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HONOR ORATION5 
 
 In the Contests of the ' . ''.M 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ' ' ^' '•' '^ *'^ 
 
 Oratorical Association 
 
 Together with the 
 
 Orations judged highest in Thought and Compo- 
 sition when such Orations did not 
 receive an honor 
 
 Edited for the Association by 
 
 THOMA5 C. IRULBLOOD. A. M., 
 
 Professor of Elocution and Oratory in the University of Michigan 
 
 THIRD EDITION 
 
 Published by the 
 
 ONIVERSITV ORATORICAL ASSOCIATION 
 
 Ann Arbor, Michigan 
 
 1906 
 
f^T.'^L^-H 
 
 Copyright, 1895, by the 
 
 University Oratorical Association, 
 
 Ann Arbor, Michigan. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
Preface 
 
 The Oratorical Association of the University of Michigan 
 issues this volume in response to repeated requests of students of 
 oratory in this and other universities for a collection of student 
 orations which have won honors. It is commendable for those 
 who contemplate entering contests to desire to examine the work 
 of those who have preceded them. A careful study and com- 
 parison of such speeches ought to be a source of profit and 
 encouragement to all contestants, for we believe that the average 
 student can do what the average student has done. 
 
 The editor realizes that the productions herein presented are 
 not above criticism, that they are student orations and must not 
 be compared with masterpieces of the great orators ; but they will 
 be found to contain vigorous thought, forcibly expressed, and 
 will, we think, compare favorably with similar productions from 
 other institutions. 
 
 The money derived from the sale of "Honor Orations" is 
 devoted wholly to furthering the interests of public speaking in 
 the University of Michigan. T. C. T. 
 
 Ann Arbor, Mich., May 20, 1895. 
 
Contents 
 
 Preface, 
 
 
 
 iii 
 
 History of the Association, 
 
 
 
 vi 
 
 Chicago Alumni Medal, 
 
 - . . . - 
 
 
 viii 
 
 Austin Carlos Gormky, 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 "Quo-Warranto, 
 
 
 A. C. Gormlev, 
 
 2 
 
 Emilio Castelar, 
 
 
 W. B. Kelly 
 
 , 6 
 
 Jesse Elmer Roberts, 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 American Materialism, 
 
 
 J. E. Roberts, 
 
 I^ 
 
 Growth of Internationalism, 
 
 The 
 
 N. J. McGuire, 
 
 1/ 
 
 Lindley Grant Long, 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 -Relation of Modern-Isms to 
 
 Progress, - 
 
 L. G. Long, 
 
 23 
 
 Relation of Education to Reform, The 
 
 J. B. Nelson, 
 
 28 
 
 Frank Prather Sadler, 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 Mirabeau, 
 
 
 F. P. Sadler. 
 
 34 
 
 Spirit of Democracy, The 
 
 
 B. L. Oliver, 
 
 39 
 
 Liberalizing Influences of the Parliament 
 
 of Religions, 
 
 
 
 
 F. E. Chamberlain, 
 
 44 
 
 James Henry Mays, 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 Internationalism, 
 
 
 J. H. Mays, 
 
 50 
 
 Classes or the Commoners, 
 
 The 
 
 F. L. Ingraham, 
 
 55 
 
 Banishment of the Mormon 
 
 People, The 
 
 J. E. Hickman, 
 
 60 
 
 Fred Lewis Ingraham, 
 
 
 - 
 
 65 
 
 ■Gettysburg, 
 
 
 F. L. Ingraham, 
 
 66 
 
 Armenian Question, The 
 
 
 W. M.Merts,. 
 
 • 71 
 
 Bayard Hoyt Ames, 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 Castelar, 
 
 
 B. H. Ames, 
 
 77 
 
 John Brown, 
 
 
 Chas. Simons, 
 
 82 
 
 Charles Simons, 
 
 
 
 87 
 88 
 
 Polarity of Government, 
 
 
 M. L. Wiers, 
 
 Sectionalism, 
 
 
 F. E. Rheinfranh. 
 
 93 
 
 Martin Henry Carmody, 
 
 
 - 
 
 98 
 
 Patrick Henry, 
 
 - 
 
 M. H. Carmody, 
 
 99 
 
 Charles Sumner, 
 
 - 
 
 F. D. Eaman, 
 
 104 
 
 George Wendell Maxey, 
 
 
 
 log 
 
 Webster's Reply to Hayne, 
 
 
 G. W. Maxey, 
 
 no 
 
CONTENTS V 
 
 Leon Gabetta, 
 
 A. J. Holland, 115 
 
 Carroll Lawrence Storey, 
 
 121 
 
 — "IMLinister Plenipotentiary, 
 
 C. L. Storey, 122 
 
 True Patriot, The 
 
 B. S. Cromer, 127 
 
 Mission of Chatham, The 
 
 Clyde McGee, 131 
 
 Political Altruism, 
 
 /. S. Kohn, 137 
 
 Eugene Marshall, 
 
 141 
 
 ,- — -Hamilton and the Constitution, 
 
 Bugene Marshall, 142 
 
 National Danger in Modern Industrialism, 
 
 
 Edward Sonnenschein, 147 
 
 Anglo-Saxon, The 
 
 F. W. Balcomb, 152 
 
 James Floyd Halliday, 
 
 157 
 
 Webster and the Compromise of 
 
 1850, /. F. Halliday, 158 
 
 Reign of the Law, The 
 
 Hugo Sonnenschein, 162 
 
 Hugo Sonnenschein, 
 
 - 167 
 
 Message of Machinery, The 
 
 Hugo Sonnenschein, 168 
 
 Sick Man of Asia and His Doctors, The Kiyo Sue Irmi, 173 
 
 Kiyo Sue Inui, 
 
 - 178 
 
 Mission of New Tanan The 
 
 Kiyo Sue Inui, 179 
 F. A. Deahl, 183 
 
 Crime of the Century, The 
 
 Floyd Anthony Deahl, 
 
 189 
 
 John Marshall, 
 
 Ftoyd A. Deahl, 190 
 
 Migration the Solution 
 
 Sheridan, Downey, 195 
 
 Adrian Marinus Landman, 
 
 200 
 
 Our Duty to the Sioux, 
 
 Adrian M. Landmatn., 201 
 
 International Peace, 
 
 Frederick B. McKay, 205 
 
History of the Oratorical Association. 
 
 The Oratorical Association of the University of Michigan 
 was organized in January, 1890. The purpose was to foster 
 interest in oratory by holding contests among the college classes, 
 and to participate in similar contests with other universities. 
 Accordingly invitations were sent to the University of Wisconsin, 
 Northwestern University, and Oberlin College to send delegates 
 to Ann Arbor, in June, 1890, to form an intercollegiate associa- 
 tion. All responded to the call and after a two days' session the 
 Northern Oratorical League was formed with the following insti- 
 tutions as charter members : The University of Michigan, the 
 University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, and Oberlin 
 College. The University of Iowa was admitted in 1891, the 
 University of Chicago in 1893, and the University of Minnesota 
 in 1899. The number of colleges was limited to seven. 
 
 The Michigan Oratorical Association, through whose influ- 
 ence the League was organized, was now ready to establish itself 
 on a permanent basis in accordance with the provisions and 
 requirements of that League. Its constitution and by-laws were 
 so amended as to conform tO' the larger body of which it was a 
 member. The Literary and Law Departments were organized 
 on an equal footing. Undergraduates from other departments 
 were permitted to enter through the Law and Literary Depart- 
 ments, and while degree men were admitted to membership in the 
 Association they were not permitted to enter any but the debating 
 contests. 
 
 In 1906 Nathan M. Kaufman, of Marquette, Michigan, 
 established an annual testimonial of $150, to be awarded as fol- 
 lows: $100 to the student who shall win first honor, and $50 to 
 the student who shall win second honor. 
 
The Chicago Alumni Medal. 
 
 In October, 1894, the Chicago Alumni Association of the 
 University of Michigan, in order to encourage interest in oratory 
 
 in the University, pro- 
 vided the Chicago 
 Alumni Medal to be 
 given annually to the 
 student who shall win 
 first honor in oratory 
 in the University. 
 This medal, cuts of 
 which are here pre- 
 sented, was designed 
 by Louis H. Sullivan, 
 the architect of the 
 Chicago Auditorium. 
 This work of art is 
 
 :j'A-'. 
 
 OBVERSK OF CHICAGO ALUMNI MEDAL. 
 
 thought by critics^ 
 both in this country 
 and in Europe, to be 
 one of the handsomest 
 medals in existence. /ifff'M'/i W'" 
 The authorities of the l^ml/n/ 
 Academy of the Beau- [r^^i^ij 
 tiful Arts in Paris, 
 and of the National 
 Museum of St. Peters- 
 burg, consider it the 
 best work of its kind, 
 and Ex-President An- 
 drew D. White of 
 Cornell University, 
 
 formerly Ambassador of the United States to Germany, declares 
 it to be "the most exquisite bronze medal he has ever seen." 
 
 /■''/■■I 
 
 M^ 
 
 REVERSE OF CHICAGO ALUMNI MEDAL. 
 
AUSTIN CARLOS GORMLEY 
 
HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 Austin Carlos Qormley. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born at Helena, Montana, 
 April 23, 1867. His father, James Gormley, was a merchant in 
 this frontier town, who by his thrift became one of the wealthiest 
 men of the place, but he lost his means by unfortunate invest- 
 ments in quartz mines and soon after died, leaving his son Austin 
 and two sisters to the care of their widowed mother. After a brief 
 period in the public schools of Virginia City, whither they had 
 removed, the young lad of fifteen was compelled to seek employ- 
 ment. He went to work in a printing office, where he held cases 
 for four years, and later at Ann Arbor he found the printer's trade 
 very useful to him, for the money earned during vacations and at 
 odd times went a great way toward defraying expenses during his 
 course at the University. 
 
