The provisions of this bill have been quoted as evidence that Mr. Lincoln was not a thoroughly anti-slavery man. So. far from proving this, it establishes the fact that he was such, and it proves also, that he was a practical statesman, and not a visionary theorist. He believed slavery was unjust to the slave, and impolitic for the nation, and he meant to do all in his power to get rid of it. He prepared his bill with reference to the condition of public sentiment, at that time, and what was possible to be accomplished. The bill represents what he hoped could, by the action of Congress, become a law, rather than his own abstract views of justice and right. The result showed that even this bill would not be tolerated by the slaveholders. Their opposition was so decided and unanimous, that the bill could not even be brought to a vote. On the question whether slaves used and lost by the officers of the government while engaged in the Seminole war, should be paid for, as property, which was raised in the celebrated Pacheco case, Mr. Lincoln voted, "no!" He would not pay for them; thus refusing to recognize property in slaves, as against the right of the government to the services of all citizens, or persons black or white, in time of war. Mr. Gott, of New York, introduced a resolution instructing the Committee on the District of Columbia, to report a bill abolishing the slave trade. Mr. Lincoln moved an amendment, instructing the Committee to report a bill to abolish, not the slave trade, but slavery. Mr. Lincoln's Congressional term ended March 4th, 1849; he declined a reëlection, and was succeeded by the eloquent E. D. Baker. He was a candidate for the appointment of Commissioner of the General Land Office, from President Taylor; for which place, he was recommended by the whig State Central Committee of Illinois. It was given to Justin Butterfield, a distinguished lawyer of Chicago. Mr. Lincoln was tendered the position of Secretary, and then of Governor of Oregon; but fortunately for him, and the country, providentially, I ought to say, he declined. There was work for him this side of the Rocky Mountains. In 1849-50, he was voted for by his party in the Illinois Legislature, for the Senate; but the democrats had a large majority. The vote was a recognition of his position as the leader of his party. From Mr. Lincoln's retirement from Congress, in 1849, until the passage of the Kansas and Nebraska bill, in 1854, he was engaged in the laborious and succesful practice of his profession. He rode the circuit, attended the terms of the Supreme Court, and United States District and Circuit Courts, and held a leading position at the bar. IIe was Mr. Lincoln was the father of four children, Robert, Edward who died in infancy; William, the beautiful and most promising boy, who died at Washington, during his Presi dency, and Thomas. The oldest and youngest, are living. Robert, a promising young man, who graduated with distinction at Harvard, Massachusetts, and who served for a short time, on the staff of General Grant. Thomas, the youngest, is receiving his education at the excellent public schools in Chicago. The tenderness, affection, and indulgence of Mr. Lincoln for his family, were conspicuous, even while burdened with the cares of the Presidency. an indulgent and most affectionate father. The loss of his son Willie, seemed to make his affection for the youngest a passion. In the midst of the cares and annoyances of the Presidency, he was in the daily habit of reading to this child, a chapter in the Bible. He governed his children by affection. His severest censure was an affectionate reproach. After the death of William, he seemed to cling, if possible, still more closely to the others, and it was no unusual thing, for the visitor at the White House, on the gravest subject, to find the President, with his young boy, "Taddy," as he was called, in his arms. Mr. Lincoln was a good, natural mechanic, and when he again entered public life, was rapidly acquiring distinction as a patent lawyer. In the great case of McCormick against Manny, involving the question of infringement of the patent of McCormick's celebrated reaper, he was engaged for Manny. It is a curious fact, that in this case, he was opposed, among others, by two members of his cabinet, Messrs. Seward and Stanton, the latter then practicing law at Pittsburgh, and Washington, with great distinction. Mr. Lincoln invented, and patented, an apparatus for lifting steamers over shoals and bars, in the Western rivers. The curious, may find the model, made by himself, among the curiosities of the Patent Office, at the Capital. His practical skill, as a mechanic, his wonderful power of statement and illustration, his ability to make the most abstruse point clear to the common mind, made him almost unequalled as a patent lawyer. He had, at this period of his life, a very large, and it might have been, a very lucrative practice, but his fees were, as his brethren of the law called them, ridiculously small. He lived simply and respectably, with no expensive tastes or habits, his wants being few and simple. The only instance known of his taking a fee, regarded as