Even so, McClellan saw it and refused to pay, saying that, "This is as much as a first-class lawyer would charge!"
Even with his success, others though of Lincoln as still "the one-horse lawyer of a one-horse town."
But perhaps the story that tells us most about "Honest @Abe" goes:
If you look at the history of the Presidents, you will see that Lincoln's origin is described as "English." But the @English love of fair play is joined with the art of not knowing when a man is beaten. If Lincoln is English, he differs from his ancestors on this point.
During the Black Hawk War, the soldiers in camp entertained themselves by sports contests. The captain of the @Sangamon company topped all his men in such events. This led the men to challenge the entire army. They offered Lincoln as a contestant against the whole field.
A man in another regiment, named @Thompson, showed up to fight Lincoln.