Lecture on Lincoln

•1 'xi.^

LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. ^ 1 ^

Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius Mt JL O

Lecture on Lincoln

Robert G. Ingersoll

LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. O 1 "2
Edited by £. Haldeman-JuJius ^ X 9kJ

Lecture on Lincoln

Robert G. Ingersoil

HALDEMAN-JULIUS COMPANY
6IRARD, KANSAS

PRINTED IN THE UNITSD STATES OF AMERICA

Notiting is grander than to break chains from the bodia*

of toen — nothrns: nobler than to destroy the

ph«ntc»Tns of the booL

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

I.

On the 12th of February, 1809, two babee
were bom — one in the woods of Kentucky,
amid the hardships and poverty of pioneers;
one in England, surrounded by wealth and
culture. One was educated in the University
of Nature, the other at Cambridge.

One associated his name with the enfran-
chisement of labor, with the emancipation of
millions, with salvation of the Republic. He
is known to us as Abraham Lincoln.

The other broke the chains of superstition
and filled the world with intellectual light, and
he is known as Charles Darwin.

Nothing is grander than to break chains
from the bodies of men — ^nothing nobler than
to destroy the phantoms of the soul.

Because of these two men the nineteenth
century is illustrious.

A few men and women make a nation glor-
ious— Shakespeare made England immortal,
Voltaire civilized and humanized France;
Goethe, Schiller and Humboldt lifted Germany
into the light. Angelo, Raphael, Galileo and
Bruno crowned with fadeless laurel the Italian

6 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

brow, and now the most precious treasure of
the Great Republic is the memory of Abraham
Lincoln.

Every generation has its heroes, its icono-
clasts, its pioneers, its ideals. The people al-
ways have been and still are divided, at least
into classes — the many, who with their backs
to the sunrise worship the past, and the few,
who keep their faces toward the dawn — ^the
many, who are satisfied with the world as it is;
the few, who labor and suffer for the future,
for those to be, and who seek to rescue the
oppressed, to destroy the cruel distinctions of
caste, and to civilize mankind.

Yet it sometimes happens that the libera-
tor of one age becomes the oppressor of the
next. His reputation becomes so great — he
is so revered and worshiped — that his follow-
ers, in his name, attack the hero who endeav-
ors to take another step in advance.

The heroes of the Revolution, forgetting
the justice for which they fought, put chains
upon the limbs of others, and in their names
the lovers of liberty were denounced as in-
grates and traitors.

During the Revolution our fathers to jus-
tify their rebellion dug down to the bed-rock
of human rights and planted their standard
there. They declared that all men were en-
titled to liberty and that government derived
its power from the consent of the governed.
But when victory came, the great principles
were forgotten and chains were put upon the
limbs of men. Both of the great political par-

A LECTURE ON UNCOIL 7

ties were controlled by greed and selfishness.
Both were the defenders and protectors of
slavery. For nearly three-quarters of a cen-
tury tliese parties had control of the Republic.
The principal object of both parties was the
protection of the infamous institution. Both
were eager to secure the Southern vote and
both sacrificed principle and honor upon the
altar of success.

At last the Whig party died and the Re-
publican was born. This party was opposed
to the further extension of slavery. The
Democratic party of the South wished to make
the "divine institution" national — while the
Democrats of the North wanted the question
decided by each territory for itself.

Each of these parties had conservatives
and extremists. The extremists of the Demo-
cratic party were in the rear and wished to
go back; the extremists of the Republican
party were in the front, and wished to go for-
ward. The extreme Democrat was willing to
destroy the Union for the sake of slavery,
and the extreme Republican was willing to
destroy the Union for the sake of liberty.

Neither party could succeed without tht
votes of its extremists.

This was the condition in 1858-60.

When Lincoln was a child his parents re-
moved from Kentucky to Indiana. A few trees
were felled — a log hut open to the south, no
floor, no window, was built — a little land
plowed and here the Lincolns lived. Here the
patient, thoughtful, silent, loving mother died

S A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

— died in the wide forest as a leaf dies, leav-
ing nothing to her son but the memory of her
love.

In a few years the family moved to Illinoas.
Lincoln then almost grown, clad in skins, with
no woven stitch upon his body — walking and
driving the cattle. Another farm was opened
— a few acres subdued and enough raised to
keep the wolf from the door. Lincoln quit the
farm — went down the Ohio and Mississippi
as a hand on a flat-boat — afterward clerked
in a country store — then in partnership with
another bought the store — failed. Nothing
left but a few debts — learned the art of sur-
veying— made about half a living and paid
something on the debts — read law — admitted
to the bar — tried a few small cases — nomi-
nated for the Legislature and made a speech.

Lincoln was educated in the University
of Nature — educated by cloud and star-
by field and winding stream — by billowed
plainj and solemn forests — by morning's birtti
and death of day — by storm and night — by
the ever eager Spring — by Summer's wealth
of leaf and vine and flower — the sad and tran-
sient glories of the Autumn woods — and win-
ter, builder of home and fireside, and whose
storms without, create the social warmth
within.

He was perfectly acquainted with the poli-
tical questions of the day — heard them dis-
cussed at taverns and country stores, at vot-
ing places and courts and on the stump. He
*'new all the arguments for and against, and

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 9

Qo man of his time was better equipped for
intellectual conflict. He knew the average
mind — the thoughts of the people, the hopes
and prejudices of his fellow-men. He had the
power of accurate statement. He was logi-
cal, candid and sincere. In addition, he had
the "touch of nature that makes the whole
world kin."

In 1858 he was a candidate for the Senate
against Stephen A. Douglas.

The extreme Democrats would not vote for
Douglas, but the extreme Republicans did vote
for Lincoln. Lincoln occupied the middle
ground, and was the compromise candidate of
his own party. He had lived for many years
in the intellectual territory of compromise —
in a part of our country settled by Northern
and Southern men — where Northern and
Southern ideas met, and the ideas of the two
sections were brought together and compared.

The sympathies of Lincoln, his ties of kin-
dred, were with the South. His convictions,
his sense of justice, and his ideals, were with
the North. He knew the horrors of slavery,
and he felt the unspeakable ecstasies and
glories of freedom. He had the kindness, the
gentleness, of true greatness, and he could
not have been a master; he had the manhood
and independence of true greatness, and he
could not have been a slave. He was just, and
was incapable of putting a burden upon others
that he himself would not willingly bear.

He was merciful and profound, and it was

iO A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

not necessary for him to read the history of
the world to know that liberty and slavery
could not live in the same nation, or in the
same brain. Lincoln was a statesman. And
there is this difference betv\'een a politician
and a statesman. A politician schemes and
works in every way to make the people do
something for him. A statesman wishes to
do something for the people. With him place
and power are means to an end, and the end
is the good of his country.

In this campaign Lincoln demonstrated
three things — first, that he was the intellec-
tual superior of his opponent; second, that he
was right; and third, that a majority of the
voters of Illinois were on his side.

>

/ LECTURE ON LINCOLN 11

II.

In 1860 the Republic reached a crisis. The
conflict between liberty and slavery could no
longer be delayed. For three-quarters of a
century the forces had been gathering for the
battle.

After the Revolution, principle was sacri-
ficed for the sake of gain. The Constitution
contradicted the Declaration. Liberty as a
principle was held in contempt. Slavery took
possession of the Government. Slavery made
the laws, corrupted courts, dominated Presi-
dents and demoralized the people.

