Abraham Lincoln, Storyteller

  "When I was a young man in Illinois, I boarded for a time with a deacon of the Presbyterian Church." With that opening, Abraham Lincoln began a story for a delegation of nervous bank presidents who had come to see the new president. Seven states had abandoned the Union, and more were to follow. The financiers wanted to know if all was lost or if Lincoln had confidence that the country could be saved. Without saying yes or no, the President told them about the night in New Salem, Illinois when the stars fell out of heaven. "One night I was roused from my sleep by a rap at the door, and I heard the deacon’s voice exclaiming, “Arise Abraham, the day of judgment has come.” I sprang from my bed and rushed to the window and saw the stars falling in great showers." Many of the startled townsfolk assumed their village was on fire as thousands of meteors blazed through the dark sky and made flickering shadows in pre-dawn cabins. Churches quickly filled up, as many – like t