Lincoln, a master of efficiency

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LINCOLN

KHARAS

folks who have no
vices have very few
virtues.

zA. LINCOLN.

LINCOLN

oi tMaster of efficiency

BY-

DR. THEO. KHARAS

COPYRIGHTED 1 92 I
BY DR. THEO. JCHARAS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVE!*.

192]
THE T.-L. PRINTERY, INC., WILKES-BASRfil *»A.

LINCOLN

<L/f ^Master of Efficiency

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INCOLN! a name to
I conjure with! His
deeds are illustra-
tions; his words, classics; his
life, an inspiration.

He, more than any historic
character with whom I am
familiar, fulfills the title role
of "A MASTER OF EFFI-
CIENCY," assigned to me in
this course of twenty-six lec-
tures on 'THE EVOLU-
TION OF HUMAN EFFI-
CIENCY," including sub-di-
visions of The Individual,
The Family, The School, The
Church, Industry and Gov-
ernment. Your committee
did well to suggest the name
of Lincoln as an illustration
of them all — a man who util-
ized every one of the ten
talents that God had given
human

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LINCOLN

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efficiency in each of the de-
partments of your general
subject. Nevertheless, few
persons view President Lin-
coln from the same stand-
point.

To this new generation he
is a mere name, a character
in history — almost as far
away, as remote, as unreal
and intangible as the Knights
of the Golden Fleece, or
Alexander, or Caesar, or
Washington or Napoleon.

To our fathers he is a real-
ity, a flesh and blood man;
very human; keen in his
judgment of men, discreet in
handling open enemies and
discordant friends; diploma-
tic and prompt in emergen-
cies; combining and cement-
ing, and thus utilizing war-
ring factions of fanatics by
virtue of his sincere patriot-
ism, pungent humor and
kindly satire; distinguished
for poise, balanced judg-
ment, persistent industry,
tireless study and sincere

altruism. Unschooled, yet
educated; he had acquired
mental discipline, which is
true education, and effi-
ciency, rather than mere
knowledge or society tricks.
To the historian, he is a
man of the people, an
astute politcian, an honor-
able statesman; an ardent
abolitionist, yet restraining
his ardor, standing between
discordant factions until all
were finally welded into one
victorious union of free men.
He had but one dominant
purpose: first and above all,

TO SAVE THE UNION,"
and he fulfilled his purpose.

THE HEROIC AGE.

jSP^KO me, I confess, he is
iC&MKI almost a demi-god; a
™ "^ giant hero of an
Heroic Age, or rather, the
natural product of his fron-
tier environment during the
last years of the Heroic Age
of our nation. He was, in-

4 LINCOLN

deed, the consummate flower
of the chivalric period of the
Republic. That age was like
the plant that blossoms and
dies in the supreme effort!
He was the flower, the sacri-
fice.

We may not appreciate
that Lincoln lived in the clos-
ing years of our Heroic Age,
and that he was the finished
product of his time. It will
be our object to demonstrate
these two facts.

To me, Lincoln was not a
phenomenon — merely a nor-
mal product of his generation
and his aggressive, turbulent
environment. He was taught
from a mother's knee that
the great men of the world
were the men of character,
and learning, and moral pur-
pose; the learned ministers,
lawyers, doctors, statesmen,
poets, and writers, who
feared God and kept Hi9
commandments. They were
our ideals. We were taught
to look upon such citizens

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with admiration and awe.
Wealth was never suggested
as an achievement. To ac-
quire learning and power
through wisdom; to fight for
one's principles and to die
for one's country, and to
leave a name on the pages of
history, was the consumma-
tion of an envied life. These
were the inspirations of the
Heroic Age, an age that
passed away with Appomat-
tox, only to be followed by
a generation of contrasts.

The Great Civil War was
the distinct and well defined
boundary line between this
Heroic Age and the present
generation. And a single
generation has changed all!
The young Republic with its
rel!gious fervor, its devotion
to ideals and its enthusiasm
for the Union, having con-
quered itself, leaped into the
arena of world-politics, a
full-armed giant; it suddenly
forgot its early religious- and
moral training and began to

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LINCOLN

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worship Mammon rather
than Jehovah, and to deify
wealth and cunning rather
than learning and character.

The marvelous inventions
of the last fifty years have
revolutionized the nation,
and an overpowering thirst
for gold, and its worship as
a god, have revolutionized
our people. Mr. Lincoln be-
longed exclusively to the
past generation. He was
never money-mad; never
was infected with the virus of
haste to get rich. He had
no ambition to be a Captain
of Finance, or a socie y lead-
er. He was not, therefore,
subject to the usual pitfalls of
wealth or social preferment.
He aspired to be learned. He
aspired to be influential and
powerful among his fellow-
men, and to that end studi-
ously acquired a distinctive
style of oratory that was
rhythmic and witty, clear and
logical, incisive and persua-
sive; but his ambition had no

other aim than that laudable
desire to excel along lines
that would square with the
Ten Commandments and the
Sermon on the Mount.

We find, in the present
contrasted generation that
the great men, the dominant
forces, are not our citizens
distinguished for great learn-
ing and moral purpose. They
are the enormously rich; and
lawyers, doctors*, poets and
writers1 — and even ministers
of the Gospel — are their
fawning servants. The con-
trast between the moral tone
of the Heroic Age and of
this, the Sordid Age, is as
marked as the contrast be-
tween Lincoln and Rockefel-
ler— between the log cabin
of the Lincolns and the inar-
tistic monstrosities on Fifth
Avenue.

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LINCOLN

THE ANALOGIES OF
HISTORY.

DRAPER, in his
"Intellectual Devel-
opment of Europe,"
devotes two volumes* to dem-
onstrate his proposition that
nations are like individuals;
they are born subject to he-
redity and environment;
have their childhood, youth,
young manhood, old age and
death ; they all die. The life
of a nation has been divided
bv some into four ages: the
Heroic Age and the ages of
Achievement, Decay, and
Death.

