upon any other single agency affecting the situation.

It is inspiring, too, to remember that no great emergency in the one
hundred and eight years of our eventful national life has ever arisen
that has not been met with wisdom and courage by the American people,
with fidelity to their best interests and highest destiny, and to the
honor of the American name. These years of glorious history have
exalted mankind and advanced the cause of freedom throughout the world,
and immeasurably strengthened the precious free institutions which we
enjoy. The people love and will sustain these institutions. The great
essential to our happiness and prosperity is that we adhere to the
principles upon which the Government was established and insist upon
their faithful observance. Equality of rights must prevail, and our
laws be always and everywhere respected and obeyed. We may have failed
in the discharge of our full duty as citizens of the great Republic,
but it is consoling and encouraging to realize that free speech, a free
press, free thought, free schools, the free and unmolested right of
religious liberty and worship, and free and fair elections are dearer
and more universally enjoyed to-day than ever before. These guaranties
must be sacredly preserved and wisely strengthened. The constituted
authorities must be cheerfully and vigorously upheld. Lynchings must
not be tolerated in a great and civilized country like the United
States; courts, not mobs, must execute the penalties of the law. The
preservation of public order, the right of discussion, the integrity of
courts, and the orderly administration of justice must continue forever
the rock of safety upon which our Government securely rests.

One of the lessons taught by the late election, which all can rejoice
in, is that the citizens of the United States are both law-respecting
and law-abiding people, not easily swerved from the path of patriotism