brought into the State; Major Stuart, whom we have met in the Black
Hawk war, once commanding a battalion and then marching as a private;
and William Butler, afterwards prominent in State politics, at that
time a young man of the purest Western breed in body and character,
clear-headed and courageous, and ready for any emergency where a
friend was to be defended or an enemy punished. We do not know whether
Lincoln gained any votes that day, but he gained what was far more
valuable, the active friendship of these able and honorable men, all
Whigs and all Kentuckians like himself.

The acquaintances he made in his canvass, the practice he gained in
speaking, and the added confidence which this experience of measuring
his abilities with those of others gave, were all the advantages which
Lincoln derived from this attempt. He was defeated, for the only time
in his life, in a contest before the people. The fortunate candidates
were E. D. Taylor, J. T. Stuart, Achilles Morris, and Peter
Cartwright, the first of whom received 1127 votes and the last 815.
Lincoln's position among the eight defeated candidates was a very
respectable one. He had 657 votes, and there were five who fared
worse, among them his old adversary Kirkpatrick. What must have been
especially gratifying to him was the fact that he received the almost
unanimous vote of his own neighborhood, the precinct of New Salem, 277
votes against 3, a result which showed more strongly than any words
could do the extent of the attachment and the confidence which his
genial and upright character had inspired among those who knew him
best.

Having been, even in so slight a degree, a soldier and a politician,
he was unfitted for a day laborer; but being entirely without means of
subsistence, he was forced to look about for some suitable occupation.