Abraham Lincoln :

Abraham Liincolin

1^ 1^17

Abraham Lincoln

JVlilitary vJr^er of the JLoyal Legion of the United States

COMMANDERY OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

MEMORIAL MEETING

FEBRUARY 3 1909

1909

Brevet Lieut. -Colonel John P. Nicholson
Recorder, Compiler

*»6 •>

Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania

FEBRUARY 3, 1909

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

March 4, 1861, to April 15, 1865

Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin (La Rue) Co., Kentucky

Assassinated April 14, 1865; died April 15, 1865, at Washington, D. C.

Enrolled by Special Resolution April 16, 1865

"Lincoln and His Veterans"
Companion Chaplain Henry C. McCook, D. D., L.L. D,

** Lincoln Literature"
Companion Brevet Major William H. Lambert

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"At what point then is the approach of danger to he
expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring up
amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction
be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As
a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die
by suicide.

I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is even
now something of ill omen amongst tis. I mean the in-
creasing disregard for law which pervades the country — the
growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious pas-
sions in lieu of the sober judgment of courts, and the worse
than savage mobs for the executive ministers of justice.
This disposition is awfully fearful in any community; and
that it now exists in ours, though grating to our feelings to
admit, it would be a violation of truth and an insult to our
intelligence to deny. Accounts of outrages committed by
mobs form the cvery-day news of the times. They have
pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana;
they are neither peculiar to the eternal snows of the former
nor the burning suns of the latter; they are not the creatures
of climate."

(From Lincoln's address before the Young Men's
Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, 2~ January, iSjy.)

LINCOLN AND HIS VETERANS
A CENTENARY ODE

Read liy the Author
Companion Chaplain Henry C. McCook, D D.

I.

THE VETERAN'S AS VOLUNTEERS.

Turn back the gates of Time, ye Veteran band,

Youth of the Sixties, saviors of our Land !

List! Hear you not our Cliieftain's high command

Sound down the vista of the garnered years

The Nation's war-trump on our startled ears?

Hearken the echoes! Hear those swelling cries!

See host on host, from sea to sea, arise!

With brows unwrinkled, and with undimmed eyes,

With forms unbent liy age, with unflecked hair,

A Nation's force and fire embodied there!

With springing, swinging step they Southward move,

Their youthful hearts aflame with newborn love

For that dear Flag they proudly bear above.

With loyal cheers the hills and prairies ring.

And patriot songs our fathers used to sing;

With beat of bounding hearts and vocal tongues,

Marching in time to Freedom's war-born songs;

Thundr'ing their mighty cry from shore to shore:

"We're coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more!"

n.

THE VETERANS AT LINCOLN'S BIER.

Hearken again ! The tread of marching men !

As seasoned heroes see them come again!

Wher'er the Nation's Leader bade them on,

With hearts unfaltering there that host had gone.

Through rivers stained with fratricidal blood.

In fevered camp, on battled field and tlood.

Till o'er the war-thinned ranks of faded blue

Their tattered Union Flags victorious flew.

And now thev come, his mourning Veterans come

To bear their fallen Leader to his tomb!

With arms reversed and draped, with muffled drum,

With Flags festooned with crape and drooping low.

With downcast face, with solemn step and slow.

The joy of victory quenched in tears of woe.

Amidst the Nation's sorrowing hosts they go!

HENRY CHRISTOPHER McCOOK.

First Lieutenant 41st Illinois Infantry August 7, 1S61; discharged for pro-
motion October i, 1S61.

Chaplain 41st Illinois Infantry October i, 1S61; resigned and honorably
discharged January S, 1S62.

Chaplain 2nd Penna. Infantry May 26, 1S9S; honorably mustered out
Nov. 15, 1898.

LINCOI^N AND HIS VETERANS — A CENTENARY ODE.

TAPS.

Lights are out ! Now to Rest !

On th}' dear Native Land's loving breast

Comrade sleep, while we weep

Over thee!
Lights are out ! Hero sleep,
While the Nation thine Honor will keep
Till the Angels shall sound

Reveille !

III.

THE VETERANS AT LINCOLN'S CENTENARY

Companions, Comrades, we are met once more !

The old-time summons sounds; but from the shore

Whereon the spirits of the Mighty Dead

Repose in Peace, the Leader and the Led.

