Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/496

490 ABRAHAM LINCOLN made with a pocket knife, and bearing Lin- coln's signature, may still be seen in the pat- ent office at Washington. On this trip Lincoln for the first time, at New Orleans, saw slaves chained and scourged ; and from this dates his life-long detestation of slavery. On his return he received a formal challenge from a celebra- ted wrestler to a trial of strength, accepted it because he valued his popularity among "the boys," and was victorious. Various incidents of this sort are related of his life at New Sa- lem, 20 m. northwest of Springfield, where he was clerk in a country store from August, 1831, till the spring of 1832, when his employ- er became bankrupt. During this time he pi- loted the first steamboat that attempted the navigation of the Sangamon. When the store was closed, he enlisted as a private in a com- pany raised for the Black Hawk war, but was at once chosen captain. When these volunteers were mustered out in May, Lincoln reenlisted as a private in an " independent spy company." When the war was over they were disbanded at Whitewater, Wis., and as Lincoln's horse had been stolen, he made his way home on foot and on a raft down the Illinois. When in the fall of 1832 he became a candidate for the state legislature, his political position was not very clearly defined; his principles accorded most nearly with those of the whig party, then in process of formation, but he had a personal admiration for Jackson. He canvassed the district, but was defeated, though he received the almost unanimous vote of his own precinct. He next bought a store, with a partner named Berry, and was postmaster of New Salem from May, 1833, till 1836, when the office was dis- continued. Berry proved a drunkard, and the firm became bankrupt ; Berry died soon after, and Lincoln paid the debts, discharging the last one in 1849. After studying law for a few months, he accepted an invitation from the county surveyor to become his deputy. He studied six weeks, entered upon the work, and soon became known as an expert surveyor ; but in the autumn of 1834 his instruments were sold under a sheriff's execution. In the same year he was elected to the legislature as a whig, re- ceiving a larger majority than any other can- didate on the ticket. In the legislature he was a member of the committee on public accounts and expenditures. He was reflected in 1836, and served on the finance committee, and again in 1838 and 1840, in both of the latter terms be- ing the whig candidate for speaker. His efforts in the legislature were mainly for the inaugu- ration of a general system of internal improve- ments. In 1836 he first met Stephen A. Douglas, who was then at the capital seeking a political appointment. In March, 1837, the democratic majority in the legislature passed some pro- slavery resolutions, against which Lincoln and a member named Stone entered a protest on the journal of the house. Lincoln had been admitted to the bar in 1837, and with John T. Stuart opened an office at Springfield, whither the capital was removed in 1839. His subse- quent partners were Stephen T. Logan and William H. Herndon. He became noted for his ability in jury trials, and finding that legislative service interfered with his practice, he declined another reelection. On Nov. 4, 1842, he married Mary, daughter of the Hon. Robert S. Todd of Lexington, Ky. Lincoln was a candidate for presidential elector in 1840, and again in 1844, and each time canvassed the state for the whig candidates, being frequently pitted against Ste- phen A. Douglas in joint debate. He was a warm admirer of Henry Clay, whose defeat was a sore disappointment to him. He was elected to congress in 1846 by a majority of 1,500, his competitor on the democratic ticket being the Rev. Peter Cartwright, and was the only whig representative from Illinois in the 30th congress. He was a member of the com- mittees on post offices and post roads and war department expenses, vigorously opposed the administration of President Polk, and de- nounced the war with Mexico as unjust, though he always voted for the appropriations to defray its expenses. When Polk declared in a message that the Mexicans had " invaded our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow citizens on our own soil," Lincoln introduced what became famous as "the spot resolutions," wherein the president was called upon to des- ignate the spot where the alleged outrage had been committed. His first speech in congress, Jan. 12, 1848, was in support of these resolu- tions, and sharply discussed the weak points of the message. He voted for the reception of anti-slavery petitions, for inquiries into the constitutionality of slavery in the District of Columbia, and the expediency of abolishing the slave trade in the district, and for the Wil- mot proviso. On Jan. 16, 1849, he introduced a bill for abolishing slavery in the District and compensating the slave owners, provided a ma- jority of the citizens should vote in favor of it. He declined to be a candidate for reelec- tion. In the whig national convention of 1848 he advocated the nomination of Gen. Taylor, and during the ensuing canvass he spoke fre- quently in New England. In 1849 he was an unsuccessful candidate for United States sena- tor against Gen. Shields. President Fillmore offered him the governorship of Oregon, which he declined. On July 16, 1852, he delivered at Springfield a eulogy on Henry Clay. The repeal of the Missouri compromise brought him again into the political arena, and he be- came the acknowledged leader of his party in Illinois. To his withdrawing from the contest for United States senator in 1855 was due the election of Mr. Trumbull over Gen. Shields. Once or twice during the canvass he met Mr. Douglas in debate, and on one of these occasions (Springfield, Oct. 4) he made one of the most powerful and successful speeches of his whole life; the fallacy of Douglas's "great princi- ple" was effectually exposed in a single sen- tence : "I admit that the emigrant to Kansas