“And the most difficult of tasks to keepHeights which the soul is competent to gain.”[21]
“And the most difficult of tasks to keepHeights which the soul is competent to gain.”[21]
“And the most difficult of tasks to keep
Heights which the soul is competent to gain.”[21]
Our nation found it so. Only a few days after the great Declaration in the name of “the People,” Articles of Confederation were brought forward in the name of “the States.” Evidently these were drawn before the Declaration, and they were in the handwriting of John Dickinson, then a delegate from Pennsylvania, whom the eldest Adams calls “the bell-wether of the aristocratical flock,”[22]and who had been the orator against the Declaration. Not unnaturally, an opponent of the Declaration favored a system which forgot the constituent sovereignty of the people, and made haste to establish the pretensions of States. These Articles were not readily adopted. There was hesitation in Congress, and then hesitation among the States. At last, on the 1st of March, 1781, Maryland gave a tardy adhesion, and this shadow of a government began. It was a pitifulsight. The Declaration was sacrificed. Instead of “one people,” we were nothing but “a league” of States; and our nation, instead of drawing its quickening life from “the good people,” drew it from a combination of “artificial bodies”; instead of recognizing the constituent sovereignty of the people, by whose voice Independence was declared, it recognized only the pretended sovereignty of States; and, to complete the humiliating transformation, the national name was called “the style,” being a term which denotes sometimes title and sometimes copartnership, instead of unchangeable unity. Such an apostasy could not succeed.
Even before the adoption of this denationalizing framework, its failure had begun. The Confederation became at once a byword and a sorrow. It was not fit for war or peace. It accomplished nothing national. It arrested all the national activities. Each State played the part of the feudal chieftain, selfishly absorbing power and denying it to the Nation. Money could not be collected even for national purposes. Commerce could not be regulated. Justice could not be administered. Rights could not be assured. Congress was without coercive power, and could act only through the local sovereignty. National unity was impossible, and in its stead was a many-headed pretension. The country was lapsing into chaos.
From Boston, which was the early home of the Revolution, had already proceeded a cry for Nationality. A convention of delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, with Thomas Cushing as President, assembled at Boston in August, 1780, where, among other things, it was recommended “that the Union of these States be fixed in a more solid andpermanent manner, that the powers of Congress be more clearly ascertained and defined, and that the importantnationalconcerns of the United States beunder the superintendency and direction of one supreme head,” and the wordNationis adopted as the natural expression for our unity.[23]But the time had not yet come for this fulfilment.
In the prevailing darkness, two voices made themselves heard, both speaking for National Unity on the foundation of Human Rights. The singular accord between the two, not only in sentiment, but also in language, and in date of utterance, attests concert. One voice was that of Congress, in an Address and Recommendations to the States on the close of the war, bearing date 18th April, 1783, where, urging “effectual provision” for the war debts, as demanded alike by national honor, and the honor of the cause in which they had been contracted, it was said, in words worthy of companionship with the immortal Declaration: “Let it be remembered that it has ever been the pride and boast of America thatthe rights for which she contended were the rights of Human Nature.”[24]The other voice was that of Washington, in a general order, also bearing date 18th April, 1783, announcing the close of the war, where, after declaring his “rapture” in the prospect before the country, he says: “Happy, thrice happy, shall they be pronounced hereafter who have contributedanything, who have performed the meanest office, in erecting this stupendous fabric of Freedom and Empire on the broad basis of Independency,who have assisted in protecting the rights of Human Nature.”[25]This appeal was followed by a circular letter to the Governors, where, after announcing that it is for the United States to determine “whether they will be respectable and prosperous or contemptible and miserableas a Nation,” Washington proceeds to name first among the things essential to national well-being, if not even to national existence, what he calls “an indissoluble union of the States under one federal head”; and he adds, that there must be a forgetfulness of “local prejudices and policies,” and that “Liberty” must be at the foundation of the whole structure.[26]Soon afterwards appearing before Congress to surrender the trust committed to him as commander-in-chief, he hailed the United States as a “Nation,” and “our dearest country,”[27]—thus embracing the whole in his heart, as for seven years he had defended the whole by his prudence and valor.
