Lincoln marries-Partner of Logan; of HerndonMakes Speeches for Clay-Elected to Congress On November 4, 1842, Mr. Lincoln married Miss Mary Todd at Springfield. This same year he enlisted in the temperance movement. The year before (1841) Lin coln had retired from the partnership with Stuart, who had been elected to Congress, and associated himself with S. T. Logan. In 1843 he severed this connection because Logan as well as himself Mr. aspired to be sent to Con gress. He then took Mr. Stephen J. Logan. Herndon as partner, but did not succeed in getting the nomination to Congress. In 1844 he was a presidential elector, and made campaign speeches throughout Illinois for Clay and Polk; was nominated for Congress May 1, 1846, and elected. He opposed the Mexican War, considering it a war of conquest, unjust and unnecessary. On July 10, 1848, he wrote his partner a letter, in which the following wise sentence occurs: 66 The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him." He made speeches for Taylor in New England, also in Illinois, and after Taylor's election he introduced a bill in Congress looking to the emancipation of the slaves in the District of Columbia. It received no consideration. He was offered the position of Governor of the Territory of Oregon by President Taylor, but declined, and returned to his home in Springfield to practise law. Lincoln's Eloquent Appeal compels Two Young Men to pay for a Team of Oxen, though the Law rendered them, as Minors, not Liable for the Bill Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's partner, relates that in the spring of 1847 Lincoln, then a Congressman, was employed by an old man by the name of Case to collect a note of two hundred dollars signed by Snow brothers, who, pleading the minor act, refused to pay it. The brothers did not deny the note, but, through their lawyer, pleaded that they were minors, and that old Mr. Case knew that fact when they gave him the note. Lincoln admitted all this, saying, "Yes, gentlemen, I reckon that's The minor act was read to the jury, and every one thought that Lincoln had given his case away, and would submit to the injustice to his client in silence, because the law plainly stated that minors could not be held liable for debt. Lincoln, however, arose, and in a quiet tone said: "Gentlemen of the jury, are you willing to allow these boys to begin life with this shame and disgrace attached to their characters? If you are, I am not. The best judge of human nature that ever wrote has left these immortal words for all of us to ponder: "Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls: Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed.'" Then, rising to his full height, and looking down upon the young men with the compassion of a brother, his long right arm pointing to the opposing lawyers, he continued: "Gentlemen of the jury, these poor innocent boys would never have attempted this low villainy had it not been for the advice of these men." He then showed how the noble science of law might be prostituted, and with a scathing rebuke to those who thus belittled their profession, he concluded: "And now, gentlemen, you have it in your power to set these boys right before the world." Thus, pleading for the boys and their good name, he left the case to the jury, which without leaving their seats decided that the boys. must pay the debt; and the latter, after listening to Mr. Lincoln, were willing and glad to do it. CHAPTER IX Lincoln, the little girl and her trunk-His little son Willie runs naked from his bath-The widow's pension case"Skin Wright and close"-He gives a mean lawyer some good advice-Gives his opponent's their case because it was just-His defense of William Armstrong. ÖNE ONE morning, some time after Lincoln had returned to Springfield to practise as a lawyer, while he was walking down-town to his office, he noticed a little girl standing at the gate in front of her house crying as though her heart would break. He stopped and asked, "What's the matter, my little girl?" "Oh, Mr. Lincoln!" she exclaimed between her sobs, "I shall miss the train, because the expressman has not come to take my trunk as he promised." And she burst out crying again. "That's too bad, that is too bad," said Lincoln, patting her on the head. "Where were you going?" he added. She answered, "I was going to visit my aunt with a little friend, and it's to be my first trip on the cars; and, oh, I have planned about it and even dreamed about it for weeks! And now it's most train time; my little friend will be waiting at the station, and auntie too; and-" Here her sobs broke into her story, and her little body shook with the effort of crying so hard. Lincoln was touched. "How big is the trunk? There's still time, I guess, if it's not too big." Saying this, he pushed by the gate and up to the door. The little girl's mother showed him to the room, where there was a little old-fashioned traveling trunk, locked and tied. and come quick. We'll catch the train yet, I He picked up the trunk, threw it on his shoulder, and strode out through the yard into the street, the little girl trotting by his side, and drying her eyes as she went. Pretty soon they heard the rumbling of the train approaching in the distance, and the toot of the whistle. 66 "Take my hand, little one," said Lincoln, and we'll get there." So, hastening his steps, carrying the trunk on his shoulder and holding the little girl's hand, they hurried on and reached the station just as the train rolled in. Lincoln put the child on the train, kissed her good-by, and cried out, "Now, have a real good |