Now, I ask you in all soberness, if all these things, if indulged in, if ratified, if confirmed and indorsed, if taught to our children and repeated to them, do not tend to rub out the sentiment of liberty in the country, and to transform this government into a government of some other form?
Lincoln warns that certain actions and teachings could erode the nation's commitment to liberty and fundamentally alter its form of government.
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If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything.
If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
I believe that it is not only possible, but in fact easier, to do this without deciding or even considering whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it.
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
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