Excerpt from Pike County Ballads: And Other Poems In 1890 there was published, in ten volumes, at New York, by the New York Century Com. Pany, Abraham Lincoln. A History: by John G. Nicolay and John Hay!' This was, with fresh material inserted, a collection of chapters that had been published in T be Century Magazine from November 1886 to the beginning of 1890. The friends, who worked equally together upon this large record, said, We knew Mr. Lincoln inti mately before his election to the Presidency. We came from Illinois to Washington with him, and remained at his side and in his service - separately or together - until the day of his death. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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Pike County Ballads and other poems in this vol-ume by Colonel John Hay represent in the best man-ner the spirit of our strong and independent sister-land across the Atlantic. Pike County Ballads do full justice to the raw material in the United States, and show a loyal temper in the rough. The other pieces show how the love of freedom speaks through finer spirits of the land, and, dealing with realities, can turn a life of action into music.

John Hay, Private Secretary to Abraham Lincoln, newspaper editor, Secretary of State for two Presidents and an Ambassador, published the Pike County Ballads in 1871. The ballads, known as dialect poems were widely circulated in his day, and after 40 years were reproduced with young artist N.C. Wyeth adding valuable illustrations. Although Mark Twain is credited with introducing an earthy vernacular to post-bellum American literature with Huckleberry Finn, there is ample evidence that Twain was very much influenced by his friend John Hay, whose Pike County Ballads preceded Huck Finn by 14 years. Pike County Illinois following the Civil War proved to be fertile ground for John Hay's characterizations - Pike County, Illinois is just across the Mississippi from Hannibal, Missouri where Samuel Langhorne Clemens grew up. These dialect poems are a must read for everyone interested in post Civil War literature, and in the wit of that period. This edition contains introductory comments by three Illinois scholars familiar with John Hay and Pike County.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Pike County Ballads: And Other Pieces And here all hope soured on me, Of my fellow-critter's aid, I jest flopped down on my marrow-bones. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.