It has been said that all re-
publics die young, perhaps
on the theory that "the good
die young." This much is
certain: the glorious age of
the Grecian Republic cov-
ered but about 1 50 years; its
brilliant period, that of Peri-
cles, but 23 years. The Pelo-
ponnesion War has been
called "The Suicide of

Greece,** and it will be re-
membered that the Athenian
armies were triumphant un-
til the revolt of 20,000
slaves, owned by the City of
Athens, and worked in the
silver mines of Laurium, 30
miles away. These slaves re-
belled, went over to the en-
emy, and the scales of war
were turned. Our Civil War
destroyed that particular
kind of economic and mili-
tary weakness. The last
sickness of Athens was short,
its death sudden, and from
that day to this, that famous
republic has been as much
despised as its earlier age
was honored.

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Rome, the Imperial Re-
public of the Seven Hills,
had her Heroic Age. The
City developed first into an
Italian power, then into a
world power. The later ex-
pansion was sudden — Rome,
too, leaped into the arena of
world politics as a full-armed
giant.

LINCOLN

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At the Battle of Zama,
202 B. C, Hannibal's power
was destroyed; the last ob-
stacle was removed that pre-
vented Rome from dominat-
ing the world; and in one
generation Rome became the
richest city in the world, with
the riches concentrated in the
hands of the few, and those
few represented in the Ro-
man Senate. As soon as
Rome became rich, the re-
public died. It lived for a
generation in name, but not
in fact. Liberty was dead.
Rome died from auto-intoxi-
cation. Its last sickness? was
short and bloody with the
massacres of Marius and
Scylla ; its death was sudden ;
it died of poison; wealth poi-
soned it.

We sometimes look upon
its early conflicts with the
Tarquin Kings as its Heroic
Age, or dwell upon Horatius
at the bridge and Cincinnatus
at his plow as the true heroes
of heroic Rome. But her

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LINCOLN

grandest heroes were the
Gracchi, who, in the closing
hours of the republic, saw
the national drift toward tyr-
rany and death, and sacri-
ficed their lives in a vain ef-
fort to turn their countrymen
back to the heroic days when
Romans were religious, patri-
otic and honest. They rec-
ognized the true definition of
a good citizen of a republic
as "One who loves his coun-
try and his God and serves
both.'* They appreciated
fully that a wicked man is a
traitor to a Republic, and
that a Republic can endure
only when its people are vir-
tuous; that a Republic of
criminals is impossible. With
these analogies in mind, let
us determine what was the
Heroic Age of the American
Republic.

We pass by the conflicts
of the Pilgrims to establish
an empire in the wilderness,
the Indian wars and the revo-
lutionary struggle for liberty.

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SESoQZSEET

LINCOLN

and the laying of the founda-
tions of the Republic, broad
and deep, in our remarkable
Constitution. We pass ovct
the spectacular heroisms of
war, into the grander states-
manship of a century of de-
veloping civilization — always
pressing towards the Pacific,
building a little red school
house on every hill, and a
litfle white church in every
valley. It was a century o£
marvels, and produced a
race of giants, mental, moral
and physical. But giants,
even giant Republics, may
die young.

In 1831 de Tocqueville
came to this country; visited
the capitol at Washington,
and the capitols of all the
States; and returned to
France to write his remark-
able book, "Democracy in
America,'* which was a text
book in our colleges for fifty
years. In it he makes this re-
markable statement (vol. I,
page 228) :

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LINCOLN

13

"In the United States I
never heard a man accused
of spending his wealth in
corrupting the populace."

What an admirable repu-
tation I How proud we are
of that age which merited
such praise — an age of rich
men who were honest!

THE SORDID AGE OF
THE NEWLY-RICH.

MN the eighties, Mr.
Bryce made an equal-
ly thorough tour of
the United States, with like
intent. His studies extended
from ocean to ocean. He
wrote "The American Com-
monwealth," a masterpiece
of political and social infor-
mation, and it, too, has be-
come a college text book. He
found conditions wholly dif-
ferent from those indicated
by de Tocqueville. He says
(part III, page 153):

"The doors of Congress
are besieged by a whole army
of commercial and railroad

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men and their agents, to
whom, since they have come
to form a sort of profession,
the name of Lobbyist is
given. Many Congressmen
are personally interested,
and lobby for themselves
among their colleagues from
the vantage ground of their
official position. * * * That
the Capitol and the hotels at
Washington are a nest of
such intrigues and machina-
tions, while Congress is sit-
ting is admitted on all hands;
but how many of the mem-
bers are tainted no one can
tell. Sometimes when money
passes, it goes not to the
member of Congress himself,
but to some boss who can
and does put pressure on
him/- (P. 155).

*'A position of some deli-
cacy is occupied by eminent
lawyers who sit in Congress
and receive retainers from
powerful corporations whose
interests may be affected

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tainers for which they are
often not expected to render
any forensic service." (P.
156): "These corporations
are the bane of State politics,
for their management is se-
cret, being usually in the
hands of one or two capital-
ists, and their wealth is so
great that they can offer bribes
at which ordinary virtue grows
pale.

What a change, my coun-
trymen! and in one genera-
tion!

Should Ambassador Bryce
rewrite his "American Com-
monwealth" in the light of
his present experience, his
keen mind would doubtless
discover, and convey to the
world, the fact that the cor-
rupt and corrupting corpora-
tions in the United States
have not only syndicated
their interests and have be-
come Trusts along economic
lines, but have syndicated
their interests and have be-
come Trusts along POLITI-

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LINCOLN

CAL lines, so that while cut-
ting off the number of their
employees in the interest of
industrial economy they have
also cut out the lobby as use-
less. They no longer keep a
lobby, because they have
converted their lobbyists into
honorable Senators. There
is no need to argue with a
Senator on the payroll.

