In Macready v. Alton, Illinois jury returns verdict for Mrs. Macready and awards damages of $300. Record.

Lincoln writes to members of the German 7th Ward Club, of Chicago, and declines an invitation to attend a July 5 Independence Day celebration. Lincoln explains, "[M]y engagements are such that I cannot be with you." He offers a "sentiment: Our German Fellow-Citizens:—Ever true to Liberty, the Union, and the Constitution—true to Liberty, not selfishly, but upon principle—not for special classes of men, but for all men; true to the Union and the Constitution, as the best means to advance that liberty." A. C. Hesing to Abraham Lincoln, 29 June 1858, Robert Todd Lincoln Collection of Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Abraham Lincoln to Anton C. Hesing, Henry Wendt, Alexander Fisher, Committee, 30 June 1858, CW, 2:475; Herman Kriesmann to Ozias M. Hatch (copy), 6 July 1858, Photostat File, Manuscripts, IHi, Springfield, IL; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 7 July 1858, 1:3-4.