(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.