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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/24798-8.txt b/24798-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..654007c --- /dev/null +++ b/24798-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7671 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, America First, by Various, Edited by Jasper +L. McBrien + + +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: America First + Patriotic Readings + + +Author: Various + +Editor: Jasper L. McBrien + +Release Date: March 10, 2008 [eBook #24798] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA FIRST*** + + +E-text prepared by Brian Sogard, Greg Bergquist, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 24798-h.htm or 24798-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/9/24798/24798-h/24798-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/9/24798/24798-h.zip) + + + + + +AMERICA FIRST + +Patriotic Readings + +by + +JASPER L. McBRIEN, A. M. + +Former State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Nebraska +and Now School Extension Specialist for the United +States Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: AMERICA FIRST] + + + +[Illustration] + + +American Book Company +New York Cincinnati Chicago + +Copyright, 1916 +by Jasper L. McBrien +All rights reserved + +AMERICA FIRST + +W. P. 7 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +America First was the central thought in President Wilson's address to +the Daughters of the American Revolution on the twenty-fifth anniversary +of their organization--their Silver Jubilee--in Washington, D. C., +October 11, 1915. The president declared in this address that all +citizens should make it plain whether their sympathies for foreign +countries come before their love of the United States, or whether they +are for America first, last, and all the time. He asserted, also, that +our people need all of their patriotism in this confusion of tongues in +which we find ourselves over the European war. + +The press throughout the country has taken up the thought of the +President and, seconded by the efforts of the Bureau of Education, has +done loyal work in making "America First" our national slogan. This is +all good so far as it goes--especially among the adult population, many +of whom must be educated, if educated at all, on the run. But the rising +generation, both native-born and foreign, to get the full meaning of +this slogan in its far-reaching significance, must have time for study +and reflection along patriotic lines. There must be the right material +on which the American youth may settle their thoughts for a definite end +in patriotism if our country is to have a new birth of freedom and if +"this government of the people, by the people, and for the people is not +to perish from the earth." The prime and vital service of amalgamating +into one homogeneous body the children alike of those who are born here +and of those who come here from so many different lands must be rendered +this Republic by the school teachers of America. + +The purpose of this book is to furnish the teachers and pupils of our +country, material with which the idea of true Americanism may be +developed until "America First" shall become the slogan of every man, +woman, and child in the United States. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS + + _Jasper L. McBrien_ + + INTRODUCTION 13 + + TABLEAU--THE SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SIX 19 + + CAST OF CHARACTERS 20 + + THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS--A DRAMATIZATION 21 + + + AMERICAN PATRIOTISM + + WHAT IS PATRIOTISM _Jasper L. McBrien_ 71 + + AMERICA FOR ME _Henry van Dyke_ 73 + + AMERICA FIRST _Woodrow Wilson_ 75 + + THE MEANING OF THE FLAG _Woodrow Wilson_ 83 + + MAKERS OF THE FLAG _Franklin K. Lane_ 87 + + THE FLAG OF THE UNION FOREVER _Fitzhugh Lee_ 90 + + FAREWELL ADDRESS _George Washington_ 94 + + WASHINGTON _John W. Daniel_ 104 + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN _Henry Watterson_ 129 + + SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS _Abraham Lincoln_ 151 + + ROBERT E. LEE _E. Benjamin Andrews_ 154 + + OUR REUNITED COUNTRY _Clark Howell_ 163 + + THE BLUE AND THE GRAY _Henry Cabot Lodge_ 171 + + A REMINISCENCE OF GETTYSBURG _John B. Gordon_ 175 + + THE NEW SOUTH _Henry W. Grady_ 181 + + THE DUTY AND VALUE OF PATRIOTISM _Archbishop Ireland_ 195 + + OUR COUNTRY _William McKinley_ 202 + + BEHOLD THE AMERICAN _T. DeWitt Talmage_ 206 + + THE HOLLANDER AS AN AMERICAN _Theodore Roosevelt_ 212 + + THE ADOPTED CITIZEN _Ulysses S. Grant_ 217 + + OUR NAVY _Hampton L. Carson_ 220 + + THE PATRIOTISM OF PEACE _William J. Bryan_ 232 + + A PLEA FOR UNIVERSAL PEACE _George W. Norris_ 238 + + GETTYSBURG ADDRESS _Abraham Lincoln_ 255 + + NEUTRALITY PROCLAMATION _Woodrow Wilson_ 256 + + + POETRY OF PATRIOTISM + + CONCORD HYMN _Ralph Waldo Emerson_ 261 + + WARREN'S ADDRESS _John Pierpont_ 262 + + PATRIOTISM _Sir Walter Scott_ 263 + + THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER _Francis Scott Key_ 263 + + MY COUNTRY _Samuel F. Smith_ 265 + + THE AMERICAN FLAG _Joseph Rodman Drake_ 266 + + SONG OF MARION'S MEN _William Cullen Bryant_ 267 + + THE OLD CONTINENTALS _Guy Humphreys McMaster_ 269 + + THE SWORD OF BUNKER HILL _Wm. Ross Wallace_ 271 + + LIBERTY TREE _Thomas Paine_ 272 + + THE RISING IN 1776 _Thomas Buchanan Read_ 274 + + AMERICA _Bayard Taylor_ 278 + + THE BLUE AND THE GRAY _Francis M. Finch_ 279 + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN _James Russell Lowell_ 281 + + THE FLAG GOES BY _Henry Holcomb Bennett_ 284 + + THE SHIP OF STATE _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 285 + + THE NAME OF OLD GLORY _James Whitcomb Riley_ 286 + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + +Acknowledgments for permission to use copyrighted and other valuable +material in this volume are hereby tendered to authors and publishers as +follows: + +To President Woodrow Wilson for his three addresses "America First," +"The Meaning of the Flag," and "Neutrality Proclamation." + +To Secretary Franklin K. Lane for his speech on "The Makers of the +Flag." + +To William Jennings Bryan and his publishers, Funk and Wagnalls Company, +New York and London, for extracts from his address on "The Patriotism of +Peace." + +To Archbishop Ireland for extracts from his address on "The Duty and +Value of Patriotism." + +To George L. Schuman and Company, publishers of _Modern Eloquence_, +Chicago, for the following extracts and addresses: "Our Country," by +William McKinley; "Our Reunited Country," by Clark Howell; "The Blue and +the Gray," by Henry Cabot Lodge; "A Reminiscence of Gettysburg," by John +B. Gordon; "The New South," by Henry W. Grady; and "The Hollander as an +American," by Theodore Roosevelt. + +To A. C. Butters for the address on "Washington," by John W. Daniel, +from _Modern Eloquence_ published by George L. Schuman and Company. + +To Henry Watterson, Louisville, Kentucky, for the extracts from his +lecture on Abraham Lincoln. + +To E. Benjamin Andrews and to his publishers, Fords, Howard and Hulbert, +for the extracts from his lecture on Robert E. Lee. + +To J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, for the poem by Thomas +Buchanan Read, "The Rising in 1776." + +To Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, for the poem by Henry van Dyke, +"America for Me," and also for the extract from the poem "Wanted," by J. +G. Holland. + +To The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, for the poem by James +Whitcomb Riley, "The Name of Old Glory." + +To Henry Holcomb Bennett for his poem entitled, "The Flag Goes By." + +To Christopher Sower Company, Philadelphia, for the poem by Edward +Brooks, entitled "Be a Woman." + +The selections from the poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth +Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and Bayard Taylor are used by +permission of and special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company, the +authorized publishers of the works of those authors. + +The thanks of the author are also extended to Nelson Warner, Katherine +M. Cook, Mrs. L. R. Caldwell, Belvia Cuzzort, W. R. Hood, and Dr. +Stephen B. Weeks of the Bureau of Education, for valuable assistance in +the compilation of this work. + + + + +THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS + +A DRAMATIZATION + +[Illustration: SIGNING THE DECLARATION] + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +This dramatization of the Continental Congress portrays the spirit of +the times during the period of the American Revolution. It deals +principally with the debates for and against the Declaration of +Independence; it is a summary of the grievances, struggles, sacrifices, +and victories of the colonies from the enactment of the obnoxious Stamp +Act by the British Parliament to the resignation of George Washington as +commander-in-chief of the American army. + +In the construction of a drama covering such a heroic period and +relating to events so momentous, all of which must pass in review before +us within an hour and a half's time, it is necessary to exercise a +certain dramatic license. The historical literalist, like the scriptural +literalist, makes the letter kill the spirit of the truth. After all, it +is not the dry facts, dates, and mechanics of history that are of +greatest importance; it is the fundamental principles, causes, and +effects underlying the events as well as the spirit of the times, that +are of first consideration. + +Any modification of historical fact in this dramatization has been made +only to give a fuller meaning to the great facts of history touched upon +therein. It is the period of the American Revolution that is to be +portrayed, as already stated--not alone those memorable days of June and +July, 1776, during which the debates on the Declaration of Independence +took place. For example, Patrick Henry was a member of the First and +the Second Continental Congress, though not a member at the time the +Declaration of Independence was debated, Washington was a member of the +First Continental Congress, but Jefferson was not. Congress was a +changing body in its membership then as is our Congress to-day. + +Jefferson declares that Patrick Henry was the man who put the ball of +the American Revolution in motion. Not to give Henry a place in this +dramatization would be like the play of "Hamlet" with Hamlet left out. + +It must be remembered that no record was made of the debates in the +Continental Congress as is done verbatim by expert reporters in Congress +to-day and published in the Congressional Record. Therefore, the +speeches herein have been adapted from such sources as Paine's +"Separation of Britain and America," Webster's "Supposed Speech of John +Adams," "Wirt's Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry," Alexander H. +Stephens's "Corner Stone Speech," Webster's "Supposed Speech of +Opposition to Independence," and Sumner's "True Grandeur of Nations." +The dialogue between Jefferson and Adams is taken from a letter of John +Adams to Timothy Pickering, dated August 6, 1822. The speeches of +Stephens and Sumner are paraphrased to suit the times to which they are +here applied. + +Great care has been exercised to place each of the leading characters in +these debates on the side in which he _at that time_ conscientiously +believed. In the roll call in this drama on the vote for independence, +the history of each colony has been thoroughly studied so as to bring +out the changed attitude of the people of the various colonies toward +independence, as well as of certain members of the Continental Congress +on this question. + +The scenes of Washington and his army just before the battle of Long +Island, the tableau of The Spirit of '76, and Washington's resignation +as commander-in-chief of the army, are introduced not alone for their +psychological effect on the dramatization proper, but for their own +worth in teaching patriotism. + +With twenty-nine leading characters the dramatization can be well +staged. But if fifty-five characters are available--the number who +signed the Declaration, and if there is room for so many, so much the +better, except as the number of performers is increased there will be an +additional expense for costumes.[1] It may be given as a reading lesson +without costumes; it may be given so as a drama; but it is a greater +success given in costumes. + +Those who take part in this dramatization should be costumed as nearly +like the characters they represent as possible. As a rule, wigs can be +rented for this purpose at a reasonable cost, and it will not be +difficult to dress in the style of the Revolutionary period--buckle +shoes, silk stockings, knee pants, ruffled shirt, and the conventional +coat of the time. + +The same freedom must be permitted and exercised in carrying out this +dramatization, that marked the actors in the Continental Congress itself +in its stormy debates and noisy sessions. Immediately following the +close of each speech there should be a clamor for recognition on the +part of the delegates, but the president will be careful to recognize +the proper person so as to make the play move without any hitch. As each +speaker proceeds there should be a reasonable number of interruptions by +applause or dissenting voices so as to play both sides as strongly as +possible. + +The parliamentary procedure must not be followed too strictly or it will +kill the interest in the play on the part of the public. It must be +given with dispatch and dramatic effect to make a happy hit. + +These debates may be considered as an oratorical contest with prizes +awarded accordingly if so desired. It adds interest to the work. + +It is hard to tell in which years of school work it is best to give this +dramatization--whether in the grammar grades, in the high school, or in +the college, for it is within the understanding of grammar grade boys; +it is not too elementary for young men in the high school; and it is +profound enough for the best thought and the best efforts of college +students. If given by grammar school boys and high school young men, it +will have a wholesome influence in training for a better citizenship at +an opportune time. If presented by college, university, and normal +school students it will give those who are fitting themselves for +teaching a valuable lesson in methods. If it were given by every grammar +school, high school, college, university and normal school, on every +Chautauqua platform, and by every patriotic society in the United States +on Washington's Birthday and other patriotic occasions, and then +repeated on the Fourth of July every year for the next decade it would +do much towards combating that dangerous "aggressive hyphenated +Americanism," that has sprung up in our country and whose baneful +effects it will take much earnest teaching to obliterate. When all +native-born children of foreign parentage, and when all citizens of +foreign birth know the story of the struggle and sacrifice by which our +country rose to her proud station it will make them feel "that they are +Americans among Americans; that they are part of America and have a +share and a duty toward American institutions." May it also cause those +native-born Americans who have become luke-warm in their love of +country, careless of its honor, and negligent in its defense to awake to +their duty with a spirit to do their duty before it is too late. May it +make of every one of us a truer American "by being wholly and without +reserve, and without divided allegiance, and with emphatic repudiation +of the entire principle of 'dual nationality,' an American citizen and +nothing else." + + _In their ragged regimentals + Stood the old Continentals, + Yielding not, + When the grenadiers were lunging. + And like hail fell the plunging + Cannon shot; + When the files + Of the isles, + From the smoky night encampment, bore the banner of the rampant_ + _Unicorn;_ + _And grummer, grummer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer_ + _Through the morn!_ + +[Illustration: TABLEAU--THE SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SIX] + +CAST OF CHARACTERS + +SPEAKERS + +FOR THE DECLARATION + +John Hancock, _President_ +Richard Henry Lee +John Adams +Roger Sherman +Benjamin Franklin +Samuel Adams +Joseph Hewes +Patrick Henry +Thomas Jefferson + +AGAINST THE DECLARATION + +Edward Rutledge +John Dickinson +George Walton +Robert Morris + +Charles Thomson, _Secretary_ + +OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS + +Josiah Bartlett +Stephen Hopkins +William Floyd +Charles Carroll of Carrollton +Samuel Chase +Benjamin Harrison +Lyman Hall +Oliver Wolcott +Elbridge Gerry +William Hooper +Benjamin Rush +Richard Stockton +Thomas McKean +Caesar Rodney + +ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS + +General Washington and his Army + +Fifer } +Drummer } Leading the Army +Little Boy } in "The Spirit of '76" + + + + +THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS + +ACT I. + + +SCENE I.--_Congress assembled; John Hancock in the chair as president; +his keynote speech._ + +JOHN HANCOCK.[2] Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--I thank you for +the signal honor you have conferred on me in making me your presiding +officer. I am glad to see so many Colonies represented in this Congress. +Let us show the nations of the old world what the people of the new +world will do when left to themselves, to their own unbiased good sense, +and to their own true interests. On us depend the destinies of our +country--the fate of three millions of people, and of the countless +millions of our posterity. Matchless is our opportunity--matchless also +is our responsibility! May the God of nations guide us in our +deliberations and in our actions. + +Everything that is right or natural pleads for separation. The blood of +the slain, the weeping voice of Nature cries, "'Tis time to part." Even +the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a +strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other +was never the design of Heaven. The time, likewise, at which the +continent was discovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner +in which it was peopled, increases the force of it. The Reformation was +preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously +meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home +should afford neither friendship nor safety. + +The authority of Great Britain over this continent is a form of +government which sooner or later must have an end: and a serious mind +can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and +positive conviction that what he calls "the present constitution" is +merely temporary. As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this +government is not sufficiently lasting to insure anything which we may +bequeath to posterity; and by a plain method of argument, as we are +running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, +otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the +line of our duty rightly, we should take our children by the hand, and +fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will +present a prospect which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from +our sight. + +Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offense, yet I am +inclined to believe that all those who espouse the doctrine of +reconciliation may be included within the following descriptions: +Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men, who cannot see; +prejudiced men, who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who +think better of the European world than it deserves: and this last +class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more +calamities to this continent than all the other three. + +It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of sorrow; +the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel +the precariousness with which all American property is possessed. But +let our imaginations transport us a few moments to Boston; that seat of +wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us forever to renounce a +power in whom we can have no trust. The inhabitants of that unfortunate +city, who but a few months ago were in ease and affluence, have no other +alternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. Endangered by +the fire of their friends if they continue within the city, and +plundered by the soldiery if they leave it. In their present situation +they are prisoners without hope of redemption, and in a general attack +for their relief they would be exposed to the fury of both armies. + +Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offenses of +Britain, and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out, "Come, +come, we shall be friends again for all this." But examine the passions +and feelings of mankind, bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the +touchstone of nature, and then tell me whether you can hereafter love, +honor, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword +into your land? If you cannot do all these, then are you deceiving +yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon your posterity. Your +future connection with Britain, whom you can neither love nor honor, +will be forced and unnatural, and being formed only on the plan of +present convenience, will in a little time fall into a relapse more +wretched than the first. But if you say you can still pass the +violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt? Hath your +property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children +destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a +parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched +survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. +But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then are +you unworthy the name of husband, father, friend or lover, and, whatever +may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward and +the spirit of a sycophant. + +Gentlemen of the First American Congress, in the name of Equality, +Fraternity and Liberty, I welcome you to this council. What is your +pleasure, gentlemen? + +RICHARD HENRY LEE. Mr. President:--I wish to move the adoption of the +following resolution: "Resolved, that these united colonies are, and of +right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved +from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political +connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to +be, totally dissolved." + +JOHN ADAMS. Mr. President:--I second the motion. + +JOHN HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, you have heard the +motion of Mr. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, for immediate and absolute +independence. Are there any remarks? + +RICHARD HENRY LEE. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--Why do we delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day +give birth to an American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and +to conquer, but to reëstablish the reign of peace and law. The eyes of +Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom +that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever +increasing tyranny which devastates her polluted shores. She invites us +to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace and the +persecuted repose. She entreats us to cultivate a propitious soil where +that generous plant of liberty, which first sprang and grew in England, +but is now withered by the blasts of tyranny may revive and flourish, +sheltering under its salubrious shade all the unfortunate of the human +race. If we are not this day wanting in our duty to our country, the +names of the American legislators of 1776 will be placed by posterity at +the side of Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the three +Williams of Nassau and of all those whose memory has been and forever +will be, dear to virtuous men and good citizens.[3] + + (_At the close of Mr. Lee's brief speech there is a clamor for + recognition. John Adams is recognized._) + +JOHN ADAMS. Mr. President:--I move that a committee of five be selected +by ballot to draft a Declaration representing the views of these united +colonies. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Mr. President:--I second the motion. + +JOHN HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--The motion has +been made and seconded that a committee of five be selected by ballot to +draft a proper Declaration representing the views of these united +colonies. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? (_Calls for +the question._) + +As many as favor this motion make it known by saying "aye" (_ayes +respond_); contrary, "no" (_noes respond_). The ayes seem to have it, +the ayes have it, and the motion is carried. + +Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, I shall appoint Benjamin Rush of +Pennsylvania, Samuel Chase of Maryland, and Edward Rutledge of South +Carolina as tellers for this election and they will wait upon you for +your ballots for the committee. Please write the names of the five men +whom you wish to serve on this committee, on your ballot and deposit the +same in the hat when passed. + + (_Ballots are gathered by the tellers who report the result to the + president of the Congress._) + +Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--By your ballots you have +selected the following persons as the committee of five to draft the +Declaration as already ordered--Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams +of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of +Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of New York. Gentlemen, what is +your further pleasure? + +SAMUEL ADAMS. Mr. President:--I move that the Congress do now take a +recess until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock to give the committee just +appointed time in which to prepare the Declaration ordered. + +JOSEPH HEWES. Mr. President:--I second the motion which Mr. Adams has +offered. + +JOHN HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Congress:--It has been moved and seconded +that this Congress take a recess until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock +in order to give the committee just appointed time in which to prepare a +proper Declaration. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? +(_Calls for question._) + +As many as favor the motion make it known by saying "aye" (_ayes +respond_); contrary, "no" (_noes respond_). The ayes seem to have it, +the ayes have it, and this Congress will take a recess until to-morrow +morning at 10 o'clock. + +CURTAIN + + + + +ACT II. + + +SCENE I.--_Meeting of the Committee of Five. Livingston absent._ + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Gentlemen of the Committee, I move that Thomas +Jefferson and John Adams be appointed as a sub-committee of this +Committee of Five to draft the Declaration ordered by the Continental +Congress. + +ROGER SHERMAN. I second the motion. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Gentlemen, you have heard the motion. As many as +favor the same make it known by saying "aye." + + (_Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams are silent while Mr. Sherman and Mr. + Franklin vote aye._) + +The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and Mr. Jefferson and Mr. +Adams are elected. + +JOHN ADAMS. Gentlemen, it seems to me you have taken snap judgment on +Mr. Jefferson and myself. + +THOMAS JEFFERSON. Yes, gentlemen, you have. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. The committee has so ordered and as Congress itself +gave Mr. Jefferson the highest number of votes and Mr. Adams the next +highest number in the selection of this committee, I am sure that +Congress will be highly pleased at our having selected you for this +great work. We also feel that we should congratulate ourselves upon the +choice we have made. + +JOHN ADAMS. Thank you, gentlemen, for the compliment. + +THOMAS JEFFERSON. I join Mr. Adams in thanking you, gentlemen, for the +confidence you have in us. + +ROGER SHERMAN. Gentlemen of the committee, I move that we take a recess +until to-night so as to give the sub-committee time to prepare the +Declaration. + +MR. ADAMS. I second the motion. + +MR. FRANKLIN. As many as favor the motion make it known by saying "aye" +(_ayes respond_). The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and the +committee will take a recess until eight o'clock to-night. + + (_Mr. Franklin and Mr. Sherman leave Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson to + themselves to deliberate over the Declaration._) + +MR. JEFFERSON. Mr. Adams, I suggest that you make the draft of this +Declaration. + +MR. ADAMS. I will not! + +MR. JEFFERSON. [4]You should do it. + +MR. ADAMS. Oh, no! + +MR. JEFFERSON. Why will you not? You ought to do it. + +MR. ADAMS. I will not! + +MR. JEFFERSON. Why? + +MR. ADAMS. Reasons enough. + +MR. JEFFERSON. What can be your reasons? + +MR. ADAMS. Reason first, you are a Virginian and a Virginian ought to +appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, +suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you +can write ten times better than I can. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Well, if you are decided, I will do the best I can. + +MR. ADAMS. Very well, when you have drawn it up we will have a meeting. + + (_Exeunt Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson._) + + +SCENE II.--_Washington's Address to his Army. Washington and his army[5] +in camp on Long Island._ + +The time is now near at hand, which must probably determine whether +Americans are to be freemen or slaves, whether their houses and farms +are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves to be consigned to a +state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The +fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and +the conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only +the choice of a brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have, +therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die. + +Our own, our country's honor, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly +exertion. If we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the +whole world. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we +shall have their blessings and praises if happily we are the instruments +of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us, +therefore, animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world +that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to +any slavish mercenary on earth. + +Liberty, property, life, and honor are all at stake. Upon your courage +and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country. Our +wives, children, and parents expect safety from us only; and they have +every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a +cause. + +The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by show and appearance; but +remember that they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few +brave Americans. Their cause is bad--their men are conscious of it. If +they are opposed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with +our advantage of works and knowledge of the ground, the victory is most +assuredly ours. + + +SCENE III.--TABLEAU--"_The Spirit of '76._" + + As soon as the sound of battle has died away following the + departure of Washington and his army, put on the tableau of "The + Spirit of '76." The fifer, the drummer, and the little boy should + be good musicians playing patriotic music of the Revolution. Their + wounded and ragged comrades are seen in the background. + + +SCENE IV.--_Mr. Jefferson seated at his desk and putting on the +finishing touches to his original draft of the Declaration of +Independence. Enter Mr. Adams._ + +MR. ADAMS. Good evening, Mr. Jefferson. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Good evening, Mr. Adams. + +MR. ADAMS. Well, have you the Declaration finished? + +MR. JEFFERSON. Mr. Adams, I have done the best I could but I am not very +well satisfied with what I have written. I wish you would look it over +and make such corrections and criticisms as your judgment deems proper. + +MR. ADAMS (_studying the Declaration_). Mr. Jefferson, I am delighted +with your production. Your statements relative to the inalienable rights +of men are unanswerable and to secure these rights, governments _must_ +be instituted among men, _deriving_ their _just powers from_ the +_consent_ of the _governed_. This paragraph concerning negro slavery +meets with my approval but I fear it will not meet with the approval of +some of the Southern delegates. I congratulate you, Mr. Jefferson, on +what you have done. This document will make you immortal. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Thank you, Mr. Adams, I fear you are too extravagant in +your praise of my work. + + (_Enter Mr. Franklin and Mr. Sherman._) + +MR. FRANKLIN. Well, gentlemen, have you completed the draft for the +Declaration? + +MR. ADAMS. Mr. Jefferson has finished it. It is all his work. I have +reviewed the paper very hurriedly but in my opinion it is one of the +greatest documents ever written by man. Look it over, gentlemen, and let +us hear your opinion of it. + +MR. FRANKLIN (_studying the Declaration_). Mr. Jefferson, I congratulate +you, sir. Your declaration on the inalienable rights of men is well +stated. I agree with you that governments _derive_ their _just powers +from_ the _consent_ of the _governed_. I like that paragraph on slavery +but I believe that some of the Southern delegates will oppose it. This +is a paper of which you should be proud, Mr. Jefferson. I congratulate +you, sir. Here, Mr. Sherman, let us have your views on this Declaration. + +MR. SHERMAN (_studying the Declaration_). You have covered all our +grievances in the twenty-seven distinct charges you have made against +the present king of Great Britain. We can well afford to submit these +facts to a candid world. That paragraph on slavery, Mr. Jefferson, meets +with my approval heartily, but I fear some of the Southern delegates +will oppose it strongly. We can certainly appeal to the Supreme Judge of +the world for the rectitude of our intentions. I believe with you that +divine Providence will support us in making this Declaration good. +Therefore, I am willing to stand with you in pledging our lives, our +fortunes, and our sacred honor to this end. I do not see how I could +make any suggestions that would improve it. Mr. Jefferson, I +congratulate you on the great work you have done in this paper for our +country and for humanity. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Gentlemen, I thank you all most heartily and sincerely +for the compliments you have paid me on this paper, but I am no orator +myself, especially for such an occasion as this; therefore, I should +like to have Mr. Adams report this Declaration to the Continental +Congress, move its adoption for me, and lead in the debates in favor of +it. + +MR. FRANKLIN. Gentlemen:--I move that Mr. Adams be requested to report +this Declaration to the Congress as desired by Mr. Jefferson. + +MR. SHERMAN. I second the motion. + +MR. FRANKLIN. Gentlemen, you have heard the motion. As many as favor the +same make it known by saying "aye." (_Response of ayes; Mr. Adams is +silent_.) The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and the motion is +carried for Mr. Adams to so report this Declaration. The committee is +adjourned. + +CURTAIN + + + + +ACT III. + + +SCENE I.--_The Continental Congress again in session._ + +MR. HANCOCK. (_Looking at his watch, as he calls the Congress to +order._) Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--The time has come to +which we adjourned yesterday in order to give the Committee of Five, +appointed to draft the Declaration, due time to prepare the same. Are +the gentlemen of the Committee present and ready to report? + +MR. ADAMS. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--At +the request of Mr. Jefferson and the other members of the Committee, I +beg leave to submit the following Declaration for your consideration +after it has been read by the secretary of this Congress. Permit me to +say here, however, that the credit for the authorship of this paper +belongs entirely to Mr. Jefferson. It is his work, which the other +members of the Committee are unanimous in approving. + + (_Charles Thomson, secretary of the Congress, reads the Declaration + of Independence. This part should be assigned to one who has a good + clear voice and is a good public reader. If it is thought best not + to read all of the Declaration, its most striking paragraphs should + be read. Do not forget to have the famous paragraph on slavery + read. If it were omitted the great speech of George Walton would be + out of place._) + +JOHN ADAMS.[6] Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand +and my heart to this vote in favor of this Declaration of Independence. +It is true, indeed, that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. +But there's a divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England +has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, +she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our +grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, +should we defer the Declaration? + +Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, +which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or +safety to his own life and his own honor? Are not you,[7] sir, who sit +in that chair, is not he,[8] our venerable colleague near you, are you +not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment +and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, +what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws? If we +postpone independence do we mean to carry on, or to give up the war? Do +we mean to submit to the measures of Parliament, Boston Port Bill and +all? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground +to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I +know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do we intend to +violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that +plighting, before God, of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting +him forth to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards +of the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, with our +fortunes and our lives? I know there is not a man here who would not +rather see a general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake +sink it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the +ground. For myself, having twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, +that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or +to be raised, for defense of American liberty, may my right hand forget +her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate +or waver in the support I give him. + + (_At the close of Mr. Adams' speech there is loud clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes Edward Rutledge of South + Carolina, who speaks against the Declaration._) + +EDWARD RUTLEDGE. [9]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--Let us pause! This step, once taken, cannot be retraced. This +resolution, once passed, will cut off all hope of reconciliation. If +success attend the arms of England, we shall then be no longer colonies, +with charters, and with privileges. These will all be forfeited by this +act; and we shall be in the condition of other conquered people--at the +mercy of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run the +hazard; but are we ready to carry the country to that length? Is success +so probable as to justify it? Where is the military, where the naval +power, by which we are to resist the whole strength of the arm of +England? For she will exert that strength to the utmost. Can we rely on +the constancy and perseverance of the people?--or will they not act as +the people of other countries have acted, and, wearied with a long war, +submit in the end, to a worse oppression? While we stand on our old +ground, and insist on redress of grievances, we know we are right, and +are not answerable for consequences. Nothing, then, can be imputable to +us. + + (_At the close of Mr. Rutledge's speech there is a clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes Roger Sherman of + Connecticut._) + +ROGER SHERMAN. [10]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--The war must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war +must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence? That +measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The +nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we +acknowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I +maintain that England herself will sooner treat for peace with us on +the footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to +acknowledge that her whole conduct toward us has been a course of +injustice and oppression. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting +to the course of things which now predestinates our independence, than +by yielding the points in controversy to her rebellious subjects. The +former she will regard as the result of fortune; the latter she would +feel as her own deep disgrace. Why, then, why, then, sir, do we not as +soon as possible change this from a civil to a national war? And since +we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all +the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? + +If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause +will raise up armies; the cause will create navies. The people, the +people, if we are true to them will carry us, and will carry themselves, +gloriously through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people +have been found. I know the people of these colonies, and I know that +resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, +and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its +willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the Declaration +will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and +bloody war for the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, +for chartered immunities, held under a British king, set before them the +glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them +anew the breath of life. Read this Declaration at the head of the army; +every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered +to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the +pulpit, religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will +cling around it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to +the public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who heard the +first roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers +and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill and in the streets of +Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. + + (_At the close of Mr. Sherman's speech there is a loud clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes John Dickinson of + Pennsylvania._) + +JOHN DICKINSON. [11]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--If we now change our object, carry our pretensions farther, +and set up for absolute independence, we shall lose the sympathy of +mankind. We shall no longer be defending what we possess, but struggling +for something which we never did possess, and which we have solemnly and +uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursuing, from the very outset of +the troubles. Abandoning thus our old ground of resistance only to +arbitrary acts of oppression, the nations will believe the whole to have +been mere pretense, and they will look on us, not as injured, but as +ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsibility. It will be +upon us, it will be upon us, if, relinquishing the ground we have stood +upon so long, and stood so safely, we now proclaim independence, and +carry on the war for that object, while these cities burn, these +pleasant fields whiten and bleach with the bones of their owners, and +these streams run blood. It will be upon us, it will be upon us, if +failing to maintain this unseasonable and ill-judged Declaration, a +sterner despotism, maintained by military power, shall be established +over our posterity, when we ourselves, given up by an exhausted, a +harassed, a misled people, shall have expiated our rashness and atoned +for our presumption on the scaffold. + +[Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN] + + (_At the close of Mr. Dickinson's speech there is a loud clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes Benjamin Franklin of + Pennsylvania._) + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. [12]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see +clearly, through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We +may not live to the time when this Declaration shall be made good. We +may die; die colonists; die slaves; die, it may be ignominiously and on +the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that +my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall +be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. +But while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a +country, and that a free country. + +But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that this +Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but +it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick +gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future as the sun in +heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in +our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with +thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its +annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of +subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of +gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour has come. My +whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I +hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off +as Mr. Adams of Massachusetts began, that, sink or swim, live or die, +survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, +and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, independence +_now, and_ INDEPENDENCE FOREVER! + + (_There is a loud clamor for recognition, and the president + recognizes George Walton of Georgia._) + +GEORGE WALTON. [13]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--I am for this Declaration if the paragraph on slavery is +struck out. But I will oppose it to the end if that paragraph is +permitted to remain a part of it. There is not one good reason for +introducing the slavery question at this time. The relations between +individual master and slave have no place here in the greater and graver +matter of differences between the British Government and the American +Colonies. But since the issue is thrust upon us, I propose to meet it +squarely and fearlessly. + +Mr. President and gentlemen, you cannot make equal what God Almighty has +made unequal. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his +spots? The Bible commands in the most emphatic language that servants +obey in all things their masters. Liberty loving Greece had her slaves. +Shall liberty loving America have less? Strike out that obnoxious +paragraph and every delegate from the Southern colonies will fall in +line for the Declaration of Independence, but if you make that paragraph +a part of the Declaration many delegates from the South will withdraw +from this convention, and then you will fight your own battles. + +This paragraph on slavery is founded upon ideas fundamentally wrong. +These ideas rest upon the assumption of the equality of the races. This +is an error. It is a sandy foundation and a government founded upon it +will fall when the storms come and the winds blow. + +Let us found our new government upon the great truth that the negro is +not the equal of the white man, that slavery--subordination to the +superior race--is his natural and normal condition. This truth has been +slow in the process of its development, like all other great truths in +the various departments of science. + +Many governments have been founded upon the principle of the +subordination and serfdom of certain classes of the _same_ race; such +were and are in violation of the laws of nature. With us, _all_ the +_white_ race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of +the law. Not so with the negro; subordination is his place. He, by +nature or by the curse of Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he +now occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of a +building, lays the foundation with proper material--the granite; then +comes the brick or the marble. The substratum of our society is made of +the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it +is best not only for the superior race, but for the inferior race, that +it should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the laws of the +Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His plans, or to +question them. For His own good purposes He has made one race to differ +from another, as He has made "one star to differ from another star in +glory." + +Therefore, I declare again that you cannot make equal what God Almighty +has made unequal. He has made the negro and the white man unequal. You +cannot make them equal. And I move that the paragraph on slavery be +struck out. I have measured my words, gentlemen. The responsibility is +yours. + + (_At the close of Mr. Walton's speech there is a loud clamor for + recognition, and the chair recognizes Samuel Adams._) + +SAMUEL ADAMS. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--While I have no personal +objections against this paragraph on slavery--for personally I favor +it--yet from the standpoint of the general welfare of the colonies, I +deem it unwise at this time to take any action either for or against the +question of slavery. Therefore I second the motion of Mr. Walton to +strike out the paragraph on slavery. + +MR. HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--It has been duly +moved and seconded that the paragraph in this Declaration on slavery be +struck out. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? + +WILLIAM HOOPER. Mr. President, before voting on this motion, I wish to +have the paragraph on slavery read again. + + (_This request is seconded by many of the delegates._) + +MR. HANCOCK. The secretary will read the paragraph on slavery again. + + (_The secretary reads the paragraph on slavery as follows:_) + +He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most +sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who +never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in +another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation +thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is +the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. Determined to keep +open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted +his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to +restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors +might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very +people to rise in arms among us and to purchase that liberty of which he +has deprived them by murdering the people upon whom he obtruded them: +thus paying off, former crimes committed against the _liberties_ of one +people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the _lives_ of +another. + + (_After the reading of this paragraph the delegates call for a vote + on Mr. Walton's motion._) + +MR. HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Congress, a vote is called for on Mr. +Walton's motion to strike out the paragraph on slavery. As many as are +in favor of this motion make it known by saying "aye" (_a strong aye +vote_); as many as are opposed to the motion make it known by responding +"no" (_a light vote of noes_). The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have +it, and the paragraph on slavery is struck out. Gentlemen, what is your +further pleasure? + + (_A loud clamor for recognition, the chair recognizing Joseph Hewes + of North Carolina._) + +JOSEPH HEWES. [14]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as +well as the abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have opposed +this Declaration in these debates. But different men often see the same +subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be +thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining, as I do, +opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my +sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The +question before the house is one of awful moment to this country. For my +own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or +slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be +the freedom of debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive +at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and +our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear +of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward +my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, +which I revere above all earthly kings. + +Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of +hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to +the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the +part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? +Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who, having eyes, see +not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their +temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, +I am willing to know the truth; to know the worst, and to provide for +it. + +I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of +experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. +And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the +conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those +hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and +the house? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been +lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. +Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how +this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike +preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and +armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown +ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to +win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the +implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings +resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its +purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other +possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of +the world, that calls for all this accumulation of navies and armies? +No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no +other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains, which +the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to +oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for +the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? +Nothing! We have held the subject up in every light of which it is +capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and +humble supplication? What terms shall we find, which have not been +already exhausted? Let us not. I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves +longer. + + (_A loud clamor for recognition. The chair recognizes Robert Morris + of Pennsylvania._) + +ROBERT MORRIS. [15]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--I am opposed to war first, last, and all the time. It is a +relic of barbarism. I believe in the gospel of peace on earth, good will +toward men. It would be better to settle our differences with England +even by flipping a coin than by fighting and killing one another. Let us +hearken unto the voice of God as it comes ringing down the centuries +from Mount Sinai, "Thou shalt not kill." Shall this new government start +out as the Cain among the nations of earth with the blood of our +brethren upon our hands? God forbid that we make ourselves so foolish +and so reckless as this! The history of trial by battle is the history +of folly and wickedness. As we revert to those early periods in the +history of the human race in which it prevailed, our minds are shocked +at the barbarism which we behold; we are horror stricken at the awful +subjection of justice to brute force. + +Who told you, fond man! to regard that as glory when performed by a +nation, which is condemned as a crime and a barbarism, when committed by +an individual? In what vain conceit of wisdom and virtue do you find +this degrading morality? Where is it declared that God, who is no +respecter of persons, is a respecter of multitudes? Whence do you draw +these partial laws of a powerful and impartial God? Man is immortal; but +states are mortal. Man has a higher destiny than states. Shall states be +less amenable to the great moral laws of God than man? Each individual +is an atom of the mass. Must not the mass be like individuals of which +it is composed? Shall the mass do what the individual may not do? No! A +thousand times _NO_! The same laws which govern individuals govern +masses, as the same laws in nature prevail over large and small things, +controlling the fall of an apple and the orbits of the planets. + +And who is this god of battles that some of you men believe in with so +much faith? It is Mars--man-slaying, blood-polluted, city-smiting, Mars! +Him we cannot adore. It is not he who causes the sun to shine on the +just and the unjust. It is not he who tempers the wind to the shorn +lamb. It is not he who distills the oil of gladness in every upright +heart. It is not he who fills the fountain of mercy and goodness. He is +not the God of love and justice. The god of battles is not the God of +Christians; to him can ascend no prayer of Christian thanksgiving; for +him no words of worship in Christian temples, no swelling anthem to peal +the note of praise. + +Let us cease, then, to look for a lamp to our feet in the feeble tapers +that glimmer in the sepulchers of the past. Rather let us hail those +ever-burning lights above in whose beams is the brightness of the +noon-day. As the cedars of Lebanon are higher than the grass of the +valley, as the heavens are higher than the earth, as man is higher than +the beasts of the field, as the angels are higher than man, as he that +ruleth his spirit is higher than he that taketh a city; so are the +virtues and glories and victories of peace higher than the virtues and +victories of war. + +To this great work of world-wide peace let me summon you. Believe that +you can do it, and you can do it. Blessed are the peace-makers for they +are the children of God. + + (_Loud clamor for recognition, the chair recognizing Patrick Henry + of Virginia._) + +PATRICK HENRY. [16]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--We have done everything that could be done, to avert the +storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; +we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, +and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of +the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our +remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our +supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with +contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may +we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer +any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve +inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long +contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which +we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never +to abandon, until the glorious object of our contest shall be +obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to +arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us. + +They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable +an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, +or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a +British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather +strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of +effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the +delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and +foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make proper use of those means which +the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, +armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which +we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against +us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just +God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up +friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the +strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, +sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now +too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in +submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be +heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable--and let it come! I +repeat it, sir, let it come. + +It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, +peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale, +that sweeps from the north, will bring to our ears the clash of +resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we +here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life +so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains +and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may +take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! + + (_At the close of Mr. Henry's speech there are loud calls for a + vote upon the question. President Hancock orders the secretary to + call the roll of colonies in geographic order beginning with New + Hampshire._) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. New Hampshire! + +Josiah Bartlett. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--New Hampshire is +represented in the Congress by three delegates. Her people have appealed +to us and have instructed us to work for and vote for Independence. I +believe everybody knows more than any body. I consider it a signal +honor, sir, and it is the happiest hour of my life, to lead in this roll +call in favor of this Declaration. New Hampshire votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for New Hampshire."_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Massachusetts! + +SAMUEL ADAMS. Mr. President:--The king of England has set a price upon +your head and mine. If this Declaration is not made good by the people +of these colonies you and I will be shot, hanged by the neck till dead, +or burned at the stake as traitors. If we fail, my only regret will be +that I have but one life to give for my country. But with faith in the +people and in God to carry our cause through to a glorious victory, the +delegates from Massachusetts stand as one man for Independence. +Massachusetts, therefore, votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Massachusetts, and long live Samuel + Adams and John Hancock. Down with the tyrant king of England!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Rhode Island! + +STEPHEN HOPKINS. Mr. President:--Rhode Island is a small colony. She is +represented in this Congress by only two delegates. But all that we are +and all we hope to be we are ready here and now to give for +Independence. Rhode Island votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for brave Rhode Island, Stephen Hopkins, + and William Ellery."_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Connecticut! + +ROGER SHERMAN. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--I have already addressed +you at some length in favor of this Declaration. It becomes my happy +duty now to cast the unanimous vote of the four delegates from +Connecticut for independence. Connecticut votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Long live Roger Sherman! Three cheers for + Connecticut."_) + +_Secretary Thomson._ New York! + +WILLIAM FLOYD. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--The instructions against +independence for the delegates from New York have never been recalled. +We, therefore, request the privilege to refrain from voting on this +question. We regret the situation, gentlemen! + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. New York is excused from voting on this question. + +SECRETARY THOMSON. New Jersey! + +RICHARD STOCKTON. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--I am happy to say that +New Jersey has given her five delegates in this Congress instructions to +vote for independence. New Jersey, therefore, votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for New Jersey."_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Pennsylvania! + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--From the beginning of +this Congress the delegates from Pennsylvania have labored under +instructions against independence. But during the past three months the +friends of independence in this commonwealth have worked in season and +out of season to have these instructions canceled and permission given +us to vote for independence. At a mass meeting in Philadelphia on June +18, presided over by that distinguished and influential radical, Colonel +Daniel Roberdeau, and attended by over 7,000 citizens from all sections +of the state, a public sentiment was created and started that resulted +in the overthrow of the old government of the aristocrats of the old +Assembly and then established a new government of the people under the +authority of the Conference of Committees which has given the delegates +from Pennsylvania instructions to vote for independence. Two of our +delegates, John Dickinson and Robert Morris, have retired from this +Congress considering such instructions a recall of their membership in +this body. Two other delegates from Pennsylvania, Charles Humphreys and +William Williams, question the authority of the Conference of Committees +and hold that the instructions of the old defunct Assembly are still +binding upon them. They vote against independence. But James Wilson who +has been opposed to Independence bows to the will of the people and +joins John Morton and myself in voting for Independence. Under the rule +of this Congress made in its beginning session that a majority of the +delegates from each colony, present and voting determines its vote upon +such a question as this, Pennsylvania casts two votes against +independence and three votes for independence and therefore votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Pennsylvania! Long live Benjamin + Franklin, John Morton, and James Wilson!"_) + + (_Immediately following the applause for Franklin, Caesar Rodney, a + delegate from Delaware, makes his appearance just in time to vote. + He has come eighty miles on horseback and has not had time to + change his boots and spurs and still carries a riding whip. He is + given a great ovation._) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Delaware! + +THOMAS McKEAN. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Until this moment the vote +for Delaware has been in doubt. George Read, my colleague, will vote +against independence. But thank God the timely arrival of Caesar Rodney +who joins me in voting for independence, places Delaware on the right +side of this question. To make sure of this I sent an express rider at +my own expense to Dover, Delaware, for Mr. Rodney. He has come eighty +miles on horseback at post-haste. He has not had time to change his +riding attire, but he is here in time to join me in voting for +independence. Posterity will erect a monument in his honor[17] as they +will to that other famous revolutionary rider--Paul Revere. Mr. +President, under the rule as stated by Mr. Franklin governing the votes +of colonies in this Congress, Delaware votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Hurrah for Delaware! Long live Thomas McKean and + Caesar Rodney!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Maryland! + +SAMUEL CHASE. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Maryland has passed through +a similar struggle to that in Pennsylvania as described by Mr. Franklin. +An appeal has been made to every county committee and one after another +they have directed their representatives in the state convention to vote +for new instructions to the delegates in this Congress. At last the old +instructions against independence have been canceled and new +instructions given us in an unanimous resolve to vote for independence. +See the glorious effect of county instructions! Our people have fire if +not smothered. And, therefore, Maryland votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Maryland and Samuel Chase!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Virginia! + +BENJAMIN HARRISON. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Virginia is here with a +solid delegation for independence. Our battle cry has been so well +stated by Mr. Henry that we need but to repeat it now--Liberty or Death! +Virginia votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Virginia! Long live Richard Henry + Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. North Carolina! + +JOSEPH HEWES. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--We have had a hard struggle +in North Carolina between aristocracy on one hand and democracy on the +other. But at last the people have won and North Carolina votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for North Carolina!_") + +[Illustration: From the painting by Trumbull + +THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS] + +SECRETARY THOMSON. South Carolina! + +EDWARD RUTLEDGE. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--When Richard Henry Lee's +resolution declaring for independence was first introduced I was opposed +to its adoption _at that time_. I feared that the people of my colony +were not then ready for it. I thought also that for the general welfare +of all the colonies it was then too early to declare for independence. +The contest in South Carolina for independence has been as bitter among +her own people as it has been in any of the other colonies. But opinions +alter and conditions change with the passing of time. Therefore, South +Carolina now has a solid delegation here ready to walk through the fiery +furnace of war, though it be seventy times heated, to make this +Declaration good. South Carolina votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for South Carolina and Edward + Rutledge!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Georgia! + +LYMAN HALL. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Georgia is here with three +delegates who stand as one man for independence. Though last on the roll +of states on this question she will be among the first in her efforts +for American independence. Georgia votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Georgia!"_) + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--Twelve of the +thirteen colonies having voted for the Declaration of Independence, and +with no colony going on record against it, I consider our action +unanimous for I am confident that the New York Assembly[18] will give +her delegation instructions to sign this document in the near future. + +JOHN ADAMS. Mr. President, I move that this Congress do now adjourn. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Mr. President, I second the motion. + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, it has been +moved by Mr. Adams of Massachusetts and seconded by Mr. Franklin of +Pennsylvania that we do now adjourn. As many as favor this motion make +known by saying _aye_. + + (_Unanimous response of ayes._) + +The motion to adjourn has been carried unanimously and this Congress is +therefore adjourned. + + +SCENE II.--_The Spirit of 76._ + +Here repeat the Tableau of the Spirit of Seventy-six. + + + + +ACT IV. + + +SCENE I.--_Washington's Resignation. (A special session of the +Continental Congress to receive the Resignation of Washington.)_ + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--Eight years +ago we made General George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the armies +raised and to be raised for American Independence. Through seven long +years of war, against overwhelming odds, in which brave men did brave +deeds, the rich man gave his wealth and the poor man gave his life, +baptizing their country's soil with their own blood from Bunker Hill to +Yorktown, the brave soldiers under General Washington fought on until an +army of veteran soldiers surrendered to a band of insurgent husbandmen. +The American nation has been born. Its independence has been recognized +by Great Britain and the civilized world. Peace has come! And General +Washington desires to surrender his commission to the Congress that +elected him to this position. He is in waiting to do this. I therefore +appoint John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, +Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Samuel Chase of Maryland, Patrick Henry of +Virginia, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, and Lyman Hall of Georgia, +as an honorary committee to escort General Washington before this +Congress, to receive his resignation. + + (_General Washington is escorted before Congress and makes the + following address:_) + +_Mr. President:_--The great events on which my resignation depended, +having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my +sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before +them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to +claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. + +Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and +pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a +respectable nation, I resign, with satisfaction, the appointment I +accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so +arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the +rectitude of our cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, +and the patronage of Heaven. + +The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine +expectations; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and +the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases with every +review of the momentous contest. + +While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should do +injustice to my own feelings, not to acknowledge, in this place, the +peculiar services and distinguished merits of the persons who have been +attached to my person during the war. It was impossible the choice of +confidential officers to compose my family could have been more +fortunate. Permit me sir, to recommend in particular those who have +continued in the service to the present moment as worthy of the +favorable notice and patronage of Congress. + +I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of +my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to +the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence +of them to his holy keeping. + +Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great +theater of action; and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august +body, under whose orders I have long acted, I here offer my commission, +and take my leave of all the employments of public life. + + (_The Continental Congress, standing and shouting in concert, "Long + live General George Washington! First in war! First in peace! And + First in the hearts of his countrymen!"_) + +CURTAIN + + +Footnotes: + +[1] In small schools where there are not enough large boys to represent +all the characters, those who represent members of the Continental +Congress can become members of Washington's army, etc., for the other +scenes. + +[2] This speech is adapted from Paine's "Separation of Britain and +America." + +[3] Adapted from Wirt's supposed speech of Lee. + +[4] This dialogue between Adams and Jefferson is taken from Adams's +letter to Timothy Pickering. + +[5] If this is properly staged it will be very effective. National Guard +members will be glad to take part as members of Washington's army, with +their tents and uniforms and arms, if there are no school cadets to play +this part. The bugler sounds the call to arms. The soldiers fall into +line ready for the fight. Just before marching orders are given, +Washington delivers the following address, after which the curtain goes +down on this scene and the sound of battle is heard in the distance. + +[6] This is a part of Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams." + +[7] John Hancock. + +[8] Samuel Adams. + +[9] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of Opposition to Independence." + +[10] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams." + +[11] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of Opposition to Independence." + +[12] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams." + +[13] Adapted from the "Corner Stone" speech of Alexander H. Stephens, +and arranged by William R. Hood, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. + +[14] From Wirt's "Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry." + +[15] Robert Morris later signed the Declaration of Independence and +through his influence the American Revolution was financed. This speech +is adapted from Sumner's "True Grandeur of Nations" and other sources. + +[16] From Wirt's "Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry." + +[17] A monument was recently erected at Dover in his honor. + +[18] On July 9, 1776, New York instructed her delegates to sign. + + + + +AMERICAN PATRIOTISM + +[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON] + + + + +WHAT IS PATRIOTISM + + +Johnson defines a patriot as one whose ruling passion is the love of his +country, and patriotism as love and zeal for one's country. Curtis tells +us that Lowell's pursuit was literature, but patriotism was his passion. +"His love of country was that of a lover for his mistress. He resented +the least imputation upon the ideal America, and nothing was finer than +his instinctive scorn for the pinchbeck patriotism which brags and +boasts and swaggers, insisting that bigness is greatness and vulgarity +simplicity, and the will of a majority the moral law." + +While some of us cannot make Lowell's pursuit our pursuit, we all can +and should make his passion our passion. Let us all, the native born as +well as the naturalized, say, deep down in our hearts with a patriotism +and a courage that will back it up and make it good, "Our Country--right +or wrong; if she is wrong we will set her right; if she is right we will +keep her right; and so let us trust in God and believe she is right." + +Times like these demand men. Let American boys be taught in the home and +in the school and by the example of their fathers to be men among men. + + "Men whom the lust of office will not kill, + Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy, + Men who possess opinions and a will, + Men who have honor and will not lie; + Men who can stand before the demagogue + And down his treacherous flattering without winking, + Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog + In public duty and in private thinking!"[1] + +Times like these demand women! Let American girls be taught in the home +and in the school and by the example of their mothers to be women among +women. + + "Be women! on to duty! + Raise the world from all that's low; + Place high in the social heaven + Virtue's fair and radiant bow; + Lend thy influence to each effort + That shall raise our nature human; + Be not fashion's gilded ladies,-- + Be brave, whole-souled, true women!"[2] + +To help to make such men and women of all American boys and +girls--Americans in _deeds_ as well as in _words_--Americans, who +knowing their rights, dare maintain them "_without compromise and at any +cost_"--this is the purpose of the following selections. + +Jasper L. McBrien. + + + + +AMERICA FOR ME[3] + + +'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down +Among the famous palaces and cities of renown, +To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings-- +But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things. + + _So it's home again, and home again, America for me! + My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be, + In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars, + Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars._ + +Oh! London is a man's town, there's power in the air; +And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair; +And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome; +But when it comes to living, there is no place like home. + +I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled; +I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled; +But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day +In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way! + +I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack: +The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back. +But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free-- +We love our land for what she is and what she is to be. + + _Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me! + I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea, + To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars, + Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars._ + +Henry van Dyke + + + + +AMERICA FIRST + + The following address was delivered by President Wilson at the + celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Daughters of the + American Revolution, Washington, D. C., October 11th, 1915. It is + given here by special permission of the president. + + +MADAM PRESIDENT AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--Again it is my very great +privilege to welcome you to the city of Washington and to the +hospitalities of the Capital. May I admit a point of ignorance? I was +surprised to learn that this association is so young, and that an +association so young should devote itself wholly to memory I cannot +believe. For to me the duties to which you are consecrated are more than +the duties and the pride of memory. + +There is a very great thrill to be had from the memories of the American +Revolution, but the American Revolution was a beginning, not a +consummation, and the duty laid upon us by that beginning is the duty of +bringing the things then begun to a noble triumph of completion. For it +seems to me that the peculiarity of patriotism in America is that it is +not a mere sentiment. It is an active principle of conduct. It is +something that was born into the world, not to please it but to +regenerate it. It is something that was born into the world to replace +systems that had preceded it and to bring men out upon a new plane of +privilege. The glory of the men whose memories you honor and perpetuate +is that they saw this vision, and it was a vision of the future. It was +a vision of great days to come when a little handful of three million +people upon the borders of a single sea should have become a great +multitude of free men and women spreading across a great continent, +dominating the shores of two oceans, and sending West as well as East +the influences of individual freedom. These things were consciously in +their minds as they framed the great Government which was born out of +the American Revolution; and every time we gather to perpetuate their +memories it is incumbent upon us that we should be worthy of recalling +them and that we should endeavor by every means in our power to emulate +their example. + +The American Revolution was the birth of a nation; it was the creation +of a great free republic based upon traditions of personal liberty which +theretofore had been confined to a single little island, but which it +was purposed should spread to all mankind. And the singular fascination +of American history is that it has been a process of constant +re-creation, of making over again in each generation the thing which was +conceived at first. You know how peculiarly necessary that has been in +our case, because America has not grown by the mere multiplication of +the original stock. It is easy to preserve tradition with continuity of +blood; it is easy in a single family to remember the origins of the race +and the purposes of its organization; but it is not so easy when that +race is constantly being renewed and augmented from other sources, from +stocks that did not carry or originate the same principles. + +So from generation to generation strangers have had to be indoctrinated +with the principles of the American family, and the wonder and the +beauty of it all has been that the infection has been so generously +easy. For the principles of liberty are united with the principles of +hope. Every individual, as well as every nation, wishes to realize the +best thing that is in him, the best thing that can be conceived out of +the materials of which his spirit is constructed. It has happened in a +way that fascinates the imagination that we have not only been augmented +by additions from outside, but that we have been greatly stimulated by +those additions. Living in the easy prosperity of a free people, knowing +that the sun had always been free to shine upon us and prosper our +undertakings, we did not realize how hard the task of liberty is and how +rare the privilege of liberty is; but men were drawn out of every +climate and out of every race because of an irresistible attraction of +their spirits to the American ideal. They thought of America as lifting, +like that great statue in the harbor of New York, a torch to light the +pathway of men to the things that they desire, and men of all sorts and +conditions struggled toward that light and came to our shores with an +eager desire to realize it, and a hunger for it such as some of us no +longer felt, for we were as if satiated and satisfied and were indulging +ourselves after a fashion that did not belong to the ascetic devotion of +the early devotees of those great principles. Strangers came to remind +us of what we had promised ourselves and through ourselves had promised +mankind. All men came to us and said, "Where is the bread of life with +which you promised to feed us, and have you partaken of it yourselves?" +For my part, I believe that the constant renewal of this people out of +foreign stocks has been a constant source of reminder to this people of +what the inducement was that was offered to men who would come and be of +our number. + +Now we have come to a time of special stress and test. There never was +time when we needed more clearly to conserve the principles of our own +patriotism than this present time. The rest of the world from which our +polities were drawn seems for the time in the crucible and no man can +predict what will come out of that crucible. We stand apart, +unembroiled, conscious of our own principles, conscious of what we hope +and purpose, so far as our powers permit, for the world at large, and it +is necessary that we should consolidate the American principle. Every +political action, every social action, should have for its object in +America at this time to challenge the spirit of America; to ask that +every man and woman who thinks first of America should rally to the +standards of our life. There have been some among us who have not +thought first of America, who have thought to use the might of America +in some matter not of America's origination. They have forgotten that +the first duty of a nation is to express its own individual principles +in the action of the family of nations and not to seek to aid and abet +any rival or contrary ideal. Neutrality is a negative word. It is a word +that does not express what America ought to feel. America has a heart +and that heart throbs with all sorts of intense sympathies, but America +has schooled its heart to love the things that America believes in and +it ought to devote itself only to the things that America believes in; +and, believing that America stands apart in its ideals, it ought not to +allow itself to be drawn, so far as its heart is concerned, into +anybody's quarrel. Not because it does not understand the quarrel, not +because it does not in its head assess the merits of the controversy, +but because America has promised the world to stand apart and maintain +certain principles of action which are grounded in law and in justice. +We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the +foundations upon which peace can be rebuilt. Peace can be rebuilt only +upon the ancient and accepted principles of international law, only upon +those things which remind nations of their duties to each other, and, +deeper than that, of their duties to mankind and to humanity. + +America has a great cause which is not confined to the American +continent. It is the cause of humanity itself. I do not mean in anything +that I say even to imply a judgment upon any nation or upon any policy, +for my object here this afternoon is not to sit in judgment upon anybody +but ourselves and to challenge you to assist all of us who are trying to +make America more than ever conscious of her own principles and her own +duty. I look forward to the necessity in every political agitation in +the years which are immediately at hand of calling upon every man to +declare himself, where he stands. Is it America first, or is it not? + +We ought to be very careful about some of the impressions that we are +forming just now. There is too general an impression, I fear, that very +large numbers of our fellow citizens born in other lands have not +entertained with sufficient intensity and affection the American ideal. +But the number of such is, I am sure, not large. Those who would seek to +represent them are very vocal, but they are not very influential. Some +of the best stuff of America has come out of foreign lands, and some of +the best stuff in America is in the men who are naturalized citizens of +the United States. I would not be afraid upon the test of "America +first" to take a census of all the foreign-born citizens of the United +States, for I know that the vast majority of them came here because they +believed in America; and their belief in America has made them better +citizens than some people who were born in America. They can say that +they have bought this privilege with a great price. They have left their +homes, they have left their kindred, they have broken all the nearest +and dearest ties of human life in order to come to a new land, take a +new rootage, begin a new life, and so by self-sacrifice express their +confidence in a new principle; whereas, it cost us none of these things. +We were born into this privilege; we were rocked and cradled in it; we +did nothing to create it; and it is, therefore, the greater duty on our +part to do a great deal to enhance it and preserve it. I am not deceived +as to the balance of opinion among the foreign-born citizens of the +United States, but I am in a hurry for an opportunity to have a line-up +and let the men who are thinking first of other countries stand on one +side and all those that are for America first, last, and all the time on +the other side. + +Now, you can do a great deal in this direction. When I was a college +officer. I used to be very much opposed to hazing; not because hazing is +not wholesome, but because sophomores are poor judges. I remember a very +dear friend of mine, a professor of ethics on the other side of the +water, was asked if he thought it was ever justifiable to tell a lie. He +said Yes, he thought it was sometimes justifiable to lie; "but," he +said, "it is so difficult to judge of the justification that I usually +tell the truth." I think that ought to be the motto of the sophomore. +There are freshmen who need to be hazed, but the need is to be judged by +such nice tests that a sophomore is hardly old enough to determine them. +But the world can determine them. We are not freshmen at college, but we +are constantly hazed. I would a great deal rather be obliged to draw +pepper up my nose than to observe the hostile glances of my neighbors. I +would a great deal rather be beaten than ostracized. I would a great +deal rather endure any sort of physical hardship if I might have the +affection of my fellow men. We constantly discipline our fellow citizens +by having an opinion about them. That is the sort of discipline we ought +now to administer to everybody who is not to the very core of his heart +an American. Just have an opinion about him and let him experience the +atmospheric effects of that opinion! And I know of no body of persons +comparable to a body of ladies for creating an atmosphere of opinion! I +have myself in part yielded to the influences of that atmosphere, though +it took me a long time to determine how I was going to vote in New +Jersey. + +So it has seemed to me that my privilege this afternoon was not merely +a privilege of courtesy, but the real privilege of reminding you--for I +am sure I am doing nothing more--of the great principles which we stand +associated to promote. I for my part rejoice that we belong to a country +in which the whole business of government is so difficult. We do not +take orders from anybody; it is a universal communication of conviction, +the most subtle, delicate, and difficult of processes. There is not a +single individual's opinion that is not of some consequence in making up +the grand total, and to be in this great coöperative effort is the most +stimulating thing in the world. A man standing alone may well misdoubt +his own judgment. He may mistrust his own intellectual processes; he may +even wonder if his own heart leads him right in matters of public +conduct; but if he finds his heart part of the great throb of a national +life, there can be no doubt about it. If that is his happy circumstance, +then he may know that he is part of one of the great forces of the +world. + +I would not feel any exhilaration in belonging to America if I did not +feel that she was something more than a rich and powerful nation. I +should not feel proud to be in some respects and for a little while her +spokesman if I did not believe that there was something else than +physical force behind her. I believe that the glory of America is that +she is a great spiritual conception and that in the spirit of her +institutions dwells not only her distinction but her power. The one +thing that the world can not permanently resist is the moral force of +great and triumphant convictions. + + + + +THE MEANING OF THE FLAG + + The following address on the Flag was delivered by President + Woodrow Wilson from the south portico of the Treasury Building, + Washington, D.C., June 14, 1915. + + +MR. SECRETARY, FRIENDS, AND FELLOW CITIZENS:--I know of nothing more +difficult than to render an adequate tribute to the emblem of our +nation. For those of us who have shared that nation's life and felt the +beat of its pulse it must be considered a matter of impossibility to +express the great things which that emblem embodies. I venture to say +that a great many things are said about the flag which very few people +stop to analyze. For me the flag does not express a mere body of vague +sentiment. The flag of the United States has not been created by +rhetorical sentences in declarations of independence and in bills of +rights. It has been created by the experience of a great people, and +nothing is written upon it that has not been written by their life. It +is the embodiment, not of a sentiment, but of a history, and no man can +rightly serve under that flag who has not caught some of the meaning of +that history. + +Experience, ladies and gentlemen, is made by men and women. National +experience is the product of those who do the living under that flag. It +is their living that has created its significance. You do not create the +meaning of a national life by any literary exposition of it, but by the +actual daily endeavors of a great people to do the tasks of the day and +live up to the ideals of honesty and righteousness and just conduct. And +as we think of these things, our tribute is to those men who have +created this experience. Many of them are known by name to all the +world--statesmen, soldiers, merchants, masters of industry, men of +letters and of thought who have coined our hearts into action or into +words. Of these men we feel that they have shown us the way. They have +not been afraid to go before. They have known that they were speaking +the thoughts of a great people when they led that great people along the +paths of achievement. There was not a single swashbuckler among them. +They were men of sober, quiet thought, the more effective because there +was no bluster in it. They were men who thought along the lines of duty, +not along the lines of self-aggrandizement. They were men, in short, who +thought of the people whom they served and not of themselves. + +But while we think of these men and do honor to them as to those who +have shown us the way, let us not forget that the real experience and +life of a nation lies with the great multitude of unknown men. It lies +with those men whose names are never in the headlines of newspapers, +those men who know the heat and pain and desperate loss of hope that +sometimes comes in the great struggle of daily life; not the men who +stand on the side and comment, not the men who merely try to interpret +the great struggle, but the men who are engaged in the struggle. They +constitute the body of the nation. This flag is the essence of their +daily endeavors. This flag does not express any more than what they are +and what they desire to be. + +As I think of the life of this great nation it seems to me that we +sometimes look to the wrong places for its sources. We look to the noisy +places, where men are talking in the market place; we look to where men +are expressing their individual opinions; we look to where partisans are +expressing passions: instead of trying to attune our ears to that +voiceless mass of men who merely go about their daily tasks, try to be +honorable, try to serve the people they love, try to live worthy of the +great communities to which they belong. These are the breath of the +nation's nostrils; these are the sinews of its might. + +How can any man presume to interpret the emblem of the United States, +the emblem of what we would fain be among the family of nations, and +find it incumbent upon us to be in the daily round of routine duty? This +is Flag Day, but that only means that it is a day when we are to recall +the things which we should do every day of our lives. There are no days +of special patriotism. There are no days when we should be more +patriotic than on other days. We celebrate the Fourth of July merely +because the great enterprise of liberty was started on the fourth of +July in America, but the great enterprise of liberty was not begun in +America. It is illustrated by the blood of thousands of martyrs who +lived and died before the great experiment on this side of the water. +The Fourth of July merely marks the day when we consecrated ourselves +as a nation to this high thing which we pretend to serve. The benefit of +a day like this is merely in turning away from the things that distract +us, turning away from the things that touch us personally and absorb our +interest in the hours of daily work. We remind ourselves of those things +that are greater than we are, of those principles by which we believe +our hearts to be elevated, of the more difficult things that we must +undertake in these days of perplexity when a man's judgment is safest +only when it follows the line of principle. + +I am solemnized in the presence of such a day. I would not undertake to +speak your thoughts. You must interpret them for me. But I do feel that +back, not only of every public official, but of every man and woman of +the United States, there marches that great host which has brought us to +the present day; the host that has never forgotten the vision which it +saw at the birth of the nation; the host which always responds to the +dictates of humanity and of liberty; the host that will always +constitute the strength and the great body of friends of every man who +does his duty to the United States. + +I am sorry that you do not wear a little flag of the Union every day +instead of some days. I can only ask you, if you lose the physical +emblem, to be sure that you wear it in your heart, and the heart of +America shall interpret the heart of the world. + + + + +MAKERS OF THE FLAG + + The following address was delivered by the Honorable Franklin K. + Lane, Secretary of the Interior, before the officers and employees + of this Department, about 5,000 in number, at the Inner Court, + Patent Office Building, June 14, 1914. + + +This morning, as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a +most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: +"Good morning, Mr. Flag Maker." + +"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not +the president of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even a +general in the army. I am only a government clerk." + +"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice, "I know you +well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday +straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or +perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or +helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or +pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in +Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. No +matter; whichever one of these beneficent individuals you may happen to +be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker." + +I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words: + +"Yesterday the president spoke a word that made happier the future of +ten millions peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag +than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn +Club prize this summer. + +"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of Alaska; +but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into the night, +to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag. + +"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and yesterday, +maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to a boy who +will one day write a song that will give cheer to the millions of our +race. We are all making the flag." + +"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working." + +Then came a great shout from The Flag: + +"THE WORK that we do is the making of the flag. + +"I am not the flag; not at all. I am but its shadow. + +"I am whatever you make me, nothing more. + +"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become. + +"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heartbreaks +and tired muscles. + +"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do an honest work, fitting +the rails together truly. + +"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I +play the coward. + +"Sometimes I am loud, garish and full of that ego that blasts judgment. + +"But always I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try +for. + +"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope. + +"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the +most daring. + +"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute makers, +soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, counselor, and +clerk. + +"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow. + +"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. + +"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. + +"I am no more than what you believe me to be and I am all that you +believe I can be. + +"I am what you make me, nothing more. + +"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of +yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this +Nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They are +bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you +have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the makers of the flag +and it is well that you glory in the making." + + + + +THE FLAG OF THE UNION FOREVER + + Speech of General Fitzhugh Lee at a dinner given by the Friendly + Sons of St. Patrick and the Hibernian Society of Philadelphia, at + the city of Philadelphia, September 17, 1887. The occasion of the + dinner was the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the + Constitution of the United States. General Lee, then governor of + Virginia, was the guest of Governor Beaver at the dinner. The + Chairman, Hon. Andrew G. Curtin [Pennsylvania's war governor], in + introducing General Lee said: "We have here to-day a gentleman whom + I am glad to call my friend, though during the war he was in + dangerous and unpleasant proximity to me. He once threatened the + capital of this great state. I did not wish him to come in, and was + very glad when he went away. He was then my enemy and I was his. + But, thank God, that is past; and in the enjoyment of the rights + and interests common to all as American citizens, I am his friend + and he is my friend. I introduce to you, Governor Fitzhugh Lee." + + +MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HIBERNIAN SOCIETY:--I am very glad, +indeed, to have the honor of being present in this society once more; as +it was my good fortune to enjoy a most pleasant visit here and an +acquaintance with the members of your society last year. My engagements +were such to-day that I could not get here earlier; and just as I was +coming in Governor Beaver was making his excuses because, as he said, he +had to go to pick up a visitor whom he was to escort to the +entertainment to be given this evening at the Academy of Music. I am the +visitor whom Governor Beaver is looking for. He could not capture me +during the war, but he has captured me now. I am a Virginian and used to +ride a pretty fast horse, and he could not get close enough to me. + +By the way, you have all heard of "George Washington and his little +hatchet." The other day I heard a story that was a little variation upon +the original, and I am going to take up your time for a minute by +repeating it to you. + +It was to this effect: Old Mr. Washington and Mrs. Washington, the +parents of George, found on one occasion that their supply of soap for +the use of the family at Westmoreland had been exhausted, and so they +decided to make some family soap. They made the necessary arrangements +and gave the requisite instructions to the family servant. After an hour +or so the servant returned and reported to them that he could not make +that soap. "Why not," he was asked, "haven't you all the materials?" +"Yes," he replied, "but there is something wrong." The old folks +proceeded to investigate, and they found they had actually got the ashes +of the little cherry tree that George had cut down with his hatchet, and +there was no lye in it. + +Now, I assure you, there is no "lie" in what I say to you this +afternoon, and that is, that I thank God for the sun of the Union which, +once obscured, is now again in the full stage of its glory; and that its +light is shining over Virginia as well as over the rest of this country. +We have had our differences. I do not see, upon reading history, how +they could well have been avoided, because they resulted from different +constructions of the Constitution, which was the helm of the ship of the +republic. Virginia construed it one way. Pennsylvania construed it in +another, and they could not settle their differences; so they went to +war, and Pennsylvania, I think, probably got a little the best of it. + +The sword, at any rate, settled the controversy. But that is behind us. +We have now a great and glorious future in front of us, and it is +Virginia's duty to do all that she can to promote the honor and glory of +this country. We fought to the best of our ability for four years; and +it would be a great mistake to assume that you could bring men from +their cabins, from their plows, from their houses, and from their +families to make them fight as they fought in that contest unless they +were fighting for a belief. Those men believed that they had the right +construction of the Constitution, and that a state that voluntarily +entered the Union could voluntarily withdraw from it. They did not fight +for Confederate money. It was not worth ten cents a yard. They did not +fight for Confederate rations--you would have had to curtail the demands +of your appetite to make it correspond with the size and quality of +those rations. They fought for what they thought was a proper +construction of the Constitution. + +They were defeated. They acknowledged their defeat. They came back to +their father's house, and there they are going to stay. But if we are to +continue prosperous, if this country, stretching from the gulf to the +lakes and from ocean to ocean, is to be mindful of its own best +interests, in the future, we will have to make concessions and +compliances, we will have to bear with each other and to respect each +other's opinions. Then we will find that that harmony will be secured +which is as necessary for the welfare of states, as it is for the +welfare of individuals. + +I have become acquainted with Governor Beaver--I met him in Richmond. +You could not make me fight him now. If I had known him before the war, +perhaps we would not have got at it. If all the Governors had known each +other, and if all the people of different sections had been known to +each other, or had been thrown together in business or social +communication, the fact would have been recognized at the outset, as it +is to-day, that there are just as good men in Maine as there are in +Texas, and just as good men in Texas as there are in Maine. Human nature +is everywhere the same; and when intestine strifes occur, we will +doubtless always be able by a conservative, pacific course to pass +smoothly over the rugged, rocky edges, and the old Ship of State will be +brought into a safe, commodious, Constitutional harbor with the flag of +the Union flying over her, and there it will remain. + + + + +FROM WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS + + The appeal for a perpetual union and obedience to established law, + the warning against the evils of partisan politics and against the + dangers of entangling foreign alliances made by Washington in this + immortal address were never more important than at the present + time. They will become more important for each succeeding + generation. Let those who would know America's mission make a + careful study of this the greatest of state papers. + + +The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now +dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of +your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your +peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty +which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from +different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken, +many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this +truth, as this is the point in your political fortress against which the +batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and +actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of +infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of +your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that +you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; +accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of +your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with +jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion +that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon +the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our +country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link +together the various parts. + +For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by +birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to +concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you +in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of +patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. +With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, +habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and +triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the +work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, +and successes. + +But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to +your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more +immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds +the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the +union of the whole. + +The _North_, in an unrestrained intercourse with the _South_, protected +by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of +the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial +enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The +_South_, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same agency of the +_North_, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning +partly into its own channels the seamen of the _North_, it finds its +particular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes in different +ways to nourish and increase the general mass of the national +navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to +which itself is unequally adapted. The _East_, in a like intercourse +with the _West_, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of +interior communications by land and water will more and more find, a +valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or +manufactures at home. The _West_ derives from the _East_ supplies +requisite to its growth and comfort, and what is perhaps of still +greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the _secure_ enjoyment of +indispensable _outlets_ for its own productions to the weight, +influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the +Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as _one +nation_. Any other tenure by which the _West_ can hold this essential +advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from an +apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be +intrinsically precarious. + +While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and +particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find +in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater +resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less +frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and what is of +inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those +broils and wars between themselves which so frequently afflict +neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which +their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which +opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate +and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those +overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, +are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as +particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that +your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and +that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the +other. + +These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and +virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary +object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government +can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to +mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope +that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of +governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue +to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With +such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of our +country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its +impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism +of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. + + * * * * * + +To the efficacy and permanency of your union a government for the whole +is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be +an adequate substitute. They must inevitably experience the infractions +and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. +Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first +essay by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated +than your former for an intimate union and for the efficacious +management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of +our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation +and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the +distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing +within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to +your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance +with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the +fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems +is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of +government. But the constitution which at any time exists till changed +by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly +obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the +people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual +to obey the established government. + +All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and +associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design +to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and +action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this +fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize +faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the +place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a +small but artful and enterprising minority of the community, and, +according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the +public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous +projects of faction rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome +plans, digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. + +However combinations or associations of the above description may now +and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and +things to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and +unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and +to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards +the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. + + * * * * * + +Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and +harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct. And can it +be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a +free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great nation to give to +mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided +by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course +of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any +temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? +Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a +nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by +every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered +impossible by its vices? + +In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that +permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and +passionate attachments for others should be excluded, and that in place +of them just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. The +nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual +fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to +its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its +duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes +each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight +causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or +trifling occasions of dispute occur. + +Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. +The nation prompted by ill will and resentment sometimes impels to war +the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. The +government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts +through passion what reason would reject. At other times it makes the +animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated +by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace +often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. + +So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces +a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the +illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common +interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, +betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the +latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to +concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which +is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by +unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by +exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the +parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to +ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the +favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their +own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with +the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable +deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the +base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. + +As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments +are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent +patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic +factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, +to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small +or weak toward a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the +satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign +influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of +a free people ought to be _constantly_ awake, since history and +experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes +of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be +impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be +avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one +foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they +actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even +second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist +the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, +while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the +people to surrender their interests. + +The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in +extending our commercial relations to have with them as little +_political_ connection as possible. So far as we have already formed +engagements let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us +stop. + +Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very +remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, +the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, +therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial +ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary +combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. + +Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a +different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient +government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury +from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause +the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously +respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making +acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; +when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, +shall counsel. + +Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own +to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that +of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of +European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? + + + + +WASHINGTON + + Address by John W. Daniel, lawyer, statesman, United States senator + from Virginia, delivered in the hall of the House of + Representatives, Washington, D. C., at the dedication of the + Washington National Monument, February 21, 1885, Mr. Daniel being + then a member of the House from Virginia. He was introduced by + Senator George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, president pro tempore of the + Senate, who occupied the speaker's chair, and presided at the + dedicatory exercises. + + +MR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, SENATORS, REPRESENTATIVES, JUDGES, +MR. CHAIRMAN, AND MY COUNTRYMEN:--Alone in its grandeur stands forth the +character of Washington in history; alone like some peak that has no +fellow in the mountain range of greatness. + +"Washington," says Guizot, "Washington did the two greatest things which +in politics it is permitted to man to attempt. He maintained by peace +the independence of his country, which he had conquered by war. He +founded a free government in the name of principles of order and by +re-establishing their sway." + +Washington did indeed do these things. But he did more. Out of +disconnected fragments he molded a whole and made it a country. He +achieved his country's independence by the sword. He maintained that +independence by peace as by war. He finally established both his country +and its freedom in an enduring frame of constitutional government, +fashioned to make Liberty and Union one and inseparable. These four +things together constitute the unexampled achievement of Washington. + +The world has ratified the profound remark of Fisher Ames, that "he +changed mankind's ideas of political greatness." It has approved the +opinion of Edward Everett, that he was "the greatest of good men and the +best of great men." It has felt for him, with Erskine, "an awful +reverence." It has attested the declaration of Brougham, that "he was +the greatest man of his own or of any age." It is matter of fact to-day, +as when General Hamilton, announcing his death to the army, said, "The +voice of praise would in vain endeavor to exalt a name unrivaled in the +lists of true glory." America still proclaims him, as did Colonel Henry +Lee, on the floor of the House of Representatives, the man "first in +war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." And +from beyond the sea the voice of Alfieri, breathing the soul of all +lands and peoples, still pronounces the blessing, "Happy are you who +have for the sublime and permanent basis of your glory the love of +country demonstrated by deeds." + +Ye who have unrolled the scrolls that tell the tale of the rise and fall +of nations, before whose eyes has moved the panorama of man's struggles, +achievements, and progression, find you anywhere the story of one whose +life work is more than a fragment of that which in his life is set +before you? Conquerors, who have stretched your scepters over boundless +territories; founders of empire, who have held your dominions in reign +of law; reformers, who have cried aloud in the wilderness of oppression; +teachers, who have striven with reason to cast down false doctrine, +heresy and schism; statesmen, whose brains have throbbed with mighty +plans for the amelioration of human society; scar-crowned Vikings of the +sea, illustrious heroes of the land, who have borne the standards of +siege and battle--come forth in bright array from your glorious +fanes--and would ye be measured by the measure of his stature? Behold +you not in him a more illustrious and more venerable presence? + +Statesman, Soldier, Patriot, Sage, Reformer of Creeds, Teacher of Truth +and Justice, Achiever and Preserver of Liberty--the First of +Men--Founder and Savior of his Country, Father of his People--this is +he, solitary and unapproachable in his grandeur. Oh! felicitous +Providence that gave to America OUR WASHINGTON! + +High soars into the sky to-day--higher than the Pyramids or the dome of +St. Paul's or St. Peter's--the loftiest and most imposing structure that +man has ever reared--high soars into the sky to where + + "Earth highest yearns to meet a star," + +the monument which "We the people of the United States" have erected to +his memory. It is a fitting monument, more fitting than any statue. For +his image could only display him in some one phase of his varied +character--as the Commander, the Statesman, the Planter of Mount Vernon, +or the Chief Magistrate of his Country. So art has fitly typified his +exalted life in yon plain lofty shaft. Such is his greatness, that only +by a symbol could it be represented. As Justice must be blind in order +to be whole in contemplation, so History must be silent, that by this +mighty sign she may unfold the amplitude of her story. + +In 1657, while yet "a Cromwell filled the Stuarts' throne," there came +to Virginia with a party of Carlists who had rebelled against him John +Washington, of Yorkshire, England, who became a magistrate and member of +the House of Burgesses, and distinguished himself in Indian warfare as +the first colonel of his family on this side of the water. He was the +nephew of that Sir Henry Washington who had led the forlorn hope of +Prince Rupert at Bristol in 1643, and who, with a starving and mutinous +garrison, had defended Worcester in 1649, answering all calls for +surrender that he "awaited His Majesty's commands." + +And his progenitors had for centuries, running back to the conquest, +been men of mark and fair renown. Pride and modesty of individuality +alike forbid the seeking from any source of a borrowed lustre, and the +Washingtons were never studious or pretentious of ancestral dignities. +But "we are quotations from our ancestors," says the philosopher of +Concord--and who will say that in the loyalty to conscience and to +principle, and to the right of self-determination of what is principle, +that the Washingtons have ever shown, whether as loyalist or rebel, was +not the germ of that deathless devotion to liberty and country which +soon discarded all ancient forms in the mighty stroke for independence? + +One hundred and fifty-three years ago, on the banks of the Potomac, in +the county of Westmoreland, on a spot marked now only by a memorial +stone, of the blood of the people whom I have faintly described, fourth +in descent from the Colonel John Washington whom I have named, there +was born a son to Augustine and Mary Washington. And not many miles +above his birthplace is the dwelling where he lived, and near which he +now lies buried. + +Borne upon the bosom of that river which here mirrors Capitol dome and +monumental shaft in its seaward flow, the river itself seems to reverse +its current and bear us silently into the past. Scarce has the vista of +the city faded from our gaze when we behold on the woodland height that +swells above the waters--amidst walks and groves and gardens--the white +porch of that old colonial plantation home which has become the shrine +of many a pilgrimage. Contrasting it as there it stands to-day with the +marble halls which we have left behind us, we realize the truth of +Emerson: "The atmosphere of moral sentiment is a region of grandeur +which reduces all material magnificence to toys, yet opens to every +wretch that has reason the doors of the Universe." + +The quaint old wooden mansion, with the stately but simple old-fashioned +mahogany furniture, real and ungarnished; the swords and relics of +campaigns and scenes familiar to every schoolboy now; the key of the +Bastile hanging in the hall incased in glass, calling to mind Tom +Paine's happy expression, "That the principles of the American +Revolution opened the Bastile is not to be doubted, therefore the key +comes to the right place;" the black velvet coat worn when the farewell +address to the Army was made; the rooms all in nicety of preparation as +if expectant of the coming host--we move among these memorials of days +and men long vanished--we stand under the great trees and watch the +solemn river, in its never-ceasing flow, we gaze upon the simple tomb +whose silence is unbroken save by the low murmur of the waters or the +wild bird's note, and we are enveloped in an atmosphere of moral +grandeur which no pageantry of moving men nor splendid pile can +generate. Nightly on the plain of Marathon--the Greeks have the +tradition--there may yet be heard the neighing of chargers and the +rushing shadows of spectral war. In the spell that broods over the +sacred groves of Vernon, Patriotism, Honor, Courage, Justice, Virtue, +Truth seem bodied forth, the only imperishable realities of man's being. + +There emerges from the shades the figure of a youth over whose cradle +had hovered no star of destiny, nor dandled a royal crown--an ingenious +youth, and one who in his early days gave auguries of great powers. The +boy whose strong arm could fling a stone across the Rappahannock; whose +strong will could tame the most fiery horse; whose just spirit made him +the umpire of his fellows; whose obedient heart bowed to a mother's +yearning for her son and laid down the midshipman's warrant in the +British Navy which answered his first ambitious dream; the student +transcribing mathematical problems, accounts, and business forms, or +listening to the soldiers and seamen of vessels in the river as they +tell of "hair-breadth 'scapes by flood and field;" the early moralist in +his thirteenth year compiling matured "Rules for behavior and +conversation;" the surveyor of sixteen, exploring the wilderness for +Lord Fairfax, sleeping on the ground, climbing mountains, swimming +rivers, killing and cooking his own game, noting in his diary soils, +minerals, and locations, and making maps which are models of nice and +accurate draughtsmanship; the incipient soldier, studying tactics under +Adjutant Muse, and taking lessons in broadsword fence from the old +soldier of fortune, Jacob Van Braam; the major and adjutant-general of +the Virginia frontier forces at nineteen:--we seem to see him yet as +here he stood, a model of manly beauty in his youthful prime, a man in +all that makes a man ere manhood's years have been fulfilled, standing +on the threshold of a grand career, "hearing his days before him and the +trumpet of his life." + +The scene changes. Out into the world of stern adventure he passes, +taking as naturally to the field and the frontier as the eagle to the +air. At the age of twenty-one he is riding from Williamsburg to the +French post at Venango, in Western Pennsylvania, on a mission for +Governor Dinwiddie, which requires "courage to cope with savages and +sagacity to negotiate with white men"--on that mission which Edward +Everett recognizes as "the first movement of a military nature which +resulted in the establishment of American Independence." At twenty-two +he has fleshed his maiden sword, has heard the bullets whistle, and +found "something charming in the sound;" and soon he is colonel of the +Virginia regiment in the unfortunate affair at Fort Necessity, and is +compelled to retreat after losing a sixth of his command. He quits the +service on a point of military etiquette and honor, but at twenty-three +he reappears as volunteer aide by the side of Braddock in the +ill-starred expedition against Fort Duquesne, and is the only mounted +officer unscathed in the disaster, escaping with four bullets through +his garments, and after having two horses shot under him. + +The prophetic eye of Samuel Davies has now pointed him out as "that +heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I can but hope Providence has +hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to +his country;" and soon the prophecy is fulfilled. The same year he is in +command of the Virginia frontier forces. Arduous conflicts of varied +fortunes are ere long ended, and on the 25th of November, 1759, he +marches into the reduced fortress of Fort Duquesne--where Pittsburgh now +stands, and the Titans of Industry wage the eternal war of Toil--marches +in with the advanced guard of his troops, and plants the British flag +over its smoking ruins. + +That self-same year Wolfe, another young and brilliant soldier of +Britain, has scaled and triumphed on the Heights of Abraham--his flame +of valor quenched as it lit the blaze of victory; Canada surrenders; the +Seven Years' War is done; the French power in America is broken, and the +vast region west of the Alleghenies, from the lakes to the Ohio, +embracing its valley and tributary streams, is under the scepter of King +George. America has been made whole to the English-speaking race, to +become in time the greater Britain. + +Thus, building wiser than he knew, Washington had taken no small part in +cherishing the seed of a nascent nation. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON] + +Mount Vernon welcomes back the soldier of twenty-seven, who has become a +name. Domestic felicity spreads its charms around him with the +"agreeable partner" whom he has taken to his bosom, and he dreams of +"more happiness than he has experienced in the wide and bustling world." + +Already, ere his sword had found its scabbard, the people of Frederick +county had made him their member of the House of Burgesses. And the +quiet years roll by as the planter, merchant, and representative +superintends his plantation, ships his crops, posts his books, keeps his +diary, chases the fox for amusement, or rides over to Annapolis and +leads the dance at the Maryland capital--alternating between these +private pursuits and serving his people as member of the Legislature and +justice of the county court. + +But ere long this happy life is broken. The air is electric with the +currents of revolution. England has launched forth on the fatal policy +of taxing her colonies without their consent. The spirit of liberty and +resistance is aroused. He is loth to part with the Mother Land, which he +still calls "home." But she turns a deaf ear to reason. The first +Colonial Congress is called. He is a delegate, and rides to Philadelphia +with Henry and Pendleton. The blow at Lexington is struck. The people +rush to arms. The sons of the Cavaliers spring to the side of the sons +of the Pilgrims. "Unhappy it is," he says, "that a brother's sword has +been sheathed in a brother's breast, and that the once happy plains of +America are to be either drenched in blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad +alternative! But how can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?" He +becomes Commander-in-Chief of the American forces. After seven years' +war he is the deliverer of his country. The old Confederation passes +away. The Constitution is established. He is twice chosen President, and +will not consent longer to serve. + +Once again Mount Vernon's grateful shades receive him, and there--the +world-crowned Hero now--he becomes again the simple citizen, wishing for +his fellow men "to see the whole world in peace and its inhabitants one +band of brothers, striving who could contribute most to the happiness of +mankind"--without a wish for himself, but "to live and die an honest man +on his farm." A speck of war spots the sky. John Adams, now president, +calls him forth as lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief to lead +America once more. But the cloud vanishes. Peace reigns. The lark sings +at Heaven's gate in the fair morn of the new nation. Serene, contented, +yet in the strength of manhood, though on the verge of threescore years +and ten, he looks forth--the quiet farmer from his pleasant fields, the +loving patriarch from the bowers of home--looks forth and sees the work +of his hands established in a free and happy people. Suddenly comes the +mortal stroke with severe cold. The agony is soon over. He feels his own +dying pulse--the hand relaxes--he murmurs, "It is well;" and Washington +is no more. + +Washington, the friend of Liberty, is no more! + +The solemn cry filled the universe. Amidst the tears of his people, the +bowed heads of kings, and the lamentations of the nations, they laid him +there to rest upon the banks of the river whose murmurs were his +boyhood's music--that river which, rising in mountain fastnesses amongst +the grandest works of nature and reflecting in its course the proudest +works of man, is a symbol of his history, which in its ceaseless and +ever-widening flow is a symbol of his eternal fame. + +No sum could now be made of Washington's character that did not exhaust +language of its tributes and repeat virtues by all her names. No sum +could be made of his achievements that did not unfold the history of his +country and its institutions--the history of his age and its +progress--the history of man and his destiny to be free. But whether +character or achievement be regarded, the riches before us only expose +the poverty of praise. So clear was he in his great office that no ideal +of the Leader or the Ruler can be formed that does not shrink by the +side of the reality. And so has he impressed himself upon the minds of +men, that no man can justly aspire to be the chief of a great free +people who does not adopt his principles and emulate his example. We +look with amazement on such eccentric characters as Alexander, Cæsar, +Cromwell, Frederick, and Napoleon; but when the serene face of +Washington rises before us mankind instinctively exclaims, "This is the +Man for the nations to trust and reverence and for heroes and rulers to +copy." + +Disinterested patriot, he would receive no pay for his military +services. Refusing gifts, he was glad to guide the benefaction of a +grateful state to educate the children of his fallen braves in the +institution at Lexington which yet bears his name. Without any of the +blemishes that mark the tyrant, he appealed so loftily to the virtuous +elements in man that he almost created the qualities of which his +country needed the exercise; and yet he was so magnanimous and +forbearing to the weaknesses of others, that he often obliterated the +vices of which he feared the consequence. But his virtue was more than +this. It was of that daring, intrepid kind that, seizing principle with +a giant's grasp, assumes responsibility at any hazard, suffers sacrifice +without pretense of martyrdom, bears calumny without reply, imposes +superior will and understanding on all around it, capitulates to no +unworthy triumph, but must carry all things at the point of clear and +blameless conscience. Scorning all manner of meanness and cowardice, his +bursts of wrath at their exhibition heighten our admiration for those +noble passions which were kindled by the inspirations and exigencies of +virtue. + +Great in action as by the council board, the finest horseman and +knightliest figure of his time, he seemed designed by nature to lead in +those bold strokes which needs must come when the battle lies with a +single man--those critical moments of the campaign or the strife when, +if the mind hesitates or a nerve flinches, all is lost. We can never +forget the passage of the Delaware that black December night, amidst +shrieking winds and great upheaving blocks of ice which would have +petrified a leader of less hardy mold, and then the fell swoop at +Trenton. We behold him as when at Monmouth he turns back the retreating +lines, and galloping his white charger along the ranks until he falls, +leaps on his Arabian bay, and shouts to his men: "Stand fast, my boys, +the Southern troops are coming to support you!" And we hear Lafayette +exclaim, "Never did I behold so superb a man!" We see him again at +Princeton dashing through a storm of shot to rally the wavering troops; +he reins his horse between the contending lines, and cries: "Will you +leave your general to the foe?" then bolts into the thickest fray. +Colonel Fitzgerald, his aid, drops his reins and pulls his hat down over +his eyes that he may not see his chieftain fall, when, through the smoke +he reappears waving his hat, cheering on his men, and shouting: "Away, +dear Colonel, and bring up the troops; the day is ours." "Coeur de +Lion" might have doffed his plume to such a chief, for a great knight +was he, who met his foes full tilt in the shock of battle and hurled +them down with an arm whose sword flamed with righteous indignation. + +As children pore over the pictures in their books where they can read +the words annexed to them, so we linger with tingling blood by such +inspiring scenes, while little do we reck of those dark hours when the +aching head pondered the problems of a country's fate. And yet there is +a greater theater in which Washington appears, although not so often has +its curtain been uplifted. + +For it was as a statesman that Washington was greatest. Not in the sense +that Hamilton and Jefferson, Adams and Madison were statesmen; but in a +larger sense. Men may marshal armies who cannot drill divisions. Men may +marshal nations in storm and travail who have not the accomplishments of +their cabinet ministers. Not so versed as they was he in the details of +political science. And yet as he studied tactics when he anticipated +war, so he studied politics when he saw his civil role approaching, +reading the history and examining the principles of ancient and modern +confederacies, and making notes of their virtues, defects, and methods +of operation. + +His pen did not possess the facile play and classic grace of their pens, +but his vigorous eloquence had the clear ring of our mother tongue. I +will not say that he was so astute, so quick, so inventive as the one or +another of them--that his mind was characterized by the vivacity of wit, +the rich colorings of fancy, or daring flights of imagination. But with +him thought and action like well-trained coursers kept abreast in the +chariot race, guided by an eye that never quailed, reined by a hand that +never trembled. He had a more infallible discrimination of circumstances +and men than any of his contemporaries. He weighed facts in a juster +scale, with larger equity, and firmer equanimity. He best applied to +them the lessons of experience. With greater ascendancy of character he +held men to their appointed tasks; with more inspiring virtue he +commanded more implicit confidence. He bore a truer divining-rod, and +through a wilderness of contention he alone was the unerring Pathfinder +of the People. There can, indeed, be no right conception of Washington +that does not accord him a great and extraordinary genius. I will not +say he could have produced a play of Shakespeare, or a poem of Milton, +handled with Kant the tangled skein of metaphysics, probed the secrecies +of mind and matter with Bacon, constructed a railroad or an engine like +Stephenson, wooed the electric spark from heaven to earth with Franklin, +or walked with Newton the pathways of the spheres. But if his genius +were of a different order, it was of as rare and high an order. It dealt +with man in the concrete, with his vast concerns of business stretching +over a continent and projected into the ages, with his seething +passions; with his marvelous exertions of mind, body, and spirit to be +free. He knew the materials he dealt with by intuitive perception of the +heart of man, by experience and observation of his aspirations and his +powers, by reflection upon his complex relations, rights, and duties as +a social being. He knew just where, between men and states, to erect the +monumental mark to divide just reverence for authority from just +resistance to its abuse. A poet of social facts, he interpreted by his +deeds the harmonies of justice. + +First to perceive, and swift to point out, the defects in the Articles +of Confederation, they became manifest to all long before victory +crowned the warfare conducted under them. Charged by them with the +public defense, Congress could not put a soldier in the field; and +charged with defraying expenses, it could not levy a dollar of imposts +or taxes. It could, indeed, borrow money with the assent of nine states +of the thirteen, but what mockery of finance was that, when the borrower +could not command any resource of payment. + +The states had indeed put but a scepter of straw in the legislative hand +of the Confederation--what wonder that it soon wore a crown of thorns! +The paper currency ere long dissolved to nothingness; for four days the +army was without food, and whole regiments drifted from the ranks of our +hard-pressed defenders. "I see," said Washington, "one head gradually +changing into thirteen; I see one army gradually branching into +thirteen, which, instead of looking up to Congress as the supreme +controlling power, are considering themselves as dependent upon their +respective states." While yet his sword could not slumber, his busy pen +was warning the statesmen of the country that unless Congress were +invested with adequate powers, or should assume them as matter of right, +we should become but thirteen states, pursuing local interests, until +annihilated in a general crash--the cause would be lost--and the fable +of the bundle of sticks applied to us. + +In rapid succession his notes of alarm and invocations for aid to Union +followed each other to the leading men of the states, North and South. +Turning to his own state, and appealing to George Mason, "Where," he +exclaimed, "where are our men of abilities? Why do they not come forth +and save the country?" He compared the affairs of this great continent +to the mechanism of a clock, of which each state was putting its own +small part in order, but neglecting the great wheel, or spring, which +was to put the whole in motion. He summoned Jefferson, Wythe, and +Pendleton to his assistance, telling them that the present temper of +the states was friendly to lasting union, that the moment should be +improved and might never return, and that "after gloriously and +successfully contending against the usurpation of Britain we may fall a +prey to our own folly and disputes." + +How keen the prophet's ken, that through the smoke of war discerned the +coming evil; how diligent the patriot's hand, that amidst awful +responsibilities reached futureward to avert it! By almost a miracle the +weak Confederation, "a barrel without a hoop," was held together +perforce of outside pressure; and soon America was free. + +But not yet had beaten Britain concluded peace--not yet had dried the +blood of Victory's field, ere "follies and disputes" confounded all +things with their Babel tongues and intoxicated liberty gave loose to +license. An unpaid army with unsheathed swords clamored around a +poverty-stricken and helpless Congress. And grown at last impatient even +with their chief, officers high in rank plotted insurrection and +circulated an anonymous address, urging it "to appeal from the justice +to the fears of government, and suspect the man who would advise to +longer forbearance." Anarchy was about to erect the Arch of +Triumph--poor, exhausted, bleeding, weeping America lay in agony upon +her bed of laurels. + +Not a moment did Washington hesitate. He convened his officers, and +going before them he read them an address, which, for homethrust +argument, magnanimous temper, and the eloquence of persuasion which +leaves nothing to be added, is not exceeded by the noblest utterances +of Greek or Roman. A nobler than Coriolanus was before them, who needed +no mother's or wife's reproachful tears to turn the threatening steel +from the gates of Rome. Pausing, as he read his speech, he put on his +spectacles and said: "I have grown gray in your service, and now find +myself growing blind." This unaffected touch of nature completed the +master's spell. The late fomenters of insurrection gathered to their +chief with words of veneration--the storm went by--and, says Curtis in +his History of the Constitution, "Had the Commander-in-Chief been other +than Washington, the land would have been deluged with the blood of +civil war." + +But not yet was Washington's work accomplished. Peace dawned upon the +weary land, and parting with his soldiers, he pleaded with them for +union. "Happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced," he said, "who +have contributed anything in erecting this stupendous fabric of freedom +and empire; who have assisted in protecting the rights of human nature, +and establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and +religions." But still the foundations of the stupendous fabric trembled, +and no cement held its stones together. It was then, with that +thickening peril, Washington rose to his highest stature. Without civil +station to call forth his utterance, impelled by the intrepid impulse of +a soul that could not see the hope of a nation perish without leaping +into the stream to save it, he addressed the whole People of America in +a circular to the governors of the states: "Convinced of the importance +of the crisis, silence in me," he said, "would be a crime. I will, +therefore, speak the language of freedom and sincerity." He set forth +the need of union in a strain that touched the quick of sensibility; he +held up the citizens of America as sole lords of a vast tract of +continent; he portrayed the fair opportunity for political happiness +with which Heaven had crowned them; he pointed out the blessings that +would attend their collective wisdom; that mutual concessions and +sacrifices must be made; and that supreme power must be lodged somewhere +to regulate and govern the general concerns of the Confederate Republic, +without which the Union would not be of long duration. And he urged that +happiness would be ours if we seized the occasion and made it our own. +In this, one of the very greatest acts of Washington, was revealed the +heart of the man, the spirit of the hero, the wisdom of the sage--I +might almost say the sacred inspiration of the prophet. + +But still the wing of the eagle drooped; the gathering storms baffled +his sunward flight. Even with Washington in the van, the column wavered +and halted--states straggling to the rear that had hitherto been +foremost for permanent union, under an efficacious constitution. And +while three years rolled by amidst the jargon of sectional and local +contentions, "the half-starved government," as Washington depicted it, +"limped along on crutches, tottering at every step." And while +monarchical Europe with saturnine face declared that the American hope +of union was the wild and visionary notion of romance, and predicted +that we would be to the end of time a disunited people, suspicious and +distrustful of each other, divided and subdivided into petty +commonwealths and principalities, lo! the very earth yawned under the +feet of America, and in that very region whence had come forth a +glorious band of orators, statesmen and soldiers to plead the cause and +fight the battles of Independence--lo! the volcanic fires of rebellion +burst forth upon the heads of the faithful, and the militia were +leveling the guns of the Revolution, against the breasts of their +brethren. "What, gracious God! is man?" Washington exclaimed: "It was +but the other day that we were shedding our blood to obtain the +constitutions under which we live, and now we are unsheathing our swords +to overturn them." + +But see! there is a ray of hope. Maryland and Virginia had already +entered into a commercial treaty for regulating the navigation of the +rivers and great bay in which they had common interests, and Washington +had been one of the commissioners in its negotiation. And now, at the +suggestion of Maryland, Virginia had called on all the states to meet in +convention at Annapolis, to adopt commercial regulations for the whole +country. Could this foundation be laid, the eyes of the nation-builders +foresaw that the permanent structure would ere long rise upon it. But +when the day of meeting came no state north of New York or south of +Virginia was represented; and in their helplessness those assembled +could only recommend a constitutional convention, to meet in +Philadelphia in May, 1787, to provide for the exigencies of the +situation. + +And still thick clouds and darkness rested on the land, and there +lowered upon its hopes a night as black as that upon the freezing +Delaware; but through the gloom the dauntless leader was still marching +on to the consummation of his colossal work, with a hope that never +died; with a courage that never faltered; with a wisdom that never +yielded that "all is vanity." + +It was not permitted the Roman to despair of the republic, nor did +he--our chieftain. "It will all come right at last," he said. It did. +And now let the historian, Bancroft, speak: "From this state of despair +the country was lifted by Madison and Virginia." Again he says: "We come +now to a week more glorious for Virginia beyond any in her annals, or in +the history of any republic that had ever before existed." + +It was that week in which Madison, "giving effect to his own +long-cherished wishes, and still earlier wishes of Washington," +addressing, as it were, the whole country, and marshaling all the +states, warned them "that the crisis had arrived at which the people of +America are to decide the solemn question, whether they would, by wise +and magnanimous efforts reap the fruits of independence and of union, or +whether by giving way to unmanly jealousies and prejudices, or to +impartial and transitory interests, they would renounce the blessings +prepared for them by the Revolution," and conjuring them "to concur in +such further concessions and provisions as may be necessary to secure +the objects for which that government was instituted, and make the +United States as happy in peace as they had been glorious in war." + +In such manner, my countrymen, Virginia, adopting the words of Madison, +and moved by the constant spirit of Washington, joined in convoking that +Constitutional Convention, in which he headed her delegation, and over +which he presided, and whose deliberations resulted in the formation and +adoption of that instrument which the premier of Great Britain +pronounces "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by +the brain and purpose of man." + +In such manner the state which gave birth to the Father of his Country, +following his guiding genius to the Union, as it had followed his sword +through the battles of Independence, placed herself at the head of the +wavering column. In such manner America heard and hearkened to the voice +of her chief; and now closing ranks, and moving with reanimated step, +the thirteen commonwealths wheeled and faced to the front, on the line +of the Union, under the sacred ensign of the Constitution. + +Thus at last was the crowning work of Washington accomplished. Out of +the tempests of war, and the tumults of civil commotion, the ages bore +their fruit, and the long yearning of humanity was answered. "Rome to +America" is the eloquent inscription on one stone contributed to yon +colossal shaft--taken from the ancient Temple of Peace that once stood +hard by the palace of the Cæsars. Uprisen from the sea of revolution, +fabricated from the ruins of the battered Bastiles, and dismantled +palaces of unhallowed power, stood forth now the Republic of republics, +the Nation of nations, the Constitution of constitutions, to which all +lands and times and tongues had contributed of their wisdom. And the +priestess of Liberty was in her holy temple. + +When Salamis had been fought and Greece again kept free, each of the +victorious generals voted himself to be first in honor; but all agreed +that Themistocles was second. When the most memorable struggle for the +rights of human nature, of which time holds record, was thus happily +concluded in the muniment of their preservation, whoever else was +second, unanimous acclaim declared that Washington was first. Nor in +that struggle alone does he stand foremost. In the name of the people of +the United States, their president, their senators, their +representatives, and their judges, do crown to-day with the grandest +crown that veneration has ever lifted to the brow of glory, him, whom +Virginia gave to America, whom America has given to the world and to the +ages, and whom mankind with universal suffrage has proclaimed the +foremost of the founders of empire in the first degree of greatness; +whom Liberty herself has anointed as the first citizen in the great +Republic of Humanity. + +Encompassed by the inviolate seas stands to-day the American Republic +which he founded--a freer Greater Britain--uplifted above the powers and +principalities of the earth, even as his monument is uplifted over roof +and dome and spire of the multitudinous city. + +Long live the Republic of Washington! Respected by mankind, beloved of +all its sons, long may it be the asylum of the poor and oppressed of all +lands and religions--long may it be the citadel of that liberty which +writes beneath the eagle's folded wings, "We will sell to no man, we +will deny to no man, Right and Justice." + +Long live the United States of America! Filled with the free, +magnanimous spirit, crowned by the wisdom, blessed by the moderation, +hovered over by the guardian angel of Washington's example; may they be +ever worthy in all things to be defended by the blood of the brave who +know the rights of man and shrink not from their assertion--may they be +each a column, and altogether, under the Constitution, a perpetual +Temple of Peace, unshadowed by a Cæsar's palace, at whose altar may +freely commune all who seek the union of Liberty and Brotherhood. + +Long live our Country! Oh, long through the undying ages may it stand, +far removed in fact as in space from the Old World's feuds and follies, +alone in its grandeur and its glory, itself the immortal monument of him +whom Providence commissioned to teach man the power of Truth, and to +prove to the nations that their Redeemer liveth. + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN + + Lecture by Henry Watterson, journalist and orator, editor of the + Louisville, Ky., _Courier Journal_ since 1868. This lecture was + originally delivered before the Lincoln Club of Chicago, February + 12, 1895, and subsequently repeated on many platforms as a lecture. + It has been heard in all parts of the country, but nowhere, with + livelier demonstrations of approval than in the cities of the South + "from Richmond and Charleston to New Orleans and Galveston." + + +The statesmen in knee breeches and powdered wigs who signed the +Declaration of Independence and framed the Constitution--the soldiers in +blue-and-buff, top-boots and epaulets who led the armies of the +Revolution--were what we are wont to describe as gentlemen. They were +English gentlemen. They were not all, nor even generally, scions of the +British aristocracy; but they came, for the most part, of good +Anglo-Saxon and Scotch-Irish stock. + +The shoe buckle and the ruffled shirt worked a spell peculiarly their +own. They carried with them an air of polish and authority. Hamilton, +though of obscure birth and small stature, is represented by those who +knew him to have been dignity and grace personified; and old Ben +Franklin, even in woolen hose, and none too courtier-like, was the +delight of the great nobles and fine ladies, in whose company he made +himself as much at home as though he had been born a marquis. + +The first half of the Republic's first half century of existence the +public men of America, distinguished for many things, were chiefly and +almost universally distinguished for repose of bearing and sobriety of +behavior. It was not until the institution of African slavery had got +into politics as a vital force that Congress became a bear-garden, and +that our law-makers, laying aside their manners with their small +clothes, fell into the loose-fitting habiliments of modern fashion and +the slovenly jargon of partisan controversy. The gentlemen who signed +the Declaration and framed the Constitution were succeeded by +gentlemen--much like themselves--but these were succeeded by a race of +party leaders much less decorous and much more self-confident; rugged, +puissant; deeply moved in all that they said and did, and sometimes +turbulent; so that finally, when the volcano burst forth flames that +reached the heavens, great human bowlders appeared amid the glare on +every side; none of them much to speak of according to rules regnant at +St. James and Versailles; but vigorous, able men, full of their mission +and of themselves, and pulling for dear life in opposite directions. + +There were Seward and Sumner and Chase, Corwin and Ben Wade, Trumbull +and Fessenden, Hale and Collamer and Grimes, and Wendell Phillips, and +Horace Greeley, our latter-day Franklin. There were Toombs and Hammond, +and Slidell and Wigfall, and the two little giants, Douglas and +Stephens, and Yancey and Mason, and Jefferson Davis. With them soft +words buttered no parsnips, and they cared little how many pitchers +might be broken by rude ones. The issue between them did not require a +diagram to explain it. It was so simple a child might understand. It +read, human slavery against human freedom, slave labor against free +labor, and involved a conflict as inevitable as it was irrepressible. + +Greek was meeting Greek at last; and the field of politics became almost +as sulphurous and murky as an actual field of battle. Amid the noise and +confusion, the clashing of intellects like sabers bright, and the +booming of the big oratorical guns of the North and the South, now +definitely arrayed, there came one day into the Northern camp one of the +oddest figures imaginable; the figure of a man who, in spite of an +appearance somewhat at outs with Hogarth's line of beauty, wore a +serious aspect, if not an air of command, and, pausing to utter a single +sentence that might be heard above the din, passed on and for a moment +disappeared. + +The sentence was pregnant with meaning. The man bore a commission from +God on high! He said: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I +believe this Government cannot endure permanently half free and half +slave. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the +house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided." He was +Abraham Lincoln. + +How shall I describe him to you? Shall I do so as he appeared to me, +when I first saw him immediately on his arrival in the national capital, +the chosen president of the United States, his appearance quite as +strange as the story of his life, which was then but half known and half +told, or shall I use the words of another and a more graphic +wordpainter? + +In January, 1861, Colonel A. K. McClure, of Pennsylvania, journeyed to +Springfield, Illinois, to meet and confer with the man he had done so +much to elect, but whom he had never personally known. "I went directly +from the depot to Lincoln's house," says Colonel McClure, "and rang the +bell, which was answered by Lincoln, himself, opening the door. I doubt +whether I wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting him. Tall, +gaunt, ungainly, ill-clad, with a homeliness of manner that was unique +in itself, I confess that my heart sank within me as I remembered that +this was the man chosen by a great nation to become its ruler in the +gravest period of its history. I remember his dress as if it were but +yesterday--snuff-colored and slouchy pantaloons; open black vest, held +by a few brass buttons; straight or evening dress coat, with tightly +fitting sleeves to exaggerate his long, bony arms, all supplemented by +an awkwardness that was uncommon among men of intelligence. Such was the +picture I met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We sat down in his +plainly furnished parlor and were uninterrupted during the nearly four +hours I remained with him, and little by little, as his earnestness, +sincerity, and candor were developed in conversation, I forgot all the +grotesque qualities which so confounded me when I first greeted him. +Before half an hour had passed I learned not only to respect, but, +indeed, to reverence the man." + +A graphic portrait, truly, and not unlike. I recall him, two months +later, a little less uncouth, a little better dressed, but in +singularity and in angularity much the same. All the world now takes an +interest in every detail that concerned him, or that relates to the +weird tragedy of his life and death. + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861] + +And who was this peculiar being, destined in his mother's arms--for +cradle he had none--so profoundly to affect the future of humankind? He +has told us, himself, in words so simple and unaffected, so idiomatic +and direct, that we can neither misread them, nor improve upon them. +Writing, in 1859, to one who had asked him for some biographic +particulars, Abraham Lincoln said:-- + + "I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My + parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished + families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who + died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My + paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham + County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or + two later, he was killed by the Indians, not in battle, but by + stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. + + "My father (Thomas Lincoln) at the death of his father was but six + years of age. By the early death of his father, and the very narrow + circumstances of his mother, he was, even in childhood, a wandering + laboring boy, and grew up literally without education. He never did + more in the way of writing than bunglingly to write his own + name.... He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, + Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many + bears and other animals still in the woods.... There were some + schools, so-called, but no qualification was ever required of a + teacher beyond 'readin', writin', and cipherin' to the rule of + three.' If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened to + sojourn in the neighborhood he was looked upon as a wizard.... Of + course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I + could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three. But that was + all.... The little advance I now have upon this store of education + I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity. + + "I was raised to farm work ... till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one + I came to Illinois--Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, ... + where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came + the Black Hawk war; and I was elected captain of a volunteer + company, a success that gave me more pleasure than any I have had + since. I went into the campaign--was elated--ran for the + legislature the same year (1832), and was beaten--the only time I + ever have been beaten by the people. The next, and three succeeding + biennial elections, I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a + candidate afterward. During the legislative period I had studied + law and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was + elected to the lower house of Congress. Was not a candidate for + reëlection. From 1849 to 1854, inclusive, practiced law more + assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics, and + generally on the Whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses. I + was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri + Compromise aroused me again. + + "If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be + said that I am in height six feet four inches, nearly; lean in + flesh, weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds; dark + complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or + brands recollected." + +There is the whole story, told by himself, and brought down to the point +where he became a figure of national importance. + +His political philosophy was expounded in four elaborate speeches; one +delivered at Peoria, Illinois, the 16th of October, 1854; one at +Springfield, Illinois, the 16th of June, 1858; one at Columbus, Ohio, +the 16th of September, 1859, and one the 27th of February, 1860, at +Cooper Institute, in the city of New York. Of course Mr. Lincoln made +many speeches and very good speeches. But these four, progressive in +character, contain the sum total of his creed touching the organic +character of the Government and at the same time his party view of +contemporary issues. They show him to have been an old-line Whig of the +school of Henry Clay, with strong emancipation leanings; a thorough +anti-slavery man, but never an extremist or an abolitionist. To the last +he hewed to the line thus laid down. + +Two or three years ago I referred to Abraham Lincoln--in a casual +way--as one "inspired of God." I was taken to task for this and thrown +upon my defense. Knowing less then than I know now of Mr. Lincoln, I +confined myself to the superficial aspects of the case; to the career +of a man who seemed to have lacked the opportunity to prepare himself +for the great estate to which he had come, plucked as it were from +obscurity by a caprice of fortune. + +Accepting the doctrine of inspiration as a law of the universe, I still +stand to this belief; but I must qualify it as far as it conveys the +idea that Mr. Lincoln was not as well equipped in actual knowledge of +men and affairs as any of his contemporaries. Mr. Webster once said that +he had been preparing to make his reply to Hayne for thirty years. Mr. +Lincoln had been in unconscious training for the presidency for thirty +years. His maiden address as a candidate for the Legislature, issued at +the ripe old age of twenty-three, closes with these words: "But if the +good people in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, +I have been too familiar with disappointment to be very much chagrined." +The man who wrote that sentence, thirty years later wrote this sentence: +"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and +patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad +land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as +surely they will be, by the angels of our better nature." Between those +two sentences, joined by a kindred, somber thought, flowed a +life-current-- + + "Strong, without rage, without o'erflowing, full," + +pausing never for an instant; deepening whilst it ran, but nowise +changing its course or its tones; always the same; calm; patient; +affectionate; like one born to a destiny, and, as in a dream, feeling +its resistless force. + +It is needful to a complete understanding of Mr. Lincoln's relation to +the time and to his place in the political history of the country, that +the student peruse closely the four speeches to which I have called +attention; they underlie all that passed in the famous debate with +Douglas; all that their author said and did after he succeeded to the +presidency. They stand to-day as masterpieces of popular oratory. But +for our present purpose the debate with Douglas will suffice--the most +extraordinary intellectual spectacle the annals of our party warfare +afford. Lincoln entered the canvass unknown outside the state of +Illinois. He closed it renowned from one end of the land to the other. + +In that great debate it was Titan against Titan; and, perusing it after +the lapse of forty years, the philosophic and impartial critic will +conclude which got the better of it, Lincoln or Douglas, much according +to his sympathy with the one or the other. Douglas, as I have said, had +the disadvantage of riding an ebb tide. But Lincoln encountered a +disadvantage in riding a flood tide, which was flowing too fast for a +man so conservative and so honest as he was. Thus there was not a little +equivocation on both sides foreign to the nature of the two. Both wanted +to be frank. Both thought they were being frank. But each was a little +afraid of his own logic; each was a little afraid of his own following; +and hence there was considerable hair splitting, involving accusations +that did not accuse and denials that did not deny. They were +politicians, these two, as well as statesmen; they were politicians, and +what they did not know about political campaigning was hardly worth +knowing. Reverently, I take off my hat to both of them; and I turn down +the page; I close the book and lay it on its shelf, with the inward +ejaculation, "There were giants in those days." + +I am not undertaking to deliver an oral biography of Abraham Lincoln, +and shall pass over the events which quickly led up to his nomination +and election to the presidency in 1860. + +I met the newly elected president the afternoon of the day in the early +morning of which he had arrived in Washington. It was a Saturday, I +think. He came to the capitol under Mr. Seward's escort, and, among the +rest, I was presented to him. His appearance did not impress me as +fantastically as it had impressed Colonel McClure. I was more familiar +with the Western type than Colonel McClure, and, whilst Mr. Lincoln was +certainly not an Adonis, even after prairie ideals, there was about him +a dignity that commanded respect. + +I met him again the forenoon of the 4th of March in his apartment at +Willard's Hotel as he was preparing to start to his inauguration, and +was touched by his unaffected kindness; for I came with a matter +requiring his immediate attention. He was entirely self-possessed; no +trace of nervousness; and very obliging. I accompanied the cortege that +passed from the senate chamber to the east portico of the capitol, and, +as Mr. Lincoln removed his hat to face the vast multitude in front and +below, I extended my hand to receive it, but Judge Douglas, just beside +me, reached over my outstretched arm and took the hat, holding it +throughout the delivery of the inaugural address. I stood near enough to +the speaker's elbow not to obstruct any gestures he might make, though +he made but few; and then it was that I began to comprehend something of +the power of the man. + +He delivered that inaugural address as if he had been delivering +inaugural addresses all his life. Firm, resonant, earnest, it announced +the coming of a man; of a leader of men; and in its ringing tones and +elevated style, the gentlemen he had invited to become members of his +political family--each of whom thought himself a bigger man than his +master--might have heard the voice and seen the hand of a man born to +command. Whether they did or not, they very soon ascertained the fact. +From the hour Abraham Lincoln crossed the threshold of the White House +to the hour he went thence to his death, there was not a moment when he +did not dominate the political and military situation and all his +official subordinates. + +Always courteous, always tolerant, always making allowance, yet always +explicit, his was the master-spirit, his the guiding hand; committing to +each of the members of his cabinet the details of the work of his own +department; caring nothing for petty sovereignty; but reserving to +himself all that related to great policies, the starting of moral forces +and the moving of organized ideas. + +I want to say just here a few words about Mr. Lincoln's relation to the +South and the people of the South. + +He was, himself, a Southern man. He and all his tribe were Southerners. +Although he left Kentucky when but a child, he was an old child; he +never was very young; and he grew to manhood in a Kentucky colony; for +what was Illinois in those days but a Kentucky colony, grown since +somewhat out of proportion? He was in no sense what we in the South used +to call "a poor white." Awkward, perhaps; ungainly, perhaps, but +aspiring; the spirit of a hero beneath that rugged exterior; the soul of +a prose poet behind those heavy brows; the courage of a lion back of +those patient, kindly aspects; and, long before he was of legal age, a +leader. His first love was a Rutledge; his wife was a Todd. Let the +romancist tell the story of his romance. I dare not. No sadder idyl can +be found in all the short and simple annals of the poor. + +We know that he was a prose poet; for have we not that immortal prose +poem recited at Gettysburg? We know that he was a statesman; for has not +time vindicated his conclusions? But the South does not know, except as +a kind of hearsay, that he was a friend; the one friend who had the +power and the will to save it from itself. He was the one man in public +life who could have come to the head of affairs in 1861 bringing with +him none of the embittered resentments growing out of the anti-slavery +battle. Whilst Seward, Chase, Sumner and the rest had been engaged in +hand-to-hand combat with the Southern leaders at Washington, Lincoln, a +philosopher and a statesman, had been observing the course of events +from afar, and like a philosopher and a statesman. The direst blow that +could have been laid upon the prostrate South was delivered by the +assassin's bullet that struck him down. + +But I digress. Throughout the contention that preceded the war, amid the +passions that attended the war itself, not one bitter, proscriptive word +escaped the lips of Abraham Lincoln, whilst there was hardly a day that +he was not projecting his great personality between some Southern man or +woman and danger. + +Under the date of February 2, 1848, and from the hall of the House of +Representatives at Washington, whilst he was serving as a member of +Congress, I find this short note to his law partner at Springfield:-- + + "DEAR WILLIAM: I take up my pen to tell you that Mr. Stephens, of + Georgia, a little, slim, pale-faced, consumptive man, with a voice + like Logan's (that was Stephen T., not John A.), has just concluded + the very best speech of an hour's length I ever heard. My old, + withered, dry eyes (he was then not quite thirty-seven years of + age) are full of tears yet." + +From that time forward he never ceased to love Stephens, of Georgia. + +After that famous Hampton Roads conference, when the Confederate +commissioners, Stephens, Campbell, and Hunter, had traversed the field +of official routine with Mr. Lincoln, the president, and Mr. Seward, the +secretary of state, Lincoln, the friend, still the old Whig colleague, +though one was now president of the United States and the other +vice-president of the Southern Confederacy, took the "slim, pale-faced, +consumptive man" aside, and, pointing to a sheet of paper he held in his +hand, said: "Stephens, let me write 'Union' at the top of that page, and +you may write below it whatever else you please." + +In the preceding conversation Mr. Lincoln had intimated that payment for +the slaves was not outside a possible agreement for reunion and peace. +He based that statement upon a plan he already had in hand, to +appropriate four hundred millions of dollars to this purpose. + +There are those who have put themselves to the pains of challenging this +statement of mine. It admits of no possible equivocation. Mr. Lincoln +carried with him to Fortress Monroe two documents that still stand in +his own handwriting; one of them a joint resolution to be passed by the +two houses of Congress appropriating the four hundred millions, the +other a proclamation to be issued by himself, as president, when the +joint resolution had been passed. These formed no part of the discussion +at Hampton Roads, because Mr. Stephens told Mr. Lincoln they were +limited to treating upon the basis of the recognition of the +Confederacy, and to all intents and purposes the conference died before +it was actually born. But Mr. Lincoln was so filled with the idea that +next day, when he had returned to Washington, he submitted the two +documents to the members of his cabinet. Excepting Mr. Seward, they were +all against him. He said: "Why, gentlemen, how long is the war going to +last? It is not going to end this side of a hundred days, is it? It is +costing us four millions a day. There are the four hundred millions, not +counting the loss of life and property in the meantime. But you are all +against me, and I will not press the matter upon you." I have not cited +this fact of history to attack, or even to criticize, the policy of the +Confederate Government, but simply to illustrate the wise magnanimity +and justice of the character of Abraham Lincoln. For my part I rejoice +that the war did not end at Fortress Monroe--or any other +conference--but that it was fought out to its bitter and logical +conclusion at Appomattox. + +It was the will of God that there should be, as God's own prophet had +promised, "a new birth of freedom," and this could only be reached by +the obliteration of the very idea of slavery. God struck Lincoln down in +the moment of his triumph, to attain it; He blighted the South to attain +it. But He did attain it. And here we are this night to attest it. God's +will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven. But let no Southern man +point finger at me because I canonize Abraham Lincoln, for he was the +one friend we had at court when friends were most in need; he was the +one man in power who wanted to preserve us intact, to save us from the +wolves of passion and plunder that stood at our door; and as that God, +of whom it has been said that "whom He loveth He chasteneth," meant that +the South should be chastened, Lincoln was put out of the way by the +bullet of an assassin, having neither lot nor parcel, North or South, +but a winged emissary of fate, flown from the shadows of the mystic +world, which Æschylus and Shakespeare created and consecrated to +tragedy! + +I sometimes wonder shall we ever attain a journalism sufficiently +upright in its treatment of current events to publish fully and fairly +the utterances of our public men, and, except in cases of provable +dishonor, to leave their motives and their personalities alone? + +Reading just what Abraham Lincoln did say and did do, it is +inconceivable how such a man could have aroused antagonism so bitter and +abuse so savage, to fall at last by the hand of an assassin. + +We boast our superior civilization and our enlightened freedom of +speech; and yet, how few of us--when a strange voice begins to utter +unfamiliar or unpalatable things--how few of us stop and ask ourselves, +may not this man be speaking the truth after all? It is so easy to call +names. It is so easy to impugn motives. It is so easy to misrepresent +opinions we cannot answer. From the least to the greatest what creatures +we are of party spirit, and yet, for the most part, how small its aims, +how imperfect its instruments, how disappointing its conclusions! + +One thinks now that the world in which Abraham Lincoln lived might have +dealt more gently by such a man. He was himself so gentle--so upright in +nature and so broad of mind--so sunny and so tolerant in temper--so +simple and so unaffected in bearing--a rude exterior covering an +undaunted spirit, proving by his every act and word that-- + + "The bravest are the tenderest, + The loving are the daring." + +Though he was a party leader, he was a typical and patriotic American, +in whom even his enemies might have found something to respect and +admire. But it could not be so. He committed one grievous offense; he +dared to think and he was not afraid to speak; he was far in advance of +his party and his time; and men are slow to forgive what they do not +readily understand. + +Yet, all the while that the waves of passion were dashing over his +sturdy figure, reared above the dead-level, as a lone oak upon a sandy +beach, not one harsh word rankled in his heart to sour the milk of human +kindness that, like a perennial spring from the gnarled roots of some +majestic tree, flowed within him. He would smooth over a rough place in +his official intercourse with a funny story fitting the case in point, +and they called him a trifler. He would round off a logical argument +with a familiar example, hitting the nail squarely on the head and +driving it home, and they called him a buffoon. Big wigs and little wigs +were agreed that he lowered the dignity of debate; as if debates were +intended to mystify, and not to clarify truth. Yet he went on and on, +and never backward, until his time was come, when his genius, fully +developed, rose to the great exigencies intrusted to his hands. Where +did he get his style? Ask Shakespeare and Burns where they got their +style. Where did he get his grasp upon affairs and his knowledge of men? +Ask the Lord God who created miracles in Luther and Bonaparte! + +What was the mysterious power of this mysterious man, and whence? + +His was the genius of common sense; of common sense in action; of common +sense in thought; of common sense enriched by experience and unhindered +by fear. "He was a common man," says his friend Joshua Speed, "expanded +into giant proportions; well acquainted with the people, he placed his +hand on the beating pulse of the nation, judged of its disease, and was +ready with a remedy." Inspired he was truly, as Shakespeare was +inspired; as Mozart was inspired; as Burns was inspired; each, like him, +sprung directly from the people. + +I look into the crystal globe that, slowly turning, tells the story of +his life, and I see a little heart broken boy, weeping by the +outstretched form of a dead mother, then bravely, nobly trudging a +hundred miles to obtain her Christian burial. I see this motherless lad +growing to manhood amid the scenes that seem to lead to nothing but +abasement; no teachers; no books; no chart, except his own untutored +mind; no compass, except his own undisciplined will; no light, save +light from Heaven; yet, like the caravel of Columbus, struggling on and +on through the trough of the sea, always toward the destined land. I see +the full-grown man, stalwart and brave, an athlete in activity of +movement and strength of limb, yet vexed by weird dreams and visions; of +life, of love, of religion, sometimes verging on despair. I see the +mind, grown as robust as the body, throw off these phantoms of the +imagination and give itself wholly to the work-a-day uses of the world; +the rearing of children; the earning of bread; the multiplied duties of +life. I see the party leader, self-confident in conscious rectitude; +original, because it was not his nature to follow; potent, because he +was fearless, pursuing his convictions with earnest zeal, and urging +them upon his fellows with the resources of an oratory which was hardly +more impressive than it was many-sided. I see him, the preferred among +his fellows, ascend the eminence reserved for him, and him alone of all +the statesmen of the time, amid the derision of opponents and the +distrust of supporters, yet unawed and unmoved, because thoroughly +equipped to meet the emergency. The same being, from first to last; the +poor child weeping over a dead mother; the great chief sobbing amid the +cruel horrors of war; flinching not from duty, nor changing his +life-long ways of dealing with the stern realities which pressed upon +him and hurried him onward. And, last scene of all, that ends this +strange, eventful history, I see him lying dead there in the capitol of +the nation, to which he had rendered "the last, full measure of his +devotion," the flag of his country around him, the world in mourning, +and, asking myself how could any man have hated that man, I ask you, how +can any man refuse his homage to his memory? Surely, he was one of God's +elect; not in any sense a creature of circumstance, or accident. +Recurring to the doctrine of inspiration, I say again and again, he was +inspired of God, and I cannot see how any one who believes in that +doctrine can regard him as anything else. + +From Cæsar to Bismarck and Gladstone the world has had its statesmen and +its soldiers--men who rose to eminence and power step by step, through a +series of geometric progression as it were, each advancement following +in regular order one after the other, the whole obedient to +well-established and well-understood laws of cause and effect. They were +not what we call "men of destiny." They were "men of the time." They +were men whose careers had a beginning, a middle and an end, rounding +off lives with histories, full it may be of interesting and exciting +event, but comprehensive and comprehensible; simple, clear, complete. + +The inspired ones are fewer. Whence their emanation, where and how they +got their power, by what rule they lived, moved and had their being, we +know not. There is no explication to their lives. They rose from shadow +and they went in mist. We see them, feel them, but we know them not. +They came, God's word upon their lips; they did their office, God's +mantle about them; and they vanished, God's holy light between the world +and them, leaving behind a memory, half mortal and half myth. From first +to last they were the creations of some special Providence, baffling the +wit of man to fathom, defeating the machinations of the world, the flesh +and the devil, until their work was done, then passing from the scene as +mysteriously as they had come upon it. + +Tried by this standard, where shall we find an example so impressive as +Abraham Lincoln, whose career might be chanted by a Greek chorus as at +once the prelude and the epilogue of the most imperial theme of modern +times? + +Born as lowly as the Son of God, in a hovel; reared in penury, squalor, +with no gleam of light or fair surrounding; without graces, actual or +acquired; without name or fame or official training; it was reserved +for this strange being, late in life, to be snatched from obscurity, +raised to supreme command at a supreme moment, and intrusted with the +destiny of a nation. + +The great leaders of his party, the most experienced and accomplished +public men of the day, were made to stand aside; were sent to the rear, +whilst this fantastic figure was led by unseen hands to the front and +given the reins of power. It is immaterial whether we were for him, or +against him; wholly immaterial. That, during four years, carrying with +them such a weight of responsibility as the world never witnessed +before, he filled the vast space allotted him in the eyes and actions of +mankind, is to say that he was inspired of God, for nowhere else could +he have acquired the wisdom and the virtue. + +Where did Shakespeare get his genius? Where did Mozart get his music? +Whose hand smote the lyre of the Scottish plowman, and stayed the life +of the German priest? God, God, and God alone; and as surely as these +were raised up by God, inspired by God, was Abraham Lincoln; and a +thousand years hence, no drama, no tragedy, no epic poem will be filled +with greater wonder, or be followed by mankind with deeper feeling than +that which tells the story of his life and death. + + + + +SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS + + Delivered by Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865, on the occasion of his + second inauguration as president of the United States. + + +FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:--At this second appearing to take the oath of the +presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than +there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a +course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration +of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly +called forth on every point and phase of the great contest, which still +absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little +that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all +else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and +it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With +high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. + +On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were +anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it--all sought +to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this +place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent +agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to +dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties +deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the +nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it +perish. And the war came. + +One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed +generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. +These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that +this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, +perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which insurgents +would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right +to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. + +Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which +it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the +conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should +cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental +and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and +each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men +should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from +the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not +judged. The prayers of both could not be answered--that of neither has +been answered fully. + +The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of +offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man +by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery +is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs +come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now +wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this +terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we +discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the +believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we +hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily +pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled +by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be +sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by +another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so +still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous +altogether." + +With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the +right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the +work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who +shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan--to do all +which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves +and with all nations. + + + + +ROBERT E. LEE + + The following extracts are taken from the great lecture[4] of E. + Benjamin Andrews on "Robert E. Lee." Dr. Andrews was president of + Brown University 1889-1898, superintendent of the Public Schools of + Chicago 1898-1900, chancellor of the University of Nebraska + 1900-1908, and since 1909 has been chancellor emeritus of that + institution. He served as a private, and later as second lieutenant + in the Union army during the Civil War. He was wounded at + Petersburg, losing an eye. Probably no better characterization or + higher tribute has ever been made of Robert E. Lee than that by Dr. + Andrews in this lecture which was as enthusiastically received by + the Union veterans of the North as by the Confederate veterans of + the South; for, as Dr. Andrews says in his tribute to Lee, "None + are prouder of his record than those who fought against him, who + while recognizing the purity of his motive, thought him in error in + going from under the stars and stripes." + + +Robert Edward Lee had perhaps a more illustrious traceable lineage than +any American not of his family. His ancestor, Lionel Lee, crossed the +English Channel with William the Conqueror. Another scion of the clan +fought beside Richard the Lion-hearted at Acre in the Third Crusade. To +Richard Lee, the great land owner on Northern Neck, the Virginia Colony +was much indebted for royal recognition. His grandson, Henry Lee, was +the grandfather of "Light-horse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary fame, who +was the father of Robert Edward Lee. + +Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807, in Westmoreland County, Va., +the same county that gave to the world George Washington and James +Monroe. Though he was fatherless at eleven, the father's blood in him +inclined him to the profession of arms, and when eighteen,--in 1825,--on +an appointment obtained for him by General Andrew Jackson, he entered +the Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1829, being second +in rank in a class of forty-six. Among his classmates were two men whom +one delights to name with him--Ormsby M. Mitchel, later a general in the +Federal army, and Joseph E. Johnston, the famous Confederate. Lee was at +once made Lieutenant of Engineers, but, till the Mexican War, attained +only a captaincy. This was conferred on him in 1838. + +In 1831 Lee had been married to Miss Mary Randolph Custis, the grand +daughter of Mrs. George Washington. By this marriage he became possessor +of the beautiful estate at Arlington, opposite Washington, his home till +the Civil War. The union, blessed by seven children, was in all respects +most happy. + +In his prime Lee was spoken of as the handsomest man in the army. He was +about six feet high, perfectly built, healthy, fond of outdoor life, +enthusiastic in his profession, gentle, dignified, studious, +broad-minded, and positively, though unobtrusively, religious. If he had +faults, which those nearest him doubted, they were excess of modesty and +excess of tenderness. + +During the Mexican War, Captain Lee directed all the most important +engineering operations of the American army--a work vital to its +wonderful success. Already at the siege of Vera Cruz, General Scott +mentioned him as having "greatly distinguished himself." He was +prominent in all the operations thence to Cerro Gordo, where, in April, +1847, he was brevetted major. Both at Contreras and at Churubusco he was +credited with gallant and meritorious services. At the charge up +Chapultepec, in which Joseph E. Johnston, George B. McClellan, George E. +Pickett, and Thomas J. Jackson participated, Lee bore Scott's orders to +all points until from loss of blood by a wound, and from the loss of two +nights' sleep at the batteries, he actually fainted away in the +discharge of his duty. Such ability and devotion brought him home from +Mexico bearing the brevet rank of colonel. General Scott had learned to +think of him as "the greatest military genius in America." + +In 1852 Lee was made superintendent of the West Point Military Academy. +In 1855 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of Col. Albert Sidney +Johnston's new cavalry regiment, just raised to serve in Texas. March, +1861, saw him colonel of the First United States Cavalry. With the +possible exception of the two Johnstons, he was now the most promising +candidate for General Scott's position whenever that venerable hero +vacated it, as he was sure to do soon. + +Lee was a Virginian, and Virginia, about to secede and at length +seceding, in most earnest tones besought her distinguished son to join +her. It seemed to him the call of duty, and that call, as he understood +it, was one which it was not in him to disobey. President Lincoln knew +the value of the man, and sent Frank Blair to him to say that if he +would abide by the Union he should soon command the whole active army. +That would probably have meant his election, in due time, to the +presidency of his country. "For God's sake don't resign, Lee!" General +Scott--himself a Virginian--is said to have pleaded. He replied: "I am +compelled to; I cannot consult my own feelings in the matter." +Accordingly, three days after Virginia passed its ordinance of +secession, Lee sent to Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, his resignation +as an officer in the United States army. + +Few at the North were able to understand the secession movement, most +denying that a man at once thoughtful and honorable could join in it. So +centralized had the North by 1861 become in all social and economic +particulars, that centrality in government was taken as a matter of +course. Representing this, the nation was deemed paramount to any state. +Governmental sovereignty, like travel and trade, had come to ignore +state lines. The whole idea and feeling of state sovereignty, once as +potent North as South, had vanished and been forgotten. + +Far otherwise at the South, where, owing to the great size of states and +to the paucity of railways and telegraphs, interstate association was +not yet a force. Each state, being in square miles ample enough for an +empire, retained to a great extent the consciousness of an independent +nation. The state was near and palpable; the central government seemed +a vague and distant thing. Loyalty was conceived as binding one +primarily to one's own state. + +It is a misconception to explain this feeling--for in most cases it was +feeling rather than reasoned conviction--by Calhoun's teaching. It +resulted from geography and history, and, these factors working as they +did, would have been what it was had Calhoun never lived. These +considerations explain how Colonel Lee, certainly one of the most +conscientious men who ever lived, felt bound in duty and honor to side +with seceding Virginia, though he doubted the wisdom of her course. + +Most striking among the characteristics of General Lee which made him so +successful was his exalted and unmatched excellence as a man, his +unselfishness, sweetness, gentleness, patience, love of justice, and +general elevation of soul. Lee much loved to quote Sir William +Hamilton's words: "On earth nothing great but man: in man nothing great +but mind." He always added, however: "In mind nothing great save +devotion to truth and duty." Though a soldier, and at last very eminent +as a soldier, he retained from the beginning to the end of his career +the entire temper and character of an ideal civilian. He did not sink +the man in the military man. He had all a soldier's virtues, the +"chevalier without fear and without reproach," but he was glorified by a +whole galaxy of excellences which soldiers too often lack. He was pure +of speech and of habit, never intemperate, never obscene, never profane, +never irreverent. In domestic life he was an absolute model. Lofty +command did not make him vain. + +[Illustration: ROBERT E. LEE] + +That Lee was brave need not be said. He was not as rash as Hood and +Cleburne sometimes were. He knew the value of his life to the great +cause, and, usually at least, did not expose himself needlessly. +Prudence he had, but no fear. His resolution to lead the charge at the +Bloody Angle--rashness at once--shows fearlessness. Tender-hearted as he +was, Lee felt battle frenzy as hardly another great commander ever did. +From him it spread like magnetism to his officers and men, thrilling all +as if the chief himself were close by in the fray, shouting, "Now fight, +my good fellows, fight!" Yet such was Lee's self-command that this ardor +never carried him too far. + +But Lee possessed another order of courage infinitely higher and rarer +than this--the sort so often lacking even in generals who have served +with utmost distinction in high subordinate places, when they are called +to the sole and decisive direction of armies: he had that royal mettle, +that preternatural decision of character, ever tempered with caution and +wisdom, which leads a great commander, when true occasion arises, +resolutely to give general battle, or a swing out away from his base +upon a precarious but promising campaign. Here you have moral heroism; +ordinary valor is more impulsive. A weaker man, albeit total stranger to +fear, ready to lead his division or his corps into the very mouth of +hell, if commanded, being set himself to direct an army, will be either +rash or else too timid, or fidget from one extreme to the other, losing +all. + +It was in this supreme kind of boldness that Robert Lee preëminently +excelled. Cautious always, he still took risks and responsibilities +which common generals would not have dared to take, and when he had +assumed these, his mighty will forbade him to sink under the load. The +braying of bitter critics, the obloquy of men who should have supported +him, the shots from behind, dismayed him no more than did Burnside's +cannon at Fredericksburg. On he pressed, stout as a Titan, relentless as +fate. What time bravest hearts failed at victory's delay, this +Dreadnaught rose to his best, and furnished courage for the whole +Confederacy. + +In a sense, of course, the cause for which Lee fought was "lost"; yet a +very great part of what he and his _confreres_ sought, the war actually +secured and assured. His cause was not "lost" as Hannibal's was, whose +country, with its institutions, spite of his genius and devotion, +utterly perished from the earth. Yet Hannibal is remembered more widely +than Scipio. Were Lee in the same case with Hannibal, men would magnify +his name as long as history is read. "Of illustrious men," says +Thucydides, "the whole earth is the sepulcher. They are immortalized not +alone by columns and inscriptions in their own lands; memorials to them +rise in foreign countries as well--not of stone, it may be, but +unwritten, in the thoughts of posterity." + +Lee's case resembles Cromwell's much more than Hannibal's. The _regime_ +against which Cromwell warred returned in spite of him; but it returned +modified, involving all the reforms for which the chieftain had bled. So +the best of what Lee drew sword for is here in our actual America, and, +please God, shall remain here forever. + +Decisions of the United States Supreme Court since Secession gave a +sweep and a certainty to the rights of states and limit the central +power in this republic as had never been done before. The wild doctrines +of Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens on these points are not our law. If the +Union is perpetual, equally so is each state. The republic is "an +indestructible Union of indestructible states." If this part of our law +had in 1861 received its present definition and emphasis, and if the +Southern States had then been sure, come what might, of the freedom they +actually now enjoy each to govern itself in its own way, even South +Carolina might never have voted secession. And inasmuch as the war, +better than aught else could have done, forced this phase of the +Constitution out into clear expression, General Lee did not fight in +vain. The essential good he wished has come, while the republic with its +priceless benedictions to us all remains intact. All Americans thus have +part in Robert Lee, not only as a peerless man and soldier, but as the +sturdy miner, sledge-hammering the rock of our liberties till it give +forth its gold. None are prouder of his record than those who fought +against him, who, while recognizing the purity of his motive, thought +him in error in going from under the stars and stripes. It is likely +that more American hearts day by day think lovingly of Lee than of any +other Civil War celebrity save Lincoln alone. And his praise will +increase. + + + + +OUR REUNITED COUNTRY + + Speech of Clark Howell at the Peace Jubilee Banquet in Chicago, + October 19, 1898, in response to the toast "Our Reunited Country: + North and South." + + +MR. TOASTMASTER, AND MY FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:--In the mountains of my +state, in a county remote from the quickening touch of commerce, and +railroads and telegraphs--so far removed that the sincerity of its +rugged people flows unpolluted from the spring of nature--two +vine-covered mounds, nestling in the solemn silence of a country +churchyard, suggest the text of my response to the sentiment to which I +am to speak to-night. A serious text, Mr. Toastmaster, for an occasion +like this, and yet out of it there is life and peace and hope and +prosperity, for in the solemn sacrifice of the voiceless grave can the +chiefest lesson of the Republic be learned, and the destiny of its real +mission be unfolded. So, bear with me while I lead you to the +rust-stained slab, which for a third of a century--since +Chickamauga--has been kissed by the sun as it peeped over the Blue +Ridge, melting the tears with which the mourning night had bedewed the +inscription:-- + + "Here lies a Confederate soldier. + He died for his country." + +The September day which brought the body of this mountain hero to that +home among the hills which had smiled upon his infancy, been gladdened +by his youth, and strengthened by his manhood, was an ever memorable +one with the sorrowing concourse of friends and neighbors who followed +his shot-riddled body to the grave. And of that number no man gainsaid +the honor of his death, lacked full loyalty to the flag for which he +fought, or doubted the justice of the cause for which he gave his life. + +Thirty-five years have passed; another war has called its roll of +martyrs; again the old bell tolls from the crude latticed tower of the +settlement church; another great pouring of sympathetic humanity, and +this time the body of a son, wrapped in the stars and stripes, is +lowered to its everlasting rest beside that of the father who sleeps in +the stars and bars. + +There were those there who stood by the grave of the Confederate hero +years before, and the children of those were there, and of those present +no one gainsaid the honor of the death of this hero of El Caney, and +none were there but loved, as patriots alone can love, the glorious flag +that enshrines the people of a common country as it enshrouds the form +that will sleep forever in its blessed folds. And on this tomb will be +written: + + "Here lies the son of a Confederate soldier, + He died for his country." + +And so it is that between the making of these two graves human hands and +human hearts have reached a solution of the vexed problem that has +baffled human will and human thought for three decades. Sturdy sons of +the South have said to their brothers of the North that the people of +the South had long since accepted the arbitrament of the sword to which +they had appealed. And likewise the oft-repeated message has come back +from the North that peace and good will reigned, and that the wounds of +civil dissention were but as sacred memories. Good fellowship was wafted +on the wings of commerce and development from those who had worn the +blue to those who had worn the gray. Nor were these messages delivered +in vain, for they served to pave the way for the complete and absolute +elimination of the line of sectional differences by the only process by +which such a result was possible. The sentiment of the great majority of +the people of the South was rightly spoken in the message of the +immortal Hill, and in the burning eloquence of Henry Grady--both +Georgians--the record of whose blessed work for the restoration of peace +between the sections becomes a national heritage, and whose names are +stamped in enduring impress upon the affection of the people of the +Republic. + +And yet there were still those among us who believed your course was +polite, but insincere, and those among you who assumed that our +professed attitude was sentimental and unreal. Bitterness had departed, +and sectional hate was no more, but there were those who feared, even if +they did not believe, that between the great sections of our greater +government there was not the perfect faith and trust and love that both +professed; that there was want of the faith that made the American +Revolution a successful possibility; that that there was want of the +trust that crystallized our States into the original Union; that there +was lack of the love that bound in unassailable strength the united +sisterhood of States that withstood the shock of Civil War. It is true +this doubt existed to a greater degree abroad than at home. But to-day +the mist of uncertainty has been swept away by the sunlight of events, +and there, where doubt obscured before stands in bold relief, commanding +the admiration of the whole world, the most glorious type of united +strength and sentiment and loyalty known to the history of nations. + +Out of the chaos of that civil war had risen a new nation, mighty in the +vastness of its limitless resources, the realities within its reach +surpassing the dreams of fiction, and eclipsing the fancy of fable--a +new nation, yet rosy in the flesh, with the bloom of youth upon its +cheeks and the gleam of morning in its eyes. No one questioned that +commercial and geographic union had been effected. So had Rome reunited +its faltering provinces, maintaining the limit of its imperial +jurisdiction by the power of commercial bonds and the majesty of the +sword, until in its very vastness it collapsed. The heart of its people +did not beat in unison. Nations may be made by the joining of hands, but +the measure of their real strength and vitality, like that of the human +body, is in the heart. Show me the country whose people are not at heart +in sympathy with its institutions, and the fervor of whose patriotism is +not bespoken in its flag, and I will show you a ship of state which is +sailing in shallow waters, toward unseen eddies of uncertainty, if not +to the open rocks of dismemberment. + +Whence was the proof to come, to ourselves as well as to the world, that +we were being moved once again by a common impulse, and by the same +heart that inspired and gave strength to the hands that smote the +British in the days of the Revolution, and again at New Orleans; that +made our ships the masters of the seas; that placed our flag on +Chapultepec, and widened our domain from ocean to ocean? How was the +world to know that the burning fires of patriotism, so essential to +national glory and achievement, had not been quenched by the blood +spilled by the heroes of both sides of the most desperate struggle known +in the history of civil wars? How was the doubt that stood, all +unwilling, between outstretched hands and sympathetic hearts, to be, in +fact, dispelled? + +If from out the caldron of conflict there arose this doubt, only from +the crucible of war could come the answer. And, thank God, that answer +has been made in the record of the war, the peaceful termination of +which we celebrate to-night. Read it in every page of its history; read +it in the obliteration of party and sectional lines in the congressional +action which called the nation to arms in the defense of prostrate +liberty, and for the extension of the sphere of human freedom; read it +in the conduct of the distinguished Federal soldier who, as the chief +executive of this great republic,[5] honors this occasion by his +presence to-night, and whose appointments in the first commissions +issued after war had been declared made manifest the sincerity of his +often repeated utterances of complete sectional reconciliation and the +elimination of sectional lines in the affairs of government. Differing +with him, as I do, on party issues, utterly at variance with the views +of his party on economic problems, I sanction with all my heart the +obligation that rests on every patriotic citizen to make party second to +country, and in the measure that he has been actuated by this broad and +patriotic policy he will receive the plaudits of the whole people: "Well +done, good and faithful servant." + +Portentous indeed have been the developments of the past six months; the +national domain has been extended far into the Caribbean Sea on the +south, and to the west it is so near the mainland of Asia that we can +hear grating of the process which is grinding the ancient celestial +empire into pulp for the machinery of civilization and of progress. + +But speaking as a Southerner and an American, I say that this has been +as naught compared to the greatest good this war has accomplished. +Drawing alike from all sections of the Union for her heroes and her +martyrs, depending alike upon North, South, East and West for her +glorious victories, and weeping with sympathy with the widows and the +stricken mothers wherever they may be, America, incarnated spirit of +liberty, stands again to-day the holy emblem of a household in which the +children abide in unity, equality, love and peace. The iron sledge of +war that rent asunder the links of loyalty and love has welded them +together again. Ears that were deaf to loving appeals for the burial of +sectional strife have listened and believed when the muster guns have +spoken. Hearts that were cold to calls for trust and sympathy have +awakened to loving confidence in the baptism of their blood. + +Drawing inspiration from the flag of our country, the South has shared +not only the dangers, but the glories of the war. In the death of brave +young Bagley at Cardenas, North Carolina furnished the first blood in +the tragedy. It was Victor Blue of South Carolina, who, like the Swamp +Fox of the Revolution, crossed the fiery path of the enemy at his +pleasure, and brought the first official tidings of the situation as it +existed in Cuba. It was Brumby, a Georgia boy, the flag lieutenant of +Dewey, who first raised the stars and stripes over Manila. It was +Alabama that furnished Hobson who accomplished two things the Spanish +navy never yet has done--sunk an American ship, and made a Spanish +man-of-war securely float. + +The South answered the call to arms with its heart, and its heart goes +out with that of the North in rejoicing at the result. The demonstration +lacking to give the touch of life to the picture has been made. The open +sesame that was needed to give insight into the true and loyal hearts +both North and South has been spoken. Divided by war, we are united as +never before by the same agency, and the union is of hearts as well as +hands. + +The doubter may scoff, and the pessimist may croak, but even they must +take hope at the picture presented in the simple and touching incident +of eight Grand Army veterans, with their silvery heads bowed in +sympathy, escorting the lifeless body of the Daughter of the Confederacy +from Narragansett to its last, long rest at Richmond. + +When that great and generous soldier, U. S. Grant, gave back to Lee, +crushed, but ever glorious, the sword he had surrendered at Appomattox, +that magnanimous deed said to the people of the South: "You are our +brothers." But when the present ruler of our grand republic on awakening +to the condition of war that confronted him, with his first commission +placed the leader's sword in the hands of those gallant confederate +commanders, Joe Wheeler and Fitzhugh Lee, he wrote between the lines in +living letters of everlasting light the words: "There is but one people +of this Union, one flag alone for all." + +The South, Mr. Toastmaster, will feel that her sons have been well +given, that her blood has been well spilled, if that sentiment is to be +indeed the true inspiration of our nation's future. God grant it may be +as I believe it will. + + + + +THE BLUE AND THE GRAY + + Speech of Henry Cabot Lodge, delivered at a banquet complimentary + to the Robert E. Lee Camp of Confederate Veterans, of Richmond, + Va., given in Faneuil Hall, Boston, June 17, 1887. The Southerners + were visiting Boston as the special guests of the John A. Andrew + Post 15, Department of Massachusetts, Grand Army of the Republic. + + +MR. CHAIRMAN:--To such a toast, sir, it would seem perhaps most fitting +that one of those should respond who were a part of the great event +which it recalls. Yet, after all, on an occasion like this, it may not +be amiss to call upon one who belongs to a generation to whom the +Rebellion is little more than history, and who, however insufficiently, +represents the feelings of that and the succeeding generations as to our +great Civil War. I was a boy ten years old when the troops marched away +to defend Washington, and my personal knowledge of that time is confined +to a few broken but vivid memories. I saw the troops, month after month, +pour through the streets of Boston, I saw Shaw go forth at the head of +his black regiment, and Bartlett, shattered in body but dauntless in +soul, ride by to carry what was left of him once more to the +battlefields of the republic. I saw Andrew, standing bare headed on the +steps of the state house, bid the men God speed. I cannot remember the +words he said, but I can never forget the fervid eloquence which brought +tears to the eyes and fire to the hearts of all who listened. I +understood but dimly the awful meaning of these events. To my boyish +mind one thing alone was clear, that the soldiers as they marched past +were all, in that supreme hour, heroes and patriots. Amid many changes +that simple belief of boyhood has never altered. The gratitude which I +felt then I confess to-day more strongly than ever. But other feelings +have in the progress of time altered much. I have learned, and others of +my generation as they came to man's estate have learned, what the war +really meant, and they have also learned to know and to do justice to +the men who fought the war upon the other side. + +I do not stand up in this presence to indulge in any mock +sentimentality. You brave men who wore the gray would be the first to +hold me or any other son of the North in just contempt if I should say +that, now it was all over, I thought the North was wrong and the result +of the war a mistake, and that I was prepared to suppress my political +opinions. I believe most profoundly that the war on our side was +eternally right, that our victory was the salvation of the country, and +that the results of the war were of infinite benefit to both North and +South. But however we differed, or still differ, as to the causes for +which we fought then, we accept them as settled, commit them to history, +and fight over them no more. To the men who fought the battles of the +Confederacy we hold out our hands freely, frankly, and gladly. To +courage and faith wherever shown we bow in homage with uncovered heads. +We respect and honor the gallantry and valor of the brave men who fought +against us, and who gave their lives and shed their blood in defense of +what they believed to be right. We rejoice that the famous general +whose name is borne upon your banner was one of the greatest soldiers of +modern times, because he, too, was an American. We have no bitter +memories to revive, no reproaches to utter. Reconciliation is not to be +sought, because it exists already. Differ in politics and in a thousand +other ways we must and shall in all good nature, but let us never differ +with each other on sectional or State lines, by race or creed. + +We welcome you, soldiers of Virginia, as others more eloquent than I +have said, to New England. We welcome you to old Massachusetts. We +welcome you to Boston and to Faneuil Hall. In your presence here, and at +the sound of your voices beneath this historic roof, the years roll back +and we see the figure and hear again the ringing tones of your great +orator, Patrick Henry, declaring to the first Continental Congress, "The +distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New +Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American." A +distinguished Frenchman, as he stood among the graves at Arlington, said +"Only a great people is capable of a great civil war." Let us add with +thankful hearts that only a great people is capable of a great +reconciliation. Side by side, Virginia and Massachusetts led the +colonies into the War for Independence. Side by side they founded the +government of the United States. Morgan and Greene, Lee and Knox, +Moultrie and Prescott, men of the South and men of the North, fought +shoulder to shoulder, and wore the same uniform of buff and blue--the +uniform of Washington. + +Your presence here brings back their noble memories, it breathes the +spirit of concord, and united with so many other voices in the +irrevocable message of union and good will. Mere sentiment all this, +some may say. But it is sentiment, true sentiment, that has moved the +world. Sentiment fought the war, and sentiment has reunited us. When the +war closed, it was proposed in the newspapers and elsewhere to give +Governor Andrew, who had sacrificed health and strength and property in +his public duties, some immediately lucrative office, like the +collectorship of the port of Boston. A friend asked him if he would take +such a place. "No," said he; "I have stood as high priest between the +horns of the altar, and I have poured out upon it the best blood of +Massachusetts, and I cannot take money for that." Mere sentiment, truly, +but the sentiment which ennobles and uplifts mankind. It is sentiment +which so hallows a bit of torn, stained bunting, that men go gladly to +their deaths to save it. So I say that the sentiment manifested by your +presence here, brethren of Virginia, sitting side by side with those who +wore the blue, has a far-reaching and gracious influence, of more value +than many practical things. It tells us that these two grand old +commonwealths, parted in the shock of the Civil War, are once more side +by side as in the days of the Revolution, never to part again. It tells +us that the sons of Virginia and Massachusetts, if war should break +again upon the country, will, as in the olden days, stand once more +shoulder to shoulder, with no distinction in the colors that they wear. +It is fraught with tidings of peace on earth and you may read its +meaning in the words on yonder picture, "Liberty and Union, now and +forever, one and inseparable." + + + + +A REMINISCENCE OF GETTYSBURG + + The following extract is taken from General John B. Gordon's great + lecture, "The Last Days of the Confederacy," delivered with marked + effect throughout the country. This report of the lecture is as + given in Brooklyn, N. Y., February 7, 1901. + + +But now to Gettysburg. That great battle could not be described in the +space of a lecture. I shall select from the myriad of thrilling +incidents which rush over my memory but two.[6] The first I relate +because it seems due to one of the bravest and knightliest soldiers of +the Union army. As my command came back from the Susquehanna River to +Gettysburg, it was thrown squarely on the right flank of the Union army. +The fact that that portion of the Union army melted was no disparagement +either of its courage or its lofty American manhood, for any troops that +had ever been marshaled, the Old Guard itself, would have been as surely +and swiftly shattered. It was that movement that gave to the Confederate +army the first day's victory at Gettysburg; and as I rode forward over +that field of green clover, made red with the blood of both armies, I +found a major-general among the dead and the dying. But a few moments +before, I had seen the proud form of that magnificent Union officer reel +in the saddle and then fall in the white smoke of the battle; and as I +rode by, intensely looking into his pale face, which was turned to the +broiling rays of that scorching July sun, I discovered that he was not +dead. Dismounting from my horse, I lifted his head with one hand, gave +him water from my canteen, inquired his name and if he was badly hurt. +He was General Francis C. Barlow, of New York. He had been shot from his +horse while grandly leading a charge. The ball had struck him in front, +passed through the body and out near the spinal cord, completely +paralyzing him in every limb; neither he nor I supposed he could live +for one hour. I desired to remove him before death from that terrific +sun. I had him lifted on a litter and borne to the shade in the rear. As +he bade me good-bye, and upon my inquiry what I could do for him, he +asked me to take from his pocket a bunch of letters. Those letters were +from his wife, and as I opened one at his request, and as his eye +caught, as he supposed for the last time, that wife's signature, the +great tears came like a fountain and rolled down his pale face; and he +said to me, "General Gordon, you are a Confederate; I am a Union +soldier; but we are both Americans; if you should live through this +dreadful war and ever see my wife, will you not do me the kindness to +tell my wife for me that you saw me on this field? Tell her for me, that +my last thought on earth was of her; tell her for me that you saw me +fall in this battle, and that her husband fell, not in the rear, but at +the head of his column; tell her for me, general, that I freely give my +life to my country, but that my unutterable grief is that I must now go +without the privilege of seeing her once more, and bidding her a long +and loving farewell." I at once said: "Where is Mrs. Barlow, general? +Where could I find her?" for I was determined that wife should receive +that gallant husband's message. He replied: "She is very close to me; +she is just back of the Union line of battle with the commander-in-chief +at his headquarters." That announcement of Mrs. Barlow's presence with +the Union army struck in this heart of mine another chord of deepest and +tenderest sympathy; for my wife had followed me, sharing with me the +privations of the camp, the fatigues of the march; again and again was +she under fire, and always on the very verge of the battle was that +devoted wife of mine, like an angel of protection and an inspiration to +duty. I replied: "Of course, General Barlow, if I am alive, sir, when +this day's battle, now in progress is ended--if I am not shot dead +before the night comes--you may die satisfied that I will see to it that +Mrs. Barlow has your message before to-morrow's dawn." + +And I did. The moment the guns had ceased their roar on the hills, I +sent a flag of truce with a note to Mrs. Barlow. I did not tell her--I +did not have the heart to tell her that her husband was dead, as I +believed him to be; but I did tell her that he was desperately wounded, +a prisoner in my hands; but that she should have safe escort through my +lines to her husband's side. Late that night, as I lay in the open field +upon my saddle, a picket from my front announced a lady on the line. She +was Mrs. Barlow. She had received my note and was struggling, under the +guidance of officers of the Union army, to penetrate my lines and reach +her husband's side. She was guided to his side by my staff during the +night. Early next morning the battle was renewed, and the following +day, and then came the retreat of Lee's immortal army. I thought no more +of that gallant son of the North, General Barlow, except to count him +among the thousands of Americans who had gone down on both sides in the +dreadful battle. Strangely enough, as the war progressed, Barlow +concluded not to die; Providence decreed that he should live. He +recovered and rejoined his command; and just one year after that, Barlow +saw that I was killed in another battle. The explanation is perfectly +simple. A cousin of mine, with the same initials, General J. B. Gordon, +of North Carolina, was killed in a battle near Richmond. Barlow, who, as +I say, had recovered and rejoined his command--although I knew he was +dead, or thought I did--picked up a newspaper and read this item in it: +"General J. B. Gordon of the Confederate army was killed to-day in +battle." Calling his staff around him, Barlow read that item and said to +them, "I am very sorry to see this; you will remember that General J. B. +Gordon was the officer who picked me up on the battlefield at +Gettysburg, and sent my wife through his lines to me at night. I am very +sorry." + +Fifteen years passed. Now, I wish the audience to remember that during +all those fifteen years which intervened, Barlow was dead to me, and for +fourteen of them I was dead to Barlow. In the meantime, the partiality +of the people of Georgia had placed me in the United States senate. +Clarkson Potter was a member of Congress from New York. He invited me to +dine with him to meet his friend, General Barlow. Now came my time to +think. "Barlow," I said, "Barlow? That is the same name, but it can't be +my Barlow, for I left him dead at Gettysburg." And I endeavored to +understand what it meant, and thought I had made the discovery. I was +told, as I made the inquiry, that there were two Barlows in the United +States army. That satisfied me at once. I concluded, as a matter of +course, that it was the other fellow I was going to meet; that Clarkson +Potter had invited me to dine with the living Barlow and not with the +dead one. Barlow had a similar reflection about the Gordon he was to +dine with. He supposed that I was the other Gordon. We met at Clarkson +Potter's table. I sat just opposite to Barlow; and in the lull of the +conversation I asked him, "General, are you related to the Barlow who +was killed at Gettysburg?" He replied: "I am the man, sir." "Are you +related," he asked, "to the Gordon who killed me?" "Well," I said, "I am +the man, sir." The scene which followed beggars all description. No +language could describe that scene at Clarkson Potter's table in +Washington, fifteen years after the war was over. Truth is indeed +stranger than fiction. Think of it! What could be stranger? There we +met, both dead, each of us presenting to the other the most absolute +proof of the resurrection of the dead. + +But stranger still, perhaps, is the friendship true and lasting begun +under such auspices. What could be further removed from the realms of +probabilities than a confiding friendship between combatants, which is +born on the field of blood, amidst the thunders of battle, and while the +hostile legions rush upon each other with deadly fury and pour into +each other's breasts their volleys of fire and of leaden hail. Such were +the circumstances under which was born the friendship between Barlow and +myself, and which I believe is more sincere because of its remarkable +birth, and which has strengthened and deepened with the passing years. +For the sake of our reunited and glorious Republic may we not hope that +similar ties will bind together all the soldiers of the two +armies--indeed all Americans in perpetual unity until the last bugle +call shall have summoned us to the eternal camping grounds beyond the +stars? + + + + +THE NEW SOUTH + + Address by Henry W. Grady, journalist [born in Athens, Ga., May 17, + 1851; died in Atlanta, Ga., December 23, 1889], delivered at the + eighty-first anniversary celebration of the New England Society in + the city of New York, December 22, 1886. + + +MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:--"There was a South of slavery and +secession--that South is dead. There is a South of union and +freedom--that South, thank God, is living, breathing, growing every +hour." These words, delivered from the immortal lips of Benjamin H. +Hill, at Tammany Hall in 1866, true then, and truer now, I shall make my +text to-night. + +Let me express to you my appreciation of the kindness by which I am +permitted to address you. I make this abrupt acknowledgment advisedly, +for I feel that if, when I raise my provincial voice in this ancient and +august presence, I could find courage for no more than the opening +sentence, it would be well if, in that sentence, I had met in a rough +sense my obligation as a guest, and had perished, so to speak, with +courtesy on my lips and grace in my heart. Permitted through your +kindness to catch my second wind, let me say that I appreciate the +significance of being the first Southerner to speak at this board, which +bears the substance, if it surpasses the semblance, of original New +England hospitality and honors a sentiment that in turn honors you, but +in which my personality is lost, and the compliment to my people made +plain. + +I bespeak the utmost stretch of your courtesy to-night. I am not +troubled about those from whom I come. You remember the man whose wife +sent him to a neighbor with a pitcher of milk, and who, tripping on the +top step, fell, with such casual interruptions as the landing afforded, +into the basement; and while picking himself up had the pleasure of +hearing his wife call out: "John, did you break the pitcher?" "No, I +didn't," said John, "but I be dinged if I don't!" + +So, while those who call to me from behind may inspire me with energy if +not with courage, I ask an indulgent hearing from you. I beg that you +will bring your full faith in American fairness and frankness to +judgment upon what I shall say. There was an old preacher once who told +some boys of the Bible lesson he was going to read in the morning. The +boys finding the place, glued together the connecting pages. The next +morning he read on the bottom of one page: "When Noah was one hundred +and twenty years old he took unto himself a wife, who was"--then turning +the page--"one hundred and forty cubits long, forty cubits wide, built +of gopher wood, and covered with pitch inside and out." He was naturally +puzzled at this. He read it again, verified it, and then said: "My +friends, this is the first time I ever met this in the Bible, but I +accept it as an evidence of the assertion that we are fearfully and +wonderfully made." If I could get you to hold such faith to-night I +could proceed cheerfully to the task I otherwise approach with a sense +of consecration. + +Pardon me one word, Mr. President, spoken for the sole purpose of +getting into the volumes that go out annually freighted with the rich +eloquence of your speakers--the fact that the Cavalier as well as the +Puritan was on the continent in its early days, and that he was "up and +able to be about." I have read your books carefully and I find no +mention of that fact, which seems to me an important one for preserving +a sort of historical equilibrium if for nothing else. Let me remind you +the Virginia Cavalier first challenged France on this continent--that +Cavalier John Smith gave New England its very name, and was so pleased +with the job that he has been handing his own name around ever +since--and that while Miles Standish was cutting off men's ears for +courting a girl without her parents' consent, and forbade men to kiss +their wives on Sunday, the Cavalier was courting everything in sight, +and that the Almighty had vouchsafed great increase to the Cavalier +colonies, the huts in the wilderness being full as the nests in the +woods. + +But having incorporated the Cavalier as a fact in your charming little +books I shall let him work out his own salvation, as he has always done +with engaging gallantry, and we will hold no controversy as to his +merits. Why should we? Neither Puritan nor Cavalier long survived as +such. The virtues and traditions of both happily still live for the +inspiration of their sons and the saving of the old fashion. But both +Puritan and Cavalier were lost in the storm of the first Revolution; and +the American citizen, supplanting both and stronger than either, took +possession of the Republic bought by their common blood and fashioned to +wisdom, and charged himself with teaching men government and +establishing the voice of the people as the voice of God. + +My friend, Dr. Talmage has told you that the typical American has yet to +come. Let me tell you that he has already come. Great types like +valuable plants are slow to flower and fruit. But from the union of +these colonies Puritans and Cavaliers, from the straightening of their +purposes and the crossing of their blood, slow perfecting through a +century, came he who stands as the first typical American, the first who +comprehended within himself all the strength and gentleness, all the +majesty and grace of this Republic--Abraham Lincoln. He was the son of +Puritan and Cavalier, for in his ardent nature were fused the virtues of +both, and in the depths of his great soul the faults of both were lost. +He was greater than Puritan, greater than Cavalier, in that he was +American renewed, and that in his homely form were first gathered the +vast and thrilling forces of his ideal government--charging it with such +tremendous meaning and so elevating it above human suffering that +martyrdom, though infamously aimed, came as a fitting crown to a life +consecrated from the cradle to human liberty. Let us, each cherishing +the traditions and honoring his fathers, build with reverent hands to +the type of this simple but sublime life, in which all types are +honored; and in our common glory as Americans there will be plenty and +to spare for your forefathers and for mine. + +In speaking to the toast with which you have honored me. I accent the +term, "The New South," as in no sense disparaging to the Old. Dear to +me, sir, is the home of my childhood and the traditions of my people. I +would not, if I could, dim the glory they won in peace and war, or by +word or deed take aught from the splendor and grace of their +civilization--never equaled and, perhaps, never to be equaled in its +chivalric strength and grace. There is a New South, not through protest +against the Old, but because of new conditions, new adjustments and, if +you please, new ideas and aspirations. It is to this that I address +myself, and to the consideration of which I hasten lest it become the +Old South before I get to it. Age does not endow all things with +strength and virtue, nor are all new things to be despised. The +shoemaker who put over his door "John Smith's shop. Founded in 1760," +was more than matched by his young rival across the street who hung out +this sign: "Bill Jones. Established 1886. No old stock kept in this +shop." + +Dr. Talmage has drawn for you, with a master's hand, the picture of your +returning armies. He has told you how, in the pomp and circumstance of +war, they came back to you, marching with proud and victorious tread, +reading their glory in a nation's eyes! Will you bear with me while I +tell you of another army that sought its home at the close of the late +war--an army that marched home in defeat and not in victory--in pathos +and not in splendor, but in glory that equalled yours, and to hearts as +loving as ever welcomed heroes home. Let me picture to you the footsore +Confederate soldier, as, buttoning up in his faded gray jacket the +parole which was to bear testimony to his children of his fidelity and +faith, he turned his face southward from Appomattox in April, 1865. +Think of him as ragged, half-starved, heavy-hearted, enfeebled by want +and wounds; having fought to exhaustion, he surrenders his gun, wrings +the hands of his comrades in silence, and lifting his tear-stained and +pallid face for the last time to the graves that dot the old Virginia +hills, pulls his gray cap over his brow and begins the slow and painful +journey. What does he find--let me ask you, who went to your homes eager +to find in the welcome you had justly earned, full payment for four +years' sacrifice--what does he find when, having followed the +battle-stained cross against overwhelming odds, dreading death not half +so much as surrender, he reaches the home he left so prosperous and +beautiful? He finds his house in ruins, his farm devastated, his slaves +free, his stock killed, his barns empty, his trade destroyed, his money +worthless; his social system, feudal in its magnificence, swept away; +his people without law or legal status, his comrades slain, and the +burdens of others heavy on his shoulders. Crushed by defeat, his very +traditions are gone; without money, credit, employment, material or +training; and besides all this, confronted with the gravest problem that +ever met human intelligence--the establishing of a status for the vast +body of his liberated slaves. + +What does he do--this hero in gray with a heart of gold? Does he sit +down in sullenness and despair? Not for a day. Surely God, who had +stripped him of his prosperity, inspired him in his adversity. As ruin +was never before so overwhelming, never was restoration swifter. The +soldier stepped from the trenches into the furrow; horses that had +charged Federal guns marched before the plow, and fields that ran red +with human blood in April were green with the harvest in June; women +reared in luxury cut up their dresses and made breeches for their +husbands, and, with a patience and heroism that fit women always as a +garment, gave their hands to work. There was little bitterness in all +this. Cheerfulness and frankness prevailed. "Bill Arp" struck the +keynote when he said: "Well, I killed as many of them as they did of me, +and now I am going to work." Or the soldier returning home after defeat +and roasting some corn on the roadside, who made the remark to his +comrades: "You may leave the South if you want to, but I am going to +Sandersville, kiss my wife and raise a crop, and if the Yankees fool +with me any more I will whip 'em again." I want to say to General +Sherman--who is considered an able man in our part, though some people +think he is a kind of careless man about fire--that from the ashes he +left us in 1864 we have raised a brave and beautiful city; that somehow +or other we have caught the sunshine in the bricks and mortar of our +homes, and have builded therein not one ignoble prejudice or memory. + +But in all this what have we accomplished? What is the sum of our work? +We have found out that in the general summary the free negro counts more +than he did as a slave. We have planted the schoolhouse on the hilltop +and made it free to white and black. We have sowed towns and cities in +the place of theories and put business above politics. We have +challenged your spinners in Massachusetts and your iron-makers in +Pennsylvania. We have learned that the $400,000,000 annually received +from our cotton crop will make us rich, when the supplies that make it +are homeraised. We have reduced the commercial rate of interest from +twenty-four to six per cent., and are floating four per cent. bonds. We +have learned that one Northern immigrant is worth fifty foreigners, and +have smoothed the path to southward, wiped out the place where Mason and +Dixon's line used to be, and hung our latch-string out, to you and +yours. We have reached the point that marks perfect harmony in every +household, when the husband confesses that the pies which his wife cooks +are as good as those his mother used to bake; and we admit that the sun +shines as brightly and the moon as softly as it did "before the war." We +have established thrift in city and country. We have fallen in love with +work. We have restored comfort to homes from which culture and elegance +never departed. We have let economy take root and spread among us as +rank as the crabgrass which sprung from Sherman's cavalry camps, until +we are ready to lay odds on the Georgia Yankee, as he manufactures +relics of the battlefield in a one-story shanty and squeezes pure olive +oil out of his cotton seed, against any down-easter that ever swapped +wooden nutmegs for flannel sausages in the valleys of Vermont. Above +all, we know that we have achieved in these "piping times of peace" a +fuller independence for the South than that which our fathers sought to +win in the forum by their eloquence or compel on the field by their +swords. + +It is a rare privilege, sir, to have had part, however humble, in this +work. Never was nobler duty confided to human hands than the uplifting +and upbuilding of the prostrate and bleeding South, misguided, perhaps, +but beautiful in her suffering, and honest, brave and generous always. +In the record of her social, industrial, and political institutions we +await with confidence the verdict of the world. + +But what of the negro? Have we solved the problem he presents or +progressed in honor and equity towards the solution? Let the record +speak to the point. No section shows a more prosperous laboring +population than the negroes of the South; none in fuller sympathy with +the employing and landowning class. He shares our school fund, has the +fullest protection of our laws and the friendship of our people. +Self-interest, as well as honor, demand that he should have this. Our +future, our very existence depend upon our working out this problem in +full and exact justice. We understand that when Lincoln signed the +Emancipation Proclamation, your victory was assured; for he then +committed you to the cause of human liberty, against which the arms of +man cannot prevail; while those of our statesmen who trusted to make +slavery the cornerstone of the Confederacy doomed us to defeat as far as +they could, committing us to a cause that reason could not defend or the +sword maintain in the sight of advancing civilization. Had Mr. Toombs +said, which he did not say, that he would call the roll of his slaves at +the foot of Bunker Hill, he would have been foolish, for he might have +known that whenever slavery became entangled in war it must perish, and +that the chattel in human flesh ended forever in New England when your +fathers--not to be blamed for parting with what didn't pay--sold their +slaves to our fathers--not to be praised for knowing a paying thing when +they saw it. + +The relations of the Southern people with the negro are close and +cordial. We remember with what fidelity for four years he guarded our +defenseless women and children, whose husbands and fathers were fighting +against his freedom. To his eternal credit be it said that whenever he +struck a blow for his own liberty he fought in open battle, and when at +last he raised his black and humble hands that the shackles might be +struck off, those hands were innocent of wrong against his helpless +charges, and worthy to be taken in loving grasp by every man who honors +loyalty and devotion. Ruffians have maltreated him, rascals have misled +him, philanthropists established a bank for him, but the South, with the +North, protests against injustice to this simple and sincere people. To +liberty and enfranchisement is as far as law can carry the negro. The +rest must be left to conscience and common sense. It should be left to +those among whom his lot is cast, with whom he is indissolubly connected +and whose prosperity depends upon their possessing his intelligent +sympathy and confidence. Faith has been kept with him in spite of +calumnious assertions to the contrary by those who assume to speak for +us or by frank opponents. Faith will be kept with him in the future, if +the South holds her reason and integrity. + +But have we kept faith with you? In the fullest sense, yes. When Lee +surrendered--I don't say when Johnston surrendered, because I understand +he still alludes to the time when he met General Sherman last as the +time when he "determined to abandon any further prosecution of the +struggle"--when Lee surrendered, I say, and Johnston quit, the South +became, and has since been, loyal to this Union. We fought hard enough +to know that we were whipped, and in perfect frankness accepted as final +the arbitrament of the sword to which we had appealed. The South found +her jewel in the toad's head of defeat. The shackles that had held her +in narrow limitations fell forever when the shackles of the negro slave +were broken. Under the old _regime_ the negroes were slaves to the +South, the South was a slave to the system. The old plantation, with its +simple police regulation and its feudal habit, was the only type +possible under slavery. Thus we gathered in the hands of a splendid and +chivalric oligarchy the substance that should have been diffused among +the people, as the rich blood, under certain artificial conditions, is +gathered at the heart, filling with affluent rapture, but leaving the +body chill and colorless. + +The Old South rested everything on slavery and agriculture, unconscious +that these could neither give nor maintain healthy growth. The New South +presents a perfect democracy, the oligarchs leading in the popular +movement--a social system compact and closely knitted, less splendid on +the surface but stronger at the core--a hundred farms for every +plantation, fifty homes for every palace, and diversified industry that +meets the complex needs of this complex age. + +The New South is enamored of her new work. Her soul is stirred with the +breath of a new life. The light of a grander day is falling fair on her +face. She is thrilling with the consciousness of growing power and +prosperity. As she stands upright, full-statured and equal among the +people of the earth, breathing the keen air and looking out upon the +expanding horizon, she understands that her emancipation came because in +the inscrutable wisdom of God her honest purpose was crossed and her +brave armies were beaten. + +This is said in no spirit of time-serving or apology. The South has +nothing for which to apologize. She believes that the late struggle +between the states was war and not rebellion, revolution and not +conspiracy, and that her convictions were as honest as yours. I should +be unjust to the dauntless spirit of the South and to my own convictions +if I did not make this plain in this presence. The South has nothing to +take back. In my native town of Athens is a monument that crowns its +central hills--a plain, white shaft. Deep cut into its shining side is a +name dear to me above the names of men, that of a brave and simple man +who died in brave and simple faith. Not for all the glories of New +England--from Plymouth Rock all the way--would I exchange the heritage +he left me in his soldier's death. To the foot of that shaft I shall +send my children's children to reverence him who ennobled their name +with his heroic blood. But, sir, speaking from the shadow of that +memory, which I honor as I do nothing else on earth, I say that the +cause in which he suffered and for which he gave his life was adjudged +by higher and fuller wisdom than his or mine, and I am glad that the +omniscient God held the balance of battle in His Almighty hand, and that +human slavery was swept forever from American soil--the American Union +saved from the wreck of war. + +This message, Mr. President, comes to you from consecrated ground. Every +foot of the soil about the city in which I live is sacred as a +battleground of the Republic. Every hill that invests it is hallowed to +you by the blood of your brothers, who died for your victory, and doubly +hallowed to us by the blood of those who died hopeless, but undaunted, +in defeat--sacred soil to all of us, rich with memories that make us +purer and stronger and better, silent but stanch witnesses in its red +desolation of the matchless valor of American hearts and the deathless +glory of American arms--speaking in eloquent witness in its white peace +and prosperity to the indissoluble union of American states and the +imperishable brotherhood of the American people. + +Now, what answer has New England to this message? Will she permit the +prejudices of war to remain in the hearts of the conquerors, when it has +died in the hearts of the conquered? ("No! No!") Will she transmit this +prejudice to the next generation, that in their hearts, which never felt +the generous ardor of conflict, it may perpetuate itself? ("No! No!") +Will she withhold, save in strained courtesy, the hand which straight +from his soldier's heart Grant offered to Lee at Appomattox? Will she +make the vision of a restored and happy people, which gathered above the +couch of your dying captain, filling his heart with grace, touching his +lips with praise and glorifying his path to the grave; will she make +this vision on which the last sigh of his expiring soul breathed a +benediction, a cheat and a delusion? If she does, the South, never +abject in asking for comradeship, must accept with dignity its refusal; +but if she does not; if she accepts in frankness and sincerity this +message of goodwill and friendship, then will the prophecy of Webster, +delivered in this very Society forty years ago amid tremendous applause, +be verified in its fullest and final sense, when he said: "Standing hand +to hand and clasping hands, we should remain united as we have been for +sixty years, citizens of the same country, members of the same +government, united, all united now and united forever. There have been +difficulties, contentions, and controversies, but I tell you that in my +judgment + + "'Those opposed eyes, + Which like the meteors of a troubled heaven, + All of one nature, of one substance bred, + Did lately meet in th' intestine shock, + Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks, + March all one way.'" + + + + +THE DUTY AND VALUE OF PATRIOTISM + + John Ireland, Archbishop of Saint Paul, was born at Burnchurch, + County Kilkenny, Ireland, September 11, 1838. As a boy he came to + Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1849, and there obtained his secular + education at the Cathedral School. He studied theology in France, + in the seminaries of Meximieux and Hyeres. During the Civil War he + was chaplain of the Fifth Minnesota Regiment. In 1875 he was + consecrated bishop of Saint Paul. In 1869 he founded the first + total-abstinence society in Minnesota and has lectured much on + temperance in the United States and Great Britain. The following + extracts, used by special permission, are from his lecture + delivered before the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion, New + York, April 4, 1894. + + +Patriotism is love of country, and loyalty to its life and weal--love +tender and strong, tender as the love of son for mother, strong as the +pillars of death; loyalty generous and disinterested, shrinking from no +sacrifice, seeking no reward save country's honor and country's triumph. + +Patriotism! There is magic in the word. It is bliss to repeat it. +Through ages the human race burnt the incense of admiration and +reverence at the shrines of patriotism. The most beautiful pages of +history are those which recount its deeds. Fireside tales, the +outpourings of the memories of peoples, borrow from it their warmest +glow. Poets are sweetest when they reecho its whisperings; orators are +most potent when they thrill its chords to music. + +Pagan nations were wrong when they made gods of their noblest patriots. +But the error was the excess of a great truth, that heaven unites with +earth in approving and blessing patriotism; that patriotism is one of +earth's highest virtues, worthy to have come down from the atmosphere of +the skies. + +The exalted patriotism of the exiled Hebrew exhaled itself in a canticle +of religion which Jehovah inspired, and which has been transmitted, as +the inheritance of God's people to the Christian Church: + + "Upon the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, when we + remembered Sion.--If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand + be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember + thee, if I do not make Jerusalem the beginning of my joy." + +The human race pays homage to patriotism because of its supreme value. +The value of patriotism to a people is above gold and precious stones, +above commerce and industry, above citadels and warships. Patriotism is +the vital spark of national honor; it is the fount of the nation's +prosperity, the shield of the nation's safety. Take patriotism away, the +nation's soul has fled, bloom and beauty have vanished from the nation's +countenance. + +The human race pays homage to patriotism because of its supreme +loveliness. Patriotism goes out to what is among earth's possessions the +most precious, the first and best and dearest--country--and its effusion +is the fragrant flowering of the purest and noblest sentiments of the +heart. + +Patriotism is innate in all men; the absence of it betokens a perversion +of human nature; but it grows its full growth only where thoughts are +elevated and heart-beatings are generous. + +Next to God is country, and next to religion is patriotism. No praise +goes beyond its deserts. It is sublime in its heroic oblation upon the +field of battle. "Oh glorious is he," exclaims in Homer the Trojan +warrior, "who for his country falls!" It is sublime in the oft-repeated +toil of dutiful citizenship. "Of all human doings," writes Cicero, "none +is more honorable and more estimable than to merit well of the +commonwealth." + +Countries are of divine appointment. The Most High "divided the nations, +separated the sons of Adam, and appointed the bounds of peoples." The +physical and moral necessities of God's creatures are revelations of his +will and laws. Man is born a social being. A condition of his existence +and of his growth of mature age is the family. Nor does the family +suffice to itself. A larger social organism is needed, into which +families gather, so as to obtain from one another security to life and +property and aid in the development of the faculties and powers with +which nature has endowed the children of men. + +The whole human race is too extensive and too diversified in interests +to serve those ends: hence its subdivisions into countries or peoples. +Countries have their providential limits--the waters of a sea, a +mountain range, the lines of similarity of requirements or of methods of +living. The limits widen in space according to the measure of the +destinies which the great Ruler allots to peoples, and the importance of +their parts in the mighty work of the cycles of years, the +ever-advancing tide of humanity's evolution. + +The Lord is the God of nations because he is the God of men. No nation +is born into life or vanishes back into nothingness without his bidding. +I believe in the providence of God over countries as I believe in his +wisdom and his love, and my patriotism to my country rises within my +soul invested with the halo of my religion to my God. + +More than a century ago a trans-Atlantic poet and philosopher, reading +well the signs, wrote: + + "Westward the course of empire takes its way. + The first four acts already past, + A fifth shall close the drama with the day; + Time's noblest offspring is the last." + +Berkeley's prophetic eye had descried America. What shall I say, in a +brief discourse of my country's value and beauty, of her claims to my +love and loyalty? I will pass by in silence her fields and forests, her +rivers and seas, the boundless riches hidden beneath her soil and amid +the rocks of her mountains, her pure and health-giving air, her +transcendent wealth of nature's fairest and most precious gifts. I will +not speak of the noble qualities and robust deeds of her sons, skilled +in commerce and industry, valorous in war, prosperous in peace. In all +these things America is opulent and great: but beyond them and above +them in her singular grandeur, to which her material splendor is only +the fitting circumstance. + +America born into the family of nations in these latter times is the +highest billow in humanity's evolution, the crowning effort of ages in +the aggrandizement of man. Unless we take her in this altitude, we do +not comprehend her; we belittle her towering stature and conceal the +singular design of Providence in her creation. + +America is the country of human dignity and human liberty. + +When the fathers of the republic declared "that all men are created +equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable +rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness," a cardinal principle was enunciated which in its truth was +as old as the race, but in practical realization almost unknown. + +Slowly, amid sufferings and revolutions, humanity had been reaching out +toward a reign of the rights of man. Ante-Christian paganism had utterly +denied such rights. It allowed nothing to man as man; he was what +wealth, place, or power made him. Even the wise Aristotle taught that +some men were intended by nature to be slaves and chattels. The sweet +religion of Christ proclaimed aloud the doctrine of the common +fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of men. + +Eighteen hundred years, however, went by, and the civilized world had +not yet put its civil and political institutions in accord with its +spiritual faith. The Christian Church was all this time leavening human +society and patiently awaiting the promised fermentation. This came at +last, and it came in America. It came in a first manifestation through +the Declaration of Independence; it came in a second and final +manifestation through President Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation. + +In America all men are civilly and politically equal; all have the same +rights; all wield the same arm of defense and of conquest, the suffrage; +and the sole condition of rights and of power is simple manhood. + +Liberty is the exemption from all restraint save that of the laws of +justice and order; the exemption from submission to other men, except as +they represent and enforce those laws. The divine gift of liberty to man +is God's recognition of his greatness and his dignity. The sweetness of +man's life and the power of growth lie in liberty. The loss of liberty +is the loss of light and sunshine, the loss of life's best portion. +Humanity, under the spell of heavenly memories, never ceased to dream of +liberty and to aspire to its possession. Now and then, here and there, +its refreshing breezes caressed humanity's brow. But not until the +republic of the West was born, not until the Star-Spangled Banner rose +toward the skies, was liberty caught up in humanity's embrace and +embodied in a great and abiding nation. + +In America the government takes from the liberty of the citizen only so +much as is necessary for the weal of the nation, which the citizen by +his own act freely concedes. In America there are no masters, who govern +in their own rights, for their own interests, or at their own will. We +have over us no Louis XIV, saying: "L'etat, c'est moi;" no Hohenzollern, +announcing that in his acts as sovereign he is responsible only to his +conscience and to God. + +Ours is the government of the people, by the people, for the people. The +government is our organized will. There is no state above or apart from +the people. Rights begin with and go upward from the people. In other +countries, even those apparently the most free, rights begin with and +come downward from the state; the rights of citizens, the rights of the +people, are concessions which have been painfully wrenched from the +governing powers. + +With Americans, whenever the organized government does not prove its +grant, the liberty of the individual citizen is sacred and inviolable. +Elsewhere there are governments called republics; universal suffrage +constitutes the state; but, once constituted, the state is tyrannous and +arbitrary, invades at will private rights, and curtails at will +individual liberty. One republic is liberty's native home--America. + + + + +OUR COUNTRY + + From the speech of President McKinley, in response to the toast + "Our Country," at the Peace Jubilee banquet in Chicago, October 19, + 1898. + + +MR. TOASTMASTER AND GENTLEMEN:--It affords me gratification to meet the +people of the city of Chicago and to participate with them in this +patriotic celebration. Upon the suspension of hostilities of a foreign +war, the first in our history for over half a century, we have met in a +spirit of peace, profoundly grateful for the glorious advancement +already made, and earnestly wishing in the final termination to realize +an equally glorious fulfillment. With no feeling of exultation, but with +profound thankfulness, we contemplate the events of the past five +months. They have been too serious to admit of boasting or +vain-glorification. They have been so full of responsibilities, +immediate and prospective, as to admonish the soberest judgment and +counsel the most conservative action. + +This is not the time to fire the imagination, but rather to discover, in +calm reason, the way to truth, and justice, and right, and when +discovered to follow it with fidelity and courage, without fear, +hesitation, or weakness. + +The war has put upon the nation grave responsibilities. Their extent was +not anticipated and could not have been well foreseen. We cannot escape +the obligations of victory. We cannot avoid the serious questions which +have been brought home to us by the achievements of our arms on land and +sea. We are bound in conscience to keep and perform the covenants which +the war has sacredly sealed with mankind. Accepting war for humanity's +sake, we must accept all obligations which the war in duty and honor +imposed upon us. The splendid victories we have achieved would be our +eternal shame and not our everlasting glory if they led to the weakening +of our original lofty purpose or to the desertion of the immortal +principles on which the national government was founded, and in +accordance with whose ennobling spirit it has ever since been faithfully +administered. + +The war with Spain was undertaken not that the United States should +increase its territory, but that oppression at our very doors should be +stopped. This noble sentiment must continue to animate us, and we must +give to the world the full demonstration of the sincerity of our +purpose. Duty determines destiny. Destiny which results from duty +performed may bring anxiety and perils, but never failure and dishonor. +Pursuing duty may not always lead by smooth paths. Another course may +look easier and more attractive, but pursuing duty for duty's sake is +always sure and safe and honorable. It is not within the power of man to +foretell the future and to solve unerringly its mighty problems. +Almighty God has His plans and methods for human progress, and not +infrequently they are shrouded for the time being in impenetrable +mystery. Looking backward we can see how the hand of destiny builded for +us and assigned us tasks whose full meaning was not apprehended even by +the wisest statesmen of their times. + +Our colonial ancestors did not enter upon their war originally for +independence. Abraham Lincoln did not start out to free the slaves, but +to save the Union. The war with Spain was not of our seeking, and some +of its consequences may not be to our liking. Our vision is often +defective. Short-sightedness is a common malady, but the closer we get +to things or they get to us the clearer our view and the less obscure +our duty. Patriotism must be faithful as well as fervent; statesmanship +must be wise as well as fearless--not the statesmanship which will +command the applause of the hour, but the approving judgment of +posterity. + +The progress of a nation can alone prevent degeneration. There must be +new life and purpose, or there will be weakness and decay. There must be +broadening of thought as well as broadening of trade. Territorial +expansion is not alone and always necessary to national advancement. +There must be a constant movement toward a higher and nobler +civilization, a civilization that shall make its conquests without +resort to war and achieve its greatest victories pursuing the arts of +peace. + +In our present situation duty--and duty alone--should prescribe the +boundary of our responsibilities and the scope of our undertakings. The +final determination of our purposes awaits the action of the eminent men +who are charged by the executive with the making of the treaty of peace, +and that of the senate of the United States, which, by our constitution, +must ratify and confirm it. We all hope and pray that the confirmation +of peace will be as just and humane as the conduct and consummation of +the war. When the work of the treaty-makers is done the work of the +law-makers will begin. The one will settle the extent of our +responsibilities; the other must provide the legislation to meet them. +The army and navy have nobly and heroically performed their part. May +God give the executive and congress wisdom to perform theirs. + + + + +BEHOLD THE AMERICAN + + From the speech of Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage at the eighty-first + annual dinner of the New England Society in New York, December 22, + 1886. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, AND ALL YOU GOOD NEW ENGLANDERS:--If we leave to the +evolutionists to guess where we came from and to the theologians to +prophesy where are we going to, we still have left for consideration the +fact that we are here; and we are here at an interesting time. Of all +the centuries this is the best century, and of all the decades of the +century this is the best decade, and of all the years of the decade this +is the best year, and of all the months of the year this is the best +month, and of all the nights of the month this is the best night. Many +of these advantages we trace straight back to Forefathers' Day, about +which I am to speak. + +Well, what about this Forefathers' Day? In Brooklyn they say the Landing +of the Pilgrims was December the 21st; in New York you say it was +December the 22d. You are both right. Not through the specious and +artful reasoning you have sometimes indulged in, but by a little +historical incident that seems to have escaped your attention. You see, +the Forefathers landed in the morning of December the 21st, but about +noon that day a pack of hungry wolves swept down the bleak American +beach looking for a New England dinner, and a band of savages out for a +tomahawk picnic hove in sight, and the Pilgrim Fathers thought it best +for safety and warmth to go on board the Mayflower and pass the night. +And during the night there came up a strong wind blowing off shore that +swept the Mayflower from its moorings clear out to sea, and there was a +prospect that our Forefathers, having escaped oppression in foreign +lands, would yet go down under an oceanic tempest. But the next day they +fortunately got control of their ship and steered her in, and the second +time the Forefathers stepped ashore. + +Brooklyn celebrated the first landing; New York the second landing. So I +say Hail! Hail! to both celebrations, for one day, anyhow, could not do +justice to such a subject; and I only wish I could have kissed the +Blarney stone of America, which is Plymouth Rock, so that I might have +done justice to this subject. Ah, gentlemen, that Mayflower was the ark +that floated the deluge of oppression, and Plymouth Rock was the Ararat +on which it landed. + +But all these things aside, no one sitting at these tables has higher +admiration for the Pilgrim Fathers than I have--the men who believed in +two great doctrines, which are the foundation of every religion that is +worth anything: namely, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of +Man--these men of backbone and endowed with that great and magnificent +attribute of stick-to-it-iveness. Macaulay said that no one ever sneered +at the Puritans who had met them in halls of debate or crossed swords +with them on the field of battle. They are sometimes defamed for their +rigorous Sabbaths, but our danger is in the opposite direction of no +Sabbaths at all. It is said that they destroyed witches. I wish that +they had cleared them all out, for all the world is full of witches yet, +and if at all these tables there is a man who has not sometimes been +bewitched, let him hold up his glass of ice-water. It is said that these +Forefathers carried religion into everything, and before a man kissed +his wife he asked a blessing, and afterward said: "Having received +another favor from the Lord, let us return thanks." But our great need +now is more religion in every-day life. + +Still, take it all in all, I think the descendants of the Pilgrim +Fathers are as good as their ancestors, and in many ways better. +Children are apt to be an echo of their ancestors. We are apt to put a +halo around the Forefathers, but I suspect that at our age they were +very much like ourselves. People are not wise when they long for the +good old days. + +But though your Forefathers may not have been much, if any, better than +yourselves, let us extol them for the fact that they started this +country in the right direction. They laid the foundation for American +manhood. The foundation must be more solid and firm and unyielding than +any other part of the structure. On that Puritanic foundation we can +safely build all nationalities. Let us remember that the coming American +is to be an admixture of all foreign bloods. In about twenty-five or +fifty years the model American will step forth. He will have the strong +brain of the German, the polished manners of the French, the artistic +taste of the Italian, the stanch heart of the English, the steadfast +piety of the Scotch, the lightning wit of the Irish, and when he steps +forth, bone, muscle, nerve, brain entwined with the fibers of all +nationalities, the nations will break out in the cry: "Behold the +American!" + +I never realized what this country was and is as on the day when I first +saw some of these gentlemen of the Army and Navy. It was when at the +close of the War our armies came back and marched in review before the +president's stand at Washington. I do not care whether a man was a +Republican or a Democrat, a Northern man or a Southern man, if he had +any emotion of nature, he could not look upon it without weeping. God +knew that the day was stupendous, and He cleared the heaven of cloud and +mist and chill, and sprung the blue sky as the triumphal arch for the +returning warriors to pass under. From Arlington Heights the spring +foliage shook out its welcome, as the hosts came over the hills, and the +sparkling waters of the Potomac tossed their gold to the feet of the +battalions as they came to the Long Bridge and in almost interminable +line passed over. The capitol never seemed so majestic as that morning: +snowy white, looking down upon the tides of men that came surging down, +billow after billow. Passing in silence, yet I heard in every step the +thunder of conflicts through which they had waded, and seemed to see +dripping from their smoke-blackened flags the blood of our country's +martyrs. For the best part of two days we stood and watched the filing +on of what seemed endless battalions, brigade after brigade, division +after division, host after host, rank beyond rank; ever moving, ever +passing; marching, marching; tramp, tramp, tramp--thousands after +thousands, battery front, arms shouldered, columns solid, shoulder to +shoulder, wheel to wheel, charger to charger, nostril to nostril. + +Commanders on horses with their manes entwined with roses, and necks +enchained with garlands, fractious at the shouts that ran along the +line, increasing from the clapping of children clothed in white, +standing on the steps of the capitol, to the tumultuous vociferation of +hundreds of thousands of enraptured multitudes, crying "Huzza! Huzza!" +Gleaming muskets, thundering parks of artillery, rumbling pontoon +wagons, ambulances from whose wheels seemed to sound out the groans of +the crushed and the dying that they had carried. These men came from +balmy Minnesota, those from Illinois prairies. These were often hummed +to sleep by the pines of Oregon, those were New England lumbermen. Those +came out of the coal-shafts of Pennsylvania. Side by side in one great +cause, consecrated through fire and storm and darkness, brothers in +peril, on their way home from Chancellorsville and Kenesaw Mountain and +Fredericksburg, in lines that seemed infinite they passed on. + +We gazed and wept and wondered, lifting up our heads to see if the end +had come, but no! Looking from one end of that long avenue to the other, +we saw them yet in solid column, battery front, host beyond host, wheel +to wheel, charger to charger, nostril to nostril, coming as it were from +under the capitol. Forward! Forward! Their bayonets, caught in the sun, +glimmered and flashed and blazed, till they seemed like one long river +of silver, ever and anon changed into a river of fire. No end to the +procession, no rest for the eyes. We turned our heads from the scene, +unable longer to look. We felt disposed to stop our ears, but still we +heard it, marching, marching; tramp, tramp, tramp. But hush--uncover +every head! Here they pass, the remnant of ten men of a full regiment. +Silence! Widowhood and orphanage look on and wring their hands. But +wheel into line, all ye people! North, South, East, West--all decades, +all centuries, all millenniums! Forward, the whole line! Huzza! Huzza! + + + + +THE HOLLANDER AS AN AMERICAN + + Speech of Theodore Roosevelt at the eleventh annual dinner of the + Holland Society of New York, January 15, 1896. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, GENTLEMEN, AND BRETHREN OF THE HOLLAND SOCIETY:--I am +more than touched, if you will permit me to begin rather seriously, by +the way you have greeted me to-night. When I was in Washington, there +was a story in reference to a certain president, who was not popular +with some of his own people in a particular western state. One of its +senators went to the White House and said he wanted a friend of his +appointed postmaster of Topeka. The president's private secretary said, +"I am very sorry, indeed, sir, but the president wants to appoint a +personal friend." Thereupon the senator said: "Well, for God's sake, if +he has one friend in Kansas, let him appoint him!" + +There have been periods during which the dissembled eulogies of the able +press and my relations with about every politician of every party and +every faction have made me feel I would like to know whether I had one +friend in New York, and here I feel I have many. And more than that, +gentlemen, I should think ill of myself and think that I was a discredit +to the stock from which I sprang if I feared to go on along the path +that I deemed right, whether I had few friends or many. + +I am glad to answer to the toast, "The Hollander as an American." The +Hollander was a good American, because the Hollander was fitted to be a +good citizen. There are two branches of government which must be kept on +a high plane, if any nation is to be great. A nation must have laws that +are honestly and fearlessly administered, and it must be ready, in time +of need, to fight; and we men of Dutch descent have here to-night these +gentlemen of the same blood as ourselves who represent New York so +worthily on the bench, and a major-general of the army of the United +States. + +It seems to me, at times, that the Dutch in America have one or two +lessons to teach. We want to teach the very refined and very cultivated +men who believe it impossible that the United States can ever be right +in a quarrel with another nation--a little of the elementary virtue of +patriotism. And we also wish to teach our fellow citizens that laws are +put on the statute books to be enforced and that if it is not intended +they shall be enforced it is a mistake to put a Dutchman in office to +enforce them. + +The lines put on the program underneath my toast begin: "America! half +brother of the world!" America, half brother of the world--and all +Americans full brothers one to the other. That is the way that line +should be concluded. The prime virtue of the Hollander here in America +and the way in which he has most done credit to his stock as a +Hollander, is that he has ceased to be a Hollander and has become an +American, absolutely. We are not Dutch-Americans. We are not "Americans" +with a hyphen before it. We are Americans pure and simple, and we have a +right to demand that the other people whose stocks go to compose our +great nation, like ourselves, shall cease to be aught else and shall +become Americans. + +And further than that, we have another thing to demand, and that is that +if they do honestly and in good faith become Americans, those shall be +regarded as infamous who dare to discriminate against them because of +creed or because of birthplace. When New Amsterdam had but a few hundred +souls, among those few hundred souls no less than eighteen different +race stocks were represented, and almost as many creeds as there were +race stocks, and the great contribution that the Hollander gave to the +American people was the inestimable lesson of complete civil and +religious liberty. It would be honor enough for this stock to have been +the first to put on American soil the public school, the great engine +for grinding out American citizens, the one institution for which +Americans should stand more stiffly than for aught other. + +Whenever America has demanded of her sons that they should come to her +aid, whether in time of peace or in time of war, the Americans of Dutch +stock have been among the first to spring to the aid of the country. We +earnestly hope that there will not in the future be any war with any +power, but assuredly if there should be such a war one thing may be +taken for certain, and that is that every American of Dutch descent will +be found on the side of the United States. We give the amplest credit, +that some people now, to their shame, grudge to the profession of arms, +which we have here to-night represented by a man, who, when he has the +title of a major general of the army of the United States, has a title +as honorable as any that there is on the wide earth. We also need to +teach the lesson, that the Hollander taught, of not refusing to do the +small things because the day of large things had not yet come or was in +the past; of not waiting until the chance may come to distinguish +ourselves in arms, and meanwhile neglecting the plain, prosaic duties of +citizenship which call upon us every hour, every day of our lives. + +The Dutch kept their freedom in the great contest with Spain, not merely +because they warred valiantly, but because they did their duty as +burghers in their cities, because they strove according to the light +that was in them to be good citizens and to act as such. And we all here +to-night should strive so to live that we Americans of Dutch descent +shall not seem to have shrunk in this respect, compared to our fathers +who spoke another tongue and lived under other laws beyond the ocean; so +that it shall be acknowledged in the end to be what it is, a discredit +to a man if he does not in times of peace do all that in him lies to +make the government of the city, the government of the country, better +and cleaner by his efforts. + +I spoke of the militant spirit as if it may only be shown in time of +war. I think that if any of you gentlemen, no matter how peaceful you +may naturally be, and I am very peaceful naturally, if you would +undertake the administration of the Police Department you would have +plenty of fighting on hand before you would get through; and if you are +true to your blood you will try to do the best you can, fighting or not +fighting. You will make up your mind that you will make mistakes, +because you won't make anything if you don't make some mistakes, and you +will go forward according to your lights, utterly heedless of what +either politicians or newspapers may say, knowing that if you act as you +feel bound according to your conscience to act, you will then at least +have the right when you go out of office, however soon, to feel that you +go out without any regret, and to feel that you have according to your +capacity, warred valiantly for what you deemed to be the right. + +These, then, are the qualities that I should claim for the Hollander as +an American: In the first place, that he has cast himself without +reservation into the current of American life; that he is an American, +pure and simple, and nothing else. In the next place, that he works hand +in hand and shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Americans, without any +regard to differences of creed or to differences of race and religion, +if only they are good Americans. In the third place, that he is willing, +when the need shall arise, to fight for his country; and in the fourth +place, and finally, that he recognizes that this is a country of laws +and not men, that it is his duty as an honest citizen to uphold the +laws, to strive for honesty, to strive for a decent administration, and +to do all that in him lies, by incessant, patient work in our +government, municipal or national, to bring about the day when it shall +be taken as a matter of course that every public official is to execute +a law honestly, and that no capacity in a public officer shall atone if +he is personally dishonest. + + + + +THE ADOPTED CITIZEN + + Speech of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the 115th annual banquet of the + Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, May 8, 1883. + + +MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND GUESTS:--I am +very much obliged to your president for calling upon me first, because +the agony will soon be over and I shall enjoy the misery of the rest of +you. + +The first part of this toast--The United States--would be a voluminous +one to respond to on a single occasion. Bancroft commenced to publish +his notes on the History of the United States, starting even before +President Lane established this Chamber, which I think was something +over one hundred years ago. Bancroft, I say, commenced earlier, and I am +not prepared to dispute his word if he should say that he had kept an +accurate journal from the time he commenced to write about the country +to the present, because there has been no period of time when I have +been alive that I have not heard of Bancroft, and I should be equally +credulous if President Lane should tell me that he was here at the +founding of this Institution. But instead of bringing those volumes of +Bancroft's here, and reading them to you on this occasion, I will let +the reporters publish them as the prelude to what I am going to say. + +I think Bancroft has finished up to a little after the time that +President Lane established this Chamber of Commerce, and I will let you +take the records of what he (Lane) has written and what he has said in +their monthly meetings and publish them as the second chapter of my +speech. And, gentlemen, those two chapters you will find the longest; +they will not amount to much more than what I have to say taking up the +subject at the present time. + +But in speaking of the United States, we who are native-born have a +country of which we may well be proud. Those of us who have been abroad +are better able, perhaps, to make the comparison of our enjoyments and +our comforts than those who have always stayed at home. It has been the +fortune, I presume, of the majority here to compare the life and the +circumstances of the average people abroad with ours here. We have here +a country that affords room for all and room for every enterprise. We +have institutions which encourage every man who has industry and ability +to rise from the position in which he may find himself to any position +in the land. It is hardly worth my while to dwell upon the subject, but +there is one point which I notice in the toast, that I would like to say +a word about--"_May those who seek the blessings of its free +institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations +they impose._" I think there is a text that my friend Mr. Beecher,[7] on +the left, or my friend Dr. Newman,[8] on the right, might well preach a +long sermon upon. I shall say only a few words. + +We offer an asylum to every man of foreign birth who chooses to come +here and settle upon our soil; we make of him, after a few years' +residence only, a citizen endowed with all the rights that any of us +have, except perhaps the single one of being elected to the presidency +of the United States. There is no other privilege that a native, no +matter what he has done for the country, has that the adopted citizen of +five years' standing has not got. I contend that that places upon him an +obligation which, I am sorry to say, many of them do not seem to feel. + +We have witnessed on many occasions here the foreign, the adopted, +citizen claiming many rights and privileges because he was an adopted +citizen. That is all wrong. Let him come here and enjoy all the +privileges that we enjoy, but let him fulfill all the obligations that +we are expected to fulfill. After he has adopted it, let this be his +country--a country that he will fight for, and die for, if necessary. I +am glad to say that the great majority of them do it, but some of them +who mingle in politics seem to bank largely on the fact that they are +adopted citizens; and that class I am opposed to as much as I am opposed +to many other things that I see are popular now. + +I know that other speakers will come forward, and when Mr. Beecher and +Dr. Newman speak, I hope they will say a few words on the text which I +read. + +[Illustration: "OLD IRONSIDES"--THE FRIGATE _CONSTITUTION_--1812] + + + + +OUR NAVY + + Speech of Hampton L. Carson, delivered at the dinner of the Union + League, Philadelphia, April 5, 1899, in honor of Captain Charles E. + Clark, U. S. N., late Commander of the battleship "Oregon." + + +MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE UNION LEAGUE:--It was my good +fortune, some eighteen months ago, to be in the city of Seattle, when +the "Monterey" was lying in the harbor under the command of Captain +Clark. At the time of my visit clear skies, placid waters and silent +guns gave little indication of the awful responsibility that was soon to +be imposed upon the gallant commander. My boys, having met him, were, +like myself, intensely interested in the outcome of his voyage; and I +can say to him that the pulsations of the engines which drove the +_Oregon_ through fourteen thousand miles of tropic seas were accompanied +by the sympathetic beatings of hearts which had learned to love and +respect this great captain as he richly deserved. + +The American Navy! The most concise tribute that I ever heard paid to +the sailors of the United States was contained in the answer of a man +from Indiana, who was an applicant for office under General Grant, just +after the Civil Service rules had gone into operation. The applicant was +apprehensive as to his ability to respond to the questions, but one of +his answers captured the board of examiners as well as the president, +and he secured the place. The question was, "How many sailors did Great +Britain send here, during the war of the Revolution, for the purpose of +subduing us?" and the answer was, "More by a----sight than ever got +back." + +When Louis XIV, in order to check what he perceived to be the growing +supremacy of England upon the seas, determined to establish a navy, he +sent for his minister Colbert, and said to him, "I wish a navy--how can +I create it!" Colbert replied, "Make as many galley slaves as you can." +Thereupon every Huguenot who refused to doff his bonnet on the street as +the king passed by, every boy of seventeen who could give no account of +himself, every vagrant without an occupation, was seized, convicted, and +sent to the galleys. Could a navy of heroes be made of galley slaves! +The history of the Anglo-Saxon race says "No." + +On the twenty-second day of December, 1775, the navy of the United +States was born on the waters of our Delaware. On that day Esek Hopkins, +of Rhode Island, was placed in command of a little fleet of eight +vessels--two of them ships, two of them brigs, the others very much +smaller. The English officers sneered in derision at "the fleet of +whaleboats." The rattlesnake flag--a yellow flag with a pine tree in the +centre and a rattlesnake coiled beneath its branches, with the words +"Don't tread on me"--was run to the masthead of the _Providence_, being +hauled there by the hands of the first lieutenant, John Paul Jones. That +little fleet of eight vessels, mounting only 114 guns, was sent forth to +confront a naval power of 112 battleships with 3,714 guns--not a single +gun of ours throwing a ball heavier than nine pounds, while five hundred +of the English guns threw a weight of metal of double that amount. +Wasn't it an audacious thing? Why, it seems to me one of the marvels of +human history when I reflect upon what was attempted by the Americans of +1776. + +Look at the situation. Thirteen different colonies strung along a narrow +strip of coast; three thousand miles of rolling ocean on the one side +and three thousand miles of impenetrable wilderness on the other; +colonies with infinite diversity of interests--diverse in blood, diverse +in conditions of society, diverse in ambition, diverse in pursuits--the +English Puritan on the rock of Plymouth, the Knickerbocker Dutch on the +shores of the Hudson, the Jersey Quaker on the other side of the +Delaware, the Swede extending from here to Wilmington, Maryland +bisected by our great bay of the Chesapeake, Virginia cut in half by the +same water way, North Carolina and South Carolina lying south of +impenetrable swamps as inaccessible to communication as a range of +mountains, and farther south the sparsely-settled colony of Georgia. +Huguenot, Cavalier, Catholic, Quaker, Dutchman, Puritan, Mennonite, +Moravian, and Church of England men; and yet, under the hammer stroke of +British oppression, thirteen colonies were welded into one thunderbolt, +which was launched at the throne of George III. + +That little navy under Hopkins--where were those sailors bred? Read +Burke's speech on the conciliation of America. They sprang from the +loins of hardy fishermen amidst tumbling fields of ice on the banks of +Newfoundland, from those who had speared whales in the tepid waters of +Brazil, or who had pursued their gigantic game into the Arctic zone or +beneath the light of the Southern Cross. That fleet of eight ships +sailed from the Delaware on the twenty-second of December, 1775, and +proceeded to the island of New Providence, among the Bahamas. Our +colonies and our armies were without arms, without powder, without +munitions of war. The very first exploit of the fleet was the capture, +on the nineteenth of March, 1776, of 150 cannon, 130 barrels of powder +and eight warships, which were carried in triumph into Long Island +Sound. But what of American heroism when the soldiers of Howe, of +Clinton, of Carleton, and of Gage came here to fight the farmers of +Pennsylvania, of Connecticut and Virginia, and the gay cavaliers who +loved adventure? The British soldiers had conquered India under Sir +Robert Clive and Sir Eyre Coote; they had been the heroes of Plassey and +Pondicherry; men who had subjected to British dominion a country almost +as extensive as our own fair republic and containing one hundred and +ninety millions of souls. Here they found themselves faced by men of +their own blood, men in whose breasts burned the spirit and the love of +that liberty which was to encircle the heavens. On the glory-crowned +heights of Bunker Hill the patriots gazed at the rafters of their own +burning dwellings in the town of Charlestown, and heard the cannon shots +hurled from British ships against the base of the hill. Three times did +scarlet regiments ascend that hill only to be driven back; the voice of +that idiot boy, Job Pray, ringing out above the din of battle, "Let them +come on to Breed's--the people will teach them the law." + +When the evacuation by the British of the metropolis of New England was +effected by the troops under the command of a Virginia soldier, General +Washington, then for the first time did sectionalism and partisanship +and divisions on narrow lines vanish; the patriots who had fought at +Bunker Hill were now no longer to be known as the troops of +Massachusetts, of Connecticut, or of Rhode Island, but henceforth it was +the Continental Army. On the very day when the British were driven out +of Boston, John Paul Jones, with that historic rattlesnake flag, and, +floating above it, not the Stars and Stripes, but the Stripes with the +Union Jack, entered the waters of Great Britain; and then it was seen +that an American captain with an American ship and American sailors had +the pluck to push out into foreign seas and to beard the British lion in +his den. The same channel which had witnessed the victories of De Ruyter +and Von Tromp, which was the scene of Blake's victory over the Dutch, +and where the father of our great William Penn won his laurels as an +admiral, was now the scene of the exploits of an American captain +fighting beneath an American flag for American rights inherited from old +mother England, who, in a moment of forgetfulness, had sought to deprive +her offspring of liberty. I know of no more thrilling incident in +revolutionary naval annals than the fight between the _Serapis_ and the +_Bon Homme Richard_, when Paul Jones, on the burning deck of a sinking +ship, lashed his yard arms to those of the enemy and fought hand to +hand, man to man, until the British colors struck, and then, under the +very cliffs of Old England, were run up for the first time the Stars and +Stripes--with a field of blue into which the skillful fingers of Betsy +Ross, of Philadelphia, had woven inextinguishable stars; the red stripes +typifying the glory, the valor, and the self-sacrifice of the men who +died that liberty might live; and the white, emblematic of purity, fitly +representing those principles to preserve which these men had sanctified +themselves by an immortal self-dedication. And there, too, in the +Continental Navy was Richard Dale, the young "Middy," who fought beside +Paul Jones; and Joshua Barney; and John Barry; and Nicholas Biddle of +Philadelphia, who later, in the gallant little _Randolph_, in order to +help a convoyed fleet of American merchantmen to escape, boldly +attacked the battleship _Yarmouth_; and when it was found that he was +doomed to defeat, blew up his vessel, perishing with all his crew, +rather than strike the colors of the newly-born republic. + +All honor to the navy of the United States! I never can read of its +exploits--peaceful citizen as I am--without my blood bubbling with a +joyous sense of exultation at the thought that the flag which has swept +the seas, carrying liberty behind it, is the flag which is destined to +sweep the seas again and carry liberty, civilization, and all the +blessings of free government into benighted islands far, far from hence. + +Why, gentlemen, the story of the exploits of our little fleets reads +like a romance. At the end of the Revolutionary War eight hundred +British ships, fifteen of them battleships, had surrendered to the +prowess of the American navy, together with twelve thousand five hundred +prisoners captured by less than three thousand men; and in that war our +country had produced the boldest admirals that, up to that time, +civilization had known, and the greatest fighting naval heroes that the +world had seen. + +Then came the War of 1812, to establish sailors' rights upon the high +seas, when the American navy again proved victor despite overwhelming +odds. I have in my possession a list of the British and American vessels +at the outbreak of that war; and if I were to represent them by +something tangible in order to indicate the proportions of each, I would +say, taking this box lid for example (illustrating with the stem of a +rose upon the cover of a discarded flower box), that if you were to draw +a line across here, near the top, you would have sufficient space in the +narrow strip above the dividing line to write the names of all the +American ships, while the entire remaining space would not be more than +sufficient for the English fleet, which was more than thirty times the +size of its antagonist. The ships which under Nelson had fought at the +Nile and had won imperishable glory at Trafalgar, coming into our +waters, struck their flags time and again. The glorious old "Ironsides" +(the _Constitution_) captured the _Guerriere_, the _Java_, the _Cyane_, +and _Levant_. The _United States_ took the _Macedonian_; the _Wasp_ +destroyed the _Frolic_, while on the lakes we point with pride to the +victories of Perry and MacDonough. When battle after battle had been +fought it was found that, of eighteen fixed engagements, seventeen were +victories for the Stars and Stripes. And this over the greatest maritime +war power of the world! + +Philadelphia is honorably associated with the glories of our navy. Our +early battleships, though not all built here, were planned and +constructed by Joshua Humphreys, a Philadelphian, the predecessor of our +great shipbuilder of to-day, Charles H. Cramp. + +Need I speak of the navy from 1861 to 1865, or tell of the exploits of +those gallant fleets which clove a pathway down the valley of the Ohio, +of the Tennessee, and of the Mississippi, in order that liberty might +ride unvexed from the lakes to the gulf? Need I dwell upon the part +taken by the guest of this evening, who was an officer who fought under +Farragut? + +In our recent war with Spain there were some who, in doubting moments, +yielded to that atrabilious disposition which has been so well described +by Mr. Tomkins; who thought that our ships were not strong enough to +hazard an encounter with the fleets of Spain. But meanwhile there was +doubling "around the Horn" a battleship, with a captain and a crew whose +marvelous voyage was attracting the eyes of the world. Night after night +we took up the map, traced his course from port to port, and our hearts +beat high, our lips were firmly compressed, the color faded from our +cheeks with excitement, but our eyes blazed with exultant anticipation +as nearer and nearer to Pernambuco did he come. We all now feel, judging +of the possibilities by actual achievement, that had Captain Clark +encountered the enemy's ships, he could and would have successfully +fought and defeated the entire Spanish fleet. He carried his ship ready +for instant actions, every man at his post. God bless that crew! God +bless those stokers, far down below those decks, confident that the +captain who commanded them was on the bridge, and that he would never +flinch nor fail in the hour of trial! I have often tried to draw a +mental picture of what the scene must have been when the _Oregon_ +steamed in to join the fleet before Santiago; when the white jackets on +the yard-arms tossed their caps in the air, and southern tars gave back +to Yankee cheers a lusty welcome to the man who for so long, against all +odds, with no encouraging advices, with unknown terrors all about him, +had never flinched from duty, and who, when the last summons came, +responded in the words of Colonel Newcomb, _Adsum_--"I am here." + +On the morning of the third of July, 1898, there stood the frowning +Morro Castle, the prison of the glorious Hobson; on the other side the +fortress of Estrella; the narrow channel blocked by the wreck of the +_Merrimac_; the _Brooklyn_, the _Oregon_, the _Texas_, the _Indiana_, +the _Iowa_ and the _Massachusetts_ all watching that orifice. Then black +smoke rolled from the tunnels of the enemy's ships, indicating that the +tiger had roused him from his lair and was making a rush for the open +sea. Up went the signal on the flagstaff of the _Brooklyn_, +"Forward--the enemy is approaching." Then engines moved; then guns +thundered their volleys; then sky and sea became black with the smoke of +battle; and swiftly steamed the _Oregon_ in pursuit of the _Cristobal +Colon_. Beneath well-directed shots the monster reeled, like a wounded +athlete, to the beach; and then from the flagstaff of the _New York_ +were displayed those signals now on these walls before your +eyes--"1-7-3; cornet; 2m-9m-7m"--which, translated, meant--and we of the +League to-night repeat the words--"Well done, _Oregon_." + +Captain Clark, the city of Philadelphia has always contributed her share +to the building of the navy and to a fitting recognition of the heroes +who have commanded our battleships. In the old churchyard of St. Mary's, +on Fourth Street, sleep the bones of John Barry; and in the older +churchyard of St. Peter's stands the monument to Decatur. We have with +us also the ashes of Stewart, who commanded "Old Ironsides" when she +captured the _Cyane_ and the _Levant_; and we have those of Bainbridge, +who captured the _Java_. + +In reading of the exploits of the master spirits of the past, I have +sometimes wondered whether we had men of to-day who were their equals. +My answer is this: I say to soldiers and sailors, whether of our Civil +War or of the late war with Spain, you are worthy of your sires, you +have caught the inspiration of their glowing deeds, you have taken up +the burden which they threw upon your shoulders, and though in time to +come you may sleep in unmarked graves, the memory of your deeds will +live; and, like your sires, you have become immortal. + +To fight for liberty is indeed a privilege. "Disguise thyself as thou +wilt, still, Slavery, thou art a bitter draught; and, though thousands +in all ages have been made to drink thee, thou art no less bitter on +that account. 