SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF ANGRY
That they were always exposed to
GOD BY JONATHAN EDWARDS
By the
Rev. Jonathan Edwards
A Sermon Preached at Enfield, July 8th, 1741
At a Time of Great Awakenings, and
Attended with Remarkable Impressions on
many of the Hearers.
Their foot shall slide in due time.—Deut.
32:35.
In this verse is threatened the
vengeance of God on the wicked
unbelieving Israelites, who were God’s
visible people, and who lived under the
means of grace; but who,
notwithstanding all God’s wonderful
works towards them, remained (as Deut.
32:28.) void of counsel, having no
understanding in them. Under all the
cultivations of heaven, they brought forth
bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two
verses next preceding the text.—The
expression I have chosen for my text,
their foot shall slide in due time, seems
to imply the following things, relating to
the punishment and destruction to which
these wicked Israelites were exposed.
1.
ground needs nothing but his own
destruction; as one that stands or walks weight to throw him down.
in slippery places is always exposed to
4. That the reason why they are not
fall. This is implied in the manner of their
fallen already and do not fall now is only
destruction coming upon them, being
that God’s appointed time is not come.
represented by their foot sliding. The
For it is said, that when that due time, or
same is expressed, “Surely thou didst
appointed time comes, their foot shall
set them in slippery places; thou
slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as
castedst them down into destruction.
they are inclined by their own weight.
(Psalm 73:18)”
God will not hold them up in these
2. It implies, that they were always
slippery places any longer, but will let
exposed to sudden unexpected
them go; and then, at that very instant,
destruction. As he that walks in slippery
they shall fall into destruction; as he that
places is every moment liable to fall, he
stands on such slippery declining
cannot foresee one moment whether he
ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot
shall stand or fall the next; and when he
stand alone, when he is let go he
does fall, he falls at once without
immediately falls and is lost.
warning: Which is also expressed in
“Surely thou didst set them in slippery
The observation from the words that I
places; thou castedst them down into
would now insist upon is this.—“There is
destruction: How are they brought into
nothing that keeps wicked men at any
desolation as in a moment? (Psalm
one moment out of hell, but the mere
73:18-19)”
pleasure of God.”—By the mere
3. Another thing implied is, that they are
pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign
liable to fall of themselves, without being
pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by
thrown down by the hand of another; as
no obligation, hindered by no manner of
he that stands or walks on slippery
difficulty, any more than if nothing else
but God’s mere will had in the least
degree, or in any respect whatsoever,
any hand in the preservation of wicked
men one moment.—The truth of this
observation may appear by the following
considerations.
1. There is no want of power in God to
cast wicked men into hell at any
moment. Men’s hands cannot be strong
when God rises up. The strongest have
no power to resist him, nor can any
deliver out of his hands.—He is not only
able to cast wicked men into hell, but he
can most easily do it. Sometimes an
earthly prince meets with a great deal of
difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has
found means to fortify himself, and has
made himself strong by the numbers of
his followers. But it is not so with God.
There is no fortress that is any defense
from the power of God. Though hand
join in hand, and vast multitudes of
God’s enemies combine and associate
themselves, they are easily broken in
pieces. They are as great heaps of light
chaff before the whirlwind; or large
quantities of dry stubble before
devouring flames. We find it easy to
tread on and crush a worm that we see
crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us
to cut or singe a slender thread that any
thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God,
when he pleases, to cast his enemies
down to hell. What are we, that we
should think to stand before him, at
whose rebuke the earth trembles, and
before whom the rocks are thrown
down?
2. They deserve to be cast into hell; so
that divine justice never stands in the
way, it makes no objection against
God’s using his power at any moment to
destroy them. Yea, on the contrary,
justice calls aloud for an infinite
punishment of their sins. Divine justice
says of the tree that brings forth such
grapes of Sodom, “Cut it down, why
cumbereth it the ground?” Luke 13:7.
The sword of divine justice is every
moment brandished over their heads,
and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary
mercy, and God’s mere will, that holds it
back.