This one contrast between
conditions in 1831 and 1881
demonstrates the fact that
our Heroic Age ended with
the Civil War and our Sordid
Age began when corporate
wealth got control of the
functions of government.

Whatever may have been
the failings of our grandfath-
ers, they were trifling in com-
parison with their virtues.
They were deeply religious,
intensely patriotic, worshiped
Jehovah with their whole
souls, and deified learning.
Their convictions were strong
and they were willing to fight
for them. Their ideals were

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LINCOLN

17

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admirable, and necessarily,
such ideals produced heroic
figures and developed ad-
mirable characters.

One generation after
Zama, Rome was conquering
the world, and had destroyed
her own liberties. In one
generation the common peo-
ple were crushed; member-
ship in trades unions became
a felony; government was a
military, financial and eco-
nomic tyranny; wealth and
brute force were triumphant,
and Rome consisted of twen-
ty per cent patricians and
eighty per cent slaves. They
all worshiped Mammon.

In like manner, at Appo-
mattox, the last barrier was
removed which had prevent-
ed the United States from
becoming a world power. In
one generation we, too, have
become the richest nation in
the world — the richest and
most powerful nation the
world ever knew, with the
riches likewise concentrated

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in the hands of the few, and
those few represented in the
United States Senate.

Do you see the analogy
betweet Zama and Appomat-
tox? Reasoning from an-
alogy is not always safe, how-
ever, for analogies may not
be as perfect as they seem. I
think this to be the fact in
this case, and will explain the
error later. Let me first paint
a dark background, that I
may bring out more plainly
the features of a more bril-
liant future.

CONTRASTS: MORAL
DECAY.

^kjET what a contrast
yffn between the Heroic
Age of de Tocque-
ville and the Sordid Age of
Bryce! In one, rugged hon-
esty, self-respect, deep re-
ligious conviction, a rigid
morality, controversial the-
ology, intense Chauvinism —
spread-eaglei:m, if you will
— willing to fight for a prin-

I

ciple and to die for one's
country or an ideal; an age
of conflict and intense indi-
vidualism. Those giants wor-
shiped God and deified
learning. The Church was
militant and Christians ag-
gressive.

In the other age, we find
graft and scheming, and
strugglng for wealth; a few
enormously rich, the mil-
lions poor, one-half die in
debt; religious convictions
dulled, liberality a fad, the-
ology tabooed, morality
flexible, patriots- looking for
contracts from their country,
not death for their country,
worshipping Mammon and
deifying wealth. The church
is "liberal" and Ch:i tians
sleepy. The whole moral
tone of the times seems low-
ered.

There were many giants in
the Heroic Age. Lincoln
was the last and greatest of
them all! And is there a
hope of our turning back to

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early ideals, away from the
present blight of material-
ism and apparent religious
decay, so that the last and
greatest, and best, of Repub-
lics may not die young? Let
us base a prophecy on the
illustrations found in Mr.
Lincoln's life.

Let us not forget, how-
ever, the warning of Isaiah
LX. 12:

•TOR THE NATION
AND KINGDOM THAT
WILL NOT SERVE THEE
SHALL PERISH; YEA,
THOSE NATIONS SHALL
BE UTTERLY WASTED."

LINCOLN'S HISTORY IN
BRIEF.

ppSgR. LINCOLN was
SmIkJw very discreet in the

selection of
his heredity and environ-
ment. The Lincolns came
from the west of England
to Massachusetts about the
middle of the Seventeenth
Century. They moved to

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LINCOLN

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Virginia, thence to Kentucky,
Indiana and Illinois, pressing
on to more extreme frontiers
when civilization became op-
pressive. But civilization fol-
lowed close upon their heels.
Thomas Lincoln married
in 1806 his cousin, Nancy
Hanks, of whom it is said:
"The little girl grew up into
a sweet-tempered and beau-
tiful woman, whom tradition
paints not only as the center
of all the country merry-mak-
ing, but as a famous spinner
and housewife."

Abraham was the second
child. He was born Febru-
ary 1 2, 1 809, in a log house,
similar in most respects to
those of his neighbors. He
inherited perfect health and
entered an environment of
hard manual labor, with an
abundance of wholesome
food. The natural result
was a giant in stature and in
strength, six feet four. His
schooling was "by littles,"
from itinerant teachers, and

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LINCOLN

never aggregated more than
one year. This is only tech-
nically true: his whole life
was his school, devoted to
earnest study and he became
a profoundly learned and
cultivated man.

He was a bright boy, and
made remarkable progress in
his studies. He was a marked
lad from the beginning. The
seed of heredity was the best,
and the soil of environment
was rich. Such seed and
such soil naturally produced
a superb product.

His real teacher was his
mother. His inspiration was
the itinerant preachers who
rode circuits, and aroused the
people with their ardent
faith, expressed in strong,
forceful, concise and incisive
oratory. He had few books,
but he knew the Bible, Pil-
grim's Progress, Robinson
Crusoe, History of the United
States, and Life of Washing-
ton. All through life he read
books seriously, taking ex-

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LINCOLN

tracts for future use, making
him their master and them
his servants. From intimate
familiarity with the Bible, he
was literally steeped in the
Scriptures and in Oriental
imagery, which dominated
his forensic style and formed
his moral perspective.

The minister who married
his father and mother was an
ardent Abolitionist, and the
boy's parents imbibed his
radical views. Abraham
was born breathing hatred to
the trade in slaves. In 1816,
when he was seven years of
age, the family moved to In-
diana, largely to get away
from slavery.

In 1818, Nancy Lincoln
died, and, later, Thomas Lin-
coln went back to Kentucky
and returned with a new
wife, a widow with three chil-
dren. The new mother was
everything to be desired, and
fashioned the mind, and in-
spired the ideals of the grow-
ing boy.