'Tis thou, O Liberty! thrice sweet and gracious goddess, +whose taste is grateful, and ever will be so till nature herself shall +change. No tint of words can spot thy snowy mantle, nor chemic power +turn thy scepter into iron. With thee to smile upon him, as he eats his +crust, the swain is happier than the monarch from whose courts thou art +exiled." So wrote Laurence Sterne. + +And then Rufus Choate: "To form and uphold a state, it is not enough +that our judgments should believe it to be useful; the better part of +our affections should feel it to be lovely. It is not enough that our +arithmetic should compute its value and find it high; our hearts should +hold it priceless--above all things rich and rare--dearer than health +and beauty, brighter than all the order of the stars." In contemplating +those mysterious dispensations of Providence by which the light which +broke upon this continent two hundred years ago is now penetrating and +illuminating the darkest corners of the earth, it will be a supreme +satisfaction for us to know that our children and our children's +children will have set for their imitation and encouragement the example +of the heroism, the manliness, the courage, the patriotism and the +modesty of the captains of to-day. + +[Illustration: LATEST TYPE OF DREADNAUGHT] + + + + +THE PATRIOTISM OF PEACE + + Address by William Jennings Bryan delivered in London, in the Royal + Gallery of the House of Lords, on July 26, 1906, at the session of + the Interparliamentary Union or Peace Congress. It is given here by + special permission of Mr. Bryan and his publishers--Funk and + Wagnalls Company, New York and London. + + +I regret that I cannot speak to you in the language which is usually +employed in this body, but I know only one language, the language of my +own country, and you will pardon me if I use that. I desire in the first +place to express my appreciation of the courtesy shown me by Lord +Weardale, our president, and by Baron von Plener, the chairman of the +committee which framed the model treaty. The latter has framed this +substitute embodying both of the ideas (investigation and meditation) +which were presented yesterday. I recognize the superior wisdom and the +greater experience of this learned committee which has united the two +propositions, and I thank this body also for the opportunity to say just +a word in defense of my part of the resolution. I cannot say that it is +a new idea, for since it was presented yesterday I have learned that the +same idea in substance was presented last year at Brussels by Mr. +Bartholdt, of my own country, who has been so conspicuous in his efforts +to promote peace, and I am very glad that I can follow in his footsteps +in the urging of this amendment. I may add also that it is in line with +the suggestion made by the honorable prime minister of Great Britain, +Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, in that memorable and epoch-making speech +of yesterday, in that speech which contained several sentences any one +of which would have justified the assembling of this Interparliamentary +Union--any one of which would have compensated us all for coming here. +In that splendid speech he expressed the hope that the scope of +arbitration treaties might be enlarged. He said: + + "GENTLEMEN, I fervently trust that before long the principles of + arbitration may win such confidence as to justify its extension to + a wider field of international differences. We have already seen + how questions arousing passion and excitement have attained a + solution, not necessarily by means of arbitration in the strict + sense of the word, by referring them to such a tribunal as that + which reported on the North Sea incident; and I would ask you + whether, it may not be worth while carefully to consider, before + the next Congress meets at The Hague, the various forms in which + differences might be submitted, with a view to opening the door as + wide as possible to every means which might in any degree + contribute to moderate or compose such differences." + +This amendment is in harmony with this suggestion. The resolution is in +the form of a postscript to the treaty, but like the postscripts to some +letters it contains a very vital subject--in fact, I am not sure but the +postscript in this case is as important as the letter itself, for it +deals with those questions which have defied arbitration. Certain +questions affecting the honor or integrity of a nation are generally +thought to be outside of the jurisdiction of a court of arbitration, and +these are the questions which have given trouble. Passion is not often +aroused by questions that do not affect a nation's integrity or honor, +but for fear these questions may arise arbitration is not always +employed where it might be. The first advantage, then, of this +resolution is that it secures an investigation of the facts, and if you +can but separate these facts from the question of honor, the chances are +100-to-1 that you can settle both the fact and the question of honor +without war. There is, therefore, a great advantage in an investigation +that brings out the facts, for disputed facts between nations, as +between friends, are the cause of most disagreements. + +The second advantage of this investigation is that it gives time for +calm consideration. That has already been well presented by the +gentlemen who has preceded me, Baron von Plener. I need not say to you +that man excited is a very different animal from man calm, and that +questions ought to be settled, not by passion, but by deliberation. If +this resolution would do nothing else but give time for reflection and +deliberation, there would be sufficient reason for its adoption. If we +can but stay the hand of war until conscience can assert itself, war +will be made more remote. When men are mad they swagger around and tell +what they can do; when they are calm they consider what they ought to +do. + +The third advantage of this investigation is that it gives opportunity +to mobilize public opinion of the compelling of a peaceful settlement +and that is an advantage not to be overlooked. Public opinion is coming +to be more and more a power in the world. One of the greatest statesmen +of my country--Thomas Jefferson, and if it would not offend I would say +I believe him to be the greatest statesman the world has produced--said +that if he had to choose between a government without newspapers and +newspapers without a government, he would rather risk the newspapers +without a government. You may call it an extravagant statement, and yet +it presents an idea, and that idea is that public opinion is a +controlling force. I am glad that the time is coming when public opinion +is to be more and more powerful; glad that the time is coming when the +moral sentiment of one nation will influence the action of other +nations; glad that the time is coming when the world will realize that a +war between the two nations affects others than the nations involved; +glad that the time is coming when the world will insist that nations +settle their differences by some peaceful means. If time is given for +the marshaling of the force of public opinion peace will be promoted. +This resolution is presented, therefore, for the reasons that it gives +an opportunity to investigate the facts, and to separate them from the +question of honor, that it gives time for the calming of passion, and +that it gives time for the formation of a controlling public sentiment. + +I will not disguise the fact that I consider this resolution a long +step in the direction of peace, nor will I disguise the fact that I am +here because I want this Interparliamentary Union to take just as long a +step as possible in the direction of universal peace. We meet in a +famous hall, and looking down upon us from these walls are pictures that +illustrate not only the glory that is to be won in war, but the horrors +that follow war. There is a picture of one of the great figures in +English history (pointing to the fresco by Maclise of the death of +Nelson). Lord Nelson is represented as dying, and around him are the +mangled forms of others. I understand that war brings out certain +virtues. I am aware that it gives opportunity for the display of great +patriotism; I am aware that the example of men who give their lives for +their country is inspiring; but I venture to say there is as much +inspiration in a noble life as there is in a heroic death, and I trust +that one of the results of this Interparliamentary Union will be to +emphasize the doctrine that a life devoted to the public, and ever +flowing, like a spring, with good, exerts an influence upon the human +race and upon the destiny of the world as great as any death in war. And +if you will permit me to mention one whose career I watched with +interest and whose name I revere, I will say that, in my humble +judgment, the sixty-four years of spotless public service of William +Ewart Gladstone will, in years to come, be regarded as rich an ornament +to the history of this nation as the life of any man who poured out his +blood upon a battlefield. + +All movements in the interest of peace have back of them the idea of +brotherhood. If peace is to come in this world, it will come because +people more and more clearly recognize the indissoluble tie that binds +each human being to every other. If we are to build permanent peace it +must be on the foundation of the brotherhood of men. A poet has +described how in the Civil War that divided our country into two hostile +camps a generation ago--in one battle a soldier in one line thrust his +bayonet through a soldier in the opposing line, and how, when he stooped +to draw it out, he recognized in the face of the fallen one the face of +his own brother. And then the poet describes the feeling of horror that +overwhelmed the survivor when he realized that he had taken the life of +one who was the child of the same parents and the companion of his +boyhood. It was a pathetic story, but is it too much to hope that as +years go by we will begin to understand that the whole human race is but +a larger family? + +It is not too much to hope that as years go by human sympathy will +expand until this feeling of unity will not be confined to the members +of a family or to the members of a clan or of a community or state, but +shall be world-wide. It is not too much to hope that we, in this +assembly, possibly by this resolution, may hasten the day when we shall +feel so appalled at the thought of the taking of any human life that we +shall strive to raise all questions to a level where the settlement will +be by reason and not by force. + + + + +A PLEA FOR UNIVERSAL PEACE + + The following extracts are from an address delivered by George W. + Norris, United States senator from Nebraska, at Chautauquas and on + lecture courses throughout the country for several years. It is one + of the most logical and practical plans for universal peace ever + proposed. It was prepared when the civilized world was at peace + immediately following the peace treaty between Russia and Japan. + David Starr Jordan declares that "military efficiency" is the + principal cause of the present European war. A serious and honest + study of how to preserve peace and how to avoid war cannot help but + bring good results. This is the purpose of Senator Norris's + lecture. For a further study of this most important subject, the + reader is referred to Sumner's great oration on "The True Grandeur + of Nations," to various speeches and monographs by Andrew Carnegie, + and to numerous other publications, recently issued, regarding the + patriotism of peace. + + +The greatest disgrace of the present century is that war between +civilized nations is still a possibility. That such a barbarous +condition should exist in the civilized world is painful to every lover +of humanity and to every believer in the great brotherhood of man. + +Every civilized country of the world requires its subjects to submit +their differences and disputes to tribunals and courts that have been +organized under the forms of law for their settlement and yet these same +nations violate the principle of law which they compel their subjects to +obey. The citizen must maintain his rights and settle his grievances +before tribunals organized according to law, upon principles of justice +and of right. Kings and rulers settle their disputes upon the field of +battle without regard to right, without regard to justice, and upon the +erroneous and barbarous theory that might makes right. It is to be +regretted that the great advance that has been made from barbarism by +the different nations of the world by which the disputes and +controversies arising within each nation are settled according to forms +of law upon the principles of justice and equality, has not extended to +the settlement of disputes between the nations themselves. Why is it +that rulers, who are able to settle all controversies within the +countries they control are not able to settle controversies between +those countries? + +Humanity is broader than nationality and embraces within its scope the +entire world. The measure of human happiness will not be full, the +heights of national glory will not be reached until we can look over the +world and in the words of the scripture, truthfully say of every citizen +of every civilized nation--"Is he not after all, my brother?" + +Why then should there be war? I know that it can truthfully be claimed +that this cruel and heartless demon has settled many questions of +world-wide importance, but it never settled one on any principle of +equity, morality, or justice. In modern times its decree has been more +often right than wrong, because the great spirit of public sentiment +when once aroused has not only furnished money and men for the right, +but it has thoroughly imbued the hearts of its soldiers with a +determination and a bravery that have done much to place the victory +where it properly belonged. But what a sacrifice of human life and +treasure. I do not want to be understood as claiming that all the wars +of history were wrong or could have been avoided. Some of them were +carried on for liberty, some were waged for mercy and some were fought +for humanity. The soldier, not only of our own land, but of other +countries as well, is entitled to all the consideration and all the +honor and glory that humanity can give or bestow. I am however +proclaiming against the conditions existing in modern civilized times +that make war not only sometimes necessary, but at any time possible. + +But the question recurs again--what is a practical way to solve the +difficulty? Who shall take the first step? Who can take the first step +with the assurance that beneficial results will follow? What nation +to-day occupies such a unique position in civilization that it can step +out into the open and say to all the civilized world--"We are willing to +submit to peaceful arbitration every international dispute, every +international controversy not only of the present but of the future as +well." What nation in assuming this position can command not only the +respect and belief of other nations in the integrity and the honesty of +its purpose, but can also receive the respect and approval of humanity's +peace loving sentiment, that will go far towards impelling the balance +of the civilized world to accept the proffered hand of universal +brotherhood! + +If we study the history of European nations, we will find a trace at +least of jealousy between them that has come down from the days of +barbarism. In ancient times the king, who was then supposed to possess, +and is still suspicioned to have, some attributes of Divinity, ruled +only over such territory as he was able to hold in subjection. He broke +no law of nations if, without notice, cause or provocation, he made war +upon his neighbor in an attempt to conquer and subdue additional +territory. He violated no principle of government if in carrying out his +purpose he resorted to trickery, chicanery, and dishonesty. The result +was that every ruler was suspicious of every other ruler. + +This suspiciousness and lack of confidence anciently existing between +kings, and permeating the framework of every European nation, has, in a +lessening and decreasing degree, come down to the present day. It exists +now--unconsciously perhaps--but exists nevertheless, and must be taken +into consideration whenever any European nation makes a proposition to +other European nations for the settlement of any great international +question. This condition was well paraphrased by a great European +statesman in comparing European conditions with those of America, when +he referred to it as American boldness and European suspiciousness. + +In the new world where our government's leadership and controlling +influence are recognized and acknowledged by all the world, these +conditions do not obtain. Here the divine right of kings has never been +recognized. We have not only disclaimed the right of conquest ourselves, +but we have refused to recognize it in others. We have not only refused +to recognize this right in the strong nation, but we have protected the +weak nation against it. Moreover we have shown to the world our +unselfish devotion to that principle to the extent of sacrificing life +and treasure in the defense of the weak against the strong--the +protection of the down-trodden and oppressed against oppression. Our +entire national life has been emblematic of an unselfish respect for the +rights of other nations, and is not tainted with that suspiciousness +which has come down to others from ancient times. Our position among the +nations of the world was well illustrated by what happened in the war +between Russia and Japan. + +When these two great nations had gotten each other by the throat and +were struggling in mortal combat, the entire world was aroused to +admiration by the action of America's great president. Neither one of +the warring nations had expressed any desire for peace. Neither one had +shown any disposition to cease the conflict. Neither one had asked for +any intercession, and yet in the midst of the bloody conflict, when +America's voice was heard, they both halted, they both ceased, and they +both obeyed. + +It was because they knew--all the world knew--that in the voice which +called them from the battlefield to reason's court there was no taint of +selfishness; that in that call there was no suspicion of an ulterior or +dishonorable motive, but that in the heart of the great statesman, whose +voice they heeded, there was only the purity of a humane effort to bring +about the welfare of all. From the very nature of the development of +other nations from the barbarism of ancient times it is quite apparent +that no other ruler of the civilized world could have made that +proposition with the same successful results. In response to the +friendly intervention of the American Government, Russia and Japan +appointed commissioners to agree upon terms of peace. + +While these commissioners were in session on American soil, a notable +assemblage for the advancement of international arbitration was in +session at Brussels, the capital of Belgium. At this meeting of the +Interparliamentary Union there were representatives from practically +every civilized country in the world except Russia and Japan. We watched +with hopeful anxiety the reports which the cable brought us of the +progress that was being made by these peace commissioners at Portsmouth. +In that assemblage, composed of representatives from two continents, +there was a unanimous wish, a united hope, a fervent prayer that +America's intervention would prove successful. + +As a fitting close of that great international conference the +representatives of Belgium invited all the delegates to a reception held +in that historic building where the cohorts of Napoleon were assembled +in revelry on the eve of Waterloo. The rooms were decorated with the +colors of all nations. The finest band of Belgium was playing her +national air. In the midst of it the music suddenly ceased. All eyes +were turned to the rostrum. We saw the leader of the band seize from the +decorations of the hall the American flag, and using it as a baton, he +waved it over the heads of the musicians, and in answer to his action +there burst forth the rapturous strains of "The Star Spangled Banner." + +For a moment, and a moment only, there was silence, and then there burst +forth a roar of applause which clearly indicated that everyone there +understood, that beneath the fathomless deep the electric spark had +brought the welcome news that on the shores of America an agreement for +peace had been signed. On the occasion of nearly one hundred years +before the revelry was interrupted by the booming of cannon, but on this +occasion it was the joyous message that under the leadership of America +the peace of the world had been established. That was an occasion, my +countrymen, when it was greater to be an American citizen than to wear a +crown. + +Heretofore one of the greatest obstacles to the peaceful settlement of +international difficulties, and to the submission of such controversies +to arbitration, has been that the offense has been committed, or the +controversy has arisen before any rule for its settlement has been +provided, or any tribunal for its determination has been selected. This +ex post facto machinery for the settlement of differences is not only +unreasonable and illogical, but it has been guarded against by all the +civilized nations of the earth in the regulation and management of their +own internal affairs. When disagreeing nations are aroused to anger by +the excitement and the prejudice of the people on account of real or +imaginary wrong, it is a poor time indeed to attempt to agree upon a +fair method of settlement, or to exercise that calm deliberation which +should be invoked in the selection of the arbitrators. + +The treaty of arbitration should be general and apply to all disputes. +It should be negotiated in time of profound peace, and not with +reference to any particular controversy. Its judges should be selected +in time of peace and their terms of office should be permanent. In order +that they might be removed from, and uninfluenced by, any bias or +prejudice they should be appointed for life, and while holding this +great international commission they should be prohibited from accepting +or holding any other office or emolument from any government. + +The treaty, however, should specifically provide that these +international judges could be appointed and selected as members of any +other international arbitration tribunal, and in accordance with this +provision each government would undoubtedly select the same men as +judges for each arbitration treaty into which it entered. + +To illustrate--if our government entered into such a treaty with the +German Empire, and afterwards into a similar treaty with France, we +would select the same arbitrators under the treaty with France that we +had named in carrying out the provisions of the treaty with Germany, and +in any subsequent arbitration treaty with any other nation, the same men +would again be named as our arbitrators. There is little doubt but what +all other nations would pursue a similar course. + +This would give us an international court that would command the +absolute respect of all mankind and the confidence of all civilization. +Its judges would be free from any bias, prejudice or excitement that +might exist in either one or both of the contending nations. Instead of +representing one government as against the other they would in fact, +without partiality and with equal justice, represent both of the +contending parties. Their life work would be the study of international +questions. They would become learned--yea, experts--in international law +and the administration of international justice. If each nation selected +the same judges in each of its arbitration treaties, the world would +have a list--a school--of international jurists devoting their time, +their energies and their lives to the study of international questions +and the settlement of international disputes. In the hands of these men +the peace of the civilized world would be safe and secure. + +The treaty of arbitration would undoubtedly provide for an equal number +of arbitrators from each of the contracting parties. It likewise would, +and undoubtedly should, provide for the selection of additional members +of the court in cases where the judges were equally divided on any +question submitted to them. A wise provision would be to let the +permanent judges themselves select the additional arbitrators, and with +this list of great international jurists from which to make a choice, +how small the possibility of error, and how great would be the +probability of a wise selection. As a matter of fact it would seldom be +necessary for this provision of the treaty to be acted on. Not once in a +lifetime would the members of such a court be divided along the lines of +nationality. The judges of this court, occupying this dignified, +exalted and unparalleled position before the world, would be farther +removed from bias and prejudice than any court that has ever been +instituted in the history of mankind. Its decisions would become +precedents for future action. It would not be long until we would have a +line of decisions, that would eliminate the uncertainty of international +law which has existed in the past. A question once determined by this +great court would be accepted by the world as the law for the future, +and the result would be that we would not only have an international +tribunal for the peaceful settlement and determination of all +international questions, but their decisions would become the beacon +lights of peace for future generations, whose rays of wisdom and of +reason would light up the dark waters of international jurisprudence, +mark out the course of safety for every ship of state, and warn her +mariners of the shoals of disaster. + +There is no ground whatever for the belief which prevails somewhat that +the members of such a court would always follow the contention of their +own country. Even under the present cumbersome and illogical method of +selecting arbitrators we have a recent illustration that men great +enough to fill positions of this kind, realizing the dignity and +responsibility of the position, will rise above the clamor of their own +countrymen and decide the question at issue upon its merits. I refer to +the Alaskan boundary dispute between the United States and Great +Britain. We have also an illustration of this point in our own country. + +Our national government is composed of sovereign states. State pride is +an attribute of practically all our citizens. Its influence has +compelled men to honestly do all kinds of unreasonable things. For it +men have given up their property and sacrificed their lives. Yet this +prejudice has never reached our judiciary. Every United States judge is +a citizen of some state. They try cases between different states, pass +on disputes existing between a sovereign state and the citizens of +another state, and settle controversies arising between the citizens of +one state and the citizens of another state. Our judges have been +criticized on nearly all possible grounds, often no doubt without +reason, sometimes perhaps with good cause, but in the entire history of +our country, there has never yet been made the charge that any one of +these judges has been influenced in his official conduct by pride of his +native or adopted state. Man is often unconsciously influenced and +controlled by his associations, his habits and the environments of +earlier life. Their influence has become a part of the man. But the +history of jurisprudence will show that judges have seldom, if ever, +been moved or influenced in official action by the excitement, the +clamor or the prejudice of the citizenship if it was beyond the power of +that citizenship to reward or punish. + +It is unnecessary to provide any method for the enforcement of the +decrees of an international court. It is safe to trust to the honor of +the governments interested, and to the enlightened public sentiment of +the civilized world for the honest enforcement in good faith of every +such judgment and decree. This has been frequently demonstrated in the +past. In all the history of the world there has never been an instance +where an offending nation has failed to carry out in good faith the +judgment of an international court. + +In America the friends of international arbitration are not united as +they should be. The division comes about principally on account of a +disagreement as to what should be the size of our navy. There are some +who believe that we should make but a small annual increase in our navy, +and some of these are inclined to criticize those who advocate a large +navy and to claim that such conduct is inconsistent with international +arbitration. While I have been one of those who usually have favored a +small yearly increase in our naval vessels, yet I am frank to admit that +under present conditions, there is much sound logic in the argument that +the greatest and best assurance of international peace, is to be always +prepared for war. It is well too, to remember that an unbiased and +unprejudiced tribunal in a foreign land has recently given an +international trophy--the world's prize--to the greatest American +exponent of a large navy, for having during the year for which the prize +was given, accomplished more for international peace, than any other +living man. It is not my intention to discuss this subject. It is not +necessary to decide it for the purposes of the present discussion. It is +of importance when considering the subject of national defense and +national finances, but it has no decisive influence upon the question of +international arbitration. The man who favors a small navy, and the man +who favors a large one can consistently work side by side for the +advancement of international peace. The size of the navy that we should +maintain is a question upon which the minds of wise and patriotic men +may honestly differ. Everybody admits that we should keep and maintain +an ample and sufficient navy, and that annual additions thereto are +necessary to maintain its efficiency. But, the terms "adequate navy," +"sufficient navy" and "large navy" are very indefinite, and convey +entirely different ideas to different people. What one man might regard +as a small navy, another one equally as wise would regard as entirely +too large. What one person would consider a small and inadequate annual +addition to our navy, others, equally as patriotic, would regard as +unreasonable and extravagant. A man's ideas on this disputed and +unsettled question can not consistently be urged against the sincerity +of his purpose when he advocates international arbitration. + +But while the friends of international arbitration may honestly disagree +as to the strength of the army and the size of the navy that should be +maintained in times of peace, there is no disagreement in the +condemnation of the conditions which make it necessary to maintain a +large army and navy. These conditions are relics of barbarism. They are +not founded upon any wisdom, reason, or justice. They exist only because +the great men of to-day, who hold the destinies of nations in their +hands have not met upon the broad plane of equality and agreed upon +their abolishment. + +Heretofore the cry of international arbitration has come mainly from +those who were moved by the idea of philanthropy, of mercy and of +humanity. It will not be long until these influences will be joined by +all the commercial interests of civilization and all the tax-payers of +the world. For the fiscal year (1907) in our own country there was +appropriated from the national treasury nearly four hundred millions of +dollars on account of war. Over sixty-five per cent. of the revenues of +our national government are spent on account of our wars of the past, or +in preparation for war in the future. Every time our government raises a +dollar by taxation more than sixty-five cents of it is demanded as a +tribute by this blood thirsty demon. + +Our situation is only a fair illustration of what exists everywhere in +the world. In round numbers about one-half of the money raised by +taxation in the leading civilized nations of the world is spent, either +in the payment of obligations of past wars, or in the preparation for +war in the future. The expense of this preparation is increasing at a +wonderful rate. Our government expends about the same amount of money as +the other leading nations of the world in the preparation for war in the +future, but for the expenses of wars that are past it expends more than +all the other nations combined. The expenses of our past wars, +consisting chiefly and mainly of pensions, are just, and no one would +cut them down, excepting as they will be curtailed by the hand of Time +as he gathers into his fold our heroes of the past. We will therefore +eliminate the past from the financial consideration of the question. +During a single year of peace, Great Britain, Germany, France, and the +United States spent nearly one billion of dollars in making preparation +for war. All the money in the United States would only pay this enormous +expense for a little more than two years. The people of these highly +civilized countries, while in profound peace, were taxing themselves to +death, in order that the survivors might kill each other according to +the most modern methods of modern warfare with the most modern weapons +of human destruction. + +As startling and astounding as these figures are, they do not tell one +half of the story. Human life cannot be measured in dollars and cents; +broken hearts cannot be healed by the appropriation of money; human +suffering and misery cannot be alleviated by financial consideration, +and humanity stands helpless in the face of death and destruction. At +the fireside of practically every home in Christendom, there is a vacant +chair, made so by war. For every vacant chair there was a ruined +hearthstone; for every hearthstone there was a sorrowing widow; and for +every widow there is a fatherless child. For every penny spent for war +there is a sigh of grief; for every shilling there is a tear of sorrow; +and for every dollar there is a broken heart. The amount expended on +this account in the civilized world, in one year would give shelter to +every pauper, a home to every unfortunate, and an education to every +child. At the present rate of increasing expense it will not be long +until this great chain will break of its own weight; until every nation +will become bankrupt and every tax-payer will become a pauper. As this +time approaches, the forces of international peace will become more +numerous and more powerful. Humanity will shake off the shackles of +barbarism and defy the God of War upon his throne. In this battle of +reason, that tyrant of oppression, that ruler of ignorance, that demon +of superstition, in whose decree there is no mercy, in whose judgment +there is no justice, will be driven from his throne, and relegated +beyond the portals of a universal peace, to be remembered only as a +horrible nightmare of an unholy and an unrighteous past. + +[Illustration: THE ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG] + + + + +LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS + + +Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this +continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the +proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a +great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived +and so dedicated, can long endure. + +We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate +a portion of that field as the final resting-place for those who here +gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting +and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot +dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave +men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above +our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long +remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. + +It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished +work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is +rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before +us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that +cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion; that +we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that +this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that +government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not +perish from the earth. + + + + +PRESIDENT WILSON'S NEUTRALITY PROCLAMATION + + This proclamation is in strict keeping with Washington's counsel. + It is one of the greatest of President Wilson's state papers and + probably did more than any one act of his administration in keeping + the United States from becoming involved in the European war. + + +MY FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:--I suppose that every thoughtful man in America +has asked himself, during these last troubled weeks, what influence the +European war may exert upon the United States, and I take the liberty of +addressing a few words to you in order to point out that it is entirely +within our own choice what its effects upon us will be and to urge very +earnestly upon you the sort of speech and conduct which will best +safeguard the Nation against distress and disaster. + +The effect of the war upon the United States will depend upon what +American citizens say and do. Every man who really loves America will +act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of +impartiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned. The spirit +of the Nation in this critical matter will be determined largely by what +individuals and society and those gathered in public meetings do and +say, upon what newspapers and magazines contain, upon what ministers +utter in their pulpits, and men proclaim as their opinions on the +street. + +The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly +from the nations now at war. It is natural and inevitable that there +should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with +regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish +one nation, others another, to succeed in the momentous struggle. It +will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those +responsible for exciting it will assume a heavy responsibility, +responsibility for no less a thing than that the people of the United +States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its government +should unite them as Americans all, bound in honor and affection to +think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile +opinion, hot against each other, involved in the war itself in impulse +and opinion if not in action. + +Such divisions among us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might +seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the +one great nation at peace, the one people holding itself ready to play a +part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and +accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend. + +I venture, therefore, my fellow countrymen, to speak a solemn word of +warning to you against that deepest, most subtle, most essential breach +of neutrality which may spring out of partisanship, out of passionately +taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in +name during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial +in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our sentiments as +well as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference +of one party to the struggle before another. + +My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, the earnest wish +and purpose of every thoughtful American that this great country of +ours, which is, of course, the first in our thoughts and in our hearts, +should show herself in this time of peculiar trial a Nation fit beyond +others to exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of +self-control, the efficiency of dispassionate action; a Nation that +neither sits in judgment upon others nor is disturbed in her own +counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what is honest and +disinterested and truly serviceable for the peace of the world. + +Shall we not resolve to put upon ourselves the restraints which will +bring to our people the happiness and the great and lasting influence +for peace we covet for them? + +August 18, 1914. + +Footnotes: + +[1] From the poem entitled "Wanted," by J. G. Holland. + +[2] Edward Brooks. + +[3] From "White Bees and Other Poems," by Henry van Dyke, copyright, +1909, by Charles Scribner's Sons. By permission of Charles Scribner's +Sons, publishers. + +[4] This lecture is found in full in Vol. XII (1915 Edition) of "Beacon +Lights of History," copyright 1902 by the publishers, Fords, Howard & +Hulbert, and is here used by special permission of Dr. Andrews and his +publishers. + +[5] William McKinley. + +[6] But one of these incidents is given in this extract. + +[7] Henry Ward Beecher. + +[8] John P. Newman. + + + + +POETRY OF PATRIOTISM + +[Illustration: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY + +New York Harbor] + +[Illustration] + + + + +CONCORD HYMN[1] + + + By the rude bridge that arched the flood, + Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, + Here once the embattled farmers stood, + And fired the shot heard round the world. + + The foe long since in silence slept; + Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; + And Time the ruined bridge has swept + Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. + + On this green bank, by this soft stream, + We set to-day a votive stone; + That memory may their dead redeem, + When, like our sires, our sons are gone. + + Spirit, that made those heroes dare + To die, and leave their children free, + Bid Time and Nature gently spare + The shaft we raise to them and thee. + + + + +WARREN'S ADDRESS + + + Stand! the ground's your own, my braves! + Will ye give it up to slaves? + Will ye look for greener graves? + Hope ye mercy still? + What's the mercy despots feel? + Hear it in that battle peal! + Read it on yon bristling steel! + Ask it--ye who will. + + Fear ye foes who kill for hire? + Will ye to your homes retire? + Look behind you!--they're afire! + And, before you, see + Who have done it! From the vale + On they come!--and will ye quail? + Leaden rain and iron hail + Let their welcome be! + + In the God of battles trust! + Die we may--and die we must; + But, oh, where can dust to dust + Be consigned so well, + As where heaven its dews shall shed + On the martyred patriot's bed, + And the rocks shall raise their head, + Of his deeds to tell? + + John Pierpont + + + + +PATRIOTISM + + + Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, + Who never to himself hath said, + This is my own, my native land! + Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, + As home his footsteps he hath turned + From wandering on a foreign strand! + If such there breathe, go, mark him well; + For him no minstrel raptures swell; + High though his titles, proud his name, + Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; + Despite those titles, power, and pelf, + The wretch, concentered all in self, + Living, shall forfeit fair renown, + And, doubly dying, shall go down + To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, + Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. + + Sir Walter Scott + + + + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + + + Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, + What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, + Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, + O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? + And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, + Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: + Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? + + On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, + Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, + What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, + As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses! + Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, + In full glory reflected now shines on the stream: + 'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh, long may it wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + And where is that band who so vauntingly swore + That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion + A home and a country should leave us no more! + Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution; + No refuge should save the hireling and slave + From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave: + And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand + Between their loved homes and war's desolation. + Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land + Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. + Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, + And this be our motto, "In God is our trust": + And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + Francis Scott Key + + + + +MY COUNTRY + + + My country, 'tis of thee, + Sweet land of liberty, + Of thee I sing. + Land where my fathers died, + Land of the pilgrims' pride, + From every mountain side + Let freedom ring! + + My native country! Thee-- + Land of the noble free,-- + Thy name I love; + I love thy rocks and rills, + Thy woods and templed hills; + My heart with rapture thrills + Like that above. + + Let music swell the breeze, + And ring from all the trees + Sweet freedom's song. + Let mortal tongues awake; + Let all that breathe partake; + Let rocks their silence break,-- + The sound prolong. + + Our fathers' God, to Thee, + Author of liberty, + To Thee we sing; + Long may our land be bright + With freedom's holy light; + Protect us by Thy might, + Great God, our King! + + Samuel F. Smith + + + + +THE AMERICAN FLAG + + + When Freedom, from her mountain height, + Unfurled her standard to the air, + She tore the azure robe of night, + And set the stars of glory there. + She mingled with its gorgeous dyes + The milky baldric of the skies, + And striped its pure celestial white + With streakings of the morning light. + + Then, from his mansion in the sun, + She called her eagle bearer down, + And gave into his mighty hand + The symbol of her chosen land. + Flag of the free heart's hope and home, + By angel hands to valor given! + Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, + And all thy hues were born in heaven. + + Forever float that standard sheet! + Where breathes the foe but falls before us, + With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, + And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us! + + Joseph Rodman Drake + + + + +SONG OF MARION'S MEN + + + Our band is few but true and tried, + Our leader frank and bold; + The British soldier trembles + When Marion's name is told. + Our fortress is the good greenwood, + Our tent the cypress tree; + We know the forest round us, + As seamen know the sea. + We know its walls of thorny vines, + Its glades of reedy grass, + Its safe and silent islands + Within the dark morass. + + Woe to the English soldiery + That little dread us near! + On them shall light at midnight + A strange and sudden fear + When, waking to their tents on fire, + They grasp their arms in vain, + And they who stand to face us + Are beat to earth again; + And they who fly in terror deem + A mighty host behind, + And hear the tramp of thousands + Upon the hollow wind. + + Then sweet the hour that brings release + From danger and from toil: + We talk the battle over, + And share the battle's spoil. + The woodland rings with laugh and shout, + As if a hunt were up, + And woodland flowers are gathered + To crown the soldier's cup. + With merry songs we mock the wind + That in the pine-top grieves, + And slumber long and sweetly + On beds of oaken leaves. + + Well knows the fair and friendly moon + The band that Marion leads-- + The glitter of their rifles, + The scampering of their steeds. + 'Tis life to guide the fiery barb + Across the moonlight plain; + 'Tis life to feel the night wind + That lifts his tossing mane. + A moment in the British camp-- + A moment--and away, + Back to the pathless forest, + Before the peep of day. + + Grave men there are by broad Santee, + Grave men with hoary hairs; + Their hearts are all with Marion, + For Marion are their prayers. + And lovely ladies greet our band, + With kindliest welcoming, + With smiles like those of summer, + And tears like those of spring. + For them we wear these trusty arms, + And lay them down no more + Till we have driven the Briton, + Forever from our shore. + + William Cullen Bryant + + + + +THE OLD CONTINENTALS + + + In their ragged regimentals + Stood the old Continentals, + Yielding not, + When the grenadiers were lunging, + And like hail fell the plunging + Cannon shot; + When the files + Of the isles, + From the smoky night encampment, bore the banner of the rampant + Unicorn; + And grummer, grummer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer + Through the morn! + + Then with eyes to the front all, + And with guns horizontal, + Stood our sires; + And the balls whistled deadly, + And in streams flashing redly, + Blazed the fires: + As the roar + On the shore + Swept the strong battle breakers o'er the green-sodded acres + Of the plain; + And louder, louder, louder, cracked the black gunpowder, + Cracking amain! + + Now like smiths at their forges + Worked the red St. George's + Cannoneers, + And the villainous saltpetre + Rung a fierce, discordant meter + Round their ears; + As the swift + Storm drift, + With hot sweeping anger, came the horseguards' clangor + On our flanks; + Then higher, higher, higher, burned the old-fashioned fire + Through the ranks! + + Then the bareheaded colonel + Galloped through the white infernal + Powder cloud; + And his broadsword was swinging, + And his brazen throat was ringing + Trumpet-loud; + Then the blue + Bullets flew, + And the trooper jackets redden at the touch of the leaden + Rifle breath; + And rounder, rounder, rounder, roared the iron six-pounder, + Hurling death! + + Guy Humphreys McMaster + + + + +THE SWORD OF BUNKER HILL + + + He lay upon his dying bed; + His eye was growing dim, + When with a feeble voice he called + His weeping son to him: + "Weep not, my boy!" the vet'ran said, + "I bow to Heaven's high will-- + But quickly from yon antlers bring + The sword of Bunker Hill." + + The sword was brought, the soldier's eye + Lit with a sudden flame; + And as he grasped the ancient blade, + He murmured Warren's name; + Then said, "My boy, I leave you gold-- + But what is richer still, + I leave you, mark me, mark me now-- + The sword of Bunker Hill. + + "'Twas on that dread, immortal day, + I dared the Briton's band, + A captain raised this blade on me-- + I tore it from his hand: + And while the glorious battle raged, + It lightened freedom's will-- + For, boy, the God of freedom blessed + The sword of Bunker Hill. + + "Oh, keep the sword!"--his accents broke-- + A smile--and he was dead-- + But his wrinkled hand still grasped the blade + Upon that dying bed. + The son remains; the sword remains-- + Its glory growing still-- + And twenty millions bless the sire, + And sword of Bunker Hill. + + William Ross Wallace + + + + +LIBERTY TREE[2] + + + In a chariot of light from the regions of day, + The Goddess of Liberty came; + Ten thousand celestials directed the way, + And hither conducted the dame. + A fair budding branch from the gardens above, + Where millions with millions agree, + She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love, + And the plant she named _Liberty Tree_. + + The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground, + Like a native it flourished and bore; + The fame of its fruit drew the nation's around, + To seek out this peaceable shore. + Unmindful of names or distinctions they came, + For freemen like brothers agree; + With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued, + And their temple was _Liberty Tree_. + + Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old, + Their bread in contentment they ate + Unvexed with the troubles of silver and gold, + The cares of the grand and the great. + With timber and tar they Old England supplied, + And supported her power on the sea; + Her battles they fought, without getting a groat, + For the honor of _Liberty Tree_. + + But hear, O ye swains, 'tis a tale most profane, + How all the tyrannical powers, + Kings, Commons and Lords, are uniting amain, + To cut down this guardian of ours; + From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms, + Through the land let the sound of it flee, + Let the far and the near, all unite with a cheer, + In defense of our _Liberty Tree_. + + Thomas Paine + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE RISING IN 1776.[3] + + + Out of the North the wild news came, + Far flashing on its wings of flame, + Swift as the boreal light which flies + At midnight through the startled skies. + And there was tumult in the air, + The fife's shrill note, the drum's loud beat, + And through the wide land everywhere + The answering tread of hurrying feet; + While the first oath of Freedom's gun, + Came on the blast from Lexington; + And Concord, roused, no longer tame, + Forgot her old baptismal name, + Made bare her patriot arm of power, + And swelled the discord of the hour. + + Within its shade of elm and oak + The church of Berkeley Manor stood; + There Sunday found the rural folk, + And some esteemed of gentle blood. + In vain their feet with loitering tread + Passed 'mid the graves where rank is naught; + All could not read the lesson taught + In that republic of the dead. + + How sweet the hour of Sabbath talk, + The vale with peace and sunshine full + Where all the happy people walk, + Decked in their homespun flax and wool! + Where youth's gay hats with blossoms bloom; + And every maid with simple art, + Wears on her breast, like her own heart, + A bud whose depths are all perfume; + While every garment's gentle stir + Is breathing rose and lavender. + + The pastor came; his snowy locks + Hallowed his brow of thought and care; + And calmly, as shepherds lead their flocks, + He led into the house of prayer. + The pastor rose; the prayer was strong; + The psalm was warrior David's song; + The text, a few short words of might-- + "The Lord of hosts shall arm the right!" + + He spoke of wrongs too long endured, + Of sacred rights to be secured; + Then from his patriot tongue of flame + The startling words for Freedom came. + The stirring sentences he spake + Compelled the heart to glow or quake, + And, rising on his theme's broad wing, + And grasping in his nervous hand + The imaginary battle brand, + In face of death he dared to fling + Defiance to a tyrant king. + + Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed + In eloquence of attitude, + Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher; + Then swept his kindling glance of fire + From startled pew to breathless choir; + When suddenly his mantle wide + His hands impatient flung aside, + And, lo! he met their wondering eyes + Complete in all a warrior's guise. + + A moment there was awful pause-- + When Berkeley cried, "Cease, traitor! cease! + God's temple is the house of peace!" + The other shouted, "Nay, not so, + When God is with our righteous cause; + His holiest places then are ours, + His temples are our forts and towers. + That frown upon the tyrant foe; + In this, the dawn of Freedom's day, + There is a time to fight and pray!" + + And now before the open door-- + The warrior priest had ordered so-- + The enlisting trumpet's sudden roar + Rang through the chapel, o'er and o'er, + Its long reverberating blow, + So loud and clear, it seemed the ear + Of dusty death must wake and hear. + And there the startling drum and fife + Fired the living with fiercer life; + While overhead, with wild increase, + Forgetting its ancient toll of peace, + The great bell swung as ne'er before; + It seemed as it would never cease; + And every word its ardor flung + From off its jubilant iron tongue + Was, "War! War! War!" + + "Who dares?"--this was the patriot's cry, + As striding from the desk he came-- + "Come out with me, in Freedom's name, + For her to live, for her to die?" + A hundred hands flung up reply, + A hundred voices answered, "I!" + + Thomas Buchanan Read + + + + +AMERICA[4] + + + Foreseen in the vision of sages, + Foretold when martyrs bled, + She was born of the longing of ages, + By the truth of the noble dead + And the faith of the living fed! + No blood in her lightest veins + Frets at remembered chains, + Nor shame of bondage has bowed her head. + In her form and features still + The unblenching Puritan will, + Cavalier honor, Huguenot grace, + The Quaker truth and sweetness, + And the strength of the danger-girdled race + Of Holland, blend in a proud completeness. + + From the homes of all, where her being began, + She took what she gave to Man; + Justice, that knew no station, + Belief, as soul decreed, + Free air for aspiration, + Free force for independent deed! + She takes, but to give again, + As the sea returns the rivers in rain; + And gathers the chosen of her seed + From the hunted of every crown and creed. + + Her Germany dwells by a gentler Rhine; + Her Ireland sees the old sunburst shine; + Her France pursues some dream divine; + Her Norway keeps his mountain pine; + Her Italy waits by the western brine; + And, broad-based under all, + Is planted England's oaken-hearted mood, + As rich in fortitude + As e'er went worldward from the island-wall! + Fused in her candid light, + To one strong race all races here unite; + Tongues melt in hers, hereditary foemen + Forget their sword and slogan, kith and clan. + 'Twas glory, once to be a Roman: + She makes it glory, now, to be a man! + + Bayard Taylor + + + + +THE BLUE AND THE GRAY + + + By the flow of the inland river, + Whence the fleets of iron have fled, + Where the blades of the grave grass quiver, + Asleep are the ranks of the dead: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the one, the Blue, + Under the other, the Gray. + + These in the robings of glory, + Those in the gloom of defeat, + All with the battle blood gory, + In the dusk of eternity meet: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the laurel, the Blue, + Under the willow, the Gray. + + From the silence of sorrowful hours + The desolate mourners go, + Lovingly laden with flowers + Alike for the friend and the foe: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the roses, the Blue, + Under the lilies, the Gray. + + So with an equal splendor + The morning sun rays fall, + With a touch impartially tender, + On the blossoms blooming for all: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Broidered with gold, the Blue, + Mellowed with gold, the Gray. + + So, when the summer calleth, + On forest and field of grain, + With an equal murmur falleth + The cooling drip of the rain: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Wet with the rain, the Blue, + Wet with the rain, the Gray. + + Sadly, but not with upbraiding, + The generous deed was done, + In the storm of the years that are fading, + No braver battle was won + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the blossoms, the Blue, + Under the garlands, the Gray. + + No more shall the war cry sever, + Or the winding rivers be red; + They banish our anger forever + When they laurel the graves of our dead! + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Love and tears for the Blue, + Tears and love for the Gray. + + Francis Miles Finch + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN[5] + + + Life may be given in many ways, + And loyalty to Truth be sealed + As bravely in the closet as the field, + So bountiful is Fate; + But then to stand beside her, + When craven churls deride her, + To front a lie in arms and not to yield, + This shows, methinks, God's plan + And measure of a stalwart man, + Limbed like the old heroic breeds, + Who stand self-poised on manhood's solid earth, + Not forced to frame excuses for his birth, + Fed from within with all the strength he needs. + Such was he, our martyr chief, + Whom late the Nation he had led, + With ashes on her head, + Wept with the passion of an angry grief: + Forgive me, if from present things I turn + To speak what in my heart will beat and burn, + And hang my wreath on his world-honored urn. + Nature, they say, doth dote, + And cannot make a man + Save on some worn-out plan, + Repeating us by rote: + For him her Old-World molds aside she threw, + And, choosing sweet clay from the breast + Of the unexhausted West, + With stuff untainted shaped a hero new, + Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. + How beautiful to see + Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed, + Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead; + One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, + Not lured by any cheat of birth, + But by his clear-grained human worth, + And brave old wisdom of sincerity! + They knew that outward grace is dust; + They could not choose but trust + In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill, + And supple-tempered will + That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. + His was no lonely mountain peak of mind, + Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, + A sea mark now, now lost in vapor's blind; + Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined, + Fruitful and friendly for all human kind, + Yet also nigh to Heaven and loved of loftiest stars. + Nothing of Europe here, + Or, then, of Europe fronting mornward still, + Ere any names of serf and peer + Could Nature's equal scheme deface + And thwart her genial will; + Here was a type of the true elder race, + And one of Plutarch's men talked with us face to face. + I praise him not; it were too late; + And some innative weakness there must be + In him who condescends to victory + Such as the Present gives, and cannot wait, + Safe in himself as in a fate. + So always firmly he: + He knew to bide his time, + And can his fame abide, + Still patient in his simple faith sublime, + Till the wise years decide. + Great captains, with their guns and drums, + Disturb our judgment for the hour, + But at last silence comes! + These all are gone, and standing like a tower, + Our children shall behold his fame, + The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, + Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, + New birth of our new soil, the first American. + + James Russell Lowell + + + + +THE FLAG GOES BY + + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, + A flash of color beneath the sky: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + Blue and crimson and white it shines, + Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines, + Hats off! + The colors before us fly; + But more than the flag is passing by. + + Sea fights and land fights, grim and great, + Fought to make and save the State: + Weary marches and sinking ships; + Cheers of victory on dying lips; + + Days of plenty and years of peace; + March of a strong land's swift increase; + Equal justice, right, and law, + Stately honor and reverend awe; + + Sign of a nation, great and strong + To ward her people from foreign wrong: + Pride and glory and honor--all + Live in the colors to stand or fall. + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; + And loyal hearts are beating high: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + Henry Holcomb Bennett + + + + +THE SHIP OF STATE + + + Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! + Sail on, O UNION, strong and great! + Humanity with all its fears, + With all the hopes of future years, + Is hanging breathless on thy fate! + We know what Master laid thy keel, + What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, + Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, + What anvils rang, what hammers beat, + In what a forge and what a heat + Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! + Fear not each sudden sound and shock, + 'Tis of the wave and not the rock; + 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, + And not a rent made by the gale! + In spite of rock and tempest's roar + In spite of false lights on the shore, + Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! + Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, + Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, + Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, + Are all with thee--are all with thee! + + Henry Wadsworth Longfellow + + + + +THE NAME OF OLD GLORY[6] + + + Old Glory! say who, + By the ships and the crew, + And the long, blended ranks of the grey and the blue-- + Who gave you, Old Glory, the name that you bear + With such pride everywhere + As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air + And leap out full length as we're wanting you to? + Who gave you that name, with the ring of the same, + And the honor and fame so becoming to you?-- + Your stripes streaked in ripples of white and of red, + With your stars at their glittering best overhead-- + By day or by night, + Their delightfulest light + Laughing down from their little square heaven of blue! + Who gave you the name of Old Glory?--say who-- + Who gave you the name of Old Glory? + + The old banner lifted, and faltering then, + In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again. + + Old Glory,--speak out!--we are asking about + How you happened to "favor" a name, so to say, + That sounds so familiar and careless and gay + As we cheer it and shout in our wild, breezy way-- + We--the _crowd_, every man of us, calling you that-- + We--Tom, Dick and Harry--each swinging his hat-- + And hurrahing "Old Glory," like you were our kind, + When--Lord--we all know we're as common as sin! + + And yet it just seems like you _humor_ us all + And waft us your thanks as we hail you and fall + Into line, with you over us, waving us on + Where our glorified, sanctified betters have gone-- + And this is the reason we're wanting to know-- + (And we're wanting it so! + Where our own fathers went, we are willing to go) + Who gave you the name of Old Glory--Oho! + Who gave you the name of Old Glory? + + The old flag unfurled in a billowy thrill + For an instant, then wistfully sighed and was still. + + Old Glory--the story we're wanting to hear + Is what the plain facts of your christening were-- + For your name--just to hear it, + Repeat it, and cheer it, 's a tang to the spirit + As salt as a tear;-- + And seeing you fly, and the boys marching by, + There's a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye + And an aching to live for you always--or die, + If, dying, we still keep you waving on high. + And so, by our love + For you, floating above, + And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof, + Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why + Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory? + Then the old banner leaped, like a sail in the blast, + And fluttered an audible answer at last. + + And it spake, with a shake of the voice, and it said:-- + By the driven snow-white and the living blood-red + Of my bars, and their heaven of stars overhead-- + By the symbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast, + As I float from the steeple, or flap at the mast, + Or droop o'er the sod where the long grasses nod,-- + My name is as old as the glory of God, + ... So I came by the name of Old Glory. + + James Whitcomb Riley + + +Footnotes: + +[1] By Ralph Waldo Emerson, at the dedication, April 19, 1836, of the +monument erected at Concord in honor of the patriots who fell in the +battle of Lexington sixty-one years before. + +[2] Published in the Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775. + +[3] Used with the courteous permission of the publishers, The J. B. +Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. + +[4] From the National Ode, July 4, 1876. + +[5] From the Ode recited at the Harvard Commemoration, July 21, 1865. + +[6] From the Biographical Edition of the Complete Works of James +Whitcomb Riley. Copyright 1913. Used by special permission of the +publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA FIRST*** + + +******* This file should be named 24798-8.txt or 24798-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/9/24798 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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McBrien</h1> +<pre> +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: America First</p> +<p> Patriotic Readings</p> +<p>Author: Various</p> +<p>Editor: Jasper L. McBrien</p> +<p>Release Date: March 10, 2008 [eBook #24798]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA FIRST***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Brian Sogard, Greg Bergquist,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="614" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<hr /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<a name="image1.jpg" id="image1.jpg" href="images/image1.jpg"> +<img src="images/image1_th.jpg" width="400" height="594" alt="AMERICA FIRST" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">AMERICA FIRST</span></div> + + + +<hr /> +<h1>AMERICA FIRST</h1> + +<p class="center"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-weight: bold;"><i>Patriotic Readings</i></span></p> + + +<p class="center" style="margin-top: 4em;">BY<br /> +JASPER L. McBRIEN, A. M.</p> + +<p class="center" style="margin-bottom: 4em;"><span style="font-size: 80%">FORMER STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION OF NEBRASKA<br /> +AND NOW SCHOOL EXTENSION SPECIALIST FOR THE UNITED<br /> +STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION, WASHINGTON, D. C.</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 281px;"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" width="281" height="243" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + +<p class="center" style="margin-top: 4em;">AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY<br /> +NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO</p> + +<hr /> + + +<p class="center"> <span class="smcap">Copyright, 1916</span> + by JASPER L. McBRIEN</p> + +<p class="center"> <i>All rights reserved</i></p> + +<p class="center"> AMERICA FIRST</p> + +<p class="center"> W. P. 7</p> +<hr /> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span></p> +<h2>FOREWORD</h2> + + +<p>America First was the central thought in President Wilson's address to +the Daughters of the American Revolution on the twenty-fifth anniversary +of their organization—their Silver Jubilee—in Washington, D. C., +October 11, 1915. The president declared in this address that all +citizens should make it plain whether their sympathies for foreign +countries come before their love of the United States, or whether they +are for America first, last, and all the time. He asserted, also, that +our people need all of their patriotism in this confusion of tongues in +which we find ourselves over the European war.</p> + +<p>The press throughout the country has taken up the thought of the +President and, seconded by the efforts of the Bureau of Education, has +done loyal work in making "America First" our national slogan. This is +all good so far as it goes—especially among the adult population, many +of whom must be educated, if educated at all, on the run. But the rising +generation, both native-born and foreign, to get the full meaning of +this slogan in its far-reaching significance, must have time for study +and reflection along patriotic lines. There must be the right material +on which the American youth may settle their thoughts for a definite end +in patriotism if our country is to have a new birth of freedom and if +"this government of the people, by the people, and for the people is not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span>to perish from the earth." The prime and vital service of amalgamating +into one homogeneous body the children alike of those who are born here +and of those who come here from so many different lands must be rendered +this Republic by the school teachers of America.</p> + +<p>The purpose of this book is to furnish the teachers and pupils of our +country, material with which the idea of true Americanism may be +developed until "America First" shall become the slogan of every man, +woman, and child in the United States.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span></p><h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span class="large">THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><i>Jasper L. McBrien</i></td></tr> +<tr><td><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tableau—The Spirit of Seventy-Six</span></td><td></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Cast of Characters</span></td><td></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Continental Congress—A Dramatization</span></td><td></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span class="large">AMERICAN PATRIOTISM</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">What is Patriotism</span></td><td align='right'><i>Jasper L. McBrien</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">America for Me</span></td><td align='right'><i>Henry van Dyke</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">America First</span></td><td align='right'><i>Woodrow Wilson</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Meaning of the Flag</span></td><td align='right'><i>Woodrow Wilson</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Makers of the Flag</span></td><td align='right'><i>Franklin K. Lane</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Flag of the Union Forever</span></td><td align='right'><i>Fitzhugh Lee</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Farewell Address</span></td><td align='right'><i>George Washington</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Washington</span></td><td align='right'><i>John W. Daniel</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></td><td align='right'><i>Henry Watterson</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Second Inaugural Address</span></td><td align='right'><i>Abraham Lincoln</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Robert E. Lee</span></td><td align='right'><i>E. Benjamin Andrews</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Our Reunited Country</span></td><td align='right'><i>Clark Howell</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Blue and the Gray</span></td><td align='right'><i>Henry Cabot Lodge</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Reminiscence of Gettysburg</span></td><td align='right'><i>John B. Gordon</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The New South</span></td><td align='right'><i>Henry W. Grady</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Duty and Value of Patriotism</span></td><td align='right'><i>Archbishop Ireland</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Our Country</span></td><td align='right'><i>William McKinley</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Behold the American</span></td><td align='right'><i>T. DeWitt Talmage</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span><span class="smcap">The Hollander as an American</span></td><td align='right'><i>Theodore Roosevelt</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Adopted Citizen</span></td><td align='right'><i>Ulysses S. Grant</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Our Navy</span></td><td align='right'><i>Hampton L. Carson</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_220">220</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Patriotism of Peace</span></td><td align='right'><i>William J. Bryan</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Plea for Universal Peace</span></td><td align='right'><i>George W. Norris</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Gettysburg Address</span></td><td align='right'><i>Abraham Lincoln</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Neutrality Proclamation</span></td><td align='right'><i>Woodrow Wilson</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_256"> 256</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span class="large">POETRY OF PATRIOTISM</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Concord Hymn</span></td><td align='right'><i>Ralph Waldo Emerson</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Warren's Address</span></td><td align='right'><i>John Pierpont</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Patriotism</span></td><td align='right'><i>Sir Walter Scott</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Star-Spangled Banner</span></td><td align='right'><i>Francis Scott Key</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">My Country</span></td><td align='right'><i>Samuel F. Smith</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The American Flag</span></td><td align='right'><i>Joseph Rodman Drake</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Song of Marion's Men</span></td><td align='right'><i>William Cullen Bryant</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Old Continentals</span></td><td align='right'><i>Guy Humphreys McMaster</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_269">269</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Sword of Bunker Hill</span></td><td align='right'><i>Wm. Ross Wallace</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Liberty Tree</span></td><td align='right'><i>Thomas Paine</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Rising in 1776</span></td><td align='right'><i>Thomas Buchanan Read</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_274">274</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">America</span></td><td align='right'><i>Bayard Taylor</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Blue and the Gray</span></td><td align='right'><i>Francis M. Finch</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Abraham Lincoln</span></td><td align='right'><i>James Russell Lowell</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Flag Goes By</span></td><td align='right'><i>Henry Holcomb Bennett</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Ship of State</span></td><td align='right'><i>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Name of Old Glory</span></td><td align='right'><i>James Whitcomb Riley</i></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span></p> +<h2>ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</h2> + + +<p>Acknowledgments for permission to use copyrighted and other valuable +material in this volume are hereby tendered to authors and publishers as +follows:</p> + +<p>To President Woodrow Wilson for his three addresses "America First," +"The Meaning of the Flag," and "Neutrality Proclamation."</p> + +<p>To Secretary Franklin K. Lane for his speech on "The Makers of the +Flag."</p> + +<p>To William Jennings Bryan and his publishers, Funk and Wagnalls Company, +New York and London, for extracts from his address on "The Patriotism of +Peace."</p> + +<p>To Archbishop Ireland for extracts from his address on "The Duty and +Value of Patriotism."</p> + +<p>To George L. Schuman and Company, publishers of <i>Modern Eloquence</i>, +Chicago, for the following extracts and addresses: "Our Country," by +William McKinley; "Our Reunited Country," by Clark Howell; "The Blue and +the Gray," by Henry Cabot Lodge; "A Reminiscence of Gettysburg," by John +B. Gordon; "The New South," by Henry W. Grady; and "The Hollander as an +American," by Theodore Roosevelt.</p> + +<p>To A. C. Butters for the address on "Washington," by John W. Daniel, +from <i>Modern Eloquence</i> published by George L. Schuman and Company.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span></p><p>To Henry Watterson, Louisville, Kentucky, for the extracts from his +lecture on Abraham Lincoln.</p> + +<p>To E. Benjamin Andrews and to his publishers, Fords, Howard and Hulbert, +for the extracts from his lecture on Robert E. Lee.</p> + +<p>To J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, for the poem by Thomas +Buchanan Read, "The Rising in 1776."</p> + +<p>To Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, for the poem by Henry van Dyke, +"America for Me," and also for the extract from the poem "Wanted," by J. +G. Holland.</p> + +<p>To The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, for the poem by James +Whitcomb Riley, "The Name of Old Glory."</p> + +<p>To Henry Holcomb Bennett for his poem entitled, "The Flag Goes By."</p> + +<p>To Christopher Sower Company, Philadelphia, for the poem by Edward +Brooks, entitled "Be a Woman."</p> + +<p>The selections from the poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth +Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and Bayard Taylor are used by +permission of and special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company, the +authorized publishers of the works of those authors.</p> + +<p>The thanks of the author are also extended to Nelson Warner, Katherine +M. Cook, Mrs. L. R. Caldwell, Belvia Cuzzort, W. R. Hood, and Dr. +Stephen B. Weeks of the Bureau of Education, for valuable assistance in +the compilation of this work.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span></p> +<h2>THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS</h2> + +<h3>A DRAMATIZATION</h3> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image2.jpg" id="image2.jpg" href="images/image2.jpg"> +<img src="images/image2_th.jpg" width="500" height="679" alt="SIGNING THE DECLARATION" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">SIGNING THE DECLARATION</span> +</div> + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span></p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>This dramatization of the Continental Congress portrays the spirit of +the times during the period of the American Revolution. It deals +principally with the debates for and against the Declaration of +Independence; it is a summary of the grievances, struggles, sacrifices, +and victories of the colonies from the enactment of the obnoxious Stamp +Act by the British Parliament to the resignation of George Washington as +commander-in-chief of the American army.</p> + +<p>In the construction of a drama covering such a heroic period and +relating to events so momentous, all of which must pass in review before +us within an hour and a half's time, it is necessary to exercise a +certain dramatic license. The historical literalist, like the scriptural +literalist, makes the letter kill the spirit of the truth. After all, it +is not the dry facts, dates, and mechanics of history that are of +greatest importance; it is the fundamental principles, causes, and +effects underlying the events as well as the spirit of the times, that +are of first consideration.</p> + +<p>Any modification of historical fact in this dramatization has been made +only to give a fuller meaning to the great facts of history touched upon +therein. It is the period of the American Revolution that is to be +portrayed, as already stated—not alone those memorable days of June and +July, 1776, during which the debates on the Declaration of Independence +took place. For example, Patrick Henry was a member of the First<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> and +the Second Continental Congress, though not a member at the time the +Declaration of Independence was debated, Washington was a member of the +First Continental Congress, but Jefferson was not. Congress was a +changing body in its membership then as is our Congress to-day.</p> + +<p>Jefferson declares that Patrick Henry was the man who put the ball of +the American Revolution in motion. Not to give Henry a place in this +dramatization would be like the play of "Hamlet" with Hamlet left out.</p> + +<p>It must be remembered that no record was made of the debates in the +Continental Congress as is done verbatim by expert reporters in Congress +to-day and published in the Congressional Record. Therefore, the +speeches herein have been adapted from such sources as Paine's +"Separation of Britain and America," Webster's "Supposed Speech of John +Adams," "Wirt's Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry," Alexander H. +Stephens's "Corner Stone Speech," Webster's "Supposed Speech of +Opposition to Independence," and Sumner's "True Grandeur of Nations." +The dialogue between Jefferson and Adams is taken from a letter of John +Adams to Timothy Pickering, dated August 6, 1822. The speeches of +Stephens and Sumner are paraphrased to suit the times to which they are +here applied.</p> + +<p>Great care has been exercised to place each of the leading characters in +these debates on the side in which he <i>at that time</i> conscientiously +believed. In the roll call in this drama on the vote for independence, +the history of each colony has been thoroughly studied so as to bring +out the changed attitude of the people of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> various colonies toward +independence, as well as of certain members of the Continental Congress +on this question.</p> + +<p>The scenes of Washington and his army just before the battle of Long +Island, the tableau of The Spirit of '76, and Washington's resignation +as commander-in-chief of the army, are introduced not alone for their +psychological effect on the dramatization proper, but for their own +worth in teaching patriotism.</p> + +<p>With twenty-nine leading characters the dramatization can be well +staged. But if fifty-five characters are available—the number who +signed the Declaration, and if there is room for so many, so much the +better, except as the number of performers is increased there will be an +additional expense for costumes.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> It may be given as a reading lesson +without costumes; it may be given so as a drama; but it is a greater +success given in costumes.</p> + +<p>Those who take part in this dramatization should be costumed as nearly +like the characters they represent as possible. As a rule, wigs can be +rented for this purpose at a reasonable cost, and it will not be +difficult to dress in the style of the Revolutionary period—buckle +shoes, silk stockings, knee pants, ruffled shirt, and the conventional +coat of the time.</p> + +<p>The same freedom must be permitted and exercised in carrying out this +dramatization, that marked the actors in the Continental Congress itself +in its stormy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> debates and noisy sessions. Immediately following the +close of each speech there should be a clamor for recognition on the +part of the delegates, but the president will be careful to recognize +the proper person so as to make the play move without any hitch. As each +speaker proceeds there should be a reasonable number of interruptions by +applause or dissenting voices so as to play both sides as strongly as +possible.</p> + +<p>The parliamentary procedure must not be followed too strictly or it will +kill the interest in the play on the part of the public. It must be +given with dispatch and dramatic effect to make a happy hit.</p> + +<p>These debates may be considered as an oratorical contest with prizes +awarded accordingly if so desired. It adds interest to the work.</p> + +<p>It is hard to tell in which years of school work it is best to give this +dramatization—whether in the grammar grades, in the high school, or in +the college, for it is within the understanding of grammar grade boys; +it is not too elementary for young men in the high school; and it is +profound enough for the best thought and the best efforts of college +students. If given by grammar school boys and high school young men, it +will have a wholesome influence in training for a better citizenship at +an opportune time. If presented by college, university, and normal +school students it will give those who are fitting themselves for +teaching a valuable lesson in methods. If it were given by every grammar +school, high school, college, university and normal school, on every +Chautauqua platform, and by every patriotic society in the United States +on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> Washington's Birthday and other patriotic occasions, and then +repeated on the Fourth of July every year for the next decade it would +do much towards combating that dangerous "aggressive hyphenated +Americanism," that has sprung up in our country and whose baneful +effects it will take much earnest teaching to obliterate. When all +native-born children of foreign parentage, and when all citizens of +foreign birth know the story of the struggle and sacrifice by which our +country rose to her proud station it will make them feel "that they are +Americans among Americans; that they are part of America and have a +share and a duty toward American institutions." May it also cause those +native-born Americans who have become luke-warm in their love of +country, careless of its honor, and negligent in its defense to awake to +their duty with a spirit to do their duty before it is too late. May it +make of every one of us a truer American "by being wholly and without +reserve, and without divided allegiance, and with emphatic repudiation +of the entire principle of 'dual nationality,' an American citizen and +nothing else."</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span><span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>In their ragged regimentals</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>Stood the old Continentals,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><i>Yielding not,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>When the grenadiers were lunging.</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;"><i>And like hail fell the plunging</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><i>Cannon shot;</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><i>When the files</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><i>Of the isles,</i></span><br /> +<i>From the smoky night encampment, bore the banner of the rampant</i><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><i>Unicorn;</i></span><br /> +<i>And grummer, grummer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer</i><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><i>Through the morn!</i></span><br /> +</div> + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image3.jpg" id="image3.jpg" href="images/image3.jpg"> +<img src="images/image3_th.jpg" width="500" height="731" alt="TABLEAU—THE SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SIX" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">TABLEAU—THE SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SIX</span> +</div> +<hr class="major" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table width="500" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" summary=""> +<col style="width:35%;" /> +<col style="width:25%;" /> +<col style="width:40%;" /> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span style="font-size: 120%;">CAST OF CHARACTERS</span></td></tr> +<tr><td><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span class="smcap">Speakers</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">for the declaration</span></td><td></td><td align='left' style="text-indent: -1.5em;"><span class="smcap">against the declaration</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>John Hancock, <i>President</i></td><td align='left'>Edward Rutledge</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Richard Henry Lee</td><td></td><td align='left'>John Dickinson</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>John Adams</td><td></td><td align='left'>George Walton</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Roger Sherman</td><td></td><td align='left'>Robert Morris</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Benjamin Franklin</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Samuel Adams</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Joseph Hewes</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Patrick Henry</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Thomas Jefferson</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'>Charles Thomson, <i>Secretary</i></td></tr> +<tr><td><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span class="smcap">Other Members of the Congress</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Josiah Bartlett</td><td></td><td align='left'>Oliver Wolcott</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Stephen Hopkins</td><td></td><td align='left'>Elbridge Gerry</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>William Floyd</td><td></td><td align='left'>William Hooper</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'>Charles Carroll of Carrollton</td><td align='left'>Benjamin Rush</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Samuel Chase</td><td></td><td align='left'>Richard Stockton</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Benjamin Harrison</td><td></td><td align='left'>Thomas McKean</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Lyman Hall</td><td></td><td align='left'>Caesar Rodney</td></tr> +<tr><td><br /></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><span class="smcap">Additional Characters</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'>General Washington and his Army</td></tr> +</table></div> +<div class='center'> +<table width="300" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" summary=""> +<col style="width:30%;" /> +<col style="width:5%;" /> +<col style="width:65%;" /> +<tr><td align='left'>Fifer<br />Drummer<br />Little Boy</td><td align='left'><span style="font-size: 400%">}</span></td><td align='center'>Leading the Army<br />in "The Spirit of '76"</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span></p> +<h2>THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS</h2> + +<h3>ACT I.</h3> + + +<p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene I.</span>—<i>Congress assembled; John Hancock in the chair as president; +his keynote speech.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Hancock.</span><a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—I thank you for +the signal honor you have conferred on me in making me your presiding +officer. I am glad to see so many Colonies represented in this Congress. +Let us show the nations of the old world what the people of the new +world will do when left to themselves, to their own unbiased good sense, +and to their own true interests. On us depend the destinies of our +country—the fate of three millions of people, and of the countless +millions of our posterity. Matchless is our opportunity—matchless also +is our responsibility! May the God of nations guide us in our +deliberations and in our actions.</p> + +<p>Everything that is right or natural pleads for separation. The blood of +the slain, the weeping voice of Nature cries, "'Tis time to part." Even +the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a +strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other +was never the design of Heaven. The time, likewise, at which the +continent was discovered,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> adds weight to the argument, and the manner +in which it was peopled, increases the force of it. The Reformation was +preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously +meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home +should afford neither friendship nor safety.</p> + +<p>The authority of Great Britain over this continent is a form of +government which sooner or later must have an end: and a serious mind +can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and +positive conviction that what he calls "the present constitution" is +merely temporary. As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this +government is not sufficiently lasting to insure anything which we may +bequeath to posterity; and by a plain method of argument, as we are +running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, +otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the +line of our duty rightly, we should take our children by the hand, and +fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will +present a prospect which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from +our sight.</p> + +<p>Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offense, yet I am +inclined to believe that all those who espouse the doctrine of +reconciliation may be included within the following descriptions: +Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men, who cannot see; +prejudiced men, who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who +think better of the European world than it deserves: and this last +class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more +calamities to this continent than all the other three.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span></p><p>It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of sorrow; +the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel +the precariousness with which all American property is possessed. But +let our imaginations transport us a few moments to Boston; that seat of +wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us forever to renounce a +power in whom we can have no trust. The inhabitants of that unfortunate +city, who but a few months ago were in ease and affluence, have no other +alternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. Endangered by +the fire of their friends if they continue within the city, and +plundered by the soldiery if they leave it. In their present situation +they are prisoners without hope of redemption, and in a general attack +for their relief they would be exposed to the fury of both armies.</p> + +<p>Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offenses of +Britain, and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out, "Come, +come, we shall be friends again for all this." But examine the passions +and feelings of mankind, bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the +touchstone of nature, and then tell me whether you can hereafter love, +honor, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword +into your land? If you cannot do all these, then are you deceiving +yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon your posterity. Your +future connection with Britain, whom you can neither love nor honor, +will be forced and unnatural, and being formed only on the plan of +present convenience, will in a little time fall into a relapse more +wretched than the first. But if you say you can still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> pass the +violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt? Hath your +property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children +destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a +parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched +survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. +But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then are +you unworthy the name of husband, father, friend or lover, and, whatever +may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward and +the spirit of a sycophant.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen of the First American Congress, in the name of Equality, +Fraternity and Liberty, I welcome you to this council. What is your +pleasure, gentlemen?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Richard Henry Lee.</span> Mr. President:—I wish to move the adoption of the +following resolution: "Resolved, that these united colonies are, and of +right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved +from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political +connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to +be, totally dissolved."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span> Mr. President:—I second the motion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, you have heard the +motion of Mr. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, for immediate and absolute +independence. Are there any remarks?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Richard Henry Lee.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> of the Continental +Congress:—Why do we delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day +give birth to an American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and +to conquer, but to reëstablish the reign of peace and law. The eyes of +Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom +that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever +increasing tyranny which devastates her polluted shores. She invites us +to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace and the +persecuted repose. She entreats us to cultivate a propitious soil where +that generous plant of liberty, which first sprang and grew in England, +but is now withered by the blasts of tyranny may revive and flourish, +sheltering under its salubrious shade all the unfortunate of the human +race. If we are not this day wanting in our duty to our country, the +names of the American legislators of 1776 will be placed by posterity at +the side of Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the three +Williams of Nassau and of all those whose memory has been and forever +will be, dear to virtuous men and good citizens.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>At the close of Mr. Lee's brief speech there is a clamor for +recognition. John Adams is recognized.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span> Mr. President:—I move that a committee of five be selected +by ballot to draft a Declaration representing the views of these united +colonies.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span> Mr. President:—I second the motion.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">John Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—The motion has +been made and seconded that a committee of five be selected by ballot to +draft a proper Declaration representing the views of these united +colonies. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? (<i>Calls for +the question.</i>)</p> + +<p>As many as favor this motion make it known by saying "aye" (<i>ayes +respond</i>); contrary, "no" (<i>noes respond</i>). The ayes seem to have it, +the ayes have it, and the motion is carried.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, I shall appoint Benjamin Rush of +Pennsylvania, Samuel Chase of Maryland, and Edward Rutledge of South +Carolina as tellers for this election and they will wait upon you for +your ballots for the committee. Please write the names of the five men +whom you wish to serve on this committee, on your ballot and deposit the +same in the hat when passed.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Ballots are gathered by the tellers who report the result to the +president of the Congress.</i>) </p></div> + +<p>Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—By your ballots you have +selected the following persons as the committee of five to draft the +Declaration as already ordered—Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams +of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of +Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of New York. Gentlemen, what is +your further pleasure?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Samuel Adams.</span> Mr. President:—I move that the Congress do now take a +recess until to-morrow morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> at 10 o'clock to give the committee just +appointed time in which to prepare the Declaration ordered.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Joseph Hewes.</span> Mr. President:—I second the motion which Mr. Adams has +offered.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Congress:—It has been moved and seconded +that this Congress take a recess until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock +in order to give the committee just appointed time in which to prepare a +proper Declaration. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? +(<i>Calls for question.</i>)</p> + +<p>As many as favor the motion make it known by saying "aye" (<i>ayes +respond</i>); contrary, "no" (<i>noes respond</i>). The ayes seem to have it, +the ayes have it, and this Congress will take a recess until to-morrow +morning at 10 o'clock.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">CURTAIN</span></p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span></p> +<h3>ACT II.</h3> + +<p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene I.</span>—<i>Meeting of the Committee of Five. Livingston absent.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span> Gentlemen of the Committee, I move that Thomas +Jefferson and John Adams be appointed as a sub-committee of this +Committee of Five to draft the Declaration ordered by the Continental +Congress.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Roger Sherman.</span> I second the motion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span> Gentlemen, you have heard the motion. As many as +favor the same make it known by saying "aye."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams are silent while Mr. Sherman and Mr. +Franklin vote aye.</i>) </p></div> + +<p>The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and Mr. Jefferson and Mr. +Adams are elected.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span> Gentlemen, it seems to me you have taken snap judgment on +Mr. Jefferson and myself.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Thomas Jefferson.</span> Yes, gentlemen, you have.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span> The committee has so ordered and as Congress itself +gave Mr. Jefferson the highest number of votes and Mr. Adams the next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> +highest number in the selection of this committee, I am sure that +Congress will be highly pleased at our having selected you for this +great work. We also feel that we should congratulate ourselves upon the +choice we have made.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span> Thank you, gentlemen, for the compliment.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Thomas Jefferson.</span> I join Mr. Adams in thanking you, gentlemen, for the +confidence you have in us.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Roger Sherman.</span> Gentlemen of the committee, I move that we take a recess +until to-night so as to give the sub-committee time to prepare the +Declaration.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> I second the motion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Franklin.</span> As many as favor the motion make it known by saying "aye" +(<i>ayes respond</i>). The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and the +committee will take a recess until eight o'clock to-night.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Mr. Franklin and Mr. Sherman leave Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson to +themselves to deliberate over the Declaration.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Mr. Adams, I suggest that you make the draft of this +Declaration.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> I will not!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> <a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>You should do it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Oh, no!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Why will you not? You ought to do it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> I will not!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Why?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Reasons enough.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> What can be your reasons?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Reason first, you are a Virginian and a Virginian ought to +appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, +suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you +can write ten times better than I can.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Well, if you are decided, I will do the best I can.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Very well, when you have drawn it up we will have a meeting.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Exeunt Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson.</i>) </p></div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span></p><p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene II.</span>—<i>Washington's Address to his Army. Washington and his army<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> +in camp on Long Island.</i></p> + +<p>The time is now near at hand, which must probably determine whether +Americans are to be freemen or slaves, whether their houses and farms +are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves to be consigned to a +state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The +fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and +the conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only +the choice of a brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have, +therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die.</p> + +<p>Our own, our country's honor, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly +exertion. If we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the +whole world. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we +shall have their blessings and praises if happily we are the instruments +of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us, +therefore, animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world +that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to +any slavish mercenary on earth.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span></p><p>Liberty, property, life, and honor are all at stake. Upon your courage +and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country. Our +wives, children, and parents expect safety from us only; and they have +every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a +cause.</p> + +<p>The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by show and appearance; but +remember that they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few +brave Americans. Their cause is bad—their men are conscious of it. If +they are opposed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with +our advantage of works and knowledge of the ground, the victory is most +assuredly ours.</p> + + +<p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene III.</span>—<span class="smcap">Tableau</span>—"<i>The Spirit of '76.</i>"</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>As soon as the sound of battle has died away following the +departure of Washington and his army, put on the tableau of "The +Spirit of '76." The fifer, the drummer, and the little boy should +be good musicians playing patriotic music of the Revolution. Their +wounded and ragged comrades are seen in the background. </p></div> + + +<p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene IV.</span>—<i>Mr. Jefferson seated at his desk and putting on the +finishing touches to his original draft of the Declaration of +Independence. Enter Mr. Adams.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Good evening, Mr. Jefferson.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Good evening, Mr. Adams.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Well, have you the Declaration finished?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Mr. Adams, I have done the best I could but I am not very +well satisfied with what I have written. I wish you would look it over +and make such corrections and criticisms as your judgment deems proper.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams</span> (<i>studying the Declaration</i>). Mr. Jefferson, I am delighted +with your production. Your statements relative to the inalienable rights +of men are unanswerable and to secure these rights, governments <i>must</i> +be instituted among men, <i>deriving</i> their <i>just powers from</i> the +<i>consent</i> of the <i>governed</i>. This paragraph concerning negro slavery +meets with my approval but I fear it will not meet with the approval of +some of the Southern delegates. I congratulate you, Mr. Jefferson, on +what you have done. This document will make you immortal.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Thank you, Mr. Adams, I fear you are too extravagant in +your praise of my work.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Enter Mr. Franklin and Mr. Sherman.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Franklin.</span> Well, gentlemen, have you completed the draft for the +Declaration?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Mr. Jefferson has finished it. It is all his work. I have +reviewed the paper very hurriedly but in my opinion it is one of the +greatest documents ever written by man. Look it over, gentlemen, and let +us hear your opinion of it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Mr. Franklin</span> (<i>studying the Declaration</i>). Mr. Jefferson, I congratulate +you, sir. Your declaration on the inalienable rights of men is well +stated. I agree with you that governments <i>derive</i> their <i>just powers +from</i> the <i>consent</i> of the <i>governed</i>. I like that paragraph on slavery +but I believe that some of the Southern delegates will oppose it. This +is a paper of which you should be proud, Mr. Jefferson. I congratulate +you, sir. Here, Mr. Sherman, let us have your views on this Declaration.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Sherman</span> (<i>studying the Declaration</i>). You have covered all our +grievances in the twenty-seven distinct charges you have made against +the present king of Great Britain. We can well afford to submit these +facts to a candid world. That paragraph on slavery, Mr. Jefferson, meets +with my approval heartily, but I fear some of the Southern delegates +will oppose it strongly. We can certainly appeal to the Supreme Judge of +the world for the rectitude of our intentions. I believe with you that +divine Providence will support us in making this Declaration good. +Therefore, I am willing to stand with you in pledging our lives, our +fortunes, and our sacred honor to this end. I do not see how I could +make any suggestions that would improve it. Mr. Jefferson, I +congratulate you on the great work you have done in this paper for our +country and for humanity.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Jefferson.</span> Gentlemen, I thank you all most heartily and sincerely +for the compliments you have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> paid me on this paper, but I am no orator +myself, especially for such an occasion as this; therefore, I should +like to have Mr. Adams report this Declaration to the Continental +Congress, move its adoption for me, and lead in the debates in favor of +it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Franklin.</span> Gentlemen:—I move that Mr. Adams be requested to report +this Declaration to the Congress as desired by Mr. Jefferson.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Sherman.</span> I second the motion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Franklin.</span> Gentlemen, you have heard the motion. As many as favor the +same make it known by saying "aye." (<i>Response of ayes; Mr. Adams is +silent</i>.) The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and the motion is +carried for Mr. Adams to so report this Declaration. The committee is +adjourned.</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">CURTAIN</span></p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span></p> +<h3>ACT III.</h3> + + +<p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene I.</span>—<i>The Continental Congress again in session.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Hancock.</span> (<i>Looking at his watch, as he calls the Congress to +order.</i>) Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—The time has come to +which we adjourned yesterday in order to give the Committee of Five, +appointed to draft the Declaration, due time to prepare the same. Are +the gentlemen of the Committee present and ready to report?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Adams.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—At +the request of Mr. Jefferson and the other members of the Committee, I +beg leave to submit the following Declaration for your consideration +after it has been read by the secretary of this Congress. Permit me to +say here, however, that the credit for the authorship of this paper +belongs entirely to Mr. Jefferson. It is his work, which the other +members of the Committee are unanimous in approving.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Charles Thomson, secretary of the Congress, reads the Declaration +of Independence. This part should be assigned to one who has a good +clear voice and is a good public reader. If it is thought best not +to read all of the Declaration, its most striking paragraphs should +be read. Do not forget to have the famous paragraph on slavery +read. If it were omitted the great speech of George Walton would be +out of place.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span><a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand +and my heart to this vote in favor of this Declaration of Independence. +It is true, indeed, that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. +But there's a divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England +has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, +she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our +grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, +should we defer the Declaration?</p> + +<p>Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, +which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or +safety to his own life and his own honor? Are not you,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> sir, who sit +in that chair, is not he,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> our venerable colleague near you, are you +not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment +and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, +what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws? If we +postpone independence do we mean to carry on, or to give up the war? Do +we mean to submit to the measures of Parliament, Boston Port Bill and +all? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground +to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I +know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> we intend to +violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that +plighting, before God, of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting +him forth to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards +of the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, with our +fortunes and our lives? I know there is not a man here who would not +rather see a general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake +sink it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the +ground. For myself, having twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, +that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or +to be raised, for defense of American liberty, may my right hand forget +her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate +or waver in the support I give him.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>At the close of Mr. Adams' speech there is loud clamor for +recognition. The president recognizes Edward Rutledge of South +Carolina, who speaks against the Declaration.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Edward Rutledge.</span> <a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—Let us pause! This step, once taken, cannot be retraced. This +resolution, once passed, will cut off all hope of reconciliation. If +success attend the arms of England, we shall then be no longer colonies, +with charters, and with privileges. These will all be forfeited by this +act; and we shall be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> in the condition of other conquered people—at the +mercy of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run the +hazard; but are we ready to carry the country to that length? Is success +so probable as to justify it? Where is the military, where the naval +power, by which we are to resist the whole strength of the arm of +England? For she will exert that strength to the utmost. Can we rely on +the constancy and perseverance of the people?—or will they not act as +the people of other countries have acted, and, wearied with a long war, +submit in the end, to a worse oppression? While we stand on our old +ground, and insist on redress of grievances, we know we are right, and +are not answerable for consequences. Nothing, then, can be imputable to +us.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>At the close of Mr. Rutledge's speech there is a clamor for +recognition. The president recognizes Roger Sherman of +Connecticut.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Roger Sherman.</span> <a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—The war must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war +must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence? That +measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The +nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we +acknowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I +maintain that England herself will sooner treat for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> peace with us on +the footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to +acknowledge that her whole conduct toward us has been a course of +injustice and oppression. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting +to the course of things which now predestinates our independence, than +by yielding the points in controversy to her rebellious subjects. The +former she will regard as the result of fortune; the latter she would +feel as her own deep disgrace. Why, then, why, then, sir, do we not as +soon as possible change this from a civil to a national war? And since +we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all +the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory?</p> + +<p>If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause +will raise up armies; the cause will create navies. The people, the +people, if we are true to them will carry us, and will carry themselves, +gloriously through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people +have been found. I know the people of these colonies, and I know that +resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, +and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its +willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the Declaration +will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and +bloody war for the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, +for chartered immunities, held under a British king, set before them the +glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them +anew the breath of life. Read this Declaration at the head of the army; +every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered +to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the +pulpit, religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will +cling around it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to +the public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who heard the +first roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers +and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill and in the streets of +Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>At the close of Mr. Sherman's speech there is a loud clamor for +recognition. The president recognizes John Dickinson of +Pennsylvania.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Dickinson.</span> <a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—If we now change our object, carry our pretensions farther, +and set up for absolute independence, we shall lose the sympathy of +mankind. We shall no longer be defending what we possess, but struggling +for something which we never did possess, and which we have solemnly and +uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursuing, from the very outset of +the troubles. Abandoning thus our old ground of resistance only to +arbitrary acts of oppression, the nations will believe the whole to have +been mere pretense, and they will look on us, not as injured, but as +ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsibility. It will be +upon us, it will be upon us, if, relinquishing the ground we have stood +upon so long, and stood so safely, we now proclaim independence, and +carry on the war for that object, while these cities burn, these +pleasant fields whiten and bleach with the bones of their owners, and +these streams run blood. It will be upon us, it will be upon us, if +failing to maintain this unseasonable and ill-judged Declaration, a +sterner despotism, maintained by military power, shall be established +over our posterity, when we ourselves, given up by an exhausted, a +harassed, a misled people, shall have expiated our rashness and atoned +for our presumption on the scaffold.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image4.jpg" id="image4.jpg" href="images/image4.jpg"> +<img src="images/image4_th.jpg" width="500" height="689" alt="BENJAMIN FRANKLIN" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">BENJAMIN FRANKLIN</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span></p><div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>At the close of Mr. Dickinson's speech there is a loud clamor for +recognition. The president recognizes Benjamin Franklin of +Pennsylvania.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span> <a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see +clearly, through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We +may not live to the time when this Declaration shall be made good. We +may die; die colonists; die slaves; die, it may be ignominiously and on +the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that +my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall +be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> +But while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a +country, and that a free country.</p> + +<p>But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that this +Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but +it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick +gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future as the sun in +heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in +our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with +thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its +annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of +subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of +gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour has come. My +whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I +hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off +as Mr. Adams of Massachusetts began, that, sink or swim, live or die, +survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, +and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, independence +<i>now, and</i> <span class="smcap">INDEPENDENCE FOREVER</span>!</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>There is a loud clamor for recognition, and the president +recognizes George Walton of Georgia.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">George Walton.</span> <a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—I am for this Declaration if the paragraph on slavery is +struck out. But I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> will oppose it to the end if that paragraph is +permitted to remain a part of it. There is not one good reason for +introducing the slavery question at this time. The relations between +individual master and slave have no place here in the greater and graver +matter of differences between the British Government and the American +Colonies. But since the issue is thrust upon us, I propose to meet it +squarely and fearlessly.</p> + +<p>Mr. President and gentlemen, you cannot make equal what God Almighty has +made unequal. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his +spots? The Bible commands in the most emphatic language that servants +obey in all things their masters. Liberty loving Greece had her slaves. +Shall liberty loving America have less? Strike out that obnoxious +paragraph and every delegate from the Southern colonies will fall in +line for the Declaration of Independence, but if you make that paragraph +a part of the Declaration many delegates from the South will withdraw +from this convention, and then you will fight your own battles.</p> + +<p>This paragraph on slavery is founded upon ideas fundamentally wrong. +These ideas rest upon the assumption of the equality of the races. This +is an error. It is a sandy foundation and a government founded upon it +will fall when the storms come and the winds blow.</p> + +<p>Let us found our new government upon the great truth that the negro is +not the equal of the white man, that slavery—subordination to the +superior race—is his natural and normal condition. This truth has been +slow in the process of its development, like all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> other great truths in +the various departments of science.</p> + +<p>Many governments have been founded upon the principle of the +subordination and serfdom of certain classes of the <i>same</i> race; such +were and are in violation of the laws of nature. With us, <i>all</i> the +<i>white</i> race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of +the law. Not so with the negro; subordination is his place. He, by +nature or by the curse of Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he +now occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of a +building, lays the foundation with proper material—the granite; then +comes the brick or the marble. The substratum of our society is made of +the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it +is best not only for the superior race, but for the inferior race, that +it should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the laws of the +Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His plans, or to +question them. For His own good purposes He has made one race to differ +from another, as He has made "one star to differ from another star in +glory."</p> + +<p>Therefore, I declare again that you cannot make equal what God Almighty +has made unequal. He has made the negro and the white man unequal. You +cannot make them equal. And I move that the paragraph on slavery be +struck out. I have measured my words, gentlemen. The responsibility is +yours.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>At the close of Mr. Walton's speech there is a loud clamor for +recognition, and the chair recognizes Samuel Adams.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Samuel Adams.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—While I have no personal +objections against this paragraph on slavery—for personally I favor +it—yet from the standpoint of the general welfare of the colonies, I +deem it unwise at this time to take any action either for or against the +question of slavery. Therefore I second the motion of Mr. Walton to +strike out the paragraph on slavery.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—It has been duly +moved and seconded that the paragraph in this Declaration on slavery be +struck out. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">William Hooper.</span> Mr. President, before voting on this motion, I wish to +have the paragraph on slavery read again.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>This request is seconded by many of the delegates.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Hancock.</span> The secretary will read the paragraph on slavery again.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>The secretary reads the paragraph on slavery as follows:</i>) </p></div> + +<p>He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most +sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who +never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> +another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation +thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is +the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. Determined to keep +open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted +his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to +restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors +might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very +people to rise in arms among us and to purchase that liberty of which he +has deprived them by murdering the people upon whom he obtruded them: +thus paying off, former crimes committed against the <i>liberties</i> of one +people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the <i>lives</i> of +another.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>After the reading of this paragraph the delegates call for a vote +on Mr. Walton's motion.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Congress, a vote is called for on Mr. +Walton's motion to strike out the paragraph on slavery. As many as are +in favor of this motion make it known by saying "aye" (<i>a strong aye +vote</i>); as many as are opposed to the motion make it known by responding +"no" (<i>a light vote of noes</i>). The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have +it, and the paragraph on slavery is struck out. Gentlemen, what is your +further pleasure?</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>A loud clamor for recognition, the chair recognizing Joseph Hewes +of North Carolina.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Joseph Hewes.</span> <a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as +well as the abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have opposed +this Declaration in these debates. But different men often see the same +subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be +thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining, as I do, +opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my +sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The +question before the house is one of awful moment to this country. For my +own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or +slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be +the freedom of debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive +at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and +our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear +of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward +my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, +which I revere above all earthly kings.</p> + +<p>Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of +hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to +the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the +part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? +Are we disposed to be of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> number of those, who, having eyes, see +not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their +temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, +I am willing to know the truth; to know the worst, and to provide for +it.</p> + +<p>I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of +experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. +And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the +conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those +hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and +the house? