To H. D. Sharpe1Jump to section
Dear Sir Your very kind letter of Novr. 9th. was duly received. I do not know that you expected or desired an answer; but glancing over the contents of yours again, I am prompted to say that while I desired the result of the late canvass to have been different, I still regard it as an exceeding small matter. I think we have fairly entered upon a durable struggle as to whether this nation is to ultimately become all slave or all free, and though I fall early in the contest, it is nothing if I shall have contributed, in the least degree, to the final rightful result. Respectfully yours
A. LINCOLN.
Annotation
[1] ALS, NN. Sharpe was author of a plan of emancipation published in 1849 and again in 1859. Writing from New York City, he expressed his interest in the Lincoln-Douglas debates and thanked Lincoln for his advocacy of the rights of man (DLC-RTL).