In The Boyhood of Lincoln: A Tale of the Tunker Schoolmaster and the Times of Black HawkButterworth, Hezekiah
General
In The Boyhood of Lincoln: A Tale of the Tunker Schoolmaster and the Times of Black Hawk
Butterworth, Hezekiah
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Fiction
"'For thirty years my life has been a struggle against poverty. For
thirty years I have had to forego many of the barest necessities of
life, and have had to shun the society of my fellow-men for want of
decent clothes. Many and many times I have gone without a dinner, and
eaten in bitterness a dry crust of bread on the road, at a time when
even the poorest were seated around a table. All this I have suffered,
and am suffering still to-day, and with no other object than to realize
my plan for helping the poor.'
"When I heard him say that, I loved him. It made me ashamed of my
selfish life. Then I heard the Dunkards preach, and tell of America over
the sea. I began to study the words of the Teacher of Galilee. I, too,
longed to teach. My wife died, and my two children. Then I said: 'I
will live for the soul. That is all that has any lasting worth. I will
give up everything for the good of others, and go over the sea, and
teach the children of the forest.' I am now on my way to see Black Hawk,
who has promised to send out with me an interpreter and guide. I have
given up my will, my property, and my name, and I am happy. Good-by, my
friends. I have nothing, and am happy."
At this point Aunt Olive's corn-field bonnet rose up, and her voice rang
out on the air:
"My brother, I wish you well!
My brother, I wish you well!
When my Lord calls, I hope I shall
Be _mentioned_ in the promised land.
"My sister, I wish you well!" etc.
"Poor sinners, I wish you well!" etc.
Galilee! There was one merry, fun-making boy in that sacred place, to
whom, according to tradition, that word had a charm. He used to love to
mimic the old backwoods preachers, and he became very skeptical in
matters of Christian faith and doctrine, but he never forgot the
teachings of the Teacher of Galilee. In the terrible duties that fell to
his lot the principles of the Galilean teachings came home to his heart,
and he came to know in experience what he had not accepted from the
mouths of men. He is said to have said, just before his death, which
bowed the nation: "When the cares of state are over, I want to go to
Galilee," or words of like meaning. The legend is so beautiful that we
could wish it to be true.
CHAPTER IX.
AUNT INDIANA'S PROPHECIES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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