Abraham Lincoln,
his hand and pen.
he will be good, but
god knows when.

The small "g" led a public speaker to denounce the sort of men--"sordid
and ignorant"--who write "God with a small g and gold with a big one."
This was a scrapbook in humble imitation of the albums in the East.

Another copybook motto. (A year or so later.)

Good boys who to their books apply
Will all be great men by and by.


* * * * *


THE LITTLE HATCHET DID IT.

In 1823 Abraham Lincoln went briefly to Crawford's school, a log house,
pleasing the teacher by his attention to the simple course. The boy
had read but a small library, principally "Weems' Life of Washington,"
which had impressed him deeply. This is shown by the following anecdote
told by Andrew Crawford, the Spencer County pedagogue: The latter saw
that a buck's head, nailed on the schoolhouse, was broken in one horn,
and asked the scholars who among them broke it. "I did it," answered
young Lincoln promptly. "I did not mean to do it, but I hung on it"--he
was very tall and reached it too easily--"and it broke!" Though lean,
he weighed fairly. "I wouldn't have done it if I had 'a' thought it