He liked "stump speaking." He liked to go about the country from one speaking place to another, or to travel from one county to another to meet the different sessions of the courts. He spoke for what he believed to be the truth. He was always in earnest, and made his hearers feel that he was sincere. [Sidenote: =Speaks for Harrison and for Henry Clay=] In 1840 he was one of Harrison's orators, and in 1844 he threw all his power and influence in favor of Henry Clay, his favorite among the great men, for the presidency. [Sidenote: =Lincoln in Congress=] In 1846 the Whigs of Springfield, where he was then living, put Lincoln forward for Congress, and succeeded in getting him elected. He was not in favor of the war with Mexico, then going on, and was not selected to run again. Lincoln returned to Springfield, and began the practice of law with greater success than ever before. When Senator Douglas of Illinois, in 1854, carried the Kansas-Nebraska Bill through Congress, anti-slavery men all over the nation raised a storm of indignation. This bill repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had stood for thirty years, and threw the territories open to slavery. [Sidenote: =The champion against Douglas=] Douglas spoke at the state fair, held in Springfield. He tried to explain why he favored the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Lincoln made a speech four hours in length, ably answering the argument of Douglas. This speech made him the champion for the anti-slavery people in the state against Douglas. [Sidenote: =Public opinion points toward Lincoln=] The same question was fought out between them at Peoria, a little later. Again Lincoln met Douglas' arguments. People began to talk of Lincoln as the next United States senator. More and more, popular opinion in the state began to turn toward Lincoln. [Illustration: WHALE-OIL LAMP _From Lincoln's log cabin_] [Sidenote: =Nominated for United States senator=] Accordingly, in 1858, at Springfield, the Republicans in convention named Lincoln for United States senator. He made a speech to the Republicans in which he said that this country cannot remain half slave and half free--that it must become all slave or all free. This called every man to face a new question. No greater question could be raised. Some friends of Lincoln pleaded with him not to say that the country could not remain half slave and half free. "I had rather be defeated with that expression in my speech than to be victorious without it," said Lincoln. [Sidenote: =Lincoln challenges Douglas=] =162. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.= Douglas attacked this speech, and Lincoln challenged him to hold several joint debates before the people of Illinois. Seven debates were arranged, in which Douglas insisted upon opening and closing four. [Sidenote: =People come from far away to hear the debates=]