"The other night I was talking with my friend, 5. He was over at my place, and we were out in the greenhouse together. And he was explaining to me how when a member of The Mende -- that's His People -- how when a member of The Mende encounters a situation where there appears no Hope at all, he invokes his ancestors. It's a Tradition.

See, The Mende believe that if one can summon the spirits of one's ancestors, then they have never left, and The Wisdom and Strength they fathered and inspired will come to his aid.

James Madison; Alexander Hamilton; Benjamin Franklin; Thomas Jefferson; George Washington; John Adams —

[John Quincy is now speaking directly to the marble bust of His Father, President John Adams, in the corner of the Supreme Court Chamber of The United States]

We've long resisted asking you for guidance —Perhaps we have feared in doing so we might acknowledge that our individuality which we so, so revere is not •entirely• our own.

Perhaps we've feared an -- an appeal to you might be taken for weakness.

But we've come to understand, finally, that this is not so.

We understand •now•. We've been •made• to understand, and to embrace the understanding, that Who We Are -- •is• Who We Were.

We desperately need your Strength and Wisdom to triumph over our fears, our prejudices, our selves.

Give us The Courage to do
What is Right.

And if it means Civil War ,
then LET IT COME.

And when it does, may it be, finally,
The Last Battle of The American Revolution.

That's all I have to say.”