Crowned masterpieces of eloquence, representing the advance of civilization, as collected in The world's best orations, from the earliest period to the present time

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FACSIMILE FROM THE KORAN.
From a Copy of the Koran in the Library of Berlin, Mss. Ldhg. S22.

HIS beautiful arabesque illustrates the Sura of M^rcy, with the
superscription: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Mercy-
giver; he taught the Koran; he created man."

Victoria Edition

Crowned /Iftasterpieccs

OF

l8loquence

REPRESENTING THE ADVANCE OF CIVILIZATION

As Collected in

ZTbe '^KIlorl^*0 ilBeet ©rationr

From the Earliest Period
to the Present Time

With Special Introductions by

Rt. Hon. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, M.P., K.C.
SIR GILBERT PARKER, Kt., D.C.L., M.P.

^

LONDON

GLASGOW

NOTTINGHAM

Unternational Xllniversit^ Society

J9I3

J. B. LYON COMPANY, PRINTERS, ALBANY, N. Y. , U. 8. A.

Registered at Stationers' Hall

I.OIvDON, ENGLAND

.4 II Rights Reserved

Copyright 1910

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
SOCIETY

H. K. JI'DD & CO., Ltd.

BINDERS,

London, E. C.

iTi

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA COLLEGE LIBRA]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME VI

lived page

Erskine, Thomas Lord 1750-1823 it

Against Paine's 'The Age of Reason'
"Dominion Founded on Violence and Terror"
Homicidal Insanity
In Defense of Thomas Hardy
Free Speech and Fundamental Rights

EvARTs, William Maxwell 1818-1901 56

The Weakest Spot of the American System

Everett, Edward 1794- 1865 63

The History of Liberty

The Moral Forces which Make American Progress
On Universal and Uncoerced Co-operation

Falkland, Lucius, Lord 1610-1643 94

Ship-Money — Impeaching Lord Keeper Finch

Farrar, Frederick William i 831 -1903 100

Funeral Oration on General Grant

Fenelon, Francois de Salignac de la Mothe 1651-1715 108

Simplicity and Greatness
Nature as a Revelation

Field, David Dudley 1805- 1894 119

In Re MilHgan — Martial Law as Lawlessness
In the Case of McCardle — Necessity as an

Excuse for Tyranny
The Cost of "Blood and Iron"

VI

LIVED

page

Finch, Sir Heneage

I62I-I682

131

Opening the Prosecution for Regicide under

Charles II.

Fisher, John

1459 (?) -1535

136

The Jeopardy of Daily Life

FivAXMAN, John

I755-I826

139

Physical and Intellectual Beauty

Flechier, Esprit

I632-I7IO

146

The Death of Turenne

Fox, Charles James

I 749- I 806

152

On the Character of the Duke of Bedford
On the East India Bill
Against Warren Hastings

Franklin, Benjamin 1706-1790 169

Disapproving and Accepting the Constitution
Dangers of a Salaried Bureaucracy

Frelinghuysen, Frederick Theodore 1817-1885 175

In Favor of Universal Suffrage

Gallatin, Albert 1761-1849 180

Constitutional Liberty and Executive Despotism

Gambetta, Leon 1838-1882 189

France After the German Conquest

Gareield, James Abram 1831-1881 198

Revolution and the Logic of Coercion
The Conflict of Ideas in America

Garrison, William Lloyd 1804-1879 208

"Beginning a Revolution"
On the Death of John Brown
The Union and Slavery
Speech at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865

Gaudet, Marguerite ^^lie 1755- 1794 216

Reply to Robespierre

LIVED

PAGE

1865- •

220

1834-

224

I795-1864

234

I 809- I 898

240

Vll

George V, R. et I.

The Priceless Gift of Printing

Gibbons^ James, Cardinal

Address to the ParHament of ReUgions

GiDDiNGS, Joshua Reed

Slavery and the Annexation of Cuba

Gladstone, William Ewart

The Fundamental Error of English Colonial

Aggrandizement
Home Rule and "Autonomy"
The Commercial Value of Artistic Excellence
Destiny and Individual Aspiration
^ ! The Use of Books

On Lord Beaconsfield

GoTTHEiL, Richard

The Jews as a Race and as a Nation

Grady, Henry W.

The New South and the Race Problem

Grattan, Henry

Against English Imperialism
Invective Against Corry
Unsurrendering Fidelity to Country

Gregory oe Nazianzus c. 325-390 300

Eulogy on Basil of Caesarea

Grimstone, Sir Harbottle 1603- 1685 304

"Projecting Canker Worms and Caterpillars"

GuizoT, Francois Pierre Guillaume 1787-1874 308

Civilization and the Individual Man

GuNSAULus, Frank W. 1856- 317

Healthy Heresies

1863-

269

185 1- 1889

273

1 746- 1 820

278

Vlll

lived page

Hale, Edward Everett 1822- 1909 319

Boston's Place in History

Hamilton, Alexander 1757- 1804 324

The Coercion of Delinquent States

Hamilton, Andrew 1676-1741 335

In the Case of Zenger — For Free Speech in
America

Hampden, John 1594-1643 349

A Patriot's Duty Defined

Hancock, John i737-i793 353

Moving the Adoption of the Constitution
The Boston Massacre

Hare, Julius Charles 1795-1855 366

The Children of Light

Harrison, Benjamin 1833-1901 ■^']2

Inaugural Address

Harrison, Thomas 1606-1660 384

His Speech on the Scaffold

Harper, Robert Goodloe 1765- 1825 389

Defending Judge Chase

Hayes, Ruthereord B. 1822-1893 396

Inaugural Address

Hayne, Robert Young 1791-1839 404

On Foot's Resolution

Hazlitt, William 1778- 1830 412

On Wit and Humor

Hecker, Frederick Karl Franz 1811-1881 419

Liberty in the New Atlantis

Helmholtz, Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von 1821-1894 428

The Mystery of Creation

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME VI

PAGE
Facsimile from the Koran (Arabesque in Colors) Frontispiece

The Plaintiff's Appeal at the First Trial by Jury

( Photogravure ) 1 1

The Last IMoments of John Brown (Photogravure) 208

Rouget de L'Isle Singing the INIarseillaise (Photogravure) 216

The Supreme Court of the United States 389

THE PLAINTIFFS APPEAL, AT THE FIRST TRIAL
BY JURY. ■

Photogravure after the Original 'by Cope.

^^HARLES West Cope (1811-1890) was one of the famous members
of the English Royal Academy during the nineteenth century.
In this idealization of the trial by jury (said to have been his
"first cartoon") he shows the open-air court which belonged to Anglo-
Saxon custom as it did to that of old Norsemen and Goths. The "next of
kin" of the slain man' appeared as prosecutor, claiming "bloodgelt" or the
death of the murderer. If the murderer reached the "thing" or the "althing"
as the open-air courts of the old sagas were called, he had his trial by his
peers. If he was overtaken and killed before trial, it was usually thought of
as a very satisfactory conclusion, while if he did not appear before the
open-air court at all, he became an outlaw "with a wolf's head," whom it was
the duty of the murdered man's kindred to hunt down.

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

(1750-1823)

Ihen Erskine appeared in his first case (that of King versus
Baillie), he himself was probably the only man in England
who thought his talents as a lawyer worth considering.
When he left the court room, however, where he had spoken as the
junior of five counsel, he was already near the head of the Eng-
lish bar, and it is said he received thirty retainers before he was out
of the building. Compared to his more mature efforts, this speech
would hardly be worth notice, did it not illustrate both the spirit
and the method which made him the greatest forensic orator of his
day. At a time when it was a highly dangerous offense to ^* scan-
dalize the great, ^* it was the rule to find humble scapegoats to bear
the odium of the sins of power. Neither the King nor his ministers
were to be mentioned except with the usual ^^Far be it from me* —
But Erskine, reviewing the question presented by the pamphlet in
which Captain Baillie had charged Lord Sandwich, first lord of the
admiralty, with responsibility for abuses at Greenwich hospital, made
an attack on Sandwich so bold that he at once compelled attention
to himself as the central figure of the trial. From this beginning,
Erskine was concerned in one after another of those great causes,
through which the right of the people to sit in judgment on the
acts of all who exercise their delegated power was asserted and at
last vindicated. Under the Georges, prosecution for << seditious libel "
took the place of what might have been arrests for treaso-n under
the Stuarts. In such cases as in that of Hardy and others for treason
itself, Erskine was moved by the Uberrima indignatio of the man who
feels as his own every wrong with which power threatens weakness.
This intensity gave him his power and his celebrity. In such cases
as that of Lord George Gordon, where he is forcible to the last de-
gree, he does not compel any other interest than that which attaches
to the subject itself. This is true of some others of his orations in
what were g^reat political trials, but his peroration in the case of
Stockdale is made sublime by the strength of his protest against the
injustice of holding Warren Hastings as worse than the policy he
was sent to India to enforce. His speech prosecuting the publisher
of Thomas Paine's *The Age of Reason,^ which he himself considered
his masterpiece, is, undoubtedly, very eloquent, and, from his stand-

II

j2 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

point, not inconsistent with his defense of *The Rights of Man.*
The speech against <The Age of Reason* was published and circu-
lated in immense numbers by the Society for the Suppression of
Vice, — << which gave me the greatest satisfaction,** Erskine writes, ^*as
I would rather that all my other speeches were committed to the
flames, or in any manner buried in oblivion, than that this single
speech should be lost.**

Erskine had no such mastery of metaphor as Curran showed in
comparing the smile of a man he detested to <Hhe shine of a coffin
plate,** but few orators rise more strongly than he to a climax, and
few other speeches in English are so well sustained as his.

He was born at Edinburgh, January 21st, 1750. His father, the
Earl of Buchan, whose youngest son he was, was practically bankrupt,
and could not give him a university education. After service first in
the navy and then in the army, Erskine went to London, and in 1775
began to fit himself for the bar by entering as a student at Lincoln's
Inn and a little later by entering himself as a gentleman commoner
at Trinity College, Cambridge, He suffered considerable hardship
during this period of his career, but it is said that in four years after
his admission to the bar, he had paid all his debts and cleared nine
thousand pounds. In 1783, he was elected to Parliament from Ports-
mouth, but his first speech was a failure, and he never succeeded as
a parliamentary orator. His success at the bar was so brilliant that
he was made Attorney- General to the Prince of Wales — an office from
which he was removed for defending Thomas Paine. He was raised
to the peerage as Baron Erskine, however, and under Lord Grenville,
became Chancellor of England. His decisions in that capacity have
been called ^Hhe Apocrypha** by those who deny that he was a
great lawyer. While his legal attainments have not lacked eulogists,
his strongest characteristic was not so much deep learning in the
detail of law as deep sympathy with its underlying principles of jus-
tice and liberty. This made him a greater force for after times than
Mansfield or Ellenborough. He died November 17th, 1823.

AGAINST PAINE'S <THE AGE OF REASON*

(Delivered on the Prosecution of the Publisher of < The Age of Reason * for
Blasphemy — Ranked by Erskine Himself as His Best Speech)

Gentlemen of the Jury : —

THE charge of blasphemy, which is put upon the record against
the publisher of this publication, is not an accusation of the
servants of the Crown, but comes before you sanctioned by
the oaths of a grand jury of the country. It stood for trial upon

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

13

a former day; but it happening, as it frequently does, without
any imputation upon the gentlemen named in the panel, that a
sufficient number did not appear to constitute a full special jury,
I thought it my duty to withdraw the cause from trial, till I
could have the opportunity of addressing myself to you, who
were originally appointed to try it.

I pursued this course, from no jealousy of the common juries
appointed by the laws for the ordinary service of the court, — since
my whole life has been one continued experience of their virtues, —
but because I thought it of great importance that those who
were to decide upon a cause so very momentous to the public
should have the highest possible qualifications for the decision;
that they should not only be men capable from their educations
of forming an enlightened judgment, but that their situations
should be such as to bring them within the full view of their
country, to which, in character and in estimation, they were in
their own turns to be responsible.

Not having the honor, gentlemen, to be sworn for the King as
one of his counsel, it has fallen much oftener to my lot to defend
indictments for libels than to assist in the prosecution of them;
but I feel no embarrassment from that recollection. I shall not
be found to-day to express a sentiment, or to utter an expression,
inconsistent with those invaluable principles for which I have
uniformly contended in the defense of others. Nothing that I
have ever said, either professionally or personally, for the liberty
of the press, do I mean to-day to contradict or counteract. On
the contrary, I desire to preface the very short discourse I have
to make to you, with reminding you that it is your most solemn
duty to take care that it suffers no injury in your hands. A free
and unlicensed press, in the just and legal sense of the expres-
sion, has led to all the blessings, both of religion and govern-
ment, which Great Britain or any part of the world at this
moment enjoys, and it is calculated to advance mankind to still
higher degrees of civilization and happiness. But this freedom,
like every other, must be limited to be enjoyed, and, like every
human advantage, may be defeated by its abuse.

Gentlemen, the defendant stands indicted for having published
this book, which I have only read from the obligations of profes-
sional duty, and which I rose from the reading of with astonish-
ment and disgust. Standing here with all the privileges belonging
to the highest counsel for the Crown, I shall be entitled to reply

j^ THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

to any defense that shall be made for the publication. I shall
wait with patience till I hear it.

Indeed, if I were to anticipate the defense which I hear and
read of, it would be defaming by anticipation the learned coun-
sel who is to make it; since, if I am to collect it, from a formal
notice given to the prosecutors in the course of the proceedings,
I have to expect that, instead of a defense conducted according
to the rules and principles of English law, the foundation of all
our laws, and the sanctions of all justice, are to be struck at and
insulted. What gives the court its jurisdiction ? What but the
oath which his lordship, as well as yourselves, have sworn upon
the Gospel to fulfill ? Yet in the King's court, where his Maj-
esty is himself also sworn to administer the justice of England
— in the King's court — who receives his high authority under a
solemn oath to maintain the Christian religion, as it is promul-
gated by God in the Holy Scriptures, I am nevertheless called
upon as counsel for the prosecution to ^^ produce a certain book
described in the Indictment to be the Holy Bible.'* No man de-
serves to be upon the rolls who has dared, as an attorney, to put
his name to such a notice. It is an insult to the authority and
dignity of the court of which he is an officer, since it calls in
question the very foundations of its jurisdiction. If this is to be
the spirit and temper of the defense, — if, as I collect from that
array of books which are spread upon the benches behind me,
this publication is to be vindicated by an attack of all the truths
which the Christian religion promulgates to mankind, let it be
remembered that such an argument was neither suggested nor
justified by anything said by me on the part of the prosecution.

In this stage of the proceedings, I shall call for reference to
the Sacred Scriptures, not from their merits, unbounded as they
are, but from their authority in a Christian country, — not from
the obligations of conscience, but from the rules of law. For my
own part, gentlemen, I have been ever deeply devoted to the
truths of Christianity; and my firm belief in the Holy Gospel is
by no means owing to the prejudices of education (though I was
religiously educated by the best of parents), but has arisen from
the fullest and most continued reflections of my riper years and
understanding. It forms at this moment the great consolation of
a life, which, as a shadow, passes away; and without it I should
consider my long course of health and prosperity (too long, per-
haps, and too uninterrupted, to be good for any man) only as the

tHOMAS, LORD ERSKINE I^

dust which the wind scatters, and rather as a snare than as a
blessing.

Much, however, as I wish to support the authority of Script-
ure from a reasoned consideration of it, I shall repress that
subject for the present. But if the defense, as I have suspected,
shall bring it at all into argument or question, I must then ful-
fill a duty which I owe, not only to the court, as counsel for
the prosecution, but to the public and to the world — to state
what I feel and know concerning the evidences of that religion,
which- is denied without being examined, and reviled without
being understood.

I am well aware that, by the communications of a free press,
all the errors of mankind, from age to age, have been dissipated
and dispelled; and I recollect that the world, under the banners
of reformed Christianity, has struggled through persecution to
the noble eminence on which it stands at this moment, — shed-
ding the blessings of humanity and science upon the nations of
the earth.

It may be asked, then, by what means the Reformation would
have been effected, if the books of the Reformers had been sup-
pressed, and the errors of now exploded superstitions had been
supported by the terrors of an unreformed state ? or how, upon
such principles, any reformation, civil or religious, can in future
be effected ? The solution is easy : Let us examine what are the
genuine principles of the liberty of the press, as they regard
writings upon general subjects, unconnected with the personal
reputations of private men, which are wholly foreign to the pres-
ent inquiry. They are full of simplicity, and are brought as
near perfection by the law of England, as, perhaps, is attainable
by any of the frail institutions of mankind.

Although every community must establish supreme author-
ities, founded upon fixed principles, and must give high powers
to magistrates to administer laws for the preservation of govern-
ment, and for the security of those who are to be protected by
it, yet, as infallibility and perfection belong neither to human in-
dividuals nor to human establishments, it ought to be the policy
of all free nations, as it is most peculiarly the principle of our
own, to permit the most unbounded freedom of discussion, even
to the detection of errors in the constitution of the very govern-
ment itself; so as that common decorum is observed, which every
State must exact from its subject, and which imposes no restraint

j^ THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

upon any intellectual composition, fairly, honestly, and decently
addressed to the consciences and understandings of men. Upon
this principle I have an unquestionable right — a right which the
best subjects have exercised — to examine the principles and
structure of the Constitution, and by fair, manly reasoning to
question the practice of its administrators. I have a right to
consider and to point out errors in the one or in the other; and
not merely to reason upon their existence, but to consider the
means of their reformation.

By such free, well-intentioned, modest, and dignified commu-
nication of sentiments and opinions, all nations have been grad-
ually improved, and milder laws and purer religions have been
established. The same principles, which vindicate civil contro-
versies, honestly directed, extend their protection to the sharpest
contentions on the subject of religious faiths. This rational and
legal course of improvement was recognized and ratified by Lord
Kenyon as the law of England, in a late trial at Guildhall,
where he looked back with gratitude to the labors of the Re-
formers, as the fountains of our religious emancipation, and of
the civil blessings that followed in their train. The English
Constitution, indeed, does not stop short in the toleration of re-
ligious opinions, but liberally extends it to practice. It permits
every man, even publicly, to worship God according to his own
conscience, though in marked dissent from the national establish-
ment,— so as he professes the general faith which is the sanction
of all our moral duties, and the only pledge of our submission
to the system which constitutes the state.

Is not this freedom of controversy and freedom of worship
sufficient for all the purposes of human happiness and improve-
ment ? Can it be necessary for either, that the law should hold
out indemnity to those who wholly abjure and revile the gov-
ernment of their country or the religion on which it rests for
its foundation ? I expect to hear, in answer to what I am now
saying, much that will offend me. My learned friend, from the
difficulties of his situation, which I know, from experience, how
to feel for very sincerely, may be driven to advance propositions
which it may be my duty, with much freedom, to reply to, — and
the law will sanction that freedom. But will not the ends of
justice be completely answered by my exercise of that right, in
terms that are decent and calculated to expose its defects ? Or
will my argument sufifer, or will public justice be impeded, be-

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE iy

cause neither private honor and justice, nor public decorum,
would endure my telling my very learned friend, because I dif-
fer from him in opinion, that he is a fool, — a liar, — and a
scoundrel, in the face of the court ? This is just the distinction
between a book of free legal controversy and the book which I
am arraigning before you. Every man has a right to investigate,
with decency, controversial points of the Christian religion; but
no man, consistently with a law which only exists under its sanc-
tions, has a right to deny its very existence and to pour forth
such shocking and insulting invectives as the lowest establish-
ments in the gradations of civil authority ought not to be sub-
jected to, and which soon would be borne down by insolence and
disobedience, if they were.

The same principle pervades the whole system of the law, not
merely in its abstract theory, but in its daily and most applauded
practice. The intercourse between the sexes, which, properly
regulated, not only continues, but humanizes and adorns our nat-
ures, is the foundation of all the thousand romances, plays, and
novels, which are in the hands of everybody. Some of them lead
to the confirmation of every virtuous principle; others, though
with the same profession, address the imagination in a manner
to lead the passions into dangerous excesses; but though the
law does not nicely discriminate the various shades which dis-
tinguish these works from one another, so as to suffer many to
pass, through its liberal spirit, that upon principle ought to be
suppressed, woul4 it, or does it tolerate, or does any decent man
contend that it ought to pass by unpunished, libels of the most
shameless obscenity, manifestly pointed to debauch innocence,
and to blast and poison the morals of the rising generation ? This
is only another illustration to demonstrate the obvious distinction
between the work of an author, who fairly exercises the powers
of his mind, in investigating the religion or government of any
country, and him who attacks the rational existence of every re-
ligion or government, and brands with absurdity and folly the
state which sanctions, and the obedient tools who cherish the de-
lusion. But this publication appears to me to be as cruel and
mischievous in its effects as it is manifestly illegal in its princi-
ples; because it strikes at the best — sometimes, alas! the only
refuge and consolation amidst the distresses and afflictions of the
world. The poor and humble, whom it affects to pity, may be
stabbed to the heart by it. They have more occasion for farm

6 — 2

jg THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

hopes beyond the grave than the rich and prosperous, who have
other comforts to render life delightful. I can conceive a dis-
tressed but virtuous man, surrounded by his children, looking up
to him for bread when he has none to give them, — sinking under
the last day's labor, and unequal to the next, yet, still sup-
ported by confidence in the hour when all tears shall be wiped
from the eyes of affliction, bearing the burden laid upon him by
a mysterious Providence which he adores, and anticipating with
exultation the revealed promises of his Creator, when he shall be
greater than the greatest, and happier than the happiest of man-
kind. What a change in such a mind might be wrought by such
a merciless publication! Gentlemen, whether these remarks are
the overcharged declamation of an accusing counsel, or the just
reflections of a man anxious for the public happiness, which is
best secured by the morals of a nation, will be soon settled by
an appeal to the passages in the work that are selected by the
Indictment for your consideration and judgment. You are at
liberty to connect them with every context and sequel, and to be-
stow upon them the mildest interpretation.

[Here Mr. Erskine read several passages.]

Gentlemen, it would be useless and disgusting to enumerate
the other passages within the scope of the Indictment. How
any man can rationally vindicate the publication of such a book,
in a country where the Christian religion is the very foundation
of the law of the land, I am totally at a loss to conceive, and
have no ideas for the discussion of. How is a tribunal, whose
whole jurisdiction is founded upon the solemn belief and practice
of what is here denied as falsehood, and reprobated as impiety,
to deal with such an anomalous defense ? Upon what principle
is it even offered to the court, whose authority is contemned and
mocked at ? If the religion proposed to be called in question is
not previously adopted in belief and solemnly acted upon, what
authority has the court to pass any judgment at all of acquittal
or condemnation ? Why am I now, or upon any other occasion,
to submit to his lordship's authority ? Why am I now, or at any
time, to address twelve of my equals, as I am now addressing
you, with reverence and submission ? Under what sanction are
the witnesses to give their evidence, without which there can be
no trial ? Under what obligations can I call upon you, the jury
representing your country, to administer justice ? Surely upon

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

19

no other than that you are sworn to administer it under the
oaths you have taken. The whole judicial fabric, from the
King's sovereign authority to the lowest office of magistracy, has
no other foundation. The whole is built, both in form and sub-
stance, upon the same oath of every one of its ministers to do
justice, as God shall help them hereafter ? What God ? and what
hereafter ? That God, undoubtedly, who has commanded kings
to rule and judges to decree justice; who has said to witnesses,
not only by the voice of nature, but in revealed commandments:
" Thou shalt not bear false testimony against thy neighbor " ; —
and who has enforced obedience to them by the revelation of
the unutterable blessings which shall attend their observance, and
the awful punishments which shall await upon their transgres-
sions.

But it seems this is an Age of Reason, and the time and the
person are at last arrived that are to dissipate the errors which
have overspread the past generations of ignorance. The believ-
ers in Christianity are many, but it belongs to the few that are
wise to correct their credulity. Belief is an act of reason, and
superior reason may, therefore, dictate to the weak. In running
the mind along the long list of sincere and devout Christians, I
cannot help lamenting that Newton had not lived to this day, to
have had his shallowness filled up with this new flood of light.
But the subject is too awful for irony. I will speak plainly and
directly. Newton was a Christian! — Newton, whose mind burst
forth from the fetters fastened by nature upon our finite concep-
tions— Newton, whose science was truth, and the foundation of
whose knowledge of it was philosophy — not those visionary and
arrogant presumptions, which too often usurp its name, but phi-
losophy resting upon the basis of mathematics, which, like figures,
cannot lie — Newton, who carried the line and rule to the utter-
most barriers of creation, and explored the principles by which
all created matter exists and is held together. But this extraor-
dinary man, in the mighty reach of his mind, overlooked, per-
haps, the errors which a minuter investigation of the created
things on this earth might have taught him. What shall then
be said of the great Mr. Boyle, who looked into the organic
structure of all matter, even to the inanimate substances which
the foot treads upon ? Such a man may be supposed to have
been equally qualified with Mr. Paine to look up through nature
to nature's God. Yet the result of all his contemplations was

20 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

the most confirmed and devout belief in all which the other
holds in contempt as despicable and driveling superstition. But
this error might, perhaps, arise from a want of due attention to
the foundations of human judgment, and the structure of that
understanding which God has given us for the investigation of
truth. Let that question be answered by Mr. Locke, who, to the
highest pitch of devotion and adoration, was a Christian — Mr.
Locke, whose office was to detect the errors of thinking, by go-
ing up to the very fountains of thought, and to direct into the
proper tract of reasoning, the devious mind of man, by showing
him its whole process, from the first perceptions of sense to the
last conclusions of ratiocination: — putting a rein upon false opin-
ion, by practical rules for the conduct of human judgment.

But these men, it may be said, were only deep thinkers, and
lived in their closets, unaccustomed to the traffic of the world
and to the laws which practically regulate mankind. Gentlemen,
in the place where we now sit to administer the justice of this
great country, the never-to-be-forgotten Sir Matthew Hale pre-
sided, whose faith in Christianity is an exalted commentary upon
its truth and reason, and whose life was a glorious example of its
fruits; whose justice, drawn from the pure fountain of the Christ-
ian dispensation, will be, in all ages, a subject of the highest
reverence and admiration. But it is said by the author, that the
Christian fable is but the tale of the more ancient superstitions
of the world, and may be easily detected by a proper understand-
ing of the mythologies of the Heathens. Did Milton understand
those mythologies? Was he less versed than Mr. Paine in the su-
perstitions of the world? No; they were the subject of his immor-
tal song; and though shut out from all recurrence to them, he
poured them forth from the stores of a memory rich with all that
man ever knew, and laid them in their order as the illustration of
real and exalted faith, the unquestionable source of that fervid
genius which has cast a kind of shade upon all the other works
of man —

«He pass'd the bounds of flaming space,
Where angels tremble while they gaze —
He saw, — till, blasted with excess of light,
He clos'd his eyes in endless night. >^

But it was the light of the body only that was extinguished;
* The celestial light shone inward, and enabled him to justify the

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE 2T'

ways of God to man.^' The result of his thinking was neverthe-
less not quite the same as the author's before us. The mysteri-
ous incarnation of our blessed Savior (which this work blasphemes
in words so wholly unfit for the mouth of a Christian, or for the
ear of a court of justice, that I dare not, and will not, give them
utterance ) Milton made the grand conclusion of his * Paradise
Lost,^ the rest from his finished labors, and the ultimate hope,
expectation, and glory of the world.

«A Virgin is his Mother, but his Sire,
The power of the Most High; — he shall ascend
The throne hereditary, and bound his reign
With earth's wide bounds, his glory with the heavens.**

The immmortal poet, having thus put into the mouth of the
angel the prophecy of man's redemption, follows it with that
solemn and beautiful admonition, addressed in the poem to our
great first parent, but intended as an address to his posterity
through all generations: —

<<This having learn'd, thou hast attain'd the sum
Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the stars
Thou knew'st by name, and all th' ethereal pow'rs.
All secrets of the deep, all Nature's works;
Or works of God in heav'n, air, earth, or sea,
And all the riches of this world enjoy 'st,
And all the rule, one empire; only add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add faith,
Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love.
By name to come call'd Charity, the soul
Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loth
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A Paradise within thee, happier far.*

Thus you find all that is great, or wise, or splendid, or illus-
trious, amongst created beings; — all the minds gifted beyond
ordinary nature, if not inspired by its universal Author for the
advancement and dignity of the world, though divided by distant
ages, and by clashing opinions, yet joining, as it were, in one
sublime chorus, to celebrate the truths of Christianity, and laying
upon its holy altars the never-fading offerings of their immortal
wisdom.

Against all this concurring testimony, we find suddenly, from
the author of this book, that the Bible teaches nothing but ^^lies.

22 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

obscenity, cruelty, and injustice.'^ Had he ever read our Savior's
Sermon on the Mount, in which the great principles of our faith
and duty are summed up ? Let us all but read and practice it,
and lies, obscenity, cruelty, and injustice, and all human wicked-
ness, will be banished from the world!

Gentlemen, there is but one consideration more, which I can-
not possibly omit, because, I confess, it affects me very deeply.
The author of this book has written largely on public liberty
and government; and this last performance, which I am now
prosecuting, has, on that account, been more widely circulated,
and principally among those who attached themselves from prin-
ciple to his former works. This circumstance renders a public
attack upon all revealed religion from such a writer infinitely
more dangerous. The religious and moral sense of the people
of Great Britain is the great anchor, which alone can hold the
vessel of the state amidst the storms which agitate the world;
and if the mass of the people were debauched from the prin-
ciples of religion, — the true basis of that humanity, charity, and
benevolence, which have been so long the national characteristic, —
instead of mixing myself, as I sometimes have done, in political
reformations, I would retire to the uttermost corners of the earth,
to avoid their agitation, and would bear, not only the imperfec-
tions and abuses complained of in our own wise establishment,
but even the worst government that ever existed in the world,
rather than go to the work of reformation with a multitude set
free from all the charities of Christianity, who had no other
sense of God's existence than was to be collected from Mr.
Paine's observation of nature, which the mass of mankind have
no leisure to contemplate; — which promises no future rewards to
animate the good in the glorious pursuit of human happiness,
nor punishments to deter the wicked from destroying it even in
its birth. The people of England are a religious people, and,
with the blessing of God, so far as it is in my pov/er, I will lend
my aid to keep them so.

I have no objections to the most extended and free discus-
sions upon doctrinal points of the Christian religion; and though
the law of England does not permit it, I do not dread the rea-
sonings of Deists against the existence of Christianity itself, be-
cause, as was said by its divine Author, if it be of God it will
stand. An intellectual book, however erroneous, addressed to
the intellectual world, upon so profound and complicated a sub-

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE ^-,

ject, can never work the mischief which this Indictment" is calcu-
lated to repress. Such works will only incite the minds of men
enlightened by study, to a deeper investigation of a subject
well worthy of their deepest and continued contemplation. The
powers of the mind are given for human improvement in the
progress of human existence. The changes produced by such
reciprocations of lights and intelligences are certain in their pro-
gressions, and make their way imperceptibly, by the final and
irresistible power of truth. If Christianity be founded in false-
hood, let us become Deists in this manner, and I am contented.
But this book has no such object, and no such capacity; it pre-
sents no arguments to the wise and enlightened. On the con-
trary, it treats the faith and opinions of the wisest with the most
shocking contempt, and stirs up men, without the advantages of
learning, or sober thinking, to a total disbelief of everything
hitherto held sacred; and consequently to a rejection of all the
laws and ordinances of the state, which stand only upon the
assumption of their truth.

Gentlemen, I cannot conclude without expressing the deepest
regret at all attacks upon the Christian religion by authors who
profess to promote the civil liberties of the world. For under
what other auspices than Christianity have the lost and subverted
liberties of mankind in former ages been reasserted? By what
zeal, but the warm zeal of devout Christians, have English liber-
ties been redeemed and consecrated ? Under what other sanc-
tions, even in our own days, have liberty and happiness been
spreading to the uttermost corners of the earth ? What work
of civilization, what commonwealth of greatness has this bald
religion of nature ever established ? We see, on the contrary,
the nations that have no other light than that of nature to direct
them, sunk in barbarism, or slaves to arbitrary governments;
whilst, under the Christian dispensation, the great career of the
world has been slowly, but clearly, advancing, — lighter at every
step, from the encouraging prophecies of the Gospel, and leading,
I trust, in the end, to universal and eternal happiness. Each
generation of mankind can see but a few revolving links of this
mighty and mysterious chain; but by doing our several duties in
our allotted stations, we are sure that we are fulfilling the pur-
poses of our existence. You, I trust, will fulfill yours this day.

24

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

« DOMINION FOUNDED ON VIOLENCE AND TERROR »
(Peroration of the Speech in Defense of John Stockdale, December 9th, 1789)

[«0n the occasion of the impeachment of Warren Hastings, the Governor-
General of Bengal, for high crimes and misdemeanors, the articles of impeach-
ment were prepared by Mr. Edmund Burke, and, instead of being couched in
the usual dry, formal language of law, were remarkable for the same fervor of
language which characterized all the compositions of their author. Contrary
to the principles of impartial justice, these articles were permitted to be pub-
lished throughout the kingdom, while the impeachment itself was still pending,
and undoubtedly created a strong prejudice against the accused; to counteract
which, the Reverend Mr. Logan, a minister of Leith, composed a defense of
Mr. Hastings, entitled ^A Review of the Principal Charges against Warren
Hastings, Esq., late Governor-General of Bengal, > which was published, at his
request, by Mr. Stockdale, a bookseller in Piccadilly, in the regular course of
his business. This pamphlet, being very extensively circulated, and containing
strong and, as it was asserted, libelous observations on the House of Com-
mons,— imputing their proceedings to motives of personal animosity, and not
a regard to public justice, — Mr. Fox, who was one of the managers of the im-
peachment, complained of it to the House, and, on his motion, a vote passed
unanimously that an address be presented to the King, praying his Majesty to
direct his Attorney-General to file an information against Mr. Stockdale, as the
publisher of a libel .upon the Commons' House of Parliament. An information
was accordingly filed, and came on for trial in the Court of King's Bench, be-
fore Lord Kenyon and a special jury, on the ninth of December, 1789; when
the Attorney-General [Sir A. Macdonald], having fairly opened the case, and
proved the publication, Mr. Erskine addressed the jury as counsel for the de-
fendant.» — From the < Modern Orator. >]

Gentlemen : —

I WISH that my strength would enable me to convince you of
the author's singleness of intention, and of the merit and
ability of his work, by reading the whole that remains of it.
But my voice is already nearly exhausted; I am sorry my client
should be a sufferer by my infirmity. One passage, however, is
too striking and important to be passed over; the rest I must
trust to your private examination. The author, having discussed
all the charges, article by article, sums them all up with this
striking appeal to his readers: —

^*The authentic statement of facts which has been given, and the
arguments which have been employed, are, I think, sufficient to vin-
dicate the character and conduct of Mr. Hastings, even on the max-
ims of European policy. When he was appointed Governor-General
of Bengal, he was invested with a discretionary power to promote

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

25

the interests of the India Company and of the British Empire in that
quarter of the globe. The general instructions sent to him from his
constituents were: ^That in all your deliberations and resolutions,
you make the safety and prosperity of Bengal your principal object,
and fix your attention on the security of the possessions and reve-
nues of the company.^ His superior genius sometimes acted in the
spirit, rather than complied with the letter of the law, but he dis-
charged the trust, and preserved the empire committed to his care,
in the same way, and with greater splendor and success than any of
his predecessors in office; his departure from India was marked with
the lamentations of the natives, and the gratitude of his countrymen,
and, on his return to England, he received the cordial congratulations
of that numerous and respectable society, whose interests he had
promoted, and whose dominions he had protected and extended. *>

Gentlemen of the jury, if this be a willfully false account of
the instructions given to Mr. Hastings for his government, and
of his conduct under them, the author and publisher of this
defense deserve the severest punishment, for a mercenary im-
position on the public. But if it be true that he was directed
to make the safety and prosperity of Bengal the first object of
his attention, and that, under his administration, it has been safe
and prosperous; if it be true that the security and preservation
of our possessions and revenues in Asia were marked out to him
as the great leading principle of his government, and that those
possessions and revenues, amidst unexampled dangers, have been
secured and preserved; then a question may be unaccountably
mixed with your consideration, much beyond the consequence of
the present prosecution, involving, perhaps, the merit of the
impeachment itself which gave it birth — a question which the
Commons, as prosecutors of Mr. Hastings, should, in common pru-
dence, have avoided; unless, regretting the unwieldy length of
their proceedings against him, they wish to afford him the op-
portunity of this strange anomalous defense. For, although I am
neither his counsel, nor desire to have anything to do with his
guilt or innocence, yet, in the collateral defense of my client, I
am driven to state matter which may be considered by many as
hostile to the impeachment. For if our dependencies have been
secured, and their interests promoted, I am driven in the defense
of my client to remark that it is mad and preposterous to bring
to the standard of justice and humanity the exercise of a domin-
ion founded upon violence and terror. It may and must be true

25 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

that Mr. Hastings has repeatedly offended against the rights and
privileges of Asiatic government, if he was the faithful deputy
of a power which could not maintain itself for an hour without
trampling upon both. He may and must have offended against
the laws of God and nature if he was the faithful viceroy of
an empire wrested in blood from the people to whom God and
nature had given it; he may and must have preserved that un-
just dominion over timorous and abject nations by a terrifying,
overbearing, insulting superiority, if he was the faithful adminis-
trator of your Government, which, having no root in consent or
affection — no foundation in similarity of interests — nor support
from any one principle which cements men together in society,
could only be upheld by alternate stratagem and force. The un-
happy people of India, feeble and effeminate as they are from
the softness of their climate, and subdued and broken as they
have been by the knavery and strength of civilization, still occa-
sionally start up in all the vigor and intelligence of insulted nat-
ure. To be governed at all, they must be governed with a rod
of iron; and our empire in the Eastern World long since must
have been lost to Great Britain, if civil skill and military prow-
ess had not united their efforts to support an authority which
Heaven never gave, by means which it never can sanction.

Gentlemen, I think I can observe that you are touched with
this way of considering the subject, and I can account for it. I
have not been considering it through the cold medium of books,
but have been speaking of man and his nature, and of human
dominion, from what I have seen of them myself amongst reluc-
tant nations submitting to our authority. I know what they feel,
and how such feelings can alone be repressed. I have heard
them in my youth from a naked savage, in the indignant charac-
ter of a prince surrounded by his subjects, addressing the gov-
ernor of a British colony, holding a bundle of sticks in his hand,
as the notes of his unlettered eloquence. ^^ Who is it ? *^ said the
jealous ruler over the desert, encroached upon by the restless
foot of English adventure; "who is it that causes this river to
rise in the high mountains and to empty itself into the ocean ?
Who is it that causes to blow the loud winds of winter, and that
calms them again in the summer ? Who is it that rears up the
shade of those lofty forests, and blasts them with the quick light-
ning at his pleasure ? The same Being who gave to you a coun-
try on the other side of the waters, and gave ours to us; and

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE 27,

by this title we will defend it,*' said the warrior, throwing down
his tomahawk upon the ground, and raising the war-sound of his
nation. These are the feelings of subjugated man all round the
globe; and depend upon it, nothing but fear will control where
it is vain to look for affection.

These reflections are the only antidotes to those anathemas of
superhuman eloquence which have lately shaken these walls that
surround us, but which it unaccountably falls to my province,
whether I will or no, a little to stem the torrent of, by remind-
ing you that you have a mighty sway in Asia, which cannot be
maintained by the finer sympathies of life or the practice of its
charities and affections; what will they do for you when sur-
rounded by two hundred thousand men v/ith artillery, cavalry,
and elephants, calling upon you for their dominions which you
have robbed them of ? Justice may, no doubt, in such case, for-
bid the levying of a fine to pay a revolting soldiery; a treaty
may stand in the way of increasing a tribute to keep up the
very existence of the government; and delicacy for women may
forbid all entrance into a zenana for money, whatever may be
the necessity for taking it. All these things must ever be occur-
ring. But under the pressure of such constant difficulties, so
dangerous to national honor, it might be better, perhaps, to think
of effectually securing it altogether, by recalling our troops and
our merchants, and abandoning our Oriental empire. Until this
be done, neither religion nor philosophy can be pressed very far
into the aid of reformation and punishment. If England, from
a lust of ambition and dominion, will insist on maintaining des-
potic rule over distant and hostile nations, beyond all comparison
more numerous and extended than herself, and gives commission
to her viceroys to govern them with no other instructions than
to preserve them, and to secure permanently their revenues,
with what color of consistency or reason can she place herself in
the moral chair, and affect to be shocked at the execution of her
own orders; adverting to the exact measure of wickedness and
injustice necessary to their execution, and complaining only of
the excess as the immorality, considering her authority as a
dispensation for breaking the commands of God, and the breach
of them as only punishable when contrary to the ordinances of
man?

Such a proceeding, gentlemen, begets serious reflection. It
^ould be better, perhaps, for the masters and the servants of all

2g THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

such governments, to join in supplication that the great Author
of violated humanity may not confound them together in one
common judgment.

Gentlemen, I find, as I said before, I have not sufficient
strength to go on with the remaining parts of the book. I hope,
however, that, notwithstanding my omissions, you are now com-
pletely satisfied that whatever errors or misconceptions may have
misled the writer of these pages, the justification of a person
whom he believed to be innocent, and whose accusers had them-
selves appealed to the public, was the single object of his con-
templation. If I have succeeded in that object, every purpose
which I had in addressing you has been answered.

It now only remains to remind you that another consideration
has been strongly pressed upon by you, and, no doubt, will be
insisted on in reply. You will be told that the matters which I
have been justifying as legal, and even meritorious, have there-
fore not been made the subject of complaint; and that whatever
intrinsic merit parts of the book may be supposed or even ad-
mitted to possess, such merit can afford no justification to the
selected passages, some of which, even with the context, carry
the meaning charged by the information, and which are indecent
animadversions on authority. To this I would answer (still pro-
testing as I do against the application of any one of the innu-
endos) that if you are firmly persuaded of the singleness and
purity of the author's intentions, you are not bound to subject
him to infamy, because, in the zealous career of a just and ani-
mated composition, he happens to have tripped with his pen into
an intemperate expression in one or two instances of a long
work. If this severe duty were binding on your consciences, the
liberty of the press would be an empty sound, and no man could
venture to write on any subject, however pure his purpose, with-
out an attorney at one elbow, and a counsel at the other.

From minds thus subdued by the terrors of punishment, there
could issue no works of genius to expand the empire of human
reason, nor any masterly compositions on the general nature of
government, by the help of which the great commonwealths of
mankind have founded their establishments; much less any of those
useful applications of them to critical conjunctures, by which, from
time to time, our own Constitution, by the exertion of patriot cit-
izens, has been brought back to its standard. Under such terrors
all the great lights of science and civilization must be extin-

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

^9

guished, for men cannot communicate their free thoughts to one
another with a lash held over their heads. It is the nature of
everything- that is great and useful, both in the animate and inani-
mate world, to be wild and irregular, and we must be contented
to take them with the alloys which belong to them, or live without
them. Genius breaks from the fetters of criticism, but its wan-
derings are sanctioned by its majesty and wisdom when it ad-
vances in its path; subject it to the critic, and you tame it into
dullness. Mighty rivers break down their banks in the winter,
sweeping away to death the flocks which are fattened on the
soil that they fertilize in the summer; the few may be saved by
embankments from drowning, but the flock must perish for hun-
ger. Tempests occasionally shake our dwellings and dissipate
our commerce; but they scourge before them the lazy elements,
which, without them, would stagnate into pestilence. In like
manner, liberty herself, the last and best gift of God to his creat-
ures, must be taken just as she is; you might pare her down
into bashful regularity, and shape her into a perfect model of
severe, scrupulous law, but she would then be liberty no longer;
and you must be content to die under the lash of this inexorable
justice which you have exchanged for the banners of freedom.

If it be asked where the line to this indulgence and impunity
is to be drawn, the answer is easy. The liberty of the press on
general subjects comprehends and implies as much strict observ-
ance of positive law as is consistent with perfect purity of inten-
tion, and equal and useful society; and what that latitude is
cannot be promulgated in the abstract, but must be judged of
in the particular instance, and consequently, upon this occasion,
must be judged of by you, without forming any possible precedent
for any other case; and where can the judgment be possibly so
safe as with the members of that society which alone can suffer,
if the writing is calculated to do mischief to the public ? You
must, therefore, try the book by that criterion, and say whether
the publication was premature and offensive, or, in other words,
whether the publisher is bound to have suppressed it until the
public ear was anticipated and abused, and every avenue to the
human heart or understanding secured and blocked up. I see
around me those by whom, by and by, Mr. Hastings will be most
ably and eloquently defended; but I am sorry to remind my
friends that but for the right of suspending the public judgment

30

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

concerning him till their season of exertion comes round, the
tongues of angels would be insufficient for the task.

Gentlemen, I hope I have now performed my duty to my cli-
ent ; I sincerely hope that I have ; for certainly, if ever there was a
man pulled the other way by his interests and affections — if ever
there was a man who should have trembled at the situation in
which I have been placed on this occasion, it is myself, who not
only love, honor, and respect, but whose future hopes and prefer-
ments are linked, from free choice, with those who, from the mis-
takes of the author, are treated with great severity and injustice.
These are strong retardments; but I have been urged on to activity
by considerations which can never be inconsistent with honorable
attachments, either in the political or social world — the love of
justice and of liberty, and a zeal for the constitution of my
country, which is the inheritance of our posterity, of the public,
and of the world. These are the motives which have animated
me in defense of this person, who is an entire stranger to me,
whose shop I never go to, and the author of whose publication,
as well as Mr. Hastings, who is the object of it, I never spoke to
in my life.

One word more, gentlemen, and I have done. Every human
tribunal ought to take care to administer justice, as we look,
hereafter, to have justice administered to ourselves. Upon the
principle on which the Attorney-General prays sentence upon my
client, — God have mercy upon us! — instead of standing before
him in judgment with the hopes and consolations of Christians,
we must call upon the mountains to cover us; for which of us
can present, for Omniscient examination, a pure, unspotted, and
faultless course ? But I humbly expect that the benevolent Au-
thor of our being will judge us as I have been pointing out for
your example. Holding up the great volume of our lives in his
hands, and regarding the general scope of them, if he discover
benevolence, charity, and good-will to man beating in the heart,
where he alone can look; if he find that our conduct, though often
forced out of the path by our infirmities, has been in general
well directed, his all-searching eye will assuredly never pursue us
into those little corners of our lives, much less will his justice
select them for punishment, without the general context of our
existence, by which faults may be sometimes found to have
grown out of virtues, and very many of our heaviest offenses to

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

3i

have been grafted by human imperfection upon the best and
kindest of our affections. No, gentlemen, believe me, this is not
the course of Divine justice, or there is no truth in the Gospels
of Heaven. If the general tenor of a man's conduct be such as
I have represented it, he may walk through the shadow of death,
with all his faults about him, with as much cheerfulness as in the
common paths of life, because he knows that, instead of a stern
accuser to expose before the Author of his nature those frail
passages which, like the scored matter in the book before you,
chequer the volume of the brightest and best-spent life, his
mercy will obscure them from the eye of his purity, and our re-
pentance blot them out forever.

All this would, I admit, be perfectly foreign and irrelevant, if
you were sitting here in a case of property between man and
man, where a strict rule of law must operate, or there would be
an end of civil life and society. It would be equally foreign and
still more irrelevant, if applied to those shameful attacks upon
private reputation which are the bane and disgrace of the press,
by which whole families have been rendered unhappy during
life, by aspersions cruel, scandalous, and unjust. Let such libel-
ers remember that no one of my principles of defense can, at
any time or upon any occasion, ever apply to shield them from
punishment, because such conduct is not only an infringement
of the rights of men, as they are defined by strict law, but is
absolutely incompatible with honor, honesty, or mistaken good in-
tention. On such men let the Attorney-General bring forth all
the artillery of his office, and the thanks and blessings of the
whole public will follow him. But this is a totally different
case. Whatever private calumny may mark this work, it has not
been made the subject of complaint, and we have, therefore, noth-
ing to do with that, nor any right to consider it. We are trying
whether the public could have been considered as offended and
endangered, if Mr. Hastings himself, in whose place the author
and publisher have a right to put themselves, had, under all the
circumstances which have been considered, composed and pub-
lished the volume under examination. That question cannot, in
common sense, be anything resembling a question of law, but is
a pure question of fact, to be decided on the principles which I
have humbly recommended. I therefore ask of the court that
the book itself may now be delivered to you. Read it with at-
tention, and as you shall find it. pronounce your verdict.

^2 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

HOMICIDAL INSANITY

(Exordium of the Speech in Defense of James Hadfield, an Insane Soldier,
Who Fired a Pistol at the King — Delivered Before the Court of King's
Bench, June 26th, 1800)

[«Erskine's last and perhaps his greatest display of genius in defending
a party prosecuted by the Crown. It is now, and ever will be, studied by
medical men for its philosophic views of mental disease; by lawyers for its
admirable distinctions as to the degree of alienation of mind which will ex-
empt from final responsibility; by logicians for its severe and connected rea-
soning; and by all lovers of genuine eloquence for its touching appeals to
human feeling. » — Lord Campbell.]

Gentlemen of the Jury : —

THE scene which we are engaged in, and the duty which I am
not merely privileged, but appointed by the authority of the
court to perform, exhibits to the whole civilized world a
perpetual monument of our national justice.

The transaction, indeed, in every part of it, as it stands
recorded in the evidence already before us, places our country,
and its government, and its inhabitants, upon the highest pinnacle
of human elevation. It appears that, upon the fifteenth day of
May last, his Majesty, after a reign of forty years, not merely in
sovereign power, but spontaneously in the very hearts of his
people, was openly shot at (or to all appearances shot at) in a
public theatre (Drury Lane), in the centre of his capital, and
amid the loyal plaudits of his subjects, yet not a hair of the
supposed assassin was touched. In this unparalleled scene of
calm forbearance, the King himself, though he stood first in per-
sonal interest and feeling, as well as in command, was a singular
and fortunate example. The least appearance of emotion on the
part of that august personage must unavoidably have produced a
scene quite different and far less honorable than the court is
now witnessing. But his Majesty remained unmoved, and the
person apparently offending was only secured, without injury or
reproach, for the business of this day.

Gentlemen, I agree with the Attorney-General (indeed, there
can be no possible doubt) that if the same pistol had been ma-
liciously fired by the prisoner, in the same theatre, at the meanest
man within the walls, he would have been brought to immediate

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE ^^

trial, and, if guilty, to immediate execution. He would have
heard the charge against him for the first time when the indict-
ment was read upon his arraignment. He would have been a
stranger to the names, and even to the existence, of those who
were to sit in judgment upon him, and of those who were to be
the witnesses against him. But upon the charge of even this
murderous attack upon the King himself, he is covered all over
with the armor of the law. He has been provided with counsel
by the King's own judges, and not of their choice, but of his
own. He has had a copy of the indictment ten days before his
trial. He has had the names, descriptions, and abodes of all the
jurors returned to the court, and the highest privilege of per-
emptory challenges derived from, and safely directed by that in-
dulgence. He has had the same description of every witness
who could be received to accuse him; and there must, at this
hour, be twice the testimony against him which would be legally
competent to establish his guilt on a similar prosecution by (in
behalf of) the meanest and most helpless of mankind.

Gentlemen, when this melancholy catastrophe happened, and
the prisoner was arraigned for trial, I remember to have said to
some now present, that it was, at first view, difficult to bring those
indulgent exceptions to the general rules of trial within the prin-
ciple which dictated them to our humane ancestors in cases of
treasons against the political government, o-r of rebellious con-
spiracy against the person of the King. In these cases, the pas-
sion and interests of great bodies of powerful men being engaged
and agitated, a counterpoise became necessary to give composure
and impartiality to criminal tribunals; but a mere murderous at-
tack upon the King's person, not at all connected with his politi-
cal character, seemed a case to be ranged and dealt with like a
similar attack upon any private man.

But the wisdom of the law is greater than any man's wis-
dom; how much more, therefore, than mine! An attack upon
the King is considered to be parricide against the State, and the
jury and the witnesses, and even the judges, are the children. It
is fit, on that account, that there should be a solemn pause before
we rush to judgment; and what can be a more sublime spectacle
of justice than to see a statutable disqualification of a whole na-
tion for a limited period, a fifteen days' quarantine before trial,
lest the mind should be subject to the contagion of partial af-
f ections I

34

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

From a prisoner so protected by the benevolence of our in-
stitutions, the utmost good faith would, on his part, be due to
the public, if he had consciousness and reason to reflect upon the
obligation. The duty, therefore, devolves on me; and, upon my
honor, it shall be fulfilled. I will employ no artifices of speech.
I claim only the strictest protection of the law for the unhappy
man before you. I should, indeed, be ashamed if I were to say
anything of the rule in the abstract by which he is to be judged,
which I did not honestly feel. I am sorry, therefore, that the
subject is so difficult to handle with brevity and precision. In-
deed, if it could be brought to a clear and simple criterion, which
could admit of a dry admission or contradiction, there might be
very little difference, perhaps none at all, between the Attorney-
General and myself, upon the principles which ought to govern
your verdict. But this is not possible, and I am, therefore, undei
the necessity of submitting to you, and to the judges, for theii
direction (and at greater length than I wish), how I understand
this difficult and momentous subject.

The law, as it regards this most unfortunate infirmity of the
human mind, like the law in all its branches, aims at the utmost
degree of precision; but there are some subjects, as I have just
observed to you, and the present is one of them, upon which
it is extremely difficult to be precise. The general principle is
clear, but the application is most difficult.

It is agreed by all jurists, and is established by the law of
this and every other country, that it is the reason of man which
makes him accountable for his actions, and that the deprivation
of reason acquits him of crime. This principle is indisputable;
yet so fearfully and wonderfully are we made, so infinitely subtle
is the spiritual part of our being, so difficult is it to trace with
accuracy the effect of diseased intellect upon human action, that
I may appeal to all who hear me, whether there are any causes
more difficult, or which, indeed, so often confound the learning
of the judges themselves, as when insanity, or the effects and
consequences of insanity, become the subjects of legal considera-
tions and judgment. I shall pursue the subject as the Attorney-
General has properly discussed it. I shall consider insanity, as
it annuls a man's dominion over property, as it dissolves his
contracts, and other acts, which otherwise would be binding, and
as it takes away his responsibility for crimes. If I could draw
the line in a moment between these two views of the subject,

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE 35

I am sure the judges will do me the justice to believe that I
would fairly and candidly do so; but great difficulties press upon
my mind, which oblige me to take a different course.

I agree with the Attorney-General, that the law, in neither
civil nor criminal cases, will measure the degrees of men's un-
derstandings. A weak man, however much below the ordinary
standard of human intellect, is not only responsible for crimes,
but is bound by his contracts, and may exercise dominion over
his property. Sir Joseph Jekyll, in the Duchess of Cleveland's
case, took the clear, legal distinction, when he said : ^* The law
will not measure the sizes of men's capacities, so as they be
compos 'mentis.^'*

Lord Coke, in speaking of the expression, no7i compos mentis^
says : ^* Many times (as here) the Latin word expresses the true
sense, and calleth him not amens, demens, furiosus, lunaticus^
fatuus, stultus, or the like, for nan compos mentis is the most
sure and legal.** He then says: *-*-Non compos mentis is of three
sorts: first, ideota (an idiot), which from his nativity, by a per-
petual infirmity, is non compos mentis; secondly, he that by sick-
ness, grief, or other accident, wholly loses his memory and
understanding; thirdly, a lunatic that hath sometimes his under-
standing, and sometimes not — aliquando gaudet lucidis intervallis
(has sometimes lucid intervals) ; and, therefore, he is called non
compos mentis so long as he hath not understanding."

But notwithstanding the precision with which this great au-
thor points out the different kinds of this unhappy malady, the
nature of his work, in this part of it, did not open to any illus-
tration which it can now be useful to consider. In his fourth
Institute he is more particular; but the admirable work of Lord
Chief-Justice Hale, in which he refers to Lord Coke's Pleas of
the Crown, renders all other authorities unnecessary.

Lord Hale says: "There is a partial insanity of the mind, and
a total insanity. The former is either in respect to things, quoad
hoc vel ilhid insanire (to be insane as to this or that). Some
persons that have a competent use of reason in respect of some
subjects, are yet under a particular dementia (deprivation of rea-
son) in respect of some particular discourses, subjects, or applica-
tions; or else it is partial in respect of degrees; and this is the
condition of very many, especially melancholy persons, who for
the most part discover their defect in excessive fears and griefs,
and yet are not wholly destitute of the use of reason; and this

g5 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

partial insanity seems not to excuse them in the committing of
any offense for its matter capital. For, doubtless, most persons
that are felons of themselves and others are under a degree of
partial insanity when they commit these offenses. It is very
difficult to define the invisible line that divides perfect and par-
tial insanity, but it must rest upon circumstances duly to be
weighed and considered both by judge and jury, lest on the one
side there be a kind of inhumanity toward the defects of human
nature, or, on the other side, too great an indulgence given to
great crimes.'*

Nothing, gentlemen, can be more accurately nor more hu-
manely expressed, but the application of the rule is often most
difficult. I am bound, besides, to admit that there is a wide dis-
tinction between civil and criminal cases. If, in the former, a
man appears, upon the evidence, to be 7ion compos mentis, the
law avoids his act, though it cannot be traced or connected with
the morbid imagination which constitutes his disease, and which
may be extremely partial in its influence upon conduct; but to
deliver a man from responsibility for crimes, above all, for crimes
of great atrocity and wickedness, I am by no means prepared to
apply this rule, however well established, when property only is
concerned.

In the very recent instance of Mr Greenwood (which must be
fresh in his lordship's recollection), the rule in civil cases was
considered to be settled. That gentleman, while insane, took up
an idea that a most affectionate brother had administered poison
to him. Indeed, it was the prominent feature of his insanity.
In a few months he recovered his senses. He returned to his
profession as an advocate; was sound and eminent in his prac-
tice, and in all respects a most intelligent and useful member of
society; but he could never dislodge from his mind the morbid
delusion which disturbed it; and under the pressure, no doubt, of
that diseased prepossession, he disinherited his brother. The
cause to avoid this will was tried here. We are not now upon
the evidence, but upon the principle adopted as the law. The
noble and learned judge, who presides upon this trial, and who
presided upon that, told the jury that if they believed Mr.
Greenwood insane, the will could not be supported, whether it
had disinherited his brother or not; that the act, no doubt,
strongly confirmed the existence of the false idea which, if be-
lieved by the jury to amount to madness, would equally have

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

Z7

affected his testament, if the brother, instead of being disin-
herited, had been in his grave; and that, on the other hand,
if the unfounded notion did not amount to madness, its influ-
ence could not vacate the devise. This principle of law ap-
pears to be sound and reasonable, as it applies to civil cases,
from the extreme difficulty of tracing with precision the secret
motions of a mind, deprived by disease of its soundness and
strength.

Whenever, therefore, a person may be considered non compos
mentis, all his civil acts are void, whether they can be referred
or not to the morbid impulses of his malady, or even though, to
all visible appearances, totally separated from it. But I agree
with Mr. Justice Tracey, that it is not every man of an idle,
frantic appearance and behavior, who is to be considered as a
lunatic, either as it regards obligations or crimes, but that he
must appear to the jury to be non compos mentis, in the legal
acceptation of the term, and that, not at any anterior period,
which can have no bearing upon any case whatsoever, but at the
moment when the contract was entered into, or the crime com-
mitted.

The Attorney-General, standing, undoubtedly, upon the most
revered authorities of the law, has laid it down that to protect a
man from criminal responsibility, there must be a total depriva-
tion of memory and understanding. I admit that this is the
very expression used both by Lord Coke and Lord Hale ; but
the true interpretation of it deserves the utmost attention and
consideration of the court. If a total deprivation of memory were
intended by these great lawyers to be taken in the literal sense
of the words; if it were meant that to protect a man from pun-
ishment, he must be in such a state of prostrated intellect as
not to know his name, nor his condition, nor his relation toward
others; that if a husband, he should not know he was married;
or, if a father, could not remember that he had children, not
know the road to his house, nor his property in it, — then no
such madness ever existed in the world. It is idiocy alone that
places man in this helpless condition, where, from an original
malorganization, there is the human frame alone without the
human capacity, and which, indeed, meets the very definition of
Lord Hale himself, when, referring to Fitzherbert, he says: ** Idi-
ocy, or fatuity a nativitate, vel dementia natnralis, is such a one

og THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

as described by Fitzherbert, who knows not to tell twenty shil-
lings, nor knows his own age, or who was his father.*^ But in
all the cases which have filled Westminster Hall with the most
complicated considerations, the lunatics, and other insane persons
who have been the subjects of them, have not only had a mem-
ory, in my sense of the expression, — they have not only had the
most perfect knowledge and recollections of all the relations
they stood in toward others, and of the acts and circumstances of
their lives, but have, in general, been remarkable for subtlety and
acuteness. Defects in their reasonings have seldom been trace-
able, the disease consisting in the delusive sources of thought,
— all their deductions within the scope of the malady being
founded upon the immovable assumption of matters as reali-
ties, either without any foundation whatsoever, or so distorted
and disfigured by fancy as to be almost nearly the same thing
as their creation. It is true, indeed, that in some, perhaps in
many cases, the human mind is stormed in its citadel, and laid
prostrate under the stroke of frenzy; these unhappy sufferers,
however, are not so much considered by physicians as maniacs,
but to be in a state of delirium as if from fever. There, indeed,
all the ideas are overwhelmed — for reason is not merely dis-
turbed, but driven wholly from her seat. Such unhappy patients
are unconscious, therefore, except at short intervals, even of
external objects; or, at least, are wholly incapable of consider-
ing their relations. Such persons, and such persons alone (ex-
cept idiots), are wholly deprived of their understandings, in the
Attorney-General's seeming sense of that expression. But these
cases are not only extremely rare, but never can become the sub-
jects of judicial difficulty. There can be but one judgment con-
cerning them. In other cases, reason is not driven from her
seat, but distraction sits down upon it along with her, holds her,
trembling, upon it, and frightens her from her propriety. Such
patients are victims to delusions of the most alarming descrip-
tion, which so overpower the faculties and usurp so firmly the
place of realities, as not to be dislodged and shaken by the or-
gans of perception and sense; in such cases the images fre-
quently vary, but in the same subject are generally of the same
terrific character. Here, too, no judicial difficulties can present
themselves, for who could balance upon the judgment to be
pronounced in cases of such extreme diseases ? Another class-

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

39

branching out into almost infinite subdivisions, under which, in-
deed, the former and every case of insanity may be classed, is,
where the delusions are not of that frightful character, but in-
finitely various and often extremely circumscribed ; yet, where im-
agination (within the bounds of the malady) still holds the most
uncontrollable dominion over reality and fact. These are the
cases which frequently mock the wisdom of the wisest in judicial
trials, because such persons often reason with a subtlety which
puts in the shade the ordinary conceptions of mankind. Their
conclusions are just and frequently profound, but the premises
from which they reason, when within the range of the malady,
are uniformly false — not false from any defect of knowledge or
judgment, but because a delusive image, the inseparable compan-
ion of real insanity, is thrust upon the subjugated understanding,
incapable of resistance, because unconscious of attack.

Delusion, therefore, where there is no frenzy or raving mad-
ness, is the true character of insanity. Where it cannot be pred-
icated of a man standing for life or death for a crime, he ought
not, in my opinion, to be acquitted; and if courts of law were
to be governed by any other principle, every departure from
sober, rational conduct would be an emancipation from criminal
justice. I shall place my claim to your verdict upon no such
dangerous foundation. I must convince you, not only that the
unhappy prisoner was a lunatic, within my own definition of
lunacy, but that the act in question was the immediate, unquali-
fied offspring of the disease. In civil cases, as I have already
said, the law avoids every act of the lunatic during the period
of lunacy, although the delusion may be extremely circumscribed;
although the mind may be quite sound in all that is not within
the shades of the very partial eclipse; and although the act to
be avoided can in no way be connected with the influence of
the insanity, yet to deliver a lunatic from responsibility to crim-
inal justice, above all in a case of such atrocity as the present,
the relation between the disease and the act should be apparent.
Where the connection is doubtful, the judgment should certainly
be most indulgent, from the great difficulty of diving into the
secret sources of a disordered mind; but still, I think that, as a
doctrine of law, the delusion and the act should be connected.

^O THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

IN DEFENSE OF THOMAS HARDY

(Peroration of the Speech Defending Hardy Against an Indictment for High

Treason)

IN TIMES, when the whole habitable earth is in a state of change
and fluctuation, when deserts are starting up into civilized

empires around you, and when men, no longer slaves to the
prejudices of particular countries, much less to the abuses of
particular governments, enlist themselves, like the citizens of an
enlightened world, into communities where their civil liberties
may be best protected, it never can be for the advantage of this
country to prove that the strict, unextended letter of her laws
is no security to its inhabitants. On the contrary, when so dan-
gerous a lure is everywhere holding out to emigration, it will be
found to be the wisest policy of Great Britain to set up her
happy Constitution, — the strict letter of her guardian laws and
the proud condition of equal freedom, which her highest and her
lowest subjects ought equally to enjoy; it will be her wisest
policy to set up these first of human blessings against those
charms of change and novelty which the varying condition of
the world is hourly displaying, and which may deeply affect the
population and prosperity of our country. In times, when the
subordination to authority is said to be everywhere but too little
felt, it will be found to be the wisest policy of Great Britain to
instill into the governed an almost superstitious reverence for the
strict security of the laws, which, from their equality of principle,
beget no jealousies or discontent; which, from their equal ad-
ministration, can seldom work injustice; and which, from the
reverence growing out of their mildness and antiquity, acquire a
stability in the habits and affections of men, far beyond the force
of civil obligation: whereas severe penalties, and arbitrary con-
structions of laws intended for security, lay the foundations of
alienation from every human government, and have been the
cause of all the calamities that have come and are coming upon
the earth.

Gentlemen, what we read of in books makes but a faint im-
pression upon us, compared to what we see passing under our
eyes in the living world. I remember the people of another
country, in like manner, contending for a renovation of their
Constitution, sometimes illegally and turbulently, but still devoted

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE 4I

to an honest end. I myself saw the people of Brabant so con-
tending for the ancient Constitution of the good Duke of Bur-
gundy. How was this people dealt by ? All, who were only
contending for their own rights and privileges, were supposed to
be, of course, disaffected to the Emperor; they were handed over
to courts constituted for the emergency, as this is, and the Em-
peror marched his army through the country till all was peace —
but such peace as there is in Vesuvius, or ^tna, the very moment
before they vomit forth their lava, and roll their conflagrations
over the devoted habitations of mankind. When the French ap-
proached, the fatal effects were suddenly seen of a government
of constraint and terror: the well-affected were dispirited, and
the disaffected inflamed into fury. At that moment the Arch-
duchess fled from Brussels, and the Duke of Saxe-Teschen was
sent express to offer the joyeiise entrde so long petitioned for in
vain: but the season of concession was past, the storm blew from
every quarter, and the throne of Brabant departed forever from
the House of Burgundy. Gentlemen, I venture to affirm that,
with other councils, this fatal prelude to the last revolution in
that country might have been averted. If the Emperor had been
advised to make the concessions of justice and affection to his
people, they would have risen in a mass to maintain their prince's
authority, interwoven with their own liberties; and the French,
the giants of modern times, would, like the giants of antiquity,
have been trampled in the mire of their own ambition. In the
same manner, a far more splendid and important Crown passed
away from his Majesty's illustrious brows — the imperial Crown
of America. The people of that country too, for a long season,
contended as subjects, and often with irregularity and turbulence,
for what they felt to be their rights: and, O Gentlemen! that
the inspiring and immortal eloquence of that man, whose name
I have so often mentioned, had then been heard with effect! —
what was his language to this country, when she sought to lay
burdens on America, — not to support the dignity of the Crown,
or for the increase of national revenue, but to raise a fund for
the purpose of corruption — a fund for maintaining those tribes
of hireling skipjacks, which Mr. Tooke so well contrasted with
the hereditary nobility of England! Though America would not
bear this imposition, she would have borne any useful or consti-
tutional burden to support the parent state. ^*For that service,
for all service," said Mr. Burke, "whether of revenue, trade, or

42 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

empire, my trust is in her interest in the British Constitution.
My hold of the colonies is in the close affection which grows
from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges,
and equal protection. These are ties which, though light as air,
are as strong as links of iron. Let the colonies always keep the
idea of their civil rights associated with your governments, they
will cling and grapple to you, and no force under heaven will be
of power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it be once
understood that your government may be one thing, and their
privileges another, — that these two things may exist without any
mutual relation, — the cement is gone; the cohesion is loosened;
and everything hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you
have the wisdom to keep the sovereign authority of this country
as the sanctuary of liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our
common faith, wherever the chosen race and sons of England
worship freedom, they will turn their faces toward you. The
more they multiply, the more friends you will have; the more
ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedi-
ence. Slavery they can have anywhere. It is a weed that grows
in every soil. They may have it from Spain, they may have it
from Prussia. But until you become lost to all feeling of your
true interest and your natural dignity, freedom they can have
from none but you. This is the commodity of price, of which
you have the monopoly. This is the true act of navigation
which binds to you the commerce of the colonies, and through
them secures to you the wealth of the world. Is it not the same
virtue which does everything for us here in England? Do you
imagine, then, that it is the land-tax act which raises your rev-
enue ? That it is the annual vote in the Committee of Supply,
which gives you your army ? Or that it is the Mutiny Bill which
inspires it with bravery and discipline ? No ! surely no ! It is
the love of the people; it is their attachment to their govern-
ment, from the sense of the deep stake they have in such a
glorious institution, which gives you your army and your navy,
and infuses into both that liberal obedience, without which your
army would be a base rabble, and your navy nothing but rotten
timber. *

Gentlemen,— to conclude, — my fervent wish is that we may
not conjure up a spirit to destroy ourselves, nor set the example
here of what in another country we deplore. Let us cherish the
old and venerable laws of our forefathers! Let our judicial ad-

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE 43

ministration be strict and pure; and let the jury of the land pre-
serve the life of a fellow-subject, who only asks it from them
upon the same terms under which they hold their own lives, and
all that is dear to them and their posterity forever! Let me re-
peat the wish with which I began my address to you and which
proceeds from the very bottom of my heart: may it please God,
who is the Author of all mercies to mankind, whose providence,
I am persuaded, guides and superintends the transactions of the
world, and whose guardian spirit has forever hovered over this
prosperous island, to direct and fortify your judgments! I am
aware I have not acquitted myself to the unfortunate man, who
has put his trust in me, in the manner I could have wished, yet
I am unable to proceed any further, — exhausted in spirit and in
strength, but confident in the expectation of justice.

FREE SPEECH AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
( From the Argument in Behalf of Thomas Paine at His Trial for Libel )

Gentlemen: —

I SAY, in the name of Thomas Paine, and in his words as author
of *The Rights of Man,* as written in the very volume that is
charged with seeking the destruction of property: —

*The end of all political associations is, the preservation of the
rights of man, which rights are liberty, property, and security; that
the nation is the source of all sovereignty derived from it; the right
of property being secured and inviolable, no one ought to be de-
prived of it, except in cases of evident public necessity, legally as-
certained, and on condition of a previous just indemnity.*'

These are undoubtedly the rights of man — the rights for
which all governments are established — and the only rights Mr,
Paine contends for; but which he thinks (no matter whether
right or wrong) are better to be secured by a republican con-
stitution than by the forms of the English Government. He in-
structs me to admit that, when government is once constituted,
no individuals, without rebellion, can withdraw their obedience
from it, — that all attempts to excite them to it are highly crim-
inal, for the most obvious reasons of policy and justice, — that
nothing short of the will of a whole people can change or affect

^4 THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

the rule by which a nation is to be governed, — and that no pri-
vate opinion, however honestly inimical to the forms or substance
of the law, can justify resistance to its authority, while it remains
in force. The author of 'The Rights of Man' not only admits the
truth of all this doctrine, but he consents to be convicted, and I
also consent for him, unless his work shall be found studiously
and painfully to inculcate these great principles of government
which it is charged to have been written to destroy.

Let me not, therefore, be suspected to be contending that it
is lawful to write a book pointing out defects in the English Gov-
ernment, and exciting individuals to destroy its sanctions and to
refuse obedience. But, on the other hand, I do contend that it
is lawful to address the English nation on these momentous sub-
jects; for had it not been for this inalienable right (thanks be to
God and our fathers for establishing it!), how should we have
had this Constitution which we so loudly boast of ? If, in the
march of the human mind, no man could have gone before
the establishments of the time he lived in, how could our estab-
lishment, by reiterated changes, have become what it is ? If no
man could have awakened the public mind to errors and abuses
in our Government, how could it have passed on from stage to
stage, through reformation and revolution, so as to have arrived
from barbarism to such a pitch of happiness and perfection, that
the Attorney-General considers it as profanation to touch it fur-
ther, or to look for any future amendment ?

In this manner power has reasoned in every age: — govern-
ment, in its own estimation, has been at all times a system of
perfection; but a free press has examined and detected its errors,
and the people have, from time to time, reformed them. This
freedom has alone made our Government what it is; this free-
dom alone can preserve it; and therefore, under the banners of
that freedom, to-day I stand up to defend Thomas Paine. But
how, alas! shall this task be accomplished? How may I expect
from you what human nature has not made man for the perform-
ance of ? How am I to address your reasons, or ask them to
pause, amidst the torrent of prejudice which has hurried away
the public mind on the subject you are to judge ? . . .

Was any Englishman ever so brought as a criminal before an
English court of justice ? If I were to ask you, gentlemen of
the jury, what is the choicest fruit that grows upon the tree of
English liberty, you would answer: Security under the law. If I

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

45

were to ask the whole people of England the return they looked
tor at the hands of Government, for the burdens under which
they bend to support it, I should still be answered: Security un-
der the law; or, in other words, an impartial administration of
justice. So sacred, therefore, has the freedom of trial been ever
held in England — so anxiously does Justice guard against every
possible bias in her path, that if the public mind has been locally
agitated upon any subject in judgment, the forum has either
been changed, or the trial postponed. The circulation of any
paper that brings, or can be supposed to bring, prejudice, or
even well-founded knowledge, within the reach of a British tribu-
nal, on the spur of an occasion, is not only highly criminal, but
defeats itself, by leading to put off the trial which its object was
to pervert. On this principle, the noble and learned judge will
permit me to remind him that on the trial of the Dean of St.
Asaph for a libel, or rather when he was brought to trial, the
circulation of books by a society favorable to his defense was
held by his lordship, as chief-justice of Chester, to be a reason
for not trying the cause, although they contained no matter
relative to the Dean, nor to the object of his trial, being only ex-
tracts from ancient authors of high reputation, on the general
rights of juries to consider the innocence as well as the guilt
of the accused; yet still as the recollection of these rights was
pressed forward with a view to affect the proceedings, the pro-
ceedings were postponed.

The universal God of nature, — the Savior of mankind, — the
Fountain of all light, who came to pluck the world from eternal
darkness, expired upon a cross, — the scoff of infidel scorn; and
his blessed Apostles followed him in the train of martyrs. When
he came in the flesh, he might have come like the Mohammedan
Prophet, as a powerful sovereign, and propagated his religion
with an unconquerable sword, which even now, after the lapse of
ages, is but slowly advancing under the influence of reason, over
the face of the earth; but such a process would have been in-
consistent with his mission, which was to confound the pride and
to establish the universal rights of men; he came, therefore^ in
that lowly state which is represented in the Gospel, and preached
his consolations to the poor.

When the foundation of this religion was discovered to be
invulnerable and immortal, we find political power taking the
Church into partnership; thus began the corruptions both of

^ THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

religious and civil power, and, hand in hand together, what havoc
have they not made • in the world ! Ruling by ignorance and
the persecution of truth, this very persecution only hastened
the revival of letters and liberty. Nay, you will find that in the
exact proportion that knowledge and learning have been beat
down and fettered, they have destroyed the governments which
bound them. The Court of Star Chamber, the first restriction
of the press of England, was erected, previous to all the great
changes in the Constitution. From that moment, no man could
legally write without an imprimatur from the State; but truth
and freedom found their way with greater force through secret
channels, and the unhappy Charles, unwarned by a free press,
was brought to an ignominious death. When men can freely
communicate their thoughts and their sufferings, real or imagin-
ary, their passions spend themselves in air, like gunpowder scat-
tered upon the surface ; but pent up by terrors, they work unseen,
burst forth in a moment, and destroy everything in their course.
Let reason be opposed to reason, and argument to argument, and
every good government will be safe.

The usurper Cromwell pursued the same system of restraint
in support of his government, and the end of it speedily fol-
lowed.

At the restoration of Charles II., the Star Chamber Ordinance
of 1637 was worked up into an act of Parliament, and was fol-
lowed up during that reign, and the short one that followed it,
by the most sanguinary prosecutions; but what fact in history is
more notorious than that this blind and contemptible policy pre-
pared and hastened the revolution ? At that great era these cob-
webs were all brushed away; the freedom of the press was
regenerated, — and the country, ruled by its affections, has since
enjoyed a century of tranquillity and glory. Thus I have main-
tained, by English history, that in proportion as the press has
been free, English Government has been secure.

Gentlemen, the same important truth may be illustrated by
great authorities. Upon a subject of this kind, resort cannot be
had to law cases. The ancient law of England knew nothing of
such libels; they began, and should have ended, with the Star
Chamber. What writings are slanderous of individuals must be
looked for where these prosecutions are recorded; but upon gen-
eral subjects we must go to general writers. If, indeed, I were
to refer to obscure authors, I might be answered, that my very

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE .^

authorities were libels, instead of justifications or examples; but
this cannot be said with effect of great men, whose works are
classics in our language, — taught in our schools, — and repeatedly-
printed under the eye of Government.

I shall begin with the poet Milton, a great authority on all
learning. It may be said, indeed, he was a republican, but that
would only prove that republicanism is not incompatible with
virtue; it may be said, too, that the work which I cite was writ-
ten against previous licensing, which is not contended for to-day.
But, if every work were to be adjudged a libel, which was ad
verse to the wishes of Government, or to the opinions of those
who may compose it, the revival of a licenser would be a secur-
ity to the public. If I present my book to a magistrate ap-
pointed by law, and he reject it, I have only to forbear from
the publication; in the forbearance I am safe; and he, too, is
answerable to law for the abuse of his authority. But, upon the
argument of to-day, a man must print at his peril, without any
guide to the principles of judgment, upon which his work may
be afterwards prosecuted and condemned. Milton's argument,
therefore, applies, and was meant to apply, to every interruption
to writing, which, while they oppress the individual, endanger the
State.

<*We have them not,'* says Milton, <Hhat can be heard of, from
any ancient state, or polity, or church, nor by any statute left us
by our ancestors, elder or later, nor from the modern custom of
any reformed city or church abroad, but from the most anti-
Christian council and the most tyrannous inquisition that ever
existed. Till then, books were ever as freely admitted into the
world as any other birth; the issue of the brain was no more
stifled than the issue of the womb.

^*To the pure all things are pure; not only meats and drinks,
but all kinds of knowledge whether good or evil; the knowledge
cannot defile, nor consequently the books, if the will and con-
science be not defiled.

* Bad books serve in many respects to discover, to confute, to
forewarn, and to illustrate. Whereof, what better witness can we
expect I should produce than one of your own, now sitting in
Parliament, the chief of learned men reputed in this land, Mr.
Selden, whose volume of natural and national laws, proves, not
only by great authorities brought together, but by exquisite rea-
sons and theorems almost mathematically demonstrative, that all

^g THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

opinions, yea errors known, read, and collated, are of main service
and assistance toward the speedy attainment of what is truest.

*^ Opinions and understanding are not such wares as to be
monopolized and traded in by tickets and statutes and standards.
We must not think to make a staple commodity of all the knowl-
edge in the land, to mark and license it like our broadcloth and
our wool -packs.

*^ Nor is it to the common people less than a reproach ; for if
we be so jealous over them that we cannot trust them with an
English pamphlet, what do we but censure them for a giddy,
vicious, and ungrounded people, in such a sick and weak state of
faith and discretion, as to be able to take nothing down but
through the pipe of a licenser ? That this is care or love of them,
we cannot pretend.

** Those corruptions which it seeks to prevent, break in faster
at doors which cannot be shut. To prevent men thinking and
acting for themselves, by restraints on the press, is like to the
exploits of that gallant man who thought to pound up the crows
by shutting his park gate,

^^This obstructing violence meets for the most part with an
event utterly opposite to the end which it drives at; instead of
suppressing books it raises them, and invests them with a repu-
tation : * the punishment of wits enhances their authority, * saith the
Viscount St. Albans; and a forbidden writing is thought to be a
certain spark of truth that flies up in the face of them who seek
to tread it out.*

He then adverts to his visit to the famous Galileo, whom he
found and visited in the Inquisition, " for not thinking in astron-
omy with the Franciscan and Dominican monks.* And what
event ought more deeply to interest and affect us? The very
laws of nature were to bend under the rod of a licenser; — thig
illustrious astronomer ended his life within the bars of a prison,
because, in seeing the phases of Venus through his newly-in.
vented telescope, he pronounced that she shone with borrowed
light, and from the sun as the centre of the universe. This waa
the mighty crime, the placing the sun in the centre — that sun
which now inhabits it upon the foundation of mathematical truth,
which enables us to traverse the pathless ocean and to carry our
line and rule amongst other worlds, which but for Galileo we
had never known, perhaps even to the recesses of an infinite and
eternal God.

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE .g

Milton, then, in his most eloquent address to the Parliament,
puts the liberty of the press on its true and most honorable
foundation : —

« Believe it, lords and commons, they who counsel ye to such
a suppression of books do as good as bid you suppress your-
selves, and I will soon show how,

* If it be desired to know the immediate cause of all this free
writing and free speaking, there cannot be assigned a truer than
your own mild, and free, and humane Government. It is the lib-
erty, lords and commons, which your own valorous and happy
counsels have purchased us; liberty, which is the nurse of all
great wits; this is that which hath rarefied and enlightened oui
spirits like the influence of heaven; this is that which hath en-
franchised, enlarged, and lifted up our apprehensions, degrees
above themselves. Ye cannot make us now less capable, less
knowing, less eagerly pursuing the truth, unless ye first make
yourselves, that made us so, less the lovers, less the founders of
our true liberty. We can grow ignorant again, brutish, formal,
and slavish, as ye found us; but you then must first become that
which ye cannot be, oppressive, arbitrary, and tyrannous, as they
were from whom ye have freed us. That our hearts are now
more capacious, our thoughts now more erected to the search and
expectation of greatest and exactest things, is the issue of our
own virtue propagated in us. Give me the liberty to know, to
utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all lib-
erties.'^

But now every man is to be cried down for such opinions. I
observed that my learned friend significantly raised his voice in
naming Mr. Home Tooke, as if to connect him with Paine, or
Paine with him. This is exactly the same course of justice, for,
after all, he said nothing of Mr. Tooke. What could he have
said, but that he was a man of great talents, and a subscriber
with the great names I have read in proceedings which they have
thought fit to desert ?

Gentlemen, let others hold their opinions and change them at
their pleasure; I shall ever maintain it to be the dearest privi-
lege of the people of Great Britain to watch over everything
that affects their happiness, either in the system of government
or in the practice, and that for this purpose the press must be
free. It has always been so, and inuch evil has been corrected
by it. If Government find itself annoyed by it, let it examine

6-4

-Q THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

its own conduct, and it will find the cause, — let it amend it, and
it will find the remedy.

Gentlemen, I am no friend to sarcasms in the discussion of
grave subjects, but you must take writers according to the view
of the mind at the moment; Mr. Burke as often as anybody in-
dulges in it: — hear his reason in his speech on Reform, for not
taking away the salaries from lords who attend upon the British
court. "You would, ^* said he, "have the court deserted by all
the nobility of the kingdom.

" Sir, the most serious mischiefs would follow from such a
desertion. Kings are naturally lovers of low company; they are
so elevated above all the rest of mankind, that they must look
upon all their subjects as on a level; they are rather apt to hate
than to love their nobility on account of the occasional resistance
to their will, which will be made by their virtue, their petulance,
or their pride. It must, indeed, be admitted that many of the
nobility are as perfectly willing to act the part of flatterers, tale-
bearers, parasites, pimps, and buffoons, as any of the lowest and
vilest of mankind can possibly be. But they are not properly
qualified for this object of their ambition. The want of a regu-
lar education and early habits, with some lurking remains of
their dignity, will never permit them to become a match for an
Italian etmuch, a mountebank, a fiddler, a pla5'-er, or any regular
practitioner of that tribe. The Roman Emperors, almost from
the beginning, threw themselves into such hands, and the mis-
chief increased every day till its decline and its final ruin. It
is, therefore, of very great importance (provided the thing is not
overdone), to contrive such an establishment as must, almost
whether a prince will or not, bring into daily and hourly offices
about his person, a great number of his first nobility; and it is
rather a useful prejudice that gives them a pride in such a
servitude; though they are not much the better for a court, a
court will be much the better for them. I have, therefore, not
attempted to reform any of the offices of honor about the King's
person.'*

What is all this but saying that a king is an animal so in-
curably addicted to low company as generally to bring on by it
the ruin of nations; but, nevertheless, he is to be kept as a nec-
essary evil, and his propensities bridled by surrounding him with
a parcel of miscreants still worse, if possible, but better than
those he would choose for himself. This, therefore, if taken by

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

51

itself, would be a most abominable and libelous sarcasm on
kings and nobility; but look at the whole speech, and you ob-
serve a great system of regulation; and no man, I believe, ever
doubted Mr. Burke's attachment to monarchy. To judge, there-
fore, of any part of a writing, the whole must be read.

With the same view I will read to you the beginning of Har-
rington's ^ Oceana ' ; but it is impossible to name this well-known
author without exposing to just contempt and ridicule the ignor-
ant or profligate misrepresentations which are vomited forth upon
the public, to bear down every man as desperately wicked, who,
in any age or country, has countenanced a republic, for the mean
purpose of prejudging this trial.

Is this the way to support the English Constitution ? Are
these the means by which Englishmen are to be taught to cher-
ish it ? I say, if the man upon trial were stained with blood in-
stead of ink, — if he were covered over with crimes which human
nature would start at the naming of, the means employed against
him would not be the less disgraceful.

For this notable purpose, then, Harrington, not above a week
ago, was handed out to us as a low, obscure wretch, involved in
the murder of the monarch and the destruction of the mon-
archy, and as addressing his despicable works at the shrine of a
usurper. Yet this very Harrington, this low blackguard, was de-
scended (you may see his pedigree at the Herald's office for six-
pence) from eight dukes, three marquisses, seventy earls, twenty-
seven viscounts, and thirty-six barons, sixteen of whom were
knights of the garter; a descent which, I think, would save a man
from disgrace in any of the circles of Germany, But what was
he besides? — a blood-stained ruffian? — Oh, brutal ignorance of
the history of the country! He was the most affectionate servant
of Charles I., from whom he never concealed his opinions; for it is
observed by Wood that the King greatly affected his company; but
when they happened to talk of a commonwealth, he would scarcely
endure it. ^' I know not,^^ saj's Toland, "which most to com-
mend: the King for trusting an honest man, though a republi-
can; or Harrington for owning his principles while he served a
King.»

But did his opinions affect his conduct ? Let history again
answer: He preserved his fidelity to his unhappy prince to the
very last, after all his fawning courtiers had left him to his

i52

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

enraged subjects. He stayed with him while a prisoner in the
Isle of Wight; — came up by stealth to follow the fortunes of
his monarch and master; — even hid himself in the boot of the
coach when he was conveyed to Windsor; — and, ending as he
began, fell into his arms and fainted on the scaffold.

After Charles's death the * Oceana^ was written, and as if it
were written from justice and affection to his memory; for it
breathes the same noble and spirited regard, and asserts that
it was not Charles that brought on the destruction of the Mon-
archy, but the feeble and ill-constituted nature of monarchy itself.

^^ But the book was a flattery to Cromwell!** Once more and
finally let history decide. The *■ Oceana * was seized by the
Usurper as a libel, and the way it was recovered is remarkable.
I mention it to show that Cromwell was a wise man in himself,
and knew on what governments must stand for their support.

Harrington waited on the Protector's daughter to beg for his
book, which her father had taken, and, on entering her apart-
ment, snatched up her child and ran away. On her following
him with surprise and terror, he turned to her and said : ^^ I
know what you feel as a mother; feel, then, for me; your father
has got my child,** meaning the * Oceana.* The * Oceana* was
afterwards restored on her petition, Cromwell answering with
the sagacity of a sound politician : ^^ Let him have his book ; if
my Government is made to stand, it has nothing to fear from
paper shot.** He said true. No good government will ever be
battered by paper shot. Montesquieu says : ^^ In a free nation,
it matters not whether individuals reason well or ill; it is
sufficient that they do reason. Truth arises from the collision,
and from hence springs liberty, which is a security from ihe ef-
fect of reasoning.** The Attorney-General has read extracts from
Mr. Adams's answer to this book. Let others write answers to
it, like Mr. Adams; I am not insisting upon the infallibility of
Mr. Paine's doctrines; if they are erroneous, let them be an-
swered, and truth will spring from the collision.

Milton wisely says that a disposition in a nation to this spe-
cies of controversy is no proof of sedition or degeneracy, but
quite the reverse (I omitted to cite the passage with the others).
In speaking of this subject, he rises into that inexpressibly sub-
lime style of writing, wholly peculiar to himself. He was, indeed,
no plagiary from anything human; he looked up for light and

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE ^j

expression, as he himself wonderfully describes it, by devout
prayer to that great Being who is the source of all utterance
and knowledge, and who sendeth out his seraphim with the hal-
lowed fire of his altar to touch and purify the lips of whom he
pleases. "When the cheerfulness of the people,'* says this mighty
poet, "is so sprightly up, as that it hath not only wherewith to
guard well its own freedom and safety, but to spare, and to be-
stow upon the solidest and sublimest points of controversy and
new invention, it betokens us not degenerated nor drooping to a
fatal decay, but casting off the old and wrinkled skin of corrup-
tion, to outlive these pangs and wax young again, entering the
glorious ways of truth and prosperous virtue, destined to become
great and honorable in these latter ages. Methinks I see in my
mind a noble and puissant natfon rousing herself, like a strong
man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks; methinks I
see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her
undazzled eyes at the full midday beam; purging and unsealing
her long-abused sight at the fountain itself of heavenly radiance;
while the whole noise of timorous and flocking birds, with those
also that love the twilight, flutter about, amazed at what she
means, and in their envious gabble would prognosticate a year
of sects and schisms.'*'

Gentlemen, what Milton only saw in his mighty imagination,
I see in fact; what he expected, but which never came to pass, I
see now fulfilling; methinks I see this noble and puissant nation,
not degenerated and drooping to a fatal decay, but casting off
the wrinkled skin of corruption to put on again the vigor of her
youth. And it is, because others as well as myself see this, that
we have all this uproar, France and its Constitution are the
mere pretenses. It is, because Britons begin to recollect the in-
heritance of their own Constitution left them by their ancestors;
it is, because they are awakened to the corruptions which have
fallen upon its most valuable parts, that forsooth the nation is in
danger of being destroyed by a single pamphlet. I have marked
the course of this alarm; it began with the renovation of those
exertions for the public, which the alarmists themselves had orig-
inated and deserted; and they became louder and louder when
they saw them avowed and supported by my admirable friend,
Mr. Fox, the most eminently honest and enlightened statesman
that history brings us acquainted with — a man whom to name is

r^ THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE

to honor, but whom in attempting adequately to describe, I must
fly to Mr. Burke, my constant refuge when eloquence is neces-
sary— a man who, to relieve the sufferings of the most distant
nation, "put to the hazard his ease, his security, his interest, his
power, even his darling popularity, for the benefit of a people
whom he had never seen.*^ How much more, then, for the in-
habitants of his native country! Yet this is the man who has
been censured and disavowed in the manner we have lately seen.
Gentlemen, I have but a few more words to trouble you with:
I take my leave of you with declaring that all this freedom
which I have been endeavoring to assert is no more than the
ancient freedom which belongs to our own inbred Constitution; I
have not asked you to acquit Thomas Paine upon any new lights,
or upon any principle but that of the law, w^hich you are sworn to
administer; — my great object has been to inculcate that wisdom
and policy, which are the parents of the Government of Great
Britain, forbid this jealous eye over her subjects; and that, on
the contrary, they cry aloud in the language of the poet, ad-
verted to by Lord Chatham on the memorable subject of Amer-
ica, unfortunately without effect.

<<Be to their faults a little blind,
Be to their virtues very kind;
Let all their thoughts be unconfin'd,
Nor clap your padlock on the mind.*

Engage the people by their affections, convince their reason,
— and they will be loyal from the only principle that can make
loyalty sincere, vigorous, or rational, — a conviction that it is their
truest interest, and that their government is for their good.
Constraint is the natural parent of resistai.ce, and a pregnant
proof that reason is not on the side of those who use it. You
must all remember Lucian's pleasant story; Jupiter and a coun-
tryman were walking together, conversing with great freedom
and familiarity upon the subject of heaven and earth. The coun-
tryman listened with attention and acquiescence, while Jupiter
strove only to convince him: — but happening to hint a doubt,
Jupiter turned hastily around and threatened him with his thun-
der. * Ah ! ah ! * says the countryman, * now, Jupiter, I know
that you are wrong; you are always wrong when you appeal to
your thunder.*

THOMAS, LORD ERSKINE ^5

This is the case with me — I can reason with the people of
England, but I cannot fight against the thunder of authority.

Gentlemen, this is my defense of free opinions. With regard
to myself, I am, and always have been, obedient and affectionate
to the law; — to that rule of action, as long as I exist, I shall
ever do as I have done to-day, maintain the dignity of my high
profession, and perform, as I understand them, all its important
duties.

WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS

(1818-1901)

iiLLiAM Maxwell EvarTS was born in Boston, Massachusetts,
February 6th, 1818, and educated at Yale, where he was grad-
uated in 1837. Three years later he was admitted to the New
York bar, where for nearly half a century he held a distinguished place.
His knowledge of the principles of law and of constitutional govern-
ment led to his selection as counsel for President Johnson at the im-
peachment trial in 1868. He conducted the defense with great ability,
and, after the close of the trial, served as Attorney-General, from 1868
to 1869, in President Johnson's Cabinet. In 1872 he was counsel for
the United States before the Geneva tribunal, and in 1877 he repre-
sented the Republican party before the Electoral Commission. He
served four years as Secretary of State in the Hayes Cabinet (1877-
81), and six years (1885-91) as United States Senator from New York.
During this period he was frequently discussed as a candidate for the
presidency, but he was much greater in law than in politics. Though
he won great successes at the bar with apparent ease, his political suc-
cesses were seemingly either wholly accidental or else a result of his
greatness as a lawyer. As an orator, he was perhaps unduly celebrated
for the length of his sentences ; but however long they may be. they are
seldom involved, and the easy fluidity of his style is well worth study.
His reputation as an authority on law and questions of constitutional
government has increased rather than diminished since his death, Feb-
ruary 28th, 1901.

THE WEAKEST SPOT OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

(From the Speech for the Defense at the Impeachment of President

Johnson)

There; are in the Constitution but three barriers against the
will of a majority of Congress within the terms of their
authority. One is that it requires a two-thirds vote to ex-
pel a Member of either house; another that a two-thirds vote is
necessary to pass a law over the objections of the President;
and another, that a two-thirds vote of the Senate, sitting as a
court for the trial of impeachment, is requisite to a sentence.
And now how have these two last protections of the executive

56

WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS

57.

office disappeared from the Constitution in its practical working
by the condition of parties that has given to one the firm pos-
session by a three-fourths vote, I think in both houses, of the
control of the action of each body of the Legislature ? Reflect
upon this. I do not touch upon the particular circumstance that
the nonrestoration of the Southern States has left your numbers
in both houses of Congress less than they might under other
circumstances be. I do not calculate whether that absence dimin-
ishes or increases the disproportion that there would be. Pos-
sibly their presence might even aggravate the political majority
which is thus arrayed and thus overrides practically all the cal-
culations of the presidential protection through the guarantees of
the Constitution ; for, what do the two-thirds provisions mean ?
They mean that in a free country, where elections were diffused
over a vast area, no Congressman ha-^ing a constituency of over
seventy or eighty thousand people, it was impossible to suppose
that there would not be a somewhat equal division of parties, or
impossible to suppose that the excitements and zeal of party
could carry all the members of it into any extravagance, I do
not call them extravagances in any sense of reproach; I merely
speak of them as the extreme measures that parties in politics,
and under whatever motives, may be disposed to adopt.

Certainly, then, there is ground to pause and consider, before
you bring to a determination this great struggle between the co-
ordinate branches of the Government, this agitation and this
conclusion in a certain event of the question whether the co-
ordination of the Constitution can be preserved. Attend to these
special circumstances and determine for yourselves whether, under
these influences, it is best to urge a contest which must operate
upon the framework of the Constitution and its future, unattended
by any exceptions of a peculiar nature that govern the actual
situation. Ah, that is the misery of human affairs, that the
stress comes and has its consequence when the system is least
prepared to receive it. It is the misery that disease, casual, cir-
cumstantial, invades the frame when health is depressed and the
powers of the constitution to resist it are at the lowest ebb. It
is that the gale rises and sweeps the ship to destruction when
there is no sea-room for it and when it is upon a lee shore.
And if concurrent with that danger to the good ship, her crew
be short, if her helm be unsettled, if disorder begin to prevail,
and there come to be a final struggle for the maintenance of

-g WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS

mastery against tlie elements and over the only chances of safety,
how wretched is the condition of that people whose fortunes are
embarked in that ship of state!

What other protection is there for the presidential office than
these two-thirds guarantees of the Constitution that have disap-
peared ? The Supreme Court placed there to determine, among
the remarkable provinces of its jurisdiction, the lines of separa-
tion and of duty and of power, under our Constitution, between
the Legislature and the President. Ah! under this evidence, re-
ceived and rejected, the very effort of the President was, when
the two-thirds majorities had urged the contest against him, to
raise a case for the Supreme Court to decide; and then the Leg-
islature, coming in by its special condition of impeachment, inter-
cepts the effort and brings his head again within the mere power
of Congress, where the two-thirds rule is equally ineffectual as
between the parties to the contest.

This is matter of grave import, of necessary consideration,
which, with the people of this country, with watchful foreign na-
tions, and in the eyes of history, will be one of the determining
features of this great controversy; for great as is the question in
the estimate of the managers, or of ourselves, or of the public in-
telligence of this people, of how great the power should be on one
side or the other, with Congress or with the President, that ques-
tion sinks into absolute insignificance compared with the greater
and higher question, the question that has been in the Constitu-
tion, that has been in the minds of philosophers, of publicists,
and of statesmen since it was founded, whether it was in the
power of a written constitution to draw lines of separation and
put up buttresses of defense between the co-ordinate branches of
the Government. And with that question settled adversely with a
determination that one can devour, and having the power, will de-
vour the other, then the balances of the American Constitution are
lost, and lost forever. Nobody can reinstate in paper what has
once been struck down in fact. Mankind are governed by iu'
stances, not by resolutions.

And then, indeed, there is placed before the people of this
country, either despair at the theory of paper constitutions, which
have been derided by many foreign statesmen, or else an attempt
to establish new balances of power by which, the poise of the
different departments being more firmly placed, one can be safe
against the other. But who can be wiser than our fathers ? Who

WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS

59

can be juster than they ? Who can be more considerate or more
disinterested than they ? And if their descendants have not the
virtue to maintain what they so wisely and so nobly established,
how can these same descendants hope to have the virtue and the
wisdom to make a better establishment for their posterity ?

Nay, Senators, I urge upon you to consider whether you will
not recoil from settling so tremendous a subject under so special,
so disadvantageous, so disastrous circumstances as I have por-
trayed to you in the particular situation of these branches of the
Government. A stronger Executive, with an absolute veto, with
a longer term, with more permanent possession and control of
official patronage, will be necessary for the support of this execu-
tive department, if the wise and just and considerate measure of
our ancestors shall not prove, in your judgment, sufficient; or, if
that be distasteful, if that be unacceptable, if that be inadmissi-
ble, then we must swing it all over into the omnipotence of
Congress, and recur to the exploded experiment of the Confed-
eration, where Congress was executive and legislative, all in one.

