The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, vol 2 | Page 8

How plaintively thy mournful song Upon the still night rose
I've heard it oft as if I dreamed, Far distant, sweet and lone; The funeral
dirge it ever seemed Of reason dead and gone.
Air held her breath; trees with the spell Seemed sorrowing angels round,
Whose swelling tears in dewdrops fell Upon the listening ground.
But this is past, and naught remains That raised thee o'er the brute; Thy
piercing shrieks and soothing strains Are like, forever mute.
Now fare thee well! More thou the cause Than subject now of woe. All
mental pangs by time's kind laws Hast lost the power to know.
O Death! thou awe-inspiring prince That keepst the world in fear, Why
dost thou tear more blest ones hence, And leave him lingering here?

SECOND CHILD
TO JOSHUA P. SPEED
SPRINGFIELD, October 22, 1846.

DEAR SPEED:--You, no doubt, assign the suspension of our
correspondence to the true philosophic cause; though it must be
confessed by both of us that this is rather a cold reason for allowing a
friendship such as ours to die out by degrees. I propose now that, upon
receipt of this, you shall be considered in my debt, and under
obligations to pay soon, and that neither shall remain long in arrears
hereafter. Are you agreed?
Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for
having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected.
We have another boy, born the 10th of March. He is very much such a
child as Bob was at his age, rather of a longer order. Bob is "short and
low," and I expect always will be. He talks very plainly,--almost as
plainly as anybody. He is quite smart enough. I sometimes fear that he
is one of the little rare-ripe sort that are smarter at about five than ever
after. He has a great deal of that sort of mischief that is the offspring of
such animal spirits. Since I began this letter, a messenger came to tell
me Bob was lost; but by the time I reached the house his mother had
found him and had him whipped, and by now, very likely, he is run
away again. Mary has read your letter, and wishes to be remembered to
Mrs. Speed and you, in which I most sincerely join her.
As ever yours,
A. LINCOLN.

TO MORRIS AND BROWN
SPRINGFIELD, October 21, 1847.
MESSRS. MORRIS AND BROWN.
GENTLEMEN:--Your second letter on the matter of Thornton and
others, came to hand this morning. I went at once to see Logan, and
found that he is not engaged against you, and that he has so sent you
word by Mr. Butterfield, as he says. He says that some time ago, a
young man (who he knows not) came to him, with a copy of the
affidavit, to engage him to aid in getting the Governor to grant the
warrant; and that he, Logan, told the man, that in his opinion, the
affidavit was clearly insufficient, upon which the young man left,
without making any engagement with him. If the Governor shall arrive
before I leave, Logan and I will both attend to the matter, and he will
attend to it, if he does not come till after I leave; all upon the condition

that the Governor shall not have acted upon the matter, before his
arrival here. I mention this condition because, I learned this morning
from the Secretary of State, that he is forwarding to the Governor, at
Palestine, all papers he receives in the case, as fast as he receives them.
Among the papers forwarded will be your letter to the Governor or
Secretary of, I believe, the same date and about the same contents of
your last letter to me; so that the Governor will, at all events have your
points and authorities. The case is a clear one on our side; but whether
the Governor will view it so is another thing.
Yours as ever,
A. LINCOLN.

TO WILLIAM H. HERNDON
WASHINGTON, December 5, 1847.
DEAR WILLIAM:--You may remember that about a year ago a man
by the name of Wilson (James Wilson, I think) paid us twenty dollars
as an advance fee to attend to a case in the Supreme Court for him,
against a Mr. Campbell, the record of which case was in the hands of
Mr. Dixon of St. Louis, who never furnished it to us. When I was at
Bloomington last fall I met a friend of Wilson, who mentioned the
subject to me, and induced me to write to Wilson, telling him I would
leave the ten dollars with you which had been left with me to pay for
making abstracts in the case, so that the case may