StungbyhisfailureatWashington，Lincolnforatimeputhiswholesoulintothestudyofthelaw。Heexplainedhisfailuretohimselfasalackofmentaltraining。[1]TherefollowedarepetitionofhisearlyyearswithLogan，butwithverymuchmoredetermination，andwithmoreabidingresult。
　　InthosedaysinIllinois，asonceinEngland，thejudgesheldcourtinasuccessionoftownswhichformedacircuit。Judgeandlawyersmovedfromtowntotown，“rodethecircuit“incompany，——sometimesonhorseback，sometimesintheirownvehicles，sometimesbystage。AmongthereminiscencesofLincolnonthecircuit，arehis“poky“oldhorseandhis“ramshackle“oldbuggy。Manyandmanyamile，roundandroundtheEighthJudicialCircuit，hetraveledinthathumblestyle。
　　Whatthoughtshebroodedoninhislonelydrives，heseldomtold。Duringthisperiodthecloudoverhisinnerlifeisespeciallydense。Theouterlife，inamultitudeofreminiscences，iswellknown。Oneofitssalientdetailswasthelargeproportionoftimehedevotedtostudy。
　　“Frequently，Iwouldgooutonthecircuitwithhim，“writesHerndon。“We，usually，atthelittlecountryinn，occupiedthesamebed。Inmostcases，thebedsweretooshortforhimandhisfeetwouldhangoverthefootboard，thusexposingalimitedexpanseofshinbone。Placinghiscandleattheheadofhisbedhewouldreadandstudyforhours。Ihaveknownhimtostayinthispositionuntiltwoo’clockinthemorning。
　　Meanwhile，Iandotherswhochancedtooccupythesameroomwouldbesafelyandsoundlyasleep。Onthecircuit，inthisway，hestudiedEucliduntilhecouldwitheasedemonstrateallthepropositionsinthesixbooks。Howhecouldmaintainhisequilibriumorconcentratehisthoughtsonanabstractmathematicalproblem，whileDavis，Logan，Swett，EdwardsandI，soindustriouslyandvolublyfilledtheairwithourinterminablesnoring，wasaproblemnoneof，us——couldeversolve。“[2]
　　Awell-worncopyofShakespearewasalsohisconstantcompanion。
　　Heroserapidlyintheprofession；andthisinspiteofhisincorrigiblelackofsystem。Themechanicalsideofthelawyer’stask，now，asinthedayswithLogan，annoyedhim；heleftthepreparationofpaperstohisjuniorpartner，asformerlyheleftittohisseniorpartner。Butthesituationhadchangedinaveryimportantway。InHerndon，Lincolnhadforapartneratalentedyoungmanwholookeduptohim，almostadoredhim，whowasquitewillingtobehismanFriday。
　　Fortunately，forallhisadoration，Herndonhadnodesiretoidealizehishero。Hewasnotdisturbedbyhisgrotesqueorabsurdsides。
　　“Hewasproverbiallycarelessastohishabits，“Herndonwrites。“Inalettertoafellowlawyerinanothertown，apologizingforhisfailuretoanswersooner，heexplains：
　　’First，IhavebeenverybusyintheUnitedStatesCourt；
　　second，whenIreceivedtheletter，Iputitinmyoldhat，andbuyinganewonethenextday，theoldonewassetaside，sotheletterwaslostsightofforthetime。’ThishatofLincoln’s——asilkplug——wasanextraordinaryreceptacle。Itwashisdeskandhismemorandumbook。Inithecarriedhisbank-bookandthebulkofhisletters。Wheneverinhisreadingorresearches，hewishedtopreserveanidea，hejotteditdownonanenvelopeorstraypieceofpaperandplaceditinsidethelining；afterwards，whenthememorandumwasneeded，therewasonlyoneplacetolookforit。“Herndonmakesnobonesaboutconfessingthattheirofficewasverydirty。SoneglectedwasitthatayoungmanofneathabitswhoenteredtheofficeasalawstudentunderLincolncouldnotrefrainfromcleaningitup，andthenextvisitorexclaimedinastonishment，“What’shappenedhere!“[3]
