THE TRUE STORY OF A GREAT LIFE. SHOWING THE INNER GROWTH, SPECIAL TRAINING, AND PECULIAR ONE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S SECRETARIES DURING THE WAR OF THE With Illustrations. "The public life of Hampden resembles a regular drama which can be criticised as a whole, and every scene of which is to be viewed in connection NEW YORK: FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT, PREFACE. A STRICTLY personal life of ABRAHAM LINCOLN has long been regarded by many as a literary necessity. There can be no question but that the popular idea of Mr. LINCOLN's character is vague, fragmentary, and incomplete. His origin, growth, and development, his education and his services, rightly presented and understood, offer one of the noblest lessons to be found in the world's history. To present such a biography is the single aim of this book. It is a record of political and military events only as these in some manner became a part of, or set forth, or illustrated the character and services of the great President. The writer knew Mr. LINCOLN well, and had many opportunities of preparation for such a work as this. These were obtained during a residence of several years, before the war, in Mr. LINCOLN's own district in Illinois, and as one of his assistant private secretaries at Washington, from the beginning of his administration, in 1861, to about the end of September, 1864. Every effort possible has been made to put away partisan feeling and the blindnesses of personal affection, and to produce and present a faithful portrait of the man as he was. The mass of material offering required the exclusion of much that was interesting but not necessary, and the most rigid condensation, in order to keep the book within reasonable limits as to size. Much will be found that is not contained in any other biography of Mr. LINCOLN, but nothing which is not believed to be entirely trustworthy. In the records of his earlier life, the work of Messrs. WARD H. LAMON and WILLIAM H. |