LIKEWISE. I don't consider I was much of a hand with the
compass and chains."

"It is the fashion in Illinois, I gather, for the law to be the last
in a series of many pursuits--the pool where the driftwood from many
streams comes to rest." Mr. Stanton spoke with the superior air of one
who took his profession seriously and had been trained for it in the
orthodox fashion.

"It was so in my case. I've kept a post-office, and I've had a store,
and I've had a tavern, and I kept them so darned bad that I'm still
paying off the debts I made in them." The long man made the confession
with a comic simplicity.

"There's a deal to be said for the habit," said Speed. "Having followed
other trades teaches a lawyer something about human nature. I reckon Abe
wouldn't be the man he is if he had studied his books all his days."

"There is another side to that," said Mr. Stanton and his precise
accents and well-modulated voice seemed foreign in that homely place.
"You are also a politician, Mr. Lincoln?"

The other nodded. "Of a kind. I'm a strong Henry Clay man."

"Well, there I oppose you. I'm no Whig or lover of Whigs. But I'm
a lover of the Constitution and the law of the country, and that
Constitution and that country are approaching perilous times. There's
explosive stuff about which is going to endanger the stability of the
noble heritage we have received from our fathers, and if that heritage
is to be saved it can only be by those who hold fast to its eternal
principles. This land can only be saved by its lawyers, sir. But they
must be lawyers profoundly read in the history and philosophy of their
profession, and no catchpennny advocates with a glib tongue and
an elastic conscience. The true lawyer must approach his task with
reverence and high preparation; for as his calling is the noblest of
human activities, so it is the most exacting."

The POINT-DEVICE young man spoke with a touch of the schoolmaster, but
his audience, who had an inborn passion for fine words, were impressed.
Lincoln sat squatted on his heels on a bit of sacking, staring into the
open door of the stove.

"There's truth in that," he said slowly. His voice had not the mellow
tones of the other's, being inclined to shrillness, but it gave the
impression of great power waiting on release somewhere in his massive
chest. "But I reckon it's only half the truth, for truth's like a
dollar-piece, it's got two sides, and both are wanted to make it good
curr