I do not hold the South responsible for
slavery any more than I do the North. The
fact is, that individuals and nations act as
they ' must. There is no chance. Back of
every event — of every hope, prejudice, fancy
and dream — of every opinion and belief — of
every vice and virtue — of every smile and
curse, is the efficient cause. The present mo-
ment is the child, and the necessary child, of
all the past.

Northern politicians wanted office, and so
they defended slavery; Northern merchants
wanted to sell their goods to the South, and
so they were the enemies of freedom. The
preacher wishdd to please the people who paid
his salary, anM so he denounced the slave for
not being s»t^ed with the position in which

12 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

the good God had placed him.

The respectable, the rich, the prosperous,
the holders of and the seekers for office, held
liberty in contempt. They regarded the Con.
stitution as far more sacred than the rights
of men. Candidates for the presidency were
applauded because they had tried to make
slave States of free territory, and the highest
court solemnly and ignorantly decided thai
colored men and women had no rigtits. Men
who insisted that freedom was better than
slavery, and that mothers should not be robbed
of their babes, were hated, despised and mob-
bed. Mr. Douglas voiced the feelings of mil*
lions when he declared that he did not care
whether slavery was voted up or down. Upon
this question the people, a majority of them,
were almost savages. Honor, manhood, con-
science, principle — all sacrificed for the sake
of gain or office.

From the heights of philosophy — standing
above the contending hosts, above the prejud-
ices, the sentimentalities of the day — Lincoln
was great enough and brave enough and wise
enough to utter these prophetic words:

"A hoizse divided against itself caniMt stand. I be-
lieve this Government cannot permanently endure hall
slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to b»
dissolved ; I do not expect the house to fall ; but I do
expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all
the one thing or the other. Either the opponents of
slavery will arrest the further ppread of it, and place
it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it
is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocate*
will push it further until it becomes alike lawful in all
the States, old as well as new. North as well as South."

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN U

This declaration was the standard around
which gathered the grandest political party
the world has even seen, and this declaration
made Lincoln the leader of that vast host.

In this, the first great crisis, Lincoln ut-
tered the victorious truth that made him the
foremost man in the Republic.

The Republican party nominated him for
the presidency and the people decided at the
polls that a house divided against itself could
not stand, and that slavery had cursed soul
and soil enough.

It is not a common thing to elect a really
great man to fill the highest official position.
I do not say that the great Presidents have
been cho»«n by accident. Probably it would
be better to say that they were the favorities
of a happy chance.

The average man is afraid of genius. He
feels as an awkward man feels in the pres-
ence of a sleight-of-hand performer. He ad-
mires and suspects. Genius appears to carry
too much sail — to lack prudence, has too much
courage. The ballast of dullness inspires con-
fidence.

By a happy chance Lincoln was nominated
and elected in spite of his fitness — and the
patient, gentle, just and loving man was called
upon to bear as great a burden as man has
ever borne.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN It

in.

Then vame another crisis — the crisis of
Secession and Civil war.

Again Lincoln spoke the deepest feeling
and the highest thought of the Nation. In
his first message he said:

"The central idea of secession is the essence of
anarchy."

He also showed conclusively that the North
and South, in spite of secession, must remain
face to face — that physically they could not
separate — that they must haVe more or less
commerce, and that this commerce must be
carried on either between the two sections as
friends, or as aliens.

This situation and its consequences he
pointed out to absolute perfection in these
words :

"Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can
make laws ? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced
between aliens than laws among friends ?"

After having stated fully and fairly the
philosophy of the conflict, after having said
enough to satisfy any calm and thoughtful
mind, he addressed himself to the hearts of

1« A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

America. Probably there are few finer pas-
sages in literature than the close of Lincoln's
inaugural address:

"I am l«th to cloee. We are not enemies, but friends.
We must not be enemies. Though passion may have
strained, it must not break, out bonds of attection. The
mystic chords of memory stretching from every battle-
field and patriotic grave to every loving heart and
hearthstone all over this broad land, will swell th«
chorus of the Union when again touched, as svirely they
will be, by the better angels of our nature."

These noble, these touching, these pathetic
words, were delivered in the presence of re-
bellion, in the midst of spies and conspirators
— surrounded by but few friends, most of
whom were imknown, and some of whom were
wavering in their fidelity — at a time when se-
cession was arrogant and organized, when
patriotism was silent, and when, to quote the
expressive words of Lincoln himself, "Sinners
were calling the righteous to repentance."

When Lincoln became President, he was
held in contempt by the South — underrated by
the North and East — not appreciated even by
his cabinet — and yet he was not only one of
the wisest, but one of the shrewdest of man-
kind. Knowing that he had the right to en-
force the laws of the Union in all parts of the
United States and Territories — knowing, as he
did, that the secessionists were in the wrong,
he also knew that they had sympathizers not
only in the North, but in other lands.

Consequently, he felt that it was of the
otmost importance that the South should fire
the first shot, should do some act that would

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN W

solidify the North, and gain for us the justi-
fication of the civilized world.

He proposed to give food to the soldiers
at Sumter. He asked the advice of all his
cabinet on this question, and all, with the ex-
ception of Montgomery Blair, answered in the
negative, givmg their reasons in writing. In
spite of this, Lincoln took his own course —
endeavored to send the supplies, and while
thus engaged, doing his simple duty, the South
commenced actual hostilities and fired on the
fort. The course pursued by Lincoln was ab-
solutely right, and the act of the South to a
great extent solidified the North, and gained
for the Republic the justification of a great
number of people in other lands.

At that time Lincom appreciated the scope
and consequences of the impending conflict.
Above all other thoughts in his mind was this:

"This conflict will settle the question, at
"least for centuries to come, whether man is
"capable of governing himself, and conse-
"quently is of greater importance to the free
"tiian to the enslaved."

He knew what depended on this issue and
he said:

"We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the
"last, best hope of earth."

A LECTURE ON UNCOLN 1»

IV.

Then came a crisis in the North. It became
clearer and clearer to Lincoln's mind, day by
day, that the Rebellion was slavery, and that
it was necessary to keep the border States on
the side of the Union. For this purpose he
proposed a scheme of emancipation and col-
onization— a scheme by which the owners of
slaves should be paid the full value of what
they called their "property."

He knew that if the border States agreed
to gradual emancipation, and received com-
pensation for their slaves, they would be for-
ever lost to the Confederacy, whether seces-
sion succeeded or not. It was objected at
the time, by some, that the scheme was far
too expensive; but Lincoln, wiser than his ad-
visers— far wiser than his enemies — demon-
strated that from an economical point of view,
his course was best.

He proposed that $400 be paid for slaves,
including men, women and children. This was
a large price, and yet he showed how much
cheaper it was to purchase than to carry on
the war.

At that time, at the price mentioned, there
were about $750,000 worth of slaves in Dela-
ware. The cost of carrying on the war was
at least two millions of dollars a day, and fo?
one-third of one day's expenses, all the slaves

20 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

in Delaware could be purchased. He also
showed that all the slaves in Delaware, Mary-
land, Kentucky and Missouri could be bought,
at the same price, for less than the expense
of carrying on the war for eighty-seven days.

This was the wisest thing that could have
been proposed, and yet such was the madness
of the South, such the indignation of the
North, that the advice was unheeded.

