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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18323-8.txt b/18323-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b73569e --- /dev/null +++ b/18323-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3547 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Model Speeches for Practise, by Grenville Kleiser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Model Speeches for Practise + +Author: Grenville Kleiser + +Release Date: May 6, 2006 [EBook #18323] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE *** + + + + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE + + +BY + +GRENVILLE KLEISER + + +_Formerly Instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity + School, Yale University. Author of "How to Speak + in Public," "Great Speeches and How to Make + Them," "Complete Guide to Public Speaking," + "How to Build Mental Power," + "Talks on Talking," etc., etc._ + + +[Illustration: Publisher's logo] + + +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY +NEW YORK AND LONDON +1920 + + +COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY + +GRENVILLE KLEISER + +[_Printed in the United States of America_] + +Published, February, 1920 + + +Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention of the +Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910 + + + + +PREFACE + + +This book contains a varied representation of successful speeches by +eminently successful speakers. They furnish, in convenient form, useful +material for study and practise. + +The student is earnestly recommended to select one speech at a time, +analyze it carefully, note its special features, practise it aloud, and +then proceed to another. In this way he will cover the principal forms +of public speaking, and enable himself to apply his knowledge to any +occasion. + +The cardinal rule is that a speaker learns to speak by speaking, hence a +careful reading and study of these speeches will do much to develop the +student's taste for correct literary and oratorical form. + + GRENVILLE KLEISER. +New York City, +August, 1919. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE +INTRODUCTION--Aims and Purposes of Speaking--_Grenville Kleiser_ 11 + +After-Dinner Speaking--_James Russell Lowell_ 29 + +England, Mother of Nations--_Ralph Waldo Emerson_ 37 + +The Age of Research--_William Ewart Gladstone_ 44 + +Address of Welcome--_Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 52 + +Good-Will to America--_Sir William Harcourt_ 65 + +The Qualities That Win--_Charles Sumner_ 71 + +The English-Speaking Race--_George William Curtis_ 88 + +Woman--_Horace Porter_ 100 + +Tribute to Herbert Spencer--_William M. Evarts_ 113 + +The Empire State--_Chauncey M. Depew_ 120 + +Men of Letters--_James Anthony Froude_ 133 + +Literature and Politics--_John Morley_ 139 + +General Sherman--_Carl Schurz_ 147 + +Oration Over Alexander Hamilton--_Gouverneur Morris_ 154 + +Eulogy of McKinley--_Grover Cleveland_ 164 + +Decoration Day--_Thomas W. Higginson_ 170 + +Faith in Mankind--_Arthur T. Hadley_ 177 + +Washington and Lincoln--_Martin W. Littleton_ 181 + +Characteristics of Washington--_William McKinley_ 187 + +Let France Be Free--_George Jacques Danton_ 193 + +Sons of Harvard--_Charles Devens_ 199 + +Wake Up, England!--_King George_ 208 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +AIMS AND PURPOSES OF SPEAKING + + +It is obvious that the style of your public speaking will depend upon +the specific purpose you have in view. If you have important truths +which you wish to make known, or a great and definite cause to serve, +you are likely to speak about it with earnestness and probably with +eloquence. + +If, however, your purpose in speaking is a selfish one--if your object +is self-exploitation, or to serve some special interest of your own--if +you regard your speaking as an irksome task, or are unduly anxious as to +what your hearers will think of you and your effort--then you are almost +sure to fail. + +On the other hand, if you have the interests of your hearers sincerely +at heart--if you really wish to render a worthy public service--if you +lose all thought of self in your heartfelt desire to serve others--then +you will have the most essential requirements of true and enduring +oratory. + + +THE NECESSITY OF A DEFINITE OBJECT + +It is of the highest importance for you to have in mind a clear +conception of the end you wish to achieve by your speaking. This purpose +should characterize all you say, so that at each step in your speech you +will feel sure of making steady progress toward the desired object. + +As a public speaker you assume serious responsibility. You are to +influence men for weal or woe. The words you speak are like so many +seeds, planted in the minds of your hearers, there to grow and multiply +according to their kind. What you say may have far-reaching effects, +hence the importance of careful forethought in the planning and +preparation of your speeches. + +_The highest aim of your public speaking is not merely to instruct or +entertain, but to influence the wills of men, to make men think as you +think, and to persuade them to act in the manner you desire._ This is a +lofty aim, when supported by a good cause, and worthy of your greatest +talents and efforts. + + +THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN SPEAKING + +The key to greatness of speech is sincerity. You must yourself be so +thoroughly imbued with the truth and desirability of what you are urging +upon others that they will be imprest by your integrity of purpose. To +have their confidence and good will is almost to win your cause. + +But you must have deep and well-grounded convictions before you can hope +to convince and influence other men. Duty, necessity, magnanimity, +innate conviction, and sincere interest in the welfare of others,--these +beget true fervor and are essential to passionate and persuasive +speaking. + +Lord Lytton emphasized the vital importance of earnest purpose in the +speaker. Referring to speech in the British Parliament he said, "Have +but fair sense and a competent knowledge of your subject, and then be +thoroughly in earnest to impress your own honest conviction upon others, +and no matter what your delivery, tho your gestures shock every rule in +Quintilian, you will command the ear and influence the debates of the +most accomplished, the most fastidious, and, take it altogether, the +noblest assembly of freemen in the world." + +Keep in mind that the purpose of your public speaking is not only to +convince but also to persuade your hearers. It is not sufficient that +they merely agree with what you say; you must persuade them also to act +as you desire. + +Hence you should aim to reach both their minds and hearts. Solid +argument, clear method, and indisputable facts are necessary for the +first purpose; vivid imagination, concrete illustration, and animated +feeling are necessary for the second. + + +THE NEED OF A KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE + +It will be of great practical value to you to have a knowledge of the +average man comprising your audience, his tastes, preferences, +prejudices, and proclivities. The more you adapt your speech to such an +average man, the more successful are you likely to be in influencing the +entire audience. + +Aim, therefore, to use words, phrases, illustrations, and arguments such +as you think the average man will readily understand. Avoid anything +which would cause confusion, distraction, or prejudice in his mind. Use +every reasonable means to win his good will and approval. + +Your speech is not a monolog, but a dialog, in which you are the +speaker, and the auditor a silent tho questioning listener. His mind is +in a constant attitude of interrogation toward you. And upon the degree +of your success in answering such silent but insistent questions will +depend the ultimate success of your speaking. + +The process of persuading the hearer depends chiefly upon first being +persuaded yourself. You may be devoid of feeling, and yet convince your +hearers; but to reach their hearts and to move them surely toward the +desired purpose, you must yourself be moved. + +Your work as a public speaker is radically different from that of the +actor or reciter. You are not impersonating some one else, nor +interpreting the thought of another. You must above all things be +natural, real, sincere and earnest. Your work is creative and +constructive. + + +THE RIGHT ATTITUDE OF A SPEAKER + +However much you may study, plan, or premeditate, there must be no +indication of conscious or studied attempt in the act of speaking to an +audience. At that time everything must be merged into your personality. + +Your earnestness in speaking arises principally from having a distinct +conception of the object aimed at and a strong desire to accomplish it. +Under these circumstances you summon to your aid all your available +power of thought and feeling. Your mental faculties are stimulated into +their fullest activity, and you bend every effort toward the purpose +before you. + +But however zealous you may feel about the truth or righteousness of the +cause you espouse, you will do well always to keep within the bounds of +moderation. You can be vigorous without violence, and enthusiastic +without extravagance. + +You must not only thoroughly know yourself and your subject, but also +your audience. You should carefully consider the best way to bring them +and yourself into unity. You may do this by making an appeal to some +principle commonly recognized and approved by men, such as patriotism, +justice, humanity, courage, duty, or righteousness. + +What Phillips Brooks said about the preacher, applies with equal truth +to other forms of public speaking: + + + "_Whatever is in the sermon must be in the preacher first; + clearness, logicalness, vivacity, earnestness, sweetness, and + light, must be personal qualities in him before they are qualities + of thought and language in what he utters to his people._" + + +After you have earnestly studied the principles of public speaking you +should plan to have regular and frequent practise in addressing actual +audiences. There are associations and societies everywhere, constantly +in quest of good speakers. There will be ample opportunities for you if +you have properly developed your speaking abilities. + +_And now to sum up some of the most essential things for you:_ + + +1. READ ALOUD EVERY DAY + +This is indispensable to your greatest progress in speech culture. +Reading aloud, properly done, compels you to pronounce the words, +instead of skimming over them as in silent reading. It gives you the +additional benefit of receiving a vocal impression of the rhythm and +structure of the composition. + +_Keep in mind the following purposes of your reading aloud:_ + +1. To improve your speaking voice. + +2. To acquire distinct enunciation. + +3. To cultivate correct pronunciation. + +4. To develop English style. + +5. To increase your stock of words. + +6. To store your memory with facts. + +7. To analyze an author's thoughts. + +8. To broaden your general knowledge. + + +2. FORM THE NOTE-BOOK HABIT + +Keep separate note-books for the subjects in which you are deeply +interested and on which you intend some time to speak in public. Write +in them promptly any valuable ideas which come to you from the four +principal sources--observation, conversation, reading, and meditation. + +You will be surprized to find how rapidly you can acquire useful data in +this way. In an emergency you can turn to the speech-material you have +accumulated and quickly solve the problem of "what to say." + +Keep the contents of your note-books in systematic order. Classify ideas +under distinct headings. When possible write the ideas down in regular +speech form. Once a week read aloud the contents of your note-books. + + +3. DAILY STUDY YOUR DICTIONARY + +Read aloud each day from your dictionary for at least five minutes, and +give special attention to the pronunciation and meaning of words. This +is one of the most useful exercises for building a large vocabulary. + +Develop the dictionary habit. Be interested in words. Study them in +their contexts. Make special lists of your own. Select special words for +special uses. Note significant words in your general reading. + +Think of words as important tools for public speaking. Choose them with +discrimination in your daily conversation. Consult your dictionary for +the meanings of words about which you are in doubt. Be an earnest +student of words. + + +4. SYSTEMATICALLY DEVELOP YOUR MENTAL POWERS + +Give some time each day to the development of a judicial mind. Learn to +think deliberately and carefully. Study causes and principles. Look +deeply into things. + +Be impartial in your examination of a subject. Study all sides of a +question or problem. Weigh the evidence with the purpose of ascertaining +the truth. + +Beware the peril of prejudice. Keep your mind wide open to receive the +facts. Look at a subject from the other man's viewpoint. Cultivate +breadth of mind. Do not let your personal interests or desires mislead +you. Insist upon securing the truth at all costs. + + +5. DAILY PRACTISE COMPOSITION + +Frequent use of the pen is essential to proficiency in speaking. Write a +little every day to form your English style. Daily exercise in writing +will rapidly develop felicity and fluency of speech. + +Test your important ideas by putting them into writing. Constantly +cultivate clearness of expression. Examine, criticize, and improve your +own compositions. + +Copy in your handwriting at least a page daily from one of the great +English stylists. Continue this exercise for a month and note the +improvement in your speech and writing. + + +6. PRACTISE IMPROMPTU SPEAKING + +At least once a day stand up, in the privacy of your room, and make an +impromptu speech of two or three minutes. Select any subject which +interests you. Aim at fluency of style rather than depth of thought. + +In these daily efforts, use the best chest voice at your command, +enunciate clearly, open your mouth well, and imagine yourself addressing +an actual audience. A month's regular practise of this exercise will +convince you of its great value. + + +7. STUDY SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC SPEAKERS + +Hear the best public speakers available to you. Observe them critically. +Ask yourself such questions as these: + +1. How does this speaker impress me? + +2. Does he proceed in the most effective manner possible? + +3. Does he convince me of the truth of his statements? + +4. Does he persuade me to act as he wishes? + +5. What are the elements of success in this speaker? + +As you faithfully apply these various suggestions, you will constantly +improve in the art of public speaking, and so learn to wield this mighty +power not simply for your personal gratification but for the inspiration +and betterment of your fellow men. + + +MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE + + + + +AFTER-DINNER SPEAKING + +BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL + + +My Lord Coleridge, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:--I confess that my +mind was a little relieved when I found that the toast to which I am to +respond rolled three gentlemen, Cerberus-like into one, and when I saw +Science pulling impatiently at the leash on my left, and Art on my +right, and that therefore the responsibility of only a third part of the +acknowledgment has fallen to me. You, my lord, have alluded to the +difficulties of after-dinner oratory. I must say that I am one of those +who feel them more keenly the more after-dinner speeches I make. There +are a great many difficulties in the way, and there are three principal +ones, I think. The first is having too much to say, so that the words, +hurrying to escape, bear down and trample out the life of each other. +The second is when, having nothing to say, we are expected to fill a +void in the minds of our hearers. And I think the third, and most +formidable, is the necessity of following a speaker who is sure to say +all the things you meant to say, and better than you, so that we are +tempted to exclaim, with the old grammarian, "Hang these fellows, who +have said all our good things before us!" + +Now the Fourth of July has several times been alluded to, and I believe +it is generally thought that on that anniversary the spirit of a certain +bird known to heraldic ornithologists--and I believe to them alone--as +the spread eagle, enters into every American's breast, and compels him, +whether he will or no, to pour forth a flood of national +self-laudation. This, I say, is the general superstition, and I hope +that a few words of mine may serve in some sort to correct it. I ask +you, if there is any other people who have confined their national +self-laudation to one day in the year. I may be allowed to make one +remark as a personal experience. Fortune had willed it that I should see +as many--perhaps more--cities and manners of men as Ulysses; and I have +observed one general fact, and that is, that the adjectival epithet +which is prefixt to all the virtues is invariably the epithet which +geographically describes the country that I am in. For instance, not to +take any real name, if I am in the kingdom of Lilliput, I hear of the +Lilliputian virtues. I hear courage, I hear common sense, and I hear +political wisdom called by that name. If I cross to the neighboring +Republic Blefusca--for since Swift's time it has become a Republic--I +hear all these virtues suddenly qualified as Blefuscan. + +I am very glad to be able to thank Lord Coleridge for having, I believe +for the first time, coupled the name of the President of the United +States with that of her Majesty on an occasion like this. I was struck, +both in what he said, and in what our distinguished guest of the evening +said, with the frequent recurrence of an adjective which is +comparatively new--I mean the word "English-speaking." We continually +hear nowadays of the "English-speaking race," of the "English-speaking +population." I think this implies, not that we are to forget, not that +it would be well for us to forget, that national emulation and that +national pride which is implied in the words "Englishman" and "American," +but the word implies that there are certain perennial and abiding +sympathies between all men of a common descent and a common language. I +am sure, my lord, that all you said with regard to the welcome which our +distinguished guest will receive in America is true. His eminent talents +as an orator, the dignified--I may say the illustrious--manner in which +he has sustained the traditions of that succession of great actors who, +from the time of Burbage to his own, have illustrated the English stage, +will be as highly appreciated there as here. + +And I am sure that I may also say that the chief magistrate of England +will be welcomed by the bar of the United States, of which I am an +unworthy member, and perhaps will be all the more warmly welcomed that +he does not come among them to practise. He will find American law +administered--and I think he will agree with me in saying ably +administered--by judges who, I am sorry to say, sit without the +traditional wig of England. I have heard since I came here friends of +mine gravely lament this as something prophetic of the decay which was +sure to follow so serious an innovation. I answered with a little story +which I remember having heard from my father. He remembered the last +clergyman in New England who still continued to wear the wig. At first +it became a singularity and at last a monstrosity; and the good doctor +concluded to leave it off. But there was one poor woman among his +parishioners who lamented this sadly, and waylaying the clergyman as he +came out of church she said, "Oh, dear doctor, I have always listened to +your sermon with the greatest edification and comfort, but now that the +wig is gone all is gone." I have thought I have seen some signs of +encouragement in the faces of my English friends after I have consoled +them with this little story. + +But I must not allow myself to indulge in any further remarks. There is +one virtue, I am sure, in after-dinner oratory, and that is brevity; and +as to that I am reminded of a story. The Lord Chief Justice has told you +what are the ingredients of after-dinner oratory. They are the joke, the +quotation, and the platitude; and the successful platitude, in my +judgment, requires a very high order of genius. I believe that I have +not given you a quotation, but I am reminded of something which I heard +when very young--the story of a Methodist clergyman in America. He was +preaching at a camp meeting, and he was preaching upon the miracle of +Joshua, and he began his sermon with this sentence: "My hearers, there +are three motions of the sun. The first is the straightforward or direct +motion of the sun; the second is the retrograde or backward motion of +the sun; and the third is the motion mentioned in our text--'the sun +stood still.'" + +Now, gentlemen, I don't know whether you see the application of the +story--I hope you do. The after-dinner orator at first begins and goes +straight forward--that is the straightforward motion of the sun. Next he +goes back and begins to repeat himself--that is the backward motion of +the sun. At last he has the good sense to bring himself to the end, and +that is the motion mentioned in our text, as the sun stood still. + + + + +ENGLAND, MOTHER OF NATIONS + +BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON + + +Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:--It is pleasant to me to meet this great and +brilliant company, and doubly pleasant to see the faces of so many +distinguished persons on this platform. But I have known all these +persons already. When I was at home, they were as near to me as they are +to you. The arguments of the League and its leader are known to all +friends of free trade. The gaieties and genius, the political, the +social, the parietal wit of "Punch" go duly every fortnight to every boy +and girl in Boston and New York. Sir, when I came to sea, I found the +"History of Europe" on the ship's cabin table, the property of the +captain;--a sort of program or play-bill to tell the seafaring New +Englander what he shall find on landing here. And as for Dombey, sir, +there is no land where paper exists to print on, where it is not found; +no man who can read, that does not read it, and, if he can not, he finds +some charitable pair of eyes that can, and hears it. + +But these things are not for me to say; these compliments tho true, +would better come from one who felt and understood these merits more. I +am not here to exchange civilities with you, but rather to speak on that +which I am sure interests these gentlemen more than their own praises; +of that which is good in holidays and working-days, the same in one +century and in another century. That which lures a solitary American in +the woods with the wish to see England, is the moral peculiarity of the +Saxon race,--its commanding sense of right and wrong,--the love and +devotion to that,--this is the imperial trait, which arms them with the +scepter of the globe. It is this which lies at the foundation of that +aristocratic character, which certainly wanders into strange vagaries, +so that its origin is often lost sight of, but which, if it should lose +this, would find itself paralyzed; and in trade, and in the mechanic's +shop, gives that honesty in performance, that thoroughness and solidity +of work, which is a national characteristic. This conscience is one +element, and the other is that loyal adhesion, that habit of friendship, +that homage of man to man, running through all classes,--the electing of +worthy persons to a certain fraternity, to acts of kindness and warm and +staunch support, from year to year, from youth to age,--which is alike +lovely and honorable to those who render and those who receive +it;--which stands in strong contrast with the superficial attachments of +other races, their excessive courtesy, and short-lived connection. + +You will think me very pedantic, gentlemen, but holiday tho it be, I +have not the smallest interest in any holiday, except as it celebrates +real and not pretended joys; and I think it just, in this time of gloom +and commercial disaster, of affliction and beggary in these districts, +that on these very accounts I speak of, you should not fail to keep your +literary anniversary. I seem to hear you say that, for all that is come +and gone, yet we will not reduce by one chaplet or one oak-leaf the +braveries of our annual feast. For I must tell you, I was given to +understand in my childhood that the British island, from which my +forefathers came, was no lotus-garden, no paradise of serene sky and +roses and music and merriment all the year round, no, but a cold, foggy, +mournful country, where nothing grew well in the open air, but robust +men and virtuous women and these of a wonderful fiber and endurance; +that their best parts were slowly revealed; their virtues did not come +out until they quarrelled; they did not strike twelve the first time; +good lovers, good haters, and you could know little about them till you +had seen them long, and little good of them till you had seen them in +action; that in prosperity they were moody and dumpish, but in adversity +they were grand. + +Is it not true, sir, that the wise ancients did not praise the ship +parting with flying colors from the port, but only that brave sailor +which came back with torn sheets and battered sides, stript of her +banners, but having ridden out the storm? And so, gentlemen, I feel in +regard to this aged England, with the possessions, honors and trophies, +and also with the infirmities of a thousand years gathering around her, +irretrievably committed as she now is to many old customs which can not +be suddenly changed; pressed upon by the transitions of trade, and new +and all incalculable modes, fabrics, arts, machines and competing +populations,--I see her not dispirited, not weak, but well remembering +that she has seen dark days before; indeed with a kind of instinct that +she sees a little better in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battle +and calamity, she has a secret vigor and a pulse like a cannon. I see +her in her old age, not decrepit, but young, and still daring to believe +in her power of endurance and expansion. Seeing this, I say, All hail! +mother of nations, mother of heroes, with strength still equal to the +time; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which the +mind and heart of mankind require in the present hour, and thus only +hospitable to the foreigner, and truly a home to the thoughtful and +generous who are born in the soil. So be it! so be it! If it be not so, +if the courage of England goes with the chances of a commercial crisis, +I will go back to the capes of Massachusetts, and my own Indian stream, +and say to my countrymen, the old race are all gone and the elasticity +and hope of mankind must henceforth remain on the Alleghany ranges, or +nowhere. + + + + +THE AGE OF RESEARCH + +BY WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE + + +Mr. Chairman, Your Royal Highness, My Lords and Gentlemen:--I think no +question can be raised as to the just claims of literature to stand upon +the list of toasts at the Royal Academy, and the sentiment is one to +which, upon any one of the numerous occasions of my attendance at your +hospitable board, I have always listened with the greatest satisfaction +until the present day arrived, when I am bound to say that that +satisfaction is extremely qualified by the arrangement less felicitous, +I think, than any which preceded it that refers to me the duty of +returning thanks for Literature. However, obedience is the principle +upon which we must proceed, and I have at least the qualification for +discharging the duty you have been pleased to place in my hands--that no +one has a deeper or more profound sense of the vital importance of the +active and constant cultivation of letters as an essential condition of +real progress and of the happiness of mankind, and here every one at +once perceives that that sisterhood of which the poet spoke, whom you +have quoted, is a real sisterhood, for literature and art are alike the +votaries of beauty. Of these votaries I may thankfully say that as +regards art I trace around me no signs of decay, and none in that +estimation in which the Academy is held, unless to be sure, in the +circumstance of your poverty of choice of one to reply to this toast. + +During the present century the artists of this country have gallantly +and nobly endeavored to maintain and to elevate their standard, and +have not perhaps in that great task always received that assistance +which could be desired from the public taste which prevails around them. +But no one can examine even superficially the works which adorn these +walls without perceiving that British art retains all its fertility of +invention, and this year as much as in any year that I can remember, +exhibits in the department of landscape, that fundamental condition of +all excellence, intimate and profound sympathy with nature. + +As regards literature one who is now beginning at any rate to descend +the hill of life naturally looks backward as well as forward, and we +must be becoming conscious that the early part of this century has +witnessed in this and other countries what will be remembered in future +times as a splendid literary age. The elder among us have lived in the +lifetime of many great men who have passed to their rest--the younger +have heard them familiarly spoken of and still have their works in their +hands as I trust they will continue to be in the hands of all +generations. I am afraid we can not hope for literature--it would be +contrary to all the experience of former times were we to hope that it +should be equally sustained at that extraordinarily high level which +belongs, speaking roughly, to the first fifty years after the peace of +1815. That was a great period--a great period in England, a great period +in Germany, a great period in France, and a great period, too, in Italy. + +As I have said, I think we can hardly hope that it should continue on a +perfect level at so high an elevation. Undoubtedly the cultivation of +literature will ever be dear to the people of this country; but we must +remember what is literature and what is not. In the first place we +should be all agreed that bookmaking is not literature. The business of +bookmaking I have no doubt may thrive and will be continued upon a +constantly extending scale from year to year. But that we may put aside. +For my own part if I am to look a little forward, what I anticipate for +the remainder of the century is an age not so much of literature +proper--not so much of great, permanent and splendid additions to those +works in which beauty is embodied as an essential condition of +production, but rather look forward to an age of research. This is an +age of great research--of great research in science, great research in +history--an age of research in all the branches of inquiry that throw +light upon the former condition whether of our race, or of the world +which it inhabits; and it may be hoped that, even if the remaining years +of the century be not so brilliant as some of its former periods, in the +production of works great in themselves, and immortal,--still they may +add largely to the knowledge of mankind; and if they make such additions +to the knowledge of mankind, they will be preparing the materials of a +new tone and of new splendors in the realm of literature. There is a +sunrise and sunset. There is a transition from the light of the sun to +the gentler light of the moon. There is a rest in nature which seems +necessary in all her great operations. And so with all the great +operations of the human mind. But do not let us despond if we seem to +see a diminished efficacy in the production of what is essentially and +immortally great. Our sun is hidden only for a moment. It is like the +day-star of Milton:-- + + + "Which anon repairs his drooping head, + And tricks his beams, and with new spangled ore, + Flames in the forehead of the morning sky." + + +I rejoice in an occasion like this which draws the attention of the +world to topics which illustrate the union of art with literature and of +literature with science, because you have a hard race to run, you have a +severe competition against the attraction of external pursuits, whether +those pursuits take the form of business or pleasure. It is given to you +to teach lessons of the utmost importance to mankind, in maintaining the +principle that no progress can be real which is not equable, which is +not proportionate, which does not develop all the faculties belonging +to our nature. If a great increase of wealth in a country takes place, +and with that increase of wealth a powerful stimulus to the invention of +mere luxury, that, if it stands alone, is not, never can be, progress. +It is only that one-sided development which is but one side of +deformity. I hope we shall have no one-sided development. One mode of +avoiding it is to teach the doctrine of that sisterhood you have +asserted to-day, and confident I am that the good wishes you have +exprest on behalf of literature will be re-echoed in behalf of art +wherever men of letters are found. + + + + +ADDRESS OF WELCOME[1] + +BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES + + +Brothers of the Association of the Alumni:--It is your misfortune and +mine that you must accept my services as your presiding officer of the +day in the place of your retiring president. I shall not be believed if +I say how unwillingly it is that for the second time I find myself in +this trying position; called upon to fill, as I best may, the place of +one whose presence and bearing, whose courtesy, whose dignity, whose +scholarship, whose standing among the distinguished children of the +university, fit him alike to guide your councils and to grace your +festivals. The name of Winthrop has been so long associated with the +State and with the college that to sit under his mild empire is like +resting beneath one of these wide-branching elms the breadth of whose +shade is only a measure of the hold its roots have taken in the soil. In +the midst of civil strife we, the children of this our common mother, +have come together in peace. And surely there never was a time when we +more needed a brief respite in some chosen place of refuge, some +unviolated sanctuary, from the cares and anxieties of our daily +existence than at this very hour. Our life has grown haggard with +excitement. The rattle of drums, the march of regiments, the gallop of +squadrons, the roar of artillery, seem to have been continually sounding +in our ears day and night, sleeping and waking, for two long years and +more. How few of us have not trembled and shuddered with fear over and +over again for those whom we love. Alas! how many that hear me have +mourned over the lost--lost to earthly sight, but immortal in our love +and their country's honor! We need a little breathing-space to rest from +our anxious thoughts, and, as we look back to the tranquil days we +passed in this still retreat, to dream of that future when in God's good +time, and after his wise purpose is fulfilled, the fair angel who has so +long left us shall lay her hand upon the leaping heart of this embattled +nation and whisper, "Peace! be still!" + +Here of all places in the world we may best hope to find the peace we +seek for. It seems as if nothing were left undisturbed in New England +except here and there an old graveyard, and these dear old College +buildings, with the trees in which they are embowered. The old State +House is filled with those that sell oxen and sheep and doves, and the +changers of money. The Hancock house, the umbilical scar of the cord +that held our city to the past, is vanishing like a dimple from the +water. + +But Massachusetts, venerable old Massachusetts, stands as firm as ever; +Hollis, this very year a centenarian, is waiting with its honest red +face in a glow of cordiality to welcome its hundredth set of inmates; +Holden Chapel, with the skulls of its Doric frieze and the unpunishable +cherub over its portals, looks serenely to the sunsets; Harvard, within +whose ancient walls we are gathered, and whose morning bell has murdered +sleep for so many generations of drowsy adolescents, is at its post, +ready to startle the new-fledged freshmen from their first uneasy +slumbers. All these venerable edifices stand as they did when we were +boys,--when our grandfathers were boys. Let not the rash hand of +innovation violate their sanctities, for the cement that knits these +walls is no vulgar mortar, but is tempered with associations and +memories which are stronger than the parts they bind together! + +We meet on this auspicious morning forgetting all our lesser +differences. As we enter these consecrated precincts, the livery of our +special tribe in creed and in politics is taken from us at the door, and +we put on the court dress of our gracious Queen's own ordering, the +academic robe, such as we wore in those bygone years scattered along the +seven last decades. We are not forgetful of the honors which our fellow +students have won since they received their college "parts,"--their +orations, dissertations, disquisitions, colloquies, and Greek dialogs. +But to-day we have no rank; we are all first scholars. The hero in his +laurels sits next to the divine rustling in the dry garlands of his +doctorate. The poet in his crown of bays, the critic, in his wreath of +ivy, clasp each other's hands, members of the same happy family. This is +the birthday feast for every one of us whose forehead has been sprinkled +from the font inscribed "_Christo et Ecclesioe_." We have no badges but +our diplomas, no distinctions but our years of graduation. This is the +republic carried into the university; all of us are born equal into this +great fraternity. + +Welcome, then, welcome, all of you, dear brothers, to this our joyous +meeting! We must, we will call it joyous, tho it comes with many +saddening thoughts. Our last triennial meeting was a festival in a +double sense, for the same day that brought us together at our family +gathering gave a new head to our ancient household of the university. As +I look to-day in vain for his stately presence and kindly smile, I am +reminded of the touching words spoken by an early president of the +university in the remembrance of a loss not unlike our own. It was at +the commencement exercises of the year 1678 that the Reverend President +Urian Oakes thus mourned for his friend Thomas Shepard, the minister of +Charlestown, an overseer of the college: "_Dici non potest quam me +perorantem, in comitiis, conspectus ejus, multo jucundissimus, recrearit +et refecerit. At non comparet hodie Shepardus in his comitiis; oculos +huc illuc torqueo; quocumque tamen inciderint, Platonem meum intanta +virorum illustrium frequentia requirunt; nusquam amicum et +pernecessarium meum in hac solenni panegyric, inter nosce Reverendos +Theologos, Academiae Curatores, reperire aut oculis vestigare possum_." +Almost two hundred years have gone by since these words were uttered by +the fourth president of the college, which I repeat as no unfitting +tribute to the memory of the twentieth, the rare and fully ripened +scholar who was suddenly ravished from us as some richly freighted +argosy that just reaches her harbor and sinks under a cloudless sky with +all her precious treasures. + +But the great conflict through which we are passing has made sorrow too +frequent a guest for us to linger on an occasion like this over every +beloved name which the day recalls to our memory. Many of the children +whom our mother had trained to arts have given the freshness of their +youth or the strength of their manhood to arms. How strangely frequent +in our recent record is the sign interpreted by the words "_E vivis +cesserunt stelligeri!_" It seems as if the red war-planet had replaced +the peaceful star, and these pages blushed like a rubric with the long +list of the martyr-children of our university. I can not speak their +eulogy, for there are no phrases in my vocabulary fit to enshrine the +memory of the Christian warrior,--of him-- + + + "Who, doomed to go in company with Pain + And Fear and Bloodshed, miserable train, + Turns his necessity to glorious gain--" + + "Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth + Forever, and to noble deeds give birth, + Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame, + And leave a dead, unprofitable name, + Finds comfort in himself and in his cause; + And while the mortal mist is gathering, draws + His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause." + + +Yet again, O brothers! this is not the hour for sorrow. Month after +month until the months became years we have cried to those who stood +upon our walls: "Watchmen, what of the night?" They have answered again +and again, "The dawn is breaking,--it will soon be day." But the night +has gathered round us darker than before. At last--glory be to God in +the highest!--at last we ask no more tidings of the watchmen, for over +both horizons east and west bursts forth in one overflowing tide of +radiance the ruddy light of victory! + +We have no parties here to-day, but is there one breast that does not +throb with joy as the banners of the conquering Republic follow her +retreating foes to the banks of the angry Potomac? Is there one heart +that does not thrill in answer to the drum-beat that rings all over the +world as the army of the west, on the morning of the nation's birth, +swarms over the silent, sullen earthworks of captured Vicksburg,--to the +reveille that calls up our Northern regiments this morning inside the +fatal abatis of Port Hudson? We are scholars, we are graduates, we are +alumni, we are a band of brothers, but beside all, above all, we are +American citizens. And now that hope dawns upon our land--nay, bursts +upon it in a flood of glory,--shall we not feel its splendors reflected +upon our peaceful gathering, peaceful in spite of those disturbances +which the strong hand of our citizen-soldiery has already strangled? + +Welcome then, thrice welcome, scholarly soldiers who have fought for +your and our rights and honor! Welcome, soldierly scholars who are ready +to fight whenever your country calls for your services! Welcome, ye who +preach courage as well as meekness, remembering that the Prince of Peace +came also bringing a sword! Welcome, ye who make and who interpret the +statutes which are meant to guard our liberties in peace, but not to aid +our foes in war! Welcome, ye whose healing ministry soothes the anguish +of the suffering and the dying with every aid of art and the tender +accents of compassion! Welcome, ye who are training the generous youths +to whom our country looks as its future guardians! Welcome, ye quiet +scholars who in your lonely studies are unconsciously shaping the +thought which law shall forge into its shield and war shall wield as +its thunder-bolt! + +And to you, Mr. President, called from one place of trust and honor to +rule over the concerns of this our ancient and venerated institution, to +you we offer our most cordial welcome with all our hopes and prayers for +your long and happy administration. + +I give you, brothers, "The association of the Alumni"; the children of +our common mother recognize the man of her choice as their new father, +and would like to hear him address a few words to his numerous family. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Delivered at an Alumni Dinner, Cambridge, July 16, 1863. + + + + +GOOD WILL TO AMERICA[2] + +BY SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT + + +Gentlemen:--Small as are the pretensions which, on any account, I can +have to present myself to the attention of this remarkable assemblage, I +have had no hesitation in answering the call which is just been made +upon me by discharging a duty which is no less gratifying to me than I +know it will be agreeable to you--that of proposing that the thanks of +this meeting be offered to the chairman for his presidence over us +to-day. Every one who admires Mr. Garrison for the qualities on account +of which we have met to do him honor on this occasion, must feel that +there is a singular appropriateness in the selection of the person who +has presided here to-day. No one can fail to perceive a striking +similarity--I might almost say a real parallelism of greatness--in the +careers of these two eminent persons. Both are men who, by the great +qualities of their minds, and the uncompromising spirit of justice which +has animated them, have signally advanced the cause of truth and +vindicated the rights of humanity. Both have been fortunate enough in +the span of their own lifetime to have seen their efforts in the +promotion of great ends crowned by triumphs as great as they could have +desired, and far greater than they could have hoped. There is no cause +with which the name of Mr. Bright has been associated which has not +sooner or later won its way to victory. + +I shall not go over the ground which has been so well dealt with by +those who have preceded me. But tho there have been many abler +interpreters of your wishes and aspirations to-day than I can hope to +be, may I be permitted to join my voice to those which have been raised +up in favor of the perpetual amity of England and America. It seems to +me that with nations, as well as with individuals, greatness of +character depends chiefly on the degree in which they are capable of +rising above thee low, narrow, paltry interests of the present, and of +looking forward with hope and with faith into the distance of a great +futurity. And where, I will ask, is the future of our race to be found? +I may extend the question--where is to be found the future of mankind? +Who that can forecast the fortunes of the ages to come will not +answer--it is in that great nation which has sprung from our loins, +which is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. The stratifications of +history are full of the skeletons of ruined kingdoms and of races that +are no more. Where are Assyria and Egypt, the civilization of Greece, +the universal dominion of Rome? They founded empires of conquest, which +have perished by the sword by which they rose. Is it to be with us as +with them? I hope not--I think not. But if the day of our decline should +arise, we shall at least have the consolation of knowing that we have +left behind us a race which shall perpetuate our name and reproduce our +greatness. Was there ever parent who had juster reason to be proud of +its offspring? Was there ever child that had more cause for gratitude to +its progenitor? From whom but us did America derive those institutions +of liberty, those instincts of government, that capacity of greatness, +which have made her what she is, and which will yet make her that which +she is destined to become? These are things which it becomes us both to +remember and to think upon. And, therefore, it is that, as our +distinguished guest, with innate modesty, has already said, this is not +a mere personal festivity--this is no occasional compliment. We see in +it a deeper and wider significance. We celebrate in it the union of two +nations. While I ask you to return your thanks to our chairman I think I +may venture also to ask of our guest a boon which he will not refuse us. +We have a great message to send, and we have here a messenger worthy to +bear it. I will ask Mr. Garrison to carry back to his home the prayer of +this assembly and of this nation that there may be forever and forever +peace and good will between England and America. For the good will of +America and England is nothing less than the evangel of liberty and of +peace. And who more worthy to preside over such a gospel than the +chairman to whom I ask you to return your thanks to-day? I beg to +propose that the thanks of the meeting be given to Mr. Bright. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] Speech at breakfast held in London in honor of Mr. Garrison, June +29, 1867. + + + + +THE QUALITIES THAT WIN + +BY CHARLES SUMNER + + +Mr. President and Brothers of New England:--For the first time in my +life I have the good fortune to enjoy this famous anniversary festival. +Tho often honored by your most tempting invitation, and longing to +celebrate the day in this goodly company of which all have heard so +much, I could never excuse myself from duties in another place. If now I +yield to well-known attractions, and journey from Washington for my +first holiday during a protracted public service, it is because all was +enhanced by the appeal of your excellent president, to whom I am bound +by the friendship of many years in Boston, in New York, and in a foreign +land. It is much to be a brother of New England, but it is more to be a +friend, and this tie I have pleasure in confessing to-night. + +It is with much doubt and humility that I venture to answer for the +Senate of the United States, and I believe the least I say on this head +will be the most prudent. But I shall be entirely safe in expressing my +doubt if there is a single Senator who would not be glad of a seat at +this generous banquet. What is the Senate? It is a component part of the +National Government. But we celebrate to-day more than any component +part of any government. We celebrate an epoch in the history of +mankind--not only never to be forgotten, but to grow in grandeur as +the world appreciates the elements of true greatness. Of mankind I +say--for the landing on Plymouth Rock, on December 22, 1620, marks the +origin of a new order of ages, which the whole human family will be +elevated. Then and there was the great beginning. + +Throughout all time, from the dawn of history, men have swarmed to found +new homes in distant lands. The Tyrians, skirting Northern Africa, stopt +at Carthage; Carthaginians dotted Spain and even the distant coasts of +Britain and Ireland; Greeks gemmed Italy and Sicily with art-loving +settlements; Rome carried multitudinous colonies with her conquering +eagles. Saxons, Danes, and Normans violently mingled with the original +Britons. And in modern times, Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Spain, France, +and England, all sent forth emigrants to people foreign shores. But in +these various expeditions, trade or war was the impelling motive. Too +often commerce and conquest moved hand in hand, and the colony was +incarnadined with blood. + +On the day we celebrate, the sun for the first time in his course looked +down upon a different scene, begun and continued under a different +inspiration. A few conscientious Englishmen, in obedience to the monitor +within, and that they might be free to worship God according to their +own sense of duty, set sail for the unknown wilds of the North American +continent. After a voyage of sixty-four days in the ship _Mayflower_, +with Liberty at the prow and Conscience at the helm, they sighted the +white sandbanks of Cape Cod, and soon thereafter in the small cabin +framed that brief compact, forever memorable, which is the first written +constitution of government in human history, and the very corner-stone +of the American Republic; and then these Pilgrims landed. + +This compact was not only foremost in time, it was also august in +character, and worthy of perpetual example. Never before had the object +of the "civil body public" been announced as "to enact, constitute, and +frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and +offices from time to time as shall be thought most meet and convenient +for the general good of the colony." How lofty! how true! Undoubtedly, +these were the grandest words of government with the largest promise of +any at that time uttered. + +If more were needed to illustrate the new epoch, it would be found in +the parting words of the venerable pastor, John Robinson, addrest to the +Pilgrims, as they were about to sail from Delfshaven--words often +quoted, yet never enough. How sweetly and beautifully he says: "And if +God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of his, be as +ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by my +ministry; but I am confident that the Lord hath more light and truth yet +to break forth out of his holy word." And then how justly the good +preacher rebukes those who close their souls to truth! "The Lutherans, +for example, can not be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw, and whatever +part of God's will he hath further imparted to Calvin, they will rather +die than embrace, and so the Calvinists stick where he left them. This +is a misery much to be lamented, for tho they were precious, shining +lights in their times, God hath not revealed his whole will to them." +Beyond the merited rebuke, here is a plain recognition of the law of +human progress little discerned at the time, which teaches the sure +advance of the human family, and opens the vista of the +ever-broadening, never-ending future on earth. + +Our Pilgrims were few and poor. The whole outfit of this historic +voyage, including £1,700 of trading stock, was only £2,400, and how +little was required for their succor appears in the experience of the +soldier Captain Miles Standish, who, being sent to England for +assistance--not military, but financial--(God save the mark!) succeeded +in borrowing--how much do you suppose?--£150 sterling. Something in the +way of help; and the historian adds, "tho at fifty per cent. interest." +So much for a valiant soldier on a financial expedition. A later agent, +Allerton, was able to borrow for the colony £200 at a reduced interest +of thirty per cent. Plainly, the money-sharks of our day may trace an +undoubted pedigree to these London merchants. But I know not if any son +of New England, opprest by exorbitant interest, will be consoled by the +thought that the Pilgrims paid the same. + +And yet this small people--so obscure and outcast in condition--so +slender in numbers and in means--so entirely unknown to the proud and +great--so absolutely without name in contemporary records--whose +departure from the Old World took little more than the breath of their +bodies--are now illustrious beyond the lot of men; and the _Mayflower_ +is immortal beyond the Grecian _Argo_, or the stately ship of any +victorious admiral. Tho this was little foreseen in their day, it is +plain now how it has come to pass. The highest greatness surviving time +and storm is that which proceeds from the soul of man. Monarchs and +cabinets, generals and admirals, with the pomp of courts and the +circumstance of war, in the gradual lapse of time disappear from sight; +but the pioneers of truth, tho poor and lowly, especially those whose +example elevates human nature and teaches the rights of man, so that +government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not +perish from the earth, such harbingers can never be forgotten, and their +renown spreads co-extensive with the cause they served. + +I know not if any whom I now have the honor of addressing have thought +to recall the great in rank and power filling the gaze of the world as +the _Mayflower_ with her company fared forth on their adventurous +voyage. The foolish James was yet on the English throne, glorying that +he had "peppered the Puritans." The morose Louis XIII, through whom +Richelieu ruled, was King of France. The imbecile Philip III swayed +Spain and the Indies. The persecuting Ferdinand the Second, tormentor of +Protestants, was Emperor of Germany. Paul V, of the House of Borghese, +was Pope of Rome. In the same princely company and all contemporaries +were Christian IV, King of Denmark, and his son Christian, Prince of +Norway; Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden; Sigmund the Third, King of +Poland; Frederick, King of Bohemia, with his wife, the unhappy Elizabeth +of England, progenitor of the House of Hanover; George William, Margrave +of Brandenburg, and ancestor of the Prussian house that has given an +emperor to Germany; Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria; Maurice, landgrave of +Hesse; Christian, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg; John Frederick, Duke +of Würtemberg and Teck; John, Count of Nassau; Henry, Duke of Lorraine; +Isabella, Infanta of Spain and ruler of the Low Countries; Maurice, +fourth Prince of Orange; Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy and ancestor of +the King of United Italy; Cosmo dé Medici, third Grand Duke of Florence; +Antonio Priuli, ninety-third Doge of Venice, just after the terrible +tragedy commemorated on the English stage as "Venice Preserved"; +Bethlehem Gabor, Prince of Unitarian Transylvania, and elected King of +Hungary, with the countenance of an African; and the Sultan Mustapha, of +Constantinople, twentieth ruler of the Turks. + +Such at that time were the crowned sovereigns of Europe, whose names +were mentioned always with awe, and whose countenances are handed down +by art, so that at this day they are visible to the curious as if they +walked these streets. Mark now the contrast. There was no artist for +our forefathers, nor are their countenances now known to men; but more +than any powerful contemporaries at whose tread the earth trembled is +their memory sacred. Pope, emperor, king, sultan, grand-duke, duke, +doge, margrave, landgrave, count--what are they all by the side of the +humble company that landed on Plymouth Rock? Theirs indeed, were the +ensigns of worldly power, but our Pilgrims had in themselves that inborn +virtue which was more than all else besides, and their landing was an +epoch. + +Who in the imposing troop of worldly grandeur is now remembered but with +indifference or contempt? If I except Gustavus Adolphus, it is because +he revealed a superior character. Confront the _Mayflower_ and the +Pilgrims with the potentates who occupied such space in the world. The +former are ascending into the firmament, there to shine forever, while +the latter have been long dropping into the darkness of oblivion, to be +brought forth only to point a moral or illustrate the fame of +contemporaries whom they regarded not. Do I err in supposing this an +illustration of the supremacy which belongs to the triumphs of the moral +nature? At first impeded or postponed, they at last prevail. Theirs is a +brightness which, breaking through all clouds, will shine forth with +ever-increasing splendor. I have often thought that if I were a +preacher, if I had the honor to occupy the pulpit so grandly filled by +my friend near me, one of my sermons should be from the text, "A little +leaven shall leaven the whole lump." Nor do I know a better illustration +of these words than the influence exerted by our Pilgrims. That small +band, with the lesson of self-sacrifice, of just and equal laws, of the +government of a majority, of unshrinking loyalty to principle, is now +leavening this whole continent, and in the fulness of time will leaven +the world. By their example, republican institutions have been +commended, and in proportion as we imitate them will these institutions +be assured. + +Liberty, which we so much covet, is not a solitary plant. Always by its +side is justice. But Justice is nothing but right applied to human +affairs. Do not forget, I entreat you, that with the highest morality is +the highest liberty. A great poet, in one of his inspired sonnets, +speaking of his priceless possession, has said, "But who loves that must +first be wise and good." Therefore do Pilgrims in their beautiful +example teach liberty, teach republican institutions, as at an earlier +day, Socrates and Plato, in their lessons of wisdom, taught liberty and +helped the idea of the republic. If republican government has thus far +failed in any experiment, as, perhaps, somewhere in Spanish America, it +is because these lessons have been wanting. There have been no Pilgrims +to teach the moral law. + +Mr. President, with these thoughts, which I imperfectly express, I +confess my obligations to the forefathers of New England, and offer to +them the homage of a grateful heart. But not in thanksgiving only would +I celebrate their memory. I would if I could make their example a +universal lesson, and stamp it upon the land. The conscience which +directed them should be the guide for our public councils. The just and +equal laws which they required should be ordained by us, and the +hospitality to truth which was their rule should be ours. Nor would I +forget their courage and stedfastness. Had they turned back or wavered, +I know not what would have been the record of this continent, but I see +clearly that a great example would have been lost. Had Columbus yielded +to his mutinous crew and returned to Spain without his great discovery; +had Washington shrunk away disheartened by British power and the snows +of New Jersey, these great instances would have been wanting for the +encouragement of men. But our Pilgrims belong to the same heroic +company, and their example is not less precious. + +Only a short time after the landing on Plymouth Rock, the great +republican poet, John Milton, wrote his "Comus," so wonderful for beauty +and truth. His nature was more refined than that of the Pilgrims, and +yet it requires little effort of imagination to catch from one of them, +or at least from their beloved pastor, the exquisite, almost angelic +words at the close-- + + + "Mortals, who would follow me, + Love Virtue; she alone is free; + She can teach ye how to climb + Higher than the sphery chime. + Or if Virtue feeble were, + Heaven itself would stoop to her." + + + + +THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING RACE + +BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS + + +Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce:--I rise with some +trepidation to respond to this toast, because we have been assured upon +high authority, altho after what we have heard this evening we can not +believe it, that the English-speaking race speaks altogether too much. +Our eloquent Minister in England recently congratulated the Mechanics' +Institute at Nottingham that it had abolished its debating club, and +said that he gladly anticipated the establishment in all great +institutions of education of a professorship of Silence. I confess that +the proposal never seemed to me so timely and wise as at this moment. +If I had only taken a high degree in silence, Mr. Chairman, how +cordially you would congratulate me and this cheerful company! + +When Mr. Phelps proceeded to say that Americans are not allowed to talk +all the time, and that our orators are turned loose upon the public only +once in four years, I was lost in admiration of the boundless sweep of +his imagination. But when he said that the result of this quadrennial +outburst was to make the country grateful that it did not come oftener, +I saw that his case required heroic treatment, and must be turned over +to Dr. Depew. + +I am sure, at least, that when our distinguished friends from England +return to their native land they will hasten to besiege His Excellency +to tell them where the Americans are kept who speak only once in four +years. And if they will but remain through the winter, they will +discover that if our orators are turned loose upon the public only once +in four years, they are turned loose in private all the rest of the +time; and if the experience and observation of our guests are as +fortunate as mine, they will learn that there are certain orators of +both branches of the English-speaking race--not one hundred miles from +me at this moment--whom the public would gladly hear, if they were +turned loose upon it every four hours. + +Wendell Phillips used to say that as soon as a Yankee baby could sit up +in his cradle, he called the nursery to order and proceeded to address +the house. If this Parliamentary instinct is irrepressible, if all the +year round we are listening to orations, speeches, lectures, sermons, +and the incessant, if not always soothing, oratory of the press, to +which His Honor the Mayor is understood to be a closely attentive +listener, we have at least the consolation of knowing that the talking +countries are the free countries, and that the English-speaking races +are the invincible legions of liberty. + +The sentiment which you have read, Mr. Chairman, describes in a few +comprehensive words the historic characteristics of the English-speaking +race. That it is the founder of commonwealths, let the miracle of empire +which we have wrought upon the Western Continent attest:--its advance +from the seaboard with the rifle and the ax, the plow and the shuttle, +the teapot and the Bible, the rocking-chair and the spelling-book, the +bath-tub and a free constitution, sweeping across the Alleghanies, +over-spreading the prairies and pushing on until the dash of the +Atlantic in their ears dies in the murmur of the Pacific; and as the +wonderful Goddess of the old mythology touched earth, flowers and fruits +answered her footfall, so in the long trail of this advancing race, it +has left clusters of happy States, teeming with a population, man by +man, more intelligent and prosperous than ever before the sun shone +upon, and each remoter camp of that triumphal march is but a further +outpost of English-speaking civilization. + +That it is the pioneer of progress, is written all over the globe to the +utmost islands of the sea, and upon every page of the history of civil +and religious and commercial freedom. Every factory that hums with +marvelous machinery, every railway and steamer, every telegraph and +telephone, the changed systems of agriculture, the endless and +universal throb and heat of magical invention, are, in their larger +part, but the expression of the genius of the race that with Watts drew +from the airiest vapor the mightiest of motive powers, with Franklin +leashed the lightning, and with Morse outfabled fairy lore. The race +that extorted from kings the charter of its political rights has won, +from the princes and powers of the air, the earth and the water, the +secret of supreme dominion, the illimitable franchise of beneficent +progress. + +That it is the stubborn defender of liberty, let our own annals answer, +for America sprang from the defense of English liberty in English +colonies, by men of English blood, who still