Culture and Women's Clubs 97 



pie and conditions of his time, to the historic men and 

 women who stood about him and to some of the things 

 they did, memorable here and now, perhaps we may find 

 something to interest, somewhat of inspiration, for prob- 

 lems just at hand. 



It was my fortune, whether for good or ill, to pass 

 the days of youth in the center of this great valley, and 

 personal memory covers much of Lincoln's political 

 career. The middle decades of the nineteenth century 

 were great decades from every point of view, and the 

 men and doings of that time are themes for fascinating 

 story to this day. As I look back upon what I can re- 

 call, I appreciate, as I did not then, as perhaps did no 

 one then, just how wonderful was the time, how re- 

 markable were the people who lived and acted upon the 

 open stage of our most eventful political and social life. 

 It was an era of great men. We had the New Eng- 

 land poets, we had Beecher and Sumner and Grreeley 

 and Lincoln and Douglas, and a host of men only less 

 widely known ; and while we reckoned these distinguished 

 men, great men, yet, in no case, did we esteem them 

 accurately, nor did we concern ourselves about their pos- 

 sible future fame. The men of our neighborhood thought 

 it not worth while to hear Abraham Lincoln, although 

 Lincoln and Douglas joined their great debate in a little 

 city not very far away. 



The reason for our less perfect appreciations lay, of 

 course, partly in the oft-stated fact that no generation 

 of men can forecast the ultimate judgments of history. 

 That goes without saying. But the greater reason, as 

 it now seems to me, was to be found in another, nearer 