 In 1886, the family removed to Ann Arbor, where Austin 
 entered the High School. He was graduated in the Latin course 
 in 1888, having been honored by his class with the oratorship and 
 by the faculty with a place on the commencement program. 
 
 The following October he matriculated in the Literary De- 
 partment of the University. The next year, while still pursuing 
 his literary course, he registered in the Law school, from which he 
 was graduated with the class of '91 with the degree of LL. B. On 
 completing his course he received the appointment of Quizmaster 
 in the Law school for the following year, and entered the post- 
 graduate Law class, but before completing the year's work he 
 received the offer of a co-partnership with Mr. N. B. Smith, a 
 leading lawyer of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, and decided 
 to leave the University and enter upon the practice of the law. 
 He is still a member of the firm of Smith & Gormley, and is meet- 
 ing with great success in his professional work. 
 
1 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 In 1894 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Meagher Co., 
 Montana. 
 
 During his University course Mr. Gormley was a most faith- 
 ful student of oratory. He not only completed all the courses 
 then offered in the subject but accepted every opportunity for 
 public speaking. He helped to organize the University Oratorical 
 Association and in its first annual contest was awarded highest 
 honor, and became the representative of the University in the first 
 contest of the Northern Oratorical League, where he was also 
 awarded first place. He was moreover a most enthusiastic and 
 skillful debater. In 1890 he was chosen one of a trio to partici- 
 pate in a public debate between the Law School and the Literary 
 Department and was on the winning sidejjf 
 
 Since leaving college he has been much sought to make the 
 principal address on public occasions. In style he is bold, at 
 times lofty, in action somewhat angular, but forceful and impul- 
 sive. He commands attention by his great earnestness, his tho- 
 rough sympathy with his audience, and his mastery of the subject 
 in hand. 
 
 QUO WARRANTO? 
 By Austin Carlos Gormley. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in i8gi at the University of Michigan and also in the Northern 
 Oratorical League. In the former contest Mr. Gormley was marked third in Thought and 
 Composition and first in Delivery; in the latter first in Thought and Composition and third 
 in Delivery.] 
 
 Before people can use their power, the,y must learn that they 
 have it. The Persian, never doubting the right of the priesthood 
 to a monopoly of learning, is still, with his neighbors of the 
 Orient, languishing in chains of ignorance and superstition. The 
 Hindu, never questioning the superior claims of the Brahman, 
 must die, as he has lived, without hope or aspiration. As long as 
 the many have been credulous, the few have been artful enough to 
 impose upon their credulity. The few take unto themselves 
 authority that was never given them, and the many, not question- 
 ing this authority, are held in pitiless subjection to tyranny and 
 oppression. Not until the spirit of inquiry has been breathed into 
 the deadened souls of men have they asserted their independence. 
 Then they have demanded that those who assumed the right to 
 rule should show their authority. "By what authority?" was the 
 
QUO WARRANTO. 3 
 
 cry that began to go up from the toiling slave to his insolent 
 master, from the retainer to his feudal lord, from the vassal to his 
 tyrant king. It was this question that gradually lessened the num- 
 ber of despots and transformed the absolutism of William the 
 Conqueror into the constitutionalism of Victoria; that changed 
 the " I, George III., King of England, by the Grace of God," into 
 "We, the people of the United States." 
 
 This writ of quo warranto, which has brought to an end so 
 many acts of usurpation, can still be utilized to prevent their repe- 
 tition. And so, today, if authority is overridden and rights are 
 trampled upon, let the offenders be summoned by this writ to 
 appear and answer. It is high time that this were done. To 
 realize that this is so, we need only read the opinions of econo- 
 mists and political philosophers, watch the direction in which 
 legislation is being attempted, and note the numerous organiza- 
 tions for self-defense that are continually being formed. These 
 tell us of great and growing evils; but, numerous as these evils 
 are, we see, if we look closely, that they are only the various 
 branches of a tree whose root is an inordinate love of money. 
 The position of influence formerly held by the priest, the king, or 
 the noble has passed in this country into the hands of the capi- 
 talist. The maxim of the day being that "money can do no 
 wrong," everything is subordinated to the one end of acquiring it. 
 All things are offered up as sacrifices to this golden calf. Money 
 is not simply the means by which the high hopes of life may be 
 realized; it is itself the end — the summum bonuvt of life. It sets 
 itself up as the standard by which everything is measured: an 
 education that cannot be converted into gold is looked upon as 
 worthless. In politics, it is the master. It packs caucuses and 
 conventions and carries elections. It controls the large cities of 
 the nation, owning the mayor, aldermen, and police force: the 
 Tweeds are not all dead yet, nor have all the boodlers fled to 
 Canada. It stalks boldly into the halls of our state legislatures and 
 makes it possible for a Quay or a Brice to sit in the seat once 
 occupied by a Webster or a Clay. What should be a council of 
 wise men is thus becoming "a rich men's club." The miserable 
 philosophy of Hobbes permeates the political system: "Not he 
 who is wise is rich, as the Stoics say; but he who is rich is wise." 
 It secures legislation in its own favor, pays labor the market price, 
 out of its immense profits founds a free library, and then boasts 
 itself a public benefactor. Jekyll-like, it pleadingly implores 
 
4 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 assistance "until it can stand alone"; this granted, it shows its 
 true nature of Mr. Hyde, organizes into a trust, and with a mock- 
 ing laugh cries out, "Where are you?" Nothing seems to check 
 this authority of wealth. It asserts itself everywhere. If brought 
 to trial, it often puts its golden goblet to the lips of court and 
 bar, and makes justice a farce. Decked in its most gorgeous 
 colors, it occupies the best pew in church, and sometimes causes 
 the minister to suppress the truth. Within the memory of many 
 now living, it was wont, with its fiendish eye, to charm the min- 
 ister of the 'gospel into declaring that slavery was ordained of 
 God. In this country we have no pope to mediate for us, but 
 every one stands face to face with his God; no king, by whom we 
 consider ourselves honored if allowed but to kiss the hem of his 
 garment. But in their stead we have Mammon, in whose train we 
 delight to follow and before whom we cringe to secure a favor. 
 
 " O he sits high in all the people's hearts. 
 And that which would appear offense in us 
 His countenance, like richest alchemy. 
 Will change to virtue and to worthiness." 
 
 Money has its proper functions, and he who does not strive 
 to -secure it as a means to high and noble ends is unworthy to be 
 called an American citizen. But when we see it overstepping its 
 legitimate bounds, and becoming the master instead of the servant 
 of man; when we see a few exacting tribute from the entire popu- 
 lation; when we see men elevated to positions of honor, not 
 because of what they are, but because of what they have, we can- 
 not refrain from demanding, "By what authority?" 
 
 And what answer do they mgke to this demand? Most likely 
 they give no sign of recognition, except to emit a derisive laugh, 
 as much as to say, "What are you going to do about it?" If they 
 deign to make defense, they simply give, in an amended form, the 
 old answer that has stood many a tyrant in stead, and exclaim, 
 "In the name of the Almighty — dollar!" 
 
 Do the people deem the answer sufficient? If they do, why 
 these complaints that are being heard on every hand ? Why the 
 distress among the agricultural classes? Why the attacks on 
 trusts and monopolies? Why the disgust of honest men at the 
 corruption in politics ? Why the life-and-death struggle between 
 labor and capital? No, no; this latest generation of a race that 
 has ever been the foe of tyranny does not accept such an answer. 
 Sitting as the highest tribunal, the people are pronouncing, with no 
 
QUO WARRANTO. 5 
 
 uncertain voice, their disapproval of the prerogatives that money 
 has taken unto itself. They have sustained the quo warranto. It 
 remains only to enforce their decree. 
 
 And it will not be difficult to do this if the people fully 
 realize the causes by which money has succeeded in usurping so 
 much authority. The plutocrats, like the tyrants of the past, were 
 not given this authority. They took it. The people, to whom 
 belongs the right to govern, have again fallen asleep and their 
 rights have been taken from them. In the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence the consent of the governed is laid down as the founda- 
 tion of all just authority. And by that consent, as one of our best 
 historians has truly said, was not meant "the unresisting acqui- 
 escence of the mind, which, like the potter's clay, receives 
 whatever is impressed upon it, but that active, resolute, con- 
 scious, personal consent, which distinguishes the true freeman 
 from the puppet." Add to this the words of Lafayette: "For a 
 nation to love liberty, it is sufficient that she know it, and to be 
 free it is sufficient that she will it." This free volition, this real 
 consent, of the governed has never been given to the money 
 power. 
 
 What is necessary, then, is an increased interest and a more 
 active participation by all men in matters of public concern. 
 With this increased activity, the people can be depended upon to 
 give sanction to the best of the many theories offered for their 
 political uplifting. And let them profit by the lesssons of the 
 past. History furnishes many examples where the few in power 
 have consolidated their forces and brought ruin to a nation. So 
 care must be taken lest the consolidation of riches now going on 
 shall crush out the life of this industrial republic. The French, 
 yearning for empire, followed their vain leader until he at last 
 left them helpless at Waterloo. Let Americans, in their blind 
 love of riches, not follow their Napoleons of Finance until they 
 meet a similar fate. The Grecian and Italian republics excluded 
 politics from the jurisdiction of morals, and their lives ebbed 
 away. Let America take warning, and, in doing so, show that 
 "the Decalogue and the Golden Rule are" not "out of place in 
 political campaigns." 
 
