was within his part of the county. He
accepted, procured a compass and chain,
studied Flint and Gibson a little, and went
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at it. This procured bread, and kept soul and
body together.
ELECTED TO THE ILLINOIS LEGISLATURE
The election of 1834 came, and he was then
elected to the legislature by the highest vote
cast for any candidate. Major John T. Stuart,
then in full practice of the law, was also elected.
During the canvass, in a private conversation
he encouraged Abraham [to] study law. After
the election he borrowed books of Stuart, took
them home with him, and went at it in good
earnest. He studied with nobody. He still
mixed in the surveying to pay board and clothing
bills. When the legislature met, the law-books
were dropped, but were taken up again at the
end of the session. He was reelected in 1836,
1838, and 1840. In the autumn of 1836 he
obtained a law licence, and on April 15, 1837,
removed to Springfield, and commenced the
practice — his old friend Stuart taking him into
partnership. March 3, 1837, by a protest
entered upon the "Illinois House Journal" of
that date, at pages 817 and 818, Abraham,
with Dan Stone, another representative of
Sangamon, briefly defined his position on the
slavery question; and so far as it goes, it was
then the same that it is now. The protest is as
follows :
"Resolutions upon the subject of domestic
slavery having passed both branches of the
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Lincoln
General Assembly at its present session, the
undersigned hereby protest against the passage
of the same.
"They believe that the institution of slavery
is founded on both injustice and bad policy,
but that the promulgation of Abolition doc-
trines tends rather to increase than abate its
evils.
"They believe that the Congress of the United
States has no power under the Constitution to
interfere with the institution of slavery in the
different states.
"They believe that the Congress of the United
States has the power, under the Constitution,
to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia,
but that the power ought not to be exer-
cised unless at the request of the people of
the District.
"The difference between these opinions and
those contained in the above resolutions is their
reason for entering this protest.
"Dan Stone,
"A. Lincoln,
"Representatives from the
County of Sangamon."
In 1838 and 1840, Mr. Lincoln's party voted
for him as Speaker, but being in the minority
he was not elected. After 1840 he declined a
reelection to the legislature. He was on the
Harrison electoral ticket in 1840, and on that of
Clay in 1 844, and spent much time and labour in
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both those canvasses. In November, 1842, he
was married to Mary, daughter of Robert S.
Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky. They have
three living children, all sons, one born in 1843,
â– one in 1850, and one in 1853. They lost one,
who was born in 1846.
ELECTED TO CONGRESS
In 1846 he was elected to the lower house of
Congress, and served one term only, commenc-
ing in December, 1847, an d ending with the
inauguration of General Taylor, in March, 1849.
All the battles of the Mexican war had " been
fought before Mr. Lincoln took his seat in Con-
gress, but the American army was still in Mexico,
and the treaty of peace was not fully and formally
ratified till the June afterward. Much has
been said of his course in Congress in regard to
this war. A careful examination of the "Jour-
nal" and "Congressional Globe" shows that he
voted for all the supply measures that came up,
and for all the measures in any way favourable
to the officers, soldiers, and their families, who
conducted the war through: with the ex-
ception that some of these measures passed
without yeas and nays, leaving no record as
to how particular men voted. The "Journal"
and "Globe" also show him voting that the
war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally
begun by the President of the United States.
This is the language of Mr. Ashmun's amend-
ment, for which Mr. Lincoln and nearly or
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Lincoln
quite all other Whigs of the House of Repre-
sentatives voted.
HIS VOTES IN CONGRESS EXPLAINED
Mr. Lincoln's reasons for the opinion expressed
by this vote were briefly that the President had
sent General Taylor into an inhabited part of the
country belonging to Mexico, and not to the
United States, and thereby had provoked the
first act of hostility, in fact the commencement
of the war; that the place, bedng the country
bordering on the east bank of the Rio Grande,
was inhabited by native Mexicans born there
under the Mexican Government, and had never
submitted to, nor been conquered by, Texas or
the United States, nor transferred to either by
treaty; that although Texas claimed the Rio
Grande as her boundary, Mexico had never rec-
ognised it, and neither Texas nor the United
States had ever enforced it; that there was a
broad desert between that and the country over
which Texas had actual control; that the coun-
try where hostilities commenced, having once
belonged to Mexico, must remain so until it was
somehow legally transferred, which had never
been done.
