LINCOLN. 283 LINCOLN. evils; that Congress may not interfere with slavery iu the States, though it luight in the District of Columbia on the request of the people. This protest was meant to avoid extreme views; therefore no mention was made of slavery in the Territories, that point being covered by the Missouri Compromise, whioli was then in full force. Lincoln was never extreme, and probalily till the war began he saw no hour when he would have altered a word in this protest. When the State capital was removed to Spring- field in 1839, Lincoln settled there. Two years before he had been licensed as an attorney, and being at the capital, he could attend both to his duties as a member of the Legislature and his law practice. His business grew so rapidly that he took into partnership John T. Stuart, a promi- nent Whig, who had been a good friend also in former years. Lincoln preferred to be the junior in the firm. Springfield was a village of about 1.500 inhabitants, and Lincoln was not only poor, but he was in debt. In 1840 Lincoln was an elector on the Harrison ticket, and made speeches in all parts of the State. But one-sided speeches were not suited to his temper; he preferred joint debates, wherein he might employ his masterly skill at retort. A j'ear earlier Lincoln had made the acquaintance of Mary, the daughter of the Hon. Robert S. Todd, of Lexington, Ky., and a sister of the wife of Xinian W. Edwards, of Springfield, a dis- tinguished lawyer. Through her comeliness and her wit the young lady had gained many admir- ers. Some political papers were contributed by her to a local newspaper; and Lincoln, to shield her, assumed the responsibility, barely avoiding a duel. About six W'eeks afterwards, November 4, 1842, he married Miss Todd. In 1844 Lincoln was once more an elector on the Clay (Whig) ticket, and in 184G he was elected to Congress by loll majority in a dis- trict which two years before had given him only 914. When he took his seat as Representative in the Thirtieth Congress, his great rival. Stephen A. Douglas, was in the Senate. Lincoln was put on the Committee of Post-Offices and Post-Roads. Though opposed to the Mexican War, he voted for supplies to carry it on. In 1848 he favored the nomination, by the Whigs, of Taylor for Presi- dent, and made a strong speech in the House for that purpose, subsequently speaking in various parts of the country. In the second session of the Thirtieth Congress he made no special mark. Hia law partnership with Stuart ended April. 1841, when he united in practice with ex- Judge Stephen T. Logan, and soon afterwards formed a partner- ship with his best friend, William H. Herndon. As a lawyer he spoke tellingly and often to the mirth of the courtroom. Many curious anecdotes are told of the great man as a story-teller, of his power, his energy, his oddities, and his gener- osity. Though thousands of good stories un- known to Lincoln pass current as having been told by him. it is true that few great statesmen were more capable than he of perceiving the kernel of a tale. He hail also a ready and liumorous wit. and was quick to follow a good parry with a well-aimed thrust. When his term in Congress was over Lincoln wished to be Commissioner of the General Land Office, but he did not get the appointment. He was oflfered the Governorship of Oregon Territory, but his wife declined to go there, and he would Vol. XII.— 19. not accept. For two years after leaving Con- gress he was not prominent. In 1850 lie refused a nomination for Congress. July 1, 1852, he was selected at a meeting of citizens to deliver a eulogj- on Henry Clay. The bill ollered bv Douglas, .January 4, 1854, to establish a Terri- torial Government in Nebraska, reopened the anti-slavery war, and Lincoln was forced to take decided ground against spreading slavery into the Territories. This he did at the State Fair at Springfield, HI., in October, in a speech of great power. Lincoln had felt that his natural op- ponent was Douglas and he seized eagerly this opportunity of refuting his arguments; Douglas recognized his opponent's strength and secured from him a truce from debating for that fall. In November, despite his positive declination, Lincoln was again elected to the Legislature. At the same time he was very desirous to succeed Shields (a Democrat) in the United States Sen- ale; but Lvnian Trumbull carried oflf the prize. During the Kansas excitement Lincoln's .sympa- thies were all in favor of the free-State side, but he discountenanced the use of force. It was at the State Convention at Bloomington in 1S5G that the Republican party in Illinois was formed, and there Lincoln made what many deem the greatest of all his speeches. This speech, preserved only in description, took ad- vanced anti-slavery ground and was undoubtedly earnest and powerful. On .lune 17, 1850. at the Reijublican Nominating Convention at Philadel- phia. Lincoln's name was put forth for Vice- President, and was received with considerable f.ivor. for he got 110 votes. This year, for the third time, Lincoln was on the electoral ticket, now as a Republican, and he made some fifty speeches for Fremont. The quality of these speeches bettered his repiitation and spread it even to the East. In April. 185S. the Democrats indorsed the stand Douglas had taken in the Kansas dispute, and nominated him for the Sen- ate. Lincoln expected and received the Repub- lican nomination in June, and in accepting he delivered the carefully thought out speech which contained the famous statement that a house divided against itself cannot stand. In .Inly he challenged Douglas to the now famous seven de- bates, the direct result of which was to win the latter the Senatorship. Lincoln, however, was not arguing for the Senatorial prize alone, but with a greater purpose — he was fighting for Republican success in the Presidential contest of 1860, and the opportunity it would brinj; to 'hit hard' the great 'moral, social, and political wrong' of slavery. In April. 1850, the people of his own town be- gan to talk of Lincoln as a proper candidate for President, but he discouraged the idea. In September he made speeches in Ohio in the track of Douglas: in December he spoke at several places in Kansas. He was more and more talked of for a Presidential nomination, and finally authorized his friends to work for him. On February 27, 18G0. on invitation, he appeared in New York and spoke in Cooper Institute. The address was warmly praised in most of the city journals, and was in fact highly successful. After this he spoke in many cities in New Eng- land. He was present, though not a delegate, at the Illinois State Convention. May 9. 18(^0. where he received the most flattering evidences of hia great popularity, which was fully assured by the