A Remnant we ; yet, through the parting wall

So near, so thin, we seem to hear his call

Whose fadeless Fame is the resistless thrall

That draws his Veterans, draws the Nation all !

We come — a grizzled, bowed and broken corps;

The rushing ride, the weary march, are o'er;

No more on battle-deck or battled plain

We feel the thrill of martial zeal again ;

But round the hearth, or mimic camp-fire's blaze.

Or mustered where the great assembly pays

Its tribute of undying love and praise.

Live o'er with waning zest, our war-time days.

Yet, though these failing limbs wax weak and old,

One spot within our hearts shall ne'er grow cold.

Nor Honor burn with less effulgent flame — ,

Where reverent love records our LINCOLN'S name !

IV.

VETERANS OF THE CONFEDERACY.

And former foes, no longer foeman, come,

Their hostile passions silenced at his tomb.

His name they knew; but now they know the Man ;

Large hearted, broad of mind, no partisan.

But covering in his care his erst-while foes;

Eager to ease their hurts, and soothe their woes,

War's bitter hates and cruel hurts erase,

And bind its gaping wounds with friendly peace.

So, when the winds obscuring fogs displace,

The Sun comes forth and shows his radiant face.

And now they twine with leaves of Southern palm

Our Northern laurels; and with palm to palm

In union clasped, his Memory we embalm !

Thus, North, and South, and East and West, to-day

Join in the loving Tribute that we pay.

8

LINCOLN AND HIS VETERANS — A CENTENARY ODE-

THE TRIBUTE

Child of the Forest, o'er thy natal cot

The winter winds Vjlew through the naked groves.

Great monarchs of the wildwood, he hath got
From you that soul of primal human loves,

Simple and strong and large, type of the plan

Great Nature offers when God builds a Man !

Great frame, great aim, great soul, Great Heart, were thine,

A chosen vessel for a task divine !

Child of the Forest, Man of Destiny,

With Nature's vigor young, Heaven dowered thee

To lead the Nation's youth to victory,

And seal this land forever One and Free !

Child of the Prairies! in thy tingling veins

The vital nurture of the boundless plains,

Thy soul grew large, and ever larger grew,

And swept their vastness with still vaster view,

Till all the Brotherhood of Human-kind

Lay in fhe generous compass of thy mind.

The racial mark was not satanic brand.

But Nature's stamp by One Paternal Hand;

With thee, not office, wealth or social state

Were titles sole that men are truly great,

But Character — the virtuous Life and Aim,

To Manhood's highest rank the surest claim.

Child of the wide, free Plains, Heaven dowered thee

To break all yokes and set the bondsmen free !

Father of Waters, coursing many States,
Binding their shores; not shutting, opening gates,
See on your bosom broad our Hero ride'.
Cleaving with stalwart arm your mighty tide !
Child of the Rivers ! Heaven hath dowered thee
To seal for aye the Nation's stern decree,
The Mississippi's flood shall still run free,
Unvexed from Rocky Mountains to the Sea !

Child of the People ! in his blood are mixt
The sturdiest types within our borders fixt.
Born in the South ; of Puritan descent ;
Reared in the West when Life, in full ferment,
Gave native forces widest, freest bent ;
Nursed at a wise and faithful Mother's breast,
His boundless debt to whom he e'er confest;
Nurtured in want that spurred him to his best;
Cradled in virtues that restricted waste;
Mated in love to one whose wifehood drew
To loftiest aims; his friends both wise and true.
Good Providence, kind nature, social code,
Life's gifts were all so happily bestowed, —
And mixt so well the Elements of Man,
That they in him attained their noblest plan !
Child of the People ! So let Lincoln live, —
The worthiest title Freeman may receive !
The noblest title Freemen's hearts can srive !

"LINCOLN LITERATURE."

By Companion Brevet Major William H. Lambert

Wliether, or not, it he true, as has been asserted, that the personal literature
relating to Abraham Lincoln exceeds in extent that pertaining to any other
human being, it is probable that in proportion to the length of his public career
the printed matter relating to him is greater in bulk than that evoked by the life
and work of any statesman, or leader, who preceded him.

