was the Democratic nominee for Congress against Lincoln, and was badly beaten.  Peter Cartwright enjoyed, perhaps, a larger personal acquaintance with the people of Illinois than any other man ever had.  His name was familiar in every household in the West.  Up to 1856 (he wrote an autobiography in that year) he had baptized twelve thousand persons and preached five hundred funeral sermons.  His personality was quaint and original.  A native vigor of intellect largely overbalanced the lack of education.  He was a great wit, and often said startling things.  His religion sometimes bordered upon fanaticism.  He was fearless and aggressive, and was no respecter of persons.  It was not a rare thing for him to descend from the pulpit, and by sheer physical force subdue a disorderly member of his congregation.  On one occasion, attending a dinner given by Governor Edwards, he requested the governor to “say grace,” observing that the ceremony was about to be dispensed with.  The wife of a Methodist brother objected to family worship; Peter Cartwright shut her outdoors and kept her there until she became convinced of her error.  At Nashville, Tennessee, as he was about to begin a sermon, a distinguished-looking stranger entered the church; some one whispered to him that it was Andrew Jackson; whereupon he at once blurted out, “Who is General Jackson?  If he don’t get his soul converted, God will damn him as quick as he would a Guinea nigger!” Attending the general conference in New York, he astonished the hotel clerk by asking for an axe “to blaze his way” up the six flights of stairs, so that he would not get lost on the return trip.  He died in 1872, after having been a member of the Methodist Church for more than seventy-one years.—­J.  McCan Davis.]

LINCOLN’S POSITION IN 1845 ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION.

In this campaign of 1844 the annexation of Texas was one of the most hotly discussed questions.  The Whigs opposed annexation, but their ground was not radical enough to suit the growing body of Abolitionists in the country, who nominated a third candidate, James G. Birney.  Lincoln was obliged to meet the arguments of the Abolitionists frequently in his campaigning.  In 1845, while working for Congress, he found the abolition sentiment stronger than ever.  Prominent among the leaders of the third party in the State were two brothers, Williamson and Madison Durley of Hennepin, Illinois.  They were outspoken advocates of their principles, and even operated a station of the underground railroad.  Lincoln knew the Durleys, and, when visiting Hennepin to speak, solicited their support.  They opposed their liberty principles.  When Lincoln returned to Springfield he wrote Williamson Durley a letter which has never before been published,[7] and which sets forth with admirable clearness his exact position on the slavery question at that period.  It must be regarded, we think, as the most valuable document on the question which we have up to this point in Lincoln’s life.