ee of the party. Then, after some
further parleying, I finally left the conference.

That evening after dusk I met Swett on the street. We sat down
upon the curbstone, as it was growing a little dark, and talked
the matter over. Swett said to me that he was an older man than
I was; that he had been knocked about a good deal, and, though he
had done much work for the party, he had never got anything; and
if the present opportunity for reward for services were allowed to
pass him by another opportunity was not likely, at his age, to come
to him. Finally, I said: "Mr. Swett, if you had come to me and
made this suggestion at first, I would have been very glad indeed
to make the concession to you, and I am ready to do so now. Here
is my hand on it, and I will help you at the convention." He became
the party candidate by general consent, as I remember it. At all
events he was the candidate, and unfortunately he was beaten at
the polls. That was in 1862. So that while the Congressional
district was made by me, and for myself, I gave way to Mr. Swett,
and the opposition carried it. Two years afterwards I was the
candidate and was elected.

The majority in the counties composing the district was ordinarily
Republican. As a result of Mr. Swett's defeat, he left the district,
though a very prominent lawyer, and went to Chicago, never to return
to the Congressional district in which he had lived so many years,
really quitting politics entirely.

I suppose I ought to state the fact that, having made the district
for myself and then given it up to Mr. Swett, I determined to be
a candidate at the next election; whereupon I found that Mr. James
C. Conkling, a friend of mine, and a special friend of Mr. Lincoln
also, some of whose family are still living, was disposed to try
for the same office. I made up my mind that in order to keep myself
in trim for the future it was well to keep in touch with the voters;
and I determined to run for the State Senate, though the four
counties composing the Senatorial district were all Democratic and
all in the Congressional district in which Swett was the defeated
candidate, yet I desired to run for the Senate, in order to keep
Conkling from getting such a hold on the district as to strengthen
him for the contest two years afterwards.

So I made the run, and was beaten, of course, every county in the
district being Democratic; and the rest of my plans also worked
out as I had calcu