story-tellingyokel——intellectualonlyastheartistisintellectual，inhismethodsofhandling——tothemanofideas，arewhollylost。Andinthisfactwehaveaprophecyofalltheyearstocome。AlwaysweshallseekinvainfortheearlystagesofLincoln’sideas。
Hismindwillneverrevealitselfuntilthemomentatwhichitengagestheworld。Nowonder，inlatertimes，hiscloseassociatespronouncedhimthemostsecretiveofmen；thatoneofthekeenestofhisobserverssaidthatthemoreyouknewofLincoln，thelessyouknewofhim。[5]
Exceptforthehandicapofhissurroundings，hisintellectualstartwouldseembelated；evenallowingforhishandicap，itwascertainlyslow。Hewasnowtwenty-eight。Prettywellontorevealforthefirsttimeintellectualpower!Anothercharacteristichere。Hismindworkedslowly。Butitisworthobservingthattheideasoftheprotestwereneverabandoned。
Stillathirdcharacteristic，mentaltenacity。Totheendofhisdays，helookedaskanceatthetemperofabolitionism，regardediteverasoneofthechiefevilsofpoliticalscience。Andquiteassignificantwasanotherideaoftheprotestwhichalsohaddevelopedfromwithin，whichalsoheneverabandoned。
Onthequestionofthepowerofthenationalgovernmentwithregardtoslavery，hetookapositionnotinaccordwitheitherofthepoliticalcreedsofhisday。TheDemocratshadalreadyformulatedtheirdoctrinethatthenationalgovernmentwasathingofextremelylimitedpowers，the“glorifiedpoliceman“ofacertainschoolofpublicistsreducedalmosttoaminusquantity。TheWhigs，thoughamiablyvagueonmostthingsexceptmoney-makingbystateaid，weresupposedtostandfora“strongcentralgovernment。Abolitionismhadforcedonbothpartiesatroublesomequestion，“WhataboutslaveryintheDistrictofColumbia，wherethenationalgovernmentwassupreme？“TheDemocratswerepromptintheirreply：Lettheglorifiedpolicemankeepthepeaceandleaveprivateinterests，suchasslave-holding，alone。TheWhigsevaded，triednottoapplytheirtheoryof“strong“government；theywerefearfullesttheyoffendonepartoftheirmembershipiftheyassertedthatthenationhadnorighttoabolishslaveryintheDistrict，fearfulofoffendingothersiftheydidnot。