There is one other general topic, not to be left unnoticed for
the very serious impression that it brings upon the political situ-
ation which forms the staple — I must say it — of the pressure
on the part of the managers to make out a crime, a fault, a
danger that should enlist your action in the terrible machinery
of impeachment and condemnation. I mean the very peculiar
political situation in the country itself and in the administration
of this Government over the people of the country which has
been the womb from which has sprung this disorder and conflict
between the departments of the Government. I can, I think, be
quite brief about it, and certainly shall not infringe upon any of
the political proprieties of the occasion.

The suppression of an armed rebellion and the reduction of
the revolted States to the power of the Government, when the
region and the population embraced in the rebellion were so
vast, and the head to which the revolt had come was so great,
and the resistance so continuous, left a problem of as great
difficulty in human affairs as was ever proposed to the actions
of any government. The work of pacification would have been
a severe task for any government after so great a struggle,
when so great passions were enlisted, when so great wounds
had been inflicted, when so great discontents had urged the con-
troversy, and so much bitterness had survived its formal settle-

6o

WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS

ment; but, wonderful to say, with his situation, so difficult as to
surpass almost the powers of Government as exhibited in any-
former instance in the history of the world, there occurred a
special circumstance that by itself would have tasked all the
resources of statesmanship under even a simple government. I
mean the emancipation of the slaves, which had thrown four
millions of human beings, not by the processes of peace, but by
the sudden blow of war, into the possession of their freedom;
which had changed at once, against their will, the relation of
all the rest of the population to these men that had been their
' slaves.

The process of adaptation of society and of law to so grave a
social change as that, even when accomplished in peace, and
when not disturbed by the operations of war and by the discon-
tents of a suppressed rebellion, are as much as any wisdom or
any courage, or any prosperity that is given to Government, can
expect to ride through in safety and peace. When, then, these
two great political facts concur and press upon the Government
that is responsible for their conduct, how vast, how difficult, how
intractable, and unmanageable seems the posture!

But this does not represent the measure or even the principal
feature of the difficulty. When the Government whose arms have
triumphed and suppressed resistance is itself, by the theory and
action of the Constitution, the Government that by peaceful law
is to maintain its authority, the process is simple; but under our'
complex Government, according to the theory and the practice,
the interests and the feelings, the restored Constitution surren-
ders their domestic affairs at once to the local governments of
the people who have been in rebellion. And then arises what
has formed the staple of our politics for the last four years, what
has tried the theory, the wisdom, the courage, the patriotism of
all. It is how far under the Constitution, as it stands, the Gen-
eral Government can exercise absolute control in the transition
period between war and absolute restored peace, and how much
found to be thus unmanageable shall be committed to changes
of the Consti :ution. And when we understand that the great
controversy in the formation of the Constitution itself was, how
far the General Government should be intrusted with domestic con-
cerns, and remember the final triumph of the general features of
the Constitution under which the people of the States were not
willing, in the language of Mr, Ellsworth, to intrust the General

WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS g

Government with their domestic interests, we see at once how
wide, how dangerous, how difficult the arena of controversy of
constitutional law and of difference of opinion as to what was
or is constitutional, — even if it be not of what changes shall be
or ought to be made in the Constitution to meet the practical
situation.

Then when you add to this that as people divide on these
questions, and as the practical forces on one side and the other
are the loyal masses and the rebel masses, whoever divides from
his neighbor, from his associate, from his party adherents in that
line of constitutional opinion and in that line cf governmental
action which seems to press least changes upon the Constitution
and least control upon the masses lately in rebellion, will be sus-
pected and charged and named and called an ally of traitors
and rebels, you have at once disclosed how our dangerous poli-
tics have been brought to the head in which these names of
** traitor * and of ^* rebel, ^^ which belong to war, have been made
the current phrases of political discussion.

I do not question the rectitude, nor do I question the wisdom
of any positions that have been taken as matter of argument or
as matter of faith or as matter of action in the disposition of
this peculiar situation. I only attract your attention to the ne-
cessities and dangers of the situation itself. We were in the
condition in which the question of the surrender to the local
communities of their domestic affairs, which the order of the
Constitution had arranged for the peaceful situation, became im-
possible without the gravest dangers to the State, both in respect
to the public order and in respect to this changed condition of
the slaves.

In English history the Commons were urged, after they had
rejected the King from the British Constitution and found the
difficulty of making things work smoothly, stare super antiquas
vias ; but, said Sergeant Maynard: ^^ It is not the question of
standing upon the ancient ways, for we are not on them.^* The
problem of the Constitution is, as it was then, how to get upon
the ancient ways from these paths that disorder and violence
and rebellion had forced us into; and here it was that the ex-
asperations and the exacerbations of politics came up mingling
with charges of infidelity to party and with treason, moral trea-
son, political treason, I suppose, to the State. How many theories
did we have ?

62

WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS

In this Senate, if I am not mistaken, one very influential and
able and eloquent Senator was disposed to press the doctrines of
the Declaration of Independence into being working forces of our
constituted liberty, and a sort of preconstitutional theory was
adopted to suit the logical and political difficulties of the case.
In another House a great leader was disposed to put it upon the
transconstitutional necessities that the situation itself imposed in
perfect peace as in absolute and flagrant war. And thus it was
that minds trained in the old school, attached to the Constitution,
unable as rhetoricians or as reasoners to adopt these learned
phrases and these working theories of preconstitutional or trans-
constitutional authority and obligation, were puzzled among the
ruins of society that the war had produced; and thus, as it
seems to me, we find these concurring dangers leading ever to
an important and necessary recognition by whoever has to deal
with them of the actual and practical influences that they have
upon the controversy.

And now let me urge here that all this is within the province
of politics; and a free people are unworthy of their freedom and
cannot maintain it if their public men, their chosen servants, are
not able to draw distinctions between legal and constitutional
offense and odious or even abominable politics. Certainly it is
so. Idem sentire de repiiblicd^ to agree in opinion concerning the
public interest, is the bond of one party, and diversity from
those opinions the bond of the other; and where passions and
struggles of force in any form of violence or of impeachment as
an engine of power come into play, then freedom has become
license, and then party has become faction, and those who do not
withhold their hands until the ruin is accomplished will be subject
to that judgment that temperance and fortitude and patience
were not the adequate qualities for their conduct in the situation
in which they were placed. Oh, why not be wise enough to stay
the pressure till adverse circumstances shall not weigh down the
State ? Why not in time remember the political wisdom —

<< Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day,
Live till to-morrow, will have passed away.*

EDWARD EVERETT

(I 794-1 865)

►dward Everett is one of the most respectable figures in
American history, elevated in his ideas, broad in his sym-
pathies, almost unerring in his instinct of rectitude, and
lacking almost nothing of the first rank as an orator and statesman.
What he did lack of greatness in oratory was fire, as force was all he
lacked of the qualities necessary for the highest success in states-
manship. He belongs to the class of Washington in his patriotism
and in his political methods. Had Washington been an orator, he
might have delivered Everett's Charlestown address on ^The History
of Liberty,* or, indeed, almost any other one of those highly intellect-
ual and instructive orations which made Everett so deservedly cele-
brated as an orator in a generation which knew Webster, Clay,
Calhoun, and Choate. Unlike all these in his intellectual processes,
Everett is unlike them in his results. It is impossible that such a
style as his could ever greatly move an audience. He appeals to
the intellect, and not to the emotions. But what he loses in one di-
rection, he gains in another. No other orator of his day depends
so little on the incidents and accidents of delivery, of place, of time.
Such addresses as * The History of Liberty * have little in them
which depends on ephemeral circumstance for its interest. As
« reading matter,'' the best orations of Clay, Calhoun, or Webster are
apt to suffer by comparison with the best of Everett's. This, indeed,
is his fault as an orator. He too generally approaches the deliberate
style of the writer, losing in doing so the rapidity, the warmth, the
compelling power of the orator. His surpassingly great merit is his
knowledge of history, his grasp of fact, and his ability to present it
in its harmonies.

He was born at Dorchester, Massachusetts, April nth, 1794.
"Entering Harvard College when little more than thirteen, he left
it four years later with its first honors'' — a fact which, as it gave
him his bent, serves better than any other single fact to illus-
trate his meaning in public life. Above everything else, he is "the
scholar in politics." After his graduation, he began the study of Di-
vinity, but when barely of age he was made professor of Greek Lit-
erature at Harvard, and sent abroad to study. Soon after his return,

63

g EDWARD EVERETT

he became editor of the North American Review, and in 1824 began
delivering the addresses which made him famous. In that year, he
was elected to Congress, where he served five successive terms, retir-
ing in 1835 to become Governor of Massachusetts. In 1841 he went
as Minister to England, and on his return in 1845 was chosen Presi-
dent of Harvard College. On the death of Daniel Webster, he was
appointed Secretary of State in the Fillmore Cabinet, and in 1853 was
sent to the United States Senate as the man most worthy to succeed
Webster there. His long and useful public career had a fitting close
in i860, when, as a candidate on the ticket with John Bell, he vainly
attempted to organize the forces of <* Constitutional Union '^ to pre-
vent civil war. He died at Boston, January 15th, 1865, after a life
which honored his State, his section, and his country.

THE HISTORY OP LIBERTY
(Delivered at Charlestown, Massachusetts, July 4th, 1828)

THE event which we commemorate is all-important, not merely
in our own annals, but in those of the world. The senten-
tious English poet has declared that ^^ the proper study of
mankind is man,'^ and of all inquiries of a temporal nature, the
history of our fellow-beings is unquestionably among the most
interesting. But not all the chapters of human history are alike
important. The annals of our race have been filled up with in-
cidents which concern not, or at least ought not to concern, the
great company of mankind. History, as it has often been writ-
ten, is the genealogy of princes, the field-book of conquerors;
and the fortunes of our fellow-men have been treated only so
far as they have been affected by the influence of the great mas-
ters and destroyers of our race. Such history is, I will not say
a worthless study, for it is necessary for us to know the dark
side as well as the bright side of our condition. But it is a
melancholy study which fills the bosom of the philanthropist and
the friend of liberty with sorrow.

But the history of Liberty, — the history of men struggling to
be free, — the history of men who have acquired and are exer-
cising their freedom, — the history of those great movements in
the world, by which liberty has been established and perpetuated,
forms a subject which we cannot contemplate too closely. This

EDWARD EVERETT 65

is the real history of man, of the human family, of rational im-
mortal beings.

This theme is one; — the free of all climes and nations are
themselves a people. Their annals are the history of freedom.
Those who fell victims to their principles in the civil convul-
sions of the short-lived repubHcs of Greece, or who sunk beneath
the power of her invading foes; those who shed their blood for
Hberty amidst the ruins of the Roman Republic; the victims of
Austrian tyranny in Switzerland and of Spanish tyranny in the
Netherlands; the solitary champions or the united bands of high-
minded and patriotic men who have, in any region or age, strug-
gled and suffered in this great cause, belong to that people of
the free whose fortunes and progress are the most noble theme
man can contemplate.

The theme belongs to us. We inhabit a country which has
been signalized in the great history of freedom. We live under
forms of government more favorable to its diffusion than any
the world has elsewhere known. A succession of incidents, of
rare curiosity, and almost mysterious connection, has marked out
America as a great theatre of political reform. Many circum-
stances stand recorded in our annals, connected with the asser-
tion of human rights, which, were we not familiar with them,
would fill even our own minds with amazement.

The theme belongs to the day. We celebrate the return of
the day on which our separate national existence was declared, —
the day when the momentous experiment was commenced, by
which the world, and posterity, and we ourselves were to be
taught how far a nation of men can be trusted with self-
government, — how far life, liberty, and property are safe, and
the progress of social improvement is secure, under the influence
of laws made by those who are to obey them, — the day when, for
the first time in the world, a numerous people was ushered into
the family of nations, organized on the principle of the political
equality of all the citizens.

Let us then, fellow-citizens, devote the time which has been
set apart for this portion of the duties of the day, to a hasty
review of the history of Liberty, especially to a contemplation of
some of those astonishing incidents which preceded, accompanied,
or have followed the settlement of America, and the establish-
ment of our constitutions, and which plainly indicate a general

6-5

r^ EDWARD EVERETT

tendency and co-operation of things towards the erection, in this
country, of the great monitorial school of political freedom.

We hear much at school of the liberty of Greece and Rome —
a great and complicated subject, which this is jiot the occasion to
attempt to disentangle. True it is that we find, in the annals of
both these nations, bright examples of public virtue, — the record
of faithful friends of their country, — of strenuous foes of oppres-
sion at home or abroad, — and admirable precedents of popular
strength. But we nowhere find in them the account of a popu-
lous and extensive region, blessed with institutions securing the
enjoyment and transmission of regulated liberty. In freedom, as
in most other things, the ancient nations, while they made sur-
prisingly close approaches to the truth, yet, for want of some
one great and essential principle or instrument, they came ut-
terly short of it in practice. They had profound and elegant
scholars; but, for want of the art of printing, they could not send
information out among the people, where alone it is of great use
in reference to human happiness. Some of them ventured boldly
out to sea, and possessed an aptitude for foreign commerce; yet,
for want of the mariner's compass, they could not navigate
distant seas, but crept for ages along the shores of the Medi-
terranean. In respect to freedom, they established popular gov-
ernments in single cities; but, for want of the representative
principle, they could not extend these institutions over a large
and populous country. But as a large and populous country,
generally speaking, can alone possess strength enough for self-
defense, this want was fatal. The freest of their cities accord-
ingly fell a prey, sooner or later, either to a foreign invader or
to domestic traitors.

In this way, liberty made no firm progress in the ancient
States. It was a speculation of the philosopher, and an experi-
ment of the patriot, but not an established state of society. The
patriots of Greece and Rome had indeed succeeded in enlighten-
ing the public mind on one of the cardinal points of freedom —
the necessity of an elected executive. The name and the office
of a king were long esteemed not only something to be rejected,
but something rude and uncivilized, belonging to savage nations,
ignorant of the rights of man, as understood in cultivated states.
The word ^^ tyrant,** which originally meant no more than mon-
arch soon became with the Greeks synonymous with oppressor

EDWARD EVERETT

67

and despot, as it has continued to be ever since. When the first
Caesar made his encroachments on the liberties of Rome, the pa-
triots even of that age boasted that they had —

<< heard their fathers say,
There was a Brutus once, that would have brooked
The eternal devil, to keep his state in Rome,
As easily as a king.*

So deeply rooted was this horror of the very name of king
in the bosom of the Romans, that under their worst tyrants, and
in the darkest days, the forms of the Republic were preserved.
There was no name under Nero and Caligula for the office of
monarch. The individual who filled the office was called Caesar
and Augustus, after the first and second of the line. The word
^^ emperor * (imperator) implied no more than general. The of-
fices of consul and tribune were kept up; although, if the choice
did not fall, as it frequently did, on the emperor, it was con-
ferred on his favorite general, and sometimes on his favorite
horse. The Senate continued to meet, and affected to deliberate;
and, in short, the Empire began and continued a pure military
despotism, ingrafted, by a sort of permanent usurpation, on the
forms and names of the ancient Republic. The spirit, indeed,
of liberty had long since ceased to animate these ancient forms,
and when the barbarous tribes of Central Asia and Northern
Europe burst into the Roman Empire, they swept away the poor
remnant of these forms, and established upon their ruins the
system of feudal monarchy from which all modern kingdoms are
descended. Efforts were made in the Middle Ages by the petty
republics of Italy to regain the political rights which a long pro-
scription had wrested from them. But the remedy of bloody
civil wars between neighboring cities was plainly more disastrous
than the disease of subjection. The struggles of freedom in
these little States resulted much as they had done in Greece,
exhibiting brilliant examples of individual character, and short
intervals of public prosperity, but no permanent progress in the
organization of liberal governments.

At length a new era seemed to begin. The art of printing
was invented. The capture of Constantinople by the Turks drove
the learned Greeks of that city into Italy, and letters revived.
A general agitation of public sentiment in various parts of Eu-

58 EDWARD EVEilETT

rope ended in the religious Reformation. A spirit of adventure
had been awakened in the maritime nations, projects of remote
discovery were started, and the signs of the times seemed to
augur a great political regeneration. But, as if to blast this
hope in its bud; as if to counterbalance at once the operation of
these springs of improvement; as if to secure the permanence
of the arbitrary institutions which existed in every part of the
continent, at the moment when it was most threatened, the last
blow at the same time was given to the remaining power of
the great barons, the sole check on the despotism of the mon-
arch which the feudal system provided was removed, and a new
institution was firmly established in Europe, prompt, efficient,
and terrible in its operation beyond anything which the modem
world had seen, — I mean the system of standing armies; in
other words, a military force organized and paid to support the
King on his throne and retain the people in their subjection.

From this moment, the fate of freedom in Europe was sealed.
Something might be hoped from the amelioration of manners in
softening down the more barbarous parts of political despotism,
but nothing was to be expected in the form of liberal institu-
tions, founded on principle.

The ancient and the modern forms of political servitude were
thus combined. The Roman emperors, as I have hinted, main-
tained themselves simply by military force, in nominal accordance
with the forms of the Republic. Their power (to speak in mod-
ern terms) was no part of the Constitution. The feudal sover-
eigns possessed a constitutional precedence in the State, which,
after the diffusion of Christianity, they claimed by the grace of
God; but their power, in point of fact, was circumscribed by
that of their brother barons. With the firm establishment of
standing armies was consummated a system of avowed despotism,
paralyzing all expression of the popular will, existing by divine
right, and unbalanced by any effectual check in the State. It
needs but a glance at the state of Europe, in the beginning of
the sixteenth century, to see, that, notwithstanding the revival
and diffusion of letters, the progress of the Reformation, and the
improvement of the manners, the tone of the people, in the most
enlightened countries, was more abject than it had been since the
days of the Caesars. The state of England certainly compared
favorably with that of any other part of Europe; but who can

EDWARD EVERETT 5g

patiently listen to the language with which Henry VIII. chides,
and Elizabeth scolds the lords and commons of the Parliament
of Great Britain ?

All hope of liberty then seemed lost; in Europe all hope was
lost, A disastrous turn had been given to the general move-
ment of things; and in the disclosure of the fatal secret of stand-
ing armies, the future political servitude of man was apparently
decided.

But a change is destined to come over the face of things, as
romantic in its origin as it is wonderful in its progress. All is
not lost; on the contrary, all is saved, at the moment when all
seemed involved in ruin. Let me just allude to the incidents
connected with this change, as they have lately been described
by an accomplished countryman, now beyond the sea.

About half a league from the little seaport of Palos, in the
province of Andalusia, in Spain, stands a convent dedicated to St.
Mary. Some time in the year i486, a poor, wayfaring stranger,
accompanied by a small boy, makes his appearance on foot at
the gate of this convent, and begs of the porter a little bread
and water for his child. This friendless stranger is Columbus.
Brought up in the hardy pursuit of a mariner, — occasionally
serving in the fleets of his native country, — with the burden of
fifty years upon his frame, the unprotected foreigner makes his
suit to the sovereigns of Portugal and Spain, He tells them
that the broad, flat earth on which we tread is round; and he
proposes, with what seems a sacrilegious hand, to lift the veil
which has hung from the creation of the world over the bounds
of the ocean. He promises, by a western course, to reach the
eastern shores of Asia, the region of gold, diamonds, and spices,
to extend the sovereignty of Christian kings over realms and
nations hitherto unapproached and unknown; and, ultimately, to
perform a new crusade to the Holy Land, and ransom the sepul-
chre of our Savior with the new-found gold of the East.

Who shall believe the chimerical pretension ? The learned
men examine it and pronounce it futile. The royal pilots have
ascertained by their own experience that it is groundless. The
priesthood have considered it, and have pronounced that sen-
tence, so terrific where the Inquisition reigns, that it is a wicked
heresy. The common sense and popular feeling of men have
been kindled into disdain and indignation towards a project

^Q EDVTARD EVERETT

which, bv a strange, new chimera, represented one-half of man«
kind, walking with their feet towards the other half.

Such is the reception which his proposal meets. For a long
time the great cause of humanity, depending on the discovery of
this fair Continent, is involved in the fortitude, perseverance, and
spirit of the solitary stranger, already past the time of life when
the pulse of adventure beats full and high. If, sinking beneath
the indifference of the great, the sneers of the wise, the enmity
of the mass, and the persecution of a host of adversaries, high
and low, he give up the thankless pursuit of his noble vision,
what a hope for mankind is blasted! But he does not sink He
shakes off his enemies, as the lion shakes the dewdrops from his
mane. That consciousness of motive and of strength, which
always supports the man who is worthy to be supported, sustains
him in his hour of trial; and, at length, after years of expecta-
tion, importunity, and hope deferred, he launches forth upon the
unknown deep, to discover a new world under the patronage of
Ferdinand and Isabella.

The patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella! Let tis dwell for
a moment on the auspices under which our comitry was dis-
covered. The patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella! Yes, doubt-
less, they have fitted out a convoy worthy the noble temper of
the man and the grandeur of his project. Convinced at length
that it is no daydream of a heated visionary, the fortunate sov-
ereigns of Castile and Aragon, returning from their triumph over
the last of ihe Moors, and putting a victorious close to a war of
seven centuries' duration, have no doubt prepared an expedition
of well-appointed magnificence to go out upon this splendid
search for other worlds. They have made ready, no doubt, their
proudest galleon to waft the heroic adventurer upon his path of
glory, with a whole armada of kindred spirits to accompany him.

Alas! from his ancient resort of Palos, — which he first visited
as a mendicant, — in three frail barks, of which two were without
decks, the great discoverer of America sails forth on the first
voyage across the unexplored ocean I Such is the patronage of
kings! A few years pass by; he discovers a new hemisphere;
the wildest of his visions fade into insignificance before the real*
ity of their fulfillment; he finds a new world for Castile and
Leon, and comes back to Spain loaded with chains. Republics,
it is said, are ungrateful. Suih are tie rewards of monarchies:

EDWARD EVERETT ^j

With this humble instrumentality did it please Providence to
prepare the theatre for those events by which a new dispensa-
tion of liberty was to be communicated to rnan. But much is
yet to transpire before even the commencement can be made in
the establishment of those institutions by which this great ad-
vance in human affairs was to be effected. The discovery of
America had taken place under the auspices of the Government
most disposed for maritime adventure, and best enabled to ex-
tend a helping arm, such as it was, to the enterprise of the
great discoverer. But it was not from the same quarter that the
elements of liberty could be introduced into the New World,
Causes, upon which I need not dwell, made it impossible that
the great political reform should go forth from Spain. For this
object, a new train of incidents was preparing in another quarter.

The only real advance which modern Europe had made in
freedom had been made in England. The cause of constitutional
liberty in that country was persecuted, was subdued, but not an-
nihilated, nor trampled out of being. From the choicest of its
suffering champions were collected the brave band of emigrants
who first went out on the second, the more precious voyage of
discovery — the discovery of a land where liberty and its conse-
quent blessings might be established.

A late English writer has permitted himself to say that the
original establishment of the United States, and that of the colony
of Botany Bay, were modeled nearly on the same plan. The
meaning of this slanderous insinuation is that the United States
was settled by deported convicts, as New South Wales has been
settled by transported felons. It is doubtless true that at one
period the English Government was in the habit of condemning
to hard labor, as servants in the colonies, a portion of those who
had received the sentence of the law. If this practice makes it
proper to compare America with Botany Bay, the same compari-
son might be made of England herself, before the practice of
transportation began, and even now, inasmuch as a considerable
number of convicts are at all times retained at home. In one
sense, indeed, we might doubt whether the allegation were more
of a reproach or a compliment. During the time that the coloni-
zation of America was going on most rapidly, some of the best
citizens of England, if it be any part of good citizenship to resist
oppression, were immured in her prisons of state or lying at the
mercy of the law.

^2 EDWARD EVERETT

Such were some of the convicts by whom America was settled

men convicted of fearing God more than they feared man; of

sacrificing property, ease, and all the comforts of life, to a sense
of duty and to the dictates of conscience; men convicted of pure
lives, brave hearts, and simple manners. The enterprise was led
by Raleigh, the chivalrous convict, who unfortunately believed
that his royal master had the heart of a man, and would not let
a sentence of death, which had slumbered for sixteen years, re-
vive and take effect after so long an interval of employment and
favor. But milium tempiis occurrit regi. The felons who fol-
lowed next were the heroic and long-suffering church of Robin-
son, at Leyden, — Carver, Brewster, Bradford, Winslow, and their
pious associates, convicted of worshiping God according to the
dictates of their consciences, and of giving up all, — country,
property, and the tombs of their fathers, — that they might do it
unmolested. Not content with having driven the Puritans from
her soil, England next enacted or put in force the oppressive
laws which colonized Maryland with Catholics, and Pennsylvania
with Quakers. Nor was it long before the American plantations
were recruited by the Germans, convicted of inhabiting the Pal-
atinate, when the merciless armies of Louis XIV. were turned
into that devoted region, and by the Huguenots, convicted of
holding what they deemed the simple truth of Christianity, when
it pleased the mistress of Louis XIV. to be very zealous for the
Catholic faith. These were followed, in the next century, by the
Highlanders, convicted of the enormous crime, under a monar-
chical government, of loyalty to their hereditary prince on the
plains of Culloden, and the Irish, convicted of supporting the
rights of their country against what they deemed an oppressive
external power. Such are the convicts by whom America was
settled.

In this way, a fair representation of whatsoever was most val-
uable in European character — the resolute industry of one na-
tion, the inventive skill and curious arts of another, the courage,
conscience, principle, self-denial of all — was winnowed out, by
the policy of the prevailing governments, as a precious seed
wherewith to plant the American soil. By this singular coinci-
dence of events, our country was constituted the great asylum of
suffering virtue and oppressed humanity. It could now no longer
be said, — as it was of the Roman Empire, — that mankind was
shut up, as if in a vast prison house, from whence there was no

EDWARD EVERETT

73

escape. The political and ecclesiastical oppressors of the world
allowed their persecution to find a limit at the shores of the At-
lantic. They scarcely ever attempted to pursue their victims be-
yond its protecting waters. It is plain that in this way alone the
design of Providence could be accomplished, which provided for
one catholic school of freedom in the Western Hemisphere. For
it must not be a freedom of too sectional and peculiar a cast. On
the stock of the English civilization, as the general basis, were to
be ingrafted the language, the arts, and the tastes of the other civ-
ilized nations. A tie of consanguinity must connect the members
of every family of Europe with some portion of our happy land;
so that in all their trials and disasters they may look safely be-
yond the ocean for a refuge. The victims of power, of intoler-
ance, of war, of disaster, in every other part of the world, must
feel that they may find a kindred home within our limits. Kings,
whom the perilous convulsions of the day have shaken from their
thrones, must find a safe retreat; and the needy emigrant must
at least not fail of his bread and water, were it only for the sake
of the great discoverer, who was himself obliged to beg them.
On this corner-stone the temple of our freedom was laid from
the first, —

"For here the exile met from every clime,
And spoke in friendship every distant tongue;
Men, from the blood of warring Europe sprung,
Were here divided by the running brook. ^^

This peculiarity of our population, which some have thought
a misfortune, is in reality one of the happiest circumstances at-
tending the settlement of the country. It assures the exile from
every part of Europe a kind reception from men of his own
tongue and race. Had we been the unmixed descendants of any
one nation of Europe, we should have retained a moral and in-
tellectual dependence on that nation, even after the dissolution of
our political connection had taken place. It was sufficient for the
great purpose in view, that the earliest settlements were made
by men who had fought the battles of liberty in England, and
who brought with them the rudiments of constitutional freedom
to a region where no deep-rooted prescriptions would prevent
their development. Instead of marring the symmetry of our so-
cial system, it is one of its most attractive and beautiful pecul-
iarities, that, with the prominent Qualities of the Anglo-Saxon

74 EDWARD EVERETT

character inherited from our English fathers, we have an admix-
ture of almost everything that is valuable in the character of
most of the other States of Europe.

Such was the first preparation for the great political reform,
of which America was to be the theatre. The Colonies of Eng-
land— of a country where the supremacy of laws and the Consti-
tution is best recognized — the North American Colonies — were
protected from the first against the introduction of the unmiti-
gated despotism which prevailed in the Spanish settlements, —
the continuance of which, down to the moment of their late re-
volt, prevented the education of these provinces in the exercise
of political rights, and in that way has thrown them into the rev-
olution inexperienced and unprepared — victims, some of them,
to a domestic anarchy scarcely less grievous than the foreign
yoke they have thrown off. While, however, the settlers of
America brought with them the principles and feelings, the po-
litical habits and temper, which defied the encroachment of arbi-
trary power, and made it necessary, when they were to be op-
pressed, that they should be oppressed under the forms of law,
it was an unavoidable consequence of the state of things — a
result, perhaps, of the very nature of a colonial government —
that they should be thrown into a position of controversy with
the mother country, and thus become familiar with the whole
energetic doctrine and discipline of resistance. This formed and
hardened the temper of the Colonists, and trained them up to a
spirit meet for the struggles of separation.

On the other hand, by what I had almost called an accidental
circumstance, but one which ought rather to be considered as a
leading incident in the great train of events connected with the
establishment of constitutional freedom in this country, it came
to pass that nearly all the Colonies (founded as they were on the
charters granted to corporate institutions in England, which had
for their object the pursuit of the branches of industry and
trade pertinent to a new plantation) adopted a regular represent-
ative system, by which, as in ordinary civil corporations, the
affairs of the community are decided by the will and the voices
of its members, or those authorized by them. It was no device
of the parent government which gave us our colonial assemblies.
It was no refinement of philosophical statesmen to which we are
indebted for our republican institutions of government. They
grew up, as it were, by accident, on the simple foundation I have

EDWARD EVERETT

75

named. "A house of burgesses,^* says Hutchinson, ^' broke out
in Virginia, in 1620'*; and, ^* although there was no color for it
in the charter of Massachusetts, a house of deputies appeared
suddenly in 1634.'^ ** Lord Say,** observes the same historian,
"tempted the principal men of Massachusetts to make themselves
and their heirs nobles and absolute governors of a new colony,
but, under this plan, they could find no people to follow them.**

At this early period, and in this simple, unpretending man-
ner, was introduced to the world that greatest discovery in po-
litical science, or political practice, a representative republican
system. ^*The discovery of the system of the representative
republic,** says M. de Chateaubriand, "is one of the greatest
political events that ever occurred.** But it is not one of the
greatest, it is the very greatest, and, combined with another
principle, to which I shall presently advert, and which is also the
invention of the United States, it marks an era in human affairs
— a discovery in the great science of social life, compared with
which everything else that terminates in the temporal interests
of man, sinks into insignificance.

Thus, then, was the foundation laid, and thus was the prep-
aration commenced, of the world's grand political regeneration.
For about a century and a half, this preparation was carried on.
Without any of the temptations which drew the Spanish adven-
turers to Mexico and Peru, the Colonies throve almost beyond
example, and in the face of neglect, contempt, and persecution.
Their numbers, in the substantial, middle classes of life, increased
with regular rapidity. They had no materials out of which an
aristocracy could be formed, and no great eleemosynary establish-
ments to cause an influx of paupers. There was nothing but the
rewards of labor and the hope of freedom.

But at length this hope, never adequately satisfied, began to
turn into doubt and despair. The Colonies had become too im-
portant to be overlooked; their government was a prerogative
too important to be left in their own hands; and the legislation
of the mother country decidedly assumed a form which announced
to the patriots that the hour at length had come when the chains
of the great discoverer were to be avenged, the sufferings of the
first settlers to be compensated, and the long-deferred hopes of
humanity to be fulfilled.

You need not, friends and fellow-citizens, that I should dwell
upon the incidents of the last great acts in the colonial drama.

76

EDWARD EVERETT

This very place was the scene of some of the earliest and the
most memorable of them, and their recollection is a part of your
inheritance of honor. In the early councils and first struggles of
the great revolutionary enterprise, the citizens of this place were
among the most prominent. The measures of resistance which
were projected by the patriots of Charlestown were opposed by
but one individual. An active co-operation existed between the
political leaders in Boston and this place. The beacon light
which was kindled in the towers of Christ Church in Boston, on
the night of the eighteenth of April, 1775, was answered from
the steeple of the church in which we are now assembled. The
intrepid messenger who was sent forward to convey to Hancock
and Adams the intelligence of the approach of the British troops
was furnished with a horse, for his eventful errand, by a respected
citizen of this place. At the close of the following momentous
day, the British forces — the remnant of its disasters — found
refuge, under the shades of night, upon the heights of Charles-
town; and there, on the ever-memorable seventeenth of June, that
great and costly sacrifice in the cause of freedom was consum-
mated with fire and blood. Your hilltops were strewed with
illustrious dead; your homes were wrapped in flames; the fair
fruits of a century and a half of civilized culture were reduced
to a heap of bloody ashes, and two thousand men, women, and
children turned houseless on the world. With the exception of
the ravages of the nineteenth of April, the chalice of woe and
desolation was in this manner first presented to the lips of the
citizens of Charlestown. Thus devoted, as it were, to the cause,
it is no wonder that the spirit of the Revolution should have
taken possession of their bosoms, and been transmitted to their
children. The American, who, in any part of the Union, could
forget the scenes and the principles of the Revolution, would
thereby prove himself unworthy of the blessings which he en-
joys; but the citizen of Charlestown, who could be cold on this
momentous theme, must hear a voice of reproach from the walls
which were reared on the ashes of the seventeenth of June — a
piercing cry from the very sods of yonder hill.

The Revolution was at length accomplished. The political
separation of the country of Great Britain was effected, and it
now remained to organize the liberty which had been reaped on
bloody fields — to establish, in the place of the Government whose
yoke had been thrown off, a Government at home, which should

EDWARD EVERETT

"77

fulfill the great design of the Revolution and satisfy the demands
of the friends of liberty at large. What manifold perils awaited
the step! The danger was great that too little or too much
would be done. Smarting under the oppressions of a distant
Government, whose spirit was alien to their feelings, there was
great danger that the Colonies in the act of declaring themselves
sovereign and independent States, would push to an extreme the
prerogative of their separate independence, and refuse to admit
any authority beyond the limits of each particular Common-
wealth. On the other hand, achieving their independence under
the banners of the Continental Army, ascribing, and justly, a
large portion of their success to the personal qualities of the be-
loved Father of his Country, there was danger not less imminent,
that those who perceived the evils of the opposite extreme, would
be disposed to confer too much strength on one General Govern-
ment, and would, perhaps, even fancy the necessity of investing
the hero of the Revolution, in form, with that sovereign power
which his personal ascendency gave him in the hearts of his
countrymen. Such and so critical was the alternative which the
organization of the new Government presented, and on the suc-
cessful issue of which the entire benefit of this great movement
in human affairs was to depend.

The first effort to solve the great problem was made in the
course of the Revolution, and was without success. The Articles
of Confederation verged to the extreme of a union too weak for
its great purposes; and the moment the pressure of this war was
withdrawn, the inadequacy of this first project of a Government
was felt. The United States found themselves overwhelmed with
debt, without the means of paying it. Rich in the materials of
an extensive commerce, they found their ports crowded with
foreign ships, and themselves without the power to raise a rev-
enue. Abounding in all the elements of national wealth, they
wanted resources to defray the ordinary expenses of govern-
ment.

For a moment, and to the hasty observer, this last effort for
the establishment of freedom had failed. No fruit had sprung
from this lavish expenditure of treasure and blood. We had
changed the powerful protection of the mother country into a
cold and jealous amity, if not into a slumbering hostility. The
oppressive principles against which our fathers had struggled
were succeeded by more oppressive realities. The burden of the

78

EDWARD EVERETT

British Navigation Act, as it operated on the Colonies, was re«
moved, but it was followed by the impossibility of protecting
our shipping by a Navigation Act of our own. A state of ma-
terial prosperity, existing before the Revolution, was succeeded
by universal exhaustion; and a high and indignant tone of mili-
tant patriotism, by universal despondency.

It remained, then, to give its last great effort to all that had
been done since the discovery of America for the establishment
of the cause of liberty in the Western Hemisphere, and by an-
other more deliberate effort to organize a Government by which
not only the present evils under which the country was suffer-
ing should be remedied, but the final design of Providence should
be fulfilled. Such was the task that devolved on the statesmen
who convened at Philadelphia on the second day of May, 1787,
in the Assembly of which General Washington was elected presi-
dent, and over whose debates your townsman, Mr. Gorham, pre-
sided for two or three months as chairman of the Committee of
the Whole, during the discussion of the plan of the Federal Con-
stitution.

The very first step to be taken was one of pain and regret.
The old Confederation was to be given up. What misgivings
and grief must not this preliminary sacrifice have occasioned to
the patriotic members of the convention! They were attached,
and with reason, to its simple majesty. It was weak then, but
it had been strong enough to carry the Colonies through the
storms of the Revolution. Some of the great men who led up
the forlorn hope of their country in the hour of her direst
peril, had died in its defense. Could not a little inefficiency be
pardoned to a Union with which France had made an alliance,
and England had made peace ? Could the proposed new Gov-
ernment do more or better things than this had done ? Who
could give assurance, when the flag of the Old Thirteen was
struck, that the hearts of the people could be rallied to another
banner ?

Such were the misgivings of some of the great men of that
day — the Henrys, the Gerrys, and other eminent anti-federalists,
to whose scruples it is time that justice should be done. They
were the sagacious misgivings of wise men, the just forebodings
of brave men, who were determined not to defraud posterity of
the blessings for which they had all suffered, and for which some
of them had fought.

EDWARD teVEREtl:*

19

The members of that convention, in going about the great
work before them, deHberately laid aside the means by which all
preceding legislators had aimed to accomplish a like work. In
founding a strong and efficient Government, adequate to the rais-
ing up of a powerful and prosperous people, their first step was
to reject the institutions in which other governments traced their
strength and prosperity, or had, at least, regarded as the neces-
sary conditions of stability and order. The world had settled
down into the belief that an hereditary monarch was necessary
to give strength to the executive power. The framers of our
Constitution provided for an elective Chief Magistrate, chosen
every four years. Every other country had been betrayed into
the admission of a distinction of ranks in society, under the ab-
surd impression that privileged orders are necessary to the per-
manence of the social system. The framers of our Constitution
established everything on the purely natural basis of a uniform
equality of the elective franchise, to be exercised by all the citi-
zens at fixed and short intervals. In other countries it had been
thought necessary to constitute some one political centre, towards
which all political power should tend, and at which, in the last
resort, it should be exercised. The framers of the Constitution
devised a scheme of confederate and representative sovereign re-
publics, united in a happy distribution of powers, which, reserv-
ing to the separate States all the political functions essential to
local administrations and private justice, bestowed upon the Gen-
eral Government those, and those only, required for the service
of the whole.

Thus was completed the great revolutionary movement; thus
was perfected that mature organization of a free system, des-
tined, as we trust, to stand forever, as the exemplar of popular
government. Thus was discharged the duty of our fathers to
themselves, to the country, and to the world.

The power of the example thus set up, in the eyes of the
nations, was instantly and widely felt. It was immediately made
visible to sagacious observers that a constitutional age had be-
gun. It was in the nature of things, that, where the former evil
existed in its most inveterate form, the reaction should also
be the most violent. Hence, the dreadful excesses that marked
the progress of the French Revolution, and, for a while, almost
made the name of liberty odious. But it is not less in the
nature of things, that, when the most indisputable and enviable

8o

EDWARD EVERETT

political blessings stand illustrated before the world,— not merely
in speculation and in theory, but in living practice and bright
example, — the nations of the earth, in proportion as they have
eyes to see, and ears to hear, and hands to grasp, should insist
on imitating the example. France clung to the hope of constitu-
tional liberty through thirty years of appalling tribulation, and
now enjoys the freest constitution in Europe. Spain, Portugal,
the two Italian kingdoms, and several of the German States,
have entered on the same path. Their progress has been and
must be various, modified by circumstances, by the interests
and passions of governments and men, and, in some cases, seem-
ingly arrested. But their march is as sure as fate. If we be-
lieve at all in the political revival of Europe, there can be no
really retrograde movement in this cause; and that which seems
so in the revolutions of government, is, like that of the heavenly
bodies, a part of their eternal orbit.

There can be no retreat, for the great exemplar must stand,
to convince the hesitating nations, under every reverse, that the
reform they strive at is real, is practicable, is within their reach.
Efforts at reform, by the power of action and reaction, may
fluctuate; but there is an element of popular strength abroad in
the world, stronger than forms and institutions, and daily grow-
ing in power. A public opinion of a new kind has arisen among
men — the opinion of the civilized world. Springing into exist-
ence on the shores of our own continent, it has grown with our
growth and strengthened with our strength, till now, this moral
giant, like that of the ancient poet, marches along the earth and
across the ocean, but his front is among the stars. The course
of the day does not weary, nor the darkness of the night arrest
him. He grasps the pillars of the temple where Oppression sits
enthroned, not groping and benighted, like the strong man of
old, to be crushed, himself, beneath the fall, but trampling, in his
strength, on the massy ruins.

Under the influence, I might almost say the unaided influence,
of public opinion, formed and nourished by our example, three
wonderful revolutions have broken out in a generation. That
of France, not yet consummated, has left that country (which
it found in a condition scarcely better than Turkey) in the pos-
session of the blessings of a representative constitutional gov-
ernment. Another revolution has emancipated the American
possessions of Spain, by an almost unassisted action of moral

EDWARD EVERETT o

ol

causes. Nothing but the strong sense of the age, that a govern-
ment like that of Ferdinand ought not to subsist over regions
like those which stretch to the South of us on the continent,
could have sufficed to bring about their emancipation, against ail
the obstacles which the state of society among them opposes at
present to regulated liberty and safe independence. When an
eminent British statesman [Mr. Canning] said of the emancipa-
tion of these States, that ^^he had called into existence a new
world in the west," he spoke as wisely as the artist who, having
tipped the forks of a conductor with silver, should boast that he
had created the lightning, which it calls down from the clouds.
But the greatest triumph of public opinion is the revolution of
Greece. The spontaneous sense of the friends of liberty, at home
and abroad, — without armies, without navies, without concert, and
acting only through the simple channels of ordinary communica-
tion, principally the press, — 'has rallied the governments of Eu-
rope to this ancient and favored soil of freedom. Pledged to
remain at peace, they have been driven by the force of public
sentiment into the war. Leagued against the cause of revolu-
tion, as such, they have been compelled to send their armies and
navies to fight the battles of revolt. Dignifying the barbarous
oppressor of Christian Greece with the title of ^^ ancient and faith-
ful ally," they have been constrained, by the outraged feelings of
the civilized world, to burn up, in time of peace, the navy of
their ally, with all his antiquity and all his fidelity; and to cast
the broad shield of the Holy Alliance over a young and turbu-
lent republic.

This bright prospect may be clouded in; the powers of Eu-
rope, which have reluctantly taken, may speedily abandon the
field. Some inglorious composition may yet save the Ottoman
Empire from dissolution, at the sacrifice of the liberty of Greece,
and the power of Europe. But such are not the indications of
things. The prospect is fair that the political regeneration, which
commenced in the West, is now going backward to resuscitate
the once happy and long-deserted regions of the older world.
The hope is not now chimerical, that those lovely islands, the
flower of the Levant, — the shores of that renowned sea, around
which all the associations of antiquity are concentrated, — are
again to be brought back to the sway of civilization and Christ-
ianity. Happily, the interest of the great powers of Europe

6 — 6

82

EDWARD EVERETT

seems to beckon them onward in the path of humanity. The
half-deserted coasts of Syria and Egypt, the fertile but almost
desolated archipelago, the empty shores of Africa, the granary of
ancient Rome, seem to offer themselves as a ready refuge for the
crowded, starving, discontented millions of Western Europe. No
natural nor political obstacle opposes itself to their occupation.
France has long cast a wishful eye on Egypt. Napoleon derived
the idea of his expedition, which was set down to the unchas-
tened ambition of a revolutionary soldier, from a memoir found
in the cabinet of Louis XIV. England has already laid her
hand — an arbitrary, but a civilized and a Christian hand — on
Malta; and the Ionian Isles, and Cyprus, Rhodes, and Claudia
must soon follow. It is not beyond the reach of hope, that a
representative republic may be established in Central Greece and
the adjacent islands. In this way, and with the example of what
has been done, it is not too much to anticipate that many gener-
ations will not pass, before the same benignant influence will re-
visit the awakened East, and thus fulfill, in the happiest sense,
the vision of Columbus, by restoring a civilized population to the
primitive seats of our holy faith.

Fellow-citizens, the eventful pages in the volume of human
fortune are opening upon us with sublime rapidity of succession.
It is two hundred years this summer since a few of that party
who, in 1628, commenced in Salem the first settlement of Massa-
chusetts, were sent by Governor Endicott to explore the spot
where we stand. They found that one pioneer of the name of
Walford had gone before them, and had planted himself among
the numerous and warlike savages in this quarter. From them,
the native lords of the soil, these first hardy adventurers derived
their title to the lands on which they settled, and, in some de-
gree, prepared the way by the arts of civilization and peace; for
the main body of the Colonists of Massachusetts came under
Governor Winthrop, who, two years afterward, by a coincidence
which you will think worth naming, arrived in Mystic River,
and pitched his patriarchal tent on Ten Hills, upon the seven-
teenth day of June, 1630. Massachusetts at that moment con-
sisted of six huts at Salem and one at this place. It seems but
a span of time as the mind ranges over it. A venerable indi-
vidual is living, at the seat of the first settlement, whose life
covers one-half of the entire period ; but what a destiny has been

EDWARD EVERETT 8^

unfolded before our country! what events have crowded your
annals! what scenes of thrilling interest and eternal glory have
signalized the very spot where we stand!

In that unceasing march of things, which calls forward the
successive generations of men to perform their part on the stage
of life, we at length are summoned to appear. Our fathers have
passed their hour of visitation, — how worthily, let the growth
and prosperity of our happy land and the security of our fire-
sides attest. Or, if this appeal be too weak to move us, let the
eloquent silence of yonder famous heights — let the column which
is there rising in simple majesty — recall their venerable forms,
as they toiled in the hasty trenches through the dreary watches
of that night of expectation, heaving up the sods, where many of
them lay in peace and honor before the following sun had set.
The turn has come to us. The trial of adversity was theirs; the
trial of prosperity is ours. Let us meet it as men who know
their duty and prize their blessings. Our position is the most
enviable, the most responsible, which men can fill. If this gen-
eration does its duty, the cause of constitutional freedom is safe.
If we fail — if we fail, not only do we defraud our children of
the inheritance which we received from our fathers, but we blast
the hopes of the friends of liberty throughout our continent,
throughout Europe, throughout the world, to the end of time.

History is not without her examples of hard-fought fields,
where the banner of liberty has floated triumphantly on the
wildest storm of battle. She is without her examples of a peo-
ple by whom the dear-bought treasure has been wisely employed
and safely handed down. The eyes of the world are turned for
that example to us. It is related by an ancient historian, of that
Brutus who slew Caesar, that he threw himself on his sword,
after the disastrous battle of Philippi, with the bitter exclama-
tion, that he had followed virtue as a substance, but found it a
name. It is not too much to say, that there are, at this moment,
noble spirits in the elder world, who are anxiously watching the
practical operation of our institutions, to learn whether liberty,
as they have been told, is a mockery, a pretense, a curse, — or a
blessing, for which it became them to brave the scaffold and the
seimiter.

Let us then, as we assemble on the birthday of the nation, as
we gather upon the green turf, once wet with precious blood —
let us devote ourselves to the sacred cause of Constitutional Lib-

84

EDWARD EVERETT

erty! Let us abjure the interests and passions which divide the
great family of American freemen! Let the rage of party spirit
sleep to-day! Let us resolve that our children shall have cause
to bless the memory of their fathers, as we have cause to bless
the memory of ours!

THE MORAL FORCES WHICH MAKE AMERICAN PROGRESS

(Peroration of the Speech of March 21st, 1853, on the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty)

I CORDIALLY Sympathize with the distinguished Senator from
Illinois in the glowing views that he entertains of the future

growth and glory of our country. I wish I could persuade
him that this glorious future of America is not inconsistent with
an equally auspicious future for the friendly powers of Europe,
I wish I could persuade him that that part of the world is not
exclusively the region of tombs and monuments that he so graph-
ically described, but that in every country in Europe, more in
some than in others, but visibly in all, there is progress; that
liberal ideas are at work; that popular institutions and influences
are steadily forming themselves; that the melioration of the
laboring classes is going on; that education and social comforts
are making their way there. It is true — I beg the gentleman to
believe me, it is true; and nothing will promote this favorable
state of things more than the kindly sympathy and a salutary
example on the part of this country. And I will also say that
there is no country in Europe that I have ever visited, whatever
temporary causes of irritation may have existed with this gov-
ernment or that government — there is not a country of Europe
where the name and character of an American citizen is not a
direct passport to every good office that a stranger can desire,
and nowhere more than in England.

Sir, in our views of the glorious future that awaits the Union,
we are apt to regard geographical extension as the measure and
the index of our country's progress. I do not deny the general
correctness of that impression. It is necessary for the formation
of the highest type of national character that it should be formed
and exhibited upon a grand and extensive scale. It cannot be
developed within the bounds of a petty State. Nor do I admit
that this idea of geographical extension necessarily carries with
it — though it does perhaps by natural association — thai of colli-

EDWARD EVERETT 85

sion with other powers. But, sir, I think there is no fear, so far
as geographical extension is necessary, but that we shall, in the
natural progress of things, have as much of it, and as rapidly as
the best interests of the country admit or require. In the mean-
time, if we wish a real, solid, substantial growth, — a growth
which will not bring us in collision with foreign powers, — we
shall have it in twenty-five years to our hearts' content, not by
the geographical accession of dead acres, not by the purchase of
Cuba or by the partition of Mexico, but by the simple, peaceful
increase of our population.

Sir, have you well considered that that mysterious law which
was promulgated on the sixth day of the Creation : *' Be fruitful
and multiply and replenish the earth,'' will, in twenty-five years
of peace and union, — for it is all wrapped up in that, — aided by
the foreign immigration, give us another America of living men
as large as that which we now possess? Yes, sir, as far as liv-
ing men are concerned, besides replacing the millions which will
have passed off the stage, it will give us all that the arm of
Omnipotence could give us, if it should call up from the depths
of the Pacific and join to the Union another America as popu-
lous as ours. If, by any stroke of power or policy, you could
to-morrow extend your jurisdiction from Hudson's Bay to Cape
Horn, and take in every state and every government, and all
their population, it would not give to you a greater amount of
population, including your own, than you will have at the end of
twenty-five years by the simple law of increase aided by immi
gration from abroad.

I shall not live to see it. My children probably will. The
Senator from Illinois, in all human probability, will live to see
it, and there is, perhaps, no one more likely than he to impress
his views of public policy upon the mind of those growing mil
lions, and to receive from them in return all the honors and
trusts which a grateful people can bestow upon those they re-
spect and love. Let me adjure him, then, to follow the generous
impulses of his nature, and after giving, like a true patriot, his
first affections to his own country, to be willing to comprehend
all the other friendly countries of the earth within the scope of
a liberal consideration, and, above all, to cultivate the spirit and
arts of peace — of peace.

Sir, it is the opposite spirit of military aggrandizement, the
spirit of conquest that has forged those chains in Europe, whicD

gg JiDWARD EVERETT

the Senator so eloquently deplores. It was this that brought down
A-sia to the dust in the morning of the world, and has kept her
seated in sackcloth and ashes ever since. This blasted Greece;
this destroyed Rome. It was not a foreign enemy that laid the ax
to the root of Rome's freedom ; it was her own proconsuls coming
home from the successful wars of Asia, gorged with the gold of
conquered provinces. The spirit of military aggrandizement and
conquest has done the same for Europe. Will they not do it
nere. if we indulge them ? Do not let the Senator think that I
suspect he wishes to indulge them; but will they not do iti^
Will they not give us vast standing armies, overshadowing na-
vies, colossal military establishments, frightful expenditures, con
tracts, jobs, corruption which it sickens the heart to contemplate >
And how can our simple republican institutions, our elective
magistracies, our annual or biennial choice of those who are
to rule over us, unsupported by hereditary claims oi pretorian
guards, be carried on under such influences ?

Do not mistake me, however, sir, I counsel no pusillanimous
doctrine of nonresistance. Heaven forbid! Providence has placed
us between the two great world oceans, and we shall always be
a maritime power of the first order. Our commerce already
visits every sea, and wherever it floats it must be protected
Our immense inland frontier will always require a considerable
army, and it should be kept in the highest state of discipline
The schools at Annapolis and West Point ought to be the foster
children of our Republic. Our arsenals and our armories ought
to be kept filled with every weapon and munition of war, and
every vulnerable point on the coast ought to be fortified. But
while we act on the maxim, *In peace prepare for war," let us
also remember that the best preparation for war is peace. This
swells your numbers; this augments your means; this knits the
sinews of your strength; this covers you all over with a panoply
of might; and then, if war must come in a just cause, no power
on earth — no, sir, not all combined — can send forth an adver-
sary from whose encounter you need shrink.

But give us these twenty-five years of peace. I do believe
that the coming quarter of a century is to be the most import
int in our whole history, and I do beseech you, let us have the
twenty-five years, at least, of peace. Let our fertile wastes be
filled up v.'ith sv.^arm.ing millions; let the tide of immigration
continue to ftow in fro to Europe- let the steamer, let the canal

EDWARD EVERETT gy

let the railway, especially the Great Pacific Railway, subdue these
mighty distances, and bring this vast extension into a span; let
us pay back the ingots of California gold with bars of Atlantic
iron: let agriculture clothe our vast wastes with waving plenty;
let the industrial and mechanic arts erect their peaceful fortresses
at the waterfalls of our rivers; and then, in the train of this
growing population, let the printing oiSce, the lecture room, the
school room, and the village church be scattered over the coun*
try; and, sir, in these twenty-five years, we shall exhibit a spec-
tacle of national prosperity, such as the world has never seen on
so large a scale, and yet within the reach of a sober, practical
contemplation.

ON UNIVERSAL AND UNCOERCED CO-OPERATION

(From His Lecture, <The Working Men's Party >)

MAN is not only a working being, but he is a being formed
to work in society; and if the matter be carefully ana-
lyzed, it will be found that civilization, that is, the bring-
ing men out of a savage into a cultivated state, consists in
multiplying the number of pursuits and occupations; so that the
most perfect society is one where the largest number of persons
are prosperously employed in the greatest variety of ways. In
such a society men help each other, instead of standing in each
other's way. The further this division of labor is carried, the
more persons must unite, harmoniously, to effect the common
ends. The larger the number on which each depends, the larger
the number to which each is useful.

This union of different kinds of workmen in one harmonious
society seems to be laid in the very structure and organization
of man. Man is a being consisting of a body and a soul. These
words are soon uttered, and they are so often uttered that the
mighty truth which is embraced in them scarcely ever engages
our attention. But man is composed of body and soul. What is
body ? It is material substance ; it is clay, dust, ashes. Look at
it as you tread it unorganized beneath your feet; contemplate it
when, after having been organized and animated, it is, by a pro-
cess of corruption, returning to its original state. Matter, in its
appearance to us. is an unorganized, inanimate, cold, dull, and

g3 EDWARD EVERETT

barren thing. What it is in its essence no one but the Being
who created it knows. The human mind can conceive of it only
as the absolute negation of qualities. And we say that the body
of man is formed of the clay or dust, because these substances
seem to us to make the nearest approach to the total privation
of all the properties of intellect. Such is the body of man.
What is his soul ? Its essence is as little known to us as that
of the body; but its qualities are angelic, divine. It is the soul
which thinks, reasons, invents, remembers, hopes, and loves. It
is the soul which lives; for, when the soul departs from the
body, all its vital powers cease; and it is dead — and what is
the body then ?

Now the fact to which I wish to call your attention is that
these two elements, one of which is akin to the poorest dust on
which we tread, and the other of which is of the nature of an-
gelic and even of divine intelligence, are, in every human being
without exception, brought into a most intimate and perfect
union. We can conceive that it might have been different. God
could have created matter by itself, and mind by itself. We be-
lieve in the existence of incorporeal beings, of a nature higher
than man, and we behold beneath us, in brutes, plants, and
stones, various orders of material nature, rising, one above an-
other, in organization; but none of them (as we suppose) possess-
ing mind. We can imagine a world so constituted that all the
intellect would have been by itself, pure and disembodied, and
all the material substance by itself, unmixed with mind; and
acted upon by mind, as inferior beings are supposed to be acted
upon by angels. But, in constituting our race, it pleased the
Creator to bring the two elements into the closest union; to take
the body from the dust, the soul from the highest heaven, and
mold them into one.

The consequence is that the humblest laborer, who works
with his hands, possesses within him a soul endowed with pre-
cisely the same faculties as those which in Franklin, in Newton,
or Shakespeare, have been the light and the wonder of the
world; and, on the other hand, the most gifted and ethereal
genius, whose mind has fathomed the depths of the heavens, and
comprehended the whole circle of truth, is inclosed in a body
subject to the same passions, infirmities, and wants as the man
whose life knows no alternation but labor and rest, appetite and
indulgence.

EDWARD EVERETT 89

Did it stop here it would be merely an astonishing fact in
the constitution of our natures — but it does not stop here. In
consequence of the union of the two principles in the human
frame, every act that a man performs requires the agency both
of body and mind. His mind cannot see but through the optic
eyeglass; nor hear till the drum of his ear is affected by the
vibrations of the air. If he would speak, he puts in action the
complex machinery of the vocal organs; if he writes, he employs
the muscular system of the hands; nor can he even perform the
operations of pure thought except in a healthy state of the body,
A fit of the toothache, proceeding from the irritation of a nerve
about as big as a cambric thread, is enough to drive an under-
standing capable of instructing the world to the verge of insan-
ity. On the other hand, there is no operation of manual labor
so simple, so mechanical, which does not require the exercise of
perception, reflection, memory, and judgment: the same intellect-
ual powers by which the highest truths of science have been dis-
covered and illustrated.

The degree to which any particular action (or series of actions
united into a pursuit) shall exercise the intellectual powers on the
one hand, or the mechanical powers on the other, of course de-
pends on the nature of that action. The slave, whose life, from
childhood to the grave, is passed in the field; the New Zea-
lander, who goes to war when he is hungry, devours his prison-
ers, and leads a life of cannibal debauch, till he has consumed
them all, and then goes to war again ; the Greenlander, who warms
himself with the fragments of wrecks and driftwood thrown upon
the glaciers, and feeds himself with blubber, seem all to lead
lives requiring but little intellectual action; and yet, as I have
remarked, a careful reflection would show that there is not one,
even of them, who does not, every moment of his life, call into
exercise, though in a humble degree, all the powers of the mind.
In like manner the philosopher who shuts himself up in his cell,
and leads a contemplative existence among books or instruments
of science, seems to have no occasion to employ, in their ordi-
nary exercise, many of the capacities of his nature for physical
action; — although he also, as I have observed, cannot act, or
even think, but with the aid of his body.

This is unquestionably true. The same Creator who made
man a mixed being, composed of body and soul, having designed
him for such a world as that in which we live, has so constituted

QQ EDWARD EVERETT

the world, and man who inhabits it, as to afford scope for a great
variety of occupations, pursuits, and conditions, arising from the
tastes, characters, habits, virtues, and even vices of men and com-
munities. For the same reason, that though all men are alike
composed of body and soul, yet no two men probably are exactly
the same in respect to either — so provision has been made by
the Author of our being for an infinity of pursuits and employ-
ments, calling out, in degrees as various, the peculiar powers of
both principles.

But I have already endeavored to show that there is no pursuit
and no action that does not require the united operation of both;
and this of itself is a broad, natural foundation for the union
into one interest of all, in the same community, who are em-
ployed in honest work of any kind, namely, that however various
their occupations, they are all working with the same instru-
ments— the organs of the body and the powers of the mind.

But we may go a step further, to remark the beautiful pro-
cess by which Providence has so interlaced and wrought up to-
gether the pursuits, interests, and wants of our nature, that the
philosopher, whose home seems less on earth than among the
stars, requires, for the prosecution of his studies, the aid of
numerous artifices in various branches of mechanical industry,
and in return furnishes the most important facilities to the hum-
blest branches of manual labor. Let us take, as a single instance,
that of astronomical science. It may be safely said that the
wonderful discoveries of modem astronomy, and the philosophi-
cal system depending upon them, could not have existed but for
the telescope. The want of the telescope kept astronomical sci-
ence in its infancy among the ancients. Although Pythagoras,
one of the earliest Greek philosophers, by a fortunate exercise of
sagacity, conceived the elements of the Copernican system, yet
we find no general and practical improvement resulting from it.
It was only from the period of the discoveries made by the tele-
scope that the science advanced with sure and rapid progress.
Now, the astronomer does not make telescopes. I presume it
would be impossible for a person who is employed in the ab-
stract study of astronomical science to find time enough to com-
prehend its profound investigations, and to learn and practice
the trade of making glass. It is mentioned as a remarkable ver-
satility of talent in one or two eminent observers that they have
superintended the cutting and polishing of the glasses of their

EDWARD EVERETT gj

own telescopes. But I presume, if there never had been a tele-
scope till some scientific astronomer had learned to mix, melt,
and mold glass, such a thing would never have been heard of.
It is not less true that those employed in making the glass
could not, in the nature of things, be expected to acquire the
scientific knowledge requisite for carrying on those arduous cal-
culations applied to bring into a system the discoveries made by
the magnifying power of the telescope. I might extend the
same remark to the other materials of which a telescope con-
sists. It cannot be used for any purpose of nice observation with-
out being very carefully mounted on a frame of strong metal,
which demands the united labors of the mathematical instrument-
maker and the brass-founder. Here, then, in taking but one single
step out of the philosopher's observatory, we find he needs an in-
strument to be produced by the united labors of the mathemat-
ical instrument-maker, the brass-founder, the glass-polisher, and
the maker of the glass, — four trades. He must also have an
astronomical clock, and it would be easy to count up half a dozen
trades which directly or indirectly are connected in making a
clock. But let us go back to the object-glass of the telescope.
A glass factory requires a building and furnaces. The man who
makes the glass does not make the building. But the stone and
brick mason, the carpenter and the blacksmith, must furnish the
greater part of the labor and skill required to construct the
building. When it is built, a large quantity of fuel, wood, and
wood-coal or mineral coal of various kinds, or all together, must
be provided; and then the materials of which the glass is made,
and with which it is colored, some of which are furnished by
commerce from different and distant regions, and must be brought
in ships across the sea. We cannot take up any one of these
trades without immediately finding that it connects itself with
numerous others. Take, for instance, the mason who builds the
furnace. He does not make his own bricks, nor burn his own
lime; in common cases the bricks come from one place, the lime
from another, the sand from another. The brick-maker does not
cut down his own wood. It is carted or brought in boats to his
yard. The man who carts it does not make his own wagon; nor
does the person who brings it in boats build his own boat. The
man who makes the wagon does not make the tire. The black-
smith who makes the tire does not smelt the ore ; and -the forge-
man who smelts the ore does not build his own furnace (and

Q2 EDWARD EVERETT

there we get back to the point whence we started), nor dig his
own mine. The man who digs the mine does not make the
pickax with which he digs it, nor the pump with which he
keeps out the water. The man who makes the pump did not
discover the principle of atmospheric pressure, which led to
pump-making: that was done by a mathematician at Florence,
experimenting in his chamber on a glass tube. And here we
come back again to our glass, and to an instance of the close
connection of scientific research with practical art. It is plain
that this enumeration might be pursued till every art and every
science were shown to run into every other. No one can doubt
this who will go over the subject in his own mind, beginning
with any one of the processes of mining and working metals, of
shipbuilding, and navigation, and the other branches of art and
industry pursued in civilized communities.

If, then, on the one hand, the astronomer depends for his
telescope on the ultimate product of so many arts; in return, his
observations are the basis of an astronomical system, and of cal-
culations of the movements of the heavenly bodies, which fur-
nish the mariner with his best guide across the ocean. The
prudent shipmaster would no more think of sailing for India
v/ithout his Bowditch's * Practical Navigator * than he would
without his compass; and this navigator contains tables drawn
from the highest walks of astronomical science. Every first mate
of a vessel, who works a lunar observation to ascertain the ship's
longitude, employs tables in which the most wonderful discover-
ies and calculations of La Place, and Newton, and Bowditch are
interwoven.

I mention this as but one of the cases in which astronomical
science promotes the service and convenience of common life;
and, perhaps, when we consider the degree to which the modern
extension of navigation connects itself with industry in all its
branches, this may be thought sufficient. I will only add that
the cheap convenience of an almanac, which enters into the
comforts of every fireside in the country, could not be enjoyed,
but for the labors and studies of the profoundest philosophers.
Not that great learning or talent is now required to execute the
astronomical calculations of an almanac, although no inconsider-
able share of each is needed for this purpose; but because even
to perform these calculations requires the aid of tables which
have been gradually formed on the basis of the profoundest

EDWARD EVERETT 93

investigations of the long line of philosophers, who have devoted
themselves to this branch of science. For, as we observed on the
mechanical side of the illustration, it was not one trade alone
which was required to furnish the philosopher with his instru-
ment, but a great variety; so, on the other hand, it is not the
philosopher in one department who creates a science out of noth-
ine. The observing astronomer furnishes materials to the calcu-
lating astronomer, and the calculator derives methods from the
pure mathematician, and a long succession of each for ages must
unite their labors in a great result. Without the geometry of
the Greeks, and the algebra of the Arabs, the infinitesimal anal-
ysis of Newton and Leibnitz would never have been invented.

Examples and illustrations equally instructive might be found
in every other branch of industry. The man who will go into
a cotton mill, and contemplate it from the great water wheel that
gives the first movement (and still more from the steam engine,
should that be the moving power), who will observe the parts
of the machinery, and the various processes of the fabric, till he
reaches the hydraulic press with which it is made into a bale,
and the canal or railroad by which it is sent to market, may
find every branch of trade, and every department of science,
literally crossed, intertwined, interwoven, with every other, like
the woof and the warp of the article manufactured. Not a little
of the spinning machinery is constructed on principles drawn
from the demonstrations of transcendental mathematics; and the
processes of bleaching and dyeing now practiced are the results
of the most profound researches of modem chemistry. And, if
this does not satisfy the inquirer, let him trace the cotton to the
plantation where it grew, in Georgia or Alabama; the indigo to
Bengal; the oil to the olive gardens of Italy, or the fishing-
grounds of the Pacific Ocean; let him consider the cotton gin,
the carding machine, the power loom, and the spinning appara-
tus, and all the arts, trades, and sciences directly or indirectly
connected with these, and I believe he will soon agree that one
might start from a yard of coarse printed cotton, which costs
ten cents, and prove out of it, as out of a text, that every art
and science under heaven had been concerned in its fabric.

LUCIUS, LORD FALKLAND

(1610-1643)

IJN 1636, when Sir John Finch was Chief -Justice of the English
Court of Common Pleas, he and other judges of the high
courts of the realm received from King Charles I. this ques-
tion— most momentous in its results, involving, as it did, the loss of
the King's head: ^<When the good and safety of the kingdom are con-
cerned, whether may not the King, by writ, under the Great Seal of
England, command all the subjects in his kingdom at their charge,
to provide and furnish such number of ships with men, victuals, and
munitions, and for such time as he shall think fit for the defense
and safeguard of the kingdom from such danger and peril, and by
law compel the doing thereof in case of refusal or refractoriness.
And whether in such case is not the King sole judge of the danger
and of when and how the same is to be prevented and avoided.*^

Thus was presented the question of << Ship-Money,* involving that
of the King's absolutism. The judges answered that the King was
*<in such case sole judge of the danger and when and how the same
is to be prevented and avoided, ^^ and that he might lay such taxes
at his pleasure, punishing those who should refuse to pay them. It
was on such advice that Hampden, denying the right of the King to
tax the people without their consent, expressed by act of Parliament,
was prosecuted for refusing to pay his « Ship-Money.>^ When the
conduct of the judges in giving the King their extrajudicial sanction
was discovered in Parliament, it was determined to impeach them,
and, accordingly, on December 5th, 1640, Lord Falkland made his
speech against Finch, When actually impeached by the Commons,
Finch, who had been promoted to Lord Keeper by the King, went to
Holland. Falkland himself afterwards changed sides, abandoning Par-
liament for the King, in whose service he fell at Newbury, September
20th, 1643. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin (his father
being Lord Deputy of Ireland), and, as Sir Lucius Cary, was the
friend of Ben Jonson and Suckling. One of his modern biographers
says that when he entered Parliament in 1640, «he quickly assumed
prominence on the side of the King,'^ but it is evident from the
testimony of his contemporaries and his own speeches that in the
great question at issue he was strongly against the King's position.
One of his contemporaries calls him «Lord Falkland, that excellent

94

LUCIUS, LORD FALKLAND • 95

man, one of the wonders of his age, who afterwards made a dear
atonement for his mistakes by losing his life in his Majesty's service.'^
After leaving Parliament, he became one of the King's Secretaries of
State and an active opponent of the popular cause.

SHIP-MONEY — IMPEACHING LORD KEEPER FINCH
(Delivered in Parliament, December 5th, 1640)
Mr. Speaker: —

I REJOICE very much to see this day; and the want hath not
lain in my affections, but my lungs, if to all that hath been

past I have not been as loud with my voice as any man in
the House; yet truly my opinion is, we have yet done nothing if
we do no more ; I shall add what I humbly conceive ought to be
added, as soon as I have said something with reference to him
that says it.

I will first desire the forgiveness of the House, if aught I say
seem to intrench upon another profession and enter upon the
work of another robe. Since I have been intrusted by the report
of a learned committee, and confirmed by the uncontradicted
rule of the House; since I shall say nothing of this kind but in
order to something further, which moves me most to venture
my opinion, and to expect your pardon; since I am confident
that history alone is sufficient to show this judgment contrary to
our laws, and logic alone sufficient to prove it destructive to our
propriety, which every free and noble person values more than
his possession — I will not profess I know of myself, but all
those who know me, know that my natural disposition is to de-
cline from severity — much more from cruelty.

That I have no particular provocation from their persons, and
have particular obligations to their calling against whom I am
to speak; and though I have not so much, yet far more than I
have, so I hope it will be believed that only public interest hath
extorted this from me, and that which I would not say, if I
conceived it not so true, and so necessary, that no undigested
meat can lie heavier upon the stomach than this unsaid would
have lain upon my conscience.

Mr. Speaker, the Constitution of the Commonwealth hath
established, or rather endeavored to establish, to us the security
of our goods, and the security of those laws which would secure

q5 LUCIUS, LORD FALKLAND

US and our goods, by appointing for us judges so settled, so
sworn, that there can be no oppression, but they of necessity
must be accessory, since if they neither deny nor delay us jus-
tice, which neither for the great nor little seal, they ought to
do, the greatest person in this kingdom cannot continue the
least violence upon the meanest; but this security, Mr. Speaker,
hath been almost our ruin, for it hath been turned, or rather
turned itself into a battery against us; and those persons who
should have been as dogs to defend the sheep, have been as
wolves, to worry them.

These judges, Mr. Speaker, to instance not them only, but
their greatest crime, have delivered an opinion, and judgment in
an extrajudicial matter, that is such as came not within their
cognizance, they being judges, and neither philosophers, nor poli-
ticians; in which, when that is so absolute and evident, the law
of the land ceases, and of general reason and equity, by which
particular laws at first were framed, returns to his throne and
government, where saliis populi becomes not only suprema, but
sola lex; at which, and to which end, whatsoever should dispense
with the King, to make use of any money, dispenses with us, to
make use of his, and one another's. In this judgment they con-
tradicted both many and learned acts and declarations of Parlia-
ment; and those in this very case, in this very reign, so that for
them they needed to have consulted with no other record, but
with their memories.

They have contradicted apparent evidences by supposing
mighty and eminent dangers, in the most serene, quiet, and hal-
cyon days that could possibly be imagined, a few contemptible
pirates being our most formidable enemies, and there being
neither prince nor state with whom we had not either alliance,
or amity, or both.

They contradicted the writ itself, by supposing that supposed
danger to be so sudden that it would not stay for a Parliament,
which required but forty days' stay, and the writ being in no
such haste, but being content to stay seven times over.

Mr. Speaker, it seemed generally strange that they saw not
the law, which all men else saw, but themselves. Yet though
this begot the more general wonder, three other particulars begot
the more general indignation.

The first of all the reasons for this judgment was such that
they needed not any from the adverse party to help them to con-

LUCIUS, LORD FALKLAND

97

vert those few, who before the last suspicion of the legality of
that most illegal writ, there being fewer that approved of the
judgment than there were that judged it, for I am confident they
did not that themselves.

Secondly, when they had allowed to the King the sole power
in necessity, the sole judgment of necessity, and by that enabled
him to take both from us, what he would, when he would, they
yet continued to persuade us that they had left us our liberties
and properties.

The third and last is, and which I confess moved most, that
by the transformation of us from the state of free subjects
(a good phrase, Mr. Speaker, under Doctor Heylen's favor) unto
that of villeins, they disable us by legal and voluntary supplies
to express our affections to his Majesty, and by that to cherish
his to us, — that is by Parliaments.

Mr. Speaker, the cause of all the miseries we have suffered,
and the cause of all our jealousies we have had that we should
yet suffer is that a most excellent prince hath been most infin-
itely abused by his judges, telling him that by policy he might
do what he pleased; with the first of these we are now to deal,
which may be a leading to the rest. And since in providing of
these laws, upon which these men have trampled, our ancestors
have showed their utmost care and wisdom, for our undoubted
security, words having done nothing, and yet have done all that
words can do, we must now be forced to think of abolishing our
grievances, and of taking away this judgment, and these judges
together, and of regulating their successors by their exemplary
punishment.

I will not speak much ; I will only say we have accused a
great person of high treason, for intending to subvert our funda-
mental laws and to introduce arbitrary government, which we
suppose he meant to do. We are sure these have done it, there
being no laws more fundamental than that they have already
subverted, and no government more absolute than they have
really introduced. Mr. Speaker, not only the severe punishment,
but the sudden removal of these men, will have a sudden effect
in one considerable consideration.

We only accuse, and the House of Lords condemn; in which

condemnation they usually receive advice (though not direction)

from the judges, and I leave it to every man to imagine how

prejudicial to us, that is, to the Commonwealth, and how partial

6-7

gS LUCIUS, LORD FALKLAND

to their fellow-malefactors, the advice of such judges is like to
be. How undoubtedly for their own sakes, they will conduce to
their power, that every action be judged to be a less fault, and
every person to be less faulty, than in justice they ought to do;
among these, Mr. Speaker, there is one I must not lose in the
crowd, whom I doubt not but we shall find, when we examine
the rest of them, with what hopes they have been tempted, by
what fears they have been afraid, and by what, and by whose
importunity they have been pursued, before they consented to
what they did. I doubt not, I say, but we shall then find him to
have been a most admirable solicitor, but a most abominable
judge; he it is who not only gave away with his breath what
our ancestors purchased for us by so large an expense of their
time, their care, their treasure, their blood, and employed their
industry, as great as his unjustice, to persuade others to join
with him in that deed of gift, but strove to root up those lib-
erties which they had cut down, and to make our grievances
immortal and our slavery irreparable. Lest any part of our pos-
terity might want occasion to curse him, he declared that power
to be so inherent to the Crown, as that it was not in the power
even of Parliaments to divide them.

I have heard, Mr. Speaker, and I think here that common
fame is ground enough for this House to accuse upon; and
then, undoubtedly, there is enough to be accused upon in this
House; he hath reported this so generally, that I expect not
that you shall bid me name him whom you all know, nor do I
look to tell you news when I tell you it is my Lord Keeper.
But this I think fit to put you in mind that his place admits
him to his Majesty, and trusts him with his Majesty's conscience.
And how pernicious every moment, whilst one gives him means
to infuse such unjust opinions of this House, as are expressed in
a libel, rather than a declaration, of which many believe him to
be the principal secretary! And the other puts the most vast
and unlimited power of the Chancery into his hands, the safest
of which will be dangerous! For my part, I think no man
secure that he shall think himself worth anything when he
rises, whilst our estates are in his breast, who hath sacrificed
his country to his ambition, whilst he who hath prostrated his
own conscience hath the keeping of the King's, and he who
hath undone us already by wholesale hath a power left in him
by retail.

LUCIUS, LORD FALKLAND ^^

Mr. Speaker, in the beginning of Parliament he told us, — and
I am confident every man here believes it before he told it, and
never the more for his telling, though a sorry witness is a good
testimony against himself, — that his Majesty never required
anything from his ministers but justice and integrity. Against
which, if any of them have transgressed, upon their heads, and
that deservedly, it ought to fall; it was full and truly, but he
hath in this saying pronounced his own condemnation; we shall
be more partial to him than he is to himself if we be slow to
pursue it. It is, therefore, my just and humble motion that we
may choose a select committee to draw up his and their charge,
and to examine their carriage in this particular, to make use of
it in the charge, and if he shall be found guilty of tampering
with judges against the public security, who thought tampering
with witnesses in a private cause worthy of so great a fine, if he
should be found to have gone before the rest to this judgment,
and to have gone beyond the rest in this judgment, that in the
punishment of it the justice of this House may not deny him
the due honor both to proceed and exceed the rest.

FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR

(1831-1903)

|ppoiNTED Canon of Westminster in 1876, Archdeacon in 1883,
and Dean of Canterbury in 1895, Doctor Farrar became
Wl famous not only because of his position, but by reason of his
learning, of his numerous contributions to current literature, and of
such striking eloquence as he illustrates in his eulogy of General Grant.
The reader will see from it that Doctor Farrar was a man of bold opin-
ions, holding views far removed from those of the English Whigs of
the eighteenth century. He was born in Bombay, British India, August
7th, 183 1, and was educated at the University of London and at Cam-
bridge. From 1 87 1 until appointed Canon of Westminster Abbey, he
was head master of Marlborough College. Before his death, March
22d, 1903, he had become known and admired for his eloquence in
every country of the English-speaking world.

FUNERAL ORATION ON GENERAL GRANT

(Delivered in Westminster Abbey, London, August 4th, 1885)

EIGHT years have not passed since the Dean of Westminster,
whom Americans so much loved and honored, was w-alking
round this Abbey with General Grant, and explaining to him
its w^ealth of great memorials. Neither of them had attained the
allotted span of human life, and for both we might have hoped
that many years would elapse before they went down to the
grave, full of years and honors. But this is already the fourth
summer since the Dean fell asleep, and to-day we are assembled
at the obsequies of the great soldier whose sun has gone down
while it yet was day, and at whose funeral service in Am.erica
tens of thousands are assembled at this moment to mourn with
his widow, family, and friends. Yes; life at the best is but as a
vapor that passeth away. The glories of our birth and state are
shadows, not substantial things. But when death comes, what
nobler epitaph can any man have than this, that, having served
his generation, by the will of God he fell asleep? Little can the
living do for the dead. The pomps and ceremonies of earthly

100

FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR jqj

grandeur have lost their significance, but when our soul shall
leave its dwelling, the story of one fair and virtuous action is
above all the escutcheons on our tombs or silken banners over
us. I vv^ould desire to speak simply and directly, and, if with
generous appreciation, yet with no idle flattery, of him whose
death has made a nation mourn. His private life, the faults and
failings of his character, whatever they may have been, belong in
no sense to the world. They are for the judgment of God, whose
merciful forgiveness is necessary for the best of what we do and
are. We touch only on his public actions and services, the rec-
ord of his strength, his magnanimity, his self-control, his gener-
ous deeds. His life falls into four marked divisions, of which
each has its own lessons for us. He touched on them himself
in part when he said: —

" Btiry me either at West Point, where I was trained as a youth ;
or in Illinois, which gave me my first commission; or in New York,
which sympathized with me in my misfortunes.'^

His wish has been respected, and on the clifE overhanging the
Hudson, his monument will stand, to recall to the memory of
future generations those dark days of a nation's history which he
did so much to close. First came the early years of growth and
training, of poverty and obscurity, of struggle and self-denial,
i Poor and humbly born, he had to make his own way in the
world. God's unseen providence, which men nickname chance,
directed his boyhood. A cadetship was given him at the Military
Academy of West Point, and after a brief period of service in
the Mexican War, in which he was three times mentioned in dis-
patches, seeing no opening for a soldier in what seemed likely to
be days of unbroken peace, he settled down to a humble life in
a provincial town. Citizens of St. Louis v/ill remember the rough
backwoodsman who sold cord wood from door to door, and who
afterwards became a leather-seller in the obscure town of Galena.
Those who knew him in those days have said that if any one
had predicted that the silent, unprosperous, unambitious man,
whose chief aim was to get a plank road from his shop to the
railway depot, would become twice President of the United States,
and one of the foremost men of his day, the prophecy would
have seemed extravagantly ridiculous. But such careers are the
glory of the American continent. They show that the people
have a sovereign insight into intrinsic force. If Rome told with
pride how her dictators came from the ploughtail, America, too

UNIVERSITY OP CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA COLLEGE LIBRARY

I02

FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR

may record the answer of the President who, on being asked
what would be his coat of arms, answered, proudly mindful of
his early struggles, ** A pair of shirt sleeves,** The answer showed
a noble sense of the dignity of labor, the noble superiority to the
vanities of feudalism, a strong conviction that men are to be
honored simply as men and not for the prizes of birth and acci-
dent, which are without them. You have of late years had two
martyr Presidents, both men, sons of the people. One was the
homely man, who at the age of seven was a farm lad, at seven-
teen a rail splitter, at twenty a boatman on the Mississippi, and
who in manhood proved to be one of the most honest and God-
fearing of modern rulers. The other grew up from a shoeless
child in a log-hut on the prairies, round which the wolves prowled
in the winter snow, to be a humble teacher in Hiram Institute.
With these Presidents America need not blush to name also the
leather-seller of Galena. Every true man derived his patent of
nobleness direct from God.

Did not God choose David from the sheepfold, from following
the ewes great with young ones, to make him the ruler of his
people Israel ? Was not the Lord of Life and all the worlds for
thirty years a carpenter at Nazareth ? Do not such things illus-
trate the prophecy of Solomon: —

<< Seest thou a man diligent in his business ? He shall stand be-
fore kings; he shall not stand before mean men.*

When Abraham Lincoln sat, book in hand, day after day, un-
der the tree, moving round it as the shadow crossed, absorbed in
mastering his task; when James Garfield rang the bell at Hiram
Institute on the very stroke of the hour, and swept the school-
room as faithfully as he mastered his Greek lesson; when Ulysses
Grant, sent with his team to meet some men who came to load
his cart with logs, and, finding no men, loaded the cart with his
own boy's strength, they showed in the conscientious performance
of duty the qualities which were to raise them to become kings
of men. When John Adams was told that his son, John Quincy
Adams, had been elected President of the United States, he said:
" He has always been laborious, child and man, from infancy. **

But the youth was not destined to die in the deep valley of
obscurity and toil, in which it is the lot — and perhaps the happy
lot — of most of us to spend our little lives. The hour came;
the man was needed. In 1861 there broke out that most terrible

FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR

103

war of modern days. Grant received a commission as Colonel of
Volunteers, and in four years the struggling toiler had been
raised to the chief command of a vaster army than has ever
been handled by any mortal man. Who could have imagined
that four years would make that enormous difference ? But it is
often so. The great men needed for some tremendous crisis
have stepped often, as it were, out of a door in the wall which
no man had noticed; and, unannounced, unheralded, without
prestige, have made their way silently and single-handed to the
front. And there was no luck in it. It was a work of inflexible
faithfulness, of indomitable resolution, of sleepless energy, and
iron purpose and tenacity. In the campaigns at Fort Donelson;
in the desperate battle at Shiloh; in the siege of Corinth; in the
successful assaults at Pittsburg; in battle after battle, in siege
after siege; whatever Grant had to do, he did it with his might.
Other generals might fail — he would not fail. He showed what
a man could do whose will was strong. He undertook, as Gen-
eral Sherman said of him, what no one else would have ven-
tured, and his very soldiers began to reflect something of his
indomitable determination. His sayings revealed the man. " I
have nothing to do with opinions, ** he said, at the outset, " and
shall only deal with armed rebellion. ** " In riding over the
field, ** he said at Shiloh, ^* I saw that either side was ready to
give way, if the other showed a bold front. I took the opportun-
ity, and ordered an advance along the whole line.* *^ No terms,*
he wrote to General Buckner at Fort Donelson (and it is pleas-
ant to know that General Buckner stood as a warm friend beside
his dying bed); "no terms other than unconditional surrender
can be accepted. * ** My headquarters, * he wrote from Vicksburg,
"will be on the field.* With a military genius which embraced
the vastest plans while attending to the smallest details, he de-
feated, one after another, every great general of the Confederates,
except General Stonewall Jackson. The Southerners felt that
he held them as in the grasp of a vise; that this man could
neither be arrested nor avoided. For all this he has been se-
verely blamed. He ought not to be blamed. He has been called
a butcher, which is grossly unjust. He loved peace; he hated
bloodshed; his heart was generous and kind. His orders were to
save lives, to save treasure, but at all costs to save his country
— and he did save his country. His army cheerfully accepted
the sacrifice, wrote its farewells, buckled its belts, and stood

104

FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR

ready. The struggle was not for victory; it was for existence.
It was not for glory; it was for life and death. Grant had not
only to defeat armies, but to annihilate their forces; to leave no
choice but destruction or submission. He sav/ that the brief
ravage of the hurricane is infinitely less ruinous than the inter-
minable malignity of the pestilence, and in the colossal struggle,
victory, swift, decisive, overv/helming, was the truest mercy. In
silence and with determination, and with clearness of insight,
he was like your Washington and our Wellington. He was like
them also in this, that the word ^^ cannot ^^ did not exist in his
soldier's dictionary, and what he achieved v/as achieved without
bluster. In the hottest fury of all his battles, his speech was
never known to be more than ^^ yea, yea,'^ and ^* nay, nay. ^^ He
met General Lee at Appomattox. He received his surrender with
faultless delicacy. He immediately issued an order that the Con-
federates should be supplied with rations. Immediately his en-
emies surrendered, he gave them terms as simple and as generous
as a brother could have given them — terms which healed differ-
ences; terms of which they freely acknowledged the magnanim-
ity. Not even entering the capitol, avoiding all ostentation,
undated by triumph, as unrufiled by adversity, he hurried back
to stop recruits and to curtail the vast expenses of the country.
After the surrender at Appomattox Court House, the war was
over. He had put his hand to the plow and had looked not back.
He had made blow after blow, each following where the last had
struck; he had vv'ielded like a hammer the gigantic forces at his
disposal, and had smitten opposition into the dust. It was a
mighty work, and he had done it well. Surely history has shown
that for the future destinies of a mighty nation it was a neces-
sary and blessed work! The Church utters her most indignant
anathema at an unrighteous war, but she has never refused to
honor the faithful soldiers who fight in the cause of their coun-
try and God. The gentlest and most Christian of modern poets
has used the tremendous thought: —

<* God's most dreaded instrument
In working out a pure intent
Is man arrayed for mutual slaughter,
Yea, Carnage is his daughter ! >^

We shudder even as we quote the words, but yet the cause
for which General Grant fought — the honor of a great people,

FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR lOr

and the freedom of a whole race of mankind — was a great and
noble cause. And the South has accepted that desperate and
bloody arbitrament. Two of the Southern generals, we rejoice to
hear, will bear General Grant's funeral pall. The rancor and ill-
feeling of the past are buried forever in oblivion; true friends
have been made out of brave foemen. Americans are no longer
Northerners and Southerners, Federals and Confederates, but they
are Americans. "Do not teach your children to hate,'' said
General Lee, to an American lady; « teach them that they are
Americans. I thought that we were better off as one nation
than as two, and I think so now. '' « The war is over, '' said
Grant, " and the best sign of rejoicing after victory will be to
abstain from all demonstrations in the field.'' "Let us have
peace," were the memorable words with which he ended his
brief Inaugural Address as President. On the rest of the great
soldier's life, we will only touch in very few words. As Welling-
ton became Prime Minister of England, and lived to be hooted
in the streets of London, so Grant, more than half against his
will, became President, and for a time lost much of his popu-
larity. He foresaw it all, but it is not for a man to choose; it
is for a man to accept his destiny. What verdict history may
pronounce on him as a politician I know not; but here, and now,
the voice of censure, deserved or undeserved, is silent. When
the great Duke of Marlborough died and one began to speak of
his avarice, "He was so great a man," said Bolingbroke, "I had
forgotten that he had that fault."

It was a fine and delicate rebuke, and we do not intend to
rake up a man's faults and errors. Those errors, whatever they
may have been, we leave to the mercy of the Merciful, and the
atoning blood of his Savior. Beside the open grave, we speak
only in gratitude of his great achievements. Let us record his
virtues in brass, for men's examples; but let his faults, whatever
they may have been, be writ in water. Some may think that it
would have been well for Grant if he had died in 1865, when
steeples clanged and cities were illuminated and congregations
rose in his honor. Many and dark clouds overshadowed the last
of his days — the blow of financial ruin; the dread that men
should suppose that he had a tarnished reputation; the terrible
agony of an incurable disease. But God's ways are not our ways.
To bear that sudden ruin, and that speechless agony, required
a courage nobler and greater than that of the battlefield, and

r FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR

lOO

human courage grows magnificently to the height of human need.
*I am a man,'* said Frederick the Great, *^ and therefore born to
suffer." On the long agonizing death-bed, Grant showed himself
every inch a hero, bearing his agonies and trials without a mur-
mur, with rugged stoicism, in unflinching fortitude; yes, and we
believe in a Christian's patience and a Christian's prayers. Which
of us can tell whether those hours of torture and misery may
not have been blessings in disguise; whether God may not have
been refining the gold from the brass, and the strong man had
been truly purified by the strong agony ? We are gathered here
in England to do honor to his memory and to show our sym-
pathy with the sorrow of a great sister nation. Could we be
gathered in a more fitting place ? We do not lack here memo-
rials to recall the history of your country. There is the grave
of Andre; there is the monument raised by grateful Massachu-
setts to the gallant Howe; there is the temporar}^ resting-place
of George Peabody; there is the bust of Longfellow; over the
Dean's grave there is the faint semblance of Boston Harbor. We
add another memory to-day. Whatever there may have been be-
tween the two nations to forget and forgive, it is forgotten and
forgiven. ^* I will not speak of them as two peoples," said Gen-
eral Grant at Newcastle in 1877, " because, in fact, we are one
people, with a common destiny, and that destiny will be brilliant
in proportion to the friendship and co-operation of the brethren
dwelling on each side of the Atlantic." Oh! if the two peoples,
which are one people, be true to their duty, and true to their
God, who can doubt that in their hands are the destinies of the
world? Can anything short of utter dementation ever thwart a
destiny so manifest? Your founders were our sons; it was from
our past that your present grew. The monument of Sir Walter
Raleigh is not that nameless grave in St. Margaret's ; it is the
State of Virginia. Yours and ours alike are the memories of
Captain John Smith and of the Pilgrim Fathers, of General Ogle-
thorpe's strong benevolence of soul, of the apostolic holiness of
Berkeley, and the burning zeal of Wesley and Whitefield. Yours
and otirs alike are the plays of Shakespeare and the poems of
Milton; ours and yours alike are all that you have accomplished
in literature or in history — the songs of Longfellow and Bryant,
the genius of Hawthorne and of Irving, the fame of Washington,
Lee, and Grant. But great memories imply great responsibili-
ties. It was not for nothing that God has made England what

FREDERICK WILLIAM FARRAR

107

she is; not for nothing that the free individualism of a busy mul-
titude, the humble traders of a fugitive people, snatching the
New World from feudalism and bigotry, from Philip II. and
Louis XIV., from Menendez and Montcalm, from the Jesuit and
the Inquisition, from Torquemada, and from Richelieu, to make
it the land of the Reformation and the Republic of Christianity
and of Peace. *^ Let us auspicate all our proceedings in Amer-
ica,* said Edmund Burke, *with the old Church cry, Sursicm
corda ! '^ But it is for America to live up to the spirit of such
words, not merely to quote them with proud enthusiasm. We
have heard of —

<< New times, new climes, new lands, new men, but still
The same old tears, old crimes, and oldest ill."

It is for America to falsify the cynical foreboding. Let her
take her place side by side with England in the very van of
freedom and of progress, united by a common language, by com-
mon blood, by common measures, by common interests, by a
common history, by common hopes; united by the common glory
of great men, of which this great temple of silence and recon-
ciliation is the richest shrine. Be it the steadfast purpose of the
two peoples who are one people to show all the world not only
the magnificent spectacle of human happiness, but the still more
magnificent spectacle of two peoples which are one people, loving
righteousness and hating iniquity, inflexibly faithful to the princi-
ples of eternal justice which are the unchanging laws of God.

FRANCOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE
FfiNELON

(1651-1715)

P^^^HE author of < Telemaclaus, ' and the rival of Bossuet, Fenelon
M^f^^ is remembered for the limpid purity of his language and
©^^AAiMl* the elevation of his views of life, rather than for boldness
and originality. As a man, he has been loved in his lifetime and
ever since, for his unworldliness and gentleness. As an orator, he
has a style of his own hardly approached by any one else. « What
cultivated man,'* says Matthews, <* needs to be told of the sweet per-
suasions that dwelt upon the tongue of the swan of Cambray?'*

Fenelon was born August 6th, 1651, of a noble family, in Perigord.
Always delicate and sensitive, he was greatly loved by his father.
Count Pons de Salignac, who sent him first to the college at Cahors
and afterwards to Paris, that he might have the best possible edu-
cation. He showed his genius at an early age. It is said that at
fifteen he preached a sermon which astonished and delighted his
hearers. After entering the priesthood, he spent ten years as super-
ior of the community of ^^Nouvelles Catholiques,'* an order devoted
to the education of women. About this time he wrote his celebrated
work, <The Education of Young Girls,' and his '■Refutation of Male-
branche.* In 1685 he was sent as a missionary into districts dis-
turbed by the religious persecutions of Louis XIV. The work he
did in them was creditable, though unsatisfactory to his superior, the
Archbishop of Paris.

In 1689 he was made tutor to the Dauphin, for whom he wrote his
most celebrated work, ^Telemachus,' a romance of the most delight-
ful improbability, concerning which it has been asked with reason how
its author could conceive the possibility of such a paragon as <Tel-
emachus' originating in the family of a liar so practiced, an adven-
turer so unscrupulous, as Ulysses boasted of being. That, however,
did not concern Fenelon at all. He intended the book for the best
possible sermon written in the best possible French, and succeeded
30 well in realizing his intention that it has outlasted the throne of
the Bourbons whom he hoped by it to persuade to virtue.

In 1695 the King nominated Fenelon for the Archbishopric of
Cambray, and at about the same time his celebrated controversy with

108

FRANCOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FfiNELON 109

Bossuet over Quietism began to develop. It is impossible to do jus-
tice to Fenelon's position in a sentence of summary, but he seems
to have believed, and with the mildness peculiar to him to have
insisted that a Christian ought to live in this world as if he were in
heaven — a doctrine which brought him into disgrace and resulted
in his retirement to Cambray where he spent the last years of his
life in teaching, preaching, feeding the hungry, and nursing the sick.
He died January 7th, 17 15.

SIMPLICITY AND GREATNESS
(From the < Sermons of Feuelon> — Translation of Mrs. Follen)

THERE is a simplicity that is a defect, and a simplicity that is
a virtue. Simplicity may be a want of discernment. When
we speak of a person as simple, we may mean that he is
credulous and perhaps vulgar. The simplicity that is a virtue
is something sublime; every one loves and admires it; but it is
difficult to say exactly what this virtue is.

Simplicity is an uprightness of soul that has no reference to
self; it is different from sincerity, and it is a still higher virtue.
We see many people who are sincere, v/ithout being simple; they
only wish to pass for what they are, and they are unwilling to
appear what they are not; they are always thinking of them-
selves, measuring their words, and recalling their thoughts, and
revievv'ing their actions, from the fear that they have done too
much or too little. These persons are sincere, but they are not
simple; they are not at ease with others, and others are not at
ease with them; they are not free, ingenuous, natural; we prefer
people who are less correct, less perfect, and who are less arti-
ficial. This is the decision of man, and it is the judgment of
God, who would not have us so occupied with ourselves, and
thus, as it w^ere, always arranging our features in a mirror.

To be w^holly occupied with others, never to look within, is
the state of blindness of those who are entirely engrossed by
what is present and addressed to their senses; this is the very
reverse of simplicity. To be absorbed in self in whatever en-
gages us, whether we are laboring for our fellow-beings or for
God — to be wise in our own eyes, reserved, and full of ourselves,
troubled at the least thing that disturbs our self-complacency, is
the opposite extreme. This is false wisdom, which, with all its

J JO FRANgOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FfiNELON

glory, is but little less absurd than that folly which pursues only
pleasure. The one is intoxicated with all that it sees around it;
the other v/ith all that it imagines it has within; but it is delir-
ium in both. To be absorbed in the contemplation of our own
minds is really worse than to be engrossed by outward things,
because it appears like wisdom and yet is not; we do not think
of curing it; we pride ourselves upon it; we approve of it; it
gives us an unnatural strength; it is a sort of frenzy; we are
not conscious of it; we are dying, and we think ourselves in
health.

Simplicity consists in a just medium, in which we are neither
too much excited, nor too composed. The soul is not carried
away by outward things, so that it cannot make all necessary re-
flections; neither does it make those continual references to self,
that a jealous sense of its own excellence multiplies to infinity.
That freedom of the soul, which looks straight onward in its
path, losing no time to reason upon its steps, to study them, or
to contemplate those that it has already taken, is true simplicity.

The first step in the progress of the soul is disengagement
from outward things, that it may enter into itself, and contem-
plate its true interests: this is a wise self-love. The second is,
to join to this the idea of God whom it fears: this is the feeble
beginning of true wisdom; but the soul is still fixed upon itself;
it is afraid that it does not fear God enough; it is still thinking
of itself. These anxieties about ourselves are far removed from
that peace and liberty which a true and simple love inspires;
but it is not yet time for this; the soul must pass through this
trouble; this operation of the spirit of God in our hearts comes
to us gradually; we approach step by step to this simplicity. In
the third and last state, we begin to think of God more fre-
quently, we think of ourselves less, and insensibly we lose our-
selves in him.

The more gentle and docile the soul is, the more it advances
in this simplicity. It does not become blind to its own defects,
and unconscious of its imperfections; it is more than ever sensi-
ble of them; it feels a horror of the slightest sin; it sees more
clearly its own corruption ; but this sensibility does not arise from
dwelling upon itself, but by the light from the presence of God,
we see how far removed we are from infinite purity.

Thus simplicity is free in its course, since it makes no prepa-
ration; but it can only belong to the soul that is purified by a

FRANgOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FENELON m

true penitence. It must be the fruit of a perfect renunciation
of self, and an unreserved love of God. But though they, who
become penitents, and tear themselves from the vanities of the
world, make self the object of thought, yet they must avoid an
excessive and unquiet occupation with themselves, such as would
trouble, and embarrass, and retard them in their progress. Dwell-
ing too much upon self produces in weak minds useless scruples
and superstition, and in stronger minds a presumptuous wisdom.
Both are contrary to true simplicity, which is free and direct,
and gives itself up, without reserve and with a generous self-
forgetfulness, to the Father of spirits. How free, how intrepid
are the motions, how glorious the progress that the soul makes,
when delivered from all low, and interested, and unquiet cares.

If we desire that our friends be simple and free with us, dis-
encumbered of self in their intimacy with us, will it not please
God, who is our truest friend, that we should surrender our souls
to him, without fear or reserve, in that holy and sweet commun-
ion with himself which he allows us ? It is this simplicity, which
is the perfection of the true children of God. This is the end
that we must have in view, and to which we must be continu-
ally advancing.

