My best friend is fond of quoting William Seward’s line about America:
“There was always just enough virtue in this republic to save it; sometimes none to spare, but still enough to meet the emergency.”
Virtue goes all the way back. Before the Civil War, all the way back before the Declaration of Independence. It goes back to the pre-Revolutionary literature. A belief that Americans had superior virtue is what animated the Revolution.
That’s a nice sentiment, but I don’t think it’s right. For one thing: How would we know if the republic hasn’t been saved?
