--_Phoebe Cary_ Lincoln was the greatest President in American history, because in a time of revolution he comprehended the spirit of American institutions. --_Lyman Abbott_ He was one of the few great rulers whose wisdom increased with his power, and whose spirit grew gentler and tenderer as his triumphs were multiplied. --_James A. Garfield_ With all his disappointments from failures on the part of those to whom he had trusted command, and treachery on the part of those who had gained his confidence but to betray it, I never heard him utter a complaint, nor cast a censure for bad conduct or bad faith. It was his nature to find excuses for his adversaries. In his death the nation lost its greatest hero. --_U. S. Grant_ The best way to estimate the value of Lincoln is to think what the condition of America would be today if he had never lived--never been President. --_Walt Whitman_ He had a face and manner which disarmed suspicion, which inspired confidence, which confirmed good will. --_R. W. Emerson_ The life of Lincoln should never be passed by in silence by old or young. He touched the log cabin and it became the palace in which greatness was nurtured. He touched the forest and it became to him a church in which the purest and noblest worship of God was observed. In Lincoln there was always some quality which fastened him to the people and taught them to keep time to the music of his heart. He reveals to us the beauty of plain backwoods honesty. --_Prof. David Swing_ The shepherd of the people! that old name that the best rulers ever craved. What ruler ever won it like this dead President of ours? He fed us with counsel when we were in doubt, with inspiration when we faltered, with caution when we would be rash, with calm, trustful cheerfulness through many an hour when our hearts were dark. He fed hungry souls all over the country with sympathy and consolation. He spread before the whole land feasts of great duty, devotion and patriotism, on which the land grew strong. He taught us the sacredness of government, the wickedness of treason. He made our souls glad and vigorous with the love of liberty that was his. --_Rev. Phillips Brooks_ QUOTATIONS FROM LINCOLN