This deliverance of the soul from all useless, and selfish, and
unquiet cares, brings to it a peace and freedom that are un-
speakable; this is true simplicity. It is easy to perceive, at the
first glance, how glorious it is; but experience alone can make
us comprehend the enlargement of heart that it produces. We
are then like a child in the arms of its parent; we wish nothing
more; we fear nothing; we yield ourselves up to this pure at-
tachment; we are not anxious about what others think of us; all
our motions are free, graceful, and happy. We do not judge
ourselves, and we do not fear to be judged. Let us strive after
this lovely simplicity; let us seek the path that leads to it. The
further we are from it, the more we must hasten our steps
towards it. Very far from being simple, most Christians are not
even sincere. They are not only disingenuous, but they are false,
and they dissemble with their neighbor, with God, and with
themselves. They practice a thousand little arts that indirectly
distort the truth. Alas! every man is a liar; those even who
are naturally upright, sincere, and ingenuous, and who are what
is called simple and natural, still have this jealous and sensitive
reference to self in everything, which secretly nourishes pride,

,jj2 FRANQOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FENELON

and prevents that true simplicity, which is the renunciation and
perfect oblivion of self.

But it will be said, How can I help being occupied with my-
self ? A crowd of selfish fears trouble me, and tyrannize over
my mind, and excite a lively sensibility. The principal means
to cure this is to yield yourself up sincerely to God, to place all
your inttrests, pleasures, and reputation in his hands, to receive
all the sufferings that he may inflict upon you in this scene of
humiliation, as trials and tests of your love to him, neither to
fear the scrutiny, nor to avoid the censure of mankind. This
state of willing acquiescence produces true liberty, and this lib-
erty brings perfect simplicity. A soul that is liberated from the
little earthly interests of self-love becomes confiding, and moves
straight onward, and its views expand even to infinity, just in
proportion as its forgetfulness of self increases, and its peace is
profound even in the midst of trouble.

I have already said that the opinion of the world conforms to
the judgment of God upon this noble sim.plicity. The world ad^
mires, even in its votaries, the free and easy manners of a person
who has lort sight of self. But the simplicity, which is produced
by a devotion to external things, still more vain than self, is not
the true simplicity; it is only an image of it, and cannot repre-
sent its greatness. They who cannot find the substance, pursue
the shadow; and shadow as it is, it has a charm, for it has some
resemblance to the reality that they have lost. A person full of
defects, who does not attempt to hide them, who does not seek
to dazzle, who does not affect either talents or virtue, who does
not appear to think of himself more than of others, but to have
lost sight of this self of which we are so jealous, pleases greatly,
in spite of his defects. This false simplicity is taken for the
true. On the contrary, a person full of talents, of virtues, and
of exterior graces, if he appear artificial, if he be thinking of
himself, if he affect the very best things, is a tedious and weari-
some companion that no one likes.

Nothing, then, we grant, is more lovely and grand than sim-
plicity. But some will say, Must we never think of self ? We
need not practice this constraint; in trying to be simple, we may
lose simplicity. What, then, must we do ? Make no rule about it,
but be satisfied that you affect nothing. When you are disposed
to speak of yourself from vanity, you can only repress this strong
desire by thinking of God, or of what you are called upon by

FRANCOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE f6nELON 113

him to do. Simplicity does not consist in false shame or false
modesty, any more than in pride or vainglory. When vanity
would lead to egotism, we have only to turn from self; when, on
the contrary, there is a necessity of speaking of ourselves, we
must not reason too much about it, we must look straight at the
end. But what will they think of me ? They will think I am
boasting; I shall be suspected in speaking so freely of my own
concerns. None of these unquiet reflections should trouble us
for one moment. Let us speak freely, ingenuously, and simply
of ourselves when we are called upon to speak. It is thus that
St. Paul spoke often in his Epistles. What true greatness there
is in speaking with simplicity of oneself. Vainglory is some-
times hidden under an air of modesty and reserve. People do
not wish to proclaim their own merit, but they would be very
glad that others should discover it. They would have the repu-
tation both of virtue and of the desire to hide it.

As to the matter of speaking against ourselves, I do not
either blame or recommend it. When it arises from true sim-
plicity, and that hatred with which God inspires us for our sins,
it is admirable, and thus I regard it in many holy men. But
usually the surest and most simple way is not to speak un-
necessarily of oneself, either good or evil. Self-love often pre-
fers abuse to oblivion and silence; and when we have often
spoken ill of ourselves, we are quite ready to be reconciled, just
like angry lovers, who, after a quarrel, redouble their blind devo-
tion to each other.

This simplicity is manifested in the exterior. As the mind
is freed from this idea of self, we act more naturally, all art
ceases, and we act rightly without thinking of what we are doing,
by a sort of directness of purpose that is inexplicable to those
who have no experience of it. To some we may appear less
simple than those who have a more grave and practiced manner;
but these are people of bad taste, who take the affectation of
modesty for modesty itself, and who have no knowledge of true
simplicity. This true simplicity has sometimes a careless and
irregular appearance, but it has the charm of truth and candor,
and sheds around it I know not what of purity and innocence,
of cheerfulness and peace; a loveliness that wins us when we
see it intimately and with pure eyes.

How desirable is this simplicity! who will give it to me? I
will quit all else to obtain it, for it is the pearl of great price.
6 — 8

J 14 PRANgOlS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FENELON

NATURE AS A REVELATION

(A Sermon on the Proofs of the Existence of God Drawn from a View of
Nature and the Mind of Man)

I CANNOT open my eyes without admiring the skill that every-
thing in nature displays. A single glance enables me to per-
ceive the hand that has made all things. Men accustomed
to meditate upon abstract truths, and recur to first principles,
recognize the Divinity, by the idea of him they find in their
minds. But the more direct this road is, the more it is untrod-
den and neglected by common men, who follow their own imag-
ination. It is so simple a demonstration, that from this very
cause it escapes those minds incapable of a purely intellectual
operation. And the more perfect this way of discovering the
Supreme Being is, the fewer are the minds that can follow it.
But there is another method less perfect, but more nearly adapted
to the capacity of all. Those who exercise their reason the least,
those who are most affected by their senses, may, at a single
glance, discover him, who is represented in all his works. The
wisdom and power that God has manifested in everything he has
made reflect the name as in a mirror of him whom they have
not been able to discover in their own minds. This is a popular
philosophy addressed to the senses, which every one, without
prejudice or passion, is capable of acquiring.

A man whose heart is entirely engaged in some grand con-
cern might pass many days in a room, attending to his affairs,
without seeing either the proportions of the room, the ornaments
on the chimney, or the pictures that surrounded him. All these
objects would be before his eyes, but he would not see them,
and they would make no impression upon him. Thus it is that
men live. Everything presents God to them, but they do not
see him. He was in the world and the world was made by him;
and, nevertheless, the world has not known him. They pass their
lives without perceiving this representation of the Deity, so com-
pletely do the fascinations of life obscure their vision. Saint
Augustine says that the wonders of the universe are lowered in
our estimation by their repetition. Cicero says the same thing:
* Forced to view the same things every day, the mind as well as
the eye is accustomed to them. It does not admire or take any
pains to discover the cause of events that it always observes to

FRANQOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FfeNELON jjr

take place in just the same way; as if it were the novelty rather
than the grandeur of a thing that should lead us to this investi-
gation. "

But all nature shows the infinite skill of its Author. I main-
tain that accident, that is to say a blind and fortuitous succession
of events, could never have produced all we see. It is well to
adduce here one of the celebrated comparisons of the ancients.

Who would believe that the *■ Iliad * of Homer was not com-
posed by the efforts of a great poet, but that the characters of
the alphabet being thrown confusedly together, an accidental
stroke had placed the letters precisely in such relative positions
as to produce verses so full of harmony and variety, painting
each object with all that was most noble, most graceful, and
most touching in its features; in fine, making each person speak
in character and with such spirit and nature ? Let any one
reason with as much subtlety as he may, he would persuade no
man in his senses that the * Iliad * had no author but accident.
Why, then, should a man possessing his reason believe with re-
gard to the Universe, a work unquestionably more wonderful
than the * Iliad, ^ what his good sense will not allow him to be-
lieve of this poem ?

Were any one to find in a desert a beautiful statue of mar-
ble, he would say : ** Surely men have been here. I recognize
the hand of the sculptor; I admire the delicacy with which he
has proportioned the body, making it instinct with beauty, grace,
majesty, tenderness, and life.*^ What would this man reply were
any one to say to him: *No; a sculptor did not make this statue.
It is made, it is true, in the most exquisite taste, and according
to the most perfect rules of symmetry; but it is accident that
has produced it. Among all the pieces of marble, one has hap-
pened to take this form of itself. The rains and the winds
detached it from the mountains; a violent storm placed it up-
right on this pedestal, that was already prepared and placed
here of itself. It is an Apollo as perfect as that of Belvidere;
it is a Venus equal to that of the Medici; it is a Hercules which
matches the Farnese. You may believe that this figure walks,
that it lives, that it thinks, that it is going to speak; but it owes
nothing to art, it is only a blind stroke of chance that has formed
it so well and placed it here."

A traveler entering Sai'de, which is the place that once was
ancient Thebes, with its hundred gates, but is now a desert,

jj5 FRANgOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FENELON

would find there columns, pyramids, obelisks, and inscriptions in
unknown characters. Would he say : ** Men have never inhabited
this place; the hand of man has never been employed here; it
is chance that has formed these columns and placed them upon
their pedestals, crowning- them with capitals of such beautiful
proportions; it is chance that has hewn these obelisks out of
single stones, and that has engraved on them all these hiero-
glyphics '^ ? Would he not say, on the contrary, with all the
assurance of which the mind of man is capable : ** These magnifi-
cent views are the remains of the majestic architecture that flour-
ished in ancient Egypt *^ ?

This is what our reason would proclaim at the first glance.
It is the same when we first contemplate the universe. People
perplex themselves with sophistry, and obscure their view of the
simplest truths. But a glance is sufficient; such a work as this
world could not have been made by chance. The bones, the
tendons, the veins, the arteries, the nerves, the muscles, which
compose the body of a single man, display more art and propor-
tion than all the architecture of the ancient Greeks and Egypt-
ians. The eye of the meanest animal surpasses the skill of all
the artisans of the world. But before we proceed to the details
of nature, fix our attention for a while upon the general struc-
ture of the universe. Cast your eyes upon the earth that sup-
ports us; raise them, then, to this immense vault of the heavens
that surrounds us; these fathomless abysses of air and water,
and these countless stars that give us light. Who is it that has
sust)ended this globe of earth ? Who has laid its foundations ?
If it were harder, its bosom could not be laid open by man for
cultivation. If it were less firm, it could not support the weight
of his footsteps. From it proceed the most precious things.
This earth, so mean and unformed, is transformed into thousands
of beautiful objects that delight our eyes; in the course of one
year it becomes branches, buds, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds,
thus renewing its beautiful favors to man. Nothing exhausts it.
After yielding for so many ages its treasures, it experiences no
decay; it does not grow old; it still pours forth riches from its
bosom. Generations of men have grown old and passed away,
while every spring the earth has renewed its youth. If it were
cultivated, it would nourish a hundredfold more than it now does.

But the body of man that seems the chcf-d'ceiivre of nature
is not comparable to his soul. Whence comes it that beings so

FRANCOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FENELON ny

unlike are united in his composition ? Whence comes it that the
movements of the body give so promptly and so infallibly certain
thoughts to the soul ? How is it that the thoughts of the soul
produce certain movements of the body ? Whence comes it that
this harmonious connection exists without interruptions for sev-
enty or eighty years ? Whence comes it that two beings posses-
sing such different operations make a whole so perfect that some
are tempted to believe that they are one and indivisible ?

What hand has united these two extremes ? Matter could not
make an agreement with spirit, the spirit has no recollection of
having made any compact with matter. Nevertheless, it is cer-
tain that it is dependent on the body, and that it cannot be freed
from its power, unless it destroys it by a violent death. This de-
pendence is reciprocal. Nothing is more absolute than the em-
pire of the soul over the body. The spirit wills, and every
member of the body is instantly moved as if it were impelled
by some powerful machine. What hand holding an equal power
over both these natures has imposed this yoke upon them, and
held them captive in a connection so nice and so inviolable ?
Can any one say, ^^ Chance * ? If they do, can they understand
what they say themselves, and make others comprehend it.'' Has
chance linked together by a concourse of atoms the particles of
body with soul ?

My alternative is this; if the soul and the body are only a
composition of matter, whence is it that this matter, which did
not think yesterday begins to think to-day ? Who is it that has
given it, what it did not before possess, and what is incompara-
bly more noble than itself, when it was without thought ? Does
not that which bestows thought possess it ? Suppose even that
thought proceeded from a certain configuration and arrangement
and motion of matter, what workman contrived these just and nice
combinations so as to make a thinking machine ? If, on the con-
trary, the soul and the body are two distinct substances, what
power superior to both these different natures has bound them
together ? Who, with a supreme empire over both, has sent
forth his command, that they should be linked together by a

. correspondence and in a civil subjection that is mcomprehen-

' sible ?

The empire of the mind over the body is despotic to a cer-
tain extent, since simple will can move every member by me-
chanical rules. As the Scriptures represent God in the crea.tioD

jj8 FRANgOIS DE SALIGNAC DE LA MOTHE FfiNELON

to have said : *^ Let there be Light, and there was Light, " so the
voice of my soul speaks and my body obeys. This is the power
which men who believe in God attribute to him over the uni-
verse.

This power of the soul over the body which is so absolute
is at the same time a blind one. The most igfnorant man moves
his body as well as the best-instructed anatomist. The player
on the flute who perfectly understands all the chords of his
instrument, who sees it with his eyes and touches it with his
fingers, often makes mistakes. But the soul that governs the
mechanism of the human body can move every spring with-
out seeing it, without understanding its figure, or situation, or
strength, and never mistakes. How wonderful is this! My soul
commands what it does not know, what it cannot see, and what
it is incapable of knowing, and is infallibly obeyed! How great
its ignorance and how great its power! The blindness is ours,
but the power — whence is it? To whom shall we attribute it,
if not to him, who sees what man cannot see, and gives him the
power to perform what surpasses his own comprehension ?

Let the universe be overthrown and annihilated, let there be
no minds to reason upon these truths, they will still remain
equally true, as the rays of the sun would be no less real if men
should be blind and not see them. "In feeling assured,* says
Saint Augustine, "that two and two make four, we are not only
certain that we say what is true, but we have no doubt that this
proposition has been always, and will continue to be eternally
true. "

Let man then admire what he understands, and let him be
silent when he cannot comprehend. There is nothing in the
universe that does not equally bear these two opposite charac-
ters, the stamp of the Creator and the mark of the nothingness
from whence it is drawn, and into which it may at any moment
be resolved.

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

(1805-1894)

(FTER the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox, the great
question which forced itself on the thinkers of America was
the restoration of civil government. Throughout the South-
ern States all government had been practically suspended, and in
the Northern States, where no actual hostilities had occurred, fre-
quent attempts had been made to supplant civil law and constitu-
tional government with << martial law.® To demonstrate that « martial
law* cannot exist under a civil government; to vindicate through
the courts the spirit of civil law as supreme against the attempts of
military power to transgress its limitations, and to reassert the funda-
mental principles of American liberty founded on law, was the work
of a few great jurists, whose courage, sanity, and far-seeing devotion
to freedom, justice, and progress is one of the chief glories of the
civilization they did so much to perpetuate. Among them hardly
any one was readier or more efficient than David Dudley Field, who
in the Milligan case, the McCardle case, and other great cases grow-
ing out of the arbitrary habits fostered by the Civil War, struggled
for law, liberty, and progress with a courage and devotion for which
Americans of the present and the future can never thank him too
much.

He was born at Haddam, Connecticut, February 13th, 1805. After
graduating at Williams College in 1825, he was admitted to the bar
in 1828. When he retired in 1885, his name was familiar to all edu-
cated Americans, and he was ranked as one of the greatest lawyers
the country has produced. He died in New York, April 13th, 1894.

IN RE MILLIGAN — MARTIAL LAW AS LAWLESSNESS

(From the Speech of David Dudley Field in the Milligan Case, in the Su-
preme Court of the United States. By Permission from the Speeches,
Arguments, and Miscellaneous Papers of David Dudley Field, New York,
1884. Copyrighted by D. Appleton & Co., Publishers)

THE authority to suspend the privilege of the habeas corpus is
derived, it is said, from two sources: first, from the martial
power; and, second, from the second subdivision of th&
ninth section of the first article of the Federal Constitution.

119

J 20 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

As to the martial power, I have already discussed it so fully
that I need not discuss it again. I trust it has been shown that
this power — the war power, as it is fashionable to call it — be-
longs to Congress, and not to the President, and that his func-
tion is to execute, in that respect, the will of Congress. His
power is no more the war power than is that of General Grant,
or any other subordinate; for the President, as commander-in-
chief, is only, as Hamilton describes him, the " first general and
admiral of the confederacy.*

If the President, as commander-in-chief of the army, navy,
and militia in the Federal service, has not the power of martial
rule over others than martial persons, he cannot control them
either by trial or arrest, or detain them, against the interposition
or in defiance of the judicial power. As a question, therefore,
under what has been incorrectly called the war power of the
President, I submit that it is no longer worth considering.

How, then, stands the question, upon the text of the Consti-
tution ? This is the language : ** The privilege of the writ of
habeas corptis shall not be suspended unless when in cases of
rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.* My
argument will be confined to this phrase and its true interpre-
tation. Its importance, upon the present occasion, consists in
this: If the President, and he alone, is invested by this clause
with the power of suspending the privilege — if he cannot be
controlled by Congress in its exercise, then I know not how
the petitioners could be relieved from the custody of the Pro-
vost Marshal, however illegal their trial and conviction may have
been.

Each of the three great departments of Government is inde-
pendent in its own sphere, and, if it be once granted that the
power in this respect belongs to the President alone, I am un-
able to perceive that Congress can rightfully control him in its
exercise, or subject his discretion to theirs.

The clause in question certainly either grants the power or
implies that it is already granted, and in either case it belongs
to the legislative, executive, and judicial departments, concur-
rently, or to some, excluding the rest.

There have been four theories: one that it belongs to all the
departments; a second, that it belongs to the Legislature; a third,
that it belongs to the Executive; and the fourth, that it belongs
to the Judiciary.

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD j-2r

Is the clause a grant or limitation of power? Looking only
at the form of expression, it should be regarded as a limitation,
like the next subdivision which is in these words : « No bill of
attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. ^^

In no other part of the Constitution is such a phrase used to
express a grant of power. The advocates of such a construction
are obliged to say that the clause is elliptical, and should be read
as if it were as follows: The privilege shall not be suspended,
unless, when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety
may require it, and then it may be suspended. This is a strained
construction, not at all in harmony with the general simplicity of
the Constitution.

Next, as a grant of power, it would be superfluous, for it is
clearly an incident of others which are granted. Take, for ex-
ample, the power to raise and support armies. In a time of
war, the unrestrained issue of the writ might seriously embarrass
the Government in keeping together, under proper discipline,
either recruits or drafted men; for which reason it might be nec-
essary or proper to suspend the privilege during the exigency.
Can it be doubted that Congress would have the power to enact
that, while the exigency lasted, no soldier should be brought be-
fore a State court on habeas corpus?

Then, regarding the clause according to its place in the Con-
stitution, it should be deemed a limitation; for it is placed with
six other subdivisions in the same section, every one of which is
a limitation. It implies that the power has been already granted,
just as, in the fourth and sixth subdivisions, a power is implied.

Thus the fourth declares that "no capitation or other direct
tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumera-
tion hereinbefore directed to be taken, ^^ and the sixth, that "no
money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of
appropriations made by law."

If the sentence respecting the habeas corpus be, as I contend,
a limitation, and not a grant of power, we must look into other
parts of the Constitution to find the grant; and if we find none
making it to the President beyond his appointment as commander-
in-chief, and it has been shown that there is none in that, it fol-
lows that the power is in the legislative or judicial department.
How it should be in the Judiciary, it is not easy to see. That
department has no other function than to judge. It cannot re-
fuse or delay justice. But, if it were assumed that the power of

.j^2 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

suspending the privilege of the writ belongs to the judicial de-
partment, it is quite clear that the present is a case where the
writ would not be denied by the courts, or any of its privileges
withheld.

If the clause in question be deemed a grant of power, the
question occurs : To whom is the grant made ? The following
considerations go to show that it is to be deemed as made to
Congress : —

First, the debates in the Convention which framed the Con-
stitution seem, at least, to suppose that the power was given to
Congress, and to Congress alone.

Second, the debates in the various State conventions which
ratified the Constitution do most certainly proceed upon that sup-
position.

Third, the place in which the provision is left indicates, if it
does not absolutely decide, that it relates only to the powers of
Congress. It is not in the second article which treats of the ex-
ecutive department. It is not in the third which treats of the
judicial department. It is in the first article, which treats of the
legislative department. There is not another subdivision in all
the seven subdivisions of the ninth section which does not relate
to Congress in part, at least, and most of them relate to Con-
gress alone.

Thus, the first is: "The migration or importation of such per-
sons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to ad-
mit shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to i8o8,>> etc.
That is clearly a restriction upon Congress. The second is: <*The
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended,'^
etc. Third : " No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be
passed. '* That is clearly a limitation on Congress. Fourth: « No
capitation, or other direct tax, shall be laid, unless in proportion
to the census,** etc. That is a limitation upon Congress. Fifth:
«No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any
State. » That, also, is a limitation upon Congress. Sixth: « No
preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another," etc.
That is a restriction on the powers of Congress. Seventh: * No
money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of
appropriations made by law,* etc. That is a restriction upon all
departments of Government; upon Congress not less than the
others; and finds its proper place here, because it is Congress

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

123

that appropriates money. Eighth: « No title of nobility shall be
granted by the United States. *> Does anybody suppose that to
be a restriction on the President ? Could he grant a title of no-
bility ? And then follows a general restriction : « No person hold-
ing any office of profit or trust under them » [the United States]
« shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any pres-
ent, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any
king, prince, or foreign state. ^*

The Constitution is remarkable for its arrangement of the
subject embraced in it. There is scarcely another instrument
to which the rule, noscitur a sociis, can be better applied for its
interpretation. The different topics are grouped together with a
careful regard to their proper places. Thus it begins in its first
article with creating, empowering, and restricting the legislative
department; passing, in the tenth section, to restrictions upon the
States in matters which, for the most part, pertain to Congress,
or in which the States might thwart the policy of Congress. If
the clause respecting the habeas corpus be a grant of power to
the President, it is the only one in the whole article. Not only
does the article contain no grant to that officer, but the ninth
section contains no grant to any of the departments of Gov-
ernment.

Fourth, the constitutional law of the mother country had been
long settled that the power of suspending the privilege of the
writ, or, as it was sometimes called, suspending the writ itself,
belonged only to Parliament. With this principle firmly seated
in the minds of lawyers, it seems incredible that so vast a change
as conferring the grant upon the Executive should have been so
loosely and carelessly expressed.

Fifth, the prevailing sentiment of the time when the Consti-
tution was framed was dislike and dread of Executive authority.
It is hardly to be believed that so vast and dangerous a power
would have been conferred upon the President, without providing
some safeguards against its abuse.

Sixth, every judicial opinion, and every commentary on the
Constitution, up to the period of the Rebellion, treated the power
as belonging to Congress and to that department alone.

Taking thus the context, the universal understanding of the
time, the contemporaneous exposition, the subsequent commen-
taries, and the political reasons which may be supposed to have
affected the statesmen of that day, the argument should seem to

J24 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

be conclusive that the power of suspending the privilege of the
writ of habeas corpus appertains to the legislative department of
the Government, and to that alone. It has, I know, been argued
that there is an incongruity in authorizing Congress to suspend
its own law. This is too narrow a view of the subject. The
States have judicial establishments which can and do issue writs
of habeas corpus a hundredfold more in number than the writs
issued from the Federal courts. Indeed, it may be regarded as
a provision made rather in reference to the writ of habeas corpus
in the States than to the writ as likely to be issued under the
authority of Congress.

The straits to which the country was reduced during the late
wicked Rebellion, and the omission of Congress for two years to
authorize the suspension of the privilege, gave rise to a series of
discussions on the subject. Most of the writers — indeed, I be-
lieve, all but three — took decided ground for the interpretation
Avhich, I submit, is the true one. One of the three supposed the
power to reside in the judicial department. Among those who
thought it belonged to the Executive, there was one so able and
distinguished that I cannot forbear mentioning his name in this
connection. Horace Binney, clarum et venerabile nomen, argued,
with all his ability, for that interpretation which gave the power
to the President, to be exercised, not in a military, but in a civil
capacity. The authority of that great man, the acknowledged
head of the bar of his country, is such that, if it could not give
the interpretation an adequate sanction, nothing else may be ex-
pected to do it.

Supposing, then, the power to belong to Congress, as I have
endeavored to show that it does, we find it exercised by the Act
of March 3d, 1863, and by none other. The first section of that
act is as follows: —

<< That during the present rebellion, the President of the United
States, whenever in his judgment the public safety may require it, is
authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in
any case throughout the United States, or any part thereof. And
whenever and wherever the said privilege shall be suspended, as
aforesaid, no military or other officer shall be compelled, in answer to
any writ of habeas corpus, to return the body of any person or per-
sons detained by him by the authority of the President; but upon
the certificate, under oath, of the officer having charge of any one so
detained, that such person is detained by him as a prisoner, under

UAVID DUDLEY FIELD

125

authority of the President, further proceedings under the writ of
habeas corpus shall be suspended by the judge or court having is-
sued the said writ, so long as said suspension by the President shall
remain in force, and said rebellion continue.*^

Without stopping to consider whether the power could be
delegated by Congress, or, if it could, whether the delegation
could be made in terms so general, I pass to an examination of
the President's action under the act. There were two proclama-
tions on the subject issued by him afterward. One was on the
fifteenth of September, 1863, and declared: —

« That the privilege of the said writ shall now be suspended
throughout the United States, in the cases where, by the authority
of the President of the United States, military, naval, and civil offi-
cers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons under their
command or in their custody, either as prisoners of war, spies, or
aiders or abettors of the enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen en-
rolled or drafted, or mustered, or enlisted in or belonging to the land
and naval forces of the United States, or as deserters therefrom or
otherwise amenable to military law, or the rules and articles of war,
or the rules and regulations prescribed for the military or naval
forces, by authority of the President of the United States, or for re-
sisting a draft, or for any other offense against the military or naval
service.'*

The proclamation of July 5th, 1864, related only to the State
of Kentucky.

If, therefore, for the sake of the argument, we admit that,
when the petitioner was first arrested, the privilege of the writ
was suspended as to him, by virtue of the Act of March, 1863,
and the President's proclamation of September 1863, it is, never-
theless, certain that under the first section of the act the writ
ought to issue, leaving the further disposition of the case to de-
pend upon the return or certificate mentioned in the section, and
that, under the third section of the act, the suspension ceased at
the end of twenty days from the twenty-seventh of January,
1865, that is, on the seventeenth of February of that same year.
A term of the Circuit Court of the United States was held on
the second of Januar}^ 1865, and adjourned on the twenty-seventh
of the same month. At this time a grand jury was impaneled,
sworn, and charged, and adjourned without finding any indict-
ment or presentiment against the petitioners. The sentence

126

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

against them was approved and promulgated more than two
months afterward. Therefore, by this act of Congress, duly
passed and approved by the President, the petitioners were enti-
tled to the writ, or an order in the nature of a writ, that they
might be discharged.

And so we submit to the court that the answers to the three
questions, certified by the court below, should be, to the first,
that, on the facts stated in the petition and exhibits, a writ of
habeas corpus ought to be issued according to the prayer of the
petition; to the second, that, on the same facts, the petitioners
ought to be discharged; and to the third, that the military com-
mission had not jurisdiction to try and sentence the petitioners
in manner and form as in the petition and exhibits is stated.

Thus may it please the court, have I performed the part
assigned me in the argument of these cases. The materials were
abundant. I only fear that I may have wearied you with the
recital, or erred in the selection. I could not look into the pages
of English law — I could not turn over the leaves of English lit-
erature— I could not listen to the orators and statesmen of Eng-
land, without remarking the uniform protest against martial
usurpation, and the assertion of the undoubted right of every
man, high or low, to be judged according to the known and
general law, by a jury of his peers, before the judges of the
land. And when I turned to the history, legal, political, and lit-
erary, of my own country, — my own undivided and forever indi-
visible country, — I found the language of freedom intensified.
Our fathers brought with them the liberties of Englishmen.
Throughout the colonial history, we find the Colonists clinging,
with immovable tenacity, to trial by jury. Magna Charta, the prin-
ciple of Representation, and the Petition of Right. They had won
them in the Fatherland in many a high debate and on many a
bloody field; and they defended them here against the emissaries
of the crown of England and against the veteran troops of
France. We, their children, thought we had superadded to the
liberties of Englishmen the greater and better guarded liberties
of Americans.

These great questions, than which greater never yet came be-
fore this most august of human tribunals, are now to receive
their authoritative and last solution. Your judgment will live
when all of us are dead. The robes which you wear will be
worn by others, who will occupy vor -^eats, in long succession,

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

127

through, I trust, innumerable ages; but it will never fall to the
lot of any to pronounce a judgment of greater consequence than
this. It will stand when the statue, which with returning peace
we have raised above the dome of the Capitol, shall have fallen
from its pedestal, its sword broken, and its shield scattered in
pieces; nay, when the dome itself, which, though uphfted into
the air, seems immovable as the mountains, shall have crumbled;
it will stand as long as that most imperishable thing of all, our
mother tongue, shall be spoken or read among men.

That judgment, I hope and I believe, will establish the liberty
of the citizen on foundations never more to be shaken, and will
cause the future historian of our greatest struggle to write that,
great as were the victories of our war, they were equaled in re-
nown by the victories of our peace.

IN T.HE CASE OF McCARDLE — NECESSITY AS AN EXCUSE

FOR TYRANNY

(From the Argument before the Supreme Court of the United States in the
McCardle Case. By Permission, from the <Life of David Dudley Field, >
by Henry M. Field; Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1898. Copy-
right, 1898, by H. M. Field)

A POINT very much urged in the argument, and constantly re-
ferred to in public speeches, is Necessity! These military
governments of the South, they say, are legal because they
are necessary. The usual phrase is : " This government has a right
to live, and no other government has a right to contest it; and
whatever Congress determines as necessary to this national life
is right. * What necessity do they speak of ? There is no Fed-
eral necessity. The Federal courts are open; the Federal laws
are executed; the mails are run; the customs are collected.
There is no interference with any commissioner or officer of the
United States anywhere in the country. There is no necessity,
therefore, of a Federal kind for the assumption of the government
of Mississippi. What, then, is the necessity ? Is that the reason
why the military government is there ? If you are to wait until
you get repentant rebels, — or I should perhaps rather say, if you
wait until you make rebels repentant by fire and sword, — you
will have to wait many generations. Of all the arguments, that
of necessity has the least force. " We will not allow the South-

128 DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

ern States to govern themselves, because, if we do, the g-overn-
ment will fall into the hands of unrepentant rebels ! ^^ Well,
what is that to you if they obey the laws — if they submit to
your government ? Do you wish to force them to love you ? Is
that what you are aiming at ? Of course, it should be the desire
and the aim of all governments to make the people love as well
as obey; but as an argument for a military government, it is au
extraordinary one. **Well, then,*^ they say, "we must protect the
loyal men at the South, and therefore the military government,
which is the only one adequate to the end, must be kept up.*^
To that I answer, first, that the General of your armies, the
person upon whom this extraordinary power has been thrown,
himself certified that there was order throughout the South, so
far as he could observe. But are there no other means than
military coercion ? The Union men of the South, we have been
told, were in the majority, and have ever been in the majority,
and it was the minority by which the people were driven into
secession. Is government by the United States necessary to sus-
tain the majority — a majority, we are told, of the white people ?
They say that secession was carried by a minority of the whites
against the majority, and that the majority have always been
loyal. That is a perfect answer, then, to the objection. * Neces-
sity** is the reason given by tyranny for misgovernment all the
world over. It was the reason given by Philip II. for oppressing
the Netherlands by the Duke of Alva; it was the reason given
for the misgovernment of Italy by Austria; it was the reason
given for the misgovernment of Ireland by England.

* This nation has a right to live ! ** Certainly it has, and so
have the States, and so have the people. Every one of us has
the right, and the life of each is bound up with the life of all.
For who compose my nation, and what constitutes my country ?
It is not so much land and water. They would remain ever the
same, though an alien race occupied the soil; there would be the
same green hills, and the same sweet valleys, the same ranges of
mountains, and the same lakes and rivers; but all these combined
do not make up my country. They are the body without the
soul. That word " country '* comprehends within itself place and
people and all that history, tradition, language, manners, social
culture, and civil polity, have associated with them. This won-
derful combination of State and nation, which binds me to both
by indissoluble ties, enters into the idea of my country Its

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD 1 29

name is the United States of America. The States are an essen-
tial part of the name and of the thing. They are represented by
the starry flag, which their children have borne on so many fields
of glory, the ever-shining symbol of one nation and many States.
They are not provinces or countries; they are not principalities
or dukedoms; but they are free republican States, sovereign in
their sphere, as the United States are sovereign in theirs; and all
essential elements of that one, undivided, and indissoluble country,
which is dearer than life, and for which so many have died. As
the State of New York would not be to me what it is, if, instead
of the free, active Commonwealth, it were to subside into a prin-
cipality or a province, so neither would the United States be to
me what they are, if, instead of a union of free States, they were
to subside into a consolidated empire. For such an empire, we
have not borne the defeats and won the victories of civil war.

THE COST OF « BLOOD AND IRON»

(Delivered at the banquet of the Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Held During
the Summer of 1890. By permission from the <Life of David Dudley
Field,> by Henry M. Field. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1898.
Copyright, 1898, by H. M. Field)

My Lords and Gentletnen : —

I AM going to preach you a very short sermon upon the text
proposed by Mr. Shaw-Lefevre — an International Parliament-
ary movement. Last week I had the honor of being present
at an unofficial Congress, composed of private individuals of many
nations, earnestly bent on doing what they might to further the
cause of international arbitration. To-night I am proud to ad-
dress a body of parliamentary representatives inspired by the
same lofty ideal.

I hear the people declare us enthusiasts, dreamers, unpractical
folk chasing a phantom. But stop a moment! Think a moment!
Is it true that we are unpractical? What is that prayer we hear
Sunday after Sunday, " Give peace in our time, O Lord ^^ ? What
does that mean ? It means that we have the consciences of the
world with us. Things change as time rolls on. S;ippose the
common people in the time of the Plantagenets and Tudors had
claimed the right to manage the affairs of the nation. What
would the nobles have said ? But what do the nobles say now ?
6-9

130

DAVID DUDLEY FIELD

We are called unpractical, but when the German Emperor de-
mands more battalions for his armies, and a representative of the
groaning German people rises in the Reichstag and asks with
whose blood and whose money those battalions are to be paid
for — is that unpractical ? And when the statistician tells you
Englishmen that during the whole of this country, for every
pound of public money raised, i6s. 3^d. have been spent for war
■ — is that unpractical? And when you learn that to-day out of
six hundred and seventy members of the House of Commons
there are two hundred and thirty-four ready to vote for an arbi-
tration treaty, and that if only one hundred more members will
join us, the problem is solved — is that unpractical ?

No! we are not visionaries in fighting the battle of civiliza-
tion. The contest may be long, but the victory is sure. We
may not see it in our day, but our children will, when the
church bells shall ring all over the world for the coming of uni-
versal peace.

' ' fr'

SIR HENEAGE FINCH

(1621-1682)

|n opening the case against Major-General Harrison and the
other regicides, in 1660, Solicitor-General Finch had one of
the greatest oratorical opportunities of modern history. It
can be said of his speech as of that of Deseze defending Louis XVI.,
that it has in it something of the dignity of the occasion, without its
inspiration. Finch was an able lawyer, and a still abler courtier who
expected, in prosecuting the King's enemies, the promotion which
would come from the King's favor. He had no difficulty in convict-
ing Harrison, and his promotion thereafter was steady. In 1673, he
was made Lord Keeper of the Seals; in 1674, Lord Chancellor; and in
1 68 1, Earl of Nottingham. He died December 18th, 1682, at the age of
sixty-one.

OPENING THE PROSECUTIONS FOR REGICIDE UNDER
CHARLES II.

(Delivered at the Trial of Thomas Harrison for Killing Charles I. — Sessions
House of the Old Bailey, London, October nth, 1660)

MAY it please your lordships, we bring before your lordships
into judgment this day the murderers of a King. A man
would think the laws of God and men had so fully secured
these sacred persons, that the sons of violence should never ap-
proach to hurt them. For, my lord, the very thought of such an
attempt hath ever been presented by all laws in all ages, in all
nations of the world, as a most unpardonable treason. My lord,
this is that which brought the two eunuchs in the Persian court
to their just destruction; Voluerunt insurgere, says the text, and
yet that was enough to attaint them. And so, my lords, it was by
the Roman laws too, as Tacitus observes: Qui deliberant, desciv-
erunt. To doubt or hesitate in a point of allegiance is direct
treason and apostasy. And upon this ground it is that the statute
upon which your lordships are now to proceed hath these ex-
press words: ^^ If a man doth compass or imagine the death of
the King,^* etc. Kings, who are ^* God's vicegerents upon the

131

^.r, SIR HENEAGE FINCH

earth/' have thus far a kind of resemblance of the divine maj-
esty, that their subjects stand accountable to them for the very
thoughts of their hearts. Not that any man can know the heart,
save God alone; but because when the wicked heart breaks out
into any open expressions, by which it may be judged, it is the
thoughts of the heart which make the treason; the overt act is
but the evidence of it.

My lords, this care and caution is not so to be understood, as
if it were the single interest of one royal person only. The law
doth wisely judge and foresee that upon the life of the King
depend the laws and liberties, the estates and properties, the
wealth and peace, the religion, and, in sdm, the glory of the
nation.

My lords, this judgment of the law has been verified by a sad
experience; for v/hen that blessed King (whose blood we are now
making inquisition for) was untimely taken away, religion and
justice both lay buried in the same grave with him; and there
they had slept still, if the miraculous return of our gracious sov-
ereign had not given them a new resurrection.

My lords, my Lord Coke in his comment upon this statute
has one conceit, which is somewhat strange; I am sure it is
very new; he seems to think that it would have added to the
perfection of this law, if there had been a time limited for the
party to be accused. But certainly the work of this day has
quite confuted that imagination. For here is a treason that has
so long outfaced the law and the justice of this kingdom, that
if there had been any time of limitation in the statute, there
would have been no time nor place left for punishment. And
if this treason had but once grown up to an impunity, it might,
perhaps, have drawn the guilt of that innocent blood, and with
it the vengeance due to it, upon the whole nation.

The scope of this indictment is for compassing the death of
the King. The rest of the indictment, as the usurping authority
over the King's person, the assembling, sitting, judging, and kill-
ing of the King, are but so many several over-acts to prove the
intention of the heart. We are not bound, under favor, to prove
every one of these against every particular person that is in-
dicted; for he that is in at one, is guilty, in law, of all the rest,
as much as if he had struck the fatal stroke itself; nay, under
favor, if we can prove any other over-act besides what is laid in
the indictment, as the encouraging of the soldiers to cry out

SIR HENEAGE FINCH j-j^

^* Justice ! justice ! " or preaching to them to go on in this work,
as godly and religious, or any other act of all that catalogue of
villainies, for which the story will be forever infamous, this may
be given in evidence to prove the compassing and imagining the
King's death. The conclusion of this indictment alleges the fact
done to be to the great displeasure of Almighty God, and to the
disgrace of the people of England — a truth so clear and known,
that it can neither be heightened by any aggravation, or lessened
by any excuse.

As for the fact itself, with the manner of it, I shall not need
to open it at large, for these things were not done in a corner;
every true English heart still keeps within itself a bleeding reg-
ister of this story; only, my lords, in the way to our evidence,
with your lordships' favor, this, I think, may be fit to be said: —

First, for the year 1648 (for that was the fatal year of that
King, and beyond that year we shall not now inquire), I say,
whatsoever in the year 1648 could have been done by a Parlia-
ment to save the life of a King was done in this case.

They opened the way to the treaty in spite of the army; and
while these sons of Zeruiah, who were too hard for them, were
engaged in service in the remoter parts, they hastened the treaty
as much as possible; the debates upon his Majesty's concessions
were voted a good ground for peace; notwithstanding the remon-
strances of the army still flew about their ears, and notwithstand-
ing the oppositions of a fearful and unbelieving party of the
House of Commons, whom the army had frighted into an awful
and a slavish dependence upon them. And when nothing else
could be done for him, they were so true to the obligations they
lay under, that they resolved to fall with him, and they did so.
For the army, who saw the treaty proceed so fast, made as great
haste to break it. They seize upon the blessed person of our
sacred King by force and bring him to London; and here they
force the Parliament, shut out some Members, imprison others,
and then call this wretched little company which was left a Par-
liament. By this, and before they had taken upon them the
boldness to dissolve the House of Peers, they pass a law, and
erect, forsooth! ^<an High Court of Justice ^^ (as they call it! A
shambles of justice!), appoint judges, advocates, officers, and min-
isters, to sit upon the life of the King. Now they speak out and
expound their own declarations, and tell us what that was which
before they had demanded in obscure terms when they called

J ^4 SIR HENEAGE FINCH

for justice against all delinquents. Now they speak plainly what
they mean, and call this blessed King, this glorious saint, "the
Grand Delinquent ^^ : —

** Hac acies vidum fadura nocentem est. ^*

My lords, when they had thus proceeded to appoint their
judges, officers, and court, then they called this person, their only
liege -lord and sovereign, to the bar, and by a formal pageantry
of justice proceeded to sit upon him, arraign, try, sentence, con-
demn, and kill — I had almost said " crucify ^^ — him, whom they
could not but know to be their King! And all this against the
clearest light, the sharpest checks, and most thorough convictions
of conscience that ever men resisted. And yet, in this moment
of time, such was the majesty and innocence of our gracious
sovereign, that the people followed him with tears in their eyes,
and acclamations in their mouths, " God save the King ! ** even
then, when the soldiers were ready to fire upon them who did
either look sadly or speak affectionately. And yet it will appear
upon our evidence, too, that so few of the very common soldiers
could be brought to approve these proceedings, or to cry out
" Justice ! ** that their officers were fain by money or blows, or
both, to bring a great many to it.

My lords, the actors in this tragedy were many, very many, —
so many, that sure their name is legion, or rather many legions.
And certainly, my lords, when we shall consider the things that
they have done, we cannot but look upon it as a villainy which
had in it all the ingredients to make it detestable, that it was
possible for the counsel of men, or devils either, to put together.
But yet, if anything can be of a deeper dye than the guilt of
that sacred blood wherewith they stand polluted, methinks their
impudence should make them more odious than their treason.
It was the destruction of God's Anointed, in the name of the
Lord. It was the murder of a most blessed and beloved prince,
in the name of his people. Him whom they had taken the tran-
scendent boldness to imprison, as the author of the war, they put
to death, because he would have been the author of our peace;
and that with so much scorn and indignity, that some of them
were not ashamed to spit in the face of our lord and sovereign.
And when they had thus quenched the light of Israel, darkness
and confusion did overspread the face of the land; many poor
subjects at home, and some Protestants in foreign nations, at the

SIR HENEAGE FINCH

135

very news of it fell down dead; as if this excellent King had
been in a natural as well as a religious sense, the breath of our
nostrils, the Anointed of the Lord, who was taken in their pits.
The judges, officers, and other immediate actors in this pretended
court were in number about fourscore; of these some four or
five and twenty are dead, and gone to their own place. The
God of recompenses hath taken the matter so far into his own
hands; and who knows but that it might be one dreadful part of
his vengeance that they died in peace ? Some six or seven of
them, who were thought to have sinned with less malice, have
their lives spared indeed, but are like to be brought to a severe
repentance by future penalties. Some eighteen or nineteen have
fled from justice, and wander to and fro about the world with
the mark of Cain upon them, and perpetual trembling, lest every
eye that sees them, and every hand that meets them, should fall
upon them. Twenty-nine persons do now expect your justice.
Amongst them, the first that is brought is the prisoner at the
bar, and he deserves to be the first; for if any person now left
alive ought to be styled the conductor, leader, and captain of all
this work, that is the man. He, my lord, brought the King up
a prisoner from Windsor; but how, and in what manner, vdth
how little duty, nay, with how little civility, to a common person,
you will hear in time. He sat upon him, sentenced him, he
signed the warrant first to call that court together, then the
bloody warrant to cut off his sacred head. Against him, as
against all the rest, our evidence will be of two sorts; witnesses
viva voce, that shall first prove to your lordships that every per^
son now in question did sit in that court, when their King stood
as a prisoner at the bar. We shall prove that the precept by
which this pretended court was summoned was not obeyed and
executed, till it had had the hands and seals of most of the pre-
tended judges; among the rest the hand of the prisoner at the
bar will be found there. We shall prove his hand to the bloody
warrant for severing the sacred head of our blessed sovereign
from the body, and then some circumstances of his malice and
of his demeanor. And after we have done with our witnesses
viva voce, if we have occasion to use records of Parliament, we
shall show them too, — for we have the originals or authentic
copies. But now we shall proceed to our evidence.

JOHN FISHER

(i459(?)-i535)

Wisher's < Sermons on the Psalms^ are admirable examples of
Saxon-English. In eloquence they will not suffer by com-
parison with the best examples of other pulpit orators in
his day or in the Shakespearean age. He was born at Beverly in York-
shire about 1459. Graduating at Cambridge in 1487, he was made
Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1501 and professor of divinity
two years later. In 1504, he became Chancellor of the University, a
position to which he was repeatedly re-elected. In the same year
he was made Bishop of Rochester, and both as an educator and an
ecclesiastic he seems to have used his influence in the interest of
liberalism and the advancement of learning. He was the friend of
Erasmus, and the promoter of the classical scholarship from which,
at the first revival of ancient learning, so much was expected. As
he would not lend his countenance to the divorce of Catherine of
Aragon and the policies of Henry VIII., he fell into great disfavor
at court, and on his refusal to comply with the act of Succession and
the act of Supremacy, the King had him beheaded on Tower Hill.
June 22d, 1535.

THE JEOPARDY OF DAILY LIFE
(From His < Sermons on the Psalms*)

THAT man were put in great peril and jeopardy that should
hang over a very deep pit holden up by a weak and slen-
der cord or line, in whose bottom should be most wood
and cruel beasts of every kind, abiding with great desire his
falling down, for that intent when he shall fall down anon to
devour him, which line or cord that he hangeth by should be
holden up and stayed only by the hands of that man, to whom
by his manifold ungentleness he hath ordered and made himself
as a very enemy. Likewise, dear friends, consider in yourselves.
If now under me were such a very deep pit, wherein might be
lions, tigers, and bears gaping with open mouth to destroy and
devour me at my falling down, and that there be nothing whereby
I might be holden up and succored, but a broken bucket or pail

136

JOHN FISHER I^^

which should hang by a small cord, stayed and holden up only
by the hands of him to whom I have behaved myself as an
enemy and adversary, by great and grievous injuries and wrongs
done unto him, would ye not think me in perilous conditions ?
Yes, without fail! Truly all we be in like manner. For under
us is the horrible and fearful pit of hell, where the black devils
in the likeness of ramping and cruel beasts do abide desirously
our falling down to them. The lion, the tiger, the bear, or any
other wild beast, never layeth so busily await for his prey, when
he is hungry, as do these great and horrible hell hounds, the
devils, for us. Of whom may be heard the saying of Moses:
Denies bestiarum inimittam in eos cui7i furore trahentium atque
serpentum. I shall send down among them wild beasts to gnaw
their flesh, and with the woodness of cruel birds and serpents
drawing and tearing their bones. There is none of us living
but that is holden up from falling down to hell in as feeble and
frail vessel, hanging by a weak line as may be. I beseech you
what vessel may be more bruckle and frail than is our body that
daily needeth reparation. And if thou refresh it not, anon it per-
isheth and cometh to naught.

An house made of clay, if it be not oft renewed and repaired
with putting to of new clay, shall at the last fall down. And
much more this house made of flesh, this house of our soul, this
vessel wherein our soul is holden up and borne about, but if it be
not refreshed by oft feeding and putting to of meat and drink,
within the space of three days it shall waste and slip away. We
be daily taught by experience how feeble and frail man's body
is. Also, beholding daily the goodly and strong bodies of young
people, how soon they die by a short sickness. And, therefore,
Solomon, in the book called Ecclesiastes, compareth the body of
man to a pot that is bruckle, saying: Memento creatoris tut in
diebus juventutis tucs, antequam conteratur hydria super fontem.
Have mind on thy Creator and Maker in the time of thy young
age, or ever the pot be broken upon the fountain, that is to say,
thy body, and thou, peradventure, fall into the well, that is to
say, into the deepness of hell. This pot, man's body, hangeth by
a very weak cord which the said Solomon in the same place
calleth a cord or line made of silver. Et antequam rumpatur
funiculus argenteus. Take heed, he saith, or ever the silver cord
be broken. Truly this silver cord whereby our soul hangeth and
is holden up in this pot, in this frail vessel our body, is the life
of man. For as a little cord or line is made or woven of a few

j^g JOHN FISHER

threads, so is the life of man knit together by four humors, that
as long as they be knit together in a right order, so long is
man's life whole and sound. This cord also hangeth by the
hand and power of God. For as Job saith: Quoniam in illius
mami .esi aniina {id est vita) omnis viventis. In this hand and
power is ti:e life of every living creature. And we by our un-
kindness done against his goodness have so greatly provoked him
to wrath that it is a marvel this line should be so long holden up
by his power and majesty; and if it be broken, this pot, our body,
is broken, and the soul slippeth down into the pit of hell, there
to be torn and all to rent of those most cruel hell hounds. Oh!
good Lord, how fearful condition stand we in if we remember
these jeopardies and perils; and if we do not remember them,
we may say: Oh, marvelous blindness, ye are madness, never
enough to be wailed at, cried out upon. Heaven is above us,
wherein Almighty God is resident and abiding, which giveth
himself to us as our father, if we obey and do according unto
his holy commandments. The deepness of hell is under us,
greatly to be abhorred, full of devils. Our sins and wickedness
be afore us. Behind us be the times and spaces that were of-
fered to do satisfaction and penance, which we have negligently
lost. On our right hand be all the benefits of our most good
and meek Lord, Almighty God, given unto us. And on our left
hand be innumerable misfortunes that might have happened if
that Almighty God had not defended us by his goodness and
meekness. Within us is the most stinking abomination of our
sin, whereby the image of Almighty God in us is very foul de-
formed, and by that we be made unto him very enemies. By
all these things before rehearsed, we have provoked the dreadful
majesty of him unto so great wrath that we must needs fear
lest he let fall this line, our life, from his hands, and the pot, our
body, be broken, and we then fall down into the deep dungeon of
hell. Therefore, what shall we wretched sinners do, of whom may
help and succor be had and obtained for us ? By what manner of
sacrifice may the wrath and ire of so great a majesty be pacified
and made easy ? Truly the best remedy is to be swift in doing
penance for our sins. He only may help them that be penitent.
By that only sacrifice his ire is mitigate and suaged chiefly. Our
most gracious Lord Almighty God is merciful to them that be
penitent. Therefore, let us now ask his mercy with the penitent
prophet David. Let us call and cry before the throne of his
grace, saying: Miserere m-ei dens. God have mercy on me'

JOHN FLAXMAN

(1755-1826)

Ihe address on Physical and Intellectual Beauty in man de-
livered by Flaxman before the English Royal Academy is a
model of eloquence, — one of the masterpieces of English

oratory and of inodern literature. Symonds, in his ^ Studies of the

Greek Poets, * says of Flaxman : —

« Nature, so prodigal to the English race in men of genius untutored"
ingfular and solitary, has given us but few seers who, in the quality of prolific
invention, can be compared with Flaxman. For pure conceptive faculty, con-
trolled by unerring sense of beauty, we have to think of Phidias or Raphael
before we can find his equal. >>

He expresses in words in such addresses as this the same sense
of beauty and of fitness he shows in his illustrations of Homer and
in his sculptures. He was born at York, July 6th, 1755 — the son of
a poor molder of plaster images. SeL"-educated, he learned to read
Virgil and Homer without a tutor, and entering the Royal Academy
at the age of fifteen, he became a professor of Sculpture in it in
1 8 10. His lectures and addresses before it have no equal in their
class. The one here given entire is remarkable, not only for its
beauty of expression, but for its comprehensive statement of the the-
ory of Evolution afterwards developed by Darwin.

PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL BEAUTY
(Delivered before the President and Members of the Royal Academy)

THAT beauty is not merely an imaginary quality, but a real
essence, may be inferred from the harmony of the universe ;
and the perfection of its wondrous parts we may under-
stand from all surrounding nature; and in this course of obser-
vation we find that man has more of beauty bestowed on him as
he rises higher in creation.

In the contemplation of our solar system, the splendor of the
sun and inferior planets, their magnitude, almost incomprehensi-
ble to us, their gravitation, the vastness of thair revoJutions.

139

j^o JOHN FLAXMAN

bringing the regular succession and return of day and night,
with the different seasons, all astonish us in their various cir-
cumstances; if we proceed in observation to the starr}-- heavens,
crowded with suns, the centres of other systems, we are lost in
amazement, and our faculties are overwhelmed.

The objects which surround us on the earth we inhabit are
more commensurate to our comprehension and intelligence, and
in them we trace wonders equally enforcing by their beauty and
order the conviction of power and goodness.

The earth, its history and productions — the sea, its phenomena
and contents — the vegetable and mineral kingdoms — have em-
ployed, and will continue to employ, the wisest of men in the
most delightful speculations and extraordinary discoveries.

The pursuit of each person must be allotted by his station,
whilst the industry of each contributes to the circle of knowledge.

Our present object will be, after some general observations
on the animal kingdom, to inquire into the excellence of man in
his real essence, and its effects on his external appearance — his
intelligible alliance with superior natures, or degeneracy and
abasement in resemblance to the brutes.

Among the many examples in natural philosophy and history
of the gradual and uninterrupted connection of being, from the
highest to the lowest, as far as our perceptions will penetrate,
the animal kingdom offers most striking and stupendous in-
stances.

There is a resemblance in the organization and bodily form
of all animals, which varies, by almost imperceptible gradations,
through all the links of this chain, from man to the worm or
vegetable.

The anatomical form and organization of the orang-outang
bears a near resemblance to the anatomy of man; this configura-
tion continues in squirrels, rats, and mice, until the bat, or fly-
ing mouse, unites the race of quadrupeds with birds; in the same
manner the kangaroo and jerboa, with very short fore-legs, and
walking on the hind legs only, unite quadrupeds with another
class of birds, which do not fly, — the penguin, the cassowary, and
the ostrich.

The crocodile and alligator unite the race of four-footed
beasts with the superior class of reptiles, such as the lizard and
the eft, until the frog, being a tadpole in its infant state, be-
longs to the class of fishes.

JOHN FLAXMAN I4I

The smaller and more imperfect birds approach to the resem-
blance of the larger butterflies and moths.

The order of flies at length terminates so exactly in the re-
semblance 01 a leaf, that it might be taken for one, did not ex-
periment prove, by the heart, lungs, and anatomical properties,
the fly to be perfectly animal, whilst a totally different organiza-
tion proves the other to be positively vegetable.

Professor Camper, in the most ingenious and valuable notes
to his lectures, shows that the figure and organization of man
contain the principles on which the structure of all inferior ani-
mals is formed, and from which they are removed by gradual
imperfections.

Four-footed animals, although their general forms and anatomy
bear strong likeness to the human figure, differ from it in these
respects: the brain-pan is less; the nose and jaws have greater
projection, — their view is downwards; the body is supported in a
horizontal line by four legs terminated by paws or hoofs; the in-
terior organization differs in correspondence with the external
figure.

The variation of the bird from the beast is that the nose and
jaws of one become a beak in the other, the front legs, having
lost the paws, are folded up by the sides and are wings.

In fishes the head is set immediately on the body; they have
no legs, their places are supplied by fins, which guide them
through the waters.

All these various orders are wonderfully formed in fitness for
the elements they inhabit and the purposes of their lives. As
their history extends through a large and very interesting portion
of creation, so the principles of their conformation and powers
comprehend a considerable share of natural science.

The forms of the bones and anatomy contain the geometrical
forms, as the motions of the body, limbs, and interior demonstrate
the mechanical powers.

The preparation, secretion, and fermentation of the juices are
chemical; hydraulics are in the conveyance and motion of the
juices; pneumatics in the various modes of breathing; electricity
in the effects of heat on the body; and optics in the organs of
sight.

Such general observations relate to the bodies of man and
other animals; but we must remember that man, even in the
structure of his body, is the most perfect of all creatures; and the

1^2 JOHN FLAXMAN

above remarks are only offered to call the attention to the won-
derful extent of creation, and the harmony, order, and beauty of
its whole connection and disposition.

But in treating of man in particular, our subject is the most
perfect production of Almighty power in the visible world, the
faculties of whose soul place him far above other creatures, and
declare the nearer relation he stands in to his divine Creator.

By the wisdom he is endowed with, all creatures are subjected
to his dominion; by his affections he is enabled to perform all
the charities of life — to prefer the interests of others to his own
— to distinguish personal beauty as the indication of good dispo-
sition and health — to trace his Creator in his works, and offer
the homage of his worship; in all which he is superior to the
brute animals, whose exertions are the consequence of instinct
for the prese-vation of themselves and progeny, and whose rea-
soning has never been disco\ered to go beyond these purposes,
or some particular attachment.

As the affections of man stimulate and engage him in every
act, so his understanding directs the means and looks to the end
in every employment through life. These modify the exterioi
of the face and figure, according to constant habit or moment-
ary impulse.

The passionate are known by quick, fiery glances, swollen
brows, dilated nostrils, the mouth a little open, the movements of
the whole figure sudden, the muscles of the body being disposed
to rigidity and contraction.

The melancholy have a general dejection of look, the exterior
corners of the eyes and eyebrows tending downwards, a universal
slowness of motion and disregard of outward objects.

Every passion, sentiment, virtue, or vice have their corre-
sponding signs in the face, body, and limbs, which are understood
by the skillful physician and physiognomist, when not confused
by the working of contrary affections, or hidden by dissimulation.

In the formation and appearance of the body, we shall always
find that its beauty depends on its health, strength, and agility,
most convenient motion and harmony of parts in the male and
female human figure, according to the purpose for which they
were intended; the man for greater power and exertion, the
woman for tenderness and grace. If these characteristics of
form are animated by a soul in which benevolence, temperance,
fortitude, and the other moral virtues preside, unclouded by vice,

JOHN FLAXMAN I43

we shall recognize in such a one perfect beauty, and remember
that "God created man in his own image. '^

We know that sickness destroys the complexion and consumes
the form, until that which was once admired for grace and
.attractive loveliness becomes a ghastly spectre; and is it not
equally evident that brutal ferocity, revenge, hypocrisy, or any
z)ther of the malignant passions, still more effectually destroy the
very traces of beauty by reducing man to a savage beast in his
CQOSt degraded state ?

The most perfect human beauty is that most free from de-
formity, either of body or mind, and may be, therefore, defined: —

^*The most perfect soul in the most perfect body.^^

Doubts can scarcely be entertained that there are principles
of beauty, because various opinions prevail in different countries
on the subject.

Men are in different states of mental and bodily improve-
ment, from the most savage to the most civilized countries, and
we know that many successive ages miist pass in the confirma-
tion of moral habits, the right direction of reason and elevation
of intellect, before man can judge, with any tolerable ability, of
mental or natural beauty, their causes, relations, and effects; and
that in all states of society, there must be allowance for preju-
dice and climate. But we shall certainly find that the wisest
and the best men in all ages and countries have held nearly the
same doctrine on this subject.

The excellence of intellect and moral beauty was asserted by
Menu, the Indian legislator; Confucius, the Chinese philosopher;
Zoroaster, the Persian sage; and by the Egyptian priests.

Pythagoras, who had studied their wisdom, understood the
dispositions of the mind by its influence expressed in the ex-
teriors of the body; and accordingly, lamblichus, his biographer,
tells us he would observe the countenance, figure, looks, move-
ments, manner of speaking, and tone of voice, until he was
accurately acquainted with any one's character.

Our present purpose particularly requires we should consider
the sentiments of the most celebrated Greeks on beauty, the con-
nection of mental and bodily beauty, and their expression in the
human form.

j^ JOHN FLAXMAN

Homer constantly endows his gods with personal beauty, ac-
commodated to their mental perfection and immortal power, and
his heroes with the attributes of gods; thus, as he gives to Jupi-
ter the epithets of ^^ Counselor" and ^* Provident," he describes
his hair as ^* divine," ^^ ambrosial, " and his nod as making the
world tremble; Juno, he calls the "ox-eyed," and the "white-
armed"; Minerva, "the blue-eyed virgin." Achilles, the hero of
the * Iliad,' is the handsomest man that went to Troy; his epi-
thets are, "divine," "godlike," "swift-footed"; Agamemnon is
called " the king of men " ; Nestor and Ulysses are said to be
"in council like other gods," — all expressing the union of men-
tal and bodily excellence.

That the same sentiments continued in aftertimes, we have
the coeval testimonies of the most illustrious philosophers, trage-
dians, orators, and artists.

In Plato's ^Dialogue of Phaedrus,' concerning the beautiful,
he shows the power and influence of mental beauty on corporeal,
and in his dialogue, entitled *The Greater Hippias,* Socrates ob-
serves in argument, "that as a beautiful vase is inferior to a
beautiful horse, and as a beaiitiful horse is not to be compared
to a beautiful virgin, in the same manner, a beautiful virgin is
inferior in beauty to the immortal gods; for," says he, "there is
a beauty incorruptible, ever the same." It is remarkable that,
immediately after, he says : " Phidias is skillful in beauty. "

Aristotle, the scholar of Plato, begins his * Treatise on Morals*
thus: "Every art, every method and institution, every action
and council, seems to seek some good; therefore, the ancients
pronounced the beautiful to be the good."

Much, indeed, might be collected from this philosopher's trea-
tises on morals, poetics, and physiognomy, of the greatest im-
portance to our subject; but for the present we shall produce
only two quotations from Xenophon's ^Memorabilia,* which con-
tain the immediate application of these principles to the arts of
design.

In the dialogue between Socrates and the sculptor Clito, So-
crates concludes that " Statuary must represent the emotions of
the soul by form " ; and in the former part of the same dialogue,
Parrhasius and Socrates agree that " the good and evil qualities
of the soul may be represented in the figure of man by paint-
ing."

JOHN PLAXMAN j^^

In the applications from this dialogue to our subject, we must
remember philosophy demonstrates that rationality or intelHgence,
although connected with animal nature, rises above it, and prop-
erly exists in a more exalted state.

From such contemplations and maxims, the ancient artists
sublimated the sentiments of their works expressed in the choicest
forms of nature; thus they produced their divinities, heroes, pa-
triots, and philosophers, adhering to the principle of Plato, that
« nothing is beautiful which is not good»; it was this which, in
ages of polytheism and idolatry, still continued to enforce a pop-
ular impression of divine attributes and perfection.
6 — 10

ESPRIT FLECHIER

(1632-1710)

|SPRIT Fl^chier, Bishop of Nimes, was one of the most cele-
brated preachers of his day, and he is still ranked by some

SS^^ with Bossuet and Massillon among the great pulpit orators
of France. He was born at Pernes, June loth, 1632, and educated
under his uncle, Hercule Audifret, a noted preacher, who was general
of the ^< Fathers of the Congregation of Christian Doctrine.**

Flechier won his first celebrity by the composition of Latin verse,
and being thrown into the society of Colbert, and other great men,
he gained opportunities for distinction he was not slow to improve.
His sermons, and especially his funeral orations, made him one of the
most admired men in France. The oration on Turenne is considered
his masterpiece. It is in a style of eulogy grateful to the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, but at times repugnant to modern taste.

In great favor at court, Flechier won promotion after promotion,
until he became a Bishop of Nimes in 1687. He became celebrated
for good works, as for eloquence, and in an age of bigotry he made
no distinction of creeds, declaring that those who needed his help
were alike his children, whether they were Protestant or Catholic.
He died February i6th, 17 10.

THE DEATH OF TURENNE

(Peroration of the Oration on the Death of Henri de la Tour D'Auvergne,
Viscount Turenne, Delivered at Paris, January loth, 1676)

How difficult it is to be at once victorious and humble ! Mili-
tary success leaves in the mind I know not what exquisite
pleasure, which fills and absorbs it. In such circumstances,
one attributes to himself a superiority of force and capacity. He
crowns himself with his own hands; he decrees to himself a se-
cret triumph; he regards as his own the laurels which he gath-
ers with infinite toil, and frequently moistens with his blood; and
even when he renders to God solemn thanks, and hangs in his
temples the torn and blood-stained trophies which he has taken
from the enemy, is not vanity liable to stifle a portion of his

146

ESPRIT FLfiCHIER j .*.^

gfratitude, and mingle with the vows which he pays to God, ap-
plauses which he thinks due to himself; at least, does he not re-
tain some grains of the incense which he burns upon his altars?

It was on such occasions that Marshal Turenne, renouncing
all pretensions, returned all the glory to him to whom it legiti-
mately belongs. If he marches, he acknowledges that it is God
who protects and guides him; if he defends fortresses, he knows
that he defends them in vain if God does not guard them; if he
forms an intrenchment, he feels that it is God who forms a ram-
part around him to defend him from every attack; if he fights,
he knows whence to draw all his force; and if he triumphs, he
thinks that he sees an invisible hand crowning him from heaven.
Referring thus all the favors he receives to their origin, he
thence derives new blessings. No longer does he fear the ene-
mies by whom he is surrounded; without being surprised at their
numbers or strength, he exclaims with the prophet : " Some trust
in their horses and chariots, but we will trust in the Almighty."
In this steadfast and just confidence, he redoubles his ardor,
forms great designs, executes great things, and begins a cam-
paign, which appears as if it must prove fatal to the empire.

He passes the Rhine, and eludes the vigilance of an accom-
plished and prudent general. He observes the movements of the
enemy. He raises the courage of the allies; controls the suspi-
cions and vacillating faith of neighboring powers. He takes
away from the one the will, from the other the means of injur-
ing him; and profiting by all those important conjunctures which
prepare the way for great and glorious events, he leaves to for-
tune nothing which human skill and counsel can take from him.
Already has a panic seized the enemy. Already has that eagle
taken its flight to the mountains, whose bold approach alarmed
our provinces. Those brazen mouths, invented by the bottomless
pit for the destruction of men, thunder on all sides, to favor and
precipitate the retreat; and France, in suspense, awaits the success
of an enterprise which, according to all the rules of war, must
be infallible.

Alas! we knew all that we might hope, but we knew not all
that we might fear. Divine Providence concealed from us a
calamity greater than the loss of a battle. It was to cost a life
which each of us would have been willing to redeem with his
own; and all that we could gain was of less value than what we
were to lose. O God! terrible but just in thy counsels toward

148

ESPRIT FLECHIER

the children of men, thou disposest of victors and victories! To
fulfill thy pleasure, and cause us to fear thy judgments, thy power
casts down those whom it has lifted up. Thou sacrificest to thy
Sovereign Majesty the noblest victims, and strikest, at thy pleas-
ure, those illustrious heads which thou hast so often crowned 1

Do not suppose, messieurs, that I am going to open here a
tragic scene; to represent that great man stretched upon his own
trophies; to uncover that body, blood-stained and ghastly, over
which still lingers the smoke of the thunder which struck it; to
cause his blood, like that of Abel's, to cry from the ground, or
expose to your eyes the mournful images of your country and
religion in tears! In slight losses we may thus surprise the pity
of our auditors, and by studied efforts draw from their eyes a
few forced and useless tears. But we describe, without art, a
death which we mourn without deceit. Every one finds in him-
self the source of his grief, and reopens his own wound; and it
is not necessary to excite the imagination in order to affect the
heart.

Here I am almost forced to iBterrupt my discourse. I am
troubled, messieurs I Turenne diec ; All is confusion — fortune
vacillates — victory leaves us — peace takes its flight — the good
intentions of the allies relax — the courage of the troops fails
with grief, anon burns with vengeance — the whole army remain
motionless. The wounded think of the loss which they have
suffered, and not of the wounds which they have received. Dying
fathers see their sons weeping over their dead general. The
army, in mourning, is engaged in rendering him funeral honors,
and fame, which delights to spread through the world extraordi-
nary events, goes to make known through Europe the glorious
history of the Prince's life, and the regrets occasioned by his
death.

What sighs, what lamentations and praises, then re-echo
through the cities and the country. One, looking upon his grow-
ing crops, blesses the memory of him to whom he owes the hope
of his harvest. Another, who enjoys in repose the heritage which
he received from his fathers, prays that eternal peace may be
his who saved him from the horrors and cruelties of war. Here
they offer the adorable sacrifice for him who sacrificed his life
for the public good. There others prepare for him a funeral
service, where they expected to prepare a triumph. Each selects
for praise that point in his glorious life which appears the most

ESPRIT FLECHIER

149

illustrious. All unite in his eulogy. With mingled sobs and
tears, they admire the past, regret the present, and tremble for
the future. Thus the whole empire mournfe the death of its de-
fender. The loss of a single man is felt to be a public calamity.

Wherefore, my God, if I may presume to pour out my heart
in thy presence, and speak to thee, who am but dust and ashes,
wherefore did we lose him in our most pressing necessity, in the
midst of his greatest achievements, at the highest point of his
valor, and in the maturity of his wisdom ? Was it that, after so
many actions worthy of immortality, he had nothing further of a
mortal nature to perform ? Had the time arrived when he was
to enjoy the reward of so many virtues, and receive from thee
the crown of righteousness which thou reservest for such as
have finished a glorious career ? Perhaps we placed too much
confidence in him, for thou forbiddest us in the Sacred Scriptures
to trust in an arm of flesh, or put confidence in the children of
men. Perhaps it was a punishment of our pride, ambition, and
injustice. As the gross vapors ascend from the depths of the
valleys and form themselves into thunder which falls upon the
mountains, so rises from the hearts of the people those iniquities,
the punishment of which falls upon the heads of such as govern
and defend them. I presume not, O Lord, to sound the depths
of thy judgments, nor to discover the secret and inscrutable
causes from which thy justice or thy mercy acts. It is my duty
and desire only to adore! But thou art just, and thou hast af-
flicted us. And in an age so corrupt as ours, we need not seek
elsewhere the causes of our calamities than in the disorder of
our manners.

Let us, then, messieurs, derive from our sorrows motives for
penitence, and seek only in the piety of that great man true and
substantial consolation. Citizens, stralngers, enemies, nations,
kings, and emperors, mourn and revere him. Yet what can all
this contribute to his real happiness ? His king even, and such a
king! honors him with his regrets and tears — a noble and pre-
cious mark of affection and esteem for a subject, but useless to a
Christian. He shall live, I acknowledge, in the minds and mem-
ories of men, but the Scripture teaches us that the thoughts of
man, and man himself, are but vanity. A magnificent tomb may
inclose his sad remains; but he shall rise again from that superb
monument, not to be praised for his heroic exploits, but to be
judged according to his work, whether good or bad. His ashes

I50

ESPRIT FLECHIER

shall mingle with those of the numerous kings who governed
the kingdom which he so generously defended; but, after all,
what remains under those precious marbles, either to him or to
them, of human applause, the pomp of courts, or the splendor ot
fortune, but an eternal silence, a frightful solitude, and a terrible
expectation of the judgment of God ? Let the world, then, honor
as it will the glory of man, God only is the recompense of faith-
ful Christians.

O death, too sudden! nevertheless, through the mercy of God,
long anticipated, of how many edifying words and holy examples
hast thou deprived us ? We might have seen him, sublime spec-
tacle! a Christian dying humbly in the midst of triumphs and
victories. With what profound sincerity would he have mourned
his past errors, abasing himself before the majesty of God, and
imploring the succor of his arm, not against visible enemies, but
against the enemies of his salvation! His living faith and fervent
charity, doubtless, would have deeply affected our hearts; and he
might have remained to us a model of confidence without pre-
sumption, of fear without feebleness, of penitence without artifice,
of constancy without affectation, and of a death precious in the
sight both of God and of man.

Are not these conjectures just ? They were involved in his
character. They were his cherished designs. He had resolved
to live in a manner so holy that it is presumed he would have
died in the same way. Ready to cast all his crowns at the feet
of Jesus Christ, like the conquerors in the Apocalypse, ready to
gather together all his honors, and dispossess himself of them, by
a voluntary renunciation, he no longer belonged to the world,
though Providence retained him in it. In the tumult of armies,
he solaced himself with the sweet and secret aspirations of soli-
tude. With one hand he smote the Amalekites, and with the
other, stretched out to heaven, he drew down the blessing of
God, This Joshua, in battle, already performed the functions of
Moses upon the Mount, and, under the arms of a warrior, bore
the heart and will of a penitent.

O God ! who piercest the prof oundest depths of our consciences,
and seest the most secret intentions of our hearts, even before
they are formed, receive into the bosom of thy glory that soul,
ever occupied with thoughts of thine Eternity! Honor those de-
sires with which thou didst inspire him! Time failed him, but not
the courage to fulfill them. If thou requirest works with desires,

ESPRIT FLECHIER

T5I

behold the charities which he made or destined for the comfort
and salvation of his brethren; behold the souls which, with thine
aid, he brought back from error; behold the blood of thy people
which he so frequently spared; behold his own blood which he
so generously shed on our behalf; and yet more than all, behold
the blood shed for him by Jesus Christ.

Ministers of God, complete the holy sacrifice! Christians re-
double your vows and prayers, that God, as a recompense for his
toils, may admit his spirit to the home of everlasting repose, and
give him an infinite peace in heaven, who three times procured
for us a peace on earth, evanescent, it is true, yet ever delightful,
3ver desirable!

CHARLES JAMES FOX

( 1 749-1 806)

jCCORDiNG to the almost universal testimony of his contempo-
raries, Charles James Fox was one of the greatest intellects
of England. If, in the eyes of posterity, judging him out
of his own mouth by what his generation pronounced unsurpassed
eloquence, he fall below Chatham and Burke, a sufficient explanation
is found in habits of life which did not allow his great intellect to
take a firm hold on principle — on the fundamental truth of human
nature and universal nature, the axioms of justice, liberty, and moral
development, without which, as a part of its essence, the greatest
mind can never express itself adequately.

Fox joined looseness of morals to brilliancy of intellect. His
father taught him libertinism, supplied him with money to indulge
in gaming, if not in worse practices, and urged him on, it is said,
when, with a young man's modesty. Fox hesitated at lengths which,
to the veteran libertine, seemed the commonplaces of aristocratic
vice. Unless we can assume that excesses which exhaust the brain
can leave unimpaired the intellect of which the brain is the organ,
this training is enough to account for whatever is shallow and inef-
fective in one who might otherwise have been the greatest English
statesman of his century.

His father, Henry Fox, afterwards Lord Holland, was inordinately
proud of him. Having himself no scruple in following his interest
or his pleasure, the elder Fox endeavored to give his son a training
which would make him in everything the peer or the superior of his
ancestors, one of whom was no less a person than Charles H. It
Is said of the elder Mirabeau that he was exasperated to see re-
appearing openly in his son those vices he had so carefully con-
cealed in himself. The elder Fox seems to have been pained only
by his son's hesitancy in imitating his own example of license. It
is not surprising under such training that the son should find the
pleasure of losing at cards to be greater than any other except that
of winning. In attempting to explain how so much ability in the
younger Fox should have survived such a training, it will be worth
while to remember that he was educated at Eton, as well as at
home. "When he returned from the tour of Europe, from gambling
at Monaco and from a visit to Voltaire, his father's approval of him

152

CHARLES JAMES FOX 1 53

as one of the best-dressed young men of the kingdom did not prevent
Doctor Barnard, the celebrated head master at Eton, from having him
« horsed* and flogged into some approximation to the Etonian stand-
ard of common sense. Thanks to such incidents of his education.
Fox, before the close of his public career, could say in a speech in
Parliament that he had outgrown the demoralizing habits of his
youth.

Born January 24th, 1749, Fox entered Parliament at twenty years
of age, as a Tory, and within the next six years was Junior Lord of
the Admiralty and of the Treasury under Lord North's administration.

Dismissed in 1774 at the instance of George IIL, who hated him,
Fox went into opposition, and during the remainder of his career
acted with the Whigs. In 1782, he was Foreign Secretary under Rock-
ingham, and in 1783 was Foreign Secretary under the Coalition min-
istry he formed with Lord North. When the Coalition ministry was
defeated on the East India Bill, by the direct efforts of the King, Fox
remained out of office until 1806, when he served as a member of the
Grenville cabinet. He died in the same year (September 13th, 1806).

When it is said that he was one of the most eloquent men who
ever spoke in the English Parliament, it is meant that when really
interested in any subject, he had the faculty of expressing, on the
spur of the moment and with all the force possible for him, what
most men can express only after long preparation and violent goad-
ing of their intellects. That his power of purely extemporaneous ex-
pression was phenomenal, there can be no doubt, and if he fall short
of the highest possibilities of eloquence, it is only after he has reached
the point where there is no further ascent possible, except for those
who are forced up by self-sacrificing devotion to principle, by life-
long habits of seeking the truth as the compelling cause of action,
the always adequate motive of expression. Burke's enemies, in at-
tempting to break the force of his enthusiasm, called him an inspired
idiot. Fox's friends might pay him almost every other compliment
but that! No doubt, with all his failings, he deserved to be the object
of that generosity which prompted Burke in his speech on the East
India Bill to say of him: —

«He has faults; but they are faults that, though they may, in a small de-
gree, tarnish the lustre, and sometimes impede the march of his abilities, have
nothing in them to extinguish the fire of great virtues. In those faults there
is no mixture of deceit, of hypocrisy, of pride, of ferocity, of complexional des<
potism, or want of feeling for the distresses of mankind. »

W. V. B.

,154 CHARLES JAMES FOX

ON THE CHARACTER OF THE DUKE OF BEDFORD

Delivered in the House of Commons, March i6th, 1802. Said by the < British
Encyclopaedia * — article < Fox ^ — to be the only speech of Fox's « printed
as it -was delivered »)

IF THE sad event which has recently occurred were only a pri-
vate misfortune, however heavy, I should feel the impropriety

of obtruding- upon the House the feelings of private friend-
ship, and would have sought some other opportunity of express-
ing those sentiments of gratitude and affection which must be
ever due from me to the memory of the excellent person, whose
loss gives occasion to the sort of Motion-of-Course which I am
about to make to the House. It is because I consider the death
of the Duke of Bedford as a great public calamity; because the
public itself seems to consider it such ; because, not in this town
only, but in every part of the Kingdom, the impression made by
it seems to be the strongest and most universal that ever ap-
peared upon the loss of a subject, — it is for these reasons that
I presume to hope for the indulgence of the House, if I deviate
in some degree from the common course, and introduce my mo-
tion in a manner which I must confess to be unusual on similar
occasions.

At the same time, I trust, sir, that I shall not be suspected
of any intention to abuse the indulgence which I ask, by dwell-
ing, with the fondness of friendship, upon the various excellences
of the character to which I have alluded, much less by entering
into a history of the several events of his life which might serve
to illustrate it. There was something in that character so pecu-
liar and striking, and the just admiration which his virtues com-
manded was such, that to expatiate upon them in any detail
is as unnecessary as, upon this occasion, it would be improper.
That he has been much lamented, and generally, cannot be won-
dered at, for surely there never was a more just occasion of
public sorrow. To lose such a man ! — at such a time ! — so un-
expectedly! The particular stage of his life, too, in which we
lost him, must add to every feeling of regret, and make the dis-
appointment more severe and poignant to all thinking minds.
Had he fallen at an earlier period, the public, to whom he could
then (comparatively speaking, at least) be but little known, would
rather have compassioned and condoled with the feelings of his

CHARLES JAMES FOX 155

friends and relations than have been themselves very severely
afflicted by the loss. It would have been suggested, and even
we who were the most partial would have admitted, that the
expectations raised by the dawn are not always realized in the
meridian of life. If the fatal event had been postponed, the
calamity might have been alleviated by the consideration that
mankind could not have looked forward for any length of time
to the exercise of his virtues and talents. But he was snatched
away at a moment when society might have been expected to
be long benefited by his benevolence, his energy, and his wis-
dom; when we had obtained a full certainty that the progress of
his life would be more than answerable to the brightest hopes
conceived from its outset; and when it might have been reason-
ably hoped, that after having accomplished all the good of which
it was capable, he would have descended not immaturely into
the tomb. He had, on the one hand, lived long enough to have
his character fully confirmed and established ; while, on the other,
what remained of life seemed, according to all human expecta-
tions, to afford ample space and scope for the exercise of the
virtues of which that character was composed. The tree was old
enough to enable us to ascertain the quality of the fruit which
it would bear, and, at the same time, young enough to promise
many years of produce.

The high rank and splendid fortune of the great man of
whom I am speaking, though not circumstances which, in them-
selves, either can or ought to conciliate the regard and esteem
of rational minds, are yet in so far considerable, as an elevated
situation, by making him who is so placed in it more powerful
and conspicuous, causing his virtues or vices to be more useful
or injurious to society. In this case, the rank and wealth of the
person are to be attended to in another and a very different
point of view. To appreciate his merits justly, we must consider
not only the advantages, but the disadvantages, connected with
such circumstances. The dangers attending prosperity in gen-
eral, and high situations in particular — the corrupting influence
of flattery, to which men in such situations are more peculiarly
exposed, have been the theme of moralists in all ages, and in all
nations; but how are these dangers increased with respect to him
who succeeds in his childhood to the first rank and fortune in a
kingdom such as this, and who, having lost his parents, is never
approached by any being who is not represented to him as in

jc6 CHARLES JAMES FOX

some degree his inferior! Unless blessed with a heart uncom-
monly susceptible and disposed to virtue, how should he, who
had scarce ever seen an equal, have a common feeling and a
just sympathy for the rest of mankind, who seem to have been
formed rather for him, and as instruments of his gratification,
than together with him, for the general purposes of nature ?
Justly has the Roman satirist remarked: —

^'-Rarus enim fermd sensus communis in ilia
Fortuna. **

This was precisely the case of the Duke of Bedford; nor do I
know that his education was perfectly exempt from the defects
usually belonging to such situations; but virtue found her own
way, and on the very side where the danger was the greatest
was her triumph most complete. From the blame of selfishness
no man was ever so eminently free. No man put his own grati-
fication so low or that of others so high, in his estimation. To
contribute to the welfare of his fellow-citizens, and by his exam-
ple and his beneficence to render them better, wiser, and happier,
was the constant pursuit of his life. He truly loved the public;
but not only the public, according to the usual acceptation of the
■word — not merely the body corporate (if I may so express my-
self) which bears that name — but man in his individual capacity;
all who came within his notice and deserved his protection were
objects of his generous concern. From his station, the sphere of
his acquaintance was larger than that of most other men; yet,
in this extended circle, few, very few, could be counted to whom
he had not found some occasion to be serviceable. To be use-
ful, whether to the public at large, whether to his relations and
nearer friends, or even to any individual of his species, was the
ruling passion of his life.

He died, it is true, in a state of celibacy; but if they may be
called a man's children whose concerns are as dear to him as
his own — to protect whom from evil is the daily object of his
care — to promote whose welfare he exerts every faculty of which
he is possessed — if such, I say, are to be esteemed our children,
no man had ever a more numerous family than the Duke of
Bedford.

Private friendships are not, I own, a fit topic for this House,
or any public assembly; but it is difficult for any one who had
the honor and happiness to be his friend not to advert (when

CHARLES JAMES FOX

i57

speaking of such a man) to his conduct and behavior in that in-
teresting character. In his friendship not only was he disinter-
ested and sincere, but in him were to be found united all the
characteristic excellences which have ever distinguished the men
most renowned for that most amiable of all virtues. Some are
warm, but volatile and inconstant; he was warm too, but steady
and unchangeable. Never once was he known to violate any of
the duties of that sacred relation. Where his attachment was
placed, there it remained, or rather there it grew; for it may be
more truly said of this man than of any other that ever existed,
that if he loved you at the beginning of the year, and you did
nothing to forfeit his esteem, he would love you still more at
the end of it. Such was the uniformly progressive state of his
affections no less than of his virtue and wisdom.

It has happened to many, and he was certainly one of the
number to grow wiser as they advanced in years. Some have
even improved in virtue; but it has generally been in that class
of virtues only which consists in resisting the allurements of vice;
and too often have these advantages been counterbalanced by the
loss, or at least the diminution, of that openness of heart, that
warmth of feeling, that readiness of sympathy, that generosity of
spirit, which have been reckoned among the characteristic attri-
butes of youth. In his case it was far otherwise; endued by
nature with an unexampled firmness of character, he could bring
his mind to a more complete state of discipline than any man I
ever saw. But he had, at the same time, such a comprehensive and
just view of all moral questions, that he well knew how to distin-
guish between those inclinations which, if indulged, must be per-
nicious, and the feelings which, if cultivated, might prove beneficial
to mankind. All bad propensities, therefore, if any such he had,
he completely conquered and suppressed; while, on the other
hand, no man ever studied the trade by which he was to get his
bread, the profession by which he hoped to rise to wealth and
honor, nor even the higher arts of poetry or eloquence, in pursuit
of a fancied immortality, with more zeal and ardor than this ex-
cellent person cultivated the noble art of doing good to his fellow-
creatures. In this pursuit, above all others, diligence is sure of
success, and, accordingly, it would be difficult to find an example
of any other man to whom so many individuals are indebted for
happiness or comfort, or to whom the public at large owe more
essential obligation.

J eg CHARLES JAMES FOX

So far was he from slackening or growing cold in these gen.
erous pursuits, that the only danger was, lest, notwithstanding
his admirable good sense, and that remarkable soberness of char-
acter which distinguished him, his munificence might, if he had
lived, have engaged him in expenses to which even his princely-
fortune would have been found inadequate. Thus, the only cir-
cumstance like a failing in this great character was, that, while
indulging his darling passion for making himself useful to others,
he might be too regardless of future consequences to himself
and to his family. The love of utility was indeed his darling,
his ruling passion. Even in his recreation (and he was by no
means naturally averse to such as were suitable to his station in
life), no less than in his graver hours, he so much loved to keep
his grand object in view, that he seemed, by degrees, to grow
weary of every amusement which was not in some degree con-
nected with it. Agriculture he judged rightly to be the most
useful of all sciences, and, more particularly in the present state
of affairs, he conceived it to be the department in which his serv-
ices to his country might be most beneficial. To agriculture,
therefore, he principally applied himself; nor can it be doubted,
but with his great capacity, activity, and energy, he must have
attained his object and made himself eminently useful in that
most important branch of political economy Of the particular
degree of his merit in this respect, how much the public is
already indebted to him, how much benefit it may still expect
to derive from the effects of his unwearied diligence and splen-
did example, many Members of this House can form a much
more accurate judgment than I can pretend to. But of his mot-
ive to these exertions, I am competent to judge, and can affirm,
without a doubt, that it was the same which actuated him
throughout — an ardent desire to employ his faculties in the way,
whatever it might be, in which he could most contribute to the
good of his country and the general interests of mankind.

With regard to his politics, I feel a great unwillingness to be
wholly silent on the subject, and, at the same time, much diffi-
culty in treating it with propriety, when I consider to whom I
am addressing myself. I am sensible that those principles upon
which, in any other place, I should not hesitate to pronounce an
unqualified eulogium, may be thought by some, perhaps by the
majority, of this House rather to stand in need of apology and
exculpation than to form a proper subject for panegyric. B^it,

CHARLES JAMES POX

159

even in this view, I may be allowed to offer a few words in
favor of my departed friend. I believe few, if any of us, are so
infatuated with the extreme notions of philosophy as not to feel
a partial veneration for the principles, some leaning even to the
prejudices of the ancestors, especially if they were of any note,
from whom we are respectively descended. Such biases are al-
ways, as I suspect, favorable to the cause of patriotism and public
virtue. I am sure, at least, that in Athens and Rome they were
so considered. No man had ever less of family pride, in the bad
sense, than the Duke of Bedford; but he had a great and just
respect for his ancestors. Now, if, upon the principle to which I
have alluded, it was in Rome thought excusable in one of the
Claudii to have, in conformity with the general manners of their
race, something too much of an aristocratical pride and haughti-
ness, surely in this country it is not unpardonable in a Russell
to be zealously attached to the rights of the subject^ and pecu-
liarly tenacious of the popular parts of the Constitution. It is
excusable, at least, in one who numbers among his ancestors the
great Earl of Bedford, the patron of Pym, and the friend of
Hampden, to be an enthusiastic lover of liberty; nor is it to be
wondered at, if a descendant of Lord Russell should feel more
than common horror for arbitrary power, and a quick, perhaps
even a jealous discernment of any approach or tendency in the
system of government to that dreaded evih But whatever may
be our differences in regard to principles, I trust there is no
Member of this House who is not liberal enough to do justice
to upright conduct, even in a political adversary. Whatever,
therefore, may be thought of those principles to which I have
alluded, the political conduct of my much-lamented friend must
be allowed by all to have been manly, consistent, and sincere.

It now remains for me to touch upon the last melancholy
scene in which this excellent man was to be exhibited; and to all
those who admire his character, let it be some consolation that
his death was, in every respect, conformable to his life. I have
already noticed that prosperity could not corrupt him. He had
now to undergo a trial of an opposite nature. But in every in-
stance, he was alike true to his character; and in moments of ex-
treme bodily pain and approaching dissolution., when it might be
expected that a man's every feeling would be concentrated in his
personal sufferings, his every thought occupied by the awful event
impending, even in these moments he put by all selfish consider-
ations; kindness to his friends was the sentiment still uppermost

jgQ CHARLES JAMES POX

in his mind; and he employed himself to the last hours of his
life in making the most considerate arrangements for the happi-
ness and comfort of those who were to survive him. While in the
enjoyment of prosperity he had learned and practiced all those
milder virtues which adversity alone is supposed capable of teach-
ing; and, in the hour of pain and approaching death, he had that
calmness and serenity which are thought to belong exclusively to
health of body and a mind at ease.

If I have taken an unusual and possibly an irregular course
upon this extraordinary occasion, I am confident the House will
pardon me. They will forgive something, no doubt, to the warmth
of private friendship; to sentiments of gratitude, which I must
feel, and, whenever I have an opportunity, must express to the
latest hour of my life. But the consideration of public utility, to
which I have so much adverted as the ruling principle in the
mind of my friend, will weigh far more with them. They will,
in their wisdom, acknowledge that to celebrate and perpetuate
the memory of great and meritorious individuals is in effect an
essential service to the community. It was not, therefore, for
the purpose of performing the pious office of friendship, by
fondly strewing flowers upon his tomb, that I have drawn your
attention to the character of the Duke of Bedford; the motive
that actuates me is one more suitable to what were his views.
It is that this great character may be strongly impressed upon
the minds of all who hear me — that they may see it — that they
may feel it — that they may discourse of it in their domestic cir-
cles— that they may speak of it to their children, and hold it
up to the imitation of posterity. If he could now be sensible to
what passes here below, sure I am that nothing could give him
so much satisfaction as to find that we are endeavoring to make
his memory an example, as he took care his life should be use-
ful to mankind,

I will conclude with applying to the present occasion a beau-
tiful passage from the speech of a very young orator. It may
be thought, perhaps, to savor too much of the sanguine views of
youth to stand the test of a rigid, philosophical inquiry; but it
is, at least, cheering and consolatory, and that in this instance it
may be exemplified is, I am confident, the sincere wish of every
man who hears me. * Crime,* says he, ^Ws a curse only to the
period in which it is successful; but virtue, whether fortunate or
otherwise, blesses not only its own age, but remotest posterity,
and is as beneficial by its example as by its immediate effects."

CHARLES JAMES FOX j5j

ON THE EAST INDIA BILL
(From the Speech Delivered in the House of Commons December ist. 1783)

SIR, the necessity of my saying something npon the present
occasion is so obvious that no apology will, I hope, be ex-
pected from me for troubling the House, even at so late an
hour (two o'clock in the morning). I shall not enter much into
a detailed or minute defense of the particulars of the bill before
you, because few particular objections have been made, the oppo-
sition to it consisting only of general reasonings, some of little
application, and others totally distinct from the point in question.

This bill has been combated through its past stages upon
various principles; but to this moment the House has not heard
it canvassed upon its own intrinsic merits. The debate this
night. has turned chiefly upon two points — violation of charter,
and increase of influence; and upon both these points I shall say
a few words.

The honorable gentleman who opened the debate [Mr. Powys]
first demands my attention, not indeed for the wisdom of the
observations which fell from him this night (acute and judicious
as he is upon most occasions), but from the natural weight of all
jiuch characters in this country, the aggregate of whom should,
in my opinion, always decide upon public measures; but his in-
genuity was never, in my opinion, exerted more ineffectually,
upon more mistaken principles, and more inconsistently with the
common tenor of his conduct, than in this debate.

The honorable gentleman charges me with abandoning that
cause, which, he says, in terms of flattery, I had once so suc-
cessfully asserted. I tell him in reply, that if he were to search
the history of my life, he would find that the period of it, in
which I struggled most for the real, substantial cause of liberty,
is this very moment that I am addressing you. Freedom, ac-
cording to my conception of it, consists in the safe and sacred
possession of a man's property, governed by laws defined and
certain; with many personal privileges, natural, civil, and relig-
ious, which he cannot surrender without ruin to himself; and of
which to be deprived by any other power is despotism. This
bill, instead of subverting, is destined to give stability to these
principles; instead of narrowing the basis of freedom, it tends to
6 — II

j^2 CHARLES JAMES POX

enlarge it; instead of suppressing, its object is to infuse and cir-
culate the spirit of liberty.

What is the most odious species of tyranny ? Precisely that
which this bill is meant to annihilate. That a handful of men,
free themselves, should execute the most base and abominable
despotism over millions of their fellow- creatures; that innocence
should be the victim of oppression; that industry should toil for
rapine ; that the harmless laborer should sweat, not for his own
benefit, but for the luxury and rapacity of tyrannic depredation;
in a word, that thirty millions of men, gifted by Providence with
the ordinary endowments of humanity, should groan under a sys-
tem of despotism unmatched in all the histories of the world.

What is the end of all government ? Certainly the happiness
of the governed. Others may hold other opinions, but this is
mine, and I proclaim it. What are we to think of a government
whose good fortune is supposed to spring from the calamities of
its subjects, whose aggrandizement grovv^s out of the miseries of
mankind ? This is the kind of government exercised under the
East India Company upon the natives of Hindostan; and the
subversion of that infamous government is the main object of
the bill in question. But in the progress of accomplishing- this
end, it is objected that the charter of the company should not be
violated; and upon this point, sir, I shall deliver my opinion
without disguise. A charter is a trust to one or more persons
for some given benefit. If this trust be abused, if the benefit be
not obtained, and its failure arise from palpable guilt, or (what
in this case is full as bad) from palpable ignorance or misman-
agement, will any man gravely say that that trust should not be
resumed and delivered to other hands, more especially in the
case of the East India Company, whose manner of executing this
trust, — whose laxity and languor have produced, and tend to pro-
duce consequences diametrically opposite to the ends of confiding
that trust, and of the institution for which it was granted ? I
beg of gentlemen to be aware of the lengths to which their ar-
guments upon the intangibility of this charter may be carried.
Every syllable virtually impeaches the establishment by which
we sit in this House, in the enjoyment of this freedom, and of
every other blessing of our Government. These kinds of argu-
ments are batteries against the main pillar of the British Consti-
tution. Some men are consistent with their own private opinions,
and discover the inheritance of family maxims, when they ques-

CHARLES JAMES FOX jg-

tion the principles of the Revolution; but I have no scruple in
subscribing to the articles of that creed which produced it. Sov-
ereigns are sacred, and reverence is due to every king; yet, with
all my attachments to the person of a first magistrate, had 1
lived in the reign of James II., I should most certainly have
contributed my efforts, and borne part in those illustrious strug-
gles which vindicated an empire from hereditary servitude, and
recorded this valuable doctrine, ^Hhat trust abused is revocable.*

No man, sir, will tell me that a trust to a company of mer-
chants stands upon the solemn and sanctified ground by which a
trust is committed to a monarch; and I am at a loss to reconcile
the conduct of men who approve that resumption of violated
trust, which rescued and re-established our unparalleled and ad-
mirable Constitution with a thousand valuable improvements and
advantages at the Revolution, and who, at this moment, rise up
the champions of the East India Company's charter, although the
incapacity and incompetency of that company to a due and ade-
quate discharge of the trust deposited in them by that charter
are themes of ridicule and contempt to the world; and although,
in consequence of their mismanagement, connivance, and imbecil-
ity, combined with the wickedness of their servants, the very
name of an Englishman is detested, even to a proverb, through
all Asia, and the national character is become degraded and dis-
honored. To rescue that name from odium and redeem this char-
acter from disgrace are some of the objects of the present bill;
and, gentlemen should, indeed, gravely weigh their opposition to
a measure which, with a thousand other points not less valuable,
aims at the attainment of these objects.

Those who condemn the present bill as a violation of the char-
tered rights of the East India Company, condemn, on the same
ground, I say again, the Revolution as a violation of the chartered
rights of King James II. He, with as much reason, might have
claimed the property of dominion; but what was the language of
the people ? ^* No ; you have no property in dominion ; dominion
was vested in you, as it is in every chief magistrate, for the
benefit of the community to be governed; it was a sacred trust
delegated by compact; you have abused that trust; you have ex-
ercised dominion for the purposes of vexation and tyranny — not
of comfort, protection, and good order; and we, therefore, resume
the power which was originally ours; we recur to the first prin-
ciples of all government — the will of the many, and it is our will

j54 CHARLES JAMES FOX

that you shall no longer abuse your dominion." The case is the
same with the East India Company's government over a terri •
tory, as it has been said by my honorable friend [Mr. Burke], of
two hundred and eighty thousand square miles in extent, nearly
equal to all Christian Europe, and containing thirty millions of
the human race. It matters not whether dominion arise from
conquest or from compact. Conquest gives no right to the con-
queror to be a tyrant; and it is no violation of right to abolish
the authority which is misused, , .

AGAINST WARREN HASTINGS

( Peroration of the Speech Delivered in the House of Commons, June 2d, 1785,
<0n the Charge Relating to the Rohilla War>)

PEOPLE are greatly mistaken if they imagine there can be the
responsibility in India that there is here, and by similar
means. In this country facts can be got at with ease; the
conduct of men is under the public eye, and if they betray the
trust reposed in them, it is possible to come at the means of
detecting their guilt. But how are you to procure evidence of
crimes committed in so distant a country ? The time necessary
for such a purpose would suffer any mischief to be carried on,
perhaps to the total ruin of our possessions.

I would have strict, literal, and absolute obedience to orders,
in all those whom I intrusted with the administration of govern-
ment in that country, that we might know the ground upon which
we were treading, and be able to form some judgment of the
real state of our affairs in that part of our possessions. This
House has already passed certain resolutions and has pledged it-
self to see them put in execution; an opportunity is now pre-
sented, the matter is now in issue, and if it be suffered to fall
to the ground without a spirited and a firm examination, all in-
quiry may sleep forever, and every idea of punishment be buried
in oblivion.

This is, as I have said before, a matter of the utmost import-
ance, and one which admits not of delay. If these principles are
founded in truth, justice, and good policy, it is incumbent on you
to lose no time to bring them into effect; and, by a striking ex-
ample, to convince the world that the principles of equity and
moderation, which you have held out were not intended to de-

CHARLES JAMES FOX 165

ceive; and that you did not begin the work of reformation with-
out being determined to carry it on until it should have its full
effect, by restoring happiness and preventing oppression through-
out our dominions in Asia. ,

I have thought it proper, sir, to show the House that my
opinion is not altered, and to declare that I do not see anything
hitherto done which is in any respect likely to place our affairs
in that quarter upon a stable and prosperous basis. Deeming,
as I do, the affairs of India to be weighty to the last degree, I
trust I need make no apology for endeavoring to impress upon
the House the only mode of governing these possessions that I
am confident can ever be attended with success, namely, that of
responsibiHty to this House. With this principle the present
inquiry is most intimately connected. If you suffer it to be
evaded, an abandonment of all control over your people in India
must undoubtedly follow. Mankind will always form their judg-
ments by effects; and observing that this man, who has been
the culprit of this nation, and of this House, for a series of
^ears, is absolved, without a regular trial of his crimes, they will
easily conclude that another may find the same mode of coming
at protection, and that fear of punishment need not, at any time,
interrupt the pursuit of gain.

