Excerpt from President I Have Seen and Known, Lincoln to Taft and a Day in Washington's Country

The chief glory of every people arises from its authors. -dr. 701mm.

0 have known, or even to have seen, Abraham Lincoln and I the Presidents of the United States who have presided over the destinies of the American people since his eventful time is a privilege and an experience that should be recorded, preserved and cherished as a rare inheritance for posterity. There is no more significant period in the history of the country than the years from 1861 to the present time. Within this period Lincoln's hope of national unity has been realized. When he took the oath of ofiice Lincoln found a federation of states loosely bound together, struggling with problems that involved the very existence of the nation. The genius of his administration and the memory of his inspired life have settled for all time the question as to whether the states of the Union are to have vigorous national entity. With the solution of the questions 0} slavery and secession and the establishment of a stable and permanent federal government came an industrial progress such as the world had not before experienced. This marvelously rapid advance of the coun try has given rise to new problems almost as serious in their import as those that Lincoln faced. The Presidents of the United States since 1861 have been statesmen competent, each in his turn, to deal with complex situations of world-wide importance. Happily for the people, when, in the march of events, the time came for the introduc tion of this nation as a world power, William mckinley presided at Washington as their leader, Commander-in-chief of the Army and the Navy; and with the dignity and grace that characterized its chief tain the country took its place among those nations that are powerful in the control of the destinies of the people of the earth. Anyone who has known the great Presidents since Buchanan, and has correctly interpreted their acts and motives, as has Mr. Butler, must have a well defined and correct appreciation of the meaning of the country's history for the past fifty years, for a nation's history is best told in the lives of its statesmen. The wide and varied experi ence of Joseph G. Butler, Jr., his many warm friendships, his intimate relations with the great men of his time - especially the affectionate regard that mckinley had for him - enable him to make a record of the events and friendships of this eventful period that must have a great and perpetual value; and in so doing Mr. Butler has performed a patriotic service of great importance.

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