Mr. Lincoln thought the act of sending an
armed force among the Mexicans was unnec-
essary, inasmuch as Mexico was in no way
molesting or menacing the United States or the
people thereof; and that it was unconstitutional,
because the power of levying war is vested in
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Congress, and not in the President. He thought
the principal motive for the act was to divert
public attention from the surrender of "Fifty-
four, forty, or fight" to Great Britain, on the
Oregon boundary question.
Mr. Lincoln was not a candidate for reelection.
This was determined upon and declared before
he went to Washington, in accordance with an
understanding among Whig friends, by which
Colonel Hardin and Colonel Baker had each pre-
viously served a single term in this same district.
In 1848, during his term in Congress, he
advocated General Taylor's nomination for the
presidency, in opposition to all others, and also
took an active part for his election after his
nomination, speaking a few times in Maryland,
near Washington, several times in Massachusetts,
and canvassing quite fully his own district in
Illinois, which was followed by a majority in the
district of over fifteen hundred for General
Taylor.
LAW PRACTICE, SPEECHES AND DEBATES
Upon his return from Congress he went to
the practice of the law with greater earnestness
than ever before. In 1852 he was upon the Scott
electoral ticket, and did something in the way
of canvassing, but owing to the hopelessness of
the cause in Illinois he did less than in previous
presidential canvasses.
In 1 8 54 his profession had almost superseded
the thought of politics in his mind, when the
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Lincoln
repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused him as
as he had never been before.
In the autumn of that year he took the stump
with no broader practical aim or object than to
secure, if possible, the reelection of Hon. Richard
Yates to Congress. His speeches at once
attracted a more marked attention than they
had ever before done. As the canvass proceeded
he was drawn to different parts of the State
outside of Mr. Yates's district. He did not
abandon the law, but gave his attention by
turns to that and politics. The state agricultural
fair was at Springfield that year, and Douglas was
announced to speak there.
In the canvass of 1856 Mr. Lincoln made over
fifty speeches, no one of which, so far as he
remembers, was put in print. One of them was
made at Galena, but Mr. Lincoln has no recollec-
tion of any part of it being printed; nor does he
remember whether in that speech he said any-
thing about a Supreme Court decision. He may
have spoken upon that subject, and some of
the newspapers may have reported him as saying
what is now ascribed to him; but he thinks he
could not have expressed himself as represented.
Studies Law
One evening in May, 1907, the editor of this
little book called on Mr. Alban Jasper Conant,
the artist, at his studio in New York. Mr.
Conant, in his eighty-sixth year, hale and
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Little Masterpieces of Autobiography
cheerful, had that day given several hours to a
portrait of Bishop Potter of New York. During
a chat he recalled his early career in the West:
especially interesting was his account of Mr.
Lincoln, of whom he painted two portraits.
One is now in Shurtleff College, Upper Alton,
Illinois; the other is in the Illinois State Normal
School, at Carbondale. From a portfolio the
venerable artist showed me his original sketch
of Mr. Lincoln. Said Mr. Conant :
"In September, i860, two months before Mr.
Lincoln's election, I was commissioned to paint
his portrait. I went at once to Springfield,
Illinois, where I awaited him in his room at
the Capitol. As he entered the door, his face
beaming with fun, I asked myself, can this be
the man whose picture, circulated far and wide,
shows him as sad and mournful? As I saw him
at that moment, surrounded by a group of friends,
his smile was so mirthful and kindly that I
determined then and there to catch it for my
canvas. But the question was how? For
indeed the camera had told truth about him,
although not all the truth. Most of the time
his face wore a look of sadness, and occasionally
even of woe. But, touch his nerve of humour,
appeal to any deep interest of his heart, and then
he shone with an expression all the brighter and
more winning for the clouds that had hung upon
his brow. From day to day, therefore, it
became my task to ply him with such queries as
would draw him away from the worry and
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Lincoln
anxiety of his campaign, and bring to his features
their happiest look. I soon found that his life
as a young fellow in Sangamon County gave me
my best field. So, one day, in the course of a
sitting, I asked him how he came to study law.
