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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Select Speeches of Daniel Webster + +Author: Daniel Webster + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7600] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELECT SPEECHES OF DANIEL WEBSTER *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Jerry Fairbanks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +SELECT SPEECHES OF DANIEL WEBSTER + +1817-1845 + +WITH PREFACE, INTRODUCTION, AND NOTES BY + +A. J. GEORGE, A.M. + +Instructor in Rhetoric and English Literature in the Newton, Mass., High +School + + + "The front of Jove himself; + An eye like Mars to threaten and command; + A combination and a form indeed, + Where every god did seem to set his seal, + To give the world assurance of a man" + + +Boston, U.S.A. +D.C. Heath & Co., Publishers +1903 + + + +TO +THE HON. GEORGE F. HOAR, LL.D. +A WORTHY SUCCESSOR OF +DANIEL WEBSTER +IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES + + + + +Blest Statesman He, whose Mind's unselfish will +Leaves him at ease among grand thoughts: whose eye +Sees that, apart from magnanimity, +Wisdom exists not; nor the humbler skill +Of Prudence, disentangling good and ill +With patient care. What tho' assaults run high, +They daunt not him who holds his ministry, +Resolute, at all hazards, to fulfil +Its duties; prompt to move, but firm to wait; +Knowing, things rashly sought are rarely found; +That, for the functions of an ancient State-- +Strong by her charters, free because imbound, +Servant of Providence, not slave of Fate-- +Perilous is sweeping change, all chance unsound. + + + + +Preface. + + + +Burke and Webster are models in the forensic literature of our own language +as truly as are Demosthenes and Cicero in the language of the ancient +classics. Each has distinct and inimitable characteristics which give force +and beauty to his work. The study of each should be ordered in such a way +as to put one in touch with those qualities of mind and heart, of +intellectual and moral manhood, by which each became a leader in political +philosophy and a model in literary style. One who studies such authors in +order to formulate a historical or a personal estimate merely, or to +compare each as to certain externals of rhetorical form, has lost the true +perspective of literary judgment. + +Reading in the school and in the home is far too often pursued with a +purpose to controvert and prove rather than to weigh and consider. Reading +which does not result in enlarging, stimulating, and refining one's nature +is but a busy idleness. The schools must see to it that the desultory and +dissipating methods of reading, so prevalent in the home, are not +encouraged. Pupils must be stimulated first of all to enjoy what is +beautiful in nature and in art: for here is + + "A world of ready wealth, + Their minds and hearts to bless-- + Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health, + Truth breathed by cheerfulness." + +The wisdom of the classroom is too often "art tongue-tied by authority," +and hence it is not wisdom at all, but a sham and a pretence. Not until +pupils rise to the spontaneity which betokens a genuine love for the work +in hand do they secure the richest results. + +The publication of the masterpieces of the epic, the lyric, and the drama; +of the novel, the essay, and the oration, in a convenient form and at such +a price as to bring them within the reach of our schools, makes it +inexcusable if pupils are allowed to be ignorant of the great literary, +ethical, and artistic impulses which have touched and quickened the life +of the past. + +Burke's _American Orations_ present him at his best as a statesman, +an orator, and a stylist. When the edition of those speeches was prepared, +a selection from Webster's great speeches was contemplated as a companion +volume. The present edition represents Webster in the various and distinct +fields in which his genius manifested itself so powerfully and so nobly. +He is here seen before a jury, before the Supreme Court of the United +States, on a great historical occasion, in the Senate of the United +States, in a great national canvass, and as a eulogist. + +Had it not been for making the volume too large for school use I should +have included the famous speech delivered in the Senate on the 7th of +March, 1850. This speech has been considered by many as the _vulnus +immedicabile_ of Mr. Webster's political life; it is certain that for +it he was most rankly abused. "Massachusetts," as Hon. John D. Long has +said, "smote and broke the heart of Webster, her idol, and then broke her +own above his grave, and to-day writes his name highest upon her roll of +statesmen." + +I find in this speech nothing but what is consistent with Mr. Webster's +noble adherence to the Constitution and the Union; nothing but what is +consistent with the solemn duty of a great man in a great national crisis. + +In his address at Buffalo on the 22d of May, 1851, he expressed himself +very freely in regard to this speech, saying: "I felt that I had a duty to +perform to my country, to my own reputation; for I flattered myself that a +service of forty years had given me some character, on which I had a right +to repose for my justification in the performance of a duty attended with +some degree of local unpopularity. I thought it was my duty to pursue this +course, and I did not care what was to be the consequence. And, Gentlemen, +allow me to say here to-day, that if the fate of John Rogers had stared me +in the face, if I had seen the stake, if I had heard the fagots already +crackling, by the blessing of Almighty God I would have gone on and +discharged the duty which I thought my country called upon me to perform." + +Does this seem the language of one who had abandoned his post and was +merely "bidding for the Presidency"? + +The address of Hon. Rufus Choate, before the students of Dartmouth +College, commemorative of Daniel Webster, has a remark on this subject so +just that I cannot refrain from quoting it. He says: "Until the accuser +who charges Mr. Webster with having 'sinned against his conscience' will +assert that the conscience of a public man may not, must not, be +instructed by profound knowledge of the vast subject-matter with which +public life is conversant, and will assert that he is certain that the +consummate science of our great statesman was _felt by himself to +prescribe to his morality_ another conduct than that which he adopted, +and that he thus consciously outraged that 'sense of duty which pursues us +ever,'--is he not inexcusable, whoever he is, that so judges another?" + +At the meeting held in Faneuil Hall, Oct. 27, 1852, commemorative of Mr. +Webster's life and work, Mr. Edward Everett said: "Whoever, in after time, +shall write the history of the United States for the last forty years will +write the life of Daniel Webster; and whoever writes the life of Daniel +Webster as it ought to be written will write the history of the Union from +the time he took a leading part in its concerns." Mr. Choate, at a meeting +of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, Oct. 25, 1852, said: "Happier than +the younger Pliny, happier than Cicero, he has found his historian, +unsolicited, in his lifetime, and his countrymen have him all by heart." + +If this volume shall aid in bringing the young of this generation "to have +him all by heart," to ascend his imaginative heights and sit under the +shadow of his profound reflections on that which is fundamental in civil +and religious liberty, its purpose will be accomplished. + +With few exceptions these selections are given entire. Whenever they have +been abridged, the continuity of the discourse has not been impaired. + +In the matter of annotation the purpose has been to furnish sufficient aid +to the general reader, and at the same time to indicate to the special +student lines along which he may study the speeches. + +In Edward Everett's Memoir, found in the first volume of Mr. Webster's +works; in the life of Mr. Webster by George Tichnor Curtis, and in Henry +Cabot Lodge's _Daniel Webster_, in the American Statesman Series, the +student has exhaustive, scholarly, and judicious estimates of Mr. +Webster's work. + +I am indebted to the Hon. George F. Hoar and the Hon. Edward J. Phelps for +assistance in the task of selecting representative speeches; and to the +former for permission to associate his name with this edition of Mr. +Webster's work. + +A. J. G. + +Brookline, November, 1892. + + + + +Introduction. + + + +Mr. Webster approaches as nearly to the _beau ideal_ of a republican +Senator as any man that I have ever seen in the course of my life; worthy +of Rome or Venice rather than of our noisy and wrangling generation.-- +Hallam. + +Coleridge used to say that he had seldom known or heard of any great man +who had not much of the woman in him. Even so the large intellect of +Daniel Webster seemed to be coupled with all softer feelings; and his +countenance and bearing, at the very first, impressed me with this. A +commanding brow, thoughtful eyes, and a mouth that seemed to respond to +all humanities. He deserves his fame, I am sure.--John Kenyon. + +He is a magnificent specimen. You might say to all the world, "This is our +Yankee Englishman; such limbs we make in Yankee-land!" As a parliamentary +Hercules one would incline to back him at first sight against all the +extant world. The tanned complexion; that amorphous craglike face; the +dull black eyes under the precipice of brows, like dull anthracite +furnaces needing only to be _blown_; the mastiff mouth, accurately +closed; I have not traced so much of _silent Berserkir rage_ that I +remember of in any other man.--Thomas Carlyle. + +When the historian shall look back upon the first century of the American +Republic, the two names that will shine with most unfading lustre and the +serenest glory, high above all others, are Washington and Webster.-- +Professor Felton. + +Consider the remarkable phenomenon of excellence in three unkindred, one +might have thought incompatible, forms of public speech,--that of the +forum, with its double audience of bench and jury, of the halls of +legislation, and of the most thronged and tumultuous assemblies of the +people. Consider, further, that this multiform eloquence, exactly as his +words fell, became at once so much accession to permanent literature in +the strictest sense,--solid, attractive, rich,--and ask how often in the +history of public life such a thing has been exemplified.--Rufus Choate. + +The noblest monument to Daniel Webster is in his works. As a repository of +political truth and practical wisdom, applied to the affairs of +government, I know not where we shall find their equal. The works of Burke +naturally suggest themselves to the mind, as the only writings in our +language that can sustain the comparison.--Edward Everett. + +He writes like a man who is thinking of his subject, and not of his style, +and thus he wastes no time upon the mere garb of his thoughts. His style +is Doric, not Corinthian. His sentences are like shafts hewn from the +granite of his own hills,--simple, massive, strong. We may apply to him +what Quinctilian says of Cicero, that a relish for his writings is itself +a mark of good taste.--George S. Hillard. + +He taught the people of the United States, in the simplicity of common +understanding, the principles of the Constitution and government of the +country, and he wrought for them, in a style of matchless strength and +beauty, the literature of statesmanship. He made his language the very +household words of a nation. They are the library of the people. They are +the school-book of the citizen.--John D. Long. + +Take him for all in all, he was not only the greatest orator this country +has ever known, but in the history of eloquence his name will stand with +those of Demosthenes and Cicero, Chatham and Burke.--Henry Cabot Lodge. + +It may be said that the style of Webster is pre-eminently distinguished by +manliness. The intellect and moral manliness of Webster underlies all his +great orations and speeches; and this plain force of manhood, this sturdy +grapple with every question that comes before his understanding for +settlement, leads him to reject all the meretricious aids and ornaments of +mere rhetoric, and is prominent, among the many exceptional qualities of +his large nature, which have given him a high position among the prose- +writers of his country as a consummate master of English style.--Edwin P. +Whipple. + +His broad, wise statesmanship is to be the ample and refreshing shade, his +character the bright and breezy presence, in which all the members of this +great and illustrious Republic may meet and sit down and feast together.-- +H. N. Hudson. + + + + +Contents. + + + +Defence of the Kennistons +The Dartmouth College Case +First Settlement of New England +The Bunker Hill Monument +The Reply to Hayne +The Murder of Captain Joseph White +The Constitution Not a Compact Between Sovereign States +Speech at Saratoga +Eulogy on Mr. Justice Story +Biographical +Notes + + + + +Defence of the Kennistons. + + + +Gentlemen of the Jury,--It is true that the offence charged in the +indictment in this case is not capital; but perhaps this can hardly be +considered as favorable to the defendants. To those who are guilty, and +without hope of escape, no doubt the lightness of the penalty of +transgression gives consolation. But if the defendants are innocent, it is +more natural for them to be thinking upon what they have lost by that +alteration of the law which has left highway robbery no longer capital, +than upon what the guilty might gain by it. They have lost those great +privileges in their trial, which the law allows, in capital cases, for the +protection of innocence against unfounded accusation. They have lost the +right of being previously furnished with a copy of the indictment, and a +list of the government witnesses. They have lost the right of peremptory +challenge; and, notwithstanding the prejudices which they know have been +excited against them, they must show legal cause of challenge, in each +individual case, or else take the jury as they find it. They have lost the +benefit of assignment of counsel by the court. They have lost the benefit +of the Commonwealth's process to bring in witnesses in their behalf. When +to these circumstances it is added that they are strangers, almost wholly +without friends, and without the means for preparing their defence, it is +evident they must take their trial under great disadvantages. + +But without dwelling on these considerations, I proceed, Gentlemen of the +Jury, to ask your attention to those circumstances which cannot but cast +doubts on the story of the prosecutor. + +In the first place, it is impossible to believe that a robbery of this +sort could have been committed by three or four men without previous +arrangement and concert, and of course without the knowledge of the fact +that Goodridge would be there, and that he had money. They did not go on +the highway, in such a place, in a cold December's night, for the general +purpose of attacking the first passenger, running the chance of his being +somebody who had money. It is not easy to believe that a gang of robbers +existed, that they acted systematically, communicating intelligence to one +another, and meeting and dispersing as occasion required, and that this +gang had their head-quarters in such a place as Newburyport. No town is +more distinguished for the general correctness of the habits of its +citizens; and it is of such a size that every man in it may be known to +all the rest. The pursuits, occupations, and habits of every person within +it are within the observation of his neighbors. A suspicious stranger +would be instantly observed, and all his movements could be easily traced. +This is not the place to be the general rendezvous of a gang of robbers. +Offenders of this sort hang on the skirts of large towns. From the +commission of their crimes they hasten into the crowd, and hide themselves +in the populousness of great cities. If it be wholly improbable that a +gang existed in such a place for the purpose of general plunder, the next +inquiry is, Is there any reason to think that there was a special or +particular combination, for the single purpose of robbing the prosecutor? +Now it is material to observe, that not only is there no evidence of any +such combination, but also, that circumstances existed which render it +next to impossible that the defendants could have been parties to such a +combination, or even that they could have any knowledge of the existence +of any such man as Goodridge, or that any person, with money, was expected +to come from the eastward, and to be near Essex Bridge, at or about nine +o'clock, the evening when the robbery is said to have been committed. + +One of the defendants had been for some weeks in Newburyport, the other +passed the bridge from New Hampshire at twelve o'clock on the 19th of +December, 1816. At this time, Goodridge had not yet arrived at Exeter, +twelve or fourteen miles from the bridge. How, then, could either of the +defendants know that he was coming? Besides, he says that nobody, as far +as he is aware, knew on the road that he had money, and nothing happened +till he reached Exeter, according to his account, from which it might be +conjectured that such was the case. Here, as he relates it, it became +known that he had pistols; and he must wish you to infer that the plan to +rob him was laid here, at Exeter, by some of the persons who inferred that +he had money from his being armed. Who were these persons? Certainly not +the defendants, or either of them. Certainly not Taber. Certainly not +Jackman. Were they persons of suspicious characters? Was he in a house of +a suspicious character? On this point he gives us no information. He has +either not taken the pains to inquire, or he chooses not to communicate +the result of his inquiries. Yet nothing could be more important, since he +seems compelled to lay the scene of the plot against him at Exeter, than +to know who the persons were that he saw, or who saw him, at that place. +On the face of the facts now proved, nothing could be more improbable than +that the plan of robbery was concerted at Exeter. If so, why should those +who concerted it send forward to Newburyport to engage the defendants, +especially as they did not know that they were there? What should induce +any persons so suddenly to apply to the defendants to assist in a robbery? +There was nothing in their personal character or previous history that +should induce this. + +Nor was there time for all this. If the prosecutor had not lingered on the +road, for reasons not yet discovered, he must have been in Newburyport +long before the time at which he states the robbery to have been +committed. How, then, could any one expect to leave Exeter, come to +Newburyport, fifteen miles, there look out for and find out assistants for +a highway robbery, and get back two miles to a convenient place for the +commission of the crime? That any body should have undertaken to act thus +is wholly improbable; and, in point of fact, there is not the least proof +of any body's travelling, that afternoon, from Exeter to Newburyport, or +of any person who was at the tavern at Exeter having left it that +afternoon. In all probability, nothing of this sort could have taken place +without being capable of detection and proof. In every particular, the +prosecutor has wholly failed to show the least probability of a plan to +rob him having been laid at Exeter. + +But how comes it that Goodridge was near or quite four hours and a half in +travelling a distance which might have been travelled in two hours or two +hours and a half. He says he missed his way, and went the Salisbury road. +But some of the jury know that this could not have delayed him more than +five or ten minutes. He ought to be able to give some better account of +this delay. + +Failing, as he seems to do, to create any belief that a plan to rob him +was arranged at Exeter, the prosecutor goes back to Alfred, and says he +saw there a man whom Taber resembles. But Taber is proved to have been at +that time, and at the time of the robbery, in Boston. This is proved +beyond question. It is so certain, that the Solicitor-General has _nol +prossed_ the indictment against him. + +There is an end, then, of all pretence of the adoption of a scheme of +robbery at Alfred. This leaves the prosecutor altogether unable to point +out any manner in which it should become known that he had money, or in +which a design to rob him should originate. + +It is next to be considered whether the prosecutor's story is either +natural or consistent. But, on the threshold of the inquiry, every one +puts the question, What motive had the prosecutor to be guilty of the +abominable conduct of feigning a robbery? It is difficult to assign +motives. The jury do not know enough of his character or circumstances. +Such things have happened, and may happen again. Suppose he owed money in +Boston, and had it not to pay? Who knows how high he might estimate the +value of a plausible apology? Some men have also a whimsical ambition of +distinction. There is no end to the variety of modes in which human vanity +exhibits itself. A story of this nature excites the public sympathy. It +attracts general attention. It causes the name of the prosecutor to be +celebrated as a man who has been attacked, and, after a manly resistance, +overcome by robbers, and who has renewed his resistance as soon as +returning life and sensation enabled him, and, after a second conflict, +has been quite subdued, beaten and bruised out of all sense and sensation, +and finally left for dead on the field. It is not easy to say how far such +motives, trifling and ridiculous as most men would think them, might +influence the prosecutor, when connected with any expectation of favor or +indulgence, if he wanted such, from his creditors. It is to be remembered +that he probably did not see all the consequences of his conduct, if his +robbery be a pretence. He might not intend to prosecute any body. But he +probably found, and indeed there is evidence to show, that it was +necessary for him to do something to find out the authors of the alleged +robbery. He manifested no particular zeal on this subject. He was in no +haste. He appears rather to have been pressed by others to do that which, +if he had really been robbed, we should suppose he would have been most +earnest to do, the earliest moment. + +But could he so seriously wound himself? Could he or would he shoot a +pistol-bullet through his hand, in order to render the robbery probable, +and to obtain belief in his story? All exhibitions are subject to +accidents. Whether they are serious or farcical, they may, in some +particulars, not proceed exactly as they are designed to do. If we knew +that this shot through the hand, if made by himself, must have been +intentionally made by himself, it would be a circumstance of greater +weight. The bullet went through the sleeve of his coat. He might have +intended it should go through nothing else. It is quite certain he did not +receive the wound in the way he described. He says he was pulling or +thrusting aside the robber's pistol, and while his hand was on it, it was +fired, and the contents passed through his hand. This could not have been +so, because no part of the contents went through the hand, except the +ball. There was powder on the sleeve of his coat, and from the appearance +one would think the pistol to have been three or four feet from the hand +when fired. The fact of the pistol-bullet being fired through the hand, is +doubtless a circumstance of importance. It may not be easy to account for +it; but it is to be weighed with other circumstances. + +It is most extraordinary, that, in the whole case, the prosecutor should +prove hardly any fact in any way but by his own oath. He chooses to trust +every thing on his own credit with the jury. Had he the money with him +which he mentions? If so, his clerks or persons connected with him in +business must have known it; yet no witness is produced. Nothing can be +more important than to prove that he had the money. Yet he does not prove +it. Why should he leave this essential fact without further support? He is +not surprised with this defence, he knew what it would be. He knew that +nothing could be more important than to prove that, in truth, he did +possess the money which he says he lost; yet he does not prove it. All +that he saw, and all that he did, and everything that occurred to him +until the alleged robbery, rests solely on his own credit. He does not see +fit to corroborate any fact by the testimony of any witness. So he went to +New York to arrest Jackman. He did arrest him. He swears positively that +he found in his possession papers which he lost at the time of the +robbery; yet he neither produces the papers themselves, nor the persons +who assisted in the search. + +In like manner, he represents his intercourse with Taber at Boston. Taber, +he says, made certain confessions. They made a bargain for a disclosure or +confession on one side, and a reward on the other. But no one heard these +confessions except Goodridge himself. Taber now confronts him, and +pronounces this part of his story to be wholly false; and there is nobody +who can support the prosecutor. + +A jury cannot too seriously reflect on this part of the case. There are +many most important allegations of fact, which, if true, could easily be +shown by other witnesses, and yet are not so shown. + +How came Mr. Goodridge to set out from Bangor, armed in this formal and +formidable manner? How came he to be so apprehensive of a robbery? The +reason he gives is completely ridiculous. As the foundation of his alarm, +he tells a story of a robbery which he had heard of, but which, as far as +appears, no one else ever heard of; and the story itself is so perfectly +absurd, it is difficult to resist the belief that it was the product of +his imagination at the moment. He seems to have been a little too +confident that an attempt would be made to rob him. The manner in which he +carried his money, as he says, indicated a strong expectation of this +sort. His gold he wrapped in a cambric cloth, put it into a shot bag, and +then into a portmanteau. One parcel of bills, of a hundred dollars in +amount, he put into his pocket-book; another, of somewhat more than a +thousand dollars, he carried next his person, underneath all his clothes. +Having disposed of his money in this way, and armed himself with two good +pistols, he set out from Bangor. The jury will judge whether this +extraordinary care of his money, and this formal arming of himself to +defend it, are not circumstances of a very suspicious character. + +He stated that he did not travel in the night; that he would not so much +expose himself to robbers. He said that, when he came near Alfred, he did +not go into the village, but stopped a few miles short, because night was +coming on, and he would not trust himself and his money out at night. He +represents himself to have observed this rule constantly and invariably +until he got to Exeter. Yet, when the time came for the robbery, he was +found out at night. He left Exeter about sunset, intending to go to +Newburyport, fifteen miles distant, that evening. When he is asked how +this should happen, he says he had no fear of robbers after he left the +District of Maine. He thought himself quite safe when he arrived at +Exeter. Yet he told the jury, that at Exeter he thought it necessary to +load his pistol afresh. He asked for a private room at the inn. He told +the persons in attendance that he wished such a room for the purpose of +changing his clothes. He charged them not to suffer him to be interrupted. +But he now testifies that his object was not to change his dress, but to +put new loading into his pistols. What sort of a story is this? + +He says he now felt himself out of all danger from robbers, and was +therefore willing to travel at night. At the same time, he thought himself +in very great danger from robbers, and therefore took the utmost pains to +keep his pistols well loaded and in good order. To account for the pains +he took about loading his pistols at Exeter, he says it was his invariable +practice, every day after he left Bangor, to discharge and load again one +or both of his pistols; that he never missed doing this; that he avoided +doing it at the inns, lest he should create suspicion, but that he did it, +while alone, on the road, every day. + +How far this is probable the jury will judge. It will be observed that he +gave up his habits of caution as he approached the place of the robbery. +He then loaded his pistols at the tavern, where persons might and did see +him; and he then also travelled in the night. He passed the bridge over +Merrimack River a few minutes before nine o'clock. He was now at a part of +his progress where he was within the observation of other witnesses, and +something could be known of him besides what he told of himself. +Immediately after him passed the two persons with their wagons, Shaw and +Keyser. Close upon them followed the mail-coach. Now, these wagons and the +mail must have passed within three rods, at most, of Goodridge, at the +very time of the robbery. They must have been very near the spot, the very +moment of the attack; and if he was under the robbers' hands as long as he +represents, or if they staid on the spot long enough to do half what he +says they did, they must have been there when the wagons and the stage +passed. At any rate, it is next to impossible, by any computation of time, +to put these carriages so far from the spot, that the drivers should not +have heard the cry of murder, which he says he raised, or the report of +the two pistols, which he says were discharged. In three quarters of an +hour, or an hour, he returned, and repassed the bridge. + +The jury will next naturally look to the appearances exhibited on the +field after the robbery. The portmanteau was there. The witnesses say, +that the straps which fastened it to the saddle had been neither cut nor +broken. They were carefully unbuckled. This was very considerate for +robbers. It had been opened, and its contents were scattered about the +field. The pocket-book, too, had been opened, and many papers it contained +found on the ground. Nothing valuable was lost but money. The robbers did +not think it well to go off at once with the portmanteau and the pocket- +book. The place was so secure, so remote, so unfrequented; they were so +far from the highway, at least one full rod; there were so few persons +passing, probably not more than four or five then in the road, within +hearing of the pistols and the cries of Goodridge; there being, too, not +above five or six dwelling-houses, full of people, within the hearing of +the report of a pistol; these circumstances were all so favorable to their +safety, that the robbers sat down to look over the prosecutor's papers, +carefully examined the contents of his pocket-book and portmanteau, and +took only the things which they needed! There was money belonging to other +persons. The robbers did not take it. They found out it was not the +prosecutor's, and left it. It may be said to be favorable to the +prosecutor's story, that the money which did not belong to him, and the +plunder of which would seem to be the most probable inducement he could +have to feign a robbery, was not taken. But the jury will consider whether +this circumstance does not bear quite as strongly the other way, and +whether they can believe that robbers could have left this money, either +from accident or design. + +The robbers, by Goodridge's account, were extremely careful to search his +person. Having found money in his portmanteau and in his pocket-book, they +still forthwith stripped him to the skin, and searched until they found +the sum which had been so carefully deposited under his clothes. Was it +likely, that, having found money in the places where it is ordinarily +carried, robbers should proceed to search for more, where they had no +reason to suppose more would be found? Goodridge says that no person knew +of his having put his bank-notes in that situation. On the first attack, +however, they proceeded to open one garment after another, until they +penetrated to the treasure, which was beneath them all. + +The testimony of Mr. Howard is material. He examined Goodridge's pistol, +which was found on the spot, and thinks it had not been fired at all. If +this be so, it would follow that the wound through the hand was not made +by this pistol; but then, as the pistol is now discharged, if it had not +been fired, he is not correct in swearing that he fired it at the robbers, +nor could it have been loaded at Exeter, as he testified. + +In the whole case, there is nothing, perhaps, more deserving +consideration, than the prosecutor's statement of the violence which the +robbers used towards him. He says he was struck with a heavy club, on the +back part of his head. He fell senseless to the ground. Three or four +rough-handed villains then dragged him to the fence, and through it or +over it, with such force as to break one of the boards. They then +plundered his money. Presently he came to his senses; perceived his +situation; saw one of the robbers sitting or standing near; he valiantly +sprung upon, and would have overcome him, but the ruffian called out for +his comrades, who returned, and all together they renewed their attack +upon, subdued him, and redoubled their violence. They struck him heavy +blows; they threw him violently to the ground; they kicked him in the +side; they choked him; one of them, to use his own words, jumped upon his +breast. They left him only when they supposed they had killed him. He went +back to Pearson's, at the bridge, in a state of delirium, and it was +several hours before his recollection came to him. This is his account. +Now, in point of fact, it is certain that on no part of his person was +there the least mark of this beating and wounding. The blow on the head, +which brought him senseless to the ground, neither broke the skin, nor +caused any tumor, nor left any mark whatever. He fell from his horse on +the frozen ground, without any appearance of injury. He was drawn through +or over the fence with such force as to break the rail, but not so as to +leave any wound or scratch on him. A second time he is knocked down, +kicked, stamped upon, choked, and in every way abused and beaten till +sense had departed, and the breath of life hardly remained; and yet no +wound, bruise, discoloration, or mark of injury was found to result from +all this. Except the wound in his hand, and a few slight punctures in his +left arm, apparently made with his own penknife, which was found open on +the spot, there was no wound or mark which the surgeons, upon repeated +examinations, could anywhere discover. This is a story not to be believed. +No matter who tells it, it is so impossible to be true, that all belief is +set at defiance. No man can believe it. All this tale of blows which left +no marks, and of wounds which could not be discovered, must be the work of +imagination. If the jury can believe that he was robbed, it is impossible +they can believe his account of the manner of it. + +With respect, next, to delirium. The jury have heard the physicians. Two +of them have no doubt it was all feigned. Dr. Spofford spoke in a more +guarded manner, but it was very evident his opinion agreed with theirs. In +the height of his raving, the physician who was present said to others, +that he could find nothing the matter with the man, and that his pulse was +perfectly regular. But consider the facts which Dr. Balch testifies. He +suspected the whole of this illness and delirium to be feigned. He wished +to ascertain the truth. While he or others were present, Goodridge +appeared to be in the greatest pains and agony from his wounds. He could +not turn himself in bed, nor be turned by others, without infinite +distress. His mind, too, was as much disordered as his body. He was +constantly raving about robbery and murder. At length the physicians and +others withdrew, and left him alone in the room. Dr. Balch returned softly +to the door, which he had left partly open, and there he had a full view +of his patient, unobserved by him. Goodridge was then very quiet. His +incoherent exclamations had ceased. Dr. Balch saw him turn over without +inconvenience. Pretty soon he sat up in bed, and adjusted his neckcloth +and his hair. Then, hearing footsteps on the staircase, he instantly sunk +into the bed again; his pains all returned, and he cried out against +robbers and murderers as loud as ever. Now, these facts are all sworn to +by an intelligent witness, who cannot be mistaken in them; a respectable +physician, whose veracity or accuracy is in no way impeached or +questioned. After this, it is difficult to retain any good opinion of the +prosecutor. Robbed or not robbed, this was his conduct; and such conduct +necessarily takes away all claim to sympathy and respect. The jury will +consider whether it does not also take away all right to be believed in +anything. For if they should be of opinion that in any one point he has +intentionally misrepresented facts, he can be believed in nothing. No man +is to be convicted on the testimony of a witness whom the jury has found +wilfully violating the truth in any particular. + +The next part of the case is the conduct of the prosecutor in attempting +to find out the robbers, after he had recovered from his illness. He +suspected Mr. Pearson, a very honest, respectable man, who keeps the +tavern at the bridge. He searched his house and premises. He sent for a +conjuror to come, with his metallic rods and witch-hazel, to find the +stolen money. Goodridge says now, that he thought he should find it, if +the conjuror's instruments were properly prepared. He professes to have +full faith in the art. Was this folly, or fraud, or a strange mixture of +both? Pretty soon after the last search, gold pieces were actually found +near Mr. pearson's house, in the manner stated by the female witness. How +came they there? Did the robber deposit them there? That is not possible. +Did he accidentally leave them there? Why should not a robber take as good +care of his money as others? It is certain, too, that the gold pieces were +not put there at the time of the robbery, because the ground was then +bare; but when these pieces were found, there were several inches of snow +below them. When Goodridge searched here with his conjuror, he was on this +spot, alone and unobserved, as he thought. Whether he did not, at that +time, drop his gold into the snow, the jury will judge. When he came to +this search, he proposed something very ridiculous. He proposed that all +persons about to assist in the search should be examined, to see that they +had nothing which they could put into Pearson's possession, for the +purpose of being found there. But how was this examination to be made? +Why, truly, Goodridge proposed that every man should examine himself, and +that, among others, he would examine himself, till he was satisfied he had +nothing in his pockets which he could leave at pearson's, with the +fraudulent design of being afterwards found there, as evidence against +pearson. What construction would be given to such conduct? + +As to Jackman, Goodridge went to New York and arrested him. In his room he +says he found paper coverings of gold, with his own figures on them, and +pieces of an old and useless receipt, which he can identify, and which he +had in his possession at the time of the robbery. He found these things +lying on the floor in Jackman's room. What should induce the robbers, when +they left all other papers, to take this receipt? And what should induce +Jackman to carry it to New York, and keep it, with the coverings of the +gold, in a situation where it was likely to be found, and used as evidence +against him? + +There is no end to the series of improbabilities growing out of the +prosecutor's story. + +One thing especially deserves notice. Wherever Goodridge searches, he +always finds something; and what he finds, he always can identify and +swear to, as being his. The thing found has always some marks by which he +knows it. Yet he never finds much. He never finds the mass of his lost +treasure. He finds just enough to be evidence, and no more. + +These are the circumstances which tend to raise doubts of the truth of the +prosecutor's relation. It is for the jury to say, whether it would be safe +to convict any man for this robbery until these doubts shall be cleared +up. No doubt they are to judge him candidly; but they are not to make +every thing yield to a regard to his reputation, or a desire to vindicate +him from the suspicion of a fraudulent prosecution. + +He stands like other witnesses, except that he is a very interested +witness; and he must hope for credit, if at all, from the consistency and +general probability of the facts to which he testifies. The jury will not +convict the prisoners to save the prosecutor from disgrace. He has had +every opportunity of making out his case. If any person in the State could +have corroborated any part of his story, that person he could have +produced. He has had the benefit of full time, and good counsel, and of +the Commonwealth's process, to bring in his witnesses. More than all, he +has had an opportunity of telling his own story, with the simplicity that +belongs to truth, if it were true, and the frankness and earnestness of an +honest man, if he be such. It is for the jury to say, under their oaths, +how he has acquitted himself in these particulars, and whether he has left +their minds free from doubt as to the truth of his narration. + +But if Goodridge were really robbed, is there satisfactory evidence that +the defendants had a hand in the commission of this offence? The evidence +relied on is the finding of the money in their house. It appears that +these defendants lived together, and, with a sister, constituted one +family. Their father lived in another part of the same house, and with his +wife constituted another and distinct family. In this house, some six +weeks after the robbery, the prosecutor made a search; and the result has +been stated by the witnesses. Now, if the money had been passed or used by +the defendants it might have been conclusive. If found about their +persons, it might have been very strong proof. But, under the +circumstances of this case, the mere finding of money in their house, and +that only in places where the prosecutor had previously been, is no +evidence at all. With respect to the gold pieces, it is certainly true +that they were found in Goodridge's track. They were found only where he +had been, and might have put them. + +When the sheriff was in the house and Goodridge in the cellar, gold was +found in the cellar. When the sheriff was up stairs and Goodridge in the +rooms below, the sheriff was called down to look for money where Goodridge +directed, and there money was found. As to the bank-note, the evidence is +not quite so clear. Mr. Leavitt says he found a note in a drawer in a room +in which none of the party had before been; that he thought it an +uncurrent or counterfeit note, and not a part of Goodridge's money, and +left it where he found it, without further notice. An hour or two +afterward, Upton perceived a note in the same drawer, Goodridge being then +with or near him, and called to Leavitt. Leavitt told him that he had +discovered that note before, but that it could not be Goodridge's. It was +then examined. Leavitt says he looked at it, and saw writing on the back +of it. Upton says he looked at it, and saw writing on the back of it. He +says also that it was shown to Goodridge, who examined it in the same way +that he and Leavitt examined it. None of the party at this time suspected +it to be Goodridge's. It was then put into Leavitt's pocket-book, where it +remained till evening, when it was taken out at the tavern; and then it +turns out to be, plainly and clearly, one of Goodridge's notes, and has +the name of "James Poor, Bangor," in Goodridge's own handwriting, on the +back of it. The first thing that strikes one in this account is, Why was +not this discovery made at the time? Goodridge was looking for notes, as +well as gold. He was looking for Boston notes, for such he had lost. He +was looking for ten-dollar notes, for such he had lost. He was looking for +notes which he could recognize and identify. He would, therefore, +naturally be particularly attentive to any writing or marks upon such as +he might find. Under these circumstances, a note is found in the house of +the supposed robbers. It is a Boston note, it is a ten-dollar note, it has +writing on the back of it; that writing is the name of his town and the +name of one of his neighbors; more than all, that writing is his own +handwriting! Notwithstanding all this, neither Goodridge, nor Upton, nor +the sheriff, examined it so as to see whether it was Goodridge's money. +Notwithstanding it so fully resembled, in all points, the money they were +looking for, and notwithstanding they also saw writing on the back of it, +which, they must know, if they read it, would probably have shown where it +came from, neither of them did so far examine it as to see any proof of +its being Goodridge's. + +This is hardly to be believed. It must be a pretty strong faith in the +prosecutor that could credit this story. In every part of it, it is +improbable and absurd. It is much more easy to believe that the note was +changed. There might have been, and there probably was, an uncurrent or +counterfeit note found in the drawer by Leavitt. He certainly did not at +the time think it to be Goodridge's, and he left it in the drawer where he +found it. Before he saw it again, the prosecutor had been in that room, +and was in or near it when the sheriff was again called in, and asked to +put that bill in his pocket-book. How do the jury know that this was the +same note which Leavitt had before seen? Or suppose it was. Leavitt +carried it to Coffin's; in the evening he produced it, and, after having +been handed about for some time among the company, it turns out to be +Goodridge's note, and to have upon it infallible marks of identity. How do +the jury know that a sleight of hand had not changed the note at Coffin's? +It is sufficient to say, the note might have been changed. It is not +certain that this is the note which Leavitt first found in the drawer, and +this not being certain, it is not proof against the defendants. + +Is it not extremely improbable, if the defendants are guilty, that they +should deposit the money in the places where it was found? Why should they +put it in small parcels in so many places, for no end but to multiply the +chances of detection? Why, especially, should they put a doubloon in their +father's pocket-book? There is no evidence, nor any ground of suspicion, +that the father knew of the money being in his pocket-book. He swears he +did not know it. His general character is unimpeached, and there is +nothing against his credit. The inquiry at Stratham was calculated to +elicit the truth; and, after all, there is not the slightest reason to +suspect that he knew that the doubloon was in his pocket-book. What could +possibly induce the defendants to place it there? No man can conjecture a +reason. On the other hand, if this is a fraudulent proceeding on the part +of the prosecutor, this circumstance could be explained. He did not know +that the pocket-book, and the garment in which it was found, did not +belong to one of the defendants. He was as likely, therefore, to place it +there as elsewhere. It is very material to consider that nothing was found +in that part of the house which belonged to the defendants. Every thing +was discovered in the father's apartments. They were not found, therefore, +in the possession of the defendants, any more than if they had been +discovered in any other house in the neighborhood. The two tenements, it +is true, were under the same roof; but they were not on that account the +same tenements. They were as distinct as any other houses. Now, how should +it happen that the several parcels of money should all be found in the +father's possession? He is not suspected, certainly there is no reason to +suspect him, of having had any hand either in the commission of the +robbery or the concealing of the goods. He swears he had no knowledge of +any part of this money being in his house. It is not easy to imagine how +it came there, unless it be supposed to have been put there by some one +who did not know what part of the house belonged to the defendants and +what part did not. + +The witnesses on the part of the prosecution have testified that the +defendants, when arrested, manifested great agitation and alarm; paleness +overspread their faces, and drops of sweat stood on their temples. This +satisfied the witnesses of the defendants' guilt, and they now state the +circumstances as being indubitable proof. This argument manifests, in +those who use it, an equal want of sense and sensibility. It is precisely +fitted to the feeling and the intellect of a bum-bailiff. In a court of +justice it deserves nothing but contempt. Is there nothing that can +agitate the frame or excite the blood but the consciousness of guilt? If +the defendants were innocent, would they not feel indignation at this +unjust accusation? If they saw an attempt to produce false evidence +against them, would they not be angry? And, seeing the production of such +evidence, might they not feel fear and alarm? And have indignation, and +anger, and terror, no power to affect the human countenance or the human +frame? + +Miserable, miserable, indeed, is the reasoning which would infer any man's +guilt from his agitation when he found himself accused of a heinous +offence; when he saw evidence which he might know to be false and +fraudulent brought against him; when his house was filled, from the garret +to the cellar, by those whom he might esteem as false witnesses; and when +he himself, instead of being at liberty to observe their conduct and watch +their motions, was a prisoner in close custody in his own house, with the +fists of a catch-poll clenched upon his throat. + +The defendants were at Newburyport the afternoon and evening of the +robbery. For the greater part of the time they show where they were, and +what they were doing. Their proof, it is true, does not apply to every +moment. But when it is considered that, from the moment of their arrest, +they have been in close prison, perhaps they have shown as much as could +be expected. Few men, when called on afterwards, can remember, and fewer +still can prove, how they have passed every half-hour of an evening. At a +reasonable hour they both came to the house where Laban had lodged the +night before. Nothing suspicious was observed in their manner or +conversation. Is it probable they would thus come unconcernedly into the +company of others, from a field of robbery, and, as they must have +supposed, of murder, before they could have ascertained whether the stain +of blood was not on their garments? They remained in the place a part of +the next day. The town was alarmed; a strict inquiry was made of all +strangers, and of the defendants among others. Nothing suspicious was +discovered. They avoided no inquiry, nor did they leave the town in any +haste. The jury has had an opportunity of seeing the defendants. Does +their general appearance indicate that hardihood which would enable them +to act this cool, unconcerned part? Is it not more likely they would have +fled? + +From the time of the robbery to the arrest, five or six weeks, the +defendants were engaged in their usual occupations. They are not found to +have passed a dollar of money to any body. They continued their ordinary +habits of labor. No man saw money about them, nor any circumstance that +might lead to a suspicion that they had money. Nothing occurred tending in +any degree to excite suspicion against them. When arrested, and when all +this array of evidence was brought against them, and when they could hope +in nothing but their innocence, immunity was offered them again if they +would confess. They were pressed, and urged, and allured, by every motive +which could be set before them, to acknowledge their participation in the +offence, and to bring out their accomplices. They steadily protested that +they could confess nothing because they knew nothing. In defiance of all +the discoveries made in their house, they have trusted to their innocence. +On that, and on the candor and discernment of an enlightened jury, they +still rely. If the jury are satisfied that there is the highest +improbability that these persons could have had any previous knowledge of +Goodridge, or been concerned in any previous concert to rob him; if their +conduct that evening and the next day was marked by no circumstances of +suspicion; if from that moment until their arrest nothing appeared against +them; if they neither passed money, nor are found to have had money; if +the manner of the search of their house, and the circumstances attending +it, excite strong suspicions of unfair and fraudulent practices; if, in +the hour of their utmost peril, no promises of safety could draw from the +defendants any confession affecting themselves or others, it will be for +the jury to say whether they can pronounce them guilty. + + + + +The Dartmouth College Case. + + + +The general question is, whether the acts of the legislature of New +Hampshire of the 27th of June, and of the 18th and 26th of December, 1816, +are valid and binding on the plaintiffs, _without their acceptance or +assent_. + +The charter of 1769 created and established a corporation, to consist of +twelve persons, and no more; to be called the "Trustees of Dartmouth +College." + +After the institution thus created and constituted had existed, +uninterruptedly and usefully, nearly fifty years, the legislature of New +Hampshire passed the acts in question. + +The first act makes the twelve trustees under the charter, and nine other +individuals, to be appointed by the Governor and Council, a corporation, +by a new name; and to this new corporation transfers all the _property, +rights, powers, liberties, and privileges_ of the old corporation; with +further power to establish new colleges and an institute, and to apply all +or any part of the funds to these purposes; subject to the power and +control of a board of twenty-five overseers, to be appointed by the +Governor and Council. + +The second act makes further provisions for executing the objects of the +first, and the last act authorizes the defendant, the treasurer of the +plaintiffs, to retain and hold their property, against their will. + +If these acts are valid, the old corporation is abolished, and a new one +created. The first act does, in fact, if it can have any effect, create a +new corporation, and transfer to it all the property and franchises of the +old. The two corporations are not the same in anything which essentially +belongs to the existence of a corporation. They have different names, and +different powers, rights, and duties. Their organization is wholly +different. The powers of the corporation are not vested in the same, or +similar hands. In one, the trustees are twelve, and no more. In the other, +they are twenty-one. In one, the power is in a single board. In the other, +it is divided between two boards. Although the act professes to include +the old trustees in the new corporation, yet that was without their +assent, and against their remonstrance; and no person can be compelled to +be a member of such a corporation against his will. It was neither +expected nor intended that they should be members of the new corporation. +The act itself treats the old corporation as at an end, and, going on the +ground that all its functions have ceased, it provides for the first +meeting and organization of the new corporation. It expressly provides, +also, that the new corporation shall have and hold all the property of the +old; a provision which would be quite unnecessary upon any other ground, +than that the old corporation was dissolved. But if it could be contended +that the effect of these acts was not entirely to abolish the old +corporation, yet it is manifest that they impair and invade the rights, +property, and powers of the trustees under the charter, as a corporation, +and the legal rights, privileges, and immunities which belong to them, as +individual members of the corporation. + +The twelve trustees were the _sole_ legal owners of all the property +acquired under the charter. By the acts, others are admitted, against +_their_ will, to be joint owners. The twelve individuals who are +trustees were possessed of all the franchises and immunities conferred by +the charter. By the acts, _nine_ other trustees and _twenty- +five_ overseers are admitted, against their will, to divide these +franchises and immunities with them. + +If, either as a corporation or as individuals, they have any legal rights, +this forcible intrusion of others violates those rights, as manifestly as +an entire and complete ouster and dispossession. These acts alter the +whole constitution of the corporation. They affect the rights of the whole +body as a corporation, and the rights of the individuals who compose it. +They revoke corporate powers and franchises. They alienate and transfer +the property of the college to others. By the charter, the trustees had a +right to fill vacancies in their own number. This is now taken away. They +were to consist of twelve, and, by express provision, of no more. This is +altered. They and their successors, appointed by themselves, were for ever +to hold the property. The legislature has found successors for them, +before their seats are vacant. The powers and privileges which the twelve +were to exercise exclusively, are now to be exercised by others. By one of +the acts, they are subjected to heavy penalties if they exercise their +offices, or any of those powers and privileges granted them by charter, +and which they had exercised for fifty years. They are to be punished for +not accepting the new grant and taking its benefits. This, it must be +confessed, is rather a summary mode of settling a question of +constitutional right. Not only are new trustees forced into the +corporation, but new trusts and uses are created. The college is turned +into a university. Power is given to create new colleges, and, to +authorize any diversion of the funds which may be agreeable to the new +boards, sufficient latitude is given by the undefined power of +establishing an institute. To these new colleges, and this institute, the +funds contributed by the founder, Dr. Wheelock, and by the original +donors, the Earl of Dartmouth and others, are to be applied, in plain and +manifest disregard of the uses to which they were given. + +The president, one of the old trustees, had a right to his office, salary, +and emoluments, subject to the twelve trustees alone. His title to these +is now changed, and he is made accountable to new masters. So also all the +professors and tutors. If the legislature can at pleasure make these +alterations and changes in the rights and privileges of the plaintiffs, it +may, with equal propriety, abolish these rights and privileges altogether. +The same power which can do any part of this work can accomplish the +whole. And, indeed, the argument on which these acts have been hitherto +defended goes altogether on the ground, that this is such a corporation as +the legislature may abolish at pleasure; and that its members have _no +rights, liberties, franchises, property, or privileges_, which the +legislature may not revoke, annul, alienate, or transfer to others, +whenever it sees fit. + +It will be contended by the plaintiffs, that these acts are not valid and +binding on them without their assent,-- + +1. Because they are against common right, and the Constitution of New +Hampshire. + +2. Because they are repugnant to the Constitution of the United States. + +I am aware of the limits which bound the jurisdiction of the court in this +case, and that on this record nothing can be decided but the single +question, whether these acts are repugnant to the Constitution of the +United States. Yet it may assist in forming an opinion of their true +nature and character to compare them with those fundamental principles +introduced into the State governments for the purpose of limiting the +exercise of the legislative power, and which the Constitution of New +Hampshire expresses with great fulness and accuracy. + +It is not too much to assert, that the legislature of New Hampshire would +not have been competent to pass the acts in question, and to make them +binding on the plaintiffs without their assent, even if there had been, in +the Constitution of New Hampshire, or of the United States, no special +restriction on their power, because these acts are not the exercise of a +power properly legislative. Their effect and object are to take away, from +one, rights, property, and franchises, and to grant them to another. This +is not the exercise of a legislative power. To justify the taking away of +vested rights there must be a forfeiture, to adjudge upon and declare +which is the proper province of the judiciary. Attainder and confiscation +are acts of sovereign power, not acts of legislation. The British +Parliament, among other unlimited powers, claims that of altering and +vacating charters; not as an act of ordinary legislation, but of +uncontrolled authority. It is theoretically omnipotent. Yet, in modern +times, it has very rarely attempted the exercise of this power. + +The legislature of New Hampshire has no more power over the rights of the +plaintiffs than existed somewhere, in some department of government, +before the Revolution. The British Parliament could not have annulled or +revoked this grant as an act of ordinary legislation. If it had done it at +all, it could only have been in virtue of that sovereign power, called +omnipotent, which does not belong to any legislature in the United States. +The legislature of New Hampshire has the same power over this charter +which belonged to the king who granted it, and no more. By the law of +England, the power to create corporations is a part of the royal +prerogative. By the Revolution, this power may be considered as having +devolved on the legislature of the State, and it has accordingly been +exercised by the legislature. But the king cannot abolish a corporation, +or new-model it, or alter its powers, without its assent. This is the +acknowledged and well-known doctrine of the common law. + +There are prohibitions in the Constitution and Bill of Rights of New +Hampshire, introduced for the purpose of limiting the legislative power +and protecting the rights and property of the citizens. One prohibition +is, "that no person shall be deprived of his property, immunities, or +privileges, put out of the protection of the law, or deprived of his life, +liberty, or estate, but by judgment of his peers or the law of the land." + +In the opinion, however, which was given in the court below, it is denied +that the trustees under the charter had any property, immunity, liberty, +or privilege in this corporation, within the meaning of this prohibition +in the Bill of Rights. It is said that it is a public corporation and +public property; that the trustees have no greater interest in it than any +other individuals; that it is not private property, which they can sell or +transmit to their heirs, and that therefore they have no interest in it; +that their office is a public trust, like that of the Governor or a judge, +and that they have no more concern in the property of the college than the +Governor in the property of the State, or than the judges in the fines +which they impose on the culprits at their bar; that it is nothing to them +whether their powers shall be extended or lessened, any more than it is to +their honors whether their jurisdiction shall be enlarged or diminished. +It is necessary, therefore, to inquire into the true nature and character +of the corporation which was created by the charter of 1769. + +There are divers sorts of corporations; and it may be safely admitted that +the legislature has more power over some than others. Some corporations +are for government and political arrangement; such, for example, as +cities, counties, and towns in New England. These may be changed and +modified as public convenience may require, due regard being always had to +the rights of property. Of such corporations, all who live within the +limits are of course obliged to be members, and to submit to the duties +which the law imposes on them as such. Other civil corporations are for +the advancement of trade and business, such as banks, insurance companies, +and the like. These are created, not by general law, but usually by grant. +Their constitution is special. It is such as the legislature sees fit to +give, and the grantees to accept. + +The corporation in question is not a civil, although it is a lay +corporation. It is an eleemosynary corporation. It is a private charity, +originally founded and endowed by an individual, with a charter obtained +for it at his request, for the better administration of his charity. "The +eleemosynary sort of corporations are such as are constituted for the +perpetual distributions of the free alms or bounty of the founder of them, +to such persons as he has directed. Of this are all hospitals for the +maintenance of the poor, sick, and impotent; and all colleges both in our +universities and out of them." Eleemosynary corporations are for the +management of private property, according to the will of the donors. They +are private corporations. A college is as much a private corporation as a +hospital; especially a college founded, as this was, by private bounty. A +college is a charity. "The establishment of learning," says Lord +Hardwicke, "is a charity, and so considered in the statute of Elizabeth. +To devise to a college, for their benefit, is a laudable charity, and +deserves encouragement." + +The legal signification of _a charity_ is derived chiefly from the +statute 43 Eliz. ch. 4. "Those purposes," says Sir William Grant, "are +considered _charitable_ which that statute enumerates." Colleges are +enumerated as charities in that statute. The government, in these cases, +lends its aid to perpetuate the beneficent intention of the donor, by +granting a charter under which his private charity shall continue to be +dispensed after his death. This is done either by incorporating the +objects of the charity, as, for instance, the scholars in a college or the +poor in a hospital, or by incorporating those who are to be governors or +trustees of the charity. In cases of the first sort, the founder is, by +the common law, visitor. In early times it became a maxim, that he who +gave the property might regulate it in future. "Cujus est dare, ejus est +disponere." This right of visitation descended from the founder to his +heir as a right of property, and precisely as his other property went to +his heir; and in default of heirs it went to the king, as all other +property goes to the king for the want of heirs. The right of visitation +arises from the property. It grows out of the endowment. The founder may, +if he please, part with it at the time when he establishes the charity, +and may vest it in others. Therefore, if he chooses that governors, +trustees, or overseers should be appointed in the charter, he may cause it +to be done, and his power of visitation may be transferred to them, +instead of descending to his heirs. The persons thus assigned or appointed +by the founder will be visitors, with all the powers of the founder, in +exclusion of his heir. The right of visitation, then, accrues to them, as +a matter of property, by the gift, transfer, or appointment of the +founder. This is a private right, which they can assert in all legal +modes, and in which they have the same protection of the law as in all +other rights. As visitors they may make rules, ordinances, and statutes, +and alter and repeal them, as far as permitted so to do by the charter. +Although the charter proceeds from the crown or the government, it is +considered as the will of the donor. It is obtained at his request. He +uses it as the rule which is to prevail in the dispensation of his bounty +in all future times. The king or government which grants the charter is +not thereby the founder, but he who furnishes the funds. The gift of the +revenues is the foundation. + +The leading case on this subject is _Phillips v. Bury_. This was an +ejectment brought to recover the rectory-house, &c. of Exeter College in +Oxford. The question was whether the plaintiff or defendant was legal +rector. Exeter College was founded by an individual, and incorporated by a +charter granted by Queen Elizabeth. The controversy turned upon the power +of the visitor, and, in the discussion of the cause, the nature of college +charters and corporations was very fully considered. + +Lord Holt's judgment is that that college was a _private +corporation_, and that the founder had a right to appoint a visitor, +and to give him such power as he saw fit. + +The learned Bishop Stillingfleet's argument in the same cause, as a member +of the House of Lords, when it was there heard, exhibits very clearly the +nature of colleges and similar corporations. It is to the following +effect. "That colleges, although founded by private persons, are yet +incorporated by the king's charter; but although the kings by their +charter made the colleges to be such in law, that is, to be legal +corporations, yet they left to the particular founders authority to +appoint what statutes they thought fit for the regulation of them. And not +only the statutes, but the appointment of visitors, was left to them, and +the manner of government, and the several conditions on which any persons +were to be made or continue partakers of their bounty." + +These opinions received the sanction of the House of Lords, and they seem +to be settled and undoubted law. + +"There is nothing better established," says Lord Commissioner Eyre, "than +that this court does not entertain a general jurisdiction, or regulate and +control charities _established by charter_. There the establishment +is fixed and determined; and the court has no power to vary it. If the +governors established for the regulation of it are not those who have the +management of the revenue, this court has no jurisdiction, and if it is +ever so much abused, as far as it respects the jurisdiction of this court +it is without remedy; but if those established as governors have also the +management of the revenues, this court does assume a jurisdiction of +necessity, so far as they are to be considered as trustees of the +revenue." + +"The foundations of colleges," says Lord Mansfield, "are to be considered +in two views; namely, as they are _corporations_ and as they are +_eleemosynary_. As eleemosynary, they are the creatures of the +founder; he may delegate his power, either generally or specially; he may +prescribe particular modes and manners, as to the exercise of part of it." + +In New England, and perhaps throughout the United States, eleemosynary +corporations have been generally established by incorporating governors, +or trustees, and vesting in them the right of visitation. The case before +the court is clearly that of an eleemosynary corporation. It is, in the +strictest legal sense, a private charity. In _King v. St. Catherine's +Hall_, that college is called a private eleemosynary lay corporation. +It was endowed by a private founder, and incorporated by letters patent. +And in the same manner was Dartmouth College founded and incorporated. Dr. +Wheelock is declared by the charter to be its founder. It was established +by him, or funds contributed and collected by himself. + +As such founder, he had a right of visitation, which he assigned to the +trustees, and they received it by his consent and appointment, and held it +under the charter. He appointed these trustees visitors, and in that +respect to take place of his heir; as he might have appointed devisees, to +take his estate instead of his heir. Little, probably, did he think, at +that time, that the legislature would ever take away this property and +these privileges, and give them to others. Little did he suppose that this +charter secured to him and his successors no legal rights. Little did the +other donors think so. If they had, the college would have been, what the +university is now, a thing upon paper, existing only in name. + +The numerous academies in New England have been established substantially +in the same manner. They hold their property by the same tenure, and no +other. Nor has Harvard College any surer title than Dartmouth College. It +may to-day have more friends; but to-morrow it may have more enemies. Its +legal rights are the same. So also of Yale College; and, indeed, of all +the others. When the legislature gives to these institutions, it may and +does accompany its grants with such conditions as it pleases. The grant of +lands by the legislature of New Hampshire to Dartmouth College, in 1789, +was accompanied with various conditions. When donations are made, by the +legislature or others, to a charity already existing, without any +condition, or the specification of any new use, the donation follows the +nature of the charity. Hence the doctrine, that all eleemosynary +corporations are private bodies. They are founded by private persons, and +on private property. The public cannot be charitable in these +institutions. It is not the money of the public, but of private persons, +which is dispensed. It may be public, that is general, in its uses and +advantages; and the State may very laudably add contributions of its own +to the funds; but it is still private in the tenure of the property, and +in the right of administering the funds. + +The charter declares that the powers conferred on the trustees are +"privileges, advantages, liberties, and immunities"; and that they shall +be for ever holden by them and their successors. The New Hampshire Bill of +Rights declares that no one shall be deprived of his "property, +privileges, or immunities," but by judgment of his peers, or the law of +the land. The argument on the other side is, that, although these terms +may mean something in the Bill of Rights, they mean nothing in this +charter. They are equivalent with _franchises_. Blackstone says that +_franchise_ and _liberty_ are used as synonymous terms. + +The privilege, then, of being a member of a corporation, under a lawful +grant, and of exercising the rights and powers of such member, is such a +privilege, _liberty_, or _franchise_, as has been the object of +legal protection, and the subject of a legal interest, from the time of +Magna Charta to the present moment. The plaintiffs have such an interest +in this corporation, individually, as they could assert and maintain in a +court of law, not as agents of the public, but in their own right. Each +trustee has a _franchise_, and if he be disturbed in the enjoyment of +it, he would have redress, on appealing to the law, as promptly as for any +other injury. If the other trustees should conspire against any one of +them to prevent his equal right and voice in the appointment of a +president or professor, or in the passing of any statute or ordinance of +the college, he would be entitled to his action, for depriving him of his +franchise. It makes no difference, that this property is to be holden and +administered, and these franchises exercised, for the purpose of diffusing +learning. No principle and no case establishes any such distinction. The +public may be benefited by the use of this property. But this does not +change the nature of the property, or the rights of the owners. The object +of the charter may be public good; so it is in all other corporations; and +this would as well justify the resumption or violation of the grant in any +other case as in this. In the case of an advowson, the use is public, and +the right cannot be turned to any private benefit or emolument. It is +nevertheless a legal private right, and the _property_ of the owner, +as emphatically as his freehold. The rights and privileges of trustees, +visitors, or governors of incorporated colleges, stand on the same +foundation. They are so considered, both by Lord Holt and Lord Hardwicke. + +To contend that the rights of the plaintiffs may be taken away, because +they derive from them no pecuniary benefit or private emolument, or +because they cannot be transmitted to their heirs, or would not be assets +to pay their debts, is taking an extremely narrow view of the subject. +According to this notion, the case would be different, if, in the charter, +they had stipulated for a commission on the disbursement of the funds; and +they have ceased to have any interest in the property, because they have +undertaken to administer it gratuitously. + +It cannot be necessary to say much in refutation of the idea, that there +cannot be a legal interest, or ownership, in any thing which does not +yield a pecuniary profit; as if the law regarded no rights but the rights +of money, and of visible, tangible property. Of what nature are all rights +of suffrage? No elector has a particular personal interest; but each has a +legal right, to be exercised at his own discretion, and it cannot be taken +away from him. The exercise of this right directly and very materially +affects the public; much more so than the exercise of the privileges of a +trustee of this college. Consequences of the utmost magnitude may +sometimes depend on the exercise of the right of suffrage by one or a few +electors. Nobody was ever yet heard to contend, however, that on that +account the public might take away the right, or impair it. This notion +appears to be borrowed from no better source than the repudiated doctrine +of the three judges in the Aylesbury case. The doctrine having been +exploded for a century, seems now for the first time to be revived. + +Individuals have a right to use their own property for purposes of +benevolence, either towards the public, or towards other individuals. They +have a right to exercise this benevolence in such lawful manner as they +may choose; and when the government has induced and excited it, by +contracting to give perpetuity to the stipulated manner of exercising it, +it is not law, but violence, to rescind this contract, and seize on the +property. Whether the State will grant these franchises, and under what +conditions it will grant them, it decides for itself. But when once +granted, the constitution holds them to be sacred, till forfeited for just +cause. + +That all property, of which the use may be beneficial to the public, +belongs therefore to the public, is quite a new doctrine. It has no +precedent, and is supported by no known principle. Dr. Wheelock might have +answered his purposes, in this case, by executing a private deed of trust. +He might have conveyed his property to trustees, for precisely such uses +as are described in this charter. Indeed, it appears that he had +contemplated the establishing of his school in that manner, and had made +his will, and devised the property to the same persons who were afterwards +appointed trustees in the charter. Many literary and other charitable +institutions are founded in that manner, and the trust is renewed, and +conferred on other persons, from time to time, as occasion may require. In +such a case, no lawyer would or could say, that the legislature might +divest the trustees, constituted by deed or will, seize upon the property, +and give it to other persons, for other purposes. And does the granting of +a charter, which is only done to perpetuate the trust in a more convenient +manner, make any difference? Does or can this change the nature of the +charity, and turn it into a public political corporation? Happily, we are +not without authority on this point. It has been considered and adjudged. +Lord Hardwicke says, in so many words, "The charter of the crown cannot +make a charity more or less public, but only more permanent than it would +otherwise be." + +The granting of the corporation is but making the trust perpetual, and +does not alter the nature of the charity. The very object sought in +obtaining such charter, and in giving property to such a corporation, is +to make and keep it private property, and to clothe it with all the +security and inviolability of private property. The intent is, that there +shall be a legal private ownership, and that the legal owners shall +maintain and protect the property, for the benefit of those for whose use +it was designed. Who ever endowed the public? Who ever appointed a +legislature to administer his charity? Or who ever heard, before, that a +gift to a college, or a hospital, or an asylum, was, in reality, nothing +but a gift to the State? + +The State of Vermont is a principal donor to Dartmouth College. The lands +given lie in that State. This appears in the special verdict. Is Vermont +to be considered as having intended a gift to the State of New Hampshire +in this case, as, it has been said, is to be the reasonable construction +of all donations to the college? The legislature of New Hampshire affects +to represent the public, and therefore claims a right to control all +property destined to public use. What hinders Vermont from considering +herself equally the representative of the public, and from resuming her +grants, at her own pleasure? Her right to do so is less doubtful than the +power of New Hampshire to pass the laws in question. I hope enough has +been said to show that the trustees possessed vested liberties, +privileges, and immunities, under this charter; and that such liberties, +privileges, and immunities, being once lawfully obtained and vested, are +as inviolable as any vested rights of property whatever. Rights to do +certain acts, such, for instance, as the visitation and superintendence of +a college and the appointment of its officers, may surely be vested +rights, to all legal intents, as completely as the right to possess +property. A late learned judge of this court has said, "When I say that a +_right_ is vested in a citizen, I mean that he has the power to do +_certain actions_, or to possess _certain things_, according to +the law of the land." + +If such be the true nature of the plaintiffs' interests under this +charter, what are the articles in the New Hampshire Bill of Rights which +these acts infringe? + +They infringe the second article; which says, that the citizens of the +State have a right to hold and possess property. The plaintiffs had a +legal property in this charter; and they had acquired property under it. +The acts deprive them of both. They impair and take away the charter; and +they appropriate the property to new uses, against their consent. The +plaintiffs cannot now hold the property acquired by themselves, and which +this article says they have a right to hold. + +They infringe the twentieth article. By that article it is declared that, +in questions of property, there is a right to trial. The plaintiffs are +divested, without trial or judgment. + +They infringe the twenty-third article. It is therein declared that no +retrospective laws shall be passed. This article bears directly on the +case. These acts must be deemed to be retrospective, within the settled +construction of that term. What a retrospective law is, has been decided, +on the construction of this very article, in the Circuit Court for the +First Circuit, The learned judge of that circuit says: "Every statute +which takes away or impairs vested rights, acquired under existing laws, +must be deemed retrospective." That all such laws are retrospective was +decided also in the case of _Dash v. Van Kleek_, where a most learned +judge quotes this article from the constitution of New Hampshire, with +manifest approbation, as a plain and clear expression of those fundamental +and unalterable principles of justice, which must lie at the foundation of +every free and just system of laws. Can any man deny that the plaintiffs +had rights, under the charter, which were legally vested, and that by +these acts those rights are impaired? + +"It is a principle in the English law," says Chief Justice Kent, in the +case last cited, "as ancient as the law itself, that a statute, even of +its omnipotent Parliament, is not to have a retrospective effect. 'Nova +constitutio futuris formam imponere debet, et non praeteritis.' The maxim +in Bracton was taken from the civil law, for we find in that system the +same principle, expressed substantially in the same words, that the law- +giver cannot alter his mind to the prejudice of a vested right. 'Nemo +potest mutare concilium suum in alterius injuriam.'" + +These acts infringe also the thirty-seventh article of the constitution of +New Hampshire; which says, that the powers of government shall be kept +separate. By these acts, the legislature assumes to exercise a judicial +power. It declares a forfeiture, and resumes franchises, once granted, +without trial or hearing. + +If the constitution be not altogether waste-paper, it has restrained the +power of the legislature in these particulars. If it has any meaning, it +is that the legislature shall pass no act directly and manifestly +impairing private property and private privileges. It shall not judge by +act. It shall not decide by act. It shall not deprive by act. But it shall +leave all these things to be tried and adjudged by the law of the land. + +The fifteenth article has been referred to before. It declares that no one +shall be "deprived of his property, immunities, or privileges, but by the +judgment of his peers or the law of the land." Notwithstanding the light +in which the learned judges in New Hampshire viewed the rights of the +plaintiffs under the charter, and which has been before adverted to, it is +found to be admitted in their opinion, that those rights are privileges +within the meaning of this fifteenth article of the Bill of Rights. Having +quoted that article, they say: "That the right to manage the affairs of +this college is a privilege, within the meaning of this clause of the Bill +of Rights, is not to be doubted." In my humble opinion, this surrenders +the point. To resist the effect of this admission, however, the learned +judges add: "But how a privilege can be protected from the operation of +the law of the land by a clause in the constitution, declaring that it +shall not be taken away but by the law of the land, is not very easily +understood." This answer goes on the ground, that the acts in question are +laws of the land, within the meaning of the constitution. If they be so, +the argument drawn from this article is fully answered. If they be not so, +it being admitted that the plaintiffs' rights are "privileges," within the +meaning of the article, the argument is not answered, and the article is +infringed by the acts. Are, then, these acts of the legislature, which +affect only particular persons and their particular privileges, laws of +the land? Lord Coke citing and commenting on the celebrated twenty-ninth +chapter of Magna Charta, says: "No man shall be disseized, &c., unless it +be by the lawful judgment, that is, verdict of equals, or by the law of +the land, that is (to speak it once for all), by the due course and +process of law." Have the plaintiffs lost their franchises by "due course +and process of law"? On the contrary, are not these acts "particular acts +of the legislature, which have no relation to the community in general, +and which are rather sentences than laws"? + +By the law of the land is most clearly intended the general law; a law +which hears before it condemns; which proceeds upon inquiry, and renders +judgment only after trial. The meaning is, that every citizen shall hold +his life, liberty, property, and immunities under the protection of the +general rules which govern society. Every thing which may pass under the +form of an enactment is not therefore to be considered the law of the +land. If this were so, acts of attainder, bills of pains and penalties, +acts of confiscation, acts reversing judgments, and acts directly +transferring one man's estate to another, legislative judgments, decrees, +and forfeitures in all possible forms, would be the law of the land. + +Such a strange construction would render constitutional provisions of the +highest importance completely inoperative and void. It would tend directly +to establish the union of all powers in the legislature. There would be no +general, permanent law for courts to administer or men to live under. The +administration of justice would be an empty form, an idle ceremony. Judges +would sit to execute legislative judgments and decrees; not to declare the +law or to administer the justice of the country. + +That the power of electing and appointing the officers of this college is +not only a right of the trustees as a corporation, generally, and in the +aggregate, but that each individual trustee has also his own individual +franchise in such right of election and appointment, is according to the +language of all the authorities. Lord Holt says: "It is agreeable to +reason and the rules of law, that a franchise should be vested in the +corporation aggregate, and yet the benefit of it to redound to the +particular members, and to be enjoyed by them in their private capacity. +Where the privilege of election is used by particular persons, _it is a +particular right, vested in every particular man_." + +It is also to be considered, that the president and professors of this +college have rights to be affected by these acts. Their interest is +similar to that of fellows in the English colleges; because they derive +their living, wholly or in part, from the founders' bounty. The president +is one of the trustees or corporators. The professors are not necessarily +members of the corporation; but they are appointed by the trustees, are +removable only by them, and have fixed salaries payable out of the general +funds of the college. Both president and professors have freeholds in +their offices; subject only to be removed by the trustees, as their legal +visitors, for good cause. All the authorities speak of fellowships in +colleges as freeholds, notwithstanding the fellows may be liable to be +suspended or removed, for misbehavior, by their constituted visitors. + +Nothing could have been less expected, in this age, than that there should +have been an attempt, by acts of the legislature, to take away these +college livings, the inadequate but the only support of literary men who +have devoted their lives to the instruction of youth. The president and +professors were appointed by the twelve trustees. They were accountable to +nobody else, and could be removed by nobody else. They accepted their +offices on this tenure. Yet the legislature has appointed other persons, +with power to remove these officers and to deprive them of their livings; +and those other persons have exercised that power. No description of +private property has been regarded as more sacred than college livings. +They are the estates and freeholds of a most deserving class of men; of +scholars who have consented to forego the advantages of professional and +public employments, and to devote themselves to science and literature and +the instruction of youth in the quiet retreats of academic life. Whether +to dispossess and oust them; to deprive them of their office, and to turn +them out of their livings; to do this, not by the power of their legal +visitors or governors, but by acts of the legislature, and to do it +without forfeiture and without fault; whether all this be not in the +highest degree an indefensible and arbitrary proceeding, is a question of +which there would seem to be but one side fit for a lawyer or a scholar to +espouse. + +If it could be made to appear that the trustees and the president and +professors held their offices and franchises during the pleasure of the +legislature, and that the property holden belonged to the State, then +indeed the legislature have done no more than they had a right to do. But +this is not so. The charter is a charter of privileges and immunities; and +these are holden by the trustees expressly against the State for ever. + +It is admitted that the State, by its courts of law, can enforce the will +of the donor, and compel a faithful execution of the trust. The plaintiffs +claim no exemption from legal responsibility. They hold themselves at all +times answerable to the law of the land, for their conduct in the trust +committed to them. They ask only to hold the property of which they are +owners, and the franchises which belong to them, until they shall be +found, by due course and process of law, to have forfeited them. + +It can make no difference whether the legislature exercise the power it +has assumed by removing the trustees and the president and professors, +directly and by name, or by appointing others to expel them. The principle +is the same, and in point of fact the result has been the same. If the +entire franchise cannot be taken away, neither can it be essentially +impaired. If the trustees are legal owners of the property, they are sole +owners. If they are visitors, they are sole visitors. No one will be found +to say, that, if the legislature may do what it has done, it may not do +any thing and every thing which it may choose to do, relative to the +property of the corporation, and the privileges of its members and +officers. + +If the view which has been taken of this question be at all correct, this +was an eleemosynary corporation, a private charity. The property was +private property. The trustees were visitors, and the right to hold the +charter, administer the funds, and visit and govern the college, was a +franchise and privilege, solemnly granted to them. The use being public in +no way diminishes their legal estate in the property, or their title to +the franchise. There is no principle, nor any case, which declares that a +gift to such a corporation is a gift to the public. The acts in question +violate property. They take away privileges, immunities, and franchises. +They deny to the trustees the protection of the law; and they are +retrospective in their operation. In all which respects they are against +the constitution of New Hampshire. + +The plaintiffs contend, in the second place, that the acts in question are +repugnant to the tenth section of the first article of the Constitution of +the United States. The material words of that section are: "No State shall +pass any bill of attainder, _ex post facto_ law, or law impairing the +obligation of contracts." + +The object of these most important provisions in the national constitution +has often been discussed, both here and elsewhere. It is exhibited with +great clearness and force by one of the distinguished persons who framed +that instrument. "Bills of attainder, _ex post facto_ laws, and laws +impairing the obligation of contracts, are contrary to the first +principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound +legislation. The two former are expressly prohibited by the declarations +prefixed to some of the State constitutions, and all of them are +prohibited by the spirit and scope of these fundamental charters. Our own +experience has taught us, nevertheless, that additional fences against +these dangers ought not to be omitted. Very properly, therefore, have the +convention added this constitutional bulwark, in favor of personal +security and private rights; and I am much deceived, if they have not, in +so doing, as faithfully consulted the genuine sentiments as the undoubted +interests of their constituents. The sober people of America are weary of +the fluctuating policy which has directed the public councils. They have +seen with regret, and with indignation, that sudden changes, and +legislative interferences in cases affecting personal rights, become jobs +in the hands of enterprising and influential speculators, and snares to +the more industrious and less informed part of the community. They have +seen, too, that one legislative interference is but the link of a long +chain of repetitions; every subsequent interference being naturally +produced by the effects of the preceding." + +It has already been decided in this court, that a _grant_ is a +contract, within the meaning of this provision; and that a grant by a +State is also a contract, as much as the grant of an individual. In the +case of _Fletcher v. Peck_, this court says: "A contract is a compact +between two or more parties, and is either executory or executed. An +executory contract is one in which a party binds himself to do, or not to +do, a particular thing; such was the law under which the conveyance was +made by the government. A contract executed is one in which the object of +contract is performed; and this, says Blackstone, differs in nothing from +a grant. The contract between Georgia and the purchasers was executed by +the grant. A contract executed, as well as one which is executory, +contains obligations binding on the parties. A grant, in its own nature, +amounts to an extinguishment of the right of the grantor, and implies a +contract not to reassert that right. If, under a fair construction of the +Constitution, grants are comprehended under the term contracts, is a grant +from the State excluded from the operation of the provision? Is the clause +to be considered as inhibiting the State from impairing the obligation of +contracts between two individuals, but as excluding from that inhibition +contracts made with itself? The words themselves contain no such +distinction. They are general, and are applicable to contracts of every +description. If contracts made with the State are to be exempted from +their operation, the exception must arise from the character of the +contracting party, not from the words which are employed. Whatever respect +might have been felt for the State sovereignties, it is not to be +disguised that the framers of the Constitution viewed with some +apprehension the violent acts which might grow out of the feelings of the +moment; and that the people of the United States, in adopting that +instrument, have manifested a determination to shield themselves and their +property from the effects of those sudden and strong passions to which men +are exposed. The restrictions on the legislative power of the States are +obviously founded in this sentiment; and the Constitution of the United +States contains what may be deemed a bill of rights for the people of each +State." + +It also has been decided that a grant by a State before the Revolution is +as much to be protected as a grant since. But the case of _Terrett v. +Taylor_, before cited, is of all others most pertinent to the present +argument. Indeed, the judgment of the court in that case seems to leave +little to be argued or decided in this. "A private corporation," say the +court, "created by the legislature, may lose its franchises by a +_misuser_ or a _nonuser_ of them; and they may be resumed by the +government under a judicial judgment upon a _quo warranto_ to +ascertain and enforce the forfeiture. This is the common law of the land, +and is a tacit condition annexed to the creation of every such +corporation. Upon a change of government, too, it may be admitted, that +such exclusive privileges attached to a private corporation as are +inconsistent with the new government may be abolished. In respect, also, +to _public_ corporations which exist only for public purposes, such +as counties, towns, cities, and so forth, the legislature may, under +proper limitations, have a right to change, modify, enlarge, or restrain +them, securing, however, the property for the uses of those for whom and +at whose expense it was originally purchased. But that the legislature can +repeal statutes creating private corporations, or confirming to them +property already acquired under the faith of previous laws, and by such +repeal can vest the property of such corporations exclusively in the +State, or dispose of the same to such purposes as they please, without the +consent or default of the corporators, we are not prepared to admit; and +we think ourselves standing upon the principles of natural justice, upon +the fundamental laws of every free government, upon the spirit and letter +of the Constitution of the United States, and upon the decisions of most +respectable judicial tribunals, in resisting such a doctrine." + +This court, then, does not admit the doctrine, that a legislature can +repeal statutes creating private corporations. If it cannot repeal them +altogether, of course it cannot repeal any part of them, or impair them, +or essentially alter them, without the consent of the corporators. If, +therefore, it has been shown that this college is to be regarded as a +private charity, this case is embraced within the very terms of that +decision. A grant of corporate powers and privileges is as much a contract +as a grant of land. What proves all charters of this sort to be contracts +is, that they must be accepted to give them force and effect. If they are +not accepted, they are void. And in the case of an existing corporation, +if a new charter is given it, it may even accept part and reject the rest. +In _Rex v. Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge_, Lord Mansfield says: "There +is a vast deal of difference between a new charter granted to a new +corporation, (who must take it as it is given,) and a new charter given to +a corporation already in being, and acting either under a former charter +or under prescriptive usage. The latter, a corporation already existing, +are not obliged to accept the new charter _in toto_, and to receive +either all or none of it; they may act partly under it, and partly under +their old charter or prescription. The validity of these new charters must +turn upon the acceptance of them." In the same case Mr. Justice Wilmot +says: "It is the concurrence and acceptance of the university that gives +the force to the charter of the crown." In the _King v. Pasmore_, +Lord Kenyon observes: "Some things are clear: when a corporation exists +capable of discharging its functions, the crown cannot obtrude another +charter upon them; they may either accept or reject it." + +And because charters of incorporation are of the nature of contracts, they +cannot be altered or varied but by consent of the original parties. If a +charter be granted by the king, it may be altered by a new charter granted +by the king, and accepted by the corporators. But if the first charter be +granted by Parliament, the consent of Parliament must be obtained to any +alteration. In _King v. Miller_, Lord Kenyon says: "Where a +corporation takes its rise from the king's charter, the king by granting, +and the corporation by accepting another charter, may alter it, because it +is done with the consent of all the parties who are competent to consent +to the alteration." + +There are, in this case, all the essential constituent parts of a +contract. There is something to be contracted about, there are parties, +and there are plain terms in which the agreement of the parties on the +subject of the contract is expressed. There are mutual considerations and +inducements. The charter recites, that the founder, on his part, has +agreed to establish his seminary in New Hampshire, and to enlarge it +beyond its original design, among other things, for the benefit of that +Province; and thereupon a charter is given to him and his associates, +designated by himself, promising and assuring to them, under the plighted +faith of the State, the right of governing the college and administering +its concerns in the manner provided in the charter. There is a complete +and perfect grant to them of all the power of superintendence, visitation, +and government. Is not this a contract? If lands or money had been granted +to him and his associates, for the same purposes, such grant could not be +rescinded. And is there any difference, in legal contemplation, between a +grant of corporate franchises and a grant of tangible property? No such +difference is recognized in any decided case, nor does it exist in the +common apprehension of mankind. + +It is therefore contended, that this case falls within the true meaning of +this provision of the Constitution, as expounded in the decisions of this +court; that the charter of 1769 is a contract, a stipulation or agreement, +mutual in its considerations, express and formal in its terms, and of a +most binding and solemn nature. That the acts in question impair this +contract, has already been sufficiently shown. They repeal and abrogate +its most essential parts. + +A single observation may not be improper on the opinion of the court of +New Hampshire, which has been published. The learned judges who delivered +that opinion have viewed this question in a very different light from that +in which the plaintiffs have endeavored to exhibit it. After some general +remarks, they assume that this college is a public corporation; and on +this basis their judgment rests. Whether all colleges are not regarded as +private and eleemosynary corporations, by all law writers and all judicial +decisions; whether this college was not founded by Dr. Wheelock; whether +the charter was not granted at his request, the better to execute a trust, +which he had already created; whether he and his associates did not become +visitors, by the charter; and whether Dartmouth College be not, therefore, +in the strictest sense, a private charity, are questions which the learned +judges do not appear to have discussed. + +It is admitted in that opinion, that, if it be a private corporation, its +rights stand on the same ground as those of an individual. The great +question, therefore, to be decided is, To which class of corporations do +colleges thus founded belong? And the plaintiffs have endeavored to +satisfy the court, that, according to the well-settled principles and +uniform decisions of law, they are private, eleemosynary corporations. + +Much has heretofore been said on the necessity of admitting such a power +in the legislature as has been assumed in this case. Many cases of +possible evil have been imagined, which might otherwise be without remedy. +Abuses, it is contended, might arise in the management of such +institutions, which the ordinary courts of law would be unable to correct. +But this is only another instance of that habit of supposing extreme +cases, and then of reasoning from them, which is the constant refuge of +those who are obliged to defend a cause, which, upon its merits, is +indefensible. It would be sufficient to say in answer, that it is not +pretended that there was here any such case of necessity. But a still more +satisfactory answer is, that the apprehension of danger is groundless, and +therefore the whole argument fails. Experience has not taught us that +there is danger of great evils or of great inconvenience from this source. +Hitherto, neither in our own country nor elsewhere have such cases of +necessity occurred. The judicial establishments of the State are presumed +to be competent to prevent abuses and violations of trust, in cases of +this kind, as well as in all others. If they be not, they are imperfect, +and their amendment would be a most proper subject for legislative wisdom. +Under the government and protection of the general laws of the land, these +institutions have always been found safe, as well as useful. They go on, +with the progress of society, accommodating themselves easily, without +sudden change or violence, to the alterations which take place in its +condition, and in the knowledge, the habits, and pursuits of men. The +English colleges were founded in Catholic ages. Their religion was +reformed with the general reformation of the nation; and they are suited +perfectly well to the purpose of educating the Protestant youth of modern +times. Dartmouth College was established under a charter granted by the +Provincial government; but a better constitution for a college or one more +adapted to the condition of things under the present government, in all +material respects, could not now be framed. Nothing in it was found to +need alteration at the Revolution. The wise men of that day saw in it one +of the best hopes of future times, and commended it as it was, with +parental care, to the protection and guardianship of the government of the +State. A charter of more liberal sentiments, of wiser provisions, drawn +with more care, or in a better spirit, could not be expected at any +time or from any source. The college needed no change in its organization +or government. That which it did need was the kindness, the patronage, the +bounty of the legislature; not a mock elevation to the character of a +university, without the solid benefit of a shilling's donation to sustain +the character; not the swelling and empty authority of establishing +institutes and other colleges. This unsubstantial pageantry would seem to +have been in derision of the scanty endowment and limited means of an +unobtrusive, but useful and growing seminary. Least of all was there a +necessity, or pretence of necessity, to infringe its legal rights, violate +its franchises and privileges, and pour upon it these overwhelming streams +of litigation. + +But this argument from necessity would equally apply in all other cases. +If it be well founded, it would prove, that, whenever any inconvenience or +evil is experienced from the restrictions imposed on the legislature by +the Constitution, these restrictions ought to be disregarded. It is enough +to say, that the people have thought otherwise. They have, most wisely, +chosen to take the risk of occasional inconvenience from the want of +power, in order that there might be a settled limit to its exercise, and a +permanent security against its abuse. They have imposed prohibitions and +restraints; and they have not rendered these altogether vain and nugatory +by conferring the power of dispensation. If inconvenience should arise +which the legislature cannot remedy under the power conferred upon it, it +is not answerable for such inconvenience. That which it cannot do within +the limits prescribed to it, it cannot do at all. No legislature in this +country is able, and may the time never come when it shall be able, to +apply to itself the memorable expression of a Roman pontiff: "Licet hoc +_de jure_ non possumus, volumus tamen _de plenitudine potestatis_." + +The case before the court is not of ordinary importance, nor of every-day +occurrence. It affects not this college only, but every college, and all +the literary institutions of the country. They have flourished hitherto, +and have become in a high degree respectable and useful to the community. +They have all a common principle of existence, the inviolability of their +charters. It will be a dangerous, a most dangerous experiment, to hold +these institutions subject to the rise and fall of popular parties, and +the fluctuations of political opinions. If the franchise may be at any +time taken away, or impaired, the property also may be taken away, or its +use perverted. Benefactors will have no certainty of effecting the object +of their bounty; and learned men will be deterred from devoting themselves +to the service of such institutions, from the precarious title of their +offices. Colleges and halls will be deserted by all better spirits, and +become a theatre for the contentions of politics, Party and faction will +be cherished in the places consecrated to piety and learning. These +consequences are neither remote nor possible only. They are certain and +immediate. + +When the court in North Carolina declared the law of the State, which +repealed a grant to its university, unconstitutional and void, the +legislature had the candor and the wisdom to repeal the law. This example, +so honorable to the State which exhibited it, is most fit to be followed +on this occasion. And there is good reason to hope that a State, which has +hitherto been so much distinguished for temperate counsels, cautious +legislation, and regard to law, will not fail to adopt a course which will +accord with her highest and best interests, and in no small degree elevate +her reputation. It was for many and obvious reasons most anxiously desired +that the question of the power of the legislature over this charter should +have been finally decided in the State court. An earnest hope was +entertained that the judges of the court might have viewed the case in a +light favorable to the rights of the trustees. That hope has failed. It is +here that those rights are now to be maintained, or they are prostrated +for ever. "Omnia alia perfugia bonorum, subsidia, consilia, auxilia, jura +ceciderunt. Quem enim alium appellem? quem obtester? quern implorem? Nisi +hoc loco, nisi apud vos, nisi per vos, judices, salutem nostram, quae spe +exigua extremaque pendet, tenuerimus; nihil est praeterea quo confugere +possimus." [1] + +This, sir, is my case. It is the case, not merely of that humble +institution, it is the case of every college in the land. It is more. It +is the case of every eleemosynary institution throughout our country--of +all those great charities formed by the piety of our ancestors, to +alleviate human misery, and scatter blessings along the pathway of life. +It is more! It is, in some sense, the case of every man among us who has +property, of which he may be stripped, for the question is simply this: +Shall our State legislatures be allowed to take that which is not their +own, to turn it from its original use, and apply it to such ends or +purposes as they in their discretion shall see fit? + +Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is weak; it is in your +hands! I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary horizon of +our country. You may put it out. But, if you do so, you must carry through +your work! You must extinguish, one after another, all those greater +lights of science, which, for more than a century, have thrown their +radiance over our land! + +It is, sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet there are those who +love it. [2] + +Sir, I know not how others may feel (glancing at the opponents of the +colleges before him), but for myself, when I see my Alma Mater surrounded, +like Caesar, in the senate house, by those who are reiterating stab after +stab, I would not, for this right hand, have her turn to me, and say, +_et tu quoque, mi fili! And thou too, my son!_ [3] + + + + +First Settlement of New England. + + + +Let us rejoice that we behold this day. Let us be thankful that we have +lived to see the bright and happy breaking of the auspicious morn, which +commences the third century of the history of New England. Auspicious, +indeed,--bringing a happiness beyond the common allotment of Providence +to men,--full of present joy, and gilding with bright beams the prospect +of futurity, is the dawn that awakens us to the commemoration of the +landing of the Pilgrims. + +Living at an epoch which naturally marks the progress of the history of +our native land, we have come hither to celebrate the great event with +which that history commenced. For ever honored be this, the place of our +fathers' refuge! For ever remembered the day which saw them, weary and +distressed, broken in every thing but spirit, poor in all but faith and +courage, at last secure from the dangers of wintry seas, and impressing +this shore with the first footsteps of civilized man! + +It is a noble faculty of our nature which enables us to connect our +thoughts, our sympathies, and our happiness with what is distant in place +or time; and, looking before and after, to hold communion at once with our +ancestors and our posterity. Human and mortal although we are, we are +nevertheless not mere insulated beings, without relation to the past or +the future. Neither the point of time, nor the spot of earth, in which we +physically live, bounds our rational and intellectual enjoyments. We live +in the past by a knowledge of its history; and in the future, by hope and +anticipation. By ascending to an association with our ancestors; by +contemplating their example and studying their character; by partaking +their sentiments, and imbibing their spirit; by accompanying them in their +toils, by sympathizing in their sufferings, and rejoicing in their +successes and their triumphs; we seem to belong to their age, and to +mingle our own existence with theirs. We become their contemporaries, live +the lives which they lived, endure what they endured, and partake in the +rewards which they enjoyed. And in like manner, by running along the line +of future time, by contemplating the probable fortunes of those who are +coming after us, by attempting something which may promote their +happiness, and leave some not dishonorable memorial of ourselves for their +regard, when we shall sleep with the fathers, we protract our own earthly +being, and seem to crowd whatever is future, as well as all that is past, +into the narrow compass of our earthly existence. As it is not a vain and +false, but an exalted and religious imagination, which leads us to raise +our thoughts from the orb, which, amidst this universe of worlds, the +Creator has given us to inhabit, and to send them with something of the +feeling which nature prompts, and teaches to be proper among children of +the same Eternal Parent, to the contemplation of the myriads of fellow- +beings with which his goodness has peopled the infinite of space; so +neither is it false or vain to consider ourselves as interested and +connected with our whole race, through all time; allied to our ancestors; +allied to our posterity; closely compacted on all sides with others; +ourselves being but links in the great chain of being, which begins with +the origin of our race, runs onward through its successive generations, +binding together the past, the present, and the future, and terminating at +last, with the consummation of all things earthly, at the throne of God. + +There may be, and there often is, indeed, a regard for ancestry, which +nourishes only a weak pride; as there is also a care for posterity, which +only disguises an habitual avarice, or hides the workings of a low and +grovelling vanity. But there is also a moral and philosophical respect for +our ancestors, which elevates the character and improves the heart. Next +to the sense of religious duty and moral feeling, I hardly know what +should bear with stronger obligation on a liberal and enlightened mind, +than a consciousness of alliance with excellence which is departed; and a +consciousness, too, that in its acts and conduct, and even in its +sentiments and thoughts, it may be actively operating on the happiness of +those who come after it. Poetry is found to have few stronger conceptions, +by which it would affect or overwhelm the mind, than those in which it +presents the moving and speaking image of the departed dead to the senses +of the living. This belongs to poetry, only because it is congenial to our +nature. Poetry is, in this respect, but the handmaid of true philosophy +and morality; it deals with us as human beings, naturally reverencing +those whose visible connection with this state of existence is severed, +and who may yet exercise we know not what sympathy with ourselves; and +when it carries us forward, also, and shows us the long continued result +of all the good we do, in the prosperity of those who follow us, till it +bears us from ourselves, and absorbs us in an intense interest for what +shall happen to the generations after us, it speaks only in the language +of our nature, and affects us with sentiments which belong to us as human +beings. + +Standing in this relation to our ancestors and our posterity, we are +assembled on this memorable spot, to perform the duties which that +relation and the present occasion impose upon us. We have come to this +Rock, to record here our homage for our Pilgrim Fathers; our sympathy in +their sufferings; our gratitude for their labors; our admiration of their +virtues; our veneration for their piety; and our attachment to those +principles of civil and religious liberty, which they encountered the +dangers of the ocean, the storms of heaven, the violence of savages, +disease, exile, and famine, to enjoy and to establish. And we would leave +here, also, for the generations which are rising up rapidly to fill our +places, some proof that we have endeavored to transmit the great +inheritance unimpaired; that in our estimate of public principles and +private virtue, in our veneration of religion and piety, in our devotion +to civil and religious liberty, in our regard for whatever advances human +knowledge or improves human happiness, we are not altogether unworthy of +our origin. + +There is a local feeling connected with this occasion, too strong to be +resisted; a sort of _genius of the place_, which inspires and awes +us. We feel that we are on the spot where the first scene of our history +was laid; where the hearths and altars of New England were first placed; +where Christianity, and civilization, and letters made their first +lodgement, in a vast extent of country, covered with a wilderness, and +peopled by roving barbarians. We are here, at the season of the year at +which the event took place. The imagination irresistibly and rapidly draws +around us the principal features and the leading characters in the +original scene. We cast our eyes abroad on the ocean, and we see where the +little bark, with the interesting group upon its deck, made its slow +progress to the shore. We look around us, and behold the hills and +promontories where the anxious eyes of our fathers first saw the places of +habitation and of rest. We feel the cold which benumbed, and listen to the +winds which pierced them. Beneath us is the Rock, on which New England +received the feet of the Pilgrims. We seem even to behold them, as they +struggle with the elements, and, with toilsome efforts, gain the shore. We +listen to the chiefs in council; we see the unexampled exhibition of +female fortitude and resignation; we hear the whisperings of youthful +impatience, and we see, what a painter of our own has also represented by +his pencil [1], chilled and shivering childhood, houseless, but for a +mother's arms, couchless, but for a mother's breast, till our own blood +almost freezes. The mild dignity of Carver and of Bradford; the decisive +and soldier-like air and manner of Standish; the devout Brewster; the +enterprising Allerton; [2] the general firmness and thoughtfulness of the +whole band; their conscious joy for dangers escaped; their deep solicitude +about dangers to come; their trust in Heaven; their high religious faith, +full of confidence and anticipation; all of these seem to belong to this +place, and to be present upon this occasion, to fill us with reverence and +admiration. + +The settlement of New England by the colony which landed here on the +twenty-second [3] of December, sixteen hundred and twenty, although not +the first European establishment in what now constitutes the United +States, was yet so peculiar in its causes and character, and has been +followed and must still be followed by such consequences, as to give it a +high claim to lasting commemoration. On these causes and consequences, +more than on its immediately attendant circumstances, its importance, as +an historical event, depends. Great actions and striking occurrences, +having excited a temporary admiration, often pass away and are forgotten, +because they leave no lasting results, affecting the prosperity and +happiness of communities. Such is frequently the fortune of the most +brilliant military achievements. Of the ten thousand battles which have +been fought, of all the fields fertilized with carnage, of the banners +which have been bathed in blood, of the warriors who have hoped that they +had risen from the field of conquest to a glory as bright and as durable +as the stars, how few that continue long to interest mankind! The victory +of yesterday is reversed by the defeat of to-day; the star of military +glory, rising like a meteor, like a meteor has fallen; disgrace and +disaster hang on the heels of conquest and renown; victor and vanquished +presently pass away to oblivion, and the world goes on in its course, with +the loss only of so many lives and so much treasure. + +But if this be frequently, or generally, the fortune of military +achievements, it is not always so. There are enterprises, military as well +as civil, which sometimes check the current of events, give a new turn to +human affairs, and transmit their consequences through ages. We see their +importance in their results, and call them great, because great things +follow. There have been battles which have fixed the fate of nations. +These come down to us in history with a solid and permanent interest, not +created by a display of glittering armor, the rush of adverse battalions, +the sinking and rising of pennons, the flight, the pursuit, and the +victory; but by their effect in advancing or retarding human knowledge, in +overthrowing or establishing despotism, in extending or destroying human +happiness. When the traveller pauses on the plain of Marathon, what are +the emotions which most strongly agitate his breast? What is that glorious +recollection, which thrills through his frame, and suffuses his eyes? Not, +I imagine, that Grecian skill and Grecian valor were here most signally +displayed; but that Greece herself was saved. It is because to this spot, +and to the event which has rendered it immortal, he refers all the +succeeding glories of the republic. It is because, if that day had gone +otherwise, Greece had perished. It is because he perceives that her +philosophers and orators, her poets and painters, her sculptors and +architects, her governments and free institutions, point backward to +Marathon, and that their future existence seems to have been suspended on +the contingency, whether the Persian or the Grecian banner should wave +victorious in the beams of that day's setting sun. And, as his imagination +kindles at the retrospect, he is transported back to the interesting +moment; he counts the fearful odds of the contending hosts; his interest +for the result overwhelms him; he trembles, as if it were still uncertain, +and seems to doubt whether he may consider Socrates and Plato, +Demosthenes, Sophocles, and Phidias, as secure, yet, to himself and to the +world. + +"If we conquer," said the Athenian commander on the approach of that +decisive day, "if we conquer, we shall make Athens the greatest city of +Greece." [4] A prophecy how well fulfilled! "If God prosper us," might +have been the more appropriate language of our fathers, when they landed +upon this Rock, "if God prosper us, we shall here begin a work which shall +last for ages; we shall plant here a new society, in the principles of the +fullest liberty and the purest religion; we shall subdue this wilderness +which is before us; we shall fill this region of the great continent, +which stretches almost from pole to pole, with civilization and +Christianity; the temples of the true God shall rise, where now ascends +the smoke of idolatrous sacrifice; fields and gardens, the flowers of +summer, and the waving and golden harvest of autumn, shall spread over a +thousand hills, and stretch along a thousand valleys, never yet, since the +creation, reclaimed to the use of civilized man. We shall whiten this +coast with the canvas of a prosperous commerce; we shall stud the long and +winding shore with a hundred cities. That which we sow in weakness shall +be raised in strength. From our sincere, but houseless worship, there +shall spring splendid temples to record God's goodness; from the +simplicity of our social union, there shall arise wise and politic +constitutions of government, full of the liberty which we ourselves bring +and breathe; from our zeal for learning, institutions shall spring which +shall scatter the light of knowledge throughout the land, and, in time, +paying back where they have borrowed, shall contribute their part to the +great aggregate of human knowledge; and our descendants, through all +generations, shall look back to this spot, and to this hour, with unabated +affection and regard." + +A brief remembrance of the causes which led to the settlement of this +place; some account of the peculiarities and characteristic qualities of +that settlement, as distinguished from other instances of colonization; a +short notice of the progress of New England in the great interests of +society, during the century which is now elapsed; with a few observations +on the principles upon which society and government are established in +this country: comprise all that can be attempted, and much more than can +be satisfactorily performed, on the present occasion. + +Of the motives which influenced the first settlers to a voluntary exile, +induced them to relinquish their native country, and to seek an asylum in +this then unexplored wilderness, the first and principal, no doubt, were +connected with religion. They sought to enjoy a higher degree of religious +freedom, and what they esteemed a purer form of religious worship, than +was allowed to their choice, or presented to their imitation, in the Old +World. The love of religious liberty is a stronger sentiment, when fully +excited, than an attachment to civil or political freedom. That freedom +which the conscience demands, and which men feel bound by their hope of +salvation to contend for, can hardly fail to be attained. Conscience, in +the cause of religion and the worship of the Deity, prepares the mind to +act and to suffer beyond almost all other causes. It sometimes gives an +impulse so irresistible, that no fetters of power or of opinion can +withstand it. History instructs us that this love of religious liberty, a +compound sentiment in the breast of man, made up of the clearest sense of +right and the highest conviction of duty, is able to look the sternest +despotism in the face, and, with means apparently most inadequate, to +shake principalities and powers. There is a boldness, a spirit of daring, +in religious reformers, not to be measured by the general rules which +control men's purposes and actions. If the hand of power be laid upon it, +this only seems to augment its force and its elasticity, and to cause its +action to be more formidable and violent. Human invention has devised +nothing, human power has compassed nothing, that can forcibly restrain it, +when it breaks forth. Nothing can stop it, but to give way to it; nothing +can check it, but indulgence. It loses its power only when it has gained +its object. The principle of toleration, to which the world has come so +slowly, is at once the most just and the most wise of all principles. Even +when religious feeling takes a character of extravagance and enthusiasm, +and seems to threaten the order of society and shake the columns of the +social edifice, its principal danger is in its restraint. If it be allowed +indulgence and expansion, like the elemental fires, it only agitates, and +perhaps purifies, the atmosphere; while its efforts to throw off restraint +would burst the world asunder. + +It is certain, that, although many of them were republicans in principle, +we have no evidence that our New England ancestors would have emigrated, +as they did, from their own native country, would have become wanderers in +Europe, and finally would have undertaken the establishment of a colony +here, merely from their dislike of the political systems of Europe. They +fled not so much from the civil government, as from the hierarchy, and the +laws which enforced conformity to the church establishment. Mr. Robinson +had left England as early as 1608, on account of the persecutions for non- +conformity, and had retired to Holland. He left England from no +disappointed ambition in affairs of state, from no regrets at the want of +preferment in the church, nor from any motive of distinction or of gain. +Uniformity in matters of religion was pressed with such extreme rigor, +that a voluntary exile seemed the most eligible mode of escaping from the +penalties of non-compliance. The accession of Elizabeth had, it is true, +quenched the fires of Smithfield, and put an end to the easy acquisition +of the crown of martyrdom. Her long reign had established the Reformation, +but toleration was a virtue beyond her conception, and beyond the age. She +left no example of it to her successor; and he was not of a character +which rendered it probable that a sentiment either so wise or so liberal +would originate with him. At the present period it seems incredible that +the learned, accomplished, unassuming, and inoffensive Robinson should +neither be tolerated in his peaceable mode of worship in his own country, +nor suffered quietly to depart from it. Yet such was the fact. He left his +country by stealth, that he might elsewhere enjoy those rights which ought +to belong to men in all countries. The departure of the Pilgrims for +Holland is deeply interesting, from its circumstances, and also as it +marks the character of the times, independently of its connection with +names now incorporated with the history of empire. [5] The embarkation was +intended to be made in such a manner that it might escape the notice of +the officers of government. Great pains had been taken to secure boats, +which should come undiscovered to the shore, and receive the fugitives; +and frequent disappointments had been experienced in this respect. + +At length the appointed time came, bringing with it unusual severity of +cold and rain. An unfrequented and barren heath, on the shores of +Lincolnshire, was the selected spot, where the feet of the Pilgrims were +to tread, for the last time, the land of their fathers. The vessel which +was to receive them did not come until the next day, and in the meantime +the little band was collected, and men and women and children and baggage +were crowded together, in melancholy and distressed confusion. The sea was +rough, and the women and children were already sick, from their passage +down the river to the place of embarkation on the sea. At length the +wished-for boat silently and fearfully approaches the shore, and men and +women and children, shaking with fear and with cold, as many as the small +vessel could bear, venture off on a dangerous sea. Immediately the advance +of horses is heard from behind, armed men appear, and those not yet +embarked are seized and taken into custody. In the hurry of the moment, +the first parties had been sent on board without any attempt to keep +members of the same family together, and on account of the appearance of +the horsemen, the boat never returned for the residue. Those who had got +away, and those who had not, were in equal distress. A storm, of great +violence and long duration, arose at sea, which not only protracted the +voyage, rendered distressing by the want of all those accommodations which +the interruption of the embarkation had occasioned, but also forced the +vessel out of her course, and menaced immediate shipwreck; while those on +shore, when they were dismissed from the custody of the officers of +justice, having no longer homes or houses to retire to, and their friends +and protectors being already gone, became objects of necessary charity, as +well as of deep commiseration. + +As this scene passes before us, we can hardly forbear asking whether this +be a band of malefactors and felons flying from justice. What are their +crimes, that they hide themselves in darkness? To what punishment are they +exposed, that, to avoid it, men, and women, and children, thus encounter +the surf of the North Sea and the terrors of a night storm? What induces +this armed pursuit, and this arrest of fugitives, of all ages and both +sexes? Truth does not allow us to answer these inquiries in a manner that +does credit to the wisdom or the justice of the times. This was not the +flight of guilt, but of virtue. It was an humble and peaceable religion, +flying from causeless oppression. It was conscience, attempting to escape +from the arbitrary rule of the Stuarts. It was Robinson and Brewster, +leading off their little band from their native soil, at first to find +shelter on the shore of the neighboring continent, but ultimately to come +hither; and having surmounted all difficulties and braved a thousand +dangers, to find here a place of refuge and of rest. Thanks be to God, +that this spot was honored as the asylum of religious liberty! May its +standard, reared here, remain for ever! May it rise up as high as heaven, +till its banner shall fan the air of both continents, and wave as a +glorious ensign of peace and security to the nations! + +The peculiar character, condition, and circumstances of the colonies which +introduced civilization and an English race into New England, afford a +most interesting and extensive topic of discussion. On these, much of our +subsequent character and fortune has depended. Their influence has +essentially affected our whole history, through the two centuries which +have elapsed; and as they have become intimately connected with +government, laws, and property, as well as with our opinions on the +subjects of religion and civil liberty, that influence is likely to +continue to be felt through the centuries which shall succeed. Emigration +from one region to another, and the emission of colonies to people +countries more or less distant from the residence of the parent stock, are +common incidents in the history of mankind; but it has not often, perhaps +never, happened, that the establishment of colonies should be attempted +under circumstances, however beset with present difficulties and dangers, +yet so favorable to ultimate success, and so conducive to magnificent +results, as those which attended the first settlements on this part of the +American continent. In other instances, emigration has proceeded from a +less exalted purpose, in periods of less general intelligence, or more +without plan and by accident; or under circumstances, physical and moral, +less favorable to the expectation of laying a foundation for great public +prosperity and future empire. + +A great resemblance exists, obviously, between all the English colonies +established within the present limits of the United States; but the +occasion attracts our attention more immediately to those which took +possession of New England, and the peculiarities of these furnish a strong +contrast with most other instances of colonization. + +Among the ancient nations, the Greeks, no doubt, sent forth from their +territories the greatest number of colonies. So numerous, indeed, were +they, and so great the extent of space over which they were spread, that +the parent country fondly and naturally persuaded herself, that by means +of them she had laid a sure foundation for the universal civilization of +the world. These establishments, from obvious causes, were most numerous +in places most contiguous; yet they were found on the coasts of France, on +the shores of the Euxine Sea, in Africa, and even, as is alleged, on the +borders of India. These emigrations appear to have been sometimes +voluntary and sometimes compulsory; arising from the spontaneous +enterprise of individuals, or the order and regulation of government. It +was a common opinion with ancient writers, that they were undertaken in +religious obedience to the commands of oracles, and it is probable that +impressions of this sort might have had more or less influence; but it is +probable, also, that on these occasions the oracles did not speak a +language dissonant from the views and purposes of the state. + +Political science among the Greeks seems never to have extended to the +comprehension of a system, which should be adequate to the government of a +great nation upon principles of liberty. They were accustomed only to the +contemplation of small republics, and were led to consider an augmented +population as incompatible with free institutions. The desire of a remedy +for this supposed evil, and the wish to establish marts for trade, led the +governments often to undertake the establishment of colonies as an affair +of state expediency. Colonization and commerce, indeed, would naturally +become objects of interest to an ingenious and enterprising people, +inhabiting a territory closely circumscribed in its limits, and in no +small part mountainous and sterile; while the islands of the adjacent +seas, and the promontories and coasts of the neighboring continents, by +their mere proximity, strongly solicited the excited spirit of emigration. +Such was this proximity, in many instances, that the new settlements +appeared rather to be the mere extension of population over contiguous +territory, than the establishment of distant colonies. In proportion as +they were near to the parent state, they would be under its authority, and +partake of its fortunes. The colony at Marseilles might perceive lightly, +or not at all, the sway of Phocis; while the islands in the Aegean Sea +could hardly attain to independence of their Athenian origin. Many of +these establishments took place at an early age; and if there were defects +in the governments of the parent states, the colonists did not possess +philosophy or experience sufficient to correct such evils in their own +institutions, even if they had not been, by other causes, deprived of the +power. An immediate necessity, connected with the support of life, was the +main and direct inducement to these undertakings, and there could hardly +exist more than the hope of a successful imitation of institutions with +which they were already acquainted, and of holding an equality with their +neighbors in the course of improvement. The laws and customs, both +political and municipal, as well as the religious worship of the parent +city, were transferred to the colony; and the parent city herself, with +all such of her colonies as were not too far remote for frequent +intercourse and common sentiments, would appear like a family of cities, +more or less dependent, and more or less connected. We know how imperfect +this system was, as a system of general politics, and what scope it gave +to those mutual dissensions and conflicts which proved so fatal to Greece. + +But it is more pertinent to our present purpose to observe, that nothing +existed in the character of Grecian emigrations, or in the spirit and +intelligence of the emigrants, likely to give a new and important +direction to human affairs, or a new impulse to the human mind. Their +motives were not high enough, their views were not sufficiently large and +prospective. They went not forth, like our ancestors, to erect systems of +more perfect civil liberty, or to enjoy a higher degree of religious +freedom. Above all, there was nothing in the religion and learning of the +age, that could either inspire high purposes, or give the ability to +execute them. Whatever restraints on civil liberty, or whatever abuses in +religious worship, existed at the time of our fathers' emigration, yet +even then all was light in the moral and mental world, in comparison with +its condition in most periods of the ancient states. The settlement of a +new continent, in an age of progressive knowledge and improvement, could +not but do more than merely enlarge the natural boundaries of the +habitable world. It could not but do much more even than extend commerce +and increase wealth among the human race. We see how this event has acted, +how it must have acted, and wonder only why it did not act sooner, in the +production of moral effects, on the state of human knowledge, the general +tone of human sentiments, and the prospects of human happiness. It gave to +civilized man not only a new continent to be inhabited and cultivated, and +new seas to be explored; but it gave him also a new range for his +thoughts, new objects for curiosity, and new excitements to knowledge and +improvement. + +Roman colonization resembled, far less than that of the Greeks, the +original settlements of this country. Power and dominion were the objects +of Rome, even in her colonial establishments. Her whole exterior aspect +was for centuries hostile and terrific. She grasped at dominion, from +India to Britain, and her measures of colonization partook of the +character of her general system. Her policy was military, because her +objects were power, ascendency, and subjugation. Detachments of emigrants +from Rome incorporated themselves with, and governed, the original +inhabitants of conquered countries. She sent citizens where she had first +sent soldiers; her law followed her sword. Her colonies were a sort of +military establishment; so many advanced posts in the career of her +dominion. A governor from Rome ruled the new colony with absolute sway, +and often with unbounded rapacity. In Sicily, in Gaul, in Spain, and in +Asia, the power of Rome prevailed, not nominally only, but really and +effectually. Those who immediately exercised it were Roman; the tone and +tendency of its administration, Roman. Rome herself continued to be the +heart and centre of the great system which she had established. [6] +Extortion and rapacity, finding a wide and often rich field of action in +the provinces, looked nevertheless to the banks of the Tiber, as the scene +in which their ill-gotten treasures should be displayed; or, if a spirit +of more honest acquisition prevailed, the object, nevertheless, was +ultimate enjoyment in Rome itself. If our own history and our own times +did not sufficiently expose the inherent and incurable evils of provincial +government, we might see them portrayed, to our amazement, in the +desolated and ruined provinces of the Roman empire. We might hear them, in +a voice that terrifies us, in those strains of complaint and accusation, +which the advocates of the provinces poured forth in the Roman Forum:-- +"Quas res luxuries in flagitiis, crudelitas in suppliciis, avaritia in +rapinis, superbia in contumeliis, efficere potuisset, eas omnes sese +pertulisse." + +As was to be expected, the Roman Provinces partook of the fortunes, as +well as of the sentiments and general character, of the seat of empire. +They lived together with her, they flourished with her, and fell with her. +The branches were lopped away even before the vast and venerable trunk +itself fell prostrate to the earth. Nothing had proceeded from her which +could support itself, and bear up the name of its origin, when her own +sustaining arm should be enfeebled or withdrawn. It was not given to Rome +to see, either at her zenith or in her decline, a child of her own, +distant, indeed, and independent of her control, yet speaking her language +and inheriting her blood, springing forward to a competition with her own +power, and a comparison with her own great renown. She saw not a vast +region of the earth peopled from her stock, full of states and political +communities, improving upon the models of her institutions, and breathing +in fuller measure the spirit which she had breathed in the best periods of +her existence; enjoying and extending her arts and her literature; rising +rapidly from political childhood to manly strength and independence; her +offspring, yet now her equal; unconnected with the causes which might +affect the duration of her own power and greatness; of common origin, but +not linked to a common fate; giving ample pledge, that her name should not +be forgotten, that her language should not cease to be used among men; +that whatsoever she had done for human knowledge and human happiness +should be treasured up and preserved; that the record of her existence and +her achievements should not be obscured, although, in the inscrutable +purposes of Providence, it might be her destiny to fall from opulence and +splendor; although the time might come, when darkness should settle on all +her hills; when foreign or domestic violence should overturn her altars +and her temples; when ignorance and despotism should fill the places where +Laws, and Arts, and Liberty had flourished; when the feet of barbarism +should trample on the tombs of her consuls, and the walls of her senate- +house and forum echo only to the voice of savage triumph. She saw not this +glorious vision, to inspire and fortify her against the possible decay or +downfall of her power. Happy are they who in our day may behold it, if +they shall contemplate it with the sentiments which it ought to inspire! + +The New England Colonies differ quite as widely from the Asiatic +establishments of the modern European nations, as from the models of the +ancient states. The sole object of those establishments was originally +trade; although we have seen, in one of them, the anomaly of a mere +trading company attaining a political character, disbursing revenues, and +maintaining armies and fortresses, until it has extended its control over +seventy millions of people. Differing from these, and still more from the +New England and North American Colonies, are the European settlements in +the West India Islands. It is not strange, that, when men's minds were +turned to the settlement of America, different objects should be proposed +by those who emigrated to the different regions of so vast a country. +Climate, soil, and condition were not equally favorable to all pursuits. +In the West Indies, the purpose of those who went thither was to engage in +that species of agriculture, suited to the soil and climate, which seems +to bear more resemblance to commerce than to the hard and plain tillage of +New England. The great staples of these countries, being partly an +agricultural and partly a manufactured product, and not being of the +necessaries of life, become the object of calculation, with respect to a +profitable investment of capital, like any other enterprise of trade or +manufacture. The more especially, as, requiring, by necessity or habit, +slave labor for their production, the capital necessary to carry on the +work of this production is very considerable. The West Indies are resorted +to, therefore, rather for the investment of capital than for the purpose +of sustaining life by personal labor. Such as possess a considerable +amount of capital, or such as choose to adventure in commercial +speculations without capital, can alone be fitted to be emigrants to the +islands. The agriculture of these regions, as before observed, is a sort +of commerce; and it is a species of employment in which labor seems to +form an inconsiderable ingredient in the productive causes, since the +portion of white labor is exceedingly small, and slave labor is rather +more like profit on stock or capital than _labor_ properly so called. +The individual who undertakes an establishment of this kind takes into the +account the cost of the necessary number of slaves, in the same manner as +he calculates the cost of the land. The uncertainty, too, of this species +of employment, affords another ground of resemblance to commerce. Although +gainful on the whole, and in a series of years, it is often very +disastrous for a single year, and, as the capital is not readily invested +in other pursuits, bad crops or bad markets not only affect the profits, +but the capital itself. Hence the sudden depressions which take place in +the value of such estates. + +But the great and leading observation, relative to these establishments, +remains to be made. It is, that the owners of the soil and of the capital +seldom consider themselves _at home_ in the colony. A very great +portion of the soil itself is usually owned in the mother country; a still +greater is mortgaged for capital obtained there; and, in general, those +who are to derive an interest from the products look to the parent country +as the place for enjoyment of their wealth. The population is therefore +constantly fluctuating. Nobody comes but to return. A constant succession +of owners, agents, and factors takes place. Whatsoever the soil, forced by +the unmitigated toil of slavery, can yield, is sent home to defray rents, +and interest, and agencies, or to give the means of living in a better +society. In such a state, it is evident that no spirit of permanent +improvement is likely to spring up. Profits will not be invested with a +distant view of benefiting posterity. Roads and canals will hardly be +built; schools will not be founded; colleges will not be endowed. There +will be few fixtures in society; no principles of utility or of elegance, +planted now, with the hope of being developed and expanded hereafter. +Profit, immediate profit, must be the principal active spring in the +social system. There may be many particular exceptions to these general +remarks, but the outline of the whole is such as is here drawn.[7] + +Another most important consequence of such a state of things is, that no +idea of independence of the parent country is likely to arise; unless, +indeed, it should spring up in a form that would threaten universal +desolation. The inhabitants have no strong attachment to the place which +they inhabit. The hope of a great portion of them is to leave it; and +their great desire, to leave it soon. However useful they may be to the +parent state, how much soever they may add to the conveniences and +luxuries of life, these colonies are not favored spots for the expansion +of the human mind, for the progress of permanent improvement, or for +sowing the seeds of future independent empire. + +Different, indeed, most widely different, from all these instances, of +emigration and plantation, were the condition, the purposes, and the +prospects of our fathers, when they established their infant colony upon +this spot. They came hither to a land from which they were never to +return. Hither they had brought, and here they were to fix, their hopes, +their attachments, and their objects in life. Some natural tears they +shed, as they left the pleasant abodes of their fathers, and some emotions +they suppressed, when the white cliffs of their native country, now seen +for the last time, grew dim to their sight. They were acting, however, +upon a resolution not to be daunted. With whatever stifled regrets, with +whatever occasional hesitation, with whatever appalling apprehensions, +which might sometimes arise with force to shake the firmest purpose, they +had yet committed themselves to Heaven and the elements; and a thousand +leagues of water soon interposed to separate them for ever from the region +which gave them birth. A new existence awaited them here; and when they +saw these shores, rough, cold, barbarous, and barren, as then they were, +they beheld their country. That mixed and strong feeling, which we call +love of country, and which is, in general, never extinguished in the heart +of man, grasped and embraced its proper object here. Whatever constitutes +_country_, except the earth and the sun, all the moral causes of +affection and attachment which operate upon the heart, they had brought +with them to their new abode. Here were now their families and friends, +their homes, and their property. Before they reached the shore, they had +established the elements of a social system,[8] and at a much earlier +period had settled their forms of religious worship. At the moment of +their landing, therefore, they possessed institutions of government, and +institutions of religion: and friends and families, and social and +religious institutions, framed by consent, founded on choice and +preference, how nearly do these fill up our whole idea of country! The +morning that beamed on the first night of their repose saw the Pilgrims +already _at home_ in their country. There were political institutions, +and civil liberty, and religious worship. Poetry has fancied nothing, in +the wanderings of heroes, so distinct and characteristic. Here was man, +indeed, unprotected, and unprovided for, on the shore of a rude and +fearful wilderness; but it was politic, intelligent, and educated man. +Every thing was civilized but the physical world. Institutions, containing +in substance all that ages had done for human government, were organized +in a forest.[9] Cultivated mind was to act on uncultivated nature; and, +more than all, a government and a country were to commence, with the very +first foundations laid under the divine light of the Christian religion. +Happy auspices of a happy futurity! Who would wish that his country's +existence had otherwise begun? Who would desire the power of going back to +the ages of fable? Who would wish for an origin obscured in the darkness +of antiquity? Who would wish for other emblazoning of his country's +heraldry, or other ornaments of her genealogy, than to be able to say, +that her first existence was with intelligence, her first breath the +inspiration of liberty, her first principle the truth of divine religion? + +Local attachments and sympathies would ere long spring up in the breasts +of our ancestors, endearing to them the place of their refuge. Whatever +natural objects are associated with interesting scenes and high efforts +obtain a hold on human feeling, and demand from the heart a sort of +recognition and regard. This Rock soon became hallowed in the esteem of +the Pilgrims, and these hills grateful to their sight. Neither they nor +their children were again to till the soil of England, nor again to +traverse the seas which surround her. But here was a new sea, now open to +their enterprise, and a new soil, which had not failed to respond +gratefully to their laborious industry, and which was already assuming a +robe of verdure. Hardly had they provided shelter for the living, ere they +were summoned to erect sepulchres for the dead. The ground had become +sacred, by enclosing the remains of some of their companions and +connections. A parent, a child, a husband, or a wife, had gone the way of +all flesh, and mingled with the dust of New England. We naturally look +with strong emotions to the spot, though it be a wilderness, where the +ashes of those we have loved repose. Where the heart has laid down what it +loved most, there it is desirous of laying itself down. No sculptured +marble, no enduring monument, no honorable inscription, no ever-burning +taper that would drive away the darkness of the tomb, can soften our sense +of the reality of death, and hallow to our feelings the ground which is to +cover us, like the consciousness that we shall sleep, dust to dust, with +the objects of our affections. + +In a short time other causes sprung up to bind the Pilgrims with new cords +to their chosen land. Children were born, and the hopes of future +generations arose, in the spot of their new habitation. The second +generation found this the land of their nativity, and saw that they were +bound to its fortunes. They beheld their fathers' graves around them, and +while they read the memorials of their toils and labors, they rejoiced in +the inheritance which they found bequeathed to them. + +Under the influence of these causes, it was to be expected that an +interest and a feeling should arise here, entirely different from the +interest and feeling of mere Englishmen; and all the subsequent history of +the Colonies proves this to have actually and gradually taken place. With +a general acknowledgment of the supremacy of the British crown, there was, +from the first, a repugnance to an entire submission to the control of +British legislation. The Colonies stood upon their charters, which, as +they contended, exempted them from the ordinary power of the British +Parliament, and authorized them to conduct their own concerns by their own +counsels. They utterly resisted the notion that they were to be ruled by +the mere authority of the government at home, and would not endure even +that their own charter governments should be established on the other side +of the Atlantic. It was not a controlling or protecting board in England, +but a government of their own, and existing immediately within their +limits, which could satisfy their wishes. It was easy to foresee, what we +know also to have happened, that the first great cause of collision and +jealousy would be, under the notion of political economy then and still +prevalent in Europe, an attempt on the part of the mother country to +monopolize the trade of the Colonies. Whoever has looked deeply into the +causes which produced our Revolution has found, if I mistake not, the +original principle far back in this claim, on the part of England, to +monopolize our trade, and a continued effort on the part of the Colonies +to resist or evade that monopoly; if, indeed, it be not still more just +and philosophical to go farther back, and to consider it decided, that an +independent government must arise here, the moment it was ascertained that +an English colony, such as landed in this place, could sustain itself +against the dangers which surrounded it, and, with other similar +establishments, overspread the land with an English population. Accidental +causes retarded at times, and at times accelerated, the progress of the +controversy. The Colonies wanted strength, and time gave it to them. They +required measures of strong and palpable injustice, on the part of the +mother country, to justify resistance; the early part of the late king's +reign furnished them. They needed spirits of high order, of great daring, +of long foresight, and of commanding power, to seize the favoring occasion +to strike a blow, which should sever, for all time, the tie of colonial +dependence; and these spirits were found, in all the extent which that or +any crisis could demand, in Otis, Adams, Hancock, and the other immediate +authors of our independence. + +Still, it is true that, for a century, causes had been in operation +tending to prepare things for this great result. In the year 1660 the +English Act of Navigation was passed; the first and grand object of which +seems to have been, to secure to England the whole trade with her +plantations. It was provided by that act, that none but English ships +should transport American produce over the ocean, and that the principal +articles of that produce should be allowed to be sold only in the markets +of the mother country. Three years afterwards another law was passed, +which enacted, that such commodities as the Colonies might wish to +purchase should be bought only in the markets of the mother country. +Severe rules were prescribed to enforce the provisions of these laws, and +heavy penalties imposed on all who should violate them. In the subsequent +years of the same reign, other statutes were enacted to re-enforce these +statutes, and other rules prescribed to secure a compliance with these +rules. In this manner was the trade to and from the Colonies restricted, +almost to the exclusive advantage of the parent country. But laws, which +rendered the interest of a whole people subordinate to that of another +people, were not likely to execute themselves; nor was it easy to find +many on the spot, who could be depended upon for carrying them into +execution. In fact, these laws were more or less evaded or resisted, in +all the Colonies. To enforce them was the constant endeavor of the +government at home; to prevent or elude their operation, the perpetual +object here. "The laws of navigation," says a living British writer, "were +nowhere so openly disobeyed and contemned as in New England." "The people +of Massachusetts Bay," he adds, "were from the first disposed to act as if +independent of the mother country, and having a governor and magistrates +of their own choice, it was difficult to enforce any regulation which came +from the English Parliament, adverse to their interests." To provide more +effectually for the execution of these laws, we know that courts of +admiralty were afterwards established by the crown, with power to try +revenue causes, as questions of admiralty, upon the construction given by +the crown lawyers to an act of Parliament; a great departure from the +ordinary principles of English jurisprudence, but which has been +maintained, nevertheless, by the force of habit and precedent, and is +adopted in our own existing systems of government. + +"There lie," says another English writer, whose connection with the Board +of Trade has enabled him to ascertain many facts connected with Colonial +history, "There lie among the documents in the board of trade and state- +paper office, the most satisfactory proofs, from the epoch of the English +Revolution in 1688, throughout every reign, and during every +administration, of the settled purpose of the Colonies to acquire direct +independence and positive sovereignty." Perhaps this may be stated +somewhat too strongly; but it cannot be denied, that, from the very nature +of the establishments here, and from the general character of the measures +respecting their concerns early adopted and steadily pursued by the +English government, a division of the empire was the natural and necessary +result to which every thing tended. + +I have dwelt on this topic, because it seems to me, that the peculiar +original character of the New England Colonies, and certain causes coeval +with their existence, have had a strong and decided influence on all their +subsequent history, and especially on the great event of the Revolution. +Whoever would write our history, and would understand and explain early +transactions, should comprehend the nature and force of the feeling which +I have endeavored to describe. As a son, leaving the house of his father +for his own, finds, by the order of nature, and the very law of his being, +nearer and dearer objects around which his affections circle, while his +attachment to the parental roof becomes moderated, by degrees, to a +composed regard and an affectionate remembrance; so our ancestors, leaving +their native land, not without some violence to the feelings of nature and +affection, yet, in time, found here a new circle of engagements, +interests, and affections; a feeling, which more and more encroached upon +the old, till an undivided sentiment, _that this was their country_, +occupied the heart; and patriotism, shutting out from its embraces the +parent realm, became _local_ to America. Some retrospect of the +century which has now elapsed is among the duties of the occasion. It +must, however, necessarily be imperfect, to be compressed within the +limits of a single discourse. I shall content myself, therefore, with +taking notice of a few of the leading and most important occurrences +which have distinguished the period. + +When the first century closed, the progress of the country appeared to +have been considerable; notwithstanding that, in comparison with its +subsequent advancement, it now seems otherwise. A broad and lasting +foundation had been laid; excellent institutions had been established; +many of the prejudices of former times had been removed; a more liberal +and catholic spirit on subjects of religious concern had begun to extend +itself, and many things conspired to give promise of increasing future +prosperity. Great men had arisen in public life, and the liberal +professions. The Mathers, father and son, were then sinking low in the +western horizon; Leverett, the learned, the accomplished, the excellent +Leverett, was about to withdraw his brilliant and useful light. In +Pemberton great hopes had been suddenly extinguished, but Prince and +Colman were in our sky; and along the east had begun to flash the +crepuscular light of a great luminary which was about to appear, and which +was to stamp the age with his own name, as the age of Franklin. + +The bloody Indian wars, which harassed the people for a part of the first +century; the restrictions on the trade of the Colonies, added to the +discouragements inherently belonging to all forms of colonial government; +the distance from Europe, and the small hope of immediate profit to +adventurers, are among the causes which had contributed to retard the +progress of population. Perhaps it may be added, also, that during the +period of the civil wars in England, and the reign of Cromwell, many +persons, whose religious opinions and religious temper might, under other +circumstances, have induced them to join the New England colonists, found +reasons to remain in England; either on account of active occupation in +the scenes which were passing, or of an anticipation of the enjoyment, in +their own country, of a form of government, civil and religious, +accommodated to their views and principles. The violent measures, too, +pursued against the Colonies in the reign of Charles the Second, the +mockery of a trial, and the forfeiture of the charters, were serious +evils. And during the open violences of the short reign of James the +Second, and the tyranny of Andros, as the venerable historian of +Connecticut observes, "All the motives to great actions, to industry, +economy, enterprise, wealth, and population, were in a manner annihilated. +A general inactivity and languishment pervaded the public body. Liberty, +property, and every thing which ought to be dear to men, every day grew +more and more insecure." With the Revolution in England, a better +prospect had opened on this country, as well as on that. The joy had been +as great at that event, and far more universal, in New than in Old +England. A new charter had been granted to Massachusetts, which, although +it did not confirm to her inhabitants all their former privileges, yet +relieved them from great evils and embarrassments, and promised future +security. More than all, perhaps, the Revolution in England had done good +to the general cause of liberty and justice. A blow had been struck in +favor of the rights and liberties, not of England alone, but of +descendants and kinsmen of England all over the world. Great political +truths had been established the champions of liberty had been successful +in a fearful and perilous conflict. Somers, and Cavendish, and Jekyl, and +Howard, had triumphed in one of the most noble causes ever undertaken by +men. A revolution had been made upon principle. A monarch had been +dethroned for violating the original compact between king and people. The +rights of the people to partake in the government, and to limit the +monarch by fundamental rules of government, had been maintained; and +however unjust the government of England might afterwards be towards other +governments or towards her colonies, she had ceased to be governed herself +by the arbitrary maxims of the Stuarts. + +New England had submitted to the violence of James the Second not longer +than Old England. Not only was it reserved to Massachusetts, that on her +soil should be acted the first scene of that great revolutionary drama, +which was to take place near a century afterwards, but the English +Revolution itself, as far as the Colonies were concerned, commenced in +Boston. The seizure and imprisonment of Andros, in April, 1689, were acts +of direct and forcible resistance to the authority of James the Second. +The pulse of liberty beat as high in the extremities as at the heart. The +vigorous feeling of the Colony burst out before it was known how the +parent country would finally conduct herself. The king's representative, +Sir Edmund Andros, was a prisoner in the castle at Boston, before it was +or could be known that the king himself had ceased to exercise his full +dominion on the English throne. + +Before it was known here whether the invasion of the Prince of Orange +would or could prove successful, as soon as it was known that it had been +undertaken, the people of Massachusetts, at the imminent hazard of their +lives and fortunes, had accomplished the Revolution as far as respected +themselves. It is probable that, reasoning on general principles and the +known attachment of the English people to their constitution and +liberties, and their deep and fixed dislike of the king's religion and +politics, the people of New England expected a catastrophe fatal to the +power of the reigning prince. Yet it was neither certain enough, nor near +enough, to come to their aid against the authority of the crown, in that +crisis which had arrived, and in which they trusted to put themselves, +relying on God and their own courage. There were spirits in Massachusetts +congenial with the spirits of the distinguished friends of the Revolution +in England. There were those who were fit to associate with the boldest +asserters of civil liberty; and Mather himself, then in England, was not +unworthy to be ranked with those sons of the Church, whose firmness and +spirit in resisting kingly encroachments in matters of religion, entitled +them to the gratitude of their own and succeeding ages. + +The second century opened upon New England under circumstances which +evinced that much had already been accomplished, and that still better +prospects and brighter hopes were before her. She had laid, deep and +strong, the foundations of her society. Her religious principles were +firm, and her moral habits exemplary. Her public schools had begun to +diffuse widely the elements of knowledge; and the College, under the +excellent and acceptable administration of Leverett, had been raised to a +high degree of credit and usefulness. + +The commercial character of the country, notwithstanding all +discouragements, had begun to display itself, and _five hundred +vessels_, then belonging to Massachusetts, placed her, in relation to +commerce, thus early at the head of the Colonies. An author who wrote very +near the close of the first century says:--"New England is almost +deserving that _noble name_, so mightily hath it increased; and from +a small settlement at first, is now become a very _populous_ and +_flourishing_ government. The _capital city_, Boston, is a place +of _great wealth and trade_; and by much the largest of any in the +English empire of America; and not exceeded but by few cities, perhaps two +or three, in all the American world." But if our ancestors at the close of +the first century could look back with joy and even admiration, at the +progress of the country, what emotions must we not feel, when, from the +point on which we stand, we also look back and run along the events of the +century which has now closed! The country which then, as we have seen, was +thought deserving of a "noble name,"--which then had "mightily increased," +and become "very populous,"--what was it, in comparison with what our eyes +behold it? At that period, a very great proportion of its inhabitants +lived in the eastern section of Massachusetts proper, and in Plymouth +Colony. In Connecticut, there were towns along the coast, some of them +respectable, but in the interior all was a wilderness beyond Hartford. On +Connecticut River, settlements had proceeded as far up as Deerfield, and +Fort Dummer had been built near where is now the south line of New +Hampshire. In New Hampshire no settlement was then begun thirty miles from +the mouth of Piscataqua River, and in what is now Maine the inhabitants +were confined to the coast. The aggregate of the whole population of New +England did not exceed one hundred and sixty thousand. Its present amount +(1820) is probably one million seven hundred thousand. Instead of being +confined to its former limits, her population has rolled backward, and +filled up the spaces included within her actual local boundaries. Not this +only, but it has overflowed those boundaries, and the waves of emigration +have pressed farther and farther toward the West. The Alleghany has not +checked it; the banks of the Ohio have been covered with it. New England +farms, houses, villages, and churches spread over and adorn the immense +extent from the Ohio to Lake Erie, and stretch along from the Alleghany +onwards, beyond the Miamis, and towards the Falls of St. Anthony. Two +thousand miles westward from the rock where their fathers landed, may now +be found the sons of the Pilgrims, cultivating smiling fields, rearing +towns and villages, and cherishing, we trust, the patrimonial blessings of +wise institutions, of liberty, and religion. The world has seen nothing +like this. Regions large enough to be empires, and which, half a century +ago, were known only as remote and unexplored wildernesses, are now +teeming with population, and prosperous in all the great concerns of life; +in good governments, the means of subsistence, and social happiness. It +may be safely asserted, that there are now more than a million of people, +descendants of New England ancestry, living, free and happy, in regions +which scarce sixty years ago were tracts of unpenetrated forest. Nor do +rivers, or mountains, or seas resist the progress of industry and +enterprise. Erelong, the sons of the Pilgrims will be on the shores of the +Pacific. The imagination hardly keeps pace with the progress of +population, improvement, and civilization. + +It is now five-and-forty years since the growth and rising glory of +America were portrayed in the English Parliament, with inimitable beauty, +by the most consummate orator of modern times. Going back somewhat more +than half a century, and describing our progress as foreseen from that +point by his amiable friend Lord Bathurst, then living, he spoke of the +wonderful progress which America had made during the period of a single +human life. There is no American heart, I imagine, that does not glow, +both with conscious, patriotic pride, and admiration for one of the +happiest efforts of eloquence, so often as the vision of "that little +speck, scarce visible in the mass of national interest, a small seminal +principle, rather than a formed body," and the progress of its astonishing +development and growth, are recalled to the recollection. But a stronger +feeling might be produced, if we were able to take up this prophetic +description where he left it, and, placing ourselves at the point of time +in which he was speaking, to set forth with equal felicity the subsequent +progress of the country. There is yet among the living a most +distinguished and venerable name, a descendant of the Pilgrims; one who +has been attended through life by a great and fortunate genius; a man +illustrious by his own great merits, and favored of Heaven in the long +continuation of his years. The time when the English orator was thus +speaking of America preceded but by a few days the actual opening of the +revolutionary drama at Lexington. He to whom I have alluded, then at the +age of forty, was among the most zealous and able defenders of the +violated rights of his country. He seemed already to have filled a full +measure of public service, and attained an honorable fame. The moment was +full of difficulty and danger, and big with events of immeasurable +importance. The country was on the very brink of a civil war, of which no +man could foretell the duration or the result. Something more than a +courageous hope, or characteristic ardor, would have been necessary to +impress the glorious prospect on his belief, if, at that moment, before +the sound of the first shock of actual war had reached his ears, some +attendant spirit had opened to him the vision of the future;--if it had +said to him, "The blow is struck, and America is severed from England for +ever!"