Lincoln's notable public service was comprised within five years, for while
he had served a term in the National House of Representatives, and had been
twice a candidate for election to the United vStates Senate, and had become
famous through his great debate with Stephen A. Douglas, so little was the im-
pression that he had made upon the political literature of the time, that his name
was not included in either of the two popular biographical compilations published
in 1859-60, giving sketches of the lives of the men whose names were therein
mentioned as possible candidates for the Presidential nominations of their re-
spective parties. Had Lincoln died before i860 it is possible that his biography
would have been confined to the brief paragraph in the Dictionary of Congress,
published in 1859, or to its extension, in the later edition of that work, to include
perhaps the facts of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the date of his death.

The literature then to which your attention is now asked, and which has
attained such vast dimensions, is that relating to the life and services of a man
who, unknown to the mass of bis countrymen in i860, completed his career within
five years thereafter, having attained renown second only to Washington, who
as soldier, statesman and President had served his country forty years.

It will be understood, of course, that the word literature is here used in its
broadest sense as comprising books and pamphlets directly relating to Lincoln,
irrespective of their literary quality, or lack of it, but not including the greater
mass of printed matter relating generally to the War of the Rebellion, most or all
of which might properly be included in a bibliography of him who was the Com-
mander-in-Chief.

Many of Lincoln's early political speeches in Illinois had been printed
in the local papers, some had appeared in pamphlet form, as also had at least three
of his speeches in Congress, but that part of Lincoln literature that comprises
his own writings may be said to have begun with the issue in book form during
the spring of i860, of the Lincoln and Douglas Debates, which publication
attained prior to the National election that year a sale of about 30,000 copies.

WILLIAM HARRISON LAMBERT.

Private 15th Penna. Cavalry August 22, 1S62; discharged for promotion
November 24, 1S62.

First Lieutenant and Adjutant 27th New Jersey Infantry November 27,
1862 ; honorably mustered out July 2, 1S63.

First Lieutenant and Adjutant 33d New Jersey Infantry July 25, 1S63:
Captain January 16, 1864; honorably mustered out July 17, 1865.

Brevetted Major U. S. Volunteers March 13, 1S65, "for gallant and meri-
torious conduct during the war."

Awarded the "Medal of Honor" under resolution of Congress "for having
offered his services to the Government after expiration of his term."

"LINCOLN LITERATURE."

Subsequently to this publication, and during his candidacy for the Presidency,
numerous compilations of these and others of his speeches were made as parts
of the many campaign lives, while during his Presidency wide circulation was
given to all of his public utterances, and the number of separate issues of his letters
and his speeches was very great. Full collections of these and of the earlier
speeches were published during the political campaign of 1864, and immediately
after his death numerous volumes appeared giving extracts from his various
writings; among the earliest and best of these were "The Martyr's Monument,"
edited by Dr. Francis Lieber, and "The President's Words," compiled by the Rev.
Edward Everett Hale. Such compilations have continued to be popular, among
the later issues of similar character the volumes edited by Bliss Perry and Richard
Watson Gilder and that in the "Everyman's Library" edited by the Hon. James
Eryce, the British Ambassador, have especial value.

No authoritative, or complete, collection of Lincoln's works appeared until
1894, when the Century Company issued them in two volumes, edited by his
former private secretaries Nicolay and Hay, as a fitting sequel to their great
History of Lincoln. Recently a new edition of the works has been published
by the F. D. Tandy Co., of New York, which is extended to twelve volumes by
the addition of much hitherto unpublished material and by the use of larger
and more generously spaced type, as well as by the inclusion of a number of
eulogistic tributes. Almost simultaneously another edition, not so complete,
but beautifully printed and supplemented by Schurz's essay, Choate's address
and a biography by Xoah Brooks, was issued by G. P. Putnam's Sons; still later
an abridgment edited by Marion Mills Miller, prefaced by a life by Henry C.
Whitney, and comprising nine handy volumes, appeared under the auspices of
the Current Literature Co., a special feature of this edition is the omission of the
purely formal documents, and the classification of the letters under the names
of the recipients instead of solely chronologically as in the other editions.

The biographical literature had its beginning in the brief sketch already
mentioned, which is, so far as I know, the earliest appearance of a biographical
sketch of Lincoln in a book. It is especially interesting because it was based
upon the material furnished by Lincoln himself, who, in answer to Lanman's
request for the information requisite for the purpose of his Dictionary
of Congress, wrote: "Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky.
Education defective. Profession, a Lawyer. Have been a Captain of Volunteers
in Black Hawk War. Postmaster at a very small office. Four times a member
of the Illinois Legislature, and was a member of the lower house of Congress."
With the substitution of the word "limited" for "defective" and a few slight verbal
changes by the compiler, this sketch was printed in the Dictionary, which was
copyrighted in 1858 and bears the imprint of J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1859.

