,,abraham ,,lincoln ,,the ,,practical ,,mystic ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author --------------------- ,,illusions ,,and ,,realities ,,of ,,the ,,war ,,the ,,invincible ,,alliance ,,and ,,other ,,essays ,,the ,,celtic ,,temperament ,,modern ,,mysticism ,,and ,,other ,,essays ,,parisian ,,portraits ,,the ,,humour ,,of ,,the ,,underman ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,shadows ,,la ,,vie ,,et ,,les ,,hommes 7in ,french7 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,abraham ,,lincoln ,,the ,,practical ,,mystic ,,by ,,francis ,,grierson ,,author ,,of ,,modern ,,mysticism1 ,,illusions ,,and ,,realities ,,of ,,the ,,war1 ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,shadows1 ,,etc4 ,,new ,,york3 ,,john ,,lane ,,company ,,london3 ,,john ,,lane1 ,,the ,,bodley ,,head ,,mcmxviii ,,copyright1 #aiah1 ,,by ,,john ,,lane ,,company ,press of ,j4 ,j4 ,little ,ives ,co4 ,new ,york1 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,contents ,the ,practical ,mysticism of ,abraham ,lincoln #i ,the ,divine ,will #ab ,the ,mystical ,awakening #ac ,the ,agnostic and the ,mystic #ag ,the ,logic of the ,supernatural #ai ,the ,mystical ,mood #ba ,going into the ,silence #bb ,invisible ,powers #bd ,the ,fusion of ,spirit and ,matter #bf ,his ,miraculous ,progress #bh ,a ,prophetic ,witness #cj ,lincoln's ,simplicity #cb ,lincoln's ,clairvoyant ,wit #cd ,a ,prophetic ,vision of ,hades #cg ,shakespeare and ,lincoln #dj ,a ,prophecy ,fulfilled #db ,the ,ordinances of ,heaven #dd ,lincoln's ,face #dh ,the ,great ,debate #di ,forecastings and ,premonitions #eb ,illumination of the ,spirit #ed ,tycho ,brahe and ,lincoln #ef ,herndon's ,analysis and ,testimony #eh ,an ,original ,mind #fj ,the ,great ,books #fa ,veneration and ,truth #fc ,the ,great ,puzzle #fd ,lincoln's ,energy and ,will #fe ,nature and ,prophecy #fg ,the ,seal of ,nature #fh ,law and ,authority #gj ,lincoln as ,critic #gc ,his ,style #gd ,lincoln's ,serenity #ge ,the ,romance of ,his ,character #gg ,president by the ,grace of ,god #gi ,science and the ,mystical #hj ,the ,old and the ,new #ha ,destiny versus ,will #hb ,james ,jacquess--,practical ,mystic #he ,images and ,dreams #hi ,the ,new ,era #ib ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,abraham ,,lincoln ,,the ,,practical ,,mystic ,the ,practical ,mysticism of ,abraham ,lincoln ,a knowledge of the influences which ruled the life of ,lincoln1 the greatest of practical mystics1 is essential now that a new form of paganism and slavery threatens humanity4 ,in ,lincoln's time the black slaves of ,america had to be freed2 in our time the white slaves of ,europe have to be freed4 ,we have returned to the conquest4 ,history is being repeated1 but on a far vaster scale4 ,the whole world is groaning under the threats and deeds of tyranny that seeks to become absolute4 ,what ,abraham ,lincoln stood for in the middle of the nineteenth century the ,english-speaking peoples must stand for at the beginning of the twentieth4 ,materialism produced ,prussian autocracy4 ,a spiritual power brought ,america safely through the ordeals of the ,civil ,war4 ,but the material and the spiritual cannot both rule at the same time4 ,one must yield authority to the other4 ,and we cannot succeed by denying the very thing which caused ,lincoln to triumph over all enemies and obstacles4 ,in #ahfb the ,reverend ,byron ,sutherland went with some friends of the ,president to call upon him4 ,on ,november #aeth1 #ahgb1 ,dr4 ,sutherland wrote to the ,reverend ,j4 ,a4 ,reed3-- ,the ,president began by saying1 ',the ways of ,god are mysterious and profound beyond all comprehension4 ,who1 by searching1 can find ,him out8 ,now1 judging after the manner of men1 taking counsel of our sympathies and feelings1 if it had been left to us to determine it1 we would have had no war4 ,and1 going farther back1 to the occasion of it1 we would have had no evil4 ,there is the mystery of the universe which no man can solve1 and it is at that point that human understanding backs down4 ,there is nothing left but for the heart of man to take up faith and believe where it cannot reason4 ,now1 ,i believe we are all agents and instruments of ,divine ,providence4 ,on both sides we are working out the will of ,god4 ,yet how strange the spectacle6 ,here is one half of the nation prostrated in prayer that ,god will help to destroy the ,union and build up a government upon the corner-stone of human bondage4 ,and here is the other half1 equally earnest in their prayers and efforts to defeat a purpose which they regard as so repugnant to their ideas of human nature and the rights of society1 as well as liberty and independence4 ,they want slavery2 we want freedom4 ,they want a servile class2 we want to make equality practicable as far as possible4 ,and they are ,christians and we are ,christians4 ,they and we are praying and fighting for results exactly the opposite4 ,what must ,god think of such a posture of affairs8 ,there is but one solution--self-deception4 ,somewhere there is a fearful heresy in our religion1 and ,i cannot think it lies in the love of liberty and in the aspirations of the human soul4 ,i hold myself in my present position1 and with the authority invested in me1 as an instrument of ,providence4 ,i have my own views and purposes4 ,i have my convictions of duty and my ideas of what is right to be done4 ,but ,i am conscious every moment that all ,i am1 and all ,i have1 is subject to the control of a ,higher ,power4 ,nevertheless1 ,i am no fatalist4 ,i believe in the supremacy of the human conscience1 and that men are responsible beings2 that ,god has a right to hold them--and will hold them--to a strict personal account for the deeds done in the body4444 ,god alone knows the issue of this business4 ,he has destroyed nations from the map of history for their sins4 ,nevertheless1 my hopes prevail generally above my fears for our ,republic4 ,the times are dark4 ,the spirits of ruin are abroad in all their power and the mercy of ,god alone can save us4' ,the ,divine ,will ,september #cjth1 #ahfb1 when everything looked dark and the future of ,america was uncertain1 ,lincoln wrote the following meditation on the ,divine ,will3-- ,the will of ,god prevails4 ,in great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of ,god4 ,both may be1 one must be1 wrong4 ,god cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time4 ,in the present civil war it is quite possible that ,god's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party2 and yet the human instrumentalities1 working just as they do1 are of the best adaptation to affect ,his purpose4 ,i am almost ready to say this is probably true3 that ,god wills this contest1 and wills that it shall not end yet4 ,by ,his great power on the minds of the contestants he could have either saved or destroyed the ,union without war4 ,yet the contest began4 ,and1 having begun1 ,he could give the final victory to either side any day4 ,yet the contest proceeds4 ,the ,mystical ,awakening ,a mystical epoch is upon us1 and like all vital movements it has come without systematic propaganda and without organised effort4 ,the world-upheaval did not cause this new movement2 it has simply advanced it by stripping materialism of its illusive trappings and showing it naked to the civilised world4 ,it is not the work of one man or any single group1 sect1 or nation4 ,its characteristics are ,anglo-,american1 and its development will prove the only antidote to the new pagan ,kultur1 which opposes not only ,christian morals but everything that places the spiritual above the material4 ,abraham ,lincoln1 the greatest practical mystic the world has known for nineteen hundred years1 is the one man whose life and example ought to be clearly set before the ,english-speaking peoples at this supreme climax in the history of civilisation4 ,the thoughts1 incidents1 manifestations1 which the majority of historians glide over with a careless touch1 or sidetrack because of the lack of moral courage1 are the only things that count in the life of that great seer4 ,his whole existence was controlled by influences beyond the ken of the most astute politicians of his time4 ,his genius was superhuman4 ,and since this world is not governed by chance1 a power was at work which fore-ordained him for his unique mission4 ,w4 ,h4 ,herndon has this to say in his biography of the immortal statesman3-- ,nature had burned into him her holy fire and stamped him with the seal of her greatness4 ,in other words1 the seal of the practical mystic1 which may be taken as the keynote to the spiritual theme of his marvellous experiences4 ,for it is futile to continue to harp on ,lincoln's political acumen1 his knowledge of law1 his understanding of the people1 his judgment of individuals1 his poverty1 his disregard of the conventional1 as causes of his greatness4 ,the same may be said of thousands of others1 yet there is no other ,lincoln4 ,to arrive at a just appreciation of the man and his achievements ,i felt it essential to read very carefully all the books written by those most intimate with the great ,president--a study which has required a period of thirty years4 ,the writing of ,the ,valley of ,shadows was one of the results of that study1 that book being1 as far as ,i could make it1 a depiction of the spiritual atmosphere of the ,lincoln country in ,lincoln's time--the atmosphere in which he lived and moved1 thought and worked4 ,too long has the materialism of weights and bushel measures dimmed the light that shines from the example of that incomparable seer4 ,too long have politicians used his name to fish for gudgeons in the muddy waters of sectional politics4 ,too long has ,lincoln been held up in speeches and electioneering manoeuvres as a politician who arrived because he was honest4 ,as if ,webster1 ,calhoun1 ,clay1 ,sumner1 and scores of others were not equally honest without ever attaining a world-influence4 ,what caused ,lincoln's honesty8 ,his conscience4 ,and what created his conscience8 ,his innate mystical knowledge of the difference between good and evil1 philosophers and puppets1 the solemn dignity of duty and the sham dignity of ambition4 ,his was the clear vision in the darkest hours while others were magnifying events through long-distance spectacles1 or minimising them in near-sighted details4 ,the mystical trend now visible in ,england and ,america is not a revival but a renaissance4 ,it has come in the natural course of events1 being the only thing that responds to the spiritual aspirations and needs of the dispensation ushered in by the great war4 ,the renaissance of practical mysticism is now apparent both in and outside the churches2 but its greatest influence is exerted on that large class which1 before the war1 had no religious convictions of any kind4 ,we have arrived at a climax in history4 ,old methods and systems are passing1 but not the old fundamental truths4 ,conditions1 not principles1 have changed1 and our attitude towards things has changed with conditions4 ,thousands can now see clearly where once they saw through a veil of agnosticism4 ,it required a mighty force to lift the veil1 and a vast amount of machinery and metaphysics had to combine to accomplish such a miracle2 but the miracle is here1 alive with a vital flame unknown since the days of the ,prophets and the ,apostles4 ,the spiritual renaissance is not a drawing-room fad4 ,it is not founded on a passing whim4 ,novelties and opinions shift with the wind1 and people who are influenced by them are influenced by shadows4 ,mere notions can never take the place of ideas4 ,novelties possess no fundamental basis on which the spirit of man can build1 and the difference between an idea and a notion is the difference between a university and a lunatic asylum4 ,the spiritual renaissance is not confined to any particular profession1 and this is why it is making headway among people of such divers views4 ,the war has crushed the juice out of the orange on the tree of pleasure and nothing is left but the peel over which materialism is slipping to its doom4 ,this stupendous movement was not sprung upon the world in a night4 ,it has had its slow stages of development4 ,everything comes and goes in cycles which are graded in kind and proceed in accordance with immutable law4 ,this spiritual movement has had its special phases of preparation4 ,it is not true that the voices of the prophets have been inaudible4 ,what is true is that every voice that has sounded since the dawn of historical civilisation has been heard and heeded4 ,emerson uttered a great mystical truth when he said3 ,a book written for three will gravitate to three1 and1 similarly1 a voice intended for three will be heard and heeded by three4 ,the ,agnostic and the ,mystic ,herndon's agnosticism left no lasting impression on the mind of ,lincoln4 ,this is remarkable1 because ,herndon was a man with a powerful originality and a strong will4 ,lincoln was more or less influenced by ,herndon at the beginning of their acquaintance but such influence did not last long4 ,another curious thing is that ,mr4 ,herndon1 in spite of his probity1 his practical ability1 and his talent as a lawyer1 never became known beyond his own state4 ,he never was put forward as a leader4 ,perhaps he entertained no particular ambition to lead1 being too