He
not only made an extensive canvass in Illinois, but also made a number
of speeches in the adjoining State of Indiana.
It was probably during that year that a tacit agreement was reached
among the Whig leaders in Sangamon County, that each would be satisfied
with one term in Congress and would not seek a second nomination. But
Hardin was the aspirant from the neighboring county of Morgan, and
apparently therefore not included in this arrangement. Already, in the
fall of 1845, Lincoln industriously began his appeals and instructions
to his friends in the district to secure the succession. Thus he wrote
on November 17:
"The paper at Pekin has nominated Hardin for governor, and, commenting
on this, the Alton paper indirectly nominated him for Congress. It would
give Hardin a great start, and perhaps use me up, if the Whig papers of
the district should nominate him for Congress. If your feelings toward
me are the same as when I saw you (which I have no reason to doubt), I
wish you would let nothing appear in your paper which may operate
against me. You understand. Matters stand just as they did when I saw
you. Baker is certainly off the track, and I fear Hardin intends to be
on it."
But again, as before, the spirit of absolute fairness governed all his
movements, and he took special pains to guard against it being
"suspected that I was attempting to juggle Hardin out of a nomination
for Congress by juggling him into one for governor.
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