AN ORATION

. DELIVERED ON THE

  F F‘ourt1’1% of July, 1887,

%   PASSAIC BRIDGE, N. J.

HENRY   ELSWORTH GREGORY,

(A. M., LLB.)

-NEVV YORK :

[887

MR. MAYOR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:

PON this bright effulgent day in the American sum-
mer, this day of thrilling memories and immortal
hopes, it is right and appropriate that we should

gather here to meditate upon themes which the occasion
suggests. Such meetings as this, it seems to me, are inn»-
mensely valuable. The citizens of the Republic, as We are
told by foreign observers, and as many of us know, are too
deeply absorbed in their daily occupations. The competi-
tion, the rivalry, the strain and stress of business and pro-
fessional life consume too much of their time and exhaust
their energies too soon. The necessity of providing suste-
nance for themselves and their families, and the difficulties in
the Way of satisfactory advancement do not allow them
suflicient leisure for the thoughtful consideration of the im.
portant questions and problems that continually present
themselves. T

It is essential, therefore, that on great days like this
We should divest our minds of their wonted cares and bur»-
dens, and regarding ourselves not as individuals merely,
but as living and integral parts of the Republic, reflect upon
thebenefits we enjoy and the dangers which threaten us as
a people.

We have but recently been reading the accounts of the
splendid pageant and magnificent celebration by which the
English people commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of:
the Queen’s coronation. Adequately to describe the gor-

geous procession through the streets of London, and the imr

4

pressive ceremony in Westminster Abbey on the day of
the Jubilee, would task the powers of a Macaulay. While
we acknowledge that such a celebration was fitting, and
while we may in a measure sympathize with the loyal and
patriotic feelings of Englishmen, as they greeted with
huzzas her royal and imperial Majesty, we cannot but con-
gratulate ourselves with old-fashioned A Fourth of July en-
thusiasm upon the more favorable conditions under which
we live in a federal Republic. We gladly recognize the
excellencies of the Queen, her high character, her purity of
life. We have not by any means forgotten the kindly sym-
pathy that she expressed at the tragic death of President
Lincoln, nor the message of consolation that she sent to
Mrs. Garfield when the President lay suffering in the White
House. But however good and noble a woman the Queen
may be, we are inexpressibly thankful that she is no

, sovereign of ours. Nor can we be expected to be warmly

interested in the continuance of any monarch’s reign. To
us kings and queens are anachronisms. After more than
a century of republican government we can only look upon
kings and princes as superfluous figures in- human affairs,
who cannot long survive in countries where intelligence is
universal and where education is obtainable by the hum-
blest. A

We celebrate to-day an event far more important than
the coronation of a titular and nominal monarch. We

_ celebrate the emancipation of the Colonies and the invisible ‘

but divine coronation of the people as the only sovereign,
that sovereign of whose divine right there shall never be
any question. To thatsovereign, the source of all power,
whose welfare is the end and object of all authority, every
citizen owes an unfaltering allegiance. iWhat shall we say

‘W of that American who regrets "that we have in this country

no House of Peers,_no landed gentry, no cathedrals, no
baronial castles, ruins,~ Ascot, Derby P The disease of
Anglomania, I am thankful -to say, is confined to a very
limited and insignificant portion of the population. That it
should exist at all in this country is to be regretted. Who
of us is not grateful that the first breath his infant lungs
inhaled was a whiff of pure American air, that his baby

eyes looked up to theblue dome that bends benignly over

5

the Republic? Our Anglomaniac is generally a harmless
young man of mild disposition and slender intelligence. He
is allowed by his parents more money than is good for him,
and grows up Without having impressed upon him the im-
portance of choosing a profession or of being apserious mem-
ber of the community. a He is one of the most amusing pro-
ducts of our transatlantic civilization. It would be un-
charitable to say that he is entirely useless. Every one

A fills some space in the World and exerts some influence.

