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designed her? Who shall say that when in its follies or its crimes the Old World may have interred all the pride of its power, and all the pomp of its civilization, human nature may not find its destined renovation in the New? -(From his Dinas Island speech on Washington. "World's Best Orations.")

Phillips, Wendell (American, 1811-1884.)

"A Better Use of Iron»-I think you can make a better use of iron than forging it into chains. If you must have the metal, put it into Sharpe's rifles. It is a great deal better used that way than in fetters,-a great deal better used than in a clumsy statue of a mock great man, for hypocrites to kneel down and worship in a statehouse yard. [Hisses.] I am so unused to hisses lately that I have forgotten what I had to say. I only know I meant what I did say. - (1859.)

Blindness In Politics - Some men seem to think that our institutions are necessarily safe because we have free schools and cheap books and a public opinion that controls. But that is no evidence of safety. India and China have had schools, and a school system almost identiIcal with that of Massachusetts, for fifteen hundred years. And books are as cheap in Central and Northern Asia as they are in New York. But they have not secured liberty, nor secured a controlling public opinion to either nation. Spain for three centuries had municipalities and town governments, as independent and selfsupporting, and as representative of thought as New England or New York has. But that did not save Spain. De Tocqueville says that fifty years before the great Revolution, public opinion was as omnipotent in France as it is to-day, but it did not save France. You cannot save men by machinery. What India and France and Spain wanted was live men, and that is what we want to-day; men who are willing to look their own destiny and their own functions and their own responsibilities in the face. "Grant me to see, and Ajax wants no more," was the prayer the great poet put into the lips of his hero in the darkness that overspread the Grecian camp. All we want of American citizens is the opening of their own eyes, and seeing things as they are. - (1859.)

Higher Law-We confess that we intend to trample under foot the Constitution of this country. Daniel Webster says: "You are a lawabiding people"; that the glory of New England is "that it is a law-abiding community." Shame on it, if this be true; if even the religion of New England sinks as low as its statute book. But I say we are not a law-abiding community. be thanked for it!- (From a speech at a FreeSoil Meeting in Boston, in May, 1849.)

God

Pierrepont, Edwards (American, 1817-1892.)

Equality in America- Equality is the central idea with our people, and I dare say that in this large audience there are many benevolent persons who would make all equally rich; but it

would come to about the same to make all equally poor. The rich man would not do the menial work of another rich man, and the rich woman would not wash and cook for the rich man's wife; the poor man will not brush the shoes of another poor man who can give him no pay, and all the social wheels would be ablock. Equality before the laws we can have; equality of condition is impossible.- (From an oration at Yale, June 22d, 1874.)

Pike, Albert (American, 1809-1891.)

The

Moral Influences-There are single passages in the writings of Daniel Webster that will exercise more influence upon the youth of America than all the statutes of this Union. There are songs written by men whose names are now forgotten that are more to the American people than a regiment of bayonets. "Let him who will make the laws of a nation, if I may but make its songs," was well and truly said. apparently trifling song of "Lillibullero" was the chief cause of the downfall of James II. How much influence do you imagine the songs of our own country are exerting? Do you imagine that we should make a profitable bargain in case of a new war, by exchanging the song of "Yankee Doodle" for fifty thousand foreign soldiers led by a field marshal? This is a kind of property you cannot trade away with profit. You cannot profitably part with your lofty thoughts and noble sentiments any more than we can profitably part with our own souls.- (From a speech delivered in 1855.)

Pitt, William (England, 1759-1806.)

Civilization for Africa- I trust we shall not think ourselves too liberal if, by abolishing the slave trade, we give them the same common chance of civilization with other parts of the world, and that we shall now allow to Africa the opportunity, the hope, the prospect of attaining to the same blessings which we ourselves, through the favorable dispensations of Divine Providence, have been permitted, at a much more early period, to enjoy. If we listen to the voice of reason and duty, and pursue this night the line of conduct which they prescribe, some of us may live to see a reverse of that picture from which we now turn our eyes with shame and regret. We may live to behold the natives of Africa engaged in the calm occupations of industry, in the pursuits of a just and legitimate commerce. We may behold the beams of science and philosophy breaking in upon their land, which at some happy period in still later times may blaze with full lustre, and, joining their influence to that of pure religión, may illuminate and invigorate the most distant extremities of that immense continent. Then may we hope that even Africa, though last of all the quarters of the globe, shall enjoy at length, in the evening of her days, those blessings which have descended so plentifully upon us in a much earlier period of the world. Then, also, will Europe, participating in her improvement and prosperity, receive an ample recompense for the tardy kind

