NOTE.

"as a gaoler to bring forthSome monstrous malefactor."

"as a gaoler to bring forth

Some monstrous malefactor."

True to its vocation, this little word brings before the Treasurer a monstrous proposition, which he cannot receive. No,—he will have nothing to do with it. But his sudden sensitiveness with regard to the course of the Society should not prevent us from performing a simple duty.

III.

The third and last proposition involved in the Report and Resolutions is, that our Society, by its officers and individual members, ought to strive for increased usefulness; and it is particularly urged upon the Managers to enlist the coöperation of individual members. This, too, is opposed violently, as if it were not the duty of all to seek new opportunities of doing good. The Treasurer, of course, is ardent. He does not ask the coöperation of others. It is the policy of the Society, he says, to act by one mind only.

Look at our grandiose organization. We have a President with forty Vice-Presidents,—or, borrowing an illustration from Turkey, "a pacha with forty tails." Then we have a large body of foreign correspondents, whose names we print in capitals,—"fancy men," as they have been called, because they are for show, I suppose, like our Vice-Presidents. Then there are scores of Directors, and a Board of Managers. Now I know full well, that, of these, very few interest themselves so much in our Society as to attend its sessions. At the meeting last year for the choice of officers there weretenpresent. Wetenchose the whole array of Vice-Presidents and all. And then, too, the Secretary politely furnished us printed tickets bearing their names and his own. Certainly, Sir, something should be done to mend this matter. We must cease to have so many officers, or they must participate actively in the duties of the Society.

Look now at our annual income. Notwithstanding the special pleading of the Treasurer, I must insist that this is upwards of $3,000, derived partly from intereston our capital stock of $7,000, and the remainder from subscriptions obtained through the solicitations of the Secretary.

Mr.Dwight. But this is not a permanent income. It is derived from the charity of Boston.

Mr.Sumner. And is not the charity of Boston permanent? I have stated facts precisely as they are. Now it becomes a society so richly endowed to do much for the cause to which it professes devotion. It should make itself felt widely, not only in our own State, but wherever Prison Discipline claims attention.

But what does it accomplish? On looking at its journal for the last three years, it appears that the chief business of the Managers, who have met some three or four times in the year only, has been to vote a salary of seventeen hundred dollars to the Secretary, with fuel and rent for his office sometimes, and also to vote him a vacation of four months in the country during our pleasant summers. This, certainly, so far as the Managers are concerned, is not doing much for Prison Discipline. But the Managers are responsible for the Annual Reports of the Society. I think it may be safely said, that, for several years, our Society has done little besides publishing these Reports. Its annual income and the labors of its official galaxy are all absorbed in these. I would not disparage these documents; but, professing, as I do, some familiarity with the kind of labor required in their preparation, I cannot forbear repeating what I have said before, that, if we take our last Report for an example, one month would be a large allowance of time for its production by any one competent man. But theTreasurer says our Society has devised a plan for a new jail in Boston, which of itself is no inconsiderable labor,—and the Treasurer praises this plan. My own judgment with regard to it is of very little consequence; but I have here a letter from Dr. Julius, of Prussia, one of the highest living authorities on the subject,—to whom the plan has been shown,—who expresses an opinion different from that of the Treasurer.

Certainly, Sir, our Society must do more. It becomes us to imitate sister associations in Philadelphia and New York, whose incomes are less than ours, and whose array of organization is not so imposing, but who, by committees and sub-committees, and committees of ladies too, make their beneficence practically felt by those who are in prison, while by their influence they widely affect public opinion. It becomes us also to imitate the Board of Education in our own Commonwealth, which not only publishes an Annual Report, but by its Secretary makes annual visits to every part of the State, and by lectures and speeches, by the glowing pen and the living voice, arouses the indifferent and confirms the wavering. I trust soon to hear of lectures on Prison Discipline, and of local societies under our auspices in every county of the State.

Ours is a large and powerful organization, abounding in resources of all kinds, plenteously supplied by never-failing streams of charity. We must administer it in the spirit of charity, that we may promote the greatest good of those who are its objects. The contributions of which we are almoners should not run to waste. All must join in effort to give them the widest influence. All must help place our Society in cordial fellowship with other laborers in the same pursuits.Let me ask you, Mr. President, to unite with your honored predecessor [Rev. Dr.Wayland] in promoting these worthy objects. Commence your new duties by guiding us in a path where we may find that universal confidence now somewhat forfeited, and where the blessings of those in prison, who have felt our kindness, may be ours.

I believe I might leave the Report and Resolutions here, feeling that they stand on impregnable ground. But there are two objections, each brought by different speakers, which I have reserved to the close: one founded on the private character of the Secretary of our Society; the other, on the alleged superiority of the Congregate System over the Separate System.

In interposing the private character of the Secretary, a new issue is presented, entirely immaterial to the question on the adoption of the Resolutions. This is discerned merely by repeating the grounds of these.First, our Society ought to be candid and just;secondly, it should offer a hand of fellowship to our brethren in Philadelphia;thirdly, it should be more useful. These propositions are not answered, when we declare, in eloquent phrase, that the private character of the Secretary is good. I, too, give my homage to his private character. I have never failed to render my tribute to his early merit in founding and organizing this Society; nor in this discussion, painful as it has been, and calling for severe criticism of matters with which he is intimately connected, have I made any impeachment of the motives by which his course is controlled. It is my earnest desire, that the Society, under his auspices, may be more widely felt, and develop new capacities for useful.

