Lincoln’s love of truth, for truth’s sake, even in such a technical matter as the law, was remarkable.  No important error ever went undetected by him.  His intellectual vision was clear, since he was rarely swayed by his feelings.  As an advocate he was lucid, cold, and logical, rather than rhetorical or passionate.  He had no taste for platitudes and “glittering generalities.”  There was nothing mercenary in his practice, and with rare conscientiousness he measured his charges by the services rendered, contented if the fees were small.  He carried the strictest honesty into his calling, which greatly added to his influence.  If there was ever an honest lawyer he was doubtless one.  Even in arguing a case, he never misrepresented the evidence of a witness, and was always candid and fair.  He would frequently, against his own interest, persuade a litigant of the injustice of his case, and induce him to throw it up.  If not the undisputed leader of his circuit, he was the most beloved.  Sometimes he disturbed the court by his droll and humorous illustrations, which called out irrepressible laughter but generally he was grave and earnest in matters of importance; and he was always at home in the courtroom, quiet, collected, and dignified, awkward as was his figure and his gesticulation.

But it was not as a lawyer that Lincoln was famous.  Nor as a public speaker would he compare with Douglas in eloquence or renown.  As a member of Congress it is not probable that he would ever have taken a commanding rank, like Clay or Webster or Calhoun, or even like Seward.  His great fame rests on his moral character, his identification with a great cause, his marvellous ability as a conservative defender of radical principles, and his no less wonderful tact as a leader of men.

The cause for which he stands was the Antislavery movement, as it grew into a political necessity rather than as a protest against moral evil.  Although from his youth an antislavery man, Lincoln was not an Abolitionist in the early days of the slavery agitation.  He rather kept aloof from the discussion, although such writers as Theodore Parker, Dr. Channing, and Horace Greeley had great charm for him.  He was a politician, and therefore discreet in the avowal of opinions.  His turn of mind was conservative and moderate, and therefore he thought that all political action should be along the lines established by law under the Constitution.

But when the Southern leaders, not content with non-interference by Congress with their favorite institution in their own States, sought to compel Congress to allow the extension of slavery in the Territories it controlled, then the indignation of Lincoln burst the bounds, and he became the leader in his State in opposition to any movement to establish in national territory that institution “founded on both injustice and bad policy.”  Although he was in Congress in 1847-8, his political career really began about the year 1854, four years after the death of Calhoun.