much of a philosopher1 but the remark is in order that what was lacking in his temperament was just a spark of that mystical illumination which gave ,lincoln his faith1 his conviction1 and his power4 ,no doubt ,herndon was singularly fitted for the position he held with ,lincoln for the space of twenty years4 ,had he been a leader in public affairs he could not have aided ,lincoln as he did4 ,that the great ,president never had a mentor is plain to all who have studied the best biographies4 ,he did sometimes act upon suggestions from friends in matters of minor importance in his private affairs4 ,when1 one day1 after he had become ,president1 ,mrs4 ,lincoln informed him that the gossips declared he was being ruled by ,seward1 his reply was3 ,i may not rule myself out1 certainly ,seward shall not4 ,the only ruler is my conscience--following ,god in it--and these men will have to learn that yet4 ,and ,seward did learn it1 as well as ,stanton and ,chase1 and every member of the ,cabinet1 and all others who came within the radius of his mystical circuit4 ,indeed1 the generals all learnt it1 some of them to their sorrow1 long before the war ended4 ,lincoln's authority became apparent to all whenever he delivered a speech on important occasions4 ,then1 as ,judge ,whitney has said1 he was as terrible as an army with banners4 ,col4 ,henry ,watterson1 in his memorable address before the ,lincoln ,union1 in ,chicago1 puts the question3 ,where did ,shakespeare get his genius8 ,where did ,mozart get his music8 ,whose hand smote the lyre of the ,scottish ploughman8 ,god alone4 ,and if ,lincoln was not inspired of ,god then there is no such thing as special ,providence or the interposition of ,divine ,power in the affairs of men4 ,the ,logic of the ,supernatural ,judge ,henry ,c4 ,whitney has asked the following questions3--,by what magic spell was this1 the greatest moral transformation in all profane history1 wrought8 ,what ,genius sought out this roving child of the forest1 this obscure flatboatman1 and placed him on the lonely heights of immortal fame8 ,why was this best of men made the chief propitiation for our national sins8 ,was his progress causative or fortuitous2 was it logical or supernatural2 was the ,unseen ,power1 or he himself1 the architect of his fortune8 ,the blunders that were committed by raw and reckless commanders in the field were sufficient to make angels weep1 but they were all mosaics in the process of ,fate to work out the ,divine plan4 ,if we could see the whole scheme of human redemption it would be quite clear to us that not only ,abraham ,lincoln1 ,u4 ,s4 ,grant1 ,w4 ,t4 ,sherman1 but equally ,jefferson ,davis1 ,robert ,e4 ,lee1 ,stonewall ,jackson1 and ,raphael ,semmes were necessary instruments of the great disposer of events--that the bullet which terminated the glorious career of the ,president was not more surely sped by ,fate to its mark than was the bullet which ended the life of ,albert ,sidney ,johnston at ,shiloh and which ultimately averted ruin to the ,union forces on that blood-stained field1 and that in the sublime procession of destiny all events1 apparent accidents1 calamities1 crimes1 and blunders were agents of the omnipotent will1 now as cause1 then as interlude or eddy1 anon as effort1 all working1 apparently1 and to human comprehension1 fortuitously1 but in reality all harmoniously to their ,divine appointed end4 ,the ,mystical ,mood ,there was to me1 says ,henry ,b4 ,rankin1 in his ,personal ,recollections of ,abraham ,lincoln1 always an unapproachable grandeur in the man when he was in this mood of inner solitude4 ,it isolated and--,i always thought--exalted him above his ordinary life4 ,history will discern and reverently disclose the strength in ,lincoln's character and the executive foresight for which this mood gave him revealings4 ,and the ,reverend ,joseph ,fort ,newton adds to the sentiments of his friend ,rankin these words3 ,lincoln was a man whom to know was a kind of religion4 ,his deep musings on the ways of ,god1 on the souls of men1 on the principles of justice and the laws of liberty bore fruit in exalted character and exact insight4 ,hence1 a style of speech remarkable for its lucidity1 direction1 and forthright power1 with no waste of words1 tinged always by a temperament at once elusive and alluring1 which ,bryce compares to the weighty eloquence of ,cromwell without its haziness4 ,going into the ,silence ,during an important criminal trial ,amzi ,mc,williams said3 ,lincoln will pitch in heavy now for he has hid4 ,one who knew him declared3 ,he seemed never to be alone4 ,i have frequently seen him1 in the midst of a ,court in session1 with his mind completely withdrawn from the busy scene before his eyes1 as completely abstracted as if he were in absolute solitude4 ,judge ,whitney wrote3 ,in religion1 ,lincoln was in essence a mystic1 and all his adoration was in accordance with the tenets of that order1 a judgment which agrees with that of ,alexander ,h4 ,stephens1 ,vice ,president of the ,southern ,confederacy3 ,with ,lincoln1 the ,union rose to the sublimity of a religious ,mysticism4 ,the mystical mood cannot be likened to any other mood4 ,people in a hurry never experience such a mental state4 ,personal ambition forbids it and the feeling of vainglory renders such a condition impossible4 ,what renders the life of ,lincoln so instructive is the fact that with him everything was so natural4 ,he did not experiment2 he did not practise special hours and seasons2 he had no fixed times for this or that4 ,he professed no subtle methods of inducing moods and took no stimulants4 ,nature and a mystical ,providence arranged and provided4 ,his moods were between himself and his ,god4 ,no one ever dared approach him as to the why or the wherefore of his silence4 ,and it is proper here to comment on the instinctive good sense of the ,american people in whose midst ,lincoln passed his whole life--they instinctively knew too much to presume upon the privacy of his mystical moods4 ,in this their attitude was wholly admirable4 ,the ,american people were at that time practical1 democratic seers1 without whom the greatest practical mystic could not have existed4 ,that ,lincoln possessed intuition and illumination without resorting to human aid is clear and irrefutable4 ,his words were simple and his actions were simple1 like those of the ,hebrew seers4 ,he announced and he pronounced1 without subtle explanations or mysterious formulas4 ,all which proves that practical mysticism can nourish as much under a ,democracy as under any other form of government4 ,men do not receive their gifts from those in power4 ,they come into the world with them4 ,lincoln was opposed on all sides from the start4 ,he had to contend with poverty1 provincial ignorance1 aristocratic prejudice1 academical opposition1 and he had against him his homely features1 his awkward bearing1 and the lack of influential patronage4 ,he had no family connections that could be of assistance anywhere at any time4 ,never had there been a man of great intellect so absolutely alone in the intellectual world1 so removed from social and political favours of time and circumstance4 ,invisible ,powers ,we are compelled to look at all sides of ,lincoln's political career in order to arrive at a just appreciation of his stupendous achievements1 and when that is done we have to dismiss the notion that he succeeded because of his brilliant intellectual gifts4 ,others possessed great intellects without attaining altitudes of commanding power and enduring fame4 ,why did the influence of ,csar1 ,darius1 ,alexander1 ,bonaparte1 and ,bismarck cease as soon as they passed away8 ,because the influence they exerted was based on material dominion4 ,with the collapse of the material everything collapses4 ,the material can never go beyond or take precedence of the spiritual4 ,marcus ,aurelius is read to-day because he placed spiritual things above all worldly possessions and privileges4 ,the universe was created by a ,supreme ,mind and the direction of affairs is in the hands of this ,all-,seeing ,power1 manifesting in all forms--sometimes personal1 sometimes collective4 ,in ,lincoln's case it took a pronounced individual form1 isolated and unique1 as in ,moses4 ,the ease with which ,lincoln overcame opposition amazed those who were near him4 ,they judged it miraculous4 ,miracles are manifestations for which science has no definition1 no analysis4 ,lincoln's intelligence was not bound by the known rules and laws of science4 ,it requires intuition and illumination for its realisation4 ,such intelligence cannot be handled in detail as chemists handle the elements of matter4 ,in the mystical world all the elements1 forces1 and combinations act and develop together as one manifestation at one time4 ,no mental chemistry can separate them4 ,the ,fusion of ,spirit and ,matter ,the existence of a great man1 says ,victor ,cousin1 the ,french philosopher1 is not the creation of arbitrary choice2 he is not a thing that may1 or may not1 exist2 he is not merely an individual2 too much1 or too little1 of individuality are equally destructive to the character of a great man4 ,on the one hand1 individuality of itself is an element of what is pitiful and little1 because particularity1 the contingent and the finite1 tends unceasingly to division1 to dissolution1 and to nothingness4 ,on the other hand1 every general tends to absolute unity4 ,it possesses greatness but it is exposed to the risk of losing itself in abstractions4 ,the great man is the harmonious combination of what is particular with what is general4 ,this combination constitutes the standard value of his greatness1 and it involves a two-fold condition3 first1 of representing the general spirit of his nation1 because it is in his relation to that general spirit that his greatness consists2 and1 secondly1 of representing the general spirit which confers upon his greatness in his own person1 in a real form1 that is1 in a finite1 positive1 visible1 and determinate form2 so that what is general may not suppress what is particular2 and that which is particular may not dissipate and dissolve what is general--that the infinite and the finite may be blended together in that proportion which truly constitutes human greatness4 ,all which applies to ,lincoln4 ,conceive a great machine1 wrote ,guizot1 the historian1 the design of which is centred in a single mind1 though its various parts are entrusted to various workmen1 separated from1 and strangers to1 each other4 ,no one of them understands the work as a whole1 nor the general result which he concerts in producing2 but every one executes with intelligence and freedom1 by rational and voluntary acts1 the particular task assigned to him4 ,it is thus that by the hand of man the designs of ,providence are wrought out in the government of the world4 ,it is thus that the two great facts1 which are apparent in the history of civilisation1 come to co-exist4 ,on the one hand1 those portions of it which may be considered as fated1 or which happen without the control of human knowledge or will2 on the other hand1 the part played in it by the freedom and intelligence of man and what he contributes to it by means of his own knowledge and will4 ,his ,miraculous ,progress ,one of the most searching biographers of ,lincoln maintains that between the ages of fourteen and twenty-eight he displayed no sign of embryonic or assured greatness4 ,if this be true1 it means that none of ,lincoln's early friends were intuitive enough to discover his greatness4 ,even the best writers who have dealt with this fascinating subject have failed to see all the facts1 all the influences1 all the correlated powers1 in connection with what looks to many like a life of miracle4 ,intelligence and power are not attained by any mental hocus-pocus or metaphysics4 ,diamonds in the rough are still diamonds1 or no one would think of having them polished4 ,the same law works in nature as in human nature4 ,the great man is born1 but he is not born with all his faculties developed1 and he1 like others1 must pass through stages of progressive development4 ,there is not one law for genius and another for mere talent4 ,a distinguished writer says3-- ,lincoln achieved greatness1 but can the genesis of the mystery be analysed8 ,certainly not by the ordinary process of ordinary philosophers and scientists4 ,what all writers up to the present have failed to see is that ,lincoln's powers were a combination of the normal-practical and the practical-supernatural4 ,his supernaturalism was positive1 mathematical1 and absolute4 ,the only things which ,lincoln had to learn as he went were the modes of application4 ,he had to learn system and method1 as was natural1 but the principle came into the world with him4 ,everything that is concrete appears simple4 ,the various qualities and elements that produce what we call mental illumination are hidden from the crowd and even from those who most profess to understand4 ,jesse ,dubois wrote to ,judge ,whitney that after having been intimately associated with ,lincoln for twenty-five years ,i now find that ,i never knew him4 ,the great man had unconsciously deceived his friends because of his outward simplicity4 ,and this outward freedom was backed by his simplicity of speech and direct logic4 ,it was all too simple4 ,they were