It  was  at  an  immense  Whig  convention,  held  at  Springfield
in  June,  1840,  in  the  Harrison  and  Van  Buren  campaign.  This
was  said,  at  the  time,  to  have  been  the  largest  convention  ever
held  in  the  state.  The  Whigs  came  in  large  delegations  from
all  parts  of  the  state.  They  came  with  music  and  banners,  in
wagons  and  in  carriages,  on  horseback  and  on  foot.  Log
cabins,  with  coon-skins  and  hard  cider,  were  drawn  by  oxen
from  distant  parts  of  the  state,  and  prominent  Whigs  were
there  from  almost  every  country.  My  father  as  a  Whig,  a
native  of  Kentucky,  like  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  had  served  \vith
him  in  the  Illinois  legislature,  and  both  were  re-elected  mem-
bers that  year.  And  though  my  father  lived  more  than  a
hundred  miles  from  Springfield,  he  and  a  number  of  other
Whigs  in  the  vicinity  of  our  home,  were  at  the  convention;
and  my  father  took  me  along.  So  you  see  I  became  interested
in  politics  at  an  early  age.
I  remember  that  convention  well,  and  the  prominent
speakers,  who  made  speeches  on  that  occasion.  Abraham
Lincoln  and  E.  D.  Baker,  of  Springfield;  John  J.  Hardin,  of
Jacksonville;  John  Hogan,  then  a  Methodist  preacher,  of  Al-
ton; Ben  Bond,  of  Clinton  county;  Fletcher  Webster,  a  son
of  Daniel  Webster,  then  living  at  Peru,  in  La  Salle  county,
and  S.  Lisle  Smith,  of  Chicago,  one  of  the  most  gifted  and  elo-
quent speakers  in  the  state,  were  there.  I  remember  them  all.
and  heard  them  all  speak.  My  father  introduced  me  to  Mr.
