Note i-58 — Chapter I · PINCHING TIMES

A reminder of this toilsome period is to be found, many years later, in the letter addressed to J. M. Brockman:—

Springfield, Illinois, September 25, 1860.

Dear Sir: Yours of the 24th, asking “the best mode, of obtaining a thorough knowledge of the law,” is received. The mode is very simple, though laborious and tedious. It is only to get the books and read and study them carefully. Begin with Blackstone’s “Commentaries,” and after reading it carefully through, say twice, take up Chitty’s “Pleadings,” Greenleaf’s “Evidence,” and Story’s “Equity,” etc., in succession. Work, work, work, is the main thing. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln.