There are two classes of men, materialists and visionaries. The materialist is a slave to the fact. He is so intent on the earth that he seldom enjoys a glimpse of star or constellation. Still he is a student of methods and results, a worshipper of success, and hence he is generally in the ascendancy. The visionary is a slave to his ideal, he looks at the world as it should be and not as it is. While he gazes at the sunset and the evening star he falls in the pit at his feet. He resembles the mariner of Heine:
"A wonderful lovely maiden,Sits high in her glory there,Her robe with gems is laden,And she combeth her golden hair,And as she combs it,The gold comb glistens,The while she is singing a song,That hath a mystical sound and a wonderful melody,The boatman when once she has bound him,Is lost in wild mad love,He sees not the black rocks around him,He sees but the beauty above."
The real leaders in the world's history have been idealists of high practical wisdom. They have been the captains, not the subjects of their ideal. The petty politician rules for the day. The men who dominate the ages give substance to shadow, make the dream of one day the reality of another, crystallize the yearnings of humanity into statute and decision.
The world is used to the omnipresent politician. The visionary, the undaunted reformer, is not an infrequent participant in the domain of affairs. The political idealist, with the judgment of the one and the inspiration of the other, is so rare that he confounds by his presence. The combination astounds the generation unaccustomed to such a phenomenon. The man of high endowments is stupidly expected to be wanting in worldliness, and the practical representative of the people in the vision. The solution of all political problems depends on political sagacity illumined with altruism. The political idealist consummates the alliance of vision with method.
Lincoln was neither idealist nor politician. With the idealist he was faithful to the vision, with the politician he studied the way to success. He was not lost in mere adoration of the ideal; was not content until it became a reality. He blended the enthusiasm of the visionary with the wisdom of the politician. He was the ideal politician.
Lincoln was the prophet politician of his time, blending the righteousness of the Hebraic seer with political sagacity. He faced failure imperiously. He was never finally vanquished. He looked beyond temporary triumph to ultimate consequences. Despite setback, disaster and every obstacle, he had abounding faith in the abiding triumph of justice.
He knew the shortcomings of human nature, the painful, sluggard progress of moral evolution. He weighed men as they were and not as he wished them to be. Hence, he was patient with their failings. He made ample allowance for the heavy hand of habit, for ancestral, religious, political, social and industrial environment. That men were largely the children of their time was to him an ever present truth. Coöperation not antagonism was his method of achievement. He would not force progress and he recognized the sway of the grim law of necessity. He measured the labored march of public sentiment. He waited the slow processes of time; was no believer in magical reforms or quack political remedies. He did not squander his energies in the wonderland of dreams. He is the wisest politician in American history, consummate in his strategy for the general welfare, the supreme friend and champion of democracy and humanity.
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Benton, Thomas H., Thirty years' view; or, a history of the working of the American government for thirty years, from 1820 to 1850. II v. New York, 1854.
Birbeck, Morris, Notes of a journey in America from the coast of Virginia to the territory of Illinois: with proposals for the establishment of a colony of English, accompanied by a map illustrating the route to Dublin. Reprinted for Thomas Larkin, 1818.
Brown, Samuel R., The Western Gazetteer. Auburn, N. Y., 1817.
Cartwright, Peter, Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, the backwoods preacher. Edited by W. P. Strickland. New York, 1856.
Chittenden, L. E., Recollections of President Lincoln and his administration. New York, 1891.
Collins, Lewis, History of Kentucky. 2 vols., Covington, Ky.
Cox, Sanford C., Recollections of the early settlers of the Wabash Valley. Lafayette, Ind., 1860.
Darbey, John F., Personal recollections of many prominent people whom I have known. St. Louis, 1880.
Dillon, John B., History of Indiana from its earliest exploration by Europeans to the close of the territorial government in 1816, with historical notes of the discovery and settlement of the territory of the U. S. northwest of the River Ohio. I v. Indianapolis, 1843.
Drake, Daniel, Pioneer life in Kentucky. Cincinnati, 1870.
Ford, Thomas, History of Illinois. Chicago, 1854.
Gilmore, James R., Personal recollections of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Boston, 1898.
Goodrich & Tuttle, History of Indiana. Indianapolis, Ind., 1875.
Grant, U. S., Personal memoirs of. 2 volumes in one. New York, 1894.
Greeley, Horace, The American conflict. Chicago, 1866.
Herndon, William H., Herndon's Lincoln. 2 vols. New York, 1916.
Illinois State Historical Society, Transactions of. Publication No. VIII for the year 1900. Springfield, Ill., 1900.
Indiana Historical Society, Publications of. Indianapolis, 1895.
Johnson, Oliver, William Lloyd Garrison and his times. Boston, 1880.
Jones, N. E., The Squirrel Hunters of Ohio, or, glimpses of pioneer life. Cincinnati, 1898.
Lamon, Ward H., The life of Abraham Lincoln. Boston, 1872.
Lovejoy, J. C., and Owen, Memoirs of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. New York, 1838.
Macon County, Publications of. Philadelphia, 1879.
Maltby, Charles, The life and public services of Abraham Lincoln. Stockton, Cal., 1844.
Martyn, W. C., Wendell Phillips, the Agitator. 1890.
McClure's Early Life of Abraham Lincoln, By Ida M. Tarbell assisted by J. McCan Davis. New York, 1896.
McLean County Historical Society, Transactions of. 3 vols. Bloomington, Ill., 1899.
Milburn, William Henry, Milburn on pioneer preachers. New York, 1860.
Nicolay & Hay, Abraham Lincoln, a history by John G. Nicolay and John Hay. X v. New York, 1890.
John G. Nicolay and John Hay. Abraham Lincoln's complete works, comprising his speeches, letters, state papers and miscellaneous writings. Edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay. II v. New York, 1902.
Oldroyd, Osborn H., The Lincoln Memorial; collected and edited by Osborn H. Oldroyd. New York, 1882.
Palmer, John M., Personal recollections of. Cincinnati, 1901.
Ranck, George W., History of Lexington, Ky. Cincinnati, 1872.
Rice, Allen Thorndike, Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by distinguished men of his time. Collected and edited by Allen Thorndike Rice. Sixth Edition. New York, 1888.
Ross, Harvey Lee, The early pioneers and pioneer events in the State of Illinois. Chicago, 1899.
Sangamon County, History of Springfield. 1881. Inter State Pub. Co., Chicago.
Shaler, N. S., History of Kentucky. American Commonwealth Series. Boston, 1895.
Sheahan, James, The life of Stephen A. Douglas. New York, 1860.
Smith, William C., Indiana miscellany, containing sketches of Indian life, the early settlement, customs and hardships of the people, and the introduction of the gospel and schools, together with biographical notices of the pioneer Methodist preachers of the state. Cincinnati, 1867.
Smith, William Henry, History of the State of Indiana. 2d ed. II v. Western Pub. Co. Indianapolis, 1903.
Stevens, Frank E., The Black Hawk War, including a review of Black Hawk's Life. Chicago, 1903.
Stewart, James Hervey, Recollections of the early settlement of Carroll County, Indiana. Cincinnati, 1872.
Tarbell, Ida M., The Life of Abraham Lincoln. II v. New York, 1904.
Warrick, Spencer and Perry Counties, Indiana. History of. Chicago, 1885.
Whitney, Life on the Circuit with Lincoln.