(Private and confidential.)
Springfield, Illinois, January
13, 1861.
Hon. Simon Cameron.
My dear Sir: At the suggestion of Mr. Sanderson, and
with hearty good-will besides, I herewith send you a
letter dated January 3 — the same in date as the last you received from me.
I thought best to give it that date, as it is in some sort to take the place of
that letter. I learn, both by a letter
from Mr. Swett and from Mr. Sanderson, that your feelings were wounded by
the terms of my letter really of the 3d. I wrote that letter under great
anxiety, and perhaps I was not so guarded in its terms as I should have been; but
I beg you to be assured I intended no offense. My great object was to have you
act quickly, if possible before the matter should be complicated with the
Pennsylvania senatorial election. Destroy the offensive letter, or return it to
me
I say to you now I have not doubted that you would perform
the duties of a department ably and faithfully. Nor have I for a moment
intended to ostracize your friends. If I should make a cabinet appointment for
Pennsylvania before I reach Washington, I will not do so without consulting
you, and giving all the weight to your views and wishes which I consistently can.
This I have always intended.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
[Inclosure.]
SOURCE: John G.
Nicolay & John Hay, Abraham Lincoln Complete Works, Volume 1, p. 665
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