Evening star., 1923-02-13
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM

THE REAL LINCOLN. BY Jesse w.
sWeik. Houghton Mifiin Company.
LINCOLN. BY Nathaniel Wright
Company.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN. BY q. Lynn
Sumner. Harper & Brothers.
Upon the death Of President Lin
coin his former law partner In I'LL
nois. William II. Herndon. imme-
diately set out for the places where
Linooln's earliest years were passed.
Mr.. Herndon felt, rightly, that by
professional association and per-
sonal intimacy he was tho ono OF all
'thers to write the true story Of
Abraham Lincoln. Therefore, in
upper Kentucky ana lower Indiana
ne went over the ground Of Lincoln's
birth and boyhood and early man
mood. No doubt has over been cast
upon the results Of that expedition.
II Is acknowledged everywhere that Mr..
Herndon was untiring, that he ran to
ground every sign Of a Lincoln trail,
that he was whole-souled for the truth
and nothing else. that he was sym
palmetto and highly Intelligent in his
fronting upon both fact and legend.
Tho material with which Mr.. Hern-
don returned and which found place
IN his book has since formed tho
foundation Of much Of the writing
ABOUT Lincoln's youth. Jesse w.
Welk collaborated with Herndon in
producing the life of Lincoln. At
sns e. authors request, Mr.. weik him
secured, in search of any item that
might have escaped the original in
Festlgator, and also for the purpose
or putting the test Of another mind
sn,n ana personality upon the early Lin
boon book S,laatiSn Was Done AND %b.n finally, the the
Judgment Of the public. Gratitied
and enthusiastic, naturally In the
course or q short time, however.
this came slight modification in
frisnd.n % d.uagment n1 from the personal
mon Of outlook and vision. No. no
laok here either in fact or it's inter
pIeLations: 1t was tho emphasis that
troubled them-too little stress unon
siSnsa shosH early years those crucial and
as % eYidene.S Sn ear ,,t that are to stand
iundamental greatness Of Lincoln.
A long story-but, in substancs th,s
is the story that defines the purpose
and ..1r points the value of Mr. Weik's
me feal Lincoln" In Difference to
good friends of Lincoln, Jealous to
nave MIN stand. complete, before pos
terity, MIR. Weik undertook the work
IN hand The story stretches from
tne IN pirth or LINCOLN to that day when,
IN the office OF the Chenery House
springfield, he roped his trunk and
lacked to II card upon which he
had written:
A. LINCOLN,
White House,
Washington, D. c.
Inc book is, in effect. a re-emphas sis,
a new stressing. Of one part of the
Lincoln career. 1t makes use of facts
mat the Life" could not find place
for. And these fact. are woven into
living tissue OF incident and situ-
alton through which the figure of the
youth and young man. Lincoln, moves
unoer the impulse of the same spirit
that Gears later guided him through
the momentous days Of great history.
Here Is the prime value Of Mr.. weik's
work. Vivid, filled with the common
interests of simple communities, IL
holds undeviatingly to the attitudes
and actions Of it's central figure in
these various scenes and situations.
IT sums to a book OF clear fact, au-
thentic fact. Chary of opinions, as II
should be. since the delivering of
invaluable foundation for much sub
sequent work in the study of charac-
ter, its sources and elements and in
its Application to the problems Of
politics and statesmanship.
The immediate and striking effect of
Mr. Stepbensn,'s sT;,ao1.u a., a.
beauty Of It Just as writing;
minor point. perhaps. that belongs by
right in an obscure postscript. But
here it Is. of ones mind. leaving him
free to say that this book sums to
remarkable and convincing study Of
the character Of Lincoln. Not an alb
stract study. Instead, it is a graphic
picture OF fact-the most of 1t his
tory-whoee contacts with Lincoln,
whose demands upon him, bring out
those vital and deep-sourced re-
sponses which. taken together, define
mans character and prove his moral
fiber. Where did Lincoln get tina:
unalterable simplicity. that straight
overlooking vision? What are the
roots Of that peculiarly poetic imaE-
nation? Upon what does that brood
ing melancholy rest? What brought
him that deep and sincere humility?
And along what far strain of blood
came that mystic sense, 50 indifrer-
ent to form and ritual. so vibratinEly
sensitive to that other world within
hands reach, If one only knew whore
and how? These, q few of the i'm
piled questions under this study Of
Lincoln. For answer to the most of
them the author goes back to the
forest life OF the boy. where the deep
woods and the black shadows and all
manner of four-footed things COM
panioned and taught him. Quickly,
then, Mr.. Stephenson projects LINCOLN
into affairs-affairs that grew and
grew in scope and Significance until.
as the head Of the nation, he stood,
almost at once, the central figure in
the greatest OF civil wars. Shameful
ly. at the same time he proved the
Matched by jealous and disloyal sub
ordinates. In long reaches the author
thus links up the high points in the
life of Abraham Lincoln. And he does
this for the sake OF showing that un-
der all external circumstance-in
BILE ruin. in q personal life of more
than common hardship, more than the
usual order of experience-the char
acter of Lincoln is of a piece. The
essentials of the boy in the Kentucky
woods are the essentials Of the man
tent marshaling Of the critical points
Of the history of the period serves
here as the groundwork for this keen
and sympathetic study of the char
acter Of Lincoln.
*As 4 X