The Anglomaniac is a good customer of tailors, haberdash—
ers, theaters, restaurants. He ornaments the club Windows
and fashionable dravving~rooms, and contributes, perhaps,
to beautify life. We might exchange our Anglomaniacs
for the paupers, imbeciles and lunatics that the British
authorities send to us. i _

Our jubilations to-day are peculiarly appropriate. This
is the centennial year of the construction of the federal con-
stitution, that admirable body of organic law under which
We live- The sessions of the historic convention at Philae
delphia began on the 29th day of May, P787, and continued
until the 17th of September, 1787. No true. American ever
wearies of hearing the praises of that company of Wise and
patriotic men. Their counsels were assisted and guided by
the same beneficent Providence which has ever since
watched over the destinies of the Republic, and the com-
pleted constitution has been described by‘ no less a man
than,Grladstone as “the most Wonderful Work ever struck
off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” .A.]:*
though originally adopted by thirteen comparatively insigg
nificant States with an aggregate population of about three
millions, it has proved (with its amendments) equally well
adapted for tl1irty-eight States with a population of nearly

« sixty millions. It has stood the terrible trial and strain of

a tremendous civil war ; it has proved flexible without being
frail, and under its provisions, liberally construed, the COllI1*r

, try has advanced with unprecedented and astounding rapid.-

ity to the proud position it now occupies among the nations
of the world.

Can we ever be too grateful to the fifty-five eminent men
who composed the Constitutional Convention of 1787? Shall
we not always hold their names in honorable remembrance?

6

May we not at this time rejoice-—the civil war having ended
and the results of that conflict having been accepted by the
men of the South————-may we not’ rejoice thatrthe once divided
Republic is finally and forever united under the National
Constitution ? i

We all remember the brilliant and generous speech de-
livered at the New England dinner, last December, by Henry
W. Grady, the editor of the foremost Southern newspaper.

-It may safely be asserted that there is no intelligent and

patriotic man north of the Potomac who is not gratified
when he hears that the South is recovering from the unfor-
tunate condition into which it was plunged by the war of

R the Rebellion ; that the effects of the disasters and sufiering

which were inflicted upon it are passing away; that the
spirit of fraternization is so gerEerally- manifesting itself, and
that the future of the New South is to be one of wholesome
prosperity and progress. “We have found out,” said Mr.
Grady, “that in the general summing up the free negro
counts more than he did as a slave. We have planted the
schoolhouse on the hill~top and made it free to white and
black. We have sowed towns and cities in the place of
theories, and put business above politics.”

It is just such men as Henry W. Grady that the South

’ needs—men who acquiesce without bitterness or hatred in

the results of the war, men who recognize that the South
is in a far better condition with slavery abolished and the
Union restored than it was in the old days when the slavoc-
racy was dominant. The South needs men of liberal senti-
ments and invincible energ , who, ceasing to live in the past
and under the shadow of the Rebellion, look with eager eyes
toward the future, where the signs of promise are so bright
and the possibilities so glorious.‘

It is certainly unwise to seek to keep alive the animosities
that the war inevitably engendered. Geographical lines
cannot be obliterated, but sectional barriers ought to be
’removed,and the men of the South should unite with the
men of the North in enthusiastic loyalty to the undivided
Republic. , .

The recent promulgation of an executive order directing
the return of the flags captured during the Rebellion was
most unfortunate. The South neither demanded nor ex-

7

jpected any such restoration of its captured ensigns, and the

0

, unauthorized disposition of them contemplated by the Presi-
dent was sure to excite opposition among the veterans who

compose the Grand Army of the Republic and among loyal
men everywhere. Although we may admit that the Presi-
>dent’s motives in ordering the return of the old flags were
innocent and inoffensive, he might have foreseen, had he pos-
sessed more sagacity, that the consequences of such an act
would, to say the least, be most unpleasant. It certainly is
‘to be regretted that Mr. Cleveland was not better advised,
and that this ill-timed order was not withheld. The violent
anathemas of General Fairchild in denouncing the President
-can hardly be commended, but every loyal man here can
sympathize with his feelings and those of the organization of
which he is the head at thetime when the unfortunate order
became known. It was not unnatural that the old soldiers
should have been filled with fiery indignation, and that they
.should have vehemently denounced the order. They are right-
ly proud of the part they played in the great Rebellion, proud
‘of the splendid victories which they achieved, and of the pres-
-ervation of the . Union which their valor secured. Natu--
rally each one of them regarded the President’s order as an
unwarranted depreciation of the results of his labors and
sacrifices-———as a personal insult. The veterans of the Union
armies harbor no rancorous hostility toward the men who
fought for the lost cause. A true soldier respects an honest
foe. Interchanges of courtesiesbetween military organiza-

