chivalry and courage of Lincoln in so promptly stepping forward as her champion, could not but increase Miss Todd's admiration for and attachment to him, and their union soon

The hostile correspondence took place late in September, 1842, and, on the 4th of November thereafter, Lincoln and Miss Todd were married. Neither before nor after the challenge, had Lincoln any unkind feelings towards Shields, and later, during the war of the rebellion, Shields having proved himself a brave soldier in the war against Mexico, the President gave him an important military command.

After their marriage, Lincoln and his wife went to live in pleasant rooms, in a very comfortable hotel,' called the "Globe Tavern," kept by Mrs. Bede, and about two hundred yards southwest of the old "State House," paying four dollars a week only for board and rooms. On one occasion shortly after her marriage, Mrs. Lincoln, speaking of a friend who had married an old but very rich man, said: "I would rather marry a good man, a man of mind, with bright prospects for success, and power, and fame, than all the horses, and houses, and gold in the world." In 1844, Mr. Lincoln purchased of the Rev. Nathan Dresser, a small but comfortable house, in which he lived until his election as President, and his removal to Washington.

There are few Congressional districts in the republic which have been represented by such a succession of distinguished men, as those who represented the Sangamon district from 1839 to 1850; beginning with John T. Stuart, who was in 1839 elected over Stephen A. Douglas, and served until March, 1843. In 1842, three very prominent men were the whig candidates, Lincoln, Edward D. Baker, and John J. Hardin. Baker carried the delegation from Sangamon County, and Lincoln was one of the delegates to the Congressional Convention, and was instructed to vote for Baker. He took his defeat with good humor, saying, when he tried to nominate Baker: "I shall be fixed a good deal like the fellow 1. I speak from personal knowledge of this hotel.-Author.

who is made groomsman to the man who cut him out, and is marrying his own girl." On this occasion Hardin, of Morgan County, was nominated and elected. In 1843, Baker was nominated and elected, and, in 1846, Lincoln was elected. Of these four members of Congress, Stuart alone survives, at the age of seventy-five years. The others all died by violence. Hardin was shot on the field of Buena Vista. Baker received a volley of bullets as he was leading his troops at Ball's Bluff, in Virginia, and Lincoln was assassinated.

Mr. Lincoln's opponent on the democratic ticket for Congress, was the celebrated Methodist circuit preacher, Peter Cartwright. The democrats supposed that the backwoods preacher would "run" far ahead of his ticket, and might beat Lincoln. But it fell otherwise; the "Sangamon Chief," as he was sometimes called, receiving a majority of sixteen hundred and eleven, a vote considerably greater than his party strength.

In 1844, in the presidential contest between Clay and Polk, Lincoln, who had admired Clay from boyhood, was placed at the head of the electoral ticket, and canvassed with great zeal and ability, Illinois, and a part of Indiana for his favorite. In this campaign he again met the leaders of the democratic party, and especially Douglas, and added to his reputation as one of the ablest and most popular speakers of the Northwest. His chagrin and disappointment at the election of Polk was very great.

The partnership between Judge Logan and Lincoln was, on the 20th day of September, 1843, dissolved, and on the same day he formed a partnership with a young lawyer, William H. Herndon, a relative of one of his old Clary

1. Of Colonel Baker, the following incredible, but characteristic anecdote was current around the mess-table of the early circuit-riders and judges of Central Illnois. Soon after he settled in Springfield, a friend found him in the woods, seated on a fallen tree, weeping bitterly. On being pressed to tell the cause of his grief, he said: "I have been reading the Constitution of the United States, and I find a provis. lon that none but native citizens can be President. I was born in England, and am ineligible."

Grove friends, which partnership continued until his election as President.

A very amusing illustration of Lincoln's power to entertain in conversation was told the author by the late Judge Peck, who was present at the time. ' "As a boon companion," says Judge Gillespie, "Lincoln, though he never drank a drop of liquor, nor used tobacco in any form in his life, was without a rival." In June, 1842, after Mr. Van Buren had left the presidential office, he and the late Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Paulding, made a journey to the West, and visited Illinois. The party on their way to the capital were delayed by bad roads, and compelled to spend the night at Rochester, some miles from Springfield. The accommodations at this place were very poor, and a few of the ex-President's Springfield friends, taking some refreshments, went out to meet him, and try and aid in entertaining him. Knowing Lincoln's ability as a talker and narrator of anecdotes, they begged him to go with them, and aid in making their guest at the country inn pass the evening as pleasantly as possible. Lincoln, with his usual good nature, went with them, and, on their arrival, entertained the party for hours with graphic descriptions of Western life, bar anecdotes, and witty stories. Judge Peck, who was of the party, and then a democrat, and a warm friend of the exPresident, says that Lincoln was at his best, and adds: “I never passed a more joyous night." There was a constant succession of brilliant anecdotes and funny stories, accompanied by loud laughter in which Van Buren bore his full share. "He also," says the Judge, "gave us incidents and anecdotes of Elisha Williams, and other leading members of the New York Bar, and going back to the days of Hamilton and Burr-altogether there was a right merry time, and Mr. Van Buren said the only drawback upon his enjoyment was that his sides were sore from laughing at Lincoln's stories for a week thereafter."

1. See also to the same effect the statement of the Hon. Joseph Gillespie, in the Lincoln Memorial Album, p. 461.

During Lincoln's administration, John Van Buren, son of President Van Buren, and distinguished alike for his brilliant wit and his eloquence, visited Washington, and, dining with the President, the latter recalled and described to the son, the night which Van Buren and he had passed so pleasantly at the country inn on the prairies of Illinois.

CHAPTER V.

CONGRESS AND THE BAR.

LINCOLN TAKES HIS SEAT IN CONGRESS. HIS COLLEAGUES AND ASSOCIATES.- HOW HE IMPRESSED THEM. HIS FIRST SPEECH.SPEECH ON THE MEXICAN WAR.- DELEGATE TO NATIONAL CONVENTION. HIS CAMPAIGN SPEECH. INTRODUCES BILL TO ABOLISH SLAVERY IN DISTRICt of ColumbiIA. SEEKS APPOINTMENT AS COMMISSIONEr of Land Office.— Declines to be Governor of OREGON. At the BAR.- Defends BILL ARMSTRONG.- LINCOLN AS AN ADVOCATE, LAWYER AND ORATOR.

IN December, 1847, Lincoln took his seat in Congress (the 30th) the only whig member from Illinois. His great rival, Douglas, had already run a brilliant career in the House, and now for the first time had become a member of the United States Senate. These two had met at Vandalia, and in the Illinois Legislature had always been rivals, and each was now the acknowledged leader of his party. The democratic party had, since the year 1836, been strongly in the majority, and Douglas in his state, more than any other man, directed and controlled it. Among Lincoln's colleagues in Congress from Illinois, were John Wentworth, John A. McClernand and William A. Richardson. This Congress had among its members many very distinguished men. Among them were ex-President John Quincy Adams; George Ashman, who presided over the convention which nominated Lincoln for President; Caleb B. Smith, a member of his cabinet; John G. Palfrey, the historian of New England; Robert C. Winthrop, speaker; Jacob Collamer, postmaster-gen