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been +lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. +Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how +this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike +preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and +armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown +ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to +win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the +implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings +resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its +purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other +possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of +the world, that calls for all this accumulation of navies and armies? +No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no +other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> us those chains, which +the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to +oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for +the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? +Nothing! We have held the subject up in every light of which it is +capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and +humble supplication? What terms shall we find, which have not been +already exhausted? Let us not. I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves +longer.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>A loud clamor for recognition. The chair recognizes Robert Morris +of Pennsylvania.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Robert Morris.</span> <a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—I am opposed to war first, last, and all the time. It is a +relic of barbarism. I believe in the gospel of peace on earth, good will +toward men. It would be better to settle our differences with England +even by flipping a coin than by fighting and killing one another. Let us +hearken unto the voice of God as it comes ringing down the centuries +from Mount Sinai, "Thou shalt not kill." Shall this new government start +out as the Cain among the nations of earth with the blood of our +brethren upon our hands? God forbid that we make ourselves so foolish +and so reckless as this! The history of trial by battle is the history +of folly and wickedness. As we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> revert to those early periods in the +history of the human race in which it prevailed, our minds are shocked +at the barbarism which we behold; we are horror stricken at the awful +subjection of justice to brute force.</p> + +<p>Who told you, fond man! to regard that as glory when performed by a +nation, which is condemned as a crime and a barbarism, when committed by +an individual? In what vain conceit of wisdom and virtue do you find +this degrading morality? Where is it declared that God, who is no +respecter of persons, is a respecter of multitudes? Whence do you draw +these partial laws of a powerful and impartial God? Man is immortal; but +states are mortal. Man has a higher destiny than states. Shall states be +less amenable to the great moral laws of God than man? Each individual +is an atom of the mass. Must not the mass be like individuals of which +it is composed? Shall the mass do what the individual may not do? No! A +thousand times <i>NO</i>! The same laws which govern individuals govern +masses, as the same laws in nature prevail over large and small things, +controlling the fall of an apple and the orbits of the planets.</p> + +<p>And who is this god of battles that some of you men believe in with so +much faith? It is Mars—man-slaying, blood-polluted, city-smiting, Mars! +Him we cannot adore. It is not he who causes the sun to shine on the +just and the unjust. It is not he who tempers the wind to the shorn +lamb. It is not he who distills the oil of gladness in every upright +heart. It is not he who fills the fountain of mercy and goodness. He is +not the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> God of love and justice. The god of battles is not the God of +Christians; to him can ascend no prayer of Christian thanksgiving; for +him no words of worship in Christian temples, no swelling anthem to peal +the note of praise.</p> + +<p>Let us cease, then, to look for a lamp to our feet in the feeble tapers +that glimmer in the sepulchers of the past. Rather let us hail those +ever-burning lights above in whose beams is the brightness of the +noon-day. As the cedars of Lebanon are higher than the grass of the +valley, as the heavens are higher than the earth, as man is higher than +the beasts of the field, as the angels are higher than man, as he that +ruleth his spirit is higher than he that taketh a city; so are the +virtues and glories and victories of peace higher than the virtues and +victories of war.</p> + +<p>To this great work of world-wide peace let me summon you. Believe that +you can do it, and you can do it. Blessed are the peace-makers for they +are the children of God.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Loud clamor for recognition, the chair recognizing Patrick Henry +of Virginia.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Patrick Henry.</span> <a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:—We have done everything that could be done, to avert the +storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; +we have supplicated; we have prostrated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> ourselves before the throne, +and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of +the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our +remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our +supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with +contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may +we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer +any room for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean to preserve +inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long +contending—if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which +we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never +to abandon, until the glorious object of our contest shall be +obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to +arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us.</p> + +<p>They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable +an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, +or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a +British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather +strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of +effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the +delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and +foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make proper use of those means which +the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, +armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> as that which +we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against +us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just +God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up +friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the +strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, +sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now +too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in +submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be +heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable—and let it come! I +repeat it, sir, let it come.</p> + +<p>It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, +peace—but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale, +that sweeps from the north, will bring to our ears the clash of +resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we +here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life +so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains +and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may +take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>At the close of Mr. Henry's speech there are loud calls for a +vote upon the question. President Hancock orders the secretary to +call the roll of colonies in geographic order beginning with New +Hampshire.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> New Hampshire!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Josiah Bartlett.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—New Hampshire is +represented in the Congress by three delegates. Her people have appealed +to us and have instructed us to work for and vote for Independence. I +believe everybody knows more than any body. I consider it a signal +honor, sir, and it is the happiest hour of my life, to lead in this roll +call in favor of this Declaration. New Hampshire votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for New Hampshire."</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Massachusetts!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Samuel Adams.</span> Mr. President:—The king of England has set a price upon +your head and mine. If this Declaration is not made good by the people +of these colonies you and I will be shot, hanged by the neck till dead, +or burned at the stake as traitors. If we fail, my only regret will be +that I have but one life to give for my country. But with faith in the +people and in God to carry our cause through to a glorious victory, the +delegates from Massachusetts stand as one man for Independence. +Massachusetts, therefore, votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for Massachusetts, and long live Samuel +Adams and John Hancock. Down with the tyrant king of England!"</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Rhode Island!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Stephen Hopkins.</span> Mr. President:—Rhode Island is a small colony. She is +represented in this Congress by only two delegates. But all that we are +and all we hope to be we are ready here and now to give for +Independence. Rhode Island votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for brave Rhode Island, Stephen Hopkins, +and William Ellery."</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Connecticut!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Roger Sherman.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—I have already addressed +you at some length in favor of this Declaration. It becomes my happy +duty now to cast the unanimous vote of the four delegates from +Connecticut for independence. Connecticut votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Long live Roger Sherman! Three cheers for +Connecticut."</i>) </p></div> + +<p><i>Secretary Thomson.</i> New York!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">William Floyd.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—The instructions against +independence for the delegates from New York have never been recalled. +We, therefore, request the privilege to refrain from voting on this +question. We regret the situation, gentlemen!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">President Hancock.</span> New York is excused from voting on this question.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> New Jersey!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Richard Stockton.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—I am happy to say that +New Jersey has given her five delegates in this Congress instructions to +vote for independence. New Jersey, therefore, votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for New Jersey."</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Pennsylvania!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—From the beginning of +this Congress the delegates from Pennsylvania have labored under +instructions against independence. But during the past three months the +friends of independence in this commonwealth have worked in season and +out of season to have these instructions canceled and permission given +us to vote for independence. At a mass meeting in Philadelphia on June +18, presided over by that distinguished and influential radical, Colonel +Daniel Roberdeau, and attended by over 7,000 citizens from all sections +of the state, a public sentiment was created and started that resulted +in the overthrow of the old government of the aristocrats of the old +Assembly and then established a new government of the people under the +authority of the Conference of Committees which has given the delegates +from Pennsylvania instructions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> to vote for independence. Two of our +delegates, John Dickinson and Robert Morris, have retired from this +Congress considering such instructions a recall of their membership in +this body. Two other delegates from Pennsylvania, Charles Humphreys and +William Williams, question the authority of the Conference of Committees +and hold that the instructions of the old defunct Assembly are still +binding upon them. They vote against independence. But James Wilson who +has been opposed to Independence bows to the will of the people and +joins John Morton and myself in voting for Independence. Under the rule +of this Congress made in its beginning session that a majority of the +delegates from each colony, present and voting determines its vote upon +such a question as this, Pennsylvania casts two votes against +independence and three votes for independence and therefore votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for Pennsylvania! Long live Benjamin +Franklin, John Morton, and James Wilson!"</i>)</p> + +<p>(<i>Immediately following the applause for Franklin, Caesar Rodney, a +delegate from Delaware, makes his appearance just in time to vote. +He has come eighty miles on horseback and has not had time to +change his boots and spurs and still carries a riding whip. He is +given a great ovation.</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Delaware!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Thomas McKean.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—Until this moment the vote +for Delaware has been in doubt. George Read, my colleague, will vote +against independence. But thank God the timely arrival of Caesar Rodney +who joins me in voting for independence, places Delaware on the right +side of this question. To make sure of this I sent an express rider at +my own expense to Dover, Delaware, for Mr. Rodney. He has come eighty +miles on horseback at post-haste. He has not had time to change his +riding attire, but he is here in time to join me in voting for +independence. Posterity will erect a monument in his honor<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> as they +will to that other famous revolutionary rider—Paul Revere. Mr. +President, under the rule as stated by Mr. Franklin governing the votes +of colonies in this Congress, Delaware votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Hurrah for Delaware! Long live Thomas McKean and +Caesar Rodney!"</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Maryland!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Samuel Chase.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—Maryland has passed through +a similar struggle to that in Pennsylvania as described by Mr. Franklin. +An appeal has been made to every county committee and one after another +they have directed their representatives in the state convention to vote +for new instructions to the delegates in this Congress. At last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> the old +instructions against independence have been canceled and new +instructions given us in an unanimous resolve to vote for independence. +See the glorious effect of county instructions! Our people have fire if +not smothered. And, therefore, Maryland votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for Maryland and Samuel Chase!"</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Virginia!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Harrison.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—Virginia is here with a +solid delegation for independence. Our battle cry has been so well +stated by Mr. Henry that we need but to repeat it now—Liberty or Death! +Virginia votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for Virginia! Long live Richard Henry +Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry!"</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> North Carolina!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Joseph Hewes.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—We have had a hard struggle +in North Carolina between aristocracy on one hand and democracy on the +other. But at last the people have won and North Carolina votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for North Carolina!"</i>)</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="image5.jpg" id="image5.jpg" href="images/image5.jpg"> +<img src="images/image5_th.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="CONGRESS" title="" /></a> +<span class="captiona">From the painting by Trumbull</span><br /><br /><br /> +<span class="caption">THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS</span> +</div> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> South Carolina!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Edward Rutledge.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—When Richard Henry Lee's +resolution declaring for independence was first introduced I was opposed +to its adoption <i>at that time</i>. I feared that the people of my colony +were not then ready for it. I thought also that for the general welfare +of all the colonies it was then too early to declare for independence. +The contest in South Carolina for independence has been as bitter among +her own people as it has been in any of the other colonies. But opinions +alter and conditions change with the passing of time. Therefore, South +Carolina now has a solid delegation here ready to walk through the fiery +furnace of war, though it be seventy times heated, to make this +Declaration good. South Carolina votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for South Carolina and Edward +Rutledge!"</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary Thomson.</span> Georgia!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Lyman Hall.</span> Mr. President and Gentlemen:—Georgia is here with three +delegates who stand as one man for independence. Though last on the roll +of states on this question she will be among the first in her efforts +for American independence. Georgia votes <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Shouts of "Three cheers for Georgia!"</i>) </p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">President Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—Twelve of the +thirteen colonies having voted for the Declaration of Independence, and +with no colony going on record against it, I consider our action +unanimous for I am confident that the New York Assembly<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> will give +her delegation instructions to sign this document in the near future.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">John Adams.</span> Mr. President, I move that this Congress do now adjourn.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Benjamin Franklin.</span> Mr. President, I second the motion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, it has been +moved by Mr. Adams of Massachusetts and seconded by Mr. Franklin of +Pennsylvania that we do now adjourn. As many as favor this motion make +known by saying <i>aye</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>Unanimous response of ayes.</i>) </p></div> + +<p>The motion to adjourn has been carried unanimously and this Congress is +therefore adjourned.</p> + + +<p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene II.</span>—<i>The Spirit of 76.</i></p> + +<p>Here repeat the Tableau of the Spirit of Seventy-six.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span></p> +<h3>ACT IV.</h3> + + +<p class="scene"><span class="smcap">Scene I.</span>—<i>Washington's Resignation. (A special session of the +Continental Congress to receive the Resignation of Washington.)</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Hancock.</span> Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:—Eight years +ago we made General George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the armies +raised and to be raised for American Independence. Through seven long +years of war, against overwhelming odds, in which brave men did brave +deeds, the rich man gave his wealth and the poor man gave his life, +baptizing their country's soil with their own blood from Bunker Hill to +Yorktown, the brave soldiers under General Washington fought on until an +army of veteran soldiers surrendered to a band of insurgent husbandmen. +The American nation has been born. Its independence has been recognized +by Great Britain and the civilized world. Peace has come! And General +Washington desires to surrender his commission to the Congress that +elected him to this position. He is in waiting to do this. I therefore +appoint John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, +Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Samuel Chase of Maryland, Patrick Henry of +Virginia, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, and Lyman Hall of Georgia, +as an honorary committee to escort General Washington before this +Congress, to receive his resignation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span></p><div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>General Washington is escorted before Congress and makes the +following address:</i>) </p></div> + +<p><i>Mr. President:</i>—The great events on which my resignation depended, +having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my +sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before +them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to +claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country.</p> + +<p>Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and +pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a +respectable nation, I resign, with satisfaction, the appointment I +accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so +arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the +rectitude of our cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, +and the patronage of Heaven.</p> + +<p>The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine +expectations; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and +the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases with every +review of the momentous contest.</p> + +<p>While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should do +injustice to my own feelings, not to acknowledge, in this place, the +peculiar services and distinguished merits of the persons who have been +attached to my person during the war. It was impossible the choice of +confidential officers to compose my family could have been more +fortunate. Permit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> me sir, to recommend in particular those who have +continued in the service to the present moment as worthy of the +favorable notice and patronage of Congress.</p> + +<p>I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of +my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to +the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence +of them to his holy keeping.</p> + +<p>Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great +theater of action; and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august +body, under whose orders I have long acted, I here offer my commission, +and take my leave of all the employments of public life.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>(<i>The Continental Congress, standing and shouting in concert, "Long +live General George Washington! First in war! First in peace! And +First in the hearts of his countrymen!"</i>) </p></div> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">CURTAIN</span></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"> +<p class="center"><span style="font-size: 120%;">FOOTNOTES:</span></p> +<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>In small schools where there are not enough large boys to +represent all the characters, those who represent members of the +Continental Congress can become members of Washington's army, etc., for +the other scenes.</p></div> + +<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>This speech is adapted from Paine's "Separation of Britain +and America."</p></div> + +<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>Adapted from Wirt's supposed speech of Lee.</p></div> + +<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>This dialogue between Adams and Jefferson is taken from +Adams's letter to Timothy Pickering.</p></div> + +<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>If this is properly staged it will be very effective. +National Guard members will be glad to take part as members of +Washington's army, with their tents and uniforms and arms, if there are +no school cadets to play this part. The bugler sounds the call to arms. +The soldiers fall into line ready for the fight. Just before marching +orders are given, Washington delivers the following address, after which +the curtain goes down on this scene and the sound of battle is heard in +the distance.</p></div> + +<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>This is a part of Webster's "Supposed Speech of John +Adams."</p></div> + +<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>John Hancock.</p></div> + +<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>Samuel Adams.</p></div> + +<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>From Webster's "Supposed Speech of Opposition to +Independence."</p></div> + +<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>From Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams."</p></div> + +<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>From Webster's "Supposed Speech of Opposition to +Independence."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a>From Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a>Adapted from the "Corner Stone" speech of Alexander H. +Stephens, and arranged by William R. Hood, Bureau of Education, +Washington, D. C.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a>From Wirt's "Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a>Robert Morris later signed the Declaration of Independence +and through his influence the American Revolution was financed. This +speech is adapted from Sumner's "True Grandeur of Nations" and other +sources.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a>From Wirt's "Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a>A monument was recently erected at Dover in his honor.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a>On July 9, 1776, New York instructed her delegates to +sign.</p></div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span></p> + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span></p> +<h2>AMERICAN PATRIOTISM</h2> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image6.jpg" id="image6.jpg" href="images/image6.jpg"> +<img src="images/image6_th.jpg" width="500" height="718" alt="GEORGE WASHINGTON" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">GEORGE WASHINGTON</span> +</div> + + +<hr class="major" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span></p> +<h2>WHAT IS PATRIOTISM</h2> + + +<p>Johnson defines a patriot as one whose ruling passion is the love of his +country, and patriotism as love and zeal for one's country. Curtis tells +us that Lowell's pursuit was literature, but patriotism was his passion. +"His love of country was that of a lover for his mistress. He resented +the least imputation upon the ideal America, and nothing was finer than +his instinctive scorn for the pinchbeck patriotism which brags and +boasts and swaggers, insisting that bigness is greatness and vulgarity +simplicity, and the will of a majority the moral law."</p> + +<p>While some of us cannot make Lowell's pursuit our pursuit, we all can +and should make his passion our passion. Let us all, the native born as +well as the naturalized, say, deep down in our hearts with a patriotism +and a courage that will back it up and make it good, "Our Country—right +or wrong; if she is wrong we will set her right; if she is right we will +keep her right; and so let us trust in God and believe she is right."</p> + +<p>Times like these demand men. Let American boys be taught in the home and +in the school and by the example of their fathers to be men among men.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Men whom the lust of office will not kill,<br /> +Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy,<br /> +Men who possess opinions and a will,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span>Men who have honor and will not lie;<br /> +Men who can stand before the demagogue<br /> +And down his treacherous flattering without winking,<br /> +Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog<br /> +In public duty and in private thinking!"<a name="FNanchor_1_19" id="FNanchor_1_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_19" class="fnanchor">[1]</a><br /> +</div> + +<p>Times like these demand women! Let American girls be taught in the home +and in the school and by the example of their mothers to be women among +women.</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Be women! on to duty!<br /> +Raise the world from all that's low;<br /> +Place high in the social heaven<br /> +Virtue's fair and radiant bow;<br /> +Lend thy influence to each effort<br /> +That shall raise our nature human;<br /> +Be not fashion's gilded ladies,—<br /> +Be brave, whole-souled, true women!"<a name="FNanchor_2_20" id="FNanchor_2_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_20" class="fnanchor">[2]</a><br /> +</div> + +<p>To help to make such men and women of all American boys and +girls—Americans in <i>deeds</i> as well as in <i>words</i>—Americans, who +knowing their rights, dare maintain them "<i>without compromise and at any +cost</i>"—this is the purpose of the following selections.</p> + + +<p class="right">Jasper L. McBrien.</p> + + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span></p> +<h2>AMERICA FOR ME<a name="FNanchor_3_21" id="FNanchor_3_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_21" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down<br /> +Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,<br /> +To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings—<br /> +But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>So it's home again, and home again, America for me!</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +Oh! London is a man's town, there's power in the air;<br /> +And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;<br /> +And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;<br /> +But when it comes to living, there is no place like home.<br /> +<br /> +I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;<br /> +I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;<br /> +But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day<br /> +In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span>I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:<br /> +The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.<br /> +But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free—<br /> +We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Henry van Dyke</span> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span></p> +<h2>AMERICA FIRST</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The following address was delivered by President Wilson at the +celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Daughters of the +American Revolution, Washington, D. C., October 11th, 1915. It is +given here by special permission of the president. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Madam President and Ladies and Gentlemen:</span>—Again it is my very great +privilege to welcome you to the city of Washington and to the +hospitalities of the Capital. May I admit a point of ignorance? I was +surprised to learn that this association is so young, and that an +association so young should devote itself wholly to memory I cannot +believe. For to me the duties to which you are consecrated are more than +the duties and the pride of memory.</p> + +<p>There is a very great thrill to be had from the memories of the American +Revolution, but the American Revolution was a beginning, not a +consummation, and the duty laid upon us by that beginning is the duty of +bringing the things then begun to a noble triumph of completion. For it +seems to me that the peculiarity of patriotism in America is that it is +not a mere sentiment. It is an active principle of conduct. It is +something that was born into the world, not to please it but to +regenerate it. It is something that was born into the world to replace +systems that had preceded it and to bring men out upon a new plane of +privilege. The glory of the men whose memories you honor and perpetuate +is that they saw this vision, and it was a vision of the future. It was +a vision of great days to come when a little handful of three million +people upon the borders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> of a single sea should have become a great +multitude of free men and women spreading across a great continent, +dominating the shores of two oceans, and sending West as well as East +the influences of individual freedom. These things were consciously in +their minds as they framed the great Government which was born out of +the American Revolution; and every time we gather to perpetuate their +memories it is incumbent upon us that we should be worthy of recalling +them and that we should endeavor by every means in our power to emulate +their example.</p> + +<p>The American Revolution was the birth of a nation; it was the creation +of a great free republic based upon traditions of personal liberty which +theretofore had been confined to a single little island, but which it +was purposed should spread to all mankind. And the singular fascination +of American history is that it has been a process of constant +re-creation, of making over again in each generation the thing which was +conceived at first. You know how peculiarly necessary that has been in +our case, because America has not grown by the mere multiplication of +the original stock. It is easy to preserve tradition with continuity of +blood; it is easy in a single family to remember the origins of the race +and the purposes of its organization; but it is not so easy when that +race is constantly being renewed and augmented from other sources, from +stocks that did not carry or originate the same principles.</p> + +<p>So from generation to generation strangers have had to be indoctrinated +with the principles of the American family, and the wonder and the +beauty of it all has been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> that the infection has been so generously +easy. For the principles of liberty are united with the principles of +hope. Every individual, as well as every nation, wishes to realize the +best thing that is in him, the best thing that can be conceived out of +the materials of which his spirit is constructed. It has happened in a +way that fascinates the imagination that we have not only been augmented +by additions from outside, but that we have been greatly stimulated by +those additions. Living in the easy prosperity of a free people, knowing +that the sun had always been free to shine upon us and prosper our +undertakings, we did not realize how hard the task of liberty is and how +rare the privilege of liberty is; but men were drawn out of every +climate and out of every race because of an irresistible attraction of +their spirits to the American ideal. They thought of America as lifting, +like that great statue in the harbor of New York, a torch to light the +pathway of men to the things that they desire, and men of all sorts and +conditions struggled toward that light and came to our shores with an +eager desire to realize it, and a hunger for it such as some of us no +longer felt, for we were as if satiated and satisfied and were indulging +ourselves after a fashion that did not belong to the ascetic devotion of +the early devotees of those great principles. Strangers came to remind +us of what we had promised ourselves and through ourselves had promised +mankind. All men came to us and said, "Where is the bread of life with +which you promised to feed us, and have you partaken of it yourselves?" +For my part, I believe that the constant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> renewal of this people out of +foreign stocks has been a constant source of reminder to this people of +what the inducement was that was offered to men who would come and be of +our number.</p> + +<p>Now we have come to a time of special stress and test. There never was +time when we needed more clearly to conserve the principles of our own +patriotism than this present time. The rest of the world from which our +polities were drawn seems for the time in the crucible and no man can +predict what will come out of that crucible. We stand apart, +unembroiled, conscious of our own principles, conscious of what we hope +and purpose, so far as our powers permit, for the world at large, and it +is necessary that we should consolidate the American principle. Every +political action, every social action, should have for its object in +America at this time to challenge the spirit of America; to ask that +every man and woman who thinks first of America should rally to the +standards of our life. There have been some among us who have not +thought first of America, who have thought to use the might of America +in some matter not of America's origination. They have forgotten that +the first duty of a nation is to express its own individual principles +in the action of the family of nations and not to seek to aid and abet +any rival or contrary ideal. Neutrality is a negative word. It is a word +that does not express what America ought to feel. America has a heart +and that heart throbs with all sorts of intense sympathies, but America +has schooled its heart to love the things that America believes in and +it ought to devote itself only to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> the things that America believes in; +and, believing that America stands apart in its ideals, it ought not to +allow itself to be drawn, so far as its heart is concerned, into +anybody's quarrel. Not because it does not understand the quarrel, not +because it does not in its head assess the merits of the controversy, +but because America has promised the world to stand apart and maintain +certain principles of action which are grounded in law and in justice. +We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the +foundations upon which peace can be rebuilt. Peace can be rebuilt only +upon the ancient and accepted principles of international law, only upon +those things which remind nations of their duties to each other, and, +deeper than that, of their duties to mankind and to humanity.</p> + +<p>America has a great cause which is not confined to the American +continent. It is the cause of humanity itself. I do not mean in anything +that I say even to imply a judgment upon any nation or upon any policy, +for my object here this afternoon is not to sit in judgment upon anybody +but ourselves and to challenge you to assist all of us who are trying to +make America more than ever conscious of her own principles and her own +duty. I look forward to the necessity in every political agitation in +the years which are immediately at hand of calling upon every man to +declare himself, where he stands. Is it America first, or is it not?</p> + +<p>We ought to be very careful about some of the impressions that we are +forming just now. There is too general an impression, I fear, that very +large numbers of our fellow citizens born in other lands have not +entertained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> with sufficient intensity and affection the American ideal. +But the number of such is, I am sure, not large. Those who would seek to +represent them are very vocal, but they are not very influential. Some +of the best stuff of America has come out of foreign lands, and some of +the best stuff in America is in the men who are naturalized citizens of +the United States. I would not be afraid upon the test of "America +first" to take a census of all the foreign-born citizens of the United +States, for I know that the vast majority of them came here because they +believed in America; and their belief in America has made them better +citizens than some people who were born in America. They can say that +they have bought this privilege with a great price. They have left their +homes, they have left their kindred, they have broken all the nearest +and dearest ties of human life in order to come to a new land, take a +new rootage, begin a new life, and so by self-sacrifice express their +confidence in a new principle; whereas, it cost us none of these things. +We were born into this privilege; we were rocked and cradled in it; we +did nothing to create it; and it is, therefore, the greater duty on our +part to do a great deal to enhance it and preserve it. I am not deceived +as to the balance of opinion among the foreign-born citizens of the +United States, but I am in a hurry for an opportunity to have a line-up +and let the men who are thinking first of other countries stand on one +side and all those that are for America first, last, and all the time on +the other side.</p> + +<p>Now, you can do a great deal in this direction. When<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> I was a college +officer. I used to be very much opposed to hazing; not because hazing is +not wholesome, but because sophomores are poor judges. I remember a very +dear friend of mine, a professor of ethics on the other side of the +water, was asked if he thought it was ever justifiable to tell a lie. He +said Yes, he thought it was sometimes justifiable to lie; "but," he +said, "it is so difficult to judge of the justification that I usually +tell the truth." I think that ought to be the motto of the sophomore. +There are freshmen who need to be hazed, but the need is to be judged by +such nice tests that a sophomore is hardly old enough to determine them. +But the world can determine them. We are not freshmen at college, but we +are constantly hazed. I would a great deal rather be obliged to draw +pepper up my nose than to observe the hostile glances of my neighbors. I +would a great deal rather be beaten than ostracized. I would a great +deal rather endure any sort of physical hardship if I might have the +affection of my fellow men. We constantly discipline our fellow citizens +by having an opinion about them. That is the sort of discipline we ought +now to administer to everybody who is not to the very core of his heart +an American. Just have an opinion about him and let him experience the +atmospheric effects of that opinion! And I know of no body of persons +comparable to a body of ladies for creating an atmosphere of opinion! I +have myself in part yielded to the influences of that atmosphere, though +it took me a long time to determine how I was going to vote in New +Jersey.</p> + +<p>So it has seemed to me that my privilege this afternoon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> was not merely +a privilege of courtesy, but the real privilege of reminding you—for I +am sure I am doing nothing more—of the great principles which we stand +associated to promote. I for my part rejoice that we belong to a country +in which the whole business of government is so difficult. We do not +take orders from anybody; it is a universal communication of conviction, +the most subtle, delicate, and difficult of processes. There is not a +single individual's opinion that is not of some consequence in making up +the grand total, and to be in this great coöperative effort is the most +stimulating thing in the world. A man standing alone may well misdoubt +his own judgment. He may mistrust his own intellectual processes; he may +even wonder if his own heart leads him right in matters of public +conduct; but if he finds his heart part of the great throb of a national +life, there can be no doubt about it. If that is his happy circumstance, +then he may know that he is part of one of the great forces of the +world.</p> + +<p>I would not feel any exhilaration in belonging to America if I did not +feel that she was something more than a rich and powerful nation. I +should not feel proud to be in some respects and for a little while her +spokesman if I did not believe that there was something else than +physical force behind her. I believe that the glory of America is that +she is a great spiritual conception and that in the spirit of her +institutions dwells not only her distinction but her power. The one +thing that the world can not permanently resist is the moral force of +great and triumphant convictions.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span></p> +<h2>THE MEANING OF THE FLAG</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The following address on the Flag was delivered by President +Woodrow Wilson from the south portico of the Treasury Building, +Washington, D.C., June 14, 1915. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Secretary, Friends, and Fellow Citizens:</span>—I know of nothing more +difficult than to render an adequate tribute to the emblem of our +nation. For those of us who have shared that nation's life and felt the +beat of its pulse it must be considered a matter of impossibility to +express the great things which that emblem embodies. I venture to say +that a great many things are said about the flag which very few people +stop to analyze. For me the flag does not express a mere body of vague +sentiment. The flag of the United States has not been created by +rhetorical sentences in declarations of independence and in bills of +rights. It has been created by the experience of a great people, and +nothing is written upon it that has not been written by their life. It +is the embodiment, not of a sentiment, but of a history, and no man can +rightly serve under that flag who has not caught some of the meaning of +that history.</p> + +<p>Experience, ladies and gentlemen, is made by men and women. National +experience is the product of those who do the living under that flag. It +is their living that has created its significance. You do not create the +meaning of a national life by any literary exposition of it, but by the +actual daily endeavors of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> great people to do the tasks of the day and +live up to the ideals of honesty and righteousness and just conduct. And +as we think of these things, our tribute is to those men who have +created this experience. Many of them are known by name to all the +world—statesmen, soldiers, merchants, masters of industry, men of +letters and of thought who have coined our hearts into action or into +words. Of these men we feel that they have shown us the way. They have +not been afraid to go before. They have known that they were speaking +the thoughts of a great people when they led that great people along the +paths of achievement. There was not a single swashbuckler among them. +They were men of sober, quiet thought, the more effective because there +was no bluster in it. They were men who thought along the lines of duty, +not along the lines of self-aggrandizement. They were men, in short, who +thought of the people whom they served and not of themselves.</p> + +<p>But while we think of these men and do honor to them as to those who +have shown us the way, let us not forget that the real experience and +life of a nation lies with the great multitude of unknown men. It lies +with those men whose names are never in the headlines of newspapers, +those men who know the heat and pain and desperate loss of hope that +sometimes comes in the great struggle of daily life; not the men who +stand on the side and comment, not the men who merely try to interpret +the great struggle, but the men who are engaged in the struggle. They +constitute the body of the nation. This flag is the essence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> of their +daily endeavors. This flag does not express any more than what they are +and what they desire to be.</p> + +<p>As I think of the life of this great nation it seems to me that we +sometimes look to the wrong places for its sources. We look to the noisy +places, where men are talking in the market place; we look to where men +are expressing their individual opinions; we look to where partisans are +expressing passions: instead of trying to attune our ears to that +voiceless mass of men who merely go about their daily tasks, try to be +honorable, try to serve the people they love, try to live worthy of the +great communities to which they belong. These are the breath of the +nation's nostrils; these are the sinews of its might.</p> + +<p>How can any man presume to interpret the emblem of the United States, +the emblem of what we would fain be among the family of nations, and +find it incumbent upon us to be in the daily round of routine duty? This +is Flag Day, but that only means that it is a day when we are to recall +the things which we should do every day of our lives. There are no days +of special patriotism. There are no days when we should be more +patriotic than on other days. We celebrate the Fourth of July merely +because the great enterprise of liberty was started on the fourth of +July in America, but the great enterprise of liberty was not begun in +America. It is illustrated by the blood of thousands of martyrs who +lived and died before the great experiment on this side of the water. +The Fourth of July merely marks the day when we consecrated ourselves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> +as a nation to this high thing which we pretend to serve. The benefit of +a day like this is merely in turning away from the things that distract +us, turning away from the things that touch us personally and absorb our +interest in the hours of daily work. We remind ourselves of those things +that are greater than we are, of those principles by which we believe +our hearts to be elevated, of the more difficult things that we must +undertake in these days of perplexity when a man's judgment is safest +only when it follows the line of principle.</p> + +<p>I am solemnized in the presence of such a day. I would not undertake to +speak your thoughts. You must interpret them for me. But I do feel that +back, not only of every public official, but of every man and woman of +the United States, there marches that great host which has brought us to +the present day; the host that has never forgotten the vision which it +saw at the birth of the nation; the host which always responds to the +dictates of humanity and of liberty; the host that will always +constitute the strength and the great body of friends of every man who +does his duty to the United States.</p> + +<p>I am sorry that you do not wear a little flag of the Union every day +instead of some days. I can only ask you, if you lose the physical +emblem, to be sure that you wear it in your heart, and the heart of +America shall interpret the heart of the world.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span></p> +<h2>MAKERS OF THE FLAG</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The following address was delivered by the Honorable Franklin K. +Lane, Secretary of the Interior, before the officers and employees +of this Department, about 5,000 in number, at the Inner Court, +Patent Office Building, June 14, 1914. </p></div> + + +<p>This morning, as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a +most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: +"Good morning, Mr. Flag Maker."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not +the president of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even a +general in the army. I am only a government clerk."</p> + +<p>"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice, "I know you +well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday +straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or +perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or +helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or +pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in +Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. No +matter; whichever one of these beneficent individuals you may happen to +be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker."</p> + +<p>I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words:</p> + +<p>"Yesterday the president spoke a word that made happier the future of +ten millions peons in Mexico;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> but that act looms no larger on the flag +than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn +Club prize this summer.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of Alaska; +but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into the night, +to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and yesterday, +maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to a boy who +will one day write a song that will give cheer to the millions of our +race. We are all making the flag."</p> + +<p>"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working."</p> + +<p>Then came a great shout from The Flag:</p> + +<p>"THE WORK that we do is the making of the flag.</p> + +<p>"I am not the flag; not at all. I am but its shadow.</p> + +<p>"I am whatever you make me, nothing more.</p> + +<p>"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become.</p> + +<p>"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heartbreaks +and tired muscles.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do an honest work, fitting +the rails together truly.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I +play the coward.</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I am loud, garish and full of that ego that blasts judgment.</p> + +<p>"But always I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try +for.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span></p><p>"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope.</p> + +<p>"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the +most daring.</p> + +<p>"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute makers, +soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, counselor, and +clerk.</p> + +<p>"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow.</p> + +<p>"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why.</p> + +<p>"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution.</p> + +<p>"I am no more than what you believe me to be and I am all that you +believe I can be.</p> + +<p>"I am what you make me, nothing more.</p> + +<p>"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of +yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this +Nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They are +bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you +have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the makers of the flag +and it is well that you glory in the making."</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span></p> +<h2>THE FLAG OF THE UNION FOREVER</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Speech of General Fitzhugh Lee at a dinner given by the Friendly +Sons of St. Patrick and the Hibernian Society of Philadelphia, at +the city of Philadelphia, September 17, 1887. The occasion of the +dinner was the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the +Constitution of the United States. General Lee, then governor of +Virginia, was the guest of Governor Beaver at the dinner. The +Chairman, Hon. Andrew G. Curtin [Pennsylvania's war governor], in +introducing General Lee said: "We have here to-day a gentleman whom +I am glad to call my friend, though during the war he was in +dangerous and unpleasant proximity to me. He once threatened the +capital of this great state. I did not wish him to come in, and was +very glad when he went away. He was then my enemy and I was his. +But, thank God, that is past; and in the enjoyment of the rights +and interests common to all as American citizens, I am his friend +and he is my friend. I introduce to you, Governor Fitzhugh Lee." </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Hibernian Society:</span>—I am very glad, +indeed, to have the honor of being present in this society once more; as +it was my good fortune to enjoy a most pleasant visit here and an +acquaintance with the members of your society last year. My engagements +were such to-day that I could not get here earlier; and just as I was +coming in Governor Beaver was making his excuses because, as he said, he +had to go to pick up a visitor whom he was to escort to the +entertainment to be given this evening at the Academy of Music. I am the +visitor whom Governor Beaver is looking for. He could not capture me +during the war, but he has captured me now. I am a Virginian and used to +ride a pretty fast horse, and he could not get close enough to me.</p> + +<p>By the way, you have all heard of "George Washington<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> and his little +hatchet." The other day I heard a story that was a little variation upon +the original, and I am going to take up your time for a minute by +repeating it to you.</p> + +<p>It was to this effect: Old Mr. Washington and Mrs. Washington, the +parents of George, found on one occasion that their supply of soap for +the use of the family at Westmoreland had been exhausted, and so they +decided to make some family soap. They made the necessary arrangements +and gave the requisite instructions to the family servant. After an hour +or so the servant returned and reported to them that he could not make +that soap. "Why not," he was asked, "haven't you all the materials?" +"Yes," he replied, "but there is something wrong." The old folks +proceeded to investigate, and they found they had actually got the ashes +of the little cherry tree that George had cut down with his hatchet, and +there was no lye in it.</p> + +<p>Now, I assure you, there is no "lie" in what I say to you this +afternoon, and that is, that I thank God for the sun of the Union which, +once obscured, is now again in the full stage of its glory; and that its +light is shining over Virginia as well as over the rest of this country. +We have had our differences. I do not see, upon reading history, how +they could well have been avoided, because they resulted from different +constructions of the Constitution, which was the helm of the ship of the +republic. Virginia construed it one way. Pennsylvania construed it in +another, and they could not settle their differences; so they went to +war, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> Pennsylvania, I think, probably got a little the best of it.</p> + +<p>The sword, at any rate, settled the controversy. But that is behind us. +We have now a great and glorious future in front of us, and it is +Virginia's duty to do all that she can to promote the honor and glory of +this country. We fought to the best of our ability for four years; and +it would be a great mistake to assume that you could bring men from +their cabins, from their plows, from their houses, and from their +families to make them fight as they fought in that contest unless they +were fighting for a belief. Those men believed that they had the right +construction of the Constitution, and that a state that voluntarily +entered the Union could voluntarily withdraw from it. They did not fight +for Confederate money. It was not worth ten cents a yard. They did not +fight for Confederate rations—you would have had to curtail the demands +of your appetite to make it correspond with the size and quality of +those rations. They fought for what they thought was a proper +construction of the Constitution.</p> + +<p>They were defeated. They acknowledged their defeat. They came back to +their father's house, and there they are going to stay. But if we are to +continue prosperous, if this country, stretching from the gulf to the +lakes and from ocean to ocean, is to be mindful of its own best +interests, in the future, we will have to make concessions and +compliances, we will have to bear with each other and to respect each +other's opinions. Then we will find that that harmony will be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> secured +which is as necessary for the welfare of states, as it is for the +welfare of individuals.</p> + +<p>I have become acquainted with Governor Beaver—I met him in Richmond. +You could not make me fight him now. If I had known him before the war, +perhaps we would not have got at it. If all the Governors had known each +other, and if all the people of different sections had been known to +each other, or had been thrown together in business or social +communication, the fact would have been recognized at the outset, as it +is to-day, that there are just as good men in Maine as there are in +Texas, and just as good men in Texas as there are in Maine. Human nature +is everywhere the same; and when intestine strifes occur, we will +doubtless always be able by a conservative, pacific course to pass +smoothly over the rugged, rocky edges, and the old Ship of State will be +brought into a safe, commodious, Constitutional harbor with the flag of +the Union flying over her, and there it will remain.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span></p> +<h2>FROM WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The appeal for a perpetual union and obedience to established law, +the warning against the evils of partisan politics and against the +dangers of entangling foreign alliances made by Washington in this +immortal address were never more important than at the present +time. They will become more important for each succeeding +generation. Let those who would know America's mission make a +careful study of this the greatest of state papers. </p></div> + + +<p>The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now +dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of +your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your +peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty +which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from +different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken, +many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this +truth, as this is the point in your political fortress against which the +batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and +actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of +infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of +your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that +you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; +accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of +your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with +jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion +that it can in any event be abandoned,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> and indignantly frowning upon +the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our +country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link +together the various parts.</p> + +<p>For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by +birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to +concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you +in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of +patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. +With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, +habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and +triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the +work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, +and successes.</p> + +<p>But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to +your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more +immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds +the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the +union of the whole.</p> + +<p>The <i>North</i>, in an unrestrained intercourse with the <i>South</i>, protected +by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of +the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial +enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The +<i>South</i>, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same agency of the +<i>North</i>, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning +partly into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> its own channels the seamen of the <i>North</i>, it finds its +particular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes in different +ways to nourish and increase the general mass of the national +navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to +which itself is unequally adapted. The <i>East</i>, in a like intercourse +with the <i>West</i>, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of +interior communications by land and water will more and more find, a +valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or +manufactures at home. The <i>West</i> derives from the <i>East</i> supplies +requisite to its growth and comfort, and what is perhaps of still +greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the <i>secure</i> enjoyment of +indispensable <i>outlets</i> for its own productions to the weight, +influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the +Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as <i>one +nation</i>. Any other tenure by which the <i>West</i> can hold this essential +advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from an +apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be +intrinsically precarious.</p> + +<p>While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and +particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find +in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater +resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less +frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and what is of +inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those +broils and wars between themselves which so frequently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> afflict +neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which +their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which +opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate +and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those +overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, +are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as +particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that +your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and +that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the +other.</p> + +<p>These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and +virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary +object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government +can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to +mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope +that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of +governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue +to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With +such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of our +country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its +impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism +of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> + +<p>To the efficacy and permanency of your union a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> government for the whole +is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be +an adequate substitute. They must inevitably experience the infractions +and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. +Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first +essay by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated +than your former for an intimate union and for the efficacious +management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of +our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation +and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the +distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing +within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to +your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance +with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the +fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems +is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of +government. But the constitution which at any time exists till changed +by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly +obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the +people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual +to obey the established government.</p> + +<p>All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and +associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design +to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and +action<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this +fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize +faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the +place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a +small but artful and enterprising minority of the community, and, +according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the +public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous +projects of faction rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome +plans, digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.</p> + +<p>However combinations or associations of the above description may now +and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and +things to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and +unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and +to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards +the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.</p> + +<hr class="minor" /> + +<p>Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and +harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct. And can it +be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a +free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great nation to give to +mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided +by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course +of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any +temporary advantages which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> might be lost by a steady adherence to it? +Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a +nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by +every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered +impossible by its vices?</p> + +<p>In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that +permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and +passionate attachments for others should be excluded, and that in place +of them just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. The +nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual +fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to +its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its +duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes +each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight +causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or +trifling occasions of dispute occur.</p> + +<p>Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. +The nation prompted by ill will and resentment sometimes impels to war +the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. The +government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts +through passion what reason would reject. At other times it makes the +animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated +by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace +often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span></p><p>So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces +a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the +illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common +interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, +betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the +latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to +concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which +is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by +unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by +exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the +parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to +ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the +favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their +own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with +the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable +deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the +base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.</p> + +<p>As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments +are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent +patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic +factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, +to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small +or weak toward a great and powerful nation dooms the former<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> to be the +satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign +influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of +a free people ought to be <i>constantly</i> awake, since history and +experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes +of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be +impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be +avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one +foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they +actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even +second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist +the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, +while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the +people to surrender their interests.</p> + +<p>The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in +extending our commercial relations to have with them as little +<i>political</i> connection as possible. So far as we have already formed +engagements let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us +stop.</p> + +<p>Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very +remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, +the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, +therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial +ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary +combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.</p> + +<p>Our detached and distant situation invites and enables<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> us to pursue a +different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient +government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury +from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause +the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously +respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making +acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; +when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, +shall counsel.</p> + +<p>Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own +to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that +of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of +European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span></p> +<h2>WASHINGTON</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Address by John W. Daniel, lawyer, statesman, United States senator +from Virginia, delivered in the hall of the House of +Representatives, Washington, D. C., at the dedication of the +Washington National Monument, February 21, 1885, Mr. Daniel being +then a member of the House from Virginia. He was introduced by +Senator George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, president pro tempore of the +Senate, who occupied the speaker's chair, and presided at the +dedicatory exercises. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. President of the United States, Senators, Representatives, Judges, +Mr. Chairman, and My Countrymen:</span>—Alone in its grandeur stands forth the +character of Washington in history; alone like some peak that has no +fellow in the mountain range of greatness.</p> + +<p>"Washington," says Guizot, "Washington did the two greatest things which +in politics it is permitted to man to attempt. He maintained by peace +the independence of his country, which he had conquered by war. He +founded a free government in the name of principles of order and by +re-establishing their sway."</p> + +<p>Washington did indeed do these things. But he did more. Out of +disconnected fragments he molded a whole and made it a country. He +achieved his country's independence by the sword. He maintained that +independence by peace as by war. He finally established both his country +and its freedom in an enduring frame of constitutional government, +fashioned to make Liberty and Union one and inseparable. These four +things together constitute the unexampled achievement of Washington.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span></p><p>The world has ratified the profound remark of Fisher Ames, that "he +changed mankind's ideas of political greatness." It has approved the +opinion of Edward Everett, that he was "the greatest of good men and the +best of great men." It has felt for him, with Erskine, "an awful +reverence." It has attested the declaration of Brougham, that "he was +the greatest man of his own or of any age." It is matter of fact to-day, +as when General Hamilton, announcing his death to the army, said, "The +voice of praise would in vain endeavor to exalt a name unrivaled in the +lists of true glory." America still proclaims him, as did Colonel Henry +Lee, on the floor of the House of Representatives, the man "first in +war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." And +from beyond the sea the voice of Alfieri, breathing the soul of all +lands and peoples, still pronounces the blessing, "Happy are you who +have for the sublime and permanent basis of your glory the love of +country demonstrated by deeds."</p> + +<p>Ye who have unrolled the scrolls that tell the tale of the rise and fall +of nations, before whose eyes has moved the panorama of man's struggles, +achievements, and progression, find you anywhere the story of one whose +life work is more than a fragment of that which in his life is set +before you? Conquerors, who have stretched your scepters over boundless +territories; founders of empire, who have held your dominions in reign +of law; reformers, who have cried aloud in the wilderness of oppression; +teachers, who have striven with reason to cast down false doctrine, +heresy and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> schism; statesmen, whose brains have throbbed with mighty +plans for the amelioration of human society; scar-crowned Vikings of the +sea, illustrious heroes of the land, who have borne the standards of +siege and battle—come forth in bright array from your glorious +fanes—and would ye be measured by the measure of his stature? Behold +you not in him a more illustrious and more venerable presence?</p> + +<p>Statesman, Soldier, Patriot, Sage, Reformer of Creeds, Teacher of Truth +and Justice, Achiever and Preserver of Liberty—the First of +Men—Founder and Savior of his Country, Father of his People—this is +he, solitary and unapproachable in his grandeur. Oh! felicitous +Providence that gave to America <span class="smcap">Our Washington</span>!</p> + +<p>High soars into the sky to-day—higher than the Pyramids or the dome of +St. Paul's or St. Peter's—the loftiest and most imposing structure that +man has ever reared—high soars into the sky to where</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Earth highest yearns to meet a star,"<br /> +</div> + +<p>the monument which "We the people of the United States" have erected to +his memory. It is a fitting monument, more fitting than any statue. For +his image could only display him in some one phase of his varied +character—as the Commander, the Statesman, the Planter of Mount Vernon, +or the Chief Magistrate of his Country. So art has fitly typified his +exalted life in yon plain lofty shaft. Such is his greatness, that only +by a symbol could it be represented. As Justice must be blind in order +to be whole in contemplation, so History must be silent, that by this +mighty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> sign she may unfold the amplitude of her story.</p> + +<p>In 1657, while yet "a Cromwell filled the Stuarts' throne," there came +to Virginia with a party of Carlists who had rebelled against him John +Washington, of Yorkshire, England, who became a magistrate and member of +the House of Burgesses, and distinguished himself in Indian warfare as +the first colonel of his family on this side of the water. He was the +nephew of that Sir Henry Washington who had led the forlorn hope of +Prince Rupert at Bristol in 1643, and who, with a starving and mutinous +garrison, had defended Worcester in 1649, answering all calls for +surrender that he "awaited His Majesty's commands."</p> + +<p>And his progenitors had for centuries, running back to the conquest, +been men of mark and fair renown. Pride and modesty of individuality +alike forbid the seeking from any source of a borrowed lustre, and the +Washingtons were never studious or pretentious of ancestral dignities. +But "we are quotations from our ancestors," says the philosopher of +Concord—and who will say that in the loyalty to conscience and to +principle, and to the right of self-determination of what is principle, +that the Washingtons have ever shown, whether as loyalist or rebel, was +not the germ of that deathless devotion to liberty and country which +soon discarded all ancient forms in the mighty stroke for independence?</p> + +<p>One hundred and fifty-three years ago, on the banks of the Potomac, in +the county of Westmoreland, on a spot marked now only by a memorial +stone, of the blood of the people whom I have faintly described, fourth +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> descent from the Colonel John Washington whom I have named, there +was born a son to Augustine and Mary Washington. And not many miles +above his birthplace is the dwelling where he lived, and near which he +now lies buried.</p> + +<p>Borne upon the bosom of that river which here mirrors Capitol dome and +monumental shaft in its seaward flow, the river itself seems to reverse +its current and bear us silently into the past. Scarce has the vista of +the city faded from our gaze when we behold on the woodland height that +swells above the waters—amidst walks and groves and gardens—the white +porch of that old colonial plantation home which has become the shrine +of many a pilgrimage. Contrasting it as there it stands to-day with the +marble halls which we have left behind us, we realize the truth of +Emerson: "The atmosphere of moral sentiment is a region of grandeur +which reduces all material magnificence to toys, yet opens to every +wretch that has reason the doors of the Universe."</p> + +<p>The quaint old wooden mansion, with the stately but simple old-fashioned +mahogany furniture, real and ungarnished; the swords and relics of +campaigns and scenes familiar to every schoolboy now; the key of the +Bastile hanging in the hall incased in glass, calling to mind Tom +Paine's happy expression, "That the principles of the American +Revolution opened the Bastile is not to be doubted, therefore the key +comes to the right place;" the black velvet coat worn when the farewell +address to the Army was made; the rooms all in nicety of preparation as +if expectant of the coming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> host—we move among these memorials of days +and men long vanished—we stand under the great trees and watch the +solemn river, in its never-ceasing flow, we gaze upon the simple tomb +whose silence is unbroken save by the low murmur of the waters or the +wild bird's note, and we are enveloped in an atmosphere of moral +grandeur which no pageantry of moving men nor splendid pile can +generate. Nightly on the plain of Marathon—the Greeks have the +tradition—there may yet be heard the neighing of chargers and the +rushing shadows of spectral war. In the spell that broods over the +sacred groves of Vernon, Patriotism, Honor, Courage, Justice, Virtue, +Truth seem bodied forth, the only imperishable realities of man's being.</p> + +<p>There emerges from the shades the figure of a youth over whose cradle +had hovered no star of destiny, nor dandled a royal crown—an ingenious +youth, and one who in his early days gave auguries of great powers. The +boy whose strong arm could fling a stone across the Rappahannock; whose +strong will could tame the most fiery horse; whose just spirit made him +the umpire of his fellows; whose obedient heart bowed to a mother's +yearning for her son and laid down the midshipman's warrant in the +British Navy which answered his first ambitious dream; the student +transcribing mathematical problems, accounts, and business forms, or +listening to the soldiers and seamen of vessels in the river as they +tell of "hair-breadth 'scapes by flood and field;" the early moralist in +his thirteenth year compiling matured "Rules for behavior and +conversation;" the surveyor of sixteen, exploring the wilderness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> for +Lord Fairfax, sleeping on the ground, climbing mountains, swimming +rivers, killing and cooking his own game, noting in his diary soils, +minerals, and locations, and making maps which are models of nice and +accurate draughtsmanship; the incipient soldier, studying tactics under +Adjutant Muse, and taking lessons in broadsword fence from the old +soldier of fortune, Jacob Van Braam; the major and adjutant-general of +the Virginia frontier forces at nineteen:—we seem to see him yet as +here he stood, a model of manly beauty in his youthful prime, a man in +all that makes a man ere manhood's years have been fulfilled, standing +on the threshold of a grand career, "hearing his days before him and the +trumpet of his life."</p> + +<p>The scene changes. Out into the world of stern adventure he passes, +taking as naturally to the field and the frontier as the eagle to the +air. At the age of twenty-one he is riding from Williamsburg to the +French post at Venango, in Western Pennsylvania, on a mission for +Governor Dinwiddie, which requires "courage to cope with savages and +sagacity to negotiate with white men"—on that mission which Edward +Everett recognizes as "the first movement of a military nature which +resulted in the establishment of American Independence." At twenty-two +he has fleshed his maiden sword, has heard the bullets whistle, and +found "something charming in the sound;" and soon he is colonel of the +Virginia regiment in the unfortunate affair at Fort Necessity, and is +compelled to retreat after losing a sixth of his command. He quits the +service on a point of military etiquette and honor,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> but at twenty-three +he reappears as volunteer aide by the side of Braddock in the +ill-starred expedition against Fort Duquesne, and is the only mounted +officer unscathed in the disaster, escaping with four bullets through +his garments, and after having two horses shot under him.</p> + +<p>The prophetic eye of Samuel Davies has now pointed him out as "that +heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I can but hope Providence has +hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to +his country;" and soon the prophecy is fulfilled. The same year he is in +command of the Virginia frontier forces. Arduous conflicts of varied +fortunes are ere long ended, and on the 25th of November, 1759, he +marches into the reduced fortress of Fort Duquesne—where Pittsburgh now +stands, and the Titans of Industry wage the eternal war of Toil—marches +in with the advanced guard of his troops, and plants the British flag +over its smoking ruins.</p> + +<p>That self-same year Wolfe, another young and brilliant soldier of +Britain, has scaled and triumphed on the Heights of Abraham—his flame +of valor quenched as it lit the blaze of victory; Canada surrenders; the +Seven Years' War is done; the French power in America is broken, and the +vast region west of the Alleghenies, from the lakes to the Ohio, +embracing its valley and tributary streams, is under the scepter of King +George. America has been made whole to the English-speaking race, to +become in time the greater Britain.</p> + +<p>Thus, building wiser than he knew, Washington had taken no small part in +cherishing the seed of a nascent nation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="image7.jpg" id="image7.jpg" href="images/image7.jpg"> +<img src="images/image7_th.jpg" width="600" height="367" alt="WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span></p><p>Mount Vernon welcomes back the soldier of twenty-seven, who has become a +name. Domestic felicity spreads its charms around him with the +"agreeable partner" whom he has taken to his bosom, and he dreams of +"more happiness than he has experienced in the wide and bustling world."</p> + +<p>Already, ere his sword had found its scabbard, the people of Frederick +county had made him their member of the House of Burgesses. And the +quiet years roll by as the planter, merchant, and representative +superintends his plantation, ships his crops, posts his books, keeps his +diary, chases the fox for amusement, or rides over to Annapolis and +leads the dance at the Maryland capital—alternating between these +private pursuits and serving his people as member of the Legislature and +justice of the county court.</p> + +<p>But ere long this happy life is broken. The air is electric with the +currents of revolution. England has launched forth on the fatal policy +of taxing her colonies without their consent. The spirit of liberty and +resistance is aroused. He is loth to part with the Mother Land, which he +still calls "home." But she turns a deaf ear to reason. The first +Colonial Congress is called. He is a delegate, and rides to Philadelphia +with Henry and Pendleton. The blow at Lexington is struck. The people +rush to arms. The sons of the Cavaliers spring to the side of the sons +of the Pilgrims. "Unhappy it is," he says, "that a brother's sword has +been sheathed in a brother's breast, and that the once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> happy plains of +America are to be either drenched in blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad +alternative! But how can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?" He +becomes Commander-in-Chief of the American forces. After seven years' +war he is the deliverer of his country. The old Confederation passes +away. The Constitution is established. He is twice chosen President, and +will not consent longer to serve.</p> + +<p>Once again Mount Vernon's grateful shades receive him, and there—the +world-crowned Hero now—he becomes again the simple citizen, wishing for +his fellow men "to see the whole world in peace and its inhabitants one +band of brothers, striving who could contribute most to the happiness of +mankind"—without a wish for himself, but "to live and die an honest man +on his farm." A speck of war spots the sky. John Adams, now president, +calls him forth as lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief to lead +America once more. But the cloud vanishes. Peace reigns. The lark sings +at Heaven's gate in the fair morn of the new nation. Serene, contented, +yet in the strength of manhood, though on the verge of threescore years +and ten, he looks forth—the quiet farmer from his pleasant fields, the +loving patriarch from the bowers of home—looks forth and sees the work +of his hands established in a free and happy people. Suddenly comes the +mortal stroke with severe cold. The agony is soon over. He feels his own +dying pulse—the hand relaxes—he murmurs, "It is well;" and Washington +is no more.</p> + +<p>Washington, the friend of Liberty, is no more!</p> + +<p>The solemn cry filled the universe. Amidst the tears<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> of his people, the +bowed heads of kings, and the lamentations of the nations, they laid him +there to rest upon the banks of the river whose murmurs were his +boyhood's music—that river which, rising in mountain fastnesses amongst +the grandest works of nature and reflecting in its course the proudest +works of man, is a symbol of his history, which in its ceaseless and +ever-widening flow is a symbol of his eternal fame.</p> + +<p>No sum could now be made of Washington's character that did not exhaust +language of its tributes and repeat virtues by all her names. No sum +could be made of his achievements that did not unfold the history of his +country and its institutions—the history of his age and its +progress—the history of man and his destiny to be free. But whether +character or achievement be regarded, the riches before us only expose +the poverty of praise. So clear was he in his great office that no ideal +of the Leader or the Ruler can be formed that does not shrink by the +side of the reality. And so has he impressed himself upon the minds of +men, that no man can justly aspire to be the chief of a great free +people who does not adopt his principles and emulate his example. We +look with amazement on such eccentric characters as Alexander, Cæsar, +Cromwell, Frederick, and Napoleon; but when the serene face of +Washington rises before us mankind instinctively exclaims, "This is the +Man for the nations to trust and reverence and for heroes and rulers to +copy."</p> + +<p>Disinterested patriot, he would receive no pay for his military +services. Refusing gifts, he was glad to guide the benefaction of a +grateful state to educate the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> children of his fallen braves in the +institution at Lexington which yet bears his name. Without any of the +blemishes that mark the tyrant, he appealed so loftily to the virtuous +elements in man that he almost created the qualities of which his +country needed the exercise; and yet he was so magnanimous and +forbearing to the weaknesses of others, that he often obliterated the +vices of which he feared the consequence. But his virtue was more than +this. It was of that daring, intrepid kind that, seizing principle with +a giant's grasp, assumes responsibility at any hazard, suffers sacrifice +without pretense of martyrdom, bears calumny without reply, imposes +superior will and understanding on all around it, capitulates to no +unworthy triumph, but must carry all things at the point of clear and +blameless conscience. Scorning all manner of meanness and cowardice, his +bursts of wrath at their exhibition heighten our admiration for those +noble passions which were kindled by the inspirations and exigencies of +virtue.</p> + +<p>Great in action as by the council board, the finest horseman and +knightliest figure of his time, he seemed designed by nature to lead in +those bold strokes which needs must come when the battle lies with a +single man—those critical moments of the campaign or the strife when, +if the mind hesitates or a nerve flinches, all is lost. We can never +forget the passage of the Delaware that black December night, amidst +shrieking winds and great upheaving blocks of ice which would have +petrified a leader of less hardy mold, and then the fell swoop at +Trenton. We behold him as when at Monmouth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> he turns back the retreating +lines, and galloping his white charger along the ranks until he falls, +leaps on his Arabian bay, and shouts to his men: "Stand fast, my boys, +the Southern troops are coming to support you!" And we hear Lafayette +exclaim, "Never did I behold so superb a man!" We see him again at +Princeton dashing through a storm of shot to rally the wavering troops; +he reins his horse between the contending lines, and cries: "Will you +leave your general to the foe?" then bolts into the thickest fray. +Colonel Fitzgerald, his aid, drops his reins and pulls his hat down over +his eyes that he may not see his chieftain fall, when, through the smoke +he reappears waving his hat, cheering on his men, and shouting: "Away, +dear Colonel, and bring up the troops; the day is ours." "Cœur de +Lion" might have doffed his plume to such a chief, for a great knight +was he, who met his foes full tilt in the shock of battle and hurled +them down with an arm whose sword flamed with righteous indignation.</p> + +<p>As children pore over the pictures in their books where they can read +the words annexed to them, so we linger with tingling blood by such +inspiring scenes, while little do we reck of those dark hours when the +aching head pondered the problems of a country's fate. And yet there is +a greater theater in which Washington appears, although not so often has +its curtain been uplifted.</p> + +<p>For it was as a statesman that Washington was greatest. Not in the sense +that Hamilton and Jefferson, Adams and Madison were statesmen; but in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> +larger sense. Men may marshal armies who cannot drill divisions. Men may +marshal nations in storm and travail who have not the accomplishments of +their cabinet ministers. Not so versed as they was he in the details of +political science. And yet as he studied tactics when he anticipated +war, so he studied politics when he saw his civil role approaching, +reading the history and examining the principles of ancient and modern +confederacies, and making notes of their virtues, defects, and methods +of operation.</p> + +<p>His pen did not possess the facile play and classic grace of their pens, +but his vigorous eloquence had the clear ring of our mother tongue. I +will not say that he was so astute, so quick, so inventive as the one or +another of them—that his mind was characterized by the vivacity of wit, +the rich colorings of fancy, or daring flights of imagination. But with +him thought and action like well-trained coursers kept abreast in the +chariot race, guided by an eye that never quailed, reined by a hand that +never trembled. He had a more infallible discrimination of circumstances +and men than any of his contemporaries. He weighed facts in a juster +scale, with larger equity, and firmer equanimity. He best applied to +them the lessons of experience. With greater ascendancy of character he +held men to their appointed tasks; with more inspiring virtue he +commanded more implicit confidence. He bore a truer divining-rod, and +through a wilderness of contention he alone was the unerring Pathfinder +of the People. There can, indeed, be no right conception of Washington +that does not accord him a great and extraordinary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> genius. I will not +say he could have produced a play of Shakespeare, or a poem of Milton, +handled with Kant the tangled skein of metaphysics, probed the secrecies +of mind and matter with Bacon, constructed a railroad or an engine like +Stephenson, wooed the electric spark from heaven to earth with Franklin, +or walked with Newton the pathways of the spheres. But if his genius +were of a different order, it was of as rare and high an order. It dealt +with man in the concrete, with his vast concerns of business stretching +over a continent and projected into the ages, with his seething +passions; with his marvelous exertions of mind, body, and spirit to be +free. He knew the materials he dealt with by intuitive perception of the +heart of man, by experience and observation of his aspirations and his +powers, by reflection upon his complex relations, rights, and duties as +a social being. He knew just where, between men and states, to erect the +monumental mark to divide just reverence for authority from just +resistance to its abuse. A poet of social facts, he interpreted by his +deeds the harmonies of justice.</p> + +<p>First to perceive, and swift to point out, the defects in the Articles +of Confederation, they became manifest to all long before victory +crowned the warfare conducted under them. Charged by them with the +public defense, Congress could not put a soldier in the field; and +charged with defraying expenses, it could not levy a dollar of imposts +or taxes. It could, indeed, borrow money with the assent of nine states +of the thirteen, but what mockery of finance was that, when the borrower +could not command any resource of payment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span></p><p>The states had indeed put but a scepter of straw in the legislative hand +of the Confederation—what wonder that it soon wore a crown of thorns! +The paper currency ere long dissolved to nothingness; for four days the +army was without food, and whole regiments drifted from the ranks of our +hard-pressed defenders. "I see," said Washington, "one head gradually +changing into thirteen; I see one army gradually branching into +thirteen, which, instead of looking up to Congress as the supreme +controlling power, are considering themselves as dependent upon their +respective states." While yet his sword could not slumber, his busy pen +was warning the statesmen of the country that unless Congress were +invested with adequate powers, or should assume them as matter of right, +we should become but thirteen states, pursuing local interests, until +annihilated in a general crash—the cause would be lost—and the fable +of the bundle of sticks applied to us.</p> + +<p>In rapid succession his notes of alarm and invocations for aid to Union +followed each other to the leading men of the states, North and South. +Turning to his own state, and appealing to George Mason, "Where," he +exclaimed, "where are our men of abilities? Why do they not come forth +and save the country?" He compared the affairs of this great continent +to the mechanism of a clock, of which each state was putting its own +small part in order, but neglecting the great wheel, or spring, which +was to put the whole in motion. He summoned Jefferson, Wythe, and +Pendleton to his assistance, telling them that the present<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> temper of +the states was friendly to lasting union, that the moment should be +improved and might never return, and that "after gloriously and +successfully contending against the usurpation of Britain we may fall a +prey to our own folly and disputes."</p> + +<p>How keen the prophet's ken, that through the smoke of war discerned the +coming evil; how diligent the patriot's hand, that amidst awful +responsibilities reached futureward to avert it! By almost a miracle the +weak Confederation, "a barrel without a hoop," was held together +perforce of outside pressure; and soon America was free.</p> + +<p>But not yet had beaten Britain concluded peace—not yet had dried the +blood of Victory's field, ere "follies and disputes" confounded all +things with their Babel tongues and intoxicated liberty gave loose to +license. An unpaid army with unsheathed swords clamored around a +poverty-stricken and helpless Congress. And grown at last impatient even +with their chief, officers high in rank plotted insurrection and +circulated an anonymous address, urging it "to appeal from the justice +to the fears of government, and suspect the man who would advise to +longer forbearance." Anarchy was about to erect the Arch of +Triumph—poor, exhausted, bleeding, weeping America lay in agony upon +her bed of laurels.</p> + +<p>Not a moment did Washington hesitate. He convened his officers, and +going before them he read them an address, which, for homethrust +argument, magnanimous temper, and the eloquence of persuasion which +leaves nothing to be added, is not exceeded by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> noblest utterances +of Greek or Roman. A nobler than Coriolanus was before them, who needed +no mother's or wife's reproachful tears to turn the threatening steel +from the gates of Rome. Pausing, as he read his speech, he put on his +spectacles and said: "I have grown gray in your service, and now find +myself growing blind." This unaffected touch of nature completed the +master's spell. The late fomenters of insurrection gathered to their +chief with words of veneration—the storm went by—and, says Curtis in +his History of the Constitution, "Had the Commander-in-Chief been other +than Washington, the land would have been deluged with the blood of +civil war."</p> + +<p>But not yet was Washington's work accomplished. Peace dawned upon the +weary land, and parting with his soldiers, he pleaded with them for +union. "Happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced," he said, "who +have contributed anything in erecting this stupendous fabric of freedom +and empire; who have assisted in protecting the rights of human nature, +and establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and +religions." But still the foundations of the stupendous fabric trembled, +and no cement held its stones together. It was then, with that +thickening peril, Washington rose to his highest stature. Without civil +station to call forth his utterance, impelled by the intrepid impulse of +a soul that could not see the hope of a nation perish without leaping +into the stream to save it, he addressed the whole People of America in +a circular to the governors of the states: "Convinced of the importance +of the crisis, silence in me," he said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> "would be a crime. I will, +therefore, speak the language of freedom and sincerity." He set forth +the need of union in a strain that touched the quick of sensibility; he +held up the citizens of America as sole lords of a vast tract of +continent; he portrayed the fair opportunity for political happiness +with which Heaven had crowned them; he pointed out the blessings that +would attend their collective wisdom; that mutual concessions and +sacrifices must be made; and that supreme power must be lodged somewhere +to regulate and govern the general concerns of the Confederate Republic, +without which the Union would not be of long duration. And he urged that +happiness would be ours if we seized the occasion and made it our own. +In this, one of the very greatest acts of Washington, was revealed the +heart of the man, the spirit of the hero, the wisdom of the sage—I +might almost say the sacred inspiration of the prophet.</p> + +<p>But still the wing of the eagle drooped; the gathering storms baffled +his sunward flight. Even with Washington in the van, the column wavered +and halted—states straggling to the rear that had hitherto been +foremost for permanent union, under an efficacious constitution. And +while three years rolled by amidst the jargon of sectional and local +contentions, "the half-starved government," as Washington depicted it, +"limped along on crutches, tottering at every step." And while +monarchical Europe with saturnine face declared that the American hope +of union was the wild and visionary notion of romance, and predicted +that we would be to the end of time a disunited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> people, suspicious and +distrustful of each other, divided and subdivided into petty +commonwealths and principalities, lo! the very earth yawned under the +feet of America, and in that very region whence had come forth a +glorious band of orators, statesmen and soldiers to plead the cause and +fight the battles of Independence—lo! the volcanic fires of rebellion +burst forth upon the heads of the faithful, and the militia were +leveling the guns of the Revolution, against the breasts of their +brethren. "What, gracious God! is man?" Washington exclaimed: "It was +but the other day that we were shedding our blood to obtain the +constitutions under which we live, and now we are unsheathing our swords +to overturn them."</p> + +<p>But see! there is a ray of hope. Maryland and Virginia had already +entered into a commercial treaty for regulating the navigation of the +rivers and great bay in which they had common interests, and Washington +had been one of the commissioners in its negotiation. And now, at the +suggestion of Maryland, Virginia had called on all the states to meet in +convention at Annapolis, to adopt commercial regulations for the whole +country. Could this foundation be laid, the eyes of the nation-builders +foresaw that the permanent structure would ere long rise upon it. But +when the day of meeting came no state north of New York or south of +Virginia was represented; and in their helplessness those assembled +could only recommend a constitutional convention, to meet in +Philadelphia in May, 1787, to provide for the exigencies of the +situation.</p> + +<p>And still thick clouds and darkness rested on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> land, and there +lowered upon its hopes a night as black as that upon the freezing +Delaware; but through the gloom the dauntless leader was still marching +on to the consummation of his colossal work, with a hope that never +died; with a courage that never faltered; with a wisdom that never +yielded that "all is vanity."</p> + +<p>It was not permitted the Roman to despair of the republic, nor did +he—our chieftain. "It will all come right at last," he said. It did. +And now let the historian, Bancroft, speak: "From this state of despair +the country was lifted by Madison and Virginia." Again he says: "We come +now to a week more glorious for Virginia beyond any in her annals, or in +the history of any republic that had ever before existed."</p> + +<p>It was that week in which Madison, "giving effect to his own +long-cherished wishes, and still earlier wishes of Washington," +addressing, as it were, the whole country, and marshaling all the +states, warned them "that the crisis had arrived at which the people of +America are to decide the solemn question, whether they would, by wise +and magnanimous efforts reap the fruits of independence and of union, or +whether by giving way to unmanly jealousies and prejudices, or to +impartial and transitory interests, they would renounce the blessings +prepared for them by the Revolution," and conjuring them "to concur in +such further concessions and provisions as may be necessary to secure +the objects for which that government was instituted, and make the +United States as happy in peace as they had been glorious in war."</p> + +<p>In such manner, my countrymen, Virginia, adopting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> the words of Madison, +and moved by the constant spirit of Washington, joined in convoking that +Constitutional Convention, in which he headed her delegation, and over +which he presided, and whose deliberations resulted in the formation and +adoption of that instrument which the premier of Great Britain +pronounces "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by +the brain and purpose of man."</p> + +<p>In such manner the state which gave birth to the Father of his Country, +following his guiding genius to the Union, as it had followed his sword +through the battles of Independence, placed herself at the head of the +wavering column. In such manner America heard and hearkened to the voice +of her chief; and now closing ranks, and moving with reanimated step, +the thirteen commonwealths wheeled and faced to the front, on the line +of the Union, under the sacred ensign of the Constitution.</p> + +<p>Thus at last was the crowning work of Washington accomplished. Out of +the tempests of war, and the tumults of civil commotion, the ages bore +their fruit, and the long yearning of humanity was answered. "Rome to +America" is the eloquent inscription on one stone contributed to yon +colossal shaft—taken from the ancient Temple of Peace that once stood +hard by the palace of the Cæsars. Uprisen from the sea of revolution, +fabricated from the ruins of the battered Bastiles, and dismantled +palaces of unhallowed power, stood forth now the Republic of republics, +the Nation of nations, the Constitution of constitutions, to which all +lands and times and tongues had contributed of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> their wisdom. And the +priestess of Liberty was in her holy temple.</p> + +<p>When Salamis had been fought and Greece again kept free, each of the +victorious generals voted himself to be first in honor; but all agreed +that Themistocles was second. When the most memorable struggle for the +rights of human nature, of which time holds record, was thus happily +concluded in the muniment of their preservation, whoever else was +second, unanimous acclaim declared that Washington was first. Nor in +that struggle alone does he stand foremost. In the name of the people of +the United States, their president, their senators, their +representatives, and their judges, do crown to-day with the grandest +crown that veneration has ever lifted to the brow of glory, him, whom +Virginia gave to America, whom America has given to the world and to the +ages, and whom mankind with universal suffrage has proclaimed the +foremost of the founders of empire in the first degree of greatness; +whom Liberty herself has anointed as the first citizen in the great +Republic of Humanity.</p> + +<p>Encompassed by the inviolate seas stands to-day the American Republic +which he founded—a freer Greater Britain—uplifted above the powers and +principalities of the earth, even as his monument is uplifted over roof +and dome and spire of the multitudinous city.</p> + +<p>Long live the Republic of Washington! Respected by mankind, beloved of +all its sons, long may it be the asylum of the poor and oppressed of all +lands and religions—long may it be the citadel of that liberty which +writes beneath the eagle's folded wings, "We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> will sell to no man, we +will deny to no man, Right and Justice."</p> + +<p>Long live the United States of America! Filled with the free, +magnanimous spirit, crowned by the wisdom, blessed by the moderation, +hovered over by the guardian angel of Washington's example; may they be +ever worthy in all things to be defended by the blood of the brave who +know the rights of man and shrink not from their assertion—may they be +each a column, and altogether, under the Constitution, a perpetual +Temple of Peace, unshadowed by a Cæsar's palace, at whose altar may +freely commune all who seek the union of Liberty and Brotherhood.</p> + +<p>Long live our Country! Oh, long through the undying ages may it stand, +far removed in fact as in space from the Old World's feuds and follies, +alone in its grandeur and its glory, itself the immortal monument of him +whom Providence commissioned to teach man the power of Truth, and to +prove to the nations that their Redeemer liveth.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span></p> +<h2>ABRAHAM LINCOLN</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Lecture by Henry Watterson, journalist and orator, editor of the +Louisville, Ky., <i>Courier Journal</i> since 1868. This lecture was +originally delivered before the Lincoln Club of Chicago, February +12, 1895, and subsequently repeated on many platforms as a lecture. +It has been heard in all parts of the country, but nowhere, with +livelier demonstrations of approval than in the cities of the South +"from Richmond and Charleston to New Orleans and Galveston." </p></div> + + +<p>The statesmen in knee breeches and powdered wigs who signed the +Declaration of Independence and framed the Constitution—the soldiers in +blue-and-buff, top-boots and epaulets who led the armies of the +Revolution—were what we are wont to describe as gentlemen. They were +English gentlemen. They were not all, nor even generally, scions of the +British aristocracy; but they came, for the most part, of good +Anglo-Saxon and Scotch-Irish stock.</p> + +<p>The shoe buckle and the ruffled shirt worked a spell peculiarly their +own. They carried with them an air of polish and authority. Hamilton, +though of obscure birth and small stature, is represented by those who +knew him to have been dignity and grace personified; and old Ben +Franklin, even in woolen hose, and none too courtier-like, was the +delight of the great nobles and fine ladies, in whose company he made +himself as much at home as though he had been born a marquis.</p> + +<p>The first half of the Republic's first half century of existence the +public men of America, distinguished for many things, were chiefly and +almost universally distinguished for repose of bearing and sobriety of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> +behavior. It was not until the institution of African slavery had got +into politics as a vital force that Congress became a bear-garden, and +that our law-makers, laying aside their manners with their small +clothes, fell into the loose-fitting habiliments of modern fashion and +the slovenly jargon of partisan controversy. The gentlemen who signed +the Declaration and framed the Constitution were succeeded by +gentlemen—much like themselves—but these were succeeded by a race of +party leaders much less decorous and much more self-confident; rugged, +puissant; deeply moved in all that they said and did, and sometimes +turbulent; so that finally, when the volcano burst forth flames that +reached the heavens, great human bowlders appeared amid the glare on +every side; none of them much to speak of according to rules regnant at +St. James and Versailles; but vigorous, able men, full of their mission +and of themselves, and pulling for dear life in opposite directions.</p> + +<p>There were Seward and Sumner and Chase, Corwin and Ben Wade, Trumbull +and Fessenden, Hale and Collamer and Grimes, and Wendell Phillips, and +Horace Greeley, our latter-day Franklin. There were Toombs and Hammond, +and Slidell and Wigfall, and the two little giants, Douglas and +Stephens, and Yancey and Mason, and Jefferson Davis. With them soft +words buttered no parsnips, and they cared little how many pitchers +might be broken by rude ones. The issue between them did not require a +diagram to explain it. It was so simple a child might understand. It +read, human slavery against human freedom, slave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> labor against free +labor, and involved a conflict as inevitable as it was irrepressible.</p> + +<p>Greek was meeting Greek at last; and the field of politics became almost +as sulphurous and murky as an actual field of battle. Amid the noise and +confusion, the clashing of intellects like sabers bright, and the +booming of the big oratorical guns of the North and the South, now +definitely arrayed, there came one day into the Northern camp one of the +oddest figures imaginable; the figure of a man who, in spite of an +appearance somewhat at outs with Hogarth's line of beauty, wore a +serious aspect, if not an air of command, and, pausing to utter a single +sentence that might be heard above the din, passed on and for a moment +disappeared.</p> + +<p>The sentence was pregnant with meaning. The man bore a commission from +God on high! He said: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I +believe this Government cannot endure permanently half free and half +slave. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the +house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided." He was +Abraham Lincoln.</p> + +<p>How shall I describe him to you? Shall I do so as he appeared to me, +when I first saw him immediately on his arrival in the national capital, +the chosen president of the United States, his appearance quite as +strange as the story of his life, which was then but half known and half +told, or shall I use the words of another and a more graphic +wordpainter?</p> + +<p>In January, 1861, Colonel A. K. McClure, of Pennsylvania<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span>, journeyed to +Springfield, Illinois, to meet and confer with the man he had done so +much to elect, but whom he had never personally known. "I went directly +from the depot to Lincoln's house," says Colonel McClure, "and rang the +bell, which was answered by Lincoln, himself, opening the door. I doubt +whether I wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting him. Tall, +gaunt, ungainly, ill-clad, with a homeliness of manner that was unique +in itself, I confess that my heart sank within me as I remembered that +this was the man chosen by a great nation to become its ruler in the +gravest period of its history. I remember his dress as if it were but +yesterday—snuff-colored and slouchy pantaloons; open black vest, held +by a few brass buttons; straight or evening dress coat, with tightly +fitting sleeves to exaggerate his long, bony arms, all supplemented by +an awkwardness that was uncommon among men of intelligence. Such was the +picture I met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We sat down in his +plainly furnished parlor and were uninterrupted during the nearly four +hours I remained with him, and little by little, as his earnestness, +sincerity, and candor were developed in conversation, I forgot all the +grotesque qualities which so confounded me when I first greeted him. +Before half an hour had passed I learned not only to respect, but, +indeed, to reverence the man."</p> + +<p>A graphic portrait, truly, and not unlike. I recall him, two months +later, a little less uncouth, a little better dressed, but in +singularity and in angularity much the same. All the world now takes an +interest in every detail that concerned him, or that relates to the +weird tragedy of his life and death.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image8.jpg" id="image8.jpg" href="images/image8.jpg"> +<img src="images/image8_th.jpg" width="500" height="708" alt="ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span></p><p>And who was this peculiar being, destined in his mother's arms—for +cradle he had none—so profoundly to affect the future of humankind? He +has told us, himself, in words so simple and unaffected, so idiomatic +and direct, that we can neither misread them, nor improve upon them. +Writing, in 1859, to one who had asked him for some biographic +particulars, Abraham Lincoln said:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My +parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished +families—second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who +died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My +paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham +County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or +two later, he was killed by the Indians, not in battle, but by +stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest.</p> + +<p>"My father (Thomas Lincoln) at the death of his father was but six +years of age. By the early death of his father, and the very narrow +circumstances of his mother, he was, even in childhood, a wandering +laboring boy, and grew up literally without education. He never did +more in the way of writing than bunglingly to write his own +name.... He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, +Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many +bears and other animals still in the woods....<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> There were some +schools, so-called, but no qualification was ever required of a +teacher beyond 'readin', writin', and cipherin' to the rule of +three.' If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened to +sojourn in the neighborhood he was looked upon as a wizard.... Of +course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I +could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three. But that was +all.... The little advance I now have upon this store of education +I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity.</p> + +<p>"I was raised to farm work ... till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one +I came to Illinois—Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, ... +where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came +the Black Hawk war; and I was elected captain of a volunteer +company, a success that gave me more pleasure than any I have had +since. I went into the campaign—was elated—ran for the +legislature the same year (1832), and was beaten—the only time I +ever have been beaten by the people. The next, and three succeeding +biennial elections, I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a +candidate afterward. During the legislative period I had studied +law and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was +elected to the lower house of Congress. Was not a candidate for +reëlection. From 1849 to 1854, inclusive, practiced law more +assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics, and +generally on the Whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses. I +was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri +Compromise aroused me again.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span>"If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be +said that I am in height six feet four inches, nearly; lean in +flesh, weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds; dark +complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or +brands recollected." </p></div> + +<p>There is the whole story, told by himself, and brought down to the point +where he became a figure of national importance.</p> + +<p>His political philosophy was expounded in four elaborate speeches; one +delivered at Peoria, Illinois, the 16th of October, 1854; one at +Springfield, Illinois, the 16th of June, 1858; one at Columbus, Ohio, +the 16th of September, 1859, and one the 27th of February, 1860, at +Cooper Institute, in the city of New York. Of course Mr. Lincoln made +many speeches and very good speeches. But these four, progressive in +character, contain the sum total of his creed touching the organic +character of the Government and at the same time his party view of +contemporary issues. They show him to have been an old-line Whig of the +school of Henry Clay, with strong emancipation leanings; a thorough +anti-slavery man, but never an extremist or an abolitionist. To the last +he hewed to the line thus laid down.</p> + +<p>Two or three years ago I referred to Abraham Lincoln—in a casual +way—as one "inspired of God." I was taken to task for this and thrown +upon my defense. Knowing less then than I know now of Mr. Lincoln, I +confined myself to the superficial aspects of the case;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> to the career +of a man who seemed to have lacked the opportunity to prepare himself +for the great estate to which he had come, plucked as it were from +obscurity by a caprice of fortune.</p> + +<p>Accepting the doctrine of inspiration as a law of the universe, I still +stand to this belief; but I must qualify it as far as it conveys the +idea that Mr. Lincoln was not as well equipped in actual knowledge of +men and affairs as any of his contemporaries. Mr. Webster once said that +he had been preparing to make his reply to Hayne for thirty years. Mr. +Lincoln had been in unconscious training for the presidency for thirty +years. His maiden address as a candidate for the Legislature, issued at +the ripe old age of twenty-three, closes with these words: "But if the +good people in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, +I have been too familiar with disappointment to be very much chagrined." +The man who wrote that sentence, thirty years later wrote this sentence: +"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and +patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad +land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as +surely they will be, by the angels of our better nature." Between those +two sentences, joined by a kindred, somber thought, flowed a +life-current—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Strong, without rage, without o'erflowing, full,"<br /> +</div> + +<p>pausing never for an instant; deepening whilst it ran, but nowise +changing its course or its tones; always the same; calm; patient; +affectionate; like one born<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> to a destiny, and, as in a dream, feeling +its resistless force.</p> + +<p>It is needful to a complete understanding of Mr. Lincoln's relation to +the time and to his place in the political history of the country, that +the student peruse closely the four speeches to which I have called +attention; they underlie all that passed in the famous debate with +Douglas; all that their author said and did after he succeeded to the +presidency. They stand to-day as masterpieces of popular oratory. But +for our present purpose the debate with Douglas will suffice—the most +extraordinary intellectual spectacle the annals of our party warfare +afford. Lincoln entered the canvass unknown outside the state of +Illinois. He closed it renowned from one end of the land to the other.</p> + +<p>In that great debate it was Titan against Titan; and, perusing it after +the lapse of forty years, the philosophic and impartial critic will +conclude which got the better of it, Lincoln or Douglas, much according +to his sympathy with the one or the other. Douglas, as I have said, had +the disadvantage of riding an ebb tide. But Lincoln encountered a +disadvantage in riding a flood tide, which was flowing too fast for a +man so conservative and so honest as he was. Thus there was not a little +equivocation on both sides foreign to the nature of the two. Both wanted +to be frank. Both thought they were being frank. But each was a little +afraid of his own logic; each was a little afraid of his own following; +and hence there was considerable hair splitting, involving accusations +that did not accuse and denials<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> that did not deny. They were +politicians, these two, as well as statesmen; they were politicians, and +what they did not know about political campaigning was hardly worth +knowing. Reverently, I take off my hat to both of them; and I turn down +the page; I close the book and lay it on its shelf, with the inward +ejaculation, "There were giants in those days."</p> + +<p>I am not undertaking to deliver an oral biography of Abraham Lincoln, +and shall pass over the events which quickly led up to his nomination +and election to the presidency in 1860.</p> + +<p>I met the newly elected president the afternoon of the day in the early +morning of which he had arrived in Washington. It was a Saturday, I +think. He came to the capitol under Mr. Seward's escort, and, among the +rest, I was presented to him. His appearance did not impress me as +fantastically as it had impressed Colonel McClure. I was more familiar +with the Western type than Colonel McClure, and, whilst Mr. Lincoln was +certainly not an Adonis, even after prairie ideals, there was about him +a dignity that commanded respect.</p> + +<p>I met him again the forenoon of the 4th of March in his apartment at +Willard's Hotel as he was preparing to start to his inauguration, and +was touched by his unaffected kindness; for I came with a matter +requiring his immediate attention. He was entirely self-possessed; no +trace of nervousness; and very obliging. I accompanied the cortege that +passed from the senate chamber to the east portico of the capitol, and, +as Mr. Lincoln removed his hat to face the vast multitude in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> front and +below, I extended my hand to receive it, but Judge Douglas, just beside +me, reached over my outstretched arm and took the hat, holding it +throughout the delivery of the inaugural address. I stood near enough to +the speaker's elbow not to obstruct any gestures he might make, though +he made but few; and then it was that I began to comprehend something of +the power of the man.</p> + +<p>He delivered that inaugural address as if he had been delivering +inaugural addresses all his life. Firm, resonant, earnest, it announced +the coming of a man; of a leader of men; and in its ringing tones and +elevated style, the gentlemen he had invited to become members of his +political family—each of whom thought himself a bigger man than his +master—might have heard the voice and seen the hand of a man born to +command. Whether they did or not, they very soon ascertained the fact. +From the hour Abraham Lincoln crossed the threshold of the White House +to the hour he went thence to his death, there was not a moment when he +did not dominate the political and military situation and all his +official subordinates.</p> + +<p>Always courteous, always tolerant, always making allowance, yet always +explicit, his was the master-spirit, his the guiding hand; committing to +each of the members of his cabinet the details of the work of his own +department; caring nothing for petty sovereignty; but reserving to +himself all that related to great policies, the starting of moral forces +and the moving of organized ideas.</p> + +<p>I want to say just here a few words about Mr. Lincoln's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> relation to the +South and the people of the South.</p> + +<p>He was, himself, a Southern man. He and all his tribe were Southerners. +Although he left Kentucky when but a child, he was an old child; he +never was very young; and he grew to manhood in a Kentucky colony; for +what was Illinois in those days but a Kentucky colony, grown since +somewhat out of proportion? He was in no sense what we in the South used +to call "a poor white." Awkward, perhaps; ungainly, perhaps, but +aspiring; the spirit of a hero beneath that rugged exterior; the soul of +a prose poet behind those heavy brows; the courage of a lion back of +those patient, kindly aspects; and, long before he was of legal age, a +leader. His first love was a Rutledge; his wife was a Todd. Let the +romancist tell the story of his romance. I dare not. No sadder idyl can +be found in all the short and simple annals of the poor.</p> + +<p>We know that he was a prose poet; for have we not that immortal prose +poem recited at Gettysburg? We know that he was a statesman; for has not +time vindicated his conclusions? But the South does not know, except as +a kind of hearsay, that he was a friend; the one friend who had the +power and the will to save it from itself. He was the one man in public +life who could have come to the head of affairs in 1861 bringing with +him none of the embittered resentments growing out of the anti-slavery +battle. Whilst Seward, Chase, Sumner and the rest had been engaged in +hand-to-hand combat with the Southern leaders at Washington, Lincoln, a +philosopher and a statesman, had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> been observing the course of events +from afar, and like a philosopher and a statesman. The direst blow that +could have been laid upon the prostrate South was delivered by the +assassin's bullet that struck him down.</p> + +<p>But I digress. Throughout the contention that preceded the war, amid the +passions that attended the war itself, not one bitter, proscriptive word +escaped the lips of Abraham Lincoln, whilst there was hardly a day that +he was not projecting his great personality between some Southern man or +woman and danger.</p> + +<p>Under the date of February 2, 1848, and from the hall of the House of +Representatives at Washington, whilst he was serving as a member of +Congress, I find this short note to his law partner at Springfield:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear William:</span> I take up my pen to tell you that Mr. Stephens, of +Georgia, a little, slim, pale-faced, consumptive man, with a voice +like Logan's (that was Stephen T., not John A.), has just concluded +the very best speech of an hour's length I ever heard. My old, +withered, dry eyes (he was then not quite thirty-seven years of +age) are full of tears yet." </p></div> + +<p>From that time forward he never ceased to love Stephens, of Georgia.</p> + +<p>After that famous Hampton Roads conference, when the Confederate +commissioners, Stephens, Campbell, and Hunter, had traversed the field +of official routine with Mr. Lincoln, the president, and Mr. Seward, the +secretary of state, Lincoln, the friend, still the old Whig colleague, +though one was now president of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> United States and the other +vice-president of the Southern Confederacy, took the "slim, pale-faced, +consumptive man" aside, and, pointing to a sheet of paper he held in his +hand, said: "Stephens, let me write 'Union' at the top of that page, and +you may write below it whatever else you please."</p> + +<p>In the preceding conversation Mr. Lincoln had intimated that payment for +the slaves was not outside a possible agreement for reunion and peace. +He based that statement upon a plan he already had in hand, to +appropriate four hundred millions of dollars to this purpose.</p> + +<p>There are those who have put themselves to the pains of challenging this +statement of mine. It admits of no possible equivocation. Mr. Lincoln +carried with him to Fortress Monroe two documents that still stand in +his own handwriting; one of them a joint resolution to be passed by the +two houses of Congress appropriating the four hundred millions, the +other a proclamation to be issued by himself, as president, when the +joint resolution had been passed. These formed no part of the discussion +at Hampton Roads, because Mr. Stephens told Mr. Lincoln they were +limited to treating upon the basis of the recognition of the +Confederacy, and to all intents and purposes the conference died before +it was actually born. But Mr. Lincoln was so filled with the idea that +next day, when he had returned to Washington, he submitted the two +documents to the members of his cabinet. Excepting Mr. Seward, they were +all against him. He said: "Why, gentlemen, how long is the war going to +last? It is not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> going to end this side of a hundred days, is it? It is +costing us four millions a day. There are the four hundred millions, not +counting the loss of life and property in the meantime. But you are all +against me, and I will not press the matter upon you." I have not cited +this fact of history to attack, or even to criticize, the policy of the +Confederate Government, but simply to illustrate the wise magnanimity +and justice of the character of Abraham Lincoln. For my part I rejoice +that the war did not end at Fortress Monroe—or any other +conference—but that it was fought out to its bitter and logical +conclusion at Appomattox.</p> + +<p>It was the will of God that there should be, as God's own prophet had +promised, "a new birth of freedom," and this could only be reached by +the obliteration of the very idea of slavery. God struck Lincoln down in +the moment of his triumph, to attain it; He blighted the South to attain +it. But He did attain it. And here we are this night to attest it. God's +will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven. But let no Southern man +point finger at me because I canonize Abraham Lincoln, for he was the +one friend we had at court when friends were most in need; he was the +one man in power who wanted to preserve us intact, to save us from the +wolves of passion and plunder that stood at our door; and as that God, +of whom it has been said that "whom He loveth He chasteneth," meant that +the South should be chastened, Lincoln was put out of the way by the +bullet of an assassin, having neither lot nor parcel, North or South, +but a winged emissary of fate, flown from the shadows of the mystic +world,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> which Æschylus and Shakespeare created and consecrated to +tragedy!</p> + +<p>I sometimes wonder shall we ever attain a journalism sufficiently +upright in its treatment of current events to publish fully and fairly +the utterances of our public men, and, except in cases of provable +dishonor, to leave their motives and their personalities alone?</p> + +<p>Reading just what Abraham Lincoln did say and did do, it is +inconceivable how such a man could have aroused antagonism so bitter and +abuse so savage, to fall at last by the hand of an assassin.</p> + +<p>We boast our superior civilization and our enlightened freedom of +speech; and yet, how few of us—when a strange voice begins to utter +unfamiliar or unpalatable things—how few of us stop and ask ourselves, +may not this man be speaking the truth after all? It is so easy to call +names. It is so easy to impugn motives. It is so easy to misrepresent +opinions we cannot answer. From the least to the greatest what creatures +we are of party spirit, and yet, for the most part, how small its aims, +how imperfect its instruments, how disappointing its conclusions!</p> + +<p>One thinks now that the world in which Abraham Lincoln lived might have +dealt more gently by such a man. He was himself so gentle—so upright in +nature and so broad of mind—so sunny and so tolerant in temper—so +simple and so unaffected in bearing—a rude exterior covering an +undaunted spirit, proving by his every act and word that—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"The bravest are the tenderest,<br /> +The loving are the daring."<br /> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span></p><p>Though he was a party leader, he was a typical and patriotic American, +in whom even his enemies might have found something to respect and +admire. But it could not be so. He committed one grievous offense; he +dared to think and he was not afraid to speak; he was far in advance of +his party and his time; and men are slow to forgive what they do not +readily understand.</p> + +<p>Yet, all the while that the waves of passion were dashing over his +sturdy figure, reared above the dead-level, as a lone oak upon a sandy +beach, not one harsh word rankled in his heart to sour the milk of human +kindness that, like a perennial spring from the gnarled roots of some +majestic tree, flowed within him. He would smooth over a rough place in +his official intercourse with a funny story fitting the case in point, +and they called him a trifler. He would round off a logical argument +with a familiar example, hitting the nail squarely on the head and +driving it home, and they called him a buffoon. Big wigs and little wigs +were agreed that he lowered the dignity of debate; as if debates were +intended to mystify, and not to clarify truth. Yet he went on and on, +and never backward, until his time was come, when his genius, fully +developed, rose to the great exigencies intrusted to his hands. Where +did he get his style? Ask Shakespeare and Burns where they got their +style. Where did he get his grasp upon affairs and his knowledge of men? +Ask the Lord God who created miracles in Luther and Bonaparte!</p> + +<p>What was the mysterious power of this mysterious man, and whence?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span></p><p>His was the genius of common sense; of common sense in action; of common +sense in thought; of common sense enriched by experience and unhindered +by fear. "He was a common man," says his friend Joshua Speed, "expanded +into giant proportions; well acquainted with the people, he placed his +hand on the beating pulse of the nation, judged of its disease, and was +ready with a remedy." Inspired he was truly, as Shakespeare was +inspired; as Mozart was inspired; as Burns was inspired; each, like him, +sprung directly from the people.</p> + +<p>I look into the crystal globe that, slowly turning, tells the story of +his life, and I see a little heart broken boy, weeping by the +outstretched form of a dead mother, then bravely, nobly trudging a +hundred miles to obtain her Christian burial. I see this motherless lad +growing to manhood amid the scenes that seem to lead to nothing but +abasement; no teachers; no books; no chart, except his own untutored +mind; no compass, except his own undisciplined will; no light, save +light from Heaven; yet, like the caravel of Columbus, struggling on and +on through the trough of the sea, always toward the destined land. I see +the full-grown man, stalwart and brave, an athlete in activity of +movement and strength of limb, yet vexed by weird dreams and visions; of +life, of love, of religion, sometimes verging on despair. I see the +mind, grown as robust as the body, throw off these phantoms of the +imagination and give itself wholly to the work-a-day uses of the world; +the rearing of children; the earning of bread; the multiplied duties of +life. I see the party<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> leader, self-confident in conscious rectitude; +original, because it was not his nature to follow; potent, because he +was fearless, pursuing his convictions with earnest zeal, and urging +them upon his fellows with the resources of an oratory which was hardly +more impressive than it was many-sided. I see him, the preferred among +his fellows, ascend the eminence reserved for him, and him alone of all +the statesmen of the time, amid the derision of opponents and the +distrust of supporters, yet unawed and unmoved, because thoroughly +equipped to meet the emergency. The same being, from first to last; the +poor child weeping over a dead mother; the great chief sobbing amid the +cruel horrors of war; flinching not from duty, nor changing his +life-long ways of dealing with the stern realities which pressed upon +him and hurried him onward. And, last scene of all, that ends this +strange, eventful history, I see him lying dead there in the capitol of +the nation, to which he had rendered "the last, full measure of his +devotion," the flag of his country around him, the world in mourning, +and, asking myself how could any man have hated that man, I ask you, how +can any man refuse his homage to his memory? Surely, he was one of God's +elect; not in any sense a creature of circumstance, or accident. +Recurring to the doctrine of inspiration, I say again and again, he was +inspired of God, and I cannot see how any one who believes in that +doctrine can regard him as anything else.</p> + +<p>From Cæsar to Bismarck and Gladstone the world has had its statesmen and +its soldiers—men who rose to eminence and power step by step, through a +series of geometric progression as it were, each advancement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> following +in regular order one after the other, the whole obedient to +well-established and well-understood laws of cause and effect. They were +not what we call "men of destiny." They were "men of the time." They +were men whose careers had a beginning, a middle and an end, rounding +off lives with histories, full it may be of interesting and exciting +event, but comprehensive and comprehensible; simple, clear, complete.</p> + +<p>The inspired ones are fewer. Whence their emanation, where and how they +got their power, by what rule they lived, moved and had their being, we +know not. There is no explication to their lives. They rose from shadow +and they went in mist. We see them, feel them, but we know them not. +They came, God's word upon their lips; they did their office, God's +mantle about them; and they vanished, God's holy light between the world +and them, leaving behind a memory, half mortal and half myth. From first +to last they were the creations of some special Providence, baffling the +wit of man to fathom, defeating the machinations of the world, the flesh +and the devil, until their work was done, then passing from the scene as +mysteriously as they had come upon it.</p> + +<p>Tried by this standard, where shall we find an example so impressive as +Abraham Lincoln, whose career might be chanted by a Greek chorus as at +once the prelude and the epilogue of the most imperial theme of modern +times?</p> + +<p>Born as lowly as the Son of God, in a hovel; reared in penury, squalor, +with no gleam of light or fair surrounding; without graces, actual or +acquired; without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> name or fame or official training; it was reserved +for this strange being, late in life, to be snatched from obscurity, +raised to supreme command at a supreme moment, and intrusted with the +destiny of a nation.</p> + +<p>The great leaders of his party, the most experienced and accomplished +public men of the day, were made to stand aside; were sent to the rear, +whilst this fantastic figure was led by unseen hands to the front and +given the reins of power. It is immaterial whether we were for him, or +against him; wholly immaterial. That, during four years, carrying with +them such a weight of responsibility as the world never witnessed +before, he filled the vast space allotted him in the eyes and actions of +mankind, is to say that he was inspired of God, for nowhere else could +he have acquired the wisdom and the virtue.</p> + +<p>Where did Shakespeare get his genius? Where did Mozart get his music? +Whose hand smote the lyre of the Scottish plowman, and stayed the life +of the German priest? God, God, and God alone; and as surely as these +were raised up by God, inspired by God, was Abraham Lincoln; and a +thousand years hence, no drama, no tragedy, no epic poem will be filled +with greater wonder, or be followed by mankind with deeper feeling than +that which tells the story of his life and death.