The other remaining objection is, that the Congregate System is superior to the Separate System, and that the acceptance of the Report and Resolutions will be giving adhesion to the latter. This conclusion is not correct. Your Committee ask for candor and justice; they do not ask for adhesion to any system. On the contrary, they expressly disclaim such desire. But it may well be asked—and I allude to this point not because I regard it as material to the issue—whetherexperiencedoes conclusively establish the superiority of the Congregate System. My learned friend [Mr.Gray] who first introduced this topic founds his conclusion mainly on a comparison of the prisons at Philadelphia and Charlestown, where the statistics are said to show a much larger proportion of mortality and insanity in the former than in the latter. Admitting that the statistics adduced are accurate (and I do not propose to question them), it is very hasty in my friend to adopt his conclusion with regard to the comparative merits of the two systems. In the first place, the limited experience of these prisons, or any small number of prisons, may be affected by circumstances irrespective of the two systems,—as, for instance, their administration, which may be more or less defective. And permit me to say, that the argument of my friend seems rather to show a defect in the administration of the system at Philadelphia than in the system itself. The system has butone essential idea, the absolute separation of prisoners from each other. But it is said that this cannot be practically carried out, consistently with health of body and mind. It may be so. But here the highest authorities have affirmed the opposite. The College of Medicine in France, and the Scientific Congress at Padua in 1843, andof Lucca in 1844, pronounce it practicable. But my friend urges, that each prisoner should be indulged with at least two hours of society daily, and that this is impracticable. I doubt if so much is requisite. But if this and much more be needed, to secure for our prisons those influences most conducive to the reformation of offenders, will it not be found? There are Christian clergymen who find time to bless with their presence, with prayers and texts, the gaudy celebrations of military companies; there are young men who partake of these pomps. Cannot as many be found who will visit those in prison?

In the next place, the conclusion is fallacious, as it is founded on a comparison of prisons in different places, under the influence of different circumstances of climate and situation; whereas, to render the comparison exact, it should be between prisons in the same place, and under the same circumstances. This I am enabled to make. There are now at Geneva two prisons, one on the Auburn System, built in 1825, and the other on the Pennsylvania System, built in 1843. M. Ferrière, the chaplain of both these prisons,—and therefore, it must be supposed, equally conversant with both,—presented to the Penitentiary Congress at Frankfort a comparison between these two, which he states to be in the same locality, with a unity of conditions in all respects, except what touches the system itself. He gives the preference in every particular to the Pennsylvania prison, and expressly declares that there are always persons in the Auburn prison who are insane, while, down to the present time, there have been none in the other prison.

Lastly, the conclusion of my friend is fallacious, inasmuch as it is founded on a too narrow induction, closinghis eyes to the experience of Europe. There is the prison of Warsaw, on the Separate System, which has been in operation since 1835. During the twelve years since its occupation there have been only two cases of mental alienation, one of which declared itself on the morning after the arrest, and the other was caused by too hasty treatment of theplica. In France, as we learn from an address before the Penitentiary Congress, there are nineteen prisons on the Separate System, which have beenoccupiedsince 1843. "The experience," it is said, "is not of long duration, but it is sufficient to assure the spirits of the most fearful. The most harmonious unanimity prevails in the observations of the physicians. All recognize that maladies are less frequent, and shorter in duration. It is the same with mental alienation, in the period of one to four years to which the observations relate. No cause of insanity is attributed by the physicians to the Separate System, as it is practised in France, with frequent visits, labor, and an hour at least of exercise in the open air." In England there are at this momentthirtyprisons on the Separate System, with thirty-five hundred cells, which are so successful in their influences that upwards of three thousand additional cells are to be constructed. On the Continent there are many directors of Auburn prisons who have become dissatisfied with their operation, and openly pronounce in favor of the Pennsylvania System. I might dwell on the experience of Europe till the chimes of midnight sounded in our ears; but I forbear. I cannot dismiss this topic, however, without alluding to one suggestion, which came in such a questionable shape that I am at a loss how to treat it.

The sentiment of patriotism is invoked, and we are gravely told that the reference to European authority and experience which has occurred in this debate is not consistent with a proper regard to our own country. It is natural, Sir, for us to love our country, and to take pride in its institutions. Whatever is done among us finds special favor, if it be associated in any way with our country. But this sentiment must not become a prejudice. It must not become a malign influence to interrupt the course of truth, or interfere with questions to which it is alien. The subject now before us belongs to science and philanthropy, and I have yet to learn that the prejudices of patriotism have any just foothold in these sacred demesnes. Let us welcome knowledge, wherever it may be found. Hail holy light! from whatever sun or star it may pour upon the eyes, from whatever country or clime it may penetrate the understanding or the heart!

Again let me say that our Report and Resolutions stand on impregnable grounds. And now, Mr. President, as I conclude, let me render to you just thanks for the impartiality and amenity with which you have presided over these debates, and may these high qualities be reflected in the future course of our Society. Let us all unite in efforts for increased usefulness, in harmony with one another, and with kindred associations of our own country and of other lands. And if, from the collisions of this discussion there have been any sparks of unkindly feeling, may they all be quenched in the vote which is now to be taken.

The result of these debates called forth the following letter from M. de Tocqueville, of France, addressed to Mr. Sumner.

[TRANSLATION.]

My dear Sir,—I have read in the Daily Advertiser of June 1st the account of a meeting of the Boston Prison Discipline Society, in which you proposed a resolution, the effect of which was to declare that this Society ought not to be considered "the pledged advocate" of the Auburn System, or of any other system, and that it should judge all systems without taking sides in advance, and without prejudice. I have since learned, by the same paper, that the Society refused to adopt the resolution. This vote has surprised and pained me. I take a very lively interest in the reform of prisons, and I have always cherished a respectful attachment for the Society, which has, of its own accord, done me the honor to make me one of its members, and which enjoys so just a reputation in the philanthropic world. It is under the influence of these two sentiments that I feel an impulse to write to you.The vote of which I have spoken will cause, I do not fear to say, a painful surprise to almost all those in Europe who are devoted to the Prison question. They will interpret it as a solemn determination taken by the Society to make itself the champion of the Auburn System, and the systematic adversary of the Separate System. Instead of a judge, it will seem to become a party.I need not inform you, that, at the present day, in Europe, discussion and experience have, on the contrary, led almost all persons of intelligence to adopt the Separate System, and to reject the Auburn System. Most of the governments ofthe Old World have declared themselves more or less in this way, not hastily, but after serious inquiry and long debates. I will speak only of the two great free nations of Europe,—those which I know the best, and which are the most worthy of being regarded as an authority, wherever questions are decided only after discussion before the country, and obedience is rendered to public opinion alone,—France and England. Among these two nations, I can assure you, the Auburn System is almost universally rejected. The greater part of those who had previously inclined towards this system have completely abandoned it, when they came to discuss it, or to see it in operation, and have adopted, wholly or in part, the system of Separate Imprisonment. The two governments have followed the same tendencies. You know that the French government brought forward, a few years since, a law, of which separate imprisonment formed the basis. This law after a discussion of five weeks, the longest and most thorough which has ever taken place in our parliament on any question, was voted by animmense majority. If this same law has not yet been discussed in the Chamber of Peers, the reason is to be found in circumstances entirely foreign to the Penitentiary Question. The Chamber of Peers will take it into consideration at the opening of the approaching session; and among the most considerable men in this Chamber, the greater part have already pronounced openly in favor of its principle. As to the press, almost all the journals sustain the system of Separate Imprisonment. The journal which had most skilfully and earnestly combated the system has recently declared itself convinced of its excellence. This change has been produced, in part, by the experience had for many years in a large number of our prisons. Indeed, it may be doubted, whether, when the law shall be reported to the Chamber of Peers, there will be found a single person to combat itsprinciple.In this state of facts and opinions, the vote which a society so enlightened and celebrated as that of Boston has just passed will not be comprehended among us; and I cannot, I confess to you, prevent myself from fearing that it will be injurious to the high consideration which the Society enjoys on this side of the ocean, or that, at least, it will weaken its authority. I should strongly regret this, not only from my interest in an association to which I have the honor to belong, but also from my interest in humanity, whose cause it can so powerfully serve.Be pleased to receive, Sir, the assurance of my very distinguished consideration.ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE,Member of the Institute and of the Chamber of DeputiesTocqueville, August 6, 1847.Charles Sumner, Esq., Boston.

The vote of which I have spoken will cause, I do not fear to say, a painful surprise to almost all those in Europe who are devoted to the Prison question. They will interpret it as a solemn determination taken by the Society to make itself the champion of the Auburn System, and the systematic adversary of the Separate System. Instead of a judge, it will seem to become a party.

I need not inform you, that, at the present day, in Europe, discussion and experience have, on the contrary, led almost all persons of intelligence to adopt the Separate System, and to reject the Auburn System. Most of the governments ofthe Old World have declared themselves more or less in this way, not hastily, but after serious inquiry and long debates. I will speak only of the two great free nations of Europe,—those which I know the best, and which are the most worthy of being regarded as an authority, wherever questions are decided only after discussion before the country, and obedience is rendered to public opinion alone,—France and England. Among these two nations, I can assure you, the Auburn System is almost universally rejected. The greater part of those who had previously inclined towards this system have completely abandoned it, when they came to discuss it, or to see it in operation, and have adopted, wholly or in part, the system of Separate Imprisonment. The two governments have followed the same tendencies. You know that the French government brought forward, a few years since, a law, of which separate imprisonment formed the basis. This law after a discussion of five weeks, the longest and most thorough which has ever taken place in our parliament on any question, was voted by animmense majority. If this same law has not yet been discussed in the Chamber of Peers, the reason is to be found in circumstances entirely foreign to the Penitentiary Question. The Chamber of Peers will take it into consideration at the opening of the approaching session; and among the most considerable men in this Chamber, the greater part have already pronounced openly in favor of its principle. As to the press, almost all the journals sustain the system of Separate Imprisonment. The journal which had most skilfully and earnestly combated the system has recently declared itself convinced of its excellence. This change has been produced, in part, by the experience had for many years in a large number of our prisons. Indeed, it may be doubted, whether, when the law shall be reported to the Chamber of Peers, there will be found a single person to combat itsprinciple.

In this state of facts and opinions, the vote which a society so enlightened and celebrated as that of Boston has just passed will not be comprehended among us; and I cannot, I confess to you, prevent myself from fearing that it will be injurious to the high consideration which the Society enjoys on this side of the ocean, or that, at least, it will weaken its authority. I should strongly regret this, not only from my interest in an association to which I have the honor to belong, but also from my interest in humanity, whose cause it can so powerfully serve.

Be pleased to receive, Sir, the assurance of my very distinguished consideration.

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE,

Member of the Institute and of the Chamber of Deputies

Tocqueville, August 6, 1847.

Charles Sumner, Esq., Boston.

Article in the Boston Daily Advertiser, July 23, 1847.

The sudden death of Mr. Stackpole has filled a large circle of friends with poignant grief. His hale and vigorous health, of which a fresh and manly countenance and a joyous nature were pleasing tokens, seemed to give assurance that he would long be spared to them, while the many accomplishments by which his life was adorned, and the kindly qualities which grappled him to their hearts, created attachments now too rudely severed. He had stood aloof from public affairs, and from those concerns of business by which men become prominent before the world. The time thus withdrawn from customary pursuits was given to family and friends, and to the cultivation of those elegant tastes which add so much to the grace of society.

