February 12, 1809- Birthdate of Abraham Lincoln

If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his true friend.

16^th President, 1861-1865, Died by assassination April 15, 1865

- from his speech, given February 22, 1842 to the Springfield chapter of the Washington Temperance Society at the Second Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Illinois. Taken in and of itself, Lincoln's quote seems like a nice, folksy bit of wisdom. In this context of his speech, however, he stirs up some controversy. In 1842, at the age of thirty-three, Lincoln had gained some popularity in Springfield. He was a member of the Illinois State Legislature and a sometimes travelling lawyer on the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit. On this day, he speaks to the Washington Temperance Society on the 110th anniversary of Washington's birthday. The Washington Temperance Society was a 19th-century fellowship founded on April 2, 1840 by six alcoholics at Chase's Tavern on Liberty Street in Baltimore, Maryland. The idea was that by relying on each other, sharing their alcoholic experiences and creating an atmosphere of conviviality, they could keep each other sober. Total abstinence from alcohol was their goal. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washingtonian_movement). Such an approach was similar to that of today's Alcoholics Anonymous movement. Their philosophy stood out in contrast to those who supported the temperance movement of the time which sought to ban the manufacture and consumption of alcohol. They believed that those who drank to excess (drunkards) were somehow morally weak and needed to be saved from the temptations of alcohol. Lincoln gives more credit for successful redemption of drunkards to the Washingtonians than to preachers or others in society who would condemn those who became drunkards. In his remarks, Lincoln states, "In my judgment, it is to the battles of this new class of champions that our late success is greatly, perhaps chiefly, owing. But, had the old school champions themselves, been of the most wise selecting, was their system of tactics, the most judicious? It seems to me, it was not"..."When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and a true maxim, that a "drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall." So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason."...Such is man, and so must he be understood by those who would lead him, even to his own best interest." (http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/temperance.htm) Furthermore, Lincoln does not advocate condemnation of those who produce alcoholic beverages. With his remarks, Lincoln would not have seem to have endeared himself to those "upright" citizens who supported Prohibition. Coincidentally, Lincoln, himself, did not drink but was fond of repeating another saying that "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." George Washington, ironically, upon his retirement from public office ran and operated the nation's largest distillery at his Mt. Vernon estate. As in many parts of life, he followed the philosophy of in moderation.