An incident of a different character attested the consciousness of National Unity. The vast outlying territory, unsettled at the beginning of the war, and wrested from the British crown by the common blood and treasure, was claimed as a common property, subject to the disposition of Congress for the general good. One by one, the States yielded their individual claims. The cession of Virginia comprehended all that grand region northwest of the Ohio, fertile and rich beyond imagination, where are now prosperous States rejoicing in the Union. All these cessions were on the condition thatthe lands should “be disposed of for the common benefit of the United States, and be settled and formed into distinctrepublican States.”[28]Here was a National act, with the promise of republican government, which was the forerunner of the guaranty of a republican government in the National Constitution.
The best men, in their longing for national unity, all concurred in the necessity of immediate action to save the country. Foremost in time, as in genius, was Alexander Hamilton, who was prompt to insist that Congress should have “complete sovereignty, except as to that part of internal police which relates to the rights of property and life among individuals and to raising money by internal taxes”; and still further, in words which harmonized with the Declaration of Independence, that “the fabric of the American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people.”[29]In kindred spirit, Schuyler announced “the necessity ofa supreme and coercive powerin the government of these States.”[30]Hamilton and Schuyler were both of New York, which, with such representatives, took the lead in solemn resolutions, which, after declaring that “the situation of these States is in a peculiar manner critical,” and that “the present system exposes the common cause to a precarious issue,” concluded with a call for “a general convention of the States, specially authorized to revise and amend the Confederation.”[31]The movement ended in the National Convention. Other States followed, and Congress recommended it as “themost probable means of establishing in these States a firm National Government.”[32]Meantime, Noah Webster, whom you know so well as author of the popular Dictionary, in an essay on the situation, published at the time, proposed a new system of government, which should act directly on the individual citizens, and by which Congress should be invested with full powers of legislation within its sphere, and for carrying its laws into effect.[33]But this proposition involved nothing less than a National Government with supreme powers, to which the States should be subordinate.
Here I mention three illustrious characters, who at this time lent the weight of their great names to the national cause,—Jay, Madison, and Washington,—each in his way without a peer. I content myself with a few words from each. John Jay, writing to John Adams, at the time our minister in London, under date of 4th May, 1786, says: “One of the first wishes of my heart” is “to see the people of America becomeOne Nation in every respect; for, as to the separate Legislatures, I would have them considered, with relation to the Confederacy,in the same light in which counties standto the State of which they are parts, viz., merely as districts to facilitate the purposes of domestic order and good government.”[34]Even in this strong view Jay was not alone. Franklin had already led in likening the colonies to “so many counties.”[35]Madison’s desires were differentlyexpressed. After declaring against “an individual independence of the States,” on the one side, and “a consolidation of the States into one simple republic,” on the other side, he sought what he called a “middle ground,” which, if varying from that of Jay, was essentially national. He would have “a due supremacy of the National authority, and leave in force the local authorities so far as they can be subordinately useful.”[36]Here is the definition of a Nation. Washington, in a letter to Jay, dated 1st August, 1786, stated the whole case with his accustomed authority. Insisting upon the importance of “a coercive power,” he pleads for national life: “I do not conceive we can exist long asa Nationwithout having lodged somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union inas energetic a manner as the authority of the State governments extends over the several States.” He then adds: “To be fearful of investing Congress, constituted as that body is, withample authorities for National purposes, appears to me the very climax of popular absurdity and madness.”[37]Such were the longings of patriots, all filled with a passion for country. But Washington went still further, when, on another occasion, he denounced State sovereignty as “bantling,” and even “monster.”[38]
The Constituent Convention, often called Federal, better called National, assembled at Philadelphia in May, 1787. It was a memorable body, whose deliberations have made an epoch in the history of government. Jeffersonand John Adams were at the time abroad in the foreign service of the country, Samuel Adams was in service at home in Massachusetts, and Jay in New York; but Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Gouverneur Morris, George Mason, Wilson, Ellsworth, and Sherman appeared among its members. Washington, by their unanimous voice, became President; and, according to the rules of the Convention, on adjournment, every member stood in his place until the President had passed him. Here is a glimpse of that august body which Art may yet picture. Who would not be glad to look upon Franklin, Hamilton, and Madison standing in their places while Washington passed?