Again, in July, 1862, he urged on the Rep-
resentatives of the border States a scheme of
gradual compensated emancipation; but the
Representatives were too . deaf to hear, too
blind to see.

Lincoln always hated slavery, and yet he
felt the obligations and duties of his position.
In his first message he assured the South
that the laws, including the most odious of all
— the law for the return of fugitive slaves —
would be enforced. The South would not hear.
Afterward he proposed to purchase the slaves
of the border States, but the proposition was
hardly discussed — hardly heard. Events came
thick and fast; theories gave way to facts,
and every thin .-n:, was Vt 1^^ " r:.\

The extreme Democrat of liie North was
fearful that slavery might be destroyed, that
the Constitution might be broken, and that
Lincoln, after all, could not be trusted; and
at the same time the radical Republican feared
that Lincoln loved the Union more than he
did liberty.

The fact is, that he tried to discharge the
obligations of his great office, knowing from

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 21

tbe first that slavery must perish. The course
pursued by Lincoln was so gentle, so ki»d and
persistent, so wise and logical, that millions
of Northern Democrats sprang to the de-
fence, not only of the Union, but of his ad-
ministration. Lincoln refused to be led or
hurried by Fremont or Hunter, by Greeley or
Sumner. From first to last he was the real
leader, and he kept step with events.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 28

V.

On the 22d of July, 1862, Lincoln sent word
to the members of his cabinet that he wished
to see them. It so happened that Secretary
Chase was the first to arrive. He found Lin-
coln reading a book. Looking up from the
page, the President said: "Chase, did you ever
read this book?" "What book is it?" asked
Chase. "Artemus Ward," replied Lincoln.
"Let me read you this chapter, entitled *Wax
Wurx in Albany.* " And so he began reading
while the other members of the cabinet one
by one came in. At last Stanton told Mr.
Lincoln that he was in a great hurry, and if
any business was to be done he would like to
do it at once. Whereupon Mr. Lincoln laid
down the open book, opened a drawer, took
out a paper and said: "Gentlemen, I have
called you together to notify you what I have
determined to do. I want no advice. Nothing
can change my mind."

He then read the Proclamation of Emanci-
pation. Chase thought there ought to be
something about God at the close, to which
Lincoln replied: "Put it in. it won't hurt it.*"
It was also agreed that the President would
wait for a victory in the field before giving
the Proclamation to the v;orid.

The meeting was over, the members went
their way. Mr. Chase was the last to go, and
as he went through the door looked back and

24 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

saw that Mr. Lincoln had taken up the book
and was again engrossed in the Wax Wurx
of Albany.

This was on the 22d of July, 1862. On the
22d of August of the same year Lincoln
wrote his celebrated letter to Horace Gree-
ley, in which he stated that his object was
to save the Union; that he would save it
with slavery if he could; that if it was neces-
sary to destroy slavery in order to save the
Union, he would; in other words, he would
do what was necessary to save the Union.

This letter disheartened, to a great degree,
thousands and millions of the friends of free-
dom. They felt that Mr. Lincoln had not at-
tained the moral height upon which they sup-
posed he stood. And yet, when this letter waa
written, the Emancipation Proclamation was
in his hands, and had been for thirty days,
waiting only an opportunity to give it to the
world.

Some two weeks after the letter to Gree-
ley, Lincoln was waited on by a committee of
clergymen, and was by them informed that it
was God's will that he should issue a Procla-
mation of Emancipation. He replied to them,
in substance, that the day of miracles had
passed. He also mildly and kindly suggested
that if it were God's will this Proclamation
should be issued, certainly God would have
made known that will to him — to the persoa
whose duty it was to issue it.

On the 22d day of September, 1862, tke
most glorioos date in the history of the Re-

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN U

public, the Proclamation of Emancipatioa waa
issued.

Lincoln had reached the generalization of
all argument upon the question of slavery and
freedom — a generalization that never has been
and probably never will be, excelled:

"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom
to the free."

This is absolutely true. Liberty can be
retained, can be enjoyed, only by giving it to
others. The spendthrift saves, the miser is
prodigal. In the realm of Freedom, waste is
husbandry. He who puts chains upon the
body of another shackles his own soul. The
moment the Proclamation was issued the
cause of the Republic became sacred. From
that moment the North fought for the human
race. From that moment the North stood
under the blue and stars, the flag of Nature,
sublime and free.

In 1831, Lincoln went down the Mississippi
on a flat-boat. He received the extravagant
salary of ten dollars a month. When he
reached New Orleans, he and some of his
companions went about the city.

Among other places, they visited a slave
market, where men and women were being
sold at auction. A young colored girl was on
the block. Lincoln heard the brutal words of
the auctioneer — the savage remarks of bid-
ders. The scene filled his soul with indigna-
tion and horror.

Turning to his companions, he said, "Boys.

X6 A LECTURE ON UNCOLN

if I ever gret a chance to hit slavery, by God
Vn hit it hard!"

The helpless girl, unconsciously, had plant-
ed in a great heart the seedfi of the Procla-
mation.

Thirty-one years afterward the chance
came, the oath was kept, and to four millions
of slaves, of men, women and children, was
restored liberty, the jewel of the soul.

In the history, in the fiction of the world,
there is nothing more intensely dramatic than
this.

Lincoln held within his brain the grandest
traths, and he held them as unconsciously, as
easily, as naturally, as a waveless pool holds
within its stainless breast a thousand stars.

In these two years we had traveled from
the Ordinance of Secession to the Proclama-
tion of Emancipation.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 27

VI.

We were surrounded by enemies. Many
of the so-called great in Europe and England
were against us. They hated the Republic,
despised our institutions, and sought in many
ways to aid the South.

Mr. Gladstone announced that Jefferson
Davis had made a nation, and that he did not
believe the restoration of the American Union
by force attainable.

From the Vatican came words of encour-
agement? for the South.

It was declared that the North was fight-
ing for empire and the South for independ-
ence.

The Marquis of Salisbury said: "The
people of the South are the natural allies of
England. The North keeps an opposition shop
in the same department of trade as ourselves."

Not a very elevated sentiment — but Eng-
lish.

Some of their statesmen declared that the
subjugation of the South by the North would
be a calamity to the world.

Louis Napoleon was another enemy, and
he endeavored to establish a monarchy in
Mexico, to the end that the great North might
be destroyed. But the patience, the uncom-
mon common sense, the statesmanship of Lin-
coln— in spite of foreign hate and Northern
division — triumphed over all. And now we

28 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

faargive aB foes. Victory mak^s forgivenest
ea«y.

Lincoln was by nature a diplomat. He
knew the art of sailing again&t the wind. He
had as much shrewdness as is consistent with
honesty. He understood, not only the rights
of individuals, but of nations. In all his cor-
respondence with other governments he
neither wrote nor sanctioned a line which
afterward was used to tie his hands. In the
Bse of perfect English he easily rose above
all his advisers and all his fellows.

No one claims that Lincoln did all. He
could have done nothing without the generals
in the field, and the generals could have done
nothing without their armies. The praise is
due to all — to the private as much as to the
officer; to the lowest who did his duty, as
much as to the highest.

My heart goes out to the brave private aa
much as to the leader of the host.

But Lincoln stood at the centre and with
infinite patience, with consummate skill, with
the genius of goodness, directed, cheered, con-
soled and conquered.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN «•

VII.

