Mr. Wood made some suggestions about the subject; and, in the course of a week, Abraham brought him the article. Mr. Wood remembers enough of it to furnish the drift of the composition:—

“That the American Government is the best form of government for an intelligent people; that it ought to be sound, and preserved for ever; that general education should be fostered and carried all over the country; that the Constitution should be saved, the Union perpetuated, and the laws revered, respected, and enforced.”

Mr. Wood was even more gratified and surprised on reading this article than he was on reading the other. We think that the composition is more remarkable now than it was then, on account of subsequent events. For it surely contained the gist of Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address when he became President. On that occasion he said,—

“I hold that, in the contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure for ever. … I consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed.”

How wonderful that the pioneer boy who wrote the aforesaid article for a political paper should become President of the United States thirty-three years thereafter, and reiterate in his inaugural address the same sentiments, when the enemies of the country were seeking to overthrow the Constitution, abrogate its laws, and sever the Union! Truly

A lawyer by the name of Pritchard was passing by Mr. Wood’s house when the political article in question was in his hands. Mr. Wood called him in, remarking,—

“I want you should read an article I have here, and see what you think of it.” He did not disclose who was the author of it.

“Your own?” inquired Pritchard.

“That’s no matter: read it.”

“I will, if that is your wish;” and Pritchard sat down to its perusal. As he read the last sentence, he remarked, in a very enthusiastic way,—

“It can’t be beat. Is it yours?”

“No; it is not mine. Tom Lincoln’s son, Abe, wrote it, and I think it is wonderful for a boy.”

“More than that,” added Pritchard, still more interested when he learned that a boy wrote it. “Let me have it to publish in our paper,” meaning the paper of his section.

“That’s what it was written for,—to be published in some political paper,” answered Mr. Wood. “An article of Abe’s was published in my temperance paper not long ago, and it was the best thing it had. Abe is a great temperance boy.”

The last remark makes it necessary to interject a paragraph here. We have undoubted testimony that Abraham was the only person in that region, at that time, who refused on all occasions to partake of intoxicating liquors. His opposition to the practice was so well known that, at house-raisings, log-rollings, huskings, and parties, it was not expected that he would touch anything which would intoxicate. It was