proudly speak the English +language, cherish English traditions, and share of right, and as their +own, the ancient glory of England. + +No English-speaking people could, if it would, escape its distinctive +name, and, since Greece and Judea, no name has the same worth and honor +among men. We Americans may flout England a hundred times. We may oppose +her opinions with reason, we may think her views unsound, her policy +unwise; but from what country would the most American of Americans +prefer to have derived the characteristic impulse of American +development and civilization rather than England? What language would we +rather speak than the tongue of Shakespeare and Hampden, of the Pilgrims +and King James's version? What yachts, as a tribute to ourselves upon +their own element, would we rather outsail than English yachts? In what +national life, modes of thought, standards and estimates of character +and achievement do we find our own so perfectly reflected as in the +English House of Commons, in English counting-rooms and workshops, and +in English homes? + +No doubt the original stock has been essentially modified in the younger +branch. The American, as he looks across the sea, to what Hawthorne +happily called "Our old home," and contemplates himself, is disposed to +murmur: "Out of the eater shall come forth meat and out of the strength +shall come forth sweetness." He left England a Puritan iconoclast; he +has developed in Church and State into a constitutional reformer. He +came hither a knotted club; he has been transformed into a Damascus +blade. He seized and tamed a continent with a hand of iron; he civilizes +and controls it with a touch of velvet. No music is so sweet to his ear +as the sound of the common-school bell; no principle so dear to his +heart as the equal rights of all men; no vision so entrancing to his +hope as those rights universally secured. + +This is the Yankee; this is the younger branch; but a branch of no base +or brittle fiber, but of the tough old English oak, which has weathered +triumphantly the tempest of a thousand years. It is a noble contention +whether the younger or the elder branch has further advanced the +frontiers of liberty, but it is unquestionable that liberty, as we +understand it on both sides of the sea, is an English tradition; we +inherit it, we possess it, we transmit it, under forms peculiar to the +English race. It is as Mr. Chamberlain has said, liberty under law. It +is liberty, not license; civilization, not barbarism; it is liberty clad +in the celestial robe of law, because law is the only authoritative +expression of the will of the people, representative government, trial +by jury, habeas corpus, freedom of speech and of the press--why, Mr. +Chairman, they are the family heirlooms, the family diamonds, and they +go wherever in the wide world go the family name and language and +tradition. + +Sir, with all my heart, and, I am sure, with the hearty assent of this +great and representative company, I respond to the final aspiration of +your toast: "May this great family in all its branches ever work +together for the world's welfare." Certainly its division and alienation +would be the world's misfortune. That England and America have had sharp +and angry quarrels is undeniable. Party spirit in this country, +recalling old animosity, has always stigmatized with the English name +whatever it opposed. Every difference, every misunderstanding with +England has been ignobly turned to party account; but the two great +branches of this common race have come of age, and wherever they may +encounter a serious difficulty which must be accommodated they have but +to thrust demagogues aside, to recall the sublime words of Abraham +Lincoln, "With malice toward none, with charity for all," and in that +spirit, and in the spirit and the emotion represented in this country by +the gentlemen upon my right and my left, I make bold to say to Mr. +Chamberlain, in your name, there can be no misunderstanding which may +not be honorably and happily adjusted. For to our race, gentlemen of +both countries, is committed not only the defense, but the illustration +of constitutional liberty. + +The question is not what we did a century ago, or in the beginning of +this century, with the lights that shone around us, but what is our duty +to-day, in the light which is given to us of popular government under +the republican form in this country, and the parliamentary form in +England. + +If a sensitive public conscience, if general intelligence should not +fail to secure us from unnatural conflict, then liberty will not be +justified of her children, and the glory of the English-speaking race +will decline. I do not believe it. I believe that it is constantly +increasing, and that the colossal power which slumbers in the arms of a +kindred people will henceforth be invoked, not to drive them further +asunder, but to weld them more indissolubly together in the defense of +liberty under law. + + + + +WOMAN + +BY HORACE PORTER + + +Mr. President and Gentlemen:--When this toast was proposed to me, I +insisted that it ought to be responded to by a bachelor, by some one who +is known as a ladies' man; but in these days of female proprietorship it +is supposed that a married person is more essentially a ladies' man than +anybody else, and it was thought that only one who had the courage to +address a lady could have the courage, under these circumstances, to +address the New England Society. + +The toast, I see, is not in its usual order to-night. At public dinners +this toast is habitually placed last on the list. It seems to be a +benevolent provision of the Committee on Toasts in order to give man in +replying to Woman one chance at least in life of having the last word. +At the New England dinners, unfortunately the most fruitful subject of +remark regarding woman is not so much her appearance as her +disappearance. I know that this was remedied a few years ago, when this +grand annual gastronomic high carnival was held in the Metropolitan +Concert Hall. There, ladies were introduced into the galleries to grace +the scene by their presence; and I am sure the experiment was +sufficiently encouraging to warrant repetition, for it was beautiful to +see the descendants of the Pilgrims sitting with eyes upturned in true +Puritanic sanctity it was encouraging to see the sons of those pious +sires devoting themselves, at least for one night, to setting their +affections upon "things above." + +Woman's first home was in the Garden of Eden. There man first married +woman. Strange that the incident should have suggested to Milton the +"Paradise Lost." Man was placed in a profound sleep, a rib was taken +from his side, a woman was created from it, and she became his wife. +Evil-minded persons constantly tell us that thus man's first sleep +became his last repose. But if woman be given at times to that +contrariety of thought and perversity of mind which sometimes passeth +our understanding, it must be recollected in her favor that she was +created out of the crookedest part of man. + +The Rabbins have a different theory regarding creation. They go back to +the time when we were all monkeys. They insist that man was originally +created with a kind of Darwinian tail, and that in the process of +evolution this caudal appendage was removed and created into woman. +This might better account for those Caudle lectures which woman is in +the habit of delivering, and some color is given to this theory, from +the fact that husbands even down to the present day seem to inherit a +general disposition to leave their wives behind. + +The first woman, finding no other man in that garden except her own +husband, took to flirting even with the Devil. The race might have been +saved much tribulation if Eden had been located in some calm and +tranquil land--like Ireland. There would at least have been no snakes +there to get into the garden. Now woman in her thirst after knowledge, +showed her true female inquisitiveness in her cross-examination of the +serpent, and, in commemoration of that circumstance the serpent seems to +have been curled up and used in nearly all languages as a sign of +interrogation. Soon the domestic troubles of our first parents began. +The first woman's favorite son was killed with a club, and married women +even to this day seem to have an instinctive horror of clubs. The first +woman learned that it was Cain that raised a club. The modern woman has +learned that it is a club that raises cain. Yet, I think, I recognize +faces here to-night that I see behind the windows of Fifth Avenue clubs +of an afternoon, with their noses pressed flat against the broad plate +glass, and as woman trips along the sidewalk, I have observed that these +gentlemen appear to be more assiduously engaged than ever was a +government scientific commission, in taking observations upon the +transit of Venus. + +Before those windows passes many a face fairer than that of the +Ludovician Juno or the Venus of Medici. There is the Saxon blonde with +the deep blue eye, whose glances return love for love, whose silken +tresses rest upon her shoulders like a wealth of golden fleece, each +thread of which looks like a ray of the morning sunbeam. There is the +Latin brunette with the deep, black, piercing eye, whose jetty lashes +rest like a silken fringe upon the pearly texture of her dainty cheek, +looking like raven's wings spread out upon new-fallen snow. + +And yet the club man is not happy. As the ages roll on woman has +materially elevated herself in the scale of being. Now she stops at +nothing. She soars. She demands the co-education of sexes. She thinks +nothing of delving into the most abstruse problems of the higher +branches of analytical science. She can cipher out the exact hour of the +night when her husband ought to be home, either according to the old or +the recently adopted method of calculating time. I never knew of but +one married man who gained any decided domestic advantage by this change +in our time. He was a _habitué_ of a club situated next door to his +house. His wife was always upbraiding him for coming home too late at +night. Fortunately, when they made this change of time, they placed one +of those meridians from which our time is calculated right between the +club and his house. Every time he stept across that imaginary line it +set him back a whole hour in time. He found that he could then leave his +club at one o'clock and get home to his wife at twelve; and for the +first time in twenty years peace reigned around the hearthstone. + +Woman now revels even in the more complicated problems of mathematical +astronomy. Give a woman ten minutes and she will describe a +heliocentric parallax of the heavens. Give her twenty minutes and she +will find astronomically the longitude of a place by means of lunar +culminations. Give that same woman an hour and a half with the present +fashions, and she can not find the pocket in her dress. + +And yet man's admiration for woman never flags. He will give her half +his fortune; he will give her his whole heart; he seems always willing +to give her everything that he possesses, except his seat in a +horse-car. + +Every nation has had its heroines as well as its heroes. England, in her +wars, had a Florence Nightingale; and the soldiers in the expression of +their adoration, used to stoop and kiss the hem of her garment as she +passed. America, in her war, had a Dr. Mary Walker. Nobody ever stooped +to kiss the hem of her garment--because that was not exactly the kind +of a garment she wore. But why should man stand here and attempt to +speak for woman, when she is so abundantly equipped to speak for +herself. I know that is the case in New England; and I am reminded, by +seeing General Grant here to-night, of an incident in proof of it which +occurred when he was making that marvelous tour through New England, +just after the war. The train stopt at a station in the State of Maine. +The General was standing on the rear platform of the last car. At that +time, as you know, he had a great reputation for silence--for it was +before he had made his series of brilliant speeches before the New +England Society. They spoke of his reticence--a quality which New +Englanders admire so much--in others. Suddenly there was a commotion in +the crowd, and as it opened a large, tall, gaunt-looking woman came +rushing toward the car, out of breath. Taking her spectacles off from +the top of her head and putting them on her nose, she put her arms +akimbo, and looking up, said: "Well, I've just come down here a runnin' +nigh onto two mile, right on the clean jump, just to get a look at the +man that lets the women do all the talkin'." + +The first regular speaker of the evening (William M. Evarts) touched +upon woman, but only incidentally, only in reference to Mormonism and +that sad land of Utah, where a single death may make a dozen widows. + +A speaker at the New England dinner in Brooklyn last night (Henry Ward +Beecher) tried to prove that the Mormons came originally from New +Hampshire and Vermont. I know that a New Englander sometimes in the +course of his life marries several times; but he takes the precaution +to take his wives in their proper order of legal succession. The +difference is that he drives his team of wives tandem, while the Mormon +insists upon driving his abreast. + +But even the least serious of us, Mr. President, have some serious +moments in which to contemplate the true nobility of woman's character. +If she were created from a rib, she was made from that part which lies +nearest a man's heart. + +It has been beautifully said that man was fashioned out of the dust of +the earth while woman was created from God's own image. It is our pride +in this land that woman's honor is her own best defense; that here +female virtue is not measured by the vigilance of detective nurses; that +here woman may walk throughout the length and the breadth of this land, +through its highways and byways, uninsulted, unmolested, clothed in the +invulnerable panoply of her own woman's virtue; that even in places +where crime lurks and vice prevails in the haunts of our great cities, +and in the rude mining gulches of the West, owing to the noble efforts +of our women, and the influence of their example, there are raised, even +there, girls who are good daughters, loyal wives, and faithful mothers. +They seem to rise in those rude surroundings as grows the pond lily, +which is entangled by every species of rank growth, environed by poison, +miasma and corruption, and yet which rises in the beauty of its purity +and lifts its fair face unblushing to the sun. + +No one who has witnessed the heroism of America's daughters in the field +should fail to pay a passing tribute to their worth. I do not speak +alone of those trained Sisters of Charity, who in scenes of misery and +woe seem Heaven's chosen messengers on earth; but I would speak also of +those fair daughters who come forth from the comfortable firesides of +New England and other States, little trained to scenes of suffering, +little used to the rudeness of a life in camp, who gave their all, their +time, their health, and even life itself as a willing sacrifice in that +cause which then moved the nation's soul. As one of these, with her +graceful form, was seen moving silently through the darkened aisles of +an army hospital, as the motion of her passing dress wafted a breeze +across the face of the wounded, they felt that their parched brows had +been fanned by the wings of the angel of mercy. + +Ah! Mr. President, woman is after all a mystery. It has been well said, +that woman is the great conundrum of the nineteenth century; but if we +can not guess her, we will never give her up. + + + + +TRIBUTE TO HERBERT SPENCER + +BY WILLIAM M. EVARTS + + +Gentlemen:--We are here to-night, to show the feeling of Americans +toward our distinguished guest. As no room and no city can hold all his +friends and admirers, it was necessary that a company should be made up +by some method out of the mass, and what so good a method as that of +natural selection and the inclusion, within these walls, of the ladies? +It is a little hard upon the rational instincts and experiences of man +that we should take up the abstruse subjects of philosophy and of +evolution, of all the great topics that make up Mr. Spencer's +contribution to the learning and the wisdom of his time, at this end of +the dinner. + +The most ancient nations, even in their primitive condition, saw the +folly of this, and when one wished either to be inspired with the +thoughts of others or to be himself a diviner of the thoughts of others, +fasting was necessary, and a people from whom I think a great many +things might be learned for the good of the people of the present time, +have a maxim that will commend itself to your common-sense. They say the +continually stuffed body can not see secret things. Now, from my +personal knowledge of the men I see at these tables, they are owners of +continually stuffed bodies. I have addrest them at public dinners, on +all topics and for all purposes, and whatever sympathy they may have +shown with the divers occasions which brought them together, they come +up to this notion of continually stuffed bodies. In primitive times +they had a custom which we only under the system of differentiation +practise now at this dinner. When men wished to possess themselves of +the learning, the wisdom, the philosophy, the courage, the great traits +of any person, they immediately proceeded to eat him up as soon as he +was dead, having only this diversity in that early time that he should +be either roasted or boiled according as he was fat or thin. Now out of +that narrow compass, see how by the process of differentiation and of +multiplication of effects we have come to a dinner of a dozen courses +and wines of as many varieties; and that simple process of appropriating +the virtue and the wisdom of the great man that was brought before the +feast is now diversified into an analysis of all the men here under the +cunning management of many speakers. No doubt, preserving as we do the +identity of all these institutions it is often considered a great art, +or at least a great delight, to roast our friends and put in hot water +those against whom we have a grudge. + +Now, Mr. Spencer, we are glad to meet you here. We are glad to see you +and we are glad to have you see us. We are glad to see you, for we +recognize in the breadth of your knowledge, such knowledge as is useful +to your race, a greater comprehension than any living man has presented +to our generation. We are glad to see you, because in our judgment you +have brought to the analysis and distribution of this vast knowledge a +more penetrating intelligence and a more thorough insight than any +living man has brought even to the minor topics of his special +knowledge. In theology, in psychology, in natural science, in the +knowledge of individual man and his exposition and in the knowledge of +the world in the proper sense of society, which makes up the world, the +world worth knowing, the world worth speaking of, the world worth +planning for, the world worth working for, we acknowledge your labors as +surpassing those of any of our kind. You seem to us to carry away and +maintain in the future the same measure of fame among others that we are +told was given in the Middle Ages to Albertus Magnus, the most learned +man of those times, whose comprehension of theology, of psychology, of +natural history, of politics, of history, and of learning, comprehended +more than any man since the classic time certainly; and yet it was found +of him that his knowledge was rather an accumulation, and that he had +added no new processes and no new wealth to the learning which he had +achieved. + +Now, I have said that we are glad to have you see us. You have already +treated us to a very unique piece of work in this reception, and we are +expecting perhaps that the world may be instructed after you are safely +on the other side of the Atlantic in a more intimate and thorough manner +concerning our merits and our few faults. This faculty of laying on a +dissecting board an entire nation or an entire age and finding out all +the arteries and veins and pulsations of their life is an extension +beyond any that our own medical schools afford. You give us that +knowledge of man which is practical and useful, and whatever the claims +or the debates may be about your system or the system of those who agree +with you, and however it may be compared with other competing systems +that have preceded it, we must all agree that it is practical, that it +is benevolent, that it is serious and that it is reverent; that it aims +at the highest results in virtue; that it treats evil, not as eternal, +but as evanescent, and that it expects to arrive at what is sought +through the aid of the millennium--that condition of affairs in which +there is the highest morality and the greatest happiness. And if we can +come to that by these processes and these instructions, it matters +little to the race whether it be called scientific morality and +mathematical freedom or by another less pretentious name. You will +please fill your glasses while we propose the health of our guest, +Herbert Spencer. + + + + +THE EMPIRE STATE[3] + +MR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW + + +Mr. President and Gentlemen:--It has been my lot from a time whence I +can not remember to respond each year to this toast. When I received the +invitation from the committee, its originality and ingenuity astonished +and overwhelmed me. But there is one thing the committee took into +consideration when they invited me to this platform. This is a +Presidential year, and it becomes men not to trust themselves talking on +dangerous topics. The State of New York is eminently safe. Ever since +the present able and distinguished Governor has held his place I have +been called upon by the New England Society to respond for him. It is +probably due to that element in the New Englander that he delights in +provoking controversy. The Governor is a Democrat, and I am a +Republican. Whatever he believes in I detest; whatever he admires I +hate. The manner in which this toast is received leads me to believe +that in the New England Society his administration is unanimously +approved. Governor Robinson, if I understand correctly his views, would +rather that any other man should have been elected as Chief Magistrate +than Mr. John Kelly. Mr. Kelly, if I interpret aright his public +utterances, would prefer any other man for the Governor of New York than +Lucius Robinson, and therefore, in one of the most heated controversies +we have ever had, we elected a Governor by unanimous consent or assent +in Alonzo B. Cornell. Horace Greeley once said to me, as we were +returning from a State convention where he had been a candidate, but the +delegates had failed to nominate the fittest man for the place: "I don't +see why any man wants to be Governor of the State of New York, for there +is no one living who can name the last ten Governors on a moment's +notice." But tho there have been Governors and Governors, there is, when +the gubernatorial office is mentioned, one figure that strides down the +centuries before all the rest; that is the old Dutch Governor of New +York, with his wooden leg--Peter Stuyvesant. There have been heroines, +too, who have aroused the poetry and eloquence of all times, but none +who have about them the substantial aroma of the Dutch heroine, Anneke +Jans. + +It is within the memory of men now living when the whole of American +literature was dismissed with the sneer of the _Edinburgh Review_, "Who +reads an American book?" But out of the American wilderness a broad +avenue to the highway which has been trod by the genius of all times in +its march to fame was opened by Washington Irving, and in his footsteps +have followed the men who are read of all the world, and who will +receive the highest tributes in all times--Longfellow, and Whittier, and +Hawthorne and Prescott. + +New York is not only imperial in all those material results which +constitute and form the greatest commonwealth in this constellation of +commonwealths, but in our political system she has become the arbiter of +our national destiny. As goes New York so goes the Union, and her voice +indicates that the next President will be a man with New England blood +in his veins or a representative of New England ideas. + +And for the gentleman who will not be elected I have a Yankee story. In +the Berkshire hills there was a funeral, and as they gathered in the +little parlor there came the typical New England female, who mingles +curiosity with her sympathy, and as she glanced around the darkened room +she said to the bereaved widow, "When did you get that new eight-day +clock?" "We ain't got no new eight-day clock," was the reply. "You +ain't? What's that in the corner there?" "Why no, that's not an +eight-day clock, that's the deceased; we stood him on end, to make room +for the mourners." + +Up to within fifty years ago all roads in New England led to Boston; but +within the last fifty years every byway and highway in New England leads +to New York. New York has become the capital of New England, and within +her limits are more Yankees than in any three New England States +combined. The boy who is to-day ploughing the stony hillside in New +England, who is boarding around and teaching school, and who is to be +the future merchant-prince or great lawyer, or wise statesman, looks not +now to Boston, but to New York, as the El Dorado of his hopes. And how +generously, sons of New England, have we treated you? We have put you in +the best offices; we have made you our merchant-princes. Where is the +city or village in our State where you do not own the best houses, run +the largest manufactories, and control the principal industries? We have +several times made one of your number Governor of the State, and we have +placed you in positions where you honor us while we honor you. New +York's choice in the National Cabinet is the distinguished Secretary of +State, whose pure Yankee blood renders him none the less a most fit and +most eminent representative of the Empire State. + +But while we have done our best to satisfy the Yankee, there is one +thing we have never been able to do. We can meet his ambition and fill +his purse, but we never can satisfy his stomach. When the President +stated to-night that Plymouth Rock celebrated this anniversary on the +21st, whilst we here did so on the 22d, he did not state the true +reason. It is not as he said, a dispute about dates. The pork and beans +of Plymouth are insufficient for the cravings of the Yankee appetite, +and they chose the 21st, in order that, by the night train, they may get +to New York on the 22d, to have once a year a square meal. From 1620 +down to the opening of New York to their settlement, a constantly +increasing void was growing inside the Yankee diaphragm, and even now +the native and imported Yankee finds the best-appointed restaurant in +the world sufficient for his wants; and he has migrated to this house, +that he may annually have the sensation of sufficiency in the largest +hotel in the United States. + +My friend, Mr. Curtis, has eloquently stated, in the beginning of his +address, the Dutchman's idea of the old Puritan. He has stated, at the +close of his address, the modern opinion of the old Puritan. He was an +uncomfortable man to live with, but two hundred years off a grand +historic figure. If any one of you, gentlemen, was compelled to leave +this festive board, and go back two hundred years and live with your +ancestor of that day, eat his fare, drink his drink, and listen to his +talk, what a time would be there, my countrymen! Before the Puritan was +fitted to accomplish the work he did, with all the great opportunities +that were in him, it was necessary that he should spend two years in +Leyden and learn from the Dutch the important lesson of religious +toleration, and the other fundamental lesson, that a common school +education lies at the foundation of all civil and religious liberty. If +the Dutchman had conquered Boston, it would have been a misfortune to +this land, and to the world. It would have been like Diedrich +Knickerbocker wrestling with an electric battery. + +But when the Yankee conquered New York, his union with the Dutch formed +those sterling elements which have made the Republic what it is. Yankee +ideas prevailed in this land in the grandest contest in the Senate of +the United States which has ever taken place, or ever will, in the +victory of Nationalism over Sectionalism by the ponderous eloquence of +that great defender of the Constitution, Daniel Webster. And when +failing in the forum, Sectionalism took the field, Yankee ideas +conquered again in that historic meeting when Lee gave up his sword to +Grant. And when, in the disturbance of credit and industry which +followed, the twin heresies Expansion and Repudiation stalked abroad, +Yankee ideas conquered again in the policy of our distinguished guest, +the Secretary of the Treasury. So great a triumph has never been won by +any financial officer of the government before, as in the funding of our +national debt at four per cent., and the restoration of the national +credit, giving an impulse to our prosperity and industry that can +neither be stayed nor stopt. + +When Henry Hudson sailed up the great harbor of New York, and saw with +prophetic vision its magnificent opportunities, he could only emphasize +his thought, with true Dutch significance, in one sentence--"See here!" +When the Yankee came and settled in New York, he emphasized his coming +with another sentence--"Sit here!"--and he sat down upon the Dutchman +with such force that he squeezed him out of his cabbage-patch, and upon +it he built his warehouse and his residence. He found this city laid out +in a beautiful labyrinth of cow-patches, with the inhabitants and the +houses all standing with their gable-ends to the street, and he turned +them all to the avenue, and made New York a parallelogram of palaces; +and he has multiplied to such an extent that now he fills every nook of +our great State, and we recognize here to-night that, with no tariff, +and free trade between New England and New York, the native specimen is +an improvement upon the imported article. Gentlemen, I beg leave to say, +as a native New Yorker of many generations, that by the influence, the +hospitality, the liberal spirit, and the cosmopolitan influences of this +great State, from the unlovable Puritan of two hundred years ago you +have become the most agreeable and companionable of men. + +New York to-day, the Empire State of all the great States of the +Commonwealth, brings in through her grand avenue to the sea eighty per +cent. of all the imports, and sends forth a majority of all the exports, +of the Republic. She collects and pays four-fifths of the taxes which +carry on the government of the country. In the close competition to +secure the great Western commerce which is to-day feeding the world and +seeking an outlet along three thousand miles of coast, she holds by her +commercial prestige and enterprise more than all the ports from New +Orleans to Portland combined. Let us, whether native or adopted New +Yorkers, be true to the past, to the present, to the future, of this +commercial and financial metropolis. Let us enlarge our terminal +facilities and bring the rail and the steamship close together. Let us +do away with the burdens that make New York the dearest, and make her +the cheapest, port on the continent; and let us impress our commercial +ideas upon the national legislature, so that the navigation laws, which +have driven the merchant marine of the Republic from the seas, shall be +repealed, and the breezes of every clime shall unfurl, and the waves of +every sea reflect, the flag of the Republic. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] Speech of Chauncey M. Depew at the seventy-fourth anniversary +banquet of the New England Society in the City of New York, December 22, +1879. + + + + +MEN OF LETTERS + +BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE + + +Sir Francis Grant, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, and Gentlemen:--While +I feel most keenly the honor which you confer upon me in connecting my +name with the interests of literature, I am embarrassed, in responding, +by the nature of my subject. What is literature, and who are men of +letters? From one point of view we are the most unprofitable of +mankind--engaged mostly in blowing soap-bubbles. From another point of +view we are the most practical and energetic portion of the community. +If literature be the art of employing words skilfully in representing +facts, or thoughts, or emotions, you may see excellent specimens of it +every day in the advertisements in our newspapers. Every man who uses a +pen to convey his meaning to others--the man of science, the man of +business, the member of a learned profession--belongs to the community +of letters. Nay, he need not use his pen at all. The speeches of great +orators are among the most treasured features of any national +literature. The orations of Mr. Grattan are the text-books in the +schools of rhetoric in the United States. Mr. Bright, under this aspect +of him, holds a foremost place among the men of letters of England. + +Again, sir, every eminent man, be he what he will, be he as unbookish as +he pleases, so he is only eminent enough, so he holds a conspicuous +place in the eyes of his countrymen, potentially belongs to us, and if +not in life, then after he is gone, will be enrolled among us. The +public insist on being admitted to his history, and their curiosity will +not go unsatisfied. His letters are hunted up, his journals are sifted; +his sayings in conversation, the doggerel which he writes to his +brothers and sisters are collected, and stereotyped in print. His fate +overtakes him. He can not escape from it. We cry out, but it does not +appear that men sincerely resist the liberty which is taken with them. +We never hear of them instructing their executors to burn their papers. +They have enjoyed so much the exhibition that has been made of their +contemporaries that they consent to be sacrificed themselves. + +Again, sir, when we look for those who have been most distinguished as +men of letters, in the usual sense of the word, where do we find them? +The famous lawyer is found in his chambers, the famous artist is found +in his studio. Our foremost representatives we do not find always in +their libraries; we find them, in the first place, in the service of +their country. ("Hear! Hear!") Owen Meredith is Viceroy of India, and +all England has applauded the judgment that selected and sent him there. +The right honorable gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) who three years ago was +conducting the administration of this country with such brilliant +success was first generally known to his countrymen as a remarkable +writer. During forty years of arduous service he never wholly deserted +his original calling. He is employing an interval of temporary +retirement to become the interpreter of Homer to the English race, or to +break a lance with the most renowned theologians in defense of spiritual +liberty. + +A great author, whose life we have been all lately reading with +delight, contemplates the year 3000 as a period at which his works may +still be studied. If any man might be led reasonably to form such an +anticipation for himself by the admiration of his contemporaries, Lord +Macaulay may be acquitted of vanity. The year 3000 is far away, much +will happen between now and then; all that we can say with certainty of +the year 3000 is that it will be something extremely different from what +any one expects. I will not predict that men will then be reading Lord +Macaulay's "History of England." I will not predict that they will then +be reading "Lothair." But this I will say, that if any statesman of the +age of Augustus or the Antonines had left us a picture of patrician +society at Rome, drawn with the same skill, and with the same delicate +irony with which Mr. Disraeli has described a part of English society +in "Lothair," no relic of antiquity would now be devoured with more +avidity and interest. Thus, sir, we are an anomalous body, with very +ill-defined limits. But, such as we are, we are heartily obliged to you +for wishing us well, and I give you our most sincere thanks. + + + + +LITERATURE AND POLITICS + +BY JOHN MORLEY + + +Mr. President, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:--I +feel that I am more unworthy now than I was eight years ago to figure as +the representative of literature before this brilliant gathering of all +the most important intellectual and social interests of our time. I have +not yet been able like the Prime Minister, to go round this exhibition +and see the works of art that glorify your walls; but I am led by him to +expect that I shall see the pictures of Liberal leaders, including M. +Rochefort. I am not sure whether M. Rochefort will figure as a man of +letters or as a Liberal leader, but I can understand that his portrait +would attract the Prime Minister because M. Rochefort is a politician +who was once a Liberal leader, and who has now seen occasion to lose his +faith in Parliamentary government. Nor have I seen the picture of "The +Flowing Tide," but I shall expect to find in that picture when I do see +it a number of bathing-machines in which, not the younger generation, +but the elder generation, as I understand are waiting confidently--for +the arrival of the "Flowing Tide," and when it arrives, the elderly +gentlemen who are incarcerated in those machines will be only too +anxious for a man and a horse to come and deliver them from their +imminent peril. + +I thought that I detected in the last words of your speech, in proposing +this toast, Mr. President, an accent of gentle reproach that any one +should desert the high and pleasant ways of literature for the turmoil +and the everlasting contention of public life. I do not suppose that +there has ever been a time in which there was less of divorce between +literature and public life than the present time. There have been in the +reign of the Queen two eminent statesmen who have thrice had the +distinction of being Prime Minister, and oddly enough, one of those +statesman (Lord Derby) has left behind him a most spirited version of +Homer, while the other eminent statesman (William E. Gladstone)--happily +still among us, still examines the legends and the significance of +Homer. Then when we come to a period nearer to ourselves, and look at +those gentlemen who have in the last six years filled the office of +Minister for Ireland, we find that no fewer than three (George Otto +Trevelyan, John Morley, and Arthur Balfour) were authors of books +before they engaged in the very ticklish business of the government of +men. And one of these three Ministers for Ireland embarked upon his +literary career--which promised ample distinction--under the editorial +auspices of another of the three. We possess in one branch of the +Legislature the author of the most fascinating literary biography in our +language. We possess also another writer whose range of knowledge and of +intellectual interest is so great that he has written the most important +book upon the American Commonwealth (James Bryce). + +The first canon in literature was announced one hundred years ago by an +eminent Frenchman who said that in literature it is your business to +have preferences but no exclusions. In politics it appears to be our +business to have very stiff and unchangeable preferences, and exclusion +is one of the systematic objects of our life. In literature, according +to another canon, you must have a free and open mind and it has been +said: "Never be the prisoner of your own opinions." In politics you are +very lucky if you do not have the still harder fate--(and I think that +the gentlemen on the President's right hand will assent to that as +readily as the gentlemen who sit on his left) of being the prisoner of +other people's opinions. Of course no one can doubt for a moment that +the great achievements of literature--those permanent and vital works +which we will never let die--require a devotion as unceasing, as +patient, as inexhaustible, as the devotion that is required for the +works that adorn your walls; and we have luckily in our age--tho it may +not be a literary age--masters of prose and masters of verse. No prose +more winning has ever been written than that of Cardinal Newman; no +verse finer, more polished, more melodious has ever been written than +that of Lord Tennyson and Mr. Swinburne. + +It seems to me that one of the greatest functions of literature at this +moment is not merely to produce great works, but also to protect the +English language--that noble, that most glorious instrument--against +those hosts of invaders which I observe have in these days sprung up. I +suppose that every one here has noticed the extraordinary list of names +suggested lately in order to designate motion by electricity; that list +of names only revealed what many of us had been observing for a long +time--namely, the appalling forces that are ready at a moment's notice +to deface and deform our English tongue. These strange, fantastic, +grotesque, and weird titles open up to my prophetic vision a most +unwelcome prospect. I tremble to see the day approach--and I am not sure +that it is not approaching--when the humorists of the headlines of +American journalism shall pass current as models of conciseness, energy, +and color of style. + +Even in our social speech this invasion seems to be taking place in an +alarming degree, and I wonder what the Pilgrim Fathers of the +seventeenth century would say if they could hear their pilgrim children +of the nineteenth century who come over here, on various missions, and +among others, "On the make." This is only one of the thousand such-like +expressions which are invading the Puritan simplicity of our tongue. I +will only say that I should like, for my own part, to see in every +library and in every newspaper office that admirable passage in which +Milton--who knew so well how to handle both the great instrument of +prose and the nobler instrument of verse--declared that next to the man +who furnished courage and intrepid counsels against an enemy he placed +the man who should enlist small bands of good authors to resist that +barbarism which invades the minds and the speech of men in methods and +habits of speaking and writing. + +I thank you for having allowed me the honor of saying a word as to the +happiest of all callings and the most imperishable of all arts. + + + + +GENERAL SHERMAN + +BY CARL SCHURZ + + +Gentlemen:--The adoption by the Chamber of Commerce of these resolutions +which I have the honor to second, is no mere perfunctory proceeding. We +have been called here by a genuine impulse of the heart. To us General +Sherman was not a great man like other great men, honored and revered at +a distance. We had the proud and happy privilege of calling him one of +us. Only a few months ago, at the annual meeting of this Chamber, we saw +the familiar face of our honorary member on this platform by the side of +our President. Only a few weeks ago he sat at our banquet table, as he +had often before, in the happiest mood of conviviality, and contributed +to the enjoyment of the night with his always unassuming and always +charming speech. And as he moved among us without the slightest pomp of +self-conscious historic dignity, only with the warm and simple geniality +of his nature, it would cost us sometimes an effort of the memory to +recollect that he was the renowned captain who had marshaled mighty +armies victoriously on many a battlefield, and whose name stood, and +will forever stand, in the very foremost rank of the saviors of this +Republic, and of the great soldiers of the world's history. Indeed, no +American could have forgotten this for a moment; but the affection of +those who were so happy as to come near to him, would sometimes struggle +to outrun their veneration and gratitude. + +Death has at last conquered the hero of so many campaigns; our cities +and towns and villages are decked with flags at half-mast; the muffled +drum and the funeral cannon boom will resound over the land as his dead +body passes to the final resting-place; and the American people stand +mournfully gazing into the void left by the sudden disappearance of the +last of the greatest men brought forth by our war of regeneration--and +this last also finally become, save Abraham Lincoln alone, the most +widely beloved. He is gone; but as we of the present generation remember +it, history will tell all coming centuries the romantic story of the +famous "March to the Sea"--how, in the dark days of 1864, Sherman, +having worked his bloody way to Atlanta, then cast off all his lines of +supply and communication, and, like a bold diver into the dark unknown, +seemed to vanish with all his hosts from the eyes of the world, until +his triumphant reappearance on the shores of the ocean proclaimed to the +anxiously expecting millions, that now the final victory was no longer +doubtful, and that the Republic would surely be saved. + +Nor will history fail to record that this great general was, as a +victorious soldier, a model of republican citizenship. When he had done +his illustrious deeds, he rose step by step to the highest rank in the +army, and then, grown old, he retired. The Republic made provision for +him in modest republican style. He was satisfied. He asked for no higher +reward. Altho the splendor of his achievements, and the personal +affection for him, which every one of his soldiers carried home, made +him the most popular American of his day, and altho the most glittering +prizes were not seldom held up before his eyes, he remained untroubled +by ulterior ambition. No thought that the Republic owed him more ever +darkened his mind. No man could have spoken to him of the "ingratitude +of Republics," without meeting from him a stern rebuke. And so, content +with the consciousness of a great duty nobly done, he was happy in the +love of his fellow citizens. + +Indeed, he may truly be said to have been in his old age, not only the +most beloved, but also the happiest of Americans. Many years he lived in +the midst of posterity. His task was finished, and this he wisely +understood. His deeds had been passed upon by the judgment of history, +and irrevocably registered among the glories of his country and his age. +His generous heart envied no one, and wished every one well; and +ill-will had long ceased to pursue him. Beyond cavil his fame was +secure, and he enjoyed it as that which he had honestly earned, with a +genuine and ever fresh delight, openly avowed by the charming frankness +of his nature. He dearly loved to be esteemed and cherished by his +fellow men, and what he valued most, his waning years brought him in +ever increasing abundance. Thus he was in truth a most happy man, and +his days went down like an evening sun in a cloudless autumn sky. And +when now the American people, with that peculiar tenderness of affection +which they have long borne him, lay him in his grave, the happy ending +of his great life may soothe the pang of bereavement they feel in their +hearts at the loss of the old hero who was so dear to them, and of whom +they were and always will be so proud. His memory will ever be bright to +us all; his truest monument will be the greatness of the Republic he +served so well; and his fame will never cease to be prized by a grateful +country, as one of its most precious possessions. + + + + +ORATION OVER ALEXANDER HAMILTON[4] + +BY GOUVERNEUR MORRIS + + +My Friends:--If on this sad, this solemn occasion, I should endeavor to +move your commiseration, it would be doing injustice to that sensibility +which has been so generally and so justly manifested. Far from +attempting to excite your emotions, I must try to repress my own; and +yet, I fear, that instead of the language of a public speaker, you will +hear only the lamentations of a wailing friend. But I will struggle with +my bursting heart, to portray that heroic spirit, which has flown to +the mansions of bliss. + +Students of Columbia--he was in the ardent pursuit of knowledge in your +academic shades when the first sound of the American war called him to +the field. A young and unprotected volunteer, such was his zeal, and so +brilliant his service, that we heard his name before we knew his person. +It seemed as if God had called him suddenly into existence, that he +might assist to save a world! The penetrating eye of Washington soon +perceived the manly spirit which animated his youthful bosom. By that +excellent judge of men he was selected as an aid, and thus he became +early acquainted with, and was a principal actor in the more important +scenes of our revolution. At the siege of York he pertinaciously +insisted on, and he obtained the command of a Forlorn Hope. He stormed +the redoubt; but let it be recorded that not one single man of the enemy +perished. His gallant troops, emulating the heroism of their chief +checked the uplifted arm, and spared a foe no longer resisting. Here +closed his military career. + +Shortly after the war, your favor--no, your discernment, called him to +public office. You sent him to the convention at Philadelphia; he there +assisted in forming the constitution which is now the bond of our union, +the shield of our defense, and the source of our prosperity. In signing +the compact, he exprest his apprehension that it did not contain +sufficient means of strength for its own preservation; and that in +consequence we should share the fate of many other republics, and pass +through anarchy to despotism. We hoped better things. We confided in the +good sense of the American people; and, above all, we trusted in the +protecting providence of the Almighty. On this important subject he +never concealed his opinion. He disdained concealment. Knowing the +purity of his heart, he bore it as it were in his hand, exposing to +every passenger its inmost recesses. This generous indiscretion +subjected him to censure from misrepresentation. His speculative +opinions were treated as deliberate designs; and yet you all know how +strenuous, how unremitting were his efforts to establish and to preserve +the constitution. If, then, his opinion was wrong, pardon, O pardon, +that single error, in a life devoted to your service. + +At the time when our Government was organized, we were without funds, +tho not without resources. To call them into action, and establish order +in the finances, Washington sought for splendid talents, for extensive +information, and above all, he sought for sterling, incorruptible +integrity. All these he found in Hamilton. The system then adopted, has +been the subject of much animadversion. If it be not without a fault, +let it be remembered that nothing human is perfect. Recollect the +circumstances of the moment--recollect the conflict of opinion--and, +above all, remember that a minister of a republic must bend to the will +of the people. The administration which Washington formed was one of the +most efficient, one of the best that any country was ever blessed with. +And the result was a rapid advance in power and prosperity of which +there is no example in any other age or nation. The part which Hamilton +bore is universally known. + +His unsuspecting confidence in professions, which he believed to be +sincere, led him to trust too much to the undeserving. This exposed him +to misrepresentation. He felt himself obliged to resign. The care of a +rising family, and the narrowness of his fortune, made it a duty to +return to his profession for their support. But tho he was compelled to +abandon public life, never, no, never for a moment did he abandon the +public service. He never lost sight of your interests. I declare to you, +before that God in whose presence we are now especially assembled, that +in his most private and confidential conversations, the single objects +of discussion and consideration were your freedom and happiness. You +well remember the state of things which again called forth Washington +from his retreat to lead your armies. You know that he asked for +Hamilton to be his second in command. That venerable sage knew well the +dangerous incidents of a military profession, and he felt the hand of +time pinching life at its source. It was probable that he would soon be +removed from the scene, and that his second would succeed to the +command. He knew by experience the importance of that place--and he +thought the sword of America might safely be confided to the hand which +now lies cold in that coffin. Oh! my fellow citizens, remember this +solemn testimonial that he was not ambitious. Yet he was charged with +ambition, and, wounded by the imputation, when he laid down his command +he declared in the proud independence of his soul, that he never would +accept any office, unless in a foreign war he should be called on to +expose his life in defense of his country. This determination was +immovable. It was his fault that his opinions and his resolutions could +not be changed. Knowing his own firm purpose, he was indignant at the +charge that he sought for place or power. He was ambitious only for +glory, but he was deeply solicitous for you. For himself he feared +nothing; but he feared that bad men might, by false professions, acquire +your confidence, and abuse it to your ruin. + +Brethren of the Cincinnati--there lies our chief! Let him still be our +model. Like him, after long and faithful public services, let us +cheerfully perform the social duties of private life. Oh! he was mild +and gentle. In him there was no offense; no guile. His generous hand and +heart were open to all. + +Gentlemen of the bar--you have lost your brightest ornament. Cherish and +imitate his example. While, like him, with justifiable and laudable +zeal, you pursue the interests of your clients, remember, like him, the +eternal principle of justice. + +Fellow citizens--you have long witnessed his professional conduct, and +felt his unrivaled eloquence. You know how well he performed the duties +of a citizen--you know that he never courted your favor by adulation or +the sacrifice of his own judgment. You have seen him contending against +you, and saving your dearest interests, as it were, in spite of +yourselves. And you now feel and enjoy the benefits resulting from the +firm energy of his conduct. Bear this testimony to the memory of my +departed friend. I charge you to protect his fame. It is all he has +left--all that these poor orphan children will inherit from their +father. But, my countrymen, that fame may be a rich treasure to you +also. Let it be the test by which to examine those who solicit your +favor. Disregarding professions, view their conduct, and on a doubtful +occasion ask, "Would Hamilton have done this thing?" + +You all know how he perished. On this last scene I can not, I must not +dwell. It might excite emotions too strong for your better judgment. +Suffer not your indignation to lead to any act which might again offend +the insulted majesty of the laws. On his part, as from his lips, tho +with my voice--for his voice you will hear no more--let me entreat you +to respect yourselves. + +And now, ye ministers of the everlasting God, perform your holy office, +and commit these ashes of our departed brother to the bosom of the +grave. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] Funeral oration by Gouverneur Morris, statesman and man of affairs, +pronounced before the porch of Trinity Church, New York City, over the +body of Alexander Hamilton, just prior to the interment, July 14, 1804. + + + + +EULOGY OF McKINLEY + +BY GROVER CLEVELAND + + +To-day the grave closes over the dead body of the man but lately chosen +by the people of the United States from among their number to represent +their nationality, preserve, protect and defend their Constitution, to +faithfully execute the laws ordained for their welfare, and safely to +hold and keep the honor and integrity of the Republic. His time of +service is ended, not by the expiration of time, but by the tragedy of +assassination. He has passed from public sight, not joyously bearing the +garlands and wreaths of his countrymen's approving acclaim, but amid the +sobs and tears of a mourning nation. He has gone to his home, not the +habitation of earthly peace and quiet, bright with domestic comfort and +joy, but to the dark and narrow house appointed for all the sons of men, +there to rest until the morning light of the resurrection shall gleam in +the East. + +All our people loved their dead president. His kindly nature and lovable +traits of character and his amiable consideration for all about him will +long be in the minds and hearts of his countrymen. He loved them in +return with such patriotism and unselfishness that in the hour of their +grief and humiliation he would say to them: "It is God's will; I am +content. If there is a lesson in my life or death, let it be taught to +those who still live and have the destiny of their country in their +keeping." + +Let us, then, as our dead is buried out of our sight, seek for the +lessons and the admonitions that may be suggested by the life and death +which constitute our theme. + +First in my thoughts are the lessons to be learned from the career of +William McKinley by the young men who make up the student body of our +university. These lessons are not obscure or difficult. They teach the +value of study and mental training, but they teach more impressively +that the road to usefulness and to the only success worth having, will +be missed or lost except it is sought and kept by the light of those +qualities of heart, which it is sometimes supposed may safely be +neglected or subordinated in university surroundings. This is a great +mistake. Study and study hard, but never let the thought enter your mind +that study alone or the greatest possible accumulation of learning alone +will lead you to the heights of usefulness and success. + +The man who is universally mourned to-day achieved the highest +distinction which his great country can confer on any man, and he lived +a useful life. He was not deficient in education, but with all you will +hear of his grand career, and of his services to his country and his +fellow citizens, you will not hear that either the high place he reached +or what he accomplished was due entirely to his education. You will +instead constantly hear as accounting for his great success that he was +obedient and affectionate as a son, patriotic and faithful as a soldier, +honest and upright as a citizen, tender and devoted as a husband, and +truthful, generous, unselfish, moral and clean in every relation of +life. He never thought any of these things too weak for manliness. Make +no mistake. Here was a most distinguished man, a great man, a useful +man--who became distinguished, great and useful, because he had, and +retained unimpaired, the qualities of heart which I fear university +students sometimes feel like keeping in the background or abandoning. + +There is a most serious lesson for all of us in the tragedy of our late +president's death. The shock of it is so great that it is hard at this +time to read this lesson calmly. We can hardly fail to see, however, +behind the bloody deed of the assassin, horrible figures and faces from +which it will not do to turn away. If we are to escape further attack +upon our peace and security, we must boldly and resolutely grapple with +the monster of anarchy. It is not a thing that we can safely leave to be +dealt with by party or partizanship. Nothing can guarantee us against +its menace except the teaching and the practise of the best +citizenship, the exposure of the ends and aims of the gospel of +discontent and hatred of social order, and the brave enactment and +execution of repressive laws. + +Our universities and colleges can not refuse to join in the battle +against the tendencies of anarchy. Their help in discovering and warning +against the relationship between the vicious councils and deeds of +blood, and their unsteadying influence upon the elements of unrest, can +not fail to be of inestimable value. + +By the memory of our murdered president, let us resolve to cultivate and +preserve the qualities that made him great and useful; and let us +determine to meet the call of patriotic duty in every time of our +country's danger or need. + + + + +DECORATION DAY[5] + +BY THOMAS W. HIGGINSON + + +Friends:--We meet to-day for a purpose that has the dignity and the +tenderness of funeral rites without their sadness. It is not a new +bereavement, but one which has softened, that brings us here. We meet +not around a newly opened grave, but among those which Nature has +already decorated with the memorials of her love. Above every tomb her +daily sunshine has smiled, her tears have wept; over the humblest she +has bidden some grasses nestle, some vines creep, and the +butterfly,--ancient emblem of immortality--waves his little wings above +every sod. To Nature's signs of tenderness we add our own. Not "ashes +to ashes, dust to dust," but blossoms to blossoms, laurels to the +laureled. + +The great Civil War has passed by--its great armies were disbanded, +their tents struck, their camp-fires put out, their muster-rolls laid +away. But there is another army whose numbers no Presidential +proclamation could reduce, no general orders disband. This is their +camping-ground--these white stones are their tents--this list of names +we bear is their muster-roll--their camp-fires yet burn in our hearts. + +I remember this "Sweet Auburn" when no sacred associations made it +sweeter, and when its trees looked down on no funerals but those of the +bird and the bee. Time has enriched its memories since those days. And +especially during our great war, as the Nation seemed to grow +impoverished in men, these hills grow richer in associations, until +their multiplying wealth took in that heroic boy who fell in almost the +last battle of the war. Now that roll of honor has closed, and the work +of commemoration begun. + +Without distinction of nationality, of race, of religion, they gave +their lives to their country. Without distinction of religion, of race, +of nationality, we garland their graves to-day. The young Roman Catholic +convert who died exclaiming "Mary! pardon!" and the young Protestant +theological student, whose favorite place of study was this cemetery, +and who asked only that no words of praise might be engraven on his +stone--these bore alike the cross in their lifetime, and shall bear it +alike in flowers to-day. They gave their lives that we might remain one +Nation, and the Nation holds their memory alike in its arms. + +And so the little distinctions of rank that separated us in the service +are nothing here. Death has given the same brevet to all. The brilliant +young cavalry general who rode into his last action, with stars on his +shoulders and his death-wound on his breast, is to us no more precious +than that sergeant of sharpshooters who followed the line unarmed at +Antietam, waiting to take the rifle of some one who should die, because +his own had been stolen; or that private who did the same thing in the +same battle, leaving the hospital service to which he had been assigned. +Nature has been equally tender to the graves of all, and our love knows +no distinction. + +What a wonderful embalmer is death! We who survive grow daily older. +Since the war closed the youngest has gained some new wrinkle, the +oldest some added gray hair. A few years more and only a few tattering +figures shall represent the marching files of the Grand Army; a year or +two beyond that, and there shall flutter by the window the last empty +sleeve. But these who are here are embalmed forever in our imaginations; +they will not change; they never will seem to us less young, less fresh, +less daring, than when they sallied to their last battle. They will +always have the dew of their youth; it is we alone who shall grow old. + +And, again, what a wonderful purifier is death! These who fell beside us +varied in character; like other men, they had their strength and their +weaknesses, their merits and their faults. Yet now all stains seem +washed away; their life ceased at its climax, and the ending sanctioned +all that went before. They died for their country; that is their +record. They found their way to heaven equally short, it seems to us, +from every battle-field, and with equal readiness our love seeks them +to-day. + +"What is a victory like?" said a lady to the Duke of Wellington. "The +greatest tragedy in the world, madam, except a defeat." Even our great +war would be but a tragedy were it not for the warm feeling of +brotherhood it has left behind it, based on the hidden emotions of days +like these. The war has given peace to the nation; it has given union, +freedom, equal rights; and in addition to that, it has given to you and +me the sacred sympathy of these graves. No matter what it has cost us +individually--health or worldly fortunes--it is our reward that we can +stand to-day among these graves and yet not blush that we survive. + +The great French soldier, de Latour d'Auvergne, was the hero of many +battles, but remained by his own choice in the ranks. Napoleon gave him +a sword and the official title "The First Grenadier of France." When he +was killed, the Emperor ordered that his heart should be intrusted to +the keeping of his regiment--that his name should be called at every +roll-call, and that his next comrade should make answer, "Dead upon the +field of honor." In our memories are the names of many heroes; we +treasure all their hearts in this consecrated ground, and when the name +of each is called, we answer in flowers, "Dead upon the field of honor." