Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1922-02-24
wTHF POLITICAL RELIGION OF
THE NATION"
Address of Abraham Lincoln When He Was Twenty-Eisht Years
Ole. Before the Young Mems Lyceum at Springfield Illinois

III AAC &AGAA a1AAA
pening under the sun, we, the Amerl-
a people. find our account running
under date of the nineteenth century
of the Christian era. We find our
selves in the peaceful possession OF
the fairest portion of the earth. as re
CARDS fertility of soil. extent Of terri
tory. and salubrity of climate. We ind
ourselves under the government OF a
system of political institutions con
ducted 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 find ourselves the legal in
heritors of these fundamental bless
ings. We toiled not in the acquire
ment or the establishment Of them
They are ~legacies b~eQueathed to us by
a once hardy. brave. patriotic, but now
lamented and departed race OF anees-
tors. Theirs was the task land nobly
they performed it, to possess them
selves. and through themselves us, OF
this goodly land and to rear upon It's
hills and valleys a political edihce OF
liberty and equal rights. It's ours
only to transmit these, the former IN
profaned BIZ the foot of the invader
and the latter ~undeeayed by the lapse
of time. This. cur duty 10 ourselves
and our posterity, and love for cur
species in general. imperauyely re-
Quires us 10 perform.
How then shall We perform it? At
what points shall we expect the ap-
proach of danger? BY what means
shall we fortify against il? Shall We
expect some Transatlantic giant to
step across the ocean and crush us at
a blow9 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 Bonaparte for 2 commander,
could not by force take q drink from
the Ohio or make a track on the Blue
Ridge in a trial of q thousand years
At what point then is the approach OF
danger TO be expected? I answer il
it ever reaches US, it Il spring up
AMONG Us II NaA-A0A 1N-AAN -
abroad. If destruction be our lot, we
ourselves must be its author and n
Usher. AS a nation of freedmen, We
must live through all time or die by
suicide. There is ever To- something
of i'll omen among US. I mean the in
creasing disregard of law which per-
vades the country. the growing dlspQ-
sition to substitute the wild and fu-
rious passions in lieu Of the sober
Judgment of courts. and the worse
than savage mobs. for the executive
ministers of justice. This disposition
is fearful in n community, and that
it exists in ours. though grating TO
our feelings TO admit, it would be a
violation of truth and an insult to in
t~elligence to DENY. I know the Ameri-
can people are much attached TO their
government know they would suf-
fer much for its sake. I know they
would endure evils long and patiently
before they would 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 e mob, the
alienation OF their affection from the
government is a natural sequence, and
to that sooner or later it must come.
Here. then, is the point at which
danger may be expected. The Ques-
ton recurs. how shall we fortify
against it? The answer is simple; let
every American. every lover Of lib
erty. every well-wisher 10 his pos
terity swear by the blood Of the Revo-
luton never TO violate in the least
particular the laws of the country and
never 10 tolerate their violation by
others. AS the patriots of 10 did TO
the support Of the Declaration Of indie
pendenee, so TO the support Of the con-
stitution and the laws, let every
American pledge his life, his property
and his sacred honor; let every man
remember that 10 violate the law is
TO trample upon the blood Of his faith
ers and 70 tear the charter Of his own
and his children's liberty. Let rev
erence for the laws be bre2thed by
every American mother 10 the lisping
babe that prattles or her lap. Let il
be taught in schools, in seminaries,
and in colleges Let il be written in
primers. spelling books and almanacs
Let it be preached from the pulpits,
proclaimed in legislative halls and en-
forced in courts Of justice. In short,
let it become the political religion Of
the nation"
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