On the first day after the adoption of the rules, Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, opened the great business. He began by announcing that the “Confederation” produced no security against foreign invasion; that the “Federal Government” could not suppress quarrels or rebellion; that the “Federal Government” could not defend itself against encroachments from the States; and then, insisting that the remedy must be found in “the republican principle,” concluded with a series of propositions for a National Government, with a “National” Legislature in two branches, a “National” Executive, and a “National” Judiciary, the whole crowned by the guaranty of a republican government in each State. This series of propositions was followed the next day by a simple statement in the form of a resolution, where, after setting forth the insufficiency of “a union of the States merely Federal,” or of “treaties among the States as individual sovereignties,” it was declared “thata National Government ought to be established, consistingof a supreme legislative, executive, and judiciary.” Better words could not have been chosen to express the prevailing aspiration for national life. After ample debate, the resolution in this form was adopted. At a later stage, in seeming deference to mistaken sensibilities, the word “National” gave place to the term “the government of the United States”; but this term equally denoted National Unity, although it did not use the words. The whole clause afterwards found a noble substitute in the Preamble to the Constitution, which is the annunciation of a National Government proceeding directly from the People, like the Declaration of Independence itself.
From the beginning to the end of its debates, the Convention breathed the same patriotic fervor. Amidst all difference in details, and above the persistent and sinister contest for the equal representation of the States, great and small, the sentiment of Unity found constant utterance. I have already mentioned Madison and Hamilton, who wished a National Government; but others were not less decided. Gouverneur Morris began early by explaining the difference between “Federal” and “National.” The former implied “a mere compact, resting on the good faith of the parties”; the latter had “a complete and compulsive operation.”[39]Constantly this impassioned statesman protested against State pretensions, insisting that the States were originally “nothing more than colonial corporations,”[40]and exclaiming, “We cannot annihilate, but we may perhaps take out the teeth of the serpents.”[41]Wilson was a different character,—gentle by nature, but informedby studies in jurisprudence and by the education brought from his Scottish home. He was for a National Government, and did not think it inconsistent with the “lesser jurisdictions” of States, which he would preserve;[42]he would not “extinguish these planets,” but keep them “within their proper orbits for subordinate purposes.”[43]He was too much of a jurist to admit, “that, when the Colonies became independent of Great Britain, they became independent also of each other,” and he insisted that they became independent, “not individually, but unitedly.”[44]Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, was as strong on this point as Gouverneur Morris, insisting that “we never were independent States, were not such now, and never could be, even on the principles of the Confederation.”[45]Rufus King, also of Massachusetts, touched a higher key, when he wished that “every man in America” should be “secured in all his rights,” and that these should not be “sacrificed to the phantom of State sovereignty.”[46]Good words, worthy of him who in the Continental Congress moved the prohibition of Slavery in the national territories.[47]And Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, said, in other words of precious significance, that “every freeman has a right tothe same protection and security,” and then again, that “equality is the leading feature of the United States.”[48]Under such influences the Constitution was adopted by the Convention.
It is needless to dwell on its features, all so well known; but there are certain points not to be disregarded now. There is especially the beginning. Next after the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, the opening words of the Constitution are the grandest in history. They sound like a majestic overture, fit prelude to the transcendent harmonies of National life on a theatre of unexampled proportions. Though familiar, they cannot be too often repeated; for they are in themselves an assurance of popular rights and an epitome of National duties: “We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Thus by the people of the United States was the Constitution ordained and established; not by the States, nor even by the people of the several States, but bythe people of the United Statesin aggregate individuality. Nor is it a league, alliance, agreement, compact, or confederation; but it is a Constitution, which in itself denotes an indivisible unity under one supreme law, permanent in character; and this Constitution, thus ordained and established, has for its declared purposes nothing less than liberty, justice, domestic tranquillity, the common defence, the general welfare, and a more perfect union, all essentially National, and to be maintained by the National arm. The work thus begun was completed by three further provisions: first, the lofty requirement that “the United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a republican form of government,”—thus subjectingthe States to the presiding judgment of the Nation, which is left to determine the definition of a republican government; secondly, the practical investiture of Congress with authority “to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution all the powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof,”—thus assuring the maintenance of the National Government, and the execution of its powers through a faithful Congress chosen by the people; and, thirdly, the imperial declaration, that “this Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall bethe supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby,anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding,”—thus forever fixing the supremacy of the National Government on a pinnacle above all local laws and constitutions. And thus did our country again assume the character and obligations of a Nation. Its first awakening was in the Declaration of Independence; its second was in the National Constitution.