--if it had informed him, that he himself, during the next annual +revolution of the sun, should put his own hand to the great instrument of +independence, and write his name where all nations should behold it and +all time should not efface it; that erelong he himself should maintain the +interests and represent the sovereignty of his new-born country in the +proudest courts of Europe; that he should one day exercise her supreme +magistracy; that he should yet live to behold ten millions of fellow- +citizens paying him the homage of their deepest gratitude and kindest +affections; that he should see distinguished talent and high public trust +resting where his name rested; that he should even see with his own +unclouded eyes the close of the second century of New England, who had +begun life almost with its commencement, and lived through nearly half the +whole history of his country; and that on the morning of this auspicious +day he should be found in the political councils of his native State, +revising, by the light of experience, that system of government which +forty years before he had assisted to frame and establish; and, great and +happy as he should then behold his country, there should be nothing in +prospect to cloud the scene, nothing to check the ardor of that confident +and patriotic hope which should glow in his bosom to the end of his long +protracted and happy life. + +It would far exceed the limits of this discourse even to mention the +principal events in the civil and political history of New England during +the century; the more so, as for the last half of the period that history +has, most happily, been closely interwoven with the general history of the +United States. New England bore an honorable part in the wars which took +place between England and France. The capture of Louisburg gave her a +character for military achievement; and in the war which terminated with +the peace of 1763, her exertions on the frontiers were of most essential +service, as well to the mother country as to all the Colonies. + +In New England the war of the Revolution commenced. I address those who +remember the memorable 19th of April, 1775; who shortly after saw the +burning spires of Charlestown; who beheld the deeds of Prescott, and heard +the voice of Putnam amidst the storm of war, and saw the generous Warren +fall, the first distinguished victim in the cause of liberty. It would be +superfluous to say, that no portion of the country did more than the +States of New England to bring the Revolutionary struggle to a successful +issue. It is scarcely less to her credit, that she saw early the necessity +of a closer union of the States, and gave an efficient and indispensable +aid to the establishment and organization of the Federal government. + +Perhaps we might safely say, that a new spirit and a new excitement began +to exist here about the middle of the last century. To whatever causes it +may be imputed, there seems then to have commenced a more rapid +improvement. The Colonies had attracted more of the attention of the +mother country, and some renown in arms had been acquired. Lord Chatham +was the first English minister who attached high importance to these +possessions of the crown, and who foresaw any thing of their future growth +and extension. His opinion was, that the great rival of England was +chiefly to be feared as a maritime and commercial power, and to drive her +out of North America and deprive her of her West Indian possessions was a +leading object in his policy. He dwelt often on the fisheries, as +nurseries for British seamen, and the colonial trade, as furnishing them +employment. The war, conducted by him with so much vigor, terminated in a +peace, by which Canada was ceded to England. The effect of this was +immediately visible in the New England Colonies; for, the fear of Indian +hostilities on the frontiers being now happily removed, settlements went +on with an activity before that time altogether unprecedented, and public +affairs wore a new and encouraging aspect. Shortly after this fortunate +termination of the French war, the interesting topics connected with the +taxation of America by the British Parliament began to be discussed, and +the attention and all the faculties of the people drawn towards them. +There is perhaps no portion of our history more full of interest than the +period from 1760 to the actual commencement of the war. The progress of +opinion in this period, though less known, is not less important than the +progress of arms afterwards. Nothing deserves more consideration than +those events and discussions which affected the public sentiment and +settled the Revolution in men's minds, before hostilities openly broke +out. + +Internal improvement followed the establishment and prosperous +commencement of the present government. More has been done for roads, +canals, and other public works, within the last thirty years, than in all +our former history. In the first of these particulars, few countries excel +the New England States. The astonishing increase of their navigation and +trade is known to every one, and now belongs to the history of our +national wealth. + +We may flatter ourselves, too, that literature and taste have not been +stationary, and that some advancement has been made in the elegant, as +well as in the useful arts. + +The nature and constitution of society and government in this country are +interesting topics, to which I would devote what remains of the time +allowed to this occasion. Of our system of government the first thing to +be said is, that it is really and practically a free system. It originates +entirely with the people, and rests on no other foundation than their +assent. To judge of its actual operation, it is not enough to look merely +at the form of its construction. The practical character of government +depends often on a variety of considerations, besides the abstract frame +of its constitutional organization. Among these are the condition and +tenure of property; the laws regulating its alienation and descent; the +presence or absence of a military power; an armed or unarmed yeomanry; the +spirit of the age, and the degree of general intelligence. In these +respects it cannot be denied that the circumstances of this country are +most favorable to the hope of maintaining the government of a great nation +on principles entirely popular. In the absence of military power, the +nature of government must essentially depend on the manner in which +property is holden and distributed. There is a natural influence belonging +to property, whether it exists in many hands or few; and it is on the +rights of property that both despotism and unrestrained popular violence +ordinarily commence their attacks. Our ancestors began their system of +government here under a condition of comparative equality in regard to +wealth, and their early laws were of a nature to favor and continue this +equality. + +A republican form of government rests not more on political constitutions, +than on those laws which regulate the descent and transmission of +property. Governments like ours could not have been maintained, where +property was holden according to the principles of the feudal system; nor, +on the other hand, could the feudal constitution possibly exist with us. +Our New England ancestors brought hither no great capitals from Europe; +and if they had, there was nothing productive in which they could have +been invested. They left behind them the whole feudal policy of the other +continent. They broke away at once from the system of military service +established in the Dark Ages, and which continues, down even to the +present time, more or less to affect the condition of property all over +Europe. They came to a new country. There were, as yet, no lands yielding +rent, and no tenants rendering service. The whole soil was unreclaimed +from barbarism. They were themselves, either from their original +condition, or from the necessity of their common interest, nearly on a +general level in respect to property. Their situation demanded a +parcelling out and division of the lands, and it may be fairly said, that +this necessary act _fixed the future frame and form of their +government_. The character of their political institutions was +determined by the fundamental laws respecting property. The laws rendered +estates divisible among sons and daughters. The right of primogeniture, at +first limited and curtailed, was afterwards abolished. The property was +all freehold. The entailment of estates, long trusts, and the other +processes for fettering and tying up inheritances, were not applicable to +the condition of society, and seldom made use of. On the contrary, +alienation of the land was every way facilitated, even to the subjecting +of it to every species of debt. The establishment of public registries, +and the simplicity of our forms of conveyance, have greatly facilitated +the change of real estate from one proprietor to another. The consequence +of all these causes has been a great subdivision of the soil, and a great +equality of condition; the true basis, most certainly, of a popular +government. "If the people," says Harrington, "hold three parts in four of +the territory, it is plain there can neither be any single person nor +nobility able to dispute the government with them; in this case, +therefore, _except force be interposed_, they govern themselves." + +The history of other nations may teach us how favorable to public liberty +are the division of the soil into small freeholds, and a system of laws, +of which the tendency is, without violence or injustice, to produce and to +preserve a degree of equality of property. It has been estimated, if I +mistake not, that about the time of Henry the Seventh four fifths of the +land in England was holden by the great barons and ecclesiastics. The +effects of a growing commerce soon afterwards began to break in on this +state of things, and before the Revolution, in 1688, a vast change had +been wrought. It may be thought probable, that, for the last half-century, +the process of subdivision in England has been retarded, if not reversed; +that the great weight of taxation has compelled many of the lesser +freeholders to dispose of their estates, and to seek employment in the +army and navy, in the professions of civil life, in commerce, or in the +colonies. The effect of this on the British constitution cannot but be +most unfavorable. A few large estates grow larger; but the number of those +who have no estates also increases; and there may be danger, lest the +inequality of property become so great, that those who possess it may be +dispossessed by force; in other words, that the government may be +overturned. + +A most interesting experiment of the effect of a subdivision of property +on government is now making in France. It is understood, that the law +regulating the transmission of property in that country, now divides it, +real and personal, among all the children equally, both sons and +daughters; and that there is, also, a very great restraint on the power of +making dispositions of property by will. It has been supposed, that the +effects of this might probably be, in time, to break up the soil into such +small subdivisions, that the proprietors would be too poor to resist the +encroachments of executive power. I think far otherwise. What is lost in +individual wealth will be more than gained in numbers, in intelligence, +and in a sympathy of sentiment. If, indeed, only one or a few landholders +were to resist the crown, like the barons of England, they must, of +course, be great and powerful landholders, with multitudes of retainers, +to promise success. But if the proprietors of a given extent of territory +are summoned to resistance, there is no reason to believe that such +resistance would be less forcible, or less successful, because the number +of such proprietors happened to be great. Each would perceive his own +importance, and his own interest, and would feel that natural elevation of +character which the consciousness of property inspires. A common sentiment +would unite all, and numbers would not only add strength, but excite +enthusiasm. It is true, that France possesses a vast military force, under +the direction of an hereditary executive government; and military power, +it is possible, may overthrow any government. It is in vain, however, in +this period of the world, to look for security against military power to +the arm of the great landholders. That notion is derived from a state of +things long since past; a state in which a feudal baron, with his +retainers, might stand against the sovereign and his retainers, himself +but the greatest baron. But at present, what could the richest landholder +do, against one regiment of disciplined troops? Other securities, +therefore, against the prevalence of military power must be provided. +Happily for us, we are not so situated as that any purpose of national +defence requires, ordinarily and constantly, such a military force as +might seriously endanger our liberties. + +In respect, however, to the recent law of succession in France, to which I +have alluded, I would, presumptuously perhaps, hazard a conjecture, that, +if the government do not change the law, the law in half a century will +change the government; and that this change will be, not in favor of the +power of the crown, as some European writers have supposed, but against +it. Those writers only reason upon what they think correct general +principles, in relation to this subject. They acknowledge a want of +experience. Here we have had that experience; and we know that a multitude +of small proprietors, acting with intelligence, and that enthusiasm which +a common cause inspires, constitute not only a formidable, but an +invincible power. + +The true principle of a free and popular government would seem to be, so +to construct it as to give to all, or at least to a very great majority, +an interest in its preservation; to found it, as other things are founded, +on men's interest. The stability of government demands that those who +desire its continuance should be more powerful than those who desire its +dissolution. This power, of course, is not always to be measured by mere +numbers. Education, wealth, talents, are all parts and elements of the +general aggregate of power; but numbers, nevertheless, constitute +ordinarily the most important consideration, unless, indeed, there be _a +military force_ in the hands of the few, by which they can control the +many. In this country we have actually existing systems of government, in +the maintenance of which, it should seem, a great majority, both in +numbers and in other means of power and influence, must see their +interest. But this state of things is not brought about solely by written +political constitutions, or the mere manner of organizing the government; +but also by the laws which regulate the descent and transmission of +property. The freest government, if it could exist, would not be long +acceptable, if the tendency of the laws were to create a rapid +accumulation of property in few hands, and to render the great mass of the +population dependent and penniless. In such a case, the popular power +would be likely to break in upon the rights of property, or else the +influence of property to limit and control the exercise of popular power. +Universal suffrage, for example, could not long exist in a community where +there was great inequality of property. The holders of estates would be +obliged, in such case, in some way to restrain the right of suffrage, or +else such right of suffrage would, before long, divide the property. In +the nature of things, those who have not property, and see their neighbors +possess much more than they think them to need, cannot be favorable to +laws made for the protection of property. When this class becomes +numerous, it grows clamorous. It looks on property as its prey and +plunder, and is naturally ready, at all times, for violence and +revolution. + +It would seem, then, to be the part of political wisdom to found +government on property; and to establish such distribution of property, by +the laws which regulate its transmission and alienation, as to interest +the great majority of society in the support of the government. This is, I +imagine, the true theory and the actual practice of our republican +institutions. With property divided as we have it, no other government +than that of a republic could be maintained, even were we foolish enough +to desire it. There is reason, therefore, to expect a long continuance of +our system. Party and passion, doubtless, may prevail at times, and much +temporary mischief be done. Even modes and forms may be changed, and +perhaps for the worse. But a great revolution in regard to property must +take place, before our governments can be moved from their republican +basis, unless they be violently struck off by military power. The people +possess the property, more emphatically than it could ever be said of the +people of any other country, and they can have no interest to overturn a +government which protects that property by equal laws. + +Let it not be supposed, that this state of things possesses too strong +tendencies towards the production of a dead and uninteresting level in +society. Such tendencies are sufficiently counteracted by the infinite +diversities in the characters and fortunes of individuals. Talent, +activity, industry, and enterprise tend at all times to produce inequality +and distinction; and there is room still for the accumulation of wealth, +with its great advantages, to all reasonable and useful extent. It has +been often urged against the state of society in America, that it +furnishes no class of men of fortune and leisure. This may be partly true, +but it is not entirely so, and the evil, if it be one, would affect rather +the progress of taste and literature, than the general prosperity of the +people. But the promotion of taste and literature cannot be primary +objects of political institutions; and if they could, it might be doubted +whether, in the long course of things, as much is not gained by a wide +diffusion of general knowledge, as is lost by diminishing the number of +those who are enabled by fortune and leisure to devote themselves +exclusively to scientific and literary pursuits. However this may be, it +is to be considered that it is the spirit of our system to be equal and +general, and if there be particular disadvantages incident to this, they +are far more than counterbalanced by the benefits which weigh against +them. The important concerns of society are generally conducted, in all +countries, by the men of business and practical ability; and even in +matters of taste and literature, the advantages of mere leisure are liable +to be overrated. If there exist adequate means of education and a love of +letters be excited, that love will find its way to the object of its +desire, through the crowd and pressure of the most busy society. + +Connected with this division of property, and the consequent participation +of the great mass of people in its possession and enjoyments, is the +system of representation, which is admirably accommodated to our +condition, better understood among us, and more familiarly and extensively +practised, in the higher and in the lower departments of government, than +it has been by any other people. Great facility has been given to this in +New England by the early division of the country into townships or small +districts, in which all concerns of local police are regulated, and in +which representatives to the legislature are elected. Nothing can exceed +the utility of these little bodies. They are so many councils or +parliaments, in which common interests are discussed, and useful knowledge +acquired and communicated. The division of governments into departments, +and the division, again, of the legislative department into two chambers, +are essential provisions in our system. This last, although not new in +itself, yet seems to be new in its application to governments wholly +popular. The Grecian republics, it is plain, knew nothing of it; and in +Rome, the check and balance of legislative power, such as it was, lay +between the people and the senate. Indeed, few things are more difficult +than to ascertain accurately the true nature and construction of the Roman +commonwealth. The relative power of the senate and the people, of the +consuls and the tribunes, appears not to have been at all times the same, +nor at any time accurately defined or strictly observed. Cicero, indeed, +describes to us an admirable arrangement of political power, and a balance +of the constitution, in that beautiful passage, in which he compares the +democracies of Greece with the Roman commonwealth. "O morem preclarum, +disciplinamque, quam a majoribus, accepimus, si quidem teneremus! sed +nescio quo pacto jam de manibus elabitur. Nullam enim illi nostri +sapientissimi et sanctissimi viri vim concionis esse voluerunt, quae +scisseret plebs, aut quae populus juberet; summota concione, distributis +partibus, tributim et centuriatim descriptis ordinibus, classibus, +aetatibus, auditis auctoribus, re multos dies promulgata et cognita, +juberi vetarique voluerunt. Graecorum autem totae respublicae sedentis +concionis temeritate administrantur." [10] + +But at what time this wise system existed in this perfection at Rome, no +proofs remain to show. Her constitution, originally framed for a monarchy, +never seemed to be adjusted in its several parts after the expulsion of +the kings. Liberty there was, but it was a disputatious, an uncertain, an +ill-secured liberty. The patrician and plebeian orders, instead of being +matched and joined, each in its just place and proportion, to sustain the +fabric of the state, were rather like hostile powers, in perpetual +conflict. With us, an attempt has been made, and so far not without +success, to divide representation into chambers, and, by difference of +age, character, qualification, or mode of election, to establish salutary +checks, in governments altogether elective. + +Having detained you so long with these observations, I must yet advert to +another most interesting topic,--the Free Schools. In this particular, New +England may be allowed to claim, I think, a merit of a peculiar character. +She early adopted, and has constantly maintained the principle, that it is +the undoubted right and the bounden duty of government to provide for the +instruction of all youth. That which is elsewhere left to chance or to +charity, we secure by law. [11] For the purpose of public instruction, we +hold every man subject to taxation in proportion to his property, and we +look not to the question, whether he himself have, or have not, children +to be benefited by the education for which he pays. We regard it as a wise +and liberal system of police, by which property, and life, and the peace +of society are secured. We seek to prevent in some measure the extension +of the penal code, by inspiring a salutary and conservative principle of +virtue and of knowledge in an early age. We strive to excite a feeling of +respectability, and a sense of character, by enlarging the capacity and +increasing the sphere of intellectual enjoyment. By general instruction, +we seek, as far as possible, to purify the whole moral atmosphere; to keep +good sentiments uppermost, and to turn the strong current of feeling and +opinion, as well as the censures of the law and the denunciations of +religion, against immorality and crime. We hope for a security beyond the +law, and above the law, in the prevalence of an enlightened and well- +principled moral sentiment. We hope to continue and prolong the time, +when, in the villages and farm-houses of New England, there may be +undisturbed sleep within unbarred doors. And knowing that our government +rests directly on the public will, in order that we may preserve it we +endeavor to give a safe and proper direction to that public will. We do +not, indeed, expect all men to be philosophers or statesmen; but we +confidently trust, and our expectation of the duration of our system of +government rests on that trust, that, by the diffusion of general +knowledge and good and virtuous sentiments, the political fabric may be +secure, as well against open violence and overthrow, as against the slow, +but sure, undermining of licentiousness. + +We know that, at the present time, an attempt is making in the English +Parliament to provide by law for the education of the poor, and that a +gentleman of distinguished character (Mr. Brougham) has taken the lead in +presenting a plan to government for carrying that purpose into effect. And +yet, although the representatives of the three kingdoms listened to him +with astonishment as well as delight, we hear no principles with which we +ourselves have not been familiar from youth; we see nothing in the plan +but an approach towards that system which has been established in New +England for more than a century and a half. It is said that in England not +more than _one child in fifteen_ possesses the means of being taught +to read and write; in Wales, _one in twenty_; in France, until +lately, when some improvement was made, not more than _one in thirty- +five_. Now, it is hardly too strong to say, that in New England +_every child possesses_ such means. It would be difficult to find an +instance to the contrary, unless where it should be owing to the +negligence of the parent; and, in truth, the means are actually used and +enjoyed by nearly every one. A youth of fifteen, of either sex, who cannot +both read and write, is very seldom to be found. Who can make this +comparison, or contemplate this spectacle, without delight and a feeling +of just pride? Does any history show property more beneficently applied? +Did any government ever subject the property of those who have estates to +a burden, for a purpose more favorable to the poor, or more useful to the +whole community? + +A conviction of the importance of public instruction was one of the +earliest sentiments of our ancestors. No lawgiver of ancient or modern +times has expressed more just opinions, or adopted wiser measures, than +the early records of the Colony of Plymouth show to have prevailed here. +Assembled on this very spot, a hundred and fifty-three years ago, the +legislature of this Colony declared, "Forasmuch as the maintenance of good +literature doth much tend to the advancement of the weal and flourishing +state of societies and republics, this Court doth therefore order, that in +whatever township in this government, consisting of fifty families or +upwards, any meet man shall be obtained to teach a grammar school, such +township shall allow at least twelve pounds, to be raised by rate on all +the inhabitants." + +Having provided that all youth should be instructed in the elements of +learning by the institution of free schools, our ancestors had yet another +duty to perform. Men were to be educated for the professions and the +public. For this purpose they founded the University, and with incredible +zeal and perseverance they cherished and supported it, through all trials +and discouragements.[12] On the subject of the University, it is not +possible for a son of New England to think without pleasure, or to speak +without emotion. Nothing confers more honor on the State where it is +established, or more utility on the country at large. A respectable +university is an establishment which must be the work of time. If +pecuniary means were not wanting, no new institution could possess +character and respectability at once. We owe deep obligation to our +ancestors, who began, almost on the moment of their arrival, the work of +building up this institution. + +Although established in a different government, the Colony of Plymouth +manifested warm friendship for Harvard College. At an early period, its +government took measures to promote a general subscription throughout all +the towns in this Colony, in aid of its small funds. Other colleges were +subsequently founded and endowed, in other places, as the ability of the +people allowed; and we may flatter ourselves, that the means of education +at present enjoyed in New England are not only adequate to the diffusion +of the elements of knowledge among all classes, but sufficient also for +respectable attainments in literature and the sciences. + +Lastly, our ancestors established their system of government on morality +and religious sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be +trusted on any other foundation than religious principle, nor any +government be secure which is not supported by moral habits. Living under +the heavenly light of revelation, they hoped to find all the social +dispositions, all the duties which men owe to each other and to society, +enforced and performed. Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them +good citizens. Our fathers came here to enjoy their religion free and +unmolested; and, at the end of two centuries, there is nothing upon which +we can pronounce more confidently, nothing of which we can express a more +deep and earnest conviction, than of the inestimable importance of that +religion to man, both in regard to this life and that which is to come. + +If the blessings of our political and social condition have not been too +highly estimated, we cannot well overrate the responsibility and duty +which they impose upon us. We hold these institutions of government, +religion, and learning, to be transmitted, as well as enjoyed. We are in +the line of conveyance, through which whatever has been obtained by the +spirit and efforts of our ancestors is to be communicated to our children. + +We are bound to maintain public liberty, and, by the example of our own +systems, to convince the world that order and law, religion and morality, +the rights of conscience, the rights of persons, and the rights of +property, may all be preserved and secured, in the most perfect manner, by +a government entirely and purely elective. If we fail in this, our +disaster will be signal, and will furnish an argument, stronger than has +yet been found, in support of those opinions which maintain that +government can rest safely on nothing but power and coercion. As far as +experience may show errors in our establishments, we are bound to correct +them; and if any practices exist contrary to the principles of justice and +humanity within the reach of our laws or our influence, we are inexcusable +if we do not exert ourselves to restrain and abolish them. + +I deem it my duty on this occasion to suggest, that the land is not yet +wholly free from the contamination of a traffic, at which every feeling of +humanity must forever revolt,--I mean the African slave-trade. Neither +public sentiment, nor the law, has hitherto been able entirely to put an +end to this odious and abominable trade. At the moment when God in his +mercy has blessed the Christian world with a universal peace, there is +reason to fear, that, to the disgrace of the Christian name and character, +new efforts are making for the extension of this trade by subjects and +citizens of Christian states, in whose hearts there dwell no sentiments of +humanity or of justice, and over whom neither the fear of God nor the fear +of man exercises a control. In the sight of our law, the African slave- +trader is a pirate and a felon; and in the sight of Heaven, an offender +far beyond the ordinary depth of human guilt. There is no brighter page of +our history, than that which records the measures which have been adopted +by the government at an early day, and at different times since, for the +suppression of this traffic; and I would call on all the true sons of New +England to cooperate with the laws of man, and the justice of Heaven. If +there be, within the extent of our knowledge or influence, any +participation in this traffic, let us pledge ourselves here, upon the rock +of Plymouth, to extirpate and destroy it. It is not fit that the land of +the Pilgrims should bear the shame longer. I hear the sound of the hammer, +I see the smoke of the furnaces where manacles and fetters are still +forged for human limbs. I see the visages of those who by stealth and at +midnight labor in this work of hell, foul and dark, as may become the +artificers of such instruments of misery and torture. Let that spot be +purified, or let it cease to be of New England. Let it be purified or let +it be set aside from the Christian world; let it be put out of the circle +of human sympathies and human regards, and let civilized man henceforth +have no communion with it. + +I would invoke those who fill the seats of justice, and all who minister +at her altar, that they execute the wholesome and necessary severity of +the law. I invoke the ministers of our religion, that they proclaim its +denunciation of these crimes, and add its solemn sanctions to the +authority of human laws. If the pulpit be silent whenever or wherever +there may be a sinner bloody with this guilt within the hearing of its +voice, the pulpit is false to its trust. I call on the fair merchant, who +has reaped his harvest upon the seas, that he assist in scourging from +those seas the worst pirates that ever infested them. That ocean, which +seems to wave with a gentle magnificence to waft the burden of an honest +commerce, and to roll along its treasures with a conscious pride,--that +ocean, which hardy industry regards, even when the winds have ruffled its +surface, as a field of grateful toil,--what is it to the victim of this +oppression, when he is brought to its shores, and looks forth upon it, for +the first time, loaded with chains, and bleeding with stripes? What is it +to him but a wide-spread prospect of suffering, anguish, and death? Nor do +the skies smile longer, nor is the air longer fragrant to him. The sun is +cast down from heaven. An inhuman and accursed traffic has cut him off in +his manhood, or in his youth, from every enjoyment belonging to his being, +and every blessing which his Creator intended for him. + +The Christian communities send forth their emissaries of religion and +letters, who stop, here and there, along the coast of the vast continent +of Africa, and with painful and tedious efforts make some almost +imperceptible progress in the communication of knowledge, and in the +general improvement of the natives who are immediately about them. Not +thus slow and imperceptible is the transmission of the vices and bad +passions which the subjects of Christian states carry to the land. The +slave-trade having touched the coast, its influence and its evils spread, +like a pestilence, over the whole continent, making savage wars more +savage and more frequent, and adding new and fierce passions to the +contests of barbarians. + +I pursue this topic no further, except again to say, that all Christendom, +being now blessed with peace, is bound by everything which belongs to its +character, and to the character of the present age, to put a stop to this +inhuman and disgraceful traffic. + +We are bound, not only to maintain the general principles of public +liberty, but to support also those existing forms of government which have +so well secured its enjoyment, and so highly promoted the public +prosperity. It is now more than thirty years that these States have been +united under the Federal Constitution, and whatever fortune may await them +hereafter, it is impossible that this period of their history should not +be regarded as distinguished by signal prosperity and success. They must +be sanguine indeed, who can hope for benefit from change. Whatever +division of the public judgment may have existed in relation to particular +measures of the government, all must agree, one should think, in the +opinion, that in its general course it has been eminently productive of +public happiness. Its most ardent friends could not well have hoped from +it more than it has accomplished; and those who disbelieved or doubted +ought to feel less concern about predictions which the event has not +verified, than pleasure in the good which has been obtained. Whoever shall +hereafter write this part of our history, although he may see occasional +errors or defects, will be able to record no great failure in the ends and +objects of government. Still less will he be able to record any series of +lawless and despotic acts, or any successful usurpation. His page will +contain no exhibition of provinces depopulated, of civil authority +habitually trampled down by military power, or of a community crushed by +the burden of taxation. He will speak, rather, of public liberty +protected, and public happiness advanced; of increased revenue, and +population augmented beyond all example; of the growth of commerce, +manufactures, and the arts; and of that happy condition, in which the +restraint and coercion of government are almost invisible and +imperceptible, and its influence felt only in the benefits which it +confers. We can entertain no better wish for our country, than that this +government may be preserved; nor have a clearer duty than to maintain and +support it in the full exercise of all its just constitutional powers. + +The cause of science and literature also imposes upon us an important and +delicate trust. The wealth and population of the country are now so far +advanced, as to authorize the expectation of a correct literature and a +well formed taste, as well as respectable progress in the abstruse +sciences. The country has risen from a state of colonial subjection; it +has established an independent government, and is now in the undisturbed +enjoyment of peace and political security. The elements of knowledge are +universally diffused, and the reading portion of the community is large. +Let us hope that the present may be an auspicious era of literature. If, +almost on the day of their landing, our ancestors founded schools and +endowed colleges, what obligations do not rest upon us, living under +circumstances so much more favorable both for providing and for using the +means of education? Literature becomes free institutions. It is the +graceful ornament of civil liberty, and a happy restraint on the +asperities which political controversies sometimes occasion. Just taste is +not only an embellishment of society, but it rises almost to the rank of +the virtues, and diffuses positive good throughout the whole extent of its +influence. There is a connection between right feeling and right +principles, and truth in taste is allied with truth in morality. With +nothing in our past history to discourage us, and with something in our +present condition and prospects to animate us, let us hope, that, as it is +our fortune to live in an age when we may behold a wonderful advancement +of the country in all its other great interests, we may see also equal +progress and success attend the cause of letters. + +Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our +fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian +religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They +sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, +and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, +political, or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments, and extend this +influence still more widely; in the full conviction, that that is the +happiest society which partakes in the highest degree of the mild and +peaceful spirit of Christianity. + +The hours of this day are rapidly flying, and this occasion will soon be +passed. Neither we nor our children can expect to behold its return. They +are in the distant regions of futurity, they exist only in the all- +creating power of God, who shall stand here a hundred years hence, to +trace, through us, their descent from the Pilgrims, and to survey, as we +have now surveyed, the progress of their country, during the lapse of a +century. We would anticipate their concurrence with us in our sentiments +of deep regard for our common ancestors. We would anticipate and partake +the pleasure with which they will then recount the steps of New England's +advancement. On the morning of that day, although it will not disturb us +in our repose, the voice of acclamation and gratitude, commencing on the +Rock of Plymouth, shall be transmitted through millions of the sons of the +Pilgrims, till it lose itself in the murmurs of the Pacific seas. + +We would leave for the consideration of those who shall then occupy our +places, some proof that we hold the blessings transmitted from our fathers +in just estimation; some proof of our attachment to the cause of good +government, and of civil and religious liberty; some proof of a sincere +and ardent desire to promote every thing which may enlarge the +understandings and improve the hearts of men. And when, from the long +distance of a hundred years, they shall look back upon us, they shall +know, at least, that we possessed affections, which, running backward and +warming with gratitude for what our ancestors have done for our happiness, +run forward also to our posterity, and meet them with cordial salutation, +ere yet they have arrived on the shore of being. + +Advance, then, ye future generations! We would hail you, as you rise in +your long succession, to fill the places which we now fill, and to taste +the blessings of existence where we are passing, and soon shall have +passed, our own human duration. We bid you welcome to this pleasant land +of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the healthful skies and the verdant +fields of New England. We greet your accession to the great inheritance +which we have enjoyed. We welcome you to the blessings of good government +and religious liberty. We welcome you to the treasures of science and the +delights of learning. We welcome you to the transcendent sweets of +domestic life, to the happiness of kindred, and parents, and children. We +welcome you to the immeasurable blessings of rational existence, the +immortal hope of Christianity, and the light of everlasting truth! + +THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. + +This uncounted multitude before me and around me proves the feeling which +the occasion has excited. These thousands of human faces, glowing with +sympathy and joy, and from the impulses of a common gratitude turned +reverently to heaven in this spacious temple of the firmament, proclaim +that the day, the place, and the purpose of our assembling have made a +deep impression on our hearts. + +If, indeed, there be anything in local association fit to affect the mind +of man, we need not strive to repress the emotions which agitate us here. +We are among the sepulchres of our fathers. We are on ground, +distinguished by their valor, their constancy, and the shedding of their +blood. We are here, not to fix an uncertain date in our annals, nor to +draw into notice an obscure and unknown spot. If our humble purpose had +never been conceived, if we ourselves had never been born, the 17th of +June, 1775, would have been a day on which all subsequent history would +have poured its light, and the eminence where we stand a point of +attraction to the eyes of successive generations. But we are Americans. We +live in what may be called the early age of this great continent; and we +know that our posterity, through all time, are here to enjoy and suffer +the allotments of humanity. We see before us a probable train of great +events; we know that our own fortunes have been happily cast; and it is +natural, therefore, that we should be moved by the contemplation of +occurrences which have guided our destiny before many of us were born, and +settled the condition in which we should pass that portion of our +existence which God allows to men on earth. + +We do not read even of the discovery of this continent, without feeling +something of a personal interest in the event; without being reminded how +much it has affected our own fortunes and our own existence. It would be +still more unnatural for us, therefore, than for others, to contemplate +with unaffected minds that interesting, I may say that most touching and +pathetic scene, when the great discoverer of America stood on the deck of +his shattered bark, the shades of night falling on the sea, yet no man +sleeping; tossed on the billows of an unknown ocean, yet the stronger +billows of alternate hope and despair tossing his own troubled thoughts; +extending forward his harassed frame, straining westward his anxious and +eager eyes, till Heaven at last granted him a moment of rapture and +ecstasy, in blessing his vision with the sight of the unknown world. + +Nearer to our times, more closely connected with our fates, and therefore +still more interesting to our feelings and affections, is the settlement +of our own country by colonists from England. We cherish every memorial of +these worthy ancestors; we celebrate their patience and fortitude; we +admire their daring enterprise; we teach our children to venerate their +piety; and we are justly proud of being descended from men who have set +the world an example of founding civil institutions on the great and +united principles of human freedom and human knowledge. To us, their +children, the story of their labors and sufferings can never be without +its interest. We shall not stand unmoved on the shore of Plymouth, while +the sea continues to wash it; nor will our brethren in another early and +ancient Colony forget the place of its first establishment, till their +river shall cease to flow by it. [1] No vigor of youth, no maturity of +manhood, will lead the nation to forget the spots where its infancy was +cradled and defended. + +But the great event in the history of the continent, which we are now met +here to commemorate, that prodigy of modern times, at once the wonder and +the blessing of the world, is the American Revolution. In a day of +extraordinary prosperity and happiness, of high national honor, +distinction, and power, we are brought together, in this place, by our +love of country, by our admiration of exalted character, by our gratitude +for signal services and patriotic devotion. + +The Society whose organ I am [2] was formed for the purpose of rearing +some honorable and durable monument to the memory of the early friends of +American Independence. They have thought, that for this object no time +could be more propitious than the present prosperous and peaceful period; +that no place could claim preference over this memorable spot; and that no +day could be more auspicious to the undertaking than the anniversary of +the battle which was here fought. The foundation of that monument we have +now laid. With solemnities suited to the occasion, with prayers to +Almighty God for his blessing, and in the midst of this cloud of +witnesses, we have begun the work. We trust it will be prosecuted, and +that, springing from a broad foundation, rising high in massive solidity +and unadorned grandeur, it may remain as long as Heaven permits the works +of men to last, a fit emblem, both of the events in memory of which it is +raised, and of the gratitude of those who have reared it. + +We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions is most safely +deposited in the universal remembrance of mankind. We know, that if we +could cause this structure to ascend, not only till it reached the skies, +but till it pierced them, its broad surfaces could still contain but part +of that which, in an age of knowledge, hath already been spread over the +earth, and which history charges itself with making known to all future +times. We know that no inscription on entablatures less broad than the +earth itself can carry information of the events we commemorate where it +has not already gone; and that no structure, which shall not outlive the +duration of letters and knowledge among men, can prolong the memorial. But +our object is, by this edifice, to show our own deep sense of the value +and importance of the achievements of our ancestors; and, by presenting +this work of gratitude to the eye, to keep alive similar sentiments, and +to foster a constant regard for the principles of the Revolution. Human +beings are composed, not of reason only, but of imagination also, and +sentiment; and that is neither wasted nor misapplied which is appropriated +to the purpose of giving right direction to sentiments, and opening proper +springs of feeling in the heart. Let it not be supposed that our object is +to perpetuate national hostility, or even to cherish a mere military +spirit. It is higher, purer, nobler. We consecrate our work to the spirit +of national independence, and we wish that the light of peace may rest +upon it forever. We rear a memorial of our conviction of that unmeasured +benefit which has been conferred on our own land, and of the happy +influences which have been produced, by the same events, on the general +interests of mankind. We come, as Americans, to mark a spot which must +forever be dear to us and our posterity. We wish that whosoever, in all +coming time, shall turn his eye hither, may behold that the place is not +undistinguished where the first great battle of the Revolution was fought. +We wish that this structure may proclaim the magnitude and importance of +that event to every class and every age. We wish that infancy may learn +the purpose of its erection from maternal lips, and that weary and +withered age may behold it, and be solaced by the recollections which it +suggests. We wish that labor may look up here, and be proud, in the midst +of its toil. We wish that, in those days of disaster, which, as they come +upon all nations, must be expected to come upon us also, desponding +patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that the +foundations of our national power are still strong. We wish that this +column, rising towards heaven among the pointed spires of so many temples +dedicated to God, may contribute also to produce, in all minds, a pious +feeling of dependence and gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last +object to the sight of him who leaves his native shore, and the first to +gladden his who revisits it, may be something which shall remind him of +the liberty and the glory of his country. Let it rise! let it rise, till +it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest light of the morning gild +it, and parting day linger and play on its summit. + +We live in a most extraordinary age. Events so various and so important +that they might crowd and distinguish centuries are, in our times, +compressed within the compass of a single life. When has it happened that +history has had so much to record in the same term of years, as since the +17th of June, 1775? Our own Revolution, which, under other circumstances, +might itself have been expected to occasion a war of half a century, has +been achieved; twenty-four sovereign and independent States erected; and a +general government established over them, so safe, so wise, so free, so +practical, that we might well wonder its establishment should have been +accomplished so soon, were it not far the greater wonder that it should +have been established at all. Two or three millions of people have been +augmented to twelve, [3] the great forests of the West prostrated beneath +the arm of successful industry, and the dwellers on the banks of the Ohio +and the Mississippi become the fellow-citizens and neighbors of those who +cultivate the hills of New England. [4] We have a commerce, that leaves no +sea unexplored; navies, which take no law from superior force; revenues, +adequate to all the exigencies of government, almost without taxation; and +peace with all nations, founded on equal rights and mutual respect. + +Europe, within the same period, has been agitated by a mighty revolution, +which, while it has been felt in the individual condition and happiness of +almost every man, has shaken to the centre her political fabric, and +dashed against one another thrones which had stood tranquil for ages. On +this, our continent, our own example has been followed, and colonies have +sprung up to be nations. Unaccustomed sounds of liberty and free +government have reached us from beyond the track of the sun; and at this +moment the dominion of European power in this continent, from the place +where we stand to the south pole, is annihilated forever. + +In the mean time, both in Europe and America, such has been the general +progress of knowledge, such the improvement in legislation, in commerce, +in the arts, in letters, and, above all, in liberal ideas and the general +spirit of the age, that the whole world seems changed. + +Yet, notwithstanding that this is but a faint abstract of the things which +have happened since the day of the battle of Bunker Hill, we are but fifty +years removed from it; and we now stand here to enjoy all the blessings of +our own condition, and to look abroad on the brightened prospects of the +world, while we still have among us some of those who were active agents +in the scenes of 1775, and who are now here, from every quarter of New +England, to visit once more, and under circumstances so affecting, I had +almost said so overwhelming, this renowned theatre of their courage and +patriotism. + +VENERABLE MEN! you have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven +has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this +joyous day. You are now where you stood fifty years ago, this very hour, +with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder, in the strife +for your country. Behold, how altered! The same heavens are indeed over +your heads; the same ocean rolls at your feet; but all else, how changed! +You hear now no roar of hostile cannon, you see no mixed volumes of smoke +and flame rising from burning Charlestown. The ground strewed with the +dead and the dying; the impetuous charge; the steady and successful +repulse; the loud call to repeated assault; the summoning of all that is +manly to repeated resistance; a thousand bosoms freely and fearlessly +bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may be in war and death;-- +all these you have witnessed, but you witness them no more. All is peace. +The heights of yonder metropolis, its towers and roofs, which you then saw +filled with wives and children and countrymen in distress and terror, and +looking with unutterable emotions for the issue of the combat, have +presented you to-day with the sight of its whole happy population, come +out to welcome and greet you with a universal jubilee. Yonder proud ships, +by a felicity of position appropriately lying at the foot of this mount, +and seeming fondly to cling around it, are not means of annoyance to you, +but your country's own means of distinction and defence.[5] All is peace; +and God has granted you the sight of your country's happiness, ere you +slumber in the grave. He has allowed you to behold and to partake the +reward of your patriotic toils; and he has allowed us, your sons and +countrymen, to meet you here, and in the name of the present generation, +in the name of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you! [6] + +But, alas! you are not all here! Time and the sword have thinned your +ranks. Prescott, Putnam, Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge! our eyes +seek for you in vain amid this broken band. You are gathered to your +fathers, and live only to your country in her grateful remembrance and +your own bright example. But let us not too much grieve, that you have met +the common fate of men. You lived at least long enough to know that your +work had been nobly and successfully accomplished. You lived to see your +country's independence established, and to sheathe your swords from war. +On the light of Liberty you saw arise the light of Peace, like + + "another morn, + Risen on mid-noon"; [7] + +and the sky on which you closed your eyes was cloudless. + +But ah! Him! the first great martyr in this great cause! Him! the +premature victim of his own self-devoting heart! Him! the head of our +civil councils, and the destined leader of our military bands, whom +nothing brought hither but the unquenchable fire of his own spirit! Him! +cut off by Providence in the hour of overwhelming anxiety and thick gloom; +falling ere he saw the star of his country rise; pouring out his generous +blood like water, before he knew whether it would fertilize a land of +freedom or of bondage!--how shall I struggle with the emotions that stifle +the utterance of thy name! Our poor work may perish; but thine shall +endure! [8] + +This monument may moulder away; the solid ground it rests upon may sink +down to a level with the sea; but thy memory shall not fail! Wheresoever +among men a heart shall be found that beats to the transports of +patriotism and liberty, its aspirations shall be to claim kindred with thy +spirit! + +But the scene amidst which we stand does not permit us to confine our +thoughts or our sympathies to those fearless spirits who hazarded or lost +their lives on this consecrated spot. We have the happiness to rejoice +here in the presence of a most worthy representation of the survivors of +the whole Revolutionary army. + +Veterans! you are the remnant of many a well-fought field. You bring with +you marks of honor from Trenton and Monmouth, from Yorktown, Camden, +Bennington, and Saratoga. VETERANS OF HALF A CENTURY! when in your +youthful days you put everything at hazard in your country's cause, good +as that cause was, and sanguine as youth is, still your fondest hopes did +not stretch onward to an hour like this! At a period to which you could +not reasonably have expected to arrive, at a moment of national prosperity +such as you could never have foreseen, you are now met here to enjoy the +fellowship of old soldiers, and to receive the overflowings of a universal +gratitude. + +But your agitated countenances and your heaving breasts inform me that +even this is not an unmixed joy. I perceive that a tumult of contending +feeling rushes upon you. The images of the dead, as well as the persons of +the living, present themselves before you. The scene overwhelms you and I +turn from it. May the Father of all mercies smile upon your declining +years, and bless them! And when you shall here have exchanged your +embraces, when you shall once more have pressed the hands which have been +so often extended to give succor in adversity, or grasped in the +exultation of victory, then look abroad upon this lovely land which your +young valor defended, and mark the happiness with which it is filled; yea, +look abroad upon the whole earth, and see what a name you have contributed +to give to your country, and what a praise you have added to freedom, and +then rejoice in the sympathy and gratitude which beam upon your last days +from the improved condition of mankind! + +The occasion does not require of me any particular account of the battle +of the 17th of June, 1775, nor any detailed narrative of the events which +immediately preceded it. These are familiarly known to all. In the +progress of the great and interesting controversy, Massachusetts and the +town of Boston had become early and marked objects of the displeasure of +the British Parliament. This had been manifested in the act for altering +the government of the Province, and in that for shutting up the port of +Boston. Nothing sheds more honor on our early history, and nothing better +shows how little the feelings and sentiments of the Colonies were known or +regarded in England, than the impression which these measures everywhere +produced in America. [9] It had been anticipated, that, while the Colonies +in general would be terrified by the severity of the punishment inflicted +on Massachusetts, the other seaports would be governed by a mere spirit of +gain; and that, as Boston was now cut off from all commerce, the +unexpected advantage which this blow on her was calculated to confer on +other towns would be greedily enjoyed. How miserably such reasoners +deceived themselves! How little they knew of the depth, and the strength, +and the intenseness of that feeling of resistance to illegal acts of +power, which possessed the whole American people! Everywhere the unworthy +boon was rejected with scorn. The fortunate occasion was seized +everywhere, to show to the whole world that the Colonies were swayed by no +local interest, no partial interest, no selfish interest. The temptation +to profit by the punishment of Boston was strongest to our neighbors of +Salem. Yet Salem was precisely the place where this miserable proffer was +spurned, in a tone of the most lofty self-respect and the most indignant +patriotism. "We are deeply affected," said its inhabitants, "with the +sense of our public calamities; but the miseries that are now rapidly +hastening on our brethren in the capital of the Province greatly excite +our commiseration. By shutting up the port of Boston, some imagine that +the course of trade might be turned hither and to our benefit; but we must +be dead to every idea of justice, lost to all feelings of humanity, could +we indulge a thought to seize on wealth and raise our fortunes on the ruin +of our suffering neighbors." These noble sentiments were not confined to +our immediate vicinity. In that day of general affection and brotherhood, +the blow given to Boston smote on every patriotic heart from one end of +the country to the other. Virginia and the Carolinas, as well as +Connecticut and New Hampshire, felt and proclaimed the cause to be their +own. The Continental Congress, then holding its first session in +Philadelphia, expressed its sympathy for the suffering inhabitants of +Boston, and addresses were received from all quarters, assuring them that +the cause was a common one, and should be met by common efforts and common +sacrifices. The Congress of Massachusetts responded to these assurances; +and in an address to the Congress at Philadelphia, bearing the official +signature, perhaps among the last, of the immortal Warren, notwithstanding +the severity of its suffering and the magnitude of the dangers which +threatened it, it was declared, that this Colony "is ready, at all times, +to spend and to be spent in the cause of America." + +But the hour drew nigh which was to put professions to the proof, and to +determine whether the authors of these mutual pledges were ready to seal +them in blood. The tidings of Lexington and Concord had no sooner spread, +than it was universally felt that the time was at last come for action. A +spirit pervaded all ranks, not transient, not boisterous, but deep, +solemn, determined, + + "totamque infusa per artus + Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet." [10] + +War, on their own soil and at their own doors, was, indeed, a strange work +to the yeomanry of New England; but their consciences were convinced of +its necessity, their country called them to it, and they did not withhold +themselves from the perilous trial. The ordinary occupations of life were +abandoned; the plough was staid in the unfinished furrow; wives gave up +their husbands, and mothers gave up their sons, to the battles of a civil +war. Death might come, in honor, on the field; it might come, in disgrace, +on the scaffold. For either and for both they were prepared. The sentiment +of Quincy was full in their hearts. "Blandishments," said that +distinguished son of genius and patriotism, "will not fascinate us, nor +will threats of a halter intimidate; for, under God, we are determined +that, wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our +exit, we will die free men." + +The 17th of June saw the four New England Colonies standing here, side by +side, to triumph or to fall together; and there was with them from that +moment to the end of the war, what I hope will remain with them forever: +one cause, one country, one heart. + +The battle of Bunker Hill was attended with the most important effects +beyond its immediate results as a military engagement. It created at once +a state of open, public war. There could now be no longer a question of +proceeding against individuals, as guilty of treason or rebellion. That +fearful crisis was past. The appeal lay to the sword, and the only +question was, whether the spirit and the resources of the people would +hold out, till the object should be accomplished. Nor were its general +consequences confined to our own country. The previous proceedings of the +Colonies, their appeals, resolutions, and addresses, had made their cause +known to Europe. Without boasting, we may say, that in no age or country +has the public cause been maintained with more force of argument, more +power of illustration, or more of that persuasion which excited feeling +and elevated principle can alone bestow, than the Revolutionary state +papers exhibit. These papers will forever deserve to be studied, not only +for the spirit which they breathe, but for the ability with which they +were written. [11] + +To this able vindication of their cause, the Colonies had now added a +practical and severe proof of their own true devotion to it, and given +evidence also of the power which they could bring to its support. All now +saw, that if America fell, she would not fall without a struggle. Men felt +sympathy and regard, as well as surprise, when they beheld these infant +states, remote, unknown, unaided, encounter the power of England, and, in +the first considerable battle, leave more of their enemies dead on the +field, in proportion to the number of combatants, than had been recently +known to fall in the wars of Europe. + +Information of these events, circulating throughout the world, at length +reached the ears of one who now hears me.[12] + +He has not forgotten the emotion which the fame of Bunker Hill, and the +name of Warren, excited in his youthful breast. + +Sir, we are assembled to commemorate the establishment of great public +principles of liberty, and to do honor to the distinguished dead. The +occasion is too severe for eulogy of the living. But, Sir, your +interesting relation to this country, the peculiar circumstances which +surround you and surround us, call on me to express the happiness which we +derive from your presence and aid in this solemn commemoration. + +Fortunate, fortunate man! with what measure of devotion will you not thank +God for the circumstances of your extraordinary life! You are connected +with both hemispheres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain, +that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted, through you, from +the New World to the Old; and we, who are now here to perform this duty of +patriotism, have all of us long ago received it in charge from our fathers +to cherish your name and your virtues. You will account it an instance of +your good fortune, Sir, that you crossed the seas to visit us at a time +which enables you to be present at this solemnity. You now behold the +field, the renown of which reached you in the heart of France, and caused +a thrill in your ardent bosom. You see the lines of the little redoubt +thrown up by the incredible diligence of Prescott; defended, to the last +extremity, by his lion-hearted valor; and within which the corner-stone of +our monument has now taken its position. You see where Warren fell, and +where Parker, Gardner, McCleary, Moore, and other early patriots, fell +with him. Those who survived that day, and whose lives have been prolonged +to the present hour, are now around you. Some of them you have known in +the trying scenes of the war. Behold! they now stretch forth their feeble +arms to embrace you. Behold! they raise their trembling voices to invoke +the blessing of God on you and yours forever! + +Sir, you have assisted us in laying the foundation of this structure. You +have heard us rehearse, with our feeble commendation, the names of +departed patriots. Monuments and eulogy belong to the dead. We give them +this day to Warren and his associates. On other occasions they have been +given to your more immediate companions in arms, to Washington, to Greene, +to Gates, to Sullivan, and to Lincoln. We have become reluctant to grant +these, our highest and last honors, further. We would gladly hold them yet +back from the little remnant of that immortal band. _Serus in coelum +redeas_. Illustrious as are your merits, yet far, O very far distant be +the day, when any inscription shall bear your name, or any tongue +pronounce its eulogy! + +The leading reflection to which this occasion seems to invite us, respects +the great changes which have happened in the fifty years since the battle +of Bunker Hill was fought. And it peculiarly marks the character of the +present age, that, in looking at these changes, and in estimating their +effect on our condition, we are obliged to consider, not what has been +done in our own country only, but in others also. In these interesting +times, while nations are making separate and individual advances in +improvement, they make, too, a common progress; like vessels on a common +tide, propelled by the gales at different rates, according to their +several structure and management, but all moved forward by one mighty +current, strong enough to bear onward whatever does not sink beneath it. + +A chief distinction of the present day is a community of opinions and +knowledge amongst men in different nations, existing in a degree +heretofore unknown. Knowledge has, in our time, triumphed, and is +triumphing, over distance, over difference of languages, over diversity of +habits, over prejudice, and over bigotry. The civilized and Christian +world is fast learning the great lesson, that difference of nation does +not imply necessary hostility, and that all contact need not be war. The +whole world is becoming a common field for intellect to act in. Energy of +mind, genius, power, wheresoever it exists, may speak out in any tongue, +and the _world_ will hear it. A great cord of sentiment and feeling +runs through two continents, and vibrates over both. Every breeze wafts +intelligence from country to country; every wave rolls it; all give it +forth, and all in turn receive it. There is a vast commerce of ideas; +there are marts and exchanges for intellectual discoveries, and a +wonderful fellowship of those individual intelligences which make up the +mind and opinion of the age. Mind is the great lever of all things; human +thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered; and +the diffusion of knowledge, so astonishing in the last half-century, has +rendered innumerable minds, variously gifted by nature, competent to be +competitors or fellow-workers on the theatre of intellectual operation. + +From these causes important improvements have taken place in the personal +condition of individuals. Generally speaking, mankind are not only better +fed and better clothed, but they are able also to enjoy more leisure; they +possess more refinement and more self-respect. A superior tone of +education, manners, and habits prevails. This remark, most true in its +application to our own country, is also partly true when applied +elsewhere. It is proved by the vastly augmented consumption of those +articles of manufacture and of commerce which contribute to the comforts +and the decencies of life; an augmentation which has far outrun the +progress of population. And while the unexampled and almost incredible use +of machinery would seem to supply the place of labor, labor still finds +its occupation and its reward; so wisely has Providence adjusted men's +wants and desires to their condition and their capacity. + +Any adequate survey, however, of the progress made during the last half- +century in the polite and the mechanic arts, in machinery and +manufactures, in commerce and agriculture, in letters and in science, +would require volumes. I must abstain wholly from these subjects, and turn +for a moment to the contemplation of what has been done on the great +question of politics and government. This is the master topic of the age; +and during the whole fifty years it has intensely occupied the thoughts of +men. The nature of civil government, its ends and uses, have been +canvassed and investigated; ancient opinions attacked and defended; new +ideas recommended and resisted, by whatever power the mind of man could +bring to the controversy. From the closet and the public halls the debate +has been transferred to the field; and the world has been shaken by wars +of unexampled magnitude, and the greatest variety of fortune. A day of +peace has at length succeeded; and now that the strife has subsided, and +the smoke cleared away, we may begin to see what has actually been done, +permanently changing the state and condition of human society. And, +without dwelling on particular circumstances, it is most apparent, that, +from the before-mentioned causes of augmented knowledge and improved +individual condition, a real, substantial, and important change has taken +place, and is taking place, highly favorable, on the whole, to human +liberty and human happiness. + +The great wheel of political revolution began to move in America. Here its +rotation was guarded, regular, and safe. Transferred to the other +continent, from unfortunate but natural causes, it received an irregular +and violent impulse; it whirled along with a fearful celerity; till at +length, like the chariot-wheels in the races of antiquity, it took fire +from the rapidity of its own motion, and blazed onward, spreading +conflagration and terror around. + +We learn from the result of this experiment, how fortunate was our own +condition, and how admirably the character of our people was calculated +for setting the great example of popular governments. The possession of +power did not turn the heads of the American people, for they had long +been in the habit of exercising a great degree of self-control. Although +the paramount authority of the parent state existed over them, yet a large +field of legislation had always been open to our Colonial assemblies. They +were accustomed to representative bodies and the forms of free government; +they understood the doctrine of the division of power among different +branches, and the necessity of checks on each. The character of our +countrymen, moreover, was sober, moral, and religious; and there was +little in the change to shock their feelings of justice and humanity, or +even to disturb an honest prejudice. We had no domestic throne to +overturn, no privileged orders to cast down, no violent changes of +property to encounter. In the American Revolution, no man sought or wished +for more than to defend and enjoy his own. None hoped for plunder or for +spoil. Rapacity was unknown to it; the axe was not among the instruments +of its accomplishment; and we all know that it could not have lived a +single day under any well-founded imputation of possessing a tendency +adverse to the Christian religion. + +It need not surprise us, that, under circumstances less auspicious, +political revolutions elsewhere, even when well intended, have terminated +differently. It is, indeed, a great achievement, it is the master-work of +the world, to establish governments entirely popular on lasting +foundations; nor is it easy, indeed, to introduce the popular principle at +all into governments to which it has been altogether a stranger. It cannot +be doubted, however, that Europe has come out of the contest, in which she +has been so long engaged, with greatly superior knowledge, and, in many +respects, in a highly improved condition. Whatever benefit has been +acquired is likely to be retained, for it consists mainly in the +acquisition of more enlightened ideas. And although kingdoms and provinces +may be wrested from the hands that hold them, in the same manner they were +obtained; although ordinary and vulgar power may, in human affairs, be +lost as it has been won; yet it is the glorious prerogative of the empire +of knowledge, that what it gains it never loses. On the contrary, it +increases by the multiple of its own power; all its ends become means; all +its attainments, helps to new conquests. Its whole abundant harvest is but +so much seed wheat, and nothing has limited, and nothing can limit, the +amount of ultimate product. + +Under the influence of this rapidly increasing knowledge, the people have +begun, in forms of government, to think and to reason, on affairs of +state. Regarding government as an institution for the public good, they +demand a knowledge of its operations, and a participation in its exercise. +A call for the representative system, wherever it is not enjoyed, and +where there is already intelligence enough to estimate its value, is +perseveringly made. Where men may speak out, they demand it; where the +bayonet is at their throats, they pray for it. + +When Louis the Fourteenth said: "I am the state," he expressed the essence +of the doctrine of unlimited power. By the rules of that system, the +people are disconnected from the state; they are its subjects; it is their +lord. These ideas, founded in the love of power, and long supported by the +excess and the abuse of it, are yielding, in our age, to other opinions; +and the civilized world seems at last to be proceeding to the conviction +of that fundamental and manifest truth, that the powers of government are +but a trust, and that they cannot be lawfully exercised but for the good +of the community. As knowledge is more and more extended, this conviction +becomes more and more general. Knowledge, in truth, is the great sun in +the firmament. Life and power are scattered with all its beams. The prayer +of the Grecian champion, when enveloped in unnatural clouds and darkness, +is the appropriate political supplication for the people of every country +not yet blessed with free institutions:-- + + "Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore, + Give me TO SEE,--and Ajax asks no more." [13] + +We may hope that the glowing influence of enlightened sentiment will +promote the permanent peace of the world. Wars to maintain family +alliances, to uphold or to cast down dynasties, and to regulate +successions to thrones, which have occupied so much room in the history of +modern times, if not less likely to happen at all, will be less likely to +become general and involve many nations, as the great principle shall be +more and more established, that the interest of the world is peace, and +its first great statute, that every nation possesses the power of +establishing a government for itself. But public opinion has attained also +an influence over governments which do not admit the popular principle +into their organization. A necessary respect for the judgment of the world +operates, in some measure, as a control over the most unlimited forms of +authority. It is owing, perhaps, to this truth, that the interesting +struggle of the Greeks has been suffered to go on so long, without a +direct interference, either to wrest that country from its present +masters, or to execute the system of pacification by force, and, with +united strength, lay the neck of Christian and civilized Greek at the foot +of the barbarian Turk. [14] Let us thank God that we live in an age when +something has influence besides the bayonet, and when the sternest +authority does not venture to encounter the scorching power of public +reproach. Any attempt of the kind I have mentioned should be met by one +universal burst of indignation; the air of the civilized world ought to be +made too warm to be comfortably breathed by any one who would hazard it. + +It is, indeed, a touching reflection, that, while, in the fulness of our +country's happiness, we rear this monument to her honor, we look for +instruction in our undertaking to a country which is now in fearful +contest, not for works of art or memorials of glory, but for her own +existence. Let her be assured that she is not forgotten in the world; that +her efforts are applauded, and that constant prayers ascend for her +success. And let us cherish a confident hope for her final triumph. If the +true spark of religious and civil liberty be kindled, it will burn. Human +agency cannot extinguish it. Like the earth's central fire, it may be +smothered for a time; the ocean may overwhelm it; mountains may press it +down; but its inherent and unconquerable force will heave both the ocean +and the land, and at some time or other, in some place or other, the +volcano will break out and flame up to heaven. + +Among the great events of the half-century, we must reckon, certainly, the +revolution of South America; and we are not likely to overrate the +importance of that revolution, either to the people of the country itself +or to the rest of the world. The late Spanish colonies, now independent +states, under circumstances less favorable, doubtless, than attended our +own revolution, have yet successfully commenced their national existence. +They have accomplished the great object of establishing their +independence; they are known and acknowledged in the world; and although +in regard to their systems of government, their sentiments on religious +toleration, and their provisions for public instruction, they may have yet +much to learn, it must be admitted that they have risen to the condition +of settled and established states more rapidly than could have been +reasonably anticipated. They already furnish an exhilarating example of +the difference between free governments and despotic misrule. Their +commerce, at this moment, creates a new activity in all the great marts of +the world. They show themselves able, by an exchange of commodities, to +bear a useful part in the intercourse of nations. + +A new spirit of enterprise and industry begins to prevail; all the great +interests of society receive a salutary impulse; and the progress of +information not only testifies to an improved condition, but itself +constitutes the highest and most essential improvement. + +When the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought, the existence of South America +was scarcely felt in the civilized world. The thirteen little Colonies of +North America habitually called themselves the "Continent." Borne down by +colonial subjugation, monopoly, and bigotry, these vast regions of the +South were hardly visible above the horizon. But in our day there has +been, as it were, a new creation. The southern hemisphere emerges from the +sea. Its lofty mountains begin to lift themselves into the light of +heaven; its broad and fertile plains stretch out, in beauty, to the eye of +civilized man, and at the mighty bidding of the voice of political liberty +the waters of darkness retire. + +And now, let us indulge an honest exultation in the conviction of the +benefit which the example of our country has produced, and is likely to +produce, on human freedom and human happiness. Let us endeavor to +comprehend in all its magnitude, and to feel in all its importance, the +part assigned to us in the great drama of human affairs. We are placed at +the head of the system of representative and popular governments. Thus far +our example shows that such governments are compatible, not only with +respectability and power, but with repose, with peace, with security of +personal rights, with good laws, and a just administration. + +We are not propagandists. Wherever other systems are preferred, either as +being thought better in themselves, or as better suited to existing +condition, we leave the preference to be enjoyed. Our history hitherto +proves, however, that the popular form is practicable, and that with +wisdom and knowledge men may govern themselves; and the duty incumbent on +us is, to preserve the consistency of this cheering example, and take care +that nothing may weaken its authority with the world. If, in our case, the +representative system ultimately fail, popular governments must be +pronounced impossible. No combination of circumstances more favorable to +the experiment can ever be expected to occur. The last hopes of mankind, +therefore, rest with us; and if it should be proclaimed, that our example +had become an argument against the experiment, the knell of popular +liberty would be sounded throughout the earth. + +These are excitements to duty; but they are not suggestions of doubt. Our +history and our condition, all that is gone before us, and all that +surrounds us, authorize the belief, that popular governments, though +subject to occasional variations, in form perhaps not always for the +better, may yet, in their general character, be as durable and permanent +as other systems. We know, indeed, that in our country any other is +impossible. The _principle_ of free governments adheres to the +American soil. It is bedded in it, immovable as its mountains. + +And let the sacred obligations which have devolved on this generation, and +on us, sink deep into our hearts. Those who established our liberty and +our government are daily dropping from among us. The great trust now +descends to new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that which is presented +to us, as our appropriate object. We can win no laurels in a war for +independence. Earlier and worthier hands have gathered them all. Nor are +there places for us by the side of Solon, and Alfred, and other founders +of states. Our fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a great +duty of defence and preservation; and there is opened to us, also, a noble +pursuit, to which the spirit of the times strongly invites us. Our proper +business is improvement. Let our age be the age of improvement. In a day +of peace, let us advance the arts of peace and the works of peace. Let us +develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its +institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in +our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered. +Let us cultivate a true spirit of union and harmony. In pursuing the great +objects which our condition points out to us, let us act under a settled +conviction, and an habitual feeling, that these twenty-four States are one +country. Let our conceptions be enlarged to the circle of our duties. Let +us extend our ideas over the whole of the vast field in which we are +called to act. Let our object be, OUR COUNTRY, OUR WHOLE COUNTRY, AND +NOTHING BUT OUR COUNTRY. And, by the blessing of God, may that country +itself become a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, +but of Wisdom, of Peace, and of Liberty, upon which the world may gaze +with admiration forever! + + + + +The Reply to Hayne. + + + +Mr. President,--When the mariner has been tossed for many days in thick +weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the first +pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, +and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from his true course. +Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float farther on the waves of +this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at +least be able to conjecture where we now are. I ask for the reading of the +resolution before the Senate. [1] + +The Secretary read the resolution, as follows:-- + +"Resolved, That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to inquire and +report the quantity of public lands remaining unsold within each State and +Territory, and whether it be expedient to limit for a certain period the +sales of the public lands to such lands only as have heretofore been +offered for sale, and are now subject to entry at the minimum price. And, +also, whether the office of Surveyor-General, and some of the land +offices, may not be abolished without detriment to the public interest; or +whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten the sales and extend +more rapidly the surveys of the public lands." + +We have thus heard, Sir, what the resolution is which is actually before +us for consideration; and it will readily occur to every one, that it is +almost the only subject about which something has not been said in the +speech, running through two days, by which the Senate has been entertained +by the gentleman from South Carolina. Every topic in the wide range of our +public affairs, whether past or present,--every thing, general or local, +whether belonging to national politics or party politics,--seems to have +attracted more or less of the honorable member's attention, save only the +resolution before the Senate. He has spoken of every thing but the public +lands; they have escaped his notice. To that subject, in all his +excursions, he has not paid even the cold respect of a passing glance. + +When this debate, Sir, was to be resumed, on Thursday morning, it so +happened that it would have been convenient for me to be elsewhere. The +honorable member, however, did not incline to put off the discussion to +another day. He had a shot, he said, to return, and he wished to discharge +it. That shot, Sir, which he thus kindly informed us was coming, that we +might stand out of the way, or prepare ourselves to fall by it and die +with decency, has now been received. Under all advantages, and with +expectation awakened by the tone which preceded it, it has been +discharged, and has spent its force. It may become me to say no more of +its effect, than that, if nobody is found, after all, either killed or +wounded, it is not the first time, in the history of human affairs, that +the vigor and success of the war have not quite come up to the lofty and +sounding phrase of the manifesto. [2] + +The gentleman, Sir, in declining to postpone the debate, told the Senate, +with the emphasis of his hand upon his heart, that there was something +rankling _here_, which he wished to relieve. [Mr. Hayne rose, and +disclaimed having used the word _rankling_.] It would not, Mr. +President, be safe for the honorable member to appeal to those around him, +upon the question whether he did in fact make use of that word. But he may +have been unconscious of it. At any rate, it is enough that he disclaims +it. But still, with or without the use of that particular word, he had yet +something _here_, he said, of which he wished to rid himself by an +immediate reply. In this respect, Sir, I have a great advantage over the +honorable gentleman. There is nothing _here_, Sir, which gives me the +slightest uneasiness; neither fear, nor anger, nor that which is sometimes +more troublesome than either, the consciousness of having been in the +wrong. There is nothing, either originating _here_, or now received +_here_ by the gentleman's shot. Nothing originating here, for I had +not the slightest feeling of unkindness towards the honorable member. Some +passages, it is true, had occurred since our acquaintance in this body, +which I could have wished might have been otherwise; but I had used +philosophy and forgotten them. I paid the honorable member the attention +of listening with respect to his first speech; and when he sat down, +though surprised, and I must even say astonished, at some of his opinions, +nothing was farther from my intention than to commence any personal +warfare. Through the whole of the few remarks I made in answer, I avoided, +studiously and carefully, every thing which I thought possible to be +construed into disrespect. And, Sir, while there is thus nothing +originating _here_ which I have wished at any time, or now wish, to +discharge, I must repeat, also, that nothing has been received _here_ +which _rankles_, or in any way gives me annoyance. I will not accuse +the honorable member of violating the rules of civilized war; I will not +say, that he poisoned his arrows. But whether his shafts were, or were +not, dipped in that which would have caused rankling if they had reached +their destination, there was not, as it happened, quite strength enough in +the bow to bring them to their mark. If he wishes now to gather up those +shafts, he must look for them elsewhere; they will not be found fixed and +quivering in the object at which they were aimed. [3] + +The honorable member complained that I had slept on his speech. I must +have slept on it, or not slept at all. The moment the honorable member sat +down, his friend from Missouri rose, [4] and, with much honeyed +commendation of the speech, suggested that the impressions which it had +produced were too charming and delightful to be disturbed by other +sentiments or other sounds, and proposed that the Senate should adjourn. +Would it have been quite amiable in me, Sir, to interrupt this excellent +good feeling? Must I not have been absolutely malicious, is; I could have +thrust myself forward, to destroy sensations thus pleasing? Was it not +much better and kinder, both to sleep upon them myself, and to allow +others also the pleasure of sleeping upon them? But if it be meant, by +sleeping upon his speech, that I took time to prepare a reply to it, it is +quite a mistake. Owing to other engagements, I could not employ even the +interval between the adjournment of the Senate and its meeting the next +morning, in attention to the subject of this debate. [5] Nevertheless, +Sir, the mere matter of fact is undoubtedly true. I did sleep on the +gentleman's speech, and slept soundly. And I slept equally well on his +speech of yesterday, to which I am now replying. It is quite possible that +in this respect, also, I possess some advantage over the honorable member, +attributable, doubtless, to a cooler temperament on my part; for, in +truth, I slept upon his speeches remarkably well. + +But the gentleman inquires why _he_ was made the object of such a +reply. Why was _he_ singled out? If an attack has been made on the +East, he, he assures us, did not begin it; it was made by the gentleman +from Missouri. Sir, I answered the gentleman's speech because I happened +to hear it; and because, also, I chose to give an answer to that speech, +which, if unanswered, I thought most likely to produce injurious +impressions. I did not stop to inquire who was the original drawer of the +bill. I found a responsible indorser before me, and it was my purpose to +hold him liable, and to bring him to his just responsibility, without +delay. But, Sir, this interrogatory of the honorable member was only +introductory to another. He proceeded to ask me whether I had turned upon +him, in this debate, from the consciousness that I should find an +overmatch, if I ventured on a contest with his friend from Missouri. If, +Sir, the honorable member, _modestiae gratia_, had chosen thus to +defer to his friend, and to pay him a compliment, without intentional +disparagement to others, it would have been quite according to the +friendly courtesies of debate, and not at all ungrateful to my own +feelings. I am not one of those, Sir, who esteem any tribute of regard, +whether light and occasional, or more serious and deliberate, which may be +bestowed on others, as so much unjustly withholden from themselves. But +the tone and manner of the gentleman's question forbid me thus to +interpret it. I am not at liberty to consider it as nothing more than a +civility to his friend. It had an air of taunt and disparagement, +something of the loftiness of asserted superiority, which does not allow +me to pass it over without notice. It was put as a question for me to +answer, and so put as if it were difficult for me to answer, whether I +deemed the member from Missouri an overmatch for myself in debate here. It +seems to me, Sir, that this is extraordinary language, and an +extraordinary tone, for the discussions of this body. + +Matches and overmatches! Those terms are more applicable elsewhere than +here, and fitter for other assemblies than this. Sir, the gentleman seems +to forget where and what we are. This is a Senate, a Senate of equals, of +men of individual honor and personal character, and of absolute +independence. We know no masters, we acknowledge no dictators. This is a +hall for mutual consultation and discussion; not an arena for the +exhibition of champions. I offer myself, Sir, as a match for no man; I +throw the challenge of debate at no man's feet. But then, Sir, since the +honorable member has put the question in a manner that calls for an +answer, I will give him an answer; and I tell him, that, holding myself to +be the humblest of the members here, I yet know nothing in the arm of his +friend from Missouri, either alone or when aided by the arm of _his_ +friend from South Carolina, that need deter even me from espousing +whatever opinions I may choose to espouse, from debating whenever I may +choose to debate, or from speaking whatever I may see fit to say, on the +floor of the Senate. Sir, when uttered as matter of commendation or +compliment, I should dissent from nothing which the honorable member might +say of his friend. Still less do I put forth any pretensions of my own. +But when put to me as matter of taunt, I throw it back, and say to the +gentleman, that he could possibly say nothing less [6] likely than such a +comparison to wound my pride of personal character. The anger of its tone +rescued the remark from intentional irony, which otherwise, probably, +would have been its general acceptation. But, Sir, if it be imagined that +by this mutual quotation and commendation; if it be supposed that, by +casting the characters of the drama, assigning to each his part, to one +the attack, to another the cry of onset; or if it be thought that, by a +loud and empty vaunt of anticipated victory, any laurels are to be won +here; if it be imagined, especially, that any or all these things will +shake any purpose of mine,--I can tell the honorable member, once for all, +that he is greatly mistaken, and that he is dealing with one of whose +temper and character he has yet much to learn. Sir, I shall not allow +myself, on this occasion, I hope on no occasion, to be betrayed into any +loss of temper; but if provoked, as I trust I never shall be, into +crimination and recrimination, the honorable member may perhaps find, +that, in that contest, there will be blows to take as well as blows to +give; that others can state comparisons as significant, at least, as his +own, and that his impunity may possibly demand of him whatever powers of +taunt and sarcasm he may possess. I commend him to a prudent husbandry of +his resources. + +But, Sir, the Coalition! [7] The Coalition! Ay, "the murdered Coalition!" +The gentleman asks, if I were led or frighted into this debate by the +spectre of the Coalition. "Was it the ghost of the murdered Coalition," he +exclaims, "which haunted the member from Massachusetts; and which, like +the ghost of Banquo, would never down?" + +"The murdered Coalition!" Sir, this charge of a coalition, in reference to +the late administration, is not original with the honorable member. It did +not spring up in the Senate. Whether as a fact, as an argument, or as an +embellishment, it is all borrowed. He adopts it, indeed, from a very low +origin, and a still lower present condition. It is one of the thousand +calumnies with which the press teemed, during an excited political +canvass. It was a charge, of which there was not only no proof or +probability, but which was in itself wholly impossible to be true. No man +of common information ever believed a syllable of it. Yet it was of that +class of falsehoods, which, by continued repetition, through all the +organs of detraction and abuse, are capable of misleading those who are +already far misled, and of further fanning passion already kindling into +flame. Doubtless it served in its day, and in greater or less degree, the +end designed by it. Having done that, it has sunk into the general mass of +stale and loathed calumnies. It is the very cast-off slough of a polluted +and shameless press. Incapable of further mischief, it lies in the sewer, +lifeless and despised. It is not now, Sir, in the power of the honorable +member to give it dignity or decency, by attempting to elevate it, and to +introduce it into the Senate. He cannot change it from what it is, an +object of general disgust and scorn. On the contrary, the contact, if he +choose to touch it, is more likely to drag him down, down, to the place +where it lies itself. + +But, Sir, the honorable member was not, for other reasons, entirely happy +in his allusion to the story of Banquo's murder and Banquo's ghost. It was +not, I think, the friends, but the enemies of the murdered Banquo, at +whose bidding his spirit would not _down_. The honorable gentleman is +fresh in his reading of the English classics, and can put me right if I am +wrong; but, according to my poor recollection, it was at those who had +begun with caresses and ended with foul and treacherous murder that the +gory locks were shaken. The ghost of Banquo, like that of Hamlet, was an +honest ghost. It disturbed no innocent man. It knew where its appearance +would strike terror, and who would cry out, A ghost! It made itself +visible in the right quarter, and compelled the guilty and the conscience- +smitten, and none others, to start, with, + + "Pr'ythee, see there! behold!--look! lo, + If I stand here, I saw him!" + +Their eyeballs were seared (was it not so, Sir?) who had thought to shield +themselves by concealing their own hand, and laying the imputation of the +crime on a low and hireling agency in wickedness; who had vainly attempted +to stifle the workings of their own coward consciences by ejaculating +through white lips and chattering teeth, "Thou canst not say I did it!" I +have misread the great poet if those who had no way partaken in the deed +of the death, either found that they were, or _feared that they should +be_, pushed from their stools by the ghost of the slain, or exclaimed +to a spectre created by their own fears and their own remorse, "Avaunt! +and quit our sight!" + +There is another particular, Sir, in which the honorable member's quick +perception of resemblances might, I should think, have seen something in +the story of Banquo, making it not altogether a subject of the most +pleasant contemplation. Those who murdered Banquo, what did they win by +it? Substantial good? Permanent power? Or disappointment, rather, and sore +mortification,--dust and ashes, the common fate of vaulting ambition +overleaping itself? Did not even-handed justice erelong commend the +poisoned chalice to their own lips? Did they not soon find that for +another they had "filed their mind"? that their ambition, though +apparently for the moment successful, had but put a barren sceptre in +their grasp? [8] Ay, Sir, + + "a barren sceptre in their gripe, + _Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, + No son of theirs succeeding_." + +Sir, I need pursue the allusion no farther. I leave the honorable +gentleman to run it out at his leisure, and to derive from it all the +gratification it is calculated to administer. If he finds himself pleased +with the associations, and prepared to be quite satisfied, though the +parallel should be entirely completed, I had almost said, I am satisfied +also; but that I shall think of. Yes, Sir, I will think of that. + +In the course of my observations the other day, Mr. President, I paid a +passing tribute of respect to a very worthy man, Mr. Dane of +Massachusetts. It so happened that he drew the Ordinance of 1787, for the +government of the Northwestern Territory. A man of so much ability, and so +little pretence; of so great a capacity to do good, and so unmixed a +disposition to do it for its own sake; a gentleman who had acted an +important part, forty years ago, in a measure the influence of which is +still deeply felt in the very matter which was the subject of debate,-- +might, I thought, receive from me a commendatory recognition. But the +honorable member was inclined to be facetious on the subject. He was +rather disposed to make it matter of ridicule, that I had introduced into +the debate the name of one Nathan Dane, of whom he assures us he had never +before heard. Sir, if the honorable member had never before heard of Mr. +Dane, I am sorry for it. It shows him less acquainted with the public men +of the country than I had supposed. Let me tell him, however, that a sneer +from him at the mention of the name of Mr. Dane is in bad taste. It may +well be a high mark of ambition, Sir, either with the honorable gentleman +or myself, to accomplish as much to make our names known to advantage, and +remembered with gratitude, as Mr. Dane has accomplished. But the truth is, +Sir, I suspect, that Mr. Dane lives a little too far north. He is of +Massachusetts, and too near the north star to be reached by the honorable +gentleman's telescope. If his sphere had happened to range south of Mason +and Dixon's line, he might, probably, have come within the scope of his +vision. + +I spoke, Sir, of the Ordinance of 1787, which prohibits slavery, in all +future times, northwest of the Ohio, as a measure of great wisdom and +foresight, and one which had been attended with highly beneficial and +permanent consequences. I supposed that, on this point, no two gentlemen +in the Senate could entertain different opinions. But the simple +expression of this sentiment has led the gentleman, not only into a +labored defence of slavery, in the abstract, and on principle, but also +into a warm accusation against me, as having attacked the system of +domestic slavery now existing in the Southern States. For all this, there +was not the slightest foundation, in anything said or intimated by me. I +did not utter a single word which any ingenuity could torture into an +attack on the slavery of the South. I said, only, that it was highly wise +and useful, in legislating for the Northwestern country while it was yet a +wilderness, to prohibit the introduction of slaves; and I added, that I +presumed there was no reflecting and intelligent person, in the +neighboring State of Kentucky, who would doubt that, if the same +prohibition had been extended, at the same early period, over that +commonwealth, her strength and population would, at this day, have been +far greater than they are. If these opinions be thought doubtful, they are +nevertheless, I trust, neither extraordinary nor disrespectful. They +attack nobody and menace nobody. And yet, Sir, the gentleman's optics have +discovered, even in the mere expression of this sentiment, what he calls +the very spirit of the Missouri question! [9] He represents me as making +an onset on the whole South, and manifesting a spirit which would +interfere with, and disturb, their domestic condition! + +Sir, this injustice no otherwise surprises me, than as it is committed +here, and committed without the slightest pretence of ground for it. I say +it only surprises me as being done here; for I know full well, that it is, +and has been, the settled policy of some persons in the South, for years, +to represent the people of the North as disposed to interfere with them in +their own exclusive and peculiar concerns. This is a delicate and +sensitive point in Southern feeling; and of late years it has always been +touched, and generally with effect, whenever the object has been to unite +the whole South against Northern men or Northern measures. This feeling, +always carefully kept alive, and maintained at too intense a heat to admit +discrimination or reflection, is a lever of great power in our political +machine. It moves vast bodies, and gives to them one and the same +direction. But it is without adequate cause, and the suspicion which +exists is wholly groundless. There is not, and never has been, a +disposition in the North to interfere with these interests of the South. +Such interference has never been supposed to be within the power of +government; nor has it been in any way attempted. The slavery of the South +has always been regarded as a matter of domestic policy, left with the +States themselves, and with which the Federal government had nothing to +do. Certainly, Sir, I am, and ever have been, of that opinion. The +gentleman, indeed, argues that slavery, in the abstract, is no evil. Most +assuredly I need not say I differ with him, altogether and most widely, on +that point. I regard domestic slavery as one of the greatest evils, both +moral and political. But whether it be a malady, and whether it be +curable, and if so, by what means; or, on the other hand, whether it be +the _vulnus immedicabile_ of the social system, I leave it to those +whose right and duty it is to inquire and to decide. And this I believe, +Sir, is, and uniformly has been, the sentiment of the North. + +When it became necessary, or was thought so, by some political persons, to +find an unvarying ground for the exclusion of Northern men from confidence +and from lead in the affairs of the republic, then, and not till then, the +cry was raised, and the feeling industriously excited, that the influence +of Northern men in the public counsels would endanger the relation of +master and slave. For myself, I claim no other merit than that this gross +and enormous injustice towards the whole North has not wrought upon me to +change my opinions or my political conduct. I hope I am above violating my +principles, even under the smart of injury and false imputations. Unjust +suspicions and undeserved reproach, whatever pain I may experience from +them, will not induce me, I trust, to overstep the limits of +constitutional duty, or to encroach on the rights of others. The domestic +slavery of the Southern States I leave where I find it,--in the hands of +their own governments. It is their affair, not mine. Nor do I complain of +the peculiar effect which the magnitude of that population has had in the +distribution of power under this Federal government. We know, Sir, that +the representation of the States in the other house is not equal. We know +that great advantage in that respect is enjoyed by the slave-holding +States; and we know, too, that the intended equivalent for that advantage, +that is to say, the imposition of direct taxes in the same ratio, has +become merely nominal, the habit of the government being almost invariably +to collect its revenue from other sources and in other modes. +Nevertheless, I do not complain; nor would I countenance any movement to +alter this arrangement of representation. It is the original bargain, the +compact; let it stand; let the advantage of it be fully enjoyed. The Union +itself is too full of benefit to be hazarded in propositions for changing +its original basis. I go for the Constitution as it is, and for the Union +as it is. But I am resolved not to submit in silence to accusations, +either against myself individually or against the North, wholly unfounded +and unjust,--accusations which impute to us a disposition to evade the +constitutional compact, and to extend the power of the government over the +internal laws and domestic condition of the States. All such accusations, +wherever and whenever made, all insinuations of the existence of any such +purposes, I know and feel to be groundless and injurious. And we must +confide in Southern gentlemen themselves; we must trust to those whose +integrity of heart and magnanimity of feeling will lead them to a desire +to maintain and disseminate truth, and who possess the means of its +diffusion with the Southern public; we must leave it to them to disabuse +that public of its prejudices. But in the mean time, for my own part, I +shall continue to act justly, whether those towards whom justice is +exercised receive it with candor or with contumely. + +Having had occasion to recur to the Ordinance of 1787, in order to defend +myself against the inferences which the honorable member has chosen to +draw from my former observations on that subject, I am not willing now +entirely to take leave of it without another remark. It need hardly be +said, that that paper expresses just sentiments on the great subject of +civil and religious liberty. Such sentiments were common, and abound in +all our state papers of that day. But this Ordinance did that which was +not so common, and which is not even now universal; that is, it set forth +and declared it to be a high and binding duty of government itself to +support schools and advance the means of education, on the plain reason +that religion, morality, and knowledge are necessary to good government, +and to the happiness of mankind. One observation further. The important +provision incorporated into the Constitution of the United States, and +into several of those of the States, and recently, as we have seen, +adopted into the reformed constitution of Virginia, restraining +legislative power in questions of private right, and from impairing the +obligation of contracts, is first introduced and established, as far as I +am informed, as matter of express written constitutional law, in this +Ordinance of 1787. And I must add, also, in regard to the author of the +Ordinance, who has not had the happiness to attract the gentleman's notice +heretofore, nor to avoid his sarcasm now, that he was chairman of that +select committee of the old Congress, whose report first expressed the +strong sense of that body, that the old Confederation was not adequate to +the exigencies of the country, and recommended to the States to send +delegates to the convention which formed the present Constitution. + +An attempt has been made to transfer from the North to the South the honor +of this exclusion of slavery from the Northwestern Territory. The journal, +without argument or comment, refutes such attempts. The cession by +Virginia was made in March, 1784. On the 19th of April following, a +committee, consisting of Messrs. Jefferson, Chase, and Howell, reported a +plan for a temporary government of the territory, in which was this +article: "That, after the year 1800, there shall be neither slavery nor +involuntary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in +punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been convicted." Mr. +Spaight of North Carolina moved to strike out this paragraph. The question +was put, according to the form then practised, "Shall these words stand as +a part of the plan?" New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, +Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, seven States, voted +in the affirmative; Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina, in the +negative. North Carolina was divided. As the consent of nine States was +necessary, the words could not stand, and were struck out accordingly. Mr. +Jefferson voted for the clause, but was overruled by his colleagues. + +In March of the next year (1785), Mr. King of Massachusetts, seconded by +Mr. Ellery of Rhode Island, proposed the formerly rejected article, with +this addition: "And that this regulation shall be an article of compact, +and remain a fundamental principle of the constitutions between the +thirteen original States, and each of the States described in the +resolve." On this clause, which provided the adequate and thorough +security, the eight Northern States at that time voted affirmatively, and +the four Southern States negatively. The votes of nine States were not yet +obtained, and thus the provision was again rejected by the Southern +States. The perseverance of the North held out, and two years afterwards +the object was attained. It is no derogation from the credit, whatever +that may be, of drawing the Ordinance, that its principles had before been +prepared and discussed, in the form of resolutions. If one should reason +in that way, what would become of the distinguished honor of the author of +the Declaration of Independence? There is not a sentiment in that paper +which had not been voted and resolved in the assemblies, and other popular +bodies in the country, over and over again. + +But the honorable member has now found out that this gentleman, Mr. Dane, +was a member of the Hartford Convention. [10] However uninformed the +honorable member may be of characters and occurrences at the North, it +would seem that he has at his elbow, on this occasion, some highminded and +lofty spirit, some magnanimous and true-hearted monitor, possessing the +means of local knowledge, and ready to supply the honorable member with +every thing, down even to forgotten and moth-eaten two-penny pamphlets, +which may be used to the disadvantage of his own country. But as to the +Hartford Convention, Sir, allow me to say, that the proceedings of that +body seem now to be less read and studied in New England than farther +South. They appear to be looked to, not in New England, but elsewhere, for +the purpose of seeing how far they may serve as a precedent. But they will +not answer the purpose, they are quite too tame. The latitude in which +they originated was too cold. Other conventions, of more recent existence, +have gone a whole bar's length beyond it. The learned doctors of Colleton +and Abbeville have pushed their commentaries on the Hartford collect so +far, that the original text-writers are thrown entirely into the shade. I +have nothing to do, Sir, with the Hartford Convention. Its journal, which +the gentleman has quoted, I never read. So far as the honorable member may +discover in its proceedings a spirit in any degree resembling that which +was avowed and justified in those other conventions to which I have +alluded, or so far as those proceedings can be shown to be disloyal to the +Constitution, or tending to disunion, as far I shall be as ready as any +one to bestow on them reprehension and censure. + +Having dwelt long on this convention, and other occurrences of that day, +in the hope, probably, (which will not be gratified), that I should leave +the course of this debate to follow him at length in those excursions, the +honorable member returned, and attempted another object. He referred to a +speech of mine in the other house, the same which I had occasion to allude +to myself, the other day; and has quoted a passage or two from it, with a +bold, though uneasy and laboring, air of confidence, as if he had detected +in me an inconsistency. Judging from the gentleman's manner, a stranger to +the course of the debate and to the point in discussion would have +imagined, from so triumphant a tone, that the honorable member was about +to overwhelm me with a manifest contradiction. Any one who heard him, and +who had not heard what I had, in fact, previously said, must have thought +me routed and discomfited, as the gentleman had promised. Sir, a breath +blows all this triumph away. There is not the slightest difference in the +purport of my remarks on the two occasions. What I said here on Wednesday +is in exact accordance with the opinion expressed by me in the other house +in 1825. Though the gentleman had the metaphysics of Hudibras, though he +were able + + "to sever and divide + A hair 'twixt north and northwest side," + +he could yet not insert his metaphysical scissors between the fair reading +of my remarks in 1825, and what I said here last week. There is not only +no contradiction, no difference, but, in truth, too exact a similarity, +both in thought and language, to be entirely in just taste. I had myself +quoted the same speech; had recurred to it, and spoke with it open before +me; and much of what I said was little more than a repetition from it. + +I need not repeat at large the general topics of the honorable gentleman's +speech. When he said yesterday that he did not attack the Eastern States, +he certainly must have forgotten, not only particular remarks, but the +whole drift and tenor of his speech; unless he means by not attacking, +that he did not commence hostilities, but that another had preceded him in +the attack. He, in the first place, disapproved of the whole course of the +government, for forty years, in regard to its disposition of the public +lands; and then, turning northward and eastward, and fancying he had found +a cause for alleged narrowness and niggardliness in the "accursed policy" +of the tariff, to which he represented the people of New England as +wedded, he went on for a full hour with remarks, the whole scope of which +was to exhibit the results of this policy, in feelings and in measures +unfavorable to the West. I thought his opinions unfounded and erroneous, +as to the general course of the government, and ventured to reply to them. + +The gentleman had remarked on the analogy of other cases, and quoted the +conduct of European governments towards their own subjects settling on +this continent, as in point, to show that we had been harsh and rigid in +selling, when we should have given the public lands to settlers without +price. I thought the honorable member had suffered his judgment to be +betrayed by a false analogy; that he was struck with an appearance of +resemblance where there was no real similitude. I think so still. The +first settlers of North America were enterprising spirits, engaged in +private adventure, or fleeing from tyranny at home. When arrived here, +they were forgotten by the mother country, or remembered only to be +oppressed. Carried away again by the appearance of anology, or struck with +the eloquence of the passage, the honorable member yesterday observed, +that the conduct of government towards the Western emigrants, or my +representation of it, brought to his mind a celebrated speech in the +British Parliament. It was, Sir, the speech of Colonel Barre. On the +question of the stamp act, or tea tax, I forget which, Colonel Barre had +heard a member on the treasury bench argue, that the people of the United +States, being British colonists, planted by the maternal care, nourished +by the indulgence, and protected by the arms of England, would not grudge +their mite to relieve the mother country from the heavy burden under which +she groaned. The language of Colonel Barre, in reply to this, was: "They +planted by your care? Your oppression planted them in America. They fled +from your tyranny, and grew by your neglect of them. So soon as you began +to care for them, you showed your care by sending persons to spy out their +liberties, misrepresent their character, prey upon them, and eat out their +substance." + +And how does the honorable gentleman mean to maintain, that language like +this is applicable to the conduct of the government of the United States +towards the Western emigrants, or to any representation given by me of +that conduct? Were the settlers in the West driven thither by our +oppression? Have they flourished only by our neglect of them? Has the +government done nothing but prey upon them, and eat out their substance? +Sir, this fervid eloquence of the British speaker, just when and where it +was uttered, and fit to remain an exercise for the schools, is not a +little out of place, when it is brought thence to be applied here to the +conduct of our own country towards her own citizens. From America to +England, it may be true; from Americans to their own government, it would +be strange language. Let us leave it, to be recited and declaimed by our +boys against a foreign nation; not introduce it here, to recite and +declaim ourselves against our own. + +But I come to the point of the alleged contradiction. In my remarks on +Wednesday, I contended that we could not give away gratuitously all the +public lands; that we held them in trust; that the government had solemnly +pledged itself to dispose of them as a common fund for the common benefit, +and to sell and settle them as its discretion should dictate. Now, Sir, +what contradiction does the gentleman find to this sentiment in the speech +of 1825? He quotes me as having then said, that we ought not to hug these +lands as a very great treasure. Very well, Sir, supposing me to be +accurately reported in that expression, what is the contradiction? I have +not now said, that we should hug these lands as a favorite source of +pecuniary income. No such thing. It is not my view. What I have said, and +what I do say, is, that they are a common fund, to be disposed of for the +common benefit, to be sold at low prices for the accommodation of +settlers, keeping the object of settling the lands as much in view as that +of raising money from them. This I say now, and this I have always said. +Is this hugging them as a favorite treasure? Is there no difference +between hugging and hoarding this fund, on the one hand, as a great +treasure, and, on the other, of disposing of it at low prices, placing the +proceeds in the general treasury of the Union? My opinion is, that as much +is to be made of the land as fairly and reasonably may be, selling it all +the while at such rates as to give the fullest effect to settlement. This +is not giving it all away to the States, as the gentleman would propose; +nor is it hugging the fund closely and tenaciously, as a favorite +treasure; but it is, in my judgment, a just and wise policy, perfectly +according with all the various duties which rest on government. So much +for my contradiction. And what is it? Where is the ground of the +gentleman's triumph? What inconsistency in word or doctrine has he been +able to detect? Sir, if this be a sample of that discomfiture with which +the honorable gentleman threatened me, commend me to the word +_discomfiture_ for the rest of my life. + +We approach, at length, Sir, to a more important part of the honorable +gentleman's observations. Since it does not accord with my views of +justice and policy to give away the public lands altogether, as a mere +matter of gratuity, I am asked by the honorable gentleman on what ground +it is that I consent to vote them away in particular instances. How, he +inquires, do I reconcile with these professed sentiments, my support of +measures appropriating portions of the lands to particular roads, +particular canals, particular rivers, and particular institutions of +education in the West? This leads, Sir, to the real and wide difference in +political opinion between the honorable gentleman and myself. On my part, +I look upon all these objects as connected with the common good, fairly +embraced in its object and its terms; he, on the contrary, deems them all, +if good at all, only local good. This is our difference. The interrogatory +which he proceeded to put at once explains this difference. "What +interest," asks he, "has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio?" Sir, this +very question is full of significance. It develops the gentleman's whole +political system; and its answer expounds mine. Here we differ. I look +upon a road over the Alleghenies, a canal round the falls of the Ohio, or +a canal or railway from the Atlantic to the Western waters, as being an +object large and extensive enough to be fairly said to be for the common +benefit. The gentleman thinks otherwise, and this is the key to his +construction of the powers of the government. He may well ask what +interest has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio. On his system, it is true, +she has no interest. On that system, Ohio and Carolina are different +governments, and different countries; connected here, it is true, by some +slight and ill-defined bond of union, but in all main respects separate +and diverse. On that system, Carolina has no more interest in a canal in +Ohio than in Mexico. The gentleman, therefore, only follows out his own +principles; he does no more than arrive at the natural conclusions of his +own doctrines; he only announces the true results of that creed which he +has adopted himself, and would persuade others to adopt, when he thus +declares that South Carolina has no interest in a public work in Ohio. + +Sir, we narrow-minded people of New England do not reason thus. Our +_notion_ of things is entirely different. We look upon the States, +not as separated, but as united. We love to dwell on that union, and on +the mutual happiness which it has so much promoted, and the common renown +which it has so greatly contributed to acquire. In our contemplation, +Carolina and Ohio are parts of the same country; States, united under the +same general government, having interests, common, associated, +intermingled. In whatever is within the proper sphere of the +constitutional power of this government, we look upon the States as one. +We do not impose geographical limits to our patriotic feeling or regard; +we do not follow rivers and mountains, and lines of latitude, to find +boundaries, beyond which public improvements do not benefit us. We who +come here, as agents and representatives of these narrow-minded and +selfish men of New England, consider ourselves as bound to regard with an +equal eye the good of the whole, in whatever is within our powers of +legislation. Sir, if a railroad or canal beginning in South Carolina and +ending in South Carolina, appeared to me to be of national importance and +national magnitude, believing, as I do, that the power of government +extends to the encouragement of works of that description, if I were to +stand up here and ask, What interest has Massachusetts in a railroad in +South Carolina? I should not be willing to face my constituents. [11] +These same narrow-minded men would tell me, that they had sent me to act +for the whole country, and that one who possessed too little +comprehension, either of intellect or feeling, one one who was not large +enough, both in mind and in heart, to embrace the whole, was not fit to be +intrusted with the interest of any part. + +Sir, I do not desire to enlarge the powers of the government by +unjustifiable construction, nor to exercise any not within a fair +interpretation. But when it is believed that a power does exist, then it +is, in my judgment, to be exercised for the general benefit of the whole. +So far as respects the exercise of such a. power, the States are one. It +was the very object of the Constitution to create unity of interests to +the extent of the powers of the general government. In war and peace we +are one; in commerce, one; because the authority of the general government +reaches to war and peace, and to the regulation of commerce. I have never +seen any more difficulty in erecting light-houses on the lakes, than on +the ocean; in improving the harbors of inland seas, than if they were +within the ebb and flow of the tide; or in removing obstructions in the +vast streams of the West, more than in any work to facilitate commerce on +the Atlantic coast. If there be any power for one, there is power also for +the other; and they are all and equally for the common good of the +country. + +There are other objects, apparently more local, or the benefit of which is +less general, towards which, nevertheless, I have concurred with others, +to give aid by donations of land. It is proposed to construct a road, in +or through one of the new States, in which this government possesses large +quantities of land. Have the United States no right, or, as a great and +untaxed proprietor, are they under no obligation to contribute to an +object thus calculated to promote the common good of all the proprietors, +themselves included? And even with respect to education, which is the +extreme case, let the question be considered. In the first place, as we +have seen, it was made matter of compact with these States, that they +should do their part to promote education. In the next place, our whole +system of land laws proceeds on the idea that education is for the common +good; because, in every division, a certain portion is uniformly reserved +and appropriated for the use of schools. And, finally, have not these new +States singularly strong claims, founded on the ground already stated, +that the government is a great untaxed proprietor, in the ownership of the +soil? It is a consideration of great importance, that probably there is in +no part of the country, or of the world, so great call for the means of +education, as in these new States, owing to the vast number's of persons +within those ages in which education and instruction are usually received, +if received at all. This is the natural consequence of recency of +settlement and rapid increase. The census of these States shows how great +a proportion of the whole population occupies the classes between infancy +and manhood. These are the wide fields, and here is the deep and quick +soil for the seeds of knowledge and virtue; and this is the favored +season, the very spring-time for sowing them. Let them be disseminated +without stint. Let them be scattered with a bountiful hand, broadcast. +Whatever the government can fairly do towards these objects, in my +opinion, ought to be done. + +These, Sir, are the grounds, succinctly stated, on which my votes for +grants of lands for particular objects rest; while I maintain, at the same +time, that it is all a common fund, for the common benefit. And reasons +like these, I presume, have influenced the votes of other gentlemen from +New England. Those who have a different view of the powers of the +government, of course, come to different conclusions, on these, as on +other questions. I observed, when speaking on this subject before, that if +we looked to any measure, whether for a road, a canal, or any thing else, +intended for the improvement of the West, it would be found that, if the +New England _ayes_ were struck out of the lists of votes, the +Southern _noes_ would always have rejected the measure. The truth of +this has not been denied, and cannot be denied. In stating this, I thought +it just to ascribe it to the constitutional scruples of the South, rather +than to any other less favorable or less charitable cause. But no sooner +had I done this, than the honorable gentleman asks if I reproach him and +his friends with their constitutional scruples. Sir, I reproach nobody. I +stated a fact, and gave the most respectful reason for it that occurred to +me. The gentleman cannot deny the fact; he may, if he choose, disclaim the +reason. It is not long since I had occasion, in presenting a petition from +his own State, to account for its being intrusted to my hands, by saying, +that the constitutional opinions of the gentleman and his worthy colleague +prevented them from supporting it. Sir, did I state this as matter of +reproach? Far from it. Did I attempt to find any other cause than an +honest one for these scruples? Sir, I did not. It did not become me to +doubt or to insinuate that the gentleman had either changed his +sentiments, or that he had made up a set of constitutional opinions +accommodated to any particular combination of political occurrences. Had I +done so, I should have felt, that, while I was entitled to little credit +in thus questioning other people's motives, I justified the whole world in +suspecting my own. But how has the gentleman returned this respect for +others' opinions? His own candor and justice, how have they been exhibited +towards the motives of others, while he has been at so much pains to +maintain, what nobody has disputed, the purity of his own? Why, Sir, he +has asked _when_, and _how_, and _why_ New England votes were +found going for measures favorable to the West. He has demanded to be +informed whether all this did not begin in 1825, and while the election of +President was still pending. + +Sir, to these questions retort would be justified; and it is both cogent +and at hand. Nevertheless, I will answer the inquiry, not by retort, but +by facts. I will tell the gentleman when, and how, and why New England has +supported measures favorable to the West. I have already referred to the +early history of the government, to the first acquisition of the lands, to +the original laws for disposing of them, and for governing the territories +where they lie; and have shown the influence of New England men and New +England principles in all these leading measures. I should not be pardoned +were I to go over that ground again. Coming to more recent times, and to +measures of a less general character, I have endeavored to prove that +every thing of this kind, designed for Western improvement, has depended +on the votes of New England; all this is true beyond the power of +contradiction. And now, Sir, there are two measures to which I will refer, +not so ancient as to belong to the early history of the public lands, and +not so recent as to be on this side of the period when the gentleman +charitably imagines a new direction may have been given to New England +feeling and New England votes. These measures, and the New England votes +in support of them, may be taken as samples and specimens of all the rest. + +In 1820 (observe, Mr. President, in 1820) the people of the West besought +Congress for a reduction in the price of lands. In favor of that +reduction, New England, with a delegation of forty members in the other +house, gave thirty-three votes, and one only against it. The four Southern +States, with more than fifty members, gave thirty-two votes for it, and +seven against it. Again, in 1821, (observe again, Sir, the time,) the law +passed for the relief of the purchasers of the public lands. This was a +measure of vital importance to the West, and more especially to the +Southwest. It authorized the relinquishment of contracts for lands which +had been entered into at high prices, and a reduction in other cases of +not less than thirty-seven and a half per cent on the purchase-money. Many +millions of dollars, six or seven, I believe, probably much more, were +relinquished by this law. On this bill, New England, with her forty +members, gave more affirmative votes than the four Southern States, with +their fifty-two or fifty-three members. These two are far the most +important general measures respecting the public lands which have been +adopted within the last twenty years. They took place in 1820 and 1821. +That is the time _when_. + +As to the manner _how_, the gentleman already sees that it was by +voting in solid column for the required relief; and, lastly, as to the +cause _why_, I tell the gentleman it was because the members from New +England thought the measures just and salutary; because they entertained +towards the West neither envy, hatred, nor malice; because they deemed it +becoming them, as just and enlightened public men, to meet the exigency +which had arisen in the West with the appropriate measure of relief; +because they felt it due to their own characters, and the characters of +their New England predecessors in this government, to act towards the new +States in the spirit of a liberal, patronizing, magnanimous policy. So +much, Sir, for the cause _why_; and I hope that by this time, Sir, +the honorable gentleman is satisfied; if not, I do not know _when_, +or _how_, or _why_ he ever will be. Having recurred to these two +important measures, in answer to the gentleman's inquiries, I must now beg +permission to go back to a period somewhat earlier, for the purpose of +still further showing how much, or rather how little, reason there is for +the gentleman's insinuation that political hopes or fears, or party +associations, were the grounds of these New England votes. And after what +has been said, I hope it may be forgiven me if I allude to some political +opinions and votes of my own, of very little public importance certainly, +but which, from the time at which they were given and expressed, may pass +for good witnesses on this occasion. + +This government, Mr. President, from its origin to the peace of 1815, had +been too much engrossed with various other important concerns to be able +to turn its thoughts inward, and look to the development of its vast +internal resources. In the early part of President Washington's +administration, it was fully occupied with completing its own +organization, providing for the public debt, defending the frontiers, and +maintaining domestic peace. Before the termination of that administration, +the fires of the French Revolution blazed forth, as from a new-opened +volcano, and the whole breadth of the ocean did not secure us from its +effects. The smoke and the cinders reached us, though not the burning +lava. Difficult and agitating questions, embarrassing to government and +dividing public opinion, sprung out of the new state of our foreign +relations, and were succeeded by others, and yet again by others, equally +embarrassing and equally exciting division and discord, through the long +series of twenty years, till they finally issued in the war with England. +Down to the close of that war, no distinct, marked, and deliberate +attention had been given, or could have been given, to the internal +condition of the country, its capacities of improvement, or the +constitutional power of the government in regard to objects connected with +such improvement. + +The peace, Mr. President, brought about an entirely new and a most +interesting state of things; it opened to us other prospects and suggested +other duties. We ourselves were changed, and the whole world was changed. +The pacification of Europe, after June, 1815, assumed a firm and permanent +aspect. The nations evidently manifested that they were disposed for +peace. Some agitation of the waves might be expected, even after the storm +had subsided; but the tendency was, strongly and rapidly, towards settled +repose. + +It so happened, Sir, that I was at that time a member of Congress, and, +like others, naturally turned my thoughts to the contemplation of the +recently altered condition of the country and of the world. It appeared +plainly enough to me, as well as to wiser and more experienced men, that +the policy of the government would naturally take a start in a new +direction; because new directions would necessarily be given to the +pursuits and occupations of the people. We had pushed our commerce far and +fast, under the advantage of a neutral flag. But there were now no longer +flags, either neutral or belligerent. The harvest of neutrality had been +great, but we had gathered it all. With the peace of Europe, it was +obvious there would spring up in her circle of nations a revived and +invigorated spirit of trade, and a new activity in all the business and +objects of civilized life. Hereafter, our commercial gains were to be +earned only by success in a close and intense competition. Other nations +would produce for themselves, and carry for themselves, and manufacture +for themselves, to the full extent of their abilities. The crops of our +plains would no longer sustain European armies, nor our ships longer +supply those whom war had rendered unable to supply themselves. It was +obvious, that, under these circumstances, the country would begin to +survey itself, and to estimate its own capacity of improvement. + +And this improvement,--how was it to be accomplished, and who was to +accomplish it? We were ten or twelve millions of people, spread over +almost half a world. We were more than twenty States, some stretching +along the same seaboard, some along the same line of inland frontier, and +others on opposite banks of the same vast rivers. Two considerations at +once presented themselves with great force, in looking at this state of +things. One was, that that great branch of improvement which consisted in +furnishing new facilities of intercourse necessarily ran into different +States in every leading instance, and would benefit the citizens of all +such States. No one State, therefore, in such cases, would assume the +whole expense, nor was the co-operation of several States to be expected. +Take the instance of the Delaware breakwater. It will cost several +millions of money. Would Pennsylvania alone ever have constructed it? +Certainly never, while this Union lasts, because it is not for her sole +benefit. Would Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware have united to +accomplish it at their joint expense? Certainly not, for the same reason. +It could not be done, therefore, but by the general government. The same +may be said of the large inland undertakings, except that, in them, +government, instead of bearing the whole expense, co-operates with others +who bear a part. The other consideration is, that the United States have +the means. They enjoy the revenues derived from commerce, and the States +have no abundant and easy sources of public income. The custom-houses fill +the general treasury, while the States have scanty resources, except by +resort to heavy direct taxes. + +Under this view of things, I thought it necessary to settle, at least for +myself, some definite notions with respect to the powers of the government +in regard to internal affairs. It may not savor too much of self- +commendation to remark, that, with this object, I considered the +Constitution, its judicial construction, its contemporaneous exposition, +and the whole history of the legislation of Congress under it; and I +arrived at the conclusion, that government had power to accomplish sundry +objects, or aid in their accomplishment, which are now commonly spoken of +as INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. That conclusion, Sir, may have been right, or it +may have been wrong. I am not about to argue the grounds of it at large. I +say only, that it was adopted and acted on even so early as in 1816. Yes, +Mr. President, I made up my opinion, and determined on my intended course +of political conduct, on these subjects, in the Fourteenth Congress, in +1816. And now, Mr. President, I have further to say, that I made up these +opinions, and entered on this course of political conduct, _Teucro +duce_. [12] Yes, Sir, I pursued in all this a South Carolina track on +the doctrines of internal improvement. South Carolina, as she was then +represented in the other house, set forth in 1816 under a fresh and +leading breeze, and I was among the followers. But if my leader sees new +lights and turns a sharp corner, unless I see new lights also, I keep +straight on in the same path. I repeat, that leading gentlemen from South +Carolina were first and foremost in behalf of the doctrines of internal +improvements, when those doctrines came first to be considered and acted +upon in Congress. The debate on the bank question, on the tariff of 1816, +and on the direct tax, will show who was who, and what was what, at that +time. + +The tariff of 1816, (one of the plain cases of oppression and usurpation, +from which, if the government does not recede, individual States may +justly secede from the government,) is, Sir, in truth, a South Carolina +tariff, supported by South Carolina votes. But for those votes, it could +not have passed in the form in which it did pass; whereas, if it had +depended on Massachusetts votes, it would have been lost. Does not the +honorable gentleman well know all this? There are certainly those who do, +full well, know it all. I do not say this to reproach South Carolina. I +only state the fact; and I think it will appear to be true, that among the +earliest and boldest advocates of the tariff, as a measure of protection, +and on the express ground of protection, were leading gentlemen of South +Carolina in Congress. I did not then, and cannot now, understand their +language in any other sense. While this tariff of 1816 was under +discussion in the House of Representatives, an honorable gentleman from +Georgia, [13] now of this house, moved to reduce the proposed duty on +cotton. He failed, by four votes, South Carolina giving three votes +(enough to have turned the scale) against his motion. The act, Sir, then +passed, and received on its passage the support of a majority of the +Representatives of South Carolina present and voting. This act is the +first in the order of those now denounced as plain usurpations. We see it +daily in the list, by the side of those of 1824 and 1828, as a case of +manifest oppression, justifying disunion. I put it home to the honorable +member from South Carolina, that his own State was not only "art and part" +in this measure, but the _causa causans_. Without her aid, this +seminal principle of mischief, this root of Upas, could not have been +planted. I have already said, and it is true, that this act proceeded on +the ground of protection. It interfered directly with existing interests +of great value and amount. It cut up the Calcutta cotton trade by the +roots; but it passed, nevertheless, and it passed on the principle of +protecting manufactures, on the principle against free trade, on the +principle opposed to that _which lets us alone_. [14] + +Such, Mr. President, were the opinions of important and leading gentlemen +from South Carolina, on the subject of internal improvement, in 1816. I +went out of Congress the next year, and, returning again in 1823, thought +I found South Carolina where I had left her. I really supposed that all +things remained as they were, and that the South Carolina doctrine of +internal improvements would be defended by the same eloquent voices, and +the same strong arms, as formerly. In the lapse of these six years, it is +true, political associations had assumed a new aspect and new divisions. A +strong party had arisen in the South hostile to the doctrine of internal +improvements. Anti-consolidation was the flag under which this party +fought; and its supporters inveighed against internal improvements, much +after the manner in which the honorable gentleman has now inveighed +against them, as part and parcel of the system of consolidation. Whether +this party arose in South Carolina itself, or in the neighborhood, is more +than I know. I think the latter. However that may have been, there were +those found in South Carolina ready to make war upon it, and who did make +intrepid war upon it. Names being regarded as things in such +controversies, they bestowed on the anti-improvement gentlemen the +appellation of Radicals. Yes, Sir, the appellation of Radicals, as a term +of distinction applicable and applied to those who denied the liberal +doctrines of internal improvement, originated, according to the best of my +recollection, somewhere between North Carolina and Georgia. Well, Sir, +these mischievous Radicals were to be put down, and the strong arm of +South Carolina was stretched out to put them down. About this time I +returned to Congress. The battle with the Radicals had been fought, and +our South Carolina champions of the doctrines of internal improvement had +nobly maintained their ground, and were understood to have achieved a +victory. We looked upon them as conquerors. They had driven back the enemy +with discomfiture, a thing, by the way, Sir, which is not always performed +when it is promised. A gentleman to whom I have already referred in this +debate had come into Congress, during my absence from it, from South +Carolina, and had brought with him a high reputation for ability. He came +from a school with which we had been acquainted, _et noscitur a +sociis_. I hold in my hand, Sir, a printed speech of this distinguished +gentleman,[15] "ON INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS," delivered about the period to +which I now refer, and printed with a few introductory remarks upon +_consolidation_; in which, Sir, I think he quite consolidated the +arguments of his opponents, the Radicals, if to _crush_ be to +consolidate. I give you a short but significant quotation from these +remarks. He is speaking of a pamphlet, then recently published, entitled +"Consolidation"; and, having alluded to the question of renewing the +charter of the former Bank of the United States, he says:-- + +"Moreover, in the early history of parties, and when Mr. Crawford +advocated a renewal of the old charter, it was considered a Federal +measure; which internal improvement never was, as this author erroneously +states. This latter measure originated in the administration of Mr. +Jefferson, with the appropriation for the Cumberland Road; and was first +proposed, _as a system_, by Mr. Calhoun, and carried through the +House of Representatives by a large majority of the Republicans, including +almost every one of the leading men who carried us through the late war." + +So, then, internal improvement is not one of the Federal heresies. + +When I took my seat there as a member from Massachusetts in 1823, we had a +bill before us, and passed it in that house, entitled, "An Act to procure +the necessary surveys, plans, and estimates upon the subject of roads and +canals." It authorized the President to cause surveys and estimates to be +made of the routes of such roads and canals as he might deem of national +importance in a commercial or military point of view, or for the +transportation of the mail, and appropriated thirty thousand dollars out +of the treasury to defray the expense. This act, though preliminary in its +nature, covered the whole ground. It took for granted the complete power +of internal improvement, as far as any of its advocates had ever contended +for it. Having passed the other house, the bill came up to the Senate, and +was here considered and debated in April, 1824. The honorable member from +South Carolina was a member of the Senate at that time. While the bill was +under consideration here, a motion was made to add the following proviso: +"_Provided_, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to +affirm _or admit_ a power in Congress, on their own authority, to +make roads or canals within any of the States of the Union." The yeas and +nays were taken on this proviso, and the honorable member voted _in the +negative!_ The proviso failed. + +A motion was then made to add this proviso, viz.: "_Provided_, That +the faith of the United States is hereby pledged, that no money shall ever +be expended for roads or canals, except it shall be among the several +States, and in the same proportion as direct taxes are laid and assessed +by the provisions of the Constitution." The honorable member voted +_against this proviso_ also, and it failed. The bill was then put on +its passage, and the honorable member voted _for it_, and it passed, +and became a law. + +Now, it strikes me, Sir, that there is no maintaining these votes, but +upon the power of internal improvement, in its broadest sense. In truth, +these bills for surveys and estimates have always been considered as test +questions; they show who is for and who against internal improvement. This +law itself went the whole length, and assumed the full and complete power. +The gentleman's votes sustained that power, in every form in which the +various propositions to amend presented it. He went for the entire and +unrestrained authority, without consulting the States, and without +agreeing to any proportionate distribution. And now suffer me to remind +you, Mr. President, that it is this very same power, thus sanctioned, in +every form, by the gentleman's own opinion, which is so plain and manifest +a usurpation, that the State of South Carolina is supposed to be justified +in refusing submission to any laws carrying the power into effect. Truly, +Sir, is not this a little too hard? May we not crave some mercy, under +favor and protection of the gentleman's own authority? Admitting that a +road, or a canal, must be written down flat usurpation as was ever +committed, may we find no mitigation in our respect for his place, and his +vote, as one that knows the law? + +The tariff, which South Carolina had an efficient hand in establishing, in +1816, and this asserted power of internal improvement, advanced by her in +the same year, and, as we have seen, approved and sanctioned by her +Representatives in 1824,--these two measures are the great grounds on +which she is now thought to be justified in breaking up the Union, if she +sees fit to break it up! + +I may now safely say, I think, that we have had the authority of leading +and distinguished gentlemen from South Carolina in support of the doctrine +of internal improvement. I repeat, that, up to 1824, I for one followed +South Carolina; but when that star, in its ascension, veered off in an +unexpected direction, I relied on its light no longer. I have thus, Sir, +perhaps not without some tediousness of detail, shown, if I am in error on +the subject of internal improvement, how, and in what company, I fell into +that error. If I am wrong, it is apparent who misled me. + +I go to other remarks of the honorable member; and I have to complain of +an entire misapprehension of what I said on the subject of the national +debt, though I can hardly perceive how any one could misunderstand me. +What I said was, not that I wished to put off the payment of the debt, +but, on the contrary, that I had always voted for every measure for its +reduction, as uniformly as the gentleman himself. He seems to claim the +exclusive merit of a disposition to reduce the public charge. I do not +allow it to him. As a debt, I was, I am for paying it, because it is a +charge on our finances, and on the industry of the country. But I +observed, that I thought I perceived a morbid fervor on that subject, an +excessive anxiety to pay off the debt, not so much because it is a debt +simply, as because, while it lasts, it furnishes one objection to +disunion. It is, while it continues, a tie of common interest. I did not +impute such motives to the honorable member himself, but that there is +such an opinion in existence I have not a particle of doubt. The most I +said was, that, if one effect of the debt was to strengthen our Union, +that effect itself was not regretted by me, however much others might +regret it. The gentleman has not seen how to reply to this, otherwise than +by supposing me to have advanced the doctrine that a national debt is a +national blessing. Others, I must hope, will find much less difficulty in +understanding me. I distinctly and pointedly cautioned the honorable +member not to understand me as expressing an opinion favorable to the +continuance of the debt. I repeated this caution, and repeated it more +than once; but it was thrown away. + +On yet another point, I was still more unaccountably misunderstood. The +gentleman had harangued against "consolidation." I told him, in reply, +that there was one kind of consolidation to which I was attached, and that +was the consolidation of our Union; that this was precisely that +consolidation to which I feared others were not attached, and that such +consolidation was the very end of the Constitution, the leading object, as +they had informed us themselves, which its framers had kept in view. I +turned to their communication,[16] and read their very words, "the +consolidation of the Union," and expressed my devotion to this sort of +consolidation. I said, in terms, that I wished not in the slightest degree +to augment the powers of this government; that my object was to preserve, +not to enlarge; and that by consolidating the Union I understood no more +than the strengthening of the Union, and perpetuating it. Having been thus +explicit, having thus read from the printed book the precise words which I +adopted, as expressing my own sentiments, it passes comprehension how any +man could understand me as contending for an extension of the powers of +the government, or for consolidation in that odious sense in which it +means an accumulation, in the federal government, of the powers properly +belonging to the States. + +I repeat, Sir, that, in adopting the sentiment of the framers of the +Constitution, I read their language audibly, and word for word; and I +pointed out the distinction, just as fully as I have now done, between the +consolidation of the Union and that other obnoxious consolidation which I +disclaimed. And yet the honorable member misunderstood me. The gentleman +had said that he wished for no fixed revenue,--not a shilling. If by a +word he could convert the Capitol into gold, he would not do it. Why all +this fear of revenue? Why, Sir, because, as the gentleman told us, it +tends to consolidation. Now this can mean neither more nor less than, that +a common revenue is a common interest, and that all common interests tend +to preserve the union of the States. I confess I like that tendency; if +the gentleman dislikes it, he is right in deprecating a shilling of fixed +revenue. So much, Sir, for consolidation. + +As well as I recollect the course of his remarks, the honorable gentleman +next recurred to the subject of the tariff. He did not doubt the word must +be of unpleasant sound to me, and proceeded, with an effort neither new +nor attended with new success, to involve me and my votes in inconsistency +and contradiction. I am happy the honorable gentleman has furnished me an +opportunity of a timely remark or two on that subject. I was glad he +approached it, for it is a question I enter upon without fear from +anybody. The strenuous toil of the gentleman has been to raise an +inconsistency between my dissent to the tariff in 1824, and my vote in +1828. It is labor lost. He pays undeserved compliment to my speech in +1824; but this is to raise me high, that my fall, as he would have it, in +1828, may be more signal. Sir, there was no fall. Between the ground I +stood on in 1824 and that I took in 1828, there was not only no precipice, +but no declivity. It was a change of position to meet new circumstances, +but on the same level. A plain tale explains the whole matter. In 1816 I +had not acquiesced in the tariff, then supported by South Carolina. To +some parts of it, especially, I felt and expressed great repugnance. I +held the same opinions in 1820, at the meeting in Faneuil Hall, to which +the gentleman has alluded. + +With a great majority of the Representatives of Massachusetts, I voted +against the tariff of 1824.[17] My reasons were then given, and I will not +now repeat them. But, notwithstanding our dissent, the great States of New +York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Kentucky went for the bill, in almost +unbroken column, and it passed. Congress and the President sanctioned it, +and it became the law of the land. What, then, were we to do? Our only +option was, either to fall in with this settled course of public policy, +and accommodate ourselves to it as well as we could, or to embrace the +South Carolina doctrine, and talk of nullifying the statute by State +interference. + +This last alternative did not suit our principles, and of course we +adopted the former. In 1827, the subject came again before Congress, on a +proposition to afford some relief to the branch of wool and woollens. We +looked upon the system of protection as being fixed and settled. The law +of 1824 remained. It had gone into full operation, and, in regard to some +objects intended by it, perhaps most of them, had produced all its +expected effects. No man proposed to repeal it; no man attempted to renew +the general contest on its principle. But, owing to subsequent and +unforeseen occurrences, the benefit intended by it to wool and woollen +fabrics had not been realized. Events not known here when the law passed +had taken place, which defeated its object in that particular respect. A +measure was accordingly brought forward to meet this precise deficiency, +to remedy this particular defect. It was limited to wool and woollens. Was +ever anything more reasonable? If the policy of the tariff laws had become +established in principle, as the permanent policy of the government, +should they not be revised and amended, and made equal, like other laws, +as exigencies should arise, or justice require? Because we had doubted +about adopting the system, were we to refuse to cure its manifest defects, +after it had been adopted, and when no one attempted its repeal? And this, +Sir, is the inconsistency so much bruited. I had voted against the tariff +of 1824, but it passed; and in 1827 and 1828 I voted to amend it, in a +point essential to the interest of my constituents. Where is the +inconsistency? Could I do otherwise? Sir, does political consistency +consist in always giving negative votes? Does it require of a public man +to refuse to concur in amending laws, because they passed against his +consent? Having voted against the tariff originally, does consistency +demand that I should do all in my power to maintain an unequal tariff, +burdensome to my own constituents in many respects, favorable in none? To +consistency of that sort, I lay no claim. And there is another sort to +which I lay as little, and that is, a kind of consistency by which persons +feel themselves as much bound to oppose a proposition after it has become +a law of the land as before. + +Sir, as to the general subject of the tariff, I have little now to say. +Another opportunity may be presented. I remarked the other day, that this +policy did not begin with us in New England; and yet, Sir, New England is +charged with vehemence as being favorable, or charged with equal vehemence +as being unfavorable, to the tariff policy, just as best suits the time, +place, and occasion for making some charge against her. The credulity of +the public has been put to its extreme capacity of false impression +relative to her conduct in this particular. Through all the South, during +the late contest, it was New England policy and a New England +administration that were afflicting the country with a tariff beyond all +endurance; while on the other side of the Alleghanies even the act of 1828 +itself, the very sublimated essence of oppression, according to Southern +opinions, was pronounced to be one of those blessings for which the West +was indebted to the "generous South." + +With large investments in manufacturing establishments, and many and +various interests connected with and dependent on them, it is not to be +expected that New England, any more than other portions of the country, +will now consent to any measure destructive or highly dangerous. The duty +of the government, at the present moment, would seem to be to preserve, +not to destroy; to maintain the position which it has assumed; and, for +one, I shall feel it an indispensable obligation to hold it steady, as far +as in my power, to that degree of protection which it has undertaken to +bestow. No more of the tariff. + +Professing to be provoked by what he chose to consider a charge made by me +against South Carolina, the honorable member, Mr. President, has taken up +a new crusade against New England. Leaving altogether the subject of the +public lands, in which his success, perhaps, had been neither +distinguished nor satisfactory, and letting go, also, of the topic of the +tariff, he sallied forth in a general assault on the opinions, politics, +and parties of New England, as they have been exhibited in the last thirty +years. This is natural. The "narrow policy" of the public lands had proved +a legal settlement in South Carolina, and was not to be removed. The +"accursed policy" of the tariff, also, had established the fact of its +birth and parentage in the same State. No wonder, therefore, the gentleman +wished to carry the war, as he expressed it, into the enemy's country. +Prudently willing to quit these subjects, he was, doubtless, desirous of +fastening on others, which could not be transferred south of Mason and +Dixon's line. The politics of New England became his theme; and it was in +this part of his speech, I think, that he menaced me with such sore +discomfiture. Discomfiture! Why, Sir, when he attacks anything which I +maintain, and overthrows it, when he turns the right or left of any +position which I take up, when he drives me from any ground I choose to +occupy, he may then talk of discomfiture, but not till that distant day. +What has he done? Has he maintained his own charges? Has he proved what he +alleged? Has he sustained himself in his attack on the government, and on +the history of the North, in the matter of the public lands? Has he +disproved a fact, refuted a proposition, weakened an argument, maintained +by me? Has he come within beat of drum of any position of mine? O, no; but +he has "carried the war into the enemy's country"! Carried the war into +the enemy's country! Yes, Sir, and what sort of a war has he made of it? +Why, Sir, he has stretched a drag-net over the whole surface of perished +pamphlets, indiscreet sermons, frothy paragraphs, and fuming popular +addresses,--over whatever the pulpit in its moments of alarm, the press +in its heats, and parties in their extravagance, have severally thrown off +in times of general excitement and violence. He has thus swept together a +mass of such things as, but that they are now old and cold, the public +health would have required him rather to leave in their state of +dispersion. For a good long hour or two, we had the unbroken pleasure of +listening to the honorable member, while he recited with his usual grace +and spirit, and with evident high gusto, speeches, pamphlets, addresses, +and all the _et caeteras_ of the political press, such as warm heads +produce in warm times; and such as it would be "discomfiture" indeed for +any one, whose taste did not delight in that sort of reading, to be +obliged to peruse. This is his war. This it is to carry the war into the +enemy's country. It is in an invasion of this sort, that he flatters +himself with the expectation of gaining laurels fit to adorn a Senator's +brow! + +Mr. President, I shall not, it will not, I trust, be expected that I +should, either now or at any time, separate this farrago into parts, and +answer and examine its components. I shall barely bestow upon it all a +general remark or two. In the run of forty years, Sir, under this +Constitution, we have experienced sundry successive violent party +contests. Party arose, indeed, with the Constitution itself, and, in some +form or other, has attended it through the greater part of its history. +Whether any other constitution than the old Articles of Confederation was +desirable, was itself a question on which parties divided; if a new +constitution were framed, what powers should be given to it was another +question; and when it had been formed, what was, in fact, the just extent +of the powers actually conferred was a third. Parties, as we know, existed +under the first administration, as distinctly marked as those which have +manifested themselves at any subsequent period. The contest immediately +preceding the political change in 1801, and that, again, which existed at +the commencement of the late war, are other instances of party excitement, +of something more than usual strength and intensity. In all these +conflicts there was, no doubt, much of violence on both and all sides. It +would be impossible, if one had a fancy for such employment, to adjust the +relative _quantum_ of violence between these contending parties. +There was enough in each, as must always be expected in popular +governments. With a great deal of popular and decorous discussion, there +was mingled a great deal, also, of declamation, virulence, crimination, +and abuse. In regard to any party, probably, at one of the leading epochs +in the history of parties, enough may be found to make out another +inflamed exhibition, not unlike that with which the honorable member has +edified us. For myself, Sir, I shall not rake among the rubbish of bygone +times, to see what I can find, or whether I cannot find something by which +I can fix a blot on the escutcheon of any State, any party, or any part of +the country. General Washington's administration was steadily and +zealously maintained, as we all know, by New England. It was violently +opposed elsewhere. We know in what quarter he had the most earnest, +constant, and persevering support, in all his great and leading measures. +We know where his private and personal character was held in the highest +degree of attachment and veneration; and we know, too, where his measures +were opposed, his services slighted, and his character vilified. We know, +or we might know, if we turned to the journals, who expressed respect, +gratitude, and regret, when he retired from the chief magistracy, and who +refused to express either respect, gratitude, or regret. I shall not open +those journals. Publications more abusive or scurrilous never saw the +light, than were sent forth against Washington, and all his leading +measures, from presses south of New England. But I shall not look them up. +I employ no scavengers, no one is in attendance on me, furnishing such +means of retaliation; and if there were, with an ass's load of them, with +a bulk as huge as that which the gentleman himself has produced, I would +not touch one of them. I see enough of the violence of our own times, to +be no way anxious to rescue from forgetfulness the extravagances of times +past. + +Besides, what is all this to the present purpose? It has nothing to do +with the public lands, in regard to which the attack was begun; and it has +nothing to do with those sentiments and opinions which, I have thought, +tend to disunion and all of which the honorable member seems to have +adopted himself, and undertaken to defend. New England has, at times, so +argues the gentleman, held opinions as dangerous as those which he now +holds. Suppose this were so; why should _he_ therefore abuse New +England? If he finds himself countenanced by acts of hers, how is it that, +while he relies on these acts, he covers, or seeks to cover, their authors +with reproach? But, Sir, if, in the course of forty years, there have been +undue effervescences of party in New England, has the same thing happened +nowhere else? Party animosity and party outrage, not in New England, but +elsewhere, denounced President Washington, not only as a Federalist, but +as a Tory, a British agent, a man who, in his high office, sanctioned +corruption. But does the honorable member suppose, if I had a tender here +who should put such an effusion of wickedness and folly into my hand, that +I would stand up and read it against the South? Parties ran into great +heats again in 1799 and 1800. What was said, Sir, or rather what was not +said, in those years, against John Adams, one of the committee that +drafted the Declaration of Independence, and its admitted ablest defender +on the floor of Congress? If the gentleman wishes to increase his stores +of party abuse and frothy violence, if he has a determined proclivity to +such pursuits, there are treasures of that sort south of the Potomac, much +to his taste, yet untouched. I shall not touch them. + +The parties which divided the country at the commencement of the late war +were violent. But then there was violence on both sides, and violence in +every State. Minorities and majorities were equally violent. There was no +more violence against the war in New England, than in other States; nor +any more appearance of violence, except that, owing to a dense population, +greater facility of assembling, and more presses, there may have been more +in quantity spoken and printed there than in some other places. In the +article of sermons, too, New England is somewhat more abundant than South +Carolina; and for that reason the chance of finding here and there an +exceptionable one may be greater. I hope, too, there are more good ones. +Opposition may have been more formidable in New England, as it embraced a +larger portion of the whole population; but it was no more unrestrained in +principle, or violent in manner. The minorities dealt quite as harshly +with their own State governments as the majorities dealt with the +administration here. There were presses on both sides, popular meetings on +both sides, ay, and pulpits on both sides also. The gentleman's purveyors +have only catered for him among the productions of one side. I certainly +shall not supply the deficiency by furnishing samples of the other. I +leave to him, and to them, the whole concern. + +It is enough for me to say, that if, in any part of this their grateful +occupation, if, in all their researches, they find anything in the history +of Massachusetts, or New England, or in the proceedings