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[5] Delivered at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass., Decoration +Day, May 30, 1870. + + + + +FAITH IN MANKIND[6] + +BY ARTHUR T. HADLEY + + +In order to accomplish anything great, a man must have two sides to his +greatness: a personal side and a social side. He must be upright +himself, and he must believe in the good intentions and possibilities of +others about him. + +The scholars and scientific men of the country have sometimes been +reproached with a certain indifference to the feelings and sentiments of +their fellow men. It has been said that their critical faculty is +developed more strongly than their constructive instinct; that their +brain has been nourished at the expense of their heart; that what they +have gained in breadth of vision has been outweighed by a loss of human +sympathy. + +It is for you to prove the falseness of this charge. It is for you to +show by your life and utterances that you believe in the men who are +working with you and about you. There will probably be times when this +is a hard task. If you have studied history or literature or science +aright, some things which look large to other people will look small to +you. You will frequently be called upon to give the unwelcome advice +that a desired end can not be reached by a short cut; and this may cause +some of your enthusiastic friends to lose confidence in your leadership. +There are always times when a man who is clear-headed is reproached with +being hard-hearted. But if you yourselves keep your faith in your fellow +men, these things, tho they be momentary hindrances, will in the long +run make for your power of Christian leadership. + +There was a time, not so very long ago, when the people distrusted the +guidance of scientific men in things material. They believed that they +could do their business best without advice of the theorists. When it +came to the conduct of business, scientific men and practical men eyed +each other with mutual distrust. As long as the scientific men remained +mere critics this distrust remained. When they came to take up the +practical problems of applied mechanics and physics and solve them +positively in a large way, they became the trusted leaders of modern +material development. + +It is for you to deal with the profounder problems of human life in the +same way. It is for you to prove your right to take the lead in the +political and social and spiritual development of the country, as well +as in its mechanical and material development. To do this you must take +hold of these social problems with the same positive faith with which +your fathers took hold of the problems of applied science. To the man +who believes in his fellow men, who has faith in his country, and in +whom the love of God whom he hath not seen is but an outgrowth of a love +for his fellow men whom he hath seen, the opening years of the twentieth +century are years of unrivaled promise. We already know that a man can +learn to love God by loving his fellow men. Equally true we shall find +it that a man learns to believe in God by believing in his fellow men. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[6] The concluding part of a baccalaureate address to the graduating +class of Yale University, June 27, 1909. + + + + +WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN[7] + +BY MARTIN W. LITTLETON + + +The strongest thing about the character of the two greatest men in +American history is the fact that they did not surrender to the passion +of the time. Washington withstood the French radicalism of Jefferson and +the British conservatism of Hamilton. He invited each of them into his +cabinet; he refused to allow either of them to dictate his policy. His +enemies could not terrify him by assault; his friends could not deceive +him with flattery. In this respect he resembled in marked degree the +splendid character of Lincoln. + +The single light that led Lincoln's feet along the hard highway of life +was justice; the single thought that throbbed his brain to sleep at +night was justice; the single prayer that put in whispered words the +might and meaning of his soul was justice; the single impulse that +lingered in a heart already wrung by a nation's grief was justice; in +every word that fell from him in touching speech there was the sad and +sober spirit of justice. He sat upon the storm when the nation shook +with passion. Treason, wrong, injustice, crime, graft, a thousand wrongs +in system and in single added to the burden of this melancholy spirit. +Silently, as the soul of the just makes war on sin; silently, as the +spirit of the mighty withstands the spite of wrong; silently, as the +heart of the truly brave resists the assault of the coward, this prince +of patience and peace endured the calumny of the country he died to +save. + +Lincoln blazed the way from the cabin to the crown; working away in the +silence of the woods, he heard the murmur of a storm; toiling in the +forest of flashing leaf and armored oak, he heard Lexington calling unto +Sumter, Valley Forge crying unto Gettysburg, and Yorktown shouting unto +Appomattox. Lingering before the dying fires in a humble hut, he saw +with sorrowful heart the blazing camps of Virginia, and felt the awful +stillness of slumbering armies. Beneath it all he saw the strained +muscles of the slave, the broken spirit of the serf, the bondage of +immortal souls; and beyond it all, looking through the tears that broke +from a breaking heart, he saw the widow by the empty chair, the aged +father's fruitless vigil at the gate, the daughter's dreary watch +beside the door, and the son's solemn step from boyhood to old age. And +behind this picture he saw the lonely family altar upon which was +offered the incense of tears coming from millions of broken hearts; and +looking still beyond he saw the battle-fields where silent slabs told of +the death of those who died in deathless valor. He saw the desolated +earth, where golden grain no more broke from the rich, resourceful soil, +where the bannered wheat no longer rose from the productive earth; he +saw the South with its smoking chimneys, its deserted hearthstones, its +maimed and wounded trudging with bowed heads and bent forms back to +their homes, there to want and to waste and to struggle and to build up +again; he saw the North recover itself from the awful shock of arms and +start anew to unite the arteries of commerce that had been cut by the +cruel sword of war. And with this gentle hand, and as a last act of his +sacrificial life, he dashed the awful cup of brother's blood from the +lustful lip of war and shattered the cannons' roar into nameless notes +of song. + +Then turn to the vision of Washington leaving a plantation of peace and +plenty to suffer on the blood-stained battle-field, surrendering the +dominion over the princely domain of a Virginia gentleman to accept the +privations of an unequal war--the vision of patriotism over against the +vision of greed. + +Oh, my friends, we must live so that the spirit of these men shall +settle all about our lives and deeds; so that the patriotism of their +service shall burn as a fire in the hearts of all who shall follow them. +The Constitution which came from one, the universal liberty which came +from the other, must be set in our hearts as institutions in the blood +of our race, so that this Government shall not perish until every drop +of that blood has been shed in its defense; and we shall behold the flag +of our country as the beautiful emblem of their unselfish lives, whose +red ran out of a soldier's heart, whose white was bleached by a nation's +tears, whose stars were hung there to sing together until the eternal +morning when all the world shall be free. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[7] Extract from an address on the occasion of the celebration of +Washington's Birthday by the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, New York, +February 22, 1906. + + + + +CHARACTERISTICS OF WASHINGTON[8] + +BY WILLIAM McKINLEY + + +Fellow Citizens:--There is a peculiar and tender sentiment connected +with this memorial. It expresses not only the gratitude and reverence of +the living, but is a testimonial of affection and homage from the dead. + +The comrades of Washington projected this monument. Their love inspired +it. Their contributions helped to build it. Past and present share in +its completion, and future generations will profit by its lessons. To +participate in the dedication of such a monument is a rare and precious +privilege. Every monument to Washington is a tribute to patriotism. +Every shaft and statue to his memory helps to inculcate love of country, +encourage loyalty and establish a better citizenship. God bless every +undertaking which revives patriotism and rebukes the indifferent and +lawless! A critical study of Washington's career only enhances our +estimation of his vast and varied abilities. + +As Commander-in-chief of the Colonial armies from the beginning of the +war to the proclamation of peace, as president of the convention which +framed the Constitution of the United States, and as the first President +of the United States under that Constitution, Washington has a +distinction differing from that of all other illustrious Americans. No +other name bears or can bear such a relation to the Government. Not +only by his military genius--his patience, his sagacity, his courage, +and his skill--was our national independence won, but he helped in +largest measure to draft the chart by which the Nation was guided; and +he was the first chosen by the people to put in motion the new +Government. His was not the boldness of martial display or the charm of +captivating oratory, but his calm and steady judgment won men's support +and commanded their confidence by appealing to their best and noblest +aspirations. And withal Washington was ever so modest that at no time in +his career did his personality seem in the least intrusive. He was above +the temptation of power. He spurned any suggested crown. He would have +no honor which the people did not bestow. + +An interesting fact--and one which I love to recall--is that the only +time Washington formally addrest the Constitutional Convention during +all its sessions over which he presided in this city, he appealed for a +larger representation of the people in the National House of +Representatives, and his appeal was instantly heeded. Thus was he ever +keenly watchful of the rights of the people in whose hands was the +destiny of our Government then as now. + +Masterful as were his military campaigns, his civil administration +commands equal admiration. His foresight was marvelous; his conception +of the philosophy of government, his insistence upon the necessity of +education, morality, and enlightened citizenship to the progress and +permanence of the Republic, can not be contemplated even at this period +without filling us with astonishment at the breadth of his comprehension +and the sweep of his vision. His was no narrow view of government. The +immediate present was not his sole concern, but our future good his +constant theme of study. He blazed the path of liberty. He laid the +foundation upon which we have grown from weak and scattered Colonial +governments to a united Republic whose domains and power as well as +whose liberty and freedom have become the admiration of the world. +Distance and time have not detracted from the fame and force of his +achievements or diminished the grandeur of his life and work. Great +deeds do not stop in their growth, and those of Washington will expand +in influence in all the centuries to follow. + +The bequest Washington has made to civilization is rich beyond +computation. The obligations under which he has placed mankind are +sacred and commanding. The responsibility he has left for the American +people to preserve and perfect what he accomplished is exacting and +solemn. Let us rejoice in every new evidence that the people realize +what they enjoy and cherish with affection the illustrious heroes of +Revolutionary story whose valor and sacrifices made us a nation. They +live in us, and their memory will help us keep the covenant entered into +for the maintenance of the freest Government of the earth. + +The Nation and the name of Washington are inseparable. One is linked +indissolubly with the other. Both are glorious, both triumphant. +Washington lives and will live because what he did was for the +exaltation of man, the enthronement of conscience, and the establishment +of a Government which recognizes all the governed. And so, too, will the +Nation live victorious over all obstacles, adhering to the immortal +principles which Washington taught and Lincoln sustained. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[8] Address by William McKinley, twenty-fourth President of the United +States, delivered at the unveiling of the Washington Statue, by the +Society of Cincinnati, in Philadelphia, May 15, 1897. + + + + +"LET FRANCE BE FREE!"[9] + +BY GEORGE JACQUES DANTON + + +The general considerations that have been presented to you are true; but +at this moment it is less necessary to examine the causes of the +disasters that have struck us than to apply their remedy rapidly. When +the edifice is on fire, I do not join the rascals who would steal the +furniture, I extinguish the flames. I tell you therefore you should be +convinced by the despatches of Dumouriez that you have not a moment to +spare in saving the Republic. + +Dumouriez conceived a plan which did honor to his genius. I would render +him greater justice and praise than I did recently. But three months +ago he announced to the executive power, your General Committee of +Defense, that if we were not audacious enough to invade Holland in the +middle of winter, to declare instantly against England the war which +actually we had long been making, that we would double the difficulties +of our campaign, in giving our enemies the time to deploy their forces. +Since we failed to recognize this stroke of his genius we must now +repair our faults. + +Dumouriez is not discouraged; he is in the middle of Holland, where he +will find munitions of war; to overthrow all our enemies, he wants but +Frenchmen, and France is filled with citizens. Would we be free? If we +no longer desire it, let us perish, for we have all sworn it. If we wish +it, let all march to defend our independence. Your enemies are making +their last efforts. Pitt, recognizing he has all to lose, dares spare +nothing. Take Holland, and Carthage is destroyed and England can no +longer exist but for Liberty! Let Holland be conquered to Liberty; and +even the commercial aristocracy itself, which at the moment dominates +the English people, would rise against the government which had dragged +it into this despotic war against a free people. They would overthrow +this ministry of stupidity who thought the methods of the _ancien +régime_ could smother the genius of Liberty breathing in France. This +ministry once overthrown in the interests of commerce the party of +Liberty would show itself; for it is not dead! And if you know your +duties, if your commissioners leave at once, if you extend the hand to +the strangers aspiring to destroy all forms of tyranny, France is saved +and the world is free. + +Expedite, then, your commissioners; sustain them with your energy; let +them leave this very night, this very evening. + +Let them say to the opulent classes, the aristocracy of Europe must +succumb to our efforts, and pay our debt, or you will have to pay it! +The people have nothing but blood--they lavish it! Go, then, ingrates, +and lavish your wealth! See, citizens, the fair destinies that await +you. What! you have a whole nation as a lever, its reason as your +fulcrum, and you have not yet upturned the world! To do this we need +firmness and character, and of a truth we lack it. I put to one side all +passions. They are all strangers to me save a passion for the public +good. + +In the most difficult situations, when the enemy was at the gates of +Paris, I said to those governing: "Your discussions are shameful, I can +see but the enemy. You tire me by squabbling in place of occupying +yourselves with the safety of the Republic! I repudiate you all as +traitors to our country! I place you all in the same line!" I said to +them: "What care I for my reputation! Let France be free, tho my name +were accurst! What care I that I am called 'a blood-drinker!'" Well, let +us drink the blood of the enemies of humanity, if needful; but let us +struggle, let us achieve freedom. Some fear the departure of the +commissioners may weaken one or the other section of this Convention. +Vain fears! Carry your energy everywhere. The pleasantest declaration +will be to announce to the people that the terrible debt weighing upon +them will be wrested from their enemies or that the rich will shortly +have to pay it. The national situation is cruel. The representatives of +value are no longer in equilibrium in the circulation. The day of the +workingman is lengthened beyond necessity. A great corrective measure is +necessary! Conquerors of Holland reanimate in England the Republican +party; let us advance, France, and we shall go glorified to posterity. +Achieve these grand destinies; no more debates, no more quarrels, and +the fatherland is saved. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[9] On the disasters on the frontier--delivered in convention, March 10, +1793. + + + + +SONS OF HARVARD[10] + +BY CHARLES DEVENS + + +The sons of Harvard who have served their country on field and flood, in +deep thankfulness to Almighty God, who has covered their heads in the +day of battle and permitted them to stand again in these ancient halls +and under these leafy groves, sacred to so many memories of youth and +learning, and in yet deeper thankfulness for the crowning mercy which +has been vouchsafed in the complete triumph of our arms over rebellion, +return home to-day. Educated only in the arts of peace, unlearned in all +that pertained especially to the science of war, the emergency of the +hour threw upon them the necessity of grasping the sword. + +Claiming only that they have striven to do their duty they come only to +ask their share in the common joy and happiness which our victory has +diffused and meet this imposing reception. When they remember in whose +presence they stand; that of all the great crowd of the sons of Harvard +who are here to-day there is not one who has not contributed his utmost +to the glorious consummation; that those who have been blessed with +opulence have expended with the largest and most lavish hand in +supplying the government with the sinews of war and sustaining +everywhere the distrest upon whom the woes of war fell; that those less +large in means altho not in heart have not failed to pour out most +tenderly of time and care, of affection and love, in the thousand +channels that have been opened; that the statesmen and legislators +whose wise counsels and determined spirit have brought us thus far in +safety and honor are here,--would that their task were as completely +done as ours!--yet sure I am that in their hands "the pen will not lose +by writing what the sword has won by fighting;" that the poets whose +fiery lyrics roused us as when + + + "Tyrtæus called aloud to arms," + + +and who have animated the living and celebrated the dead in the noblest +strains are here; that our orators whose burning words have so cheered +the gloom of the long controversy are here, altho withal we lament that +one voice so often heard through the long night of gloom was not +permitted to greet with us the morning. Surrounded by memories such as +his, surrounded by men such as these, we may well feel at receiving this +noble testimonial of your regard that it is rather you who are generous +in bestowing than we who are rich in deserving. Nor do we forget the +guests who honor us by their presence to-day, chief among whom we +recognize his Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, who altho he +wears the civilian's coat bears as stout a heart as beats under any +soldier's jacket, and who has sent his men by the thousands and tens of +thousands to fight in this great battle; and the late commanding general +of the Army of the Potomac under whom so many of us have fought. If the +whole and comprehensive plans of our great lieutenant-general have +marked him as the Ulysses of a holier and mightier epic than Homer ever +dreamed, in the presence of the great captain who fairly turned the tide +of the rebellion on the hills above Gettysburg, we shall not have to +look far for its Achilles. + +Yet, sir, speaking always of others as you have called on me to speak +for them, it seems to me that the record of the sons of the university +who have served in the war is not unworthy of her. In any capacity where +service was honorable or useful they have rendered it. In the +departments of science they have been conspicuous and the skill of the +engineer upon whom we so often depended was not seldom derived from the +schools of this university. In surgery they have by learning and +judgment alleviated the woes of thousands. And in the ministration of +that religion in whose name this university was founded they have not +been less devoted; not only have cheering words gone forth from their +pulpits, but they have sought the hospitals where the wounded were +dying, or like Fuller at Fredericksburg, have laid down their lives on +the field where armed hosts were contending. All these were applying the +principles of their former education to new sets of circumstances; but, +as you will remember, by far the larger portion of our number were of +the combatants of the army, and the facility they displayed in adopting +the profession of arms affords an admirable addition to the argument by +which it has been heretofore maintained that the general education of +our college was best for all who could obtain it, as affording a basis +upon which any superstructure of usefulness might be raised. Readily +mastering the tactics and detail of the profession, proving themselves +able to grapple with its highest problems, their courage and gallantry +were proverbial. + +It would be a great mistake to suppose that all that was added to our +army by such men as these was merely what it gained in physical force +and manly prowess. Our neighbors on the other side of the water, whose +attachment to monarchy is so strong that it sometimes makes them unjust +to republics, have sometimes attacked the character and discipline of +our army. Nothing could be more unjust. The federal army was noble, +self-sacrificing, devoted always, and to the discipline of that army no +men contributed more than the members of this university and men such as +they. They bore always with them the loftiest principle in the contest +and the highest honor in all their personal relations. Disorder in camp, +pillage and plunder, found in them stern and unrelenting foes. They +fought in a cause too sacred, they wore a robe too white, to be willing +to stain or sully it with such corruption. + +Mr. President I should ill do the duty you have called on me to perform +if I forgot that this ceremonial is not only a reception of those who +return, but a commemoration of those who have laid down their lives for +the service of the country. He who should have properly spoken for us, +the oldest of our graduates, altho not of our members who have fought in +this war,--Webster of the class of 1833, sealed his faith with his life +on the bloody field of the second Manassas, dying for the constitution +of which his great father was the noblest expounder. For those of us who +return to-day, whatever our perils and dangers may have been, we can not +feel that we have done enough to merit what you so generously bestow; +but for those with whom the work of this life is finished and yet who +live forever inseparably linked with the great names of the founders of +the Republic, and not them alone, but the heroes and martyrs of liberty +everywhere, we know that no honor can be too much. The voices which rang +out so loud and clear upon the charging cheer that heralded the final +assault in the hour of victory, that in the hour of disaster were so +calm and resolute as they sternly struggled to stay the slow retreat are +not silent yet. To us and to those who will come after us, they will +speak of comfort and home relinquished, of toil nobly borne, of danger +manfully encountered, of life generously surrendered and this not for +pelf or ambition, but in the spirit of the noblest self-devotion and the +most exalted patriotism. Proud as we who are here to-day have a right to +be that we are the sons of this university, and not deemed unworthy of +her when these are remembered, we may well say, "Sparta had many a +worthier son than we." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] Speech at Commemoration Exercises held at Cambridge, July 21, +1865. + + + + +WAKE UP, ENGLAND![11] + +BY KING GEORGE + + +In the name of the Queen and the other members of my family, on behalf +of the Princess and for myself, I thank you most sincerely for your +enthusiastic reception of this toast, proposed by you, my Lord Mayor, in +such kind and generous terms. Your feeling allusion to our recent long +absence from our happy family circle gives expression to that sympathy +which has been so universally extended to my dear parents, whether in +times of joy or sorrow, by the people of this country, and upon which my +dear mother felt she could ever reckon from the first days of her life +here amongst them. As to ourselves, we are deeply sensible of the great +honor done us on this occasion, and our hearts are moved by the splendid +reception which to-day has been accorded us by the authorities and +inhabitants of the City of London. And I desire to take this opportunity +to express our deepest gratitude for the sympathetic interest with which +our journey was followed by our fellow countrymen at home, and for the +warm welcome with which we were greeted on our return. You were good +enough, my Lord Mayor, to refer to his Majesty having marked our +home-coming by creating me Prince of Wales. I only hope that I may be +worthy to hold that ancient and historic title, which was borne by my +dear father for upward of fifty-nine years. + +My Lord Mayor, you have attributed to us more credit than I think we +deserve. For I feel that the debt of gratitude is not the nation's to +us, but ours to the King and Government for having made it possible for +us to carry out, with every consideration for our comfort and +convenience, a voyage unique in its character, rich in the experience +gained and in memories of warm and affectionate greetings from the many +races of his Majesty's subjects in his great dominions beyond the seas. +And here in the capital of our great Empire I would repeat how +profoundly touched and gratified we have been by the loyalty, affection +and enthusiasm which invariably characterized the welcome extended to us +throughout our long and memorable tour. It may interest you to know +that we travelled over 45,000 miles, of which 33,000 were by sea, and I +think it is a matter of which all may feel proud that, with the +exception of Port Said, we never set foot on any land where the Union +Jack did not fly. Leaving England in the middle of March, we first +touched at Gibraltar and Malta, where, as a sailor, I was proud to meet +the two great fleets of the Channel and Mediterranean. Passing through +the Suez Canal--a monument of the genius and courage of a gifted son of +the great friendly nation across the Channel--we entered at Aden the +gateway of the East. We stayed for a short time to enjoy the unrivaled +scenery of Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula, the gorgeous displays of +their native races, and to see in what happy contentment these various +peoples live and prosper under British rule. Perhaps there was something +still more striking in the fact that the Government, the commerce, and +every form of enterprise in these countries are under the leadership and +direction of but a handful of our countrymen, and to realize the high +qualities of the men who have won and kept for us that splendid +condition. Australia saw the consummation of the great mission which was +the more immediate object of our journey, and you can imagine the +feelings of pride with which I presided over the inauguration of the +first representative Assembly of the new-born Australian Commonwealth, +in whose hands are placed the destinies of the great island continent. +During a happy stay of many weeks in the different States, we were able +to gain an insight into the working of the commercial, social and +political institutions of which the country justly boasts, and to see +something of the great progress which it has already made, and of its +great capabilities, while making the acquaintance of the warm-hearted +and large-minded men to whose personality and energy so much of that +progress is due. New Zealand afforded us a striking example of a +vigorous, independent and prosperous people, living in the full +enjoyment of free and liberal institutions, and where many interesting +social experiments are being put to the test of experience. Here we had +the satisfaction of meeting large gatherings of the Maori people--once a +brave and resolute foe, now peaceful and devoted subjects of the King. +Tasmania, which in natural characteristics and climate reminded us of +the old country, was visited when our faces were at length turned +homeward. Mauritius, with its beautiful tropical scenery, its classical, +literary and naval historical associations, and its population gifted +with all the charming characteristics of old France, was our first +halting-place, on our way to receive, in Natal and Cape Colony, a +welcome remarkable in its warmth and enthusiasm, which appeared to be +accentuated by the heavy trial of the long and grievous war under which +they have suffered. To Canada was borne the message--already conveyed to +Australia and New Zealand--of the Motherland's loving appreciation of +the services rendered by her gallant sons. In a journey from ocean to +ocean, marvelous in its comfort and organization, we were enabled to see +something of its matchless scenery, the richness of its soil, the +boundless possibilities of that vast and but partly explored territory. +We saw, too, the success which has crowned the efforts to weld into one +community the peoples of its two great races. Our final halting-place +was, by the express desire of the King, Newfoundland, the oldest of our +colonies and the first visited by his Majesty in 1860. The hearty +seafaring population of this island gave us a reception the cordiality +of which is still fresh in our memories. + +If I were asked to specify any particular impressions derived from our +journey, I should unhesitatingly place before all others that of loyalty +to the Crown and of attachment to the country; and it was touching to +hear the invariable reference to home, even from the lips of those who +never had been or were never likely to be in these islands. And with +this loyalty were unmistakable evidences of the consciousness of +strength; of a true and living membership in the Empire, and of power +and readiness to share the burden and responsibility of that membership. +And were I to seek for the causes which have created and fostered this +spirit, I should venture to attribute them, in a very large degree, to +the light and example of our late beloved Sovereign. It would be +difficult to exaggerate the signs of genuine sorrow for her loss and of +love for her memory which we found among all races, even in the most +remote districts which we visited. Besides this, may we not find another +cause--the wise and just policy which in the last half century has been +continuously maintained toward our colonies? As a result of the happy +relations thus created between the mother country and her colonies we +have seen their spontaneous rally round the old flag in defense of the +nation's honor in South Africa. I had ample opportunities to form some +estimate of the military strength of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, +having reviewed upward of 60,000 troops. Abundant and excellent +material is available, requiring only that molding into shape which can +be readily effected by the hands of capable and experienced officers. I +am anxious to refer to an admirable movement which has taken strong root +in both Australia and New Zealand--and that is the cadet corps. On +several occasions I had the gratification of seeing march past several +thousand cadets, armed and equipped, and who at the expense of their +respective Governments are able to go through a military course, and in +some cases with an annual grant of practise ammunition. I will not +presume, in these days of army reform, to do more than call the +attention of my friend, the Secretary of State for War, to this +interesting fact. + +To the distinguished representatives of the commercial interests of the +Empire, whom I have the pleasure of seeing here to-day, I venture to +allude to the impression which seemed generally to prevail among their +brethren across the seas, that _the old country must wake up_ if she +intends to maintain her old position of pre-eminence in her colonial +trade against foreign competitors. No one who had the privilege of +enjoying the experiences which we have had during our tour could fail to +be struck with one all-prevailing and pressing demand: the want of +population. Even in the oldest of our colonies there were abundant signs +of this need. Boundless tracts of country yet unexplored, hidden mineral +wealth calling for development, vast expanses of virgin soil ready to +yield profitable crops to the settlers. And these can be enjoyed under +conditions of healthy living, liberal laws, free institutions, in +exchange for the over-crowded cities and the almost hopeless struggle +for existence which, alas, too often is the lot of many in the old +country. But one condition, and one only, is made by our colonial +brethren, and that is, "Send us suitable emigrants." I would go further, +and appeal to my fellow countrymen at home to prove the strength of the +attachment of the motherland to her children by sending to them only of +her best. By this means we may still further strengthen, or at all +events pass on unimpaired, that pride of race, that unity of sentiment +and purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and obligation which knit +together and alone can maintain the integrity of our Empire. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[11] A speech delivered by His Majesty King George when Prince of Wales, +at the Guildhall, London, December 5, 1901, on his return from his tour +of the Empire. With the permission of the proprietors of _The Times_ the +report which appeared in that paper has been followed. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS + + +----------------------------------------------------- +| _By Grenville Kleiser_ | +----------------------------------------------------- +|Inspiration and Ideals | +| | +|How to Build Mental Power | +| | +|How to Develop Self-Confidence in Speech and Manner| +| | +|How to Read and Declaim | +| | +|How to Speak in Public | +| | +|How to Develop Power and Personality in Speaking | +| | +|Great Speeches and How to Make Them | +| | +|How to Argue and Win | +| | +|Humorous Hits and How to Hold an Audience | +| | +|Complete Guide to Public Speaking | +| | +|Talks on Talking | +| | +|Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases | +| | +|The World's Great Sermons | +| | +|Mail Course in Public Speaking | +| | +|Mail Course in Practical English | +| | +|How to Speak Without Notes | +| | +|Something to Say: How to Say It | +| | +|Successful Methods of Public Speaking | +| | +|Model Speeches for Practise | +| | +|The Training of a Public Speaker | +| | +|How to Sell Through Speech | +| | +|Impromptu Speeches: How to Make Them | +| | +|Word-Power: How to Develop It | +| | +|Christ: The Master Speaker | +| | +|Vital English for Speakers and Writers | +----------------------------------------------------- + + +HOW TO ARGUE AND WIN + +By GRENVILLE KLEISER + +_Author of "How to Speak in Public."_ + + +Ninety-nine men in a hundred can argue to one who can argue and win. Yet +upon this faculty more than any other depends the power of the lawyer, +business man, preacher, politician, salesman, and teacher. The desire to +win is characteristic of all men. "Almost to win a case," "Almost to +close a sale," "Almost to make a convert," or "Almost to gain a vote," +brings neither satisfaction nor success. + +In this book will be found definite suggestions for training the mind in +accurate thinking and the power of clear and effective statement. It is +the outcome of many years of experience in teaching men "to think on +their feet." The aim throughout is practical, and the ultimate object a +knowledge of successful argumentation. + + +CONTENTS + + + Introductory--Truth and Facts--Clearness and Conciseness--The Use + of Words--The Syllogism--Faults--Personality--The Lawyer--The + Business Man--The Preacher--The Salesman--The Public + Speaker--Brief-Drawing--The Discipline of Debate--Tact--Cause and + Effect--Reading Habits--Questions for Solution--Specimens of + Argumentation--Golden Rules in Argumentation. + + +Note for Law Lecture _Abraham Lincoln_ +Of Truth _Francis Bacon_ +Of Practise and Habits _John Locke_ +Improving the Memory _Isaac Watts_ + + +_12mo, Cloth. $1.50, Net; by mail, $1.65_ + +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers + +NEW YORK AND LONDON + + * * * * * + +How to Develop + +Self-Confidence + +in Speech and Manner + +By GRENVILLE KLEISER + +_Author of "How to Speak in Public"; "How to Develop Power and +Personality in Speaking," etc._ + + +The purpose of this book is to inspire in men lofty ideals. It is +particularly for those who daily defraud themselves because of doubt, +fearthought, and foolish timidity. + +Thousands of persons are held in physical and mental bondage, owing to +lack of self-confidence. Distrusting themselves, they live a life of +limited effort, and at last pass on without having realized more than a +small part of their rich possessions. It is believed that this book will +be of substantial service to those who wish to rise above mediocrity, +and who feel within them something of their divine inheritance. It is +commended with confidence to every ambitious man. + + +_CONTENTS_ + + + Preliminary Steps--Building the Will--The Cure of + Self-Consciousness--The Power of Right Thinking--Sources of + Inspiration--Concentration--Physical Basis--Finding + Yourself--General Habits--The Man and the Manner--The Discouraged + Man--Daily Steps in Self-Culture--Imagination and + Initiative--Positive and Negative Thought--The Speaking + Voice--Confidence in Business--Confidence in Society--Confidence in + Public Speaking--Toward the Heights--Memory Passages that Build + Confidence. + + +_12mo, Cloth. $1.50, Net; by mail, $1.65_ + +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers + +NEW YORK AND LONDON + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Model Speeches for Practise, by Grenville Kleiser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE *** + +***** This file should be named 18323-8.txt or 18323-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/2/18323/ + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Model Speeches for Practise + +Author: Grenville Kleiser + +Release Date: May 6, 2006 [EBook #18323] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE *** + + + + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<h1>MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>GRENVILLE KLEISER</h2> + +<p class='center'><i>Formerly Instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity</i><br /> +<i>School, Yale University. Author of "How to Speak</i><br /> +<i>in Public," "Great Speeches and How to Make</i><br /> +<i>Them," "Complete Guide to Public Speak-</i><br /> +<i>ing," "How to Build Mental Power,"</i><br /> +<i>"Talks on Talking," etc., etc.</i></p> + +<p class='tbrk'> </p> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/002.png" width='150' height='139' alt="Publisher's logo" /></p> + +<p class='tbrk'> </p> + +<h3>FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY</h3> +<h4>NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />1920</h4> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span></p> +<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1920, <span class="smcap">by</span></h4> + +<h3>GRENVILLE KLEISER</h3> + +<h4>[<i>Printed in the United States of America</i>]</h4> + +<h4>Published, February, 1920</h4> + +<p class='tbrk'> </p> + +<h4>Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention of the +Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910</h4> + +<hr /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="index"> +<ul> +<li><a href="#PREFACE">Preface</a></li> +<li><a href="#INTRODUCTION"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></a>—Aims and Purposes of Speaking—<i>Grenville Kleiser</i></li> +<li><a href="#AFTER-DINNER_SPEAKING">After-Dinner Speaking</a>—<i>James Russell Lowell</i></li> +<li><a href="#ENGLAND_MOTHER_OF_NATIONS">England, Mother of Nations</a>—<i>Ralph Waldo Emerson</i></li> +<li><a href="#THE_AGE_OF_RESEARCH">The Age of Research</a>—<i>William Ewart Gladstone</i></li> +<li><a href="#ADDRESS_OF_WELCOME1">Address of Welcome</a>—<i>Oliver Wendell Holmes</i></li> +<li><a href="#GOOD_WILL_TO_AMERICA2">Good-Will to America</a>—<i>Sir William Harcourt</i></li> +<li><a href="#THE_QUALITIES_THAT_WIN">The Qualities That Win</a>—<i>Charles Sumner</i></li> +<li><a href="#THE_ENGLISH-SPEAKING_RACE">The English-Speaking Race</a>—<i>George William Curtis</i></li> +<li><a href="#WOMAN">Woman</a>—<i>Horace Porter</i></li> +<li><a href="#TRIBUTE_TO_HERBERT_SPENCER">Tribute to Herbert Spencer</a>—<i>William M. Evarts</i></li> +<li><a href="#THE_EMPIRE_STATE3">The Empire State</a>—<i>Chauncey M. Depew</i></li> +<li><a href="#MEN_OF_LETTERS">Men of Letters</a>—<i>James Anthony Froude</i></li> +<li><a href="#LITERATURE_AND_POLITICS">Literature and Politics</a>—<i>John Morley</i></li> +<li><a href="#GENERAL_SHERMAN">General Sherman</a>—<i>Carl Schurz</i></li> +<li><a href="#ORATION_OVER_ALEXANDER_HAMILTON4">Oration Over Alexander Hamilton</a>—<i>Gouverneur Morris</i></li> +<li><a href="#EULOGY_OF_McKINLEY">Eulogy of McKinley</a>—<i>Grover Cleveland</i></li> +<li><a href="#DECORATION_DAY5">Decoration Day</a>—<i>Thomas W. Higginson</i></li> +<li><a href="#FAITH_IN_MANKIND6">Faith in Mankind</a>—<i>Arthur T. Hadley</i></li> +<li><a href="#WASHINGTON_AND_LINCOLN7">Washington and Lincoln</a>—<i>Martin W. Littleton</i></li> +<li><a href="#CHARACTERISTICS_OF_WASHINGTON8">Characteristics of Washington</a>—<i>William McKinley</i></li> +<li><a href="#LET_FRANCE_BE_FREE9">Let France Be Free</a>—<i>George Jacques Danton</i></li> +<li><a href="#SONS_OF_HARVARD10">Sons of Harvard</a>—<i>Charles Devens</i></li> +<li><a href="#WAKE_UP_ENGLAND11">Wake Up, England!</a>—<i>King George</i></li> +<li><a href="#ADVERTISEMENTS">Advertisements</a></li> +</ul> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>This book contains a varied representation of successful speeches by +eminently successful speakers. They furnish, in convenient form, useful +material for study and practise.</p> + +<p>The student is earnestly recommended to select one speech at a time, +analyze it carefully, note its special features, practise it aloud, and +then proceed to another. In this way he will cover the principal forms +of public speaking, and enable himself to apply his knowledge to any +occasion.</p> + +<p>The cardinal rule is that a speaker learns to speak by speaking, hence a +careful reading and study of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> speeches will do much to develop the +student's taste for correct literary and oratorical form.</p> + +<p class='right'><span class="smcap">Grenville Kleiser.</span></p> + +<p>New York City,<br />August, 1919.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<h4>AIMS AND PURPOSES OF SPEAKING</h4> + +<p>It is obvious that the style of your public speaking will depend upon +the specific purpose you have in view. If you have important truths +which you wish to make known, or a great and definite cause to serve, +you are likely to speak about it with earnestness and probably with +eloquence.</p> + +<p>If, however, your purpose in speaking is a selfish one—if your object +is self-exploitation, or to serve some special interest of your own—if +you regard your speaking as an irksome task, or are unduly anxious as to +what your hearers will think of you and your effort—then you are almost +sure to fail.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the other hand, if you have the interests of your hearers sincerely +at heart—if you really wish to render a worthy public service—if you +lose all thought of self in your heartfelt desire to serve others—then +you will have the most essential requirements of true and enduring +oratory.</p> + +<h4>THE NECESSITY OF A DEFINITE OBJECT</h4> + +<p>It is of the highest importance for you to have in mind a clear +conception of the end you wish to achieve by your speaking. This purpose +should characterize all you say, so that at each step in your speech you +will feel sure of making steady progress toward the desired object.</p> + +<p>As a public speaker you assume serious responsibility. You are to +influence men for weal or woe. The words<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> you speak are like so many +seeds, planted in the minds of your hearers, there to grow and multiply +according to their kind. What you say may have far-reaching effects, +hence the importance of careful forethought in the planning and +preparation of your speeches.</p> + +<p><i>The highest aim of your public speaking is not merely to instruct or +entertain, but to influence the wills of men, to make men think as you +think, and to persuade them to act in the manner you desire.</i> This is a +lofty aim, when supported by a good cause, and worthy of your greatest +talents and efforts.</p> + +<h4>THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN SPEAKING</h4> + +<p>The key to greatness of speech is sincerity. You must yourself be so +thoroughly imbued with the truth and desirability of what you are urging +upon others that they will be imprest by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> your integrity of purpose. To +have their confidence and good will is almost to win your cause.</p> + +<p>But you must have deep and well-grounded convictions before you can hope +to convince and influence other men. Duty, necessity, magnanimity, +innate conviction, and sincere interest in the welfare of others,—these +beget true fervor and are essential to passionate and persuasive +speaking.</p> + +<p>Lord Lytton emphasized the vital importance of earnest purpose in the +speaker. Referring to speech in the British Parliament he said, "Have +but fair sense and a competent knowledge of your subject, and then be +thoroughly in earnest to impress your own honest conviction upon others, +and no matter what your delivery, tho your gestures shock every rule in +Quintilian, you will command the ear and influence the de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>bates of the +most accomplished, the most fastidious, and, take it altogether, the +noblest assembly of freemen in the world."</p> + +<p>Keep in mind that the purpose of your public speaking is not only to +convince but also to persuade your hearers. It is not sufficient that +they merely agree with what you say; you must persuade them also to act +as you desire.</p> + +<p>Hence you should aim to reach both their minds and hearts. Solid +argument, clear method, and indisputable facts are necessary for the +first purpose; vivid imagination, concrete illustration, and animated +feeling are necessary for the second.</p> + +<h4>THE NEED OF A KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE</h4> + +<p>It will be of great practical value to you to have a knowledge of the +average<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> man comprising your audience, his tastes, preferences, +prejudices, and proclivities. The more you adapt your speech to such an +average man, the more successful are you likely to be in influencing the +entire audience.</p> + +<p>Aim, therefore, to use words, phrases, illustrations, and arguments such +as you think the average man will readily understand. Avoid anything +which would cause confusion, distraction, or prejudice in his mind. Use +every reasonable means to win his good will and approval.</p> + +<p>Your speech is not a monolog, but a dialog, in which you are the +speaker, and the auditor a silent tho questioning listener. His mind is +in a constant attitude of interrogation toward you. And upon the degree +of your success in answering such silent but insistent questions will +depend the ultimate success of your speaking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>The process of persuading the hearer depends chiefly upon first being +persuaded yourself. You may be devoid of feeling, and yet convince your +hearers; but to reach their hearts and to move them surely toward the +desired purpose, you must yourself be moved.</p> + +<p>Your work as a public speaker is radically different from that of the +actor or reciter. You are not impersonating some one else, nor +interpreting the thought of another. You must above all things be +natural, real, sincere and earnest. Your work is creative and +constructive.</p> + +<h4>THE RIGHT ATTITUDE OF A SPEAKER</h4> + +<p>However much you may study, plan, or premeditate, there must be no +indication of conscious or studied attempt in the act of speaking to an +audience. At that time everything must be merged into your personality.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> + +<p>Your earnestness in speaking arises principally from having a distinct +conception of the object aimed at and a strong desire to accomplish it. +Under these circumstances you summon to your aid all your available +power of thought and feeling. Your mental faculties are stimulated into +their fullest activity, and you bend every effort toward the purpose +before you.</p> + +<p>But however zealous you may feel about the truth or righteousness of the +cause you espouse, you will do well always to keep within the bounds of +moderation. You can be vigorous without violence, and enthusiastic +without extravagance.</p> + +<p>You must not only thoroughly know yourself and your subject, but also +your audience. You should carefully consider the best way to bring them +and yourself into unity. You may do this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> by making an appeal to some +principle commonly recognized and approved by men, such as patriotism, +justice, humanity, courage, duty, or righteousness.</p> + +<p>What Phillips Brooks said about the preacher, applies with equal truth +to other forms of public speaking:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<i>Whatever is in the sermon must be in the preacher first; +clearness, logicalness, vivacity, earnestness, sweetness, and +light, must be personal qualities in him before they are qualities +of thought and language in what he utters to his people.</i>"</p></blockquote> + +<p>After you have earnestly studied the principles of public speaking you +should plan to have regular and frequent practise in addressing actual +audiences. There are associations and societies everywhere, constantly +in quest of good speakers. There will be ample oppor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>tunities for you if +you have properly developed your speaking abilities.</p> + +<p><i>And now to sum up some of the most essential things for you:</i></p> + + +<h4>1. READ ALOUD EVERY DAY</h4> + +<p>This is indispensable to your greatest progress in speech culture. +Reading aloud, properly done, compels you to pronounce the words, +instead of skimming over them as in silent reading. It gives you the +additional benefit of receiving a vocal impression of the rhythm and +structure of the composition.</p> + +<p><i>Keep in mind the following purposes of your reading aloud:</i></p> + +<p>1. To improve your speaking voice.</p> + +<p>2. To acquire distinct enunciation.</p> + +<p>3. To cultivate correct pronunciation.</p> + +<p>4. To develop English style.</p> + +<p>5. To increase your stock of words.</p> + +<p>6. To store your memory with facts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>7. To analyze an author's thoughts.</p> + +<p>8. To broaden your general knowledge.</p> + +<h4>2. FORM THE NOTE-BOOK HABIT</h4> + +<p>Keep separate note-books for the subjects in which you are deeply +interested and on which you intend some time to speak in public. Write +in them promptly any valuable ideas which come to you from the four +principal sources—observation, conversation, reading, and meditation.</p> + +<p>You will be surprized to find how rapidly you can acquire useful data in +this way. In an emergency you can turn to the speech-material you have +accumulated and quickly solve the problem of "what to say."</p> + +<p>Keep the contents of your note-books in systematic order. Classify ideas +under distinct headings. When possible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> write the ideas down in regular +speech form. Once a week read aloud the contents of your note-books.</p> + +<h4>3. DAILY STUDY YOUR DICTIONARY</h4> + +<p>Read aloud each day from your dictionary for at least five minutes, and +give special attention to the pronunciation and meaning of words. This +is one of the most useful exercises for building a large vocabulary.</p> + +<p>Develop the dictionary habit. Be interested in words. Study them in +their contexts. Make special lists of your own. Select special words for +special uses. Note significant words in your general reading.</p> + +<p>Think of words as important tools for public speaking. Choose them with +discrimination in your daily conversation. Consult your dictionary for +the mean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>ings of words about which you are in doubt. Be an earnest +student of words.</p> + +<h4>4. SYSTEMATICALLY DEVELOP YOUR MENTAL POWERS</h4> + +<p>Give some time each day to the development of a judicial mind. Learn to +think deliberately and carefully. Study causes and principles. Look +deeply into things.</p> + +<p>Be impartial in your examination of a subject. Study all sides of a +question or problem. Weigh the evidence with the purpose of ascertaining +the truth.</p> + +<p>Beware the peril of prejudice. Keep your mind wide open to receive the +facts. Look at a subject from the other man's viewpoint. Cultivate +breadth of mind. Do not let your personal interests or desires mislead +you. Insist upon securing the truth at all costs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<h4>5. DAILY PRACTISE COMPOSITION</h4> + +<p>Frequent use of the pen is essential to proficiency in speaking. Write a +little every day to form your English style. Daily exercise in writing +will rapidly develop felicity and fluency of speech.</p> + +<p>Test your important ideas by putting them into writing. Constantly +cultivate clearness of expression. Examine, criticize, and improve your +own compositions.</p> + +<p>Copy in your handwriting at least a page daily from one of the great +English stylists. Continue this exercise for a month and note the +improvement in your speech and writing.</p> + +<h4>6. PRACTISE IMPROMPTU SPEAKING</h4> + +<p>At least once a day stand up, in the privacy of your room, and make an +impromptu speech of two or three minutes. Select any subject which +interests you.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> Aim at fluency of style rather than depth of thought.</p> + +<p>In these daily efforts, use the best chest voice at your command, +enunciate clearly, open your mouth well, and imagine yourself addressing +an actual audience. A month's regular practise of this exercise will +convince you of its great value.</p> + +<h4>7. STUDY SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC SPEAKERS</h4> + +<p>Hear the best public speakers available to you. Observe them critically. +Ask yourself such questions as these:</p> + +<p>1. How does this speaker impress me?</p> + +<p>2. Does he proceed in the most effective manner possible?</p> + +<p>3. Does he convince me of the truth of his statements?</p> + +<p>4. Does he persuade me to act as he wishes?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>5. What are the elements of success in this speaker?</p> + +<p>As you faithfully apply these various suggestions, you will constantly +improve in the art of public speaking, and so learn to wield this mighty +power not simply for your personal gratification but for the inspiration +and betterment of your fellow men.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> +<h2>MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE</h2> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="AFTER-DINNER_SPEAKING" id="AFTER-DINNER_SPEAKING"></a>AFTER-DINNER SPEAKING</h2> + +<h4>BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL</h4> + +<p>My Lord Coleridge, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:—I confess that my +mind was a little relieved when I found that the toast to which I am to +respond rolled three gentlemen, Cerberus-like into one, and when I saw +Science pulling impatiently at the leash on my left, and Art on my +right, and that therefore the responsibility of only a third part of the +acknowledgment has fallen to me. You, my lord, have alluded to the +difficulties of after-dinner oratory. I must say that I am one of those +who feel them more keenly the more after-dinner speeches I make. There +are a great many difficulties in the way, and there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> are three principal +ones, I think. The first is having too much to say, so that the words, +hurrying to escape, bear down and trample out the life of each other. +The second is when, having nothing to say, we are expected to fill a +void in the minds of our hearers. And I think the third, and most +formidable, is the necessity of following a speaker who is sure to say +all the things you meant to say, and better than you, so that we are +tempted to exclaim, with the old grammarian, "Hang these fellows, who +have said all our good things before us!"</p> + +<p>Now the Fourth of July has several times been alluded to, and I believe +it is generally thought that on that anniversary the spirit of a certain +bird known to heraldic ornithologists—and I believe to them alone—as +the spread eagle, enters into every American's breast, and compels him, +whether he will or no, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> pour forth a flood of national +self-laudation. This, I say, is the general superstition, and I hope +that a few words of mine may serve in some sort to correct it. I ask +you, if there is any other people who have confined their national +self-laudation to one day in the year. I may be allowed to make one +remark as a personal experience. Fortune had willed it that I should see +as many—perhaps more—cities and manners of men as Ulysses; and I have +observed one general fact, and that is, that the adjectival epithet +which is prefixt to all the virtues is invariably the epithet which +geographically describes the country that I am in. For instance, not to +take any real name, if I am in the kingdom of Lilliput, I hear of the +Lilliputian virtues. I hear courage, I hear common sense, and I hear +political wisdom called by that name. If I cross to the neigh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>boring +Republic Blefusca—for since Swift's time it has become a Republic—I +hear all these virtues suddenly qualified as Blefuscan.</p> + +<p>I am very glad to be able to thank Lord Coleridge for having, I believe +for the first time, coupled the name of the President of the United +States with that of her Majesty on an occasion like this. I was struck, +both in what he said, and in what our distinguished guest of the evening +said, with the frequent recurrence of an adjective which is +comparatively new—I mean the word "English-speaking." We continually +hear nowadays of the "English-speaking race," of the "English-speaking +population." I think this implies, not that we are to forget, not that +it would be well for us to forget, that national emulation and that +national pride which is implied in the words "Englishman" and "Ameri<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>can," +but the word implies that there are certain perennial and abiding +sympathies between all men of a common descent and a common language. I +am sure, my lord, that all you said with regard to the welcome which our +distinguished guest will receive in America is true. His eminent talents +as an orator, the dignified—I may say the illustrious—manner in which +he has sustained the traditions of that succession of great actors who, +from the time of Burbage to his own, have illustrated the English stage, +will be as highly appreciated there as here.</p> + +<p>And I am sure that I may also say that the chief magistrate of England +will be welcomed by the bar of the United States, of which I am an +unworthy member, and perhaps will be all the more warmly welcomed that +he does not come among them to practise. He will find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> American law +administered—and I think he will agree with me in saying ably +administered—by judges who, I am sorry to say, sit without the +traditional wig of England. I have heard since I came here friends of +mine gravely lament this as something prophetic of the decay which was +sure to follow so serious an innovation. I answered with a little story +which I remember having heard from my father. He remembered the last +clergyman in New England who still continued to wear the wig. At first +it became a singularity and at last a monstrosity; and the good doctor +concluded to leave it off. But there was one poor woman among his +parishioners who lamented this sadly, and waylaying the clergyman as he +came out of church she said, "Oh, dear doctor, I have always listened to +your sermon with the greatest edification and comfort, but now that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +wig is gone all is gone." I have thought I have seen some signs of +encouragement in the faces of my English friends after I have consoled +them with this little story.</p> + +<p>But I must not allow myself to indulge in any further remarks. There is +one virtue, I am sure, in after-dinner oratory, and that is brevity; and +as to that I am reminded of a story. The Lord Chief Justice has told you +what are the ingredients of after-dinner oratory. They are the joke, the +quotation, and the platitude; and the successful platitude, in my +judgment, requires a very high order of genius. I believe that I have +not given you a quotation, but I am reminded of something which I heard +when very young—the story of a Methodist clergyman in America. He was +preaching at a camp meeting, and he was preaching upon the miracle of +Joshua, and he be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>gan his sermon with this sentence: "My hearers, there +are three motions of the sun. The first is the straightforward or direct +motion of the sun; the second is the retrograde or backward motion of +the sun; and the third is the motion mentioned in our text—'the sun +stood still.'"</p> + +<p>Now, gentlemen, I don't know whether you see the application of the +story—I hope you do. The after-dinner orator at first begins and goes +straight forward—that is the straightforward motion of the sun. Next he +goes back and begins to repeat himself—that is the backward motion of +the sun. At last he has the good sense to bring himself to the end, and +that is the motion mentioned in our text, as the sun stood still.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ENGLAND_MOTHER_OF_NATIONS" id="ENGLAND_MOTHER_OF_NATIONS"></a>ENGLAND, MOTHER OF NATIONS</h2> + +<h4>BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON</h4> + +<p>Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:—It is pleasant to me to meet this great and +brilliant company, and doubly pleasant to see the faces of so many +distinguished persons on this platform. But I have known all these +persons already. When I was at home, they were as near to me as they are +to you. The arguments of the League and its leader are known to all +friends of free trade. The gaieties and genius, the political, the +social, the parietal wit of "Punch" go duly every fortnight to every boy +and girl in Boston and New York. Sir, when I came to sea, I found the +"History of Europe"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> on the ship's cabin table, the property of the +captain;—a sort of program or play-bill to tell the seafaring New +Englander what he shall find on landing here. And as for Dombey, sir, +there is no land where paper exists to print on, where it is not found; +no man who can read, that does not read it, and, if he can not, he finds +some charitable pair of eyes that can, and hears it.</p> + +<p>But these things are not for me to say; these compliments tho true, +would better come from one who felt and understood these merits more. I +am not here to exchange civilities with you, but rather to speak on that +which I am sure interests these gentlemen more than their own praises; +of that which is good in holidays and working-days, the same in one +century and in another century. That which lures a solitary American in +the woods with the wish to see Eng<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>land, is the moral peculiarity of the +Saxon race,—its commanding sense of right and wrong,—the love and +devotion to that,—this is the imperial trait, which arms them with the +scepter of the globe. It is this which lies at the foundation of that +aristocratic character, which certainly wanders into strange vagaries, +so that its origin is often lost sight of, but which, if it should lose +this, would find itself paralyzed; and in trade, and in the mechanic's +shop, gives that honesty in performance, that thoroughness and solidity +of work, which is a national characteristic. This conscience is one +element, and the other is that loyal adhesion, that habit of friendship, +that homage of man to man, running through all classes,—the electing of +worthy persons to a certain fraternity, to acts of kindness and warm and +staunch support, from year to year, from youth to age,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>—which is alike +lovely and honorable to those who render and those who receive +it;—which stands in strong contrast with the superficial attachments of +other races, their excessive courtesy, and short-lived connection.