I would again, sir, before I sit down, shortly revert to the
matter immediately before us. The principles of morals are to
be drawn from books, and from the tongues of men, not from
their actions. The fact is, indeed, too true, that men have in all
ages been little governed in their actions by equity and justice;
but seldom has it happened that they have openly avowed that
they have not been directed in their conduct by rules so gener-
ally established as the foundation of all intercourse among man-
kind. The war against the Rohillas carries with it so great an
abandonment of all the great leading principles of morality, that
it is astonishing that any man can attempt to defend it. We
should reflect that our character is at stake — and, undoubtedly,
we should preserve that fair and unsullied. It is natural to trust
in a fair character, and when that is lost, all confidence is carried
with it.

We should consider that Mr. Hastings himself does this. He
acts upon the character of nations; he states the character of
the Rohillas as a reason for their being exterminated. If we
were to go on this principle, and exterminate every nation 01

j56 CHARLES JAMES FOX

that description, we should soon leave the face of the eartb
thinly inhabited; and I am afraid our own country would not be
able to stand up with much confidence in defense of its own
character, if it should give its assent to such barbarous doctrines.
But there was nothing in the character of the Rohillas to excite
the indignation, or draw down the resentment, of any nation,
much less of Great Britain. They were a brave people, and
what is singular, the only free people in India. They governed
the country of which they were possessed with a mildness of
which its very flourishing condition so as to be called the garden
of Hindostan is an undeniable proof; they were endowed with
all those national virtues which Britons have been accustomed to
admire, and which form a strong chain of connection between
countries which enjoy the blessings of liberty. Ought not such
a people to have met with sympathy and regard in the feelings
of this nation .> Ought not a cause such as theirs to have inter-
ested a British bosom ? To mark out such a people as the ob-
jects of avarice, as the victims of unprovoked resentment, or to
abandon them to the rod of tyranny and oppression — what con
duct could be more derogatory to the character of a nation which
enjoys the influence of liberty ? What mode of procedure could
be more disgraceful to the honor and humanity of the British
name r

An honorable gentleman [Mr. Grenville] has spoken of the
religion and tenets of the Rohillas as an argument for their de-
struction. I think he said they were of some particular sect of
Mussulmans, the sect of Omar, and different from Hindoos, the
original inhabitants of the country. Men, sir, have been perse-
cuted on account of their religion; but that an argument of this
kind should be made use of at this time of day, to palliate the
crime of exterminating a nation, is a matter I do not under-
stand. Of what consequence is it to the question of the justness
of the war whether their tenets or their practice differ from those
around them ? I am, indeed, sorry to hear such doctrine as the
justness of this war defended by a young man, who, from his
situation in office, gives us reason to dread that on principles
like these the new Government in India is to be established.

The whole of this business is now before you. You are now
to decide; and I call upon you to reflect that the character, the
honor, and the prosperity of this nation depend on your decision.
I have appealed to what is called the passions; that is, the

CHARLES JAMES FOX j^,-

indignation of mankind against enormous guilt, against violence
and oppression. It has been my opinion that we ought in this
manner always to feel with regard to Indian delinquents. The
people of Hindostan have a claim upon our protection, upon our
pity, and their distresses call loudly for vengeance upon their
oppressors. Sixty thousand Rohillas driven, like a herd of deer,
across the Ganges from their houses and from their lands, to per-
ish through want of subsistence, or depend on the precarious
bounty of nations with whom they had no connection I These
circumstances excite you to take vengeance on those who have
abused your authority and tyrannized over them. The Begum
and other women, and the princes of that wretched nation, who,
in vain, pleaded for relief from the hands of your servants, call
upon you to vindicate your own character and to let the guilt
fall upon those who have deserved it.

We ought, it is said, to be counsel for the prisoner. If a man
is not able to plead his own cause, it is right to allow him every
indulgence, and to put it in his power to bring forward a fair
state of the circumstances of his case. Truth is the object which
we wish to grasp, and every mode of bringing that before us is to
be attended to. My duty is, when I find great crimes, to state
them, and that not merely on my own authority, but from the
accounts of those who were eyewitnesses. It is our duty to bring
a culprit to justice. Mr. Hastings is the culprit of the nation.
He has infringed our orders, and we have bound ourselves to call
him to account. Whatever may be his services, they cannot be
pleaded here; they never can be considered as preventing his
offenses from being inquired into; if he be guilty, he ought to
suffer the punishment due to them.

My right honorable friend has brought forward his accusa-
tions openly and boldly. He did not basely slander Mr. Hast-
ings when he was not present, and then meanly hide himself
behind some pitiful evasion; but he has come forward with his
charges- to his face and given him a fair opportunity of clearing
his innocence to the world. Mr, Hastings has declared his wish
to meet it. Why, then, will you not suffer it to take its regular
course ? I say again : Where is the danger ? Where the injury ?
Nothing but good can result from it to your government in
India, Lord Cornwallis has just been sent out, with powers
greater than were ever intrusted to any governor. By what
rule is he to frame his conduct ? Are those which have been

j58 CHARLES JAMES FOX

laid down, and are now disapproved of by this House, to regu-
late it ? Or is he to govern himself by the example of Mr.
Hastings, of whose management this House must, if they acquit
him on this business, be supposed to approve ?

M-y right honorable friend has singled out this transaction,
because it has two features which strongly mark the political
conduct of Mr. Hastings: contempt of the orders of his supe-
riors, and an entire disregard of all principles of justice, modera-
tion, and equity. These pervade all his actions, the whole system
of his conduct, and appear to have taken entire possession of
his mind. This transaction with Sujah-ul-Dowlah, and this war
against the Rohillas, will give you an idea of his character much
better than any words can display it. These two characters are
alleged to be contained in this charge which is brought against
him. It remains for you to decide. And allow me again to en-
treat you to remember that you are not pronouncing merely on
the merits of an individual, but you are laying down a system of
conduct for all future governors in India. The point is at issue.
Your decision is most serious and important! I pray to heaven
it may be such as will do you honor!

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

(i 706-1 790)

'^'^^OMiNG nearer to universal genius than any one who has lived
since Bacon, Franklin has an individuality as an orator,
which illustrates his character as a man. When he speaks
at all, it is to express ideas which he feels to be of the greatest im-
portance, and, in expressing them, he seeks the simplest and shortest
way. In any one of his speeches, he shows himself the philosopher,
the statesman, the diplomat, the printer in his shirt sleeves, trun-
dling his wheelbarrow through the street. He has not ceased to be
Poor Richard in having been the scientist whose great mind grasped
the central fact of modern progress. He is the embodiment of com-
mon sense in small things, as he is of higher intellect in great.
While he never attempted eloquence, he never failed to achieve it,
when he spoke at all. In no one of the great orators is there to be
found a greater power of idea than in his laconic sentences. Doubt-
less, he was too sparing with words, too lavish with ideas to be im-
mediately persuasive, but in what he said as in what he did, his
great mind took hold on the future of his country and of the world.
Unpremeditated and unpolished as his occasional speeches are, they
have in them the same quality of immortal intellect which made
Jefferson say of him to Vergennes: *I succeed — no one can replace
him!»

DISAPPROVING AND ACCEPTING THE CONSTITUTION

(Delivered in the Convention for Forming the Constitution of the United
States, Philadelphia, 1787)

I CONFESS that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution at
present; but, sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it, for,
having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being
obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change
opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right,
but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I
grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment of others.
Most men, indeed, as well as most sects in religion, think them-

169

1^0 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

selves in possession of all truth, and that wherever others differ
from them, it is so far error. Steele, a Protestant, in a dedica-
tion, tells the Pope that the only difference between our two
churches in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrine is,
the Romish Church is infallible, and the Church of England is
never in the wrong. But, though many private persons think
almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect,
few express it so naturally as a certain French lady, who, in a
little dispute with her sister, said : *^ But I meet with nobody but
myself that is always in the right.*

In these sentiments, sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all
its faults, — if they are such, — because I think a general govern-
ment necessary for us, and there is no form of government but
what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and
I believe, further, that this is likely to be well administered foi
a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms
have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted
as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.
I doubt, too, whether any other convention we can obtain may
be able to make a better Constitution; for, when you assemble a
number of men, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom,
you inevitably assemble with those men all their prejudices, theii
passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their
selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production
be expected ? It therefore astonishes me, sir, to find this system
approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will
astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear
that our counsels are confounded like those of the builders of
Babel, and that our States are on the point of separation, only to
meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats
Thus I consent, sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no
better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best. The
opinions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good.
I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these
walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of
us, in returning to our constituents, were to report the objections
he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partisans in support of
them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby
lose all the salutary effects and great advantages resulting natur-
ally in our favor among foreign nations, as well as among our-
selves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN j-j

Strength and efficiency of any government, in procuring and
securing happiness to the people, depends on opinion, on the
general opinion of the goodness of that government, as well as
of the wisdom and integrity of its governors. I hope, therefore,
for our own sakes, as a part of the people, and for the sake of
our posterity, that we shall act heartily and unanimously in
recommending this Constitution wherever our influence may ex-
tend, and turn our future thoughts and endeavors to the means
of having it well administered.

On the whole, sir, I cannot help expressing a wish that every
member of the convention who may still have objections to it,
would, with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own infalli-
bility, and, to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this
instrument.

DANGERS OF A SALARIED BUREAUCRACY

(Delivered in the Convention for Forming the Constitution of the United States,

Philadelphia, 17? 7)

IT IS with reluctance that I rise to express a disapprobation of
any one article of the plan for which we are so much obliged

to the honorable gentlemen who laid it before us. From its
first reading I have borne a good will to it, and, in general,
wished it success. In this particular of salaries to the executive
branch, I happen to differ; and, as my opinion may appear new
and chimerical, it is only from a persuasion that it is right, and
from a sense of duty, that I hazard it. The committee will judge
of my reasons when they have heard them, and their judgment
may possibly change mine. I think I see inconveniences in the
appointment of salaries; I see none in refusing them, but, on the
contrary, great advantages.

Sir, there are two passions which have a powerful influence in
the affairs of men. These are ambition and avarice; the love of
power and the love of money. Separately, each of these has
great force in prompting men to action; but, when united in
view of the same object, they have, in many minds, the most vio-
lent effects. Place before the eyes of such men a post of honor,
that shall, at the same time, be a place of profit, and they will
move heaven and earth to obtain it The vast number of such
places it is that renders the British Government so tempestuous.

j^2 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

The struggles for them are the true source of all those factions
which are perpetually dividing the nation, distracting its councils,
hurrying it sometimes into fruitless and mischievous wars, and
often compelling a submission to dishonorable terms of peace.

And of what kind are the men that will strive for this profit-
able pre-eminence, through all the bustle of cabal, the heat of
contention, the infinite mutual abuse of parties, tearing to pieces
the best of characters ? It will not be the wise and moderate,
the lovers of peace and good order, the men fittest for the trust.
It will be the bold and the violent, the men of strong passions
and indefatigable activity in their selfish pursuits. These will
thrust themselves into your government, and be your rulers. And
these, too, will be mistaken in the expected happiness of their
situation, for their vanquished competitors, of the same spirit,
and from the same motives, will perpetually be endeavoring to
distress their administration, thwart their measures, and render
them odious to the people.

Besides these evils, sir, though we may set out in the begin-
ning with moderate salaries, we shall find that such will not be
of long continuance. Reasons will never be wanting for pro-
posed augmentations; and there will always be a party for giving
more to the rulers, that the rulers may be able, in return, to give
more to them. Hence, as all history informs us, there has been
in every state and kingdom a constant kind of warfare between
the governing and the governed; the one striving to obtain more
for its support, and the other to pay less. And this has alone
occasioned great convulsions, actual civil wars, ending either in
dethroning of the princes or enslaving of the people. Generally,
indeed, the ruling power carries its point, and we see the reve-
nues of princes constantly increasing, and we see that they are
never satisfied, but always in want of more. The more the peo-
ple are discontented with the oppression of taxes, the greater
need the prince has of money to distribute among his partisans,
and pay the troops that are to suppress all resistance, and en-
able him to plunder at pleasure. There is scarce a king in a
hundred, who would not, if he could, follow the example of
Pharaoh, — get first all the people's money, then all their lands,
and then make them and their children servants forever. It
will be said that we do not propose to establish kings. I know
it. But there is a natural inclination in mankind to kingly gov-
ernment. It sometimes relieves them from aristocratic domina-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN I73

tion. They had rather have one tyrant than five hundred. It
gives more of the appearance of equality among- citizens; and
that they like. I am apprehensive, therefore, — perhaps too ap-
prehensive,— that the government of these States may, in future
times, end in a monarchy. But this catastrophe, I think, may be
long delayed, if in our proposed system we do not sow the seeds
of contention, faction, and tumult, by making our posts of honor
places of profit. If we do, I fear that, though we employ at
first a number and not a single person, the number will, in time,
be set aside; it will only nourish the foetus of a king (as the
honorable gentleman from Virginia very aptly expressed it), and
a king will the sooner be set over us.

It may be imagined by some that this is an Utopian idea, and.
that we can never find men to serve us in the executive depart-
ment without paying them well for their services. I conceive
this to be a mistake. Some existing facts present themselves to
me which incline me to a contrary opinion. The high sheriff of
a county in England is an honorable office, but it is not a profit-
able one. It is rather expensive, and therefore not sought for.
But yet it is executed, and well executed, and usually by some
of the principal gentlemen of the county. In France, the office
of counselor, or member of their judiciary parliaments, is more
honorable. It is therefore purchased at a high price; there are,
indeed, fees on the law proceedings, which are divided among
them, but these fees do not amount to more than three per
cent, on the sum paid for the place. Therefore, as legal interest
is there at five per cent. , they, in fact pay two per cent, for be-
ing allowed to do the judiciary business of the nation, which is,
at the same time, entirely exempt from the burthen of paying
them any salaries for their services. I do not, however, mean to
recommend this as an eligible mode for our judiciary depart-
ment. I only bring the instance to show that the pleasure of
doing good and serving their country, and the respect such con-
duct entitles them to, are sufficient motives with some minds to
give up a great portion of their time to the public, without the
mean inducement of pecuniary satisfaction.

Another instance is that of a respectable society who have
made the experiment and practiced it with success now more
than a hundred years. I mean the Quakers. It is an established
rule with them that they are not to go to law, but in their con-
troversies they must apply to their monthly, quarterly, and yearly

■ 174 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

meetings. Committees of these sit with patience to hear the
parties, and spend much time in composing their differences. In
doing this, they are supported by a sense of duty and the respect
paid to usefulness. It is honorable to be so employed, but it was
never made profitable by salaries, fees, or perquisites. And, in-
deed, in all cases of public service, the less the profit, the greater
the honor.

To bring the matter nearer home, have we not seen the
greatest and most important of our offices, that of general of
our armies, executed for eight years together, without the small-
est salary, by a patriot whom I will not now offend by any
other praise; and this, through fatigues and distresses, in com-
mon with the other brave men, his military friends and compan-
ions, and the constant anxieties peculiar to his station ? And
shall we doubt finding three or four men in all the United States
with public spirit enough to bear sitting in peaceful council, for,
perhaps, an equal term, merely to preside over our civil concerns,
and see that our laws are duly executed ? Sir, I have a better
opinion of our country. I think we shall never be without a
sufficient number of wise and good men to undertake and exe-
cute well and faithfully the office in question.

Sir, the saving of the salaries, that may at first be proposed,
is not an object with me. The subsequent mischiefs of proposing
^hem are what I apprehend. And, therefore, it is that I move
the amendment. If it be not seconded or accepted, I must be
contented with the satisfaction of having delivered my opinion
frankly and done my duty.

FREDERICK THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN

(1817-1885)

Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, member of a family iden-
tified with American history from colonial times, was born
in Somerset County, New Jersey, August 4th, 1817. From
1866 to 1869 he represented New Jersey in the United States Senate,
and voiced there, with great force and eloquence, the characteristic
opinions of that element of the Republican party whom their oppo-
nents called << Radicals,^* making that term an epithet in much the
same sense << Jacobin'^ had been used when applied to the followers
of Jefferson in 1800. The occasion for this was chiefly the determi-
nation of this element, then dominant in the Republican party, to
enforce manhood suffrage, without regard either to property interests
or race prejudices. Perhaps this determination has not been better
represented than in the speech on Universal Suffrage, made in the
United States Senate by Mr. Frelinghuysen in January 1868.

After serving as United States Senator for New Jersey from 1866
until 1869, Mr. Frelinghuysen was returned again in 187 1, and served
six years. He was a member of the Electoral Commission of 1877.
and from 1881 to 1885 he filled the position of Secretary of State,
with credit to himself and the country. He died at Newark, New
Jersey, May 20th, 1885.

IN FAVOR OF UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE

(Peroration of His Speech in the United States Senate, January 28th, 1868,
Supporting the Supplementary Reconstruction Bill)

IT SEEMS to me, Mr. President, that the Senator from Wiscon-
sin, in discussing the policy of the reconstruction acts, missed
the true question. In discussing the policy of the measure,
he treated it as if the question were whether it would not be
tetter for this country that we should all be of one family of the
human race, and of one color. All the evils that his gloomy
fancy drew were drawn from the fact of two different races liv-
ing together. That is not the question we are forced to consider.
Perhaps many might agree with him that we would be happier

175

176

FREDERICK THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN

if we were all of one family and of one color. Some, it is tnit-
might believe that the Disposer of human events knew better
what was best for us than we do ourselves, and that even if we
thus would be happier, that happiness is not the highest object
of life; that character, the character of a nation, is a grander
object even than its happiness, and that we as individuals and
as a nation are made morally better by now exercising justice
toward a race that for centuries we have oppressed. Then, too,
the statesman might insist that the nation could not now dispense
with the material results of the black man's labors.

The question, however, which fact, event, and history force
upon us, is whether it is better for this nation, in violation of its
cardinal principle, that the governed shall have a voice in the
laws that govern them, to deprive a population more numerous
than were the inhabitants of this country at the Revolution, who
have fought our battles and helped pay taxes, of all political right
and self -protection, and render them a poor, oppressed, ignorant
race, festering and throbbing with degradation; or is it better
now, when we have an opportunity we never shall have again,
to give them those political rights which experience has proven
have elevated all who ever possessed them ? On that question,
whatever may be the answer of an unhallowed prejudice, when
I remember that it affects millions who will live and die when I
am moldering in the grave, I have no hesitation as to what
should be my answer. We are bound now to do justice to that
race. Almost the first vessel for trade that sailed up the James
River in 162 1 carried twenty slaves from Africa, and from that
day for two centuries millions of that race were hurried across
that thirsty continent to the dismal barracoons at the seaboard,
and thence, amid all the untold horrors of the middle passage,
they were transported to this country, to live in perpetual servi-
tude. The Constitution, adopted more than a hundred and fifty
years after this, did not prohibit this traffic, but did provide that
no law should be passed forbidding it before 1808, and did au-
thorize an import duty of ten dollars a head, and that instrument
did, in terms studied, so that the enormity should not be patent,
recognize this servitude.

I do not say who was guilty of this — English avarice, North-
ern cupidity, and Southern pride are all responsible; but there
was the evil, and no man could see how we were to be delivered
from it. Deliverance came, but it was by an anguish more fear-

FREDERICK THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN

177

ful than that which visited the home of the Pharaohs, when the
Angel of Death waved his dark wing over that devoted land.
Deliverance having come, let us now compensate for the wrong
that we for two centuries have done. That race has been obe-
dient to our laws; they have been patient under suffering; from
a certain gentleness in their nature, they have been submissive
under exactions which would have made us fiends. They have
not been drones living on our charity. No; the father and the
mother and the daughter and the son have all labored as no
other people ever labored. Independent of making their own
bread and clothing, of giving wealth and affluence to their mas-
ters, and of educating their children, generation after generation,
independent of the products of the dairy, and of the rice and
sugar and tobacco and corn, and of all the cotton used in our
own land, they have, on an average, brought to this country about
one hundred and eighty millions a year, as the return for the
cotton produced by their labor and exported to other countries.

They are abused, called semi-barbarians; and yet, what would
be the condition of the country this year, with our $90,000,000 of
gold in our Treasury, if you exclude from the country the $144,-
000,000 of gold that their labor has brought to us ? I think they
have some rights here, and I believe that justice is, as stated,
the supreme policy of nations. While the ballot will do them
good, it cannot injure us. They will all vote the Democratic
ticket, or they will all vote the Republican ticket, or a part will
vote the Republican ticket and a part of them will vote the
Democratic ticket; and in either event, while they can protect
themselves by voting, they will only swell the great current of
popular sentiment in the country, and will not direct or control it.

Why, sir, there was the same opposition to the emancipation
that there is to the enfranchisement of the colored man. I re-
member that the Emancipation Proclamation carried the State of
New Jersey against the Republican party by sixteen thousand.
Denunciatory speeches were then made. Where are those de-
nunciations now ? All sunk like useless debris in the sea of
oblivion. Who now. North or South, insults freedom ? She sails
forth gloriously, and is a thing of beauty as, with her white sails
and silver spars, bright against the heavens, she circumnavigates
this continent. Five years from this the wonder will be that in
republican America anybody should question whether seven hun-
dred thousand native-born, free Ajnerican citizens, who fought our
6 — 12

.178

FREDERICK THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN

battles and who helped pay taxes, should or should not have the
privilege of voting.

Why distrust this principle ? Ninety years of experience have
verified it. Its success makes kingly power tremble all over the
world, while those who have long been subjects of oppression are
coming forth from the seclusion of ages and claim a right to be
heard. Hundreds of thousands have come to our shores. They
have enjoyed this privilege and have been elevated, while we
have not been injured, but have been profited. Why distrust it ?
A principle is always true to itself. You may take an acorn and
place it under the forcing glass and nurse it, or you may throw
it out to the winter's snows and the summer's rains, and it will
never produce anything but an oak. A principle, moral or polit-
ical, that is good for me is good for you; if it is good for the
white man, it is good for the black man. Does any one think
that this principle of self-government will ever die ? No ; it is
truth, and it has something of omnipotence and immortality of its
great source. It may be retarded; it may be hindered; it may
be, as was intimated by my distinguished friend from Maryland,
that in sustaining this franchise the Republican party has a heavy-
load; but I am glad to belong to the party and help to carry it.
It is a true principle, and, though retarded, will not be destroyed: — -

<' Truth crushed to earth will rise again :
The eternal years of God are hers.*

Take the doctrine that the governed shall have a voice in
making .the laws that govern them from this country, and you
destroy our characteristic, that which makes this America, and
you leave it a mammoth country, within the broad extending
ribs of which there is no soul, no spirit.

Sir, there are those in this country, and I think their voices
will be heard, who believe that the possession of political privi-
leges benefits a man not only for time. There are those who
believe that as the degradation of bondage tends to vice, so the
elevation of freedom and of political privilege points to God.

Sir, there was a time when the President of the United States
had full faith in this principle. ^*Go read that paper which says
that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights,* said John Adams, "at the head
of the army, and every sword will be drawn from its scabbard,
and the solemn vow made to maintain it or to perish on a bed

FREDERICK THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN

179

of honor. Publish it from the pulpit; religion will approve it,
and the love of religious liberty will cling around it resolved to
stand with it or fall with it. Send it to the public halls, there
proclaim it; let them hear it who heard the first roar of the
enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers fall on
the field of Bunker Hill and in the streets of Lexington and
Concord, and the very walls will cry out for its support.'^

Mr. President, that principle will yet live and have power in
this country. The soil of this country is too deeply saturated
with the blood of patriots who died to establish the principle
that the governed should have a voice in making the laws that
govern them, for it now to be surrendered or impaired.

As to the amendment of the Senator from Wisconsin, which
provides that only those having a freehold or .being able to read
shall vote, and which thus offers a reward addressed to the prej-
udice and pride of the South, if they will keep the colored men
in perpetual ignorance and poverty, I have no remarks to make.
It is buried up in the lumber of this debate. But if that is not
asking this nation to give its children a stone when they ask for
bread, and a serpent when they ask for a fish, then I do not
know where that expressive simile would be appropriate.

ALBERT GALLATIN

(I 761 -1849)

IhEn, in February, 1799, Gallatin spoke in the American House
of Representatives against a resolution declaring it inexpedi-
ent to repeal the Alien and Sedition Laws, the United States
were on the eve of a political revolution as radical as that involved in
the adoption of the Federal Constitution itself. The party which be-
lieved in minimizing the powers of all government, and more especially
of the Federal Government, felt that it had been outvoted and worsted
on the adoption of the Constitution itself. Instead of surrendering,
however, it forced issues with the first ten amendments to the Constitu-
tion, and afterwards by determined opposition to the theories of the
Federalists — especially to the Alien and Sedition Laws, which brought
matters to a crisis under the presidency of John Adams. At the defeat
of Adams in 1800, the views expressed by Gallatin in 1799 became the
accepted constitutional theory of what, for more than twenty-five years,
was a governing majority, overwhelming in its preponderance. The
Federalist view was reasserted officially by John Quincy Adams, only
in a much modified form, and when the Federalists, disorganized by
the defeat of 1800, finally merged with the Whigs, that party professed
to represent rather the ideas of the opposition which triumphed in 1800,
than those of the Federalist administration.

Albert Gallatin was born in Geneva, Switzerland, January 29th,
1761. He emigrated to America in 1780, and was a Member of Con-
gress from Pennsylvania from 1795 to 1801. After the inauguration
of Jefferson in 1801, Gallatin became Secretary of the Treasury, hold-
ing the ofiice for twelve years with such credit that he has been declared
one of the greatest financiers of the age. He was instrumental in ne-
gotiating the treaty of Ghent, and, after leaving the Treasury Depart-
ment, he served as Minister to both France and England. While ora-
tory was not an art with him, he had well-matured ideas on public
questions, and knew how to express them effectively.

180

ALBERT GALLATIN jgj

CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY AND EXECUTIVE DESPOTISM

(From a Speech in the House of Representatives, February 1799, against a
Resolution Declaring It Inexpedient to Repeal the Alien Law)

Mr, Chairman: —

THIS subject was so fully discussed during the last session, that
I would not have addressed the committee on this occasion,
did I not entertain some hope that the change of circum-
stances which has taken place since the laws were enacted, and,
above all, the sense which so many of our fellow-citizens have
expressed on their propriety and constitutionality, may induce the
House to reconsider their decision of last year.

Petitions, signed by nearly eighteen thousand freemen of this
State alone, collected in a few counties and within a few weeks,
have been laid on your table, earnestly requesting Congress to
repeal laws, at best of a doubtful nature, and passed under an
impression of danger, which does not now seem to exist, of gen-
eral alarm, which has nearly subsided.

Sixteen hundred of my immediate constituents have joined in
these petitions, and their opinion on this subject being the same
which I have uniformly entertained, I feel it forcibly to be my
duty to examine the reasoning used by the select committee who
have reported against the repeal of the obnoxious laws.

The act concerning aliens comes first under consideration.
Two laws were passed during the last session of Congress on
that subject, the one concerning aliens generally, and the other
respecting alien enemies. No petition has been presented against
the last, and it would remain in force even if the first should,
agreeably to the request of the petitioners, be repealed. The
petitions apply solely to those provisions of the first act which
are not included in the last. The provision, therefore, com-
plained of, and which is the subject-matter of the reference to
the committee, is that which authorizes the President to remove
out of the territory of the United States, ^'all such aliens [being
natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of a nation Avhich is not
at war with the United States, and which has not perpetrated,
attempted, or threatened any invasion or predatory incursion
against the territory of the United States], as he shall judge
dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall
have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treason-
able or secret machinations against the Government thereof.*

j82 albert GALLATIN

This authorization is considered by the petitioners as uncon-
stitutional: First, because such power being neither among the
specific powers granted by the Constitution of the General Gov-
ernment, nor necessary to carry into effect any of those specific
powers, is, both by incontestable deduction, and by the twelfth
amendment, reserved to the individual States; second, because,
even supposing such power to be by implication comprehended
among those granted to the General Government, its exercise is,
for the present, expressly prohibited to that Government by the
section which provides that the migration or importation of such
persons as any of the States shall think proper to admit shall
not be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808; and, third,
because aliens are supposed to come under the general descrip-
tion of persons to whom, by the Constitution, the right of a trial
of all crimes by jury is secured.

The power delegated by this law is not applicable exclusively
to cases where it may be thought necessary, in order to carry
into effect the power to protect States against an invasion. It is
to apply generally and, under color of its necessity for executing
certain specific powers, it may be exercised in a case where that
specific power, on which alone it rests, has, itself, nothing on
which to operate. Although it may happen that there shall be
no necessity to protect States against invasion, it will even then,
according to this constructive doctrine, still be lawful to do an
act which cannot be constitutional, except on account of its being
necessary to protect States against invasion.

In order, therefore, to support the constitutionality of the
law, the select committee must suppose, in the first place, that
Congress may pass laws, without a certainty of their being neces-
sary for carrying into execution some of the specific powers
granted to them; that is to say, that Congress have a right to
pass laws which may be unnecessary for that purpose. In the
next place, that if a certain law is necessary only for executing
a constitutional measure of a temporary nature, that law may
constitutionally be executed, although the temporary measure it-
self should not be executed at all; that is to say, that the inci-
dental power may be exercised for a purpose different from that
of executing the original power on which it rests.

The application of that constructive doctrine to the Sedition
and Alien Laws justifies a conclusion that, if adopted, it will sub-
stitute in that clause of the Constitution a supposed usefulness or

ALBERT GALLATIN

183

propriety to the necessity expressed and contemplated by the in
strument, and will, in fact, destroy every limitation of the powers
of Congress. It will follow that instead of being bound by any
positive rule laid down by their charter, the discretion of Con-
gress, a discretion to be governed by suspicions, alarms, popular
clamor, private ambition, and by the views of fluctuating factions,
will justify any measure they may please to adopt; that, instead
of being bound by a constitution, they may claim the omnipo-
tence of a British Parliament; that all the reserved powers of
the people or of the States will be swallowed up at their pleasure
by that undefined discretion ; in a word, that the Constitution itself,
so far as respects a limitation of powers, is by that doctrine com-
pletely annihilated. Even the positive checks, which, m a few
instances, prohibit the exercise of certain powers, will not prove
a sufficient guard against an inordinate appetite to legislate on
some favorite subject.

Thus, in the case of the Sedition Law, the prohibitory clause,
respecting an abridgment of the liberty of the press, is attempted
to be construed away by Star-Chamber definitions, by exotic doc-
trines which, if suffered to flourish, will overshadow and smother
every plant of American growth; doctrines incompatible with the
principles of a government elective in all its executive and legis-
lative branches; of a government which the people, the sole
fountain of power, cannot properly carry into execution, if the
sources of information are shut up from them; if a free and full
discussion of every public measure is, at the will of those who
enjoy only a delegated authority, checked and embarrassed by
prosecutions for libels, grounded solely on the British system of
hereditary prerogative.

The select committee have also informed us that the power to
send off emigrants, who abuse the indulgence granted them to re-
main, is a very different thing from the powder of preventing
emigration; meaning, I suppose, that although Congress might be
forbidden by the Constitution to prohibit migration, they may
constitutionally send off such emigrants. Were the power claimed
by this law, that of punishing by transportation aliens convicted
of certain offenses, defined by the law, although the constitutional
necessity of the mode of punishment would still remain to be
proven, yet the argument of the committee would deserve some
consideration. But it is denied that there is the least difference
between a power of prohibiting emigration and that of sending

J 34 ALBERT GALLATIN

off any alien at the will of the President, merely because he is
suspected by that magistrate. The transportation of the emigrant
does not rest on any act committed by him, but on the degree of
suspicion entertained by the President. The removal, therefore,
contemplated by the law is not the special removal of certain
emigrants, but a general power to remove all the emigrants on
suspicion, if the President shall please. I must confess that, to
my understanding, that power to remove all emigrants would, if
^xercised (and the law authorizes its general exercise), amount
precisely to the same thing, with a general prohibition of emigra-
tion.

So far is it true that the clause of the Constitution admits of
a construction which would defeat its object; that, at the end of
it, we find a provision permitting Congress to lay a duty of ten
dollars, not on migration, but on the importation of persons.
Had it not been for that provision, Congress could not even have
checked that importation by any duty. As the clause now stands,
they cannot check the migration by any duty whatever, nor the
importation by a duty higher than ten dollars. And yet it is con-
tended that, notwithstanding so much caution. Congress may, by
a general power of sending off emigrants, evade the restriction
laid upon them, and altogether prevent the effect of migration.

Finally, if there be any difference between the power of pro-
hibiting migration and that of sending off emigrants, it consists
in this, that it might have been apprehended that, under color of
the general power over commerce given to Congress, they might,
by duties or other commercial regulations, have prevented or
checked migration; but that there does not exist any power
granted to the General Government by the Constitution which can
rationally serve as a pretense to claim an authority to remove
emigrants generally. And the only deduction to be thence in-
ferred is, that the clause now under consideration, although it
might be proper for preventing the exercise of the first power,
was unnecessary for the last purpose — a conclusion to which I
agree in its full extent, and which, it seems to me, I have already
fully established in the first part of my arguments.

The select committee (driven thereto, perhaps, by the weakness
of the ground they were compelled to defend) have recurred to a
last argument, the most extraordinary, perhaps, of any they have
advanced. Having said, in the former part of their report, that
every nation had a right to send off aliens at will, they after-

A1.BERT GALLATIN

185

wards assert that, "as the Constitution has given to the States no
power to remove aliens," it is necessary to conclude that the
power devolves to the General Government.

It is, I believe, the first time it has been suggested that the
powers of the individual States were derived from the Constitu-
tion of the United States, That Constitution has heretofore been
considered as a delegation of powers to the General Government,
and not to the several States. But the assertion of the committee
may be shortly answered by reading the twelfth amendment to
the Constitution, viz. : " The powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.* In order
to prove that the powers are not reserved to the States, it is nec-
■essary to prove that they are delegated to Congress; and the
committee, with that kind of logic which pervades the whole of
their report, in order to prove that powers are delegated to Con-
gress, assume the position that they do not belong to the States.
The Constitution declares that the powers not prohibited to the
States are reserved to them, and the committee asserts that the
powers not given to the States are not reserved to them. It
would seem., as the committee had been desirous of justifying, by
their own arguments, what I have advanced, that the doctrine
necessary to support the constitutionality of this law would infal-
libly swallow up all the powers of the several States. . . .

The Constitution gives to Congress no power over aliens, ex-
cept that of naturalization. The power, therefore, remains with
the States to give to aliens the rights of denizens. That power
has not been exercised by that name; but it has, in fact, been
carried into effect. Not only in some States have aliens been
enabled to purchase, to hold, to inherit, and to leave by will, real
estate, — -a right which principally constitutes a denizen, — but
many have actually been admitted in some States, either by spe-
cial acts of the Legislature, or in conformity to former general
laws, to all the rights of citizens of those States, so far as it was
in the power of individual States to do it; that is to say, that
they have received every right but such as arise from naturali-
zation— every right of denizens. On the other hand, the laws of
the Union have invited emigration, by holding out the prospect
of being naturalized at the end of a period which, till nearly the
time when the Alien Law passed, never exceeded five years. Un-
der these laws, emigrants have, by a formal declaration before

i86

ALBERT GALLATIN

our courts, given evidence of their intention of becoming citizens
and of renouncing their former allegiance — a declaration almost
tantamount to an actual renunciation. They have abandoned
their native countries forever; many of them have acquired
lands and married in America; most of them have here the
whole of their property or their only means of subsistence. Un-
der all these circumstances, it may be doubtful whether a great
proportion of these aliens are not entitled to the rights of deni-
zens; and if they are not so, by a strict construction of positive
laws, at least, it can hardly be denied that the provisions of the
law violate, in this respect, the dictates of humanity and justice.

The policy of this measure seems to be defended by the select
committee on the same ground which is to be a pretense and a
justification for every act of domestic oppression, for every en-
croachment of power, for every new tax, for every extravagant
loan, for every prodigal act of expenditure, for every increase of
the navy, for every standing army which may be raised under
the various names of permanent army, additional army, provi-
sional army, eventual army, or well-affected volunteers. The
Alien and Sedition Acts form, in the opinion of the committee,
an essential part of our general system of defense against
France. I do not mean to follow them whilst they use, instead
of arguments, the mere cant of the day. They cannot be seri-
ous when they tell us of the employment of the active talents of
a numerous body of French citizens here as emissaries and spies.
And if they are, does that committee mean to impose upon this
House, as upon the people of some parts of the Union ? Do we
not know that, if there be any danger from France, the act re-
specting alien enemies is applicable to her citizens, and that the
law now complained of respects alien friends, and was originally
intended to operate, not against subjects of France, but against
Irish emigrants and other subjects of Great Britain ? Do we not
know that, notwithstanding all the clamor of last summer, and
notwithstanding the two laws passed on that subject, not a single
French citizen has been removed ?

Still less can I suppose that the committee were in earnest
when they pretended to believe that the United States offered as
easy and alluring a conquest to France as Egypt. They seem
to have forgotten that Egypt was governed and defended by
Mamelukes and inhabited by slaves; that the United States are,
as yet. inhabited and defended by the people themselves But if

ALBERT GALLATIN jg-

the committee thought that the fear of an invasion did justify
those laws, when passed, will they pretend to say that the dan-
ger, even in their opinion, now exists, and that the same neces-
sity now justifies the continuance of the laws *

It is not only against invasion that those laws are said to be
necessary. We are told of a system which convulses the civilized
world and has shaken the fabric of society; of an unprecedented
combination to establish new principles of social action on the
subversion of religion, morality, law. and government. If these
are the dangers which threaten us, and if Congress think them-
selves vested with all ths powers which they 'may think ex-
pedient to repel them, I wish to know to what extent they may
not legislate, and by what possible limitation they can be re
strained, in their assumption of powers. There is not an indi-
vidual on this floor, there is not a man of common understanding
and common information in the nation, who, unless he is under
the influence of the illusions of the new anti-republican fanat-
icism, or blinded by party spirit, does not know that these pre-
tended dangers are, in America, the visionary phantoms of a
disordered imagination. And I have taken notice of those senti-
ments merely to give an additional proof that, under pretense of
preventing imaginary evils, an attempt is made to establish the
omnipotence of Congress and substantial despotism on the ruins
of our Constitution.

Is that a measure of security and general defense which puts
a numerous body of aliens — aliens who are represented as so
desperate and dangerous — under the absolute control of one
man, which, by holding the rod of terror over their heads, and
leaving their fate at his sole disposal, renders them complete
slaves of the President, and makes them proper instruments for
the execution of every project which ambition may suggest, which
faction may dictate ? Is that a government of laws which leaves
us no security but in the confidence we have in the moderation
and patriotism of one man ? And do the abettors of these laws
forget that even that is precarious, and that the unlimited power
which they think safely lodged in one individual may, in a day,
be vested in another man in whom they do not place the same
confidence ?

Is that a measure of general defense which has diminished
confidence in the Government and produced disunion among the
States and among the people ?

jgg ALBERT GALLATIN

Yet I am happy to find that even this law has produced such
general dissatisfaction. I was the more alarmed on account of
this law because, attacking only aliens, for whom no immediate
concern could be felt, it might the more easily become the vehicle
to introduce doctrines and innovations which would hereafter
serve as a precedent to attack the liberties of the citizens them-
selves. A pretense of general defense may justify oppressive
measures against citizens, as well as against aliens. Although
some nice distinctions may now be made in order to discriminate
one class from the other, yet it must be remembered that the
only security of citizens against unconstitutional measures con-
sists in a strict adherence to the Constitution; that their liberties
are only protected by a parchment, — by words, — and that they
may be destroyed whenever it shall be admitted that the strict
and common sense of words may be construed away under the
plea of some supposed necessity; whenever the Constitution shall
be understood and exercised as an instrument unlimited where it
grants power, and nugatory where it limits power.

We may feel alarmed when we see a committee of the
House asserting that the powers not given to the States (and it
may be added, by the same rule of construction, the powers not
given to the people by the Constitution) belong to the General
Government. We may feel alarmed when that committee insist
that, although it is true that the trial of all crimes must be by
jury, yet, to inflict a punishment when no offense, no crime, has
been committed, is not a violation of the Constitution; when the
the only distinction they apply to citizens consists in the differ-
ence of punishment, but not in a difference of the principle. We
may feel alarmed when we find that Congress have already acted
on those principles towards citizens; that they have already passed
another law,— the Sedition Law, — grounded on the same princi-
ples, on the same doctrine, or rather on the same abandonment
of the explicit and evident sense of the Constitution, which alone
could justify the Alien Law. I hope — I trust — that the spirit
which dictated both laws has subsided, even within these walls, and
that the same Congress who, under the impressions of a moment-
ary alarm, which prevented a cool investigation, hastily adopted
those two measures, will have courage enough to revise their own
conduct, to acknowledge their own errors, and, by a repeal of the
obnoxious acts, restore general confidence, union, and harmony,
amongst the States and the people.

LEON GAMBETTA

(1838-1882)

IMONG French opponents of monarchy, no one represents more
distinctively the constructive power of the principles of pop-
ular government than Gambetta. When, under Louis Napo-
leon, French imperialism and all it stood for had failed so completely
and so disastrously that to almost every one, except Gambetta, the
condition of France seemed hopeless, he was upheld by his confidence
in the people and by his faith in the reserve power of the average
*.nan to make the struggle after defeat which, if it did not succeed as
be hoped, had a higher success in operating to re-establish the Re-
piiblic on a permanent basis.

Gambetta was of Jewish extraction. He was born at Cahors, April
yl, 1838, and educated for the law — a profession he began practicing
in Paris in 1859. In 1869 he was elected to the Corps Legislatif, in
which he acted with the << Irreconcilables.^* On September 4th, 1870,
tie joined in proclaiming France a Republic, and when appointed one
of the Committee of National Defense, with a mission outside of Paris,
he passed over the besieging German army in a balloon. Borrowing
money in the name of the Republic, of which he was virtually dicta-
tor, he organized two armies of defense in a hopeless attempt to re-
trieve what Louis Napoleon had lost. After the final capitulation, he
gave up the executive office and was elected to the National Assembly.
In 1876 he entered the Chamber of Deputies, to the presidency of
which he was elected three years later. He was Premier from No-
vember 1 88 1 to January 1882, and, when he retired from public life,
left his historical position secure as the ablest French Republican of
the last half of the nineteenth century. He died December 31st, 1882.

FRANCE AFTER THE GERMAN CONQUEST
(From the Speech Delivered at Bordeaux, June 26th, 1871)

Gentlemen and Pellow-Citizetts : —

I DID not desire to set foot in France again, after the labors you
know of, or to take part in the responsibilities and work of
the Republican party, without stopping in Bordeaux. Apropos
of the grave situation in which we find our country, I wish to
tell you, without mental reservation, as I am not the candidate of

180

figo

LEON GAMBETTA

this department, all that I hope, all that I desire to accomplish.
[Cheers.]

Do not applaud, gentlemen I The hour is much too solemn
for anything more than the exchange of esteem and reciprocal
confidences. The actual situation in France, when closely exam-
ined, and when in such examination one is animated by a passion
for justice and truth, — that is to say, when, by the rules of reason,
one guards against the illusions of the heart,— is such as to in-
spire a profound sadness; but it invites us to the manliest meas-
ures and forbids any discouragement. Let us study it, and we
will arrive at this conclusion, — that the Republican party, if it
desire, it can; and if it know how, it will regenerate this country
and erect a government of liberty out of this abyss of surprises,
reactions, and failures. This is the demonstration which it is
necessary to make to-day in the face of our competitors of the
monarchial parties, not only to achieve the triumph of the prin-
ciples to which we are attached, but, repeating it, we must not
cease striving to give France her salvation.

At this hour what do we see in our country ? We see men
who had always slandered democracy, who hated it; who ig-
norantly or for gain, exploiting the credulity of others, had
systematically misrepresented its methods, — we see such men
attributing all the excesses of the last few months to the Repub-
lic, to which they never should have been charged; and I find
an analogy full of instruction between the condition of affairs in
May 1870 and the present hour. In 1870 France was put to
the question — who then knew how and by whom it war done?
But it is not the less true she was invested with the right to
pronounce on her destinies. Through the agency of complicated
fears, excited by a suborned press, aiding the basest interests,
the interests of dynasties and of parasites, France was taken un-
awares, and her vote was at a disadvantage, but, nevertheless,
she pronounced her decision with a lightning-like rapidity. Three
months afterwards, the decision accomplished its ends. She was
punished, she was scourged beyond all justice, for having aban-
doned herself to the criminal hands of an emperor.

To-day, again, in diverse forms, the same question is put to
her. Will she abdicate again, and throw her power into the lap
of a dynasty ?

Under whatever name the thing is disguised, it is always the
same question, — the question of whether France will govern her-
self in freedom, or will betray herself, — of whether the terrible

LEON GAMBETTA igi

experience, from which she emerged mutilated and bleeding, has
taught her at last to maintain her independence.

In spite of the excesses committed and the crimes which
marked the end of the Commune in Paris; notwithstanding the
flow of calumnies directed against the Republican party, there is
one comforting fact: — in the midst of a civil war, the people
preserved their coolness. The municipal elections attested that,
on the very morn after this awful crisis, the country did not enter-
tain reactionary schemes. This inspires us to set a like example.
It should inspire us with patience and wisdom in our political
actions. I really believe that all shades of Republicans can unite
in France and present the spectacle of a disciplined party, firm
in its principles, laborious, vigilant, and so resolute that it might
convince France of its ability to govern, — in a word, a party
accepting the axiom that power should be given to the wisest
and most worthy.

Let us, then, be the worthiest! This will not cost us much
effort, for the excellent reason that there is no wise, constructive
politics but that of the Republican party. Let us be turned
from the straight path of duty neither by calumnies nor injuries.
If we will remain faithful at our posts, if, at all times and on all
questions, we produce republican solutions, I am convinced we
shall soon demonstrate, by comparison and contrast to the pre-
tensions of those who have disdained or ignored us, that we are
a governing party capable of directing public affairs, a party of
intelligence and reason, and that among the men professing our
principles are found those who afford the guarantees of science,
of disinterestedness and of order, without which a government
is merely an affair for the profit of the predaceous and unprin-
cipled. Our Republic must be founded on, and maintained in,
truth and right. Without discussing puerile differences, let me
say that a government in whose name we make laws, conclude
peace, raise milliards, render justice, suppress riots that would
have sufficed to overthrow ten monarchies, is a government, estab-
lished and legitimate, which proves its power and its right by its
acts. Such a government imposes respect on all, and whoever
would menace it is a factionist.

** To the wisest ! to the most worthy " — this is a standard
which we should accept without reserve! It is not a new for-
mula for republicans; it is their dogma to see awarded the dis-
tinctions of public service only to merit and virtue. It is for

jg2 LEON GAMBETTA

merit and morality that we vainly appealed to the Empire; it
was even because morality was opposed to all compromise with
a power founded on crime and maintained by corruption, that
our opposition was irreconcilable and revolutionary. To-day, the
opposition under a republican government changes its character
and modifies its plan of conduct; it must guide and control, not
destroy. Yes, we shall respect your authority, respect your legal-
ity, respect your decisions, but we shall never abandon the right
to criticize and to reform; and as we have never asked of any
one a favor, we shall let universal suffrage pronounce between
those who disdain us and those who have the patience and con-
stancy to contend for the Republic and for Liberty!

This conception of the role of an opposition under the Re-
public is due to the difference of the age and the time. It is
certain, in the so-called heroic ages, chivalry of parties disap-
peared when one party realized its expectations. And to-day, to
develop and apply our principles, we are under obligation to be
as cold, as patient, as measured, as skillful, as we were vehe-
ment and enthusiastic when it was a question of repudiating the
shams of the Lower Empire. And, gentlemen, let me tell you,
the more we specialize, the more we centralize our efforts on a
given point, the more rapidly we shall awaken devoted auxiliaries
in the ranks of the voters who pronounce the final decision and
end the delay which separates us from success. Unity, simplicity
of object, should be our watchwords; but it does not suffice
firmly to propose to make the Republican party at once the party
of principles and practice, the party of the government. There
must be a precise program. It must be the enemy of Utopias,
and of chimeras; nothing must divert it from its realizations. It
must never cease active struggle to remake the nation, recast its
morals, and, snatching it from the hands of the intriguers, to see
that it shall not be constantly forced from despotism to provoked
rebellion.

We must get rid of the evil which causes our woes; — Ignor-
ance whence emerge alternately despotism and demagogy! Ol
all the remedies which can solicit the attention of the statesman
and politician to prevent such evils, there is one that excels and
includes all the rest; it is universal education. We must dis-
cover by what measures and processes, on the morrow of oui
disasters, imputable not only to the government, to which we
submitted, but to the degeneracy of public spirit, we can assure

LEON GAMBETTA jg^

ourselves against the falls, the errors, the surprises, the inferior-
ities which have cost us so much. Let us study our misfortunes,
and go back to the causes: First of all, we allowed ourselves to
be distanced by other peoples, less gifted than ourselves, who,
however, were making progress while we remained stationary.
Yes, we can establish, by the proof in hand, that it is the in-
feriority of our national education which led to our reverses.
We were beaten by adversaries who had enlisted on their side >
caution, discipline, and science. This proves that on a last
analysis, even among the conflicts of material forces, intelligence
remains the master. And looking within, is it not the ignorance,
in which the masses were allowed to exist, that has engendered,
almost at fixed epochs, the crises, the frightful explosions, which
appear in the course of our history as a sort of a chronic ill, to
such a degree that we could almost announce in advance the ar-
rival of these vast social tempests ?

We must disembarrass ourselves of the past! We must re-
make France! Such was the cry from every heart on the mor-
row of our disasters. For three months that plaintive cry was
heard from a people who would not perish. That cry is heard
no longer. To-day we hear only of plots and dynastic intrigues.
It seems to be only a question of which pretender shall seize on
the ruins of this imperiled country. This must cease! We must
resolutely discard these scandalous parleys, and think only of
France. We must return to the disinherited and the ignorant,
and make universal suffrage, which is the force of numbers, the
enlightening power of reason. We must accomplish the revolu-
tion. Yes, calumniated as are to-day some of the men and
the principles of the French Revolution, we should value them
highly, pushing on with our work, which will end only when the
revolution is accomplished. But, gentlemen, by the word " Rev-
olution '^ I comprehend the diffusion of the principles of justice
and reason which animated it, and I repudiate, with all my power,
the calculated perfidy of our adversaries who would confuse it
with enterprises of violence. The Revolution would have guar-
anteed to all justice, equality, liberty; it proclaimed the reign of
labor, and it would have assured to all its legitimate fruits. But
it had several checks. The material conquests in part remained,
but the moral and political consequences are in great part yet to
be realized. The workingmen and the peasants, — these have had
but few material benefits, assuredly precious and worthy our
6 — 13

ii94

LEON GAMBETTA

solicitude, but as yet insufficient to make them free and complete
citizens. There is nothing more natural than the acts and votes
of the peasantry, of which complaint is made, without taking into
account the inferior intellectual state in which society keeps
them. These complaints are unjust and ill-founded. They will
react on those who make them.

They are the result of the organization of society without
foresight. The peasantry is intellectually several centuries behind
the enlightened and educated classes of the country. Yes, the
distance is immense between them and us, who have received a
classical or scientific education — even the imperfect one of our
day. We have learned to read our history, to speak our lan-
guage, while (a cruel thing to say!) so many of our countrymen
can only babble! Ah! that peasant, bound to the tillage of the
soil, who bravely carries the burdens of his day, with no other
consolation than that of leaving to his children the paternal fields,
perhaps increased an acre in extent! All his passions, joys,
fears, are concentrated on the fate of his patrimony. Of the ex-
ternal world, of the society in which he lives, he apprehends
but legends and rumors; he is the prey of the cunning and the
fraudulent! He strikes, without knowing it, the bosom of the
Revolution, his benefactress; he gives loyally his taxes and his
blood to a society for which he feels fear, as much as respect.
But there his role ends, and if you speak ta him of principles,
he knows nothing of them. It is to the peasantry, then, we
must address ourselves. They are the ones we must raise and
instruct. The epithets the parties have bandied of " rurality "
and ** rural chamber * must not be the cause of injustice. Yes, it
is to be wished that there were a * rural chamber, '* in the pro-
found and true sense of the term, for it is not with hobble-
de-hoys a rural chamber can be made, but with enlightened and
free peasants, able to represent themselves. And instead of be-
ing the cause of raillery, this reproach of a ^^ rural chamber *
would be a tribute rendered to the progress of the civilization of
the masses. This new social force could be utilized for the gen-
eral welfare. Unfortunately, we have not yet reached that point,
and this progress will be denied us as long as the French Democ-
racy fail to demonstrate that if we would remake our country,
if we would return her to her grandeur, her power, and her
genius, it is the vital interest of her superior classes to elevate,
to emancipate this people of workers, who hold in reserve a

LEON GAMBETTA jgr

force Still virgin and able to develop inexhaustible treasures of
activities and aptitudes. We must learn and then teach the
peasant what he owes to society and what he has the right to
ask of her.

On the day when it will be well understood that we have no
grander or more pressing work; that we should put aside and
postpone all other reforms; that we have but one task, the in-
struction of the people, the diffusion of education, the encourage-
ment of science, — on that day a great step will have been taken
in your regeneration. But our action needs to be a double one,
that it may bear upon the body as well as the mind. To be
exact, each man should be intelligent, trained not only to think,
read, and reason, but able also to act, to fight! Everywhere be-
side the teacher, we should place the gymnast and the soldier,
to the end that our children, our soldiers, our fellow-citizens,
should be able to hold a sword, to carry a gun on a long march,
to sleep under the canopy of the stars, to support valiantly all the
hardships demanded of a patriot. We must push to the front
these two educations. Otherwise you make a success of letters,
but do not create a bulwark of patriots.

Yes, gentlemen, if they have outclassed us, if you had to sub-
mit to the supreme agony of seeing the France of Kleber and of
Hoche lose her two most patriotic provinces, those best embody-
ing at once the military, commercial, industrial, and democratic
spirit, we can blame only our inferior physical and moral condi-
tion. To-day the interests of our country command us to speak
no imprudent words, to close our lips, to sink to the bottom of
our hearts our resentments, to take up the grand work of national
regeneration, to devote to it all the time necessary, that it may be
a lasting work. If it need ten years, if it need twenty years,
then we must devote to it ten or twenty years. But we must
commence at once, that each year may see the advancing life of
a new generation, strong, intelligent, as much in love with science
as with the Fatherland, having in their hearts the double senti-
ment that he serves his country well only when he serves it
with his reason and his arm.

We have been educated in a rough school. We must there-
fore cure ourselves of the vanity which has caused us so many
disasters. We must also realize conscientiously where our respon-
sibility exists and, seeing the remedy, sacrifice all to the object
to be attained — to remake and reconstitute France! For that.

^gg LEON GAMBETTA

nothing should be accounted too good and we shall ask nothing
before this — the first demand must be for an education as com-
plete from base to summit as is known to human intelligence.
Naturally, merit must be recognized, aptitude awakened and ap-
proved, and honest and impartial judges freely chosen by their
fellow-citizens, deciding publicly in such a way that merit alone
will open the door. Reject as authors of mischief those who
have put words in the place of action; all those who have put
favoritism in the place of merit; all those who made the profes-
sion of arms not a means for the protection of France, but a
means of serving the caprices of a master, and sometimes of be-
coming the accomplices of his crimes. In one word let us get
back to truth, and let it be known to all the world that when
a citizen is bom in France, he is born a soldier; and that no
matter who he is, who would shirk his double duty of civil and
military instruction, he will be pitilessly deprived of his rights
as a citizen and an elector. Let the thought enter the very
souls of the present and coming generations, that in a democratic
government whoever is not ready to bear a share of its troubles
and trials is not fit to take part in the government. Thus, gen-
tlemen, you enter into the verity of democratic principles, which
are to honor labor and to make of industry and science the two
elements constituting the whole of free society. Oh, what a na-
tion we could make with such a discipline followed religiously
for a term of years, with the admirable adaptability of our race
for the production of thinkers, savants, heroes, and liberal spirits!
In thinking on this great subject, we rise swiftly above the sad-
ness of the present, to view the future with confidence.

It is better to have a Republican minority — firm, energetic,
vigilant in its attitude towards the acts of the majority — than
to be one of a majority of inconstant, lukewarm men, who seem
to be only able to carry on public affairs by compromising their
principles.

Following this first line of conduct, I would demonstrate by
such logic that there is to-day no other experiment in the way
of national reform possible than this of public education and na-
tional armament.

In seeing the accomplishment of this double reform, I shall
not take the time and patience to discuss lengthily the attendant
and lateral questions which are subordinated to the realization of
these first and capital necessities.

LEON GAMBETTA

197

It means the reconstruction of the blood, the bone, the very
marrow of France. Know it well: we must give everything,
our time, our money, to this supreme interest. The people will
not haggle over the millions needed for the education of the
poor and ignorant. They will question expenditure on the part
of those whose designs tend always to the restoration of mon
archies, to ridiculous disbursement, or to the subjection of the
country itself.

And in passing, gentlemen, one reason why the monarchy
cannot be restored among us is that we are no longer rich
enough to support it.

As a result we shall have resolved thereby the most vital of
all problems: the equalization of the classes, and the dissipation
of the pretended antagonism between the cities and the country.
We shall have suppressed political parasites and, by the diffusion
of knowledge to all, shall have given to the country its moral
and political vigor Thus we may attain a double insurance, —
one against crimes threatening the common right, by the eleva-
tion of the standard of public morality; the other against risk of
revolution, by giving satisfaction and security to the acquired
rights of some and to the legitimate aspirations of others.

Such is the program at once radical and conservative which
the Republic alone can accomplish. Then throughout the world
the friends of France would be reassured. She would emerge
regenerated by her great trials, and even under the blows of ill
fortune she would appear grander, more prosperous, prouder
than ever.

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD

(1831-1881)

^ORE than any other American President, Garfield had the tem-
perament and the mental habits of the orator. The attack
he made in 1864 on his colleague, Congressman Long, of Ohio,
was, undoubtedly, the spontaneous expression of his own deep'^st emo-
tions. It represented the feeling which was hurrying regiment after
regiment to the front, and it is doubtful if anything else said during
the whole course of the war is so nearly adequate as an expression
of the intensity of its passion. Sensitive in his physical organization,
easily moved to tenderness, and incapable of malice, Garfield had that
ready responsiveness to his own emotions, as well as to those of
others, which nearly always characterizes genius. This he showed
most strikingly in denouncing Long, as he did on other occasions in
Congress during the sectional contest. Intellectually, however, he
was by nature conservative, and his close association with Mr. Blaine
was a result of the intellectual sympathy between them. This much
may be added to what is said by Mr. Blaine himself in the remark-
able address published in the second volume of this work. That mas-
terly characterization ought to be read and re-read by every student
of the times in which these two great Americans did so much to
save the country from the destructive forces originating in civil war.

REVOLUTION AND THE LOGIC OF COERCION

(Delivered in the House of Representatives, April 8th, 1864, Against a Motion
to Negotiate for Peace with the Southern Confederacy)

Mr. Chairman: —

SHOULD be obliged to you if you would direct the Sergeant-
at-Arms to bring a white flag and plant it in the aisle be-
tween myself and my colleague [Congressman Alexander
Long, of Ohio], who has just addressed you.

I recollect on one occasion, when two great armies stood face
to face, that under a white flag just planted, I approached a com-
pany of men dressed in the uniform of the rebel Confederacy,
and reached out my hand to one of the number and told him I

198 -*

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD igg

respected him as a brave man. Though he wore the emblems of
disloyalty and treason, still underneath his vestments I beheld a
brave and honest soul.

I would reproduce that scene here this afternoon, I say,
were there such a flag of truce — but God forgive me if I should
do it under any other circumstances. I would reach out this
right hand and ask that gentleman to take it, because I honor
his bravery and his honesty. I believe what has just fallen from
his lips is the honest sentiment of his heart, and in uttering it he
has made a new epoch in the history of this war; he has done
a new thing under the sun; he has done a brave thing. It is
braver than to face cannon and musketry, and I honor him for
his calndor and frankness.

But now I ask you to take away the flag of truce; and I will
go back inside the Union lines, and speak of what he has done.
I am reminded by it of a distinguished character in * Paradise
Lost.* When he had rebelled against the glory of God, and "led
away a third part of heaven's sons, conjured against the Highest,^*
when, after terrible battles in which mountains and hills were
hurled down "nine times the space that measures day and night,*
and after the terrible fall lay stretched prone on the burning
lake, Satan lifted up his shattered bulk, crossed the abyss, looked
down into Paradise, and, soliloquizing, said . —

* Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell.®

It seems to me in that utterance he expressed the very senti-
ment to which you have just listened, — uttered by one no less
brave, malign, and fallen. This man gathers up the meaning of
this great contest, the philosophy of the moment, the prophecies
of the hour, and, in sight of the paradise of victory and peace,
utters them all in this wail of terrible despair: "Which way I
fly is hell.* He ought to add, "Myself am hell.*

But now, when hundreds of thousands of brave souls have
gone up to God under the shadow of the flag, and when thou-
sands more, maimed and shattered in the contest, are sadly await-
ing the deliverance of death; now, when three years of terrific
warfare have raged over us, when our armies have pushed the
rebellion back over mountains and rivers, and crowded it back
into narrow limits, until a wall of fire girds it; now, when the
uplifted hand of a majestic people is about to let fall the light-

^QQ JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD

ning of its conquering power upon the rebellion; now, in the
quiet of this hall, hatched in the lowest depths of a similar dark
treason, there rises a Benedict Arnold and proposes to surrender
us all up, body and spirit, the nation and the flag, its genius and
its honor, now and forever, to the accursed traitors to our coun-
try. And that proposition comes — God forgive and pity my be-
loved State 1 — it comes from a citizen of the honored and loyal
Commonwealth of Ohio I

I implore you. brethren in this House, not to believe that
many such births ever gave pangs to my mother State such as
she suffered when that traitor was born. I beg you not to be-
lieve that on the soil of that State another such growth has ever
deformed the face of nature, and darkened the light of God's
day. But ah! I am reminded that there are other such. My
zeal and love for Ohio have carried me too far. I retract. I
remember that only a few days since, a political convention met
at the capital of my State, and almost decided to select from
just such material a Representative for the Democratic party in
the coming contest; and to-day, what claim to be a majority
of the Democracy of that State say that they have been cheated,
or they would have made that choice. I, therefore, sadly take
back the boast I first uttered in behalf of my native State.

But, sir, I will forget States. We have something greater
than States and State pride to talk of here to-day. All personal
or State feeling aside, I ask you what is the proposition which
the enemy of his country has just made ? What is it ?

For the first time in the history of this contest, it is proposed
in this hall to give up the struggle, to abandon the war, and
let treason run riot through the land! I will, if I can, dismiss
feeling from my heart, and try to consider only what bears upon
that logic of the speech to which we have just listened.

First of all, the gentleman tells us that the right of secession
is a constitutional right. I do not propose to enter into the
argument. I have expressed myself hitherto upon State sover-
eignty and State rights, of which this proposition of his is the
legitimate child.

But the gentleman takes higher ground, — and in that I agree
with him, — namely, that five million or eight million people pos-
sess the right of revolution. Grant it; we agree there. If fifty-
nine men can make a revolution successful, they have the right
of revolution. If one State wishes to break it3 connection with

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD 2oi

the Federal Government, and does it by force, maintaining itself;
it is an independent State. If the eleven Southern States are
determined and resolved to leave the Union, to secede, to revolu-
tionize, and can maintain that revolution by force, they have the
revolutionary right to do so. Grant it. I stand on that platform
with the gentleman.

And now the question comes: Is it our constitutional duty to
let them do it ? That is the question, and in order to reach it I
beg to call your attention, not to an argument, but to the condi-
tion of affairs which would result from such action — the mere
statement of which becomes the strongest possible argument
What does this gentleman propose ? Where will he draw the line
of division ? If the rebels carry into successful secession what
they desire to carry; if their revolution envelop as many States as
they intend it shall envelop; if they draw the line where Isham
G. Harris, the rebel governor of Tennessee, in the rebel camp
near our lines, told Mr. Vallandigham they would draw it, — along
the line of the Ohio and of the Potomac; if they make good
their statement to him that they will never consent to any other
line, then I ask what is this thing that the gentleman proposes
to do?

He proposes to leave to the United States a territory reaching
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and one hundred miles wide in
the centre! From Wellsville, on the Ohio River, to Cleveland on
the Lakes, is one hundred miles. I ask you, Mr. Chairman, if there
be a man here so insane as to suppose that the American people
will allow their magnificent national proportions to be shorn to
so deformed a shape as this ?

I tell you, and I confess it here, that while I hope I have
something of human courage, I have not enough to contemplate
such a result. I am not brave enough to go to the brink of the
precipice of successful secession and look down into its damned
abyss. If my vision were keen enough to pierce to its bottom, I
would not dare to look. If there be a man here who dares con-
template such a scene, I look upon him either as the bravest of
the sons of women, or as a downright madman. Secession to
gain peace! Secession is the tocsin of eternal war. There can
be no end to such a war as will be inaugurated if this thing be
done.

Suppose the policy of the gentleman were adopted to-day.
Let the order go forth ; sound the *' recall " on your bugles, and

202 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD

let it ring from Texas to the far Atlantic, and tell the armies to
come back. Call the victorious legions to come back over the
battlefields of blood, forever now disgraced. Call them back
over the territory which they have conquered, Call them back,
and let the minions of secession chase them with derision and
jeers as they come. And then tell them that that man across
the aisle, from the free State of Ohio, gave birth to the mon-
strous proposition?

Mr. Chairman, if such a word should be sent forth through
the armies of the Union, the wave of terrible vengeance that
would sweep back over this land could never find a parallel in
the records of history Almost in the moment of final victory,
the ^* recall '^ is sounded by a craven people not deserving free-
dom! We ought every man -to be made a slave, should we sanc-
tion such a sentiment.

The gentleman has told us there is no such thing as coercion
justifiable under the Constitution. I ask him for one moment to
reflect that no statute was ever enforced without coercion. It is
the basis of every law in the universe — God's law as well as
man's. A law is no law without coercion behind it. When a
man has murdered his brother, coercion takes the murderer, tries
him, and hangs him. When you levy your taxes, coercion se-
cures their collection; it follows the shadow of the thief and
brings him to justice; it accompanies your diplomacy to foreign
countries, and backs the declaration of a nation's rights by a
pledge of the nation's power. But when the life of that nation
is imperiled, we are told it has no coercive power against the
parricides in its own bosom. Again, he tells us that oaths
taken under the Amnesty Proclamation are good for nothing.
The oath of Galileo, he says, was not binding upon him. I am
reminded of another oath that was taken; but perhaps it, too, v/as
an oath on the lips alone to which the heart made no response.

I remember to have stood in a line of nineteen men from
Ohio, on that carpet yonder, on the first day of the session, and
I remember that, with uplifted hands, before Almighty God, those
nineteen took an oath to support and maintain the Constitution
of the United States. And I remember that another oath was
passed around, and each member signed it as provided by law,
utterly repudiating the rebellion and its pretenses. Does the
gentleman not blush to speak of Galileo's oath ? Was not his
own its counterpart ?

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD ^

I said a little while ago that I accepted the proposition of the
gentleman that the rebels had the right of revolution; and the
decisive issue between us and the rebellion is, whether they
shall revolutionize and destroy, or we shall subdue and preserve.
We take the latter ground. We take the common weapons of
war to meet them; and, if these be not sufficient, I would take
any element which will overwhelm and destroy; I would sacrifice
the dearest and best beloved; I would take all the old sanctions
of law and the Constitution, and fling them to the winds, if nee
essary, rather than let the nation be broken in pieces, and its
people destroyed with endless ruin.

THE CONFLICT OF IDEAS IN AMERICA

(From the Reply to Lamar, Delivered in Committee of the Whole of the
House of Representatives)

Mr. Chairman : —

GREAT ideas travel slowly, and for a time noiselessly, as the
gods, whose feet are shod with wool. Our War of Inde
pendence was a war of ideas, of ideas evolved out of two
hundred years of slow and silent growth When, one hundred
years ago, our fathers announced as self-evident truths the decla
ration that all men are created equal, and the only just pov/er of
governments is derived from the consent of the governed, they
uttered a doctrine that no other nation had ever adopted, that
not one kingdom on the earth then believed Yet to our fathers
it was so plain that they would not debate it. They announced
it as a truth ^* self-evident. *

Whence came the immortal truth of the Declaration ? To me
this was tor years the riddle of our history I have searched
long and patiently through the books of the Doctrinaires to find
the germs from which the Declaration of Independence sprang.
I find hints in Locke, in Hobbes, in Rousseau, and F^nelon; but
i;hey were only the hints of dreamers and philosophers. The
great doctrines of the Declaration germinated in the hearts of
our fathers, and were developed under the new influences of this
wilderness world, by the same subtle m5'-stery which brings forth
the rose from the germ of the rose tree. Unconsciously to them-
selves, the great truths were growing under the new conditions,
until, like the century plant, they blossomed into the matchless

^^. JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD

beauty of the Declaration of Independence, whose fruitage, in-
creased and increasing, we enjoy to-day.

It will not do, Mr. Chairman, to speak of the gigantic revolu-
tion through which we have lately passed as a thing to be ad-
justed and settled by a change of administration. It was cyclical,
epochal, century-wide, and to be studied in its broad and grand
perspective — a revolution of even wider scope, so far as time is
concerned, than the Revolution of 1776. We have been dealing
with elements and forces which have been at work on this con-
tinent more than two hundred and fifty years, I trust I shall be
excused if I take a few moments to trace some of the leading
phases of the great struggle. And in doing so, I beg gentlemen
to see that the subject itself lifts us into a region where the in-
dividual sinks out of sight and is absorbed in the mighty current
of great events. It is not the occasion to award praise or pro-
nounce condemnation. In such a revolution men are like insects
that fret and toss in the storm, but are swept onward by the re-
sistless movements of elements beyond their control. I speak of
this revolution not to praise the men who aided it, or to censure
the men who resisted it, but as a force to be studied, as a man-
date to be obeyed.

In the year 1620 there were planted upon this continent two
ideas irreconcilably hostile to each other. Ideas are the great
warriors of the world; and a war that has no ideas behind it is
simply brutality. The two ideas were landed, one at Plymouth
Rock, from the Mayflower, and the other from a Dutch brig at
Jamestown. Virginia. One was the old doctrine of Luther, that
private judgment, in politics as well as religion, is the right and
duty of every man; and the other, that capital should own labor,
that the negro had no rights of manhood, and the white man
might justly buy, own, and sell him and his offspring forever.
Thus freedom and equality, on the one hand, and, on the other, the
slavery of one race and the domination of another, were the two
germs planted on this continent. In our vast expanse of wilder-
ness, for a long time there was room for both; and cheir advo-
cates began their race across the continent, each developing the
social and political institutions of their choice. Both had vast in-
terests in common, and for a long time neither was conscious of
the fatal antagonisms that were developing.

For nearly two centuries there was no serious collision; but
when the continent began to fill up, and the people began to

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD 20t;

jostle each other; when the Roundhead and the Cavalier came
near enough to measure opinions, the irreconcilable character of
the two doctrines began to appear. Many conscientious men
studied the subject, and came to the belief that slavery was a
crime, a sin, or, as Wesley said, *^ the sum of all villainies. '^ This
belief dwelt in small minorities for a long time. It lived in the
churches and vestries, but later found its way into the civil and
political organizations of the country, and finally found its way
into this chamber. A few brave, clear-sighted, far-seeing men
announced it here, a little more than a generation ago. A pred-
ecessor of mine, Joshua R. Giddings, following the lead of John
Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, almost alone held up the ban-
ner on this floor, and from year to year comrades came to his
side. Through evil and through good report, he pressed the
question upon the conscience of the nation, and bravely stood in
his place in this House, until his white locks, like the plume of
Henry of Navarre, showed where the battle of freedom raged
most fiercely.

And so the contest continued; the supporters of slavery be-
lieving honestly and sincerely that slavery was a divine institu-
tion; that it found its high sanctions in the living oracles of
God and in a wise political philosophy; that it was justified by
the necessities of their situation; and that slaveholders were mis-
sionaries to the dark sons of Africa, to elevate and bless them.
We are so far past the passions of that early time that we can
now study the progress of the struggle as a great and inevitable
development, without sharing in the crimination and recrimina-
tion that attended it. If both sides could have seen that it was
a contest beyond their control; if both parties could have real-
ized the truth that ^^ unsettled questions have no pity for the
repose of nations," much less for the fate of political parties,
the bitterness, the sorrow, the tears, and the blood might have
been avoided. But we walked in darkness, our paths obscured
by the smoke of the conflict, each following his own convictions
through ever-increasing fierceness, until the debate culminated in
*Uhe last argument to which kings resort.*

This conflict of opinion was not merely one of sentimental
feeling; it involved our whole political system; it gave rise to
two radically different theories of the nature of our government;
the North believing and holding that we were a nation, the
South insisting that we were only a confederation of sovereign

2Qg JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD

States, and insisting that each State had the right, at its own
discretion, to break the Union, and constantly threatening seces-
sion where the full rights of slavery were not acknowledged.

Thus the defense and aggrandizement of slavery, and the
hatred of abolitionism, became, not only the central idea of the
Democratic party, but its master passion — a passion intensified
and inflamed by twenty-five years of fierce political contest, which
had not only driven from its ranks all those who preferred free-
dom to slavery, but had absorbed all the extreme pro-slavery ele-
ments of the fallen Whig party. Over against this was arrayed
the Republican party, asserting the broad doctrines of nationality
and loyalty, insisting that no State had a right to secede, that se-
cession was treason, and demanding that the institution of slavery
should be restricted to the limits of the States where it already
existed. But here and there many bolder and more radical
thinkers declared, with Wendell Phillips, that there never could
be union and peace, freedom and prosperity, until we were will-
ing to see John Hancock under a black skin.

Mr. Chairman, ought the Republican party to surrender its
truncheon of command to the Democracy ? The gentleman from
Mississippi says, if this were England the ministry would go out
within twenty-four hours with such a state of things as we have
here. Ah, yes! that is an ordinary case of change of administra-
tion. But if this were England, what would she have done at
the end of the war ? England made one such mistake as the
gentleman asks this country to make, when she threw away the
achievements of the grandest man that ever trod her highway of
power. Oliver Cromwell had overturned the throne of despotic
power, and had lifted his country to a place of masterful great-
ness among the nations of the earth; and when, after his death,
his great sceptre was transferred to a weak, though not unlineal
hand, his country, in a moment of reactionary blindness, brought
back the Stuarts. England did not recover from that folly until,
in 1689, the Prince of Orange drove from her island the last of
that weak and wicked line.

I will close by calling your attention again to the great prob-
lem before us. Over this vast horizon of interests, North and
South, above all party prejudices and personal wrongdoing, above
our battle hosts and our victorious cause, above all that we hoped
for and won, or you hoped for and lost, is the grand, onward
movement of the Republic to perpetuate its glory, to save liberty

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD >,q_

alive, to preserve exact and equal justice to all, to protect and
foster all these priceless principles, until they shall have crystal-
lized into the form of enduring law, and become inwrought into
the life and habits of our people.

And, until these great results are accomplished, it is not safe
to take one step backward. It is still more unsafe to trust in-
terests of such measureless value in the hands of an organization
whose members have never comprehended their epoch, have
never been in sympathy with its great movements, who have re-
sisted every step of its progress, and whose principal function
has been —

* To lie in cold obstruction *

across the pathway of the nation.

No, no, gentlemen, our enlightened and patriotic people will
not follow such leaders in the rearward march! Their myriad
faces are turned the other way; and along their serried lines
still rings the cheering cry : ^^ Forward ! till our great work is
fully and worthily accomplished.*

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON

(1804-1879)

siLUAM Lloyd Garrison became an orator by force of the un-
compromising convictions which made him, as a journahst,
the head and front of the agitation for the immediate and
unconditional aboUtion of slavery in the United States. Of the many
speeches he made between 183 1 and 1861, that on the death of John
Brown has the greatest historic interest, and is doubtless the most char-
acteristic.

Garrison was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, December 12th,
1804, and was bred to the printer's trade. He began to write at an
early period of his career, but his first impetus as a leader of the agita-
tion against slavery seems to have been given by his employment as a
compositor on Benjamin Lundy's Genius of Universal Emancipation —
a publication of which Garrison became associate editor. Lundy leaned
to gradual emancipation, colonization, and a general policy of mildness
towards the slave-owners. Garrison's individuality as a leader of the
immediate abolition movement was not fully developed until 1831, when
he founded the Liberator, in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1832 he or-
ganized an Abolition Society in Boston and followed this preliminary
work by organizing the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, of which
he was president from 1843 to 1865. Through the Liberator and
through the work of the Anti-Slavery Society, he opposed, with de-
termined earnestness, the efforts of Clay, Webster, Choate, Everett, and
others, to effect compromises and secure postponement. His influence
was greater in forcing issues than that of all the great statesmen of his
day in attempting to evade them, and it was in recognition of this fact
that, after the fall of Charleston, he was sent there to make, in 1865,
the speech which virtually closed his political career. He took no active
part in the politics of the reconstruction period, and when he died, May
24th, 1879, he had outlived all active animosity and had become one of
the great historical figures of the Civil War period,

208

THE LAST MOMENTS OF JOHN BROWN.
After the Painting by Thomas Hovenden.

[HE painting by Hovenden is now exhibited in the galleries of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It is the most
striking historical painting in the galleries — though perhaps the
incident which inspired it should be called traditional rather than historical.
Whether it is true or not, the story that Brown stopped on Jiis way to the
scaffold to kiss a negro baby is eminently characteristic of the times, whose
spirit is expressed by William Lloyd Garrison.

fWRj

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON ^OQ

"BEGINNING A REVOLUTION »

(From a Speech at a Mass Meeting at Concord, Massachusetts, September 22d,
1845, Reported in the Liberator)

AN OVERWHELMING majority of the whole people are prepared
to indorse this horrible deed of Texan annexation. The
hearts of the few who hate it are giving way in despair;
the majority have got the mastery. Shall we therefore retreat,
acknowledge ourselves conquered, and fall into the ranks of the
victors ? Shall we agree that it is idle, insane, to contend for the
right any longer ?

Sir, I dreaded, almost, when I heard this convention called. I
will be frank with you. I am afraid you are not ready to do
your duty; and if not, you will be made a laughingstock by ty-
rants and their tools, and it ought to be so.

I have nothing to say, sir — nothing. I am tired of words —
tired of hearing strong things said, when there is no heart to
carry them out. When we are prepared to state the whole truth,
and die for it, if necessary, — when, like our fathers, we are pre-
pared to take our ground, and not shrink from it, counting- not
our lives dear unto us, — when we are prepared to let all earthly
hopes go by the board — then let us say so; till then the less we
say the better, in such an emergency as this.

*^ But who are we ? ^* will men ask, "that talk of such things?
Are we enough to make a revolution ? *^ No, sir ; but we are
enough to begin one, and, once begun, it can never be turned
back. I am for revolution were I utterly alone. I am there be-
cause I must be there. I must cleave to the right. I cannot
choose but obey the voice of God. Now, there are but few who
do not cling to their agreement with hell, and obey the voice of
the devil. But soon the number who shall resist will be multi-
tudinous as the stars of heaven.

In the beginning, what a gross absurdity did our fathers ex-
hibit ! — trying to do what is not in the power of God — to recon-
cile the irreconcilable — to make Slavery and Freedom mingle
and cohere! It can never be. Look at the lover of freedom
and the advocate of slavery, the slaveholder and the abolitionist,
at this day. Do they acknowledge the same God ? Do they
worship at the same shrine ? A government composed of both
is impossible; and he who would pass for a lover of freedom
6 — 14

^^^ William lloyd GARkisoisi

should have found it out. Do not tell me of our past union,
and for how many years we have been one. We were only one
while we were ready to hunt, shoot down, and deliver up the
slave, and allow the Slave Power to form an oligarchy on the
floor of Congress! The moment we say no to this, the Union
ceases — the Government falls.

The question now is, shall there longer remain any freemen
in this country? — for, of course, if we continue with the South,
standing with her, and by her, in her aggressions upon Mexico —
if we see her taking foreign territory to herself, and yet aid her
in retaining it, we are as bad as she — betrayers of our sacred
trust of freedom, and forgers of our own chains.

I thank God that, as has been stated by you, sir, we stand
on common ground here to-day. I pray God that party and
sect may not be remembered. I trust that the only question we
shall feel like asking each other is: Are we prepared to stand by
the cause of God and Liberty, and to have no union with slave-
holders ?

ON THE DEATH OF JOHN BROWN

(Delivered in Tremont Temple, December 2d, 1859, <In Relation to the
Execution of John Brown.* Reported in the Liberator)

GOD forbid that we should any longer continue the accom-
plices of thieves and robbers, of men-stealers and women-
whippers! We must join together in the name of freedom.
As for the Union — where is it and what is it ? In one half of
it, no man can exercise freedom of speech or the press — no man
can utter the words of Washington, of Jefferson, of Patrick
Henry — except at the peril of his life; and Northern men are
everywhere hunted and driven from the South, if they are sup-
posed to cherish the sentiment of freedom in their bosoms. We
are living under an awful despotism — that of a brutal slave oli-
garchy. And they threaten to leave us, if we do not continue to
do their evil work, as we have hitherto done it, and go down in
the dust before them! Would to heaven they would go! It
would only be the paupers clearing out from the town, would it
not ? But, no, they do not mean to go ; they mean to cling to
you, and they mean to subdue you. But will you be subdued ?
I tell you our work is the dissolution of this slavery-cursed Un-
ion, if we would have a fragment of our liberties left to us!

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON 2ii

Surely between freemen, who believe in exact justice and im-
partial liberty, and slaveholders, who are for cleaning down all
human rights at a blow, it is not possible there should be any
Union whatever. " How can two walk together except they be
agreed ? ^^ The slaveholder with his hands dripping in blood, —
will I make a compact with him ? The man who plunders
cradles, — will I say to him: "Brother, let us walk together in
unity *^ ? The man who, to gratify his lust or his anger, scourges
woman with the lash till the soil is red with her blood, — will I
say to him : " Give me your hand ; let us form a glorious Un-
ion'* ? No, never — never! There can be no union between us:
" What concord hath Christ with Belial ? '^ What union has free-
dom with slavery ? Let us tell the inexorable and remorseless
tyrants of the South that their conditions hitherto imposed upon
us, whereby we are morally responsible for the existence of
slavery, are horribly inhuman and wicked, and we cannot carry
them out for the sake of their evil company.

By the dissolution of the Union, we shall give the finishing
blow to the slave system ; and then God will make it possible
for us to form a true, vital, enduring, all-embracing Union, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, — one God to be worshiped, one Sav-
ior to be revered, one policy to be carried out, — freedom every-
where to all the people, without regard to complexion or race, —
and the blessing of God resting upon us all! I want to see that
glorious day! Now the South is full of tribulation and terror
and despair, going down to irretrievable bankruptcy, and fearing
each bush an officer! Would to God it might all pass away like
a hideous dream ! And how easily it might be ! What is it that
God requires of the South, to remove every root of bitterness, to
allay every fear, to fill her borders with prosperity ? But one
simple act of justice, without violence and convulsion, without
danger and hazard. It is this : *' Undo the heavy burdens, break
every yoke, and let the oppressed go free ! '* Then shall thy light
break forth as the morning, and thy darkness shall be as the
noonday. Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer; thou
shalt cry, and he shall say : " Here I am. " " And they that shall
be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up
the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called
the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.^^

How simple and how glorious! It is the complete solution of
all the difficulties in the case. Oh. that the South may be wis*

2J2 WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON

before it is too late, and give heed to the word of the Lord!
But, whether she will hear or forbear, let us renew our pledges
to the cause of bleeding humanity, and spare no effort to make
this truly the land of the free and the refuge of the oppressed!

^* Onward, then, ye fearless band,
Heart to heart, and hand to hand;
Yours shall be the Christian stand,
Or the martyr's grave.*

THE UNION AND SLAVERY

(Delivered at the Celebration of Independence Day, July 5th, 1850, and Re
ported in the Liberator)

I AM at a loss to know what our friend Mr. Phillips meant
when he said that, being a nonvoter, he could not sign the

petition asking the legislature of Massachusetts to decree
the freedom of every fugitive slave coming into this State. I
should like to hear from him somewhat more definitely on this
point. For one, I intend to sign the petition and to get as many
signatures to it as I can, and I, also, am a nonvoter. It is true,
what we cannot do ourselves, we cannot do by another; but I
can and do, as an individual, make the decree that I wish the
legislature to make respecting every fugitive slave coming into
this State. True, my decree will not avail much; but when the
people of this Commonwealth shall add their voices to mine, their
decree will be potential. Now, to their shame, they are in cove-
nant with Southern slaveholders not to allow the trembling
fugitive to find safety and freedom among them. It is a wicked
covenant, and I ask them to obliterate it, and to write in the
place of it : * Every fugitive slave shall be free as soon as he
touches the soil of Massachusetts ! *

But it will probably be objected that to ask Massachusetts to
make such a decree, while she stands constitutionally pledged to
permit the slave hunter to seize his victim, is to ask her to be
guilty of perfidy, and is tantamount to a dissolution of the
Union. Nevertheless, I say, Massachusetts is morally bound to
protect every fugitive slave coming within her limits; and if the
legislature shall avow to the world that she cannot do this, be-
cause of her constitutional stipulation to do just the reverse of
it, that is just the confession I desire to be made "before all

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON 21 3

Israel and the sun,* to convict her, out of her own mouth, of
being a kidnaping State, and willing to continue such, for the
sake of remaining in a slaveholding Union. If she tell me she
can pass the decree for which we petition, and go out of the
Union, then I say to her : ^^ Pass it, and let the Union slide ! *
People of Massachusetts, before God it is your duty to *^hide the
outcast and betray not him that wandereth.'* See that you do
it, whether the Union stand or fall!

SPEECH AT CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1865
(Delivered April 14th, 1865 — Reported in the Liberator)

My Friends: —

I AM so unused to speaking in this place that I rise with feel-
ings natural to a first appearance. You would scarce expect
one of my age — and antecedents — to speak in public on this
stage, or anywhere else in the city of Charleston, South Carolina.
And yet, why should I not speak here ? Why should I not speak
anywhere in my native land ? Why should I not have spoken
here twenty years ago, or forty, as freely as any one ? What
crime had I committed against the laws of my country ? I have
loved liberty for myself, for all who are dear to me, for all who
dwell on American soil, for all mankind. The head and front of
my offending hath this extent, no more. Thirty years ago I put
this sentiment into rhyme: —

<* I am an Abolitionist ;

I glory in the name;
Though now by Slavery's minions hissed,

And covered o'er with shame.
It is a spell of light and power,

The watchword of the free;
Who spurns it in the trial hour,

A craven soul is he.®

I said that in the city of Boston in 1835, ^^^^ I was drawn
through the streets of that city by violent hands, and committed
to jail in order to preserve my life. In 1865, I say it, not only
with impunity, but with the approbation of all loyal hearts in the
city of Charleston. Yes, we are living in altered times. To me
it is something like the transition from death to life — from the

214

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON

cerements of the grave to the robes of heaven. In 1829 I first
hoisted in the city of Baltimore the flag- of immediate, uncondi-
tional, uncompensated emancipation; and they threw me into
their prison for preaching such gospel truth. My reward is, that
in 1865 Maryland has adopted Garrisonian Abolitionism, and ac-
cepted a constitution indorsing every principle and idea that I
have advocated in behalf of the oppressed slave.

The first time I saw that noble man, Abraham Lincoln, Presi-
dent of the United States, at Washington, — and of one thing I
feel sure, either he has become a Garrisonian Abolitionist, or I
have become a Lincoln Emancipationist, for I know that we blend
together, like kindred drops, into one, and his brave heart beats
for human freedom everywhere, — I then said to him : " Mr. Pres»
ident, it is thirty-four years since I visited Baltimore; and when
I went there recently to see if I could find the old prison, and,
(f possible, get into my old cell again, I found that all was
gone.-*^ The President answered promptly and wittily, as he is
wont to make his responses : ** Well, Mr. Garrison, the difference
between 1830 and 1864 appears to be this, that in 1830 you could
not get out, and in 1864 you could not get in.'^ This symbolizes
the revolution which has been brought about in Maryland. For
if I had spoken till I was as hoarse as I am to-night against
slavery and slaveholders in Baltimore, there would have been no
indictment brought against me, and no prison opened to receive
me.

But upon a broader, sublimer basis than that, the United
States has at last rendered its verdict. The people, on the eighth
of November last, recorded their purpose that slavery in our
country should be forever abolished; and the Congress of the
United States at its last session adopted, and nearly the requisite
number of States have already voted in favor of, an amendment
to the Constitution of the country, making it forever unlawful for
any man to hold property in man. I thank God in view of these
great changes. Abolitionism, what is it ? Liberty. What is lib-
erty ? Abolitionism. What are they both ? Politically, one is the
Declaration of Independence; religiously, the other is the Golden
Rule of our Savior.

I am here in Charleston, South Carolina. She is smitten to
the dust. She has been brought down from her pride of place.
The chalice was put to her lips, and she has drunk it to the
dregs. I have never been her enemy, nor the enemy of the

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON 2115

South, and in the desire to save her from this great retribution,
demanded in the name of the living God that every fetter should
be broken, and the oppressed set free. I have not come here
with reference to any flag but that of freedom. If your Union
does not symbolize universal emancipation, it brings no Union for
me. If your Constitution does not guarantee freedom for all, it
is not a Constitution I can ascribe to If your flag is stained by
the blood of a brother held in bondage, I repudiate it in the
name of God. I came here to witness the unfurling of a flag
under which every human being is to be recognized as entitled
to his freedom. Therefore, with a clear conscience, without any
compromise of principles, I accepted the invitation of the Govr
ernment of the United States to be present and witness the
ceremonies that have taken place to-day.

And now let me give the sentiment which has been, and ever
will be, the governing passion of my soul : " Liberty for each, for
all, and forever ! **

MARGUERITE ELIE GAUDET

(1755-1794)

[audet's speech against Robespierre in April 1793 forced is-
sues between the Girondists and the Jacobins to such a point
that the more moderate men among the Jacobins lost con-
trol and the Girondists were sent to his scaffold. Danton, in trying
to restrain Gaudet, said : << Gaudet, you do not know how to sacrifice
your opinion to your patriotism ; you do not know how to pardon.
You will be the victim of your own opinionativeness.'^

By his associates, Gaudet was called ^< the ^schines of the Gironde.*
With Vergniaud and Gensonne, he was one of its three most promi-
nent spokesmen. He was born near Bordeaux in 1755, of a respect-
able middle-class family. His father, a wine-broker, was not wealthy,
but by the bounty of a wealthy widow of Bordeaux, Gaudet received
a collegiate education, and in 1781 was called to the bar of Bordeaux,
where he became eminent. P^ntering active politics in 1790, he was
affiliated with the Girondists throughout their struggle with the
Jacobins, and in 1792 he was elected President of the Convention.
He voted for the death of the King, but led the Girondists in attack-
ing Robespierre, and on June 19th, 1794, went to the scaffold. His
most representative speeches are given in the original, by Stephens,
in his excellent collection.

REPLY TO ROBESPIERRE
(From His Speech of April 15th, 1793, Delivered in the National Convention)

Citizens : —

PERMIT me to make a single reflection. It comes from my
soul. When we wished war, all France wished it with us.
Robespierre alone, in his pride, did not wish it, because he
never wishes what others desire. It was not a question of
whether we wished it, or not, for it was a question of self-
defense. The armies of the enemy were already united; they
were marching on French territory; a treaty of coalition between
two powers having no other object than the destruction of French
liberty had been made, and the emigrants had united their forces

216

ROUGBT DB L'ISLB SINGING THB MARSBILLAISB.
Photogravure after the Picture by Pils iyi the Louvre.

[he Marseillaise hymn was composed at Strasburg on the night of
April 24th, 1792, by Claude Joseph Rouget de L'Isle, then a cap-
tain of engineers. On April 25th it was sung at the house of the
mayor (Dietrich), copied and arranged for a military band, by which it was
performed publicly for the first time at a review of the National guard on
Sunday, April 29th. Grove says, in his "Dictionary of Music," that it was
sung at a Civic banquet in Marseilles, on June 2Sth, with such effect that
copies of it were printed and distributed to the volunteers then on the eve of
starting to Paris. They entered Paris, July 30th, singing it, and they sang
it again as they marched to the attack on the Tuileries on August loth of
the same year. The picture by Pils shows the scene of the first rendition
by the composer himself, in the mayor's house on April 25th.

MARGUERITE 6LIE GAUDET 217

in its support. ^^ Should we permit ourselves to be subjugated ? ^*
The De Lessarts of the time counseled you; the Durosoys coun-
seled also. De Lessart said: ^^ Temporize; the enemy are not
yet ready.'' Hence I discover a new resemblance between Rob-
espierre and our mutual friends. The war was desired; we must
have it of necessity; it was forced on us at the risk of being
subjugated; it was wanted by the nation as the nation had
wanted the Republic. How does it happen then that now, be-
cause of reverses which they themselves prepared, they calumni-
ate a measure to which I gave no active assistance, except in ex-
pressing an opinion in the Legislative Assembly — an opinion I
wrote and did not pronounce because the Assembly adopted the
measure with enthusiasm and without discussion. How comes it,
then, that we are reproached with the declaration of war? Citi-
zens, they reproach us after they have drawn reverses on us, as
if, following their hopes never to be realized I trust, the Republic
should perish and they should expose us for having wished the
Republic. *^ But as for the war, Lafayette wished it in order to
act as general ! and we were in communication with him ! '' This
is what they say of us! Let me here disclose a fact that Robes-
pierre knew perfectly well, for it is attested by men Robespierre
knew well, — whom he certainly will not suspect — if it can be
that there is any one whom Robespierre is able not to suspect!

The source of the greatest part of the calumnies directed
against us is our pretended communication with Lafayette. We
have had I know not what sort of a story of a dinner with La-
fayette, with consequence after consequence attributed to it, until
we arrive finally at the charge of treason. This, citizens, is what
it is. One of our colleagues in the National Assembly, who is
Qow suffering for liberty — I will say nothing unfavorable of him,
and I am far from suspecting him in any way; as I do not
think he could be so suspected unless by a diabolical malevo-
lence— hence I shall say simply — one of our colleagues in the
Assembly, Lamarque, invited us, Ducos, Grangeneuve, and my-
self, to dine with him. Several other deputies dropped in. Af-
ter the dinner we went into the apartment of a friend of our
host, who lived on the same floor with him; When Lafayette
was announced, then, as if by instinct, and without having com-
municated with each other, — for Lafayette had been judged by
us long before, -Grangeneuve, Ducos, and I, without saluting
any one, took our hats and canes and went away. This casual

218.

MARGUERITE ELIE GAUDET

meeting at which I had seen Lafayette was distorted by the
Jacobins into a veritable "exchange of intelligence^^ with him,
and as we disdained to reply to these yelpings, the reports ac-
quired some consistence. Let us pass over a few instances and
hasten to the proofs! You accuse us of having had communica-
tion with Lafayette. But where did you hide yourselves the day
we saw him in the splendor of his power proceed from the palace
of the Tuileries even to this bar, in the midst of acclamations
which made themselves heard on this floor as if to intimidate
the representatives of the people! I — I alone, ascended the trib-
une; I accused him, not furtively as you did, Robespierre, but
publicly. He was there; I accused him. The motion which I
made was put to a vote, in which the patriots did not have the
victory. These are the facts! And yet, everlasting calumniator!
with what have you opposed me if not with your habitual
dreamings and insulting conjectures ?

This is no doubt sufficient! I have put before you my politi-
cal career. It is not in the dark nor in cellars you have seen
me work for liberty. It would have been sufficiently easy to ac-
cuse me on the evidence, could they have obtained evidence; and
their impotence in finding proofs after their long meditation on
this great " treason ^^ proves that none existed. Yet with what
audacity did they say : " This is a chain with the first link in
London and the last at Paris, and this link is golden *^ ! Thus
we have been accused of having been corrupted, of having sold
ourselves to England, of having received gold from Pitt for the
betrayal of our country! Well, where are, then, these treasures?
Come ! You, who would accuse me, come to my home ! Come
and see my wife and children eating the bread of poverty !
Come and see the honorable mediocrity in which we live! Visit
me in my department; see if my sparse acres have increased;
see me arrive at the Assembly! Am I drawn by superb horses!
Infamous calumniator! I am corrupted! Where are my treas-
ures? Ask of those who have known me; ask if I was ever ac-
cessible to corruption ? Find the weak whom I have oppressed !
Where are the powerful whom I have not attacked ? Where is
the friend that I have ever betrayed ? Ah ! citizens, why cannot
each one of us unroll his whole life! Then would we know
whom to esteem, and whom to execrate; for those who have
always been good fathers, good husbands, good friends, will always
surely be good citizens. Public virtues are made uo of private

MARGUERITE ELIE GAUDET 2IO

virtues; and I feel how much we should be on guard against
those who speak of " Satis Culottes '' to the people, while they
themselves live in insolent ostentation. I feel that we must be on
guard against those men who vaunt themselves as patriots par
excellence, and yet could not stand an investigation on one — not
on a single one, of their actions in private life!

Perhaps I have devoted time enough to a role to which my
conscience is unaccustomed. It is time to pass on to the part my
duty obliges me to assume. *A chain," you say, "extending from
London to Paris ! *^ I believe it ! " It is a chain of corruption ! "
I still believe it. And without it, would we have here, even here,
these same people, applauding your movements, guiding them-
selves by your wishes ? Yes, I understand it ! — Pitt or some
other criminal coalition works against us by intrigue. But sup-
posing that some one were here to accomplish his ends, the de-
struction of the Republic and of liberty, what would such a one
do ? He would have commenced by depraving the public moral-
ity, that the citizens might be in his hands what they formerly
were, what they still are in some sections in the hands of the
priests: he would have brought the National Assembly into dis-
repute and contempt; he would have robbed it of public confi-
dence; he would have sown in the Republic, and especially in the
city where the Convention sat, the love of pillage, the love of
murder! He would have made audible the voice of blood!

KING GEORGE V

(186S-)

|s a habit of British royalty, oratory is a development of the
modern spirit, hardly dating back of the birth of her late
Majesty, Queen Victoria. In the republic of letters at least,
both the Queen and Prince Albert were so democratic that it might not
be easy for their descendants, inheriting talents as writers and speakers,
to decide from which of them came the greater force of the impulse
toward expression, which until the Nineteenth Century was denied
royalty. As under modern usages King George V, while Prince of
Wales, was often called on to speak for royalty on public occasions, the
unkindest criticism admits that he did it well. Such addresses as that
in which he defines the "priceless gift" of printing and of a free press
are as valuable to civilization as if they had come from the best speaker
of the Commons, with talents developed through such opportunities
for exercising them as even the Twentieth Century has not yet been
willing to concede to royalty.

His address on printing and the modern press, as here given, omits
portions belonging to the occasion only. As republished from the
verbatim report of the London Times on the morning after its delivery,
it will bear comparison with the best "after-dinner" speeches of the
century, royal or otherwise.

