Excerpt from Portrait Life of Lincoln: Life of Abraham Lincoln, the Greatest American

There is not one who reads these lines who was born in humbler circumstances than Abraham Lincoln; not one whose opportunities in life are so limited as those which surrounded him; and yet he became one of the greatest of men. His life proves to all generations the power of an indomitable will and a resolute purpose; that man, when he conquers him self, can conquer the world.

Do you remember that old homestead where you were born? It was a mansion compared with that rough log cabin in the Kentucky wilderness where Abraham Lincoln began life on that cold winter day on the twelfth of February, in 1809.

Do you remember the dear old village where you spent your child hood days; its long country roads, shaded with towering maples and elms, along which you romped and shouted and played on your way to school those good old days in the country? It was a, great world of light and laughter, of pleasure and friendship, of wonderful Opportunities, compared with that forest home of Abraham Lincoln where only the growl of the bear echoed along the trail, where the ring Of the ax was the only sound of civilization, and desolation and poverty were his only friends - and they were staunch friends.

Every American is rich today in comparison with the worldly posses sions of Abraham Lincoln during his childhood, his youth, and his early manhood - rich in surroundings of home; rich in the comforts of life; rich in the opportunities for learning and education. There is not an American youth who is not a millionaire In the possibilities of vast success in life, compared to the possibilities that were within the grasp of Abraham Lincoln on the day that he left his father's roof to go out into the great world, of which he knew only the knowledge that comes from the school of the woods and the motherhood of Nature. There was one thing that he did not know and never learned - and that was Fear. He learned early that man is his own master; that with a strong arm, a strong heart, and a strong will, there is no power on earth that he need fear; that with his conscience clear and his mind clean the future will take care of itself and even Death is conquered.

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