The friends of Lincoln who wanted him nominated for the Presidency,
realized the importance of making the country better acquainted with him,
and one of them, Jesse W. Fell, formerly of Pennsylvania, solicited the brief
autobiographical sketch that was used as the basis of articles commending
Lincoln, which appeared in papers of the Middle and Eastern States. Subse-
quently, but prior to the nomination, Lincoln on the 27th of February, i860,
delivered his great speech at the Cooper Institute in New York. This speech
which was printed in full in leading Xew York journals made a profound im-
pression, and was further widely circulated in pamphlet form in several editions

"LINCOLN LITERATURE."

and in various languages, one edition being printed with special care and fully
annotated by Charles C. Nott and Cephas Hrainerd, of the New York bar, who
were much impressed by Lincoln's thorough acquaintance with the historic
facts referred to in his address.

Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency, May i8th, i860; on the next day
the New York "Tribune" contained announcements by five publishers that they
"have in press and will speedily publish" lives of the new candidate of whom so
much less was known than of Seward and Chase and others who had been his
chief competitors. Meanwhile appeal had been made for still fuller information
than that which had been imparted to Mr. Fell, and the data furnished in answer
to this new request was the foundation for the several campaign lives, which,
supplemented by description of Lincoln's person and his home, by copious ciuota-
tions from his speeches and in some instances by imagination, attained fair pro-
portions.

The first of these works issued was the 'Wigwam Edition" by Rudd &
Carleton, New York, and was of anonymous authorship. Zeal for priority of
publication apparently outweighed care for accuracy of statement, and probably
accounts for the author's abbreviation of the subject's Christian name to Abram,
and the assertion that his father died when the boy was six years old, and that
the mother was left with several children, the facts being that the mother died
when her son was nine years of age, that but two children survived her, and the
father lived until 1851. Notwithstanding the author's material ignorance of the
immediate family history, he boldly asserted that his hero "has Revolutionary
blood in his veins, the Lincolns of Massachusetts were his progenitors. General
Lincoln was of the same family," facts which were apparently unknown to Abra-
ham himself, who said of his ancestors that "an effort to identify them with the
New England family of the same name ended in nothing more definite than a
similarity of Christian names in both families."

One of these campaign lives w^as written by Mr. William D. Howells and was,
I believe, the first of his books to bear his name as author; recognizing the disad-
vantages under which the life was written the author prefaced it thus: "When
one has written a hurried book one likes to dwell upon the fact that if the time
had not been wanting one could have made it a great deal better. This fact is of
the greatest comfort to the author, and not of the slightest consequence to any-
body else. It is perfectly reasonable, therefore, that every wTiter should urge it.
A work which seeks only to acquaint people with the personal history of a man for
whom they are asked to cast their votes, and whose past ceases to concern them
in proportion as his present employs them, will not be numbered with those im-
mortal books which survive the year of their publication It does not challenge
criticism, it fulfills the end of its being if it presents facts and incidents in a manner
not altogether barren of interest. It is believed that the follo%ving biographica
sketch of Abraham Lincoln will be found reliable. The information upon which
the narrative is based, has been derived chiefly from the remembrance of Mr.
Lincoln's old friends and may therefore be considered authentic. It is hardly
necessary to add that no one but the wTiter is responsible for his manner of treat-
ing events and men." Possibly because of this literary service the author was
in 1 86 1 appointed to the Consulate, from which resulted his charming books
"Venetian Life" and "Italian Journeys." This was not the only campaign
biography written by Mr. Howells, who in 1S76 wTote a life of Rutherford B

"UXCOLX LITERATURE '

Hayes, probably inspired to this effort, less by the success of the first, than by
his personal relation to his later subject.

Mr. Howells was not the first eminent American author who wrote a 'cam-
paign life," for he had been anticipated by Hawthorne who wrote a biography
of Franklin Pierce, a task probably not less difficult than Howells' first venture,
and which won a much more lucrative reward in the Consulate at Liverpool.