His life was one of inces-
sant labor from the begin-
ning. He learned the rudi-
ments of carpentry and cabi-
net-making, but generally
speaking, he was what would
be termed a farm hand or
* 'hired man," but the hired
man and hired girl of that
day were the social equals
of the master. There was no
suggestion of inferiority. No
man was brave enough to of-
fer, and no man pusillani-
mous enough to accept a tip
from any one, king or peas-
ant. The humblest workman
was too proud to accept a
gratuity: to offer it was an in-
sult.

Abraham was a good
boy. He sowed no wild
oats. He never gave his
parents trouble. In fact, he
was exemplary, and served
his father faithfully until after
he was 21, when, in 1830,
the family moved to Illinois,
where, in passing through
Vincennes, he saw a printing

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press for the first time. He
was good-natured, kindly, a
fluent speaker and a great
story teller, with a remark-
able memory.

Abraham was a polVe boy.
He took lessons in manners
and was gallant for his years
and environment; never pro-
fane and always deferential
to the ladies. He was scrupu-
lously honest, to the point of
eccentricity. In the neigh-
borhood spelling-bees, he
was the first one chosen and
always took the prize. He
was so voracious for knowl-
edge that he read every book
to be borrowed in the neigh-
borhood, and took extracts.
He read even while at work;
and while others were ca-
rousing at night, he was
studying by the aid of some
rude light.

As a young man he could
out-lift, out-throw, out-run,
out- jump and out-wrestle
any of his companions. Phy-
sically he was a giant. Men-

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LINCOLN

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tally he was a giant in the
making. Indeed, his whole
life is an example of all-
around efficiency.

It was an age of political
and religious controversy.
The slavery question was the
most bitter, but every man
had his denominational be-
liefs and fought for them
strenuously. His neighbors
were deeply religious, in-
tensely theological and con-
sistently moral. We can con-
ceive of no environment so
likely to produce an heroic
giant. There was no miracle
in his physical, mental and
moral development.

As a young man, he bor-
rowed an English grammar,
and simply devoured it; and
laid a foundation for those
classic utterances in later
years, that are admitted to
be the choicest written Eng-
lish.

He split rails, worked in a
grocery store, was a ferry-
man on the Ohio, and a boat-

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LINCOLN

man on the Mississippi; went
to New Orleans, and there
saw the slave market in all
its horrible details. This ex-
perience but intensified the
controversial spirit that was
born in this six-foot-four
Kentuckian.

He was a captain of a
company of independent
rangers in the Black Hawk
War, and did excellent ser-
vice. He was elected to the
Illinois Assembly. He failed
in a small grocery business,
probably because of his love
of books, for during this time
he simply devoured Shakes-
peare and Burns, and his
style in oratory can be traced
to the exquisite English of the
Seventeenth Century. He
had at least two love affairs,
which, while temporarily de-
pressing, were good moral
discipline.

There was a demand foi
surveyors, and he was ap-
pointed deputy surveyor.
Lincoln worked night and

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day, endangering his health,
but in six weeks he was mas-
ter of all the books on sur-
veying that could be found,
and his work in later years as
a surveyor was satisfactory.
He accomplished in six weeks
what it took others as many
months, even years, to do.

He never attacked any
subject without conquering
it. He was literally the em-
bodiment of EFFICIENCY.
He did nothing by halves. He
had dogged pertinacity; he
never let go. He already
had a well-disciplined mind;
a cultivated judgment which
responded wisely and quick-
ly in emergencies. He had
education, although compar-
atively little knowledge —
what he had was profound.
With h!S remarkable mem-
ory, he might easily have ac-
quired a great store of showy
knowledge, without any at-
tendant mental discipline,
but he developed well-bal-
anced judgment. He had an

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LINCOLN

29

intellectual equipment sel-
dom acquired in a modern
elective college, where the
students pursue "the line of
least resistance." He learned
a few books well, rather than
many books little. His Hme
was always fully occupied.
He wasted none of it. His
reading was along serious
lines, although by nature he
was a humorist and a prince
of good fellows.

As early as 1837 he, with
one other, signed a protest
against the institution of slav-
ery and lodged it with the Il-
linois legislature. From that
time on his life was one con-
tinual battle.

The writer, too, was born
in the Middle West, in the
very rearmost of the "back-
woods," and hence knows
somewhat of the early envi-
ronment of Lincoln. During
the earlier part of my life,
while engaged in the practice
of my profession, I kept inti-
mate record of the persons 1

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met who were the most "suc-
cessful failures." Each one
was always ready with an
alibi. One would say, "My
mother died when I was very
young;" another, "My peo-
ple were always very poor;"
a third, "My early environ-
ment was of the worst.**

Lincoln could have made
all these excuses, and quite
truthfully — but he didn't. An
efficient man does not make
explanations or excuses; as
for the former — your friends
do not require them, and
those who are not your
friends will not believe them
if you make explanations. As
to excuses, a good excuse is
practically no better than a
poor one — the results are the
same. Lincoln never made
explanations1 or excuses. He
was a Master of Efficiency.

He studied law, and prac-
ticed it for years, following
the Circuit with the Judge.
He was forceful before a
jury, industrious in his office,

SHR^

a genial companion on Cir-
cuit, and an entertaining and
persuasive wit everywhere.
His satire was not always
taken in good part, although,
generally speaking, his shafts
of humor were pointed with
honey, not vinegar. One
man challenged h'm to a duel
which he accepted in such an
outlandish way as to make
his adversary the laughing
stock of the town.

From about his twenty-
first year he was always in-
terested in politics. He was
for eight consecutive ye^rs a
member of the Assembly in
Illinois, and gamed one term
in Congress, where his oppo-
nent was the celebrated Peter
Cartwright, the famous
Methodist exhorter. He was
not always successful, but his
failures strengthened charac-
ter and never disheartened
him. He arose superior to

u

went regularly. His habits
were correct and no man has
suggested any deviation
from the straight and narrow
way.

