Whig rally opens in court house at 10:30 A.M. It soon adjourns to public square and continues until dusk. Evening meeting in court house lasts until after midnight. Lincoln and nine other orators are heard. Missouri Republican of April 13, 1840 declared Lincoln's speech lucid, forcible, and effective. Belleville Advocate thought it "weak, puerile, and feeble. . . . Poor Lincoln!"