THE PRICELESS GIFT OF PRINTING

(From the Address by the Prince of Wales at the 82d Anniversary Dinner

in Aid of the Printers' Pension, Almshouse and Orphan Asylum

Corporation, at the Hotel Cecil, London, May 21st, 1909)

YOUR Excellencies, my Lords, and Gentlemen: It is with feel-
ings of sincere gratitude that I rise to return thanks for the
most enthusiastic reception which you have given to the toast
which has just been proposed by my friend, the Duke of Marl-
borough, in such kind and sympathetic terms. I am sure that the
Queen and the Princess, and, indeed, all our family, are ever ready

220

KING GEORGE V. 221

to identify themselves with the support of charitable undertakings,
which, as the Duke truly says, are an essential feature of our public
life. He was good enough to allude to the visits which the Prin-
cess and I made last week to the establishments of the King's Print-
ers and to the office of the Daily Telegraph. It was most inter-
esting to have these glimpses into the great printing world. We
were astonished at the wonderful mechanical appliances in the work
of the compositor, in the stereotyping, and in the actual printing
machinery, and it was a pleasure to see the favorable conditions and
surroundings under which all this work is carried out. As to my-
self, the Duke was far too flattering in his allusions to whatever I
have been able to do in the discharge of my public duties. I should
like to take this opportunity of expressing my warmest thanks to
this very large and representative assembly for so kindly coming
here to-night to give me their valuable support. And I can only
assure you how happy I am to be associated with you all in helping
a charity on behalf of those from whose labors we derive some of
the most precious blessings of life. In proposing the toast of pros-
perity to the Printers' Pension, Almshouse and Orphan Asylum
Corporation, I recall the names of those to whom this duty has been
entrusted in the past. I have already mentioned that the King pre-
sided at the dinner in 1895. Lord John Russell did so at the first
festival, in 1828, and among his many distinguished successors were
Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Gladstone, Charles Dickens, Tom Taylor, Dean
Stanley, and my uncle, the late Duke of Cambridge. They gladly
came to plead the cause of this important charity. And is it not
one which has claims upon us all? The printer is the invisible
friend of all who have written, all who have read. The printing
press is the source of the life-blood of the civilized world ! Stop its
pulsations, and collapse, social, political and commercial, must in-
evitably follow.

The noble art of printing has been the generous giver of knowl-
edge— religious, scientific and artistic. It has been the instrument
of truth, liberty and freedom. It has added to life comfort, recre-
ation and refinement. And yet, how comparatively recently in the
world's history did mankind become possessed of this priceless gift.
In 1637, we are told, the Star Chamber limited the number of print-
ers in England to 20. Fifty years later, except in London and

222 KING GEORGE V.

at the two Universities, Oxford and Cambridge, there was scarcely
a printer in the Kingdom ; the only press north of the Trent was at
York. In 1724, there were 34 counties, including Lancashire, in
which there w^ere no printers. In 1901, the census showed that in
England and Wales, over 107,000 men and nearly 11,000 women
were employed in the printing and lithographic trades. Until the
License Act was abolished in 1695, there was only one newspaper
in these islands — the London Gazette. Its total circulation was
8,000 copies — much less than one to each parish in the Kingdom,
and no political intelligence could be published in it without the
King's license. Since 1760, the London Gazette has been print-
ed by the house of Harrison. The head of the firm is present here
to-night, and is the fourth direct descendant of the original found-
ers of the business. To-day there are some 1,300 daily, weekly
and monthly publications issued in London alone. In 1771 the
House of Commons issued a proclamation forbidding the publica-
tion of its debates, and six printers Avho defied it were summoned
to the bar of the House. To-da}'- the Times supplies us with
almost a verbatim report of the parliamentary debates by 5 o'clock
the next morning. In 1852, as we are told in the "Life of Delane."
the daily issue of the Times was 40,000; the Morning Advertiser
came next with 7,000, the remaining principal London papers
averaging slightly over 3,000. To-day, the printing machines of
many of the London morning papers turn out upwards of 20,000
copies per hour; so that within rather more than half a century
the circulation of the London daily press has increased from tens
to hundreds of thousands. In the colonies and in India there has
been a corresponding development in the art of printing. The
official account of our visit to India in 1905 was published in Bom-
bay; in all details it was the result of Indian work, and I imagine
it would bear comparison with the best of our home productions.

With regard to the printer's life, while legislation and the gen-
eral advance of civilization have done much both regarding his
wages, hours of work, and his surroundings, it is probable that
keen competition and modern requirements render it more strenuous
than ever. The profession is to be congratulated upon still main-
taining the old system of apprenticeship for a term of seven years,
while, thanks to the excellent classes formed in the technical insti-

KING GEORGK V. 223

tutions both in London and in the provinces, the apprentices are
able to supplement the knowledge obtained in the workshops, where
the work is becoming every year more and more specialized. 1
hope it will not be considered out of place if I remind my friend the
American Ambassador, who has been kind enough to support me
this evening, that the great Benjamin Franklin worked as a printer
for nearly two years in London, and the printing press which he
used is now in the possession of the Philosophical Society of Phila-
delphia. It is an interesting fact that various circumstances have
combined to remove, to a considerable extent, book printing from
London to the country. But besides the daily and weekly news-
papers, most of the magazines and periodicals are still printed in
London; and as all, or nearly all, the daily papers go to press after
midnight, we may say that, practically, London sleeps while her
printers are working. And while we regard it as a matter of
course that our newspapers are on the breakfast table, do we realize
the industry, thought, attention and accuracy which has been be-
stowed on those pages, not only by the printer, but by the corre-
spondents and reporters?

Members of Parliament and public men are, I imagine, quick
to recognize with gratitude the consideration with which their
utterances are dealt with in the columns of our newspapers. Sir
Robert Peel, the Prime Minister, speaking on this subject, once said :
"We ought to consider ourselves greatly indebted to the gentlemen
of the press. For who of us, as we sit at our breakfast table of a
morning, would like to see our speech of the previous night reported
verbatim?"

JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS

(1 834-)

iHE Parliament of Religions, held at Chicago during the World's
Fair, was, without doubt, the first religious congress ever
held which represented, even approximately, all the religions
of the earth. The principal creeds of both hemispheres and every
considerable denomination of Christians were represented in addresses
delivered before the Parliament. Among those addresses, none was
more remarkable than that of Cardinal Gibbons. Representing the
strictest orthodoxy of the Roman Catholic Church, and asserting the
claims of the Church with a comprehensiveness rarely, if ever, at-
tained before, he conceded fellowship in good works to all other
denominations of Christians, and closed by making such fellowship
of actual beneficent achievement the test of true religion. ^* There
is no way by which men can approach nearer to the ' gods than by
contributing to the welfare of their fellow-men, ^^ he said with Cicero,
as his final word.

He was born at Baltimore, July 23d, 1834, and ordained priest at
St. Mary's Seminary in that city in 1861. In 1877 he became arch-
bishop of Baltimore, and was made a Cardinal in 1886, — a result due,
not only to the growing importance of the Church in America, but
to his own great abilities. He has published ^The Faith of Our
Fathers,' *Our Christian Heritage,' and other works appropriate to
his vocation as one of the leaders of the world's religious thought.

ADDRESS TO THE PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS

(Read Before the Parliament at Chicago, September 14th, 1893 — From a Con-
temporary Verbatim Report)

WE LIVE and move and have our being in the midst of a
civilization which is the legitimate offspring of the Cath-
olic religion. The blessings resulting from our Christian
civilization are poured out so regularly and so abundantly on the
intellectual, moral, and social world, like the sunlight and the air
of heaven and the fruits of the earth, that they have ceased to
excite any surprise except in those who visit lands where the

224

JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS 221?

religion of Christ is little known. In order to realize adequately
our favored situation, we should transport ourselves in spirit to
ante-Christian times, and contrast the condition of the pagan world
with our own.

Before the advent of Christ, the whole world, with the excep-
tion of the secluded Roman province of Palestine, was buried in
idolatry. Every striking object in nature had its tutelary divini-
ties. Men worshiped the sun and moon and stars of heaven.
They worshiped their very passions. They worshiped everything
except God, to whom alone divine homage is due. In the words
of the Apostle of the Gentiles : " They changed the glory of the
incorruptible God into the likeness of the corruptible man, and
of birds and beasts and creeping things. They worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed
forever. '*

But, at last, the great light for which the prophets had sighed
and prayed, and toward which the pagan sages had stretched
forth their hands with eager longing, arose and shone unto them
**that sat in the darkness and the shadow of death.** The truth
concerning our Creator, which had hitherto been hidden in Judea,
that there it might be sheltered from the world-wide idolatry,
was now proclaimed, and in far greater clearness and fullness
into the whole world. Jesus Christ taught all mankind to know
one true God — a God existing from eternity to eternity, a God
who created all things by his power, who governs all things by
his wisdom, and whose superintending Providence watches over
the afiEairs of nations as well as of men, ^* without whom not
even a sparrow falls to the ground.** He proclaimed a God in-
finitely holy, just, and merciful. This idea of the Deity so con-
sonant to our rational conceptions was in striking contrast with
the low and sensual notions which the pagan world had formed
of its divinities.

The religion of Christ imparts to us not only a sublime con-
ception of God, but also a rational idea of man and of his rela-
tions to his Creator, Before the coming of Christ, man was a
riddle and a mystery to himself. He knew not whence he came,
nor whither he was going. He was groping in the dark. All
he knew for certain was that he was passing through a brief
phase of existence. The past and the future were enveloped
in a mist which the light of philosophy was unable to pene-
trate. Our Redeemer has dispelled the cloud and enlightened us
6-15

226 JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS

regarding our origin and destiny and the means of attaining it.
He has rescued man from the frightful labyrinth of error in
which Paganism had involved him.

The Gospel of Christ as propounded by the Catholic Church
has brought, not only light to the intellect, but comfort also to
the heart. It has given us " that peace of God which surpasseth
all understanding,*^ the peace which springs from the conscious
possession of truth. It has taught us how to enjoy that triple
peace which constitutes true happiness, as far as it is attainable
in this life — peace with God by the observance of his command-
ments, peace with our neighbor by the exercise of charity and
justice toward him, and peace with ourselves by repressing our
inordinate appetites, and keeping our passions subject to the law
of reason, and our reason illumined and controlled by the law
of God.

All other religious systems prior to the advent of Christ were
national, like Judaism, or State religions, like Paganism. The
Catholic religion alone is world-wide and cosmopolitan, embracing
all races and nations and peoples and tongues.

Christ alone, of all religious founders, had the courage to say
to his Disciples : * * Go, teach all nations, ' * Preach the Gospel
to every creature.* *You shall be witness to me in Judea and
Samaria, and even to the uttermost bounds of the earth.* Be
not restrained in your mission by national or State lines. Let
my Gospel be as free and universal as the air of heaven. ^The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.* All mankind are
the children of my father and my brethren. I have died for all,
and embrace all in my charity. Let the whole human race be
your audience, and the world be the theatre of your labors ! *

It is this recognition of the fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood of Christ that has inspired the Catholic Church in
her mission of love and benevolence. This is the secret of her
all-pervading charity. This idea has been her impelling motive
in her work of the social regeneration of mankind. ** I behold,*
she says, "in every human creature a child of God and a brother
or a sister of Christ, and therefore I will protect helpless infancy
and decrepit old age. I will feed the orphan and nurse the sick.
I will strike the shackles from the feet of the slave, and will
rescue degraded woman from the moral bondage and degradation
to which her own frailty and the passions of the stronger sex
had consigned her.**

JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS

22^

Montesquieu has well said that the religion of Christ, which
was instituted to lead men to eternal life, has contributed more
than any other institution to promote the temporal and social
happiness of mankind. The object of this Parliament of Relig--
ions is to present to the thoughtful, earnest, and inquiring minds
the respective claims of the various religions, with the view that
they would ** prove all things, and hold that which is good,'^ by
embracing that religion which above all others commends itself
to their judgment and conscience. I am not engaged in this
search for the truth, for, by the grace of God, I am conscious
that I have found it, and instead of hiding this treasure in my
own breast, I long to share it with others, especially as I am
none the poorer in making others the richer.

But, for my part, were I occupied in this investigation, much
as I would be drawn toward the Catholic Church by her admir-
able unity of faith which binds together in common worship
two hundred and fifty million souls, much as I would be attracted
toward her by her sublime moral code, by her world-wide catho-
licity and by that unbroken chain of apostolic succession which
connects her indissolubly with apostolic times, I could be drawn
still more forcibly toward her by that wonderful system of or-
ganized benevolence which she has established for the alleviation
and comfort of suffering humanity.

Let us briefly review what the Catholic Church has done for
the elevation and betterment of humanity: —

I. The Catholic Church has purified society in its very fount-
ain, which is the marriage bond. She has invariably proclaimed
the unity and sanctity and indissolubility of the marriage tie by
saying with her founder that : " What God hath joined together,
let no man put asunder.'^ Wives and mothers never forget that
the inviolability of the marriage contract is the palladium of
your womanly dignity and of your Christian liberty. And if you
are no longer the slaves of man and the toy of his caprice, like
the wives of Asiatic countries, but the peers and partners of your
husbands; if you are no longer tenants at will, like the wives of
pagan Greece and Rome, but the mistresses of your households;
if you are no longer confronted by uprising rivals, like Moham-
medan and Mormon wives, but are the queens of domestic king-
doms, you are indebted for this priceless boon to the ancient
Church, and particularly to the Roman pontiffs who inflexibly
upheld the sacredness of the nuptial bond against the arbitrary

,228 JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS

power of kings, the lust of nobles, and the lax and pernicious
legislation of civil governments.

2. The Catholic religion has proclaimed the sanctity of human
life as soon as the body is animated with the vital spark. In-
fanticide was a dark stain on pagan civilization. It was universal
in Greece with the exception of Thebes. It was sanctified and
even sometimes enjoined by such eminent Greeks as Plato and
Aristotle, Solon, and Lycurgus. The destruction of infants was
also very common among the Romans. Nor was there any legal
check to this inhuman crime, except at rare intervals. The father
had the power of life and death over his child. And as an evi-
dence that human nature does not improve with time and is
everywhere the same, unless it is permeated with the leaven of
Christianity, the wanton sacrifice of infant life is probably as gen-
eral to-day in China and other heathen countries as it was in
ancient Greece and Rome. The Catholic Church has sternly set
her face against this exposure and murder of innocent babes.
She had denounced it as a crime more revolting than that of
Herod, because committed against one's own flesh and blood. She
has condemned with equal energy the atrocious doctrine of Mal-
thus, who suggested unnatural methods for diminishing the popu-
lation of the human family. Were I not restrained by the fear of
offending modesty and of imparting knowledge where ^* ignorance
is bliss," I would dwell more at length on the social plague of
antenatal infanticide, which is insidiously and systematically
spreading among us, in defiance of civil penalties and of the
Divine law which says : " Thou shalt not kill. "

3. There is no phase of human misery for which the Church
does not provide some remedy or alleviation. She has estab-
lished infant asylums for the shelter of helpless babes who have
been cruelly abandoned by their own parents, or bereft of them
in the mysterious dispensations of Providence before they could
know and feel a mother's love. These little waifs, like the infant
Moses drifting in the turbid Nile, are rescued from an untimely
death and are tenderly raised by the daughters of the Great
King, those consecrated virgins who become nursing mothers to
them. And I have known more than one such motherless babe,
who, like Israel's law-giver in after years, became a leader among
his people.

4. As the Church provides homes for those yet on the thresh-
old of life, so, too, does she secure retreats for those on the

JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS 22Q

threshold of death. She has asylums in which aged men and
women find at one and the same time a refuge in their old age
from the storms of life and a novitiate to prepare them for
eternity. Thus, from the cradle to the grave, she is a nursing
mother. She rocks her children in the cradle of infancy, and
she soothes them to rest on the couch of death.

Louis XIV. erected in Paris the famous Hotel des Invalides
for the veterans of France who had fought in the service of
their country. And so has the Catholic religion provided for
those who have been disabled in the battle of life, a home in
which they are tenderly nursed in their declining years by de-
voted Sisters.

The Little Sisters of the Poor, whose congregation was founded
in 1840, have now charge over two hundred and fifty establish-
ments in different parts of the globe, the aged inmates of those
houses numbering thirty thousand, upward of seventy thousand
having died under their care up to 1889, To these asylums are
welcomed, not only the members of the Catholic religion, but
those also of every form of Christian faith, and even those with-
out any faith at all. The Sisters make no distinction of person,
or nationality, or color, or creed, — for true charity embraces all.
The only question proposed by the Sisters to the applicant for
shelter is this : Are you oppressed by age and penury ? If so,
come to us and we will provide for you.

5. She has orphan asylums where children of both sexes are
reared and taught to become useful and worthy members of so-
ciety.

6. Hospitals were unknown to the pagan world before the
coming of Christ. The copious vocabularies of Greece and Rome
had no word even to express the term. The Catholic Church
has hospitals for the treatment and cure of every form of dis-
ease. She sends her daughters of charity and mercy to the
battlefield and to the plague-stricken city. During the Crimean
War, I remember to have read of a Sister who was struck dead
by a ball while she was in the act of stooping down and bandag-
ing the wound of a fallen soldier. Much praise was then de-
servedly bestowed on Florence Nightingale for her devotion to
the sick and wounded soldiers. Her name resounded in both
hemispheres. But in every Sister you have a Florence Nightin-
gale, with this difference — that, like ministering angels, they
move without noise along the path of duty, and like the angel

2^Q JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS

Raphael, who concealed his name from Tobias, the Sister hides
her name from the world.

Several years ago I accompanied to New Orleans eight Sisters
of Charity who were sent from Baltimore to re-enforce the ranks
of their heroic companions, or to supply the places of their de-
voted associates who had fallen at the post of duty in the fever-
stricken cities of the South. Their departure for the scene of
their labors was neither announced by the press nor heralded by
public applause. They went calmly into the jaws of death, not
bent on deeds of destruction, like the famous Six Hundred, but on
deeds of mercy. They had no Tennyson to sound their praises.
Their only ambition was, — and how lofty is that ambition, — that
the recording angel might be their biographer, that their names
might be inscribed in the Book of Life, and that they might re-
ceive the recompense from him who has said : " I was sick and
ye visited me; for as often as ye did it to one of the least of my
brethren, ye did it to me.'* Within a few months after their
arrival, six of the eight Sisters died victims to the epidemic.

These are a few of the many instances of heroic charity that
have fallen under my own observation. Here are examples of
sublime heroism not culled from the musty pages of ancient mar-
tyrologies, or books of chivalry, but happening in our day and
under our own eyes. Here is a heroism not aroused by the em-
ulation of brave comrades on the battlefield, or by the clash of
arms, or the strains of martial hymns, or by the love of earthly
fame, but inspired only by a sense of Christian duty and by the
love of God and her fellow-beings.

7. The Catholic religion labors, not only to assuage the physi-
cal distempers of humanity, but also to reclaim the victims of
moral disease. The redemption of fallen women from a life of
infamy was never included in the scope of heathen philanthropy;
and man's unregenerate nature is the same now as before the
birth of Christ. He worships woman as long as she has charms
to fascinate, but she is spurned and trampled upon as soon as
she has ceased to please. It was reserved for him who knew
no sin to throw the mantle of protection over sinning woman.
There is no page in the Gospel more touching than that v/hich
records our Savior's merciful judgment on the adulterous woman.
The Scribes and Pharisees, who had, perhaps, participated in her
guilt, asked our Lord to pronounce sentence of death upon her,
in accordance with the Mosaic law. " Hath no one condemned

JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS 23 1

thee ? '* asked our Savior. ^* No one, Lord,'* she answered. ** Then,'*
said he, *^ neither will I condemn thee. Go, sin no more. ** In-
spired by this divine example, the Catholic Church shelters erring
females in homes not inappropriately called Magdalene Asylums
and Houses of the Good Shepherd. Not to speak of other insti-
tutions established for the moral reformation of women, the con-
gregation of the Good Shepherd at Angers, founded in 1836, has
charge to-day of one hundred and fifty houses, in which upward
of four thousand Sisters devote themselves to the care of over
twenty thousand females, who had yielded to temptation or were
rescued from impending danger.

8. The Christian religion has been the unvarying friend and
advocate of the bondman. Before the dawn of Christianity,
slavery was universal in civilized, as well as in barbarous na-
tions. The Apostles were everywhere confronted by the children
of oppression. Their first task was to mitigate the horrors and
alleviate the miseries of human bondage. They cheered the
slave by holding up to him the example of Christ who volun-
tarily became a slave that we might enjoy the glorious liberty of
children of God. The bondman had an equal participation with
his master in the sacraments of the Church, and in the priceless
consolation which religion affords. Slave-owners were admon-
ished to be kind and humane to their slaves, by being reminded
with apostolic freedom that they and their servants had the same
master in heaven, who had no respect of persons. The ministers
of the Catholic religion down the ages sought to lighten the bur-
den and improve the condition of the slave, as far as social prej-
udices would permit, till, at length, the chains fell from their
feet. Human slavery has, at last, thank God, melted away before
the noonday sun of the Gospel. No Christian country contains
to-day a solitary slave. To paraphrase the words of a distin-
guished Irish jurist — as soon as a bondman puts his foot in a
Christian land, he stands redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled,
on the sacred soil of Christendom.

9. The Savior of mankind never conferred a greater temporal
boon on mankind than by ennobling and sanctifying manual
labor, and by rescuing it from the stigma 'of degradation which
had been branded upon it. Before Christ appeared among
men, manual and even mechanical work was regarded as servile
and degrading to the freeman of pagan Rome, and was conse-
quently relegated to slaves. Christ is ushered into the world, not

2X2

JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS

amid the pomp and splendor of imperial majesty, but amid the
environments of a humble child of toil. He is the reputed son
of an artisan, and his early manhood is spent in a mechanic's
shop. **Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?*^ The prim-
eval curse attached to labor is obliterated by the toilsome life of
Jesus Christ. Ever since he pursued his trade as a carpenter, he
has lightened the mechanic's tools, and shed a halo around the
workshop. If the profession of a general, a jurist, and a states-
man is adorned by the example of a Washington, a Taney, and
a Burke, how much more is the character of a workman en-
nobled by the example of Christ. What De Tocqueville said of
the United States sixty years ago is true to-day — that with us
every honest labor is laudable, thanks to the example and teach-
ing of Christ.

To sum up: The Catholic Church has taught man the knowl-
edge of God and of himself; she has brought comfort to his
heart by instructing him to bear the ills of life with Christian
philosophy; she has sanctified the marriage bond; she has pro-
claimed the sanctity and inviolability of human life from the
moment that the body is animated by the spark of life, till it is
extinguished; she has founded asylums for the training of child-
ren of both sexes and for the support of the aged poor; she
has established hospitals for the sick and homes for the redemp-
tion of fallen women; she has exerted her influence toward
the mitigation and abolition of human slavery; she has been
the unwavering friend of the sons of toil. These are some
of the blessings which the Catholic Church has conferred on
society.

I will not deny — on the contrary, I am happy to avow — that
the various Christian bodies outside the Catholic Church have
been, and are to-day, zealous promoters of most of these works
of Christian benevolence which I have enumerated. Not to
speak of the innumerable humanitarian houses established by
our non-Catholic brethren throughout the land, I bear cheerful
testimony to the philanthropic institutions founded by Wilson, by
Shepherd, by Johns Hopkins, Enoch Pratt, and George Peabody,
in the city of Baltimore. But will not our separated brethren
have the candor to acknowledge that we had first possession of
the field, that these beneficent movements have been inaugurated
by us, and that the other Christian communities in their noble
efforts for the moral and social regeneration of mankind, have

JAMES, CARDINAL GIBBONS 2^^

in no small measure been stimulated by the example and emula-
tion of the ancient Church ?

Let us do all we can in our day and generation in the cause
of humanity. Every man has a mission from God to help his
fellow-beings. Though we differ in faith, thank God there is
one platform on which we stand united, and that is the platform
of charity and benevolence. We cannot, indeed, like our Divine
Master, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to
the dumb, and strength to the paralyzed limb, but we can work
miracles of grace and mercy by relieving the distress of our
suffering brethren. And never do we approach nearer to our
Heavenly Father than when we alleviate the sorrows of others.
Never do we perform an act more Godlike than when we bring
sunshine to hearts that are dark and desolate. Never are we
more like to God than when we cause the flowers of joy and of
gladness to bloom in souls that were dry and barren before.
"Religion,'' says the Apostle, "pure and undefiled before God
and the Father, is this: To visit the fatherless and widow in
their tribulation, and to keep oneself unspotted from this work.'*
Or, to borrow the words of pagan Cicero, ^'•Homines ad Deos nulla
re propiiis accedimt quain salutem honiinibus dando. '' (There is
no way by which men can approach nearer to the gods than
by contributing to the welfare of their fellow-creatures.)

JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS

(1795-1864)

[hio, and especially that part of the State known as the West-
ern Reserve, developed a radical opposition to slavery before
any other State of the American West, Like Indiana and
Illinois, Ohio was first occupied largely by settlers from the Southern
States, who, though slavery in the entire territory ceded by Virginia
was prohibited, sympathized with the Southern States when the sec-
tional issues of the Civil War controlled in the United States. Be-
tween their descendants and the descendants of settlers from New Eng-
land, there was finally a struggle for political control in the Central
West, which, even as late as the campaign of 1880, was unmistakably
a decisive factor in presidential elections.

In Ohio, Joshua Reed Giddings was the first leader of marked force
of character who made "the Puritan idea" the motive of his public
career. He was born in Pennsylvania, October 6th, 1795. Removing
to Ohio, and beginning the practice of law. he was elected to Congress
in 1838. Acting generally with the Whigs, he had no sympathy with
that party's spirit of compromise. In 1842, when the House censured
him for what it considered his dangerous position against slavery, he
resigned his seat, appealed to his constituents, and was re-elected.
Krom that period until his retirement from Congress in 1859, he repre-
sented the determination of an always increasing element to abolish
slavery at any cost. In 1861 he was sent as Consul-General to British
North America, and, while still holding that position, he died at Mon-
treal, May 27th, 1864.

SLAVERY AND THE ANNEXATION OF CUBA

(From a Speech Delivered in the House of Representatives, in the Commit-
tee of the Whole, December 14th, 1852, on the Motion to Refer the
Annual Message of the President to the Several Committees)

Mr. Chairman: —

I HAVE risen with no intention to participate in this discussion
of the tariff. I abstain from it for the reason that it has
been discussed for more than thirty years, by the ablest men
in the nation, and no new theory or thoughts are likely to be
elicited at this time. I abstain from it for the reasons that there

234

JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS

235

is now no party which avows the protective policy. I also ab-
stain from its discussion for the reason that the ablest advocates
of protection have, since the late presidential election, declared
that policy to be dead — that it now sleeps with its great advo-
cate, Henry Clay. . . .

I observed that the honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania
[Mr. Jones] took occasion, while discussing the tariff, to say that
the Democracy of his State was in favor of the Fugitive Law;
but it is somewhat remarkable that the President, in his message,
makes no mention of that law. It is said that during the last
three months more fugitives have found their way to Canada
than ever previously emigrated to that province in the same space
of time. They went singly, in pairs, in companies of five, of ten;
and sometimes twenty or more traveled together. Scarcely a
slave-catcher interposed to prevent this tide of emigration; and
those who made attempts to stop them were unsuccessful. The
emigrants were armed and ready for the combat. They laughed
at your Fugitive Law, and ridiculed those who enacted and who
advocate its continuance. As the President is about to retire
from office, he witnesses the contempt into which this, his favor-
ite measure, has fallen, yet he fails in his last annual message to
notice these facts, nor does he make even an effort to modify
the popular odium which has pronounced those compromise meas-
ures infamous. He sees the country rapidly separating into two
parties — the supporters of slavery and the advocates of liberty.
He must be conscious that these parties will soon swallow up all
other organizations. The Free Democracy and the Slave Democ-
racy will soon characterize our political distinctions, and the
democratic principle of man's natural right to liberty will be
vindicated and sustained; yet he remains silent on the subject.

And here I wish to say to the friends of liberty that our
cause is advancing rapidly, and with firmer and surer pace than
at any former period. The old political organizations have lost
their moral power. The election of the great Western statesman,
Thomas H. Benton, in opposition to both the Whig and Demo-
cratic parties, shows the tendency of men to think and vote
agreeably to the dictates of their own judgment, and not accord-
ing to caucus dictation, or party rule. He, sir, was unconnected
with all parties. He was the exponent of his own views; the
people approved his sentiments, and, setting party dictation at
defiance, they elected him. Nor was the election of the distin-

,^^6 JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS

guished philanthropist from New York, Gerritt Smith, less a
triumph of independent political thought and action. These dis-
tinguished gentlemen were connected with no political parties,
but each was elected upon his own merits.

I have not time to speak of the election to this body of the
free Democratic members, and of Whig and Democratic members
elected by aid of the Free Democracy; nor are these elections,
triumphant as they are, even an indication of the extent of our
progress. Our principles are cherished by hundreds of thousands
of the other parties, who have heretofore been unable to separate
themselves from their long-cherished political organizations, but
who now say they have acted with them for the last time.

Again, sir, we have enlisted the literati of our country on the
side of truth, liberty, and justice. To my fair countrywomen I
would say that a lady with her pen has done more for the cause
of freedom, during the last year, than any savant, statesman, or
politician of our land. That inimitable work, * Uncle Tom's
Cabin,* is now carrying truth to the minds of millions, who,
to this time, have been deaf to the cries of the downtrodden.
It is arousing the sensibilities of this country and of Europe. It
goes where no other antislavery work ever found its way, and
quietly carries conviction to the hearts of its readers. It has
been dramatized, and, both in this country and in Europe, the
play-going public listen with intense interest to the wrongs, the
revolting crimes of slavery. Thus, the theatre, that ^* school of
vice,* has been subsidized to the promulgation of truth, and the
hearts of thousands have been reached, who were approachable
in no other way.

The clergy of the North are awakening to duty, to the calls
of humanity. No longer are we called to listen to "lower law®
sermons, nor are the feelings of our Christian communities
shocked by reading discourses from doctors of divinity, intended
to sanctify and encourage the most transcendent crimes which
ever disgraced mankind. Churches and ecclesiastical bodies are
beginning to move in behalf of truth, of Christian principles.
They are purifying themselves from those who deal in God's
image; they are withdrawing church fellowship from those pirates
who deserve the gallows and halter, rather than a seat at the
communion table of Christian churches.

I have glanced at these facts in answer to those who have
spoken before me, and for the encouragement of our friends, in

JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS

22>7

order to assure them that while Whigs and Democrats in this
hall are discussing the propriety of protecting ^^ cotton cloth "
and ^^cut nails/* the advocates of freedom have not forgotten the
duty of protecting the rights of our common humanity.

But, Mr. Chairman, my principal object in rising was to call
the attention of this body and of the country to the first of the
series of resolutions presented by the honorable chairman of the
Committee on Ways and Means [Mr. Houston]. It refers to our
•foreign relations.'* The position we hold towards the Govern-
ments of Spain, Great Britain, and France, is unusually important
at this time. The recent publication of the correspondence be-
tween our Executive and the Spanish Ministry has excited a
deep and pervading interest throughout the country.

And, sir, I here take pleasure in vindicating the President
against the assaults made upon him by some presses of the South
for publishing this correspondence. With its publication he had
no concern whatever. We, sir, by resolution, called for the cor-
respondence. As the representatives of the sovereign people, we
had a right to it. He had no right to withhold it. As he was
bound by his oath and by the Constitution, he sent it to us.
We ordered it printed. The people had a right to see and un-
derstand what their servants were doing on this, as well as on all
other subjects.

This correspondence is highly important. It shows to the
country and to the civilized world that for thirty years the Exec-
utive has exerted our national influence to maintain slavery in
Cuba, in order that the institution may be rendered more secure
in the United States. This policy stands out in bold relief ; it per-
vades the whole correspondence, and was also incorporated into
the instructions of our commissioners to the Congress of Panama,
although those instructions are not embraced in the communi-
cation now before us.

Both Whig and Democratic administrations have adopted this
policy; and although I have but little time to read extracts from
this correspondence, I will give one from the letter of Mr.
Webster, Secretary of State, marked ** Private and Confidential,**
to our Consul at Havana, dated January 14th, 1843, in which the
author refers to reported intentions of British Abolitionists and
the British Ministry to aid in the abolition of slavery and in the
establishment of an independent government in Cuba. He says:
*^ If this scheme should succeed, the influence of Britain in this

238 JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS

quarter, it is remarked, will be unlimited. With six hundred
thousand blacks in Cuba, and eight hundred thousand in her
West India Islands, she will, it is said, strike a blow at the ex-
istence of slavery in the United States.^* These, sir, are the
words of a man who opposed all expression, by this Government,
of sympathy with oppressed Hungary; who was so strongly op-
posed to all intervention with the affairs of other governments
in favor of liberty.

We, sir, hold our own institutions by the right of revolution,
which he so severely condemned. He appears to have been
shocked at the idea that liberty should be enjoyed in Cuba, and
avowed himself willing to prostitute the naval and military power
of the United States to uphold a system of oppression in that
island which consigns to premature graves one-tenth part of its
whole slave population annually — a system by which eighty
thousand human victims are said to be sacrificed every year to
Spanish barbarity and Spanish cupidity. Sir, at this moment the
Senate are engaged in eulogizing the statesman who has himself
erected this monument to perpetuate his own disgrace. They,
sir, are endeavoring to falsify the truth of history; to cover up
those stains upon his character which no time can erase, and no
effort of friends can purify. They can never separate his mem-
ory from the great errors of his life. Sir, it is right and proper
that the evil deeds of public men should be remembered, that
posterity may avoid their crimes, and duly estimate their moral
and political worth. Yet, sir, we were told during the recent
canvass that unless we voted for the Whig candidate, if we per-
mitted the Democratic candidate to be elected, Cuba would be
annexed and slavery extended and strengthened in the United
States. Plausibility was given to this argument by a certain
distinguished Senator from the West, who traveled somewhat ex-
tensively, making speeches in favor of Cuban annexation and
filibustering expeditions to that island. I desire to say, very dis-
tinctly, that in my opinion that gentleman "ran before he was
sent.'* He appeared anxious to obtain Southern favor by making
himself the advocate of what he deemed Southern measures. I
think if he had waited a few months, and consulted the sober
reflecting statesmen of the South, they would have told him to
remain quiet. But he hastened to acquire Southern favor, and,
like some who have gone before him, he will find hereafter that
he has run his bark upon the same rock on which so many

JOSHUA REED GIDDINGS 2^0

Northern statesmen have made shipwreck of their political hopes.
Other Democratic candidates of the North have pursued the same
policy, and some Whigs have striven to keep pace in this race of
servility. Among others, I notice a Whig paper in New York,
of somewhat extensive circulation, avowing the policy of annex-
ing Cuba. Others have taunted the Free Democracy with having
lent our influence to that policy, by refusing to vote for the
Whig candidate.

Now, sir, I would say to them that the Free Democracy is
not altogether composed of boys and unfledged politicians; nor
is it guided by men destitute of. experience and forethought.
We, sir, look not to the other parties for guidance; we do our
own thinking, and our own voting. We have our own views
upon this question, as well as on all others. . . .

Mr. Chairman, I speak my own opinions. No other man is
responsible for what I say. I have given some attention to this
subject, and have satisfied my own mind that while the advocates
of liberty shall continue their efforts for freedom, their struggles
for justice to all men, Cuba will not be annexed. I congratulate
the friends of liberty and of humanity upon the important posi-
tion they have attained. The very efforts which our opponents
said would secure the annexation of Cuba have, under the cir-
cumstances to which I have referred, prevented the perpetration
of that outrage. It is the bold, unflinching agitation and main-
tenance of truth, by political, moral, and religious efforts, that
has saved us from that degradation. Had we, sir, united with
the other political parties at the late election; had we then dis-
banded, there would have been danger of the annexation of Cuba,
even at the price of war and bloodshed. But we have attained
the position which enables us by our efforts to command the
respect of our opponents; and, more especially, has our course
commanded the respect of ourselves — of good men — of the
lovers of liberty in this country and in ij^urope, and, as I hum-
bly trust, the approval of God himself. Slavery can only flourish,
it can only exist, in the quiet repose of peace. It cannot con-
tinue amid the storm of war or the rage of moral elements. All
history shows us that slavery cannot exist amidst the agitation
of truth. Justice is the great moral antagonist of oppression.
They cannot exist together.

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

(1 809-1!

[ladstone made more speeches and better ones on a greater
variety of subjects than any other Englishman of his gen-
eration. In politics, in literature, in everything that con-
cerned the world's forward movement, his intellectual sympathies
were universal, or as nearly so as it is possible for any man's to be.
If men less intellectual, less self-contained than he, have learned a
road to power over other minds shorter than the purely intellectual
by so living —

^C/V ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adflent — »

Gladstone certainly had everything as an orator which the broad-
est culture of the scholar and the steadiest tension of the thinker
can give any man. He does not belong to the same class with
Burke, Curran, or Grattan; he was not by nature great as an orator,
and he does not always show the habit of radical thought which
gave the great Whigs of the eighteenth century their tremendous
moral force, but among English orators, Burke alone surpasses him
in intellect, and Burke himself did not surpass him in facility of ex-
pression. In such speeches as that accepting the freedom of the city
of Glasgow in 1865, Mr. Gladstone surpasses himself as some may
hold, but if, under the inspiration of great ideas, he shows an enthu-
siasm and freedom, which do not characterize his political speeches,
it must be remembered that the tone of English parliamentary
speeches is almost conversational ; that, by force of an authoritative
habit, only broken down in great emergencies, the discussion of Eng-
lish public affairs tends to the prosaic.

Born at Liverpool, December 29th, 1809, Mr. Gladstone received
the most careful and thorough education the English system can
give. He graduated with double honors (in classics and mathema-
tics) at Oxford, and a year later (1832) entered public life under
what he must afterwards have considered inauspicious conditions.
His father, Sir John Gladstone, Bart., a prominent Liverpool mer-
chant, of aristocratic Scotch descent, was a Tory, and in the first
election after the passage of the Reform Bill, the young Double-
Honor man from Oxford was sent to Parliament to represent a
" pocket borough » controlled by the Duke of Newcastle. Like Fox

24.0

VVILI,IAM EWART GI.ADSTONE 241

in this particular, he was like him also in following a natural bent
towards the Whigs or "Liberals," as they were now called.

After holding Cabinet positions as a Conservative, he became Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer under the Coalition Ministry of 1852, and,
through the action and reaction of the opposing forces of English pol-
itics, developed into the leading Liberal of his day, recognized at his
retirement in 1894 as the greatest statesman of Europe. His influence
as a Liberal leader during the last ten years of his political life had
been so overwhelming that, his death, May 19th, 1898, left his party
unable or unwilling to give his successor the confidence it had given
him, and the result was a strong political reaction against the Liberal-
ism which, as he understood it, meant enlarged liberty for the individ-
ual, better-defined sovereignty for the people, and freer, more peaceful
co-operation among all nations. With the nineteenth century closing
thus, the first decade of the twentieth found Gladstone's ideas once
more in the ascendant.

THE FUNDAMENTAL ERROR OF ENGLISH COLONL\L AGGRAN-
DIZEMENT

(Delivered at the City Hall, Glasgow, November ist, 1865, on the Presenta-
tion of the Freedom of that City to Mr. Gladstone)

[This speech is considered the best example of Air. Gladstone's elo-
quence, and it would certainly be hard, if not impossible, to find another
speech delivered by him, or by any other man in England since the death of
Brougham, which has in it so much of the moral force through which Pitt
and Burke gave direction to the policies of England from their own day to
the time of Gladstone's retirement and the reaction which followed the
failure of his plan of Home Rule. Those who agree with Mr. Gladstone
will find in this speech most of that which made him seem admirable to
men of like sympathies throughout the world, while his political opponents
will find it a summary of the governing ideas which their ablest statesman-
ship has been directed to check or to neutralize. The complete text is here
given.]

I NEED hardly tell you that it is with the liveliest and deepest
feelings of satisfaction that I accept from your hands, my
lord, the gift you have been pleased to present to me, to be
preserved, I hope, for many long years, among the records and
the treasures of my family. I have no doubt — indeed, I feel too
well assured — that a critical judgment might find ample scope
for remark upon the too flattering terms in which you have been
pleased to advert to my public conduct, but still I presume to say
that such acknowledgments as you are pleased to make on occa-
sions like the present, of the feeble and humble efforts of any
0 — 16

^ William eWart gLadstonb

individual to render services to his country, are the choicest re-
wards that we can receive for the past, and are the greatest
encouragements and incentives, the greatest and most powerful
aids for the future. But such occasions lead us to review the
position in which we stand, and to reflect upon that which has
been and that which is to be; and perhaps it might at first sight
appear strange if upon an occasion so joyous, when I have re-
ceived at your hands an honor so deeply valued, I confess to you
that a powerful, perhaps a predominant, feeling in my mind at
the present juncture is a feeling of solitariness in the struggles
and in the career of public life. The Lord Provost has alluded
briefly, but touchingly and justly alluded, to the loss we have just
sustained, and has intimated to you that the covenant which
brings me before you was a covenant concluded before that loss
had taken place; but, indeed, the retrospect of the last five years
is in this regard a touching and melancholy retrospect. Sad,
numerous, and wide have been the blanks which death has made
in the ranks of our public men, and not alone of our official pub-
lic men, for many in this country are the public men, many are
the statesmen who render true and vital service to the land, but
who have never touched a public salary. Within these five years
we have lost him whom I must name as the most illustrious in
his position and his office, — the beloved husband of our Queen^
revered, admired, loved by all classes of the community, and one
whose departure from this mortal home has inflicted on the Sov-
ereign so dear to our hearts a loss that never on this side the
grave can be repaired. I pass from the Prince Consort to an-
other name, widely, indeed, separated from him in social rank,
but yet a name which is great at- this moment in the esteem of
the country, and which will be forever great in its annals, — I
mean the name of Richard Cobden, — so simple, so true, so brave,
and so far-seeing a man, who knew how to associate himself at
their very root with the deep interests of the community in
which he lived, and to whom it was given to achieve, through
the moral force of reason and persuasion, numerous triumphs that
have made his name immortal But if I look to the ranks of
official life, perhaps it may cause even surprise, though we know
that our losses have been heavy, when I say that my own recol-
lection supplies me, — and there may be more which that recollec-
tion does not suggest, — that my own recollection supplies me
with the names of no less than seventeen persons who have died

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

245

within the last five years, and whose duty and privilege it was to
advise the Sovereign as members of the Government of this
country. As to the last of these men, the distinguished man
whose loss at this moment the whole community in every class
and in every corner of the land deeply and sincerely deplores,
we have this consolation — that it had pleased the Almighty to
afford him strength and courage which carried him to a ripe old
age in the active service of his country. It has not been so with
all. It has been my lot to follow to the grave several of those
distinguished men who have been called away from the scene of
their honorable labors — not, indeed, before they had acquired the
esteem and confidence of the country, but still at a period when
the minds and expectations of their fellow-countrymen were
fondly fixed upon the thought of what they might yet achieve
for the public good. Two of your own countrymen, Lord Elgin
and Lord Dalhousie, Lord Canning, Lord Herbert, Sir George
Cornewall Lewis, and the Duke of Newcastle, by some singular
dispensation of Providence, have been swept away in the full
maturity of their faculties, and in the early stages of middle life
— a body of men strong enough of themselves in all the gifts of
wisdom and of knowledge, of experience and of eloquence, to
have equipped a cabinet for the service of the country.

And, therefore, my lord, when I look back upon the years
that have passed, though they have been joyful years in many
respects, because they have been years in which the Parliament
of this country has earned fresh and numerous titles to the aug-
mented confidence of its citizens, they are also mournful in that
I seem to see the long procession of the figures of the dead,
and I feel that those who are left behind are in one sense soli-
tary upon the stage of public life. But, my Lord Provost, it is
characteristic of this country that her people have been formed
for many generations in those habits of thought and action
which belong to regulated freedom, and one happy and blessed
result of that description of public education is, that the coun-
try ceases to be dependent for its welfare upon this man or upon
that. There never has yet been in the history of the world
a nation truly free — I mean a nation that is free, not only in
laws and institutions, but also in thoughts and acts; there has
never been a nation in this sense possessed of freedom, and
which has likewise had large and spreading and valuable inter-
ests, which has found a want of men to defend them. Nor, my

244 WILLIAM LWART GLADSTONE

Lord Provost, I am thankful to say, have we yet been reduced
to this extremity, and I trust that I am not going beyond the lib-
erty of an occasion such as this when, standing before you at a
moment of such public interest, I venture to express my confi-
dence personally in the state of the- Government and the coun-
try. Her Majesty, well aware of the heavy loss which we have
sustained, and wisely exercising her high prerogative, has chosen
from among the statemen of the country Earl Russell to fill the
place of Prime Minister. I know well the inclination of those
whom I am addressing, and also of the whole community, to
trust more to the evidence of facts than to that of words, which
may be idle and delusive, and I presume to say before you that
the name of Lord Russell is in itself a pledge and a promise to
a people. A man who fought for British liberty, for our institu-
tions, and for our laws, but with a view to the strengthening of
those laws — who has fought on a hundred fields for their im-
provement, is not likely now, when in his seventy-third honorable
year, to unlearn the lesson of his whole life, to change the direc-
tion of his career, and to forfeit the inheritance which he has
secured in the hearts and memories of his countrymen. There-
fore, my Lord Provost, I venture to think that the country has
reasonable assurance in the name of the person who has for the
second time assumed the responsibility of guiding the councils
of a Crown, with the aid of many experienced and distinguished
persons whom I am happy to call my colleagues, — I therefore
hope that the country has reasonable assurance that the same
wise and enlightened spirit which has for the last thirty or
thirty-five years distinguished in the main the policy of British
legislation, and the conduct of the Executive Government, will
still continue to be exhibited by those who will have the respon-
sibility and direction of public affairs. My Lord Provost, if we
look to the acts of the period through which we have been pass-
ing, they are, indeed, too numerous to allow of reference in de-
tail. The acts of legislation and of government in which my
share has been, if earnest, yet secondary — those acts of legisla-
tion and government have embraced almost every subject that
can be of interest to a free and civilized community. In the
period which our own recollection comprehends, we have seen
the popular franchise wisely and temperately, yet boldly, en-
larged; we have seen the education of the people immensely
extended, with, at the same time, all due regard to the sanctity

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

245

and integrity of religion on the one hand, and to the feelings of
private conscience on the other; we have seen religious disabili-
ties, for the most part, swept away; we have seen questions of
social policy, deeply interesting and deeply momentous, asserting
from year to year greater and still greater importance; we have
seen, as I have said, the principle on which and the method by
which taxes are taken from the people largely reconsidered and
revised; and we have seen all these changes made with a view
to the promotion of one great end — the freedom of intercourse,
not only among the members of our own community, but also
among the various members of the great human family, the na-
tions of the world. Well, my Lord Provost, in my prime I have
taken part in the struggles of political parties, and it may be
my lot to continue to bear a share in them. I do not desire to
shrink from them, and I will not disavow nor undervalue the
use of party combinations. It is by means of party combina-
tions as a general rule, and by those means alone, that the ma-
tured convictions of experience can find the final and distinctive
expression in the form of laws and institutions; but yet party is
only an instrument; it is an instrument for ends higher than
itself, and those ends are the strength, the welfare, and the pros-
perity of our country. We may now presume to say that it is
the peculiar felicity of our time that the good of each to the
country is not now to be regarded, as it was in old times, as
something distinct from the good of the rest of mankind; but,
on the contrary, when we labor for the advancement of our
countrymen we labor likewise for the advantage of the whole
world. Therefore, my Lord Provost, when I look back on the
numberless changes in these various chapters of legislative and
constitutional improvement, I confess that the most fertile result
of all, — although I have no desire to disparage the others, for
they are intimately woven together, as it were, with a silver
cord, — the most fertile result, probably, is that which I may de-
scribe in the well-known familiar and beloved words, the promo-
tion of free trade.

It is quite unnecessary before this audience — I may venture
to say it is unnecessary before any audience of my countrymen
— to dwell at this period of our experience upon the material
benefits that have resulted from free trade, upon the enormous
augmentation of national power which it has produced, or even
upon the increased concord which it has tended so strongly to

^4^

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

promote throughout the various sections of the community. But
it is the characteristic of the system which we so denominate,
that while it comes forward with homely pretensions, and pro-
fesses, in the first instance, to address itself mainly to questions
of material and financial interests, yet, in point of fact, it is
fraught and charged throughout with immense masses of moral,
social, and political results. I will not now speak to the very
large measure of those results which are domestic, but I would
ask you to consider with me for a few moments the effect of the
system of unrestricted intercourse upon the happiness of the hu-
man family at large. Now, as far as that happiness is connected
with the movements of nations, war has been its great imple-
ment. And what have been the great causes of wars ? They do
not come upon the world by an inevitable necessity, or through
a providential visitation. They are not to be compared with
pestilences and famines, even; in that respect, though, we have
learned, and justly learned, that much of what we have been ac-
customed to call providential visitation is owing to our neglect
of the wise and prudent means which man ought to find in the
just exercise of his faculties for the avoidance of calamity; but
with respect to wars, they are the direct and universal conse-
quence of the unrestricted, too commonly of the unbridled, pas-
sions and lusts of men. If we go back to a very early period of
society, we find a state of things in which, as between one in-
dividual and another, no law obtained — a state of things in
which the first idea almost of those who desired to better their
condition was simply to better it by the abstraction of their neigh-
bor's property. In the early periods of society, piracy and unre-
strained freebooting among individuals were what wars, for the
most part, have been in the more advanced periods of human
history. Why, what is the case with a war? It is a case in
which both cannot be right, but in which both may be wrong.
I believe if the impartiality of the historian survey a very large
proportion of the wars that have desolated the world — some, in-
deed, there may be, and undoubtedly there have been, in which
the arm of valor has been raised simply for the cause of freedom
and justice — that the most of them will be found to belong to
that less satisfactory category in which folly, passion, greediness,
on both sides, have led to effects which afterwards, when too
late, have been so much deplored. We have had in the history
of the world religious wars. The period of these wars I trust

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 24?

we have now outlived, I am not at all sure that there was not
quite as much to be said for them as for a great many other
wars which have been recorded in the page of history. The
same folly which led to the one led, in another form, to the other.
We have had dynastic wars, wars of succession, in which, for
long periods of years, the heads of rival families have fought
over the bleeding persons of their people, to determine who
should govern them. I trust we have overlived the period of
wars of that class. Another class of wars, of a more dangerous
and yet a more extensive description, have been territorial wars.
No doubt it is a very natural, though it is a very dangerous and
a very culpable sentiment, which leads nations to desire their
neighbors' property, and I am sorry to think that we have . had
examples — perhaps we have an example even at this moment
before our eyes — to show that even in the most civilized parts
of the world, even in the midst of the oldest civilization upon
the continent of Europe, that thirst for territorial acquisition is
not yet extinct. But I wish to call your attention to a peculiar
form in which, during the later part of human history, this thirst
for territorial acquisition became an extensive cause of bloodshed.
It was when the colonizing power took possession of the Euro-
pean nations. It seems that the world was not wide enough for
them. One would have thought, upon looking over the broad
places of the earth, and thinking how small a portion of them is
even now profitably occupied, and how much smaller a portion
of them a century or two centuries ago — one would have thought
there would have been ample space for all to go and help them-
selves; but, notwithstanding this, we found it necessary, in the
business of planting colonies, to make those colonies the cause of
bloody conflicts with our neighbors ; and there was at the bottom of
that policy this old lust of territorial aggrandizement. When the
state of things in Europe had become so far settled that that lust
could not be as freely indulged as it might in barbarous times, we
then carried our armaments and our passions across the Atlantic,
and we fought upon American and other distant soils for the ex-
tension of our territory. That was one of the most dangerous and
plausible, in my opinion, of all human errors; it was one to which
a gfreat portion of the wars of the last century was due; but had
our forefathers then known, as we now know, the blessings of free
commercial intercourse, all that bloodshed would have been spared.
For what was the dominant idea that governed that policy ? It

248

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

was this, that colonizing, indeed, was a great function of Euro
pean nations, but the purpose of that colonization was to reap
the profits of extensive trade with the colonies which were founded,
and, consequently, it was not the error of one nation or of an-
other— it was the error of all nations alike. It was the error
of Spain in Mexico, it was the error of Portugal in Brazil, it
was the error of France in Canada and Louisiana, it was the
error of England in her colonies in the West Indies and her
possessions in the East; and the whole idea of colonization, all
the benefits of colonization, were summed up in this, that when
you had planted a colony on the other side of the ocean, you
were to allow that colony to trade exclusively and solely with
yourselves. But from that doctrine flowed immediately all those
miserable wars, because if people believed, as they then believed,
that the trade with colonies must, in order to be beneficial, nec-
essarily be exclusive, it followed that at once there arose in the
mind of each country a desire to be possessed of the colonies of
other countries, in order to secure the extension of this exclusive
trade. In fact, my Lord Provost, I may say, such was the per-
versity of the misguided ingenuity of man, that during the period
to which I refer, he made commerce itself, which ought to be
the bond and link of the human race, the cause of war and
bloodshed, and wars were justified both here and elsewhere —
justified when they were begun, and gloried in when they had
ended — upon the ground that their object and effect had been
to obtain from some other nation a colony which previously had
been theirs, but which now was ours, and which, in our folly, we
regarded as the sole means of extending the intercourse and the
industry of our countrymen. Well, now, my Lord Provost, that
was a most dangerous form of error, and for the very reason
chat it seemed to abandon the old doctrine of the unrestricted
devastation of the world, and to contemplate a peaceful end;
but I am thankful to say that we have entirely escaped from
that delusion. It may be that we do not wisely when we boast
ourselves over our fathers. The probability is that as their
errors crept in unperceived upon them, they did not know their
full responsibility; so other errors in directions as yet undetected
may be creeping upon us. Modesty bids us in our comparison,
whether with other ages or with other countries, to be thankful
— at least, we ought to be — for the downfall of every form of
error, and determined we ought to be that nothing shall be done

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 240

by US to give countenance to its revival, but that we will en-
deavor to assist those less fortunate than ourselves in emancipat-
ing themselves from the like delusions. I need not say that as
respects our colonies they have ceased to be — I would almost
venture to say a possible, at any rate they have ceased to be a
probable cause of war, for now we believe that the greatness of
our country is best promoted in its relations with our colonies
by allowing them freely and largely to enjoy every privilege that
we possess ourselves; and so far from grudging it, if we find
that there are plenty of American ships trading with Calcutta,
we rejoice in it, because it contributes to the wealth and pros-
perity of our Indian empire, and we are perfectly assured that
the more that wealth and prosperity are promoted, the larger will
be the share of it accruing to ourselves through the legitimate
operation of the principles of trade. But the beneficial influence
of free trading intercourse is far wider than this. You stated
that a treaty had been made with France, and certainly a treaty
with France is even in itself a measure of no small consequence;
but that which gives to a measure of the kind its highest value
is its tendency to produce beneficial imitations in other quarters;
it is the influence which is given to the cause of freedom of
trade by the great example held out by the two most powerful
nations of Europe; it is the fact that in concluding that treaty
we did not give to one a privilege which was withheld from an-
other, and that our treaty with France was, in effect, a treaty
with the world. And what are the moral consequences which
engagements of this kind carry in their train ? I know there is
no part of the providential government of the world which tends
more deeply to impress the mind with a sense of the profound
wisdom and boundless benevolence of the Almighty than when
we observe how truly and how universally great effects spring
from small causes, and high effects from causes which appear to
have been mean. Now, we have said that, with respect to the
freedom of commercial intercourse, reduction of tariffs, abolition
of duties, and readjustment of commercial laws, that these are
things which, in the first instance, touch material interests, and
there are some men so widely mistaken as to suppose that they
touch material interests alone. There are some men, aye, and
high-minded men too, who would bid you beware of such things,
lest they should lead simply to the worship of Mammon. Now,
the worship of Mammon is dangerous to us all, but, as far as

2CO WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

regards the great masses, the more numerous masses of every
community, that portion of the human family which at present
has not much to spare in respect to the essentials of raiment,
of food, and of lodging — that portion of the human family has
hardly yet reached the province in which the worship of Mam-
mon is wont to be dreaded; but that is a subject for the private
conscience, and a subject of the greatest importance.

There is no doubt that an infinity of moral danger surrounds
a state of things in which multitudes of men find themselves
rapidly possessed of great fortunes and entirely changing their
social position. I do not deny that at the proper time and in the
proper place it is a subject for the most solemn consideration;
but I don't think it the duty of Parliament to withhold laws
which are good from any fear of their leading to the worship of
Mammon. That is an argument which, if good in one case, would
be urged with equal force against all blessings of Providence; for
what is more dangerous to the human soul than those blessings
of Providence when their great author is forgotten ? But, I say,
it is marvelous to see how the Almighty makes provision through
the satisfaction of our lower wants and appetites for the attain-
ment of higher aims, and the relations of business are doubtless
founded upon pecuniary profit, as are also the relations of the
tradesmen and customers; yet what is their immediate aim? The
customer wants to be supplied wherever those supplies are best
and cheapest, while the tradesman seeks to dispose of them wher-
ever they are dearest. What are the relations between the em-
ployer and the employed ? The master wishes to produce as
cheaply as he can, and the workman wishes to get the best
wages he can. The landlord obtains the highest rent he can safely
ask, and the tenant obtains his farm as cheaply as he can; and
such is the rule that runs through all these pecuniary relations of
life. Human beings on the two sides of the water are coming
to know one another better, and to esteem one another more;
they are beginning to be acquainted with one another's common
interest and feeling, and to unlearn the prejudices which make us
refuse to give to other nations and peoples in distant lands credit
for being governed by the same motives and principles as our-
selves. We may say that labeled upon all those parcels of goods
there is a spark of kindly feeling from one country to the other,
and the ship revolving between those lands is like the shuttle

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 25I

upon a loom, weaving the web of concord between the nations of
the earth. Therefore I feel that that which may be in its first
and in its outer aspect a merely secular work is in point of fact
a work full of moral purpose, and those who have given themselves
to it, either in times when the system of free trade has become
prosperous, or in earlier times before those principles were
accepted as they now are, could easily afford to bear the reproach
that they were promoting the worship of Mammon, or that they
were conversant only with the exterior and inferior interests of
men. In all cases it is the quiet, unassuming prosecution of daily
duty by which we best fulfill the purpose to which the Almighty
has appointed us; and the task, humble as it may appear, of in-
dustry and of commerce, contemplating, in the first instance, little
more than the necessities and the augmentation of our comforts,
has in it nothing that prevents it from being pursued in a spirit
of devotion to higher interests; and if it be honestly and well
pursued, I believe that it tends, with a power quiet and silent,
indeed, like the power of your vast machines, but at the same
time manifold and resistless, to the mitigation of the woes and
sorrows that afflict humanity, and to the acceleration of better
times for the children of our race. "Wars, my Lord Provost, are
not to be put down by philosophical nor, I believe, even exclu-
sively religious argument. The deepest prejudices of man and
the greatest social evils are only supplanted and undermined by
causes of silent operation; and I must say that, for my own part,
I am given to dwell upon the thought that the silent and tran-
quil operations of these causes in connection with the vast in-
dustry of this country constitute for us, not only a promise of
stability and material power, but likewise a mission that has been
placed in our hands, that in being benefactors to ourselves we
may also hope to be benefactors to the world. And, sir, I trust
and I may say I feel well convinced, that the ideas upon which
the whole of these movements depend are now well rooted in
this country. Such prejudices as may remain adverse to freedom
of industry or freedom of trade in any of its developments are,
I hope and believe, gradually fading away. It is not easy to part
with them, because we must admit, and especially we must admit,
so far as the working classes are concerned, that the first reor-
ganization of these principles may involve, or may appear to in-
volve, something of a personal sacrifice; but the whole mind in

2c;2 WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

this coinmunity is perfectly, I believe, fixed in the conviction
that these principles are the only principles upon which a coun-
try can be justly governed; nor need I say that which is so
well known, that this, at least, is a country in which the con-
viction of the people must be the regulator of the State. My
Lord Provost, I once more thank you for the honor that you
have been pleased to do me. I think that, so far as the prospects
of our politics are concerned, the reference that I have made to
the name of the distinguished person who has succeeded to the
head of the Government is, perhaps, more becoming, and is like-
wise of a character to carry greater weight, than any mere pro-
fessions that I could lay down before you of a desire to serve
my country. It is an arduous task to which we are called.

I do not hesitate to say that the most painful, the most fre-
quently recurring sentiments of public life must, I think, be a
sense of the inadequacy of resources, inadequacy of physical
strength, inadequacy of mental strength, to meet its innumerable
obligations; at the same time that pain is not aggravated by a
sense that our shortcomings are severely judged. We serve a
sovereign whose confidence has ever been largely given to the
counselors who are charged with public responsibility, and we
act for a people ever ready to overlook shortcomings, to pardon
errors, to construe intentions favorably, and to recognize, with a
warmth and generosity beyond measure, any amount of real serv-
ice that may have been conferred. We ought, therefore, to be
cheerful; we ought, above all, to be grateful in the position in
which we stand. And these are not mere idle words, but they
are what the situation evidently demands and exacts from us all,
when we assure you that it is a rich reward to come among
great masses of our most cultivated and intelligent fellow-citizens,
to find ourselves cheered on, in our course, by acknowledgments
such as that which you have given me to-day. We have little
to complain of; we have much, indeed, to acknowledge with
thankfulness; and most of all, we have to delight in the recollec-
tion that the politics of this world are — perhaps very slowly,
with many hindrances, many checks, many reverses, yet that
upon the whole they are — gradually assuming a character which
promises to be less and less one of aggression and offense; less
and less one of violence and bloodshed; more and more one of
general union and friendliness; more and more one connecting
the common reciprocal advantages, and the common interests

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

253

pervading the world, and uniting together the whole of the hu-
man family in a manner which befits rational and immortal be-
ings, owing their existence to one Creator, and having but one
hope either for this world or the next.

HOME RULE AND « AUTONOMY »

(Exordium and Statement from the Speech Delivered in the House of
Commons, May loth, 1886)

I WAS the latest of the Members of this House who had an op-
portunity of addressing the House in the debate on the intro-
duction of this bill, yet I think no one will be surprised at
my desiring to submit some observations in moving the second
reading. And this, on the double ground: First of all, because
unquestionably the discussion has been carried on since the in-
troduction of the bill throughout the country with remarkable
liveliness and activity; and, second, because so many criticisms
have turned on an important particular of the bill with respect
to which the Government feels it to be an absolute duty on our
part that we should, without delay whatever, render to the House
the advantage of such explanations as, consistently with our pub-
lic duty, it may be in our power to make.

I am very sorry to say that I am obliged to introduce into
this speech — but only, I hope, to the extent of a very few sen-
tences— a statement of my own personal position in regard to
this question, which I refrained from mentioning to the House
at the time when I asked for leave to bring in the bill. But I
read speeches which some gentlemen opposite apparently think
it important to make to their constituencies, and which contain
statements so entirely erroneous and baseless that, although I do
not think it myself to be a subject of great importance and rele-
vancy to the question, yet as they do think it to be so, I am
boiind to set them right, and to provide them with the means of
avoiding similar errors on future occasions. Although it is not
a very safe thing for a man who has been for a long time in
public life — and sometimes not very safe even for those who
hav6 been for a short time in public life — to assert a negative,
stili I will venture to assert that I have never, in any period of
my "life, declared what is now familiarly known as Home Rule in

2^4 WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

Ireland to be incompatible with imperial unity. Yes; exactly so.
My sight is bad, and I am not going to make personal refer-
ences; but I dare say the interruption comes from some Member
who has been down to his constituents and has made one of
those speeches stuffed full of totally untrue and worthless matter.

I will go on to say what is true in this matter. In 1871 the
question of Home Rule was an extremely young question. In
fact, Irish history on these matters in my time has divided itself
into three great periods. The first was the Repeal period under
Mr. O'Connell, which began about the time of the Reform Act,
and lasted until the death of that distinguished man. On that
period I am not aware of ever having given an opinion; but
that is not the question which I consider is now before us. The
second period was that between the death of Mr. O'Connell and
the emergence, so to say, of the subject of Home Rule. That
was the period in which physical force and organizations with
that object were conceived and matured, taking effect under the
name generally of what is known as Fenianism. In 1870 or 187 1
came up the question of Home Rule. In a speech which I made
in Aberdeen at that period, I stated the great satisfaction with
which I heard and with which I accepted the statements of the
proposers of Home Rule, that under that name they contem-
plated nothing that was at variance with the unity of the Em-
pire.

But while I say this, do not let it be supposed that I have
ever regarded the introduction of Home Rule as a small matter,
or as entailing a slight responsibility. I admit, on the contrary,
that I have regarded it as a subject of the gravest responsibility,
and so I still regard it. I have cherished, as long as I was able
to cherish, the hope that Parliament might, by passing — by the
steady and continuous passing — of good measures for Ireland,
be able to encounter and dispose of the demand for Home Rule
in that manner which obviously can alone be satisfactory. In
that hope undoubtedly I was disappointed. I found that we
could not reach that desired point. But two conditions have
always been absolute and indispensable with me in regard to
Home Rule. In the first place, it was absolutely necessary that
it should be shown, by marks at once unequivocal and perfectly
constitutional, to be the desire of the great mass of the popula-
tion of Ireland; and I do not hesitate to say that that condition
has never been absolutely and unequivocally fulfilled, in a man-

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 255

ner to make its fulfillment undeniable, until the occasion of the
recent election. It was open for any one to discuss whether the
honorable Member for Cork — acting- as he acted in the last Par-
liament, with some forty-five Members — it was open to any one
to question how far he spoke the sentiments of the mass of the
Irish population. At any rate, it is quite evident that any re-
sponsible man in this country, taking up the question of H^me
Rule at that time, and urging the belief that it was the desire
of the mass of the Irish population, would have been encountered
in every quarter of the House with an incredulity that it would
have been totally impossible for him to have overcome. Well,
I own that to me that question is a settled question. I live in
a country of representative institution; I have faith in represent-
ative institutions; and I will follow them out to their legitimate
consequences; and I believe it to be dangerous in the highest
degree, dangerous to the Constitution of this country and to the
unity of the Empire, to show the smallest hesitation about the
adoption of that principle. Therefore, that principle for me is
settled.

The second question — and it is equally an indispensable con-
dition with the first — is this: Is Home Rule a thing compatible
or incompatible with the unity of the Empire ? Again and again,
as may be in the recollection of Irish Members, I have chal-
lenged, in this House and elsewhere, explanations upon the sub-
ject, in order that we might have clear knowledge of what it
was they so veiled under the phrase, not exceptionable in itself,
but still open to a multitude of interpretations. Well, that ques-
tion was settled in my mind on the first night of the present
session, when the honorable gentleman, the leader of what is
termed the Nationalist party from Ireland, declared unequivo-
cally that what he sought under the name of Home Rule was
autonomy for Ireland. " Autonomy ** is a name well known to
Eiiropean law and practice as importing, under a historical sig-
nification sufficiently definite for every practical purpose, the
management and control of the affairs of the territory to which
the word is applied, and as being perfectly compatible with the
full maintenance of Imperial unity. If any part of what I have
said is open to challenge, it can be challenged by those who
read my speeches, and I find that there are many readers of my
speeches when there is anything to be got out of them and
turned to account. I am quite willing to stand that test, and I

256

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

believe that what I have said now is the exact and literal and
absolute truth as to the state of the case. . . .

What was the cry of those who resisted the concession ot
autonomy to Canada ? It was the cry which has slept for a long
time, and which has acquired vigor from sleeping, — it was the
cry with which we are now becoming familiar, — the cry of the
unity of the Empire. Well, sir, in my opinion the relation with
Canada was one of very great danger to the unity of the Em-
pire at one time, but it was the remedy for the mischief and not
the mischief itself which was regarded as dangerous to the unity
of the Empire. Here I contend that the cases are precisely
parallel, and that there is danger to the unity of the Empire in
your relations with Ireland; but, unfortunately, while you are
perfectly right in raising the cry, you are applying the cry and
the denunciation to the remedy, whereas you ought to apply it
to the mischief.

In those days what happened ? In those days, habitually in
this House, the mass of the people of Canada were denounced
as rebels. Some of them were Protestants and of English and
Scotch birth. The majority of them were Roman Catholic and
of French extraction. The French rebelled. Was that because
they were of French extraction and because they were Roman
Catholics? No, sir; for the English of Upper Canada did exactly
the same thing. They both of them rebelled, and perhaps I may
mention, — if I may enliven the strain of the discussion for a
moment, — that I remember Mr. O'Connell, who often mingled
wit and humor with his eloquence in those days when the dis-
cussion was going on with regard to Canada, and when Canada
v/as the one dangerous question, — the one question which ab-
sorbed interest in this country as the great question of the hour,
— when we were engaged in that debate, Mr. O'Connell inter-
vened, and referred to the well-known fact that a French orator
and statesman named Papineau had been the promoter and the
leader of the agitation in Canada; and what said Mr. O'Connell?
He said : " The case is exactly the case of Ireland with this dif-
ference, that in Canada the agitator had got the ^O* at the end
of his name instead of at the beginning. ^^ Well, these subjects
of her Majesty rebelled, — were driven to rebellion and were put
down. We were perfectly victorious over them, and what then
happened ? Directly the military victory was assured — as Mr.
Burke told the men of the day of the American War — the mo-

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 2=57

ment the military victory was assured, the political difficulty be
gan. Did they feel it ? They felt it ; they gave way to it. The
victors were the vanquished, for if we were victors in the field
we were vanquished in the arena of reason. We acknowledged
that we were vanquished, and within two years we gave com-
plete autonomy to Canada. And now gentlemen have forgotten
this great lesson of history. By saying that the case of Canada
has no relation to the case of Ireland, I refer to that little sen-
tence written by Sir Charles Duffy, who himself exhibits in his
own person as vividly as anybody the transition from a discon-
tented to a loyal subject. ^* Canada did not get Home Rule be-
cause she was loyal and friendly, but she has become loyal and
friendly because she got Home Rule.'*

Now I come to another topic, and I wish to remind you aft
well as I can of the definition of the precise issue which is at
the present moment placed before us. In the introduction of this
bill, I ventured to say that its object was to establish, by the
authority of Parliament, a legislative body to sit in Dublin for
the conduct of both legislation and administration under the con-
ditions which may be prescribed by the Act defining Irish as
distinctive from Imperial affairs. I laid down five, and five only,
essential conditions which we deemed it to be necessary to ob-
serve. The first was the maintenance of the unity of the Empire;
the second was political equality; the third was the equitable dis-
tribution of Imperial burdens; the fourth was the protection of
minorities; and the fifth was that the measure which we proposed
to Parliament, — I admit that we must stand or fall by this defi-
nition quite as much as by any of the others, — that the measure
should present the essential character and characteristics of a set-
tlement of the question.

Well, sir, that has been more briefly defined in a resolution of
the Dominion Parliament of Canada, with which, although the
definition was simpler than my own, I am perfectly satisfied. In
their view there are three vital points which they hope will be
obtained, and which they believe to be paramount, and theirs is
one of the most remarkable and significant utterances which have
passed across the Atlantic to us on this grave political question.
[Cries of ** Oh, oh"* from the opposition.] I just venture to put
to the test the question of the equity of those gentlemen. You
seem to consider that these manifestations are worthless. Had
these manifestations taken place in condemnation of the bills
6 — 17

^ g WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

and policy of the Government, would they have been so worth-
less ?

A question so defined for the establishment of a legislative
body to have effective control of legislation and administration in
Ireland for Irish affairs, and subject to those conditions about
which, after all, there does not appear in principle to be much
difference of opinion among us, — that is the question on which
the House is called to give a vote, as solemn and as important
as almost, perhaps, any in the long and illustrious records of its
history

THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE

(From the Address Delivered at the Founding of Wedgwood Institute in
Staffordshire, October 26th, 1863)

WE MAY consider the products of industry with reference to
their utility, or to their cheapness, or with regard to their
influence upon the condition of those who produce them,
or, lastly, with reference to their beauty, to the degree in which
they associate the presentation of forms and colors, agreeable to
the cultivated eye, with the attainment of the highest aptitude
for those purposes of common life for which they are properly
designed. First, as to their utility and convenience, considered
alone, we may leave that to the consumer, who will not buy
what does not suit him. As to their cheapness, when once se-
curity has been taken that an entire society shall not be forced
to pay an artificial price to some of its members for their pro-
ductions, we may safely commit the question to the action of
competition among manufactures, and of what we term the laws
of supply and demand. As to the condition of work-people, ex-
perience has shown, especially in the case of the Factory Acts, that
we should do wrong in laying down any abstract maxim as an
invariable rule. Generally,, it may be said that the presumption
is, in every case, against legislative interference, but that upon
special grounds, and most of all where children are employed, it
may sometimes, not only be warranted, but required. This, how-
ever, though I may again advert to it, is not for to-day our spe-
cial subject. We come, then, to the last of the heads which I
have named: the association of beauty with utility, each of them
taken according to its largest sense, in the business of industrial

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 25Q

production. And it is in this department, I conceive, that we
are to look for the peculiar pre-eminence, I will not scruple to
say the peculiar greatness, of Wedgwood.

Now, do not let us suppose that, when we speak of this asso-
ciation of beauty with convenience, we speak either of a matter
which is light and fanciful, or of one which ma}^, like some of
those I have named, be left to take care of itself. Beauty is
not an accident of things, it pertains to their essence; it per-
vades the wide range of creation; and wherever it is impaired
or banished, we have in this fact the proof of the moral disorder
which disturbs the world. Reject, therefore, the false philosophy
of those who will ask what does it matter, provided a thing be
useful, whether it be beautiful or not; and say in reply, that we
will take one lesson from Almighty God, who in his works hath
shown us, and in his Word also hath told us, that ^^ He hath
made everything, ^^ not one thing, or another thing, but everything,
<< beautiful in his time.* Among all the devices of creation, there
is not one more wonderful, whether it be the movement of the
heavenly bodies, or the succession of the seasons and the years,
or the adaptation of the world and its phenomena to the condi-
tions of human life, or the structure of the eye, or hand, or any
other part of the frame of man, — not one of all these is more
wonderful than the profuseness with which the Mighty Maker
has been pleased to .shed over the works of his hands an endless
and boundless beauty.

And to this constitution of things outward, the constitution
and mind of man, deranged although they be, still answer from
within. Down to the humblest condition of life, down to the
lowest and most backward grade of civilization, the nature of
man craves, and seems, as it were, even to cry aloud, for some-
thing, some sign or token at the least, of what is beautiful, in
some of the many spheres of mind or sense. This it is, that
makes the Spitalfields weaver, amidst the murky streets of Lon-
don, train canaries and bullfinches to sing to him at his work;
that fills with flower-pots the windows of the poor; that leads
the peasant of Pembrokeshire to paint the outside of his cottage
in the gayest colors; that prompts, in the humbler classes of
women, a desire for some little personal ornament, — a desire cer-
tainly not without dangers (for what sort of indulgence can ever
be without them ?) yet sometimes, perhaps, too sternly repressed
from the high and luxurious places of society. But, indeed, we

26o

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

trace the operation of this principle yet more conspicuously in a
loftier region; in that instinct of natural and Christian piety,
which taught the early masters of the Fine Arts to clothe, not
only the most venerable characters associated with the objects
and history of our Faith, but especially the idea of the sacred
Person of our Lord, in the noblest forms of beauty that their
minds could conceive, and their hands could execute.

It is, in short, difficult for human beings to harden them-
selves at all points against the impressions and the charm of
beauty. Every form of life, that can be called in any sense nat-
ural, will admit them. If we look for an exception, we shall,
perhaps, come nearest to finding one in a quarter where it would
not at first be expected. I know not whether there is any one
among the many species of human aberration, that renders a
man so entirely callous as the lust of gain in its extreme de-
grees. That passion, where it has full dominion, excludes every
other; it shuts out even what might be called redeeming in-
firmities; it blinds men to the sense of beauty, as much as to
the perception of justice and right; cases might perhaps be
named of countries, where greediness for money holds the widest
sway, and where unmitigated ugliness is the principal character-
istic of industrial products. On the other hand, I do not believe
it is extravagant to say that the pursuit of the element of
beauty, in the business of production, will be found to act with
a genial, chastening, and refining influence on the commercial
spirit; that, up to a certain point, it is in the nature of a pre-
servative against some of the moral dangers that beset trading
and manufacturing enterprises; and that we are justified in re-
garding it not merely as an economical benefit; not merely as
that which contributes to our works an element of value; not
merely as that which supplies a particular faculty of human nat-
ure with its proper food; but as a liberalizing and civilizing
power, and an instrument, in its own sphere, of moral and social
improvement. Indeed, it would be strange, if a deliberate de-
parture from what we see to be the law of Nature, in its out-
ward sphere, were the road to a close conformity with its
innermost and highest laws.

But now let us not conceive that because the love of beauty
finds for itself a place in the general heart of mankind, therefore
we need never make it the object of a special attention, or put in
action special means to promote and to uphold it. For, after all,

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

261

our attachment to it is a matter of degree, and of degree which
experience has shown to be, in different places, and at different
times, indefinitely variable. We may not be able to reproduce the
age of Pericles, or even that which is known as the Cinque-cento;
but yet it depends upon our own choice whether we shall or
shall not have a title to claim kindred, however remotely, with
either, aye, or with both, of those brilliant periods. What we are
bound to, is this: to take care that everything we produce shall,
in its kind and class, be as good as we can make it. When Doc-
tor Johnson, whom I suppose Staffordshire must ever reckon
among her most distinguished ornaments, was asked by Mr. Bos-
well how he had attained to his extraordinary excellence in con-
versation, he replied, he had no other rule or system than this:
that whenever he had anything to say, he tried to say it in the
best manner he was able. It is this perpetual striving after ex-
cellence on the one hand, or the want of such effort on the
other, which, more than the original difference of gifts (certain
and great as that difference may be) contributes to bring about
the differences we observe in the works and characters of men.
Now, such efforts are more rare, in proportion as the object in
view is higher, the reward more distant.

It appears to me that in the application of beauty to works
of utility, the reward is generally remote. A new element of
labor is imported into the process of production; and that ele-
ment, like others, must be paid for. In the modest publication
which the firm of Wedgwood and Bently put forth under the
name of a Catalogue, but which really contains much sound and
useful teaching on the principles of industrial art, they speak
plainly on this subject to the following effect: —

* There is another error, common with those who are not over-
well acquainted with the particular difficulties of a given art; they
often say that a beautiful object can be manufactured as cheaply as
an ugly one. A moment's reflection should suffice to undeceive
them.»

The beautiful object will be dearer than one perfectly bare
and bald, not because utility is curtailed or compromised for the
sake of beauty, but because there may be more manual labor,
and there must be more thought, in the original design: —

" Pater ipse colendi
Hand facilem esse viatn voluit. **

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE
202

Therefore the manufacturer, whose daily thought it must and
ought to be to cheapen his productions, endeavoring to dispense
with all that can be spared, is under much temptation to decline
letting beauty stand as an item to lengthen the account of the
costs of production. So the pressure of economical laws tells
severely upon the finer elements of trade. And yet it may be
argued that, in this as in other cases, in the case for example of
the durability and solidity of articles, that which appears cheapest
at first may not be cheapest in the long run. And this for two
reasons. In the first place, because in the long run mankind are
willing to pay a price for Beauty. I will seek for a proof of this
proposition in an illustrious neighboring nation. France is the
second commercial country of the world, and her command of
foreign markets seems clearly referable, in a great degree, to the
real elegance of her productions, and to establish in the most in-
telligible form the principle that taste has an exchangeable value;
that it fetches a price in the markets of the world. But, further-
more, there seems to be another way by which the law of nature
arrives at its revenge upon the short-sighted lust for cheapness.
We begin, say, by finding Beauty expensive. We accordingly de-
cline to pay a class of artists for producing it. Their employ-
ment ceases; and the class itself disappears. Presently we find
by experience that works reduced to utter baldness do not long
satisfy. We have to meet a demand for embellishment of some
kind. But we have now starved out the race who knew the laws
and modes of its production. Something, however, must be done.
So we substitute strength for flavor, quantity for quality; and we
end by producing incongruous excrescences, or even hideous mal-
formations at a greater cost than would have sufficed for the
nourishment among us, without a break, of chaste and virgin
art.

Thus, then, the penalty of error may be certain; but it may
remain not the less true that the reward of sound judgment and
right action, depending, as it does, not on to-day or to-morrow, but
on the far-stretching future, is remote. In the same proportion,
it is wise and needful to call in aid all the secondary resources
we can command. Among those instruments, and among the
best of them, is to be reckoned the foundation of Institutes, such
as that which you are now about to establish; for they not only
supply the willing with means of instruction, but they bear wit-
ness from age to age to the principle on which they are founded.

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE 26^

chey carry down the tradition of good times through the slumbe\
and the night of bad times, ready to point the path to excellence
when the dawn returns again. I heartily trust the Wedgwood
Institute will be one worthy of its founders and of its object.

DESTINY AND INDIVIDUAL ASPIRATION
(From an Address Delivered at Edinburgh University, i860)

'"T^HE mountain-tops of Scotland behold on every side of them
I the witness, and many a one of what were once her mo-
rasses and her moorlands, now blossoming as the rose,
carries on its face the proof, how truly it is in man and not in
his circumstances that the secret of his destiny resides. For
most of you that destiny will take its final bent towards evil or
towards good, not from the information you imbibe, but from the
habits of mind, thought, and life that you shall acquire, during
your academical career. Could you with the bodily eye watch the
moments of it as they fly, you would see them all pass by you,
as the bee that has rifled the heather bears its honey through
the air, charged with the promise, or it may be with the menace,
of the future. In many things it is wise to believe before experi-
ence; to believe, until you may know; and believe me when I tell
you that the thrift of time will repay you in after life with a usury
of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams, and that the waste
of it will make you dwindle, alike in intellectual and in moral
stature, beneath your darkest reckonings.

I am Scotchman enough to know that among you there are
always many who are already, even in their tender years, fight-
ing with a mature and manful courage the battle of life. When
these feel themselves lonely amidst the crowd; when they are
for a moment disheartened by that difficulty which is the rude
and rocking cradle of every kind of excellence; when they are
conscious of the pinch of poverty and self-denial; let them be
conscious, too, that a sleepless Eye is watching them from above,
that their honest efforts are assisted, their humble prayers are
heard, and all things are working together for their good. Is
not this the life of faith, which walks by your side from your ris-
ing in the morning to your lying down at night; which lights up
for you the cheerless world, and transfigures and glorifies all that
you encounter, whatever be its outward form, with hues brought

^ WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

down from heaven ? These considerations are applicable to all
of you. You are all in training here for educated life; for the
higher forms of mental experience; for circles, limited perhaps,
but yet circles of social influence and leadership. Some of you
may be chosen to greater distinctions and heavier trials, and
may enter into that class of which each member, while he lives,
is envied or admired —

<*And when he dies, he leaves a lofty name,
A light, a landmark, on the cliffs of fame.*

And, gentlemen, the hope of an enduring fame is, without doubt,
a powerful incentive to virtuous action, and you may suffer it to
float before you as a vision of refreshment, second always, and
second with a long interval between, to your conscience and to
the will of God. For an enduring fame is one stamped by the
judgment of the future; of that future which dispels illusions,
and crushes idols into dust. Little of what is criminal, little of
what is idle, can endure even the first touch of the ordeal; it
seems as though this purging power, following at the heels of
man and trying his work, were a witness and a harbinger upon
earth of the great and final account.

THE USE OF BOOKS

(From an Address Delivered at the Opening of New Reading and Recreation
Rooms at Saltney, October 26th, iS

AND now I commend you again to your books. Books are de-
lightful society. If you go into a room and find it full of
books, — even without taking them from their shelves, they
seem to speak to you, to bid you welcome. They seem to tell
you that they have something inside their covers that will be
good for you, and that they are willing and desirous to impart
to you. Value them much. Endeavor to turn them to good
account, and pray recollect this, that the education of the mind
is not merely a storage of goods in the mind. The mind of
man, some people seem to think, is a storehouse which should be
filled with a quantity of useful commodities which may be taken
out like packets from a shop, and delivered and distributed ac-
cording to the occasions of life. I will not say that this is not
true as far as it goes, but it goes a very little way; for com-

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE ^^

modities may be taken in, and commodities may be taken out,
but the warehouse remains just the same as it was before, or
probably a little worse. That ought not to be the case with a
man's mind. No doubt you are able to cull knowledge that is
useful for the temporal purposes of life, but never forget that
the purpose for which a man lives is the improvement of the
man himself, so that he may go out of this world having, in his
great sphere or his small one, done some little good to his
fellow-creatures, and labored a little to diminish the sin and the
sorrow that are in the world. . . .

My last recommendation to the student is one I have been in
the habit of making for the last fifty years, because I then adopted
the sentiments upon which it is founded, and I now make it there-
fore with greater confidence after the lapse of fifty years. That
recommendation is, to those who are able to carry it out, to study
the history of the American Revolution. That is an extraordi-
nary history. It is highly honorable to those who brought that
Revolution about; but also honorable in no insignificant degree
to this country, because it was by this country that the seeds of
freedom were sown in America, because it was by imitating this
country that America acquired the habits of freedom, and the
capacity for more freedom. In this country we have happily had,
to a great extent, and I hope we shall have it still more, what is
called local self-government — not merely one government at a
certain point, composed of parties and exerting a vast power over
their fellow-citizens, but a system under which the duties of gov-
ernment are distributed according to the capacities of the differ-
ent divisions of the country, and the different classes of the
people who perform them, in such a way that government should
be practiced, not only in the metropolis, but in every county, in
every borough, over every district, and in every parish. And that
has tended to bring home to the mind of every father of a fam-
ily a sense of the public duty which he is called upon to perform.
That has been the secret of the strength of America. The co-
lonial system in which America was reared was, in the main, a
free colonial system. You had in America these two things com-
bined, the love of freedom and respect for law, and a desire for
the maintenance of order; and where you find these two things
combined, love of freedom, together with respect for law and the
desire for order, you have the elements of national excellence
and national greatness. . . ,

^^ WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

266

To every Eng-lishman the history of his own country should
be foliowed with the greatest interest. Depend upon it, a human
being, if he is to grow, will find that one of the best and most
certain means of growth is, that he should dwell, not only in the
present, but also in the future, and not only in the present and
future, but also in the past, and that is eminently characteristic
of Englishmen. Lately I was reading a work, a very clever
work, by a French author, who spoke of the method in which
great constitutional improvements were carried out in England
and France. He said that in seasons of difficulty and revolution
in France, they took the opportunity to frame declarations of
principle, and to write new constitutions. The French have im-
mense talent, great power of abstract argument, and they framed
those documents probably more cleverly than we could; but, as
the writer says, whenever there has been a revolution in England,
such as that of 1688, they did not go about framing these consti-
tutions, but they looked back into their old history, and inquired
what their fathers did before them. They went back, for in-
stance, at the time of the Revolution in 1688, four hundred or
five hundred years before, for precedents. Don't believe the peo-
ple who tell you that the English Constitution began in the year
1800. It is as old as the Bible. I shall not be charged with
immoderate language if I say that it is about one thousand, or
certainly five or six hundred years ago, when our English fore-
fathers began to develop those grand fundamental ideas which
now constitute the basis of British liberty. Therefore, depend
upon it, in the study of English history you do a great deal for
bracing and developing your own character, and for fitting your-
self to take charge of any employment or position to which others
may call you.

ON LORD BEACONSFIELD
(Delivered in the House of Commons, May gth, 1881)

THE career of Lord Beaconsfield is, in many respects, the most
remarkable in our parliamentary history. For my ov/n
part, I know but one that can fairly be compared to it in
regard to the emotional stirprise — the emotion of wonder, vmich,
when viewed as a whole, it is calculated to excite, and that is
the career, the early career, of Mr. Pitt. Lord Beaconsfield 's

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

267

name is associated with, at least, oue great constitutional change,
in regard to which I think it will ever be admitted — at least, I
can never scruple to admit it — that its arrival was accelerated
by his personal act. I wnll not dwell upon that, but upon the
close association of his name with the important change in the
principle of the parliamentary franchise. It is also associated
with great European transactions, great European arrangements.
I put myself in the position, not necessarily of a friend and
admirer, who looks with sympathy at the character of the action
of Lord Beaconsfield, but in the position of one who looks at the
magnitude of the part which he played on behalf of this coun-
try, and I say that one who was his political friend might fairly
have said of him —

^•^Aspice, lit insignis spoliis Marcellus ophnis
lng7-editur, victor que viros superoninet omnes?'*

The deceased statesman had certain great qualities on which
it would be idle for me to enlarge; his extraordinary intellectual
powers, for instance, were as well known to others as to me.
But other qualities there were in him, not merely intellectual or
immediately connected with the conduct of affairs, but with re-
gard to which I should wish, were I younger, to stamp the rec-
ollection of him on my mind for my own future guidance, and
which I strongly recommend to those who are younger for no-
tice and imitation. These characteristics were not only written
in a marked manner on his career, but were possessed by him
in a degree undoubtedly extraordinary. I speak, for example,
of his strength of will; his long-sighted persistency of purpose,
reaching from his very first entrance on the avenue of life to its
very close; his remarkable power of self-government; and last,
not least, his great parliamentary courage, which I, who have
been associated in the course of my life with some scores of
ministers, have never seen surpassed. There were other points in
his character on which I cannot refrain from saying a word or
two. I wish to express my admiration for those strong sym-
pathies of race, for the sake of which he was always ready to
risk popularity and influence. A like sentiment I feel towards
the strength of his sympathies with that brotherhood to which
he thought, and justly thought, himself entitled to belong — the
brotherhood of men of letters. It is only within the last few
days that I have read in a very interesting book, *- The Autobio-

268

WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

graphy of Thomas Cooper,* how in the year 1844, when his influ-
ence with his party was not yet established, Mr. Cooper came to
him in the character of a struggling literary man, who was also
a Chartist, and the then Mr. Disraeli met him with the most
active and cordial kindness — so ready was his sympathy for
genius. There was also another feeling which may be referred
to now without indelicacy, — I mean his profound, devoted, tender,
and grateful affection for his wife, which, if it deprived him of
the honor of public obsequies, — I know not whether it did so, — •
has, nevertheless, left him a more permanent title, as one who
knew, amid the calls and temptations of political life, what was
due to the sanctity and strength of the domestic affections, and
made him in that respect an example to the country. . . .
There is much misapprehension abroad as to the personal senti-
ments between public men who are divided in policy. Their
words may necessarily, from time to time, be sharp; their judg-
ments may necessarily be severe, but the general idea of persons
less informed than those within the parliamentary circle, is that
they are actuated by sentiments of intense antipathy or hatred
for one another. I wish to take this occasion — if, with the per-
mission of the House, I may for a moment degenerate into ego-
tism— of recording my firm conviction that in all the judgments
ever delivered by Lord Beaconsfield upon myself, he never was
actuated by sentiments of personal antipathy. It is a pleasure
to me to make that acknowledgment. The feeling on my part
is not a new one, but the acknowledgment of it could hardly
have been made with propriety on an earlier occasion.
I have now called attention to the fact that that to which we
have to look is the greatness of the man himself, and of the
transactions with which he was associated, and the full, undis-
puted, constitutional authority that he possessed to sanction his
policy.

RICHARD GOTTHEIL

(1863-)

>ocTOR Richard Gottheil, Professor of Semitic Languages
Pl^^^ and Rabbinical Literature in Columbia University in the city
^^^2! of New York, was president of the American Federation of
Zionists, and one of the organizers of a movement which attracted
world-wide attention. The American Federation, organized July 4th,
1897, "ow comprises societies representing every section of the United
States, all co-operating to bring about the rehabilitation of Palestine
as a political power, — the seat of a restored Hebrew national life. In
the peroration of his address of November ist, 1898, here given. Doctor
Gottheil eloquently presents the objects of the movement.

THE JEWS AS A RACE AND AS A NATION

(Peroration of the Address, 'The Aims of Zionism,' Delivered in New York
City, November ist, li

I KNOW that there are a great many of our people who look for
a final solution of the Jewish question in what they call
"assimilation." The more the Jews assimilate themselves to
their surroundings, they think, the more completely will the causes
for anti-Jewish feeling cease to exist. But have you ever for a
moment stopped to consider what assimilation means ? It has very
pertinently been pointed out that the use of the word is borrowed
from the dictionary of physiology. But in physiology it is not the
food which assimilates itself into the body. It is the body which
assimilates the food. The Jew may wish to be assimilated ; he may
do all he will towards this end. But if the great mass in which he
lives does not wish to assimilate him — what then? If demands
are made upon the Jew which practically mean extermination, w^hich
practically mean his total effacement from among the nations of the
globe and from among the religious forces of the world, — what
answer will you give? And the demands made are j')ractically of

that nature.

269

270 RICHARD GOTTHEIL

I can imagine it possible for a people who are possessed of
an active and aggressive charity which it expresses, not only in
words, but also in deeds, to contain and live at peace with men
of the most varied habits. But, unfortunately, such people do
not exist; nations are swayed by feelings which are dictated
solely by their own self-interests; and the Zionists, in meeting
this state of things, are the most practical as well as the most
ideal of the Jews.

It is quite useless to tell the English workingman that his
Jewish fellow-laborer from Russia has actually increased the
riches of the United Kingdom; that he has created quite a new
industry, — that of making ladies' cloaks, for which formerly Eng-
land sent ;2^2, 000,000 to the continent every year. He sees in
him some one who is different to himself, and unfortunately
successful, though different. And until that difference entirely
ceases, whether of habit, of way, or of religious observance, he
will look upon him and treat him as an enemy.

For the Jew has this especial disadvantage. There is no place
where that which is distinctively Jewish in his manner or in his
way of life is a la mode. We may well laugh at the Irishman's
brogue; but in Ireland, he knows, his brogue is at home. We
may poke fun at the Frenchman as he shrugs his shoulders and
speaks with every member of his body. The Frenchman feels
that in France it is the proper thing so to do. Even the Turk
will wear his fez, and feel little the worse for the occasional jibes
with which the street boy may greet it. But this consciousness,
this ennobling consciousness, is all denied the Jew. What he
does is nowhere a la mode ; no, not even his features; and if he
can disguise these by parting his hair in the middle or cutting
his beard to a point, he feels he is on the road towards assimi-
lation. He is even ready to use the term ^'Jewish'* for what he
considers uncouth and low.

For such as these amongst us, Zionism also has its message.
It wishes to give back to the Jew that nobleness of spirit, that
confidence in himself, that belief in his own powers which only
perfect freedom can give. With a home of his own, he will no
longer feel himself a pariah among the nations, he will nowhere
hide his own peculiarities, — peculiarities to which he has a right
as much as any one, — but will see that those peculiarities carry
with them a message which will force for them the admiration
of the world. He will feel that he belongs somewhere and not

RICHARD GOTTHEIL 27t

everywhere. He will try to be something- and not everything.
The great word which Zionism preaches is conciliation of con-
flicting aims, of conflicting lines of action; conciliation of Jew
to Jew. It means conciliation of the non-Jewish world to the
Jew as well. It wishes to heal old wounds; and by frankly con-
fessing differences which do exist, however much we try to ex-
plain them away, to work out its own salvation upon its own
ground, and from these to send forth its spiritual message to a
conciliated world.

But, you will ask, if Zionism is able to find a permanent
home in Palestine for those Jews who are forced to go there as
well as those who wish to go, what is to become of us who have
entered, to such a degree, into the life around us, and who feel
able to continue as we have begun ? What is to be our relation
to the new Jewish polity? I can only answer: Exactly the same
as is the relation of people of other nationalities all the world over
to their parent home. What becomes of the Englishman in every
corner of the globe ? What becomes of the German ? Does the
fact that the great mass of their people live in their own land
prevent them from doing their whole duty towards the land in
which they happen to live ? Is the German-American considered
less of an American because he cultivates the German language
and is interested in the fate of his fellow-Germans at home ? Is
the Irish-American less of an American because he gathers
money to help his struggling brethren in the Green Isle ? Or
are the Scandinavian-Americans less worthy of the title Ameri-
cans, because they consider precious the bonds v/hich bind them
to the land of their birth, as well as those which bind them to the
land of their adoption ?

Nay! it would seem to me that just those who are so afraid
that our action will be misinterpreted should be among the great-
est helpers in the Zionist cause. For those who feel no racial and
national communion with the life from which they have sprung
should greet with joy the turning of Jewish immigration to some
place other than the land in which they dwell. They miist feel,
for example, that a continual influx of Jews who are not Ameri-
cans is a continual menace to the more or less complete absorp-
tion for which they are striving.

But I must not detain you much longer. Will you permit me
to sum up for you the position which we Zionists take in the fol-
lowing statements: —

272

RICHARD GOTTHEIL

We believe that the Jews are something more than a purely
religious body; that they are not only a race, but also a nation;
though a nation without as yet two important requisites — a com-
mon home and a common language.

We believe that if an end is to be made to Jewish misery and
to the exceptional position which the Jews occupy, — which is the
primary cause of Jewish misery, — the Jewish nation must be
placed once again in a home of its own.

We believe that such a national regeneration is the fulfillment
of the hope which has been present to the Jew throughout his
long and painful history.

We believe that only by means of such a national regeneration
can the religious regeneration of the Jews take place, and they
be put in a position to do that work in the religious world which
Providence has appointed for them.

We believe that such a home can only naturally, and without
violence to their whole past, be found in the land of their fathers
— in Palestine.

We believe that such a return must have the guarantee of the
great powers of the world in order to secure for the Jews a stable
future.

And we hold that this does not mean that all Jews must re-
turn to Palestine.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Zionist program. Shall we
be able to carry it through ? I cannot believe that the Jewish
people have been preserved throughout these centuries either for
eternal misery or for total absorption at this stage of the world's
history. I cannot think that our people have so far misunder-
stood their own purpose in life, as now to give the lie to their
own past and to every hope which has animated their suffering
body.

HENRY W. GRADY

(i8si-i{

sHAT was called "The New South Movement" in American in-
dustry and politics was best represented by Henry W. Grady,
of Georgia, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, an able jour-
nalist and one of the most effective public speakers of his generation in
the United States. He was born in 1851, and his boyhood was passed
during the years of worst disturbance the United States have known.
The conditions caused by the Civil War were specially marked in
Georgia, but that State was one of the first at the South to attempt
extensive manufacturing. ]\Ir. Grady encouraged this in every possi-
ble way, and when, in 1886, he spoke before the New England Society
in New York on conditions at the South, he identified Southern indus-
trial interests with those of New England in such a way as to convince
his hearers that a great change in national politics was impending. It
was expected by some that the WTiig party would be reorganized at
the South and that Mr. Clay's ideas of "the American system" would
revive under Southern leadership and result in a political re-alignment.
In his speech of December, 1889. said to be his best, Mr. Grady ex-
plained the "race problem" to a Boston audience in a way in which it
had never been presented before. If he had not been already famous,
this speech would have made him so, but he did not survive to enjoy
his increased reputation from it, as he died December 23d, 1889, a few
davs after his return to Atlanta.

THE NEW SOUTH AND THE RACE PROBLEM

(Delivered at a Banquet of the Boston Merchants' Association in Boston,

December 12th, li

THE stoutest apostle of the Church, they say, is the missionary,
and the missionary, wherever he unfurls his flag', will never
find himself in deeper need of unction and address than I,
bidden to-night to plant the standard of a Southern Democrat
in Boston's banquet hall, and to discuss the problem of the races
in the home of Phillips and of Sumner. But, Mr. President, if a
purpose to speak in perfect frankness and sincerity; if earnest
6—18 273

274

HENRY W. GRADY

understanding of the vast interests involved; if a consecrating
sense of what disaster must follow further misunderstanding and
estrangement — if all these may be counted on to steady undisci-
plined speech and to strengthen an untried arm, then, sir, I shall
find the courage to proceed.

