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FeaturesApril 2002 The pillars of the temple of liberty by Diana Schaub The eighth in a series titled “The survival of culture.”
At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what
means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some
transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at
a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa
combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted)
in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could
not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the
Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
—Abraham Lincoln, Address before the Springfield Young Men’s Lyceum, 1838
Are we to think that September 11 proved Lincoln wrong? Certainly, there are many Americans who now feel vulnerable. In losing their sense of security, they may also have lost their sense of American exceptionalism. While it might have been true that America was once geographically blessed, our moated fortress is no longer unbreachable. ... This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchaseSubscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions) Subscribe to TNC (Online only) This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 20 April 2002, on page 4 Copyright © 2009 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/liberty-schaub-1984
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