Choice Specimens of American Literature, and Literary Reader Part 10

=_71._= WAR, AND AMERICAN BELLIGERENT RIGHTS.

I throw into the opposite scale the ponderous claim of War; a claim of high concernment, not to us only, but to the world; a claim connected with the maritime strength of this maritime state, with public honor and individual enterprise, with all those pa.s.sions and motives which can be made subservient to national success and glory, in the hour of national trial and danger. I throw into the same scale the venerable code of universal law, before which it is the duty of this Court, high as it is in dignity, and great as are its t.i.tles to reverence, to bow down with submission, I throw into the same scale a solemn treaty, binding upon the claimant and upon you. In a word, I throw into that scale the rights of belligerent America, and, as embodied with them, the rights of these captors, by whose efforts and at whose cost the naval exertions of the government have been seconded, until our once despised and drooping flag has been made to wave in triumph, where neither France nor Spain could venture to show a prow. You may call these rights by what name you please. You may call them _iron_ rights:--I care not. It is more than enough for me that they are RIGHTS. It is more than enough for me that they come before you encircled and adorned by the laurels which we have torn from the brow of the naval genius of England: that they come before you recommended, and endeared, and consecrated by a thousand recollections, which it would be baseness and folly not to cherish, and that they are mingled in fancy and in fact with all the elements of our future greatness....

We are now, thank G.o.d, once more at peace. Our belligerent rights may therefore sleep for a season. May their repose be long and profound! But the time must arrive when the interests and honor of this great nation will command them to awake; and when it does arrive, I feel undoubting confidence that they will rise from their slumber in the fullness of their strength and majesty, unenfeebled and unimpaired by the judgment of this high court.

The skill and valor of our infant navy, which has illuminated every sea, and dazzled the master states of Europe by the splendor of its triumphs, have given us a pledge which I trust will continue to be dear to every American heart, and to influence the future course of our policy, that the ocean is destined to acknowledge the youthful dominion of the West.

=_James Madison, 1751-1836._= (Manual, p. 486.)

From his "Report of Debates in the Federal Convention."

=_72._= VALUE OF A RECORD OF THE DEBATES.

The close of the war, however, brought no cure for the public embarra.s.sments. The states relieved from the pressure of foreign danger, and flushed with the enjoyment of independent and sovereign power, instead of a diminished disposition to part with it, persevered in omissions, and in measures, incompatible with their relations to the federal government, and with those among themselves.

... It was known that there were individuals who had betrayed a bias towards monarchy, and there had always been some not unfavorable to a part.i.tion of the Union into several confederacies; either from a better chance of figuring on a sectional theatre, or that the sections would require stronger governments, or by their hostile conflicts lead to a monarchical consolidation. The idea of dismemberment had recently made its appearance in the newspapers.

Such were the defects, the deformities, the diseases, and the ominous prospects, for which the convention were to provide a remedy, and which ought never to be overlooked in expounding and appreciating the const.i.tutional charter--the remedy that was provided.

The curiosity I had felt during my researches into the history of the most distinguished confederacies, particularly those of antiquity, and the deficiency I found in the means of satisfying it, more especially in what related to the process, the principles, the reasons, and the antic.i.p.ations, which prevailed in the formation of them, determined me to preserve, as far as I could, an exact account of what might pa.s.s in the convention whilst executing its trust--with the magnitude of which I was fully impressed, as I was by the gratification promised to future curiosity by an authentic exhibition of the objects, the opinions, and the reasonings, from which the new system of government was to receive its peculiar structure and organization. Nor was I unaware of the value of such a contribution to the fund of materials for the history of a const.i.tution, on which would be staked the happiness of a people great even in its infancy, and possibly the cause of liberty throughout the world.

Of the ability and intelligence of those who composed the Convention the debates and proceedings may be a test, as the character of the work which was the offspring of their deliberations must be tested by the experience of the future added to that of nearly half a century that has pa.s.sed.

But whatever may be the judgment p.r.o.nounced on the competency of the architects of the Const.i.tution, or whatever may be the destiny of the edifice prepared by them, I feel it a duty to express my profound and solemn conviction, derived from my intimate opportunity of observing and appreciating the views of the Convention, collectively and individually, that there never was an a.s.sembly of men, charged with a great, and arduous trust, who were more pure in their motives, or more exclusively or anxiously devoted to the object committed to them, than were the members of the Federal Convention of 1787, to the object of devising and proposing a const.i.tutional system which should best supply the defects of that which it was to replace, and best secure the permanent liberty and happiness of their country.

