From: [k--ar--s] at [cc.memphis.edu]
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns,alt.politics.clinton,alt.politics.usa.republican
Subject: Abraham Lincoln speaks!
Date: 24 May 95 11:13:24 -0500

[A dispatch from the past, that is increasingly relevant today...
From the forthcoming "An Arsenal of Commonplace Quotations in
context,"  -KB]

Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois
January 27, 1838

THE PERPETUATION OF OUR POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
by Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

   As a subject for the remarks of the evening, _the perpetuation
of our political institutions,_ is selected.
   In the great journal of things happening under the sun, we,
the American People, find our account running, under date of the
nineteenth century of the Christian era.  We find ourselves in
the peaceful possession, of the fairest portion of the earth, as 
regards extent of territory, fertility of soil, and salubrity of 
climate.  We find ourselves under the government of a system of 
political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of 
civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of 
former times tells us.  We, when mounting the stage of existence, 
found ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental 
blessings.  We toiled not in the acquirement or establishment of 
them --they are a legacy bequeathed us, by a _once_ hardy, brave 
and patriotic, but _now_ lamented and departed race of ancestors.
Their's was the task (and nobly they performed it) to possess 
themselves, and through themselves, us, of this goodly land; and 
to uprear upon its hills and its valleys, a political edifice of 
liberty and equal rights; 'tis ours only, to transmit these,
the former, unprofaned by the foot of an invader; the latter, 
undecayed by the lapse of time, and untorn by [usurpation --to the 
latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know.  This 
task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to] ourselves, duty to 
posterity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively 
require us faithfully to perform.
   How, then, shall we perform it?  At what point shall we expect 
the approach of danger?  By what means shall we fortify against it?
Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean,
and crush us at a blow?  Never!  All the armies of Europe, Asia and
Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted)
in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not
by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue
Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
   At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected?
I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us.
It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must 
ourselves be its author and finisher.  As a nation of freemen, we 
must live through all time, or die by suicide.
   I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is, even now, 
something of ill omen amongst us.  I mean the increasing disregard 
for law which pervades the country; the growing disposition to 
substitute the wild and furious passions, in lieu of the sober 
judgement of Courts; and the worse than savage mobs, for the 
executive ministers of justice.  This disposition is awfully 
fearful in any community, and that it now exists in ours, though 
grating to our feelings to admit, it would be a violation of 
truth, and an insult to our intelligence, to deny.  Accounts of 
outrages committed by mobs, form the every-day news of the times.  
They have pervaded the country, from New England to Louisiana;
--they are neither peculiar to the eternal snows of the former,
nor the burning suns of the latter; --they are not the creature of 
climate --neither are they confined to the slaveholding, or the 
non-slaveholding States.  Alike, they spring up among the pleasure 
hunting masters of Southern slaves, and the order loving citizens 
of the land of steady habits.  Whatever, then, their cause may be, 
it is common to the whole country.
   It would be tedious, as well as useless, to recount the horrors 
of all of them.  Those happening in the State of Mississippi, and 
at St. Louis, are, perhaps, the most dangerous in example, and 
revolting to humanity.  In the Mississippi case, they first 
commenced by hanging the regular gamblers: a set of men, certainly 
not following for a livelihood, a very useful or very honest 
occupation, but one which, so far from being forbidden by the laws 
was actually licensed by an act of the Legislature, passed but a 
single year before.  Next, negroes, suspected of conspiring to 
raise an insurrection, were caught up and hanged in all parts of 
the State: then white men, supposed to be leagued with the 
negroes; and finally, strangers, from neighboring States, going 
thither on business, were, in many instances, subjected to the 
same fate.  Thus went on this process of hanging, from gamblers
to negroes, from negroes to white citizens, and from these to 
strangers; till dead men were seen literally dangling from the 
boughs of trees upon every road side; and in numbers almost 
sufficient, to rival the native Spanish moss of the country, as
a drapery of the forest.
   Turn, then, to that horror-striking scene at St. Louis.  A 
single victim was only sacrificed there.  His story is very short; 
and is, perhaps, the most highly tragic, of any thing of its 
