OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN EDITED WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES BY HARRY W. HASTINGS, PH.D. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS AND HAROLD W. THOMPSON, PH.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS F. M. AMBROSE AND COMPANY NEW YORK AND BOSTON 1921 FOREWORD THIS book of selections is intended for a variety of uses. We hope that it will find a place in high schools, in normal schools, and in colleges, and that it will be of service also to the general reader who wishes to have in a single volume the best of what Lincoln thought and said. First, we have aimed to satisfy the requirements of the College Entrance Board, which places Selections from Lincoln upon its list of books for classes in literature. In satisfying these requirements we have included all the selections specified by the Board; but instead of adding another account of Lincoln's life to the number already in existence, we have printed at the beginning of our volume the most complete of Lincoln's autobiographical sketches, which carries him to the presidential campaign of 1860, and have supplied fairly complete chronological tables to supplement this. These tables not only show events in the life of Lincoln and summarize the history of his period, but bring together also the titles of the important literary works evoked by the slavery issue during his time. Thus the student, observing how much writing and how much legislation had its origin in the problems of slavery, will realize that Lincoln merely gave more effective expression than others, both in word and deed, to the interest which many had in common. Secondly, in making our selections we have tried to supply more advanced students, whether of literature or of history, with the material necessary for tracing the development of Lincoln's statesmanship. To this end we have arranged our selections in chronological order, and have worked out a series of questions to guide study. We venture the assertion that the student who informs himself as to what Lincoln thought upon the principles of government and the important issues of his day will have an epitome of American history to the end of the |