, (JnsMir'aficn cSnhttick Mrevot li^iU Class Book. E}tS± GopyrightN^. COPYRIGHT DEPOSnV tinrnln'fl Cnjarij of 3iiu5piratiuit BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR On the Trail or Washington Lincoln the Lawyer The Story of a Street Decisive Battles of the Law The Accomplice The Web The Minority The Care of Estates The Case and Exceptions " The Boy Lincoln " BY EASTMAN JOHNSON From a Pastel in the Possession of Berea College of Sn^piration By I'ur.Dr.KK K Tkkvok II hi Authup of "Lincoln the Lauyer," Etc. fri:dkrick a. stokks comi'anv Ni:\V YORK 1>L BLISHERS Copyright, 1909, bv FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY Copyright, 1909, by THE NEW YORK TIMES CO. 248668 October, 1909 PllEFATOIlY NOTE These papers were originally printed in the New York Times, February 1st to 7th, 1909, and formed the basis of a prize competition among the school children of New York and vicinity, in lionor of the hundredth anniversary of Lincoln's birtii. IJy the terms of the contest each competitor %vas required to write a composition grounded ex- clusively on these essays which aroused unusual interest from the moment of their appearance and attracted increasing attention with every issue. Fully ten thousand comj)ositions based upon tlniii were sul)mittout liis father's house and farm he accpiired the hahit of thinking of others rather than LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION of himself, until the neighbors gradually came to recognize that he was one of the few persons in the community who could be confidently relied upon for every sort of friendly office and kindness, from roofing a barn to rocking a baby. This was a very modest distinction, but it was quite as rare then as it is to-day, and though what he did was done without thought of a return, it brought its own reward. People took an interest in this unostentatious, unselfish boy, and they loaned him their books with such freedom that he soon secured all that were avail- able within a radius of many miles. It was no anointed youth, however, who pored over those volumes by the light of his father's fire, but a very practical young man, who kept his ambitions well within bounds and was satisfied to pro- gress step by step. Once he accidentally injured one of the borrowed books, and when the not too generous lender de- manded compensation, he worked out the damages at twenty-five cents a day in no SOMETIIIXG MADE TROM NOTHING saint-like spirit, but as a matter of justice, and this — one of the few well-authenti- cated stories of his early life — affords a clear f(lini})se of tlie man in the making. Those who ])icture Lincoln as a pre- cocious youtli of auL^clic disposition do not understand his cliaracter at all. lie was no more fond of hard ^v()rk than other ])oys of his age, and lie amused liimself whenever he had the chance. Eut lie did not waste his time. Dull as Gen- tryville, Indiana, ^^as, it had one red- letter day on its caUndar. and that was the meeting of the Circuit Court at ]^)onville. tiCtccn miles aN\ay. Thither Tinc(jln ti'udgcd to listen \\ith ra])t at- tention to the harangues ni' the hack- woods lawyers, and watch ^sith keen in- terest the drama of life as it was por- trayed on that mimic stage, and there he douhtlcss received the first impulse to fit himscir for the ])rofession of the law. JUit this dream made him neither dis- contented nor restless. The idea of abandoning his home duties never crossed [7] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION his mind. Unquestionably he could have bettered his chances at that period had he followed his dawning ambitions in- stead of continuing to help his father amid discouraging surroundings and diffi- culties. Yet he remained at home and gave his family the benefit of his services until he was twenty-one, up to which time he had earned practically nothing for himself. But from nothing Lincoln was slowly but surely making something, and that something was character. From depriva- tion and want he was evolving helpful- ness and unselfishness; from lack of op- portunities he was developing modesty and resourcefulness; from sorrow and neglect he was acquiring sympathy; from solitude and simplicity he was learning the value of truth. For despondency and discontent he was fashioning humor; for lack of book learning he was providing a thorough knowledge of men; for luck and favor he was substituting courage. " The little farm that raised a man " [8] SOMETHING MADE FROM NOTHING was not enchanted ground. The seeds that were sowed there are within the reach of alL ^Abraham IJncoln is an inspiring product of tlie soil. He is a prophecy for tliose wlio beheve in tlieir native land. 19] ®econD FOR THE UNTALENTED MAJORITY IT has been truly said of Lincoln that " he never finished his education " and that to the close of his life he was " a learner, an inquirer, a searcher after knowledge — never afraid of asking ques- tions — never too dignified to admit that he did not know." The whole of Lincoln's schooling amounted to less than a year in all, and the little instruction he received from the five schoolmasters, each of whom taught him for a few weeks at long intervals during his boyhood, was