1867—-8.] C IVT Y D O C U M E N T. [No. 10.
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AN
ORATION,
CITY AUTHORITIES ANDCITIZENS 01+‘ 1*B.0V11)1«3NCE.
J trL"Y 4m, 1 8 4'; 7.

BY REVQHENRY W. RUGG.

  
 

  
  
  

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AA PROVIDENCE: . L %
KNOWVLEASV, ANTHONY 85 CO;,_PRINTERS.
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AN

ORATION,

CITY AUTHORITIES AND CITIZENS OF PROVIDENCE.

JULY 4th, 1867'.

BY'REV.HENRY‘W.RUGG.

*0roum®@®

Ewfifim

 

' PROVIDENCE:
KNOWLES, ANTHONY 8: 00., PRINTERS.

1867.

RESOLUTIONS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE

1‘ army or PROVIDENCE.

[Approved July 10, 1867.]

RESOLVED, That the thanks of the City Council be hereby tendered to Rev-
Henry W. Rugg for the able and eloquent Qration delivered by him at the late
municipal celebration of American Independence. i

Rnsonvmn, That the Committee of Arrangements for the Fourth of July cele-
bration be hereby authorized to wait upon Mr‘. Rugg and request a copy of the
oration delivered by him on that day; and that such ‘number of copies of the
same be published in such manner, by the Standing Comrnittee on Printing, as
they may «deem expedient, for the use of the City Council. ‘

A true copy: witness _ . «
SAMUEL_W. BROWN, Oity C'lerk.

’ THE CONTRIBUTIONS or NEW ENGLAND

TOT

AMERICAN GREATNESS.

It is pleasant to review the past. It is «profitable
that history, tradition and memory T should often repro-
duce the events and movements of former times, and
spread them before the mind like landscape views; thus
connecting the years that have gone with the vigorous
and actual present. Standing upon the highest mound
that time has yet thrown. up, it is well to let the vision
turn backwards, and from such survey obtain a light
and a wisdom to aid in shaping the things of present
thought and action. There stand the landmarks of

“history! Great events and  movements interwoven

with the progress of civilization and religion; enter-.
prises inaugurated in the interests of humanity, the
prosecution of which has evoked the noblest qualities
of manhood. These monuments which the past has
builded, deserve to be kept steadily in view, for from
their shining summits there comes an inspiration that
the world can illy afford to spare. ,

The year has its memorial days appropriate to this
work of retrospection. Among every‘ civilized people

there are days set apart and kept sacred because of

something of by-gone action or achievement deemed

6

Worthy of commemoration. These periods are made
the gala days of a community or nation---festal occa-
sions when the voice of jubileeirings out, and the glad
tones of a people’s rejoicing sound through all the land.

Such an occasion is the day observed in memory of
the beginning of our national life-—-the day which the
American people hallow and keep in remembrance of
the passage and proclamation of that “most important
document ever issued by uninspiredmen,” the patriotic
signers of Which, so solemnly pledged their lives, their
fortunes and their sacred honor to the maintenance of
the principles and purposes therein declared.

  The recurrence of i this national birthday revives in

our thought the terrible ordeal of sacrifice, privationg
and blood, through which the fathers passed, before
they gained the WorLd’s acknowledgment of their right
to self government. The battle fields, from Lexington
to Yorktown, where the argument for American Inde-
pendence was spoken from the cannon’s mouth, Where
Liberty received its baptism in martyr blood, rise before
the vision. We seem to see the patriot hosts who
gathered and fought for freedom, the commanders who
led them to victory, Whose deeds have""made our revo-
lutionary history glorious. Oh! surely to-day We will
Wipe off the dust which may have fallen on the memory
of these heroes, and in reverent love we will make . a
pilgrimage to their resting places, once again to“ drop
the tear of grateful remembrance over their ashes. _ 
It also accords with the genius of this day that ,wg
contemplate the Wonderful progress of the Republic
since first its life began.   ' p ,  ,
. Not in the spirit of vain-glorying, yet With an excus-
ablepride of nationality, we draw the lines of contrast

7 .

between ourformer and present greatness. N inety-one
yetars ago the people of the thirteen colonies numbered
less than three; millions, now, our country has a popula-
tion of more than thirty millions. Then, the area of
territory over which the government claimed to exer-
cise authority was only a fraction‘ of what it now is,
when territorial expansion has moved our national
boundary lines to the Gulf‘ of Mexico and the Rio Grande
in the South,«to the Pacific ocean in the West, and
N orthward, at last, to a region where impenetrable snow

andzice form a barrier to any further extension in that  

direction. The dream of the poet bids fair to have a
literal fulfilment g:-T--——   »  ‘ T ‘  

“ No pent up Uticalcontracts our powers it
  ‘ For the whole, ‘boundless continent; is ours.” ~ « 3"
There is likewise the reckoning of gain in material
resources and possessions, advances of iiproductive in-

dustry,'of commerce and trade, of literature and science
--=—-p‘rogress material,’ social and political. The facts

which attest this growth and development crowd upon
the mind, and, often as the story is rehearsed, it does
not lose itspower to charm the attention. Especially
is it the subject of contemplation on Independence Day
when the hurnblest of American orators has free license,
to magnify the glory of the Republic.   T  

  iThe theme to’ which I invite attention may seem of
sgioimewhat T narrower dimensions,‘ although I design to
 it’ an application broad enough to be in keeping

with the memories and suggestioiis of the day we cele-

brate.  My subject is : y   y    
 The Contributions of New England to American
Grelatness.   ‘ _‘   T A T   -

«.?F*romithe very filrstilperiod of her history, New Eng.

