Address to the People

"Address to the People" is a public speech delivered by Frederik van Eske on August 2, 6 AC, following the execution of Konstantyn Winogradoff by his brother, Roman Winogradoff, for the throne of Kalikhan.

Speech

The following is the original speech in full:

Fellow citizens and visitors from distant lands

there is no doubt that today's date will be one that's highlighted in our history books. It's also without doubt that most history books will not be short of names, names of kings and queens long past and some who might still be with us today.

We memorialize their names in writing because that's the honourable thing to do. They've lead us in good times, rough times, through thick and thin and that is no achievement to belittle. Yet the events that have unfolded in these past weeks not only in Kalikhan, but in the greater world, have made me realize that something once known by many is now only remembered by few.

Allow me to quote wisdom of old: "It takes a leader to rule a nation, but a people to make it one."

Kalikhan has never been the story of one man, no. It's the story of a people. Of those who are born on this soil and who'll be buried here when the time comes, of those who share in the good and bad that one can expect from life, of those who put their trust in something greater than themselves.

And it is of them I speak when I say that over all things, they deserve the right to have peace of mind and freedom from any pain that this world here holds.

Anything less, and we would have failed in our duties as a nation.

Remember that as ages pass, kings come and go, but Kalikhan will remain for times to come. Should it be proper then that our leader be elected by sword and blood, those elements which are temporary, or by the vote of the people, a people who will live with Kalikhan until the very end?

It is on this day that I put forth the proposition that those who serve as the main voice of the nation should not be cut from the decisions of its fate. That we shall have a new birth of freedom, one which is based on democratic belief.

And it should be the duty of those living still, to dedicate themselves to the great task that the story of the people, for the people, by the people shall not perish from this earth.