Happy am I that this mission has brought my feet, at last, to
press New England's historic soil, and my eyes to the knowledge
of her beauty and her thrift. Here within touch of Plymouth
Rock and Bunker Hill — where Webster thundered and Longfel-
low sung, Emerson thought, and Charming preached — here in
the cradle of American letters and almost of American liberty, I
hasten to make the obeisance that every American owes New
England when first he stands uncovered in her mighty presence.
Strange apparition! This stern and unique figure, carved from
the ocean and the wilderness, its majesty kindling and growing
amid the storms of winters and of wars, until, at last, the gloom
was broken, its beauty disclosed in the tranquil sunshine, and the
heroic workers rested at its base, while startled kings and em-
perors gazed and marveled that from the rude touch of this
handful, cast on a bleak and unknown shore, should have come
the embodied genius of human liberty! God bless the memory
of those immortal workers — and prosper the fortunes of their
living sons — and perpetuate the inspiration of their handiwork!

Two years ago, sir, I spoke some words in New York that
caught the attention of the North. As I stand here to reiterate
and emphasize, as I have done everywhere, every word I then
uttered, — to declare that the sentiments I then avowed were uni-
versally approved in the South, — I realize that the confidence
begotten by that speech is largely responsible for my presence
here to-night. I should dishonor myself if I betrayed that con-
fidence by uttering one insincere word, or by withholding one es-
sential element of the truth. Apropos of this last, let me confess,
Mr. President, — before the praise of New England has died on
my lips, — that I believe the best product of her present life is
the procession of seventeen thousand Vermont Democrats that
for twenty-two years, undiminished by death, unrecruited by
birth or conversion, have marched over their rugged hills, cast
their Democratic ballots, and gone back home to pray for their
unregenerate neighbors and awake to read the record of twenty-
six thousand Republican majority. May the God of the helpless
and heroic help them, and may their sturdy tribe increase!

HENRY W. GRADY ^^_

Far to the South, Mr. President, separated by a line, — once
defined in irrepressible difference, once traced in fratricidal
blood, and now, thank God, but a vanishing shadow, — lies the
fairest and richest domain of this earth. It is the home of a
brave and hospitable people. There is centred all that can
please or prosper human kind, A perfect climate above a fertile
soil, yields to the husbandman every product of the temperate
zone. There, by night, the cotton whitens beneath the stars, and
by day the wheat locks the sunshine in its bearded sheaf. In
the same field the clover steals the fragrance of the wind, and
tobacco catches the quick aroma of the rains. There are moun-
tains stored with exhaustless treasures; forests vast and primeval,
and rivers that, tumbling or loitering, run wanton to the sea.
Of the three essential items of all industries, — cotton, iron, and
wood, — that region has easy control. In cotton, a fixed mono-
poly; in iron, proven supremacy; in timber, the reserve supply
of the Republic. From this assured and permanent advantage,
against which artificial conditions cannot long prevail, has grown
an amazing system of industries. Not maintained by human con-
trivance of tariflE or capital, afar off from the fullest and cheapest
source of supply, but resting in Divine assurance, within touch
of field and mine and forest, — not set amid bleak hills and costly
farms from which competition has driven the farmer in despair,
but amid cheap and sunny lands, rich with agriculture, to which
neither season nor soil has set a limit, — this system of industries
is mounting to a splendor that shall dazzle and illumine the
world. That, sir, is the picture and the promise of my home —
a land better and fairer than I have told you, and yet but a fit
setting, in its material excellence, for the loyal and gentle qual-
ity of its citizenship. Against that, sir, we have New England
recruiting the Republic from its sturdy loins, shaking from its
over-crowded hives new swarms of workers, and touching this
land all over with its energy and its courage. And yet — while
in the Eldorado, of which I have told you, but fifteen per cent,
of lands are cultivated, its mines scarcely touched, and its popu-
lation so scant that, were it set equidistant, the sound of the
human voice could not be heard from Virginia to Texas — while
on the threshold of nearly every house in New England stands
a son, seeking with troubled eyes some new land in which to
carry his modest patrimony, and the homely training that is
better than gold — the strange fact remains that in 1880 the

276

HENRY W. GRADY

South had fewer Northern-born citizens than she had in 1870 — •
fewer in 1870 than in i860. Why is this? Why is it, sir, though
the sectional line be now but a mist that the breath may dispel,
fewer men of the North have crossed it over to the South than
when it was crimson with the best blood of the Republic, or
even when the slaveholder stood guard every inch of its way ?

There can be but one answer. It is the very problem we are
now to consider. The key that opens that problem will unlock
to the world the fairest half of this Republic, and free the halted
feet of thousands whose eyes are already kindling with its beauty.
Better than this, it will open the hearts of brothers for thirty
years estranged, and clasp in lasting comradeship a million hands
now withheld in doubt. Nothing, sir, but this problem and the
suspicions it breeds, hinders a clear understanding and a perfect
union. Nothing else stands between us and such love as bound
Georgia and Massachusetts at Valley Forge and Yorktown, chas-
tened by the sacrifice of Manassas and Gettysburg, and illumined
with the coming of better work and a nobler destiny than was
ever wrought by the sword or sought at the cannon's mouth.

If this does not invite your patient hearing to-night, — hear
one thing more: My people, your brothers in the South, — brothers
in blood, in destiny, in all that is best in our past and future, —
are so beset with this problem that their very existence depends
on its right solution. Nor are they wholly to blame for its pres-
ence. The slave ships of the Republic sailed from your ports, —
the slaves worked in our fields. You will not defend the traffic,
nor I the institution. But I do here declare that in its wise and
humane administration, in lifting the slave to the heights of
which he had not dreamed in his savage home, and giving him
a happiness he has not yet found in freedom, our fathers left
their sons a saving and excellent heritage. In the storm of war
this institution was lost. I thank God as heartily as you do- that
human slavery is gone forever from American soil. But the freed
man remains, and with him a problem without precedent or par-
allel. Note its appalling conditions. Two utterly dissimilar races
on the same soil, — with equal political and civil rights, — almost
equal in numbers, but terribly unequal in intelligence and re-
sponsibility,— each pledged against fusion, — one for a century in
servitude to the other, and freed at last by a desolating war, —
the experiment sought by neither, but approached by both with
doubt — these are the conditions. Under these, adverse at every

HENRY W. GRADY

point, we are required to carry these two races in peace and
honor to the end.

Never, sir, has such a task been given to mortal stewardship.
Never before in this Republic has the white race divided on the
rights of an alien race. The red man was cut down as a weed,
because he hindered the way of the American citizen. The yel-
low man was shut out of this Republic because he is an alien
and an inferior. The red man was owner of the land — the yel-
low man highly civilized and assimilable — but they hindered
both sections and are gone! But the black man, clothed with
every privilege of government, affecting but one section, is pinned
to the soil, and my people commanded to make good at any
hazard, and at any cost, his full and equal heirship of American
privilege and prosperity. It matters not that every other race
has been routed or excluded, without rhyme or reason. It mat-
ters not that wherever the whites and blacks have touched, in
any era or any clime, there has been irreconcilable violence. It
matters not that no two races, however similar, have ever lived
anywhere, at any time, on the same soil, with equal rights, in
peace! In spite of these things, we are commanded to make
good this change of American policy which has not, perhaps,
changed American prejudice — to make certain here what has
elsewhere been impossible between whites and blacks — and to
reverse, under the very worst conditions, the universal verdict of
racial history. And we are driven, sir, to this superhuman task
with an impatience that brooks no delay, a rigor that accepts
no excuse, and a suspicion that discourages frankness and sin-
cerity. We do not shrink from this trial. It is so interwoven
with our industrial fabric, that we cannot disentangle it if we
would — so bound up in our honorable obligation to the world,
that we would not if we could. Can we solve it ? The God
who gave it into our hands alone can know. But this, the
weakest and wisest of us do know; we cannot solve it with less
than your tolerant and patient sympathy — with less than the
knowledge that the blood that runs in your veins is our blood —
and that, when we have done our best, whether the issue be
lost or won, we shall feel your strong arms about us and hear
the beating of your approving hearts!

HENRY GRATTAN

(1746-1820)

»o British orator except Chatham, >^ says Mr. Lecky, in writing
of Grattan, « had an equal power of firing an educated
fi, audience with an intense enthusiasm, or of animating and
inspiring a nation. No British orator, except Burke, had an equal
power of sowing his speeches with profound aphorisms, and associat-
ing transient questions with eternal truths. His thoughts naturally
crystallized into epigrams; his arguments were condensed with such
admirable force and clearness that they assumed almost the appear-
ance of axioms, and they were often interspersed with sentences of
concentrated poetic beauty which flashed upon the audience with all
the force of sudden inspiration.*^

Of his speech of April 19th, 1780, < Liberty as an Inalienable Right,*
it has been said that ** nothing equal to it had ever before been
heard in Ireland, nor, probably, was its superior ever delivered in the
English House of Commons. Other speeches may have matched it
in argument and information, but in startling energy and splendor of
style it surpassed them all.**

Grattan is called a <<born orator,** in contradistinction to those who
acquire oratorical facility as a habit by careful study. But with what
seems to have been an extraordinary natural ^*ear** for the music of
language, he improved it by careful study, developing his powers,
that he might make himself the organ of liberty and progress for his
countrymen. It was for this, rather than for the music of his words,
that Byron, though himself a great musician through his mastery of
the melody of language, wrote of him: —

«Ever glorious Grattan, the best of the good.
So simple in heart, so sublime in the rest;
With all that Demosthenes wanted, endued,
And his rival or victor in all he possessed!*

Grattan was born at Dublin, July 3d, 1746, and educated at Trinity
College, Dublin, and the Middle Temple, London. He studied Boling-
broke and the * Letters of Junius, * as models of oratorical style, but
took Chatham as a master, after hearing one of his speeches. His
progress was slow, as his voice was defective, his figure awkward, and
his delivery repellant, but he overcame all his defects, and entering

278

HENRY GRATTAN 270

the Irish Parliament in 1775, three years after his admission to the
bar, he soon vindicated his right to leadership. In 1782 the repeal
of <<Poynings's Law,'' brought about through his efforts, restored the
independence of the Irish Parliament, and linked his name forever
with Irish aspiration for national existence. After the act of legisla-
tive union with England, the adoption of which against his strenuous
opposition pained him deeply, he was elected to the Imperial Par-
liament in 1806. He led the fight against religious proscription, and
until his death in London, June 4th, 1820, did all that genius and
patriotism could do for the progress of Ireland.

AGAINST ENGLISH IMPERIALISM

(Delivered in the Irish Parliament, April 19th, 1780, on First Moving «The

Declaration of Right >>)

SIR, I have entreated an attendance on this day that you might,
in the most public manner, deny the claim of the British
Parliament to make law for Ireland, and with one voice lift
up your hands against it.

If I had lived when the 9th of William took away the
woolen manufacture, or when the 6th of George I. declared this
country to be dependent and subject to laws to be enacted by
the Parliament of England, I should have made a covenant with
my own conscience to seize the first moment of rescuing my
country from the ignominy of such acts of power; or, if I had a
son, I should have administered to him an oath that he would
consider himself a person separate and set apart for the dis-
charge of so important a duty; upon the same principle I am
now come to move a Declaration of Right, the first moment occur-
ring, since my time, in which such a declaration could be made
with any chance of success, and without aggravation of oppres-
sion.

Sir, it must appear to every person that, notwithstanding the
import of sugar and export of woolens, the people of this coun-
try are not satisfied — something remains; the greater work is
behind; the public heart is not well at ease. To promulgate
our satisfaction; to stop the throats of millions with the votes of
Parliament; to preach homilies to the volunteers; to utter invec-
tives against the people, under pretense of affectionate advice, is
an attempt, weak, suspicious, and inflammatory.

28o HENRY GRATTAN

You cannot dictate to those whose sense you are intrusted to
represent; your ancestors, who sat within these walls, lost to Ire-
land trade and liberty; you, by the assistance of the people, have
recovered trade ; you still owe the kingdom liberty ; she calls upon
you to restore it.

The ground of public discontent seems to be : " We have got>
ten commerce, but not freedom *^ : the same power which took
away the export of woolens and the export of glass may take
them away again; the repeal is partial, and the ground of repeal
is upon a principle of expediency.

Sir, ^' expedient '^ is a word of appropriated and tyrannical im-
port; " expedient ^^ is an ill-omened word, selected to express the
reservation of authority, while the exercise is mitigated ; ^* expedi-
ent^^ is the ill-omened expression of the Repeal of the American
Stamp Act. England thought it ^* expedient '^ to -repeal that law;
happy had it been for mankind, if, when she withdrew the exer-
cise, she had not reserved the right! To that reservation she
owes the loss of her American empire, at the expense of mil-
lions, and America the seeking of liberty through a sea of blood-
shed. The repeal of the Woolen Act, similarly circumstanced,
pointed against the principle of our liberty, — a present relaxa-
tion, but tyranny in reserve, — may be a subject for illumination
to a populace, or a pretense for apostasy to a courtier, but can-
not be the subject of settled satisfaction to a freeborn, intelligent,
and injured community. It is therefore they consider the free
trade as a trade de facto, not de jure; as a license to trade un-
der the Parliament of England, not a free trade under the char-
ters of Ireland; — as a tribute to her strength to maintain which
she must continue in a state of armed preparation, dreading the
approach of a general peace, and attributing all she holds dear to
the calamitous condition of the British interest in every quarter
of the globe. This dissatisfaction, founded upon a consideration
of the liberty we have lost, is increased when they consider the
opportunity they are losing; for if this nation, after the death-
wound given to her freedom, had fallen on her knees in anguish,
and besought the Almighty to frame an occasion in which a
weak and injured people might recover their rights, prayer could
not have asked, nor God have furnished, a moment more oppor-
tune for the restoration of liberty, than this, in which I have
the honor to address you.

HENRY GRATTAN o

England now smarts under the lesson of the American War;
the doctrine of Imperial legislature she feels to be pernicious; the
revenues and monopolies annexed to it she has found to be un-
tenable; she lost the power to enforce it; her enemies are a host,
pouring upon her from all quarters of the earth; her armies are
dispersed; the sea is not hers; she has no minister, no ally, no
admiral, none in whom she long confides, and no general whom
she has not disgraced; the balance of her fate is in the hands of
Ireland; you are not only her last connection, you are the only
nation in Europe that is not her enemy. Besides, there does, of
late, a certain damp and spurious supineness overcast her arms
and councils, miraculous as that vigor which has lately inspirited
yours; — for with you everything is the reverse; never was there
a Parliament in Ireland so possessed of the confidence of the
people; you are the greatest political assembly now sitting in
the world; you are at the head of an immense army; nor do
we only possess an unconquerable force, but a certain unquench-
able public fire, which has touched all ranks of men like a visi-
tation.

Turn to the growth and spring of your country, and behold
and admire it; where do you find a nation who, upon whatever
concerns the rights of mankind, expresses herself with more truth
or force, perspicuity or justice ? not the set phrase of scholastic
men, not the tame unreality of court addresses, not the vulgar
raving of a rabble, but the genuine speech of liberty, and the
unsophisticated oratory of a free nation.

See her military ardor, expressed, not only in forty thousand
men, conducted by instinct as they were raised by inspiration,
but manifested in the zeal and promptitude of every young mem-
ber of the growing community. Let corruption tremble; let the
enemy, foreign or domestic, tremble; but let the friends of liberty
rejoice at these means of safety and this hour of redemption.
Yes; there does exist an enlightened sense of rights, a young ap-
petite for freedom, a solid strength, and a rapid fire, which not
only put a declaration of right within your power, but put it out
of your power to decline one. Eighteen counties are at your
bar; they stand there with the compact of Henry, with the char-
ter of John, and with all the passions of the people. " Our lives
are at your service, but our liberties — we received them from
God; we will not resign them to man.*^ Speaking to you thus, if

282

HENRY GRATTAN

you repulse these petitioners, you abdicate the privileges of Par-
liament, forfeit the rights of the kingdom, repudiate the instruc-
tion of your constituents, bilge the sense of your country, palsy
the enthusiasm of the people, and reject that good which not a
minister, not a Lord North, not a Lord Buckinghamshire, not a
Lord Hillsborough, but a certain providential conjuncture, or,
rather, the hand of God, seems to extend to you. Nor are w^e
only prompted to this when we consider our strength; we are
challenged to it when we look to Great Britain. The people of
that country are now waiting to hear the Parliament of Ireland
speak on the subject of their liberty; it begins to be made a
question in England whether the principal persons wish to be free ;
it was the delicacy of former Parliaments to be silent on the sub-
ject of commercial restrictions, lest they should show a knowledge
of the fact, and not a sense of the violation; you have spoken
out, you have shown a knowledge of the fact, and not a sense of
the violation. On the contrary, you have returned thanks for a
partial repeal made on a principle of power; you have returned
thanks as for a favor, and your exultation has brought your char-
ters, as well as your spirit, into question, and tends to shake to
her foundation your title to liberty; thus you do not leave your
rights where you found them. You have done too much not to
do more; you have gone too far not to go on; you have brought
yourselves into that situation in which you must silently abdicate
the rights of your country, or publicly restore them. It is very
true you may feed your manufacturers, and landed gentlemen
may get their rents, and you may export woolen, and may load a
vessel with baize, serges, and kerseys, and you may bring back
again directly from the plantations sugar, indigo, speckle-wood,
beetle-root, and panellas. But liberty, the foundation of trade,
the charters of the land, the independency of Parliament, the
securing, crowning, and the consummation of everything are yet
to come. Without them the work is imperfect, the foundation is
wanting, the capital is wanting, trade is not free, Ireland is a
colony without the benefit of a charter, and you are a provincial
synod without the privileges of a Parliament.

I read Lord North's proposition; I wish to be satisfied, but I
am controlled by a paper — I will not call it a law — it is the 6th
of George I. [The paper was read.] I will ask the gentlemen
of the long robe : Is this the law ? I ask them whether it is not

HENRY GRATTAN

28^

practice. I appeal to the judges of the land whether they are
not in a course of declaring that the Parliament of Great Britain,
naming Ireland, binds her. I appeal to the magistrates of justice
whether they do not, from time to time, execute certain acts of
the British Parliament. I appeal to the officers of the army
whether they do not fine, confine, and execute their fellow-subjects
by virtue of the Mutiny Act, an act of the British Parliament; and
I appeal to this House whether a country so circumstanced is
free. Where is the freedom of trade ? Where is the security of
property ? Where is the liberty of the people ? I here, in this
Declamatory Act, see my country proclaimed a slave! I see
every man in this House enrolled a slave ! I see the judges of the
realm, the oracles of the law, borne down by an unauthorized for-
eign power, by the authority of the British Parliament against the
law! I see the magistrates prostrate, and I see Parliament witness
of these infringements, and silent — silent or employed to preach
moderation to the people, whose liberties it will not restore! I
therefore say, with the voice of three million people, that, not-
withstanding the import of sugar, beetle-wood, and panellas, and
the export of woolens and kerseys, nothing is safe, satisfactory,
or honorable, nothing except a declaration of right. What! are
you, with three million men at your back, with charters in one
hand and arms in the other, afraid to say you are a free people ?
Are you, the greatest House of Commons that ever sat in Ire-
land, that want but this one act to equal that English House of
Commons that passed the Petition of Right, or that other that
passed the Declaration of Right, — are you afraid to tell that Brit-
ish Parliament you are a free people ? Are the cities and the
instructing counties, who have breathed a spirit that would have
done honor to old Rome when Rome did honor to mankind — are
they to be free by connivance ? Are the military associations,
those bodies whose origin, progress, and deportment have tran-
scended, or equaled at least, anything in modem or ancient story —
is the vast line of the northern army, — are they to be free by con-
nivance ? What man will settle among you ? Where is the use of
the Naturalization Bill ? What man will settle among you ? who
will leave a land of liberty and a settled government for a king-
dom controlled by the Parliament of another country, whose lib-
erty is a thing by stealth, whose trade a thing by permission,
whose judges deny her charters, whose Parliament leaves every-

,284 HENRY GRATTAN

thing at random; where the chance of freedom depends upon the
hope that the jury shall despise the judge stating a British act,
or a rabble stop the magistrate executing it, rescue your abdi-
cated privileges, and save the Constitution by trampling on the
Government, — by anarchy and confusion!

But I shall be told that these are groundless jealousies, and
that the people of the principal cities, and more than one-half of
the counties of the Kingdom, are misguided men, raising those
groundless jealousies. Sir, let me become, on this occasion, the
people's advocate, and your historian; the people of this country
were possessed of a code of liberty similar to that of Great Brit-
ain, but lost it through the weakness of the Kingdom and the
pusillanimity of its leaders. Having lost our liberty by the usurp-
ation of the British Parliament, no wonder we became a prey to
her ministers; and they did plunder us with all the hands of all
the harpies, for a series of years, in every shape of power, terri-
fying our people with the thunder of Great Britain, and bribing
our leaders with the rapine of Ireland. The Kingdom became a
plantation; her Parliament, deprived of its privileges, fell into
contempt; and, with the legislature, the law, the spirit of liberty,
with her forms vanished. If a war broke out, as in 1778, and
an occasion occurred to restore liberty and restrain rapine, Par-
liament declined the opportunity; but, with an active servility
and trembling loyalty, gave and granted, without regard to the
treasure we had left, or the rights we had lost. If a partial rep-
aration was made upon a principle of expediency, Parliament did
not receive it with the tranquil dignity of an august assembly,
but with the alacrity of slaves.

The principal individuals, possessed of great property but no
independency, corrupted by their extravagance, or enslaved by
their following a species of English factor against an Irish peo-
ple, more afraid of the people of Ireland than the tyranny of
England, proceeded to that excess, that they opposed every prop-
osition to lessen profusion, extend trade, or promote liberty;
they did more, they supported a measure which, at one blow, put
an end to all trade; they did more, they brought you to a con-
dition which they themselves did unanimously acknowledge a
state of impending ruin; they did this, talking as they are now
talking, arguing against trade as they now argue against liberty,
threatening the people of Ireland with the power of the British

HENRY GRATTAN

28s

nation, and imploring them to rest satisfied with the ruins of
their trade, as they now implore them to remain satisfied with
the wreck of their Constitution.

The people thus admonished, starving in a land of plenty, the
victim of two Parliaments, of one that stopped their trade, the
other that fed on their Constitution, inhabiting a country where
industry was forbidden, or towns swarming with begging manu-
facturers, and being obliged to take into their own hands that
part of government which consists in protecting the subject, had
recourse to two measures, which, in their origin, progress, and con-
sequence, are the most extraordinary to be found in any age or in
any country, namely, a commercial and military association. The
consequence of these measures was instant; the enemy that hung
on your shores departed, the Parliament asked for a free trade,
and the British nation granted the trade, but withheld the free-
dom. The people of Ireland are, therefore, not satisfied; they
ask for a Constitution; they have the authority of the wisest men
in this House for what they now demand. What have these
walls for this last century resounded ? The usurpation of the
British Parliament, and the interference of the privy council.
Have we taught the people to complain, and do we now con-
demn their insatiability, because they desire us to remove such
grievances, at a time in which nothing can oppose them, except
the very men by w^hom these grievances were acknowledged ?

Sir, we may hope to dazzle with illumination, and we may
sicken with addresses, but the public imagination will never rest,
nor will her heart be well at ease — never! so long as the Parlia-
ment of England exercises or claims a legislation over this coun-
try: so long as this shall be the case, that very free trade,
otherwise a perpetual attachment, will be the cause of new dis-
content; it will create a pride to feel the indignity of bondage;
it will furnish a strength to bite your chain, and the liberty
withheld will poison the good communicated.

The British minister mistakes the Irish character: had he in-
tended to make Ireland a slave, he should have kept her a beg-
gar; there is no middle policy; win her heart by the restoration
of her right, or cut off the nation's right hand; greatly emanci-
pate, or fundamentally destroy. We may talk plausibty to Eng-
land, but so long as she exercises a power to bind this country,
so long are the nations in a state of war; the claims of the one
go against the liberty of the other, and the sentiments of the

,286 HENRY GRATTAN

latter go to oppose those claims to the last drop of her blood.
The English opposition, therefore, are right; mere trade will not
satisfy Ireland — they judge of us by other great nations, by the
nation whose political life has been a struggle for liberty; they
judge of us with a true knowledge of, and just deference for,
our character — that a country enlightened as Ireland, chartered
as Ireland, armed as Ireland, and injured as Ireland, will be sat-
isfied with nothing less than liberty.

I admire that public- spirited merchant [Alderman Horan], who
spread consternation at the Customhouse, and, despising the ex-
ample which great men afforded, determined to try the question,
and tendered for entry what the British Parliament prohibits the
subject to export, some articles of silk, and sought at his private
risk the liberty of his country; with him I am convinced it is
necessary to agitate the question of right. In vain will you en-
deavor to keep it back; the passion is too natural, the sentiment
is too irresistible; the question comes on of its own vitality!
You must reinstate the laws!

There is no objection to this resolution, except fears; I have
examined your fears; I pronounce them to be frivolous. I might
deny that the British nation was attached to the idea of binding
Ireland; I might deny that England was a tyrant at heart; and
I might call to witness the odium of North and the popularity
of Chatham, her support of Holland, her contributions to Corsica,
and the charters communicated to Ireland; but ministers have
traduced England to debase Ireland; and politicians, like priests,
represent the power they serve as diabolical, to possess with su-
perstitious fears the victim whom they design to plunder. If
England is a tyrant, it is you have made her so; it is the slave
that makes the tyrant, and then murmurs at the master whom
he himself has constituted. I do allow, on the subject of com-
merce, England was jealous in the extreme, and I do say it wag
commercial jealousy, it was the spirit of monopoly (the woolen
trade and the act of navigation had made her tenacious of a
comprehensive legislative authority), and having now ceded that
monopoly, there is nothing in the way of your liberty except
your own corruption and pusillanimity; and nothing can prevent
your being free except yourselves. It is not in the disposition
of England; it is not in the interest of England; it is not in her
arms. What! can 8,000,000 of Englishmen opposed to 20,000,-
000 of French, to 7,000,000 of Spanish, to 3,000,000 of Ameri-

HENRY GRATTAN

287

cans, reject the alliance of 3,000,000 in Ireland? Can 8,000,000 of
British men, thus outnumbered by foes, take upon their shoulders
the expense of an expedition to enslave you ? Will Great Brit-
ain, a wise and magnanimous country, thus tutored by experi-
ence and wasted by war, the French navy riding her Channel,
send an army to Ireland, to levy no tax, to enforce no law, to
answer no end whatsoever, except to spoliate the charters of Ire-
land and enforce a barren oppression ? What ! has England lost
thirteen provinces? has she reconciled herself to this loss, and
will she not be reconciled to the liberty of Ireland? Take no-
tice that the very constitution which I move you to declare. Great
Britain herself offered to America; it is a very instructive pro-
ceeding in the British history. In 1778 a commission went out,
with powers to cede to the thirteen provinces of America, totally
and radically, the legislative authority claimed over her by the
British Parliament, and the commissioners, pursuant to their
powers, did offer to all or any of the American States the total
surrender of the legislative authority of the British Parliament.
I will read you their letter to the Congress.

[Here the letter was read.]

What! has England offered this to the resistance of America,
and will she refuse it to the loyalty of Ireland ? Your fears,
then, are nothing but a habitual subjugation of mind; that sub-
jugation of mind which made you, at first, tremble at every great
measure of safety; which made the principal men amongst us con-
ceive the commercial association would be a war; that fear, which
made them imagine the military association had a tendency to
treason; which made them think a short money bill would be a
public convulsion; and yet these measures have not only proved
to be useful, but are held to be moderate, and the Parliament
that adopted them, is praised, not for its unanimity only, but for
its temper also. You now wonder that you submitted for so many
years to the loss of the woolen trade and the deprivation of the
glass trade; raised above your former abject state in commerce,
you are ashamed at your past pusillanimity; so when you have
summoned a boldness which shall assert the liberties of your
country — raised by the act, and reinvested, as you will be, in
the glory of your ancient rights and privileges, you will be sur-
prised at yourselves, who have so long submitted to their viola-
tion. Moderation is but a relative term; for nations, like men,

288 HENRY GRATTAN

are only safe in proportion to the spirit they put forth, and the
proud contemplation with which they survey themselves. Con-
ceive yourselves a plantation, ridden by an oppressive govern-
ment, and everything you have done is but a fortunate frenzy;
conceive yourselves to be what you are, a great, a growing, and
a proud nation, and a declaration of right is no more than the
safe exercise of your indubitable authority.

But, though you do not hazard disturbance by agreeing to
this resolution, you do most exceedingly hazard tranquillity by
rejecting it. Do not imagine that the question will be over
when this motion shall be negatived. No; it will recur in a
vast variety of shapes and diversity of places. Your constituents
have instructed you in great numbers, with a powerful uniform-
ity of sentiment, and in a style not the less awful because full
of respect. They will find resources in their own virtue if they
have found none in yours. Public pride and conscious liberty,
wounded by repulse, will find ways and means of vindication.
You are in that situation in which every man, every hour of the
day, may shake the pillars of the State; every court may swarm
with the question of right; every quay and wharf with prohibited
goods; what shall the judges, what the commissioners, do upon
this occasion ? Shall they comply with the laws of Ireland, and
against the claims of England, and stand firm where you have
capitulated ? Shall they, on the other hand, not comply, and shall
they persist to act against the law ? Will you punish them if
they do so ? Will you proceed against them for not showing a
spirit superior to your own ? On the other hand, will you not
punish them ? Will you leave liberty to be trampled on by those
men ? Will you bring them and yourselves, all constituted or-
ders, executive power, judicial power, and parliamentary author-
ity, into a state of odium, impotence, and contempt; transferring
the task of defending public right into the hands of the popu-
lace, and leaving it to the judges to break the laws, and to the
people to assert them ? Such would be the consequence of false
moderation, of irritating timidity, of inflammatory palliatives, of
the weak and corrupt hope of compromising with the court be-
fore you have emancipated the country.

I have answered the only semblance of a solid reason against
the motion; I will remove some of lesser pretenses, some mi-
nor impediments: for instance, first, that we have a resolution
of the same kind already on our Journals, it will be said: But

HENRY GRATTAN 2B0

how often was the great charter confirmed ? Not more fre-
quently than your rights have been violated. Is one solitary
resolution, declaratory of your right, sufficient for a country,
whose history, from the beginning unto the end, has been a
course of violation ? The fact is, every new breach is a reason
for a new repair; every new infringement should be a new dec-
laration, lest charters should be overwhelmed with precedents to
their prejudice, a nation's right obliterated, and the people them-
selves lose the memory of their own freedom.

I shall hear of ingratitude; I name the argument to despise
it and the men who make use of it; I know the men who use it
are not grateful, they are insatiate ; they are public extortioners,
who would stop the tide of public prosperity and turn it to the
channel of their own emolument; I know of no species of grati-
tude which should prevent my country from being free, no grat-
itude which should oblige Ireland to be the slave of England.
In cases of robbery and usurpation, nothing is an object of grati-
tude except the thing stolen, the charter spoliated. A nation's
liberty cannot, like her treasures, be meted and parceled out in
gratitude; no man can be grateful or liberal of his conscience,
nor woman of her honor, nor nation of her liberty; there are
certain unimpartable, inherent, invaluable properties, not to be
alienated from the person, whether body politic or body natural.
With the same contempt do I treat that charge which says that
Ireland is insatiable; saying that Ireland asks nothing but that
which Great Britain has robbed her of, her rights and privileges;
to say that Ireland w411 not be satisfied with liberty, because she
is not satisfied with slavery, is folly. I laugh at that man who
supposes that Ireland will not be content with a free trade and a
free constitution; and would any man advise her to be content
with less ?

I shall be told that we hazard the modification of the Law of
Poynings and the Judges' Bill, and the Habeas Corpus Bill, and
the Nullum Tempus Bill; but I ask you, have you been for years
begging for these little things, and have not you yet been able
to obtain them ? And have you been contending against a little
body of eighty men in Privy Council assembled, convocating
themselves into the image of a parliament, and ministering your
high office ? And have you been contending against one man,
an humble individual, to you a Leviathan, — the English Attorney-
General, — who advises in the case of Irish bills, and exercises
6 — 19

290 HENRY GRATTAiJ

legislation in his own person, and makes your parliamentary delib-
erations a blank by altering your bills or suppressing them ? And
have you not yet been able to conquer this little monster ? Do
you wish to know the reason ? I will tell you : because you have
not been a parliament, nor your country a people! Do you wish
to know the remedy? — be a parliament, become a nation, and
these things will follow in the train of your consequence ! I shall
be told that titles are shaken, being vested by force of English
acts; but in answer to that, I observe, time may be a title, acqui-
escence a title, forfeiture a title, but an English act of Parlia-
ment certainly cannot; it is an authority, which, if a judge would
charge, no jury would find, and which all the electors in Ireland
have already disclaimed unequivocally, cordially, and universally.
Sir, this is a good argument for an act of title, but no argument
against a declaration of right. My friend who sits above me
[Mr. Yelverton] has a Bill of Confirmation; we do not come un-
prepared to Parliament. I am not come to shake property, but
to confirm property and restore freedom. The nation begins to
form; we are molding into a people; freedom asserted, property
secured, and the army (a mercenary band) likely to be restrained
by law. Never was such a revolution accomplished in so short a
time, and with such public tranquillity. In what situation would
those men who call themselves friends of constitution and of
government have left you ? They would have left you without
a title, as they state it, to your estates, — without an assertion of
your Constitution, or a law for your army; and this state of un-
exampled private and public insecurity, this anarchy raging in
the kingdom for eighteen months, these mock moderators would
have had the presumption to call *^ peace. ^*

I shall be told that the judges will not be swayed by the res-
olution of this House. Sir, that the judges will not be borne
down by the resolutions of Parliament, not founded in law, I am
willing to believe; but the resolutions of this House, founded in
law, they will respect most exceedingly, I shall always rejoice at
the independent spirit of the distributers of the law, but must
lament that hitherto they have given no such symptom. The
judges of the British nation, when they adjudicated against the
laws of that country, pleaded precedent and the prostration and
profligacy of a long tribe of subservient predecessors, and were
punished. The judges of Ireland if they should be called upon,
and should plead sad necessity, the thraldom of the times, and,

HENRY GRATTAN 2QI

above all, the silent fears of Parliament, they, no doubt, will be
excused: but when your declarations shall have protected them
from their fears; when you shall have emboldened the judges to
declare the law according to the charter, I make no doubt they
will do their duty; and your resolution, not making a new law,
but giving new life to the old ones, will be secretly felt and in-
wardly acknowledged, and there will not be a judge who will
not perceive, to the innermost recess of his tribunal, the truth of
your charters and the vigor of your justice.

The same laws, the same charters, communicate to both king-
doms. Great Britain and Ireland, the same rights and privileges;
and one privilege above them all is that communicated by
Magna Charta, by the 25th of Edward III., and by a multitude
of other statutes, ^^not to be bound by any act except made with
the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, and freemen of the com-
monalty,* namely, of the Parliament of the realm. On this right
of exclusive legislation are founded the Petition of Right, Bill of
Right, Revolution, and Act of Settlement. The King has no
other title to his crown than that which you have to your lib-
erty; both are founded, the throne and your freedom, upon the
right vested in the subject to resist by arms, notwithstanding
the oaths of allegiance, any authority attempting to impose acts
of power as laws, whether that authority be one man or a hostj
the second James, or the British Parliament!

Every argument for the house of Hanover is equally an
argument for the liberties of Ireland; the Act of Settlement is an
act of rebellion, or the declaratory statute of the 6th of George I.
an act of usurpation; for both cannot be law.

I do not refer to doubtful history, but to living record; to
common charters; to the interpretation England has put upon
these charters — an interpretation not made by words only, but
crowned by arms; to the revolution she had formed upon ihem,
to the King she has deposed, and to the King she has estab-
lished; and, above all, to the oath of allegiance solemnly plighted
to the house of Stuart, and afterwards set aside, in the instance
of a grave and moral people absolved by virtue of these very
charters.

And as anything less than liberty is inadequate to Ireland, so
is it dangerous to Great Britain. We are too near the British
nation, we are too conversant with her history, we are too much
fired by her example, to be anything less than her equal; any-

;292

HENRY GRATTAN

thing less, we should be her bitterest enemies — an enemy to
that power which smote us with her mace, and to that Constitu-
tion from whose blessings we were excluded: to be ground as we
have been by the British nation, bound by her Parliament, plun-
dered by her Crown, threatened by her enemies, insulted with
her protection, while we return thanks for her condescension, is
a system of meanness and misery which has expired in our de-
termination, as I hope it has in her magnanimity.

There is no policy left for Great Britain but to cherish the
remains of her empire, and do justice to a country who is deter-
mined to do justice to herself, certain that she gives nothing
equal to what she received from us when we gave her Ireland.

With regard to this country, England must resort to the free
principles of government, and must forego that legislative power
which she has exercised to do mischief to herself; she must go
back to freedom, which, as it is the foundation of her Constitu-
tion, so it is the main pillar of her empire; it is not merely the
connection of the Crown, it is a constitutional annexation, an alli-
ance of liberty, which is the true meaning and mystery of the
sisterhood, and will make both countries one arm and one soul,
replenishing from time to time, in their immortal connection, the
vital spirit of law and liberty from the lamp of each other's light.
Thus combined by the ties of common interest, equal trade, and
equal liberty, the constitution of both countries may become im-
mortal, a new and milder empire may arise from the errors of
the old, and the British nation assume once more her natural
station — the head of mankind.

That there are precedents against us I allow — acts of power
I would call them, not precedent; and I answer the English
pleading such precedents, as they answered their kings when
they urged precedents against the liberty of England: Such
things are the weakness of the times; the tyranny of one side,
the feebleness of the other, the law of neither; we will not be
bound by them; or rather, in the words of the Declaration of
Right : " No doing judgment, proceeding, or anywise to the con-
trary, shall be brought into precedent or example." Do not
then tolerate a power — the power of the British Parliament over
this land, which has no foundation in utility or necessity, or em-
pire, or the laws of England, or the laws of Ireland, or the laws
of nature, or the laws of God, — do not suffer it to have a dura-
tion in your mind.

HENRY GRATTAN 20^

Do not tolerate that power which blasted you for a century,
that power which shattered your loom, banished your manufac-
turers, dishonored your peerage, and stopped the growth of your
people; do not, T say, be bribed by an export of woolen, or an
import of sugar, and permit that power which has thus withered
the land to remain in your country and have existence in your
pusillanimity.

Do not suffer the arrogance of England to imagine a surviv-
ing hope in the fears of Ireland; do not send the people to their
own resolves for liberty, passing by the tribunals of justice and
the high court of Parliament; neither imagine that, by any form-
ation of apology, you can palliate such a commission to your
hearts, still less to your children, who will sting you with their
curses in your grave for having interposed between them and
their Maker, robbing them of an immense occasion, and losing
an opportunity which you did not create, and can never restore.

Hereafter, when these things shall be history, your age of
thraldom and poverty, your sudden resurrection, commercial re-
dress, and miraculous armament, shall the historian stop at lib-
erty, and observe — that here the principal men among us fell
into mimic trances of gratitude — they were awed by a weak
ministry, and bribed by an empty treasury — and when liberty
was within their grasp, and the temple opened her folding doors,
and the arms of the people clanged, and the zeal of the nation
urged and encouraged them on, that they fell down, and were
prostituted at the threshold ?

I might, as a constituent, come to your bar, and demand my
liberty. I do call upon you, by the laws of the land and their
violation, by the instruction of eighteen counties, by the arms,
inspiration, and providence of the present moment, tell us the
rule by which we shall go, — assert the law of Ireland, — declare
the liberty of the land.

I will not be answered by a public lie, in the shape of an
amendment; neither, speaking for the subject's freedom, am I to
hear of faction. I wish for nothing but to breathe, in this our
island, in common with my fellow-subjects, the air of liberty. I
have no ambition, unless it be the ambition to break your chain
and contemplate your glory. I never will be satisfied so long as
the meanest cottager in Ireland has a link of the British chain
clanking to his rags; he may be naked, he shall not be in iron;
and I do see the time is at hand, the spirit is gone forth, the

.294

HENRY GRATTAN

declaration is planted; and though great men shall apostatize,
yet the cause will live; and though the public speaker should die,
yet the immortal fire shall outlast the organ which conveyed it,
and the breath of liberty, like the word of the holy man, will
not die with the prophet, but survive him.

INVECTIVE AGAINST CORRY
(Delivered in the Irish Parliament, February 14th, 1800)

HAS the gentleman done ? Has he completely done ? He was
unparliamentary from the beginning to the end of his
speech. There was scarce a word he uttered that was not
a violation of the privileges of the House; but I did not call him
to order — why? because the limited talents of some men render it
impossible for them to be severe without being unparliamentary.
But before I sit down, I shall show him how to be severe and
parliamentary at the same time. On any other occasion I should
think myself justifiable in treating with silent contempt anything
which might fall from that honorable Member; but there are
times when the insignificance of the accuser is lost in the magni-
tude of the accusation. I know the difficulty the honorable gen-
tleman labored under when he attacked me, conscious that, on a
comparative view of our characters, public and private, there is
nothing he could say which would injure me. The public would
not believe the charge. I despise the falsehood. If such a
charge were made by an honest man, I would answer it in the
manner I shall do before I sit down. But I shall first reply to
it when not made by an honest man.

The right honorable gentleman has called me *^ an unim ■
peached traitor.** I ask, why not ^^ traitor,'* unqualified by any
epithet ? I will tell him ; it was because he dare not. It was the
act of a coward, who raises his arm to strike, but has not courage
to give the blow. I will not call him villain, because it would
be unparliamentary, and he is a privy counselor. I will not call
him fool, because he happens to be Chancellor of the Exchequer.
But I say he is one who has abused the privilege of Parliament
and freedom of debate to the uttering language, which, if spoken
out of the House, I should answer only with a blow. I care not
how high his situation, how low his character, how contemptible
his speech; whether a privy counselor or a parasite, my answer

HENRY GRATTAN

295

would be a blow. He has charged me with being connected
with the rebels: the charge is utterly, totally, and meanly false.
Does the honorable gentleman rely on the report of the House
of Lords for the foundation of his assertion ? If he does, I can
prove to the committee there was a physical impossibility of that
report being true. But I scorn to answer any man for my con-
duct, whether he be a political coxcomb, or whether he brought
himself into power by a false glare of courage or not. I scorn
to answer any wizard of the Castle throwing himself into fantas-
tical airs. But if an honorable and independent man were to
make a charge against me, I would say: ^^ You charge me with
having an intercourse with the rebels, and you found your charge
upon what is said to have appeared before a committee of the
lords. Sir, the report of that committee is totally and egre-
giously irregular.'* I will read a letter from Mr. Nelson, who
had been examined before that committee; it states that what
the report represents him as having spoken, is not what he said.

From the situation that I held, and from the connections I
had in the city of Dublin, it was necessary for me to hold inter-
course with various descriptions of persons. The right honorable
Member might as well have been charged with a participation in
the guilt of those traitors; for he had communicated with some
of those very persons on the subject of parliamentary reform.
The Irish Government, too, were in communication with some of
them.

The right honorable Member has told me I deserted a profes-
sion where wealth and station were the reward of industry and
talent. If I mistake not, that gentleman endeavored to obtain
those rewards by the same means; but he soon deserted the oc-
cupation of a barrister for those of a parasite and pander. He
fled from the labor of study to flatter at the table of the great.
He found the lord's parlor a better sphere for his exertions than
the hall of the Four Courts; the house of a great man a more
convenient way to power and place; and that it was easier for
a statesman of middling talents to sell his friends, than for a
lawyer of no talents to sell his clients.

For myself, whatever corporate or other bodies have said or
done to me, I from the bottom of my heart forgive them. I feel
I have done too much for my country to be vexed at them. I
would rather that they should not feel or acknowledge what I
have done for them, and call me traitor, than have reason to say

296

HENRY GRATTAN

I sold them. I will always defend myself against the assassin;
but with large bodies it is different. To the people I will bow:
they may be my enemy — I never shall be theirs.

At the emancipation of Ireland, in 1782, I took a leading part
in the foundation of that Constitution which is now endeavored
to be destroyed. Of that Constitution I was the author; in that
Constitution I glory; and for it the honorable gentleman should
bestow praise, not invent calumny. Notwithstanding my weak
state of body, I come to give my last testimony against this
Union, so fatal to the liberties and interests of my country. I
come to make common cause with these honorable and virtuous
gentlemen around me ; to try and save the Constitution ; or if not
to save the Constitution, at least to save our characters, and re-
move from our graves the foul disgrace of standing apart while
a deadly blow is aimed at the independence of our country.

The right honorable gentleman says I fled from the country
after exciting rebellion, and that I have returned to raise another.
No such thing. The charge is false. The civil war had not com-
menced when I left the kingdom; and I could not have returned
without taking a part. On the one side there was the camp of
the rebel; on the other, the camp of the minister, a greater
traitor than that rebel. The stronghold of the Constitution was
nowhere to be found. I agree that the rebel who rose against
the Government should have suffered; but I missed on the
scaffold the right honorable gentleman. Two desperate parties
were in arms against the Constitution. The right honorable gen-
tleman belonged to one of those parties, and deserved death. I
could not join the rebel — I could not join the Government — I
could not join torture — I could not join half -hanging — I could
not join free quarter — I could take part with neither. I was
therefore absent from a scene where I could not be active with-
out self-reproach, nor indifferent with safety.

Many honorable gentlemen thought differently from me; I re-
spect their opinions, but I keep my own; and I think now, as I
thought then, that the treason of the minister against the liber-
ties of the people was infinitely worse than the rebellion of the
people against the minister.

I have returned, not as the right honorable Member has said,
to raise another storm; I have returned to discharge an honor-
able debt of gratitude to my country, that conferred a great re-
ward for past services, which, I am proud to say, was not greater

HENRY GRATTAN 207

than my desert. I have returned to protect that Constitution, of
which I was the parent and the founder, from the assassination
of such men as the honorable gentleman and his unworthy asso-
ciates. They are corrupt; they are seditious; and they, at this
very moment, are in a conspiracy against their country. I have
returned to refute a libel as false as it is malicious, given to the
public under the appellation of a report of a committee of the
lords. Here I stand ready for impeachment or trial; I dare ac-
cusation. I defy the honorable gentleman; I defy the Govern-
ment; I defy their whole phalanx; let them come forth. I tell
the ministers I will neither give them quarter nor take it. I am
here to lay the shattered remains of my constitution on the floor
of this House in defense of the liberties of my country.

UNSURRENDERING FIDELITY TO COUNTRY
(Peroration of the Speech of May 26th, 1800, against Union with England)

WHEN the liberty and security of one country depend on
the honor of another, the latter may have much honor,
but the former can have no liberty. To depend on the
honor of another country is to depend on the will ; and to de-
pend on the w411 of another country is the definition of slavery.
"Depend on my honor, *^ said Charles I., when he trifled about
the Petition of Right. I will trust the people with the custody
of their own liberty, but I will trust no people with the cus-
tody of any liberty other than their own, whether that people be
Rome, Athens, or Britain.

Observe how the minister speaks of that country which is to
depend hereafter on British honor, which, in his present power,
is, in fact, his honor. " We had to contend with the leaders of
the Protestants, ^ enemies to government ' ; the violent and in-
flamed spirit of the Catholics; the disappointed ambition of those
who would ruin the country because they could not be the rulers
of it.^^ Behold the character he gives of the enemies of the
Union, namely, of twenty-one counties convened at public meet-
ings by due notice; of several other counties that have peti-
tioned; of most of the great cities and towns, or, indeed, of
almost all the Irish, save a very few mistaken men, and that
body whom Government could influence. Thus the minister ut-
ters a national proscription at the moment of his projected

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HENRY GRATTAN

Union; he excludes by personal abuse from the possibility of
identification, all the enemies of the Union, all the friends of the
parliamentary Constitution of 1782, that great body of the Irish;
he abuses them with a petulance more befitting one of his Irish
ministers than an exalted character, and infinitely more disgrace-
ful to himself than to them; one would think one of his Irish
railers had lent him his vulgar clarion to bray at the people.

This union of parliaments, this proscription of people, he fol-
lows by a declaration wherein he misrepresents their sentiments
as he had before traduced their reputation. After a calm and
mature consideration, the people have pronounced their judgment
in favor of a Union; of which assertion not one single syllable
has any existence in fact, or in the appearance of fact, and I ap-
peal to the petitions of twenty-one counties publicly convened,
and to the other petitions of other counties numerously signed,
and to those of the great towns and cities. To affirm that the
judgment of a nation is erroneous may mortify, but to affirm
that her judgment against is for; to assert that she has said aye
when she has pronounced no; to affect to refer a great question
to the people; finding the sense of the people, like that of the
Parliament, against the question, to force the question; to affirm
the sense of the people to be for the question; to affirm that the
question is persisted in because the sense of the people is for it;
to make the falsification of her sentiments the foundation of her
ruin and the ground of the Union; to affirm that her Parliament,
Constitution, liberty, honor, property, are taken away by her own
authority; there is, in such artifice, an effrontery, a hardihood, an
insensibility, that can best be answered by sensations of astonish-
ment and disgust, excited on this occasion by the British minis-
ter, whether he speaks in gross and total ignorance of the truth,
or in shameless and supreme contempt for it.

The Constitution may be for a time so lost; the character of
the country cannot be lost. The ministers of the Crown will, or
may, perhaps at length, find that it is not so easy to put down
forever an ancient and respectable nation, by abilities, however
great, and by power and by corruption, however irresistible; lib-
erty may repair her golden beams, and with redoubled heat ani-
mate the country; the cry of loyalty will not long continue
against the principles of liberty; loyalty is a noble, a judicious,
and a capacious principle; but in these countries loyalty, distinct
from liberty, is corruption, not loyalty.

HENRY GRATTAN

29f

The cry of the connection will not, in the end, avail against
the principles of liberty. Connection is a wise and a profound
policy; but connection without an Irish Parliament is connection
without its own principle, without analogy of condition, without
the pride of honor that should attend it; is innovation, is peril,
is subjugation — not connection.

The cry of disaffection will not, in the end, avail against the
principles of liberty.

Identification is a solid and imperial maxim, necessary for the
preservation of freedom, necessary for that of empire; but, with-
out union of hearts — with a separate government, and without
a separate parliament, identification is extinction, is dishonor, is
conquest — not identification.

Yet I do not give up the coitntry: I see her in a swoon, but
she is not dead; though in her tomb she lies helpless and mo-
tionless, still there is on her lips a spirit of life, and on her
cheek a glow of beauty —

**Thou art not conquered; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks.
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.''

While a plank of the vessel sticks together, I will not leave her.
Let the courtier present his flimsy sail, and carry the light bark
of his faith with every new breath of wind: I will remain an-
chored here with fidelity to the fortunes of my countrj^ faithful
to her freedom, faithful to her fall.

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS

(c. 325-390)

[regory <<NAZiANZEN,'Mhough a native of Cappadocia, was so
celebrated as an orator and preacher that he was called to
lecture on rhetoric in the University at Athens. He was
born about the year 325 at Nazianzus, the town from which he took
his surname, and educated at C^sarea, at Alexandria, and at Athens.
In the latter city he became greatly attached to Basil the Great, on
whom he delivered a celebrated funeral oration, generally instanced
as the best example of his style.

As a preacher and theologian, St. Gregory was held in the highest
esteem. He is classed as one of the great Fathers of the Eastern
Church, and is praised for his " sublime wit, subtle apprehension, and
great stock of human learning.* He held the office of Bishop of Con-
stantinople from 380 to his death in 390.

EULOGY ON BASIL OF C^SAREA

(From the Funeral Oration Preached on the Text, « Their sound went into
all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world »)

WHO more than Basil honored virtue or punished vice ? Who
evinced more favor toward the right-doing, or more sever-
ity toward offenders — he whose very smile was often
praise; whose silence, reproof, in the depths of conscience reach-
ing and arousing the sense of guilt ? Grant that he was no light
prattler, no jester, no lounger in the markets. Grant that he
did not ingratiate himself with the multitude by becoming all
things to all, and courting their favor: what then? Should he
not, with all the right judging, receive praise for this rather
than condemnation ? Is it deemed a fault in the lion that he
has not the look of the ape; that his aspect is stern and regal;
that his movements, even in sport, are majestic, and command
at once wonder and delight ? Or do we admire it as proof of

300

1

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS ^qj

courtesy and true benevolence in actors that they gratify the
populace, and move them to laughter by mutual blows on the
temple, and by boisterous merriment ?

But, should we even pursue this inquiry, who, so far as my
knowledge extends — and my acquaintance with him has been
most intimate — who was so delightful as Basil in company ?
Who was more graceful in narration ? Who more delicate in
raillery ? Who more tender in reproof, making neither his cen-
sure harshness, nor his mildness indulgence, but avoiding excess
in both, and in both following the rule of Solomon, who assigns
to everything its season ? But what is all this compared with
his extraordinary eloquence and that resistless might of his doc-
trine which has made its own the extremities of the globe ? We
are still lingering about the base of the mountain, as at great
distance from its summit. We still push our bark across the
strait, leaving the broad and open sea. For assuredly, if there
ever was, or ever shall be, a trumpet, sounding far out upon
the air, or a voice of God encompassing the world, or some
unheard-of and wondrous shaking of the earth, such was his
voice, such his intellect, as far transcending that of his fellows
as man excels the nature of the brute. Who more than he puri-
fied his spirit, and thus qualified himself to unfold the Divine
oracles ? Who, more brightly illuminated with the light of knowl-
edge, has explored the dark things of the spirit, and, with the
aid of God, surveyed the mysteries of God ? And who has pos-
sessed a diction that was a more perfect interpreter of his
thoughts ? Not with him as with the majority, was there a fail-
ure, either of thought sustaining his diction, or of language
keeping pace with thought; but alike distinguished in both, he
showed himself as an orator throughout, self-consistent and com-
plete. It is the prerogative of the spirit to search the deep
things of God, not as ignorant, but as making the survey with
infinite ease and delight. But all the mysteries of the spirit
were profoundly investigated by Basil; and from these sources
he trained and disciplined the characters of all, taught loftiness
of speech, and, withdrawing men from the present, directed them
to the future. The sun is praised by the Psalmist for his beauty
and magnitude, for the swiftness and power of his course, re-
splendent as a bridegroom, mighty as a giant. His mighty cir-
cuit has power to light equally the opposite extremes of the

302

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS

globe, the extent of their diffusion lessens not the power of his
beams. But the beauty of Basil was virtue; his greatness, the-
ology; his course, perpetual activity, ever tending upward to
God; his power, the sowing and distribution of the word. Thus
I need not hesitate to apply to him the language which Paul,
borrowing from David, applies to the Apostles, that his sound
went into all the earth, and the power of his words to the ex-
tremities of the world. What other source of pleasure at the
present day in our assemblies ? What at our banquets ? What
in the forum ? What in the churches ? What constitutes the
delight alike of magistrates and of private citizens, of monks and
of those who mingle in society, of men of business, and of men
of leisure, of the votaries of profane and of sacred science ? The
one all-pervading and highest source of enjoyment is the writ-
ings of Basil. .

And since I have spoken of Theology, and of his sublime
mode of treating it, I wish yet to add the following. For it is
eminently desirable that the multitude should not receive harm
themselves by cherishing wrong sentiments respecting him. And
my remarks are directed specially against those base persons
who, by aspersing others, pander to their own depravity. For in
defense of sound doctrine and the union and joint Godhead of
the Sacred Trinity, — or by whatever still more direct and clearer
term the doctrine may be designated, — he was ready not merely
to sacrifice places of power to which he never aspired, but to ac-
cept exile, death, and its preliminary tortures, not as evil, but as
gain. Witness, in proof, what he has actually endured. When
condemned to banishment for the truth, he merely bade one of
his attendants take up his writing tablets and follow him. . . .

Gather yourselves around me now, all ye his train; ye who
bear ofhce, and ye of lower rank; ye who are within, and ye
who are without our pale, and aid me in celebrating his praises.
Let all severally recount and extol his virtues. Princes extol
the lawgiver; statesmen, the statesman; citizens, the orderly and
exemplary citizen; votaries of learning, the instructor; virgins,
the patron of wedlock; wives, the teacher of chastity. Let the
solitary commemorate him who lends them wings for their flight;
the men of society, the judge; the simple-minded, the guide;
those given to speculation, the theologian; those in prosperity,
the curber of pride; those in affliction, the consoler; age, its

GREGORY OP NA2IANZUS ^03,

staff; youth, its guardian; poverty, its provider; abundance, its
steward and dispenser. Methinks I hear the widows praising
their protector; orphans, their father; the poor, the friend of pov-
erty; strangers, the lover of hospitality; brethren, the brotherly
minded; the sick, the physician; the well, the preserver and
guardian of health; all, in short, praise him who became all
things to all that he might, if possible, gain all.

SIR HARBOTTLE GRIMSTONE

(1603-1685)

^iR Harbottle Grimstone, orator, speaker of the Hotise of
Commons, and member of the Commission which tried the
Regicides under Charles II., presents inconsistencies which
can hardly be judged by modern standards. In 1640, when he sat
in Parliament as a representative of Colchester, he opened the de-
bate on popular grievances with a celebrated speech which helped
to force issues for popular rights against royal prerogative. He
maintained this position through the first Parliament of 1640 and
through the Long Parliament, until he saw the supreme power pass-
ing from Parliament into the hands of Cromwell, when he went into
opposition. On December 6th, 1628, he was << purged* out of Parlia-
ment by Colonel Pride, and imprisoned. After this he took no great
part in public affairs until after the abdication of Richard Cromwell,
when he was made speaker of the House of Commons, and as he
materially assisted in the Restoration, he came into favor with
Charles II., who appointed him on the Commission to try the Regi-
cides and afterwards made him Master of the Rolls. This part of
Grimstone's life is not dwelt on with satisfaction by his biographers.
He died January 2d, 1685, after having narrowly escaped being a very
great man.

As his speech of April i6th, 1640, opened the debate on Popu-
lar Grievances against Charles I., it may be called one of the most
notable in history; and though it has been called « ponderous, » it is
not unworthy of the occasion.

304

SIR HARBOTTLE GRIMSTONfi 305

« PROJECTING CANKER WORMS AND CATERPILLARS »

(Delivered in the English Parliament, April i6th, 1640, Opening the Debate

on Grievances)

[The House then proceeded to agree upon a day of solemn fasting and
humiliation, to implore the Divine assistance and direction in all their consult-
ations, and a message was sent up to the Lords to desire their concurrence.
Divers petitions were then also read, presented by severa' Knights of the
Shires, complaining of ship-money, projects, monopolies, Star Chamber, High-
Commission Court, etc., and several Members made long speeches upon those
subjects, complaints, and grievances. Harbottle Grimstone, Esq., was the first
that stood up, and spoke to this effect. — Nalson.]

Mr. Speaker: —

WE ARE called by his Majesty to consult together of the
great and weighty affairs of the State and Kingdom.

There hath now a great and weighty business been pre-
sented to this House, and a letter hath been read importing
(according to the interpretation which hath been collected out of
it) a defection of the King's natural subjects. This is a great
cause, and very worthy of the consideration and advisement of
this great council; but I am very much mistaken if there be not
a case here at home of as great danger as that which is already
put. The one stands without at the back door (for so dangers
from thence in all our histories have been termed), but the case
we will put is a case already upon our backs. And in these
great cases of danger (which so much concern the welfare of the
body politic), we ought to do like skillful physicians that are not
led in their judgments so much by outward expressions of a
disease, as by the inward symptoms and causes of it; for it fares
with a body politic as it doth with a natural body. It is impos-
sible to cure an ulcerous body, unless you first cleanse the veins
and purge the body from obstructions and pestilent humors that
surcharge nature; and that being once done, the blotches, blains,
and scabs which grow upon the superficies and outside of the
body will dry up, shed, and fall away of themselves. The dan-
ger that hath now been presented to the House, it standeth at a
distance, and we heartily wish it were further off; yet as it
stands at a distance, it is so much the less dangerous. But the
case that I shall put is a case of great danger here at home,

6 — 20

3o6

SIR HARBOTTLE GRIMSTONE

and is so much the more dangerous because it is home-bred and
runs in the veins.

If the one shall appear to be as great a danger as the other,
we hope it will not be thought unreasonable at this time to put
the one as well as the other.

Mr. Speaker, the case is this: The charter of our liberties,
called Magna Charta, was granted unto us by King John, which
was but a renovation and restitution of the ancient laws of this
Kingdom. This charter was afterwards, in the succession of sev-
eral ages, confirmed unto us above thirty several times, and in
the third year of his Majesty's reign that now is, we had more
than a confirmation of it, — for we had an act declaratory passed, —
and then to put it out of all question and dispute for the future,
his Majesty, by his gracious answer, soit droit fait come est de-
sire, invested it with the title of Petition of Right. What expo-
sitions contrary to that law of right have some men given to
undermining the liberty of the subjects with new invented sub-
tle distinctions, and assuming to themselves a power (I know not
where they had it) out of Parliament, to supersede, annihilate,
and make void the laws of the Kingdom; the Commonwealth
hath been miserably torn and massacred, and all property and
liberty shaken, the Church distracted, the Gospel and professors
of it prosecuted, and the whole nation overrun with swarms of
projecting canker worms and caterpillars, the worst of all the
Egyptian plagues; then (as the case now stands with us) I con-
ceive there are two points very considerable in it. The first is:
What hath been done any way to impeach the liberties of the
subjects, contrary to the Petition of Right ? The second is : Who
have been the authors and causes of it ?

The serious examination and discussion of these two questions
do highly concern his Majesty in point of honor, and his subjects
in point of interest. And all that I shall say to it are but the
words Ezra used to King Artaxerxes of the settlement of that
state, which at that time was as much out of frame and order as
ours is at this present; that which cured theirs I hope will cure
ours; his words are these: "Whosoever hath not done the laws
of God and the King, let judgment be speedily executed upon
him, whether it be unto banishment or to confiscation of goods,
or to imprisonment." It may be some do think this a strange
text, and 'tis possible some may think it as strange a case; as

SIR HARBOTTLE GRIMSTONE

307

for the text every man may read it that will; and for the case,
I am afraid there are but few here that do not experimentally
know it, as bad as I have put it, and how to mend a bad cause
I take it is part of the business we now meet about.

His Majesty yesterday did graciously confirm unto us our great
and ancient liberties of freedom of speech, and, having his kingly
word for it, I shall rest as confidently upon it as the greatest
security under heaven, whilst I have the honor to have a place
here, and I shall with all humility be bold to express myself like
a freeman.

The diseases and distempers that are now in our bodies poli-
tic are grown to that height that they pray for and importune a
cure. And his Majesty, out of his tender care and affection to
his people, like a nursing father, hath now freely offered himself
to hear our grievances and complaints. We cannot complain we
want good laws; the wit of man cannot invent better than are
already made; there want only some examples, that such as have
been the authors and causes of all our miseries and distractions
in Church and Commonwealth, contrary to these good laws, might
be treacle to expel the poison of mischief out of others.

But my part is but ostcndere partem; therefore, having put
the case, I must leave it to the judgment of this House whether
our dangers here at home be not as great and considerable as
that which was even now presented.

FRANCOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT

(1787-1874)

Irancois Guizot, the great French historian, statesman, and
orator, first developed his remarkable powers of eloquence
as a lecturer on history at the Sorbonne. It was there that
he delivered the addresses on the Causes of Human Progress, which,
published afterwards as a * History of Civilization,* have done most to
immortalize him. They were attended at the time by large audi-
ences whose enthusiastic reception of them was a natural response
to their eloquence and a deserved tribute to their intellectual power.
Guizot was born at Nimes, October 4th, 1787, the son of an ad-
vocate who died on the scaffold during the Revolution. Guizot's
mother retired with her family to Geneva, where he was educated.
In 1805 he went to Paris, intending to devote himself to literature,
but he was drawn into politics, which, during the remainder of his
life, divided his attention with the work as a historian and educa-
tional orator, which more properly belonged to him. His addresses
at the Sorbonne were interrupted by his political enemies in 1824,
but the Martignac ministry allowed him to resume them. In 1829 he
became once more active and prominent in politics, and in 1847 he
was the official leader of the cabinet under Louis Philippe, which fell
in the Revolution of 1848. He retired to London where his reputa-
tion as a historian secured him the greatest respect. In 1850 he was
found once more in Paris and once more active in politics, but his
political career ended with the coup d'etat, and the rest of his life
was devoted chiefly to increasing his already great usefulness in lit-
erature. His ^ Life of Washington * won for his portrait a place in
the American House of Representatives. His works, all of import-
ance, make a long list in the library catalogues, but it is in the ad-
dresses on Civilization at the Sorbonne that his genius reached its
climax, and it is on them that his claim for immortality most se-
curely rests. He died September 12th, 1874.

308

FRANgOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT oqq

CIVILIZATION AND THE INDIVIDUAL MAN
(From the Lectures on Civilization in Modern Europe)

BEING called upon to give a course of lectures, and having con-
sidered what subject would be most agreeable and conven-
ient to fill up the short space allowed us from now to the
close of the year, it has occurred to me that a general sketch of
the history of modern Europe, considered more especially with
regard to the progress of civilization, — that a general survey of
the history of European civilization, of its origin, its progress, its
end, its character, would be the most profitable subject upon
which I could engage your attention. . . .

I shall commence this investigation by placing before you a
series of hypotheses. I shall describe society in various condi-
tions, and shall then ask if the state in which I so describe it is,
in the general opinion of mankind, the state of a people advanc-
ing in civilization — if it answer to the signification which man-
kind generally attaches to this word.

First, imagine a people whose outward circumstances are easy
and agreeable: few taxes, few hardships; justice is fairly ad-
ministered; in a word, physical existence, taken altogether, is sat-
isfactorily and happily regulated. But with all this, the moral
and intellectual energies of this people are studiously kept in a
state of torpor and inertness. It can hardly be called oppression;
its tendency is not of that character — it is rather compression.
We are not without examples of this state of society. There have
been a great number of little aristocratic republics in which the
people have been thus treated, like so many flocks of sheep, care-
fully tended, physically happy, but without the least intellectual
and moral activity. Is this civilization ? Do we recognize here a
people in a state of moral and social advancement ?

Let us take another hypothesis. Let us imagine a people
whose outward circumstances are less favorable and agreeable;
still, however, supportable. As a set-off, its intellectual and moral
cravings have not here been entirely neglected. A certain range
has been allowed them — some few pure and elevated sentiments
have been here distributed; religious and moral notions have
reached a certain degree of improvement; but the greatest care
has been taken to stifle every principle of liberty. The moral
and intellectual wants of this people are provided for in the way

^jO FRANQOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT

that, among some nations, the physical wants have been provided
for; a certain portion of truth is doled out to each, but no one is
permitted to help himself — to seek for truth on his own account.
Immobility is the character of its moral life ; and to this condition
are fallen most of the populations of Asia, in which theocratic
government restrains the advance of man: such, for example, is
the state of the Hindoos. I again put the same question as be-
fore : Is this a people among whom civilization is going on ?

I will change entirely the nature of the hypothesis: Suppose
a people among whom there reigns a very large stretch of per-
sonal liberty, but among whom also disorder and inequality almost
everywhere abound. The weak are oppressed, afiflicted, destroyed;
violence is the ruling character of the social condition. Every
one knows that such has been the state of Europe. Is this a civ-
ilized state ? It may, without doubt, contain germs of civilization
which may progressively shoot up; but the actual state of things
which prevails in this society is not, we may rest assured, what
the common sense of mankind would call civilization.

I pass on to a fourth and last hypothesis. Every individual
here enjoys the widest extent of liberty; inequality is rare, or,
at least, of a very slight character. Every one does as he likes,
and scarcely differs in power from his neighbor. But then here
scarcely such a thing is known as a general interest; here exist
but few public ideas; hardly any public feeling; but little society;
in short, the life and faculties of individuals are put forth and
spent in an isolated state, with but little regard to society, and
with scarcely a sentiment of its influence. Men here exercise no
influence upon one another; they leave no traces of their exist-
ence. Generation after generation pass away, leaving society just
as they found it. Such is the condition of the various tribes of
savages; liberty and equality dwell among them, but no touch of
civilization.

I could easily multiply these hypotheses, but I presume that I
have gone far enough to show what is the popular and natural
signification of the word << civilization.'^

It is evident that none of the States which I have just de-
scribed will correspond with the common notion of mankind
respecting this term. It seems to me that the first idea com-
prised in the word ** civilization *' (and this may be gathered from
the various examples which I have placed before you) is the
notion of progress, of development. It calls up within us the

FRANgOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT -j,

notion of a people advancing, of a people in a course of im-
provement and melioration.

Now, what is this progress ? What is this development ? In
this is the great difficulty. The etymology of the word seems
sufficiently obvious — it points at once to the improvement of
civil life. The first notion which strikes us in pronouncing it is
the progress of society; the melioration of the social state; the
carrying to higher perfection the relations between man and
man. It awakens within us at once the notion of an increase of
national prosperity, of a greater activity and better organization
of the social relations. On one hand there is a manifest in-
crease in the power and well-being of society at large; and on
the other a more equitable distribution of this power and this
well-being among the individuals of which society is composed.

But the word ^* civilization '^ has a more extensive signification
than this, which seems to confine it to the mere outward, physi-
cal organization of society. Now, if this were all, the human
race would be little better than the inhabitants of an ant-hill or
beehive; a society in which nothing was sought for beyond or-
der and well-being — in which the highest, the sole aim, would be
the production of the means of life, and their equitable distrib-
ution.

But our nature at once rejects this definition as too narrow.
It tells us that man is formed for a higher destiny than this.
That this is not the full development of his character — that civ-
ilization comprehends something more extensive, something more
complex, something superior to the perfection of social relations,
of social power and well-being.

That this is so, we have not merely the evidence of our nat-
ure, and that derived from the signification which the common
sense of mankind has attached to the word, but we have like-
wise the evidence of facts.

No one, for example, will deny that there are communities in
which the social state of man is better — in which the means of
life are better supplied, are more rapidly produced, are better
distributed, than in others, which yet will be pronounced by the
unanimous voice of mankind to be superior in point of civili-
zation.

Take Rome, for example, in the splendid days of the Repub-
lic, at the close of the second Punic War; the moment of her
greatest virtues, when she was rapidly advancing to the empire

;i2

FRANgOlS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT

of the world — when her social condition was evidently improv-
ing. Take Rome again under Augustus, at the commencement
of her decline, when, to say the least, the progressive movement
of society halted, when bad principles seemed ready to prevail;
but is there any person who would not say that Rome was more
civilized under Augustus than in the days of Fabricius or Cin-
cinnatus ?

Let us look further; let us look at France in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. In a merely social point of view, as
respects the quantity and the distribution of well-being among
individuals, France, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
was decidedly inferior to several of the other States of Europe;
to Holland and England in particular. Social activity, in these
countries, was greater, increased more rapidly, and distributed its
fruits more equitably among individuals. Yet consult the gen-
eral opinion of mankind, and it will tell you that France in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the most civilized coun-
try of Europe. Europe has not hesitated to acknowledge this
fact, and evidence of its truth will be found in all the great
works of European literature.

It appears evident, then, that all that we understand by this
term is not comprised in the simple idea of social well-being
and happiness; and, if we look a little deeper, we discover that,
besides the progress and melioration of social life, another devel-
opment is comprised in our notion of civilization: namely, the
development of individual life, the development of the human
mind and its faculties — the development of man himself.

It is this development which so strikingly manifested itself in
France and Rome at these epochs; it is this expansion of human
intelligence which gave to them so great a degree of superiority
in civilization. In these countries the godlike principle which
distinguishes man from the brute exhibited itself with peculiar
grandeur and power, and compensated in the eyes of the world
for the defects of their social system. These communities had
still many social conquests to make, but they had already glori-
fied themselves by the intellectual and moral victories they had
achieved. Many of the conveniences of life were here wanting;
from a considerable portion of the community were still with-
held their natural rights and political privileges; but see the
number of illustrious individuals who lived and earned the ap-
plause and approbation of their fellow-men. Here, too, litera-

FRANgOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT ^t^

>)" o

ture, science, and art attained extraordinary perfection, and shone
in more splendor than perhaps they had ever done before. Now,
wherever this takes place, wherever man sees these glorious
idols of his worship displayed in their full lustre, — wherever he
sees this fund of rational and refined enjoyment for the godlike
part of his nature called into existence, there he recognizes and
adores civilization.

Two elements, then, seem to be comprised in the great fact
which we call civilization ; — two circumstances are necessary to
its existence — it lives upon two conditions — it reveals itself by
two symptoms: the progress of society, the progress of individ-
uals; the melioration of the social system, and the expansion of
the mind and faculties of man. Wherever the exterior condition
of man becomes enlarged, quickened, and improved; wherever
the intellectual nature of man distinguishes itself by its energy,
brilliancy, and its grandeur; wherever these two signs concur,
and they often do so, notwithstanding the gravest imperfections
in the social system, there man proclaims and applauds civiliza-
tion.

Such, if I mistake not, would be the notion mankind in gen-
eral would form of civilization, from a simple and rational inquiry
into the meaning of the term. This view of it is confirmed by
history. If we ask of her what has been the character of every
great crisis favorable to civilization, if we examine those great
events which all acknowledge to have carried it forward, we shall
always find one or other of the two elements which I have just
described. They have all been epochs of individual or social im-
provement— events which have either wrought a change in in-
dividual man, in his opinions, his manners; or in his exterior
condition, his situation as regards his relations with his fellow-
men. Christianity, for example — I allude not merely to the first
moment of its appearance, but to the first centuries of its exist-
ence — Christianity was in no way addressed to the social condi-
tion of man; it distinctly disclaimed all interference with it. It
commanded the slave to obey his master. It attacked none of
the great evils, none of the gross acts of injustice, by which the
social system of that day was disfigured; yet who but will ac-
knowledge that Christianity has been one of the greatest promot-
ers of civilization ? And wherefore ? Because it has changed the
interior condition of man, his opinions, his sentiments; because
it has regenerated his moral, his intellectual character.

OJ4 FRANQOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT

We have seen a crisis of an opposite nature; a crisis affecting
not the intellectual, but the outward condition of man, which has
changed and regenerated society. This also we may rest assured
is a decisive crisis of civilization. If we search history through,
we shall everywhere find the same result; we shall meet with no
important event, which had a direct influence in the advance-
ment of civilization, which has not exercised it in one of the two
ways I have just mentioned. . .

When any great change takes place in the state of a country,
— when any great development of social prosperity is accom-
plished within it, — any revolution or reform in the powers and
privileges of society, this new event naturally has its adversa-
ries. It is necessarily contested and opposed. Now what are
the objections which the adversaries of such revolutions bring
against them ?

They assert that this progress of the social condition is at-
tended with no advantage; that it does not improve in a corre-
sponding degree the moral state — the intellectual powers of
man; that it is a false, deceitful progress, which proves detri-
mental to his moral character, to the true interests of his better
nature. On the other hand, this attack is repulsed with much
force by the friends of the movement. They maintain that the
progress of society necessarily leads to the progress of intelli-
gence and morality; that, in proportion as the social life is bet-
ter regulated, individual life becomes more refined and virtuous.
Thus the question rests in abeyance between the opposers and
partisans of the change.

But reverse this hypothesis: suppose the moral development
in progress. What do the men who labor for it generally hope
for ? What, at the origin of societies, have the founders of relig-
ion, the sages, poets, and philosophers, who have labored to regu-
late and refine the manners of mankind, promised themselves ?
What but the melioration of the social condition; the more
equitable distribution of the blessings of life ? What, now, let
me ask, should be inferred from this dispute and from those
hopes and promises? It may, I think, be fairly inferred that it
is the spontaneous, intuitive conviction of mankind; that the two
elements of civilization — the social and moral development — are
intimately connected; that, at the approach of one, man looks for
the other. It is to this natural conviction we appeal when, to
second or combat either one or the other of the two elements,

FRANQOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT ^j-

we deny or attest its union with the other. We know that if
men were persuaded that the melioration of the social condition
would operate against the expansion of the intellect, they would
almost oppose and cry out against the advancement of society.
On the other hand, when we speak to mankind of improving so-
ciety by improving its individual members, we find them willing
to believe us, and to adopt the principle. Hence, we may affirm
that it is the intuitive belief of man that these two elements of
civilization are intimately connected, and that they reciprocally
produce one another.

If we now examine the history of the world, we shall have
the same result. We shall find that every expansion of human
intelligence has proved of advantage to society; and that all the
great advances in the social condition have turned to the profit
of humanity. One or other of these facts may predominate, may
shine forth with greater splendor for a season, and impress upon
the movement its own particular character. At times, it may not
be till after the lapse of a long interval, after a thousand trans-
formations, a thousand obstacles, that the second shows itself and
comes, as it were, to complete the civilization which the first had
begun; but when we look closely, we easily recognize the link
by which they are connected. The movements of Providence
are not restricted to narrow bounds; it is not anxious to deduce
to-day the consequence of the premises it laid down yesterday.
It may defer this for ages, till the fullness of time shall come.
Its logic will not be less conclusive for reasoning slowly. Provi-
dence moves through time, as the gods of Homer through space
— it makes a step, and ages have rolled away! How long a
time, how many circumstances intervened, before the regenera-
tion of the moral powers of man, by Christianity, exercised its
great, its legitimate influence upon his social condition ? Yet
who can doubt or mistake its power ?

If we pass from history to the nature itself of the two facts
which constitute civilization, we are infallibly led to the same
result. We have all experienced this. If a man make a mental
advance, some mental discovery, if he acquire some new idea, or
some new faculty, what is the desire that takes possession of
him at the very moment he makes it ? It is the desire to pro-
mulgate his sentiment to the exterior world — to publish and
realize his thought. When a man acquires a new truth — when
his being in his own eyes has made an advance, has acquired a

2i6 FRANgOIS PIERRE GUILLAUME GUIZOT

new gift, immediately there becomes joined to this acquirement
tlie notion of a mission. He feels obliged, impelled, as it were,
by a secret interest, to extend, to carry out of himself the
change, the melioration which has been accomplished within him.
To what but this do we owe the exertions of great reformers ?
The exertions of those great benefactors of the human race, who
have changed the face of the world, after having first been
changed themselves, have been stimulated and governed by no
other impulse than this.

So much for the change which takes place in the intellectual
man. Let us now consider him in a social state. A revolution
is made in the condition of society. Rights and property are
more equitably distributed among individuals; this is as much
as to say, the appearance of the world is purer — is more beau-
tiful. The state of things, both as respects governments, and
as respects men in their relations with each other, is improved.
And can there be a question whether the sight of this goodl)'-
spectacle, whether the melioration of this external condition of
man, will have a corresponding influence upon his moral, his
individual character, — upon humanity? Such a doubt would
belie all that is said of the authority of example and of the
power of habit, which is founded upon nothing but the convic-
tion that exterior facts and circumstances, if good, reasonable,
well-regulated, are followed, sooner or later, more or less com-
pletely, by intellectual results of the same nature, of the same
beauty; that a world better governed, better regulated, a world
in which justice more fully prevails, renders man himself more
just; that the intellectual man, then, is instructed and improved
by the superior condition of society, and his social condition, his
external well-being, meliorated and refined by increase of intelli-
gence in individuals; that the two elements of civilization are
strictly connected; that ages, that obstacles of all kinds, may
interpose between them; that it is possible they may undergo
a thousand transformations before they meet together; but that
sooner or later this union will take place is certain, for it is a
law of their nature that they should do so — the great facts of
history bear witness that such is really the case — the instinctive
belief of man proclaims the same truth.

FRANK W. GUNSAULUS
(1856-)

^p^ocTOR F. W. GuNSAULUS, the well-known pulpit orator of Chi-
M^M cago, was born at Chesterville, Ohio, January ist, 1856, and
'^-^^^^liHiiii educated in the Ohio Wesleyan University. He began his
ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but since 1879 has filled
Congregationalist pulpits first in Ohio and the East, and since 1887 in
Chicago. He is a poet and novelist as well as an orator, and it is pre-
dicted that he will occupy a permanent place in American literature.
In his expressions from the pulpit he is often striking, as in the sermon,
'Healthy Heresies,' which attracted attention because of its eloquence
and originality. In 1899 he became President of the Armour Institute
of Technology and he has since been a "professorial lecturer" m the
University of Chicago.

HEALTHY HERESIES

(From the Sermon Preached before the Illinois Congregational Association

in May, 1898)

A God creating and maintaining a universe, conducting its proc-
esses, rearing men upon it, guiding man from Eden to
the grave, in strict conformity with the Westminster Con-
fession, is a God repudiated by conscience and love of goodness
and hope, w^hich have come into orthodoxy by the administration
of the holy spirit — a personal power wdiich for one thousand nine
hundred years has illuminated the face of the loving Jesus with his
gospel of universal fatherhood and universal brotherhood, with his
scarred hands embracing the whole world in his enterprise of salva-
tion, saying unto mistaken and blundering theologians, who would
make God either a cruel tyrant or a sensational visionary: "He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

True orthodoxy has nothing whatever to fear so much as that
faithlessness which is frightened at every healthy heresy. True
orthodoxy wull always regard every influential heresy as the appeal
of a neglected truth for recognition.

317

3i8

FRANK W. GUNSAULUS

For example, for twenty-five years we have been trying to
get our theology in harmony with materialism, and have been
very careful not to say too much about spiritual powers, lest in
the event that materialism triumphed entirely, we would have
some things that would be awkward enough to take back. So,
out of the back window in the eventide of our faith, we put
quietly and resignedly our loftiest conceptions and most heroic
measurements of what the soul of man can do in exercising sov-
ereignty over matter.

And now, Christian Science comes in at the front door, bring-
ing with it the truth which we have neglected and perhaps
scorned. The whole wretched pretense of materialism has van-
ished as a thick cloud. Away to the outer extreme the human
soul has gone, and we can hardly get enough matter together to
seriously influence the scales of thought.

I thank God for the bumptious, pestiferous unchristian, un-
scientific thing called Christian Science, just as I thank God for
the thorny, scraggy rosebush, because with it I can get a rose,
and without it I will have none.

The rose justifies the thorns by which and with which it
comes, and the great truth in Christian Science, that men can
live so as to be free from the haunting tyranny of the flesh and
that the soul of men can be so conscious of God that it is to be
taken into the heaven of heavens, where a Paul does not know
whether he is in the body or out of the body — that truth justi-
fies any process or means by which it comes.

The tide of interest in that truth to-day, after the dreary
wastes of materialism, is proof to me that at the centre of the
world's thought the holy spirit abides and works with the old
energy that oftentimes has reinvigorated the world.

I

EDWARD EVERETT HALE

(1822-1909)

EDWARD Everett Hale stands, above everything- else, for "the
New England idea." Born in Boston, Massachusetts, April
3d, 1822, he showed during his long life, in practical achieve-
ment, what Emerson meant when he wrote: —

"Who bides at home, nor looks abroad,
Carries the eagle and masters the sword."

Appealing to and supported by a constituency close enough to him
to make its support a source of constantly renewed vitality to his intel-
lectual power, he worked in politics, in literature, and in the pulpit with
a success which he deserved by commanding the approval of those he
represented, influenced, led, and often commanded. As a Unitarian
clergyman he was successful and popular, but his greatest work was
done in politics as an Abolitionist, and in literature as the author of
'The Man Without a Country.' For several years prior to his death,
June loth, 1909, he had served as Chaplain of the United States Senate.

BOSTON'S PLACE IN HISTORY

(From the Oration Delivered before the ]Mayor and Citizens of Boston,

July 5th, 1897)

Mr. Mayor and Felloiv-Citiscns: —

FANEuiL Hali, is the cradle of libert}'', and the child was born
not far aw^ay. It was in the council chamber of the old State-
house yonder that "American independence was born." These
are the w^ords of John Adams, whose features you are looking on.
He assisted at the birth, and he has told for us the story.

He says, speaking of that day : "Otis was a flame of fire ; Otis
hurried everything before him. American independence was then
and there born. In fifteen years the child grew up to manhood, and
declared himself free.^'

When that moment came, the Congress of the United States
was sitting in Philadelphia. It had been summoned two years
before, on the seventeenth of June, 177^1 — St. Botolph's day, be

319

320

EDWARD EVERETT HALE

it remembered, the Saint's day of Boston. On that day, Samuel
Adams, of Boston, moved in the Provincial Assembly, sitting at
Salem, that a Continental Congress should be called at Philadel-
phia— at Philadelphia, observe, because there was no English
garrison there ! Samuel Adams took the precaution to lock the
door of the Salem Assembly chamber on the inside. While the
motion was under discussion, the English Governor, Gage's secre-
tary, appeared at the outside of the door to dissolve the Assembly.
But Sam Adams was stronger than he. The delegates were
chosen — he was one; James Bowdoin, John Adams, Thomas Gush-
ing, and Robert Treat Paine, were the others.

All of these were from Boston; so little was known of the
jealousy which dabsters in politics now speak of between the city
and the country. There was no such jealousy then, and there is
really no such jealousy now; none except in the minds of people
who, for their own ends, play with the machinery of government.

That day, the seventeenth of June, John Adams entered pub-
lic life, as he says. He presided at the crowded town meeting
on the Saint's day in this hall.

Observe that, excepting hiin who by misfortune was not born
on this peninsula, all these delegates to that Congress which
changed the government of the world were Boston boys. And,
almost, of course, as we Latin School boys say, they had learned
democracy and liberty as they read their Latin and Greek at our
Latin School. Sam Adams himself is now, I believe, unani-
mously regarded as the author, or father, of American Independ-
ence. James Bowdoin was afterward governor of the newborn
State. Thomas Gushing gave place to Gerry before the Declara-
tion. Paine, in his own life, in the life of his son, as in the life
of his grandson to-day, never wearied in the service of the na-
tion.

Two years were to pass before the Declaration was drawn
and signed. When that time came, our delegation had been
changed by the substitution of Hancock for Bowdoin, and Gerry
for Gushing. Franklin, another Latin School boy, served with
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Roger. Sherman and Robert
Livingston, on the committee which made the draft of the Decla-
ration. And when the time comes for its signature, John Han-
cock's name ^'stands at the top of freedom's roll.'^ We have a
fancy in the Latin School, that, as you look at the forty-five sig-
natures, you can find a resemblance in the beautiful handwriting

EDWARD EVERETT HALE

321

of John Hancock, of Samuel Adams, of Robert Treat Paine, of
Benjamin Franklin, and of William Hooper, the five boys who
were taught to write when they were at our school.

We need not be over-modest in Boston when we speak of
such men and such times. American Independence was born in
our old Statehouse. Sam Adams was the father of American
independence. Liberty was cradled in this hall. Franklin and
Adams, of those who drew the Declaration, were born here.
John Hancock was sent to preside over that Assembly, and ac-
cepted bravely the honors and the perils of his great position. I
could not anywhere give any history, however succinct, of the
Declaration; I could not account for the America of to-day with-
out saying all this, — no, not if I were addressing the Shah of
Persia in his palace in Ispahan.

I was talking once of education with a Japanese prince. He
said to me, in that supernaturally good English in which they
speak : " We do not give so much time to arithmetic in our
schools as you do. We think arithmetic makes men sordid.'*

So do I. And I asked a little nervously: "To what do you
give the time ? **

" We teach them morals and history. **

Morals and history! Might I not say that our boys and girls
can drink in their morals as they see their history ? This is why
we urge on the teachers, and on the boys and girls, in the studies
of the Old South and in the work of the schools, to begin with
home history, and to make household words of its lessons. To
learn first and last that they are not alone; that they hold even
part and privilege with so many others in the duty and the fame
of a city not second to any city in the world. First and last,
duty; duty to each and all, right and left, who in this city live.
For this they shall be bred and trained in the traditions of their
fathers.

They shall learn, first, second, and last, to trust the people of
whom they are and for whom they live. We shall not discourage
any meeting of the people, whether round a tree in the common
or here in Faneuil Hall. We shall exult in every effort to lift up
the people, that there may be less and less of the labor and
drudgery which wears men out, and more and more work in
which spirit rules matter. We shall exult in every form of edu-
cation, the Public Library, the evening schools, Mr. Hill's and
Mr Stewart's institutes of industry, which lift up the people and

322

EDWARD EVERETT HALE

give the people its chance against any smaller competition. For
this, and for this only, are we to study the past, that ** we, the
people ** of Massachusetts, may rule Massachusetts more happily
in the future!

The boy who takes a stranger to the telegraph office on State
Street, shall say to him: **Here Crispus Attucks died. He is
our first martyr; he is from a despised race, but Massachusetts
made him a freeman, and so he died for her." The boy who
takes his cousin to see the azaleas in the garden, shall say: ** It
was here that Washington hoped to enter Boston on the ice, and
so we have put his statue here." The Charlestown boy who
takes his friend to the navy yard, shall say : *^ It was here that
the boats from the other side brought over the Redcoats, and
here they rallied after running down the hill." The boy who
carries a parcel through Washington Street, shall say : " Here was
* Orange Street ^ ; here was *■ Newbury Street ^ ; but we moved
those names when we named it for Washington, after he rode
in, in triumph, while the English fleet, retiring, whitened the bay
yonder. "

I believe, if I were in your Honor's chair next January, on
one of those holidays which nobody knows what to do with, I
would commemorate the first great victory of 1775. To do this
well, I would issue an order that any schoolboy in Boston, who
would bring his sled to School Street, might coast down hill all
day there, in memory of that famous coasting in January 1775,
when the Latin School boys told the English general that to
coast on School Street was their right ^^from time immemorial,"
and when they won that right from him.

We have made a pleasure park of the Old Fort Independ-
ence, thanks, I believe, to our friend Mr. O'Neil. Let no young
man take his sweetheart there, where sheep may be grazing
between the useless cannon, without pointing out to her the
berth of the Somerset on St. Botolph's day, the day democracy
began her march round the world. Let him show her the bas-
tions on Dorchester Heights. Let him say to her: *^ It was here
that Lord Percy gathered the flower of King George's army to
storm the heights yonder. And it was from this beach that they
left Boston forever."

When he takes her to his old schoolhouse he shall ask first
to see the handwriting of some of our old boys — of Franklin,
of Sam Adams, of John Hancock, of Paine, of Bowdoin, and of

EDWARD EVERETT HALE ,2^1

Hooper. They shall not stop the car at Hancock Street without
a memory of the man who first signed the Declaration. They
shall cross the pavement on Lynde Street, and he shall say:
"These stones have been red with blood from Bunker Hill.^*
And when this day of days comes round, the first festival in
our calendar, the best boy of our High School, or of our Latin
School, shall always read to us the Declaration in which the
fathers announced the truth to the world.

And shall this be no poor homage to the past — worship deaf
and dumb? As the boy goes on his errand he shall say: « To
such duty I, too, am born. I am God's messenger. >^ As the
young man tells the story to his sweetheart, he shall say: «We
are God's children also, you and I, and we have our duties.**
They look backward, only to look forward. *^ God needs me, that
this city may still stand in the forefront of his people's land.
Here am I. God may draft me for some special duty, as he
drafted Warren and Franklin. Present! Ready for service!
Thank God, I come from men who were not afraid in battle.
Thank God, I am born from women whose walk was close to
him. Thank God, I am his son.'* And she shall say: "I am his
daughter. **

He has nations to call to his service. "Here am I.**

He has causeways to build, for the march forward of his peo-
ple. " Here am I."

There are torrents to bridge, highways in deserts. " Here
am I.»

He has oceans to cross. He has the hungry world to feed.
He has the wilderness to clothe in beauty. "Here am I.**

God of heaven, be with us as thou wert with the fathers!

God of heaven, we will be with thee, as the fathers were!

Boys and girls, young men and maidens, listen to the voices
which speak here; even from the silent canvas: —

"You spring from men whose hearts and lives are pure —
Their aim was steadfast, as their purpose sure.
So live that children's children in their day
May bless such fathers' fathers as they pray.*

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

(1757-1804)

JlExander Hamilton, the greatest of the American Federal-
ists, was born in the island of Nevis, in the West Indies,
January nth, 1757. Settling in New York in 1772, he en-
tered fully into the spirit of the controversy with Great Britain, and,
in spite of his youth, attracted attention as a pamphleteer. When the
Colonies declared their independence in 1776, he entered the army as
an artillery captain, and from 1777 to 1781 served on Washington's
staff. From 1782 to 1783 he was a member of the Continental Con-
gress, but though he acquitted himself with credit in Congress, as he
had done in the army, it was not until the question of adopting "a more
perfect union" came before the country that he immortalized himself.
He strove for a Federal Union of the highest possible efficiency, and he
regarded as made to good purpose whatever sacrifices were necessary
for securing it. His birth abroad freed him from the local attachments,
"the provincial patriotism" which sought to organize in America such a
league of independent republics as had wrought out the civilization of
Greece. To Jefferson's idea of the Federal Government as "a depart-
ment of foreign affairs," he opposed the idea of a central government,
never unnecessarily aggressive, but having vested in it the final decision
of every question. With rare skill, with intellectual force, and sub-
tlety seldom equaled in history, he contended for this idea in the Fed-
eralist, in the Constitutional conventions of 1787 and 1788, and finally
in Washington's Cabinet, where he had an unyielding and aggressive
opponent in Jefferson. The Hamiltonian idea triumphed in the body
of the Constitution, but its opponents rallied against it and checked
it with the first ten amendments. Again up to the year 1800, it seemed
that the Federalists would retain control of the executive machinery of
the Government long enough to impress their ideas permanently on all
governmental methods, but the defeat of Adams in 1800 led to a radical
change of method, which was only overcome by the slow processes of
half a century of gradual change, during which Hamilton was not
claimed as a founder or acknowledged as a teacher by any party.
During the latter half of the nineteenth century, the influence of his
ideas increased, until it seemed more powerful at the opening of the
twentieth century than at the close of the eighteenth.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON ^25

Hamilton's death in the duel with Burr (fought July nth, 1804)
brought dueling into disrepute in America, and ruined Burr's life.

As a public speaker, Hamilton illustrates the power of intellect,
subtle and persistent; flexible in its method; comprehensive in its
scope; far-reaching in its grasp of the future. He was not an orator
in the same sense Patrick Henry was, but behind every word he has
left on record there is the power of a great mind.

THE COERCION OF DELINQUENT STATES
(Delivered in the New York Constitutional Convention of 1788)

Mr. Chairman: —

THE honorable member who spoke yesterday went into an ex-
planation of a variety of circumstances, to prove the expe-
diency of a change in our National Government, and the
necessity of a firm Union. At the same time he described the
great advantages which this State, in particular, receives from
the Confederacy, and its peculiar weaknesses when abstracted
from the Union. In doing this he advanced a variety of argu-
ments, which deserve serious consideration. Gentlemen have this
day come forward to answer him. He has been treated as hav-
ing wandered in the flowery fields of fancy, and attempts have
been made to take off from the minds of the committee that
sober impression which might be expected from his arguments.
I trust, sir, that observations of this kind are not thrown out to
cast a light air on this important subject, or to give any personal
bias on the great question before us. I will not agree with gen-
tlemen who trifle with the weaknesses of our country and sup-
pose that they are enumerated to answer a party purpose and to
terrify with ideal dangers. No. I believe these weaknesses to
be real and pregnant with destruction. Yet, however weak our
country may be, I hope we never shall sacrifice our liberties. If,
therefore, on a full and candid discussion, the proposed system
shall appear to have that tendency, for God's sake let us reject
it! But let us not mistake words for things, nor accept doubtful
surmises as the evidence of truth. Let us consider the Constitu-
tion calmly and dispassionately, and attend to those things only
which merit consideration.

No arguments drawn from embarrassment or inconvenience
ought to prevail upon us to adopt a system of government rad-

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ALEXANDER HAMILTON

ically bad ; yet it is proper that tliese arguments, among others,
should be brought into view. In doing this, yesterday, it was
necessary to reflect upon our situation; to dwell upon the im-
becility of our Union; and to consider whether we, as a State,
could stand alone. Although I am persuaded this convention
will be resolved to adopt nothing that is bad, yet I think every
prudent man will consider the merits of the plan in connection
with the circumstances of our country, and that a rejection of
the Constitution may involve most fatal consequences. I make
these remarks to show that, though we ought not to be actuated
by unreasonable fear, yet we ought to be prudent.

This day, sir, one gentleman has attempted to answer the
arguments advanced by my honorable friend; another has treated
him as having wandered from the subject. This being the case,
I trust I shall be indulged in reviewing the remarks that have
been said.

Sir, it appears to me extraordinary, that, while gentlemen in
one breath acknowledge that the old Confederation requires many
material amendments, they should, in the next, deny that its de-
fects have been the cause of our political weakness, and the con-
sequent calamities of our country. I cannot but infer from this,
that there is still some lurking favorite imagination, that this sys-
tem, with correctness, might become a safe and permanent one.
It is proper that we should examine this matter. We contend
that the radical vice in the old Confederation is, that the laws of
the Union apply only to States in their corporate capacity. Has
not every man who has been in our Legislature experienced the
truth of this position ? It is inseparable from the disposition of
bodies, who have a constitutional power of resistance, to examine
the merits of a law. This has ever been the case with the fed-
eral requisitions. In this examination, not being furnished with
those lights which directed the deliberations of the General Gov-
ernment, and incapable of embracing the general interests of the
Union, the States have almost uniformly weighed the requisitions
by their own local interests, and have only executed them so far as
answered their particular convenience or advantage. Hence there
have ever been thirteen different bodies to judge of the meas-
ures of Congress, and the operations of Government have been
distracted by their taking different courses. Those which were
to be benefited have complied with the requisitions; others have
totally disregarded them. Have not all of us been witnesses to

ALEXANDER HAMILTON ^27

the unhappy embarrassments which resulted from these proceed-
ings ? Even during the late war, while the pressure of common
danger connected strongly the bond of our union, and incited to
vigorous exertion, we have felt many distressing effects of the
important system. How have we seen this State, though most ex-
posed to the calamities of the war, complying, in an unexampled
manner, with the federal requisitions, and compelled by the de-
linquency of others to bear most unusual burdens! Of this truth
we have the most solemn proof on our records. In 1779 and 1780,
when the State, from the ravages of war, and from her great ex-
ertions to resist them, became weak, distressed, and forlorn, every
man avowed the principle which we now contend for — that our
misfortunes, in a great degree, proceeded from the want of vigor
in the Continental Government. These were our sentiments when
we did not speculate, but feel. We saw our weakness, and found
ourselves its victims. Let us reflect that this may again, in all
probability, be our situation. This is not a weak State, and its
relative state is dangerous. Your capital is accessible by land,
and by sea is exposed to every daring invader; and on the north-
west you are open to the inroads of a powerful foreign nation.
Indeed, this State, from its situation, will, in time of war, proba-
bly be the theatre of its operations.

Gentlemen have said that the noncompliance of the States
had been occasioned by their sufferings. This may in part be
true. But has this State been delinquent ? Amidst all our dis-
tresses, we have fully complied. If New York could compl)''
wholly with the requisitions, is it not to be supposed that the
other States could in part comply ? Certainly every State in the
Union might have executed them in some degree. But New
Hampshire, which has not suffered at all, is totally delinquent.
North Carolina is totally delinquent. Many others have contrib-
uted in a very small proportion, and Pennsylvania and New
York are the only States which have perfectly discharged their
federal duty.

From the delinquency of those States which have suffered
little by the war, we naturally conclude that they have made
no efforts; and a knowledge of human nature will teach us that
their ease and security have been a principal cause of their want
of exertion. While danger is distant, its impression is weak;
and while it affects only our neighbors, we have few motives to
provide against it. Sir, if we have national objects to pursue,

328

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

we must have national revenues. If you make requisitions, and
they are not complied with, what is to be done ? It has been
observed, to coerce the States is one of the maddest projects
that was ever devised. A failure of compliance will never be
confined to a single State. This being the case, can we suppose
it wise to hazard a civil war ? Suppose Massachusetts, or any
large State, should refuse, and Congress should attempt to com-
pel them, would they not have influence to procure assistance,
especially from those States which are in the same situation as
themselves ? What picture does this idea present to our view ?
A complying State at war with a noncomplying State; Congress
marching the troops of one State into the bosom of another;
this State collecting auxiliaries, and forming, perhaps, a majority
against its federal head. Here is a nation at war with itself.
Can any reasonable man be well disposed towards a government
which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting it-
self— a government that can exist only by the sword ? Every
such war must involve the innocent with the guilty. This single
consideration should be sufificient to dispose every peaceable citi-
zen against such a government.