</p> + +<p>You will think me very pedantic, gentlemen, but holiday tho it be, I +have not the smallest interest in any holiday, except as it celebrates +real and not pretended joys; and I think it just, in this time of gloom +and commercial disaster, of affliction and beggary in these districts, +that on these very accounts I speak of, you should not fail to keep your +literary anniversary. I seem to hear you say that, for all that is come +and gone, yet we will not reduce by one chaplet or one oak-leaf the +braveries of our annual feast. For I must tell you, I was given to +understand in my childhood that the British island, from which my +fore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>fathers came, was no lotus-garden, no paradise of serene sky and +roses and music and merriment all the year round, no, but a cold, foggy, +mournful country, where nothing grew well in the open air, but robust +men and virtuous women and these of a wonderful fiber and endurance; +that their best parts were slowly revealed; their virtues did not come +out until they quarrelled; they did not strike twelve the first time; +good lovers, good haters, and you could know little about them till you +had seen them long, and little good of them till you had seen them in +action; that in prosperity they were moody and dumpish, but in adversity +they were grand.</p> + +<p>Is it not true, sir, that the wise ancients did not praise the ship +parting with flying colors from the port, but only that brave sailor +which came back with torn sheets and battered sides, stript<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> of her +banners, but having ridden out the storm? And so, gentlemen, I feel in +regard to this aged England, with the possessions, honors and trophies, +and also with the infirmities of a thousand years gathering around her, +irretrievably committed as she now is to many old customs which can not +be suddenly changed; pressed upon by the transitions of trade, and new +and all incalculable modes, fabrics, arts, machines and competing +populations,—I see her not dispirited, not weak, but well remembering +that she has seen dark days before; indeed with a kind of instinct that +she sees a little better in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battle +and calamity, she has a secret vigor and a pulse like a cannon. I see +her in her old age, not decrepit, but young, and still daring to believe +in her power of endurance and expansion. Seeing this, I say, All hail! +mother of na<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>tions, mother of heroes, with strength still equal to the +time; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which the +mind and heart of mankind require in the present hour, and thus only +hospitable to the foreigner, and truly a home to the thoughtful and +generous who are born in the soil. So be it! so be it! If it be not so, +if the courage of England goes with the chances of a commercial crisis, +I will go back to the capes of Massachusetts, and my own Indian stream, +and say to my countrymen, the old race are all gone and the elasticity +and hope of mankind must henceforth remain on the Alleghany ranges, or +nowhere.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_AGE_OF_RESEARCH" id="THE_AGE_OF_RESEARCH"></a>THE AGE OF RESEARCH</h2> + +<h4>BY WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE</h4> + +<p>Mr. Chairman, Your Royal Highness, My Lords and Gentlemen:—I think no +question can be raised as to the just claims of literature to stand upon +the list of toasts at the Royal Academy, and the sentiment is one to +which, upon any one of the numerous occasions of my attendance at your +hospitable board, I have always listened with the greatest satisfaction +until the present day arrived, when I am bound to say that that +satisfaction is extremely qualified by the arrangement less felicitous, +I think, than any which preceded it that refers to me the duty of +returning thanks for Literature. However, obedience is the princi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>ple +upon which we must proceed, and I have at least the qualification for +discharging the duty you have been pleased to place in my hands—that no +one has a deeper or more profound sense of the vital importance of the +active and constant cultivation of letters as an essential condition of +real progress and of the happiness of mankind, and here every one at +once perceives that that sisterhood of which the poet spoke, whom you +have quoted, is a real sisterhood, for literature and art are alike the +votaries of beauty. Of these votaries I may thankfully say that as +regards art I trace around me no signs of decay, and none in that +estimation in which the Academy is held, unless to be sure, in the +circumstance of your poverty of choice of one to reply to this toast.</p> + +<p>During the present century the artists of this country have gallantly +and nobly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> endeavored to maintain and to elevate their standard, and +have not perhaps in that great task always received that assistance +which could be desired from the public taste which prevails around them. +But no one can examine even superficially the works which adorn these +walls without perceiving that British art retains all its fertility of +invention, and this year as much as in any year that I can remember, +exhibits in the department of landscape, that fundamental condition of +all excellence, intimate and profound sympathy with nature.</p> + +<p>As regards literature one who is now beginning at any rate to descend +the hill of life naturally looks backward as well as forward, and we +must be becoming conscious that the early part of this century has +witnessed in this and other countries what will be remembered in future +times as a splendid literary age.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> The elder among us have lived in the +lifetime of many great men who have passed to their rest—the younger +have heard them familiarly spoken of and still have their works in their +hands as I trust they will continue to be in the hands of all +generations. I am afraid we can not hope for literature—it would be +contrary to all the experience of former times were we to hope that it +should be equally sustained at that extraordinarily high level which +belongs, speaking roughly, to the first fifty years after the peace of +1815. That was a great period—a great period in England, a great period +in Germany, a great period in France, and a great period, too, in Italy.</p> + +<p>As I have said, I think we can hardly hope that it should continue on a +perfect level at so high an elevation. Undoubtedly the cultivation of +literature will ever be dear to the people of this coun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>try; but we must +remember what is literature and what is not. In the first place we +should be all agreed that bookmaking is not literature. The business of +bookmaking I have no doubt may thrive and will be continued upon a +constantly extending scale from year to year. But that we may put aside. +For my own part if I am to look a little forward, what I anticipate for +the remainder of the century is an age not so much of literature +proper—not so much of great, permanent and splendid additions to those +works in which beauty is embodied as an essential condition of +production, but rather look forward to an age of research. This is an +age of great research—of great research in science, great research in +history—an age of research in all the branches of inquiry that throw +light upon the former condition whether of our race, or of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> world +which it inhabits; and it may be hoped that, even if the remaining years +of the century be not so brilliant as some of its former periods, in the +production of works great in themselves, and immortal,—still they may +add largely to the knowledge of mankind; and if they make such additions +to the knowledge of mankind, they will be preparing the materials of a +new tone and of new splendors in the realm of literature. There is a +sunrise and sunset. There is a transition from the light of the sun to +the gentler light of the moon. There is a rest in nature which seems +necessary in all her great operations. And so with all the great +operations of the human mind. But do not let us despond if we seem to +see a diminished efficacy in the production of what is essentially and +immortally great. Our sun is hidden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> only for a moment. It is like the +day-star of Milton:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Which anon repairs his drooping head,</div> +<div>And tricks his beams, and with new spangled ore,</div> +<div>Flames in the forehead of the morning sky."</div> +</div></div> + +<p>I rejoice in an occasion like this which draws the attention of the +world to topics which illustrate the union of art with literature and of +literature with science, because you have a hard race to run, you have a +severe competition against the attraction of external pursuits, whether +those pursuits take the form of business or pleasure. It is given to you +to teach lessons of the utmost importance to mankind, in maintaining the +principle that no progress can be real which is not equable, which is +not pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>portionate, which does not develop all the faculties belonging +to our nature. If a great increase of wealth in a country takes place, +and with that increase of wealth a powerful stimulus to the invention of +mere luxury, that, if it stands alone, is not, never can be, progress. +It is only that one-sided development which is but one side of +deformity. I hope we shall have no one-sided development. One mode of +avoiding it is to teach the doctrine of that sisterhood you have +asserted to-day, and confident I am that the good wishes you have +exprest on behalf of literature will be re-echoed in behalf of art +wherever men of letters are found.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ADDRESS_OF_WELCOME1" id="ADDRESS_OF_WELCOME1"></a>ADDRESS OF WELCOME<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES</h4> + +<p>Brothers of the Association of the Alumni:—It is your misfortune and +mine that you must accept my services as your presiding officer of the +day in the place of your retiring president. I shall not be believed if +I say how unwillingly it is that for the second time I find myself in +this trying position; called upon to fill, as I best may, the place of +one whose presence and bearing, whose courtesy, whose dignity, whose +scholarship, whose standing among the distinguished children of the +university, fit him alike to guide your councils and to grace your +festivals. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> name of Winthrop has been so long associated with the +State and with the college that to sit under his mild empire is like +resting beneath one of these wide-branching elms the breadth of whose +shade is only a measure of the hold its roots have taken in the soil. In +the midst of civil strife we, the children of this our common mother, +have come together in peace. And surely there never was a time when we +more needed a brief respite in some chosen place of refuge, some +unviolated sanctuary, from the cares and anxieties of our daily +existence than at this very hour. Our life has grown haggard with +excitement. The rattle of drums, the march of regiments, the gallop of +squadrons, the roar of artillery, seem to have been continually sounding +in our ears day and night, sleeping and waking, for two long years and +more. How few of us have not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> trembled and shuddered with fear over and +over again for those whom we love. Alas! how many that hear me have +mourned over the lost—lost to earthly sight, but immortal in our love +and their country's honor! We need a little breathing-space to rest from +our anxious thoughts, and, as we look back to the tranquil days we +passed in this still retreat, to dream of that future when in God's good +time, and after his wise purpose is fulfilled, the fair angel who has so +long left us shall lay her hand upon the leaping heart of this embattled +nation and whisper, "Peace! be still!"</p> + +<p>Here of all places in the world we may best hope to find the peace we +seek for. It seems as if nothing were left undisturbed in New England +except here and there an old graveyard, and these dear old College +buildings, with the trees in which they are embowered. The old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> State +House is filled with those that sell oxen and sheep and doves, and the +changers of money. The Hancock house, the umbilical scar of the cord +that held our city to the past, is vanishing like a dimple from the +water.</p> + +<p>But Massachusetts, venerable old Massachusetts, stands as firm as ever; +Hollis, this very year a centenarian, is waiting with its honest red +face in a glow of cordiality to welcome its hundredth set of inmates; +Holden Chapel, with the skulls of its Doric frieze and the unpunishable +cherub over its portals, looks serenely to the sunsets; Harvard, within +whose ancient walls we are gathered, and whose morning bell has murdered +sleep for so many generations of drowsy adolescents, is at its post, +ready to startle the new-fledged freshmen from their first uneasy +slumbers. All these venerable edifices stand as they did when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> we were +boys,—when our grandfathers were boys. Let not the rash hand of +innovation violate their sanctities, for the cement that knits these +walls is no vulgar mortar, but is tempered with associations and +memories which are stronger than the parts they bind together!</p> + +<p>We meet on this auspicious morning forgetting all our lesser +differences. As we enter these consecrated precincts, the livery of our +special tribe in creed and in politics is taken from us at the door, and +we put on the court dress of our gracious Queen's own ordering, the +academic robe, such as we wore in those bygone years scattered along the +seven last decades. We are not forgetful of the honors which our fellow +students have won since they received their college "parts,"—their +orations, dissertations, disquisitions, colloquies, and Greek dia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>logs. +But to-day we have no rank; we are all first scholars. The hero in his +laurels sits next to the divine rustling in the dry garlands of his +doctorate. The poet in his crown of bays, the critic, in his wreath of +ivy, clasp each other's hands, members of the same happy family. This is +the birthday feast for every one of us whose forehead has been sprinkled +from the font inscribed "<i>Christo et Ecclesioe</i>." We have no badges but +our diplomas, no distinctions but our years of graduation. This is the +republic carried into the university; all of us are born equal into this +great fraternity.</p> + +<p>Welcome, then, welcome, all of you, dear brothers, to this our joyous +meeting! We must, we will call it joyous, tho it comes with many +saddening thoughts. Our last triennial meeting was a festival in a +double sense, for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> same day that brought us together at our family +gathering gave a new head to our ancient household of the university. As +I look to-day in vain for his stately presence and kindly smile, I am +reminded of the touching words spoken by an early president of the +university in the remembrance of a loss not unlike our own. It was at +the commencement exercises of the year 1678 that the Reverend President +Urian Oakes thus mourned for his friend Thomas Shepard, the minister of +Charlestown, an overseer of the college: "<i>Dici non potest quam me +perorantem, in comitiis, conspectus ejus, multo jucundissimus, recrearit +et refecerit. At non comparet hodie Shepardus in his comitiis; oculos +huc illuc torqueo; quocumque tamen inciderint, Platonem meum intanta +virorum illustrium frequentia requirunt; nusquam amicum et +pernecessarium<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> meum in hac solenni panegyric, inter nosce Reverendos +Theologos, Academiae Curatores, reperire aut oculis vestigare possum</i>." +Almost two hundred years have gone by since these words were uttered by +the fourth president of the college, which I repeat as no unfitting +tribute to the memory of the twentieth, the rare and fully ripened +scholar who was suddenly ravished from us as some richly freighted +argosy that just reaches her harbor and sinks under a cloudless sky with +all her precious treasures.</p> + +<p>But the great conflict through which we are passing has made sorrow too +frequent a guest for us to linger on an occasion like this over every +beloved name which the day recalls to our memory. Many of the children +whom our mother had trained to arts have given the freshness of their +youth or the strength of their manhood to arms. How strangely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> frequent +in our recent record is the sign interpreted by the words "<i>E vivis +cesserunt stelligeri!</i>" It seems as if the red war-planet had replaced +the peaceful star, and these pages blushed like a rubric with the long +list of the martyr-children of our university. I can not speak their +eulogy, for there are no phrases in my vocabulary fit to enshrine the +memory of the Christian warrior,—of him—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Who, doomed to go in company with Pain</div> +<div>And Fear and Bloodshed, miserable train,</div> +<div>Turns his necessity to glorious gain—"</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth</div> +<div>Forever, and to noble deeds give birth,</div> +<div>Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame,</div> +<div>And leave a dead, unprofitable name,</div> +<div>Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;</div> +<div>And while the mortal mist is gathering, draws</div> +<div>His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause."</div> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>Yet again, O brothers! this is not the hour for sorrow. Month after +month until the months became years we have cried to those who stood +upon our walls: "Watchmen, what of the night?" They have answered again +and again, "The dawn is breaking,—it will soon be day." But the night +has gathered round us darker than before. At last—glory be to God in +the highest!—at last we ask no more tidings of the watchmen, for over +both horizons east and west bursts forth in one overflowing tide of +radiance the ruddy light of victory!</p> + +<p>We have no parties here to-day, but is there one breast that does not +throb with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> joy as the banners of the conquering Republic follow her +retreating foes to the banks of the angry Potomac? Is there one heart +that does not thrill in answer to the drum-beat that rings all over the +world as the army of the west, on the morning of the nation's birth, +swarms over the silent, sullen earthworks of captured Vicksburg,—to the +reveille that calls up our Northern regiments this morning inside the +fatal abatis of Port Hudson? We are scholars, we are graduates, we are +alumni, we are a band of brothers, but beside all, above all, we are +American citizens. And now that hope dawns upon our land—nay, bursts +upon it in a flood of glory,—shall we not feel its splendors reflected +upon our peaceful gathering, peaceful in spite of those disturbances +which the strong hand of our citizen-soldiery has already strangled?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>Welcome then, thrice welcome, scholarly soldiers who have fought for +your and our rights and honor! Welcome, soldierly scholars who are ready +to fight whenever your country calls for your services! Welcome, ye who +preach courage as well as meekness, remembering that the Prince of Peace +came also bringing a sword! Welcome, ye who make and who interpret the +statutes which are meant to guard our liberties in peace, but not to aid +our foes in war! Welcome, ye whose healing ministry soothes the anguish +of the suffering and the dying with every aid of art and the tender +accents of compassion! Welcome, ye who are training the generous youths +to whom our country looks as its future guardians! Welcome, ye quiet +scholars who in your lonely studies are unconsciously shaping the +thought which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> law shall forge into its shield and war shall wield as +its thunder-bolt!</p> + +<p>And to you, Mr. President, called from one place of trust and honor to +rule over the concerns of this our ancient and venerated institution, to +you we offer our most cordial welcome with all our hopes and prayers for +your long and happy administration.</p> + +<p>I give you, brothers, "The association of the Alumni"; the children of +our common mother recognize the man of her choice as their new father, +and would like to hear him address a few words to his numerous family.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Delivered at an Alumni Dinner, Cambridge, July 16, 1863.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="GOOD_WILL_TO_AMERICA2" id="GOOD_WILL_TO_AMERICA2"></a>GOOD WILL TO AMERICA<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT</h4> + +<p>Gentlemen:—Small as are the pretensions which, on any account, I can +have to present myself to the attention of this remarkable assemblage, I +have had no hesitation in answering the call which is just been made +upon me by discharging a duty which is no less gratifying to me than I +know it will be agreeable to you—that of proposing that the thanks of +this meeting be offered to the chairman for his presidence over us +to-day. Every one who admires Mr. Garrison for the qualities on account +of which we have met to do him honor on this occasion, must feel that +there is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> singular appropriateness in the selection of the person who +has presided here to-day. No one can fail to perceive a striking +similarity—I might almost say a real parallelism of greatness—in the +careers of these two eminent persons. Both are men who, by the great +qualities of their minds, and the uncompromising spirit of justice which +has animated them, have signally advanced the cause of truth and +vindicated the rights of humanity. Both have been fortunate enough in +the span of their own lifetime to have seen their efforts in the +promotion of great ends crowned by triumphs as great as they could have +desired, and far greater than they could have hoped. There is no cause +with which the name of Mr. Bright has been associated which has not +sooner or later won its way to victory.</p> + +<p>I shall not go over the ground which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> has been so well dealt with by +those who have preceded me. But tho there have been many abler +interpreters of your wishes and aspirations to-day than I can hope to +be, may I be permitted to join my voice to those which have been raised +up in favor of the perpetual amity of England and America. It seems to +me that with nations, as well as with individuals, greatness of +character depends chiefly on the degree in which they are capable of +rising above thee low, narrow, paltry interests of the present, and of +looking forward with hope and with faith into the distance of a great +futurity. And where, I will ask, is the future of our race to be found? +I may extend the question—where is to be found the future of mankind? +Who that can forecast the fortunes of the ages to come will not +answer—it is in that great nation which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> has sprung from our loins, +which is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. The stratifications of +history are full of the skeletons of ruined kingdoms and of races that +are no more. Where are Assyria and Egypt, the civilization of Greece, +the universal dominion of Rome? They founded empires of conquest, which +have perished by the sword by which they rose. Is it to be with us as +with them? I hope not—I think not. But if the day of our decline should +arise, we shall at least have the consolation of knowing that we have +left behind us a race which shall perpetuate our name and reproduce our +greatness. Was there ever parent who had juster reason to be proud of +its offspring? Was there ever child that had more cause for gratitude to +its progenitor? From whom but us did America derive those institutions +of liberty, those instincts of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> government, that capacity of greatness, +which have made her what she is, and which will yet make her that which +she is destined to become? These are things which it becomes us both to +remember and to think upon. And, therefore, it is that, as our +distinguished guest, with innate modesty, has already said, this is not +a mere personal festivity—this is no occasional compliment. We see in +it a deeper and wider significance. We celebrate in it the union of two +nations. While I ask you to return your thanks to our chairman I think I +may venture also to ask of our guest a boon which he will not refuse us. +We have a great message to send, and we have here a messenger worthy to +bear it. I will ask Mr. Garrison to carry back to his home the prayer of +this assembly and of this nation that there may be forever and forever +peace and good will between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> England and America. For the good will of +America and England is nothing less than the evangel of liberty and of +peace. And who more worthy to preside over such a gospel than the +chairman to whom I ask you to return your thanks to-day? I beg to +propose that the thanks of the meeting be given to Mr. Bright.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Speech at breakfast held in London in honor of Mr. +Garrison, June 29, 1867.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_QUALITIES_THAT_WIN" id="THE_QUALITIES_THAT_WIN"></a>THE QUALITIES THAT WIN</h2> + +<h4>BY CHARLES SUMNER</h4> + +<p>Mr. President and Brothers of New England:—For the first time in my +life I have the good fortune to enjoy this famous anniversary festival. +Tho often honored by your most tempting invitation, and longing to +celebrate the day in this goodly company of which all have heard so +much, I could never excuse myself from duties in another place. If now I +yield to well-known attractions, and journey from Washington for my +first holiday during a protracted public service, it is because all was +enhanced by the appeal of your excellent president, to whom I am bound +by the friendship of many years in Boston, in New York, and in a foreign +land. It is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> much to be a brother of New England, but it is more to be a +friend, and this tie I have pleasure in confessing to-night.</p> + +<p>It is with much doubt and humility that I venture to answer for the +Senate of the United States, and I believe the least I say on this head +will be the most prudent. But I shall be entirely safe in expressing my +doubt if there is a single Senator who would not be glad of a seat at +this generous banquet. What is the Senate? It is a component part of the +National Government. But we celebrate to-day more than any component +part of any government. We celebrate an epoch in the history of +mankind—not only never to be forgotten, but to grow in grandeur as +the world appreciates the elements of true greatness. Of mankind I +say—for the landing on Plymouth Rock, on December 22, 1620,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> marks the +origin of a new order of ages, which the whole human family will be +elevated. Then and there was the great beginning.</p> + +<p>Throughout all time, from the dawn of history, men have swarmed to found +new homes in distant lands. The Tyrians, skirting Northern Africa, stopt +at Carthage; Carthaginians dotted Spain and even the distant coasts of +Britain and Ireland; Greeks gemmed Italy and Sicily with art-loving +settlements; Rome carried multitudinous colonies with her conquering +eagles. Saxons, Danes, and Normans violently mingled with the original +Britons. And in modern times, Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Spain, France, +and England, all sent forth emigrants to people foreign shores. But in +these various expeditions, trade or war was the impelling motive. Too +often commerce and conquest moved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> hand in hand, and the colony was +incarnadined with blood.</p> + +<p>On the day we celebrate, the sun for the first time in his course looked +down upon a different scene, begun and continued under a different +inspiration. A few conscientious Englishmen, in obedience to the monitor +within, and that they might be free to worship God according to their +own sense of duty, set sail for the unknown wilds of the North American +continent. After a voyage of sixty-four days in the ship <i>Mayflower</i>, +with Liberty at the prow and Conscience at the helm, they sighted the +white sandbanks of Cape Cod, and soon thereafter in the small cabin +framed that brief compact, forever memorable, which is the first written +constitution of government in human history, and the very corner-stone +of the American Republic; and then these Pilgrims landed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>This compact was not only foremost in time, it was also august in +character, and worthy of perpetual example. Never before had the object +of the "civil body public" been announced as "to enact, constitute, and +frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and +offices from time to time as shall be thought most meet and convenient +for the general good of the colony." How lofty! how true! Undoubtedly, +these were the grandest words of government with the largest promise of +any at that time uttered.</p> + +<p>If more were needed to illustrate the new epoch, it would be found in +the parting words of the venerable pastor, John Robinson, addrest to the +Pilgrims, as they were about to sail from Delfshaven—words often +quoted, yet never enough. How sweetly and beautifully he says: "And if +God should reveal anything to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> you by any other instrument of his, be as +ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by my +ministry; but I am confident that the Lord hath more light and truth yet +to break forth out of his holy word." And then how justly the good +preacher rebukes those who close their souls to truth! "The Lutherans, +for example, can not be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw, and whatever +part of God's will he hath further imparted to Calvin, they will rather +die than embrace, and so the Calvinists stick where he left them. This +is a misery much to be lamented, for tho they were precious, shining +lights in their times, God hath not revealed his whole will to them." +Beyond the merited rebuke, here is a plain recognition of the law of +human progress little discerned at the time, which teaches the sure +advance of the human family, and opens<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> the vista of the +ever-broadening, never-ending future on earth.</p> + +<p>Our Pilgrims were few and poor. The whole outfit of this historic +voyage, including £1,700 of trading stock, was only £2,400, and how +little was required for their succor appears in the experience of the +soldier Captain Miles Standish, who, being sent to England for +assistance—not military, but financial—(God save the mark!) succeeded +in borrowing—how much do you suppose?—£150 sterling. Something in the +way of help; and the historian adds, "tho at fifty per cent. interest." +So much for a valiant soldier on a financial expedition. A later agent, +Allerton, was able to borrow for the colony £200 at a reduced interest +of thirty per cent. Plainly, the money-sharks of our day may trace an +undoubted pedigree to these London merchants. But I know not if any son<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +of New England, opprest by exorbitant interest, will be consoled by the +thought that the Pilgrims paid the same.</p> + +<p>And yet this small people—so obscure and outcast in condition—so +slender in numbers and in means—so entirely unknown to the proud and +great—so absolutely without name in contemporary records—whose +departure from the Old World took little more than the breath of their +bodies—are now illustrious beyond the lot of men; and the <i>Mayflower</i> +is immortal beyond the Grecian <i>Argo</i>, or the stately ship of any +victorious admiral. Tho this was little foreseen in their day, it is +plain now how it has come to pass. The highest greatness surviving time +and storm is that which proceeds from the soul of man. Monarchs and +cabinets, generals and admirals, with the pomp of courts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> and the +circumstance of war, in the gradual lapse of time disappear from sight; +but the pioneers of truth, tho poor and lowly, especially those whose +example elevates human nature and teaches the rights of man, so that +government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not +perish from the earth, such harbingers can never be forgotten, and their +renown spreads co-extensive with the cause they served.</p> + +<p>I know not if any whom I now have the honor of addressing have thought +to recall the great in rank and power filling the gaze of the world as +the <i>Mayflower</i> with her company fared forth on their adventurous +voyage. The foolish James was yet on the English throne, glorying that +he had "peppered the Puritans." The morose Louis XIII, through whom +Richelieu ruled, was King of France. The imbecile Philip III<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> swayed +Spain and the Indies. The persecuting Ferdinand the Second, tormentor of +Protestants, was Emperor of Germany. Paul V, of the House of Borghese, +was Pope of Rome. In the same princely company and all contemporaries +were Christian IV, King of Denmark, and his son Christian, Prince of +Norway; Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden; Sigmund the Third, King of +Poland; Frederick, King of Bohemia, with his wife, the unhappy Elizabeth +of England, progenitor of the House of Hanover; George William, Margrave +of Brandenburg, and ancestor of the Prussian house that has given an +emperor to Germany; Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria; Maurice, landgrave of +Hesse; Christian, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg; John Frederick, Duke +of Würtemberg and Teck; John, Count of Nassau; Henry, Duke of Lorraine; +Isabella, In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>fanta of Spain and ruler of the Low Countries; Maurice, +fourth Prince of Orange; Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy and ancestor of +the King of United Italy; Cosmo dé Medici, third Grand Duke of Florence; +Antonio Priuli, ninety-third Doge of Venice, just after the terrible +tragedy commemorated on the English stage as "Venice Preserved"; +Bethlehem Gabor, Prince of Unitarian Transylvania, and elected King of +Hungary, with the countenance of an African; and the Sultan Mustapha, of +Constantinople, twentieth ruler of the Turks.</p> + +<p>Such at that time were the crowned sovereigns of Europe, whose names +were mentioned always with awe, and whose countenances are handed down +by art, so that at this day they are visible to the curious as if they +walked these streets. Mark now the contrast. There was no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> artist for +our forefathers, nor are their countenances now known to men; but more +than any powerful contemporaries at whose tread the earth trembled is +their memory sacred. Pope, emperor, king, sultan, grand-duke, duke, +doge, margrave, landgrave, count—what are they all by the side of the +humble company that landed on Plymouth Rock? Theirs indeed, were the +ensigns of worldly power, but our Pilgrims had in themselves that inborn +virtue which was more than all else besides, and their landing was an +epoch.</p> + +<p>Who in the imposing troop of worldly grandeur is now remembered but with +indifference or contempt? If I except Gustavus Adolphus, it is because +he revealed a superior character. Confront the <i>Mayflower</i> and the +Pilgrims with the potentates who occupied such space in the world. The +former are ascend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>ing into the firmament, there to shine forever, while +the latter have been long dropping into the darkness of oblivion, to be +brought forth only to point a moral or illustrate the fame of +contemporaries whom they regarded not. Do I err in supposing this an +illustration of the supremacy which belongs to the triumphs of the moral +nature? At first impeded or postponed, they at last prevail. Theirs is a +brightness which, breaking through all clouds, will shine forth with +ever-increasing splendor. I have often thought that if I were a +preacher, if I had the honor to occupy the pulpit so grandly filled by +my friend near me, one of my sermons should be from the text, "A little +leaven shall leaven the whole lump." Nor do I know a better illustration +of these words than the influence exerted by our Pilgrims. That small +band, with the lesson of self-sacrifice, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> just and equal laws, of the +government of a majority, of unshrinking loyalty to principle, is now +leavening this whole continent, and in the fulness of time will leaven +the world. By their example, republican institutions have been +commended, and in proportion as we imitate them will these institutions +be assured.</p> + +<p>Liberty, which we so much covet, is not a solitary plant. Always by its +side is justice. But Justice is nothing but right applied to human +affairs. Do not forget, I entreat you, that with the highest morality is +the highest liberty. A great poet, in one of his inspired sonnets, +speaking of his priceless possession, has said, "But who loves that must +first be wise and good." Therefore do Pilgrims in their beautiful +example teach liberty, teach republican institutions, as at an earlier +day, Socrates and Plato, in their lessons of wisdom, taught liberty and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +helped the idea of the republic. If republican government has thus far +failed in any experiment, as, perhaps, somewhere in Spanish America, it +is because these lessons have been wanting. There have been no Pilgrims +to teach the moral law.</p> + +<p>Mr. President, with these thoughts, which I imperfectly express, I +confess my obligations to the forefathers of New England, and offer to +them the homage of a grateful heart. But not in thanksgiving only would +I celebrate their memory. I would if I could make their example a +universal lesson, and stamp it upon the land. The conscience which +directed them should be the guide for our public councils. The just and +equal laws which they required should be ordained by us, and the +hospitality to truth which was their rule should be ours. Nor would I +forget their courage and sted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>fastness. Had they turned back or wavered, +I know not what would have been the record of this continent, but I see +clearly that a great example would have been lost. Had Columbus yielded +to his mutinous crew and returned to Spain without his great discovery; +had Washington shrunk away disheartened by British power and the snows +of New Jersey, these great instances would have been wanting for the +encouragement of men. But our Pilgrims belong to the same heroic +company, and their example is not less precious.</p> + +<p>Only a short time after the landing on Plymouth Rock, the great +republican poet, John Milton, wrote his "Comus," so wonderful for beauty +and truth. His nature was more refined than that of the Pilgrims, and +yet it requires little effort of imagination to catch from one of them, +or at least from their beloved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> pastor, the exquisite, almost angelic +words at the close—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Mortals, who would follow me,</div> +<div>Love Virtue; she alone is free;</div> +<div>She can teach ye how to climb</div> +<div>Higher than the sphery chime.</div> +<div>Or if Virtue feeble were,</div> +<div>Heaven itself would stoop to her."</div> +</div></div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_ENGLISH-SPEAKING_RACE" id="THE_ENGLISH-SPEAKING_RACE"></a>THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING RACE</h2> + +<h4>BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS</h4> + +<p>Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce:—I rise with some +trepidation to respond to this toast, because we have been assured upon +high authority, altho after what we have heard this evening we can not +believe it, that the English-speaking race speaks altogether too much. +Our eloquent Minister in England recently congratulated the Mechanics' +Institute at Nottingham that it had abolished its debating club, and +said that he gladly anticipated the establishment in all great +institutions of education of a professorship of Silence. I confess that +the proposal never seemed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> to me so timely and wise as at this moment. +If I had only taken a high degree in silence, Mr. Chairman, how +cordially you would congratulate me and this cheerful company!</p> + +<p>When Mr. Phelps proceeded to say that Americans are not allowed to talk +all the time, and that our orators are turned loose upon the public only +once in four years, I was lost in admiration of the boundless sweep of +his imagination. But when he said that the result of this quadrennial +outburst was to make the country grateful that it did not come oftener, +I saw that his case required heroic treatment, and must be turned over +to Dr. Depew.</p> + +<p>I am sure, at least, that when our distinguished friends from England +return to their native land they will hasten to besiege His Excellency +to tell them where the Americans are kept who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> speak only once in four +years. And if they will but remain through the winter, they will +discover that if our orators are turned loose upon the public only once +in four years, they are turned loose in private all the rest of the +time; and if the experience and observation of our guests are as +fortunate as mine, they will learn that there are certain orators of +both branches of the English-speaking race—not one hundred miles from +me at this moment—whom the public would gladly hear, if they were +turned loose upon it every four hours.</p> + +<p>Wendell Phillips used to say that as soon as a Yankee baby could sit up +in his cradle, he called the nursery to order and proceeded to address +the house. If this Parliamentary instinct is irrepressible, if all the +year round we are listening to orations, speeches, lectures, sermons, +and the incessant, if not always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> soothing, oratory of the press, to +which His Honor the Mayor is understood to be a closely attentive +listener, we have at least the consolation of knowing that the talking +countries are the free countries, and that the English-speaking races +are the invincible legions of liberty.</p> + +<p>The sentiment which you have read, Mr. Chairman, describes in a few +comprehensive words the historic characteristics of the English-speaking +race. That it is the founder of commonwealths, let the miracle of empire +which we have wrought upon the Western Continent attest:—its advance +from the seaboard with the rifle and the ax, the plow and the shuttle, +the teapot and the Bible, the rocking-chair and the spelling-book, the +bath-tub and a free constitution, sweeping across the Alleghanies, +over-spreading the prairies and pushing on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> until the dash of the +Atlantic in their ears dies in the murmur of the Pacific; and as the +wonderful Goddess of the old mythology touched earth, flowers and fruits +answered her footfall, so in the long trail of this advancing race, it +has left clusters of happy States, teeming with a population, man by +man, more intelligent and prosperous than ever before the sun shone +upon, and each remoter camp of that triumphal march is but a further +outpost of English-speaking civilization.</p> + +<p>That it is the pioneer of progress, is written all over the globe to the +utmost islands of the sea, and upon every page of the history of civil +and religious and commercial freedom. Every factory that hums with +marvelous machinery, every railway and steamer, every telegraph and +telephone, the changed systems of agriculture, the endless and +universal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> throb and heat of magical invention, are, in their larger +part, but the expression of the genius of the race that with Watts drew +from the airiest vapor the mightiest of motive powers, with Franklin +leashed the lightning, and with Morse outfabled fairy lore. The race +that extorted from kings the charter of its political rights has won, +from the princes and powers of the air, the earth and the water, the +secret of supreme dominion, the illimitable franchise of beneficent +progress.</p> + +<p>That it is the stubborn defender of liberty, let our own annals answer, +for America sprang from the defense of English liberty in English +colonies, by men of English blood, who still proudly speak the English +language, cherish English traditions, and share of right, and as their +own, the ancient glory of England.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>No English-speaking people could, if it would, escape its distinctive +name, and, since Greece and Judea, no name has the same worth and honor +among men. We Americans may flout England a hundred times. We may oppose +her opinions with reason, we may think her views unsound, her policy +unwise; but from what country would the most American of Americans +prefer to have derived the characteristic impulse of American +development and civilization rather than England? What language would we +rather speak than the tongue of Shakespeare and Hampden, of the Pilgrims +and King James's version? What yachts, as a tribute to ourselves upon +their own element, would we rather outsail than English yachts? In what +national life, modes of thought, standards and estimates of character +and achievement do we find our own so per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>fectly reflected as in the +English House of Commons, in English counting-rooms and workshops, and +in English homes?</p> + +<p>No doubt the original stock has been essentially modified in the younger +branch. The American, as he looks across the sea, to what Hawthorne +happily called "Our old home," and contemplates himself, is disposed to +murmur: "Out of the eater shall come forth meat and out of the strength +shall come forth sweetness." He left England a Puritan iconoclast; he +has developed in Church and State into a constitutional reformer. He +came hither a knotted club; he has been transformed into a Damascus +blade. He seized and tamed a continent with a hand of iron; he civilizes +and controls it with a touch of velvet. No music is so sweet to his ear +as the sound of the common-school bell; no principle so dear to his +heart as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> equal rights of all men; no vision so entrancing to his +hope as those rights universally secured.</p> + +<p>This is the Yankee; this is the younger branch; but a branch of no base +or brittle fiber, but of the tough old English oak, which has weathered +triumphantly the tempest of a thousand years. It is a noble contention +whether the younger or the elder branch has further advanced the +frontiers of liberty, but it is unquestionable that liberty, as we +understand it on both sides of the sea, is an English tradition; we +inherit it, we possess it, we transmit it, under forms peculiar to the +English race. It is as Mr. Chamberlain has said, liberty under law. It +is liberty, not license; civilization, not barbarism; it is liberty clad +in the celestial robe of law, because law is the only authoritative +expression of the will of the people, representative government,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> trial +by jury, habeas corpus, freedom of speech and of the press—why, Mr. +Chairman, they are the family heirlooms, the family diamonds, and they +go wherever in the wide world go the family name and language and +tradition.</p> + +<p>Sir, with all my heart, and, I am sure, with the hearty assent of this +great and representative company, I respond to the final aspiration of +your toast: "May this great family in all its branches ever work +together for the world's welfare." Certainly its division and alienation +would be the world's misfortune. That England and America have had sharp +and angry quarrels is undeniable. Party spirit in this country, +recalling old animosity, has always stigmatized with the English name +whatever it opposed. Every difference, every misunderstanding with +England has been ignobly turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> to party account; but the two great +branches of this common race have come of age, and wherever they may +encounter a serious difficulty which must be accommodated they have but +to thrust demagogues aside, to recall the sublime words of Abraham +Lincoln, "With malice toward none, with charity for all," and in that +spirit, and in the spirit and the emotion represented in this country by +the gentlemen upon my right and my left, I make bold to say to Mr. +Chamberlain, in your name, there can be no misunderstanding which may +not be honorably and happily adjusted. For to our race, gentlemen of +both countries, is committed not only the defense, but the illustration +of constitutional liberty.</p> + +<p>The question is not what we did a century ago, or in the beginning of +this century, with the lights that shone around us, but what is our duty +to-day,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> in the light which is given to us of popular government under +the republican form in this country, and the parliamentary form in +England.</p> + +<p>If a sensitive public conscience, if general intelligence should not +fail to secure us from unnatural conflict, then liberty will not be +justified of her children, and the glory of the English-speaking race +will decline. I do not believe it. I believe that it is constantly +increasing, and that the colossal power which slumbers in the arms of a +kindred people will henceforth be invoked, not to drive them further +asunder, but to weld them more indissolubly together in the defense of +liberty under law.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="WOMAN" id="WOMAN"></a>WOMAN</h2> + +<h4>BY HORACE PORTER</h4> + +<p>Mr. President and Gentlemen:—When this toast was proposed to me, I +insisted that it ought to be responded to by a bachelor, by some one who +is known as a ladies' man; but in these days of female proprietorship it +is supposed that a married person is more essentially a ladies' man than +anybody else, and it was thought that only one who had the courage to +address a lady could have the courage, under these circumstances, to +address the New England Society.</p> + +<p>The toast, I see, is not in its usual order to-night. At public dinners +this toast is habitually placed last on the list. It seems to be a +benevolent provision of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> the Committee on Toasts in order to give man in +replying to Woman one chance at least in life of having the last word. +At the New England dinners, unfortunately the most fruitful subject of +remark regarding woman is not so much her appearance as her +disappearance. I know that this was remedied a few years ago, when this +grand annual gastronomic high carnival was held in the Metropolitan +Concert Hall. There, ladies were introduced into the galleries to grace +the scene by their presence; and I am sure the experiment was +sufficiently encouraging to warrant repetition, for it was beautiful to +see the descendants of the Pilgrims sitting with eyes upturned in true +Puritanic sanctity it was encouraging to see the sons of those pious +sires devoting themselves, at least for one night, to setting their +affections upon "things above."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>Woman's first home was in the Garden of Eden. There man first married +woman. Strange that the incident should have suggested to Milton the +"Paradise Lost." Man was placed in a profound sleep, a rib was taken +from his side, a woman was created from it, and she became his wife. +Evil-minded persons constantly tell us that thus man's first sleep +became his last repose. But if woman be given at times to that +contrariety of thought and perversity of mind which sometimes passeth +our understanding, it must be recollected in her favor that she was +created out of the crookedest part of man.</p> + +<p>The Rabbins have a different theory regarding creation. They go back to +the time when we were all monkeys. They insist that man was originally +created with a kind of Darwinian tail, and that in the process of +evolution this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> caudal appendage was removed and created into woman. +This might better account for those Caudle lectures which woman is in +the habit of delivering, and some color is given to this theory, from +the fact that husbands even down to the present day seem to inherit a +general disposition to leave their wives behind.</p> + +<p>The first woman, finding no other man in that garden except her own +husband, took to flirting even with the Devil. The race might have been +saved much tribulation if Eden had been located in some calm and +tranquil land—like Ireland. There would at least have been no snakes +there to get into the garden. Now woman in her thirst after knowledge, +showed her true female inquisitiveness in her cross-examination of the +serpent, and, in commemoration of that circumstance the serpent seems to +have been curled up and used in nearly all lan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>guages as a sign of +interrogation. Soon the domestic troubles of our first parents began. +The first woman's favorite son was killed with a club, and married women +even to this day seem to have an instinctive horror of clubs. The first +woman learned that it was Cain that raised a club. The modern woman has +learned that it is a club that raises cain. Yet, I think, I recognize +faces here to-night that I see behind the windows of Fifth Avenue clubs +of an afternoon, with their noses pressed flat against the broad plate +glass, and as woman trips along the sidewalk, I have observed that these +gentlemen appear to be more assiduously engaged than ever was a +government scientific commission, in taking observations upon the +transit of Venus.</p> + +<p>Before those windows passes many a face fairer than that of the +Ludovician Juno or the Venus of Medici. There is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> the Saxon blonde with +the deep blue eye, whose glances return love for love, whose silken +tresses rest upon her shoulders like a wealth of golden fleece, each +thread of which looks like a ray of the morning sunbeam. There is the +Latin brunette with the deep, black, piercing eye, whose jetty lashes +rest like a silken fringe upon the pearly texture of her dainty cheek, +looking like raven's wings spread out upon new-fallen snow.</p> + +<p>And yet the club man is not happy. As the ages roll on woman has +materially elevated herself in the scale of being. Now she stops at +nothing. She soars. She demands the co-education of sexes. She thinks +nothing of delving into the most abstruse problems of the higher +branches of analytical science. She can cipher out the exact hour of the +night when her husband ought to be home, either according to the old or +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> recently adopted method of calculating time. I never knew of but +one married man who gained any decided domestic advantage by this change +in our time. He was a <i>habitué</i> of a club situated next door to his +house. His wife was always upbraiding him for coming home too late at +night. Fortunately, when they made this change of time, they placed one +of those meridians from which our time is calculated right between the +club and his house. Every time he stept across that imaginary line it +set him back a whole hour in time. He found that he could then leave his +club at one o'clock and get home to his wife at twelve; and for the +first time in twenty years peace reigned around the hearthstone.</p> + +<p>Woman now revels even in the more complicated problems of mathematical +astronomy. Give a woman ten minutes and she will describe a +heliocentric<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> parallax of the heavens. Give her twenty minutes and she +will find astronomically the longitude of a place by means of lunar +culminations. Give that same woman an hour and a half with the present +fashions, and she can not find the pocket in her dress.</p> + +<p>And yet man's admiration for woman never flags. He will give her half +his fortune; he will give her his whole heart; he seems always willing +to give her everything that he possesses, except his seat in a +horse-car.</p> + +<p>Every nation has had its heroines as well as its heroes. England, in her +wars, had a Florence Nightingale; and the soldiers in the expression of +their adoration, used to stoop and kiss the hem of her garment as she +passed. America, in her war, had a Dr. Mary Walker. Nobody ever stooped +to kiss the hem of her garment—because that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> was not exactly the kind +of a garment she wore. But why should man stand here and attempt to +speak for woman, when she is so abundantly equipped to speak for +herself. I know that is the case in New England; and I am reminded, by +seeing General Grant here to-night, of an incident in proof of it which +occurred when he was making that marvelous tour through New England, +just after the war. The train stopt at a station in the State of Maine. +The General was standing on the rear platform of the last car. At that +time, as you know, he had a great reputation for silence—for it was +before he had made his series of brilliant speeches before the New +England Society. They spoke of his reticence—a quality which New +Englanders admire so much—in others. Suddenly there was a commotion in +the crowd, and as it opened a large, tall,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> gaunt-looking woman came +rushing toward the car, out of breath. Taking her spectacles off from +the top of her head and putting them on her nose, she put her arms +akimbo, and looking up, said: "Well, I've just come down here a runnin' +nigh onto two mile, right on the clean jump, just to get a look at the +man that lets the women do all the talkin'."</p> + +<p>The first regular speaker of the evening (William M. Evarts) touched +upon woman, but only incidentally, only in reference to Mormonism and +that sad land of Utah, where a single death may make a dozen widows.</p> + +<p>A speaker at the New England dinner in Brooklyn last night (Henry Ward +Beecher) tried to prove that the Mormons came originally from New +Hampshire and Vermont. I know that a New Englander sometimes in the +course of his life marries several times; but he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> takes the precaution +to take his wives in their proper order of legal succession. The +difference is that he drives his team of wives tandem, while the Mormon +insists upon driving his abreast.</p> + +<p>But even the least serious of us, Mr. President, have some serious +moments in which to contemplate the true nobility of woman's character. +If she were created from a rib, she was made from that part which lies +nearest a man's heart.</p> + +<p>It has been beautifully said that man was fashioned out of the dust of +the earth while woman was created from God's own image. It is our pride +in this land that woman's honor is her own best defense; that here +female virtue is not measured by the vigilance of detective nurses; that +here woman may walk throughout the length and the breadth of this land, +through its highways and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> byways, uninsulted, unmolested, clothed in the +invulnerable panoply of her own woman's virtue; that even in places +where crime lurks and vice prevails in the haunts of our great cities, +and in the rude mining gulches of the West, owing to the noble efforts +of our women, and the influence of their example, there are raised, even +there, girls who are good daughters, loyal wives, and faithful mothers. +They seem to rise in those rude surroundings as grows the pond lily, +which is entangled by every species of rank growth, environed by poison, +miasma and corruption, and yet which rises in the beauty of its purity +and lifts its fair face unblushing to the sun.</p> + +<p>No one who has witnessed the heroism of America's daughters in the field +should fail to pay a passing tribute to their worth. I do not speak +alone of those trained Sisters of Charity, who in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> scenes of misery and +woe seem Heaven's chosen messengers on earth; but I would speak also of +those fair daughters who come forth from the comfortable firesides of +New England and other States, little trained to scenes of suffering, +little used to the rudeness of a life in camp, who gave their all, their +time, their health, and even life itself as a willing sacrifice in that +cause which then moved the nation's soul. As one of these, with her +graceful form, was seen moving silently through the darkened aisles of +an army hospital, as the motion of her passing dress wafted a breeze +across the face of the wounded, they felt that their parched brows had +been fanned by the wings of the angel of mercy.</p> + +<p>Ah! Mr. President, woman is after all a mystery. It has been well said, +that woman is the great conundrum of the nineteenth century; but if we +can not guess her, we will never give her up.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="TRIBUTE_TO_HERBERT_SPENCER" id="TRIBUTE_TO_HERBERT_SPENCER"></a>TRIBUTE TO HERBERT SPENCER</h2> + +<h4>BY WILLIAM M. EVARTS</h4> + +<p>Gentlemen:—We are here to-night, to show the feeling of Americans +toward our distinguished guest. As no room and no city can hold all his +friends and admirers, it was necessary that a company should be made up +by some method out of the mass, and what so good a method as that of +natural selection and the inclusion, within these walls, of the ladies? +It is a little hard upon the rational instincts and experiences of man +that we should take up the abstruse subjects of philosophy and of +evolution, of all the great topics that make up Mr. Spencer's +contribution to the learning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> and the wisdom of his time, at this end of +the dinner.</p> + +<p>The most ancient nations, even in their primitive condition, saw the +folly of this, and when one wished either to be inspired with the +thoughts of others or to be himself a diviner of the thoughts of others, +fasting was necessary, and a people from whom I think a great many +things might be learned for the good of the people of the present time, +have a maxim that will commend itself to your common-sense. They say the +continually stuffed body can not see secret things. Now, from my +personal knowledge of the men I see at these tables, they are owners of +continually stuffed bodies. I have addrest them at public dinners, on +all topics and for all purposes, and whatever sympathy they may have +shown with the divers occasions which brought them together, they come +up to this notion of contin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>ually stuffed bodies. In primitive times +they had a custom which we only under the system of differentiation +practise now at this dinner. When men wished to possess themselves of +the learning, the wisdom, the philosophy, the courage, the great traits +of any person, they immediately proceeded to eat him up as soon as he +was dead, having only this diversity in that early time that he should +be either roasted or boiled according as he was fat or thin. Now out of +that narrow compass, see how by the process of differentiation and of +multiplication of effects we have come to a dinner of a dozen courses +and wines of as many varieties; and that simple process of appropriating +the virtue and the wisdom of the great man that was brought before the +feast is now diversified into an analysis of all the men here under the +cunning management of many speakers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> No doubt, preserving as we do the +identity of all these institutions it is often considered a great art, +or at least a great delight, to roast our friends and put in hot water +those against whom we have a grudge.