of any legislative +or other public body, disloyal to the Union, speaking slightingly of its +value, proposing to break it up, or recommending non-intercourse with +neighboring States, on account of difference of political opinion, then, +Sir, I give them all up to the honorable gentleman's unrestrained rebuke; +expecting, however, that he will extend his buffetings in like manner +_to all similar proceedings, wherever else found_. + +The gentleman, Sir, has spoken at large of former parties, now no longer +in being, by their received appellations, and has undertaken to instruct +us, not only in the knowledge of their principles, but of their respective +pedigrees also. He has ascended to their origin, and run out their +genealogies. With most exemplary modesty, he speaks of the party to which +he professes to have himself belonged, as the true Pure, the only honest, +patriotic party, derived by regular descent, from father to son, from the +time of the virtuous Romans! Spreading before us the _family tree_ of +political parties, he takes especial care to show himself snugly perched +on a popular bough! He is wakeful to the expediency of adopting such rules +of descent as shall bring him in, to the exclusion of others, as an heir +to the inheritance of all public virtue, and all true political principle. +His party and his opinions are sure to be orthodox; heterodoxy is confined +to his opponents. He spoke, Sir, of the Federalists, and I thought I saw +some eyes begin to open and stare a little, when he ventured on that +ground. I expected he would draw his sketches rather lightly, when he +looked on the circle round him, and especially if he should cast his +thoughts to the high places out of the Senate. [18] Nevertheless, he went +back to Rome, _ad annum urbis condita_, and found the fathers of the +Federalists in the primeval aristocrats of that renowned--city! He traced +the flow of Federal blood down through successive ages and centuries, till +he brought it into the veins of the American Tories, of whom, by the way, +there were twenty in the Carolinas for one in Massachusetts. From the +Tories he followed it to the Federalists; and, as the Federal party was +broken up, and there was no possibility of transmitting it further on this +side the Atlantic, he seems to have discovered that it has gone off +collaterally, though against all the canons of descent, into the Ultras of +France, and finally become extinguished, like exploded gas, among the +adherents of Don Miguel! [19] + +This, Sir, is an abstract of the gentleman's history of Federalism. I am +not about to controvert it. It is not, at present, worth the pains of +refutation; because, Sir, if at this day any one feels the sin of +Federalism lying heavily on his conscience, he can easily procure +remission. He may even obtain an indulgence, if he be desirous of +repeating the same transgression. It is an affair of no difficulty to get +into this same right line of patriotic descent. A man now-a-days is at +liberty to choose his political parentage. He may elect his own father. +Federalist or not, he may, if he choose, claim to belong to the favored +stock, and his claim will be allowed. He may carry back his pretensions +just as far as the honorable gentleman himself; nay, he may make himself +out the honorable gentleman's cousin, and prove, satisfactorily, that he +is descended from the same political great-grandfather. All this is +allowable. We all know a process, Sir, by which the whole Essex Junto +[Footnote:20] could, in one hour, be all washed white from their ancient +Federalism, and come out, every one of them, original Democrats, dyed in +the wool! Some of them have actually undergone the operation, and they say +it is quite easy. The only inconvenience it occasions, as they tell us, is +a slight tendency of the blood to the face, a soft suffusion, which, +however, is very transient, since nothing is said by those whom they join +calculated to deepen the red on the cheek, but a prudent silence is +observed in regard to all the past. Indeed, Sir, some smiles of +approbation have been bestowed, and some crumbs of comfort have fallen, +not a thousand miles from the door of the Hartford Convention itself. And +if the author of the Ordinance of 1787 possessed the other requisite +qualifications, there is no knowing, notwithstanding his Federalism, to +what heights of favor he might not yet attain. + +Mr. President, in carrying his warfare, such as it is, into New England, +the honorable gentleman all along professes to be acting on the defensive. +He chooses to consider me as having assailed South Carolina, and insists +that he comes forth only as her champion, and in her defence. Sir, I do +not admit that I made any attack whatever on South Carolina. Nothing like +it. The honorable member, in his first speech, expressed opinions, in +regard to revenue and some other topics, which I heard both with pain and +with surprise. I told the gentleman I was aware that such sentiments were +entertained _out_ of the government, but had not expected to find +them advanced in it; that I knew there were persons in the South who speak +of our Union with indifference or doubt, taking pains to magnify its +evils, and to say nothing of its benefits; that the honorable member +himself, I was sure, could never be one of these; and I regretted the +expression of such opinions as he had avowed, because I thought their +obvious tendency was to encourage feelings of disrespect to the Union, and +to impair its strength. This, Sir, is the sum and substance of all I said +on the subject. And this constitutes the attack which called on the +chivalry of the gentleman, in his own opinion, to harry us with such a +foray among the party pamphlets and party proceedings of Massachusetts! If +he means that I spoke with dissatisfaction or disrespect of the +ebullitions of individuals in South Carolina, it is true. But if he means +that I assailed the character of the State, her honor, or patriotism, that +I reflected on her history or her conduct, he has not the slightest ground +for any such assumption. I did not even refer, I think, in my +observations, to any collection of individuals. I said nothing of the +recent conventions. I spoke in the most guarded and careful manner, and +only expressed my regret for the publication of opinions, which I presumed +the honorable member disapproved as much as myself. In this, it seems, I +was mistaken. I do not remember that the gentleman has disclaimed any +sentiment, or any opinion, of a supposed anti-union tendency, which on all +or any of the recent occasions has been expressed. [21] The whole drift of +his speech has been rather to prove, that, in divers times and manners, +sentiments equally liable to my objection have been avowed in New England. +And one would suppose that his object, in this reference to Massachusetts, +was to find a precedent to justify proceedings in the South, were it not +for the reproach and contumely with which he labors, all along, to load +these his own chosen precedents. By way of defending South Carolina from +what he chooses to think an attack on her, he first quotes the example of +Massachusetts, and then denounces that example in good set terms. This +twofold purpose, not very consistent, one would think, with itself, was +exhibited more than once in the course of his speech. He referred, for +instance, to the Hartford Convention. Did he do this for authority, or for +a topic of reproach? Apparently for both, for he told us that he should +find no fault with the mere fact of holding such a convention, and +considering and discussing such questions as he supposes were then and +there discussed; but what rendered it obnoxious was its being held at the +time, and under the circumstances of the country then existing. We were in +a war, he said, and the country needed all our aid; the hand of government +required to be strengthened, not weakened; and patriotism should have +postponed such proceedings to another day. The thing itself, then, is a +precedent; the time and manner of it only, a subject of censure. + +Now, Sir, I go much further, on this point, than the honorable member. +Supposing, as the gentleman seems to do, that the Hartford Convention +assembled for any such purpose as breaking up the Union, because they +thought unconstitutional laws had been passed, or to consult on that +subject, or _to calculate the value of the Union_; supposing this to +be their purpose, or any part of it, then I say the meeting itself was +disloyal, and was obnoxious to censure, whether held in time of peace or +time of war, or under whatever circumstances. The material question is the +_object_. Is dissolution the _object_? If it be, external +circumstances may make it a more or less aggravated case, but cannot +affect the principle. I do not hold, therefore, Sir, that the Hartford +Convention was pardonable, even to the extent of the gentleman's +admission, if its objects were really such as have been imputed to it. +Sir, there never was a time, under any degree of excitement, in which the +Hartford Convention, or any other convention, could have maintained itself +one moment in New England, if assembled for any such purpose as the +gentleman says would have been an allowable purpose. To hold conventions +to decide constitutional law! To try the binding validity of statutes by +votes in a convention! Sir, the Hartford Convention, I presume, would not +desire that the honorable gentleman should be their defender or advocate, +if he puts their case upon such untenable and extravagant grounds. + +Then, Sir, the gentleman has no fault to find with these recently +promulgated South Carolina opinions. And certainly he need have none; for +his own sentiments, as now advanced, and advanced on reflection, as far as +I have been able to comprehend them, go the full length of all these +opinions. I propose, Sir, to say something on these, and to consider how +far they are just and constitutional. Before doing that, however, let me +observe that the eulogium pronounced by the honorable gentleman on the +character of the State of South Carolina, for her Revolutionary and other +merits, meets my hearty concurrence. I shall not acknowledge that the +honorable member goes before me in regard for whatever of distinguished +talent, or distinguished character, South Carolina has produced. I claim +part of the honor, I partake in the pride, of her great names. I claim +them for countrymen, one and all, the Laurenses, the Rutledges, the +Pinckneys, the Sumpters, the Marions, Americans all, whose fame is no more +to be hemmed in by State lines, than their talents and patriotism were +capable of being circumscribed within the same narrow limits. In their day +and generation, they served and honored the country, and the whole +country; and their renown is of the treasures of the whole country. Him +whose honored name the gentleman himself bears,--does he esteem me less +capable of gratitude for his patriotism, or sympathy for his sufferings, +than if his eyes had first opened upon the light of Massachusetts, instead +of South Carolina? Sir, does he suppose it in his power to exhibit a +Carolina name so bright as to produce envy in my bosom? No, Sir, increased +gratification and delight, rather. I thank God, that, if I am gifted with +little of the spirit which is able to raise mortals to the skies, I have +yet none, as I trust, of that other spirit, which would drag angels down. +When I shall be found, Sir, in my place here in the Senate, or elsewhere, +to sneer at public merit, because it happens to spring up beyond the +little limits of my own State or neighborhood; when I refuse, for any such +cause or for any cause, the homage due to American talent, to elevated +patriotism, to sincere devotion to liberty and the country; or, if I see +an uncommon endowment of Heaven, if I see extraordinary capacity and +virtue, in any son of the South, and if, moved by local prejudice or +gangrened by State jealousy, I get up here to abate the tithe of a hair +from his just character and just fame, may my tongue cleave to the roof of +my mouth! + +Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections; let me indulge in refreshing +remembrance of the past; let me remind you that, in early times, no States +cherished greater harmony, both of principle and feeling, than +Massachusetts and South Carolina. Would to God that harmony might again +return! Shoulder to shoulder they went through the Revolution, hand in +hand they stood round the administration of Washington, and felt his own +great arm lean on them for support. Unkind feeling, if it exist, +alienation, and distrust are the growth, unnatural to such soils, of false +principles since sown. They are weeds, the seeds of which that same great +arm never scattered. + +Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts; she needs +none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her +history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There +is Boston, and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill; and there they +will remain for ever. The bones of her sons, falling in the great struggle +for Independence, now lie mingled with the soil of every State from New +England to Georgia; and there they will lie for ever. And, Sir, where +American Liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth was nurtured +and sustained, there it still lives, in the strength of its manhood and +full of its original spirit. If discord and disunion shall wound it, if +party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and tear it, if folly and +madness, if uneasiness under salutary and necessary restraint, shall +succeed in separating it from that Union, by which alone its existence is +made sure, it will stand, in the end, by the side of that cradle in which +its infancy was rocked; it will stretch forth its arm with whatever of +vigor it may still retain over the friends who gather round it; and it +will fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest monuments of its +own glory, and on the very spot of its origin. [22] + +There yet remains to be performed, Mr. President, by far the most grave +and important duty, which I feel to be devolved on me by this occasion. It +is to state, and to defend, what I conceive to be the true principles of +the Constitution under which we are here assembled. I might well have +desired that so weighty a task should have fallen into other and abler +hands. I could have wished that it should have been executed by those +whose character and experience give weight and influence to their +opinions, such as cannot possibly belong to mine. But, Sir, I have met the +occasion, not sought it; and I shall proceed to state my own sentiments, +without challenging for them any particular regard, with studied +plainness, and as much precision as possible. + +I understand the honorable gentleman from South Carolina to maintain, that +it is a right of the State legislatures to interfere, whenever, in their +judgment, this government transcends its constitutional limits, and to +arrest the operation of its laws. + +I understand him to maintain this right, as a right existing _under_ +the Constitution, not as a right to overthrow it on the ground of extreme +necessity, such as would justify violent revolution. + +I understand him to maintain an authority, on the part of the States, thus +to interfere, for the purpose of correcting the exercise of power by the +general government, of checking it, and of compelling it to conform to +their opinion of the extent of its powers. + +I understand him to maintain, that the ultimate power of judging of the +constitutional extent of its own authority is not lodged exclusively in +the general government, or any branch of it; but that, on the contrary, +the States may lawfully decide for themselves, and each State for itself, +whether, in a given case, the act of the general government transcends its +power. + +I understand him to insist, that, if the exigency of the case, in the +opinion of any State government, require it, such State government may, by +its own sovereign authority, annul an act of the general government which +it deems plainly and palpably unconstitutional. + +This is the sum of what I understand from him to be the South Carolina +doctrine, and the doctrine which he maintains. I propose to consider it, +and compare it with the Constitution. Allow me to say, as a preliminary +remark, that I call this the South Carolina doctrine only because the +gentleman himself has so denominated it. I do not feel at liberty to say +that South Carolina, as a State, has ever advanced these sentiments. I +hope she has not, and never may. That a great majority of her people are +opposed to the tariff laws, is doubtless true. That a majority, somewhat +less than that just mentioned, conscientiously believe these laws +unconstitutional, may probably also be true. But that any majority holds +to the right of direct State interference at State discretion, the right +of nullifying acts of Congress by acts of State legislation, is more than +I know, and what I shall be slow to believe. + +That there are individuals besides the honorable gentleman who do maintain +these opinions, is quite certain. I recollect the recent expression of a +sentiment, which circumstances attending its utterance and publication +justify us in supposing was not unpremeditated. "The sovereignty of the +State,--never to be controlled, construed, or decided on, but by her own +feelings of honorable justice." [23] + +We all know that civil institutions are established for the public +benefit, and that when they cease to answer the ends of their existence +they may be changed. But I do not understand the doctrine now contended +for to be that, which, for the sake of distinction, we may call the right +of revolution. I understand the gentleman to maintain, that it is +constitutional to interrupt the administration of the Constitution itself, +in the hands of those who are chosen and sworn to administer it, by the +direct interference, in form of law, of the States, in virtue of their +sovereign capacity. The inherent right in the people to reform their +government I do not deny; and they have another right, and that is, to +resist unconstitutional laws, without overturning the government. It is no +doctrine of mine that unconstitutional laws bind the people. The great +question is, Whose prerogative is it to decide on the constitutionality or +unconstitutionality of the laws? On that, the main debate hinges. The +proposition, that, in case of a supposed violation of the Constitution by +Congress, the States have a constitutional right to interfere and annul +the law of Congress, is the proposition of the gentleman. I do not admit +it. If the gentleman had intended no more than to assert the right of +revolution for justifiable cause, he would have said only what all agree +to. But I cannot conceive that there can be a middle course, between +submission to the laws, when regularly pronounced constitutional, on the +one hand, and open resistance, which is revolution or rebellion, on the +other. + +This leads us to inquire into the origin of this government and the source +of its power. Whose agent is it? Is it the creature of the State +legislatures, or the creature of the people? If the government of the +United States be the agent of the State governments, then they may control +it, provided they can agree in the manner of controlling it; if it be the +agent of the people, then the people alone can control it, restrain it, +modify, or reform it. It is observable enough, that the doctrine for which +the honorable gentleman contends leads him to the necessity of +maintaining, not only that this general government is the creature of the +States, but that it is the creature of each of the States severally, so +that each may assert the power for itself of determining whether it acts +within the limits of its authority. It is the servant of four-and-twenty +masters, of different wills and different purposes, and yet bound to obey +all. This absurdity (for it seems no less) arises from a misconception as +to the origin of this government and its true character. It is, Sir, the +people's Constitution, the people's government, made for the people, made +by the people, and answerable to the people. The people of the United +States have declared that this Constitution shall be the supreme law. We +must either admit the proposition, or dispute their authority. The States +are, unquestionably, sovereign, so far as their sovereignty is not +affected by the supreme law. But the State legislatures, as political +bodies, however sovereign, are yet not sovereign over the people. So far +as the people have given power to the general government, so far the grant +is unquestionably good, and the government holds of the people, and not of +the State governments. We are all agents of the same supreme power, the +people. The general government and the State governments derive their +authority from the same source. Neither can, in relation to the other, be +called primary, though one is definite and restricted, and the other +general and residuary. The national government possesses those powers +which it can be shown the people have conferred on it, and no more. All +the rest belongs to the State governments, or to the people themselves. So +far as the people have restrained State sovereignty, by the expression of +their will, in the Constitution of the United States, so far, it must be +admitted, State sovereignty is effectually controlled. I do not contend +that it is, or ought to be, controlled farther. The sentiment to which I +have referred propounds that State sovereignty is only to be controlled by +its own "feeling of justice"; that is to say, it is not to be controlled +at all, for one who is to follow his own feelings is under no legal +control. Now, however men may think this ought to be, the fact is, that +the people of the United States have chosen to impose control on State +sovereignties. There are those, doubtless, who wish they had been left +without restraint; but the Constitution has ordered the matter +differently. To make war, for instance, is an exercise of sovereignty; but +the Constitution declares that no State shall make war. To coin money is +another exercise of sovereign power; but no State is at liberty to coin +money. Again, the Constitution says that no sovereign State shall be so +sovereign as to make a treaty. These prohibitions, it must be confessed, +are a control on the State sovereignty of South Carolina, as well as of +the other States, which does not arise "from her own feelings of honorable +justice." The opinion referred to, therefore, is in defiance of the +plainest provisions of the Constitution. + +There are other proceedings of public bodies which have already been +alluded to, and to which I refer again for the purpose of ascertaining +more fully what is the length and breadth of that doctrine, denominated +the Carolina doctrine, which the honorable member has now stood up on this +floor to maintain. In one of them I find it resolved, that "the tariff of +1828, and every other tariff designed to promote one branch of industry at +the expense of others, is contrary to the meaning and intention of the +federal compact; and such a dangerous, palpable, and deliberate usurpation +of power, by a determined majority, wielding the general government beyond +the limits of its delegated powers, as calls upon the States which compose +the suffering minority, in their sovereign capacity, to exercise the +powers which, as sovereigns, necessarily devolve upon them, when their +compact is violated." + +Observe, Sir, that this resolution holds the tariff of 1828, and every +other tariff designed to promote one branch of industry at the expense of +another, to be such a dangerous, palpable, and deliberate usurpation of +power, as calls upon the States, in their sovereign capacity, to interfere +by their own authority. This denunciation, Mr. President, you will please +to observe, includes our old tariff of 1816, as well as all others; +because that was established to promote the interest of the manufacturers +of cotton, to the manifest and admitted injury of the Calcutta cotton +trade. Observe, again, that all the qualifications are here rehearsed and +charged upon the tariff, which are necessary to bring the case within the +gentleman's proposition. The tariff is a usurpation; it is a dangerous +usurpation; it is a palpable usurpation; it is a deliberate usurpation. It +is such a usurpation, therefore, as calls upon the States to exercise +their right of interference. Here is a case, then, within the gentleman's +principles, and all his qualifications of his principles. It is a case for +action. The Constitution is plainly, dangerously, palpably, and +deliberately violated; and the States must interpose their own authority +to arrest the law. Let us suppose the State of South Carolina to express +this same opinion, by the voice of her legislature. That would be very +imposing; but what then? Is the voice of one State conclusive? It so +happens that, at the very moment when South Carolina resolves that the +tariff laws are unconstitutional, Pennsylvania and Kentucky resolve +exactly the reverse. _They_ hold those laws to be both highly proper +and strictly constitutional. And now, Sir, how does the honorable member +propose to deal with this case? How does he relieve us from this +difficulty, upon any principle of his? His construction gets us into it; +how does he propose to get us out? + +In Carolina, the tariff is a palpable, deliberate usurpation; Carolina, +therefore, may nullify it, and refuse to pay the duties. In Pennsylvania, +it is both clearly constitutional and highly expedient; and there the +duties are to be paid. And yet we live under a government of uniform laws, +and under a Constitution too, which contains an express provision, as it +happens, that all duties shall be equal in all the States. Does not this +approach absurdity? + +If there be no power to settle such questions, independent of either of +the States, is not the whole Union a rope of sand? Are we not thrown back +again, precisely, upon the old Confederation? + +It is too plain to be argued. Four-and-twenty interpreters of +constitutional law, each with a power to decide for itself, and none with +authority to bind anybody else, and this constitutional law the only bond +of their union! What is such a state of things but a mere connection +during pleasure, or, to use the phraseology of the times, _during +feeling_? And that feeling, too, not the feeling of the people, who +established the Constitution, but the feeling of the State governments. + +In another of the South Carolina addresses, having premised that the +crisis requires "all the concentrated energy of passion," an attitude of +open resistance to the laws of the Union is advised. Open resistance to +the laws, then, is the constitutional remedy, the conservative power of +the State, which the South Carolina doctrines teach for the redress of +political evils, real or imaginary. And its authors further say, that, +appealing with confidence to the Constitution itself, to justify their +opinions, they cannot consent to try their accuracy by the courts of +justice. In one sense, indeed, Sir, this is assuming an attitude of open +resistance in favor of liberty. But what sort of liberty? The liberty of +establishing their own opinions, in defiance of the opinions of all +others; the liberty of judging and of deciding exclusively themselves, in +a matter in which others have as much right to judge and decide as they; +the liberty of placing their own opinions above the judgment of all +others, above the laws, and above the Constitution. This is their liberty, +and this is the fair result of the proposition contended for by the +honorable gentleman. Or, it may be more properly said, it is identical +with it, rather than a result from it. + +Resolutions, Sir, have been recently passed by the legislature of South +Carolina. I need not refer to them; they go no farther than the honorable +gentleman himself has gone, and I hope not so far. I content myself, +therefore, with debating the matter with him. + +And now, Sir, what I have first to say on this subject is, that at no +time, and under no circumstances, has New England, or any State in New +England, or any respectable body of persons in New England, or any public +man of standing in New England, put forth such a doctrine as this Carolina +doctrine. + +The gentleman has found no case, he can find none, to support his own +opinions by New England authority. New England has studied the +Constitution in other schools, and under other teachers. She looks upon it +with other regards, and deems more highly and reverently both of its just +authority and its utility and excellence. The history of her legislative +proceedings may be traced. The ephemeral effusions of temporary bodies, +called together by the excitement of the occasion, may be hunted up; they +have been hunted up. The opinions and votes of her public men, in and out +of Congress, may be explored. It will all be in vain. The Carolina +doctrine can derive from her neither countenance nor support. She rejects +it now; she always did reject it; and till she loses her senses, she +always will reject it. The honorable member has referred to expressions on +the subject of the embargo law, made in this place, by an honorable and +venerable gentleman, now favoring us with his presence. [24] He quotes +that distinguished Senator as saying, that, in his judgment, the embargo +law was unconstitutional, and that therefore, in his opinion, the people +were not bound to obey it. That, Sir, is perfectly constitutional +language. An unconstitutional law is not binding; _but then it does not +rest with a resolution or a law of a State legislature to decide whether +an act of Congress be or be not constitutional_. An unconstitutional +act of Congress would not bind the people of this District, although they +have no legislature to interfere in their behalf; and, on the other hand, +a constitutional law of Congress does bind the citizens of every State, +although all their legislatures should undertake to annul it by act or +resolution. The venerable Connecticut Senator is a constitutional lawyer, +of sound principles and enlarged knowledge; a statesman practised and +experienced, bred in the company of Washington, and holding just views +upon the nature of our governments. He believed the embargo +unconstitutional, and so did others; but what then? Who did he suppose was +to decide that question? The State legislatures? Certainly not. No such +sentiment ever escaped his lips. + +Let us follow up, Sir, this New England opposition to the embargo laws; +let us trace it, till we discern the principle which controlled and +governed New England throughout the whole course of that opposition. We +shall then see what similarity there is between the New England school of +constitutional opinions, and this modern Carolina school. The gentleman, I +think, read a petition from some single individual addressed to the +legislature of Massachusetts, asserting the Carolina doctrine; that is, +the right of State interference to arrest the laws of the Union. The fate +of that petition shows the sentiment of the legislature. It met no favor. +The opinions of Massachusetts were very different. They had been expressed +in 1798, in answer to the resolutions of Virginia, and she did not depart +from them, nor bend them to the times. Misgoverned, wronged, oppressed, as +she felt herself to be, she still held fast her integrity to the Union. +The gentleman may find in her proceedings much evidence of dissatisfaction +with the measures of government, and great and deep dislike to the +embargo; all this makes the case so much the stronger for her; for, +notwithstanding all this dissatisfaction and dislike, she still claimed no +right to sever the bonds of the Union. There was heat, and there was anger +in her political feeling. Be it so; but neither her heat nor her anger +betrayed, her into infidelity to the government. The gentleman labors to +prove that she disliked the embargo as much as South Carolina dislikes the +tariff, and expressed her dislike as strongly. Be it so; but did she +propose the Carolina remedy? did she threaten to interfere, by State +authority, to annul the laws of the Union? That is the question for the +gentleman's consideration. + +No doubt, Sir, a great majority of the people of New England +conscientiously believed the embargo law of 1807 unconstitutional; [25] as +conscientiously, certainly, as the people of South Carolina hold that +opinion of the tariff. They reasoned thus: Congress has power to regulate +commerce; but here is a law, they said, stopping all commerce, and +stopping it indefinitely. The law is perpetual; that is, it is not limited +in point of time, and must of course continue until it shall be repealed +by some other law. It is as perpetual, therefore, as the law against +treason or murder. Now, is this regulating commerce, or destroying it? Is +it guiding, controlling, giving the rule to commerce, as a subsisting +thing or is it putting an end to it altogether? Nothing is more certain, +than that a majority in New England deemed this law a violation of the +Constitution. The very case required by the gentleman to justify State +interference had then arisen. Massachusetts believed this law to be "a +deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of a power not granted by the +Constitution." Deliberate it was, for it was long continued; palpable she +thought it, as no words in the Constitution gave the power, and only a +construction, in her opinion most violent, raised it; dangerous it was, +since it threatened utter ruin to her most important interests. Here, +then, was a Carolina case. How did Massachusetts deal with it? It was, as +she thought, a plain, manifest, palpable violation of the Constitution, +and it brought ruin to her doors. Thousands of families, and hundreds of +thousands of individuals, were beggared by it. While she saw and felt all +this, she saw and felt also, that, as a measure of national policy, it was +perfectly futile; that the country was no way benefited by that which +caused so much individual distress; that it was efficient only for the +production of evil, and all that evil inflicted on ourselves. In such a +case, under such circumstances, how did Massachusetts demean herself? Sir, +she remonstrated, she memorialized, she addressed herself to the general +government, not exactly "with the concentrated energy of passion," but +with her own strong sense, and the energy of sober conviction. But she did +not interpose the arm of her own power to arrest the law, and break the +embargo. Far from it. Her principles bound her to two things; and she +followed her principles, lead where they might. First, to submit to every +constitutional law of Congress, and secondly, if the constitutional +validity of the law be doubted, to refer that question to the decision of +the proper tribunals. The first principle is vain and ineffectual without +the second. A majority of us in New England believed the embargo law +unconstitutional; but the great question was, and always will be in such +cases, Who is to decide this? Who is to judge between the people and the +government? And, Sir, it is quite plain, that the Constitution of the +United States confers on the government itself, to be exercised by its +appropriate department, and under its own responsibility to the people, +this power of deciding ultimately and conclusively upon the just extent of +its own authority. If this had not been done, we should not have advanced +a single step beyond the old Confederation. + +Being fully of the opinion that the embargo law was unconstitutional, the +people of New England were yet equally clear in the opinion, (it was a +matter they did doubt upon,) that the question, after all, must be decided +by the judicial tribunals of the United States. Before those tribunals, +therefore, they brought the question. Under the provisions of the law, +they had given bonds to millions in amount, and which were alleged to be +forfeited. They suffered the bonds to be sued, and thus raised the +question. In the old-fashioned way of settling disputes, they went to law. +The case came to hearing and solemn argument; and he who espoused their +cause, and stood up for them against the validity of the embargo act, was +none other than that great man, of whom the gentleman has made honorable +mention, Samuel Dexter. He was then, Sir, in the fulness of his knowledge, +and the maturity of his strength. He had retired from long and +distinguished public service here, to the renewed pursuit of professional +duties, carrying with him all that enlargement and expansion, all the new +strength and force, which an acquaintance with the more general subjects +discussed in the national councils is capable of adding to professional +attainment, in a mind of true greatness and comprehension. He was a +lawyer, and he was also a statesman. He had studied the Constitution, when +he filled public station, that he might defend it; he had examined its +principles that he might maintain them. More than all men, or at least as +much as any man, he was attached to the general government and to the +union of the States. His feelings and opinions all ran in that direction. +A question of constitutional law, too, was, of all subjects, that one +which was best suited to his talents and learning. Aloof from +technicality, and unfettered by artificial rule, such a question gave +opportunity for that deep and clear analysis, that mighty grasp of +principle, which so much distinguished his higher efforts. His very +statement was argument; his inference seemed demonstration. The +earnestness of his own conviction wrought conviction in others. One was +convinced, and believed, and assented, because it was gratifying, +delightful, to think, and feel, and believe, in unison with an intellect +of such evident superiority. + +Mr. Dexter, Sir, such as I have described him, argued the New England +cause. He put into his effort his whole heart, as well as all the powers +of his understanding; for he had avowed, in the most public manner, his +entire concurrence with his neighbors on the point in dispute. He argued +the cause; it was lost, and New England submitted. The established +tribunals pronounced the law constitutional, and New England acquiesced. +Now, Sir, is not this the exact opposite of the doctrine of the gentleman +from South Carolina? According to him, instead of referring to the +judicial tribunals, we should have broken up the embargo by laws of our +own; we should have repealed it, _quoad_ New England; for we had a +strong, palpable, and oppressive case. Sir, we believed the embargo +unconstitutional; but still that was matter of opinion, and who was to +decide it? We thought it a clear case; but, nevertheless, we did not take +the law into our own hands, because we did not wish to bring about a +revolution, nor to break up the Union; for I maintain, that between +submission to the decision of the constituted tribunals, and revolution, +or disunion, there is no middle ground; there is no ambiguous condition, +half allegiance and half rebellion. And, Sir, how futile, how very futile +it is, to admit the right of State interference, and then attempt to save +it from the character of unlawful resistance, by adding terms of +qualification to the causes and occasions, leaving all these +qualifications, like the case itself, in the discretion of the State +governments. It must be a clear case, it is said, a deliberate case, a +palpable case, a dangerous case. But then the State is still left at +liberty to decide for herself what is clear, what is deliberate, what is +palpable, what is dangerous. Do adjectives and epithets avail any thing? + +Sir, the human mind is so constituted, that the merits of both sides of a +controversy appear very clear, and very palpable, to those who +respectively espouse them; and both sides usually grow clearer as the +controversy advances. South Carolina sees unconstitutionality in the +tariff; she sees oppression there also, and she sees danger. Pennsylvania, +with a vision not less sharp, looks at the same tariff, and sees no such +thing in it; she sees it all constitutional, all useful, all safe. The +faith of South Carolina is strengthened by opposition, and she now not +only sees, but _resolves_, that the tariff is palpably unconstitutional, +oppressive, and dangerous; but Pennsylvania, not to be behind her +neighbors, and equally willing to strengthen her own faith by a confident +asseveration, _resolves_, also, and gives to every warm affirmative of +South Carolina, a plain, downright, Pennsylvania negative. South Carolina, +to show the strength and unity of her opinion, brings her assembly to a +unanimity, within seven voices; Pennsylvania, not to be outdone in this +respect any more than in others, reduces her dissentient fraction to a +single vote. Now, Sir, again, I ask the gentleman, What is to be done? +Are these States both right? Is he bound to consider them both right? +If not, which is in the wrong? or rather, which has the best right to +decide? And if he, and if I, are not to know what the Constitution +means, and what it is, till those two State legislatures, and the twenty- +two others, shall agree in its construction, what have we sworn to, when +we have sworn to maintain it? I was forcibly struck, Sir, with one +reflection, as the gentleman went on in his speech. He quoted Mr. +Madison's resolutions, to prove that a State may interfere, in a case of +deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of a power not granted. The +honorable member supposes the tariff law to be such an exercise of power; +and that consequently a case has arisen in which the State may, if it see +fit, interfere by its own law. Now it so happens, nevertheless, that Mr. +Madison deems this same tariff law quite constitutional. Instead of a +clear and palpable violation, it is, in his judgment, no violation at all. +So that, while they use his authority for a hypothetical case, they reject +it in the very case before them. All this, Sir, shows the inherent +futility, I had almost used a stronger word, of conceding this power of +inference to the State, and then attempting to secure it from abuse by +imposing qualifications of which the States themselves are to judge. One +of two things is true; either the laws of the Union are beyond the +discretion and beyond the control of the States; or else we have no +constitution of general government, and are thrust back again to the days +of the Confederation. + +Let me here say, Sir, that if the gentleman's doctrine had been received +and acted upon in New England, in the times of the embargo and non- +intercourse, we should probably not now have been here. The government +would very likely have gone to pieces, and crumbled into dust. No stronger +case can ever arise than existed under those laws; no States can ever +entertain a clearer conviction than the New England States then +entertained; and if they had been under the influence of that heresy of +opinion, as I must call it, which the honorable member espouses, this +Union would, in all probability, have been scattered to the four winds. I +ask the gentleman, therefore, to apply his principles to that case; I ask +him to come forth and declare, whether, in his opinion, the New England +States would have been justified in interfering to break up the embargo +system under the conscientious opinions which they held upon it? Had they +a right to annul that law? Does he admit or deny? If what is thought +palpably unconstitutional in South Carolina justifies that State in +arresting the progress of the law, tell me whether that which was thought +palpably unconstitutional also in Massachusetts would have justified her +in doing the same thing? Sir, I deny the whole doctrine. It has not a foot +of ground in the Constitution to stand on. No public man of reputation +ever advanced it in Massachusetts in the warmest times, or could maintain +himself upon it there at any time. + +I must now beg to ask, Sir, Whence is this supposed right of the States +derived? Where do they find the power to interfere with the laws of the +Union? Sir, the opinion which the honorable gentleman maintains is a +notion founded in a total misapprehension, in my judgment, of the origin +of this government, and of the foundation on which it stands. I hold it to +be a popular government, erected by the people; those who administer it, +responsible to the people; and itself capable of being amended and +modified, just as the people may choose it should be. It is as popular, +just as truly emanating from the people, as the State governments. It is +created for one purpose; the State governments for another. It has its own +powers; they have theirs. There is no more authority with them to arrest +the operation of a law of Congress, than with Congress to arrest the +operation of their laws. We are here to administer a Constitution +emanating immediately from the people, and trusted by them to our +administration. It is not the creature of the State governments. It is of +no moment to the argument, that certain acts of the State legislatures are +necessary to fill our seats in this body. That is not one of their +original State powers, a part of the sovereignty of the State. It is a +duty which the people, by the Constitution itself, have imposed on the +State legislatures; and which they might have left to be performed +elsewhere, if they had seen fit. So they have left the choice of President +with electors; but all this does not affect the proposition that this +whole government, President, Senate, and House of Representatives, is a +popular government. It leaves it still all its popular character. The +governor of a State (in some of the States) is chosen, not directly by the +people, but by those who are chosen by the people, for the purpose of +performing, among other duties, that of electing a governor. Is the +government of the State, on that account, not a popular government? This +government, Sir, is the independent offspring of the popular will. It is +not the creature of State legislatures; nay, more, if the whole truth must +be told, the people brought it into existence, established it, and have +hitherto supported it, for the very purpose, amongst others, of imposing +certain salutary restraints on State sovereignties. The States cannot now +make war; they cannot contract alliances; they cannot make, each for +itself, separate regulations of commerce; they cannot lay imposts; they +cannot coin money. If this Constitution, Sir, be the creature of State +legislatures, it must be admitted that it has obtained a strange control +over the volitions of its creators. + +The people, then, Sir, erected this government. They gave it a +Constitution, and in that Constitution they have enumerated the powers +which they bestow on it. They have made it a limited government. They have +defined its authority. They have restrained it to the exercise of such +powers as are granted; and all others, they declare, are reserved to the +States or the people. But, Sir, they have not stopped here. If they had, +they would have accomplished but half their work. No definition can be so +clear, as to avoid possibility of doubt; no limitation so precise as to +exclude all uncertainty. Who, then, shall construe this grant of the +people? Who shall interpret their will, where it may be supposed they have +left it doubtful? With whom do they repose this ultimate right of deciding +on the powers of the government? Sir, they have settled all this in the +fullest manner. They have left it with the government itself, in its +appropriate branches. Sir, the very chief end, the main design, for which +the whole Constitution was framed and adopted, was to establish a +government that should not be obliged to act through State agency, or +depend on State opinion and State discretion. The people had had quite +enough of that kind of government under the Confederation. Under that +system, the legal action, the application of law to individuals, belonged +exclusively to the States. Congress could only recommend; their acts were +not of binding force, till the States had adopted and sanctioned them. Are +we in that condition still? Are we yet at the mercy of State discretion +and State construction? Sir, if we are, then vain will be our attempt to +maintain the Constitution under which we sit. + +But, Sir, the people have wisely provided, in the Constitution itself, a +proper, suitable mode and tribunal for settling questions of +constitutional law. There are in the Constitution grants of powers to +Congress, and restrictions on these powers. There are, also, prohibitions +on the States. Some authority must, therefore, necessarily exist, having +the ultimate jurisdiction to fix and ascertain the interpretation of these +grants, restrictions, and prohibitions. The Constitution has itself +pointed out, ordained, and established that authority. How has it +accomplished this great and essential end? By declaring, Sir, that "_the +Constitution, and the laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, +shall be the supreme law of the land, anything in the constitution or laws +of any State to the contrary notwithstanding_." + +This, Sir, was the first great step. By this the supremacy of the +Constitution and laws of the United States is declared. The people so will +it. No State law is to be valid which comes in conflict with the +Constitution, or any law of the United States passed in pursuance of it. +But who shall decide this question of interference? To whom lies the last +appeal? This, Sir, the Constitution itself decides also, 25 by declaring, +"_that the judicial power shall extend to all cases arising under the +Constitution and laws of the United States_." These two provisions +cover the whole ground. They are, in truth, the keystone of the arch! With +these it is a government; without them it is a confederation. In pursuance +of these clear and express provisions, Congress established, at its very +first session, in the judicial act, a mode for carrying them into full +effect, and for bringing all questions of constitutional power to the +final decision of the Supreme Court. It then, Sir, became a government. It +then had the means of self-protection; and but for this, it would, in all +probability, have been now among things which are past. Having constituted +the government, and declared its powers, the people have further said, +that, since somebody must decide on the extent of these powers, the +government shall itself decide; subject, always, like other popular +governments, to its responsibility to the people. And now, Sir, I repeat, +how is it that a State legislature acquires any power to interfere? Who, +or what, gives them the right to say to the people, "We, who are your +agents and servants for one purpose, will undertake to decide, that your +other agents and servants, appointed by you for another purpose, have +transcended the authority you gave them!" The reply would be, I think, not +impertinent, "Who made you a judge over another's servants? To their own +masters they stand or fall." + +Sir, I deny this power of State legislatures altogether. It cannot stand +the test of examination. Gentlemen may say, that, in an extreme case, a +State government might protect the people from intolerable oppression. +Sir, in such a case, the people might protect themselves, without the aid +of the State governments. Such a case warrants revolution. It must make, +when it comes, a law for itself. A nullifying act of a State legislature +cannot alter the case, nor make resistance any more lawful. In maintaining +these sentiments, Sir, I am but asserting the rights of the people. I +state what they have declared, and insist on their right to declare it. +They have chosen to repose this power in the general government, and I +think it my duty to support it, like other constitutional powers. + +For myself, Sir, I do not admit the competency of South Carolina, or any +other State, to prescribe my constitutional duty; or to settle, between me +and the people, the validity of laws of Congress for which I have voted. I +decline her umpirage. I have not sworn to support the Constitution +according to her construction of its clauses. I have not stipulated, by my +oath of office or otherwise, to come under any responsibility, except to +the people, and those whom they have appointed to pass upon the question, +whether laws, supported by my votes, conform to the Constitution of the +country. And, Sir, if we look to the general nature of the case, could +anything have been more preposterous, than to make a government for the +whole Union, and yet leave its powers subject, not to one interpretation, +but to thirteen or twenty-four interpretations? Instead of one tribunal, +established by all, responsible to all, with power to decide for all, +shall constitutional questions be left to four-and-twenty popular bodies, +each at liberty to decide for itself, and none bound to respect the +decisions of others,--and each at liberty, too, to give a new +construction on every new election of its own members? Would anything, +with such a principle in it, or rather with such a destitution of all +principle, be fit to be called a government? No, Sir. It should not be +denominated a Constitution. It should be called, rather, a collection of +topics for everlasting controversy; heads of debate for a disputatious +people. It would not be a government. It would not be adequate to any +practical good, or fit for any country to live under. + +To avoid all possibility of being misunderstood, allow me to repeat again, +in the fullest manner, that I claim no powers for the government by forced +or unfair construction. I admit that it is a government of strictly +limited powers; of enumerated, specified, and particularized powers; and +that whatsoever is not granted, is withheld. But notwithstanding all this, +and however the grant of powers may be expressed, its limit and extent may +yet, in some cases, admit of doubt; and the general government would be +good for nothing, it would be incapable of long existing, if some mode had +not been provided in which those doubts, as they should arise, might be +peaceably, but authoritatively, solved. + +And now, Mr. President, let me run the honorable gentleman's doctrine a +little into its practical application. Let us look at his probable +_modus operandi_. If a thing can be done, an ingenious man can tell +how it is to be done, and I wish to be informed how this State +interference is to be put in practice, without violence, bloodshed, and +rebellion. We will take the existing case of the tariff law. South +Carolina is said to have made up her opinion upon it. If we do not repeal +it, (as we probably shall not,) she will then apply to the case the remedy +of her doctrine. She will, we must suppose, pass a law of her legislature, +declaring the several acts of Congress usually called the tariff laws null +and void, so far as they respect South Carolina, or the citizens thereof. +So far, all is a paper transaction, and easy enough. But the collector at +Charleston is collecting the duties imposed by these tariff laws. He, +therefore, must be stopped. The collector will seize the goods if the +tariff duties are not paid. The State authorities will undertake their +rescue, the marshal, with his posse, will come to the collector's aid, and +here the contest begins. The militia of the State will be called out to +sustain the nullifying act. They will march, Sir, under a very gallant +leader; for I believe the honorable member himself commands the militia of +that part of the State. He will raise the NULLIFYING ACT on his standard, +and spread it out as his banner! It will have a preamble, setting forth +that the tariff laws are palpable, deliberate, and dangerous violations of +the Constitution! He will proceed, with this banner flying, to the custom- +house in Charleston, + + "All the while + Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds." [26] + +Arrived at the custom-house, he will tell the collector that he must +collect no more duties under any of the tariff laws. This he will be +somewhat puzzled to say, by the way, with a grave countenance, considering +what hand South Carolina herself had in that of 1816. But, Sir, the +collector would not, probably, desist, at his bidding. He would show him +the law of Congress, the treasury instruction, and his own oath of office. +He would say, he should perform his duty, come what come might. + +Here would ensue a pause; for they say that a certain stillness precedes +the tempest. The trumpeter would hold his breath awhile, and before all +this military array should fall on the custom-house, collector, clerks, +and all, it is very probable some of those composing it would request of +their gallant commander-in-chief to be informed a little upon the point of +law; for they have, doubtless, a just respect for his opinions as a +lawyer, as well as for his bravery as a soldier. They know he has read +Blackstone and the Constitution, as well as Turenne and Vauban. They would +ask him, therefore, something concerning their rights in this matter. They +would inquire, whether it was not somewhat dangerous to resist a law of +the United States. What would be the nature of their offence, they would +wish to learn, if they, by military force and array, resisted the +execution in Carolina of a law of the United States, and it should turn +out, after all, that the law _was constitutional_? He would answer, +of course, Treason. No lawyer could give any other answer. John Fries,[27] +he would tell them, had learned that, some years ago. How, then, they +would ask, do you propose to defend us? We are not afraid of bullets, but +treason has a way of taking people off that we do not much relish. How do +you propose to defend us? "Look at my floating banner," he would reply; +"see there the _nullifying law!_" Is it your opinion, gallant +commander, they would then say, that, if we should be indicted for +treason, that same floating banner of yours would make a good plea in bar? +"South Carolina is a sovereign state," he would reply. That is true; but +would the judge admit our plea? "These tariff laws," he would repeat, "are +unconstitutional, palpably, deliberately, dangerously." That may all be +so; but if the tribunal should not happen to be of that opinion, shall we +swing for it? We are ready to die for our country, but it is rather an +awkward business, this dying without touching the ground! After all, that +is a sort of hemp tax worse than any part of the tariff. + +Mr. President, the honorable gentleman would be in a dilemma, like that of +another great general. He would have a knot before him which he could not +untie. He must cut it with his sword. He must say to his followers, +"Defend yourselves with your bayonets"; and this is war,--civil war. + +Direct collision, therefore, between force and force, is the unavoidable +result of that remedy for the revision of unconstitutional laws which the +gentleman contends for. It must happen in the very first case to which it +is applied. Is not this the plain result? To resist by force the execution +of a law, generally, is treason. Can the courts of the United States take +notice of the indulgence of a State to commit treason? The common saying, +that a State cannot commit treason herself, is nothing to the purpose. Can +she authorize others to do it? If John Fries had produced an act of +Pennsylvania, annulling the law of Congress, would it have helped his +case? Talk about it as we will, these doctrines go the length of +revolution. They are incompatible with any peaceable administration of the +government. They lead directly to disunion and civil commotion; and +therefore it is, that at their commencement, when they are first found to +be maintained by respectable men, and in a tangible form, I enter my +public protest against them all. + +The honorable gentleman argues, that, if this government be the sole judge +of the extent of its own powers, whether that right of judging be in +Congress or the Supreme Court, it equally subverts State sovereignty. This +the gentleman sees, or thinks he sees, although he cannot perceive how the +right of judging, in this matter, if left to the exercise of State +legislatures, has any tendency to subvert the government of the Union. The +gentleman's opinion may be, that the right ought not to have been lodged +with the general government; he may like better such a constitution as we +should have under the right of State interference; but I ask him to meet +me on the plain matter of fact. I ask him to meet me on the Constitution +itself. I ask him if the power is not found there, clearly and visibly +found there? But, Sir, what is this danger, and what are the grounds of +it? Let it be remembered, that the Constitution of the United States is +not unalterable. It is to continue in its present form no longer than the +people who established it shall choose to continue it. If they shall +become convinced that they have made an injudicious or inexpedient +partition and distribution of power between the State governments and the +general government, they can alter that distribution at will. + +If anything be found in the national Constitution, either by original +provision or subsequent interpretation, which ought not to be in it, the +people know how to get rid of it. If any construction, unacceptable to +them, be established, so as to become practically a part of the +Constitution, they will amend it at their own sovereign pleasure. But +while the people choose to maintain it as it is, while they are satisfied +with it, and refuse to change it, who has given, or who can give, to the +State legislatures a right to alter it, either by interference, +construction, or otherwise? Gentlemen do not seem to recollect that the +people have any power to do anything for themselves. They imagine there is +no safety for them, any longer than they are under the close guardianship +of the State legislatures. Sir, the people have not trusted their safety +in regard to the general Constitution to these hands. They have required +other security, and taken other bonds. They have chosen to trust +themselves, first, to the plain words of the instrument, and to such +construction as the government themselves, in doubtful cases, should put +on their own powers, under their oaths of office, and subject to their +responsibility to them; just as the people of a State trust their own +State governments with a similar power. Secondly, they have reposed their +trust in the efficacy of frequent elections, and in their own power to +remove their own servants and agents whenever they see cause. Thirdly, +they have reposed trust in the judicial power, which, in order that it +might be trustworthy, they have made as respectable, as disinterested, and +as independent as was practicable. Fourthly, they have seen fit to rely, +in case of necessity, or high expediency, on their known and admitted +power to alter or amend the Constitution, peaceably and quietly, whenever +experience shall point out defects or imperfections. And, finally, the +people of the United States have at no time, in no way, directly or +indirectly, authorized any State legislature to construe or interpret +_their_ high instrument of government; much less to interfere, by +their own power, to arrest its course and operation. + +If, Sir, the people in these respects had done otherwise than they have +done, their Constitution could neither have been preserved, nor would it +have been worth preserving. And if its plain provisions shall now be +disregarded, and these new doctrines interpolated in it, it will become as +feeble and helpless a being as its enemies, whether early or more recent, +could possibly desire. It will exist in every State but as a poor +dependent on State permission. It must borrow leave to be; and will be, no +longer than State pleasure, or State discretion, sees fit to grant the +indulgence, and to prolong its poor existence. + +But, Sir, although there are fears, there are hopes also. The people have +preserved this, their own chosen Constitution, for forty years, and have +seen their happiness, prosperity, and renown grow with its growth, and +strengthen with its strength. They are now, generally, strongly attached +to it. Overthrown by direct assault, it cannot be; evaded, undermined, +NULLIFIED, it will not be, if we and those who shall succeed us here as +agents and representatives of the people shall conscientiously and +vigilantly discharge the two great branches of our public trust, +faithfully to preserve, and wisely to administer it. + +Mr. President, I have thus stated the reasons of my dissent to the +doctrines which have been advanced and maintained. I am conscious of +having detained you and the Senate much too long. I was drawn into the +debate with no previous deliberation, such as is suited to the discussion +of so grave and important a subject. But it is a subject of which my heart +is full, and I have not been willing to suppress the utterance of its +spontaneous sentiments. I cannot, even now, persuade myself to relinquish +it, without expressing once more my deep conviction, that, since it +respects nothing less than the Union of the States, it is of most vital +and essential importance to the public happiness. I profess, Sir, in my +career hitherto, to have kept steadily in view the prosperity and honor of +the whole country, and the preservation of our Federal Union. It is to +that Union we owe our safety at home, and our consideration and dignity +abroad. It is to that Union that we are chiefly indebted for whatever +makes us most proud of our country. That Union we reached only by the +discipline of our virtues in the severe school of adversity. It had its +origin in the necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and +ruined credit. Under its benign influences, these great interests +immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang forth with newness of +life. Every year of its duration has teemed with fresh proofs of its +utility and its blessings; and although our territory has stretched out +wider and wider, and our population spread farther and farther, they have +not outrun its protection or its benefits. It has been to us all a copious +fountain of national, social, and personal happiness. + +I have not allowed myself, Sir, to look beyond the Union, to see what +might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I have not coolly weighed the +chances of preserving liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall +be broken asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the precipice +of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can fathom the depth +of the abyss below; nor could I regard him as a safe counsellor in the +affairs of this government, whose thoughts should be mainly bent on +considering, not how the Union may be best preserved, but how tolerable +might be the condition of the people when it should be broken up and +destroyed. While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying +prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Beyond that I +seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that, in my day, at least, that +curtain may not rise! God grant that on my vision never may be opened what +lies behind! When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the +sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored +fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, +belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in +fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold +the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the +earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their +original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star +obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory as "What +is all this worth?" nor those other words of delusion and folly, "Liberty +first and Union afterwards"; but everywhere, spread all over in characters +of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the +sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that +other sentiment, dear to every true American heart,--Liberty _and_ +Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable! [28] + + + + +The Murder of Captain Joseph White. + + + +I am little accustomed, Gentlemen, to the part which I am now attempting +to perform. Hardly more than once or twice has it happened to me to be +concerned on the side of the government in any criminal prosecution +whatever; and never, until the present occasion, in any case affecting +life. + +But I very much regret that it should have been thought necessary to +suggest to you that I am brought here to "hurry you against the law and +beyond the evidence." I hope I have too much regard for justice, and too +much respect for my own character, to attempt either; and 10 were I to +make such attempt, I am sure that in this court nothing can be carried +against the law, and that gentlemen, intelligent and just as you are, are +not, by any power, to be hurried beyond the evidence. Though I could well +have wished to shun this occasion, I have not felt at liberty to withhold +my professional assistance, when it is supposed that I may be in some +degree useful in investigating and discovering the truth respecting this +most extraordinary murder. It has seemed to be a duty incumbent on me, as +on every other citizen, to do my best and my utmost to bring to light the +perpetrators of this crime. Against the prisoner at the bar, as an +individual, I cannot have the slightest prejudice. I would not do him the +smallest injury or injustice. But I do not affect to be indifferent to the +discovery and the punishment of this deep guilt. I cheerfully share in the +opprobrium, how great soever it may be, which is cast on those who feel +and manifest an anxious concern that all who had a part in planning, or a +hand in executing, this deed of midnight assassination, may be brought to +answer for their enormous crime at the bar of public justice. + +Gentlemen, it is a most extraordinary case. In some respects, it has +hardly a precedent anywhere; certainly none in our New England history. +This bloody drama exhibited no suddenly excited, ungovernable rage. The +actors in it were not surprised by any lion-like temptation springing upon +their virtue, and overcoming it, before resistance could begin. Nor did +they do the deed to glut savage vengeance, or satiate long-settled and +deadly hate. It was a cool, calculating, money-making murder. It was all +"hire and salary, not revenge." It was the weighing of money against life; +the counting out of so many pieces of silver against so many ounces of +blood. + +An aged man, without an enemy in the world, in his own house, and in his +own bed, is made the victim of a butcherly murder, for mere pay. Truly, +here is a new lesson for painters and poets. Whoever shall hereafter draw +the portrait of murder, if he will show it as it has been exhibited, where +such example was last to have been looked for, in the very bosom of our +New England society, let him not give it the grim visage of Moloch, the +brow knitted by revenge, the face black with settled hate, and the +bloodshot eye emitting livid fires of malice. Let him draw, rather, a +decorous, smooth-faced, bloodless demon; a picture in repose, rather than +in action; not so much an example of human nature in its depravity, and in +its paroxysms of crime, as an infernal being, a fiend, in the ordinary +display and development of his character. + +The deed was executed with a degree of self-possession and steadiness +equal to the wickedness with which it was planned. The circumstances now +clearly in evidence spread out the whole scene before us. Deep sleep had +fallen on the destined victim, and on all beneath his roof. A healthful +old man, to whom sleep was sweet, the first sound slumbers of the night +held him in their soft but strong embrace. The assassin enters, through +the window already prepared, into an unoccupied apartment. With noiseless +foot he paces the lonely hall, half lighted by the moon; he winds up the +ascent of the stairs, and reaches the door of the chamber. Of this, he +moves the lock, by soft and continued pressure, till it turns on its +hinges without noise; and he enters, and beholds his victim before him. +The room is uncommonly open to the admission of light. The face of the +innocent sleeper is turned from the murderer, and the beams of the moon, +resting on the gray locks of his aged temple, show him where to strike. +The fatal blow is given! and the victim passes, without a struggle or a +motion, from the repose of sleep to the repose of death! It is the +assassin's purpose to make sure work; and he plies the dagger, though it +is obvious that life has been destroyed by the blow of the bludgeon. He +even raises the aged arm, that he may not fail in his aim at the heart, +and replaces it again over the wounds of the poinard! To finish the +picture, he explores the wrist for the pulse! He feels for it, and +ascertains that it beats no longer! It is accomplished. The deed is done. +He retreats, retraces his steps to the window, passes out through it as he +came in, and escapes. He has done the murder. No eye has seen him, no ear +has heard him. The secret is his own, and it is safe! + +Ah! Gentlemen, that was a dreadful mistake. Such a secret can be safe +nowhere. The whole creation of God has neither nook nor corner where the +guilty can bestow it, and say it is safe. Not to speak of that eye which +pierces all disguises, and beholds every thing as in the splendor of noon, +such secrets of guilt are never safe from detection, even by men. True it +is, generally speaking, that "murder will out." True it is, that +Providence hath so ordained, and doth so govern things, that those who +break the great law of Heaven by shedding man's blood seldom succeed in +avoiding discovery. Especially, in a case exciting so much attention as +this, discovery must come, and will come, sooner or later. A thousand eyes +turn at once to explore every man, every thing, every circumstance, +connected with the time and place; a thousand ears catch every whisper; a +thousand excited minds intensely dwell on the scene, shedding all their +light, and ready to kindle the slightest circumstance into a blaze of +discovery. Meantime the guilty soul cannot keep its own secret. It is +false to itself; or rather it feels an irresistible impulse of conscience +to be true to itself. It labors under its guilty possession, and knows not +what to do with it. The human heart was not made for the residence of such +an inhabitant. It finds itself preyed on by a torment, which it dares not +acknowledge to God or man. A vulture is devouring it, and it can ask no +sympathy or assistance, either from heaven or earth. The secret which the +murderer possesses soon comes to possess him; and, like the evil spirits +of which we read, it overcomes him, and leads him whithersoever it will. +He feels it beating at his heart, rising to his throat, and demanding +disclosure. He thinks the whole world sees it in his face, reads it in his +eyes, and almost hears its workings in the very silence of his thoughts. +It has become his master. It betrays his discretion, it breaks down his +courage, it conquers his prudence. When suspicions from without begin to +embarrass him, and the net of circumstances to entangle him, the fatal +secret struggles with still greater violence to burst forth. It must be +confessed, it will be confessed; there is no refuge from confession but +suicide, and suicide is confession.[1] + +Much has been said, on this occasion, of the excitement which has existed, +and still exists, and of the extraordinary measures taken to discover and +punish the guilty. No doubt there has been, and is, much excitement, and +strange indeed it would be had it been otherwise. Should not all the +peaceable and well-disposed naturally feel concerned, and naturally exert +themselves to bring to punishment the authors of this secret +assassination? Was it a thing to be slept upon or forgotten? Did you, +Gentlemen, sleep quite as quietly in your beds after this murder as +before? Was it not a case for rewards, for meetings, for committees, for +the united efforts of all the good, to find out a band of murderous +conspirators, of midnight ruffians, and to bring them to the bar of +justice and law? If this be excitement, is it an unnatural or an improper +excitement? + +It seems to me, Gentlemen, that there are appearances of another feeling, +of a very different nature and character; not very extensive, I would +hope, but still there is too much evidence of its existence. Such is human +nature, that some persons lose their abhorrence of crime in their +admiration of its magnificent exhibitions. Ordinary vice is reprobated by +them, but extraordinary guilt, exquisite wickedness, the high flights and +poetry of crime, seize on the imagination, and lead them to forget the +depths of the guilt, in admiration of the excellence of the performance, +or the unequalled atrocity of the purpose. There are those in our day who +have made great use of this infirmity of our nature, and by means of it +done infinite injury to the cause of good morals. They have affected not +only the taste, but I fear also the principles, of the young, the +heedless, and the imaginative, by the exhibition of interesting and +beautiful monsters. They render depravity attractive, sometimes by the +polish of its manners, and sometimes by its very extravagance; and study +to show off crime under all the advantages of cleverness and dexterity. +Gentlemen, this is an extraordinary murder, but it is still a murder. We +are not to lose ourselves in wonder at its origin, or in gazing on its +cool and skilful execution. We are to detect and to punish it; and while +we proceed with caution against the prisoner, and are to be sure that we +do not visit on his head the offences of others, we are yet to consider +that we are dealing with a case of most atrocious crime, which has not the +slightest circumstance about it to soften its enormity. It is murder; +deliberate, concerted, malicious murder. + +Although the interest of this case may have diminished by the repeated +investigation of the facts; still, the additional labor which it imposes +upon all concerned is not to be regretted, if it should result in removing +all doubts of the guilt of the prisoner. + +The learned counsel for the prisoner has said truly, that it is your +individual duty to judge the prisoner; that it is your individual duty to +determine his guilt or innocence; and that you are to weigh the testimony +with candor and fairness. But much at the same time has been said, which, +though it would seem to have no distinct bearing on the trial, cannot be +passed over without some notice. + +A tone of complaint so peculiar has been indulged, as would almost lead us +to doubt whether the prisoner at the bar, or the managers of this +prosecution, are now on trial. Great pains have been taken to complain of +the manner of the prosecution. We hear of getting up a case; of setting in +motion trains of machinery; of foul testimony; of combinations to +overwhelm the prisoner; of private prosecutors; that the prisoner is +hunted, persecuted, driven to his trial; that everybody is against him; +and various other complaints, as if those who would bring to punishment +the authors of this murder were almost as bad as they who committed it. + +In the course of my whole life, I have never heard before so much said +about the particular counsel who happen to be employed; as if it were +extraordinary that other counsel than the usual officers of the government +should assist in the management of a case on the part of the +government.[2] In one of the last criminal trials in this county, that of +Jackman for the "Goodridge robbery" (so called), I remember that the +learned head of the Suffolk Bar, Mr. Prescott, came down in aid of the +officers of the government. This was regarded as neither strange nor +improper. The counsel for the prisoner, in that case, contented themselves +with answering his arguments, as far as they were able, instead of carping +at his presence. + +Complaint is made that rewards were offered, in this case, and temptations +held out to obtain testimony. Are not rewards always offered, when great +and secret offences are committed? Rewards were offered in the case to +which I have alluded; and every other means taken to discover the +offenders, that ingenuity or the most persevering vigilance could suggest. +The learned counsel have suffered their zeal to lead them into a strain of +complaint at the manner in which the perpetrators of this crime were +detected, almost indicating that they regard it as a positive injury to +them to have found but their guilt. Since no man witnessed it, since they +do not now confess it, attempts to discover it are half esteemed as +officious intermeddling and impertinent inquiry. + +It is said, that here even a Committee of Vigilance was appointed. This is +a subject of reiterated remark. This committee are pointed at, as though +they had been officiously intermeddling with the administration of +justice. They are said to have been "laboring for months" against the +prisoner. Gentlemen, what must we do in such a case? Are people to be dumb +and still, through fear of overdoing? Is it come to this, that an effort +cannot be made, a hand cannot be lifted, to discover the guilty, without +its being said there is a combination to overwhelm innocence? Has the +community lost all moral sense? Certainly, a community that would not be +roused to action upon an occasion such as this was, a community which +should not deny sleep to their eyes, and slumber to their eyelids, till +they had exhausted all the means of discovery and detection, must indeed +be lost to all moral sense, and would scarcely deserve protection from the +laws. The learned counsel have endeavored to persuade you, that there +exists a prejudice against the persons accused of this murder. They would +have you understand that it is not confined to this vicinity alone; but +that even the legislature have caught this spirit. That through the +procurement of the gentleman here styled private prosecutor, who is a +member of the Senate, a special session of this court was appointed for +the trial of these offenders. That the ordinary movements of the wheels of +justice were too slow for the purposes devised. But does not everybody see +and know, that it was matter of absolute necessity to have a special +session of the court? When or how could the prisoners have been tried +without a special session? In the ordinary arrangement of the courts, but +one week in a year is allotted for the whole court to sit in this county. +In the trial of all capital offences a majority of the court, at least, is +required to be present. In the trial of the present case alone, three +weeks have already been taken up. Without such special session, then, +three years would not have been sufficient for the purpose. It is answer +sufficient to all complaints on this subject to say, that the law was +drawn by the late Chief Justice [3] himself, to enable the court to +accomplish its duties, and to afford the persons accused an opportunity +for trial without delay. + +Again, it is said that it was not thought of making Francis Knapp, the +prisoner at the bar, a PRINCIPAL till after the death of Richard +Crowningshield, Jr.; that the present indictment is an afterthought; that +"testimony was got up" for the occasion. It is not so. There is no +authority for this suggestion. The case of the Knapps had not then been +before the grand jury. The officers of the government did not know what +the testimony would be against them. They could not, therefore, have +determined what course they should pursue. They intended to arraign all as +principals who should appear to have been principals, and all as +accessories who should appear to have been accessories. All this could be +known only when the evidence should be produced. But the learned counsel +for the defendant take a somewhat loftier flight still. They are more +concerned, they assure us, for the law itself, than even for their client. +Your decision in this case, they say, will stand as a precedent. +Gentlemen, we hope it will. We hope it will be a precedent both of candor +and intelligence, of fairness and of firmness; a precedent of good sense +and honest purpose pursuing their investigation discreetly, rejecting +loose generalities, exploring all the circumstances, weighing each, in +search of truth, and embracing and declaring the truth when found. + +It is said, that "laws are made, not for the punishment of the guilty, but +for the protection of the innocent." This is not quite accurate, perhaps, +but if so, we hope they will be so administered as to give that +protection. But who are the innocent whom the law would protect? +Gentlemen, Joseph White was innocent. They are innocent who, having lived +in the fear of God through the day, wish to sleep in his peace through the +night, in their own beds. The law is established that those who live +quietly may sleep quietly; that they who do no harm may feel none. The +gentleman can think of none that are innocent except the prisoner at the +bar, not yet convicted. Is a proved conspirator to murder innocent? Are +the Crowningshields and the Knapps innocent? What is innocence? How deep +stained with blood, how reckless in crime, how deep in depravity may it +be, and yet remain innocence? The law is made, if we would speak with +entire accuracy, to protect the innocent by punishing the guilty. But +there are those innocent out of a court, as well as in; innocent citizens +not suspected of crime, as well as innocent prisoners at the bar. + +The criminal law is not founded in a principle of vengeance. It does not +punish that it may inflict suffering. The humanity of the law feels and +regrets every pain it causes, every hour of restraint it imposes, and more +deeply still every life it forfeits. But it uses evil as the means of +preventing greater evil. It seeks to deter from crime by the example of +punishment. This is its true, and only true main object. It restrains the +liberty of the few offenders, that the many who do not offend may enjoy +their liberty. It takes the life of the murderer, that other murders may +not be committed. The law might open the jails, and at once set free all +persons accused of offences, and it ought to do so if it could be made +certain that no other offences would hereafter be committed, because it +punishes, not to satisfy any desire to inflict pain, but simply to prevent +the repetition of crimes. When the guilty, therefore, are not punished, +the law has so far failed of its purpose; the safety of the innocent is so +far endangered. Every unpunished murder takes away something from the +security of every man's life. Whenever a jury, through whimsical and ill- +founded scruples, suffer the guilty to escape, they make themselves +answerable for the augmented danger of the innocent. + +We wish nothing to be strained against this defendant. Why, then, all this +alarm? Why all this complaint against the manner in which the crime is +discovered? The prisoner's counsel catch at supposed flaws of evidence, or +bad character of witnesses, without meeting the case. Do they mean to deny +the conspiracy? Do they mean to deny that the two Crowningshields and the +two Knapps were conspirators? Why do they rail against Palmer, while they +do not disprove, and hardly dispute, the truth of any one fact sworn to by +him? Instead of this, it is made matter of sentimentality that Palmer has +been prevailed upon to betray his bosom companions and to violate the +sanctity of friendship. Again I ask, Why do they not meet the case? If the +fact is out, why not meet it? Do they mean to deny that Captain White is +dead? One would have almost supposed even that, from some remarks that +have been made. Do they mean to deny the conspiracy? Or, admitting a +conspiracy, do they mean to deny only that Frank Knapp, the prisoner at +the bar, was abetting in the murder, being present, and so deny that he +was a principal? If a conspiracy is proved, it bears closely upon every +subsequent subject of inquiry. Why do they not come to the fact? Here the +defence is wholly indistinct. The counsel neither take the ground, nor +abandon it. They neither fly, nor light. They hover. But they must come to +a closer mode of contest. They must meet the facts, and either deny or +admit them. Had the prisoner at the bar, then, a knowledge of this +conspiracy or not? This is the question. Instead of laying out their +strength in complaining of the _manner_ in which the deed is +discovered, of the extraordinary pains taken to bring the prisoner's guilt +to light, would it not be better to show there was no guilt? Would it not +be better to show his innocence? They say, and they complain, that the +community feel a great desire that he should be punished for his crimes. +Would it not be better to convince you that he has committed no crime? + +Gentlemen, let us now come to the case. Your first inquiry, on the +evidence, will be, Was Captain White murdered in pursuance of a +conspiracy, and was the defendant one of this conspiracy? If so, the +second inquiry is, Was he so connected with the murder itself as that he +is liable to be convicted as a _principal_? The defendant is indicted +as a _principal_. If not guilty _as such_, you cannot convict +him. The indictment contains three distinct classes of counts. In the +first, he is charged as having done the deed with his own hand; in the +second, as an aider and abettor to Richard Crowningshield, Jr., who did +the deed; in the third, as an aider and abettor to some person unknown. If +you believe him guilty on either of these counts, or in either of these +ways, you must convict him. + +It may be proper to say, as a preliminary remark, that there are two +extraordinary circumstances attending this trial. One is, that Richard +Crowningshield, Jr., the supposed immediate perpetrator of the murder, +since his arrest, has committed suicide. He has gone to answer before a +tribunal of perfect infallibility. The other is, that Joseph Knapp, the +supposed originator and planner of the murder, having once made a full +disclosure of the facts, under a promise of indemnity, is, nevertheless, +not now a witness. Notwithstanding his disclosure and his promise of +indemnity, he now refuses to testify. He chooses to return to his original +state, and now stands answerable himself, when the time shall come for his +trial. These circumstances it is fit you should remember, in your +investigation of the case. + +Your decision may affect more than the life of this defendant. If he be +not convicted as principal, no one can be. Nor can any one be convicted of +a participation in the crime as accessory. The Knapps and George +Crowningshield will be again on the community. This shows the importance +of the duty you have to perform, and serves to remind you of the care and +wisdom necessary to be exercised in its performance. But certainly these +considerations do not render the prisoner's guilt any clearer, nor enhance +the weight of the evidence against him. No one desires you to regard +consequences in that light. No one wishes any thing to be strained, or too +far pressed against the prisoner. Still, it is fit you should see the full +importance of the duty which devolves upon you.