length, that has ever been witnessed in real life.  A mulatto man, 
by the name of McIntosh, was seized in the street, dragged to the 
suburbs of the city, chained to a tree, and actually burned to 
death; and all within a single hour from the time he had been a 
freeman, attending to his own business, and at peace with the 
world.
   Such are the effects of mob law; and such are the scenes, 
becoming more and more frequent in this land so lately famed for 
love of law and order; and the stories of which, have even now 
grown too familiar, to attract any thing more, than an idle 
remark.
   But you are, perhaps, ready to ask, "What has this to do with 
the perpetuation of our political institutions?"  I answer, it has 
much to do with it.  Its direct consequences are, comparatively 
speaking, but a small evil; and much of its danger consists, in 
the proneness of our minds, to regard its direct, as its only 
consequences.  Abstractly considered, the hanging of the gamblers 
at Vicksburg, was of but little consequence.  They constitute a 
portion of population, that is worse than useless in a[ny 
community; and their death, if no perni]cious example be set by 
it, is never matter of reasonable regret with any one.  If they 
were annually swept, from the stage of existence, by the plague or 
small pox, honest men would, perhaps, be much profited, by the 
operation.  Similar too, is the correct reasoning, in regard to 
the burning of the negro at St. Louis.  He had forfeited his life, 
by the perpetration of an outrageous murder, upon one of the most 
worthy and respectable citizens of the city; and had he not died 
as he did, he must have died by the sentence of the law, in a very 
short time afterwards.  As to him alone, it was as well the way it 
was, as it could otherwise have been.  But the example in either 
case, was fearful.  When men take it in their heads to day, to 
hang gamblers, or burn murderers, they should recollect, that, in 
the confusion usually attending such transactions, they will be as 
likely to hang or burn some one, who is neither a gambler nor a 
murderer [as] one who is; and that, acting upon the [exam]ple they 
set, the mob of to-morrow, may, an[d] probably will, hang or burn 
some of them, [by th]e very same mistake.  And not only so; the 
innocent, those who have ever set their faces against violations 
of law in every shape, alike with the guilty, fall victims to the 
ravages of mob law; and thus it goes on, step by step, till all 
the walls erected for the defence of the persons and property of 
individuals, are trodden dawn, and disregarded.  But all this 
even, is not the full extent of the evil.  By such examples, by 
instances of the perpetrators of such acts going unpunished, the 
lawless in spirit, are encouraged to become lawless in practice; 
and having been used to no restraint, but dread of punishment, 
they thus become, absolutely unrestrained.  Having ever regarded 
Government as their deadliest bane, they make a jubilee of the 
suspension of its operations; and pray for nothing so much, as its 
total annihilation.  While, on the other hand, good men, men who 
love tranquility, who desire to abide by the laws, and enjoy their 
benefits, who would gladly spill their blood in the defence of 
their country; seeing their property destroyed; their families 
insulted, and their lives endangered; their persons injured; and 
seeing nothing in prospect that forebodes a change for the better; 
become tired of, and disgusted with, a Government that offers them 
no protection; and are not much averse to a change in which they 
imagine they have nothing to lose.  Thus, then, by the operation 
of this mobocratic spirit, which all must admit is now abroad in 
the land, the strongest bulwark of any Government, and 
particularly of those constituted like ours, may effectually be 
broken down and destroyed --I mean the _attachment_ of the People.  
Whenever this effect shall be produced among us; whenever the 
vicious portion of population shall be permitted to gather in 
bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob 
provision stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot 
editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and with 
impunity; depend on it, this Government cannot last.  By such 
things, the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less 
alienated from it; and thus it will be left without friends, or 
with too few, and those few too weak, to make their friendship 
effectual.  At such a time and under such circumstances, men of 
sufficient tal[ent and ambition will not be want]ing to seize [the 
opportunity, strike the blow, and overturn that fair fabric], 
which for the last half century, has been the fondest hope, of the 
lovers of freedom, throughout the world.
   I know the American people are _much_ attached to their 
Government; --I know they would suffer _much_ for its sake; --I 
know they would endure evils long and patiently, before they would 
ever think of exchanging it for another.  Yet, notwithstanding all 
this, if the laws be continually despised and disregarded, if 
their rights to be secure in their persons and property, are held 
by no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of 
their affections from the Government is the natural consequence; 
and to that, sooner or later, it must come.
   Here then, is one point at which danger may be expected.
   The question recurs "how shall we fortify against it?" The 