He was a graduate of Harvard University in the class of 1824, and afterwards studied law. His studies were careful and thorough. His attainments were increased by travel in Europe. As a member of the Examining Committee on Modern Languages at the University, he made his excellent knowledge, particularly of French, useful to the community. Had his professional studies been continued, there is reason to believe, that, in some departments, he would have contributed in no humble measure to the true fame of his country. An articlein the "American Jurist,"[185]entitled "Customs and Origin of Customary Law," written by Mr. Stackpole while still very young, drew the attention of learned men in Europe, as much, perhaps, as was ever done by any paper of mere jurisprudence from our country. It was the subject of comment by the late Professor Park, at King's College, in one of his public lectures, who read extracts from it to his classes, and it was republished in one of the English law journals. This was at a time when American productions found little favor from the mother country. Story and Kent had not then compelled recognition of American law within the precincts of Westminster Hall. This article will be read with interest by students of jurisprudence and history, while it must always possess peculiar attraction, as the early offering of ingenuous youth to a stern profession ardently espoused. Perhaps nothing ever appeared in our country, from one equally young, evincing a finer juridical spirit.

Mr. Stackpole has been removed from strongest family ties, from a large cluster of friends, from enjoyments richly spread by competency and taste, and from opportunities of usefulness which were before him in ample fields, while his sun of life was still high and glowing in the heavens. He has passed away as a shadow. Let us clasp and hold fast the memory of his virtues.

An Oration before the Literary Societies of Amherst College at their Anniversary, August 11, 1847.

But if there be in Glory aught of good,It may by means far different be attained,Without ambition, war, or violence,—By deeds of peace, by wisdom eminent,By patience, temperance.

But if there be in Glory aught of good,

It may by means far different be attained,

Without ambition, war, or violence,—

By deeds of peace, by wisdom eminent,

By patience, temperance.

Milton,Paradise Regained.

Da veniam scriptis, quorum non gloria nobisCausa, sed utilitas officiumque fuit.Ovid,Epist. ex Ponto, III. ix., 55, 56.Singulari in eo negotio usus opera Flacci Pomponii, consularis viri, nati ad omnia quæ recte facienda sunt, simplicique virtute, merentis semper quam captantis gloriam.—Velleius Paterculus,Hist., Lib. II. Cap. 129.Non privatim solum, sed publicefurimus. Homicidia compescimus, et singulas cædes; quid bella, et occisarum gentiumgloriosum scelus?—Seneca,Epist.XCV. § 30.Tanto major famæ sitis est quamVirtutis! Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam,Præmia si tollas?Juvenal,Sat.X. 140-142.Wealth and children are the ornament of this present life; but good works, which are permanent, are better, in the sight of thy Lord, with respect to the reward, and better with respect to hope.—Koran, tr. Sale, Ch. 18.For ages mingled with his parent dust,Fame still records Nushirovan the Just.From thePersian, by Sir William Jones:Life, p. 98.Then Peredur returned to his mother and her company, and he said to her, "Mother, those were not angels, but honorable knights." Then his mother swooned away.—The Mabinogion, tr. Lady Charlotte Guest, Vol. I. p. 300.One day he met a poor woman weeping bitterly; and when he inquired the cause, she told him that her only brother, her sole stay and support in the world, had been carried into captivity by the Moors. Dominick could not ransom her brother; he had given away all his money, and even sold his books, to relieve the poor; but he offered all he could,—he offered up himself to be exchanged as a slave in place of her brother. The woman, astonished at such a proposal, fell upon her knees before him. She refused his offer, but she spread the fame of the young priest far and wide.—Jameson,Legends of the Monastic Orders: St. Dominick.Lord! what honor falls to a knight that he kills many men! The hangman killeth more with a better title. It were better to be butchers of beasts than butchers of our brethren, for this were more unnatural.—Wycliffe,Of the Seven Deadly Sins.Gueres ou peu il s'est aydé des gens d'espée en ses ambassades, si-non que de ses gens de plume, ayant opinion que l'espée ne sceut tant bien entendre ses affaires, ny les conduire et démesler, comme la plume.—Brantôme,Vies des Hommes Illustres et Grands Capitaines François, Discours XLV.He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.Shakespeare,Titus Andronicus, Act I. Sc. 2.Honors thrive,When rather from our acts we them deriveThan our foregoers.All's Well that Ends Well, Act II. Sc. 3.The purest treasure mortal times affordIs spotless reputation: that away,Men are but gilded loam or painted clay.Richard II., Act I. Sc. 1.'Tis death to me to be at enmity:I hate it, and desire all good men's love.Richard III., Act II. Sc. 1.Never any stateCould rise or stand without this thirst of glory,Of noble works, as well the mould as story.For else what governor would spend his daysIn envious travel for the public good?Who would in books search after dead men's ways?F. Greville, Lord Brooke,Fame and Honor.Boccaline has this passage of soldiers. They came to Apollo to have their profession made the eighth liberal science, which he granted. As soon as it was noised up and down, it came to the butchers, and they desired their profession might be made the ninth. "For," say they, "the soldiers have this honor for the killing of men: now we kill as well as they; but we kill beasts for the preserving of men, and why should not we have honor likewise done to us?" Apollo could not answer their reasons, so he reversed his sentence, and made the soldier's trade a mystery, as the butcher's is.—Selden,Table Talk: War.The soldiers say they fight for honor, when the truth is they have their honor in their pocket.—Ibid.Certainly, as some men have sinned in the principles of Humanity, and must answer for not being men, so others offend, if they be not more.... For great constitutions, and such as are constellated unto knowledge, do nothing, till they outdo all; they come short of themselves, if they go not beyond others.... A man should be something that all men are not, and individual in somewhat beside his proper name.Sir Thomas Browne,Vulgar Errors: Of Credulity and Supinity.

Da veniam scriptis, quorum non gloria nobisCausa, sed utilitas officiumque fuit.

Da veniam scriptis, quorum non gloria nobis

Causa, sed utilitas officiumque fuit.

