and his practice carried on both there and in Lexington.
His practice and reputation grew rapidly, and he soon found himself among the foremost members of the bar and a leader in politics. He had been in Kentucky only a few months when he was made president of the Democratic Society of Lexington, which in that day was esteemed a very high honor; and in the legislature which convened late in 1794 he received the Anti-Federalist or Republican vote for the United States Senate. This election combing as it did in the height of the reaction towards Federalism brought about by the indiscretions of the agents of the French Directory, was practically uncontested, and the vote given to Mr. Breckinridge was merely complimentary; but it was certainly a high testimony to the esteem in which he was already held in his adopted State, and as the sequel showed, it was an earnest of future support and triumph. The Federalists dropped Edwards, who had been so sharply catechized by the Democratic Society at Lexington, and elected Humphrey Marshall.
Mr. Breckinridge no doubt owed the honors so early accorded him very largely to the influence of his brother, General Robert Breckinridge. Although only half-brothers, the greatest confidence and affection always existed between them The elder brother, together with his own brother, Alexander Breckinridge, had served with courage and distinction in the Virginia line during the Revolution as a company officer; taken prisoner, they lay for many months in a prison ship in Charleston
