Abraham Lincoln speaks at a campaign rally for presidential candidate Zachary Taylor.

Lincoln delivers a short speech, which is followed by a longer attack on slavery by Sen. William H. Seward of New York, at Tremont Temple. It is the first time that Lincoln has met Seward, whose speech inspires him, upon his return to Washington, to file a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. In 1860, when they become presidential rivals, Lincoln tells Seward, “Twelve years ago you told me that this cause would be successful, and every since I have believed that it would be.”