Springfield, January 21, 1846.

Dear sir:—­You perhaps know that General Hardin and I have a contest for the Whig nomination for Congress for this district.

He has had a turn and my argument is “turn about is fair play.”

I shall be pleased if this strikes you as a sufficient argument.

Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.

TO JAMES BERDAN.

Springfield, April 26, 1846.

Dear sir:—­I thank you for the promptness with which you answered my letter from Bloomington.  I also thank you for the frankness with which you comment upon a certain part of my letter; because that comment affords me an opportunity of trying to express myself better than I did before, seeing, as I do, that in that part of my letter, you have not understood me as I intended to be understood.

In speaking of the “dissatisfaction” of men who yet mean to do no wrong, etc., I mean no special application of what I said to the Whigs of Morgan, or of Morgan & Scott.  I only had in my mind the fact that previous to General Hardin’s withdrawal some of his friends and some of mine had become a little warm; and I felt, and meant to say, that for them now to meet face to face and converse together was the best way to efface any remnant of unpleasant feeling, if any such existed.

I did not suppose that General Hardin’s friends were in any greater need of having their feelings corrected than mine were.  Since I saw you at Jacksonville, I have had no more suspicion of the Whigs of Morgan than of those of any other part of the district.  I write this only to try to remove any impression that I distrust you and the other Whigs of your country.

Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.

TO JAMES BERDAN.

Springfield, May 7, 1866.

Dear sir:—­It is a matter of high moral obligation, if not of necessity, for me to attend the Coles and Edwards courts.  I have some cases in both of them, in which the parties have my promise, and are depending upon me.  The court commences in Coles on the second Monday, and in Edgar on the third.  Your court in Morgan commences on the fourth Monday; and it is my purpose to be with you then, and make a speech.  I mention the Coles and Edgar courts in order that if I should not reach Jacksonville at the time named you may understand the reason why.  I do not, however, think there is much danger of my being detained; as I shall go with a purpose not to be, and consequently shall engage in no new cases that might delay me.

Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.

VERSES WRITTEN BY LINCOLN AFTER A VISIT TO HIS OLD HOME IN INDIANA-(A FRAGMENT).

[In December, 1847, when Lincoln was stumping for Clay, he crossed into Indiana and revisited his old home.  He writes:  “That part of the country is within itself as unpoetical as any spot on earth; but still seeing it and its objects and inhabitants aroused feelings in me which were certainly poetry; though whether my expression of these feelings is poetry, is quite another question.”]