His answer was in substance this:
" 'At New Salem I was for a while the pro-
prietor of a grocery store, ready to buy or sell
all kinds of plunder. One afternoon a man
drove up to my door in a waggon which held his
wife, children, and his household goods. His
load was heavy and the roads were miry. He
asked if I would give him fifty cents for a barrel
of odds and ends, a pan or kettle showing itself
on top. I bought the barrel, stowed it away,
and, sometime afterward, in clearing up the
place I came upon it. I emptied out the barrel
and the only thing in it of any account was an
edition of Blackstone's Commentaries. It was
summer time, the farmers were busy in the fields,
business was dull, and I had scarcely anything
to do but read that Blackstone. The more I
went into it, the more it held me. Never before
did a book so rivet my attention. I fairly
devoured every sentence. ' "
As Mr. Conant concluded his recital he
repeated the high pitched tones of Mr. Lincoln's
enthusiasm, and gave his wide-swinging gesture.
It was this accidental coming upon Blackstone
that proved a turning point in Mr. Lincoln's
career, which decided that he should be a lawyer,
and, by virtue of his training as a lawyer, in the
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fulness of time, President and saviour of the
United States.
On the Practice op Law
[Note for a lecture about July i, 1850.]
I am not an accomplished lawyer. I find
quite as much material for a lecture in those
points wherein I have failed, as in those wherein
I have been moderately successful. The leading
rule for the lawyer, as for the man of every other
calling, is diligence, Leave nothing for to-mor-
row which can be done to-day. Never let your
correspondence fall behind. Whatever piece
of business you have in hand, before stopping,
do all the labour pertaining to it which can then
be done. When you bring a common-Law suit,
if you have the facts for doing so, write the
declaration at once. If a law point be involved,
examine the books, and note the authority you
rely on upon the declaration itself, where you
are sure to find it when wanted. The same of
defences and pleas. In business not likely to be
litigated, — ordinary collection cases, fore-
closures, partitions, and the like, — make all
examinations of titles, and note them, and even
draft orders and decrees in advance. This
course has a triple advantage ; it avoids omissions
and neglect, saves your labour when once done,
performs the labour out of court when you have
leisure, rather than in court when you have not.
Extemporaneous speaking should be practised
and cultivated. It is the lawyer's avenue to the
140
Lincoln
public. However able and faithful he may be
in other respects, people are slow to bring him
business if he cannot make a speech. And yet
there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers
than relying too much on speech-making. If
any one, upon his rare powers of speaking, shall
claim an exemption from the drudgery of the
law, his case is a failure in advance.
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neigh-
bours to compromise whenever you can. Point
out to them how the nominal winner is often a
real loser — in fees, expenses, and waste of time.
As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior
opportunity of being a good man. There will
still be business enough.
Never stir up litigation. A worse man can
scarcely be found than one who does this. Who
can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually
overhauls the register of deeds in search of
defects in titles, whereon to stir up strife, and
put money in his pocket? A moral tone ought
to be infused into the profession which should
drive such men out of it.
The matter of fees is important, far beyond the
mere question of bread and butter involved.
Properly attended to, fuller justice is done to
both lawyer and client. An exorbitant fee
should never be claimed. As a general rule
never take your whole fee in advance, nor any
more than a small retainer. When fully paid
beforehand, you are more than a common mortal
if you can feel the same interest in the case,.
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as if something was still in prospect for you, as
well as for your client. And when you lack
interest in the case the job will very likely lack
skill and diligence in the performance. Settle
the amount of fee and take a note in advance.
