I ■ o «bv* :&M%&:* *w • ■ •• o J* *!^L% * V V^'V o . * . , • • v> THE ADDRESS OF T. W. BARTLEY, BEFOKE The Jefferson National Monument Association. Delivered October 10, 1882. ADDRESS OF JUDGE BARTLEY. The Jefferson National Monumental Association met on the evening of October 16th, 1882, in the Corcoran Building, when Chief-Justice D. K. Cartter was elected President, and Dr. J. M. Toner Vice-President. After some preliminary proceedings, Judge T. W. Bartley was requested to explain the object of the Association. In response to this request, Judge Bartley said: Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Association : In compliance with the request of the corporators, I submit the following exposition of their object and pur- poses. A monument to Thomas Jefferson at the capital of the United States, will be not merely a tribute to the memory of an illustrious statesman and patriot of the American Revolution, but also a memorial of a great achievement in the progress of free institutions. It was a noted re- mark of Daniel Webster, that in the formation of our political system a great advance was made in the science of government. While Washington was pre-eminently the military leader in the war of the Revolution, Jefferson was pre- eminently the statesman who conceived and formulated the fundamental principles of our government. The minds of the people were deeply impressed, indeed, be- came indoctrinated with the essential principles of civil liberty, by the declaration " that all men. are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ; and that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; and that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute a new government," &c. This proclamation of human rights and political equality awakened down-trodden man from his stupor like the angelic announcement, " On earth, peace and good will to man.'" It animated and sustained the people of the United Colonies in their long sufferings and arduous struggle for their liberties and independence. It electrified the people of France, and after a long series of revolutions has resulted in a republican form of gov- ernment in that country. It roused the people of Mexico and South America to a sense of their rights, and stimu- lated them in their struggles for the security of their liberties. And it has gradually broken the chains of slavery, and greatly mitigated the rigor and oppression of tyrannical governments in other parts of the world. Trace the course of the political development of nations, and the progress of free institutions through the history of ancient and of modern times and no instance can be found, in which the doctrine of Mian's original rights and liberty was so strikingly formulated and presented to the understanding of mankind until this announcement from the pen of Jefferson, which was proclaimed by the au- thority of the United Colonies, and maintained by the arbitrament of arms. And the grandeur of this achieve- ment in the progress of free government has not yet reached its full development, Jefferson, in drafting his immortal declaration of human rights, planted the standard of liberty upon American soil, to cheer and animate the hopes of civilized man throughout the world. And a monument to him will stand as a beacon-light in the on- ward progress of free institutions, declaring the equality of all men in a political point of view, as to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that civil government de- rives its just powers from the consent of the governed, and that its true objects are the security and protection of all in their rights equally and alike. And this fundamental principle of our political system has placed the people of the United States in the forefront in the onward progress of popular development and free government. It is no less than a duty, which our people owe to them- selves and to the cause of civil liberty, to erect a suitable monument to the illustrious patriot who formulated with such perspicuity the vital principle in man's elevation and the world's progress. And every citizen who is capable of appreciating our political system must take a pride in having his name inscribed, as a contributor of some amount, upon the records of such a national memorial. Let it be reared in an appropriate form to such an alti- tude that the first rays of the morning sun shall play upon its summit, and reflect its light even upon the most benighted regions of the world. And it will stand as an enduring testimonial to the latest generations of mankind of the great proclamation of human rights, and of the highest honor that can be ascribed to the name of the American people. A stranger from a foreign land in passing through the beautiful streets and avenues of Washington, and observ- ing the many statues which adorn our public grounds almost exclusively devoted to military and naval heroes, would rationally conclude that our people were worship- pers of military heroes and devotees of military renown, and either without men of great eminence in civil life, or destitute of a just estimate of wisdom and statesmanship in their public affairs. Let this misconception be cor- rected by commencing with an appropriate monument to the author of the immortal declaration of human rights, upon which our institutions were founded The enemies of political progress have expended much hypereriticism upon the Declaration of American Inde- pendence. They have said, that the statement therein, " that all men are created equal " was a manifest fallacy. But that this is a perversion of a self-evident truth is easily shown. It is not said in the declaration that all men are created equal in physical strength, or in intellec- tual powers, or adventitious circumstances. But the equa- lity affirmed has express reference to the political status of men. The meaning of words in any instrument, even in Holy Writ, can be correctly understood and interpre- ted only by reference to the subject-matter, the rational intent, and their connection with the other language in which they are used. The subject-matter of the Declara- tion of Independence was the separation of the people of