fooled by the outward material because the inward mystical took that form4 ,his friends liked the man and worked to elect him principally for that reason1 and this is why they were astonished later on when the practical mystic rose clear above all systems of politics and all the accepted philosophies1 and accomplished the miraculous4 ,the impossible happened4 ,the ,president had to go more than half way through the ,civil ,war before the real ,lincoln became manifest to observing critics4 ,a ,prophetic ,witness ,in his book1 ,life on the ,circuit with ,lincoln1 ,judge ,whitney comments3-- ,as early as #ahef1 independent of all contemporary opinion1 ,i conceived the idea that ,mr4 ,lincoln was a prodigy of intellectual and moral force4 ,others associated with us deemed him superlatively great1 but still human4 ,i went farther2 my view was definite and pronounced1 that ,lincoln was ordained for a greater than a merely human mission1 and ,i avowed this belief as early as that time4 ,his character as a lawyer was controlled and moulded by his character as a man4 ,he understood human nature thoroughly and was an expert in the cross-examination of witnesses4 ,if a witness told the truth without evasion ,lincoln was respectful and patronising to him1 but he would score a perjured witness unmercifully4 ,he took no notes but remembered everything quite as well as those who did so4 ,i remember once we all1 ,court and lawyers1 except ,lincoln1 insisted that a witness had sworn so-and-so1 but it turned out that ,lincoln was correct and that he recollected better than the united bench and bar4 ,but with all his candour1 there was a method and shrewdness which ,leonard ,swett well understood and which he has thus forcibly expressed3 ',as the trial progressed1 where most lawyers object1 he would say he reckoned it would be fair to admit this in1 or that2 and sometimes when his adversary could not quite prove what ,lincoln knew to be the truth1 he would say he reckoned it would be fair to admit the truth to be so-and-so4 ,when he did object to the ,court1 when he heard his objections answered1 he would often say1 ,well1 ,i reckon ,i must be wrong4' ,he was wise as a serpent in the trial of a case1 but ,i have got too many scars from his blows to certify that he was harmless as a dove4 ,when the whole thing is unravelled the adversary begins to see that what he was so blandly giving away was simply what he couldn't get and keep4 ,by giving away six points and carrying the seventh he carried his case1 and1 the whole case hanging on the seventh1 he traded everything which would give him the least aid in carrying that4 ,any one who took ,lincoln for a simple-minded man would very soon wake up on his back1 in a ditch4 ,lincoln's ,simplicity ,there are two kinds of simplicity--one is without reason or discrimination1 that believes all that is seen and heard if presented under the guise of honesty2 the other is the kind that penetrates beneath manner1 dress1 verbiage1 and meets all subterfuge1 artifice1 and sophistry with statements and facts at once logical and irrefutable4 ,lincoln was the most simple man in dress1 in speech1 in manners1 in looks1 that ever stood before the world in so great a rle1 but his intellect was anything but simple4 ,he was never deceived by cunning devices and cunning manoeuvres4 ,bacon has an essay showing the difference between cunning and wisdom1 and it may be said that ,lincoln's knowledge took the form of wisdom as distinguished from cunning4 ,his management of a law case was that of a seer4 ,the points he made were not made for personal gratification but for love of truth and justice4 ,not only he did not want to risk being deceived1 he took every precaution to insure against deception4 ,here is where his welding of reason and logic produced in his marvellous intellect a kind of clairvoyance which his friends at the bar felt but could not analyse4 ,the combination was unheard of6 ,the lawyers and the judges could only reason from their own experience1 they could only cite examples in their own lives1 and this man ,lincoln was unlike all that had been and all that was4 ,lincoln's simplicity seemed to the casual observer of a character so trusting and so naf that it deceived all the members of his ,cabinet during the first two years of the war4 ,they were used to smart men1 clever men1 academical men4 ,they called for the routine of respectability and official dignity4 ,to their minds the ,president seemed pliable and willing1 and they set about instructing him in the a1 b1 c of high politics and the first principles of statesmanship4 ,the ,president was in no way frustrated4 ,he understood them in advance1 having weighed them in the balance of his own judgment4 ,he had found them honest but inexperienced1 sincere but saucy4 ,he knew they were living in an atmosphere of low visibility4 ,at the proper moment he would turn on the searchlights and give them their bearings4 ,some of them expected to act as the ,president's pilot1 while others expected to be captain of the ship-of-state with the ,president as pilot4 ,it took them more than two years to find out that this pioneer of the ,west was captain1 pilot1 and master of charts on a political sea the like of which they little dreamed existed4 ,in one sense1 he wore out their obstinacy by his patience4 ,in another1 he awaited opportunities to attest their errors and show his judgment1 but matters proceeded with such calm that they could not understand with what power he acted1 with what prescience he divined4 ,what mystified them was the combination of the practical with the spiritual1 the clear vision with the maxims of ordinary business affairs1 the penetration of the future while working in seeming darkness4 ,lincoln's ,clairvoyant ,wit ,lincoln was not deceived by an outward show of religion4 ,a ,southern woman begged the ,president to have her husband released from a ,northern prison1 for1 she said1 although he is a ,rebel he is a very religious man4 ,lincoln replied3 ,i am glad to hear that1 because any man who wants to disrupt this ,union needs all the religion in sight to save him4 ,he treated with indifference people who commandeered4 ,a haughty woman came to ,lincoln and demanded a colonel's commission for her son4 ,i demand it1 she said1 not as a favour but as a right4 ,sir1 my grandfather fought at ,lexington1 my father fought at ,new ,orleans1 and my husband was killed at ,monterey4 ,i guess1 ,madam1 was ,lincoln's reply1 your family has done enough for the country4 ,it is time to give some one else a chance4 ,when ,hugh ,mc,cullough1 ,secretary of the ,treasury in ,lincoln's second term1 presented a delegation of ,new ,york bankers at the ,white ,house1 ,mc,cullough said3 ,these gentlemen of ,new ,york have come on to see the ,secretary of the ,treasury about our new loan4 ,as bankers1 they are obliged to hold our national securities4 ,i can vouch for their patriotism and loyalty1 for1 as the good ,book says1 ',where the treasure is there will the heart be also4' ,to which ,lincoln replied3 ,there is another text1 ,mr4 ,mc,cullough1 ,i remember1 that might equally apply1 ',where the carcass is there will the eagles be gathered together4' ,lincoln condemned as tedious a certain ,greek history4 ,when a diplomat present said3 ,the author of that history1 ,mr4 ,president1 is one of the profoundest scholars of the age2 no one has plunged more deeply into the sacred fount of learning4 ,yes1 replied ,lincoln1 or come up drier4 ,when in ,chicago in #ahfj1 the mayor1 ,john ,wentworth1 asked ,lincoln why he did not get some astute politician to run him1 ,lincoln replied that events and not a man's own exertions made presidents4 ,to ,henry ,c4 ,whitney1 ,lincoln remarked3 ,judd and ,ray and those fellows think ,i don't see anything1 but ,i see all around them4 ,i see better what they want to do with me than they do themselves4 ,they were deceived1 not by ,lincoln1 who never cared what individuals thought1 but by ,nature1 which often sets a trap for people who live in a world of their own illusions4 ,nature1 the medium through which the ,divine mind manifests1 is1 so to speak1 a mask through which egoists cannot penetrate and by which the cunning are led to destruction4 ,lincoln let them talk and even act1 knowing that they themselves were the tools for their own undoing4 ,while the ward politicians and others1 who thought themselves far superior1 laid their plans1 schemed1 and intrigued1 the man of clear vision awaited unperturbed the events which he knew would put them all in their proper places4 ,little did they dream that they were mere incidents among the million of incidents that go to the making of one epoch-making event4 ,the practical mystic is little concerned with incidents4 ,the multitude do not know in what direction they are going1 moved and influenced as they are by the incidental1 the accidental1 the shifting illusions in which they live1 but the man who knows why they are influenced also knows why he is influenced4 ,lincoln was patient with the men who considered him a sort of political accident4 ,he understood their point of view4 ,he did not entertain feelings of revenge4 ,hundreds of men1 like ,john ,wentworth1 are only mentioned to-day because of some passing incident which connected them with the man whom they regarded as a failure in politics4 ,a ,prophetic ,vision of ,hades ,that ,william ,blake was a mystic of the practical kind there can be no question4 ,in art and in poetry he had that illumination which ,lincoln had in statesmanship4 ,the ,new ,york ,times says3-- ,that a century has failed to heap the dust of oblivion over ,england's ',greatest ,mystic1' ,william ,blake1 is exemplified by the reproduction in a recent issue of ,country ,life of one of ,blake's engravings for ,dante's ,inferno1 in which four fiends with cruel faces are torturing a soul in ,hell4 ,the face of the chief devil1 who is not actually engaged in the torture1 but is an eager and interested spectator1 might easily be taken for a portrait of the ,german ,emperor4 ,as suggested by ,w4 ,f4 ,boudillon1 the familiar1 upturned moustachios must have puzzled ,blake in his vision4 ,he represented them as tusks growing from the corners of the mouth--it is to be noted that this fiend alone among the four has the tusks4 ,it is recorded of ,blake1 as a lad1 that his father would have apprenticed him to ,rylands1 the ,court ,engraver--a man much liked and in great prosperity at the time--but ,blake objected1 saying3 ,father1 ,i do not like his face2 he looks as if he would live to be hanged4 ,twelve years later ,rylands committed forgery1 and the prophecy came true4 ,blake's visions1 startling though they be1 are not more startling than many prophecies made by ,lincoln1 as1 for instance1 his prophecy of prohibition1 woman's rights1 and the end of slavery1 not to mention his visions concerning himself4 ,the practical mystic sees through1 the scientific materialist sees only1 the surface4 ,eternity is the everlasting now4 ,blake drew a faithful portrait of the ,kaiser ,wilhelm ,,ii of ,germany long before the ,kaiser was born1 and ,tycho ,brahe predicted the birth of a ,swedish conqueror and what he would accomplish4 ,in these things there is no place for chance1 nor is it true that the practical mystic is limited to poetry1 or to art1 or to music1 or to religion1 politics1 and philosophy4 ,neither is the practical mystic confined to any particular social class or any creed4 ,abraham ,lincoln could not have directed affairs had he been a recluse4 ,before he became an adept in the direction of material affairs he had to be familiar with the practical ways of the world1 and as a lawyer he passed through a school that left no place for vague theories or vain illusions4 ,he frequently stripped others of their illusions1 but being free of illusions himself he had none to lose4 ,this made him invulnerable4 ,his enemies were swayed by theories2 nothing short of knowledge sufficed for this man1 who reduced his adversaries to the position where they were kept constantly on the alert to know what manoeuvre to employ next4 ,they moved in a region of guess-work where there was no law except that of their own confusion and discomfiture4 ,shakespeare and ,lincoln ,lincoln1 says ,judge ,whitney1 was one of the most heterogeneous characters that ever played a part in the great drama of history1 and it was for this reason that he was so greatly misjudged and misunderstood2 that he was1 on the one hand1 described as a mere humourist--a sort of ,artemus ,ward or ,mark ,twain--that it was thought that1 by some 'irony of ,fate1' a low comedian had got into the ,presidential chair1 and that the nation was being delivered over to conflagration1 while this modern ,nero fiddled upon its ruins4 ,one of his peculiarities was his inequality of conduct1 his dignity1 interspersed with freaks of frivolity and inanity2 his high aspiration and achievement1 and his descent into the most primitive vales of listlessness4 ,in the chief drawer of his cabinet table all the current joke books of the time were in juxtaposition with official commissions1 lacking only the final signature1 applications for pardons from death penalties1 laws awaiting executive action1 and orders which1 when launched1 would control the fate of a million men and the destinies of unborn generations4 ,hence it was that superficial persons1 who expected great achievements to be ushered in with a prologue1 could not understand or appreciate that this great man's administration was a succession of acts of grand and heroic statesmanship1 or that he was a prodigy of intellect and moral force4 ,the mystic ,shakespeare and the mystic ,lincoln have a connecting link in their wit and humour4 ,had ,shakespeare left us only two dramas--,macbeth and ,othello--no one would have dreamed of a creation like ,falstaff emanating from the same mind1 yet it is because of the union of the tragic and the humorous that ,shakespeare is universally human1 worldly wise as well as spiritual and metaphysical4 ,shakespeare makes of the gravedigger in ,hamlet a sort of clown with a spade1 and throughout all his dramas wit and humour1 pathos and tragedy1 go hand in hand4 ,without his humour ,shakespeare would have been little more than an ,english ,racine4 ,with ,lincoln1 humour was made to serve a high1 psychic purpose4 ,by its means he created a new atmosphere and new conditions through which he could all the more freely work and act4 ,he brought humour into play for his own good as well as that of others4 ,he was not a theorist1 or a dreamer of dreams2 he was a practical mystic4 ,a ,prophecy ,fulfilled ,in a letter written from ,springfield1 ,illinois1 ,august #aeth1 #ahee1 to the ,hon4 ,george ,robertson1 of ,lexington1 ,kentucky1 ,lincoln said3-- ,the ,autocrat of all the ,russias will proclaim his subjects free sooner than will our ,american ,masters voluntarily give up their slaves4 ,on the day before ,lincoln's first inauguration as ,president of the ,united ,states the ,autocrat of all the ,russias1 ,alexander the ,second1 by ,imperial decree emancipated his serfs1 while six weeks after the inauguration the ,american ,masters1 headed by ,jefferson ,davis1 began the great war of secession to perpetuate and spread the institution of slavery4 ,this is only one of ,lincoln's prophecies which proved true4 ,in stating them he did not pass into an abnormal state4 ,he spoke as one would speak of the coming weather4 ,he did not consult the stars1 nor any person1 before making a prophetic statement4 ,seeing clearly was as natural to him as eating or sleeping4 ,he was not a psychic machine1 uttering thoughts which seemed strange and enigmatical to himself1 because his intellectual and spiritual powers were part of himself4 ,men of genius are not instruments in the vulgar meaning of the word4 ,they do not act in ignorance of what they are doing and saying4 ,lincoln1 more than any other1 could give deliberate reasons for what he did and said1 and it is exceedingly difficult to name another in history who was under such logical and commanding control of all the moral and intellectual faculties4 ,when he seemed to the superficial observer to be dreaming1 he was reasoning1 calculating1 comparing1 analysing1 weighing1 turning things upside down and inside out1 until he satisfied the dictates of his conscience and his sense of moral responsibility4 ,he placed no reliance on halfway measures and palliatives1 no faith in the workings of chance4 ,he therefore was not1 and could never have been1 a passive instrument in the hands of some unknown power4 ,when it was said of a certain musician that he composed his operas under the direct influence of ,mozart1 the answer was3 ,then who influenced ,mozart8 ,great originality belongs to the mystical unity of the ,supreme ,intelligence4 ,had ,lincoln imitated ,henry ,clay1 whom he so much admired as a statesman and thinker1 what would have become of ,lincoln and the country he governed8 ,he who originates is authoritative1 and1 as ,carlyle said1 ,all authority is mystical in its origin4 ,in no single thing of importance did ,lincoln copy any one's methods or systems4 ,his trend of thought was at variance with the prevailing trend1 even of those who were supposed to know the most4 ,the ,ordinances of ,heaven ,canst thou bind the sweet influence of ,pleiades1 or loose the bands of ,orion8 ,canst thou bring forth ,mazzaroth in his season8 ,or canst thou guide ,arcturus with his sons8 ,knowest thou the ordinances of heaven8--,job4 ,phenomena that arrive with the days1 months1 seasons1 centuries1 are accompanied by events of corresponding significance in the human world1 for everything is related to everything else4 ,in #aheh a new party came into being1 headed by the prophet from the wilderness1 who was as much a phenomenon in the human world as the comet of that year was in the starry heavens--an apparition first observed by the ,florentine astronomer1 ,donati4 ,some scientific authorities give ,donati's comet an orbit of two thousand1 others three thousand years4 ,its advent was as unexpected as was the advent of ,lincoln4 ,its immense orbit1 the splendour of its train1 its seeming close proximity to the earth1 the presentiments which it inspired in millions of the people1 corresponded with the sentiments and sensations inspired by the phenomenal progress of ,lincoln1 the avatar of democratic freedom and justice4 ,the following description is taken from ,the ,valley of ,shadows3-- ,after a long period of cloudy weather the sky cleared1 and when darkness closed in the night came with a revelation4 ,never had such a night been witnessed by living man1 for a great comet hung suspended in the shimmering vault like an immense silver arrow dominating the world and all the constellations4 ,an unparalleled radiance illumined the prairie1 the atmosphere vibrated with a strange1 mysterious glow1 and as the eye looked upward it seemed as if the earth was moving slowly towards the stars4 ,the sky resembled a phantasmagoria seen from the summit of some far and fabulous ,eden4 ,the ,milky ,way spread across the zenith like a confluence of celestial altars flecked with myriads of gleaming tapers1 and countless orbs rose out of the luminous veil like fleecy spires tipped with the blaze of opal and sapphire4 ,the great stellar clusters appeared as beacons on the shores of infinite worlds1 and night was the window from which the soul looked out on eternity4 ,such was the celestial apparition that ushered in the new party which was to support ,abraham ,lincoln and send him to the ,white ,house4 ,in all vital phenomena there is periodicity4 ,the barometer comes to its minimum height for the day between four and five in the evening2 again1 it is at its maximum height between eight and ten in the morning and between eight and ten in the evening4 ,the two first of these periods is when the electric tension is at its minimum2 at its maximum during the two latter periods4 ,the basic unit of the lunar day is twelve hours4 ,an ordinary or solar day is two days1 and an ordinary week is two weeks4 ,this hebdomadal or heptal cycle governs1 either in its multiple or submultiple1 an immense number of phenomena in animal life in which the number seven has a prominent place4 ,a ,mr4 ,hay1 of ,edinburgh1 writing some sixty years ago1 says3 ,there is harmony of numbers in all nature--in the force of gravity1 in the planetary movements1 in the laws of heat1 light1 electricity and chemical affinity1 in the forms of animals and plants1 in the perceptions of the mind4 ,indeed1 the direction of natural and physical science is towards a generalisation which shall express the fundamental laws of all by one simple numerical ratio4 ,the mysticism of ,pythagoras was vague only to the unlettered4 ,it was a system of philosophy founded on existing mathematics which comprised more of the philosophy of numbers than our present4 ,philosophical students of human nature have taken note of the danger professional and business men encounter when they extend their mental activities beyond the hour of four p4m4 7by the sun74 ,thousands fail because of their ignorance of the fundamental laws governing all things physical4 ,the morning hours up to ten a4m4 are just as dangerous for many who are highly susceptible to the electric tension which occurs up to that hour4 ,the feeling that prevails from four to eight in the afternoon is one of mental or physical fatigue1 that in the morning one of irritability4 ,lincoln was not immune from natural law4 ,on one occasion1 at five p4m41 he was suddenly informed of the defeat of the ,northern ,forces1 and it was feared by those who were present that he would fall to the ground4 ,mr4 ,c4 ,c4 ,coffin sprang forward to assist the ,president1 who1 however1 succeeded in returning to the ,white ,house unaided4 ,nature creates the natural1 man the unnatural4 ,solomon declared3 ,to everything there is a season1 and a time to every purpose4 ,lincoln's ,face ,knowledge1 conviction1 and certainty gave to ,lincoln's face that penetrating power which could not have been assumed on occasion even by the most versatile and gifted actor4 ,the two following quotations from ,the ,valley of ,shadows describe ,lincoln's personal appearance and the emotions produced by the expression of his features3-- ',the sperrit air more in the eye than it air in the tongue1' said ,elihu ,gest1 rising from his seat2 'if ,abe ,lincoln looked at the wust slave-driver long enough ,satan would give up every time4' ',i see right away the difference a-twixt ,lincoln en ,douglas warn't so much in ,lincoln bein' a good ways over six foot en ,douglas a good ways under1 ez it war in their eyes4 ,the ,jedge looked like he war speakin' agin time1 but ,abe ,lincoln looked plumb through the meetin' into the everlastin'--the way ,moses must hev looked when he see ,canaan ahead--en ,i kin tell ye ,i never did see a man look that a-way4' ,the ,great ,debate ,the hour had struck for the supreme test between the forces of slavery1 on one hand1 and the forces of freedom1 on the other4 ,a vast throng gathered at ,alton from every section of the country to hear the last public discussion between the two antagonists1 ,lincoln and ,douglas1 and from the surging sea of faces thousands of anxious eyes gazed upward at the group of politicians on the balcony like wrecked mariners scanning the horizon for the smallest sign of a white sail of hope4 ,this final debate resembled a duel between two men-of-war1 the pick of a great fleet1 all but these two sunk or abandoned in other waters1 facing each other in the open1 ,douglas1 the ,little ,giant1 hurling at his opponent from his flagship of slavery his deadliest missiles1 ,lincoln calmly waiting to sink his antagonist by one single broadsider4 ,regarded in the light of spiritual reality1 ,lincoln and ,douglas were predestined to meet side by side in this discussion1 and it is hardly possible to give an adequate idea of the startling difference between the two temperaments3 ,douglas--short1 plump1 and petulant2 ,lincoln--long1 gaunt1 and self-possessed2 the one white-haired and florid1 the other black-haired and swarthy2 the one educated and polished1 the other unlettered and primitive4 ,judge ,douglas opened the debate in a sonorous voice plainly heard by all1 and with a look of mingled defiance and confidence he marshalled his facts and deduced his arguments4 ,to the vigour of his attack there was added the prestige of the ,senate ,chamber1 and it looked as if he would carry the majority with him4 ,when1 after a brilliant oratorical effort1 he brought his speech to a close1 it was amidst the shouts and yells of thousands of admirers4 ,and now1 ,abraham ,lincoln1 the man who in #ahcj undertook to split for ,mrs4 ,nancy ,miller four hundred rails for every yard of jean dyed with walnut bark that would be required to make him a pair of trousers1 the flat-boatman1 local stump-orator1 and country lawyer1 rose from his seat1 stretched his long bony limbs upward1 as if to get them in working order1 and stood like some solitary pine on a lonely summit1 very tall1 very dark1 very gaunt1 and very rugged1 his swarthy features stamped with a sad serenity1 and the instant he began to speak the mouth lost its heaviness1 the eyes attained a wondrous illumination1 and the people stood bewildered and breathless under the natural magic of the most original personality known to the ,english-speaking world since ,robert ,burns4 ,every movement of his long muscular frame denoted inflexible earnestness1 and a something issued forth1 elemental and mystical1 that told what the man had been1 what he was1 and what he would do in the future4 ,every look of the deep-set eyes1 every movement of the prominent jaw1 every wave of the brawny hand produced an impression1 and before he had spoken twenty minutes the conviction took possession of thousands that here was the prophetic man of the present and the political saviour of the future4 ,thus we see how ,lincoln influenced persons1 groups1 crowds1 whether he was sitting or standing1 arguing or talking1 rendering an opinion or listening to counsel4 ,forecasting and ,premonitions ,nothing great comes into the world unattended4 ,abraham ,lincoln was surrounded by men and women who were predestined to their task without being fully aware of what they were doing4 ,one of the most memorable mystical demonstrations ever recorded in any epoch occurred in the little town of ,salem1 ,illinois1 in ,august1 #ahcg1 when ,lincoln was only twenty-three years of age1 long before he had cut any figure in the political world4 ,accompanied by six lawyers and two doctors1 ,lincoln went from ,springfield