To Stephen A. Hurlbut1Jump to section
My dear Sir June 1. 1858.
Yours of the 29th. of May is just received. I suppose it is hardly necessary that any expression of preference for U.S. Senator, should be given at the county, or other local conventions and meetings.2Jump to section When the Republicans of the whole State get together at the State convention, the thing will then be thought of, and something will or will not be done, according as the united judgment may dictate.
I do not find republicans from the old democratic ranks more inclined to Douglas than those from the old whig ranks---indeed I find very little of such inclination in either class; but of that little, the larger portion, falling under my observation, has been among old whigs. The republicans from the old democratic ranks, constantly say to me ``Take care of your old whigs, and have no fears for us[.]'' I am much obliged to you for your letter; and shall be pleased to see you at the convention. Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
Annotation
[1] ALS, RPB. Stephen A. Hurlbut of Belvidere, Illinois, was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1858 and again in 1859, but entered the army as a brigadier general in May 1861.
[2] The unprecedented action of ninety-four county Republican conventions endorsing Lincoln as the choice of the party was the ``remonstrance against outside intermeddling'' on the part of Horace Greeley and other Eastern Republicans, who advocated that Douglas should receive Republican support in his fight with the administration forces (Chicago Tribune, June 14, 1858).