not realize at that time that it was merely the plan of a man half-crazed by suffering. Some Southerners fancied that all the abolitionists in the North were in league with John Brown, and as they had lived through the horrors of small negro revolts, they were naturally indignant.

In fact, most people in the North thought it very wrong of John Brown to take the law into his own hands or to try to free slaves by violence. They did long to see slavery ended, but they wanted it to be done by vote, and not by force. Besides, they knew, as well as the Southerners, that an uprising of the negroes was greatly to be dreaded, for the latter were so ignorant at that time, and so easily led, that they might have been urged on to commit the most horrible crimes.

John Brown's attempt only made slavery quarrels worse, and when the time came for a new election, four candidates were proposed. One of these men, Breck'inridge, was in favor of allowing slaves to be carried into all the territories, but another, Stephen A. Douglas, said that the new territories ought to be opened to slaveholders and free men, the settlers themselves deciding for or against slavery. The third man declared merely in favor of union and peace. The fourth, Abraham Lincoln, claimed that, while the laws of states should be respected, slavery ought not to spread any farther, because it was morally wrong. Now, by the last census made, there were thirty-one million inhabitants in our country, only twelve million of which lived in slave states. You will therefore not be surprised to learn that Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate, was elected sixteenth President of the United States (1860).

It was in 1861 that Kansas joined the Union as a free state, and the thirty-fourth star was added to our flag. In mentioning Old Glory, Senator Charles Sumner once spoke these words, which every American citizen should remember: "The stripes of alternate red and white proclaim the original union of thirteen states to maintain the Declaration of Independence. Its stars, white on a field of blue, proclaim the union of states constituting our national constellation, which receives a new star with every new state. These two signify union, past and present. The very colors have a language which was officially recWhite is for purity, red is for

ognized by our fathers.

valor, blue is for justice."

XXXV. LINCOLN'S YOUTH.

EFORE we go on to speak of the great events which

took place after Lincoln's election, it will interest you to hear something about Lincoln, who, as you will see, was one of the most remarkable men that ever lived.

Born in a Kentucky log hut in 1809, Lincoln belonged to the poor white class; indeed, his father was so ignorant that he did not even know how to read. But, like most great men, Lincoln had a very good mother, who, although poor and far from learned, taught her boy all she could. She died soon after they had moved to Indiana, and when only nine years old the poor little fellow had to help his father dig her grave. He never forgot his mother's teachings, however, and many years later, when in the White

House, he said: "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my sainted mother."

The Lincoln family had but one book, a Bible, which Abraham used to read by the light of the pine knots he picked up, for they could not afford any other light. Instead of a slate, Lincoln had a piece of rough board, or an old fire shovel, and used a bit of charcoal or limestone as a pencil. He was eager to learn, and so persevering that he borrowed an old arithmetic, and not only worked out all the sums without any help, but copied it all so as to have a book of his own.

Obliged to work all day, Lincoln plowed, sowed, and reaped, and split rails to fence in his father's little farm.

The only way the farmers in that region could get money was by building flatboats and taking their produce to New Orleans. Lincoln soon did this too, and on reaching that city saw many strange new sights. For instance, he once went to the slave market, where, for the first time in his life, he saw human beings sold like cattle.

It made him feel so bad that we are told he then said, in regard to slavery: "If I can ever hit that thing, I'll hit it hard!"

Lincoln made several trips to New Orleans, and perceiving that flatboats were often caught in snags or tangles of branches in the Mississippi, he invented a kind of pole to lift them over such obstacles. The roughly

whittled pattern of this invention can still be seen in the Patent Office at Washington, where it is shown as a curiosity.

When Lincoln became a young man, he was clerk in a small store in Illinois. He was so careful and upright in all his dealings while there, that he soon won the name of "Honest Abe."

Indeed, we are told

that after making a

mistake in giving change, he once tramped several miles at night, after the store was closed, to give an old woman the few cents he still owed her. On another occasion, Lincoln found he had given short measure in tea to a

customer, and could

not rest until he

had corrected his

mistake.

Lincoln as Clerk.

While in charge of this country store, Lincoln was postmaster, too. But letters were so few that he carried them around in his hat. When any one called for mail, he quickly produced the small bundle, and, looking it over, found the right letter.

Both store and post office came to an abrupt end; but Lincoln was so honest that when peo