Abraham Lincoln; A Paper Read Before the Royal Historical Society, London, June 16th, 1881 (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The noblest inheritance we, Americans, derive from our British ancestors is the memory and example of the great and good men who adorn your history. They are as much appreciated and honored on our side of the Atlantic as on this. In giving to the English-speaking world Washington and Lincoln we think we repay, in large part, our obligation. Their preeminence in American history is recognized, and the republic, which the one t founded and the other preserved, has, already, crowned them as models for her children. In the annals of almost every great nation some names appear standing out clear and prominent, names of those who have influenced, or controlled, the great events which make up history. Such were Wallace and Bruce, in Scotland, Alfred and the Edwards, William the Conqueror, Cromwell, Pitt, Nelson, and Wellington, in England, and such in a still greater degree were Washington and Lincoln. I am here, from near his home, with the hope that I may, to some extent, aid you in forming a just and true estimate of Abraham Lincoln. I knew him, somewhat intimately, in private and public life for more than twenty years. We practised law at the same bar, and, during his administration, I was a member of Congress, seeing him and conferring with him often, and, therefore, I may hope ht rniij TITJ 111 il I shall be able to contribute something of value in enabling you to judge of him. We in America, as well as you in the old world, believe that "blood will tell;" that it is a great blessing to have had an honorable and worthy ancestry. Webelieve that moral principle, physical and intellectual vigor in the forefathers are qualities likely to be manifested in the descendants. Fools are not the fathers or mothers of great men. I claim for Lincoln, humble as was the ...