820132 COPYRIGHT, 1871, BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL MEA AOBI ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE. fr is still too early to know Abraham Lincoln, but it is none too soon to use such knowledge as we have for adding to our conception of him, and for shaping · our praise and honor. He lived so openly among men, and he was surrounded by such a mass of eager, positive men and women in a time when the mind of man was especially alert, he was so much the object of criticism and of eulogy, and above all he was himself a man of such varied attitude toward other men, that we are likely for years to come to have an increasing volume of testimony concerning him. Meanwhile there is slowly taking form in the general apprehension of men a figure so notable, so. individual, so powerful, that men everywhere are rec ognizing the fact, that however other Americans may be regarded, there is one man who holds the interest,: the profound respect, and the affection of the people as none other has yet done. Franklin has been widely influential, but he has not appealed to the highest spirit. He does not invite reverence, and only he is truly great to whom we look up. Washington has a place by himself, so aloof from other men, that with all our efforts we cannot perfectly succeed in humanizing him, but are content to leave him heroic. Jackson is the idol of a party; but Lincoln, appearing at a critical period, and showing himself a great leader, is so humane, ne comes so close to the eye, his homely nature seems so familiar, that every one makes him a personal acquaintance. He had detractors during his lifetime; there are a few now who are repelled by some characteristics of the man, but his death did much to hallow his memory, and the emphatic testimony of poets and statesmen, who are quick to recog nize their peers and their superiors, has been accumu lating an expression of feeling which represents the common sentiment that has never been absent from the minds of plain people. Every year the anniversary of Lincoln's birth is likely to have increased honor: its nearness to Washington's birthday is likely to cause a joint celebration of the two great Americans. Both then and at other times, Lincoln's career will be studied, and this pamphlet is put forth as a modest aid to those who desire some brief handbook. It contains as an introduction the important essay by James Russell Lowell, who was one of the earliest, and he has been the most persistent, of American scholars to recognize the greatness and the peculiar power of Lincoln. Lowell's own sympathy with the soil quickened his apprehension of sons of the soil. As a tail-piece, so to speak, it has the threnody by Walt Whitman, one of the notable bits of verse called out by Lincoln's death, and so rhythmical, so charged with feeling, that one scarcely ob serves the almost random use of rhyme, it all seems rhymed; nor does one resent what on close inspection might seem an arrogant assumption of the poet's individual grief, for every one will feel that he is himself a solitary mourner for the dead captain. The body of the pamphlet is occupied with a few of the most striking speeches, messages, and letters of the President. It would be easy to increase the number, but these will be found significant of Lincoln's character and political policy. Introductions and notes have been added wherever it seemed desirable to make the matter clearer. But it is to be hoped that our schools will take the opportunity afforded by the great mass of material easily accessible to acquaint them selves in detail with Lincoln's life. In order to aid teachers and scholars in this work, we have added to the pamphlet some pages which give suggestions for the celebration of Lincoln's birthday, a brief chronology of the leading events in his life, and a sketch of the material which is at the service of every one for carrying on a study of this most interesting and important subject. No one can apply himself carefully to an inquiry into Lincoln's life in its whole course without acquainting himself with the most vital principles of American national life. He must study the democratic social order, the slavery conflict, and the war for the Union. It is greatly to be hoped that the growing interest in American history, and the increasing attention paid to the investigating rather than the mere memorizing method of study, will tend to give a conspicuous place to the biography of Abraham Lincoln. . ABRAHAM LINCOLN: AN ESSAY BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. V. The Emancipation Proclamation VI. Account of the Emancipation Proclamation VIII. Proclamation appointing a National Fast Day IX. Announcement of News from Gettysburg -XI. The Second Inaugural Address |