U tions of the North and the South have been not infrequent, and
only a few days ago the Boston patriots received the Robert

E. Lee Camp, of Richmond, with demonstrative enthusiasm
.and genuine cordiality. The old soldiers reserve their de-
testation and supreme abhorence for the men at the North
‘who stayed at home and condemned the war--——the men who

sought to embarrass ‘President, Lincoln’s administration in "

its prosecution of the war, and whose ill-concealed disloyalty
gained for them the odium and contempt of soldier and loyal
ciivilian alike. Well, the tattered flags, the trophies of a
‘hundred battles, are likely to remain where they are for
some time to come. We may feel assured, at any rate, that

if the next Congress will not direct their restoration to the

‘States that attempted to secede from the Union.  

8

Wl1i1e.we are jiustified in congratulating ourselves upon

4 our wonderful national progress, the beneficent achieve-
ments and imperishable triumphs of the past; upon the pres-

ervation and restoration of the Union; and while we con-
template with satisfaction the material prosperity of the
country to-day, We cannot, as thoughtful citizens, look
toward the future without some apprehension. “America,”
said Emerson, “is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography
dazzles. the imagination.” When the immense territories of
the greatNorthWest shall have been admitted to the Union
as populous and progressive States; when the far-extending
plains and prairies, where the bison or the wolf roams uninc-
lested, shall be nurturing millions now unborn; when the
treasures hidden for centuriesin the bowels of the earth and
in the sides of the everlasting mountains shall have been
reached and utilized; when the wealth of the country shall
be incalculable and its inhabitants innumerable---when those
days come—-What citizen is he who does not feel some appre-
hension, even though the prospect is on the whole glorious ?‘

As the Republic widens its boundaries and increases its
power, it will inevitably find that its enemies are becoming
more numerous and more mighty. I speak here of the ene-—
miss that War against the Welfare of the country from
Within. Our rapidly augmenting strength, our inexhausti-
ble resources, Will make ithazardous for all, save two or
three foreign nations, to venture to wage War against us.
As the years roll on the probability that any European na-
tion imay seek occasion for hostilities against the United
States will be constantly diminishing. The Wisdom of ex-
pending enormous sums of money for the fortification of our-
sea-coast is perhaps questionable, although events in the
near future may suggest the importance of this means of
defense. J,

The most dangerous enemi; sof the national life are in-—
ternal. Some of them are: intemperance, mammonism,

’ luxury, the weakening of marriage. obligations, the degra-
dation of the home life, monopolies, social and class (3011.-""‘.
lflicts, unrestricted immigration. Against such insidious,

ubiquitous and gigantic foes.,.;,the Republic must contend
with A constancy and ever-watchful intensity. At the open-

ring of the twentieth century there will probably be in the

9

gcountryla population of between eighty and ninety millions.

Political economists tell us that as the population increases
the difficulty of-earning a living increases. . In such a vast.
collection of human beings there will necessarily be millions
of the discontented poor. Unless the relations between capital
and labor, between employers and employed, are more satis-
factorily adjusted than they are to-day, we may reasonably
apprehend disturbances and, perhaps, disasters. The devis-—
ing of expedients to avert commotions and the discovery of
remedies for social disorders might well engage the attention
of thoughtful and public--spirited men.

