"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.x #60: "That may be a fake quote."
As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign . . . until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands."
DiogenesLamp: "It existed at least since 1908, so if it's fake, it's a very old fake, and written at a time when many of the people who knew Lincoln were still alive.
It would seem to me that claim that it is from a letter to Elkins ought to be verifiable."
1896 Democrat Convention at the Chicago Coleseum
William Jennings Bryan "Cross of Gold" Speech:
We've covered this ground before, and as reported in NR, the quote is a fake that "John Hay and John Nicolay — secretaries to Lincoln who published their former boss’s collected writings — traced it to an 1888 pamphlet.
Then they denounced it as a forgery."
This fact-check traces the quote to the 1896 election in which Democrat William Jennings Bryan ran his Cross of Gold campaign against Republican William McKinley.
It is exactly the period in which the Third Party System (original Republicans) converted to the Fourth Party System (Progressive Republicans and Democrats).
As American priorities changed from traditional Republican issues to more Progressive concerns, some people were looking for a blessing from their revered father Lincoln for their new adventures in Progressivism.
And, of course, where the demand is strong enough, a supply will soon enough appear...