John C. Breckinridge autograph letter signed, datelined Lexington, Kentucky on 7 August 1856. Shortly after this letter, Breckinridge would serve as Vice President under James Buchanan and then as Confederate Secretary of War during the Civil War. Here he writes to a citizen in Rhode Island who requested his autograph, in part, ''…it is only in my power to furnish my own autograph…I trust we shall be saved from the horrors of Sectionalism and I look with most hope to those reflecting citizens who do not appear in the strife of politics…John C. Breckinridge''. Single page letter measures 7.75'' x 8.875''. Folds, else near fine.