to ,salem in a band-wagon to attend a camp-meeting4 ,on the way ,lincoln cracked jokes about the horses1 the wagon1 the lawyers1 and many other things4 ,when they arrived at the camp they found ,doctor ,peter ,akers1 one of the greatest ,methodist preachers of the time1 was about to preach a sermon on ,the ,dominion of ,christ4 ,the famous preacher declared that the ,dominion of ,christ could not come in ,america until slavery was destroyed4 ,his sermon lasted three hours and he showed that a great civil war would put an end to human bondage4 ,i am not a prophet1 he said1 but a student of the ,prophets2 ,american slavery will come to an end in some near decade1 ,i think in the sixties4 ,these words caused a profound sensation4 ,in their excitement thousands surged about the preacher1 but when at last he cried out3 ,who can tell but that the man who shall lead us through this strife may be standing in this presence1 a solemn stillness fell over the assembly4 ,there1 not more than thirty feet away1 stood the lank figure of ,lincoln1 with his pensive face1 a prophet as yet uninspired1 a leader as yet unannounced4 ,the preacher's words had fallen like a mystical baptism on the head of this obscure pioneer1 as yet unanointed by the sacrificial fire of the coming national tragedy4 ,when they returned to ,springfield ,lincoln remained silent for a long time4 ,at last one of his friends asked him what he thought of the sermon and he replied that he little dreamed that such power could be given to mortal man1 for those words were from beyond the speaker4 ,peter ,akers has convinced me that ,american slavery will go down with the crash of civil war4 ,then he added3 ,gentlemen1 you may be surprised and think it strange1 but when the preacher was describing the civil war ,i distinctly saw myself1 as in second sight1 bearing an important part in that strife4 ,the next morning ,mr4 ,lincoln came very late to his office1 and ,mr4 ,herndon1 glancing at his haggard face1 exclaimed3 ,why1 ,lincoln1 what's the matter8 ,then ,lincoln told him about the great sermon and said3 ,i am utterly unable to shake myself free from the conviction that ,i shall be involved in that terrible war4 ,illumination of the ,spirit ,when ,lincoln1 young and unknown1 visited ,new ,orleans as a flat-boatman and saw men and women being sold at auction in the public mart1 he said to the friend who was with him3 ,if ever ,i get a chance to hit that thing ,i'll hit it hard4 ,who was this young man1 whose clothes were in tatters1 who was without patrons1 to suggest such a thing as a chance to strike even a feeble blow at the institution of slavery8 ,dr4 ,gregg1 commenting on this memorable incident1 asks3 ,why did ,lincoln utter these words8 ,was it an illumination of the ,spirit forecasting the ,civil ,war8 ,was it a whisper by a divine messenger that he was to be the chosen one to wipe the thing from the earth and give deliverance to millions of his fellow men8 ,few1 if any1 of ,lincoln's biographers have touched on his early life with more than a superficial notion of its significance4 ,judge ,whitney1 in spite of his great knowledge and his deep insight1 divides ,lincoln's life into two parts1 the first being uninspired1 the second supernaturally wonderful4 ,the truth is that the first part of his life contained a clear forecast of the second4 ,lincoln at the age of fifty-five was the same man1 unchanged1 excepting by experience4 ,only in fairy stories are people changed from fools into philosophers4 ,as a boy ,lincoln was unlike any other boy1 always unique1 self-centred in the best and highest sense1 the like of whom did not exist in his or any other country4 ,all through his early life there could be seen the signs and symbols of his coming power4 ,how such a being came into the world science fails to explain4 ,back of the mystery there are other mysteries1 and not in a thousand years of experiment will eugenics produce another such mortal1 not in ten thousand years will science create anything spiritual or mystical4 ,science can never get beyond the material4 ,if it ever controls the psychic intelligence1 mediocrity will be the order of the day4 ,the higher intelligence does not need control but development4 ,this freedom ,lincoln had1 but back of that apparent freedom the mystical conditions existed1 fixed and foreordained4 ,the very men and women who assisted him had to be where he found them4 ,to have been anywhere else they would have been out of their proper element4 ,in the human world there are no misfits1 only grades of development4 ,tycho ,brahe and ,lincoln ,when ,hugh ,miller1 the noted geologist1 faced the inexplicable he committed suicide4 ,but ,tycho ,brahe1 the ,danish astronomer1 the greatest practical mystic the world of science has known1 experienced a sense of joy and exhilaration every time he viewed the starry heavens through his telescope4 ,he considered astronomy something divine4 ,his was the joyful pride of the seer who revels in the unexplained mysteries of the universe1 and from time to time obtained clairvoyant glimpses of the working of the miracle4 ,brahe1 like ,abraham ,lincoln1 had moments when he perceived the inevitable with unalloyed vision4 ,after carefully studying the comet of #aegg he declared that it announced the birth of a prince in ,finland who should lay waste ,germany and vanish in #afcb4 ,gustave ,adolphus was born in ,finland1 overran ,germany1 and died in #afcb4 ,brahe was the forerunner of the true scientist1 ,lincoln the forerunner of the true statesman4 ,it is not a fact that science and intuition are antagonistic4 ,the antagonism exists only in the imagination of second-rate thinkers4 ,the great discoverers always put the spiritual and the mystical above learning4 ,brahe and ,newton1 as scientists1 were unequalled in their age and have not been surpassed in this4 ,the ,kultur of modern ,germany has but emphasised the danger of pseudo science in all walks of life and made it plain that no nation can prosper under such an illusion4 ,the ,prussians have forced many to revert back to a consideration of the gifts of such men as ,tycho ,brahe1 ,newton1 ,lincoln1 and the difference between their science and that of ,kultur is a difference that strikes the normal thinker with amazement4 ,the true scientist is a seer who discloses new facts and discovers hidden laws4 ,the true scientific mystic creates1 but the votaries of ,kultur destroy without creating4 ,yet1 they will be destroyed by their own weapons4 ,modern materialism will go down under the weight of the material4 ,the denial of the mystical forces of the universe is the vulnerable spot in the scientific armour of ,krupp-,kultur4 ,let any one who wishes to be convinced by crude facts alone read the history of ,frederick1 the so-called ,great1 and then read a history of ,lincoln4 ,then let the student ask which is the greater nation to-day--,prussia1 headed by ,frederick's descendant1 or ,america1 represented by ,woodrow ,wilson1 the legitimate outcome of ,washington the inspired patriot1 and ,lincoln the inspired emancipator8 ,herndon's ,analysis and ,testimony ,w4 ,h4 ,herndon1 for more than twenty years the law partner of ,mr4 ,lincoln1 delivered an address in ,springfield1 ,illinois1 upon the life and character of the lamented ,president1 which for subtle analysis has few equals in biographical literature4 ,the following are excerpts3 ,mr4 ,lincoln's perceptions were slow1 cold1 and exact4 ,everything came to him in its precise shape and colour4 ,to some men the world of matter and of man comes ornamented with beauty1 life1 and action1 and hence more or less false and inexact4 ,no lurking illusion or other error1 false in itself1 and clad for the moment in robes of splendour1 ever passed undetected or unchallenged over the threshold of his mind--that point that divides vision from the realm and home of thought4 ,names to him were nothing1 and titles naught--assumption always standing back abashed at his cold1 intellectual glare4 ,neither his perceptions nor intellectual vision were perverted1 distorted1 or diseased4 ,he saw all things through a perfect1 mental lens4 ,there was no diffraction or refraction there4 ,he was not impulsive1 fanciful1 or imaginative1 but calm and precise4 ,he threw his whole mental light around the object1 and1 in time1 substance and quality stood apart2 form and colour took their appropriate places1 and all was clear and exact in his mind4 ,in his mental view he crushed the unreal1 the inexact1 the hollow1 and the sham4444 ,to some minds the world is all life1 a soul beneath the material2 but to ,mr4 ,lincoln no life was individual or universal that did not manifest itself to him4 ,his mind was his standard4 ,his perceptions were cool1 persistent1 pitiless in pursuit of the truth4 ,no error went undetected and no falsehood unexposed if he once was aroused in search of truth4 ,an ,original ,mind ,mr4 ,lincoln saw philosophy in a story and a schoolmaster in a joke4 ,no man saw nature1 fact1 thing1 from his standpoint4 ,his was a new and original position1 which was always suggesting1 hinting something to him4 ,nature1 insinuations1 hints1 and suggestions were new1 fresh1 original1 and odd to him4 ,the world1 fact1 man1 principle1 all had their powers of suggestion to his susceptible soul4 ,they continually put him in mind of something known or unknown4 ,hence his power and tenacity of what is called association of ideas4 ,his susceptibilities to all suggestions and hints enabled him at will to call up readily the associated and classified fact and idea4 ,mr4 ,lincoln was often at a loss for a word and hence was compelled to resort to stories1 and maxims1 and jokes to embody his idea1 that it might be comprehended4 ,so true was this peculiar mental vision of his1 that though mankind has been gathering1 arranging1 and classifying facts for thousands of years1 ,lincoln's peculiar standpoint could give him no advantage of other men's labour4 ,hence he tore up to the deep foundations all arrangements of facts1 and coined and arranged new plans to govern himself4 ,his labour was great1 continuous1 patient1 and all-enduring4 ,the ,great ,books ,the truth about the whole matter is that ,mr4 ,lincoln read less and thought more than any man in his sphere in ,america4 ,when young he read the ,bible1 and when of age he read ,shakespeare4 ,the latter book was scarcely ever out of his mind4 ,mr4 ,lincoln is acknowledged to have been a great man1 but the question is1 what made him great8 ,i repeat1 that he read less and thought more than any man of his standing in ,america1 if not in the world4 ,he possessed originality and power of thought in an eminent degree4 ,he was cautious1 cool1 patient1 and enduring4 ,these are some of the grounds of his wonderful success4 ,not only was nature1 man1 fact1 and principle suggestive to ,mr4 ,lincoln1 not only had he accurate and exact perceptions1 but he was causative1 i4 e41 his mind ran back behind all facts1 things1 and principles to their origin1 history1 and first cause--to that point where forces act at once as effect and cause4 ,he would stop and pause in the street and analyse a machine4 ,he would whittle things to a point and then count the numberless inclined planes1 and their pitch1 making the point4 ,mastering and defining this1 he would then cut that point back1 and get a broad transverse section of his pine stick1 and peel and define that4 ,clocks1 omnibuses1 language1 paddle-wheels1 and idioms never escaped his observation and analysis4 ,before he could form any idea of anything1 before he would express his opinion on any subject1 he must know its origin and history1 in substance and quality1 in magnitude and gravity4 ,he must know his subject inside and outside1 upside and downside4 ,he searched his own mind and nature thoroughly1 as ,i have often heard him say4 ,he must analyse a sensation1 an idea1 and words1 and run them back to their origin1 history1 purpose1 and destiny4 ,he was most emphatically a merciless analyser of facts1 things1 and principles4 ,when all these processes had been well and thoroughly gone through1 he could form an opinion and express it1 but no sooner4 ,hence when he did speak his utterances rang out gold-like1 quick1 keen1 and current upon the counters of the understanding4 ,he reasoned logically1 through analogy and comparison4 ,all opponents dreaded him in his originality of idea1 condensation1 definition1 and force of expression1 and wo be to the man who hugged to his bosom a secret error if ,mr4 ,lincoln got on the chase of it4 ,i say1 wo to him6 ,time could hide the error in no nook or corner of space in which he would not detect and expose it4 ,veneration and ,truth ,the predominating elements of ,mr4 ,lincoln's peculiar character1 were3 firstly1 his great capacity and powers of reason2 secondly1 his excellent understanding2 thirdly1 an exalted idea of the sense of right and equity2 and fourthly1 his intense veneration of what was true and good4 ,his reason ruled all other faculties of his mind4 ,his pursuit of truth was indefatigable1 terrible4 ,he reasoned from his well-chosen principles with such clearness1 force1 and compactness that the tallest intellects in the land bowed to him in this respect4 ,he came down from his throne of logic with irresistible and crushing force4 ,his printed speeches prove this1 