He was a Democrat, and an Irishman by
birth, with an Irishman's quick temper and readiness to take
offense. He had given orders about collecting certain taxes which
displeased the Whigs, and shortly after Lincoln came back from
Kentucky a series of humorous letters ridiculing the auditor and
his order appeared in the Springfield paper, to the great
amusement of the townspeople and the fury of Shields. These
letters were dated from the "Lost Townships," and were supposed
to be written by a farmer's widow signing herself "Aunt Rebecca."
The real writers were Miss Todd and a clever friend, who
undertook them more for the purpose of poking fun at Shields than
for party effect. In framing the political part of their attack,
they had found it necessary to consult Lincoln, and he obligingly
set them a pattern by writing the first letter himself.
Shields sent to the editor of the paper to find out the name of
the real "Rebecca." The editor, as in duty bound, consulted
Lincoln, and was told to give Lincoln's name, but not to mention
the ladies. Shields then sent Lincoln an angry challenge; and
Lincoln, who considered the whole affair ridiculous, and would
willingly have explained his part in it if Shields had made a
gentlemanly inquiry, chose as weapons "broadswords of the largest
size," and named as conditions of the duel that a plank ten feet
long be firmly fixed on edge in the ground, as a line over which
neither combatant was to pass his foot upon forfeit of his life.
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