large, was the charge of five thousand dollars, to the Illinois Central Railroad, for services, in a very important case in the Supreme Court. This rich corporation, with a road and branches, running more than seven hundred miles in the State of Illinois, the case involving questions of great difficulty, and of vast pecuniary importance to the corporation, his friends insisted that he should charge a liberal fee for the very important and valuable services he rendered. He never, knowingly, accepted a fee to support fraud, injustice, or wrong; but to the poor, the oppressed, the weak, his services were ever ready, with or without a fee. The son of a poor widow, who had, in his early struggles, befriended Lincoln and rendered him many kind offices, was indicted for murder; Lincoln, the moment he heard of it, wrote her a letter volunteering to defend her son. It was a case where public prejudice was strong against the accused, and the principal witness swore, that he saw, by the bright light of the moon, the prisoner give the death-blow. Mr. Lincoln showed, by reference to the almanac, that there was no moon on the night in question. The case brought out all his power, as an advocate. His appeal and arguments were irresistible, and he carried the jury and the crowd with him. When the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty," the aged mother fainted in the arms of her son. Such was Lincoln's grateful return to the poor woman, who had aided him in his days of struggle with poverty. In his arguments at the bar, Mr. Lincoln's style was generally plain and unimpassioned, and his professional bearing was so high and honora ble, that no man ever questioned his truthfulness, or his honor. No one, who ever watched him for half an hour, in a hard contested case, would doubt his ability. He had a clear insight into the human heart; knew jury, witnesses, parties, attorneys, and how best to address and manage all. His statement of his case was an argument of itself; his illustrations, often quaint and homely, yet always clear and presented with sincerity and earnestness of manner, generally carried conviction. He never misstated evidence, or law, but met the case squarely and fairly. Such was Mr. Lincoln at the bar, a fair, honest, able lawyer, on the right side, always successful-avoiding, carefully, the wrong side, and when he found himself upon it, either throwing up his case, or making an effort so weak, that the jury, generally said, "Lincoln is on the wrong side; he don't try." The last case which Mr. Lincoln ever tried, was the case of Jones v. Johnson, tried in the United States Circuit Court at Chicago, in the Spring of 1860, before the Hon. Thomas Drummond, District Judge. The case involved the title to land of great value, which had been formed by accretion, on the shore of Lake Michigan, by the gradual action of the lake. It led to an investigation of ancient land marks and boundaries, old Government surveys, and maps; the loca tion of the lake shore when the town of Chicago was first platted into town lots, etc. It involved the recollections of the old settlers, and was a case peculiarly fitted for Mr. Lincoln's powers. The case was tried by Mr. Lincoln, aud Messrs. Wilson & Fuller, and others, for the plaintiff, Jones, and by Judge B. S. Morris, and the author,for the defendant. Mr. Lincoln obtained a verdict in favor of his client, although in the previous trials, the result had been the other way. CHAPTER IV. LINCOLN AND SLAVERY FROM 1854 TO 1858. LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS DEBATE AT SPRINGFIELD, 1855 —AT PEORIA-ELECTION OF TRUMBULL TO THE SENATE-REORGANIZATION OF PARTIES ON THE SLAVERY ISSUE-THE REPUBLICAN PARTY-PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1856-MARGARET GARNER -BROOKS' ASSAULT ON SUMNER-LINCOLN'S HATRED OF SLAV- BUCHANAN -KANSAS - LECOMPTON DOUGLAS THE DRED SCOTT CASE-SLAVERY DOMINANT, AND ITS EFFECTS UPON THE REPUBLIC. ERY -- IN 1854, events occurred, which brought into public action all the power and energy of Mr. Lincoln. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the struggle for, and outrages in Kansas, brought him again prominently before the people of Illinois, and from this time, he devoted himself to the conflict between freedom and slavery, until he was elevated to the Presidency. The conviction settled upon his mind, that there could be no peace on the slavery question, until freedom or slavery should triumph. When Senator Douglas returned to Illinois, after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he was met by a storm of indignation, which would have overwhelmed a man of less. power and will. Like a bold and couragous man, confident of his power over the people, he met the storm, and sought to overcome it. At his first attempt to address the people at Chicago, he was refused a hearing, but he would be, and was heard. Early in October, the State fair was held at Springfield, and his personal and political friends from all parts of the State, made it a point to be there, as it was known Douglas would be present and attempt to vindicate his action. When it was known that Douglas was to speak, Lincoln was |