GDG- ``rumpus'' over Kansas

[Dennis Lawrence]

To Lyman Trumbull 
[1] 
http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/11BiographiesKeyIndividuals/LymanTrumbull.htm
  Chicago, Nov. 30. 1857.

Dear Sir: Herewith you find duplicates of a notice which I wish to be 
served upon the Miss French, or now Mrs. Gray, who married the late 
Franklin C. Gray. [2] You understand what person I mean.

Please hand her one copy, and note on the other that you have done so, the 
date of service, and your signature & return it to me at Springfield.

What think you of the probable ``rumpus'' among the democracy over the 
Kansas constitution? 
http://www.lecomptonkansas.com/index.php?doc=constitution.php

  [3] I think the Republicans should stand clear of it. In their view both 
the President and Douglas are wrong; and they should not espouse the cause 
of either, because they may consider the other a little the farther wrong 
of the two.

 From what I am told here, Douglas tried, before leaving, to draw off some 
Republicans on this dodge, and even succeeded in making some impression on 
one or two. Yours very truly

A. LINCOLN---
Annotation

[1]   ALS, CSmH.

[2]   Mary A. Gray was divorced by Franklin C. Gray in 1851. He married 
Matilda C. French. Mary A. Gray v. Matilda C. French, et al., in the 
Illinois Supreme Court, was a suit to have the divorce decree reversed.

[3]   In a famous interview between President Buchanan and Stephen A. 
Douglas prior to the opening of Congress in December, Buchanan was reported 
to have threatened political reprisal if Douglas fought the admission of 
Kansas under the Lecompton Constitution, an administration measure. Douglas 
refused because of the Constitution's slavery clause, and proceeded to 
fight the administration with the support of a handful of Democratic 
senators, but with considerable Republican support. Lincoln's view of party 
strategy was not generally followed, most Republican leaders supporting Douglas.