is

tinguished honor and power of showing that "the pen mightier than the sword." Fearful had been the contest. Disaster had sometimes attended our armies; despondency brooded over the minds of the people until he issued the famous Proclamation of Emancipation. That act became the turning-point of the war. Five millions of men were changed by it from slaves to citizens. Manacles were melted by its electric thrill. Success began to crown the movements of the army, and soon triumph rested on our banners.

Nor was it only from the millions of slaves that chains had been removed; the whole nation had been in bondage; free speech had been suppressed. Men dared not utter their convictions. An inquisition had been made in the postal service; the pulpit had frequently been over-awed by excited assemblies and utterances. Our great nation was reproached by the nations of the earth as violating the principles of freedom by holding men in slavery. The Proclamation of Emancipation not only freed the slave, but freed the nation. Free speech was restored. The pulpit and the press were unshackled. The dark blot that had rested upon our national honor was removed, and the nation stood proudly a united and free people among the nations of the earth. This act linked the name of Lincoln with the rights and progress of humanity, and while human freedom and true progress

INTRODUCTION.

continue shall that name be held in reverence.

xxvii

We look

not only to the past, but his life is a living power for the present and the future. It is a glowing commentary on the principles of the American Government and on the possibilities of human elevation. In older nations the rulers are found in hereditary families, among names that have been noble for generations; where wealth has been accumulated, and centuries of honored memories have clustered around the name. Mr. Lincoln's elevation shows that in America every station in life may be honorable; that there is no barrier against the humblest ; but that merit, wherever it exists, has the opportunity to be known. His life also is an inspiration for the young. There are few, indeed, more humble in their birth, more obscure in their early associations, more pressed with life's surroundings and cares, with fewer apparent prospects of success; to all these his example and his elevation becomes a living power. What he became they may aspire to be; and the humblest youth looking through the coming years beholds the possibility of occupying any position to which his talents and his efforts may fit him.

Nor is it uninstructive to see how a name unknown but a few years before may become world-wide. As a President of the United States his position was equal, at least, to that of the monarchs of Europe; and yet

those monarchs had been unwilling to recognize as an equal the President of a youthful nation, whose term of office was limited to a few years. But when suddenly smitten, the national sympathy of the masses and of the monarchs was strongly touched; words of sympathy and condolence were sent from nearly every throne, and the masses of the people in all their associations joined in the general mourning, recognizing that a friend of humanity had fallen. It is very fitting that proper mementos should be prepared and widely diffused. The volume now offered to the public embraces some of these mementos, and is a collection of some of the best thoughts and utterances in reference to his distinguished career. It is hoped that it may have a wide circulation, and may stimulate many a youthful heart to noble aspirations and to noble deeds.

PHILADELPHIA, 1882.

M. Simpso

STANFORD

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

BY HON. ISAAC N. ARNOLD.

HE noblest inheritance we, Americans, derive from

THE

our British ancestors is the memory and example of the great and good men who adorn your history. They are as much appreciated and honored on our side. of the Atlantic as on this. In giving to the Englishspeaking world Washington and Lincoln we think we repay, in large part, our obligation. Their pre-eminence in American history is recognized, and the republic, which the one founded and the other preserved, has, already, crowned them as models for her children.

In the annals of almost every great nation some names appear standing out clear and prominent, names of those who have influenced or controlled the great events which make up history. Such were Wallace and Bruce in Scotland, Alfred and the Edwards, William the Conqueror, Cromwell, Pitt, Nelson and Wellington, in England, and such, in a still greater degree, were Washington and Lincoln.

I am here, from near his home, with the hope that

I may, to some extent, aid you in forming a just and true estimate of Abraham Lincoln. I knew him, somewhat intimately, in private and public life for more than twenty years. We practiced law at the same bar, and during his administration, I was a member of Congress, seeing him and conferring with him often, and therefore, I may hope without vanity, I trust, that I shall be able to contribute something of value in enabling you to judge of him. We in America, as well as you in the old world, believe that "blood will tell;" that it is a great blessing to have had an honorable and worthy ancestry. We believe that moral principle, physical and intellectual vigor, in the forefathers are qualities likely to be manifested in the descendants. Fools are not the fathers or mothers of great men. I claim for Lincoln, humble as was the station to which he was born and rude and rough as were his early surroundings, that he had such ancestors. I mean that his father and mother, his grandfather and grandmother, and still further back, however humble and rugged their condition, were physically and mentally strong, vigorous men and women; hardy and successful pioneers on the frontier of American civilization. They were among the early settlers in Virginia, Kentucky, and Illinois, and knew how to take care of themselves in the midst of difficulties and perils; how to live and succeed when the weak would perish. These ancestors of Lincoln, for several generations, kept on the very crest of the wave of Western settlementson the frontier, where the struggle for life was hard and the strong alone survived.