Alton, Aug. 24, 1857 [1858].
Dear Lincoln,
I have just read & am delighted with the debate at Ottawa-- In manner, temper, spirit, eloquence & every thing else you have obtained a complete triumph over the little pettifogger, for really that is all he is-- It seems to me that the debate at Ottawa ought to be [about?] sufficient to decide the contest with all intelligent men, & it ought to be read by every man in the state-- Things here look quite as favorably as I expected-- I am to speak here to-morrow evening & Blair & Brown of St. Louis have promised to come up to the meeting-- Do not fail to be at Springfield on the 28th-- I think it all important you should be there even at the omission of some appointment, if you cannot otherwise do so--
A reaction has commenced against Douglas-- He lost friends by coming to Edwardsville
Very truly Yours
Lyman Trumbull