</p> + +<p>Now, Mr. Spencer, we are glad to meet you here. We are glad to see you +and we are glad to have you see us. We are glad to see you, for we +recognize in the breadth of your knowledge, such knowledge as is useful +to your race, a greater comprehension than any living man has presented +to our generation. We are glad to see you, because in our judgment you +have brought to the analysis and distribution of this vast knowledge a +more penetrating intelligence and a more thorough insight than any +living man has brought even to the minor topics of his special +knowledge. In theology, in psychology, in natural science, in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +knowledge of individual man and his exposition and in the knowledge of +the world in the proper sense of society, which makes up the world, the +world worth knowing, the world worth speaking of, the world worth +planning for, the world worth working for, we acknowledge your labors as +surpassing those of any of our kind. You seem to us to carry away and +maintain in the future the same measure of fame among others that we are +told was given in the Middle Ages to Albertus Magnus, the most learned +man of those times, whose comprehension of theology, of psychology, of +natural history, of politics, of history, and of learning, comprehended +more than any man since the classic time certainly; and yet it was found +of him that his knowledge was rather an accumulation, and that he had +added no new pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>cesses and no new wealth to the learning which he had +achieved.</p> + +<p>Now, I have said that we are glad to have you see us. You have already +treated us to a very unique piece of work in this reception, and we are +expecting perhaps that the world may be instructed after you are safely +on the other side of the Atlantic in a more intimate and thorough manner +concerning our merits and our few faults. This faculty of laying on a +dissecting board an entire nation or an entire age and finding out all +the arteries and veins and pulsations of their life is an extension +beyond any that our own medical schools afford. You give us that +knowledge of man which is practical and useful, and whatever the claims +or the debates may be about your system or the system of those who agree +with you, and however it may be compared with other competing systems +that have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> preceded it, we must all agree that it is practical, that it +is benevolent, that it is serious and that it is reverent; that it aims +at the highest results in virtue; that it treats evil, not as eternal, +but as evanescent, and that it expects to arrive at what is sought +through the aid of the millennium—that condition of affairs in which +there is the highest morality and the greatest happiness. And if we can +come to that by these processes and these instructions, it matters +little to the race whether it be called scientific morality and +mathematical freedom or by another less pretentious name. You will +please fill your glasses while we propose the health of our guest, +Herbert Spencer.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_EMPIRE_STATE3" id="THE_EMPIRE_STATE3"></a>THE EMPIRE STATE<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></h2> + +<h4>MR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW</h4> + +<p>Mr. President and Gentlemen:—It has been my lot from a time whence I +can not remember to respond each year to this toast. When I received the +invitation from the committee, its originality and ingenuity astonished +and overwhelmed me. But there is one thing the committee took into +consideration when they invited me to this platform. This is a +Presidential year, and it becomes men not to trust themselves talking on +dangerous topics. The State of New York is eminently safe. Ever since +the present able and distinguished Governor has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> held his place I have +been called upon by the New England Society to respond for him. It is +probably due to that element in the New Englander that he delights in +provoking controversy. The Governor is a Democrat, and I am a +Republican. Whatever he believes in I detest; whatever he admires I +hate. The manner in which this toast is received leads me to believe +that in the New England Society his administration is unanimously +approved. Governor Robinson, if I understand correctly his views, would +rather that any other man should have been elected as Chief Magistrate +than Mr. John Kelly. Mr. Kelly, if I interpret aright his public +utterances, would prefer any other man for the Governor of New York than +Lucius Robinson, and therefore, in one of the most heated controversies +we have ever had, we elected a Governor by unanimous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> consent or assent +in Alonzo B. Cornell. Horace Greeley once said to me, as we were +returning from a State convention where he had been a candidate, but the +delegates had failed to nominate the fittest man for the place: "I don't +see why any man wants to be Governor of the State of New York, for there +is no one living who can name the last ten Governors on a moment's +notice." But tho there have been Governors and Governors, there is, when +the gubernatorial office is mentioned, one figure that strides down the +centuries before all the rest; that is the old Dutch Governor of New +York, with his wooden leg—Peter Stuyvesant. There have been heroines, +too, who have aroused the poetry and eloquence of all times, but none +who have about them the substantial aroma of the Dutch heroine, Anneke +Jans.</p> + +<p>It is within the memory of men now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> living when the whole of American +literature was dismissed with the sneer of the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, "Who +reads an American book?" But out of the American wilderness a broad +avenue to the highway which has been trod by the genius of all times in +its march to fame was opened by Washington Irving, and in his footsteps +have followed the men who are read of all the world, and who will +receive the highest tributes in all times—Longfellow, and Whittier, and +Hawthorne and Prescott.</p> + +<p>New York is not only imperial in all those material results which +constitute and form the greatest commonwealth in this constellation of +commonwealths, but in our political system she has become the arbiter of +our national destiny. As goes New York so goes the Union, and her voice +indicates that the next President will be a man with New England<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> blood +in his veins or a representative of New England ideas.</p> + +<p>And for the gentleman who will not be elected I have a Yankee story. In +the Berkshire hills there was a funeral, and as they gathered in the +little parlor there came the typical New England female, who mingles +curiosity with her sympathy, and as she glanced around the darkened room +she said to the bereaved widow, "When did you get that new eight-day +clock?" "We ain't got no new eight-day clock," was the reply. "You +ain't? What's that in the corner there?" "Why no, that's not an +eight-day clock, that's the deceased; we stood him on end, to make room +for the mourners."</p> + +<p>Up to within fifty years ago all roads in New England led to Boston; but +within the last fifty years every byway and highway in New England leads +to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> New York. New York has become the capital of New England, and within +her limits are more Yankees than in any three New England States +combined. The boy who is to-day ploughing the stony hillside in New +England, who is boarding around and teaching school, and who is to be +the future merchant-prince or great lawyer, or wise statesman, looks not +now to Boston, but to New York, as the El Dorado of his hopes. And how +generously, sons of New England, have we treated you? We have put you in +the best offices; we have made you our merchant-princes. Where is the +city or village in our State where you do not own the best houses, run +the largest manufactories, and control the principal industries? We have +several times made one of your number Governor of the State, and we have +placed you in positions where you honor us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> while we honor you. New +York's choice in the National Cabinet is the distinguished Secretary of +State, whose pure Yankee blood renders him none the less a most fit and +most eminent representative of the Empire State.</p> + +<p>But while we have done our best to satisfy the Yankee, there is one +thing we have never been able to do. We can meet his ambition and fill +his purse, but we never can satisfy his stomach. When the President +stated to-night that Plymouth Rock celebrated this anniversary on the +21st, whilst we here did so on the 22d, he did not state the true +reason. It is not as he said, a dispute about dates. The pork and beans +of Plymouth are insufficient for the cravings of the Yankee appetite, +and they chose the 21st, in order that, by the night train, they may get +to New York on the 22d, to have once a year a square meal. From 1620<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +down to the opening of New York to their settlement, a constantly +increasing void was growing inside the Yankee diaphragm, and even now +the native and imported Yankee finds the best-appointed restaurant in +the world sufficient for his wants; and he has migrated to this house, +that he may annually have the sensation of sufficiency in the largest +hotel in the United States.</p> + +<p>My friend, Mr. Curtis, has eloquently stated, in the beginning of his +address, the Dutchman's idea of the old Puritan. He has stated, at the +close of his address, the modern opinion of the old Puritan. He was an +uncomfortable man to live with, but two hundred years off a grand +historic figure. If any one of you, gentlemen, was compelled to leave +this festive board, and go back two hundred years and live with your +ancestor of that day, eat his fare, drink his drink, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> listen to his +talk, what a time would be there, my countrymen! Before the Puritan was +fitted to accomplish the work he did, with all the great opportunities +that were in him, it was necessary that he should spend two years in +Leyden and learn from the Dutch the important lesson of religious +toleration, and the other fundamental lesson, that a common school +education lies at the foundation of all civil and religious liberty. If +the Dutchman had conquered Boston, it would have been a misfortune to +this land, and to the world. It would have been like Diedrich +Knickerbocker wrestling with an electric battery.</p> + +<p>But when the Yankee conquered New York, his union with the Dutch formed +those sterling elements which have made the Republic what it is. Yankee +ideas prevailed in this land in the grandest contest in the Senate of +the United<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> States which has ever taken place, or ever will, in the +victory of Nationalism over Sectionalism by the ponderous eloquence of +that great defender of the Constitution, Daniel Webster. And when +failing in the forum, Sectionalism took the field, Yankee ideas +conquered again in that historic meeting when Lee gave up his sword to +Grant. And when, in the disturbance of credit and industry which +followed, the twin heresies Expansion and Repudiation stalked abroad, +Yankee ideas conquered again in the policy of our distinguished guest, +the Secretary of the Treasury. So great a triumph has never been won by +any financial officer of the government before, as in the funding of our +national debt at four per cent., and the restoration of the national +credit, giving an impulse to our prosperity and industry that can +neither be stayed nor stopt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> + +<p>When Henry Hudson sailed up the great harbor of New York, and saw with +prophetic vision its magnificent opportunities, he could only emphasize +his thought, with true Dutch significance, in one sentence—"See here!" +When the Yankee came and settled in New York, he emphasized his coming +with another sentence—"Sit here!"—and he sat down upon the Dutchman +with such force that he squeezed him out of his cabbage-patch, and upon +it he built his warehouse and his residence. He found this city laid out +in a beautiful labyrinth of cow-patches, with the inhabitants and the +houses all standing with their gable-ends to the street, and he turned +them all to the avenue, and made New York a parallelogram of palaces; +and he has multiplied to such an extent that now he fills every nook of +our great State, and we recognize here to-night that, with no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> tariff, +and free trade between New England and New York, the native specimen is +an improvement upon the imported article. Gentlemen, I beg leave to say, +as a native New Yorker of many generations, that by the influence, the +hospitality, the liberal spirit, and the cosmopolitan influences of this +great State, from the unlovable Puritan of two hundred years ago you +have become the most agreeable and companionable of men.</p> + +<p>New York to-day, the Empire State of all the great States of the +Commonwealth, brings in through her grand avenue to the sea eighty per +cent. of all the imports, and sends forth a majority of all the exports, +of the Republic. She collects and pays four-fifths of the taxes which +carry on the government of the country. In the close competition to +secure the great Western commerce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> which is to-day feeding the world and +seeking an outlet along three thousand miles of coast, she holds by her +commercial prestige and enterprise more than all the ports from New +Orleans to Portland combined. Let us, whether native or adopted New +Yorkers, be true to the past, to the present, to the future, of this +commercial and financial metropolis. Let us enlarge our terminal +facilities and bring the rail and the steamship close together. Let us +do away with the burdens that make New York the dearest, and make her +the cheapest, port on the continent; and let us impress our commercial +ideas upon the national legislature, so that the navigation laws, which +have driven the merchant marine of the Republic from the seas, shall be +repealed, and the breezes of every clime shall unfurl, and the waves of +every sea reflect, the flag of the Republic.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Speech of Chauncey M. Depew at the seventy-fourth +anniversary banquet of the New England Society in the City of New York, +December 22, 1879.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="MEN_OF_LETTERS" id="MEN_OF_LETTERS"></a>MEN OF LETTERS</h2> + +<h4>BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE</h4> + +<p>Sir Francis Grant, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, and Gentlemen:—While +I feel most keenly the honor which you confer upon me in connecting my +name with the interests of literature, I am embarrassed, in responding, +by the nature of my subject. What is literature, and who are men of +letters? From one point of view we are the most unprofitable of +mankind—engaged mostly in blowing soap-bubbles. From another point of +view we are the most practical and energetic portion of the community. +If literature be the art of employing words skilfully in representing +facts, or thoughts, or emotions, you may see ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>cellent specimens of it +every day in the advertisements in our newspapers. Every man who uses a +pen to convey his meaning to others—the man of science, the man of +business, the member of a learned profession—belongs to the community +of letters. Nay, he need not use his pen at all. The speeches of great +orators are among the most treasured features of any national +literature. The orations of Mr. Grattan are the text-books in the +schools of rhetoric in the United States. Mr. Bright, under this aspect +of him, holds a foremost place among the men of letters of England.</p> + +<p>Again, sir, every eminent man, be he what he will, be he as unbookish as +he pleases, so he is only eminent enough, so he holds a conspicuous +place in the eyes of his countrymen, potentially belongs to us, and if +not in life, then after he is gone, will be enrolled among us.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> The +public insist on being admitted to his history, and their curiosity will +not go unsatisfied. His letters are hunted up, his journals are sifted; +his sayings in conversation, the doggerel which he writes to his +brothers and sisters are collected, and stereotyped in print. His fate +overtakes him. He can not escape from it. We cry out, but it does not +appear that men sincerely resist the liberty which is taken with them. +We never hear of them instructing their executors to burn their papers. +They have enjoyed so much the exhibition that has been made of their +contemporaries that they consent to be sacrificed themselves.</p> + +<p>Again, sir, when we look for those who have been most distinguished as +men of letters, in the usual sense of the word, where do we find them? +The famous lawyer is found in his chambers, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> famous artist is found +in his studio. Our foremost representatives we do not find always in +their libraries; we find them, in the first place, in the service of +their country. ("Hear! Hear!") Owen Meredith is Viceroy of India, and +all England has applauded the judgment that selected and sent him there. +The right honorable gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) who three years ago was +conducting the administration of this country with such brilliant +success was first generally known to his countrymen as a remarkable +writer. During forty years of arduous service he never wholly deserted +his original calling. He is employing an interval of temporary +retirement to become the interpreter of Homer to the English race, or to +break a lance with the most renowned theologians in defense of spiritual +liberty.</p> + +<p>A great author, whose life we have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> been all lately reading with +delight, contemplates the year 3000 as a period at which his works may +still be studied. If any man might be led reasonably to form such an +anticipation for himself by the admiration of his contemporaries, Lord +Macaulay may be acquitted of vanity. The year 3000 is far away, much +will happen between now and then; all that we can say with certainty of +the year 3000 is that it will be something extremely different from what +any one expects. I will not predict that men will then be reading Lord +Macaulay's "History of England." I will not predict that they will then +be reading "Lothair." But this I will say, that if any statesman of the +age of Augustus or the Antonines had left us a picture of patrician +society at Rome, drawn with the same skill, and with the same delicate +irony with which Mr. Disraeli has described a part of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> English society +in "Lothair," no relic of antiquity would now be devoured with more +avidity and interest. Thus, sir, we are an anomalous body, with very +ill-defined limits. But, such as we are, we are heartily obliged to you +for wishing us well, and I give you our most sincere thanks.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="LITERATURE_AND_POLITICS" id="LITERATURE_AND_POLITICS"></a>LITERATURE AND POLITICS</h2> + +<h4>BY JOHN MORLEY</h4> + +<p>Mr. President, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:—I +feel that I am more unworthy now than I was eight years ago to figure as +the representative of literature before this brilliant gathering of all +the most important intellectual and social interests of our time. I have +not yet been able like the Prime Minister, to go round this exhibition +and see the works of art that glorify your walls; but I am led by him to +expect that I shall see the pictures of Liberal leaders, including M. +Rochefort. I am not sure whether M. Rochefort will figure as a man of +letters or as a Liberal leader, but I can understand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> that his portrait +would attract the Prime Minister because M. Rochefort is a politician +who was once a Liberal leader, and who has now seen occasion to lose his +faith in Parliamentary government. Nor have I seen the picture of "The +Flowing Tide," but I shall expect to find in that picture when I do see +it a number of bathing-machines in which, not the younger generation, +but the elder generation, as I understand are waiting confidently—for +the arrival of the "Flowing Tide," and when it arrives, the elderly +gentlemen who are incarcerated in those machines will be only too +anxious for a man and a horse to come and deliver them from their +imminent peril.</p> + +<p>I thought that I detected in the last words of your speech, in proposing +this toast, Mr. President, an accent of gentle reproach that any one +should desert the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> high and pleasant ways of literature for the turmoil +and the everlasting contention of public life. I do not suppose that +there has ever been a time in which there was less of divorce between +literature and public life than the present time. There have been in the +reign of the Queen two eminent statesmen who have thrice had the +distinction of being Prime Minister, and oddly enough, one of those +statesman (Lord Derby) has left behind him a most spirited version of +Homer, while the other eminent statesman (William E. Gladstone)—happily +still among us, still examines the legends and the significance of +Homer. Then when we come to a period nearer to ourselves, and look at +those gentlemen who have in the last six years filled the office of +Minister for Ireland, we find that no fewer than three (George Otto +Trevelyan, John Morley, and Arthur Balfour)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> were authors of books +before they engaged in the very ticklish business of the government of +men. And one of these three Ministers for Ireland embarked upon his +literary career—which promised ample distinction—under the editorial +auspices of another of the three. We possess in one branch of the +Legislature the author of the most fascinating literary biography in our +language. We possess also another writer whose range of knowledge and of +intellectual interest is so great that he has written the most important +book upon the American Commonwealth (James Bryce).</p> + +<p>The first canon in literature was announced one hundred years ago by an +eminent Frenchman who said that in literature it is your business to +have preferences but no exclusions. In politics it appears to be our +business to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> very stiff and unchangeable preferences, and exclusion +is one of the systematic objects of our life. In literature, according +to another canon, you must have a free and open mind and it has been +said: "Never be the prisoner of your own opinions." In politics you are +very lucky if you do not have the still harder fate—(and I think that +the gentlemen on the President's right hand will assent to that as +readily as the gentlemen who sit on his left) of being the prisoner of +other people's opinions. Of course no one can doubt for a moment that +the great achievements of literature—those permanent and vital works +which we will never let die—require a devotion as unceasing, as +patient, as inexhaustible, as the devotion that is required for the +works that adorn your walls; and we have luckily in our age—tho it may +not be a literary age—masters of prose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> and masters of verse. No prose +more winning has ever been written than that of Cardinal Newman; no +verse finer, more polished, more melodious has ever been written than +that of Lord Tennyson and Mr. Swinburne.</p> + +<p>It seems to me that one of the greatest functions of literature at this +moment is not merely to produce great works, but also to protect the +English language—that noble, that most glorious instrument—against +those hosts of invaders which I observe have in these days sprung up. I +suppose that every one here has noticed the extraordinary list of names +suggested lately in order to designate motion by electricity; that list +of names only revealed what many of us had been observing for a long +time—namely, the appalling forces that are ready at a moment's notice +to deface and deform our English tongue. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> strange, fantastic, +grotesque, and weird titles open up to my prophetic vision a most +unwelcome prospect. I tremble to see the day approach—and I am not sure +that it is not approaching—when the humorists of the headlines of +American journalism shall pass current as models of conciseness, energy, +and color of style.</p> + +<p>Even in our social speech this invasion seems to be taking place in an +alarming degree, and I wonder what the Pilgrim Fathers of the +seventeenth century would say if they could hear their pilgrim children +of the nineteenth century who come over here, on various missions, and +among others, "On the make." This is only one of the thousand such-like +expressions which are invading the Puritan simplicity of our tongue. I +will only say that I should like, for my own part, to see in every +library and in every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> newspaper office that admirable passage in which +Milton—who knew so well how to handle both the great instrument of +prose and the nobler instrument of verse—declared that next to the man +who furnished courage and intrepid counsels against an enemy he placed +the man who should enlist small bands of good authors to resist that +barbarism which invades the minds and the speech of men in methods and +habits of speaking and writing.</p> + +<p>I thank you for having allowed me the honor of saying a word as to the +happiest of all callings and the most imperishable of all arts.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="GENERAL_SHERMAN" id="GENERAL_SHERMAN"></a>GENERAL SHERMAN</h2> + +<h4>BY CARL SCHURZ</h4> + +<p>Gentlemen:—The adoption by the Chamber of Commerce of these resolutions +which I have the honor to second, is no mere perfunctory proceeding. We +have been called here by a genuine impulse of the heart. To us General +Sherman was not a great man like other great men, honored and revered at +a distance. We had the proud and happy privilege of calling him one of +us. Only a few months ago, at the annual meeting of this Chamber, we saw +the familiar face of our honorary member on this platform by the side of +our President. Only a few weeks ago he sat at our banquet table, as he +had often before, in the happiest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> mood of conviviality, and contributed +to the enjoyment of the night with his always unassuming and always +charming speech. And as he moved among us without the slightest pomp of +self-conscious historic dignity, only with the warm and simple geniality +of his nature, it would cost us sometimes an effort of the memory to +recollect that he was the renowned captain who had marshaled mighty +armies victoriously on many a battlefield, and whose name stood, and +will forever stand, in the very foremost rank of the saviors of this +Republic, and of the great soldiers of the world's history. Indeed, no +American could have forgotten this for a moment; but the affection of +those who were so happy as to come near to him, would sometimes struggle +to outrun their veneration and gratitude.</p> + +<p>Death has at last conquered the hero<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> of so many campaigns; our cities +and towns and villages are decked with flags at half-mast; the muffled +drum and the funeral cannon boom will resound over the land as his dead +body passes to the final resting-place; and the American people stand +mournfully gazing into the void left by the sudden disappearance of the +last of the greatest men brought forth by our war of regeneration—and +this last also finally become, save Abraham Lincoln alone, the most +widely beloved. He is gone; but as we of the present generation remember +it, history will tell all coming centuries the romantic story of the +famous "March to the Sea"—how, in the dark days of 1864, Sherman, +having worked his bloody way to Atlanta, then cast off all his lines of +supply and communication, and, like a bold diver into the dark unknown, +seemed to vanish with all his hosts from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> the eyes of the world, until +his triumphant reappearance on the shores of the ocean proclaimed to the +anxiously expecting millions, that now the final victory was no longer +doubtful, and that the Republic would surely be saved.</p> + +<p>Nor will history fail to record that this great general was, as a +victorious soldier, a model of republican citizenship. When he had done +his illustrious deeds, he rose step by step to the highest rank in the +army, and then, grown old, he retired. The Republic made provision for +him in modest republican style. He was satisfied. He asked for no higher +reward. Altho the splendor of his achievements, and the personal +affection for him, which every one of his soldiers carried home, made +him the most popular American of his day, and altho the most glittering +prizes were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> not seldom held up before his eyes, he remained untroubled +by ulterior ambition. No thought that the Republic owed him more ever +darkened his mind. No man could have spoken to him of the "ingratitude +of Republics," without meeting from him a stern rebuke. And so, content +with the consciousness of a great duty nobly done, he was happy in the +love of his fellow citizens.</p> + +<p>Indeed, he may truly be said to have been in his old age, not only the +most beloved, but also the happiest of Americans. Many years he lived in +the midst of posterity. His task was finished, and this he wisely +understood. His deeds had been passed upon by the judgment of history, +and irrevocably registered among the glories of his country and his age. +His generous heart envied no one, and wished every one well; and +ill-will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> had long ceased to pursue him. Beyond cavil his fame was +secure, and he enjoyed it as that which he had honestly earned, with a +genuine and ever fresh delight, openly avowed by the charming frankness +of his nature. He dearly loved to be esteemed and cherished by his +fellow men, and what he valued most, his waning years brought him in +ever increasing abundance. Thus he was in truth a most happy man, and +his days went down like an evening sun in a cloudless autumn sky. And +when now the American people, with that peculiar tenderness of affection +which they have long borne him, lay him in his grave, the happy ending +of his great life may soothe the pang of bereavement they feel in their +hearts at the loss of the old hero who was so dear to them, and of whom +they were and always will be so proud. His memory will ever be bright to +us all;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> his truest monument will be the greatness of the Republic he +served so well; and his fame will never cease to be prized by a grateful +country, as one of its most precious possessions.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="ORATION_OVER_ALEXANDER_HAMILTON4" id="ORATION_OVER_ALEXANDER_HAMILTON4"></a>ORATION OVER ALEXANDER HAMILTON<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY GOUVERNEUR MORRIS</h4> + +<p>My Friends:—If on this sad, this solemn occasion, I should endeavor to +move your commiseration, it would be doing injustice to that sensibility +which has been so generally and so justly manifested. Far from +attempting to excite your emotions, I must try to repress my own; and +yet, I fear, that instead of the language of a public speaker, you will +hear only the lamentations of a wailing friend. But I will struggle with +my bursting heart, to portray that heroic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> spirit, which has flown to +the mansions of bliss.</p> + +<p>Students of Columbia—he was in the ardent pursuit of knowledge in your +academic shades when the first sound of the American war called him to +the field. A young and unprotected volunteer, such was his zeal, and so +brilliant his service, that we heard his name before we knew his person. +It seemed as if God had called him suddenly into existence, that he +might assist to save a world! The penetrating eye of Washington soon +perceived the manly spirit which animated his youthful bosom. By that +excellent judge of men he was selected as an aid, and thus he became +early acquainted with, and was a principal actor in the more important +scenes of our revolution. At the siege of York he pertinaciously +insisted on, and he obtained the command of a Forlorn Hope. He stormed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +the redoubt; but let it be recorded that not one single man of the enemy +perished. His gallant troops, emulating the heroism of their chief +checked the uplifted arm, and spared a foe no longer resisting. Here +closed his military career.</p> + +<p>Shortly after the war, your favor—no, your discernment, called him to +public office. You sent him to the convention at Philadelphia; he there +assisted in forming the constitution which is now the bond of our union, +the shield of our defense, and the source of our prosperity. In signing +the compact, he exprest his apprehension that it did not contain +sufficient means of strength for its own preservation; and that in +consequence we should share the fate of many other republics, and pass +through anarchy to despotism. We hoped better things. We confided in the +good sense of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> American people; and, above all, we trusted in the +protecting providence of the Almighty. On this important subject he +never concealed his opinion. He disdained concealment. Knowing the +purity of his heart, he bore it as it were in his hand, exposing to +every passenger its inmost recesses. This generous indiscretion +subjected him to censure from misrepresentation. His speculative +opinions were treated as deliberate designs; and yet you all know how +strenuous, how unremitting were his efforts to establish and to preserve +the constitution. If, then, his opinion was wrong, pardon, O pardon, +that single error, in a life devoted to your service.</p> + +<p>At the time when our Government was organized, we were without funds, +tho not without resources. To call them into action, and establish order +in the finances, Washington sought for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> splendid talents, for extensive +information, and above all, he sought for sterling, incorruptible +integrity. All these he found in Hamilton. The system then adopted, has +been the subject of much animadversion. If it be not without a fault, +let it be remembered that nothing human is perfect. Recollect the +circumstances of the moment—recollect the conflict of opinion—and, +above all, remember that a minister of a republic must bend to the will +of the people. The administration which Washington formed was one of the +most efficient, one of the best that any country was ever blessed with. +And the result was a rapid advance in power and prosperity of which +there is no example in any other age or nation. The part which Hamilton +bore is universally known.</p> + +<p>His unsuspecting confidence in professions, which he believed to be +sincere,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> led him to trust too much to the undeserving. This exposed him +to misrepresentation. He felt himself obliged to resign. The care of a +rising family, and the narrowness of his fortune, made it a duty to +return to his profession for their support. But tho he was compelled to +abandon public life, never, no, never for a moment did he abandon the +public service. He never lost sight of your interests. I declare to you, +before that God in whose presence we are now especially assembled, that +in his most private and confidential conversations, the single objects +of discussion and consideration were your freedom and happiness. You +well remember the state of things which again called forth Washington +from his retreat to lead your armies. You know that he asked for +Hamilton to be his second in command. That venerable sage knew well the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +dangerous incidents of a military profession, and he felt the hand of +time pinching life at its source. It was probable that he would soon be +removed from the scene, and that his second would succeed to the +command. He knew by experience the importance of that place—and he +thought the sword of America might safely be confided to the hand which +now lies cold in that coffin. Oh! my fellow citizens, remember this +solemn testimonial that he was not ambitious. Yet he was charged with +ambition, and, wounded by the imputation, when he laid down his command +he declared in the proud independence of his soul, that he never would +accept any office, unless in a foreign war he should be called on to +expose his life in defense of his country. This determination was +immovable. It was his fault that his opinions and his resolutions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> could +not be changed. Knowing his own firm purpose, he was indignant at the +charge that he sought for place or power. He was ambitious only for +glory, but he was deeply solicitous for you. For himself he feared +nothing; but he feared that bad men might, by false professions, acquire +your confidence, and abuse it to your ruin.</p> + +<p>Brethren of the Cincinnati—there lies our chief! Let him still be our +model. Like him, after long and faithful public services, let us +cheerfully perform the social duties of private life. Oh! he was mild +and gentle. In him there was no offense; no guile. His generous hand and +heart were open to all.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen of the bar—you have lost your brightest ornament. Cherish and +imitate his example. While, like him, with justifiable and laudable +zeal, you pursue the interests of your clients, re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>member, like him, the +eternal principle of justice.</p> + +<p>Fellow citizens—you have long witnessed his professional conduct, and +felt his unrivaled eloquence. You know how well he performed the duties +of a citizen—you know that he never courted your favor by adulation or +the sacrifice of his own judgment. You have seen him contending against +you, and saving your dearest interests, as it were, in spite of +yourselves. And you now feel and enjoy the benefits resulting from the +firm energy of his conduct. Bear this testimony to the memory of my +departed friend. I charge you to protect his fame. It is all he has +left—all that these poor orphan children will inherit from their +father. But, my countrymen, that fame may be a rich treasure to you +also. Let it be the test by which to examine those who solicit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> your +favor. Disregarding professions, view their conduct, and on a doubtful +occasion ask, "Would Hamilton have done this thing?"</p> + +<p>You all know how he perished. On this last scene I can not, I must not +dwell. It might excite emotions too strong for your better judgment. +Suffer not your indignation to lead to any act which might again offend +the insulted majesty of the laws. On his part, as from his lips, tho +with my voice—for his voice you will hear no more—let me entreat you +to respect yourselves.</p> + +<p>And now, ye ministers of the everlasting God, perform your holy office, +and commit these ashes of our departed brother to the bosom of the +grave.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Funeral oration by Gouverneur Morris, statesman and man of +affairs, pronounced before the porch of Trinity Church, New York City, +over the body of Alexander Hamilton, just prior to the interment, July +14, 1804.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="EULOGY_OF_McKINLEY" id="EULOGY_OF_McKINLEY"></a>EULOGY OF McKINLEY</h2> + +<h4>BY GROVER CLEVELAND</h4> + +<p>To-day the grave closes over the dead body of the man but lately chosen +by the people of the United States from among their number to represent +their nationality, preserve, protect and defend their Constitution, to +faithfully execute the laws ordained for their welfare, and safely to +hold and keep the honor and integrity of the Republic. His time of +service is ended, not by the expiration of time, but by the tragedy of +assassination. He has passed from public sight, not joyously bearing the +garlands and wreaths of his countrymen's approving acclaim, but amid the +sobs and tears of a mourning nation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> He has gone to his home, not the +habitation of earthly peace and quiet, bright with domestic comfort and +joy, but to the dark and narrow house appointed for all the sons of men, +there to rest until the morning light of the resurrection shall gleam in +the East.</p> + +<p>All our people loved their dead president. His kindly nature and lovable +traits of character and his amiable consideration for all about him will +long be in the minds and hearts of his countrymen. He loved them in +return with such patriotism and unselfishness that in the hour of their +grief and humiliation he would say to them: "It is God's will; I am +content. If there is a lesson in my life or death, let it be taught to +those who still live and have the destiny of their country in their +keeping."</p> + +<p>Let us, then, as our dead is buried out of our sight, seek for the +lessons and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> the admonitions that may be suggested by the life and death +which constitute our theme.</p> + +<p>First in my thoughts are the lessons to be learned from the career of +William McKinley by the young men who make up the student body of our +university. These lessons are not obscure or difficult. They teach the +value of study and mental training, but they teach more impressively +that the road to usefulness and to the only success worth having, will +be missed or lost except it is sought and kept by the light of those +qualities of heart, which it is sometimes supposed may safely be +neglected or subordinated in university surroundings. This is a great +mistake. Study and study hard, but never let the thought enter your mind +that study alone or the greatest possible accumulation of learning alone +will lead you to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> the heights of usefulness and success.</p> + +<p>The man who is universally mourned to-day achieved the highest +distinction which his great country can confer on any man, and he lived +a useful life. He was not deficient in education, but with all you will +hear of his grand career, and of his services to his country and his +fellow citizens, you will not hear that either the high place he reached +or what he accomplished was due entirely to his education. You will +instead constantly hear as accounting for his great success that he was +obedient and affectionate as a son, patriotic and faithful as a soldier, +honest and upright as a citizen, tender and devoted as a husband, and +truthful, generous, unselfish, moral and clean in every relation of +life. He never thought any of these things too weak for manliness. Make +no mistake. Here was a most distinguished man, a great man, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> useful +man—who became distinguished, great and useful, because he had, and +retained unimpaired, the qualities of heart which I fear university +students sometimes feel like keeping in the background or abandoning.</p> + +<p>There is a most serious lesson for all of us in the tragedy of our late +president's death. The shock of it is so great that it is hard at this +time to read this lesson calmly. We can hardly fail to see, however, +behind the bloody deed of the assassin, horrible figures and faces from +which it will not do to turn away. If we are to escape further attack +upon our peace and security, we must boldly and resolutely grapple with +the monster of anarchy. It is not a thing that we can safely leave to be +dealt with by party or partizanship. Nothing can guarantee us against +its menace except the teaching and the practise of the best +citizenship,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> the exposure of the ends and aims of the gospel of +discontent and hatred of social order, and the brave enactment and +execution of repressive laws.</p> + +<p>Our universities and colleges can not refuse to join in the battle +against the tendencies of anarchy. Their help in discovering and warning +against the relationship between the vicious councils and deeds of +blood, and their unsteadying influence upon the elements of unrest, can +not fail to be of inestimable value.</p> + +<p>By the memory of our murdered president, let us resolve to cultivate and +preserve the qualities that made him great and useful; and let us +determine to meet the call of patriotic duty in every time of our +country's danger or need.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="DECORATION_DAY5" id="DECORATION_DAY5"></a>DECORATION DAY<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY THOMAS W. HIGGINSON</h4> + +<p>Friends:—We meet to-day for a purpose that has the dignity and the +tenderness of funeral rites without their sadness. It is not a new +bereavement, but one which has softened, that brings us here. We meet +not around a newly opened grave, but among those which Nature has +already decorated with the memorials of her love. Above every tomb her +daily sunshine has smiled, her tears have wept; over the humblest she +has bidden some grasses nestle, some vines creep, and the +butterfly,—ancient emblem of immortality—waves his little wings above +every sod. To Nature's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> signs of tenderness we add our own. Not "ashes +to ashes, dust to dust," but blossoms to blossoms, laurels to the +laureled.</p> + +<p>The great Civil War has passed by—its great armies were disbanded, +their tents struck, their camp-fires put out, their muster-rolls laid +away. But there is another army whose numbers no Presidential +proclamation could reduce, no general orders disband. This is their +camping-ground—these white stones are their tents—this list of names +we bear is their muster-roll—their camp-fires yet burn in our hearts.</p> + +<p>I remember this "Sweet Auburn" when no sacred associations made it +sweeter, and when its trees looked down on no funerals but those of the +bird and the bee. Time has enriched its memories since those days. And +especially during our great war, as the Nation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> seemed to grow +impoverished in men, these hills grow richer in associations, until +their multiplying wealth took in that heroic boy who fell in almost the +last battle of the war. Now that roll of honor has closed, and the work +of commemoration begun.</p> + +<p>Without distinction of nationality, of race, of religion, they gave +their lives to their country. Without distinction of religion, of race, +of nationality, we garland their graves to-day. The young Roman Catholic +convert who died exclaiming "Mary! pardon!" and the young Protestant +theological student, whose favorite place of study was this cemetery, +and who asked only that no words of praise might be engraven on his +stone—these bore alike the cross in their lifetime, and shall bear it +alike in flowers to-day. They gave their lives that we might remain one +Nation, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> the Nation holds their memory alike in its arms.</p> + +<p>And so the little distinctions of rank that separated us in the service +are nothing here. Death has given the same brevet to all. The brilliant +young cavalry general who rode into his last action, with stars on his +shoulders and his death-wound on his breast, is to us no more precious +than that sergeant of sharpshooters who followed the line unarmed at +Antietam, waiting to take the rifle of some one who should die, because +his own had been stolen; or that private who did the same thing in the +same battle, leaving the hospital service to which he had been assigned. +Nature has been equally tender to the graves of all, and our love knows +no distinction.</p> + +<p>What a wonderful embalmer is death! We who survive grow daily older. +Since the war closed the youngest has gained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> some new wrinkle, the +oldest some added gray hair. A few years more and only a few tattering +figures shall represent the marching files of the Grand Army; a year or +two beyond that, and there shall flutter by the window the last empty +sleeve. But these who are here are embalmed forever in our imaginations; +they will not change; they never will seem to us less young, less fresh, +less daring, than when they sallied to their last battle. They will +always have the dew of their youth; it is we alone who shall grow old.</p> + +<p>And, again, what a wonderful purifier is death! These who fell beside us +varied in character; like other men, they had their strength and their +weaknesses, their merits and their faults. Yet now all stains seem +washed away; their life ceased at its climax, and the ending sanctioned +all that went before. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> died for their country; that is their +record. They found their way to heaven equally short, it seems to us, +from every battle-field, and with equal readiness our love seeks them +to-day.</p> + +<p>"What is a victory like?" said a lady to the Duke of Wellington. "The +greatest tragedy in the world, madam, except a defeat." Even our great +war would be but a tragedy were it not for the warm feeling of +brotherhood it has left behind it, based on the hidden emotions of days +like these. The war has given peace to the nation; it has given union, +freedom, equal rights; and in addition to that, it has given to you and +me the sacred sympathy of these graves. No matter what it has cost us +individually—health or worldly fortunes—it is our reward that we can +stand to-day among these graves and yet not blush that we survive.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> + +<p>The great French soldier, de Latour d'Auvergne, was the hero of many +battles, but remained by his own choice in the ranks. Napoleon gave him +a sword and the official title "The First Grenadier of France." When he +was killed, the Emperor ordered that his heart should be intrusted to +the keeping of his regiment—that his name should be called at every +roll-call, and that his next comrade should make answer, "Dead upon the +field of honor." In our memories are the names of many heroes; we +treasure all their hearts in this consecrated ground, and when the name +of each is called, we answer in flowers, "Dead upon the field of honor."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Delivered at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass., +Decoration Day, May 30, 1870.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="FAITH_IN_MANKIND6" id="FAITH_IN_MANKIND6"></a>FAITH IN MANKIND<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY ARTHUR T. HADLEY</h4> + +<p>In order to accomplish anything great, a man must have two sides to his +greatness: a personal side and a social side. He must be upright +himself, and he must believe in the good intentions and possibilities of +others about him.</p> + +<p>The scholars and scientific men of the country have sometimes been +reproached with a certain indifference to the feelings and sentiments of +their fellow men. It has been said that their critical faculty is +developed more strongly than their constructive instinct; that their +brain has been nourished at the expense of their heart; that what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> they +have gained in breadth of vision has been outweighed by a loss of human +sympathy.</p> + +<p>It is for you to prove the falseness of this charge. It is for you to +show by your life and utterances that you believe in the men who are +working with you and about you. There will probably be times when this +is a hard task. If you have studied history or literature or science +aright, some things which look large to other people will look small to +you. You will frequently be called upon to give the unwelcome advice +that a desired end can not be reached by a short cut; and this may cause +some of your enthusiastic friends to lose confidence in your leadership. +There are always times when a man who is clear-headed is reproached with +being hard-hearted. But if you yourselves keep your faith in your fellow +men, these things, tho<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> they be momentary hindrances, will in the long +run make for your power of Christian leadership.</p> + +<p>There was a time, not so very long ago, when the people distrusted the +guidance of scientific men in things material. They believed that they +could do their business best without advice of the theorists. When it +came to the conduct of business, scientific men and practical men eyed +each other with mutual distrust. As long as the scientific men remained +mere critics this distrust remained. When they came to take up the +practical problems of applied mechanics and physics and solve them +positively in a large way, they became the trusted leaders of modern +material development.</p> + +<p>It is for you to deal with the profounder problems of human life in the +same way. It is for you to prove your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> right to take the lead in the +political and social and spiritual development of the country, as well +as in its mechanical and material development. To do this you must take +hold of these social problems with the same positive faith with which +your fathers took hold of the problems of applied science. To the man +who believes in his fellow men, who has faith in his country, and in +whom the love of God whom he hath not seen is but an outgrowth of a love +for his fellow men whom he hath seen, the opening years of the twentieth +century are years of unrivaled promise. We already know that a man can +learn to love God by loving his fellow men. Equally true we shall find +it that a man learns to believe in God by believing in his fellow men.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The concluding part of a baccalaureate address to the +graduating class of Yale University, June 27, 1909.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="WASHINGTON_AND_LINCOLN7" id="WASHINGTON_AND_LINCOLN7"></a>WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY MARTIN W. LITTLETON</h4> + +<p>The strongest thing about the character of the two greatest men in +American history is the fact that they did not surrender to the passion +of the time. Washington withstood the French radicalism of Jefferson and +the British conservatism of Hamilton. He invited each of them into his +cabinet; he refused to allow either of them to dictate his policy. His +enemies could not terrify him by assault; his friends could not deceive +him with flattery. In this respect he resembled in marked degree the +splendid character of Lincoln.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>The single light that led Lincoln's feet along the hard highway of life +was justice; the single thought that throbbed his brain to sleep at +night was justice; the single prayer that put in whispered words the +might and meaning of his soul was justice; the single impulse that +lingered in a heart already wrung by a nation's grief was justice; in +every word that fell from him in touching speech there was the sad and +sober spirit of justice. He sat upon the storm when the nation shook +with passion. Treason, wrong, injustice, crime, graft, a thousand wrongs +in system and in single added to the burden of this melancholy spirit. +Silently, as the soul of the just makes war on sin; silently, as the +spirit of the mighty withstands the spite of wrong; silently, as the +heart of the truly brave resists the assault of the coward, this prince +of patience and peace en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>dured the calumny of the country he died to +save.</p> + +<p>Lincoln blazed the way from the cabin to the crown; working away in the +silence of the woods, he heard the murmur of a storm; toiling in the +forest of flashing leaf and armored oak, he heard Lexington calling unto +Sumter, Valley Forge crying unto Gettysburg, and Yorktown shouting unto +Appomattox. Lingering before the dying fires in a humble hut, he saw +with sorrowful heart the blazing camps of Virginia, and felt the awful +stillness of slumbering armies. Beneath it all he saw the strained +muscles of the slave, the broken spirit of the serf, the bondage of +immortal souls; and beyond it all, looking through the tears that broke +from a breaking heart, he saw the widow by the empty chair, the aged +father's fruitless vigil at the gate, the daughter's dreary watch +be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>side the door, and the son's solemn step from boyhood to old age. And +behind this picture he saw the lonely family altar upon which was +offered the incense of tears coming from millions of broken hearts; and +looking still beyond he saw the battle-fields where silent slabs told of +the death of those who died in deathless valor. He saw the desolated +earth, where golden grain no more broke from the rich, resourceful soil, +where the bannered wheat no longer rose from the productive earth; he +saw the South with its smoking chimneys, its deserted hearthstones, its +maimed and wounded trudging with bowed heads and bent forms back to +their homes, there to want and to waste and to struggle and to build up +again; he saw the North recover itself from the awful shock of arms and +start anew to unite the arteries of commerce that had been cut by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> the +cruel sword of war. And with this gentle hand, and as a last act of his +sacrificial life, he dashed the awful cup of brother's blood from the +lustful lip of war and shattered the cannons' roar into nameless notes +of song.</p> + +<p>Then turn to the vision of Washington leaving a plantation of peace and +plenty to suffer on the blood-stained battle-field, surrendering the +dominion over the princely domain of a Virginia gentleman to accept the +privations of an unequal war—the vision of patriotism over against the +vision of greed.</p> + +<p>Oh, my friends, we must live so that the spirit of these men shall +settle all about our lives and deeds; so that the patriotism of their +service shall burn as a fire in the hearts of all who shall follow them. +The Constitution which came from one, the universal liberty which came +from the other, must be set<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> in our hearts as institutions in the blood +of our race, so that this Government shall not perish until every drop +of that blood has been shed in its defense; and we shall behold the flag +of our country as the beautiful emblem of their unselfish lives, whose +red ran out of a soldier's heart, whose white was bleached by a nation's +tears, whose stars were hung there to sing together until the eternal +morning when all the world shall be free.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Extract from an address on the occasion of the celebration +of Washington's Birthday by the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, New York, +February 22, 1906.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHARACTERISTICS_OF_WASHINGTON8" id="CHARACTERISTICS_OF_WASHINGTON8"></a>CHARACTERISTICS OF WASHINGTON<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY WILLIAM McKINLEY</h4> + +<p>Fellow Citizens:—There is a peculiar and tender sentiment connected +with this memorial. It expresses not only the gratitude and reverence of +the living, but is a testimonial of affection and homage from the dead.</p> + +<p>The comrades of Washington projected this monument. Their love inspired +it. Their contributions helped to build it. Past and present share in +its completion, and future generations will profit by its lessons. To +participate in the dedication of such a monument is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> rare and precious +privilege. Every monument to Washington is a tribute to patriotism. +Every shaft and statue to his memory helps to inculcate love of country, +encourage loyalty and establish a better citizenship. God bless every +undertaking which revives patriotism and rebukes the indifferent and +lawless! A critical study of Washington's career only enhances our +estimation of his vast and varied abilities.</p> + +<p>As Commander-in-chief of the Colonial armies from the beginning of the +war to the proclamation of peace, as president of the convention which +framed the Constitution of the United States, and as the first President +of the United States under that Constitution, Washington has a +distinction differing from that of all other illustrious Americans. No +other name bears or can bear such a relation to the Government. Not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +only by his military genius—his patience, his sagacity, his courage, +and his skill—was our national independence won, but he helped in +largest measure to draft the chart by which the Nation was guided; and +he was the first chosen by the people to put in motion the new +Government. His was not the boldness of martial display or the charm of +captivating oratory, but his calm and steady judgment won men's support +and commanded their confidence by appealing to their best and noblest +aspirations. And withal Washington was ever so modest that at no time in +his career did his personality seem in the least intrusive. He was above +the temptation of power. He spurned any suggested crown. He would have +no honor which the people did not bestow.</p> + +<p>An interesting fact—and one which I love to recall—is that the only +time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> Washington formally addrest the Constitutional Convention during +all its sessions over which he presided in this city, he appealed for a +larger representation of the people in the National House of +Representatives, and his appeal was instantly heeded. Thus was he ever +keenly watchful of the rights of the people in whose hands was the +destiny of our Government then as now.</p> + +<p>Masterful as were his military campaigns, his civil administration +commands equal admiration. His foresight was marvelous; his conception +of the philosophy of government, his insistence upon the necessity of +education, morality, and enlightened citizenship to the progress and +permanence of the Republic, can not be contemplated even at this period +without filling us with astonishment at the breadth of his comprehension +and the sweep of his vision.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> His was no narrow view of government. The +immediate present was not his sole concern, but our future good his +constant theme of study. He blazed the path of liberty. He laid the +foundation upon which we have grown from weak and scattered Colonial +governments to a united Republic whose domains and power as well as +whose liberty and freedom have become the admiration of the world. +Distance and time have not detracted from the fame and force of his +achievements or diminished the grandeur of his life and work. Great +deeds do not stop in their growth, and those of Washington will expand +in influence in all the centuries to follow.</p> + +<p>The bequest Washington has made to civilization is rich beyond +computation. The obligations under which he has placed mankind are +sacred and commanding. The responsibility he has left<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> for the American +people to preserve and perfect what he accomplished is exacting and +solemn. Let us rejoice in every new evidence that the people realize +what they enjoy and cherish with affection the illustrious heroes of +Revolutionary story whose valor and sacrifices made us a nation. They +live in us, and their memory will help us keep the covenant entered into +for the maintenance of the freest Government of the earth.</p> + +<p>The Nation and the name of Washington are inseparable. One is linked +indissolubly with the other. Both are glorious, both triumphant. +Washington lives and will live because what he did was for the +exaltation of man, the enthronement of conscience, and the establishment +of a Government which recognizes all the governed. And so, too, will the +Nation live victorious over all obstacles, adhering to the immortal +principles which Washington taught and Lincoln sustained.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Address by William McKinley, twenty-fourth President of the +United States, delivered at the unveiling of the Washington Statue, by +the Society of Cincinnati, in Philadelphia, May 15, 1897.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="LET_FRANCE_BE_FREE9" id="LET_FRANCE_BE_FREE9"></a>"LET FRANCE BE FREE!"<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY GEORGE JACQUES DANTON</h4> + +<p>The general considerations that have been presented to you are true; but +at this moment it is less necessary to examine the causes of the +disasters that have struck us than to apply their remedy rapidly. When +the edifice is on fire, I do not join the rascals who would steal the +furniture, I extinguish the flames. I tell you therefore you should be +convinced by the despatches of Dumouriez that you have not a moment to +spare in saving the Republic.</p> + +<p>Dumouriez conceived a plan which did honor to his genius. I would render +him greater justice and praise than I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> did recently. But three months +ago he announced to the executive power, your General Committee of +Defense, that if we were not audacious enough to invade Holland in the +middle of winter, to declare instantly against England the war which +actually we had long been making, that we would double the difficulties +of our campaign, in giving our enemies the time to deploy their forces. +Since we failed to recognize this stroke of his genius we must now +repair our faults.