As a Congressman in his
first and only term, he was
an industrious and useful
member, already attracting
attention. Always attacking
slavery, he drew up and pre-
sented a bill to abolish it in
the District of Columbia.

Even while practicing law
he was an intense student,
studying mathematics, astro-
nomy and poetry, as syste-
matically as if in college, and
he began the study of Ger-
man. All his leisure was
spent in study; he never
wasted precious time. He
was a genius in his capacity
for hard work.

As he developed as a law-
yer, his fame was spread as
an orator, statesman and
fighter. His speeches were
logical, serious, though hu-
morous, prudent and cou-

LINCOLN

33

rageous, couched in lan-
guage unsurpassed in litera-
ture. Of course, the princi-
pal agitation was over slav-
ery. From one of his famous
speeches on Free Kansas, we
take the following, which il-
lustrates his attitude at this
early date, and explains his
later course as President:

"As it now stands, we
must appeal to the sober
sense and patriotism of the
people. We will make con-
verts day by day; we will
grow strong by calmness and
moderation; we will grow
strong by the violence and
injustice of our adversaries,
and, unless truth be a mock-
ery and justice a hollow lie,
we will be in the majority
after a while, and then the
revolution which we will ac-
complish will be none the
less radical from being the re-
sult of pacific measures. The
battle of freedom is to be
fought out on principle. Slav-
ery is a violation of the eter-

m

nal right We have tempor-
ized it from the necessities of
uor condition, but as sure as
God reigns and school children
read, that black foul lie can never
be consecrated into God*s hal-
lowed truth !

"The conclusion of all is,
that we must restore the Mis-
souri Compromise. We must
highly resolve that Kansas
must be free! We must rein-
state the birthday promise of
the Republic; we must re-af-
firm the Declaration of Inde-
pendence; we must make
good in essence as well as in
form Madison's avowal that
the word slave ought not to
appear in the Constitution;
and we must even go further^
and decree that only local
law, and not that time-hon-
ored instrument, shall shelter
a slave-holder. We must
make this a land of liberty in
fact, as it is in name. But in
seeking to attain these results

LINCOLN

— so indispensable, if the
liberty which is our pride and
boast shall endure — we will
be loyal to the Constitution
and the 'flag of our Union,'
and no matter what OUR
grievance — even though
Kansas shall come in as a
slave State; and no matter
what theirs — even if we shall
restore the Compromise —
WE WILL SAY TO THE
SOUTHERN DIS-UNION-
ISTS: WE WON'T GO
OUT OF THE UNION,
AND YOU SHAN'T!"

(This was the climax; the
audience rose to i's feet en
masse, applauded, stamped,
waved handkerchiefs, threw
hats in the air, and ran riot
for several minutes. The
arch-enchanter who wrought
this transformation, looked,
meanwhile, like the personifi-
cation of political justice.)

Finally came the famous
Douglas-Lincoln debate in a
canvass for the election of a
Senator. Douglas was short,

stout, polished, well-
groomed, highly educated,
and an aristocrat; already a
national figure; Lincoln was
tall, angular, poorly dressed,
self-educated, less polished,
but more forceful and re-
sourceful. Lincoln seems by
unanimous consent to have
come out of this debate just
as he always had in the spell-
ing bees. As a general, in
this debate he won a cam-
paign by losing a skirmish.
He propounded a question
which elected Douglas as
Senator and defeated him for
President, dividing the Dem-
ocratic party and electing a
Republican. In addressing
his constituents just before
these debates, he made this
famous statement:

' 'A house divided against
itself cannot stand.' I be-
lieve this government cannot
endure permanently — half
slave and half free. I do
not expect the house to fall
— but I do expect it will

IZ&VfrA

t?

LINCOLN

37

|MUiM>J!MMI>!MliaW»^^

cease to be divided. It will
become all one thing or all
the other."

The Douglas debates
made Lincoln a national fig-
ure. The people were simply
amazed to find so rare a
moral and intellectual devel-
opment on the frontier. They
began to ask about his his-
tory, his remarkable learning
with so little schooling and so
few books*. The New Re-
publican Party, born in the
grove at Jackson, Michigan,
and had an exceedingly able
leader in Mr. Seward, but he
was an Eastern man and had
antagonized many.

Lincoln's fame having
spread to the East, he was in-
vited to speak in Cooper
Union, where he made his
famous address that captivat-
ed New York and convinced
the Party of his availability.
He met with equal success in
New England addresses. His
style of oratory was inimi-
table and was wholly differ-

ent from the accepted model
as illustrated by Edward
Everett, whose long, compli-
cated and flowery sentences
had captivated the ears of
that generation. Lincoln
had something to say, and he
said it in short, clear, persua-
sive sentences that sent home
and clinched a thought so
forcefully that it could not
escape. His sole object was
conviction, not display.
There never was any doubt
or controversy over the
meaning of what he had said.

The story of Lincoln's
nomination at the Chicago
Convention is of intensest in-
terest, as is also the Presiden-
tial campaign itself, which
was conducted very largely
by Mr. Lincoln from his
modest two-story house in
an unfashionable part of
Springfield, Illinois.

He was elected owing to
a split in the Democratic Par-

the famous debate. He was
a minority President, receiv-
ing but 1,850,000 votes out
of 4,700,000 votes cast. The
South had no part in h's elec-
tion. The complication of
troubles that had been brew-
ing for a generation can well
be imagined. The South
was solidly against him. The
North was divided into a
multiplicity of factions fight-
ing one another in the vari-
ations of their radicalism.
Everybody suspected every-
body els'e of being a traitor
at heart and Lincoln started
out with the one idea "to
save the Union" from its
enemies and its friends and
in carrying out the one pur-
pose, he finally satisfied all
factions, until today his un-
selfish and wise patriotism is
applauded by all.

