Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States. He was bom in Hardin County, Kentucky, on February 12, 1809. His father was a poor pioneer, who had a small piece of barren land in the backwoods. When Abe was seven years old the family moved to Indiana. Here also the land was uncultivated, and Lincoln's father had to clear the iot where their new home was to be. He cut the trees and made the logs out of which he built a crude dwelling. Winter came on before the cabin was finished, and the Lincoln family was compelled to live through the cold months with only three sides of the cabin enclosed. By the next winter they had built a better house, which they furnished with new furniture hewn from rough logs; and after they had moved into this new home they were more comfortable than they had ever been before. The hardships of pioneer life, however, were too much for'Lincoln's mother, who died soon after they had moved into their new home. To little Abe his mother's death was a great sorrow — a sorrow that he felt as long as he lived. It was also a great loss to him. His loss was in part made up to him from the fact that his father married soon again, and his new mother was a kind woman, who took a great interest in Abe and helped him make the best of his limited opportunities. Lincoln went to school at intervals from his eighth year to his fifteenth year. The total amount of schooling which he received was less than a year.

It was necessary for him to earn his living at a very early age. When only eight years old he is said to have cut the fire-wood that was used in their cabin; and from that time on, to have worked in the forest, at first helping to cut logs, and afterwards splitting rails. This work he did for neighbours in order that he might earn money.

Corn and other products of that region were at that time taken to market by flat-boat down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Lincoln was employed by a neighbour to go on one of these voyages, two thousand miles by flat-boat. On the trip he had many wonderful experiences. Once while at New Orleans he saw Negro slaves bought  and sold at public auction in the market place. This sight made a profound impression on him, which he never forgot.

When he returned home, the family moved to Illinois. Here again they had to build a log cabin. Soon after their arrival Lincoln became the village postmaster. His duties did not occupy all his time; so he began the study oflaw. It is said that he walked a distance of twenty miles to borrow law books from a friend. By and by he practised law. He was by nature sympathetic, earnest, and sincere, as well as honest in his dealings. He was also ambitious and a natural leader, masterful, though unobtrusive. From a very early age he won general confidence and respect. In the practice oflaw he had great success as an advocate. At twenty-five he was elected to the state legislature. It is said that when he went into office he walked to the capitol, because he was too poor to hire a horse. He was a member of the legislature for eight years. A little later he represented his district in Congress for a term. A short time after that he became a candidate for United States senator against Stephen A. Douglas, by whom he was defeated. During the campaign the candidates held a series of memorable debates, in which they discussed the slavery question.

Lincoln was elected president of the United States in 1860. His election was received throughout the South with general disappointment and dismay, because the people there thought that Lincoln would oppose the holding of slaves by the people of any state. Soon the southern states tried to secede, and the great Civil War was on. It began in 1861, and in 1862 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, by which he set free all the slaves held within any state that was in rebellion against the United States. The war ended in April 1865; and it was Lincoln's efforts more than anyone else's that saved the nation.

About the time the war ended, Lincoln, while attending a theatre, was shot by an assassin. He died the next morning, and his body was laid to rest in Springfield, Illinois. After the burial service the Second Inaugural Address was read over his grave; and as Lord Chamwood says in his biography of Lincoln, what better words than his own could have been chosen to honour one who "with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gave him to see the right, had striven on to finish the work he was in."