3. They are already under a sentence
of condemnation to hell. They do not
only justly deserve to be cast down
thither, but the sentence of the law of
God, that eternal and immutable rule of
righteousness that God has fixed
between him and mankind, is gone out
against them, and stands against them;
so that they are bound over already to
hell. “He that believeth not is
condemned already. ”(John 3:18) So
that every unconverted man properly
belongs to hell; that is his place; from
thence he is, John 8:23. “Ye are from
beneath,” and thither he is bound; it is
the place that justice, and God’s word,
and the sentence of his unchangeable
law, assign to him.
4. They are now the objects of that very
same anger and wrath of God, that is
expressed in the torments of hell. And
the reason why they do not go down to
hell at each moment, is not because
God, in whose power they are, is not
then very angry with them; as he is with
many miserable creatures now
tormented in hell, who there feel and
bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea,
God is a great deal more angry with
great numbers that are now on earth;
yea, doubtless, with many that are now
in this congregation, who it may be are
at ease, than he is with many of those
who are now in the flames of hell.—So
that it is not because God is unmindful
of their wickedness, and does not resent
it, that he does not let loose his hand
and cut them off. God is not altogether
such an one as themselves, though they
may imagine him to be so. The wrath of
God burns against them, their
damnation does not slumber; the pit is
prepared, the fire is made ready, the
furnace is now hot, ready to receive
them; the flames do now rage and glow.
The glittering sword is whet, and held
over them, and the pit hath opened its
mouth under them.
The devil stands ready to fall upon
them, and seize them as his own, at
what moment God shall permit him.
They belong to him; he has their souls in
his possession, and under his dominion.
The scripture represents them as his
goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch
them; they are ever by them at their right
hand; they stand waiting for them, like
greedy hungry lions that see their prey,
and expect to have it, but are for the
present kept back. If God should
withdraw his hand, by which they are
restrained, they would in one moment fly
upon their poor souls. The old serpent is
gaping for them; hell opens its mouth
wide to receive them; and if God should
permit it, they would be hastily
swallowed up and lost.
6. There are in the souls of wicked men
those hellish principles reigning, that
would presently kindle and flame out
into hell-fire, if it were not for God’s
restraints. There is laid in the very
nature of carnal men, a foundation for
the torments of hell. There are those
corrupt principles, in reigning power in
them, and in full possession of them,
that are seeds of hell-fire. These
principles are active and powerful,
exceeding violent in their nature, and if it
were not for the restraining hand of God
upon them, they would soon break out,
they would flame out after the same
manner as the same corruptions, the
same enmity does in the hearts of
damned souls, and would beget the
same torments as they do in them. The
souls of the wicked are in Scripture
compared to the troubled sea, Isaiah
57:20. For the present, God restrains
their wickedness by his mighty power,
as he does the raging waves of the
troubled sea, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou
come, but no further,” but if God should
withdraw that restraining power, it would
soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin
and misery of the soul; it is destructive in
its nature; and if God should leave it
without restraint, there would need
nothing else to make the soul perfectly
miserable. The corruption of the heart of
man is immoderate and boundless in its
fury; and while wicked men live here, it
is like fire pent up by God’s restraints,
whereas if it were let loose, it would set
on fire the course of nature; and as the
heart is now a sink of sin, so, if sin was
not restrained, it would immediately turn
the soul into fiery oven, or a furnace of
fire and brimstone.
7. It is no security to wicked men for one
moment, that there are no visible means
of death at hand. It is no security to a
natural man, that he is now in health,
and that he does not see which way he
should now immediately go out of the
world by any accident, and that there is
no visible danger in any respect in his
circumstances. The manifold and
continual experience of the world in all
ages, shows this is no evidence, that a
man is not on the very brink of eternity,
and that the next step will not be into
another world. The unseen, unthought of
ways and means of persons going
suddenly out of the world are
innumerable and inconceivable.
Unconverted men walk over the pit of
hell on a rotten covering, and there are
innumerable places in this covering so
weak that they will not bear their weight,
and these places are not seen. The
arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day;
the sharpest sight cannot discern them.
God has so many different unsearchable
ways of taking wicked men out of the
world and sending them to hell, that
there is nothing to make it appear, that
God had need to be at the expense of a
miracle, or go out of the ordinary course
of his providence, to destroy any wicked
man, at any moment. All the means that
there are of sinners going out of the
world, are so in God’s hands, and so
universally and absolutely subject to his
power and determination, that it does
not depend at all the less on the mere
will of God, whether sinners shall at any
moment go to hell, than if means were
never made use of, or at all concerned
in the case.
