Seal of the Supreme Court affixed to the bible on which Lincoln took the oath of office 1861..... 292 Discoveries and inventions, being facsimile of first pages of the lecture Rev. Phineas D. Gurley, D.D., President Lincoln's pastor, and the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D. C............. 500 Bouquet of flowers picked and presented by Abraham Lincoln at the White House... 502 Deathbed of Lincoln.... 504 The Village Blacksmith. This engraving hung in the room where President Lincoln died.... 506 Facsimile letter written by Lincoln April 6, 1860... 510 As seen and loved abroad. A picture woven in silk in Switzerland in 1865..... 522 Henry Ward Beecher.. 536 David R. Locke, author of humorous Nasby writings greatly enjoyed by President Lincoln...... 540 "The name of Abraham Lincoln will be cherished, so long as we have a history, as one of the wisest, purest and noblest magistrates, as one of the greatest benefactors to the human race, that have ever lived. So much firmness with such gentleness of heart, so much logical acuteness with such almost childlike simplicity and ingenuousness of nature, so much candor to weigh the wisdom of others, with so much tenacity to retain his own judgment, were rarely before united in one individual. Never was such vast political power placed in purer hands; never did a heart remain more humble and unsophisticated after the highest prizes of earthly ambition had been obtained." -J. LOTHROP MOTLEY. A I LINCOLN-FORTUNE'S FAVORITE BRAHAM LINCOLN was well born, and the auspicious conditions into which he came at his birth were prophetic of the generous favors of fortune during all his life. ANCESTRY He was favored in the two lines of lineage which united in his wonderful personality. Both of those ancestral lines were of high-grade and each possessed qualities for which he was distinguished. The Lincoln line of lineage from its earliest history moved conspicuously upon a high plane, never lost, never broken and never joined in any unfavorable alliance. The hardships of pushing back the wooded wilderness and redeeming the virgin soil for the use of man; the dangers of encounters with hostile savages; the struggle for daily bread, together with powerful religious influences, served to keep that line of lineage upon a lofty plane. The course which it followed extended from the Atlantic's rocky coast, westward through New England and across the Alleghenies and the mountains of Virginia, to the verdant valleys of KentuckyAbraham Lincoln's native state. And the dangers and hardships through which the rugged heroes of that line were called to pass, were calculated to produce the toughened fibre of Abraham Lincoln's giant frame and his superb moral stamina. Soon after the Lincolns reached Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln-grandfather of the great President-was shot and instantly killed by a hostile Indian. This tragedy was wit nessed by his youngest son, a lad of but six years of age, who was with his father at the time. Two older sons, who had accompanied their father to his work, witnessed the tragedy from a distance, and knowing that the attack indicated that other savages were lurking in the vicinity, fled, one to the nearby cabin for his rifle, and the other to the settlement for help. But the boy kept his faithful vigil close beside his father's lifeless form. The Indian, as he approached his victim, saw the lad; and as he stooped to bear him as a trophy to his fellow savages, a well-aimed bullet from the cabin terminated his life. The boy thus rescued was Thomas Lincoln who became the father of Abraham Lincoln, the honored ruler and saviour of the nation. Under the old English law of primogeniture, which was then in force in Kentucky, the large estate of Thomas Lincoln's father was inherited by the eldest son; and Thomas became dependent upon his widowed mother who was unable to contribute adequately to his needs. Little is known of his life until he became a man and found employment at day labor in a Kentucky frontier settlement. A typical frontiersman was Thomas Lincoln, of stalwart form, and of fine qualities of heart and mind; as brave and fearless as had been his father; and as amiable and gentle as was his mother. He was tall and of great width of shoulders, with neck, chest and limbs fitted to grapple with the heavy tasks of the timbered wilderness, and subdue it into beauty and productiveness. By common consent he became the arbiter of difficulties among his neighbors, for he was ever wise and fair in his judgments and fearless and effective in maintaining the verdicts he so frequently was called upon to render. These qualities were in Thomas Lincoln united with a childlike piety and humble trust in God. He was not learned in scholarship or books, but he was well and widely educated in the lessons of early pioneer experience and in Christian faith and life. |