Slavery was the cause of the war, and
slavery was the perpetual stumbling-block.
As the war went on, question after question
arose — questions that could not be answered
by theories. Should we hand back the slave
to his master, when the master was using his
slave to destroy the Union? If the South was
right, slaves were property, and by the laws
of war anything that might be used to t^e
advantage of the enemy might be confiscated
by us. Events did not wait for discussion.
General Butler denominated the negro as "a
contraband." Congress provided that the
property of the rebels might be confiscated.

The extreme Democrats of the North re-
garded the slave as more sacred than life. It
was no harm to kill the master — to burn his
house, to ravage his fields — but you must not
free his slave.

If in war a nation has the right to take
the property of its citizens— of its friends —
certainly it has the right to take the property
of those it has the right to kill.

Lincoln was wise enough to know that war
is governed by the laws of war, and that dur-
ing the conflict constitutions are silent. All
that he could do he did in the interests d
peace. He offered to execute every law — in-
cluding the most infamous of all — to buy the

30 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

slaves in the border States — to establish grad-
ual, compensated emancipation; but the South
would not hear. Then he confiscated the
property of rebels — treated the slaves as con-
traband of war, used them to put down the
Rebellion, armed them and clothed them in
the uniform of the Republic — was in favor of
making them citizens and allowing them to
stand on an equality with their white brethren
under the flag of the Nation. During these
years Lincoln moved with events, and every
step he took has been justified by the consid-
erate judgment of mankind.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 81

VTIL

Lincoln not only watched the war, but kept
bis hand on the political pulse. In 1863 a
tide set in against the adn^inistration. A
Republican meeting was to be held in Spring-
field, Illinois, and Lincoln wrote a letter to be
read at this convention. It was in his hap-
piest vein. It was a perfect defence of his
administration, including the Proclamation of
Emancipation. Among other things he said:

"But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or it ia
not valid. If it is not valid it needs no retraction, but
if it is valid it cannot be retracted, any more than the
dead can be brought to life."

To the Northern Democrats who said they
would not fight for negroes, Lincoln replied:

"Some of them seem willing to fight for yoa — but
no matter."

Of negro soldiers:

"But negroes, like other people, act upon motives.
Why should they do anything for us if we will do noth-
ing for them ? If they stake their lives for ua they
must be prompted by the strongest motive — even the
promise of freedom. And the promise, being made,
must be kept."

There is one line in this letter that will
give it immortality:

"The Father of waters again goes nnvexed to th«
•ea."

82 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

This line is worthy of Shakespeare.
Another:

"Amon? free men there can be no successful appea)
fpona the ballot to the bullet."

He draws a comparison between the white
men against us and the black men for us:

"And then there will be some black men who cac
remember that with silent tongue and clenched teetfa
and steady eye and well-poised bayonet they have helped
mankind on to this great consummation ; while I fear
there wUl be some white ones unable to forget that with
maligmant heart and deceitful speech they strove to
hinder it."

Under the influence of this letter, the love
of country, of the Union, and above all, the
love of liberty, took possession of the heroic
North.

There was the gn*eatest moral exaltation
ever known.

The spirit of liberty took possession of the
people. The masses became sublime.

To fight for yourself is natural — to fight
for others is grand; to fight for your country
is noble — to fight for the human race — for the
liberty of hand and brain — is nobler still.

As a matter of fact, the defenders of slav-
ery had sown the seeds of their own defeat.
They dug the pit in which they fell. Clay and
Webster and thousands of others had by their
eloquence made the Union almost sacred. The
Union was the very tree of life, the source
and stream and sea of liberty and law.

For the sake of slavery millions stood by
the Union, for the sake of liberty miUiona

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 83

knelt at the altar of the Union; and this love
of the Union is what, at last, overwhelmed
the Confederate hosts.

It does not seem possible that only a fe^
years ago our Constitution, our laws, our
Courts, the Pulpit and the Press defended and
upheld the institution of slavery — that it was
a crime to feed the hungry — to give water to
the lips of thirst — shelter to a woman flying
from the whip and chain!

The old flag still flies — the stars are there—
Uie stains have gone.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 86

EL

Lincoln always saw the end. He was un-
moved by the storms and currents of the
times. He advanced too rapidly for the con-
servative politicians, too slowly for the radical
enthusiasts. He occupied the line of safety^
and held by his personality — by the force of
his great character, by his charming candor—
the masses on his side.

The soldiers thought of him as a father.

All who had lost their sons in battle felt
that they had his sympathy — felt tnat his face
was as sad as theirs. They knew that Lincoln
was actuated by one motive, and that his en-
ergies were bent to the attainment of one end
— the salvation of the Republic

They knew that he was kind, sincere and
merciful. They knew that in his veins there
was no drop of tyrants' blood. They knew that
he used his power to protect the innocent, to
save reputation and life — that he had the
brain of a philosopher — the heart of a mother.

During all the years of war, Lincoln stood
the embodiment of mercy, between discipline
and death. He pitied the imprisoned and con-
demned. He took the unfortunate in his arms,
and was the friend even of the convict. He
knew temptation's strength — the weakness of
the will — and how in fury's sudden flame the
judgment drops the scales, and passion — blind
and deaf — usurps the throne.

36 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

One day a woman, accompanied by a Sen-
ator, called on the President. The woman was
the wife of one of Mosby's men. Her husband
had been captured, tried and condemned to be
shot. She came to ask for the pardon of her
husband. The President heard her story and
then asked what kind of man her husband
was. "Is he intemperate, does he abuse the
children and beat you?" "No, no," said the
wife, "he is a good man, a good husband, he
loves me and he loves the children, and we
cannot live without him. The only trouble
is that he is a fool about politics — I live in
the North, bom there, and if I get him home,
he will do no more fighting for the South.**
"Well," said Mr. Lincoln, after examining the
papers, "I will pardon your husband and turn
him over to you for safe keeping." The poor
woman, overcome with joy, sobbed as though
her heart would break.

"My dear woman," said Lincoln, "if I had
known how badly it was going to make you
feel, I never would have pardoned him." "You
do not understand me," she cried between her
sobs. "You do not understand me." "Yes,
yes, I do," answered the President, "and if
you do not go away at once I shall be crying
with you."

On another occasion, a member of Con-
gress, on his way to see Lincoln, found in
•ne of the ante-rooms of the White House an
old white-haired man, sobbing — his wrinkled
face wet with tears. The old man told him
that for several days he had tried to see the

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 8T

President — ^that he wanted a i)ardon for his
son. The Con^essman told the old man to
oome with him and he would introduce him
to Mr. Lincoln. On being introduced, the old
man said: "Mr. Lincoln, my wife sent me to
you. We had three boys. They all joined
your army. One of 'em has been killed, one's
a fighting now, and one of 'em, the youngest,
has been tried for deserting and he's going to
be shot day after to-morrow. He never de-
serted. He's wild, and he may have drunk too
much and wandered off, but he never deserted.
'Taint in the blood. He's his mother's favor-
ite, and if he's shot, I know she'll die." The
President, turning to his secretary, said:
"Telegraph General Butler to suspend the ex-
ecution in the case of (givmg the

name) until further orders from me, and ask

him to answer ."