On its adoption, the Constitution was transmitted to Congress with a letter from Washington, where, among other things, it is said that “in all our deliberations we kept steadily in our view that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American,the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our National existence.”[49]Enough that this letter is signed “George Washington”; but it was not merely the expression of his individual sentiments. It was unanimously adopted by the Convention, on the report of the committee that made the final draught of the Constitution itself, so that it must be considered as belonging to this great transaction. By its light the Constitution must be read. If anybody is disposed to set up the denationalizing pretensions of States under the National Constitution, let him bear in mind this explicit declaration, that, throughout all the deliberations of the Convention, the one object kept steadily in view wasthe consolidation of our Union. Such is the unanimous testimony of the Convention, authenticated by George Washington.
The Constitution was discussed next in the States. It was vindicated as creating a National Government, and it was opposed also on this very ground. Thus from opposite quarters comes the concurring testimony. In Connecticut, Mr. Johnson, who had been chairman of the committee that reported the final draught, said, in reply to inquiries of his constituents, that the Convention had “gone upon entirely new ground: they have formedone new Nationout of the individual States.”[50]George Mason, of Virginia, proclaimed at home that “the Confederation of the States was entirely changed intoone consolidated government,”—that it was “aNationalgovernment, and no longer a Confederation.”[51]Patrick Henry, in his vigorous opposition, testified to the completeness with which the work had been accomplished. Inquiring by what authority the Convention assumed to make such a government,he exclaimed: “That this is a consolidated government is demonstrably clear.… Give me leave to demand, What right had they to say,We, the people?… Who authorized them to speak the language ofWe, the people, instead ofWe, the States?… If the States be not the agents of this compact, it must be one great consolidated National government of the people of all the States.”[52]Then again the same fervid orator declared, with infinite point, “The question turns, Sir, on that poor little thing, the expression,We, the people, instead ofthe States.”[53]Patrick Henry was right. The question did turn on that grand expression,We, the people, in the very frontispiece of the Constitution, filling the whole with life-giving power; and so long as it stands there, the denationalizing pretensions of States must shrink into littleness. Originally “one people” during colonial days, we have been unalterably fixed in this condition by two National acts: first, the Declaration of Independence, and then again, the National Constitution. Thus is doubly assured the original unity in which we were born.
Other tokens of Nationality, like the air we breathe, are so common that they hardly attract attention; but each has a character of its own. They belong to the “unities” of our nation.
1. There is the National Flag. He must be cold indeed, who can look upon its folds rippling in the breeze without pride of country. If in a foreign land the flag is companionship, and country itself, with all its endearments, who, as he sees it, can think of a State merely? Whose eyes, once fastened upon its radianttrophies, can fail to recognize the image of the whole Nation? It has been called “a floating piece of poetry”; and yet I know not if it have an intrinsic beauty beyond other ensigns. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely, and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white proclaim the originalunionof thirteen States to maintain the Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue proclaim thatunionof States constituting our national constellation, which receives a new star with every new State. The two together signify Union, past and present. The very colors have a language, officially recognized by our fathers. White is for purity; red, for valor; blue, for justice. And all together, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors, blazing in the sky, make the flag of our country, to be cherished by all our hearts, to be upheld by all our hands.
