CINCINNATI, September 30, 1860.
DEAR UNCLE:—. . . . I have made a few little speeches in the country townships, and shall make a few more. I cannot get up much interest in the contest. A wholesome contempt for Douglas, on account of his recent demagoguery, is the chief feeling I have. I am not so confident that Lincoln will get votes enough as many of our friends. I think his chances are fair, but what may be the effect of fusions in such anti-Republican States as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is more than I can tell or confidently guess until after the state elections. In this county, the fight is doubtful, but probably against us.
We saw the Prince yesterday as he passed our house. A modest, decently behaved youngster. His visit has been without unpleasant incidents. — Love to all.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
S. BIRCHARD.
Letter to Professor Gardner
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., September 28, 1860.
Dear Sir: Some specimens of your Soap have been used at our house and Mrs. L. declares it is a superior article. She at the same time protests that I have never given sufficient attention to the “soap question” to be a competent judge. Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
SPRINGFIELD, ILLS. Sep 22, 1860.
MRS. M. J. GREEN
My dear Madam: Your kind congratulatory letter, of August, was received in due course, and should have been answered sooner. The truth is I have never corresponded much with ladies; and hence I postpone writing letters to them, as a business which I do not understand. I can only say now I thank you for the good opinion you express of me, fearing, at the same time, I may not be able to maintain it through life.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, September 22, 1860.
Dear Doctor: Yours of July 18th was received some time ago. When you wrote you had not learned the result of the Democratic conventions at Charleston and Baltimore. With the two tickets in the field I should think it possible for our friends to carry Oregon. But the general result, I think, does not depend upon Oregon. No one this side of the mountains pretends that any ticket can be elected by the people, unless it be ours. Hence great efforts to combine against us are being made, which, however, as yet have not had much success. Besides what we see in the newspapers, I have a good deal of private correspondence; and without giving details, I will only say it all looks very favorable to our success.
Make my best respects to Mrs. Henry and the rest of your family.
Your friend, as ever,
A. LINCOLN.
SEPTEMBER 12, 1860.
Fellow Democrats,—I thank you most cordially for the honor which you confer upon me by permitting me to preside over your deliberations on this occasion. It is an occasion the importance of which cannot be impressed too much upon our minds. We have come together in order to pledge our support to the nominations of our National and State Conventions, determined to withhold the thirty-five electoral votes of the great Empire State from Abraham Lincoln, and thus to save the glorious Republic from the horrors of disunion and anarchy. We have come together to listen to the heart-stirring eloquence of our noble and gallant standard-bearers, Stephen A. Douglas, the bold and fearless champion of the Constitution and the rights of the people, and Herschel V. Johnson, the patriot and the statesman. In order to share this rare privilege with you, I have sacrificed the pleasing duty of attending the celebration by which the city of Cleveland honored this week the memory of an illustrious kinsman of my family. It is forty-seven years since the gallant Perry fought and conquered, after a most bloody struggle against fearful odds, the enemies of his country on Lake Erie. Let us this day pledge our united and unwavering energies to fight and conquer the enemies of the Constitution and the Union, arrayed against us by sectional fanaticism North and South. We are fighting for the maintenance of our beloved and blessed Union, and the sacredness of our cause should give us the victory. Let us, then, advance to the charge, and the lion-hearted Democracy of this vast Republic, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, will in November next inscribe on its banners the memorable words of Perry, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”