8. Natural men’s prudence and care to
preserve their own lives, or the care of
others to preserve them, do not secure
them a moment. To this, divine
providence and universal experience do
also bear testimony. There is this clear
evidence that men’s own wisdom is no
security to them from death; that if it
were otherwise we should see some
difference between the wise and politic
men of the world, and others, with
regard to their liableness to early and
unexpected death: but how is it in fact?
“How dieth the wise man? even as the
fool.” (Eccl. 2:16.)
9. All wicked men’s pains
and contrivance which they use to
escape hell, while they continue to reject
Christ, and so remain wicked men, do
not secure them from hell one moment.
Almost every natural man that hears of
hell, flatters himself that he shall escape
it; he depends upon himself for his own
security; he flatters himself in what he
has done, in what he is now doing, or
what he intends to do. Every one lays
out matters in his own mind how he shall
avoid damnation, and flatters himself
that he contrives well for himself, and
that his schemes will not fail. They hear
indeed that there are but few saved, and
that the greater part of men that have
died heretofore are gone to hell; but
each one imagines that he lays out
matters better for his own escape than
others have done. He does not intend to
come to that place of torment; he says
within himself, that he intends to take
effectual care, and to order matters so
for himself as not to fail.
But the foolish children of men miserably
delude themselves in their own
schemes, and in confidence in their own
strength and wisdom; they trust to
nothing but a shadow. The greater part
of those who heretofore have lived
under the same means of grace, and
are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to
hell; and it was not because they were
not as wise as those who are now alive:
it was not because they did not lay out
matters as well for themselves to secure
their own escape. If we could speak with
them, and inquire of them, one by one,
whether they expected, when alive, and
when they used to hear about hell, ever
to be the subjects of misery: we
doubtless, should hear one and another
reply, “No, I never intended to come
here: I had laid out matters otherwise in
my mind; I thought I should contrive well
for myself: I thought my scheme good. I
intended to take effectual care; but it
came upon me unexpected; I did not
look for it at that time, and in that
manner; it came as a thief: Death
outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick
for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I
was flattering myself, and pleasing
myself with vain dreams of what I would
do hereafter; and when I was saying,
Peace and safety, then sudden
destruction came upon me.”
10. God has laid himself under
no obligation, by any promise to keep
any natural man out of hell one moment.
God certainly has made no promises
either of eternal life, or of any
deliverance or preservation from eternal
death, but what are contained in the
covenant of grace, the promises that are
given in Christ, in whom all the promises
are yea and amen. But surely they have
no interest in the promises of the
covenant of grace who are not the
children of the covenant, who do not
believe in any of the promises, and have
no interest in the Mediator of the
covenant.
So that, whatever some have imagined
and pretended about promises made to
natural men’s earnest seeking and
knocking, it is plain and manifest, that
whatever pains a natural man takes in
religion, whatever prayers he makes, till
he believes in Christ, God is under no
manner of obligation to keep him a
moment from eternal destruction.
So that, thus it is that natural men are
held in the hand of God, over the pit of
hell; they have deserved the fiery pit,
and are already sentenced to it; and
God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is
as great towards them as to those that
are actually suffering the executions of
the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and
they have done nothing in the least to
appease or abate that anger, neither is
God in the least bound by any promise
to hold them up one moment; the devil is
waiting for them, hell is gaping for them,
the flames gather and flash about them,
and would fain lay hold on them, and
swallow them up; the fire pent up in their
own hearts is struggling to break out:
and they have no interest in any
Mediator, there are no means within
reach that can be any security to them.
In short, they have no refuge, nothing to
take hold of; all that preserves them
every moment is the mere arbitrary will,
and uncovenanted, unobliged
forbearance of an incensed God.