Several of the Lives issued in i860 were compiled by authors who with
equal facility would have written the lives of any other candidates, having in
other books covered widely divergent biographical subjects.

A book entitled to special mention is that by James Q. Howard, published
by Follett Foster & Co., of Columbus, whose original announcement that the
work had been authorized by Mr. Lincoln brought from him a letter of protest
which was so effectual that when the book appeared it bore this note by the
author, "The following sketch of the life of Abraham Lincoln embraces simply
the material facts in his history. Fictitious embellishments to suit the varied
imaginations of readers are left to be supplied by the readers themselves. For
whatever the sketch contains the writer alone is responsible."

The Life that probably had the largest circulation was that published simul-
taneously by the New York "Tribune" and the Chicago "Press and Tribune,"
in compact and inexpensive form, especially adapted for campaign distribution .
No author's name was given but it is known that it was written by John L. Scripps,
editor of the leading Republican newspaper of Chicago, who being familiar with
Illinois politics and personally acquainted with Lincoln was better equipped
for the work than any of his rival biographers and his book is the best of its time.
Extensive as was its circulation this pamphlet is to day by no means common,
the edition with the Chicago imprint being one of the rarest of the Lincoln books
of i860.

Scripps' life was read by its subject as is shown by this characteristic
story; the author had stated in his book that Lincoln in his youth read Plutarch's
lives, this he did simply because as a rule almost every boy in the West, in the
early days, did read Plutarch. When the advance sheets of the book reached
its subject, he sent for the author and said to him: "That paragraph wherein
you state I read Plutarch's lives was not true when you wrote it, for up to that
moment in my life I had never seen that early contribution to human history,
but I want your book, even if it is nothing more than a campaign sketch, to be
faithful to the facts, and in order that that statement might be literally true,
I received the book a few days ago and have just read it through." This Life
has the further distinction of having been reissued in a limited edition, superbly
printed upon choice paper and with tasteful binding, but unfortunately the title
page is marred by the words "The first published," to which honor the book
is clearly not entitled.

Probably the least familiar of these Lives, as it is the smallest, is the 32 mo.
edited and published by Reuben Vose, of New York; of this ten thousand copies
are stated to have been printed, and yet only one copy is known to a group of
diligent collectors, and there is none in the Library of Congress.

The campaign of 1864 brought forth a new series of biographies much fuller
of course than their predecessors because now, instead of telling the story of an
unknown Western politician, they were narrating the history of the most power-
ful ruler of his day. Some of the new books were enlarged editions of earlier

14

"LINCOLN LITiiKATURB."

works, others were entirely new, the most meritorious being that by the editor
of the New York "Times," Henry J. Raymond, whose "History of the Adminis-
tration of Abraham Lincoln" was well written and authoritative. Raymond
was an influential and able supporter of the Administration, was familiar with its
policy and himself an important factor in the politics of the time and held the
responsible position of Chairman of the Republican National Committee. A
later edition published after the President's death, completed the story of his
career, and is I think the best history of its subject that appeared prior to the
monumental work of Nicolay and Hay.

This later edition of Raymond's book contained as a supplement the anec-
dotes gathered by Frank B. Carpenter, the artist who painted the picture of the
President and Cabinet known as the "Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation,"
during his sojourn in the Executive Mansion; these stories were subsequently
issued in book form entitled "Six Months at the White House with Abraham
Lincoln," that had large circulation and many editions. It was the forerunner
of the numerous collections of Lincoln stories more or less authentic.

Orville J. Victor was the author of a little book "The Private and Public Life
of Abraham Lincoln," that had immense circulation as one of the widely
known "Beadle's Dime" publications.

The years of Mr. Lincoln's Presidency were prolific in publications of every
variety relating to him — speeches, letters of protest and advice, satires, bur-
lesques, song books, — the pamphlet output was stupendous.

-The magazines of the time were crowded with articles about the President
and the War. The "Atlantic Monthly" and the "North American Review" were
easily foremost among the loyal supporters of the Administration. In the "Re-
view " appeared a series of powerful essays by James Russell Lowell, treat-
ing of the various phases of the great conflict and more or less directly of Lincoln.
The most important of these essays that on "The President's Policy," which ap-
peared in July, 1S64, is remarkable for its clear characterization of Lincoln, its
appreciation of his fitness for his tremendous task and as a prophecy of his fame,
that has been remarkably verified.

