And State Papers 503 



member, you, the people of this government by the 

 people, that while the public servant, the legislator, 

 the executive officer, the judge, are not to be ex- 

 cused if they fall short of their duty, yet that their 

 doing their duty can not avail unless you do yours. 

 In the last resort we have to depend upon the jury 

 drawn from the people to convict the scoundrel who 

 has tainted our public life; and unless that jury 

 does its duty, unless it is backed by the public 

 sentiment of the people, all the work of legis- 

 lator, of executive officer, of judicial officer, are 

 for naught. 



Mr. Justice, a man would be a poor citizen of this 

 country if he could sit in Abraham Lincoln's pew 

 and not feel the solemn sense of the associations 

 borne in upon him; and I wish to thank the people 

 of this church for that reverence for the historic 

 past, for the sense of historic continuity, which has 

 made them keep this pew unchanged. I hope it 

 will remain unchanged in this church as long as 

 our country endures. We have not too many 

 monuments of the past; let us keep every little 

 bit of association with that which is highest and 

 best of the past as a reminder to us, equally of 

 what we owe to those who have gone before and of 

 how we should show our appreciation. This even- 

 ing I sit in this pew of Abraham Lincoln's, to- 

 gether with Abraham Lincoln's private secretary, 

 who, for my good fortune, now serves as Secretary 

 of State in my Cabinet. 



If ever there lived a President who during his 