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It is in this view, sir,--it is an atonement for our long and cruel injustice toward Africa, that the measure proposed by my honorable friend most forcibly recommends itself to my mind. The great and happy change to be expected in the state of her inhabitants is, of all the various and important benefits of the abolition, in my estimation, incomparably the most extensive and important.- (1792.)

Against War for Conquest - Gentlemen have passed the highest eulogiums on the American war. Its justice has been defended in the most fervent manner. A noble lord, in the heat of his zeal, has called it a holy war. For my part, although the honorable gentleman who made this motion, and some other gentlemen, have been, more than once, in the course of the debate, severely reprehended for calling it a wicked and accursed war, I am persuaded, and would affirm, that it was a most accursed, wicked, barbarous, cruel, unnatural, unjust, and diabolical war! It was conceived in injustice; it was nurtured and brought forth in folly; its footsteps were marked with blood, slaughter, persecution, and devastation;-in truth, everything which went to constitute moral depravity and human turpitude were to be found in it. It was pregnant with misery of every kind. Pliny, the Younger (Rome, 62-113 A. D.)

Eloquence and Loquacity - Eloquence (eloquentia) is the talent of the few, but the faculty which Candidus calls loquacity (loquentia) is common to many and is generally an incident of imprudence.

Plunkett, William Conyngham, Baron (Ireland, 1765-1854. )

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the night, we are called upon to surrender a constitution which has lasted for a period of one thousand years. Had any body of the people come forward stating any grievance, or announcing their demand for a change? No; but while the country is peaceful, enjoying the blessings of the constitution, growing rich and happy under it, a few desperate, obscure, contemptible adventurers in the trade of revolution form a scheme against the constituted authorities of the land, and by force and violence to overthrow an ancient and venerable constitution, and to plunge a whole people into the horrors of civil war!

If the wisest head that ever lived had framed the wisest system of laws which human ingenuity could devise, if he were satisfied that the system were exactly fitted to the disposition of the people for whom he intended it, and that a great proportion of that people were anxious for its adoption, yet give me leave to say that under all these circumstances of fitness and disposition a well-judging mind and a humane heart would pause a while and stop upon the brink of his purpose, before he would hazard the peace of the country by resorting to force for the establishment of his system. But here, in the frenzy of distempered ambition, the author of the proclamation conceives a project of "a free and independent republic," he at once flings it down, and he tells every man in the community, rich or poor, loyal or disloyal, he must adopt it at the peril of being considered an enemy to the country, and of suffering the pains and penalties attendant thereupon. (Prosecuting Robert Emmet, September 19th, 1803.)

Poe, Edgar Allan (American, 1809-1849.)

The Beautiful in Speech-An immortal instinct, deep within the spirit of man, is thus, plainly, a sense of the beautiful. This it is which administers to his delight in the manifold forms and sounds and odors and sentiments amid which he exists; and just as the lily is repeated in the lake, or the eyes of Amaryllis in the mirror, so is the mere oral or written repetition of these forms and sounds and colors and odors and sentiments a duplicate source of delight. But this mere repetition is not poetry. He who shall simply sing, with however glowing enthusiasm, or with however vivid a truth of description, of the sights and sounds and odors and sentiments which greet him in common with all mankind,- he, I say, has yet failed to prove his divine title. There is still a something in the distance which he has been unable to attain. We have still a thirst unquenchable, to allay which he has not shown us the crystal springs. This thirst belongs to the immortality of man. It is at once a consequence and an indication of his perennial existence. It is the desire of the moth for the star. It is no mere appreciation of the beauty before us, but a wild effort to reach the beauty above. Inspired by an ecstatic prescience of the glories beyond the grave, we struggle by multiform combinations

