guage, which, if collected,
would form a valuable contribution to American literature. The most
punctilious honor ever marked his professional and private life."

The Hon. Thomas Drummond, for many years Judge of the United States
District Court at Chicago, said: "It is not necessary to claim for Mr.
Lincoln attributes or qualities which he did not possess. He had enough
to entitle him to the love and respect and esteem of all who knew him.
He was not skilled in the learning of the schools, and his knowledge of
the law was acquired almost entirely by his own unaided study and by the
practice of his profession. Nature gave him great clearness and
acuteness of intellect and a vast fund of common-sense; and as a
consequence of these he had much sagacity in judging of the motives and
springs of human conduct. With a voice by no means pleasing, and,
indeed, when excited, in its shrill tones sometimes almost disagreeable;
without any of the personal graces of the orator; without much in the
outward man indicating superiority of intellect; without great quickness
of perception,--still, his mind was so vigorous, his comprehension so
exact and clear, and his judgments so sure, that he easily mastered the
intricacies of his profession, and became one of the ablest reasoners
and most impressive speakers at our bar. With a probity of character
known to all, with an intuitive insight into the human heart, with a
clearness of statement which was itself an argument, with an uncommon
power and facility of illustration, often, it is true, of a plain and
homely kind, and with that sincerity and earnestness of manner to carry
conviction, he was perhaps one of the most successful jury lawyers we
have ever had in the State. He always tried a case fairly and honestly.
He never intentionally misrepresented the testimony of a witness or the
arguments of an opponent. He met both squarely, and, if he could not
explain the one or answer the other, substantially admitted it. He never
misstated the law according to his own intelligent view of it. Such was
the transparent candor and integrity of his nature that he could not
well or strongly argue a side or a cause that he thought wrong. Of
course, he felt it his duty to say what could be said, and to leave the
decision to others; but there could be seen in such cases the inward
struggle in his own mind. In trying a cause he might occasionally dwell
too long or give too much importance to an inconside