In a letter he marks, "Confidential," President-Elect Lincoln writes to Republican Congressman James T. Hale, of Pennsylvania. Hale and other border-state representatives seek to appease the states considering secession. Lincoln cites his recent election victory and vows not to "surrender to those we have beaten." Lincoln adds, "They now have the Constitution, under which we have lived over seventy years, and acts of Congress of their own framing, with no prospect of their being changed; and they can never have a more shallow pretext for breaking up the government, or extorting a compromise, than now." Abraham Lincoln to James T. Hale, 11 January 1861, CW, 4:172.

Acknowledges receipt from Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott, general in chief of the army, of correspondence and notes "concerning various military movements, suggested by yourself." Abraham Lincoln to Winfield Scott, 11 January 1861, CW, 4:172-73.