The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Henry Ketcham
page 27 of 302 (08%)
page 27 of 302 (08%)
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apparently bottomless. The author will not attempt to describe it, for
he has in boyhood seen it many times and knows it to be indescribable. It was Abe's duty to drive the four yoke of oxen, a task which must have strained even his patience. They settled in Macon County, near Decatur. There the son faithfully worked with his father until the family was fairly settled, then started out in life for himself. For he had now reached the age of twenty-one. As he had passed through the periods of childhood and youth, and was on the threshold of manhood, it is right and fitting to receive at this point the testimony of Sally Bush, his stepmother: "Abe was a good boy, and I can say what scarcely one woman--a mother-- can say in a thousand: Abe never gave me a cross word or look, and never refused, in fact or appearance, to do anything I requested him. I never gave him a cross word in all my life.... He was a dutiful son to me always. I think he loved me truly. I had a son John who was raised with Abe. Both were good boys; but I must say, both being now dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever saw, or expect to see." These words of praise redound to the honor of the speaker equally with that of her illustrious stepson. Lincoln came into the estate of manhood morally clean. He had formed no habits that would cause years of struggle to overcome, he had committed no deed that would bring the blush of shame to his cheek, he was as free from vice as from crime. He was not profane, he had never tasted liquor, he was no brawler, he never gambled, he was honest and truthful. On the other hand, he had a genius for making friends, he was the center of every social circle, he was a good talker and a close |
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