He knew to bide his time,
And can his fame abide,

Still patient in his simple faith sublime,
Till the wise years decide.

Great captains, with their guns and drums,
Disturb our judgment for the hour,

But at last silence comes ;

These all are gone, and, standing like a tower,
Our children shall behold his fame,

The kindly, earnest, brave, foreseeing man,
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame,
New birth of our new soil, the first American.

-Lowell, Commemoration Ode

Contents

CHAPTER

I. THE MAN AND HIS KINDRED

II. THE LEADER OF THE SPRINGFIELD BAR

III.-A GREAT Orator anD HIS SPEECHES

IV.-A PRAIRIE POLITICIAN

V.-A PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET

VI. A COMMANDER-IN-CHIef and his Generals.

VII.-HOW LINCOLN APPEARED IN THE WHITE HOUSE ..... 277

List of Illustrations

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.....

..Frontispiece

From an original, unretouched negative made in 1864, when
he commissioned Ulysses S. Grant Lieutenant-General and
commander of all the armies of the republic.

THE BIRTHPLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

This cabin was long ago torn down, but the logs were saved.
and in August, 1895, it was rebuilt on the original site.

ROCK SPRING FARM, KENTUCKY, WHERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WAS BORN

From a photograph taken in September, 1895.

ROCK SPRING ON THE FARM WHERE LINCOLN WAS BORN.....
From a photograph taken in September, 1895. The spring
is in a hollow at the foot of the gentle slope on which the
house stands.

PAGE

20

22

26

FAC-SIMILE OF AN INVITATION TO A SPRINGFIELD COTILLION
PARTY

...

By special permission, from the collection of C. F. Gunther,
Esq., Chicago.

MARY TODD LINCOLN, WIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN....

38

......

44

From a photograph by Brady in the War Department Col-
lection.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN EARLY IN 1861, WHEN HE FIRST BEGAN TO
WEAR A BEARD

60

.....

From a photograph in the collection of H. W. Fay, Esq.,
De Kalb, Illinois. By special permission.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN THE SUMMER OF 1860.....

75

From a negative taken for M. C. Tuttle, of St. Paul, Minne-
sota, for local use in the presidential campaign.