I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions

I hear it was charged against me that I sought to destroy institutions

But really I am neither for nor against institutions

(What indeed have I in common with them? or what with the

destruction of them?)

Only I will establish in the Mannahatta and in every city of these

States inland and seaboard

And in the fields and woods, and above every keel little or large

that dents the water