The debate between Douglas and Lincoln, while marked by speeches severe
and stately, was interspersed with repartees and innuendoes as might be
awaited from former friends and become, by double rivalry, fierce
enemies.
The senator did not disdain to stoop to casting back at Lincoln's
humble beginning, and taunted him with having kept store and waited
_behind the bar_ before waiting before the bar judicial for his turn to
practise law. His adversary rose amid the laughter, and rejoined:
"What the jedge (Judge Douglas) has said, gentlemen, is true enough. I
did keep a grocery, and sometimes I did sell whisky; but I remember
that in those days Mr. Douglas was one of my best customers for the
same. But the difference between us now is that I do not practise
behind the bar at present, while Mr. Douglas keeps right on _before_
it."
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