Lincoln's
mental grip, indeed, was the grip of a born wrestler. "I've got
him," he had exclaimed toward the end of the first debate, and
the Protean Little Giant, as Douglas was called, had turned and
twisted in vain, caught by "that long-armed creature from
Illinois." He would indeed win the election of 1858, but he had
been forced into an interpretation of the Dred Scott decision
which cost him the Presidency in 1860.
Lincoln's keen interest in words and definitions, his patience in
searching the dictionary, is known to every student of his life.
Part of his singular discrimination in the use of language is due
to his legal training, but his style was never professionalized.
Neither did it have anything of that frontier glibness and
banality which was the curse of popular oratory in the West and
South. Words were weapons in the hands of this self-taught
fighter for ideas: he kept their edges sharp, and could if
necessary use them with deadly accuracy. He framed the "Freeport
dilemma" for the unwary feet of Douglas as cunningly as a
fox-hunter lays his trap.
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