From: John Vanderbur
Greensburg
I write this letter in admiration for former President Abraham Lincoln for whom this united nation must be eternally grateful. His honesty, courage, wisdom, eloquence, insightfulness and compassion for his fellow man will remain a hallmark for all that is good.
I also write this letter to those that would wrongfully invoke the name of Lincoln to further their own causes. To do so, I consider to be an aberration.
On Jan. 27, 1838, a 28-year old Abraham Lincoln made a speech before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois. The title of the speech: "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." In this time frame, the Revolutionary War had been over for roughly 45 years. Slavery was still legal in the slave states. And due to the disdain of humanity, mob rule was often seen. And it was, in the infancy of our nation, our predecessors embarked on a great experiment called democracy. In Lincoln’s speech, he spoke of the sacrifice of those that founded our nation and the responsibilities that we bear for its continuance. “This task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively require us faithfully to perform," he said.
In a recent letter to the editor, Sherry Grimes wrote a letter titled: "Patriotism for USA is a good thing." She used some partial quotes from the 1838 Lincoln speech. She also used quotes that she attributed to Lincoln, but are, in fact, not correct. These quotes: “You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer” and “You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich” were authored by William J.H. Boetcker. They are on his pamphlet titled: "The Ten Cannots."
The partial Lincoln quotes that Ms. Grimes used in her letter had an emphasis on the laws of our country. “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," Lincoln said.
Lincoln’s quotes are in the first placement of Ms. Grimes letter. After the quotes, came the nastiness. “Democrats magnify the bad in America, downplay the good. Contempt for the country has been exhibited countless ways.” From that point forward, with the exception of the last paragraph, came the usual diatribe of divisiveness.
Today the Trump administration is awash in scandals, arrests, indictments, convictions, resignations and firings. Along with that, there are the litany of lies by our president and the sycophants that surround him. What we see in today’s government is completely antithetical to the adjurations of Lincoln.
I agree with Ms. Grimes’ last paragraph of her letter. However, one cannot love their country by wrongfully disparaging their fellow citizens.
I would encourage everyone to read Lincoln’s speech: "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions."
