TO JAMES BERDAN. SPRINGFIELD, May 7, 1846. DEAR SIR:-It is a matter of high moral obligation, if not of necessity, for me to attend the Coles and Edwards courts. I have some cases in both of them, in which the parties have my promise, and are depending upon me. The court commences in Coles on the second Monday, and in Edgar on the third. Your court in Morgan commences on the fourth Monday; and it is my purpose to be with you then, and make a speech. I mention the Coles and Edgar courts in order that if I should not reach Jacksonville at the time named you may understand the reason why. I do not, however, think there is much danger of my being detained; as I shall go with a purpose not to be, and consequently shall engage in no new cases that might delay me. Yours truly, VERSES WRITTEN BY LINCOLN AFTER A VISIT TO HIS OLD HOME IN INDIANA-(A FRAGMENT). Near twenty years have passed away Since here I bid farewell To woods and fields, and scenes of play, And playmates loved so well. 1 In December, 1847, when Lincoln was stumping for Clay, he crossed into Indiana and revisited his old home. He writes: "That part of the country is within itself as unpoetical as any spot on earth; but still seeing it and its objects and inhabitants aroused feelings in me which were certainly poetry; though whether my expression of these feelings is poetry, is quite another question." Where many were, but few remain But seeing them to mind again The friends I left that parting day, I hear the loved survivors tell How naught from death could save, I range the fields with pensive tread, VERSES WRITTEN BY LINCOLN CONCERNING A SCHOOLFELLOW WHO BECAME INSANE—(A FRAGMENT). And when at length the drear and long Time soothed thy fiercer woes, How plaintively thy mournful song Upon the still night rose! I've heard it oft as if I dreamed, Air held her breath; trees with the spell But this is past, and naught remains Thy piercing shrieks and soothing strains Now fare thee well! More thou the cause All mental pangs by time's kind laws O Death! thou awe-inspiring prince Why dost thou tear more blest ones hence, TO JOSHUA F. SPEED. SPRINGFIELD, October 22, 1846. DEAR SPEED:- . . . You, no doubt, assign the suspension of our correspondence to the true philosophic cause; though it must be confessed by both of us that this is rather a cold reason for allowing a friendship such as ours to die out by degrees. I propose now that, upon receipt of this, you shall be considered in my debt, and under obligations to pay soon, and that neither shall remain long in arrears hereafter. Are you agreed? Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected. We have another boy, born the 10th of March. He is very much such a child as Bob was at his age, rather of a longer order. Bob is "short and low," He talks very plainly, and I expect always will be. -almost as plainly as anybody. He is quite smart VOL. II.-2. enough. I sometimes fear that he is one of the little rare-ripe sort that are smarter at about five than ever after. He has a great deal of that sort of mischief that is the offspring of such animal spirits. Since I began this letter, a messenger came to tell me Bob was lost; but by the time I reached the house his mother had found him and had him whipped, and by now, very likely, he is run away again. Mary has read your letter, and wishes to be remembered to Mrs. Speed and you, in which I most sincerely join her. As ever yours, A. LINCOLN. TO WILLIAM H. HERNDON. WASHINGTON, December 5, 1847. DEAR WILLIAM:-You may remember that about a year ago a man by the name of Wilson (James Wilson, I think) paid us twenty dollars as an advance fee to attend to a case in the Supreme Court for him, against a Mr. Campbell, the record of which case was in the hands of Mr. Dixon of St. Louis, who never furnished it to us. When I was at Bloomington last fall I met a friend of Wilson, who mentioned the subject to me, and induced me to write to Wilson, telling him I would leave the ten dollars with you which had been left with me to pay for making abstracts in the case, so that the case may go on this winter; but I came away, and forgot to do it. What I want now is to send you the money, to be used accordingly, if any one comes on to start the case, or to be retained by you if no one does. There is nothing of consequence new here. Congress is to organize to-morrow. Last night we held a Whig caucus for the House, and nominated Winthrop of Massachusetts for speaker, Sargent of Pennsylvania for sergeant-at-arms, Homer of New Jersey door-keeper, and McCormick of District of Columbia postmaster. The Whig majority in the House is so small that, together with some little dissatisfaction, [it] leaves it doubtful whether we will elect them all. This paper is too thick to fold, which is the reason I send only a half-sheet. Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN. TO WILLIAM H. HERNDON. WASHINGTON, December 13, 1847. DEAR WILLIAM:-Your letter, advising me of the receipt of our fee in the bank case, is just received, and I don't expect to hear another as good a piece of news from Springfield while I am away. I am under no obligations to the bank; and I therefore wish you to buy bank certificates, and pay my debt there, so as to pay it with the least money possible. I would as soon you should buy them of Mr. Ridgely, or any other person at the bank, as of any one else, provided you can get them as cheaply. I suppose, after the bank debt shall be paid, there will be some money left, out of which I would like to have you pay Lavely and Stout twenty dollars, and Priest and |