THEMES
Power and Precariousness
Jonathan Edwards returns over and over to
the notion that, while human beings might
think that they have power over their own
lives, their position on Earth (and beyond) is
precarious because they are in the hands of a
God whose will is arbitrary and all-
powerful. In other words, for people to
consider themselves to be safe from death or
damnation based on their health, strength,
intelligence, goodness, or pragmatism is, to
Edwards, pure vanity
Wrath, Mercy, and Grace
Throughout the
sermon, Edwards emphasizes
that God loathes all human beings because
they are not worthy of him, he’s angry with
them for failing him, and he owes them no
mercy. This attitude can be summed up by
the notion that God’s primary characteristic
is his wrath. Edwards expresses this
colorfully in several instances, including this
famous one: “The God that holds you over
the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider
Language and Metaphor
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a
sermon: it’s a message about God delivered
through the spoken word. As sermons and
the Bible (a written text, whose words are
“the words of the great God”) are the
primary modes by which a person can
understand and relate to God, language
should be understood as having a special
role in religion and faith.
Theology and the Human
Condition
Edwards’ theology is based on several
intricate beliefs about the human condition,
beliefs he has gleaned directly from the
Bible. Human nature, he believes, is good in
its purest form, but has been tainted by
original sin (passed down from Adam and
Eve), which has infected people with evil.
Because of original sin and the evil into
which it leads people, human goodness and
salvation depend on a person’s ability to
become born again
The Whistle
by Benjamin Franklin
To Madame Brillon
I received my dear friend’s two
letters, one for Wednesday and one
for Saturday. This is again
Wednesday. I do not deserve one for
to-day, because I have not answered
the former. But, indolent as I am, and
averse to writing, the fear of having
no more of your pleasing epistles, if I
do not contribute to the
correspondence, obliges me to take
up my pen; and as Mr. B. has kindly
sent me word that he sets out to-
morrow to see you, instead of
spending this Wednesday evening, as
I have done its namesakes, in your
delightful company, I sit down to
spend it in thinking of you, in writing
to you, and in reading over and over
again your letters.
I am charmed with your description
of Paradise, and with your plan of
living there; and I approve much of
your conclusion, that, in the
meantime, we should draw all the
good we can from this world. In my
opinion we might all draw more good
from it than we do, and suffer less
evil, if we would take care not to give
too much for whistles. For to me it
seems that most of the unhappy
people we meet with are become so
by neglect of that caution.
You ask what I mean? You
love stories, and will excuse my
telling one of myself.
When I was a child of seven years
old, my friends, on a holiday, filled
my pocket with coppers. I went
directly to a shop where they sold
toys for children; and being charmed
with the sound of a whistle, that I
met by the way in the hands of
another boy, I voluntarily offered and
gave all my money for one. I then
came home, and went whistling all
over the house, much pleased with
my whistle, but disturbing all the
family. My brothers, and sisters, and
cousins, understanding the bargain I
had made, told me I had given four
times as much for it as it was worth;
put me in mind what good things I
might have bought with the rest of
the money; and laughed at me so
much for my folly, that I cried with
vexation; and the reflection gave me
more chagrin than the whistle gave
me pleasure.
This, however, was afterwards of use
to me, the impression continuing on
my mind; so that often, when I was
tempted to buy some unnecessary
thing, I said to myself, Don’t give too
much for the whistle; and I saved my
money.
As I grew up, came into the world,
and observed the actions of men, I
thought I met with many, very many,
who gave too much for the whistle.
When I saw one too ambitious of
court favor, sacrificing his time in
attendance on levees, his repose, his
liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his
friends, to attain it, I have said to
myself, this man gives too much for
his whistle.
When I saw another fond of
popularity, constantly employing
himself in political bustles, neglecting
his own affairs, and ruining them by
that neglect, "He pays, indeed," said
I, "too much for his whistle."
If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of
comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing
good to others, all the esteem of his fellow-
citizens, and the joys of benevolent
friendship, for the sake of accumulating
wealth, “Poor man,” said I, “you pay too
much for your whistle.”
When I met with a man of pleasure,
sacrificing every laudable improvement of
the mind, or of his fortune, to mere
corporeal sensations, and ruining his health
in their pursuit, “Mistaken man,” said I,
“you are providing pain for yourself, instead
of pleasure; you give too much for your
whistle.”