I am not an alarmist, nor do I entertain gloomy views
of the country’s future; but I do believe that the acquisition
of riches should no morefbeithe main business of a nation
than of a man. The countryshas a mission to accomplish,
and that mission is not merely to become the wealthiest and
mightiest nation on earth. Not lucre, but righteousness, ex~
alteth a people. Not numbers, but character, is the thing-
principally needed. If the American Republic succeeds in

becoming the richest and mightiest nation the world ever-

saw, and nothing more, it will be the most colossal failure-

in universal history. ' A
“ The present discontents,” the widespread disturbances

of harmonious relations between capitalists and laboring’
men, present problems of most serious significance. Pro- I

fessors of political economy may perhaps fancy themselves
capable of prescribing effectual remedies for the distressing
diseases of the social organism; but in such a crisis as the

‘ one through which we are passing the erudition and the

counsel, the theories and the doctrines of these gentlemen
are seen to be of little or no practical value. A contempo-

, rary student and teacher of the “ dismal science ” has
asserted that “ the paramount question of political economy

toiday is the question of distribution———how and in what.
degree the chasm between the ‘haves ’ and the ‘ have—nots ’
may be bridged over.” A most intercstin g question truly; a.

problem the solution of which a great many people are seek»

ing. It seems clear, however, that the political economists,
with all their profound learning, restless industry and won-

derful insight, are no more able to settle the question than
they are able to discover the sources of the Nile, or to account.

1:‘.

for the disappearance of the lunar oceans. One thing, at

any rate, is clearly needed, and that is the recognition by
-each man, be he "employer or employed, of the fact that he
is accountable for the faithful performance of the trusts and
-duties imposed upon him. These distressing conflicts be-
tween labor and capital will never cease until men recognize
this fact, and until in the daily secular life the divine law of

‘ love is more generally obeyed. i

The efforts of feather-brained theorists and doctrinaires
to inflame the passions of the laboring men by sophistical
arguments and frantic appeals to their baser nature cannot
too strongly be denounced. , ,

As a prophylactic measure against the increase of social
«disease the restriction of immigration _naturally suggests

a itself. The dangers to which the peaceable people of the

-country are exposed, while our ports are open to the rabble

i of Europe, recent events have shown to be very great. The

discontented and degraded poor of continental Europe, the
victims, it may be, of centuries of misrule and oppression,
"turn with wistful eyes to the giant Republic beyond the sea.
Many of these, under favorable conditions, both on the sea-
board and in the West, become useful, prosperous and re-
:spected citizens. But with the industrious and worthy come
not a few who may properly be described as enemies of
society and of government, ‘licentious, conscienceless and
desperate, who neither fear God nor regard man. These
renegades, filled with unrighteous dissatisfaction with the
«existing state of things and an insane hatred of the reason-
able regulations under which society exists, come here not for
the purpose of living orderly, laborious lives, but to disturb
the peace and to destroy the property of those who desire
so to live. Upon such persons our people should have little
mercy. The trial of the Chicago anarchists, last year, ended
.sa'tisfactorily. But the administration of punitive justice
with us is unfortunately slow, and the seven sanguinary
ruffians remain to—day unpunished.

As long asimmigration is so unrestricted and naturaliz-

ation so easy, there will be nothing to prevent the influx of
depraved and dangerous elements. T

The abuse ofrpowerrrbyl great corporations is one of the
principal causes of discontent among the wage-earnersand

11

business men not a few. Every intelligent man must admit

that some of the great corporations of the country have,
under the management of a few unscrupulous directors,
-done much to excite popular animosity. The abuses con-

nected withrthe management of railways have been very

great; but ithis earnestly to be hoped that the interstate
-commerce law will be instrumental in correcting them.

i What is needed is an enlightened and energetic public senti-

ment manifesting itself in reformatory and progressive legis-
flation which shall be rigidly enforced l by incorruptible
«officials. The growth of monopolies which dishonestly and
tyrannously employ their gigantic powers and instrument-
.alities to defy courts, to corrupt legislatures, to oppress
the poor, ought vigorously to be opposed by pulpit, press,
and people. i   T

