Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/addressofhongrovOOclev OF Hon. Grover Cleveland “ Sentiment in Our National Life.” Upon the Occasion of the Celebration of the Anniversary of the Birthday of George Washington. Under the Direction of the Classes of the Law Department of the University of Michig-an. PRESENTED BY THE CLASS OF ’92. REGISTER PUBLISHING COMPANY, PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS, ANN ARBOR, - MICHIGAN. PREFACE. • • • The celebration of the anniversary of the birth- day of George Washington by the Law Department of the University of Michigan has become a well established custom. This pamphlet, containing a full account of the proceedings of the day, February 22, 1892, is intended as a souvenir of the occasion. It has been prepared at the instance of the -class of ’92, Law Department, and contains the introductory speech of President James B. Angell of the Univer- sity; the address of Hon. Grover Cleveland; brief speeches by ex-Governor Campbell of Ohio, Gover- nor E. B. Winans of Michigan, ex- Governors Felch, Begole and Jerome of Michigan, Hon. Don M. Dick- inson, and Chief Justice Allan B. Morse of the Supreme Court of Michigan; the invitation of the classes and Faculty of the Law Department to Mr. Cleveland; Mr. Cleveland’s acceptance; the resolu- tions of the law classes; and a list of the members of the various committees to which the conduct of the celebration was entrusted. The celebration this year was probably the most notable in the history of the University. The class of ’92 wishes to express its gratitude to the Faculty of the Law Department, to President Angell, to the Mayor and citizens of Ann Arbor, and to Hon. Don M. Dickinson for contributing to the success of the occasion. In the resolutions upon another page of this souvenir pamphlet, the classes of the Law Department have expressed their appreciation of the visit and address of Mr. Cleveland. Mr. Cleveland was received at the Ann Arbor station of the Michigan Central R. R., by Mayor Doty of Ann Arbor, President Angell, and the committee of the Law Department, and was escorted by the military companies of Ann Arbor and Ypsi- lanti and about two thousand students to the residence of President Angell. The address was delivered in University Hall, commencing at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. In the evening a recep- tion was tendered to Mr. Cleveland in the corridors of the Washtenaw County Court House. THE ADDRESS. • • • lu introducing Mr. Cleveland, President Angell spoke as follows: Ladies and Gentlemen. — I think that our illustrious visitor is already convinced of the heart- iness of his welcome. I will assure him, though, in your names, that it is as hearty as it is vocifer- ous, and human ability can go no farther. I have never wished as here to-day that this hall covered one-quarter of the campus, but even then I am convinced it would be crowded to its uttermost limits by the men and women and children anxious to hear our distinguished visitor. We all owe the Law Department a debt of gratitude for its annual observance of Washington’s birthday, and in times past it has brought a number of famous visitors to us, but none more so than he who is to address us to-day, one whom all of us, regardless of party con- victions or belief, delight to honor and respect for his incorruptible integrity, high administrative ability, lofty ideas of civic virtue, and the splendid and invincible courage with which he adheres to what he believes to be right. I have the honor ■ 5 — :and the pleasure of presenting to you this after- noon, ex-President Cleveland, of New York City. Mr. Cleveland spoke upon ‘^Sentiment in Our National Life,’’ as follows: Among the few holidays which the rush and hurry of American life concede to us, surely no one of a secular character is so suggestive and impressive as the day we celebrate on this occasion. We not only commemorate the birth of the greatest American who ever lived, but we recall as insepar- ably connected with his career, all the events and incidents which led up to the establishment of free institutions in this land of ours, and culminated in the erection of our wondrous nation. The University of Michigan, therefore, most appropriately honors herself, and does a fitting public service, by especially providing for such an observance of the day as is calculated to turn to the contemplation of patriotic duty the thoughts of the young men whom she is soon to send out to take places in the ranks of American citizenship. I hope it may not be out of place for me to express the gratification it affords me as a member of the legal profession, to know that the conduct of these exercises has been committed to the classes of the Law Department of the University. There seems to me to be a propriety in this, for I have always thought the influences surrounding the prac- — 6 — tice and study of the law, should especially induce a patriotic feeling. The business of the profession is related to the enforcement and operation of the laws which govern our people; and its members, more often than those engaged in other occupations, are called to a participation in making these laws. Besides, they are constantly brought to the study ot the fundamental law of the land, and a familiar- ity with its history. Such study and familiarity should be sufficient of themselves to increase a man’s love of country; and they certainly cannot fail to arouse his veneration for the men who laid the foundations of our nation sure and steadfast in a written Constitution, which has been declared by the greatest living English statesman, to be ^‘the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” Washington had more to do with the forming of the Constitution than our enthusiasm for other phases of the great work he did for his country usually makes prominent. He fought the battles which cleared the way for it. He best knew the need of consolidating under one government the colonies he had made free, and he best knew that without this consolidation a wasting war, the long and severe privations and sufferings his countrymen had undergone, and his own devoted labor in the cause of freedom, were practically in vain. The — 7 — beginning of anything like public sentiment looking to the formation of our nation is traceable to his efforts. The circular letter he sent to the governors of the states, as early as the close of the war of the revolution, contained the germ of the Constitution; and all this was recognized by his unanimous choice to preside over the convention that framed it. His spirit was in and through it all. But whatever may be said of the argument presented in support of the propriety of giving the law classes the management of this celebration, it is