to meet the honest obligations of the commonwealth, commonly called
"the Wiggins loan"; and the other was a law to prevent bulls of
inferior size and breed from running at large. This latter set loose
all the winds of popular fury: it was cruel, it was aristocratic; it
was in the interest of rich men and pampered foreign bulls; and it
ended the career of many an aspiring politician in a blast of
democratic indignation and scorn. The politician who relied upon
immediate and constant contact with the people certainly earned all
the emoluments of office he received. His successes were hardly
purchased by laborious affability. "A friend of mine," says Ford,
"once informed me that he intended to be a candidate for the
Legislature, but would not declare himself until just before the
election, and assigned as a reason that it was so very hard to be
clever for a long time at once." Before the caucus had eliminated the
individual initiative, there was much more of personal feeling in
elections. A vote against a man had something of offense in it, and
sometimes stirred up a defeated candidate to heroic vengeance. In 1827
the Legislature elected a State treasurer after an exciting contest,
and before the members had left the house the unsuccessful aspirant
came in and soundly thrashed, one after the other, four of the
representatives who had voted against him. Such energy was sure to
meet its reward, and he was soon after made clerk of the Circuit
Court. It is related by old citizens of Menard County, as a
circumstance greatly to the credit of Abraham Lincoln, that when he
was a candidate for the Legislature a man who wanted his vote for
another place walked to the polls with him and ostentatiously voted
for him, hoping to receive his vote in return. Lincoln voted against
him, and the act was much admired by those who saw it.

One noticeable fact is observed in relation to the politicians of the