=_73._= INSCRIPTION FOR A STATUE OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

The General a.s.sembly of Virginia have caused this statue to be erected as a monument of affection and grat.i.tude to George Was.h.i.+ngton, who, uniting to the endowments of the hero the virtues of the patriot, and exerting both in establis.h.i.+ng the liberties of his country, has rendered his name dear to his fellow-citizens, and given to the world an immortal example of true glory.

=_John Randolph, 1773-1832._= (Manual, p. 487.)

From a Speech in the Virginia Convention.

=_74._= "CHANGE IS NOT REFORM."

Sir, I see no wisdom in making this provision for future changes. You must give Governments time to operate on the People, and give the People time to become gradually a.s.similated to their inst.i.tutions. Almost any thing is better than this state of perpetual uncertainty. A People may have the best form of Government that the wit of man ever devised, and yet, from its uncertainty alone, may, in effect, live under the worst Government in the world. Sir, how often must I repeat, that _change_ is not _reform?_ I am willing that this new Const.i.tution shall stand as long as it is possible for it to stand; and that, believe me, is a very short time. Sir, it is vain to deny it. They may say what they please about the old Const.i.tution,--the defect is not there. It is not in the form of the old edifice,--neither in the design nor in the elevation; it is in the _material_, it is in the People of Virginia. To my knowledge that People are changed from what they have been. The four hundred men who went out with David were _in debt_. The fellow-laborers of Catiline were _in debt_. The partizans of Caesar were _in debt_. And I defy you to show me a desperately indebted People, anywhere, who can bear a regular, sober Government. I throw the challenge to all who hear me. I say that the character of the good old Virginia planter,--the man who owned from five to twenty slaves, or less, who, lived by hard work, and who paid his debts,--is pa.s.sed away. A new order of things is come. The period has arrived of living by one's wits; of living by contracting debts that one cannot pay; and above all, of living by office-hunting.

Sir, what do we see? Bankrupts,--branded bankrupts,--giving great dinners, sending their children to the most expensive schools, giving grand parties, and just as well received as anybody in society! I say that, in such a state of things, the old Const.i.tution was too good for them,--they could not bear it. No, Sir; they could not bear a freehold suffrage, and a property representation. I have always endeavored to do the People justice; but I will not flatter them,--I will not pander to their appet.i.te for change. I will do nothing to provide for change. I will not agree to any rule of future apportionment, or to any provision for future changes, called amendments to the Const.i.tution. Those who love change,--who delight in public confusion, who wish to feed the cauldron, and make it bubble,--may vote if they please for future changes. But by what spell, by what formula, are you going to bind the People to all future time? The days of Lycurgus are gone by, when we could swear the People not to alter the Const.i.tution until he should return. You may make what entries on parchment you please; give me a Const.i.tution that will last for half a century; that is all I wish for.

No Const.i.tution that you can make will last the one-half of half a century. Sir, I will stake anything, short of my salvation, that those who are malcontent now, will be more malcontent, three years hence, than they are at this day. I have no favor for this Const.i.tution. I shall vote against its adoption, and I shall advise all the people of my district to set their faces, aye, and their shoulders, too, against it.

From "Letters to a young Relative."

=_75._= THE ERROR OF DECAYED FAMILIES.

One of the best and wisest men I ever knew has often said to me that a decayed family could never recover its loss of rank in the world, until the members of it left off talking and dwelling upon its former opulence. This remark, founded in a long and clear observation of mankind, I have seen verified in numerous instances in my own connections, who, to use the words of my oracle, will never thrive until they can become poor folks. He added, they may make some struggles, and with apparent success, to recover lost ground; they may, and sometimes do, get half way up again; but they are sure to fall back, unless, reconciling themselves to circ.u.mstances, they become in form, as well as in fact, poor folks.

=_James Kent, 1763-1847._= (Manual, pp. 488, 504.)

From "Commentaries on American Law."

=_76._= LAW OF THE STATES.

