Governments insti tuted to secure our rights. Jefferson the drafter of the Declaration of The leading statesman of the times. Political views. A firm advocate of religious liberty. Madison the best exponent of Jefferson's principles in the Constitu happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.1 his fellow of life or liberty, inasmuch as he cannot do this without breaking the law, which, in asserting his freedom, declares that he shall not infringe the equal freedom of any other.' For he who is killed or enslaved is obviously no longer equally free with his killer or enslaver." "Social Statics," chapter 8, section I. 1 Thomas Jefferson was chairman of the committee appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence, and himself wrote the original, which Independence. met with very little alteration in the committee. Jefferson was both a scholar and a philosopher, and of all the great statesmen that the times produced, he undoubtedly took the lead. His views on government were those laid down by Locke the social compact theory-that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, and that no power on earth has a right to interfere with an individual's natural rights. Religious liberty had no firmer, no more consistent, advocate than Mr. Jefferson; and no other statesman of the times had a clearer idea of the foundation principles of our government. The nearest friend of Jefferson in the Constitutional Convention was Madison, who was also the best exponent of the principles held by that great democratic statesman. Jefferson's views on the doctrine of natural rights are found in a letter to Francis W. Gilmer, dated at Monticello, June 7, 1816: "Our legislators are not sufficiently apprised of the rightful limits of their power; that their true office is to declare and enforce only our natural rights and duties, and to take none of them from us. No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another; and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him; every man is under the natural duty of contributing to the necessities of the society; and this is all the laws should enforce on him; and, no man having a natural right to be the judge between himself and another, it is his natural duty to submit to the umpirage of an impartial third. When the laws have declared and enforced all this, they have fulfilled their functions, and the idea is quite unfounded, that on entering into society we give up any natural right.” tional Conven tion. Jefferson's views on natural rights. On entering into society man gives up no natural right. Letter to Mr. Randolph. cal works. In reference to the best works on government, in a letter to Mr. Randolph, dated at New York, May 30, 1790, Jefferson said: "In political economy, I think Smith's Wealth of Nations is the best book extant; in the science of government, Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws is generally recommended. It contains, indeed, a great number of political truths; but also an equal number of heresies; so that the reader must be constantly on his guard. . . . Locke's little book on government, is perfect as far as it goes. Descending from theory to practice there is no better book than the Federalist." Works, volume iii, page 145. A GREAT SPEECH. BY PATRICK HENRY, IN THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, INDEPEND- [The following is the greater portion of the famous speech made by Patrick Henry, the fiery orator of Virginia, July 4, 1776, in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, just before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which is said to have carried his hearers along the path of conviction until every one was ready not only to sign the Declaration itself but to sacrifice all, that the colonies might be free from the yoke of foreign oppression :] 1 These words will go forth to the world when our bones are dust. To the slave in bondage they will speak hope; to the mechanic in his workshop, freedom. The message of the of Independ ence. That parchment will speak to kings in language sad and terrible as the trumpet of the archangel. Declaration You have trampled on the rights of mankind long enough. At last, the voice of human woe has pierced the ear of God, and called his judgment down. 1 During the discussion over the Declaration of Independence some pale-faced man shrinking in the corner was heard to say something about " axes, scaffolds, and a gibbet." This seems to have been the signal for this eloquent, inspiring, and intrepid speech, and to explain the allusion in it to the "gibbet" and " axes." "Gibbet!" the patriot shouted in a fierce, bold tone that startled men from their seats and rang through the hall, as he rose to his feet. Then, slowly stretching out his white, trembling hand, he continued: "Gibbet! They may stretch our necks on all the gibbets in the land; they may turn every rock into a scaffold, every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave, and yet the words of that parch ment can never die. "They may pour blood upon a thousand scaffolds, and yet from every drop that dyes the ax, or drops on the sawdust of the block, a new martyr of freedom will spring into birth! "The British King may blot out the stars of God from his sky, but he cannot blot out the words written on the parchment there. The works of God may perish; His word, never!" Then followed the speech as here given. The copy from which this is republished is credited to the Boston Journal, but without date. The signal for the speech. Opening words of the speech. Sign! sign! sign! Like the Such is the message of the Declaration to the kings. of the world. And shall we falter now? And shall we start back appalled when our free people press the very threshold of freedom? Sign! if the next moment the gibbet's rope is around your neck. Sign! if the next moment this hall rings with the echo of the falling ax. Sign! by all your hopes in life, or death, as husbands, fathers — as men with our names to the parchment, or be accursed forever!! Sign! not only for yourselves, but for all ages; for that parchment will be the text book of freedom the Bible of the rights of man forever. Sign! for the declaration will go forth to American hearts like the voice of God. And its work will not be voice of God. done until throughout this wide continent not a single inch of ground owns the sway of privilege of power. The angel's message of woe. The Father's re sponse a new world free from oppression. It is not given to our