The Presidential Election.-The Cleveland Convention.-The Convention at Condition of the Country at the Meeting of Congress.-The Message.-Pro- ceedings in Congress.-Fort Fisher.-Death of Edward Everett.-Peace The Inaugural Address.-Proclamation to Deserters.--Speeches by the Pres- ident.-Destruction of Lee's Army.-The President's Visit to Richmond. The Condition of the Country.-Assassination of the President.-Murderous Assault upon Secretary Seward.-The Funeral Procession from Washing- ton to Springfield, Illinois.-Fate of the Assassins.-Estimate of Mr. Proclamation by President Johnson of a Day of Humiliation and Mourning 791 792 The following memorandum given by Mr. Lincoln to Hicks, the wellknown artist, while he was painting his portrait in Springfield, Illinois, soon after his first nomination for the Presidency, is not without in Lerest: "I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin County, Kentucky, at a point within the now County of Larue, a mile or a mile and a half from where Hodgen's mill now is. My parents being dead, and my own memory not serving, I know no means of identifying the precise locality. It was on Nolen Creek. June 14, 1908. A. LINCOLN.” EARLY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. HIS OWN RECORD.-HIS ANCESTRY.-CHANGES OF RESIDENCE.-DEATH AND FUNERAL OF HIS MOTHER.-ENTRANCE UPON POLITICAL LIFE.-A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATURE AND OF CONGRESS.-THE MEXICAN WAR. THE compiler of the "Dictionary of Congress" states, that while preparing that work for publication, in 1858, he sent to Mr. Lincoln the usual request for a sketch of his life, and received the following reply: "BORN, FEBRUARY 12, 1809, in HARDIN COUNTY, KENTUCKY. "EDUCATION DEFECTIVE. "PROFESSION, a Lawyer. "HAVE BEEN A CAPTAIN OF VOLUNTEERS IN BLACK HAWK WAR. "POSTMASTER AT A VERY SMALL OFFICE. "FOUR TIMES A MEMBER OF THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE, AND WAS A MEMBER OF THE LOWER HOUSE OF CONGRESS. "YOURS, &o., "A. LINCOLN." Around the facts stated with such characteristic modesty and brevity clusters the history of the early life of our late President. The ancestors of Abraham Lincoln were of English descent; and although they are believed to have originally emigrated to this country with the William Penn, it is difficult to trace them |