8  

land has been in the vanguard of all real progress;
She has led the march of civilization on this continent,
and set an example to other States and communities,
which vital interest, «contrary to their feelings and im-
pulses often, has bid them follow. Principles and
Institutions which have ‘now a nationalized character,
have been the gift of New England in the past; and
while from her mountains ‘pour down no streams spark-
ling with the shining ore, while her ledges and rocks
contain but little that will repay the rniner’s toil, while
her skies are cold and her valleys not over rich with the
products of an exuberant soil, her’s is still the guiding
hand pointing ever onward, as she mounts the car of
progress,‘ and heralds the shining way. i

In the large sense of the word, New England has
always been radical in ideas and in action. Ideas lead
to actiofz. They are a fire in the bones until they are
developed into something that is tangible and real.
We may therefore give our first attention to the char-
acter and expansion of some of these ideas peculiar to
New England. a A A

It was a controlling sentiment in the minds of the
fathers who settled in this section that the whole people
should be educated.

Knowledge of right belongs to all. The intelligence
of a people is the best safe guard against dangers to So-
ciety and the State. Believing thus, the Puritans build-
ed the school-house and provided as widely as possible
the means for general ‘education. As early as 1636 the
Colonial Legislature of Massachusetts made avowal that
the property of the State should educate the intellect

of the State. At that early period laws were passed 4

which gave to every child, from the ‘very highest to the

9

very humblest, a right to public instruction ; nay, more,
by arbitrary enactment, parents and guardians were
compelled to attend to the culture of the .rising race.
In the opinion of Judge Story, it was “ this early legis-
lation which contributed, more than any other circum-
siance to give that peculiar character to the inhabitants
and institutions of Massachusetts, for which, she, in
common with all the New England States, indulges an
honest and not unreasonable pride.” ‘

Practically this was a new idea, although the princi-
ple had been given a name to live by in some forms of
the old time civilization, and is still mentioned in con-
nection with the ancient glory of Sparta and Athens ;
but as a sentiment fully brought out and really acted

upon, it was peculiar to New England. P Daniel Webster"

once said: “ Where else has it ever been held that it

is the bounden duty of Governments to lay the founda-
tioggus of the happiness and respectability of society in

universal education. If you can tell me of such a

country out of New England, I shall be glad to hearo

it. I know of none. Ihave readof none.”  
The Puritan idea of making education free and
general as possible pervaded all sections of New England.

The Colonists who made the first settlements upon the
banks of the Connecticut river were swayed by its

influence, ‘the hardy pioneers who pushed their way
Northward to the hills of New Hampshire, established
a system of public instruction, and Roger Williams, who

came to Rhode Island as an exile, here toplace the

foundations of a, better Democracy than elsewhere» had

been conceived, held fast to this doctrine of the Puritans,

ithatrthe strength of a state depends upon the intelli-
ligenice of its people.  i        V

2

l0

Thisidea was not a controlling, principle of action
with the other American colonies. The Dutch settlers

of New -Amsterdam, mainly controlled by motives of -

personal gain in the establishment of a colony on

Manhattan island, were not imbued with this principle A

to any large extent. The cavaliers of the South-1--tliie

adventurous colonists who boasted of their Norman

descent, and who meant to be lords and owners in the

‘New ‘World, utterly ignored the Puritan plan of a wide

difiiusionof knowledge, Fifty years after the settlement

at Jamestown, Sir William Berkely, then Governor of a

the Colony of Virginia, said: “I thank God that we

have no free schools'nor printing. and I hope we shall

not have them these hundred years! for learning has
brought heresies, and sects, and disobedience into the
wand; and printing has divulged them and libels
against the best government. , God keep us from both 1”
The words of this old Governor only express what, with
some exceptions, was the sentiment of the ruling minds
of the South; that it was better to keep the masses in
ignorance, and not multiply the facilities for communi-
cating knowledge. The Puritan idea of general educa-
tion was not acceptable to Virginia and the South. In
this, as in many other things the two civiliaztions clash-
ed and could not be united. g ‘

The respectability of honest vlndustry was another
radical idea of New England. The old Puritan held to

a literal rendering of he the declaration, “ in the sweat of T

thy face shalt thou eat bread.” The men Who settled
New England were not adventurers nor speculators;
for the most part they were farmers belonging to the
lower rank, who, even during their twelve years resi-
dence in Holland, among a commercial and trading

11

people, had resolutely withstood the temptation to en-
gage in more lucrative or easier pursuits, and had con-
tinued in agricultural employments. There were no
idlers among them. They came to the New World to be
actual workers themselves, and to train up their chil-
dren ‘to habits of industry. In their vievv,labor was re-4
garded as honorable. The iWOI'k€I‘ held a place of dig-
nity and respect While to be a “ gentleman at ease,” Was
counted both a sin and a disgrace. .

