{"id":999,"date":"2013-06-29T12:29:54","date_gmt":"2013-06-29T12:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/?p=999"},"modified":"2016-06-18T15:01:01","modified_gmt":"2016-06-18T15:01:01","slug":"letter-to-joshua-speed-february-25-1842","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/letter-to-joshua-speed-february-25-1842\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to Joshua Speed (February 25, 1842)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n

#78<\/span> on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents<\/em><\/p>\n

Annotated Transcript<\/h3>\n

“I tell you, Speed, our forebodings, for which you and I are rather peculiar, are all the worst sort of nonsense.”<\/a><\/p>\n

On This Date<\/h3>\n

HD Daily Report, February 25, 1842<\/a><\/p>\n

The Lincoln Log, February 25, 1842<\/a><\/p>\n

Custom Map<\/h3>\n

\"Screen<\/a>
\nView in Larger Map<\/a><\/p>\n

How Historians Interpret<\/h3>\n

\u201cAs the day of Speed\u2019s wedding approached, Lincoln became agitated. On February 15, 1842, despite his misgivings, Speed married Fanny Henning, prompting Lincoln to write yet another revealing letter. When Speed wrote him shortly after the ceremony, Lincoln opened the envelope, as he later reported, \u201cwith intense anxiety and trepediation \u2013 so much, that although it turned out better than I expected, I have hardly yet, at the distance of ten hours, become calm.\u201d With relief he told Speed, \u201cour forebodings, for which you and I are rather peculiar, are all the worst sort of nonsense.\u201d Speed confided his fear that the Elysium of which he had dreamed \u201cis never to be realized.\u201d Lincoln reassured him that \u201cit is the peculiar misfortune of both you and me, to dream dreams of Elysium far exceeding all that any thing earthly can realize. Far short of your dreams as you may be no woman could do more to realize them, than that same black-eyed Fanny. If you could but contemplate her through my immagination, it would appear ridiculous to you, that any one should for a moment think of being unhappy with her. My old Father used to have a saying that \u2018If you make a bad bargain, hug it all the tighter\u2019; and it occurs to me, that if the bargain you have just closed can possibly be called a bad one, it is certainly the most pleasant one for applying that maxim to, which my fancy can, by any effort, picture.\u201dHere Lincoln seemed to be telling himself that he should not be disappointed if Mary Todd did not measure up to his unreasonable ideal and that he should marry her even if the engagement was a ‘bad bargain.'”<\/p>\n

— \u00a0Michael Burlingame,\u00a0Abraham Lincoln: A Life<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2 volumes, originally published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) Unedited Manuscript by Chapter, Lincoln Studies Center, Volume 1, Chapter 6 (PDF),\u00a0546-565.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the consummation letter. Speed got married on February 15, and clearly he had promised Lincoln that as soon as he possibly could after consummating his marriage he would write to report on its outcome. Speed, it seems, had barely tumbled out of his wedding bed on the morning of February 16 before he wrote Lincoln, who opened the letter with \u2018intense anxiety and trepidation.\u2019 In fact, even though \u2018it turned out better than I expected\u2019 Lincoln was still not calm \u2018at the distance of ten hours.\u2019 That is a long time for a man, then thirty-three years of age, to be experiencing such anxiety from the news of how his friend\u2019s wedding night turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n

— Charles B. Strozier, Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friends of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed<\/a> <\/em>(New York: Columbia University Press, 2016), 185.<\/p>\n

NOTE TO READERS<\/h3>\n

This page is under construction and will be developed further by students in the new \u201cUnderstanding Lincoln\u201d online course sponsored by the House Divided Project at Dickinson College and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. To find out more about the course and to see some of our videotaped class sessions, including virtual field trips to Ford’s Theatre and Gettysburg, please visit our Livestream page at http:\/\/new.livestream.com\/gilderlehrman\/lincoln<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Searchable Text<\/span><\/h3>\n
Springfield, Feb: 25,1842<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Dear Speed:\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I received yours of the 12th. written the day you went down to William’s place, some days since; but delayed answering it, till I should receive the promised one, of the 16th., which came last night. I opened the latter, with intense anxiety and trepidation—so much, that although it turned out better than I expected, I have hardly yet, at the distance of ten hours, become calm.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I tell you, Speed, our forebodings, for which you and I are rather peculiar, are all the worst sort of nonsense. I fancied, from the time I received your letter of saturday, that the one of wednesday was never to come; and yet it did come, and what is more, it is perfectly clear, both from it’s tone and handwriting, that you were much happier, or, if you think the term preferable, less miserable, when you wrote it, than when you wrote the last one before. You had so obviously improved, at the verry time I so much feared, you would have grown worse. You say that “something indescribably horrible and alarming still haunts you.[”] You will not say that three months from now, I will venture. When your nerves once get steady now, the whole trouble will be over forever. Nor should you become impatient at their being even verry slow, in becoming steady. Again; you say you much fear that that Elysium of which you have dreamed so much, is never to be realized. Well, if it shall not, I dare swear, it will not be the fault of her who is now your wife. I now have no doubt that it is the peculiar misfortune of both you and me, to dream dreams of Elysium far exceeding all that any thing earthly can realize. Far short of your dreams as you may be, no woman could do more to realize them, than that same black eyed Fanny. If you could but contemplate her through my immagination, it would appear ridiculous to you, that any one should for a moment think of being unhappy with her. My old Father used to have a saying that “If you make a bad bargain, hug it the tighter”; and it occurs to me, that if the bargain you have just closed can possibly be called a bad one, it is certainly the most pleasant one for applying that maxim to, which my fancy can, by any effort, picture.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I write another letter enclosing this, which you can show her, if she desires it. I do this, because, she would think strangely perhaps should you tell her that you receive no letters from me; or, telling her you do, should refuse to let her see them.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I close this, entertaining the confident hope, that every successive letter I shall have from you, (which I here pray may not be\u00a0few, nor far between,) may show you possessing a more steady hand, and cheerful heart, than the last preceding it.<\/span><\/div>\n
As ever, your friend<\/span><\/div>\n
LINCOLN<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ranking #78 on the list of 150 Most Teachable Lincoln Documents Annotated Transcript “I tell you, Speed, our forebodings, for which you and I are rather peculiar, are all the worst sort of nonsense.” On This Date HD Daily Report, February 25, 1842 The Lincoln Log, February 25, 1842 Custom Map View in Larger Map […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10856],"tags":[10877,10866,11651,6088,10883,11629,11669,10865],"class_list":["post-999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-honest-abe","tag-advice","tag-antebellum","tag-friendship","tag-letter","tag-manipulation","tag-melancholy","tag-needs-close-reading","tag-private"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4321,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999\/revisions\/4321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}