entirely clear that the University herself furnishes to all her students a most useful lesson, when by decreeing the observance of this day, she recognizes the fact that the knowledge of books she imparts is not a complete fulfillment of her duty, and concedes that the education with which she so well equips her graduates for individual success in life and for business and professional usefulness, may profitably be supplemented by the stimulation of their patriot- ism, and by the direction of their thoughts to sub- jects relating to their country’s welfare. I do not know how generally such an observance of Wash- ington’s birthday as has been here established, prevails in our other universities and colleges; but I am convinced that any institution of learning in our land which neglects to provide for the instructive and improving observance of this day within its — 8 — walls, falls short of its attainable measure of use- fulness and omits a just and valuable contriubtion to the general good. There is a great need of educated men in our public life, but it is the need of educated men with patriotism. The college graduate may be, and frequently is, more unpat- riotic and less useful in public affairs than the man who with limited education, has spent the years when opinions are formed, in improving con- tact with the world instead of being within college walls and confined to the study of books. If it be true as is often claimed, that a scholar in politics is generally a failure, it may well be due to the fact that during his formative period, when lasting impressions are easily received, his intellect alone has been cultivated at the expense of wholesome and well regulated sentiment. I speak to-day in advocacy of this sentiment. If it is not found in extreme and exclusive mental culture, neither is it found in the busy marts of trade, nor in the confusion of bargaining, nor in the mad rush after wealth. Its home is in the soul and memory of man. It has to do with the moral sense. It reverences traditions, it loves ideas, it cherishes the names and the deeds of heroes and it worships at the shrine of patriotism. I plead for it because there is a sentiment which in some — 9 — features is distinctively American, that we should never allow to languish. When we are told that we are a practical and common -sense people, we are apt to receive the statement with approval and applause. We are proud of its truth and naturally proud because its truth is attributable to the hard work we have had to do ever since our birth as a nation, and because of the stern labor we will see in our way before we reach our determined destiny. There is cause to suspect, however, that another and less creditable reason for our gratification arises from a feeling that there is something heroically American in treating with indifference or derision all those things which in our view do not directly and palpably pertain to what we call, with much satisfaction, practical affairs, but which, if we were entirely frank, we should confess might be called money-getting and the betterment of individual condition. Growing out of this feeling, an increas- ing disposition is discernible among our people, which begrudges to sentiment any time or attention that might be given to business and which is apt to crowd out of mind any thought not directly related to selfish plans and purposes. A little reflection ought to convince us that this may be carried much too far. It is a mistake to regard sentiment as merely something, which if lO — indulged, has a tendency to tempt to idle and useless contemplation or retrospection, thus weak- ening in a people the sturdiness of necessary endeavor and diluting the capacity for national achievement. The elements which m'ake up the sentiment of a people should not be counted as amiable weaknesses because they are not at all times noisy and turbu- lent. The gentleness and loveliness of woman do not cause us to forget that she can inspire man to deeds of greatness and heroism; that as wife she often makes man’s career noble and grand, and* that as mother she builds and fashions in her sons the strong pillars of a state. So the sentiment of a people which in peace and contentment decks with flowers the temple of their rule may, in rage and fury, thunder at its foundations. Sentiment is the cement which keeps in place the granite blocks of governmental power, or the destructive agency whose explosion heaps in ruins their scattered fragments. The monarch who cares only for his sovereignty and safety, leads his subjects to forget- fulness of oppression by a pretense of love for their traditions; and the ruler who plans encroachments upon the liberties of his people, shrewdly proceeds under the apparent sanction of the sentiment. Appeals to sentiment have led nations to bloody wars which have destroyed dynasties and changed — II — the lines of imperial territory. Such an appeal summoned our fathers to the battle-fields where American independence was won, and such an appeal has scattered soldiers’ graves all over our land, which mutely give evidence of the power of our government and the perpetuity of our free institutions I have thus far spoken of a people’s sentiment as something which may exist and be effective, under any form of government, and in any national condition. But the thought naturally follows, that if this sentiment may be so potent in countries ruled by a power originating outside of popular will, how vital must its existence and regulation be among our countrymen, who rule themselves and make and administer their own laws. In lands less free than ours the control of the governed may be more easily maintained if those who are set over them see fit to make concession to their sentiment; yet, with or without such concession, the strong hand of force may still support the power to govern. But sentiment is the life-blood of our nation. Our government was conceived amid the thunders that echoed ‘‘All men are created equal,” and it was brought forth while free men shouted “We, the people of the United States.” The sentiment of our Fathers, made up of their patriotic intentions, their sincere beliefs, their homely impulses and 12 — their noble aspirations, entered into the government they established; and unless it is constantly sup- ported and guarded by a sentiment as pure as theirs, our scheme of popular rule will fail. Another and a different plan may take its place; but this which we hold in sacred trust, as it originated in patriotism, is only fitted for patriotic and honest uses and purposes, and can only be administered in its integrity and intended benefi- cence by honest and patriotic men. It can no more be saved nor faithfully conducted by a selfish, dishonest and corrupt people, than a stream