Not at once did this ensign come into being. Its first beginning was in the camp before Boston, and it was announced by Washington in these words: “The day which gave being to the new army, we hoisted theUnion flag, in compliment to the United Colonies.”[54]The National forces and the National flag began together. Shortly afterwards, amidst the acclamations of the people, a fleet of five sail left Philadelphia, according to the language of the time, “under the display of aUnion flagwith thirteen stripes.”[55]This was probably the same flag, not yet matured into its present form. In its corner, where are now the stars, were thecrosses of St. George and St. Andrew, red and white, originally representing England and Scotland, and when conjoined, after the union of those two countries, known as “the Union.” To these were added thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and the whole was hailed at the time as the Great Union Flag. The States, represented by the stripes, were in subordination to the National Unity, represented by the two crosses. But this form did not continue long. By a resolution adopted 14th June, 1777, and made public 3d September, 1777, Congress determined “that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; thatthe unionbe thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”[56]Here the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew gave place to white stars in a blue field; the familiar symbol of British union gave place to another symbol of union peculiar to ourselves; and this completed the national flag, which a little later floated at the surrender of Burgoyne. Long afterward, in 1818, it was provided by Congress that a star be added on the admission of a new State, “to take effect on the fourth day of July next succeeding such admission.”[57]Thus, in every respect, and at each stage of its history, the National Flag testifies to the National Unity. The whole outstretched, indivisible country is seated in its folds.
There is a curious episode of the national flag, which is not without value. As far back as 1754, Franklin, while attempting a union of the Colonies, pictured the principal ones in a wood-cut under the device of a snake divided into eight parts marked with their initials, and under the disjointed whole the admonitorymotto, “Join or die,”—thus indicating the paramount necessity of Union. In the heats of the Revolutionary discussion, a similar representation of all the Thirteen Colonies was adopted as the head-piece of newspapers, and was painted on banners; but when the Union was accomplished, the divisions and initials were dropped, and the snake was exhibited whole, coiled in conscious power, with thirteen rattles, and under it another admonitory motto, “Don’t tread on me,”—being a warning to the mother country.[58]This flag was yellow, and it became the early standard of the Revolutionary navy, being for the first time hoisted by Paul Jones with his own hands. It had a further lesson. A half-formed additional rattle was said by Franklin “to represent the province of Canada,” and the wise man added, that “the rattles are united together so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces.” Thus the snake at one time pictured the necessity of Union, and at another time its indissoluble bond.[59]But these symbols were all in harmony with the national flag, which, from its first appearance, in all its forms, pictured the common cause.
2. There is next the National Motto, as it appears on the national seal and on the national money. A common seal and common money are signs of National Unity. In each the supreme sovereignty of the Nation is manifest. The first is like the national flag, and stands for the Nation, especially in treaties with foreign powers. The second is a national convenience, if not necessity, taking its distinctive character from the Nation,so that everywhere it is a representative of the Nation. Each has the same familiar motto,E pluribus unum,—“From many one.” Its history attests its significance.
On the 4th of July, 1776, the very day of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were appointed a committee to prepare a device for a great seal. They were of the identical committee that had reported the Declaration of Independence itself. Their report on the seal was made 20th August, 1776; and here we first meet the national motto, in such entire harmony with the Declaration, making us “one people.” Questions of detail intervened, and no conclusion was reached until 20th June, 1782, when the present seal was adopted, being the American bald eagle, with the olive-branch in one talon and a bundle of thirteen arrows in the other, and in his beak a scroll, bearing the inscription,E pluribus unum. Familiar as these Latin words have become,—so that they haunt the memory of manhood, youth, and childhood alike,—it is not always considered how completely and simply they tell the story of our national life. Out of Many Colonies was formed One Nation. Former differences were merged in this unity. No longer Many, they were One. The Nation by its chosen motto repeats perpetually, “We are One”; and the Constitution echoes back, “We, the people of the United States.”
3. There is next the National Name, which of itself implies National Unity. The States are not merely allied, associated, coalesced, confederated, but they areUnited, and the Constitution, formed to secure a more perfect union, is “for theUnitedStates of America,” which term was used as the common name of the Nation.
A regret has been sometimes expressed by patriots and by poets, that some single term was not originally adopted, which of itself should exclude every denationalizing pretension, and be a talisman for the heart to cherish and for the tongue to utter,—as when Nelson gave his great watchword at Trafalgar, “Englandexpects every man to do his duty.” Occasionally it is proposed to call the countryColumbia, and thus restore to the great discoverer at least part of the honor taken from him when the continent was misnamedAmerica.Alleghaniahas also been proposed; but this word is too obviously a mere invention, besides its unwelcome suggestion of Alligator. Another proposition has beenVinland, being the name originally given by the Northmen, four centuries before Christopher Columbus. Professor Lieber, on one occasion, called the nationFreeland, a name to which it will soon be entitled. Even as a bond of union, such a name would not be without value. As long ago as Herodotus, it was said of a certain people,[60]that they would have been the most powerful in the world, if they had been united; but this was impossible, from the want among themselves of a common name.