but his speeches before the ,supreme ,courts of the ,state and ,nation would demonstrate it4 ,mr4 ,lincoln was an odd and original man2 he lived by himself and out of himself4 ,he was a very sensitive man1 unobtrusive and gentlemanly1 and often hid himself in the common mass of men in order to prevent the discovery of his individuality4 ,he had no insulting egotism and no pompous pride2 no haughtiness4 ,he was not an upstart and had no insolence4 ,he was a meek1 quiet1 unobtrusive gentleman4 ,not only were ,mr4 ,lincoln's perceptions good2 not only was nature suggestive to him2 not only was he original and strong2 not only had he great reason and understanding2 not only did he love the true and good2 not only was he tender and kind--but1 in due proportion1 he had a glorious combination of them all4 ,he had no avarice in his nature or other like vice4 ,he did not care who succeeded to the presidency of this or that ,christian ,association or ,railroad ,convention2 who made the most money2 who was going to ,philadelphia1 when and for what1 and what were the costs of such a trip4 ,he could not understand why men struggled for such things as these4 ,the ,great ,puzzle ,one day1 at ,washington1 he made this remark to me3 ',if ever this free people1 if this ,government itself is ever utterly demoralised1 it will come from this human wriggle and struggle for office--a way to live without work4' ,it puzzled him at ,washington to know and to get at the root of this dread desire1 this contagious disease of national robbery in the nation's death-struggle4 ,this man1 this long1 bony1 wiry1 sad man1 floated into our country in #ahca1 in a frail canoe1 down the north fork of the ,sangamon ,river1 friendless1 penniless1 powerless1 and alone--begging for work in our city--ragged1 struggling for the common necessities of life4 ,this man1 this peculiar man1 left us in #ahfa1 the ,president of the ,united ,states1 backed by friends1 power1 fame1 and all human force4 ,lincoln's ,energy and ,will ,energy is usually a blind force in the conduct of human affairs and the greatest with which we have to deal4 ,history is made up of the deeds of individuals with a surplus of energy1 which overflows and damages governments as floods damage lands4 ,will1 energy1 and ambition are1 in most cases1 synonymous terms4 ,without energy the will breaks down1 and without ambition energy and will would prove innocuous4 ,no one can doubt that misdirected energy was at the bottom of much that moved the ,prussians and that their ambitions were wholly material1 limited to geographical boundaries4 ,lincoln displayed physical as well as mental energy in a supernormal degree2 his will was as fixed as a mountain of adamant1 while his ambition was not personal1 but national and universal4 ,only the practical mystic could direct such forces with wisdom1 and as we look still closer into the mystery of his temperament the question of pride and vanity arises1 and their relation to ambition and will4 ,in the first place1 what causes ambition8 ,pride1 answers the world4 ,but the world is wrong4 ,ambition is not the result of pride but of vanity4 ,solomon1 the wisest and greatest man of his time1 was a proud man and a wise ruler until he began to import apes and peacocks4 ,then vanity usurped the place of pride and he came to the end of his temporal tether4 ,vanity caused ,napoleon to have himself crowned ,emperor of the ,french1 and from that day his power declined4 ,a proper sense of pride would have led him to stop where he was and refuse all further manifestations and developments of worldly honour4 ,pride tends to moral dignity and intellectual reticence1 and that is why ,lincoln blushed in the presence of the institution of slavery4 ,his pride gave him an acute sense of shame and his honour an acute sense of justice4 ,only the vain will consent to live in idleness while others slave for them4 ,vanity induces anything from the ridiculous to the criminal1 and those controlled by it are subject to absurd statements and ridiculous actions4 ,they cannot avoid both4 ,washington and ,lincoln were free from the fetters of ridicule4 ,they were imbued with a subconscious pride which stood for the whole nation4 ,nature and ,prophecy ,herndon says3-- ,i cannot refrain from noting the views ,lincoln held in reference to the great questions of moral and social reforms under which he classed suffrage for women1 temperance1 and slavery4 ',all such questions1 he observed one day1 as we were discussing temperance in the office1 'must find lodgment with the most enlightened souls who stamp them with their approval4 ,in ,god's own time they will be organised into law and woven into the fabric of all our institutions4' ,as the ,divine principle permeates all nature1 so ,lincoln1 being a pure product of nature1 possessed the secret consciousness of natural power1 illumined by mystical intuition and guided by the higher forces of the spirit4 ,he realised the superiority of mind over matter1 of intelligence over ignorance1 of wisdom over learning1 of illumination over mere knowledge4 ,he was another ,marcus ,aurelius1 without the influence of paganism1 free from the trammels of mythology4 ,he inquired into the mystery of his own being and delved into the darkest corners of personality and character4 ,some of his deepest thoughts on the mysteries of life and death were never voiced by this man who never spoke unless he deemed it imperative to speak4 ,lincoln1 indeed1 never gossipped about people and books4 ,he was not a gossip4 ,his jokes were for a purpose1 his talk was for a purpose1 and his meditations were fundamental4 ,the ,seal of ,nature ,herndon was right when he said that ,lincoln's features were stamped with the seal of nature4 ,this is the only seal that is beyond imitation4 ,all else can be mimicked4 ,we have seen how ghastly one or two persons appeared when they attempted to look like ,lincoln4 ,the imitation took on the appearance of pale1 dull putty4 ,the notion that ,lincoln's personality could be imitated with success was quite in keeping with that other notion that the great ,president was1 in spite of everything1 just one of the common people4 ,but ,lincoln as he appears in popular histories1 and ,lincoln as he was known to his associates and those who came into personal contact with him1 are two different persons4 ,perhaps no one has summed up the matter with such concision and force as ,don ,piatt1 who knew him well3-- ,with all his awkwardness of manner and utter disregard of social conventionalities that seemed to invite familiarity1 there was something about ,abraham ,lincoln that enforced respect4 ,no man presumed on the apparent invitation to be other than respectful4 ,i was told at ,springfield that this accompanied him through life4 ,among his rough associates1 when young1 he was leader1 looked up to and obeyed1 because they felt of his muscle and its readiness in use4 ,among his associates at the bar it was attributed to his wit1 which kept his duller associates at a distance4 ,but the fact was that this power came from a sense of reserve force of intellectual ability that no one took account of save in its results4 ,through one of those manifestations of nature that produce a ,shakespeare at long intervals1 a giant had been born to the poor whites of ,kentucky and the sense of superiority possessed ,lincoln at all times4 ,seward1 ,chase1 and ,stanton1 great as they were1 felt their inferiority to their master4 ,law and ,authority ,we are beginning to feel the reality of that power that lies above appearance and formula1 that power manifested in ,job and ,isaiah1 which we accept as inspiration in religion1 intuition in philosophy1 and illumination in art1 producing saints in one age and mystical scientists in another4 ,we float through the ether on a revolving miracle called the earth1 returning again and again to attain the same figure on the dial of time4 ,the things done by human automatons count for nothing in the course of destiny4 ,we think we are wise when we invent a new name for an old truth2 and vanity aims to confine the infinite within the limits of a stopper bottle or a glass showcase1 or attain inspiration by means of a ouija board4 ,can any one conceive what would have happened to this country had ,lincoln made use of such a contrivance to direct the course of his actions8 ,this scourge of dead agnostics seems like an ironical stroke of nature to discount their disbelief4 ,not only does this clumsy instrument make wits like ,mark ,twain talk like poor ,pol1 but it makes philosophers reason like first-grade pupils at our common schools4 ,immortality is destined to have the last word even though it be pronounced in the most fantastic manner4 ,lincoln believed in law1 order1 and authority4 ,he believed in the mission of the churches4 ,he was a regular worshipper in ,dr4 ,gurley's ,presbyterian congregation at the ,capital4 ,he was a praying president1 like ,george ,washington1 and1 while he was not a member of any church1 he was convinced that all the churches were necessary4 ,he was not a free-thinker1 as that term is commonly used4 ,loose reasoning and vague1 uncertain doctrines he could not abide4 ,he demanded proofs and would not accept a man's word merely from sentimental motives4 ,no one ever induced him to side-track from the main line of argument and reason4 ,his attitude in the matter of inspiration and spiritual direction may be summed up in a few words spoken at the time a delegation of ,chicago ministers came to him1 urging him in ,god's name to free the slaves without further delay4 ,his reply was that when the ,almighty wanted him to free the slaves ,he would deal directly with ,lincoln himself instead of indirectly through ,chicago4 ,a vacillating ,president would have been influenced by such a request at such a time1 but the ,president had faith in his own illuminations and awaited orders from a ,supreme source4 ,had he been influenced by advice given by all sorts of people who called at the ,white ,house on all sorts of missions1 possessing no authority themselves1 what turmoil and chaos would have resulted to the army and the ,nation6 ,practical mystic that he was1 he did not seek1 nor wish for1 advice from people in matters which concerned his own judgment alone4 ,it is true that on several occasions he was approached by persons who came with messages of various kinds assumed to be spiritual1 but ,lincoln received them with a neutral politeness1 sometimes mingled with a grim humour1 as when ,robert ,dale ,owen read to him a long manuscript presumed to be highly inspirational and illuminating1 and ,lincoln replied1 ,well1 for those who like that sort of thing that is the thing they would like4 ,lincoln as ,critic ,nothing escaped ,lincoln's powers of philosophical and metaphysical analysis4 ,he did not read the ,bible and ,shakespeare merely for pleasure1 as people read novels4 ,he could give excellent reasons for everything he did4 ,even in his most listless moods he never lost his firm grip on affairs1 both general and individual4 ,when he read a book it was because there was something in it which helped him to penetrate deeper into the recesses of life and character4 ,he would study a passage or a chapter until he had assimilated its wisdom and its mystical import4 ,lincoln was a natural critic4 ,when ,walt ,whitman's ,leaves ,o' ,grass was first published a copy of the book was read and discussed by several of his friends in ,springfield4 ,lincoln at once recognised the fact that a new poetic genius had appeared and he did not permit adverse opinions to influence his judgment4 ,he cared nothing for the romantic in itself4 ,he cared only for those phases of literature which induce serious philosophical or spiritual thought4 ,while his partner read ,carlyle1 he read ,shakespeare4 ,in the ,spring of #ahfb the ,president spent several days at ,fortress ,monroe awaiting military operations upon the ,peninsula4 ,as a portion of the ,cabinet were with him1 that was temporarily the seat of government1 and he bore with him constantly the burden of public affairs4 ,his favourite diversion was reading ,shakespeare4 ,one day--it chanced to be the day before the capture of ,norfolk--as he sat reading alone1 he called to his side ,colonel ,le ,grand ,b4 ,cannon4 ,you have been writing long enough1 ,colonel1 he said1 come in here2 ,i want to read you a passage in ,hamlet4 ,he read the discussion on ambition between ,hamlet and his courtiers1 and the soliloquy in which conscience debates of a future state4 ,his ,style ,no criticism of ,mr4 ,lincoln1 says the ,spectator1 can be in any sense adequate which does not deal with his astonishing power over words4 ,it is not too much to say of him that he is among the greatest masters of prose ever produced by the ,english race4 ,self-educated1 or rather not educated at all in the ordinary sense1 he contrived to obtain an insight and power in the handling and mechanism of letters such as has been given to but few men in his1 or1 indeed1 in any age4 ,that the gift of oratory should be a natural gift is understandable enough1 for the methods of the orator1 like those of the poet1 are primarily sensuous and may well be instinctive4444 ,mr4 ,lincoln did not get his ability to handle prose through his gift of speech4 ,it is in his conduct of the pedestrian portions