Ovid,Epist. ex Ponto, III. ix., 55, 56.

Singulari in eo negotio usus opera Flacci Pomponii, consularis viri, nati ad omnia quæ recte facienda sunt, simplicique virtute, merentis semper quam captantis gloriam.—Velleius Paterculus,Hist., Lib. II. Cap. 129.

Non privatim solum, sed publicefurimus. Homicidia compescimus, et singulas cædes; quid bella, et occisarum gentiumgloriosum scelus?—Seneca,Epist.XCV. § 30.

Tanto major famæ sitis est quamVirtutis! Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam,Præmia si tollas?

Tanto major famæ sitis est quam

Virtutis! Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam,

Præmia si tollas?

Juvenal,Sat.X. 140-142.

Wealth and children are the ornament of this present life; but good works, which are permanent, are better, in the sight of thy Lord, with respect to the reward, and better with respect to hope.—Koran, tr. Sale, Ch. 18.

For ages mingled with his parent dust,Fame still records Nushirovan the Just.

For ages mingled with his parent dust,

Fame still records Nushirovan the Just.

From thePersian, by Sir William Jones:Life, p. 98.

Then Peredur returned to his mother and her company, and he said to her, "Mother, those were not angels, but honorable knights." Then his mother swooned away.—The Mabinogion, tr. Lady Charlotte Guest, Vol. I. p. 300.

One day he met a poor woman weeping bitterly; and when he inquired the cause, she told him that her only brother, her sole stay and support in the world, had been carried into captivity by the Moors. Dominick could not ransom her brother; he had given away all his money, and even sold his books, to relieve the poor; but he offered all he could,—he offered up himself to be exchanged as a slave in place of her brother. The woman, astonished at such a proposal, fell upon her knees before him. She refused his offer, but she spread the fame of the young priest far and wide.—Jameson,Legends of the Monastic Orders: St. Dominick.

Lord! what honor falls to a knight that he kills many men! The hangman killeth more with a better title. It were better to be butchers of beasts than butchers of our brethren, for this were more unnatural.—Wycliffe,Of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Gueres ou peu il s'est aydé des gens d'espée en ses ambassades, si-non que de ses gens de plume, ayant opinion que l'espée ne sceut tant bien entendre ses affaires, ny les conduire et démesler, comme la plume.—Brantôme,Vies des Hommes Illustres et Grands Capitaines François, Discours XLV.

He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.

Shakespeare,Titus Andronicus, Act I. Sc. 2.

Honors thrive,When rather from our acts we them deriveThan our foregoers.

Honors thrive,

When rather from our acts we them derive

Than our foregoers.

All's Well that Ends Well, Act II. Sc. 3.

The purest treasure mortal times affordIs spotless reputation: that away,Men are but gilded loam or painted clay.

The purest treasure mortal times afford

Is spotless reputation: that away,

Men are but gilded loam or painted clay.

Richard II., Act I. Sc. 1.

'Tis death to me to be at enmity:I hate it, and desire all good men's love.

'Tis death to me to be at enmity:

I hate it, and desire all good men's love.

Richard III., Act II. Sc. 1.

Never any stateCould rise or stand without this thirst of glory,Of noble works, as well the mould as story.For else what governor would spend his daysIn envious travel for the public good?Who would in books search after dead men's ways?

Never any state

Could rise or stand without this thirst of glory,

Of noble works, as well the mould as story.

For else what governor would spend his days

In envious travel for the public good?

Who would in books search after dead men's ways?

F. Greville, Lord Brooke,Fame and Honor.

Boccaline has this passage of soldiers. They came to Apollo to have their profession made the eighth liberal science, which he granted. As soon as it was noised up and down, it came to the butchers, and they desired their profession might be made the ninth. "For," say they, "the soldiers have this honor for the killing of men: now we kill as well as they; but we kill beasts for the preserving of men, and why should not we have honor likewise done to us?" Apollo could not answer their reasons, so he reversed his sentence, and made the soldier's trade a mystery, as the butcher's is.—Selden,Table Talk: War.

The soldiers say they fight for honor, when the truth is they have their honor in their pocket.—Ibid.

Certainly, as some men have sinned in the principles of Humanity, and must answer for not being men, so others offend, if they be not more.... For great constitutions, and such as are constellated unto knowledge, do nothing, till they outdo all; they come short of themselves, if they go not beyond others.... A man should be something that all men are not, and individual in somewhat beside his proper name.

Sir Thomas Browne,Vulgar Errors: Of Credulity and Supinity.

Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed,And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds;On both his wings, one black, the other white,Bears greatest names in his wild aëry flight.Milton,Samson Agonistes, 971-974.The extremes of glory and of shame,Like East and West, become the same;No Indian prince has to his palaceMore followers than a thief to the gallows.Butler,Hudibras, Part II. Canto I. 271-274.Who fears not to do ill, yet fears the name,And free from Conscience, is a slave to Fame.Denham,Cooper's Hill, 129, 130.The secret pleasure of a generous actIs the great mind's great bribe.Dryden,Don Sebastian, Act V. Sc. 1.On pend un pauvre malheureux pour avoir volé une pistole sur le grand chemin, dans son besoin extrême; et on traite de héros un homme qui fait la conquête, c'est-à-dire qui subjugue injustement les pays d'un état voisin.... Prendre un champ à un particulier est un grand péché; prendre un grand pays à une nation estune action innocente et glorieuse.—Fénelon,Examen de Conscience sur les Devoirs de la Royauté, Direction XXV.Content thyself to be obscurely good;When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,The post of honor is a private station.Addison,Cato, Act IV. Sc. 4.Nor Fame I slight, nor for her favors call;She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.Pope,Temple of Fame, 513, 514.To glory some advance a lying claim,Thieves of renown and pilferers of fame.Young,Sat.III. 87, 88.Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climbThe steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar?Beattie,Minstrel, I. 1.I would wish for immortality on earth for no other reason than for the power of relieving the distressed.—Maria Theresa: Coxe'sHistory of the House of Austria, Vol. II. Ch. 44.Adieu, mon cher et illustre maître; nous avons fait un beau rêve, mais il a été trop court. Je vais me remettre à la géométrie et à la philosophie. Il est bien froid de ne plus travailler que pour la gloriole, quand on s'est flatté pendant quelque temps de travailler pour le bien public.—Condorcet,à Voltaire, 1776:Œuvres, Tom. I. p. 115.

Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed,And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds;On both his wings, one black, the other white,Bears greatest names in his wild aëry flight.

Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed,

And with contrary blast proclaims most deeds;

On both his wings, one black, the other white,

Bears greatest names in his wild aëry flight.

Milton,Samson Agonistes, 971-974.

The extremes of glory and of shame,Like East and West, become the same;No Indian prince has to his palaceMore followers than a thief to the gallows.

The extremes of glory and of shame,

Like East and West, become the same;

No Indian prince has to his palace

More followers than a thief to the gallows.

Butler,Hudibras, Part II. Canto I. 271-274.

Who fears not to do ill, yet fears the name,And free from Conscience, is a slave to Fame.

Who fears not to do ill, yet fears the name,

And free from Conscience, is a slave to Fame.

Denham,Cooper's Hill, 129, 130.

The secret pleasure of a generous actIs the great mind's great bribe.

The secret pleasure of a generous act

Is the great mind's great bribe.

Dryden,Don Sebastian, Act V. Sc. 1.

On pend un pauvre malheureux pour avoir volé une pistole sur le grand chemin, dans son besoin extrême; et on traite de héros un homme qui fait la conquête, c'est-à-dire qui subjugue injustement les pays d'un état voisin.... Prendre un champ à un particulier est un grand péché; prendre un grand pays à une nation estune action innocente et glorieuse.—Fénelon,Examen de Conscience sur les Devoirs de la Royauté, Direction XXV.

Content thyself to be obscurely good;When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,The post of honor is a private station.

Content thyself to be obscurely good;

When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,

The post of honor is a private station.

Addison,Cato, Act IV. Sc. 4.

Nor Fame I slight, nor for her favors call;She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.

Nor Fame I slight, nor for her favors call;

She comes unlooked for, if she comes at all.

Pope,Temple of Fame, 513, 514.

To glory some advance a lying claim,Thieves of renown and pilferers of fame.

To glory some advance a lying claim,

Thieves of renown and pilferers of fame.

Young,Sat.III. 87, 88.

Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climbThe steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar?

Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb

The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar?

Beattie,Minstrel, I. 1.

I would wish for immortality on earth for no other reason than for the power of relieving the distressed.—Maria Theresa: Coxe'sHistory of the House of Austria, Vol. II. Ch. 44.

Adieu, mon cher et illustre maître; nous avons fait un beau rêve, mais il a été trop court. Je vais me remettre à la géométrie et à la philosophie. Il est bien froid de ne plus travailler que pour la gloriole, quand on s'est flatté pendant quelque temps de travailler pour le bien public.—Condorcet,à Voltaire, 1776:Œuvres, Tom. I. p. 115.

Un temps peut arriver, où les princes, lassés de l'ambition qui les agite, et de ce retour habituel des mêmes inquiétudes et des mêmes projets, tourneront davantage leurs regards vers les grandes idées d'Humanité; et si les hommes du temps présent ne doivent pas être spectateurs de ces heureuses révolutions, il leur est permis du moins de s'unir par leurs vœux à la perfection des vertus sociales, et aux progrès de la bienfaisance publique.—Necker,De l'Administration des Finances de la France, Part. I. Ch. 13.Les nations ne doivent porter que le deuil de leurs bienfaiteurs. Les représentans des nations ne doivent recommander à leur hommage que les héros de l'humanité.—Mirabeau,Éloge Funèbre de Franklin.I have had occasion to know many thousand persons in the course of my travels on this subject [of the Slave-Trade], and I can truly say that the part which these took on this great question was always a true criterion of their moral character.—Clarkson,History of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, Vol. II. p. 460.Not thus the schoolmaster in his peaceful vocation.... His is a progress not to be compared with anything like a march; but it leads to a far more brilliant triumph, and to laurels more imperishable than the destroyer of his species, the scourge of the world, ever won. Such men—men deserving the glorious title of Teachers of Mankind—I have found laboring conscientiously, though perhaps obscurely, in their blessed vocation.... Their calling is high and holy; their fame is the property of nations; their renown will fill the earth in after ages, in proportion as it sounds not far off in their own times.—Lord Brougham,Speech at Liverpool, July 20, 1835.Lieutenant-Colonel Wheeler, in his despatch (Camp Cudjah, August 24, 1840) to Captain Douglas, describing the storming of an Afghanistan fort, says: "I directed Lieutenant Paterson to concentrate as heavy a volley as he could close to the gate: this had the desired effect, shook the gate, and enabled the Grenadiers of the Forty-Eighth, under that officer, to force it, and carry the fortin beautiful style, bayoneting all within it!"—Haydon,Lectures on Painting and Design, Vol. II. p. 262.

Les nations ne doivent porter que le deuil de leurs bienfaiteurs. Les représentans des nations ne doivent recommander à leur hommage que les héros de l'humanité.—Mirabeau,Éloge Funèbre de Franklin.

I have had occasion to know many thousand persons in the course of my travels on this subject [of the Slave-Trade], and I can truly say that the part which these took on this great question was always a true criterion of their moral character.—Clarkson,History of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade, Vol. II. p. 460.

