thy or popular relations or friends to recommend me. My case is
thrown exclusively upon the independent voters of the county; and if
elected they will have conferred a favor upon me for which I shall be
unremitting in my labors to compensate. But if the good people in their
wisdom see fit to keep me in the background I have been too familiar
with disappointments to be very much chagrined."

But when the Indian war broke out Lincoln sacrificed his chances of
being elected, preferring to fight for his country in such fighting as
came his way, and the victory was won by his opponents.

On his return after a bloodless campaign, he started a grocery store in
the town of New Salem, Illinois, but the venture was destined to be an
unlucky one. The town dwindled in size; the store finally failed; his
partner ran away and then died, leaving Lincoln to shoulder all the
burden of the debt. Although he had no money and could earn but little,
he paid this debt to the last penny and with proper interest, but the
burden saddened his young manhood and put him in poverty and
difficulties from which he did not free himself for a number of years.

In the year 1834, Lincoln ran once more for the State Legislature, and
this time, as no obstacles beyond the ordinary came his way, he was
elected. This marked the turning point in his career, for he had now
embarked on the course that was to end with his election to the
Presidency. He was sent back to the Legislature in 1836 and again in
1838 and 1840; and his policy was marked by broad views and great
liberality. As a matter of fact, he was one of the first champions of
woman's suffrage, for in preparing his platform he said that he was for
allowing all whites to vote who bore the burdens of the Government,
including the women.

While in the Legislature Lincoln had the courage to voice a protest
against slavery, and at that time the feeling ran so strongly against
"abolitionists," as the would-be liberators of slaves were called, that
he could only get one man beside himself to sign this protest. In it he
stated that slavery in itself was evil and unjust, but that the efforts
of the abolitionists only served to add to its horrors. By this
statement Lincoln ran grave danger of being ruined in his political
career, and only his high moral courage impelled him to make it.

In 1839 the State Capitol of Illinois was moved to Springfield and
Lincoln decided to live in the same town. While he had