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, in seminaries, 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 altars.
While ever a state of feeling such as this shall universally or even very
generally prevail throughout the nation, vain will be every effort, and
fruitless every attempt, to subvert our national freedom.
When, I so pressingly urge a strict observance of all the laws, let me
not be understood as saying there are no bad laws, or that grievances may
not arise for the redress of which no legal provisions have been made.
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