The Congressman congratulated the old
man on his success — but the old man did not
respond. He was not satisfied. "Mr. I*resi-
dent," he began, "I can't take that news home.
It won't satisfy his mother. How do I know
but what you'll give further orders to-mor-
row?" "My good man," said Mr. Lincoln, "I
have to do the best I can. The generals are
complaining because I pardon so many. They
say that my mercy destroys discipline. Now,
when you get home you tell his mother what
you said to me about my giving further or-
ders, and then you tell her that I said this:
*If your son lives until they get further orders
from me, that when he does die people will

88 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

say that ©Id Methusaleh was a baby compared
to him.'"

The pardoning power is the only remnant
of absolute sovereignty that a President has.
Through all the years, Lincoln will be known
as Lincoln the lovincr. Jincoln thc» merciful.

^

A LECTURE ON UNCOLN 3»

X.

Lincoln had the keenest sense of humor^^
and always saw the laughable side even of
disaster. In his humor there was logic and
the best of sense. No matter how complicated
the question, or how embarrassing the situa-
tion, his humor furnished an answer and a
door of escape.

Vallandigham was a friend of the South,
and did what he could to sow the seeds of
failure. In his opinion everything, except re-
bellion, was unconstitutional.

He was arrested, convicted by a court mar-
tial, and sentenced to imprisonment.

There was doubt about the legality of the
trial, and thousands in the North denounced
the whole proceedings as tyrannical and in-
famous. At the same time millions demanded
that Vallandigham should be punished.

Lincoln's humor came to the rescue. He
disapproved of the findings of the court,
changed the punishment, and ordered that Mr.
Vallandigham should be sent to his friends in
the South.

Those who regarded the act as unconstitu-
tional almost forgave it for the sake of its
humor.

Horace Greeley always had the idea that
he was greatly superior to Lincoln, because he
lived in a larger town, and for a long time
insisted that the people of the North and the

40 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

people of the South desired peace. He took
it upon himself to lecture Lincoln. Lincoln,
with that wonderful sense of humor, united
with shrewdness and profound wisdom, told
Greeley that, if the South really wanted peace,
he (Lincoln) desired the sam.e thing, and was
doing all he could to bring it about. Greeley
insisted that a commissioner should be ap-
pointed, with authority to negotiate with the
representatives of the Confederacy. This was
Lincoln's opportunity. He authorized Greeley
to act as such commissioner. The great editor
felt that he was caught. For a time he hesi-'
tated, but finally went, and found that the
Southern commissioners were willing to take
into consideration any offers of peace that
Lincoln might make, consistent with tiie in-
dependence of the Confederacy.

The failure of Greeley was humiliating, and
the position in which he was left, absurd.

Again the humor of Lincoln had tri-
umphed.

Lincoln, to satisfy a few fault-finders in
the North, went to Grant's headquarters and
met some Confederate commissioners. He
urged that it was hardly proper for him to
negotiate with the representatives of rebels
in arms — that if the South wanted peace, all
they had to do was to stop fighting. One of
the commissioners cited as a precedent the
fact that Charles the First negotiated with
rebels in arms. To which Lincoln replied that
Charles the First lost his head.

The conference came to nothing, as Mr.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 41

Lincoln expected.

The commissioners, one of them being
A.lexander H. Stephens, who, when in good
health, weighed about ninety pounds, dined
with the President and Gen. Grant. After
dinner, as they were leaving, Stephens pul
on an English ulster, the tails of which
reached the ground, while the collar was some-
vhat above the wearer's head.

As Stephens went out, Lincoln touched
Grant and said: "Grant, look at Stephens.
Did you ever see as little a nubbin with as
much shuck?"

Lincoln always tried to do things in the
easiest way. He did not waste his strength.
He was not particular about moving along
•traight lines. He did not tunnel the moun-
tains. He was willing to go around, and
reach the end desired as a river reaches the
•ea.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 45

XI.

One of the most wonderful things ever
done by Lincoln was the promotion of Greneral
Hooker. After the battle of Fredericksburg,
General Bumside found great fault with
Hooker, and wished to have him removed from
the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln disapprov-
ed of Burnside's order, and gave Hooker the
command. He then wrote Hooker tiiis mem-
orable letter:

"I have placed you at the head of the Army of the
Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appears
CO me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best
Cor you to know that there are some things in regard to
which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you
to be a brave and skillful soldier — which, of course,
I like. I also believe you do not mix i>olitics with your
profession — in which you are right. You have con-
fidence— which is valuable, if not an indispensable,
quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable
bounds, does good rather than harm ; but I think that
during General Burnside's command of the army you
nave taken counsel of your ambition to thwart him as
much as you could — in which you did a great wrong to
the country and to a most meritorious and honorable
brother officer. I have heard, in such a way as to be-
lieve it, of your recently saying that both the army and
the Government needed a dictator. Of course it was
fK)t for this, but in spite of it, that I have given yoa
command. Only those generals who gain success can
set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military
successes, and I will risk the dictatorship. The Gov-
ernment will support you to the utmost of its ability,
which is neither more nor less than it has done and will
«Jo for all commanders. I much feay that the spirit
which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criti-

44 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

cisinff their ootnmander and withholding confidence »
hino, will now turn upon toil. I shall assist you, bo far
as I can, to put it down. Neither you, nor Napoleon,
if he were alive, can get any good out of an army
while euch a spirit prevails in it. And now beware of
rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy an4
sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories."

This letter has, in my judgment, no par-
allel. The mistaken ma^animity is almost
equal to the prophecy:

"I much fear that the spirit which you have aided
to infuse into the army, of criticising their command
and withholding confidence in him, will now turn upon

Chancellorsville was the fulfillment.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN «

XII.

Mr. Lincoln was a statesman. The great
stumbling-block — the great obstruction — in
Lincoln's way, and in the way of thousands,
was the old doctrine of States Rights.

This doctrine was first established to pro-
tect slavery. It was clung to to protect the
inter-State slave trade. It became sacred in
connection with the Fugitive Slave Law, and
it was finally used as the corner-stone of
Secession.

This doctrine was never appealed to in
defence of the right — always in support of the
wrong. For many years politicians upon both
sides of this question endeavored to express
the exact relations existing between the Fed-
eral Government and the States, and I know
of no one who succeeded, except Lincoln. In
his message of 1861, delivered on July the 4th,
the definition is given, and it is perfect:

"Whatever concerns the whole should be confid«d to
the whole — to the General Government, Whatever eon-
oems only the State should be left exclusively to the
State."

When that definition is realized in prac-
tice, this country becomes a Nation. Then we
shall know that the first allegiance of the citi-
zen is not to his State, but to the Republic,
and that the first duty of the Republic is to
protect the citizen, not only when in other

46 .A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

lands, but at home, and that this duty cannot
be discharged by delegating it to the States.
Lincoln believed in the sovereignty of the
people — in the supremacy of the Nation — m
the territorial integrity of the Republic.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 47

XIIL

A great actor can be known only when he
has assumed the principal character in a great
drama. Possibly the greatest actors have
never appeared, and it may be that the great-
est soldiers have lived the lives of perfect
peace. Lincoln assumed the leading part in
the greatest drama ever enacted upon the
stage of this continent.

His criticisms of military movements, his
correspondence with his generals and others
on the conduct of the war, show that he was
at all times master of the situation — that he
was a natural strategist, that he appreciated
the difficulties and advantages of every kind,
and that in "the still and mental" field of war
he stood the peer of any man beneath the flag.

