Yourrequestforeightydollars， ， youhavesaidtome， "Wecangetalongverywellnow，" ， ， ， youhavedoneagoodwholeday'swork， ， andstillyoudonotworkmuch， merelybecauseitdoesnotseemtoyouthatyoucouldgetmuchforit.
Thishabitofuselesslywastingtime， isthewholedifficulty； itisvastlyimportanttoyou， andstillmoresotoyourchildren， ， becausetheyhavelongertolive， andcankeepoutofanidlehabitbeforetheyareinit， easierthantheycangetoutaftertheyarein.
Youarenowinneedofsomereadymoney； andwhatIproposeis， thatyoushallgotowork， "toothandnail，" forsomebodywhowillgiveyoumoneyforit.
Letfatherandyourboystakechargeofyourthingsathome—prepareforacrop， andmakethecrop， andyougotoworkforthebestmoneywages， orindischargeofanydebtyouowe， ， Inowpromiseyouthatforeverydollaryouwill， betweenthisandthefirstofMay， getforyourownlaboreitherinmoneyorinyourownindebtedness， Iwillthengiveyouoneotherdollar.
Bythis， ifyouhireyourselfattendollarsamonth， frommeyouwillgettenmore， ， ， ortheleadmines， orthegoldmines， inCalifornia， butImeanforyoutogoatitforthebestwagesyoucangetclosetohome—inColesCounty.
Nowifyouwilldothis， youwillsoonbeoutofdebt， andwhatisbetter， ， $70or $， forIamsureyoucanwiththeofferImakeyougettheseventyoreightydollarsforfourorfivemonths' ， andifyoudon'tpaythemoneyback， youwilldeliverpossession—Nonsense！ Ifyoucan'tnowlivewiththeland， howwillyouthenlivewithoutit？ Youhavealwaysbeenkindtome， ， ifyouwillbutfollowmyadvice， youwillfinditworthmorethaneighttimeseightydollarstoyou.
Affectionately
Yourbrother
Lincoln
(Dec.24， 1848)
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