The dignity of labor was not recognized by the C010-
nists of Virginia and the Carolinas. They were
hampered by ideas which Were‘ dominant in the ages of

feudal barbarism. when the only laborers were slaves,

and labor was therefore regarded as a. degradation. It

was the prevailing sentiment in the minds of those who

shaped the social and political system of the South, that
the hard-handed day laborer and sturdy mechanic were
infinitely removed from the level of gentleinen of leisure
-—the born aristocrats of the world. They were an

ignobleclass, demeaned by theirtoil to a rank With.

the beastsiof burden. The beast and the laborer were

necessary, indeed, for the use of T the higherrorders of r
en, and were entitled. to much the same treatment
and regard. This being the prevailing notion respecting A

labor and the laborer, it is not surprising to hear bne of
South Carolina’s ablest sons, at a later period, charac-
terizefthe Working men of“ the land as the “, mudsills of
society.” a i       T T ” . y A  

 The establishment and ~ rapid increase "of African
slaveryin the South, gave tone -and strength to this
feeling,for it must be remembered that it vvas notalone

the‘ blackllslave iwho was a borne down by this ‘legrading A
A systern, but the «white ‘man also who was forced by his



poverty to labor withhis hands to get bread for himself L
and his family. I     i  l i
Here, again,the antagonism of the two civilizations is ;

manifested. N eWvEngland was radical in her ideas con-
cerning the nobility of honest toil ; Virginia and the
whole South conservative, according to the spirit of

' ancient aristocracy.

Next We may notice,
 y The New England idea of human rights and equality.
i The Puritan Fathers at least set the argument in

clearer light than others, that liberty, under the just
restraints of law, is the right of all men—-—-a right in-r

volved in the very creation of humanity. God himself *

gave the entire race a capacity for. freedom, and through
this capacity men derive their primal claim, their first

' and best% title to liberty. This recognition of the

brotherhood of humanity, on which is based the doctrine
of equal rights for all men, permeated the general faith
of New England all through her colonial life ; but
sometimes it was poorly actualized in the Puritan
legislation and practice. Here in Rhode Island, how-
ever, the light shone more clearly, for Roger Williams
and his early associates were determined to found a
comnionwealth on the principles of true democracy.
It was the leading sentifnent in all theiraction that the
rights of each citizen should be held sacred as 

 to the largest liberty and happiness. They sought to
regulate social intercoursie and public policy by the

spirit of the Gospel statement that “ if one member
suffer, all the members suffer with it; or if one member
be honored, all the membersrejoice with it.”

We do not forget that the institution of slavery had  

a nominal existence in New England for a long time.

13

_ But it never flourished in this section of the country.

The soil was not favorable to its growth. It never had
more than a sickly, hot house sort of life. It never
succeeded in building up an aristocracy to despise labor,
and to rejoice in the limitation of human rights. At
no time did it possess suficient power to blind the faith
of the fathers, that in liberty and equality rest the
vital forces of national prosperity.’ Slavery becamethe
pivotal idea on which the whole economy of the South
turned. It Was strengthened by cognpacts and legisla-
lative provisions; it became an institution rooted in the
ground‘ WO1‘k.Of Southern society and politics; it grew
inrespectability and eminence, until it was judged the
greatest of blessings--—a sort of divine institution, and so,

at last became firmly seated on its throne of dominion ;

but there was never a time when the moral sense‘ of
the descendants of the pilgrims was not ready to pro-
nounce the system of slavery an evil. lt was regarded
as‘ an abnormal and transitory institution. It “Was
looked upon as a monster which had been embraced in

i an unguarded moment, and which must be got rid o
A at the first opportunity.    

The religious element, which entered into and so
largely controlled New England civilization, deserves

  special mention. In the original incentives of action
which impelled the various immigrations to America, v
religion was not often a leading motive. Material

objects were the spur to enterprise with the colonists
of Jamestown and the men who settled upgonpthe South-

ern Atlantic coast. It Wasdesire for gain, the looking, “
to material advantages and profit that caused the Dutch —

settlers of N eWYork to found trading settlements on

3%“

 Manhattenand further northward on the banks of the

14

Hudson;  it was purely a religious motive which .

allured the Puritans to Plymouth.    They left their
homes, notinsearch for wealth, or power, or ease, but
that they might enjoy religion and find a free soil in
which to plantthe seeds of Christian faithand service.
A religious idea being the moving power which led to
the settlement of New England, we might expect to
find the influence of’ moral convictionrand practical piety

controlling the policy and politics of the coloniesthusls.

established.     

