veying while living in Indiana. He now
took up the study again, and was soon appointed deputy surveyor of
Sangamon county.

He was very skilful as a surveyor. Although his chain was only a
grape-vine, he was very accurate and never made mistakes.

The next year he was again a candidate for the legislature. This time
the people were ready to vote for him, and he was elected. It was no
small thing for so young a man to be chosen to help make the laws of his
state.

No man ever had fewer advantages than Abraham Lincoln. As a boy, he was
the poorest of the poor. No rich friend held out a helping hand. But see
what he had already accomplished by pluck, perseverance, and honesty!

He had not had access to many books, but he knew books better than most
men of his age. He knew the Bible by heart; he was familiar with
Shakespeare; he could repeat nearly all the poems of Burns; he knew
much about physics and mechanics; he had mastered the elements of law.

He was very awkward and far from handsome, but he was so modest, so
unselfish and kind, that every one who knew him liked him. He was a true
gentleman--a gentleman at heart, if not in outside polish.

And so, as I have already said, Abraham Lincoln, at the age of
twenty-five, was elected to the state legislature. He served the people
so well that when his term closed, two years later, they sent him back
for another term.

The capital of Illinois had, up to this time, been at Vandalia. Mr.
Lincoln and his friends now succeeded in having a law passed to remove
it to Springfield. Springfield was nearer to the centre of the state; it
was more convenient to everybody, and had other advantages which
Vandalia did not have.

The people of Springfield were so delighted that they urged Mr. Lincoln
to come there and practice law. An older lawyer, whose name was John T.
Stuart, and who had a good practice, offered to take him in partnership
with him.

And so, in 1837, Abraham Lincoln left New Salem and removed to
Springfield. He did not have much to move. All the goods that he had in
the world were a few clothes, which he carried in a pair of saddle-bags,
and two or three law books. He had no money, and he rode into
Springfield on a borrowed horse.

He was then twenty-eight years old.

From that time on, Springfield was his home.

* * * * *

X.--POLITICS AND MARRIAGE.

The next year after his removal to Springfield, Mr. Lincoln was elected