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school. In the winter of 1822 and '23 he attended Andrew Crawford's school in the same place, where manners as well as spelling, were a part of the curriculum. was now a lanky lad of fifteen, and rapidly rising to his full stature of six feet-four. He was not a beauty with his big feet and hands, his shrivelled and yellow skin, and his costume of low shoes, and buckskin breeches too short by several inches, his linsey-woolsey shirt and coonskin cap; but he was good-humored and gallant, popular with the boys and girls, and a leader.

His last schooling was in 1826, at a school four and a half miles from his home, kept by Mr. Swaney. By this time he had acquired all the knowledge that the poor masters of that frontier region could impart, henceforth he must supervise his own education, as the family were too poor to spare him if opportunities for learning had presented themselves. He must work now in the shop or on the farm, or as a hired boy among the neighbors. One of his employers tells us that he used to get very angry with him, he was always reading or thinking when he got a chance, and would talk and crack jokes half the time. After the days work was over, by the light of the fire, he would sit and cipher on the wooden fire shovel. Any book that fell in his way was eagerly devoured, and its striking passages were written down and preserved. "Aesops Fables" improved his native art of pungent story telling, "Robinson Crusoe," Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" and the Bible were eagerly read by him, as were Weem's "Washington" and a history of the United States. These few books enriched

his mind and laid the basis of his straight-forward, lucid literary style.. The Revised Statutes of Indiana, that could not be loaned from the office of the constable, drew him thither like a magnet, and became the basis of his legal lore.

At home, he was the soul of kindness, instantly ready for kindly service, full of his jokes and stories. His father and his cousin were storytellers and it was often a matter of friendly rivalry which could out-do the other. That talent, thus cultivated, was one of the sources of his mastery of men. He had a powerful memory and would often repeat to his comrades long passages from the books he had read, or regale them with parts of the Sunday sermon with such perfect mimicry that the tones and gestures of the rude preachers of that day were vividly reproduced. Even in the harvest field, he was wont to take the stump and sadly interfere with the labor of the day by discoursing to the harvest hands, and more than once his father had to break up this diversion with severity. He had the instincts of the politician and the orator. He could please and divert men, and these rude early opportunities developed in him the consciousness of his power that should one day become so masterful.

His fondness for the society of his fellows was very marked. He could withdraw himself utterly from men over a book, but his tastes were strong to be among men. All the popular gatherings where men assembled were eagerly sought out by him; corn shuckings, log rollings, shooting matches, weddings, had a strong fascination for him. He enjoyed the sport and was one of the foremost

to make it. In all rustic sports he was at home. His strength was phenomenal, and as a wrestler he seldom found his match.

From the time he left Crawford's school he was using all his faculties daily and learning all that the rude world about him had to teach him. Dennis Hanks tells us of the educational processes of the time, "We learned by sight, scent and hearing. We heard all that was said, and talked over and over the questions heard, wore them slick, greasy and threadbare, went to political and other speeches and gatherings as you do now. We would hear all sides and opinions, talk them over, discuss them, agreeing or disagreeing. He preached, made speeches, read for us, explained to us, etc. He attended trials, went to court always, read the Revised Statutes of Indiana, dated 1824, heard law speeches and listened to law trials. He was always reading, scribbling, writing poetry, and the like. To Gentryville, about one mile west of Thomas Lincoln's farm, Lincoln would go and tell his jokes and stories, and was so odd, original, humorous and witty, that all the people in town would gather round him and he would keep them there till mid-night. He was a good talker, a good reader, and a kind of news-boy."

Thus he absorbed all the intellectual life that was astir, and used his powers as he had occasion, observing public business, watching the methods of the attorneys at the bar and kindling with their eloquence. Once the awkward boy attempted to compliment an attorney for his great effort, and years afterward he met him and recalled the circumstance, telling him that up to that time

House in Coles Co., Ill., in which Lincoln's Father lived after moving from Macon Co. Here he died Jan. 17, 1851.

it was the best speech he had ever heard, and of his feeling that if ever he could make such a speech as that his soul would be satisfied. High aspiration was evidently stirring in him then, and more than once, when twitted with his fooling, as his story telling and pranks were called, and asked what would ever become of him, he was wont to answer that he was going to be President of the United States. In the rude circles in which he moved, his power of instructing, entertaining and leading was recognized. It was a prophecy to him of leadership in a larger sphere.

In 1828, he made his first trip to New Orleans as a flatboatman at eight dollars a month. The trip was full of adventure, and attended with some danger, but it was a profitable one for his employer, and one of enlargement of mind for the employed. From that time till 1830, when he became of age, he worked among the neighbors or for his father.

And then it was determined to emigrate to Illinois. There, at a point ten miles west of Decatur, the Lincolns settled, and Abraham's last filial act before his majority was to split rails for the fencing of the ploughed land of the new homestead. Then he was free and the home ties were sundered, though his love for his step-mother was often manifested in later years by frequent gifts of money and frequent visits.

He took odd jobs in the country round and the pay was all his own. In 1831, he went to New Orleans on a flat-boat which he helped to build. The boat was launched on the Sangamon, stranded on a dam, and relieved by Lincoln's ingenuity, and started again on a suc