extremely ele- mentary. He may, therefore, fairly be said to have educated himself, and of this edu- cation came a man who divined all the underlying motives of the human heart, who "with sincerity deceived the deceit- ful," and who passed through the fiercest [lOj STRUGGLING UPWARD of political controversies without leaving one word of offense for even the bitter- est of liis foes. His reading was directed by chance rather than by selection, and to what ex- tent lie was influenced by the books which he eagerly borrowed is an open question. Certainly the well-known list of those that first fell into his hands comi)rises a strange assortment — " ^T^sop's Fables," and the " lUvised Statutes of Indiana," "Pilgrim's Progress," and Weems's pre- posterous ''Life of Washington," "Rob- inson Crusoe," the l^ii)le, and a history of the United States. These and other vol- umes he read at every opportunity; sometimes ^\hiIc walking to and i'rom his work; sometimes in the woods and fields while resting from the ax and ])low, and often in his home at nights. Here, too, he practiced writing, and worked out sums on the \\()(K]en flre shovel in default of a slate, making the best of things and care- fully husbanding his slim resources. It was no brilliant student who thus de- [11] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION voted himself to acquiring the rudiments of education, but a patient, painstaking and somewhat plodding boy, for Lincoln's mind matured very slowly. Indeed, he did not show any signs of promise until he was about eighteen, and even in the prime of life his intellectual processes were far from quick. His mind, he re- marked, was like a piece of steel — very hard to scratch, but almost impossible to free of any mark once made upon it. Those who have had the benefit of good instruction and understand proper meth- ods of study can scarcely conceive the difficulties under which such a boy would labor in acquiring knowledge without as- sistance. A severer discipline can hardly be imagined. His slowness and lack of guidance had, however, the advantage of making Lin- coln thorough. He never was sure that he knew anything unless he understood it perfectly. We have his own statement that to comprehend the meaning of the word "demonstrate" he worked until he [12] STRUGGLING UPWARD liar] mastered the six books of Euclid, and this was long after his boyhood days. In- deed, there never was a man more famil- iar with the pains and woes of mental drudgery than Lincoln, and it retjuired real courage to kcc]) him at his task, for he was not fond of study for its own sake. Neither was he natiir;illy thorough or methodical. On the contrary he was in- clined to disorderly habits and slij)shod methods, some of which he never outgrew, and at first he attempted to clip corners and find short cuts to learning (piite as often and as hopefully as other boys have done. Indeed, it was only through re- peated faihu'c that he learned that it was impossible for him to ac(iuirc anything except at the price of good bard work. Even when he bci^an to study law he had a fleeting hope that his knack of speech- making would relieve him from the drudgery of the ])rofession, only to con- fess, before many years had passed, that any one who relied on such an exemption was " a failure in advance." [13] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION Americans are said to admire smart- ness, sharpness, and showy traits of mind, but these qualities were all conspicuously lacking in Lincoln. He could, upon oc- casion, make a bright reply or a neat re- tort, but as a rule he required time and careful preparation to appear at an ad- vantage, and he was often painfully slow in making up his mind. Perfectly aware of these limitations, he concentrated all his eiforts upon discovering the real issue or point in any subject and mastering that to the exclusion of details, and of this training came one of the most pitiless analyzers of facts, one of the soundest logicians, and one of the keenest trailers of truth that the world has ever known. This was not, however, solely or even largely, the result of his application to books. He had neither the tastes nor the opportunities of a book-worm. He preferred the company of his fellow men, and from them he learned far more than he did from any printed page. He was not, however, what is generally known as [14] STRUGGLING UPWARD a student of human nature. Probably it never oecurred to him to dissect and ex- amine critically the minds and characters ol' his acquaintances and i'riends. \ever- theless, lie Avas a close and accurate ob- server, and by mixing freely with all sorts and conditions of men he acquired a re- markable knowledge of humanity. In the discussions at the country store at Sa- lem, and at other local forums, he discov- ered that the man ol' moderate attain- ments, who was truthful and sincere, often had his mental su])eri()rs at a de- cided disadvantage, and early in his ca- reer he schooled himself against exagger- ation and overstatement of every kind. To ])reseMt I'aets clearly, concisely and effectively, without taking undue achan- tagc of them, is no mean accom])lisliment. It re(|uires not only ability and courage, but