The following story was told by Mr. Lincoln to Mr. A. J. Conant, the
artist, who painted his portrait in Springfield in 1860:
“One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of my
store with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. He
asked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in his
wagon, and which he said contained nothing of special value. I did not
want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, half a
dollar for it. Without further examination, I put it away in the store
and forgot all about it. Some time after, in overhauling things, I
came upon the barrel, and, emptying it upon the floor to see what it
contained, I found at the bottom of the rubbish a complete edition of
Blackstone’s Commentaries. I began to read those famous works, and I had
plenty of time; for during the long summer days, when the farmers were
busy with their crops, my customers were few and far between. The more
I read”--this he said with unusual emphasis--“the more intensely
interested I became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly
absorbed. I read until I devoured them.”