And yet the right to secede was urged for many years, but Lincoln completed the work of Washington, Franklin, Madison and Hamilton by establishing that "a government for the people, by the people and of the people should not perish from the earth.
Beck reflects on Lincoln's role in affirming the permanence of the Union against secessionist sentiments.
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That vision will remain with them as long, and no longer, as there is in their hearts a conscious and willing acquiescence in its wisdom and justice.
Its protection should be given to those of superior skill and diligence, who ask the due rewards of such superiority.
We must defend the right to work against those who would either destroy or degrade it.
It must champion the human soul in its God-given right to exercise freely the faculties of mind and body.
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