N 0 people, since the days when the Hebrews 
so near to Jehovah, have possessed a more  .

faith in God than our Puritan ancestors. No ‘people

ever sought more anxiously to know and obey the Di-
vine requirements; none have manifested a larger
degree of reverence for the Bible and the Christian
Sabbath. In the Puritan mind, the moulding of society,
the fixing of laws and institutions, the building of the
political structure, involved questions which were to be
tested by a moral standard, while the whole work
needed to be interfused with a religious spirit That
this was so, is the crowning glory of the Puritan char-
acter.
Let us now give a passing glance to the

G-2'owt/2 and eazpansion of these ideas.

The migratory character of the people of New England

has been a potent agency in the dissemination of these
principles throughout the land. The members of the
Plymouth Colony had scarce made a clearing in the
wilderness before they started the first wave of emigra.
tion westward. “ The west” at that time, however, only
meaning the banks of the Connecticut river. Since that
daythe current has never ceased to flow. The voice

15

soundinggin the ears of the young men of New England
hasbeenthe utterance of that guiding genius which
we are told whispered continually in the ear of Colum-
bus on the gray waste‘ of waters, “ever westward, to

the west.” Obedient to the“ call, the hardy sons of

New England pushed Westward to the Alleghanies
and the Great Lakes, to the plains and forests bordered
by the Mississippi and its tributaries. They invaded
the hunting-grounds of the Indians in far ofi territories,
and paused not, until at last, their feet pressed the sand
of the Pacific shore.   
These pioneers and emigrants never forgot the civi-
lization in which they had been trained. Blended with
their sweet memories of hills, valleys and streams, the

  peaceful village and the old homestead, was there-

membranes of principles which had been instilled into
their minds by the fathers and mothers they had left

behind. Wherever they wandered, the force of this

training was: manifest both in their words and their
actions.  As they cleared theforest, tilled the fertile
prairies, caused villages and towns to spring up in the
depths of the wilderness, and organized the social and.

ppolitical structure of new communities, they were moved

by a desire to be faithful to the doctrines of their New
England training. The School--house, the printing-press
and the Church were considered as imperative needs to
their new life. The traditions of the fathers, command-
ing respect for manhood and reverence toward God,
were a power of good tofix personal faith and regulate
public policy. i

Thus the tide of New England ideas flowed forth

A over the West through emigration. Migration and
colonization have always been the great agents to edus

 16 .

Gate and civilize the world- More than three thous-
and years ago, little hands of colonies from Egypt and
Phoenicia and Asia Minor came to Attica and Argos and

there planted the seeds from which spring Greek culture ‘

and civilization. Then fbrth from Greece as the radi-

_ ating point, the light flashed. Emigration carried the
if torch of learning to _Rome,thence to the countries of

Northern Europe, and thus the treasures of philosophy
and science were scattered broadcast over a continent.
In like manner, by the same means, the wealth of
New England ideas was diffused to theVVestern borders

of America. Southward, the expansion of ~Puritani'nflu~ A

ence was checked by the _worse than Chinese wall which
the system of slavery had builded, but the ideas of New
England were received into the mighty heart of the

Young Giant of the West, and given therefrom a new  

enunciation with the largest and noblest results.
Passing from the ideal to the actual, the statement

can truthfully be made that New England has led the

country in action as well as in ideas. -She has been the
pioneer in all practical movements and reforms, when
free thought, and a free press and a free conscience
have been felt to be of primal value to mankind. Loyal
to great ideas, she has been faithful in working out
those ideas to logical and practical conclusions. If by
her radical principles she has taken an advanced posi-
tion, not less has she always stood in the front in times
of public danger and need. A

New England led the march of the thirteen 6'0Zon2'es
toward Independence.

It is a matter of historic record, that as early as 17 43
there was an active sentiment of Unionism pervading

many of the leading minds of New England. These

17'

men were‘ wise and far-seeing enough to discover that
if the colonies would grow and prosper, they must com-
bine their strength, forget their jealousies, and enter
into the bonds of a closer fellowship. Great Britain
wanted no such effective combination 5 and it was only
under a war pressure, when the French joined with the
Indians to wrest from England her colonial possessions

‘ in the New World, that the mother country consented,

to the compact of alliance agreed upon by the delegates
from eleven colonies who met in Albany in 1754. It
was the influence of New England that led to that
meeting “ where the gierrn of the future Congress was
planted, where the idea of   union pwas ripened, and a
plan developed which seems to have furnished the idea
and outline of the present Constitution of the United
States.” i   ' ~ b

After the close of the French war in 1763, a war de-
manding so much of the Northern colonies, and return-
ing to them few benefits;-—a war, however, in which
their-enterprise and patriotism were so conspicuous, as

r to win this high compliment from Lord Chatharn in the

British Parliament: “I remember, my lords, when New

England raised four regiments on her own bottom,and -
  took Louisburg from the veteran troops of France,”--;-

after this war ended the feeling of unionism grew
stronger‘; the firesof liberty began to glow with a fer-
vent heat; the exactions of the mother country were
nolonger accepted with tame “submission; the Voice of
protestand indignation was heard, and the watchword

of the hourrang out: “Resistance to tyrants is obedi-i  

ence to God.”     ~   . V
 New England led in these things.     She was ready for

separationlog before the 4th of July,     That pro-    

3.

