practicing law in those days, and in that region, had some peculiar features. it was the custom for lawyers to “ride the circuit,” that is, to accompany the judges from one country-town to another, attending to such business as might offer, in different sections of the state. railroads had not yet found their way out so far west, and the lawyer was wont to travel on horseback, stopping at cabins on the way to eat and sleep, and, in brief, to “rough it.” one brought up like lincoln was not likely to shrink from any hardships which this might entail. indeed, it is likely that, upon the whole, he enjoyed it, and that these journeys increased his natural shrewdness and knowledge of human nature, and furnished him with no inconsiderable part of the apposite stories which he was wont to quote in later years.{97}
here is an incident which will amuse my readers. it is told by mr. francis e. willard: “in one of my temperance pilgrimages through illinois, i met a gentleman who was the companion in a dreary ride which lincoln made in a light wagon, going the rounds of a circuit court where he had clients to look after. the weather was rainy, the road heavy with mud of the southern illinois pottery, never to be imagined as to its blackness and profundity by him who has not seen it, and assuredly needing no description to jostle the memory of one who has. lincoln enlivened the way with anecdote and recital, for few indeed were the incidents that relieved the tedium of the trip.
“at last, in wallowing through a ‘slough’ of the most approved western manufacture, they came upon a poor shark of a hog, who had succumbed to gravitation, and was literally fast in the mud. the lawyers commented on the poor creature’s pitiful condition, and drove on. about half a mile was laboriously gone over, when lincoln suddenly exclaimed: ‘i don’t know how you feel about it, but i’ve got to go back and pull that hog out of the slough.’{98}
“his comrade laughed, thinking it merely a joke; but what was his surprise when lincoln dismounted, left him to his reflections, and, striding slowly back, like a man on stilts, picking his way as his long walking implements permitted, he grappled with the drowning hog, dragged him out of the ditch, left him on its edge to recover his strength, slowly measured off the distance back to his buggy, and the two men drove off as if nothing had happened.”
this little incident is given to show that mr. lincoln did not confine his benevolence to his own race, but could put himself to inconvenience to relieve the sufferings of an inferior animal. in fact, his heart seemed to be animated by the spirit of kindness, and this is one of the most important respects in which i am glad to hold him out as an example to the young. emulate that tenderness of heart which led him to sympathize with “the meanest thing that breathes,” and, like him, you will win the respect and attachment of the best men and women!
the young lawyer, successful as he was in court, did not make money as fast as some of his professional associates. one reason i have {99}already given—he would not willingly exert his power on the wrong side. moreover, he was modest, and refrained from exorbitant charges, and he was known at times to remit fees justly due when his client was unfortunate. one day he met a client who had given him a note, nearly due, for professional services.
“mr. lincoln,” he said, “i have been thinking of that note i owe you. i don’t see how i am to meet it. i have been disabled by an explosion, and that has affected my income.”
“i heard of your accident,” said lincoln, “and i sympathize with you deeply. as to the note, here it is.”
“but i can not meet it at present.”
“i don’t want you to. take it, and destroy it. i consider it paid.”
no doubt many lawyers would have done the same, but it so happened that lincoln was at that moment greatly in need of money, and was obliged to defer a journey on that account. it was not out of his abundance, but out of his poverty, that he gave.
as to his professional methods, they were peculiar. he was always generous to an opponent.{100} instead of contesting point by point, he often yielded more than was claimed, and excited alarm in the breast of his client. but when this was done, he set to work and stated his own view of the case so urgently that the strength of his opponent’s position was undermined, his arguments torn to pieces, and the verdict secured. he was remarkably fair, and stated his case so clearly that no juror of fair intelligence could fail to understand him.
it has already been said that mr. lincoln had a partner. it is a proof of his scrupulous honesty that when upon his circuits he tried any cases that were never entered at the office, he carefully set aside a part of the remuneration for the absent partner, who otherwise would never have known of them, and might be supposed hardly entitled to a share of the fees.
for the following anecdote, in further illustration of mr. lincoln’s conscientiousness in money matters, i am indebted to mr. frank b. carpenter’s very interesting little volume, entitled “six months at the white house”: “about the time mr. lincoln came to be known as a successful lawyer, he was waited upon by a lady who held a{101} real-estate claim which she desired to have him prosecute,—putting into his hands, with the necessary papers, a check for two hundred and fifty dollars as a retaining fee. mr. lincoln said he would look the case over, and asked her to call again the next day. upon presenting herself, mr. lincoln told her that he had gone through the papers very carefully, and he must tell her frankly that there was not a ‘peg’ to hang her claim upon, and he could not conscientiously advise her to bring an action. the lady was satisfied, and, thanking him, rose to go. ‘wait,’ said mr. lincoln, fumbling in his vest pocket; ‘here is the check you left with me.’ ‘but, mr. lincoln,’ returned the lady, ‘i think you have earned that.’ ‘no, no,’ he responded, handing it back to her, ‘that would not be right. i can’t take pay for doing my duty.’ ”
i must find a place here for one of mr. lincoln’s own stories, relating to a professional adventure, which must have amused him. mr. carpenter is my authority here also:
“when i took to the law i was going to court one morning, with some ten {102}or twelve miles of bad road before me, when —— overtook me in his wagon.
“ ‘hello, lincoln!’ said he; ‘going to the court-house? come get in, and i will give you a seat.’
“well, i got in, and —— went on reading his papers. presently the wagon struck a stump on one side of the road; then it hopped off to the other. i looked out and saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his seat; so said i, ‘judge, i think your coachman has been taking a drop too much this morning.’
“ ‘well, i declare, lincoln,’ said he, ‘i should not much wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since starting.’
“so, putting his head out of the window, he shouted: ‘why, you infernal scoundrel, you are drunk!’
“upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great gravity, the coachman said: ‘bedad! but that’s the first rightful decision your honor has given for the last twelve months.’ ”
mr. lincoln’s law partnership with mr. stuart was of brief duration. it was dissolved in 1840,{103} and in the same year he formed a new partnership with judge s. t. logan, a lawyer of learning and ability.
in 1842 he formed another partnership, of a still more important character. he married miss mary todd on the 4th of november of that year. miss todd belonged to a family of social prominence, and it is a matter of interest that, before marrying mr. lincoln, she is said to have had an opportunity of marrying another person, whose name was mentioned for the presidency years before mr. lincoln’s. i refer to hon. stephen a. douglas, who is said to have been an unsuccessful suitor for the hand of miss todd.
six months after marriage, in a private letter written to an intimate friend, mr. lincoln refers thus to his domestic arrangements: “we are not keeping house,” he writes, “but boarding at the globe tavern, which is very well kept by a widow lady of the name of beck. our rooms are the same dr. wallace occupied there, and boarding only costs four dollars a week.”
abraham lincoln had reached the age of thirty-three years before he ventured to marry. circumstances had until then proved unfavorable, for{104} his struggle with poverty had been unusually protracted. now, however, he was settled both matrimonially and professionally, and the most important part of his life, for which he had been so long preparing, may be said to have fairly begun.
