Abraham Lincoln

His Youth and Early Manhood

With a Brief Account of

His Later Life

By

Noah Brooks

Author of "The Boy Emigrants," "The Fairport Nine,"
"American Statesmen," etc.

PUBLIC

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN !

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring.
But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths-for you the shores
a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head!

It is some dream that on the deck
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse, no will
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage.closed and,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won.
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

MR.

EDITOR'S PREFACE

R. BROOKS'S story of the life of Abraham Lincoln is a distinct addition to our knowledge of the man and of the scenes through which he passed in becoming an uplifter of the human race. Mr. Brooks knew Lincoln well in Illinois, as well as later in Washington. He was himself a pioneer during some of the most stirring times on the border, and, in consequence, he has written in unusual sympathy with the difficulties and triumphs of border life.

In the crude surroundings that then were the lot of all, the story of Lincoln's youth and early manhood possesses a peculiar interest. In such a tale we catch gleams of a true nature tucked away in the lank form and homespun, and we watch a character grow clearoutlined through the power of a strong moral nature. The wilderness afforded splendid tests of manly qualities, and kept the weak at bay. The axe, the maul, and the grubbing-hoe answered only to the quick eye and the sinewy frame. Abraham Lincoln, stronghearted and true, swung, split, and dug in "the land of full-grown men "; and he emerged thence a leader among men.

His experiences were singularly varied and dramatic; yet, in the main, they were typical of unnamed thousands of our fellows who wrote on the broad West the strongest characteristics of our race.

PINE LODGE,

December 1, 1900.

F. L. O.