. Lincoln, the lawyer. ingly supplant an ex-asso-ciate. It is not probable, therefore, that hecounted on acquiring any of Logans businesswhen he left him, and there is no indication thatthe two men ever had the slightest misunder-standing over any such question. But though he had no business following,Lincoln had good reasons for believing that hecould hold his own in the practice of the law atSpringfield. He had a wide acquaintance inthe neighborhood, he was popular with all sortsand conditions of men, and he knew himself tobe the peer of his competitors at the local was modest,—m
. Lincoln, the lawyer. ingly supplant an ex-asso-ciate. It is not probable, therefore, that hecounted on acquiring any of Logans businesswhen he left him, and there is no indication thatthe two men ever had the slightest misunder-standing over any such question. But though he had no business following,Lincoln had good reasons for believing that hecould hold his own in the practice of the law atSpringfield. He had a wide acquaintance inthe neighborhood, he was popular with all sortsand conditions of men, and he knew himself tobe the peer of his competitors at the local was modest,—modest to the point ofhumility,—but he was always properly aware ofhis own abilities. He never boasted of what hecould or would accomplish, but he did notattempt to discount failure with self-deprecia-tion, knowing that excuses have merely a per-sonal interest and that accomplishment makes itsown claims. He did not challenge events, butmet them boldly, instinctively responding at 135 p .:> m ?s D s * £ ^ S c s. HEAD OF A LAW FIRM every crisis to the latent powers within him; andin a large measure this was the secret of his suc-cess. It was in this spirit that he faced the futurewhen he withdrew from the valuable alliancewith Judge Logan. He thought he could standalone, and, feeling his own strength, he was anx-ious to match himself against his contemporaries,relying solely on his own resources. There wasno assumption of superiority in this. It was thenatural desire of a strong man with a stoutheart. But though he believed in himself and madehis hazard of new fortunes without misgiving,Lincoln was neither adventurous nor sanguineby nature. Even as a boy he had not displayedthe usual confidence of youth, and in his firstpublic address he advised the voters of Sanga-mon County that he was already too familiarwith disappointments to be very much chagrinedif his aspirations met with defeat. He was notexactly despondent, but there was a suggestionof fatalism in his mental atti
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectlawyers, bookyear1912