But can we believe that one State will ever suffer itself to
be used as an instrument of coercion ? The thing is a dream ;
it is impossible. Then we are brought to this dilemma — either
a federal standing army is to enforce the requisitions, or the
federal treasury is left without supplies, and the Government
without support. What, sir, is the cure for this great evil ?
Nothing, but to enable the national laws to operate on individ-
uals in the same manner as those of the States do. This is the
true reasoning upon the subject, sir. The gentlemen appear to
acknowledge its force; and yet, while they yield to the principle,
they seem to fear its application to the Government.

What, then, shall we do ? Shall we take the old Confedera-
tion, as the basis of a new system ? Can this be the object of
the gentlemen ? Certainly not. Will any man who entertains a
wish for the safety of his country trust the sword and purse
with a single assembly organized on principles so defective — so
rotten ? Though we might give to such a government certain
powers with safety, yet to give them the full and unlimited
powers of taxation and the iaational forces would be to establish
a despotism, the definition of which is, a government in which
all power is concentred in a single body. To take the old Con-

ALEXANDER HAMILTON ^2Q

federation, and fashion it upon these principles, would be estab-
lishing a power which would destroy the liberties of the people.
These considerations show clearly that a government totally dif-
ferent must be instituted. They had weight in the convention
who formed the new system. It was seen that the necessary
powers were too great to be trusted to a single body; they
therefore formed two branches, and divided the powers, that
each might be a check upon the other. This was the result of
their wisdom, and I presume that every reasonable man will
agree to it. The more this subject is explained, the more clear
and convincing it will appear to every member of this body.
The fundamental principle of the old Confederation is defective;
we must totally eradicate and discard this principle before we
can expect an efficient government. The gentlemen who have
spoken to-day have taken up the subject of the ancient confed-
eracies; but their view of them has been extremely partial and
erroneous. The fact is, the same false and impracticable prin-
ciple ran through the ancient governments. The first of these
governments that we read of was the Amphictyonic confederacy.
The council which managed the affairs of this league possessed
powers of a similar complexion to those of our present Congress.
The same feeble mode of legislation in the head, and the same
power of resistance in the members, prevailed. When a requisi-
tion was made, it rarely met a compliance; and a civil war was
the consequence. Those that were attacked called in foreign aid
to protect them; and the ambitious Philip, under the mask of an
ally to one, invaded the liberties of each, and finally subverted
the whole.

The operation of this principle appears in the same light in
the Dutch republics. They have been obliged to levy taxes by
an armed force. In this confederacy, one large province, by its
superior wealth and influence, is commonly a match for all the
rest; and when they do not comply, the province of Holland is
obliged to compel them. It is observed that the United Pro-
vinces have existed a long time; but they have been constantly
the sport of their neighbors, and have been supported only by
the external pressure of the surrounding powers. The policy of
Europe, not the policy of their government, saved them from
dissolution. Besides, the powers of the stadtholder have given
energy to the operations of this government, which is not to be
found in ours. This prince has a vast personal influence; he has

330

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

independent revenues; he commands an army of forty thousand
men.

The German Confederacy has also been a perpetual source of
wars. It has a diet, like our Congress, which has authority to
call for supplies. These calls are never obeyed; and in time of
war, the imperial army never takes the field till the enemy are
returning from it. The Emperor's Austrian dominions, in which
he is an absolute prince, alone enable to make him head against
the common foe. The members of this confederacy are ever
divided and opposed to each other. The King of Prussia is a
member, yet he has been constantly in opposition to the Emperor.
Is this a desirable government ?

I might go more particularly into the discussion of examples,
and show that, wherever this fatal principle has prevailed, even
as far back as the Lycian and Achaean leagues, as well as the
Amphictyonic confederacy, it has proved the destruction of the
government. But I think observations of this kind might have
been spared. Had they not been entered into by others, I should
not have taken up so much of the time of the committee. No
inference can be drawn from these examples, that republics can-
not exist; we only contend that they have hitherto been founded
on false principles. We have shown how they have been con-
ducted and how they have been destroyed. Weakness in the
head has produced resistance in the members; this has been the
immediate parent of civil war; auxiliary force has been invited;
and foreign power has annihilated their liberties and name.
Thus Philip subverted the Amphictyonic, and Rome the Achaean
republic.

We shall do well, sir, not to deceive ourselves with the favon
able events of the late war. Common danger prevented the
operation of the ruinous principle, in its full extent; but, since
the peace, we have experienced the evils; we have felt the
poison of the system in its unmingled purity.

Without dwelling any longer on this subject, I shall proceed
to the question immediately before the committee.

In order that the committee may understand clearly the prin-
ciples on which the general convention acted, I think it necessary
to explain some preliminary circumstances. Sir, the natural situ-
ation of this country seems to divide its interests into different
classes. There are navigating and non-navigating States. The
Northern are properly navigating States; the Southern appear to

ALEXANDER HAMILTON ^^j

possess neither the spirit nor the means of navigation. This
difference of situation naturally produces a dissimilarity of inter-
ests and views respecting foreign commerce. It was the interest
of the Northern States that there should be no restraints on their
navigation, and they should have full power, by a majority in
Congress, to make commercial regulations in favor of their own,
and in restraint of the navigation of the foreigners. The South-
ern States wish to impose a restraint on the Northern by requir-
ing that two-thirds in Congress should be requisite to pass an
act in regulation of commerce. They were apprehensive that
the restraints of a navigation law would discourage foreigners,
and, by obliging them to employ the shipping of the Northern
States, would probably enhance their freight. This being the
case, they insisted strenuously on having this provision ingrafted
in the Constitution; and the Northern States were as anxious in
opposing it. On the other hand, the small States, seeing them-
selves embraced by the Confederation upon equal terms, wished to
retain the advantages which they already possessed. The large
States, on the contrary, thought it improper that Rhode Island
and Delaware should enjoy an equal suffrage with themselves.
From these sources a delicate and difficult contest arose. It be-
came necessary, therefore, to compromise, or the convention must
have dissolved without effecting anything. Would it have been
wise and prudent in that body, in this critical situation, to have
deserted their country ? No ! Every man who hears me, every
wise man in the United States, would have condemned them.
The convention was obliged to appoint a committee for accom-
modation. In this committee the arrangement was formed as it
now stands, and their report was accepted. It was a delicate
point, and it was necessary that all parties should be indulged.
Gentlemen will see that, if there had not been a unanimity, noth-
ing could have been done, for the convention had no power to
establish, but only to recommend, a government. Any other sys-
tem would have been impracticable. Let a convention be called
to-morrow; let them meet twenty times, — nay, twenty thousand
times; they will have the same difficulties to encounter, the same
clashing interests to reconcile.

But, dismissing these reflections, let us consider how far the
arrangement is in itself entitled to the approbation of this body.
We will examine it upon its own merits.

The first thing objected to is that clause which allows a rep-
resentation for three-fifths of the negroes. Much has been said of

332

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

the impropriety of representing men who have no will of their
own. Whether this be reasoning or declaration I will not pre-
sume to say. It is the unfortunate situation of the Southern
States to have a great part of their population, as well as prop-
erty, in blacks. The regulation complained of was one result of
the spirit of accommodation which governed the convention; and
without this indulgence, no union could possibly have been formed.
But, sir, considering some peculiar advantages which we derive
from them, it is entirely just that they should be gratified. The
Southern States possess certain staples, — tobacco, rice, indigo, etc.,
— which must be capital objects in treaties of commerce with
foreign nations; and the advantages which they necessarily pro-
cure in those treaties will be felt throughout all the States. But
the justice of this plan will appear in another view. The best
writers on government have held that representation should be
compounded of persons and property. This rule has been adopted,
as far as it could be, in the constitution of New York. It will,
however, by no means be admitted that the slaves are considered
altogether as property. They are men, though degraded to the
condition of slavery. They are persons known to the municipal
laws of the States which they inhabit, as well as to the laws of
nature. But representation and taxation go together, and one
uniform rule ought to apply to both. Would it be just to com-
pute these slaves in the assessment of taxes, and discard them
from the estimate in the apportionment of representatives ?
Would it be just to impose a singular burden without conferring
some adequate advantage ?

Another circumstance ought to be considered. The rule we
have been speaking of is a general rule, and applies to all the
States. Now, you have a great number of people in your State,
which are not represented at all, and have no voice in your gov-
ernment. These will be included in the enumeration — not two-
fifths, nor three-fifths, but the whole. This proves that the
advantages of the plan are not confined to the Southern States,
but extend to other parts of the Union.

I now proceed to consider the objection with regard to the
number of representatives, as it now stands. I am persuaded
the system, in this respect, stands on a better footing than the
gentlemen imagine.

It has been asserted that it will be in the power of Congress
to reduce the number. I acknowledge that there are no direct
words of prohibition, but contend that the true and genuine con-

ALEXANDER HAMILTON -^^

struction of the clause gives Congress no power whatever to
reduce the representation below the number as it now stands.
Although they may limit, they can never diminish the number.
One representative for every thirty thousand inhabitants is fixed
as the standard of increase; till, by the natural course of popula-
tion, it will become necessary to limit the ratio. Probably, at
present, were this standard to be immediately applied, the rep-
resentation would considerably exceed sixty-five. In three years,
it would exceed one hundred. If I understand the gentlemen,
they contend that the number may be enlarged, or may not. I
admit that this is in the discretion of Congress, and I submit
to the committee whether it be not necessary and proper. Still,
I insist that an immediate limitation is not probable, nor was it
in the contemplation of the convention. But, sir, who will pre-
sume to say to what precise point the representation ought to be
increased ? This is a matter of opinion, and opinions are vastly
different upon the subject. A proof of this is drawn from the
representations in the State legislatures. In Massachusetts, the
assembly consists of about three hundred; in South Carolina, of
nearly one hundred; in New York, there are sixty-five. It is ob-
served generally that the number ought to be large; let the gen-
tlemen produce their criterion. I confess it is difficult for me to
say what number may be said to be sufficiently large. On one
hand, it ought to be considered that a small number will act
with more facility, system,^ and decision; on the other, that a
large one may enhance the difficulty of corruption. The Con-
gress is to consist, at first, of ninety-one members. This, to a
reasonable man, may appear as near the proper medium as any
number whatever — at least for the present. There is one source
of increase, also, which does not depend upon any constructions
of the Constitution; it is the creation of new States. Vermont,
Kentucky, and Franklin will probably become independent. New
members of the Union will also be formed from the unsettled
tracts of western territory.

These must be represented, and will all contribute to swell
the federal legislature. If the whole number in the United
States be, at present, three millions, as is commonly supposed,
according to the ratio of one for thirty thousand, we shall have,
on the first census, a hundred representatives. In ten years,
thirty more will be added; and in twenty-five years the number
will be double. Then, sir, we shall have two hundred, if the

334.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

increase go on in the same proportion. The convention of
Massachusetts, who made the same objections, have fixed upon
this number as the point to which they chose to Hmit the repre-
sentation. But can we pronounce, with certainty, that it will not
be expedient to go beyond this number ? We cannot. Experi-
ence alone must determine. This matter may, with more safety,
be left to the discretion of the legislature, as it will be the in-
terest of the large and increasing States of Massachusetts, New
York, Pennsylvania, etc., to augment the representation. Only
Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland, can be in-
terested in limiting it. We may, therefore, safely calculate upon
a growing representation, according to the advance of population,
and the circumstances of the country.

The State governments possess inherent advantages, which
will ever give them an influence and ascendency over the Na-
tional Government, and will forever preclude the possibility of
federal encroachments. That their liberties, indeed, can be sub-
verted by the federal head is repugnant to every rule of polit-
ical calculation. Is not this arrangement, then, sir, a most wise
and prudent one ? Is not the present representation fully ade-
quate to our present exigencies, and sufficient to answer all the
purposes of the Union ? I am persuaded that an examination of
the objects of the Federal Government will afford a conclusive
answer.

ANDREW HAMILTON

(1676-1741)

jT THE January term of the Supreme Court of New York in
the eighth year of the reign of George 11. (1735), John Peter
Zenger, printer of the New York Weekly Journal, was in-
dicted for « being a seditious person and a frequent printer of false
news and seditious libels,^* but more especially for traducing, scandal-
izing, and vilifying his Excellency, William Cosby, Captain-General
and Governor-in-Chief of said Province, by saying, among other
things, that the people of New York thought their liberties precarious
under his Excellency, and that they and their children were likely
to be *< brought into slavery if some past things be not amended —
meaning many of the past proceedings of his Excellency, the said
Governor. ^>

When the case was brought to trial, the disaffected element of the
city brought over from Philadelphia to defend Zenger, Andrew Ham-
ilton, Esquire, then a leader of the bar of that city, celebrated for
his eloquence and his courage. He spoke with such effect that, after
the verdict of acquittal, his New York admirers presented him with
the freedom of the city, in a gold box. His speech was circulated
throughout the Colonies and reprinted in England. Perhaps no other
single document on record prior to 1750 does as much to explain
American history.

Hamilton, who, because of this speech, was called by Governor
Morris <<the day star of the American Revolution, ^^ was born in Eng-
land. He left it because, as he said in an address to the Pennsyl-
vania legislature in 1739, <Hhe love of liberty drew me, as it
constantly prevailed on me to reside in the Provinces, though to
the manifest injury of my fortunes.*^ He settled first in Virginia and
married a lady of fortune there, after which he removed to Philadel-
phia and easily took his place at the head of its bar. In 17 17 he
was made Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, and he afterwards held
other offices of trust under the governments both of Philadelphia and
of the Province.

When appealed to in the case of Zenger, he refused to accept pay
for his services, but went at his own expense to defend the principles
which afterwards resulted in the American Revolution as they had
already resulted in that against the Stuarts. He had the court

336

ANDREW HAMILTON

against him, and knowing that it was so, he appealed to the jury
to judge the facts on their merits and the law on its justice or in-
justice, in spite of the court. His boldness and his eloquence won
the case and .acquitted Zenger at a time when it was not allowed to
plead the truth in defending on a charge of libel and sedition.
There is a mystery attaching to Hamilton's birth and education
which has never been cleared up. He was at one time known as
Trent. That he was highly educated, his speech in the case of
Zenger shows. It compares in eloquence, in the dignity of its lan-
guage, and in the handling of its facts, with Erskine's best efforts
while at its climaxes, it has greater fire and force than characterizes
even Erskine's pleas in similar cases.

In 1737 Hamilton was appointed judge of the Pennsylvania vice*
admiralty court. He died four years later.

IN THE CASE OF ZENGER — FOR FREE SPEECH IN AMERICA

(From the Speech « Delivered at the Trial of John Peter Zenger, Printer, of
New York, for Printing and Publishing a Libel Against the Government;
Before the Honorable James de Lancey, Chief -Justice of the Province of
New York, and the Honorable Frederick Phillipse, Second Judge; at New
York, August 4th: 9 George II., A. D. i735**)

MAY it please your honors, I agree w^ith Mr. Attorney [Rich-
ard Bradley] that government is a sacred thing, but I
differ very widely from him when he would insinuate that
the just complaints of a number of men, who suffer under a bad
administration, is libeling that administration. Had I believed
that to be law, I should not have given the court the trouble
of hearing anything that I could say in this cause. I own when
I read the information, I had not the art to find out (without
the help of Mr. Attorney's innuendos) that the Governor was
the person meant in every period of that newspaper; and I was
inclined to believe that they were written by some, who, from an
extraordinary zeal -for liberty, had misconstrued the conduct of
some persons in authority into crimes; and that Mr. Attorney
[the Attorney-General R. Bradley], out of his too great zeal for
power, had exhibited this information to correct the indiscretion
of my client, and at the same time to show his superiors the
great concern he had, lest they should be treated with any undue
freedom. But from what Mr. Attorney has just now said, to wit,
that this prosecution was directed by the Governor and council,

ANDREW HAMILTON ^^^

and from the extraordinary appearance of people of all conditions
which I observe in court upon this occasion, I have reason to
think that those in the administration have by this prosecution
something more in view, and that the people believe they have
a good deal more at stake than I apprehended; and therefore, as
it is become my duty to be both plain and particular in this
cause, I beg leave to bespeak the patience of the court.

I was in hopes, as that terrible court, where those dreadful
judgments were given, and that law established, which Mr. At-
torney has produced for authorities to support this cause, was
long ago laid aside, as the most dangerous court to the liberties
of the people of England that ever was known in that kingdom,
that Mr. Attorney, knowing this, would not have attempted to
set up a Star Chamber here, nor to make their judgments a prec-
edent to us; for it is well known that what would have been
judged treason in those days for a man to speak, I think, has
since, not only been practiced as lawful, but the contrary doctrine
has been held to be law.

In Brewster's case, for printing that the subjects might de-
fend their rights and liberties by arms, in case the King should
go about to destroy them, he was told by the Chief-Justice that
it was a great mercy he was not proceeded against for his life;
for that to say the King could be resisted by arms in any case
whatsoever was express treason. And yet we see, since that
time Doctor Sacheverell was sentenced in the highest court in
Great Britain for saying that such a resistance was not lawful.
Besides, as Times have made very great changes in the laws of
England, so, in my opinion, there is good reason that Places
should do so too. . .

There is heresy in law as well as in religion, and both have
changed very much; and we well know that it is not two cen-
turies ago that a man would have been burned as a heretic for
owning such opinions in matters of religion as are publicly writ-
ten and printed at this day. They were fallible men, it seems,
and we take the liberty, not only to differ from them in religious
opinion, but to condemn them and their opinions too; and I
must presume that in taking these freedoms in thinking and
speaking about matters of faith or religion, we are in the right;
for, though it is said there are very great liberties of this kind
taken in New York, yet I have heard of no information preferred
by Mr. Attorney for any offenses of this sort. From which I

6 — 22

338

AiSTDREW HAMILTOJSi

think it is pretty clear that in New York a man may make very
free with his God, but he must take special care what he says
of his Governor. It is agreed upon by all men that this is a
reign of liberty, and while men keep within the bounds of truth,
I hope they may with safety both speak and write their senti-
ments of the conduct of men of power; I mean of that part of
their conduct only which affects the liberty or property of the
people under their administration; were this to be denied, then
the next step may make them slaves. For what notions can be
entertained of slavery, beyond that of suffering the greatest in-
juries and oppressions, without the liberty of complaining; or if
they do, to be destroyed, body and estate, for so doing ?

It is said, and insisted upon by Mr. Attorney, that government
is a sacred thing; that it is to be supported and reverenced; it is
government that protects our persons and estates; that prevents
treasons, murders, robberies, riots, and all the train of evils that
overturn kingdoms and states, and ruin particular persons; and if
those in the administration, especially the supreme magistrates,
must have all their conduct censured by private men, government
cannot subsist. This is called a licentiousness not to be tolerated.
It is said that it brings the rulers of the people into contempt so
that their authority is not regarded, and so that in the end the
laws cannot be put in execution. These, I say, and such as these,
are the general topics insisted upon by men in power and their
advocates. But I wish it might be considered at the same time
how often it has happened that the abuse of power has been the
primary cause of these evils, and that it was the injustice and
oppression of these great men which has commonly brought them
into contempt with the people. The craft and art of such men are
great, and who that is the least acquainted with history or with
law can be ignorant of the specious pretenses which have often
been made use of by men in power to introduce arbitrary rule
and destroy the liberties of a free people. I will give two in-
stances, and as they are authorities not to be denied, or misun-
derstood, I presume they will be sufficient.

The first is the statute of 3d of Henry VII., cap. i. The pre-
amble of the statute will prove all, and more, than I have alleged.
It begins: *^ The King, our Sovereign Lord, remembereth how by
unlawful maintenances, giving of liveries, signs, and tokens, etc.,
untrue demeanings of sheriffs in making of panels, and other un-
true returns, by taking of money, by injuries, by great riots and

ANDREW HAMILTON -,oq

unlawful assemblies; the policy and good rule or this realm is
almost subdued; and for the not punishing these inconveniences,
and by occasion of the premises, little or nothing may be found
by inquiry, etc., to the increase of murders, etc., and unsureties
of all men living, and losses of their lands and goods." Here is
a fine and specious pretense for introducing the remedy, as it is
called, which is provided by this act; that is, instead of being
lawfully accused by twenty-four good and lawful men of the
neighborhood, and afterwards tried by twelve like lawful men,
here is a power given to the Lord Chancellor, Lord Treasurer, the
keeper of the King's privy seal, or two of them, calling to them
a bishop, a temporal lord, and other great men mentioned in the
act (who, it is to be observed, were all to be dependants on the
court), to receive information against any person for any of the
misbehaviors recited in that act, and by their discretion to ex-
amine and to punish them according to their demerit.

The second statute I propose to mention is the nth of the
same King, cap, iii., the preamble of which act has the like fair
pretenses as the former; for the King calling to his remembrance
the good laws made against the receiving of liveries, etc., un-
lawful extortions, maintenances, embracery, etc., unlawful games,
etc., and many other great enormities and offenses committed
against many good statutes, to the displeasure of Almighty God,
which, the act says, could not, nor yet can, be conveniently pun-
ished by the due order of the law, except it were first found by
twelve men, etc., which, for the causes aforesaid, will not find
nor yet present the truth. And, therefore, the same statute
directs that the justices of assize, and justices of the peace, shall,
upon information for the King before them made, have full
power, by their discretion, to hear and determine all such of-
fenses. Here are two statutes that are allowed to have given
the deepest wound to the liberties of the people of England of
any that I remember to have been made, unless it may be said
that the statute made in the time of Henry VHL, by which his
proclamations were to have the effect of laws, might in its con-
sequence be worse. And yet we see the plausible pretenses
found out by the great men to procure these acts. And it may
justly be said that by those pretenses the people of England
were cheated or awed into the delivering up their ancient and
sacred right of trials by grand and petit juries. I hope to be
excused for this expression, seeing my Lord Coke calls it (4

^.„. ANDREW HAMILTON

34O'

Inst.) an << unjust and strange act that tended in its execution
to the great displeasure of Almighty God and the utter subver-
sion of the common law.'*

These, I think, make out what I alleged and are flagrant in-
stances of the influence of men in power, even upon the repre-
sentatives of a whole kingdom. From all which, I hope, it will
be agreed that it is a duty which all good men owe to their
country, to guard against the unhappy influence of ill men when
intrusted with power, and especially against their creatures and
dependants, who, as they are generally more necessitous, are
surely more covetous and cruel. But it is worthy of observation
that though the spirit of liberty was borne down and oppressed
in England that time, yet it was not lost, for the Parliament laid
hold of the first opportunity to free the subject from the many
insufferable oppressions and outrages committed upon their per-
sons and estates by color of these acts, the last of which, being
deemed the most grievous, was repealed in the first year of
Henry VIII. Though it is to be observed, Henry VII. and his
creatures reaped such great advantages by the grievous oppres-
sions and exactions, — grinding the faces of the poor subjects,
as my Lord Coke says, by color of this statute, by information
only, — that a repeal of this act could never be obtained during
the life of that Prince. The other statute, being the favorite law
for supporting arbitrary power, was continued much longer.
The execution of it was by the great men of the realm; and
how they executed it, the sense of the kingdom, expressed in
the 7th of Charles I. (by which the Court of Star Chamber, the
soil where informations grew rankest), will best declare. In that
statute Magna Charta, and the other statutes made in the time
of Edward III., which, I think, are no less than five, are partic-
ularly enumerated as acts, by which the liberties and privileges
of the people of England were secured to them, against such op-
pressive courts as the Star Chamber, and others of the like juris-
diction. And the reason assigned for their pulling down the
Star Chamber is that the proceedings, censures, and decrees of
the Court of Star Chamber, even though the great men of the
realm (nay, and a bishop too, holy man!) were judges, had by
experience been found to be an intolerable burden to the sub-
ject, and the means to introduce an arbitrary power and govern-
ment. And therefore that court was taken away, with all the
other courts in that statute mentioned having like jurisdiction.

ANDREW HAMILTON .^^

I do not mention this statute as if by the taking away the
Court of Star Chamber the remedy for many of the abuses or
offenses censured there was likewise taken away; no, I only in-
tend by it to show that the people of England saw clearly the
danger of trusting their liberties and properties to be tried, even
by the greatest men in the kingdom, without the judgment of a
jury of their equals. They had felt the terrible effects of leaving
it to the judgment of these great men to say what was scandal-
ous and seditious, false or ironical. And if the Parliament of Eng-
land thought this power of judging was too great to be trusted
with men of the first rank in the kingdom, without the aid of a
jury, how sacred soever their characters might be, and therefore
restored to the people their original right of trial by juries, I
hope to be excused for insisting that by the judgment of a Par-
liament, from whence no appeal lies, the jury are the proper
judges of what is false, at least, if not of what is scandalous and
seditious. This is an authority not to be denied; it is as plain
as it is great, and to say that this act, indeed, did restore to the
people trials by juries, which was not the practice of the Star
Chamber, but that it did not give the jurors any new authority
or any right to try matters of law, — I say this objection will not
avail; for I must insist that where matter of law is complicated
with matter of fact, the jury have a right to determine both.
As, for instance, upon indictment for murder, the jury may, and
almost constantly do, take upon them to judge whether the evi-
dence will amount to murder or manslaughter, and find accord-
ingly; and I miust say, I cannot see why in our case the jury
have not at least as good a right to say whether our newspapers
are a libel or no libel, as another jury has to say whether kill-
ing of a man is murder or manslaughter. The right of the jury
to find such a verdict as they in their conscience do think is
agreeable to their evidence is supported by the authority of
Bushel's case, in Vaughan's Reports, page 135, beyond any doubt.
For, in the argument of that case, the chief-justice who delivered
the opinion of the court, lays it down for law. (Vaughan's Re-
ports, page 150.) ^*That in all general issues, as upon non. cul.
in trespass, non tort, nul disseizin in assize, etc., though it is
matter of law, whether the defendant is a trespasser, a disseizer,
etc., in the particular cases in issue, yet the jury find not (as in
a special verdict) the fact of every case, leaving the law to the
court; but find for the plaintiff or defendant upon the issue to

342. ANDREW HAMILTON

be tried, wherein they resolve both law and fact complicately. *
It appears by the same case, that *^ though the discreet and law-
ful assistance of the judge, by way of advice to the jury, may be
useful, yet that advice or direction ought always to be upon sup-
position, and not positive and upon coercion." The reason given
in the same book is (pages 144, 147), ^^ because the judge* — as
judge — ^^ cannot know what the evidence is which the jury have;
that is, he can only know the evidence given in court: but the
evidence which the jury have may be of their own knowledge,
as they are returned of the neighborhood.'^ They may also know
from their own knowledge, that what is sworn in court is not
true, and they may know the witness to be stigmatized, to which
the court may be strangers. But what is to my purpose is,
suppose that the court did really know all the evidence which
the jury know, yet in that case it is agreed that the judge and
jury may differ in the result of their evidence, as well as two
judges may, which often happens. And in page 148 the judge
subjoins the reason why it is no crime for a jury to differ in
opinion from the court, where he says that a man cannot see
with another's eye, nor hear by another's ear; no more can a
man conclude or infer the thing by another's understanding or
reasoning. From all which (I insist) it is very plain that the
jury are by law at liberty, without any affront to the judgment
of the court, to find both the law and the fact in our case, as
they did in the case I am speaking of, which I will beg leave
just to mention, and it was this: Messrs. Penn and Mead being
Quakers, and having met in a peaceable manner after being shut
out of their meetinghouse, preached in Grace Church Street, in
London, to the people of their own persuasion, and for this they
were indicted; and it was said that they, with other persons, to
the number of three hundred, unlawfully and tumultuously as-
sembled, to the disturbance of the peace, etc. To which they
pleaded not guilty. And the petit jury was sworn to try the
issue between the King and the prisoners, that is, whether they
were guilty according to the form of the indictment. Here there
was no dispute, but they were assembled together to the number
mentioned in the indictment, but whether that meeting together
was riotously, tumultuously, and to the disturbance of the peace,
was the question. And the court told the jury it was, and or-
dered the jury to find it so, for, said the court, the meeting was
the matter of fact, and that is confessed, and we tell you it is

ANDREW HAMILTON

343

unlawful, for it is against the statute; and the meeting being un-
lawful, it follows, of course, that it was tumultuous and to the
disturbance of the peace. But the jury did not think fit to take
the court's word for it, for they could neither find riot, tumult,
or anything tending to the breach of the peace committed at
that meeting, and they acquitted Messrs. Penn and Mead. In
doing of which they took upon them to judge both the law and
the fact, at which the court, being themselves true courtiers,
were so much offended that they fined the jury forty marks
apiece, and committed them till paid. But Mr. Bushel, who
valued the right of a juryman and the liberty of his country
more than his own, refused to pay the fine, and was resolved,
though at a great expense and trouble too, to bring, and did
bring, his habeas corpus to be relieved from his fine and impris-
onment, and he was released accordingly; and this being the
judgment in his case, it is established for law that the judges,
hov.' great soever they be, have no right to fine, imprison, or
punish a jury for not finding a verdict according to the direction
of the court. And this, I hope, is sufficient to prove that jury-
men are to see with their own eyes, to hear with their own ears,
and to make use of their own consciences and understandings in
judging of the lives, liberties, or estates of their fellow-subjects.
And so I have done with this point.

This is the second information for libeling of a Governor that
I have known in America, And the first, though it may look like
a romance, yet, as it is true, I will beg leave to mention it.
Governor Nicholson, who happened to be offended with one of his
clergy, met him one day upon the road; and as it was usual with
him (under the protection of his commission), used the poor par-
son with the worst of language, threatened to cut off his ears, slit
his nose, and, at last, to shoot him through the head. The parson,
being a reverend man, continued all this time uncovered in the
heat of the sun, until he found an opportunity to fly for it; and
coming to a neighbor's house felt himself very ill of a fever, and
immediately wrote for a doctor; and that his physician might be
the better judge of his distemper, he acquainted him with the
usage he had received, concluding that the Governor was cer-
tainly mad, for that no man in his senses would have behaved in
that manner. The doctor, unhappily, showed the parson's letter;
the Governor came to hear of it, and so an information was pre-
ferred against the poor man for saying he believed the Governor

344 ANDREW HAMILTON

was mad; and it was laid in the information to be false, scandal-
ous, and wicked, and written with intent to move sedition among
the people, and bring his Excellency into contempt. But, by an
order from the late Queen Anne, there was a stop put to the
prosecution, with sundry others set on foot by the same Gov-
ernor against gentlemen of the greatest worth and honor in that
government.

And may not I be allowed, after all this, to say that, by a lit-
tle countenance, almost anything which a man writes may, with
the help of that useful term of art called an innuendo, be con-
strued to be a libel, according to Mr. Attorney's definition of it;
that whether the words are spoken of a person of a public char-
acter, or of a private man, whether dead or living, good or bad,
true or false, all make a libel; for, according to Mr. Attorney,
after a man hears a writing read, or reads and repeats it, or
laughs at it, they are all punishable. It is true, Mr. Attorney is
so good as to allow, after the party knows it to be a libel; but
he is not so kind as to take the man's word for it.

If a libel is understood in the large and unlimited sense urged
by Mr. Attorney, there is scarce a writing I know that may not
be called a libel, or scarce any person safe from being called to
account as a libeler; for Moses, meek as he was, libeled Cain;
and who is it that has not libeled the devil ? For, according to
Mr. Attorney, it is no justification to say one has a bad name.
Echard has libeled our good King William; Burnet has libeled,
among many others, King Charles and King James; and Rapin
has libeled them all. How must a man speak or write, or what;
must he hear, read, or sing? Or when must he laugh, so as to
be secure from being taken up as a libeler ? I sincerely believe
that were some persons to go through the streets of New York
nowadays and read a part of the Bible, if it were not known
to be such, Mr. Attorney, with the help of his innuendos, would
easily turn it into a libel. As for instance: Isaiah xi. i6. **The
leaders of the people cause them to err, and they that are led
by them are destroyed. ^^ But should Mr. Attorney go about to
make this a libel, he would read it thus : " The leaders of the peo-
ple ^^ [innuendo^ the Governor and council of New York) ^* cause
them^^ (innuendo, the people of this province) ^Uo err, and they'*
(the Governor and council meaning) " are destroyed '* {innuendo,
are deceived into the loss of their liberty), ^* which is the worst
kind of destruction.** Or if some person should publicly repeat,

ANDREW HAMILTON

345

in a manner not pleasing to his betters, the tenth and the elev-
enth verses of the fifty-sixth chapter of the same book, there Mr.
Attorney would have a large field to display his skill in the art-
ful application of his innuendos. The words are : *^ His watch-
men are blind, they are ignorant,^' etc. ^^Yea, they are greedy
dogs, they can never have enough.'^ But to make them a libel,
there is, according to Mr. Attorney's doctrine, no more wanting
but the aid of his skill in the right adapting his innuendos. As,
for instance, ^^ His watchmen ^^ {innuendo, the Governor's council
and assembly) ^^are blind, they are ignorant'^ {innicendo, will not
see the dangerous designs of his Excellency). ^^ Yea, they (the
Governor and council, meaning) ^'are greedy dogs, which can
never have enough ^* {innuendo, enough of riches and power).
Such an instance as this seems only fit to be laughed at, but I
may appeal to Mr. Attorney himself whether these are not at
least equally proper to be applied to his Excellency and his min-
isters as some of the inferences and innuendos in his informa-
tion against my client. Then, if Mr. Attorney be at liberty to
come into court and file an information in the King's name with-
out leave, who is secure whom he is pleased to prosecute as a
libeler ? And as the crown law is contended for in bad times,
there is no remedy for the greatest oppression of this sort, even
though the party prosecuted be acquitted with honor. And give
me leave to say, as great men as any in Britain have boldly as-
serted that the mode of prosecuting by information (when a
grand jury will not find billa vera) is a national grievance and
greatly inconsistent with that freedom which the subjects of
England enjoy in most other cases. But if we are so unhappy
as not to be able to ward off this stroke of power directly, let
us take care not to be cheated out of our liberties by forms and
appearances; let us always be sure that the charge in the in-
formation is made out clearly, even beyond a doubt; for, though
matters in the information may be called form upon trial, yet
they may be, and often have been found to be, matters of sub-
stance upon giving judgment.

Gentlemen, the danger is great in proportion to the mischief
that may happen through our too great credulity. A proper
confidence in a court is commendable, but as the verdict (what-
ever it is) will be yours, you ought to refer no part of your duty
to the discretion of other persons. If you should be of opinion
that there is no falsehood in Mr. Zenger's papers, you will, nay,

346

ANDREW HAMILTON

(pardon me for the expression) you ought to say so; because you
do not know whether others (I mean the court) may be of that
opinion. It is your right to do so, and there is much depending
upon your resolution, as well as upon your integrity.

The loss of liberty to a generous mind is worse than death;
and yet we know there have been those in all ages who, for the
sake of preferment, or some imaginary honor, have freely lent a
helping hand to oppress, nay, to destroy their country. This
brings to my mind that saying of the immortal Brutus, when he
looked upon the creatures of Caesar, who were very great men,
but by no means good men: ^^You Romans,*^ said Brutus, "if yet
I may call you so, consider what you are doing; remember that
you are assisting Caesar to forge those very chains which one day
he will make yourselves wear.'* This is what every man that
values freedom ought to consider; he should act by judgment and
not by affection or self-interest; for where those prevail, no ties
of either country or kindred are regarded; as upon the other
hand, the man who loves his country prefers its liberty to all
other considerations, well knowing that without liberty life is a
misery.

A famous instance of this you will find in the history of an-
other brave Roman, of the same name; I mean Lucius Junius
Brutus, whose story is well known; and, therefore, I shall men-
tion no more of it than only to show the value he put upon
the freedom of his country. This great man, with his fellow-
citizens, whom he had engaged in the cause, had banished Tar-
quin the Proud, the last king of Rome, from a throne which he
ascended by inhuman murders, and possessed by the most dread-
ful tyranny and proscriptions, and had by this means amassed
incredible riches, even sufficient to bribe to his interest many
of the young nobility of Rome, to assist him in recovering the
crown. But the plot being discovered, the principal conspirators
were apprehended, among whom were two of the sons of Junius
Brutus. It was absolutely necessary that some should be made
examples of, to deter others from attempting the restoration of
Tarquin and destroying the liberty of Rome. And to effect this
it was that Lucius Junius Brutus, one of the consuls of Rome,
in the presence of the Roman people, sat as judge and con-
demned his own sons as traitors to their country; and to give
the last proof of his exalted virtue, and his love of liberty, he
with a firmness of mind (only becoming so great a man) caused

ANDREW HAMILTON

347

their heads to be struck off in his own presence; and when he
observed that his rigid virtue occasioned a sort of horror among
the people, it is observed he only said: ^< My fellow-citizens, do
not think that this proceeds from any want of natural affection;
no, the death of the sons of Brutus can affect Brutus only; bu,t
the loss of liberty will affect my country. ^^ Thus highly was
liberty esteemed in those days, that a father could sacrifice his
sons to save his country. But why do I go to heathen Rome to
bring instances of the love of liberty ? The best blood of Britain
has been shed in the cause of liberty; and the freedom we enjoy
at this day may be said to be (in a great measure) owing to the
glorious stand the famous Hampden, and others of our country-
men, in the case of ship-money, made against the arbitrary de-
mands and illegal impositions of the times in which they lived;
who, rather than give up the rights of Englishmen and submit
to pay an illegal tax of no more, I think, than three shillings,
resolved to undergo, and, for the liberty of their country, did
undergo, the greatest extremities in that arbitrary and terrible
court of Star Chamber; to whose arbitrary proceedings (it being
composed of the principal men of the realm and calculated to
support arbitrary government) no bounds or limits could be set,
nor could any other hand remove the evil but a parliament.

Power may justly be compared to a great river; while kept
within its bounds, it is both beautiful and useful, but when it
overflows its banks, it is then too impetuous to be stemmed; it
bears down all before it, and brings destruction and desolation
wherever it comes. If, then, this be the nature of power, let
us at least do our duty, and, like wise men who value freedom,
use our utmost care to support liberty, the only bulwark against
lawless power, which, in all ages, has sacrificed to its wild
lust and boundless ambition the blood of the best men that ever
lived.

I hope to be pardoned, sir, for my zeal upon this occasion.
It is an old and wise caution that « when our neighbor's house
is on fire, we ought to take care of our own.** For though,
blessed be God, I live in a government where liberty is well un-
derstood and freely enjoyed, yet experience has shown us all
(I am sure it has to me) that a bad precedent in one govern-
ment is soon set up for an authority in another; and therefore I
cannot but think it mine, and every honest man's duty, that,
while we pay all due obedience to men in authority, we ought,

348

ANDREW HAMILTON

at the same time, to be upon our guard against power wherever
we apprehend that it may affect ourselves or our fellow-subjects.
I am truly very unequal to such an undertaking, on many
accounts. And you see I labor under the weight of many years
and am borne down with great infirmities of body; yet old and
weak as I am, I should think it my duty, if required, to go to
the utmost part of the land, where my service could be of any
use in assisting to quench the flame of prosecutions upon in-
formations, set on foot by the Government to deprive a people
of the right of remonstrating, and complaining too, of the arbi-
trary attempts of men in power. Men who injure and oppress
the people under their administration provoke them to cry out
and complain, and then make that very complaint the foundation
for new oppressions and prosecutions. I wish I could say there
were no instances of this kind. But, to conclude, the question
before the court, and you, gentlemen of the jury, is not of small
nor private concern; it is not the cause of a poor printer, nor of
New York alone, which you are now trying. No! It may, in its
consequence, affect every free man that lives under a British
Government on the main continent of America. It is the best
cause; it is the cause of liberty; and I make no doubt but your
upright conduct, this day, will not only entitle you to the love
and esteem of your fellow-citizen, but every man who prefers
freedom to a life of slavery will bless and honor you as men
who have baffled the attempt of tyranny, and, by an impartial
and uncorrupt verdict, have laid a noble foundation for securing
to ourselves, our posterity, and our neighbors, that to which nat-
ure and the laws of our country have given us a right — the lib-
erty both of exposing and opposing arbitrary power (in these
parts of the world, at least) by speaking and writing truth.

JOHN HAMPDEN

(1594-1643)

jY REFUSING to pay an unlawfully levied tax, amounting in his
case only to a few shillings, John Hampden forced the de-
thronement of Charles I. and the repudiation by the modern
world of the theory of Royal Infallibility and the Divine Right of
Kings. He was born in London in 1594, and in his twenty-seventh
year entered Parliament as one of the leaders of the Popular party.
In 1637, when the King attempted to collect the <<Ship-Money ^^ tax,
levied by him without an act of Parliament, under the plea of urgent
necessity, Hampden refused to pay, and the result was the celebrated
<< Ship-Money ^^ case, in which he was defendant before the Court of
Exchequer. The adverse verdict given by that court was canceled
by the House of Lords in 1641. Hampden took the field for Parlia-
ment when the appeal was made to arms, and on June i8th, 1643, he
fell at Chalgrove field, England has produced no greater patriot.

After the « Grand Remonstrance,* Hampden was one of the five
parliamentary leaders whom the King ineffectually attempted to im-
peach. Hampden's protest, delivered in Parliament just before the
King left London, is a model of self-restraint. In explaining why he
attempted the impeachment, the King declared that : <^ Those men and
their adherents were looked upon by the affrighted vulgar as greater
protectors of their laws and liberties than myself, and so worthier of
their protection.'*

A PATRIOT'S DUTY DEFINED

(Delivered in the English Parliament, Agaiust His Own Impeachment,
January 4th, 1641)

Mr. Speaker: —

IT IS a true saying of a wise man, that all things happen alike
to all men, as well to the good man as to the bad; there is
no state or condition whatsoever, either of prosperity or ad-
versity, but all sorts of men are sharers in the same; no man
can be discerned truly by the outward appearance, whether he

349

^50 JOHN HAMPDEN

be a good subject either to his God, his prince, or his country,
until he be tried by the touchstone of loyalty: give me leave, I
beseech you, to parallel the lives of either sort, that we may, in
some measure, discern truth from falsehood, and in speaking I
shall similize their lives.

I. In religion towards God. 2. In loyalty and true subjection
to their sovereign; in their affection towards the safety of their
country.

1. Concerning religion, the best means to discern between
the true and false religion is by searching the sacred writing
of the Old and New Testaments, which is of itself pure, indited
by the spirit of God, and written by holy men, unspotted in
their lives and conversations; and by this sacred word may we
prove whether our religion be of God or no; and by looking
in this glass, we may discern whether we are in the right way
or no.

And looking into the same, I find that by this truth of God,
that there is but one God, one Christ, one faith, one religion,
which is the Gospel of Christ, and the doctrine of the Prophets
and the Apostles.

In these two Testaments are contained all things necessary to
salvation; if that our religion doth hang upon this doctrine and
no other secondary means, then it is true; to which comes nearest
the Protestant religion which we profess, as I really and verily
believe; and consequently that religion which joineth with this
doctrine of Christ and his Apostles the traditions and inventions
of men, prayers to the Virgin Mary, angels, saints, that are used
in the exercise of their religion, strange and superstitious wor-
shiping, cringing, bowing, creeping to the altar, using pictures,
dirges, and such like, cannot be true, but erroneous, nay devilish;
and all this is used and maintained in the Church of Rome as
necessary to the Scripture, to salvation; therefore it is a false and
erroneous church, both in doctrine and discipline, and all other
sects and schisms that lean not only on the Scripture, though
never so contrary to the Church of Rome, are a false worshiping
of God, and not the true religion. And thus much concerning re-
ligion, to discern the truth and falsehood thereof.

2. I come novr, Mr. Speaker, to the second thing intimated
unto you, which v^as how to discern in a state between good sub-
jects and bad, by their loyalty and due subjection to their law-
ful sovereign, in which I shall, under favor, observe two things.

JOHN HAMPDEN -

First, lawful subjection to a king- in his own person, and the
commands, edicts, and proclamations of the prince and his privy
council.

Second, lawful obedience to the laws, statutes, and ordinances
made and enacted by the king and the lords, with the free consent
of his great council of state assembled in Parliament.

For the first: to deny a willing and dutiful obedience to a
lawful, sovereign and his privy council (for as Cambden truly
saith, the commands of the lords, privy counselors, and the
edicts of the prince are all one, for they are inseparable, the one
never without the other), either to defend his royal person and
kingdoms against the enemies of the same, either public or pri-
vate; or to defend the ancient privileges and prerogatives of the
king, pertaining and belonging of right to his royal crown, and
the maintenance of his honor and dignity; or to defend and
maintain true religion established in the land, according to the
truth of God, is one sign of an evil and bad subject.

Second, to yield obedience to the commands of a king, if
against the true religion, against the ancient and fundamental
laws of the land, is another sign of an ill subject.

Third, to resist the lawful power of the king, to raise insur-
rection against the king, admit him adverse in his religion, to
conspire against his sacred person, or any ways to rebel, though
commanding things against our consciences in exercising relig-
ion, or against the rights and privileges of the subject, is an ab-
solute sign of a disaffected and traitorous subject.

And now having given the signs of discerning evil and dis-
loyal subjects, I shall only give you, in a word or two, the signs
of discerning which are loyal and g^ood subjects, only by turning
these three signs already shown on the contrary side,

1. He that willingly and cheerfully endeavoreth himself to
obey his sovereign's commands for the defense of his own per-
son and kingdoms, for the defense of true religion, for the de-
fense of the laws of his country, is a loyal and good subject.

2. To deny obedience to a king commanding anything against
God's true worship and religion, against the ancient and funda-
mental laws of the land, in endeavoring to perform the same, is
a good subject.

3. Not to resist the lawful and royal power of the king, to
raise sedition or insurrection against his person, or to set division
between the king and his good subjects by rebellion, although

352 JOHN HAMPDEN

commanding things against conscience in the exercise of religion,
or against the rights and privileges of the subject, but patiently
for the same to undergo his prince's displeasure, whether it be
to his imprisonment, confiscation of goods, banishment, or any
other punishment whatsoever, without murmuring, grudging, or
reviling against his sovereign or his proceedings, but submitting
willingly and cheerfully himself and his cause to Almighty God,
is the only sign of an obedient and loyal subject.

I come now to the second means to know the difference be-
tween a good subject and a bad, by their obedience to the laws,
statutes, and ordinances made by the king with the whole con-
sent of his Parliament, And in this I observe a twofold sub-
jection in the particular members thereof, dissenting from the
general votes of the whole Parliament. And, secondly, the whole
state of the kingdom to a full Parliament.

First, I confess, if any particular member of a Parliament, al-
though his judgment and vote be contrary, do not willingly sub-
mit to the rest, he is an ill subject to the king and country.

Second, to resist the ordinance of the whole state of the
kingdom, either by stirring up a dislike in the heart of his Maj-
esty's subjects of the proceedings of Parliament; to endeavor by
levying of arms to compel the king and Parliament to make
such laws as seem best to them; to deny the power, authority,
and privileges of Parliament; to call aspersions upon the same,
and proceedings, thereby inducing the king to think ill of the
same, and to be incensed against the same; to procure the un-
timely dissolution and breaking off of the Parliament before all
things be settled by the same, for the safety and tranquillity
both of king and state, is an apparent sign of a traitorous and
disloyal subject against his king and country.

And having thus troubled your patience, in showing the dif-
ference between true Protestants and false, loyal subjects and
traitors, in a state or kingdom, and the means how to discern
them, I humbly desire my actions may be compared with either,
both as I am a subject, Protestant, and native in this country,
and as I am a member of this present and happy Parliament;
and as I shall be found guilty upon these articles exhibited
against myself and the other gentlemen, either a bad or a good
subject, to my gracious sovereign and native country, I am ready
to receive such sentence upon the same as by this honorable
House shall be conceived to agree with law and justice.

JOHN HANCOCK

(1737-1793)

|oHN Hancock, President of the Continental Congress and first
signer of the Declaration of Independence, made, on March
5th, 1774, a speech on the Anniversary of the Boston Massa-
cre which became historic as the first adequate expression of Ameri-
can detestation of standing armies. He was a deliberate thinker and
his speeches show a related deliberation of expression, but he could
use metaphors which were likely to be greatly admired by an audi-
ence of that day in sympathy with his views — as when in his Bos-
ton Massacre address he said: <^ Death is a creature of the poltroon's
brains; 'tis immortality to sacrifice ourselves for the salvation of our
country. We fear not death. That gloomy night, the pale-faced
moon, and the affrighted stars that hurried through the sky can wit-
ness that we fear not death. ^^

He was born at Quincy, Massachusetts, January 12th, 1737, and
died there, October 8th, 1793, after a life of the highest usefulness,
during which he had been President of the Provincial Congress of
1774 and 1775, President of the Continental Congress from 1775 to
1777, signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and in 1788
chairman of the Massachusetts Convention which ratified the Federal
Constitution.

MOVING THE ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
(Delivered in the Massachusetts Convention of 1788)
Gentlemen : —

BEING now called upon to bring the subject under debate to a
decision, by bringing forward the question, I beg your in-
dulgence to close the business with a few remarks. I am
happy that my health has been so far restored that I am rendered
able to meet my fellow-citizens as represented in this convention.
I should have considered it as one of the most distressing mis-
fortunes of my life to be deprived of giving my aid and support
to a system which, if amended (as I feel assured it will be)
0-^3 353

3^4 JOHN HANCOCk

according to your -proposals, cannot fail to give the people of the
United States a greater degree of political freedom, and eventu-
ally as much national dignity as falls to the lot of any nation on
earth. I have not, since I had the honor to be in this place, said
much on the important subject before us. All the ideas apper-
taining to the system, as well those which are against as for it,
have been debated upon with so much learning and ability that
the subject is quite exhausted.

But you will permit me, gentlemen, to close the whole with
one or two general observations. This I request, not expecting to
throw any new light on the subject, but because it may possibly
prevent uneasiness and discordance from taking place amongst us
and amongst our constituents.

That a general system of government is indispensably neces-
sary to save our country from ruin is agreed upon all sides.
That the one now to be decided upon has its defects, all agree;
but when we consider the variety of interests and the different
habits of the men it is intended for, it would be very singular to
have an entire union of sentiment respecting it. Were the peo-
ple of the United States to delegate the powers proposed to be
given to men who were not dependent on them frequently for
elections, — to men whose interest, either from rank or title, would
differ from that of their fellow-citizens in common, — the task of
delegating authority would be vastly more difficult; but, as the
matter now stands, the powers reserved by the people render
them secure, and, until they themselves become corrupt, they will
always have upright and able rulers. I give my assent to the
Constitution in full confidence that the amendments proposed will
soon become a part of the system. These amendments being in
no wise local, but calculated to give security and ease alike to all
the States, I think that all will agree to them.

vSuffer me to add that, let the question be decided as it may,
there can be no triumph on the one side or chagrin on the
other. Shoiild there be a great division, every good man, every
man who loves his country, will be so far from exhibiting ex-
traordinary marks of joy, that he will sincerely lament the want
of unanimity, and strenuously endeavor to cultivate a spirit of
conciliation, both in convention and at home. The people of this
Commonwealth are a people of a great light — of great intelli-
gence in public business. They know that we have none of us
an interest separate from theirs; that it must be our happiness

JOHN HANCOCK

355

to conduce to theirs; and that we must all rise or fall together.
They will never, therefore, forsake the first principle of society
— that of being governed by the voice of the majority; and
should it be that the proposed form of government should be
rejected, they will zealously attempt another. Should it, by the
vote now to be taken, be ratified, they will quietly acquiesce,
and, where they see a want of perfection in it, endeavor, in a
constitutional way, to have it amended.

The question now before you is such as no other nation on
earth, without the limits of America, has ever had the privilege
of deciding upon. As the Supreme Ruler of the universe has
seen fit to bestow upon us this glorious opportunity, let us decide
upon it, appealing to him for the rectitude of our intentions, and
in humble confidence that he will yet continue to bless and save
our country.

The question being put, whether this convention will accept
of the report of the committee, as follows: —

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In Convention of the Delegates of
the People of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1788.

The convention, having impartially discussed and fully considered
the Constitution for the United States of America, reported to Con-
gress by the convention of delegates from the United States of
America, and submitted to us by a resolution of the General Court
of the said Commonwealth, passed the twenty-fifth day of October
last past; and acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of
the Supreme Ruler of the universe in affording the people of the
United States, in the course of his providence, an opportunity, delib-
erately and peaceably, without fraud or surprise, of entering into an
explicit and solemn compact with each other, by assenting to and
ratifying a new Constitution, in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com-
mon defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to themselves and their posterity. Do, in the name and
in behalf of the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as-
sent to and ratify the said Constitution for the United States of
America.

And, as it is the opinion of this convention that certain amend-
ments and alterations in the said Constitution would remove the
fears and quiet the apprehensions of many of the good people of the
Commonwealth, and more effectually guard against an undue admin-
istration of the Federal Government, the convention do therefore

356 JOHN HANCOCK

recommend that the following alterations and provisions be intro-
duced into the said Constitution: —

Firstly. That it be explicitly declared that all powers not expressly dele-
gated by the aforesaid Constitution are reserved to the several States, to be
by them exercised.

Secondly. That there shall be one representative to every thirty thousand
persons, according to the census mentioned in the Constitution, until the whole
number of representatives amounts to two hundred.

Thirdly. That Congress do not exercise the powers vested in them by the
fourth section of the first article, but in cases where a State shall neglect or
refuse to make the regulations therein mentioned, or shall make regulations
subversive of the rights of the people to a free and equal representation in
Congress, agreeably to the Constitution.

Fourthly. That Congress do not lay direct taxes, but when the moneys
arising from the impost and excise are insufficient for the public exigencies,
nor then, until Congress shall have first made a requisition upon the States,
to assess, levy, and pay their respective proportion of such requisitions, agree-
ably to the census fixed in the said Constitution, in such way and manner as
the legislatures of the States shall think best, and, in such case, if any State
shall neglect or refuse to pay its proportion, pursuant to such requisition, then
Congress may assess and levy such State's proportion, together with interest
thereon, at the rate of six per cent, per annum, from the time of payment
prescribed in such requisitions.

Fifthly. That Cong^ress erect no company with exclusive advantages of
commerce.

Sixthly. That no person shall be tried for any crime by which he may
incur an infamous punishment, or loss of life, until he be first indicted by a
grand jury, except in such cases as may arise in the government and regu-
lation of the land and naval forces.

Seventhly. The Supreme Judicial Federal Court shall have no jurisdiction
of causes between citizens of different States, unless the matter in dispute,
whether it concern the realty or personalty, be of the value of three thousand
dollars at the least ; nor shall the Federal judicial powers extend to any action
between citizens of different States, where the matter in dispute, whether it
concern the realty or personalty, is not of the value of fifteen hundred dol-
lars at the least.

Eighthly. In civil actions between citizens of different States, every issue
of fact, arising in actions at common law, shall be tried by a jury, if the
parties, or either of them, request it.

Ninthly. Congfress shall at no time consent that any person holding an
office of trust or profit, under the United States, shall accept of a title of no-
bility, or any other title or office, from any king, prince, or foreign state.

And the convention do, in the name and in the behalf of the
people of this Commonwealth, enjoin it upon their representatives in
Congress, at all times, until the alterations and provisions aforesaid
have been considered, agreeably to the fifth article of the said Con-

JOHN HANCOCK 1^-*^

stitution, to exert all their influence, and use all reasonable and legal
methods, to obtain a ratification of the said alterations and provi-
sions, in such manner as is provided in the said article.

And that the United States, in Congress assembled, may have
due notice of the assent and ratification of the said Constitution by
this Convention, it is

Resolved, That the assent and ratification aforesaid be engrossed on
parchment, together with the recommendation and injunction aforesaid, and
with this resolution; and that his excellency, John Hancock, President, and
the Honorable William Gushing, Esq., Vice-President of this convention, trans-
mit the same, countersigned by the Secretary of the convention, under their
hands and seals, to the United States in Congress assembled.

THE BOSTON MASSACRE

(From the Oration Delivered at Boston, Massachusetts, on the Fifth of March,
1774, the Anniversary of the ^< Horrid Massacre >^ of 1770)

Men, Brethrefi, Fathers, and Fellow- Country men : —

THE attentive gravity; the venerable appearance of this crowded
audience; the dignity which I behold in the countenances
of so many in this great assembly; the solemnity of the
occasion upon which we have met together, joined to a consider-
ation of the part I am to take in the important business of this
day, fill me with an awe hitherto unknown, and heighten the
sense which I have ever had of my unworthiness to fill this
sacred desk. But, allured by the call of some of my respected
fellow-citizens, with whose request it is always my greatest pleas-
ure to comply, I almost forgot my want of ability to perform
what they required. In this situation I find my only support in
assuring myself that a generous people will not severely censure
what they know was well intended, though its want of merit
should prevent their being able to applaud it. And I pray that
my sincere attachment to the interest of my country, and the
hearty detestation of every design formed against her liberties,
may be admitted as some apology for my appearance in this
place.

I have always, from my earliest youth, rejoiced in the felicity
of my fellow-men; and have ever considered it as the indispens-
able duty of every member of society to promote, as far as in
him lies, the prosperity of every individual, but more especially
of the community to which he belongs; and also, as a faithful

358 JOHN HANCOCK

subject of the State, to use his utmost endeavors to detect, and
having detected, strenuously to oppose every traitorous plot which
its enemies may devise for its destruction. Security to the per-
sons and properties of the governed is so obviously the design
and end of civil government, that to attempt a logical proof of
it would be like burning tapers at noonday, to assist the sun in
enlightening the world; and it cannot be either virtuous or hon-
orable to attempt to support a government of which this is
not the great and principal basis; and it is to the last degree
vicious and infamous to attempt to support a government which
manifestly tends to render the persons and properties of the gov-
erned insecure. Some boast of being friends to government; I
am a friend to righteous government, to a government founded
upon the principles of reason and justice; but I glory in publicly
avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny. Is the present system,
which the British administration have adopted for the govern-
ment of the Colonies, a righteous government — or is it tyranny ?
Here suffer me to ask (and would to heaven there could be an
answer!) what tenderness, what regard, respect, or consideration
has Great Britain shown, in their late transactions, for the secur-
ity of the persons or properties of the inhabitants of the Colo-
nies ? Or rather what have they omitted doing to destroy that
security ? They have declared that they have ever had, and of
right ought ever to have, full power to make laws of sufficient
validity to bind the Colonies in all cases whatever. They have
exercised this pretended right by imposing a tax upon us with-
out our consent; and lest we should show some reluctance at
parting with our property, her fleets and armies are sent to en-
force their mad pretensions. The town of Boston, ever faithful
to the British Crown, has been invested by a British fleet; the
troops of George III. have crossed the wide Atlantic, not to en-
gage an enemy, but to assist a band of traitors in trampling on
the rights and liberties of his most loyal subjects in America —
those rights and liberties which, as a father, he ought ever to
regard, and as a king, he is bound, in honor, to defend from vio-
lation, even at the risk of his own life.

Let not the history of the illustrious house of Brunswick in-
form posterity that a king, descended from that glorious monarch
George II., once sent his British subjects to conquer and enslave
his subjects in America. But be perpetual infamy entailed upon
that villain who dared to advise his master to such execrable

JOHN HANCOCK ^^Q

measures; for it was easy to foresee the consequences which so
naturally followed upon sending troops into America to enforce
sbedience to acts of the British Parliament, which neither God
nor man ever empowered them to make. It was reasonable to
expect that troops, who knew the errand they were sent upon,
would treat the people whom they were to subjugate, with a
cruelty and haughtiness which too often buries the honorable
character of a soldier in the disgraceful name of an unfeeling
ruffian. The troops, upon their first arrival, took possession of our
Senate House, and pointed their cannon against the judgment
hall, and even continued them there whilst the supreme court of
judicature for this province was actually sitting to decide upon
the lives and fortunes of the King's subjects. Our streets nightly
resounded with the noise of riot and debauchery; our peaceful
citizens were hourly exposed to shameful insults, and often felt
the effects of their violence and outrage. But this was not all:
as though they thought it not enough to violate our civil rights,
they endeavored to deprive us of the enjoyment of our religious
privileges, to vitiate our morals, and thereby render us deserving
of destruction. Hence, the rude din of arms which broke in
upon your solemn devotions in your temples, on that day hal-
lowed by heaven, and set apart by God himself for his peculiar
worship. Hence, impious oaths and blasphemies so often tortured
your unaccustomed ear. Hence, all the arts which idleness and
luxury could invent were used to betray our youth of one sex
into extravagance and effeminacy, and of the other to infamy
and ruin ; and did they not succeed but too well ? Did not a
reverence for religion sensibly decay ? Did not our infants al-
most learn to lisp out curses before they knew their horrid im-
port ? Did not our youth forget they were Americans, and,
regardless of the admonitions of the wise and aged, servilelv
copy from their tyrants those vices which finally must overthrow
the empire of Great Britain ? And must I be compelled to ac-
knowledge that even the noblest, fairest, part of all the lower
creation did not entirely escape the cursed snare ? When virtue
has once erected her throne within the female breast, it is upon
so solid a basis that nothing is able to expel the heavenly inhab-
itant. But have there not been some few, indeed, I hope, whose
youth and inexperience have rendered them a prey to wretches,
whom, upon the least reflection, they would have despised and
hated as foes to God and their country ? I fear there have beeij

360 JOHN HANCOCK

some such unhappy instances, or why have I seen an honest
father clothed with shame; or why a virtuous mother drowned
in tears?

But I forbear, and come reluctantly to the transactions of that
dismal night, when in such quick succession we felt the extremes
of grief, astonishment, and rage; when heaven in anger, for a
dreadful moment, suffered hell to take the reins; when Satan, with
his chosen band, opened the sluices of New England's blood, and
sacrilegiously polluted our land with the dead bodies of her guilt-
less sons! Let this sad tale of death never be told without a
tear; let not the heaving bosom cease to burn with a manly in-
dignation at the barbarous story, through the long tracts of future
time; let every parent tell the shameful story to his listening
children until tears of pity glisten in their eyes, and boiling pas-
sions shake their tender frames; and whilst the anniversary of
that ill-fated night is kept a jubilee in the grim court of pande-
monium, let all America join in one common prayer to heaven
that the inhuman, unprovoked murders of the fifth of March,
1770, planned by Hillsborough, and a knot of treacherous knaves
in Boston, and executed by the cruel hand of Preston and his
sanguinary coadjutors, may ever stand in history without a par-
allel. But what,- my countrymen, withheld the ready arm of
vengeance from executing instant justice on the vile assassins ?
Perhaps you feared promiscuous carnage might ensue, and that
the innocent might share the fate of those who had performed
the infernal deed. But were not all guilty ? Were you not too
tender of the lives of those who came to fix a yoke on your
necks ? But I must not too severely blame a fault, which great
souls only can commit. May that magnificence of spirit which
scorns the low pursuits of malice, may that generous compassion
which often preserves from ruin, even a guilty villain, forever
actuate the noble bosoms of Americans! But let not the mis-
creant host vainly imagine that we feared their arms. No; them
we despised; we dread nothing but slavery. Death is the crea-
ture of a poltroon's brains; 'tis immortality to sacrifice ourselves
for the salvation of our country. We fear not death. That
gloomy night, the pale-faced moon, and the affrighted stars that
hurried through the sky, can witness that we fear not death.
Our hearts which, at the recollection, glow with rage that four
revolving years have scarcely taught us to restrain, can witness
that we fear not death; and happy it is for those who dared to

JOHN HANCOCK ^-

insult US, that their naked bones are not now piled up an ever-
lasting monument of Massachusetts' bravery. But they retired,
they fled, and in that flight they found their only safety. We
then expected that the hand of public justice would soon inflict
that punishment upon the murderers, which, by the laws of God
and man, they had incurred. But let the unbiased pen of a
Robertson, or perhaps of some equally famed American, conduct
this trial before the great tribunal of succeeding generations.
And though the murderers may escape the just resentment of
an enraged people; though drowsy justice, intoxicated by the
poisonous draught prepared for her cup, still nods upon her rot-
ten seat, yet be assured such complicated crimes will meet their
due reward. Tell me, ye bloody butchers! ye villains high and
low! ye wretches who contrived, as well as you who executed
the inhuman deed! do you not feel the goads and stings of con-
scious guilt pierce through your savage bosoms ? Though some
of you may think yourselves exalted to a height that bids de-
fiance to human justice, and others shroud yourselves beneath
the mask of hypocrisy, and build your hopes of safety on the
low arts of cunning, chicanery, and falsehood, yet do you not
sometimes feel the gnawings of that worm which never dies ?
Do not the injured shades of Maverick, Gray, Caldwell, Attucks,
and Carr attend you in your solitary walks, arrest you even in
the midst of your debaucheries, and fill even your dreams with
terror ? . . .

Ye dark designing knaves, ye murderers, parricides! how dare
you tread upon the earth which has drunk in the blood of
slaughtered innocents, shed by your wicked hands? How dare
you breathe that air which wafted to the ear of heaven the
groans of those who fell a sacrifice to your accursed ambition ?
But if the laboring earth doth not expand her jaws; if the air
you breathe is not commissioned to be the minister of death; yet,
hear it and tremble! The eye of heaven penetrates the darkest
chambers of the soul, traces the leading clue through all the
labyrinths which your industrious folly has devised; and you,
however you may have screened yourselves from human eyes,
must be arraigned, must lift your hands, red with the blood of
those whose death you have procured, at the tremendous bar of
God!

But I gladly quit the gloomy theme of death, and leave you
to improve the thought of that important day when our naked

^52 JOHN HANCOCK

souls must Stand before that Being- from whom nothing can be
hid, I would not dwell too long upon the horrid effects which
have already followed from quartering regular troops in this
town. Let our misfortunes teach posterity to guard against such
evils for the future. Standing armies are sometimes (I would by
no means say generally, much less universally) composed of per-
sons who have rendered themselves unfit to live in civil society;
who have no other motives of conduct than those which a desire
of the present gratification of their passions suggests; who have
no property in any country ; men who have given up their own
liberties, and envy those who enjoy liberty; who are equally in-
different to the glory of a George or a Louis; who, for the addi-
tion of one penny a day to their wages, would desert from the
Christian cross and fight under the crescent of the Turkish Sul-
tan. From such men as these, what has not a State to fear?
With such as these, usurping Caesar passed the Rubicon; with
such as these, he humbled mighty Rome, and forced the mistress
of the world to own a master in a traitor. These are the men
whom sceptred robbers now employ to frustrate the designs of
God, and render vaii the bounties which his gracious hand pours
indiscriminately upon his creatures. By these the miserable slaves
in Turkey, Persia, and many other extensive countries, are ren-
dered truly wretched, though their air is salubrious, and their soil
luxuriously fertile. By these, France and Spain, though blessed
by nature with all that administers to the convenience of life,
have been reduced to that contemptible state in which they now
appear; and by these, Britain, — but if I were possessed of the gift
of prophesy, I dare not, except by divine command, unfold the
leaves on which the destiny of that once powerful kingdom is in-
scribed.

But since standing armies are so hurtful to a State, perhaps
my countrymen may demand some substitute, some other means
of rendering us secure against the incursions of a foreign enemy.
But can you be one moment at a loss ? Will not a well-discipHned
militia afford you ample security against foieign foes? We want
not courage; it is discipline alone in which we are exceeded by
the most formidable troops that ever trod the earth. Surely
our hearts flutter no more at the sound of war than did those of
the immortal band of Persia, the Macedonian phalanx, the invin-
cible Roman legions, the Turkish janissaries, the gens d'armes
of France, or the well-known grenadiers of Britain. A welV

JOHN HANCOCK -g^

disciplined militia is a safe, an honorable guard to a community
like this, whose inhabitants are by nature brave, and are lauda-
bly tenacious of that freedom in which they were born. From a
well-regulated militia we have nothing to fear; their interest is
the same with that of the State. When a country is invaded, the
militia are ready to appear in its defense; they march into the
field with that fortitude which a consciousness of the justice of
their cause inspires; they do not jeopard their lives for a master
who considers them only as the instruments of his ambition, and
whom they regard only as the daily dispenser of the scanty pit-
tance of bread and water. No; they fight for their houses, their
lands, for their wives, their children; for all who claim the ten-
derest names, and are held dearest in their hearts ; they fight pro
aris et focis, for their liberty, and for themselves, and for their
God. And let it not offend if I say that no militia ever ap-
peared in more flourishing condition than that of this province
now doth; and pardon me if I say, of this town in particular. I
mean not to boast; I would not excite envy, but manly emula-
tion. We have all one common cause; let it, therefore, be our
only contest, who shall most contribute to the security of the lib-
erties of America. And may the same kind Providence which
has watched over this country from her infant state still enable
us to defeat our enemies! I cannot here forbear noticing the
signal manner in which the designs of those who wish not well
to us have been discovered. The dark deeds of a treacherous
cabal have been brought to public view. You now know the ser-
pents who, whilst cherished in your bosoms, were darting their
envenomed stings into the vitals of the constitution. But the
representatives of the people have fixed a mark on these un-
grateful monsters, which, though it may not make them so secure
as Cain of old, yet renders them, at least, as infamous. Indeed,
it would be effrontive to the tutelar deity of this country even to
despair of saving it from all the snares which human policy can
lay. . .

Surely you never will tamely suffer this country to be a den
of thieves. Remember, my friends, from whom you sprang. Let
not a meanness of spirit, unknown to those whom you boast of
as your fathers, excite a thought to the dishonor of your mothers.
I conjure you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all
that is sacred, not only that ye pray, but that ye act; that, if

364 JOHN HANCOCK

necessary, ye fight, and even die, for the prosperity of our Jefu-
salem. Break in sunder, with noble disdain, the bonds with
which the Philistines have bound you. Suffer not yourselves to
be betrayed, by the soft arts of luxury and effeminacy, into the
pit digged for your destruction. Despise the glare of wealth.
That people who pay greater respect to a wealthy villain than
to an honest, upright man in poverty, almost deserve to be en-
slaved; they plainly show that wealth, however it may be ac-
quired, is, in their esteem, to be preferred to virtue.

But I thank God that America abounds in men who are su-
perior to all temptation, whom nothing can divert from a steady
pursuit of the interest of their country, who are at once its
ornament and safeguard. And sure I am, I should not incur
your displeasure, if I paid a respect, so justl}^ due to their much-
honored characters, in this place. But when I name an Adams,
such a numerous host of fellow-patriots rush upon my mind, that
I fear it would take up too much of your time, should I attempt
to call over the illustrious roll. But your grateful hearts will
point you to the men; and their revered names, in all succeed-
ing times, shall grace the annals of America. From them let
us, my friends, take example; from them let us catch the divine
enthusiasm; and feel, each for himself, the godlike pleasure of dif-
fusing happiness on all around us; of delivering the oppressed
from the iron grasp of tyranny; of changing the hoarse com-
plaints and bitter moans of wretched slaves into those cheerful
songs, which freedom and contentment must inspire. There is a
heartfelt satisfaction in reflecting on our exertions for the public
weal, which all the sufferings an enraged tyrant can inflict will
never take away; which the ingratitude and reproaches of those
whom we have saved from ruin cannot rob us of. The virtuous
asserter of the rights of mankind merits a reward, which even a
want of success in his endeavors to save his country, the heavi-
est misfortune which can befall a genuine patriot, cannot en-
tirely prevent him from receiving.

I have the most animating confidence that the present noble
struggle for liberty will terminate gloriously for America. And
let us play the man for our God, and for the cities of our God;
while we are using the means in our power, let us humbly com-
mit our righteous cause to the great Lord of the Universe, who
loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity. And having secured

JOHN HANCOCK -g-

the approbation of our hearts, by a faithful and unwearied dis-
charge of our duty to our country, let us joyfully leave our con-
cerns in the hands of him who raiseth up and pulleth down the
empires and kingdoms of the world as he pleases; and with
cheerful submission to his sovereign will, devoutly say: ^^ Al-
though the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in
the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there
shall be no herd in the stalls; yet we will rejoice in the Lord>
we will joy in the God of our salvation.^*

JULIUS CHARLES HARE

(1795-1855)

[uLius Charles Hare, Archdeacon of Lewes, born Septembef

13th, 1795, was one of the most eloquent English divines of

the first half of the nineteenth century. To read half a

dozen of his sentences is to see that he has the gift of setting his

thought to music and that all his prose lacks of being poetry is a more

exact metre than he chose to give it. Aside from its intense and

delicate melody, — approaching that of Schubert among composers, —

his prose has a singular beauty and strength, due to the rapid suc-

; cession of its monosyllables. His sermon, *The Children of Light,*

j delivered before the University of Cambridge in 1828, is one of the best

examples of English pulpit oratory. He died January 23d, 1855, leav-

, ing numerous memorials of his active career in the shape of sermons,

J^ treatises, and essays, among them the * Guesses at Truth,' of which,

with A. W. Hare, he was joint author.

THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT

(Delivered before the University of Cambridge, 1828)

WALK as children of light. This is the simple and beautiful
substance of your Christian duty. This is your bright
privilege, which, if you use it according to the grace
whereby you have received it, will be a prelude and foretaste of
the bliss and glory of heaven. It is to light that all nations and
languages have had recourse, whenever they wanted a symbol
for anything excellent in glory; and if we were to search through
the whole of inanimate nature for an emblem of pure unadulter-
ated happiness, where could we find such an emblem, except in
light ? — traversing the illimitable regions of space with a speed
surpassing that of thought, incapable of injury or stain, and,
whithersoever it goes, showering beauty and gladness. In order,
however, that we may in due time inherit the whole fullness of
this radiant beatitude, we must begin by training and fitting
ourselves for it. Nothing good bursts forth all at once. The

366

JULIUS CHARLES HARE ^5-

lightning may dart out of a black cloud; but the day sends his
bright heralds before him, to prepare the world for his coming.
So should we endeavor to render our lives here on earth as it
were the dawn of heaven's eternal day; we should endeavor to
walk as children of light. Our thoughts and feelings should all
be akin to light, and have something of the nature of light in
them; and our actions should be like the action of light itself,
and like the action of all those powers and of all those beings
which pertain to light, and may be said to form the family of
light; while we should carefully abstain and shrink from all such
works as pertain to darkness, and are wrought by those who may
be called the brood of darkness.

Thus the children of light will walk as having the light of
knowledge, steadfastly, firmly, right onward to the end that is
set before them. When men are walking in the dark, through
an unknown and roadless country, they walk insecurely, doubt-
ingly, timidly. For they cannot see where they are treading;
they are fearful of stumbling against a stone, or falling into a
pit; they cannot even keep on for many steps certain of the
course they are taking. But by day we perceive what is under
us and about us, we have the end of our journey, or at least
the quarter where it lies, full in view, and we are able to make
for it by the safest and speediest way. The very same advan-
tage have those who are light in the Lord, the children of spirit-
ual light, over the children of spiritual darkness. They know
whither they are going; to heaven. They know how they are to
get there; by him who has declared himself to be the Way; by
keeping his word, by walking in his paths, by trusting in his
atonement. If you, then, are children of light, if you know all
this, walk according to your knowledge, without stumbling or
slipping, without swerving or straying, without loitering or dally-
ing by the way, onward and ever onward beneath the light of
the Sun of Righteousness, on the road which leads to heaven.

In the next place, the children of light are upright and honest
and straightforward and open and frank in all their dealings.
There is nothing like lurking or concealment about them, noth-
ing like dissimulation, nothing like fraud or deceit. These are
the ministers and the spawn of darkness. It is darkness that
hides its face, lest any should be appalled by so dismal a sight;
light is the revealer and manifester of all things. It lifts up its
brow on high, that all may behold it; for it is conscious that it

o58 ^ JULIUS CHARLES HARE

has nothing to dread, that the breath of shame cannot soil it.
Whereas, the wicked lie in wait, and roam through the dark, and
screen themselves therein from the sight of the sun, as though
the sun were the only eye wherewith God can behold their do-
ings. It is under the cover of night that the reveler commits
his foulest acts of intemperance and debauchery. It is under
the cover of night that the thief and murderer prowls about
to bereave his brother of his substance or of his life. These
children of darkness seek the shades of darkness to hide them-
selves thereby from the eyes of their fellow-creatures, from the
eyes of heaven, nay, even from their own eyes, from the eye of
conscience, which, at such a season, they find it easier to hood-
wink and blind. They, on the other hand, who walk abroad
and ply their tasks during the day, are those by whose labor
their brethren are benefited and supported; those who make
the earth yield her increase, or who convert her produce into
food and clothing, or who minister to such wants as spring
up in countless varieties beneath the march of civilized society.
Nor is this confined to men; the brute animals seem to be under
a similar instinct. The beasts of prey lie in their lair during
the daytime and wait for sunset ere they sally out on their de-
structive wanderings; while the beneficent, household animals,
those which are the most useful and friendly to man, are like
him in a certain sense children of light, and come forth and go
to rest with the sun. They who are conscious of no evil wish
or purpose do not shun or shrink from the eyes of others;
though never forward in courting notice, they bid it welcome
when it chooses to visit them. Our Savior himself tells us that
the condemnation of the world lies in this, that although li^ht is
come into the world, yet men love darkness rather than the light,
because their deeds are evil. Nothing but their having utterly
depraved their nature could seduce them into loving what is so
contrary and repugnant to it. For every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, nor cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to light, thai his
deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. To
the same effect, he commands his disciples to let their light so
shine before men that they may see their good works, not, how-
ever, for any vain, ostentatious, selfish purpose, — this would have
been directly against the whole spirit of his teaching, — but in
order that men may be moved thereby to glorify God.

JULIUS CHARLES HARE ogo

For the children of light are also meek and lowly. Even
the sun, although he stands up on high, and drives his chariot
across the heavens, rather averts observation from himself than
attracts it. His joy is to glorify his Maker, to display the
beauty, and magnificence, and harmony, and order, of all the
works of God. So far, however, as it is possible for him, he
withdraws himself from the eyes of mankind; not indeed in
darkness, wherein the wicked hide their shame, but in excess of
light wherein God himself veils his glor3^ And if we look at
the other children of light, that host of white-robed pilgrims that
travel across the vault of the nightly sky, the imagination is un-
able to conceive anything quieter, and calmer, and more unas-
suming. They are the exquisite and perfect emblems of meek
loveliness and humility in high station. It is only the spurious
lights of the fires whereby the earth would mimic the light of
heaven, that glare and flare and challenge attention for them-
selves; while, instead of illuminating the darkness beyond their
immediate neighborhood, they merely make it thicker and more
palpable; as these lights alone vomit smoke, as these alone rav-
age and consume.

Again; the children of light are diligent, and orderly, and
unwearied in the fulfillment of their duties. Here, also, they
take a lesson from the sun, w^ho pursues the path that God has
marked out for him, and pours daylight on whatever is beneath
him from his everlasting, inexhaustible fountains, and causes the
wheel of the seasons to turn round, and summer and winter to
perform their annual revolutions, and has never been behindhand
in his task, and never slackens, nor faints, nor pauses, nor ever
will pause, until the same hand which launched him on his way
shall again stretch itself forth to arrest his course. All the child-
ren of light are careful to follow their Master's example, and to
work his works while it is day; for they know that the night of
the grave cometh, when no man can work, and that, unless they
are working the works of light, when that night overtakes them,
darkness must be their portion forever.

The children of light are likewise pure. For light is not
only the purest of all sensuous things, so pure that nothing can
defile it, but whatever else is defiled is brought to the light,
and the light purifies it. And the children of light know that,
although, whatever darkness may cover them will be no darkness
to God, it may and will be darkness to themselves. They know
6 — 24

.370 JULIUS CHARLES HARE

that, although no impurity in which they can bury their souls
will be able to hide them from the sight of God, yet it will
utterly hide God from their sight. They know that it is only
by striving to purify their own hearts, even as God is pure, that
they can at all fit themselves for the beatific vision which Christ
has promised to the pure in heart.

Cheerfulness, too, is a never-failing characteristic of those
who are truly children of light. For is not light at once the
most joyous of all things, and the enlivener and gladdener of all
nature, animate and inanimate, the dispeller of sickly cares, the
calmer of restless disquietudes ? Is it not as a bridegroom that
the sun comes forth from his chamber? — and does he not re-
joice as a giant to run his course ? Does not all nature grow
bright the moment he looks upon her, and welcome him with
smiles ? Do not all the birds greet him with their merriest
notes ? Do not even the tearful clouds deck themselves out in
the glowing hues of the rainbow, when he vouchsafes to shine
upon them ? And shall not man smile with rapture beneath the
light of the Sun of Righteousness ? Shall he not hail his rising
with hymns of praise and psalms of thanksgiving ? Shall he not
be cheered amid his deepest affliction, when the rays of that
Sun fall upon him, and paint the arch of promise on his soul ?
It cannot be otherwise. Only while we are hemmed in with
darkness are we harassed by terrors and misgiving. When we
see clearly on every side, we feel bold and assured; nothing can
then daunt, nothing can dismay us. Even that sorrow which
of all others is the most utterly without hope, the sorrow for
sin, is to the children of light the pledge of their future bliss.
For with them it is the sorrow which worketh repentance unto
salvation; and having the Son of God for their Savior, what can
they fear ? Or, rather, when they know and feel in their hearts
that God has given his only-begotten Son to suffer death for
their sakes, how shall they not trust that he, who has given
them his Son, will also give them whatsoever is for their real,
everlasting good ?

Finally, the children of light will also be children of love.
Indeed, it is only another name for the same thing. For light
is the most immediate outward agent and minister of God's love,
the most powerful and rapid diffuser of his blessings through
the whole universe of his creation. It blesses the earth, and
makes her bring forth herbs and plants. It blesses the herbs

JULIUS CHARLES HARE

371

and plants, and makes them bring forth their grain and their
fruit. It blesses every living creature, and enables all to sup-
port and enjoy their existence. Above all, it blesses man in his
goings out and comings in, in his body and in his soul, in his
senses and in his imagination, and in his affections; in his social
intercourse with his brother, and in his solitary communion with
his Maker. Merely blot out light from the earth, and joy will
pass away from it; and health will pass away from it; and life
will pass away from it; and it will sink back into a confused,
turmoiling chaos. In no way can the children of light so well
prove that this is, indeed, their parentage, as by becoming the
instruments of God in shedding his blessings around them.
Light illumines everything, the lowly valley as well as the lofty
mountain; it fructifies everything, the humblest herb as well as
the lordliest tree; and there is nothing hid from its heat. Nor
does Christ the Original, of whom light is the image, make any
distinction between the high and the low, between the humble
and the lordly. He comes to all, unless they drive him from
their doors. He calls to all, unless they obstinately close their
ears against him. He blesses all, unless they cast away his
blessing. Nay, although they cast it away, he still perseveres in
blessing them, even unto seven times, even unto seventy times
seven. Ye, then, who desire to be children of light, ye, w^ho
would gladly enjoy the full glory and blessedness of that heav-
enly name, take heed to yourselves, that ye walk as children of
light in this respect more especially. No part of your duty is
easier; you may find daily and hourly opportunity of practicing
it. No part of your duty is more delightful; the joy you kindle
in the heart of another cannot fail of shedding back its bright-
ness on your own. No part of your duty is more Godlike.
They who attempted to become like God in knowledge fell in
the Garden of Eden. They who strove to become like God in
power were confounded on the plain of Shinar. They who en-
deavor to become like God in love, who feel his approving smile
and his helping arm, every effort they make will bring them
nearer to his presence, and they will find his renewed image
grow more and more vivid wathin them, until the time comes
when they, too, shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of
their Father,

BENJAMIN HARRISON

(1833-1901)

I HE Inaugural Address, delivered on March 4th, 1889, by Benja-
min Harrison, twenty-third President of the United States,
and grandson of President William Henry Harrison, the
ninth President, is much more nearly a model oration than the Inau-
gurals of most of his predecessors. Its exordium and peroration, both
in correct oratorical form, are notable for their eloquence. Although
President Harrison was all his life a ready speaker, his Inaugural is
his masterpiece, — the best, as he no doubt intended it should be, of his
many recorded addresses. Born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20th,
1833, he graduated at Miami University in 1852, and practiced law in
Indianapolis until the Civil War, in which he served from 1862 to
1865 as the commander of a regiment and of a brigade. After an un-
successful candidacy for Governor of Indiana in 1876, he was elected
United States Senator from that State, serving from 1881 to 1887. In
1888 he was the candidate of the Republican party against President
Cleveland, who was renominated by the Democrats and beaten, as it
has been said, as a result of the same cause which defeated President
Harrison in his candidacy for re-election in 1892 — the impossibility
under then existing conditions, of any President being elected to suc-
ceed himself. After his retirement from politics, President Harrison
practiced law with marked success until his death in 1901.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS
(Delivered March 4th, li

Fclloiv-Citisens : —

THERE is no constitutional or legal requirement that the Presi-
dent shall take the oath of office in the presence of the
people, but there is so manifest an appropriateness in the
public induction to office of the chief executive officer of the na-
tion that from the beginning of the Government the people, to
whose service the official oath consecrates the officer, have been
called to witness the solemn ceremonial. The oath taken in the

presence of the people becomes a mutual covenant. The officer

Z72

BENJAMIN HARRISON -^

covenants to serve the whole body of the people by a faithful
execution of the laws, so that they may be the unfailing defense
and security of those who respect and observe them, and that
neither wealth, station, nor the power of combinations shall be
able to evade their just penalties or to wrest them from a benefi-
cent public purpose to serve the ends of cruelty or selfishness.

My promise is spoken; yours unspoken, but not the less real
and solemn. The people of every State have here their repre-
sentatives. Surely I do not misinterpret the spirit of the occa-
sion when I assume that the whole body of the people covenant
with me and with each other to-day to support and defend the
Constitution and the Union of the States, to yield willing obedi-
etnce to all the laws and each to every other citizen his equal
civil and political rights. Entering thus solemnly into covenant
with each other, we may reverently invoke and confidently ex-
pect the favor and help of Almighty God — that he will give to
me wisdom, strength, and fidelity, and to our people a spirit of
fraternity and a love of righteousness and peace.

This occasion derives peculiar interest from the fact that the
presidential term, which begins this day, is the twenty-sixth under
our Constitution. The first inauguration of President Washing-
ton took place in New York, where Congress was then sitting,
on the thirtieth day of April, 1789, having been deferred by rea-
son of delays attending the organization of Congress and the can-
vass of the electoral vote. Our people have already worthily
observed the centennials of the Declaration of Independence, of
the Battle of Yorktown, and of the Adoption of the Constitution,
and will shortly celebrate in New York the institution of the sec-
ond great department of our constitutional scheme of government.
When the centennial of the institution of the judicial depart-
ment, by the organization of the Supreme Court, shall have been
suitably observed, as I trust it will be, our nation will have fully
entered its second century.

I will not attempt to note the marvelous and, in great part,
happy contrasts between our countrj'- as it steps over the thresh-
old into its second century of organized existence under the Con-
stitution and that weak but wisely ordered young nation that
looked undauntedly down the first century, when all its years
stretched out before it.

Our people will not fail at this time to recall the incidents
which accompanied the institution of government under the Con-

274 BENJAMIN HARRISON

stitution, or to find inspiration and guidance in the teachings
and example of Washington and his great associates, and hope
and courage in the contrast which thirty-eight populous and
prosperous States offer to the thirteen States, weak in every-
thing except courage and the love of liberty, that then fringed
our Atlantic seaboard.

The Territory of Dakota has now a population greater than
any of the original States (except Virginia), and greater than the
aggregate of five of the smaller States in 1790. The centre of
population when our national capital was located was east of Bal-
timore, and it was argued by many well-informed persons that
it would move eastward rather than westward; yet in 1880 it
was found to be near Cincinnati, and the new census about to
be taken will show another stride to the westward. That which
was the body has come to be only the rich fringe of the nation's
robe. But our growth has not been limited to territory, popula-
tion, and aggregate wealth, marvelous as it has been in each
of those directions. The masses of our people are better fed,
clothed, and housed than their fathers were. The facilities for
popular education have been vastly enlarged and more generally
diffused.

The virtues of courage and patriotism have given recent proof
of their continued presence and increasing power in the hearts
and over the lives of our people. The influences of religion have
been multiplied and strengthened. The sweet offices of charity
have greatly increased. The virtue of temperance is held in
higher estimation. We have not attained an ideal condition.
Not all of our people are happy and prosperous; not all of them
are virtuous and law-abiding. But on the whole, the opportuni-
ties offered to the individual to secure the comforts of life are
better than are found elsewhere, and largely better than they
were here one hundred years ago.

The surrender of a large measure of sovereignty to the
General Government, effected by the adoption of the Constitu-
tion, was not accomplished until the suggestions of reason were
strongly re-enforced by the more imperative voice of experience.
The divergent interests of peace speedily demanded a ^* more
perfect Union. '^ The merchant, the shipmaster, and the manu-
facturer discovered and disclosed to our statesmen and to the
people that commercial emancipation must be added to the po-
litical freedom which had been so bravely won. The commercial

BENJAMIN HARRISON

375

policy of the mother country had not relaxed any of its hard
and oppressive features. To hold in check the development of
our commercial marine, to prevent or retard the establishment
and growth of manufactures in the States, and so to secure the
American market for their shops and the carrying trade for their
ships, was the policy of European statesmen, and was pursued
with the most selfish vigor.

Petitions poured in upon Congress urging the imposition of dis-
criminating duties that should encourage the production of needed
things at home. The patriotism of the people, which no longer
found a field of exercise in war, was energetically directed to the
duty of equipping the young Republic for the defense of its in-
dependence by making its people self-dependent. Societies for
the promotion of home manufactures and for encouraging the use
of domestics in the dress of the people were organized in many
of the States. .The revival at the end of the century of the same
patriotic interest in the preservation and development of domestic
industries and the defense of our working people against injuri-
ous foreign competition is an incident worthy of attention. It is
not a departure but a return that we have witnessed. The pro-
tective policy had then its opponents. The argument was made,
as now, that its benefits inured to particular classes or sections.

If the question became in any sense or at any time sectional,
it was only because slavery existed in some of the States. But
for this there was no reason why the cotton-producing States
should not have led or walked abreast with the New England
States in the production of cotton fabrics. There was this reason
only why the States that divide with Pennsylvania the mineral
treasures of the great southeastern and central mountain ranges
should have been so tardy in bringing to the smelting furnace
and to the mill the coal and iron from their near opposing hill-
sides. Mill fires were lighted at the funeral pile of slavery. The
Emancipation Proclamation was heard in the depths of the earth
as well as in the sky; men were made free, and material things
became our better serv^ants.

The sectional element has happily been eliminated from the
tariff discussion. We have no longer States that are necessarily
only planting States. None are excluded from achieving that
diversification of pursuits among the people which brings wealth
and contentment. The cotton plantation will not be less valuable
when the product is spun in the country town by operatives

276 BENJAMIN HARRISON

whose necessities call for diversified crops and create a home de-
mand for garden and agricultural products. Every new mine,
furnace, and factory is an extension of the productive capacity of
the State, more real and valuable than added territory.

Shall the prejudices and paralysis of slavery continue to hang
upon the skirts of progress ? How long will those who rejoice
that slavery no longer exists cherish or tolerate the incapacities
it put upon their communities ? I look hopefully to the continu-
ance of our protective system and to the consequent develop-
ment of manufacturing and mining enterprises in the States
hitherto wholly given to agriculture as a potent influence in the
perfect unification of our people. The men who have invested
their capital in these enterprises, the farmers who have felt the
benefit of their neighborhood, and the men who work in shop or
field, will not fail to find and to defend a community of interest.

Is it not quite possible that the farmers and the promoters of
the great mining and manufacturing enterprises which have re-
cently been established in the South may yet find that the free
ballot of the workingman, without distinction of race, is needed
for their defense as well as for his own ? I do not doubt that if
those men in the South who now accept the tariff views of Clay
and the constitutional expositions of Webster would courageously
avow and defend their real convictions, they would not find it
difficult, by friendly instruction and co-operation, to make the
black man their efi^cient and safe ally, not only in establishing
correct principles in our national administration, but in preserv-
ing for their local communities the benefits of social order and
economical and honest government. At least until the good of-
fices of kindness and education have been fairly tried, the con-
trary conclusion cannot be plausibly urged.

I have altogether rejected the suggestion of a special Execu-
tive policy for any section of our country. It is the duty of the
Executive to administer and enforce in the methods and by the
instrumentalities pointed out and provided by the Constitution
all the laws enacted by Congress. These laws are general, and
their administration should be uniform and equal. As a citizen
may not elect what laws he will obey, neither may the Executive
elect which he will enforce. The duty to obey and to execute
embraces the Constitution in its entirety and the whole code of
laws enacted under it. The evil example of permitting individ-
uals, corporations, or communities to nullify the laws because

BENJAMIN HARRISON yjy

they cross some selfish or local interest or prejudice is full of
danger, not only to the nation at large, but much more to those
who use this pernicious expedient to escape their just obligations
or to obtain an unjust advantage over others. They will pres-
ently themselves be compelled to appeal to ihe law for protection,
and those who would use the law as a defense must not deny
that use of it to others.

If our great corporations would more scrupulously observe
their legal limitations and duties, they would have less cause to
complain of the unlawful limitations of their rights or of violent
interference with their operations. The community that by con-
cert, open or secret, among its citizens, denies to a portion of its
members their plain rights under the law, has severed the only
safe bond of social order and prosperity. The evil works from a
bad centre both ways. It demoralizes those who practice it, and
destroys the faith of those who suffer by it in the efficiency of
the law as a safe protector. The man in whose breast that faith
has been darkened is naturally the subject of dangerous and un-
canny suggestions. Those who use unlawful methods, if moved
by no higher motive than the selfishness that prompted them,
may well stop and inquire what is to be the end of this.

An unlawful expedient cannot become a permanent condition
of government. If the educated and influential classes in a com-
munity either practice or connive at the systematic violation of
laws that seem to them to cross their convenience, what can they
expect when the lesson that convenience or a supposed class in-
terest is a sufficient cause for lawlessness has been well learned
by the ignorant classes? A community where law is the rule
of conduct and where courts, not mobs, execute its penalties, is
the only attractive field for business investments and honest
labor.

Our naturalization laws should be so amended as to make the
inquiry into the character and good disposition of persons apply-
ing for citizenship more careful and searching. Our existing
laws have been in their administration an unimpressive and
often an unintelligible form. We accept the man as a citizen
without any knowledge of his fitness, and he assumes the duties
of citizenship without any knowledge as to what they are. The
privileges of American citizenship are so great and its duties so
grave that we may well insist upon a good knowledge of every
person applying for citizenship and a good knowledge by him of

„g BErqAMIN HARRISON

our institutions. We should not cease to be hospitable to immi-
gration, but we should cease to be careless as to the character of
it. There are men of all races, even the best, whose coming is
necessarily a burden upon our public revenues or a threat to
social order. These should be identified and excluded.

We have happily maintained a policy of avoiding all inter-
ference with European affairs. We have been only interested
spectators of their contentions in diplomacy and in war, ready to
use our friendly offices to promote peace, but never obtruding
our advice and never attempting unfairly to coin the distresses
of other powers into commercial advantage to ourselves. We
have a just right to expect that our European policy will be the
American policy of European courts.

It is so manifestly incompatible with those precautions for
our peace and safety, which all the great powers habitually ob-
serve and enforce in matters affecting them, that a shorter
waterway between our eastern and western seaboards should be
dominated by any European government, that we may confi-
dently expect that such a purpose will not be entertained by
any friendly power.

We shall in the future, as in the past, use every endeavor to
maintain and enlarge our friendly relations with all the great
powers, but they will not expect us to look kindly upon any pro-
ject that would leave us subject to the dangers of a hostile ob-
servation or environment. We have not sought to dominate or
to absorb any of our weaker neighbors, but rather to aid and
encourage them to establish free and stable governments resting
■upon the consent of their own people. We have a clear right
to expect, therefore, that no European government will seek to
establish colonial dependencies upon the territory of these in-
dependent American States. That which a sense of justice
restrains us from seeking, they may be reasonably expected will-
ingly to forego.

It must be assumed, however, that our interests are so exclu-
sively American that our entire inattention to any events that
may transpire elsevvrhere can be taken for granted. Our citizens,
domiciled for purposes of trade in all countries and in many of
the islands of the sea, demand, and will have our adequate care
in their personal and commercial rights. The necessities of our
navy require convenient coaling stations and dock and harbor
privileges. These and other trading privileges we will feel free

BENJAMIN HARRISON 370

to obtain only by means that do not in any degree partake of
coercion, however feeble the government from which we ask such
concessions. But having fairly obtained them by methods and
for purposes entirely consistent with the most friendly disposition
toward all other powers, our consent will be necessary to any
modification or impairment of the concession.

We shall neither fail to respect the flag of any friendly na-
tion, or the just rights of its citizens, nor to exact the like treat-
ment for our own. Calmness, justice, and consideration should
characterize our diplomacy. The offices of an intelligent diplo
macy or of friendly arbitration in proper cases should be ade-
quate to the peaceful adjustment of all international difficulties.
By such methods we will make our contribution to the world's
peace,, which no nation values more highly, and avoid the oppro-
brium which must fall upon the nation that ruthlessly breaks it.

The duty devolved by law upon the President to nominate,
and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to appoint
all public officers whose appointment is not otherwise provided
for in the Constitution or by act of Congress, has become very
burdensome, and its wise and efficient discharge full of difficulty.
The civil list is so large that a personal knowledge of any large
number of the applicants is impossible. The President must rely
upon the representation of others, and these are often made
inconsiderately and without any just sense of responsibility. I
have a right, I think, to insist that those who volunteer or are
invited to give advice as to appointments shall exercise consider-
ation and fidelity. A high sense of duty and an ambition to
improve the service should characterize all public officers.

There are many ways in which the convenience and comfort
of those who have business with our public offices may be pro-
moted by a thoughtful and obliging officer, and I shall expect
those whom I may appoint to justify their selection by a con-
spicuous efficiency in the discharge of their duties. Honorable
party service will certainly not be esteemed by me a disqualifica-
tion for public office, but it will in no case be allowed to serve
as a shield of official negligence, incompetency, or delinquency.
It is entirely creditable to seek public office by proper m^ethods
and with proper motives, and all applicants will be treated v/ith
consideration; but I shall need, and the heads of departments will
need, time for inquiry and deliberation. Persistent importunity
will not, therefore, be the best support of an application for office.

380 BENJAMIN HARRISON

Heads of departments, bureaus, and all other public officers hav-
ing any duty connected therewith, will be expected to enforce the
Civil Service law fully and without evasion. Beyond this obvious
duty I hope to do something more to advance the reform of the
Civil Service. The ideal, or even my own ideal, I shall probably
not attain. Retrospect will be a safer basis of judgment than
promises. We shall not, however, I am sure, be able to put our
civil service upon a nonpartisan basis until we have secured an
incumbency that fair-minded men of the opposition will approve
for impartiality and integrity. As the number of such in the
civil list is increased, removals from office will diminish.

While a Treasury surplus is not the greatest evil, it is a seri-
ous evil. Our revenue should be ample to meet the ordinary
annual demands upon our Treasury, with a sufficient margin for
those extraordinary, but scarcely less imperative, demands which
arise now and then. Expenditure should always be made with
economy, and only upon public necessity. Wastefulness, profligacy,
or favoritism in public expenditure is criminal. But there is noth-
ing in the condition of our country or of our people to suggest
that anything presently necessary to the public prosperity, secur-
ity, or honor, should be unduly postponed.

It will be the duty of Congress wisely to forecast and esti-
mate these extraordinary demands, and, having added them to
our ordinary expenditures, to so adjust our revenue laws that no
considerable annual surplus will remain. We will fortunately be
able to apply to the redemption of the public debt any small
and unforeseen excess of revenue. This is better than to reduce
our income below our necessary expenditures, with the resulting
choice between another change of our revenue laws and an in-
crease of the public debt. It is quite possible, I am sure, to
effect the necessary reduction in our revenues without breaking
down our protective tariflE or seriously injuring any domestic in-
dustry.

