CHAPTER VIII.

A Transition Time-A Romantic Legend-Lincoln Elected to the Legislature-Flush Times and Public Improvements-Religious Controversies - Bright Days and Dark Days-Poetical Favorites.

THOSE who have been accustomed to the comforts of well-ordered communities and to the graces of polished society might imagine that the life of Abraham Lincoln had thus far been unsatisfactory, if not dark and troubled; but it was not so. More had come to him than to many thousands of other young fellows born in backwoods cabins. He had been given a stronger body, better fitted than most for the endurance of toil and of seeming privation. More than ordinary mental capacity, for ideas to take root in, had been accompanied by uncommon keenness of moral sense and perception, enabling him to avoid the pits of vice into which others were continually falling. Putting all his gifts together, he was a much-favored young pioneer, and did not stand in need of any man's commiseration. He was rising, also, with extraordinary rapidity, toward a social plane far above that in which he had been born, and he had all kinds of encouragement to continue the determined efforts which he was making. They were, indeed, untiringly persistent, and they

were winning for him the sincere respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens.

The year 1834 was a kind of transition time for Lincoln. He was not studying law any harder than before, for that was impossible. A large part of his old debts remained unpaid, but all men knew that he was clearing them away as fast as he could, and they honored him accordingly. It was only too common a result of any financial disaster that somebody should suddenly be missing, leaving behind a lot of worthless notes and unsettled accounts. The man who sturdily settled himself to the stern duty of paying up was something in the nature of a local phenomenon, for his neighbors to talk about and be proud of.

Surveying work in a prairie country, aided by the perfect system of the United States General Land Office, was simple and easy to the last degree compared with the perilous, adventurous toil of George Washington among the mountains and valleys of Western Virginia, in the old colonial days. The fees earned by the Sangamon County deputy surveyor, however, were ample for his very moderate expenses, and enabled him to make a continued series of small payments upon his promissory notes. He was in fairly easy circumstances, therefore, having once for all made his escape from actual poverty.

There is a sadly romantic legend of yet another brightness which dawned upon Lincoln's life during the year 1834, only to be hidden soon under a deep, black shadow. It is the story of Ann Rutledge, daughter of James Rutledge, perhaps the most pros

perous man in New Salem. She is said to have possessed many personal and mental attractions, combined with a sensitive nature and genuine sincerity. When Lincoln first became acquainted with her, soon after his arrival, she was understood to be betrothed to Mr. McNeil, of the firm of Hill & McNeil. By that name he had been known since his coming to Sangamon County, but one day he revealed to Ann Rutledge the true story of his life. His real name was McNamar, and for some cause he had concealed it on leaving his home in one of the Eastern States. He had come to the West to make money, in order that he might be able to return and care for his father in his old age. He was now closing up his business, having succeeded well; he was going home on a visit, and he would speedily return to keep his plighted troth. She heard and she believed him. He went, but he did not return, and even letters ceased to bring her any assurance of his being yet alive. If not dead, he was surely unfaithful, and Ann Rutledge was forever free from her promise to him. She was but nineteen years old when so severe a trial came to her, and it was shortly followed by another, for a heart more true than McNamar's was offered her, and her keen sense of honor forbade her to accept it. She was fully capable of appreciating such a noble young manhood as that of Lincoln, and that made her internal struggle more painful. Slowly her sense of obligation to a false lover wore away, and it looked, for a time, as if a new and better hope had taken the place of the old. The legend tells that he gave her

all the great love of which his intense and earnest heart was capable; that his love was returned, and that there was a betrothal before the end of the year 1834.

It is not often that the country is stirred by a great political excitement half way between two Presidential elections, but one of the exceptions. occurred now, in the middle of Andrew Jackson's stormy second term. The Whig Party was increasing rapidly in numbers and organization, but as yet had gained only a moderate degree of strength in Illinois. In Sangamon County it was in a minority, and no Whig candidate could hope for success without the aid of Democratic votes or without attracting the floating mass which drifts about between the party lines.

Almost as a matter of course, Abraham Lincoln was again a candidate for the Legislature in 1834, urgent invitations coming to him from both Whigs and Democrats. His own neighborhood was entirely absorbed by "the Lincoln party," so far as his candidacy was concerned. A vigorous canvass followed, and when the ballots were counted, the New Salem deputy surveyor and law student headed the list of successful candidates. He had received six more votes than were given to any other man. It was a tremendous testimonial to the personal reputation of a youth of twenty-five, so poor that he was compelled, after his election, to borrow the money required for his outfit and for his travelling expenses.

The State capital of Illinois was then at the town

of Vandalia, in the southern part of the State. Legislators from the central and northern counties found their journeys, coming and going, over prairie roads and no roads at all, exceedingly irksome. The question of the removal of the seat of government to a better place had been discussed in session after session, and its decision had been postponed only by the number and urgency of the clamorous constituencies presenting the rival claims of their respective localities.

The Legislature which assembled in the Autumn of 1834 contained a large proportion of the young and rising politicians of Illinois. Owing to the prevailing method of making nominations and obtaining elections, almost every man was one who, like Lincoln, had developed enough of individual character and personal reputation to secure an election without such help as almost insignificant and unknown men can nowadays obtain through managing committees, packed primaries, and party machinery. There were many who had already acquired legislative experience, and the new member from Sangamon County was altogether a green hand. He was but little heard from during that first session, but he was just the man to become well acquainted with his fellow-members and to make a thorough study of the new field which was opening before him.

There was an immense amount of purely experimental legislation at that time before the Legislature, and its debates and divisions dealt with subjects concerning which hardly any of the debaters