r Horse Coach" ran through Sangamon town and New Salem, it
doubtless had Lincoln as a passenger now and then, but not often,
probably, for the fare from New Salem to Springfield was one dollar
and twenty-five cents, and walking, or riding upon a borrowed horse,
must generally have been preferred by Lincoln to so costly a mode of
travelling.]

A few months later the "Long Nine" were again attacked, Lincoln
specially being abused. The assailant this time was a prominent
Democrat, Mr. J.B. Thomas. When he had ended, Lincoln replied in
a speech which was long known in local political circles as the
"skinning of Thomas."

LINCOLN'S FIRST REPORTED SPEECH.

No one doubted after this that Lincoln could defend himself. He became
doubly respected as an opponent, for his reputation for good-humored
raillery had been established in his campaigns. In a speech made in
January he gave another evidence of his skill in the use of ridicule.
A resolution had been offered by Mr. Linder to institute an inquiry
into the management of the affairs of the State bank. Lincoln's
remarks on the resolution form his first reported speech. This speech
has been unnoticed by his biographers hitherto; and it appears in none
of the editions of his speeches and letters. It was discovered in the
"Sangamo Journal" for January 28, 1837, by Mr. J. McCan Davis, in the
course of a search through the files instituted by this Magazine.

[Illustration: MARY L. OWENS.

Born in Kentucky in 1808. Lincoln first met Miss Owens in 1833 at
New Salem, where she made a short visit. In 1836 she came back to New
Salem, and a warm friendship sprang up between them. The question
of marriage was discussed in a disinterested way. Miss Owens left
Illinois in 1838, and in 1841 she married a Mr. Jesse Vineyard. The
letters written to her by Mr. Lincoln she herself gave to Mr. Herndon
for publication.]

Lincoln began these remarks by good-humored but nettling chaffing of
his opponent.

"Mr. Chairman," he said: "Lest I should fall into the too
common error of being mistaken in regard to which side I
design to be upon, I shall make it my first care to remove
all doubt on that point, by declaring that I am opposed to the
resolution under consideration, _in toto_. Before I proceed to
the body of the subject, I will further remark, that it is not
without a considerable degree of apprehension that I venture
to cross the track of the gentleman fr