A SHORT LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY CHARLES W. MOORES FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS EVERY American, over eight years old, ought to know the story of Abraham Lincoln's life. More than this, every American ought to know the best of Lincoln's writings. Above all, every American ought to know the man, Abraham Lincoln. To give to children an understanding of his great life, an appreciation of the simplicity and purity of his literary style, and a love of the man, has been the purpose of this little book. The effort has been to do this without departing from the dignity which maturer minds demand in the presentation of a personality that has won the love of us all. At the same time, the picture were incomplete without a portrayal of the humor that saved Lincoln from the madness to which the burden he carried might have driven him. The chapters which are not essentially political in their character, and therefore do not call for an elementary knowledge of American history, have been found suited to the use of children in the fifth and sixth grades; while, upon a thorough test, the whole book has proved well adapted for sight-reading in seventh and eighth grades. This test has shown the fulfillment of the author's purpose to give to the children a simple story of Lincoln's life, to stimulate a new interest in his writings, and to lead to a better understanding of Lincoln, the man. "A blend of mirth and sadness, smiles and tears; A homely hero born of star and sod; |