for his reason. Recovering from his morbid depression, he bestowed what
he thought a new affection upon another lady, who refused him. And
finally, moderately prosperous in his worldly affairs, and having
prospects of political distinction before him, he paid his addresses to
Mary Todd, of Kentucky, and was accepted. But then tormenting doubts of
the genuineness of his own affection for her, of the compatibility of
their characters, and of their future happiness came upon him. His
distress was so great that he felt himself in danger of suicide, and
feared to carry a pocket-knife with him; and he gave mortal offence to
his bride by not appearing on the appointed wedding day. Now the
torturing consciousness of the wrong he had done her grew unendurable.
He won back her affection, ended the agony by marrying her, and became a
faithful and patient husband and a good father. But it was no secret to
those who knew the family well that his domestic life was full of trials.
The erratic temper of his wife not seldom put the gentleness of his
nature to the severest tests; and these troubles and struggles, which
accompanied him through all the vicissitudes of his life from the modest
home in Springfield to the White House at Washington, adding untold
private heart-burnings to his public cares, and sometimes precipitating
upon him incredible embarrassments in the discharge of his public duties,
form one of the most pathetic features of his career.

He continued to "ride the circuit," read books while travelling in his
buggy, told funny stories to his fellow-lawyers in the tavern, chatted
familiarly with his neighbors around the stove in the store and at the
post-office, had his hours of melancholy brooding as of old, and became
more and more widely known and trusted and beloved among the people of
his State for his ability as a lawyer and politician, for the uprightness
of his character and the overflowing spring of sympathetic kindness in
his heart. His main ambition was confessedly that of political