ce in his ability as a
legislator. He enjoyed the practice of the law which had begun to turn
his interest from the affairs of state. But the pot of political science
boiled before the fireplace in the rear of Joshua Speed's store every
evening that Lincoln and his associates were in Springfield. The wit and
wisdom which bubbled into its vapors and the heat that surrounded it were
the talk of the town. Many came to witness the process and presently it
was moved, for a time, to more accommodating quarters. Before a crowd of
people in the Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, Logan, Baker and Browning for
the Whigs, and Douglas, Calhoun, Lamborn and Thomas for the Democrats,
having assiduously prepared for the trial, debated the burning issues of
the time. The effort of each filled an evening and Lincoln's speech gave
him new hope of himself. Wise men began to have great confidence in his
future. He had taken the style of Webster for his model. He no longer
used the broad humor which had characterized his efforts on the stump.
A study of the best speeches of the great New Englander had made him
question its value in a public address. Dignity, clear reasoning and
impressiveness were the chief aims of his new method, the latter of
which is aptly illustrated by this passage from his speech in reply to
Douglas in the debate mentioned:

* * * * *

"If I ever feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimensions
not wholly unworthy of its Almighty Architect it is when I contemplate
the cause of my country deserted by all the world besides, and I standing
up boldly and alone and hurling defiance at her victorious oppressors.
Here without contemplating consequences before high heaven and in the
face of the world I swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem
it, of the land of my life, my liberty and my love."

* * * * *

In these perfervid utterances one may find little to admire save a great
spirit seeking to express itself and lacking as yet the refinement of
taste equal to his undertaking. He was no heaven-born genius "sprung in
full panoply from the head of Jove." He was just one of the slow, common
folk, with a passion for justice and human rights, slowly feeling his way
upward. His spirit was growing. Strong in its love and knowledge of
common men and of the things necessary to their welfare, it was beginning
to seek and know "the divine power of word