　　“Theoffice，“saysthatsamelawstudent，“wasonthesecondfloorofabrickbuildingonthepublicsquareoppositethecourthouse。Youwentupaflightofstairsandthenpassedalongahallwaytotherearofficewhichwasamediumsizedroom。Therewasonelongtableinthecenteroftheroom，andashorteronerunningintheoppositedirectionformingaTandbothwerecoveredwithgreenbaize。Thereweretwowindowswhichlookedintothebackyard。Inonecornerwasanold-fashionedsecretarywithpigeonholesandadrawer；andhereMr。Lincolnandhispartnerkepttheirlawpapers。Therewasalsoabookcasecontainingabouttwohundredvolumesoflawandmiscellaneousbooks。“Thesameauthorityadds，“Therewasnoorderintheofficeatall。“LincolnleftallthemoneymatterstoHerndon。“Heneverenteredanitemontheaccountbook。IfafeewaspaidtohimandHerndonwasnotthere，hewoulddividethemoney，wrapuponepartinpaperandplaceitinhispartner’sdeskwiththeinscription，“CaseofRoeversusDoe，Herndon’shalf。“Hehadanoddhabitofreadingaloudmuchtohispartner’sannoyance。Hetalkedincessantly；awholeforenoonwouldsometimesgobywhileLincolnoccupiedthewholetimetellingstories。[4]
　　Onthecircuit，hisstory-tellingwasaninstitution。Twoothermen，longsinceforgotten，viedwithhimasrivalartistsinhumorousnarrative。Thesethreeusedtoholdveritabletournaments。Herndonhasseen“thelittlecountrytavernwherethesethreewerewonttomeetafteranadjournmentofcourt，crowdedalmosttosuffocation，withanaudienceofmenwhohadgatheredtowitnessthecontestamongthemembersofthestrangetriumvirate。Thephysiciansofthetown，allthelawyers，andnotinfrequentlyapreacher，couldbefoundinthecrowdthatfilledthedoorsandwindows。Theyarnstheyspunandthestoriestheytoldwouldnotbearrepetitionhere，butmanyofthemhadmoralswhich，whileexposingtheweaknessofmankind，stunglikeawhiplash。Somewere，nodoubt，athousandyearsold，withjustenoughofverbalvarnishandalterationsofnamesanddatetomakethemnewandcrisp。Byvirtueofthelastnamedapplication，LincolnwasenabledtodrawfromBalzaca’drollstory’andlocatingit’inEgypt’
　　[SouthernIllinois]orinIndiana，passitoffforapurelyoriginalconception……IhaveseenJudgeTreat，whowastheveryimpersonationofgravityitself，situptillthelastandlaughuntil，asheoftenexpressedit，’healmostshookhisribsloose。’ThenextdayhewouldascendthebenchandlistentoLincolninamurdertrialwithalltheseemingseverityofanEnglishjudgeinwigandgown。“[5]
　　Lincolnenjoyedthelifeonthecircuit。Itwasnotthathewasalwaysinagaleofspirits；agreatdealofthetimehebrooded。HisHomericnonsensealternatedwithfitsofgloom。
　　Inspiteofhislatehours，whetherofstudyorofstory-telling，hewasanearlyriser。“Hewouldsitbythefirehavinguncoveredthecoals，andmuseandponderandsoliloquize。“[6]BesideshisfavoriteShakespeare，hehadafondnessforpoetryofaverydifferentsort——Byron，forexample。Andhenevertiredofasetofstanzasintheminorkeybeginning：“Oh，whyshouldthespiritofmortalbeproud？“[7]
　　Thehilarityofthecircuitwasnotbyanymeansthewholeofitscharmforhim。PartofthatcharmmusthavebeenthecontrastwithhisrecentfailureatWashington。Thisworldhecouldmaster。Herehishumorincreasedhisinfluence；andhisinfluencegrewrapidly。Hewasafavoriteofjudges，juryandthebar。Then，too，itwasaman’sworld。ThoughLincolnhadaprofoundrespectforwomen，heseemsgenerallytohavebeenillateaseintheircompany。Inwhathisfriendswouldhavecalled“generalsociety“hedidnotshine。Hewastooawkward，toodownright，toolackingintheniceties。Athome，thoughhenowownedahouseandwasmakingwhatseemedtohimplentyofmoney，hewasundoubtedlyatrialtoMrs。Lincoln’ssenseofpropriety。Hecouldnotrisewithhiswife，socially。Hewasstillwhathehadbecomesolongbefore，thefavoriteofallthemen——goodoldAbeLincolnthatyoucouldtietothoughitrainedcatsanddogs。Butastotheladies!FashionablepeoplecallingonMrs。Lincoln，hadbeenreceivedbyherhusbandinhisshirt-sleeves，andhetotallyunabashed，asobliviousofdiscrepancyasifhewereanoblemanandnotanobody。[8]Thedreadfultraditionpersiststhathehadbeenknownattabletoputhisownknifeintothebutter。
　　HowsafetoassumethatmanythingsweresaidcommiseratingpoorMrs。Lincolnwhohadabearforahusband。AndsomepeoplenoticedthatLincolndidnotcomehomeatweek-endsduringterm-timeasoftenashemight。Perhapsitmeantsomething；perhapsitdidnot。Buttherecouldbenodoubtthatthejovialitinerantlifeofthecircuitwasthelifeforhim——atleastintheearly’fifties。Thatitwas，andalsothathewasbecomingknownasalawyer，isevincedbyhisrefusalofaflatteringinvitationtoenteraprosperousfirminChicago。
