Mr. Speed says:  “As a lawyer, after his first year he was acknowledged to be among the best in the State.  His analytical powers were marvellous.  He always resolved every question into its primary elements, and gave up every point on his own side that did not seem to be invulnerable.  One would think, to hear him present his case in the court, he was giving his case away.  He would concede point after point to his adversary.  But he always reserved a point upon which he claimed a decision in his favor, and his concessions magnified the strength of his claim.  He rarely failed in gaining his cases in court.”

The special characteristics of Lincoln’s practice at the bar are thus ably summed up:  “He did not make a specialty of criminal cases, but was engaged frequently in them.  He could not be called a great lawyer, measured by the extent of his acquirement of legal knowledge; he was not an encyclopaedia of cases; but in the clear perception of legal principles, with natural capacity to apply them, he had great ability.  He was not a case lawyer, but a lawyer who dealt in the deep philosophy of the law.  He always knew the cases which might be quoted as absolute authority, but beyond that he contented himself in the application and discussion of general principles.  In the trial of a case he moved cautiously.  He never examined or cross-examined a witness to the detriment of his side.  If the witness told the truth, he was safe from his attacks; but woe betide the unlucky and dishonest individual who suppressed the truth or colored it against Mr. Lincoln’s side.  His speeches to the jury were very effective specimens of forensic oratory.  He talked the vocabulary of the people, and the jury understood every point he made and every thought he uttered.  I never saw him when I thought he was trying to make an effort for the sake of mere display; but his imagination was simple and pure in the richest gems of true eloquence.  He constructed short sentences of small words, and never wearied the minds of the jury by mazes of elaboration.”

CHAPTER IX

Lincoln and Slavery—­The Issue Becoming More Sharply Defined—­Resistance to the Spread of Slavery—­Views Expressed by Lincoln in 1850—­His Mind Made Up—­Lincoln as a Party Leader—­The Kansas Struggle—­Crossing Swords with Douglas—­A Notable Speech by Lincoln—­Advice to Kansas Belligerents—­Honor in Politics—­Anecdote of Lincoln and Yates—­Contest for the U.S.  Senate in 1855—­Lincoln’s Defeat—­Sketched by Members of the Legislature.

At the death of Henry Clay, in June, 1852, Lincoln was invited to deliver a eulogy on Clay’s life and character before the citizens of Springfield.  He complied with the request on the 16th of July.  The same season he made a speech before the Scott Club of Springfield, in reply to the addresses with which Douglas had opened his extended campaign of that summer, at Richmond, Virginia.  Except on