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LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") to John C. Sanborn, Springfield, Ill., 21 May 1859. 1 page, 8vo., matted and framed.
LINCOLN DECLINES A FOURTH OF JULY INVITATION TO SPEAK IN LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS
Lincoln's letter reads in full: "Your note, as Secretary of the Committee of the City of Lawrence, inviting me to deliver an oration on the 4th of July, at that City, is received. Thanking you, and through you, the committee for the compliment of the invitation, I have to say my engagement will not allow me the pleasure of accepting it." Lincoln was indeed very busy that spring and summer, passing much of it before the Federal circuit court in Chicago, handling a variety of cases for railroad company clients. He had to decline several invitations to speak in 1859, telling one correspondent in July: "This year I must devote to my private business" (Basler, 3:396). To another correspondent he complained at the end of 1858 that "I have been on expences so long without earning anything that I am absolutely without money now for even household purposes" (Donald, 230). So instead of going to Lawrence, he spent that Fourth at the small town of Atlanta, Illinois, in the northeast corner of the state. According to the Illinois State Journal, "An immense multitude of people assembled early....The Declaration was read by Dr. W. S. Kirk and the oration delivered by Hon. J. H. Matheny. Hon. A . Lincoln was present and made a few remarks in reply to Mr. Sylvester Strong, who then and there presented him with a walking cane" (Miers, 1859:255). It's a measure of Lincoln's growing national stature that he should be a sought-after speaker. The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 had seen to that. By 1859, he resented the time he had to devote to the law. The political bug had bitten him hard and he wanted to get his finances in shape for the coming election year of 1860 (in April of that year he would confess to Lyman Trumbull, "The taste is in my mouth a little.").
LINCOLN DECLINES A FOURTH OF JULY INVITATION TO SPEAK IN LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS
Lincoln's letter reads in full: "Your note, as Secretary of the Committee of the City of Lawrence, inviting me to deliver an oration on the 4th of July, at that City, is received. Thanking you, and through you, the committee for the compliment of the invitation, I have to say my engagement will not allow me the pleasure of accepting it." Lincoln was indeed very busy that spring and summer, passing much of it before the Federal circuit court in Chicago, handling a variety of cases for railroad company clients. He had to decline several invitations to speak in 1859, telling one correspondent in July: "This year I must devote to my private business" (Basler, 3:396). To another correspondent he complained at the end of 1858 that "I have been on expences so long without earning anything that I am absolutely without money now for even household purposes" (Donald, 230). So instead of going to Lawrence, he spent that Fourth at the small town of Atlanta, Illinois, in the northeast corner of the state. According to the Illinois State Journal, "An immense multitude of people assembled early....The Declaration was read by Dr. W. S. Kirk and the oration delivered by Hon. J. H. Matheny. Hon. A . Lincoln was present and made a few remarks in reply to Mr. Sylvester Strong, who then and there presented him with a walking cane" (Miers, 1859:255). It's a measure of Lincoln's growing national stature that he should be a sought-after speaker. The Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 had seen to that. By 1859, he resented the time he had to devote to the law. The political bug had bitten him hard and he wanted to get his finances in shape for the coming election year of 1860 (in April of that year he would confess to Lyman Trumbull, "The taste is in my mouth a little.").