To Lowell it was given to see that which most of his cotemporaries only saw
after Lincoln's death, and whilst "Great captains with their guns and drums"
were still disturbing judgment, to behold the fullness of fame which was to be
that of the first American. It is interesting to know that Lincoln read this essay
and without knowledge of its authorship wrote to the publisher of the "Review"
modestly expressing his gratification with the article and at the same time sug-
gesting a correction of a statement that seemed to him to have been based on
misunderstanding of his purpose. Perceiving the value of this essay, the Union
League of our city reprinted it as a pamphlet and gave it wide circulation. In
this shape it is highly prized by collectors both for its importance as a Lincoln
item and as the first separate issue of Lowell's essay.

Lincoln literature reached wide extent during his life, but was immensely
increased by his death, for the publications that followed far outnumbered those
that had gone before. The Nation's sorrow sought relief in outward expression
and the memorial sermons, addresses, orations and poems that gave it voice were
innumerable. Thousands of these tributes were reproduced in the newspapers
and many found their way into pamphlets, hundreds of these are known to the
bibliographers, probably hundreds more were issued, which have thus far escaped

15

"LINCOLN LITERATURE."

identification. Among the more prominent of the orators and clergymen were
Emerson, Sumner, Wendell Phillips, Bancroft, Beecher, Storrs, Bishop Simpson,
Albert Barnes and Phillips Brooks.

Not all of the sermons were eloquent, not all are in themselves worthy of
preservation, but as the spontaneous manifestation of a people's grief, they con-
stitute a characteristic and convincing memorial of the darkest day of our history.

To many, prose seemed inadequate for expression of the prevalent sorrow
and of admiration for the departed Chief, so hundreds of versified tributes found
their way into print, not a few of more ambitious character came forth in pamphlet
and book. Of many of these poetic tributes, their manifest sincerity was their
sole claim to favor, and even that scarcely saves some from ridicule. But there
were some in which both sincerity and fervor joined with poetic gift to make
them adequate in their expression of grief and worthy in their tribute. Such are
Stoddard's "An Horatian Ode," and Brownell's "Abraham Lincoln," while
Whitman's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed," and even more his
"O Captain! My Captain!" and Lowell's Commemoration Ode, have attained
distinction that will be imperishable.

Nor were the manifestations of sorrow and of appreciation of the greatness
of Lincoln confined to our own land, for the spoken and written tributes both in
prose and verse were many in England and on the Continent. The French
Academy in 1867 offered a prize for the best poem on the death of Lincoln;
for this there were ninety competitors, the award was made to Edouard Grenier,
whose dignified and eulogistic verse is worthy of its great theme. I do not recall
that it has ever been fully translated into English. Unique in its character
is the poem by Tom Taylor that appeared in the number of "Punch" for May 6,
1865, apologizing for the manner in which that periodical had treated Lincoln
while living, and confessing that it had utterly misjudged him and his work,
asked leave to do homage to his memory.

In the wake of the eulogies came many new biographies, most of them hastily
written to take advantage of the popular demand of the hour, and built upon
easily accessible material. An exception to this characterization is the Life by
Dr. J. G. Holland, which was the result of conscientious study and personal in-
vestigation at Springfield and elsewhere among the friends and associates
of Lincoln, and was written with earnest desire to be truthful as well as sym-
pathetic. Arnold's "Lincoln and Slavery" had value as a history of that theme,
by one who had been in Congress during the War and had enjoyed Lincoln's
friendship; subsequently the author wrote a more personal biography that has
considerable merit.

More important than any biography which had hitherto appeared was that
issued in 1872, purporting to be by Ward H. Lamon. This was the first life based
upon systematic research and with access to a wide range of original material.
Much that had been unknown or inaccessible to earlier writers had now become
available through the persevering labors of William H Herndon, who had been
for many years Lincoln's law partner. The mass of material that he had gathered
was placed at Lamon' s disposal, and his work gives much fuller detail of Lincoln's
early life than had been possible for others to obtain. The volume published
closed with Lincoln's first Inauguration, the author intending to devote a second
volume to the years 1861-65; whether or not this was written, it certainly was not
published. Lamon had long been known to Lincoln, they had been associated

16

"LINCOLN LrriiRATURK."