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The Village Schoolhouse Behold yon simple building near the crossing of the village road! It is small and of rude construction, but stands in a pleasant and quiet spot. A magnificent old elm spreads its broad arms above and seems to lean towards it, as a strong man bends to shelter and protect a child. A brook runs through the meadow near, and hard by there is an orchard, but the trees have suffered much and bear no fruit, except upon the most remote and inaccessible branches. From within its walls comes a busy hum, such as you may hear in a disturbed beehive. Now peep through yonder window and you will see a hundred children, with rosy cheeks, mischievous eyes and demure faces, all engaged, or pretending to be so, in their little lessons. It is the public school, -the free, the common school,-provided by law; open to all; claimed from the community as a right, not accepted as a bounty. Here the children of the rich and poor, high and low, meet upon perfect equality, and commence under the same auspices the race of life. Here the sustenance of the mind is served up to all alike, as the Spartans served their food upon the public table. Here young Ambition climbs his little ladder, and boyish Genius plumes his half-fledged wing. From among these laughing children will go forth the men who are to control the destinies of their age and country; the statesman whose wisdom is to guide the Senate, the poet who will take captive the hearts of the people and bind them together with immortal song, the philosopher who, boldly seizing upon the elements themselves, will compel them to his wishes, and, through new combinations of their primal laws, by some great discovery, revolutionize both art and science.

The common village school is New England's fairest boast, the brightest jewel that adorns her brow. The principle that society is bound to provide for its members' education as well as protection, so that none need be ignorant except from choice, is the most important that belongs to modern philosophy. It is essential to a republican government. Universal education

is not only the best and surest, but the only sure foundation for free institutions. True liberty is the child of knowledge; she pines away and dies in the arms of ignorance.-(1845.)

The Spoils of Office-Since the avowal, Mr. Chairman, of that unprincipled and barbarian motto, that "to the victors belong the spoils, office, which was intended for the service and benefit of the people, has become but the plunder of party. Patronage is waved like a huge magnet over the land; and demagogues, like iron-filings, attracted by a law of their nature, gather and cluster around its poles. Never yet lived the demagogue who would not take office. The whole frame of our government,-all the institutions of the country,— are thus prostituted to the uses of party. Office is conferred as the reward of partisan service; and what is the consequence? The incumbents, being taught that all moneys in their possession belong, not to the people, but to the party, it requires but small exertion of casuistry to bring them to the conclusion that they have a right to retain what they may conceive to be the value of their political services, just as a lawyer holds back his commissions.

Preston, William (American, 1816-1887.)

Liberty and Eloquence- Liberty and eloquence are united, in all ages. Where the sovereign power is found in the public mind and the public heart, eloquence is the obvious approach to it. Power and honor, and all that can attract ardent and aspiring natures, attend it. The noblest instinct is to propagate the spirit, "to make our mind the mind of other men.

Pulteney, William (England, 1684-1764.)

"The Gentlemen of the Army"- In all countries where a standing army has been long kept up, and the rest of the people bred up to a total disuse of arms, the gentlemen of the army are apt to begin to look upon themselves, not as the servants, but as the lords and masters of the people; therefore they are apt to take such liberties with the people as ought not to be indulged in any society; and if the king, by an equal and impartial distribution of justice, should take care to prevent or put a stop to their taking any such liberties, they will probably think he does them injustice by not allowing them to make use of that right which they may think belongs to them as lords and masters of the people. In every such case, if the people have neither skill nor courage to defend their king and protector, he must necessarily fall a sacrifice to the resentment of his army, and for this reason we find that in all governments where a standing army has been long kept up, the king or chief magistrate generally despises the affections of the people and minds nothing but the affections of the army, for the securing of which it becomes absolutely necessary for him to look upon the people in the same light his army does. They join in considering the people

Pulteney, William - Continued

as their slaves only, and they join in treating them accordingly.- (1738.)

The Soldier and His Orders-I always have been, sir, and always shall be, against a standing army of any kind. To me it is a terrible thing. Whether under that of a parliamentary or any other designation, a standing army is still a standing army, whatever name it be called by. They are a body of men distinct from the body of the people. They are governed by different laws; and blind obedience, and an entire submission to the orders of their commanding officer is their only principle. It is, indeed, impossible that the liberties of the people can be preserved in any country where a numerous standing army is kept up. By the military law, the administration of justice is so quick, and the punishment so severe, that neither officer nor soldier dares offer to dispute the orders of his supreme commander. If an officer were commanded to pull his own father out of this house, he must do it. Immediate death would be the sure consequence of the least grumbling. — ( 1732.)