 And this leads us to see that what is far more necessary than 
 an increase in the thought power is an increase in the heart 
 DOwer, the conscience power, of the nation. The laws of a 
 country cannot be better than the people who make them or suffer 
 
6 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 under them. The remedy, then, is found in something more than 
 the adoption of this or that political theory; in something more 
 than legislation restraining corporations, increasing the currency, 
 prohibiting the liquor traffic or regulating the tariff. It may 
 embrace, but it goes far beyond, these. The true remedy is 
 revealed in the "still, small voice" that speaks to the conscience 
 and the heart of man; the voice that has spoken through the great 
 men of history, who thought not of self, but of humanity; the 
 voice that prompted Luther to nail to the church door of Witten- 
 berg theses protesting against the sale of indulgences for crime; 
 that caused the "beggars" of Leyden to say to Philip of Spain, 
 "As long as there is a man left we will fight for our liberty and 
 our religion"; that moved our own immortal Lincoln to strike the 
 shackles from the slave and restore to him the God-given crown 
 of freedom. 
 
 It is the outcome of the struggles with the various forms of 
 tyranny in the past that gives us confidence in humanity. The 
 words of those who have wrested authority from usurpers are the 
 words of the God of Truth and Right speaking down the ages 
 and inspiring men to better things. The American people need 
 but the inspiration of these voices to rise up and drive from their 
 midst this latest and most corrupting form of tyranny. Then 
 they may go forward, showing their professional Christianity by 
 heeding the words of its founder, and serving, not the god of 
 paltry gold, but the God of Love and Righteousness. 
 
 EMILIO CASTELAR. 
 By William Byron Kelly. 
 
 fSEcoND Honor Oration, i8gi, marked first in Thought and Composition and sixtn in 
 Delivery.] 
 
 In a sequestered corner of busy Europe lies Spain, a strange, 
 romantic land, seldom visited by travelers. Her customs, her 
 great men are little known, for she lies outside the channels 
 through which we gain knowledge of most of the nations of Eur- 
 ope and centuries of despotism have deprived her of the sym- 
 pathy of republicanism. At the beginning of this century she 
 seemed untouched by those political and social revolutions which 
 have modernized Europe. A few spasmodic awakenings and 
 
EMILIO CASTELAR. 7 
 
 bloody rebellions had indeed troubled her slumbers, yet they 
 failed to arouse her sleeping spirit from the darkness of the 
 Middle Ages. Her institutions had changed so little in the past 
 three hundred years that she seemed destined to sleep on until the 
 day of Judgment. And had the Angel Gabriel noticed the leth- 
 argy of her living, he might well have despaired of awakening hei 
 dead. 
 
 Yet at the coming celebration of the four hundredth anniver- 
 sary of the discovery of America, our country's most honored 
 guest will be a Spaniard, Emilio Castelar, "the glory of the Cas- 
 tilian rostrum," the most advanced exponent of nineteenth cen- 
 tury democracy in Europe to-day. He will be especially endeared 
 to the American people because on the Continent he is the ablest 
 advocate of those principles for which we have spent so much 
 treasure and blood, — Liberty and Federal Union. 
 
 No character in modern times is so striking as Castelar's. 
 His history reads like a drama. In his early days Spain's name 
 was a synonym for penury. I do not exagerate when I say that 
 the queen, the priests, and the nobles united to uphold corruption, 
 bigotry, and robbery. The liaisons of the court were open scan- 
 dals. As both baptism and burial were denied to all but one faith, 
 it seemed that a man was allowed neither to enter nor depart from 
 the Land of the Living without a passport from Rome. The Arch- 
 bishop of Toledo had a larger rent-roll than the king of Portugal. 
 The nobles, that they might live in riotous luxury, starved their 
 tenants. 
 
 In eighteen hundred and fifty-four Spanish indignation had 
 burst into blind rebellion. On September the twenty-second 
 there was a stormy gathering of electors at the Orient Theater in 
 Madrid. The chief men of Spain had spoken. The hour was 
 late and the revolting mob was leaving the hall when Castelar, a 
 stripling of twenty-two, arose from the audience and hastened to 
 the platform. Now it is an easy matter to excite mobs by ab- 
 stractions which they cannot comprehend. But to make the 
 masses understand a measure is a difficult task. Castelar's plans 
 were clean cut and clear. He advocated not only progress, but 
 law and order too, that ground once gained might be gained for- 
 ever. As he spoke the seething mass grew quiet. Now bursting 
 into frenzied applause, now silent as the tomb, his audience as if 
 enchanted was transfixed before him. That speech made Castelar 
 immortal. From that time on he gave his life and his talents to 
 
8 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 his country. Years of close study had placed the history of the 
 world at his command. Before he was thirty Castelar was known 
 as the most learned professor in the University of Madrid, the 
 most brilliant journalist and the most effective orator in Spain. 
 From the professor's chair, the press, and the rostrum he advo- 
 cated the separation of church and state, freedom of the press, 
 universal education, universal suffrage, and abolition of slavery in 
 Cuba. With scathing eloquence he awed the priests into silence. 
 The boldest Royalist dared not oppose him. 
 
 Such was his career until eighteen hundred and sixty-four 
 when his doctrines cost him his professorship. Two years later 
 he was sentenced to death on the charge of inciting rebellion, but 
 escaped to France, from whence he filled the magazines of Europe 
 with his republican principles. When the degenerate Isabel was 
 expelled in eighteen sixty-eight, Castelar returned to Spain. Exile 
 had deified him. From Barcelona to Madrid his march was 
 grander than the triumph of a Roman conqueror. "Give place 
 to Castelar " was the cry in every assembly. The people wor- 
 shiped him. His word was law. 
 
 But his republic was not yet to be. The crown was given to 
 Amadeo of Italy, whose reign was to be short and troubled. In 
 his baptism of scorn the new monarch received the irreverent title 
 "Macaroni I., Italian king of the Spaniards." The nobles called 
 him the intruder king. He had no party to support him. He 
 could not reign. So, shaking the dust of Spain from his feet, he 
 returned to his possessions in Aosta. Then Castelar thought the 
 hour for free government had come. His invincible eloquence 
 silenced opposition. From a mass of ignorance, bigotry and 
 anarchy, he built a republic. But Figueras, its first president, re- 
 signed after two months. And then, when no human agency could 
 have saved the government, Castelar was made dictator. 
 
 Free government to the ignorant Spaniards meant nothing 
 more than free bull fights. The army was disorganized, the treas- 
 ury empty, fierce war was raging in Cuba, and the political parties 
 were, not as we see them tolerant opponents, but mortal and his- 
 toric enemies. When General PaVia closed the Cortas, the repub- 
 lic was at an end. But no dictatorship had ever been more pure 
 or liberal. He had shed not a drop of blood. Fighting against 
 fate, his every act was a master stroke and the gloom of disaster 
 seemed but the artistic setting for his brilliancy of genius. The 
 provisional government offered him a cabinet office, but he replied 
 
EMILIO CASTELAR. 9 
 
 "My Conscience and my honor forbid me to hold office in a state 
 created by bayonets." Castelar vowed never to serve any but an 
 absolutely republican government, and the great tribune has kept 
 his oath. 
 
 Do you tell me that his republic was a failure? Was it a fail- 
 ure when it taught every Spaniard that within him lay an element, 
 which if aroused, could drive a monarch from a throne, and which 
 if tempered, could itself be monarch? Was it a failure when it 
 sowed seeds of republicanism over all Europe ? Was it a failure 
 when, seventeen years later, its magic seeds borne on the Atlantic 
 breezes to the new world fell on the shores of Brazil, and from that 
 inspired dream of Castelar there sprang up a republic without a 
 stain of blood upon its flag, leaving no kings but Nature's in the 
 two Americas ? 
 
 We Americans can find no praise sweet enough for Washing- 
 ton and Hamilton, for Adams and Jefferson, because they were 
 the founders of the first American republic. But the blood of the 
 Saxon, unpolluted by tyranny, flowed in the veins of our forefath- 
 ers. Three thousand miles of oeean separated them from their 
 oppressors. They were the most enlightened people on the face 
 of the globe. Their soil was free from old institutions. The 
 rugged life they were compelled to lead, the very freshness of the 
 air they breathed inspired freedom. Their monarch as well as 
 themselves had always boasted that liberty was the birthright of 
 every Englishman. Yet the American patriots had to pass through- 
 one of the most bloody wars in history to secure that birthright. 
 While in Spain absolutism was almost as old as the soil itself. 
 The ignorant peasant thought the despot and the robbing grandee 
 necessary to the life of the state. Having these conditions Cas- 
 telar revolutionized his country without force of arms. With no 
 tools but those he forged in flaming eloquence, he undermined the 
 once proudest throne of Europe and has left Spain a republic all 
 but in name. 
 
 Castelar's powers are as varied as genius itself. Like Swift 
 he could rule his country by pamphlets. Like Mirabeau he could 
 rouse his hearers to frenzy and like Webster overpower them with 
 the majesty of his thought. Pitt could not delight listeners by 
 figures from his budget and Burke talked to yawning Commons. 
 Castelar, as learned as either, drew a charmed circle around all 
 within a radius of his voice, and though he spoke for hours not a 
 man wished to stir. Nature made Castelar an ideal orator. His 
 
lO HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 physique is grand. His god-like brow suggests Webster. His 
 voice is perfect. His slightest whisper fills the largest hall 
 and his blasts of invective, though they have the volume of Sal- 
 vini's thunder, never grate upon the ear. 
 
