If the civil authorities refuse to protect me, I must look to God, and if I die, I have determined to make my grave in Alton.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
If I am not safe in Alton, I shall not be safe anywhere.
May God preserve you and watch over you.
I certainly know that I would not be able to survive if it were not for the fact that I am being upheld by the prayers of so many people.
Teach me to live, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed.
As long as I am nothing but a ghost of the civil dead, I can do nothing.
Safety is in Heaven. Put your values there only; put your heart there. No tears are there to flood your heart, no sorrows there to break it, no losses there to grieve and embitter.
Let my body be delivered to the earth without attention to the place where it lies; nothing should be associated with my dusty remains. Shame on him who draws any attention to a rotted flesh that is already no longer mine: he is worshipping the worms nibbling it.
I rely on guns for protection in life. God does not say, 'This is la-la land.' God doesn't say, 'Welcome to Earth. Everything's perfect. There's no crime. There's no murder. There's no death.' The world is imperfect, and you have to be on guard.
Let Justice, blind and halt and maimed, chastise the rebel spirit surging in my veins, let the Law deal me penalties and pains And make me hideous in my neighbours' eyes.
Even with protection, even with death threats, I can publish, I can travel and I can live the life that I want and not the one my parents want or some imam somewhere thinks I should live.