answer is simple.  Let every American, every lover of liberty, 
every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the 
Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of 
the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others.  As 
the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration 
of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, 
let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred 
honor; --let every man remember that to violate the law, is to 
trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the [charter] of 
his own, and his children's liberty.  Let reverence for the laws, 
be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that 
prattles on her lap --let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, 
and in colleges; --let it be written in Primmers, spelling books, 
and in Almanacs; --let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed 
in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice.  And, in 
short, let it become the _political religion_ of the nation; and 
let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and 
the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, 
sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.
   While ever a state of feeling, such as this, shall universally, 
or even, very generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will 
be every effort, and fruitless every attempt, to subvert our 
national freedom.
   When I so pressingly urge a strict observance of all the laws, 
let me not be understood as saying there are no bad laws, nor that 
grievances may not arise, for the redress of which, no legal 
provisions have been made.  I mean to say no such thing.  But I do 
mean to say, that, although bad laws, if they exist, should be 
repealed as soon as possible, still while they continue in force, 
for the sake of example, they should be religiously observed.  So 
also in unprovided cases.  If such arise, let proper legal 
provisions be made for them with the least possible delay; but, 
till then, let them if not too intolerable, be borne with.
   There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob 
law.  In any case that arises, as for instance, the promulgation 
of abolitionism, one of two positions is necessarily true; that 
is, the thing is right within itself, and therefore deserves the 
protection of all law and all good citizens; or, it is wrong, and 
therefore proper to be prohibited by legal enactments; and in 
neither case, is the interposition of mob law, either necessary, 
justifiable, or excusable.
   But, it may be asked, why suppose danger to our political 
institutions?  Have we not preserved them for more than fifty 
years?  And why may we not for fifty times as long?
   We hope there is no _sufficient_ reason.  We hope all dangers 
may be overcome; but to conclude that no danger may ever arise, 
would itself be extremely dangerous.  There are now, and will 
hereafter be, many causes, dangerous in their tendency, which have 
not existed heretofore; and which are not too insignificant to 
merit attention.  That our government should have been maintained 
in its original form from its establishment until now, is not much 
to be wondered at.  It had many props to support it through that 
period, which now are decayed, and crumbled away.  Through that 
period, it was felt by all, to be an undecided experiment; now it 
is understood to be a successful one.  Then, all that sought 
celebrity and fame, and distinction, expected to find them in the 
success of that experiment.  Their _all_ was staked upon it:
--their destiny was _inseparably_ linked with it.  Their ambition 
aspired to display before an admiring world, a practical 
demonstration of the truth of a proposition, which had hitherto 
been considered, at best no better, than problematical; namely, 
_the capability of a people to govern themselves._  If they 
succeeded, they were to be immortalized; their names were to be 
transferred to counties and cities, and rivers and mountains; and 
to be revered and sung, and toasted through all time.  If they 
failed, they were to be called knaves and fools, and fanatics for 
a fleeting hour; then to sink and be forgotten.  They succeeded.  
The experiment is successful; and thousands have won their 
deathless names in making it so.  But the game is caught; and I 
believe it is true, that with the catching, end the pleasures of 
the chase.  This field of glory is harvested, and the crop is 
already appropriated.  But new reapers will arise, and _they,_ 
too, will seek a field.  It is to deny, what the history of the 
world tells us is true, to suppose that men of ambition and 
talents will not continue to spring up amongst us.  And, when they 
do, they will as naturally seek the gratification of their ruling 
passion, as others have _so_ done before them.  The question then, 
is, can that gratification be found in supporting and maintaining 
an edifice that has been erected by others?  Most certainly it 
cannot.  Many great and good men sufficiently qualified for any 
task they should undertake, may ever be found, whose ambition 
would aspire to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial 
or a presidential chair; _but such belong not to the family of the 
lion, or the tribe of the eagle[.]_  What! think you these places 
would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napoleon?  Never!  
Towering genius disdains a beaten path.  It seeks regions hitherto 