 I know it is difficult to estimate justly a living man. He is 
 surrounded by loves and hates. He often conceals his real intent 
 for years are the test of statesmanship. Yet the permanency of 
 Castelar's work is already evident. As we scan the history of 
 Europe for the past thirty years, three figures stand pre-eminent, 
 Gladstone, Bismarck, and Gambetta. But if success in life is to 
 be measured by obstacles overcome, by what it achieves, Castelar 
 is greater than Gladstone, greater than Bismarck, greater than 
 Gambetta. 
 
 Gladstone's chief claim to a name in history is his work for 
 Ireland. Following in the footsteps of Grattan he sought to 
 relieve Ireland's woes by British legislation rather than by Irish 
 education. The enlightened nation to which he appealed has left 
 Ireland's wrongs still unrighted and Gladstone's work is to be 
 finished in years yet to come. , 
 
 Bismarck excluded Austria from the North German Confeder- 
 ation, placed Prussia at its head, with the best trained army in 
 Europe whipped disorganized France and has since maintained Ger- 
 man unity by questionable diplomacy and the suppression of con- 
 stitutional liberty. He lashed rather than lead his people forward, 
 and the great "Chancellor of Blood and Iron " has fallen — fallen 
 as history must show because an impediment to justice ? 
 
 Gambetta, using Louis Napoleon's mad career as the foil of 
 his .ambition, at a time when the French had suffered inglorious 
 defeat from the hated Germans, with splendid eloquence pictured 
 monarchy as the cause of French disasters. He re-established the 
 French republic and upheld it. How? By skillful juggling of elec- 
 toral systems. 
 
 Castelar's genius consisted far less in his ability to manipulate 
 party machines. Gambetta looked merely to the present, Castelar 
 to the future. Gambetta's audience was France, Castelar's the 
 world. Gambetta roused to action by the terror of his personality, 
 Castelar by the grandeur of his ideas. 
 
 Castelar found a people which either broke out into blind re- 
 bellion at oppression when it became unbearable or which thought 
 by-gone glory a panacea for all present ills. The Spaniards' pov- 
 erty stricken bosoms swelled with pride when they thought of the 
 
JESSE ELMER ROBERTS 
 
EMILIO CASTELAR. II 
 
 almost boundless empire of Charles II. The Spaniards can live 
 on pride, so they submitted to the miseries of monarchy because 
 they read in it the glories of the past. Castelar forsook all hopes 
 of wealth or office. For years with untiring patience he strove to 
 make the Spaniard think. "Change the idea," says Castelar, 
 "and you change the institution, for where the idea is wanting, 
 the institution cannot stand." And as the thousands thronged to 
 hear him, he turned their eyes from the glories of the past to the 
 possibilities of the future. He stripped from tyranny its gorgeous 
 garb of tradition and laid bare its horrid form. He pointed to the 
 many fields of bigotry and superstition on which the bones of the 
 Spanish cavaliers were mouldering, and he changed the idea so 
 that this same Spanish valor will one day serve Liberty with equal 
 ardor. 
 
 If it be the mark of a statesman to sow seeds for the future; 
 if it be a superb tribute to an orator's genius to have held undis- 
 puted sway for thirty years over a people whose proverbial fickle- 
 ness deprives a minister all-powerful in one assembly Of even a 
 seat in the next; if it be the glory of a patriot to have restored his 
 fallen country to her historic rank among nations; if it be the 
 crowning triumph of a philanthropist to have set for advancing 
 civilization the grandest example of a revolution without blood, 
 then the greatest man of our day is that inspired tribune of Spain, 
 Emilio Castelar. 
 
 Jesse Elmer Roberts. 
 
 Jesse Elmer Roberts was born at Rensaelaer, Ind., Nov. 3, 
 1865. Nothing occurred in his early youth to make his life any 
 more eventful than that of the average farmer boy. He early 
 developed a passion for history, and especially American history. 
 In order to obtain an education he was obliged to rely in great 
 measure on his own resources. At the age of nineteen he began 
 teaching in a district school. Between terms he attended a busi- 
 ness college at Indianapolis, from which he graduated in 1886. 
 He afterwards attended the Northern Indiana Normal School at 
 Valparaiso, but when within one year of graduation he was obliged 
 to relinquish his studies on account of failing health, and sought 
 the more genial climate of Southern' California. During his three 
 years' absence he was actively engaged in teaching; was one year 
 
12 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 principal of the Grammar School at Banning, Cal. The next year 
 he occupied a similar position at Old St. Bernardino. The last 
 year of his residence in California he was a member of the Board 
 of Education of San Bernardino County. 
 
 In the autumn of 1890 he returned East and entered the Law 
 Department of the University of Michigan, pursuing at the same 
 time special courses in the Literary Department in his favorite 
 lines of History, Political Economy and Rhetoric. Although his 
 study of Elocution was begun some years before at Valparaiso, 
 Ind., he insisted upon taking the elementary courses offered in the 
 Law School on this subject, and was not slow to profit by his 
 instruction. His study of forensic oratory and orators was most 
 painstaking, and in the classes in oral discussions few of his fel- 
 lows could cope with him. He is earnest but calm and dignified 
 in address, is possessed of a clear, strong, sympathetic voice, not 
 so voluminous as penetrating, not so varied in melody as rhyth- 
 mical and persuasive in tone. 
 
 In the second annual contest of the University Oratorical 
 Association, Mr. Roberts was awarded the first honor on his ora- 
 tion on "American Materialism." This entitled him to represent 
 the University in the contest of the Northern Oratorical League, 
 where in the final decision he was awarded third place. 
 
 Mr. Roberts received the degree of L. L. B. from the Uni- 
 versity of Michigan with the class of '92, having been chosen by 
 his classmates as valedictorian for their class-day exercises. 
 
 On completing his course he went immediately to tlie city of 
 Chicago, where he seeured a position in the office of Mr. Percival 
 Steele, an experienced and prosperous attorney. So successful 
 was he in arguing his cases in the Chicago courts that in less than 
 two years he became a member of the firm of Steele & Roberts, 
 for which he now does the major part of the court work. 
 
 AMERICAN MATERIALISM. 
 By Jesse Elmer Roberts. 
 
 [First Honor Oration 1892, marked *rsl in Thought and Composition and second in 
 Delivery; in the League contest it received third rank.] 
 
 Every nation has some characteristic peculiar to itself, a 
 stamp as it were, which distinguishes it from all other nations. 
 The indolence of the Spanish, the politeness of the French, and 
 the determination of the British are all familiar national features 
 
AMERICAN MATERIALISM. I3 
 
 by which those people are known the world ove' The American 
 nation, though still young as compared with some of her older 
 sisters, is not without those traits of character which mark the 
 individuality of a people. The immense accumulation of wealth 
 within two generations of men has made our people known in the 
 civilized world by their materialism. So great is their material 
 prosperity that the terms "bonanza" and "millionaire" have become 
 household words. No nation, ancient or modern, has excelled the 
 Americans in taming the energies of nature, in turning them aside 
 from their ordinary course and commanding them to minister to 
 the wants of the people and to promote their well being. So uni- 
 versal is the thrift of our people and with such ardor do they seek 
 riches, that Europeans have supposed them to be entirely absorbed 
 in the passion for wealth. That lofty genius, Thomas Carlyle, to 
 whom the world of letters owes so much, said of his American 
 cousins, "They have produced no great human soul, no great 
 thought, or no great and noble thing that one can worship or loy- 
 ally admire." There are, too, some Americans who often say that 
 in the rush and hurry of our active business life we have laid aside 
 the virtue of the Fathers. But does the possession of great quan- 
 tities of corn, cotton, wheat, and money unfit us for fostering and 
 enjoying that culture which as Europeans constantly say, is found 
 only on their side of the waters; or does American enterprise and 
 ingenuity so dull the moral sense that it may be truthfully said, we 
 are rushing blindly on to destruction? 
 
 The silent and ever active force which has been at work in all 
 American industry, preparing an abode^ for mankind where the 
 "full tide of human existence'' may be enjoyed, is too commonly 
 overlooked. Then why this great overflow of wealth? Whence 
 the spring from which flows this great material progress? The 
 magic force which has produced this great miracle is Liberty. 
 Unrestrained human action has here taken the same course that it 
 ever has since Liberty first awoke in the sunny vales of Greece. 
 Freedom of the human mind in society has everywhere been the 
 mainspring of all art, all literature, and all great and enduring 
 material prosperity. The political and intellectual freedom born 
 of the rugged Teutonic character and the Protestant Reformation 
 first awakened the industrial and commercial energies of conquered 
 England and finally established her language, laws and literature 
 in the uttermost parts of the Earth; and here in America, the most 
 complete Liberty of all time is the source of our unparalleled 
 
1:4 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 progress which is the glory of the Western World and the amaze- 
 ment of the Eastern. 
 
 Because of their freedom the Americans have transformed the 
 knowledge of the ages into action. They have turned to practical 
 use the philosophy of the Bacons, and Aristotles, and are thus 
 increasing the productive power of mankind a thousand fold. The 
 intellectual force which, in Europe, is fettered by a landed aristo- 
 cracy and vast standing armies, is in America, liberated and util- ■ 
 ized in the creation of colossal fortunes, in providing the comforts 
 of life, and in diffusing intelligence. From the great reservoir of 
 knowledge, filled by the pouring in of a thousand crystal streams, 
 bearing wisdom from the fountains of learning of the past, they 
 have made copious draughts, and have irrigated their broad coun- 
 try with -intelligence, and as a result their harvests have excelled 
 the returns of the Nile, and filled their granaries to overflow- 
 ing. 
 
