Abraham Lincoln's Cardinal Traits; / A Study in Ethics, with an Epilogue Addressed to Theologians

The author examines the moral character of a national leader by centering analysis on his final inaugural address, treating it as a compact expression of mental clarity and ethical purpose. The book breaks the subject into close readings of cardinal traits—reverence for law, jealousy for liberty, kindness, purity, constancy, and humility—then synthesizes these into a unified moral personality. Subsequent studies apply that synthesis to problems of beauty, pessimism, government, mercy, meekness, industrial life, reality, evil, religion, persuasion, and psychology, and conclude with reflections addressed to theological readers. Throughout, moral qualities are evaluated for their practical bearing on public life and private faith.