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span></p> +<h2>SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Delivered by Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865, on the occasion of his +second inauguration as president of the United States. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Fellow Countrymen:</span>—At this second appearing to take the oath of the +presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than +there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a +course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration +of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly +called forth on every point and phase of the great contest, which still +absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little +that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all +else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and +it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With +high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.</p> + +<p>On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were +anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it—all sought +to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this +place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent +agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to +dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties +deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the +nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it +perish. And the war came.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span></p><p>One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed +generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. +These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that +this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, +perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which insurgents +would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right +to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.</p> + +<p>Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which +it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the +conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should +cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental +and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and +each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men +should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from +the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not +judged. The prayers of both could not be answered—that of neither has +been answered fully.</p> + +<p>The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of +offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man +by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery +is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs +come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now +wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> this +terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we +discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the +believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we +hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily +pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled +by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be +sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by +another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so +still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous +altogether."</p> + +<p>With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the +right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the +work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who +shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan—to do all +which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves +and with all nations.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span></p> +<h2>ROBERT E. LEE</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The following extracts are taken from the great lecture<a name="FNanchor_4_22" id="FNanchor_4_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_22" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> of E. +Benjamin Andrews on "Robert E. Lee." Dr. Andrews was president of +Brown University 1889-1898, superintendent of the Public Schools of +Chicago 1898-1900, chancellor of the University of Nebraska +1900-1908, and since 1909 has been chancellor emeritus of that +institution. He served as a private, and later as second lieutenant +in the Union army during the Civil War. He was wounded at +Petersburg, losing an eye. Probably no better characterization or +higher tribute has ever been made of Robert E. Lee than that by Dr. +Andrews in this lecture which was as enthusiastically received by +the Union veterans of the North as by the Confederate veterans of +the South; for, as Dr. Andrews says in his tribute to Lee, "None +are prouder of his record than those who fought against him, who +while recognizing the purity of his motive, thought him in error in +going from under the stars and stripes." </p></div> + + +<p>Robert Edward Lee had perhaps a more illustrious traceable lineage than +any American not of his family. His ancestor, Lionel Lee, crossed the +English Channel with William the Conqueror. Another scion of the clan +fought beside Richard the Lion-hearted at Acre in the Third Crusade. To +Richard Lee, the great land owner on Northern Neck, the Virginia Colony +was much indebted for royal recognition. His grandson, Henry Lee, was +the grandfather of "Light-horse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary fame, who +was the father of Robert Edward Lee.</p> + +<p>Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807, in Westmoreland County, Va., +the same county that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> gave to the world George Washington and James +Monroe. Though he was fatherless at eleven, the father's blood in him +inclined him to the profession of arms, and when eighteen,—in 1825,—on +an appointment obtained for him by General Andrew Jackson, he entered +the Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1829, being second +in rank in a class of forty-six. Among his classmates were two men whom +one delights to name with him—Ormsby M. Mitchel, later a general in the +Federal army, and Joseph E. Johnston, the famous Confederate. Lee was at +once made Lieutenant of Engineers, but, till the Mexican War, attained +only a captaincy. This was conferred on him in 1838.</p> + +<p>In 1831 Lee had been married to Miss Mary Randolph Custis, the grand +daughter of Mrs. George Washington. By this marriage he became possessor +of the beautiful estate at Arlington, opposite Washington, his home till +the Civil War. The union, blessed by seven children, was in all respects +most happy.</p> + +<p>In his prime Lee was spoken of as the handsomest man in the army. He was +about six feet high, perfectly built, healthy, fond of outdoor life, +enthusiastic in his profession, gentle, dignified, studious, +broad-minded, and positively, though unobtrusively, religious. If he had +faults, which those nearest him doubted, they were excess of modesty and +excess of tenderness.</p> + +<p>During the Mexican War, Captain Lee directed all the most important +engineering operations of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> American army—a work vital to its +wonderful success. Already at the siege of Vera Cruz, General Scott +mentioned him as having "greatly distinguished himself." He was +prominent in all the operations thence to Cerro Gordo, where, in April, +1847, he was brevetted major. Both at Contreras and at Churubusco he was +credited with gallant and meritorious services. At the charge up +Chapultepec, in which Joseph E. Johnston, George B. McClellan, George E. +Pickett, and Thomas J. Jackson participated, Lee bore Scott's orders to +all points until from loss of blood by a wound, and from the loss of two +nights' sleep at the batteries, he actually fainted away in the +discharge of his duty. Such ability and devotion brought him home from +Mexico bearing the brevet rank of colonel. General Scott had learned to +think of him as "the greatest military genius in America."</p> + +<p>In 1852 Lee was made superintendent of the West Point Military Academy. +In 1855 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of Col. Albert Sidney +Johnston's new cavalry regiment, just raised to serve in Texas. March, +1861, saw him colonel of the First United States Cavalry. With the +possible exception of the two Johnstons, he was now the most promising +candidate for General Scott's position whenever that venerable hero +vacated it, as he was sure to do soon.</p> + +<p>Lee was a Virginian, and Virginia, about to secede and at length +seceding, in most earnest tones besought her distinguished son to join +her. It seemed to him the call of duty, and that call, as he understood +it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> was one which it was not in him to disobey. President Lincoln knew +the value of the man, and sent Frank Blair to him to say that if he +would abide by the Union he should soon command the whole active army. +That would probably have meant his election, in due time, to the +presidency of his country. "For God's sake don't resign, Lee!" General +Scott—himself a Virginian—is said to have pleaded. He replied: "I am +compelled to; I cannot consult my own feelings in the matter." +Accordingly, three days after Virginia passed its ordinance of +secession, Lee sent to Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, his resignation +as an officer in the United States army.</p> + +<p>Few at the North were able to understand the secession movement, most +denying that a man at once thoughtful and honorable could join in it. So +centralized had the North by 1861 become in all social and economic +particulars, that centrality in government was taken as a matter of +course. Representing this, the nation was deemed paramount to any state. +Governmental sovereignty, like travel and trade, had come to ignore +state lines. The whole idea and feeling of state sovereignty, once as +potent North as South, had vanished and been forgotten.</p> + +<p>Far otherwise at the South, where, owing to the great size of states and +to the paucity of railways and telegraphs, interstate association was +not yet a force. Each state, being in square miles ample enough for an +empire, retained to a great extent the consciousness of an independent +nation. The state was near and palpable; the central government<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> seemed +a vague and distant thing. Loyalty was conceived as binding one +primarily to one's own state.</p> + +<p>It is a misconception to explain this feeling—for in most cases it was +feeling rather than reasoned conviction—by Calhoun's teaching. It +resulted from geography and history, and, these factors working as they +did, would have been what it was had Calhoun never lived. These +considerations explain how Colonel Lee, certainly one of the most +conscientious men who ever lived, felt bound in duty and honor to side +with seceding Virginia, though he doubted the wisdom of her course.</p> + +<p>Most striking among the characteristics of General Lee which made him so +successful was his exalted and unmatched excellence as a man, his +unselfishness, sweetness, gentleness, patience, love of justice, and +general elevation of soul. Lee much loved to quote Sir William +Hamilton's words: "On earth nothing great but man: in man nothing great +but mind." He always added, however: "In mind nothing great save +devotion to truth and duty." Though a soldier, and at last very eminent +as a soldier, he retained from the beginning to the end of his career +the entire temper and character of an ideal civilian. He did not sink +the man in the military man. He had all a soldier's virtues, the +"chevalier without fear and without reproach," but he was glorified by a +whole galaxy of excellences which soldiers too often lack. He was pure +of speech and of habit, never intemperate, never obscene, never profane, +never irreverent. In domestic life he was an absolute model. Lofty +command did not make him vain.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image9.jpg" id="image9.jpg" href="images/image9.jpg"> +<img src="images/image9_th.jpg" width="500" height="791" alt="ROBERT E. LEE" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">ROBERT E. LEE</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span></p><p>That Lee was brave need not be said. He was not as rash as Hood and +Cleburne sometimes were. He knew the value of his life to the great +cause, and, usually at least, did not expose himself needlessly. +Prudence he had, but no fear. His resolution to lead the charge at the +Bloody Angle—rashness at once—shows fearlessness. Tender-hearted as he +was, Lee felt battle frenzy as hardly another great commander ever did. +From him it spread like magnetism to his officers and men, thrilling all +as if the chief himself were close by in the fray, shouting, "Now fight, +my good fellows, fight!" Yet such was Lee's self-command that this ardor +never carried him too far.</p> + +<p>But Lee possessed another order of courage infinitely higher and rarer +than this—the sort so often lacking even in generals who have served +with utmost distinction in high subordinate places, when they are called +to the sole and decisive direction of armies: he had that royal mettle, +that preternatural decision of character, ever tempered with caution and +wisdom, which leads a great commander, when true occasion arises, +resolutely to give general battle, or a swing out away from his base +upon a precarious but promising campaign. Here you have moral heroism; +ordinary valor is more impulsive. A weaker man, albeit total stranger to +fear, ready to lead his division or his corps into the very mouth of +hell, if commanded, being set himself to direct an army, will be either +rash or else too timid, or fidget from one extreme to the other, losing +all.</p> + +<p>It was in this supreme kind of boldness that Robert<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> Lee preëminently +excelled. Cautious always, he still took risks and responsibilities +which common generals would not have dared to take, and when he had +assumed these, his mighty will forbade him to sink under the load. The +braying of bitter critics, the obloquy of men who should have supported +him, the shots from behind, dismayed him no more than did Burnside's +cannon at Fredericksburg. On he pressed, stout as a Titan, relentless as +fate. What time bravest hearts failed at victory's delay, this +Dreadnaught rose to his best, and furnished courage for the whole +Confederacy.</p> + +<p>In a sense, of course, the cause for which Lee fought was "lost"; yet a +very great part of what he and his <i>confreres</i> sought, the war actually +secured and assured. His cause was not "lost" as Hannibal's was, whose +country, with its institutions, spite of his genius and devotion, +utterly perished from the earth. Yet Hannibal is remembered more widely +than Scipio. Were Lee in the same case with Hannibal, men would magnify +his name as long as history is read. "Of illustrious men," says +Thucydides, "the whole earth is the sepulcher. They are immortalized not +alone by columns and inscriptions in their own lands; memorials to them +rise in foreign countries as well—not of stone, it may be, but +unwritten, in the thoughts of posterity."</p> + +<p>Lee's case resembles Cromwell's much more than Hannibal's. The <i>regime</i> +against which Cromwell warred returned in spite of him; but it returned +modified, involving all the reforms for which the chieftain had bled. So +the best of what Lee drew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> sword for is here in our actual America, and, +please God, shall remain here forever.</p> + +<p>Decisions of the United States Supreme Court since Secession gave a +sweep and a certainty to the rights of states and limit the central +power in this republic as had never been done before. The wild doctrines +of Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens on these points are not our law. If the +Union is perpetual, equally so is each state. The republic is "an +indestructible Union of indestructible states." If this part of our law +had in 1861 received its present definition and emphasis, and if the +Southern States had then been sure, come what might, of the freedom they +actually now enjoy each to govern itself in its own way, even South +Carolina might never have voted secession. And inasmuch as the war, +better than aught else could have done, forced this phase of the +Constitution out into clear expression, General Lee did not fight in +vain. The essential good he wished has come, while the republic with its +priceless benedictions to us all remains intact. All Americans thus have +part in Robert Lee, not only as a peerless man and soldier, but as the +sturdy miner, sledge-hammering the rock of our liberties till it give +forth its gold. None are prouder of his record than those who fought +against him, who, while recognizing the purity of his motive, thought +him in error in going from under the stars and stripes. It is likely +that more American hearts day by day think lovingly of Lee than of any +other Civil War celebrity save Lincoln alone. And his praise will +increase.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span></p> +<h2>OUR REUNITED COUNTRY</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Speech of Clark Howell at the Peace Jubilee Banquet in Chicago, +October 19, 1898, in response to the toast "Our Reunited Country: +North and South." </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Toastmaster, and my Fellow Countrymen:</span>—In the mountains of my +state, in a county remote from the quickening touch of commerce, and +railroads and telegraphs—so far removed that the sincerity of its +rugged people flows unpolluted from the spring of nature—two +vine-covered mounds, nestling in the solemn silence of a country +churchyard, suggest the text of my response to the sentiment to which I +am to speak to-night. A serious text, Mr. Toastmaster, for an occasion +like this, and yet out of it there is life and peace and hope and +prosperity, for in the solemn sacrifice of the voiceless grave can the +chiefest lesson of the Republic be learned, and the destiny of its real +mission be unfolded. So, bear with me while I lead you to the +rust-stained slab, which for a third of a century—since +Chickamauga—has been kissed by the sun as it peeped over the Blue +Ridge, melting the tears with which the mourning night had bedewed the +inscription:—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Here lies a Confederate soldier.<br /> +He died for his country."<br /> +</div> + +<p>The September day which brought the body of this mountain hero to that +home among the hills which had smiled upon his infancy, been gladdened +by his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> youth, and strengthened by his manhood, was an ever memorable +one with the sorrowing concourse of friends and neighbors who followed +his shot-riddled body to the grave. And of that number no man gainsaid +the honor of his death, lacked full loyalty to the flag for which he +fought, or doubted the justice of the cause for which he gave his life.</p> + +<p>Thirty-five years have passed; another war has called its roll of +martyrs; again the old bell tolls from the crude latticed tower of the +settlement church; another great pouring of sympathetic humanity, and +this time the body of a son, wrapped in the stars and stripes, is +lowered to its everlasting rest beside that of the father who sleeps in +the stars and bars.</p> + +<p>There were those there who stood by the grave of the Confederate hero +years before, and the children of those were there, and of those present +no one gainsaid the honor of the death of this hero of El Caney, and +none were there but loved, as patriots alone can love, the glorious flag +that enshrines the people of a common country as it enshrouds the form +that will sleep forever in its blessed folds. And on this tomb will be +written:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Here lies the son of a Confederate soldier,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He died for his country."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>And so it is that between the making of these two graves human hands and +human hearts have reached a solution of the vexed problem that has +baffled human will and human thought for three decades. Sturdy sons of +the South have said to their brothers of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> North that the people of +the South had long since accepted the arbitrament of the sword to which +they had appealed. And likewise the oft-repeated message has come back +from the North that peace and good will reigned, and that the wounds of +civil dissention were but as sacred memories. Good fellowship was wafted +on the wings of commerce and development from those who had worn the +blue to those who had worn the gray. Nor were these messages delivered +in vain, for they served to pave the way for the complete and absolute +elimination of the line of sectional differences by the only process by +which such a result was possible. The sentiment of the great majority of +the people of the South was rightly spoken in the message of the +immortal Hill, and in the burning eloquence of Henry Grady—both +Georgians—the record of whose blessed work for the restoration of peace +between the sections becomes a national heritage, and whose names are +stamped in enduring impress upon the affection of the people of the +Republic.</p> + +<p>And yet there were still those among us who believed your course was +polite, but insincere, and those among you who assumed that our +professed attitude was sentimental and unreal. Bitterness had departed, +and sectional hate was no more, but there were those who feared, even if +they did not believe, that between the great sections of our greater +government there was not the perfect faith and trust and love that both +professed; that there was want of the faith that made the American +Revolution a successful possibility; that that there was want of the +trust that crystallized our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> States into the original Union; that there +was lack of the love that bound in unassailable strength the united +sisterhood of States that withstood the shock of Civil War. It is true +this doubt existed to a greater degree abroad than at home. But to-day +the mist of uncertainty has been swept away by the sunlight of events, +and there, where doubt obscured before stands in bold relief, commanding +the admiration of the whole world, the most glorious type of united +strength and sentiment and loyalty known to the history of nations.</p> + +<p>Out of the chaos of that civil war had risen a new nation, mighty in the +vastness of its limitless resources, the realities within its reach +surpassing the dreams of fiction, and eclipsing the fancy of fable—a +new nation, yet rosy in the flesh, with the bloom of youth upon its +cheeks and the gleam of morning in its eyes. No one questioned that +commercial and geographic union had been effected. So had Rome reunited +its faltering provinces, maintaining the limit of its imperial +jurisdiction by the power of commercial bonds and the majesty of the +sword, until in its very vastness it collapsed. The heart of its people +did not beat in unison. Nations may be made by the joining of hands, but +the measure of their real strength and vitality, like that of the human +body, is in the heart. Show me the country whose people are not at heart +in sympathy with its institutions, and the fervor of whose patriotism is +not bespoken in its flag, and I will show you a ship of state which is +sailing in shallow waters, toward unseen eddies of uncertainty, if not +to the open rocks of dismemberment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span></p><p>Whence was the proof to come, to ourselves as well as to the world, that +we were being moved once again by a common impulse, and by the same +heart that inspired and gave strength to the hands that smote the +British in the days of the Revolution, and again at New Orleans; that +made our ships the masters of the seas; that placed our flag on +Chapultepec, and widened our domain from ocean to ocean? How was the +world to know that the burning fires of patriotism, so essential to +national glory and achievement, had not been quenched by the blood +spilled by the heroes of both sides of the most desperate struggle known +in the history of civil wars? How was the doubt that stood, all +unwilling, between outstretched hands and sympathetic hearts, to be, in +fact, dispelled?</p> + +<p>If from out the caldron of conflict there arose this doubt, only from +the crucible of war could come the answer. And, thank God, that answer +has been made in the record of the war, the peaceful termination of +which we celebrate to-night. Read it in every page of its history; read +it in the obliteration of party and sectional lines in the congressional +action which called the nation to arms in the defense of prostrate +liberty, and for the extension of the sphere of human freedom; read it +in the conduct of the distinguished Federal soldier who, as the chief +executive of this great republic,<a name="FNanchor_5_23" id="FNanchor_5_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_23" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> honors this occasion by his +presence to-night, and whose appointments in the first commissions +issued after war had been declared made manifest the sincerity of his +often repeated utterances of complete<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> sectional reconciliation and the +elimination of sectional lines in the affairs of government. Differing +with him, as I do, on party issues, utterly at variance with the views +of his party on economic problems, I sanction with all my heart the +obligation that rests on every patriotic citizen to make party second to +country, and in the measure that he has been actuated by this broad and +patriotic policy he will receive the plaudits of the whole people: "Well +done, good and faithful servant."</p> + +<p>Portentous indeed have been the developments of the past six months; the +national domain has been extended far into the Caribbean Sea on the +south, and to the west it is so near the mainland of Asia that we can +hear grating of the process which is grinding the ancient celestial +empire into pulp for the machinery of civilization and of progress.</p> + +<p>But speaking as a Southerner and an American, I say that this has been +as naught compared to the greatest good this war has accomplished. +Drawing alike from all sections of the Union for her heroes and her +martyrs, depending alike upon North, South, East and West for her +glorious victories, and weeping with sympathy with the widows and the +stricken mothers wherever they may be, America, incarnated spirit of +liberty, stands again to-day the holy emblem of a household in which the +children abide in unity, equality, love and peace. The iron sledge of +war that rent asunder the links of loyalty and love has welded them +together again. Ears that were deaf to loving appeals for the burial of +sectional strife have listened and believed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> when the muster guns have +spoken. Hearts that were cold to calls for trust and sympathy have +awakened to loving confidence in the baptism of their blood.</p> + +<p>Drawing inspiration from the flag of our country, the South has shared +not only the dangers, but the glories of the war. In the death of brave +young Bagley at Cardenas, North Carolina furnished the first blood in +the tragedy. It was Victor Blue of South Carolina, who, like the Swamp +Fox of the Revolution, crossed the fiery path of the enemy at his +pleasure, and brought the first official tidings of the situation as it +existed in Cuba. It was Brumby, a Georgia boy, the flag lieutenant of +Dewey, who first raised the stars and stripes over Manila. It was +Alabama that furnished Hobson who accomplished two things the Spanish +navy never yet has done—sunk an American ship, and made a Spanish +man-of-war securely float.</p> + +<p>The South answered the call to arms with its heart, and its heart goes +out with that of the North in rejoicing at the result. The demonstration +lacking to give the touch of life to the picture has been made. The open +sesame that was needed to give insight into the true and loyal hearts +both North and South has been spoken. Divided by war, we are united as +never before by the same agency, and the union is of hearts as well as +hands.</p> + +<p>The doubter may scoff, and the pessimist may croak, but even they must +take hope at the picture presented in the simple and touching incident +of eight Grand Army veterans, with their silvery heads bowed in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> +sympathy, escorting the lifeless body of the Daughter of the Confederacy +from Narragansett to its last, long rest at Richmond.</p> + +<p>When that great and generous soldier, U. S. Grant, gave back to Lee, +crushed, but ever glorious, the sword he had surrendered at Appomattox, +that magnanimous deed said to the people of the South: "You are our +brothers." But when the present ruler of our grand republic on awakening +to the condition of war that confronted him, with his first commission +placed the leader's sword in the hands of those gallant confederate +commanders, Joe Wheeler and Fitzhugh Lee, he wrote between the lines in +living letters of everlasting light the words: "There is but one people +of this Union, one flag alone for all."</p> + +<p>The South, Mr. Toastmaster, will feel that her sons have been well +given, that her blood has been well spilled, if that sentiment is to be +indeed the true inspiration of our nation's future. God grant it may be +as I believe it will.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span></p> +<h2>THE BLUE AND THE GRAY</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Speech of Henry Cabot Lodge, delivered at a banquet complimentary +to the Robert E. Lee Camp of Confederate Veterans, of Richmond, +Va., given in Faneuil Hall, Boston, June 17, 1887. The Southerners +were visiting Boston as the special guests of the John A. Andrew +Post 15, Department of Massachusetts, Grand Army of the Republic. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Chairman:</span>—To such a toast, sir, it would seem perhaps most fitting +that one of those should respond who were a part of the great event +which it recalls. Yet, after all, on an occasion like this, it may not +be amiss to call upon one who belongs to a generation to whom the +Rebellion is little more than history, and who, however insufficiently, +represents the feelings of that and the succeeding generations as to our +great Civil War. I was a boy ten years old when the troops marched away +to defend Washington, and my personal knowledge of that time is confined +to a few broken but vivid memories. I saw the troops, month after month, +pour through the streets of Boston, I saw Shaw go forth at the head of +his black regiment, and Bartlett, shattered in body but dauntless in +soul, ride by to carry what was left of him once more to the +battlefields of the republic. I saw Andrew, standing bare headed on the +steps of the state house, bid the men God speed. I cannot remember the +words he said, but I can never forget the fervid eloquence which brought +tears to the eyes and fire to the hearts of all who listened. I +understood but dimly the awful meaning of these events. To my boyish +mind one thing alone was clear, that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> soldiers as they marched past +were all, in that supreme hour, heroes and patriots. Amid many changes +that simple belief of boyhood has never altered. The gratitude which I +felt then I confess to-day more strongly than ever. But other feelings +have in the progress of time altered much. I have learned, and others of +my generation as they came to man's estate have learned, what the war +really meant, and they have also learned to know and to do justice to +the men who fought the war upon the other side.</p> + +<p>I do not stand up in this presence to indulge in any mock +sentimentality. You brave men who wore the gray would be the first to +hold me or any other son of the North in just contempt if I should say +that, now it was all over, I thought the North was wrong and the result +of the war a mistake, and that I was prepared to suppress my political +opinions. I believe most profoundly that the war on our side was +eternally right, that our victory was the salvation of the country, and +that the results of the war were of infinite benefit to both North and +South. But however we differed, or still differ, as to the causes for +which we fought then, we accept them as settled, commit them to history, +and fight over them no more. To the men who fought the battles of the +Confederacy we hold out our hands freely, frankly, and gladly. To +courage and faith wherever shown we bow in homage with uncovered heads. +We respect and honor the gallantry and valor of the brave men who fought +against us, and who gave their lives and shed their blood in defense of +what they believed to be right. We rejoice that the famous general<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> +whose name is borne upon your banner was one of the greatest soldiers of +modern times, because he, too, was an American. We have no bitter +memories to revive, no reproaches to utter. Reconciliation is not to be +sought, because it exists already. Differ in politics and in a thousand +other ways we must and shall in all good nature, but let us never differ +with each other on sectional or State lines, by race or creed.</p> + +<p>We welcome you, soldiers of Virginia, as others more eloquent than I +have said, to New England. We welcome you to old Massachusetts. We +welcome you to Boston and to Faneuil Hall. In your presence here, and at +the sound of your voices beneath this historic roof, the years roll back +and we see the figure and hear again the ringing tones of your great +orator, Patrick Henry, declaring to the first Continental Congress, "The +distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New +Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American." A +distinguished Frenchman, as he stood among the graves at Arlington, said +"Only a great people is capable of a great civil war." Let us add with +thankful hearts that only a great people is capable of a great +reconciliation. Side by side, Virginia and Massachusetts led the +colonies into the War for Independence. Side by side they founded the +government of the United States. Morgan and Greene, Lee and Knox, +Moultrie and Prescott, men of the South and men of the North, fought +shoulder to shoulder, and wore the same uniform of buff and blue—the +uniform of Washington.</p> + +<p>Your presence here brings back their noble memories,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> it breathes the +spirit of concord, and united with so many other voices in the +irrevocable message of union and good will. Mere sentiment all this, +some may say. But it is sentiment, true sentiment, that has moved the +world. Sentiment fought the war, and sentiment has reunited us. When the +war closed, it was proposed in the newspapers and elsewhere to give +Governor Andrew, who had sacrificed health and strength and property in +his public duties, some immediately lucrative office, like the +collectorship of the port of Boston. A friend asked him if he would take +such a place. "No," said he; "I have stood as high priest between the +horns of the altar, and I have poured out upon it the best blood of +Massachusetts, and I cannot take money for that." Mere sentiment, truly, +but the sentiment which ennobles and uplifts mankind. It is sentiment +which so hallows a bit of torn, stained bunting, that men go gladly to +their deaths to save it. So I say that the sentiment manifested by your +presence here, brethren of Virginia, sitting side by side with those who +wore the blue, has a far-reaching and gracious influence, of more value +than many practical things. It tells us that these two grand old +commonwealths, parted in the shock of the Civil War, are once more side +by side as in the days of the Revolution, never to part again. It tells +us that the sons of Virginia and Massachusetts, if war should break +again upon the country, will, as in the olden days, stand once more +shoulder to shoulder, with no distinction in the colors that they wear. +It is fraught with tidings of peace on earth and you may read its +meaning in the words on yonder picture, "Liberty and Union, now and +forever, one and inseparable."</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span></p> +<h2>A REMINISCENCE OF GETTYSBURG</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The following extract is taken from General John B. Gordon's great +lecture, "The Last Days of the Confederacy," delivered with marked +effect throughout the country. This report of the lecture is as +given in Brooklyn, N. Y., February 7, 1901. </p></div> + + +<p>But now to Gettysburg. That great battle could not be described in the +space of a lecture. I shall select from the myriad of thrilling +incidents which rush over my memory but two.<a name="FNanchor_6_24" id="FNanchor_6_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_24" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> The first I relate +because it seems due to one of the bravest and knightliest soldiers of +the Union army. As my command came back from the Susquehanna River to +Gettysburg, it was thrown squarely on the right flank of the Union army. +The fact that that portion of the Union army melted was no disparagement +either of its courage or its lofty American manhood, for any troops that +had ever been marshaled, the Old Guard itself, would have been as surely +and swiftly shattered. It was that movement that gave to the Confederate +army the first day's victory at Gettysburg; and as I rode forward over +that field of green clover, made red with the blood of both armies, I +found a major-general among the dead and the dying. But a few moments +before, I had seen the proud form of that magnificent Union officer reel +in the saddle and then fall in the white smoke of the battle; and as I +rode by, intensely looking into his pale face, which was turned to the +broiling rays of that scorching July sun, I discovered that he was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> +dead. Dismounting from my horse, I lifted his head with one hand, gave +him water from my canteen, inquired his name and if he was badly hurt. +He was General Francis C. Barlow, of New York. He had been shot from his +horse while grandly leading a charge. The ball had struck him in front, +passed through the body and out near the spinal cord, completely +paralyzing him in every limb; neither he nor I supposed he could live +for one hour. I desired to remove him before death from that terrific +sun. I had him lifted on a litter and borne to the shade in the rear. As +he bade me good-bye, and upon my inquiry what I could do for him, he +asked me to take from his pocket a bunch of letters. Those letters were +from his wife, and as I opened one at his request, and as his eye +caught, as he supposed for the last time, that wife's signature, the +great tears came like a fountain and rolled down his pale face; and he +said to me, "General Gordon, you are a Confederate; I am a Union +soldier; but we are both Americans; if you should live through this +dreadful war and ever see my wife, will you not do me the kindness to +tell my wife for me that you saw me on this field? Tell her for me, that +my last thought on earth was of her; tell her for me that you saw me +fall in this battle, and that her husband fell, not in the rear, but at +the head of his column; tell her for me, general, that I freely give my +life to my country, but that my unutterable grief is that I must now go +without the privilege of seeing her once more, and bidding her a long +and loving farewell." I at once said: "Where is Mrs. Barlow, general? +Where could I find her?" for I was determined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> that wife should receive +that gallant husband's message. He replied: "She is very close to me; +she is just back of the Union line of battle with the commander-in-chief +at his headquarters." That announcement of Mrs. Barlow's presence with +the Union army struck in this heart of mine another chord of deepest and +tenderest sympathy; for my wife had followed me, sharing with me the +privations of the camp, the fatigues of the march; again and again was +she under fire, and always on the very verge of the battle was that +devoted wife of mine, like an angel of protection and an inspiration to +duty. I replied: "Of course, General Barlow, if I am alive, sir, when +this day's battle, now in progress is ended—if I am not shot dead +before the night comes—you may die satisfied that I will see to it that +Mrs. Barlow has your message before to-morrow's dawn."</p> + +<p>And I did. The moment the guns had ceased their roar on the hills, I +sent a flag of truce with a note to Mrs. Barlow. I did not tell her—I +did not have the heart to tell her that her husband was dead, as I +believed him to be; but I did tell her that he was desperately wounded, +a prisoner in my hands; but that she should have safe escort through my +lines to her husband's side. Late that night, as I lay in the open field +upon my saddle, a picket from my front announced a lady on the line. She +was Mrs. Barlow. She had received my note and was struggling, under the +guidance of officers of the Union army, to penetrate my lines and reach +her husband's side. She was guided to his side by my staff during the +night. Early next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> morning the battle was renewed, and the following +day, and then came the retreat of Lee's immortal army. I thought no more +of that gallant son of the North, General Barlow, except to count him +among the thousands of Americans who had gone down on both sides in the +dreadful battle. Strangely enough, as the war progressed, Barlow +concluded not to die; Providence decreed that he should live. He +recovered and rejoined his command; and just one year after that, Barlow +saw that I was killed in another battle. The explanation is perfectly +simple. A cousin of mine, with the same initials, General J. B. Gordon, +of North Carolina, was killed in a battle near Richmond. Barlow, who, as +I say, had recovered and rejoined his command—although I knew he was +dead, or thought I did—picked up a newspaper and read this item in it: +"General J. B. Gordon of the Confederate army was killed to-day in +battle." Calling his staff around him, Barlow read that item and said to +them, "I am very sorry to see this; you will remember that General J. B. +Gordon was the officer who picked me up on the battlefield at +Gettysburg, and sent my wife through his lines to me at night. I am very +sorry."</p> + +<p>Fifteen years passed. Now, I wish the audience to remember that during +all those fifteen years which intervened, Barlow was dead to me, and for +fourteen of them I was dead to Barlow. In the meantime, the partiality +of the people of Georgia had placed me in the United States senate. +Clarkson Potter was a member of Congress from New York. He invited me to +dine with him to meet his friend, General Barlow.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> Now came my time to +think. "Barlow," I said, "Barlow? That is the same name, but it can't be +my Barlow, for I left him dead at Gettysburg." And I endeavored to +understand what it meant, and thought I had made the discovery. I was +told, as I made the inquiry, that there were two Barlows in the United +States army. That satisfied me at once. I concluded, as a matter of +course, that it was the other fellow I was going to meet; that Clarkson +Potter had invited me to dine with the living Barlow and not with the +dead one. Barlow had a similar reflection about the Gordon he was to +dine with. He supposed that I was the other Gordon. We met at Clarkson +Potter's table. I sat just opposite to Barlow; and in the lull of the +conversation I asked him, "General, are you related to the Barlow who +was killed at Gettysburg?" He replied: "I am the man, sir." "Are you +related," he asked, "to the Gordon who killed me?" "Well," I said, "I am +the man, sir." The scene which followed beggars all description. No +language could describe that scene at Clarkson Potter's table in +Washington, fifteen years after the war was over. Truth is indeed +stranger than fiction. Think of it! What could be stranger? There we +met, both dead, each of us presenting to the other the most absolute +proof of the resurrection of the dead.</p> + +<p>But stranger still, perhaps, is the friendship true and lasting begun +under such auspices. What could be further removed from the realms of +probabilities than a confiding friendship between combatants, which is +born on the field of blood, amidst the thunders of battle, and while the +hostile legions rush upon each other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> with deadly fury and pour into +each other's breasts their volleys of fire and of leaden hail. Such were +the circumstances under which was born the friendship between Barlow and +myself, and which I believe is more sincere because of its remarkable +birth, and which has strengthened and deepened with the passing years. +For the sake of our reunited and glorious Republic may we not hope that +similar ties will bind together all the soldiers of the two +armies—indeed all Americans in perpetual unity until the last bugle +call shall have summoned us to the eternal camping grounds beyond the +stars?</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span></p> +<h2>THE NEW SOUTH</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Address by Henry W. Grady, journalist [born in Athens, Ga., May 17, +1851; died in Atlanta, Ga., December 23, 1889], delivered at the +eighty-first anniversary celebration of the New England Society in +the city of New York, December 22, 1886. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. President and Gentlemen:</span>—"There was a South of slavery and +secession—that South is dead. There is a South of union and +freedom—that South, thank God, is living, breathing, growing every +hour." These words, delivered from the immortal lips of Benjamin H. +Hill, at Tammany Hall in 1866, true then, and truer now, I shall make my +text to-night.</p> + +<p>Let me express to you my appreciation of the kindness by which I am +permitted to address you. I make this abrupt acknowledgment advisedly, +for I feel that if, when I raise my provincial voice in this ancient and +august presence, I could find courage for no more than the opening +sentence, it would be well if, in that sentence, I had met in a rough +sense my obligation as a guest, and had perished, so to speak, with +courtesy on my lips and grace in my heart. Permitted through your +kindness to catch my second wind, let me say that I appreciate the +significance of being the first Southerner to speak at this board, which +bears the substance, if it surpasses the semblance, of original New +England hospitality and honors a sentiment that in turn honors you, but +in which my personality is lost, and the compliment to my people made +plain.</p> + +<p>I bespeak the utmost stretch of your courtesy to-night.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> I am not +troubled about those from whom I come. You remember the man whose wife +sent him to a neighbor with a pitcher of milk, and who, tripping on the +top step, fell, with such casual interruptions as the landing afforded, +into the basement; and while picking himself up had the pleasure of +hearing his wife call out: "John, did you break the pitcher?" "No, I +didn't," said John, "but I be dinged if I don't!"</p> + +<p>So, while those who call to me from behind may inspire me with energy if +not with courage, I ask an indulgent hearing from you. I beg that you +will bring your full faith in American fairness and frankness to +judgment upon what I shall say. There was an old preacher once who told +some boys of the Bible lesson he was going to read in the morning. The +boys finding the place, glued together the connecting pages. The next +morning he read on the bottom of one page: "When Noah was one hundred +and twenty years old he took unto himself a wife, who was"—then turning +the page—"one hundred and forty cubits long, forty cubits wide, built +of gopher wood, and covered with pitch inside and out." He was naturally +puzzled at this. He read it again, verified it, and then said: "My +friends, this is the first time I ever met this in the Bible, but I +accept it as an evidence of the assertion that we are fearfully and +wonderfully made." If I could get you to hold such faith to-night I +could proceed cheerfully to the task I otherwise approach with a sense +of consecration.</p> + +<p>Pardon me one word, Mr. President, spoken for the sole purpose of +getting into the volumes that go out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> annually freighted with the rich +eloquence of your speakers—the fact that the Cavalier as well as the +Puritan was on the continent in its early days, and that he was "up and +able to be about." I have read your books carefully and I find no +mention of that fact, which seems to me an important one for preserving +a sort of historical equilibrium if for nothing else. Let me remind you +the Virginia Cavalier first challenged France on this continent—that +Cavalier John Smith gave New England its very name, and was so pleased +with the job that he has been handing his own name around ever +since—and that while Miles Standish was cutting off men's ears for +courting a girl without her parents' consent, and forbade men to kiss +their wives on Sunday, the Cavalier was courting everything in sight, +and that the Almighty had vouchsafed great increase to the Cavalier +colonies, the huts in the wilderness being full as the nests in the +woods.</p> + +<p>But having incorporated the Cavalier as a fact in your charming little +books I shall let him work out his own salvation, as he has always done +with engaging gallantry, and we will hold no controversy as to his +merits. Why should we? Neither Puritan nor Cavalier long survived as +such. The virtues and traditions of both happily still live for the +inspiration of their sons and the saving of the old fashion. But both +Puritan and Cavalier were lost in the storm of the first Revolution; and +the American citizen, supplanting both and stronger than either, took +possession of the Republic bought by their common blood and fashioned to +wisdom, and charged himself with teaching men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> government and +establishing the voice of the people as the voice of God.</p> + +<p>My friend, Dr. Talmage has told you that the typical American has yet to +come. Let me tell you that he has already come. Great types like +valuable plants are slow to flower and fruit. But from the union of +these colonies Puritans and Cavaliers, from the straightening of their +purposes and the crossing of their blood, slow perfecting through a +century, came he who stands as the first typical American, the first who +comprehended within himself all the strength and gentleness, all the +majesty and grace of this Republic—Abraham Lincoln. He was the son of +Puritan and Cavalier, for in his ardent nature were fused the virtues of +both, and in the depths of his great soul the faults of both were lost. +He was greater than Puritan, greater than Cavalier, in that he was +American renewed, and that in his homely form were first gathered the +vast and thrilling forces of his ideal government—charging it with such +tremendous meaning and so elevating it above human suffering that +martyrdom, though infamously aimed, came as a fitting crown to a life +consecrated from the cradle to human liberty. Let us, each cherishing +the traditions and honoring his fathers, build with reverent hands to +the type of this simple but sublime life, in which all types are +honored; and in our common glory as Americans there will be plenty and +to spare for your forefathers and for mine.</p> + +<p>In speaking to the toast with which you have honored me. I accent the +term, "The New South," as in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> no sense disparaging to the Old. Dear to +me, sir, is the home of my childhood and the traditions of my people. I +would not, if I could, dim the glory they won in peace and war, or by +word or deed take aught from the splendor and grace of their +civilization—never equaled and, perhaps, never to be equaled in its +chivalric strength and grace. There is a New South, not through protest +against the Old, but because of new conditions, new adjustments and, if +you please, new ideas and aspirations. It is to this that I address +myself, and to the consideration of which I hasten lest it become the +Old South before I get to it. Age does not endow all things with +strength and virtue, nor are all new things to be despised. The +shoemaker who put over his door "John Smith's shop. Founded in 1760," +was more than matched by his young rival across the street who hung out +this sign: "Bill Jones. Established 1886. No old stock kept in this +shop."</p> + +<p>Dr. Talmage has drawn for you, with a master's hand, the picture of your +returning armies. He has told you how, in the pomp and circumstance of +war, they came back to you, marching with proud and victorious tread, +reading their glory in a nation's eyes! Will you bear with me while I +tell you of another army that sought its home at the close of the late +war—an army that marched home in defeat and not in victory—in pathos +and not in splendor, but in glory that equalled yours, and to hearts as +loving as ever welcomed heroes home. Let me picture to you the footsore +Confederate soldier, as, buttoning up in his faded gray jacket the +parole which was to bear testimony to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> his children of his fidelity and +faith, he turned his face southward from Appomattox in April, 1865. +Think of him as ragged, half-starved, heavy-hearted, enfeebled by want +and wounds; having fought to exhaustion, he surrenders his gun, wrings +the hands of his comrades in silence, and lifting his tear-stained and +pallid face for the last time to the graves that dot the old Virginia +hills, pulls his gray cap over his brow and begins the slow and painful +journey. What does he find—let me ask you, who went to your homes eager +to find in the welcome you had justly earned, full payment for four +years' sacrifice—what does he find when, having followed the +battle-stained cross against overwhelming odds, dreading death not half +so much as surrender, he reaches the home he left so prosperous and +beautiful? He finds his house in ruins, his farm devastated, his slaves +free, his stock killed, his barns empty, his trade destroyed, his money +worthless; his social system, feudal in its magnificence, swept away; +his people without law or legal status, his comrades slain, and the +burdens of others heavy on his shoulders. Crushed by defeat, his very +traditions are gone; without money, credit, employment, material or +training; and besides all this, confronted with the gravest problem that +ever met human intelligence—the establishing of a status for the vast +body of his liberated slaves.</p> + +<p>What does he do—this hero in gray with a heart of gold? Does he sit +down in sullenness and despair? Not for a day. Surely God, who had +stripped him of his prosperity, inspired him in his adversity. As ruin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> +was never before so overwhelming, never was restoration swifter. The +soldier stepped from the trenches into the furrow; horses that had +charged Federal guns marched before the plow, and fields that ran red +with human blood in April were green with the harvest in June; women +reared in luxury cut up their dresses and made breeches for their +husbands, and, with a patience and heroism that fit women always as a +garment, gave their hands to work. There was little bitterness in all +this. Cheerfulness and frankness prevailed. "Bill Arp" struck the +keynote when he said: "Well, I killed as many of them as they did of me, +and now I am going to work." Or the soldier returning home after defeat +and roasting some corn on the roadside, who made the remark to his +comrades: "You may leave the South if you want to, but I am going to +Sandersville, kiss my wife and raise a crop, and if the Yankees fool +with me any more I will whip 'em again." I want to say to General +Sherman—who is considered an able man in our part, though some people +think he is a kind of careless man about fire—that from the ashes he +left us in 1864 we have raised a brave and beautiful city; that somehow +or other we have caught the sunshine in the bricks and mortar of our +homes, and have builded therein not one ignoble prejudice or memory.</p> + +<p>But in all this what have we accomplished? What is the sum of our work? +We have found out that in the general summary the free negro counts more +than he did as a slave. We have planted the schoolhouse on the hilltop +and made it free to white and black. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> have sowed towns and cities in +the place of theories and put business above politics. We have +challenged your spinners in Massachusetts and your iron-makers in +Pennsylvania. We have learned that the $400,000,000 annually received +from our cotton crop will make us rich, when the supplies that make it +are homeraised. We have reduced the commercial rate of interest from +twenty-four to six per cent., and are floating four per cent. bonds. We +have learned that one Northern immigrant is worth fifty foreigners, and +have smoothed the path to southward, wiped out the place where Mason and +Dixon's line used to be, and hung our latch-string out, to you and +yours. We have reached the point that marks perfect harmony in every +household, when the husband confesses that the pies which his wife cooks +are as good as those his mother used to bake; and we admit that the sun +shines as brightly and the moon as softly as it did "before the war." We +have established thrift in city and country. We have fallen in love with +work. We have restored comfort to homes from which culture and elegance +never departed. We have let economy take root and spread among us as +rank as the crabgrass which sprung from Sherman's cavalry camps, until +we are ready to lay odds on the Georgia Yankee, as he manufactures +relics of the battlefield in a one-story shanty and squeezes pure olive +oil out of his cotton seed, against any down-easter that ever swapped +wooden nutmegs for flannel sausages in the valleys of Vermont. Above +all, we know that we have achieved in these "piping times of peace" a +fuller independence for the South than that which our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> fathers sought to +win in the forum by their eloquence or compel on the field by their +swords.</p> + +<p>It is a rare privilege, sir, to have had part, however humble, in this +work. Never was nobler duty confided to human hands than the uplifting +and upbuilding of the prostrate and bleeding South, misguided, perhaps, +but beautiful in her suffering, and honest, brave and generous always. +In the record of her social, industrial, and political institutions we +await with confidence the verdict of the world.</p> + +<p>But what of the negro? Have we solved the problem he presents or +progressed in honor and equity towards the solution? Let the record +speak to the point. No section shows a more prosperous laboring +population than the negroes of the South; none in fuller sympathy with +the employing and landowning class. He shares our school fund, has the +fullest protection of our laws and the friendship of our people. +Self-interest, as well as honor, demand that he should have this. Our +future, our very existence depend upon our working out this problem in +full and exact justice. We understand that when Lincoln signed the +Emancipation Proclamation, your victory was assured; for he then +committed you to the cause of human liberty, against which the arms of +man cannot prevail; while those of our statesmen who trusted to make +slavery the cornerstone of the Confederacy doomed us to defeat as far as +they could, committing us to a cause that reason could not defend or the +sword maintain in the sight of advancing civilization. Had Mr. Toombs +said, which he did not say, that he would call the roll of his slaves at +the foot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> of Bunker Hill, he would have been foolish, for he might have +known that whenever slavery became entangled in war it must perish, and +that the chattel in human flesh ended forever in New England when your +fathers—not to be blamed for parting with what didn't pay—sold their +slaves to our fathers—not to be praised for knowing a paying thing when +they saw it.</p> + +<p>The relations of the Southern people with the negro are close and +cordial. We remember with what fidelity for four years he guarded our +defenseless women and children, whose husbands and fathers were fighting +against his freedom. To his eternal credit be it said that whenever he +struck a blow for his own liberty he fought in open battle, and when at +last he raised his black and humble hands that the shackles might be +struck off, those hands were innocent of wrong against his helpless +charges, and worthy to be taken in loving grasp by every man who honors +loyalty and devotion. Ruffians have maltreated him, rascals have misled +him, philanthropists established a bank for him, but the South, with the +North, protests against injustice to this simple and sincere people. To +liberty and enfranchisement is as far as law can carry the negro. The +rest must be left to conscience and common sense. It should be left to +those among whom his lot is cast, with whom he is indissolubly connected +and whose prosperity depends upon their possessing his intelligent +sympathy and confidence. Faith has been kept with him in spite of +calumnious assertions to the contrary by those who assume to speak for +us or by frank opponents. Faith will be kept with him in the future, if +the South holds her reason and integrity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span></p><p>But have we kept faith with you? In the fullest sense, yes. When Lee +surrendered—I don't say when Johnston surrendered, because I understand +he still alludes to the time when he met General Sherman last as the +time when he "determined to abandon any further prosecution of the +struggle"—when Lee surrendered, I say, and Johnston quit, the South +became, and has since been, loyal to this Union. We fought hard enough +to know that we were whipped, and in perfect frankness accepted as final +the arbitrament of the sword to which we had appealed. The South found +her jewel in the toad's head of defeat. The shackles that had held her +in narrow limitations fell forever when the shackles of the negro slave +were broken. Under the old <i>regime</i> the negroes were slaves to the +South, the South was a slave to the system. The old plantation, with its +simple police regulation and its feudal habit, was the only type +possible under slavery. Thus we gathered in the hands of a splendid and +chivalric oligarchy the substance that should have been diffused among +the people, as the rich blood, under certain artificial conditions, is +gathered at the heart, filling with affluent rapture, but leaving the +body chill and colorless.</p> + +<p>The Old South rested everything on slavery and agriculture, unconscious +that these could neither give nor maintain healthy growth. The New South +presents a perfect democracy, the oligarchs leading in the popular +movement—a social system compact and closely knitted, less splendid on +the surface but stronger at the core—a hundred farms for every +plantation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> fifty homes for every palace, and diversified industry that +meets the complex needs of this complex age.</p> + +<p>The New South is enamored of her new work. Her soul is stirred with the +breath of a new life. The light of a grander day is falling fair on her +face. She is thrilling with the consciousness of growing power and +prosperity. As she stands upright, full-statured and equal among the +people of the earth, breathing the keen air and looking out upon the +expanding horizon, she understands that her emancipation came because in +the inscrutable wisdom of God her honest purpose was crossed and her +brave armies were beaten.</p> + +<p>This is said in no spirit of time-serving or apology. The South has +nothing for which to apologize. She believes that the late struggle +between the states was war and not rebellion, revolution and not +conspiracy, and that her convictions were as honest as yours. I should +be unjust to the dauntless spirit of the South and to my own convictions +if I did not make this plain in this presence. The South has nothing to +take back. In my native town of Athens is a monument that crowns its +central hills—a plain, white shaft. Deep cut into its shining side is a +name dear to me above the names of men, that of a brave and simple man +who died in brave and simple faith. Not for all the glories of New +England—from Plymouth Rock all the way—would I exchange the heritage +he left me in his soldier's death. To the foot of that shaft I shall +send my children's children to reverence him who ennobled their name +with his heroic blood. But, sir, speaking from the shadow of that +memory, which I honor as I do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> nothing else on earth, I say that the +cause in which he suffered and for which he gave his life was adjudged +by higher and fuller wisdom than his or mine, and I am glad that the +omniscient God held the balance of battle in His Almighty hand, and that +human slavery was swept forever from American soil—the American Union +saved from the wreck of war.</p> + +<p>This message, Mr. President, comes to you from consecrated ground. Every +foot of the soil about the city in which I live is sacred as a +battleground of the Republic. Every hill that invests it is hallowed to +you by the blood of your brothers, who died for your victory, and doubly +hallowed to us by the blood of those who died hopeless, but undaunted, +in defeat—sacred soil to all of us, rich with memories that make us +purer and stronger and better, silent but stanch witnesses in its red +desolation of the matchless valor of American hearts and the deathless +glory of American arms—speaking in eloquent witness in its white peace +and prosperity to the indissoluble union of American states and the +imperishable brotherhood of the American people.</p> + +<p>Now, what answer has New England to this message? Will she permit the +prejudices of war to remain in the hearts of the conquerors, when it has +died in the hearts of the conquered? ("No! No!") Will she transmit this +prejudice to the next generation, that in their hearts, which never felt +the generous ardor of conflict, it may perpetuate itself? ("No! No!") +Will she withhold, save in strained courtesy, the hand which straight +from his soldier's heart Grant offered to Lee<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> at Appomattox? Will she +make the vision of a restored and happy people, which gathered above the +couch of your dying captain, filling his heart with grace, touching his +lips with praise and glorifying his path to the grave; will she make +this vision on which the last sigh of his expiring soul breathed a +benediction, a cheat and a delusion? If she does, the South, never +abject in asking for comradeship, must accept with dignity its refusal; +but if she does not; if she accepts in frankness and sincerity this +message of goodwill and friendship, then will the prophecy of Webster, +delivered in this very Society forty years ago amid tremendous applause, +be verified in its fullest and final sense, when he said: "Standing hand +to hand and clasping hands, we should remain united as we have been for +sixty years, citizens of the same country, members of the same +government, united, all united now and united forever. There have been +difficulties, contentions, and controversies, but I tell you that in my +judgment</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">"'Those opposed eyes,</span><br /> +Which like the meteors of a troubled heaven,<br /> +All of one nature, of one substance bred,<br /> +Did lately meet in th' intestine shock,<br /> +Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,<br /> +March all one way.'"<br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span></p> +<h2>THE DUTY AND VALUE OF PATRIOTISM</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>John Ireland, Archbishop of Saint Paul, was born at Burnchurch, +County Kilkenny, Ireland, September 11, 1838. As a boy he came to +Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1849, and there obtained his secular +education at the Cathedral School. He studied theology in France, +in the seminaries of Meximieux and Hyeres. During the Civil War he +was chaplain of the Fifth Minnesota Regiment. In 1875 he was +consecrated bishop of Saint Paul. In 1869 he founded the first +total-abstinence society in Minnesota and has lectured much on +temperance in the United States and Great Britain. The following +extracts, used by special permission, are from his lecture +delivered before the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion, New +York, April 4, 1894. </p></div> + + +<p>Patriotism is love of country, and loyalty to its life and weal—love +tender and strong, tender as the love of son for mother, strong as the +pillars of death; loyalty generous and disinterested, shrinking from no +sacrifice, seeking no reward save country's honor and country's triumph.</p> + +<p>Patriotism! There is magic in the word. It is bliss to repeat it. +Through ages the human race burnt the incense of admiration and +reverence at the shrines of patriotism. The most beautiful pages of +history are those which recount its deeds. Fireside tales, the +outpourings of the memories of peoples, borrow from it their warmest +glow. Poets are sweetest when they reecho its whisperings; orators are +most potent when they thrill its chords to music.</p> + +<p>Pagan nations were wrong when they made gods of their noblest patriots. +But the error was the excess of a great truth, that heaven unites with +earth in approving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> and blessing patriotism; that patriotism is one of +earth's highest virtues, worthy to have come down from the atmosphere of +the skies.</p> + +<p>The exalted patriotism of the exiled Hebrew exhaled itself in a canticle +of religion which Jehovah inspired, and which has been transmitted, as +the inheritance of God's people to the Christian Church:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Upon the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, when we +remembered Sion.—If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand +be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember +thee, if I do not make Jerusalem the beginning of my joy." </p></div> + +<p>The human race pays homage to patriotism because of its supreme value. +The value of patriotism to a people is above gold and precious stones, +above commerce and industry, above citadels and warships. Patriotism is +the vital spark of national honor; it is the fount of the nation's +prosperity, the shield of the nation's safety. Take patriotism away, the +nation's soul has fled, bloom and beauty have vanished from the nation's +countenance.</p> + +<p>The human race pays homage to patriotism because of its supreme +loveliness. Patriotism goes out to what is among earth's possessions the +most precious, the first and best and dearest—country—and its effusion +is the fragrant flowering of the purest and noblest sentiments of the +heart.</p> + +<p>Patriotism is innate in all men; the absence of it betokens a perversion +of human nature; but it grows its full growth only where thoughts are +elevated and heart-beatings are generous.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span></p><p>Next to God is country, and next to religion is patriotism. No praise +goes beyond its deserts. It is sublime in its heroic oblation upon the +field of battle. "Oh glorious is he," exclaims in Homer the Trojan +warrior, "who for his country falls!" It is sublime in the oft-repeated +toil of dutiful citizenship. "Of all human doings," writes Cicero, "none +is more honorable and more estimable than to merit well of the +commonwealth."</p> + +<p>Countries are of divine appointment. The Most High "divided the nations, +separated the sons of Adam, and appointed the bounds of peoples." The +physical and moral necessities of God's creatures are revelations of his +will and laws. Man is born a social being. A condition of his existence +and of his growth of mature age is the family. Nor does the family +suffice to itself. A larger social organism is needed, into which +families gather, so as to obtain from one another security to life and +property and aid in the development of the faculties and powers with +which nature has endowed the children of men.</p> + +<p>The whole human race is too extensive and too diversified in interests +to serve those ends: hence its subdivisions into countries or peoples. +Countries have their providential limits—the waters of a sea, a +mountain range, the lines of similarity of requirements or of methods of +living. The limits widen in space according to the measure of the +destinies which the great Ruler allots to peoples, and the importance of +their parts in the mighty work of the cycles of years, the +ever-advancing tide of humanity's evolution.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span></p><p>The Lord is the God of nations because he is the God of men. No nation +is born into life or vanishes back into nothingness without his bidding. +I believe in the providence of God over countries as I believe in his +wisdom and his love, and my patriotism to my country rises within my +soul invested with the halo of my religion to my God.</p> + +<p>More than a century ago a trans-Atlantic poet and philosopher, reading +well the signs, wrote:</p> + +<div class="poem"> +"Westward the course of empire takes its way.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The first four acts already past,</span><br /> +A fifth shall close the drama with the day;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Time's noblest offspring is the last."</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>Berkeley's prophetic eye had descried America. What shall I say, in a +brief discourse of my country's value and beauty, of her claims to my +love and loyalty? I will pass by in silence her fields and forests, her +rivers and seas, the boundless riches hidden beneath her soil and amid +the rocks of her mountains, her pure and health-giving air, her +transcendent wealth of nature's fairest and most precious gifts. I will +not speak of the noble qualities and robust deeds of her sons, skilled +in commerce and industry, valorous in war, prosperous in peace. In all +these things America is opulent and great: but beyond them and above +them in her singular grandeur, to which her material splendor is only +the fitting circumstance.</p> + +<p>America born into the family of nations in these latter times is the +highest billow in humanity's evolution, the crowning effort of ages in +the aggrandizement of man. Unless we take her in this altitude, we do +not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> comprehend her; we belittle her towering stature and conceal the +singular design of Providence in her creation.</p> + +<p>America is the country of human dignity and human liberty.</p> + +<p>When the fathers of the republic declared "that all men are created +equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable +rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness," a cardinal principle was enunciated which in its truth was +as old as the race, but in practical realization almost unknown.</p> + +<p>Slowly, amid sufferings and revolutions, humanity had been reaching out +toward a reign of the rights of man. Ante-Christian paganism had utterly +denied such rights. It allowed nothing to man as man; he was what +wealth, place, or power made him. Even the wise Aristotle taught that +some men were intended by nature to be slaves and chattels. The sweet +religion of Christ proclaimed aloud the doctrine of the common +fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of men.</p> + +<p>Eighteen hundred years, however, went by, and the civilized world had +not yet put its civil and political institutions in accord with its +spiritual faith. The Christian Church was all this time leavening human +society and patiently awaiting the promised fermentation. This came at +last, and it came in America. It came in a first manifestation through +the Declaration of Independence; it came in a second and final +manifestation through President Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span></p><p>In America all men are civilly and politically equal; all have the same +rights; all wield the same arm of defense and of conquest, the suffrage; +and the sole condition of rights and of power is simple manhood.</p> + +<p>Liberty is the exemption from all restraint save that of the laws of +justice and order; the exemption from submission to other men, except as +they represent and enforce those laws. The divine gift of liberty to man +is God's recognition of his greatness and his dignity. The sweetness of +man's life and the power of growth lie in liberty. The loss of liberty +is the loss of light and sunshine, the loss of life's best portion. +Humanity, under the spell of heavenly memories, never ceased to dream of +liberty and to aspire to its possession. Now and then, here and there, +its refreshing breezes caressed humanity's brow. But not until the +republic of the West was born, not until the Star-Spangled Banner rose +toward the skies, was liberty caught up in humanity's embrace and +embodied in a great and abiding nation.</p> + +<p>In America the government takes from the liberty of the citizen only so +much as is necessary for the weal of the nation, which the citizen by +his own act freely concedes. In America there are no masters, who govern +in their own rights, for their own interests, or at their own will. We +have over us no Louis XIV, saying: "L'etat, c'est moi;" no Hohenzollern, +announcing that in his acts as sovereign he is responsible only to his +conscience and to God.</p> + +<p>Ours is the government of the people, by the people, for the people. The +government is our organized will.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> There is no state above or apart from +the people. Rights begin with and go upward from the people. In other +countries, even those apparently the most free, rights begin with and +come downward from the state; the rights of citizens, the rights of the +people, are concessions which have been painfully wrenched from the +governing powers.</p> + +<p>With Americans, whenever the organized government does not prove its +grant, the liberty of the individual citizen is sacred and inviolable. +Elsewhere there are governments called republics; universal suffrage +constitutes the state; but, once constituted, the state is tyrannous and +arbitrary, invades at will private rights, and curtails at will +individual liberty. One republic is liberty's native home—America.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span></p> +<h2>OUR COUNTRY</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>From the speech of President McKinley, in response to the toast +"Our Country," at the Peace Jubilee banquet in Chicago, October 19, +1898. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen:</span>—It affords me gratification to meet the +people of the city of Chicago and to participate with them in this +patriotic celebration. Upon the suspension of hostilities of a foreign +war, the first in our history for over half a century, we have met in a +spirit of peace, profoundly grateful for the glorious advancement +already made, and earnestly wishing in the final termination to realize +an equally glorious fulfillment. With no feeling of exultation, but with +profound thankfulness, we contemplate the events of the past five +months. They have been too serious to admit of boasting or +vain-glorification. They have been so full of responsibilities, +immediate and prospective, as to admonish the soberest judgment and +counsel the most conservative action.</p> + +<p>This is not the time to fire the imagination, but rather to discover, in +calm reason, the way to truth, and justice, and right, and when +discovered to follow it with fidelity and courage, without fear, +hesitation, or weakness.</p> + +<p>The war has put upon the nation grave responsibilities. Their extent was +not anticipated and could not have been well foreseen. We cannot escape +the obligations of victory. We cannot avoid the serious questions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> which +have been brought home to us by the achievements of our arms on land and +sea. We are bound in conscience to keep and perform the covenants which +the war has sacredly sealed with mankind. Accepting war for humanity's +sake, we must accept all obligations which the war in duty and honor +imposed upon us. The splendid victories we have achieved would be our +eternal shame and not our everlasting glory if they led to the weakening +of our original lofty purpose or to the desertion of the immortal +principles on which the national government was founded, and in +accordance with whose ennobling spirit it has ever since been faithfully +administered.</p> + +<p>The war with Spain was undertaken not that the United States should +increase its territory, but that oppression at our very doors should be +stopped. This noble sentiment must continue to animate us, and we must +give to the world the full demonstration of the sincerity of our +purpose. Duty determines destiny. Destiny which results from duty +performed may bring anxiety and perils, but never failure and dishonor. +Pursuing duty may not always lead by smooth paths. Another course may +look easier and more attractive, but pursuing duty for duty's sake is +always sure and safe and honorable. It is not within the power of man to +foretell the future and to solve unerringly its mighty problems. +Almighty God has His plans and methods for human progress, and not +infrequently they are shrouded for the time being in impenetrable +mystery. Looking backward we can see how the hand of destiny builded for +us and assigned us tasks whose full meaning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> was not apprehended even by +the wisest statesmen of their times.</p> + +<p>Our colonial ancestors did not enter upon their war originally for +independence. Abraham Lincoln did not start out to free the slaves, but +to save the Union. The war with Spain was not of our seeking, and some +of its consequences may not be to our liking. Our vision is often +defective. Short-sightedness is a common malady, but the closer we get +to things or they get to us the clearer our view and the less obscure +our duty. Patriotism must be faithful as well as fervent; statesmanship +must be wise as well as fearless—not the statesmanship which will +command the applause of the hour, but the approving judgment of +posterity.</p> + +<p>The progress of a nation can alone prevent degeneration. There must be +new life and purpose, or there will be weakness and decay. There must be +broadening of thought as well as broadening of trade. Territorial +expansion is not alone and always necessary to national advancement. +There must be a constant movement toward a higher and nobler +civilization, a civilization that shall make its conquests without +resort to war and achieve its greatest victories pursuing the arts of +peace.</p> + +<p>In our present situation duty—and duty alone—should prescribe the +boundary of our responsibilities and the scope of our undertakings. The +final determination of our purposes awaits the action of the eminent men +who are charged by the executive with the making of the treaty of peace, +and that of the senate of the United States, which, by our constitution, +must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> ratify and confirm it. We all hope and pray that the confirmation +of peace will be as just and humane as the conduct and consummation of +the war. When the work of the treaty-makers is done the work of the +law-makers will begin. The one will settle the extent of our +responsibilities; the other must provide the legislation to meet them. +The army and navy have nobly and heroically performed their part. May +God give the executive and congress wisdom to perform theirs.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span></p> +<h2>BEHOLD THE AMERICAN</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>From the speech of Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage at the eighty-first +annual dinner of the New England Society in New York, December 22, +1886. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. President, and all you good New Englanders:</span>—If we leave to the +evolutionists to guess where we came from and to the theologians to +prophesy where are we going to, we still have left for consideration the +fact that we are here; and we are here at an interesting time. Of all +the centuries this is the best century, and of all the decades of the +century this is the best decade, and of all the years of the decade this +is the best year, and of all the months of the year this is the best +month, and of all the nights of the month this is the best night. Many +of these advantages we trace straight back to Forefathers' Day, about +which I am to speak.</p> + +<p>Well, what about this Forefathers' Day? In Brooklyn they say the Landing +of the Pilgrims was December the 21st; in New York you say it was +December the 22d. You are both right. Not through the specious and +artful reasoning you have sometimes indulged in, but by a little +historical incident that seems to have escaped your attention. You see, +the Forefathers landed in the morning of December the 21st, but about +noon that day a pack of hungry wolves swept down the bleak American +beach looking for a New England dinner, and a band of savages out for a +tomahawk picnic hove in sight, and the Pilgrim Fathers thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> it best +for safety and warmth to go on board the Mayflower and pass the night. +And during the night there came up a strong wind blowing off shore that +swept the Mayflower from its moorings clear out to sea, and there was a +prospect that our Forefathers, having escaped oppression in foreign +lands, would yet go down under an oceanic tempest. But the next day they +fortunately got control of their ship and steered her in, and the second +time the Forefathers stepped ashore.</p> + +<p>Brooklyn celebrated the first landing; New York the second landing. So I +say Hail! Hail! to both celebrations, for one day, anyhow, could not do +justice to such a subject; and I only wish I could have kissed the +Blarney stone of America, which is Plymouth Rock, so that I might have +done justice to this subject. Ah, gentlemen, that Mayflower was the ark +that floated the deluge of oppression, and Plymouth Rock was the Ararat +on which it landed.</p> + +<p>But all these things aside, no one sitting at these tables has higher +admiration for the Pilgrim Fathers than I have—the men who believed in +two great doctrines, which are the foundation of every religion that is +worth anything: namely, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of +Man—these men of backbone and endowed with that great and magnificent +attribute of stick-to-it-iveness. Macaulay said that no one ever sneered +at the Puritans who had met them in halls of debate or crossed swords +with them on the field of battle. They are sometimes defamed for their +rigorous Sabbaths, but our danger is in the opposite direction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> of no +Sabbaths at all. It is said that they destroyed witches. I wish that +they had cleared them all out, for all the world is full of witches yet, +and if at all these tables there is a man who has not sometimes been +bewitched, let him hold up his glass of ice-water. It is said that these +Forefathers carried religion into everything, and before a man kissed +his wife he asked a blessing, and afterward said: "Having received +another favor from the Lord, let us return thanks." But our great need +now is more religion in every-day life.</p> + +<p>Still, take it all in all, I think the descendants of the Pilgrim +Fathers are as good as their ancestors, and in many ways better. +Children are apt to be an echo of their ancestors. We are apt to put a +halo around the Forefathers, but I suspect that at our age they were +very much like ourselves. People are not wise when they long for the +good old days.</p> + +<p>But though your Forefathers may not have been much, if any, better than +yourselves, let us extol them for the fact that they started this +country in the right direction. They laid the foundation for American +manhood. The foundation must be more solid and firm and unyielding than +any other part of the structure. On that Puritanic foundation we can +safely build all nationalities. Let us remember that the coming American +is to be an admixture of all foreign bloods. In about twenty-five or +fifty years the model American will step forth. He will have the strong +brain of the German, the polished manners of the French, the artistic +taste of the Italian, the stanch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> heart of the English, the steadfast +piety of the Scotch, the lightning wit of the Irish, and when he steps +forth, bone, muscle, nerve, brain entwined with the fibers of all +nationalities, the nations will break out in the cry: "Behold the +American!"</p> + +<p>I never realized what this country was and is as on the day when I first +saw some of these gentlemen of the Army and Navy. It was when at the +close of the War our armies came back and marched in review before the +president's stand at Washington. I do not care whether a man was a +Republican or a Democrat, a Northern man or a Southern man, if he had +any emotion of nature, he could not look upon it without weeping. God +knew that the day was stupendous, and He cleared the heaven of cloud and +mist and chill, and sprung the blue sky as the triumphal arch for the +returning warriors to pass under. From Arlington Heights the spring +foliage shook out its welcome, as the hosts came over the hills, and the +sparkling waters of the Potomac tossed their gold to the feet of the +battalions as they came to the Long Bridge and in almost interminable +line passed over. The capitol never seemed so majestic as that morning: +snowy white, looking down upon the tides of men that came surging down, +billow after billow. Passing in silence, yet I heard in every step the +thunder of conflicts through which they had waded, and seemed to see +dripping from their smoke-blackened flags the blood of our country's +martyrs. For the best part of two days we stood and watched the filing +on of what seemed endless battalions, brigade after brigade, division +after division,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> host after host, rank beyond rank; ever moving, ever +passing; marching, marching; tramp, tramp, tramp—thousands after +thousands, battery front, arms shouldered, columns solid, shoulder to +shoulder, wheel to wheel, charger to charger, nostril to nostril.</p> + +<p>Commanders on horses with their manes entwined with roses, and necks +enchained with garlands, fractious at the shouts that ran along the +line, increasing from the clapping of children clothed in white, +standing on the steps of the capitol, to the tumultuous vociferation of +hundreds of thousands of enraptured multitudes, crying "Huzza! Huzza!" +Gleaming muskets, thundering parks of artillery, rumbling pontoon +wagons, ambulances from whose wheels seemed to sound out the groans of +the crushed and the dying that they had carried. These men came from +balmy Minnesota, those from Illinois prairies. These were often hummed +to sleep by the pines of Oregon, those were New England lumbermen. Those +came out of the coal-shafts of Pennsylvania. Side by side in one great +cause, consecrated through fire and storm and darkness, brothers in +peril, on their way home from Chancellorsville and Kenesaw Mountain and +Fredericksburg, in lines that seemed infinite they passed on.</p> + +<p>We gazed and wept and wondered, lifting up our heads to see if the end +had come, but no! Looking from one end of that long avenue to the other, +we saw them yet in solid column, battery front, host beyond host, wheel +to wheel, charger to charger, nostril to nostril, coming as it were from +under the capitol. Forward! Forward! Their bayonets, caught in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> sun, +glimmered and flashed and blazed, till they seemed like one long river +of silver, ever and anon changed into a river of fire. No end to the +procession, no rest for the eyes. We turned our heads from the scene, +unable longer to look. We felt disposed to stop our ears, but still we +heard it, marching, marching; tramp, tramp, tramp. But hush—uncover +every head! Here they pass, the remnant of ten men of a full regiment. +Silence! Widowhood and orphanage look on and wring their hands. But +wheel into line, all ye people! North, South, East, West—all decades, +all centuries, all millenniums! Forward, the whole line! Huzza! Huzza!</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span></p> +<h2>THE HOLLANDER AS AN AMERICAN</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Speech of Theodore Roosevelt at the eleventh annual dinner of the +Holland Society of New York, January 15, 1896. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. President, Gentlemen, and Brethren of the Holland Society:</span>—I am +more than touched, if you will permit me to begin rather seriously, by +the way you have greeted me to-night. When I was in Washington, there +was a story in reference to a certain president, who was not popular +with some of his own people in a particular western state. One of its +senators went to the White House and said he wanted a friend of his +appointed postmaster of Topeka. The president's private secretary said, +"I am very sorry, indeed, sir, but the president wants to appoint a +personal friend." Thereupon the senator said: "Well, for God's sake, if +he has one friend in Kansas, let him appoint him!"</p> + +<p>There have been periods during which the dissembled eulogies of the able +press and my relations with about every politician of every party and +every faction have made me feel I would like to know whether I had one +friend in New York, and here I feel I have many. And more than that, +gentlemen, I should think ill of myself and think that I was a discredit +to the stock from which I sprang if I feared to go on along the path +that I deemed right, whether I had few friends or many.</p> + +<p>I am glad to answer to the toast, "The Hollander as an American." The +Hollander was a good American,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> because the Hollander was fitted to be a +good citizen. There are two branches of government which must be kept on +a high plane, if any nation is to be great. A nation must have laws that +are honestly and fearlessly administered, and it must be ready, in time +of need, to fight; and we men of Dutch descent have here to-night these +gentlemen of the same blood as ourselves who represent New York so +worthily on the bench, and a major-general of the army of the United +States.</p> + +<p>It seems to me, at times, that the Dutch in America have one or two +lessons to teach. We want to teach the very refined and very cultivated +men who believe it impossible that the United States can ever be right +in a quarrel with another nation—a little of the elementary virtue of +patriotism. And we also wish to teach our fellow citizens that laws are +put on the statute books to be enforced and that if it is not intended +they shall be enforced it is a mistake to put a Dutchman in office to +enforce them.</p> + +<p>The lines put on the program underneath my toast begin: "America! half +brother of the world!" America, half brother of the world—and all +Americans full brothers one to the other. That is the way that line +should be concluded. The prime virtue of the Hollander here in America +and the way in which he has most done credit to his stock as a +Hollander, is that he has ceased to be a Hollander and has become an +American, absolutely. We are not Dutch-Americans. We are not "Americans" +with a hyphen before it. We are Americans pure and simple, and we have a +right to demand that the other people whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> stocks go to compose our +great nation, like ourselves, shall cease to be aught else and shall +become Americans.</p> + +<p>And further than that, we have another thing to demand, and that is that +if they do honestly and in good faith become Americans, those shall be +regarded as infamous who dare to discriminate against them because of +creed or because of birthplace. When New Amsterdam had but a few hundred +souls, among those few hundred souls no less than eighteen different +race stocks were represented, and almost as many creeds as there were +race stocks, and the great contribution that the Hollander gave to the +American people was the inestimable lesson of complete civil and +religious liberty. It would be honor enough for this stock to have been +the first to put on American soil the public school, the great engine +for grinding out American citizens, the one institution for which +Americans should stand more stiffly than for aught other.</p> + +<p>Whenever America has demanded of her sons that they should come to her +aid, whether in time of peace or in time of war, the Americans of Dutch +stock have been among the first to spring to the aid of the country. We +earnestly hope that there will not in the future be any war with any +power, but assuredly if there should be such a war one thing may be +taken for certain, and that is that every American of Dutch descent will +be found on the side of the United States. We give the amplest credit, +that some people now, to their shame, grudge to the profession of arms, +which we have here to-night represented by a man, who, when he has the +title of a major general of the army of the United<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> States, has a title +as honorable as any that there is on the wide earth. We also need to +teach the lesson, that the Hollander taught, of not refusing to do the +small things because the day of large things had not yet come or was in +the past; of not waiting until the chance may come to distinguish +ourselves in arms, and meanwhile neglecting the plain, prosaic duties of +citizenship which call upon us every hour, every day of our lives.</p> + +<p>The Dutch kept their freedom in the great contest with Spain, not merely +because they warred valiantly, but because they did their duty as +burghers in their cities, because they strove according to the light +that was in them to be good citizens and to act as such. And we all here +to-night should strive so to live that we Americans of Dutch descent +shall not seem to have shrunk in this respect, compared to our fathers +who spoke another tongue and lived under other laws beyond the ocean; so +that it shall be acknowledged in the end to be what it is, a discredit +to a man if he does not in times of peace do all that in him lies to +make the government of the city, the government of the country, better +and cleaner by his efforts.</p> + +<p>I spoke of the militant spirit as if it may only be shown in time of +war. I think that if any of you gentlemen, no matter how peaceful you +may naturally be, and I am very peaceful naturally, if you would +undertake the administration of the Police Department you would have +plenty of fighting on hand before you would get through; and if you are +true to your blood you will try to do the best you can, fighting or not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> +fighting. You will make up your mind that you will make mistakes, +because you won't make anything if you don't make some mistakes, and you +will go forward according to your lights, utterly heedless of what +either politicians or newspapers may say, knowing that if you act as you +feel bound according to your conscience to act, you will then at least +have the right when you go out of office, however soon, to feel that you +go out without any regret, and to feel that you have according to your +capacity, warred valiantly for what you deemed to be the right.</p> + +<p>These, then, are the qualities that I should claim for the Hollander as +an American: In the first place, that he has cast himself without +reservation into the current of American life; that he is an American, +pure and simple, and nothing else. In the next place, that he works hand +in hand and shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Americans, without any +regard to differences of creed or to differences of race and religion, +if only they are good Americans. In the third place, that he is willing, +when the need shall arise, to fight for his country; and in the fourth +place, and finally, that he recognizes that this is a country of laws +and not men, that it is his duty as an honest citizen to uphold the +laws, to strive for honesty, to strive for a decent administration, and +to do all that in him lies, by incessant, patient work in our +government, municipal or national, to bring about the day when it shall +be taken as a matter of course that every public official is to execute +a law honestly, and that no capacity in a public officer shall atone if +he is personally dishonest.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span></p> +<h2>THE ADOPTED CITIZEN</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Speech of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the 115th annual banquet of the +Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, May 8, 1883. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce and Guests:</span>—I am +very much obliged to your president for calling upon me first, because +the agony will soon be over and I shall enjoy the misery of the rest of +you.</p> + +<p>The first part of this toast—The United States—would be a voluminous +one to respond to on a single occasion. Bancroft commenced to publish +his notes on the History of the United States, starting even before +President Lane established this Chamber, which I think was something +over one hundred years ago. Bancroft, I say, commenced earlier, and I am +not prepared to dispute his word if he should say that he had kept an +accurate journal from the time he commenced to write about the country +to the present, because there has been no period of time when I have +been alive that I have not heard of Bancroft, and I should be equally +credulous if President Lane should tell me that he was here at the +founding of this Institution. But instead of bringing those volumes of +Bancroft's here, and reading them to you on this occasion, I will let +the reporters publish them as the prelude to what I am going to say.</p> + +<p>I think Bancroft has finished up to a little after the time that +President Lane established this Chamber<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> of Commerce, and I will let you +take the records of what he (Lane) has written and what he has said in +their monthly meetings and publish them as the second chapter of my +speech. And, gentlemen, those two chapters you will find the longest; +they will not amount to much more than what I have to say taking up the +subject at the present time.</p> + +<p>But in speaking of the United States, we who are native-born have a +country of which we may well be proud. Those of us who have been abroad +are better able, perhaps, to make the comparison of our enjoyments and +our comforts than those who have always stayed at home. It has been the +fortune, I presume, of the majority here to compare the life and the +circumstances of the average people abroad with ours here. We have here +a country that affords room for all and room for every enterprise. We +have institutions which encourage every man who has industry and ability +to rise from the position in which he may find himself to any position +in the land. It is hardly worth my while to dwell upon the subject, but +there is one point which I notice in the toast, that I would like to say +a word about—"<i>May those who seek the blessings of its free +institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations +they impose.</i>" I think there is a text that my friend Mr. Beecher,<a name="FNanchor_7_25" id="FNanchor_7_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_25" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> on +the left, or my friend Dr. Newman,<a name="FNanchor_8_26" id="FNanchor_8_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_26" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> on the right, might well preach a +long sermon upon. I shall say only a few words.</p> + +<p>We offer an asylum to every man of foreign birth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> who chooses to come +here and settle upon our soil; we make of him, after a few years' +residence only, a citizen endowed with all the rights that any of us +have, except perhaps the single one of being elected to the presidency +of the United States. There is no other privilege that a native, no +matter what he has done for the country, has that the adopted citizen of +five years' standing has not got. I contend that that places upon him an +obligation which, I am sorry to say, many of them do not seem to feel.</p> + +<p>We have witnessed on many occasions here the foreign, the adopted, +citizen claiming many rights and privileges because he was an adopted +citizen. That is all wrong. Let him come here and enjoy all the +privileges that we enjoy, but let him fulfill all the obligations that +we are expected to fulfill. After he has adopted it, let this be his +country—a country that he will fight for, and die for, if necessary. I +am glad to say that the great majority of them do it, but some of them +who mingle in politics seem to bank largely on the fact that they are +adopted citizens; and that class I am opposed to as much as I am opposed +to many other things that I see are popular now.</p> + +<p>I know that other speakers will come forward, and when Mr. Beecher and +Dr. Newman speak, I hope they will say a few words on the text which I +read.</p> +<hr class="major" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image10.jpg" id="image10.jpg" href="images/image10.jpg"> +<img src="images/image10_th.jpg" width="500" height="316" alt=""OLD IRONSIDES"—THE FRIGATE CONSTITUTION—1812" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">"OLD IRONSIDES"—THE FRIGATE CONSTITUTION—1812</span> +</div> + + + + +<h2>OUR NAVY</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Speech of Hampton L. Carson, delivered at the dinner of the Union +League, Philadelphia, April 5, 1899, in honor of Captain Charles E. +Clark, U. S. N., late Commander of the battleship "Oregon." </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Union League:</span>—It was my good +fortune, some eighteen months ago, to be in the city of Seattle, when +the "Monterey" was lying in the harbor under the command of Captain +Clark. At the time of my visit clear skies, placid waters and silent +guns gave little indication of the awful responsibility that was soon to +be imposed upon the gallant commander. My boys, having met him, were, +like myself, intensely interested<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> in the outcome of his voyage; and I +can say to him that the pulsations of the engines which drove the +<i>Oregon</i> through fourteen thousand miles of tropic seas were accompanied +by the sympathetic beatings of hearts which had learned to love and +respect this great captain as he richly deserved.</p> + +<p>The American Navy! The most concise tribute that I ever heard paid to +the sailors of the United States was contained in the answer of a man +from Indiana, who was an applicant for office under General Grant, just +after the Civil Service rules had gone into operation. The applicant was +apprehensive as to his ability to respond to the questions, but one of +his answers captured the board of examiners as well as the president, +and he secured the place. The question was, "How many sailors did Great +Britain send here, during the war of the Revolution, for the purpose of +subduing us?" and the answer was, "More by a——sight than ever got +back."</p> + +<p>When Louis XIV, in order to check what he perceived to be the growing +supremacy of England upon the seas, determined to establish a navy, he +sent for his minister Colbert, and said to him, "I wish a navy—how can +I create it!" Colbert replied, "Make as many galley slaves as you can." +Thereupon every Huguenot who refused to doff his bonnet on the street as +the king passed by, every boy of seventeen who could give no account of +himself, every vagrant without an occupation, was seized, convicted, and +sent to the galleys. Could a navy of heroes be made of galley slaves! +The history of the Anglo-Saxon race says "No."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span></p><p>On the twenty-second day of December, 1775, the navy of the United +States was born on the waters of our Delaware. On that day Esek Hopkins, +of Rhode Island, was placed in command of a little fleet of eight +vessels—two of them ships, two of them brigs, the others very much +smaller. The English officers sneered in derision at "the fleet of +whaleboats." The rattlesnake flag—a yellow flag with a pine tree in the +centre and a rattlesnake coiled beneath its branches, with the words +"Don't tread on me"—was run to the masthead of the <i>Providence</i>, being +hauled there by the hands of the first lieutenant, John Paul Jones. That +little fleet of eight vessels, mounting only 114 guns, was sent forth to +confront a naval power of 112 battleships with 3,714 guns—not a single +gun of ours throwing a ball heavier than nine pounds, while five hundred +of the English guns threw a weight of metal of double that amount. +Wasn't it an audacious thing? Why, it seems to me one of the marvels of +human history when I reflect upon what was attempted by the Americans of +1776.</p> + +<p>Look at the situation. Thirteen different colonies strung along a narrow +strip of coast; three thousand miles of rolling ocean on the one side +and three thousand miles of impenetrable wilderness on the other; +colonies with infinite diversity of interests—diverse in blood, diverse +in conditions of society, diverse in ambition, diverse in pursuits—the +English Puritan on the rock of Plymouth, the Knickerbocker Dutch on the +shores of the Hudson, the Jersey Quaker on the other side of the +Delaware, the Swede extending from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> here to Wilmington, Maryland +bisected by our great bay of the Chesapeake, Virginia cut in half by the +same water way, North Carolina and South Carolina lying south of +impenetrable swamps as inaccessible to communication as a range of +mountains, and farther south the sparsely-settled colony of Georgia. +Huguenot, Cavalier, Catholic, Quaker, Dutchman, Puritan, Mennonite, +Moravian, and Church of England men; and yet, under the hammer stroke of +British oppression, thirteen colonies were welded into one thunderbolt, +which was launched at the throne of George III.</p> + +<p>That little navy under Hopkins—where were those sailors bred? Read +Burke's speech on the conciliation of America. They sprang from the +loins of hardy fishermen amidst tumbling fields of ice on the banks of +Newfoundland, from those who had speared whales in the tepid waters of +Brazil, or who had pursued their gigantic game into the Arctic zone or +beneath the light of the Southern Cross. That fleet of eight ships +sailed from the Delaware on the twenty-second of December, 1775, and +proceeded to the island of New Providence, among the Bahamas. Our +colonies and our armies were without arms, without powder, without +munitions of war. The very first exploit of the fleet was the capture, +on the nineteenth of March, 1776, of 150 cannon, 130 barrels of powder +and eight warships, which were carried in triumph into Long Island +Sound. But what of American heroism when the soldiers of Howe, of +Clinton, of Carleton, and of Gage came here to fight the farmers of +Pennsylvania, of Connecticut and Virginia, and the gay cavaliers who +loved adventure?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> The British soldiers had conquered India under Sir +Robert Clive and Sir Eyre Coote; they had been the heroes of Plassey and +Pondicherry; men who had subjected to British dominion a country almost +as extensive as our own fair republic and containing one hundred and +ninety millions of souls. Here they found themselves faced by men of +their own blood, men in whose breasts burned the spirit and the love of +that liberty which was to encircle the heavens. On the glory-crowned +heights of Bunker Hill the patriots gazed at the rafters of their own +burning dwellings in the town of Charlestown, and heard the cannon shots +hurled from British ships against the base of the hill. Three times did +scarlet regiments ascend that hill only to be driven back; the voice of +that idiot boy, Job Pray, ringing out above the din of battle, "Let them +come on to Breed's—the people will teach them the law."</p> + +<p>When the evacuation by the British of the metropolis of New England was +effected by the troops under the command of a Virginia soldier, General +Washington, then for the first time did sectionalism and partisanship +and divisions on narrow lines vanish; the patriots who had fought at +Bunker Hill were now no longer to be known as the troops of +Massachusetts, of Connecticut, or of Rhode Island, but henceforth it was +the Continental Army. On the very day when the British were driven out +of Boston, John Paul Jones, with that historic rattlesnake flag, and, +floating above it, not the Stars and Stripes, but the Stripes with the +Union Jack, entered the waters of Great Britain; and then it was seen +that an American captain with an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> American ship and American sailors had +the pluck to push out into foreign seas and to beard the British lion in +his den. The same channel which had witnessed the victories of De Ruyter +and Von Tromp, which was the scene of Blake's victory over the Dutch, +and where the father of our great William Penn won his laurels as an +admiral, was now the scene of the exploits of an American captain +fighting beneath an American flag for American rights inherited from old +mother England, who, in a moment of forgetfulness, had sought to deprive +her offspring of liberty. I know of no more thrilling incident in +revolutionary naval annals than the fight between the <i>Serapis</i> and the +<i>Bon Homme Richard</i>, when Paul Jones, on the burning deck of a sinking +ship, lashed his yard arms to those of the enemy and fought hand to +hand, man to man, until the British colors struck, and then, under the +very cliffs of Old England, were run up for the first time the Stars and +Stripes—with a field of blue into which the skillful fingers of Betsy +Ross, of Philadelphia, had woven inextinguishable stars; the red stripes +typifying the glory, the valor, and the self-sacrifice of the men who +died that liberty might live; and the white, emblematic of purity, fitly +representing those principles to preserve which these men had sanctified +themselves by an immortal self-dedication. And there, too, in the +Continental Navy was Richard Dale, the young "Middy," who fought beside +Paul Jones; and Joshua Barney; and John Barry; and Nicholas Biddle of +Philadelphia, who later, in the gallant little <i>Randolph</i>, in order to +help a convoyed fleet of American<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> merchantmen to escape, boldly +attacked the battleship <i>Yarmouth</i>; and when it was found that he was +doomed to defeat, blew up his vessel, perishing with all his crew, +rather than strike the colors of the newly-born republic.</p> + +<p>All honor to the navy of the United States! I never can read of its +exploits—peaceful citizen as I am—without my blood bubbling with a +joyous sense of exultation at the thought that the flag which has swept +the seas, carrying liberty behind it, is the flag which is destined to +sweep the seas again and carry liberty, civilization, and all the +blessings of free government into benighted islands far, far from hence.</p> + +<p>Why, gentlemen, the story of the exploits of our little fleets reads +like a romance. At the end of the Revolutionary War eight hundred +British ships, fifteen of them battleships, had surrendered to the +prowess of the American navy, together with twelve thousand five hundred +prisoners captured by less than three thousand men; and in that war our +country had produced the boldest admirals that, up to that time, +civilization had known, and the greatest fighting naval heroes that the +world had seen.</p> + +<p>Then came the War of 1812, to establish sailors' rights upon the high +seas, when the American navy again proved victor despite overwhelming +odds. I have in my possession a list of the British and American vessels +at the outbreak of that war; and if I were to represent them by +something tangible in order to indicate the proportions of each, I would +say, taking this box lid for example (illustrating with the stem of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> +rose upon the cover of a discarded flower box), that if you were to draw +a line across here, near the top, you would have sufficient space in the +narrow strip above the dividing line to write the names of all the +American ships, while the entire remaining space would not be more than +sufficient for the English fleet, which was more than thirty times the +size of its antagonist. The ships which under Nelson had fought at the +Nile and had won imperishable glory at Trafalgar, coming into our +waters, struck their flags time and again. The glorious old "Ironsides" +(the <i>Constitution</i>) captured the <i>Guerriere</i>, the <i>Java</i>, the <i>Cyane</i>, +and <i>Levant</i>. The <i>United States</i> took the <i>Macedonian</i>; the <i>Wasp</i> +destroyed the <i>Frolic</i>, while on the lakes we point with pride to the +victories of Perry and MacDonough. When battle after battle had been +fought it was found that, of eighteen fixed engagements, seventeen were +victories for the Stars and Stripes. And this over the greatest maritime +war power of the world!</p> + +<p>Philadelphia is honorably associated with the glories of our navy. Our +early battleships, though not all built here, were planned and +constructed by Joshua Humphreys, a Philadelphian, the predecessor of our +great shipbuilder of to-day, Charles H. Cramp.</p> + +<p>Need I speak of the navy from 1861 to 1865, or tell of the exploits of +those gallant fleets which clove a pathway down the valley of the Ohio, +of the Tennessee, and of the Mississippi, in order that liberty might +ride unvexed from the lakes to the gulf? Need I dwell upon the part +taken by the guest of this evening, who was an officer who fought under +Farragut?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span></p><p>In our recent war with Spain there were some who, in doubting moments, +yielded to that atrabilious disposition which has been so well described +by Mr. Tomkins; who thought that our ships were not strong enough to +hazard an encounter with the fleets of Spain. But meanwhile there was +doubling "around the Horn" a battleship, with a captain and a crew whose +marvelous voyage was attracting the eyes of the world. Night after night +we took up the map, traced his course from port to port, and our hearts +beat high, our lips were firmly compressed, the color faded from our +cheeks with excitement, but our eyes blazed with exultant anticipation +as nearer and nearer to Pernambuco did he come. We all now feel, judging +of the possibilities by actual achievement, that had Captain Clark +encountered the enemy's ships, he could and would have successfully +fought and defeated the entire Spanish fleet. He carried his ship ready +for instant actions, every man at his post. God bless that crew! God +bless those stokers, far down below those decks, confident that the +captain who commanded them was on the bridge, and that he would never +flinch nor fail in the hour of trial! I have often tried to draw a +mental picture of what the scene must have been when the <i>Oregon</i> +steamed in to join the fleet before Santiago; when the white jackets on +the yard-arms tossed their caps in the air, and southern tars gave back +to Yankee cheers a lusty welcome to the man who for so long, against all +odds, with no encouraging advices, with unknown terrors all about him, +had never flinched from duty, and who, when the last summons came, +responded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> in the words of Colonel Newcomb, <i>Adsum</i>—"I am here."</p> + +<p>On the morning of the third of July, 1898, there stood the frowning +Morro Castle, the prison of the glorious Hobson; on the other side the +fortress of Estrella; the narrow channel blocked by the wreck of the +<i>Merrimac</i>; the <i>Brooklyn</i>, the <i>Oregon</i>, the <i>Texas</i>, the <i>Indiana</i>, +the <i>Iowa</i> and the <i>Massachusetts</i> all watching that orifice. Then black +smoke rolled from the tunnels of the enemy's ships, indicating that the +tiger had roused him from his lair and was making a rush for the open +sea. Up went the signal on the flagstaff of the <i>Brooklyn</i>, +"Forward—the enemy is approaching." Then engines moved; then guns +thundered their volleys; then sky and sea became black with the smoke of +battle; and swiftly steamed the <i>Oregon</i> in pursuit of the <i>Cristobal +Colon</i>. Beneath well-directed shots the monster reeled, like a wounded +athlete, to the beach; and then from the flagstaff of the <i>New York</i> +were displayed those signals now on these walls before your +eyes—"1-7-3; cornet; 2m-9m-7m"—which, translated, meant—and we of the +League to-night repeat the words—"Well done, <i>Oregon</i>."</p> + +<p>Captain Clark, the city of Philadelphia has always contributed her share +to the building of the navy and to a fitting recognition of the heroes +who have commanded our battleships. In the old churchyard of St. Mary's, +on Fourth Street, sleep the bones of John Barry; and in the older +churchyard of St. Peter's stands the monument to Decatur. We have with +us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> also the ashes of Stewart, who commanded "Old Ironsides" when she +captured the <i>Cyane</i> and the <i>Levant</i>; and we have those of Bainbridge, +who captured the <i>Java</i>.</p> + +<p>In reading of the exploits of the master spirits of the past, I have +sometimes wondered whether we had men of to-day who were their equals. +My answer is this: I say to soldiers and sailors, whether of our Civil +War or of the late war with Spain, you are worthy of your sires, you +have caught the inspiration of their glowing deeds, you have taken up +the burden which they threw upon your shoulders, and though in time to +come you may sleep in unmarked graves, the memory of your deeds will +live; and, like your sires, you have become immortal.</p> + +<p>To fight for liberty is indeed a privilege. "Disguise thyself as thou +wilt, still, Slavery, thou art a bitter draught; and, though thousands +in all ages have been made to drink thee, thou art no less bitter on +that account. 'Tis thou, O Liberty! thrice sweet and gracious goddess, +whose taste is grateful, and ever will be so till nature herself shall +change. No tint of words can spot thy snowy mantle, nor chemic power +turn thy scepter into iron. With thee to smile upon him, as he eats his +crust, the swain is happier than the monarch from whose courts thou art +exiled." So wrote Laurence Sterne.</p> + +<p>And then Rufus Choate: "To form and uphold a state, it is not enough +that our judgments should believe it to be useful; the better part of +our affections should feel it to be lovely. It is not enough that our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> +arithmetic should compute its value and find it high; our hearts should +hold it priceless—above all things rich and rare—dearer than health +and beauty, brighter than all the order of the stars." In contemplating +those mysterious dispensations of Providence by which the light which +broke upon this continent two hundred years ago is now penetrating and +illuminating the darkest corners of the earth, it will be a supreme +satisfaction for us to know that our children and our children's +children will have set for their imitation and encouragement the example +of the heroism, the manliness, the courage, the patriotism and the +modesty of the captains of to-day.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image11.jpg" id="image11.jpg" href="images/image11.jpg"> +<img src="images/image11_th.jpg" width="500" height="313" alt="LATEST TYPE OF DREADNAUGHT" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">LATEST TYPE OF DREADNAUGHT</span> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span></p> +<h2>THE PATRIOTISM OF PEACE</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Address by William Jennings Bryan delivered in London, in the Royal +Gallery of the House of Lords, on July 26, 1906, at the session of +the Interparliamentary Union or Peace Congress. It is given here by +special permission of Mr. Bryan and his publishers—Funk and +Wagnalls Company, New York and London. </p></div> + + +<p>I regret that I cannot speak to you in the language which is usually +employed in this body, but I know only one language, the language of my +own country, and you will pardon me if I use that. I desire in the first +place to express my appreciation of the courtesy shown me by Lord +Weardale, our president, and by Baron von Plener, the chairman of the +committee which framed the model treaty. The latter has framed this +substitute embodying both of the ideas (investigation and meditation) +which were presented yesterday. I recognize the superior wisdom and the +greater experience of this learned committee which has united the two +propositions, and I thank this body also for the opportunity to say just +a word in defense of my part of the resolution. I cannot say that it is +a new idea, for since it was presented yesterday I have learned that the +same idea in substance was presented last year at Brussels by Mr. +Bartholdt, of my own country, who has been so conspicuous in his efforts +to promote peace, and I am very glad that I can follow in his footsteps +in the urging of this amendment. I may add also that it is in line with +the suggestion made by the honorable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> prime minister of Great Britain, +Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, in that memorable and epoch-making speech +of yesterday, in that speech which contained several sentences any one +of which would have justified the assembling of this Interparliamentary +Union—any one of which would have compensated us all for coming here. +In that splendid speech he expressed the hope that the scope of +arbitration treaties might be enlarged. He said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>, I fervently trust that before long the principles of +arbitration may win such confidence as to justify its extension to +a wider field of international differences. We have already seen +how questions arousing passion and excitement have attained a +solution, not necessarily by means of arbitration in the strict +sense of the word, by referring them to such a tribunal as that +which reported on the North Sea incident; and I would ask you +whether, it may not be worth while carefully to consider, before +the next Congress meets at The Hague, the various forms in which +differences might be submitted, with a view to opening the door as +wide as possible to every means which might in any degree +contribute to moderate or compose such differences." </p></div> + +<p>This amendment is in harmony with this suggestion. The resolution is in +the form of a postscript to the treaty, but like the postscripts to some +letters it contains a very vital subject—in fact, I am not sure but the +postscript in this case is as important as the letter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> itself, for it +deals with those questions which have defied arbitration. Certain +questions affecting the honor or integrity of a nation are generally +thought to be outside of the jurisdiction of a court of arbitration, and +these are the questions which have given trouble. Passion is not often +aroused by questions that do not affect a nation's integrity or honor, +but for fear these questions may arise arbitration is not always +employed where it might be. The first advantage, then, of this +resolution is that it secures an investigation of the facts, and if you +can but separate these facts from the question of honor, the chances are +100-to-1 that you can settle both the fact and the question of honor +without war. There is, therefore, a great advantage in an investigation +that brings out the facts, for disputed facts between nations, as +between friends, are the cause of most disagreements.</p> + +<p>The second advantage of this investigation is that it gives time for +calm consideration. That has already been well presented by the +gentlemen who has preceded me, Baron von Plener. I need not say to you +that man excited is a very different animal from man calm, and that +questions ought to be settled, not by passion, but by deliberation. If +this resolution would do nothing else but give time for reflection and +deliberation, there would be sufficient reason for its adoption. If we +can but stay the hand of war until conscience can assert itself, war +will be made more remote. When men are mad they swagger around and tell +what they can do; when they are calm they consider what they ought to +do.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span></p><p>The third advantage of this investigation is that it gives opportunity +to mobilize public opinion of the compelling of a peaceful settlement +and that is an advantage not to be overlooked. Public opinion is coming +to be more and more a power in the world. One of the greatest statesmen +of my country—Thomas Jefferson, and if it would not offend I would say +I believe him to be the greatest statesman the world has produced—said +that if he had to choose between a government without newspapers and +newspapers without a government, he would rather risk the newspapers +without a government. You may call it an extravagant statement, and yet +it presents an idea, and that idea is that public opinion is a +controlling force. I am glad that the time is coming when public opinion +is to be more and more powerful; glad that the time is coming when the +moral sentiment of one nation will influence the action of other +nations; glad that the time is coming when the world will realize that a +war between the two nations affects others than the nations involved; +glad that the time is coming when the world will insist that nations +settle their differences by some peaceful means. If time is given for +the marshaling of the force of public opinion peace will be promoted. +This resolution is presented, therefore, for the reasons that it gives +an opportunity to investigate the facts, and to separate them from the +question of honor, that it gives time for the calming of passion, and +that it gives time for the formation of a controlling public sentiment.</p> + +<p>I will not disguise the fact that I consider this resolution<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> a long +step in the direction of peace, nor will I disguise the fact that I am +here because I want this Interparliamentary Union to take just as long a +step as possible in the direction of universal peace. We meet in a +famous hall, and looking down upon us from these walls are pictures that +illustrate not only the glory that is to be won in war, but the horrors +that follow war. There is a picture of one of the great figures in +English history (pointing to the fresco by Maclise of the death of +Nelson). Lord Nelson is represented as dying, and around him are the +mangled forms of others. I understand that war brings out certain +virtues. I am aware that it gives opportunity for the display of great +patriotism; I am aware that the example of men who give their lives for +their country is inspiring; but I venture to say there is as much +inspiration in a noble life as there is in a heroic death, and I trust +that one of the results of this Interparliamentary Union will be to +emphasize the doctrine that a life devoted to the public, and ever +flowing, like a spring, with good, exerts an influence upon the human +race and upon the destiny of the world as great as any death in war. And +if you will permit me to mention one whose career I watched with +interest and whose name I revere, I will say that, in my humble +judgment, the sixty-four years of spotless public service of William +Ewart Gladstone will, in years to come, be regarded as rich an ornament +to the history of this nation as the life of any man who poured out his +blood upon a battlefield.</p> + +<p>All movements in the interest of peace have back of them the idea of +brotherhood. If peace is to come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> in this world, it will come because +people more and more clearly recognize the indissoluble tie that binds +each human being to every other. If we are to build permanent peace it +must be on the foundation of the brotherhood of men. A poet has +described how in the Civil War that divided our country into two hostile +camps a generation ago—in one battle a soldier in one line thrust his +bayonet through a soldier in the opposing line, and how, when he stooped +to draw it out, he recognized in the face of the fallen one the face of +his own brother. And then the poet describes the feeling of horror that +overwhelmed the survivor when he realized that he had taken the life of +one who was the child of the same parents and the companion of his +boyhood. It was a pathetic story, but is it too much to hope that as +years go by we will begin to understand that the whole human race is but +a larger family?</p> + +<p>It is not too much to hope that as years go by human sympathy will +expand until this feeling of unity will not be confined to the members +of a family or to the members of a clan or of a community or state, but +shall be world-wide. It is not too much to hope that we, in this +assembly, possibly by this resolution, may hasten the day when we shall +feel so appalled at the thought of the taking of any human life that we +shall strive to raise all questions to a level where the settlement will +be by reason and not by force.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span></p> +<h2>A PLEA FOR UNIVERSAL PEACE</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The following extracts are from an address delivered by George W. +Norris, United States senator from Nebraska, at Chautauquas and on +lecture courses throughout the country for several years. It is one +of the most logical and practical plans for universal peace ever +proposed. It was prepared when the civilized world was at peace +immediately following the peace treaty between Russia and Japan. +David Starr Jordan declares that "military efficiency" is the +principal cause of the present European war. A serious and honest +study of how to preserve peace and how to avoid war cannot help but +bring good results. This is the purpose of Senator Norris's +lecture. For a further study of this most important subject, the +reader is referred to Sumner's great oration on "The True Grandeur +of Nations," to various speeches and monographs by Andrew Carnegie, +and to numerous other publications, recently issued, regarding the +patriotism of peace. </p></div> + + +<p>The greatest disgrace of the present century is that war between +civilized nations is still a possibility. That such a barbarous +condition should exist in the civilized world is painful to every lover +of humanity and to every believer in the great brotherhood of man.</p> + +<p>Every civilized country of the world requires its subjects to submit +their differences and disputes to tribunals and courts that have been +organized under the forms of law for their settlement and yet these same +nations violate the principle of law which they compel their subjects to +obey. The citizen must maintain his rights and settle his grievances +before tribunals organized according to law, upon principles of justice +and of right. Kings and rulers settle their disputes upon the field of +battle without regard to right, without regard to justice, and upon the +erroneous and barbarous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> theory that might makes right. It is to be +regretted that the great advance that has been made from barbarism by +the different nations of the world by which the disputes and +controversies arising within each nation are settled according to forms +of law upon the principles of justice and equality, has not extended to +the settlement of disputes between the nations themselves. Why is it +that rulers, who are able to settle all controversies within the +countries they control are not able to settle controversies between +those countries?</p> + +<p>Humanity is broader than nationality and embraces within its scope the +entire world. The measure of human happiness will not be full, the +heights of national glory will not be reached until we can look over the +world and in the words of the scripture, truthfully say of every citizen +of every civilized nation—"Is he not after all, my brother?"</p> + +<p>Why then should there be war? I know that it can truthfully be claimed +that this cruel and heartless demon has settled many questions of +world-wide importance, but it never settled one on any principle of +equity, morality, or justice. In modern times its decree has been more +often right than wrong, because the great spirit of public sentiment +when once aroused has not only furnished money and men for the right, +but it has thoroughly imbued the hearts of its soldiers with a +determination and a bravery that have done much to place the victory +where it properly belonged. But what a sacrifice of human life and +treasure. I do not want to be understood as claiming that all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> wars +of history were wrong or could have been avoided. Some of them were +carried on for liberty, some were waged for mercy and some were fought +for humanity. The soldier, not only of our own land, but of other +countries as well, is entitled to all the consideration and all the +honor and glory that humanity can give or bestow. I am however +proclaiming against the conditions existing in modern civilized times +that make war not only sometimes necessary, but at any time possible.</p> + +<p>But the question recurs again—what is a practical way to solve the +difficulty? Who shall take the first step? Who can take the first step +with the assurance that beneficial results will follow? What nation +to-day occupies such a unique position in civilization that it can step +out into the open and say to all the civilized world—"We are willing to +submit to peaceful arbitration every international dispute, every +international controversy not only of the present but of the future as +well." What nation in assuming this position can command not only the +respect and belief of other nations in the integrity and the honesty of +its purpose, but can also receive the respect and approval of humanity's +peace loving sentiment, that will go far towards impelling the balance +of the civilized world to accept the proffered hand of universal +brotherhood!</p> + +<p>If we study the history of European nations, we will find a trace at +least of jealousy between them that has come down from the days of +barbarism. In ancient times the king, who was then supposed to possess, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> is still suspicioned to have, some attributes of Divinity, ruled +only over such territory as he was able to hold in subjection. He broke +no law of nations if, without notice, cause or provocation, he made war +upon his neighbor in an attempt to conquer and subdue additional +territory. He violated no principle of government if in carrying out his +purpose he resorted to trickery, chicanery, and dishonesty. The result +was that every ruler was suspicious of every other ruler.</p> + +<p>This suspiciousness and lack of confidence anciently existing between +kings, and permeating the framework of every European nation, has, in a +lessening and decreasing degree, come down to the present day. It exists +now—unconsciously perhaps—but exists nevertheless, and must be taken +into consideration whenever any European nation makes a proposition to +other European nations for the settlement of any great international +question. This condition was well paraphrased by a great European +statesman in comparing European conditions with those of America, when +he referred to it as American boldness and European suspiciousness.</p> + +<p>In the new world where our government's leadership and controlling +influence are recognized and acknowledged by all the world, these +conditions do not obtain. Here the divine right of kings has never been +recognized. We have not only disclaimed the right of conquest ourselves, +but we have refused to recognize it in others. We have not only refused +to recognize this right in the strong nation, but we have protected the +weak nation against it. Moreover we have shown to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> the world our +unselfish devotion to that principle to the extent of sacrificing life +and treasure in the defense of the weak against the strong—the +protection of the down-trodden and oppressed against oppression. Our +entire national life has been emblematic of an unselfish respect for the +rights of other nations, and is not tainted with that suspiciousness +which has come down to others from ancient times. Our position among the +nations of the world was well illustrated by what happened in the war +between Russia and Japan.</p> + +<p>When these two great nations had gotten each other by the throat and +were struggling in mortal combat, the entire world was aroused to +admiration by the action of America's great president. Neither one of +the warring nations had expressed any desire for peace. Neither one had +shown any disposition to cease the conflict. Neither one had asked for +any intercession, and yet in the midst of the bloody conflict, when +America's voice was heard, they both halted, they both ceased, and they +both obeyed.</p> + +<p>It was because they knew—all the world knew—that in the voice which +called them from the battlefield to reason's court there was no taint of +selfishness; that in that call there was no suspicion of an ulterior or +dishonorable motive, but that in the heart of the great statesman, whose +voice they heeded, there was only the purity of a humane effort to bring +about the welfare of all. From the very nature of the development of +other nations from the barbarism of ancient times it is quite apparent +that no other ruler of the civilized world could have made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> that +proposition with the same successful results. In response to the +friendly intervention of the American Government, Russia and Japan +appointed commissioners to agree upon terms of peace.</p> + +<p>While these commissioners were in session on American soil, a notable +assemblage for the advancement of international arbitration was in +session at Brussels, the capital of Belgium. At this meeting of the +Interparliamentary Union there were representatives from practically +every civilized country in the world except Russia and Japan. We watched +with hopeful anxiety the reports which the cable brought us of the +progress that was being made by these peace commissioners at Portsmouth. +In that assemblage, composed of representatives from two continents, +there was a unanimous wish, a united hope, a fervent prayer that +America's intervention would prove successful.</p> + +<p>As a fitting close of that great international conference the +representatives of Belgium invited all the delegates to a reception held +in that historic building where the cohorts of Napoleon were assembled +in revelry on the eve of Waterloo. The rooms were decorated with the +colors of all nations. The finest band of Belgium was playing her +national air. In the midst of it the music suddenly ceased. All eyes +were turned to the rostrum. We saw the leader of the band seize from the +decorations of the hall the American flag, and using it as a baton, he +waved it over the heads of the musicians, and in answer to his action +there burst forth the rapturous strains of "The Star Spangled Banner."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span></p><p>For a moment, and a moment only, there was silence, and then there burst +forth a roar of applause which clearly indicated that everyone there +understood, that beneath the fathomless deep the electric spark had +brought the welcome news that on the shores of America an agreement for +peace had been signed. On the occasion of nearly one hundred years +before the revelry was interrupted by the booming of cannon, but on this +occasion it was the joyous message that under the leadership of America +the peace of the world had been established. That was an occasion, my +countrymen, when it was greater to be an American citizen than to wear a +crown.</p> + +<p>Heretofore one of the greatest obstacles to the peaceful settlement of +international difficulties, and to the submission of such controversies +to arbitration, has been that the offense has been committed, or the +controversy has arisen before any rule for its settlement has been +provided, or any tribunal for its determination has been selected. This +ex post facto machinery for the settlement of differences is not only +unreasonable and illogical, but it has been guarded against by all the +civilized nations of the earth in the regulation and management of their +own internal affairs. When disagreeing nations are aroused to anger by +the excitement and the prejudice of the people on account of real or +imaginary wrong, it is a poor time indeed to attempt to agree upon a +fair method of settlement, or to exercise that calm deliberation which +should be invoked in the selection of the arbitrators.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span></p><p>The treaty of arbitration should be general and apply to all disputes. +It should be negotiated in time of profound peace, and not with +reference to any particular controversy. Its judges should be selected +in time of peace and their terms of office should be permanent. In order +that they might be removed from, and uninfluenced by, any bias or +prejudice they should be appointed for life, and while holding this +great international commission they should be prohibited from accepting +or holding any other office or emolument from any government.</p> + +<p>The treaty, however, should specifically provide that these +international judges could be appointed and selected as members of any +other international arbitration tribunal, and in accordance with this +provision each government would undoubtedly select the same men as +judges for each arbitration treaty into which it entered.</p> + +<p>To illustrate—if our government entered into such a treaty with the +German Empire, and afterwards into a similar treaty with France, we +would select the same arbitrators under the treaty with France that we +had named in carrying out the provisions of the treaty with Germany, and +in any subsequent arbitration treaty with any other nation, the same men +would again be named as our arbitrators. There is little doubt but what +all other nations would pursue a similar course.