Lincoln writes to fellow attorney Richard Oglesby, of Decatur, Illinois, about rumors surrounding their political ally Richard Yates, who seeks another term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Lincoln explains, "I understand his enemies are getting up a charge against him, that while he passes for a temperate man, he is in the habit of drinking secretly—and that they calculate on proving an instance of the charge by you." Lincoln asks, "Will you please write me, and tell me what the truth of this matter is?" Abraham Lincoln to Richard J. Oglesby, 8 September 1854, CW, 10:24.