in a number of cases, and had been together on the law circuit; they had jour-
neyed togetlier to Wasliington in February, 1861, and one of Lincoln's first ap-
pointments was that of Lamon as Marshal of the District of Columbia. He
was entrusted with special confidential duties and the association between them
.continued until broken by death. Lamon professed and doubtless felt a deep
admiration for his Chief, so that it seems strange that this book while it reveals
much of Lincoln's greatness, and the humble circumstances of his early life and
the obstacles he overcame, and so enhances our esteem for the character that
triumphed over adversity and untoward conditions, is, nevertheless, written in
such curiously antipatlietic tone as to suggest the author's dislike rather than his
friendship for his subject. The anomaly is explained by the fact, not revealed
by the title page, that the real author was Chauncey F. Black, son of Jeremiah
S. Black, the Attorney General of Buchanan's Cabinet, political opponent of
Lincoln, and though both father and son were Union men they were not in sym-
pathy with Lincoln, the father was at times sharply critical of many of the mea-
sures of the Administration, the son later became the Lieutenant Governor
of Pennsylvania, elected upon the Democratic ticket. Lamon procured the ma-
terial from Herndon, supplemented it by his own knowledge and study, but the
book that by innuendo and insinuation seems striving to belittle its hero, and
fails only because of his inherent and dominating nobility of character, was not
written by Lamon but by Chauncey F. Black, whose selection was due to his
association with Lamon in law practice after the President's death.

Two years after the Lamon book there appeared a series of articles in "The
Galaxy" magazine, published afterwards with additions in a book under the
title "Lincoln and Seward," written by Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the
Navy. Mr. Welles was led to write because of his strong dissent from the at-
tribution by Charles Francis Adams in his eulogy of Secretary Seward of a pre-
ponderating influence to that statesman in the conduct of aff'airs, and the im-
plication that the President's part was subordinate.

From his intimate knowledge Welles was able to establish the fact that so far
from being dominated, the President was preeminently the master of his
Administration. Later revelations in the History of Nicolay and Hay and the
assemblage of evidence by Rothschild in his "Lincoln the Master of Men," fullv
corroborated the allegations of the Secretary of the Navy.

The most important addition to the biographical literature of Lincoln was
made by John G. Nicolay and John Hay by their "Abraham Lincoln, a Historv,"
first published in the "Century Magazine," beginning in 1SS6, and subsequentlv
in ten stately volumes. The position of the authors as private secretaries
to the President, their long association with him, their familiaritv with events,
their access to his papers, personal and political, their historic instinct and literarv
ability, as well as their sympathetic admiration for him, qualified them to wTite
the monumental history of Lincoln, the mine from which all later wTiters must
draw. Yet because the work is so largely historical and subordinates the personal
side of Lincoln's life, especially prior to the Presidency, and also because of its
magnitude, it is likely that it will always be a book of reference rather than one for
wide and popular reading. In recognition of the demand for a more compact
life, the senior author later prepared an excellent abridgment issued in a single
volume.

In the "Atlantic Monthly" for 1S90 Carl Schurz reviewed the great hisiorj-

17

"WNCOLN LITERATURE."

with such marked ability that his essay is itself of highest value. Its excellent
summary of Lincoln's work, its just and discriminating appreciation of his char-
acter and its analysis of the sources of his success make this essay the best epitome
of his work that has yet appeared in print. Schurz's Reminiscences recently
published contain much of interest relating to Lincoln most graphically told.

Simultaneously with the publication in book form of the Nicolay and Hay
Histor}' appeared "Herndon's Lincoln, The True Story of a Great Life," the joint
work of Herndon, for twenty years Lincoln's friend and law partner, and of Jesse
W. Weik, who put the book into shape. Later in date than Lamon, using the
same material, supplemented by more recent acquisitions and written with greater
sympathy and after longer and more intimate association, this work is much the
more valuable. And yet it has limitations for it is needlessly minute in many
of its details, attaches exaggerated importance to youthful incidents and char-
acteristics, and with all its admiration for its subject, reveals a seeming jealousy
of the popular appreciation of Lincoln, and a desire that the author's estimate
should be accepted as final. Apparently Herndon failed to realize how far
beyond him his old partner had gone and was unable to comprehend the height
of greatness to which Lincoln had attained.