Had McClellan followed his advice, he
would have taken Richmond.

Had Hooker acted in accordance with his
suggestions. Chancellor sville would have been
a victory for the Nation.

Lincoln's political prophecies were all ful-
filled.

We know now that he not only stood at
the top, but that he occupied the centre, from
first to last, and that he did this by reason
of his intelligence, his humor, his philosophy,
his courage and his patriotism.

In passion's storm he stood, unmoved, pa-
tient, just and candid. In his brain there was

48 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

no cloud, and in his heart no hate. He longed
to save the South as well as North, to see the
Nation one and free.

He lived until the end was known.

He lived until the Confederacy was dead —
until Lee surrendered, until Davis fled, until
the doors of Libby Prison were opened, until
the Republic was supreme.

He lived until Lincoln and Liberty were
onited forever.

He lived to cross the desert — to reach the
palms of victory — to hear the murmured music
•f the welcome waves.

He lived until all loyal hearts were his —
until the history of his deeds made music in
the souls of men — until he knew that on Col*
umbiu's Calendar of worth and fame his name
stood first.

He lived until there remained nothing toj
him to do as great as he had done.

What he did was worth living for, worth
dying for.

He lived until he stood in the midst of
universal Joy, beneath the outstretched wings
of Peace — the foremost man in all the world.

And then the horror came. Night fell on
noon. The Savior of the Republic, the breaker
of chains, the liberator of millions, he who had
"assured freedom to the free," was dead.

The memory of Lincoln is the strongest,
tenderest tie that binds all hearts together
now, and holds all States beneath a Nation's
flag.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 4»

XIV.

Abraham Lincoln — strange mingling of
mirth and tears, of the tragic and grotesque,
of cap and crown, of Socrates and Democri-
tus, of ^sop and Marcus Aurelius, of all that
is gentle and just, humorous and honest, mer-
ciful, wise, laughable, lovable and divine, and
all consecrated to the use of man; while
through all, and over all, were an overwhelm-
ing sense of obligation, of chivalric loyalty to
truth, and upon all, the shadow of the tragic
end.

Nearly all the great historic characters
are impossible monsters, disproportioned by
flattery, or by calumny deformed. We know
nothing of their peculiarities, or nothing bat
their peculiarities. About these oaks there
clings none of the earth of humanity.

Washington is now only a steel engraving.
About the real man who lived and loved and
hated and schemed, we know but little. The
glass through which we look at him is of such
high magnifying power that the features are
exceedingly indistinct.

Hundreds of people are now engaged in
smoothing out the lines of Lincoln's face —
forcing all features to the common mould —
so that he may be known, not as he really was,
but, according to their poor standard, as he
should have been.

Lincoln was not a type. He stands alone —

n A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

jyp'^ritical parson.

Lincoln was a great lawyer. There in
nothing shrewder in this world than intelli-
gent honesty. Perfect candor is sword and
shield.

He understood the nature of man. As a
lawyer he endeavored to get at the truth, at
the very heart of a case. He was not willing
even to deceive himself. No matter what his
interest said, what his passion demanded, he
was great enough to find the truth and strong
enough to pronounce judgment against his
own desires.

Lincoln was a many-sided man, acquainted
with smiles and tears, complex in brain, single
in heart, direct as light; and his words, can-
did as mirrors, gave the perfect image of his
thought. He was never afraid to ask — never
too dignified to admit that he did not know.
No man had keener wit, or kinder humor.

It may be that humor is the pilot of reason.
People without humor drift unconsciously in-
to absurdity. Humor sees the other side —
stands in the mind like a spectator, a good-
natured critic, and gives its opinion before
judgment is reached. Humor goes with good
nature, and good nature is the climate of
reason. In anger, reason abdicates and mal-
ice extinguishes the torch. Such was the
humor of Lincoln that he could tell even un-
pleasant truths as charmingly as most men
can tell the things we wish to hear.

He was not solemn. Solemnity is a mask
worn by ign^orance and hypocrisy — ^it is th«

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN 99

preface, prologue, and index to the cunnlBg
or the stupid.

He was natural in his life and thougnt —
master of the story-teller's art, in illustra-
tion apt, in application perfect, liberal in
speech, shocking Pharisees and prudes, using
any word that wit could disinfect.

He was a logician. His logic shed light.
In his presence the obscure became luminous,
and the most complex and intricate political
and metaphysical knots seemed to untie them-
selves. Logic is the necessary product of
intelligence and sincerity. It cannot be learn-
ed. It is the child of a clear head and a
good .heart.

Lincoln was candid, and with candor often
deceived the deceitful. He had intellect with-
out arrogance, genius without pride, and re-
ligion without cant — that is to say, without
bigotry and without deceit.

He was an orator — clear, sincere, natural.
He did not pretend. He did not say what he
thought others thought, but what he thought.

If you wish to be sublime you must be
natural — you must keep close to the grass.
You must sit by the fireside of the heart;
above the clouds it is too cold. You must
be simple in your speech; too much polish
suggests insincerity.

The great orator idealizes the real, trans-
figures the common, makes even the inani-
mate throb and thrill, fills the gallery of the
imagination with statues and pictures per-

64 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

feet in form and color, brings to light the
gold hoarded by memory the miser, shows the
glittering coin to the spendthrift hope, en-
riches the brain, ennobles the heart, and
quickens the conscience. Between his lips
words bud and blossom.

If you wish to know the difference between
an orator and an elocutionist — between what
is felt and what is said — between what the
heart and brain can do together and what
the brain can do alone — read Lincoln's won-
drous speech at Gettysburg, and then the
oration of Edward Everett.

The speech of Lincoln will never be for-
gotten. It will live until languages are dead
and lips are dust. The oration of Everett will
never be read.

The elocutionists believe in the virtue of
voice, the sublimity of syntax, the majesty of
long sentences, and the genius of gesture.

The orator loves the real, the simple, the
natural. He places the thought above all.
He knows that the greatest ideas should be
expressed in the shortest words — that the
jrreatest statues need the least drapery.

I incoln was an immense personality —
firm but not obstinate. Obstinacy is egotism
— firmness, heroism. He influenced others
without effort, unconsciously; and they sub-

mittec" to him as men submit to nature —
unconsciously. He was severe with himself,
and for that reason lenient with others.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN M

He appeared to apologize for being kinder
than his fellows.

He did merciful things as stealthily as
others committed crimes.

Almost ashamed of tenderness, he said and
did the noblest words and deeds with that
charming confuiion, that awkwardness, that
is the perfect grace of modesty.

As a noble man, wishing to pay a small
debt to a poor neighbor, reluctantly offers a
hundred-dollar bill and asks for change, fear-
ing that he may be suspected either of mak-
ing a display of wealth or a pretence of pay-
ment, so Lincoln hesitated to show his wealth
of goodness, even to the best he knew.

A great man stooping, not wishing to
make his fellows feel that they were small or
mean.

By his candor, by his kindness, by his per-
fect freedom from restraint, by saying what
he thought, and saying it absolutely in his
own way, he made it not only possible, but
popular, to be natural. He was the enemy
of mock solemnity, of the stupidly respectable,
of the cold and formal.

He wore no official robes either on his
body or his soul. He never pretended to be
more or less, or other, or different, from what
he really was.

He had the unconscious naturalness of
Nature's self.

