ibly, better than they wish. A great government, powerful
in its justice, and therefore to be respected and maintained, must also
be powerful in its errors, prejudices, and wrongs, and therefore to be
changed and reformed in these respects. The declaration "that all men
are created equal" is vital, and will live in the presence of all
governments, strong as well as weak, hostile as well as friendly. It has
no respect for worldly authority, so evidently is it a direct emanation
of the Divine Mind, and so does it harmonize with the highest
manifestations of the nature of man. But the Declaration of Independence
does not, in this particular, assert that all men are created equal in
height or weight, equal in physical strength, intellectual power, or
moral worth. It is not dealing with these qualities at all, but with the
natural political rights and relations of men. In its view, all are born
free from any political subordination to others on account of the
accidents or incidents of family or historic name. And hence it follows
that no man, by birth or nature, has any right in political affairs to
control his fellow-man; and hence it follows further, as there is
neither subjection anywhere nor authority anywhere, that all men are
created equal, that governments derive their "just powers from the
consent of the governed." And hence it must, ere long, be demonstrated
by this country, under the light of Christianity, and in the presence of
the world, that man cannot have property in his fellow-man.

And, again, let no one despair of the Republic or of the Union; nor let
any, with rash confidence, believe that they are indestructible. They
are human institutions built up through great sacrifices, and by the
exercise of a high order of worldly wisdom. But the government is not an
end--it is a means. The end is Liberty regulated by law; and the means
will exist as long as the end thereof is attained. But, should the time
ever come when the institutions of the country fail to secure the
blessings of liberty to the living generation, and hold out no promise
of better things in the future, I know not that these institutions could
longer exist, of that they ought longer to exist. To be sure, the
horizon is not always distinctly seen. The sky is not always clear;
there are dark spots upon the disk of Liberty, as upon the sun in the
heavens; but, like the sun, its presence is for all. And, whether there
be night, or clouds, or distance