can rise above its source or be better and purer than its fountain head. None of us can be ignorant of the ideas which constitute the sentiment underlying our national structure. We know they are a reverent belief in God, a sincere recognition of the value and power of moral principle and those qualities of heart which make a noble manhood, devotion to unreserved patriotism, love for man’s equality, unquestioning trust in popular rule, the exaction of civic virtue and honesty, faith in the saving quality of universal education, protection of a free and unperverted expression of the popular will, and an insistence upon a strict accountability of public officers as servants of the people. These are the elements of American sentiment; and all these should be found deeply imbedded in the minds and hearts of our countrymen. When any one of them is displaced, the time has come when a danger signal should be raised. Their absence among the people of other nations — how- ever great and powerful they may be — can afford us no comfort or reassurance. We must work out our destiny unaided and alone in full view of the truth, that nowhere so directly and surely as here, does the destruction or degeneracy of the people sentiment undermine the foundations of govern- mental rule. Let us not for a moment suppose that we can outgrow our dependence upon this sentiment, nor that in any stage of national advance and develop- ment, it will be less important. As the love of family and kindred remains to bless and strengthen a man in all the vicissitudes of his mature and busy life, so must our American sentiment remain with us as a people — a sure hope and reliance in every phase of our country’s growth. Nor will it suffice that the factors which compose this sentiment have a sluggish existence in our minds, as articles of an idle faith which we are willing perfunctorily to profess. They must be cultivated as motive prin- ciples, stimulating us to effort in the cause of good government and constantly warning us against the danger and dishonor of faithlessness to the sacred cause we have in charge and heedlessness of the blessings vouchsafed to us and future generations, under our free institutions. These considerations emphasize the value which should be placed upon every opportunity afforded us for the contemplation of the pure lives and patriotic services of those who have been connected with the controlling incidents of our country’s history. Such contemplation cannot fail to rein- force and revive the sentiment absolutely essential to useful American citizenship, nor fail to arouse within us a determination that during our steward- ship, no harm shall come to the political gifts we hold in trust from the Fathers of the Republic. It is because George AVashington completely represented all the elements of American sentiment,, that every incident of his life, from his childhood to his death, is worth recalling — whether it impresses the young with the beauty and value of moral traits, or whether it exhibits to the wisest and oldest an example of sublime accomplishment and the highest possible public service. Even the anecdotes of his boyhood have their value. I have no sympathy with those who in these latter days attempt to shake our faith in the authenticity of these stories, because they are not satisfied with the evidence in their support, or because they do not —15— -seem to accord with the conduct of boys in this generation. It may well be, that the stories should stand and the boys of the present day be pitied. At any rate these anecdotes have answered an important purpose; and in the present state of the proofs, they should, in my opinion, be believed. The cherry tree and hatchet incident and its com- panion declaration that the Father of his Country never told a lie have indeliably fixed upon the mind of many a boy the importance of truthfulness. Of all the legends containing words of advice and encouragement which hung upon the wall of the little district schoolhouse where a large share of my education was gained, I remember but one, which was in these words: ‘^George Washington had only a common-school education.” I will not plead guilty to the charge of dwelling upon the little features of a great subject. I hope the day will never come when American boys can- not know of some trait or some condition in which they may feel that they ought to be, or are, like Washington. I am not afraid to assert that a mul- titude of men can be found in every part of our land, respected for their probity and worth, and most useful to the country and to their fellow men, who will confess their indebtedness to the story of Washington and his hatchet; and many a man has won his way to honor and fame notwithstanding limited school advantages, because he found hope and incentive in the high mission Washington accomplished with only a common-school education. These are not little and trivial things. They guide and influence the forces which make the character and sentiment of a great people. I should be ashamed of my country, if in further speaking of what AVashington has done for the sentiment of his countrymen, it was necessary to make an excuse for a reference to his constant love and fond reverence, as a boy and man, for his mother. This filial love is an attribute of American manhood, a badge which invites our trust and con- fidence and an indispensible element of American greatness. A man may compass important enter- prises, he may become famous, he may win the applause of his fellows, lie may even do public service and deserve a measure of popular approval, but he is not right at heart and can never be truly great if he forgets his mother. In the latest biography of AVashington we find the following statement concerning his mother: ‘‘That she was affectionate and loving cannot be doubted, for she retained to the last a profound hold upon the reverential devotion of her son ; and yet as he rose steadily to the pinnacle of human, greatness, she could only say that ‘ George hadi —17— l)een a good boy and she was sure he would do his duty.’ ” I cannot believe that the American people will consider themselves called upon to share the depre- catory feeling of the biographer, when he writes that the mother of Washington could say of her son, that she believed he would be faithful to the highest earthly trusts, because he had been good; nor that they will regard her words merely as an amiably tolerated expression of a fond mother. If they are true to American sentiment, they will recognize in this language the announcement of the important truth, that under our institutions and scheme of government, goodness such as Washing- ton’s, is the best guaranty for the faithful discharge of public duty. They will certainly do well for the