A King that cannot keep his seat before free speech ought to be unseated.
Henry Ward Beecher
The Public Record
Henry Ward Beecher was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery trial. His rhetorical focus on the love of Christ has influenced mainstream Christianity through the 21st century.
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And a State that will be damaged by free speech ought to be damaged.
Freedom of thought and freedom of expression! they are mighty champions, that go with unsheathed swords the world over, to redress the weak, to right the wronged, to pull down evil and build up good.
Discussion would unseat the Czar; a free press would dethrone the ignoble Napoleon; free speech would revolutionize Rome.
They live in a crater, forever dreading the signs of activity.
We will not have a law, or custom, or economy, which cannot be defended against the freest inquiry.
We have institutions that will stand public and private discussion--they have not.
And then, when a truth, a policy, or a procedure comes to birth, from out of the womb of such discussion, we know that it will stand.
We challenge the whole world of ideas, and the great deep of human interests to come up upon anything that belongs, or is to belong, to public affairs.
We say--probe it, question it, put fire to it.
We challenge scrutiny for our industry, for our commerce, for our social customs, for our municipal affairs, for our State questions, for all that we believe, and all that we do, and everything that we build.
We turn out any law, and say, Discuss it! that it may be the stronger!