</p> + +<p>Dumouriez is not discouraged; he is in the middle of Holland, where he +will find munitions of war; to overthrow all our enemies, he wants but +Frenchmen, and France is filled with citizens. Would we be free? If we +no longer desire it, let us perish, for we have all sworn it. If we wish +it, let all march to defend our independence. Your enemies are making +their last efforts. Pitt, recog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>nizing he has all to lose, dares spare +nothing. Take Holland, and Carthage is destroyed and England can no +longer exist but for Liberty! Let Holland be conquered to Liberty; and +even the commercial aristocracy itself, which at the moment dominates +the English people, would rise against the government which had dragged +it into this despotic war against a free people. They would overthrow +this ministry of stupidity who thought the methods of the <i>ancien +régime</i> could smother the genius of Liberty breathing in France. This +ministry once overthrown in the interests of commerce the party of +Liberty would show itself; for it is not dead! And if you know your +duties, if your commissioners leave at once, if you extend the hand to +the strangers aspiring to destroy all forms of tyranny, France is saved +and the world is free.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>Expedite, then, your commissioners; sustain them with your energy; let +them leave this very night, this very evening.</p> + +<p>Let them say to the opulent classes, the aristocracy of Europe must +succumb to our efforts, and pay our debt, or you will have to pay it! +The people have nothing but blood—they lavish it! Go, then, ingrates, +and lavish your wealth! See, citizens, the fair destinies that await +you. What! you have a whole nation as a lever, its reason as your +fulcrum, and you have not yet upturned the world! To do this we need +firmness and character, and of a truth we lack it. I put to one side all +passions. They are all strangers to me save a passion for the public +good.</p> + +<p>In the most difficult situations, when the enemy was at the gates of +Paris, I said to those governing: "Your discussions are shameful, I can +see but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> enemy. You tire me by squabbling in place of occupying +yourselves with the safety of the Republic! I repudiate you all as +traitors to our country! I place you all in the same line!" I said to +them: "What care I for my reputation! Let France be free, tho my name +were accurst! What care I that I am called 'a blood-drinker!'" Well, let +us drink the blood of the enemies of humanity, if needful; but let us +struggle, let us achieve freedom. Some fear the departure of the +commissioners may weaken one or the other section of this Convention. +Vain fears! Carry your energy everywhere. The pleasantest declaration +will be to announce to the people that the terrible debt weighing upon +them will be wrested from their enemies or that the rich will shortly +have to pay it. The national situation is cruel. The representatives of +value are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> no longer in equilibrium in the circulation. The day of the +workingman is lengthened beyond necessity. A great corrective measure is +necessary! Conquerors of Holland reanimate in England the Republican +party; let us advance, France, and we shall go glorified to posterity. +Achieve these grand destinies; no more debates, no more quarrels, and +the fatherland is saved.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> On the disasters on the frontier—delivered in convention, +March 10, 1793.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="SONS_OF_HARVARD10" id="SONS_OF_HARVARD10"></a>SONS OF HARVARD<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY CHARLES DEVENS</h4> + +<p>The sons of Harvard who have served their country on field and flood, in +deep thankfulness to Almighty God, who has covered their heads in the +day of battle and permitted them to stand again in these ancient halls +and under these leafy groves, sacred to so many memories of youth and +learning, and in yet deeper thankfulness for the crowning mercy which +has been vouchsafed in the complete triumph of our arms over rebellion, +return home to-day. Educated only in the arts of peace, unlearned in all +that pertained especially to the science of war, the emergency of the +hour threw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> upon them the necessity of grasping the sword.</p> + +<p>Claiming only that they have striven to do their duty they come only to +ask their share in the common joy and happiness which our victory has +diffused and meet this imposing reception. When they remember in whose +presence they stand; that of all the great crowd of the sons of Harvard +who are here to-day there is not one who has not contributed his utmost +to the glorious consummation; that those who have been blessed with +opulence have expended with the largest and most lavish hand in +supplying the government with the sinews of war and sustaining +everywhere the distrest upon whom the woes of war fell; that those less +large in means altho not in heart have not failed to pour out most +tenderly of time and care, of affection and love, in the thousand +channels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> that have been opened; that the statesmen and legislators +whose wise counsels and determined spirit have brought us thus far in +safety and honor are here,—would that their task were as completely +done as ours!—yet sure I am that in their hands "the pen will not lose +by writing what the sword has won by fighting;" that the poets whose +fiery lyrics roused us as when</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Tyrtæus called aloud to arms,"</div> +</div></div> + +<p>and who have animated the living and celebrated the dead in the noblest +strains are here; that our orators whose burning words have so cheered +the gloom of the long controversy are here, altho withal we lament that +one voice so often heard through the long night of gloom was not +permitted to greet with us the morning. Surrounded by memories such as +his, surrounded by men such as these, we may well feel at receiving this +noble<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> testimonial of your regard that it is rather you who are generous +in bestowing than we who are rich in deserving. Nor do we forget the +guests who honor us by their presence to-day, chief among whom we +recognize his Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, who altho he +wears the civilian's coat bears as stout a heart as beats under any +soldier's jacket, and who has sent his men by the thousands and tens of +thousands to fight in this great battle; and the late commanding general +of the Army of the Potomac under whom so many of us have fought. If the +whole and comprehensive plans of our great lieutenant-general have +marked him as the Ulysses of a holier and mightier epic than Homer ever +dreamed, in the presence of the great captain who fairly turned the tide +of the rebellion on the hills above<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> Gettysburg, we shall not have to +look far for its Achilles.</p> + +<p>Yet, sir, speaking always of others as you have called on me to speak +for them, it seems to me that the record of the sons of the university +who have served in the war is not unworthy of her. In any capacity where +service was honorable or useful they have rendered it. In the +departments of science they have been conspicuous and the skill of the +engineer upon whom we so often depended was not seldom derived from the +schools of this university. In surgery they have by learning and +judgment alleviated the woes of thousands. And in the ministration of +that religion in whose name this university was founded they have not +been less devoted; not only have cheering words gone forth from their +pulpits, but they have sought the hospitals where the wounded were +dying, or like Fuller<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> at Fredericksburg, have laid down their lives on +the field where armed hosts were contending. All these were applying the +principles of their former education to new sets of circumstances; but, +as you will remember, by far the larger portion of our number were of +the combatants of the army, and the facility they displayed in adopting +the profession of arms affords an admirable addition to the argument by +which it has been heretofore maintained that the general education of +our college was best for all who could obtain it, as affording a basis +upon which any superstructure of usefulness might be raised. Readily +mastering the tactics and detail of the profession, proving themselves +able to grapple with its highest problems, their courage and gallantry +were proverbial.</p> + +<p>It would be a great mistake to suppose that all that was added to our +army by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> such men as these was merely what it gained in physical force +and manly prowess. Our neighbors on the other side of the water, whose +attachment to monarchy is so strong that it sometimes makes them unjust +to republics, have sometimes attacked the character and discipline of +our army. Nothing could be more unjust. The federal army was noble, +self-sacrificing, devoted always, and to the discipline of that army no +men contributed more than the members of this university and men such as +they. They bore always with them the loftiest principle in the contest +and the highest honor in all their personal relations. Disorder in camp, +pillage and plunder, found in them stern and unrelenting foes. They +fought in a cause too sacred, they wore a robe too white, to be willing +to stain or sully it with such corruption.</p> + +<p>Mr. President I should ill do the duty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> you have called on me to perform +if I forgot that this ceremonial is not only a reception of those who +return, but a commemoration of those who have laid down their lives for +the service of the country. He who should have properly spoken for us, +the oldest of our graduates, altho not of our members who have fought in +this war,—Webster of the class of 1833, sealed his faith with his life +on the bloody field of the second Manassas, dying for the constitution +of which his great father was the noblest expounder. For those of us who +return to-day, whatever our perils and dangers may have been, we can not +feel that we have done enough to merit what you so generously bestow; +but for those with whom the work of this life is finished and yet who +live forever inseparably linked with the great names of the founders of +the Republic, and not them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> alone, but the heroes and martyrs of liberty +everywhere, we know that no honor can be too much. The voices which rang +out so loud and clear upon the charging cheer that heralded the final +assault in the hour of victory, that in the hour of disaster were so +calm and resolute as they sternly struggled to stay the slow retreat are +not silent yet. To us and to those who will come after us, they will +speak of comfort and home relinquished, of toil nobly borne, of danger +manfully encountered, of life generously surrendered and this not for +pelf or ambition, but in the spirit of the noblest self-devotion and the +most exalted patriotism. Proud as we who are here to-day have a right to +be that we are the sons of this university, and not deemed unworthy of +her when these are remembered, we may well say, "Sparta had many a +worthier son than we."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Speech at Commemoration Exercises held at Cambridge, July +21, 1865.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="WAKE_UP_ENGLAND11" id="WAKE_UP_ENGLAND11"></a>WAKE UP, ENGLAND!<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></h2> + +<h4>BY KING GEORGE</h4> + +<p>In the name of the Queen and the other members of my family, on behalf +of the Princess and for myself, I thank you most sincerely for your +enthusiastic reception of this toast, proposed by you, my Lord Mayor, in +such kind and generous terms. Your feeling allusion to our recent long +absence from our happy family circle gives expression to that sympathy +which has been so universally extended to my dear parents, whether in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +times of joy or sorrow, by the people of this country, and upon which my +dear mother felt she could ever reckon from the first days of her life +here amongst them. As to ourselves, we are deeply sensible of the great +honor done us on this occasion, and our hearts are moved by the splendid +reception which to-day has been accorded us by the authorities and +inhabitants of the City of London. And I desire to take this opportunity +to express our deepest gratitude for the sympathetic interest with which +our journey was followed by our fellow countrymen at home, and for the +warm welcome with which we were greeted on our return. You were good +enough, my Lord Mayor, to refer to his Majesty having marked our +home-coming by creating me Prince of Wales. I only hope that I may be +worthy to hold that ancient and historic title, which was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> borne by my +dear father for upward of fifty-nine years.</p> + +<p>My Lord Mayor, you have attributed to us more credit than I think we +deserve. For I feel that the debt of gratitude is not the nation's to +us, but ours to the King and Government for having made it possible for +us to carry out, with every consideration for our comfort and +convenience, a voyage unique in its character, rich in the experience +gained and in memories of warm and affectionate greetings from the many +races of his Majesty's subjects in his great dominions beyond the seas. +And here in the capital of our great Empire I would repeat how +profoundly touched and gratified we have been by the loyalty, affection +and enthusiasm which invariably characterized the welcome extended to us +throughout our long and memorable tour. It may interest you to know +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> we travelled over 45,000 miles, of which 33,000 were by sea, and I +think it is a matter of which all may feel proud that, with the +exception of Port Said, we never set foot on any land where the Union +Jack did not fly. Leaving England in the middle of March, we first +touched at Gibraltar and Malta, where, as a sailor, I was proud to meet +the two great fleets of the Channel and Mediterranean. Passing through +the Suez Canal—a monument of the genius and courage of a gifted son of +the great friendly nation across the Channel—we entered at Aden the +gateway of the East. We stayed for a short time to enjoy the unrivaled +scenery of Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula, the gorgeous displays of +their native races, and to see in what happy contentment these various +peoples live and prosper under British rule. Perhaps there was something +still more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> striking in the fact that the Government, the commerce, and +every form of enterprise in these countries are under the leadership and +direction of but a handful of our countrymen, and to realize the high +qualities of the men who have won and kept for us that splendid +condition. Australia saw the consummation of the great mission which was +the more immediate object of our journey, and you can imagine the +feelings of pride with which I presided over the inauguration of the +first representative Assembly of the new-born Australian Commonwealth, +in whose hands are placed the destinies of the great island continent. +During a happy stay of many weeks in the different States, we were able +to gain an insight into the working of the commercial, social and +political institutions of which the country justly boasts, and to see +something of the great progress which it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> has already made, and of its +great capabilities, while making the acquaintance of the warm-hearted +and large-minded men to whose personality and energy so much of that +progress is due. New Zealand afforded us a striking example of a +vigorous, independent and prosperous people, living in the full +enjoyment of free and liberal institutions, and where many interesting +social experiments are being put to the test of experience. Here we had +the satisfaction of meeting large gatherings of the Maori people—once a +brave and resolute foe, now peaceful and devoted subjects of the King. +Tasmania, which in natural characteristics and climate reminded us of +the old country, was visited when our faces were at length turned +homeward. Mauritius, with its beautiful tropical scenery, its classical, +literary and naval historical associations, and its popula<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>tion gifted +with all the charming characteristics of old France, was our first +halting-place, on our way to receive, in Natal and Cape Colony, a +welcome remarkable in its warmth and enthusiasm, which appeared to be +accentuated by the heavy trial of the long and grievous war under which +they have suffered. To Canada was borne the message—already conveyed to +Australia and New Zealand—of the Motherland's loving appreciation of +the services rendered by her gallant sons. In a journey from ocean to +ocean, marvelous in its comfort and organization, we were enabled to see +something of its matchless scenery, the richness of its soil, the +boundless possibilities of that vast and but partly explored territory. +We saw, too, the success which has crowned the efforts to weld into one +community the peoples of its two great races. Our final halting-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>place +was, by the express desire of the King, Newfoundland, the oldest of our +colonies and the first visited by his Majesty in 1860. The hearty +seafaring population of this island gave us a reception the cordiality +of which is still fresh in our memories.</p> + +<p>If I were asked to specify any particular impressions derived from our +journey, I should unhesitatingly place before all others that of loyalty +to the Crown and of attachment to the country; and it was touching to +hear the invariable reference to home, even from the lips of those who +never had been or were never likely to be in these islands. And with +this loyalty were unmistakable evidences of the consciousness of +strength; of a true and living membership in the Empire, and of power +and readiness to share the burden and responsibility of that membership. +And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> were I to seek for the causes which have created and fostered this +spirit, I should venture to attribute them, in a very large degree, to +the light and example of our late beloved Sovereign. It would be +difficult to exaggerate the signs of genuine sorrow for her loss and of +love for her memory which we found among all races, even in the most +remote districts which we visited. Besides this, may we not find another +cause—the wise and just policy which in the last half century has been +continuously maintained toward our colonies? As a result of the happy +relations thus created between the mother country and her colonies we +have seen their spontaneous rally round the old flag in defense of the +nation's honor in South Africa. I had ample opportunities to form some +estimate of the military strength of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, +having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> reviewed upward of 60,000 troops. Abundant and excellent +material is available, requiring only that molding into shape which can +be readily effected by the hands of capable and experienced officers. I +am anxious to refer to an admirable movement which has taken strong root +in both Australia and New Zealand—and that is the cadet corps. On +several occasions I had the gratification of seeing march past several +thousand cadets, armed and equipped, and who at the expense of their +respective Governments are able to go through a military course, and in +some cases with an annual grant of practise ammunition. I will not +presume, in these days of army reform, to do more than call the +attention of my friend, the Secretary of State for War, to this +interesting fact.</p> + +<p>To the distinguished representatives of the commercial interests of the +Em<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>pire, whom I have the pleasure of seeing here to-day, I venture to +allude to the impression which seemed generally to prevail among their +brethren across the seas, that <i>the old country must wake up</i> if she +intends to maintain her old position of pre-eminence in her colonial +trade against foreign competitors. No one who had the privilege of +enjoying the experiences which we have had during our tour could fail to +be struck with one all-prevailing and pressing demand: the want of +population. Even in the oldest of our colonies there were abundant signs +of this need. Boundless tracts of country yet unexplored, hidden mineral +wealth calling for development, vast expanses of virgin soil ready to +yield profitable crops to the settlers. And these can be enjoyed under +conditions of healthy living, liberal laws, free institutions, in +exchange for the over-crowded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> cities and the almost hopeless struggle +for existence which, alas, too often is the lot of many in the old +country. But one condition, and one only, is made by our colonial +brethren, and that is, "Send us suitable emigrants." I would go further, +and appeal to my fellow countrymen at home to prove the strength of the +attachment of the motherland to her children by sending to them only of +her best. By this means we may still further strengthen, or at all +events pass on unimpaired, that pride of race, that unity of sentiment +and purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and obligation which knit +together and alone can maintain the integrity of our Empire.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> A speech delivered by His Majesty King George when Prince +of Wales, at the Guildhall, London, December 5, 1901, on his return from +his tour of the Empire. With the permission of the proprietors of <i>The +Times</i> the report which appeared in that paper has been followed.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="ADVERTISEMENTS" id="ADVERTISEMENTS"></a>ADVERTISEMENTS</h2> + + +<table border='1' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='15' summary='Books by Grenville Kleiser'> + <tr> + <td align='center'><i>By Grenville Kleiser</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Inspiration and Ideals<br />How to Build Mental Power<br /> +How to Develop Self-Confidence in Speech and Manner<br /> +How to Read and Declaim<br />How to Speak in Public<br /> +How to Develop Power and Personality in Speaking<br /> +Great Speeches and How to Make Them<br />How to Argue and Win<br /> +Humorous Hits and How to Hold an Audience<br />Complete Guide to Public Speaking<br /> +Talks on Talking<br />Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases<br /> +The World's Great Sermons<br />Mail Course in Public Speaking<br /> +Mail Course in Practical English<br />How to Speak Without Notes<br />Something to Say: How to Say It<br /> +Successful Methods of Public Speaking<br />Model Speeches for Practise<br /> +The Training of a Public Speaker<br />How to Sell Through Speech<br /> +Impromptu Speeches: How to Make Them<br />Word-Power: How to Develop It<br /> +Christ: The Master Speaker<br />Vital English for Speakers and Writers</td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> +<h2>HOW TO ARGUE AND WIN</h2> + +<h3>By GRENVILLE KLEISER</h3> + +<p class='center'><i>Author of "How to Speak in Public."</i></p> + + +<p>Ninety-nine men in a hundred can argue to one who can argue and win. Yet +upon this faculty more than any other depends the power of the lawyer, +business man, preacher, politician, salesman, and teacher. The desire to +win is characteristic of all men. "Almost to win a case," "Almost to +close a sale," "Almost to make a convert," or "Almost to gain a vote," +brings neither satisfaction nor success.</p> + +<p>In this book will be found definite suggestions for training the mind in +accurate thinking and the power of clear and effective statement. It is +the outcome of many years of experience in teaching men "to think on +their feet." The aim throughout is practical, and the ultimate object a +knowledge of successful argumentation.</p> + + +<h4>CONTENTS</h4> + +<blockquote><p>Introductory—Truth and Facts—Clearness and Conciseness—The Use +of Words—The Syllogism—Faults—Personality—The Lawyer—The +Business Man—The Preacher—The Salesman—The Public +Speaker—Brief-Drawing—The Discipline of Debate—Tact—Cause and +Effect—Reading Habits—Questions for Solution—Specimens of +Argumentation—Golden Rules in Argumentation.</p></blockquote> + + +<table border='0' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='5' summary='contents'> + <tr> + <td>Note for Law Lecture </td> + <td align='right'><i>Abraham Lincoln</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Of Truth</td> + <td align='right'><i>Francis Bacon</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Of Practise and Habits</td> + <td align='right'><i>John Locke</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Improving the Memory</td> + <td align='right'><i>Isaac Watts</i></td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<p class='center'><i>12mo, Cloth. $1.50, Net; by mail, $1.65</i></p> + +<h4>FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers<br />NEW YORK <span class="smcap">and</span> LONDON</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h3>How to Develop</h3> + +<h2>Self-Confidence</h2> + +<h3>in Speech and Manner</h3> + +<h3>By GRENVILLE KLEISER</h3> + +<p class='center'><i>Author of "How to Speak in Public"; "How to Develop Power and +Personality in Speaking," etc.</i></p> + + +<p>The purpose of this book is to inspire in men lofty ideals. It is +particularly for those who daily defraud themselves because of doubt, +fearthought, and foolish timidity.</p> + +<p>Thousands of persons are held in physical and mental bondage, owing to +lack of self-confidence. Distrusting themselves, they live a life of +limited effort, and at last pass on without having realized more than a +small part of their rich possessions. It is believed that this book will +be of substantial service to those who wish to rise above mediocrity, +and who feel within them something of their divine inheritance. It is +commended with confidence to every ambitious man.</p> + + +<h4><i>CONTENTS</i></h4> + +<blockquote><p>Preliminary Steps—Building the Will—The Cure of +Self-Consciousness—The Power of Right Thinking—Sources of +Inspiration—Concentration—Physical Basis—Finding +Yourself—General Habits—The Man and the Manner—The Discouraged +Man—Daily Steps in Self-Culture—Imagination and +Initiative—Positive and Negative Thought—The Speaking +Voice—Confidence in Business—Confidence in Society—Confidence in +Public Speaking—Toward the Heights—Memory Passages that Build +Confidence.</p></blockquote> + +<p class='center'><i>12mo, Cloth. $1.50, Net; by mail, $1.65</i></p> + +<h4>FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers<br />NEW YORK <span class="smcap">and</span> LONDON</h4> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Model Speeches for Practise, by Grenville Kleiser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE *** + +***** This file should be named 18323-h.htm or 18323-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/2/18323/ + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Model Speeches for Practise + +Author: Grenville Kleiser + +Release Date: May 6, 2006 [EBook #18323] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE *** + + + + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE + + +BY + +GRENVILLE KLEISER + + +_Formerly Instructor in Public Speaking at Yale Divinity + School, Yale University. Author of "How to Speak + in Public," "Great Speeches and How to Make + Them," "Complete Guide to Public Speaking," + "How to Build Mental Power," + "Talks on Talking," etc., etc._ + + +[Illustration: Publisher's logo] + + +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY +NEW YORK AND LONDON +1920 + + +COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY + +GRENVILLE KLEISER + +[_Printed in the United States of America_] + +Published, February, 1920 + + +Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention of the +Pan-American Republics and the United States, August 11, 1910 + + + + +PREFACE + + +This book contains a varied representation of successful speeches by +eminently successful speakers. They furnish, in convenient form, useful +material for study and practise. + +The student is earnestly recommended to select one speech at a time, +analyze it carefully, note its special features, practise it aloud, and +then proceed to another. In this way he will cover the principal forms +of public speaking, and enable himself to apply his knowledge to any +occasion. + +The cardinal rule is that a speaker learns to speak by speaking, hence a +careful reading and study of these speeches will do much to develop the +student's taste for correct literary and oratorical form. + + GRENVILLE KLEISER. +New York City, +August, 1919. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE +INTRODUCTION--Aims and Purposes of Speaking--_Grenville Kleiser_ 11 + +After-Dinner Speaking--_James Russell Lowell_ 29 + +England, Mother of Nations--_Ralph Waldo Emerson_ 37 + +The Age of Research--_William Ewart Gladstone_ 44 + +Address of Welcome--_Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 52 + +Good-Will to America--_Sir William Harcourt_ 65 + +The Qualities That Win--_Charles Sumner_ 71 + +The English-Speaking Race--_George William Curtis_ 88 + +Woman--_Horace Porter_ 100 + +Tribute to Herbert Spencer--_William M. Evarts_ 113 + +The Empire State--_Chauncey M. Depew_ 120 + +Men of Letters--_James Anthony Froude_ 133 + +Literature and Politics--_John Morley_ 139 + +General Sherman--_Carl Schurz_ 147 + +Oration Over Alexander Hamilton--_Gouverneur Morris_ 154 + +Eulogy of McKinley--_Grover Cleveland_ 164 + +Decoration Day--_Thomas W. Higginson_ 170 + +Faith in Mankind--_Arthur T. Hadley_ 177 + +Washington and Lincoln--_Martin W. Littleton_ 181 + +Characteristics of Washington--_William McKinley_ 187 + +Let France Be Free--_George Jacques Danton_ 193 + +Sons of Harvard--_Charles Devens_ 199 + +Wake Up, England!--_King George_ 208 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +AIMS AND PURPOSES OF SPEAKING + + +It is obvious that the style of your public speaking will depend upon +the specific purpose you have in view. If you have important truths +which you wish to make known, or a great and definite cause to serve, +you are likely to speak about it with earnestness and probably with +eloquence. + +If, however, your purpose in speaking is a selfish one--if your object +is self-exploitation, or to serve some special interest of your own--if +you regard your speaking as an irksome task, or are unduly anxious as to +what your hearers will think of you and your effort--then you are almost +sure to fail. + +On the other hand, if you have the interests of your hearers sincerely +at heart--if you really wish to render a worthy public service--if you +lose all thought of self in your heartfelt desire to serve others--then +you will have the most essential requirements of true and enduring +oratory. + + +THE NECESSITY OF A DEFINITE OBJECT + +It is of the highest importance for you to have in mind a clear +conception of the end you wish to achieve by your speaking. This purpose +should characterize all you say, so that at each step in your speech you +will feel sure of making steady progress toward the desired object. + +As a public speaker you assume serious responsibility. You are to +influence men for weal or woe. The words you speak are like so many +seeds, planted in the minds of your hearers, there to grow and multiply +according to their kind. What you say may have far-reaching effects, +hence the importance of careful forethought in the planning and +preparation of your speeches. + +_The highest aim of your public speaking is not merely to instruct or +entertain, but to influence the wills of men, to make men think as you +think, and to persuade them to act in the manner you desire._ This is a +lofty aim, when supported by a good cause, and worthy of your greatest +talents and efforts. + + +THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN SPEAKING + +The key to greatness of speech is sincerity. You must yourself be so +thoroughly imbued with the truth and desirability of what you are urging +upon others that they will be imprest by your integrity of purpose. To +have their confidence and good will is almost to win your cause. + +But you must have deep and well-grounded convictions before you can hope +to convince and influence other men. Duty, necessity, magnanimity, +innate conviction, and sincere interest in the welfare of others,--these +beget true fervor and are essential to passionate and persuasive +speaking. + +Lord Lytton emphasized the vital importance of earnest purpose in the +speaker. Referring to speech in the British Parliament he said, "Have +but fair sense and a competent knowledge of your subject, and then be +thoroughly in earnest to impress your own honest conviction upon others, +and no matter what your delivery, tho your gestures shock every rule in +Quintilian, you will command the ear and influence the debates of the +most accomplished, the most fastidious, and, take it altogether, the +noblest assembly of freemen in the world." + +Keep in mind that the purpose of your public speaking is not only to +convince but also to persuade your hearers. It is not sufficient that +they merely agree with what you say; you must persuade them also to act +as you desire. + +Hence you should aim to reach both their minds and hearts. Solid +argument, clear method, and indisputable facts are necessary for the +first purpose; vivid imagination, concrete illustration, and animated +feeling are necessary for the second. + + +THE NEED OF A KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE + +It will be of great practical value to you to have a knowledge of the +average man comprising your audience, his tastes, preferences, +prejudices, and proclivities. The more you adapt your speech to such an +average man, the more successful are you likely to be in influencing the +entire audience. + +Aim, therefore, to use words, phrases, illustrations, and arguments such +as you think the average man will readily understand. Avoid anything +which would cause confusion, distraction, or prejudice in his mind. Use +every reasonable means to win his good will and approval. + +Your speech is not a monolog, but a dialog, in which you are the +speaker, and the auditor a silent tho questioning listener. His mind is +in a constant attitude of interrogation toward you. And upon the degree +of your success in answering such silent but insistent questions will +depend the ultimate success of your speaking. + +The process of persuading the hearer depends chiefly upon first being +persuaded yourself. You may be devoid of feeling, and yet convince your +hearers; but to reach their hearts and to move them surely toward the +desired purpose, you must yourself be moved. + +Your work as a public speaker is radically different from that of the +actor or reciter. You are not impersonating some one else, nor +interpreting the thought of another. You must above all things be +natural, real, sincere and earnest. Your work is creative and +constructive. + + +THE RIGHT ATTITUDE OF A SPEAKER + +However much you may study, plan, or premeditate, there must be no +indication of conscious or studied attempt in the act of speaking to an +audience. At that time everything must be merged into your personality. + +Your earnestness in speaking arises principally from having a distinct +conception of the object aimed at and a strong desire to accomplish it. +Under these circumstances you summon to your aid all your available +power of thought and feeling. Your mental faculties are stimulated into +their fullest activity, and you bend every effort toward the purpose +before you. + +But however zealous you may feel about the truth or righteousness of the +cause you espouse, you will do well always to keep within the bounds of +moderation. You can be vigorous without violence, and enthusiastic +without extravagance. + +You must not only thoroughly know yourself and your subject, but also +your audience. You should carefully consider the best way to bring them +and yourself into unity. You may do this by making an appeal to some +principle commonly recognized and approved by men, such as patriotism, +justice, humanity, courage, duty, or righteousness. + +What Phillips Brooks said about the preacher, applies with equal truth +to other forms of public speaking: + + + "_Whatever is in the sermon must be in the preacher first; + clearness, logicalness, vivacity, earnestness, sweetness, and + light, must be personal qualities in him before they are qualities + of thought and language in what he utters to his people._" + + +After you have earnestly studied the principles of public speaking you +should plan to have regular and frequent practise in addressing actual +audiences. There are associations and societies everywhere, constantly +in quest of good speakers. There will be ample opportunities for you if +you have properly developed your speaking abilities. + +_And now to sum up some of the most essential things for you:_ + + +1. READ ALOUD EVERY DAY + +This is indispensable to your greatest progress in speech culture. +Reading aloud, properly done, compels you to pronounce the words, +instead of skimming over them as in silent reading. It gives you the +additional benefit of receiving a vocal impression of the rhythm and +structure of the composition. + +_Keep in mind the following purposes of your reading aloud:_ + +1. To improve your speaking voice. + +2. To acquire distinct enunciation. + +3. To cultivate correct pronunciation. + +4. To develop English style. + +5. To increase your stock of words. + +6. To store your memory with facts. + +7. To analyze an author's thoughts. + +8. To broaden your general knowledge. + + +2. FORM THE NOTE-BOOK HABIT + +Keep separate note-books for the subjects in which you are deeply +interested and on which you intend some time to speak in public. Write +in them promptly any valuable ideas which come to you from the four +principal sources--observation, conversation, reading, and meditation. + +You will be surprized to find how rapidly you can acquire useful data in +this way. In an emergency you can turn to the speech-material you have +accumulated and quickly solve the problem of "what to say." + +Keep the contents of your note-books in systematic order. Classify ideas +under distinct headings. When possible write the ideas down in regular +speech form. Once a week read aloud the contents of your note-books. + + +3. DAILY STUDY YOUR DICTIONARY + +Read aloud each day from your dictionary for at least five minutes, and +give special attention to the pronunciation and meaning of words. This +is one of the most useful exercises for building a large vocabulary. + +Develop the dictionary habit. Be interested in words. Study them in +their contexts. Make special lists of your own. Select special words for +special uses. Note significant words in your general reading. + +Think of words as important tools for public speaking. Choose them with +discrimination in your daily conversation. Consult your dictionary for +the meanings of words about which you are in doubt. Be an earnest +student of words. + + +4. SYSTEMATICALLY DEVELOP YOUR MENTAL POWERS + +Give some time each day to the development of a judicial mind. Learn to +think deliberately and carefully. Study causes and principles. Look +deeply into things. + +Be impartial in your examination of a subject. Study all sides of a +question or problem. Weigh the evidence with the purpose of ascertaining +the truth. + +Beware the peril of prejudice. Keep your mind wide open to receive the +facts. Look at a subject from the other man's viewpoint. Cultivate +breadth of mind. Do not let your personal interests or desires mislead +you. Insist upon securing the truth at all costs. + + +5. DAILY PRACTISE COMPOSITION + +Frequent use of the pen is essential to proficiency in speaking. Write a +little every day to form your English style. Daily exercise in writing +will rapidly develop felicity and fluency of speech. + +Test your important ideas by putting them into writing. Constantly +cultivate clearness of expression. Examine, criticize, and improve your +own compositions. + +Copy in your handwriting at least a page daily from one of the great +English stylists. Continue this exercise for a month and note the +improvement in your speech and writing. + + +6. PRACTISE IMPROMPTU SPEAKING + +At least once a day stand up, in the privacy of your room, and make an +impromptu speech of two or three minutes. Select any subject which +interests you. Aim at fluency of style rather than depth of thought. + +In these daily efforts, use the best chest voice at your command, +enunciate clearly, open your mouth well, and imagine yourself addressing +an actual audience. A month's regular practise of this exercise will +convince you of its great value. + + +7. STUDY SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC SPEAKERS + +Hear the best public speakers available to you. Observe them critically. +Ask yourself such questions as these: + +1. How does this speaker impress me? + +2. Does he proceed in the most effective manner possible? + +3. Does he convince me of the truth of his statements? + +4. Does he persuade me to act as he wishes? + +5. What are the elements of success in this speaker? + +As you faithfully apply these various suggestions, you will constantly +improve in the art of public speaking, and so learn to wield this mighty +power not simply for your personal gratification but for the inspiration +and betterment of your fellow men. + + +MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE + + + + +AFTER-DINNER SPEAKING + +BY JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL + + +My Lord Coleridge, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:--I confess that my +mind was a little relieved when I found that the toast to which I am to +respond rolled three gentlemen, Cerberus-like into one, and when I saw +Science pulling impatiently at the leash on my left, and Art on my +right, and that therefore the responsibility of only a third part of the +acknowledgment has fallen to me. You, my lord, have alluded to the +difficulties of after-dinner oratory. I must say that I am one of those +who feel them more keenly the more after-dinner speeches I make. There +are a great many difficulties in the way, and there are three principal +ones, I think. The first is having too much to say, so that the words, +hurrying to escape, bear down and trample out the life of each other. +The second is when, having nothing to say, we are expected to fill a +void in the minds of our hearers. And I think the third, and most +formidable, is the necessity of following a speaker who is sure to say +all the things you meant to say, and better than you, so that we are +tempted to exclaim, with the old grammarian, "Hang these fellows, who +have said all our good things before us!" + +Now the Fourth of July has several times been alluded to, and I believe +it is generally thought that on that anniversary the spirit of a certain +bird known to heraldic ornithologists--and I believe to them alone--as +the spread eagle, enters into every American's breast, and compels him, +whether he will or no, to pour forth a flood of national +self-laudation. This, I say, is the general superstition, and I hope +that a few words of mine may serve in some sort to correct it. I ask +you, if there is any other people who have confined their national +self-laudation to one day in the year. I may be allowed to make one +remark as a personal experience. Fortune had willed it that I should see +as many--perhaps more--cities and manners of men as Ulysses; and I have +observed one general fact, and that is, that the adjectival epithet +which is prefixt to all the virtues is invariably the epithet which +geographically describes the country that I am in. For instance, not to +take any real name, if I am in the kingdom of Lilliput, I hear of the +Lilliputian virtues. I hear courage, I hear common sense, and I hear +political wisdom called by that name. If I cross to the neighboring +Republic Blefusca--for since Swift's time it has become a Republic--I +hear all these virtues suddenly qualified as Blefuscan. + +I am very glad to be able to thank Lord Coleridge for having, I believe +for the first time, coupled the name of the President of the United +States with that of her Majesty on an occasion like this. I was struck, +both in what he said, and in what our distinguished guest of the evening +said, with the frequent recurrence of an adjective which is +comparatively new--I mean the word "English-speaking." We continually +hear nowadays of the "English-speaking race," of the "English-speaking +population." I think this implies, not that we are to forget, not that +it would be well for us to forget, that national emulation and that +national pride which is implied in the words "Englishman" and "American," +but the word implies that there are certain perennial and abiding +sympathies between all men of a common descent and a common language. I +am sure, my lord, that all you said with regard to the welcome which our +distinguished guest will receive in America is true. His eminent talents +as an orator, the dignified--I may say the illustrious--manner in which +he has sustained the traditions of that succession of great actors who, +from the time of Burbage to his own, have illustrated the English stage, +will be as highly appreciated there as here. + +And I am sure that I may also say that the chief magistrate of England +will be welcomed by the bar of the United States, of which I am an +unworthy member, and perhaps will be all the more warmly welcomed that +he does not come among them to practise. He will find American law +administered--and I think he will agree with me in saying ably +administered--by judges who, I am sorry to say, sit without the +traditional wig of England. I have heard since I came here friends of +mine gravely lament this as something prophetic of the decay which was +sure to follow so serious an innovation. I answered with a little story +which I remember having heard from my father. He remembered the last +clergyman in New England who still continued to wear the wig. At first +it became a singularity and at last a monstrosity; and the good doctor +concluded to leave it off. But there was one poor woman among his +parishioners who lamented this sadly, and waylaying the clergyman as he +came out of church she said, "Oh, dear doctor, I have always listened to +your sermon with the greatest edification and comfort, but now that the +wig is gone all is gone." I have thought I have seen some signs of +encouragement in the faces of my English friends after I have consoled +them with this little story. + +But I must not allow myself to indulge in any further remarks. There is +one virtue, I am sure, in after-dinner oratory, and that is brevity; and +as to that I am reminded of a story. The Lord Chief Justice has told you +what are the ingredients of after-dinner oratory. They are the joke, the +quotation, and the platitude; and the successful platitude, in my +judgment, requires a very high order of genius. I believe that I have +not given you a quotation, but I am reminded of something which I heard +when very young--the story of a Methodist clergyman in America. He was +preaching at a camp meeting, and he was preaching upon the miracle of +Joshua, and he began his sermon with this sentence: "My hearers, there +are three motions of the sun. The first is the straightforward or direct +motion of the sun; the second is the retrograde or backward motion of +the sun; and the third is the motion mentioned in our text--'the sun +stood still.'" + +Now, gentlemen, I don't know whether you see the application of the +story--I hope you do. The after-dinner orator at first begins and goes +straight forward--that is the straightforward motion of the sun. Next he +goes back and begins to repeat himself--that is the backward motion of +the sun. At last he has the good sense to bring himself to the end, and +that is the motion mentioned in our text, as the sun stood still. + + + + +ENGLAND, MOTHER OF NATIONS + +BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON + + +Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:--It is pleasant to me to meet this great and +brilliant company, and doubly pleasant to see the faces of so many +distinguished persons on this platform. But I have known all these +persons already. When I was at home, they were as near to me as they are +to you. The arguments of the League and its leader are known to all +friends of free trade. The gaieties and genius, the political, the +social, the parietal wit of "Punch" go duly every fortnight to every boy +and girl in Boston and New York. Sir, when I came to sea, I found the +"History of Europe" on the ship's cabin table, the property of the +captain;--a sort of program or play-bill to tell the seafaring New +Englander what he shall find on landing here. And as for Dombey, sir, +there is no land where paper exists to print on, where it is not found; +no man who can read, that does not read it, and, if he can not, he finds +some charitable pair of eyes that can, and hears it. + +But these things are not for me to say; these compliments tho true, +would better come from one who felt and understood these merits more. I +am not here to exchange civilities with you, but rather to speak on that +which I am sure interests these gentlemen more than their own praises; +of that which is good in holidays and working-days, the same in one +century and in another century. That which lures a solitary American in +the woods with the wish to see England, is the moral peculiarity of the +Saxon race,--its commanding sense of right and wrong,--the love and +devotion to that,--this is the imperial trait, which arms them with the +scepter of the globe. It is this which lies at the foundation of that +aristocratic character, which certainly wanders into strange vagaries, +so that its origin is often lost sight of, but which, if it should lose +this, would find itself paralyzed; and in trade, and in the mechanic's +shop, gives that honesty in performance, that thoroughness and solidity +of work, which is a national characteristic. This conscience is one +element, and the other is that loyal adhesion, that habit of friendship, +that homage of man to man, running through all classes,--the electing of +worthy persons to a certain fraternity, to acts of kindness and warm and +staunch support, from year to year, from youth to age,--which is alike +lovely and honorable to those who render and those who receive +it;--which stands in strong contrast with the superficial attachments of +other races, their excessive courtesy, and short-lived connection. + +You will think me very pedantic, gentlemen, but holiday tho it be, I +have not the smallest interest in any holiday, except as it celebrates +real and not pretended joys; and I think it just, in this time of gloom +and commercial disaster, of affliction and beggary in these districts, +that on these very accounts I speak of, you should not fail to keep your +literary anniversary. I seem to hear you say that, for all that is come +and gone, yet we will not reduce by one chaplet or one oak-leaf the +braveries of our annual feast. For I must tell you, I was given to +understand in my childhood that the British island, from which my +forefathers came, was no lotus-garden, no paradise of serene sky and +roses and music and merriment all the year round, no, but a cold, foggy, +mournful country, where nothing grew well in the open air, but robust +men and virtuous women and these of a wonderful fiber and endurance; +that their best parts were slowly revealed; their virtues did not come +out until they quarrelled; they did not strike twelve the first time; +good lovers, good haters, and you could know little about them till you +had seen them long, and little good of them till you had seen them in +action; that in prosperity they were moody and dumpish, but in adversity +they were grand. + +Is it not true, sir, that the wise ancients did not praise the ship +parting with flying colors from the port, but only that brave sailor +which came back with torn sheets and battered sides, stript of her +banners, but having ridden out the storm? And so, gentlemen, I feel in +regard to this aged England, with the possessions, honors and trophies, +and also with the infirmities of a thousand years gathering around her, +irretrievably committed as she now is to many old customs which can not +be suddenly changed; pressed upon by the transitions of trade, and new +and all incalculable modes, fabrics, arts, machines and competing +populations,--I see her not dispirited, not weak, but well remembering +that she has seen dark days before; indeed with a kind of instinct that +she sees a little better in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battle +and calamity, she has a secret vigor and a pulse like a cannon. I see +her in her old age, not decrepit, but young, and still daring to believe +in her power of endurance and expansion. Seeing this, I say, All hail! +mother of nations, mother of heroes, with strength still equal to the +time; still wise to entertain and swift to execute the policy which the +mind and heart of mankind require in the present hour, and thus only +hospitable to the foreigner, and truly a home to the thoughtful and +generous who are born in the soil. So be it! so be it! If it be not so, +if the courage of England goes with the chances of a commercial crisis, +I will go back to the capes of Massachusetts, and my own Indian stream, +and say to my countrymen, the old race are all gone and the elasticity +and hope of mankind must henceforth remain on the Alleghany ranges, or +nowhere. + + + + +THE AGE OF RESEARCH + +BY WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE + + +Mr. Chairman, Your Royal Highness, My Lords and Gentlemen:--I think no +question can be raised as to the just claims of literature to stand upon +the list of toasts at the Royal Academy, and the sentiment is one to +which, upon any one of the numerous occasions of my attendance at your +hospitable board, I have always listened with the greatest satisfaction +until the present day arrived, when I am bound to say that that +satisfaction is extremely qualified by the arrangement less felicitous, +I think, than any which preceded it that refers to me the duty of +returning thanks for Literature. However, obedience is the principle +upon which we must proceed, and I have at least the qualification for +discharging the duty you have been pleased to place in my hands--that no +one has a deeper or more profound sense of the vital importance of the +active and constant cultivation of letters as an essential condition of +real progress and of the happiness of mankind, and here every one at +once perceives that that sisterhood of which the poet spoke, whom you +have quoted, is a real sisterhood, for literature and art are alike the +votaries of beauty. Of these votaries I may thankfully say that as +regards art I trace around me no signs of decay, and none in that +estimation in which the Academy is held, unless to be sure, in the +circumstance of your poverty of choice of one to reply to this toast. + +During the present century the artists of this country have gallantly +and nobly endeavored to maintain and to elevate their standard, and +have not perhaps in that great task always received that assistance +which could be desired from the public taste which prevails around them. +But no one can examine even superficially the works which adorn these +walls without perceiving that British art retains all its fertility of +invention, and this year as much as in any year that I can remember, +exhibits in the department of landscape, that fundamental condition of +all excellence, intimate and profound sympathy with nature. + +As regards literature one who is now beginning at any rate to descend +the hill of life naturally looks backward as well as forward, and we +must be becoming conscious that the early part of this century has +witnessed in this and other countries what will be remembered in future +times as a splendid literary age. The elder among us have lived in the +lifetime of many great men who have passed to their rest--the younger +have heard them familiarly spoken of and still have their works in their +hands as I trust they will continue to be in the hands of all +generations. I am afraid we can not hope for literature--it would be +contrary to all the experience of former times were we to hope that it +should be equally sustained at that extraordinarily high level which +belongs, speaking roughly, to the first fifty years after the peace of +1815. That was a great period--a great period in England, a great period +in Germany, a great period in France, and a great period, too, in Italy. + +As I have said, I think we can hardly hope that it should continue on a +perfect level at so high an elevation. Undoubtedly the cultivation of +literature will ever be dear to the people of this country; but we must +remember what is literature and what is not. In the first place we +should be all agreed that bookmaking is not literature. The business of +bookmaking I have no doubt may thrive and will be continued upon a +constantly extending scale from year to year. But that we may put aside. +For my own part if I am to look a little forward, what I anticipate for +the remainder of the century is an age not so much of literature +proper--not so much of great, permanent and splendid additions to those +works in which beauty is embodied as an essential condition of +production, but rather look forward to an age of research. This is an +age of great research--of great research in science, great research in +history--an age of research in all the branches of inquiry that throw +light upon the former condition whether of our race, or of the world +which it inhabits; and it may be hoped that, even if the remaining years +of the century be not so brilliant as some of its former periods, in the +production of works great in themselves, and immortal,--still they may +add largely to the knowledge of mankind; and if they make such additions +to the knowledge of mankind, they will be preparing the materials of a +new tone and of new splendors in the realm of literature. There is a +sunrise and sunset. There is a transition from the light of the sun to +the gentler light of the moon. There is a rest in nature which seems +necessary in all her great operations. And so with all the great +operations of the human mind. But do not let us despond if we seem to +see a diminished efficacy in the production of what is essentially and +immortally great. Our sun is hidden only for a moment. It is like the +day-star of Milton:-- + + + "Which anon repairs his drooping head, + And tricks his beams, and with new spangled ore, + Flames in the forehead of the morning sky." + + +I rejoice in an occasion like this which draws the attention of the +world to topics which illustrate the union of art with literature and of +literature with science, because you have a hard race to run, you have a +severe competition against the attraction of external pursuits, whether +those pursuits take the form of business or pleasure. It is given to you +to teach lessons of the utmost importance to mankind, in maintaining the +principle that no progress can be real which is not equable, which is +not proportionate, which does not develop all the faculties belonging +to our nature. If a great increase of wealth in a country takes place, +and with that increase of wealth a powerful stimulus to the invention of +mere luxury, that, if it stands alone, is not, never can be, progress. +It is only that one-sided development which is but one side of +deformity. I hope we shall have no one-sided development. One mode of +avoiding it is to teach the doctrine of that sisterhood you have +asserted to-day, and confident I am that the good wishes you have +exprest on behalf of literature will be re-echoed in behalf of art +wherever men of letters are found. + + + + +ADDRESS OF WELCOME[1] + +BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES + + +Brothers of the Association of the Alumni:--It is your misfortune and +mine that you must accept my services as your presiding officer of the +day in the place of your retiring president. I shall not be believed if +I say how unwillingly it is that for the second time I find myself in +this trying position; called upon to fill, as I best may, the place of +one whose presence and bearing, whose courtesy, whose dignity, whose +scholarship, whose standing among the distinguished children of the +university, fit him alike to guide your councils and to grace your +festivals. The name of Winthrop has been so long associated with the +State and with the college that to sit under his mild empire is like +resting beneath one of these wide-branching elms the breadth of whose +shade is only a measure of the hold its roots have taken in the soil. In +the midst of civil strife we, the children of this our common mother, +have come together in peace. And surely there never was a time when we +more needed a brief respite in some chosen place of refuge, some +unviolated sanctuary, from the cares and anxieties of our daily +existence than at this very hour. Our life has grown haggard with +excitement. The rattle of drums, the march of regiments, the gallop of +squadrons, the roar of artillery, seem to have been continually sounding +in our ears day and night, sleeping and waking, for two long years and +more. How few of us have not trembled and shuddered with fear over and +over again for those whom we love. Alas! how many that hear me have +mourned over the lost--lost to earthly sight, but immortal in our love +and their country's honor! We need a little breathing-space to rest from +our anxious thoughts, and, as we look back to the tranquil days we +passed in this still retreat, to dream of that future when in God's good +time, and after his wise purpose is fulfilled, the fair angel who has so +long left us shall lay her hand upon the leaping heart of this embattled +nation and whisper, "Peace! be still!" + +Here of all places in the world we may best hope to find the peace we +seek for. It seems as if nothing were left undisturbed in New England +except here and there an old graveyard, and these dear old College +buildings, with the trees in which they are embowered. The old State +House is filled with those that sell oxen and sheep and doves, and the +changers of money. The Hancock house, the umbilical scar of the cord +that held our city to the past, is vanishing like a dimple from the +water. + +But Massachusetts, venerable old Massachusetts, stands as firm as ever; +Hollis, this very year a centenarian, is waiting with its honest red +face in a glow of cordiality to welcome its hundredth set of inmates; +Holden Chapel, with the skulls of its Doric frieze and the unpunishable +cherub over its portals, looks serenely to the sunsets; Harvard, within +whose ancient walls we are gathered, and whose morning bell has murdered +sleep for so many generations of drowsy adolescents, is at its post, +ready to startle the new-fledged freshmen from their first uneasy +slumbers. All these venerable edifices stand as they did when we were +boys,--when our grandfathers were boys. Let not the rash hand of +innovation violate their sanctities, for the cement that knits these +walls is no vulgar mortar, but is tempered with associations and +memories which are stronger than the parts they bind together! + +We meet on this auspicious morning forgetting all our lesser +differences. As we enter these consecrated precincts, the livery of our +special tribe in creed and in politics is taken from us at the door, and +we put on the court dress of our gracious Queen's own ordering, the +academic robe, such as we wore in those bygone years scattered along the +seven last decades. We are not forgetful of the honors which our fellow +students have won since they received their college "parts,"--their +orations, dissertations, disquisitions, colloquies, and Greek dialogs. +But to-day we have no rank; we are all first scholars. The hero in his +laurels sits next to the divine rustling in the dry garlands of his +doctorate. The poet in his crown of bays, the critic, in his wreath of +ivy, clasp each other's hands, members of the same happy family. This is +the birthday feast for every one of us whose forehead has been sprinkled +from the font inscribed "_Christo et Ecclesioe_." We have no badges but +our diplomas, no distinctions but our years of graduation. This is the +republic carried into the university; all of us are born equal into this +great fraternity. + +Welcome, then, welcome, all of you, dear brothers, to this our joyous +meeting! We must, we will call it joyous, tho it comes with many +saddening thoughts. Our last triennial meeting was a festival in a +double sense, for the same day that brought us together at our family +gathering gave a new head to our ancient household of the university. As +I look to-day in vain for his stately presence and kindly smile, I am +reminded of the touching words spoken by an early president of the +university in the remembrance of a loss not unlike our own. It was at +the commencement exercises of the year 1678 that the Reverend President +Urian Oakes thus mourned for his friend Thomas Shepard, the minister of +Charlestown, an overseer of the college: "_Dici non potest quam me +perorantem, in comitiis, conspectus ejus, multo jucundissimus, recrearit +et refecerit. At non comparet hodie Shepardus in his comitiis; oculos +huc illuc torqueo; quocumque tamen inciderint, Platonem meum intanta +virorum illustrium frequentia requirunt; nusquam amicum et +pernecessarium meum in hac solenni panegyric, inter nosce Reverendos +Theologos, Academiae Curatores, reperire aut oculis vestigare possum_." +Almost two hundred years have gone by since these words were uttered by +the fourth president of the college, which I repeat as no unfitting +tribute to the memory of the twentieth, the rare and fully ripened +scholar who was suddenly ravished from us as some richly freighted +argosy that just reaches her harbor and sinks under a cloudless sky with +all her precious treasures. + +But the great conflict through which we are passing has made sorrow too +frequent a guest for us to linger on an occasion like this over every +beloved name which the day recalls to our memory. Many of the children +whom our mother had trained to arts have given the freshness of their +youth or the strength of their manhood to arms. How strangely frequent +in our recent record is the sign interpreted by the words "_E vivis +cesserunt stelligeri!