and breadth of mind. At the period when storms threatened to engulf our Ship of State, he became President of our country. Although Lincoln was an untried pilot, he stood by the helm like a veteran master. A man of earnest and intense conviction, he strove to maintain the glory of our flag and to keep the Union
Using every opportunity
unbroken. Hundreds of stories are told of his great heart and almost boundless sympathy for others. The generals of the Civil War were deeply attached to him, and the rank and file of the soldiers who fought under these generals loved and revered him. He was familiarly known as "Honest Abe." He could always be relied upon to give help and encouragement. His smile cheered the defenders of the Union, and his wise counsel gave heart to the men who were helping him to shape the destinies of the nation. At the close of the war which saw the Union more firmly established than ever, he fell by the hand of the assassin, mourned deeply both by his own country and by the world at large.
The further we get from the scene of his life and work the more firmly are we, his countrymen, convinced of his sincerity, strength, wisdom, and bigness of heart. The two men who stand out prominently in history among great Americans are Washington and Lincoln, the former as the founder of the Union and the latter as the man who gave it unbreakable continuity and preserved it, as we hope and believe, for all time.
Lincoln's life and career should be the study and inspiration of every boy scout. He became familar with all of the things for which the Boy Scouts of America stand. He was a lover of the wild things in the woods, and loved and lived the life of the out-of-doors. He had a high sense of honor and was intensely chivalrous, as the many hundred stories told about
