Let Reverence For The Law Be Breathed

"Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country. And never to tolerate their violation by others.

"As the patriots of Seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor. Let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own, and his children's liberty.

"Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in schools ... and in colleges. Let it be written in primers, spelling books and in almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation, and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions sacrifice unceasingly upon its altar."

Abraham Lincoln

Springfield, Illinois, USA

January 27, 1838

Lincoln's reverence for the law and lawyers was well-known. Most of his friends were lawyers.

On January 27, 1838, (although some sources give the year as 1837), Lincoln adressed the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. he called his speech: The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions.

Racial violence had ben flaring up and Lincoln genuinely feared for the United States of America and its ideals of government and law.

At the time of this speech, he was a little-known, 28-year old lawyer in Springfield with only one year call to the bar.