He built upon the rock. The foundation
was secure and broad. The structure was 9
pyramid, narrowing as it rose- Through days

66 A LECTURE ON LINCOLN

and nights of sorrow, through years of grief
and pain, with unswerving purpose, "with
malice toward none, with charity for all,"
with infinite patience, with unclouded \'ision.
he hoped and toiled. Stone after stone was
laid, until at last the Proclamation found its
place. On that the Goddess stands.

He knew others, because perfectly ac-
quainted with himself. He cared nothing for
place, but everything for principle; little foi
money, but everything for independence.
Where no principle was involved, easily sway-
ed— willing to go slowly, if in the right ^-
rection — sometimes willing to stop; but he
would not go back, and he would not go wrong.

He was willing to wait. He knew that the
event was not waiting, and that fate was
not the fool of chance. He knew that slavery
had defenders, but no defence, and that they
who attack the right must wound themselves.

He was neither tyrant nor slave. He
neither knelt nor scorned.

With him, men were neither great nor
small — they were right or wrong.

Through manners, clothes, titles, rags and
race he saw the real — that which is. Beyond
accident, policy, compromise and war he sa-w
the end.

He was patient as Destiny, whose unde-
cipherable hieroglyphs were so deeply graven
on his sad and tragic face.

Nothing discloses real character like the
ttse of power. It is easy for the weak to hi
drentle. Most people can bear adversity.

A LECTURE ON LINCOLN fi7

But if you wish to know what a man really is^
give him power. This is the supreme test.
It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost
absolute power, he never abused it, except on
the side of mercy.

Wealth could not purchase, power ooulct
not awe, this divine, this loving man.

He knew no fear except the fear of doini^.
wrong. Hating slavery, pitying the master--
seeking to conquer, not persons, but prejudice i
— he was the embodiment of the self-denial,
the courage, the hope and the nobility of )i
Nation.

He spoke not to inflame, not to upbraid
but to convince.

He raised his hands, not to strike, but i*
benediction.

He longed to pardon.

He loved to see the pearls of joy on th«
cheeks of a wife whose husband he had rescii
ed from death.

Lincoln was the grandest figure of thi
fiercest civil war. He is the gentlest memori
of our world.

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45 Tolstoi's Short Stories.

12 Poe's Taies of Mystery.

290 The Go'd Bug. Edgar

Allan Poe.
145 Great Ghost Stories.
21 Carmen. Merime€.
23 Great Stories of the
^ Sea.
il9 Conitesse de Saint-
Gerai>'\ Dumas.
38 I!r. .Jckyll and Mr.
Ilvde. Stevenson.
279 Will o' the Mill;

Mark'.ifini. Stevenson.
"Ml A Lodging for the
Night. .Stevenson.
27 Last Days of a Con-
demned Man. Hugo.
151 M'n Who Would Be

King. Kipling.
148 Sir.'igth of the Strong.
London.
'1 Ol'.ristmas CaroL
S Dickens.
ijl Rip \ an Winkle.
Irvitig.
100 Re 1 Laugh. Andreyev.
lOo Seven That Were

Hanged. Andreyev,
102 Sherlock Holmes Tales.

Conan Dov'e.
161 Countrv of the Blind.
H. G. Wells.
«-> ^";i' k on the Mill.
i» Zola.

An(iersen's Fairy Tales.
A sice in Wonderland.

TT

3 7 Dream of John Bali

William Morris.
40 House and the Braia

Bulwer Lytton.
72 Color of Life.

E. Haldeman-Julins.
198 Majesty of Justice.

Anatolc France.
21,^ The Miraculous Re-
venge. Bernard Shaw.
24 The Kiss and Other

Stories. Chekhov.
285 Euphorian in Texas.

George Moore.
219 The Human Tragedy.

Anatole France.
196 The Marquise. George

Sand.
239 Twenty-Six Men and a

Girl. Gorki.
29 Dreams. Olive

Schieiner.
232 The Tliree Strangera

Thomas Hardy.
277 The xMan Without a

Country. E. E. Hale.

History^ Biography <

324 Life of Lincoln. Bowers.
312 Life and Works of Lau-
rence Sterne. Gunn.
328 Addison and His Times,

Finger.
3 23 The Life of Joan of

Arc.
339 Thoreau — the Man

Who Escaped from the

Herd. Finger.
126 History of Rome.

A. F. Giles.
128 Julius Ci-e^r; Who.

He Was.
IS.*) History of Printing.
1^9 Historic Crimes and
** Criminals. Finger.

■JIJ

m

ITS

^ Wetioaiy.

ro4 Bsm^^ qI XTaterloo.

62 Voltaire. Victor Hngo.
a2o War Sipeeohes of
^Voodrow Wilson.
22 Tnlstoy: His Life and
Works.
,-'42 Bismarck and the
Germaii Empire.

286 When the Puritans
Were in Power.

343 Life of Columbus.
06 Crimes of the Borgvas,
Dumas. .

287 Whistler: The Man
and His Work.

5i Bruno: His Life and
Martyrdom.
147 Cromwell and His
Times.

236 State and Heart

• Affairs of Henry VHI.
50 Paine's Common Sense.
88 Vindication of Paine.

Ingersoll.
S3 Brann: Smasher of
Shams.
163 Sex Life in Greece and

Rome.
214 Speeches of Lincoln.
276 Speeches and Letters

of Geo. Washington.
144 Was Poe Immoral?

Whitman.
223 Essay on Swinburne.

237 Keatis. The Man and
His Work.

■^60 Lost Civilizations.
Ping«r.

170 Oonstantine and the
Beginnings of Christi-
anity.

901 Satan and tiie Saints.

67 CSrareh History.
H. M. THchenor.

169 Voices From the Pa«t.
266 Life of Shakespeare

and Analysis of His

Plays. <

123 Life of Madame Du

Barry.
139 Life of Dante.
69 Life of Mary, Queen

of Scots. Dumas.
6 Life of Sathuel

Johnson. Macaulay.
174 Trial of William Perm.

Humor

291 Jumping Frog and

Other Humorous Tales.

Mark Twain.
18 Idle Thoughts of an

Idle Fellow. Jerome.
166 English as She Is

Spoke. Mark Twain.
23*1 Eight Humorous

Sketches. Mark Twain.
205 Artemus Ward. His

Book-
187 Whistler's Humor.
216 Wit of Heinrich Heine.

George Eliot.
20 Let's Laugh. Nasby.

Literature

278 Friendship and Oiher
Essays. Thoreau.

195 Thoughts o n Nature.
Thoreau.

194 Lord Chbsterfield's
Letters.

68 A Defense of Poetry.
Shellev

97 Love Letters of Eing
Henry VUL
3 ^hteen Essaya
Voltaire.

IV

28 Toleration. Voltaire.
89 Love Letters of Men

and Women of Genius.
186 How I wrote "The

Ravea". Poe.
87 Love, an Essay.

Montaigne.
48 Bacon's Essajs.

60 Emerson's Essays.
S4 Love Letters of a

Portuguese Nun.
26 On Going to ChurdL.
G. B. Shaw.
;«35 Socialism for Million-
aires. G. B. Shaw.

