Adlai Stevenson: “At that fatal threshold the philosopher ceases to be wise, and the song of the poet is silent.”

America's obligation to France is enduring--for explorers in the seventeenth century no less than for defenders in that which immediately followed.

It is in very truth a government of the people, in an important sense a government standing separate and apart; its foundations the morality, the intelligence, the patriotism of the people.

Never forget that citizenship in such a government carries with it tremendous responsibility, a responsibility that we cannot evade.

As one standing, alas, 'upon the western slope,' let me adjure the young men of this magnificent county--my home for more than half a century--to study thoroughly the history of our own State, and of the grand republic of which it is a…