Annotation
[1] AD, DLC-RTL. The peaceable conclusion of the matter seemed unlikely when Whiteside refused to convey Lincoln's condition of withdrawal of the first letter written by Shields. Under threat of impending arrest all parties proceeded to Alton. At this point John J. Hardin and Revel W. English intervened as mutual friends of Shields and Lincoln, in a letter addressed to Whiteside and Merryman, proposing that ``the whole difficulty be submitted to four or more gentlemen, to