of composition that ,mr4 ,lincoln's genius for prose style is exhibited4 ,lincoln avoided the superfluous in writing as in speaking1 and style came after the matter of his thought1 not as a conscious effort while he was uttering his thoughts4 ,he was not consciously a literary artist4 ,when1 in his famous inaugural address1 he made pray rhyme with away1 it sounded like a false note struck in the movement of a great symphony4 ,that blemish remains like a flaw in a diamond which cannot be removed1 but the miracle remains that this master of men and moods accomplished in his speeches and letters what no one else accomplished in his time4 ,lincoln's ,serenity ,lincoln1 says the same writer in the ,spectator1 saw things as a disillusioned man sees them1 and yet1 in the bad sense1 he never suffered any disillusionment4 ,for suffusing and combining his other qualities was a serenity of mind which affected the whole man4 ,he viewed the world too much as a whole to be greatly troubled or perplexed over its accidents4 ,to this serenity of mind was due an almost total absence of indignation in the ordinary sense4 ,this is true1 because1 as ,walt ,whitman says1 ,the foundations of his character1 more than any man's in history1 were mystic and spiritual4 ,lincoln was1 before all things1 a gentleman1 says the ,spectator1 and the good taste inseparable from that character made it impossible for him to be spoiled by power and position4 ,this grace and strength of character is never better shown than in the letters to his generals1 victorious or defeated4 ,if a general had to be reprimanded he did it as only the most perfect gentleman could do it4 ,nevertheless1 the invulnerable ,president did show his anger or indignation on some few occasions4 ,and justly so4 ,as a rule he did not consider it worth his while to permit himself to be moved by the sayings and doings of any one4 ,the foolish are unworthy of indignation2 they must be dealt with quietly but effectively2 while the others must be managed with gentle firmness backed by the fundamentally drastic4 ,fuss and fury were unknown to this pioneer politician1 philosophical statesman1 and mystical leader4 ,no man can be serene who doubts himself4 ,lincoln1 when in doubt as to the actions of others1 did not grope in the darkness1 but waited4 ,his invincible trust in ,providence held him aloof from the petty circumstances and daily routine of intrigue1 and his imagination soared in the empyrean while those around him flattered themselves that he was being influenced or led by their counsels and their interests4 ,he treated people who bedevilled him with importunities and all sorts of advice as the wise parent treats a child who asks for the impossible--he knew that a little waiting would wear them out and they would end by forgetting4 ,often1 in place of a flat refusal1 he would turn away the office-seeker by a sudden1 adroit stroke of his humour1 thus sending the man and his friends away smiling good-humouredly at ,lincoln's inimitable tact4 ,the ,romance of ,his ,character ,there is a romance of character that accompanies people of exceptional achievements1 as ,emerson has so justly said1 and ,lincoln possessed it without being in the slightest degree conscious of the fact4 ,this is one reason why his life surpasses in interest any book of fiction ever written4 ,he united all the realism of pioneer life with the romance of the inexplicable and the fascination of the unexpected4 ,those who come to ,lincoln in search of the shifting romance of bohemianism will be disappointed1 for the romance of change and vacillation is the kind that leads to the poorhouse or the hospital4 ,this romance of character1 belonging1 as it did1 to the temperament of the man1 was hidden from the multitude1 but all could readily see the romance of the progressive events of his life4 ,lincoln was at times awed1 but not alarmed1 by the turn of affairs which placed him at the head of the nation4 ,he realised the tremendous responsibility without regrets or fear4 ,he was fully conscious of his mission but quite unconscious of the romantic elements which enveloped it1 for ,lincoln's life included both the romance of character and the romance of experience4 ,without the first1 the second would have unfitted him for the heavy responsibilities of his high office later on4 ,he did not seek experience for the sake of experience1 like so many in our day who are under the illusion that truth and wisdom arrive perforce4 ,he forced nothing4 ,he followed a natural course of events1 dealing with each according to the light of his own judgment1 asking for no advice4 ,neither the romance of character nor the romance of experience comes to those who seek them4 ,self-consciousness dissipates romantic mystery4 ,president by the ,grace of ,god ,lincoln lived long enough to become convinced that everything exists for a purpose4 ,he saw that the ,rebellion had to be1 and that in the seeming confusion of sentiments and interests the ,divine ruled over all persons and parties4 ,events had to follow as ordained by the spiritual ,power that lies behind appearance4 ,lincoln worked in the light2 ,czar ,nicholas of ,russia lived in the dark4 ,he could not tell why he occupied the ,russian throne4 ,lincoln knew why he occupied the ,white ,house4 ,the ,kaiser was not able to see why will1 energy1 and money should not rule the world4 ,never were the lessons taught by ,lincoln's career so much needed as now1 when a ruthless autocracy is seeking to get rid of all moral responsibility1 while1 on the other hand1 thousands are awakening to the necessity of a new order1 of fostering the mystical renaissance4 ,science and the ,mystical ,quintilian said3-- ,no man can become a perfect orator without a knowledge of geometry4 ,it is not without reason that the greatest men have bestowed extreme attention on this science4 ,locke1 the philosopher1 gives the reason3-- ,geometry develops the habit of pursuing long trains of ideas which will remain with the student who will be enabled to pierce through the mazes of sophism and discover a latent truth1 when persons who have not this habit will never find it4 ,lincoln was passionately fond of geometry4 ,his oratory was based on logic1 but his logic came from the mystical absolute1 a geometric science of the soul which he alone could appropriate through his perception of fundamental principles of universal law4 ,he could perceive that an idea is a personal conception of a mathematical truth1 as distinguished from mere beliefs1 notions1 and sentiments4 ,others turned politics into the art of influencing crowds through their sentimental opinions2 ,lincoln engaged in trying to make them think logically4 ,while others gave vague reasons for their political views he gave reasons based on law which he explained with simple force and lucid phraseology4 ,he never attempted to tell all he knew4 ,the practical mystic never does4 ,he knew how he acquired his knowledge1 but his reticence was as pronounced as his gift of expression4 ,it was this quality of reticence that kept him from taking counsel from all sorts of statesmen and explaining the inexplicable4 ,there was not a man among them that could have understood4 ,in this1 ,lincoln was a mystic1 full-fledged1 initiated1 as by centuries of experience4 ,his innate wisdom told him exactly how much the people could understand1 how much politicians could digest1 and how much statesmen could divine4 ,not only did he hold the allegiance of the ,whigs1 but he gained the allegiance of the ,abolitionists4 ,this1 indeed1 was intellect illumined4 ,the ,old and the ,new ,how old yet new are nature's moods and manifestations6 ,how mysteriously the souvenirs of the past are revived and quickened in new forms1 faces1 and phenomena6 ,the seasons come and go with varying moods and seem new1 but they are older than the formulas of civilisation2 strangers bring with them new influences1 but we discover in them something familiar from the vague and shadowy past4 ,every single thing is related to every other thing1 and illuminated minds are the periods that separate the cycles1 but not the laws1 of human progress4 ,the form is new2 the principle remains unchangeable4 ,solomon was unique in his glory1 but ,athens had a ,pericles1 ,rome a ,csar1 ,europe a ,bonaparte1 and the new world a ,lincoln4 ,real genius is elemental4 ,it influences humanity as much as heat and cold1 rain and sunshine4 ,people who offer the greatest opposition to it are those who fall before its onward march4 ,indeed1 it seems to be1 from all historical accounts1 a sort of car of ,juggernaut to those who wilfully oppose it4 ,and this is not surprising since it is the greatest power of which man has any personal knowledge1 supported by all the forces of the material and the spiritual4 ,destiny versus ,will ,great men float into power on mystical waves moved by the force of destiny4 ,the greater the mind the greater the fixture of force behind it4 ,between ,george ,washington and ,abraham ,lincoln1 ,presidents came and went as figureheads of parties or props to some ephemeral political scaffold4 ,the majority were stopgaps4 ,they1 like the majority of politicians and many others1 put their trust in ,will and ,desire4 ,they could not understand that a man is not great because of his will1 but because of his innate knowledge4 ,washington realised his destiny and understood4 ,lincoln realised what he was and what he would become long before his nomination for the ,presidency1 but he was wholly unconscious of any ,will to ,power4 ,the born statesman is aware of his invincible1 hidden knowledge1 and he places ,will in the second rank4 ,he knows it counts for nothing in the fundamental issues4 ,lincoln discerned1 at an early age1 the difference between desire and destiny4 ,he saw the dangerous illusions under which the ,will-to-,power-politicians and others laboured and how vain were their hopes4 ,will and ,ambition are characteristics of men who mistake the material for the permanent4 ,bonaparte and ,bismarck exercised their ,will for the possession of the material and both failed4 ,the ,hohenzollerns and their henchmen have failed in the same exercise4 ,this exercise is indulged in by people who believe that to become intensely individualistic means the development of powerful personality4 ,they talk of their rights as if their desires gave them the privilege of robbing their neighbours4 ,and what some are doing publicly others are doing privately4 ,the motives for this desire for material domination vary with the individual4 ,with one1 it is to get even with a group2 with another1 it is to get even with a party2 with others1 it is to appear in public1 to be frequently named and sometimes applauded4 ,compromise and subterfuge are ingredients inseparable from the illusions of the ,will4 ,while ,lincoln often assisted his friends1 he refused to hedge or trim in order to please4 ,destiny behind him was invulnerable1 his own sense of justice inexorable4 ,while others were working for the good of their city1 state1 or section1 he was thinking of the good of the whole country1 with all humanity behind it4 ,destiny created the man and the crisis at the same time1 as always happens4 ,the one could not exist without the other4 ,destiny is the collective conscience acting through elective genius4 ,for this reason ,lincoln was not only the man of his time but the man whose example will exert the greatest influence on future eras4 ,james ,jacquess ,practical ,mystic ,in the hubbub and confusion created by the upheaval which began in #aiad it is of vital importance for thinking people of the ,english-speaking countries to know what went on in the inner circles at ,washington during that year of trial1 #ahfd1 when the destiny of the ,union seemed to be hanging in the balance4 ,it is time to know the truth about ,lincoln's supernaturalism4 ,your favourite historian avoids the subject4 ,he will not touch on a matter so dangerous to his neutral agnosticism4 ,he avoids the details of the supernatural events of that wonderful time4 ,he will discuss anything but that2 he knows that once thinking people become acquainted with the facts they will begin to form their own conclusions4 ,in ,lincoln's day agnosticism had not taken root in the intellectual soil of this country4 ,the negative writings of ,darwin and ,spencer were unknown among politicians and statesmen1 and the churches still believed that spirit ruled matter and that ,providence was directing the affairs of the nation4 ,in ,lincoln's time agnostic ministers were unknown4 ,all believed in a positive religion4 ,the ,union was saved from disruption because ,lincoln and his aids were firm believers in a higher ,power and a higher destiny4 ,doubt1 cynicism1 and scepticism would have handed the country over to universal chaos4 ,the downfall of the ,union would have meant the end of the ,british ,empire and to-day ,kaiserism would be in supreme command of the remnant of ,anglo-,saxon civilisation4 ,it is the fashion to read romantic novels1 but the story of the ,jacquess peace mission is more fascinating than any novel because it is fact instead of fiction and because its basic element is the supernatural4 ,james ,jacquess was1 himself1 a practical mystic of no uncertain power but whose great gifts were overshadowed by the personality of ,lincoln1 