The construction of a sufficient number of modern war ships
and of their necessary armament should progress as rapidly as is
consistent with care and perfection in plans and workmanship.
The spirit, courage, and skill of our naval officers and seamen
have many times in our history given to weak ships and ineffi-
cient guns a rating greatly beyond that of the naval list. That
they will again do so upon occasion, I do not doubt; but they
ought not, by premeditation or neglect, to be left to the risks

BENJAMIN HARRISON ^gj

and exigencies of an unequal combat. We should encourage the
establishment of American steamship lines. The exchanges of
commerce demand stated, reliable, and rapid means of communi-
cation; and until these are provided, the development of our trade
with the States lying south of us is impossible.

Our pension laws should give more adequate and discriminat-
ing relief to the Union soldiers and sailors and to their widows
and orphans. Such occasions as this should remind us that we
owe everything to their valor and sacrifice.

It is a subject of congratulation that there is a near prospect
of the admission into the Union of the Dakotas and Montana
and Washington Territories. This act of justice has been unrea-
sonably delayed in the case of some of them. The people who
have settled these Territories are intelligent, enterprising, and
patriotic, and the accession of these new States will add strength
to the nation. It is due to the settlers in the Territories who
have availed themselves of the invitations of our land laws to
make homes upon the public domain that their titles should be
speedily adjusted and their honest entries confirmed by patent.

It is very gratifying to observe the general interest now be-
ing manifested in the reform of our election laws. Those Vv'ho
have been for years calling attention to the pressing necessity of
throwing about the ballot box and about the elector further safe-
guards, in order that our elections might not only be free and
pure, but might clearly appear to be so, will welcome the acces-
sion of any who did not so soon discover the need of reform.
The National Congress has not as yet taken control of elections
in that case over which the Constitution gives it jurisdiction, but
has accepted and adopted the election laws of the several States,
provided penalties for their violation and a method of super-
vision. Only the inefficiency of the State laws or an unfair
partisan administration of them could suggest a departure from
this policy.

It was clear, however, in the contemplation of the framers of
the Constitution, that such an exigency might arise, and provi-
sion was wisely made for it. The freedom of the ballot is a con-
dition of our national life, and no power vested in Congress or
in the Executive to secure or perpetuate it should remain unused
upon occasion. The people of all the congressional districts
have an equal interest that the election in each shall truly ex-
press the views and wishes of a majority of the qualified electors

382 BENJAMIN HARRISON

residing within it. The results of such elections are not local,
and the insistence of electors residing in other districts that they
shall be pure and free does not savor at all of impertinence.

If in any of the States the public security is thought to be
threatened by ignorance among the electors, the obvious remedy
is education. The sympathy and help of our people will not be
withheld from any community struggling with special embarrass-
ments or difficulties connected with the suffrage, if the remedies
proposed proceed upon lawful lines and are promoted by just
and honorable methods. How shall those who practice election
frauds recover that respect for the sanctity of the ballot which is
the first condition and obligation of good citizenship ? The man
who has come to regard the ballot box as a juggler's hat has
renounced his allegiance.

Let us exalt patriotism and moderate our party contentions.
Let those who would die for the flag on the field of battle give
a better proof of their patriotism and a higher glory to their
country by promoting fraternity and justice. A party success
that is achieved by unfair methods or by practices that partake
of revolution is hurtful and evanescent, even from a party stand-
point. We should hold our differing opinions in mutual respect,
and, having submitted them to the arbitrament of the ballot,
should accept an adverse judgment with the same respect that
we would have demanded of our opponents if the decision had
been in our favor.

No other people have a government more worthy of their
respect and love, or a land so magnificent in extent, so pleasant
to look upon, and so full cf generous suggestion to enterprise
and labor. God has placed upon our head a diadem, and has laid
at our feet power and wealth beyond definition or calculation.
But we must not forget that we take these gifts upon the con-
dition that justice and mercy shall hold the reins of power, and
that the upward avenues of hope shall be free to all the people.

I do not mistrust the future. Dangers have been in frequent
ambush along our path, but we have uncovered and vanquished
them all. Passion has swept some of our communities, but only
to give us a new demonstration that the great body of our peo-
ple are stable, patriotic, and law-abiding. No political party can
long pursue advantage at the expense of public honor or by rude
and indecent methods, without protest and fatal disaffection in its
own body. The peaceful agencies of commerce are more fully

BENJAMIN HARRISON ^g-,

revealing the necessary -unity of all our communities, and the
increasing intercourse of our people is promoting mutual respect.
We shall find unalloyed pleasure in the revelation which our
next census will make of the swift development of the great re-
sources of some of the States, Each State will bring its gener-
ous contribution to the great aggregate of the nation's increase.
And when the harvests from the fields, the cattle from the hills,
and the ores of the earth shall have been weighed, counted, and
valued, we will turn from them all to crown with the highest
honor the State that has most promoted education, virtue, justicCj
and patriotism among its people.

THOMAS HARRISON

(1606- I 660)

Ihomas Harrison, Major-General under Cromwell, and signer or
Charles the First's death warrant, was a typical Puritan,
i^^S and his speech on the scaffold is entirely characteristic.
" Where is your good old cause now ? ^^ asked one of the spectators, as
he stepped upon the scaffold. ^^Here it is,* replied Harrison, smiting
himself upon the breast, «and I am going to seal it with my blood. »

As was usual in cases of high treason, he was condemned to be
first hanged, and then to be cut down alive, that he might be dis-
membered <* while still quick. >* His biographers say that, after being
thus subjected both to the rope and the knife, he revived, sat up, and
struck the executioner of the King's justice *^a heavy buffet.* It is
impossible to do more than suggest in modern English the horrible
atrocity of his sentence, though it was one of the commonplaces of
the then existing mode of enforcing royal authority — a method not
wholly abolished as a form of law until, within recent memory. Sir
Charles Dilke attacked it in the English Parliament.

The celebrated Richard Baxter writes of Harrison: <^He was a
man of excellent natural parts for affection and oratory, but not well
seen in the principles of his religion. . . . And so far from hum-
ble in his thoughts of himself that it was his ruin.* Baxter also
records that at Langport when the Royalists began to run, he heard
Harrison "with a loud voice break forth into the praises of God with
fluent expression as if he had been in a rapture.* The same fluency,
the same rapture, appears in his speech on the scaffold.

He was born at Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1606, — the son of a
butcher, as his detractors asserted, though others have attempted to
give him a more aristocratic pedigree. He was well educated, it is
said, and, before his enlistment against Charles I., was a law student
in the Inns of Court. In 1646 he entered Parliament from Wendover,
but he was a Cromwellian and no great believer in either parlia-
ments or kings. In 1647 he denounced Charles as "a man of blood*
who should no longer be temporized with, and several years later
urged Cromwell to dissolve Parliament on the ground that it "had
not a heart to do any more good for the Lord and his people.*
Whereupon Cromwell complained that Harrison was "an honest
man* who aimed at good things but "would not wait the Lord's

384

THOMAS HARRISON

3^5

leisure.'* Being a "Fifth Monarchy man,'* he came to be regarded as
a disturber under Cromwell's protectorate, and he was twice arrested.
After the restoration of Charles I., he refused to escape from the
Kingdom or to give a pledge not to disturb the government. "Being
so clear in the thing,'* he said, "I durst not turn my back, nor step a
foot out of the way, by reason I had been engaged in the service of
so glorious and so great a God." So he died, confident that he had
done no act more pleasing to heaven than in helping to bring to
judgment the first king who was ever formally put on his trial as a
traitor to the people.

HIS SPEECH ON THE SCAFFOLD
(Delivered at His Execution, October isth, 1660, at Charing Cross)

Gentlemen : —

I DID not expect to have spoken a w^ord to you at this time;
but seeing there is a silence commanded, I will speak some-
thing of the work God had in hand in our days. Many of you
have been witnesses of the finger of God, that hath been seen
amongst us of late years, in the deliverance of his people from
their oppressors, and in bringing to judgment those that were
guilty of the precious blood of the dear servants of the Lord.
And how God did witness thereto by many wonderful and evi-
dent testimonies, as it were immediately from Heaven, insomuch
that many of our enemies — who were persons of no mean qual-
ity— were forced to confess that God was with us; and if God
did but stand neuter, they should not value us; and, therefore,
seeing the finger of God hath been pleading this cause, I shall
not need to speak much to it; in which work I, with others, was
engaged; for the which I do from my soul bless the name of
God, who out of the exceeding riches of his grace accounted me
worthy to be instrumental in so glorious a work. And though I
am wrongfully charged with murder and bloodshed, yet I must
tell you I have kept a good conscience both towards God and
towards man. I never had malice against any man, neither did
I act maliciously towards any person, but as I judged them to
be enemies to God and his people; and the Lord is my witness
that I have done what I did out of the sincerity of my heart to
the Lord. I bless God I have no guilt upon my conscience, hut
the spirit of God beareth witness that my actions are acceptable
6 — 25

386

THOMAS HARRISON

to the Lord, through Jesus Christ; though I have been com-
passed about with manifold infirmities, failings, and imperfections
in my holiest duties, but in this I have comfort and consolation,
that I have peace with God, and do see all my sins washed away
in the blood of my dear Savior. And I do declare as before the
Lord, that I should not be guilty wittingly, nor willingly, of the
blood of the meanest man, — no, not for ten thousand worlds, much
less of the blood of such as I am charged with.

I have again and again besought the Lord with tears to make
known his will and mind unto me concerning it, and to this day
he hath rather confirmed me in the justice of it, and, therefore,
I leave it to him, and to him I commit my ways; but some that
were eminent in the work did wickedly turn aside themselves,
and to set up their nests on high, which caused great dishonor
to the name of God and the profession they had made. And
the Lord knows I could have suffered more than this, rather
than have fallen in with them in that iniquity, though I was
offered what I would if I would have joined with them; my aim
in all my proceedings was the glory of God, and the good of
his people, and the welfare of the whole Commonwealth.

[The people observing him to tremble in his hands and legs, he taking
notice of it, said : — ]

Gentlemen, by reason of some scoffing that I do hear, I judge
that some do think I am afraid to die, by the shaking I have in
my hands and knees; I tell you no, but it is by reason of much
blood I have lost in the wars, and many wounds I have received
in my body, which caused this shaking and weakness in my
nerves; I have had it this twelve years; I speak this to the
praise and glory of God; he hath carried me above the fear of
death; and I value not my life, because I go to my Father, and
am assured I shall take it up again.

Gentlemen, take notice that for being instrumental in that
cause and interest of the Son of God, which hath been pleaded
amongst us, and which God hath witnessed to my appeals and
wonderful victories, I am brought to this place, to suffer death
this day; and if I had ten thousand lives, I could freely and
cheerfully lay them down all, to witness to this matter.

Oh, what am I, poor worm, that I should be accounted worthy
to suffer anything for the sake of my Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ! I have gone joyfully and willingly, many a time, to

THOMAS HARRISON

387

lay down my life upon the account of Christ, but never with so
much joy and freedom as at this time; I do not lay down my
life by constraint, but willingly, for if I had been minded to
have run away, I might have had many opportunities; but being
so clear in the thing, I durst not turn my back, nor step a foot
out of the way, by reason I had been engaged in the service of
so glorious and great a God. However men presume to call it
by hard names, yet I believe, ere it be long, the Lord will make
it known from heaven that there was more of God in it than
men are now aware of.

[The sheriff reminding him of the shortness of time, if he had anything
further to say to the people, he continued: — ]

I do desire as from my own soul that they and every one
may fear the Lord, that they may consider their latter end, and
so it may be well with them; and even for the worst of those
that have been most malicious against me, from my soul, I would
forgive them all so far as anything concerns me; and so far as
it concerns the cause and glory of God, I leave it for him to
plead; and as for the cause of God, I am willing to justify it by
my sufferings, according to the good pleasure of his will. I
have been this morning, before I came hither, so hurried up and
down stairs (the meaning whereof I knew not), that my spirits
are almost spent; therefore, you may not expect much from me.

Oh, the greatness of the love of God to such a poor, vile, and
nothing creature as I am! What am I, that Jesus Christ should
shed his heart's blood for me, that I might be happy to all eter-
nity, that I might be made a son of God, and an heir of heaven!
Oh, that Christ should undergo so great sufferings and reproaches
for me ! And should not I be willing to lay down my life, and
suffer reproaches for him that hath so loved me; blessed be the
name of God that I have a life to lose upon so glorious and so
honorable an account.

[Then praying to himself, with tears, and having ended, the hangman
pulled down his cap ; but he thrust it up again, saying : — ]

I have one word more to the Lord's people that desire to
serve him with an upright heart; let them not think hardly of
any of the good ways of God for all this; for I have been near
this seven years a suffering person, and have found the way of
God to be a perfect way, his word a tried word, a buckler to

388 THOMAS HARRISON

them that trust in him, and will make known his glorious arm
in the sight of all nations. And though we may suffer hard
things, yet he hath a gracious end, and will make a good end
for his own glory, and the good of his people; therefore be
cheerful in the Lord your God, hold fast that which you have
and be not afraid of suffering, for God will make hard and bitter
things sweet and easy to all that trust in him; keep close to the
good confession you have made of Jesus Christ, and look to the
recompense of reward; be not discouraged by reason of the cloud
that now is upon you, for the sun will shine, and God will give
a testimony unto what he hath been doing, in a short time.

And now I desire to commit my concernments into the hands
of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he that hath delivered him-
self for the chief of sinners; he that came into the world, was
made flesh, and was crucified; that hath loved me and washed
me from my sins in his own blood, and is risen again, sitting at
the right hand of God, making intercession for me.

And as for me. Oh! who am I, poor, base, vile worm, that
God should deal thus by me ? For this will make me come the
sooner into his glory, and to inherit the kingdom and that crown
prepared for me. Oh, I have served a good Lord and Master,
which hath helped me from my beginning to this day, and hath
carried me through many difficulties, trials, straits, and tempta-
tions, and hath always been a very present help in time of
trouble; he hath covered my head many times in the day of
battle; by God I have leaped over a wall, by God I have run
through a troop, and by my God I will go through this death,
and he will make it easy to me. Now into thy hands, O Lord
Jesus, I commit my spirit!

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.

After a Photograph by C. M. Bell — Copyright.

[HE admirable photograph by Bell, here reproduced, shows the
membership of the court in 1899. Beginning from the spectator's
left, the members seated in front are Justices Brewer, Harlan,
Gray, and Brown, with Chief Justice Fuller in the center. Standing behind
them are Justices Peckham, Shiras, White, and McKenna.

ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER

(1765-1825)

jN 1804 Judge Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the United
States Supreme Court, was impeached by the House of Rep-
resentatives, led by John Randolph, because of his conduct
at the trial of Fries, Callender, and others, convicted of " seditious
libel ^^ during the Alien and Sedition agitation under the Adams admin-
istration. The impeachment was largely an experiment on the part
of Randolph, to determine whether or not the legislative branch could
thus hold the judicial in check. The entire proceeding was a failure.
Robert Goodloe Harper, who made his most noted speech in de-
fense of Judge Chase, was born in Virginia in 1765. He was one of
the leading lawyers and orators of his day. In 1794 he was elected
to Congress from South Carolina. Removing to Baltimore, he was
elected United States Senator for Maryland in 18 15. He served one
term in the Senate, and died a few years after his retirement, in his
sixty-first year.

DEFENDING JUDGE CHASE
(From the Speech at the Impeachment Trial in 1805)

I SEE on these benches distinguished soldiers and eminent states-
men, who have triumphed alike in the fields of politics and
war, and who always disdained to tarnish their laurels by
the blood or humiliation of a vanquished foe.

If, then, the person now arraigned at your bar be connected
with a political party in opposition to any of those who sit as
his judges; if it were possible that, in promoting the views of
that party, he may have excited feelings of anger or resentment
in the mind of any member of this honorable tribunal; if it
were possible that any portion of the angry passions engendered
by the conflicts of party could find a place within these hallowed
walls, and could attach itself to him who stands upon his trial
at this bar, the existence of such a possibility would furnish
every member of this honorable court with the strongest motives

389

39°

ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER

that can operate on a generous and noble mind, for leaning con-
stantly to the side of the accused, and for pronouncing in favor
of an acquittal, wherever there remains a doubt of guilt.

Attempts have also been made to enlist the sympathy of this
honorable court on the side of the prosecution, and for this pur-
pose, a criminal twice convicted, who did not hesitate to risk
civil bloodshed in support of political theories, and is now in-
debted for his life to the clemency of that Government against
whose laws he armed his ignorant and misguided neighbors, is
presented to view, decked out in all the ornaments which rhetoric
can bestow. We, Mr. President, disclaim the aids, and protest
against the interference of rhetoric and sympathy. However
proper in other situations, they ought to be excluded from courts
of justice, whose decisions should be governed by truth and not
by feeling.

But if sympathy could find a place in this tribunal, what
object more fit to awake it than that now presented at your
bar ? An aged patriot and statesman, bearing on his head the
frost of seventy winters, and broken by the infirmities brought
upon him by the labors and exertions of half a century, is ar-
raigned as an offender, and compelled to employ, in defending
himself against a criminal prosecution, the few and short inter-
vals of ease allowed to him by sickness. Placed at the bar of
a court, after having sat with honor for sixteen years on the
bench, he is doomed to hear the most opprobrious epithets ap-
plied to his name by those whose predecessors were accustomed
to look up to him with admiration and respect, and whose fathers
would have been proud to have been numbered among his pupils.
His footsteps are hunted from place to place, to find indiscre-
tions which may be exaggerated into crimes. The jests which,
flowing from the gayety and openness of his temper, were ut-
tered in the confidence of private conversation; the expressions
of warmth produced by the natural impetuosity of his character,
are detailed by companions converted into spies and informers,
and are adduced as proofs of criminal intention.

This cup, so full of bitterness for one who has been accus-
tomed for forty years to fill the most honorable stations in his
country, he drinks to the dregs, without complaining. In this sad
reverse he supports himself with a calmness, a fortitude, and a
resigned dignity which melt the hearts of those who are not his
enemies, and extort the respect of those who are.

ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER

39T

If sympathy must be excited, here let it find a nobler object.
If from generous breasts it cannot be excluded, let it be turned
towards

*A brave man struggling with the storms of Fate,*

and greatly supporting himself under a pressure of evils the most
afflicting that an elevated mind can know.

Not content with endeavoring to blow up a flame of party
spirit against the respondent, and to engage sympathy in the
ungracious and unnatural task of aiding a criminal prosecution,
the honorable Managers have resorted to a principle as novel
in our laws and jurisprudence as it is subversive of the con-
stitutional independence of the judicial department, and danger-
ous to the personal rights and safety of every man holding an
office under this Government. They have contended ^^that an
impeachment is not a criminal prosecution, but an inquiry in the
nature of an inquest of office, to ascertain whether a person hold-
ing an office be properly qualified for his situation; or whether
it may not be expedient to remove him.'* But if this principle
be correct, — if an impeachment be not, indeed, a criminal prose-
cution, but a mere inquest of office, — if a conviction and removal
on impeachment be indeed not a punishment, but the mere with-
drawal of a favor of office granted, I ask why this formality of
proceeding, this solemn apparatus of justice, this laborious inves-
tigation of facts ? If the conviction of a judge on impeachment
is not to depend on his guilt or innocence of some crime alleged
against him, but on some reason of State policy or expediency,
which may be thought by the House of Representatives, and two-
thirds of the Senate, to require his removal, I ask why the
solemn mockery of articles alleging high crimes and misdemean-
ors, of a court regularly formed, of a judicial oath administered to
the members, of the public examination of witnesses, and of a trial
conducted in all the usual forms ? Why not settle this question
of expediency, as all other questions of expediency are settled, by
a reference to general political considerations, and in the usual
mode of political discussion ? No, Mr. President ! This principle
of the honorable Managers, so novel and so alarming; this des-
perate expedient, resorted to as the last and only prop of a case,
which the honorable gentlemen feel to be unsupported by law or
evidence; this forlorn hope of the prosecution pressed into its
service after it was found that no offense against any law of the

OQ2 ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER

land could be proved, will not, cannot avail. Everything by
which we are surrounded informs us that we are in a court of
law. Everything that we have been three weeks employed in
doing reminds us that we are engaged, not in a mere inquiry
into the fitness of an officer for the place which he holds, but in
the trial of a criminal case on legal principles. And this great
truth, so important to the liberties and happiness of this country,
is fully established by the decisions of this honorable Court, in
this case, on questions of evidence — decisions by which this
Court has solemnly declared that it holds itself bound by those
principles of law which govern our tribunals in ordinary cases.
These decisions we accepted as a pledge, and now rely on as an
assurance that this cause will be determined on no newly-discov-
ered notions of political expediency, or State policy, but on the
well-settled and well-known principles of law and the Constitu-
tion.

Having taken this view of these preliminary points, I now pro-
ceed, Mr. President, to consider the various charges against our
honorable client, in the order in which they have been stated by
the prosecutors. It is not my design to go over the same ground
which has been so recently trodden by my able colleagues. The
task assigned to me is to range rapidly over the first six articles;
to present some views of the subject which the multiplicity of
the matter induced my learned colleagues to omit; and then to
discuss at large the law and the facts, under the seventh and
eighth articles, which have not yet been touched.

Let the charge, Mr. President, be carefully examined, and it
will be found to have no object in view but to convince the
people of Maryland, by arguments drawn from reason and ex-
perience, of the danger of adopting a change in their State con-
stitution, which had been submitted to their consideration, and
the object of which was to abolish all their supreme courts of
law; to introduce a system entirely new and untried; and, above
all, to destroy the independent tenure of judicial office, secured
to them by their existing constitution; and to leave the judges
dependent on the Executive for their continuance in office, and
on the Legislature for their support. The respondent, who had
contributed largely to the formation and establishment of the
State constitution, was greatly alarmed at these changes. He
considered them as of the most destructive tendency to the lib-
erty and happiness of the State to which he belonged, and he

ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER ^g^

resolved to take this opportunity of warning his fellow-citizens
against them. This is the whole scope of his address to the
grand jury, to show the importance of an independent judiciary,
the dangerous tendency of changes already made, and the mis-
chiefs which would result from taking this additional step in the
career of innovation. He did, indeed, advert to the act of Con-
gress for repealing the circuit court law, and remarked that it
had shaken to its foundation the independence of the Federal
judiciary; but the manifest and sole object of this was to show
that the spirit of innovation had gone forth and ought to be
carefully watched; that the public respect for great constitutional
principles had begun to be weakened, and that by how much
the security which might have been derived from an independent
Federal judiciary had been diminished, by so much the more
vigilantly it behooved us to guard our State institutions. No
other object can be discovered in the charge, or inferred from
its general tenor, or from the language in which it is expressed;
neither is there any evidence which has the most remote ten-
dency to show that he had any other object in view. And was
not this an object which a citizen of this country might lawfully
pursue ? Is it not lawful for an aged patriot of the Revolution
to warn his fellow-citizens of dangers, by which he supposes their
liberties and happiness to be threatened ? Or will it be con-
tended that a citizen is deprived of these rights because he is a
judge ? That his office takes from him the liberty of speech
which belongs to every citizen, and is justly considered as one of
our most invaluable privileges ? I trust not. And if there could
be any doubt on this point, I would remove it by referring to a
recent instance of two judges of the supreme court of Mary-
land, who, in a late political contest, entered the lists as cham-
pions for the rival candidates, and traveled over a whole county,
making political speeches in opposition to each other. Yet these
gentlemen justly possess the confidence and respect of the pub-
lic; their conduct in this instance has never been considered as
a violation of duty; and he who espoused the interest of the
successful candidate has been far from receiving any marks of
displeasure from the Government of this country.

If, therefore, a judge retain this right, notwithstanding his
official character; if it still be lawful for him to express his
opinions of public measures, to oppose by argument such as are
still pending, and to exert himself for obtaining the repeal, by

394

ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER

constitutional means, of such as have been adopted, I ask what
law forbids him to exercise these rights by a charge from the
bench ? In what part of our laws or Constitution is it written
that a judge shall not speak on politics to a grand jury ? — shall
not advance, in a charge from the bench, those arguments against
a public measure which it must be admitted he might properly
employ on any other occasion ? Such conduct may perhaps be
ill-judged, indiscreet, or ill-timed. I am ready to admit that it is
so; for I am one of those who have always thought that political
subjects ought never to be mentioned in courts of justice. But
is it contrary to law ? Admitting it to be indecorous and im-
proper, which I do not admit, is every breach of decorum and
propriety a crime ? The rules of decorum and propriety forbid
us to sing a song on the floor of Congress, or to whistle in a
church. These would be acts of very great indecorum, but I know
of no law by which they could be punished as crimes. Will they
who contend that it is contrary to law for a judge to speak of
politics to a grand jury be pleased to point out the law of the
land which forbids it ? They cannot do so. There is no such
law. Neither is there any constitutional provision or principle, or
any custom of this country, which condemns this practice.

And will this honorable body, sitting not in a legislative, but
a judicial capacity, be called on to make a law, and to make it
for a particular case which has already occurred ? What, sir, is
the great distinction between legislative and judicial functions ?
Is it not that the former is to make the law for future cases;
and that the latter is to declare it as to cases which have already
occurred ? Is it not one of the fundamental principles of our
Constitution, and an essential ingredient of free government, that
the legislative and judicial powers shall be kept distinct and sep-
arate ? That the power of making the general law for future
cases shall never be blended in the same hands with that of de-
claring and applying it to particular and present cases ? Does
not the union of these two powers in the same hands constitute
the worst of despotisms ? What, sir, is the peculiar and distin-
guishing characteristic of despotism ? It consists in this, sir, that
a man may be punished for an act which, when he did it, was
not forbidden by law; while, on the other hand, it is the es-
sence of freedom, that no act can be treated as a crime, unless
there be a precise law forbidding it at the time when it was
done.

ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER

395

It is this line which separates liberty from slavery, and if the
respondent be condemned to punishment for an act, which, far
from being forbidden by any law of the land, is sanctioned by
the custom of this country for more than twenty years past, then
we have the form of free government, but the substance of des-
potism.

Let the gentlemen, before they establish this principle, recol-
lect that it is a two-edged sword. Let them remember that
power must often change hands in popular governments; and
that after every struggle the victorious party comes into power,
with resentments to gratify by the destruction of its van-
quished opponents, with a thirst of vengeance to be slaked in
their blood. Let them remember that principles and precedents,
by which actions, innocent when they were done, may be con-
verted into crimes, are the most convenient and effectual instru-
ments of revenge and destruction with which a victorious party
can be furnished. Let them beware how they give their sanc-
tion to principles which may soon be turned against themselves;
how they forge bolts which may soon be hurled on their own
heads. In a popular government, where power is so fluctuating,
where constitutional principles are, therefore, so important for
the protection of the weaker party against the violence of the
stronger, it, above all things, behooves the party actually in
power to adhere to the principles of justice and law, lest by de-
parting from them they furnish at once the provocation and the
weapons for their own destruction.

This charge, therefore, fails like the rest; and what remains
of the accusation ? It has dwindled into nothing. It has been
scattered by the rays of truth, like the mists of the morning be-
fore the effulgence of the rising sun. Touched by the spear of
investigation, it has lost its gigantic and terrifying form, and has
shrunk into a toad. Every part of our honorable client's con-
duct has been surveyed; all his motives have been severely scru-
tinized; all his actions have been brought to the test of law and
the Constitution; his words and even his jocular conversations
have been passed in strict review; and the ingenuity and indus-
try of the honorable managers have proved unable to detect one
illegal act, one proof, or one fair presumption of improper motive.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES

(1822-1893)

JuTHERFORD BiRCHARD Hayes, nineteenth President of the United
States, made his administration memorable as the turning
point beyond which national politics diverged more and
more from the direction given by the sectional contest over slavery.
He was born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4th, 1822, and during the
Civil War served in the Union army with such distinction that in
1865 he was brevetted Major-General. From 1865 to 1867 he repre-
sented an Ohio district in Congress, and was Governor of Ohio from
1868 to 1872. His candidacy for the Presidency against Samuel J.
Tilden, in 1876, resulted in an election so nearly drawn that the
novel method of an electoral commission was required to decide the
result. When the decision of the commission made Mr. Hayes Presi-
dent, he accepted the trust with a determination to restore the Union
morally by re-establishing good feeling, — if that were possible, — as
in the face of the intense sectional bitterness of the times many
might have doubted it to be. Attacked by the opponents of his
party as no other President had been, Mr. Hayes challenged a
scarcely less envenomed attack from the extremists of his own party
by his action in withdrawing all military influence from the Southern
States and leaving them to assert themselves through their State
governments, under the amended Constitution as they had done prior
to i860. As a result of this policy. President Hayes left the White
House in deep disfavor with the majority of both parties, denounced
by Democrats for accepting the Presidency at all, and by Republi-
cans for using its authority to ^^ restore rebels to the control of the
Union. ^^ In spite of this, Mr. Hayes waited with uncomplaining
and unwearying patience what he expected would be the favorable
judgment of less prejudiced times. The historian passing on his
administration cannot fail to acknowledge that no matter by whom
the Union was preserved in form, he made possible its restoration as
a fact. He died January 17th, 1893, after surviving most of the prej-
udice which condemned him, and living to see his moderation and
devotion to the principles of civil government indorsed by a larger
majority of all parties than had attacked him during his administra-
tion.

396

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES 397

INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Fellow- Citizens : —

WE HAVE assembled to repeat the public ceremonial, begun by
Washington, observed by all my predecessors, and now a
time-honored custom, which marks the commencement of
a new term of the Presidential office. Called to the duties of this
great trust, I proceed, in compliance with usage, to announce some
of the leading principles on the subjects that now chiefly engage
the public attention, by which it is my desire to be guided in the
discharge of those duties. I shall not undertake to lay down irre-
vocably principles or measures of administration, but rather to
speak of the motives which should animate us, and to suggest
certain important ends to be attained in accordance with our in-
stitutions as essential to the welfare of our country.

At the outset of the discussions which preceded the recent
Presidential election, it seemed to me fitting that I should fully
make known my sentiments in regard to several of the important
questions which then appeared to demand the consideration of the
country. Following the example, and in part adopting the lan-
guage of one of my predecessors, I wish now, when every motive
for misrepresentation has passed away, to repeat what was said
before the election, trusting that my countrymen will candidly
weigh and understand it, and that they will feel assured that the
sentiments declared in accepting the nomination for the Presi-
dency will be the standard of my conduct in the path before me,
charged, as I now am, with the grave and difficult task of carry-
ing them out in the practical administration of the Government
so far as depends, under the Constitution and laws, on the, Chief
Executive of the nation.

The permanent pacification of the country upon such princi-
ples and by such measures as will secure the complete protection
of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their constitutional
rights is now the one subject in our public affairs which all
thoughtful and patriotic citizens regard as of supreme importance,
Many of the calamitous effects of the tremendous revolution
which has passed over the Southern States still remain. The im-
measurable benefits which will surely follow, sooner or later, the
hearty and generous acceptance of the legitimate results of that
revolution have not yet been realized. Difficult and embarrassing

398

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES

questions meet us at the threshold of this subject. The people
of those States are still impoverished, and the inestimable bless-
ing of wise, honest, and peaceful local self-government is not
fully enjoyed. Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to
the cause of this condition of things, the fact is clear that in the
progress of events the time has come when such government is
the imperative necessity required by all the varied interests, pub-
lic and private, of those States. But it must not be forgotten
that only a local government which recognizes and maintains in-
violate the rights of all is a true self-government.

With respect to the two distinct races whose peculiar rela-
tions to each other have brought upon us the deplorable compli-
cations and perplexities which exist in those States, it must be a
government which guards the interests of both races carefully
and equally. It must be a government which submits loyally
and heartily to the Constitution and the laws, — the laws of the
nation and the laws of the States themselves, — accepting and
obeying faithfully the whole Constitution as it is.

Resting upon this sure and substantial foundation, the super-
structure of beneficent local governments can be built up, and
not otherwise. In furtherance of such obedience to the letter and
the spirit of the Constitution, and in behalf of all that its attain-
ment implies, all so-called party interests lose their apparent im-
portance, and party lines may well be permitted to fade into
insignificance. The question we have to consider for the im-
mediate welfare of those States of the Union is the question of
government or no government; of social order and all the peace-
ful industries and the happiness that belong to it, or a return to
barbarism. It is a question in which every citizen of the nation
is deeply interested, and with respect to which we ought not to
be, in a partisan sense, either Republicans or Democrats, but fel-
low-citizens and fellow-men, to whom the interests of a common
country and a common humanity are dear.

The sweeping revolution of the entire labor system of a large
portion of our country and the advance of four million people
from a condition of servitude to that of citizenship, upon an equal
footing with their former masters, could not occur without pre-
senting problems of the gravest moment, to be dealt with by the
emancipated race, by their former masters, and by the General
Government, the author of the Act of Emancipation. That it was

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES

399

a wise, just, and providential act, fraught with good for all con-
cerned, is now generally conceded throughout the country. That
a moral obligation rests upon the National Government to employ
its constitutional power and influence to establish the rights of
the people it has emancipated, and to protect them in the enjoy-
ment of those rights when they are infringed or assailed, is also
generally admitted.

The evils which afflict the Southern States can only be re-
moved or remedied by the united and harmonious efforts of both
races, actuated by motives of mutual sympathy and regard; and
while in duty bound and fully determined to protect the rights
of all by every constitutional means at the disposal of my ad-
ministration, I am sincerely anxious to use every legitimate influ-
ence in favor of honest and efficient local self-government as the
true resource of those States for the promotion of the content-
ment and prosperity of their citizens. In the effort I shall make
to accomplish this purpose, I ask the cordial co-operation of all
who cherish an interest in the welfare of the country, trusting
that party ties and the prejudice of race will be freely surren-
dered in behalf of the great purpose to be accomplished. In the
important work of restoring the South, it is not the political situ-
ation alone that merits attention. The material development of
that section of the country has been arrested by the social and
political revolution through which it has passed, and now needs
and deserves the considerate care of the National Government
within the just limits prescribed by the Constitution and wise
public economy.

But at the basis of all prosperity, for that as well as for
every other part of the country, lies the improvement of the in-
tellectual and moral condition of the people. Universal suffrage
should rest upon universal education. To this end liberal and
permanent provision should be made for the support of free
schools by the State governments, and, if need be, supplemented
by legitimate aid from national authority.

Let me assure my countrymen of the Southern States that it
is my earnest desire to regard and promote their truest interests,
— the interests of the white and of the colored people, both and
equally, — and to put forth my best efforts in behalf of a civil
policy which will forever wipe 6ut in our political affairs the
color line and the distinction between North and South, to the

400

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES

end that we may have, not merely a united North or a united
South, but a united country.

I ask the attention of the public to the paramount necessity
of reform in our civil service — a reform not merely as to cer-
tain abuses and practices of so-called official patronage, which
have come to have the sanction of usage in the several depart-
ments of our Government, but a change in the system of ap-
pointment itself; a reform that shall be thorough, radical, and
complete; a return to the principles and practices of the founders
of the government. They neither expected nor desired from pub-
lic officers any partisan service. They meant that public officers
should owe their whole service to the Government and to the
people. They meant that the officer should be secure in his ten-
ure as long as his personal character remained untarnished and
the performance of his duties satisfactory. They held that ap-
pointments to office were not to be made or expected merely as
rewards for partisan services, nor merely on the nomination of
members of Congress, as being entitled in any respect to the
control of such appointments.

The fact that both the great political parties of the country,
in declaring their principles prior to the election, gave a promi-
nent place to the subject of reform of our civil service, recogniz-
ing and strongly urging its necessity, in terms almost identical
in their specific import with those I have here employed, must be
accepted as a conclusive argument in behalf of these measures.
It must be regarded as the expression of the united voice and
will of the whole country upon this subject, and both political
parties are virtually pledged to give it their unreserved support.

The President of the United States of necessity owes his
election to office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political
party the members of which cherish with ardor and regard as of
essential importance the principles of their party organizations;
but he should strive to be always mindful of the fact that he
serves his party best who serves the country best.

In furtherance of the reform we seek, and in other important
respects a change of great importance, I recommend an amend-
ment to the Constitution prescribing a term of six years for the
Presidential office and forbidding a re-election.

With respect to the financial condition of the country, I shall
not attempt an extended history of the embarrassment and pros-

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES

401

tration which we have suffered during the past three years. The
depression in all our varied commercial and manufacturing inter-
ests throughout the country, which began in September 1873,
still continues. It is very gratifying, however, to be able to say
that there are indications all around us of a coming change to
prosperous times.

Upon the currency question, intimately connected as it is
with this topic, I may be permitted to repeat here the statement
made in my letter of acceptance, that in my judgment the feel-
ing of uncertainty inseparable from an irredeemable paper cur-
rency, with its fluctuation of values, is one of the greatest
obstacles to a return to prosperous times. The only safe paper
currency is one which rests upon a coin basis and is at all times
and promptly convertible into coin.

I adhere to the views heretofore expressed by me in favor
of congressional legislation in behalf of an early resumption of
specie payments, and I am satisfied, not only that this is wise,
biit that the interests, as well as the public sentiment, of the
country imperatively demand it.

Passing from these remarks upon the condition of our own
country to consider our relations with other lands, we are re-
minded by the international complications abroad, threatening
the peace of Europe, that our traditional rule of noninterference
in the affairs of foreign nations has proved of great value in
past times and ought to be strictly observed.

The policy inaugurated by my honored predecessor. President
Grant, of submitting to arbitration grave questions in dispute
between ourselves and foreign powers points to a new, and in-
comparably the best, instrumentality for the preservation of peace,
and will, as I believe, become a beneficent example of the course
to be pursued in similar emergencies by other nations.

If, unhappily, questions of difference should at any time dur-
ing the period of my administration arise between the United
States and any foreign government, it will certainly be my dis-
position and my hope to aid in their settlement in the same
peaceful and honorable way, thus securing to our country the
great blessings of peace and mutual good offices with all the
nations of the world.

Fellow-citizens, we have reached the close of a political con-
test marked by the excitement which usually attends the contests
P — 26

,Q2 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES

between great political parties whose members espouse and ad-
vocate with earnest faith their respective creeds. The circum-
stances were, perhaps, in no respect extraordinary, save in the
closeness and the consequent uncertainty of the result.

For the first time in the history of the country, it has been
deemed best, in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case,
that the objections and questions in dispute with reference to the
counting of the electoral votes should be referred to the decision
of a tribunal appointed for this purpose.

That tribunal — established by law for this sole purpose; its
members, all of them, men of long-established reputation for in-
tegrity and intelligence, and, with the exception of those who
are also members of the supreme judiciary, chosen equally from
both political parties; its deliberations enlightened by the research
and the arguments of able counsel — was entitled to the fullest
confidence of the American people. Its decisions have been pa-
tiently waited for, and accepted as legally conclusive by the gen-
eral judgment of the public. For the present, opinion will widely
vary as to the wisdom of the several conclusions announced by
that tribunal. This is to be anticipated in every instance where
matters of dispute are made the subject of arbitration under the
forms of law. Human judgment is never unerring, and is rarely
regarded as otherwise than wrong by the unsuccessful party in
the contest.

The fact that two great political parties have in this way set-
tled a dispute in regard to which good men differ as to the facts
and the law no less than as to the proper course to be pursued
in solving the question in controversy is an occasion for general
rejoicing.

Upon one point there is entire unanimity in public sentiment
— that conflicting claims to the Presidency must be amicably and
peaceably adjusted, and that when so adjusted the general acqui-
escence of the nation ought surely to follow.

It has been reserved for a government of the people, where
the right of suffrage is universal, to give to the world the first
example in history of a great nation, in the midst of the struggle
of opposing parties for power, hushing its party tumults to yield
the issue of the contest to adjustment according to the forms
of law.

Looking for the guidance of that Divine Hand by which the
destinies of nations and individuals are shaped, I call upon you,

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES

403

senators, representatives, judges, fellow-citizens, here and every-
where, to unite with me in an earnest effort to secure to our
country the blessings, not only of material prosperity, but of jus-
tice, peace, and union — a union depending, not upon the con-
straint of force, but upon the loving devotion of a free people;
"and that all things may be so ordered and settled upon the
best and surest foundations that peace and happiness, truth and
justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all
generations. *

ROBERT Y. HAYNE

(1791-1839)

loBERT Y. Hayne;^ notable in American history as Calhoun's
lieutenant in the Nullification controversy, was bom in South
Carolina, November loth, 1791. He studied law under
Langdon Cheves and in 181 4 was elected to the South Carolina Legis-
lature, of which, in 1818, he became Speaker. After serving as Attor-
ney-General of the State, lie was elected to the United States Senate in
1822. Serving ten years in that body, he retired in 1832, in the midst
of his celebrity, to become Governor of South Carolina and to allow his
friend and leader, John C. Calhoun, opportunity to succeed him in the
Senate. The speech which made Mr. Hayne celebrated was deHvered
on the Foot Resolution and in reply to Webster. It still retains its his-
torical interest, though supplanted as an exposition of the "Carolina
doctrine" by Calhoun's great speech against the Force Bill. Hayne died
at Asheville, North Carolina, September 24th, 1839. His retirement,
after being worsted in the Senate by Webster, made way for Calhoun,
between whom and Webster the issues of the American Civil War were
first clearly defined.

ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION
(Peroration of His Speech of January 21st, 1830, Answering Webster)

THE Senator from Massachusetts, in denouncing what he is
pleased to call the Carolina doctrine, has attempted to throw
ridicule upon the idea that a State has any constitutional
remedy, by the exercise of its sovereign authority, against "a
gross, palpable, and deliberate violation of the Constitution."
He calls it "an idle" or "ridiculous notion," or something to
that effect, and adds that it would make the Union "a mere
rope of sand." Now, sir, as the gentleman has not condescended
to enter into any examination of the question, and has been sat-
isfied with throwing the weight of his authority into the scale,
I do not deem it necessary to do more than to throw into the
opposite scale the authority on which South Carolina relies; and
there, for the present, I am perfectly willing to leave the con-
troversy. The South Carolina doctrine, that is to say, the doc-
trine contained in an exposition reported by a committee of the

404

ROBERT Y. HAYNE .^^

legislature m December 1828, and published by their authority,
is the good old Republican doctrine of 1798 — the doctrine of the
celebrated 'Virginia Resolutions* of that year, and of * Madi-
son's Report' of 1799. It will be recollected that the legislature
of Virginia, in December 1798, took into consideration the Alien
and Sedition Laws, then considered by all Republicans as a gross
violation of the Constitution of the United States, and on that
day passed, among others, the following resolutions: —

* The General Assembly doth explicitly and peremptorily declare
that it views the powers of the Federal Government as resulting
from the compact to which the States are parties, as limited by the
plain sense and intention of the instrument constituting that com-
pact, as no further valid than they are authorized by the grants
enumerated in that compact; and that in case of a deliberate, pal-
pable, and dangerous exercise of other powers not granted by the
said compact, the States who are parties thereto have the right, and
are in duty bound, to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil,
and for maintaining, within their respective limits, the authorities
rights, and liberties appertaining to them.^'

In addition to the above resolution, the General Assembly of
Virginia * appealed to the other States, in the confidence that
they would concur with that Commonwealth that the acts afore-
said [the Alien and Sedition Laws] are unconstitutional, and that
the necessary and proper measures would be taken by each for
co-operating with Virginia in maintaining, unimpaired, the au-
thorities, rights, and liberties reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people.**

The legislatures of several of the New England States hav-
ing, contrary to the expectation of the legislature of Virginia,
expressed their dissent from these doctrines, the subject came
up again for consideration during the session of 1 799-1800, when
it was referred to a select committee, by whom was made that
celebrated report which is familiarly known as * Madison's Re-
port,* and which deserves to last as long as the Constitution
itself. In that report, which was subsequently adopted by the
legislature, the whole subject was ^liberately re-examined, and
the objections urged against the Virginia doctrines carefully con-
sidered. The result was that the legislature of Virginia re-
affirmed all the principles laid down in the resolutions of 1798,
and issued to the world that admirable report which has stamped

4o6

ROBERT Y. HAYNE

the character of Mr. Madison as the preserver of that Constitu-
tion which he had contributed so largely to create and establish.
I will here quote from Mr. Madison's Report one or two pas-
sages which bear more immediately on the point in contro-
versy : —

"The resolution, having taken this view of the Federal compact,
proceeds to infer *that in case of a deliberate, palpable, and danger-
ous exercise of other powers not granted by the said compact, the
States who are parties thereto have the right and are in duty bound,
to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintain-
ing within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties
appertaining to them.*

*^It appears to your committee to be a plain principle, founded in
common sense, illustrated by common practice, and essential to the
nature of compacts, that, where resort can be had to no tribunal,
superior to the authority of the parties, the parties themselves must
be the rightful judges in the last resort whether the bargain made
has been pursued or violated. The Constitution of the United States
was formed by the sanction of the States, gfiven by each in its sov-
ereign capacity. It adds to the stability and dignity, as well as to
the authority of the Constitution, that it rests upon this legitimate
and solid foundation. The States, then, being the parties to the con-
stitutional compact, and in their sovereign capacity, it follows of ne-
cessity that there can be no tribunal above their authority, to decide,
in the last resort, whether the compact made by them be violated;
and, consequently, that, as the parties to it, they must themselves
decide, in the last resort, such questions as may be of sufficient mag-
nitude to require their interposition.

<< The resolution has guarded against any misapprehension of its
object by expressly requiring for such an interposition <the case of a
deliberate, palpable, and dangerous breach of the Constitution, by the
exercise of powers not granted by it.* It must be a case, not of a
light and transient nature, but of a nature dangerous to the great
purposes for which the Constitution was established.

*But the resolution has done more than guard against miscon-
struction by expressly referring to cases of a deliberate, palpable,
and dangerous nature. It specifies the object of the interposition
which it contemplates to be solely that of arresting the progress of
the evil of usurpation, and of maintaining the authorities, rights, and
liberties appertaining to the States, as parties to the Constitution.

« From this view of the resolution it would seem inconceivable
that it can incur any just disapprobation from those who, laying
aside all momentary impressions, and recollecting the genuine source

ROBERT Y. HAYNE .Qy.

and object of the Federal Constitution, shall candidly and accurately
interpret the meaning of the General Assembly. If the deliberate
exercise of dangerous powers, palpably withheld by the Constitution,
could not justify the parties to it in interposing, even so far as to
arrest the progress of the evil, and thereby to preserve the Constitu-
tion itself, as well as to provide for the safety of the parties to it,
there would be an end to all relief from usurped power, and a direct
subversion of the rights specified or recognized under all the State
constitutions, as well as a plain denial of the fundamental principles
on which our independence itself was declared.*

But, sir, our authorities do not stop here. The State of Ken-
tucky responded to Virginia, and on the tenth of November,
1798, adopted those celebrated resolutions, well known to have
been penned by the author of the Declaration of American In-
dependence. In those resolutions, the legislature of Kentucky
declare that —

*The Government created by this compact was not made the ex«
elusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself,
since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution,
the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact
among parties having no common judge, each party has an equal
right to judge for itself as well of infractions as of the mode and
measure of redress.*

At the ensuing session of the legislature, the subject was re-
examined, and on the fourteenth of November, 1799, the resolu-
tions of the preceding year were deliberately reaffirmed, and it
was, among other things, solemnly declared: —

* That if those who administer the General Government be per-
mitted to transgress the limits fixed by that compact, by a total dis-
regard to the special delegations of power therein contained, an
annihilation of the State governments, and the erection upon their
ruins of a general consolidated government, will be the inevitable
consequence. That the principles of construction contended for by
sundry of the State legislatures, that the General Government is the
exclusive judge of the extent of the powers delegated to it, stop
nothing short of despotism; since the discretion of those who admin-
ister the Government, and not the Constitution, would be the measure
of their powers. That the several States who formed that instrument,
being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to
judge of its infraction, and that a nullification by those sovereignties

4o8

ROBERT Y. HAYNE

of all unauthorized acts done under color of that instrument is the
rightful remedy.*

Time and experience confirmed Mr. Jefferson's opinion on this
all-important point. In the year 182 1 he expressed himself in
this emphatic manner: —

<^It is a fatal heresy to suppose that either our State governments
are superior to the Federal, or the Federal to the State; neither is
authorized literally to decide which belongs to itself or its copartner
in government. In differences of opinion between their different sets
of public servants, the appeal is to neither, but to their employers
peaceably assembled by their representatives in convention.*

The opinion of Mr. Jefferson on this subject has been so re-
peatedly and so solemnly expressed, that it may be said to have
been among the most fixed and settled convictions of his mind.

In the protest prepared by him for the legislature of Virginia,
in December 1825, in respect to the powers exercised by the
Federal Government in relation to the tariff and internal improve-
ments, which he declares to be " usurpations of the powers re-
tained by the States, mere interpolations into the compact, and
direct infractions of it,* he solemnly reasserts all the principles
of the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 — protests against *^ these acts
of the Federal branch of the Government as null and void, and
declares that, although Virginia would consider a dissolution of
the Union as among the greatest calamities that could befall
them, yet it is not the greatest. There is one yet greater — sub-
mission to a government of unlimited powers. It is only when
the hope of this shall become absolutely desperate that further
forbearance could not be indulged.*

In his letter to Mr. Giles, written about the same time, he
says : —

*I see, as you do, and with the deepest affliction, the rapid strides
with which the Federal branch of our Government is advancing
towards the usurpation of all the rights reserved to the States, and the
consolidation in itself of all powers, foreign and domestic, and that,
too, by constructions which leave no limits to their powers, etc. Un-
der the power to regulate commerce, they assume, indefinitely, that
also over agriculture and manufactures, etc. Under the authority to
establish post-roads, they claim that of cutting down mountains for
the construction of roads and digging canals, etc. And what is our

ROBERT Y. HAYNE .._

409

resource for the preservation of the Constitution ? Reason and argfu-
ment ? You might as well reason and argue with the marble columns
encircling them, etc. Are we then to stand to our arms with the hot-
headed Georgian ? No [and I say no, and South Carolina has said
no] ; that must be the last resource. We must have patience and
long endurance with our brethren, etc., and separate from our com-
panions only when the sole alternatives left are a dissolution of our
union with them, or submission to a government without limitation
of powers. Between these two evils, when we must make a choice,
there can be no hesitation. >>

Such, sir, are the high and imposing authorities in support of
the "Carolina doctrine, ^^ which is, in fact, the doctrine of the Vir-
ginia resolutions of 1798.

Sir, at that day the whole country was divided on this very
question. It formed the line of demarcation between the Federal
and Republican parties; and the great political revolution which
then took place turned upon the very question involved in these
resolutions. That question was decided by the people, and by
that decision the Constitution was, in the emphatic language of
Mr. Jefferson, " saved at its last gasp. *^ I should suppose, sir, it
would require more self-respect than any gentleman here would
be willing to assume, to treat lightly doctrines derived from such
high sources. Resting on authority like this, I will ask gentle-
men whether South Carolina has not manifested a high regard
for the Union, when, under a tyranny ten times more grievous
than the Alien and Sedition Laws she has hitherto gone no further
than to petition, to remonstrate, and to solemnly protest against
a series of measures which she believes to be wholly unconstitu-
tional and utterly destructive of her interests. Sir, South Caro-
lina has not gone one step further than Mr. Jefferson himself was
disposed to go in relation to the present subject of our present
complaints; not a step further than the statesmen from New
England were disposed to go under similar circumstances; no
further than the Senator from Massachusetts himself once consid-
ered as within '^ the limits of a constitutional opposition. '^ The
doctrine that it is the right of a State to judge of the violations
of the CorHStitution on the part of the Federal Government, and
to protect her citizens from the operations of unconstitutional
laws, was held by the enlightened citizens of Boston, who assem-
bled in Faneuil Hall on the twenty- fifth of January, 1809. They
gtate, in that celebrated memorial^ that " they looked only to the

410

ROBERT Y. HAYNE

State legislature, who were competent to devise relief against
the unconstitutional acts of the General Government. That your
power [say they] is adequate to that object is evident from the
organization of the confederacy.**

A distinguished Senator from one of the New England States
[Mr. Hillhouse], in a speech delivered here on a bill for enforc-
ing the Embargo, declared: —

"I feel myself bound in conscience to declare (lest the blood of
those who shall fall in the execution of this measure shall be on my
head) that I consider this to be an act which directs a mortal blow
at the liberties of my country — an act containing unconstitutional
provisions to which the people are not bound to submit, and to which,
in my opinion, they will not submit.'*

And the Senator from Massachusetts himself, in a speech de-
livered on the same subject in the other House, said: —

*This opposition is constitutional and legal; it is also conscien-
tious. It rests on settled and sober conviction that such policy is de-
structive to the interests of the people and dangerous to the being of
government. The experience of every day confirms these sentiments.
Men who act from such motives are not to be discouraged by trifling
obstacles, nor awed by any dangers. They know the limit of consti-
tutional opposition; up to that limit, at their own discretion, they will
walk, and walk fearlessly.*

How "the being of the Government* was to be endangered
by * constitutional opposition * to the Embargo, I leave to the gen-
tleman to explain.

Thus it will be seen, Mr. President, that the South Carolina
doctrine is the Republican doctrine of 1798; that it was promul-
gated by the fathers of the faith; that it was maintained by Vir-
ginia and Kentucky in the worst of times; that it constituted
the very pivot on which the political revolution of that day
turned; that it embraces the very principles, the triumph of
which at that time saved the Constitution at its last gasp, and
which New England statesmen were not unwilling to adopt when
they believed themselves to be the victims of unconstitutional
legislation. Sir, as to the doctrine that the Federal Government
is the exclusive judge of the extent as well as the limitations of its
powers, it seems to me to be utterly subversive of the sovereignty
and independence of the States. It makes but little difference, in

ROBERT Y. HAYNE 4H

my estimation, whether Congress or the Supreme Court are in-
vested with this power. If the Federal Government in all or any
of its departments is to prescribe the limits of its own authority,
and the States are bound to submit to the decision and are not
to be allowed to examine and decide for themselves when the
barriers of the Constitution shall be overleaped, this is practically
* a government without limitation of powers. * The States are at
once reduced to mere petty corporations, and the people are en-
tirely at your mercy. I have but one word more to add. In all
the efforts that have been made by South Carolina to resist the
unconstitutional laws which Congress has extended over them,
she has kept steadily in view the preservation of the Union by
the only means by which she believes it can be long preserved —
a firm, manly, and steady resistance against usurpation. The
measures of the Federal Government have, it is true, prostrated
her interests, and will soon involve the whole South in irretriev-
able ruin. But even this evil, great as it is, is not the chief
ground of our complaints. It is the principle involved in the
contest — a principle, which, substituting the discretion of Congress
for the limitations of the Constitution, brings the States and the
people to the feet of the Federal Government, and leaves them
nothing they can call their own. Sir, if the measures of the Fed-
eral Government were less oppressive, we should still strive against
this usurpation. The South is acting on a principle she has al-
ways held sacred — resistance to unauthorized taxation. These,
sir, are the principles which induced the immortal Hampden to
resist the payment of a tax of twenty shillings. Would twenty
shillings have ruined his fortune ? No! but the payment of half
twenty shillings, on the principle on which it was demanded,
would have made him a slave. Sir, if in acting on these high
motives — if animated by that ardent love of liberty which has
always been the most prominent trait in the Southern character
— we should be hurried beyond the bounds of a cold and calcul-
ating prudence, who is there with one noble and generous senti-
ment in his bosom that would not be disposed, in the language
of Burke, to exclaim: ^^You must pardon something to the spiri!
of liberty !»

WILLIAM HAZLITT

(1 778-1830)

|azlitt's lectures on English literature and other literary topics
were among the earliest of those platform addresses by-
critics, scholars, scientists, and philosophers, for which the
nineteenth century has been distinguished above all others in history.
Hazlitt has been frequently attacked as a critic by other critics, who
accuse him of << cramming for each occasion.** If that habit be more
criminal than the habit much more general among critics of disre-
garding the facts they have not time or inclination to <^cram,** the
unquestionable and striking eloquence of Hazlitt's lectures has never-
theless immortalized them. The friend of Leigh Hunt, of Godwin, of
Coleridge, and of Charles Lamb, he represents the intellectual tradi-
tion of a period in English literature which in many respects strik-
ingly approximates the ^< Golden Age ** of Elizabeth. Hazlitt was born
April loth, 1778, at Maidstone. His father was a Presbyterian clergy-
man, who sent him to the Unitarian College at Hackney to complete
his education. It is said he received there the bent towards meta-
physics which is so frequently apparent in his writings. In 1802 he
determined to be a painter, and did finally open a studio in London,
where he made a complete failure as an artist, and was accordingly
forced into the field for which he was eminently fitted, — that of a
lecturer and essayist on literature. His private life was irregular
and unhappy. The nervous temperament which gave him the sus-
ceptibility necessary for the expression of his genius subjected him
to constant depression as the price of his effectiveness, and he died,
prematurely, September i8th, 1830, attended to the last by his friend
Charles Lamb, who so strikingly resembled him in temperament.

ON WIT AND HUMOR
(From His Lectures on the English Comic Writers)

MAN is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the
only animal that is struck with the difference between
what things are and what they ought to be. We weep at
what thwarts or exceeds our desires in serious matters: we laugh

412

WILLIAM HAZLITT .j

at what only disappoints our expectations in trifles. We shed
tears from sympathy with real and necessary distress; as we
burst into laughter from want of sympathy with that which is
unreasonable and unnecessary, the absurdity of which provokes
our spleen or mirth, rather than any serious reflections on it.

To explain the nature of laughter and tears is to account for
the condition of human life, for it is in a manner compounded
of these two. It is a tragedy or a comedy — sad or merry, as it
happens. The crimes and misfortunes that are inseparable from
it shock and wound the mind when they once seize upon it, and,
when the pressure can no longer be borne, seek relief in tears;
the follies and absurdities that men commit, or the odd accidents
that befall them, afford us amusement from the very rejection of
these false claims upon our sympathy, and end in laughter. If
everything that went wrong, if every vanity or weakness in an-
other gave us a sensible pang, it would be hard indeed; but as
long as the disagreeableness of the consequences of a sudden
disaster is kept out of sight by the immediate oddity of the cir-
cumstances, and the absurdity or unaccountableness of a foolish
action is the most striking thing in it, the ludicrous prevails over
the pathetic, and we receive pleasure instead of pain from the
farce of life which is played before us, and which discomposes
our gravity as often as it fails to move our anger or our pity.

Mere wit, as opposed to reason or argument, consists in strik-
ing out some casual and partial coincidence which has nothing
to do, or at least implies no necessary connection with the nature
of the things, which are forced into a seeming analogy by a play
upon words, or some irrelevant conceit, as in puns, riddles, allit-
eration, etc. The jest, in all such cases, lies in the sort of mock
identity, or nominal resemblance, established by the intervention
of the same words expressing different ideas, and countenancing,
as it were, by a fatality of language, the mischievous insinuation
which the person who has the wit to take advantage of it wishes
to convey. So when the disaffected French wits applied to the
new order of the Fleiir du lys the double entendre of Compagnons
d'Ulysse, or companions of Ulysses, meaning the animal into
which the fellow-travelers of the Hero of the * Odyssey ' were
transformed, this was a shrewd and biting intimation of a galling
truth (if truth it were) by a fortuitous concourse of letters of
the alphabet, jumping in "a foregone conclusion," but there was

414

WILLIAM HAZLITT

no proof of the thing, unless it was self-evident. And, indeed,
this may be considered as the best defense of the contested
maxim, that ridicule is the test of truth; namely, that it does not
contain or attempt a formal proof of it, but owes its power of
conviction to the bare suggestion of it, so that if the thing when
once hinted is not clear in itself, the satire fails of its effect and
falls to the ground. The sarcasm here glanced at the character
of the new or old French noblesse may not be well founded;
but it is so like truth, and ** comes in such a questionable shape,"
backed with the appearance of an identical proposition, that it
would require a long train of facts and labored arguments to do
away the impression, even if we were sure of the honesty and
wisdom of the person who undertook to refute it. A flippant
jest is as good a test of truth as a solid bribe; and there are se-
rious sophistries,

« Soul-killing lies, and truths that work small good,*

as well as idle pleasantries. Of this we may be sure, that ridi-
cule fastens on the vulnerable points of a cause, and finds out
the weak sides of an argument; if those who resort to it some-
times rely too much on its success, those who are chiefly annoyed
by it almost always are so with reason, and cannot be too much
on their guard against deserving it. Before we can laugh at a
thing, its absurdity must at least be open and palpable to com-
mon apprehension. Ridicule is necessarily built on certain sup-
posed facts, whether true or false, and on their inconsistency
with certain acknowledged maxims, whether right or wrong. It
is, therefore, a fair test, if not a philosophical or abstract truth,
at least of what is truth according to public opinion and com-
mon sense; for it can only expose to instantaneous contempt
that which is condemned by public opinion, and is hostile to the
common sense of mankind. Or, to put it differently, it is the
test of the quantity of truth that there is in our favorite preju-
dices. To show how nearly allied wit is thought to be to truth,
it is not unusual to say of any person : ** Such a one is a man of
sense; for though he said nothing, he laughed in the right place.'*
Alliteration comes in here under the head of a certain sort of
verbal wit; or, by pointing the expression, sometimes points the
sense. Mr. Grattan's wit or eloquence (I don't know by what
name to call it) would be nothing without this accompaniment.

William hazlitt

415

Speaking of some ministers whom he did not like, he said:
<* Their only means of government are the guinea and the gal-
lows.*^ There can scarcely, it must be confessed, be a more
effectual mode of political conversion than one of these applied
to a man's friends, and the other to himself. The fine sarcasm
of Junius on the effect of the supposed ingratitude of the Duke
of Grafton at court, — ^^ The instance might be painful but the
principle would please,'* — notwithstanding the profound insight
into human nature it implies, would hardly pass for wit without
the alliteration, as some poetry would hardly be acknowledged as
such without the rhyme to clench it. A quotation or a hack-
neyed phrase, dexterously turned or wrested to another purpose,
has often the effect of the liveliest wit. An idle fellow who had
only fourpence left in the world, which had been put by to pay
for the baking some meat for his dinner, went and laid it out to
buy a new string for a guitar. An old acquaintance, on hearing
this story, repeated those lines out of the ^Allegro * : —

*And ever against eating cares
Lap me in soft Lydian airs.'*

The reply of the author of the periodical paper called the World
to a lady at church, who seeing him look thoughtful, asked what
he was thinking of — ^*The next World** — is a perversion of an
established formula of language, something of the same kind.
Rhymes are sometimes a species of wit, where there is an alter-
nate combination and resolution or decomposition of the elements
of sound, contrary to our usual division and classification of them
in ordinary speech, not unlike the sudden separation and reunion
of the component parts of the machinery in a pantomime. The
author who excels infinitely the most in this way is the writer of
* Hudibras. * He also excels in the invention of single words and
names, which have the effect of wit by sounding big, and mean-
ing nothing — "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.** But
of the artifices of this author's burlesque style I shall have occa-
sion to speak hereafter. It is not always easy to distinguish be-
tween the wit of words and that of things, " for thin partitions
do their bounds divide.** Some of the late Mr. Curran's bon mots^
or Jeux d' esprit^ might be said to owe their birth to this sort of
equivocal generation ; or were a happy mixture of verbal wit and
a lively and picturesque fancy, of legal acuteness in detecting the
variable applications of words, and of a mind apt at perceiving

4i6

WILLIAM HAZLITT

the ludicrous in external objects. " Do you see anything ridicu>
lous in this wig ? * said one of his brother judges to him. ^* Noth-
ing but the head,* was the answer. Now here instantaneous
advantage was taken of the slight technical ambiguity in the con-
struction of language, and the matter-of-fact is flung into the
scale as a thumping makeweight. After all, verbal and acci-
dental strokes of wit, though the most surprising and laughable,
are not the best and most lasting. That wit is the most refined
and effectual which is founded on the detection of unexpected
likeness or distinction in things, rather than in words. It is
more severe and galling, that is, it is more unpardonable though
less surprising, in proportion as the thought suggested is more
complete and satisfactory, from its being inherent in the nature
of the things themselves. Hceret lateri lethalis arundo. Truth
makes the greatest libel, and it is that which barbs the darts of wit.
The Duke of Buckingham's saying, ^* Laws are not, like women,
the worse for being old,* is an instance of a harmless truism
and the utmost malice of wit united. This is, perhaps, what has
been meant by the distinction between true and false wit. Mr.
Addison, indeed, goes so far as to make it the exclusive test of
true wit that it will bear translation into another language, that
is to say, that it does not depend at all on the form of expres-
sion. But this is by no , means the case. Swift would hardly
have allowed of such a strait-laced theory, to make havoc with his
darling conundrums; though there is no one whose serious wit is
more that of things, as opposed to a mere play either of words
or fancy. I ought, I believe, to have noticed before, in speaking
of the difference between wit and humor, that wit is often pre-
tended absurdity, where the person overacts or exaggerates a cer-
tain part with a conscious design to expose it as if it were
another person, as when Mandrake in the ^ Twin Rivals * says: " This
glass is too big, carry it away; I'll drink out of the bottle.* On
the contrary, when Sir Hugh Evans says very innocently, *^ 'Od's
plessed will, I will not be absent at the grace,* though there is
here a great deal of humor, there is no wit. This kind of wit of
the humorist, where the person makes a butt of himself, and ex-
hibits his own absurdities or foibles purposely in the most pointed
and glaring lights, runs through the whole of the character of
Falstaff, and is, in truth, the principle on which it is founded.
It is an irony directed against oneself. Wit is, in fact, a volun-
tary act of the mind, or exercise of the invention, showing the

WILLIAM HAZLITT ^jy

absurd and ludicrous consciously, whether in ourselves or another
Cross-readings, where the blunders are designed, are wit; but if
any one were to light upon them through ignorance or accident,
they would be merely ludicrous.

It might be made an argument of the intrinsic superiority of
poetry or imagination to wit, that the former does not admit of
mere verbal combinations. Whenever they do occur, they are
uniformly blemishes. It requires something more solid and sub-
stantial to raise admiration or passion. The general forms and
aggregate masses of our ideas must be brought more into play,
to give weight and magnitude. Imagination may be said to be
the finding out something similar in things generally alike, or
with like feelings attached to them, while wit principally aims at
finding out something that seems the same, or amounts to a mo-
mentary deception where you least expected it, namely, in things
totally opposite. The reason why more slight and partial, or
merely accidental and nominal, resemblances serve the purposes
of wit, and indeed characterize its essence as a distinct operation
and faculty of the mind, is, that the object of ludicrous poetry
is naturally to let down and lessen ; and it is easier to let down
than to raise up; to weaken than to strengthen; to disconnect
our sympathy from passion and power than to attach and rivet
it to any object of grandeur or interest; to startle and shock our
preconceptions, by incongruous and equivocal combinations, than
to confirm, enforce, and expand them by powerful and lasting
associations of ideas, or striking and true analogies. A slight
cause is sufficient to produce a slight effect. To be indifferent or
skeptical requires no effort; to be enthusiastic and in earnest
requires a strong impulse and collective power. Wit and humor
(comparatively speaking, or taking the extremes to judge of the
gradations by) appeal to our indolence, our vanity, our weakness,
and insensibility; serious and impassioned poetry appeals to our
strength, our magnanimity, our virtue, and humanity. Anything
is sufficient to heap contempt upon an object; even the bare
suggestion of a mischievous allusion to what is improper dis-
solves the whole charm and puts an end to our admiration of
the sublime or beautiful. Reading the finest passage in Milton's
* Paradise Lost * in a false tone will make it seem insipid and
absurd. The cavilling at, or invidiously pointing out, a few slips
of the pen will embitter the pleasure or alter our opinion of a
whole work, and make us throw it down in disgust. The critics
0 — 27

4t8 WILLIAM HA2LITT

are aware of this vice and infirmity in our nature, and play
upon it with periodical success. The meanest weapons are strong
enough for this kind of warfare, and the meanest hands can
wield them. Spleen can subsist on any kind of food. The
shadow of a doubt, the hint of an inconsistency, a word, a look,
a syllable, will destroy our best-formed convictions. What puts
this argument in as striking a point of view as anything is the
nature of parody or burlesque, the secret of which lies merely in
transposing or applying at a venture to anything, or to the low-
est objects, that which is applicable only to certain given things,
or to the highest matters. ** From the sublime to the ridiculous,
there is but one step. '* The slightest want of unity of impres-
sion destroys the sublime; the detection of the smallest incongru-
ity is an infallible ground to rest the ludicrous upon.

FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER

(1811-1881)

Ihe German Revolution of 1848 was the greatest event of the
nineteenth century for continental Europe. It checked the
Reactionists of France, and forced parliamentary government,
not only on Germany, but on every other country of continental
Europe, except Russia and Turkey. Seeming to end in failure, with
its leaders in flight for their lives, it was really one of the great
triumphs of the civilized intellect against the mediaeval. Its per-
manent moral success was due to the work of a few dauntless young
Germans, scholars and thinkers, with Frederick Hecker as one of the
most dauntless among them. He was born at Eichtersheim in Baden,
September 28th, 181 1. After graduating in law at Heidelberg, he
began practicing his profession in the supreme court at Manheim.
His great eloquence led to his election to the second chamber in
Baden, and his liberal sympathies soon brought him into close rela-
tions with the opponents of German absolutism — notably with the
Turner societies, in which opposition to despotic government had
taken a strong hold. After the failure of the Revolution of 1848 and
the defeat at Kaudern (April 20th, 1849), he escaped to Basel where
for some time he edited a progressive newspaper. Finding the Reac-
tionists too strong for him, he joined the thousands of young German
Liberals who were emigrating to the United States. Settling in
Illinois, not far from St. Louis, he passed the remainder of his use-
ful life in America, serving as a Colonel in the Civil War and dying
in 1 88 1. His speeches and lectures, which are published in German
by C. Witter, of St. Louis, are examples of most extraordinary elo-
quence. When they are better known in Germany, — as they are
likely to be before the close of the twentieth century, — they will
go far to establish Colonel Hecker's reputation as one of the most
eloquent men who ever spoke the German language.

419

420 FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER

LIBERTY IN THE NEW ATLANTIS

(An Oration Delivered on July 4th, 1871, at Trenton, 111. Translated by Per-
mission from < Reden and Forlesungen ^ by Frederick Hecker, C. Witter,
St. Louis)

My Friends: —

THE roar of war in the Old World has died away; the shout
of victory grows less noisy; graves sink in, blood-pools are
washed away, and hard by the ruins of palaces and hovels
sit Misery and Heartache and Want, while we hallow the birth-
day of this great free nation, celebrate the independence of this
Atlantis from the power of princes and the yoke of kings, and
consecrate this banner, the symbol of the courage of manhood
and the love of liberty!

Independence! a grand word! whose full enjoyment none of
woman born can share! And he can hold himself most fortunate,
when the greatest measure of dependency has been lifted from
his shoulders!

Independence and Liberty are an inseparable pair of sisters.
Only he who is independent is free, and the freeman alone is
independent !

And this is the higher purpose of genuine Turn-craft — to de-
velop the body and to deliver it from weakness and ailments; to
free the intellect from all shackles; with <Hhe wing-stroke of a
free mind to disperse the spectres of ignorance, of superstition,
of irrestraint, and the spirit of servility! With uplifted banner,
with body and with mind to strive towards independence and
liberty!^* As in the ever-memorable era of 1848-49, the Turners,
rank on rank, clear in their might of manhood, stood first in
freedom's camp, so here, likewise, they were among the first who
battled against oligarchy; who with their bodies defended the
unity, the equality, the liberty, the union of this land; who bled
for them and joyously marched to their death for them. And as
the Turners have ever held it a duty to fight in the front rank
for manhood rights and human freedom, so they will fall back
from their place and from their flag, emblem of their principles,
only when they are carried back — dead!

The Republican form of government is the arch of triumph
that leads to the realization of our high ideal! The Republic,

FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER 421

because it has for its foundation liberty and equality, — because it
gives the individual man time and room for free, untrammeled
development, — is the highway that leads to the temple of true
human dignity. And on this holiday, it becomes us to glance
around us and to look upon the picture which the Age unrolls
before us!

Two nations celebrate their independence this year. We cele-
brate here our independence from king-craft, from our parent
stock beyond the waters, and from oppression which other nation-
alities exercised over their spontaneity, their individuality, their
power, their development!

Germany is no longer obliged now to receive as tantamount
to orders the wishes of a Czar and his Nesselrode, or to put up
with the culture and civilization dictated by a ruler of Pandours,
Croats, Slovaks, and the like, with his Metternich! No longer
has she to submit to the trade ordinances of the oligarchical
monarchic shopkeepers of Great Britain, with her Castlereaghs,
Wellingtons, and Russells! No longer has she to be on the watch
for the crowing of the Gallic cock, for the prey-scream of the
eagle, or the fanfaronades of Gaul!

Germany has seized and holds her future in her own strong
hand. And as she fought for her national independence against
the outside, so on the inside may she conquer independence
for the individual citizen, celebrating solemnly, as we do each
year, the day of a Magna Charta, and not merely a peace sealed
with the pommel of the sword. Treaties of peace are short of
breath and short-lived! Free constitutions endure from gener-
ation to generation!

On the day on which ninety-five years ago the American
people declared their independence and in doing so announced
and spread before the whole world the gospel of the people —
from that ever-memorable day on, the wages of the trade of
royalty steadily fell! Yes, Kingship got to be, as to-day in
Spain, knocked down to the lowest bidder, and this great Con-
tinent, which almost reaches from pole to pole — this Atlantis,
with legends of which Egyptian priests had filled the minds of
Solon and of Plato — this our sea-born Atlantis is destined to re-
juvenate the world into Liberty! And on the birthday of the
American Republic it becomes us well to consider the effect of
that solemn act of the Declaration of Independence and to draw
comparisons of the conditions of the other nations.

422

FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER

At that time this country had a population of two million
eight hundred thousand inhabitants. This immense territory was
a wilderness, a home for wild beasts and wilder savages. To-
day the people number close to forty millions, and before the
St. Sylvester night of 1899, when the nineteenth century is rung
out and the twentieth is rung in, there will be from eighty mil-
lion to one hundred million Republicans here to celebrate the
day! A shiver creeps along the backbone of Kingcraft and its
servitors at the thought!

A hundred millions of Republicans — a fearful propaganda!
* O my exalted, imperial master ! What is to become of us ? '*
stutter the lackeys. With a shrill scream, like a new Phoenix,
arisen from brass-slack and ashes, rushes the locomotive through
what lately was wilderness, away over hill and abyss, dale and
waters, chasm and plain, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is
bannered with the Stars and Stripes, and the piercing sound
that echoes from its waving folds strikes my ear: *^ Free, free,
free ! '^ On all the seas floats this respect-compelling symbol of
free citizenship! On stream and ocean, on a thousand highways,
by land-roads, sea-roads, and railroads, there is a rush and ac-
tivity like that of ants or honeybees; and further, ever further,
the country opens its lap and shakes therefrom the riches of the
earth! Here only those beg who will beg. And this country is
not directed by kings and high-born gentlemen; not protected
by mighty standing armies, not governed by a well-clothed and
trained body of officials. It is not governed from *^ on High ! "
Possibly it is not governed at all! It dispenses with the entire
happiness-bestowing paraphernalia of European nations, and still
it grows, extends itself, and prospers. In amazement the nations
view this resurrected Atlantis and ask: Who has done all this?
Who is the necromancer ?

It is the Liberty, it is the Independence, which deprives no
human being of his opportunity for development and activity!

With a contemptuous shrug of the shoulders, the children of
antiquated, over-refined, and almost stereotyped culture may gaze
on the man from the great Western Continent, and on his rough,
often unpolished manners, and point their fingers to outbursts of
uncouthness and unrestraint here and there. Where man dwells,
there dwell also men's passions. The difference between here and
there is only in this. Here passion rages publicly, seen by the
world's eyes. There a veil is spread over the corruption of so-

I

FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER

423

ciety. The common people of New York, even when not regarded
as a present from the Old World, are not worse, are not more
abominable, than the populace of Europe's great centres of hu-
manity. For all that and all this, **we sovereign members of a
sovereign people " prefer to move and have our being here un-
der the Stars and Stripes rather than under any tricolor of royal
might and splendor of monarchical ordination and subordination.

No doubt there are some few, who, having scraped a suffi-
ciency of mammon together, have returned to the Old World, and
there have scattered broadcast their condemnation of this coun-
try and its people, telling how differently they feel among pol-
ished gentlemen, beautiful women, and the fine lace ruffles of
the court under the protection of Imperial Majesty and the royal
police. But be it said as a subject for your consolation, my
friends, that those, who, to the great joy of every European
beadle and beggar-catcher and of his lord and master, thus cast
their potsherd ballot of condemnation, of ostracism against the
Republic, consist only of three kinds: —

Either they are of the kind who stand in admiration before
their own greatness and distinction; who recoil before our West,
because kid gloves are still so scarce and our unrestrained man-
ners are still so unsmooth and roughly welted; who, in fine, have
stuck in the seacoast cities of the East, because there it is a
little more like Europe, but principally because there it is easier
to pile up money! Their greatness was not a source of wonder!
They felt themselves banished, turned back! They took a short
look at the Union through New York Paddy, Tammany specta-
cles, and crawfished back to their mothers! Or, they are those
over whom the shell of European customs, convenance, and so-
cial formations had grown as tightly as if they were crabs, and
consequently they had it always in mind to return — as soon as
they had made friends with the Almighty Dollar. The third on
this and on the other side of the ocean consists of disappointed
ne'er-do-wells, enthused by the hope of the greatest possible
amount of enjoyment and, if possible, of no work at all. Mem-
bers, of the first two classes take pains, however, to invest the
savings they have scraped together in American securities. For
that object, the Republic is good enough for them.

We will not be broken-hearted, seeing them go back whence
they came. They may feel happier among house servants and
court lackeys than in our company, and may hurrah in front of

424 FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER

the statue of Frederick Wilhelm III., which significantly was un-
veiled on the day on which the people in arms celebrated the
victory they had won, — the statue of that Frederick Wilhelm III.,
who persecuted Turnerdom, who organized the *^ crusade against
demagogues,^' who with press, speech, association meetings, and
other gags and clubs, declared war on every liberal idea, and at
whose death the entire German nation breathed freer as if it
were released from a nightmare.

One thing more we will shout at those tired of America,
" You have taken your seat between two stools ! Those abroad
regard you suspiciously as not belonging to their class, while we
over here will have nothing to do with you! March! Off with
you ! '*

That this nation has steadily grown in power, has exhibited
its assets to all the people of the universe; that notwithstanding
many shortcomings in administration and policy, which, alas! are
inseparable from human nature, it has steadily prospered; that of
all the countries of the world, except England, it is the only one
which has decreased its national debt, while others have suffered
deficit after deficit, asked for loan after loan, accumulating a
truly wonderful garland of I. O. U.'s — what a spectacle that con-
trast makes for those beyond the Atlantic Ocean!

A cry of horror and indignation is set up on account of cruel-
ties, bloodshed, murder, and incendiarism perpetrated by dehu-
manized, hell-crazed people in Paris! It is a shriek against the
incarnate red spectre, still as of old a threatening of all existing
things, all order, the entire social fabric of the present!

<<This,'* they say, <4s the result of your teachings of the free-
dom and the equality of man, of human dignity and of human
rights ! '^ " There you are with your Republic ! '^ howls the whole
horde of reaction. The court chamberlains are hanging on all
the fire-alarm bells; the lackeys high and low are ringing the
tocsin against freedom, and trailing on royal tricolor poles their
lettres de cachet against the Republic and Republicanism through-
out the world, from Petersburg to Madrid. What a vulture feast
they are preparing as they get ready to rend the flesh of the
Prometheus of Liberty!

Who, I ask of you, ye rulers and quaking knaves, — who is it
that forced the growth of all these horrors and hideous crimes,
of all this scoundrelism and debauchery ? Was it not thou. Ape
of Octavianus, who with word and letter played the Socialist ?

FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER 425

Then these rascals and swindlers, these Mires, Mornies, Pereires,
and Maganys, these Jeckers and St. Arnands, — the entire circum-
cised and uncircumcised lot, — who was it cultivated, preferred,
distinguished, selected, and raised them to the dignities of repre-
sentatives of Caesarism ? Was it not you who fostered rivalry
and extravagance, parade, and fashion, and folly, hiding under
high-sounding names whatever was worst and most corrupt, as
we know from Plutarch and Tacitus was once done by your likes
in the decadence of Athens and Rome ? Harlots became " demi-
monde*; swindles passed as 'institutes of credit*; murder and
deportation were called " the salvation of order * ; vice was cour-
tier like, and for all this they are praised as the '' saviors of so-
ciety * — these hangmen of reaction !

Did not the great ones of earth become his guests and bend
the hinges of their knees before the doubtful reputation of his
wife ? Did they not recline upon his pillows, and banquet and
gorge themselves ? And at the World Exposition, and there
where the gray monuments of the despotic Pharaohs cast their
gaze towards the Suez Canal — there stood the neglected, hard-
working, hungry people where they could see the Cocotte, the
Cancan covered with gold and diamonds, and official thieves in
brilliant equipages and embroidered uniforms! They saw the feast
of Belshazzer and the lustful splendor of the woman of the Apoc-
alypse.

'*Am I not better than Cora Pearl, the Boulanger, the Schnei-
der ? Mine and my mother's past are not Montijo's,* said the
pale wife of the proletarian. '* Do I not earn my scant bread in
the sweat of my brow ? * grumbled the workman in his blouse,
as the protected gamblers of the Stock Exchange and the grand-
larcenists of wealth in their well-fed splendor drove in a whirl
past them.

When you have cut the foundation of morals from under the
feet of the people, you accuse liberty and human rights of the
crime, ye true sons of Lucifer! But believe not, my friends, that
these conditions are alone centred in Paris and France!

The cancer of the age does its foul work in all the great hells
of humanity — in London and Vienna, in Petersburg and Berlin, in
Rome and Madrid, in every place where are collected those who
for easy gain, higher enjoyment, and greater wealth await oppor-
tunities for anything, no matter what; or, fearing the light, are
obliged to hide in the labyrinth of the sea of houses, where

426

FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER

myriad funguses molder before one plant takes healthy root;
where the sediment and ferment of misery-stricken human nature
seek to leave their deposit!

It is the cancer of a richly inventive, exaggerated, indispens-
able industrialism which devours small industries as Saturn did
his children. It is an age which has produced ephemeral million-
aires, and millions of envious workingmen filled with the darts
of hate. Nineveh and Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah, Antioch
and Byzantium? Who is it that will dissolve this strange en-
chantment, and read this riddle of the Sphinx?

But the more a legion of officials and soldiers, of nobles and
princes, representing unproductive activity, call upon the pro-
ductive activity of the people to uphold the old society and its
forms, the faster the maintenance of that order will undermine
order itself.

The ship drives into the rapids! Faster and faster! Down-
wards, downwards! into the foaming waters! into the chasm's
abyss !

As yet, danger to this country is not near, where the greater
part of the land is still waiting for millions and millions of hands
to bring its treasure to light. But already inherited cancerous
ulcers of corruption — money-monarchies and bandit-associations
of powerful monopolies make themselves felt among our public
servants !

But into our hands, into our sovereign hands, has it been
given to use the surgeon's knife and the cauterizing iron. At
the hour when the people will it, will these faithless thieves be
scourged at the pillory, these monopolies annihilated, these
plunderer-bands be dispersed! The whole people, the State, will
step into the place of the monopolists! Already our new Consti-
tution in Illinois has taken the first step, and we make acknowl-
edgment to the most irreproachable of the governors of Illinois,
J. M. Palmer, for his intervention.

In conclusion, let me call up before you a vision, a dream.
Heavy night lay over the earth and sky; the sea was dark, filled
with high, black waves, and a proud woman in golden armor,
the standard of the Republic undulating in her hand, led me up
to a high sea-beaten cliff, that in the ocean afar overtopped the
hills of earth! When she raised her hand towards the East, a
thousand lights from the Aurora Borealis blazed forth; and like
a fire -lit picture before me the Old World lay! In trumpet tones

FREDERICK KARL FRANZ HECKER ^y

sounded a mighty voice: I am the destiny of the Old World, I
am America, and I will plant the banner of the deliverance of
humanity on every land! See, I have taken away hunger from
the lands of the East! I have given them the potato and the
golden ear of maize! I have healed their fever-shaken bodies
with the bark of the cinchona; with balm of healing herbs I
have restored their bodies, and with the aroma of tobacco I have
beguiled their cares. With woods for dyes, for use, for ornament,
I have adorned their houses and completed and furnished their
ships. The steamer, the tamed leviathan, and the lightning's
writing are my work, and from seashore to seashore my sons
have laid iron strands until they have encircled the globe.
Against my shores the Gulf Stream breaks its force and hastens
on to warm the farthest northland of Europe. In the Florida gulf
invisibly and silently the coral billions are at work to turn the
Gulf Stream and to cover Europe with ice, but my genius will
remove this barrier. The iron-cuirassed ship and the ram of
bronze and the monitor are the children of my brain; and I
have taught the laws of the Trade Winds, and I pour out the
treasures of the depths of the sea and the land for my people,
that it may be multiplied and nourished, while to protect it I
hold over it and its future this bright banner of the Stars and
Stripes, — an emblem of freedom and human dignity for all, —
that beneath it shall be a rendezvous for the free of the earth!
And in this sign, I will conquer!

HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ

(1821-1894)

!he scientific imagination was never so daring as in the nine-
teenth century, nor was its daring ever more strikingly-
illustrated than in the theory of the correlation of forces
and the conservation of energy, so eloquently presented by Helm-
holtz in his Heidelberg address of 1871. The sublimity of its perora-
tion has hardly been surpassed. His comparison of the vital principle
to flame, and to a musical chord which is no sooner struck than it
becomes an entity other than and above the material agency produc-
ing it, would hardly have been possible for any one but a German
scientist, representing the highest scientific and aesthetic culture of
his country.

He was born at Potsdam, August 31st, 1821, and in 1843 began his
professional career as military physician in that city. From 1849
when he became Professor of Physiology at Konigsberg until his
death, September 8th, 1894, he increased in intellectual power and in
reputation. He held professorships at Bonn, Heidelberg, and Berlin,
invented the ophthalmoscope, wrote < The Theory of the Conservation
of Force,* *The Doctrine of Tone-Generation, > and other era-making
works, and made discoveries in acoustics and optics which attracted
the attention of the scientific world. No one who reads <The Mys-
tery of Creation,* here given from his Heidelberg addresses of 1871,
will need to be told that he had an intellect of the highest order.

THE MYSTERY OF CREATION
(From an Address Delivered at Heidelberg in 1871)

ALL life and all motion on our earth is, with few exceptions,
kept up by a single force, that of the sun's rays, which
bring to us light and heat. They warm the air of the hot
zones; this becomes lighter and ascends, while the colder air
flows toward the poles. Thus is formed the great circulation of
the passage-winds. Local differences of temperature over land
and sea, plains and mountains, disturb the uniformity of this
great motion, and produce for us the capricious change of winds.

428

HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ ^20

Warm aqueous vapors ascend with the warm air, become con-
densed into clouds, and fall in the cooler zones, and upon the
snowy tops of the mountains, as rain and as snow. The water
collects in brooks, in rivers, moistens the plains, and makes life
possible; crumbles the stones, carries their fragments along, and
thus works at the geological transformation of the earth's surface.
It is only under the influence of the sun's rays that the varie-
gated covering of plants of the earth grows; and while they
grow, they accumulate in their structure organic matter, which
partly serves the whole animal kingdom as food, and serves man
more particularly as fuel. Coals and lignites, the sources of
power of our steam engines, are remains of primitive plants, the
ancient production of the sun's rays.

Need we wonder if, to our forefathers of the Aryan race in
India and Persia, the sun appeared as the fittest symbol of the
Deity ? They were right in regarding it as the giver of all life
— as the ultimate source of almost all that has happened on
earth.

But whence does the sun acquire this force ? It radiates forth
a more intense light than can be attained with any terrestrial
means. It yields as much heat as if fifteen hundred pounds of
coal were burned every hour upon each square foot of its sur-
face. Of the heat which thus issues from it, the small fraction
which enters our atmosphere furnishes a great mechanical force.
Every steam engine teaches us that heat can produce such force.
The sun, in fact, drives on earth a kind of steam engine whose
performances are far greater than those of artificially constructed
machines. The circulation of water in the atmosphere raises, as
has been said, the water evaporated from the warm tropical seas
to the mountain heights; it is, as it were, a water-raising engine
of the most magnificent kind, with whose power no artificial ma-
chine can be even distantly compared. I have previously ex-
plained the mechanical equivalent of heat. Calculated by that
standard, the work which the sun produces by its radiation is
equal to the constant exertion of seven thousand horse power for
each square foot of the sun's surface.

For a long time experience had impressed, on our mechan-
icians that a working force cannot be produced from nothing;
that it can only be taken from the stores which nature possesses,
which are strictly limited, and which cannot be increased at
pleasure — whether it be taken from the rushing water or from

430 HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ

the wind; whether from the layers of coal, or from men and
from animals, which cannot work without the consumption of
food. Modern physics has attempted to prove the universality of
this experience, to show that it applies to the great whole of all
natural processes, and is independent of the special interests
of man These have been generalized and comprehended in the
all-ruling natural law of the conservation of force. No natural
process, and no series of natural processes, can be found, how-
ever manifold may be the changes which take place among them,
by which a motive force can be continuously produced, without
a corresponding consumption. Just as the human race finds on
earth but a limited supply of motive forces, capable of producing
work, which it can utilize but not increase, so also must this be
the case in the great whole of nature. The universe has its
definite store of force, which works in it under ever-varying
forms; is indestructible, not to be increased, everlasting and un-
changeable like matter itself. It seems as if Goethe has an idea
of this when he makes the earth-spirit speak of himself as the
representative of natural force: —

"In the currents of life, in the tempests of motion,
In the fervor of art, in the fire, in the storm,

Hither and thither,

Over and under.

Wend I and wander.

Birth and the grave,

Limitless ocean,

Where the restless wave

Undulates ever

Under and over,

Their seething strife

Heaving and weaving

The changes of life.
At the whirling loom of time unawed,
I work the living mantle of God.**

Let us return to the special question which concerns us here:
Whence does the sun derive this enormous store of force which
it sends out ?

On earth the processes of combustion are the most abundant
source of heat. Does the sun's heat originate in a process of
this kind ? To this question we can reply with a complete and
decided negative, for we now know that the sun contains the

HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ 431

terrestrial elements with which we are acquainted. Let us select
from among them the two, which, for the smallest mass, produce
the greatest amount of heat when they combine; let us assume
that the sun consists of hydrogen and oxygen, mixed in the pro-
portion in which they would unite to form water. The mass of
the sun is known, and also the quantity of heat produced by the
union of known weights of oxygen and hydrogen. Calculation
shows that under the above supposition the heat resulting from
their combustion would be sufficient to keep up the radiation of
heat from the sun for three thousand and twenty-one years.
That, it is true, is a long time, but even profane history teaches
that the sun has lighted and warmed us for three thousand years,
and geology puts it beyond doubt that this period must be ex-
tended to millions of years.

Known chemical forces are thus so completely inadequate,
even on the most favorable assumption, to explain the production
of heat which takes place in the sun, that we must quite drop this
hypothesis.

We must seek for forces of far greater magnitude, and these
we can only find in cosmical attraction. We have already seen
that the comparatively small masses of shooting stars and mete-
orites can produce extraordinarily large amounts of heat when
their cosmical velocities are arrested by our atmosphere. Now,
the force which has produced these great velocities is gravitation.
We know of this force as one acting on the surface of our planet
when it appears as terrestrial gravity. We know that a weight
raised from the earth can drive our clocks, and that in like man-
ner the gravity of the water rushing down from the mountains
works our mills.

If a weight fall from a height and strike the ground, its mass
loses, indeed, the visible motion which it had as a whole — in fact,
however, this motion is not lost; it is transferred to the smallest
elementary particles of the mass, and this invisible vibration of
the molecules is the motion of heat. Visible motion is trans-
formed by impact into the motion of heat.

That which holds in this respect for gravity holds also for
gravitation. A heavy mass, of whatever kind, which is suspended
in space separated from another heavy mass, represents a force
capable of work. For both masses attract each other, and, if un-
restrained by centrifugal force, they move toward each other
under the influence of this attraction; this takes place with ever-

432 HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ

increasing velocity; and if this velocity is finally destroyed,
whether this be suddenly by collision, or gradually by the fric-
tion of movable parts^ it develops the corresponding quantity of
the motion of heat, the amount of which can be calculated from
the equivalence, previously established, between heat and mechan-
ical work.

Now we may assume with great probability that very many
more meteors fall upon the sun than upon the earth, and with
greater velocity, too, and therefore give more heat. Yet the
hypothesis that the entire amount of the sun's heat which is con-
tinually lost by radiation is made up by the fall of meteors, a
hypothesis which was propounded by Mayer, and has been favor-
ably adopted by several other physicists, is open, according to
Sir W. Thomson's investigations, to objection; for, assuming it to
hold, the mass of the sun should increase so rapidly that the con-
sequences would have shown themselves in the accelerated motion
of the planets. The entire loss of heat from the sun cannot at
all events be produced in this way; at the most a portion, which,
however, may not be inconsiderable.

If, now, there is no present manifestation of force sufficient to
cover the expenditure of the sun's heat, the sun must originally
have had a store of heat which it gradually gives out. But
whence this store ? We know that the cosmical forces alone
could have produced it. And here the hypothesis, previously dis-
cussed as to the origin of the sun, comes to our aid. If the mass
of the sun had been once diffused in cosmical space, and had
then been condensed, — that is, had fallen together under the in-
fluence of celestial gravity, — if then the resultant motion had
been destroyed by friction and impact with the production of
heat, the new world produced by such condensation must have
acquired a store of heat, not only of considerable, but even of
colossal magnitude.

Calculation shows that, assuming the thermal capacity of the
sun to be the same as that of water, the temperature might be
raised to twenty-eight million of degrees, if this quantity of heat
could ever have been present in the sun at one time. This can-
not be assumed, for such an increase of temperature would offer
the greatest hindrance to condensation. It is probable rather that
a great part of this heat which was produced by condensation
began to radiate into space before this condensation was com-
plete. But the heat which the sun could have previously devel-

HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ

433

oped by its condensation would hav^e been sufficient to cover its
present expenditure for not less than twenty-two million years of
the past.

And the sun is by no means so dense as it may become.
Spectrum analysis demonstrates the presence of large masses of
iron and of other known constituents of the rocks. The pressure
which endeavors to condense the interior is about eight hundred
times as great as that in the centre of the earth; and yet the
density of the sun, owing probably to its enormous temperature,
is less than a quarter of the mean density of the earth.

We may therefore assume with great probability that the sun
will still continue in its condensation, even if it only attained the
density of the earth — though it will probably become far denser
in the interior, owing to the enormous pressure — this would de-
velop fresh quantities of heat which would be sufficient to main-
tain for an additional seventeen million years the same intensity
of sunshine as that which is now the source of all terrestrial life.

The term of seventeen million years which I have given may,
perhaps, become considerably prolonged by the gradual abatement
of radiation, by the new accretion of falling meteors, and by still
greater condensation than that which I have assumed in that cal-
culation. But we know of no natural process which could spare
our sun the fate which has manifestly fallen upon other suns.
This is a thought which we only reluctantly admit; it seems to
us an insult to the beneficent Creative Power which we otherwise
find at work in organisms, and especially in living ones. But we
must reconcile ourselves to the thought that, however we may
consider ourselves to be the centre and final object of creation,
we are but as dust on the earth; which again is but a speck of
dust in the immensity of space; and the previous duration of our
race, even if we follow it far beyond our written history, into the
era of the lake dwellings or of the mammoth, is but an instant
compared with the primeval times of our planet, when living
beings existed upon it, whose strange and unearthly remains still
gaze at us from their ancient tombs; and far more does the
duration of our race sink into insignificance compared with the
enormous periods during which worlds have been in process of
formation, and will still continue to form when our sun is extin-
guished, and our earth is either solidified in cold, or is united
with the ignit'^d rentral body of our system.
6 — 28

434

HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ

But who knows whether the first living inhabitants of the
warm sea on the young world, whom we ought perhaps to honor
as our ancestors, would not have regarded our present cooler
condition with as much horror as we look on a world without a
sun? Considering the wonderful adaptability to the conditions
of life which all organisms possess, who knows to what degree of
perfection our posterity will have been developed in seventeen
million years, and whether our fossilized bones will not perhaps
seem to them as monstrous as those of the Ichthyosaurus now
do; and whether they, adjusted for a more sensitive state of
equilibrium, will not consider the extremes of temperature,
within which we now exist, to be just as violent and destructive
as those of the older geological times appear to us ? Yea, even if
sun and earth should solidify and become motionless, who could
say what new worlds would not be ready to develop life ? Mete-
oric stones sometimes contain hydrocarbons; the light of the
heads of comets exhibits a spectrum which is most like that of
the electrical light in gases containing hydrogen and carbon. But
carbon is the element, which is characteristic of organic com-
pounds, from which living bodies are built up. Who knows
whether these bodies, which everywhere swarm through space,
do not scatter germs of life wherever there is a new world, which
has become capable of giving a dwelling-place to organic bodies.
And this life we might perhaps consider as allied to ours in its
primitive germ, however different might be the form which it
would assume in adapting itself to its new dwelling-place.

However this may be, that which most arouses our moral feel-
ings at the thought of a future, though possibly very remote, ces-
sation of all living creation on the earth is more particularly the
question whether all this life is not an aimless sport, which will
ultimately fall a prey to destruction by brute force. Under the
light of Darwin's great thought, we begin to see that, not only
pleasure and joy, but also pain, struggle, and death, are the pow-
erful means by which Nature has built up her finer and more
perfect forms of life. And we men know more particularly that
in our intelligence, our civic order, and our morality we are liv-
ing on the inheritance which our forefathers have gained for us,
and that which we acquire in the same way will, in like manner,
ennoble the life of our posterity. Thus the individual, who works
for the ideal objects of humanity, even if in a modest position,
and in a limited sphere of activity, may bear without fear the
thought that the thread of his own consciousness will one day

HERMANN LUDWIG FERDINAND VON HELMHOLTZ 435

break. But even men of such free and large order of minds as
Lessing and David Strauss could not reconcile themselves to the
thought of a final destruction of the living race, and with it of
all the fruits of all past generations.

As yet we know of no fact, which can be established by scientific
observation, which would show that the finer and complex forms
of vital motion could exist otherwise than in the dense material of
organic life; that it can propagate itself as the sound-movement
of a string can leave its originally narrow and fixed home and
diffuse itself in the air, keeping all the time its pitch, and the
most delicate shade of its color-tint; and that, when it meets
another string attuned to it, starts this again or excites a flame
ready to sing to the same tone. The flame even, which of all
processes in inanimate nature is the closest type of life, may
become extinct, but the heat which it produces continues to exist
— indestructible, imperishable, as an invisible motion, now agitat-
ing the molecules of ponderable matter, and then radiating into
boundless space as the vibration of an ether. Even there it re-
tains the characteristic peculiarities of its origin, and it reveals
its history to the inquirer who questions it by the spectroscope.
United afresh, these rays may ignite a new flame, and thus, as
it were, acquire a new bodily existence.

Just as the flame remains the same in appearance, and con-
tinues to exist with the same form and structure, although it
draws every minute fresh combustible vapor, and fresh oxygen
from the air, into the vortex of its ascending current; and just
as the wave goes on in unaltered form, and is yet being recon-
structed every moment from fresh particles of water, so also in
the living being it is not the definite mass of substance which
now constitutes the body, to which the continuance of the indi-
vidual is attached. For the material of the body, like that of the
flame, is subject to continuous and comparatively rapid change —
a change the more rapid the livelier the activity of the organs
in question. Some constituents are renewed from day to day,
some from month to month, and others only after years. That
which continues to exist as a particular individual is like the
flame and the wave — only the form of motion which continually
attracts fresh matter into its vortex and expels the old. The ob-
server with a deaf ear only recognizes the vibration of sound as
long as it is visible and can be felt, bound up with heavy mat-
ter. Are our senses, in reference to life, like the deaf ear in
this respect ?

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