I'm just finishing a book by Irving Bacheller called 'A Man for the Ages', published in 1919.

From time to time I like to read something from another time; it is interesting to see the inevitable difference in viewpoints and judgments.

This book purports to be non-fiction although it doesn't officially make that claim. It does, however, follow the historical paths taken by Abe Lincoln and the Republic, detailing several financial 'panics'. It brings in some other live personages - like Stephen A Douglas - as well as a number of fictional characters.

It is interesting reading about the days when Chicago and Springfield were mostly muddy villages with great dreams.

One thing that struck me - and I've noticed it before in old books - teenagers (who were not yet so labeled) come across as much younger emotionally and mentally than those of today. In the book, for instance, several 16-year-olds sound more like our modern day 13-year-olds. Which surprises me, because I know that in real life youngsters were given much more responsibility at a much earlier age than is common today. My father, for instance, born in 1901, drove a three-horse team in the fields when he was 9 years old, and younger.

On Page 384, it tells about when Lincoln met Mary Todd, his eventual wife, and says that he was attracted to 'proud Mary'. I had to go look up the lyrics of the song, wondering whether the phrase could be related, but not so.