Not thus the schoolmaster in his peaceful vocation.... His is a progress not to be compared with anything like a march; but it leads to a far more brilliant triumph, and to laurels more imperishable than the destroyer of his species, the scourge of the world, ever won. Such men—men deserving the glorious title of Teachers of Mankind—I have found laboring conscientiously, though perhaps obscurely, in their blessed vocation.... Their calling is high and holy; their fame is the property of nations; their renown will fill the earth in after ages, in proportion as it sounds not far off in their own times.—Lord Brougham,Speech at Liverpool, July 20, 1835.

Lieutenant-Colonel Wheeler, in his despatch (Camp Cudjah, August 24, 1840) to Captain Douglas, describing the storming of an Afghanistan fort, says: "I directed Lieutenant Paterson to concentrate as heavy a volley as he could close to the gate: this had the desired effect, shook the gate, and enabled the Grenadiers of the Forty-Eighth, under that officer, to force it, and carry the fortin beautiful style, bayoneting all within it!"—Haydon,Lectures on Painting and Design, Vol. II. p. 262.

The literary festival which we are assembled to commemorate is called Commencement. To an interesting portion of my hearers it is the commencement of a new life. The ingenuous student, having completed his term of years—a classical Olympiad—amidst the restraints of the academy, in the daily pursuits of the lecture-room, observant of forms, obsequious to the college curfew, at length renounces these restraints, heeds no longer the summoning bell, throws off the youthful gown, and now, under the auspices of Alma Mater, assumes the robe of manhood. At such a change, the mind and heart open to impressions which may send an influence through remaining life. A seasonable word to-day may, peradventure, like the acorn dropped into propitious soil, shoot upward its invigorating growth, till its stately trunk, its multitudinous branches, and sheltering foliage become an ornament and protection of unspeakable beauty.

Feeling more than I can express the responsibility of the position in which I am now placed by your partial kindness, I trust that what I shall say may be not unworthy of careful meditation, and that it may ripen in this generous soil with no unwelcome growth. I address the literary societies of Amherst College, andmy subject will naturally bear some relation to the occasion and to the assembly. But though addressing literary societies, I feel that I should inadequately perform my duty at this time, if I spoke on any topic of mere literature, without moralizing the theme; nor could I satisfy myself,—I think I should not satisfy you,—if I strove to excite merely a love of knowledge, of study, of books, or even of those classics which, like the ancient Roman roads, the Appian and Flaminian Ways, once trod by returning proconsuls and tributary kings, still continue the thoroughfares of nations. These things I may well leave to the lessons of your able instructors and to the influences of this place; nor, indeed, can I expect to touch upon any topic which, under the mingled teachings of the pulpit and the chair, has not been already impressed upon your minds with more force than I can command. Still, I may not vainly indulge the hope, by singling one special theme, to present it with distinctness and unity, so that it will be connected hereafter, in some humble measure, with the grave and the pleasant memories of this occasion.

To you now standing on the threshold of life, anxious for its honors,—more anxious, I hope, for its duties,—nothing can be more important or interesting than the inquiry, what should be your aims, and what your motives of conduct. The youthful bosom throbbing with historic examples is stirred by the praises lavished upon those who have gone before, and pants for fresh fields. The laurels of Miltiades would not suffer Themistocles to sleep. Perhaps a kindred sleeplessness consumes the early thoughts of our day, and, in those visions which it is said young men shall see, Fame and Glory too often absorb the sight. Turning the attention in this direction,we may, perhaps, ascertain the true nature of these potent attractions, and to what extent they can be justly regarded.

My subject isFame and Glory. As I undertake this discussion, I feel that I enter upon a theme which has become a commonplace of declamation, while it has filled the aspirations of many of the noblest natures that have lived. The great Roman orator, whose essayDe Gloria, surviving the wreck of antiquity, was lost in the darkness of the Middle Ages, cannot claim exclusive possession of the topic he had fondly made his own; nor is there enough in the chapterDe Cupiditate Gloriæ, by the Roman historiographer,[186]to supersede inquiry, especially in a Christian age, when a speaker may hope to combine lights and illustrations which had not dawned upon the Heathen.

Three questions present themselves:First, What, in the more popular acceptation, are Fame and Glory?Secondly, To what extent, if any, are they proper motives of conduct or objects of regard? and,Thirdly, What are True Fame and Glory, and who are the men most worthy of honor? Already, in stating these questions, scenes and characters memorable in history rise before us, while from a distance we discern the dazzling heights of human ambition.

What, in the more popular acceptation, are Fame and Glory? In considering this question we must look beyond the verses of poets, the eulogies of orators, andthe discordant voices whether of history or philosophy. We must endeavor to observe these nimble-footed phantoms from a nearer point of view, to follow their movements, to note their principle of life, and to direct upon them the light of truth. Thus we may hope to arrive at a clear perception of their character, and perhaps do something by which to disenchant their pernicious power and break their unhappy sorcery.

Fame was portrayed by the poets of antiquity as a monster, with innumerable eyes to see, innumerable ears to hear, and innumerable tongues to declare what she had seen and heard:—

"Monstrum horrendum, ingens, cui quot sunt corpore plumæ,Tot vigiles oculi subter (mirabile dictu),Tot linguæ, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit aures."[187]

"Monstrum horrendum, ingens, cui quot sunt corpore plumæ,

Tot vigiles oculi subter (mirabile dictu),

Tot linguæ, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit aures."[187]

In this character her office was different from that commonly attached to Glory. She was the grand author and circulator of reports, news, tidings, good or bad, true or false. Glory seems to have escaped the unpleasing personification of her sister, Fame. These two names were often used in the same sense; but the former more exclusively designated that splendor of renown which was so great an object of heathen ambition. For the present purpose they may be regarded as synonymous, denoting, with different degrees of force, the reputation awarded on earth for human conduct.