unexplored.  It sees _no distinction_ in adding story to story, 
upon the monuments of fame, erected to the memory of others.
It _denies_ that it is glory enough to serve under any chief.  It 
_scorns_ to tread in the footsteps of _any_ predecessor, however 
illustrious.  It thirsts and burns for distinction; and, if 
possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating 
slaves, or enslaving freemen.  Is it unreasonable then to expect, 
that some man possessed of the loftiest genius, coupled with 
ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some 
time, spring up among us?  And when such a one does, it will 
require the people to be united with each other, attached to the 
government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully 
frustrate his designs.
   Distinction will be his paramount object; and although he would 
as willingly, perhaps more so, acquire it by doing good as harm; 
yet, that opportunity being past, and nothing left to be done in 
the way of building up, he would set boldly to the task of pulling 
down.
   Here then, is a probable case, highly dangerous, and such a one 
as could not have well existed heretofore.
   Another reason which _once was;_ but which, to the same extent, 
is _now no more,_ has done much in maintaining our institutions 
thus far.  I mean the powerful influence which the interesting 
scenes of the revolution had upon the _passions_ of the people as 
distinguished from their judgment.  By this influence, the 
jealousy, envy, and avarice, incident to our nature, and so common 
to a state of peace, prosperity, and conscious strength, were,
for the time, in a great measure smothered and rendered inactive; 
while the deep rooted principles of _hate,_ and the powerful 
motive of _revenge,_ instead of being turned against each other, 
were directed exclusively against the British nation.  And thus 
from the force of circumstances, the basest principles of our 
nature, were either made to lie dormant, or to become the active 
agents in the advancement of the noblest of cause[s] --that of 
establishing and maintaining civil and religious liberty.
   But this state of feeling _must fade, is fading, has faded,_ 
with the circumstances that produced it.
   I do not mean to say, that the scenes of the revolution _are 
now_ or _ever will_ be entirely forgotten; but that like every 
thing else, they must fade upon the memory of the world, and grow 
more and more dim by the lapse of time.  In history, we hope, they 
will be read of, and recounted, so long as the bible shall be 
read; --but even granting that they will, their influence _cannot 
be_ what it heretofore has been.  Even then, they _cannot be_ so 
universally known, nor so vividly felt, as they were by the 
generation just gone to rest.  At the close of that struggle, 
nearly every adult male had been a participator in some of its 
scenes.  The consequence was, that of those scenes, in the form of 
a husband, a father, a son or a brother, a _living history was_ to 
be found in every family --a history bearing the indubitable 
testimonies of its own authenticity, in the limbs mangled, in the 
scars of wounds received, in the midst of the very scenes related 
--a history, too, that could be read and understood alike by all, 
the wise and the ignorant, the learned and the unlearned.  But 
_those_ histories are gone.  They _can_ be read no more forever.  
They _were_ a fortress of strength; but, what invading foemen 
could _never_ do, the silent artillery of time _has done;_ the 
levelling of its walls.  They are gone.  They _were_ a forest of 
giant oaks; but the all-resistless hurricane has swept over them, 
and left only, here and there, a lonely trunk, despoiled of its 
verdure, shorn of its foliage; unshading and unshaded, to murmur 
in a few more gentle breezes, and to combat with its mutilated 
limbs, a few more ruder storms, then to sink, and be no more.
   They _were_ the pillars of the temple of liberty; and now, that 
they have crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, their 
descendants, supply their places with other pillars, hewn from the 
solid quarry of sober reason.  Passion has helped us; but can do 
so no more.  It will in future be our enemy.  Reason, cold, 
calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials 
for our future support and defence.  Let those [materials] be 
moulded into _general intelligence, [sound] morality_ and, in 
particular, _a reverence for the constitution and laws;_ and, that 
we improved to the last; that we remained free to the last; that 
we revered his name to the last; [tha]t, during his long sleep, we 
permitted no hostile foot to pass over or desecrate [his] resting 
place; shall be that which to le[arn the last] trump shall awaken 
our WASH[INGTON.
   Upon these] let the proud fabric of freedom r[est, as the] rock 
of its basis; and as truly as has been said of the only greater 
institution, _"the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."_

[brackets indicate illegible portions of the original text -KB]




-- 
**x*dna   Ken Barnes, LifeSci Bldg.  |       Life,       | NRA
*(==) *   The University Of Memphis  |      Liberty,     | JPFO
* \'  *   Memphis, TN                |  and the Pursuit  | GOP
*(=)***   [k--ar--s] at [cc.memphis.edu]    |___of Happiness!___| U-U

"Everything we do looks sinister, even when it's innocent screw-ups."
    --unnamed White House official, _Washington Post,_ 1/7/94