[Conkling in letter to Mercy Levering says: "And L. (Lincoln) poor, hapless, simple swain who loved most true but was not loved again—I suppose he will now endeavor to drown his cares among the intricacies and perplexities of the law. No more will the merry peal of laughter ascend high in the air, to greet his listening and delighted ears." Sandburg and Angle, 180.]