Courtesy: The Claremont Institute
Abraham Lincoln
Fragmentary Writing, c. 1858
("A Meditation on Proverbs 25:11")
[The prosperity of the United States] is not the result of accident. It has a philosophic cause. Without the Constitution and the Union, we could not have attained the result; but even these are not the primary cause of our great prosperity. There is something back of these, entwining itself more closely about the human heart. That something, is the principle of "Liberty to all" -- the principle that clears the path for all -- gives hope to all -- and, by consequence, enterprise and industry to all.
The expression of that principle, in our Declaration of Independence, was most happy, and fortunate. Without this, as well as with it, we could have declared our independence of Great Britain; but without it, we could not, I think, have secured our free government and consequent prosperity. The assertion of that principle, at that time, was the word "fitly spoken" which has proven an "apple of gold" to us. The Union, and the Constitution, are the picture of silver, subsequently framed around it. The picture was made, not to conceal, or destroy the apple; but to adorn and preserve it. The picture was made for the apple -- not the apple for the picture.
So let us act, that neither picture, or apple shall ever be blurred, bruised or broken.
That we may so act, we must study, and understand the points of danger.
From Roy P. Blaser, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1953), vol. iv, 168 (italics in original).
Abraham Lincoln
The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions:
Address to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois
January 27, 1838
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 character 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 Primers,
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.
From Abraham Lincoln, Speeches and Writings: 1832-1858, edited by Don Fehrenbacher (N.Y.: Library of America, 1989), pp. 32-33 (italics in original).