If I see one fond of appearance, or fine
clothes, fine houses, fine furniture, fine
equipages, all above his fortune, for which
he contracts debts, and ends his career in a
prison, “Alas!” say I, “he has paid dear, very
dear, for his whistle.”
When I see a beautiful sweet-tempered girl
married to an ill-natured brute of a husband,
“What a pity,” say I, “that she should pay so
much for a whistle!”
In short, I conceive that great part of the
miseries of mankind are brought upon them
by the false estimates they have made of the
value of things, and by their giving too much
for their whistles.
Yet I ought to have charity for these
unhappy people, when I consider that, with
all this wisdom of which I am boasting,
there are certain things in the world so
tempting, for example, the apples of King
John, which happily are not to be bought; for
if they were put to sale by auction, I might
very easily be led to ruin myself in the
purchase, and find that I had once more
given too much for theresort. I ask
gentlemen, sir, what means this martial
array, if its purpose be not to force us to
submission? Can gentlemen assign any other
possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any
enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call
for all this accumulation of navies and
armies? No, sir, she has none. They are
meant for us: they can be meant for no other.
They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us
those chains which the British ministry have
been so long forging. And what have we to
oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir,
we have been trying that for the last ten
years. Have we anything new to offer upon
the subject? Nothing. We have held the
subject up in every light of which it is
capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we
resort to entreaty and humble supplication?
What terms shall we find which have not
been already exhausted? Let us not, I
beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we
have done everything that could be done to
avert the storm which is now coming on. We
have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we
have supplicated; we have prostrated
ourselves before the throne, and have
implored its interposition to arrest the
tyrannical hands of the ministry and
Parliament. Our petitions have been
slighted; our remonstrances have produced
additional violence and insult; our
supplications have been disregarded; and we
have been spurned, with contempt, from the
foot of the throne! In vain, after these things,
may we indulge the fond hope of peace and
reconciliation. There is no longer any room
for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean
to preserve inviolate those inestimable
privileges for which we have been so long
contending—if we mean not basely to
abandon the noble struggle in which we
have been so long engaged, and which we
have pledged ourselves never to abandon
until the glorious object of our contest shall
be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir,
we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the
God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to
cope with so formidable an adversary. But
when shall we be stronger? Will it be the
next week, or the next year? Will it be when
we are totally disarmed, and when a British
guard shall be stationed in every house?
Shall we gather strength by irresolution and
inaction? Shall we acquire the means of
effectual resistance by lying supinely on our
backs and hugging the delusive phantom of
hope, until our enemies shall have bound us
hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we
make a proper use of those means which the
God of nature hath placed in our power. The
millions of people, armed in the holy cause
of liberty, and in such a country as that
which we possess, are invincible by any
force which our enemy can send against us.
Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles
alone. There is a just God who presides over
the destinies of nations, and who will raise
up friends to fight our battles for us. The
battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to
the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides,
sir, we have no election. If we were base
enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire
from the contest. There is no retreat but in
submission and slavery! Our chains are
forged! Their clanking may be heard on the
plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and
let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter.
Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there
is no peace. The war is actually begun! The
next gale that sweeps from the north will
bring to our ears the clash of resounding
arms! Our brethren are already in the field!
Why stand we here idle? What is it that
gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is
life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be
purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what
course others may take; but as for me, give
me liberty or give me death! whistle.
Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever
yours very sincerely and with unalterable
affection.
(November 10, 1779)
PATRIOTIC SPEECHES
Patrick Henry – Give Me Liberty Or Give
Me Death
Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.
No man thinks more highly than I do of the
patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very
worthy gentlemen who have just addressed
the House. But different men often see the
same subject in different lights; and,
therefore, I hope it will not be thought
disrespectful to those gentlemen if,
entertaining as I do opinions of a character
very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth
my sentiments freely and without reserve.
