973.7L63 Hambrecht , George ^ 
 
 GH17a .X. ^ . 
 
 2 Abraham Lincoln His 
 
 Spirit Still Lives 
 
 cop 
 
LINCOLN ROOM 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 presented by 
 
 James G. and Ruth Painter 
 Randall Collection 
 
 T'-rrmrmr^ff 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 HIS SPIRIT LIVES 
 
 AN APPRECIATION 
 
 by 
 
 George P. Hambrecht 
 Madison, Wisconsin 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 HIS SPIRIT LIVES 
 
 AN APPRECIATION 
 
 by 
 
 George P. Hambrecht 
 
 Madison, Wisconsin 
 
 Issued February 12, 1926 
 
 Printed at 
 The Vocational School 
 Stoughton, Wisconsin 
 
Copyrighted, 1926 
 
 by 
 
 George P. Hambrecht 
 
 f^ c^ c^ 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
Cof' 5- 
 
 LINCOLN 
 
 PAINTED BY J, H. LITTLEFIELD. --fc=*>: • ENGRAVED BY H GUGLER. 
 PHOTOGRAPHIC COPYRIGHT SECURED. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnhiOOhamb 
 
Henry Gugler, the engraver of the foregoing 
 
 portrait of Abraham Lincoln, came to America in 
 
 1853, entering one of the Bank Note Companies of New 
 
 York City as a steel plate engraver. In the early 60's, after the 
 
 breaking out of the Civil War, when the Government undertook 
 
 to do its own engraving and printing of paper money, Henry 
 
 Gugler was engaged 
 nettes and portraits, 
 issues then being 
 ly established 
 Bureau. Some 
 maybe seen on 
 of $5.00 and 
 use even to this 
 Henry Gugler 
 to leave the 
 Government 
 what was to be 
 work of his 
 life-size steel 
 
 as engraver of the vig- 
 
 for the new note 
 
 prepared at the new- 
 
 National Note 
 
 of his work 
 
 certain issues 
 
 $20.00 bills in 
 
 day. In 1866 
 
 was persuaded 
 
 employ of the 
 
 to undertake 
 
 the crowning 
 
 career: The 
 
 engraving of 
 
 Abraham Lincoln. This monumental work represents more than 
 two years of artistic application at a cost of nearly $10,000.00. 
 
 Upon its completion it was immediately pronounced the best 
 likeness of our martyred President in existence. At the same time 
 the magnificent dimensions of the engraving — worthy of its great 
 subject — appealed to the public. No work of life-size steel engraved 
 portraiture had ever been attempted before this. 
 
 As the years pass on and a more or less fixed conception of the 
 
 revered features of Lincoln crystalize in the minds of our people, Henry 
 
 Gugler's engraving may now, like a composite photograph, be said 
 
 to represent that collective conception of the features of 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, which our people individually 
 
 cherish and carry in their minds and hearts. 
 
This Sketch is dedicated 
 
 to my wife 
 
 Kate Barrows Hambrecht 
 
 Whose friendly suggestions and 
 loving help is hereby acknowledged 
 
 This Edition is limited to 300 copies, 
 
 numbered and signed by the writer, 
 
 of which this is No. .Al6L^ 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 The writer greatly appreciates the kindness of 
 Mr. O. B. Gugler, President of the Gugler Lithographic 
 Co., of Milwaukee, in furnishing the reproduction of 
 the Littlefield painting as engraved by Henry Gugler 
 shortly after Mr, Lincoln's death. Sincere acknowl- 
 edgment and thanks are also due to Mr. E. C. Corn- 
 stock, Director of the Vocational School at Stoughton, 
 Wisconsin, through whose courtesy this monograph 
 was printed as a project of the school print shop; and 
 to Mr. R. H. Landis, the instructor under whose 
 direction the work was done. 
 
ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 HIS SPIRIT LIVES 
 
 TODAY Lincoln is a world charac- 
 ter. His biography, writings, and 
 speeches are translated into every 
 tongue and he is quoted more widely 
 than any other living statesman; and 
 there is a growing tendency in these days 
 of political ferment, disorganization and 
 adjustment, to turn to Lincoln for guid- 
 ance. We frequently hear the query; 
 "What would Lincoln do today if he 
 were living in our generation?" 
 
 On every hand arguments and theories 
 are upheld by quotations from him, and 
 the most divergent opinions fly to 
 Lincoln as their advocate. Still more, 
 wherever men express their views on the 
 vital questions of the day, in legislative 
 halls, on the public platform, the pulpit, 
 in the editorial sanctum or private con- 
 verse, the testimony of Lincoln on spe- 
 cific problems is sought. 
 