Among the evils and abuses connected with our railway
system, the greatest, perhaps, is the discrimination in rates
in favor of large commercial houses, corporations and long-
haul’ customers, to the injury of small tradesmen and local
traffic. So great hasbeen the injustice inflicted byithis dis-
-crimination that thousands of our people look upon the great
railroadcorporations as their enemies and oppressors, while
the sentiment in favor of the assumption by the government
of entire control of the railways is pronounced and con-
stantly growing. “ No one,” says Professor Hadley, i“ can
have much to do with the more thoughtful workingmen
without finding out how strong that feeling is,‘ and what
hopes are based upon it.” The problems which the subject
of transportation suggests are many and important, and
cannot, at this time, be discussed. a 

One of the most portentousevils of the day, which we as
patriotic men are called upon to consider, but one, fortun-
ately, that is not known in this favored town, is the fright-
‘ful one of T tenement houses. It is said on good authority
that within the space of one square mile in the City of New
York 2-90,000 human beings are huddled together. The
filth and squalor in which these poor creatures sexist would
shock and appal you. It is almost impossible to depict the

physical and domestic conditions under which these unfor-

tunate thousands live. Consider what must be the moral

if atmosphere in such places: Think of the children who are

12

born and grow up in tl1ese New York tenement houses!

.When we recollect that the infantile years are the most im-

portant in the history of the individual, that during that

,period the most permanent impressions are made, that then

the foundation of the temple of life is laid, we cannot but be
saddened when we see throngs of little children in the filthy
streets of the tenement house districts. They learn with

childish celerity all that is injurious and evil. They hear.
the ribald gabble and profane imprecations of men; they i

cannot avoid proximity to thecorner saloon. The influences
which surround many thousands of children in our great
cities are simply horrible, and the dangers which accompany
such a condition of things aremost serious. T .
The existence of this tenement house evil is attributabl

mainly,it seems to me, as soff’.;many other prevalent evils are
attributable, to the insatiable: cupidity of the rich. As long
as tenement. houses, are profitable investments for capital, so
long will they remain the dens of iniquity and" degradation
that they are. The great god Mammon will have many
victims.’ The Worship of Wealth is appallingly prevalent and
pernicious; The acquisition of riches is to some far more
important than the preservation of life or the salvation of
souls. One of the evil results of this omnipresent dollar
worship is an obscuration of the spiritual vision, a deteriora-
tion of character, for which the triumphs of energy and a
marvelous material progress cannot by any means compen-
sate. He entertains a narrow and ignoble view of life who
teaches that the attainment of wealth and station is that for
which a young man should most unweariedly strive. Self-
assertion, pugnacity, persistency, covetousness, can hardly

be considered the highest human attributes; and yet these

are thequalities which in these days commend a man to the
consideration of his contemporaries. He best fulfills the
purpose of his existence who succeeds in developing his com-
plex nature most harmoniously and most completely, for
such a one will necessarilytbe more ‘of a benefactor to his
kind than the man of fragmentary and stunted development.
That We need higher ideals. and nobler types of * men. can-

not be , denied. The great millionaires, the railway mag-

nates, the successful speculators, are much too highly re-
garded. It is not strange that to thousands the accumula-

513

tion of dollars becomes the supreme object of life, the thing
most worthy of the passionate energy of youth and the
untiring industry of manhood;   .i l A
Have We not all observed the potent influence of wealth
in American politics? Do We not know that men have been
elected to the Senate of the United States whose principal
qualification for that exalted position is the possession of
millions? Do we not know What money has done to corrupt
the -officials of our municipal governments? To the despica-
ble horde who make politics a trade nothing is sacred. They
have no conception of private honor or public virtue, and
regulate their conduct by a money standard. They would
sell their souls if they had any marketable value. Their
only objection to bribes is that the sums offered are not large
enough. The revelations of oflicial rascality with which we
have recently been made familiar are inexpressibly humiliat-
ing. « Honest men feel the disgrace, for they are conscious
that their own neglect of public duties has contributed to
make official corruption possible. If “the government of
the people, for the people‘, by the people ” is to continue in
unimpaired vigor and usefulness, in the Nation, in the State,

in the municipality, the best citizens, so-called, the men of 4

business and the professional men, must be more vigilant,
more prompt,more devoted in the discharge of their public
duties. They must give less time to their private affairs
and more time to the affairs of the community. If popular
government prove a failure in this country, it will be because
our intelligent citizens prefer selfish advantage to the gen-
eral welfare. T ' r ‘