tact and character, and in Lincoln's hands it became both a shield of defense and a wea])on of attack. lie neither de- ceived himself nor allowed others to de- ceive him, and he honestlv and fairly [15] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION looked on all sides of every question be- fore making up his mind. This not only rendered him sure of his own ground and tolerant of the opinions of others, but gave him a knowledge of his adversaries' resources which was invaluable in time of need. As a result, we have his own state- ment that in all his experience as a lawyer he was never once surprised by the strength of an opponent's case, and fre- quently found it much weaker than he feared. In like manner, during the con- test over slavery, he so thoroughly mas- tered the arguments of those who differed with him that he was often able to turn them to his own advantage, forcing his great rival Douglas to confess that he had given him more trouble than all the Aboli- tionists together. It is surprising how few people do their own thinking. Most men try to learn what the majority think and adopt its opinions. Some attempt to be orig- inal by searching out the popular view [16] STRUGGLING UPWARD and takinnr exactly the opposite. But Lincoln did not feel compelled to think as others thought, nor did he try to attract attention to himself hy airing " (lueer '' o])inions. He endeavored to dis- cover the truth about everythincr and to think accordingly, and to this end he cultivated sincerity; he brought himself into close contact and sympathy with his fellow men; he was honest in tiiought as well as in action; he made no claims to superior wisdom; he respected the mo- tives of those whose conclusions he could not accept. He was as fair to others as to himself, seeking only the right as God gave liim to see the right. It \\as these (pialities of the heart rather than of the hrain that started Lin- coln on liis distinguished career. He was neither an intellectual giant nor a learned ni;in. Urom his success all his fellow countrymen of modest abilities may take couraiie and incentive. ri7i CfiirD FOR THOSE WHO GROPE IN THE DUST OF DEFEAT IINCOLN'S development is not in- frequently described as though ^ it were the progressive triumph of a man — something more than mortal — who, though acquainted with poverty and misfortune in his childhood, took ad- vantage of his first opportunity in life, and whose career thereafter steadily spelled success. This man of fixed pur- pose and indomitable will undoubtedly makes a stirring appeal as a hero, but he has nothing in common with those who, after repeated attempts to "find them- selves," discover failure staring them in the face. As a matter of fact, however, the whole of Lincoln's early manhood is a record of failure from a material point of view, and few men have ever had less to [18] MAKING A LIFE AND A LIVING show for tlieir first years of effort than he had at the age of twenty-four. As a field lahorer he was far from a success, for he took no interest in farm- ing and never cared to work at it a day longer than was necessary to put him- self in funds. Moreover, his employers looked decidedly askance at the "hired man " who read as he followed the plow, even if his furrows did run true. ^Vs a clerk in Offutt's country store he did little hcttcr, and Ik yond the fact that he served the cuslonicrs conscientiously witli full weights and measures, he did nothing to j)r()ve himscir indis])cnsal)le. Neither his lieart nor his mind was in his work, and he \\atfhi'(l tlic business "wink out " with no ])erceptihle regret. Then he sought glory at the cannon's mouth in the farcical " l^laek I lawk war," "where he never even saw an Indian, and where tlie *' bloody encounters witli the moscjuitoes " and the " fierce charges on the wild onions " were the most glorious episodes of the cam])aign! Then, some- [19] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION what as a forlorn hope, he turned to po- htical life, presenting himself as a can- didate for the Legislature, only to meet with defeat and to find himself at the end of several profitless months utterly- destitute of resources. This was not a very promising record for a man of twenty-three. He had, it is true, steadily cherished a more or less vague idea of becoming a lawyer, but he had not pursued it systematically, and he finally drifted back into the grocery business, this time as part proprietor of a store bought on credit without much prospect of making the venture pay. In- deed, the manner in which he and his associate Berry conducted this enterprise almost insured its failure, for the senior member of the firm idled away his days in dissolute living, while the junior mem- ber studied law, and between them their slender stock of merchandise disappeared, Berry drinking and Lincoln eating it up. There is a story, which has at least the authenticity of being in character, that [20] MAKING A LIFE AND A LIVING affords an excellent illustration of Lin- coln's attitude toward his business. Ac- cording to this tale a customer once dis- turbed Lincoln at his reading by entering the store and rc(|uesting five cents' worth of crackers. Lincoln laid