Congressman at such
time held certain views as expressed in
his speeches, &c. Such biographies have
often been accurate histories of the time
during which the subject lived, but they
have not portrayed to the reader the man
whom he wished to know Lincoln has
shared this fate during life he was
lampooned, after death he was canonized;
little of the real character of Lincoln has
survived. Professor Stephenson, author of
Abraham Lincoln and the Union" THE
Day of the Confederacy," Texas and the
Mexican War" has combined careful re-
search. psychological insight and literary
skill in producing something new i'm Ameri-
can biography. In fact, he has re-
fessor Stephensons book is not a history
of the United States during the period in
which Abraham Lincoln lived, it is the
story of Lincoln's mental and spiritual
development.
The key to Lincoln's character, ac-
cording to the authors conception. is its
duality. Lincoln is two beings. the man
of thought, or the inner self, and the man
whom people saw, the outer self Lin
coins life is the more or less inharmoni
Gus existence of these two selves until
they are fused into one and the real man at
last energies. The book is primarily de-
voted to the tracing of these two selves
in their growth and action and the causes
and results of their final fusion.
Living with Lincoln year by year we
find the outer self for a period appearing
to be the only one and we become ac-
quainted with a mighty harvest clown
with paradoxical desire to learn from
books. He seems failure at gainful oc-
cupation, just a product of the forest and
frontier with certain mystical inheri-
tance from his mother. Then comes that
great and shadowy experience, the love
Its earthly career was cut short when
death claimed the woman but it left a
mighty impress upon the man. In that
experience his inner self became con-
scious, a solitary self never afterwar5
able to find enduring companonship.
Years of contrast follow. the outer self
develops into an awkward, untidy.
lazy, fairly successful circuit lawyer with
an inexhaustible fund of stories and
literary style. But-the inner self is
slowly but surely developing in power.
Certain inviolable principles are being
formed: a strict sense of honesty and a
mystic feeling of the guidance of an un-
defined Providence seem to rule his life.
In politics the progress of his ideas is
i'm marked stages. At twenty eight he
takes the stand that slavery is an unmixed
evil but that abolition only promotes its
worst features. From this point his
mind continues to work secretly and slowly,
but whenever he arrives at a position
he tenaciously maintains ii in face of
everything So the years pass with al
ternating periods of activity and gloom.
The breaking storm of disunion finds
Lincoln with the responsibilities of the
Presidency His inner self has developed
its political ideals This is a war of
democracy and nationality against
olgarchy and disunion: slavery is not the
predominant issue. But his outer being
has not yet found itself. Until June, 1862,
il gropes, trying expedient after expedient,
listening to this adviser, needing that.
Lincoln never surrenders his slowly