Lincolns Inaugurals, Addresses and Letters

Lincoln's Inaugurals, Addresses
and Letters
by Abraham
Lincoln

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Letters
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Title: Lincoln's Inaugurals, Addresses and Letters (Selections)
Author: Abraham Lincoln
Release Date: December 6, 2004 [EBook #14274] [Date last updated:
July 28, 2006]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LINCOLN'S
INAUGURALS, ***

Produced by Al Haines

Longman's English Classics
LINCOLN'S INAUGURALS, ADDRESSES AND LETTERS
(SELECTIONS)

EDITED
WITH AN INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR AND NOTES
BY
DANIEL KILHAM DODGE, PH.D.

PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK
PRAIRIE AVENUE & 25TH STREET, CHICAGO

Copyright, 1910,
BY
LONGMANS GREEN AND CO.

FIRST EDITION, JULY, 1910
REPRINTED, JUNE, 1913, MAY, 1915, MARCH, 1917

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE--LINCOLN
INAUGURALS, ADDRESSES, AND LETTERS
Address to the People of Sangamon County, March 9, 1832 The
Perpetuation of our Political Institutions, January 27, 1837 Speech at
Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858 Second Joint Debate at Freeport,
August 27, 1858 The Cooper Institute Address, Monday, February 27,
1860 Farewell Address at Springfield, Illinois, February 12, 1861
Farewell Address at Springfield, Illinois, February 11, 1861 Address in
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, February 22, 1861 First Inaugural
Address, March 4, 1861 Response to Serenade, March 4, 1861 Letter to
Colonel Ellsworth's Parents, May 25, 1861 Letter to Horace Greeley,
August 22, 1862 Extract from the Second Annual Message to Congress,
December 1, 1862 The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
Thanksgiving Proclamation, July 15, 1863 Letter to J. C. Conkling,
August 26, 1863 Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 Letter to
Mrs. Bixby, November 21, 1864 Second Inaugural Address, March 4,
1865 Last Public Address, April 11, 1865
APPENDIX. Autobiography, December 20, 1859
NOTES

INTRODUCTION

The facts of Lincoln's early life are best stated in his own words,
communicated in 1859[see Appendix] to Mr. J. W. Fell, of
Bloomington, Illinois. Unlike many men who have risen from humble
surroundings, Lincoln never boasted of his wonderful struggle with
poverty. His nature had no room for the false pride of a Mr. Bounderby,
even though the facts warranted the claim. Indeed, he seldom
mentioned his early life at all. On one occasion he referred to it as "the
short and simple annals of the poor." Lincoln himself did not in any
way base his claims to public recognition upon the fact that he was
born in a log cabin and that he had split rails in his youth, although, on
the other hand, he was not ashamed of the facts. More, perhaps, than
any other man of his time he believed and by his actions realized the
truth of Burns' saying, "The man's the goud, for a' that." The real lesson
to be drawn from Lincoln's life is that under any conditions real success
is to be won by intelligent, unwavering effort, the degree of success
being determined by the ability and character of the individual. Still
less profitable is the attempt to contrast the success of Lincoln with that
of Washington, or Jefferson or of any other American whose early
circumstances were more favorable than Lincoln's. In each case success
has been worthily won, and we Americans of the present generation
should rejoice that our country has produced so many great men. True
patriotism does not consist in the recognition of only one type of
Americanism, but rather in the grateful acceptance of every service that
advances the fortunes and raises the reputation of the republic. Peculiar
interest attaches to the character of Lincoln's early reading and
especially to the small number of books that were accessible to him. In
these days of cheap and plentiful literature it is hard for us to realize the
conditions in pioneer Kentucky and Indiana, where half a dozen
volumes formed a family library and even newspapers were few and far
between. There was no room for mental dissipation, and the few
precious volumes that could be obtained were read and re-read until
their contents were fully mastered. When Sir Henry Irving was asked to
prepare a list of the hundred best books he replied, "Before a hundred
books, commend me to the reading of two, the Bible and Shakespeare."
Fortunately these two classics came at an early age within the reach of
Lincoln and the frequency with which he quotes from both at all
periods of his career, both in his writings and in his conversation,

shows that he had made good use of them.