Forgetting that the actual name implies Unity, and, when we consider its place in the preamble of the National Constitution, that it implies Nationality also, the partisans of State pretensions argue from it against even the idea of country; and here I have a curious and authentic illustration. In reply to an inquirer,[61]who wished a single name, Mr. Calhoun exclaimed: “Not at all; we have no name because we ought to have none;we are only States united, and have no country.” Alas, if it be so!—if this well-loved land, for which so many have lived, for which so many have died, is not our country! But this strange utterance shows how completely the poison of these pretensions had destroyed the common sense, as well as the patriotism, of this much-mistaken man.
Names may be given by sovereign power to new discoveries or settlements; but, as a general rule, they grow out of the soil, they are autochthonous. Even Augustus, when ruling the Roman world, confessed that he could not make a new word,[62]and Plato tells us that “a creator of names is the rarest of human creatures.”[63]Reflecting on these things, we may appreciate something of the difficulty in the way of a new name at the formation of the National Constitution. As this was little more than a transcript of prevailing ideas and institutions, it was natural to take the name used in the Declaration of Independence.
And yet it must not be forgotten that there was a name of different character which was much employed. Congress was called “Continental,” the army “Continental,” the money “Continental,”—a term certainly of unity, as well as vastness. But there was still another national designation, accepted at home and abroad. Our country was called “America,” and we were called “Americans.” Here was a natural, unsought, and instinctive name,—a growth, and not a creation,—implying national unity and predominance, if not exclusive power, on the continent. It was used not occasionally or casually, but constantly,—not merelyin newspapers, but in official documents. Not an address of Congress, not a military order, not a speech, which does not contain this term, at once so expansive and so unifying. At the opening of the first Continental Congress, Patrick Henry, in a different mood from that of a later day, announced the national unity under this very name. Declaring the boundaries of the several Colonies effaced, and the distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New-Yorkers, and New-Englanders as no more, he exclaimed, in words of comprehensive patriotism, “I am not a Virginian, but anAmerican.”[64]Congress took up the strain, and commissioned Washington as commander-in-chief of the armies “for the defence ofAmericanliberty”;[65]and Washington himself, in his first general order at Cambridge, assuming his great command, announced that the armies were “for the support and defence of the liberties ofAmerica;[66]and in a letter to Congress, just before the Battle of Trenton, he declared that he had labored “to discourage all kinds of local attachments and distinctions of country,denominating the whole by the greater name of American.”[67]Then at the close of the war, in its immortal Address, fit supplement to the Declaration of Independence, Congress said: “Let it be remembered that it has ever been the pride and boast ofAmericathat the rights for which she contended were the rights of Human Nature.”[68]Washington again, in his letter to Congress communicating the National Constitution, says,in other words, which, like those of Congress, cannot be too often quoted, that “theconsolidation of our Union” is “the greatest interest ofevery true American.”[69]Afterwards, in his Farewell Address, which from beginning to end is one persuasive appeal for nationality, after enjoining upon his fellow-citizens that “unity of governmentwhich constitutes themone people,” he gives to them a national name, and this was his legacy: “The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.”[70]Thus did Washington put aside those baneful pretensions under which the country has suffered, even to the extent of adopting a National Name, which, like the Union itself, should have a solid coercive power.
It is not impossible that in the lapse of time history will vindicate the name adopted by Washington, which may grow with the Republic, until it becomes the natural designation of one country. Our fathers used this term more wisely than they knew; but they acted under Providential guidance. Is it not said of the stars, that God “calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His might”?[71]Is it not declared also that He will make him who overcometh a pillar in the temple, and give to him a “new name”?[72]So, as our stars multiply, and the nation overcometh its adversaries, persuading all to its declared principles, everywhere on the continent, it will become a pillar in the temple, and the name of the continent itself will be needed to declare alike its unity and its power.