 [ page 1 ] 
 
What splendid tribute is this faith in 
 him thus manifested by appeals to his 
 expressed opinion, and what love of a 
 cherished memory is thus demonstrated 
 by the assumption that his opinion con- 
 stitutes the final word in any contro- 
 versy! No greater monument could be 
 his than this reaching up of hands to 
 the beloved, the idolized Lincoln. 
 
 A FUTILE HOPE 
 
 BUT Lincoln is in his grave. The 
 prayer that he solve specific pre- 
 sent day problems is as faithless as 
 it is futile. It is unfair to his memory 
 and to the cause. No searching analysis, 
 born of a wide experience, close observa- 
 tion and intensive study, can now be 
 given by him before judgment is pro- 
 nounced. However loud the call, no 
 response can come from him to the de- 
 mand for his verdict on questions now 
 confronting the people. In the language 
 of Chauncey M. Depew, "He would 
 probably be the oracle and idol of suc- 
 
 [ page 2 } 
 
ceeding generations, rather than popular 
 in this one." Let Lincoln's own words 
 answer the query: "The dogmas of the 
 past are inadequate to the stormy present." 
 Lincoln constantly warned against "rash- 
 ness" and urged "ceaseless vigilance." In 
 his well thought out address, delivered 
 at Cooper Union, New York, he said: 
 
 "I do not mean to say we are bound to 
 follow implicitly in whatever our fathers 
 did. To do so would be to discard all 
 the lights of current experience, to reject 
 all progress, all improvement. What I do 
 say is, that if we would supplant the 
 opinions and policy of our fathers in 
 any case, we should do so upon evidence 
 so conclusive and argument so clear, 
 that even their authority, fairly consid- 
 ered and weighed, cannot stand; and most 
 surely not in a case whereof we ourselves 
 declare they understand the question 
 better than we." 
 
 It is not Lincoln's opinion on a par- 
 ticular subject, nor his wisdom as ex- 
 pressed in his letters, state papers and 
 
 [ page 3 ] 
 
speeches which form his greatest con- 
 tribution. It is the attitude and temper 
 with which he approached his problems 
 and the methods by which he met them 
 which are the guides. When leaders 
 are no longer picked from those who 
 come with prepared formulae and avowed 
 panaceas, but, instead, are selected for 
 those qualities of mind and heart pos- 
 sessed by Lincoln, our problems shall un- 
 ravel, our troubles dissolve, and our 
 antipathies and prejudices vanish like the 
 dust-cloud before a summer shower. 
 
 FOUNDATION STONE 
 
 THE foundation stone of Lincoln's 
 character was absolute honesty, 
 an affirmative honesty which 
 leaves no room for a doubt of its presence; 
 an honesty which so negatives insincerity 
 of thought or purpose that suspicion 
 crawls away from it, defeated in advance, 
 dragging its challenge still sheathed. 
 Lincoln was first honest with himself, 
 subjecting his words and actions to the 
 
 [ page 4 } 
 
closest scrutiny, and requiring from him- 
 self a higher standard of integrity even 
 than he expected from others. Upon 
 this rock he built, and the life structure 
 he raised grew stronger with the years 
 because of his refusal to swerve in word 
 or deed from this basic principle. When 
 all other virtues are recited and com- 
 mented upon, underneath them lies this 
 certain, positive, dominating integrity. 
 
 The same honesty, which made him 
 walk several miles in New Salem to re- 
 turn money over-paid him through an 
 error in making change, caused him to 
 decide in favor of Great Britain in the 
 "Trent Afiair," because it was right, 
 though it subjected his country to appar- 
 ent humility. The first would have been 
 dismissed by a less honest man as of little 
 consequence, and the second would have 
 been dodged for the sake of political expe- 
 dience, because of the storm of criticism 
 it was sure to provoke and the personal 
 abuse he would meet. Both incidents re- 
 veal essential honesty so pronounced that 
 any other course for him would be im- 
 
 [ page 5 ] 
 
possible. 
 
 A natural corollary to honesty, is open- 
 ness of mind. Although Lincoln was 
 a vigorous and independent thinker, he 
 continually sought the advice of others 
 and his door was never closed to anyone 
 who had a view to present or an idea to 
 express, regardless of whether he assented 
 to that view or that opinion at the time. 
 It was this willingness to listen and 
 weigh all the evidence that made him so 
 formidable in debate and it was this trait 
 that helped him to arrive at conclusions 
 so final that they seldom required alter- 
 ation. It was this quality of mind that 
 made him sympathetic toward the south- 
 ern people while he remained sternly 
 opposed to the institution of slavery. 
 