 The critics who denounce American institutions because of 
 the unequal distribution of wealth, and the average European who 
 represents us as disciples of Mammon lacking in the culture of 
 Europe, have failed to divine the true American spirit. That 
 there are conditions of society in America, which could be bettered 
 none can deny, but those who find no good in our people have 
 failed to see far enough beneath the surface to behold the firm 
 foundation of the American character. They hear the din of a 
 political campaign, and the clarion note of the demagogue; they 
 see the iniquities of a few unscrupulous politicians, and conclude 
 that the Republic is on the brink of ruin. But they never con- 
 template the condition of our society the next day after the elec- 
 tions, when the busy hum of the great industrial hive is again 
 resumed; when her citizens receive their just dues at the bar of 
 justice; when the eloquence of thousands of pulpits disseminates 
 an elevated religious sentiment; when the halls of learning resound 
 with the cheerful voices of millions of school children and ambi- 
 tious students. All these are the marks of the true American 
 character, and Henry George and Thomas Carlyle failed to give 
 due credit to them when they criticised the American people and 
 American institutions. 
 
 We cannot deny the imperfections of our society; we should 
 not wish to; but we do demand that the truth, the whole truth, 
 be told of us. If foreigners would study our institutions as they 
 study art and science, and if some of our own pessimists would 
 
AMERICAN MATERIALISM. I5 
 
 observe the people as they observe the public servants, they would 
 inevitably conclude that, with all our pride and self-esteem, with 
 all the imperfections they can point out, American society has 
 reached a high plane of life; that her great captains of science 
 and ten thousand lieutenants have led the hosts out of the shadows 
 of ignorance and discontent into the sunlight of intelligence and 
 prosperity. 
 
 But we are told that the Republic is entering a state of deg- 
 eneracy that characterized the decline of ancient civilization; that 
 our prosperity is a menace to a higher civilization; that we are on 
 the highway down which Greece and Rome plunged to ruin. That 
 there is a course of humanity to run — a destiny for. it to accom- 
 plish — that nations grow, flourish and decay, our best philosoph- 
 ers tell us is the true order of things, and while our nation may be 
 destined to follow the inevitable law of the growth and decay of 
 civilization, her materialism does not necessarily indicate decay. 
 This giant has but begun to grow. The growing pains of its 
 youth are still to be felt. The waste is great but the growth is 
 greater. The day of mellow maturity is scarcely breaking over 
 the hills of New England. 
 
 Besides there is a radical difference between ancient nations 
 and our Republic. The Pyramids of Egypt and the temples of 
 South America are the grave-stones of those ancient nations, but 
 America has not yet begun her tomb. Those silent monitors 
 mark the selfish dictates of hated monarchs. the toil of millions of 
 unhappy people, and the wasted resources of the most fertile por- 
 tions of the earth. They stand as perpetual memorials of the fate 
 of civilizations builded upon tyranny and slavery. But such is 
 not the American civilization. Its foundation is freedom. Free- 
 dom of every kind, political, religious, social and intellectual. 
 The simple justice of Him who taught on the shores of Galilee is 
 the central truth of all our Great Charters. Man is free to seek 
 happiness in his own way, to worship his God under his own vine 
 and fig tree, and to select those who shall govern him. No mon- 
 arch prescribes his sphere or the duties of that sphere. American 
 progress, therefore, is not that of Egypt, or Greece, or Rome. 
 Their wealth and their learning were enjoyed only by the few. 
 Their civilizations were narrow and selfish, but the American civ- 
 ilization is for the whole people. They have opened wide the 
 door to all their great natural resources and have quickened the 
 mind of every citizen. 
 
l6 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 If, in the great material development, the intellect of our 
 country has been expanded and strengthened, no less has our 
 morality been enlarged and perfected in the use of our wealth. 
 The American character is so thoroughly imbued with the spirit 
 of humanity, that all the action here, consciously or unconsciously, 
 tends toward the improvement of the whole people. In no way is 
 the moral stability better seen than in the wise distribution of 
 their great wealth. The people build no dazzling thrones for a 
 Sultan or a Czar; they lavish no money in splendid courts; their 
 life blood is not sapped to sustain a vast enginery of war, that the 
 balance of power may remain undisturbed; but threading the 
 country with electric wires and banding it with rails of iron they 
 have united into one industrial and commercial brotherhood, the 
 East with the West and the North with the South; they have 
 dotted their vast territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with 
 great cities, and have furnished their millions of inhabitants with 
 every improvement that science and skill can devise for con- 
 venience and comfort. Men like Peter Cooper have founded 
 innumerable hospitals and asylums for the sick and unfortunate; 
 that pure Christianity untrammeled by any state or tribunal may 
 be everywhere diffused, broad and liberal minded citizens, out of 
 their own private munificence, have built temples of religion far 
 surpassing in number those of any nation in Europe; with the 
 great streams of revenue flowing into their public coffers they have 
 erected a school house in every community, however remote, 
 a high school in every town, and founded a University in every 
 State. 
 
 Such is the distribution of our great wealth. The wealth of 
 the two Americas which Columbus gave to Spain, making her for 
 the time the richest and most powerful nation of the world, was 
 forever destroyed on the battle grounds of Europe, and sunk 
 beneath the waves with the great Armada; but the wealth which 
 America and Freedom have given to Americans, flows in perennial 
 streams among the people and enriches them with peace, happi- 
 ness and contentment. Their energy and their enterprise in pro- 
 ducing this great wealth have not been in vain, for they have used 
 it in laying the foundation of a wide civilization which will stand, 
 let us hope, like the, Pyramids of Egypt, undaunted by the ages. 
 They have used it in preparing for a wider and more complete 
 life — a life for the enjoymenc of those things which " eye hath not 
 seen and ear hath not heard," into which not only the favored few 
 
THE GROWTH OF INTERNATIONALISM. 1 7 
 
 shall enter, but the whole brotherhood of man. This is the fruit 
 of American materialism. 
 
 THE GROWTH OF INTERNATIONALISM. 
 By Newton Jaspar McGuire. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration i8gz, marked sixth in Thougiit and Composition and first in 
 Delivery ] 
 
 Internationalism is today an infant. It shall one day be a 
 giant in whose arms will unite the strength of many nations. 
 
 Look the future squarely in the face; discard all theories and 
 philosophies; confine yourselves to the humbler but safer bounds of 
 political and social history and judge from past and present achieve- 
 ments. In the next quarter of a century there will be marked 
 progress toward universal peace and international government. 
 Such an advancement will be the simple and natural outcome of 
 the present state of things. For the hoary head of history stands 
 as a monument to the truth that great institutions do not spring 
 full grown from the brain of heroic revolutionists; they have their 
 real origin in almost hidden sources. The land-marks of history 
 are not abrupt peaks; they are the summits of gradual elevations. 
 Their foundations run deep into the soil of the past. 
 
 The growth of Internationalism is of two kinds — one, of 
 arbitration; the other, of political, social and commercial unity 
 and intercourse. One furls the flag of brute force; the other 
 unfurls the banner of peaceful enterprise. 
 
 The development of the principles of Arbitration is attracting 
 the attention of the entire civilized world. It will eventually lead 
 all nations, as it has led the republics of the three Americas, to the 
 establishment of a means by which all international difficulties 
 may be settled without the intervention of arms, or even long, 
 extended diplomacy. Men resort to arms only for want of abetter 
 expedient. When nations by means of international laws can 
 settle international controversies by a body of disinterested arbi- 
 trators whose decisions are final, then I say, the world will have 
 taken an important step toward human prosperity, that will make 
 every patriot prouder of his country — prouder of her past record, 
 her present achievements and prouder still of the inspiration given 
 to her future. 
 
 Can we produce a logical argument against the establishment 
 of an International Tribunal of Arbitration?- Is there not an 
 
l8 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 established peaceful method of settling all other difificulties except 
 those involving nations ? Shall we say that it is an utter impossi- 
 bility to set the great international heart, with all its arteries 
 extending to the very capillaries of civilization, throbbing with the 
 life blood of such a reasonable measure ? The absurdity of such 
 a position is shown by the course of the life current of the age, as 
 it flows toward that time, when all men "shall beat their swords 
 into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; when nation 
 shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
 any more." 
 
 Turn back in history, over the bloody arena of the past. From 
 the time of Hannibal down to the Siege of Paris, the cruelties of 
 war between nations have only blazed the way to arbitration, per- 
 haps rude and one-sided in its early stages, and if not the proto- 
 type, at least the forerunner, conditioning and heralding the future 
 consummation of a World's Tribunal. That tribunal will promote 
 the supremacy of law as opposed to force, and the sovereignty of 
 the people as opposed to the sovereignty of kings. 
 
 Behold the first good seed that brought forth good fruit — the 
 first restriction on the severities of civilized warfare. Twenty-four 
 years ago, at Geneva, Switzerland, a score of the most power- 
 ful nations on earth joined hands and formed the international 
 "Society of the Red Cross." Their object was to improve the 
 hospital service, and to care for wounded soldiers on the battle- 
 field. Never, at first trial, was success so perfect as was that of 
 these savers of human life in the Franco-Prussian War. Now, 
 over armies and sovereigns, over people and states, over peace and 
 war, floats and will forever float the first anti-war banner of hope, 
 of humanity, of Christian civilization, — the banner of the Red 
 Cross. 
 
 In the last half century a score or more of international dis- 
 putes have been settled by arbitration. The United States, since 
 her birth, has been a party to no less than sixteen such settlements. 
 A plan of arbitration has been accepted for the settlement of the 
 great Bering Sea difficulty. Such a settlement will establish a 
 precedent that will go far toward destroying traditional animosities, 
 and uniting with indissoluble ties of friendship the two great 
 branches of the English-speaking people. 
 