The judicial power of the United States is necessarily limited to national objects. The vast field of the law of property, the very extensive head of equity jurisdiction, and the princ.i.p.al rights and duties which flow from our civil and domestic relations, fall within the control, and we might almost say the exclusive cognizance, of the state governments. We look essentially to the state courts for protection to all these momentous interests. They touch, in their operation, every chord of human sympathy, and control our best destinies. It is their province to reward and to punish. Their blessings and their terrors will accompany us to the fireside, and "be in constant activity before the public eye." The elementary principles of the common law are the same in every state, and equally enlighten and invigorate every part of our country. Our munic.i.p.al codes can be made to advance with equal steps with that of the nation, in discipline, in wisdom, and in l.u.s.tre, if the state governments (as they ought in all honest policy) will only render equal patronage and security to the administration of justice. The true interests and the permanent freedom of this country require that the jurisprudence of the individual states should be cultivated, cherished, and exalted, and the dignity and reputation of the state authorities sustained, with becoming pride. In their subordinate relation to the United States, they should endeavor to discharge the duty which they owe to the latter, without forgetting the respect which they owe to themselves. In the appropriate language of Sir William Blackstone, and which he applies to the people of his own country, they should be "loyal, yet free; obedient, yet independent."

=_Edward Livingston,[22] 1764-1836._=

From the "Report on the Penal Code for Louisiana."

=_77._= THE PROPER OFFICE OF THE JUDGE.

Judges are generally men who have grown old in the practice at the bar.

With the knowledge which this experience gives, they acquire a habit, very difficult to be shaken off, of taking a side in every question that they hear debated, and when the mind is once enlisted, their pa.s.sions, prejudices, and professional ingenuity are always arrayed on the same side, and furnish arms for the contest. Neutrality cannot, under these circ.u.mstances, be expected; but the law should limit as much as possible, the evil that this almost inevitable state of things must produce. In the theory of our law, judges are the counsel for the accused, in practice they are, with a few honorable exceptions, his most virulent prosecutors. The true principles of criminal jurisprudence require that they should be neither. Perfect impartiality is incompatible with these duties. A good judge should have no wish that the guilty should escape, or that the innocent should suffer; no false pity, no undue severity, should bias the unshaken rect.i.tude of his judgment; calm in deliberation, firm in resolve, patient in investigating the truth, tenacious of it when discovered, he should join urbanity of manners, to dignity of demeanor, and an integrity above suspicion, to learning and talent; such a judge is what, according to the true structure of our courts, he ought to be,--the protector, not the advocate of the accused; his judge, not his accuser; and while executing these functions, he is the organ by which the sacred will of the law is p.r.o.nounced. Uttered by such a voice, it will be heard, respected, felt, obeyed; but impose on him the task of argument, of debate; degrade him from the bench to the bar; suffer him to overpower the accused with his influence, or to enter the lists with his advocate, to carry on the contest of sophisms, of angry arguments, of tart replies, and all the wordy war of forensic debate; suffer him to do this, and his dignity is lost; his decrees are no longer considered as the oracles of the law; they are submitted to, but not respected; and even the triumph of his eloquence or ingenuity, in the conviction of the accused, must be lessened by the suspicion that it has owed its success to official influence, and the privilege of arguing without reply. For these reasons, the judge is forbidden to express any opinion on the facts which are alleged in evidence, much less to address any argument to the jury; but his functions are confined to expounding the law, and stating the points of evidence on which the recollection of the jury may differ.

[Footnote 22: Was born in New York; eminent as a statesman, and as the author of a code of laws for Louisiana, his adopted state.]

=_John Quincy Adams, 1767-1848._= (Manual, pp. 487, 504.)

From the "Speech on the Right of Pet.i.tion."

=_78._= THE RIGHT OF PEt.i.tION UNIVERSAL.

Sir, it is well known, that, from the time I entered this House, down to the present day, I have felt it a sacred duty to present any pet.i.tion, couched in respectful language, from any citizen of the United States, be its object what it may; be the prayer of it that in which I could concur, or that to which I was utterly opposed. It is for the sacred right of pet.i.tion that I have adopted this course.... Where is your law which says that the mean, and the low, and the degraded, shall be deprived of the right of pet.i.tion, if their moral character is not good?

Where, in the land of freemen, was the right of pet.i.tion ever placed on the exclusive basis of morality and virtue? Pet.i.tion is _supplication_--it is _entreaty_--it is _prayer!_ And where is the degree of vice or immorality which shall deprive the citizen of the right to _supplicate_ for a boon, or to _pray for mercy!_ Where is such a law to be found?... And what does your law say? Does it say that, before presenting a pet.i.tion, you shall look into it, and see whether it comes from the virtuous, and the great, and the mighty. No, sir; it says no such thing. The right of pet.i.tion belongs to _all_. And so far from refusing to present a pet.i.tion because it might come from those low in the estimation of the world, it, would be an additional incentive, if such incentive were wanting.

From a "Discourse on the Jubilee of the Const.i.tution."

=_79._= THE ADMINISTRATION OF WAs.h.i.+NGTON.