OCR Text |
Show ' x J ' r -h f ' 4 " - ' ,.--' - " , ' ' i' ( i- !,V.f ' ' 14 - s - 4 ' - : . J U ' ' r U - 4"''i' 1 . ' ; - x. x, ,. , - ri ' " " il ". - : : , t - '' " - , r It '''' i ' v? i ? y , -, S- f " (X'r ' i t ' ' y i fir, ' ' y - , p ( ' j$'ZT,M POINT shall we expeejMpS!? & ' jriger? By what means $ha'ljCig0Cfiif ; "ill we expect some tTansaJSM1 lHtfli ocross the ocean and cruMviBSfe'' : armies of Europe, AsgjWfi&& the treasure of. the .afX-mm their military chest, with a Bonaparte 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 reaches us, it must spring up among 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. k The above is an extract from a speech by Abraham Lincoln, which remained in practical obscurity for over 100 1 years, and which has taken on new significance today. It was made when Lincoln was "ut 28 years old. As though he could project himself into a new century and , into new world conditions, Lincoln spoke with something of prophetic vision against what today might be termed "Fifth Column" and other dangers from within to American liberty. Always a mystic, Lincoln comes to us over the vast expanse ex-panse of years again as a man who "belongs to the ages." There is no record of the exact reason for Lincoln's choice of subject on that now memorable day. At the time he was a comparative unknown. He had served in the Legislature Legis-lature from New Salem but without any particular distinction. distinc-tion. He had run a little store in New Salem, which he gave up because of a debt that accumulated against it for one reason or another that kept him painfully at the task of repaying re-paying it for the next 15 years. He had been admitted to the practice of law but a few months before, but when he made the speech to the Young People's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, Illi-nois, January 27, 1837, he spoke in the quality of a statesman. |