4. To these “unities,” derived from history and the heart of the people, may be added another, where Nature is the great teacher. I refer to the geographical position and configuration of our country, if not of the whole continent, marking it for one nation. Unity is written upon it by the Almighty hand. In this respect it differs much from Europe, where, for generations, seas, rivers, and mountains kept people apart, who had else, “like kindred drops, been mingled into one.” There is no reason why they should not commingle here. Nature in every form is propitious. Facility of intercourse, not less than common advantage, leads to unity: both these are ours. Here are navigable rivers, numerous and famous, being so many highways of travel, and a chain of lakes, each an inland sea. Then there is an unexampled extent of country adapted to railways; and do not forget that with the railway is the telegraph, using the lightning as its messenger, so that the interrogatory to Job is answered, “Canst thou send lightnings that they may go?”[73]The country is one open expanse, from the frozen Arctic to the warm waters of the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains,—and there already science supplies the means of overcoming this barrier, which in other days would have marked international boundaries. The Pacific Railway will neutralize these mountains, and complete the geographical unity of the continent. The slender wire of the telegraph, when once extended, is an indissoluble tie; the railway is an iron band. But these depend upon opportunities which Nature supplies, so that Nature herself is one of the guardians of our nation.
He has studied history poorly, and human nature nobetter, who imagines that this broad compacted country can be parcelled into different nationalities. Where will you run the thread of partition? By what river? Along what mountain? On what line of latitude or longitude? Impossible. No line of longitude or latitude, no mountain, no river, can become the demarcation. Every State has rights in every other State. The whole country has a title, which it will never renounce, in every part, whether the voluminous Mississippi as it pours to the sea, or that same sea as it chafes upon our coast. As well might we of the East attempt to shut you of the West from the ocean as you attempt to shut us from the Mississippi. The ocean will always be yours as it is ours, and the Mississippi will always be ours as it is yours.
Our country was planned by Providence for a united and homogeneous people. Apparent differences harmonize. Even climate, passing through all gradations from North to South, is so tempered as to present an easy uniformity from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. Unmeasured supplies of all kinds, mineral and agricultural, are at hand,—the richest ores and the most golden crops, with the largest coal-fields of the world below and the largest corn-fields of the world above. Strabo said of ancient Gaul, that, by its structure, with its vast plains and considerable rivers, it was destined to become the theatre of a great civilization.[74]But the structure of our country is more auspicious. Our plains are vaster and our rivers more considerable, furnishing a theatre grander than any imagined by the Greek geographer. It is this theatre, thus appointed by Nature, which is now open for the good of mankind.
Here I stop, to review the field over which we have passed, and to gather its harvest into one sheaf. Beginning with the infancy of the Colonies, we have seen how, with different names and governments, they were all underone sovereignty, with common and interchangeable rights of citizenship, so that no British subject in one Colony could be made an alien in any other Colony; how, even at the beginning, longings for a common life began, showing themselves in “loving accord”; how Franklin regarded the Colonies “as so many counties”; how the longings increased, until, under the pressure of the mother country, they broke forth in aspiration for “an American Commonwealth”; how they were at last organized in a Congress, called, from its comprehensive character, “Continental”; how, in the exercise of powers derived from “the good people,” and in their name, the Continental Congress put forth the Declaration of Independence, by which the sovereignty of the mother country was forever renounced, and we were made “one people,” solemnly dedicated to Human Rights, and thus became a Nation; how the undivided sovereignty of all was substituted for the undivided sovereignty of the mother country, embracing all the States as the other sovereignty had embraced all the Colonies; how, according to Franklin, the States were locked together, “so as never to be separated, but by breaking them to pieces”; how in an evil hour the Confederation was formed in deference to denationalizing pretensions of the States; how the longings for national life continued, and found utterance in Congress, in Washington, and in patriot compeers; how Jay wished the States should be like “counties”; how “Washington denounced State sovereignty as “bantling” and“monster”; how at last a National Convention assembled, with Washington as President, where it was voted that “a National Government ought to be established”; how in this spirit, after ample debate, the National Constitution was formed, with its preamble beginning “We, the people,” with its guaranty of a republican government to all the States, with its investiture of Congress with all needful powers for the maintenance of the Government, and with its assertion of supremacy over State constitutions and laws; how this Constitution was commended by Washington in the name of the Convention as “the consolidation of our Union”; how it was vindicated and opposed as creating a National Government; how on its adoption we again became a Nation; then how our nationality has been symbolized in the National Flag, the National Motto, and the National Name; and, lastly, how Nature, in the geographical position and configuration of the country, has supplied the means of National Unity, and written her everlasting guaranty. And thus do I bind the whole together into one conclusion, saying to all, We are a Nation.