 It is out of a diversity of ideas and 
 honest differences of opinion that the 
 truth is learned. It would be unnatural 
 if all thought and spoke the same thing. 
 Free and honest discussion of mooted 
 questions stimulates thought and develops 
 power. This, tempered with toleration 
 
 [ page 6 ] 
 
for the opinions of others, spells progress. 
 Lincoln believed it to be his duty to 
 inform himself as conscientiously as pos- 
 sible, to express himself freely and hon- 
 estly, to encourage others to do the 
 same, and to help them to secure a hearing. 
 
 ALL MAY PROFIT 
 
 THE educational trait of this mental 
 attitude grows in value in propor- 
 tion to the extent to which it 
 expresses honest opinions, based on care- 
 ful research, and arouses in others a de- 
 sire for further inquiry and thought. 
 This intellectual training in Lincoln is 
 within the reach of all, and if honestly 
 applied by those who teach, and by those 
 who would learn, it will go far to stimu- 
 late educational values among the great 
 mass of the people today. 
 
 There are many well intentioned folk 
 who do not understand the value of 
 hearing the other side of an argument, 
 and of free discussion. William Hern- 
 don, Abraham Lincoln's law partner and 
 
 [ page 7 ] 
 
an earnest abolitionist, reproached Lin- 
 coln, on one occasion, with having 
 around their law offices three or four 
 files of pro-slavery papers from the south- 
 ern states, for which Lincoln subscribed. 
 But Lincoln said in reply to Herndon 
 that he wanted to know what the South 
 was thinking and saying, whether he 
 agreed with it or not. He insisted on 
 getting their viewpoint, and this habit of 
 reading both sides of a question, which 
 gave him food for reflection, developed 
 him into a real leader and statesman. 
 
 His method is a constant lesson in 
 liberality towards others; an encourage- 
 ment to the recognition of the fact that 
 there may be something to be said of the 
 other man's point of view as well as of 
 your's, that you no more see all the truth 
 than he does; and that if all thus seen 
 can be fused, a larger amount of truth 
 will result. Above all, his method is a 
 revelation of what a man can make out 
 of himself if he will. Indeed, the impres- 
 sion grows that the greatest service 
 Lincoln did this country was the demon- 
 
 [ page 8 } 
 
stration of what could be made of a mind 
 by passionate, persistent effort. To what 
 moral heights might the nation rise if 
 dealt with in perfect candor and honesty! 
 
 THE HUMAN VIEWPOINT 
 
 LINCOLN was able to view every 
 individual question in its relation 
 to human welfare and human prog- 
 ress. Questions involving moral issues 
 he always interpreted in easily understood 
 terms. Even the complicated issues 
 raised by the Slavery Question, culminat- 
 ing in those historic debates with Douglas, 
 he interpreted as part of a great move- 
 ment and not alone an isolated question. 
 This is well illustrated in the summary 
 of his debate with Douglas, at Alton, 
 Illinois, when Lincoln said: 
 
 "This is the issue that will continue in 
 this country when these poor tongues of 
 Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. 
 It is the eternal struggle between these 
 two principles — right and wrong — 
 throughout the world. They are the two 
 
 [ page 9 } 
 
principles that have stood face to face 
 from the beginning of time and will ever 
 continue to struggle. The one is the 
 common right of humanity, the other the 
 divine right of kings. It is the same 
 spirit in whatever shape it develops itself. 
 It is the same spirit that says, 'You toil 
 and work and earn bread, and TU eat it.' 
 No matter in what shape it comes, 
 whether from the mouth of a king who 
 seeks to bestride the people of his own 
 nation and live by the fruit of their labor 
 or from one race of men as an apology 
 for enslaving another race, it is the same 
 tyrannical principle." 
 
 A CHALLENGE 
 
 LINCOLN'S Hfe is a call to the train- 
 ing of the mind until it can form 
 sound, workmanlike, trustworthy 
 conclusions; a training of the moral 
 nature to justice and rightness; a training 
 of the heart to a sympathetic measuring 
 of human frailty; a training of the will to 
 stand steadfast on the conclusions of the 
 
 [ page 10 ] 
 
mind and heart. To this end there must 
 be an openness of mind, a willingness to 
 listen, a desire to know the truth in its 
 entirety before a determination is made. 
 Couple with all this a frankness of ap- 
 proach which negatives unworthy motive 
 and a quality of leadership unfolds which 
 rightly gives him first place in American 
 history, if not in the world. 
 
 There is utter futility in trying to con- 
 jecture as to how Lincoln would have 
 solved the problems of today. In their 
 moral analysis, however, these problems 
 are no different from those which he 
 faced and solved. It is by the application 
 of the principles which guided Lincoln, 
 that a just solution of these problems can 
 be reached. If Lincoln were living today, 
 he would no doubt have very definite 
 convictions on such questions as The 
 League of Nations, The World Court, 
 Prohibition, Child Labor, Taxation, The 
 Exclusion of Aliens, The Constitutional 
 Prerogatives of the Supreme Court, and 
 the many other issues that impinge upon 
 the present generation. In arriving at 
 
 [ page 11 } 
 
these convictions, he would be guided 
 by those characteristics which have been 
 touched upon in this article. 
 