_" It seems as if the red war-planet had replaced +the peaceful star, and these pages blushed like a rubric with the long +list of the martyr-children of our university. I can not speak their +eulogy, for there are no phrases in my vocabulary fit to enshrine the +memory of the Christian warrior,--of him-- + + + "Who, doomed to go in company with Pain + And Fear and Bloodshed, miserable train, + Turns his necessity to glorious gain--" + + "Who, whether praise of him must walk the earth + Forever, and to noble deeds give birth, + Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame, + And leave a dead, unprofitable name, + Finds comfort in himself and in his cause; + And while the mortal mist is gathering, draws + His breath in confidence of Heaven's applause." + + +Yet again, O brothers! this is not the hour for sorrow. Month after +month until the months became years we have cried to those who stood +upon our walls: "Watchmen, what of the night?" They have answered again +and again, "The dawn is breaking,--it will soon be day." But the night +has gathered round us darker than before. At last--glory be to God in +the highest!--at last we ask no more tidings of the watchmen, for over +both horizons east and west bursts forth in one overflowing tide of +radiance the ruddy light of victory! + +We have no parties here to-day, but is there one breast that does not +throb with joy as the banners of the conquering Republic follow her +retreating foes to the banks of the angry Potomac? Is there one heart +that does not thrill in answer to the drum-beat that rings all over the +world as the army of the west, on the morning of the nation's birth, +swarms over the silent, sullen earthworks of captured Vicksburg,--to the +reveille that calls up our Northern regiments this morning inside the +fatal abatis of Port Hudson? We are scholars, we are graduates, we are +alumni, we are a band of brothers, but beside all, above all, we are +American citizens. And now that hope dawns upon our land--nay, bursts +upon it in a flood of glory,--shall we not feel its splendors reflected +upon our peaceful gathering, peaceful in spite of those disturbances +which the strong hand of our citizen-soldiery has already strangled? + +Welcome then, thrice welcome, scholarly soldiers who have fought for +your and our rights and honor! Welcome, soldierly scholars who are ready +to fight whenever your country calls for your services! Welcome, ye who +preach courage as well as meekness, remembering that the Prince of Peace +came also bringing a sword! Welcome, ye who make and who interpret the +statutes which are meant to guard our liberties in peace, but not to aid +our foes in war! Welcome, ye whose healing ministry soothes the anguish +of the suffering and the dying with every aid of art and the tender +accents of compassion! Welcome, ye who are training the generous youths +to whom our country looks as its future guardians! Welcome, ye quiet +scholars who in your lonely studies are unconsciously shaping the +thought which law shall forge into its shield and war shall wield as +its thunder-bolt! + +And to you, Mr. President, called from one place of trust and honor to +rule over the concerns of this our ancient and venerated institution, to +you we offer our most cordial welcome with all our hopes and prayers for +your long and happy administration. + +I give you, brothers, "The association of the Alumni"; the children of +our common mother recognize the man of her choice as their new father, +and would like to hear him address a few words to his numerous family. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Delivered at an Alumni Dinner, Cambridge, July 16, 1863. + + + + +GOOD WILL TO AMERICA[2] + +BY SIR WILLIAM HARCOURT + + +Gentlemen:--Small as are the pretensions which, on any account, I can +have to present myself to the attention of this remarkable assemblage, I +have had no hesitation in answering the call which is just been made +upon me by discharging a duty which is no less gratifying to me than I +know it will be agreeable to you--that of proposing that the thanks of +this meeting be offered to the chairman for his presidence over us +to-day. Every one who admires Mr. Garrison for the qualities on account +of which we have met to do him honor on this occasion, must feel that +there is a singular appropriateness in the selection of the person who +has presided here to-day. No one can fail to perceive a striking +similarity--I might almost say a real parallelism of greatness--in the +careers of these two eminent persons. Both are men who, by the great +qualities of their minds, and the uncompromising spirit of justice which +has animated them, have signally advanced the cause of truth and +vindicated the rights of humanity. Both have been fortunate enough in +the span of their own lifetime to have seen their efforts in the +promotion of great ends crowned by triumphs as great as they could have +desired, and far greater than they could have hoped. There is no cause +with which the name of Mr. Bright has been associated which has not +sooner or later won its way to victory. + +I shall not go over the ground which has been so well dealt with by +those who have preceded me. But tho there have been many abler +interpreters of your wishes and aspirations to-day than I can hope to +be, may I be permitted to join my voice to those which have been raised +up in favor of the perpetual amity of England and America. It seems to +me that with nations, as well as with individuals, greatness of +character depends chiefly on the degree in which they are capable of +rising above thee low, narrow, paltry interests of the present, and of +looking forward with hope and with faith into the distance of a great +futurity. And where, I will ask, is the future of our race to be found? +I may extend the question--where is to be found the future of mankind? +Who that can forecast the fortunes of the ages to come will not +answer--it is in that great nation which has sprung from our loins, +which is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. The stratifications of +history are full of the skeletons of ruined kingdoms and of races that +are no more. Where are Assyria and Egypt, the civilization of Greece, +the universal dominion of Rome? They founded empires of conquest, which +have perished by the sword by which they rose. Is it to be with us as +with them? I hope not--I think not. But if the day of our decline should +arise, we shall at least have the consolation of knowing that we have +left behind us a race which shall perpetuate our name and reproduce our +greatness. Was there ever parent who had juster reason to be proud of +its offspring? Was there ever child that had more cause for gratitude to +its progenitor? From whom but us did America derive those institutions +of liberty, those instincts of government, that capacity of greatness, +which have made her what she is, and which will yet make her that which +she is destined to become? These are things which it becomes us both to +remember and to think upon. And, therefore, it is that, as our +distinguished guest, with innate modesty, has already said, this is not +a mere personal festivity--this is no occasional compliment. We see in +it a deeper and wider significance. We celebrate in it the union of two +nations. While I ask you to return your thanks to our chairman I think I +may venture also to ask of our guest a boon which he will not refuse us. +We have a great message to send, and we have here a messenger worthy to +bear it. I will ask Mr. Garrison to carry back to his home the prayer of +this assembly and of this nation that there may be forever and forever +peace and good will between England and America. For the good will of +America and England is nothing less than the evangel of liberty and of +peace. And who more worthy to preside over such a gospel than the +chairman to whom I ask you to return your thanks to-day? I beg to +propose that the thanks of the meeting be given to Mr. Bright. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] Speech at breakfast held in London in honor of Mr. Garrison, June +29, 1867. + + + + +THE QUALITIES THAT WIN + +BY CHARLES SUMNER + + +Mr. President and Brothers of New England:--For the first time in my +life I have the good fortune to enjoy this famous anniversary festival. +Tho often honored by your most tempting invitation, and longing to +celebrate the day in this goodly company of which all have heard so +much, I could never excuse myself from duties in another place. If now I +yield to well-known attractions, and journey from Washington for my +first holiday during a protracted public service, it is because all was +enhanced by the appeal of your excellent president, to whom I am bound +by the friendship of many years in Boston, in New York, and in a foreign +land. It is much to be a brother of New England, but it is more to be a +friend, and this tie I have pleasure in confessing to-night. + +It is with much doubt and humility that I venture to answer for the +Senate of the United States, and I believe the least I say on this head +will be the most prudent. But I shall be entirely safe in expressing my +doubt if there is a single Senator who would not be glad of a seat at +this generous banquet. What is the Senate? It is a component part of the +National Government. But we celebrate to-day more than any component +part of any government. We celebrate an epoch in the history of +mankind--not only never to be forgotten, but to grow in grandeur as +the world appreciates the elements of true greatness. Of mankind I +say--for the landing on Plymouth Rock, on December 22, 1620, marks the +origin of a new order of ages, which the whole human family will be +elevated. Then and there was the great beginning. + +Throughout all time, from the dawn of history, men have swarmed to found +new homes in distant lands. The Tyrians, skirting Northern Africa, stopt +at Carthage; Carthaginians dotted Spain and even the distant coasts of +Britain and Ireland; Greeks gemmed Italy and Sicily with art-loving +settlements; Rome carried multitudinous colonies with her conquering +eagles. Saxons, Danes, and Normans violently mingled with the original +Britons. And in modern times, Venice, Genoa, Portugal, Spain, France, +and England, all sent forth emigrants to people foreign shores. But in +these various expeditions, trade or war was the impelling motive. Too +often commerce and conquest moved hand in hand, and the colony was +incarnadined with blood. + +On the day we celebrate, the sun for the first time in his course looked +down upon a different scene, begun and continued under a different +inspiration. A few conscientious Englishmen, in obedience to the monitor +within, and that they might be free to worship God according to their +own sense of duty, set sail for the unknown wilds of the North American +continent. After a voyage of sixty-four days in the ship _Mayflower_, +with Liberty at the prow and Conscience at the helm, they sighted the +white sandbanks of Cape Cod, and soon thereafter in the small cabin +framed that brief compact, forever memorable, which is the first written +constitution of government in human history, and the very corner-stone +of the American Republic; and then these Pilgrims landed. + +This compact was not only foremost in time, it was also august in +character, and worthy of perpetual example. Never before had the object +of the "civil body public" been announced as "to enact, constitute, and +frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and +offices from time to time as shall be thought most meet and convenient +for the general good of the colony." How lofty! how true! Undoubtedly, +these were the grandest words of government with the largest promise of +any at that time uttered. + +If more were needed to illustrate the new epoch, it would be found in +the parting words of the venerable pastor, John Robinson, addrest to the +Pilgrims, as they were about to sail from Delfshaven--words often +quoted, yet never enough. How sweetly and beautifully he says: "And if +God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of his, be as +ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by my +ministry; but I am confident that the Lord hath more light and truth yet +to break forth out of his holy word." And then how justly the good +preacher rebukes those who close their souls to truth! "The Lutherans, +for example, can not be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw, and whatever +part of God's will he hath further imparted to Calvin, they will rather +die than embrace, and so the Calvinists stick where he left them. This +is a misery much to be lamented, for tho they were precious, shining +lights in their times, God hath not revealed his whole will to them." +Beyond the merited rebuke, here is a plain recognition of the law of +human progress little discerned at the time, which teaches the sure +advance of the human family, and opens the vista of the +ever-broadening, never-ending future on earth. + +Our Pilgrims were few and poor. The whole outfit of this historic +voyage, including L1,700 of trading stock, was only L2,400, and how +little was required for their succor appears in the experience of the +soldier Captain Miles Standish, who, being sent to England for +assistance--not military, but financial--(God save the mark!) succeeded +in borrowing--how much do you suppose?--L150 sterling. Something in the +way of help; and the historian adds, "tho at fifty per cent. interest." +So much for a valiant soldier on a financial expedition. A later agent, +Allerton, was able to borrow for the colony L200 at a reduced interest +of thirty per cent. Plainly, the money-sharks of our day may trace an +undoubted pedigree to these London merchants. But I know not if any son +of New England, opprest by exorbitant interest, will be consoled by the +thought that the Pilgrims paid the same. + +And yet this small people--so obscure and outcast in condition--so +slender in numbers and in means--so entirely unknown to the proud and +great--so absolutely without name in contemporary records--whose +departure from the Old World took little more than the breath of their +bodies--are now illustrious beyond the lot of men; and the _Mayflower_ +is immortal beyond the Grecian _Argo_, or the stately ship of any +victorious admiral. Tho this was little foreseen in their day, it is +plain now how it has come to pass. The highest greatness surviving time +and storm is that which proceeds from the soul of man. Monarchs and +cabinets, generals and admirals, with the pomp of courts and the +circumstance of war, in the gradual lapse of time disappear from sight; +but the pioneers of truth, tho poor and lowly, especially those whose +example elevates human nature and teaches the rights of man, so that +government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not +perish from the earth, such harbingers can never be forgotten, and their +renown spreads co-extensive with the cause they served. + +I know not if any whom I now have the honor of addressing have thought +to recall the great in rank and power filling the gaze of the world as +the _Mayflower_ with her company fared forth on their adventurous +voyage. The foolish James was yet on the English throne, glorying that +he had "peppered the Puritans." The morose Louis XIII, through whom +Richelieu ruled, was King of France. The imbecile Philip III swayed +Spain and the Indies. The persecuting Ferdinand the Second, tormentor of +Protestants, was Emperor of Germany. Paul V, of the House of Borghese, +was Pope of Rome. In the same princely company and all contemporaries +were Christian IV, King of Denmark, and his son Christian, Prince of +Norway; Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden; Sigmund the Third, King of +Poland; Frederick, King of Bohemia, with his wife, the unhappy Elizabeth +of England, progenitor of the House of Hanover; George William, Margrave +of Brandenburg, and ancestor of the Prussian house that has given an +emperor to Germany; Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria; Maurice, landgrave of +Hesse; Christian, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg; John Frederick, Duke +of Wuertemberg and Teck; John, Count of Nassau; Henry, Duke of Lorraine; +Isabella, Infanta of Spain and ruler of the Low Countries; Maurice, +fourth Prince of Orange; Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy and ancestor of +the King of United Italy; Cosmo de Medici, third Grand Duke of Florence; +Antonio Priuli, ninety-third Doge of Venice, just after the terrible +tragedy commemorated on the English stage as "Venice Preserved"; +Bethlehem Gabor, Prince of Unitarian Transylvania, and elected King of +Hungary, with the countenance of an African; and the Sultan Mustapha, of +Constantinople, twentieth ruler of the Turks. + +Such at that time were the crowned sovereigns of Europe, whose names +were mentioned always with awe, and whose countenances are handed down +by art, so that at this day they are visible to the curious as if they +walked these streets. Mark now the contrast. There was no artist for +our forefathers, nor are their countenances now known to men; but more +than any powerful contemporaries at whose tread the earth trembled is +their memory sacred. Pope, emperor, king, sultan, grand-duke, duke, +doge, margrave, landgrave, count--what are they all by the side of the +humble company that landed on Plymouth Rock? Theirs indeed, were the +ensigns of worldly power, but our Pilgrims had in themselves that inborn +virtue which was more than all else besides, and their landing was an +epoch. + +Who in the imposing troop of worldly grandeur is now remembered but with +indifference or contempt? If I except Gustavus Adolphus, it is because +he revealed a superior character. Confront the _Mayflower_ and the +Pilgrims with the potentates who occupied such space in the world. The +former are ascending into the firmament, there to shine forever, while +the latter have been long dropping into the darkness of oblivion, to be +brought forth only to point a moral or illustrate the fame of +contemporaries whom they regarded not. Do I err in supposing this an +illustration of the supremacy which belongs to the triumphs of the moral +nature? At first impeded or postponed, they at last prevail. Theirs is a +brightness which, breaking through all clouds, will shine forth with +ever-increasing splendor. I have often thought that if I were a +preacher, if I had the honor to occupy the pulpit so grandly filled by +my friend near me, one of my sermons should be from the text, "A little +leaven shall leaven the whole lump." Nor do I know a better illustration +of these words than the influence exerted by our Pilgrims. That small +band, with the lesson of self-sacrifice, of just and equal laws, of the +government of a majority, of unshrinking loyalty to principle, is now +leavening this whole continent, and in the fulness of time will leaven +the world. By their example, republican institutions have been +commended, and in proportion as we imitate them will these institutions +be assured. + +Liberty, which we so much covet, is not a solitary plant. Always by its +side is justice. But Justice is nothing but right applied to human +affairs. Do not forget, I entreat you, that with the highest morality is +the highest liberty. A great poet, in one of his inspired sonnets, +speaking of his priceless possession, has said, "But who loves that must +first be wise and good." Therefore do Pilgrims in their beautiful +example teach liberty, teach republican institutions, as at an earlier +day, Socrates and Plato, in their lessons of wisdom, taught liberty and +helped the idea of the republic. If republican government has thus far +failed in any experiment, as, perhaps, somewhere in Spanish America, it +is because these lessons have been wanting. There have been no Pilgrims +to teach the moral law. + +Mr. President, with these thoughts, which I imperfectly express, I +confess my obligations to the forefathers of New England, and offer to +them the homage of a grateful heart. But not in thanksgiving only would +I celebrate their memory. I would if I could make their example a +universal lesson, and stamp it upon the land. The conscience which +directed them should be the guide for our public councils. The just and +equal laws which they required should be ordained by us, and the +hospitality to truth which was their rule should be ours. Nor would I +forget their courage and stedfastness. Had they turned back or wavered, +I know not what would have been the record of this continent, but I see +clearly that a great example would have been lost. Had Columbus yielded +to his mutinous crew and returned to Spain without his great discovery; +had Washington shrunk away disheartened by British power and the snows +of New Jersey, these great instances would have been wanting for the +encouragement of men. But our Pilgrims belong to the same heroic +company, and their example is not less precious. + +Only a short time after the landing on Plymouth Rock, the great +republican poet, John Milton, wrote his "Comus," so wonderful for beauty +and truth. His nature was more refined than that of the Pilgrims, and +yet it requires little effort of imagination to catch from one of them, +or at least from their beloved pastor, the exquisite, almost angelic +words at the close-- + + + "Mortals, who would follow me, + Love Virtue; she alone is free; + She can teach ye how to climb + Higher than the sphery chime. + Or if Virtue feeble were, + Heaven itself would stoop to her." + + + + +THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING RACE + +BY GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS + + +Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce:--I rise with some +trepidation to respond to this toast, because we have been assured upon +high authority, altho after what we have heard this evening we can not +believe it, that the English-speaking race speaks altogether too much. +Our eloquent Minister in England recently congratulated the Mechanics' +Institute at Nottingham that it had abolished its debating club, and +said that he gladly anticipated the establishment in all great +institutions of education of a professorship of Silence. I confess that +the proposal never seemed to me so timely and wise as at this moment. +If I had only taken a high degree in silence, Mr. Chairman, how +cordially you would congratulate me and this cheerful company! + +When Mr. Phelps proceeded to say that Americans are not allowed to talk +all the time, and that our orators are turned loose upon the public only +once in four years, I was lost in admiration of the boundless sweep of +his imagination. But when he said that the result of this quadrennial +outburst was to make the country grateful that it did not come oftener, +I saw that his case required heroic treatment, and must be turned over +to Dr. Depew. + +I am sure, at least, that when our distinguished friends from England +return to their native land they will hasten to besiege His Excellency +to tell them where the Americans are kept who speak only once in four +years. And if they will but remain through the winter, they will +discover that if our orators are turned loose upon the public only once +in four years, they are turned loose in private all the rest of the +time; and if the experience and observation of our guests are as +fortunate as mine, they will learn that there are certain orators of +both branches of the English-speaking race--not one hundred miles from +me at this moment--whom the public would gladly hear, if they were +turned loose upon it every four hours. + +Wendell Phillips used to say that as soon as a Yankee baby could sit up +in his cradle, he called the nursery to order and proceeded to address +the house. If this Parliamentary instinct is irrepressible, if all the +year round we are listening to orations, speeches, lectures, sermons, +and the incessant, if not always soothing, oratory of the press, to +which His Honor the Mayor is understood to be a closely attentive +listener, we have at least the consolation of knowing that the talking +countries are the free countries, and that the English-speaking races +are the invincible legions of liberty. + +The sentiment which you have read, Mr. Chairman, describes in a few +comprehensive words the historic characteristics of the English-speaking +race. That it is the founder of commonwealths, let the miracle of empire +which we have wrought upon the Western Continent attest:--its advance +from the seaboard with the rifle and the ax, the plow and the shuttle, +the teapot and the Bible, the rocking-chair and the spelling-book, the +bath-tub and a free constitution, sweeping across the Alleghanies, +over-spreading the prairies and pushing on until the dash of the +Atlantic in their ears dies in the murmur of the Pacific; and as the +wonderful Goddess of the old mythology touched earth, flowers and fruits +answered her footfall, so in the long trail of this advancing race, it +has left clusters of happy States, teeming with a population, man by +man, more intelligent and prosperous than ever before the sun shone +upon, and each remoter camp of that triumphal march is but a further +outpost of English-speaking civilization. + +That it is the pioneer of progress, is written all over the globe to the +utmost islands of the sea, and upon every page of the history of civil +and religious and commercial freedom. Every factory that hums with +marvelous machinery, every railway and steamer, every telegraph and +telephone, the changed systems of agriculture, the endless and +universal throb and heat of magical invention, are, in their larger +part, but the expression of the genius of the race that with Watts drew +from the airiest vapor the mightiest of motive powers, with Franklin +leashed the lightning, and with Morse outfabled fairy lore. The race +that extorted from kings the charter of its political rights has won, +from the princes and powers of the air, the earth and the water, the +secret of supreme dominion, the illimitable franchise of beneficent +progress. + +That it is the stubborn defender of liberty, let our own annals answer, +for America sprang from the defense of English liberty in English +colonies, by men of English blood, who still proudly speak the English +language, cherish English traditions, and share of right, and as their +own, the ancient glory of England. + +No English-speaking people could, if it would, escape its distinctive +name, and, since Greece and Judea, no name has the same worth and honor +among men. We Americans may flout England a hundred times. We may oppose +her opinions with reason, we may think her views unsound, her policy +unwise; but from what country would the most American of Americans +prefer to have derived the characteristic impulse of American +development and civilization rather than England? What language would we +rather speak than the tongue of Shakespeare and Hampden, of the Pilgrims +and King James's version? What yachts, as a tribute to ourselves upon +their own element, would we rather outsail than English yachts? In what +national life, modes of thought, standards and estimates of character +and achievement do we find our own so perfectly reflected as in the +English House of Commons, in English counting-rooms and workshops, and +in English homes? + +No doubt the original stock has been essentially modified in the younger +branch. The American, as he looks across the sea, to what Hawthorne +happily called "Our old home," and contemplates himself, is disposed to +murmur: "Out of the eater shall come forth meat and out of the strength +shall come forth sweetness." He left England a Puritan iconoclast; he +has developed in Church and State into a constitutional reformer. He +came hither a knotted club; he has been transformed into a Damascus +blade. He seized and tamed a continent with a hand of iron; he civilizes +and controls it with a touch of velvet. No music is so sweet to his ear +as the sound of the common-school bell; no principle so dear to his +heart as the equal rights of all men; no vision so entrancing to his +hope as those rights universally secured. + +This is the Yankee; this is the younger branch; but a branch of no base +or brittle fiber, but of the tough old English oak, which has weathered +triumphantly the tempest of a thousand years. It is a noble contention +whether the younger or the elder branch has further advanced the +frontiers of liberty, but it is unquestionable that liberty, as we +understand it on both sides of the sea, is an English tradition; we +inherit it, we possess it, we transmit it, under forms peculiar to the +English race. It is as Mr. Chamberlain has said, liberty under law. It +is liberty, not license; civilization, not barbarism; it is liberty clad +in the celestial robe of law, because law is the only authoritative +expression of the will of the people, representative government, trial +by jury, habeas corpus, freedom of speech and of the press--why, Mr. +Chairman, they are the family heirlooms, the family diamonds, and they +go wherever in the wide world go the family name and language and +tradition. + +Sir, with all my heart, and, I am sure, with the hearty assent of this +great and representative company, I respond to the final aspiration of +your toast: "May this great family in all its branches ever work +together for the world's welfare." Certainly its division and alienation +would be the world's misfortune. That England and America have had sharp +and angry quarrels is undeniable. Party spirit in this country, +recalling old animosity, has always stigmatized with the English name +whatever it opposed. Every difference, every misunderstanding with +England has been ignobly turned to party account; but the two great +branches of this common race have come of age, and wherever they may +encounter a serious difficulty which must be accommodated they have but +to thrust demagogues aside, to recall the sublime words of Abraham +Lincoln, "With malice toward none, with charity for all," and in that +spirit, and in the spirit and the emotion represented in this country by +the gentlemen upon my right and my left, I make bold to say to Mr. +Chamberlain, in your name, there can be no misunderstanding which may +not be honorably and happily adjusted. For to our race, gentlemen of +both countries, is committed not only the defense, but the illustration +of constitutional liberty. + +The question is not what we did a century ago, or in the beginning of +this century, with the lights that shone around us, but what is our duty +to-day, in the light which is given to us of popular government under +the republican form in this country, and the parliamentary form in +England. + +If a sensitive public conscience, if general intelligence should not +fail to secure us from unnatural conflict, then liberty will not be +justified of her children, and the glory of the English-speaking race +will decline. I do not believe it. I believe that it is constantly +increasing, and that the colossal power which slumbers in the arms of a +kindred people will henceforth be invoked, not to drive them further +asunder, but to weld them more indissolubly together in the defense of +liberty under law. + + + + +WOMAN + +BY HORACE PORTER + + +Mr. President and Gentlemen:--When this toast was proposed to me, I +insisted that it ought to be responded to by a bachelor, by some one who +is known as a ladies' man; but in these days of female proprietorship it +is supposed that a married person is more essentially a ladies' man than +anybody else, and it was thought that only one who had the courage to +address a lady could have the courage, under these circumstances, to +address the New England Society. + +The toast, I see, is not in its usual order to-night. At public dinners +this toast is habitually placed last on the list. It seems to be a +benevolent provision of the Committee on Toasts in order to give man in +replying to Woman one chance at least in life of having the last word. +At the New England dinners, unfortunately the most fruitful subject of +remark regarding woman is not so much her appearance as her +disappearance. I know that this was remedied a few years ago, when this +grand annual gastronomic high carnival was held in the Metropolitan +Concert Hall. There, ladies were introduced into the galleries to grace +the scene by their presence; and I am sure the experiment was +sufficiently encouraging to warrant repetition, for it was beautiful to +see the descendants of the Pilgrims sitting with eyes upturned in true +Puritanic sanctity it was encouraging to see the sons of those pious +sires devoting themselves, at least for one night, to setting their +affections upon "things above." + +Woman's first home was in the Garden of Eden. There man first married +woman. Strange that the incident should have suggested to Milton the +"Paradise Lost." Man was placed in a profound sleep, a rib was taken +from his side, a woman was created from it, and she became his wife. +Evil-minded persons constantly tell us that thus man's first sleep +became his last repose. But if woman be given at times to that +contrariety of thought and perversity of mind which sometimes passeth +our understanding, it must be recollected in her favor that she was +created out of the crookedest part of man. + +The Rabbins have a different theory regarding creation. They go back to +the time when we were all monkeys. They insist that man was originally +created with a kind of Darwinian tail, and that in the process of +evolution this caudal appendage was removed and created into woman. +This might better account for those Caudle lectures which woman is in +the habit of delivering, and some color is given to this theory, from +the fact that husbands even down to the present day seem to inherit a +general disposition to leave their wives behind. + +The first woman, finding no other man in that garden except her own +husband, took to flirting even with the Devil. The race might have been +saved much tribulation if Eden had been located in some calm and +tranquil land--like Ireland. There would at least have been no snakes +there to get into the garden. Now woman in her thirst after knowledge, +showed her true female inquisitiveness in her cross-examination of the +serpent, and, in commemoration of that circumstance the serpent seems to +have been curled up and used in nearly all languages as a sign of +interrogation. Soon the domestic troubles of our first parents began. +The first woman's favorite son was killed with a club, and married women +even to this day seem to have an instinctive horror of clubs. The first +woman learned that it was Cain that raised a club. The modern woman has +learned that it is a club that raises cain. Yet, I think, I recognize +faces here to-night that I see behind the windows of Fifth Avenue clubs +of an afternoon, with their noses pressed flat against the broad plate +glass, and as woman trips along the sidewalk, I have observed that these +gentlemen appear to be more assiduously engaged than ever was a +government scientific commission, in taking observations upon the +transit of Venus. + +Before those windows passes many a face fairer than that of the +Ludovician Juno or the Venus of Medici. There is the Saxon blonde with +the deep blue eye, whose glances return love for love, whose silken +tresses rest upon her shoulders like a wealth of golden fleece, each +thread of which looks like a ray of the morning sunbeam. There is the +Latin brunette with the deep, black, piercing eye, whose jetty lashes +rest like a silken fringe upon the pearly texture of her dainty cheek, +looking like raven's wings spread out upon new-fallen snow. + +And yet the club man is not happy. As the ages roll on woman has +materially elevated herself in the scale of being. Now she stops at +nothing. She soars. She demands the co-education of sexes. She thinks +nothing of delving into the most abstruse problems of the higher +branches of analytical science. She can cipher out the exact hour of the +night when her husband ought to be home, either according to the old or +the recently adopted method of calculating time. I never knew of but +one married man who gained any decided domestic advantage by this change +in our time. He was a _habitue_ of a club situated next door to his +house. His wife was always upbraiding him for coming home too late at +night. Fortunately, when they made this change of time, they placed one +of those meridians from which our time is calculated right between the +club and his house. Every time he stept across that imaginary line it +set him back a whole hour in time. He found that he could then leave his +club at one o'clock and get home to his wife at twelve; and for the +first time in twenty years peace reigned around the hearthstone. + +Woman now revels even in the more complicated problems of mathematical +astronomy. Give a woman ten minutes and she will describe a +heliocentric parallax of the heavens. Give her twenty minutes and she +will find astronomically the longitude of a place by means of lunar +culminations. Give that same woman an hour and a half with the present +fashions, and she can not find the pocket in her dress. + +And yet man's admiration for woman never flags. He will give her half +his fortune; he will give her his whole heart; he seems always willing +to give her everything that he possesses, except his seat in a +horse-car. + +Every nation has had its heroines as well as its heroes. England, in her +wars, had a Florence Nightingale; and the soldiers in the expression of +their adoration, used to stoop and kiss the hem of her garment as she +passed. America, in her war, had a Dr. Mary Walker. Nobody ever stooped +to kiss the hem of her garment--because that was not exactly the kind +of a garment she wore. But why should man stand here and attempt to +speak for woman, when she is so abundantly equipped to speak for +herself. I know that is the case in New England; and I am reminded, by +seeing General Grant here to-night, of an incident in proof of it which +occurred when he was making that marvelous tour through New England, +just after the war. The train stopt at a station in the State of Maine. +The General was standing on the rear platform of the last car. At that +time, as you know, he had a great reputation for silence--for it was +before he had made his series of brilliant speeches before the New +England Society. They spoke of his reticence--a quality which New +Englanders admire so much--in others. Suddenly there was a commotion in +the crowd, and as it opened a large, tall, gaunt-looking woman came +rushing toward the car, out of breath. Taking her spectacles off from +the top of her head and putting them on her nose, she put her arms +akimbo, and looking up, said: "Well, I've just come down here a runnin' +nigh onto two mile, right on the clean jump, just to get a look at the +man that lets the women do all the talkin'." + +The first regular speaker of the evening (William M. Evarts) touched +upon woman, but only incidentally, only in reference to Mormonism and +that sad land of Utah, where a single death may make a dozen widows. + +A speaker at the New England dinner in Brooklyn last night (Henry Ward +Beecher) tried to prove that the Mormons came originally from New +Hampshire and Vermont. I know that a New Englander sometimes in the +course of his life marries several times; but he takes the precaution +to take his wives in their proper order of legal succession. The +difference is that he drives his team of wives tandem, while the Mormon +insists upon driving his abreast. + +But even the least serious of us, Mr. President, have some serious +moments in which to contemplate the true nobility of woman's character. +If she were created from a rib, she was made from that part which lies +nearest a man's heart. + +It has been beautifully said that man was fashioned out of the dust of +the earth while woman was created from God's own image. It is our pride +in this land that woman's honor is her own best defense; that here +female virtue is not measured by the vigilance of detective nurses; that +here woman may walk throughout the length and the breadth of this land, +through its highways and byways, uninsulted, unmolested, clothed in the +invulnerable panoply of her own woman's virtue; that even in places +where crime lurks and vice prevails in the haunts of our great cities, +and in the rude mining gulches of the West, owing to the noble efforts +of our women, and the influence of their example, there are raised, even +there, girls who are good daughters, loyal wives, and faithful mothers. +They seem to rise in those rude surroundings as grows the pond lily, +which is entangled by every species of rank growth, environed by poison, +miasma and corruption, and yet which rises in the beauty of its purity +and lifts its fair face unblushing to the sun. + +No one who has witnessed the heroism of America's daughters in the field +should fail to pay a passing tribute to their worth. I do not speak +alone of those trained Sisters of Charity, who in scenes of misery and +woe seem Heaven's chosen messengers on earth; but I would speak also of +those fair daughters who come forth from the comfortable firesides of +New England and other States, little trained to scenes of suffering, +little used to the rudeness of a life in camp, who gave their all, their +time, their health, and even life itself as a willing sacrifice in that +cause which then moved the nation's soul. As one of these, with her +graceful form, was seen moving silently through the darkened aisles of +an army hospital, as the motion of her passing dress wafted a breeze +across the face of the wounded, they felt that their parched brows had +been fanned by the wings of the angel of mercy. + +Ah! Mr. President, woman is after all a mystery. It has been well said, +that woman is the great conundrum of the nineteenth century; but if we +can not guess her, we will never give her up. + + + + +TRIBUTE TO HERBERT SPENCER + +BY WILLIAM M. EVARTS + + +Gentlemen:--We are here to-night, to show the feeling of Americans +toward our distinguished guest. As no room and no city can hold all his +friends and admirers, it was necessary that a company should be made up +by some method out of the mass, and what so good a method as that of +natural selection and the inclusion, within these walls, of the ladies? +It is a little hard upon the rational instincts and experiences of man +that we should take up the abstruse subjects of philosophy and of +evolution, of all the great topics that make up Mr. Spencer's +contribution to the learning and the wisdom of his time, at this end of +the dinner. + +The most ancient nations, even in their primitive condition, saw the +folly of this, and when one wished either to be inspired with the +thoughts of others or to be himself a diviner of the thoughts of others, +fasting was necessary, and a people from whom I think a great many +things might be learned for the good of the people of the present time, +have a maxim that will commend itself to your common-sense. They say the +continually stuffed body can not see secret things. Now, from my +personal knowledge of the men I see at these tables, they are owners of +continually stuffed bodies. I have addrest them at public dinners, on +all topics and for all purposes, and whatever sympathy they may have +shown with the divers occasions which brought them together, they come +up to this notion of continually stuffed bodies. In primitive times +they had a custom which we only under the system of differentiation +practise now at this dinner. When men wished to possess themselves of +the learning, the wisdom, the philosophy, the courage, the great traits +of any person, they immediately proceeded to eat him up as soon as he +was dead, having only this diversity in that early time that he should +be either roasted or boiled according as he was fat or thin. Now out of +that narrow compass, see how by the process of differentiation and of +multiplication of effects we have come to a dinner of a dozen courses +and wines of as many varieties; and that simple process of appropriating +the virtue and the wisdom of the great man that was brought before the +feast is now diversified into an analysis of all the men here under the +cunning management of many speakers. No doubt, preserving as we do the +identity of all these institutions it is often considered a great art, +or at least a great delight, to roast our friends and put in hot water +those against whom we have a grudge. + +Now, Mr. Spencer, we are glad to meet you here. We are glad to see you +and we are glad to have you see us. We are glad to see you, for we +recognize in the breadth of your knowledge, such knowledge as is useful +to your race, a greater comprehension than any living man has presented +to our generation. We are glad to see you, because in our judgment you +have brought to the analysis and distribution of this vast knowledge a +more penetrating intelligence and a more thorough insight than any +living man has brought even to the minor topics of his special +knowledge. In theology, in psychology, in natural science, in the +knowledge of individual man and his exposition and in the knowledge of +the world in the proper sense of society, which makes up the world, the +world worth knowing, the world worth speaking of, the world worth +planning for, the world worth working for, we acknowledge your labors as +surpassing those of any of our kind. You seem to us to carry away and +maintain in the future the same measure of fame among others that we are +told was given in the Middle Ages to Albertus Magnus, the most learned +man of those times, whose comprehension of theology, of psychology, of +natural history, of politics, of history, and of learning, comprehended +more than any man since the classic time certainly; and yet it was found +of him that his knowledge was rather an accumulation, and that he had +added no new processes and no new wealth to the learning which he had +achieved. + +Now, I have said that we are glad to have you see us. You have already +treated us to a very unique piece of work in this reception, and we are +expecting perhaps that the world may be instructed after you are safely +on the other side of the Atlantic in a more intimate and thorough manner +concerning our merits and our few faults. This faculty of laying on a +dissecting board an entire nation or an entire age and finding out all +the arteries and veins and pulsations of their life is an extension +beyond any that our own medical schools afford. You give us that +knowledge of man which is practical and useful, and whatever the claims +or the debates may be about your system or the system of those who agree +with you, and however it may be compared with other competing systems +that have preceded it, we must all agree that it is practical, that it +is benevolent, that it is serious and that it is reverent; that it aims +at the highest results in virtue; that it treats evil, not as eternal, +but as evanescent, and that it expects to arrive at what is sought +through the aid of the millennium--that condition of affairs in which +there is the highest morality and the greatest happiness. And if we can +come to that by these processes and these instructions, it matters +little to the race whether it be called scientific morality and +mathematical freedom or by another less pretentious name. You will +please fill your glasses while we propose the health of our guest, +Herbert Spencer. + + + + +THE EMPIRE STATE[3] + +MR. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW + + +Mr. President and Gentlemen:--It has been my lot from a time whence I +can not remember to respond each year to this toast. When I received the +invitation from the committee, its originality and ingenuity astonished +and overwhelmed me. But there is one thing the committee took into +consideration when they invited me to this platform. This is a +Presidential year, and it becomes men not to trust themselves talking on +dangerous topics. The State of New York is eminently safe. Ever since +the present able and distinguished Governor has held his place I have +been called upon by the New England Society to respond for him. It is +probably due to that element in the New Englander that he delights in +provoking controversy. The Governor is a Democrat, and I am a +Republican. Whatever he believes in I detest; whatever he admires I +hate. The manner in which this toast is received leads me to believe +that in the New England Society his administration is unanimously +approved. Governor Robinson, if I understand correctly his views, would +rather that any other man should have been elected as Chief Magistrate +than Mr. John Kelly. Mr. Kelly, if I interpret aright his public +utterances, would prefer any other man for the Governor of New York than +Lucius Robinson, and therefore, in one of the most heated controversies +we have ever had, we elected a Governor by unanimous consent or assent +in Alonzo B. Cornell. Horace Greeley once said to me, as we were +returning from a State convention where he had been a candidate, but the +delegates had failed to nominate the fittest man for the place: "I don't +see why any man wants to be Governor of the State of New York, for there +is no one living who can name the last ten Governors on a moment's +notice." But tho there have been Governors and Governors, there is, when +the gubernatorial office is mentioned, one figure that strides down the +centuries before all the rest; that is the old Dutch Governor of New +York, with his wooden leg--Peter Stuyvesant. There have been heroines, +too, who have aroused the poetry and eloquence of all times, but none +who have about them the substantial aroma of the Dutch heroine, Anneke +Jans. + +It is within the memory of men now living when the whole of American +literature was dismissed with the sneer of the _Edinburgh Review_, "Who +reads an American book?" But out of the American wilderness a broad +avenue to the highway which has been trod by the genius of all times in +its march to fame was opened by Washington Irving, and in his footsteps +have followed the men who are read of all the world, and who will +receive the highest tributes in all times--Longfellow, and Whittier, and +Hawthorne and Prescott. + +New York is not only imperial in all those material results which +constitute and form the greatest commonwealth in this constellation of +commonwealths, but in our political system she has become the arbiter of +our national destiny. As goes New York so goes the Union, and her voice +indicates that the next President will be a man with New England blood +in his veins or a representative of New England ideas. + +And for the gentleman who will not be elected I have a Yankee story. In +the Berkshire hills there was a funeral, and as they gathered in the +little parlor there came the typical New England female, who mingles +curiosity with her sympathy, and as she glanced around the darkened room +she said to the bereaved widow, "When did you get that new eight-day +clock?" "We ain't got no new eight-day clock," was the reply. "You +ain't? What's that in the corner there?" "Why no, that's not an +eight-day clock, that's the deceased; we stood him on end, to make room +for the mourners." + +Up to within fifty years ago all roads in New England led to Boston; but +within the last fifty years every byway and highway in New England leads +to New York. New York has become the capital of New England, and within +her limits are more Yankees than in any three New England States +combined. The boy who is to-day ploughing the stony hillside in New +England, who is boarding around and teaching school, and who is to be +the future merchant-prince or great lawyer, or wise statesman, looks not +now to Boston, but to New York, as the El Dorado of his hopes. And how +generously, sons of New England, have we treated you? We have put you in +the best offices; we have made you our merchant-princes. Where is the +city or village in our State where you do not own the best houses, run +the largest manufactories, and control the principal industries? We have +several times made one of your number Governor of the State, and we have +placed you in positions where you honor us while we honor you. New +York's choice in the National Cabinet is the distinguished Secretary of +State, whose pure Yankee blood renders him none the less a most fit and +most eminent representative of the Empire State. + +But while we have done our best to satisfy the Yankee, there is one +thing we have never been able to do. We can meet his ambition and fill +his purse, but we never can satisfy his stomach. When the President +stated to-night that Plymouth Rock celebrated this anniversary on the +21st, whilst we here did so on the 22d, he did not state the true +reason. It is not as he said, a dispute about dates. The pork and beans +of Plymouth are insufficient for the cravings of the Yankee appetite, +and they chose the 21st, in order that, by the night train, they may get +to New York on the 22d, to have once a year a square meal. From 1620 +down to the opening of New York to their settlement, a constantly +increasing void was growing inside the Yankee diaphragm, and even now +the native and imported Yankee finds the best-appointed restaurant in +the world sufficient for his wants; and he has migrated to this house, +that he may annually have the sensation of sufficiency in the largest +hotel in the United States. + +My friend, Mr. Curtis, has eloquently stated, in the beginning of his +address, the Dutchman's idea of the old Puritan. He has stated, at the +close of his address, the modern opinion of the old Puritan. He was an +uncomfortable man to live with, but two hundred years off a grand +historic figure. If any one of you, gentlemen, was compelled to leave +this festive board, and go back two hundred years and live with your +ancestor of that day, eat his fare, drink his drink, and listen to his +talk, what a time would be there, my countrymen! Before the Puritan was +fitted to accomplish the work he did, with all the great opportunities +that were in him, it was necessary that he should spend two years in +Leyden and learn from the Dutch the important lesson of religious +toleration, and the other fundamental lesson, that a common school +education lies at the foundation of all civil and religious liberty. If +the Dutchman had conquered Boston, it would have been a misfortune to +this land, and to the world. It would have been like Diedrich +Knickerbocker wrestling with an electric battery. + +But when the Yankee conquered New York, his union with the Dutch formed +those sterling elements which have made the Republic what it is. Yankee +ideas prevailed in this land in the grandest contest in the Senate of +the United States which has ever taken place, or ever will, in the +victory of Nationalism over Sectionalism by the ponderous eloquence of +that great defender of the Constitution, Daniel Webster. And when +failing in the forum, Sectionalism took the field, Yankee ideas +conquered again in that historic meeting when Lee gave up his sword to +Grant. And when, in the disturbance of credit and industry which +followed, the twin heresies Expansion and Repudiation stalked abroad, +Yankee ideas conquered again in the policy of our distinguished guest, +the Secretary of the Treasury. So great a triumph has never been won by +any financial officer of the government before, as in the funding of our +national debt at four per cent., and the restoration of the national +credit, giving an impulse to our prosperity and industry that can +neither be stayed nor stopt. + +When Henry Hudson sailed up the great harbor of New York, and saw with +prophetic vision its magnificent opportunities, he could only emphasize +his thought, with true Dutch significance, in one sentence--"See here!" +When the Yankee came and settled in New York, he emphasized his coming +with another sentence--"Sit here!"--and he sat down upon the Dutchman +with such force that he squeezed him out of his cabbage-patch, and upon +it he built his warehouse and his residence. He found this city laid out +in a beautiful labyrinth of cow-patches, with the inhabitants and the +houses all standing with their gable-ends to the street, and he turned +them all to the avenue, and made New York a parallelogram of palaces; +and he has multiplied to such an extent that now he fills every nook of +our great State, and we recognize here to-night that, with no tariff, +and free trade between New England and New York, the native specimen is +an improvement upon the imported article. Gentlemen, I beg leave to say, +as a native New Yorker of many generations, that by the influence, the +hospitality, the liberal spirit, and the cosmopolitan influences of this +great State, from the unlovable Puritan of two hundred years ago you +have become the most agreeable and companionable of men. + +New York to-day, the Empire State of all the great States of the +Commonwealth, brings in through her grand avenue to the sea eighty per +cent. of all the imports, and sends forth a majority of all the exports, +of the Republic. She collects and pays four-fifths of the taxes which +carry on the government of the country. In the close competition to +secure the great Western commerce which is to-day feeding the world and +seeking an outlet along three thousand miles of coast, she holds by her +commercial prestige and enterprise more than all the ports from New +Orleans to Portland combined. Let us, whether native or adopted New +Yorkers, be true to the past, to the present, to the future, of this +commercial and financial metropolis. Let us enlarge our terminal +facilities and bring the rail and the steamship close together. Let us +do away with the burdens that make New York the dearest, and make her +the cheapest, port on the continent; and let us impress our commercial +ideas upon the national legislature, so that the navigation laws, which +have driven the merchant marine of the Republic from the seas, shall be +repealed, and the breezes of every clime shall unfurl, and the waves of +every sea reflect, the flag of the Republic. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] Speech of Chauncey M. Depew at the seventy-fourth anniversary +banquet of the New England Society in the City of New York, December 22, +1879. + + + + +MEN OF LETTERS + +BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE + + +Sir Francis Grant, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, and Gentlemen:--While +I feel most keenly the honor which you confer upon me in connecting my +name with the interests of literature, I am embarrassed, in responding, +by the nature of my subject. What is literature, and who are men of +letters? From one point of view we are the most unprofitable of +mankind--engaged mostly in blowing soap-bubbles. From another point of +view we are the most practical and energetic portion of the community. +If literature be the art of employing words skilfully in representing +facts, or thoughts, or emotions, you may see excellent specimens of it +every day in the advertisements in our newspapers. Every man who uses a +pen to convey his meaning to others--the man of science, the man of +business, the member of a learned profession--belongs to the community +of letters. Nay, he need not use his pen at all. The speeches of great +orators are among the most treasured features of any national +literature. The orations of Mr. Grattan are the text-books in the +schools of rhetoric in the United States. Mr. Bright, under this aspect +of him, holds a foremost place among the men of letters of England. + +Again, sir, every eminent man, be he what he will, be he as unbookish as +he pleases, so he is only eminent enough, so he holds a conspicuous +place in the eyes of his countrymen, potentially belongs to us, and if +not in life, then after he is gone, will be enrolled among us. The +public insist on being admitted to his history, and their curiosity will +not go unsatisfied. His letters are hunted up, his journals are sifted; +his sayings in conversation, the doggerel which he writes to his +brothers and sisters are collected, and stereotyped in print. His fate +overtakes him. He can not escape from it. We cry out, but it does not +appear that men sincerely resist the liberty which is taken with them. +We never hear of them instructing their executors to burn their papers. +They have enjoyed so much the exhibition that has been made of their +contemporaries that they consent to be sacrificed themselves. + +Again, sir, when we look for those who have been most distinguished as +men of letters, in the usual sense of the word, where do we find them? +The famous lawyer is found in his chambers, the famous artist is found +in his studio. Our foremost representatives we do not find always in +their libraries; we find them, in the first place, in the service of +their country. ("Hear! Hear!") Owen Meredith is Viceroy of India, and +all England has applauded the judgment that selected and sent him there. +The right honorable gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) who three years ago was +conducting the administration of this country with such brilliant +success was first generally known to his countrymen as a remarkable +writer. During forty years of arduous service he never wholly deserted +his original calling. He is employing an interval of temporary +retirement to become the interpreter of Homer to the English race, or to +break a lance with the most renowned theologians in defense of spiritual +liberty. + +A great author, whose life we have been all lately reading with +delight, contemplates the year 3000 as a period at which his works may +still be studied. If any man might be led reasonably to form such an +anticipation for himself by the admiration of his contemporaries, Lord +Macaulay may be acquitted of vanity. The year 3000 is far away, much +will happen between now and then; all that we can say with certainty of +the year 3000 is that it will be something extremely different from what +any one expects. I will not predict that men will then be reading Lord +Macaulay's "History of England." I will not predict that they will then +be reading "Lothair." But this I will say, that if any statesman of the +age of Augustus or the Antonines had left us a picture of patrician +society at Rome, drawn with the same skill, and with the same delicate +irony with which Mr. Disraeli has described a part of English society +in "Lothair," no relic of antiquity would now be devoured with more +avidity and interest. Thus, sir, we are an anomalous body, with very +ill-defined limits. But, such as we are, we are heartily obliged to you +for wishing us well, and I give you our most sincere thanks. + + + + +LITERATURE AND POLITICS + +BY JOHN MORLEY + + +Mr. President, Your Royal Highness, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:--I +feel that I am more unworthy now than I was eight years ago to figure as +the representative of literature before this brilliant gathering of all +the most important intellectual and social interests of our time. I have +not yet been able like the Prime Minister, to go round this exhibition +and see the works of art that glorify your walls; but I am led by him to +expect that I shall see the pictures of Liberal leaders, including M. +Rochefort. I am not sure whether M. Rochefort will figure as a man of +letters or as a Liberal leader, but I can understand that his portrait +would attract the Prime Minister because M. Rochefort is a politician +who was once a Liberal leader, and who has now seen occasion to lose his +faith in Parliamentary government. Nor have I seen the picture of "The +Flowing Tide," but I shall expect to find in that picture when I do see +it a number of bathing-machines in which, not the younger generation, +but the elder generation, as I understand are waiting confidently--for +the arrival of the "Flowing Tide," and when it arrives, the elderly +gentlemen who are incarcerated in those machines will be only too +anxious for a man and a horse to come and deliver them from their +imminent peril. + +I thought that I detected in the last words of your speech, in proposing +this toast, Mr. President, an accent of gentle reproach that any one +should desert the high and pleasant ways of literature for the turmoil +and the everlasting contention of public life. I do not suppose that +there has ever been a time in which there was less of divorce between +literature and public life than the present time. There have been in the +reign of the Queen two eminent statesmen who have thrice had the +distinction of being Prime Minister, and oddly enough, one of those +statesman (Lord Derby) has left behind him a most spirited version of +Homer, while the other eminent statesman (William E. Gladstone)--happily +still among us, still examines the legends and the significance of +Homer. Then when we come to a period nearer to ourselves, and look at +those gentlemen who have in the last six years filled the office of +Minister for Ireland, we find that no fewer than three (George Otto +Trevelyan, John Morley, and Arthur Balfour) were authors of books +before they engaged in the very ticklish business of the government of +men. And one of these three Ministers for Ireland embarked upon his +literary career--which promised ample distinction--under the editorial +auspices of another of the three. We possess in one branch of the +Legislature the author of the most fascinating literary biography in our +language. We possess also another writer whose range of knowledge and of +intellectual interest is so great that he has written the most important +book upon the American Commonwealth (James Bryce). + +The first canon in literature was announced one hundred years ago by an +eminent Frenchman who said that in literature it is your business to +have preferences but no exclusions. In politics it appears to be our +business to have very stiff and unchangeable preferences, and exclusion +is one of the systematic objects of our life. In literature, according +to another canon, you must have a free and open mind and it has been +said: "Never be the prisoner of your own opinions." In politics you are +very lucky if you do not have the still harder fate--(and I think that +the gentlemen on the President's right hand will assent to that as +readily as the gentlemen who sit on his left) of being the prisoner of +other people's opinions. Of course no one can doubt for a moment that +the great achievements of literature--those permanent and vital works +which we will never let die--require a devotion as unceasing, as +patient, as inexhaustible, as the devotion that is required for the +works that adorn your walls; and we have luckily in our age--tho it may +not be a literary age--masters of prose and masters of verse. No prose +more winning has ever been written than that of Cardinal Newman; no +verse finer, more polished, more melodious has ever been written than +that of Lord Tennyson and Mr. Swinburne. + +It seems to me that one of the greatest functions of literature at this +moment is not merely to produce great works, but also to protect the +English language--that noble, that most glorious instrument--against +those hosts of invaders which I observe have in these days sprung up. I +suppose that every one here has noticed the extraordinary list of names +suggested lately in order to designate motion by electricity; that list +of names only revealed what many of us had been observing for a long +time--namely, the appalling forces that are ready at a moment's notice +to deface and deform our English tongue. These strange, fantastic, +grotesque, and weird titles open up to my prophetic vision a most +unwelcome prospect. I tremble to see the day approach--and I am not sure +that it is not approaching--when the humorists of the headlines of +American journalism shall pass current as models of conciseness, energy, +and color of style. + +Even in our social speech this invasion seems to be taking place in an +alarming degree, and I wonder what the Pilgrim Fathers of the +seventeenth century would say if they could hear their pilgrim children +of the nineteenth century who come over here, on various missions, and +among others, "On the make." This is only one of the thousand such-like +expressions which are invading the Puritan simplicity of our tongue. I +will only say that I should like, for my own part, to see in every +library and in every newspaper office that admirable passage in which +Milton--who knew so well how to handle both the great instrument of +prose and the nobler instrument of verse--declared that next to the man +who furnished courage and intrepid counsels against an enemy he placed +the man who should enlist small bands of good authors to resist that +barbarism which invades the minds and the speech of men in methods and +habits of speaking and writing. + +I thank you for having allowed me the honor of saying a word as to the +happiest of all callings and the most imperishable of all arts. + + + + +GENERAL SHERMAN + +BY CARL SCHURZ + + +Gentlemen:--The adoption by the Chamber of Commerce of these resolutions +which I have the honor to second, is no mere perfunctory proceeding. We +have been called here by a genuine impulse of the heart. To us General +Sherman was not a great man like other great men, honored and revered at +a distance. We had the proud and happy privilege of calling him one of +us. Only a few months ago, at the annual meeting of this Chamber, we saw +the familiar face of our honorary member on this platform by the side of +our President. Only a few weeks ago he sat at our banquet table, as he +had often before, in the happiest mood of conviviality, and contributed +to the enjoyment of the night with his always unassuming and always +charming speech. And as he moved among us without the slightest pomp of +self-conscious historic dignity, only with the warm and simple geniality +of his nature, it would cost us sometimes an effort of the memory to +recollect that he was the renowned captain who had marshaled mighty +armies victoriously on many a battlefield, and whose name stood, and +will forever stand, in the very foremost rank of the saviors of this +Republic, and of the great soldiers of the world's history. Indeed, no +American could have forgotten this for a moment; but the affection of +those who were so happy as to come near to him, would sometimes struggle +to outrun their veneration and gratitude. + +Death has at last conquered the hero of so many campaigns; our cities +and towns and villages are decked with flags at half-mast; the muffled +drum and the funeral cannon boom will resound over the land as his dead +body passes to the final resting-place; and the American people stand +mournfully gazing into the void left by the sudden disappearance of the +last of the greatest men brought forth by our war of regeneration--and +this last also finally become, save Abraham Lincoln alone, the most +widely beloved. He is gone; but as we of the present generation remember +it, history will tell all coming centuries the romantic story of the +famous "March to the Sea"--how, in the dark days of 1864, Sherman, +having worked his bloody way to Atlanta, then cast off all his lines of +supply and communication, and, like a bold diver into the dark unknown, +seemed to vanish with all his hosts from the eyes of the world, until +his triumphant reappearance on the shores of the ocean proclaimed to the +anxiously expecting millions, that now the final victory was no longer +doubtful, and that the Republic would surely be saved. + +Nor will history fail to record that this great general was, as a +victorious soldier, a model of republican citizenship. When he had done +his illustrious deeds, he rose step by step to the highest rank in the +army, and then, grown old, he retired. The Republic made provision for +him in modest republican style. He was satisfied. He asked for no higher +reward. Altho the splendor of his achievements, and the personal +affection for him, which every one of his soldiers carried home, made +him the most popular American of his day, and altho the most glittering +prizes were not seldom held up before his eyes, he remained untroubled +by ulterior ambition. No thought that the Republic owed him more ever +darkened his mind. No man could have spoken to him of the "ingratitude +of Republics," without meeting from him a stern rebuke. And so, content +with the consciousness of a great duty nobly done, he was happy in the +love of his fellow citizens. + +Indeed, he may truly be said to have been in his old age, not only the +most beloved, but also the happiest of Americans. Many years he lived in +the midst of posterity. His task was finished, and this he wisely +understood. His deeds had been passed upon by the judgment of history, +and irrevocably registered among the glories of his country and his age. +His generous heart envied no one, and wished every one well; and +ill-will had long ceased to pursue him. Beyond cavil his fame was +secure, and he enjoyed it as that which he had honestly earned, with a +genuine and ever fresh delight, openly avowed by the charming frankness +of his nature. He dearly loved to be esteemed and cherished by his +fellow men, and what he valued most, his waning years brought him in +ever increasing abundance. Thus he was in truth a most happy man, and +his days went down like an evening sun in a cloudless autumn sky. And +when now the American people, with that peculiar tenderness of affection +which they have long borne him, lay him in his grave, the happy ending +of his great life may soothe the pang of bereavement they feel in their +hearts at the loss of the old hero who was so dear to them, and of whom +they were and always will be so proud. His memory will ever be bright to +us all; his truest monument will be the greatness of the Republic he +served so well; and his fame will never cease to be prized by a grateful +country, as one of its most precious possessions. + + + + +ORATION OVER ALEXANDER HAMILTON[4] + +BY GOUVERNEUR MORRIS + + +My Friends:--If on this sad, this solemn occasion, I should endeavor to +move your commiseration, it would be doing injustice to that sensibility +which has been so generally and so justly manifested. Far from +attempting to excite your emotions, I must try to repress my own; and +yet, I fear, that instead of the language of a public speaker, you will +hear only the lamentations of a wailing friend. But I will struggle with +my bursting heart, to portray that heroic spirit, which has flown to +the mansions of bliss. + +Students of Columbia--he was in the ardent pursuit of knowledge in your +academic shades when the first sound of the American war called him to +the field. A young and unprotected volunteer, such was his zeal, and so +brilliant his service, that we heard his name before we knew his person. +It seemed as if God had called him suddenly into existence, that he +might assist to save a world! The penetrating eye of Washington soon +perceived the manly spirit which animated his youthful bosom. By that +excellent judge of men he was selected as an aid, and thus he became +early acquainted with, and was a principal actor in the more important +scenes of our revolution. At the siege of York he pertinaciously +insisted on, and he obtained the command of a Forlorn Hope. He stormed +the redoubt; but let it be recorded that not one single man of the enemy +perished. His gallant troops, emulating the heroism of their chief +checked the uplifted arm, and spared a foe no longer resisting. Here +closed his military career. + +Shortly after the war, your favor--no, your discernment, called him to +public office. You sent him to the convention at Philadelphia; he there +assisted in forming the constitution which is now the bond of our union, +the shield of our defense, and the source of our prosperity. In signing +the compact, he exprest his apprehension that it did not contain +sufficient means of strength for its own preservation; and that in +consequence we should share the fate of many other republics, and pass +through anarchy to despotism. We hoped better things. We confided in the +good sense of the American people; and, above all, we trusted in the +protecting providence of the Almighty. On this important subject he +never concealed his opinion. He disdained concealment. Knowing the +purity of his heart, he bore it as it were in his hand, exposing to +every passenger its inmost recesses. This generous indiscretion +subjected him to censure from misrepresentation. His speculative +opinions were treated as deliberate designs; and yet you all know how +strenuous, how unremitting were his efforts to establish and to preserve +the constitution. If, then, his opinion was wrong, pardon, O pardon, +that single error, in a life devoted to your service. + +At the time when our Government was organized, we were without funds, +tho not without resources. To call them into action, and establish order +in the finances, Washington sought for splendid talents, for extensive +information, and above all, he sought for sterling, incorruptible +integrity. All these he found in Hamilton. The system then adopted, has +been the subject of much animadversion. If it be not without a fault, +let it be remembered that nothing human is perfect. Recollect the +circumstances of the moment--recollect the conflict of opinion--and, +above all, remember that a minister of a republic must bend to the will +of the people. The administration which Washington formed was one of the +most efficient, one of the best that any country was ever blessed with. +And the result was a rapid advance in power and prosperity of which +there is no example in any other age or nation. The part which Hamilton +bore is universally known. + +His unsuspecting confidence in professions, which he believed to be +sincere, led him to trust too much to the undeserving. This exposed him +to misrepresentation. He felt himself obliged to resign. The care of a +rising family, and the narrowness of his fortune, made it a duty to +return to his profession for their support. But tho he was compelled to +abandon public life, never, no, never for a moment did he abandon the +public service. He never lost sight of your interests. I declare to you, +before that God in whose presence we are now especially assembled, that +in his most private and confidential conversations, the single objects +of discussion and consideration were your freedom and happiness. You +well remember the state of things which again called forth Washington +from his retreat to lead your armies. You know that he asked for +Hamilton to be his second in command. That venerable sage knew well the +dangerous incidents of a military profession, and he felt the hand of +time pinching life at its source. It was probable that he would soon be +removed from the scene, and that his second would succeed to the +command. He knew by experience the importance of that place--and he +thought the sword of America might safely be confided to the hand which +now lies cold in that coffin. Oh! my fellow citizens, remember this +solemn testimonial that he was not ambitious. Yet he was charged with +ambition, and, wounded by the imputation, when he laid down his command +he declared in the proud independence of his soul, that he never would +accept any office, unless in a foreign war he should be called on to +expose his life in defense of his country. This determination was +immovable. It was his fault that his opinions and his resolutions could +not be changed. Knowing his own firm purpose, he was indignant at the +charge that he sought for place or power. He was ambitious only for +glory, but he was deeply solicitous for you. For himself he feared +nothing; but he feared that bad men might, by false professions, acquire +your confidence, and abuse it to your ruin. + +Brethren of the Cincinnati--there lies our chief! Let him still be our +model. Like him, after long and faithful public services, let us +cheerfully perform the social duties of private life. Oh! he was mild +and gentle. In him there was no offense; no guile. His generous hand and +heart were open to all. + +Gentlemen of the bar--you have lost your brightest ornament. Cherish and +imitate his example. While, like him, with justifiable and laudable +zeal, you pursue the interests of your clients, remember, like him, the +eternal principle of justice. + +Fellow citizens--you have long witnessed his professional conduct, and +felt his unrivaled eloquence. You know how well he performed the duties +of a citizen--you know that he never courted your favor by adulation or +the sacrifice of his own judgment. You have seen him contending against +you, and saving your dearest interests, as it were, in spite of +yourselves. And you now feel and enjoy the benefits resulting from the +firm energy of his conduct. Bear this testimony to the memory of my +departed friend. I charge you to protect his fame. It is all he has +left--all that these poor orphan children will inherit from their +father. But, my countrymen, that fame may be a rich treasure to you +also. Let it be the test by which to examine those who solicit your +favor. Disregarding professions, view their conduct, and on a doubtful +occasion ask, "Would Hamilton have done this thing?" + +You all know how he perished. On this last scene I can not, I must not +dwell. It might excite emotions too strong for your better judgment. +Suffer not your indignation to lead to any act which might again offend +the insulted majesty of the laws. On his part, as from his lips, tho +with my voice--for his voice you will hear no more--let me entreat you +to respect yourselves. + +And now, ye ministers of the everlasting God, perform your holy office, +and commit these ashes of our departed brother to the bosom of the +grave. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] Funeral oration by Gouverneur Morris, statesman and man of affairs, +pronounced before the porch of Trinity Church, New York City, over the +body of Alexander Hamilton, just prior to the interment, July 14, 1804. + + + + +EULOGY OF McKINLEY + +BY GROVER CLEVELAND + + +To-day the grave closes over the dead body of the man but lately chosen +by the people of the United States from among their number to represent +their nationality, preserve, protect and defend their Constitution, to +faithfully execute the laws ordained for their welfare, and safely to +hold and keep the honor and integrity of the Republic. His time of +service is ended, not by the expiration of time, but by the tragedy of +assassination. He has passed from public sight, not joyously bearing the +garlands and wreaths of his countrymen's approving acclaim, but amid the +sobs and tears of a mourning nation. He has gone to his home, not the +habitation of earthly peace and quiet, bright with domestic comfort and +joy, but to the dark and narrow house appointed for all the sons of men, +there to rest until the morning light of the resurrection shall gleam in +the East. + +All our people loved their dead president. His kindly nature and lovable +traits of character and his amiable consideration for all about him will +long be in the minds and hearts of his countrymen. He loved them in +return with such patriotism and unselfishness that in the hour of their +grief and humiliation he would say to them: "It is God's will; I am +content. If there is a lesson in my life or death, let it be taught to +those who still live and have the destiny of their country in their +keeping." + +Let us, then, as our dead is buried out of our sight, seek for the +lessons and the admonitions that may be suggested by the life and death +which constitute our theme. + +First in my thoughts are the lessons to be learned from the career of +William McKinley by the young men who make up the student body of our +university. These lessons are not obscure or difficult. They teach the +value of study and mental training, but they teach more impressively +that the road to usefulness and to the only success worth having, will +be missed or lost except it is sought and kept by the light of those +qualities of heart, which it is sometimes supposed may safely be +neglected or subordinated in university surroundings. This is a great +mistake. Study and study hard, but never let the thought enter your mind +that study alone or the greatest possible accumulation of learning alone +will lead you to the heights of usefulness and success. + +The man who is universally mourned to-day achieved the highest +distinction which his great country can confer on any man, and he lived +a useful life. He was not deficient in education, but with all you will +hear of his grand career, and of his services to his country and his +fellow citizens, you will not hear that either the high place he reached +or what he accomplished was due entirely to his education. You will +instead constantly hear as accounting for his great success that he was +obedient and affectionate as a son, patriotic and faithful as a soldier, +honest and upright as a citizen, tender and devoted as a husband, and +truthful, generous, unselfish, moral and clean in every relation of +life. He never thought any of these things too weak for manliness. Make +no mistake. Here was a most distinguished man, a great man, a useful +man--who became distinguished, great and useful, because he had, and +retained unimpaired, the qualities of heart which I fear university +students sometimes feel like keeping in the background or abandoning. + +There is a most serious lesson for all of us in the tragedy of our late +president's death. The shock of it is so great that it is hard at this +time to read this lesson calmly. We can hardly fail to see, however, +behind the bloody deed of the assassin, horrible figures and faces from +which it will not do to turn away. If we are to escape further attack +upon our peace and security, we must boldly and resolutely grapple with +the monster of anarchy. It is not a thing that we can safely leave to be +dealt with by party or partizanship. Nothing can guarantee us against +its menace except the teaching and the practise of the best +citizenship, the exposure of the ends and aims of the gospel of +discontent and hatred of social order, and the brave enactment and +execution of repressive laws. + +Our universities and colleges can not refuse to join in the battle +against the tendencies of anarchy. Their help in discovering and warning +against the relationship between the vicious councils and deeds of +blood, and their unsteadying influence upon the elements of unrest, can +not fail to be of inestimable value. + +By the memory of our murdered president, let us resolve to cultivate and +preserve the qualities that made him great and useful; and let us +determine to meet the call of patriotic duty in every time of our +country's danger or need. + + + + +DECORATION DAY[5] + +BY THOMAS W. HIGGINSON + + +Friends:--We meet to-day for a purpose that has the dignity and the +tenderness of funeral rites without their sadness. It is not a new +bereavement, but one which has softened, that brings us here. We meet +not around a newly opened grave, but among those which Nature has +already decorated with the memorials of her love. Above every tomb her +daily sunshine has smiled, her tears have wept; over the humblest she +has bidden some grasses nestle, some vines creep, and the +butterfly,--ancient emblem of immortality--waves his little wings above +every sod. To Nature's signs of tenderness we add our own. Not "ashes +to ashes, dust to dust," but blossoms to blossoms, laurels to the +laureled. + +The great Civil War has passed by--its great armies were disbanded, +their tents struck, their camp-fires put out, their muster-rolls laid +away. But there is another army whose numbers no Presidential +proclamation could reduce, no general orders disband. This is their +camping-ground--these white stones are their tents--this list of names +we bear is their muster-roll--their camp-fires yet burn in our hearts. + +I remember this "Sweet Auburn" when no sacred associations made it +sweeter, and when its trees looked down on no funerals but those of the +bird and the bee. Time has enriched its memories since those days. And +especially during our great war, as the Nation seemed to grow +impoverished in men, these hills grow richer in associations, until +their multiplying wealth took in that heroic boy who fell in almost the +last battle of the war. Now that roll of honor has closed, and the work +of commemoration begun. + +Without distinction of nationality, of race, of religion, they gave +their lives to their country. Without distinction of religion, of race, +of nationality, we garland their graves to-day. The young Roman Catholic +convert who died exclaiming "Mary! pardon!" and the young Protestant +theological student, whose favorite place of study was this cemetery, +and who asked only that no words of praise might be engraven on his +stone--these bore alike the cross in their lifetime, and shall bear it +alike in flowers to-day. They gave their lives that we might remain one +Nation, and the Nation holds their memory alike in its arms. + +And so the little distinctions of rank that separated us in the service +are nothing here. Death has given the same brevet to all. The brilliant +young cavalry general who rode into his last action, with stars on his +shoulders and his death-wound on his breast, is to us no more precious +than that sergeant of sharpshooters who followed the line unarmed at +Antietam, waiting to take the rifle of some one who should die, because +his own had been stolen; or that private who did the same thing in the +same battle, leaving the hospital service to which he had been assigned. +Nature has been equally tender to the graves of all, and our love knows +no distinction. + +What a wonderful embalmer is death! We who survive grow daily older. +Since the war closed the youngest has gained some new wrinkle, the +oldest some added gray hair. A few years more and only a few tattering +figures shall represent the marching files of the Grand Army; a year or +two beyond that, and there shall flutter by the window the last empty +sleeve. But these who are here are embalmed forever in our imaginations; +they will not change; they never will seem to us less young, less fresh, +less daring, than when they sallied to their last battle. They will +always have the dew of their youth; it is we alone who shall grow old. + +And, again, what a wonderful purifier is death! These who fell beside us +varied in character; like other men, they had their strength and their +weaknesses, their merits and their faults. Yet now all stains seem +washed away; their life ceased at its climax, and the ending sanctioned +all that went before. They died for their country; that is their +record. They found their way to heaven equally short, it seems to us, +from every battle-field, and with equal readiness our love seeks them +to-day. + +"What is a victory like?" said a lady to the Duke of Wellington. "The +greatest tragedy in the world, madam, except a defeat." Even our great +war would be but a tragedy were it not for the warm feeling of +brotherhood it has left behind it, based on the hidden emotions of days +like these. The war has given peace to the nation; it has given union, +freedom, equal rights; and in addition to that, it has given to you and +me the sacred sympathy of these graves. No matter what it has cost us +individually--health or worldly fortunes--it is our reward that we can +stand to-day among these graves and yet not blush that we survive. + +The great French soldier, de Latour d'Auvergne, was the hero of many +battles, but remained by his own choice in the ranks. Napoleon gave him +a sword and the official title "The First Grenadier of France." When he +was killed, the Emperor ordered that his heart should be intrusted to +the keeping of his regiment--that his name should be called at every +roll-call, and that his next comrade should make answer, "Dead upon the +field of honor." In our memories are the names of many heroes; we +treasure all their hearts in this consecrated ground, and when the name +of each is called, we answer in flowers, "Dead upon the field of honor." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[5] Delivered at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass., Decoration +Day, May 30, 1870. + + + + +FAITH IN MANKIND[6] + +BY ARTHUR T. HADLEY + + +In order to accomplish anything great, a man must have two sides to his +greatness: a personal side and a social side. He must be upright +himself, and he must believe in the good intentions and possibilities of +others about him. + +The scholars and scientific men of the country have sometimes been +reproached with a certain indifference to the feelings and sentiments of +their fellow men. It has been said that their critical faculty is +developed more strongly than their constructive instinct; that their +brain has been nourished at the expense of their heart; that what they +have gained in breadth of vision has been outweighed by a loss of human +sympathy. + +It is for you to prove the falseness of this charge. It is for you to +show by your life and utterances that you believe in the men who are +working with you and about you. There will probably be times when this +is a hard task. If you have studied history or literature or science +aright, some things which look large to other people will look small to +you. You will frequently be called upon to give the unwelcome advice +that a desired end can not be reached by a short cut; and this may cause +some of your enthusiastic friends to lose confidence in your leadership. +There are always times when a man who is clear-headed is reproached with +being hard-hearted. But if you yourselves keep your faith in your fellow +men, these things, tho they be momentary hindrances, will in the long +run make for your power of Christian leadership. + +There was a time, not so very long ago, when the people distrusted the +guidance of scientific men in things material. They believed that they +could do their business best without advice of the theorists. When it +came to the conduct of business, scientific men and practical men eyed +each other with mutual distrust. As long as the scientific men remained +mere critics this distrust remained. When they came to take up the +practical problems of applied mechanics and physics and solve them +positively in a large way, they became the trusted leaders of modern +material development. + +It is for you to deal with the profounder problems of human life in the +same way. It is for you to prove your right to take the lead in the +political and social and spiritual development of the country, as well +as in its mechanical and material development. To do this you must take +hold of these social problems with the same positive faith with which +your fathers took hold of the problems of applied science. To the man +who believes in his fellow men, who has faith in his country, and in +whom the love of God whom he hath not seen is but an outgrowth of a love +for his fellow men whom he hath seen, the opening years of the twentieth +century are years of unrivaled promise. We already know that a man can +learn to love God by loving his fellow men. Equally true we shall find +it that a man learns to believe in God by believing in his fellow men. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[6] The concluding part of a baccalaureate address to the graduating +class of Yale University, June 27, 1909. + + + + +WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN[7] + +BY MARTIN W. LITTLETON + + +The strongest thing about the character of the two greatest men in +American history is the fact that they did not surrender to the passion +of the time. Washington withstood the French radicalism of Jefferson and +the British conservatism of Hamilton. He invited each of them into his +cabinet; he refused to allow either of them to dictate his policy. His +enemies could not terrify him by assault; his friends could not deceive +him with flattery. In this respect he resembled in marked degree the +splendid character of Lincoln. + +The single light that led Lincoln's feet along the hard highway of life +was justice; the single thought that throbbed his brain to sleep at +night was justice; the single prayer that put in whispered words the +might and meaning of his soul was justice; the single impulse that +lingered in a heart already wrung by a nation's grief was justice; in +every word that fell from him in touching speech there was the sad and +sober spirit of justice. He sat upon the storm when the nation shook +with passion. Treason, wrong, injustice, crime, graft, a thousand wrongs +in system and in single added to the burden of this melancholy spirit. +Silently, as the soul of the just makes war on sin; silently, as the +spirit of the mighty withstands the spite of wrong; silently, as the +heart of the truly brave resists the assault of the coward, this prince +of patience and peace endured the calumny of the country he died to +save. + +Lincoln blazed the way from the cabin to the crown; working away in the +silence of the woods, he heard the murmur of a storm; toiling in the +forest of flashing leaf and armored oak, he heard Lexington calling unto +Sumter, Valley Forge crying unto Gettysburg, and Yorktown shouting unto +Appomattox. Lingering before the dying fires in a humble hut, he saw +with sorrowful heart the blazing camps of Virginia, and felt the awful +stillness of slumbering armies. Beneath it all he saw the strained +muscles of the slave, the broken spirit of the serf, the bondage of +immortal souls; and beyond it all, looking through the tears that broke +from a breaking heart, he saw the widow by the empty chair, the aged +father's fruitless vigil at the gate, the daughter's dreary watch +beside the door, and the son's solemn step from boyhood to old age. And +behind this picture he saw the lonely family altar upon which was +offered the incense of tears coming from millions of broken hearts; and +looking still beyond he saw the battle-fields where silent slabs told of +the death of those who died in deathless valor. He saw the desolated +earth, where golden grain no more broke from the rich, resourceful soil, +where the bannered wheat no longer rose from the productive earth; he +saw the South with its smoking chimneys, its deserted hearthstones, its +maimed and wounded trudging with bowed heads and bent forms back to +their homes, there to want and to waste and to struggle and to build up +again; he saw the North recover itself from the awful shock of arms and +start anew to unite the arteries of commerce that had been cut by the +cruel sword of war. And with this gentle hand, and as a last act of his +sacrificial life, he dashed the awful cup of brother's blood from the +lustful lip of war and shattered the cannons' roar into nameless notes +of song. + +Then turn to the vision of Washington leaving a plantation of peace and +plenty to suffer on the blood-stained battle-field, surrendering the +dominion over the princely domain of a Virginia gentleman to accept the +privations of an unequal war--the vision of patriotism over against the +vision of greed. + +Oh, my friends, we must live so that the spirit of these men shall +settle all about our lives and deeds; so that the patriotism of their +service shall burn as a fire in the hearts of all who shall follow them. +The Constitution which came from one, the universal liberty which came +from the other, must be set in our hearts as institutions in the blood +of our race, so that this Government shall not perish until every drop +of that blood has been shed in its defense; and we shall behold the flag +of our country as the beautiful emblem of their unselfish lives, whose +red ran out of a soldier's heart, whose white was bleached by a nation's +tears, whose stars were hung there to sing together until the eternal +morning when all the world shall be free. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[7] Extract from an address on the occasion of the celebration of +Washington's Birthday by the Ellicott Club of Buffalo, New York, +February 22, 1906. + + + + +CHARACTERISTICS OF WASHINGTON[8] + +BY WILLIAM McKINLEY + + +Fellow Citizens:--There is a peculiar and tender sentiment connected +with this memorial. It expresses not only the gratitude and reverence of +the living, but is a testimonial of affection and homage from the dead. + +The comrades of Washington projected this monument. Their love inspired +it. Their contributions helped to build it. Past and present share in +its completion, and future generations will profit by its lessons. To +participate in the dedication of such a monument is a rare and precious +privilege. Every monument to Washington is a tribute to patriotism. +Every shaft and statue to his memory helps to inculcate love of country, +encourage loyalty and establish a better citizenship. God bless every +undertaking which revives patriotism and rebukes the indifferent and +lawless! A critical study of Washington's career only enhances our +estimation of his vast and varied abilities. + +As Commander-in-chief of the Colonial armies from the beginning of the +war to the proclamation of peace, as president of the convention which +framed the Constitution of the United States, and as the first President +of the United States under that Constitution, Washington has a +distinction differing from that of all other illustrious Americans. No +other name bears or can bear such a relation to the Government. Not +only by his military genius--his patience, his sagacity, his courage, +and his skill--was our national independence won, but he helped in +largest measure to draft the chart by which the Nation was guided; and +he was the first chosen by the people to put in motion the new +Government. His was not the boldness of martial display or the charm of +captivating oratory, but his calm and steady judgment won men's support +and commanded their confidence by appealing to their best and noblest +aspirations. And withal Washington was ever so modest that at no time in +his career did his personality seem in the least intrusive. He was above +the temptation of power. He spurned any suggested crown. He would have +no honor which the people did not bestow. + +An interesting fact--and one which I love to recall--is that the only +time Washington formally addrest the Constitutional Convention during +all its sessions over which he presided in this city, he appealed for a +larger representation of the people in the National House of +Representatives, and his appeal was instantly heeded. Thus was he ever +keenly watchful of the rights of the people in whose hands was the +destiny of our Government then as now. + +Masterful as were his military campaigns, his civil administration +commands equal admiration. His foresight was marvelous; his conception +of the philosophy of government, his insistence upon the necessity of +education, morality, and enlightened citizenship to the progress and +permanence of the Republic, can not be contemplated even at this period +without filling us with astonishment at the breadth of his comprehension +and the sweep of his vision. His was no narrow view of government. The +immediate present was not his sole concern, but our future good his +constant theme of study. He blazed the path of liberty. He laid the +foundation upon which we have grown from weak and scattered Colonial +governments to a united Republic whose domains and power as well as +whose liberty and freedom have become the admiration of the world. +Distance and time have not detracted from the fame and force of his +achievements or diminished the grandeur of his life and work. Great +deeds do not stop in their growth, and those of Washington will expand +in influence in all the centuries to follow. + +The bequest Washington has made to civilization is rich beyond +computation. The obligations under which he has placed mankind are +sacred and commanding. The responsibility he has left for the American +people to preserve and perfect what he accomplished is exacting and +solemn. Let us rejoice in every new evidence that the people realize +what they enjoy and cherish with affection the illustrious heroes of +Revolutionary story whose valor and sacrifices made us a nation. They +live in us, and their memory will help us keep the covenant entered into +for the maintenance of the freest Government of the earth. + +The Nation and the name of Washington are inseparable. One is linked +indissolubly with the other. Both are glorious, both triumphant. +Washington lives and will live because what he did was for the +exaltation of man, the enthronement of conscience, and the establishment +of a Government which recognizes all the governed. And so, too, will the +Nation live victorious over all obstacles, adhering to the immortal +principles which Washington taught and Lincoln sustained. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[8] Address by William McKinley, twenty-fourth President of the United +States, delivered at the unveiling of the Washington Statue, by the +Society of Cincinnati, in Philadelphia, May 15, 1897. + + + + +"LET FRANCE BE FREE!"[9] + +BY GEORGE JACQUES DANTON + + +The general considerations that have been presented to you are true; but +at this moment it is less necessary to examine the causes of the +disasters that have struck us than to apply their remedy rapidly. When +the edifice is on fire, I do not join the rascals who would steal the +furniture, I extinguish the flames. I tell you therefore you should be +convinced by the despatches of Dumouriez that you have not a moment to +spare in saving the Republic. + +Dumouriez conceived a plan which did honor to his genius. I would render +him greater justice and praise than I did recently. But three months +ago he announced to the executive power, your General Committee of +Defense, that if we were not audacious enough to invade Holland in the +middle of winter, to declare instantly against England the war which +actually we had long been making, that we would double the difficulties +of our campaign, in giving our enemies the time to deploy their forces. +Since we failed to recognize this stroke of his genius we must now +repair our faults. + +Dumouriez is not discouraged; he is in the middle of Holland, where he +will find munitions of war; to overthrow all our enemies, he wants but +Frenchmen, and France is filled with citizens. Would we be free? If we +no longer desire it, let us perish, for we have all sworn it. If we wish +it, let all march to defend our independence. Your enemies are making +their last efforts. Pitt, recognizing he has all to lose, dares spare +nothing. Take Holland, and Carthage is destroyed and England can no +longer exist but for Liberty! Let Holland be conquered to Liberty; and +even the commercial aristocracy itself, which at the moment dominates +the English people, would rise against the government which had dragged +it into this despotic war against a free people. They would overthrow +this ministry of stupidity who thought the methods of the _ancien +regime_ could smother the genius of Liberty breathing in France. This +ministry once overthrown in the interests of commerce the party of +Liberty would show itself; for it is not dead! And if you know your +duties, if your commissioners leave at once, if you extend the hand to +the strangers aspiring to destroy all forms of tyranny, France is saved +and the world is free. + +Expedite, then, your commissioners; sustain them with your energy; let +them leave this very night, this very evening. + +Let them say to the opulent classes, the aristocracy of Europe must +succumb to our efforts, and pay our debt, or you will have to pay it! +The people have nothing but blood--they lavish it! Go, then, ingrates, +and lavish your wealth! See, citizens, the fair destinies that await +you. What! you have a whole nation as a lever, its reason as your +fulcrum, and you have not yet upturned the world! To do this we need +firmness and character, and of a truth we lack it. I put to one side all +passions. They are all strangers to me save a passion for the public +good. + +In the most difficult situations, when the enemy was at the gates of +Paris, I said to those governing: "Your discussions are shameful, I can +see but the enemy. You tire me by squabbling in place of occupying +yourselves with the safety of the Republic! I repudiate you all as +traitors to our country! I place you all in the same line!" I said to +them: "What care I for my reputation! Let France be free, tho my name +were accurst! What care I that I am called 'a blood-drinker!'" Well, let +us drink the blood of the enemies of humanity, if needful; but let us +struggle, let us achieve freedom. Some fear the departure of the +commissioners may weaken one or the other section of this Convention. +Vain fears! Carry your energy everywhere. The pleasantest declaration +will be to announce to the people that the terrible debt weighing upon +them will be wrested from their enemies or that the rich will shortly +have to pay it. The national situation is cruel. The representatives of +value are no longer in equilibrium in the circulation. The day of the +workingman is lengthened beyond necessity. A great corrective measure is +necessary! Conquerors of Holland reanimate in England the Republican +party; let us advance, France, and we shall go glorified to posterity. +Achieve these grand destinies; no more debates, no more quarrels, and +the fatherland is saved. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[9] On the disasters on the frontier--delivered in convention, March 10, +1793. + + + + +SONS OF HARVARD[10] + +BY CHARLES DEVENS + + +The sons of Harvard who have served their country on field and flood, in +deep thankfulness to Almighty God, who has covered their heads in the +day of battle and permitted them to stand again in these ancient halls +and under these leafy groves, sacred to so many memories of youth and +learning, and in yet deeper thankfulness for the crowning mercy which +has been vouchsafed in the complete triumph of our arms over rebellion, +return home to-day. Educated only in the arts of peace, unlearned in all +that pertained especially to the science of war, the emergency of the +hour threw upon them the necessity of grasping the sword. + +Claiming only that they have striven to do their duty they come only to +ask their share in the common joy and happiness which our victory has +diffused and meet this imposing reception. When they remember in whose +presence they stand; that of all the great crowd of the sons of Harvard +who are here to-day there is not one who has not contributed his utmost +to the glorious consummation; that those who have been blessed with +opulence have expended with the largest and most lavish hand in +supplying the government with the sinews of war and sustaining +everywhere the distrest upon whom the woes of war fell; that those less +large in means altho not in heart have not failed to pour out most +tenderly of time and care, of affection and love, in the thousand +channels that have been opened; that the statesmen and legislators +whose wise counsels and determined spirit have brought us thus far in +safety and honor are here,--would that their task were as completely +done as ours!--yet sure I am that in their hands "the pen will not lose +by writing what the sword has won by fighting;" that the poets whose +fiery lyrics roused us as when + + + "Tyrtaeus called aloud to arms," + + +and who have animated the living and celebrated the dead in the noblest +strains are here; that our orators whose burning words have so cheered +the gloom of the long controversy are here, altho withal we lament that +one voice so often heard through the long night of gloom was not +permitted to greet with us the morning. Surrounded by memories such as +his, surrounded by men such as these, we may well feel at receiving this +noble testimonial of your regard that it is rather you who are generous +in bestowing than we who are rich in deserving. Nor do we forget the +guests who honor us by their presence to-day, chief among whom we +recognize his Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts, who altho he +wears the civilian's coat bears as stout a heart as beats under any +soldier's jacket, and who has sent his men by the thousands and tens of +thousands to fight in this great battle; and the late commanding general +of the Army of the Potomac under whom so many of us have fought. If the +whole and comprehensive plans of our great lieutenant-general have +marked him as the Ulysses of a holier and mightier epic than Homer ever +dreamed, in the presence of the great captain who fairly turned the tide +of the rebellion on the hills above Gettysburg, we shall not have to +look far for its Achilles. + +Yet, sir, speaking always of others as you have called on me to speak +for them, it seems to me that the record of the sons of the university +who have served in the war is not unworthy of her. In any capacity where +service was honorable or useful they have rendered it. In the +departments of science they have been conspicuous and the skill of the +engineer upon whom we so often depended was not seldom derived from the +schools of this university. In surgery they have by learning and +judgment alleviated the woes of thousands. And in the ministration of +that religion in whose name this university was founded they have not +been less devoted; not only have cheering words gone forth from their +pulpits, but they have sought the hospitals where the wounded were +dying, or like Fuller at Fredericksburg, have laid down their lives on +the field where armed hosts were contending. All these were applying the +principles of their former education to new sets of circumstances; but, +as you will remember, by far the larger portion of our number were of +the combatants of the army, and the facility they displayed in adopting +the profession of arms affords an admirable addition to the argument by +which it has been heretofore maintained that the general education of +our college was best for all who could obtain it, as affording a basis +upon which any superstructure of usefulness might be raised. Readily +mastering the tactics and detail of the profession, proving themselves +able to grapple with its highest problems, their courage and gallantry +were proverbial. + +It would be a great mistake to suppose that all that was added to our +army by such men as these was merely what it gained in physical force +and manly prowess. Our neighbors on the other side of the water, whose +attachment to monarchy is so strong that it sometimes makes them unjust +to republics, have sometimes attacked the character and discipline of +our army. Nothing could be more unjust. The federal army was noble, +self-sacrificing, devoted always, and to the discipline of that army no +men contributed more than the members of this university and men such as +they. They bore always with them the loftiest principle in the contest +and the highest honor in all their personal relations. Disorder in camp, +pillage and plunder, found in them stern and unrelenting foes. They +fought in a cause too sacred, they wore a robe too white, to be willing +to stain or sully it with such corruption. + +Mr. President I should ill do the duty you have called on me to perform +if I forgot that this ceremonial is not only a reception of those who +return, but a commemoration of those who have laid down their lives for +the service of the country. He who should have properly spoken for us, +the oldest of our graduates, altho not of our members who have fought in +this war,--Webster of the class of 1833, sealed his faith with his life +on the bloody field of the second Manassas, dying for the constitution +of which his great father was the noblest expounder. For those of us who +return to-day, whatever our perils and dangers may have been, we can not +feel that we have done enough to merit what you so generously bestow; +but for those with whom the work of this life is finished and yet who +live forever inseparably linked with the great names of the founders of +the Republic, and not them alone, but the heroes and martyrs of liberty +everywhere, we know that no honor can be too much. The voices which rang +out so loud and clear upon the charging cheer that heralded the final +assault in the hour of victory, that in the hour of disaster were so +calm and resolute as they sternly struggled to stay the slow retreat are +not silent yet. To us and to those who will come after us, they will +speak of comfort and home relinquished, of toil nobly borne, of danger +manfully encountered, of life generously surrendered and this not for +pelf or ambition, but in the spirit of the noblest self-devotion and the +most exalted patriotism. Proud as we who are here to-day have a right to +be that we are the sons of this university, and not deemed unworthy of +her when these are remembered, we may well say, "Sparta had many a +worthier son than we." + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] Speech at Commemoration Exercises held at Cambridge, July 21, +1865. + + + + +WAKE UP, ENGLAND![11] + +BY KING GEORGE + + +In the name of the Queen and the other members of my family, on behalf +of the Princess and for myself, I thank you most sincerely for your +enthusiastic reception of this toast, proposed by you, my Lord Mayor, in +such kind and generous terms. Your feeling allusion to our recent long +absence from our happy family circle gives expression to that sympathy +which has been so universally extended to my dear parents, whether in +times of joy or sorrow, by the people of this country, and upon which my +dear mother felt she could ever reckon from the first days of her life +here amongst them. As to ourselves, we are deeply sensible of the great +honor done us on this occasion, and our hearts are moved by the splendid +reception which to-day has been accorded us by the authorities and +inhabitants of the City of London. And I desire to take this opportunity +to express our deepest gratitude for the sympathetic interest with which +our journey was followed by our fellow countrymen at home, and for the +warm welcome with which we were greeted on our return. You were good +enough, my Lord Mayor, to refer to his Majesty having marked our +home-coming by creating me Prince of Wales. I only hope that I may be +worthy to hold that ancient and historic title, which was borne by my +dear father for upward of fifty-nine years. + +My Lord Mayor, you have attributed to us more credit than I think we +deserve. For I feel that the debt of gratitude is not the nation's to +us, but ours to the King and Government for having made it possible for +us to carry out, with every consideration for our comfort and +convenience, a voyage unique in its character, rich in the experience +gained and in memories of warm and affectionate greetings from the many +races of his Majesty's subjects in his great dominions beyond the seas. +And here in the capital of our great Empire I would repeat how +profoundly touched and gratified we have been by the loyalty, affection +and enthusiasm which invariably characterized the welcome extended to us +throughout our long and memorable tour. It may interest you to know +that we travelled over 45,000 miles, of which 33,000 were by sea, and I +think it is a matter of which all may feel proud that, with the +exception of Port Said, we never set foot on any land where the Union +Jack did not fly. Leaving England in the middle of March, we first +touched at Gibraltar and Malta, where, as a sailor, I was proud to meet +the two great fleets of the Channel and Mediterranean. Passing through +the Suez Canal--a monument of the genius and courage of a gifted son of +the great friendly nation across the Channel--we entered at Aden the +gateway of the East. We stayed for a short time to enjoy the unrivaled +scenery of Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula, the gorgeous displays of +their native races, and to see in what happy contentment these various +peoples live and prosper under British rule. Perhaps there was something +still more striking in the fact that the Government, the commerce, and +every form of enterprise in these countries are under the leadership and +direction of but a handful of our countrymen, and to realize the high +qualities of the men who have won and kept for us that splendid +condition. Australia saw the consummation of the great mission which was +the more immediate object of our journey, and you can imagine the +feelings of pride with which I presided over the inauguration of the +first representative Assembly of the new-born Australian Commonwealth, +in whose hands are placed the destinies of the great island continent. +During a happy stay of many weeks in the different States, we were able +to gain an insight into the working of the commercial, social and +political institutions of which the country justly boasts, and to see +something of the great progress which it has already made, and of its +great capabilities, while making the acquaintance of the warm-hearted +and large-minded men to whose personality and energy so much of that +progress is due. New Zealand afforded us a striking example of a +vigorous, independent and prosperous people, living in the full +enjoyment of free and liberal institutions, and where many interesting +social experiments are being put to the test of experience. Here we had +the satisfaction of meeting large gatherings of the Maori people--once a +brave and resolute foe, now peaceful and devoted subjects of the King. +Tasmania, which in natural characteristics and climate reminded us of +the old country, was visited when our faces were at length turned +homeward. Mauritius, with its beautiful tropical scenery, its classical, +literary and naval historical associations, and its population gifted +with all the charming characteristics of old France, was our first +halting-place, on our way to receive, in Natal and Cape Colony, a +welcome remarkable in its warmth and enthusiasm, which appeared to be +accentuated by the heavy trial of the long and grievous war under which +they have suffered. To Canada was borne the message--already conveyed to +Australia and New Zealand--of the Motherland's loving appreciation of +the services rendered by her gallant sons. In a journey from ocean to +ocean, marvelous in its comfort and organization, we were enabled to see +something of its matchless scenery, the richness of its soil, the +boundless possibilities of that vast and but partly explored territory. +We saw, too, the success which has crowned the efforts to weld into one +community the peoples of its two great races. Our final halting-place +was, by the express desire of the King, Newfoundland, the oldest of our +colonies and the first visited by his Majesty in 1860. The hearty +seafaring population of this island gave us a reception the cordiality +of which is still fresh in our memories. + +If I were asked to specify any particular impressions derived from our +journey, I should unhesitatingly place before all others that of loyalty +to the Crown and of attachment to the country; and it was touching to +hear the invariable reference to home, even from the lips of those who +never had been or were never likely to be in these islands. And with +this loyalty were unmistakable evidences of the consciousness of +strength; of a true and living membership in the Empire, and of power +and readiness to share the burden and responsibility of that membership. +And were I to seek for the causes which have created and fostered this +spirit, I should venture to attribute them, in a very large degree, to +the light and example of our late beloved Sovereign. It would be +difficult to exaggerate the signs of genuine sorrow for her loss and of +love for her memory which we found among all races, even in the most +remote districts which we visited. Besides this, may we not find another +cause--the wise and just policy which in the last half century has been +continuously maintained toward our colonies? As a result of the happy +relations thus created between the mother country and her colonies we +have seen their spontaneous rally round the old flag in defense of the +nation's honor in South Africa. I had ample opportunities to form some +estimate of the military strength of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, +having reviewed upward of 60,000 troops. Abundant and excellent +material is available, requiring only that molding into shape which can +be readily effected by the hands of capable and experienced officers. I +am anxious to refer to an admirable movement which has taken strong root +in both Australia and New Zealand--and that is the cadet corps. On +several occasions I had the gratification of seeing march past several +thousand cadets, armed and equipped, and who at the expense of their +respective Governments are able to go through a military course, and in +some cases with an annual grant of practise ammunition. I will not +presume, in these days of army reform, to do more than call the +attention of my friend, the Secretary of State for War, to this +interesting fact. + +To the distinguished representatives of the commercial interests of the +Empire, whom I have the pleasure of seeing here to-day, I venture to +allude to the impression which seemed generally to prevail among their +brethren across the seas, that _the old country must wake up_ if she +intends to maintain her old position of pre-eminence in her colonial +trade against foreign competitors. No one who had the privilege of +enjoying the experiences which we have had during our tour could fail to +be struck with one all-prevailing and pressing demand: the want of +population. Even in the oldest of our colonies there were abundant signs +of this need. Boundless tracts of country yet unexplored, hidden mineral +wealth calling for development, vast expanses of virgin soil ready to +yield profitable crops to the settlers. And these can be enjoyed under +conditions of healthy living, liberal laws, free institutions, in +exchange for the over-crowded cities and the almost hopeless struggle +for existence which, alas, too often is the lot of many in the old +country. But one condition, and one only, is made by our colonial +brethren, and that is, "Send us suitable emigrants." I would go further, +and appeal to my fellow countrymen at home to prove the strength of the +attachment of the motherland to her children by sending to them only of +her best. By this means we may still further strengthen, or at all +events pass on unimpaired, that pride of race, that unity of sentiment +and purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and obligation which knit +together and alone can maintain the integrity of our Empire. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[11] A speech delivered by His Majesty King George when Prince of Wales, +at the Guildhall, London, December 5, 1901, on his return from his tour +of the Empire. With the permission of the proprietors of _The Times_ the +report which appeared in that paper has been followed. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS + + +----------------------------------------------------- +| _By Grenville Kleiser_ | +----------------------------------------------------- +|Inspiration and Ideals | +| | +|How to Build Mental Power | +| | +|How to Develop Self-Confidence in Speech and Manner| +| | +|How to Read and Declaim | +| | +|How to Speak in Public | +| | +|How to Develop Power and Personality in Speaking | +| | +|Great Speeches and How to Make Them | +| | +|How to Argue and Win | +| | +|Humorous Hits and How to Hold an Audience | +| | +|Complete Guide to Public Speaking | +| | +|Talks on Talking | +| | +|Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases | +| | +|The World's Great Sermons | +| | +|Mail Course in Public Speaking | +| | +|Mail Course in Practical English | +| | +|How to Speak Without Notes | +| | +|Something to Say: How to Say It | +| | +|Successful Methods of Public Speaking | +| | +|Model Speeches for Practise | +| | +|The Training of a Public Speaker | +| | +|How to Sell Through Speech | +| | +|Impromptu Speeches: How to Make Them | +| | +|Word-Power: How to Develop It | +| | +|Christ: The Master Speaker | +| | +|Vital English for Speakers and Writers | +----------------------------------------------------- + + +HOW TO ARGUE AND WIN + +By GRENVILLE KLEISER + +_Author of "How to Speak in Public."_ + + +Ninety-nine men in a hundred can argue to one who can argue and win. Yet +upon this faculty more than any other depends the power of the lawyer, +business man, preacher, politician, salesman, and teacher. The desire to +win is characteristic of all men. "Almost to win a case," "Almost to +close a sale," "Almost to make a convert," or "Almost to gain a vote," +brings neither satisfaction nor success. + +In this book will be found definite suggestions for training the mind in +accurate thinking and the power of clear and effective statement. It is +the outcome of many years of experience in teaching men "to think on +their feet." The aim throughout is practical, and the ultimate object a +knowledge of successful argumentation. + + +CONTENTS + + + Introductory--Truth and Facts--Clearness and Conciseness--The Use + of Words--The Syllogism--Faults--Personality--The Lawyer--The + Business Man--The Preacher--The Salesman--The Public + Speaker--Brief-Drawing--The Discipline of Debate--Tact--Cause and + Effect--Reading Habits--Questions for Solution--Specimens of + Argumentation--Golden Rules in Argumentation. + + +Note for Law Lecture _Abraham Lincoln_ +Of Truth _Francis Bacon_ +Of Practise and Habits _John Locke_ +Improving the Memory _Isaac Watts_ + + +_12mo, Cloth. $1.50, Net; by mail, $1.65_ + +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers + +NEW YORK AND LONDON + + * * * * * + +How to Develop + +Self-Confidence + +in Speech and Manner + +By GRENVILLE KLEISER + +_Author of "How to Speak in Public"; "How to Develop Power and +Personality in Speaking," etc._ + + +The purpose of this book is to inspire in men lofty ideals. It is +particularly for those who daily defraud themselves because of doubt, +fearthought, and foolish timidity. + +Thousands of persons are held in physical and mental bondage, owing to +lack of self-confidence. Distrusting themselves, they live a life of +limited effort, and at last pass on without having realized more than a +small part of their rich possessions. It is believed that this book will +be of substantial service to those who wish to rise above mediocrity, +and who feel within them something of their divine inheritance. It is +commended with confidence to every ambitious man. + + +_CONTENTS_ + + + Preliminary Steps--Building the Will--The Cure of + Self-Consciousness--The Power of Right Thinking--Sources of + Inspiration--Concentration--Physical Basis--Finding + Yourself--General Habits--The Man and the Manner--The Discouraged + Man--Daily Steps in Self-Culture--Imagination and + Initiative--Positive and Negative Thought--The Speaking + Voice--Confidence in Business--Confidence in Society--Confidence in + Public Speaking--Toward the Heights--Memory Passages that Build + Confidence. + + +_12mo, Cloth. $1.50, Net; by mail, $1.65_ + +FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, Publishers + +NEW YORK AND LONDON + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Model Speeches for Practise, by Grenville Kleiser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODEL SPEECHES FOR PRACTISE *** + +***** This file should be named 18323.txt or 18323.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/3/2/18323/ + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Suzanne Lybarger, Martin Pettit +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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