His first duty was to select
a cabinet and he chose the
leaders of his own party, not
being afraid to gather about

MBggga®&£%

LINCOLN

his time. In this respect he
followed the example of
Washington and did not fol-
low the example of so many
lesser Presidents who pre-
ferred to have about them
mere secretaries or clerks and
not men whose intellects
might shine above their own.
Washington reflected the
glory and wisdom of his cabi-
net; Lincoln's cabinet reflect-
ed the glory and wisdom of
the President. He towered
above them all and in that
respect was the greatest
President of the Republic.

We must pass over the in-
tensely dramatic incidents
that immediately preceded
the firing on Fort Sumter, the
massing of giant armies, the
enthusiasm that emptied the
shops, offices, and farms of
their choicest young men
who, under the excitement
and novelty of war, and the
persuasive oratory of the
politicians, rushed to the hos-
tile frontiers. We pass by

&R&&!

the dreadful disappointments
of early defeats in battle,
during which years Mr. Lin-
coln was earnestly striving to
select the right general. Each
commanding officer in turn
was defeated, and each had
some good excuse or other
to offer, but good excuses are
no better than bad excuses;
the results are the same. He
wanted to find *'a man" and
in that search his well-bal-
anced judgment and genius
were revealed. He found
him at last in General Grant.

The South were a military
people — military by instinct.
They were brought up to ride
and to shoot. The North
were commercial and without
military instincts. They had
to be taught the art of war,
but they had the best mili-
tary instructors in the wor'd
— the armies of the South
taught them. It took the
Morth four years to learn how
to ride a horse, but what
magnificent cavalry followed

u

at the heels of Phil Sheridan
in the Valley in 1864 and
1 865 ! The South started out
under the direction of scien-
tific soldiers, from the Presi-
dent down. The North had
to discover them, for soldiers,
like poets, are born, not
made, or rather, they are
both born and made. A
mil'tary genius must be born
such, and in addition, have
a scientific military training,
for war today is intensely sci-
entific. Finally, Mr. Lincoln
found the man for the emer-
gency, and the war was
closed. His earnest life and
his terrible struggles for four
long years were rewarded
with a re-election, and he
turned hopefully to the fu-
ture and more peaceful times.

The Emancipation Procla-
mation was the great act of
his life, and it was his, and
not others'. He alone has the
glory. It was intended to
terrify the hostile armies in
the field, to mitigate friction

ggjaaaa^

LINCOLN

43

in the border States and uni-
fy factions in the North. It
is doubtful if it accom-
plished its purpose, but it
was right, and God accom-
plished the result. It intensi-
fied the situation; the fight-
ing was continued with re-
doubled zeal by bo^h sides,
and finally the arbitrament
of the sword determined that
America should be free; and
the present prosperity of the
South indicates how harsh a
blight had been put upon it
by the institution that they
erroneously, though honestly,
conceived to be their right.

The price paid in blood
and wealth was enormous,
but the results were enor-
mous.

Mr. Lincoln's genius was
revealed in every depart-
ment of government. He put
his hand upon correspond-
ence of State, softening it,
avoiding friction and foreign
war. His kindly heart miti-
gated the horrors of domes-

m

tic war; and he became the
idol of the soldiers in the
field, and of the mothers and
children at home. His knowl-
edge was as varied as it was
profound. Each member of
the Cabinet thought at first
that he would soon be the
government. They soon saw
their error, and graciously
submitted to and gratefully
aided the dominating intel-
lect. Mr. Lincoln was the
government.

HIS RELIGIOUS SIDE

HE grandeur of his
character was best re-
vealed during those
dark days when defeat after
defeat disheartened all but
the bravest, and intensified
the contentions of discord-
ant factions at home. They
were the darkest days of the
republic, and, as if the cup
of sorrow were not yet full,
he lost his young and beloved
This multiplicity of sor-

w.

rows and cares and burdens
did not dull his faith or lead
to despair, or sour his sunny
disposition. They seemed
to add to his character both
sublimity and strength.

In a conversation during
this time with Judge Gilles-
pie, he said: *'I have read,
upon my knees, the story of
Gethsemane where the Son
of God prayed in vain that
the cup of bitterness might
pass from him. I am in the
Garden of Gethsemane now,
and my cup of bitterness i9
full and overflowing."

Tarbell's Life of Lincoln
says: "But it is not until
after the death of his son that
we begin to find evidence
that Mr. Lincoln was making
a personal test of Christian-
ity. Broken by his anxiety
for the country, wounded
nigh to death by his loss, he
felt that he must have a sup-
port outside of himself; that
from some source he must
draw new courage. Could

46

LINCOLN

he find the help he needed in
the Christian faith > From
this time on he was seen often
with the Bible in his hand,
and is* known to have prayed
frequently. His personal re-
lation to God occupied his
mind much. He was deeply
concerned to know, as he
told a visiting delegation
once, not whether the Lord
was on his side, but whether
he was on the Lord's side.
Henceforth, one of the most
real influences in Abraham
Lincoln's life and conduct
was his dependence upon a
personal God."

THE NATIONAL
TRAGEDY.

E now come to the
saddest of trage-
dies, the most pain-
ful event in American history.
No one loved his brethren in
the South more tenderly than
did Mr. Lincoln. Had he
lived, all would have been

mm£i

SMSllill

LINCOLN

47

1

forgiven and the wounds of
war soon healed, but the as-
sassin's bullet struck down
the idol of the North, and
that murder engendered and
intensified hatreds that con-
tinued for a generation. The
deplorable acts of the recon-
struction period might have
been avoided but for the
hatred inspired by the as-
sassin.

The whole nation
mourned. They then appre-
ciated fully the sublimity of
that life, his sterling honesty
and unswerving rectitude,
his pure altruism and devo-
tion to his country. 1 he one
object of his life had been at-
tained: he had saved the
Union; he had retained all
the stars in the flag. He had
done more: he had washed
that flag clean and made it
fit to float forever over a na-
tion of free men.