[4] . . . + +Gentlemen, your whole concern should be to do your duty, and leave +consequences to take care of themselves. You will receive the law from the +court. Your verdict, it is true, may endanger the prisoner's life, but +then it is to save other lives. If the prisoner's guilt has been shown and +proved beyond all reasonable doubt, you will convict him. If such +reasonable doubts of guilt still remain, you will acquit him. You are the +judges of the whole case. You owe a duty to the public, as well as to the +prisoner at the bar. You cannot presume to be wiser than the law. Your +duty is a plain, straightforward one. Doubtless we would all judge him in +mercy. Towards him, as an individual, the law inculcates no hostility; but +towards him, if proved to be a murderer, the law, and the oaths you have +taken, and public justice, demand that you do your duty. + +With consciences satisfied with the discharge of duty, no consequences can +harm you. There is no evil that we cannot either face or fly from, but the +consciousness of duty disregarded. A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is +omnipresent, like the Deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the +morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, duty performed, or +duty violated, is still with us, for our happiness or our misery. If we +say the darkness shall cover us, in the darkness as in the light our +obligations are yet with us. We cannot escape their power, nor fly from +their presence. They are with us in this life, will be with us at its +close; and in that scene of inconceivable solemnity, which lies yet +further onward, we shall still find ourselves surrounded by the +consciousness of duty, to pain us wherever it has been violated, and to +console us so far as God may have given us grace to perform it. + +THE CONSTITUTION NOT A COMPACT BETWEEN SOVEREIGN STATES. + +Mr. President,-The gentleman from South Carolina has admonished us to be +mindful of the opinions of those who shall come after us. We must take our +chance, Sir, as to the light in which posterity will regard us. I do not +decline its judgment, nor withhold myself from its scrutiny. Feeling that +I am performing my public duty with singleness of heart and to the best of +my ability, I fearlessly trust myself to the country, now and hereafter, +and leave both my motives and my character to its decision. + +The gentleman has terminated his speech in a tone of threat and defiance +towards this bill, even should it become a law of the land, altogether +unusual in the halls of Congress. But I shall not suffer myself to be +excited into warmth by his denunciation of the measure which I support. +Among the feelings which at this moment fill my breast, not the least is +that of regret at the position in which the gentleman has placed himself. +Sir, he does himself no justice. The cause which he has espoused finds no +basis in the Constitution, no succor from public sympathy, no cheering +from a patriotic community. He has no foothold on which to stand while he +might display the powers of his acknowledged talents. Every thing beneath +his feet is hollow and treacherous. He is like a strong man struggling in +a morass: every effort to extricate himself only sinks him deeper and +deeper. And I fear the resemblance may be carried still farther; I fear +that no friend can safely come to his relief, that no one can approach +near enough to hold out a helping hand, without danger of going down +himself, also, into the bottomless depths of this Serbonian bog. + +The honorable gentleman has declared, that on the decision of the question +now in debate may depend the cause of liberty itself. I am of the same +opinion; but then, Sir, the liberty which I think is staked on the contest +is not political liberty, in any general and undefined character, but our +own well-understood and long-enjoyed _American_ liberty, + +Sir, I love Liberty no less ardently than the gentleman himself, in +whatever form she may have appeared in the progress of human history. As +exhibited in the master states of antiquity, as breaking out again from +amidst the darkness of the Middle Ages, and beaming on the formation of +new communities in modern Europe, she has, always and everywhere, charms +for me. Yet, Sir, it is our own liberty, guarded by constitutions and +secured by union, it is that liberty which is our paternal inheritance, it +is our established, dear-bought, peculiar American liberty, to which I am +chiefly devoted, and the cause of which I now mean, to the utmost of my +power, to maintain and defend. + +Mr. President, if I considered the constitutional question now before us +as doubtful as it is important, and if I supposed that its decision, +either in the Senate or by the country, was likely to be in any degree +influenced by the manner in which I might now discuss it, this would be to +me a moment of deep solicitude. Such a moment has once existed. There has +been a time, when, rising in this place, on the same question, I felt, I +must confess, that something for good or evil to the Constitution of the +country might depend on an effort of mine. But circumstances are changed. +Since that day, Sir, the public opinion has become awakened to this great +question; it has grasped it; it has reasoned upon it, as becomes an +intelligent and patriotic community, and has settled it, or now seems in +the progress of settling it, by an authority which none can disobey, the +authority of the people themselves. + +I shall not, Mr. President, follow the gentleman, step by step, through +the course of his speech. Much of what he has said he has deemed necessary +to the just explanation and defence of his own political character and +conduct. On this I shall offer no comment. Much, too, has consisted of +philosophical remark upon the general nature of political liberty, and the +history of free institutions; and upon other topics, so general in their +nature as to possess, in my opinion, only a remote bearing on the +immediate subject of this debate. + +But the gentleman's speech made some days ago, upon introducing his +resolutions, those resolutions themselves, and parts of the speech now +just concluded, may, I presume, be justly regarded as containing the whole +South Carolina doctrine. That doctrine it is my purpose now to examine, +and to compare it with the Constitution of the United States. I shall not +consent, Sir, to make any new constitution, or to establish another form +of government. I will not undertake to say what a constitution for these +United States ought to be. That question the people have decided for +themselves; and I shall take the instrument as they have established it, +and shall endeavor to maintain it, in its plain sense and meaning, against +opinions and notions, which, in my judgment, threaten its subversion. + +The resolutions introduced by the gentleman were apparently drawn up with +care, and brought forward upon deliberation. I shall not be in danger, +therefore, of misunderstanding him, or those who agree with him, if I +proceed at once to these resolutions, and consider them as an authentic +statement of those opinions upon the great constitutional question by +which the recent proceedings in South Carolina are attempted to be +justified. + +These resolutions are three in number. + +The third seems intended to enumerate, and to deny, the several opinions +expressed in the President's proclamation, respecting the nature and +powers of this government. Of this third resolution, I purpose, at +present, to take no particular notice. + +The first two resolutions of the honorable member affirm these +propositions, viz.:-- + +1. That the political system under which we live, and under which Congress +is now assembled, is a _compact_, to which the people of the several +States, as separate and sovereign communities, are _the parties_. + +2. That these sovereign parties have a right to judge, each for itself, of +any alleged violation of the Constitution by Congress; and, in case of +such violation, to choose, each for itself, its own mode and measure of +redress. + +It is true, Sir, that the honorable member calls this a "constitutional" +compact; but still he affirms it to be a compact between sovereign States. +What precise meaning, then, does he attach to the term _constitutional_? +When applied to compacts between sovereign States, the term +_constitutional_ affixes to the word _compact_ no definite idea. Were we +to hear of a constitutional league or treaty between England and France, +or a constitutional convention between Austria and Russia, we should not +understand what could be intended by such a league, such a treaty, or such +a convention. In these connections, the word is void of all meaning; and +yet, Sir, it is easy, quite easy, to see why the honorable gentleman has +used it in these resolutions. He cannot open the book, and look upon our +written frame of government, without seeing that it is called a +_constitution_. This may well be appalling to him. It threatens his whole +doctrine of compact, and its darling derivatives, nullification and +secession, with instant confutation. Because, if he admits our instrument +of government to be a _constitution_, then, for that very reason, it is +not a compact between sovereigns; a constitution of government and a +compact between sovereign powers being things essentially unlike in their +very natures, and incapable of ever being the same. Yet the word +_constitution_ is on the very front of the instrument. He cannot +overlook it. He seeks, therefore, to compromise the matter, and to sink +all the substantial sense of the word, while he retains a resemblance of +its sound. He introduces a new word of his own, viz. _compact_, as +importing the principal idea, and designed to play the principal part, +and degrades _constitution_ into an insignificant, idle epithet, attached +to _compact_. The whole then stands as a _"constitutional compact"!_ +And in this way he hopes to pass off a plausible gloss, as satisfying the +words of the instrument. But he will find himself disappointed. Sir, I must +say to the honorable gentleman, that, in our American political grammar, +CONSTITUTION is a noun substantive; it imports a distinct and clear idea +of itself; and it is not to lose its importance and dignity, it is not to +be turned into a poor, ambiguous, senseless, unmeaning adjective, for the +purpose of accommodating any new set of political notions. Sir, we reject +his new rules of syntax altogether. We will not give up our forms of +political speech to the grammarians of the school of nullification. By +the Constitution, we mean, not a "constitutional compact," but, simply +and directly, the Constitution, the fundamental law; and if there be one +word in the language which the people of the United States understand, +this is that word. We know no more of a constitutional compact between +sovereign powers, than we know of a _constitutional_ indenture of +copartnership, a _constitutional_ deed of conveyance, or a +_constitutional_ bill of exchange. But we know what the _Constitution_ +is; we know what the plainly written fundamental law is; we know what +the bond of our Union and the security of our liberties is; and we mean +to maintain and to defend it, in its plain sense and unsophisticated +meaning. + +The sense of the gentleman's proposition, therefore, is not at all +affected, one way or the other, by the use of this word. That proposition +still is, that our system of government is but a _compact_ between +the people of separate and sovereign States. + +Was it Mirabeau, Mr. President, or some other master of the human +passions, who has told us that words are things? They are indeed things, +and things of mighty influence, not only in addresses to the passions and +high-wrought feelings of mankind, but in the discussion of legal and +political questions also; because a just conclusion is often avoided, or a +false one reached, by the adroit substitution of one phrase, or one word, +for another. Of this we have, I think, another example in the resolutions +before us. + +The first resolution declares that the people of the several States +_"acceded"_ to the Constitution, or to the constitutional compact, as +it is called. This word "accede," not found either in the Constitution +itself, or in the ratification of it by any one of the States, has been +chosen for use here, doubtless, not without a well-considered purpose. + +The natural converse of _accession_ is _secession_; and, +therefore, when it is stated that the people of the States acceded to the +Union, it may be more plausibly argued that they may secede from it. If, +in adopting the Constitution, nothing was done but acceding to a compact, +nothing would seem necessary, in order to break it up, but to secede from +the same compact. But the term is wholly out of place. _Accession_, +as a word applied to political associations, implies coming into a league, +treaty, or confederacy, by one hitherto a stranger to it; and +_secession_ implies departing from such league or confederacy. The +people of the United States have used no such form of expression in +establishing the present government. They do not say that they +_accede_ to a league, but they declare that they _ordain_ and +_establish_ a Constitution. Such are the very words of the instrument +itself; and in all the States, without an exception, the language used by +their conventions was, that they "_ratified the Constitution_"; some +of them employing the additional words "assented to" and "adopted," but +all of them "ratifying." + +There is more importance than may, at first sight, appear, in the +introduction of this new word, by the honorable mover of these +resolutions. Its adoption and use are indispensable to maintain those +premises from which his main conclusion is to be afterwards drawn. But +before showing that, allow me to remark, that this phraseology tends to +keep out of sight the just view of a previous political history, as well +as to suggest wrong ideas as to what was actually done when the present +Constitution was agreed to. In 1789, and before this Constitution was +adopted, the United States had already been in a union, more or less +close, for fifteen years. At least as far back as the meeting of the first +Congress, in 1774, they had been in some measure, and for some national +purposes, united together. Before the Confederation of 1781, they had +declared independence jointly, and had carried on the war jointly, both by +sea and land; and this not as separate States, but as one people. When, +therefore, they formed that Confederation, and adopted its articles as +articles of perpetual union, they did not come together for the first +time; and therefore they did not speak of the States as _acceding_ to +the Confederation, although it was a league, and nothing but a league, and +rested on nothing but plighted faith for its performance. Yet, even then, +the States were not strangers to each other; there was a bond of union +already subsisting between them; they were associated, united States; and +the object of the Confederation was to make a stronger and better bond of +union. Their representatives deliberated together on these proposed +Articles of Confederation, and being authorized by their respective +States, finally "_ratified and confirmed_" them. Inasmuch as they +were already in union, they did not speak of _acceding_ to the new +Articles of Confederation, but of _ratifying_ and _confirming_ +them; and this language was not used inadvertently, because, in the same +instrument, _accession_ is used in its proper sense, when applied to +Canada, which was altogether a stranger to the existing union. "Canada," +says the eleventh article, "_acceding_ to this Confederation, and +joining in the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into the +Union." + +Having thus used the terms _ratify_ and _confirm_, even in +regard to the old Confederation, it would have been strange indeed, if the +people of the United States, after its formation, and when they came to +establish the present Constitution, had spoken of the States, or the +people of the States, as _acceding_ to this constitution. Such +language would have been ill-suited to the occasion. It would have implied +an existing separation or disunion among the States, such as never has +existed since 1774. No such language, therefore, was used. The language +actually employed is, _adopt, ratify, ordain, establish_. + +Therefore, Sir, since any State, before she can prove her right to +dissolve the Union, must show her authority to undo what has been done, no +State is at liberty to _secede_, on the ground that she and other +States have done nothing but _accede_. She must show that she has a +right to _reverse_ what has been _ordained_, to _unsettle_ +and _overthrow_ what has been _established_, to _reject_ +what the people have _adopted_, and to breakup what have +_ratified_; because these are the terms which express the +transactions which have actually taken place. In other words, she must +show her right to make a revolution. + +If, Mr. President, in drawing these resolutions, the honorable member and +confined himself to the use of constitutional language, there would have +been a wide and awful _hiatus_ between his premises and his +conclusion. Leaving out the two words _compact_ and _accession_, +which are not constitutional modes of expression, and stating the matter +precisely as the truth is, his first resolution would have affirmed that +_the people of the several States ratified this Constitution, or form of +government_. These are the very words of South Carolina herself, in her +act of ratification. Let, then, his first resolution tell the exact truth; +let it state the fact precisely as it exists; let it say that the people +of the several States ratified a constitution, or form of government, and +then, Sir, what will become of his inference in his second resolution, +which is in these words, viz. "that, as in all other cases of compact +among sovereign parties, each has an equal right to judge for itself, as +well of the infraction as of the mode and measure of redress"? It is +obvious, is it not, Sir? that this conclusion requires for its support +quite other premises; it requires premises which speak of _accession_ +and of _compact_ between sovereign powers; and, without such +premises, it is altogether unmeaning. + +Mr. President, if the honorable member will truly state what the people +did in forming this Constitution, and then state what they must do if they +would now undo what they then did, he will unavoidably state a case of +revolution. + +Let us see if it be not so. He must state, in the first place, that the +people of the several States adopted and ratified this Constitution, or +form of government; and, in the next place, he must state that they have a +right to undo this; that is to say, that they have a right to discard the +form of government which they have adopted, and to break up the +Constitution which they have ratified. Now, Sir, this is neither more nor +less than saying that they have a right to make a revolution. To reject an +established government, to break up a political constitution, is +revolution. + +I deny that any man can state accurately what was done by the people, in +establishing the present Constitution, and then state accurately what the +people, or any part of them, must now do to get rid of its obligations, +without stating an undeniable case of the overthrow of government. I +admit, of course, that the people may, if they choose, overthrow the +government. But, then, that is revolution. The doctrine how contended for +is, that, by _nullification_, or _secession_, the obligations +and authority of the government may be set aside or rejected, without +revolution. But that is what I deny; and what I say is, that no man can +state the case with historical accuracy, and in constitutional language, +without showing that the honorable gentleman's right, as asserted in his +conclusion, is a revolutionary right merely; that it does not and cannot +exist under the Constitution, or agreeably to the Constitution, but can +come into existence only when the Constitution is overthrown. This is the +reason, Sir, which makes it necessary to abandon the use of constitutional +language for a new vocabulary, and to substitute, in the place of plain +historical facts, a series of assumptions. This is the reason why it is +necessary to give new names to things, to speak of the Constitution, not +as a constitution, but as a compact, and of the ratifications by the +people, not as ratifications, but as acts of accession. + +Sir, I intend to hold the gentlemen to the written record. In the +discussion of a constitutional question, I intend to impose upon him the +restraints of constitutional language. The people have ordained a +Constitution; can they reject it without revolution? They have established +a form of government; can they overthrow it without revolution? These are +the true questions. + +Allow me now, Mr. President, to inquire further into the extent of the +propositions contained in the resolutions, and their necessary +consequences. + +Where sovereign communities are parties, there is no essential difference +between a compact, a confederation, and a league. They all equally rest on +the plighted faith of the sovereign party. A league, or confederacy, is +but a subsisting or continuing treaty. + +The gentleman's resolutions, then, affirm, in effect, that these twenty- +four United States are held together only by a subsisting treaty, resting +for its fulfilment and continuance on no inherent power of its own, but on +the plighted faith of each State; or, in other words, that our Union is +but a league; and, as a consequence from this proposition, they further +affirm that, as sovereigns are subject to no superior power, the States +must judge, each for itself, of any alleged violation of the league; and +if such violation be supposed to have occurred, each may adopt any mode or +measure of redress which it shall think proper. + +Other consequences naturally follow, too, from the main proposition. If a +league between sovereign powers have no limitation as to the time of its +duration, and contain nothing making it perpetual, it subsists only during +the good pleasure of the parties, although no violation be complained of. +If, in the opinion of either party, it be violated, such party may say +that he will no longer fulfil its obligations on his part, but will +consider the whole league or compact at an end, although it might be one +of its stipulations that it should be perpetual. Upon this principle, the +Congress of the United States, in 1798, declared null and void the treaty +of alliance between the United States and France, though it professed to +be a perpetual alliance. + +If the violation of the league be accompanied with serious injuries, the +suffering party, being sole judge of his own mode and measure of redress, +has a right to indemnify himself by reprisals on the offending members of +the league; and reprisals, if the circumstances of the case require it, +may be followed by direct, avowed, and public war. + +The necessary import of the resolution, therefore, is that the United +States are connected only by a league; that it is in the good pleasure of +every State to decide how long she will choose to remain a member of this +league; that any State may determine the extent of her own obligations +under it, and accept or reject what shall be decided by the whole; that +she may also determine whether her rights have been violated, what is the +extent of the injury done her, and what mode and measure of redress her +wrongs may make it fit and expedient for her to adopt. The result of the +whole is, that any State may secede at pleasure; that any State may resist +a law which she herself may choose to say exceeds the power of Congress; +and that, as a sovereign power, she may redress her own grievances, by her +own arm, at her own discretion. She may make reprisals; she may cruise +against the property of other members of the league; she may authorize +captures, and make open war. + +If, Sir, this be our political condition, it is time the people of the +United States understood it. Let us look for a moment to the practical +consequences of these opinions. One State, holding an embargo law +unconstitutional, may declare her opinion, and withdraw from the Union. +_She_ secedes. Another, forming and expressing the same judgment on a +law laying duties on imports, may withdraw also. _She_ secedes. And +as, in her opinion, money has been taken out of the pockets of her +citizens illegally, under pretence of this law, and as she has power to +redress their wrongs, she may demand satisfaction; and, if refused, she +may take it with a strong hand. The gentleman has himself pronounced the +collection of duties, under existing laws, to be nothing but robbery. +Robbers, of course, may be rightfully dispossessed of the fruits of their +flagitious crimes; and therefore, reprisals, impositions on the commerce +of other States, foreign alliances against them, or open war, are all +modes of redress justly open to the discretion and choice of South +Carolina; for she is to judge of her own rights, and to seek satisfaction +for her own wrongs, in her own way. + +But, Sir, a _third_ State is of opinion, not only that these laws of +imposts are constitutional, but that it is the absolute duty of Congress +to pass and to maintain such laws; and that, by omitting to pass and +maintain them, its constitutional obligations would be grossly +disregarded. She herself relinquished the power of protection, she might +allege, and allege truly, and gave it up to Congress, on the faith that +Congress would exercise it. If Congress now refuse to exercise it, +Congress does, as she may insist, break the condition of the grant, and +thus manifestly violate the Constitution; and for this violation of the +Constitution, _she_ may threaten to secede also. Virginia may secede, +and hold the fortresses in the Chesapeake. The Western States may secede, +and take to their own use the public lands. Louisiana may secede, if she +choose, form a foreign alliance, and hold the mouth of the Mississippi. If +one State may secede, ten may do so, twenty may do so, twenty-three may do +so. Sir, as these secessions go on, one after another, what is to +constitute the United States? Whose will be the army? Whose the navy? Who +will pay the debts? Who fulfil the public treaties? Who perform the +constitutional guaranties? Who govern this District and the Territories? +Who retain the public property? + +Mr. President, every man must see that these are all questions which can +arise only _after a revolution_. They presuppose the breaking up of +the government. While the Constitution lasts, they are repressed; they +spring up to annoy and startle us only from its grave. + +The Constitution does not provide for events which must be preceded by its +own destruction. SECESSION, therefore, since it must bring these +consequences with it, is REVOLUTIONARY, and NULLIFICATION is equally +REVOLUTIONARY. What is revolution? Why, Sir, that is revolution which +overturns, or controls, or successfully resists, the existing public +authority; that which arrests the exercise of the supreme power; that +which introduces a new paramount authority into the rule of the State. +Now, Sir, this is the precise object of nullification. It attempts to +supersede the supreme legislative authority. It arrests the arm of the +executive magistrate. It interrupts the exercise of the accustomed +judicial power. Under the name of an ordinance, it declares null and void, +within the State, all the revenue laws of the United States. Is not this +revolutionary? Sir, so soon as this ordinance shall be carried into +effect, a _revolution_ will have commenced in South Carolina. She +will have thrown off the authority to which her citizens have heretofore +been subject. She will have declared her own opinions and her own will to +be above the laws and above the power of those who are intrusted with +their administration. If she makes good these declarations, she is +revolutionized. As to her, it is as distinctly a change of the supreme +power as the American Revolution of 1776. That revolution did not subvert +government in all its forms. It did not subvert local laws and municipal +administrations. It only threw off the dominion of a power claiming to be +superior, and to have a right, in many important respects, to exercise +legislative authority. Thinking this authority to have been usurped or +abused, the American Colonies, now the United States, bade it defiance, +and freed themselves from it by means of a revolution. But that revolution +left them with their own municipal laws still, and the forms of local +government. If Carolina now shall effectually resist the laws of Congress; +if she shall be her own judge, take her remedy into her own hands, obey +the laws of the Union when she pleases and disobey them when she pleases, +she will relieve herself from a paramount power as distinctly as the +American Colonies did the same thing in 1776. In other words, she will +achieve, as to herself, a revolution. + +But, Sir, while practical nullification in South Carolina would be, as to +herself, actual and distinct revolution, its necessary tendency must also +be to spread revolution, and to break up the Constitution, as to all the +other States. It strikes a deadly blow at the vital principle of the whole +Union. To allow State resistance to the laws of Congress to be rightful +and proper, to admit nullification in some States, and yet not expect to +see a dismemberment of the entire government, appears to me the wildest +illusion, and the most extravagant folly. The gentleman seems not +conscious of the direction or the rapidity of his own course. The current +of his opinions sweeps him along, he knows not whither. To begin with +nullification, with the avowed intent, nevertheless, not to proceed to +secession, dismemberment, and general revolution, is as if one were to +take the plunge of Niagara, and cry out that he would stop half-way down. +In the one case, as in the other, the rash adventurer must go to the +bottom of the dark abyss below, were it not that that abyss has no +discovered bottom. + +Nullification, if successful, arrests the power of the law, absolves +citizens from their duty, subverts the foundation both of protection and +obedience, dispenses with oaths and obligations of allegiance, and +elevates another authority to supreme command. Is not this revolution? And +it raises to supreme command four-and-twenty distinct powers, each +professing to be under a general government, and yet each setting its laws +at defiance at pleasure. Is not this anarchy, as well as revolution? Sir, +the Constitution of the United States was received as a whole, and for the +whole country. If it cannot stand altogether, it cannot stand in parts; +and if the laws cannot be executed everywhere, they cannot long be +executed anywhere. The gentleman very well knows that all duties and +imposts must be uniform throughout the country. He knows that we cannot +have one rule or one law for South Carolina, and another for other States. +He must see, therefore, and does see, and every man sees, that the only +alternative is a repeal of the laws throughout the whole Union, or their +execution in Carolina as well as elsewhere. And this repeal is demanded +because a single State interposes her veto, and threatens resistance! The +result of the gentleman's opinion, or rather the very text of his +doctrine, is, that no act of Congress can bind all the States, the +constitutionality of which is not admitted by all; or, in other words, +that no single State is bound, against its own dissent, by a law of +imposts. This is precisely the evil experienced under the old +Confederation, and for remedy of which this Constitution was adopted. The +leading object in establishing this government, an object forced on the +country by the conditions of the times and the absolute necessity of the +law, was to give to Congress power to lay and collect imposts _without +the consent of particular States_. The Revolutionary debt remained +unpaid; the national treasury was bankrupt; the country was destitute of +credit; Congress issued its requisitions on the States, and the States +neglected them; there was no power of coercion but war, Congress could not +lay imposts, or other taxes, by its own authority; the whole general +government, therefore, was little more than a name. The Articles of +Confederation, as to purposes of revenue and finance, were nearly a dead +letter. The country sought to escape from this condition, at once feeble +and disgraceful, by constituting a government which should have power, of +itself, to lay duties and taxes, and to pay the public debt, and provide +for the general welfare; and to lay these duties and taxes in all the +States, without asking the consent of the State governments. This was the +very power on which the new Constitution was to depend for all its ability +to do good; and without it, it can be no government, now or at any time. +Yet, Sir, it is precisely against this power, so absolutely indispensable +to the very being of the government, that South Carolina directs her +ordinance. She attacks the government in its authority to raise revenue, +the very mainspring of the whole system; and if she succeed, every +movement of that system must inevitably cease. It is of no avail that she +declares that she does not resist the law as a revenue law, but as a law +for protecting manufacturers. It is a revenue law; it is the very law by +force of which the revenue is collected; if it be arrested in any State, +the revenue ceases in that State; it is, in a word, the sole reliance of +the government for the means of maintaining itself and performing its +duties. + +Mr. President, the alleged right of a State to decide constitutional +questions for herself necessarily leads to force because other States must +have the same right, and because different States will decide differently; +and when these questions arise between States, if there be no superior +power, they can be decided only by the law of force. On entering into the +Union, the people of each State gave up a part of their own power to make +laws for themselves, in consideration, that, as to common objects, they +should have a part in making laws for other States. In other words, the +people of all the States agreed to create a common government, to be +conducted by common counsels. Pennsylvania, for example, yielded the right +of laying imposts in her own ports, in consideration that the new +government, in which she was to have a share, should possess the power of +laying imposts on all the States. If South Carolina now refuses to submit +to this power, she breaks the condition on which other States entered into +the Union. She partakes of the common counsels, and therein assists to +bind others, while she refuses to be bound herself. It makes no difference +in the case whether she does all this without reason or pretext, or +whether she sets up as a reason, that, in her judgment, the acts +complained of are unconstitutional. In the judgment of other States, they +are not so. It is nothing to them that she offers some reason or some +apology for her conduct, if it be one which they do not admit. It is not +to be expected that any State will violate her duty without some plausible +pretext. That would be too rash a defiance of the opinion of mankind. But +if it be a pretext which lies in her own breast, if it be no more than an +opinion which she says she has formed, how can other States be satisfied +with this? How can they allow her to be judge of her own obligations? Or, +if she may judge of her obligations, may they not judge of their rights +also? May not the twenty-three entertain an opinion as well as the twenty- +fourth? And if it be their right, in their own opinion, as expressed in +the common council, to enforce the law against her, how is she to say that +her right and her opinion are to be every thing, and their right and their +opinion nothing? + +Mr. President, if we are to receive the Constitution as the text, and then +to lay down in its margin the contradictory commentaries which have been, +and which may be, made by different States, the whole page would be a +polyglot indeed. It would speak with as many tongues as the builders of +Babel, and in dialects as much confused, and mutually as unintelligible. +The very instance now before us presents a practical illustration. The law +of the last session is declared unconstitutional in South Carolina, and in +obedience to it is refused. In other States, it is admitted to be strictly +constitutional. You walk over the limit of its authority, therefore, when +you pass a State line. On one side it is law, on the other side a nullity; +and yet it is passed by a common government, having the same authority in +all the States. + +Such, Sir, are the inevitable results of this doctrine. Beginning with the +original error, that the Constitution of the United States is nothing but +a compact between sovereign States; asserting, in the next step, that each +State has a right to be its own sole judge of the extent of its own +obligations, and consequently of the constitutionality of laws of +Congress; and, in the next, that it may oppose whatever it sees fit to +declare unconstitutional, and that it decides for itself on the mode and +measure of redress,--the argument arrives at once at the conclusion, that +what a State dissents from, it may nullify; what it opposes, it may oppose +by force; what it decides for itself, it may execute by its own power; and +that, in short, it is itself supreme over the legislation of Congress, and +supreme over the decisions of the national judicature; supreme over the +constitution of the country, supreme over the supreme law of the land. +However it seeks to protect itself against these plain inferences, by +saying that an unconstitutional law is no law, and that it only opposes +such laws as are unconstitutional, yet this does not in the slightest +degree vary the result; since it insists on deciding this question for +itself; and, in opposition to reason and argument, in opposition to +practice and experience, in opposition to the judgment of others, having +an equal right to judge, it says, only, "Such is my opinion, and my +opinion shall be my law, and I will support it by my own strong hand. I +denounce the law; I declare it unconstitutional; that is enough; it shall +not be executed. Men in arms are ready to resist its execution. An attempt +to enforce it shall cover the land with blood. Elsewhere it may be +binding; but here it is trampled under foot." This, Sir, is practical +nullification. + +And now, Sir, against all these theories and opinions, I maintain,-- + +1. That the Constitution of the United States is not a league, +confederacy, or compact between the people of the several States in their +sovereign capacities; but a government proper, founded on the adoption of +the people, and creating direct relations between itself and individuals. + +2. That no State authority has power to dissolve these relations; that +nothing can dissolve them but revolution; and that, consequently, there +can be no such thing as secession without revolution. + +3. That there is a supreme law, consisting of the Constitution of the +United States, and acts of Congress passed in pursuance of it, and +treaties; and that, in cases not capable of assuming the character of a +suit in law or equity, Congress must judge of, and finally interpret, this +supreme law so often as it has occasion to pass acts of legislation; and +in cases capable of assuming, and actually assuming, the character of a +suit, the Supreme Court of the United States is the final interpreter. + +4. That an attempt by a State to abrogate, annul, or nullify an act of +Congress, or to arrest its operation within her limits, on the ground +that, in her opinion, such law is unconstitutional, is a direct usurpation +on the just powers of the general government, and on the equal rights of +other States; a plain violation of the Constitution, and a proceeding +essentially revolutionary in its character and tendency. + +Whether the Constitution be a compact between States in their sovereign +capacities, is a question which must be mainly argued from what is +contained in the instrument itself. We all agree that it is an instrument +which has been in some way clothed with power. We all admit that it speaks +with authority. The first question then is, What does it say of itself? +What does it purport to be? Does it style itself a league, confederacy, or +compact between sovereign States? It is to be remembered, Sir, that the +Constitution began to speak only after its adoption. Until it was ratified +by nine States, it was but a proposal, the mere draught of an instrument. +It was like a deed drawn, but not executed. The Convention had framed it; +sent it to Congress, then sitting under the Confederation; Congress had +transmitted it to the State legislatures; and by these last it was laid +before conventions of the people in the several States. All this while it +was inoperative paper. It had received no stamp of authority, no sanction; +it spoke no language. But when ratified by the people in their respective +conventions, then it had a voice, and spoke authentically. Every word in +it had then received the sanction of the popular will, and was to be +received as the expression of that will. What the Constitution says of +itself, therefore, is as conclusive as what it says on any other point. +Does it call itself a "compact"? Certainly not. It uses the word +_compact_ but once, and that is when it declares that the States +shall enter into no compact. Does it call itself a "league," a +"confederacy," a "subsisting treaty between the States"? Certainly not. +There is not a particle of such language in all its pages. But it declares +itself a CONSTITUTION. What is a _constitution_? Certainly not a +league, compact, or confederacy, but a _fundamental law_. That +fundamental regulation which determines the manner in which the public +authority is to be executed, is what forms the _constitution_ of a +state. Those primary rules which concern the body itself, and the very +being of the political society, the form of government, and the manner in +which power is to be exercised,--all, in a word, which form together the +_constitution of a state_,--these are the fundamental laws. This, +Sir, is the language of the public writers. But do we need to be informed, +in this country, what a _constitution_ is? Is it not an idea +perfectly familiar, definite, and settled? We are at no loss to understand +what is meant by the constitution of one of the States; and the +Constitution of the United States speaks of itself as being an instrument +of the same nature. It says this _Constitution_ shall be the law of +the land, anything in any State _constitution_ to the contrary +notwithstanding. And it speaks of itself, too, in plain contradistinction +from a confederation; for it says that all debts contracted, and all +engagements entered into, by the United States, shall be as valid under +this _Constitution_ as under the _Confederation_. It does not +say, as valid under this _compact_, or this league, or this +confederation, as under the former confederation, but as valid under this +_Constitution_. + +This, then, Sir, is declared to be a _constitution_. A constitution +is the fundamental law of the state; and this is expressly declared to be +the supreme law. It is as if the people had said, "We prescribe this +fundamental law," or "this supreme law," for they do say that they +establish this Constitution, and that it shall be the supreme law. They +say that they _ordain and establish_ it. Now, Sir, what is the common +application of these words? We do not speak of ordaining leagues and +compacts. If this was intended to be a compact or league, and the States +to be parties to it, why was it not so said? Why is there found no one +expression in the whole instrument indicating such intent? The old +Confederation was expressly called a _league_, and into this league +it was declared that the States, as States, severally entered. Why was not +similar language used in the Constitution, if a similar intention had +existed? Why was it not said, "the States enter into this new league," +"the States form this new confederation," or "the States agree to this new +compact"? Or why was it not said, in the language of the gentleman's +resolution, that the people of the several States acceded to this compact +in their sovereign capacities? What reason is there for supposing that the +framers of the Constitution rejected expressions appropriate to their own +meaning, and adopted others wholly at war with that meaning? + +Again, Sir, the Constitution speaks of that political system which is +established as "the government of the United States." Is it not doing +strange violence to language to call a league or a compact between +sovereign powers a _government_? The government of a state is that +organization in which the political power resides. It is the political +being created by the constitution or fundamental law. The broad and clear +difference between a government and a league or compact is, that a +government is a body politic; it has a will of its own; and it possesses +powers and faculties to execute its own purposes. Every compact looks to +some power to enforce its stipulations. Even in a compact between +sovereign communities, there always exists this ultimate reference to a +power to insure its execution; although, in such case, this power is but +the force of one party against the force of another; that is to say, the +power of war. But a _government_ executes its decisions by its own +supreme authority. Its use of force in compelling obedience to its own +enactments is not war. It contemplates no opposing party having a right of +resistance. It rests on its own power to enforce its own will; and when it +ceases to possess this power, it is no longer a government. + +Mr. President, I concur so generally to the very able speech of the +gentleman from Virginia near me [1], that it is not without diffidence and +regret that I venture to differ with him on any point. His opinions, Sir, +are redolent of the doctrines of a very distinguished school, for which I +have the highest regard, of whose doctrines I can say, what I can also say +of the gentleman's speech, that, while I concur in the results, I must be +permitted to hesitate about some of the premises. I do not agree that the +Constitution is a compact between States in their sovereign capacities. I +do not agree, that, in strictness of language, it is a compact at all. But +I do agree that it is founded on consent or agreement, or on compact, if +the gentleman prefers that word, and means no more by it than voluntary +consent or agreement. The Constitution, Sir, is not a contract, but the +result of a contract; meaning by contract no more than assent. Founded on +consent, it is a government proper. Adopted by the agreement of the people +of the United States, when adopted, it has become a Constitution. The +people have agreed to make a Constitution; but when made, that +Constitution becomes what its name imports. It is no longer a mere +agreement. Our laws, Sir, have their foundation in the agreement or +consent of the two houses of Congress. We say, habitually, that one house +proposes a bill, and the other agrees to it; but the result of this +agreement is not a compact, but a law. The law, the statute, is not the +agreement, but something created by the agreement; and something which, +when created, has a new character, and acts by its own authority. So the +Constitution of the United States, founded in or on the consent of the +people, may be said to rest on compact or consent; but it is not itself +the compact, but its result. When the people agree to erect a government, +and actually erect it, the thing is done, and the agreement is at an end. +The compact is executed, and the end designed by it attained. Henceforth, +the fruit of the agreement exists, but the agreement itself is merged in +its own accomplishment; since there can be no longer a subsisting +agreement or compact _to form_ a constitution or government, after +that constitution or government has been actually formed and established. + +It appears to me, Mr. President, that the plainest account of the +establishment of this government presents the most just and philosophical +view of its foundation. The people of the several States had their +separate State governments; and between the States there also existed a +Confederation. With this condition of things the people were not +satisfied, as the Confederation had been found not to fulfil its intended +objects. It was _proposed_, therefore, to erect a new, common +government, which should possess certain definite powers, such as regarded +the prosperity of the people of all the States, and to be formed upon the +general model of American constitutions. This proposal was assented to, +and an instrument was presented to the people of the several States for +their consideration. They approved it, and agreed to adopt it, as a +Constitution. They executed that agreement; they adopted the Constitution +as a Constitution, and henceforth it must stand as a Constitution until it +shall be altogether destroyed. Now, Sir, is not this the truth of the +whole matter? And is not all that we have heard of compact between +sovereign States the mere effect of a theoretical and artificial mode of +reasoning upon the subject? a mode of reasoning which disregards plain +facts for the sake of hypothesis? + +Mr. President, the nature of sovereignty or sovereign power has been +extensively discussed by gentlemen on this occasion, as it generally is +when the origin of our government is debated. But I confess myself not +entirely satisfied with arguments and illustrations drawn from that topic. +The sovereignty of government is an idea belonging to the other side of +the Atlantic. No such thing is known in North America. Our governments are +all limited. In Europe, sovereignty is of feudal origin, and imports no +more than the state of the sovereign. It comprises his rights, duties, +exemptions, prerogatives, and powers. But with us, all power is with the +people. They alone are sovereign; and they erect what governments they +please, and confer on them such powers as they please. None of these +governments is sovereign, in the European sense of the word, all being +restrained by written constitutions. It seems to me, therefore, that we +only perplex ourselves when we attempt to explain the relations existing +between the general government and the several State governments according +to those ideas of sovereignty which prevail under systems essentially +different from our own. + +But, Sir, to return to the Constitution itself; let me inquire what it +relies upon for its own continuance and support. I hear it often +suggested, that the States, by refusing to appoint Senators and Electors, +might bring this government to an end. Perhaps that is true; but the same +may be said of the State governments themselves. Suppose the legislature +of a State, having the power to appoint the governor and the judges, +should omit that duty, would not the State government remain unorganized? +No doubt, all elective governments may be broken up by a general +abandonment on the part of those intrusted with political powers of their +appropriate duties. But one popular government has, in this respect, as +much security as another. The maintenance of this Constitution does not +depend on the plighted faith of the States, as States, to support it; and +this again shows that it is not a league. It relies on individual duty and +obligation. + +The Constitution of the United States creates direct relations between +this government and individuals. This government may punish individuals +for treason, and all other crimes in the code, when committed against the +United States. It has power also to tax individuals, in any mode and to +any extent; and it possesses the further power of demanding from +individuals military service. Nothing, certainly, can more clearly +distinguish a government from a confederation of states than the +possession of these powers. No closer relations can exist between +individuals and any government. + +On the other hand, the government owes high and solemn duties to every +citizen of the country. It is bound to protect him in his most important +rights and interests. It makes war for his protection, and no other +government in the country can make war. It makes peace for his protection, +and no other government can make peace. It maintains armies and navies for +his defence and security, and no other government is allowed to maintain +them. He goes abroad beneath its flag, and carries over all the earth a +national character imparted to him by this government, and which no other +government can impart. In whatever relates to war, to peace, to commerce, +he knows no other government. All these, Sir, are connections as dear and +as sacred as can bind individuals to any government on earth. It is not, +therefore, a compact between States, but a government proper, operating +directly upon individuals, yielding to them protection on the one hand, +and demanding from them obedience on the other. + +There is no language in the whole Constitution applicable to a +confederation of States. If the States be parties, as States, what are +their rights, and what their respective covenants and stipulations? And +where are their rights, covenants, and stipulations expressed? The States +engage for nothing, they promise nothing. In the Articles of +Confederation, they did make promises, and did enter into engagements, and +did plight the faith of each State for their fulfilment; but In the +Constitution there is nothing of that kind. The reason is, that, in the +Constitution, it is the _people_ who speak, and not the States. The +people ordain the Constitution, and therein address themselves to the +States, and to the legislatures of the States, in the language of +injunction and prohibition. The Constitution utters its behests in the +name and by authority of the people, and it does not exact from States any +plighted public faith to maintain it. On the contrary, it makes its own +preservation depend on individual duty and individual obligation. Sir, the +States cannot omit to appoint Senators and Electors. It is not a matter +resting in State discretion or State pleasure. The Constitution has taken +better care of its own preservation. It lays its hand on individual +conscience and individual duty. It incapacitates any man to sit in the +legislature of a State who shall not first have taken his solemn oath to +support the Constitution of the United States. From the obligation of this +oath no State power can discharge him. All the members of all the State +legislatures are as religiously bound to support the Constitution of the +United States as they are to support their own State constitution. Nay, +Sir, they are as solemnly sworn to support it as we ourselves are, who are +members of Congress. + +No member of a State legislature can refuse to proceed, at the proper +time, to elect Senators to Congress, or to provide for the choice of +Electors of President and Vice-President, any more than the members of +this Senate can refuse, when the appointed day arrives, to meet the +members of the other house, to count the votes for those officers, and +ascertain who are chosen. In both cases, the duty binds, and with equal +strength, the conscience of the individual member, and it is imposed on +all by an oath in the same words. Let it then never be said, Sir, that it +is a matter of discretion with the States whether they will continue the +government, or break it up by refusing to appoint Senators and to elect +Electors. They have no discretion in the matter. The members of their +legislatures cannot avoid doing either, so often as the time arrives, +without a direct violation of their duty and their oaths; such a violation +as would break up any other government. + +Looking still further to the provisions of the Constitution itself, in +order to learn its true character, we find its great apparent purpose to +be, to unite the people of all the States under one general government, +for certain definite objects, and, to the extent of this union, to +restrain the separate authority of the States. Congress only can declare +war; therefore, when one State is at war with a foreign nation, all must +be at war. The President and the Senate only can make peace; when peace is +made for one State, therefore, it must be made for all. + +Can anything be conceived more preposterous, than that any State should +have power to nullify the proceedings of the general government respecting +peace and war? When war is declared by a law of Congress, can a single +State nullify that law, and remain at peace? And yet she may nullify that +law as well as any other. If the President and Senate make peace, may one +State, nevertheless, continue the war? And yet, if she can nullify a law, +she may quite as well nullify a treaty. + +The truth is, Mr. President, and no ingenuity of argument, no subtilty of +distinction can evade it, that, as to certain purposes, the people of the +United States are one people. They are one in making war, and one in +making peace; they are one in regulating commerce, and one in laying +duties of imposts. The very end and purpose of the Constitution was, to +make them one people in these particulars; and it has effectually +accomplished its object. All this is apparent on the face of the +Constitution itself. I have already said, Sir, that to obtain a power of +direct legislation over the people, especially in regard to imposts, was +always prominent as a reason for getting rid of the Confederation, and +forming a new Constitution. Among innumerable proofs of this, before the +assembling of the Convention, allow me to refer only to the report of the +committee of the old Congress, July, 1785. + +But, Sir, let us go to the actual formation of the Constitution; let us +open the journal of the Convention itself, and we shall see that the very +first resolution which the Convention adopted was, "That a national +government ought to be established, consisting of a supreme legislature, +judiciary, and executive." + +This itself completely negatives all idea of league, and compact, and +confederation. Terms could not be chosen more fit to express an intention +to establish a national government, and to banish for ever all notion of a +compact between sovereign States. + +This resolution was adopted on the 30th of May, 1787. Afterwards, the +style was altered, and, instead of being called a national government, it +was called the government of the United States; but the substance of this +resolution was retained, and was at the head of that list of resolutions +which was afterwards sent to the committee who were to frame the +instrument. + +It is true, there were gentlemen in the Convention, who were for retaining +the Confederation, and amending its Articles; but the majority was against +this, and was for a national government. Mr. Patterson's propositions, +which were for continuing the Articles of Confederation with additional +powers, were submitted to the Convention on the 15th of June, and referred +to the committee of the whole. The resolutions forming the basis of a +national government, which had once been agreed to in the committee of the +whole, and reported, were recommitted to the same committee, on the same +day. The Convention, then, in committee of the whole, on the 19th of June, +had both these plans before them; that is to say, the plan of a +confederacy, or compact, between States, and the plan of a national +government. Both these plans were considered and debated, and the +committee reported, "That they do not agree to the propositions offered by +the honorable Mr. Patterson, but that they again submit the resolutions +formerly reported." If, Sir, any historical fact in the world be plain and +undeniable, it is that the Convention deliberated on the expediency of +continuing the Confederation, with some amendments, and rejected that +scheme, and adopted the plan of a national government, with a +legislature, an executive, and a judiciary of its own. They were asked to +preserve the league; they rejected the proposition. They were asked to +continue the existing compact between States; they rejected it. They +rejected compact, league, and confederation, and set themselves about +framing the constitution of a national government; and they accomplished +what they undertook. + +If men will open their eyes fairly to the lights of history, it is +impossible to be deceived on this point. The great object was to supersede +the Confederation by a regular government; because, under the +Confederation, Congress had power only to make requisitions on States; and +if States declined compliance, as they did, there was no remedy but war +against such delinquent States. It would seem, from Mr. Jefferson's +correspondence, in 1786 and 1787, that he was of opinion that even this +remedy ought to be tried. "There will be no money in the treasury," said +he, "till the confederacy shows its teeth"; and he suggests that a single +frigate would soon levy, on the commerce of a delinquent State, the +deficiency of its contribution. But this would be war; and it was evident +that a confederacy could not long hold together, which should be at war +with its members. The Constitution was adopted to avoid this necessity. It +was adopted that there might be a government which should act directly on +individuals, without borrowing aid from the State governments. This is +clear as light itself on the very face of the provisions of the +Constitution, and its whole history tends to the same conclusion. Its +framers gave this very reason for their work in the most distinct terms. +Allow me to quote but one or two proofs, out of hundreds. That State, so +small in territory, but so distinguished for learning and talent, +Connecticut, had sent to the general Convention, among other members, +Samuel Johnston and Oliver Ellsworth. The Constitution having been framed, +it was submitted to a convention of the people of Connecticut for +ratification on the part of that State; and Mr. Johnston and Mr. Ellsworth +were also members of this convention. On the first day of the debates, +being called on to explain the reasons which led the Convention at +Philadelphia to recommend such a Constitution, after showing the +insufficiency of the existing confederacy, inasmuch as it applied to +States, as States, Mr. Johnston proceeded to say:-- + +"The Convention saw this imperfection in attempting to legislate for +States in their political capacity, that the coercion of law can be +exercised by nothing but a military force. They have, therefore, gone upon +entirely new ground. They have formed one new nation out of the individual +States. The Constitution vests in the general legislature a power to make +laws in matters of national concern; to appoint judges to decide upon +these laws; and to appoint officers to carry them into execution. This +excludes the idea of an armed force. The power which is to enforce these +laws is to be a legal power, vested in proper magistrates. The force which +is to be employed is the energy of law; and this force is to operate only +upon individuals who fail in their duty to their country. This is the +peculiar glory of the Constitution, that it depends upon the mild and +equal energy of the magistracy for the execution of the laws." + +In the further course of the debate, Mr. Ellsworth said:-- + +"In republics, it is a fundamental principle, that the majority govern, +and that the minority comply with the general voice. How contrary, then, +to republican principles, how humiliating, is our present situation! A +single State can rise up, and put a veto upon the most important public +measures. We have seen this actually take place; a single State has +controlled the general voice of the Union; a minority, a very small +minority, has governed us. So far is this from being consistent with +republican principles, that it is, in effect, the worst species of +monarchy. + +"Hence we see how necessary for the Union is a coercive principle. No man +pretends the contrary. We all see and feel this necessity. The only +question is, Shall it be a coercion of law, or a coercion of arms? There +is no other possible alternative. Where will those who oppose a coercion +of law come out? Where will they end? A necessary consequence of their +principles is a war of the States one against another. I am for coercion +by law; that coercion which acts only upon delinquent individuals. This +Constitution does not attempt to coerce sovereign bodies, States, in their +political capacity. No coercion is applicable to such bodies, but that of +an armed force. If we should attempt to execute the laws of the Union by +sending an armed force against a delinquent State, it would involve the +good and bad, the innocent and guilty, in the same calamity. But this +legal coercion singles out the guilty individual, and punishes him for +breaking the laws of the Union." + +Indeed, Sir, if we look to all contemporary history, to the numbers of the +Federalist, to the debates in the conventions, to the publications of +friends and foes, they all agree, that a change had been made from a +confederacy of States to a different system; they all agree, that the +Convention had formed a Constitution for a national government. With this +result some were satisfied, and some were dissatisfied; but all admitted +that the thing had been done. In none of these various productions and +publications did any one intimate that the new Constitution was but +another compact between States in their sovereign capacities. I do not +find such an opinion advanced in a single instance. Everywhere, the people +were told that the old Confederation was to be abandoned, and a new system +to be tried; that a proper government was proposed, to be founded in the +name of the people, and to have a regular organization of its own. +Everywhere, the people were told that it was to be a government with +direct powers to make laws over individuals, and to lay taxes and imposts +without the consent of the States. Everywhere, it was understood to be a +popular Constitution. It came to the people for their adoption, and was to +rest on the same deep foundation as the State constitutions themselves. +Its most distinguished advocates, who had been themselves members of the +Convention, declared that the very object of submitting the Constitution +to the people was, to preclude the possibility of its being regarded as a +mere compact. "However gross a heresy," say the writers of the Federalist, +"it may be to maintain that a party to a _compact_ has a right to +revoke that _compact_, the doctrine itself has had respectable +advocates. The possibility of a question of this nature proves the +necessity of laying the foundations of our national government deeper than +in the mere sanction of delegated authority. The fabric of American empire +ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE." + +Such is the language, Sir, addressed to the people, while they yet had the +Constitution under consideration. The powers conferred on the new +government were perfectly well understood to be conferred, not by any +State, or the people of any State, but by the people of the United States. +Virginia is more explicit, perhaps, in this particular, than any other +State. Her convention, assembled to ratify the Constitution, "in the name +and behalf of the people of Virginia, declare and make known, that the +powers granted under the Constitution, _being derived from the people of +the United States_, may be resumed by them whenever the same shall be +perverted to their injury or oppression." + +Is this language which describes the formation of a compact between +States? or language describing the grant of powers to a new government, by +the whole people of the United States? + +Among all the other ratifications, there is not one which speaks of the +Constitution as a compact between States. Those of Massachusetts and New +Hampshire express the transaction, in my opinion, with sufficient +accuracy. They recognize the Divine goodness "in affording THE PEOPLE OF +THE UNITED STATES an opportunity of entering into an explicit and solemn +compact with each other _by assenting to and ratifying a new +Constitution_." You will observe, Sir, that it is the PEOPLE, and not +the States, who have entered into this compact; and it is the PEOPLE of +all the United States. These conventions, by this form of expression, +meant merely to say, that the people of the United States had, by the +blessing of Providence, enjoyed the opportunity of establishing a new +Constitution, _founded in the consent of the people_. This consent of +the people has been called, by European writers, the _social +compact_; and, in conformity to this common mode of expression, these +conventions speak of that assent, on which the new Constitution was to +rest, as an explicit and solemn compact, not which the States had entered +into with each other, but which the _people_ of the United States had +entered into. + +Finally, Sir, how can any man get over the words of the Constitution +itself?--"WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH +THIS CONSTITUTION." These words must cease to be a part of the +Constitution, they must be obliterated from the parchment on which they +are written, before any human ingenuity or human argument can remove the +popular basis on which that Constitution rests, and turn the instrument +into a mere compact between sovereign States. + +The second proposition, Sir, which I propose to maintain, is, that no +State authority can dissolve the relations subsisting between the +government of the United States and individuals; that nothing can dissolve +these relations but revolution; and that, therefore, there can be no such +thing as _secession_ without revolution. All this follows, as it +seems to me, as a just consequence, if it be first proved that the +Constitution of the United States is a government proper, owing protection +to individuals, and entitled to their obedience. + +The people, Sir, in every State, live under two governments. They owe +obedience to both. These governments, though distinct, are not adverse. +Each has its separate sphere, and its peculiar powers and duties. It is +not a contest between two sovereigns for the same power, like the wars of +the rival houses of England; nor is it a dispute between a government +_de facto_ and a government _de jure_. It is the case of a +division of powers between two governments, made by the people, to whom +both are responsible. Neither can dispense with the duty which individuals +owe to the other; neither can call itself master of the other; the people +are masters of both. This division of power, it is true, is in a great +measure unknown in Europe. It is the peculiar system of America; and, +though new and singular, it is not incomprehensible. The State +constitutions are established by the people of the States. This +Constitution is established by the people of all the States. How, then, +can a State secede? How can a State undo what the whole people have done? +How can she absolve her citizens from their obedience to the laws of the +United States? How can she annul their obligations and oaths? How can the +members of her legislature renounce their own oaths? Sir, secession, as a +revolutionary right, is intelligible; as a right to be proclaimed in the +midst of civil commotions, and asserted at the head of armies, I can +understand it. But as a practical right, existing under the Constitution, +and in conformity with its provisions, it seems to me to be nothing but a +plain absurdity; for it supposes resistance to government, under the +authority of government itself; it supposes dismemberment, without +violating the principles of union; it supposes opposition to law, without +crime; it supposes the violation of oaths, without responsibility; it +supposes the total overthrow of government, without revolution. The +Constitution, Sir, regards itself as perpetual and immortal. It seeks to +establish a union among the people of the States, which shall last through +all time. Or, if the common fate of things human must be expected at some +period to happen to it, yet that catastrophe is not anticipated. + +The instrument contains ample provisions for its amendment, at all times; +none for its abandonment at any time. It declares that new States may come +into the Union, but it does not declare that old States may go out. The +Union is not a temporary partnership of States. It is the association of +the people, under a constitution of government, uniting their power, +joining together their highest interests, cementing their present +enjoyments, and blending, in one indivisible mass, all their hopes for the +future. Whatsoever is steadfast in just political principles; whatsoever +is permanent in the structure of human society; whatsoever there is which +can derive an enduring character from being founded on deep-laid +principles of constitutional liberty and on the broad foundations of the +public will,--all these unite to entitle this instrument to be regarded as +a permanent constitution of government. + +In the next place, Mr. President, I contend that there is a supreme law of +the land, consisting of the Constitution, acts of Congress passed in +pursuance of it, and the public treaties. This will not be denied, because +such are the very words of the Constitution. But I contend, further, that +it rightfully belongs to Congress, and to the courts of the United States, +to settle the construction of this supreme law, in doubtful cases. This is +denied; and here arises the great practical question, _Who is to +construe finally the Constitution of the United States_? We all agree +that the Constitution is the supreme law; but who shall interpret that law? +In our system of the division of powers between different governments, +controversies will necessarily sometimes arise, respecting the extent of +the powers of each. Who shall decide these controversies? Does it rest with +the general government, in all or any of its departments, to exercise the +office of final interpreter? Or may each of the States, as well as the +general government, claim this right of ultimate decision? The practical +result of this whole debate turns on this point. The gentleman contends +that each State may judge for itself of any alleged violation of the +Constitution, and may finally decide for itself, and may execute its own +decisions by its own power. All the recent proceedings in South Carolina +are founded on this claim of right. Her convention has pronounced the +revenue laws of the United States unconstitutional; and this decision she +does not allow any authority of the United States to overrule or reverse. +Of course she rejects the authority of Congress, because the very object +of the ordinance is to reverse the decision of Congress; and she rejects, +too, the authority of the courts of the United States, because she +expressly prohibits all appeal to those courts. It is in order to sustain +this asserted right of being her own judge, that she pronounces the +Constitution of the United States to be but a compact, to which she is a +party, and a sovereign party. If this be established, then the inference +is supposed to follow, that, being sovereign, there is no power to control +her decision; and her own judgment on her own compact is, and must be, +conclusive. + +I have already endeavored, Sir, to point out the practical consequences of +this doctrine, and to show how utterly inconsistent it is with all ideas +of regular government, and how soon its adoption would involve the whole +country in revolution and absolute anarchy. I hope it is easy now to show, +Sir, that a doctrine bringing such consequences with it is not well +founded; that it has nothing to stand on but theory and assumption; and +that it is refuted by plain and express constitutional provisions. I think +the government of the United States does possess, in its appropriate +departments, the authority of final decision on questions of disputed +power. I think it possesses this authority, both by necessary implication +and by express grant. + +It will not be denied, Sir, that this authority naturally belongs to all +governments. They all exercise it from necessity, and as a consequence of +the exercise of other powers. The State governments themselves possess it, +except in that class of questions which may arise between them and the +general government, and in regard to which they have surrendered it, as +well by the nature of the case as by clear constitutional provisions. In +other and ordinary cases, whether a particular law be in conformity to the +constitution of the State is a question which the State legislature or the +State judiciary must determine. We all know that these questions arise +daily in the State governments, and are decided by those governments; and +I know no government which does not exercise a similar power. + +Upon general principles, then, the government of the United States +possesses this authority; and this would hardly be denied were it not that +there are other governments. But since there are State governments, and +since these, like other governments, ordinarily construe their own powers, +if the government of the United States construes its own powers also, +which construction is to prevail in the case of opposite constructions? +And again, as in the case now actually before us, the State governments +may undertake, not only to construe their own powers, but to decide +directly on the extent of the powers of Congress. Congress has passed a +law as being within its just powers; South Carolina denies that this law +is within its just powers, and insists that she has the right so to decide +this point, and that her decision is final. How are these questions to be +settled? + +In my opinion, Sir, even if the Constitution of the United States had made +no express provision for such cases, it would yet be difficult to +maintain, that, in a Constitution existing over four-and-twenty States, +with equal authority over all, one could claim a right of construing it +for the whole. This would seem a manifest impropriety; indeed, an +absurdity. If the Constitution is a government existing over all the +States, though with limited powers, it necessarily follows, that, to the +extent of those powers, it must be supreme. If it be not superior to the +authority of a particular State, it is not a national government. But as +it is a government, as it has a legislative power of its own, and a +judicial power coextensive with the legislative, the inference is +irresistible that this government, thus created _by_ the whole and +_for_ the whole, must have an authority superior to that of the +particular government of any one part. Congress is the legislature of all +the people of the United States; the judiciary of the general government +is the judiciary of all the people of the United States. To hold, +therefore, that this legislature and this judiciary are subordinate in +authority to the legislature and judiciary of a single State, is doing +violence to all common sense, and overturning all established principles. +Congress must judge of the extent of its own powers so often as it is +called on to exercise them, or it cannot act at all; and it must also act +independent of State control, or it cannot act at all. + +The right of State interposition strikes at the very foundation of the +legislative power of Congress. It possesses no effective legislative +power, if such right of State interposition exists; because it can pass no +law not subject to abrogation. It cannot make laws for the Union, if any +part of the Union may pronounce its enactments void and of no effect. Its +forms of legislation would be an idle ceremony, if, after all, any one of +four-and-twenty States might bid defiance to its authority. Without +express provision in the Constitution, therefore, Sir, this whole question +is necessarily decided by those provisions which create a legislative +power and a judicial power. If these exist in a government intended for +the whole, the inevitable consequence is, that the laws of this +legislative power and the decisions of this judicial power must be binding +on and over the whole. No man can form the conception of a government +existing over four-and-twenty States, with a regular legislative and +judicial power, and of the existence at the same time of an authority, +residing elsewhere, to resist, at pleasure or discretion, the enactments +and the decisions of such a government. I maintain, therefore, Sir, that, +from the nature of the case, and as an inference wholly unavoidable, the +acts of Congress and the decisions of the national courts must be of +higher authority than State laws and State decisions. If this be not so, +there is, there can be, no general government. + +But, Mr. President, the Constitution has not left this cardinal point +without full and explicit provisions. First, as to the authority of +Congress. Having enumerated the specific powers conferred on Congress, the +Constitution adds, as a distinct and substantive clause, the following, +viz.: "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying +into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this +Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department +or officer thereof." If this means anything, it means that Congress may +judge of the true extent and just interpretation of the specific powers +granted to it, and may judge also of what is necessary and proper for +executing those powers. If Congress is to judge of what is necessary for +the execution of its powers, it must, of necessity, judge of the extent +and interpretation of those powers. + +And in regard, Sir, to the judiciary, the Constitution is still more +express and emphatic. It declares that the judicial power shall extend to +all _cases_ in law or equity arising under the Constitution, laws of +the United States, and treaties; that there shall be _one_ Supreme +Court, and that this Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction of +all these cases, subject to such exceptions as Congress may make. It is +impossible to escape from the generality of these words. If a case arises +under the Constitution, that is, if a case arises depending on the +construction of the Constitution, the judicial power of the United States +extends to it. It reaches _the case, the question_; it attaches the +power of the national judicature to the _case_ itself, in whatever +court it may arise or exist; and in this _case_ the Supreme Court has +appellate jurisdiction over all courts whatever. No language could provide +with more effect and precision than is here done, for subjecting +constitutional questions to the ultimate decision of the Supreme Court. +And, Sir, this is exactly what the Convention found it necessary to +provide for, and intended to provide for. It is, too, exactly what the +people were universally told was done when they adopted the Constitution. +One of the first resolutions adopted by the Convention was in these words, +viz.: "That the jurisdiction of the national judiciary shall extend to +cases which respect _the collection of the national revenue_, and +questions which involve the national peace and harmony." Now, Sir, this +either had no sensible meaning at all, or else it meant that the +jurisdiction of the national judiciary should extend to these questions, +_with a paramount authority_. It is not to be supposed that the +Convention intended that the power of the national judiciary should extend +to these questions, and that the power of the judicatures of the States +should also extend to them, _with equal power of final decision_. +This would be to defeat the whole object of the provision. There were +thirteen judicatures already in existence. The evil complained of, or the +danger to be guarded against, was contradiction and repugnance in the +decisions of these judicatures. If the framers of the Constitution meant +to create a fourteenth, and yet not to give it power to revise and control +the decisions of the existing thirteen, then they only intended to augment +the existing evil and the apprehended danger by increasing still further +the chances of discordant judgments. Why, Sir, has it become a settled +axiom in politics that every government must have a judicial power +coextensive with its legislative power? Certainly, there is only this +reason, namely, that the laws may receive a uniform interpretation and a +uniform execution. This object cannot be otherwise attained. A statute is +what it is judicially interpreted to be; and if it be construed one way in +New Hampshire, and another way in Georgia, there is no uniform law. One +supreme court, with appellate and final jurisdiction, is the natural and +only adequate means, in any government, to secure this uniformity. The +Convention saw all this clearly; and the resolution which I have quoted, +never afterwards rescinded, passed through various modifications, till