Abraham Lincoln : a history : the full and authorized record of his private life and public career . mmer of 1860, when his candi-dacy for President did not permit his writing publicletters, he wrote in a confidential note to a friend: Yours of the 20th is received. I suppose as goodor even better men than I may have been in Ameri-can or Know-Nothing lodges; but, in point of fact, Inever was in one, at Quincy or elsewhere. . Andnow a word of caution. Our adversaries think theycan gain a point if they could force me to openlydeny the charge, by which some degree of offensewould be given to the
Abraham Lincoln : a history : the full and authorized record of his private life and public career . mmer of 1860, when his candi-dacy for President did not permit his writing publicletters, he wrote in a confidential note to a friend: Yours of the 20th is received. I suppose as goodor even better men than I may have been in Ameri-can or Know-Nothing lodges; but, in point of fact, Inever was in one, at Quincy or elsewhere. . Andnow a word of caution. Our adversaries think theycan gain a point if they could force me to openlydeny the charge, by which some degree of offensewould be given to the Americans. For this reasonit must not publicly appear that I am paying anyattention to the charge. His position on the main question involved wasalready sufficiently understood; for in his elsewherequoted letter of May 17,1859, he had declared him-self against the adoption by Illinois, or any otherplace where he had a right to oppose it, of therecent Massachusetts constitutional provision re-stricting foreign-born citizens in the right of suf-frage. It is well to repeat the broad philosophical. JOHN BELL. LINCOLN ELECTED 289 principle which guided him to this conclusion: chap. the spirit of our institutions to Ltaco]ntoaim at the elevation of men, I am opposed to what- doreTcan-ever tends to degrade them. ui,8i«»?T As the campaign progressed the chances of theresult underwent an important fluctuation, involv-ing some degree of uncertainty. The Democraticdisruption, and the presence of four tickets in thefield, rendered it possible that some very narrowplurality in one or more of the States might turnthe scale of victory. Calculating politicians, espe-cially those belonging to the party hitherto inpower, and who had enjoyed the benefits of itsextensive Federal patronage, seized eagerly uponthis possibility as a means of prolonging theirofficial tenure, and showed themselves not unwill-ing to sacrifice the principles of the general con-test to the mere materia
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