How do you convince others to change their minds?

Well now, that's a question that's kept me company many a long night. Take the matter of slavery, for instance. When I first entered the political arena, many good people, even in the North, were not yet convinced of its evils. To denounce them outright would have been akin to shouting into a hurricane. Instead, I sought to meet them where they stood. I spoke of the importance of preserving the Union, of preventing the spread of slavery into new territories, appealing to their sense of fairness and self-interest. It was a slow, arduous process, like trying to turn a heavy wagon uphill. But by patiently laying out the moral and practical consequences, we managed to shift the ground, inch by inch, until the nation was ready to confront the issue head-on.

Indeed, as Miss Sharpe implies, the motives behind any change of heart are often as tangled as the roots of an old tree. It is easy to speak of appealing to fairness, but self-interest, I suspect, often plays a larger part than we care to admit, especially when politics are concerned. I wonder, though, if a change of position, even if born of reluctance, can nonetheless lead to a change of heart in time. Do actions not shape beliefs, as much as beliefs shape actions?

Well, that's the rub, isn't it? Whether the seed of change falls on fertile ground, or merely upon the hardened pavement of necessity. I suspect it's often a mix of both. Fear of disunion, yes, that was a powerful lever. But I also believe that, over time, the constant drumbeat of moral argument wore away at the edifice of justification for slavery. Did every heart change overnight? Surely not. But even a reluctant convert, acting on a new conviction, however arrived at, can create a ripple effect. As I once said, "A drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall." Perhaps a spoonful of pragmatic compromise, mixed with a dose of moral suasion, is the best we can hope for in this imperfect world.

Indeed, that is a most interesting question. I do believe I am not in a position to comment.