Lincoln is busy at his desk. He writes eight brief letters. "Pardon me for not writing a longer letter," he tells Henry Whitney. "I have a great many letters to write." One is to B. C. Cook of Ottawa, warning against nominating extreme abolitionists as candidates for Congress and legislature in that district. Others go to Gillespie, J. T. Eccles, and J. F. Alexander regarding speeches in their towns. Abraham Lincoln to Henry C. Whitney, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:534-35; Abraham Lincoln to Burton C. Cook, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:532-33; Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Gillespie, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:533; Abraham Lincoln to Joseph T. Eccles, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:533; Abraham Lincoln to Jediah F. Alexander, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:532; Abraham Lincoln to Abraham Jonas, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:533-34; Abraham Lincoln to C. W. Michael and William Proctor, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:534; Abraham Lincoln to Lyman Porter, 2 August 1858, CW, 2:534.