Then you will feel that you are working for
something, and you are sure to do your work
faithfully and well. Never sell a fee note — at
least not before the consideration service is
performed. It leads to negligence and dis-
honesty — negligence by losing interest in the
case, and dishonesty in refusing to refund
when you have allowed the consideration to fail.
There is a vague popular belief that lawyers
are necessarily dishonest. I say vague, because
when we consider to what extent confidence and
honours are reposed in and conferred upon
lawyers by the people, it appears improbable
that their impression of dishonesty is very
distinct and vivid. Yet the impression is
common, almost universal. Let no young man
choosing the law for a calling for a moment
yield to the popular belief — resolve to be honest
at all events; and if in your own judgment you
cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest
without being a lawyer. Choose some other
occupation, rather than one in the choosing of
which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.
Why He Could Explain So Well
Early in i860 Mr. Lincoln gave a series of
addresses in the Eastern states, including his
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Lincoln
famous speech in Cooper Institute, New York.
On a train near New Haven he entered into
conversation with Rev. J. P. Gulliver of Nor-
wich, Connecticut, who said:
" ' I want very much to know how you got this
unusual power of "putting things." It must
have been a matter of education. No man has
it by nature alone. What has your education
been ? '
" 'Well, as to education, the newspapers are
correct — I never went to school more than six
months in my life. But, as you say, this must
be a product of culture in some form. I have
been putting the question you ask me to myself
while you have been talking. I say this, that
among my earliest recollections, I remember
how, when a mere child, I used to get irritated
when anybody talked to me in a way I could not
understand. I don't think I ever got angry at
anything else in my life. But that always dis-
turbed my temper and has ever since. I can
remember going to my little bedroom, after
hearing the neighbours talk of an evening with
my father, and spending no small part of the
night walking up and down, and trying to make
out what was the exact meaning of some of their,
to me, dark sayings. I could not sleep, though
I often tried to, when I got on such a hunt after
an idea, until I had caught it; and when I
thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until
I had repeated it over and over, until I had put
it in language plain enough, as I thought, for any
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boy I knew to comprehend. This was a kind
of passion with me, and it has stuck by me, for
I am never easy now, when I am handling a
thought, till I have bounded it north, and
bounded it south, and bounded it east, and
bounded it west. Perhaps that accounts for the
characteristic you observe in my speeches,
though I never put the two things together
before.'
" 'Mr. Lincoln, I thank you for this. It is the
most splendid educational fact I ever happened
upon. This is genius, with all its impulsive,
inspiring, dominating power over the mind of
its possessor, developed by education into talent,
with its uniformity, its permanence, and its
disciplined strength, always ready, always
available, never capricious — the highest posses-
sion of the human intellect. But, let me ask,
did you not have a law education? How did
you prepare for your profession?'
" 'Oh, yes! I "read law," as the phrase is;
that is, I became a lawyer's clerk in Springfield,
and copied tedious documents, and picked up
what 1 could of law in the intervals of other
work. But your question reminds me of a bit of
education I had, which I am bound in honesty
to mention. In the course of my law-reading
I constantly came upon the word demonstrate.
I thought at first that I understood its meaning,
but soon became satisfied that I did not. I said
to myself, "What do I do when I demonstrate
more than when I reason or prove? How does
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Lincoln
demonstration differ from any other proof?"
I consulted Webster's Dictionary. That told
of "certain proof" "proof beyond the possibility
of doubt " ; but I could form no idea of what sort
of proof that was. I thought a great many
things were proved beyond a possibility of
doubt, without recourse to any such extraordi-
nary process of reasoning as I understood
"demonstration" to be. I consulted all the
dictionaries and books of reference I could find,
but with no better results. You might as well
have defined blue to a blind man. At last I
said, "Lincoln, you can never make a lawyer if
you do not understand what demonstrate means' ;
and I left my situation in Springfield, went home
to my father's house, and staid there till I could
give any proposition in the six books of Euclid
at sight. I then found out what ' demonstrate '
means, and went back to my law studies.' "
"I could not refrain from saying, in my
admiration at such a development of character
and genius combined, 'Mr. Lincoln your success
is no longer a marvel. It is the 1 egitimate result
of adequate causes.' "*
Habits of Composition
Mr. Lincoln was severely criticised for his
suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and for
the arrest of Mr. Vallandigham as a result of
that suspension. At Albany, New York, a
♦New York Independent, September i, 1864.