 If the aid of Lincoln is to be enlisted 
 in the solution of the present day prob- 
 lems there must be sought and found in 
 his life the salient elements of his great- 
 ness, and these must be transmuted into 
 the fibre of present day leadership. 
 
 SIMPLE AND GREAT 
 
 PRESIDENT Lincoln was able to be 
 simple and at the same time great; 
 courteous and yet courageous; yield- 
 ing and sympathetic, and withal a splen- 
 did executive — virtues seldom found 
 combined in one man. It was supreme 
 tact, combined with firmness and confi- 
 dence in his own judgment which en- 
 abled Lincoln to win over his cabinet. 
 The cabinet was made up of a group of 
 men extremely partisan, critical and diffi- 
 cult to handle; at first some of them at- 
 tempted to belittle him, underestimating 
 his real nature, later some of them lost 
 
 [ page 12 ] 
 
confidence in him, when he seemed to 
 stand alone, but finally they all came to 
 recognize in him a real leader among 
 men. This remarkable reversal of judg- 
 ment of those closely associated with 
 Lincoln is perhaps best expressed by 
 Stanton, his Secretary of War, with 
 whom Lincoln frequently differed in pol- 
 icies. It was Stanton at the death bed 
 scene on the morning of April 15, 1865, 
 when Lincoln, the victim of an assassin's 
 bullet, breathed his last, who paid this 
 remarkable tribute to his chief: 
 
 "He now belongs to the ages — 
 
 here lies the most perfect ruler 
 
 of men the world has ever 
 
 known." 
 
 ^ ^ Q \^ 
 
 [ page 13 ] 
 
L'ENVOY 
 
 LINCOLN lives. The monument 
 at Springfield does not hold him 
 from the world. Such a character 
 never dies. It has so interwoven itself 
 into history and so influenced human 
 action that it endures for all time. 
 
 When the pomp of insincerity has 
 finished its parade and the sham of pol- 
 itical intrigue has been exposed; when 
 the sacrifice of integrity to a temporary 
 glory has reaped its just harvest of igno- 
 miny; when the conscienceless leader 
 shall behold the broken sword of his 
 disgrace; when ambitious greed shall 
 awake to find only husks of possible 
 greatness at its table: then shall Lincoln 
 still live. 
 
 When civic courage shall some day 
 have its place with the heroes of the age, 
 Lincoln's name shall lead all the rest. 
 When human example shall be sought 
 for the youth struggling in poverty, 
 through which he shall be inspired to 
 loose the bands of environment or cir- 
 
 [ page 14 ] 
 
cumstance to rise to the potential possi- 
 bility of his life, Lincoln shall help to 
 strike the fetters from him and bid him 
 with confidence meet the future. Wher- 
 ever men shall strive to find the path to 
 the hearts of the people, Lincoln shall 
 guide them. 
 
 If faith in representative government 
 shall totter under the strain of conflicting 
 forces impelled by passion and prejudice, 
 Lincoln shall set it upon its feet again by 
 pointing to the bitterest civil contest 
 ever waged in history met by him with 
 constant appeal to fundamental principles, 
 with an understanding of temper and 
 environment which enabled him to pro- 
 ceed without malice to hold together a 
 union of states so dearly bought, and in 
 which the greatest good for all was the 
 preservation of the common heritage. 
 And so long as time shall turn its hours 
 into history this man shall be a part of 
 the evolution of self-government into 
 unquestioned perpetuity. 
 
 Why go on? That life which shall be 
 led throughout by conscious honesty of 
 
 [ page 15 ] 
 
purpose, which shall have the courage to 
 follow this lead, however blind may be 
 the road ahead, is an ever continuing 
 force in human action. The bullet of 
 the assassin, the coffin and the grave can- 
 not end it. The voice now silent yet 
 speaks with a million tongues. The pen, 
 fallen from the grasp of nerveless fingers, 
 is caught by countless eager hands to 
 write on and on forever the message of 
 fidelity to principle. Wherever the air 
 of freedom shall be breathed, he breathes. 
 Wherever unmanacled liberty shall walk, 
 he walks. Wherever human eyes shall 
 search for truth they shall take his lens 
 and find it. 
 
 Lincoln lives. As said the great 
 Stanton, when the life-light faded and 
 the pulse ceased to beat: 
 
 "He now belongs to the ages!" 
 
 ^ THE END t^ 
 
 [ page 16 ] 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 973.7L63GH17A C002 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, HIS SPIRIT LIVES STOUGH 
 
 3 0112 031818963