 The formation of the "Triple Alliance" by Germany, Austria 
 and Italy in 1879, is at present the surest guaranty of the peace of 
 Europe. These three nations are each bound to support the 
 
THE GROWTH OF INTERNATIONALISM. I9 
 
 Others if attacked. Their combined strength defies the single- 
 handed attack of any other nation. While public sentiment, on 
 account of old feuds and hereditary hatred, prevented Europe 
 from leading off in the matter of arbitration, she has shown her 
 willingness to follow where All-America recently led in that great 
 Pari-American Congress. In the language of Gen. Sherman "The 
 whole world turns to find the result of our experiment." Whittier 
 says, "War is now made well nigh impossible in the Western 
 Hemisphere, and the most important event in the history of all 
 Christendom is marked." Its honored president, that great Amer- 
 ican statesman, in his parting words to the delegates, said, "Our 
 action commands the attention of the world, to the deliberate, 
 confident, solemn dedication of two great continents to peace, and 
 to prosperity which has peace for its foundation; we hold up this 
 new Magna Charta, which abolishes war and substitutes arbitration 
 between the American Republics as the first great fruit of the 
 International American Conference." 
 
 That congress called forth the plaudits of enlightened man- 
 kind, and owing to its transcendant character will in the future be 
 considered the most brilliant triumph of civilization, giving birth 
 to many other conferences, two of which, the Monetary and Pan- 
 Republic are now under way, each in its turn winning, welding and 
 banding the hearts of nations till they beat as one; 
 
 "Till the war-drum throbs no longer, and the battle-flags are furled 
 In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world; 
 Till the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, 
 And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapped in universal law." 
 
 New and clearer horizons open today to the free nations 
 under the auspices of concord and peace. The time is long past 
 when any great producing or commercial country can, oyster like, 
 withdraw into its shell and thrive upon what comes to it. Hence 
 along with the development of diplomacy and the supremacy of 
 peace, the spirit of enterprise marches with irresistible impulse; 
 the political, social and commercial unity and intercourse of 
 nations assume colossal proportions and each division of time con- 
 tributes to their international growth. 
 
 The art of printing and the harnessing of steam and electricity 
 are the greatest physical agents tending to unite the nations of the 
 world into one great family; promoting their mutual enterprises, 
 and lubricating the wheels of national industry, till in a score of 
 different channels there is an international demand for unity and 
 
20 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 action. The numerous international bureaus, societies, confer- 
 ences, and unions, mostly commercial, that have been formed, 
 indicate clearly that nations are ripening to the opinion that their 
 individual property can be better promoted under laws and reci- 
 procal relations for the universal good, than by national celibacy. 
 Unity of weights and measures, longitude and time, together with 
 quarantine, patent and copyright laws, are being perfected. A 
 universal language and a common coin standard are earnestly 
 encouraged. The latter now exists, it is true under different names, 
 yet equivalent and interchangeable with each other in five differ- 
 ent countries of Europe, while America recently tried to solve the 
 matter by a separate international conference. 
 
 The late Brussels and Berlin congresses, respectively aiming 
 to suppress the African slave trade and promote the coronation of 
 labor, the four quinquennial congresses of the Postal Union, which 
 now includes nearly all of the civilized countries of the globe and 
 which has reduced the one thousand and more different postal 
 rates to a surprisingly small number, and the ten Atlantic cables, 
 whose dispatches far outstrip the sun in his course, all these show 
 the prac-tical results of international unanimity of action. 
 
 The Suez Canal divided the Old World and opened a new and 
 shorter pathway for commerce, and the Panama and Nicaragua 
 will do likewise for the New. Then the positive and negative ends 
 of the great commercial magnet will meet and adhere, the Orient 
 will doff her hat to the Occident. Commercial enterprise will 
 band the continents with lines of steel and girdle the Oceans with 
 the argosies of every country and every clime. The spoken lan- 
 guages of the world still continue to be many but the International 
 Code of Signals indicates that the unspoken language of the Sea 
 must be one. 
 
 After glancing over the political, social and commercial unity 
 and intercourse of nations, we find that the time is long past when 
 Free America looks to European precedents as her guide; she 
 comes forward with an assemblage of nations, to which have been 
 submitted problems of more significance and complexity, than 
 were ever before recorded in the annals of history. She estab- 
 lishes a commercial bureau. She recommends the establishment 
 of a merchant marine and international banks and clearing houses. 
 And among her greatest acts she recommends the construction of 
 an intercontinental railway. This will put the extreme ends of the 
 New World in direct communication. The iron horse will start 
 
LINDLEY GRANT LONG 
 
LINDLEY GRANT LONG. 21 
 
 under the rays of the North Star, dart Southward, through the St. 
 Clair Channel, across the States, down the backbone of Panama, 
 over that proposed commercial highway, along the Pacific 
 Shore and over the Andes, to the plains of the La Plata, into the 
 regions of the Southern Cross, ten thousand miles away. With 
 this great artery of commerce the march of empire will be south- 
 ward and the march of internationalism will be onward. 
 
 In the coming great panorama of nations in the city of Chi- 
 cago, Columbia will illustrate the phenomenal developments of the 
 past, unfold the marvelous possibilities of the future and afford the 
 most splendid opportunity in all history, for fusing the world's 
 liberalizing and humanizing forces, for diffusing international intel- 
 ligence, for inspiring the development of enlightened policies for 
 the government of the earth. She will invite all nations to 
 join with her in a Pan-Republic Congress. That congress will be 
 composed of two houses. One, representing Republican Govern- 
 ments, the other, those countries standing for freedom and human 
 progress irrespective of government. Both will have the common 
 object of promoting the universal spread of free institutions and 
 the reign of intelligence and moral purpose, over brute force. By 
 the light of political and social history the "Growth of Interna- 
 tionalism" takes Its inspiration from the Red Cross, the Triple 
 Alliance, the increasing peaceful international settlements, and the 
 late agreement of the United States with Latin America to silence 
 the throbbing of the war drum and furl the battle flag; from the 
 attempts of enlightened humanity to form a confederate world — to 
 bind themselves together with every tie of common interest within 
 the power of man to invent or of nature to unfold. Peace unites 
 the hearts of nations. Canals wed the oceans. Cables join the 
 continents. And internationalism strides onward toward — 
 
 "The one far off, divine event 
 To which the whole creation moves." 
 
 Lindley Grant Long. 
 
 Lindley Grant Long was born near Quaker City, Ohio, July 
 17, 1868, of Anglo-German parentage. The first seventeen years 
 of his life were spent on the farm. In 1886 he entered the Ohio 
 Normal University, at Ada, where for one year he pursued studies 
 preparatory to teaching. The following year he taught his home 
 school, and as evidence of his success he was offered the same 
 
22 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 place the next year. But having determined to secure a college 
 education he refused the offer and in 1888 entered the Ohio Wes- 
 leyan University, where he remained three years, two of which 
 were spent in the Preparatory department. Early in his course his 
 ability as a speaker began to assert itself and when he entered the 
 collegiate department the Freshman class chose him as their ora- 
 tor. 
 
 In the fall of 1891 Mr. Long entered the Sophomore class of 
 the University of Michigan, two years later, while still pursuing 
 studies in the Literary department, he registered in the Law 
 school with the class of '95, and now expects to receive his degree 
 from both departments at the same time. 
 
 During his college career Mr. Long has been active in vari- 
 ous lines; in athletics, in politics and in oratory. 
 
 In politics he is a leader; was vice-president of his class and 
 of the Oratorical Association; for three years he has been an 
 active member of the University Republican Club, serving one 
 year on the executive committee, and acting as one of its dele- 
 gates to the Syracuse and Grand Rapids conventions, and in April, 
 189s, was selected delegate of the University of Michigan to the 
 National Republican League convention, to be held in Cleveland, 
 June 19, 1895. At home, in the summer of 1894, he was elected 
 a delegate to his county convention and was chosen its presiding 
 officer. 
 
 But it is in oratory that Mr. Long has achieved his greatest 
 success. In 1893 he won first place in the annual contest of the 
 University Oratorical Association, and in the contest of the North- 
 ern Oratorical League he received the rank of first place by five of 
 the six judges and second by the remaining judge. In April, 1894. 
 he was selected to give the principal oration before the convention 
 of College Republican Clubs, at Syracuse, N. Y., on "The 
 Scholar in Politics." 
 
 These successes gave him more than a local reputation, for the 
 Supreme Executive Committee of the Kappa Sigma fraternity 
 chose him as orator for their Eleventh Biennial Conclave, held at 
 Richmond, Va., in Oct., 1894, where he spoke on " The Unity of 
 Thought, the Fraternity of Action." In 1895 Mr. Long was 
 honored with the " Faculty Appointment," as the member of the 
 senior class best qualified to represent the University as orator at 
 one of the celebrations given by the Union League Club, of 
 Chicago, on Washington's Birthday. These celebrations, given 
 
RELATION OF MODERN -ISMS TO PROGRESS. 23 
 
 annually to foster patriotism, are addressed by student represent- 
 atives of ten leading universities. Mr. Long's address on "The 
 Heritage of the American Child," was delivered before a large 
 audience at Englewood High School Hall. 
 
 In May, 1895, in a public contest for class orator of the 
 Senior Law class, Mr. Long was awarded first place by the 
 judges. 
 
 Mr. Long's success as a speaker has not been accidental, but 
 is the result of the hardest kind of work. He has been a thorough 
 and persistent student of Rhetoric, Elocution, and Oratory since 
 he first entered college. In debate he has few equals among the 
 students, he is rapid, terse, logical, and quick to discover weak 
 points in an opponent's argument. His delivery is characterized 
 by great physical earnestness; his voice is strong, agreeable, pene- 
 trating; his action graceful, appropriate and full of force, and 
 while at the beginning of a speech he is not particularly engaging, 
 yet he compels attention, and the interest is heightened to the 
 end. 
 
