more frequently than in later years, and the estimate of these two distinguished men as to his standing and ability as a lawyer is of great value.

In speaking of the professional standing of Mr. Lincoln, Judge Caton said:

The most punctilious honor ever marked his professional life. His frankness and candor were two great elements in his character which contributed to his professional success. If he discovered a weak point in his cause, he frankly admitted it, and thereby prepared the mind to accept more readily his mode of avoiding it. He was equally potent before the jury as with the

Mr. Lincoln was never found deficient in all the knowledge requisite to present the strong points of his case to the best advantage, and by his searching analysis make clear the most intricate controversy. There was that within him glowing in his mind, which enabled him to impress with the force of his logic, his own clear perception upon the minds of those he sought to influence.

Mr. Lincoln was not what is termed a "case lawyer," which is defined by the Standard Dictionary as a lawyer "better versed in reported cases." He did not, as some lawyers do, rely wholly or chiefly upon decided cases or precedents. But the statement made by some of his biographers that he was not a well-read lawyer and not well grounded in the principles of the law, is an error, for no careful

student of Mr. Lincoln's career at the bar can arrive at any other conclusion than that he was thoroughly familiar with the standard works of his day on the various branches of the law. He had read them all to good purpose and understood the legal and equitable principles which they laid down.

A distinguished United States Senator declared, in an address at Springfield, Illinois, February 12, 1909, that he did not believe Lincoln was a great lawyer, giving as a reason for that belief that "he practiced law without a library," etc.' It is true that he owned few law books, but he had access to the library of the Supreme Court of Illinois at Springfield, and whenever he had any matter in hand which required special research, he availed himself of the use of that ample library; so that, whenever he appeared in court, he was fully prepared to present his side of the case to the very best advantage.

All of Lincoln's biographers admit that he possessed a wonderfully logical mind, an equipment not infrequently lacking in lawyers who have met with unusual success in that profession, if success be measured by the amount of business passing through their hands. To him the common law was, in fact as well as in name, "the perfection of reason,'

1 Senator Dolliver before the Lincoln Centennial Association.

and a court of equity was in reality "a court of conscience." He was not in the habit of citing a great number of authorities on any proposition, but depended chiefly upon the statement of the principles and the presentation of the reasons for the rule for which he contended, as well as for its application to the case before the court. His strong common sense and clear understanding of the principles of the common law enabled him to see clearly what the law ought to be, and with all the force of his great mind he endeavored with invincible logic to convince the court of the correctness of his contention. Or, if the case were one involving the principles of equity, his appeal was to the conscience of the court to right a wrong which had been committed, or to prevent an impending injury.

Like other high-class lawyers of his time, Mr. Lincoln tried on the circuit cases of every kind, both civil and criminal. His success in the defense of persons charged with crime seems to have been extraordinary, for while his contemporaries inform us that he defended many such cases, the records of the Supreme Court of Illinois reveal the astonishing fact that he never appeared in that court on behalf of any person charged with a felony. Had he been defeated in such cases in the trial court, in many instances, it is scarcely conceivable that some

of them would not have been taken by appeal or writ of error to the Supreme Court and that he would not have appeared as counsel in that court on behalf of the accused.

It has been said that Mr. Lincoln never knowingly defended a person charged with crime unless he believed the accused to be innocent. This may be true, and if so, it will account in some measure at least for the fact before stated. The only other explanation must lie in his great ability as an advocate, in that power to win before a jury, mentioned by Mr. Swett and others.

In his career at the bar Mr. Lincoln crossed swords in the arena of his profession with the greatest lawyers of his time. Among them were Orville H. Browning, who succeeded Stephen A. Douglas as United States Senator from Illinois; James A. McDougall, United States Senator from California during the Civil War; Edward D. Baker, a United States Senator from Oregon, who was subsequently killed at the battle of Ball's Bluff while a colonel of volunteers in the war between the states; Stephen T. Logan, at one time a circuit judge and for many years the leader of the bar of Central Illinois; Leonard Swett, who, through many years, ending only with his death, was one of the acknowledged leaders of the bar of the Northwest, if not of the nation;