Who Was Abraham Lincoln 林肯 Chapter 3 A Member of Congress

In 1837, Lincoln moved to Springfield, the new state capital. Springfield was still a frontier town with log cabins. Pigs ran loose on the dirt roads. But it was the biggest place Lincoln had ever lived in. It even had a bookstore. He worked at a friend’s law firm, where he kept track of the paperwork. He wasn’t very good at this. He had a habit of carrying important papers around inside his tall stovepipe hat. Sometimes he lost them.
The state government was only in session for part of the year. And there wasn’t enough business in Springfield for a lawyer to live on. So like most Western lawyers, Lincoln had to travel to towns all around the state. Twice a year, a judge visited all the towns that were too small to have their own courts. Lincoln joined the group of lawyers who followed the judge’s route.
Everyone traveled together. At night they all crowded into small rough inns. Sometimes twenty men had to squeeze into one room. Lincoln often slept on the floor. After a few days, the group would move on. Sometimes the roads were so bad, they had to walk. Because Lincoln had such long legs, his companions made him wade¹ across streams first to find out how deep they were.
WHIGS AND DEMOCRATS²
THE UNITED STATES HAS HAD MANY DIFFERENT POLITICAL PARTIES In ITS HISTORY, OFTEN WITH CONFUSINGLY SIMILAR NAMES. (THERE WAS EVEN A PARTY CALLED THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICANS.) WHEN LINCOLN WAS STARTING OUT, THE MAIN PARTIES WERE THE WHIGS And THE DEMOCRATS. THE DEMOCRATS SUPPORTED STATES’ RIGHTS. THEY THOUGHT EACH STATE SHOULD HAVE THE POWER TO RULE ITSELF. THE WHIGS WANTEd A STRONGER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.
THEY SAID THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD ENCOURAGE And PAY FOR IMPROVEMENTS THAT WOULD MAKE THE COUNTRY WORK BETTER. LINCOLN WAS A WHIG. In HIS EARLY CAREER HE SUPPORTED THE BUILdING OF CANALS And RAILROADS THAT WOULD HELP MAKE TRADE And TRANSPORTATION EASIER.
Lincoln didn’t mind the bad food or the rough life. He liked meeting people. He impressed them with his funny stories, his friendliness³, his skill, and his honesty. “If . . . you cannot be an honest lawyer,” he said, “resolve to be honest without being a lawyer.”
Lincoln was a strong supporter of the Whig Party. Soon he became one of the most important party members in Illinois. Wherever he went, he worked hard campaigning for Whig candidates. He knew thousands of voters by name.
Lincoln was comfortable with most people, but he was shy and awkward around young women. A couple of years after he moved to Springfield, he met Mary Todd at a party. Although he stepped all over her feet when they danced together, Mary liked Lincoln. She was a Southern belle⁴ who, at twenty-one, was very eager to get married. Pretty and lively, she put Lincoln at ease by doing most of the talking herself. Mary was more interested in politics than most women of the time. She often said that she wanted to marry a man who would be president.
They were married on November 4, 1842. Lincoln joked about how strange it was that anyone would marry him. “Nothing new here,” he wrote to a friend, “except my marrying, which to me, is a matter of profound wonder.” On Mary’s wedding ring, Lincoln engraved⁵ “Love is eternal.”
At first the couple lived in a hotel, but soon they bought a house. It was tiny and not very fancy. Still, it was the first house Lincoln had ever owned. Nine months after the marriage, their first child, Robert, was born. Two years later they had a second son, Edward, who died at age three. Eventually they had a third son, Willie, and a fourth, Thomas. When Thomas was born, his head was so large that Lincoln thought he looked like a tadpole⁶. So the boy was nicknamed Tad.
Both parents spoiled their children. When Lincoln brought the boys into his law office, they dumped ashtrays⁷ and inkstands on the floor. They piled up papers and danced on them. Lincoln’s partner said he sometimes “wanted to wring⁸ their little necks.” But Lincoln never scolded his boys.
PHOTOGRAPHY
WHEN ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS BORN, PHOTOGRAPHY DIDN’T EXIST. DURING HIS LIFETIME, NEW METHODS OF TAKING PERMANENT PICTURES WERE INVENTED. IT BECAME FASHIONABLE TO SIT FOR YOUR PORTRAIT. SO WE KNOW JUST WHAT LINCOLN And HIS FAMILY LOOKED LIKE. THE EARLIEST KNOWN PHOTOGRAPH OF LINCOLN WAS TAKEN AROUND 1846 (BEFORE HE HAD HIS BEARD). A PHOTOGRAPH OF MARY WAS TAKEN AT THE SAME TIME.
PHOTOGRAPHY ALSO MADE THE CIVIL WAR MORE REAL TO PEOPLE THAN ANY EARLIER WAR. MATHEW BRADY And HIS ASSISTANTS WENT OUT TO THE BATTLEFIELDS And RECORDED EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAW. BRADY PHOTOGRAPHED LINCOLN SEVERAL TIMES, AS WELL.
THE LINCOLNS BY 1853
In 1841, after six years in the state legislature, Lincoln decided⁹ it was time to do something bigger and more important. He wanted to be the Whig candidate for the United States House of Representatives. But the party chose another candidate. Even so, he worked hard to get his rival elected. He thought this might put him in line to be elected the next time.
His plan worked. In 1846, Abraham Lincoln was elected as a representative from Illinois. He moved into a boardinghouse in Washington, D.C. Now Lincoln would be dealing¹⁰ with issues that affected¹¹ the whole country, not just his own state.
Mary and the children came with him, but the boys behaved so badly that soon he had to send them away. Lincoln didn’t have time to miss them. He was working hard. He almost never missed a session of Congress. He served on committees. He made speeches. But he didn’t do anything very important, and no one noticed him. At the end of his two-year term, Lincoln returned home feeling that he had failed to make his mark on the country.
For the next six years, Lincoln concentrated on his law practice back in Springfield. He had decided he wasn’t interested in politics.

1 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

4 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

5 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 tadpole   

n.[动]蝌蚪

参考例句：

• As a tadpole changes into a frog,its tail is gradually absorbed.蝌蚪变成蛙，它的尾巴就逐渐被吸收掉。
• It was a tadpole.Now it is a frog.它过去是蝌蚪，现在是一只青蛙。

7 ashtrays   

烟灰缸( ashtray的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A simple question: why are there ashtrays in a no-smoking restaurant? 问题是：一个禁止吸烟的餐厅为什么会有烟灰缸呢？
• Avoid temptation by throwing away all cigarettes, lighters and ashtrays. 把所有的香烟，打火机，和烟灰缸扔掉以避免引诱。

8 wring   

n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭

参考例句：

• My socks were so wet that I had to wring them.我的袜子很湿，我不得不拧干它们。
• I'll wring your neck if you don't behave!你要是不规矩，我就拧断你的脖子。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。