18

tracted and weary debate in Independence Hall before

the grand decision was reached, and the State-House

bell rang out its peals in accordance with the inscription
it bore : “ Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all
the inhabitants thereof,” was not made necessary by

the backvvardness of the Eastern colonies. The patriots

of this section were determined to resist even if they
had to standalone. Their armies were already enrolled
and equipped; irregular acts of vvaprfare had been com-
mitted ; down in yonder bay an English War vessel had
been destroyedfiby a body’ of brave men, who   never

could be found when a royal commission was at Worl: ’

to bring them to condign punishment ; but the survivors
of the expedition answered, readily to theicallwhen
you assigned them ‘places of honor in your civic pro«-
cession forty-one years ago today. In 1775 Ne
England was mustering her forces for a conflict that
she felt was near at hand. Almost a year and a half
before the declaration of independence the Colonial
Assembly of Rhode Island provided for the raising of
an “ army of observation” of fifteen hundred men. This
army was not designed for mere home occupation and
use, for the act creating it expressly recites that vvhen-
ever it shall be necessary for the safety and preservation
of any of the colonies, these troops shall join and ,co-
operate with the forces of the neighboring colonies.
The form of the oath of enlistment also shows how
broad Was the spirit of Rhode Island patriotism in those
days. The oath of the soldier bound him to a Work “for
the preservation of the liberties of America.”

Then succeeded that long and terrible struggle in the
successful issue of which nationality and freedom were
Won. All sections of the country stood to the Work,

19

aking‘ their ‘ willing sacrifices, and contributing   of
 and of blood from first tothelast; but it is a
matter of historic record that of all the soldiers, regular

and Inilitia, who u served in the war of the Revolution,i ,
V Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode

Island, these four states, furnished considerably more
than one half of the number.   r
Of the leaders in that war,,wise counsellors in legisla-

tion, and able generals in the field, New England con-i,  

tributed her full share. Virginia’s noble son was made
General-in-Chief of the American armies. ’No other

 man deserved the high position while he was living;
  but next to Washington, the judgment of a grateful
people writes the name of a New England man---Gen.

Nathaniel Greene-e---.a worthy son of Rhode Island. The
military skill, courage, patriotism and long-time services
of this distinguished leader have made his name glori-

ous in history and in remembrance; and no hostile '
criticism, originating in however high a source, can de-Oi
pose shim from the pladefof honor whichhe holds in the  
estimation of the Americanlpeeopele. 'I‘henearly eighty 1

years of eventful national life that followed the close of
the revolutionary ‘period, I do not propose to reviews‘
Let us pass ata bound the history they have 
some of it so wonderfully grand and glorious,-—-—some of
it marked by ignoble compromises and surrenders of
principle, against which the unavailing protest iof New
England was often spoken--—-and come at once to that
day, which seems but yesterday, when the two civiliza-

 

tions planted upon this continent met in conflict, ante  

whole world was aroused by their fearful clashing.
VVlze*re was New England than .? ~ r
The people of the North did not earzticrgfmztethe coming.

it

20b

of civil war. The war cloud of 1860' seemed no larger
to the general vision thana man’s hand ; but it rolled
up its black masses with a terrible rapidity, ‘and broke
in fury upon the land ere a twelve month had passed.
There were not many men even in this section who
foresaw the coming struggle; but to a few minds the
gift of prophesy and foresight seems to have been given.
The other day, at Boston, Mr. Seward told the people
that more than twenty years ago, a Massachusetts

lstatesmanhad informed him that in the defence of

human rights a terrible civil war was impending which
would imperil the existence of the American Union.

John Quincy Adams was the statesman who had such ‘

keen discernment of the signs of the times.

There was a New England Governor, too,who, believ-
ing that a mighty struggle between the North and the
South was near at hand, acted in his oficial capacity
with direct reference to such anevent.. This man, Gov.

lBa.nks of Massachusetts, organized and made eflicient

the militia of his State, and revived to a considerable
degree, the military ardor of her citizens. What he
did, stimulated like action on the part of the authorities
 other Northern States, and even the little of warlike
preparation that resulted therefrom, was worth more
than words can tell in those April days of ’6l, fraught
with such extreme dangers to the Republic. ' ‘

At last the lingering hour came nigh, when the great
conspiracy was disclosed in its formidable proportions.
The rebel leaders openly declared their purpose to get
rid of Yankee ideas and influences; to terminate the
history of the Puritans, of the Republic, of popular gov-
ernment, of freedom ; to uproot the work of the fathers,

and to build upon the ruins of the American Union a

21.

