X.

LAWRENCE Weldon.

N the summer of 1854 I became a citizen of De

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Witt County, Illinois, having emigrated from Ohio for the purpose of practicing law. At that time I knew something of Mr. Lincoln's history, having known of him while he was a member of Congress a few years before. I found he had a very strong hold upon popular affection, and stood high in the confidence of the people of the State. He was the leader of the bar, Judge Logan having substantially retired from the active practice; and although he was but forty-five, he was alluded to in popular parlance as "old Mr. Lincoln;" and in that connection I recall an incident occurring while he was a candidate for the Senate against Judge Douglas in 1858. He delivered a speech at Clinton, and as we were riding in the "inevitable procession" of American politics, the "small boy" of the period said to one of his companions: "There! there goes old Mr. Lincoln!" This was said in a tone to be heard by the immediate company, and Mr. Lincoln was asked how long they had been calling him old. Said he :

"Oh, they have been at that trick many years. They commenced it when I was scarcely thirty."

It seemed to amuse him; he was not old enough to be sensitive about his age.

The first time I met him was in September, 1854, at Bloomington; and I was introduced to him by Judge Douglas, who was then making a campaign in defense of the Kansas- Nebraska bill. Mr. Lincoln was attending court, and called to see the Judge. They talked very pleasantly about old times and things, and during the conversation the Judge broadened the hospitalities of the occasion by asking him to drink something. Mr. Lincoln declined very politely, when the Judge said: "Why, do you belong to the temperance society?" He said:

"I do not in theory, but I do in fact, belong to the temperance society, in this, to wit, that I do not drink anything, and have not done so for a very many years."

Shortly after he retired, Mr. J. W. Fell, then and now a leading citizen of Illinois, came into the room, with a proposition that Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas have a discussion, remarking that there were a great many people in the city, that the question was of great public importance, and that it would afford the crowd the luxury of listening to the As soon as acknowledged champions of both sides. the proposition was made it could be seen that the

Judge was irritated. He inquired of Mr. Fell, with some majesty of manner: "Whom does Mr. Lincoln represent in this campaign-is he an Abolitionist or an Old Line Whig?"

Mr. Fell replied that he was an Old Line Whig.

"Yes," said Douglas, "I am now in the region of the Old Line Whig. When I am in Northern Illinois I am assailed by an Abolitionist, when I get to the center I am attacked by an Old Line Whig, and when I go to Southern Illinois I am beset by an Anti-Nebraska Democrat. I can't hold the Whig responsible for anything the Abolitionist says, and can't hold the Anti-Nebraska Democrat responsible for the positions of either. It looks to me like dogging a man all over the State. If Mr. Lincoln wants to make a speech he had better get a crowd of his own; for I most respectfully decline to hold a discussion with him."

Mr. Lincoln had nothing to do with the challenge except perhaps to say he would discuss the question with Judge Douglas. He was not aggressive in the defense of his doctrines or enunciation of his opinions, but he was brave and fearless in the protection of what he believed to be the right. The impression he made when I was introduced was as to his unaf fected and sincere manner, and the precise, cautious, and accurate mode in which he stated his thoughts even when talking about commonplace things.

In 1854 and down to the commencement of the war the circuit practice in Illinois was still in vogue, and the itinerant lawyer was as sure to come as the trees to bud or the leaves to fall. In and among these Mr. Lincoln was the star; he stood above and beyond them all. He traveled the circuit attending the courts of Judge David Davis's district, extending from the center to the eastern boundary of the State, until he was nominated for the Presidency. He liked the atmosphere of a court-house, and seemed to be contented and happy when Judge Davis was on the bench and he had before him the "twelve good and lawful men" who had been called from the body of the county to "well and truly try the issue." In every county in which he practiced he was among his friends and acquaintances; he usually knew the most, and always the leading men on the jury. He was not what might be called an industrious lawyer, and when his adversary presented a reasonably good affidavit for a continuance, he was willing that the case should go over until the next term. He was particularly kind to young lawyers, and I remember with what confidence I always went to him, because I was certain that he knew all about the matter, and would most cheerfully tell me. I can see him now through the decaying memories of thirty years, standing in the corner of the old courtroom, and as I approached him with a paper I did not understand, he said:

Wait until I fix this plug for my 'gallis,' and I will pitch into that like a dog at a root."

While speaking, he was busily engaged in trying to connect his suspender with his pants by making a "plug" perform the function of a button. Mr. Lincoln used old-fashioned words, and never failed to use them if they could be sustained as proper. He was probably taught to say "gallows," and he never adopted the modern "suspender."

In the convulsions of nations, how rapidly history makes itself! Mr. Lincoln was the attorney of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, to assist the local counsel in the different counties of the circuit, and in De Witt County, in connection with the Hon. C. H. Moore, attended to the litigation of the company. In '58 or '59 he appeared in a case which they did not want to try at that term, and Mr. Lincoln remarked to the court:

“We are not ready for trial."

Judge Davis said: "Why is not the company ready to go to trial?"

Mr. Lincoln replied: "We are embarrassed by the absence or rather want of information from Captain McClellan."

The Judge said: "Who is Captain McClellan, and why is he not here?"

Mr. Lincoln said: "All I know of him is that he is the engineer of the railroad, and why he is not here this deponent saith not."