metal of which full-grown men and presidents are made. His hair is black, and, though thin, is wiry. His head sits well on his shoulders, but beyond that it defies description. It nearer resembles that of Clay than that of Webster; but it is unlike either. It is very large, and, phrenologically, well-proportioned, betokening power in all its developments. A slightly Roman nose, a widecut mouth, and a dark complexion, with the appearance of having been weather-beaten, complete the description. "In his personal habits, Mr. Lincoln is simple as a child. He loves a good dinner, and eats with the appetite which goes with a great brain; but his food is plain and nutritious. He never drinks intoxicating liquors of any sort, not even a glass of wine. He is not addicted to the use of tobacco in any shape. He never was accused of a licentious act in all his life. He never uses profane language."

How would the heart of Lincoln's pious mother have rejoiced, could she have foreseen such a record of her son's spotless character and blameless life!

Still another writer pictures his manner in speaking: "As a speaker, he is ready, precise, and fluent. His manner before a popular assembly is as he pleases to make it, being either superlatively ludicrous or very im pressive. He employs but little gesticulation, but, when he desires to make a point, produces a shrug of his shoulders, an elevation of his eyebrows, a depression of his mouth, and a general malformation of countenance so comically awkward, that it never fails to bring down the house. His enunciation is slow and emphatic; and his voice, though sharp and powerful, at times has a frequent tendency to dwindle into a shrill and unpleasant sound. But, as before stated, the peculiar characteristic of his delivery is the remarkable mobility of his features,

the frequent contortions of which excite a merriment his words could not produce."

A distinguished scholar, who heard him debate with Mr. Douglas, says, "He then proceeded to defend the Republican party. Here he charged Mr. Douglas with doing nothing for freedom; with disregarding the rights and interests of the colored man; and for about forty minutes he spoke with a power that we have seldom heard equalled. There was a grandeur in his thoughts, a comprehensiveness in his arguments, and a binding force in his conclusions, which were perfectly irresistible. The vast throng were silent as death: every eye was fixed upon the speaker, and all gave him serious attention. He was the tall man eloquent: his countenance glowed with animation, and his eye glistened with an intelligence that made it lustrous. He was no longer awkward and ungainly, but graceful, bold, commanding."

Here the chapter narrating the struggles and successes of his manhood, previous to his entering on his great work, may fittingly close. It has been conclusively shown that the growing man was preparing for the advancing era. Bishop Simpson stated in his funeral address, that, "as early as 1839, Mr. Lincoln presented resolutions in the Legislature asking for emancipation in the District of Columbia, when, with but rare exceptions, the whole popular mind of his State was opposed to the measure. From that hour he was a steady and uniform friend of humanity, and was preparing for the conflict of later years."

Who cannot see God's hand in all these events, though rapidly traced, as the hour and the man approached each other? The scroll of Time is fast unrolling; and as

every day prophecy becomes history, we should learn lessons of patient hope, and humble, earnest, rejoicing faith; for

"Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan His work in vain:
God is his own interpreter,

And he will make it plain."

CHAPTER IV.

CALLED TO THE PRESIDENTIAL CHAIR.

"The man whom Heaven appoints

To govern others should himself first learn
To bend his passions to the sway of reason."

THOMSON'S TANCRED AND SIGISMUNDA.

"Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." 1 SAM. xvi. 13.

THE prepared man now moved toward the appointed place of labor. The hour of destiny struck in Chicago on the 18th of May, 1860, when the Republican National Convention met "in an immense building, which the people of Chicago had put up for the purpose, called the Wigwam. There were four hundred and sixty-five delegates. The city was filled with earnest men who had gathered to press the claims of their favorite candidates, and the halls and corridors of all the hotels swarmed and buzzed with an eager crowd, in and out of which darted or pushed or wormed their way the various leaders of party politics."*

Mr. Lincoln was then at his home in Springfield. With a not improper anxiety to hear the result of the Convention, he called at the telegraph-office, and there learned how the first and second ballots resulted. He then left, and, going to the office of the "State Journal," sat there quietly conversing with some friends, when a boy placed a note in his hand. It was the announcement of his

*Raymond's "Life of Lincoln."

nomination on the third ballot. He looked at it silently, while the friends around him shouted in triumph; and then, putting it into his pocket, with characteristic calmness he said, in his own peculiar way, "There is a little woman down at our house would like to hear this; I'll go down and tell her;" and immediately returned to his home.

The next day brought to Springfield the Committee appointed by the Convention to inform Mr. Lincoln of ficially of his nomination. They were escorted to his house by a large concourse of citizens. One who was present on that occasion, and will never forget that memorable visit to the plain, white, two-story wooden

*

house, on the corner of two streets, where the unpretending nominee received his official visitors, stated to the writer of these pages that no refreshments were provided save iced-water; and that when citizens of

* C. C. Coffin, Esq.,-" Carleton," of the "Boston Journal."