  V ‘Uonfederacy, the corner stone of which‘ should be

slavery.‘ Yet, as_ these avowals were unblushingly
made,while State after State passed acts of secession

‘ ‘ and prepared for actual War upon the National Govern-

ment, the North continued apathetic and unbelieving.
It slumbered, until one day the lightning flashed through

  all the land its mournful burden’ of intelligence that a a

national fortress had been surrendered to armed traitors
y---that the flag of the Republic had been pulled down

at*the mandate of South Carolina Rebels. Then it
awoke- The‘ latent patriotism of the North leaped

 forth into vigorous life, and all the world might see
  that there was toibe S a struggle before. treason would
  ‘ be allowed to pluck the fruit of its iniquitous plans.

  New England was no laggard in those dark ‘days. To

* the appeal of the government for aid, she gave prompt

 responses. On the third day after‘ Sumter’s fall, ea


 

zassachusetts regiment was on the way to Washington 

a,:~bodyof brave men who gave the first baptism of blood

  T  work of beating back thehosts-of rebellion, be-  

fore they had reached the National Capital. It was not
many hours later that a regiment of Rhode Island in-

fantry, and battery of artillery, fully equipped, embarked 

‘for theseat of War, the regiment under command’of

  that man who, when he was asked how son he could

arrange his business to lead the volunteers of this State

  tothe field. gave answer in two short Words, “ at once.”  

  The events which followed need not be recalled.

. ‘ The story of the three thousand skirmishes   andbattles

has been Written with the pen of history; Great were

the toils and sacrifices demanded of the Whole loyal

A people, and these were freely rendered. It vvould be

most iinbecomingp to makaeinvidious comparisons con-d

22

cerning the contributions of d:ifi'erent sections of the
loyal land in this mighty..struggle.v I have no disposi-
tion for such Work, nor would I claim . superiority for
New England over any other portion. of the country.
All that need be said of her is that she stood . in the
front rank in the beginning of the strife,and never
turned backward till the end was reached. In the
darkest hours of the struggleshe never’ thought of
compromise with those who would destroy the nation
and crush liberty. She gave without stint her means
and her influence, and the livesiof the best beloved of
her sons. On all the great battle-fields therdescendants
of the Pilgrims stood shoulder to shoulder with the
brave men of the West and those of the Middle States,
and to-day they are sleeping in unshrouded graves
beneath the rank mosses of the Peninsula, or the grass-
covered mounds of the wilderness, or where the_sigh-
ing pines of the Carolinas sing their requiem, or, more
fittinglydoes their dust repose in the quiet of those
great cemeteries which thenation has consecrated and
adorned as the place of sepulchre for her, martyred

children.    
The day of victory came. The symbol of the nation .

floated on everyfort and arsenal and public building
through all the land;   There was but one flag, but one
government for the American people. Territorial in-
tegrity had been preserved, and the disseverment of
the union not accomplished; but greater issues than
these had been decided, for the victory won was the tri-
umph of humanity, of freedom and of religion.

There, was .a time when the contest between the
North and the South was too much regarded as a mere
struggle for power. For nearly two years the war was

23

conducted on a superficial andinfidel  basis. The effort

was made to blink out of sight the great ideas of civili-
zation and human rights which had led to the conflict ;
to turn aside from the «clear, shining light of justice
which pointed steadily in one direction. v
iAs late as the summer of 1862, President. Lincoln
declared to Mr. Greeley that the question of slavery
Was a secondary matter in the conduct of the War, so
far as the purposes of p the government were concerned.
If he could save the union by the preservation of the
foul institution he would do so; but gradually it came
to be seen that the claims of God and humanity could
not be thrust aside in the prosecution of the War ; that
just so long. as the nation closed its ears to the cries of
the bondmen, so long would it Wait in vain for any
large successes. It was New England influence, to a
very considerable degree, that led to this advanced
sentiment; which prepared the way for the emancipa-
tion proclamation; made acknowledgment of the

  manhood of the black race, and Welcomed the African

to the side of the White man in the struggle against a
common enemy. These steps of progress once taken,
the light dawned : the beginning of the end was already
at hand, when a glorious victory should be achieved in
thesacred name of liberty.

The War decided that secession was treason. It

killed the hydra-h eaded monster which South Carolina‘

had petted from the ratification of the Federal Consti-

tution, and which had grown strong on the food which A

the teachings of . Calhoun supplied. It decided that
henceforth there should be a nationiand not a Confeder-—
acy; that for the American people there could be but
one government and one destiny. It decided, more-,

24
over, the question of vicarious labor. The South went
into the war to strengthen the defences of that “ peculiar

institution ;” the war ended, and there was no slave in

all the land. The South took up arms to resist the
on-sweeping march of Yankee ideas and institutions ;
it laid down the sword when Richmond fell and Lee
surrendered,imaking confession that Puritan civilization
had won the day 3 that the ideas of the Puritan————free-
dom, manhood, intelligence—--had proven stronger than
the sentiments of the cavalier, based upon aristocracy,
ignorance and servile labor.  

This pivotal period past, what is now demanded?

The answer has been more than suggested already.
The vital ideas of Northern civilization must control
the social and public policy of the whole nation. To
save the country from dangers that still threaten; to

A resolve the problems of the hour in such 21 way as to

establish the greatness of the Republic on sure founda-
tions, we must go back to first principles, and in this
time of golden opportunity build afresh upon the ideas
and maxims of the fathers.