Glory, in common acceptance, is a form or expression of public opinion. It is the judgment uttered by fellow-mortals upon our lives or acts. It is the product of their voices. It is the echo of their characters and minds. Its value and significance are, therefore, measured by the weight justly attached to this opinion. Ifthose from whom it proceeds are enlightened, benevolent, and just, it may be the mark of honor. If, on the other hand, they are ignorant, heartless, or unjust, it must be an uncertain index, varying always in accordance with the elevation, mediocrity, or degradation of the intellectual and moral nature.

This explanation enables us to appreciate different foundations of Fame. In early and barbarous periods homage is rendered exclusively to achievements of physical strength, chiefly in slaying wild beasts or human beings termed "enemies." The feats of Hercules, filling the fable and mythology of early Greece, were triumphs of brute force. Conqueror of the Nemean lion and the many-headed hydra, strangler of the giant Antæus, illustrious scavenger of the Augean stables, grand abater of contemporary nuisances, he was hailed as hero and commemorated as god. At a later time honor was still continued to mere muscular strength of arm. The most polite and eminent chief at the siege of Troy is distinguished by Homer for the ease with which he hurled a stone such as could not be lifted even by two strong men of his day:—

"A ponderous stone bold Hector heaved to throw,Pointed above, and rough and gross below;Not two strong men the enormous weight could raise,Such men as live in these degenerate days;Yet this, as easy as a swain could bearThe snowy fleece, he tossed and shook in air."[188]

"A ponderous stone bold Hector heaved to throw,

Pointed above, and rough and gross below;

Not two strong men the enormous weight could raise,

Such men as live in these degenerate days;

Yet this, as easy as a swain could bear

The snowy fleece, he tossed and shook in air."[188]

This was Glory in an age which had not learned to regard the moral and intellectual nature, or that which distinguishes man from the beast, as the only source of conduct worthy of just renown.

As we enter the polished periods of antiquity, ambition gleams in new forms, while we still discern the barbarism that slowly yields to advancing light. The Olympic games echoed to the Isthmian in shouts of praise. All Greece joined in competition for prizes awarded to successful charioteers and athletes; and victory was hailed as a great Glory. Poets did not disdain to sing these achievements; and the odes of Pindar—the Theban eagle, whose pride of place is still undisturbed in the Grecian firmament—are squandered in commemoration of these petty or vulgar contests. In Sparta honor was the monopoly of the soldier returning with his shield, or on it. The arts of peace yielded servile precedence to the toils of war, in which were absorbed life and education. Athens, instinct with the martial spirit, did not fail to cherish the owl with the spear that belonged to her patron goddess; poetry, eloquence, philosophy, history, art, held divided empire with arms; so that this city is wreathed with a Glory other and higher than that of Sparta. And yet this brilliant renown, admired through a long succession of ages, must fade and grow dull by the side of triumphs grander and holier than any achieved by force or intellect alone.

Rome slowly learned to recognize labors not employed in war. In her stately and imperatorial tongue,virtue, that word of highest import, was too often restricted to martial courage. Her much-prized crowns of honor were all awarded to the successful soldier. The title to a triumph, that highest object of ambition, was determined by the number of enemies destroyed, and at least five thousand must have been slain in battle without any considerable detriment to the Roman power. Her most illustrious characters cherished this barbarousspirit. Cato the Censor, that model Roman, hearing that the Athenian ambassadors had captivated the youth of Rome by the charms of philosophy, abruptly dismissed them, and, with the spirit of a Mohawk Indian, declared his reprehension of such corrupting influence on a people whose only profession was war. Even Cicero, in his work of beautiful, but checkered morals, where heathenism blends with truth almost Christian, commends to youth the Glory of war, while he congratulates his son Marcus on the great praise he had obtained from Pompey and the whole army, "by riding, hurling the javelin, and enduring every kind of military labor."[189]

The Roman, taught the Glory of war, was also told, as a last resort, to balk the evils of the world by taking his own life,—falling on his sword, like Brutus, or opening his veins, like Seneca. Suicide was honorable, glorious. A grave historian has recorded the melancholy end of Cato at Utica, whose philosophical suicide is so familiar to English readers from Addison's tragedy: first, the calm perusal of Plato's Dialogue on the Immortality of the Soul; then the plunging of the dagger into his body; the alarm of friends; the timely presence of aid, by which the wound was closed; and when the determined patriot was again left alone, a further ferocious persistence in his purpose till life was extinct: yet this recital is crowned by the annunciation, that Cato, "even by his death, gained great Glory."[190]

Other stages show other elements of renown. The Huns bestowed Glory upon the successful robber; the Scandinavians, upon the triumphant pirate; while inWales petty larceny and grossness of conduct were the foundations of Fame. In the Welsh tale of "The Mabinogion," where are stories of King Arthur, so famous in song and legend, Peredur, whose dead father had owned "the earldom of the North," is sent by his mother to visit where lived "the best and the boldest and the most bountiful of men." As the son is about to leave, the mother instructs him how to secure an honorable name. "Now hear," says the ambitious mother to her child. "If by chance thou comest by a church, there chant thy paternoster. When thou seest victuals and drink to satisfy thy appetite, help thyself thereto. If thou shouldest hear a cry of distress, go and know the cause, but in particular if it is the voice of a female. Should any precious jewel attract thy eyes, take it; and bestow on others also.Thus shalt thou acquire Fame."[191]The processes of Fame thus rudely displayed were refined by chivalry; but the vivid page of Froissart shows, that, while courtesy became a fresh and grateful element, petty personal encounters with spear and sword were the honorable feats by which applause was won and a name extended after death. And we learn from old Michael Drayton, the poet who has pictured the Battle of Agincourt, something of the inhuman renown there obtained:—

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