ncy with which he quotes from both at all periods of his career,
both in his writings and in his conversation, shows that he had made
good use of them. The boy Lincoln not only read books, he made copious
extracts from them, often using a smooth shingle in the absence of
paper and depending upon the uncertain light of the log fire in his
father's cabin. Such use of books makes for intellectual growth, and
much of Lincoln's later success as a writer can be referred back to
this careful method of reading.

Lincoln's later reading shows considerable variety within certain
limits. He himself once remarked that he liked "little sad songs."
Among, his special favorites in this class of poetry were "Ben Bolt,"
"The Lament of the Irish Emigrant," Holmes' "The Last Leaf," and
Charles Mackay's "The Enquiry." The poem from which he most frequently
quoted and which seems to have impressed him most was, "Oh, Why Should
the Spirit of Mortal be Proud?" His own marked tendency to melancholy,
which is reflected in his face, seemed to respond to appeals of this
sort. Among his favorite poets besides Shakespeare were Burns,
Longfellow, Hood, and Lowell. Many of the poems in his personal
anthology were picked from the poets' corner of newspapers, and it was
in this way that he became acquainted with Longfellow. Lincoln was
especially fond of humorous writings, both in prose and verse, a taste
that is closely connected with his lifelong fondness for funny stories.
His favorite humorous writer during the presidential period was
Petroleum V. Nasby (David P. Locke), from whose letters he frequently
read to more or less sympathetic listeners. It was eminently
characteristic of Lincoln that the presentation to the Cabinet of the
Emancipation Proclamation was prefaced by the reading of the latest
Nasby letter.

Lincoln's statement in the Autobiography that he had picked up the
little advance he had made upon his early education, or rather lack of
education, is altogether too modest. It is known that after his term
in Congress he studied and mastered geometry; and, like Washington, he
early became a successful surveyor. His study of the law, too, was
characteristically thorough, and his skill in debate, in which he had
no superior, was the result of careful preparation. During the
presidential period Lincoln gave evidence of critical ability that is
little short of marvellous in a man whose schooling amounted to less
than a year. In