This is no time for ceremony. The question
before the House is one of awful moment to
this country. For my own part, I consider it
as nothing less than a question of freedom or
slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude
of the subject ought to be the freedom of the
debate. It is only in this way that we can
hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great
responsibility which we hold to God and our
country. Should I keep back my opinions at
such a time, through fear of giving offense, I
should consider myself as guilty of treason
towards my country, and of an act of
disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven,
which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge
in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut
our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to
the song of that siren till she transforms us
into beasts. Is this the part of wise men,
engaged in a great and arduous struggle for
liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number
of those who, having eyes, see not, and,
having ears, hear not, the things which so
nearly concern their temporal salvation? For
my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may
cost, I am willing to know the whole truth;
to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are
guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I
know of no way of judging of the future but
by the past. And judging by the past, I wish
to know what there has been in the conduct
of the British ministry for the last ten years
to justify those hopes with which gentlemen
have been pleased to solace themselves and
the House. Is it that insidious smile with
which our petition has been lately received?
Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your
feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed
with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this
gracious reception of our petition comports
with those warlike preparations which cover
our waters and darken our land. Are fleets
and armies necessary to a work of love and
reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so
unwilling to be reconciled that force must be
called in to win back our love? Let us not
deceive ourselves, sir. These are the
implements of war and subjugation; the last
arguments to which kings resort. I ask
gentlemen, sir, what means this martial
array, if its purpose be not to force us to
submission? Can gentlemen assign any other
possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any
enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call
for all this accumulation of navies and
armies? No, sir, she has none. They are
meant for us: they can be meant for no other.
They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us
those chains which the British ministry have
been so long forging. And what have we to
oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir,
we have been trying that for the last ten
years. Have we anything new to offer upon
the subject? Nothing. We have held the
subject up in every light of which it is
capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we
resort to entreaty and humble supplication?
What terms shall we find which have not
been already exhausted? Let us not, I
beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we
have done everything that could be done to
avert the storm which is now coming on. We
have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we
have supplicated; we have prostrated
ourselves before the throne, and have
implored its interposition to arrest the
tyrannical hands of the ministry and
Parliament. Our petitions have been
slighted; our remonstrances have produced
additional violence and insult; our
supplications have been disregarded; and we
have been spurned, with contempt, from the
foot of the throne! In vain, after these things,
may we indulge the fond hope of peace and
reconciliation. There is no longer any room
for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean
to preserve inviolate those inestimable
privileges for which we have been so long
contending—if we mean not basely to
abandon the noble struggle in which we
have been so long engaged, and which we
have pledged ourselves never to abandon
until the glorious object of our contest shall
be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir,
we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the
God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to
cope with so formidable an adversary. But
when shall we be stronger? Will it be the
next week, or the next year? Will it be when
we are totally disarmed, and when a British
guard shall be stationed in every house?
Shall we gather strength by irresolution and
inaction? Shall we acquire the means of
effectual resistance by lying supinely on our
backs and hugging the delusive phantom of
hope, until our enemies shall have bound us
hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we
make a proper use of those means which the
God of nature hath placed in our power. The
millions of people, armed in the holy cause
of liberty, and in such a country as that
which we possess, are invincible by any
force which our enemy can send against us.
Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles
alone. There is a just God who presides over
the destinies of nations, and who will raise
up friends to fight our battles for us. The
battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to
the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides,
sir, we have no election. If we were base
enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire
from the contest. There is no retreat but in
submission and slavery! Our chains are
forged! Their clanking may be heard on the
plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and
let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter.
Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace—but there
is no peace. The war is actually begun! The
next gale that sweeps from the north will
bring to our ears the clash of resounding
arms! Our brethren are already in the field!
Why stand we here idle? What is it that
gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is
life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be
purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what
course others may take; but as for me, give
me liberty or give me death!
GETTYSBURG ADDRESS BY
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers
brought forth on this continent, a new
nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated
to the proposition that all men are created
equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war,
testing whether that nation, or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battlefield of
that war. We have come to dedicate a portion
of that field, as a final resting place for those
who here gave their lives that that nation
might live. It is altogether fitting and proper
that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate
— we can not consecrate — we can not
hallow — this ground. The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have
consecrated it, far above our poor power to
add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never
forget what they did here. It is for us the
living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here
have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
great task remaining before us — that from
these honored dead we take increased
devotion to that cause for which they gave
the last full measure of devotion — that we
here highly resolve that these dead shall not
have died in vain — that this nation, under
God, shall have a new birth of freedom —
and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from
the earth.”