"Whenever the vicious portion of [our] population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision stores, throw printing-presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure and with impunity, depend upon it, this government cannot last. By such things the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less alienated from it, and thus it will be left without friends, or with too few, and those few too weak to make their friendship effectual." Lincolln's Lyceum Speech, 1838
![Lincoln: "The Vicious Portion Of Our Population" And The Destruction Of The United States | "Whenever the vicious portion of [our] population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision stores, throw printing-presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure and with impunity, depend upon it, this government cannot last. By such things the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less alienated from it, and thus it will be left without friends, or with too few, and those few too weak to make their friendship effectual." Lincolln's Lyceum Speech, 1838 | image tagged in abraham lincoln,lyceum speech,political suicide,american viciousness | made w/ Imgflip meme maker](http://i.imgflip.com/1y3z0g.jpg)