Your letter of the a 3 d, was received on yesterday morning, and for
which (instead of an excuse, which you thought proper to ask) I tender
you my sincere thanks. It is truly gratifying to me to learn that, while
the people of Sangamon have cast me off, my old friends of Menard, who
have known me longest and best, stick to me. It would astonish, if
not amuse, the older citizens to learn that I (a stranger, friendless,
uneducated, penniless boy, working on a flatboat at ten dollars per
month) have been put down here as the candidate of pride, wealth, and
aristocratic family distinction. Yet so, chiefly, it was. There was,
too, the strangest combination of church influence against me. Baker is
a Campbellite; and therefore, as I suppose, with few exceptions got all
that church. My wife has some relations in the Presbyterian churches,
and some with the Episcopal churches; and therefore, wherever it would
tell, I was set down as either the one or the other, while it was
everywhere contended that no Christian ought to go for me, because I
belonged to no church, was suspected of being a deist, and had talked
about fighting a duel. With all these things, Baker, of course, had
nothing to do. Nor do I complain of them. As to his own church going
for him, I think that was right enough, and as to the influences I
have spoken of in the other, though they were very strong, it would be
grossly untrue and unjust to charge that they acted upon them in a body
or were very near so. I only mean that those influences levied a tax
of a considerable per cent. upon my strength throughout the religious
controversy. But enough of this.
You say that in choosing a candidate for Congress you have an equal
right with Sangamon, and in this you are undoubtedly correct. In
agreeing to withdraw if the Whigs of Sangamon should go against me, I
did not mean that they alone were worth consulting, but that if she,
with her heavy delegation, should be against me, it would be impossible
for me to succeed, and therefore I had as well decline. And in relation
to Menard having rights, permit me fully to recognize them, and to
express the opinion that, if she and Mason act circumspectly, they will
in the convention be able so far to enforce their rights as to decide
absolutely which one of the candidates shall be successful. Let me show
the reason of this. Hardin, or some other Morgan candidate, will get
Putnam, Marshall, Woodford, Tazewell, and Logan—making sixteen. Then
you and Mason, having three, can give the victory to either side.
You say you shall instruct your delegates for me, unless I object. I
certainly shall not object. That would be too pleasant a compliment for
me to tread in the dust. And besides, if anything should happen (which,
however, is not probable) by which Baker should be thrown out of the
fight, I would be at liberty to accept the nomination if I could get
it. I do, however, feel myself bound not to hinder him in any way from
getting the nomination. I should despise myself were I to attempt it.
I think, then, it would be proper for your meeting to appoint three
delegates and to instruct them to go for some one as the first choice,
some one else as a second, and perhaps some one as a third; and if in
those instructions I were named as the first choice, it would gratify me
very much. If you wish to hold the balance of power, it is important for
you to attend to and secure the vote of Mason also: You should be sure
to have men appointed delegates that you know you can safely confide in.
If yourself and James Short were appointed from your county, all would
be safe; but whether Jim’s woman affair a year ago might not be in the
way of his appointment is a question. I don’t know whether you know it,
but I know him to be as honorable a man as there is in the world. You
have my permission, and even request, to show this letter to Short; but
to no one else, unless it be a very particular friend who you know will
not speak of it.
Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN.
P. S Will you write me again?