It forces us to ask: "Is there, in all republics, this inherent and fatal weakness?" "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?
In his address to Congress, Lincoln poses fundamental questions about the balance between governmental strength and individual liberty in a republic facing rebellion.
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I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end.
The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, or to reject and disperse it?
If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them?
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