Pym, John (England, 1584-1643.)

Law Against Arbitrary Power-The law is that which puts a difference betwixt good and evil,- betwixt just and unjust. If you take away the law, all things will fall into a confusion. Every man will become a law to himself, which, in the depraved condition of human nature, must needs produce many great enormities. Lust will become a law, and envy will become a law; covetousness and ambition will become laws; and what dictates, what decisions such laws will produce may easily be discerned in the late government of Ireland! The law hath a power to prevent, to restrain, to repair evils; without this, all kind of mischief and distempers will break in upon a state.

It is the law that doth entitle the king to the allegiance and service of his people; it entitles the people to the protection and justice of the king. It is God alone who subsists by himself, all other things subsist in a mutual dependence and relation. He was a wise man that said that the king subsisted by the field that is tilled; it is the labor of the people that supports the crown; if you take away the protection of the king, the vigor and cheerfulness of allegiance will be taken away, though the obligation remains.

The law is the boundary, the measure between the king's prerogative and the people's liberty; while these move in their own orbs, they are a support and a security to one another; the prerogative a cover and defense to the liberty of the people, and the people by their liberty are enabled to be a foundation to the prerogative; but if these bounds be so removed that they enter into contention and conflict, one of these mischiefs must ensue; if the prerogative of the king overwhelms the liberty of the people, it will be turned into tyranny; if liberty

undermine the prerogative, it will grow into anarchy.

The law is the safeguard, the custody of all private interest. Your honors, your lives, your liberties and estates, are all in the keeping of the law; without this, every man hath a like right to anything. This is the condition into which the Irish were brought by the Earl of Strafford; and the reason which he gave for it hath more mischief in it than the thing itself,— they were a conquered nation. There cannot be a word more pregnant and fruitful in treason than that word is. There are few nations in the world that have not been conquered, and no doubt but the conqueror may give what laws he pleases to those that are conquered, but if the succeeding pacts and agreements do not limit and restrain that right, what people can be secure? England hath been conquered, Wales hath been conquered, and by this reason will be in little better case than Ireland; if the king by right of a conqueror give laws to his people, shall not the people by the same reason be restored to the right of the conquered, to recover their liberty if they can? What can be more hurtful, more pernicious to both, than such propositions as these? And in these particulars is determined the first consideration.-(Impeaching Strafford. 1641.)

Quincy, Josiah (American, 1744-1775.)

Force Without Right-Mr. Locke will tell you, gentlemen, in his essay on ❝ Government,» "that all manner of force without right puts man in a state of war with the aggressor; and, of consequence, that being in such a state of war, he may lawfully kill him who put him under this unnatural restraint." According to this doctrine, we should have nothing to do but inquire whether here was "force without right." — (1770.)

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Quincy, Josiah, Jr. (American, 1772-1864.)

Peaceably, if Possible; Violently, if Necessary-I am compelled to declare it as my deliberate opinion that if this bill passes, the bonds of this Union are virtually dissolved; that the States which compose it are free from their moral obligations, and that as it will be the right of all, so it will be the duty of some, to prepare, definitely, for a separation; amicably, if they can; violently, if they must. - (From a speech on the admission of Louisiana in 1811.)

Quintilian (Rome, 35-95 A. D.)

Brilliancy in Oratory-Brilliant thoughts I reckon the eyes of eloquence. But I would not have the body all eyes.

"Pectus et Vis Mentis»- Heart and strength of intellect make men eloquent. Even the most ignorant man when he is strongly moved can find words to express himself.

Oratory and Virtue - Now, according to my definition, no man can be a perfect orator unless he is also a good man.

Randall, S. J. (American, 1828-1890.)

Protection and Free Trade Under the Constitution - I do not favor a tariff enacted upon the ground of protection simply for the sake of protection, because I doubt the existence of any constitutional warrant for any such construction or the grant of any such power. It would manifestly be in the nature of class legislation, and to such legislation, favoring one class at the expense of any other, I have always been opposed.

