I have thought a great deal about the upcoming newsletter, but I do not feel right about prattling on about interest rates and markets in light of recent events. My heart is just not in it. I beg everyone’s indulgence as I return once again to my fallen hero and endless source of inspiration.
In 1838, a young Abraham Lincoln became deeply concerned with mob violence and division in America. He feared for the future of our country and expressed these concerns to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield. I am reproducing some excerpts below and shall get the newsletter out sometime next week. In other words, I am punting.
The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions:
Address Before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois
January 27, 1838
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…
Upon these let the proud fabric of freedom rest, 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.”
I love the entire address, but the staff told me that it was too long. So, the full text can be found here: https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/lyceum.htm