Freedom and equality must be recognized asthe birth-
right of all men. The Declaration of Independence
must not be looked upon as a “mass of glittering
generalities.” It must be given aliteral rendering.and
enforcement. It must be made to mean equal and
exact justice for all men; universal freedom restrained

only by impartial laws in the framing of which the ,

whole people shall have a voice. The theories concerning
master races and slave races may be put aside with the
old lumber of the past, as not suited to the reconstruc-
tion of our national edifice. In fact, as well in name,
let us now have a free nation. Let there be no com-
promises madeconcerning the vexed questions growing

25

4 out of the war, so far as they affect the rights and lib-

erties of men. a Settle them oncefor all on the broad
basis of human brotherhood and christianity, thus sav-
ing posterity from the discipline of another fiery ordeal
like that through which this generation has been forced
to pass. This work can be thoroughly done in the ex-
ercise of 6 a just magnanimity to the conquered, and
without the display of a vindictive spirit toward any

classof people, or against any section of our common  h
country, Confiscation, severe penalties affecting life
  or property, will not help forward the great result.

 work can best be carried on in the catholic spirit

 finds expression in the closing words of Presi-
  Lincoln’s second inaugral; “ With malice toward
none, with charity for all, with firmness to the right as

God gives us to see the right, let us strivelto finish the
work; to bind up the nation’s$ wounds, and to do all

 which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace

among ourselves and with all nations.”  

Another demand of the times is that

The Puritan idea of education for the whole people
should be ‘acted upon.     A

The proposition only needs to be stated, that it is
ignorance which leads to social and national degrada-
tion ; to weakness and ruin. ‘It is when a people are
incapacitated to think for themselves, and to understand
questions of vital interest concerning the general Wel-
fare, that ambitious aspirants rise on their shoulders to
places of power. It is when a few persons do pretty
much all the thinking that political d emagogues take
advantage of the simpleminded people, and with smil-
ing faces and oily tongues, glide up to high positions
Where they can legislate and rule for their own selfish
4- i 4 i .

26

ends. A demagogue Wants no better political capital
than the aconfidence of a community Whose ideas run
in a narrow channel, in whosei judgment the treasures
of wisdom are of little importance.

 

And not only is education a barrier against  arts

of the demagogue and a preservative principle of politi-

cal rights, but it is the real strength of a nation. Al-
most every page of history furnishes some illustration
of this truth. Fifty years ago Prussia was a foot ball
for the nations of Europe. Wise and far seeing men
instituted a system of common school education; semi-»

naries were founded for the training of teachers at the  

expense of the State; laws were passed compelling,
under severe penalties, the attendance of children upon
the schools; restrictions were taken oil“ from the press;
the way of access to intelligence was opened to the
masses, and the result is that to-day Napoleon bows at

the word of Prussia and her voice is omnipotent in 

firziihg the destiny of nations. Uniting all Germany
under one crown, Prussia‘ bids fair to become before
many years the leading power of Europe. It is the
intelligence which pulsates through her national life
that gives her a mightier force than needle-guns and
bayonets. a
Free schools,‘ and other means for the general difi°u-
sion of knowledge are ‘wanted in the South. New
England is doing, and must continue to do, a good deal

~ of missionary work of this sort. She must contribute _

the plans for general education developed from herown

experience; must supply teachers, hooks and money 

according to the ilarge demands of the present time.
The means of education shouldbe dispensed Withliberal
hand to the freedmen, from whom the light of knowledge

27

has so long been shut out! the honor of the North is at

stake in this matter, and gratitude demands that We

should make this return for the services rendered by the
bondmen of the South during the War; but beside this
motive, the sentiment of self interest should. prompt
the most earnest endeavors to educate the freedmen,
for, if allowed to remain in a condition of ignorance and
debasement, they must become of necessity a danger-
ous element in our civilization. This last incentive
should also direct the effort to diffuse the blessings of
education among the Whites as Well as the blacks. Such
labor should be reckoned a. Work of patriotism as much
as an enterprise of Christian charity. *

Thanks to that large hearted philanthropist of New
England birth and training, Whose munificent donation,
the like of which the world has never looked upon be-
fore, has so grandly opened the Way to this work. The
day will surely come when the people and States of the
distant South will raise a monument, if not of sculptured
marble standing fair to the outward vision, at least of
grateful affection in the iiheartsof those who have re-

ceived the blessing, to perpetuate the memory of this.

illustrious benefactor.

But the great need of the times is, that

The reh°gz'ou.9 element should rule in our national life
even as zt did in. New England at the early period of her
/zz°.s'torg.V

There are perils against which freedom herself can
put up no adequate safeguards ; dangers that cannot be
provided against by any amount of mere intellectual
culture. Infidelity and corruption fastened upon the,
vitals of a nation will surely eat out its life. In proof
of this any school boy will recite the lessons of antiquity.

