Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861].
Author: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 1953.
Rights/Permissions: The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln4
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 4 [Mar. 5, 1860-Oct. 24, 1861]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln4. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 19, 2025.

Pages

To John M. Brockman1Jump to section

J. M. Brockman, Esq Springfield, Ills. Sep. 25. 1860

Dear Sir: Yours of the 24th. asking ``the best mode of obtaining a thorough knowledge of the law'' is received. The mode is very simple, though laborious, and tedious. It is only to get the books, and read, and study them carefully. Begin with Blackstone's Commentaries, and after reading it carefully through, say twice, take up Chitty's Pleading, Greenleaf's Evidence, & Story's Equity &c. in succession. Work, work, work, is the main thing. Yours very truly A. LINCOLN

Annotation

[1] ALS, IHi. Brockman's letter is not in the Lincoln Papers. He was a young school teacher of Pleasant Plains, Illinois, whose plans for studying law were abandoned after he had moved to Brownville, Nebraska, and enlisted in the Fifth Iowa Cavalry. Following the Civil War he settled in Nebraska as a farmer and stockman and later served two terms in the state legislature.

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