aside his book and, mechanically com])lying witli the de- mand, awaited payment; but the customer changed his mind, remarking that he thought he would take a glass of cider in- stead, if it was the same ])ricc. IJncoln swe|)t the crackers back into a ])aiTcl and prodncfd the cider, which the man ])romj)tly drank, and then started for the door. ^\t this point the store-keeping student of law, ^\ith his liand reacliing for his l^hickstone, roused himself suf- ficiently to remind the customer that he had not ])aid. " A\'hy, I gave you five cents' worth of crackers, didn't I?" demanded tlie ])ur- chaser. "Yes," admitted Lincoln, ''but you didn't ]^ay for them." " Well, I didn't get them, did I?" was the retort, and the man who was one dav to become [21] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION a master of logic resumed his book with a vague f eehng that there was something not quite right with the transaction, but just what it was he had not time to puzzle out. Such was Lincoln, the merchant, and his career in that capacity soon came to an inglorious close. By this time he was four and twenty, and he had not only not succeeded, but had given no evidence of stability and no indication whatever of aptitude for any line of work. Those who have fretted over the waste of time spent upon uncon- genial tasks can realize the discourage- ment which confronted him at this crisis of his affairs, for he had not only failed to fit himself for the bar, but had com- pletely bankrupted himself. For the penniless man bankruptcy is said to have no terrors. But it was not so with Lincoln. It provided him with as sore a business temptation as ever con- fronted a man on the threshold of life, and subjected his sense of honor to a thoroughly practical test. [22] MAKING A LIFE AND A LIVING Eulogy has robbed Lincoln's honesty of nearly all its human quality. lie has been presented so often in the role of the perfect man, with even a touch of divinity added, that all real analogy between his experiences and those of tlie modern business world has ])ractically vanished. And \ct it was a man of ordinary chiy, with every reason for wishing to make his way in the world, who saw the ruin of all his hopes in tlie failure of lierry »Sc Lin- coln's store, for he and his partner had given promissory notrs for tiie purchase price of the business in whicli tliey had invested, and when Ikrry died all the holders of these notes looked to Lincoln I'or j)aynicnt. Lliis would have been bad enougli if the claimants had been the j)er- sons to whom he and his associate had originally obligated themselves, but those j)eople bad long since disposed of the notes for a IVaetion of tbeir face value. Men who lK)ught j)aper of this descrip- tion in the early days of Illinois usually sold it again at the first opportunity or [23] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION traded it for something else, and thus it passed from hand to hand until some speculator, who had acquired it for noth- ing, or next to nothing, appeared and demanded the uttermost farthing. Nat- urally this dubious business encouraged the evasion of such debts, and public opinion countenanced repudiation under the circumstances, so there would have been few to criticise Lincoln had he avoided payment and there w ere not many who saw much merit in what he did. From a worldly point of view, repudia- tion was the only course to adopt, unless he was prepared to mortgage his earnings and handicap if not defeat his ambitions. It was easy to argue that the business had never been worth anything, and that the original owners having voluntarily sold Berry & Lincoln's notes for a song, had received their full due and that those who had paid little or nothing for them ought not to be allowed to profit by a transaction which, if not usurious, was not much more respectable. There was [24] MAKING A LIFE AND A LIVING every incentive for Lincoln to adopt this view. Eut to him a promise was a prom- ise, and as a matter of self-respect, and not at all as a heroic act of virtue, he re- fused to compromise with his conscience and declined to deceive himself with " law honesty." Jt ^^as no saint wlio thus met the de- mands of his creditors and hampered Iiimself for fourteen years while he dis- charged ^\ hat he called his " National deht/' Not a saint at all — hut a man who knew that " xou cannot cheat at solitaire and think you've won the game.'' Lincoln did not sprini^ fully armed into the contest in which he made history. Lor many a year hd'ore he worked his ^\ay into the j)rofession of the law, he had a i)art with tliose wlio despair of ever finding their place in the world and are temj)ted to dishonoring expedients. His message to his eagerly striving countrymen of the present generation is that it is " ])etter to make a life than a living." [25] JTourtfi FOR THOSE WHO STRIVE FOR IDEALS IN THEIR WORK IINCOLN did not awake to find himself famous in the ranks of ^ his chosen profession of the law. His uncouth appearance was not in his favor, and he had many other defects that militated against his success. In all the neat and methodical habits which charac- terize the precise attorney he was woefully deficient. He hated