StungbyhisfailureatWashington，Lincolnforatimeputhiswholesoulintothestudyofthelaw。Heexplainedhisfailuretohimselfasalackofmentaltraining。[1]TherefollowedarepetitionofhisearlyyearswithLogan，butwithverymuchmoredetermination，andwithmoreabidingresult。
InthosedaysinIllinois，asonceinEngland，thejudgesheldcourtinasuccessionoftownswhichformedacircuit。Judgeandlawyersmovedfromtowntotown，“rodethecircuit“incompany，——sometimesonhorseback，sometimesintheirownvehicles，sometimesbystage。AmongthereminiscencesofLincolnonthecircuit，arehis“poky“oldhorseandhis“ramshackle“oldbuggy。Manyandmanyamile，roundandroundtheEighthJudicialCircuit，hetraveledinthathumblestyle。
Whatthoughtshebroodedoninhislonelydrives，heseldomtold。Duringthisperiodthecloudoverhisinnerlifeisespeciallydense。Theouterlife，inamultitudeofreminiscences，iswellknown。Oneofitssalientdetailswasthelargeproportionoftimehedevotedtostudy。
“Frequently，Iwouldgooutonthecircuitwithhim，“writesHerndon。“We，usually，atthelittlecountryinn，occupiedthesamebed。Inmostcases，thebedsweretooshortforhimandhisfeetwouldhangoverthefootboard，thusexposingalimitedexpanseofshinbone。Placinghiscandleattheheadofhisbedhewouldreadandstudyforhours。Ihaveknownhimtostayinthispositionuntiltwoo’clockinthemorning。
Meanwhile，Iandotherswhochancedtooccupythesameroomwouldbesafelyandsoundlyasleep。Onthecircuit，inthisway，hestudiedEucliduntilhecouldwitheasedemonstrateallthepropositionsinthesixbooks。Howhecouldmaintainhisequilibriumorconcentratehisthoughtsonanabstractmathematicalproblem，whileDavis，Logan，Swett，EdwardsandI，soindustriouslyandvolublyfilledtheairwithourinterminablesnoring，wasaproblemnoneof，us——couldeversolve。“[2]