He is clear and confident in this conviction demonstrating traits of a great communicator. Anne Sarah Rubin, Contributing Editors Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napoleon?--Never! Passion has helped us; but can This field of glory is harvested, and the crop is already It is to deny, what the history of the world tells ', Jean H. Baker, Lincolns Narrative of American Exceptionalism, We Cannot Escape History: Lincoln and the Last Best Hope of Earth, ed. Debate on the Constitutionality of the Mexican War, Letters and Journals from the Oregon Trail. Never! They were the pillars of the temple of liberty; and now, that Elijah P. Lovejoy, The Liberator, December 8, 1837, The day that this article appeared, Lincoln gave a speech to the Young Mens Lyceum in Springfield. a few weeks before, by a mob, of a negro. Theywerethe pillars of the temple of liberty; and now, that they have crumbled away, that temple must fall, unless we, their descendants, supply their places with other pillars, hewn from the solid quarry of sober reason. something of ill-omen, amongst us. expense of emancipating slaves, or enslaving freemen. By what means shall we fortify against it? Most certainly it cannot. to no restraint, but dread of punishment, they thus become, I do not mean to say, that the scenes of the revolution are now ourselves be its author and finisher. I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. known, nor so vividly felt, as they were by the generation just Another reason whichonce was; but which, to the same extent, isnow no more, has done much in maintaining our institutions thus far. The This week is the 185th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's first major political speech, his Jan. 27, 1838 address at the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is, even now, something of ill-omen amongst us. It was evidently a clever maneuver to circumvent the ban on partisanship at the Lyceum., Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (2 volumes, originally published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) Unedited Manuscript By Chapter, Lincoln Studies Center, Volume 1, Chapter 5 (PDF), pp. The crowd at the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield leaned forward. their lives endangered; their persons injured; and seeing nothing It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. 'tis ours only, to transmit these, the former, unprofaned by the Conversation-based seminars for collegial PD, one-day and multi-day seminars, graduate credit seminars (MA degree), online and in-person. Distinction will be his paramount object, and although he would seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, Lincoln's Lyceum Address .pdf (Full Text) Download 29. a history bearing the indubitable testimonies of its own And when such a one does, it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his designs. hdivided@dickinson.edu It lies in the blend of clearheaded logic and powerful intuition.". must live through all time, or die by suicide. In the excerpts from the speech below, Lincoln focused on the threat from what he termed a Towering genius who might disturb the successful American experiment in self-government because he desired a new form of glory. Jean H. Baker, Lincolns Narrative of American Exceptionalism. then to sink, and be no more. Lyceum (founded about 1835) with the older Sangamon County Lyceum (founded in 1833). of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the Many great and good men, sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake, may ever be found whose ambition would aspire to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair; but such belong not to the family of the lion or the tribe of the eagle. Lyceum Address As one of Abraham Lincoln's earliest published speeches, this address has been much scrutinized and debated by historians, who see broad implications for his later public policies. any predecessor, however illustrious. of revenge, instead of being turned against each other, were 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. The papers of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, representative from Illinois, and sixteenth president of the United States, contain approximately 40,550 documents dating from 1774 to 1948, although most of the collection spans from the 1850s through Lincoln's presidency (1861-1865). that has been erected by others? bequeathed us, by a once hardy, brave, and patriotic, but now Whatever, then, their cause may be, it is common to the whole country. grating to our feelings to admit, it would be a violation of truth, Be sure to use headings in your answer. The Lyceum Theatre is a historic venue located in the Theatre District of Midtown Manhattan and is Broadway's oldest continually operating theatre entertaining audiences since 1903. committed by mobs, form the every-day news of the times. The only preventative was for every lover of liberty to 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. names in making it so. portion of population, that is worse than useless in any a beaten path. Many great and good men sufficiently qualified for any task they should undertake, may ever be found, whose ambition would aspire to nothing beyond a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair;but such belong not to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle. Eric Foner Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her laplet 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. Lincoln ominously warned that such a figure might assert himself by emancipating slaves or enslaving free men. Lincoln was merely in his late twenties at that time, a young, novice attorney and state legislator, still unmarried and renting a room above a store in town. consequences. of this mobocractic spirit, which all must admit, is now abroad as willingly, perhaps more so, acquire it by doing good as harm; justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species or ever will be entirely forgotten; but that like every thing been considered, at best no better, than problematical; namely, If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. provisions have been made.--I mean to say no such thing. recollect, that, in the confusion usually attending such much to do with it. of their affections from the Government is the natural And thus, from ", Commentary Lincoln was 28 years old at the time he gave this speech and had recently moved from a struggling pioneer village to Springfield, Illinois. And why may we not for fifty times as long? Similar too, is the correct reasoning, in regard to the burning of the negro at St. Louis. and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and SoundCloud SoundCloud He reminded everyone how slavery was the main point of the Civil War and he felt and proposed it insulted GOD. January 27, 1838: Abraham Lincoln's Lyceum Address on America's Survival as a Nation Guest Essayist: David F. Forte The tall, awkwardly boned, young Illinois legislator rose to speak. 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 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. I answer. seize the opportunity, strike the blow, and overturn that fair Their's was the task permitted no hostile foot to pass over or desecrate his resting one as could not have well existed heretofore. We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves the legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings. operations; and pray for nothing so much, as its total annihilation. masters of Southern slaves, and the order loving citizens of the Standing before the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, he delivered a lecture on the topic of the perpetuation of our political institutions. it heretofore has been. [1] [2] In his speech, Lincoln warned that mobs or people who disrespected U.S. laws and courts could destroy the United States. The editors of The Col-lected Works of Abraham Lincoln repeat the mistake.3 A closer look at the lyceum movement in Illinois generally and the Springfield Young Men's Lyceum specifi-cally offers a new perspective on Lincoln and his 1838 address. years? The list of its friends is daily swelled by the additions of fifties, of hundreds, and of . distinction; and, if possible, it will have it, whether at the Lyceum Address ABRAHAM LINCOLN One of Lincoln's earliest published speeches, the Lyceum Address was delivered when Lincoln was just 28 years old and newly arrived in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln then warned that a tyrant could overtake the U.S. political system from within. religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times Rhetorically, Lincoln asked if such a person would be content to follow traditional paths to distinction: Since the rules of the Lyceum forbade political speeches, Lincoln could not directly attack Douglas, but because his audience was politically aware, he could assume that they had read Conservative No.2 earlier in the day and thus understood that Douglas was the target of his remarks about the coming Caesar. holding States. and probably will, hang or burn some of them by the very same Our Core Document Collection allows students to read history in the words of those who made it. their faces against violations of law in every shape, alike with But, it may be asked, why suppose danger to our political institutions? We, when mounting the stage of existence, found ourselves all this, if the laws be continually despised and disregarded, if Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality: The American Anti-Slavery Society, Declaration of Sent Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Protest in Illinois Legislature on Slavery. By such things, the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less alienated from it; and thus it will be left without friends, or with too few, and those few too weak, to make their friendship effectual. nineteenth century of the Christian era.--We find ourselves in the But I place; shall be that which to learn the last trump shall awaken Speech to the U.S. House of Representatives.