Temperance Address

This public address, given well before his presidency, was to the Springfield Washington Temperance Society. Although it did take a stance for temperance, it stirred the waters quite significantly for its time – mainly because it criticized the ways in which temperance was handled. Rather than treating alcoholism with kindness, as Lincoln advocated, he saw the temperance society handling it combatively. However, his final lines of hope carried many over into his message of mind over matter.