This speech gave Lincoln a prominence that led to the dramatic debates with Douglas and that fastened the attention of the nation on the combat. The Lincoln-Douglas controversy was the fruition of this Springfield speech. This address is the most fitting line of demarcation between Lincoln the Citizen of Illinois and Lincoln the Citizen of the United States.
CHAPTER XVI
THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
The political condition of a nation is a symptom of its health or disease. Official corruption is an unfailing sign of national degeneration. Art, science and commerce may thrive, yet if dishonesty and selfishness rule in the administration of public affairs, there is no substantial progress. The real civilization of a nation can advance little beyond the state of public service. When citizens are indifferent to the general welfare, when the rights of the many are entrusted to the designing, when talent is dedicated to the acquisition of wealth or the mere promotion of art, then in spite of mountain high learning and world wide commercial prosperity, a nation is in the domain of danger.
A crisis reveals the potency of the politician and statesman. When war or internal conflict shows its "wrinkled front," then the merchant, the manufacturer, the artist, and the scientist forget their pride. The true politician is the incarnation of civil patriotism and guards the nation during the long days of peace, with an unfailing heroism like that of the soldier in the sudden test of war. The devotion of the civil hero is not spectacular and is often undervalued. The whole history of humanity has been a giant effort to beget a democracy where the genius of the few shall become the possession of many. When a nation cannot command the best heart and brain of its citizens for its service it is bankrupt.
The problem of Democratic government is the maintenance of a just balance between the radical and conservative elements of society, between anarchy and apathy. American history was for a long time largely a struggle between visionary abolitionist and slavery adherent. Northern reformers turned all Southerners into vigorous advocates of human bondage, while Southern radicals finally abolitionized the North. Slaveholders were the children of a long established selfish interest. Abolitionists were possessed of a vision. Neither understood the other. Rock and cloud were not more unlike. Each saw only the injustice in the opposing position, and had no charity for the environment and traditions of the other. There could be no compromise between a Wendell Phillips and a Preston Brooks. War was the only solution.
Statesmanship looks to the preservation of the primal principles of the Republic, favors the general welfare whenever circumstances permit, seeks its progressive evolution, encourages prudent reform, a reform that is not the parent of reaction. It avoids alike the radicalism of the demagogue and the stagnation of the materialist. While stupid conservatism is unwittingly the main friend of anarchy, statesmanship is its chief foe. The stability of the Republic depends on wise leadership, courageous enough to combat violence on the one hand and greed on the other.
Egoism and foolish fears are the chief obstacles of human progress. Self interest being the main source of human action, it is the problem of the politician to quicken the public conscience and convince the community that advancement and enlightened selfishness are companions. Altruism is a large factor in human evolution, yet not so basic that it may be made the foundation of abiding government. It is a high mission to lead the people to the conception of making self interest an every day servant of the general welfare.