Abraham Lincoln : a character sketch . the overwhelming majority of the peopleand accomplished their behests. All were crazed withthe spirit of speculation, all were similarly responsible, 24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and all suffered in the same general consequences. swam with the stream, voted for all the wild-catmeasures which, according to the best wisdom of thetime, were essential to the prosperity of the state. He was a silentmember, how-ever, at this ses-sion of the Leg-islature, thoughhe served onthe committeeon Public Ac-counts and Ex-penditures. It was at thissession of thelegislat
Abraham Lincoln : a character sketch . the overwhelming majority of the peopleand accomplished their behests. All were crazed withthe spirit of speculation, all were similarly responsible, 24 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and all suffered in the same general consequences. swam with the stream, voted for all the wild-catmeasures which, according to the best wisdom of thetime, were essential to the prosperity of the state. He was a silentmember, how-ever, at this ses-sion of the Leg-islature, thoughhe served onthe committeeon Public Ac-counts and Ex-penditures. It was at thissession of thelegislature thathe met StephenA. Douglas,withwhose later ca-reer his ownwas destined tobe so closely in-terwoven, andwhom at his first meeting he characterized as the leastman he ever saw. ? In time he readily accorded him thetitle of The Little Giant, with whose powers he, only,seemed able to cope. This legislature was beset, as lat-er legislatures of Illinois have been, by a corrupt andpersistent body of so-called log rollers, who were on. Stephen A. 1813. Died 1861 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 25 hand to push their schemes by persuasion and corrupt-ion. But no taint attached to young Lincoln, who, ifhe were carried away like the other legislators of thetime, by schemes of artificial prosperity, was beyond thereach of bribery. In 1836, he was again a candidate for the legislature,self-nominated, for this was before the age of caucusesand conventions. In the Journal of New Salem he an-nounces his platform. He favors extending to all whiteswho pay taxes or bear arms (not excluding women) theright of suffrage. If elected, he should consider thewhole people of the district as his constituents, regard-less of the manner of their voting, and while acting astheir representative he would be governed by their willon all subjects on which they should make known theirwill, and on other subjects he would follow his ownjudgment as to what would advance their interests. Hefurther announced that he
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