ctice in public speaking of over thirty years
Lincoln as President could still say: "I believe I shall never be old
enough to speak without embarrassment when I have nothing to talk
about."

The first specimen of Lincoln's writings that has been preserved is a
communication to the voters of Sangamon County in 1832, when Lincoln
was for the first time a candidate for the State legislature. It is
significant of Lincoln's imperfect command of English at that time that
"some of the grammatical errors" were corrected by a friend before the
circular was issued. Although this circumstance makes it impossible
for us to judge exactly what his style was at this period, we may be
sure that the changes were comparatively slight and that the general
form at least was Lincoln's. The question naturally arises whether
there is anything in this first specimen of Lincoln's writing that
suggests, however remotely, the Gettysburg Address and the Second
Inaugural. A little study will discover suggestions at least of the
later manner, just as in the uncouth and awkward young candidate for
the Illinois State Legislature, we can note many traits, intellectual
and moral, that distinguish the mature and well-poised statesman of
thirty years later. It is the same man, but developed and
strengthened, it is the same style, strengthened and refined. If
Nicolay and Hay go too far when they say of the address: "This is
almost precisely the style of his later years," it would be quite as
wrong to deny any likeness between the two. In the first place, we
have the same severely logical treatment of the subject matter, from
which Lincoln, a lawyer and public speaker, never departed. Lincoln's
grammar may not have been impeccable at this time, but his thinking
powers were already little short of masterly. This, then, is the first
element in the makeup of Lincoln's style, the ability to think straight
and consequently to write straight. His legal training, which was then
very meagre, cannot account for his logical thinking; it is more
correct to say that he later became a successful lawyer because of the
logical bent of his mind.

Closely connected with this early development of the form of thinking
was Lincoln's interest in words, and his desire always to use words
with a perfect understanding of their meaning. Even in his boyhood he
found pleasure in discovering the exact meaning of a new word and in
later life he was constantly adding to his