solid and substantial, although chiefly circumstantial, except that one witness did swear that he saw the prisoner inflict the fatal blow with a slung-shot, by "the light of the moon, which was shining brightly." Lincoln surprised everybody by his calm, merciless, and destructive analysis of the evidence, which, to him, looked like a conspiracy against young Armstrong. But when he came to the evidence of the man who had made oath that he beheld the blow delivered by the light of the brightly shining moon, he called for an almanac and showed that on the night in question there was no moon at all! The climax was reached, and the jury brought in a verdict of "not guilty." The widow had not been able to endure the suspense in court, and had gone out into a pasture to weep and pray alone. Before the sun went down, a messenger came running to her with the glad tidings: "Bill is free; your son is cleared." For this inestimable service Lincoln would take no fee. No record of the argument in the case has been left, but one who heard it says his plea was irresistible. Even before he reached the climax of his argument, by his manly eloquence he had succeeded in convincing the jury, as he had convinced himself, that young Armstrong was innocent. And this was done, too, when popular prejudice was all against the prisoner, and when, in consequence of the prevailing belief in his guilt, Lincoln had been obliged to have the trial moved to another circuit. It has been said that Lincoln resorted to a trick and introduced an old almanac to deceive the jury. But to those who knew him, this tale is simply incred

ible. Lincoln never employed unworthy tricks. The foreman of the jury afterwards offered to make affidavit that the almanac used by Lincoln was of the year of the murder.

While we are considering Mr. Lincoln as a lawyer, it may be as well to read what an eminent judge said of him. When the news of Lincoln's death, in 1865, was officially noted in the courts of the State, Judge Drummond, of Chicago, said: "I have no hesitation in saying that he was one of the ablest lawyers I have ever known." And, speaking of his personal appearance and manner at the bar, the Judge said:

“With a voice by no means pleasant, and, indeed, when excited, in its shrill tones sometimes almost disagreeable, without any of the personal graces of the orator, without much in the outward man indicating superiority of intellect, without great quickness of perception,—still, his mind was so vigorous, his comprehension so exact and clear, and his judgment so sure, that he easily mastered the intricacies of his profession, and became one of the ablest reasoners and most impressive speakers at our bar." "He always tried a case fairly and honestly. He never intentionally misrepresented the evidence of a witness or the argument of an opponent. He met them squarely, and if he could not explain the one or answer the other, substantially admitted it. He never misstated the law according to his own intelligent view of it."

Lincoln's voice was not sonorous, and at times it rose to a high, somewhat shrill key. In ordinary conversation his tones were agreeable, and his enunciation clear. When excited, in speaking, he rose to a commanding height, so that one aged man hear

ing him speak from a political platform, for the first time after he had become famed in his own State, said: "He seemed to be about twenty foot high!" At such times Lincoln no longer was the homely and ungainly man that he was reputed to be. His eyes flashed fire; his appearance underwent a change as though the inspired mind had transformed the body; his face, darkened with malarial influences and seamed with the wrinkles of premature age, was transfigured with that mysterious "inner light" which some observers have said reminded them of a flame glowing within a half-transparent vase. To the end of his life Lincoln adhered to the old-fashioned pronunciation of many familiar words. With him a chair was a "cheer"; legislature was "legislatur," and so on. In presenting a close argument he would stoop over towards his auditors, lower and lower, until he had got to the point where the demonstration was shot home upon those who had followed him. Then, with a sudden jerk, he would straighten himself up, as somebody has said, "like a jackknife." Unconscious although this was, it was very effective.

CHAPTER X.

A GREAT AWAKENING.

Stupor Before Excitement A Dead Sea of Politics-Repeal of the Missouri Compromise-The Migration to Kansas-Lincoln and Douglas Meet Again-A Memorable Debate-Lincoln Withdraws from the Canvass-Lyman Trumbull Elected to the Senate.

IN 1850 it looked to the eyes of most men that human slavery was forever fixed in this country. Congress had passed a series of measures that were supposed to settle everything, but which satisfied neither the slave States nor the free States, although the friends of human freedom were deeply discouraged by the enactment of the so-called compromise. Mr. W. H. Herndon relates that as he and Lincoln were wayfaring together that year Lincoln gloomily said: "How hard, ah, how hard it is to die and leave one's country no better than if one had never lived in it! The world is dead to hope, deaf to its own death struggle, made known by a universal cry. What is to be done? Is anything to be done? Who can do anything? And how is it to be done? Do you ever think of these things?"

In that year Thomas Lincoln died. Burdened with many cares, Lincoln could not go to see his father, who was reported to him as lying very low in health. To the ill-faring step-brother, John

Johnston, Lincoln wrote while his father was yet alive:

"I sincerely hope that father may yet recover his health; but, at all events, tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our good and great and merciful Father and Maker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of the sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads; and he will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in him. Say to him that, if we could meet now, it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than pleasant, but that if it be his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyful meeting with the loved ones gone before, and where the rest of us, through the mercy of God, hope ere long to join them."

In 1852 Lincoln accepted the place of elector on the Whig ticket in his State. As he was wont to say, he was "a standing candidate for Whig elector, but seldom elected anybody." This time, as was expected, the Whig candidate was defeated, and the Democratic nominee, Franklin Pierce, was chosen. Lincoln, although accepting with reluctance the nomination on the electoral ticket of his party, took small part in a campaign in which he could have had no heart. His party's platform had closed his mouth. on the only subject on which he felt very deeply. fact, the whole country seemed to be waiting in dumb silence as if anticipating the storm that was brewing. As Lincoln could not speak on the slavery issue, he could not readily find other topics with which the people could be stirred. During the two years next succeeding there was very little to rouse

In