shillings, and sixpences—the exact amount due the United States. (7) In his poverty it has been held sacred. Long ago it was written, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."

Events were taking place which set Abraham Lincoln thinking about the value of free institutions under a government of the people. A negro in St. Louis who had committed a terrible crime was taken from jail by a mob before he had been tried by the court, chained to a stake, and burned to death. After the poor wretch was dead, men and boys amused themselves by throwing stones at the skeleton. Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, editor of a religious paper, published an article in which he said that while the negro deserved to die, such conduct was no better than that of savages who burned prisoners of war at the stake, and who danced around their victims while the fire was doing its work. The men who burned the negro did not like such plain talk, and organized another mob, which entered the printing-office, destroyed the types, and threw the press into the river. Mr. Lovejoy left St. Louis and set up a new office in Alton, Ill., thinking the people of that town would respect the freedom of the Press; but when the new printing-press arrived from Cincinnati, ruffians broke it in pieces and destroyed the types. Another press was purchased in Cincinnati. The mayor was notified, and a request made for its protection. He appointed Mr. Lovejoy and a large number of citizens special policemen to protect the property. The press arrived, and was put into a stone warehouse. "It is our determination to protect our property," said Mr. Lovejoy and the others, as they assembled in the building in the evening with their guns. "You are acting in accordance with the law," said the mayor. A howling mob beset the building and fired into it. Those within returned the fire, killing one and wounding another. "Burn them out!" shouted the ruffians, raising a ladder and kindling a fire on the roof. Mr. Lovejoy and others stepped out-of-doors to fire at those on the ladder; but several of the mob fired upon them, and he fell mortally wounded. The other citizens, knowing if they remained they would be burned to death, fled from the building, the mob firing at them as they ran. Having gained possession, they broke the press and threw it into the river. (*)

The men who committed the murder little thought that instead of suppressing agitation they were helping it on. In many places throughout the Northern States public meetings were held denouncing the outrage. Mr. Lovejoy had written articles against slavery, but men who were not in sympathy with the Abolitionists saw that the freedom of the Press was the great question to be considered.

The young men of Springfield formed a lyceum for the consideration of questions affecting the interests of the people. The discussions were carried on around the great fireplace in Mr. Speed's store, with the hickory logs blazing on the hearth, and the audience sitting on nailcasks and benches. Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were so able in argument and keen at repartee that the store could not accommodate those who came to hear them, and the meetings were held in

the Presbyterian church. They took up the affair at Alton. It came to the lot of Lincoln to deliver an address. He chose for his theme "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." He was twenty-eight years of age. Seven years had passed since he entered the State driving an ox-team. He had pulled an oar on the Mississippi, navigated the Sangamon, been a soldier in the Black Hawk War, storekeeper, land-surveyor, and legislator. The people listened wonderingly to the opening sentences:

"In the great journal of things happening under the sun, the American people find our account running under date of the nineteenth century of the Christian era. We find ourselves in peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the earth as regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate. We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions conducing more essentially to the ends of civil

and religious liberty than any of which the history of former times tells us. We find ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. We toiled not in the acquirement or the establishment of them; they are a legacy bequeathed to us by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now lamented and departed, race of ancestors."

The words that fall from his lips are the utterances of a statesman— of one who is looking into the future, who comprehends in some degree the mighty forces that are shaping the future of the country. He speaks of the action of the mob which a few weeks before had burned. a negro in St. Louis, and of the peril of the country. What sentences are these!

"There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.

"Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake, may ever be found whose ambition would aspire to nothing but a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair; but such belong not to the family of the lion or the brood of the eagle. What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Cæsar, or a Napoleon? Never!

"Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. It does not add story to story upon the monuments of fame erected to the memory of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction, and, if possible, will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves or enslaving free men. Is it unreasonable, then, to expect that some man possessed with the loftiest genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time spring up among us? And when such an one does, it will require the people to be united, attached to the Government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate the design." (")

Is this prophecy? Is there some unseen intelligence of another realm whispering to him of the part he is to play in the drama of his country's history? Why did he, six years before, raise his right hand to heaven, as he came from the heart-rending scene in the slave-market of New Orleans, swear a solemn oath that, if the opportunity ever came to him, he would hit the institution of slavery a staggering blow? Is it that his own spirit is already thirsting and burning for the emancipation of 3,000,000 slaves? Interpret the words as we may, they will ever stand as remarkable utterances - seemingly prophetic when read in connection with the events of his subsequent life.

In the election of members for the Legislature, Mr. Lincoln was again a candidate. His opponent, Colonel Taylor, said the Whig party was composed of aristocrats, who wore broadcloth and rode in fine carriages, whereas the Democrats were poor men, who worked hard to get a living. The rich Whigs lived in luxurious homes, while the Democrats were found in log-cabins.

1838.

"My opponent," said Lincoln, in reply, "accuses the Whigs of riding in fine carriages and wearing ruffled shirts, kid-gloves, and gold watch-chains. Well, I was once a poor boy, and worked hard on a flatboat for $8 a month, and had only a pair of buckskin breeches. You know that buckskin after being wet is apt to shrink in drying, and as my breeches were often wet, the shrinking went on, the breeches getting shorter and shorter, till there were several inches of bare ankle between my stockings and the lower ends of the breeches. They were so tight that they left a blue streak around my shins. Now, if you call that aristocracy, I plead to the charge.” (")

His opponent was a demagogue who, when making political speeches to obtain an office, liked to wear fine clothes and a showy watch-chain, but who, when trying to obtain votes, was careful to cover up his ruffled shirt and chain. Lincoln knew that he was deceiving the people, and by a sweep of his arm gave the fellow's vest a jerk, exposing the ruffle of his shirt and gold chain. The people roared with laughter, and the fellow left the platform, very red in the face. By the sweep of his arm he had upset all of Taylor's plans.

Edward Dickinson Baker was born in London, England. He was two years younger than Abraham Lincoln, and came to America early in life. He made Springfield his home. He was a young lawyer, and, like Lincoln, an ardent Whig. His voice was musical. He could play the piano, sing songs, and write poetry. He was an earnest advocate for the election of Harrison as President, and made a speech in the court-house to a great crowd. Many of those who gathered to hear him were Democrats. They were rough men; they chewed tobacco, drank whiskey, and became angry at what Baker was saying.

The office of Stuart & Lincoln was over the court-room. A trapdoor for ventilation, above the platform of the court-room, opened into their office. Lincoln, desiring to hear what Baker was saying, lifted the door, stretched himself upon the floor, and looked down upon the swaying crowd. Baker was talking about the stealings of the Democratic officials in the land-offices.

"Wherever there is a land-office there you will find a Democratic newspaper defending its corruptions," said Baker.

"Pull him down! Put him out! It is a lie!" the cry from a fellow in the crowd, whose brother was editor of a Democratic paper. There was a rush for the platform. Great the astonishment of the crowd at seeing a pair of long legs dangle from the scuttle, and then the body, shoulders, and head of Abraham Lincoln, who let himself down to the

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platform. He lifted his hand, but the fellows did not heed his gesture. They saw him grasp a stone-ware water-pitcher and heard him say, "I'll break it over the head of the first man who lays a hand on Baker! Hold on, gentlemen! This is a free country-a land for free speech. Mr. Baker has a right to speak; let him be heard. I am here to protect him, and no man shall take him from this platform if I can prevent it." (")

It was as if he had said-as was said once before-"Peace, be still." The people knew how champion wrestlers had gone down before him; but it was not that which hushed the crowd to silence and stilled the storm. They knew his goodness-how kind-hearted, just, honest, and