28

Rome did not lose her prestige and renown and great-

ness by the force and skill of barbaric arms, for against

these in an earlier day she had won a complete victory.
She did not go down under the onslaught of foreign

  powers, superior in numbers or military resources to

the Roman legions. Even the hosts of Hannibal, when
they sought to strike could not reach the national heart
and were driven back in sore defeat. The decline of
the Roman Empire was first moral and then material.
In the language of the historian her star went down
to its sad setting, “ when rapacity became the pre-
vailing vice of the great, and licentiousness of the
multitud'e.”t The Roman Senate, grown corrupt, legis-
lated like a band of robbers demanding the money or
the life of its victims. The claims of justice and morali-
ty were derided by those who held the reins of authority,
and who ruled in their day of infamy with ‘an utter

disregard of both human and divine law. _ The example 
of those inhigh «places found its way down to the masses, '
t and in due time the moral degeneracy of rulers and
people touched with a fatal blight her farthest borders.

The result cannot be “otherwise with any nation that
follows in the same course..- Let the leaders of a people,
the lawgivers andrulers, cease to care for the require-
ments of righteousness, let public sentiment become de-

srnoralized, let honesty of political action be laughed out

of sight, let the vices of sensualism attain a respectabil-

 of position in the social life of a people, free license
being granted to their indulgence, and the power which

binds a people firmly together is lost,---—the day of disrup«
tion and ruin may be counted upon asnear approachin

   this line of thought ‘what patriot is there who r
rdoesnotdiscover“ the chief peril of our own nation

29

t The corruption of Americanpolitics is fearful to con’-

template. It pervades %all sections of the country, is
chargeable on all parties, and sends forth its offensive
stench from the very highest places of the ‘land. It
leavesits foul trail in caucuses and conventions where
oney buys nominations to office ;" it winds its sinuous
path among the people at large where the votes of free
electors are often bought and sold like articles of mer-
chandise ; it settles like a deadly miasma on the halls
of legislation, where corrupt lobbyists often   carry
through the most corrupt schemes by actual bribery of
the servants of the people, enough of whom can always

A be found ready to sacrifice principle on the altar of

political knavery if the price bid be but commensurate
with their desires. Now connect with these corrupt

practices, this debasement of politics which no man can ‘

deny, the two great vices of the American people, licen-
tiousness and intemperance, together with that practical
infidelity of the times which would put God into the
background, and it is easy to tell in what consists our
national peril, and what the end must be if there is not

, a reformation.

I speak, not merely in the way of my profession, but
as a man and a patriot, when I say that, above every-
thing else, the nation needs a re-baptism of the old pu-
ritan faith in God and loyalty to the Bible,---—a renewal
of the spirit which in olden time pervaded N ewiEngland,
and which caused the fathers to lay the foundations of
both social and political life on what they believed to be

-the basis of rectitude and truth, Let their faith and

piety be ours,—-ours to improve upon, if possible, with
the aids of new light and progress,——ours to spread
abroad over the whole land as the best contributions of

30

New England to American greatness,---ours to transmit
to posterity as the most precibus legacy of Christian
civilization.

Walking in the beauty of the fathers’ faith and obe-
dience; imitating their rigid adherence to justice and
their loyalty to the Bible ; imbibing their martyr spirit,
their reverence for the law of God, their unflinching
fortitude, we shall fix ournational life and pr.osperity
on a solid foundation. Then shall we be made a pecu-
liar people, called of the Lord “to illumine and guide all

the nations of the earth to freedom. to knowledge and ,

to peace.” Then the flag of the Republic, with its broad
stripes and bright stars, wherever its folds are flung out
upon the breeze, shall symbolize power, liberty, justice,
intelligence and Christianity. Then shall be realized
the prophetic words of that noble Quaker statesman of
England, spoken in the darkest hours of the recent war :
“I cannot believe that civilization in its journey with
the sun, will sink into endless night to gratify the am-
bition of the leaders of a great revolt, who seek to

‘ Wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind.’

But I have a far other and brighter ‘vision before my
gaze. I see one vast confederation, stretching from the
frozen north in one unbroken line to the glowing south,
and from the wild billows of the Atlantic westward to
the calmer. waters of the Pacific ; and I see one people,
and one law, and one language, and one faith, and over
all that vast continent, the home of freedom and refuge
for theoppressed of every race andevery clime.”

Be this our vision; and be our sight so quickened
by the genius of Christian hope, that we shall behold not
alone the better things coming to our country, but to the 1
whole world:

31

“ For truth still lives, and so shall dawn for man

' A better day I for freedom battles, still

With tyrannous Wrong——_—-and so shall dawn for man
A better day! For God is over all,

From discords shaping harmonies divine,

Making all things subservient to his will ;

And so shall dawn for man a better day I

A_ day when liberty shall reign supreme,

And knowledge clasp the hand of liberty:

A day when virtue shall in every heart

Find a pure home, and fill it with light

And warmth of Heaven. Then War shall stride no more
With clanging arms and garments rolled in blood,
But the far continents be joined in one

By solemn sacrament, whose ritual,

Flashed through sunless depths, is Glory to God

In the highest,’ Peace on Earth! Good will to men I”