A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this.
Abraham Lincoln: “A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other; but the different…”
Editor's note · Context
From his first inaugural address as the secession crisis deepened, Lincoln used an analogy to explain why states cannot physically separate from the Union.
Share
More from Abraham Lincoln
He said, with a great deal of emphasis, and with an expression of countenance I shall never forget: "When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives satisfactory evidence of the same, he can safely be pardoned, and there is no…
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?
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.





