LESSONS FROM HIS LIFE. 177 CHAPTER XVIII. LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. I. THE SECRET OF HIS SUCCESS. HE Presidency of the United States is an exalted position, but it proved only a subordinate accessory to the fame of Abraham Lincoln. We have had many Presidents, of whom some were only lifted sufficiently high by their official honors to be within the reach of the scorn and contempt of good men. But Lincoln's name and fame is forever linked with that of Washington, on a level of equal elevation. No names in the history of any land stand above them, none so universally command the admiration of mankind. England has her Hampden and Cromwell, Russia her Peter the Great, Germany her Charles V and Frederick, Sweden her Gustavus Adolphus; France can only point to Charles Martel and Henry IV, despots of surpassing ability, and conquerors of terrible power. Among these, none but Hampden and Cromwell can be considered as approaching comparison with the two most honored names of America, and these awaken but qualified admiration, and that with few others than Englishmen or their descendants, while the "Father" and the "Preserver" of America are subjects of enthusiastic eulogy in every civilized nation. The qualifications of mind and heart which raised this man of humble origin, lowly life, and self-distrust to this great elevation should be deeply pondered by every young man. They were 1. HONESTY. His success in life, from the first, was mainly the result of this trait in his character. He would have failed in every department of life without it. As a laborer, a flatboatman, clerk, surveyor, legislator, lawyer, and as President, the secret of his power was the unqualified confidence his employers and the people had in his incorruptible, unswerving integrity. Every one who knew him knew they could depend upon him in every undertaking, from the smallest pecuniary transaction to the emancipation of a race. Failure was possible in all these; THE SECRET OF HIS SUCCESS. 179 but in calculating the probabilities of success, it was in no case necessary to make any allowance for possible insincerity or evasion on the part of Abraham Lincoln. He had superiors in eloquence and intellectual gifts, and few prominent men who were not superior to him in general education and acquirements. With a fair share of all these, and excelling in the one great element of his success, he rose immeasurably above them. It is to be observed that this was not honesty in its limited sense, as applied to truth and rectitude in business relations, but in its broader sense of justice, respect for the rights of all men, pecuniary, civil, and political. While honesty made him President, it dictated his immortal Proclamation of Emancipation, and rendered him the unfaltering champion of the liberty and equality of all men. 2. HUMILITY. In the highest reach of his fame, in the hours of most brilliant success, in his broadest grasp of power, not a trace of pride or arrogance was seen in his simple and transparent nature. His elevation he attributed to the too partial estimate of the people. His successes he referred, at once and always, to "the gracious favor of Almighty God." This unaffected humility, while gathering honors and achieving triumphs which would have lifted other men's heads high in self-confidence and pride, enkindled a love in the hearts of the people for him of which they then knew little till it burst forth in irrepressible grief at his loss. It is a remarkable commentary on human perverseness, that while millions cherish the memory of an imperfect man with affection, for benefactions rendered with modesty, the larger part of them regard without emotion the infinitely sweeter and more profound humility and benevolence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 3. "CHARITY suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; ** is not easily provoked; thinketh no evil." It is not too much to say that this beautiful language may be used with little qualification in describing the mind and heart of Abraham Lincoln. That such attractive Christian virtues are not more frequently recognized and rewarded by the people, is only because they are not exhibited by the men of intellect who aspire to public favor. 4. INDUSTRY and PERSEVERANCE. From childhood till death, Abraham Lincoln was a willing, No labor was The idea prob cheerful, hopeful son of toil. avoided because of its severity. ably never occurred to him that any kind of hard labor in the fields, woods, on the river, or mental drudgery in his profession was too hard or not sufficiently dignified for him. His rough, horny hands, badges of humble labor, were not to him either suggestive of disgrace or of pride. Met by disheartening discouragements, he struggled hopefully against hope, persevered against the greatest obstacles, and, whether elated or depressed in spirits, worked on. So great was his mental and physical exhaustion, at the time of the battle of Chicamauga, that he said: "Would to God I could rest in death on the field with those brave boys!" Exhausted, disspirited, apparently discouraged, he toiled on till that last, dreamless sleep fell upon him. 5. FAITH IN GOD. "Ask and ye shall receive." He believed that God would give him wisdom, guide him by his counsels, and maintain the cause of justice and truth. It was doubtless this confidence that lifted him above unjust expedients, and gave him that fearless adherence to principle which marked his whole life. He was confident that the great struggle for free |