</p> + +<p>This would give us an international court that would command the +absolute respect of all mankind and the confidence of all civilization. +Its judges would be free<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> from any bias, prejudice or excitement that +might exist in either one or both of the contending nations. Instead of +representing one government as against the other they would in fact, +without partiality and with equal justice, represent both of the +contending parties. Their life work would be the study of international +questions. They would become learned—yea, experts—in international law +and the administration of international justice. If each nation selected +the same judges in each of its arbitration treaties, the world would +have a list—a school—of international jurists devoting their time, +their energies and their lives to the study of international questions +and the settlement of international disputes. In the hands of these men +the peace of the civilized world would be safe and secure.</p> + +<p>The treaty of arbitration would undoubtedly provide for an equal number +of arbitrators from each of the contracting parties. It likewise would, +and undoubtedly should, provide for the selection of additional members +of the court in cases where the judges were equally divided on any +question submitted to them. A wise provision would be to let the +permanent judges themselves select the additional arbitrators, and with +this list of great international jurists from which to make a choice, +how small the possibility of error, and how great would be the +probability of a wise selection. As a matter of fact it would seldom be +necessary for this provision of the treaty to be acted on. Not once in a +lifetime would the members of such a court be divided along the lines of +nationality. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> judges of this court, occupying this dignified, +exalted and unparalleled position before the world, would be farther +removed from bias and prejudice than any court that has ever been +instituted in the history of mankind. Its decisions would become +precedents for future action. It would not be long until we would have a +line of decisions, that would eliminate the uncertainty of international +law which has existed in the past. A question once determined by this +great court would be accepted by the world as the law for the future, +and the result would be that we would not only have an international +tribunal for the peaceful settlement and determination of all +international questions, but their decisions would become the beacon +lights of peace for future generations, whose rays of wisdom and of +reason would light up the dark waters of international jurisprudence, +mark out the course of safety for every ship of state, and warn her +mariners of the shoals of disaster.</p> + +<p>There is no ground whatever for the belief which prevails somewhat that +the members of such a court would always follow the contention of their +own country. Even under the present cumbersome and illogical method of +selecting arbitrators we have a recent illustration that men great +enough to fill positions of this kind, realizing the dignity and +responsibility of the position, will rise above the clamor of their own +countrymen and decide the question at issue upon its merits. I refer to +the Alaskan boundary dispute between the United States and Great +Britain. We have also an illustration of this point in our own country.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span></p><p>Our national government is composed of sovereign states. State pride is +an attribute of practically all our citizens. Its influence has +compelled men to honestly do all kinds of unreasonable things. For it +men have given up their property and sacrificed their lives. Yet this +prejudice has never reached our judiciary. Every United States judge is +a citizen of some state. They try cases between different states, pass +on disputes existing between a sovereign state and the citizens of +another state, and settle controversies arising between the citizens of +one state and the citizens of another state. Our judges have been +criticized on nearly all possible grounds, often no doubt without +reason, sometimes perhaps with good cause, but in the entire history of +our country, there has never yet been made the charge that any one of +these judges has been influenced in his official conduct by pride of his +native or adopted state. Man is often unconsciously influenced and +controlled by his associations, his habits and the environments of +earlier life. Their influence has become a part of the man. But the +history of jurisprudence will show that judges have seldom, if ever, +been moved or influenced in official action by the excitement, the +clamor or the prejudice of the citizenship if it was beyond the power of +that citizenship to reward or punish.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to provide any method for the enforcement of the +decrees of an international court. It is safe to trust to the honor of +the governments interested, and to the enlightened public sentiment of +the civilized world for the honest enforcement in good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> faith of every +such judgment and decree. This has been frequently demonstrated in the +past. In all the history of the world there has never been an instance +where an offending nation has failed to carry out in good faith the +judgment of an international court.</p> + +<p>In America the friends of international arbitration are not united as +they should be. The division comes about principally on account of a +disagreement as to what should be the size of our navy. There are some +who believe that we should make but a small annual increase in our navy, +and some of these are inclined to criticize those who advocate a large +navy and to claim that such conduct is inconsistent with international +arbitration. While I have been one of those who usually have favored a +small yearly increase in our naval vessels, yet I am frank to admit that +under present conditions, there is much sound logic in the argument that +the greatest and best assurance of international peace, is to be always +prepared for war. It is well too, to remember that an unbiased and +unprejudiced tribunal in a foreign land has recently given an +international trophy—the world's prize—to the greatest American +exponent of a large navy, for having during the year for which the prize +was given, accomplished more for international peace, than any other +living man. It is not my intention to discuss this subject. It is not +necessary to decide it for the purposes of the present discussion. It is +of importance when considering the subject of national defense and +national finances, but it has no decisive influence upon the question of +international arbitration. The man who favors a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> small navy, and the man +who favors a large one can consistently work side by side for the +advancement of international peace. The size of the navy that we should +maintain is a question upon which the minds of wise and patriotic men +may honestly differ. Everybody admits that we should keep and maintain +an ample and sufficient navy, and that annual additions thereto are +necessary to maintain its efficiency. But, the terms "adequate navy," +"sufficient navy" and "large navy" are very indefinite, and convey +entirely different ideas to different people. What one man might regard +as a small navy, another one equally as wise would regard as entirely +too large. What one person would consider a small and inadequate annual +addition to our navy, others, equally as patriotic, would regard as +unreasonable and extravagant. A man's ideas on this disputed and +unsettled question can not consistently be urged against the sincerity +of his purpose when he advocates international arbitration.</p> + +<p>But while the friends of international arbitration may honestly disagree +as to the strength of the army and the size of the navy that should be +maintained in times of peace, there is no disagreement in the +condemnation of the conditions which make it necessary to maintain a +large army and navy. These conditions are relics of barbarism. They are +not founded upon any wisdom, reason, or justice. They exist only because +the great men of to-day, who hold the destinies of nations in their +hands have not met upon the broad plane of equality and agreed upon +their abolishment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span></p><p>Heretofore the cry of international arbitration has come mainly from +those who were moved by the idea of philanthropy, of mercy and of +humanity. It will not be long until these influences will be joined by +all the commercial interests of civilization and all the tax-payers of +the world. For the fiscal year (1907) in our own country there was +appropriated from the national treasury nearly four hundred millions of +dollars on account of war. Over sixty-five per cent. of the revenues of +our national government are spent on account of our wars of the past, or +in preparation for war in the future. Every time our government raises a +dollar by taxation more than sixty-five cents of it is demanded as a +tribute by this blood thirsty demon.</p> + +<p>Our situation is only a fair illustration of what exists everywhere in +the world. In round numbers about one-half of the money raised by +taxation in the leading civilized nations of the world is spent, either +in the payment of obligations of past wars, or in the preparation for +war in the future. The expense of this preparation is increasing at a +wonderful rate. Our government expends about the same amount of money as +the other leading nations of the world in the preparation for war in the +future, but for the expenses of wars that are past it expends more than +all the other nations combined. The expenses of our past wars, +consisting chiefly and mainly of pensions, are just, and no one would +cut them down, excepting as they will be curtailed by the hand of Time +as he gathers into his fold our heroes of the past. We will therefore +eliminate the past from the financial consideration of the question. +During a single year of peace, Great Britain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> Germany, France, and the +United States spent nearly one billion of dollars in making preparation +for war. All the money in the United States would only pay this enormous +expense for a little more than two years. The people of these highly +civilized countries, while in profound peace, were taxing themselves to +death, in order that the survivors might kill each other according to +the most modern methods of modern warfare with the most modern weapons +of human destruction.</p> + +<p>As startling and astounding as these figures are, they do not tell one +half of the story. Human life cannot be measured in dollars and cents; +broken hearts cannot be healed by the appropriation of money; human +suffering and misery cannot be alleviated by financial consideration, +and humanity stands helpless in the face of death and destruction. At +the fireside of practically every home in Christendom, there is a vacant +chair, made so by war. For every vacant chair there was a ruined +hearthstone; for every hearthstone there was a sorrowing widow; and for +every widow there is a fatherless child. For every penny spent for war +there is a sigh of grief; for every shilling there is a tear of sorrow; +and for every dollar there is a broken heart. The amount expended on +this account in the civilized world, in one year would give shelter to +every pauper, a home to every unfortunate, and an education to every +child. At the present rate of increasing expense it will not be long +until this great chain will break of its own weight; until every nation +will become bankrupt and every tax-payer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> will become a pauper. As this +time approaches, the forces of international peace will become more +numerous and more powerful. Humanity will shake off the shackles of +barbarism and defy the God of War upon his throne. In this battle of +reason, that tyrant of oppression, that ruler of ignorance, that demon +of superstition, in whose decree there is no mercy, in whose judgment +there is no justice, will be driven from his throne, and relegated +beyond the portals of a universal peace, to be remembered only as a +horrible nightmare of an unholy and an unrighteous past.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image12.jpg" id="image12.jpg" href="images/image12.jpg"> +<img src="images/image12_th.jpg" width="500" height="308" alt="THE ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">THE ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG</span> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span></p> +<h2>LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS</h2> + + +<p>Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this +continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the +proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a +great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived +and so dedicated, can long endure.</p> + +<p>We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate +a portion of that field as the final resting-place for those who here +gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting +and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot +dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave +men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above +our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long +remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here.</p> + +<p>It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished +work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is +rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before +us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that +cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion; that +we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that +this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that +government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not +perish from the earth.</p> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span></p> +<h2>PRESIDENT WILSON'S NEUTRALITY PROCLAMATION</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This proclamation is in strict keeping with Washington's counsel. +It is one of the greatest of President Wilson's state papers and +probably did more than any one act of his administration in keeping +the United States from becoming involved in the European war. </p></div> + + +<p><span class="smcap">My Fellow Countrymen:</span>—I suppose that every thoughtful man in America +has asked himself, during these last troubled weeks, what influence the +European war may exert upon the United States, and I take the liberty of +addressing a few words to you in order to point out that it is entirely +within our own choice what its effects upon us will be and to urge very +earnestly upon you the sort of speech and conduct which will best +safeguard the Nation against distress and disaster.</p> + +<p>The effect of the war upon the United States will depend upon what +American citizens say and do. Every man who really loves America will +act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of +impartiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned. The spirit +of the Nation in this critical matter will be determined largely by what +individuals and society and those gathered in public meetings do and +say, upon what newspapers and magazines contain, upon what ministers +utter in their pulpits, and men proclaim as their opinions on the +street.</p> + +<p>The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly +from the nations now at war. It is natural and inevitable that there +should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with +regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish +one nation, others another, to succeed in the momentous struggle. It +will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those +responsible for exciting it will assume a heavy responsibility, +responsibility for no less a thing than that the people of the United +States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its government +should unite them as Americans all, bound in honor and affection to +think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile +opinion, hot against each other, involved in the war itself in impulse +and opinion if not in action.</p> + +<p>Such divisions among us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might +seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the +one great nation at peace, the one people holding itself ready to play a +part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and +accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend.</p> + +<p>I venture, therefore, my fellow countrymen, to speak a solemn word of +warning to you against that deepest, most subtle, most essential breach +of neutrality which may spring out of partisanship, out of passionately +taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in +name during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial +in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our sentiments as +well as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference +of one party to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> the struggle before another.</p> + +<p>My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, the earnest wish +and purpose of every thoughtful American that this great country of +ours, which is, of course, the first in our thoughts and in our hearts, +should show herself in this time of peculiar trial a Nation fit beyond +others to exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of +self-control, the efficiency of dispassionate action; a Nation that +neither sits in judgment upon others nor is disturbed in her own +counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what is honest and +disinterested and truly serviceable for the peace of the world.</p> + +<p>Shall we not resolve to put upon ourselves the restraints which will +bring to our people the happiness and the great and lasting influence +for peace we covet for them?</p> + +<p>August 18, 1914.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<p class="center"><span style="font-size: 120%;">FOOTNOTES:</span></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_19" id="Footnote_1_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_19"><span class="label">[1]</span></a>From the poem entitled "Wanted," by J. G. Holland.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_20" id="Footnote_2_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_20"><span class="label">[2]</span></a>Edward Brooks.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_21" id="Footnote_3_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_21"><span class="label">[3]</span></a>From "White Bees and Other Poems," by Henry van Dyke, +copyright, 1909, by Charles Scribner's Sons. By permission of Charles +Scribner's Sons, publishers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_22" id="Footnote_4_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_22"><span class="label">[4]</span></a>This lecture is found in full in Vol. XII (1915 Edition) of +"Beacon Lights of History," copyright 1902 by the publishers, Fords, +Howard & Hulbert, and is here used by special permission of Dr. Andrews +and his publishers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_23" id="Footnote_5_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_23"><span class="label">[5]</span></a>William McKinley.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_24" id="Footnote_6_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_24"><span class="label">[6]</span></a>But one of these incidents is given in this extract.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_25" id="Footnote_7_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_25"><span class="label">[7]</span></a>Henry Ward Beecher.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_26" id="Footnote_8_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_26"><span class="label">[8]</span></a>John P. Newman.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span></p> +<h2 style="margin-bottom: 4em;">POETRY OF PATRIOTISM</h2> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<a name="image13.jpg" id="image13.jpg" href="images/image13.jpg"> +<img src="images/image13_th.jpg" width="500" height="757" alt="THE STATUE OF LIBERTY +New York Harbor" title="" /></a> +<span class="caption">THE STATUE OF LIBERTY<br /> +New York Harbor</span></div> + +<hr class="major" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span></p> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/image14.jpg" width="300" height="280" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2>CONCORD HYMN<a name="FNanchor_1_27" id="FNanchor_1_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_27" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +By the rude bridge that arched the flood,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,</span><br /> +Here once the embattled farmers stood,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And fired the shot heard round the world.</span><br /> +<br /> +The foe long since in silence slept;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;</span><br /> +And Time the ruined bridge has swept<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.</span><br /> +<br /> +On this green bank, by this soft stream,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We set to-day a votive stone;</span><br /> +That memory may their dead redeem,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When, like our sires, our sons are gone.</span><br /> +<br /> +Spirit, that made those heroes dare<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To die, and leave their children free,</span><br /> +Bid Time and Nature gently spare<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The shaft we raise to them and thee.</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span></p> +<h2>WARREN'S ADDRESS</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Stand! the ground's your own, my braves!<br /> +Will ye give it up to slaves?<br /> +Will ye look for greener graves?<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hope ye mercy still?</span><br /> +What's the mercy despots feel?<br /> +Hear it in that battle peal!<br /> +Read it on yon bristling steel!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ask it—ye who will.</span><br /> +<br /> +Fear ye foes who kill for hire?<br /> +Will ye to your homes retire?<br /> +Look behind you!—they're afire!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And, before you, see</span><br /> +Who have done it! From the vale<br /> +On they come!—and will ye quail?<br /> +Leaden rain and iron hail<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let their welcome be!</span><br /> +<br /> +In the God of battles trust!<br /> +Die we may—and die we must;<br /> +But, oh, where can dust to dust<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Be consigned so well,</span><br /> +As where heaven its dews shall shed<br /> +On the martyred patriot's bed,<br /> +And the rocks shall raise their head,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of his deeds to tell?</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;">John Pierpont</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span></p> +<h2>PATRIOTISM</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,<br /> +Who never to himself hath said,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This is my own, my native land!</span><br /> +Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,<br /> +As home his footsteps he hath turned<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From wandering on a foreign strand!</span><br /> +If such there breathe, go, mark him well;<br /> +For him no minstrel raptures swell;<br /> +High though his titles, proud his name,<br /> +Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;<br /> +Despite those titles, power, and pelf,<br /> +The wretch, concentered all in self,<br /> +Living, shall forfeit fair renown,<br /> +And, doubly dying, shall go down<br /> +To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,<br /> +Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Sir Walter Scott</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,<br /> +What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,<br /> +Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,<br /> +O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?<br /> +And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span>Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:<br /> +Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave<br /> +O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?<br /> +<br /> +On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,<br /> +Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,<br /> +What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,<br /> +As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses!<br /> +Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,<br /> +In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:<br /> +'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh, long may it wave<br /> +O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<br /> +<br /> +And where is that band who so vauntingly swore<br /> +That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion<br /> +A home and a country should leave us no more!<br /> +Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution;<br /> +No refuge should save the hireling and slave<br /> +From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:<br /> +And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave<br /> +O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<br /> +<br /> +Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand<br /> +Between their loved homes and war's desolation.<br /> +Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land<br /> +Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.<br /> +Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span>And this be our motto, "In God is our trust":<br /> +And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave<br /> +O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Francis Scott Key</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>MY COUNTRY</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +My country, 'tis of thee,<br /> +Sweet land of liberty,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of thee I sing.</span><br /> +Land where my fathers died,<br /> +Land of the pilgrims' pride,<br /> +From every mountain side<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Let freedom ring!</span><br /> +<br /> +My native country! Thee—<br /> +Land of the noble free,—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thy name I love;</span><br /> +I love thy rocks and rills,<br /> +Thy woods and templed hills;<br /> +My heart with rapture thrills<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like that above.</span><br /> +<br /> +Let music swell the breeze,<br /> +And ring from all the trees<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sweet freedom's song.</span><br /> +Let mortal tongues awake;<br /> +Let all that breathe partake;<br /> +Let rocks their silence break,—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sound prolong.</span><br /> +<br /> +Our fathers' God, to Thee,<br /> +Author of liberty,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">To Thee we sing;</span><br /> +Long may our land be bright<br /> +With freedom's holy light;<br /> +Protect us by Thy might,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Great God, our King!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Samuel F. Smith</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>THE AMERICAN FLAG</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +When Freedom, from her mountain height,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unfurled her standard to the air,</span><br /> +She tore the azure robe of night,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And set the stars of glory there.</span><br /> +She mingled with its gorgeous dyes<br /> +The milky baldric of the skies,<br /> +And striped its pure celestial white<br /> +With streakings of the morning light.<br /> +<br /> +Then, from his mansion in the sun,<br /> +She called her eagle bearer down,<br /> +And gave into his mighty hand<br /> +The symbol of her chosen land.<br /> +Flag of the free heart's hope and home,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By angel hands to valor given!</span><br /> +Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And all thy hues were born in heaven.</span><br /> +<br /> +Forever float that standard sheet!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where breathes the foe but falls before us,</span><br /> +With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 16em;">Joseph Rodman Drake</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span></p> +<h2>SONG OF MARION'S MEN</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Our band is few but true and tried,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our leader frank and bold;</span><br /> +The British soldier trembles<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When Marion's name is told.</span><br /> +Our fortress is the good greenwood,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our tent the cypress tree;</span><br /> +We know the forest round us,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As seamen know the sea.</span><br /> +We know its walls of thorny vines,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Its glades of reedy grass,</span><br /> +Its safe and silent islands<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within the dark morass.</span><br /> +<br /> +Woe to the English soldiery<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That little dread us near!</span><br /> +On them shall light at midnight<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A strange and sudden fear</span><br /> +When, waking to their tents on fire,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They grasp their arms in vain,</span><br /> +And they who stand to face us<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Are beat to earth again;</span><br /> +And they who fly in terror deem<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A mighty host behind,</span><br /> +And hear the tramp of thousands<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Upon the hollow wind.</span><br /> +<br /> +Then sweet the hour that brings release<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">From danger and from toil:</span><br /> +We talk the battle over,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And share the battle's spoil.</span><br /> +The woodland rings with laugh and shout,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As if a hunt were up,</span><br /> +And woodland flowers are gathered<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To crown the soldier's cup.</span><br /> +With merry songs we mock the wind<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That in the pine-top grieves,</span><br /> +And slumber long and sweetly<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On beds of oaken leaves.</span><br /> +<br /> +Well knows the fair and friendly moon<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The band that Marion leads—</span><br /> +The glitter of their rifles,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The scampering of their steeds.</span><br /> +'Tis life to guide the fiery barb<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Across the moonlight plain;</span><br /> +'Tis life to feel the night wind<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That lifts his tossing mane.</span><br /> +A moment in the British camp—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A moment—and away,</span><br /> +Back to the pathless forest,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Before the peep of day.</span><br /> +<br /> +Grave men there are by broad Santee,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grave men with hoary hairs;</span><br /> +Their hearts are all with Marion,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For Marion are their prayers.</span><br /> +And lovely ladies greet our band,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With kindliest welcoming,</span><br /> +With smiles like those of summer,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">And tears like those of spring.</span><br /> +For them we wear these trusty arms,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And lay them down no more</span><br /> +Till we have driven the Briton,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Forever from our shore.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">William Cullen Bryant</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>THE OLD CONTINENTALS</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">In their ragged regimentals</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Stood the old Continentals,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Yielding not,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">When the grenadiers were lunging,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And like hail fell the plunging</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Cannon shot;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">When the files</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Of the isles,</span><br /> +From the smoky night encampment, bore the banner of the rampant<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Unicorn;</span><br /> +And grummer, grummer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Through the morn!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Then with eyes to the front all,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And with guns horizontal,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Stood our sires;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And the balls whistled deadly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And in streams flashing redly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Blazed the fires:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">As the roar</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span><span style="margin-left: 8em;">On the shore</span><br /> +Swept the strong battle breakers o'er the green-sodded acres<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Of the plain;</span><br /> +And louder, louder, louder, cracked the black gunpowder,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Cracking amain!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Now like smiths at their forges</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Worked the red St. George's</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Cannoneers,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And the villainous saltpetre</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Rung a fierce, discordant meter</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Round their ears;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">As the swift</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Storm drift,</span><br /> +With hot sweeping anger, came the horseguards' clangor<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">On our flanks;</span><br /> +Then higher, higher, higher, burned the old-fashioned fire<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Through the ranks!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Then the bareheaded colonel</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Galloped through the white infernal</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Powder cloud;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And his broadsword was swinging,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">And his brazen throat was ringing</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Trumpet-loud;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Then the blue</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Bullets flew,</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span>And the trooper jackets redden at the touch of the leaden<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Rifle breath;</span><br /> +And rounder, rounder, rounder, roared the iron six-pounder,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Hurling death!</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">Guy Humphreys McMaster</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>THE SWORD OF BUNKER HILL</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +He lay upon his dying bed;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His eye was growing dim,</span><br /> +When with a feeble voice he called<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His weeping son to him:</span><br /> +"Weep not, my boy!" the vet'ran said,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"I bow to Heaven's high will—</span><br /> +But quickly from yon antlers bring<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sword of Bunker Hill."</span><br /> +<br /> +The sword was brought, the soldier's eye<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Lit with a sudden flame;</span><br /> +And as he grasped the ancient blade,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He murmured Warren's name;</span><br /> +Then said, "My boy, I leave you gold—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But what is richer still,</span><br /> +I leave you, mark me, mark me now—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sword of Bunker Hill.</span><br /> +<br /> +"'Twas on that dread, immortal day,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I dared the Briton's band,</span><br /> +A captain raised this blade on me—<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">I tore it from his hand:</span><br /> +And while the glorious battle raged,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It lightened freedom's will—</span><br /> +For, boy, the God of freedom blessed<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The sword of Bunker Hill.</span><br /> +<br /> +"Oh, keep the sword!"—his accents broke—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A smile—and he was dead—</span><br /> +But his wrinkled hand still grasped the blade<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Upon that dying bed.</span><br /> +The son remains; the sword remains—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Its glory growing still—</span><br /> +And twenty millions bless the sire,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sword of Bunker Hill.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">William Ross Wallace</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>LIBERTY TREE<a name="FNanchor_2_28" id="FNanchor_2_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_28" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +In a chariot of light from the regions of day,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Goddess of Liberty came;</span><br /> +Ten thousand celestials directed the way,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hither conducted the dame.</span><br /> +A fair budding branch from the gardens above,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where millions with millions agree,</span><br /> +She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the plant she named <i>Liberty Tree</i>.</span><br /> +<br /> +The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Like a native it flourished and bore;</span><br /> +The fame of its fruit drew the nation's around,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">To seek out this peaceable shore.</span><br /> +Unmindful of names or distinctions they came,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For freemen like brothers agree;</span><br /> +With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And their temple was <i>Liberty Tree</i>.</span><br /> +<br /> +Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their bread in contentment they ate</span><br /> +Unvexed with the troubles of silver and gold,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cares of the grand and the great.</span><br /> +With timber and tar they Old England supplied,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And supported her power on the sea;</span><br /> +Her battles they fought, without getting a groat,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For the honor of <i>Liberty Tree</i>.</span><br /> +<br /> +But hear, O ye swains, 'tis a tale most profane,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">How all the tyrannical powers,</span><br /> +Kings, Commons and Lords, are uniting amain,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To cut down this guardian of ours;</span><br /> +From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through the land let the sound of it flee,</span><br /> +Let the far and the near, all unite with a cheer,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In defense of our <i>Liberty Tree</i>.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 16em;">Thomas Paine</span><br /> +</div> +<hr class="major" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image15.jpg" width="500" height="332" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + + + +<h2>THE RISING IN 1776.<a name="FNanchor_3_29" id="FNanchor_3_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_29" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></h2> + +<div class="poem"> +Out of the North the wild news came,<br /> +Far flashing on its wings of flame,<br /> +Swift as the boreal light which flies<br /> +At midnight through the startled skies.<br /> +And there was tumult in the air,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The fife's shrill note, the drum's loud beat,</span><br /> +And through the wide land everywhere<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The answering tread of hurrying feet;</span><br /> +While the first oath of Freedom's gun,<br /> +Came on the blast from Lexington;<br /> +And Concord, roused, no longer tame,<br /> +Forgot her old baptismal name,<br /> +Made bare her patriot arm of power,<br /> +And swelled the discord of the hour.<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span>Within its shade of elm and oak<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The church of Berkeley Manor stood;</span><br /> +There Sunday found the rural folk,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And some esteemed of gentle blood.</span><br /> +In vain their feet with loitering tread<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Passed 'mid the graves where rank is naught;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All could not read the lesson taught</span><br /> +In that republic of the dead.<br /> +<br /> +How sweet the hour of Sabbath talk,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The vale with peace and sunshine full</span><br /> +Where all the happy people walk,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Decked in their homespun flax and wool!</span><br /> +Where youth's gay hats with blossoms bloom;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And every maid with simple art,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Wears on her breast, like her own heart,</span><br /> +A bud whose depths are all perfume;<br /> +While every garment's gentle stir<br /> +Is breathing rose and lavender.<br /> +<br /> +The pastor came; his snowy locks<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hallowed his brow of thought and care;</span><br /> +And calmly, as shepherds lead their flocks,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He led into the house of prayer.</span><br /> +The pastor rose; the prayer was strong;<br /> +The psalm was warrior David's song;<br /> +The text, a few short words of might—<br /> +"The Lord of hosts shall arm the right!"<br /> +<br /> +He spoke of wrongs too long endured,<br /> +Of sacred rights to be secured;<br /> +Then from his patriot tongue of flame<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span>The startling words for Freedom came.<br /> +The stirring sentences he spake<br /> +Compelled the heart to glow or quake,<br /> +And, rising on his theme's broad wing,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And grasping in his nervous hand</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The imaginary battle brand,</span><br /> +In face of death he dared to fling<br /> +Defiance to a tyrant king.<br /> +<br /> +Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed<br /> +In eloquence of attitude,<br /> +Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher;<br /> +Then swept his kindling glance of fire<br /> +From startled pew to breathless choir;<br /> +When suddenly his mantle wide<br /> +His hands impatient flung aside,<br /> +And, lo! he met their wondering eyes<br /> +Complete in all a warrior's guise.<br /> +<br /> +A moment there was awful pause—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When Berkeley cried, "Cease, traitor! cease!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">God's temple is the house of peace!"</span><br /> +The other shouted, "Nay, not so,<br /> +When God is with our righteous cause;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His holiest places then are ours,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His temples are our forts and towers.</span><br /> +That frown upon the tyrant foe;<br /> +In this, the dawn of Freedom's day,<br /> +There is a time to fight and pray!"<br /> +<br /> +And now before the open door—<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The warrior priest had ordered so—</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span>The enlisting trumpet's sudden roar<br /> +Rang through the chapel, o'er and o'er,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Its long reverberating blow,</span><br /> +So loud and clear, it seemed the ear<br /> +Of dusty death must wake and hear.<br /> +And there the startling drum and fife<br /> +Fired the living with fiercer life;<br /> +While overhead, with wild increase,<br /> +Forgetting its ancient toll of peace,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The great bell swung as ne'er before;</span><br /> +It seemed as it would never cease;<br /> +And every word its ardor flung<br /> +From off its jubilant iron tongue<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Was, "War! War! War!"</span><br /> +<br /> +"Who dares?"—this was the patriot's cry,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As striding from the desk he came—</span><br /> +"Come out with me, in Freedom's name,<br /> +For her to live, for her to die?"<br /> +A hundred hands flung up reply,<br /> +A hundred voices answered, "I!"<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 13em;">Thomas Buchanan Read</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span></p> +<h2>AMERICA<a name="FNanchor_4_30" id="FNanchor_4_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_30" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Foreseen in the vision of sages,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Foretold when martyrs bled,</span><br /> +She was born of the longing of ages,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By the truth of the noble dead</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And the faith of the living fed!</span><br /> +No blood in her lightest veins<br /> +Frets at remembered chains,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor shame of bondage has bowed her head.</span><br /> +In her form and features still<br /> +The unblenching Puritan will,<br /> +Cavalier honor, Huguenot grace,<br /> +The Quaker truth and sweetness,<br /> +And the strength of the danger-girdled race<br /> +Of Holland, blend in a proud completeness.<br /> +<br /> +From the homes of all, where her being began,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She took what she gave to Man;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Justice, that knew no station,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Belief, as soul decreed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Free air for aspiration,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Free force for independent deed!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">She takes, but to give again,</span><br /> +As the sea returns the rivers in rain;<br /> +And gathers the chosen of her seed<br /> +From the hunted of every crown and creed.<br /> +<br /> +Her Germany dwells by a gentler Rhine;<br /> +Her Ireland sees the old sunburst shine;<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span>Her France pursues some dream divine;<br /> +Her Norway keeps his mountain pine;<br /> +Her Italy waits by the western brine;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, broad-based under all,</span><br /> +Is planted England's oaken-hearted mood,<br /> +As rich in fortitude<br /> +As e'er went worldward from the island-wall!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fused in her candid light,</span><br /> +To one strong race all races here unite;<br /> +Tongues melt in hers, hereditary foemen<br /> +Forget their sword and slogan, kith and clan.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twas glory, once to be a Roman:</span><br /> +She makes it glory, now, to be a man!<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 16em;">Bayard Taylor</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>THE BLUE AND THE GRAY</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +By the flow of the inland river,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Whence the fleets of iron have fled,</span><br /> +Where the blades of the grave grass quiver,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Asleep are the ranks of the dead:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the sod and the dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Waiting the judgment day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the one, the Blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Under the other, the Gray.</span><br /> +<br /> +These in the robings of glory,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Those in the gloom of defeat,</span><br /> +All with the battle blood gory,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the dusk of eternity meet:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the sod and the dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Waiting the judgment day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the laurel, the Blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Under the willow, the Gray.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span>From the silence of sorrowful hours<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The desolate mourners go,</span><br /> +Lovingly laden with flowers<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Alike for the friend and the foe:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the sod and the dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Waiting the judgment day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the roses, the Blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Under the lilies, the Gray.</span><br /> +<br /> +So with an equal splendor<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The morning sun rays fall,</span><br /> +With a touch impartially tender,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On the blossoms blooming for all:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the sod and the dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Waiting the judgment day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Broidered with gold, the Blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Mellowed with gold, the Gray.</span><br /> +<br /> +So, when the summer calleth,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On forest and field of grain,</span><br /> +With an equal murmur falleth<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The cooling drip of the rain:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the sod and the dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Waiting the judgment day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Wet with the rain, the Blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">Wet with the rain, the Gray.</span><br /> +<br /> +Sadly, but not with upbraiding,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The generous deed was done,</span><br /> +In the storm of the years that are fading,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">No braver battle was won</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the sod and the dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Waiting the judgment day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the blossoms, the Blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Under the garlands, the Gray.</span><br /> +<br /> +No more shall the war cry sever,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or the winding rivers be red;</span><br /> +They banish our anger forever<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When they laurel the graves of our dead!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Under the sod and the dew,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Waiting the judgment day;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Love and tears for the Blue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Tears and love for the Gray.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 14em;">Francis Miles Finch</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>ABRAHAM LINCOLN<a name="FNanchor_5_31" id="FNanchor_5_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_31" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Life may be given in many ways,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And loyalty to Truth be sealed</span><br /> +As bravely in the closet as the field,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So bountiful is Fate;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">But then to stand beside her,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">When craven churls deride her,</span><br /> +To front a lie in arms and not to yield,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">This shows, methinks, God's plan</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And measure of a stalwart man,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Limbed like the old heroic breeds,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Who stand self-poised on manhood's solid earth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not forced to frame excuses for his birth,</span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">282</a></span>Fed from within with all the strength he needs.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Such was he, our martyr chief,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Whom late the Nation he had led,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">With ashes on her head,</span><br /> +Wept with the passion of an angry grief:<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Forgive me, if from present things I turn</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To speak what in my heart will beat and burn,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And hang my wreath on his world-honored urn.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Nature, they say, doth dote,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And cannot make a man</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Save on some worn-out plan,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Repeating us by rote:</span><br /> +For him her Old-World molds aside she threw,<br /> +And, choosing sweet clay from the breast<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Of the unexhausted West,</span><br /> +With stuff untainted shaped a hero new,<br /> +Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">How beautiful to see</span><br /> +Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed,<br /> +Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead;<br /> +One whose meek flock the people joyed to be,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Not lured by any cheat of birth,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But by his clear-grained human worth,</span><br /> +And brave old wisdom of sincerity!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They knew that outward grace is dust;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They could not choose but trust</span><br /> +In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And supple-tempered will</span><br /> +That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust.<br /> +His was no lonely mountain peak of mind,<br /> +Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars,<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span>A sea mark now, now lost in vapor's blind;<br /> +Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined,<br /> +Fruitful and friendly for all human kind,<br /> +Yet also nigh to Heaven and loved of loftiest stars.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Nothing of Europe here,</span><br /> +Or, then, of Europe fronting mornward still,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ere any names of serf and peer</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Could Nature's equal scheme deface</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And thwart her genial will;</span><br /> +Here was a type of the true elder race,<br /> +And one of Plutarch's men talked with us face to face.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I praise him not; it were too late;</span><br /> +And some innative weakness there must be<br /> +In him who condescends to victory<br /> +Such as the Present gives, and cannot wait,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Safe in himself as in a fate.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">So always firmly he:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">He knew to bide his time,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And can his fame abide,</span><br /> +Still patient in his simple faith sublime,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till the wise years decide.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Great captains, with their guns and drums,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Disturb our judgment for the hour,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But at last silence comes!</span><br /> +These all are gone, and standing like a tower,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our children shall behold his fame,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">New birth of our new soil, the first American.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 18em;">James Russell Lowell</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span></p> +<h2>THE FLAG GOES BY</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Hats off!<br /> +Along the street there comes<br /> +A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,<br /> +A flash of color beneath the sky:<br /> +Hats off!<br /> +The flag is passing by!<br /> +<br /> +Blue and crimson and white it shines,<br /> +Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines,<br /> +Hats off!<br /> +The colors before us fly;<br /> +But more than the flag is passing by.<br /> +<br /> +Sea fights and land fights, grim and great,<br /> +Fought to make and save the State:<br /> +Weary marches and sinking ships;<br /> +Cheers of victory on dying lips;<br /> +<br /> +Days of plenty and years of peace;<br /> +March of a strong land's swift increase;<br /> +Equal justice, right, and law,<br /> +Stately honor and reverend awe;<br /> +<br /> +Sign of a nation, great and strong<br /> +To ward her people from foreign wrong:<br /> +Pride and glory and honor—all<br /> +Live in the colors to stand or fall.<br /> +Hats off!<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span>Along the street there comes<br /> +A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;<br /> +And loyal hearts are beating high:<br /> +Hats off!<br /> +The flag is passing by!<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Henry Holcomb Bennett</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /> +<h2>THE SHIP OF STATE</h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!<br /> +Sail on, O <span class="smcap">Union</span>, strong and great!<br /> +Humanity with all its fears,<br /> +With all the hopes of future years,<br /> +Is hanging breathless on thy fate!<br /> +We know what Master laid thy keel,<br /> +What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,<br /> +Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,<br /> +What anvils rang, what hammers beat,<br /> +In what a forge and what a heat<br /> +Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!<br /> +Fear not each sudden sound and shock,<br /> +'Tis of the wave and not the rock;<br /> +'Tis but the flapping of the sail,<br /> +And not a rent made by the gale!<br /> +In spite of rock and tempest's roar<br /> +In spite of false lights on the shore,<br /> +Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!<br /> +Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee,<br /> +Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,<br /> +Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,<br /> +Are all with thee—are all with thee!<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 11em;">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr class="major" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span></p> +<h2>THE NAME OF OLD GLORY<a name="FNanchor_6_32" id="FNanchor_6_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_32" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></h2> + + +<div class="poem"> +Old Glory! say who,<br /> +By the ships and the crew,<br /> +And the long, blended ranks of the grey and the blue—<br /> +Who gave you, Old Glory, the name that you bear<br /> +With such pride everywhere<br /> +As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air<br /> +And leap out full length as we're wanting you to?<br /> +Who gave you that name, with the ring of the same,<br /> +And the honor and fame so becoming to you?—<br /> +Your stripes streaked in ripples of white and of red,<br /> +With your stars at their glittering best overhead—<br /> +By day or by night,<br /> +Their delightfulest light<br /> +Laughing down from their little square heaven of blue!<br /> +Who gave you the name of Old Glory?—say who—<br /> +Who gave you the name of Old Glory?<br /> +<br /> +The old banner lifted, and faltering then,<br /> +In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again.<br /> +<br /> +Old Glory,—speak out!—we are asking about<br /> +How you happened to "favor" a name, so to say,<br /> +That sounds so familiar and careless and gay<br /> +As we cheer it and shout in our wild, breezy way—<br /> +We—the <i>crowd</i>, every man of us, calling you that—<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span>We—Tom, Dick and Harry—each swinging his hat—<br /> +And hurrahing "Old Glory," like you were our kind,<br /> +When—Lord—we all know we're as common as sin!<br /> +<br /> +And yet it just seems like you <i>humor</i> us all<br /> +And waft us your thanks as we hail you and fall<br /> +Into line, with you over us, waving us on<br /> +Where our glorified, sanctified betters have gone—<br /> +And this is the reason we're wanting to know—<br /> +(And we're wanting it so!<br /> +Where our own fathers went, we are willing to go)<br /> +Who gave you the name of Old Glory—Oho!<br /> +Who gave you the name of Old Glory?<br /> +<br /> +The old flag unfurled in a billowy thrill<br /> +For an instant, then wistfully sighed and was still.<br /> +<br /> +Old Glory—the story we're wanting to hear<br /> +Is what the plain facts of your christening were—<br /> +For your name—just to hear it,<br /> +Repeat it, and cheer it, 's a tang to the spirit<br /> +As salt as a tear;—<br /> +And seeing you fly, and the boys marching by,<br /> +There's a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye<br /> +And an aching to live for you always—or die,<br /> +If, dying, we still keep you waving on high.<br /> +And so, by our love<br /> +For you, floating above,<br /> +And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof,<br /> +Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span>Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory?<br /> +Then the old banner leaped, like a sail in the blast,<br /> +And fluttered an audible answer at last.<br /> +<br /> +And it spake, with a shake of the voice, and it said:—<br /> +By the driven snow-white and the living blood-red<br /> +Of my bars, and their heaven of stars overhead—<br /> +By the symbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast,<br /> +As I float from the steeple, or flap at the mast,<br /> +Or droop o'er the sod where the long grasses nod,—<br /> +My name is as old as the glory of God,<br /> +... So I came by the name of Old Glory.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 16em;">James Whitcomb Riley</span><br /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<p class="center"><span style="font-size: 120%;">FOOTNOTES:</span></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_27" id="Footnote_1_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_27"><span class="label">[1]</span></a>By Ralph Waldo Emerson, at the dedication, April 19, 1836, +of the monument erected at Concord in honor of the patriots who fell in +the battle of Lexington sixty-one years before.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_28" id="Footnote_2_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_28"><span class="label">[2]</span></a>Published in the Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_29" id="Footnote_3_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_29"><span class="label">[3]</span></a>Used with the courteous permission of the publishers, The +J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_30" id="Footnote_4_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_30"><span class="label">[4]</span></a>From the National Ode, July 4, 1876.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_31" id="Footnote_5_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_31"><span class="label">[5]</span></a>From the Ode recited at the Harvard Commemoration, July 21, +1865.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_32" id="Footnote_6_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_32"><span class="label">[6]</span></a>From the Biographical Edition of the Complete Works of +James Whitcomb Riley. Copyright 1913. Used by special permission of the +publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.</p></div> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA FIRST***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 24798-h.txt or 24798-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/9/24798">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/7/9/24798</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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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Gutenberg eBook, America First, by Various, Edited by Jasper +L. McBrien + + +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: America First + Patriotic Readings + + +Author: Various + +Editor: Jasper L. McBrien + +Release Date: March 10, 2008 [eBook #24798] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA FIRST*** + + +E-text prepared by Brian Sogard, Greg Bergquist, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 24798-h.htm or 24798-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/9/24798/24798-h/24798-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/9/24798/24798-h.zip) + + + + + +AMERICA FIRST + +Patriotic Readings + +by + +JASPER L. McBRIEN, A. M. + +Former State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Nebraska +and Now School Extension Specialist for the United +States Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: AMERICA FIRST] + + + +[Illustration] + + +American Book Company +New York Cincinnati Chicago + +Copyright, 1916 +by Jasper L. McBrien +All rights reserved + +AMERICA FIRST + +W. P. 7 + + + + +FOREWORD + + +America First was the central thought in President Wilson's address to +the Daughters of the American Revolution on the twenty-fifth anniversary +of their organization--their Silver Jubilee--in Washington, D. C., +October 11, 1915. The president declared in this address that all +citizens should make it plain whether their sympathies for foreign +countries come before their love of the United States, or whether they +are for America first, last, and all the time. He asserted, also, that +our people need all of their patriotism in this confusion of tongues in +which we find ourselves over the European war. + +The press throughout the country has taken up the thought of the +President and, seconded by the efforts of the Bureau of Education, has +done loyal work in making "America First" our national slogan. This is +all good so far as it goes--especially among the adult population, many +of whom must be educated, if educated at all, on the run. But the rising +generation, both native-born and foreign, to get the full meaning of +this slogan in its far-reaching significance, must have time for study +and reflection along patriotic lines. There must be the right material +on which the American youth may settle their thoughts for a definite end +in patriotism if our country is to have a new birth of freedom and if +"this government of the people, by the people, and for the people is not +to perish from the earth." The prime and vital service of amalgamating +into one homogeneous body the children alike of those who are born here +and of those who come here from so many different lands must be rendered +this Republic by the school teachers of America. + +The purpose of this book is to furnish the teachers and pupils of our +country, material with which the idea of true Americanism may be +developed until "America First" shall become the slogan of every man, +woman, and child in the United States. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS + + _Jasper L. McBrien_ + + INTRODUCTION 13 + + TABLEAU--THE SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SIX 19 + + CAST OF CHARACTERS 20 + + THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS--A DRAMATIZATION 21 + + + AMERICAN PATRIOTISM + + WHAT IS PATRIOTISM _Jasper L. McBrien_ 71 + + AMERICA FOR ME _Henry van Dyke_ 73 + + AMERICA FIRST _Woodrow Wilson_ 75 + + THE MEANING OF THE FLAG _Woodrow Wilson_ 83 + + MAKERS OF THE FLAG _Franklin K. Lane_ 87 + + THE FLAG OF THE UNION FOREVER _Fitzhugh Lee_ 90 + + FAREWELL ADDRESS _George Washington_ 94 + + WASHINGTON _John W. Daniel_ 104 + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN _Henry Watterson_ 129 + + SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS _Abraham Lincoln_ 151 + + ROBERT E. LEE _E. Benjamin Andrews_ 154 + + OUR REUNITED COUNTRY _Clark Howell_ 163 + + THE BLUE AND THE GRAY _Henry Cabot Lodge_ 171 + + A REMINISCENCE OF GETTYSBURG _John B. Gordon_ 175 + + THE NEW SOUTH _Henry W. Grady_ 181 + + THE DUTY AND VALUE OF PATRIOTISM _Archbishop Ireland_ 195 + + OUR COUNTRY _William McKinley_ 202 + + BEHOLD THE AMERICAN _T. DeWitt Talmage_ 206 + + THE HOLLANDER AS AN AMERICAN _Theodore Roosevelt_ 212 + + THE ADOPTED CITIZEN _Ulysses S. Grant_ 217 + + OUR NAVY _Hampton L. Carson_ 220 + + THE PATRIOTISM OF PEACE _William J. Bryan_ 232 + + A PLEA FOR UNIVERSAL PEACE _George W. Norris_ 238 + + GETTYSBURG ADDRESS _Abraham Lincoln_ 255 + + NEUTRALITY PROCLAMATION _Woodrow Wilson_ 256 + + + POETRY OF PATRIOTISM + + CONCORD HYMN _Ralph Waldo Emerson_ 261 + + WARREN'S ADDRESS _John Pierpont_ 262 + + PATRIOTISM _Sir Walter Scott_ 263 + + THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER _Francis Scott Key_ 263 + + MY COUNTRY _Samuel F. Smith_ 265 + + THE AMERICAN FLAG _Joseph Rodman Drake_ 266 + + SONG OF MARION'S MEN _William Cullen Bryant_ 267 + + THE OLD CONTINENTALS _Guy Humphreys McMaster_ 269 + + THE SWORD OF BUNKER HILL _Wm. Ross Wallace_ 271 + + LIBERTY TREE _Thomas Paine_ 272 + + THE RISING IN 1776 _Thomas Buchanan Read_ 274 + + AMERICA _Bayard Taylor_ 278 + + THE BLUE AND THE GRAY _Francis M. Finch_ 279 + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN _James Russell Lowell_ 281 + + THE FLAG GOES BY _Henry Holcomb Bennett_ 284 + + THE SHIP OF STATE _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 285 + + THE NAME OF OLD GLORY _James Whitcomb Riley_ 286 + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + +Acknowledgments for permission to use copyrighted and other valuable +material in this volume are hereby tendered to authors and publishers as +follows: + +To President Woodrow Wilson for his three addresses "America First," +"The Meaning of the Flag," and "Neutrality Proclamation." + +To Secretary Franklin K. Lane for his speech on "The Makers of the +Flag." + +To William Jennings Bryan and his publishers, Funk and Wagnalls Company, +New York and London, for extracts from his address on "The Patriotism of +Peace." + +To Archbishop Ireland for extracts from his address on "The Duty and +Value of Patriotism." + +To George L. Schuman and Company, publishers of _Modern Eloquence_, +Chicago, for the following extracts and addresses: "Our Country," by +William McKinley; "Our Reunited Country," by Clark Howell; "The Blue and +the Gray," by Henry Cabot Lodge; "A Reminiscence of Gettysburg," by John +B. Gordon; "The New South," by Henry W. Grady; and "The Hollander as an +American," by Theodore Roosevelt. + +To A. C. Butters for the address on "Washington," by John W. Daniel, +from _Modern Eloquence_ published by George L. Schuman and Company. + +To Henry Watterson, Louisville, Kentucky, for the extracts from his +lecture on Abraham Lincoln. + +To E. Benjamin Andrews and to his publishers, Fords, Howard and Hulbert, +for the extracts from his lecture on Robert E. Lee. + +To J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, for the poem by Thomas +Buchanan Read, "The Rising in 1776." + +To Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, for the poem by Henry van Dyke, +"America for Me," and also for the extract from the poem "Wanted," by J. +G. Holland. + +To The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, for the poem by James +Whitcomb Riley, "The Name of Old Glory." + +To Henry Holcomb Bennett for his poem entitled, "The Flag Goes By." + +To Christopher Sower Company, Philadelphia, for the poem by Edward +Brooks, entitled "Be a Woman." + +The selections from the poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth +Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, and Bayard Taylor are used by +permission of and special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company, the +authorized publishers of the works of those authors. + +The thanks of the author are also extended to Nelson Warner, Katherine +M. Cook, Mrs. L. R. Caldwell, Belvia Cuzzort, W. R. Hood, and Dr. +Stephen B. Weeks of the Bureau of Education, for valuable assistance in +the compilation of this work. + + + + +THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS + +A DRAMATIZATION + +[Illustration: SIGNING THE DECLARATION] + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +This dramatization of the Continental Congress portrays the spirit of +the times during the period of the American Revolution. It deals +principally with the debates for and against the Declaration of +Independence; it is a summary of the grievances, struggles, sacrifices, +and victories of the colonies from the enactment of the obnoxious Stamp +Act by the British Parliament to the resignation of George Washington as +commander-in-chief of the American army. + +In the construction of a drama covering such a heroic period and +relating to events so momentous, all of which must pass in review before +us within an hour and a half's time, it is necessary to exercise a +certain dramatic license. The historical literalist, like the scriptural +literalist, makes the letter kill the spirit of the truth. After all, it +is not the dry facts, dates, and mechanics of history that are of +greatest importance; it is the fundamental principles, causes, and +effects underlying the events as well as the spirit of the times, that +are of first consideration. + +Any modification of historical fact in this dramatization has been made +only to give a fuller meaning to the great facts of history touched upon +therein. It is the period of the American Revolution that is to be +portrayed, as already stated--not alone those memorable days of June and +July, 1776, during which the debates on the Declaration of Independence +took place. For example, Patrick Henry was a member of the First and +the Second Continental Congress, though not a member at the time the +Declaration of Independence was debated, Washington was a member of the +First Continental Congress, but Jefferson was not. Congress was a +changing body in its membership then as is our Congress to-day. + +Jefferson declares that Patrick Henry was the man who put the ball of +the American Revolution in motion. Not to give Henry a place in this +dramatization would be like the play of "Hamlet" with Hamlet left out. + +It must be remembered that no record was made of the debates in the +Continental Congress as is done verbatim by expert reporters in Congress +to-day and published in the Congressional Record. Therefore, the +speeches herein have been adapted from such sources as Paine's +"Separation of Britain and America," Webster's "Supposed Speech of John +Adams," "Wirt's Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry," Alexander H. +Stephens's "Corner Stone Speech," Webster's "Supposed Speech of +Opposition to Independence," and Sumner's "True Grandeur of Nations." +The dialogue between Jefferson and Adams is taken from a letter of John +Adams to Timothy Pickering, dated August 6, 1822. The speeches of +Stephens and Sumner are paraphrased to suit the times to which they are +here applied. + +Great care has been exercised to place each of the leading characters in +these debates on the side in which he _at that time_ conscientiously +believed. In the roll call in this drama on the vote for independence, +the history of each colony has been thoroughly studied so as to bring +out the changed attitude of the people of the various colonies toward +independence, as well as of certain members of the Continental Congress +on this question. + +The scenes of Washington and his army just before the battle of Long +Island, the tableau of The Spirit of '76, and Washington's resignation +as commander-in-chief of the army, are introduced not alone for their +psychological effect on the dramatization proper, but for their own +worth in teaching patriotism. + +With twenty-nine leading characters the dramatization can be well +staged. But if fifty-five characters are available--the number who +signed the Declaration, and if there is room for so many, so much the +better, except as the number of performers is increased there will be an +additional expense for costumes.[1] It may be given as a reading lesson +without costumes; it may be given so as a drama; but it is a greater +success given in costumes. + +Those who take part in this dramatization should be costumed as nearly +like the characters they represent as possible. As a rule, wigs can be +rented for this purpose at a reasonable cost, and it will not be +difficult to dress in the style of the Revolutionary period--buckle +shoes, silk stockings, knee pants, ruffled shirt, and the conventional +coat of the time. + +The same freedom must be permitted and exercised in carrying out this +dramatization, that marked the actors in the Continental Congress itself +in its stormy debates and noisy sessions. Immediately following the +close of each speech there should be a clamor for recognition on the +part of the delegates, but the president will be careful to recognize +the proper person so as to make the play move without any hitch. As each +speaker proceeds there should be a reasonable number of interruptions by +applause or dissenting voices so as to play both sides as strongly as +possible. + +The parliamentary procedure must not be followed too strictly or it will +kill the interest in the play on the part of the public. It must be +given with dispatch and dramatic effect to make a happy hit. + +These debates may be considered as an oratorical contest with prizes +awarded accordingly if so desired. It adds interest to the work. + +It is hard to tell in which years of school work it is best to give this +dramatization--whether in the grammar grades, in the high school, or in +the college, for it is within the understanding of grammar grade boys; +it is not too elementary for young men in the high school; and it is +profound enough for the best thought and the best efforts of college +students. If given by grammar school boys and high school young men, it +will have a wholesome influence in training for a better citizenship at +an opportune time. If presented by college, university, and normal +school students it will give those who are fitting themselves for +teaching a valuable lesson in methods. If it were given by every grammar +school, high school, college, university and normal school, on every +Chautauqua platform, and by every patriotic society in the United States +on Washington's Birthday and other patriotic occasions, and then +repeated on the Fourth of July every year for the next decade it would +do much towards combating that dangerous "aggressive hyphenated +Americanism," that has sprung up in our country and whose baneful +effects it will take much earnest teaching to obliterate. When all +native-born children of foreign parentage, and when all citizens of +foreign birth know the story of the struggle and sacrifice by which our +country rose to her proud station it will make them feel "that they are +Americans among Americans; that they are part of America and have a +share and a duty toward American institutions." May it also cause those +native-born Americans who have become luke-warm in their love of +country, careless of its honor, and negligent in its defense to awake to +their duty with a spirit to do their duty before it is too late. May it +make of every one of us a truer American "by being wholly and without +reserve, and without divided allegiance, and with emphatic repudiation +of the entire principle of 'dual nationality,' an American citizen and +nothing else." + + _In their ragged regimentals + Stood the old Continentals, + Yielding not, + When the grenadiers were lunging. + And like hail fell the plunging + Cannon shot; + When the files + Of the isles, + From the smoky night encampment, bore the banner of the rampant_ + _Unicorn;_ + _And grummer, grummer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer_ + _Through the morn!_ + +[Illustration: TABLEAU--THE SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SIX] + +CAST OF CHARACTERS + +SPEAKERS + +FOR THE DECLARATION + +John Hancock, _President_ +Richard Henry Lee +John Adams +Roger Sherman +Benjamin Franklin +Samuel Adams +Joseph Hewes +Patrick Henry +Thomas Jefferson + +AGAINST THE DECLARATION + +Edward Rutledge +John Dickinson +George Walton +Robert Morris + +Charles Thomson, _Secretary_ + +OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS + +Josiah Bartlett +Stephen Hopkins +William Floyd +Charles Carroll of Carrollton +Samuel Chase +Benjamin Harrison +Lyman Hall +Oliver Wolcott +Elbridge Gerry +William Hooper +Benjamin Rush +Richard Stockton +Thomas McKean +Caesar Rodney + +ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS + +General Washington and his Army + +Fifer } +Drummer } Leading the Army +Little Boy } in "The Spirit of '76" + + + + +THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS + +ACT I. + + +SCENE I.--_Congress assembled; John Hancock in the chair as president; +his keynote speech._ + +JOHN HANCOCK.[2] Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--I thank you for +the signal honor you have conferred on me in making me your presiding +officer. I am glad to see so many Colonies represented in this Congress. +Let us show the nations of the old world what the people of the new +world will do when left to themselves, to their own unbiased good sense, +and to their own true interests. On us depend the destinies of our +country--the fate of three millions of people, and of the countless +millions of our posterity. Matchless is our opportunity--matchless also +is our responsibility! May the God of nations guide us in our +deliberations and in our actions. + +Everything that is right or natural pleads for separation. The blood of +the slain, the weeping voice of Nature cries, "'Tis time to part." Even +the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America, is a +strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other +was never the design of Heaven. The time, likewise, at which the +continent was discovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner +in which it was peopled, increases the force of it. The Reformation was +preceded by the discovery of America, as if the Almighty graciously +meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home +should afford neither friendship nor safety. + +The authority of Great Britain over this continent is a form of +government which sooner or later must have an end: and a serious mind +can draw no true pleasure by looking forward, under the painful and +positive conviction that what he calls "the present constitution" is +merely temporary. As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this +government is not sufficiently lasting to insure anything which we may +bequeath to posterity; and by a plain method of argument, as we are +running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, +otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the +line of our duty rightly, we should take our children by the hand, and +fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will +present a prospect which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from +our sight. + +Though I would carefully avoid giving unnecessary offense, yet I am +inclined to believe that all those who espouse the doctrine of +reconciliation may be included within the following descriptions: +Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men, who cannot see; +prejudiced men, who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who +think better of the European world than it deserves: and this last +class, by an ill-judged deliberation, will be the cause of more +calamities to this continent than all the other three. + +It is the good fortune of many to live distant from the scene of sorrow; +the evil is not sufficiently brought to their doors to make them feel +the precariousness with which all American property is possessed. But +let our imaginations transport us a few moments to Boston; that seat of +wretchedness will teach us wisdom, and instruct us forever to renounce a +power in whom we can have no trust. The inhabitants of that unfortunate +city, who but a few months ago were in ease and affluence, have no other +alternative than to stay and starve, or turn out to beg. Endangered by +the fire of their friends if they continue within the city, and +plundered by the soldiery if they leave it. In their present situation +they are prisoners without hope of redemption, and in a general attack +for their relief they would be exposed to the fury of both armies. + +Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offenses of +Britain, and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out, "Come, +come, we shall be friends again for all this." But examine the passions +and feelings of mankind, bring the doctrine of reconciliation to the +touchstone of nature, and then tell me whether you can hereafter love, +honor, and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword +into your land? If you cannot do all these, then are you deceiving +yourselves, and by your delay bringing ruin upon your posterity. Your +future connection with Britain, whom you can neither love nor honor, +will be forced and unnatural, and being formed only on the plan of +present convenience, will in a little time fall into a relapse more +wretched than the first. But if you say you can still pass the +violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt? Hath your +property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children +destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a +parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched +survivor? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have. +But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then are +you unworthy the name of husband, father, friend or lover, and, whatever +may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward and +the spirit of a sycophant. + +Gentlemen of the First American Congress, in the name of Equality, +Fraternity and Liberty, I welcome you to this council. What is your +pleasure, gentlemen? + +RICHARD HENRY LEE. Mr. President:--I wish to move the adoption of the +following resolution: "Resolved, that these united colonies are, and of +right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved +from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political +connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to +be, totally dissolved." + +JOHN ADAMS. Mr. President:--I second the motion. + +JOHN HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, you have heard the +motion of Mr. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, for immediate and absolute +independence. Are there any remarks? + +RICHARD HENRY LEE. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--Why do we delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day +give birth to an American republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and +to conquer, but to reestablish the reign of peace and law. The eyes of +Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom +that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever +increasing tyranny which devastates her polluted shores. She invites us +to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace and the +persecuted repose. She entreats us to cultivate a propitious soil where +that generous plant of liberty, which first sprang and grew in England, +but is now withered by the blasts of tyranny may revive and flourish, +sheltering under its salubrious shade all the unfortunate of the human +race. If we are not this day wanting in our duty to our country, the +names of the American legislators of 1776 will be placed by posterity at +the side of Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the three +Williams of Nassau and of all those whose memory has been and forever +will be, dear to virtuous men and good citizens.[3] + + (_At the close of Mr. Lee's brief speech there is a clamor for + recognition. John Adams is recognized._) + +JOHN ADAMS. Mr. President:--I move that a committee of five be selected +by ballot to draft a Declaration representing the views of these united +colonies. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Mr. President:--I second the motion. + +JOHN HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--The motion has +been made and seconded that a committee of five be selected by ballot to +draft a proper Declaration representing the views of these united +colonies. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? (_Calls for +the question._) + +As many as favor this motion make it known by saying "aye" (_ayes +respond_); contrary, "no" (_noes respond_). The ayes seem to have it, +the ayes have it, and the motion is carried. + +Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, I shall appoint Benjamin Rush of +Pennsylvania, Samuel Chase of Maryland, and Edward Rutledge of South +Carolina as tellers for this election and they will wait upon you for +your ballots for the committee. Please write the names of the five men +whom you wish to serve on this committee, on your ballot and deposit the +same in the hat when passed. + + (_Ballots are gathered by the tellers who report the result to the + president of the Congress._) + +Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--By your ballots you have +selected the following persons as the committee of five to draft the +Declaration as already ordered--Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams +of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of +Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of New York. Gentlemen, what is +your further pleasure? + +SAMUEL ADAMS. Mr. President:--I move that the Congress do now take a +recess until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock to give the committee just +appointed time in which to prepare the Declaration ordered. + +JOSEPH HEWES. Mr. President:--I second the motion which Mr. Adams has +offered. + +JOHN HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Congress:--It has been moved and seconded +that this Congress take a recess until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock +in order to give the committee just appointed time in which to prepare a +proper Declaration. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? +(_Calls for question._) + +As many as favor the motion make it known by saying "aye" (_ayes +respond_); contrary, "no" (_noes respond_). The ayes seem to have it, +the ayes have it, and this Congress will take a recess until to-morrow +morning at 10 o'clock. + +CURTAIN + + + + +ACT II. + + +SCENE I.--_Meeting of the Committee of Five. Livingston absent._ + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Gentlemen of the Committee, I move that Thomas +Jefferson and John Adams be appointed as a sub-committee of this +Committee of Five to draft the Declaration ordered by the Continental +Congress. + +ROGER SHERMAN. I second the motion. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Gentlemen, you have heard the motion. As many as +favor the same make it known by saying "aye." + + (_Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams are silent while Mr. Sherman and Mr. + Franklin vote aye._) + +The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and Mr. Jefferson and Mr. +Adams are elected. + +JOHN ADAMS. Gentlemen, it seems to me you have taken snap judgment on +Mr. Jefferson and myself. + +THOMAS JEFFERSON. Yes, gentlemen, you have. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. The committee has so ordered and as Congress itself +gave Mr. Jefferson the highest number of votes and Mr. Adams the next +highest number in the selection of this committee, I am sure that +Congress will be highly pleased at our having selected you for this +great work. We also feel that we should congratulate ourselves upon the +choice we have made. + +JOHN ADAMS. Thank you, gentlemen, for the compliment. + +THOMAS JEFFERSON. I join Mr. Adams in thanking you, gentlemen, for the +confidence you have in us. + +ROGER SHERMAN. Gentlemen of the committee, I move that we take a recess +until to-night so as to give the sub-committee time to prepare the +Declaration. + +MR. ADAMS. I second the motion. + +MR. FRANKLIN. As many as favor the motion make it known by saying "aye" +(_ayes respond_). The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and the +committee will take a recess until eight o'clock to-night. + + (_Mr. Franklin and Mr. Sherman leave Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson to + themselves to deliberate over the Declaration._) + +MR. JEFFERSON. Mr. Adams, I suggest that you make the draft of this +Declaration. + +MR. ADAMS. I will not! + +MR. JEFFERSON. [4]You should do it. + +MR. ADAMS. Oh, no! + +MR. JEFFERSON. Why will you not? You ought to do it. + +MR. ADAMS. I will not! + +MR. JEFFERSON. Why? + +MR. ADAMS. Reasons enough. + +MR. JEFFERSON. What can be your reasons? + +MR. ADAMS. Reason first, you are a Virginian and a Virginian ought to +appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, +suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you +can write ten times better than I can. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Well, if you are decided, I will do the best I can. + +MR. ADAMS. Very well, when you have drawn it up we will have a meeting. + + (_Exeunt Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson._) + + +SCENE II.--_Washington's Address to his Army. Washington and his army[5] +in camp on Long Island._ + +The time is now near at hand, which must probably determine whether +Americans are to be freemen or slaves, whether their houses and farms +are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves to be consigned to a +state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The +fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and +the conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only +the choice of a brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have, +therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die. + +Our own, our country's honor, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly +exertion. If we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the +whole world. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we +shall have their blessings and praises if happily we are the instruments +of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us, +therefore, animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world +that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to +any slavish mercenary on earth. + +Liberty, property, life, and honor are all at stake. Upon your courage +and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country. Our +wives, children, and parents expect safety from us only; and they have +every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a +cause. + +The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by show and appearance; but +remember that they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few +brave Americans. Their cause is bad--their men are conscious of it. If +they are opposed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with +our advantage of works and knowledge of the ground, the victory is most +assuredly ours. + + +SCENE III.--TABLEAU--"_The Spirit of '76._" + + As soon as the sound of battle has died away following the + departure of Washington and his army, put on the tableau of "The + Spirit of '76." The fifer, the drummer, and the little boy should + be good musicians playing patriotic music of the Revolution. Their + wounded and ragged comrades are seen in the background. + + +SCENE IV.--_Mr. Jefferson seated at his desk and putting on the +finishing touches to his original draft of the Declaration of +Independence. Enter Mr. Adams._ + +MR. ADAMS. Good evening, Mr. Jefferson. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Good evening, Mr. Adams. + +MR. ADAMS. Well, have you the Declaration finished? + +MR. JEFFERSON. Mr. Adams, I have done the best I could but I am not very +well satisfied with what I have written. I wish you would look it over +and make such corrections and criticisms as your judgment deems proper. + +MR. ADAMS (_studying the Declaration_). Mr. Jefferson, I am delighted +with your production. Your statements relative to the inalienable rights +of men are unanswerable and to secure these rights, governments _must_ +be instituted among men, _deriving_ their _just powers from_ the +_consent_ of the _governed_. This paragraph concerning negro slavery +meets with my approval but I fear it will not meet with the approval of +some of the Southern delegates. I congratulate you, Mr. Jefferson, on +what you have done. This document will make you immortal. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Thank you, Mr. Adams, I fear you are too extravagant in +your praise of my work. + + (_Enter Mr. Franklin and Mr. Sherman._) + +MR. FRANKLIN. Well, gentlemen, have you completed the draft for the +Declaration? + +MR. ADAMS. Mr. Jefferson has finished it. It is all his work. I have +reviewed the paper very hurriedly but in my opinion it is one of the +greatest documents ever written by man. Look it over, gentlemen, and let +us hear your opinion of it. + +MR. FRANKLIN (_studying the Declaration_). Mr. Jefferson, I congratulate +you, sir. Your declaration on the inalienable rights of men is well +stated. I agree with you that governments _derive_ their _just powers +from_ the _consent_ of the _governed_. I like that paragraph on slavery +but I believe that some of the Southern delegates will oppose it. This +is a paper of which you should be proud, Mr. Jefferson. I congratulate +you, sir. Here, Mr. Sherman, let us have your views on this Declaration. + +MR. SHERMAN (_studying the Declaration_). You have covered all our +grievances in the twenty-seven distinct charges you have made against +the present king of Great Britain. We can well afford to submit these +facts to a candid world. That paragraph on slavery, Mr. Jefferson, meets +with my approval heartily, but I fear some of the Southern delegates +will oppose it strongly. We can certainly appeal to the Supreme Judge of +the world for the rectitude of our intentions. I believe with you that +divine Providence will support us in making this Declaration good. +Therefore, I am willing to stand with you in pledging our lives, our +fortunes, and our sacred honor to this end. I do not see how I could +make any suggestions that would improve it. Mr. Jefferson, I +congratulate you on the great work you have done in this paper for our +country and for humanity. + +MR. JEFFERSON. Gentlemen, I thank you all most heartily and sincerely +for the compliments you have paid me on this paper, but I am no orator +myself, especially for such an occasion as this; therefore, I should +like to have Mr. Adams report this Declaration to the Continental +Congress, move its adoption for me, and lead in the debates in favor of +it. + +MR. FRANKLIN. Gentlemen:--I move that Mr. Adams be requested to report +this Declaration to the Congress as desired by Mr. Jefferson. + +MR. SHERMAN. I second the motion. + +MR. FRANKLIN. Gentlemen, you have heard the motion. As many as favor the +same make it known by saying "aye." (_Response of ayes; Mr. Adams is +silent_.) The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have it, and the motion is +carried for Mr. Adams to so report this Declaration. The committee is +adjourned. + +CURTAIN + + + + +ACT III. + + +SCENE I.--_The Continental Congress again in session._ + +MR. HANCOCK. (_Looking at his watch, as he calls the Congress to +order._) Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--The time has come to +which we adjourned yesterday in order to give the Committee of Five, +appointed to draft the Declaration, due time to prepare the same. Are +the gentlemen of the Committee present and ready to report? + +MR. ADAMS. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--At +the request of Mr. Jefferson and the other members of the Committee, I +beg leave to submit the following Declaration for your consideration +after it has been read by the secretary of this Congress. Permit me to +say here, however, that the credit for the authorship of this paper +belongs entirely to Mr. Jefferson. It is his work, which the other +members of the Committee are unanimous in approving. + + (_Charles Thomson, secretary of the Congress, reads the Declaration + of Independence. This part should be assigned to one who has a good + clear voice and is a good public reader. If it is thought best not + to read all of the Declaration, its most striking paragraphs should + be read. Do not forget to have the famous paragraph on slavery + read. If it were omitted the great speech of George Walton would be + out of place._) + +JOHN ADAMS.[6] Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand +and my heart to this vote in favor of this Declaration of Independence. +It is true, indeed, that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. +But there's a divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England +has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, +she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our +grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, +should we defer the Declaration? + +Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, +which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or +safety to his own life and his own honor? Are not you,[7] sir, who sit +in that chair, is not he,[8] our venerable colleague near you, are you +not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment +and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, +what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws? If we +postpone independence do we mean to carry on, or to give up the war? Do +we mean to submit to the measures of Parliament, Boston Port Bill and +all? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground +to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I +know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do we intend to +violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that +plighting, before God, of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting +him forth to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards +of the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, with our +fortunes and our lives? I know there is not a man here who would not +rather see a general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake +sink it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the +ground. For myself, having twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, +that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or +to be raised, for defense of American liberty, may my right hand forget +her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate +or waver in the support I give him. + + (_At the close of Mr. Adams' speech there is loud clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes Edward Rutledge of South + Carolina, who speaks against the Declaration._) + +EDWARD RUTLEDGE. [9]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--Let us pause! This step, once taken, cannot be retraced. This +resolution, once passed, will cut off all hope of reconciliation. If +success attend the arms of England, we shall then be no longer colonies, +with charters, and with privileges. These will all be forfeited by this +act; and we shall be in the condition of other conquered people--at the +mercy of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run the +hazard; but are we ready to carry the country to that length? Is success +so probable as to justify it? Where is the military, where the naval +power, by which we are to resist the whole strength of the arm of +England? For she will exert that strength to the utmost. Can we rely on +the constancy and perseverance of the people?--or will they not act as +the people of other countries have acted, and, wearied with a long war, +submit in the end, to a worse oppression? While we stand on our old +ground, and insist on redress of grievances, we know we are right, and +are not answerable for consequences. Nothing, then, can be imputable to +us. + + (_At the close of Mr. Rutledge's speech there is a clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes Roger Sherman of + Connecticut._) + +ROGER SHERMAN. [10]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--The war must go on. We must fight it through. And if the war +must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence? That +measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The +nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we +acknowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I +maintain that England herself will sooner treat for peace with us on +the footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to +acknowledge that her whole conduct toward us has been a course of +injustice and oppression. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting +to the course of things which now predestinates our independence, than +by yielding the points in controversy to her rebellious subjects. The +former she will regard as the result of fortune; the latter she would +feel as her own deep disgrace. Why, then, why, then, sir, do we not as +soon as possible change this from a civil to a national war? And since +we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all +the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? + +If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail. The cause +will raise up armies; the cause will create navies. The people, the +people, if we are true to them will carry us, and will carry themselves, +gloriously through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people +have been found. I know the people of these colonies, and I know that +resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, +and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its +willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the Declaration +will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and +bloody war for the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, +for chartered immunities, held under a British king, set before them the +glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them +anew the breath of life. Read this Declaration at the head of the army; +every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered +to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the +pulpit, religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will +cling around it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to +the public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who heard the +first roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers +and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill and in the streets of +Lexington and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. + + (_At the close of Mr. Sherman's speech there is a loud clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes John Dickinson of + Pennsylvania._) + +JOHN DICKINSON. [11]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--If we now change our object, carry our pretensions farther, +and set up for absolute independence, we shall lose the sympathy of +mankind. We shall no longer be defending what we possess, but struggling +for something which we never did possess, and which we have solemnly and +uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursuing, from the very outset of +the troubles. Abandoning thus our old ground of resistance only to +arbitrary acts of oppression, the nations will believe the whole to have +been mere pretense, and they will look on us, not as injured, but as +ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsibility. It will be +upon us, it will be upon us, if, relinquishing the ground we have stood +upon so long, and stood so safely, we now proclaim independence, and +carry on the war for that object, while these cities burn, these +pleasant fields whiten and bleach with the bones of their owners, and +these streams run blood. It will be upon us, it will be upon us, if +failing to maintain this unseasonable and ill-judged Declaration, a +sterner despotism, maintained by military power, shall be established +over our posterity, when we ourselves, given up by an exhausted, a +harassed, a misled people, shall have expiated our rashness and atoned +for our presumption on the scaffold. + +[Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN] + + (_At the close of Mr. Dickinson's speech there is a loud clamor for + recognition. The president recognizes Benjamin Franklin of + Pennsylvania._) + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. [12]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see, I see +clearly, through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We +may not live to the time when this Declaration shall be made good. We +may die; die colonists; die slaves; die, it may be ignominiously and on +the scaffold. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of Heaven that +my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall +be ready, at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. +But while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a +country, and that a free country. + +But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that this +Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but +it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick +gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future as the sun in +heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in +our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with +thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its +annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of +subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of +gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour has come. My +whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I +hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off +as Mr. Adams of Massachusetts began, that, sink or swim, live or die, +survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, +and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, independence +_now, and_ INDEPENDENCE FOREVER! + + (_There is a loud clamor for recognition, and the president + recognizes George Walton of Georgia._) + +GEORGE WALTON. [13]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--I am for this Declaration if the paragraph on slavery is +struck out. But I will oppose it to the end if that paragraph is +permitted to remain a part of it. There is not one good reason for +introducing the slavery question at this time. The relations between +individual master and slave have no place here in the greater and graver +matter of differences between the British Government and the American +Colonies. But since the issue is thrust upon us, I propose to meet it +squarely and fearlessly. + +Mr. President and gentlemen, you cannot make equal what God Almighty has +made unequal. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his +spots? The Bible commands in the most emphatic language that servants +obey in all things their masters. Liberty loving Greece had her slaves. +Shall liberty loving America have less? Strike out that obnoxious +paragraph and every delegate from the Southern colonies will fall in +line for the Declaration of Independence, but if you make that paragraph +a part of the Declaration many delegates from the South will withdraw +from this convention, and then you will fight your own battles. + +This paragraph on slavery is founded upon ideas fundamentally wrong. +These ideas rest upon the assumption of the equality of the races. This +is an error. It is a sandy foundation and a government founded upon it +will fall when the storms come and the winds blow. + +Let us found our new government upon the great truth that the negro is +not the equal of the white man, that slavery--subordination to the +superior race--is his natural and normal condition. This truth has been +slow in the process of its development, like all other great truths in +the various departments of science. + +Many governments have been founded upon the principle of the +subordination and serfdom of certain classes of the _same_ race; such +were and are in violation of the laws of nature. With us, _all_ the +_white_ race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of +the law. Not so with the negro; subordination is his place. He, by +nature or by the curse of Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he +now occupies in our system. The architect, in the construction of a +building, lays the foundation with proper material--the granite; then +comes the brick or the marble. The substratum of our society is made of +the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it +is best not only for the superior race, but for the inferior race, that +it should be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the laws of the +Creator. It is not for us to inquire into the wisdom of His plans, or to +question them. For His own good purposes He has made one race to differ +from another, as He has made "one star to differ from another star in +glory." + +Therefore, I declare again that you cannot make equal what God Almighty +has made unequal. He has made the negro and the white man unequal. You +cannot make them equal. And I move that the paragraph on slavery be +struck out. I have measured my words, gentlemen. The responsibility is +yours. + + (_At the close of Mr. Walton's speech there is a loud clamor for + recognition, and the chair recognizes Samuel Adams._) + +SAMUEL ADAMS. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--While I have no personal +objections against this paragraph on slavery--for personally I favor +it--yet from the standpoint of the general welfare of the colonies, I +deem it unwise at this time to take any action either for or against the +question of slavery. Therefore I second the motion of Mr. Walton to +strike out the paragraph on slavery. + +MR. HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--It has been duly +moved and seconded that the paragraph in this Declaration on slavery be +struck out. You have heard the motion, are there any remarks? + +WILLIAM HOOPER. Mr. President, before voting on this motion, I wish to +have the paragraph on slavery read again. + + (_This request is seconded by many of the delegates._) + +MR. HANCOCK. The secretary will read the paragraph on slavery again. + + (_The secretary reads the paragraph on slavery as follows:_) + +He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most +sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who +never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in +another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation +thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is +the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain. Determined to keep +open a market where men should be bought and sold, he has prostituted +his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to +restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors +might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now exciting those very +people to rise in arms among us and to purchase that liberty of which he +has deprived them by murdering the people upon whom he obtruded them: +thus paying off, former crimes committed against the _liberties_ of one +people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the _lives_ of +another. + + (_After the reading of this paragraph the delegates call for a vote + on Mr. Walton's motion._) + +MR. HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Congress, a vote is called for on Mr. +Walton's motion to strike out the paragraph on slavery. As many as are +in favor of this motion make it known by saying "aye" (_a strong aye +vote_); as many as are opposed to the motion make it known by responding +"no" (_a light vote of noes_). The ayes seem to have it, the ayes have +it, and the paragraph on slavery is struck out. Gentlemen, what is your +further pleasure? + + (_A loud clamor for recognition, the chair recognizing Joseph Hewes + of North Carolina._) + +JOSEPH HEWES. [14]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as +well as the abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have opposed +this Declaration in these debates. But different men often see the same +subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be +thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining, as I do, +opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my +sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The +question before the house is one of awful moment to this country. For my +own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or +slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be +the freedom of debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive +at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and +our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear +of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward +my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, +which I revere above all earthly kings. + +Mr. President, it is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of +hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to +the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the +part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? +Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who, having eyes, see +not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their +temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, +I am willing to know the truth; to know the worst, and to provide for +it. + +I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of +experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. +And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the +conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those +hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and +the house? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been +lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. +Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how +this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike +preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and +armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown +ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to +win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the +implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings +resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its +purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other +possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of +the world, that calls for all this accumulation of navies and armies? +No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no +other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains, which +the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to +oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for +the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? +Nothing! We have held the subject up in every light of which it is +capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and +humble supplication? What terms shall we find, which have not been +already exhausted? Let us not. I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves +longer. + + (_A loud clamor for recognition. The chair recognizes Robert Morris + of Pennsylvania._) + +ROBERT MORRIS. [15]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--I am opposed to war first, last, and all the time. It is a +relic of barbarism. I believe in the gospel of peace on earth, good will +toward men. It would be better to settle our differences with England +even by flipping a coin than by fighting and killing one another. Let us +hearken unto the voice of God as it comes ringing down the centuries +from Mount Sinai, "Thou shalt not kill." Shall this new government start +out as the Cain among the nations of earth with the blood of our +brethren upon our hands? God forbid that we make ourselves so foolish +and so reckless as this! The history of trial by battle is the history +of folly and wickedness. As we revert to those early periods in the +history of the human race in which it prevailed, our minds are shocked +at the barbarism which we behold; we are horror stricken at the awful +subjection of justice to brute force. + +Who told you, fond man! to regard that as glory when performed by a +nation, which is condemned as a crime and a barbarism, when committed by +an individual? In what vain conceit of wisdom and virtue do you find +this degrading morality? Where is it declared that God, who is no +respecter of persons, is a respecter of multitudes? Whence do you draw +these partial laws of a powerful and impartial God? Man is immortal; but +states are mortal. Man has a higher destiny than states. Shall states be +less amenable to the great moral laws of God than man? Each individual +is an atom of the mass. Must not the mass be like individuals of which +it is composed? Shall the mass do what the individual may not do? No! A +thousand times _NO_! The same laws which govern individuals govern +masses, as the same laws in nature prevail over large and small things, +controlling the fall of an apple and the orbits of the planets. + +And who is this god of battles that some of you men believe in with so +much faith? It is Mars--man-slaying, blood-polluted, city-smiting, Mars! +Him we cannot adore. It is not he who causes the sun to shine on the +just and the unjust. It is not he who tempers the wind to the shorn +lamb. It is not he who distills the oil of gladness in every upright +heart. It is not he who fills the fountain of mercy and goodness. He is +not the God of love and justice. The god of battles is not the God of +Christians; to him can ascend no prayer of Christian thanksgiving; for +him no words of worship in Christian temples, no swelling anthem to peal +the note of praise. + +Let us cease, then, to look for a lamp to our feet in the feeble tapers +that glimmer in the sepulchers of the past. Rather let us hail those +ever-burning lights above in whose beams is the brightness of the +noon-day. As the cedars of Lebanon are higher than the grass of the +valley, as the heavens are higher than the earth, as man is higher than +the beasts of the field, as the angels are higher than man, as he that +ruleth his spirit is higher than he that taketh a city; so are the +virtues and glories and victories of peace higher than the virtues and +victories of war. + +To this great work of world-wide peace let me summon you. Believe that +you can do it, and you can do it. Blessed are the peace-makers for they +are the children of God. + + (_Loud clamor for recognition, the chair recognizing Patrick Henry + of Virginia._) + +PATRICK HENRY. [16]Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Continental +Congress:--We have done everything that could be done, to avert the +storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; +we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, +and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of +the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our +remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our +supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with +contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may +we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer +any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve +inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long +contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which +we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never +to abandon, until the glorious object of our contest shall be +obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to +arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us. + +They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable +an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, +or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a +British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather +strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of +effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the +delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and +foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make proper use of those means which +the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, +armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which +we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against +us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just +God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up +friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the +strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, +sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now +too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in +submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be +heard on the plains of Boston. The war is inevitable--and let it come! I +repeat it, sir, let it come. + +It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, +peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale, +that sweeps from the north, will bring to our ears the clash of +resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we +here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life +so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains +and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may +take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! + + (_At the close of Mr. Henry's speech there are loud calls for a + vote upon the question. President Hancock orders the secretary to + call the roll of colonies in geographic order beginning with New + Hampshire._) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. New Hampshire! + +Josiah Bartlett. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--New Hampshire is +represented in the Congress by three delegates. Her people have appealed +to us and have instructed us to work for and vote for Independence. I +believe everybody knows more than any body. I consider it a signal +honor, sir, and it is the happiest hour of my life, to lead in this roll +call in favor of this Declaration. New Hampshire votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for New Hampshire."_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Massachusetts! + +SAMUEL ADAMS. Mr. President:--The king of England has set a price upon +your head and mine. If this Declaration is not made good by the people +of these colonies you and I will be shot, hanged by the neck till dead, +or burned at the stake as traitors. If we fail, my only regret will be +that I have but one life to give for my country. But with faith in the +people and in God to carry our cause through to a glorious victory, the +delegates from Massachusetts stand as one man for Independence. +Massachusetts, therefore, votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Massachusetts, and long live Samuel + Adams and John Hancock. Down with the tyrant king of England!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Rhode Island! + +STEPHEN HOPKINS. Mr. President:--Rhode Island is a small colony. She is +represented in this Congress by only two delegates. But all that we are +and all we hope to be we are ready here and now to give for +Independence. Rhode Island votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for brave Rhode Island, Stephen Hopkins, + and William Ellery."_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Connecticut! + +ROGER SHERMAN. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--I have already addressed +you at some length in favor of this Declaration. It becomes my happy +duty now to cast the unanimous vote of the four delegates from +Connecticut for independence. Connecticut votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Long live Roger Sherman! Three cheers for + Connecticut."_) + +_Secretary Thomson._ New York! + +WILLIAM FLOYD. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--The instructions against +independence for the delegates from New York have never been recalled. +We, therefore, request the privilege to refrain from voting on this +question. We regret the situation, gentlemen! + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. New York is excused from voting on this question. + +SECRETARY THOMSON. New Jersey! + +RICHARD STOCKTON. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--I am happy to say that +New Jersey has given her five delegates in this Congress instructions to +vote for independence. New Jersey, therefore, votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for New Jersey."_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Pennsylvania! + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--From the beginning of +this Congress the delegates from Pennsylvania have labored under +instructions against independence. But during the past three months the +friends of independence in this commonwealth have worked in season and +out of season to have these instructions canceled and permission given +us to vote for independence. At a mass meeting in Philadelphia on June +18, presided over by that distinguished and influential radical, Colonel +Daniel Roberdeau, and attended by over 7,000 citizens from all sections +of the state, a public sentiment was created and started that resulted +in the overthrow of the old government of the aristocrats of the old +Assembly and then established a new government of the people under the +authority of the Conference of Committees which has given the delegates +from Pennsylvania instructions to vote for independence. Two of our +delegates, John Dickinson and Robert Morris, have retired from this +Congress considering such instructions a recall of their membership in +this body. Two other delegates from Pennsylvania, Charles Humphreys and +William Williams, question the authority of the Conference of Committees +and hold that the instructions of the old defunct Assembly are still +binding upon them. They vote against independence. But James Wilson who +has been opposed to Independence bows to the will of the people and +joins John Morton and myself in voting for Independence. Under the rule +of this Congress made in its beginning session that a majority of the +delegates from each colony, present and voting determines its vote upon +such a question as this, Pennsylvania casts two votes against +independence and three votes for independence and therefore votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Pennsylvania! Long live Benjamin + Franklin, John Morton, and James Wilson!"_) + + (_Immediately following the applause for Franklin, Caesar Rodney, a + delegate from Delaware, makes his appearance just in time to vote. + He has come eighty miles on horseback and has not had time to + change his boots and spurs and still carries a riding whip. He is + given a great ovation._) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Delaware! + +THOMAS McKEAN. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Until this moment the vote +for Delaware has been in doubt. George Read, my colleague, will vote +against independence. But thank God the timely arrival of Caesar Rodney +who joins me in voting for independence, places Delaware on the right +side of this question. To make sure of this I sent an express rider at +my own expense to Dover, Delaware, for Mr. Rodney. He has come eighty +miles on horseback at post-haste. He has not had time to change his +riding attire, but he is here in time to join me in voting for +independence. Posterity will erect a monument in his honor[17] as they +will to that other famous revolutionary rider--Paul Revere. Mr. +President, under the rule as stated by Mr. Franklin governing the votes +of colonies in this Congress, Delaware votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Hurrah for Delaware! Long live Thomas McKean and + Caesar Rodney!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Maryland! + +SAMUEL CHASE. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Maryland has passed through +a similar struggle to that in Pennsylvania as described by Mr. Franklin. +An appeal has been made to every county committee and one after another +they have directed their representatives in the state convention to vote +for new instructions to the delegates in this Congress. At last the old +instructions against independence have been canceled and new +instructions given us in an unanimous resolve to vote for independence. +See the glorious effect of county instructions! Our people have fire if +not smothered. And, therefore, Maryland votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Maryland and Samuel Chase!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Virginia! + +BENJAMIN HARRISON. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Virginia is here with a +solid delegation for independence. Our battle cry has been so well +stated by Mr. Henry that we need but to repeat it now--Liberty or Death! +Virginia votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Virginia! Long live Richard Henry + Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. North Carolina! + +JOSEPH HEWES. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--We have had a hard struggle +in North Carolina between aristocracy on one hand and democracy on the +other. But at last the people have won and North Carolina votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for North Carolina!_") + +[Illustration: From the painting by Trumbull + +THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS] + +SECRETARY THOMSON. South Carolina! + +EDWARD RUTLEDGE. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--When Richard Henry Lee's +resolution declaring for independence was first introduced I was opposed +to its adoption _at that time_. I feared that the people of my colony +were not then ready for it. I thought also that for the general welfare +of all the colonies it was then too early to declare for independence. +The contest in South Carolina for independence has been as bitter among +her own people as it has been in any of the other colonies. But opinions +alter and conditions change with the passing of time. Therefore, South +Carolina now has a solid delegation here ready to walk through the fiery +furnace of war, though it be seventy times heated, to make this +Declaration good. South Carolina votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for South Carolina and Edward + Rutledge!"_) + +SECRETARY THOMSON. Georgia! + +LYMAN HALL. Mr. President and Gentlemen:--Georgia is here with three +delegates who stand as one man for independence. Though last on the roll +of states on this question she will be among the first in her efforts +for American independence. Georgia votes _aye_. + + (_Shouts of "Three cheers for Georgia!"_) + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--Twelve of the +thirteen colonies having voted for the Declaration of Independence, and +with no colony going on record against it, I consider our action +unanimous for I am confident that the New York Assembly[18] will give +her delegation instructions to sign this document in the near future. + +JOHN ADAMS. Mr. President, I move that this Congress do now adjourn. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. Mr. President, I second the motion. + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress, it has been +moved by Mr. Adams of Massachusetts and seconded by Mr. Franklin of +Pennsylvania that we do now adjourn. As many as favor this motion make +known by saying _aye_. + + (_Unanimous response of ayes._) + +The motion to adjourn has been carried unanimously and this Congress is +therefore adjourned. + + +SCENE II.--_The Spirit of 76._ + +Here repeat the Tableau of the Spirit of Seventy-six. + + + + +ACT IV. + + +SCENE I.--_Washington's Resignation. (A special session of the +Continental Congress to receive the Resignation of Washington.)_ + +PRESIDENT HANCOCK. Gentlemen of the Continental Congress:--Eight years +ago we made General George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the armies +raised and to be raised for American Independence. Through seven long +years of war, against overwhelming odds, in which brave men did brave +deeds, the rich man gave his wealth and the poor man gave his life, +baptizing their country's soil with their own blood from Bunker Hill to +Yorktown, the brave soldiers under General Washington fought on until an +army of veteran soldiers surrendered to a band of insurgent husbandmen. +The American nation has been born. Its independence has been recognized +by Great Britain and the civilized world. Peace has come! And General +Washington desires to surrender his commission to the Congress that +elected him to this position. He is in waiting to do this. I therefore +appoint John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, +Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Samuel Chase of Maryland, Patrick Henry of +Virginia, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, and Lyman Hall of Georgia, +as an honorary committee to escort General Washington before this +Congress, to receive his resignation. + + (_General Washington is escorted before Congress and makes the + following address:_) + +_Mr. President:_--The great events on which my resignation depended, +having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my +sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before +them to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to +claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. + +Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and +pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a +respectable nation, I resign, with satisfaction, the appointment I +accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so +arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the +rectitude of our cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union, +and the patronage of Heaven. + +The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine +expectations; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and +the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases with every +review of the momentous contest. + +While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should do +injustice to my own feelings, not to acknowledge, in this place, the +peculiar services and distinguished merits of the persons who have been +attached to my person during the war. It was impossible the choice of +confidential officers to compose my family could have been more +fortunate. Permit me sir, to recommend in particular those who have +continued in the service to the present moment as worthy of the +favorable notice and patronage of Congress. + +I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of +my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to +the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence +of them to his holy keeping. + +Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great +theater of action; and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august +body, under whose orders I have long acted, I here offer my commission, +and take my leave of all the employments of public life. + + (_The Continental Congress, standing and shouting in concert, "Long + live General George Washington! First in war! First in peace! And + First in the hearts of his countrymen!"_) + +CURTAIN + + +Footnotes: + +[1] In small schools where there are not enough large boys to represent +all the characters, those who represent members of the Continental +Congress can become members of Washington's army, etc., for the other +scenes. + +[2] This speech is adapted from Paine's "Separation of Britain and +America." + +[3] Adapted from Wirt's supposed speech of Lee. + +[4] This dialogue between Adams and Jefferson is taken from Adams's +letter to Timothy Pickering. + +[5] If this is properly staged it will be very effective. National Guard +members will be glad to take part as members of Washington's army, with +their tents and uniforms and arms, if there are no school cadets to play +this part. The bugler sounds the call to arms. The soldiers fall into +line ready for the fight. Just before marching orders are given, +Washington delivers the following address, after which the curtain goes +down on this scene and the sound of battle is heard in the distance. + +[6] This is a part of Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams." + +[7] John Hancock. + +[8] Samuel Adams. + +[9] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of Opposition to Independence." + +[10] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams." + +[11] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of Opposition to Independence." + +[12] From Webster's "Supposed Speech of John Adams." + +[13] Adapted from the "Corner Stone" speech of Alexander H. Stephens, +and arranged by William R. Hood, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. + +[14] From Wirt's "Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry." + +[15] Robert Morris later signed the Declaration of Independence and +through his influence the American Revolution was financed. This speech +is adapted from Sumner's "True Grandeur of Nations" and other sources. + +[16] From Wirt's "Supposed Speech of Patrick Henry." + +[17] A monument was recently erected at Dover in his honor. + +[18] On July 9, 1776, New York instructed her delegates to sign. + + + + +AMERICAN PATRIOTISM + +[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON] + + + + +WHAT IS PATRIOTISM + + +Johnson defines a patriot as one whose ruling passion is the love of his +country, and patriotism as love and zeal for one's country. Curtis tells +us that Lowell's pursuit was literature, but patriotism was his passion. +"His love of country was that of a lover for his mistress. He resented +the least imputation upon the ideal America, and nothing was finer than +his instinctive scorn for the pinchbeck patriotism which brags and +boasts and swaggers, insisting that bigness is greatness and vulgarity +simplicity, and the will of a majority the moral law." + +While some of us cannot make Lowell's pursuit our pursuit, we all can +and should make his passion our passion. Let us all, the native born as +well as the naturalized, say, deep down in our hearts with a patriotism +and a courage that will back it up and make it good, "Our Country--right +or wrong; if she is wrong we will set her right; if she is right we will +keep her right; and so let us trust in God and believe she is right." + +Times like these demand men. Let American boys be taught in the home and +in the school and by the example of their fathers to be men among men. + + "Men whom the lust of office will not kill, + Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy, + Men who possess opinions and a will, + Men who have honor and will not lie; + Men who can stand before the demagogue + And down his treacherous flattering without winking, + Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog + In public duty and in private thinking!"[1] + +Times like these demand women! Let American girls be taught in the home +and in the school and by the example of their mothers to be women among +women. + + "Be women! on to duty! + Raise the world from all that's low; + Place high in the social heaven + Virtue's fair and radiant bow; + Lend thy influence to each effort + That shall raise our nature human; + Be not fashion's gilded ladies,-- + Be brave, whole-souled, true women!"