s the life he lived, the
noble aim that upheld him, as well as the genius with which he was born,
that made him one of the greatest writers of our time.

At the date of his second inauguration only two members of Mr. Lincoln's
original cabinet remained in office; but the changes had all come about
gradually and naturally, never as the result of quarrels, and with the
single exception of Secretary Chase, not one of them left the cabinet
harboring feelings of resentment or bitterness toward his late chief.
Even when, in one case, it became necessary for the good of the service,
for Mr. Lincoln to ask a cabinet minister to resign, that gentleman not
only unquestioningly obeyed, but entered into the presidential campaign
immediately afterward, working heartily and effectively for his
reelection. As for Secretary Chase, the President was so little
disturbed by his attitude that, on the death of Roger B. Taney, the
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, he made him his
successor, giving him the highest judicial office in the land, and
paying him the added compliment of writing out his nomination with his
own hand.

The keynote of the President's young life had been persevering industry.
That of his mature years was self-control and generous forgiveness. And
surely his remark on the night of his second election for President,
that he did not think resentment "paid," and that no man had time to
spend half his life in quarrels, was well borne out by the fruit of his
actions. It was this spirit alone which made possible much that he was
able to accomplish. His rule of conduct toward all men is summed up in a
letter of reprimand that it became his duty, while he was President,
to send to one young officer accused of quarreling with another. It
deserves to be written in letters of gold on the walls of every school
and college throughout the land:

"The advice of a father to his son, 'beware of entrance to a quarrel,
but, being in, bear it that the opposed may beware of thee,' is good,
but not the best. Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most
of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he
afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his
temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you
can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones though clearly
your own. Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him in
contesting for the right.