WSSSKSSBSm

48

LINCOLN

n

i

OUR ERROR IN
ANALOGY

' HAT has developed
in one generation
after Appomattox?
Exactly what developed one
generation after Zama. We
have become a world power.
We have suddenly become
the richest nation in the
world — the world, past or
present — with our riches con-
centrated in the hands of a
few who are especially rep-
resented in the United States
Senate. We have the richest
man that ever lived — yet he
has neither learning nor skill
— merely cunning. Our great
men of today use check
books, not text books. We
exalt wealth, not character.
We have, not twenty per cent
patricians, and eighty per
cent slaves — without a mid-
dle class, but we have seven-
ty-five per cent of our wealth
concentrated in the hands of
less than one per cent of our
people, and more than eighty

I

per cent are industrial slaves.
In New York City ten per
cent are buried in the Pot-
ter's Field. Our ideals have
changed. Our ambitions have
changed. The very air we
breathe is no longer charged
with the ozore of contro-
versy and religious zeal, but
is heavy and flat with "lib-
erality,'* love of ease, dis-
play and wealth. Monopo-
lies or trusts that cost Charles
I. his head and were out-
lawed at common law, now
aspire to control government,
and ask to be "regulated,"
h c, recognized as legal; and
the pessimist shakes his head
and says the country has
gone to the dogs.

If this dark picture were
true, if your seeming analo-
gies between Zama and Ap-
pomattox be correct, I should
have little respect for the
Heroic Age and its genera-
tion of physical, moral and
intellectual giants. If they
have builded a political body

that shall so soon be de-
stroyed by the virus engen-
dered in its own veins their
work, though conscientious,
was unskillful. They gave
us mere ideals, not perma-
nence and strength.

I do not so interpret the
future. I recognize the viru-
lence of the disease, but see
also the antidote. The little
red school house and the lit-
tle white church have, in a
century, developed a new,
mixed American race of in-
ventors and independent
thinkers of pronounced
strength and virility, wholly
dissimilar from the degener-
ate Romans. Our analogy
is faulty. In Rome four<-
fifths were illiterate and five-
fifths immoral. In America,
four-fifths are literate and
four-fifths are moral. Our
moral balance wheel is the
Great Middle Class, which is
both educated and religious.
They have but to be taught
the tricks of their enslavers
and they will find a remedy.

0,

LINCOLN

51

I

i

We do not have to cut off a
king's head to rid ourselves
of oppressive monopoly. We
Vote it off. High cost of liv-
ing is always the best symp-
tom preceding revolution,
but this generation trained
by the Heroic Age, does not
have to institute a Reign of
Terror to get rid of Special
Privilege; it votes revolution.

Our fathers in 1861 per-
formed the unique in history,
by ridding ourselves of a
great national sin without the
intervention of foreign arm-
ies; and I have no doubt that
this generation, when
aroused, will return to the
early virtues of the Heroic
Age; will heed the call of the
Modern Gracchi ; and will rid
itself of Monopoly, Special
Privilege and Congested
Wealth, perpetuating for cen-
turies the virtues taught in
the school house and the
church.

We believe that we may
still continue our Heroic Age,

that our present generation
of graft — a mere day in a
nation's life — is but the
chicken pox, a child's dis-
ease, not the hardening of
the arteries incident to old
age. Let us return to our old
ideals', our old positive con-
victions and enthusiasms.
Let us refuse to grow old,
and I know no better way
than to re-adopt the intense
faith, strict morality and ag-
gressive individualism of our
fathers and hold up to our
children as a model to be
copied, the life and struggles
of the last and greatest of
our Heroes.

I always feel like taking
off my hat to a Grand Army
button. I recognize that the
Civil War was the grandest
moral drama of the ages. It
was the demonstration of the
Christian life in a nation.
Alexander fought for con-
quest; Hannibal for hate;
Caesar for political prefer-
ment; Augustus Adolphus

m

ft

for religion ; Frederick for his
kingdom; Napoleon for La
Belle France and empire;
Washington fought to repel
an invader. We admire them
all; they were all heroes; but
they were all selfish. In
1861, there was no invader
at the door. We had merely
to say to an erring brother,
"Go in peace." We had still
left a glorious country —
proud of it all from the
storm-beaten coast of Massa-
chusetts Bay to the smiHng
shores of the Pacific. We
had simply to say, "Go your
way, while we go ours." But
no! just for sentiment; that
the Union might be saved;
that a down-trodden race of
despised strangers might be
free, cur fathers faced the
cannon's mouth and death.
That was pur^, unselfsh pa-
triotism. It was unique. It
was subl'me. It had no coun-
terpart in history. It was
the climax of the Heroic Age.
It demonstrated that we were

msem

54

LINCOLN

a Christian nation, following
the example of the Savior of
mankind who likewise shed
His blood that strangers
might be free.

I have no fear that the
sons of such fathe s will not
be wise enough and patriotic
enough, again to cure their
own diseases of Monopoly
and Special Privilege, and
let the Republic live on for
centuries admired, honored,
and imitated by all the na-
tions of the earth, until all
are republics, living like
brothers in universal peace,
ushering in the Millenium of
God, when for 1,000 years
the flag of America the blest,
shall float over a free, inde-
pendent, intelligent, self-re-
specting and God-fearing
people, leading the world in
true civilization.