Nor is this all. Side by side with the growth of National Unity was a constant dedication to Human Rights, which showed itself not only in the Declaration of Independence, with its promises and covenants, but in the constant claim of the rights of Magna Charta, the earlier cries of Otis, the assertion by the first Continental Congress of the right of the people “to participate in their legislative council,” the commission of Washington as commander-in-chief “for the defence of American liberty,” and the first general order of Washington, on taking command of his forces, where he ralliesthem to this cause; also in the later proclamation of Congress, at the close of the Revolution, that the rights contended for had been “the rights of Human Nature,” and the farewell general order of Washington, on the same occasion, where the contest is characterized in the same way: so that Human Rights were the beginning and end of the war, while the nation, as it grew into being, was quickened by these everlasting principles, and its faith was plighted to their support.
As a Nation, with a place in the family of nations, we have the powers of a nation, with corresponding responsibilities. Whether we regard these powers as naturally inhering in the nation, or as conferred upon it by those two title-deeds, the Declaration of Independence and the National Constitution, the conclusion is the same. From Nature, and also from its title-deeds, our nation must have all needful powers: first, for the national defence, foremost among which is the power to uphold and defend the national unity; secondly, for the safeguard of the citizen in all his rights of citizenship, foremost among which is equality, the first of rights, so that, as all owe equal allegiance, all shall enjoy equal protection; and, thirdly, for the support and maintenance of all the promises made by the nation, especially at its birth, being baptismal vows which cannot be disowned. These three powers are essentially national. They belong to our nation by the very law of its being and the terms of its creation. They cannot be neglected or abandoned. Every person, no matter what his birth, condition, or color, who can raise the cry, “I am an American citizen,” has a right to require at the hands of the nation, that it shalldo its utmost, by all its central powers, to uphold the national unity, to protect the citizen in the rights of citizenship, and to perform the original promises of the nation. Failure here is apostasy and bankruptcy combined.
It is vain to say that these requirements are not expressly set down in the National Constitution. By a law existing before this title-deed, they belong to the essential conditions of national life. If not positively nominated in the Constitution, they are there in substance; and this is enough. Every word, from “We, the people,” to the signature, “George Washington,” is instinct with national life, and there is not a single expression taking from the National Government any inherent power. From this “nothing” in the Constitution there can come nothing adverse. But there has always been a positive injunction on the nation to guaranty “a republican form of government” to all the States; and who can doubt, that, in the execution of this guaranty, the nation may exercise all these powers, and provide especially for the protection of the citizen in all the rights of citizenship? There are also recent Amendments, abolishing slavery, and expressly securing “the privileges and immunities of citizens” against the pretensions of States. Then there is the Declaration of Independence itself, which is the earlier title-deed. By that sacred instrument we were declared “one people,” with liberty and equality for all, and then, fixing forever the rights of citizenship, it was announced that all just government was derived only from “the consent of the governed.” Come weal or woe, that great Declaration must stand forever. Other things may fail, but this cannot fail. It is immortal as the nation itself.It is part of the nation, and the part most worthy of immortality. By it the National Constitution must be interpreted; or rather, the two together are the Constitution,—as Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights together are the British Constitution. By the Declaration our nation was born and its vital principles were announced; by the Constitution the nation was born again and supplied with the machinery of government. The two together are our National Scriptures, each being a Testament.
Against this conclusion there has been from the beginning one perpetual pretension in the name of States. The same spirit which has been so hostile to national unity in other countries, which made each feudal chief a petty sovereign, which for a long time convulsed France, which for centuries divided Italy, and which, unhappily, still divides Germany, has appeared among us. Assuming that communities never “sovereign” while colonies, and independent only by the national power, had in some way, by some sudden hocus-pocus, leaped into local sovereignty, and forgetting also that two sovereignties cannot coexist in the same place, as, according to the early dramatist,