the Colonies from the British government, and the estab- lishment of a new and independent government for them- selves. And the equality of men here affirmed is con- nected with and has direct reference to, 1st, the inalien- able rights of man, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ; 2d, the security of these rights by the institution of government ; and 3rd, the just powers of government being derived from the consent of the gov- erned. It is true, the condition of equality affirmed is general in terms, but it is directly followed by and con- nected with a specification of the political rights and functions of government to which it applies. If instead of the appropriate style used in the declaration, the style of a legal couveyance or judicial pleading had been adopted, the phraseology would have been as follows : All men are created equal in this, to wit, that the} 7 are equally endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ; and that to secure these rights equally to all, governments are instituted among men ; and that gov- ernments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed equally and alike. But in the style in which the declaration was written, the immediate context, the subject-matter and reasonable intent, furnish the interpretation of the language used. Thus all men are created equal as to their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ; equal as to their rights to the protection of their government ; and equal as to being the original source from which the just powers of the government are derived. And in these regards no man or class of men can have a superiority over others. In this sense the truths declared are self-evi- dent. This declaration was a repudiation of the absurd doc- trine of the divine right of kings> and of orders of nobility, and distinctions of the people into classes as to their polit- ical rights. Every distinguished public man has to suffer from the slander and detraction of the jealous and the malevolent. Of this Jefferson had his full share, and the malevolence of his enemies was not even abated by his death, and per- haps to this day it has not lost all its rancour. That Jefferson was not only a jurist of learning and ability, but a profound scholar and thorough statesman, as well as a man of marked originality of thought, all must admit. And his works, published by Congress since his death, show that he had to a great extent mastered the entire circle of science and literature. He had one of the best libraries in the country at his day, which was purchased by the Government for the Congressional Li- brary. In the Colonial Congress there was a concentration of leading minds, and numerous public men of great ability and research, and among them Jefferson stood pre-eminent • To such extent did he have the confidence of that body that he was by common consent entrusted with the most important business of drafting the Declaration of Inde- pendence, which, although subjected to the severest scrutiny and criticism before its adoption, was but slightly changed. Among the great men of the American Revo- 6 lution it was acknowledged by all, that Jefferson had studied most profoundly the nature of civil government and the rights of man. And in drafting the declaration, although there was necessarily much, especially in the recitation of the grievances against the British Govern- ment, that was common and similar to what was said in the public discussions of the day, yet in declaring man's equality and inalienable rights, and the true objects and source of the powers of government, Jefferson formulated the fundamental rights of man and the nature of civil government in a style in which they had never been pre- sented before, and in a manner which commanded uni- versal assent. That declaration of human rights and the nature of civil government has given immortality to Jefferson's name, and brought untold benefits and undying honor to the American people. Under the British Government, all power and authority are derived from the monarch, in which it is held sov- ereignty resides. But Jefferson declared it to be a self- evident truth, that government legitimately instituted was for the benefit and protection of the governed, and that its just powers are derived from the people, and that sovereignty resides in them. And this is the theory of our Government, first proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. Blackstone, in bis Commentaries on the Laws of England, has traced the rights and liberties of the English people from the numerous grants and franchises extorted from the British Crown, commencing with Magna Charia. granted in the reign of King John. And these immu- nities thus obtained, this standard commentator has sum- med up to consist in the rights of personal security, personal liberty, and private property, which is character- ized as " the birth-right of the English people." . Jefferson was the first to announce these great essential rights of civil liberty, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (which are equivalent to the rights of personal security, personal liberty, and private property), as the inalienable rights of the people; and that as to them all men are equal. That which in England consisted in immunities and grants from the British Crown, on Jefferson's doctrine, originated with the governed in this country, and became the inalienable rights of the Ameri- can people. Jefferson's idea was, that the blessings of government, like the dews of heaven, should fall equally and alike upon all, the rich and the poor, the great and the small; in other words, that Government in its true majesty was the harmony of the State, all men paying it homage, the least as feeling its care and the greatest as not exempt from its power. In conclusion, permit me to sa}^, that a national monu- ment in commemoration of Jefferson and his public ser- vices would stand as an enduring memorial not only to the statesman and patriot, but also to the cause of civil liberty and political progress. ' VWV V^ ^ • ^ ^\*J^%*v, .v N \!;>.\ /,!ik:/^ ^ %/ : + ♦TXT** A. ^ *^.?* (? *o, *;*XT» A « 4 o • A <* 'o.» ^°<* * < 9 ^ WERT A