without the means
of hiding your poverty. Do you believe that you
could bear that patiently? Whatever woman may
cast her lot with mine, should any ever do so,
it is my intention to do all in my power to
make her happy and contented, and there is
nothing I can imagine that could make me more
unhappy than to fail in that effort. I know I
should be much happier with you than the way I
am, provided I saw no sign of discontent in
you.

"I much wish you would think seriously before
you decide. What I have said, I will most
positively abide by, provided you wish it. You
have not been accustomed to hardship, and it
may be more severe than you now imagine. I know
you are capable of thinking correctly on any
subject, and if you deliberate maturely upon
this before you decide, then I am willing to
abide by your decision.

"Yours, etc.,
"LINCOLN."

For a love letter this was nearly as cold and formal as a legal
document. Miss Owens could see well enough that Lawyer Lincoln was not
much in love with her, and she let him know, as kindly as she could,
that she was not disposed to cast her lot for life with an enforced
lover, as he had proved himself to be. She afterward confided to a
friend that "Mr. Lincoln was deficient in those little links which make
up the chain of a woman's happiness."

THE EARLY RIVALRY BETWEEN LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS

Soon after Mr. Lincoln came to Springfield he met Stephen A. Douglas, a
brilliant little man from Vermont. The two seemed naturally to take
opposing sides of every question. They were opposite in every way.
Lincoln was tall, angular and awkward. Douglas was small, round and
graceful--he came to be known as "the Little Giant." Douglas was a
Democrat and favored slavery. Lincoln was a Whig, and strongly opposed
that dark institution. Even in petty discussions in Speed's store, the
two men seemed to gravitate to opposite sides. A little later they were
rivals for the hand of the same young woman.

One night, in a convivial company, Mr. Douglas's attention was directed
to the fact that Mr. Lincoln neither smoked nor drank. Considering this
a reflection upon his own habits, the little man sneered:

"What, Mr. Lincoln, are you a temperance man?"

"No," replied Linco