it +finally received the form which the article now bears in the Constitution. + +It is undeniably true, then, that the framers of the Constitution intended +to create a national judicial power, which should be paramount on national +subjects. And after the Constitution was framed, and while the whole +country was engaged in discussing its merits, one of its most +distinguished advocates, Mr. Madison, told the people that it _was true, +that, in controversies relating to the boundary between the two +jurisdictions, the tribunal which is ultimately to decide is to be +established under the general government_. Mr. Martin, who had been a +member of the Convention, asserted the same thing to be the legislature of +Maryland, and urged it as a reason for rejecting the Constitution. Mr. +Pinckney, himself also a leading member of the Convention, declared it to +the people of South Carolina. Everywhere it was admitted, by friends and +foes, that this power was in the Constitution. By some it was thought +dangerous, by most it was thought necessary; but by all it was agreed to +be a power actually contained in the instrument. The Convention saw the +absolute necessity of some control in the national government over State +laws. Different modes of establishing this control were suggested and +considered. At one time, it was proposed that the laws of the States +should, from time to time, be laid before Congress, and that Congress +should possess a negative over them. But this was thought inexpedient and +inadmissible; and in its place, and expressly as a substitute for it, the +existing provision was introduced; that is to say, a provision by which +the federal courts should have authority to overrule such State laws as +might be in manifest contravention of the Constitution. The writers of the +Federalist, in explaining the Constitution, while it was yet pending +before the people, and still unadopted, give this account of the matter in +terms, and assign this reason for the article as it now stands. By this +provision Congress escaped the necessity of any revision of State laws, +left the whole sphere of State legislation quite untouched, and yet +obtained a security against any infringement of the constitutional power +of the general government. Indeed, Sir, allow me to ask again, if the +national judiciary was not to exercise a power of revision on +constitutional questions over the judicatures of the States, why was any +national judicature erected at all? Can any man give a sensible reason for +having a judicial power in this government, unless it be for the sake of +maintaining a uniformity of decision on questions arising under the +Constitution and laws of Congress, and insuring its execution? And does +not this very idea of uniformity necessarily imply that the construction +given by the national courts is to be the prevailing construction? How +else, Sir, is it possible that uniformity can be preserved? + +Gentlemen appear to me, Sir, to look at but one side of the question. They +regard only the supposed danger of trusting a government with the +interpretation of its own powers. But will they view the question in its +other aspect? Will they show us how it is possible for a government to get +along with four-and-twenty interpreters of its laws and powers? Gentlemen +argue, too, as if, in these cases, the State would be always right, and +the general government always wrong. But suppose the reverse,--suppose the +State wrong (and, since they differ, some of them must be wrong),--are the +most important and essential operations of the government to be +embarrassed and arrested, because one State holds the contrary opinion? +Mr. President, every argument which refers the constitutionality of acts +of Congress to State decision appeals from the majority to the minority; +it appeals from the common interest to a particular interest; from the +counsels of all to the counsel of one; and endeavors to supersede the +judgment of the whole by the judgment of a part. + +I think it is clear, Sir, that the Constitution, by express provision, by +definite and unequivocal words, as well as by necessary implication, has +constituted the Supreme Court of the United States the appellate tribunal +in all cases of a constitutional nature which assume the shape of a suit, +in law or equity. And I think I cannot do better than to leave this part +of the subject by reading the remarks made upon it in the convention of +Connecticut, by Mr. Ellsworth; a gentleman, Sir, who has left behind him, +on the records of the government of his country, proofs of the clearest +intelligence and the deepest sagacity, as well as of the utmost purity and +integrity of character. "This Constitution," says he, "defines the extent +of the powers of the general government. If the general legislature +should, at any time, overleap their limits, the judicial department is a +constitutional check. If the United States go beyond their powers, if they +make a law which the Constitution does not authorize, it is void; and the +judiciary power, the national judges, who, to secure their impartiality, +are to be made independent, will declare it to be void. On the other hand, +if the States go beyond their limits, if they make a law which is a +usurpation upon the general government, the law is void; and upright, +independent judges will declare it to be so." Nor did this remain merely +matter of private opinion. In the very first session of the first +Congress, with all these well-known objects, both of the Convention and +the people, full and fresh in his mind, Mr. Ellsworth, as is generally +understood, reported the bill for the organization of the judicial +department, and in that bill made provision for the exercise of this +appellate power of the Supreme Court, in all the proper cases, in +whatsoever court arising; and this appellate power has now been exercised +for more than forty years, without interruption, and without doubt. + +As to the cases, Sir, which do not come before the courts, those political +questions which terminate with the enactments of Congress, it is of +necessity that these should be ultimately decided by Congress itself. Like +other legislatures, it must be trusted with this power. The members of +Congress are chosen by the people, and they are answerable to the people; +like other public agents, they are bound by oath to support the +Constitution. These are the securities that they will not violate their +duty, nor transcend their powers. They are the same securities that +prevail in other popular governments; nor is it easy to see how grants of +power can be more safely guarded, without rendering them nugatory. If the +case cannot come before the courts, and if Congress be not trusted with +its decision, who shall decide it? The gentleman says, each State is to +decide it for herself. If so, then, as I have already urged, what is law +in one State is not law in another. Or, if the resistance of one State +compels an entire repeal of the law, then a minority, and that a small +one, governs the whole country. + +Sir, those who espouse the doctrines of nullification reject, as it seems +to me, the first great principle of all republican liberty; that is, that +the majority _must_ govern. In matters of common concern, the +judgment of a majority _must_ stand as the judgment of the whole. +This is a law imposed on us by the absolute necessity of the case; and if +we do not act upon it, there is no possibility of maintaining any +government but despotism. We hear loud and repeated denunciations against +what is called _majority government_. It is declared, with much +warmth, that a majority government cannot be maintained in the United +States. What, then, do gentlemen wish? Do they wish to establish a +_minority_ government? Do they wish to subject the will of the many +to the will of the few? The honorable gentleman from South Carolina has +spoken of absolute majorities and majorities concurrent; language wholly +unknown to our Constitution, and to which it is not easy to affix definite +ideas. As far as I understand it, it would teach us that the absolute +majority may be found in Congress, but the majority concurrent must be +looked for in the States; that is to say, Sir, stripping the matter of +this novelty of phrase, that the dissent of one or more States, as States, +renders void the decision of a majority of Congress, so far as that State +is concerned. And so this doctrine, running but a short career, like other +dogmas of the day, terminates in nullification. + +If this vehement invective against _majorities_ meant no more than +that, in the construction of government, it is wise to provide checks and +balances, so that there should be various limitations on the power of the +mere majority, it would only mean what the Constitution of the United +States has already abundantly provided. It is full of such checks and +balances. In its very organization, it adopts a broad and most effective +principle in restraint of the power of mere majorities. A majority of the +people elects the House of Representatives, but it does not elect the +Senate. The Senate is elected by the States, each State having, in this +respect, an equal power. No law, therefore, can pass, without the assent +of the representatives of the people, and a majority of the +representatives of the States also. A majority of the representatives of +the people must concur, and a majority of the States must concur, in every +act of Congress; and the President is elected on a plan compounded of both +these principles. But having composed one house of representatives chosen +by the people in each State, according to their numbers, and the other of +an equal number of members from every State, whether larger or smaller, +the Constitution gives to majorities in these houses thus constituted the +full and entire power of passing laws, subject always to the +constitutional restrictions and to the approval of the President. To +subject them to any other power is clear usurpation. The majority of one +house may be controlled by the majority of the other; and both may be +restrained by the President's negative. These are checks and balances +provided by the Constitution, existing in the government itself, and +wisely intended to secure deliberation and caution in legislative +proceedings. But to resist the will of the majority in both houses, thus +constitutionally exercised; to insist on the lawfulness of interposition +by an extraneous power; to claim the right of defeating the will of +Congress, by setting up against it the will of a single State,--is neither +more nor less, as it strikes me, than a plain attempt to overthrow the +government. The constituted authorities of the United States are no longer +a government, if they be not masters of their own will; they are no longer +a government, if an external power may arrest their proceedings; they are +no longer a government, if acts passed by both houses, and approved by the +President, may be nullified by State vetoes or State ordinances. Does any +one suppose it could make any difference, as to the binding authority of +an act of Congress, and of the duty of a State to respect it, whether it +passed by a mere majority of both houses, or by three fourths of each, or +the unanimous vote of each? Within the limits and restrictions of the +Constitution, the government of the United States, like all other popular +governments, acts by majorities. It can act no otherwise. Whoever, +therefore, denounces the government of majorities, denounces the +government of his own country, and denounces all free governments. And +whoever would restrain these majorities, while acting within their +constitutional limits, by an external power, whatever he may intend, +asserts principles which, if adopted, can lead to nothing else than the +destruction of the government itself. + +Does not the gentleman perceive, Sir, how his argument against majorities +might here be retorted upon him? Does he not see how cogently he might be +asked, whether it be the character of nullification to practise what it +preaches? Look to South Carolina, at the present moment. How far are the +rights of minorities there respected? I confess, sir, I have not known, in +peaceable times, the power of the majority carried with a higher hand, or +upheld with more relentless disregard of the rights, feelings, and +principles of the minority;--a minority embracing, as the gentleman +himself will admit, a large portion of the worth and respectability of the +state;--a minority comprehending in its numbers men who have been +associated with him, and with us, in these halls of legislation; men who +have served their country at home and honored it abroad; men who would +cheerfully lay down their lives for their native state, in any cause which +they could regard as the cause of honor and duty; men above fear, and +above reproach, whose deepest grief and distress spring from the +conviction, that the present proceedings of the state must ultimately +reflect discredit upon her. How is this minority, how are these men, +regarded? They are enthralled and disfranchised by ordinances and acts of +legislation; subjected to tests and oaths incompatible, as they +conscientiously think, with oaths already taken, and obligations already +assumed; they are proscribed and denounced as recreants to duty and +patriotism, and slaves to a foreign power. Both the spirit which pursues +them, and the positive measures which emanate from that spirit, are harsh +and proscriptive beyond all precedent within my knowledge, except in +periods of professed revolution. + +It is not, sir, one would think, for those who approve these proceedings +to complain of the power of majorities. + +Mr. President, all popular governments rest on two principles, or two +assumptions:-- + +First, That there is so far a common interest among those over whom the +government extends, as that it may provide for the defence, protection, +and good government of the whole, without injustice or oppression to +parts; and + +Secondly, That the representatives of the people, and especially the +people themselves, are secure against general corruption, and may be +trusted, therefore, with the exercise of power. + +Whoever argues against these principles argues against the practicability +of all free governments. And whoever admits these, must admit, or cannot +deny, that power is as safe in the hands of Congress as in those of other +representative bodies. Congress is not irresponsible. Its members are +agents of the people, elected by them, answerable to them, and liable to +be displaced or superseded, at their pleasure; and they possess as fair a +claim to the confidence of the people, while they continue to deserve it, +as any other public political agents. + +If, then, Sir, the manifest intention of the Convention, and the +contemporary admission of both friends and foes, prove anything; if the +plain text of the instrument itself, as well as the necessary implication +from other provisions, prove anything; if the early legislation of +Congress, the course of judicial decisions, acquiesced in by all the +States for forty years, prove any thing,--then it is proved that there is +a supreme law, and a final interpreter. + +My fourth and last proposition, Mr. President, was, that any attempt by a +State to abrogate or nullify acts of Congress is a usurpation on the +powers of the general government and on the equal rights of other States, +a violation of the Constitution, and a proceeding essentially +revolutionary. This is undoubtedly true, if the preceding propositions be +regarded as proved. If the government of the United States be trusted with +the duty, in any department, of declaring the extent of its own powers, +then a State ordinance, or act of legislation, authorizing resistance to +an act of Congress, on the alleged ground of its unconstitutionality, is +manifestly a usurpation upon its powers. If the States have equal rights +in matters concerning the whole, then for one State to set up her judgment +against the judgment of the rest, and to insist on executing that judgment +by force, is also a manifest usurpation on the rights of other States. If +the Constitution of the United States be a government proper, with +authority to pass laws, and to give them a uniform interpretation and +execution, then the interposition of a State, to enforce her own +construction, and to resist, as to herself, that law which binds the other +States, is a violation of the Constitution. + +If that be revolutionary which arrests the legislative, executive, and +judicial power of government, dispenses with existing oaths and +obligations of obedience, and elevates another power to supreme dominion, +then nullification is revolutionary. Or if that be revolutionary the +natural tendency and practical effect of which are to break the Union into +fragments, to sever all connection among the people of the respective +States, and to prostrate this general government in the dust, then +nullification is revolutionary. + +Nullification, Sir, is as distinctly revolutionary as secession; but I +cannot say that the revolution which it seeks is one of so respectable a +character. Secession would, it is true, abandon the Constitution +altogether; but then it would profess to abandon it. Whatever other +inconsistencies it might run into, one, at least, it would avoid. It would +not belong to a government, while it rejected its authority. It would not +repel the burden, and continue to enjoy the benefits. It would not aid in +passing laws which others are to obey, and yet reject their authority as +to itself. It would not undertake to reconcile obedience to public +authority with an asserted right of command over that same authority. It +would not be in the government, and above the government, at the same +time. But though secession may be a more respectable mode of attaining the +object than nullification, it is not more truly revolutionary. Each, and +both, resist the constitutional authorities; each, and both, would sever +the Union and subvert the government. + +Mr. President, having detained the Senate so long already, I will not now +examine at length the ordinance and laws of South Carolina. These papers +are well drawn for their purpose. Their authors understood their own +objects. They are called a peaceable remedy, and we have been told that +South Carolina, after all, intends nothing but a lawsuit. A very few +words, Sir, will show the nature of this peaceable remedy, and of the +lawsuit which South Carolina contemplates. + +In the first place, the ordinance declares the law of last July, and all +other laws of the United States laying duties, to be absolutely null and +void, and makes it unlawful for the constituted authorities of the United +States to enforce the payment of such duties. It is therefore, Sir, an +indictable offence, at this moment, in South Carolina, for any person to +be concerned in collecting revenue under the laws of the United States. It +being declared, by what is considered a fundamental law of the State, +unlawful to collect these duties, an indictment lies, of course, against +any one concerned in such collection; and he is, on general principles, +liable to be punished by fine and imprisonment. The terms, it is true, +are, that it is unlawful "to enforce the payment of duties"; but every +custom-house officer enforces payment while he detains the goods in order +to obtain such payment. The ordinance, therefore, reaches everybody +concerned in the collection of the duties. + +This is the first step in the prosecution of the peaceable remedy. The +second is more decisive. By the act commonly called _replevin_ law, +any person whose goods are seized or detained by the collector for the +payment of duties may sue out a writ of replevin, and, by virtue of that +writ, the goods are to be restored to him. A writ of replevin is a writ +which the sheriff is bound to execute, and for the execution of which he +is bound to employ force, if necessary. He may call out the _posse_, +and must do so, if resistance be made. This _posse_ may be armed or +unarmed. It may come forth with military array, and under the lead of +military men. Whatever number of troops may be assembled in Charleston, +they may be summoned, with the governor, or commander-in-chief, at their +head, to come in aid of the sheriff. It is evident, then, Sir, that the +whole military power of the State is to be employed, if necessary, in +dispossessing the custom-house officers, and in seizing and holding the +goods, without paying the duties. This is the second step in the peaceable +remedy. + +Sir, whatever pretences may be set up to the contrary, this is the direct +application of force, and of military force. It is unlawful, in itself, to +replevy goods in the custody of the collectors. But this unlawful act is +to be done, and it is to be done by force. Here is a plain interposition, +by physical force, to resist the laws of the Union. The legal mode of +collecting duties is to detain the goods till such duties are paid or +secured. But force comes, and overpowers the collector and his assistants, +and takes away the goods, leaving the duties unpaid. There cannot be a +clearer case of forcible resistance to law. And it is provided that the +goods thus seized shall be held against any attempt to retake them, by the +same force which seized them. + +Having thus dispossessed the officers of the government of the goods, +without payment of duties, and seized and secured them by the strong arm +of the State, only one thing more remains to be done, and that is, to cut +off all possibility of legal redress; and that, too, is accomplished, or +thought to be accomplished. The ordinance declares, _that all judicial +proceedings founded on the revenue laws_ (including, of course, +proceedings in the courts of the United States), _shall be null and +void_. This nullifies the judicial power of the United States. Then +comes the test-oath act. This requires all State judges and jurors in the +State courts to swear that they will execute the ordinance, and all acts +of the legislature passed in pursuance thereof. The ordinance declares, +that no appeal shall be allowed from the decision of the State courts to +the Supreme Court of the United States; and the replevin act makes it an +indictable offence for any clerk to furnish a copy of the record, for the +purpose of such appeal. + +The two principal provisions on which South Carolina relies, to resist the +laws of the United States, and nullify the authority of this government, +are, therefore, these:-- + +1. A forcible seizure of goods, before duties are paid or secured, by the +power of the State, civil and military. + +2. The taking away, by the most effectual means in her power, of all legal +redress in the courts of the United States; the confining of judicial +proceedings to her own State tribunals; and the compelling of her judges +and jurors of these her own courts to take an oath, beforehand, that they +will decide all cases according to the ordinance, and the acts passed +under it; that is, that they will decide the cause one way. They do not +swear to _try_ it, on its own merits; they only swear to +_decide_ it as nullification requires. + +The character, Sir, of these provisions defies comment. Their object is as +plain as their means are extraordinary. They propose direct resistance, by +the whole power of the State, to laws of Congress, and cut off, by methods +deemed adequate, any redress by legal and judicial authority. They arrest +legislation, defy the executive, and banish the judicial power of this +government. They authorize and command acts to be done, and done by force, +both of numbers and of arms, which, if done, and done by force, are +clearly acts of rebellion and treason. + +Such, Sir, are the laws of South Carolina; such, Sir, is the peaceable +remedy of nullification. Has not nullification reached, Sir, even thus +early, that point of direct and forcible resistance to law to which I +intimated, three years ago, it plainly tended? + +And now, Mr. President, what is the reason for passing laws like these? +What are the oppressions experienced under the Union, calling for measures +which thus threaten to sever and destroy it? What invasions of public +liberty, what ruin to private happiness, what long list of rights +violated, or wrongs unredressed, is to justify to the country, to +posterity, and to the world, this assault upon the free Constitution of +the United States, this great and glorious work of our fathers? At this +very moment, Sir, the whole land smiles in peace, and rejoices in plenty. +A general and a high prosperity pervades the country; and, judging by the +common standard, by increase of population and wealth, or judging by the +opinions of that portion of her people not embarked in these dangerous and +desperate measures, this prosperity overspreads South Carolina herself. + +Thus happy at home, our country, at the same time, holds high the +character of her institutions, her power, her rapid growth, and her future +destiny, in the eyes of all foreign states. One danger only creates +hesitation; one doubt only exists, to darken the otherwise unclouded +brightness of that aspect which she exhibits to the view and to the +admiration of the world. Need I say, that that doubt respects the +permanency of our Union? and need I say, that that doubt is now caused, +more than any thing else, by these very proceedings of South Carolina? +Sir, all Europe is, at this moment, beholding us, and looking for the +issue of this controversy; those who hate free institutions, with +malignant hope; those who love them, with deep anxiety and shivering fear. + +The cause, then, Sir, the cause! Let the world know the cause which has +thus induced one State of the Union to bid defiance to the power of the +whole, and openly to talk secession. Sir, the world will scarcely believe +that this whole controversy, and all the desperate measures which its +support requires, have no other foundation than a difference of opinion +upon a provision of the Constitution, between a majority of the people of +South Carolina, on one side, and a vast majority of the whole people of +the United States, on the other. It will not credit the fact, it will not +admit the possibility, that, in an enlightened age, in a free, popular +republic, under a constitution where the people govern, as they must +always govern under such systems, by majorities, at a time of +unprecedented prosperity, without practical oppression, without evils such +as may not only be pretended, but felt and experienced,--evils not slight +or temporary, but deep, permanent, and intolerable,--a single State should +rush into conflict with all the rest, attempt to put down the power of the +Union by her own laws, and to support those laws by her military power, +and thus break up and destroy the world's last hope. And well the world +may be incredulous. We, who see and hear it, can ourselves hardly yet +believe it. Even after all that had preceded it this ordinance struck the +country with amazement. It was incredible and inconceivable that South +Carolina should plunge headlong into resistance to the laws on a matter of +opinion and on a question in which the preponderance of opinion, both of +the present day and of all past time, was so overwhelmingly against her. +The ordinance declares that Congress has exceeded its just power by laying +duties on imports, intended for the protection of manufactures. This is +the opinion of South Carolina; and on the strength of that opinion she +nullifies the laws. Yet has the rest of the country no right to its +opinion also? Is one State to sit sole arbitress? She maintains that those +laws are plain, deliberate, and palpable violations of the Constitution; +that she has a sovereign right to decide this matter; and that, having so +decided, she is authorized to resist their execution by her own sovereign +power; and she declares that she will resist it, though such resistance +should shatter the Union into atoms. + +Mr. President, I do not intend to discuss the propriety of these laws at +large; but I will ask, How are they shown to be thus plainly and palpably +unconstitutional? Have they no countenance at all in the Constitution +itself? Are they quite new in the history of the government? Are they a +sudden and violent usurpation on the rights of the States? Sir, what will +the civilized world say, what will posterity say, when they learn that +similar laws have existed from the very foundation of the government, that +for thirty years the power was never questioned, and that no State in the +Union has more freely and unequivocally admitted it than South Carolina +herself? + +To lay and collect duties and imposts is an _express power_ granted +by the Constitution to Congress. It is, also, an _exclusive power_; +for the Constitution as expressly prohibits all the States from exercising +it themselves. This express and exclusive power is unlimited in the terms +of the grant, but is attended with two specific restrictions: first, that +all duties and imposts shall be equal in all the States; second, that no +duties shall be laid on exports. The power, then, being granted, and being +attended with these two restrictions, and no more, who is to impose a +third restriction on the general words of the grant? If the power to lay +duties, as known among all other nations, and as known in all our history, +and as it was perfectly understood when the Constitution was adopted, +includes a right of discriminating while exercising the power, and of +laying some duties heavier and some lighter, for the sake of encouraging +our own domestic products, what authority is there for giving to the words +used in the Constitution a new, narrow, and unusual meaning? All the +limitations which the Constitution intended, it has expressed; and what it +has left unrestricted is as much a part of its will as the restraints +which it has imposed. + +But these laws, it is said, are unconstitutional on account of the +_motive_. How, Sir, can a law be examined on any such ground? How is +the motive to be ascertained? One house, or one member, may have one +motive; the other house, or another member, another. One motive may +operate to-day, and another to-morrow. Upon any such mode of reasoning as +this, one law might be unconstitutional now, and another law, in exactly +the same words, perfectly constitutional next year. Besides, articles may +not only be taxed for the purpose of protecting home products, but other +articles may be left free, for the same purpose and with the same motive. +A law, therefore, would become unconstitutional from what it omitted, as +well as from what it contained. Mr. President, it is a settled principle, +acknowledged in all legislative halls, recognized before all tribunals, +sanctioned by the general sense and understanding of mankind, that there +can be no inquiry into the motives of those who pass laws, for the purpose +of determining on their validity. If the law be within the fair meaning of +the words in the grant of the power, its authority must be admitted until +it is repealed. This rule, everywhere acknowledged, everywhere admitted, +is so universal and so completely without exception, that even an +allegation of fraud, in the majority of a legislature, is not allowed as a +ground to set aside a law. + +But, Sir, is it true that the motive for these laws is such as is stated? +I think not. The great object of all these laws is, unquestionably, +revenue. If there were no occasion for revenue, the laws would not have +been passed; and it is notorious that almost the entire revenue of the +country is derived from them. And as yet we have collected none too much +revenue. The treasury has not been more reduced for many years than it is +at the present moment. All that South Carolina can say is, that, in +passing the laws which she now undertakes to nullify, _particular +imparted articles were taxed, from a regard to the protection of certain +articles of domestic manufacture, higher than they would have been had no +such regard been entertained_. And she insists, that, according to the +Constitution, no such discrimination can be allowed; that duties should be +laid for revenue, and revenue only; and that it is unlawful to have +reference, in any case, to protection. In other words, she denies the +power of DISCRIMINATION. She does not, and cannot, complain of excessive +taxation; on the contrary, she professes to be willing to pay any amount +for revenue, merely as revenue; and up to the present moment there is no +surplus of revenue. Her grievance, then, that plain and palpable violation +of the Constitution which she insists has taken place, is simply the +exercise of the power of DISCRIMINATION. Now, Sir, is the exercise of this +power of discrimination plainly and palpably unconstitutional? + +I have already said, the power to lay duties is given by the Constitution +in broad and general terms. There is also conferred on Congress the whole +power of regulating commerce, in another distinct provision. Is it clear +and palpable, Sir, can any man say it is a case beyond doubt, that, under +these two powers, Congress may not justly _discriminate_, in laying +duties, _for the purpose of countervailing the policy of foreign +nations, or of favoring our own home productions?_ Sir, what ought to +conclude this question for ever, as it would seem to me, is, that the +regulation of commerce and the imposition of duties are, in all commercial +nations, powers avowedly and constantly exercised for this very end. That +undeniable truth ought to settle the question; because the Constitution +ought to be considered, when it uses well-known language, as using it in +its well-known sense. But it is equally undeniable, that it has been, from +the very first, fully believed that this power of discrimination was +conferred on Congress; and the Constitution was itself recommended, urged +upon the people, and enthusiastically insisted on in some of the States, +for that very reason. Not that, at that time, the country was extensively +engaged in manufactures, especially of the kinds now existing. But the +trades and crafts of the seaport towns, the business of the artisans and +manual laborers,--those employments, the work in which supplies so great a +portion of the daily wants of all classes,--all these looked to the new +Constitution as a source of relief from the severe distress which followed +the war. It would, Sir, be unpardonable, at so late an hour, to go into +details on this point; but the truth is as I have stated. The papers of +the day, the resolutions of public meetings, the debates in the +conventions, all that we open our eyes upon in the history of the times, +prove it. + +Sir, the honorable gentleman from South Carolina has referred to two +incidents connected with the proceedings of the Convention at +Philadelphia, which he thinks are evidence to show that the power of +protecting manufactures by laying duties, and by commercial regulations, +was not intended to be given to Congress. The first is, as he says, that a +power to protect manufactures was expressly proposed, but not granted. I +think, Sir, the gentleman is quite mistaken in relation to this part of +the proceedings of the Convention. The whole history of the occurrence to +which he alludes is simply this. Towards the conclusion of the Convention, +after the provisions of the Constitution had been mainly agreed upon, +after the power to lay duties and the power to regulate commerce had both +been granted, a long list of propositions was made and referred to the +committee, containing various miscellaneous powers, some or all of which +it was thought might be properly vested in Congress. Among these was a +power to establish a university; to grant charters of incorporation; to +regulate stage-coaches on the post-roads; and also the power to which the +gentleman refers, and which is expressed in these words: "To establish +public institutions, rewards, and immunities, for the promotion of +agriculture, commerce, trades, and manufactures." The committee made no +report on this or various other propositions in the same list. But the +only inference from this omission is, that neither the committee nor the +Convention thought it proper to authorize Congress "to establish public +institutions, rewards, and immunities," for the promotion of manufactures, +and other interests. The Convention supposed it had done enough,--at any +rate, it had done all it intended,--when it had given to Congress, in +general terms, the power to lay imposts and the power to regulate trade. +It is not to be argued, from its omission to give more, that it meant to +take back what it had already given. It had given the impost power; it had +given the regulation of trade; and it did not deem it necessary to give +the further and distinct power of establishing public institutions. + +The other fact, Sir, on which the gentleman relies, is the declaration of +Mr. Martin to the legislature of Maryland. The gentleman supposes Mr. +Martin to have urged against the Constitution, that it did not contain the +power of protection. But if the gentleman will look again at what Mr. +Martin said, he will find, I think, that what Mr. Martin complained of +was, that the Constitution, by its prohibitions on the States, had taken +away from the States themselves the power of protecting their own +manufactures by duties on imports. This is undoubtedly true; but I find no +expression of Mr. Martin intimating that the Constitution had not +conferred on Congress the same power which it had thus taken from the +States. + +But, Sir, let us go to the first Congress; let us look in upon this and +the other house, at the first session of their organization. + +We see, in both houses, men distinguished among the framers, friends, and +advocates of the Constitution. We see in both, those who had drawn, +discussed, and matured the instrument in the Convention, explained and +defended it before the people, and were now elected members of Congress, +to put the new government into motion, and to carry the powers of the +Constitution into beneficial execution. At the head of the government was +WASHINGTON himself, who had been President of the Convention; and in his +cabinet were others most thoroughly acquainted with the history of the +Constitution, and distinguished for the part taken in its discussion. If +these persons were not acquainted with the meaning of the Constitution, if +they did not undergo stand the work of their own hands, who can understand +it, or who shall now interpret it to us? + +Sir, the volume which records the proceedings and debates of the first +session of the House of Representatives lies before me. I open it, and I +find that, having provided for the administration of the necessary oaths, +the very first measure proposed for consideration is, the laying of +imposts; and in the very first committee of the whole into which the House +of Representatives ever resolved itself, on this its earliest subject, and +in this its very first debate, the duty of so laying the imposts as to +encourage manufactures was advanced and enlarged upon by almost every +speaker, and doubted or denied by none. The first gentleman who suggests +this as the clear duty of Congress, and as an object necessary to be +attended to, is Mr. Fitzsimons, of Pennsylvania; the second, Mr. White, of +Virginia; the third, Mr. Tucker, of South Carolina. + +But the great leader, Sir, on this occasion, was Mr. Madison. Was +_he_ likely to know the intentions of the Convention and the people? +Was _he_ likely to understand the Constitution? At the second sitting +of the committee, Mr. Madison explained his own opinions of the duty of +Congress, fully and explicitly. I must not detain you, Sir, with more than +a few short extracts from these opinions, but they are such as are clear, +intelligible, and decisive. "The States," says he, "that are most advanced +in population, and ripe for manufacturers, ought to have their particular +interest attended to, in some degree. While these States retained the +power of making regulations of trade, they had the power to cherish such +institutions. By adopting the present Constitution, they have thrown the +exercise of this power into other hands; they must have done this with an +expectation that those interests would not be neglected here." In another +report of the same speech, Mr. Madison is represented as using still +stronger language; as saying that, the Constitution having taken this +power away from the States and conferred it on Congress, it would be a +_fraud_ on the States and on the people were Congress to refuse to +exercise it. + +Mr. Madison argues, Sir, on this early and interesting occasion, very +justly and liberally, in favor of the general principles of unrestricted +commerce. But he argues, also, with equal force and clearness, for certain +important exceptions to these general principles. The first, Sir, respects +those manufactures which had been brought forward under encouragement by +the State governments. "It would be cruel," says Mr. Madison, "to neglect +them, and to divert their industry into other channels; for it is not +possible for the hand of man to shift from one employment to another +without being injured by the change." Again: "There may be some +manufactures which, being once formed, can advance towards perfection +without any adventitious aid; while others, for want of the fostering hand +of government, will be unable to go on at all. Legislative provision, +therefore, will be necessary to collect the proper objects for this +purpose; and this will form another exception to my general principle." +And again: "The next exception that occurs is one on which great stress is +laid by some well-informed men, and this with great plausibility; that +each nation should have, within itself, the means of defence, independent +of foreign supplies; that, in whatever relates to the operations of war, +no State ought to depend upon a precarious supply from any part of the +world. There may be some truth in this remark; and therefore it is proper +for legislative attention." + +In the same debate, Sir, Mr. Burk, from South Carolina, supported a duty +on hemp, for the express purpose of encouraging its growth on the strong +lands of South Carolina. "Cotton," he said, "was also in contemplation +among them, and, if good seed could be procured, he hoped might succeed." +Afterwards, Sir, the cotton was obtained, its culture was protected, and +it did succeed. Mr. Smith, a very distinguished member from the same +state, observed: "It has been said, and justly, that the States which +adopted this Constitution expected its administration would be conducted +with a favorable hand. The manufacturing States wished the encouragement +of manufactures, the maritime States the encouragement of shipbuilding, +and the agricultural States the encouragement of agriculture." + +Sir, I will detain the Senate by reading no more extracts from these +debates. I have already shown a majority of the members of South Carolina, +in this very first session, acknowledging this power of protection, voting +for its exercise, and proposing its extension to their own products. +Similar propositions came from Virginia; and, indeed, Sir, in the whole +debate, at whatever page you open the volume, you find the power admitted, +and you find it applied to the protection of particular articles, or not +applied, according to the discretion of Congress. No man denied the power, +no man doubted it; the only questions were, in regard to the several +articles proposed to be taxed, whether they were fit subjects for +protection, and what the amount of that protection ought to be. Will +gentlemen, Sir, now answer the argument drawn from these proceedings of +the first Congress? Will they undertake to deny that that Congress did act +on the avowed principle of protection? Or, if they admit it, will they +tell us how those who framed the Constitution fell, thus early, into this +great mistake about its meaning? Will they tell us how it should happen +that they had so soon forgotten their own sentiments and their own +purposes? I confess I have seen no answer to this argument, nor any +respectable attempt to answer it. And, Sir, how did this debate terminate? +What law was passed? There it stands, Sir, among the statutes, the second +law in the book. It has a _preamble_, and that preamble expressly +recites, that the duties which it imposes are laid "for the support of +government, for the discharge of the debts of the United States, and +_the encouragement and protection of manufactures_." Until, Sir, this +early legislation, thus coeval with the Constitution itself, thus full and +explicit, can be explained away, no man can doubt of the meaning of that +instrument in this respect. + +Mr. President, this power of _discrimination_, thus admitted, avowed, +and practised upon in the first revenue act, has never been denied or +doubted until within a few years past. It was not at all doubted in 1816, +when it became necessary to adjust the revenue to a state of peace. On the +contrary, the power was then exercised, not without opposition as to its +expediency, but, as far as I remember or have understood, without the +slightest opposition founded on any supposed want of constitutional +authority. Certainly, South Carolina did not doubt it. The tariff of 1816 +was introduced, carried through, and established, under the lead of South +Carolina. Even the minimum policy is of South Carolina origin. The +honorable gentleman himself supported, and ably supported, the tariff of +1816. He has informed us, Sir, that his speech on that occasion was sudden +and off-hand, he being called up by the request of a friend. I am sure the +gentleman so remembers it, and that it was so; but there is, nevertheless, +much method, arrangement, and clear exposition in that extempore speech. +It is very able, very, very much to the point, and very decisive. And in +another speech, delivered two months earlier, on the proposition to repeal +the internal taxes, the honorable gentleman had touched the same subject, +and had declared "_that a certain encouragement ought to be extended at +least to our woollen and cotton manufactures_." I do not quote these +speeches, Sir, for the purpose of showing that the honorable gentleman has +changed his opinion: my object is other and higher. I do it for the sake +of saying that that cannot be so plainly and palpably unconstitutional as +to warrant resistance to law, nullification, and revolution, which the +honorable gentleman and his friends have heretofore agreed to and acted +upon without doubt and without hesitation. Sir, it is no answer to say +that the tariff of 1816 was a revenue bill. So are they all revenue bills. +The point is, and the truth is, that the tariff of 1816, like the rest, +_did discriminate_; it did distinguish one article from another; it +did lay duties for protection. Look to the case of coarse cottons under +the minimum calculation: the duty on these was from sixty to eighty per +cent. Something beside revenue, certainly, was intended in this; and, in +fact, the law cut up our whole commerce with India in that article. + +It is, Sir, only within a few years that Carolina has denied the +constitutionality of these protective laws. The gentleman himself has +narrated to us the true history of her proceedings on this point. He says, +that, after the passing of the law of 1828, despairing then of being able +to abolish the system of protection, political men went forth among the +people, and set up the doctrine that the system was unconstitutional. +"_And the people_," says the honorable gentleman, "_received the +doctrine_." This, I believe, is true, Sir. The people did then receive +the doctrine; they had never entertained it before. Down to that period, +the constitutionality of these laws had been no more doubted in South +Carolina than elsewhere. And I suspect it is true, Sir, and I deem it a +great misfortune, that, to the present moment, a great portion of the +people of the State have never yet seen more than one side of the +argument. I believe that thousands of honest men are involved in scenes +now passing, led away by one-sided views of the question, and following +their leaders by the impulses of an unlimited confidence. Depend upon it, +Sir, if we can avoid the shock of arms, a day for reconsideration and +reflection will come; truth and reason will act with their accustomed +force, and the public opinion of South Carolina will be restored to its +usual constitutional and patriotic tone. + +But, Sir, I hold South Carolina to her ancient, her cool, her +uninfluenced, her deliberate opinions. I hold her to her own admissions, +nay, to her own claims and pretensions, in 1789, in the first Congress, +and to her acknowledgments and avowed sentiments through a long series of +succeeding years. I hold her to the principles on which she led Congress +to act in 1816; or, if she have changed her own opinions, I claim some +respect for those who still retain the same opinions. I say she is +precluded from asserting that doctrines, which she has herself so long and +so ably sustained, are plain, palpable, and dangerous violations of the +Constitution. Mr. President, if the friends of nullification should be +able to propagate their opinions, and give them practical effect, they +would, in my judgment, prove themselves the most skilful "architects of +ruin," the most effectual extinguishers of high-raised expectation, the +greatest blasters of human hopes, that any age has produced. They would +stand up to proclaim, in tones which would pierce the ears of half the +human race, that the last great experiment of representative government +had failed. They would send forth sounds, at the hearing of which the +doctrine of the divine right of kings would feel, even in its grave, a +returning sensation of vitality and resuscitation. Millions of eyes, of +those who now feed their inherent love of liberty on the success of the +American example, would turn away from beholding our dismemberment, and +find no place on earth whereon to rest their gratified sight. Amidst the +incantations and orgies of nullification, secession, disunion, and +revolution, would be celebrated the funeral rites of constitutional and +republican liberty. + +But, Sir, if the government do its duty, if it act with firmness and with +moderation, these opinions cannot prevail. Be assured, Sir, be assured, +that, among the political sentiments of this people, the love of union is +still uppermost. They will stand fast by the Constitution, and by those +who defend it. I rely on no temporary expedients, on no political +combination; but I rely on the true American feeling, the genuine +patriotism of the people, and the imperative decision of the public voice. +Disorder and confusion, indeed, may arise; scenes of commotion and contest +are threatened, and perhaps may come. With my whole heart, I pray for the +continuance of the domestic peace and quiet of the country. + +I desire, most ardently, the restoration of affection and harmony to all +its parts. I desire that every citizen of the whole country may look to +this government with no other sentiments than those of grateful respect +and attachment. But I cannot yield even to kind feelings the cause of the +Constitution, the true glory of the country, and the great trust which we +hold in our hands for succeeding ages. If the Constitution cannot be +maintained without meeting these scenes of commotion and contest, however +unwelcome, they must come. We cannot, we must not, we dare not, omit to do +that which, in our judgment, the safety of the Union requires. Not +regardless of consequences, we must yet meet consequences; seeing the +hazards which surround the discharge of public duty, it must yet be +discharged. For myself, Sir, I shun no responsibility justly devolving on +me, here or elsewhere, in attempting to maintain the cause. I am bound to +it by indissoluble ties of affection and duty, and I shall cheerfully +partake in its fortunes and its fate. I am ready to perform my own +appropriate part, whenever and wherever the occasion may call on me, and +to take my chance among those upon whom blows may fall first and fall +thickest. I shall exert every faculty I possess in aiding to prevent the +Constitution from being nullified, destroyed, or impaired; and even should +I see it fall, I will still, with a voice feeble, perhaps, but earnest as +ever issued from human lips, and with fidelity and zeal which nothing +shall extinguish, call on the PEOPLE to come to its rescue. [2] + +SPEECH AT SARATOGA. + +We are, my friends, in the midst of a great movement of the people. That a +revolution in public sentiment on some important questions of public +policy has begun, and is in progress, it is vain to attempt to conceal, +and folly to deny. What will be the extent of this revolution, what its +immediate effects upon political men and political measures, what ultimate +influence it may have on the integrity of the Constitution, and the +permanent prosperity of the country, remains to be seen. Meantime, no one +can deny that an extraordinary excitement exists in the country, such as +has not been witnessed for more than half a century; not local, nor +confined to any two, or three, or ten States, but pervading the whole, +from north to south, and from east to west, with equal force and +intensity. For an effect so general, a cause of equal extent must exist. +No cause, local or partial, can produce consequences so general and +universal. In some parts of the country, indeed, local causes may in some +degree add to the flame; but no local cause, nor any number of local +causes, can account for the generally excited state of the public mind. + +In portions of the country devoted to agriculture and manufactures, we +hear complaints of want of market and low prices. Yet there are other +portions of the country, which are consumers, and not producers, of food +and manufactures; and, as purchasers, they should, it would seem, be +satisfied with the low prices of which the sellers complain; but in these +portions, too, of the country, there are dissatisfaction and discontent. +Everywhere we find complaining and a desire for change. + +There are those who think that this excitement among the people will prove +transitory and evanescent. I am not of that opinion. So far as I can +judge, attention to public affairs among the people of the United States, +has increased, is increasing, and is not likely to be diminished; and this +not in one part of the country, but all over it. This certainly is the +fact, if we may judge from recent information. The breeze of popular +excitement is blowing everywhere. It fans the air in Alabama and the +Carolinas; and I am of opinion, that, when it shall cross the Potomac, and +range along the Northern Alleghanies, it will grow stronger and stronger, +until, mingling with the gales of the Empire State, and the mountain +blasts of New England, it will blow a perfect hurricane. + +There are those, again, who think these vast popular meetings are got up +by effort; but I say that no effort could get them up, and no effort can +keep them down. There must, then, be some general cause that animates the +whole country. What is that cause? It is upon this point I propose to give +my opinion to-day. I have no design to offend the feelings of any, but I +mean in perfect plainness to express my views to the vast multitude +assembled around. I know there are among them many who from first to last +supported General Jackson. I know there are many who, if conscience and +patriotism permitted, would support his successor; and I should ill repay +the attention with which they may honor me by any reviling or +denunciation. Again, I come to play no part of oratory before you. If +there have been times and occasions in my life when I might be supposed +anxious to exhibit myself in such a light, that period has passed, and +this is not one of the occasions. I come to dictate and prescribe to no +man. If my experience, not now short, in the affairs of government, +entitle my opinions to any respect, those opinions are at the service of +my fellow-citizens. What I shall state as facts, I hold myself and my +character responsible for; what I shall state as opinions, all are alike +at liberty to reject or to receive. I ask such consideration for them only +as the fairness and sincerity with which they are uttered may claim. + +What, then, has excited the whole land, from Maine to Georgia, and gives +us assurance, that, while we are meeting here in New York in such vast +numbers, other like meetings are holding throughout all the States? That +this cause must be general is certain, for it agitates the whole country, +and not parts only. + +When that fluid in the human system indispensable to life becomes +disordered, corrupted, or obstructed in its circulation, not the head or +the heart alone suffers; but the whole body--head, heart, and hand, all +the members, and all the extremities--is affected with debility, +paralysis, numbness, and death. The analogy between the human system and +the social and political system is complete; and what the lifeblood is to +the former, circulation, money, currency, is to the latter; and if that be +disordered or corrupted, paralysis must fall on the system. + +The original, leading, main cause, then, of all our difficulties and +disasters, is the disordered state of the circulation. This is, perhaps, +not a perfectly obvious truth; and yet it is one susceptible of easy +demonstration. In order to explain this the more readily, I wish to bring +your minds to the consideration of the internal condition, and the vast +domestic trade, of the United States. Our country is not a small province +or canton, but an empire, extending over a large and diversified surface, +with a population of various conditions and pursuits. It is in this +variety that consists its prosperity; for the different parts become +useful one to the other, not by identity, but by difference, of +production, and thus each by interchange contributes to the interest of +the other. Hence, our internal trade, that which carries on this exchange +of the products and industry of the different portions of the United +States, is one of our most important interests, I had almost said the most +important. Its operations are easy and silent, not always perceptible, but +diffusing health and life throughout the system by the intercourse thus +promoted, from neighborhood to neighborhood, and from State to State. + +This circuit of trade, in a country of such great extent as ours, demands, +more than in any country under heaven, a uniform currency for the whole +people; that what is money in Carolina shall be so elsewhere; that what +the Kentucky drover receives, what the planter of Alabama sells for, what +the laborer in New York gets in pay for his work, and carries home to +support his family, shall be of ascertained and uniform value. + +This is not the time nor the occasion for an essay or dissertation on +money; but I mean distinctly to express the opinion, that until the +general government shall take in hand the currency of the country, until +that government shall devise some means, I say not what, of raising the +whole currency to the level of gold and silver, there can be no +prosperity. + +Let us retrace briefly the history of the currency question in this +country, a most important branch of the commercial question. I appeal to +all who have studied the history of the times, and of the Constitution, +whether our fathers, in framing the Constitution which should unite us in +common rights and a common glory, had not also among their chief objects +to provide a uniform system of commerce, including a uniform system of +currency for the whole country. I especially invite the ingenuous youth of +the country to go back to the history of those times, and particularly to +the Virginia resolutions of 1786, and to the proceedings of the convention +at Annapolis, and they will there find that the prevailing motive for +forming a general government was, to secure a uniform system of commerce, +of customhouse duties, and a general regulation of the trade, external and +internal, of the whole country. It was no longer to be the commerce of New +York, or of Massachusetts, but of the United States, to be carried on +under that star-spangled banner, which was to bear to every shore, and +over every sea, the glorious motto, _E Pluribus Unum_. + +At the second session, of the first Congress, the United States Bank was +established. From the incorporation of the bank to the expiration of its +charter,[1] embracing a period of great commercial and political +vicissitudes, the currency furnished by that bank was never objected to: +it, indeed, surpassed the hopes and equalled the desires of everybody. + +Of the hundreds here, possibly, who supported General Jackson, not one +dreamed that he was elected to put down established institutions and +overthrow the currency of the country. Who, among all those that, in the +honest convictions of their hearts, cried, Hurrah for Jackson! believed or +expected or desired that he would interfere with the Bank of the United +States, or destroy the circulating medium of the country? [Here there +arose a cry from the crowd, "None! None!"] I stand here upon the fact, and +defy contradiction from any quarter, that there was no complaint then, +anywhere, of the bank. There never before was a country, of equal extent, +where exchanges and circulation were carried on so cheaply, so +conveniently, and so securely. General Jackson was inaugurated in March, +1829, and pronounced an address upon that occasion, which I heard, as I +did the oath which he took to support the Constitution. In that address +were enumerated various objects, requiring, as he said, reform; but among +them was not the Bank of the United States, nor the currency. This was in +March, 1829. In December, 1829, General Jackson came out with the +declaration (than which none I have ever heard surprised me more), that +"the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States might be well +questioned," and that it had failed to furnish a sound and uniform +currency to the country. + +What produced this change of views? Down to March of the same year, +nothing of this sort was indicated or threatened. What, then, induced the +change? [A voice from the crowd said, "Martin Van Buren."] If that be so, +it was the production of mighty consequences by a cause not at all +proportioned. I will state, in connection with, and in elucidation of, +this subject, certain transactions, which constitute one of those +contingencies in human affairs, in which casual circumstances, acting upon +the peculiar temper and character of a man of very decided temper and +character, affect the fate of nations. A movement was made in the summer +of 1829, for the purpose of effecting a change of certain officers of the +branch of the Bank of the United States in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Mr. +Woodbury, then a Senator from New Hampshire, transmitted to the president +of the bank at Philadelphia a request; purporting to proceed from +merchants and men of business of all parties, asking the removal of the +president of that branch, _not on political grounds_, but as +acceptable and advantageous to the business community. At the same time, +Mr. Woodbury addressed a letter to the then Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. +Ingham, suggesting that his department should, on _political +grounds_, obtain from the mother bank the removal of the branch +president. This letter was transmitted to the president of the mother +bank, and reached him about the same time with the other, so that, looking +upon this picture and upon that, upon one letter, which urged the removal +on political grounds, and upon the other, which denied that political +considerations entered into the matter at all, he concluded to let things +remain as they were. Appeals were then artfully made to the President of +the United States. His feelings were enlisted, and it is well known that, +when he had an object in view, his character was to go ahead.[2] I mean to +speak no evil nor disrespect of General Jackson. He has passed off the +stage to his retirement at the Hermitage, which it would be as well, +perhaps, that friends should not disturb, and where I sincerely wish he +may, in tranquillity, pass the residue of his days. But General Jackson's +character was imperious; he took the back track never; and however his +friends might differ, or whether they concurred or dissented, they were +fain always to submit. General Jackson put forth the pretension, that +appointments by the bank should have regard to the wishes of the treasury; +the matter was formally submitted to the directors of the bank, and they +as formally determined that the treasury could not rightly or properly +have any thing to say in the matter. A long and somewhat angry +correspondence ensued; for General Jackson found in the president of the +bank a man who had something of his own quality. The result was that the +bank resisted, and refused the required acquiescence in the dictation of +the treasury. + +This happened in the summer and autumn of 1829, and in December we had the +message in which, for the first time, the bank was arraigned and +denounced. Then came the application of the bank for re-incorporation, the +passage of a bill for that purpose through both houses, and the +Presidential veto.[3] The Bank of the United States being thus put down, a +multitude of new State banks sprang up; and next came a law, adopting some +of these as deposit banks. Now, what I have to say in regard to General +Jackson in this matter is this: he said he could establish a better +currency; and, whether successful or not in this, it is at least to be +said in his favor and praise, that he never did renounce the obligation of +the federal government to take care of the currency, paper as well as +metallic, of the people. It was in furtherance of this duty, which he felt +called on to discharge, of "providing a better currency," that he +recommended the prohibition of small bills. Why? Because, as it was +argued, it would improve the general mixed currency of the country; and +although he did not as distinctly as Mr. Madison admit and urge the duty +of the federal government to provide a currency for the people, _he +never renounced it_, but, on the contrary, in his message of December, +1835, held this explicit language:-- + +"By the use of the State banks, which do not derive their charters from +the general government, and are not controlled by its authority, it is +ascertained that the moneys of the United States can be collected and +distributed without loss or inconvenience, and that all the wants of the +community, in relation to exchange and currency, are supplied as well as +they have ever been before." + +It is not here a question whether these banks did, or did not, effect the +purpose which General Jackson takes so much praise to himself for +accomplishing through their agency, that of supplying the country with as +good a currency as it ever enjoyed. But why, if this was not a duty of the +federal government, is it mentioned at all? + +Two months only after General Jackson had retired, and when his vigorous +hand was no longer there to uphold it, the league of State banks fell, and +crumbled into atoms; and when Mr. Van Buren had been only three months +President, he convoked a special session of Congress for the ensuing +September. The country was in wide-spread confusion, paralyzed in its +commerce, its currency utterly deranged.[4] What was to be done? What +would Mr. Van Buren recommend? He could not go back to the Bank of the +United States, for he had committed himself against its constitutionality; +nor could he, with any great prospect of success, undertake to reconstruct +the league of deposit banks; for it had recently failed, and the country +had lost confidence in it. What, then, was to be done? He could go neither +backward nor forward. What did he do? I mean not to speak disrespectfully, +but I say he--_escaped!_ Afraid to touch the fragments of the broken +banks, unable to touch the United States Bank, he folded up his arms, and +said, The government has nothing to do with providing a currency for the +people. That I may do him no wrong, I will read his own language. His +predecessors had all said, We _will not_ turn our backs upon this +duty of government to provide a uniform currency; his language is, We +_will_ turn our backs on this duty. He proposes nothing for the +country, nothing for the relief of commerce, or the regulation of +exchanges, but simply the means of getting money into the treasury without +loss. In his first message to Congress, he thus expresses himself:-- + +"It is not the province of our government to aid individuals in the +transfer of their funds, otherwise than through the facilities of the +Post-Office Department. As justly might it be called on to provide for the +transportation of their merchandise. + +"If, therefore, I refrain from suggesting to Congress any specific plan +for regulating the exchanges or the currency, relieving mercantile +embarrassments, or interfering with the ordinary operations of foreign or +domestic commerce, it is from a conviction that such are not within the +constitutional province of the general government, and that their adoption +would not promote the real and permanent welfare of those they might be +designed to aid." + +I put it to you, my friends, if this is a statesman's argument. You can +transport your merchandise yourselves; you can build ships, and make your +own wagons; but can you make a currency? Can you say what shall be money, +and what shall not be money, and determine its value here and elsewhere? +Why, it would be as reasonable to say, that the people make war for +themselves, and peace for themselves, as to say that they may exercise +this other not less exclusive attribute of sovereignty, of making a +currency for themselves. He insists that Congress has no power to regulate +currency or exchanges, none to mitigate the embarrassments of the country, +none to relieve its prostrate industry, and even if the power did exist, +it would be unwise, in his opinion, to exercise it! + +Let us compare this declaration with that of one now numbered with the +mighty dead; of one who has left behind a reputation excelled by that of +no other man, as understanding thoroughly the Constitution; of one taking +a leading part in its inception, and closing his public career by +administering its highest office; I need not name JAMES MADISON.[5] + +In his message to Congress, in December, 1815, when the war had closed, +and the country was laboring under the disordered currency of that period, +the President thus spoke:-- + +"It is essential to every modification of the finances, that the benefits +of a uniform national currency should be restored to the community. The +absence of the precious metals will, it is believed, be a temporary evil; +but until they can again be rendered the general medium of exchange, it +devolves on the wisdom of Congress to provide a substitute, which shall +equally engage the confidence and accommodate the wants of the citizens +throughout the Union." + +The new doctrine which the administration had set up is one vitally +affecting the business and pursuits of the people at large, extending its +efforts to the interests of every family, and of every individual; and you +must determine for yourselves if it shall be the doctrine of the country. +But, before determining, look well at the Constitution, weigh all the +precedents, and if names and authority are to be appealed to, contrast +those of President Van Buren with those of the dead patriarch whose words +I have just read to you, and decide accordingly. + +But Mr. Van Buren's message contains a principle,--one altogether +erroneous as a doctrine, and fatal in its operations,--the principle that +the government has nothing to do with providing a currency for the +country; in other words, proposing a separation between the money of the +government and the money of the people. This is the great error, which +cannot be compromised with, which is susceptible of no amelioration or +modification, like a disease which admits no remedy and no palliative but +the caustic which shall totally eradicate it. + +Do we not know that there must always be bank paper? Is there a man here +who expects that he, or his children, or his children's children, shall +see the day when only gold coin, glittering through silk purses, will be +the currency of the country, to the entire exclusion of bank notes? Not +one. But we are told that the value of these notes is questionable. It is +the neglect of government to perform its duties that makes them so. You +here, in New York, have sound bank paper, redeemable in coin; and if you +were surrounded by a Chinese wall, it might be indifferent to you whether +government looked after the currency elsewhere or not. But you have daily +business relations with Pennsylvania, and with the West, and East, and +South, and you have a direct interest that their currency too shall be +sound; for otherwise the very superiority of yours is, to a certain +degree, an injury and loss to you, since you pay in the equivalent of +specie for what you buy, and you sell for such money as may circulate in +the States with which you deal. But New York cannot affect the general +restoration of the currency, nor any one State, nor any number of States +short of the whole, and hence the duty of the general government to +superintend this interest. + +But what does the sub-treasury propose? [6] Its basis is a separation of +the concerns of the treasury from those of the people. It directs that +there shall be certain vaults, and safes, and rooms for deposit of the +money of the government. But it has not been for want of adequate vaults +and rooms that we have lost our money, but owing to the hands to which we +have intrusted the keys. It is in the character of the officers, and not +in the strength of bars and vaults, that we must look for the security of +the public treasure. There are no securities under this new system of +keeping the public moneys that we had not before; while many that did +exist, in the personal character, high trusts, and diversified duties of +the officers and directors of banks are removed. Moreover, the number of +receiving and disbursing officers is increased, and the danger to the +public treasure is increased in proportion. The next provision is, that +money once received into the treasury is not to be lent out. Yet the +practice of this government hitherto has always been opposed to this +policy of locking up the money of the people, when and while it is not +required for the public service. Until this time the public deposits, like +private deposits, were used by the banks in which they were placed, as +some compensation for the trouble of safe-keeping, and in furtherance of +the general convenience. The next provision is that requiring, after 1843, +all dues to the government to be paid in gold and silver. But what are we +promised as the equivalent for all this inconvenience and oppression? Why, +that the government in its turn will pay its debts in specie, and that +thus what it receives with one hand it will pay out with the other, and a +metallic circulation will be established. I undertake to say, that no +greater fallacy than this was ever uttered; the thing is impossible, and +for this plain reason. The dues which the government collects come from +individuals; each pays for himself. But it is far otherwise with the +disbursements of government. They do not go down to individuals, and, +seeking out the workmen and the laborers, pay to each his dues. Government +pays in large sums, to large contractors, and to these it may pay gold and +silver. But do the gold and silver reach those whom the contractor +employs? On the contrary, the contractors deal as they see fit, with those +whom they employ, or of whom they purchase. I speak of what is in proof. A +contractor came to Washington last winter, and received a draft of +$180,000 on a specie-paying bank in New York. This he sold at ten per cent +premium, and with the avails purchased funds in the West, with which he +paid the producer, the farmer, the laborer. This is the operation of +specie payments. It gives to the government hard money, to the rich +contractor hard money; but to the producer and the laborer it gives paper, +and bad paper only. And yet this system is recommended as specially +favoring the poor man, rather than the rich, and credit is claimed for +this administration as the poor man's friend. + +Let us look a little more nearly at this matter, and see whom, in truth, +it does favor. Who are the rich in this country? There is very little +hereditary wealth among us; and large capitalists are not numerous. But +some there are, nevertheless, who live upon the interest of their money; +and these, certainly, do not suffer by this new doctrine; for their +revenues are increased in amount, while the means of living are reduced in +value. There is the money-lender, too, who suffers not by the reduction of +prices all around him. Who else are the rich in this country? Why, the +holders of office. He who has a fixed salary of from $2,500 to $5,000 +finds prices falling; but does his salary fall? On the contrary, three +fourths of that salary will now purchase more than the whole of it would +purchase before; and he, therefore, is not dissatisfied with this new +state of things. + +I live on the sea-coast of New England, and one of my nearest neighbors is +the largest ship-owner, probably, in the United States. During the past +year, he has made what might suffice for two or three fortunes of moderate +size; and how has he made it? He sends his ships to Alabama, Louisiana, +Mississippi, to take freights of cotton. This staple, whatever may be the +price abroad, cannot be suffered to rot at home; and therefore it is +shipped. My friend tells his captain to provision his ship at Natchez, for +instance, where he buys flour and stores in the currency of that region, +which is so depreciated that he is able to sell his bills on Boston at +forty-eight per cent premium! Here, at once, it will be seen, he gets his +provisions for half price, because prices do not always rise suddenly, as +money depreciates. He delivers his freight in Europe, and gets paid for it +in good money. The disordered currency of the country to which he belongs +does not follow and afflict him abroad. He gets his freight in good money, +places it in the hands of his owner's banker, who again draws at a premium +for it. The ship-owner, then, makes money, when all others are suffering, +_because he can escape from the influence of the bad laws and bad +currency of his own country_. + +Now, I will contrast the story of this neighbor with that of another of my +neighbors, not rich. He is a New England mechanic, hard-working, sober, +and intelligent, a tool-maker by trade, who wields his own sledge-hammer. +His particular business is the making of augers for the South and +Southwest. He has for years employed many hands, and been the support +thereby of many families around him, himself, meanwhile, moderately +prosperous until these evil times came on. Annually, however, for some +years, he has been going backwards. Not less industrious, not less frugal, +he has yet found, that, however good nominally the prices he might receive +at the South and Southwest for his tools, the cost of converting his +Southern or Western funds into money current in New England was ruinous. +He has persevered, however, always hoping for some change for the better, +and contracting gradually the circle of his work and the number of his +workmen, until at length, the little earnings of the past wasted, and the +condition of the currency becoming worse and worse, he is reduced to +bankruptcy; and he, and the twenty families that he supported, are +beggared by no fault of their own. What was his difficulty? He _could +not escape_ from the evils of bad laws and bad currency at home; and +while his rich neighbor, who could and did, is made richer by these very +causes, he, the honest and industrious mechanic, is crushed to the earth; +and yet we are told that this is a system for promoting the interests of +the poor! + +This leads me naturally to the great subject of _American labor_, +which has hardly been considered or discussed as carefully as it deserves. +What is _American labor_? It is best described by saying, _it is +not_ European labor. Nine tenths of the whole labor of this country is +performed by those who cultivate the land they or their fathers own, or +who, in their workshops, employ some little capital of their own, and mix +it up with their manual toil. No such thing exists in other countries. +Look at the different departments of industry, whether agricultural, +manufacturing, or mechanical, and you will find that, in almost all, the +laborers mix up some little capital with the work of their hands. The +laborer of the United States is the United States. Strike out the laborers +of the United States, including therein all who in some way or other +belong to the industrious and working classes, and you reduce the +population of the United States from sixteen millions to one million. The +American laborer is expected to have a comfortable home, decent though +frugal living, and to be able to clothe and educate his children, to +qualify them to take part, as all are called to do, in the political +affairs and government of their country. Can this be said of any European +laborer? Does he take any share in the government of his country, or feel +it an obligation to educate his children? In most parts of Europe, nine +tenths of the laborers have no interest in the soil they cultivate, nor in +the fabrics they produce; no hope, under any circumstances, of rising +themselves, or of raising their children, above the condition of a day- +laborer at wages; and only know the government under which they live by +the sense of its burdens, which they have no voice in mitigating. + +To compare such a state of labor with the labor of this country, or to +reason from that to ours, is preposterous. And yet the doctrine now is, +not of individuals only, but of the administration, that the wages of +American labor must be brought down to the level of those of Europe. + +I have said this is not the doctrine of a few individuals; and on that +head I think injustice has been done to a Senator from Pennsylvania, who +has been made to bear a large share of the responsibility of suggesting +such a policy. If I mistake not, the same idea is thrown out in the +President's message at the commencement of the last session, and in the +treasury report. Hear what Mr. Woodbury says:-- + +"Should the States not speedily suspend more of their undertakings which +are unproductive, but, by new loans or otherwise, find means to employ +armies of laborers in consuming rather than raising crops, and should +prices thus continue in many cases to be unnaturally inflated, as they +have been of late years, in the face of a contracting currency, the effect +of it on our finances would be still more to lessen exports, and, +consequently, the prosperity and revenue of our foreign trade." + +He is for turning off from the public works these "armies of laborers," +who consume without producing crops, and thus bring down prices, both of +crops and labor. Diminish the mouths that consume, and multiply the arms +that produce, and you have the treasury prescription for mitigating +distress and raising prices! How would that operate in this great State? +You have, perhaps, some fifteen thousand men employed on your public +works, works of the kind that the Secretary calls "unproductive"; and, +even with such a demand as they must produce for provisions, prices are +very low. The Secretary's remedy is to set them to raise provisions +themselves, and thus augment the supply, while they diminish the demand. +In this way, the wages of labor are to be reduced, as well as the prices +of agricultural productions. But this is not all. I have in my hand an +extract from a speech in the House of Representatives of a zealous +supporter, as it appears, of the administration, who maintains that, other +things being reduced in proportion, you may reduce the wages of labor, +without evil consequences. And where does he seek this example? On the +shores of the Mediterranean. He fixes upon Corsica and Sardinia. But what +is the Corsican laborer, that he should be the model upon which American +labor is to be formed? Does he know any thing himself? Has he any +education, or does he give any to his children? Has he a home, a freehold, +and the comforts of life around him? No: with a crust of bread and a +handful of olives, his daily wants are satisfied. And yet, from such a +state of society, the laborer of New England, the laborer of the United +States, is to be taught submission to low wages. The extract before me +states that the wages of Corsica are, + + "For the male laborer, 24 cents a day; + And the female do. 11 cents do.";-- + +both, I presume, finding their own food. And the honorable gentleman +argues, that, owing to the greater cheapness of other articles, this is +relatively as much as the American laborer gets; and he illustrates the +fact by this bill of clothing for a Corsican laborer:-- + + "Jacket, lasting 24 months, 8 francs; + Cap, do. 24 do. 2 do. + Waistcoat, do. 36 do. 4 do. + Pantaloons, do. 18 do. 5 do. + Shirt, do. 12 do. 3 do. + Pair of shoes, do. 6 do. 6 do. + --- + 28 francs." + +Eight francs are equal to one dollar and sixty cents, and five francs to +one dollar. Now, what say you, my friends? What will the farmer of New +York, of Pennsylvania, or of New England say to the idea of walking on +Sunday to church, at the head of his family, in his jacket _two years +old?