[2] + +To help to make such men and women of all American boys and +girls--Americans in _deeds_ as well as in _words_--Americans, who +knowing their rights, dare maintain them "_without compromise and at any +cost_"--this is the purpose of the following selections. + +Jasper L. McBrien. + + + + +AMERICA FOR ME[3] + + +'Tis fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down +Among the famous palaces and cities of renown, +To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings-- +But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things. + + _So it's home again, and home again, America for me! + My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be, + In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars, + Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars._ + +Oh! London is a man's town, there's power in the air; +And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair; +And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome; +But when it comes to living, there is no place like home. + +I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled; +I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled; +But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day +In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way! + +I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack: +The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back. +But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free-- +We love our land for what she is and what she is to be. + + _Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me! + I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea, + To the blessed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars, + Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars._ + +Henry van Dyke + + + + +AMERICA FIRST + + The following address was delivered by President Wilson at the + celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Daughters of the + American Revolution, Washington, D. C., October 11th, 1915. It is + given here by special permission of the president. + + +MADAM PRESIDENT AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:--Again it is my very great +privilege to welcome you to the city of Washington and to the +hospitalities of the Capital. May I admit a point of ignorance? I was +surprised to learn that this association is so young, and that an +association so young should devote itself wholly to memory I cannot +believe. For to me the duties to which you are consecrated are more than +the duties and the pride of memory. + +There is a very great thrill to be had from the memories of the American +Revolution, but the American Revolution was a beginning, not a +consummation, and the duty laid upon us by that beginning is the duty of +bringing the things then begun to a noble triumph of completion. For it +seems to me that the peculiarity of patriotism in America is that it is +not a mere sentiment. It is an active principle of conduct. It is +something that was born into the world, not to please it but to +regenerate it. It is something that was born into the world to replace +systems that had preceded it and to bring men out upon a new plane of +privilege. The glory of the men whose memories you honor and perpetuate +is that they saw this vision, and it was a vision of the future. It was +a vision of great days to come when a little handful of three million +people upon the borders of a single sea should have become a great +multitude of free men and women spreading across a great continent, +dominating the shores of two oceans, and sending West as well as East +the influences of individual freedom. These things were consciously in +their minds as they framed the great Government which was born out of +the American Revolution; and every time we gather to perpetuate their +memories it is incumbent upon us that we should be worthy of recalling +them and that we should endeavor by every means in our power to emulate +their example. + +The American Revolution was the birth of a nation; it was the creation +of a great free republic based upon traditions of personal liberty which +theretofore had been confined to a single little island, but which it +was purposed should spread to all mankind. And the singular fascination +of American history is that it has been a process of constant +re-creation, of making over again in each generation the thing which was +conceived at first. You know how peculiarly necessary that has been in +our case, because America has not grown by the mere multiplication of +the original stock. It is easy to preserve tradition with continuity of +blood; it is easy in a single family to remember the origins of the race +and the purposes of its organization; but it is not so easy when that +race is constantly being renewed and augmented from other sources, from +stocks that did not carry or originate the same principles. + +So from generation to generation strangers have had to be indoctrinated +with the principles of the American family, and the wonder and the +beauty of it all has been that the infection has been so generously +easy. For the principles of liberty are united with the principles of +hope. Every individual, as well as every nation, wishes to realize the +best thing that is in him, the best thing that can be conceived out of +the materials of which his spirit is constructed. It has happened in a +way that fascinates the imagination that we have not only been augmented +by additions from outside, but that we have been greatly stimulated by +those additions. Living in the easy prosperity of a free people, knowing +that the sun had always been free to shine upon us and prosper our +undertakings, we did not realize how hard the task of liberty is and how +rare the privilege of liberty is; but men were drawn out of every +climate and out of every race because of an irresistible attraction of +their spirits to the American ideal. They thought of America as lifting, +like that great statue in the harbor of New York, a torch to light the +pathway of men to the things that they desire, and men of all sorts and +conditions struggled toward that light and came to our shores with an +eager desire to realize it, and a hunger for it such as some of us no +longer felt, for we were as if satiated and satisfied and were indulging +ourselves after a fashion that did not belong to the ascetic devotion of +the early devotees of those great principles. Strangers came to remind +us of what we had promised ourselves and through ourselves had promised +mankind. All men came to us and said, "Where is the bread of life with +which you promised to feed us, and have you partaken of it yourselves?" +For my part, I believe that the constant renewal of this people out of +foreign stocks has been a constant source of reminder to this people of +what the inducement was that was offered to men who would come and be of +our number. + +Now we have come to a time of special stress and test. There never was +time when we needed more clearly to conserve the principles of our own +patriotism than this present time. The rest of the world from which our +polities were drawn seems for the time in the crucible and no man can +predict what will come out of that crucible. We stand apart, +unembroiled, conscious of our own principles, conscious of what we hope +and purpose, so far as our powers permit, for the world at large, and it +is necessary that we should consolidate the American principle. Every +political action, every social action, should have for its object in +America at this time to challenge the spirit of America; to ask that +every man and woman who thinks first of America should rally to the +standards of our life. There have been some among us who have not +thought first of America, who have thought to use the might of America +in some matter not of America's origination. They have forgotten that +the first duty of a nation is to express its own individual principles +in the action of the family of nations and not to seek to aid and abet +any rival or contrary ideal. Neutrality is a negative word. It is a word +that does not express what America ought to feel. America has a heart +and that heart throbs with all sorts of intense sympathies, but America +has schooled its heart to love the things that America believes in and +it ought to devote itself only to the things that America believes in; +and, believing that America stands apart in its ideals, it ought not to +allow itself to be drawn, so far as its heart is concerned, into +anybody's quarrel. Not because it does not understand the quarrel, not +because it does not in its head assess the merits of the controversy, +but because America has promised the world to stand apart and maintain +certain principles of action which are grounded in law and in justice. +We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the +foundations upon which peace can be rebuilt. Peace can be rebuilt only +upon the ancient and accepted principles of international law, only upon +those things which remind nations of their duties to each other, and, +deeper than that, of their duties to mankind and to humanity. + +America has a great cause which is not confined to the American +continent. It is the cause of humanity itself. I do not mean in anything +that I say even to imply a judgment upon any nation or upon any policy, +for my object here this afternoon is not to sit in judgment upon anybody +but ourselves and to challenge you to assist all of us who are trying to +make America more than ever conscious of her own principles and her own +duty. I look forward to the necessity in every political agitation in +the years which are immediately at hand of calling upon every man to +declare himself, where he stands. Is it America first, or is it not? + +We ought to be very careful about some of the impressions that we are +forming just now. There is too general an impression, I fear, that very +large numbers of our fellow citizens born in other lands have not +entertained with sufficient intensity and affection the American ideal. +But the number of such is, I am sure, not large. Those who would seek to +represent them are very vocal, but they are not very influential. Some +of the best stuff of America has come out of foreign lands, and some of +the best stuff in America is in the men who are naturalized citizens of +the United States. I would not be afraid upon the test of "America +first" to take a census of all the foreign-born citizens of the United +States, for I know that the vast majority of them came here because they +believed in America; and their belief in America has made them better +citizens than some people who were born in America. They can say that +they have bought this privilege with a great price. They have left their +homes, they have left their kindred, they have broken all the nearest +and dearest ties of human life in order to come to a new land, take a +new rootage, begin a new life, and so by self-sacrifice express their +confidence in a new principle; whereas, it cost us none of these things. +We were born into this privilege; we were rocked and cradled in it; we +did nothing to create it; and it is, therefore, the greater duty on our +part to do a great deal to enhance it and preserve it. I am not deceived +as to the balance of opinion among the foreign-born citizens of the +United States, but I am in a hurry for an opportunity to have a line-up +and let the men who are thinking first of other countries stand on one +side and all those that are for America first, last, and all the time on +the other side. + +Now, you can do a great deal in this direction. When I was a college +officer. I used to be very much opposed to hazing; not because hazing is +not wholesome, but because sophomores are poor judges. I remember a very +dear friend of mine, a professor of ethics on the other side of the +water, was asked if he thought it was ever justifiable to tell a lie. He +said Yes, he thought it was sometimes justifiable to lie; "but," he +said, "it is so difficult to judge of the justification that I usually +tell the truth." I think that ought to be the motto of the sophomore. +There are freshmen who need to be hazed, but the need is to be judged by +such nice tests that a sophomore is hardly old enough to determine them. +But the world can determine them. We are not freshmen at college, but we +are constantly hazed. I would a great deal rather be obliged to draw +pepper up my nose than to observe the hostile glances of my neighbors. I +would a great deal rather be beaten than ostracized. I would a great +deal rather endure any sort of physical hardship if I might have the +affection of my fellow men. We constantly discipline our fellow citizens +by having an opinion about them. That is the sort of discipline we ought +now to administer to everybody who is not to the very core of his heart +an American. Just have an opinion about him and let him experience the +atmospheric effects of that opinion! And I know of no body of persons +comparable to a body of ladies for creating an atmosphere of opinion! I +have myself in part yielded to the influences of that atmosphere, though +it took me a long time to determine how I was going to vote in New +Jersey. + +So it has seemed to me that my privilege this afternoon was not merely +a privilege of courtesy, but the real privilege of reminding you--for I +am sure I am doing nothing more--of the great principles which we stand +associated to promote. I for my part rejoice that we belong to a country +in which the whole business of government is so difficult. We do not +take orders from anybody; it is a universal communication of conviction, +the most subtle, delicate, and difficult of processes. There is not a +single individual's opinion that is not of some consequence in making up +the grand total, and to be in this great cooperative effort is the most +stimulating thing in the world. A man standing alone may well misdoubt +his own judgment. He may mistrust his own intellectual processes; he may +even wonder if his own heart leads him right in matters of public +conduct; but if he finds his heart part of the great throb of a national +life, there can be no doubt about it. If that is his happy circumstance, +then he may know that he is part of one of the great forces of the +world. + +I would not feel any exhilaration in belonging to America if I did not +feel that she was something more than a rich and powerful nation. I +should not feel proud to be in some respects and for a little while her +spokesman if I did not believe that there was something else than +physical force behind her. I believe that the glory of America is that +she is a great spiritual conception and that in the spirit of her +institutions dwells not only her distinction but her power. The one +thing that the world can not permanently resist is the moral force of +great and triumphant convictions. + + + + +THE MEANING OF THE FLAG + + The following address on the Flag was delivered by President + Woodrow Wilson from the south portico of the Treasury Building, + Washington, D.C., June 14, 1915. + + +MR. SECRETARY, FRIENDS, AND FELLOW CITIZENS:--I know of nothing more +difficult than to render an adequate tribute to the emblem of our +nation. For those of us who have shared that nation's life and felt the +beat of its pulse it must be considered a matter of impossibility to +express the great things which that emblem embodies. I venture to say +that a great many things are said about the flag which very few people +stop to analyze. For me the flag does not express a mere body of vague +sentiment. The flag of the United States has not been created by +rhetorical sentences in declarations of independence and in bills of +rights. It has been created by the experience of a great people, and +nothing is written upon it that has not been written by their life. It +is the embodiment, not of a sentiment, but of a history, and no man can +rightly serve under that flag who has not caught some of the meaning of +that history. + +Experience, ladies and gentlemen, is made by men and women. National +experience is the product of those who do the living under that flag. It +is their living that has created its significance. You do not create the +meaning of a national life by any literary exposition of it, but by the +actual daily endeavors of a great people to do the tasks of the day and +live up to the ideals of honesty and righteousness and just conduct. And +as we think of these things, our tribute is to those men who have +created this experience. Many of them are known by name to all the +world--statesmen, soldiers, merchants, masters of industry, men of +letters and of thought who have coined our hearts into action or into +words. Of these men we feel that they have shown us the way. They have +not been afraid to go before. They have known that they were speaking +the thoughts of a great people when they led that great people along the +paths of achievement. There was not a single swashbuckler among them. +They were men of sober, quiet thought, the more effective because there +was no bluster in it. They were men who thought along the lines of duty, +not along the lines of self-aggrandizement. They were men, in short, who +thought of the people whom they served and not of themselves. + +But while we think of these men and do honor to them as to those who +have shown us the way, let us not forget that the real experience and +life of a nation lies with the great multitude of unknown men. It lies +with those men whose names are never in the headlines of newspapers, +those men who know the heat and pain and desperate loss of hope that +sometimes comes in the great struggle of daily life; not the men who +stand on the side and comment, not the men who merely try to interpret +the great struggle, but the men who are engaged in the struggle. They +constitute the body of the nation. This flag is the essence of their +daily endeavors. This flag does not express any more than what they are +and what they desire to be. + +As I think of the life of this great nation it seems to me that we +sometimes look to the wrong places for its sources. We look to the noisy +places, where men are talking in the market place; we look to where men +are expressing their individual opinions; we look to where partisans are +expressing passions: instead of trying to attune our ears to that +voiceless mass of men who merely go about their daily tasks, try to be +honorable, try to serve the people they love, try to live worthy of the +great communities to which they belong. These are the breath of the +nation's nostrils; these are the sinews of its might. + +How can any man presume to interpret the emblem of the United States, +the emblem of what we would fain be among the family of nations, and +find it incumbent upon us to be in the daily round of routine duty? This +is Flag Day, but that only means that it is a day when we are to recall +the things which we should do every day of our lives. There are no days +of special patriotism. There are no days when we should be more +patriotic than on other days. We celebrate the Fourth of July merely +because the great enterprise of liberty was started on the fourth of +July in America, but the great enterprise of liberty was not begun in +America. It is illustrated by the blood of thousands of martyrs who +lived and died before the great experiment on this side of the water. +The Fourth of July merely marks the day when we consecrated ourselves +as a nation to this high thing which we pretend to serve. The benefit of +a day like this is merely in turning away from the things that distract +us, turning away from the things that touch us personally and absorb our +interest in the hours of daily work. We remind ourselves of those things +that are greater than we are, of those principles by which we believe +our hearts to be elevated, of the more difficult things that we must +undertake in these days of perplexity when a man's judgment is safest +only when it follows the line of principle. + +I am solemnized in the presence of such a day. I would not undertake to +speak your thoughts. You must interpret them for me. But I do feel that +back, not only of every public official, but of every man and woman of +the United States, there marches that great host which has brought us to +the present day; the host that has never forgotten the vision which it +saw at the birth of the nation; the host which always responds to the +dictates of humanity and of liberty; the host that will always +constitute the strength and the great body of friends of every man who +does his duty to the United States. + +I am sorry that you do not wear a little flag of the Union every day +instead of some days. I can only ask you, if you lose the physical +emblem, to be sure that you wear it in your heart, and the heart of +America shall interpret the heart of the world. + + + + +MAKERS OF THE FLAG + + The following address was delivered by the Honorable Franklin K. + Lane, Secretary of the Interior, before the officers and employees + of this Department, about 5,000 in number, at the Inner Court, + Patent Office Building, June 14, 1914. + + +This morning, as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag dropped me a +most cordial salutation, and from its rippling folds I heard it say: +"Good morning, Mr. Flag Maker." + +"I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mistaken? I am not +the president of the United States, nor a member of Congress, nor even a +general in the army. I am only a government clerk." + +"I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice, "I know you +well. You are the man who worked in the swelter of yesterday +straightening out the tangle of that farmer's homestead in Idaho, or +perhaps you found the mistake in that Indian contract in Oklahoma, or +helped to clear that patent for the hopeful inventor in New York, or +pushed the opening of that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in +Illinois more safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. No +matter; whichever one of these beneficent individuals you may happen to +be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker." + +I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these words: + +"Yesterday the president spoke a word that made happier the future of +ten millions peons in Mexico; but that act looms no larger on the flag +than the struggle which the boy in Georgia is making to win the Corn +Club prize this summer. + +"Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the door of Alaska; +but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise until far into the night, +to give her boy an education. She, too, is making the flag. + +"Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, and yesterday, +maybe, a school teacher in Ohio taught his first letters to a boy who +will one day write a song that will give cheer to the millions of our +race. We are all making the flag." + +"But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working." + +Then came a great shout from The Flag: + +"THE WORK that we do is the making of the flag. + +"I am not the flag; not at all. I am but its shadow. + +"I am whatever you make me, nothing more. + +"I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become. + +"I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heartbreaks +and tired muscles. + +"Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do an honest work, fitting +the rails together truly. + +"Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and cynically I +play the coward. + +"Sometimes I am loud, garish and full of that ego that blasts judgment. + +"But always I am all that you hope to be, and have the courage to try +for. + +"I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope. + +"I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest dream of the +most daring. + +"I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute makers, +soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, cook, counselor, and +clerk. + +"I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of to-morrow. + +"I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. + +"I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. + +"I am no more than what you believe me to be and I am all that you +believe I can be. + +"I am what you make me, nothing more. + +"I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of +yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which makes this +Nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and your labors. They are +bright with cheer, brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you +have made them so out of your hearts. For you are the makers of the flag +and it is well that you glory in the making." + + + + +THE FLAG OF THE UNION FOREVER + + Speech of General Fitzhugh Lee at a dinner given by the Friendly + Sons of St. Patrick and the Hibernian Society of Philadelphia, at + the city of Philadelphia, September 17, 1887. The occasion of the + dinner was the one hundredth anniversary of the adoption of the + Constitution of the United States. General Lee, then governor of + Virginia, was the guest of Governor Beaver at the dinner. The + Chairman, Hon. Andrew G. Curtin [Pennsylvania's war governor], in + introducing General Lee said: "We have here to-day a gentleman whom + I am glad to call my friend, though during the war he was in + dangerous and unpleasant proximity to me. He once threatened the + capital of this great state. I did not wish him to come in, and was + very glad when he went away. He was then my enemy and I was his. + But, thank God, that is past; and in the enjoyment of the rights + and interests common to all as American citizens, I am his friend + and he is my friend. I introduce to you, Governor Fitzhugh Lee." + + +MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HIBERNIAN SOCIETY:--I am very glad, +indeed, to have the honor of being present in this society once more; as +it was my good fortune to enjoy a most pleasant visit here and an +acquaintance with the members of your society last year. My engagements +were such to-day that I could not get here earlier; and just as I was +coming in Governor Beaver was making his excuses because, as he said, he +had to go to pick up a visitor whom he was to escort to the +entertainment to be given this evening at the Academy of Music. I am the +visitor whom Governor Beaver is looking for. He could not capture me +during the war, but he has captured me now. I am a Virginian and used to +ride a pretty fast horse, and he could not get close enough to me. + +By the way, you have all heard of "George Washington and his little +hatchet." The other day I heard a story that was a little variation upon +the original, and I am going to take up your time for a minute by +repeating it to you. + +It was to this effect: Old Mr. Washington and Mrs. Washington, the +parents of George, found on one occasion that their supply of soap for +the use of the family at Westmoreland had been exhausted, and so they +decided to make some family soap. They made the necessary arrangements +and gave the requisite instructions to the family servant. After an hour +or so the servant returned and reported to them that he could not make +that soap. "Why not," he was asked, "haven't you all the materials?" +"Yes," he replied, "but there is something wrong." The old folks +proceeded to investigate, and they found they had actually got the ashes +of the little cherry tree that George had cut down with his hatchet, and +there was no lye in it. + +Now, I assure you, there is no "lie" in what I say to you this +afternoon, and that is, that I thank God for the sun of the Union which, +once obscured, is now again in the full stage of its glory; and that its +light is shining over Virginia as well as over the rest of this country. +We have had our differences. I do not see, upon reading history, how +they could well have been avoided, because they resulted from different +constructions of the Constitution, which was the helm of the ship of the +republic. Virginia construed it one way. Pennsylvania construed it in +another, and they could not settle their differences; so they went to +war, and Pennsylvania, I think, probably got a little the best of it. + +The sword, at any rate, settled the controversy. But that is behind us. +We have now a great and glorious future in front of us, and it is +Virginia's duty to do all that she can to promote the honor and glory of +this country. We fought to the best of our ability for four years; and +it would be a great mistake to assume that you could bring men from +their cabins, from their plows, from their houses, and from their +families to make them fight as they fought in that contest unless they +were fighting for a belief. Those men believed that they had the right +construction of the Constitution, and that a state that voluntarily +entered the Union could voluntarily withdraw from it. They did not fight +for Confederate money. It was not worth ten cents a yard. They did not +fight for Confederate rations--you would have had to curtail the demands +of your appetite to make it correspond with the size and quality of +those rations. They fought for what they thought was a proper +construction of the Constitution. + +They were defeated. They acknowledged their defeat. They came back to +their father's house, and there they are going to stay. But if we are to +continue prosperous, if this country, stretching from the gulf to the +lakes and from ocean to ocean, is to be mindful of its own best +interests, in the future, we will have to make concessions and +compliances, we will have to bear with each other and to respect each +other's opinions. Then we will find that that harmony will be secured +which is as necessary for the welfare of states, as it is for the +welfare of individuals. + +I have become acquainted with Governor Beaver--I met him in Richmond. +You could not make me fight him now. If I had known him before the war, +perhaps we would not have got at it. If all the Governors had known each +other, and if all the people of different sections had been known to +each other, or had been thrown together in business or social +communication, the fact would have been recognized at the outset, as it +is to-day, that there are just as good men in Maine as there are in +Texas, and just as good men in Texas as there are in Maine. Human nature +is everywhere the same; and when intestine strifes occur, we will +doubtless always be able by a conservative, pacific course to pass +smoothly over the rugged, rocky edges, and the old Ship of State will be +brought into a safe, commodious, Constitutional harbor with the flag of +the Union flying over her, and there it will remain. + + + + +FROM WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS + + The appeal for a perpetual union and obedience to established law, + the warning against the evils of partisan politics and against the + dangers of entangling foreign alliances made by Washington in this + immortal address were never more important than at the present + time. They will become more important for each succeeding + generation. Let those who would know America's mission make a + careful study of this the greatest of state papers. + + +The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now +dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of +your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your +peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty +which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from +different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken, +many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this +truth, as this is the point in your political fortress against which the +batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and +actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of +infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of +your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that +you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; +accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of +your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with +jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion +that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon +the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our +country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link +together the various parts. + +For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by +birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to +concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you +in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of +patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. +With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, +habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and +triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the +work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, +and successes. + +But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to +your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more +immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds +the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the +union of the whole. + +The _North_, in an unrestrained intercourse with the _South_, protected +by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of +the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial +enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The +_South_, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same agency of the +_North_, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning +partly into its own channels the seamen of the _North_, it finds its +particular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes in different +ways to nourish and increase the general mass of the national +navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to +which itself is unequally adapted. The _East_, in a like intercourse +with the _West_, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of +interior communications by land and water will more and more find, a +valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or +manufactures at home. The _West_ derives from the _East_ supplies +requisite to its growth and comfort, and what is perhaps of still +greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the _secure_ enjoyment of +indispensable _outlets_ for its own productions to the weight, +influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the +Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as _one +nation_. Any other tenure by which the _West_ can hold this essential +advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from an +apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be +intrinsically precarious. + +While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and +particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find +in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater +resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less +frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and what is of +inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those +broils and wars between themselves which so frequently afflict +neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which +their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which +opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate +and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those +overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, +are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as +particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that +your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and +that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the +other. + +These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and +virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary +object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government +can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to +mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope +that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of +governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue +to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With +such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of our +country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its +impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism +of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. + + * * * * * + +To the efficacy and permanency of your union a government for the whole +is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be +an adequate substitute. They must inevitably experience the infractions +and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. +Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first +essay by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated +than your former for an intimate union and for the efficacious +management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of +our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation +and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the +distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing +within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to +your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance +with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the +fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems +is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of +government. But the constitution which at any time exists till changed +by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly +obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the +people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual +to obey the established government. + +All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and +associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design +to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and +action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this +fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize +faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the +place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a +small but artful and enterprising minority of the community, and, +according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the +public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous +projects of faction rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome +plans, digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. + +However combinations or associations of the above description may now +and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and +things to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and +unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and +to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards +the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. + + * * * * * + +Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and +harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct. And can it +be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a +free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great nation to give to +mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided +by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course +of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any +temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? +Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a +nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by +every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered +impossible by its vices? + +In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that +permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and +passionate attachments for others should be excluded, and that in place +of them just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. The +nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual +fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to +its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its +duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes +each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight +causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or +trifling occasions of dispute occur. + +Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. +The nation prompted by ill will and resentment sometimes impels to war +the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. The +government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts +through passion what reason would reject. At other times it makes the +animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated +by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace +often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. + +So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces +a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the +illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common +interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, +betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the +latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to +concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which +is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by +unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by +exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the +parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to +ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the +favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their +own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with +the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable +deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the +base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. + +As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments +are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent +patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic +factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, +to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small +or weak toward a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the +satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign +influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of +a free people ought to be _constantly_ awake, since history and +experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes +of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be +impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be +avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one +foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they +actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even +second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist +the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, +while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the +people to surrender their interests. + +The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in +extending our commercial relations to have with them as little +_political_ connection as possible. So far as we have already formed +engagements let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us +stop. + +Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very +remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, +the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, +therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial +ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary +combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. + +Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a +different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient +government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury +from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause +the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously +respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making +acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; +when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, +shall counsel. + +Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own +to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that +of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of +European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? + + + + +WASHINGTON + + Address by John W. Daniel, lawyer, statesman, United States senator + from Virginia, delivered in the hall of the House of + Representatives, Washington, D. C., at the dedication of the + Washington National Monument, February 21, 1885, Mr. Daniel being + then a member of the House from Virginia. He was introduced by + Senator George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, president pro tempore of the + Senate, who occupied the speaker's chair, and presided at the + dedicatory exercises. + + +MR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, SENATORS, REPRESENTATIVES, JUDGES, +MR. CHAIRMAN, AND MY COUNTRYMEN:--Alone in its grandeur stands forth the +character of Washington in history; alone like some peak that has no +fellow in the mountain range of greatness. + +"Washington," says Guizot, "Washington did the two greatest things which +in politics it is permitted to man to attempt. He maintained by peace +the independence of his country, which he had conquered by war. He +founded a free government in the name of principles of order and by +re-establishing their sway." + +Washington did indeed do these things. But he did more. Out of +disconnected fragments he molded a whole and made it a country. He +achieved his country's independence by the sword. He maintained that +independence by peace as by war. He finally established both his country +and its freedom in an enduring frame of constitutional government, +fashioned to make Liberty and Union one and inseparable. These four +things together constitute the unexampled achievement of Washington. + +The world has ratified the profound remark of Fisher Ames, that "he +changed mankind's ideas of political greatness." It has approved the +opinion of Edward Everett, that he was "the greatest of good men and the +best of great men." It has felt for him, with Erskine, "an awful +reverence." It has attested the declaration of Brougham, that "he was +the greatest man of his own or of any age." It is matter of fact to-day, +as when General Hamilton, announcing his death to the army, said, "The +voice of praise would in vain endeavor to exalt a name unrivaled in the +lists of true glory." America still proclaims him, as did Colonel Henry +Lee, on the floor of the House of Representatives, the man "first in +war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." And +from beyond the sea the voice of Alfieri, breathing the soul of all +lands and peoples, still pronounces the blessing, "Happy are you who +have for the sublime and permanent basis of your glory the love of +country demonstrated by deeds." + +Ye who have unrolled the scrolls that tell the tale of the rise and fall +of nations, before whose eyes has moved the panorama of man's struggles, +achievements, and progression, find you anywhere the story of one whose +life work is more than a fragment of that which in his life is set +before you? Conquerors, who have stretched your scepters over boundless +territories; founders of empire, who have held your dominions in reign +of law; reformers, who have cried aloud in the wilderness of oppression; +teachers, who have striven with reason to cast down false doctrine, +heresy and schism; statesmen, whose brains have throbbed with mighty +plans for the amelioration of human society; scar-crowned Vikings of the +sea, illustrious heroes of the land, who have borne the standards of +siege and battle--come forth in bright array from your glorious +fanes--and would ye be measured by the measure of his stature? Behold +you not in him a more illustrious and more venerable presence? + +Statesman, Soldier, Patriot, Sage, Reformer of Creeds, Teacher of Truth +and Justice, Achiever and Preserver of Liberty--the First of +Men--Founder and Savior of his Country, Father of his People--this is +he, solitary and unapproachable in his grandeur. Oh! felicitous +Providence that gave to America OUR WASHINGTON! + +High soars into the sky to-day--higher than the Pyramids or the dome of +St. Paul's or St. Peter's--the loftiest and most imposing structure that +man has ever reared--high soars into the sky to where + + "Earth highest yearns to meet a star," + +the monument which "We the people of the United States" have erected to +his memory. It is a fitting monument, more fitting than any statue. For +his image could only display him in some one phase of his varied +character--as the Commander, the Statesman, the Planter of Mount Vernon, +or the Chief Magistrate of his Country. So art has fitly typified his +exalted life in yon plain lofty shaft. Such is his greatness, that only +by a symbol could it be represented. As Justice must be blind in order +to be whole in contemplation, so History must be silent, that by this +mighty sign she may unfold the amplitude of her story. + +In 1657, while yet "a Cromwell filled the Stuarts' throne," there came +to Virginia with a party of Carlists who had rebelled against him John +Washington, of Yorkshire, England, who became a magistrate and member of +the House of Burgesses, and distinguished himself in Indian warfare as +the first colonel of his family on this side of the water. He was the +nephew of that Sir Henry Washington who had led the forlorn hope of +Prince Rupert at Bristol in 1643, and who, with a starving and mutinous +garrison, had defended Worcester in 1649, answering all calls for +surrender that he "awaited His Majesty's commands." + +And his progenitors had for centuries, running back to the conquest, +been men of mark and fair renown. Pride and modesty of individuality +alike forbid the seeking from any source of a borrowed lustre, and the +Washingtons were never studious or pretentious of ancestral dignities. +But "we are quotations from our ancestors," says the philosopher of +Concord--and who will say that in the loyalty to conscience and to +principle, and to the right of self-determination of what is principle, +that the Washingtons have ever shown, whether as loyalist or rebel, was +not the germ of that deathless devotion to liberty and country which +soon discarded all ancient forms in the mighty stroke for independence? + +One hundred and fifty-three years ago, on the banks of the Potomac, in +the county of Westmoreland, on a spot marked now only by a memorial +stone, of the blood of the people whom I have faintly described, fourth +in descent from the Colonel John Washington whom I have named, there +was born a son to Augustine and Mary Washington. And not many miles +above his birthplace is the dwelling where he lived, and near which he +now lies buried. + +Borne upon the bosom of that river which here mirrors Capitol dome and +monumental shaft in its seaward flow, the river itself seems to reverse +its current and bear us silently into the past. Scarce has the vista of +the city faded from our gaze when we behold on the woodland height that +swells above the waters--amidst walks and groves and gardens--the white +porch of that old colonial plantation home which has become the shrine +of many a pilgrimage. Contrasting it as there it stands to-day with the +marble halls which we have left behind us, we realize the truth of +Emerson: "The atmosphere of moral sentiment is a region of grandeur +which reduces all material magnificence to toys, yet opens to every +wretch that has reason the doors of the Universe." + +The quaint old wooden mansion, with the stately but simple old-fashioned +mahogany furniture, real and ungarnished; the swords and relics of +campaigns and scenes familiar to every schoolboy now; the key of the +Bastile hanging in the hall incased in glass, calling to mind Tom +Paine's happy expression, "That the principles of the American +Revolution opened the Bastile is not to be doubted, therefore the key +comes to the right place;" the black velvet coat worn when the farewell +address to the Army was made; the rooms all in nicety of preparation as +if expectant of the coming host--we move among these memorials of days +and men long vanished--we stand under the great trees and watch the +solemn river, in its never-ceasing flow, we gaze upon the simple tomb +whose silence is unbroken save by the low murmur of the waters or the +wild bird's note, and we are enveloped in an atmosphere of moral +grandeur which no pageantry of moving men nor splendid pile can +generate. Nightly on the plain of Marathon--the Greeks have the +tradition--there may yet be heard the neighing of chargers and the +rushing shadows of spectral war. In the spell that broods over the +sacred groves of Vernon, Patriotism, Honor, Courage, Justice, Virtue, +Truth seem bodied forth, the only imperishable realities of man's being. + +There emerges from the shades the figure of a youth over whose cradle +had hovered no star of destiny, nor dandled a royal crown--an ingenious +youth, and one who in his early days gave auguries of great powers. The +boy whose strong arm could fling a stone across the Rappahannock; whose +strong will could tame the most fiery horse; whose just spirit made him +the umpire of his fellows; whose obedient heart bowed to a mother's +yearning for her son and laid down the midshipman's warrant in the +British Navy which answered his first ambitious dream; the student +transcribing mathematical problems, accounts, and business forms, or +listening to the soldiers and seamen of vessels in the river as they +tell of "hair-breadth 'scapes by flood and field;" the early moralist in +his thirteenth year compiling matured "Rules for behavior and +conversation;" the surveyor of sixteen, exploring the wilderness for +Lord Fairfax, sleeping on the ground, climbing mountains, swimming +rivers, killing and cooking his own game, noting in his diary soils, +minerals, and locations, and making maps which are models of nice and +accurate draughtsmanship; the incipient soldier, studying tactics under +Adjutant Muse, and taking lessons in broadsword fence from the old +soldier of fortune, Jacob Van Braam; the major and adjutant-general of +the Virginia frontier forces at nineteen:--we seem to see him yet as +here he stood, a model of manly beauty in his youthful prime, a man in +all that makes a man ere manhood's years have been fulfilled, standing +on the threshold of a grand career, "hearing his days before him and the +trumpet of his life." + +The scene changes. Out into the world of stern adventure he passes, +taking as naturally to the field and the frontier as the eagle to the +air. At the age of twenty-one he is riding from Williamsburg to the +French post at Venango, in Western Pennsylvania, on a mission for +Governor Dinwiddie, which requires "courage to cope with savages and +sagacity to negotiate with white men"--on that mission which Edward +Everett recognizes as "the first movement of a military nature which +resulted in the establishment of American Independence." At twenty-two +he has fleshed his maiden sword, has heard the bullets whistle, and +found "something charming in the sound;" and soon he is colonel of the +Virginia regiment in the unfortunate affair at Fort Necessity, and is +compelled to retreat after losing a sixth of his command. He quits the +service on a point of military etiquette and honor, but at twenty-three +he reappears as volunteer aide by the side of Braddock in the +ill-starred expedition against Fort Duquesne, and is the only mounted +officer unscathed in the disaster, escaping with four bullets through +his garments, and after having two horses shot under him. + +The prophetic eye of Samuel Davies has now pointed him out as "that +heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I can but hope Providence has +hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to +his country;" and soon the prophecy is fulfilled. The same year he is in +command of the Virginia frontier forces. Arduous conflicts of varied +fortunes are ere long ended, and on the 25th of November, 1759, he +marches into the reduced fortress of Fort Duquesne--where Pittsburgh now +stands, and the Titans of Industry wage the eternal war of Toil--marches +in with the advanced guard of his troops, and plants the British flag +over its smoking ruins. + +That self-same year Wolfe, another young and brilliant soldier of +Britain, has scaled and triumphed on the Heights of Abraham--his flame +of valor quenched as it lit the blaze of victory; Canada surrenders; the +Seven Years' War is done; the French power in America is broken, and the +vast region west of the Alleghenies, from the lakes to the Ohio, +embracing its valley and tributary streams, is under the scepter of King +George. America has been made whole to the English-speaking race, to +become in time the greater Britain. + +Thus, building wiser than he knew, Washington had taken no small part in +cherishing the seed of a nascent nation. + +[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON] + +Mount Vernon welcomes back the soldier of twenty-seven, who has become a +name. Domestic felicity spreads its charms around him with the +"agreeable partner" whom he has taken to his bosom, and he dreams of +"more happiness than he has experienced in the wide and bustling world." + +Already, ere his sword had found its scabbard, the people of Frederick +county had made him their member of the House of Burgesses. And the +quiet years roll by as the planter, merchant, and representative +superintends his plantation, ships his crops, posts his books, keeps his +diary, chases the fox for amusement, or rides over to Annapolis and +leads the dance at the Maryland capital--alternating between these +private pursuits and serving his people as member of the Legislature and +justice of the county court. + +But ere long this happy life is broken. The air is electric with the +currents of revolution. England has launched forth on the fatal policy +of taxing her colonies without their consent. The spirit of liberty and +resistance is aroused. He is loth to part with the Mother Land, which he +still calls "home." But she turns a deaf ear to reason. The first +Colonial Congress is called. He is a delegate, and rides to Philadelphia +with Henry and Pendleton. The blow at Lexington is struck. The people +rush to arms. The sons of the Cavaliers spring to the side of the sons +of the Pilgrims. "Unhappy it is," he says, "that a brother's sword has +been sheathed in a brother's breast, and that the once happy plains of +America are to be either drenched in blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad +alternative! But how can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?" He +becomes Commander-in-Chief of the American forces. After seven years' +war he is the deliverer of his country. The old Confederation passes +away. The Constitution is established. He is twice chosen President, and +will not consent longer to serve. + +Once again Mount Vernon's grateful shades receive him, and there--the +world-crowned Hero now--he becomes again the simple citizen, wishing for +his fellow men "to see the whole world in peace and its inhabitants one +band of brothers, striving who could contribute most to the happiness of +mankind"--without a wish for himself, but "to live and die an honest man +on his farm." A speck of war spots the sky. John Adams, now president, +calls him forth as lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief to lead +America once more. But the cloud vanishes. Peace reigns. The lark sings +at Heaven's gate in the fair morn of the new nation. Serene, contented, +yet in the strength of manhood, though on the verge of threescore years +and ten, he looks forth--the quiet farmer from his pleasant fields, the +loving patriarch from the bowers of home--looks forth and sees the work +of his hands established in a free and happy people. Suddenly comes the +mortal stroke with severe cold. The agony is soon over. He feels his own +dying pulse--the hand relaxes--he murmurs, "It is well;" and Washington +is no more. + +Washington, the friend of Liberty, is no more! + +The solemn cry filled the universe. Amidst the tears of his people, the +bowed heads of kings, and the lamentations of the nations, they laid him +there to rest upon the banks of the river whose murmurs were his +boyhood's music--that river which, rising in mountain fastnesses amongst +the grandest works of nature and reflecting in its course the proudest +works of man, is a symbol of his history, which in its ceaseless and +ever-widening flow is a symbol of his eternal fame. + +No sum could now be made of Washington's character that did not exhaust +language of its tributes and repeat virtues by all her names. No sum +could be made of his achievements that did not unfold the history of his +country and its institutions--the history of his age and its +progress--the history of man and his destiny to be free. But whether +character or achievement be regarded, the riches before us only expose +the poverty of praise. So clear was he in his great office that no ideal +of the Leader or the Ruler can be formed that does not shrink by the +side of the reality. And so has he impressed himself upon the minds of +men, that no man can justly aspire to be the chief of a great free +people who does not adopt his principles and emulate his example. We +look with amazement on such eccentric characters as Alexander, Caesar, +Cromwell, Frederick, and Napoleon; but when the serene face of +Washington rises before us mankind instinctively exclaims, "This is the +Man for the nations to trust and reverence and for heroes and rulers to +copy." + +Disinterested patriot, he would receive no pay for his military +services. Refusing gifts, he was glad to guide the benefaction of a +grateful state to educate the children of his fallen braves in the +institution at Lexington which yet bears his name. Without any of the +blemishes that mark the tyrant, he appealed so loftily to the virtuous +elements in man that he almost created the qualities of which his +country needed the exercise; and yet he was so magnanimous and +forbearing to the weaknesses of others, that he often obliterated the +vices of which he feared the consequence. But his virtue was more than +this. It was of that daring, intrepid kind that, seizing principle with +a giant's grasp, assumes responsibility at any hazard, suffers sacrifice +without pretense of martyrdom, bears calumny without reply, imposes +superior will and understanding on all around it, capitulates to no +unworthy triumph, but must carry all things at the point of clear and +blameless conscience. Scorning all manner of meanness and cowardice, his +bursts of wrath at their exhibition heighten our admiration for those +noble passions which were kindled by the inspirations and exigencies of +virtue. + +Great in action as by the council board, the finest horseman and +knightliest figure of his time, he seemed designed by nature to lead in +those bold strokes which needs must come when the battle lies with a +single man--those critical moments of the campaign or the strife when, +if the mind hesitates or a nerve flinches, all is lost. We can never +forget the passage of the Delaware that black December night, amidst +shrieking winds and great upheaving blocks of ice which would have +petrified a leader of less hardy mold, and then the fell swoop at +Trenton. We behold him as when at Monmouth he turns back the retreating +lines, and galloping his white charger along the ranks until he falls, +leaps on his Arabian bay, and shouts to his men: "Stand fast, my boys, +the Southern troops are coming to support you!" And we hear Lafayette +exclaim, "Never did I behold so superb a man!" We see him again at +Princeton dashing through a storm of shot to rally the wavering troops; +he reins his horse between the contending lines, and cries: "Will you +leave your general to the foe?" then bolts into the thickest fray. +Colonel Fitzgerald, his aid, drops his reins and pulls his hat down over +his eyes that he may not see his chieftain fall, when, through the smoke +he reappears waving his hat, cheering on his men, and shouting: "Away, +dear Colonel, and bring up the troops; the day is ours." "Coeur de +Lion" might have doffed his plume to such a chief, for a great knight +was he, who met his foes full tilt in the shock of battle and hurled +them down with an arm whose sword flamed with righteous indignation. + +As children pore over the pictures in their books where they can read +the words annexed to them, so we linger with tingling blood by such +inspiring scenes, while little do we reck of those dark hours when the +aching head pondered the problems of a country's fate. And yet there is +a greater theater in which Washington appears, although not so often has +its curtain been uplifted. + +For it was as a statesman that Washington was greatest. Not in the sense +that Hamilton and Jefferson, Adams and Madison were statesmen; but in a +larger sense. Men may marshal armies who cannot drill divisions. Men may +marshal nations in storm and travail who have not the accomplishments of +their cabinet ministers. Not so versed as they was he in the details of +political science. And yet as he studied tactics when he anticipated +war, so he studied politics when he saw his civil role approaching, +reading the history and examining the principles of ancient and modern +confederacies, and making notes of their virtues, defects, and methods +of operation. + +His pen did not possess the facile play and classic grace of their pens, +but his vigorous eloquence had the clear ring of our mother tongue. I +will not say that he was so astute, so quick, so inventive as the one or +another of them--that his mind was characterized by the vivacity of wit, +the rich colorings of fancy, or daring flights of imagination. But with +him thought and action like well-trained coursers kept abreast in the +chariot race, guided by an eye that never quailed, reined by a hand that +never trembled. He had a more infallible discrimination of circumstances +and men than any of his contemporaries. He weighed facts in a juster +scale, with larger equity, and firmer equanimity. He best applied to +them the lessons of experience. With greater ascendancy of character he +held men to their appointed tasks; with more inspiring virtue he +commanded more implicit confidence. He bore a truer divining-rod, and +through a wilderness of contention he alone was the unerring Pathfinder +of the People. There can, indeed, be no right conception of Washington +that does not accord him a great and extraordinary genius. I will not +say he could have produced a play of Shakespeare, or a poem of Milton, +handled with Kant the tangled skein of metaphysics, probed the secrecies +of mind and matter with Bacon, constructed a railroad or an engine like +Stephenson, wooed the electric spark from heaven to earth with Franklin, +or walked with Newton the pathways of the spheres. But if his genius +were of a different order, it was of as rare and high an order. It dealt +with man in the concrete, with his vast concerns of business stretching +over a continent and projected into the ages, with his seething +passions; with his marvelous exertions of mind, body, and spirit to be +free. He knew the materials he dealt with by intuitive perception of the +heart of man, by experience and observation of his aspirations and his +powers, by reflection upon his complex relations, rights, and duties as +a social being. He knew just where, between men and states, to erect the +monumental mark to divide just reverence for authority from just +resistance to its abuse. A poet of social facts, he interpreted by his +deeds the harmonies of justice. + +First to perceive, and swift to point out, the defects in the Articles +of Confederation, they became manifest to all long before victory +crowned the warfare conducted under them. Charged by them with the +public defense, Congress could not put a soldier in the field; and +charged with defraying expenses, it could not levy a dollar of imposts +or taxes. It could, indeed, borrow money with the assent of nine states +of the thirteen, but what mockery of finance was that, when the borrower +could not command any resource of payment. + +The states had indeed put but a scepter of straw in the legislative hand +of the Confederation--what wonder that it soon wore a crown of thorns! +The paper currency ere long dissolved to nothingness; for four days the +army was without food, and whole regiments drifted from the ranks of our +hard-pressed defenders. "I see," said Washington, "one head gradually +changing into thirteen; I see one army gradually branching into +thirteen, which, instead of looking up to Congress as the supreme +controlling power, are considering themselves as dependent upon their +respective states." While yet his sword could not slumber, his busy pen +was warning the statesmen of the country that unless Congress were +invested with adequate powers, or should assume them as matter of right, +we should become but thirteen states, pursuing local interests, until +annihilated in a general crash--the cause would be lost--and the fable +of the bundle of sticks applied to us. + +In rapid succession his notes of alarm and invocations for aid to Union +followed each other to the leading men of the states, North and South. +Turning to his own state, and appealing to George Mason, "Where," he +exclaimed, "where are our men of abilities? Why do they not come forth +and save the country?" He compared the affairs of this great continent +to the mechanism of a clock, of which each state was putting its own +small part in order, but neglecting the great wheel, or spring, which +was to put the whole in motion. He summoned Jefferson, Wythe, and +Pendleton to his assistance, telling them that the present temper of +the states was friendly to lasting union, that the moment should be +improved and might never return, and that "after gloriously and +successfully contending against the usurpation of Britain we may fall a +prey to our own folly and disputes." + +How keen the prophet's ken, that through the smoke of war discerned the +coming evil; how diligent the patriot's hand, that amidst awful +responsibilities reached futureward to avert it! By almost a miracle the +weak Confederation, "a barrel without a hoop," was held together +perforce of outside pressure; and soon America was free. + +But not yet had beaten Britain concluded peace--not yet had dried the +blood of Victory's field, ere "follies and disputes" confounded all +things with their Babel tongues and intoxicated liberty gave loose to +license. An unpaid army with unsheathed swords clamored around a +poverty-stricken and helpless Congress. And grown at last impatient even +with their chief, officers high in rank plotted insurrection and +circulated an anonymous address, urging it "to appeal from the justice +to the fears of government, and suspect the man who would advise to +longer forbearance." Anarchy was about to erect the Arch of +Triumph--poor, exhausted, bleeding, weeping America lay in agony upon +her bed of laurels. + +Not a moment did Washington hesitate. He convened his officers, and +going before them he read them an address, which, for homethrust +argument, magnanimous temper, and the eloquence of persuasion which +leaves nothing to be added, is not exceeded by the noblest utterances +of Greek or Roman. A nobler than Coriolanus was before them, who needed +no mother's or wife's reproachful tears to turn the threatening steel +from the gates of Rome. Pausing, as he read his speech, he put on his +spectacles and said: "I have grown gray in your service, and now find +myself growing blind." This unaffected touch of nature completed the +master's spell. The late fomenters of insurrection gathered to their +chief with words of veneration--the storm went by--and, says Curtis in +his History of the Constitution, "Had the Commander-in-Chief been other +than Washington, the land would have been deluged with the blood of +civil war." + +But not yet was Washington's work accomplished. Peace dawned upon the +weary land, and parting with his soldiers, he pleaded with them for +union. "Happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced," he said, "who +have contributed anything in erecting this stupendous fabric of freedom +and empire; who have assisted in protecting the rights of human nature, +and establishing an asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and +religions." But still the foundations of the stupendous fabric trembled, +and no cement held its stones together. It was then, with that +thickening peril, Washington rose to his highest stature. Without civil +station to call forth his utterance, impelled by the intrepid impulse of +a soul that could not see the hope of a nation perish without leaping +into the stream to save it, he addressed the whole People of America in +a circular to the governors of the states: "Convinced of the importance +of the crisis, silence in me," he said, "would be a crime. I will, +therefore, speak the language of freedom and sincerity." He set forth +the need of union in a strain that touched the quick of sensibility; he +held up the citizens of America as sole lords of a vast tract of +continent; he portrayed the fair opportunity for political happiness +with which Heaven had crowned them; he pointed out the blessings that +would attend their collective wisdom; that mutual concessions and +sacrifices must be made; and that supreme power must be lodged somewhere +to regulate and govern the general concerns of the Confederate Republic, +without which the Union would not be of long duration. And he urged that +happiness would be ours if we seized the occasion and made it our own. +In this, one of the very greatest acts of Washington, was revealed the +heart of the man, the spirit of the hero, the wisdom of the sage--I +might almost say the sacred inspiration of the prophet. + +But still the wing of the eagle drooped; the gathering storms baffled +his sunward flight. Even with Washington in the van, the column wavered +and halted--states straggling to the rear that had hitherto been +foremost for permanent union, under an efficacious constitution. And +while three years rolled by amidst the jargon of sectional and local +contentions, "the half-starved government," as Washington depicted it, +"limped along on crutches, tottering at every step." And while +monarchical Europe with saturnine face declared that the American hope +of union was the wild and visionary notion of romance, and predicted +that we would be to the end of time a disunited people, suspicious and +distrustful of each other, divided and subdivided into petty +commonwealths and principalities, lo! the very earth yawned under the +feet of America, and in that very region whence had come forth a +glorious band of orators, statesmen and soldiers to plead the cause and +fight the battles of Independence--lo! the volcanic fires of rebellion +burst forth upon the heads of the faithful, and the militia were +leveling the guns of the Revolution, against the breasts of their +brethren. "What, gracious God! is man?" Washington exclaimed: "It was +but the other day that we were shedding our blood to obtain the +constitutions under which we live, and now we are unsheathing our swords +to overturn them." + +But see! there is a ray of hope. Maryland and Virginia had already +entered into a commercial treaty for regulating the navigation of the +rivers and great bay in which they had common interests, and Washington +had been one of the commissioners in its negotiation. And now, at the +suggestion of Maryland, Virginia had called on all the states to meet in +convention at Annapolis, to adopt commercial regulations for the whole +country. Could this foundation be laid, the eyes of the nation-builders +foresaw that the permanent structure would ere long rise upon it. But +when the day of meeting came no state north of New York or south of +Virginia was represented; and in their helplessness those assembled +could only recommend a constitutional convention, to meet in +Philadelphia in May, 1787, to provide for the exigencies of the +situation. + +And still thick clouds and darkness rested on the land, and there +lowered upon its hopes a night as black as that upon the freezing +Delaware; but through the gloom the dauntless leader was still marching +on to the consummation of his colossal work, with a hope that never +died; with a courage that never faltered; with a wisdom that never +yielded that "all is vanity." + +It was not permitted the Roman to despair of the republic, nor did +he--our chieftain. "It will all come right at last," he said. It did. +And now let the historian, Bancroft, speak: "From this state of despair +the country was lifted by Madison and Virginia." Again he says: "We come +now to a week more glorious for Virginia beyond any in her annals, or in +the history of any republic that had ever before existed." + +It was that week in which Madison, "giving effect to his own +long-cherished wishes, and still earlier wishes of Washington," +addressing, as it were, the whole country, and marshaling all the +states, warned them "that the crisis had arrived at which the people of +America are to decide the solemn question, whether they would, by wise +and magnanimous efforts reap the fruits of independence and of union, or +whether by giving way to unmanly jealousies and prejudices, or to +impartial and transitory interests, they would renounce the blessings +prepared for them by the Revolution," and conjuring them "to concur in +such further concessions and provisions as may be necessary to secure +the objects for which that government was instituted, and make the +United States as happy in peace as they had been glorious in war." + +In such manner, my countrymen, Virginia, adopting the words of Madison, +and moved by the constant spirit of Washington, joined in convoking that +Constitutional Convention, in which he headed her delegation, and over +which he presided, and whose deliberations resulted in the formation and +adoption of that instrument which the premier of Great Britain +pronounces "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by +the brain and purpose of man." + +In such manner the state which gave birth to the Father of his Country, +following his guiding genius to the Union, as it had followed his sword +through the battles of Independence, placed herself at the head of the +wavering column. In such manner America heard and hearkened to the voice +of her chief; and now closing ranks, and moving with reanimated step, +the thirteen commonwealths wheeled and faced to the front, on the line +of the Union, under the sacred ensign of the Constitution. + +Thus at last was the crowning work of Washington accomplished. Out of +the tempests of war, and the tumults of civil commotion, the ages bore +their fruit, and the long yearning of humanity was answered. "Rome to +America" is the eloquent inscription on one stone contributed to yon +colossal shaft--taken from the ancient Temple of Peace that once stood +hard by the palace of the Caesars. Uprisen from the sea of revolution, +fabricated from the ruins of the battered Bastiles, and dismantled +palaces of unhallowed power, stood forth now the Republic of republics, +the Nation of nations, the Constitution of constitutions, to which all +lands and times and tongues had contributed of their wisdom. And the +priestess of Liberty was in her holy temple. + +When Salamis had been fought and Greece again kept free, each of the +victorious generals voted himself to be first in honor; but all agreed +that Themistocles was second. When the most memorable struggle for the +rights of human nature, of which time holds record, was thus happily +concluded in the muniment of their preservation, whoever else was +second, unanimous acclaim declared that Washington was first. Nor in +that struggle alone does he stand foremost. In the name of the people of +the United States, their president, their senators, their +representatives, and their judges, do crown to-day with the grandest +crown that veneration has ever lifted to the brow of glory, him, whom +Virginia gave to America, whom America has given to the world and to the +ages, and whom mankind with universal suffrage has proclaimed the +foremost of the founders of empire in the first degree of greatness; +whom Liberty herself has anointed as the first citizen in the great +Republic of Humanity. + +Encompassed by the inviolate seas stands to-day the American Republic +which he founded--a freer Greater Britain--uplifted above the powers and +principalities of the earth, even as his monument is uplifted over roof +and dome and spire of the multitudinous city. + +Long live the Republic of Washington! Respected by mankind, beloved of +all its sons, long may it be the asylum of the poor and oppressed of all +lands and religions--long may it be the citadel of that liberty which +writes beneath the eagle's folded wings, "We will sell to no man, we +will deny to no man, Right and Justice." + +Long live the United States of America! Filled with the free, +magnanimous spirit, crowned by the wisdom, blessed by the moderation, +hovered over by the guardian angel of Washington's example; may they be +ever worthy in all things to be defended by the blood of the brave who +know the rights of man and shrink not from their assertion--may they be +each a column, and altogether, under the Constitution, a perpetual +Temple of Peace, unshadowed by a Caesar's palace, at whose altar may +freely commune all who seek the union of Liberty and Brotherhood. + +Long live our Country! Oh, long through the undying ages may it stand, +far removed in fact as in space from the Old World's feuds and follies, +alone in its grandeur and its glory, itself the immortal monument of him +whom Providence commissioned to teach man the power of Truth, and to +prove to the nations that their Redeemer liveth. + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN + + Lecture by Henry Watterson, journalist and orator, editor of the + Louisville, Ky., _Courier Journal_ since 1868. This lecture was + originally delivered before the Lincoln Club of Chicago, February + 12, 1895, and subsequently repeated on many platforms as a lecture. + It has been heard in all parts of the country, but nowhere, with + livelier demonstrations of approval than in the cities of the South + "from Richmond and Charleston to New Orleans and Galveston." + + +The statesmen in knee breeches and powdered wigs who signed the +Declaration of Independence and framed the Constitution--the soldiers in +blue-and-buff, top-boots and epaulets who led the armies of the +Revolution--were what we are wont to describe as gentlemen. They were +English gentlemen. They were not all, nor even generally, scions of the +British aristocracy; but they came, for the most part, of good +Anglo-Saxon and Scotch-Irish stock. + +The shoe buckle and the ruffled shirt worked a spell peculiarly their +own. They carried with them an air of polish and authority. Hamilton, +though of obscure birth and small stature, is represented by those who +knew him to have been dignity and grace personified; and old Ben +Franklin, even in woolen hose, and none too courtier-like, was the +delight of the great nobles and fine ladies, in whose company he made +himself as much at home as though he had been born a marquis. + +The first half of the Republic's first half century of existence the +public men of America, distinguished for many things, were chiefly and +almost universally distinguished for repose of bearing and sobriety of +behavior. It was not until the institution of African slavery had got +into politics as a vital force that Congress became a bear-garden, and +that our law-makers, laying aside their manners with their small +clothes, fell into the loose-fitting habiliments of modern fashion and +the slovenly jargon of partisan controversy. The gentlemen who signed +the Declaration and framed the Constitution were succeeded by +gentlemen--much like themselves--but these were succeeded by a race of +party leaders much less decorous and much more self-confident; rugged, +puissant; deeply moved in all that they said and did, and sometimes +turbulent; so that finally, when the volcano burst forth flames that +reached the heavens, great human bowlders appeared amid the glare on +every side; none of them much to speak of according to rules regnant at +St. James and Versailles; but vigorous, able men, full of their mission +and of themselves, and pulling for dear life in opposite directions. + +There were Seward and Sumner and Chase, Corwin and Ben Wade, Trumbull +and Fessenden, Hale and Collamer and Grimes, and Wendell Phillips, and +Horace Greeley, our latter-day Franklin. There were Toombs and Hammond, +and Slidell and Wigfall, and the two little giants, Douglas and +Stephens, and Yancey and Mason, and Jefferson Davis. With them soft +words buttered no parsnips, and they cared little how many pitchers +might be broken by rude ones. The issue between them did not require a +diagram to explain it. It was so simple a child might understand. It +read, human slavery against human freedom, slave labor against free +labor, and involved a conflict as inevitable as it was irrepressible. + +Greek was meeting Greek at last; and the field of politics became almost +as sulphurous and murky as an actual field of battle. Amid the noise and +confusion, the clashing of intellects like sabers bright, and the +booming of the big oratorical guns of the North and the South, now +definitely arrayed, there came one day into the Northern camp one of the +oddest figures imaginable; the figure of a man who, in spite of an +appearance somewhat at outs with Hogarth's line of beauty, wore a +serious aspect, if not an air of command, and, pausing to utter a single +sentence that might be heard above the din, passed on and for a moment +disappeared. + +The sentence was pregnant with meaning. The man bore a commission from +God on high! He said: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I +believe this Government cannot endure permanently half free and half +slave. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the +house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided." He was +Abraham Lincoln. + +How shall I describe him to you? Shall I do so as he appeared to me, +when I first saw him immediately on his arrival in the national capital, +the chosen president of the United States, his appearance quite as +strange as the story of his life, which was then but half known and half +told, or shall I use the words of another and a more graphic +wordpainter? + +In January, 1861, Colonel A. K. McClure, of Pennsylvania, journeyed to +Springfield, Illinois, to meet and confer with the man he had done so +much to elect, but whom he had never personally known. "I went directly +from the depot to Lincoln's house," says Colonel McClure, "and rang the +bell, which was answered by Lincoln, himself, opening the door. I doubt +whether I wholly concealed my disappointment at meeting him. Tall, +gaunt, ungainly, ill-clad, with a homeliness of manner that was unique +in itself, I confess that my heart sank within me as I remembered that +this was the man chosen by a great nation to become its ruler in the +gravest period of its history. I remember his dress as if it were but +yesterday--snuff-colored and slouchy pantaloons; open black vest, held +by a few brass buttons; straight or evening dress coat, with tightly +fitting sleeves to exaggerate his long, bony arms, all supplemented by +an awkwardness that was uncommon among men of intelligence. Such was the +picture I met in the person of Abraham Lincoln. We sat down in his +plainly furnished parlor and were uninterrupted during the nearly four +hours I remained with him, and little by little, as his earnestness, +sincerity, and candor were developed in conversation, I forgot all the +grotesque qualities which so confounded me when I first greeted him. +Before half an hour had passed I learned not only to respect, but, +indeed, to reverence the man." + +A graphic portrait, truly, and not unlike. I recall him, two months +later, a little less uncouth, a little better dressed, but in +singularity and in angularity much the same. All the world now takes an +interest in every detail that concerned him, or that relates to the +weird tragedy of his life and death. + +[Illustration: ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1861] + +And who was this peculiar being, destined in his mother's arms--for +cradle he had none--so profoundly to affect the future of humankind? He +has told us, himself, in words so simple and unaffected, so idiomatic +and direct, that we can neither misread them, nor improve upon them. +Writing, in 1859, to one who had asked him for some biographic +particulars, Abraham Lincoln said:-- + + "I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My + parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished + families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who + died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My + paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham + County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or + two later, he was killed by the Indians, not in battle, but by + stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. + + "My father (Thomas Lincoln) at the death of his father was but six + years of age. By the early death of his father, and the very narrow + circumstances of his mother, he was, even in childhood, a wandering + laboring boy, and grew up literally without education. He never did + more in the way of writing than bunglingly to write his own + name.... He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, + Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many + bears and other animals still in the woods.... There were some + schools, so-called, but no qualification was ever required of a + teacher beyond 'readin', writin', and cipherin' to the rule of + three.' If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened to + sojourn in the neighborhood he was looked upon as a wizard.... Of + course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I + could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three. But that was + all.... The little advance I now have upon this store of education + I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity. + + "I was raised to farm work ... till I was twenty-two. At twenty-one + I came to Illinois--Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, ... + where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came + the Black Hawk war; and I was elected captain of a volunteer + company, a success that gave me more pleasure than any I have had + since. I went into the campaign--was elated--ran for the + legislature the same year (1832), and was beaten--the only time I + ever have been beaten by the people. The next, and three succeeding + biennial elections, I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a + candidate afterward. During the legislative period I had studied + law and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was + elected to the lower house of Congress. Was not a candidate for + reelection. From 1849 to 1854, inclusive, practiced law more + assiduously than ever before. Always a Whig in politics, and + generally on the Whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses. I + was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri + Compromise aroused me again. + + "If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be + said that I am in height six feet four inches, nearly; lean in + flesh, weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds; dark + complexion, with coarse black hair and gray eyes. No other marks or + brands recollected." + +There is the whole story, told by himself, and brought down to the point +where he became a figure of national importance. + +His political philosophy was expounded in four elaborate speeches; one +delivered at Peoria, Illinois, the 16th of October, 1854; one at +Springfield, Illinois, the 16th of June, 1858; one at Columbus, Ohio, +the 16th of September, 1859, and one the 27th of February, 1860, at +Cooper Institute, in the city of New York. Of course Mr. Lincoln made +many speeches and very good speeches. But these four, progressive in +character, contain the sum total of his creed touching the organic +character of the Government and at the same time his party view of +contemporary issues. They show him to have been an old-line Whig of the +school of Henry Clay, with strong emancipation leanings; a thorough +anti-slavery man, but never an extremist or an abolitionist. To the last +he hewed to the line thus laid down. + +Two or three years ago I referred to Abraham Lincoln--in a casual +way--as one "inspired of God." I was taken to task for this and thrown +upon my defense. Knowing less then than I know now of Mr. Lincoln, I +confined myself to the superficial aspects of the case; to the career +of a man who seemed to have lacked the opportunity to prepare himself +for the great estate to which he had come, plucked as it were from +obscurity by a caprice of fortune. + +Accepting the doctrine of inspiration as a law of the universe, I still +stand to this belief; but I must qualify it as far as it conveys the +idea that Mr. Lincoln was not as well equipped in actual knowledge of +men and affairs as any of his contemporaries. Mr. Webster once said that +he had been preparing to make his reply to Hayne for thirty years. Mr. +Lincoln had been in unconscious training for the presidency for thirty +years. His maiden address as a candidate for the Legislature, issued at +the ripe old age of twenty-three, closes with these words: "But if the +good people in their wisdom shall see fit to keep me in the background, +I have been too familiar with disappointment to be very much chagrined." +The man who wrote that sentence, thirty years later wrote this sentence: +"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and +patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad +land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as +surely they will be, by the angels of our better nature." Between those +two sentences, joined by a kindred, somber thought, flowed a +life-current-- + + "Strong, without rage, without o'erflowing, full," + +pausing never for an instant; deepening whilst it ran, but nowise +changing its course or its tones; always the same; calm; patient; +affectionate; like one born to a destiny, and, as in a dream, feeling +its resistless force. + +It is needful to a complete understanding of Mr. Lincoln's relation to +the time and to his place in the political history of the country, that +the student peruse closely the four speeches to which I have called +attention; they underlie all that passed in the famous debate with +Douglas; all that their author said and did after he succeeded to the +presidency. They stand to-day as masterpieces of popular oratory. But +for our present purpose the debate with Douglas will suffice--the most +extraordinary intellectual spectacle the annals of our party warfare +afford. Lincoln entered the canvass unknown outside the state of +Illinois. He closed it renowned from one end of the land to the other. + +In that great debate it was Titan against Titan; and, perusing it after +the lapse of forty years, the philosophic and impartial critic will +conclude which got the better of it, Lincoln or Douglas, much according +to his sympathy with the one or the other. Douglas, as I have said, had +the disadvantage of riding an ebb tide. But Lincoln encountered a +disadvantage in riding a flood tide, which was flowing too fast for a +man so conservative and so honest as he was. Thus there was not a little +equivocation on both sides foreign to the nature of the two. Both wanted +to be frank. Both thought they were being frank. But each was a little +afraid of his own logic; each was a little afraid of his own following; +and hence there was considerable hair splitting, involving accusations +that did not accuse and denials that did not deny. They were +politicians, these two, as well as statesmen; they were politicians, and +what they did not know about political campaigning was hardly worth +knowing. Reverently, I take off my hat to both of them; and I turn down +the page; I close the book and lay it on its shelf, with the inward +ejaculation, "There were giants in those days." + +I am not undertaking to deliver an oral biography of Abraham Lincoln, +and shall pass over the events which quickly led up to his nomination +and election to the presidency in 1860. + +I met the newly elected president the afternoon of the day in the early +morning of which he had arrived in Washington. It was a Saturday, I +think. He came to the capitol under Mr. Seward's escort, and, among the +rest, I was presented to him. His appearance did not impress me as +fantastically as it had impressed Colonel McClure. I was more familiar +with the Western type than Colonel McClure, and, whilst Mr. Lincoln was +certainly not an Adonis, even after prairie ideals, there was about him +a dignity that commanded respect. + +I met him again the forenoon of the 4th of March in his apartment at +Willard's Hotel as he was preparing to start to his inauguration, and +was touched by his unaffected kindness; for I came with a matter +requiring his immediate attention. He was entirely self-possessed; no +trace of nervousness; and very obliging. I accompanied the cortege that +passed from the senate chamber to the east portico of the capitol, and, +as Mr. Lincoln removed his hat to face the vast multitude in front and +below, I extended my hand to receive it, but Judge Douglas, just beside +me, reached over my outstretched arm and took the hat, holding it +throughout the delivery of the inaugural address. I stood near enough to +the speaker's elbow not to obstruct any gestures he might make, though +he made but few; and then it was that I began to comprehend something of +the power of the man. + +He delivered that inaugural address as if he had been delivering +inaugural addresses all his life. Firm, resonant, earnest, it announced +the coming of a man; of a leader of men; and in its ringing tones and +elevated style, the gentlemen he had invited to become members of his +political family--each of whom thought himself a bigger man than his +master--might have heard the voice and seen the hand of a man born to +command. Whether they did or not, they very soon ascertained the fact. +From the hour Abraham Lincoln crossed the threshold of the White House +to the hour he went thence to his death, there was not a moment when he +did not dominate the political and military situation and all his +official subordinates. + +Always courteous, always tolerant, always making allowance, yet always +explicit, his was the master-spirit, his the guiding hand; committing to +each of the members of his cabinet the details of the work of his own +department; caring nothing for petty sovereignty; but reserving to +himself all that related to great policies, the starting of moral forces +and the moving of organized ideas. + +I want to say just here a few words about Mr. Lincoln's relation to the +South and the people of the South. + +He was, himself, a Southern man. He and all his tribe were Southerners. +Although he left Kentucky when but a child, he was an old child; he +never was very young; and he grew to manhood in a Kentucky colony; for +what was Illinois in those days but a Kentucky colony, grown since +somewhat out of proportion? He was in no sense what we in the South used +to call "a poor white." Awkward, perhaps; ungainly, perhaps, but +aspiring; the spirit of a hero beneath that rugged exterior; the soul of +a prose poet behind those heavy brows; the courage of a lion back of +those patient, kindly aspects; and, long before he was of legal age, a +leader. His first love was a Rutledge; his wife was a Todd. Let the +romancist tell the story of his romance. I dare not. No sadder idyl can +be found in all the short and simple annals of the poor. + +We know that he was a prose poet; for have we not that immortal prose +poem recited at Gettysburg? We know that he was a statesman; for has not +time vindicated his conclusions? But the South does not know, except as +a kind of hearsay, that he was a friend; the one friend who had the +power and the will to save it from itself. He was the one man in public +life who could have come to the head of affairs in 1861 bringing with +him none of the embittered resentments growing out of the anti-slavery +battle. Whilst Seward, Chase, Sumner and the rest had been engaged in +hand-to-hand combat with the Southern leaders at Washington, Lincoln, a +philosopher and a statesman, had been observing the course of events +from afar, and like a philosopher and a statesman. The direst blow that +could have been laid upon the prostrate South was delivered by the +assassin's bullet that struck him down. + +But I digress. Throughout the contention that preceded the war, amid the +passions that attended the war itself, not one bitter, proscriptive word +escaped the lips of Abraham Lincoln, whilst there was hardly a day that +he was not projecting his great personality between some Southern man or +woman and danger. + +Under the date of February 2, 1848, and from the hall of the House of +Representatives at Washington, whilst he was serving as a member of +Congress, I find this short note to his law partner at Springfield:-- + + "DEAR WILLIAM: I take up my pen to tell you that Mr. Stephens, of + Georgia, a little, slim, pale-faced, consumptive man, with a voice + like Logan's (that was Stephen T., not John A.), has just concluded + the very best speech of an hour's length I ever heard. My old, + withered, dry eyes (he was then not quite thirty-seven years of + age) are full of tears yet." + +From that time forward he never ceased to love Stephens, of Georgia. + +After that famous Hampton Roads conference, when the Confederate +commissioners, Stephens, Campbell, and Hunter, had traversed the field +of official routine with Mr. Lincoln, the president, and Mr. Seward, the +secretary of state, Lincoln, the friend, still the old Whig colleague, +though one was now president of the United States and the other +vice-president of the Southern Confederacy, took the "slim, pale-faced, +consumptive man" aside, and, pointing to a sheet of paper he held in his +hand, said: "Stephens, let me write 'Union' at the top of that page, and +you may write below it whatever else you please." + +In the preceding conversation Mr. Lincoln had intimated that payment for +the slaves was not outside a possible agreement for reunion and peace. +He based that statement upon a plan he already had in hand, to +appropriate four hundred millions of dollars to this purpose. + +There are those who have put themselves to the pains of challenging this +statement of mine. It admits of no possible equivocation. Mr. Lincoln +carried with him to Fortress Monroe two documents that still stand in +his own handwriting; one of them a joint resolution to be passed by the +two houses of Congress appropriating the four hundred millions, the +other a proclamation to be issued by himself, as president, when the +joint resolution had been passed. These formed no part of the discussion +at Hampton Roads, because Mr. Stephens told Mr. Lincoln they were +limited to treating upon the basis of the recognition of the +Confederacy, and to all intents and purposes the conference died before +it was actually born. But Mr. Lincoln was so filled with the idea that +next day, when he had returned to Washington, he submitted the two +documents to the members of his cabinet. Excepting Mr. Seward, they were +all against him. He said: "Why, gentlemen, how long is the war going to +last? It is not going to end this side of a hundred days, is it? It is +costing us four millions a day. There are the four hundred millions, not +counting the loss of life and property in the meantime. But you are all +against me, and I will not press the matter upon you." I have not cited +this fact of history to attack, or even to criticize, the policy of the +Confederate Government, but simply to illustrate the wise magnanimity +and justice of the character of Abraham Lincoln. For my part I rejoice +that the war did not end at Fortress Monroe--or any other +conference--but that it was fought out to its bitter and logical +conclusion at Appomattox. + +It was the will of God that there should be, as God's own prophet had +promised, "a new birth of freedom," and this could only be reached by +the obliteration of the very idea of slavery. God struck Lincoln down in +the moment of his triumph, to attain it; He blighted the South to attain +it. But He did attain it. And here we are this night to attest it. God's +will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven. But let no Southern man +point finger at me because I canonize Abraham Lincoln, for he was the +one friend we had at court when friends were most in need; he was the +one man in power who wanted to preserve us intact, to save us from the +wolves of passion and plunder that stood at our door; and as that God, +of whom it has been said that "whom He loveth He chasteneth," meant that +the South should be chastened, Lincoln was put out of the way by the +bullet of an assassin, having neither lot nor parcel, North or South, +but a winged emissary of fate, flown from the shadows of the mystic +world, which AEschylus and Shakespeare created and consecrated to +tragedy! + +I sometimes wonder shall we ever attain a journalism sufficiently +upright in its treatment of current events to publish fully and fairly +the utterances of our public men, and, except in cases of provable +dishonor, to leave their motives and their personalities alone? + +Reading just what Abraham Lincoln did say and did do, it is +inconceivable how such a man could have aroused antagonism so bitter and +abuse so savage, to fall at last by the hand of an assassin. + +We boast our superior civilization and our enlightened freedom of +speech; and yet, how few of us--when a strange voice begins to utter +unfamiliar or unpalatable things--how few of us stop and ask ourselves, +may not this man be speaking the truth after all? It is so easy to call +names. It is so easy to impugn motives. It is so easy to misrepresent +opinions we cannot answer. From the least to the greatest what creatures +we are of party spirit, and yet, for the most part, how small its aims, +how imperfect its instruments, how disappointing its conclusions! + +One thinks now that the world in which Abraham Lincoln lived might have +dealt more gently by such a man. He was himself so gentle--so upright in +nature and so broad of mind--so sunny and so tolerant in temper--so +simple and so unaffected in bearing--a rude exterior covering an +undaunted spirit, proving by his every act and word that-- + + "The bravest are the tenderest, + The loving are the daring." + +Though he was a party leader, he was a typical and patriotic American, +in whom even his enemies might have found something to respect and +admire. But it could not be so. He committed one grievous offense; he +dared to think and he was not afraid to speak; he was far in advance of +his party and his time; and men are slow to forgive what they do not +readily understand. + +Yet, all the while that the waves of passion were dashing over his +sturdy figure, reared above the dead-level, as a lone oak upon a sandy +beach, not one harsh word rankled in his heart to sour the milk of human +kindness that, like a perennial spring from the gnarled roots of some +majestic tree, flowed within him. He would smooth over a rough place in +his official intercourse with a funny story fitting the case in point, +and they called him a trifler. He would round off a logical argument +with a familiar example, hitting the nail squarely on the head and +driving it home, and they called him a buffoon. Big wigs and little wigs +were agreed that he lowered the dignity of debate; as if debates were +intended to mystify, and not to clarify truth. Yet he went on and on, +and never backward, until his time was come, when his genius, fully +developed, rose to the great exigencies intrusted to his hands. Where +did he get his style? Ask Shakespeare and Burns where they got their +style. Where did he get his grasp upon affairs and his knowledge of men? +Ask the Lord God who created miracles in Luther and Bonaparte! + +What was the mysterious power of this mysterious man, and whence? + +His was the genius of common sense; of common sense in action; of common +sense in thought; of common sense enriched by experience and unhindered +by fear. "He was a common man," says his friend Joshua Speed, "expanded +into giant proportions; well acquainted with the people, he placed his +hand on the beating pulse of the nation, judged of its disease, and was +ready with a remedy." Inspired he was truly, as Shakespeare was +inspired; as Mozart was inspired; as Burns was inspired; each, like him, +sprung directly from the people. + +I look into the crystal globe that, slowly turning, tells the story of +his life, and I see a little heart broken boy, weeping by the +outstretched form of a dead mother, then bravely, nobly trudging a +hundred miles to obtain her Christian burial. I see this motherless lad +growing to manhood amid the scenes that seem to lead to nothing but +abasement; no teachers; no books; no chart, except his own untutored +mind; no compass, except his own undisciplined will; no light, save +light from Heaven; yet, like the caravel of Columbus, struggling on and +on through the trough of the sea, always toward the destined land. I see +the full-grown man, stalwart and brave, an athlete in activity of +movement and strength of limb, yet vexed by weird dreams and visions; of +life, of love, of religion, sometimes verging on despair. I see the +mind, grown as robust as the body, throw off these phantoms of the +imagination and give itself wholly to the work-a-day uses of the world; +the rearing of children; the earning of bread; the multiplied duties of +life. I see the party leader, self-confident in conscious rectitude; +original, because it was not his nature to follow; potent, because he +was fearless, pursuing his convictions with earnest zeal, and urging +them upon his fellows with the resources of an oratory which was hardly +more impressive than it was many-sided. I see him, the preferred among +his fellows, ascend the eminence reserved for him, and him alone of all +the statesmen of the time, amid the derision of opponents and the +distrust of supporters, yet unawed and unmoved, because thoroughly +equipped to meet the emergency. The same being, from first to last; the +poor child weeping over a dead mother; the great chief sobbing amid the +cruel horrors of war; flinching not from duty, nor changing his +life-long ways of dealing with the stern realities which pressed upon +him and hurried him onward. And, last scene of all, that ends this +strange, eventful history, I see him lying dead there in the capitol of +the nation, to which he had rendered "the last, full measure of his +devotion," the flag of his country around him, the world in mourning, +and, asking myself how could any man have hated that man, I ask you, how +can any man refuse his homage to his memory? Surely, he was one of God's +elect; not in any sense a creature of circumstance, or accident. +Recurring to the doctrine of inspiration, I say again and again, he was +inspired of God, and I cannot see how any one who believes in that +doctrine can regard him as anything else. + +From Caesar to Bismarck and Gladstone the world has had its statesmen and +its soldiers--men who rose to eminence and power step by step, through a +series of geometric progression as it were, each advancement following +in regular order one after the other, the whole obedient to +well-established and well-understood laws of cause and effect. They were +not what we call "men of destiny." They were "men of the time." They +were men whose careers had a beginning, a middle and an end, rounding +off lives with histories, full it may be of interesting and exciting +event, but comprehensive and comprehensible; simple, clear, complete. + +The inspired ones are fewer. Whence their emanation, where and how they +got their power, by what rule they lived, moved and had their being, we +know not. There is no explication to their lives. They rose from shadow +and they went in mist. We see them, feel them, but we know them not. +They came, God's word upon their lips; they did their office, God's +mantle about them; and they vanished, God's holy light between the world +and them, leaving behind a memory, half mortal and half myth. From first +to last they were the creations of some special Providence, baffling the +wit of man to fathom, defeating the machinations of the world, the flesh +and the devil, until their work was done, then passing from the scene as +mysteriously as they had come upon it. + +Tried by this standard, where shall we find an example so impressive as +Abraham Lincoln, whose career might be chanted by a Greek chorus as at +once the prelude and the epilogue of the most imperial theme of modern +times? + +Born as lowly as the Son of God, in a hovel; reared in penury, squalor, +with no gleam of light or fair surrounding; without graces, actual or +acquired; without name or fame or official training; it was reserved +for this strange being, late in life, to be snatched from obscurity, +raised to supreme command at a supreme moment, and intrusted with the +destiny of a nation. + +The great leaders of his party, the most experienced and accomplished +public men of the day, were made to stand aside; were sent to the rear, +whilst this fantastic figure was led by unseen hands to the front and +given the reins of power. It is immaterial whether we were for him, or +against him; wholly immaterial. That, during four years, carrying with +them such a weight of responsibility as the world never witnessed +before, he filled the vast space allotted him in the eyes and actions of +mankind, is to say that he was inspired of God, for nowhere else could +he have acquired the wisdom and the virtue. + +Where did Shakespeare get his genius? Where did Mozart get his music? +Whose hand smote the lyre of the Scottish plowman, and stayed the life +of the German priest? God, God, and God alone; and as surely as these +were raised up by God, inspired by God, was Abraham Lincoln; and a +thousand years hence, no drama, no tragedy, no epic poem will be filled +with greater wonder, or be followed by mankind with deeper feeling than +that which tells the story of his life and death. + + + + +SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS + + Delivered by Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865, on the occasion of his + second inauguration as president of the United States. + + +FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:--At this second appearing to take the oath of the +presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than +there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a +course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration +of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly +called forth on every point and phase of the great contest, which still +absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little +that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all +else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and +it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With +high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. + +On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were +anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it--all sought +to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this +place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent +agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to +dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties +deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the +nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it +perish. And the war came. + +One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed +generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. +These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that +this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, +perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which insurgents +would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right +to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. + +Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which +it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the +conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should +cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental +and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and +each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men +should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from +the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not +judged. The prayers of both could not be answered--that of neither has +been answered fully. + +The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of +offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man +by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery +is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs +come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now +wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this +terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we +discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the +believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we +hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily +pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled +by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be +sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by +another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so +still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous +altogether." + +With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the +right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the +work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who +shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan--to do all +which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves +and with all nations. + + + + +ROBERT E. LEE + + The following extracts are taken from the great lecture[4] of E. + Benjamin Andrews on "Robert E. Lee." Dr. Andrews was president of + Brown University 1889-1898, superintendent of the Public Schools of + Chicago 1898-1900, chancellor of the University of Nebraska + 1900-1908, and since 1909 has been chancellor emeritus of that + institution. He served as a private, and later as second lieutenant + in the Union army during the Civil War. He was wounded at + Petersburg, losing an eye. Probably no better characterization or + higher tribute has ever been made of Robert E. Lee than that by Dr. + Andrews in this lecture which was as enthusiastically received by + the Union veterans of the North as by the Confederate veterans of + the South; for, as Dr. Andrews says in his tribute to Lee, "None + are prouder of his record than those who fought against him, who + while recognizing the purity of his motive, thought him in error in + going from under the stars and stripes." + + +Robert Edward Lee had perhaps a more illustrious traceable lineage than +any American not of his family. His ancestor, Lionel Lee, crossed the +English Channel with William the Conqueror. Another scion of the clan +fought beside Richard the Lion-hearted at Acre in the Third Crusade. To +Richard Lee, the great land owner on Northern Neck, the Virginia Colony +was much indebted for royal recognition. His grandson, Henry Lee, was +the grandfather of "Light-horse Harry" Lee of Revolutionary fame, who +was the father of Robert Edward Lee. + +Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807, in Westmoreland County, Va., +the same county that gave to the world George Washington and James +Monroe. Though he was fatherless at eleven, the father's blood in him +inclined him to the profession of arms, and when eighteen,--in 1825,--on +an appointment obtained for him by General Andrew Jackson, he entered +the Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1829, being second +in rank in a class of forty-six. Among his classmates were two men whom +one delights to name with him--Ormsby M. Mitchel, later a general in the +Federal army, and Joseph E. Johnston, the famous Confederate. Lee was at +once made Lieutenant of Engineers, but, till the Mexican War, attained +only a captaincy. This was conferred on him in 1838. + +In 1831 Lee had been married to Miss Mary Randolph Custis, the grand +daughter of Mrs. George Washington. By this marriage he became possessor +of the beautiful estate at Arlington, opposite Washington, his home till +the Civil War. The union, blessed by seven children, was in all respects +most happy. + +In his prime Lee was spoken of as the handsomest man in the army. He was +about six feet high, perfectly built, healthy, fond of outdoor life, +enthusiastic in his profession, gentle, dignified, studious, +broad-minded, and positively, though unobtrusively, religious. If he had +faults, which those nearest him doubted, they were excess of modesty and +excess of tenderness. + +During the Mexican War, Captain Lee directed all the most important +engineering operations of the American army--a work vital to its +wonderful success. Already at the siege of Vera Cruz, General Scott +mentioned him as having "greatly distinguished himself." He was +prominent in all the operations thence to Cerro Gordo, where, in April, +1847, he was brevetted major. Both at Contreras and at Churubusco he was +credited with gallant and meritorious services. At the charge up +Chapultepec, in which Joseph E. Johnston, George B. McClellan, George E. +Pickett, and Thomas J. Jackson participated, Lee bore Scott's orders to +all points until from loss of blood by a wound, and from the loss of two +nights' sleep at the batteries, he actually fainted away in the +discharge of his duty. Such ability and devotion brought him home from +Mexico bearing the brevet rank of colonel. General Scott had learned to +think of him as "the greatest military genius in America." + +In 1852 Lee was made superintendent of the West Point Military Academy. +In 1855 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of Col. Albert Sidney +Johnston's new cavalry regiment, just raised to serve in Texas. March, +1861, saw him colonel of the First United States Cavalry. With the +possible exception of the two Johnstons, he was now the most promising +candidate for General Scott's position whenever that venerable hero +vacated it, as he was sure to do soon. + +Lee was a Virginian, and Virginia, about to secede and at length +seceding, in most earnest tones besought her distinguished son to join +her. It seemed to him the call of duty, and that call, as he understood +it, was one which it was not in him to disobey. President Lincoln knew +the value of the man, and sent Frank Blair to him to say that if he +would abide by the Union he should soon command the whole active army. +That would probably have meant his election, in due time, to the +presidency of his country. "For God's sake don't resign, Lee!" General +Scott--himself a Virginian--is said to have pleaded. He replied: "I am +compelled to; I cannot consult my own feelings in the matter." +Accordingly, three days after Virginia passed its ordinance of +secession, Lee sent to Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, his resignation +as an officer in the United States army. + +Few at the North were able to understand the secession movement, most +denying that a man at once thoughtful and honorable could join in it. So +centralized had the North by 1861 become in all social and economic +particulars, that centrality in government was taken as a matter of +course. Representing this, the nation was deemed paramount to any state. +Governmental sovereignty, like travel and trade, had come to ignore +state lines. The whole idea and feeling of state sovereignty, once as +potent North as South, had vanished and been forgotten. + +Far otherwise at the South, where, owing to the great size of states and +to the paucity of railways and telegraphs, interstate association was +not yet a force. Each state, being in square miles ample enough for an +empire, retained to a great extent the consciousness of an independent +nation. The state was near and palpable; the central government seemed +a vague and distant thing. Loyalty was conceived as binding one +primarily to one's own state. + +It is a misconception to explain this feeling--for in most cases it was +feeling rather than reasoned conviction--by Calhoun's teaching. It +resulted from geography and history, and, these factors working as they +did, would have been what it was had Calhoun never lived. These +considerations explain how Colonel Lee, certainly one of the most +conscientious men who ever lived, felt bound in duty and honor to side +with seceding Virginia, though he doubted the wisdom of her course. + +Most striking among the characteristics of General Lee which made him so +successful was his exalted and unmatched excellence as a man, his +unselfishness, sweetness, gentleness, patience, love of justice, and +general elevation of soul. Lee much loved to quote Sir William +Hamilton's words: "On earth nothing great but man: in man nothing great +but mind." He always added, however: "In mind nothing great save +devotion to truth and duty." Though a soldier, and at last very eminent +as a soldier, he retained from the beginning to the end of his career +the entire temper and character of an ideal civilian. He did not sink +the man in the military man. He had all a soldier's virtues, the +"chevalier without fear and without reproach," but he was glorified by a +whole galaxy of excellences which soldiers too often lack. He was pure +of speech and of habit, never intemperate, never obscene, never profane, +never irreverent. In domestic life he was an absolute model. Lofty +command did not make him vain. + +[Illustration: ROBERT E. LEE] + +That Lee was brave need not be said. He was not as rash as Hood and +Cleburne sometimes were. He knew the value of his life to the great +cause, and, usually at least, did not expose himself needlessly. +Prudence he had, but no fear. His resolution to lead the charge at the +Bloody Angle--rashness at once--shows fearlessness. Tender-hearted as he +was, Lee felt battle frenzy as hardly another great commander ever did. +From him it spread like magnetism to his officers and men, thrilling all +as if the chief himself were close by in the fray, shouting, "Now fight, +my good fellows, fight!" Yet such was Lee's self-command that this ardor +never carried him too far. + +But Lee possessed another order of courage infinitely higher and rarer +than this--the sort so often lacking even in generals who have served +with utmost distinction in high subordinate places, when they are called +to the sole and decisive direction of armies: he had that royal mettle, +that preternatural decision of character, ever tempered with caution and +wisdom, which leads a great commander, when true occasion arises, +resolutely to give general battle, or a swing out away from his base +upon a precarious but promising campaign. Here you have moral heroism; +ordinary valor is more impulsive. A weaker man, albeit total stranger to +fear, ready to lead his division or his corps into the very mouth of +hell, if commanded, being set himself to direct an army, will be either +rash or else too timid, or fidget from one extreme to the other, losing +all. + +It was in this supreme kind of boldness that Robert Lee preeminently +excelled. Cautious always, he still took risks and responsibilities +which common generals would not have dared to take, and when he had +assumed these, his mighty will forbade him to sink under the load. The +braying of bitter critics, the obloquy of men who should have supported +him, the shots from behind, dismayed him no more than did Burnside's +cannon at Fredericksburg. On he pressed, stout as a Titan, relentless as +fate. What time bravest hearts failed at victory's delay, this +Dreadnaught rose to his best, and furnished courage for the whole +Confederacy. + +In a sense, of course, the cause for which Lee fought was "lost"; yet a +very great part of what he and his _confreres_ sought, the war actually +secured and assured. His cause was not "lost" as Hannibal's was, whose +country, with its institutions, spite of his genius and devotion, +utterly perished from the earth. Yet Hannibal is remembered more widely +than Scipio. Were Lee in the same case with Hannibal, men would magnify +his name as long as history is read. "Of illustrious men," says +Thucydides, "the whole earth is the sepulcher. They are immortalized not +alone by columns and inscriptions in their own lands; memorials to them +rise in foreign countries as well--not of stone, it may be, but +unwritten, in the thoughts of posterity." + +Lee's case resembles Cromwell's much more than Hannibal's. The _regime_ +against which Cromwell warred returned in spite of him; but it returned +modified, involving all the reforms for which the chieftain had bled. So +the best of what Lee drew sword for is here in our actual America, and, +please God, shall remain here forever. + +Decisions of the United States Supreme Court since Secession gave a +sweep and a certainty to the rights of states and limit the central +power in this republic as had never been done before. The wild doctrines +of Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens on these points are not our law. If the +Union is perpetual, equally so is each state. The republic is "an +indestructible Union of indestructible states." If this part of our law +had in 1861 received its present definition and emphasis, and if the +Southern States had then been sure, come what might, of the freedom they +actually now enjoy each to govern itself in its own way, even South +Carolina might never have voted secession. And inasmuch as the war, +better than aught else could have done, forced this phase of the +Constitution out into clear expression, General Lee did not fight in +vain. The essential good he wished has come, while the republic with its +priceless benedictions to us all remains intact. All Americans thus have +part in Robert Lee, not only as a peerless man and soldier, but as the +sturdy miner, sledge-hammering the rock of our liberties till it give +forth its gold. None are prouder of his record than those who fought +against him, who, while recognizing the purity of his motive, thought +him in error in going from under the stars and stripes. It is likely +that more American hearts day by day think lovingly of Lee than of any +other Civil War celebrity save Lincoln alone. And his praise will +increase. + + + + +OUR REUNITED COUNTRY + + Speech of Clark Howell at the Peace Jubilee Banquet in Chicago, + October 19, 1898, in response to the toast "Our Reunited Country: + North and South." + + +MR. TOASTMASTER, AND MY FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:--In the mountains of my +state, in a county remote from the quickening touch of commerce, and +railroads and telegraphs--so far removed that the sincerity of its +rugged people flows unpolluted from the spring of nature--two +vine-covered mounds, nestling in the solemn silence of a country +churchyard, suggest the text of my response to the sentiment to which I +am to speak to-night. A serious text, Mr. Toastmaster, for an occasion +like this, and yet out of it there is life and peace and hope and +prosperity, for in the solemn sacrifice of the voiceless grave can the +chiefest lesson of the Republic be learned, and the destiny of its real +mission be unfolded. So, bear with me while I lead you to the +rust-stained slab, which for a third of a century--since +Chickamauga--has been kissed by the sun as it peeped over the Blue +Ridge, melting the tears with which the mourning night had bedewed the +inscription:-- + + "Here lies a Confederate soldier. + He died for his country." + +The September day which brought the body of this mountain hero to that +home among the hills which had smiled upon his infancy, been gladdened +by his youth, and strengthened by his manhood, was an ever memorable +one with the sorrowing concourse of friends and neighbors who followed +his shot-riddled body to the grave. And of that number no man gainsaid +the honor of his death, lacked full loyalty to the flag for which he +fought, or doubted the justice of the cause for which he gave his life. + +Thirty-five years have passed; another war has called its roll of +martyrs; again the old bell tolls from the crude latticed tower of the +settlement church; another great pouring of sympathetic humanity, and +this time the body of a son, wrapped in the stars and stripes, is +lowered to its everlasting rest beside that of the father who sleeps in +the stars and bars. + +There were those there who stood by the grave of the Confederate hero +years before, and the children of those were there, and of those present +no one gainsaid the honor of the death of this hero of El Caney, and +none were there but loved, as patriots alone can love, the glorious flag +that enshrines the people of a common country as it enshrouds the form +that will sleep forever in its blessed folds. And on this tomb will be +written: + + "Here lies the son of a Confederate soldier, + He died for his country." + +And so it is that between the making of these two graves human hands and +human hearts have reached a solution of the vexed problem that has +baffled human will and human thought for three decades. Sturdy sons of +the South have said to their brothers of the North that the people of +the South had long since accepted the arbitrament of the sword to which +they had appealed. And likewise the oft-repeated message has come back +from the North that peace and good will reigned, and that the wounds of +civil dissention were but as sacred memories. Good fellowship was wafted +on the wings of commerce and development from those who had worn the +blue to those who had worn the gray. Nor were these messages delivered +in vain, for they served to pave the way for the complete and absolute +elimination of the line of sectional differences by the only process by +which such a result was possible. The sentiment of the great majority of +the people of the South was rightly spoken in the message of the +immortal Hill, and in the burning eloquence of Henry Grady--both +Georgians--the record of whose blessed work for the restoration of peace +between the sections becomes a national heritage, and whose names are +stamped in enduring impress upon the affection of the people of the +Republic. + +And yet there were still those among us who believed your course was +polite, but insincere, and those among you who assumed that our +professed attitude was sentimental and unreal. Bitterness had departed, +and sectional hate was no more, but there were those who feared, even if +they did not believe, that between the great sections of our greater +government there was not the perfect faith and trust and love that both +professed; that there was want of the faith that made the American +Revolution a successful possibility; that that there was want of the +trust that crystallized our States into the original Union; that there +was lack of the love that bound in unassailable strength the united +sisterhood of States that withstood the shock of Civil War. It is true +this doubt existed to a greater degree abroad than at home. But to-day +the mist of uncertainty has been swept away by the sunlight of events, +and there, where doubt obscured before stands in bold relief, commanding +the admiration of the whole world, the most glorious type of united +strength and sentiment and loyalty known to the history of nations. + +Out of the chaos of that civil war had risen a new nation, mighty in the +vastness of its limitless resources, the realities within its reach +surpassing the dreams of fiction, and eclipsing the fancy of fable--a +new nation, yet rosy in the flesh, with the bloom of youth upon its +cheeks and the gleam of morning in its eyes. No one questioned that +commercial and geographic union had been effected. So had Rome reunited +its faltering provinces, maintaining the limit of its imperial +jurisdiction by the power of commercial bonds and the majesty of the +sword, until in its very vastness it collapsed. The heart of its people +did not beat in unison. Nations may be made by the joining of hands, but +the measure of their real strength and vitality, like that of the human +body, is in the heart. Show me the country whose people are not at heart +in sympathy with its institutions, and the fervor of whose patriotism is +not bespoken in its flag, and I will show you a ship of state which is +sailing in shallow waters, toward unseen eddies of uncertainty, if not +to the open rocks of dismemberment. + +Whence was the proof to come, to ourselves as well as to the world, that +we were being moved once again by a common impulse, and by the same +heart that inspired and gave strength to the hands that smote the +British in the days of the Revolution, and again at New Orleans; that +made our ships the masters of the seas; that placed our flag on +Chapultepec, and widened our domain from ocean to ocean? How was the +world to know that the burning fires of patriotism, so essential to +national glory and achievement, had not been quenched by the blood +spilled by the heroes of both sides of the most desperate struggle known +in the history of civil wars? How was the doubt that stood, all +unwilling, between outstretched hands and sympathetic hearts, to be, in +fact, dispelled? + +If from out the caldron of conflict there arose this doubt, only from +the crucible of war could come the answer. And, thank God, that answer +has been made in the record of the war, the peaceful termination of +which we celebrate to-night. Read it in every page of its history; read +it in the obliteration of party and sectional lines in the congressional +action which called the nation to arms in the defense of prostrate +liberty, and for the extension of the sphere of human freedom; read it +in the conduct of the distinguished Federal soldier who, as the chief +executive of this great republic,[5] honors this occasion by his +presence to-night, and whose appointments in the first commissions +issued after war had been declared made manifest the sincerity of his +often repeated utterances of complete sectional reconciliation and the +elimination of sectional lines in the affairs of government. Differing +with him, as I do, on party issues, utterly at variance with the views +of his party on economic problems, I sanction with all my heart the +obligation that rests on every patriotic citizen to make party second to +country, and in the measure that he has been actuated by this broad and +patriotic policy he will receive the plaudits of the whole people: "Well +done, good and faithful servant." + +Portentous indeed have been the developments of the past six months; the +national domain has been extended far into the Caribbean Sea on the +south, and to the west it is so near the mainland of Asia that we can +hear grating of the process which is grinding the ancient celestial +empire into pulp for the machinery of civilization and of progress. + +But speaking as a Southerner and an American, I say that this has been +as naught compared to the greatest good this war has accomplished. +Drawing alike from all sections of the Union for her heroes and her +martyrs, depending alike upon North, South, East and West for her +glorious victories, and weeping with sympathy with the widows and the +stricken mothers wherever they may be, America, incarnated spirit of +liberty, stands again to-day the holy emblem of a household in which the +children abide in unity, equality, love and peace. The iron sledge of +war that rent asunder the links of loyalty and love has welded them +together again. Ears that were deaf to loving appeals for the burial of +sectional strife have listened and believed when the muster guns have +spoken. Hearts that were cold to calls for trust and sympathy have +awakened to loving confidence in the baptism of their blood. + +Drawing inspiration from the flag of our country, the South has shared +not only the dangers, but the glories of the war. In the death of brave +young Bagley at Cardenas, North Carolina furnished the first blood in +the tragedy. It was Victor Blue of South Carolina, who, like the Swamp +Fox of the Revolution, crossed the fiery path of the enemy at his +pleasure, and brought the first official tidings of the situation as it +existed in Cuba. It was Brumby, a Georgia boy, the flag lieutenant of +Dewey, who first raised the stars and stripes over Manila. It was +Alabama that furnished Hobson who accomplished two things the Spanish +navy never yet has done--sunk an American ship, and made a Spanish +man-of-war securely float. + +The South answered the call to arms with its heart, and its heart goes +out with that of the North in rejoicing at the result. The demonstration +lacking to give the touch of life to the picture has been made. The open +sesame that was needed to give insight into the true and loyal hearts +both North and South has been spoken. Divided by war, we are united as +never before by the same agency, and the union is of hearts as well as +hands. + +The doubter may scoff, and the pessimist may croak, but even they must +take hope at the picture presented in the simple and touching incident +of eight Grand Army veterans, with their silvery heads bowed in +sympathy, escorting the lifeless body of the Daughter of the Confederacy +from Narragansett to its last, long rest at Richmond. + +When that great and generous soldier, U. S. Grant, gave back to Lee, +crushed, but ever glorious, the sword he had surrendered at Appomattox, +that magnanimous deed said to the people of the South: "You are our +brothers." But when the present ruler of our grand republic on awakening +to the condition of war that confronted him, with his first commission +placed the leader's sword in the hands of those gallant confederate +commanders, Joe Wheeler and Fitzhugh Lee, he wrote between the lines in +living letters of everlasting light the words: "There is but one people +of this Union, one flag alone for all." + +The South, Mr. Toastmaster, will feel that her sons have been well +given, that her blood has been well spilled, if that sentiment is to be +indeed the true inspiration of our nation's future. God grant it may be +as I believe it will. + + + + +THE BLUE AND THE GRAY + + Speech of Henry Cabot Lodge, delivered at a banquet complimentary + to the Robert E. Lee Camp of Confederate Veterans, of Richmond, + Va., given in Faneuil Hall, Boston, June 17, 1887. The Southerners + were visiting Boston as the special guests of the John A. Andrew + Post 15, Department of Massachusetts, Grand Army of the Republic. + + +MR. CHAIRMAN:--To such a toast, sir, it would seem perhaps most fitting +that one of those should respond who were a part of the great event +which it recalls. Yet, after all, on an occasion like this, it may not +be amiss to call upon one who belongs to a generation to whom the +Rebellion is little more than history, and who, however insufficiently, +represents the feelings of that and the succeeding generations as to our +great Civil War. I was a boy ten years old when the troops marched away +to defend Washington, and my personal knowledge of that time is confined +to a few broken but vivid memories. I saw the troops, month after month, +pour through the streets of Boston, I saw Shaw go forth at the head of +his black regiment, and Bartlett, shattered in body but dauntless in +soul, ride by to carry what was left of him once more to the +battlefields of the republic. I saw Andrew, standing bare headed on the +steps of the state house, bid the men God speed. I cannot remember the +words he said, but I can never forget the fervid eloquence which brought +tears to the eyes and fire to the hearts of all who listened. I +understood but dimly the awful meaning of these events. To my boyish +mind one thing alone was clear, that the soldiers as they marched past +were all, in that supreme hour, heroes and patriots. Amid many changes +that simple belief of boyhood has never altered. The gratitude which I +felt then I confess to-day more strongly than ever. But other feelings +have in the progress of time altered much. I have learned, and others of +my generation as they came to man's estate have learned, what the war +really meant, and they have also learned to know and to do justice to +the men who fought the war upon the other side. + +I do not stand up in this presence to indulge in any mock +sentimentality. You brave men who wore the gray would be the first to +hold me or any other son of the North in just contempt if I should say +that, now it was all over, I thought the North was wrong and the result +of the war a mistake, and that I was prepared to suppress my political +opinions. I believe most profoundly that the war on our side was +eternally right, that our victory was the salvation of the country, and +that the results of the war were of infinite benefit to both North and +South. But however we differed, or still differ, as to the causes for +which we fought then, we accept them as settled, commit them to history, +and fight over them no more. To the men who fought the battles of the +Confederacy we hold out our hands freely, frankly, and gladly. To +courage and faith wherever shown we bow in homage with uncovered heads. +We respect and honor the gallantry and valor of the brave men who fought +against us, and who gave their lives and shed their blood in defense of +what they believed to be right. We rejoice that the famous general +whose name is borne upon your banner was one of the greatest soldiers of +modern times, because he, too, was an American. We have no bitter +memories to revive, no reproaches to utter. Reconciliation is not to be +sought, because it exists already. Differ in politics and in a thousand +other ways we must and shall in all good nature, but let us never differ +with each other on sectional or State lines, by race or creed. + +We welcome you, soldiers of Virginia, as others more eloquent than I +have said, to New England. We welcome you to old Massachusetts. We +welcome you to Boston and to Faneuil Hall. In your presence here, and at +the sound of your voices beneath this historic roof, the years roll back +and we see the figure and hear again the ringing tones of your great +orator, Patrick Henry, declaring to the first Continental Congress, "The +distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New +Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American." A +distinguished Frenchman, as he stood among the graves at Arlington, said +"Only a great people is capable of a great civil war." Let us add with +thankful hearts that only a great people is capable of a great +reconciliation. Side by side, Virginia and Massachusetts led the +colonies into the War for Independence. Side by side they founded the +government of the United States. Morgan and Greene, Lee and Knox, +Moultrie and Prescott, men of the South and men of the North, fought +shoulder to shoulder, and wore the same uniform of buff and blue--the +uniform of Washington. + +Your presence here brings back their noble memories, it breathes the +spirit of concord, and united with so many other voices in the +irrevocable message of union and good will. Mere sentiment all this, +some may say. But it is sentiment, true sentiment, that has moved the +world. Sentiment fought the war, and sentiment has reunited us. When the +war closed, it was proposed in the newspapers and elsewhere to give +Governor Andrew, who had sacrificed health and strength and property in +his public duties, some immediately lucrative office, like the +collectorship of the port of Boston. A friend asked him if he would take +such a place. "No," said he; "I have stood as high priest between the +horns of the altar, and I have poured out upon it the best blood of +Massachusetts, and I cannot take money for that." Mere sentiment, truly, +but the sentiment which ennobles and uplifts mankind. It is sentiment +which so hallows a bit of torn, stained bunting, that men go gladly to +their deaths to save it. So I say that the sentiment manifested by your +presence here, brethren of Virginia, sitting side by side with those who +wore the blue, has a far-reaching and gracious influence, of more value +than many practical things. It tells us that these two grand old +commonwealths, parted in the shock of the Civil War, are once more side +by side as in the days of the Revolution, never to part again. It tells +us that the sons of Virginia and Massachusetts, if war should break +again upon the country, will, as in the olden days, stand once more +shoulder to shoulder, with no distinction in the colors that they wear. +It is fraught with tidings of peace on earth and you may read its +meaning in the words on yonder picture, "Liberty and Union, now and +forever, one and inseparable." + + + + +A REMINISCENCE OF GETTYSBURG + + The following extract is taken from General John B. Gordon's great + lecture, "The Last Days of the Confederacy," delivered with marked + effect throughout the country. This report of the lecture is as + given in Brooklyn, N. Y., February 7, 1901. + + +But now to Gettysburg. That great battle could not be described in the +space of a lecture. I shall select from the myriad of thrilling +incidents which rush over my memory but two.