Excerpt from The Unfathomable Lincoln And so, year after year, an ever increasing army of students and followers of Lincoln, seeking to know and understand the man, gaze with awe and wonder at the perfect gem of sculpture that a grateful nation has erected in its capital, where for five long, eventful, and heartbreaking years, he watched his country engage in suicidal war. They journey to his birthplace in Kentucky; and they climb the little hill in south ern Indiana where rests the tired body of Nancy Hanks, and where she looks wistfully on fields and hills that once heard the laughter and song of her Hoosier boy. Not satisfied, they' walk through the little country graveyard in Coles County and gaze on the graves of Tom Lincoln, and that other great heart, Sally Bush, who was all of a mother to him. In Vandalia, they wander through the halls of the old capitol, hopefully listening for the sound of his voice; while in his old home at Eighth and Jackson Streets, in Springfield, they wait in vain for the music of his footsteps. From here they go to its ceme tery, and wander aimlessly over the green grass near the spot where now he rests, not wondering that he sleeps after a life so full of action. They climb the steep hill in the cemetery at Petersburg and read the immortal words on the stone over the grave of Ann Rutledge. In search of more to satisfy the cravings of their spirits for intimacy with the soul of Lincoln, they journey around the towns that once composed the Eighth Illinois Judicial Circuit, so rich in memories of him. But none of these suffice. Finally and lastly, they must go to] New Salem, to its reconstructed stores and cabins; and walk ing down its single thoroughfare they find in the peace and quiet of this little spot something of spiritual perception of Abraham Lincoln. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.