r women. He was brave and good
because his mother was brave and good. She has since become
distinguished among American women because her child, born in
a lowly cabin in the midst of a wild Western forest, has since
been recognized as the greatest man of the century--if not of
all centuries. It was fortunate for our common country that
Mr. Lincoln was born among that pioneer people and had his
early education among them. It was a simple school, and the
course of studies limited; but the lessons he learned in that
school in the forest were grand and good. Everything around
and about him was just as it came from the hands of the
Creator. It was good, and it was beautiful. It developed
both the head and the heart. It produced the best type of
manhood--both physical and mental. It was in that school he
learned lessons of heroism, courage, and of daring for the
right. It was there he learned lessons of patriotism in its
highest and best sense; and it was there he learned to love
his fellow-man. It was in the practice of those lessons his
life became such a benediction to the American nation.

The story of that people among whom Mr. Lincoln spent his
early life will always have a fascination for the American
people; and it is a matter of congratulation so much of it has
been gathered up and put into form to be preserved.

The portraits the work contains give a very good idea of that
pioneer race of men and women. The one given of Mr. Lincoln's
step-mother is a splendid type of a pioneer woman. A touching
contribution are the brief lines of which a facsimile is
printed:

"Abraham Lincoln
his hand and pen
he will be good but
God knows When."

These words--simple as they are--will touch the heart of the
American people through all the years of our national history.
It was "his hand and pen" that wrote many beautiful thoughts.
It was his "hand and pen" that wrote those kindest of all
words, "With malice towards none, with charity for all." It
was his "hand and pen" that traced the lines of that wonderful
Gettysburg speech; and it was his "hand and pen" that wrote
the famous proclamation that gave liberty to a race of slaves.
It was then God knew he was "good."

If the remainder of the work shall be of the same character as
that now prin