On the day after the first debate with Stephen A. Douglas, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Lincoln writes to the Urbana Union newspaper editor, Joseph O. Cunningham. Cunningham inquired about when Lincoln might speak in Urbana. Lincoln writes, "I am . . . pressed by invitations from almost all quarters; and while I hope to be at Urbana sometime during the canvass I cannot yet say when. . . . Douglas and I, for the first time this canvass, crossed swords here yesterday; the fire flew some, and I am glad to know I am yet alive. There was a vast concourse of people—more than could [get] near enough to hear." Abraham Lincoln to Joseph O. Cunningham, 22 August 1858, CW, 3:37.