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public meeting voiced its criticism emphatically.
Mr. Lincoln's reply of June 13, 1862, to Mr.
Erastus Corning and others in charge of the
meeting, called forth high praise from Ex-
Senator James F. Wilson, who told Mr. Lincoln
that it was his best paper.
"I am glad you think so," said Mr. Lincoln,
"and I agree with you. I put that paper
together in less time than any other one of like
importance ever prepared by me."
He then explained how the paper had been
prepared. Turning to a drawer in the desk
at which he was sitting and pulling it partly out,
he said:
"When it became necessary for me to write
that letter, I had it nearly all in there," pointing
to the drawer, "but it was in disconnected
thoughts, which I had jotted down from time to
time on separate scraps of paper. I had been
worried a good deal by what had been said in
the newspapers and in Congress about my sus-
pension of the writ of habeas corpus, and the
so-called arbitrary arrests that had followed.
I did not doubt my power to suspend the writ,
nor the necessity which demanded its exercise.
But I was criticised harshly, and sometimes by
men from whom I expected more generous
treatment, and who ought to have known more
and better than the character of their expres-
sions indicated. This caused me to examine and
re-examine the subject. I gave it a great deal
of thought ; I examined and studied it from every
146
Lincoln
side; indeed, it was seemingly present with me
continually. Often an idea about it would occur
to me which seemed to have force and make
perfect answer to some of the things that were
said and written about my actions. I never let
one of those ideas escape me, but wrote it on a
scrap of paper and put it in that drawer. In
that way I saved my best thoughts on the
subject, and, you know, such things often come
in a kind of intuitive way more clearly than if
one were to sit down and deliberately reason
them out.
"To save the results of such mental action
is true intellectual economy. It not only saves
time and labour, but also the very best material
the mind can supply for unexpected emer-
gencies. Of course, in this instance, I had to
arrange the material at hand, and adapt it to
the particular case presented. But that was an
easy task compared with what immediate original
composition of such a paper would have been.
I am satisfied with the result, and am content
to abide the judgment of the future on that
paper, and of my action on the great subject
and grave question to which it relates. Many
persons have expressed to me the opinion you
have of that paper, and I am pleased to know
that the present judgment of thoughtful men
about it is so generally in accord with what I
believe the future will, without serious division,
pronounce concerning it. I know that I acted
with great deliberation and on my conscience
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when I suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
It was with great reluctance that I came to
recognise the necessity which demanded it.
But when that became plain to my mind I did
not hesitate to do my duty. I have had to do
many unpleasant things since the country
imposed on me the task of administering the
government, and I will continue to do them
when they come in the line of my official duty,
always with prayerful care, and without stopping
to consider what personal result may come to
me."
To an Idler
[To his brother-in-law, John D. Johnston, advising him
to work.]
Shelbyville, November 4, 1851.
Dear Brother:
When I came into Charleston, day before
yesterday, I learned that you were anxious to
sell the land where you live and move to Mis-
souri. I have been thinking of this ever since,
and cannot but think such a notion is utterly
foolish. What can you do in Missouri better
than here? Is the land any richer? Can you
there, any more than here, raise corn and wheat
and oats without work? Will anybody there,
any more than here, do your work for you?
If you intend to go to work, there is no better
place than right where you are; if you do not
intend to go to work, you cannot get along any-
where. Squirming and crawling about from
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Lincoln
place to place can do no good. You have raised
no crop this year; and what you really want is
to sell the land, get the money, and spend it.
Part with the land you have, and, my life upon
it, you will never after own a spot big enough to
bury you in. Half you will get for the land you
will spend in moving to Missouri, and the other
half you will eat, drink, and wear out, and no
foot of land will be bought. Now, I feel it my
duty to have no hand in such a piece of foolery.
I feel that it is so even on your own account and