In 1896 Miss Ida M. Tarbell began a series of articles upon the early life of
Lincoln that were the result of laborious effort on her part, aided by careful
research among early records and newspapers by Mr. J. McCan Davis, of Spring-
field. Their collaboration resulted in the discovery of much that had been either
generally unknown or forgotten. New light was thrown upon many incidents
of Lincoln's earlier days, and positive and valuable information added to our
knowledge of him. The series was continued to cover the closing years and the
whole published in four well printed volumes, constituting an important biography.
Miss Tarbell has since written the delightful stories, "He knew Lincoln" and
"Father Abraham," which although fictitious have biographical dignity and
value because of their happy characterization of the man and faithful portrayal
of many of his traits.

Yet another life based upon acquaintance and research, worthy of mention,
recently published is that by Henry C. Whitney, an Illinois lawyer who had been
associated with Lincoln in several cases, had seen and heard him frequently,
and had told the story of "Life on the Circuit" with him, a work replete with
information.

Besides these there are scores of lives, many of them being well written and
readable, but adding little that is new; most of them being restatements of well
known facts, some indeed so presenting them as to have the force of novelty;
one of the best especially for the Presidential career is that by John T. Morse, Jr.,
in the series of American Statesmen.

Many biographies have been published abroad, one by F. Bungener written
in French, first issued in Switzerland, was translated into German, Dutch and
Italian and published in the several countries; another by Joualt in French,
published in Paris, translated into Spanish and published in Barcelona. There
are still others in these languages, and others printed in Sweden, Denmark, Greece,
Russia, two at least, Japan, three, and Hawaii.

Time will not permit the naming, even without comment, of the many vol-
umes that bear Lincoln's name, but the titles of some may serve to indicate
the variety and range covered: The Story Life, The True Life, The Every Day

18

"LINCOLN UTliKATUKE."

Life, The Heroic Life, The Boy's Life, The Boy Lincoln, Tlie BackvvfKKls Boy,
The Pioneer Boy and how he became President, In the Boyhood of Lincoln, The
Children's Life, The Man of the People, The True Lincoln, The Real Lincoln, and
Lincoln Boy and Man, this last quite recent and an excellent popular com-
pendium.

Some authors have not been content with one or two issues, but respondin;^
presumably to popular needs have several works to their credit, amon;^ them
Isaac N. Arnold has six, William M. Thayer has five different titles in Ivnglisli,
besides translations in German and Swedish and Greek. .\oah Brooks ha?
"A Biography for Young People:" "Lincoln and the Downfall of wSlavery," "Lincoln,
His Youth and Early Manhood," and "Washington in Lincoln's Time." William
O. Stoddard, who was one of the President's secretaries, has written "Inside the
White House in War Times," "The Table Talk of Abraham Lincoln," "Lincoln
at Work," "The Boy Lincoln," besides "Abraham Lincoln, The True Story of a
Great Life," and the "Lives of the Presidents — Lincoln and Johnson."

Each year since Lincoln's death has witnessed the publication of tributes
to his memory, mostly as commemorative addresses, some as recollections by
his cotemporaries, but not a few studies of phases of his character or of special
episodes in his career, such are Hill's "Lincoln the Lawyer," and Bates' "Lincoln
in the Telegraph Ofifice." Each recurring birthday adds new material, and the
recent celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Lincoln and Douglas Debates in
the several localities where the debates were held has brought forth many reminis-
cences. The Illinois State Historical Society has just issued the first of a Lincoln
Series, under the editorship of Professor Edwin E. Sparks, now of our State Col-
lege, a portly volume of great value devoted to the history and ana of these
debates.

The approaching centenary of his birth is being preceded by a large output
and during the year there will be voluminous increase of this literature.

But however eloquent the oratory past or to come, however instructive and
authentic the narrative, however inspired the poet, the most precious and lasting
Lincoln literature will always be that of his own writing, for despite his modest
assertion to the contrary at Gettysburg, what he said there will be long remem-
bered and with his Second Inaugural will be immortal. These, admittedly his
supremest utterances, supplemented by other addresses only less important
and by such eloquent and forceful letters as those to Horace Greeley, to General
Hooker, to Conkling of Illinois, to Hodges of Kentucky and to the Massachu-
setts mother, make a vital part of literature and will be an abiding memorial to

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

19

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