In my judgment the question of free trade will not arise practically in this country during our lives, if ever, so long as we continue to raise revenue by duties on imports, and, therefore, the discussion of that principle is an absolute waste of time. After our public debt is paid in full, our expenditures can hardly be much below two hundred million dollars, and if this is levied in a business-like and intelligent manner it will afford adequate protection to every industrial interest in the United States. The assertion that the Constitution permits the levying of duties in favor of protection "for the sake of protection" is equally uncalled for and unnecessary. Both are alike delusory and not involved in any practical administrative policy. If brought to the test, I believe neither would stand for a day. Protection for the sake of protection is prohibition pure and simple of importation, and if there be no importation, there will be no duties collected, and consequently no revenue, leaving the necessary expenses of the government to be collected by direct taxes.

(From a speech in Congress, May 5th, 1882.) Randolph, Edmund (American, 1753-1813.)

The Charity of the Law-According to what has often been observed in the course of this trial, crime consists of the beginning, the progress, and consummation, in the course of which some force must be exhibited. A man might begin a crime and stop short, and be far from committing the act. He might go on one step still further, without incurring guilt. It is only the completion of the crime that the law punishes. . . . When a man is punished for a robbery, it is because a person has been put in fear and his property taken from him without his consent. So it is with respect to every other crime; while it is in an incipient state, it is disregarded. No person is punishable who is only charged with such an inchoate, incomplete offense. The intention is never punished. In such cases time is allowed for repentance, at any time before its consummation. Such an offense as this is never punishable, unless in the case of a conspiracy; and even on a prosecution charging that offense specially, the act of conspiring must be satisfactorily established. Here no injury has arisen to the commonwealth. No crime has been perpetrated. The answer to this is, that there were preparations to commit it. As far as communications have been made to the government, there is no possibility of proving a complete act, yet those accused must be punished. Then their rule of law is that wher

ever there is a beginning of a crime, it shall be punished lest it should grow to maturity! Is this the spirit of American legislation and American justice? Is it the spirit of its free Constitution to consider the germ as the consummation of an offense? the intention, so difficult to be ascertained and so easy to be misrepresented and misunderstood, as the act itself? (At the trial of Aaron Burr. 1807.)

Randolph, John (American, 1773-1833. )

"The Union of Puritan and Blackleg >> Sir, in what book is it,—you know better than I,-in what parliamentary debate was it, that, upon a certain union between Lord Sandwich, one of the most corrupt and profligate of men in all the relations of life, and the sanctimonious, puritanical Lord Mansfield, and the other ministerial leaders, -on what occasion was it that Junius said, after Lord Chatham had said it before him, that it reminded him of the union between Blifil and Black George? ..

I was defeated, horse, foot, and dragoons, – cut up and clean broke down,-by the coalition of Blifil and Black George,- by the combination, unheard of till then, of the Puritan with the blackleg.- (Denouncing John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. 1826.)

English Literature in America-In what school did the worthies of our land, the Washingtons, Henrys, Hancocks, Franklins, Rutledges, of America,- learn those principles of civil liberty which were so nobly asserted by their wisdom and valor? American resistance to British usurpation has not been more warmly cherished by these great men and their compatriots, not more by Washington, Hancock, and Henry, than by Chatham and his illustrious associates in the British Parliament. It ought to be remembered, too, that the heart of the English people was with us. It was a selfish and corrupt ministry, and their servile tools, to whom we were not more opposed than they were. I trust that none such may ever exist among us; for tools will never be wanting to subserve the purposes, however ruinous or wicked, of kings and ministers of state. I acknowledge the influence of a Shakespeare and a Milton upon my imagination; of a Locke, upon my understanding; of a Sidney, upon my political principles; of a Chatham, upon qualities which would to God I possessed in common with that illustrious man! of a Tillotson, a Sherlock, and a Porteus, upon my religion. This is a British influence which I can never shake off. — ( 1811.)

"The Gamecock of Europe » -- Sir, I am afraid that along with some most excellent attributes and qualities, the love of liberty, jury trial, the writ of habeas corpus, and all the blessings of free government, that we have derived from our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, we have got not a little of their John Bull, or, rather, bulldog spirit, their readiness to fight for anybody, and on any occasion. Sir, England has been for centuries the gamecock of Europe.

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