(February 12th)
_In which it appears that the character of the boy foreshadows the
character of the man._
Many years ago in the State of Kentucky there stood a little log
house, and in it was born a little boy whose name was Abraham
Lincoln. Lincoln had a kind father and mother. His mother was his
first teacher. He afterwards went to school but only for one year.
He had no pencils or paper. Sometimes he did his number work on a
shovel with a piece of burnt wood for a pencil.
Once Lincoln rowed two men across a river. The two silver dollars
that they paid him was the first money he had ever earned. He felt
as rich as a king. In the evenings when his work was done, Lincoln
would study. They had no lamps so he had to study by the light of
the fire. There were only three books in the house, and these he
read over and over.
Once a man loaned Lincoln a book about Washington. He read it
in every spare moment during the day and took it to bed with him
at night. One night, during a hard snow storm, the snow came in
between the logs and spoiled the book. Poor little Abraham almost
cried. He showed the owner his book and told him what had happened.
He asked what he could do to pay for it. “Will you work to pay for
it?” asked the man.
“Yes, I will do anything,” answered Abraham.
“Well, you may hoe corn for me for three days,” the man said, “then
you may have the book.” This was the first book Abraham Lincoln
ever bought.
When Lincoln was twenty-one years of age he moved with his family
to Illinois. There he set out to earn his own living. Sometimes
he worked on a farm; sometimes he visited large cities carrying
produce to sell. Sometimes he went surveying in the great forests.
He was so poor that his first surveyor’s chain was said to be a
wild grape-vine. For a short time Lincoln kept a little country
store. Once a poor woman came in to buy something. He made a
mistake and asked her six cents too much. That evening Lincoln
walked three miles in the rain to tell the woman of his mistake and
return the six cents.
Lincoln was for many years a lawyer. He was very just and fair
and when people got into trouble they would go to him for help.
“Honest Abe” they called him. Poor as he was and hard as he worked
he spent every spare moment in reading. Finally the time came when
our country needed a wise and brave man for president--a man with a
clear head and a fearless heart. The people looked about for such
a leader. There in Illinois they found him, and from all sides was
heard the cry: “Abraham Lincoln is the man!” As Lincoln had always
been a good and honest man so he was a good and wise president.