his revered chief4 ,before the ,civil ,war ,jacquess was a mathematician1 a ,greek and ,latin scholar1 a college president1 and one of the most forcible ,methodist preachers of the age4 ,his field of work was the country around ,springfield1 where ,lincoln often heard him preach4 ,long before ,jacquess received the mystical command to undertake his peace mission to the ,rebel headquarters at ,richmond1 ,lincoln knew and respected him as a sincere and earnest patriot4 ,jacquess was ,colonel of an ,illinois regiment during the war1 and had already taken a valiant part in some of the most terrible battles4 ,colonel ,jacquess was inspired to act as he did without1 at first1 consulting any one4 ,he conceived the idea of going to ,richmond1 interviewing the ,confederate leaders1 and so gaining some definite information that would eventually lead to peace1 through victory1 for the ,union4 ,his mission was a secret1 known only to a limited circle1 including the ,president1 ,general ,rosecrans1 ,general ,garfield 7who later became ,president71 and ,james ,r4 ,gilmore1 the friend of ,lincoln4 ,mr4 ,gilmore1 in his ,personal ,recollections of ,lincoln1 devotes many pages to this peace mission1 with all the details1 from its inception by ,colonel ,jacquess to its final wonderful results4 ,general ,garfield1 writing to ,mr4 ,gilmore from his military headquarters on ,june #agth1 #ahfc1 said3-- ,colonel ,jacquess has gone on his peace mission4 ,the ,president approved it1 though1 of course1 he did not make it an official matter4 ,there are some very curious facts relating to his mission which ,i hope to tell you some day4 ,it will be sufficient for me to say that enough of the mysterious is in it to give me an almost superstitious feeling of faith1 and certainly a great interest1 in his work4 ,he is most solemnly in earnest and has great confidence in his mission4 ,colonel ,jacquess succeeded in gaining a respectful hearing before the highest authorities at ,richmond without being shot as a spy--more than one of his friends having predicted such a fate for him4 ,he returned to the ,north determined to await patiently for another opportunity to try again4 ,in #ahfd1 after conferring with ,mr4 ,gilmore and the ,president1 it was decided that a second mission should be set on foot1 this time in company with his friend ,gilmore1 whom a special ,providence had chosen to record all the incidents and events of that unprecedented undertaking4 ,on this occasion ,colonel ,jacquess learned all that he had hoped to learn1 and more1 from the lips of ,jefferson ,davis1 ,president of the ,southern ,confederacy2 and when ,jacquess and ,gilmore returned ,lincoln requested ,mr4 ,gilmore to prepare a detailed account of the astounding revelation for the ,atlantic ,monthly4 ,this vivid recital of the facts was published and it created a sensation from one end of the country to the other4 ,it turned the tide in favour of ,lincoln's election for a second term and saved the ,union4 ,this1 in brief1 was the work of ,jacquess1 the mystic1 whose name to-day is only known to the more serious students of ,lincoln's life and work4 ,had the ,president been less a practical mystic than he was he would have forbidden ,colonel ,jacquess to undertake a journey full of risks and peril1 and one that ordinary business men would have called an insane adventure4 ,images and ,dreams ,noah ,brooks1 in his ,life of ,lincoln1 gives the following account of a vision which the ,president described to him3-- ,it was just after my nomination in #ahfj when the news was coming thick and fast all day1 and there had been a great ,hurrah ,boys1 so that ,i was well tired out1 and went home to rest and threw myself on a lounge in my chamber4 ,opposite where ,i lay was a bureau with a swinging glass1 and looking in the glass ,i saw myself reflected1 nearly at full length1 but my face1 ,i noticed1 had two separate and distinct images1 the tip of the nose of one being about three inches from the tip of the other4 ,i was a little bothered1 perhaps startled1 and got up and looked in the glass1 but the illusion vanished4 ,on lying down again ,i saw it a second time1 plainer1 if possible1 than before4 ,then ,i noticed that one of the faces was a little paler1 say five shades1 than the other4 ,i got up and the thing melted away4 ,i left1 and in the excitement of the hour forgot all about it1 nearly but not quite1 for the thing would once in a while come up and give me a little pang1 as though something uncomfortable had happened4 ,later in the day ,i told my wife about it1 and a few days later ,i tried the experiment again1 when1 sure enough1 the thing came again4 ,my wife thought that it was a sign that ,i was to be elected to a second term of office and that the paleness of one of the faces was an omen that ,i should not live through the last term4 ,not long after his second inauguration he said to a friend in ,washington3-- ,i have seen this evening what ,i saw on the evening of my nomination4 ,as ,i stood before a mirror ,i saw two images of myself--a bright one in front and one that was pallid1 standing behind4 ,it completely unnerved me4 ,the bright one ,i know is my past1 the pale one my coming life4 ,i do not think ,i shall live to see the end of my second term4 ,in his biography1 ,morgan relates a dream which ,lincoln had4 ,he thought he was in a vast assembly1 and the people drew back to let him pass4 ,just then ,lincoln heard some one say3 ,he is a common-looking fellow4 ,lincoln1 in his dream1 turned to the man and said3 ,friend1 the ,lord prefers common-looking people2 that is the reason ,he makes so many of them4 ,shortly before ,lincoln's assassination some friends were talking about certain dreams recorded in the ,bible when the ,president said3 ,about two days ago ,i retired very late4 ,i could not have been long in bed when ,i fell into a slumber1 for ,i was weary4 ,i soon began to dream4 ,there seemed to be a deathlike stillness about me4 ,then ,i heard subdued sobs1 as if a number of people were weeping4 ,i thought ,i left my bed and wandered downstairs4 ,there the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing1 but the mourners were invisible4 ,i went from room to room2 no living person was in sight1 but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as ,i passed along4 ,it was light in all the rooms2 every object was familiar to me1 but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break8 ,i was puzzled and alarmed4 ,what could be the meaning of all this8 ,determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking1 ,i kept on until ,i arrived at the ,east ,room1 which ,i entered4 ,before me was a catafalque on which was a form wrapped in funeral vestments4 ,around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards2 there was a throng of people1 some gazing mournfully upon the catafalque2 others weeping pitifully4 ',who is dead in the ,white ,house8' ,i demanded of one of the soldiers4 ',the ,president1' was the answer4 ',he was killed by an assassin4' ,then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd1 which woke me from my dream4 ,the ,new ,era ,the principles enunciated by ,abraham ,lincoln are abiding examples1 not only for the ,english-speaking peoples but for the whole world4 ,out of what seems universal confusion1 tending towards chaos1 there arises a new era4 ,a material transformation had to occur before the uprising of the spiritual1 and the truth is beginning to dawn in the minds of thousands that behind all material phenomena there dwells the divine idea4 ,before the gates of oblivion closed on civilisation we were plucked from the gulf in accordance with the ,divine purpose4 ,amidst the strife of contending factions the thunder of upheaval reverberates from continent to continent1 heralding the close of a dispensation that has known the trials and triumphs of nearly two thousand years1 from which is emerging the mystical dawn of a new day4 ,,the ,,end ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,francis ,,grierson ---------------------------------------- --- ,,the ,,humour ,,of ,,the ,,underman ,the ,london ,evening ,news3--',the ,humour of the ,underman' is a classic4 ,the work will rank among the great books of the century if only for the rarity and beauty of its literary expression4 ,the ,london ,telegraph3--,in ',the ,humour of the ,underman' there is a delicacy1 a skilfullness1 an ease of manner1 and a consummate sense of style4 ,here is the short epigrammatic way of putting things which is ,emerson's way1 but the successive sentences are less staccato than in the work of the ,concord ,sage2 there is added to it something of the delicacy1 the ease1 the grace of the ,french4 ,,the ,,invincible ,,alliance ,austin ,harrison1 ,editor of ,the ,english ,review3--,mr4 ,grierson's essays are masterpieces of lucid expression and condensed though4 ,in ',the ,invincible ,alliance' he puts his index finger on the weak places--on snobbery on politics1 on music1 on the clergy1 on the ,english point of view1 which is twenty years behind ,continental thought4444 ,we believe him to be absolutely right4 ,dr4 ,samuel ,p4 ,orth1 ,professor of ,political ,science at ,cornell1 in a page review of the book in the ,n4 ,y4 ,times3--,in ',the ,invincible ,alliance' ,mr4 ,grierson touches prophetic heights4 ,his analytical gift is a sort of intellectual clairvoyance4 ,,illusions ,,and ,,realities ,,of ,,the ,,war ,the ,new ,york ,sun3--,mr4 ,grierson's volume on the war is the rarest book of the year4 ,the ,brooklyn ,eagle3--,a work of marvellous power4 ,the ,independent3--,keen observation1 trenchant criticism1 and a conciseness of style combine with unusual force in ,mr4 ,grierson's latest volume on the great war4 ,the ,boston ,transcript3--,in #aiac ,mr4 ,grierson wrote a volume of essays called ',the ,invincible ,alliance' in which he outlined very clearly the dangers which lay before the two great ,english-speaking nations4 ,re-reading these essays in the light of the last four years we can see that ,mr4 ,grierson looked even more deeply into the future and that he predicted much which has come to pass since the war began4 ,the ,herald1 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c43--,since the publication of the ',the ,invincible ,alliance' nothing has appeared in book form to surpass the trenchant vigour and illuminating insight of ',illusions and ,realities of the ,war4' ,,la ,,vie ,,et ,,les ,,hommes ,m4 ,sully ,prudhomme1 of the ,french ,academy3--,j'ai trouv ces mditations pleines d'aperus profonds et sagaces4 ,j'ai t frapp de l'originalit puissante de la pense de l'auteur4 ,,modern ,,mysticism ,maurice ,maeterlinck3--,this volume is full of thoughts of the very highest order4 ,you have deliciously and profoundly surprised me4 ,you have said so many things which ,i should like to have written myself4 ,a4 ,b4 ,walkley1 dramatic critic of the ,london ,times3--,modern ,mysticism is an original and delectable book4 ,the ,london ,telegraph3--,mr4 ,grierson pierces to the heart of his theme with a keenness that is almost disconcerting4 ,he illumines the most obscure situation by one of his sudden flashes of insight4 ,the poise of his sentences has something of ,gallic precision about it and it is not surprising that savants of contemporary ,french literature have praised his work with generous emphasis4 ,such an influence1 working like leaven in the lump1 cannot fail to make its presence appreciated4 ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,shadows ,arnold ,bennett1 in a long review3--',the ,valley of ,shadows' is a noble book4444 ,mr4 ,grierson's descriptions possess a detaching sentiment of beauty with absolute visual quality4 ,the ,new ,york ,times3--,perhaps at last1 before oblivion closes over the ante-bellum days in ,illinois1 the laureate of the ,lincoln ,country has arrived4 ,if there is another book in existence which deals so graphically and so faithfully with that period we do not know of it4 ,the ,literary ,digest3--,grierson's description of ,lincoln as he stood before ,douglas at ,alton1 is more real1 more lifelike1 than any statue or picture1 and will in future ages take rank with ,balzac's description of ,dante4 ,sir ,owen ,seaman 7,editor of ,punch73--,there are chapters in ',the ,valley of ,shadows' that haunt one afterward like remembered music4 ,,the ,,celtic ,,temperament ,prof4 ,william ,james3--,i find this volume full of wisdom4 ,the pages of ',reflections' have found their mark in me4 ,maeterlinck3--',the ,celtic ,temperament' is one of the most subtle and substantial books that ,i know4 ,,parisian ,,portraits ,the ,london ,times3--,the most remarkable feature of ,mr4 ,grierson's ',parisian ,portraits' is their extraordinary clear and various detail2 they are served up with truth undiluted by sentiment4 ,his insight is sure and his choice of subject exclusive4 ,leon ,bazalgette1 in ,la ,phalange1 ,paris3--,in his ',parisian ,portraits' ,francis ,grierson gives us some chapters of his romantic and marvellous existence4 ,he conquers us by a very rare quality of evoking and suggesting a spiritual atmosphere4 ---------------------------------------- --- ,,john ,,lane ,,company1 ,,new ,,york ,,john ,,lane1 ,,the ,,bodley ,,head1 ,,london ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,only obvious typographical errors have been corrected4