　　Outofallthiscameadeepeningofhispowertoreachandimpressmenthroughwords。Thetournamentofthestory-tellerswasalawyers’tournament。Thecentralfigurewasreading，studying，thinking，asneverinhislifebefore。Thoughhisfablesremainedasbroadasever，themerelyboisterouscharacterceasedtopredominate。Theethicalbentofhismindcametothesurface。Hisfriendswereagreedthatwhattheyrememberedchieflyofhisstorieswasnotthebroadpartofthem，butthemoralthatwasinthem。[9]Andtheyhadnosqueamishnessascriticsoftheartoffable-making。
　　Hisethicalsenseofthings，hiscompanionableness，theutterlynon-censoriouscastofhismind，hispowertoevolveyarnsintoparables——allthesemadehimirresistiblewithajury。Itwasasayingofhis：“IfIcandivestthiscaseoftechnicalitiesandswingittothejury，I’llwinit。“[10]
　　Buttherewasnotatraceinhimofthatunscrupulousnessusuallyattributedtothe“jurylawyer。“Fewthingsshowmoreplainlythecentralunmovablenessofhischaracterthanhisimmunitytotheluresofjuryspeaking。Tousehispoweroveranaudienceforhisownenjoyment，foraninterestedpurpose，foranypurposeexcepttoaffordpleasure，ortoseejusticedone，wasforhimconstitutionallyimpossible。Suchaperformancewasbeyondthereachofhiswill。Inaway，hisnature，mysteriousasitwas，wasalsothelastwordforsimplicity，aterriblesimplicity。Theexerciseofhissingularpowerswasirrevocablyconditionedonhisownfaithinthemoraljustificationofwhathewasdoing。Hehadnopatiencewithanyconceptionofthelawyer’sfunctionthatdidnotmakehimthedevotedinstrumentofjustice。Forthelawasagame，forlegalstrategy，hefeltcontempt。Neverunderanyconditionswouldheattempttogetforaclientmorethanhewasconvincedtheclientinjusticeoughttohave。Thefirststepinsecuringhisserviceswasalwaystopersuadehimthatone’scausewasjustHesometimesthrewupacaseinopencourtbecausethecourseofithadrevealeddeceptiononthepartoftheclient。Attimesheexpressedhisdisdainofthelaw’smerecommercialisminastingingirony。
　　“Inacloselycontestedcivilsuit，“writeshisassociate，WardHillLamon，“Lincolnprovedanaccountforhisclient，whowas，thoughhedidnotknowitatthetime，averyslipperyfellow。
　　Theopposingattorneythenprovedareceiptclearlycoveringtheentirecauseofaction。BythetimehewasthroughLincolnwasmissing。Thecourtsentforhimtothehotel。’TelltheJudge，’saidhe，’thatIcan’tcome；myhandsaredirtyandI
　　cameovertocleanthem。’“[11]
　　“Discouragelitigation，“hewrote。“Persuadeyourneighborstocompromisewheneveryoucan。Pointouttothemhowthenominalwinnerisoftenarealloser，infees，expenses，andwasteoftime。Asapeacemaker，thelawyerhasaSuperiorOpportunityofbeingagoodman。Therewillstillbebusinessenough。“[12]
　　Heheldhismoralandprofessionalviewswiththesameinflexibilitywithwhichheheldhispoliticalviews。Oncehehadsettleduponaconvictionoranopinion，nothingcouldmovehim。Hewassingularlystubborn，andyet，inalltheminormattersoflife，inallhismerelypersonalconcerns，ineverythingexcepthisbasalideas，hewaspliabletoadegree。
　　Hecouldbetalkedintoalmostanyconcessionofinterest。HeoncetoldHerndonhethankedGodthathehadnotbeenbornawomanbecausehefounditsohardtorefuseanyrequestmadeofhim。Hisoutereasiness，hislackofself-assertion，——asmostpeopleunderstandself-assertion，——persistinanamusinggroupofanecdotesofthecircuit。Thoughhewasafavoritewiththecompanyateverytavern，thoselittledemagogues，thetavern-keepers，quicklyfoundoutthathecouldbesafelyputupon。Intheminutebutimportantfavoritismoftavernlife，inthechoiceofrooms，intheassignmentofseatsattable，inthedistributionofdelicacies，easy-goingLincolnwaseverthefirstonetobeignored。“Henevercomplainedofthefood，bed，orlodgings，“saysajudgeofthecircuit，DavidDavis。