self must be the doer. With his admission to the bar he saw his opportunity to place himself nearer to the center of things, and in the Fall of 1861 he cut himself loose from the restraint of the schoolroom, moving to Kalamazoo and entering upon the practice of law. He felt stirring within him the desire to express those ideals of the new Republican Party; he had taken part in two Presidential campaigns, and had seen Lincoln elected; he sensed the meaning of this first success of the new political organization, and knew that as an expounder of the law he could advance its principles with greater effectiveness.

Like all young lawyers, Burrows experienced a hard struggle at the beginning of his career, and he used to boast that his books showed an income of a dollar and a half for the first three months' business. Still the fact remains that he quickly made himself felt in his profession, and won an enviable reputation as a jury lawyer, where his oratorical powers made themselves felt. That he was well-grounded in the general principles of law is evident in all his important speeches in Congress, and during the brief breaks in his public life, when he returned to his practice, his services were always in demand.

In his law practice, Burrows first associated himself with A. A. Knappen, and between these two men there developed a deep personal friendship which

lasted throughout their lifetime.

Knappen was an

older man, but was in full sympathy with the enthusiasm of his youthful partner, encouraging him in his ambitions and coöperating with him in his patriotic services. During Burrows' absence at the front several interesting letters passed between them, evidencing mutual affection and admiration.1

Burrows was not permitted long to continue in the work of his profession. The time was close at hand when men's thoughts were forced to turn in directions other than those of peaceful pursuits, professional or otherwise. The people of the North had not grasped, as those of the South clearly had, the significance of Lincoln's election of 1860; for they could not believe it possible that any actual conflict in arms could take place between themselves and their own brothers in birth. Even when South Carolina held her Legislature in session until the news could be received as to the majority in the electoral college, and before adjournment, when it became known that Lincoln was elected, promptly provided for the purchase of

1 On December 15, 1862, Knappen writes him: "Yours of the 7th inst. was received yesterday, and you may rest assured that it was perused with eager interest. I really believe the more of them I receive the more I prize them, and it is not strange, a friendship such as ours to be committed to paper! You cannot make them too long. The only reason I do not write more is that I am ashamed of them in comparison with yours. . . . Now let me close this by repeating what I have so often said to you: Don't be rash, but only brave,-you cannot improve your reputation for fighting."

arms, the North still refused to believe that any crisis was at hand. When South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas formally declared themselves separated from the Union, many intelligent Northern men questioned in their own minds whether any one could legally dispute their action. The Southern States assumed that inasmuch as each one had entered the Union of its own free will, and might at that time have declined to become a member of it, it was unquestionably within their rights to withdraw, as from any other partnership, when cause for such withdrawal appeared to exist. When South Carolina sent commissioners to Washington to arrange, as a matter of course, for a proper division of the National debt, and for the formal transferal of all National property lying within her borders, President Buchanan was at a loss to know how to meet the situation. A peace conference was called to discuss and to arrange such problems as arose in connection with the breaking away of these States from their sister members of the Union, and no one seemed to know where the line could properly be drawn. Before the Federal authorities could come to any conclusion, the Confederacy had taken possession of every fortified position in the South except Fortress Monroe, Fort Sumter, Fort Pickens, and the Key West fortifications. Pres

ident Buchanan's advisers were equally at sea. Some contended that the Southern States had a perfect right to act as they were acting, while others denied this right, but could formulate no action to check it. Under these circumstances they calmly stood aside, and waited to see what the new Republican Party, successful now for the first time, could accomplish.

No

CHAPTER II

THE SOLDIER-HUSBAND. 1862-1863

chapter in Burrows' life is more illuminating from the standpoint of character study than that which includes his mental attitude and physical action during the stirring period of the Civil War. The formation of the Republican Party in 1854, to which allusion has already been made, the struggle over Kansas, the attack made in the Senate Chamber by Brooks upon Sumner, the Dred Scott decision, the John Brown raid, the wranglings in the Thirtyfourth, the Thirty-fifth, and the Thirty-sixth Congresses, all were landmarks of cumulative importance as the partisans of slavery and anti-slavery grew farther and farther apart, reaching a climax in the Republican nomination of Lincoln for President. For the first time the two factions were squarely pitted against each other, and the long-smouldering mass received the spark which turned it into a conflagration.

Burrows could see no compromise. Slavery was the one blot upon his country, slavery threatened the very life of the Republic, and those who favored it