Among the beneficent and ennobling agencies which we

may reasonably expect to sec working out visible results in
the future, a very high place ‘ should be given to literature.
“The great need in modern culture, which is scientific in
method, rationalistic in spirit, and utilitarian in purpose, is
to find some effective agency for cherishing within us the
ideal. That is, I take it,” said John Morley, “ii the business
and function of literature.” The American people have not
accomplished as much in the domain of letters as they might
have accomplished, although We are justly proud of Irving,
Bryant, Bancroft, Prescott, Emerson, Longfellow, Haw-
thorne, Motley, Poe, Lowell, Holmes, Whittier, and others

14

i only less notable. In the department of jurisprudence and:

statesmanship we still cherish the valuable Works of Kent.-
and Story, the judicial decisions of Chief Justice Marshall,
and the incomparable Federalist, as Well as other Writings.
of Alexander Hamilton. In scientific literature, too, credit-v
able Woirk has been performed. But we should not be con-
tent with what has been done. We look for better things,

for a broader development. At the same time it is as idle M

for us to lament the absence of great poets as it would have
been absurd for a Greek of the Heroic Age to bewail the-
dearth of great merchants and millionaires.

The genesis and efflorescence of a poet, for example, like
Homer or Aeschylus, are no more to be expected in this.
country today than the appearance of such an extraordinary
man as Jay Gould was to be looked for in Greece in Homer’s.
time, eight or nine centuries before the Christian Era.
Poets such as Homer and Aeschylus appear but once, and.
any one may predict with absolute certitude that never in
this country shall we have b poets that will at all resemble
these monarchs of Parnassus.

Before We can look for really great poets and literary
men of the first rank we must have the conditions which are-
pre-requisite for their production. Our manner of life, the
tyranny of unreasonable customs, the necessity of toiling‘
too continuously for subsistence, the tendency which _is.
everywhere noticed, to make men more and more like ma--
chines, one—sided and fragmentary creatures, the power of‘
the visible and the tangible to attract and to hold the atten-»

tion of men, the Want of appreciation and love for nature,

the disinclination to employ the mind in those spheres of"
activity which are not pecunarily profitable -—---the com»-
bined influences and tendencies that are today dominant in,
our ;American civilization, it seems to me, are decidedly op-~
posed to the production of literature of the highest order-
But if we may not expect the highest things, we may at
least hope that our literary men will be mindful of their
responsibilities, be impressed with the thought that they are-
the guides and teachers of their kind, and that as such it is
for them to contribute largely toward the national welfare.

They can do much to raise the tone and purpose of the national.

i life, to cheer and to console the weary pilgrims onthe earthly,

bun - no-1-~20

15

pathway, to direct their thoughts to those things which are
above. The sorrows and the misfortunes, the disappointments.

and the defeats, which are incidental to our continuance upon

the ‘earth, come with crushing force upon those to whom this
life is all. He whose eyes are fixed upon the glittering towers

of the Eternal City, who looks out beyond the infinite deep

and the azure dome, and penetrates with the eyes of his spirit.
into the invisible kingdomw-such an one, amid the turbulence,.
the disappointments, the uncertainty, the pains and the-
disasters of the earthly life, has an abiding consolation, a.

sustaining faith, an elevating hope, a perpetual inspiration.
I-low grand are the potentialities of life in this blessed
land of ours-—-life full of helpful activity, wholesome enjoy--

ment and unimpeded development 1 Yet how few make the-

most of their lives! We need more symmetrical, great-
souled men, more genuine joyousness, a more dignified leis--
ureliness, a more natural expansion. We need men who

i will be more anxious to acquire knowledge and wisdom than

money and position, men of large and noble minds, lovers
of temperance and of justice, men who believe in the immor~
tality of cliaracter.

, “Self—reverence, self-knowledge, self-‘control,
These three alone lead life to sovereign power
Yet not for power, (power of herself
Would come unca11’d for) but to live by law,
Acting the law we live by without fear;

And, because right is right, to follow right
Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence.”