the drudgery and the technicalities of his calling. He thoroughly despised the tricks of his trade. Nevertheless, he indignantly re- pudiated the idea that honesty was not compatible mth practical service at the bar. "Let no young man choosing the law for his 'profession yield for one mo- ment to that popular belief" he declared. "If you do not believe that you can be [26] HONOR AND "LAW HONESTY" an honest Umijcr, resolve to he honest id thou t being a laicyer. Choose some other occupation rather than one in the choosing of tchich ijou do in advance con- fess ijourself to he a knave/' This ^vas not tlie advice of a tyro or an idealist, Ijiit of an experienced practi- tioner, Avho had demonstrated the truth of his assertion that '' as a peacemaker the laicj/er has a superior op port unit f/ of jjroving Jiinisclf a good man/' if he cares to make the most of it. But thoiii^di lie resj)ectcd and honored his profession, l^inccjln had no reverence i'or law merely ])ecause it was law. Again and a,LiaIn duiInL; his lon^' training in the courts he refused to invoke statutes at the exj)cnse of justice, even in the inter- est of his clients. He i)racticed law — he did not ])racti(r on law. To the insolvent debtor ^vho desired him to de\ ise a ne\\ ^vay of ])aying old debts he turned a deaf ear; to the rapa- cious creditor ^vho sought his assistance in seeming his pound of flesh he gave the [ '^'7 ] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION free advice that he had better try his hand at making money some other way; to a jury in a case where two young men were attempting to get rid of their honest obli- gation by claiming to be a few days under age he made a passionate plea that they should not help the delinquents to take advantage of the law and place a stain of dishonor upon themselves which they would never afterward be able to remove ; to the Judge who forbade him to aban- don a client in the midst of a case after he had discovered that the man had been guilty of fraud, he sent back this mes- sage, " Tell the Judge that my hands are dirty and that I've gone away to wash them/' Lincoln was certainly a poor business man if the criterion of success be the making of money. For this he cared little or nothing. '' Wealth/' he observed, '^ is merely a superfluity of things we don't need." He had no skill in making up his charges — no knack of keeping his clients in the courts. Indeed, his opinions [28] HONOR AXD " LAW HONESTY " on this subject were exceedingly objec- tionable to greedier members of the pro- fession. " Discouraire litigation'' was his advice to lawyers. ''Persuade your neighbors to eompromise tchenever j/oii can. Point out to them lioic the nominal li'inncr is often the real loser — //? fees, expenses and tiaste of time. Xever stir vp litigation. A icorse man ean scaree!// he found than one xcho does this. .1 moral tone oua;ht to he infused into the profession nJiich should drive such men out of it." Jjiicnln may have been, and undoubtedly was, utterly lacking in all the essentials of commercial genius, but in this instance he was merely ahead of his tliiK". The methods he ad\ocate(l sixty years ago are those of the most suc- cessful ])ractitioners of to-day. It was neither briUiancy nor learning that made Lincoln an eUVctive lawyer. He ^\•as not only not a profound student of the law, he was not, in any scholarly sense, a student at all. He schooled him- self in the great fundamental principles [ ^^0 ] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION of the common law of England and ap- plied them with such clarity that even the dullest layman could not fail to com- prehend the point. His mind was orderly, though his habits were not, and knowing that the issue in most controver- sies lies in very narrow compass, he avoided the error of the mediocre advo- cate, who is easily diverted by details, and pressed steadily and directly to the heart of his case, disregarding all the academic pros and cons and reducing the problem to its simplest form. Absolutely sincere himself, he found little difficulty in persuading others, and his logical mind marshaled facts in such orderly sequence that a child could follow him through the most complicated cause. In a word, Lincoln relied on the truth, knew how to tell it, and was not afraid to do so, and his statement of facts thus had the force of argument. The average practitioner has neither the courage nor the skill to accomplish this, and his omis- sions and perversions naturally reflect on [30] HONOR AND " LAW HONESTY " his honesty or sincerity. This is largely the secret of Lincoln's success in the courts, and it defines his limitations. To be effective he had to believe in the cause he espoused, and lie would not willingly undertake a case of whose merits he him- self was not cnn\'inccd. " You speak to the jurify' he once entreated liis associate counsel; "if I sajj a xcord thcji xcill see from ?/?