The re-appearing of Abraham Lincoln as a living force in the affairs of the world, more than half a century after his death, is one of the striking phenomena of our time. The Lincoln, whose figure moves among us and whose voice we hear again, is still the wise and gentle leader of the people whom his contemporaries knew. In his own land his memory is suffused with a tender sentiment, as of one who had borne great burdens and passed through deep sorrows for love of his fellow men. But with the passing years sentiment, among his disciples, has assumed the form of a stern resolution to live in his spirit and complete his unfinished task.
For Democracy is still, as it was sixty years ago, a great venture. It has opened vast tracts of unknown country, but its stability forever depends upon the quality of manhood it produces. The anxious question with which Lincoln's mind was ever occupied, as to whether a nation could at once be strong and free, remains as yet unanswered. And it is because Lincoln—in his rugged strength, his kindly spirit and unselfish devotion to the public good—is the outstanding figure in the history of democracy under bitterest trial that he lives among us to-day.
Legends gather soon about a great name, but in actual life Lincoln lived close to the earth. He was no saint, worked no miracles, and would have repudiated the idea of martyrdom. Most of his life was spent among common people and in the atmosphere of great books. His virtues were of the simple, human kind that grow in the common garden of neighbourliness, genial fellowship, and of high purpose.
So far as is possible in limited space this book seeks to portray the man as he lived upon earth—a struggling, ambitious, kindly man, caught up into the noblest of causes and revealing both in heart and mind the great qualities of democratic leadership.
THE CHARM OF LONDON
By SOPHIE COLE.
With 8 Illustrations from Photographs. Crown 8vo. 6s. net.
Miss Sophie Cole, who writes novels of London Life which lovers of London welcome, has, in this volume, given us a series of sketches of bits of old London. They are chosen haphazard, and characterised by the personal touch which should appeal to those who have an adventurous love of exploring the alleys and courts of the great city, its dim old churches and historic houses. "THE CHARM OF LONDON" is not of the guide book order, although it may serve that purpose for anyone with an afternoon to spare and the need of an object for an outing.
The claims of London are so inexhaustible and each claim so alluring that the writer had to make a more or less indiscriminate choice in the matter of subjects. The book is written in the form of letters, and Miss Cole puts her reflections on the places visited into the mouth of the "Honourable George," who writes to a friend the accounts of his rambles with his oddly chosen companion "Mrs. Darling." One day it is Chelsea they visit, another Fleet Street and the City, another Mayfair, The Charter House, or the Foundling Hospital ... the loquacious George acting the part of cicerone to that unconscious humorist, the Cockney Mrs. Darling. The result is these letters, which reveal the Honourable George as a man of unconscious humour, an inveterate old gossip, a dreamer of dreams, and, incidentally, a charming advocate of the "lost art."
NERVES AND THE NERVOUS