poor human intellect to climb the skies, to pierce the councils of the Almighty One. But methinks I stand among the awful clouds which veil the brightness of Jehovah's throne. Methinks I see the recording angel - pale as an angel is pale, weeping as an angel can weep come trembling up to the throne and speaking his dreadful message. Father! The old world is baptized in blood. Father! It is drenched with the blood of millions who have been executed, in slow and grinding oppression. Father, look! With one glance of thine eternal eye, look over Europe, Asia, Africa, and behold everywhere a terrible sight — man trodden down beneath the oppressor's feet, nations lost in blood, murder and superstition walking hand in hand over the graves of their victims, and not a single voice to whisper hope to man. He stands there (the angel), his hand trembling with the human guilt. But hark! The voice of Jehovah speaks out from the awful cloud: Let there be light again. Let there be a new world. Tell my people, the poor, downtrodden millions, to go out from the old world. Tell them to go out from wrong, oppression, and blood. Tell them to go out from the old world to build up my altar in the new. ica to be free. As God lives, my friends, I believe that to be his voice. Yes, were my soul trembling on the wing of eternity, were this hand freezing to death, were my voice choking with the last struggle, I would still, God has with the last gasp of that voice, implore you to re- given Amermember the truth. God has given America to be free. Yes, as I sank down into the gloomy shadows of the grave, with my last gasp I would beg you to sign that parchment. In the name of the One who made you, the Saviour who redeemed you, in the name of the millions whose very breath is now hushed, as, in intense expectation, they look up to you for the awful words, YOU ARE FREE! MOTTO ON LIBERTY BELL. Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. Leviticus xxv. 10.1 1 One of the most interesting relics of colonial and Revolutionary times is Liberty Bell. It is of particular interest, not only because of the motto inscribed upon it, which itself seemed both providential and prophetic, but because its history is so intimately associated with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the formation of the Constitution of the United States, and the enunciation and development of those principles which have made this nation great. The motto. History of Liberty Bell. The bell was ordered made, by a resolution passed by the Pennsylvania Assembly of 1750-51, for the Pennsylvania State House, at Philadelphia, later known as Independence Hall. The order for the casting of the bell was first given to a firm in England. The bell made, however, was not satisfactory, and it was broken up, and, with some added metals, recast by the firm of Pass and Stow, of Philadelphia. This, again, did not prove satisfactory, and the same firm times. cast it over second time. This last effort was more successful, and produced the bell which announced to the people on the evening of July 4, 1776, the fact that the motion to adopt the Declaration of Independence had passed the Assembly. A point worthy of note is the fact that each time the bell was cast, there were inscribed upon it the words: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. Lev. xxv. 10." Cast three Same motto. The great Jubilee proclamation. What the signing of the Declaration of Independence meant. Rang for hours. Cracked in 1835. This seemingly prophetic. Still in Independence Hall. This is the Jubilee proclamation which God ordained should be proclaimed throughout the land of Israel every fifty years, when every servant should be set free, every debt canceled, and every one return to his original possession of land lost or pledged away through misfortune or adverse circumstances. That such a bell, with such a motto, should be the one first to announce American independence seems indeed fitting and significant. 66 The signing of the Declaration of Independence meant much,— a war lasting through eight long years! a victory for human rights and liberties! and a new nation, established upon "a new order of things"! Many feared the results of such a bold and decided step; others questioned its propriety; and some, like the old bell-ringer in the belfry, kept shaking their heads, and saying, “They'll never do it! they'll never do it!" But they did do it, and the old belfryman's eyes expanded, and he grasped the rope with a firmer hold, when a blue-eyed boy flew up the stairs, shouting, Ring! ring! they've signed!" For hours the vibrant lips of old LIBERTY BELL pealed forth the birth-notes of American freedom. The message was taken up in other parts, and many bells throughout the land proclaimed the joyful news. When the courageous American patriots had completed signing the immortal document, and the importance of all "hanging together" was mentioned by some one, Benjamin Franklin said, "We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately." For nearly sixty years Liberty Bell did service in Independence Hall, excepting a short period during the Revolutionary War, when it was taken down and secreted to prevent the possibility of its being taken as "the spoils of war." But on July 8, 1835, it sounded for the last time. While being slowly tolled during the funeral of Chief Justice John Marshall on that day, it cracked, and was silent henceforth forever. And we are not so sure but that this seemingly most unfortunate occurrence was also prophetic. Human slavery was then taking such deep root in this country as to bring on a little later a prolonged and most bloody internecine war for its extirpation; and other elements were also at work, and have since developed to great proportions, to trample upon the dearest rights of all, the rights of conscience, and turn this nation back into the " old order of things," -the evils of religious bigotry and intolerance. Old Liberty Bell is now preserved, and may be seen, in a large glass case standing on the ground floor of Independence Hall. It has several times been placed on exhibit at world's fairs and the like. The Declaration of Independence, so closely associated with Liberty Bell, is now deposited in a safe in the State, War, and Navy Building at Washington, D. C., just west of the White House. It was formerly on exhibit in a glass case here; but as it was fading so rapidly, it was, by order of the Secretary of State, in 1902, laid away, never again to be exposed to public view. |