_ What will the young man say, when, his work ended, he desires to +visit the families of his neighbors, to the one pair of pantaloons, not +quite two years old, indeed, but, as the farmers say of a colt, "coming +two next grass," and which, for eighteen months, have every day done +yeoman's service? Away with it all! Away with this plan of humbling and +degrading the free, intelligent, well-educated, and well-paid laborer of +the United States to the level of the almost brute laborer of Europe! + +There is not much danger that schemes and doctrines such as these shall +find favor with the people. They understand their own interest too well +for that. Gentlemen, I am a farmer, on the sea-shore, [7] and have, of +course, occasion to employ some degree of agricultural labor. I am +sometimes also rowed out to sea, being, like other New England men, fond +of occasionally catching a fish, and finding health and recreation, in +warm weather, from the air of the ocean. For the few months during which I +am able to enjoy this retreat from labor, public or professional, I do not +often trouble my neighbors, or they me, with conversation on politics. It +happened, however, about three weeks ago, that, on such an excursion as I +have mentioned, with one man only with me, I mentioned this doctrine of +the reduction of prices, and asked him his opinion of it. He said he did +not like it. I replied, "The wages of labor, it is true, are reduced; but +then flour and beef, and perhaps clothing, all of which you buy, are +reduced also. What, then, can be your objections?" "Why," said he, "it is +true that flour is now low; but then it is an article that may rise +suddenly, by means of a scanty crop in England, or at home; and if it +should rise from five dollars to ten, I do not know for certain that it +would fetch the price of my labor up with it. But while wages are high, +then I am safe; and if produce chances to fall, so much the better for me. +But there is another thing. I have but one thing to sell, that is, my +labor; but I must buy many things, not only flour, and meat, and clothing, +but also some articles that come from other countries,--a little sugar, a +little coffee, a little tea, a little of the common spices, and such like. +Now, I do not see how these foreign articles will be brought down by +reducing wages at home; and before the price is brought down of the only +thing I have to sell, I want to be sure that the prices will fall also, +not of a part, but of all the things which I must buy." + +Now, Gentlemen, though he will be astonished, or amused, that I should +tell the story before such a vast and respectable assemblage as this, I +will place the argument of _Seth Peterson_, sometimes farmer and +sometimes fisherman on the coast of Massachusetts, stated to me while +pulling an oar with each hand, and with the sleeves of his red shirt +rolled up above his elbows, against the reasonings, the theories, and the +speeches of the administration and all its friends, in or out of Congress, +and take the verdict of the country, and of the civilized world, whether +he has not the best of the argument. + +Since I have adverted to this conversation, Gentlemen, allow me to say +that this neighbor of mine is a man fifty years of age, one of several +sons of a poor man; that by his labor he has obtained some few acres, his +own unencumbered freehold, has a comfortable dwelling, and plenty of the +poor man's blessings. Of these, I have known six, decently and cleanly +clad, each with the book, the slate, and the map proper to its age, all +going at the same time daily to enjoy the blessing of that which is the +great glory of New England, the common free school. Who can contemplate +this, and thousands of other cases like it, not as pictures, but as common +facts, without feeling how much our free institutions, and the policy +hitherto pursued, have done for the comfort and happiness of the great +mass of our citizens? Where in Europe, where in any part of the world out +of our own country, shall we find labor thus rewarded, and the general +condition of the people so good? Nowhere; nowhere! Away, then, with the +injustice and the folly of reducing the cost of productions with us to +what is called the common standard of the world! Away, then, away at once +and for ever, with the miserable policy which would bring the condition of +a laborer in the United States to that of a laborer in Russia or Sweden, +in France or Germany, in Italy or Corsica! Instead of following these +examples, let us hold up our own, which all nations may well envy, and +which, unhappily, in most parts of the earth, it is easier to envy than to +imitate. + +But it is the cry and effort of the times to stimulate those who are +called poor against those who are called rich; and yet, among those who +urge this cry, and seek to profit by it, there is betrayed sometimes an +occasional sneer at whatever savors of humble life. Witness the reproach +against a candidate now before the people for their highest honors, that a +log cabin, with plenty of hard cider, is good enough for him! + +It appears to some persons, that a great deal too much use is made of the +symbol of the log cabin. No man of sense supposes, certainly, that the +having lived in a log cabin is any further proof of qualification for the +Presidency, than as it creates a presumption that any one who, rising from +humble condition, or under unfavorable circumstances, has been able to +attract a considerable degree of public attention, is possessed of +reputable qualities, moral and intellectual. + +But it is to be remembered, that this matter of the log cabin originated, +not with the friends of the Whig candidate, but with his enemies. Soon +after his nomination at Harrisburg, a writer for one of the leading +administration papers spoke of his "log cabin," and his use of "hard +cider," by way of sneer and reproach. As might have been expected, (for +pretenders are apt to be thrown off their guard,) this taunt at humble +life proceeded from the party which claims a monopoly of the purest +democracy. The whole party appeared to enjoy it, or, at least, they +countenanced it by silent acquiescence; for I do not know that, to this +day, any eminent individual or any leading newspaper attached to the +administration has rebuked this scornful jeering at the supposed humble +condition or circumstances in life, past or present, of a worthy man and a +war-worn soldier. But it touched a tender point in the public feeling. It +naturally roused indignation. What was intended as reproach was +immediately seized on as merit. "Be it so! Be it so!" was the instant +burst of the public voice. "Let him be the log cabin candidate. What you +say in scorn, we will shout with all our lungs. From this day forward, we +have our cry of rally; and we shall see whether he who has dwelt in one of +the rude abodes of the West may not become the best house in the country!" + +All this is natural, and springs from sources of just feeling. Other +things, Gentlemen, have had a similar origin. We all know that the term +"Whig" was bestowed in derision, two hundred years ago, on those who were +thought too fond of liberty; and our national air of "Yankee Doodle" was +composed by British officers, in ridicule of the American troops. Yet, ere +long, the last of the British armies laid down its arms at Yorktown, while +this same air was playing in the ears of officers and men. Gentlemen, it +is only shallow-minded pretenders who either make distinguished origin +matter of personal merit, or obscure origin matter of personal reproach. +Taunt and scoffing at the humble condition of early life affect nobody, in +this country, but those who are foolish enough to indulge in them, and +they are generally sufficiently punished by public rebuke. A man who is +not ashamed of himself need not be ashamed of his early condition. + +Gentlemen, it did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin; but my elder +brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin, raised amid the snow-drifts +of New Hampshire, at a period so early that, when the smoke first rose +from its rude chimney, and curled over the frozen hills, there was no +similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the +settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist. I make to it +an annual visit. I carry my children to it, to teach them the hardships +endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love to dwell on +the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections, and the +touching narratives and incidents, which mingle with all I know of this +primitive family abode. I weep to think that none of those who inhabited +it are now among the living; and if ever I am ashamed of it, or if I ever +fail in affectionate veneration for him who reared it, and defended it +against savage violence and destruction, cherished all the domestic +virtues beneath its roof, and, through the fire and blood of a seven +years' revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no sacrifice, to +serve his country, and to raise his children to a condition better than +his own, may my name and the name of my posterity be blotted for ever from +the memory of mankind! + +I have now frankly stated my opinions as to the nature of the present +excitement, and have answered the question I propounded as to the causes +of the revolution in public sentiment now in progress. Will this +revolution succeed? Does it move the masses, or is it an ebullition merely +on the surface? And who is it that opposes the change which seems to be +going forward? [Here some one in the crowd cried out, "None, hardly, but +the office-holders, oppose it."] I hear one say that the office-holders +oppose it; and that is true. If they were quiet, in my opinion, a change +would take place almost by common consent. I have heard of an anecdote, +perhaps hardly suited to the sobriety and dignity of this occasion, but +which confirms the answer which my friend in the crowd has given to my +question. It happened to a farmer's son, that his load of hay was blown +over by a sudden gust, on an exposed plain. Those near him, seeing him +manifest a degree of distress, which such an accident would not usually +occasion, asked him the reason; he said he should not _take on_ so +much about it, only father was under the load. I think it very probable, +Gentlemen, that there are many now very active and zealous friends, who +would not care much whether the wagon of the administration were blown +over or not, if it were not for the fear that father, or son, or uncle, or +brother, might be found under the load. Indeed, it is remarkable how +frequently the fire of patriotism glows in the breast of the holders of +office. A thousand favored contractors shake with horrid fear, lest the +proposed change should put the interests of the public in great danger. +Ten thousand post-offices, moved by the same apprehension, join in the cry +of alarm, while a perfect earthquake of disinterested remonstrance +proceeds from the custom-houses. Patronage and favoritism tremble and +quake, through every limb and every nerve, lest the people should be found +in favor of a change, which might endanger the liberties of the country, +or at least break down its present eminent and distinguished prosperity, +by abandoning the measures, so wise, so beneficent, so successful, and so +popular, which the present administration has pursued! + +Fellow-citizens, we have all sober and important duties to perform. I have +not addressed you to-day for the purpose of joining in a premature note of +triumph, or raising a shout for anticipated victories. We are in the +controversy, not through it. It is our duty to spare no pains to circulate +information, and to spread the truth far and wide. Let us persuade those +who differ from us, if we can, to hear both sides. Let us remind them that +we are all embarked together, with a common interest and a common fate. +And let us, without rebuke or unkindness, beseech them to consider what +the good of the whole requires, what is best for them and for us. + +There are two causes which keep back thousands of honest men from joining +those who wish for a change. The first of these is the fear of reproach +from former associates, and the pain which party denunciation is capable +of inflicting. But, surely, the manliness of the American character is +superior to this! Surely, no American citizen will feel himself chained to +the wheels of any party, nor bound to follow it, against his conscience +and his sense of the interest of the country. Resolution and decision +ought to dissipate such restraints, and to leave men free at once to act +upon their own convictions. Unless this can be done, party has entailed +upon us a miserable slavery, by compelling us to act against our +consciences on questions of the greatest importance. + +The other cause is the constant cry that the party of the administration +is the true democratic party, or the more popular party in the government +and in the country. The falsity of this claim has not been sufficiently +exposed. It should have been met, and should be now met, not only by +denial, but by proof. If they mean the new democracy,--the cry against +credit, against industry, against labor, against a man's right to leave +his own earnings to his own children,--why, then, doubtless, they are +right; all this sort of democracy is theirs. But if by democracy they mean +a conscientious and stern adherence to the true popular principles of the +Constitution and the government, then I think they have very little claim +to it. Is the augmentation of executive power a democratic principle? Is +the separation of the currency of the government from the currency of the +people a democratic principle? Is the imbodying a large military force, in +time of peace, a democratic principle? + +Let us entreat honest men not to take names for things, nor pretences for +proofs. If democracy, in any constitutional sense, belongs to our +adversaries, let them show their title and produce their evidence. Let the +question be examined; and let not intelligent and well-meaning citizens be +kept to the support of measures which in their hearts and consciences they +disapprove, because their authors put forth such loud claims to the sole +possession of regard for the people. + +Fellow-citizens of the County of Saratoga, in taking leave of you, I +cannot but remind you how distinguished a place your county occupies in +the history of the country. I cannot be ignorant, that in the midst of you +are many, at this moment, who saw in this neighborhood the triumph of +republican arms in the surrender of General Burgoyne. I cannot doubt that +a fervent spirit of patriotism burns in their breasts and in the breasts +of their children. They helped to save their country amidst the storms of +war; they will help to save it, I am fully persuaded, in the present +severe civil crisis. I verily believe it is true, that, of all that are +left to us from the Revolution, nine tenths are with us in the existing +contest. If there be living a Revolutionary officer, or soldier, who has +joined in the attacks upon General Harrison's military character, I have +not met with him. It is not, therefore, in the county of Saratoga, that a +cause sustained by such means is likely to prevail. + +Fellow-citizens, the great question is now before the country. If, with +the experience of the past, the American people think proper to confirm +power in the hands which now hold it, and thereby sanction the leading +policy of the administration, it will be your duty and mine to bow, with +submission, to the public will; but, for myself, I shall not believe it +possible for me to be of service to the country, in any department of +public life. I shall look on, with no less love of country than ever, but +with fearful forebodings of what may be near at hand. + +But I do not at all expect that result. I fully believe the change is +coming. If we all do our duty, we shall restore the government to its +former policy, and the country to its former prosperity. And let us here, +to-day, fellow-citizens, with full resolution and patriotic purpose of +heart, give and take pledges, that, until this great controversy be ended, +our time, our talents, our efforts, are all due, and shall all be +faithfully given, to OUR COUNTRY. + + + + +Mr. Justice Story. + + + +Your solemn announcement, Mr. Chief Justice, has confirmed the sad +intelligence which had already reached us, through the public channels of +information, and deeply afflicted us all. + +Joseph Story, one of the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the +United States, and for many years the presiding judge of this Circuit, +died on Wednesday evening last, at his house in Cambridge, wanting only a +few days for the completion of the sixty-sixth year of his age. + +This most mournful and lamentable event has called together the whole Bar +of Suffolk, and all connected with the courts of law or the profession. It +has brought you, Mr. Chief Justice, and your associates of the Bench of +the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, into the midst of us; and you have +done us the honor, out of respect to the occasion, to consent to preside +over us, while we deliberate on what is due, as well to our own afflicted +and smitten feelings, as to the exalted character and eminent distinction +of the deceased judge. The occasion has drawn from his retirement, also, +that venerable man, whom we all so much respect and honor, (Judge Davis,) +who was, for thirty years, the associate of the deceased upon the same +Bench. It has called hither another judicial personage, now in retirement, +(Judge Putnam,) but long an ornament of that Bench of which you are now +the head, and whose marked good fortune it is to have been the +professional teacher of Mr. Justice Story, and the director of his early +studies. He also is present to whom this blow comes near; I mean, the +learned judge (Judge Sprague) from whose side it has struck away a friend +and a highly venerated official associate. The members of the Law School +at Cambridge, to which the deceased was so much attached, and who returned +that attachment with all the ingenuousness and enthusiasm of educated and +ardent youthful minds, are here also, to manifest their sense of their own +severe deprivation, as well as their admiration of the bright and shining +professional example which they have so loved to contemplate,--an example, +let me say to them, and let me say to all, as a solace in the midst of +their sorrows, which death hath not touched and which time cannot obscure. + +Mr. Chief Justice, one sentiment pervades us all. It is that of the most +profound and penetrating grief, mixed, nevertheless, with an assured +conviction, that the great man whom we deplore is yet with us and in the +midst of us. He hath not wholly died. He lives in the affections of +friends and kindred, and in the high regard of the community. He lives in +our remembrance of his social virtues, his warm and steady friendships, +and the vivacity and richness of his conversation. He lives, and will live +still more permanently, by his words of written wisdom, by the results of +his vast researches and attainments, by his imperishable legal judgments, +and by those juridical disquisitions which have stamped his name, all over +the civilized world, with the character of a commanding authority. "Vivit, +enim, vivetque semper; atque etiam latius in memoria hominum et sermone +versabitur, postquam ab oculis recessit." + +Mr. Chief Justice, there are consolations which arise to mitigate our +loss, and shed the influence of resignation over unfeigned and heart-felt +sorrow. We are all penetrated with gratitude to God that the deceased +lived so long; that he did so much for himself, his friends, the country, +and the world; that his lamp went out, at last, without unsteadiness or +flickering. He continued to exercise every power of his mind without +dimness or obscuration, and every affection of his heart with no abatement +of energy or warmth, till death drew an impenetrable veil between us and +him. Indeed, he seems to us now, as in truth he is, not extinguished or +ceasing to be, but only withdrawn; as the clear sun goes down at its +setting, not darkened, but only no longer seen. + +This calamity, Mr. Chief Justice, is not confined to the bar or the courts +of this Commonwealth. It will be felt by every bar throughout the land, by +every court, and indeed by every intelligent and well informed man in or +out of the profession. It will be felt still more widely, for his +reputation had a still wider range. In the High Court of Parliament, in +every tribunal in Westminster Hall, in the judicatories of Paris and +Berlin, of Stockholm and St. Petersburg, in the learned universities of +Germany, Italy, and Spain, by every eminent jurist in the civilized world, +it will be acknowledged that a great luminary has fallen from the +firmament of public jurisprudence.[1] + +Sir, there is no purer pride of country than that in which we may indulge +when we see America paying back the great debt of civilization, learning, +and science to Europe. In this high return of light for light and mind for +mind, in this august reckoning and accounting between the intellects of +nations, Joseph Story was destined by Providence to act, and did act, an +important part. Acknowledging, as we all acknowledge, our obligations to +the original sources of English law, as well as of civil liberty, we have +seen in our generation copious and salutary streams turning and running +backward, replenishing their original fountains, and giving a fresher and +a brighter green to the fields of English jurisprudence. By a sort of +reversed hereditary transmission, the mother, without envy or humiliation, +acknowledges that she has received a valuable and cherished inheritance +from the daughter. The profession in England admits with frankness and +candor, and with no feeling but that of respect and admiration, that he +whose voice we have so recently heard within these walls, but shall now +hear no more, was of all men who have yet appeared, most fitted by the +comprehensiveness of his mind, and the vast extent and accuracy of his +attainments, to compare the codes of nations, to trace their differences +to difference of origin, climate, or religious or political institutions, +and to exhibit, nevertheless, their concurrence in those great principles +upon which the system of human civilization rests. + +Justice, Sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament +which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever her +temple stands, and so long as it is duly honored, there is a foundation +for social security, general happiness, and the improvement and progress +of our race. And whoever labors on this edifice with usefulness and +distinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens its pillars, +adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august dome still +higher in the skies, connects himself, in name, and fame, and character, +with that which is and must be as durable as the frame of human society. + +All know, Mr. Chief Justice, the pure love of country which animated the +deceased, and the zeal, as well as the talent, with which he explained and +defended her institutions. His work on the Constitution of the United +States is one of his most eminently successful labors. But all his +writings, and all his judgments, all his opinions, and the whole influence +of his character, public and private, leaned strongly and always to the +support of sound principles, to the restraint of illegal power, and to the +discouragement and rebuke of licentious and disorganizing sentiments. "Ad +rempublicam firmandam, et ad stabiliendas vires, et sanandum populum, +omnis ejus pergebat institutio." + +But this is not the occasion, Sir, nor is it for me to consider and +discuss at length the character and merits of Mr. Justice Story, as a +writer or a judge. The performance of that duty, with which this Bar will +no doubt charge itself, must be deferred to another opportunity, and will +be committed to abler hands. But in the homage paid to his memory, one +part may come with peculiar propriety and emphasis from ourselves. We have +known him in private life. We have seen him descend from the bench, and +mingle in our friendly circles. We have known his manner of life, from his +youth up. We can bear witness to the strict uprightness and purity of his +character, his simplicity and unostentatious habits, the ease and +affability of his intercourse, his remarkable vivacity amidst severe +labors, the cheerful and animating tones of his conversation, and his fast +fidelity to friends. Some of us, also, can testify to his large and +liberal charities, not ostentatious or casual, but systematic and silent, +--dispensed almost without showing the hand, and falling and distilling +comfort and happiness, like the dews of heaven. But we can testify, also, +that in all his pursuits and employments, in all his recreations, in all +his commerce with the world, and in his intercourse with the circle of his +friends, the predominance of his judicial character was manifest. He never +forgot the ermine which he wore. The judge, the judge, the useful and +distinguished judge, was the great picture which he kept constantly before +his eyes, and to a resemblance of which all his efforts, all his thoughts, +all his life, were devoted. We may go the world over, without finding a +man who shall present a more striking realization of the beautiful +conception of D'Aguesseau: "C'est en vain que l'on cherche a distinguer en +lui la personne privée et la personne publique; un même esprit les anime, +un même objet les réunit; l'homme, le père de famille, le citoyen, tout +est en lui consacré à la gloire du magistrat." + +Mr. Chief Justice, one may live as a conqueror, a king, or a magistrate; +but he must die as a man. The bed of death brings every human being to his +pure individuality; to the intense contemplation of that deepest and most +solemn of all relations, the relation between the creature and his +Creator. Here it is that fame and renown cannot assist us; that all +external things must fail to aid us; that even friends, affection, and +human love and devotedness, cannot succor us. This relation, the true +foundation of all duty, a relation perceived and felt by conscience and +confirmed by revelation, our illustrious friend, now deceased, always +acknowledged. + +He reverenced the Scriptures of truth, honored the pure morality which +they teach, and clung to the hopes of future life which they impart. He +beheld enough in nature, in himself, and in all that can be known of +things seen, to feel assured that there is a Supreme Power, without whose +providence not a sparrow falleth to the ground. To this gracious being he +entrusted himself for time and for eternity; and the last words of his +lips ever heard by mortal ears were a fervent supplication to his Maker to +take him to himself. [2] + + + + +Biographical. + + + +First Period: Law and Politics in New Hampshire. + +1782 Born at Salisbury, New Hampshire, January 18. + Early Education. +1797 Enters Dartmouth College. +1805 Admitted to the Bar, +1805. + Practises in Boscawen. +1807 Removes to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. +1813 Elected to Congress from Portsmouth. +1814-15 The Hartford Convention. + + +Second Period: Leader at the Bar and in the Forum. + +1816 Removes to Boston, Massachusetts. +1817 "The Defence of the Kennistons." +1818 "The Dartmouth College Case." +1820 Massachusetts Convention. + + +Third Period: Expounder and Defender of the Constitution. + +1827 Elected to the Senate from Massachusetts. +1830 "The Reply to Hayne." +1833 "The Constitution not a Compact between Sovereign States." +1833-34 Removal of the Deposits from the United States Bank. + Rise of the Whig Party. +1835 Nominated to the Presidency by the Whigs of Massachusetts. +1837 Reception in New York. +1839 Visits England. +1840 Presidential Canvass. +1840-43 Secretary of State. + Ashburton Treaty. + Resigns the Department of State. +1844 Re-elected to the Senate from Massachusetts. +1845 "Eulogy on Justice Story." + Annexation of Texas. +1846 Banquet in Philadelphia. +1850 Seventh of March Speech. + Secretary of State under President Fillmore. +1852 Public Reception in Boston. + Last Illness and Death. + + + + +Notes. + + +_DEFENCE OF THE KENNISTONS_ + +April, 1817. + +Mr. Webster had been elected to Congress from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, +in 1813, and his term expired in March, 1816. In August of that year +(1816) he removed his family to Boston, and decided to devote himself +exclusively to the profession of the law. He had won a high position both +in law and politics in New Hampshire. The change of residence marks an era +in the life of Mr. Webster. Mr. Lodge says that there is a tradition that +the worthies of the Puritan city were disposed at first to treat the +newcomer somewhat cavalierly, but that they soon learned that it was worse +than useless to attempt such a course with a man whose magnificent +physical and intellectual bearing won the admiration of all who met him. + +He now began a career of great professional distinction, and took a place +at the Boston bar even more conspicuous than his friends had anticipated-- +that of an equal of the most famous of its members. His cases called him +before the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the Circuit Court of the United +States, and the United States Supreme Court. Among the first cases which +came to him on his retirement from political life was the Goodridge +Robbery Case, the argument in which was addressed to the jury at the term +of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held at Ipswich in April, +1817. + +The singularly dramatic story of the prosecutor, the almost universal +belief in the guilt of the accused, both by the public and by the members +of the Essex bar, and the impossibility of accounting for the motive +(self-robbery) assumed by the defence, make this exhibition of Mr. +Webster's "acute, penetrating, and terrifying" power of cross- +examination,--by which such a complicated and ingenious story was +unravelled,--one of the most memorable in the history of the + +Massachusetts bar. It is a model of close, simple, unadorned argument, +adapted to the minds of the jurymen. In it there are no attempts to carry +the jury off their feet by lofty appeals to their sense of justice, nor to +cover the weak points in the case by fine oratory. The oft-repeated, "It +is for the jury to determine," illustrates Mr. Webster's respect for the +common sense of the jurymen before him and his reliance upon evidence to +win the case. The following are the facts relating to the case:--Major +Goodridge of Bangor, Maine, professed to have been robbed of a large sum +of money at nine o'clock on the night of Dec. 19, 1816, while travelling +on horseback, near the bridge between Exeter and Newburyport. In the +encounter with the robbers he received a pistol wound in his left hand; he +was then dragged from his horse into a field, beaten until insensible, and +robbed. On recovering, he procured the assistance of several persons, and +with a lantern returned to the place of the robbery and found his watch +and some papers. The next day he went to Newburyport, and remained ill for +several weeks, suffering from delirium caused by the shock. When he +recovered he set about the discovery of the robbers. His story seemed so +probable that he had the sympathy of all the country-folk. He at once +charged with the crime Levi and Laban Kenniston, two poor men, who lived +in an obscure part of the town of Newmarket, New Hampshire, and finding +some of his money (which he had previously marked) in their cellar, he had +them arrested, and held for trial. By and by a few of the people began to +doubt the story of Goodridge; this led him to renewed efforts, and he +arrested the toll gatherer, Mr. Pearson, in whose house, by the aid of a +conjurer, he found some of his money. On examination by the magistrate, +Pearson was discharged. It now became necessary to find some accomplice of +the Kennistons, and he arrested one Taber of Boston, whom he had seen (he +said) on his way up, and from whom he had obtained his information against +the Kennistons. In Taber's house was found some of the money; he was +accordingly bound over for trial with the Kennistons. As none of these men +lived near the scene of the robbery, Mr. Jackman, who, soon after the +robbery, had gone to New York, was arrested, his house searched, and some +of the money found in the garret. The guilt of these men seemed so +conclusive that no eminent member of the Essex bar would undertake their +defence. A few of those who mistrusted Goodridge determined to send to +Suffolk County for counsel. + +Mr. Webster had been well known in New Hampshire, and his services were at +once secured; without having time to examine any of the details of the +case--as he had arrived at Ipswich on the night before the trial--he at +once undertook the defence of the Kennistons and secured their acquittal. +The indictment against Taber was _nol prossed_. Later, he defended +Jackman and secured his acquittal. Mr. Pearson brought action against +Goodridge for malicious prosecution, and was awarded $2000, but Goodridge +took the poor debtor's oath and left the State. + +Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. VIII.; Everett's _Memoir of +Webster_, in Vol. I. of Webster's Works. + + * * * * * + +_THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE_. + +March, 1818. + +Within a year after the defence of the Kennistons, Mr. Webster was called +upon to defend his Alma Mater against the acts of the Legislature of his +native State. + +The case was one of the most interesting ever argued before the Supreme +Court of the United States, because there were involved in it certain +constitutional questions which had never been tested. "Mr. Webster by his +management of this case," says Edward Everett, "took the lead in +establishing what might almost be called a new school of constitutional +law." Not until within a few years has the complete history of the case +been accessible. In 1879, a volume of "Dartmouth College Causes" was +published by Mr. John M. Shirley, and in it we have, for the first time, a +clear statement of all the points relating to the origin and development +of the case. + +Dartmouth College was originally a charity school, and was founded by +Eleazor Wheelock at Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1754. Afterwards private +subscriptions were solicited in England, and the Earl of Dartmouth was a +large donor and became one of the trustees. The site was soon moved to +Hanover, New Hampshire, where large grants of land had been made by the +proprietors. It was chartered by the Crown in 1769, and was created a +perpetual corporation, with Dr. Wheelock as founder and President; he was +empowered to name his own successor subject to the approval of the +trustees, to whom was given power to fill vacancies in their own body and +to make laws for the College subject to the Crown. + +It seems that in his early days Dr. Wheelock had a controversy on +religious matters with Dr. Bellamy. These men were graduates of Yale; the +former was a Presbyterian, and the latter a Congregationalist. This +religious war was carried on by the successors of these men, the son of +Dr. Wheelock, and President of the College, and a pupil of Dr. Bellamy, +who had been elected a trustee; it soon, however, became a political +contest between factions of the trustees, one of which objected to what it +called the "family dynasty." In 1809 this faction became a majority and +opposed the other so vigorously that in 1815 the Wheelock party set forth +its case in a lengthy pamphlet. Much ink was shed upon both sides as a +result. Wheelock then sent a memorial to the Legislature charging the +trustees with violation of trust and religious intolerance, and prayed for +an investigation by a committee of the Legislature. The trustees were +Federalists and Congregationalists, the ruling power in State and Church. +Mr. Mason, Mr. Webster's old antagonist at the New Hampshire bar, was +secured as counsel for the trustees. The Wheelock party made advances to +Mr. Webster, but he saw that the case was fast assuming a political tone, +and he declined the offer. Contrary to Mr. Mason's advice, the trustees +removed President Wheelock, and appointed Rev. Francis Brown in his place. +As a result all the Democrats and all religious orders, other than the +Congregational, united against the trustees--and the political die was +cast. + +At the next election the Democrats carried the State, and the Governor in +his message took occasion to declare against the trustees. The +Legislature, in June, 1816, passed an act to reorganize the College, and +under this law the new trustees were chosen; thus the College became a +State institution. Woodward, the Secretary of the old board, had been +removed, and became the Secretary of the newly constituted board. Suit was +brought against him by the old board, for the College seal and other +property, and the case in charge of Mr. Mason and Judge Smith came up for +trial in May, 1817; it was argued and then went over to the September term +of the same year at Exeter. It was at this stage of the proceedings that +Mr. Webster joined the counsel for the College. He made the closing +argument of such force and pathos as to draw tears from the crowd in the +court-room. The decision was against the College. + +In Mr. Mason's brief we find that there were three points made against the +Acts of the Legislature: (1) that they were not within the power of that +body; (2) that they violated the Constitution of New Hampshire; and (3) +that they violated the Constitution of the United States, or the right of +private contracts. The third point was not, however, pressed by the +counsel, and was not considered as very important; they based their case +mostly upon the first point: that the College was founded by private +parties, for special purposes, and that any quarrel of the trustees was a +question for the courts to settle, and not for the Legislature. When it +was decided against them, they removed the case to the Supreme Court of +the United States on this one point, that the acts impaired the obligation +of contracts. The friends of the College now desired Mr. Webster to take +entire charge of the case; he consented, and selected as his assistant, +Mr. Hopkinson, of Philadelphia. Mr. Holmes of Maine and Mr. Wirt conducted +the defence. + +The case was heard on March 10, 1818, and was opened by Mr. Webster. With +the notes and minutes of the previous counsel Mr. Webster was familiar, +and he said that the credit of the legal points and theories he set forth +was due to them; he was only the arranger and reciter of what they had +prepared. Mr. Webster had a remarkable power of selecting and using the +material of other men, but he was always ready to give them the credit +due. + +With a skill and judgment which Chief Justice Marshall said he never saw +equalled, Mr. Webster outlined the question at issue, and by his +marvellous adroitness in arranging, and clearness in presenting the facts, +together with that wealth of legal and historical illustration with which +he was always so well endowed, he seemed to carry with him every man in +the court-room. Such was the ease, grace, and fascination of his argument, +that Justice Story, who sat, pen in hand, to take notes, was completely +absorbed and forgot his pen and paper. + +[1]P. 58, l. 15. I. Here, the argument being ended, Mr. Webster stood +still for some time before the court, while every eye was fixed upon him, +and then addressing the Chief Justice, he proceeded with that noble +peroration which has become one of the masterpieces of eloquence, and +which is an expansion of the closing argument which he delivered at the +previous trial in New Hampshire. This does not appear in the printed +argument; I have added it from the report of Dr. Goodrich. + +[2]P. 59, l. 5. 1. I give the beautiful description which Dr. Goodrich +wrote to Mr. Choate in 1853. "Here the feelings, which he had thus far +succeeded in keeping down, broke forth. His lips quivered; his firm cheeks +trembled with emotion; his eyes were filled with tears; his voice choked, +and he seemed struggling to the utmost simply to gain that mastery over +himself which might save him from an unmanly burst of feeling. I will not +attempt to give you the few broken words of tenderness in which he went on +to speak of his attachment for the college. The whole seemed to be mingled +throughout with recollections of father, mother, brother, and all the +privations and trials through which he had made his way into life. Every +one saw that it was wholly unpremeditated, a pressure on his heart, which +sought relief in words and tears." The court-room during these two or +three minutes presented an extraordinary spectacle. Chief Justice +Marshall, with his tall and gaunt figure, bent over as if to catch the +slightest whisper, the deep furrows of his cheek expanded with emotion, +and his eyes suffused with tears; Mr. Justice Washington at his side, with +his small and emaciated frame, and countenance more like marble than I +ever saw on any other human being--leaning forward with an eager troubled +look; and the remainder of the Court at the two extremities, pressing, as +it were, toward a single point, while the audience below were wrapping +themselves around in closer folds beneath the bench, to catch each look +and every feature of the speaker's face. If a painter could give us the +scene on canvas,--those forms and countenances, and Daniel Webster as he +there stood in their midst,--it would be one of the most touching pictures +in the history of eloquence. One thing it taught me, that the +_pathetic_ depends not merely on the words uttered, but still more on +the estimate we put upon him who utters them. There was not one among the +strong-minded men of that assembly who could think it unmanly to weep, +when he saw standing before him the man who had made such an argument, +melted into the tenderness of a child. Mr. Webster had now recovered his +composure, and, fixing his keen eye on the Chief Justice, in that deep +tone with which he sometimes thrilled the heart of an audience, +continued."[3] L. 10. 2. When Mr. Webster sat down, there was a stillness +as of death in the court-room, and when the audience had slowly recovered +itself the replies of the opposing counsel were made, but seemed weak +indeed in comparison to what had just been heard. On the conclusion of the +arguments, the Chief Justice announced that the Court could not agree, and +that the case must be continued to the next term. During the interim, the +utmost effort was used by the friends of the College, the press, and the +Federalists, to bring the matter before the public, and to impress the +judges with the condition of the public mind. The defence prepared to +renew the contest, and able counsel was secured. At the next term, +however, the Chief Justice ruled that the Acts of the Legislature were +void, as they impaired the right of private contract. Of this argument Mr. +Justice Story said: "For the first hour we listened with perfect +astonishment; for the second hour with perfect delight; and for the third +hour with perfect conviction." + +Mr. Lodge says: "From the day when it was announced, to the present time, +the Doctrine of Marshall in the Dartmouth College Case has continued to +exert an enormous influence." + +After the trial Mr. Hopkinson wrote to the President of the College and +said: "I would have an inscription over the door of your building: +'Founded by Eleazor Wheelock, Refounded by Daniel Webster.'" + +Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. VIII.; Lodge's _Webster_, +Ch. III.; Everett's _Memoir_, in Vol. I. of Webster's Works; +Shirley's _Dartmouth College Causes; Correspondence of Webster_, Vol. +I., pp. 266-70; Magruder's _Life of John Marshall_. + + * * * * * + +_FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND_. + +December, 1820. + +The "Old Colony Club," formed for social intercourse in 1769, was the +first to celebrate Forefathers' Day. Although the club was dissolved in +1773, the anniversary celebrations were continued until 1780; between this +time and 1820, when the "Pilgrim Society" was founded, they were held with +but few interruptions. + +The foundation of the "Pilgrim Society" in 1820 gave a new impetus to the +celebrations, and in that year Mr. Webster was chosen to give the address. + +[1]P. 64, l. 17. 1. The allusion is to the painting by Sargent; it was +presented by him to the Society in 1824. + +[2]L. 22. 2. Cf. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. + +[3]L. 30. 3. Cf. the report of the Pilgrim Society on the correct date of +the landing of the Pilgrims. The 21st is now considered to be the date. + +[4]P. 66, l. 31. 1. Cf. _Herodotus_, Ch. VI., § 109. + +[5]P. 70, l. 23. 1. Cf. "The Start from Delfshaven," by Rev. D. Van Pelt, +in the _New England Magazine_, November, 1891. For a through +treatment of the whole subject read Chapter II., "The Puritan Exodus" in +_Beginnings of New England_, by John Fiske. + +[6]P. 77, l. 13. 1. Cf. _Beginnings of New England_, by John Fiske, +pp. 12-20, "The Roman Method of Nation-Making." + +[7]P. 81, l. 18. 1. Cf. _Beginnings of New England_, pp. 20-49, "The +English Method of Nation-Making." + +[8]P. 82, l. 30. 1. Cf. Hutchinson's _History_, Vol. II., App. I. +"The men who wrote in the cabin of the _Mayflower_ the first charter +of freedom, were a little band of protestants against every form of +injustice and tyranny. The leaven of their principles made possible the +Declaration of Independence, liberated the slaves, and founded the free +Commonwealths which form the Republic of the United States."--C. M. DEPEW, +Columbian oration. + +[9]P. 83, l. 15. 1. Cf. _Germanic Origin of New England Towns_, H. B. +Adams. + +[10]P. 108, l. 7. 1. Cf. Cicero's _Oratio pro Flacco_, § 7. + +[11]L. 29. 2. The first free public school established by law in Plymouth +Colony was in 1670. + +[12]P. 111, l. 17. 1. Cf. _Beginnings of New England_, p. 110, +"Founding of Harvard College." Lowell's "Harvard Anniversary." + +In 1647 the Colony of Massachusetts Bay passed the law requiring every +town of one hundred families to set up a grammar school which should +prepare youth for the university. + +If Mr. Webster by his handling of the Dartmouth College Case founded a new +school of constitutional law, by the Plymouth Oration he founded a new +school of oratory. This field of occasional oratory was a new and peculiar +one for him. He had never before spoken upon a great historical subject +demanding not only wealth of imagination, but the peculiar quality of mind +and heart which unites dignity and depth of thought with ease and grace of +manner. But he was equal to the task. The simplicity and beauty of the +thought, the grand and inspiring manner of presentation, gave evidence of +commanding genius, and gave Mr. Webster a place in the front rank of +orators and stylists. + +"I never saw him," says Mr. Ticknor, "when he seemed to me to be more +conscious of his own powers, or to have a more true and natural enjoyment +from their possession." + +John Adams, who had heard Pitt and Fox, Burke and Sheridan, says: "It is +the effort of a great mind, richly stored with every species of +information. If there be an American who can read it without tears, I am +not that American. Mr. Burke is no longer entitled to the praise--the most +consummate orator of modern times. What can I say of what regards myself? +To my humble name '_Exegisti monumentum ære perennius_.' The oration +ought to be read at the end of every century." + +"It is doubtful," says Edward Everett, "whether any extra-professional +literary effort by a public man has attained equal celebrity." + +Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. IX.; Lodge's _Webster_, Ch. +IV.; De Tocqueville's _Democracy in America_, Vol. I.; Whipple's +_American Literature_, "Webster as a Master of English Style"; +Bancroft's _History of the United States_, Vol. I., Chs. XII., XIII., +XIV.; Burke's _Orations on the American War_, edited by A. J. George; +Fiske's _Beginnings of New England_. + + * * * * * + +_THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT._ + +June, 1825. + +As early as 1776, the Massachusetts Lodge of Masons, over which General +Warren had presided, asked the Government of Massachusetts for permission +to take up his remains, which were buried on the hill the day after the +battle, and bury them with the usual solemnities. The request was granted +on condition that the government of the colony should be permitted to +erect a monument to his memory. + +The ceremonies of burial were performed, but no steps were taken to build +the monument. General Warren was, at the time of his death, Grand Master +of the Masonic Lodges of America, and as nothing had been done toward +erecting a memorial, King Solomon's Lodge of Charlestown voted to erect a +monument. The land was purchased, and a monument dedicated by the Lodge +Dec. 2, 1794. It was a wooden pillar of Tuscan order, eighteen feet high, +raised on a pedestal ten feet in height. The pillar was surmounted by a +gilt urn. An appropriate inscription was placed on the south side of the +pedestal. + +The half-century from the date of the battle was at hand, and, despite a +resolution of Congress and the efforts of a committee of the Legislature +of Massachusetts, no suitable monument had been erected by the people. It +was then that, at the suggestion of William Tudor, the matter was taken up +in earnest and an association was formed known as the Bunker Hill Monument +Association. Ground was broken for the monument June 7, 1825. On the +morning of the 17th of June, 1825, the ceremonies of laying the corner- +stone of the monument took place. It was a typical June day, and thousands +flocked to see the pageant and to hear the greatest orator in the land. + +The procession started from the State House at ten o'clock. The military +led the van. About two hundred veterans of the Revolution rode in +carriages, and among them were forty survivors of the battle. Some wore +their old uniform, others various decorations of their service, and some +bore the scars of honorable wounds. Following the patriots came the +Monument Association, and then the Masonic fraternity to the number of +thousands. Then came the noble Frenchman, Lafayette, the admiration of all +eyes. Following him were numerous societies with banners and music. The +head of the procession touched Charlestown Bridge before the rear had left +the State House, and the march was a continual ovation. Arriving at +Breed's Hill, the Grand Master of the Masons, Lafayette, and the President +of the Monument Association laid the corner-stone, and then moved to the +spacious amphitheatre on the northern side of the hill, where the address +was delivered by Mr. Webster. + +[1]P. 122, l. 7. 1. An account of the voyage of the emigrants to the +Maryland Colony is given by the report of Father White, written soon after +the landing at St. Mary's. The original in Latin is still preserved by the +Jesuits at Rome. + +The _Ark_ and the _Dove_ occupy the same place of interest in +the memory of the descendants of the colony as does the _Mayflower_ +with us. + +[2]L. 18. 2. Mr. Webster was at this time President of the Monument +Association. + +[3]P. 125, l. 13. 1. Even the poetical nature of Webster would not have +been equal to the conception, that within the century the number would +reach sixty million. + +[4]L. 16. 2. "The first railroad on the continent was constructed for the +purpose of accelerating the erection of this monument."--EVERETT. + +[5]P. 127, l. 15. 1. The allusion is, of course, to the ships about the +Charlestown Navy Yard, which is located at the base of Breed's Hill. [6]L. +21. 2. This magnificent address to the "Venerable Men" was composed while +Mr. Webster was fishing in Marshpee brook. + +[7]P. 128, l. 4. 1. Milton's _Paradise Lost_, V. + +[8]L. 17. 2. Cf. Bancroft's _History of the United States_, Vol. IV., +p. 133. A prelude to Warren's patriotism at Bunker Hill is well +illustrated in his oration at the old South Meeting House, commemorating +the Boston Massacre; in the presence of British soldiers he said: "Our +streets are again filled with armed men, our harbour is crowded with ships +of war; but these cannot intimidate us; my fellow-citizens, you will +maintain your rights or perish in the generous struggle." + +[9]P. 130, l. 9. 1. Cf. Burke's _Orations on the American War_, +edited by A. J. George. + +[10]P. 131, l. 32. 1. Virgil's _Aeneid_, VI. 726. Compare Burke's use +of this same quotation in his speech on American Taxation, page 13, line +13. Edited by A. J. George. + +[11]P. 133, l. 9. 1. Cf. Bancroft's _History of the United States_, +Vol. IV., Ch. XIV. + +[12]L. 22. 2. General Lafayette had arranged his progress through the +other States so that he might be present on the 17th. + +[13]P. 140, l. 22. 1. Homer's _Iliad_, Book XVII. + +[14]P. 141, l. 13. 1. Cf. account of Webster's speech on the Revolution in +Greece, made on the 19th of January, 1824, in Everett's _Memoir_, +Vol. I. of Webster's Works. + +Great as the Plymouth Oration was acknowledged by all to be, the Bunker +Hill Address was a distinct advance upon it, both in the scope of the +ideas and in the skill with which they are wrought into an organic whole. +It is more compact, more picturesque, more vigorous, more finished. In +this field of oratory he probably has never had any equal in the English- +speaking world. + +Mr. Everett said of the Address: "From such an orator as Mr. Webster, on +such a platform, on such a theme, in the flower of his age, and the +maturity of his faculties, discoursing upon an occasion of transcendent +interest, and kindling with the enthusiasm of the day and the spot, it +might well be regarded as an intellectual treat of the highest order. +Happy the eyes that saw that most glorious gathering! Happy the ears that +heard that heart-stirring strain!" + +Lafayette wrote to Webster on the 28th of December, 1825, from La Grange, +saying: "Your Bunker Hill has been translated into French, and other +languages, to the very great profit of European readers." + +Mr. Hillard, in his Eulogy on Webster, says: "His occasional discourses +rise above the rest of their class, as the Bunker Hill Monument soars +above the objects around it." + +Mr. Choate, in his address to the students of Dartmouth College in 1853, +in that sublime paragraph in which he reviews the history of oratory and +contrasts the eloquence of despair with the eloquence of hope, says: "Let +the downward age of America find its orators, and poets, and artists, to +erect its spirit, or grace and soothe its dying; be it ours to go up with +Webster to the rock, the monument, the capitol, and bid the distant +generations hail." + +Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. XI.; Everett's _Memoir_, in +Vol. I. of Webster's Works; Lodge's _Webster_, Ch. IV.; Memorial of +Webster; Mr. Hillard's and Mr. Choate's Address; J. Fiske's _The +American Revolution_. + + * * * * * + +_THE REPLY TO HAYNE_. + +January, 1830. + +The third period of Mr. Webster's life and work may be said to begin with +his new honor--his election to the United States Senate in 1827, and his +changed attitude toward the question of the tariff as seen in his great +speech on the tariff of 1828. + +To understand Mr. Webster's position on the question of the tariff, one +must remember that he insisted upon the principle that the question of the +tariff was purely a business question, and that it was to be determined by +the conditions affecting business. Up to this time Webster had opposed +Protection, but now as the business of New England required assistance, he +boldly stood forth as the champion of a Protective Tariff. It was in +connection with the tariff legislation of 1816, 1824, and 1828 that the +monster Nullification--carefully disguised until 1830--had its birth. In +this year it was found stalking abroad, and in the halls of Congress +menacing the bulwark of our liberties--the Constitution of the country. It +fell to the lot of Mr. Webster to grapple with this monster and to +strangle it in his giant grasp. + +On the 29th of December, 1829, Senator Foot of Connecticut moved a +resolution in regard to the Public Lands, and a long and weary discussion +followed until Mr. Hayne, a Senator from South Carolina, on June 19, 1830, +took part and introduced a new element into the discussion by making an +elaborate attack on the New England States. Mr. Webster had taken no +special interest in the question, and on the day in which Mr. Hayne began +his speech he was engaged in the Supreme Court, but came into the Senate +in season to hear the closing paragraphs. Thinking that such an attack +upon New England required a reply, Mr. Webster at once rose, but yielded +to a motion to adjourn. On the next day, the 20th, Mr. Webster proceeded +with his reply, in which he showed the absurdity of Hayne's accusations +and by which he completely shattered his whole elaborate argument. There +was hardly an allusion in Mr. Webster's speech to the question of the +tariff as it concerned South Carolina, but so aroused was Hayne by +Webster's defence of New England, that on the following day he spoke a +second time and in a tone of even greater severity and bitterness than +that which marked his previous speech; he indulged in personal allusion to +Mr. Webster, and strove to bring odium upon him and the State which he +represented; he openly espoused the cause of Nullification and declared +war upon the tariff. Before he concluded the Senate adjourned until the +25th, when he completed his speech; Mr. Webster immediately rose to reply, +but as it was late yielded to a motion to adjourn. Mr. Hayne's speech had +caused the greatest alarm throughout the North; many were afraid that it +was unanswerable. This was an evidence that the true nature of the +Constitution was not thoroughly understood. "It is a critical moment," +said Mr. Bell of New Hampshire to Mr. Webster on the morning of the 26th, +"and it is time, it is high time, that the people of this country should +know what this Constitution _is_." "Then," said Mr. Webster, "by the +blessing of Heaven, they shall learn, this day, before the sun goes down, +what I understand it to be." With this utterance upon his lips, he entered +the Senate Chamber, which was already crowded. Every seat on the floor and +in the galleries was occupied; the House of Representatives was deserted; +the lobbies and staircases were packed. The vast audience was composed, on +the one hand, of those who feared and trembled lest the rushing tide of +hostility to the Constitution and the Union should sweep over the country; +and on the other, of those who believed that New England had no champion +strong enough to stand in the breach. This scene in the Senate Chamber is +rivalled only by that in the House of Commons, when Burke, in 1774, stood +forth as the defender of the American colonies. Such was the anxiety to +hear the speech that all the ordinary preliminaries of senatorial action +were postponed, and Mr. Webster began his "Second Speech on Foot's +Resolution," better known as "The Reply to Hayne." + +[1]P. 146, l. 10. 1. Mr. Webster rose with great calmness, and in the +majesty of that personal presence which could cause the English navvy to +shout as he saw him, "By Jove, there goes a king!" with a confidence in +his own resources which was the result of experience, in a clear, calm, +and firm tone pronounced this magnificent exordium which was such a piece +of consummate art that its effect was electric; all who feared, and all +who hated, knew that he was master of the situation. + +[ 2] P. 147, l. 27. 1. When on the 21st Mr. Chambers asked that there be a +delay to enable Mr. Webster, who had engagements out of the house, to be +present, Mr. Hayne was unwilling to grant the request, saying that the +gentleman (Mr. Webster) has discharged his fire in the presence of the +Senate, and he wanted an opportunity to return it. Mr. Webster said, "Let +the discussion proceed: I am ready now to receive the gentleman's fire." + +[3] P. 149, l. 8. 1. The notes, covering only five sheets of ordinary +letter paper, from which Webster developed the entire speech of seventy +pages, contain no hint of the exordium, but begin with + +"No man hurt. If his 'rankling' is relieved, glad of it." + +"I have no 'rankling' fear, anger, consciousness of refutation." + +"No 'rankling,' original, or received--bow not strong enough." + +[4]L. 12. 2. Mr. Benton. + +[5]L. 27. 3. Mr. Webster's preparation for this reply lay in the nature of +his thought and reading from his first entrance into public life, and +especially from the nature of the constitutional questions which he has +argued before the Supreme Court of the United States. + +[6]P. 152, l. 1. 1. Should not this be "_more_"? + +[7]L. 24. 2. This was a political cry raised against President Adams, who +was elected by the House of Representatives. Clay had been a candidate, +and because Adams gave him a seat in his Cabinet, a cry went up that they +had made a bargain, by which Mr. Clay's friends were to vote for Adams in +the House, and in return Clay was to receive a Cabinet position. This was +a piece of political clap-trap. Cf. _American Politics_, Johnston, +Ch. XI. + +[8]P. 155, l. 5. 1. If there had been a coalition and it was killed, it +was killed by Calhoun, who threw all his influence against Adams and for +Jackson. But at the time of this speech Calhoun was treated somewhat +cavalierly by Jackson, and had not much reward in party succession. + +[9]P. 157, l. 13. 1. "The Missouri Compromise." Cf. _American +Politics_, Johnston, Ch. VIII. + +[10]P. 162, l. 22. 1. This Convention of 1814 was composed of men of the +old Federal party, strongly opposed to war with Great Britain. Cf. +_American Politics_, Johnston, Ch. VIII. + +[11]P. 170, l. 3. 1. The "South Carolina Canal & Railroad Company" had on +Jan. 9, 1830, asked Mr. Webster to present its claims to government +assistance. + +[12]P. 179, l. 5. 1. Calhoun, Vice-President, and President of Senate. + +[13]P. 180, l. 5. 1. Mr. Forsyth. + +[14]L. 25. 2. Cf. Calhoun's speech in the House of Representatives in +April, 1816. + +[15]P. 182, l. 6. 1. Mr. McDuffie. + +[16]P. 186, l. 12. 1. Letter of the Federal Convention to the Congress of +the Confederation transmitting the plan of the Constitution. + +[17]P. 188, l. 4. 1. Cf. Lodge's _Webster_, Ch. VI. + +[18]P. 197, l. 1. 1. President Jackson, who had been an avowed Federalist +all his life. + +[19]L. 15. 2. A Portuguese prince, who led the revolutionists against the +constitutional government. + +[20]P. 198, l. 1. 1. A body of Federalists in Essex County, Massachusetts, +strongly opposing the Embargo of 1807, and the War of 1812. + +[21]P. 199, l. 24. 1. After the passage of the Tariff of 1828, the +legislature of South Carolina set forth a "Protest" asserting the +principle of Nullification. + +[22]P. 203, l. 29. 1. "At the conclusion of this paragraph there was +scarcely a dry eye in the Senate, the Massachusetts men shed tears like +girls," _Reminiscence of Congress_, March. + +[23]P. 205, l. 28. 1. A toast proposed at a Democratic dinner, April 30, +1830, in New York, in honor of Jefferson's birthday. + +[24]P. 212, l. 16. 1. Senator Hillhouse of Connecticut. + +[25]P. 214, l. 8. 1. The purpose of this Embargo was to retaliate on both +Great Britain and France. In the commercial war waged by those two +countries, the foreign trade of the United States was cut off. The Embargo +fell with crushing weight upon New England. + +[26]P. 227, l. 11. 1. _Paradise Lost_, Bk. I., l. 540. + +[27]P. 228, l. 9. 1. The leader of the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. + +[28]P. 234, l. 9. 1. This celebrated peroration was entirely +unpremeditated, there is no allusion to it in the "notes" of Mr. Webster. +Mr. March says, "The exulting rush of feeling with which he went through +the peroration threw a glow over his countenance like inspiration. Eye, +brow, each feature, every line of the face, seemed touched as with +celestial fire.... His voice penetrated every recess or corner of the +Senate,--penetrated even the anterooms and stairways." Mr. Webster himself +said: "I never spoke in the presence of an audience so eager and so +sympathetic." Mr. Everett says: "Of the effectiveness of Mr. Webster's +manner in many parts, it would be in vain to attempt to give any one not +present the faintest idea. It has been my fortune to hear some of the +ablest speeches of the greatest living orators on both sides of the water, +but I must confess I never heard anything which so completely realized my +conception of what Demosthenes was when he delivered the Oration for the +Crown." + +Mr. Lodge in his excellent review of the speech says: "The speech as a +whole has all the qualities which made Mr. Webster a great orator. An +analysis of the Reply to Hayne, therefore, gives us all the conditions +necessary to forming a correct idea of Mr. Webster's eloquence, of its +characteristics, and its value." Cf. Ch. VI., _Webster_, American +Statesman Series. This book should be a constant companion of the student +while reading these selections. + +Dr. Francis Lieber wrote: "To test Webster's oratory, I read a portion of +my favorite speeches of Demosthenes, and then read, always aloud, parts of +Webster; then returned to the Athenian; and Webster stood the test." As a +result of this great effort, Mr. Webster was overwhelmed with +congratulations from all parts of the land. The speech was the universal +theme of conversation, and there was a general demand for the printed +copy. Probably no speech in history has had so many readers as the Reply +to Hayne. + +Cf. Healey's historical painting of the scene of this great debate, in +Faneuil Hall; Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. XVI.; Everett's +_Memoir_, Vol. I. of Webster's Works; _Correspondence of +Webster_, Vol. I., p. 488. + + * * * * * + +_THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN JOSEPH WHITE_. + +August, 1830. + +Almost immediately after the Reply to Hayne, Mr. Webster was engaged with +the Attorney-General of Massachusetts in one of the most remarkable +criminal cases on record, and on August 3d made the argument in the trial +of John Francis Knapp for the murder of Captain Joseph White. + +The following is a summary of the facts: On the night of the 6th of April, +1830, the town of Salem was visited by a desperado who entered the house +of Joseph White, a wealthy and respectable citizen, and murdered him in +his bed. The citizens formed a vigilance committee and worked without +avail until there came a rumor that a prisoner in the New Bedford jail +knew something of the affair. He was accordingly brought up before the +grand jury, and on his testimony Richard Crowningshield, of Danvers, was +indicted. A few weeks later Captain Joseph Knapp, a shipmaster of good +character, received a strange note from Belfast, Maine, which was signed +by Charles Grant, Jr. This note threatened exposure unless money was +forwarded. Knapp could not understand it. He showed it to his sons, +Francis and Joseph, Jr., who resided in Wenham. The wife of the latter was +a niece of the late Mr. White, and was his housekeeper prior to the +murder. When Joseph saw the letter he said it contained trash, and told +his father to hand it to the vigilance committee. When they received the +letter they sent to Belfast to find the writer. This proved to be one +Palmer, who had been in state prison and who was intimate with +Crowningshield. He said he saw, on the 2nd of April, Frank Knapp and a +man, Allen, in company with Crowningshield, and that he heard the latter +say that Frank Knapp wished them to kill Mr. White, and that Joseph Knapp +would pay them one thousand dollars. + +After the murder the Knapps reported that, on the 27th of April, they had +been attacked by robbers on their way from Salem to Wenham. The purpose of +this will be seen in what follows. On the testimony of Palmer the Knapps +were held for investigation, and on the third day Joseph made a full +confession of the murder and of the fabrication of the robbery story. He +had found that Mr. White intended to leave his (Knapp's) wife but fifteen +thousand dollars by will, and he thought that if he died intestate she +would come in for one-half of the estate, as the sole representative of +Mr. White's sister. Under this impression he determined to destroy the +will. Frank agreed to hire the assassin, and he (Joseph) was to pay one +thousand dollars for the deed. Crowningshield was hired; he entered the +house by a window and committed the murder. So cool was he that, as he +said, he paused to feel the pulse of the old man to be sure he was dead. +Frank was waiting the issue, while Joseph, who had got the will, was in +Wenham at his home. When Crowningshield heard that the Knapps were in +custody, and that Joseph had confessed, he committed suicide in his cell. + +At a special term of the Supreme Court at Salem, July 20th, indictments +for murder were found against Francis Knapp as principal, and Joseph Knapp +and George Crowningshield (a companion of Richard) as accessories. The +trial of Francis took place August 3d, with Mr. Franklin Dexter and Mr. W. +H. Gardner for the defence, and Mr. Webster assisting the Attorney-General +in the prosecution. + +[1]P. 239, l. 13. 1. Mr. Lodge says that this account of the murder and +analysis of the workings of a mind, haunted with the remembrance of the +horrid crime, must be placed among the very finest masterpieces of modern +oratory. "I have studied this famous exordium," he says, "with extreme +care, and I have sought diligently in the works of all the great modern +orators, and of some of the ancient as well, for similar passages of +higher merit. My quest has been in vain." + +[2]P. 241, l. 23. 1. Mr. Webster's appearance for the prosecution gave +rise to some complaints on the part of the defence, who intimated that he +was in the interest of Mr. Stephen White, a residuary legatee of the +murdered man. The fact was that both the Attorney-General and the +Solicitor-General were old men, and had asked for Mr. Webster's +assistance. + +[3]P. 243, l. 20. 1. Chief Justice Parker. + +[4]P. 248, l. 10. 1. Mr. Webster's presentation of the evidence is +omitted. Cf. Webster's Complete Works, Vol. VI., p. 61. + +Knapp was convicted as principal and sentenced to death. At the November +term Joseph was convicted as accessory and sentenced to share the same +fate. George Crowningshield proved an _alibi_, and was acquitted. The +argument in the Goodridge case stands in marked contrast to this; and it +must be conceded that, as a presentation of the law and the evidence, with +no attempt to work upon the feelings of the jurymen, it is a work of +higher quality. As a specimen of eloquence, of dramatic setting forth of +the horror of such a deed, of the experiences of the criminal, and of the +certainty that "murder will out," the argument has no equal in the +language. + +For a remarkable analysis of Mr. Webster's career as a lawyer, see Rufus +Choate's address before the students of Dartmouth College in 1853 in +"Memorial of Daniel Webster from the City of Boston." + + * * * * * + +_THE CONSTITUTION NOT A COMPACT_. + +February, 1833. + +Mr. Webster had intimated in his Reply to Hayne that South Carolina was +playing a high game. There were some at that time who thought that he had +sounded the note of alarm in too loud a strain; but when in November, +1832, the State Convention, assembled at Columbia, South Carolina, adopted +an ordinance declaring the revenue laws of the United States null and +void, the voice of the croakers ceased to be heard in the general +excitement that filled the country. The Legislature assembled on the 27th, +and the governor in his message said that "the die has been at last cast," +and that the Legislature was called upon to make "such enactments as would +make it utterly impossible to collect within our limits the duties imposed +by the protective tariffs thus nullified." The Legislature passed acts +providing that any one who should attempt to collect the revenue should be +punished, and made it lawful to use the military force of the State to +resist any attempt of the United States to enforce the tariff laws. Mr. +Webster now had a very difficult and delicate task before him; he was +bound to criticise the general tone of the administration of Jackson, for +he believed that it had not met the needs of the country, and yet he was +equally bound not to put himself in such antagonism as to prevent him from +aiding the administration, should his aid be sought, against those who +were determined to destroy the laws of the land. In the then impending +presidental canvass he took the ground that President Jackson was in +hostility to the idea of protection, and that therefore he could not be +safely trusted with the executive power. But President Jackson, whatever +had been his record on the question of the tariff, showed that he had no +desire to shirk his duty, for he at once issued a proclamation, which +embodied the principles maintained by Mr. Webster in his Reply to Hayne, +and warned the authorities of South Carolina that all opposition to the +laws of the United States would be put down. He thus served notice that +treason was not to win by default of the President. Calhoun had resigned +the vice-presidency and had taken his seat in the Senate, and it was known +that such an act meant the attempt to raise the flag of nullification high +in the Senate-chamber. + +Mr. Webster was on his way to Washington when he heard of the prompt and +decisive action of the President. At Philadelphia he met Mr. Clay, who +told him that he had a plan for settling the difficulty by gradually +reducing the tariff, and for levying duties "without regard to protection +or encouragement of any branch of domestic industry." When Mr. Clay +brought in his bill, it was not so strong as the one he had submitted to +Mr. Webster a short time before, but yet Mr. Webster could not think of +taking any step at such a time that would look like concession. The first +thing to be done was to enforce the existing laws and sustain the +administration by suitable legislation. There was to be no surrender of +constitutional power. At the opening of the session the President asked +Congress for the power to use the land and naval forces if necessary to +enforce the laws. The committee to which the message was referred reported +what is known as the "Force Bill," which granted the President the powers +asked for. Some of the senators doubted that the President had such +"daring effrontery" as to ask for such power. Mr. Webster said, "I will +tell you gentlemen that the President _has_ had the 'daring +effrontery' to ask for these powers, no matter how high may be the +offence." + +President Jackson had used very strong language against the leaders of +Nullification, and this made many of the (Southern) administration +senators hostile to the measures of the "Force Bill." When it was found +that the President had called for the assistance of Mr. Webster, Mr. +Calhoun became very uneasy, and at once sought for Mr. Clay, who promised +to bring in his bill for reducing the tariff. On the 8th of February, Mr. +Clay introduced the measure and claimed that its purpose was to save the +tariff, which he considered to be in imminent danger. Mr. Webster, as was +expected, opposed the bill and introduced a series of resolutions. On the +two following days he was prevented from addressing the Senate on his +resolutions because of the discussion of the "Force Bill," when Mr. +Calhoun took the opportunity to expound the theory and practice of +Nullification. The speech was in Mr. Calhoun's very best style of close, +logical argument, with but little that made for eloquence. Calhoun was a +master of logical method, and such was his skill in dovetailing together +the elements of his speculations that he was a powerful antagonist. He had +waited until most of the senators in opposition had spoken and then broke +upon them and tore their arguments into shreds. It was an able supplement +to the speech of Hayne and was likely to produce quite as much alarm, +unless its position could be turned. Here were sown the seeds of secession +which grew into that frightful civil war. By establishing the principle of +the Union as but a confederacy of States the right of secession was +assured. + +Mr. Webster felt the importance of the occasion; he saw clearly the +direction in which such appeals were sure to lead the people, and he at +once determined to throw himself into the conflict. The doctrines which he +had maintained in the Reply to Hayne had now taken strong hold of the +people of the Central and Western States, and of many of the strongest +public men of both parties; it was from this vantage ground that (on the +16th) he began his great speech known as "The Constitution not a Compact +between Sovereign States." + +[1]P. 275, l. 9. 1. Mr. Rives. + +[2]P. 326, l. 27. 1. "The vital question went to the great popular jury. +The world knows what the verdict was, and will never forget that it was +largely due to the splendid eloquence of Daniel Webster when he defended +the cause of nationality against the slave-holding separatists of South +Carolina."--HENRY CABOT LODGE. + +"Whoever," says Mr. Curtis, "would understand that theory of the +Constitution of the United States which regards it as the enactment of a +fundamental law must go to this speech to find the best and clearest +exposition." + +"Then and there," says Dr. Hudson, "it was that real battles of the Union +were fought and won. For the cause had to be tried in the courts of +legislative reason before it could come to trial on field of battle." + +This speech is much less rhetorical than the Reply to Hayne. The subject +was not a new one, nor was the condition of the public mind so feverish as +in 1830; consequently the case required not so much an appeal to the +emotions as to the reason. It has always been considered as the most +compact, close, logical, and convincing of all Mr. Webster's speeches. The +people have relied upon it from that day to this to teach them the +principles of the Constitution: in it they find the origin, the history, +and the purpose of our great national fabric. By this speech Webster +placed himself upon the highest pinnacle of fame, and added to his title +of first orator that of the greatest statesman of his time, winning the +proud distinction of "Expounder, Commentator, and Defender of the +Constitution." On the 12th of October, 1835, the citizens of Boston +presented to Mr. Webster a massive silver vase in testimony of their +gratitude for his services in defence of the Constitution against South +Carolina Nullification. + +It contained the following inscription:-- + + PRESENTED TO + DANIEL WEBSTER, + The Defender of the Constitution, + BY THE CITIZENS OF BOSTON, + Oct. 12, 1835. + +In reply to the address of presentation Mr. Webster said:-- + +"In one respect, Gentlemen, your present oppresses me. It assigns to me a +character of which I feel I am not worthy. 'The Defender of the +Constitution' is a title quite too high for me. He who shall prove himself +the ablest among the able men of the country, he who shall serve it +longest among those who may serve it long, he on whose labors all the +stars of benignant fortune shall shed their selectest influence, will have +praise enough, and reward enough, if, at the end of his political and +earthly career, though that career may have been as bright as the track of +the sun across the sky, the marble under which he sleeps, and that much +better record, the grateful breasts of his living countrymen, shall +pronounce him 'the Defender of the Constitution.' It is enough for me, +Gentlemen, to be connected, in the most humble manner, with the defence +and maintenance of this great wonder of modern times, and this certain +wonder of all future times. It is enough for me to stand in the ranks, and +only to be counted as one of its defenders." + +Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Ch. XIX.; Lodge's _Webster_, Ch. +VII.; Address of Dr. Hudson on the Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of +Daniel Webster, June 18, 1882. + + * * * * * + +_SPEECH AT SARATOGA_. + +August, 1840. + +Mr. Webster had been in almost continual public service since 1813, and +during that period the two great questions which demanded the attention of +statesmen were the tariff and the currency. The history of the former is +to be found in the Reply to Hayne and the Reply to Calhoun; the history of +the latter, in that memorable series of speeches during the session of +1831-1833 on the policy of President Jackson regarding the United States +Bank. Out of this great controversy the Whig party arose, and its first +nominee for the presidency was William Henry Harrison in 1835, but the +friends of Jackson were strong, and Van Buren was elected. He continued +the financial policy of his predecessor, or at least made no effort to +remedy the evils which it had brought upon the country. Mr. Webster gave +himself to the task of exposing the financial heresies of the +administration and of preventing further injurious legislation. In the +summer of 1839 he visited England for rest, and was everywhere received +with the honor due to his high position and his distinguished attainments; +he received courtesies usually confined to ambassadors and foreign +ministers. On his return he found that the Whigs had again nominated +Harrison. Although he had reason to expect his own nomination, for this +was the desire of _the people_, he at once threw himself into the +campaign in support of the nominee. The people from all sections of the +country wished to hear and see the man who had done such noble service for +them in Congress. His speeches during this campaign are a fit supplement +to those which he had just completed on the subject of the bank. The theme +was essentially the same, but the audience was in many respects a more +difficult one to reach. In the familiarity with financial questions Mr. +Webster had shown himself second only to Hamilton himself, and in +presenting the subject to a popular audience he reached the high-water +mark of political oratory; there is no cant, no bluster, no personal +abuse, but the dignity and simplicity of the simple and dignified friend +of the people. + +On the 19th of August, 1840, he addressed the citizens of New York in a +mass meeting at Saratoga. Of all the great speeches of this campaign this +best represents the mind and art of Mr. Webster, and is especially +interesting in this year (1892) when essentially the same questions--the +tariff and the currency--are before the people, and when the nominee of +the party, which is the child of the old Whig party, is Benjamin Harrison. + +[1]P. 331, l. 28. 1. The history of banking in the United States is +interesting as a chapter in the general history of banking. It began with +that great financier, Alexander Hamilton. When Secretary of the Treasury +he conceived the plan of a great national bank, which should take charge +of the disbursement of the revenues, and which should furnish a paper +circulation,--founded on national resources,--which should be current all +over the country. After a prolonged opposition by the Anti-federalists, +who claimed that the establishment of such a bank would be +unconstitutional, he prevailed upon Washington to sign the bill of +incorporation, and in 1791 the bank began its work. It continued its +existence until 1811, when the Anti-federalists refused to recharter it. +Owing to the disordered currency resulting from the War of 1812, Mr. +Madison brought the matter before Congress in his message, and in 1816 the +second Bank of the United States was established. + +[2]P. 333, l. 27. 1. Cf. Sumner's _Life of Andrew Jackson_, Chs. +XIII., XIV. + +[3]P. 334, l. 20. 1. In the session of 1831-1832 the bank applied for a +new charter, and here began the great struggle with President Jackson. The +bill to recharter the bank passed both Houses in 1832, and was vetoed by +the President. Mr. Webster made a notable speech against the veto, and at +once took the lead as an authority on questions of finance. The following +year the President struck his hardest blow against the bank, by ordering +the removal of the deposits. The Senate passed resolutions condemning the +act, and Mr. Webster, on presenting resolutions to the same effect from +Boston, made a most powerful speech in which he depicted the great +commercial distress resulting from the removal and from the institution of +State banks. Between the time of this speech and the close of the session +he spoke on the subject of the bank and national finance over sixty times. +No other such exhibition of intellectual power and grasp of intricate +problems, united with commanding eloquence, has ever been made in our +history. As a result of the censure by the Senate, the President sent a +protest in which he argued that the Senate had exceeded its power. Mr. +Webster replied to this in what is now considered the greatest of all his +speeches during the great struggle. + +[4]P. 335, l. 26. 1. After the removal of the deposits, effected by +Jackson, State banks were formed in large numbers, and certain of these +became deposit banks. The notes of State banks were used for the purchase +of public lands from the United States, and the treasury was thus +accumulating paper currency of doubtful value. The Secretary of the +Treasury (1836) issued the so-called "Specie Circular," ordering the +government agents to receive in future only gold and silver. Only those +banks which held government revenue deposits could furnish coin, and +widespread bankruptcy was the result. + +[5]P. 337, l. 17. 1. Cf. Gay's _Life of James Madison_. + +[6]P. 339, l. 9, 1. Jackson had never questioned the right of the +government to regulate the currency, but had asserted it when he made +certain State banks banks of deposit. Van Buren was obliged either to +return to the policy of a national bank, or to renounce all rights of the +Government to regulate the currency. He chose the latter, and by means of +the "Sub-Treasury Scheme" completed the separation of "bank and State." +The speech of Mr. Webster on the "Sub-Treasury" is the most complete and +convincing of all his speeches on the right of the Government to regulate +the currency. + +[7]P. 346, l. 24. 1. Mr. Webster was living at this time at Marshfield, +Massachusetts. + +Cf. Curtis's _Life of Webster_, Chs. XIX.-XXIII.; Lodge's +_Webster_, Ch. VII.; _Works of Daniel Webster_, Vols. III., IV.; +_Private Correspondence of Daniel Webster_, Vol. II., p. 83. + + * * * * * + +_MR. JUSTICE STORY_. + +September, 1845. + +Of the many friends of Webster during his long political career, there was +no one more constant in his attentions, more sympathetic in his judgments, +or more helpful in his counsels than was Mr. Justice Story. Ever since +they had acted together in the Massachusetts Convention in 1820 they had +maintained for each other's character and attainments the most generous +and cordial enthusiasm. The death of Mr. Story on the 10th of September, +1845, was a great affliction to Mr. Webster, and cast a gloom over his +Marshfield home, where they had passed so many delightful hours together. + +At a meeting of the Suffolk Bar held in the Circuit Court Room, on the +morning of the 12th of September, the day of the funeral, Chief Justice +Shaw having taken the chair and announced the object of the meeting, Mr. +Webster pronounced the following noble and beautiful eulogium. + +The following letter of dedication to the mother of Judge Story +accompanied these remarks in the original edition:-- + +"BOSTON, September 15, 1845. + +"Venerable Madam,--I pray you to allow me to present to you the brief +remarks which I made before the Suffolk Bar, on the 12 instant, at a +meeting occasioned by the sudden and afflicting death of your +distinguished son. I trust, dear Madam, that as you enjoyed through his +whole life constant proofs of his profound respect and ardent filial +affection, so you may yet live long to enjoy the remembrance of his virtue +and his exalted reputation. + +"I am with very great regard, your obedient servant, + +"DANIEL WEBSTER. + +"To Madam Story." + +[1]P. 358, l. 28. 1. Cf. _Life and Works of Judge Story_. + +[2]P. 362, l. 10. 1. The following inscription, which Mr. Webster wrote +with his own hand a short time before his death, and which he desired to +have placed on his monument, is interesting in connection with these +closing words of the eulogy:-- + + "LORD, I BELIEVE; HELP THOU + MINE UNBELIEF." + + Philosophical + argument, especially + that drawn from the vastness of + the Universe, in comparison with the + apparent insignificance of this globe, has some- + times shaken my reason for the faith which is in me; + but my heart has always assured and reassured me, that the + Gospel of Jesus Christ must be a Divine Reality. The + Sermon on the Mount cannot be a merely human + production. This belief enters into the + very depth of my conscience. + The whole history of man + proves it. + + DANIEL WEBSTER. + +When he wrote the above, he said to a friend: "If I get well and write a +book on Christianity, about which we have talked, we can attend more fully +to this matter; but if I should be taken away suddenly, I do not wish to +leave any duty of this kind unperformed. I want to leave somewhere a +declaration of my belief in Christianity." + +It was not Mr. Webster's custom to make a parade of his religious beliefs; +he was simple, sincere, and unaffected in his religious life. That he was +a lover and student of our English Bible, no one familiar with his thought +and style needs to be told. Mr. Choate, in speaking of Webster's models in +the matter of style, mentions Cicero, Virgil, our English Bible, +Shakespeare, Addison, and Burke. + +For the latest estimates of Webster's work the student should consult the +following: + +The Proceedings of the Webster Centennial, Dartmouth College (1902). + +Address of Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge at the unveiling of the Webster Memorial +in Washington, in the volume _The Fighting Frigate_ and other essays. + +John B. McMaster's Life of Daniel Webster. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Select Speeches of Daniel Webster +by Daniel Webster + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SELECT SPEECHES OF DANIEL WEBSTER *** + +This file should be named 8sweb10.txt or 8sweb10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8sweb11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8sweb10a.txt + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Jerry Fairbanks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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