 RELATION OF MODERN -ISMS TO PROGRESS. 
 By Lindley Grant Long. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in 1894 at the University of Michigan and in the Northern Ora- 
 torical League. In the former contest Mr. Long was ranked third in Thought and Composi- 
 tion, and first in Delivery ; in the League contest he received first rank both in Thought and 
 Composition, and in Delivery.] 
 
 Man ever aspires to rise above his present level. Consciously 
 or unconsciously he moves onward and upward. With or without 
 clearly defined methods, he labors to diminish human misery and 
 increase human happiness. The past has seen his plans poorly 
 developed. Present philosophy has a clearer conception of life's 
 problems, and better theories for their solution. The present 
 social discontent has produced various theories of social recon- 
 struction. Prominent among these are Nihilism, Anarchism, Com- 
 munism, and Socialism. These four are alike, in that they spring 
 from a common cause and are means aimed at a common end. 
 
 To understand the relation of modern -isms to progress, it is 
 necessary to know what constitutes progress now. The word 
 progress is ambiguous.- To crown a king may be progress to-day; 
 to dethrone him may be progress to-morrow. To foster monopoly 
 may have been progress yesterday; to muzzle monopoly may be 
 
24 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 progress to-day. , Hence, a clear conception of present social con- 
 ditions is necessary to a perfect understanding of the relation of 
 modern -isms to progress. 
 
 We live in the present, but for the future. To forecast the 
 future, we must understand the present; to understand the present, 
 we must know the past. Let us turn to history and learn her 
 secret. She teaches us that man loves liberty, and hates oppres- 
 sion. Though hated, oppression has been the great , fact in his- 
 tory. Its insidiousness catches man in the snare of his own 
 instincts. Being religious, he is religiously oppressed. Being 
 political, political burdens are heaped upon him. Being indus- 
 trial, the chains of industrial slavery are forged. 
 
 Let us consider these three. Religion is the noblest instinct 
 of the soul. It is the divine in man reaching out after God. It 
 lifts the savage from savagery; it breaks the chains of slavery; it 
 opens the prison cell. It calms the angry waves of passion that 
 roll in the human breast. Religion is the beneficent mother of 
 faith, hope, charity. Justice and .mercy are her attributes, love 
 her offspring, and God her father. Yet, man's noblest possession 
 has been most basely abused. The crystal stream of religion has 
 been polluted by the dregs of human corruption. 
 
 Planted in the virgin soil of a true religion, the Christian 
 Church grew to enormous dimensions. Under the shadow of its 
 branches slept an entire continent. Its first fruits were fruits of 
 truth and righteousness. Its degenerate -old age reaped a harvest 
 of corruption. From stem and every branch breathed forth a foul 
 contagion that poisoned the very air in which it lived. But 
 behold, shivered by the thunderbolts of the Reformation, this giant 
 Upas-tree withers and falls; and from its rotting stump spring the 
 new branches, Protestant and new Catholic, which blossom and 
 bear the fruits of a true religion. This marks the downfall of 
 religious despotism. 
 
 Man lives not to himself alone. His social nature forbids it. 
 Against individuality is opposed society. If society would realize 
 its highest possibilities, it must be organized, directed; hence the 
 state, the government. Without government society would be 
 chaos. Government anchors society to a rational purpose. It 
 supplies the conditions under which the social plant may germin- 
 ate, flower, and fructify. It guides the latent energies of a nation 
 into channels of highest good. Around each humble subject it 
 throws the mantle of protection. 
 
RELATION OF MODERN -ISMS TO PROGRESS. 25 
 
 The essence of government is an undoubted good. The form 
 has been the riddle of the ages. Monarchy, Aristocracy, Tyranny, 
 Plutocracy, Despotism, — all have been weighed in the balance and 
 found wanting. Yet, government is indispensable. Whether gov- 
 ernment shall or shall not exist, the common sense of humanity 
 has settled. The question is: Whence the power that propels the 
 the governmental machine? Is it from the throne or from the 
 hearth-stone? History says it has been from the throne, shall be 
 from the hearth-stone. Caesar is dead. Hapsburg and Bourbon 
 have fallen. Their spirit still survives. Clad in imperial garb, it 
 sits today on the Russian throne. Freedom bathed her hands in 
 royal blood and stained the Bourbon lily. It remains for her to 
 throttle the Russian bear. Political tyranny is not dead. Politi- 
 cal freedom is but a half-truth. 
 
 Industry is the mainspring to civilization. War may batter 
 down the barriers between petty states and weld them into a nation. 
 Religion may proclaim the brotherhood of man, and teach that all 
 men should live together in harmony. Industry brings men face 
 to face, and binds them together with cords of mutual interest. 
 Industry has its roots in human wants. These generate the power 
 that drives the industrial machine. The waving harvest, the buz- 
 izng spindle, the flaming furnace, are but the servants of man's 
 wants. The thundering train bearing its costly burden, the stately 
 vessel plowmg the mighty deep, are driven by the magnetic power 
 of human wants. 
 
 We stand at the confluence of all the industrial forces of the 
 past. This is an Augustan age of industry. Art, literature, philo- 
 sophy, politics, religion, are secondary to the one all-pervading, 
 all-consuming idea — industry. Science has lent a helping hand in 
 rearing this colossal structure. Every great age boasts of its great 
 products. What are the boasts of the present age? — millionaire, 
 — tramp. The sixteenth century saw religious despotism. The 
 eighteenth century saw political despotism. The nineteenth cen- 
 tury sees industrial despotism. And today the sultan Capital sits 
 on the industrial throne. 
 
 The many have ever been: servants to the few. Since his first 
 bondage, man has longed for freedom. Listen to the mummified 
 millions buried in the sands of Egypt. " Man's inhumanity to 
 man makes countless thousands mourn." Hearken to the sad 
 notes of the Gre^k slave. Under the shadow of the loftiest moun- 
 tain surges the deepest sea. Under the shadow of Plato's genius 
 
2 6 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 surges the deepest misery. What can the Roman slave say of Ro- 
 man splendor? " To be a Roman was greater than a king," but 
 not to be a Roman was worse than a beast. Listen to the wail ris- 
 ing from the forgotten grave of the German serf. Princes, priests, 
 and plutocrats have been the plunderers of the poor. Above the 
 din of Industry hear the voice of Labor. "The paupers in the 
 palace rob their toiling fellow-men." 
 
 Religious despotism is dead. Political despotism still lives. 
 Industrial despotism is at its best. With crying humanity on one 
 hand, and gloating despotism on the other, what, I would ask, is 
 progress today? If it be not battering down the bulworks of des- 
 potism, and setting prostrate humanity on its feet, what is it? If 
 it be this, then the relation of modern -isms to progress can be 
 expressed in one sentence: each is a thrust at modern tyranny. 
 
 Nihilism, Anarchism, Communism, and Socialism, have a sin- 
 gle origin. They spring from the deep-seated discontent with 
 present social conditions. They have swept the keys of the social 
 gamut, and found nothing but discord. Touched by the magic 
 fingers of this new philosophy, these jarring notes are to be trans- 
 formed into strains of sweetest harmony. Shattered by one fell 
 blow, the pillars of modern society must crumble, and be replaced 
 by columns of a nobler form. The ideals of modern-isms may be 
 a dream, but their existence illustrates an important fact. It 
 proves that those who for centuries have been ground under the 
 heel of tyranny are able to stand and strike. It is a good omen. 
 It is the harbinger of a better day. 
 
 Nihilism is a shaft aimed at the breast of absolutism. Its 
 philosophy is expressed in one word — destruction. What would it 
 destroy? AH is vanity: all must be destroyed. Whatever is, is 
 wrong, and must perish. Friendship, love, family, state, church, 
 God, are false, therefore must perish. Whence, you ask, is this 
 dagger-pointed philosophy? It is a compound of despair and 
 dread, the product of German pessimism and Russian tyranny. 
 
 Anarchism is the arch-enemy of government. Yet, much of 
 the fear generated by the word is uncalled-for. Extract the nihil- 
 istic poison from Anarchy, and you have an example of faith in 
 humanity unparalleled. Its philosophy soars on optimistic wings 
 to heights where degraded, humanity can never hope to climb. 
 What is this little-understood, much-abused philosophy? Its 
 major premise is: government is the root of all evil. Its minor: 
 human nature is essentially good. From these premises the anar- 
 
RELATION OF MODERN -ISMS TO PROGRESS. 27 
 
 chist draws the conclusion, that government is unnecessary and 
 that man, restrained by no law, save the law of his own being, will 
 rise to the fullest realization of all the possibilities of his nature. 
 This unbounded optimism of anarchy is its worst fault. It fails to 
 treat humanity as it is. 
 
 Communism would cure social ills by applying religion. The 
 communistic motto unlocks the entire system. " From each ac- 
 cording to his ability, to each according to his needs." In com- 
 munism the social unit is the group. Here everything is held in 
 common. All labor, all share the product. Social equality, 
 moral rigidity, industrial frugality, and passive obedience to the 
 general will, are the main features of communism. Communism 
 would destroy the family, crush personal liberty, strangle industry, 
 and endanger nationality. 
 
