blazing fire of shavings in the cooper's shop. And soon, he had mastered it. He borrowed every book in New Salem; he made the schoolmaster give him lessons in the store; he buttonholed every stranger that came into the place "who looked as though he knew anything"; until, at last, every one in New Salem was ready to echo Offutt's boast that "Abe Lincoln" knew more than any man "in these United States.' One day, in the bottom of an old barrel of trash, he made a splendid "find," two old law books. He read and reread them, got all the sense and argument out of their dry pages, blossomed into a debater, began to dream of being a lawyer, and became so skilled in seeing through and settling knotty questions that, once again, New Salem wondered at this clerk of Offutt's, who was as long of head as of arms and legs, and declared that "Abe Lincoln could outargue any ten men in the settlement." In all the history of America there has been no man who started lower and climbed higher than Abraham Lincoln, the backwoods boy. He never "slipped back." He always kept going ahead. He broadened his mind, enlarged his outlook, and led his companions rather than let them lead him. He was jolly company, good-natured, kind-hearted, fond of jokes and stories, and a good time generally; but he was the champion of the weak, the friend of the friendless, as true a knight and as full of chivalry as any one of the heroes in armor of whom you read in Ivanhoe or The Talisman. He never cheated, never lied, never took an unfair advantage of any one; but he was ambitious, strongwilled, a bold fighter, and a tough adversary - a fellow who would never "say die"; and who, therefore, succeeded. ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS: The True Story of Abraham Lincoln. AIDS TO STUDY Elbridge S. Brooks (1846-1902), a writer of juvenile fiction, was born at Lowell, Mass. His stories for boys and girls have charmed many a youthful heart. blue jeans (bloo'jenz'), a garment ingenuity (In'je nu'I ti), clevermade of twilled cloth. buckskin (buk'skin), a strong leather. ness. Laertes (La ûr'tēz), son of Polonius. contrivance (kon trīv'ăns), a de- linsey-woolsey vice, scheme, invention. debater (dė bat'er), one skilled in argument. Decatur (Dé kā'tŭr). (lin'zi-wool'zi), coarse cloth of linen and wool or of cotton and wool. Polonius (Po lō'nĭ us), father of Laertes and Ophelia in Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet. haft (håft), a handle. the human race. humanity (hủ măn'i t), mankind, Sangamon (Săn'gả mòn). Thackeray (Thak'ĕr 1). 1. Why is the memory of Abraham Lincoln so loved and respected by the American people? 2. How does the author describe Lincoln as a boy of fifteen? 3. What is to be said of his love for animals? 4. Tell about his great love for reading. 5. Describe his scrapbooks. 6. Give a word-picture of how he read on the big hearth of his log-cabin home. 7. How did Abraham get Weems's Life of Washington? 8. What event happened in 1830? 9. How did "Honest Abe" manage to earn a few pennies on his way to Illinois? 10. How did he get his first pair of "blue jeans"? 11. Tell of his experience as a boatman on the Mississippi. 12. Why did Lincoln like his new position as clerk? 13. How did Abraham show his great strength? 14. Tell some of his manly characteristics as a clerk. 15. How did he secure a grammar? 16. Why did he succeed in life? 17. Form adjectives from the following verbs: needed, laughed, read, agreed, dried, engaged, explain, criticize, transporting, thought. Expressions for study: blue jeans held the gad jumped at the chance pull fodder rail-splitter shingle scrapbook slipped back spring freshets teasing tarrypins work the book out 1. Imagine that you were a boyhood friend of Lincoln, and that you knew him when he became president. Then write a letter to the editor of a newspaper, and tell him how the great Abraham Lincoln secured his education. 2. If you can secure a copy, read Margarita Spalding Gerry's The Toy Shop. For Freedom's battle, once begun, LORD BYRON. ARCHBISHOP SPALDING Most Rev. John Lancaster Spalding (1840-1916), poet, essayist, and lecturer, was born in Lebanon, Ky. His ancestors came to this country with Lord Baltimore to found the Maryland colony. As a school boy he gave evidence of a brilliant career. He was intensely interested in biography and history; and it may be truly said that he knew every book in his father's library. For his classical training he went to Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md. Later on he went to the great University of Louvain, Belgium, and to the American College, Rome, where, after an unusually brilliant course in theology, he was raised to the priesthood. Shortly after his ordination, he returned to his native country, and labored for fifteen years in Kentucky and in New York. At the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, he was chosen by Archbishop Blanchet as his theologian. Besides he was one of the special preachers on the occasion. On the death of his uncle, Archbishop Spalding of Baltimore, he began to write the life of that eminent theologian and churchman. In 1876, he was consecrated bishop of Peoria, Ill. Although leading the active life of a missionary bishop, he found time to write several valuable volumes of both prose and. poetry. His essays on educational subjects are looked upon with favor by educators of all religious denominations; and his refined and delicate verse has appeared in the best magazines of this country. Among his many works may be mentioned Things of the Mind, Thoughts and Theories of Life and Education, Education and the Higher Life, America and Other Poems, The Religious Mission of the Irish People, God and the Soul, and Socialism and Labor. |