// fare that the man is i^uiltij and eonvict l/ini/' There were many at the Illinois 1)ar who were more ^^i(ic•Iy read lawyers than Lin- coln, many \\]u) liad more elocjuenec at their command, I'ar hitter presence, and no less exj)erienee. Tiiere were also many *' liml)s of llie la\v " better Mrsed in the refinements of pleading and the (juibbles and technicalities of j)raetiee than lie was. Prob;d)l\' all sueli [)etty tricksters could liave caught liim trij)ping in their nets, and some of them did. ]5ut it is for every ])ractitioner at the bar to decide for himself what manner of lawyer he shall be. He mav join the ranks of the sl\' and [31] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION shifty gentry who work by indirection; he may fit himself for the role of the legal bravo who can be hired to prosecute or de- fend any cause at a price; he may herd with the legal def eaters of the law; he may specialize in any one of a thousand like activities, — or he may follow the trail which Abraham Lincoln blazed. During all his three and twenty years of active practice Lincoln never found it necessary to sacrifice his conscience to a code; he never surrendered his private principles for personal gain; his services were constantly in demand, but they were never for sale ; he served hundreds of cli- ents, but was owned by none ; his ideas of justice and honor were not regulated by the latest decisions; he recognized some- thing higher than the judgment of a court of last resort. Yet he was neither an im- practical dreamer nor a god. For almost a quarter of a century he supported him- self and his family from his earnings as a lawyer, and yet throughout this long ex- perience he practiced his profession unde- [32] HONOR AND " LAW HONESTY " ceivcd ])y its sophistries and unswcrved by its manifold temptations, believing always in its Iiigbest possibilities. There is soniethinnr radically wrong with ideals which cannot be u])licld in the workshoi)s of the world. Sentimental ideas are often mistaken for ideals, but men of character ciuickly distinguish be- tween the real and the sham, and sound ideals do nr)t suffer at their hands. Lincohi tested tlie ideals of Ills calling and ])r()\i(l them to be j)ractical. That alone entiths him to the thanks of every honest member of the bar. lie is the supj)ort and Insj)iration of all who desire to make the honorable ])rofession of the la^^• \V()i-lhv ol' its name. [ 3S ] Sitth FOR THOSE WHO MAKE THE LONELY FIGHT FOR PRINCIPLES THE interest and importance of Lincoln's career as President have naturally created the im- pression that his hfe was largely devoted to politics and that he was an extraordi- narily successful politician. The truth is, however, that he spent comparatively little of his time in the political arena prior to the civil war, and his record there was mainly a series of disappointments and defeats. He served four consecu- tive terms in the Illinois Legislature dur- ing his early years, and one term in Con- gress, but that was his entire experience as an officeholder. The explanation of this is apparent upon the surface. He was not regarded as a " practical " poli- tician or a generally available candidate. [34] FAILURES THAT SLXCEEDED Party rule and discipline had not been effected in Illinois when he first entered the political field. The nominations for office were not made by conventions, and any man who chose to present himself as a candidate could do so by the simple ex- pedient of announcing that fact and stat- ing his individual opinions concerning the (|ucstions of the day. The " machine " and " the ])oss " as they now exist were j)ractically unknown. Nevertheless there were even th( fi ])artisan cliciues and lead- ers who made their influence felt, and Lincoln had not been long in oilice before lie asserted his independence of them and braved the displeasure of the ])ubhc. In his twenty-eighth year the Illinois Legislature passed a series of resolutions condenuiing the formation of .Abobtion- ist societies, u])holding the '' sacred " right of ])r()j)erty in slaves, and declaring against abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. This was entirely in ac- cordance with the prevailing sentiment in the State at the time, and anv young leg- [35] LINCOLN'S LEGACY OF INSPIRATION islator who opposed it did so at his peril. Of this Lincoln was fully aware, and with every reason for wishing to avoid in- juring his political future, he might well have been content to cast an inconspicu- ous negative vote. A prudent politician, conscientiously opposed to the resolutions, would undoubtedly have adopted this course, but Lincoln proceeded to demon- strate that he was neither a prudent nor a " practical " politician by not' only voting against the measure but also attempting to induce his associates to subscribe to a WTitten protest against the action of the majority. It was a very cautious and inoffensive document which he prepared, but it was sufficiently alarming to be al- most unanimously rejected. Indeed, only one other man had the temerity to put his name to the paper, but despite this, its sponsor had it spread in full upon the records. In this action Lincoln's whole political career is plainly foreshadowed. Where principles were at stake he had no pru- [36] FAILURES THAT SLXCEEDED dence and knew no fear. Balzac says that the wiliest politician is he who, swim- ming in the river of events, keeps his head abo\e the surface and, floating with the current, appears to