y to enter,
rather than one who had closed, a conflict."

Of the speeches in this campaign, Mr. Henry J. Raymond, the
distinguished journalist, pronounced the following well-considered
opinion: "While Douglas fully sustained his previous reputation, and
justified the estimate his friends had placed upon his abilities, he
labored under the comparative disadvantage of being much better known to
the country at large than was his antagonist. During his long public
career, people had become partially accustomed to his manner of
presenting arguments and enforcing them. The novelty and freshness of
Lincoln's addresses, on the other hand, the homeliness and force of his
illustrations, their wonderful pertinence, his exhaustless humor, his
confidence in his own resources, engendered by his firm belief in the
justice of the cause he so ably advocated, never once rising, however,
to the point of arrogance or superciliousness, fastened upon him the
eyes of the people everywhere, friends and opponents alike. It was not
strange that more than once, during the course of the unparalleled
excitement which marked this canvass, Douglas should have been thrown
off his guard by the singular self-possession displayed by his
antagonist, and by the imperturbable firmness with which he maintained
and defended a position once taken. The unassuming confidence which
marked Lincoln's conduct was early imparted to his supporters, and each
succeeding encounter added largely to the number of his friends, until
they began to indulge the hope that a triumph might be secured in spite
of the adverse circumstances under which the struggle was commenced."

Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield (Mass.) "Republican," said that
Lincoln "handled Douglas as he would an eel--by main strength.
Sometimes, perhaps, he handled him so strongly that he _slipped through
his fingers_."

"In this canvass," says Mr. Lamon, "Mr. Lincoln earned a reputation as a
popular debater second to that of no man in America--certainly not
second to that of his famous antagonist. He kept his temper; he was not
prone to personalities; he was fair, frank, and manly; and, if the
contest had shown nothing else, it would have shown at least that 'Old
Abe' could behave like a gentleman under very trying circumstances. His
marked success in these discussions was probably no surprise to the
people of the Springfield district, who knew him as well as they did Mr.
Douglas, or even better. B