Part Two: The Main
Show
(Musical fanfare
marks the beginning of the program. The screen shows a group
of people silhouetted)
People:We
the people of the United States. In order to form a more perfect
union. Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility. Provide
for the common defense. Promote the general welfare. And secure
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain
and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
(The preamble
of the Constitution just recited appears on the screen)
Narrator: These
immortal words, when first they were written, proclaimed to the
world an idea new among men. This was the American dream. The
prayer for the future. But that golden goal was not to be had
without cost. The American way was not gained in a day. It was
born in adversity, forged out of conflict, perfected and proven
only after long experience and trial. Our nation's greatest crisis
occurred when Abraham Lincoln was our President and our Protector.
For Abraham Lincoln gave all to save the Union.
(The screen now
disappears and is replaced by the Audio-Animatronic figure of
Lincoln seated in front of a red-curtained backdrop)
Narrator: We
pay tribute here not to a man who lived a century ago, but to
an individual who lives today in the hearts of all freedom-loving
people. His prophetic words are as valid for our time as they
were for his. And now the skills of the sculptor and the talents
of the artist will let us relive great moments with Mr. Lincoln.
(A choral crescendo
builds as the Lincoln figure rises from his chair, faces the
audience and begins to speak)
Lincoln:The
world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and
the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all
declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all
mean the same thing.
What constitutes the bulwark of our
liberty and our independence?
It is not our frowning battlements,
our bristling sea coasts. These are not our reliance against
tyranny. Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has
planted in our bosoms.
Our defense is in the preservation of
the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in
all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted
the seeds of despotism around your own doors.
At what point shall we expect the approach
of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we
expect some trans-Atlantic military giant, to step the ocean,
and crush us at a blow?
Never!
All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa
combined 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.
At what point then is the approach of
danger to be expected?
I answer: that if it ever reach us,
it must spring from amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If
destruction be our lot, we, ourselves, must be its authors and
finishers. As a nation of free men, we must live through all
times, or die by suicide.
Let reverence for the law be breathed
by every American mother, to the lisping babe that prattles on
her lap. Let it be taught in the schools, in the seminaries,
and in the colleges. Let it be written in primers, in spelling
books and almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed
in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And
in short, let it become the political religion of the nation.
And let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave
and the gay, of all sexes, and tongues and colors and conditions,
sacrifice unceasingly at its altars
And let us strive to deserve, as far
as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence. Trusting
that, in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide
us the instruments of safety and security. Neither let us be
slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor
frightened from it by the menaces of destruction to the Government
nor of dungeons to ourselves!
Let us have faith that right makes might,
and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as
we understand it.
(The curtains
open to reveal the U.S. Capitol building in the early morning
dawn. As the choral rendition of "Battle Hymn Of The Republic"
fills the theater, the lighting slowly changes so that the pattern
of the American flag surrounds the Capitol)
- Choir:Mine
eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
- He is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored.
- He hath loosed the fateful lightning
of his terrible swift sword.
- His truth is marching on.
-
- Glory, glory hallelujah!
- Glory, glory hallelujah!
- Glory, glory hallelujah!
- His truth is marching on!
-
- Glory, glory hallelujah!
- Glory, glory hallelujah!
- Glory, glory hallelujah!
- His truth is marching on!
Amen! Amen!
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