meeting in front of the old State House, in the center of the square, at 2 o’clock.  Soon after that hour the sonorous voice of Dr. Curdy rang through the town:  ’O, yes!  O, yes!  All ye who want to hear public speaking, draw near!’ The crowd at once began to gather from all sides of the square.  The Doctor then introduced the first speaker, and he proceeded to make the best presentation he could of the principles of the newly-formed Republican party, and the reasons why Fremont, ’the gallant pathfinder of the West,’ should be elected President.  About the time the first speaker closed his remarks, Hon. Ebenezer Peck and Abraham Lincoln arrived and took the stand; and both made able and effective speeches.  After that, Lincoln and I frequently met during the canvass, and often afterwards I spoke with him from the same platform.  The probable result of an election was often canvassed, and a noticeable fact was that in most cases he would mark the probable result below rather than above the actual majority.”

Some lively reminiscences of Lincoln’s appearance and efforts in this campaign are given by Mr. Noah Brooks, the well-known journalist and author, who at that time lived in Northern Illinois and attended many of the great Republican mass-meetings.  “At one of these great assemblies in Ogle County,” says Mr. Brooks, “to which the country people came on horseback, in farm wagons, or afoot, from far and near, there were several speakers of local celebrity.  Dr. Egan of Chicago, famous for his racy stories, was one; and Joe Knox of Bureau County, a stump speaker of renown, was another attraction.  Several other orators were ’on the bills’ for this long-advertised ‘Fremont and Dayton rally,’ among them being a Springfield lawyer who had won some reputation as a close reasoner, and a capital speaker on the stump.  This was Abraham Lincoln, popularly known as ‘Honest Abe Lincoln.’  In those days he was not so famous in our part of the State as the two speakers whom I have named.  Possibly he was not so popular among the masses of the people; but his ready wit, his unfailing good humor, and the candor which gave him his character for honesty, won for him the admiration and respect of all who heard him.  I remember once meeting a choleric old Democrat striding away from an open-air meeting where Lincoln was speaking, striking the earth with his cane as he stumped along, and exclaiming, ’He’s a dangerous man, sir!  A d——­d dangerous man!  He makes you believe what he says, in spite of yourself!’ It was Lincoln’s manner.  He admitted away his whole case apparently—­and yet, as his political opponents complained, he usually carried conviction with him.  As he reasoned with his audience, he bent his long form over the railing of the platform, stooping lower and lower as he pursued his argument, until, having reached his point, he clinched it, usually with a question, and then suddenly sprang upright, reminding one of the springing open of a jack-knife blade.  At the Ogle County meeting