by Abraham Lincoln
This government must be preserved, in spite of the acts of any man or set of men. No where in the world is there presented a government of so much liberty and equality. To the humblest and poorest among us are held the highest privileges and positions. What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and independence?
It is not the frowning battlements or bristling sea coast, our army and navy. These are not our reliance against tyranny. Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in us. Our defense is in the spirit, which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors!
At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic giant to step the ocean, and crush us in a blow? NEVER!!
All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge.
At what point then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up among us, it can not come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be it’s author, and it’s finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide!!
Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with the ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day. No,…No!! Man was made for immortality!!
It is interesting that before Abraham Lincoln became president of the United States, he knew what the danger was to this country. His insight that if our nation was to ever be overthrown, it would have to come from within the people or government of this nation, not from somewhere else! Perhaps it is time to look at our own interests, and see where we fall. Are we the problem to our current dilemmas, or are we going to be the solution?