[6] The first I relate +because it seems due to one of the bravest and knightliest soldiers of +the Union army. As my command came back from the Susquehanna River to +Gettysburg, it was thrown squarely on the right flank of the Union army. +The fact that that portion of the Union army melted was no disparagement +either of its courage or its lofty American manhood, for any troops that +had ever been marshaled, the Old Guard itself, would have been as surely +and swiftly shattered. It was that movement that gave to the Confederate +army the first day's victory at Gettysburg; and as I rode forward over +that field of green clover, made red with the blood of both armies, I +found a major-general among the dead and the dying. But a few moments +before, I had seen the proud form of that magnificent Union officer reel +in the saddle and then fall in the white smoke of the battle; and as I +rode by, intensely looking into his pale face, which was turned to the +broiling rays of that scorching July sun, I discovered that he was not +dead. Dismounting from my horse, I lifted his head with one hand, gave +him water from my canteen, inquired his name and if he was badly hurt. +He was General Francis C. Barlow, of New York. He had been shot from his +horse while grandly leading a charge. The ball had struck him in front, +passed through the body and out near the spinal cord, completely +paralyzing him in every limb; neither he nor I supposed he could live +for one hour. I desired to remove him before death from that terrific +sun. I had him lifted on a litter and borne to the shade in the rear. As +he bade me good-bye, and upon my inquiry what I could do for him, he +asked me to take from his pocket a bunch of letters. Those letters were +from his wife, and as I opened one at his request, and as his eye +caught, as he supposed for the last time, that wife's signature, the +great tears came like a fountain and rolled down his pale face; and he +said to me, "General Gordon, you are a Confederate; I am a Union +soldier; but we are both Americans; if you should live through this +dreadful war and ever see my wife, will you not do me the kindness to +tell my wife for me that you saw me on this field? Tell her for me, that +my last thought on earth was of her; tell her for me that you saw me +fall in this battle, and that her husband fell, not in the rear, but at +the head of his column; tell her for me, general, that I freely give my +life to my country, but that my unutterable grief is that I must now go +without the privilege of seeing her once more, and bidding her a long +and loving farewell." I at once said: "Where is Mrs. Barlow, general? +Where could I find her?" for I was determined that wife should receive +that gallant husband's message. He replied: "She is very close to me; +she is just back of the Union line of battle with the commander-in-chief +at his headquarters." That announcement of Mrs. Barlow's presence with +the Union army struck in this heart of mine another chord of deepest and +tenderest sympathy; for my wife had followed me, sharing with me the +privations of the camp, the fatigues of the march; again and again was +she under fire, and always on the very verge of the battle was that +devoted wife of mine, like an angel of protection and an inspiration to +duty. I replied: "Of course, General Barlow, if I am alive, sir, when +this day's battle, now in progress is ended--if I am not shot dead +before the night comes--you may die satisfied that I will see to it that +Mrs. Barlow has your message before to-morrow's dawn." + +And I did. The moment the guns had ceased their roar on the hills, I +sent a flag of truce with a note to Mrs. Barlow. I did not tell her--I +did not have the heart to tell her that her husband was dead, as I +believed him to be; but I did tell her that he was desperately wounded, +a prisoner in my hands; but that she should have safe escort through my +lines to her husband's side. Late that night, as I lay in the open field +upon my saddle, a picket from my front announced a lady on the line. She +was Mrs. Barlow. She had received my note and was struggling, under the +guidance of officers of the Union army, to penetrate my lines and reach +her husband's side. She was guided to his side by my staff during the +night. Early next morning the battle was renewed, and the following +day, and then came the retreat of Lee's immortal army. I thought no more +of that gallant son of the North, General Barlow, except to count him +among the thousands of Americans who had gone down on both sides in the +dreadful battle. Strangely enough, as the war progressed, Barlow +concluded not to die; Providence decreed that he should live. He +recovered and rejoined his command; and just one year after that, Barlow +saw that I was killed in another battle. The explanation is perfectly +simple. A cousin of mine, with the same initials, General J. B. Gordon, +of North Carolina, was killed in a battle near Richmond. Barlow, who, as +I say, had recovered and rejoined his command--although I knew he was +dead, or thought I did--picked up a newspaper and read this item in it: +"General J. B. Gordon of the Confederate army was killed to-day in +battle." Calling his staff around him, Barlow read that item and said to +them, "I am very sorry to see this; you will remember that General J. B. +Gordon was the officer who picked me up on the battlefield at +Gettysburg, and sent my wife through his lines to me at night. I am very +sorry." + +Fifteen years passed. Now, I wish the audience to remember that during +all those fifteen years which intervened, Barlow was dead to me, and for +fourteen of them I was dead to Barlow. In the meantime, the partiality +of the people of Georgia had placed me in the United States senate. +Clarkson Potter was a member of Congress from New York. He invited me to +dine with him to meet his friend, General Barlow. Now came my time to +think. "Barlow," I said, "Barlow? That is the same name, but it can't be +my Barlow, for I left him dead at Gettysburg." And I endeavored to +understand what it meant, and thought I had made the discovery. I was +told, as I made the inquiry, that there were two Barlows in the United +States army. That satisfied me at once. I concluded, as a matter of +course, that it was the other fellow I was going to meet; that Clarkson +Potter had invited me to dine with the living Barlow and not with the +dead one. Barlow had a similar reflection about the Gordon he was to +dine with. He supposed that I was the other Gordon. We met at Clarkson +Potter's table. I sat just opposite to Barlow; and in the lull of the +conversation I asked him, "General, are you related to the Barlow who +was killed at Gettysburg?" He replied: "I am the man, sir." "Are you +related," he asked, "to the Gordon who killed me?" "Well," I said, "I am +the man, sir." The scene which followed beggars all description. No +language could describe that scene at Clarkson Potter's table in +Washington, fifteen years after the war was over. Truth is indeed +stranger than fiction. Think of it! What could be stranger? There we +met, both dead, each of us presenting to the other the most absolute +proof of the resurrection of the dead. + +But stranger still, perhaps, is the friendship true and lasting begun +under such auspices. What could be further removed from the realms of +probabilities than a confiding friendship between combatants, which is +born on the field of blood, amidst the thunders of battle, and while the +hostile legions rush upon each other with deadly fury and pour into +each other's breasts their volleys of fire and of leaden hail. Such were +the circumstances under which was born the friendship between Barlow and +myself, and which I believe is more sincere because of its remarkable +birth, and which has strengthened and deepened with the passing years. +For the sake of our reunited and glorious Republic may we not hope that +similar ties will bind together all the soldiers of the two +armies--indeed all Americans in perpetual unity until the last bugle +call shall have summoned us to the eternal camping grounds beyond the +stars? + + + + +THE NEW SOUTH + + Address by Henry W. Grady, journalist [born in Athens, Ga., May 17, + 1851; died in Atlanta, Ga., December 23, 1889], delivered at the + eighty-first anniversary celebration of the New England Society in + the city of New York, December 22, 1886. + + +MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:--"There was a South of slavery and +secession--that South is dead. There is a South of union and +freedom--that South, thank God, is living, breathing, growing every +hour." These words, delivered from the immortal lips of Benjamin H. +Hill, at Tammany Hall in 1866, true then, and truer now, I shall make my +text to-night. + +Let me express to you my appreciation of the kindness by which I am +permitted to address you. I make this abrupt acknowledgment advisedly, +for I feel that if, when I raise my provincial voice in this ancient and +august presence, I could find courage for no more than the opening +sentence, it would be well if, in that sentence, I had met in a rough +sense my obligation as a guest, and had perished, so to speak, with +courtesy on my lips and grace in my heart. Permitted through your +kindness to catch my second wind, let me say that I appreciate the +significance of being the first Southerner to speak at this board, which +bears the substance, if it surpasses the semblance, of original New +England hospitality and honors a sentiment that in turn honors you, but +in which my personality is lost, and the compliment to my people made +plain. + +I bespeak the utmost stretch of your courtesy to-night. I am not +troubled about those from whom I come. You remember the man whose wife +sent him to a neighbor with a pitcher of milk, and who, tripping on the +top step, fell, with such casual interruptions as the landing afforded, +into the basement; and while picking himself up had the pleasure of +hearing his wife call out: "John, did you break the pitcher?" "No, I +didn't," said John, "but I be dinged if I don't!" + +So, while those who call to me from behind may inspire me with energy if +not with courage, I ask an indulgent hearing from you. I beg that you +will bring your full faith in American fairness and frankness to +judgment upon what I shall say. There was an old preacher once who told +some boys of the Bible lesson he was going to read in the morning. The +boys finding the place, glued together the connecting pages. The next +morning he read on the bottom of one page: "When Noah was one hundred +and twenty years old he took unto himself a wife, who was"--then turning +the page--"one hundred and forty cubits long, forty cubits wide, built +of gopher wood, and covered with pitch inside and out." He was naturally +puzzled at this. He read it again, verified it, and then said: "My +friends, this is the first time I ever met this in the Bible, but I +accept it as an evidence of the assertion that we are fearfully and +wonderfully made." If I could get you to hold such faith to-night I +could proceed cheerfully to the task I otherwise approach with a sense +of consecration. + +Pardon me one word, Mr. President, spoken for the sole purpose of +getting into the volumes that go out annually freighted with the rich +eloquence of your speakers--the fact that the Cavalier as well as the +Puritan was on the continent in its early days, and that he was "up and +able to be about." I have read your books carefully and I find no +mention of that fact, which seems to me an important one for preserving +a sort of historical equilibrium if for nothing else. Let me remind you +the Virginia Cavalier first challenged France on this continent--that +Cavalier John Smith gave New England its very name, and was so pleased +with the job that he has been handing his own name around ever +since--and that while Miles Standish was cutting off men's ears for +courting a girl without her parents' consent, and forbade men to kiss +their wives on Sunday, the Cavalier was courting everything in sight, +and that the Almighty had vouchsafed great increase to the Cavalier +colonies, the huts in the wilderness being full as the nests in the +woods. + +But having incorporated the Cavalier as a fact in your charming little +books I shall let him work out his own salvation, as he has always done +with engaging gallantry, and we will hold no controversy as to his +merits. Why should we? Neither Puritan nor Cavalier long survived as +such. The virtues and traditions of both happily still live for the +inspiration of their sons and the saving of the old fashion. But both +Puritan and Cavalier were lost in the storm of the first Revolution; and +the American citizen, supplanting both and stronger than either, took +possession of the Republic bought by their common blood and fashioned to +wisdom, and charged himself with teaching men government and +establishing the voice of the people as the voice of God. + +My friend, Dr. Talmage has told you that the typical American has yet to +come. Let me tell you that he has already come. Great types like +valuable plants are slow to flower and fruit. But from the union of +these colonies Puritans and Cavaliers, from the straightening of their +purposes and the crossing of their blood, slow perfecting through a +century, came he who stands as the first typical American, the first who +comprehended within himself all the strength and gentleness, all the +majesty and grace of this Republic--Abraham Lincoln. He was the son of +Puritan and Cavalier, for in his ardent nature were fused the virtues of +both, and in the depths of his great soul the faults of both were lost. +He was greater than Puritan, greater than Cavalier, in that he was +American renewed, and that in his homely form were first gathered the +vast and thrilling forces of his ideal government--charging it with such +tremendous meaning and so elevating it above human suffering that +martyrdom, though infamously aimed, came as a fitting crown to a life +consecrated from the cradle to human liberty. Let us, each cherishing +the traditions and honoring his fathers, build with reverent hands to +the type of this simple but sublime life, in which all types are +honored; and in our common glory as Americans there will be plenty and +to spare for your forefathers and for mine. + +In speaking to the toast with which you have honored me. I accent the +term, "The New South," as in no sense disparaging to the Old. Dear to +me, sir, is the home of my childhood and the traditions of my people. I +would not, if I could, dim the glory they won in peace and war, or by +word or deed take aught from the splendor and grace of their +civilization--never equaled and, perhaps, never to be equaled in its +chivalric strength and grace. There is a New South, not through protest +against the Old, but because of new conditions, new adjustments and, if +you please, new ideas and aspirations. It is to this that I address +myself, and to the consideration of which I hasten lest it become the +Old South before I get to it. Age does not endow all things with +strength and virtue, nor are all new things to be despised. The +shoemaker who put over his door "John Smith's shop. Founded in 1760," +was more than matched by his young rival across the street who hung out +this sign: "Bill Jones. Established 1886. No old stock kept in this +shop." + +Dr. Talmage has drawn for you, with a master's hand, the picture of your +returning armies. He has told you how, in the pomp and circumstance of +war, they came back to you, marching with proud and victorious tread, +reading their glory in a nation's eyes! Will you bear with me while I +tell you of another army that sought its home at the close of the late +war--an army that marched home in defeat and not in victory--in pathos +and not in splendor, but in glory that equalled yours, and to hearts as +loving as ever welcomed heroes home. Let me picture to you the footsore +Confederate soldier, as, buttoning up in his faded gray jacket the +parole which was to bear testimony to his children of his fidelity and +faith, he turned his face southward from Appomattox in April, 1865. +Think of him as ragged, half-starved, heavy-hearted, enfeebled by want +and wounds; having fought to exhaustion, he surrenders his gun, wrings +the hands of his comrades in silence, and lifting his tear-stained and +pallid face for the last time to the graves that dot the old Virginia +hills, pulls his gray cap over his brow and begins the slow and painful +journey. What does he find--let me ask you, who went to your homes eager +to find in the welcome you had justly earned, full payment for four +years' sacrifice--what does he find when, having followed the +battle-stained cross against overwhelming odds, dreading death not half +so much as surrender, he reaches the home he left so prosperous and +beautiful? He finds his house in ruins, his farm devastated, his slaves +free, his stock killed, his barns empty, his trade destroyed, his money +worthless; his social system, feudal in its magnificence, swept away; +his people without law or legal status, his comrades slain, and the +burdens of others heavy on his shoulders. Crushed by defeat, his very +traditions are gone; without money, credit, employment, material or +training; and besides all this, confronted with the gravest problem that +ever met human intelligence--the establishing of a status for the vast +body of his liberated slaves. + +What does he do--this hero in gray with a heart of gold? Does he sit +down in sullenness and despair? Not for a day. Surely God, who had +stripped him of his prosperity, inspired him in his adversity. As ruin +was never before so overwhelming, never was restoration swifter. The +soldier stepped from the trenches into the furrow; horses that had +charged Federal guns marched before the plow, and fields that ran red +with human blood in April were green with the harvest in June; women +reared in luxury cut up their dresses and made breeches for their +husbands, and, with a patience and heroism that fit women always as a +garment, gave their hands to work. There was little bitterness in all +this. Cheerfulness and frankness prevailed. "Bill Arp" struck the +keynote when he said: "Well, I killed as many of them as they did of me, +and now I am going to work." Or the soldier returning home after defeat +and roasting some corn on the roadside, who made the remark to his +comrades: "You may leave the South if you want to, but I am going to +Sandersville, kiss my wife and raise a crop, and if the Yankees fool +with me any more I will whip 'em again." I want to say to General +Sherman--who is considered an able man in our part, though some people +think he is a kind of careless man about fire--that from the ashes he +left us in 1864 we have raised a brave and beautiful city; that somehow +or other we have caught the sunshine in the bricks and mortar of our +homes, and have builded therein not one ignoble prejudice or memory. + +But in all this what have we accomplished? What is the sum of our work? +We have found out that in the general summary the free negro counts more +than he did as a slave. We have planted the schoolhouse on the hilltop +and made it free to white and black. We have sowed towns and cities in +the place of theories and put business above politics. We have +challenged your spinners in Massachusetts and your iron-makers in +Pennsylvania. We have learned that the $400,000,000 annually received +from our cotton crop will make us rich, when the supplies that make it +are homeraised. We have reduced the commercial rate of interest from +twenty-four to six per cent., and are floating four per cent. bonds. We +have learned that one Northern immigrant is worth fifty foreigners, and +have smoothed the path to southward, wiped out the place where Mason and +Dixon's line used to be, and hung our latch-string out, to you and +yours. We have reached the point that marks perfect harmony in every +household, when the husband confesses that the pies which his wife cooks +are as good as those his mother used to bake; and we admit that the sun +shines as brightly and the moon as softly as it did "before the war." We +have established thrift in city and country. We have fallen in love with +work. We have restored comfort to homes from which culture and elegance +never departed. We have let economy take root and spread among us as +rank as the crabgrass which sprung from Sherman's cavalry camps, until +we are ready to lay odds on the Georgia Yankee, as he manufactures +relics of the battlefield in a one-story shanty and squeezes pure olive +oil out of his cotton seed, against any down-easter that ever swapped +wooden nutmegs for flannel sausages in the valleys of Vermont. Above +all, we know that we have achieved in these "piping times of peace" a +fuller independence for the South than that which our fathers sought to +win in the forum by their eloquence or compel on the field by their +swords. + +It is a rare privilege, sir, to have had part, however humble, in this +work. Never was nobler duty confided to human hands than the uplifting +and upbuilding of the prostrate and bleeding South, misguided, perhaps, +but beautiful in her suffering, and honest, brave and generous always. +In the record of her social, industrial, and political institutions we +await with confidence the verdict of the world. + +But what of the negro? Have we solved the problem he presents or +progressed in honor and equity towards the solution? Let the record +speak to the point. No section shows a more prosperous laboring +population than the negroes of the South; none in fuller sympathy with +the employing and landowning class. He shares our school fund, has the +fullest protection of our laws and the friendship of our people. +Self-interest, as well as honor, demand that he should have this. Our +future, our very existence depend upon our working out this problem in +full and exact justice. We understand that when Lincoln signed the +Emancipation Proclamation, your victory was assured; for he then +committed you to the cause of human liberty, against which the arms of +man cannot prevail; while those of our statesmen who trusted to make +slavery the cornerstone of the Confederacy doomed us to defeat as far as +they could, committing us to a cause that reason could not defend or the +sword maintain in the sight of advancing civilization. Had Mr. Toombs +said, which he did not say, that he would call the roll of his slaves at +the foot of Bunker Hill, he would have been foolish, for he might have +known that whenever slavery became entangled in war it must perish, and +that the chattel in human flesh ended forever in New England when your +fathers--not to be blamed for parting with what didn't pay--sold their +slaves to our fathers--not to be praised for knowing a paying thing when +they saw it. + +The relations of the Southern people with the negro are close and +cordial. We remember with what fidelity for four years he guarded our +defenseless women and children, whose husbands and fathers were fighting +against his freedom. To his eternal credit be it said that whenever he +struck a blow for his own liberty he fought in open battle, and when at +last he raised his black and humble hands that the shackles might be +struck off, those hands were innocent of wrong against his helpless +charges, and worthy to be taken in loving grasp by every man who honors +loyalty and devotion. Ruffians have maltreated him, rascals have misled +him, philanthropists established a bank for him, but the South, with the +North, protests against injustice to this simple and sincere people. To +liberty and enfranchisement is as far as law can carry the negro. The +rest must be left to conscience and common sense. It should be left to +those among whom his lot is cast, with whom he is indissolubly connected +and whose prosperity depends upon their possessing his intelligent +sympathy and confidence. Faith has been kept with him in spite of +calumnious assertions to the contrary by those who assume to speak for +us or by frank opponents. Faith will be kept with him in the future, if +the South holds her reason and integrity. + +But have we kept faith with you? In the fullest sense, yes. When Lee +surrendered--I don't say when Johnston surrendered, because I understand +he still alludes to the time when he met General Sherman last as the +time when he "determined to abandon any further prosecution of the +struggle"--when Lee surrendered, I say, and Johnston quit, the South +became, and has since been, loyal to this Union. We fought hard enough +to know that we were whipped, and in perfect frankness accepted as final +the arbitrament of the sword to which we had appealed. The South found +her jewel in the toad's head of defeat. The shackles that had held her +in narrow limitations fell forever when the shackles of the negro slave +were broken. Under the old _regime_ the negroes were slaves to the +South, the South was a slave to the system. The old plantation, with its +simple police regulation and its feudal habit, was the only type +possible under slavery. Thus we gathered in the hands of a splendid and +chivalric oligarchy the substance that should have been diffused among +the people, as the rich blood, under certain artificial conditions, is +gathered at the heart, filling with affluent rapture, but leaving the +body chill and colorless. + +The Old South rested everything on slavery and agriculture, unconscious +that these could neither give nor maintain healthy growth. The New South +presents a perfect democracy, the oligarchs leading in the popular +movement--a social system compact and closely knitted, less splendid on +the surface but stronger at the core--a hundred farms for every +plantation, fifty homes for every palace, and diversified industry that +meets the complex needs of this complex age. + +The New South is enamored of her new work. Her soul is stirred with the +breath of a new life. The light of a grander day is falling fair on her +face. She is thrilling with the consciousness of growing power and +prosperity. As she stands upright, full-statured and equal among the +people of the earth, breathing the keen air and looking out upon the +expanding horizon, she understands that her emancipation came because in +the inscrutable wisdom of God her honest purpose was crossed and her +brave armies were beaten. + +This is said in no spirit of time-serving or apology. The South has +nothing for which to apologize. She believes that the late struggle +between the states was war and not rebellion, revolution and not +conspiracy, and that her convictions were as honest as yours. I should +be unjust to the dauntless spirit of the South and to my own convictions +if I did not make this plain in this presence. The South has nothing to +take back. In my native town of Athens is a monument that crowns its +central hills--a plain, white shaft. Deep cut into its shining side is a +name dear to me above the names of men, that of a brave and simple man +who died in brave and simple faith. Not for all the glories of New +England--from Plymouth Rock all the way--would I exchange the heritage +he left me in his soldier's death. To the foot of that shaft I shall +send my children's children to reverence him who ennobled their name +with his heroic blood. But, sir, speaking from the shadow of that +memory, which I honor as I do nothing else on earth, I say that the +cause in which he suffered and for which he gave his life was adjudged +by higher and fuller wisdom than his or mine, and I am glad that the +omniscient God held the balance of battle in His Almighty hand, and that +human slavery was swept forever from American soil--the American Union +saved from the wreck of war. + +This message, Mr. President, comes to you from consecrated ground. Every +foot of the soil about the city in which I live is sacred as a +battleground of the Republic. Every hill that invests it is hallowed to +you by the blood of your brothers, who died for your victory, and doubly +hallowed to us by the blood of those who died hopeless, but undaunted, +in defeat--sacred soil to all of us, rich with memories that make us +purer and stronger and better, silent but stanch witnesses in its red +desolation of the matchless valor of American hearts and the deathless +glory of American arms--speaking in eloquent witness in its white peace +and prosperity to the indissoluble union of American states and the +imperishable brotherhood of the American people. + +Now, what answer has New England to this message? Will she permit the +prejudices of war to remain in the hearts of the conquerors, when it has +died in the hearts of the conquered? ("No! No!") Will she transmit this +prejudice to the next generation, that in their hearts, which never felt +the generous ardor of conflict, it may perpetuate itself? ("No! No!") +Will she withhold, save in strained courtesy, the hand which straight +from his soldier's heart Grant offered to Lee at Appomattox? Will she +make the vision of a restored and happy people, which gathered above the +couch of your dying captain, filling his heart with grace, touching his +lips with praise and glorifying his path to the grave; will she make +this vision on which the last sigh of his expiring soul breathed a +benediction, a cheat and a delusion? If she does, the South, never +abject in asking for comradeship, must accept with dignity its refusal; +but if she does not; if she accepts in frankness and sincerity this +message of goodwill and friendship, then will the prophecy of Webster, +delivered in this very Society forty years ago amid tremendous applause, +be verified in its fullest and final sense, when he said: "Standing hand +to hand and clasping hands, we should remain united as we have been for +sixty years, citizens of the same country, members of the same +government, united, all united now and united forever. There have been +difficulties, contentions, and controversies, but I tell you that in my +judgment + + "'Those opposed eyes, + Which like the meteors of a troubled heaven, + All of one nature, of one substance bred, + Did lately meet in th' intestine shock, + Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks, + March all one way.'" + + + + +THE DUTY AND VALUE OF PATRIOTISM + + John Ireland, Archbishop of Saint Paul, was born at Burnchurch, + County Kilkenny, Ireland, September 11, 1838. As a boy he came to + Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1849, and there obtained his secular + education at the Cathedral School. He studied theology in France, + in the seminaries of Meximieux and Hyeres. During the Civil War he + was chaplain of the Fifth Minnesota Regiment. In 1875 he was + consecrated bishop of Saint Paul. In 1869 he founded the first + total-abstinence society in Minnesota and has lectured much on + temperance in the United States and Great Britain. The following + extracts, used by special permission, are from his lecture + delivered before the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion, New + York, April 4, 1894. + + +Patriotism is love of country, and loyalty to its life and weal--love +tender and strong, tender as the love of son for mother, strong as the +pillars of death; loyalty generous and disinterested, shrinking from no +sacrifice, seeking no reward save country's honor and country's triumph. + +Patriotism! There is magic in the word. It is bliss to repeat it. +Through ages the human race burnt the incense of admiration and +reverence at the shrines of patriotism. The most beautiful pages of +history are those which recount its deeds. Fireside tales, the +outpourings of the memories of peoples, borrow from it their warmest +glow. Poets are sweetest when they reecho its whisperings; orators are +most potent when they thrill its chords to music. + +Pagan nations were wrong when they made gods of their noblest patriots. +But the error was the excess of a great truth, that heaven unites with +earth in approving and blessing patriotism; that patriotism is one of +earth's highest virtues, worthy to have come down from the atmosphere of +the skies. + +The exalted patriotism of the exiled Hebrew exhaled itself in a canticle +of religion which Jehovah inspired, and which has been transmitted, as +the inheritance of God's people to the Christian Church: + + "Upon the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, when we + remembered Sion.--If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand + be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember + thee, if I do not make Jerusalem the beginning of my joy." + +The human race pays homage to patriotism because of its supreme value. +The value of patriotism to a people is above gold and precious stones, +above commerce and industry, above citadels and warships. Patriotism is +the vital spark of national honor; it is the fount of the nation's +prosperity, the shield of the nation's safety. Take patriotism away, the +nation's soul has fled, bloom and beauty have vanished from the nation's +countenance. + +The human race pays homage to patriotism because of its supreme +loveliness. Patriotism goes out to what is among earth's possessions the +most precious, the first and best and dearest--country--and its effusion +is the fragrant flowering of the purest and noblest sentiments of the +heart. + +Patriotism is innate in all men; the absence of it betokens a perversion +of human nature; but it grows its full growth only where thoughts are +elevated and heart-beatings are generous. + +Next to God is country, and next to religion is patriotism. No praise +goes beyond its deserts. It is sublime in its heroic oblation upon the +field of battle. "Oh glorious is he," exclaims in Homer the Trojan +warrior, "who for his country falls!" It is sublime in the oft-repeated +toil of dutiful citizenship. "Of all human doings," writes Cicero, "none +is more honorable and more estimable than to merit well of the +commonwealth." + +Countries are of divine appointment. The Most High "divided the nations, +separated the sons of Adam, and appointed the bounds of peoples." The +physical and moral necessities of God's creatures are revelations of his +will and laws. Man is born a social being. A condition of his existence +and of his growth of mature age is the family. Nor does the family +suffice to itself. A larger social organism is needed, into which +families gather, so as to obtain from one another security to life and +property and aid in the development of the faculties and powers with +which nature has endowed the children of men. + +The whole human race is too extensive and too diversified in interests +to serve those ends: hence its subdivisions into countries or peoples. +Countries have their providential limits--the waters of a sea, a +mountain range, the lines of similarity of requirements or of methods of +living. The limits widen in space according to the measure of the +destinies which the great Ruler allots to peoples, and the importance of +their parts in the mighty work of the cycles of years, the +ever-advancing tide of humanity's evolution. + +The Lord is the God of nations because he is the God of men. No nation +is born into life or vanishes back into nothingness without his bidding. +I believe in the providence of God over countries as I believe in his +wisdom and his love, and my patriotism to my country rises within my +soul invested with the halo of my religion to my God. + +More than a century ago a trans-Atlantic poet and philosopher, reading +well the signs, wrote: + + "Westward the course of empire takes its way. + The first four acts already past, + A fifth shall close the drama with the day; + Time's noblest offspring is the last." + +Berkeley's prophetic eye had descried America. What shall I say, in a +brief discourse of my country's value and beauty, of her claims to my +love and loyalty? I will pass by in silence her fields and forests, her +rivers and seas, the boundless riches hidden beneath her soil and amid +the rocks of her mountains, her pure and health-giving air, her +transcendent wealth of nature's fairest and most precious gifts. I will +not speak of the noble qualities and robust deeds of her sons, skilled +in commerce and industry, valorous in war, prosperous in peace. In all +these things America is opulent and great: but beyond them and above +them in her singular grandeur, to which her material splendor is only +the fitting circumstance. + +America born into the family of nations in these latter times is the +highest billow in humanity's evolution, the crowning effort of ages in +the aggrandizement of man. Unless we take her in this altitude, we do +not comprehend her; we belittle her towering stature and conceal the +singular design of Providence in her creation. + +America is the country of human dignity and human liberty. + +When the fathers of the republic declared "that all men are created +equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable +rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of +happiness," a cardinal principle was enunciated which in its truth was +as old as the race, but in practical realization almost unknown. + +Slowly, amid sufferings and revolutions, humanity had been reaching out +toward a reign of the rights of man. Ante-Christian paganism had utterly +denied such rights. It allowed nothing to man as man; he was what +wealth, place, or power made him. Even the wise Aristotle taught that +some men were intended by nature to be slaves and chattels. The sweet +religion of Christ proclaimed aloud the doctrine of the common +fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of men. + +Eighteen hundred years, however, went by, and the civilized world had +not yet put its civil and political institutions in accord with its +spiritual faith. The Christian Church was all this time leavening human +society and patiently awaiting the promised fermentation. This came at +last, and it came in America. It came in a first manifestation through +the Declaration of Independence; it came in a second and final +manifestation through President Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation. + +In America all men are civilly and politically equal; all have the same +rights; all wield the same arm of defense and of conquest, the suffrage; +and the sole condition of rights and of power is simple manhood. + +Liberty is the exemption from all restraint save that of the laws of +justice and order; the exemption from submission to other men, except as +they represent and enforce those laws. The divine gift of liberty to man +is God's recognition of his greatness and his dignity. The sweetness of +man's life and the power of growth lie in liberty. The loss of liberty +is the loss of light and sunshine, the loss of life's best portion. +Humanity, under the spell of heavenly memories, never ceased to dream of +liberty and to aspire to its possession. Now and then, here and there, +its refreshing breezes caressed humanity's brow. But not until the +republic of the West was born, not until the Star-Spangled Banner rose +toward the skies, was liberty caught up in humanity's embrace and +embodied in a great and abiding nation. + +In America the government takes from the liberty of the citizen only so +much as is necessary for the weal of the nation, which the citizen by +his own act freely concedes. In America there are no masters, who govern +in their own rights, for their own interests, or at their own will. We +have over us no Louis XIV, saying: "L'etat, c'est moi;" no Hohenzollern, +announcing that in his acts as sovereign he is responsible only to his +conscience and to God. + +Ours is the government of the people, by the people, for the people. The +government is our organized will. There is no state above or apart from +the people. Rights begin with and go upward from the people. In other +countries, even those apparently the most free, rights begin with and +come downward from the state; the rights of citizens, the rights of the +people, are concessions which have been painfully wrenched from the +governing powers. + +With Americans, whenever the organized government does not prove its +grant, the liberty of the individual citizen is sacred and inviolable. +Elsewhere there are governments called republics; universal suffrage +constitutes the state; but, once constituted, the state is tyrannous and +arbitrary, invades at will private rights, and curtails at will +individual liberty. One republic is liberty's native home--America. + + + + +OUR COUNTRY + + From the speech of President McKinley, in response to the toast + "Our Country," at the Peace Jubilee banquet in Chicago, October 19, + 1898. + + +MR. TOASTMASTER AND GENTLEMEN:--It affords me gratification to meet the +people of the city of Chicago and to participate with them in this +patriotic celebration. Upon the suspension of hostilities of a foreign +war, the first in our history for over half a century, we have met in a +spirit of peace, profoundly grateful for the glorious advancement +already made, and earnestly wishing in the final termination to realize +an equally glorious fulfillment. With no feeling of exultation, but with +profound thankfulness, we contemplate the events of the past five +months. They have been too serious to admit of boasting or +vain-glorification. They have been so full of responsibilities, +immediate and prospective, as to admonish the soberest judgment and +counsel the most conservative action. + +This is not the time to fire the imagination, but rather to discover, in +calm reason, the way to truth, and justice, and right, and when +discovered to follow it with fidelity and courage, without fear, +hesitation, or weakness. + +The war has put upon the nation grave responsibilities. Their extent was +not anticipated and could not have been well foreseen. We cannot escape +the obligations of victory. We cannot avoid the serious questions which +have been brought home to us by the achievements of our arms on land and +sea. We are bound in conscience to keep and perform the covenants which +the war has sacredly sealed with mankind. Accepting war for humanity's +sake, we must accept all obligations which the war in duty and honor +imposed upon us. The splendid victories we have achieved would be our +eternal shame and not our everlasting glory if they led to the weakening +of our original lofty purpose or to the desertion of the immortal +principles on which the national government was founded, and in +accordance with whose ennobling spirit it has ever since been faithfully +administered. + +The war with Spain was undertaken not that the United States should +increase its territory, but that oppression at our very doors should be +stopped. This noble sentiment must continue to animate us, and we must +give to the world the full demonstration of the sincerity of our +purpose. Duty determines destiny. Destiny which results from duty +performed may bring anxiety and perils, but never failure and dishonor. +Pursuing duty may not always lead by smooth paths. Another course may +look easier and more attractive, but pursuing duty for duty's sake is +always sure and safe and honorable. It is not within the power of man to +foretell the future and to solve unerringly its mighty problems. +Almighty God has His plans and methods for human progress, and not +infrequently they are shrouded for the time being in impenetrable +mystery. Looking backward we can see how the hand of destiny builded for +us and assigned us tasks whose full meaning was not apprehended even by +the wisest statesmen of their times. + +Our colonial ancestors did not enter upon their war originally for +independence. Abraham Lincoln did not start out to free the slaves, but +to save the Union. The war with Spain was not of our seeking, and some +of its consequences may not be to our liking. Our vision is often +defective. Short-sightedness is a common malady, but the closer we get +to things or they get to us the clearer our view and the less obscure +our duty. Patriotism must be faithful as well as fervent; statesmanship +must be wise as well as fearless--not the statesmanship which will +command the applause of the hour, but the approving judgment of +posterity. + +The progress of a nation can alone prevent degeneration. There must be +new life and purpose, or there will be weakness and decay. There must be +broadening of thought as well as broadening of trade. Territorial +expansion is not alone and always necessary to national advancement. +There must be a constant movement toward a higher and nobler +civilization, a civilization that shall make its conquests without +resort to war and achieve its greatest victories pursuing the arts of +peace. + +In our present situation duty--and duty alone--should prescribe the +boundary of our responsibilities and the scope of our undertakings. The +final determination of our purposes awaits the action of the eminent men +who are charged by the executive with the making of the treaty of peace, +and that of the senate of the United States, which, by our constitution, +must ratify and confirm it. We all hope and pray that the confirmation +of peace will be as just and humane as the conduct and consummation of +the war. When the work of the treaty-makers is done the work of the +law-makers will begin. The one will settle the extent of our +responsibilities; the other must provide the legislation to meet them. +The army and navy have nobly and heroically performed their part. May +God give the executive and congress wisdom to perform theirs. + + + + +BEHOLD THE AMERICAN + + From the speech of Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage at the eighty-first + annual dinner of the New England Society in New York, December 22, + 1886. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, AND ALL YOU GOOD NEW ENGLANDERS:--If we leave to the +evolutionists to guess where we came from and to the theologians to +prophesy where are we going to, we still have left for consideration the +fact that we are here; and we are here at an interesting time. Of all +the centuries this is the best century, and of all the decades of the +century this is the best decade, and of all the years of the decade this +is the best year, and of all the months of the year this is the best +month, and of all the nights of the month this is the best night. Many +of these advantages we trace straight back to Forefathers' Day, about +which I am to speak. + +Well, what about this Forefathers' Day? In Brooklyn they say the Landing +of the Pilgrims was December the 21st; in New York you say it was +December the 22d. You are both right. Not through the specious and +artful reasoning you have sometimes indulged in, but by a little +historical incident that seems to have escaped your attention. You see, +the Forefathers landed in the morning of December the 21st, but about +noon that day a pack of hungry wolves swept down the bleak American +beach looking for a New England dinner, and a band of savages out for a +tomahawk picnic hove in sight, and the Pilgrim Fathers thought it best +for safety and warmth to go on board the Mayflower and pass the night. +And during the night there came up a strong wind blowing off shore that +swept the Mayflower from its moorings clear out to sea, and there was a +prospect that our Forefathers, having escaped oppression in foreign +lands, would yet go down under an oceanic tempest. But the next day they +fortunately got control of their ship and steered her in, and the second +time the Forefathers stepped ashore. + +Brooklyn celebrated the first landing; New York the second landing. So I +say Hail! Hail! to both celebrations, for one day, anyhow, could not do +justice to such a subject; and I only wish I could have kissed the +Blarney stone of America, which is Plymouth Rock, so that I might have +done justice to this subject. Ah, gentlemen, that Mayflower was the ark +that floated the deluge of oppression, and Plymouth Rock was the Ararat +on which it landed. + +But all these things aside, no one sitting at these tables has higher +admiration for the Pilgrim Fathers than I have--the men who believed in +two great doctrines, which are the foundation of every religion that is +worth anything: namely, the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of +Man--these men of backbone and endowed with that great and magnificent +attribute of stick-to-it-iveness. Macaulay said that no one ever sneered +at the Puritans who had met them in halls of debate or crossed swords +with them on the field of battle. They are sometimes defamed for their +rigorous Sabbaths, but our danger is in the opposite direction of no +Sabbaths at all. It is said that they destroyed witches. I wish that +they had cleared them all out, for all the world is full of witches yet, +and if at all these tables there is a man who has not sometimes been +bewitched, let him hold up his glass of ice-water. It is said that these +Forefathers carried religion into everything, and before a man kissed +his wife he asked a blessing, and afterward said: "Having received +another favor from the Lord, let us return thanks." But our great need +now is more religion in every-day life. + +Still, take it all in all, I think the descendants of the Pilgrim +Fathers are as good as their ancestors, and in many ways better. +Children are apt to be an echo of their ancestors. We are apt to put a +halo around the Forefathers, but I suspect that at our age they were +very much like ourselves. People are not wise when they long for the +good old days. + +But though your Forefathers may not have been much, if any, better than +yourselves, let us extol them for the fact that they started this +country in the right direction. They laid the foundation for American +manhood. The foundation must be more solid and firm and unyielding than +any other part of the structure. On that Puritanic foundation we can +safely build all nationalities. Let us remember that the coming American +is to be an admixture of all foreign bloods. In about twenty-five or +fifty years the model American will step forth. He will have the strong +brain of the German, the polished manners of the French, the artistic +taste of the Italian, the stanch heart of the English, the steadfast +piety of the Scotch, the lightning wit of the Irish, and when he steps +forth, bone, muscle, nerve, brain entwined with the fibers of all +nationalities, the nations will break out in the cry: "Behold the +American!" + +I never realized what this country was and is as on the day when I first +saw some of these gentlemen of the Army and Navy. It was when at the +close of the War our armies came back and marched in review before the +president's stand at Washington. I do not care whether a man was a +Republican or a Democrat, a Northern man or a Southern man, if he had +any emotion of nature, he could not look upon it without weeping. God +knew that the day was stupendous, and He cleared the heaven of cloud and +mist and chill, and sprung the blue sky as the triumphal arch for the +returning warriors to pass under. From Arlington Heights the spring +foliage shook out its welcome, as the hosts came over the hills, and the +sparkling waters of the Potomac tossed their gold to the feet of the +battalions as they came to the Long Bridge and in almost interminable +line passed over. The capitol never seemed so majestic as that morning: +snowy white, looking down upon the tides of men that came surging down, +billow after billow. Passing in silence, yet I heard in every step the +thunder of conflicts through which they had waded, and seemed to see +dripping from their smoke-blackened flags the blood of our country's +martyrs. For the best part of two days we stood and watched the filing +on of what seemed endless battalions, brigade after brigade, division +after division, host after host, rank beyond rank; ever moving, ever +passing; marching, marching; tramp, tramp, tramp--thousands after +thousands, battery front, arms shouldered, columns solid, shoulder to +shoulder, wheel to wheel, charger to charger, nostril to nostril. + +Commanders on horses with their manes entwined with roses, and necks +enchained with garlands, fractious at the shouts that ran along the +line, increasing from the clapping of children clothed in white, +standing on the steps of the capitol, to the tumultuous vociferation of +hundreds of thousands of enraptured multitudes, crying "Huzza! Huzza!" +Gleaming muskets, thundering parks of artillery, rumbling pontoon +wagons, ambulances from whose wheels seemed to sound out the groans of +the crushed and the dying that they had carried. These men came from +balmy Minnesota, those from Illinois prairies. These were often hummed +to sleep by the pines of Oregon, those were New England lumbermen. Those +came out of the coal-shafts of Pennsylvania. Side by side in one great +cause, consecrated through fire and storm and darkness, brothers in +peril, on their way home from Chancellorsville and Kenesaw Mountain and +Fredericksburg, in lines that seemed infinite they passed on. + +We gazed and wept and wondered, lifting up our heads to see if the end +had come, but no! Looking from one end of that long avenue to the other, +we saw them yet in solid column, battery front, host beyond host, wheel +to wheel, charger to charger, nostril to nostril, coming as it were from +under the capitol. Forward! Forward! Their bayonets, caught in the sun, +glimmered and flashed and blazed, till they seemed like one long river +of silver, ever and anon changed into a river of fire. No end to the +procession, no rest for the eyes. We turned our heads from the scene, +unable longer to look. We felt disposed to stop our ears, but still we +heard it, marching, marching; tramp, tramp, tramp. But hush--uncover +every head! Here they pass, the remnant of ten men of a full regiment. +Silence! Widowhood and orphanage look on and wring their hands. But +wheel into line, all ye people! North, South, East, West--all decades, +all centuries, all millenniums! Forward, the whole line! Huzza! Huzza! + + + + +THE HOLLANDER AS AN AMERICAN + + Speech of Theodore Roosevelt at the eleventh annual dinner of the + Holland Society of New York, January 15, 1896. + + +MR. PRESIDENT, GENTLEMEN, AND BRETHREN OF THE HOLLAND SOCIETY:--I am +more than touched, if you will permit me to begin rather seriously, by +the way you have greeted me to-night. When I was in Washington, there +was a story in reference to a certain president, who was not popular +with some of his own people in a particular western state. One of its +senators went to the White House and said he wanted a friend of his +appointed postmaster of Topeka. The president's private secretary said, +"I am very sorry, indeed, sir, but the president wants to appoint a +personal friend." Thereupon the senator said: "Well, for God's sake, if +he has one friend in Kansas, let him appoint him!" + +There have been periods during which the dissembled eulogies of the able +press and my relations with about every politician of every party and +every faction have made me feel I would like to know whether I had one +friend in New York, and here I feel I have many. And more than that, +gentlemen, I should think ill of myself and think that I was a discredit +to the stock from which I sprang if I feared to go on along the path +that I deemed right, whether I had few friends or many. + +I am glad to answer to the toast, "The Hollander as an American." The +Hollander was a good American, because the Hollander was fitted to be a +good citizen. There are two branches of government which must be kept on +a high plane, if any nation is to be great. A nation must have laws that +are honestly and fearlessly administered, and it must be ready, in time +of need, to fight; and we men of Dutch descent have here to-night these +gentlemen of the same blood as ourselves who represent New York so +worthily on the bench, and a major-general of the army of the United +States. + +It seems to me, at times, that the Dutch in America have one or two +lessons to teach. We want to teach the very refined and very cultivated +men who believe it impossible that the United States can ever be right +in a quarrel with another nation--a little of the elementary virtue of +patriotism. And we also wish to teach our fellow citizens that laws are +put on the statute books to be enforced and that if it is not intended +they shall be enforced it is a mistake to put a Dutchman in office to +enforce them. + +The lines put on the program underneath my toast begin: "America! half +brother of the world!" America, half brother of the world--and all +Americans full brothers one to the other. That is the way that line +should be concluded. The prime virtue of the Hollander here in America +and the way in which he has most done credit to his stock as a +Hollander, is that he has ceased to be a Hollander and has become an +American, absolutely. We are not Dutch-Americans. We are not "Americans" +with a hyphen before it. We are Americans pure and simple, and we have a +right to demand that the other people whose stocks go to compose our +great nation, like ourselves, shall cease to be aught else and shall +become Americans. + +And further than that, we have another thing to demand, and that is that +if they do honestly and in good faith become Americans, those shall be +regarded as infamous who dare to discriminate against them because of +creed or because of birthplace. When New Amsterdam had but a few hundred +souls, among those few hundred souls no less than eighteen different +race stocks were represented, and almost as many creeds as there were +race stocks, and the great contribution that the Hollander gave to the +American people was the inestimable lesson of complete civil and +religious liberty. It would be honor enough for this stock to have been +the first to put on American soil the public school, the great engine +for grinding out American citizens, the one institution for which +Americans should stand more stiffly than for aught other. + +Whenever America has demanded of her sons that they should come to her +aid, whether in time of peace or in time of war, the Americans of Dutch +stock have been among the first to spring to the aid of the country. We +earnestly hope that there will not in the future be any war with any +power, but assuredly if there should be such a war one thing may be +taken for certain, and that is that every American of Dutch descent will +be found on the side of the United States. We give the amplest credit, +that some people now, to their shame, grudge to the profession of arms, +which we have here to-night represented by a man, who, when he has the +title of a major general of the army of the United States, has a title +as honorable as any that there is on the wide earth. We also need to +teach the lesson, that the Hollander taught, of not refusing to do the +small things because the day of large things had not yet come or was in +the past; of not waiting until the chance may come to distinguish +ourselves in arms, and meanwhile neglecting the plain, prosaic duties of +citizenship which call upon us every hour, every day of our lives. + +The Dutch kept their freedom in the great contest with Spain, not merely +because they warred valiantly, but because they did their duty as +burghers in their cities, because they strove according to the light +that was in them to be good citizens and to act as such. And we all here +to-night should strive so to live that we Americans of Dutch descent +shall not seem to have shrunk in this respect, compared to our fathers +who spoke another tongue and lived under other laws beyond the ocean; so +that it shall be acknowledged in the end to be what it is, a discredit +to a man if he does not in times of peace do all that in him lies to +make the government of the city, the government of the country, better +and cleaner by his efforts. + +I spoke of the militant spirit as if it may only be shown in time of +war. I think that if any of you gentlemen, no matter how peaceful you +may naturally be, and I am very peaceful naturally, if you would +undertake the administration of the Police Department you would have +plenty of fighting on hand before you would get through; and if you are +true to your blood you will try to do the best you can, fighting or not +fighting. You will make up your mind that you will make mistakes, +because you won't make anything if you don't make some mistakes, and you +will go forward according to your lights, utterly heedless of what +either politicians or newspapers may say, knowing that if you act as you +feel bound according to your conscience to act, you will then at least +have the right when you go out of office, however soon, to feel that you +go out without any regret, and to feel that you have according to your +capacity, warred valiantly for what you deemed to be the right. + +These, then, are the qualities that I should claim for the Hollander as +an American: In the first place, that he has cast himself without +reservation into the current of American life; that he is an American, +pure and simple, and nothing else. In the next place, that he works hand +in hand and shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Americans, without any +regard to differences of creed or to differences of race and religion, +if only they are good Americans. In the third place, that he is willing, +when the need shall arise, to fight for his country; and in the fourth +place, and finally, that he recognizes that this is a country of laws +and not men, that it is his duty as an honest citizen to uphold the +laws, to strive for honesty, to strive for a decent administration, and +to do all that in him lies, by incessant, patient work in our +government, municipal or national, to bring about the day when it shall +be taken as a matter of course that every public official is to execute +a law honestly, and that no capacity in a public officer shall atone if +he is personally dishonest. + + + + +THE ADOPTED CITIZEN + + Speech of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the 115th annual banquet of the + Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, May 8, 1883. + + +MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND GUESTS:--I am +very much obliged to your president for calling upon me first, because +the agony will soon be over and I shall enjoy the misery of the rest of +you. + +The first part of this toast--The United States--would be a voluminous +one to respond to on a single occasion. Bancroft commenced to publish +his notes on the History of the United States, starting even before +President Lane established this Chamber, which I think was something +over one hundred years ago. Bancroft, I say, commenced earlier, and I am +not prepared to dispute his word if he should say that he had kept an +accurate journal from the time he commenced to write about the country +to the present, because there has been no period of time when I have +been alive that I have not heard of Bancroft, and I should be equally +credulous if President Lane should tell me that he was here at the +founding of this Institution. But instead of bringing those volumes of +Bancroft's here, and reading them to you on this occasion, I will let +the reporters publish them as the prelude to what I am going to say. + +I think Bancroft has finished up to a little after the time that +President Lane established this Chamber of Commerce, and I will let you +take the records of what he (Lane) has written and what he has said in +their monthly meetings and publish them as the second chapter of my +speech. And, gentlemen, those two chapters you will find the longest; +they will not amount to much more than what I have to say taking up the +subject at the present time. + +But in speaking of the United States, we who are native-born have a +country of which we may well be proud. Those of us who have been abroad +are better able, perhaps, to make the comparison of our enjoyments and +our comforts than those who have always stayed at home. It has been the +fortune, I presume, of the majority here to compare the life and the +circumstances of the average people abroad with ours here. We have here +a country that affords room for all and room for every enterprise. We +have institutions which encourage every man who has industry and ability +to rise from the position in which he may find himself to any position +in the land. It is hardly worth my while to dwell upon the subject, but +there is one point which I notice in the toast, that I would like to say +a word about--"_May those who seek the blessings of its free +institutions and the protection of its flag remember the obligations +they impose._" I think there is a text that my friend Mr. Beecher,[7] on +the left, or my friend Dr. Newman,[8] on the right, might well preach a +long sermon upon. I shall say only a few words. + +We offer an asylum to every man of foreign birth who chooses to come +here and settle upon our soil; we make of him, after a few years' +residence only, a citizen endowed with all the rights that any of us +have, except perhaps the single one of being elected to the presidency +of the United States. There is no other privilege that a native, no +matter what he has done for the country, has that the adopted citizen of +five years' standing has not got. I contend that that places upon him an +obligation which, I am sorry to say, many of them do not seem to feel. + +We have witnessed on many occasions here the foreign, the adopted, +citizen claiming many rights and privileges because he was an adopted +citizen. That is all wrong. Let him come here and enjoy all the +privileges that we enjoy, but let him fulfill all the obligations that +we are expected to fulfill. After he has adopted it, let this be his +country--a country that he will fight for, and die for, if necessary. I +am glad to say that the great majority of them do it, but some of them +who mingle in politics seem to bank largely on the fact that they are +adopted citizens; and that class I am opposed to as much as I am opposed +to many other things that I see are popular now. + +I know that other speakers will come forward, and when Mr. Beecher and +Dr. Newman speak, I hope they will say a few words on the text which I +read. + +[Illustration: "OLD IRONSIDES"--THE FRIGATE _CONSTITUTION_--1812] + + + + +OUR NAVY + + Speech of Hampton L. Carson, delivered at the dinner of the Union + League, Philadelphia, April 5, 1899, in honor of Captain Charles E. + Clark, U. S. N., late Commander of the battleship "Oregon." + + +MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE UNION LEAGUE:--It was my good +fortune, some eighteen months ago, to be in the city of Seattle, when +the "Monterey" was lying in the harbor under the command of Captain +Clark. At the time of my visit clear skies, placid waters and silent +guns gave little indication of the awful responsibility that was soon to +be imposed upon the gallant commander. My boys, having met him, were, +like myself, intensely interested in the outcome of his voyage; and I +can say to him that the pulsations of the engines which drove the +_Oregon_ through fourteen thousand miles of tropic seas were accompanied +by the sympathetic beatings of hearts which had learned to love and +respect this great captain as he richly deserved. + +The American Navy! The most concise tribute that I ever heard paid to +the sailors of the United States was contained in the answer of a man +from Indiana, who was an applicant for office under General Grant, just +after the Civil Service rules had gone into operation. The applicant was +apprehensive as to his ability to respond to the questions, but one of +his answers captured the board of examiners as well as the president, +and he secured the place. The question was, "How many sailors did Great +Britain send here, during the war of the Revolution, for the purpose of +subduing us?" and the answer was, "More by a----sight than ever got +back." + +When Louis XIV, in order to check what he perceived to be the growing +supremacy of England upon the seas, determined to establish a navy, he +sent for his minister Colbert, and said to him, "I wish a navy--how can +I create it!" Colbert replied, "Make as many galley slaves as you can." +Thereupon every Huguenot who refused to doff his bonnet on the street as +the king passed by, every boy of seventeen who could give no account of +himself, every vagrant without an occupation, was seized, convicted, and +sent to the galleys. Could a navy of heroes be made of galley slaves! +The history of the Anglo-Saxon race says "No." + +On the twenty-second day of December, 1775, the navy of the United +States was born on the waters of our Delaware. On that day Esek Hopkins, +of Rhode Island, was placed in command of a little fleet of eight +vessels--two of them ships, two of them brigs, the others very much +smaller. The English officers sneered in derision at "the fleet of +whaleboats." The rattlesnake flag--a yellow flag with a pine tree in the +centre and a rattlesnake coiled beneath its branches, with the words +"Don't tread on me"--was run to the masthead of the _Providence_, being +hauled there by the hands of the first lieutenant, John Paul Jones. That +little fleet of eight vessels, mounting only 114 guns, was sent forth to +confront a naval power of 112 battleships with 3,714 guns--not a single +gun of ours throwing a ball heavier than nine pounds, while five hundred +of the English guns threw a weight of metal of double that amount. +Wasn't it an audacious thing? Why, it seems to me one of the marvels of +human history when I reflect upon what was attempted by the Americans of +1776. + +Look at the situation. Thirteen different colonies strung along a narrow +strip of coast; three thousand miles of rolling ocean on the one side +and three thousand miles of impenetrable wilderness on the other; +colonies with infinite diversity of interests--diverse in blood, diverse +in conditions of society, diverse in ambition, diverse in pursuits--the +English Puritan on the rock of Plymouth, the Knickerbocker Dutch on the +shores of the Hudson, the Jersey Quaker on the other side of the +Delaware, the Swede extending from here to Wilmington, Maryland +bisected by our great bay of the Chesapeake, Virginia cut in half by the +same water way, North Carolina and South Carolina lying south of +impenetrable swamps as inaccessible to communication as a range of +mountains, and farther south the sparsely-settled colony of Georgia. +Huguenot, Cavalier, Catholic, Quaker, Dutchman, Puritan, Mennonite, +Moravian, and Church of England men; and yet, under the hammer stroke of +British oppression, thirteen colonies were welded into one thunderbolt, +which was launched at the throne of George III. + +That little navy under Hopkins--where were those sailors bred? Read +Burke's speech on the conciliation of America. They sprang from the +loins of hardy fishermen amidst tumbling fields of ice on the banks of +Newfoundland, from those who had speared whales in the tepid waters of +Brazil, or who had pursued their gigantic game into the Arctic zone or +beneath the light of the Southern Cross. That fleet of eight ships +sailed from the Delaware on the twenty-second of December, 1775, and +proceeded to the island of New Providence, among the Bahamas. Our +colonies and our armies were without arms, without powder, without +munitions of war. The very first exploit of the fleet was the capture, +on the nineteenth of March, 1776, of 150 cannon, 130 barrels of powder +and eight warships, which were carried in triumph into Long Island +Sound. But what of American heroism when the soldiers of Howe, of +Clinton, of Carleton, and of Gage came here to fight the farmers of +Pennsylvania, of Connecticut and Virginia, and the gay cavaliers who +loved adventure? The British soldiers had conquered India under Sir +Robert Clive and Sir Eyre Coote; they had been the heroes of Plassey and +Pondicherry; men who had subjected to British dominion a country almost +as extensive as our own fair republic and containing one hundred and +ninety millions of souls. Here they found themselves faced by men of +their own blood, men in whose breasts burned the spirit and the love of +that liberty which was to encircle the heavens. On the glory-crowned +heights of Bunker Hill the patriots gazed at the rafters of their own +burning dwellings in the town of Charlestown, and heard the cannon shots +hurled from British ships against the base of the hill. Three times did +scarlet regiments ascend that hill only to be driven back; the voice of +that idiot boy, Job Pray, ringing out above the din of battle, "Let them +come on to Breed's--the people will teach them the law." + +When the evacuation by the British of the metropolis of New England was +effected by the troops under the command of a Virginia soldier, General +Washington, then for the first time did sectionalism and partisanship +and divisions on narrow lines vanish; the patriots who had fought at +Bunker Hill were now no longer to be known as the troops of +Massachusetts, of Connecticut, or of Rhode Island, but henceforth it was +the Continental Army. On the very day when the British were driven out +of Boston, John Paul Jones, with that historic rattlesnake flag, and, +floating above it, not the Stars and Stripes, but the Stripes with the +Union Jack, entered the waters of Great Britain; and then it was seen +that an American captain with an American ship and American sailors had +the pluck to push out into foreign seas and to beard the British lion in +his den. The same channel which had witnessed the victories of De Ruyter +and Von Tromp, which was the scene of Blake's victory over the Dutch, +and where the father of our great William Penn won his laurels as an +admiral, was now the scene of the exploits of an American captain +fighting beneath an American flag for American rights inherited from old +mother England, who, in a moment of forgetfulness, had sought to deprive +her offspring of liberty. I know of no more thrilling incident in +revolutionary naval annals than the fight between the _Serapis_ and the +_Bon Homme Richard_, when Paul Jones, on the burning deck of a sinking +ship, lashed his yard arms to those of the enemy and fought hand to +hand, man to man, until the British colors struck, and then, under the +very cliffs of Old England, were run up for the first time the Stars and +Stripes--with a field of blue into which the skillful fingers of Betsy +Ross, of Philadelphia, had woven inextinguishable stars; the red stripes +typifying the glory, the valor, and the self-sacrifice of the men who +died that liberty might live; and the white, emblematic of purity, fitly +representing those principles to preserve which these men had sanctified +themselves by an immortal self-dedication. And there, too, in the +Continental Navy was Richard Dale, the young "Middy," who fought beside +Paul Jones; and Joshua Barney; and John Barry; and Nicholas Biddle of +Philadelphia, who later, in the gallant little _Randolph_, in order to +help a convoyed fleet of American merchantmen to escape, boldly +attacked the battleship _Yarmouth_; and when it was found that he was +doomed to defeat, blew up his vessel, perishing with all his crew, +rather than strike the colors of the newly-born republic. + +All honor to the navy of the United States! I never can read of its +exploits--peaceful citizen as I am--without my blood bubbling with a +joyous sense of exultation at the thought that the flag which has swept +the seas, carrying liberty behind it, is the flag which is destined to +sweep the seas again and carry liberty, civilization, and all the +blessings of free government into benighted islands far, far from hence. + +Why, gentlemen, the story of the exploits of our little fleets reads +like a romance. At the end of the Revolutionary War eight hundred +British ships, fifteen of them battleships, had surrendered to the +prowess of the American navy, together with twelve thousand five hundred +prisoners captured by less than three thousand men; and in that war our +country had produced the boldest admirals that, up to that time, +civilization had known, and the greatest fighting naval heroes that the +world had seen. + +Then came the War of 1812, to establish sailors' rights upon the high +seas, when the American navy again proved victor despite overwhelming +odds. I have in my possession a list of the British and American vessels +at the outbreak of that war; and if I were to represent them by +something tangible in order to indicate the proportions of each, I would +say, taking this box lid for example (illustrating with the stem of a +rose upon the cover of a discarded flower box), that if you were to draw +a line across here, near the top, you would have sufficient space in the +narrow strip above the dividing line to write the names of all the +American ships, while the entire remaining space would not be more than +sufficient for the English fleet, which was more than thirty times the +size of its antagonist. The ships which under Nelson had fought at the +Nile and had won imperishable glory at Trafalgar, coming into our +waters, struck their flags time and again. The glorious old "Ironsides" +(the _Constitution_) captured the _Guerriere_, the _Java_, the _Cyane_, +and _Levant_. The _United States_ took the _Macedonian_; the _Wasp_ +destroyed the _Frolic_, while on the lakes we point with pride to the +victories of Perry and MacDonough. When battle after battle had been +fought it was found that, of eighteen fixed engagements, seventeen were +victories for the Stars and Stripes. And this over the greatest maritime +war power of the world! + +Philadelphia is honorably associated with the glories of our navy. Our +early battleships, though not all built here, were planned and +constructed by Joshua Humphreys, a Philadelphian, the predecessor of our +great shipbuilder of to-day, Charles H. Cramp. + +Need I speak of the navy from 1861 to 1865, or tell of the exploits of +those gallant fleets which clove a pathway down the valley of the Ohio, +of the Tennessee, and of the Mississippi, in order that liberty might +ride unvexed from the lakes to the gulf? Need I dwell upon the part +taken by the guest of this evening, who was an officer who fought under +Farragut? + +In our recent war with Spain there were some who, in doubting moments, +yielded to that atrabilious disposition which has been so well described +by Mr. Tomkins; who thought that our ships were not strong enough to +hazard an encounter with the fleets of Spain. But meanwhile there was +doubling "around the Horn" a battleship, with a captain and a crew whose +marvelous voyage was attracting the eyes of the world. Night after night +we took up the map, traced his course from port to port, and our hearts +beat high, our lips were firmly compressed, the color faded from our +cheeks with excitement, but our eyes blazed with exultant anticipation +as nearer and nearer to Pernambuco did he come. We all now feel, judging +of the possibilities by actual achievement, that had Captain Clark +encountered the enemy's ships, he could and would have successfully +fought and defeated the entire Spanish fleet. He carried his ship ready +for instant actions, every man at his post. God bless that crew! God +bless those stokers, far down below those decks, confident that the +captain who commanded them was on the bridge, and that he would never +flinch nor fail in the hour of trial! I have often tried to draw a +mental picture of what the scene must have been when the _Oregon_ +steamed in to join the fleet before Santiago; when the white jackets on +the yard-arms tossed their caps in the air, and southern tars gave back +to Yankee cheers a lusty welcome to the man who for so long, against all +odds, with no encouraging advices, with unknown terrors all about him, +had never flinched from duty, and who, when the last summons came, +responded in the words of Colonel Newcomb, _Adsum_--"I am here." + +On the morning of the third of July, 1898, there stood the frowning +Morro Castle, the prison of the glorious Hobson; on the other side the +fortress of Estrella; the narrow channel blocked by the wreck of the +_Merrimac_; the _Brooklyn_, the _Oregon_, the _Texas_, the _Indiana_, +the _Iowa_ and the _Massachusetts_ all watching that orifice. Then black +smoke rolled from the tunnels of the enemy's ships, indicating that the +tiger had roused him from his lair and was making a rush for the open +sea. Up went the signal on the flagstaff of the _Brooklyn_, +"Forward--the enemy is approaching." Then engines moved; then guns +thundered their volleys; then sky and sea became black with the smoke of +battle; and swiftly steamed the _Oregon_ in pursuit of the _Cristobal +Colon_. Beneath well-directed shots the monster reeled, like a wounded +athlete, to the beach; and then from the flagstaff of the _New York_ +were displayed those signals now on these walls before your +eyes--"1-7-3; cornet; 2m-9m-7m"--which, translated, meant--and we of the +League to-night repeat the words--"Well done, _Oregon_." + +Captain Clark, the city of Philadelphia has always contributed her share +to the building of the navy and to a fitting recognition of the heroes +who have commanded our battleships. In the old churchyard of St. Mary's, +on Fourth Street, sleep the bones of John Barry; and in the older +churchyard of St. Peter's stands the monument to Decatur. We have with +us also the ashes of Stewart, who commanded "Old Ironsides" when she +captured the _Cyane_ and the _Levant_; and we have those of Bainbridge, +who captured the _Java_. + +In reading of the exploits of the master spirits of the past, I have +sometimes wondered whether we had men of to-day who were their equals. +My answer is this: I say to soldiers and sailors, whether of our Civil +War or of the late war with Spain, you are worthy of your sires, you +have caught the inspiration of their glowing deeds, you have taken up +the burden which they threw upon your shoulders, and though in time to +come you may sleep in unmarked graves, the memory of your deeds will +live; and, like your sires, you have become immortal. + +To fight for liberty is indeed a privilege. "Disguise thyself as thou +wilt, still, Slavery, thou art a bitter draught; and, though thousands +in all ages have been made to drink thee, thou art no less bitter on +that account. 'Tis thou, O Liberty! thrice sweet and gracious goddess, +whose taste is grateful, and ever will be so till nature herself shall +change. No tint of words can spot thy snowy mantle, nor chemic power +turn thy scepter into iron. With thee to smile upon him, as he eats his +crust, the swain is happier than the monarch from whose courts thou art +exiled." So wrote Laurence Sterne. + +And then Rufus Choate: "To form and uphold a state, it is not enough +that our judgments should believe it to be useful; the better part of +our affections should feel it to be lovely. It is not enough that our +arithmetic should compute its value and find it high; our hearts should +hold it priceless--above all things rich and rare--dearer than health +and beauty, brighter than all the order of the stars." In contemplating +those mysterious dispensations of Providence by which the light which +broke upon this continent two hundred years ago is now penetrating and +illuminating the darkest corners of the earth, it will be a supreme +satisfaction for us to know that our children and our children's +children will have set for their imitation and encouragement the example +of the heroism, the manliness, the courage, the patriotism and the +modesty of the captains of to-day. + +[Illustration: LATEST TYPE OF DREADNAUGHT] + + + + +THE PATRIOTISM OF PEACE + + Address by William Jennings Bryan delivered in London, in the Royal + Gallery of the House of Lords, on July 26, 1906, at the session of + the Interparliamentary Union or Peace Congress. It is given here by + special permission of Mr. Bryan and his publishers--Funk and + Wagnalls Company, New York and London. + + +I regret that I cannot speak to you in the language which is usually +employed in this body, but I know only one language, the language of my +own country, and you will pardon me if I use that. I desire in the first +place to express my appreciation of the courtesy shown me by Lord +Weardale, our president, and by Baron von Plener, the chairman of the +committee which framed the model treaty. The latter has framed this +substitute embodying both of the ideas (investigation and meditation) +which were presented yesterday. I recognize the superior wisdom and the +greater experience of this learned committee which has united the two +propositions, and I thank this body also for the opportunity to say just +a word in defense of my part of the resolution. I cannot say that it is +a new idea, for since it was presented yesterday I have learned that the +same idea in substance was presented last year at Brussels by Mr. +Bartholdt, of my own country, who has been so conspicuous in his efforts +to promote peace, and I am very glad that I can follow in his footsteps +in the urging of this amendment. I may add also that it is in line with +the suggestion made by the honorable prime minister of Great Britain, +Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, in that memorable and epoch-making speech +of yesterday, in that speech which contained several sentences any one +of which would have justified the assembling of this Interparliamentary +Union--any one of which would have compensated us all for coming here. +In that splendid speech he expressed the hope that the scope of +arbitration treaties might be enlarged. He said: + + "GENTLEMEN, I fervently trust that before long the principles of + arbitration may win such confidence as to justify its extension to + a wider field of international differences. We have already seen + how questions arousing passion and excitement have attained a + solution, not necessarily by means of arbitration in the strict + sense of the word, by referring them to such a tribunal as that + which reported on the North Sea incident; and I would ask you + whether, it may not be worth while carefully to consider, before + the next Congress meets at The Hague, the various forms in which + differences might be submitted, with a view to opening the door as + wide as possible to every means which might in any degree + contribute to moderate or compose such differences." + +This amendment is in harmony with this suggestion. The resolution is in +the form of a postscript to the treaty, but like the postscripts to some +letters it contains a very vital subject--in fact, I am not sure but the +postscript in this case is as important as the letter itself, for it +deals with those questions which have defied arbitration. Certain +questions affecting the honor or integrity of a nation are generally +thought to be outside of the jurisdiction of a court of arbitration, and +these are the questions which have given trouble. Passion is not often +aroused by questions that do not affect a nation's integrity or honor, +but for fear these questions may arise arbitration is not always +employed where it might be. The first advantage, then, of this +resolution is that it secures an investigation of the facts, and if you +can but separate these facts from the question of honor, the chances are +100-to-1 that you can settle both the fact and the question of honor +without war. There is, therefore, a great advantage in an investigation +that brings out the facts, for disputed facts between nations, as +between friends, are the cause of most disagreements. + +The second advantage of this investigation is that it gives time for +calm consideration. That has already been well presented by the +gentlemen who has preceded me, Baron von Plener. I need not say to you +that man excited is a very different animal from man calm, and that +questions ought to be settled, not by passion, but by deliberation. If +this resolution would do nothing else but give time for reflection and +deliberation, there would be sufficient reason for its adoption. If we +can but stay the hand of war until conscience can assert itself, war +will be made more remote. When men are mad they swagger around and tell +what they can do; when they are calm they consider what they ought to +do. + +The third advantage of this investigation is that it gives opportunity +to mobilize public opinion of the compelling of a peaceful settlement +and that is an advantage not to be overlooked. Public opinion is coming +to be more and more a power in the world. One of the greatest statesmen +of my country--Thomas Jefferson, and if it would not offend I would say +I believe him to be the greatest statesman the world has produced--said +that if he had to choose between a government without newspapers and +newspapers without a government, he would rather risk the newspapers +without a government. You may call it an extravagant statement, and yet +it presents an idea, and that idea is that public opinion is a +controlling force. I am glad that the time is coming when public opinion +is to be more and more powerful; glad that the time is coming when the +moral sentiment of one nation will influence the action of other +nations; glad that the time is coming when the world will realize that a +war between the two nations affects others than the nations involved; +glad that the time is coming when the world will insist that nations +settle their differences by some peaceful means. If time is given for +the marshaling of the force of public opinion peace will be promoted. +This resolution is presented, therefore, for the reasons that it gives +an opportunity to investigate the facts, and to separate them from the +question of honor, that it gives time for the calming of passion, and +that it gives time for the formation of a controlling public sentiment. + +I will not disguise the fact that I consider this resolution a long +step in the direction of peace, nor will I disguise the fact that I am +here because I want this Interparliamentary Union to take just as long a +step as possible in the direction of universal peace. We meet in a +famous hall, and looking down upon us from these walls are pictures that +illustrate not only the glory that is to be won in war, but the horrors +that follow war. There is a picture of one of the great figures in +English history (pointing to the fresco by Maclise of the death of +Nelson). Lord Nelson is represented as dying, and around him are the +mangled forms of others. I understand that war brings out certain +virtues. I am aware that it gives opportunity for the display of great +patriotism; I am aware that the example of men who give their lives for +their country is inspiring; but I venture to say there is as much +inspiration in a noble life as there is in a heroic death, and I trust +that one of the results of this Interparliamentary Union will be to +emphasize the doctrine that a life devoted to the public, and ever +flowing, like a spring, with good, exerts an influence upon the human +race and upon the destiny of the world as great as any death in war. And +if you will permit me to mention one whose career I watched with +interest and whose name I revere, I will say that, in my humble +judgment, the sixty-four years of spotless public service of William +Ewart Gladstone will, in years to come, be regarded as rich an ornament +to the history of this nation as the life of any man who poured out his +blood upon a battlefield. + +All movements in the interest of peace have back of them the idea of +brotherhood. If peace is to come in this world, it will come because +people more and more clearly recognize the indissoluble tie that binds +each human being to every other. If we are to build permanent peace it +must be on the foundation of the brotherhood of men. A poet has +described how in the Civil War that divided our country into two hostile +camps a generation ago--in one battle a soldier in one line thrust his +bayonet through a soldier in the opposing line, and how, when he stooped +to draw it out, he recognized in the face of the fallen one the face of +his own brother. And then the poet describes the feeling of horror that +overwhelmed the survivor when he realized that he had taken the life of +one who was the child of the same parents and the companion of his +boyhood. It was a pathetic story, but is it too much to hope that as +years go by we will begin to understand that the whole human race is but +a larger family? + +It is not too much to hope that as years go by human sympathy will +expand until this feeling of unity will not be confined to the members +of a family or to the members of a clan or of a community or state, but +shall be world-wide. It is not too much to hope that we, in this +assembly, possibly by this resolution, may hasten the day when we shall +feel so appalled at the thought of the taking of any human life that we +shall strive to raise all questions to a level where the settlement will +be by reason and not by force. + + + + +A PLEA FOR UNIVERSAL PEACE + + The following extracts are from an address delivered by George W. + Norris, United States senator from Nebraska, at Chautauquas and on + lecture courses throughout the country for several years. It is one + of the most logical and practical plans for universal peace ever + proposed. It was prepared when the civilized world was at peace + immediately following the peace treaty between Russia and Japan. + David Starr Jordan declares that "military efficiency" is the + principal cause of the present European war. A serious and honest + study of how to preserve peace and how to avoid war cannot help but + bring good results. This is the purpose of Senator Norris's + lecture. For a further study of this most important subject, the + reader is referred to Sumner's great oration on "The True Grandeur + of Nations," to various speeches and monographs by Andrew Carnegie, + and to numerous other publications, recently issued, regarding the + patriotism of peace. + + +The greatest disgrace of the present century is that war between +civilized nations is still a possibility. That such a barbarous +condition should exist in the civilized world is painful to every lover +of humanity and to every believer in the great brotherhood of man. + +Every civilized country of the world requires its subjects to submit +their differences and disputes to tribunals and courts that have been +organized under the forms of law for their settlement and yet these same +nations violate the principle of law which they compel their subjects to +obey. The citizen must maintain his rights and settle his grievances +before tribunals organized according to law, upon principles of justice +and of right. Kings and rulers settle their disputes upon the field of +battle without regard to right, without regard to justice, and upon the +erroneous and barbarous theory that might makes right. It is to be +regretted that the great advance that has been made from barbarism by +the different nations of the world by which the disputes and +controversies arising within each nation are settled according to forms +of law upon the principles of justice and equality, has not extended to +the settlement of disputes between the nations themselves. Why is it +that rulers, who are able to settle all controversies within the +countries they control are not able to settle controversies between +those countries? + +Humanity is broader than nationality and embraces within its scope the +entire world. The measure of human happiness will not be full, the +heights of national glory will not be reached until we can look over the +world and in the words of the scripture, truthfully say of every citizen +of every civilized nation--"Is he not after all, my brother?" + +Why then should there be war? I know that it can truthfully be claimed +that this cruel and heartless demon has settled many questions of +world-wide importance, but it never settled one on any principle of +equity, morality, or justice. In modern times its decree has been more +often right than wrong, because the great spirit of public sentiment +when once aroused has not only furnished money and men for the right, +but it has thoroughly imbued the hearts of its soldiers with a +determination and a bravery that have done much to place the victory +where it properly belonged. But what a sacrifice of human life and +treasure. I do not want to be understood as claiming that all the wars +of history were wrong or could have been avoided. Some of them were +carried on for liberty, some were waged for mercy and some were fought +for humanity. The soldier, not only of our own land, but of other +countries as well, is entitled to all the consideration and all the +honor and glory that humanity can give or bestow. I am however +proclaiming against the conditions existing in modern civilized times +that make war not only sometimes necessary, but at any time possible. + +But the question recurs again--what is a practical way to solve the +difficulty? Who shall take the first step? Who can take the first step +with the assurance that beneficial results will follow? What nation +to-day occupies such a unique position in civilization that it can step +out into the open and say to all the civilized world--"We are willing to +submit to peaceful arbitration every international dispute, every +international controversy not only of the present but of the future as +well." What nation in assuming this position can command not only the +respect and belief of other nations in the integrity and the honesty of +its purpose, but can also receive the respect and approval of humanity's +peace loving sentiment, that will go far towards impelling the balance +of the civilized world to accept the proffered hand of universal +brotherhood! + +If we study the history of European nations, we will find a trace at +least of jealousy between them that has come down from the days of +barbarism. In ancient times the king, who was then supposed to possess, +and is still suspicioned to have, some attributes of Divinity, ruled +only over such territory as he was able to hold in subjection. He broke +no law of nations if, without notice, cause or provocation, he made war +upon his neighbor in an attempt to conquer and subdue additional +territory. He violated no principle of government if in carrying out his +purpose he resorted to trickery, chicanery, and dishonesty. The result +was that every ruler was suspicious of every other ruler. + +This suspiciousness and lack of confidence anciently existing between +kings, and permeating the framework of every European nation, has, in a +lessening and decreasing degree, come down to the present day. It exists +now--unconsciously perhaps--but exists nevertheless, and must be taken +into consideration whenever any European nation makes a proposition to +other European nations for the settlement of any great international +question. This condition was well paraphrased by a great European +statesman in comparing European conditions with those of America, when +he referred to it as American boldness and European suspiciousness. + +In the new world where our government's leadership and controlling +influence are recognized and acknowledged by all the world, these +conditions do not obtain. Here the divine right of kings has never been +recognized. We have not only disclaimed the right of conquest ourselves, +but we have refused to recognize it in others. We have not only refused +to recognize this right in the strong nation, but we have protected the +weak nation against it. Moreover we have shown to the world our +unselfish devotion to that principle to the extent of sacrificing life +and treasure in the defense of the weak against the strong--the +protection of the down-trodden and oppressed against oppression. Our +entire national life has been emblematic of an unselfish respect for the +rights of other nations, and is not tainted with that suspiciousness +which has come down to others from ancient times. Our position among the +nations of the world was well illustrated by what happened in the war +between Russia and Japan. + +When these two great nations had gotten each other by the throat and +were struggling in mortal combat, the entire world was aroused to +admiration by the action of America's great president. Neither one of +the warring nations had expressed any desire for peace. Neither one had +shown any disposition to cease the conflict. Neither one had asked for +any intercession, and yet in the midst of the bloody conflict, when +America's voice was heard, they both halted, they both ceased, and they +both obeyed. + +It was because they knew--all the world knew--that in the voice which +called them from the battlefield to reason's court there was no taint of +selfishness; that in that call there was no suspicion of an ulterior or +dishonorable motive, but that in the heart of the great statesman, whose +voice they heeded, there was only the purity of a humane effort to bring +about the welfare of all. From the very nature of the development of +other nations from the barbarism of ancient times it is quite apparent +that no other ruler of the civilized world could have made that +proposition with the same successful results. In response to the +friendly intervention of the American Government, Russia and Japan +appointed commissioners to agree upon terms of peace. + +While these commissioners were in session on American soil, a notable +assemblage for the advancement of international arbitration was in +session at Brussels, the capital of Belgium. At this meeting of the +Interparliamentary Union there were representatives from practically +every civilized country in the world except Russia and Japan. We watched +with hopeful anxiety the reports which the cable brought us of the +progress that was being made by these peace commissioners at Portsmouth. +In that assemblage, composed of representatives from two continents, +there was a unanimous wish, a united hope, a fervent prayer that +America's intervention would prove successful. + +As a fitting close of that great international conference the +representatives of Belgium invited all the delegates to a reception held +in that historic building where the cohorts of Napoleon were assembled +in revelry on the eve of Waterloo. The rooms were decorated with the +colors of all nations. The finest band of Belgium was playing her +national air. In the midst of it the music suddenly ceased. All eyes +were turned to the rostrum. We saw the leader of the band seize from the +decorations of the hall the American flag, and using it as a baton, he +waved it over the heads of the musicians, and in answer to his action +there burst forth the rapturous strains of "The Star Spangled Banner." + +For a moment, and a moment only, there was silence, and then there burst +forth a roar of applause which clearly indicated that everyone there +understood, that beneath the fathomless deep the electric spark had +brought the welcome news that on the shores of America an agreement for +peace had been signed. On the occasion of nearly one hundred years +before the revelry was interrupted by the booming of cannon, but on this +occasion it was the joyous message that under the leadership of America +the peace of the world had been established. That was an occasion, my +countrymen, when it was greater to be an American citizen than to wear a +crown. + +Heretofore one of the greatest obstacles to the peaceful settlement of +international difficulties, and to the submission of such controversies +to arbitration, has been that the offense has been committed, or the +controversy has arisen before any rule for its settlement has been +provided, or any tribunal for its determination has been selected. This +ex post facto machinery for the settlement of differences is not only +unreasonable and illogical, but it has been guarded against by all the +civilized nations of the earth in the regulation and management of their +own internal affairs. When disagreeing nations are aroused to anger by +the excitement and the prejudice of the people on account of real or +imaginary wrong, it is a poor time indeed to attempt to agree upon a +fair method of settlement, or to exercise that calm deliberation which +should be invoked in the selection of the arbitrators. + +The treaty of arbitration should be general and apply to all disputes. +It should be negotiated in time of profound peace, and not with +reference to any particular controversy. Its judges should be selected +in time of peace and their terms of office should be permanent. In order +that they might be removed from, and uninfluenced by, any bias or +prejudice they should be appointed for life, and while holding this +great international commission they should be prohibited from accepting +or holding any other office or emolument from any government. + +The treaty, however, should specifically provide that these +international judges could be appointed and selected as members of any +other international arbitration tribunal, and in accordance with this +provision each government would undoubtedly select the same men as +judges for each arbitration treaty into which it entered. + +To illustrate--if our government entered into such a treaty with the +German Empire, and afterwards into a similar treaty with France, we +would select the same arbitrators under the treaty with France that we +had named in carrying out the provisions of the treaty with Germany, and +in any subsequent arbitration treaty with any other nation, the same men +would again be named as our arbitrators. There is little doubt but what +all other nations would pursue a similar course. + +This would give us an international court that would command the +absolute respect of all mankind and the confidence of all civilization. +Its judges would be free from any bias, prejudice or excitement that +might exist in either one or both of the contending nations. Instead of +representing one government as against the other they would in fact, +without partiality and with equal justice, represent both of the +contending parties. Their life work would be the study of international +questions. They would become learned--yea, experts--in international law +and the administration of international justice. If each nation selected +the same judges in each of its arbitration treaties, the world would +have a list--a school--of international jurists devoting their time, +their energies and their lives to the study of international questions +and the settlement of international disputes. In the hands of these men +the peace of the civilized world would be safe and secure. + +The treaty of arbitration would undoubtedly provide for an equal number +of arbitrators from each of the contracting parties. It likewise would, +and undoubtedly should, provide for the selection of additional members +of the court in cases where the judges were equally divided on any +question submitted to them. A wise provision would be to let the +permanent judges themselves select the additional arbitrators, and with +this list of great international jurists from which to make a choice, +how small the possibility of error, and how great would be the +probability of a wise selection. As a matter of fact it would seldom be +necessary for this provision of the treaty to be acted on. Not once in a +lifetime would the members of such a court be divided along the lines of +nationality. The judges of this court, occupying this dignified, +exalted and unparalleled position before the world, would be farther +removed from bias and prejudice than any court that has ever been +instituted in the history of mankind. Its decisions would become +precedents for future action. It would not be long until we would have a +line of decisions, that would eliminate the uncertainty of international +law which has existed in the past. A question once determined by this +great court would be accepted by the world as the law for the future, +and the result would be that we would not only have an international +tribunal for the peaceful settlement and determination of all +international questions, but their decisions would become the beacon +lights of peace for future generations, whose rays of wisdom and of +reason would light up the dark waters of international jurisprudence, +mark out the course of safety for every ship of state, and warn her +mariners of the shoals of disaster. + +There is no ground whatever for the belief which prevails somewhat that +the members of such a court would always follow the contention of their +own country. Even under the present cumbersome and illogical method of +selecting arbitrators we have a recent illustration that men great +enough to fill positions of this kind, realizing the dignity and +responsibility of the position, will rise above the clamor of their own +countrymen and decide the question at issue upon its merits. I refer to +the Alaskan boundary dispute between the United States and Great +Britain. We have also an illustration of this point in our own country. + +Our national government is composed of sovereign states. State pride is +an attribute of practically all our citizens. Its influence has +compelled men to honestly do all kinds of unreasonable things. For it +men have given up their property and sacrificed their lives. Yet this +prejudice has never reached our judiciary. Every United States judge is +a citizen of some state. They try cases between different states, pass +on disputes existing between a sovereign state and the citizens of +another state, and settle controversies arising between the citizens of +one state and the citizens of another state. Our judges have been +criticized on nearly all possible grounds, often no doubt without +reason, sometimes perhaps with good cause, but in the entire history of +our country, there has never yet been made the charge that any one of +these judges has been influenced in his official conduct by pride of his +native or adopted state. Man is often unconsciously influenced and +controlled by his associations, his habits and the environments of +earlier life. Their influence has become a part of the man. But the +history of jurisprudence will show that judges have seldom, if ever, +been moved or influenced in official action by the excitement, the +clamor or the prejudice of the citizenship if it was beyond the power of +that citizenship to reward or punish. + +It is unnecessary to provide any method for the enforcement of the +decrees of an international court. It is safe to trust to the honor of +the governments interested, and to the enlightened public sentiment of +the civilized world for the honest enforcement in good faith of every +such judgment and decree. This has been frequently demonstrated in the +past. In all the history of the world there has never been an instance +where an offending nation has failed to carry out in good faith the +judgment of an international court. + +In America the friends of international arbitration are not united as +they should be. The division comes about principally on account of a +disagreement as to what should be the size of our navy. There are some +who believe that we should make but a small annual increase in our navy, +and some of these are inclined to criticize those who advocate a large +navy and to claim that such conduct is inconsistent with international +arbitration. While I have been one of those who usually have favored a +small yearly increase in our naval vessels, yet I am frank to admit that +under present conditions, there is much sound logic in the argument that +the greatest and best assurance of international peace, is to be always +prepared for war. It is well too, to remember that an unbiased and +unprejudiced tribunal in a foreign land has recently given an +international trophy--the world's prize--to the greatest American +exponent of a large navy, for having during the year for which the prize +was given, accomplished more for international peace, than any other +living man. It is not my intention to discuss this subject. It is not +necessary to decide it for the purposes of the present discussion. It is +of importance when considering the subject of national defense and +national finances, but it has no decisive influence upon the question of +international arbitration. The man who favors a small navy, and the man +who favors a large one can consistently work side by side for the +advancement of international peace. The size of the navy that we should +maintain is a question upon which the minds of wise and patriotic men +may honestly differ. Everybody admits that we should keep and maintain +an ample and sufficient navy, and that annual additions thereto are +necessary to maintain its efficiency. But, the terms "adequate navy," +"sufficient navy" and "large navy" are very indefinite, and convey +entirely different ideas to different people. What one man might regard +as a small navy, another one equally as wise would regard as entirely +too large. What one person would consider a small and inadequate annual +addition to our navy, others, equally as patriotic, would regard as +unreasonable and extravagant. A man's ideas on this disputed and +unsettled question can not consistently be urged against the sincerity +of his purpose when he advocates international arbitration. + +But while the friends of international arbitration may honestly disagree +as to the strength of the army and the size of the navy that should be +maintained in times of peace, there is no disagreement in the +condemnation of the conditions which make it necessary to maintain a +large army and navy. These conditions are relics of barbarism. They are +not founded upon any wisdom, reason, or justice. They exist only because +the great men of to-day, who hold the destinies of nations in their +hands have not met upon the broad plane of equality and agreed upon +their abolishment. + +Heretofore the cry of international arbitration has come mainly from +those who were moved by the idea of philanthropy, of mercy and of +humanity. It will not be long until these influences will be joined by +all the commercial interests of civilization and all the tax-payers of +the world. For the fiscal year (1907) in our own country there was +appropriated from the national treasury nearly four hundred millions of +dollars on account of war. Over sixty-five per cent. of the revenues of +our national government are spent on account of our wars of the past, or +in preparation for war in the future. Every time our government raises a +dollar by taxation more than sixty-five cents of it is demanded as a +tribute by this blood thirsty demon. + +Our situation is only a fair illustration of what exists everywhere in +the world. In round numbers about one-half of the money raised by +taxation in the leading civilized nations of the world is spent, either +in the payment of obligations of past wars, or in the preparation for +war in the future. The expense of this preparation is increasing at a +wonderful rate. Our government expends about the same amount of money as +the other leading nations of the world in the preparation for war in the +future, but for the expenses of wars that are past it expends more than +all the other nations combined. The expenses of our past wars, +consisting chiefly and mainly of pensions, are just, and no one would +cut them down, excepting as they will be curtailed by the hand of Time +as he gathers into his fold our heroes of the past. We will therefore +eliminate the past from the financial consideration of the question. +During a single year of peace, Great Britain, Germany, France, and the +United States spent nearly one billion of dollars in making preparation +for war. All the money in the United States would only pay this enormous +expense for a little more than two years. The people of these highly +civilized countries, while in profound peace, were taxing themselves to +death, in order that the survivors might kill each other according to +the most modern methods of modern warfare with the most modern weapons +of human destruction. + +As startling and astounding as these figures are, they do not tell one +half of the story. Human life cannot be measured in dollars and cents; +broken hearts cannot be healed by the appropriation of money; human +suffering and misery cannot be alleviated by financial consideration, +and humanity stands helpless in the face of death and destruction. At +the fireside of practically every home in Christendom, there is a vacant +chair, made so by war. For every vacant chair there was a ruined +hearthstone; for every hearthstone there was a sorrowing widow; and for +every widow there is a fatherless child. For every penny spent for war +there is a sigh of grief; for every shilling there is a tear of sorrow; +and for every dollar there is a broken heart. The amount expended on +this account in the civilized world, in one year would give shelter to +every pauper, a home to every unfortunate, and an education to every +child. At the present rate of increasing expense it will not be long +until this great chain will break of its own weight; until every nation +will become bankrupt and every tax-payer will become a pauper. As this +time approaches, the forces of international peace will become more +numerous and more powerful. Humanity will shake off the shackles of +barbarism and defy the God of War upon his throne. In this battle of +reason, that tyrant of oppression, that ruler of ignorance, that demon +of superstition, in whose decree there is no mercy, in whose judgment +there is no justice, will be driven from his throne, and relegated +beyond the portals of a universal peace, to be remembered only as a +horrible nightmare of an unholy and an unrighteous past. + +[Illustration: THE ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG] + + + + +LINCOLN'S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS + + +Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this +continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the +proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a +great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived +and so dedicated, can long endure. + +We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate +a portion of that field as the final resting-place for those who here +gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting +and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot +dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave +men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above +our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long +remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. + +It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished +work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is +rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before +us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that +cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion; that +we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that +this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that +government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not +perish from the earth. + + + + +PRESIDENT WILSON'S NEUTRALITY PROCLAMATION + + This proclamation is in strict keeping with Washington's counsel. + It is one of the greatest of President Wilson's state papers and + probably did more than any one act of his administration in keeping + the United States from becoming involved in the European war. + + +MY FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:--I suppose that every thoughtful man in America +has asked himself, during these last troubled weeks, what influence the +European war may exert upon the United States, and I take the liberty of +addressing a few words to you in order to point out that it is entirely +within our own choice what its effects upon us will be and to urge very +earnestly upon you the sort of speech and conduct which will best +safeguard the Nation against distress and disaster. + +The effect of the war upon the United States will depend upon what +American citizens say and do. Every man who really loves America will +act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of +impartiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned. The spirit +of the Nation in this critical matter will be determined largely by what +individuals and society and those gathered in public meetings do and +say, upon what newspapers and magazines contain, upon what ministers +utter in their pulpits, and men proclaim as their opinions on the +street. + +The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly +from the nations now at war. It is natural and inevitable that there +should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with +regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish +one nation, others another, to succeed in the momentous struggle. It +will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those +responsible for exciting it will assume a heavy responsibility, +responsibility for no less a thing than that the people of the United +States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its government +should unite them as Americans all, bound in honor and affection to +think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile +opinion, hot against each other, involved in the war itself in impulse +and opinion if not in action. + +Such divisions among us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might +seriously stand in the way of the proper performance of our duty as the +one great nation at peace, the one people holding itself ready to play a +part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and +accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a friend. + +I venture, therefore, my fellow countrymen, to speak a solemn word of +warning to you against that deepest, most subtle, most essential breach +of neutrality which may spring out of partisanship, out of passionately +taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in +name during these days that are to try men's souls. We must be impartial +in thought as well as in action, must put a curb upon our sentiments as +well as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference +of one party to the struggle before another. + +My thought is of America. I am speaking, I feel sure, the earnest wish +and purpose of every thoughtful American that this great country of +ours, which is, of course, the first in our thoughts and in our hearts, +should show herself in this time of peculiar trial a Nation fit beyond +others to exhibit the fine poise of undisturbed judgment, the dignity of +self-control, the efficiency of dispassionate action; a Nation that +neither sits in judgment upon others nor is disturbed in her own +counsels and which keeps herself fit and free to do what is honest and +disinterested and truly serviceable for the peace of the world. + +Shall we not resolve to put upon ourselves the restraints which will +bring to our people the happiness and the great and lasting influence +for peace we covet for them? + +August 18, 1914. + +Footnotes: + +[1] From the poem entitled "Wanted," by J. G. Holland. + +[2] Edward Brooks. + +[3] From "White Bees and Other Poems," by Henry van Dyke, copyright, +1909, by Charles Scribner's Sons. By permission of Charles Scribner's +Sons, publishers. + +[4] This lecture is found in full in Vol. XII (1915 Edition) of "Beacon +Lights of History," copyright 1902 by the publishers, Fords, Howard & +Hulbert, and is here used by special permission of Dr. Andrews and his +publishers. + +[5] William McKinley. + +[6] But one of these incidents is given in this extract. + +[7] Henry Ward Beecher. + +[8] John P. Newman. + + + + +POETRY OF PATRIOTISM + +[Illustration: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY + +New York Harbor] + +[Illustration] + + + + +CONCORD HYMN[1] + + + By the rude bridge that arched the flood, + Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, + Here once the embattled farmers stood, + And fired the shot heard round the world. + + The foe long since in silence slept; + Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; + And Time the ruined bridge has swept + Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. + + On this green bank, by this soft stream, + We set to-day a votive stone; + That memory may their dead redeem, + When, like our sires, our sons are gone. + + Spirit, that made those heroes dare + To die, and leave their children free, + Bid Time and Nature gently spare + The shaft we raise to them and thee. + + + + +WARREN'S ADDRESS + + + Stand! the ground's your own, my braves! + Will ye give it up to slaves? + Will ye look for greener graves? + Hope ye mercy still? + What's the mercy despots feel? + Hear it in that battle peal! + Read it on yon bristling steel! + Ask it--ye who will. + + Fear ye foes who kill for hire? + Will ye to your homes retire? + Look behind you!--they're afire! + And, before you, see + Who have done it! From the vale + On they come!--and will ye quail? + Leaden rain and iron hail + Let their welcome be! + + In the God of battles trust! + Die we may--and die we must; + But, oh, where can dust to dust + Be consigned so well, + As where heaven its dews shall shed + On the martyred patriot's bed, + And the rocks shall raise their head, + Of his deeds to tell? + + John Pierpont + + + + +PATRIOTISM + + + Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, + Who never to himself hath said, + This is my own, my native land! + Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, + As home his footsteps he hath turned + From wandering on a foreign strand! + If such there breathe, go, mark him well; + For him no minstrel raptures swell; + High though his titles, proud his name, + Boundless his wealth as wish can claim; + Despite those titles, power, and pelf, + The wretch, concentered all in self, + Living, shall forfeit fair renown, + And, doubly dying, shall go down + To the vile dust, from whence he sprung, + Unwept, unhonored, and unsung. + + Sir Walter Scott + + + + +THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER + + + Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, + What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, + Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, + O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? + And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, + Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: + Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? + + On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, + Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, + What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, + As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses! + Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, + In full glory reflected now shines on the stream: + 'Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, Oh, long may it wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + And where is that band who so vauntingly swore + That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion + A home and a country should leave us no more! + Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution; + No refuge should save the hireling and slave + From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave: + And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph doth wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand + Between their loved homes and war's desolation. + Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven-rescued land + Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. + Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, + And this be our motto, "In God is our trust": + And the Star-Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave + O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. + + Francis Scott Key + + + + +MY COUNTRY + + + My country, 'tis of thee, + Sweet land of liberty, + Of thee I sing. + Land where my fathers died, + Land of the pilgrims' pride, + From every mountain side + Let freedom ring! + + My native country! Thee-- + Land of the noble free,-- + Thy name I love; + I love thy rocks and rills, + Thy woods and templed hills; + My heart with rapture thrills + Like that above. + + Let music swell the breeze, + And ring from all the trees + Sweet freedom's song. + Let mortal tongues awake; + Let all that breathe partake; + Let rocks their silence break,-- + The sound prolong. + + Our fathers' God, to Thee, + Author of liberty, + To Thee we sing; + Long may our land be bright + With freedom's holy light; + Protect us by Thy might, + Great God, our King! + + Samuel F. Smith + + + + +THE AMERICAN FLAG + + + When Freedom, from her mountain height, + Unfurled her standard to the air, + She tore the azure robe of night, + And set the stars of glory there. + She mingled with its gorgeous dyes + The milky baldric of the skies, + And striped its pure celestial white + With streakings of the morning light. + + Then, from his mansion in the sun, + She called her eagle bearer down, + And gave into his mighty hand + The symbol of her chosen land. + Flag of the free heart's hope and home, + By angel hands to valor given! + Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, + And all thy hues were born in heaven. + + Forever float that standard sheet! + Where breathes the foe but falls before us, + With Freedom's soil beneath our feet, + And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us! + + Joseph Rodman Drake + + + + +SONG OF MARION'S MEN + + + Our band is few but true and tried, + Our leader frank and bold; + The British soldier trembles + When Marion's name is told. + Our fortress is the good greenwood, + Our tent the cypress tree; + We know the forest round us, + As seamen know the sea. + We know its walls of thorny vines, + Its glades of reedy grass, + Its safe and silent islands + Within the dark morass. + + Woe to the English soldiery + That little dread us near! + On them shall light at midnight + A strange and sudden fear + When, waking to their tents on fire, + They grasp their arms in vain, + And they who stand to face us + Are beat to earth again; + And they who fly in terror deem + A mighty host behind, + And hear the tramp of thousands + Upon the hollow wind. + + Then sweet the hour that brings release + From danger and from toil: + We talk the battle over, + And share the battle's spoil. + The woodland rings with laugh and shout, + As if a hunt were up, + And woodland flowers are gathered + To crown the soldier's cup. + With merry songs we mock the wind + That in the pine-top grieves, + And slumber long and sweetly + On beds of oaken leaves. + + Well knows the fair and friendly moon + The band that Marion leads-- + The glitter of their rifles, + The scampering of their steeds. + 'Tis life to guide the fiery barb + Across the moonlight plain; + 'Tis life to feel the night wind + That lifts his tossing mane. + A moment in the British camp-- + A moment--and away, + Back to the pathless forest, + Before the peep of day. + + Grave men there are by broad Santee, + Grave men with hoary hairs; + Their hearts are all with Marion, + For Marion are their prayers. + And lovely ladies greet our band, + With kindliest welcoming, + With smiles like those of summer, + And tears like those of spring. + For them we wear these trusty arms, + And lay them down no more + Till we have driven the Briton, + Forever from our shore. + + William Cullen Bryant + + + + +THE OLD CONTINENTALS + + + In their ragged regimentals + Stood the old Continentals, + Yielding not, + When the grenadiers were lunging, + And like hail fell the plunging + Cannon shot; + When the files + Of the isles, + From the smoky night encampment, bore the banner of the rampant + Unicorn; + And grummer, grummer, grummer, rolled the roll of the drummer + Through the morn! + + Then with eyes to the front all, + And with guns horizontal, + Stood our sires; + And the balls whistled deadly, + And in streams flashing redly, + Blazed the fires: + As the roar + On the shore + Swept the strong battle breakers o'er the green-sodded acres + Of the plain; + And louder, louder, louder, cracked the black gunpowder, + Cracking amain! + + Now like smiths at their forges + Worked the red St. George's + Cannoneers, + And the villainous saltpetre + Rung a fierce, discordant meter + Round their ears; + As the swift + Storm drift, + With hot sweeping anger, came the horseguards' clangor + On our flanks; + Then higher, higher, higher, burned the old-fashioned fire + Through the ranks! + + Then the bareheaded colonel + Galloped through the white infernal + Powder cloud; + And his broadsword was swinging, + And his brazen throat was ringing + Trumpet-loud; + Then the blue + Bullets flew, + And the trooper jackets redden at the touch of the leaden + Rifle breath; + And rounder, rounder, rounder, roared the iron six-pounder, + Hurling death! + + Guy Humphreys McMaster + + + + +THE SWORD OF BUNKER HILL + + + He lay upon his dying bed; + His eye was growing dim, + When with a feeble voice he called + His weeping son to him: + "Weep not, my boy!" the vet'ran said, + "I bow to Heaven's high will-- + But quickly from yon antlers bring + The sword of Bunker Hill." + + The sword was brought, the soldier's eye + Lit with a sudden flame; + And as he grasped the ancient blade, + He murmured Warren's name; + Then said, "My boy, I leave you gold-- + But what is richer still, + I leave you, mark me, mark me now-- + The sword of Bunker Hill. + + "'Twas on that dread, immortal day, + I dared the Briton's band, + A captain raised this blade on me-- + I tore it from his hand: + And while the glorious battle raged, + It lightened freedom's will-- + For, boy, the God of freedom blessed + The sword of Bunker Hill. + + "Oh, keep the sword!"--his accents broke-- + A smile--and he was dead-- + But his wrinkled hand still grasped the blade + Upon that dying bed. + The son remains; the sword remains-- + Its glory growing still-- + And twenty millions bless the sire, + And sword of Bunker Hill. + + William Ross Wallace + + + + +LIBERTY TREE[2] + + + In a chariot of light from the regions of day, + The Goddess of Liberty came; + Ten thousand celestials directed the way, + And hither conducted the dame. + A fair budding branch from the gardens above, + Where millions with millions agree, + She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love, + And the plant she named _Liberty Tree_. + + The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground, + Like a native it flourished and bore; + The fame of its fruit drew the nation's around, + To seek out this peaceable shore. + Unmindful of names or distinctions they came, + For freemen like brothers agree; + With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued, + And their temple was _Liberty Tree_. + + Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old, + Their bread in contentment they ate + Unvexed with the troubles of silver and gold, + The cares of the grand and the great. + With timber and tar they Old England supplied, + And supported her power on the sea; + Her battles they fought, without getting a groat, + For the honor of _Liberty Tree_. + + But hear, O ye swains, 'tis a tale most profane, + How all the tyrannical powers, + Kings, Commons and Lords, are uniting amain, + To cut down this guardian of ours; + From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms, + Through the land let the sound of it flee, + Let the far and the near, all unite with a cheer, + In defense of our _Liberty Tree_. + + Thomas Paine + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE RISING IN 1776.[3] + + + Out of the North the wild news came, + Far flashing on its wings of flame, + Swift as the boreal light which flies + At midnight through the startled skies. + And there was tumult in the air, + The fife's shrill note, the drum's loud beat, + And through the wide land everywhere + The answering tread of hurrying feet; + While the first oath of Freedom's gun, + Came on the blast from Lexington; + And Concord, roused, no longer tame, + Forgot her old baptismal name, + Made bare her patriot arm of power, + And swelled the discord of the hour. + + Within its shade of elm and oak + The church of Berkeley Manor stood; + There Sunday found the rural folk, + And some esteemed of gentle blood. + In vain their feet with loitering tread + Passed 'mid the graves where rank is naught; + All could not read the lesson taught + In that republic of the dead. + + How sweet the hour of Sabbath talk, + The vale with peace and sunshine full + Where all the happy people walk, + Decked in their homespun flax and wool! + Where youth's gay hats with blossoms bloom; + And every maid with simple art, + Wears on her breast, like her own heart, + A bud whose depths are all perfume; + While every garment's gentle stir + Is breathing rose and lavender. + + The pastor came; his snowy locks + Hallowed his brow of thought and care; + And calmly, as shepherds lead their flocks, + He led into the house of prayer. + The pastor rose; the prayer was strong; + The psalm was warrior David's song; + The text, a few short words of might-- + "The Lord of hosts shall arm the right!" + + He spoke of wrongs too long endured, + Of sacred rights to be secured; + Then from his patriot tongue of flame + The startling words for Freedom came. + The stirring sentences he spake + Compelled the heart to glow or quake, + And, rising on his theme's broad wing, + And grasping in his nervous hand + The imaginary battle brand, + In face of death he dared to fling + Defiance to a tyrant king. + + Even as he spoke, his frame, renewed + In eloquence of attitude, + Rose, as it seemed, a shoulder higher; + Then swept his kindling glance of fire + From startled pew to breathless choir; + When suddenly his mantle wide + His hands impatient flung aside, + And, lo! he met their wondering eyes + Complete in all a warrior's guise. + + A moment there was awful pause-- + When Berkeley cried, "Cease, traitor! cease! + God's temple is the house of peace!" + The other shouted, "Nay, not so, + When God is with our righteous cause; + His holiest places then are ours, + His temples are our forts and towers. + That frown upon the tyrant foe; + In this, the dawn of Freedom's day, + There is a time to fight and pray!" + + And now before the open door-- + The warrior priest had ordered so-- + The enlisting trumpet's sudden roar + Rang through the chapel, o'er and o'er, + Its long reverberating blow, + So loud and clear, it seemed the ear + Of dusty death must wake and hear. + And there the startling drum and fife + Fired the living with fiercer life; + While overhead, with wild increase, + Forgetting its ancient toll of peace, + The great bell swung as ne'er before; + It seemed as it would never cease; + And every word its ardor flung + From off its jubilant iron tongue + Was, "War! War! War!" + + "Who dares?"--this was the patriot's cry, + As striding from the desk he came-- + "Come out with me, in Freedom's name, + For her to live, for her to die?" + A hundred hands flung up reply, + A hundred voices answered, "I!" + + Thomas Buchanan Read + + + + +AMERICA[4] + + + Foreseen in the vision of sages, + Foretold when martyrs bled, + She was born of the longing of ages, + By the truth of the noble dead + And the faith of the living fed! + No blood in her lightest veins + Frets at remembered chains, + Nor shame of bondage has bowed her head. + In her form and features still + The unblenching Puritan will, + Cavalier honor, Huguenot grace, + The Quaker truth and sweetness, + And the strength of the danger-girdled race + Of Holland, blend in a proud completeness. + + From the homes of all, where her being began, + She took what she gave to Man; + Justice, that knew no station, + Belief, as soul decreed, + Free air for aspiration, + Free force for independent deed! + She takes, but to give again, + As the sea returns the rivers in rain; + And gathers the chosen of her seed + From the hunted of every crown and creed. + + Her Germany dwells by a gentler Rhine; + Her Ireland sees the old sunburst shine; + Her France pursues some dream divine; + Her Norway keeps his mountain pine; + Her Italy waits by the western brine; + And, broad-based under all, + Is planted England's oaken-hearted mood, + As rich in fortitude + As e'er went worldward from the island-wall! + Fused in her candid light, + To one strong race all races here unite; + Tongues melt in hers, hereditary foemen + Forget their sword and slogan, kith and clan. + 'Twas glory, once to be a Roman: + She makes it glory, now, to be a man! + + Bayard Taylor + + + + +THE BLUE AND THE GRAY + + + By the flow of the inland river, + Whence the fleets of iron have fled, + Where the blades of the grave grass quiver, + Asleep are the ranks of the dead: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the one, the Blue, + Under the other, the Gray. + + These in the robings of glory, + Those in the gloom of defeat, + All with the battle blood gory, + In the dusk of eternity meet: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the laurel, the Blue, + Under the willow, the Gray. + + From the silence of sorrowful hours + The desolate mourners go, + Lovingly laden with flowers + Alike for the friend and the foe: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the roses, the Blue, + Under the lilies, the Gray. + + So with an equal splendor + The morning sun rays fall, + With a touch impartially tender, + On the blossoms blooming for all: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Broidered with gold, the Blue, + Mellowed with gold, the Gray. + + So, when the summer calleth, + On forest and field of grain, + With an equal murmur falleth + The cooling drip of the rain: + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Wet with the rain, the Blue, + Wet with the rain, the Gray. + + Sadly, but not with upbraiding, + The generous deed was done, + In the storm of the years that are fading, + No braver battle was won + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Under the blossoms, the Blue, + Under the garlands, the Gray. + + No more shall the war cry sever, + Or the winding rivers be red; + They banish our anger forever + When they laurel the graves of our dead! + Under the sod and the dew, + Waiting the judgment day; + Love and tears for the Blue, + Tears and love for the Gray. + + Francis Miles Finch + + + + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN[5] + + + Life may be given in many ways, + And loyalty to Truth be sealed + As bravely in the closet as the field, + So bountiful is Fate; + But then to stand beside her, + When craven churls deride her, + To front a lie in arms and not to yield, + This shows, methinks, God's plan + And measure of a stalwart man, + Limbed like the old heroic breeds, + Who stand self-poised on manhood's solid earth, + Not forced to frame excuses for his birth, + Fed from within with all the strength he needs. + Such was he, our martyr chief, + Whom late the Nation he had led, + With ashes on her head, + Wept with the passion of an angry grief: + Forgive me, if from present things I turn + To speak what in my heart will beat and burn, + And hang my wreath on his world-honored urn. + Nature, they say, doth dote, + And cannot make a man + Save on some worn-out plan, + Repeating us by rote: + For him her Old-World molds aside she threw, + And, choosing sweet clay from the breast + Of the unexhausted West, + With stuff untainted shaped a hero new, + Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. + How beautiful to see + Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed, + Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead; + One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, + Not lured by any cheat of birth, + But by his clear-grained human worth, + And brave old wisdom of sincerity! + They knew that outward grace is dust; + They could not choose but trust + In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill, + And supple-tempered will + That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. + His was no lonely mountain peak of mind, + Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, + A sea mark now, now lost in vapor's blind; + Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined, + Fruitful and friendly for all human kind, + Yet also nigh to Heaven and loved of loftiest stars. + Nothing of Europe here, + Or, then, of Europe fronting mornward still, + Ere any names of serf and peer + Could Nature's equal scheme deface + And thwart her genial will; + Here was a type of the true elder race, + And one of Plutarch's men talked with us face to face. + I praise him not; it were too late; + And some innative weakness there must be + In him who condescends to victory + Such as the Present gives, and cannot wait, + Safe in himself as in a fate. + So always firmly he: + He knew to bide his time, + And can his fame abide, + Still patient in his simple faith sublime, + Till the wise years decide. + Great captains, with their guns and drums, + Disturb our judgment for the hour, + But at last silence comes! + These all are gone, and standing like a tower, + Our children shall behold his fame, + The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, + Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, + New birth of our new soil, the first American. + + James Russell Lowell + + + + +THE FLAG GOES BY + + + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, + A flash of color beneath the sky: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + Blue and crimson and white it shines, + Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines, + Hats off! + The colors before us fly; + But more than the flag is passing by. + + Sea fights and land fights, grim and great, + Fought to make and save the State: + Weary marches and sinking ships; + Cheers of victory on dying lips; + + Days of plenty and years of peace; + March of a strong land's swift increase; + Equal justice, right, and law, + Stately honor and reverend awe; + + Sign of a nation, great and strong + To ward her people from foreign wrong: + Pride and glory and honor--all + Live in the colors to stand or fall. + Hats off! + Along the street there comes + A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums; + And loyal hearts are beating high: + Hats off! + The flag is passing by! + + Henry Holcomb Bennett + + + + +THE SHIP OF STATE + + + Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State! + Sail on, O UNION, strong and great! + Humanity with all its fears, + With all the hopes of future years, + Is hanging breathless on thy fate! + We know what Master laid thy keel, + What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, + Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, + What anvils rang, what hammers beat, + In what a forge and what a heat + Were shaped the anchors of thy hope! + Fear not each sudden sound and shock, + 'Tis of the wave and not the rock; + 'Tis but the flapping of the sail, + And not a rent made by the gale! + In spite of rock and tempest's roar + In spite of false lights on the shore, + Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! + Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee, + Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, + Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, + Are all with thee--are all with thee! + + Henry Wadsworth Longfellow + + + + +THE NAME OF OLD GLORY[6] + + + Old Glory! say who, + By the ships and the crew, + And the long, blended ranks of the grey and the blue-- + Who gave you, Old Glory, the name that you bear + With such pride everywhere + As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air + And leap out full length as we're wanting you to? + Who gave you that name, with the ring of the same, + And the honor and fame so becoming to you?-- + Your stripes streaked in ripples of white and of red, + With your stars at their glittering best overhead-- + By day or by night, + Their delightfulest light + Laughing down from their little square heaven of blue! + Who gave you the name of Old Glory?--say who-- + Who gave you the name of Old Glory? + + The old banner lifted, and faltering then, + In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again. + + Old Glory,--speak out!--we are asking about + How you happened to "favor" a name, so to say, + That sounds so familiar and careless and gay + As we cheer it and shout in our wild, breezy way-- + We--the _crowd_, every man of us, calling you that-- + We--Tom, Dick and Harry--each swinging his hat-- + And hurrahing "Old Glory," like you were our kind, + When--Lord--we all know we're as common as sin! + + And yet it just seems like you _humor_ us all + And waft us your thanks as we hail you and fall + Into line, with you over us, waving us on + Where our glorified, sanctified betters have gone-- + And this is the reason we're wanting to know-- + (And we're wanting it so! + Where our own fathers went, we are willing to go) + Who gave you the name of Old Glory--Oho! + Who gave you the name of Old Glory? + + The old flag unfurled in a billowy thrill + For an instant, then wistfully sighed and was still. + + Old Glory--the story we're wanting to hear + Is what the plain facts of your christening were-- + For your name--just to hear it, + Repeat it, and cheer it, 's a tang to the spirit + As salt as a tear;-- + And seeing you fly, and the boys marching by, + There's a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye + And an aching to live for you always--or die, + If, dying, we still keep you waving on high. + And so, by our love + For you, floating above, + And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof, + Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why + Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory? + Then the old banner leaped, like a sail in the blast, + And fluttered an audible answer at last. + + And it spake, with a shake of the voice, and it said:-- + By the driven snow-white and the living blood-red + Of my bars, and their heaven of stars overhead-- + By the symbol conjoined of them all, skyward cast, + As I float from the steeple, or flap at the mast, + Or droop o'er the sod where the long grasses nod,-- + My name is as old as the glory of God, + ... So I came by the name of Old Glory. + + James Whitcomb Riley + + +Footnotes: + +[1] By Ralph Waldo Emerson, at the dedication, April 19, 1836, of the +monument erected at Concord in honor of the patriots who fell in the +battle of Lexington sixty-one years before. + +[2] Published in the Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775. + +[3] Used with the courteous permission of the publishers, The J. B. +Lippincott Co., Philadelphia. + +[4] From the National Ode, July 4, 1876. + +[5] From the Ode recited at the Harvard Commemoration, July 21, 1865. + +[6] From the Biographical Edition of the Complete Works of James +Whitcomb Riley. Copyright 1913. Used by special permission of the +publishers, The Bobbs-Merrill Company. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICA FIRST*** + + +******* This file should be named 24798.txt or 24798.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/9/24798 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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