From the outset, Lincoln was one
of the most active and effective leaders and speakers of the new party,
and the great debates between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858, as the
respective champions of the restriction and extension of slavery,
attracted the attention of the whole country. Lincoln's powerful
arguments carried conviction everywhere. His moral nature was thoroughly
aroused his conscience was stirred to the quick. Unless slavery was
wrong, nothing was wrong. Was each man, of whatever color, entitled to
the fruits of his own labor, or could one man live in idle luxury by the
sweat of another's brow, whose skin was darker? He was an implicit
believer in that principle of the Declaration of Independence that all
men are vested with certain inalienable rights the equal rights to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. On this doctrine he staked his
case and carried it. We have time only for one or two sentences in which
he struck the keynote of the contest.
"The real issue in this country is the eternal struggle between these two
principles--right and wrong--throughout the world.
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