The Heroic Age died at
Appomattox, and the
choicest flower of that age of
heroes was the martyred
President. No wonder that

flllS

a sorrowing nation followed
his bier to its last resting
place in Springfield. His
death was a personal loss to
each citizen. They admired
him for his genius. They
loved him for his kindly
heart. He was a national
hero to whom every boy
could properly be referred
as an example. He never be-
came a multi-millionaire. He
never was successful in great
business enterprises, and yet
his every ambition was ac-
complished; without instruc-
tors, his language became a
classic. His enemies were
subdued and are now his
worshipers. The one great
object of his life, the Preser-
vation of the Union, was
achieved, and then he died!
Died full of glory and re-
nown, in the closing hours of
the Heroic Age of the Re-
public, the greatest character
of the greatest age of the
greatest nation; truly A
MASTER OF EFFICIENCY.

^JWW^.-^J^ M*

HJ

q

1
I

i

OOD

From J^incoln s Second
Inaugural ^Address

i

ONDLY do we hope
— fervently do we
pray — that this
mighty scourge of war may
speedily pass away. Yet, if
God w'lls that it continue
until all the wealth piled by
the bondman's two hundred
and fifty years of unrequited
toil shall be sunk, and until
every drop of blood drawn
with the lash shall be paid
by another drawn with the
sword, as was said three
thousand years ago, so still
must it be said, 'The judg-
ments of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.'

"W i t h malice toward
none; with charity to all;
with firmness in the right, as
God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the
work we are in, to bind up
the nation's wounds; to care

for him who shall have borne
the battle and for his widow
and orphan — to do all which
may achieve and cherish a
just and lasting peace among
ourselves and with all na-
tions/9

J. LINCOLN.

THE GREAT
HEART of LINCOLN

SXECVT1VE ^MANSION,
Washington, J{jv. 21, 1864.
To Mrs. Bixby,

Boston, Mass.
Dear Madam:

I have been shown in the
files of the War Department
a statement of the Adjutant
General of Massachusetts
that you are the mother of
five sons who have died on
the field of battle. I feel how
weak and fruitless must be
any word of mine which
should attempt to beguile
you from the grief of a loss

so overwhelming. But I can-
not refrain from tendering
you the consolation that may
be found in the thanks of the
republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly
Father may assuage the an-
guish of your bereavement,
and leave you only the cher-
ished memory of the loved
and lost, and the solemn
pride that must be yours to
have laid so costly a sacri-
fice upon the altar of free-
dom.

Yours Very Sincerely

and Respectfully,

J. LINCOLN.

THE CONSECRA-
TION SPEECH AT
GETTYSBURG.

OUR SCORE and

seven years ago our
fathers brought
forth upon this continent a
new nation conceived in lib-

erty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are
created equal. Now we are
engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation,
or any nation so conceived
and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a
great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a
portion of that field as a final
resting place for those who
here gave their lives that that
nation might live. It is alto-
gether fitting and proper
that we should do this.

But in a larger sense we
cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow
this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who strug-
gled here, have consecrated
it far above our power to add
or detract. The world will
little note nor long remem-
ber what we say here; but it
can never forget what they
did here. It is for us — the
living — rather, to be dedi-
cated here to the unfinished

iV>i***X**WV*^^

60

LINCOLN

work which they who fought
here have thus far so no
advanced.

It is rather for us to be
here dedicated to the great
task remaining before us,
that from these honored dead
we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they
gave the last full measure of
devotion; that we here high-
ly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain(
that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of
freedom; and that govern-
ment of the people, by the
people, and for the people,
shall not perish from the
earth.

Jl. LINCOLN

Qettysbwg,
Woo. 16, 1863.

The Author
Talks To
YOU:

In October, 1911,
almost ten years
ago, I first set out
to write a tribute
to Abraham Lin-
coln, whom I con-
sider one of the
world's examples
of a Master of Ef-
ficiency. Since
that time I have
written a few
books, many short
stories, plays and sketches under vari-
ous noms de plume, some of which have
never been published, but a few of them have
met with public favor.

Most of my writing has been frivolous and!
some has been accused of being humorous,
but I considered the writing of this tribute to
Lincoln my MAGNUS OPUS— the great ef-
fort of my literary life, and I have tried to
do justice to the subject.

To indicate to you that I have striven to
please you, my reader, let me say that I have
re-written this book, during the past ten
years, twenty-seven times. Four times I have
had it set up in type, but in each instance J
have had the plates destroyed, because it did
not please me in text and literary construc-
tion.

But now, sitting in the shadow of Resur-
rection Rock, overlooking the beautiful little
city of White Haven, I have for the twenty-
eighth time re-written my tribute to Lin-
coln and I am sending it to you in th« hopes
that it will please you.

This book is essentially a Gift Book. No
copies will be sold to the persons who receive
them. If you get it at all, it will be a gift
from someone who loves you and holds you
in high esteem and affectionate regard. It
will never reach the world through ordinary
channels of trade. In fact, it may never reach
the world at all. If it reaches YOU, and you
are pleased, then I will feel that I have not
worked in va;n to honor the man to whom
the whole world owes a debt of prat^tu^e and
to whom we are indebted for what I believe
to be a permanent and lasting republican
form of Government.. He n?»ve his life work
to the accomplishment of that one thing —
the Saving of the Union, and was satisfied.
If my tribute to Lincoln finds response in
your heart of hearts, then I am satisfied.

One of my most recent literary efforts,
published under another name, has reached a
score of e^it-ons. over three hundred thou-
sand copies havinq been prnted and sold.
The puHic has been very kind to me. But
the world in qeneral will probably never
know of th»s Book of Lincoln that I have
written. YOU will know of it because some
friend has presented you with a copy, and I
would like you to feel that I share with him
(or h°r) in the joy of the giving of that qift,
for while I cannot claim it as a gift to YOU-
I'll send this book out with my earnest and
sincere wishes that it may be truly ?ccepted
as my gift to mankind, in the hope that this
"government of the people, for the people, and
by the people shall not perish." Cherishing
this fond hope, believe me to be very sin-
cerely yours, ^j s~\

THE AUTHOR.

White Haven, Pa.,
Sept. 21, 1921.

77. 20o°). oS°t Of) C$