61 Tolstoi's Essays.

176 Four Essays.
Havelock Ellis.

160 Lecture on Shakes-
peare. IngersolL

75 Choice of Books.
Carlyle.

288 Essays on Chesterfield
and Rabelais.
Sainte-Beuve.

76 The Prince of Peace.
^ W. J. Bryan.

86 On Reading. Brandes.
95 Confessions of An

Opium Eater.
213 Lecture on Lincoln.

Ingersoll.

177 Subjection of Women.
John Stuart Mill.

17 On Walking. Thoreau.
70 Charles Lamb's Essays.
235 Essays. Gilbert K.
Chesterton.
7 A Liberal Education.
Thomas Huxley.
233 Thoughts on Literature

and Art. Goethe.
225 Corxiescension in

> Foreigners. Lowell.
221 Women, and Other
Essays Maet«rlinck.

10 Shelley. Frauds

Thompsofi.
289 Pepys' Diary.
299 Prose Nature Notes.

Walt Whitman.
315 Pen, Pencil aad PoisoD.

Oscar Wilde.
813 The Decay of Lying.

Oscar Wilde.
36 Soul of Man Dader

Socialism. O. Wilde.
293 Francois Villon:

Student, Po^t and

Housebreaker. R. L.

Stevenson.

Maxims astil EpigraiM

179 Gems from Emerson.
77 What Great Men Hav«

Said About Women.
804 What Great Womeo

Have Said About Mei».
310 The Wisdom of

Thackeray.
193 Wit and Wisdom ot

Charles Lamb.
r)6 Wisdom of IngersolL
106 Aphorisms. George

Sand.
168 Epigrams. Oscar

Wilde.
.59 Epigfrtnis of Wit and

Wisdom.
35 Ma.xims.

Rochefoucauld.
154 Epigrams of Ibsen.
197 Witticisms and Re-

flr-ct'ons. De Sevigne.

180 Epigrams of Georgs
Bernard Shaw.

l.'SS Maxims:, Napoleon,

181 Epigrams. Thoreau.
'128 Aphorisms. Huxley.

113 Proverlw of England

114 Proverbd^ of France.

115 Proverbs

116 Proverbs

117 Proverbs

118 Proverbs

119 Proverbs

120 Proverbs

121 Proverbs

of Japan.
of Cbina.
of Italy,
of Russia,
of Ireland,
of Spain,
of Arabia.

Philosoplsyy Religion

159 A Guide to Plato. Du-

rant.
322 The Buddbist Philoso-
phy of Life.
347 A Guide to Stoicism.
124 Theory of Reincarna-
tion Explained,
l.*^? Plato'o Republic.
62 Schopenhauer's Essays.
94 Trial and Death of

Socrates.
65 Meditations of

Marcus Aurelius.
64 Rudolf Eueken: His
• Life and Philosophy."
4 Age of Reason. Thomas
Paine.
55 Herbert Spencer: His

Life and Works.
44 Aesop's Fables.
165 Discovery of the Fu-
ture. H. G. Wells.
06 Dialogues of Plato.
825 Essence of Buddhism.
103 Pocket Theology.

VoHaire
132 Foundations of Re-
ligion.
!SR cjfvf'ioc ?n Pessimism.

"^o'lnnPTibTtier.
?n Tdea of God in Na-
.f^•^rp. .Tobn Stuart
Mi".
219 Lifp and Character.

9 Goethe.
200 Ijrnorant Pljilosopber.

101 Thoughts of Pascal.
210 The Stoic Philosophy.

Prof. G. Murray.
224 God: Known and

Unknown. Butler.
19 Nietzsche: Who he

Was and What He

Stood For.
204 Sun Worship and

Later Beliefs.

Tichenor.
207 Olympian Gods.

H. M. Tichenor,
184 Primitive Beliefs.
153 Chinese Philosophy of

Life.
30 What Life Means to''

Me. Jack London.

Poetry

152 The Kasidah. Burton.
317 L'Allegro and Other
Poems. Milton.

283 Courtship of Miles
Standish. Longfellow.

282 Rime of Ancient Mar-

iner. Coleridge.
297 Poems. Robert

Southey.
829 Dante's Inferno,

Volume 1 .
330 Dante's Infemo,

Volume 2.
806 A Shropshire Lad.

Housman. '

284 Poems of Robert
Burns.

1 Rubaiy.it of Omar
Khavyam.

73 Walit Wliitman'8
Poems.

2 Wilde's Ballad of
Readine Jail.

32 Poe's Poems.
164 Michael Angelo»»
^ Sonnets.

VI

VI

71 Poems of Evolirtion.
146 Snow-Bound. Pied
Piper.
.9 Great English Poems.
79 Enoch Arden,

w Tennyson.
68 Shakespeare's Son-
nets.
281 Lays of Ancient Eome.

Maeaulay. .
173 Vision of Sir LaunfaL

Lowell.
222 The Vampire and

Other Poems. Eipliog.
2S7 Prose Poems.
Baudelaire.

Science

S21 A History of Erohitioia.
Penton.

327 The Ice Age. Finger.

217 The Puzzle of Person-
ality; a Study in
Psycho-Analysis.
Fielding.

190 Psycho-Analysis — The
Key to Human Be-
havior. Fielding.

140 Biology and Spiritual
Philosophy.

275 The Building of the
Earth. 0. L. Fenton.
49 Three Lectures on

Evolution. Haeckel.
42 Origin of the Human
Race.

238 Reflections on Mod-
em Science. Huxley.

202 Survival of the Fittest.
H. M. Tichenor.

191 Evolution vs. Religion.
Balmforth.

133 Electricity Made Plain.
92 Hypnotism Made
Plain.

53 Insects and Men:
Instinct and Reason.
189 Eugenics. Havelock
Ellis.

Series of Debates

11 Debate on Religion,
39 Did Jesus Ever Live?

130 Controversy on Chris-
tianity. Ingersoll and
Gladstone.
43 Marriage and Divorce.
Horace Greeley and
Robert Owen.

208 Debate on Birth CJoa-
trol. Mrs. Sang^: and
Winter Russell.

129 Rome or Reason.

Ingersoll and Manning^.

122 Spiritualism. Conan
Doyle and McCabe.

171 Has Life Any Me>»n-
ing? Frank Harria
and Percy Ward.

206 Capitalism vs. Sociai-
ism. Seligman and
Nearing.
13 Is Free Will a Pact or
a Fallacy?

234 McNeal-Sinclair De-
bate on Socialism.

141 Would Practice of
Christ's Teachtngs
Make for Social
Progress ? Nearing^
and Ward.

Miscellaneons

326 Hints on Writing

Short Stories. Finger.
192 Book of Synonyms,
26 Rhyming Dictionary.
78 How to Be an Orator.
82 Common Faults in
Writing English.

VII

VIX

127 What Expectant

Mothers Should Know.
81 G^w; of tti€- Baby.
5feaining.
l^ttrfsing.
Ever?' Oir! Should
Mrs. Sanger.
34 Cifee for Birth Control.
91 Manhood: Fac?ts of
Life Presented to
Men.
83 Marriage: Past,
Present and Future.
Besanrt.
74 0« Tbre<diold of Sex.

98 How to Love.

172 EvoJation of Love.
EUen Key.

203 Rights of Women,
Haveiock Ellis.

209 Aspects of Birth Con-
trol. Medical, Moral,
Sociological.
93 How to Live 100
Years.

167 Plutarch's Rules of
Health.

320 The Prince,
ilachiavelli.

//

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