My reaction to this quote is that Abraham Lincoln is referring to the ideal that once people have power they tend to abuse it for their advantage, and personal gain. For Example, gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the manipulation of the county sizing and grouping in states by the Legislative branch to guarantee their reelection into federal or state offices. A typically Democratic city perhaps may be grouped or redrawn to conjoin with a vastly Republican populated area, creating a larger group of supporters of one party, and a polarized county.
there are different meanings of soil. here are a few with some examples :
-"She soiled herself because her parents wouldn't take her to the bathroom." You can first assume it has to do with the bathroom because it says so in the text, now another definition of soil is dirt, or the top layer of the earth. using this definition you can assume it is dirty. Then another clue would be that SHE soiled HERSELF. Using these clues you can assume it means that she had to use the BATHROOM and because her parents wouldn't let her she went to the bathroom on herself.
-"The Gardner put some new soil down to help cover the gopher holes." You can now assume that soil has to do with gardening because it says so in the text. You can also infer that they used it to cover gopher holes. You can now get a better understanding because gophers like to dig holes in dirt. Using these clues you can predict soil is dirt.
