Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2 [Sept. 3, 1848-Aug. 21, 1858].
About this Item
Title
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2 [Sept. 3, 1848-Aug. 21, 1858].
Author
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication
New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press
1953.
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Cite this Item
"Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 2 [Sept. 3, 1848-Aug. 21, 1858]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln2. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 26, 2024.
Rev. J. M. Sturtevant Springfield,
Jacksonville, Ills Sept. 27. 1856
My dear Sir: Owing to absence yours of the 16th. was not received till the day-before yesterday. I thank you for your good opinion of me personally, and still more for the deep interest you
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take in the cause of our common country. It pains me a little that you have deemed it necessary to point out to me how I may be compensated for throwing myself in the breach now. This assumes that I am merely calculating the chances of personal advancement. Let me assure you that I decline to be a candidate for congress, on my clear conviction, that my running would hurt, & not help the cause. I am willing to make any personal sacrafice, but I am not willing to do, what in my own judgment, is, a sacrafice of the cause itself. Very truly Yours A. LINCOLN
Annotation
[1] ALS-P, ISLA. Julian M. Sturtevant was president of Illinois College at Jacksonville and a pronounced anti-slavery man.