His father did much to aid him in his difficult pursuit, and whenever he heard of any particular volume which he thought desirable, or for which Abraham asked, he always endeavoured to obtain it for the use of his son.

In this way he became acquainted with Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," "Esop's Fables," a "Life of Henry Clay," and Weems' "Life of Washington." The "hatchet" story of Washington, which has done more to make boys truthful than a hundred solemn exhortations, made a strong impression upon Abraham, and was one of those unseen, gentle influences which helped to form his character for integrity and honesty. Its effect may be traced in the following story, which bids fair to become as never-failing an accompaniment to a 66 Life of Lincoln" as the hatchet case to that of Washington :

"Mr. Crawford had lent him a copy of the 'Life of Washington.' One night he laid it down carefully, as he thought, and the next morning he found it soaked through with water. The rain had beaten in through a crack in the logs, and the book was ruined. How could he face the owner under such circumstances? He had no money to offer as a return, but he took the book, went directly to Mr. Crawford, showed him the irreparable injury, and frankly and honestly offered to work for him until he should be satisfied. Mr. Crawford accepted the offer, and gave Abraham the book for his own, in return for three days' steady labour. His manliness and straightforwardness won the esteem of the Crawfords, and, indeed, of all the neighbourhood."

Another significant trait in his character is said to have manifested itself while he still was at school. Among his schoolfellows he was invariably a "peacemaker." He adjusted their misunderstandings, medi

ated, in cases of extreme difficulty, with remonstrance and soothing kindness, and in more than one instance he is said to have thrown himself between infuriated urchins, and restored harmony at the risk of personal injury to himself. Certain it is he ever afterwards retained this characteristic in an eminent degrce. Not the least memorable instance was his long, patient, and earnest efforts for conciliation at the outbreak of the great Southern rebellion. The immortal page of history will bear witness that he went as far to preserve the peace and stay the madness of the slave propagandists as he dared to go, considering his oath to support and maintain the Constitution and to enforce the laws.

But when he had mastered the rule of three, the school days of Abraham Lincoln were over, and even ruder days of physical toil than he had as yet experienced were in store for him.

Between the time of his leaving school and the attainment of his nineteenth year, he was constantly employed in the hardy avocation of a western woodman, cutting down trees, splitting rails, and the like, and during the evenings, eagerly devoting the few hours until bedtime to such books as he could manage to pro

cure.

When he was a year older (twenty), Abraham was employed, at the rate of ten dollars per month, to go to New Orleans on a flat-boat loaded with stores, which were to be vended at the Mississippi river plantations.

In those days the vocation of flat-boating and keelboating on the great water-courses of the West and South-west furnished almost the only mode of water transportation, for the era of steam-boats had barely commenced. The boatmen who were employed in traversing these great water-routes were a fearless, hardy, athletic

class of men, exposed to many perils, and almost shelterless in all phases of clime and weather. With no bed but the deck of their boats on which to lie at night, and no covering but a blanket, they spent months and years of their existence. It was on such boats that the rich cargoes ascending the Mississippi were carried. By human labour they were propelled against the strong current nearly two thousand miles; and it was a labour that required great muscular strength and remarkable powers of endurance. The result was that a class of men were trained in this business of unusual courage, and proud only of their ability to breast storms and endure hardships. Young Lincoln was, at this time, peculiarly fitted for the hardy vocation which he agreed, for a period, to embrace. Nature had bestowed upon him a frame of much muscular power, a readiness of wit, and a shrewdness of judgment, all of which qualities could be used to advantage in the flat-boat voyage.

Accompanied by one associate (the son of his employer), young Lincoln started upon his voyage. The scenery of the banks was perpetually changing, like a vast panorama, and they frequently met and passed other crafts, with their numerous and jolly crews, and communicated with the people who would appear upon the river-banks from the neighbouring villages and plantations. On the way they were attacked by seven negroes, and their lives and property were in great danger; but owing to their good use of the muscular force they had acquired, as backwoodsmen, they succeeded in driving off the assailants, and pushing their boat out into the stream in safety. The result of the voyage was satisfactory to the owner, and Abraham Lincoln gained, in addition to his ten dollars a month, a reputation as a youth of promising business talent.

The nomadic Thomas Lincoln was again to strike his tent for a newer home; for the paradisian accounts of the prairie lands of Illinois began to spread in the more eastern States. Accordingly, he deputed Dennis Hanks, a relative of his living wife, to proceed to Illinois and report upon actual advantages offered, and the inducements held out for a change of residence. The tour of investigation was duly made, and the subsequent report of the agent fully confirmed all that had been reported by others. The change of home was decided upon at once. It was little more than two years after the flat-boat voyage, and Abraham was just arrived of age, that Thomas Lincoln, in the month of March, 1830, accompanied by his family, and the families of the two daughters and sons-in-law of his second wife, left the homestead in Indiana for the teeming prairies of Illinois. Their mode of conveyance was by ox-teams, and, this time, the transit occupied fifteen days.

Reaching the county of Macon, they halted for a period, and during this same month (March), the Lincoln family settled on the north bank of the Sangamon river, about ten miles, in a westerly direction, from Decatur. They reared a log-cabin upon their new location, into which the family removed. The next "improvement" was a rail fence sufficient to surround ten acres of ground, for which young Lincoln assisted in splitting the rails-the identical rails which afterwards became the theme of joke, song, and story. Of their history the following incident is related :

"During the sitting of the Republican State Convention at Decatur, a banner, attached to two of these rails, and bearing an appropriate inscription, was brought into the assemblage, and formally presented to

that body, amid a scene of unparalleled enthusiasm. After that, they were in demand in every State of the Union in which freed labour is honoured, where they were borne in processions of the people, and hailed by hundreds of thousands of freemen as a symbol of triumph, and as a glorious vindication of freedom and of the rights and dignity of free labour."

A hard siege of fever and ague afflicted the new settlers before the close of the first autumn. Upon this account they were greatly discouraged, and determined to seek a more congenial location. They remained, however, through the succeeding winter, which was the season of the " deep snow" of Illinois. For three weeks, or more, the snow was three feet deep upon a level, and the weather intensely cold. There was great consequent suffering entailed upon beasts as well as men-all being totally unprepared for such extraordinary severity of climate. Our pioneers were fortunate in having a sufficient supply of corn, but they had laid up an insufficient quantity of meat, and the deep snow seriously interfered with their dependence upon their rifles. Abraham, however, was willing to brave any and every hardship to relieve their household wants. Through his untiring exertions, he managed to furnish enough game to keep the family in food, although he was not a first rate hunter, his love for books having early overcome the fondness and enthusiasm with which he had at first adopted the rifle.

"We seldom went hunting together," writes one of his early associates on this subject. "Abe was not a noted hunter, as the time spent by other boys in such amusements was improved by him in the perusal of some good book." This same winter he made a second