"TO THE PEOPLE OF SANGAMON COUNTY--Fellow Citizens: I have this moment been shown a handbill signed 'Truth Teller' in which my name is done up in large capitals. No one can doubt the object of this attack at this late hour. An effort is now made to show that John T. Stuart and myself opposed the passage of the bill by which the Wiggins loan was paid. The handbill says--the only vote taken on the bill when the yeas and nays were taken was upon engrossing the bill for a third reading. 'That's a lie!' Let the reader refer to pages 124, 125 and 126 of the Journal and he will see that the yeas and nays were taken _twice_ upon the bill _after_ the vote referred to by this lying Truth Teller, and he will also see that my course toward the bill was anything but unfriendly. It is impossible to make a lengthy answer at this late hour. All I have to say is that the author is a liar and a _scoundrel_, and that if he will avow the authorship to me, I promise to give his proboscis a good wringing. A. Lincoln."[98] [98] Hand bill in possession of Dr. Jayne, Springfield, Ill. One of the sure signs of the spirit of increasing partisanship was the virulence and bitterness of political gatherings. Contests between leaders became frequent. Debates were had on the prairie that equaled in earnestness senatorial controversies. There was all the high tension of the gladiatorial combat intensified by the championship of something more than a personal issue--the stake of party principles. We are informed that on one occasion a Whig candidate, at the top of his voice, branded the statement of a Democratic opponent, as false. As passion ran high, a duel seemed a likely result. Lincoln followed on the program. With his marvelous fairness he discussed the subject gently and serenely so as to satisfy friend and foe. Judicial, though earnest in advocacy, he fully calmed the tumult.[99] [99] Lamon, 188. It was doubtless at this time that the following incident deeply disturbed his calmness. Something had displeased the "wild boys" who had been his supporters from the first. Perhaps a rumor that he affected strange ways, or voted for some measure not to their liking, caused the trouble. The leader at once gave the call and they gathered. Seldom revealing himself, he then gave freedom to his emotion. He told them that he never would forget those who had given him his start, the men who stood by him, who had made him what he was and all that he hoped to be. He bade them if they still cherished unkindness, if they still held him guilty, to tear him to pieces limb by limb. The generous hearts of the frontiersmen, overcome by this unwonted display of feeling, lost all resentment, and the leader regained his prestige thus rudely shaken.[100] [100] Oldroyd, 557.