 Nihilism and anarchism are essentially political. Commun- 
 ism is half-religious, half-industrial. Socialism is purely indus- 
 trial. Socialism is the cold-blooded murderer of individualism. 
 It is continental philosophy aiming the death blow at English 
 philosophy; Karl Marx crossing swords with John Stuart Mill. 
 Appalled by the wreck and ruin wrought by unbridled competition, 
 socialism would overturn the entire competitive system. Social- 
 ists are not the enemies of rich men; but they despise an indus- 
 trial system which builds mountains of wealth beside the hovels of 
 abject poverty. What, then, is the socialistic programme? 
 " The complete transformation of private and competing capitals 
 into a united and collective capital." The strict logical sequence 
 of this proposition is almost beyond conception. The present 
 gigantic industrial fabric, built up by the brains of centuries, is to 
 be swept away by the mountain-Wave of socialism. How is this 
 enormous revolution to be accomplished ? By making the state 
 complete owner and controller of all the means of production^ 
 Though making industry supreme, socialism destroys the strongest 
 motive to industrial activity— self-interest. Striving to secure in- 
 dustrial liberty, it forges the chains of industrial slavery. To 
 curb the excesses of an irresponsible individualism, it builds a 
 paternal despotism. 
 
 As a model for there construction of society, modern -isms are 
 a failure. As a force in the movement of progress, they are a suc- 
 cess. The value of modern -isms lies in the fact that they are all 
 extremes. Nihilism and anarchism are the opposite extremes of 
 political despotism. Communism and socialism are the other 
 
28 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 extreme of industrial individualism. Having these extremes, it is 
 possible to strike the happy mean. The political mean is liberal, 
 constitutional monarchy, or republican form of government. The 
 industrial mean is a wise, and equitable adjustment of the relations 
 between the individual and the state, in all means of industry. The 
 state has its province, the individual his. What touches all, let the 
 state control. What peculiarly concerns the individual, let him 
 control. Along these lines the two great industrial problems of to- 
 day must be solved, — Monopoly, Labor-problem. Monopoly is a 
 tumor which pains all, and must be lanced by the instrument of 
 all — government. The Labor-question is a question of liberty, and 
 must be solved like all questions of liberty, — by those oppressed. 
 Who wrung religious freedom from the hands of a tyrannical hier- 
 archy ? The religiously oppressed. Who buried the Bourbon 
 throne under the ruins of a French empire ? The politically op- 
 pressed. Who shall drag sable despotism from the industrial throne 
 and set white-robed liberty there ? The industrially oppressed. 
 When religious, political, and industrial freedom shall be a truth; 
 then will modern -isms have fulfilled their mission; then will the 
 joyful tongues of untold millions welcome the rising sun of a new 
 day; then will man stand up and say. Liberty is mine. 
 
 THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO REFORM IN THE 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 By James Brannan, Nelson. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration 1893, marked first in Thought and Composition and second 
 in Delivery 3 
 
 Every age, every nation, is confronted by problems peculiar 
 to itself, and engendered by the conditions of its civilization. 
 Different peoples, different periods may have effected their solu- 
 tion by different methods, but the medium through which every 
 reform of history has been accomplished, has ever been the same. 
 It has been through an awakened public sentiment. Whether 
 aroused and inspired by the sublime faith and heroic courage of a 
 Luther; whether incited by the violent eloquence of a Robespierre, 
 oi- the iron will of a Napoleon; whether swayed by the persuasive 
 logic of a Phillips, or stirred by the pathos of an Uncle Tom's 
 cabin, public sentiment has been the invincible power back of 
 every reform. Armies cannot subdue it, kings cannot destroy it. 
 
KDUCATION AND REFORM. £\j 
 
 It is the omnipotent power that enacts, enforces, enthrones, 
 dethrones, — it is the absolute condition of lasting reform. 
 
 The great problems of to-day in the United States must and 
 will be solved through it. No transient politcal party is ever to 
 relieve society of the extinguishing tyranny, the blasting curse of 
 rum; no one-ideaed association of men like the Knights of Labor, 
 is ever to be entrusted with the political power to right the wrongs 
 of their class; no aggregation of farmers, however active and 
 untiring their efforts, are ever to become rich, through a grant of 
 the political power which will enable them to place a government 
 premium upon the growth of their fields or the avoirdupois of 
 their swine. These reforms will come, not through third parties, 
 but in spite of them. "To-day the sublimest forces of a Chris- 
 tian civilization are at work creating a public sentiment before 
 which the evils must flee, as from the avenging angel of 
 God." 
 
 Through conflict and war, public sentiment has ever led men 
 towards the goal of' freedom. It bristled in every feature of the 
 Renaissance; it inspired every motto of the Reformation; it 
 directed and impelled every movement of the American and 
 Fr^ch Revolutions. It has manumitted slaves, elevated woman, 
 overthrown despotism, written constitutions, swept away privi- 
 leges and abolished caste. To-day it is bearing Europe onward 
 to popular government 
 
 Public sentiment, however, may be as powerful for evil as for 
 good. It has not only effected all the beneficent reforms, the dark- 
 est crimes of history are also to its credit. But yesterday, and 
 milions of Jews were driven from Russia into poverty and exile not 
 by the edict of Alevander III; no, but by the Russian conscience 
 that made that edict possible. Today the brutal lynching of 
 innocent negroes of the South, on the bare suspicion of guilt; the 
 the recent diabolical torturing of the wretch in Texas in the pres- 
 ence of applauding thousands, is a blighting disgrace to the 
 civilization in which it occurs. What is it that in all ages has 
 burned, and shot, and hanged the world's martyrs and reformers? 
 Not brutal law or cowardly assassin, it has been frenzied or insane 
 public sentiment. Public sentiment killed Socrates; public senti- 
 ment confined Galileo within prison walls, and consigned Savona- 
 rola to the flames; public sentiment dragged Garrison from Fanuei! 
 Hall; public sentiment hanged the hero of Harper's Ferry; aye 
 public sentiment crucified the lowly Nazarene. 
 
3° 
 
 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 The question of the present is, how shall this sentiment be 
 lifted from the influence of distracted passion and made a positive 
 power for good. In less than thirty years, two significant elements 
 have come into our body politic. Millions of foreigners have 
 been naturalized, millions of bondmen have been made citizens in 
 a day. Ignorant of our laws; unequal to the requirements of 
 republican government; unmindful of their rights and privileges 
 under our constitution; made formidable by the ballot; domi- 
 neered by politicians, these elements stand a menace to free insti- 
 tutions. 
 
 Even today there is a tendency towards centralization of 
 power in the political boss, who being a tyrant without responsi- 
 bility, is a more dangerous factor than the hereditary autocrat. 
 Bosses and demagogues organizing constitute a political machin- 
 ery, which is the weal or woe of pending issues. Its soulless 
 mission is to advance private ends. To such an organization 
 composed of such an element, issue is nothing; general welfare, 
 nothing; power of moral principle, nothing. ' It makes individual 
 suffrage a mockery, and converts the state into a mere trick. Con- 
 sulting only its private and vicious purpose in one campaign it 
 hails and exalts political principles, which in the next it repudiates 
 and casts down. Today demagogues dictate the policies of our 
 political parties, direct their conflicts and divide their spoils. Tht 
 United States with such a centralization, is in principle, as undem- 
 ocratic and un-American as Russia r--ith her Czar. No transient 
 fanaticism, no local temporary frenzy, is to better this condition. 
 It can be accomplished only through an intelligent public senti- 
 ment, which shall come, not from a favored few, but from every 
 one who enjoys the protection and privileges of our constitution. 
 
 An intelligent public sentiment can be brought about only 
 through universal intelligence, and universal intelligence, only 
 through universal education by the state. That universal educa 
 tion in schools by the state makes a people strong and free is nu 
 longer speculative or visionary. French statesmen declare it was 
 the schools of Germany that conquered at Sedan, hence France has 
 adopted a thorough and universal system of schools. England 
 has reformed on a new basis her educational system, and today 
 an efficient system of popular education is being founded in Italy 
 and in Spain. 
 
 In an absolute monarchy the relation of education to citizen- 
 ship is not a practical question; general intelligence is not necessary. 
 
EDUCATION ANU REFORM. 3I 
 
 To be an inhabitant of a country, subject to some supreme person, 
 the payer of arbitrary taxes, does not require intelligence. But 
 in the case of a government by the people, where philosopher and 
 artisan, poet and mechanic, laborer and statesman, are political 
 factors of equal importance, general intelligence is indispensible 
 to the security and permanency of its institutions. Power thus 
 granted and exercised, without competent direction, is an uncer- 
 tain and dangerous quantity. It will waste as well as make; sack 
 and burn as well as build cities; blow up as well as protect parlia- 
 ments: undermine as well as write constitutions. Here comes in 
 the province of the state, to order as a matter of its own security, 
 conditions of growth such as will purify, elevate, and direct senti- 
 ment. It is not a step into Socialism for the state to provide and 
 enforce measures for individual development. It makes the state 
 a practical agent in the evolution of individualism. Universal 
 education alone is practicable. To limit or restrict the suffrage is 
 cowardly; to allow a man to vote who can neither read his vote 
 nor write his name, absurd; to trust to the educational quality of 
 the ballot, deliberate folly. We must educate the masses, or 
 endure the aberrations of designing demagogues, and the blunders 
 of brainless politicians. 
 
 A common school education is an essential condition of Amer- 
 ican citizenship; necessary as a foundation upon which to build 
 moral and patriotic sentiment. Every person should of moral 
 and civil right receive, by compulsion, so much education. The 
 state demands it; the preservation of society demands it; the phil- 
 osophy of democratic institutions demands it. 
 
 We have given free education to our infant poor, we have 
 closed our factory doors against them, why not gather them into 
 the schools, not schools where any certain religious faith is 
 taught; not schools anti-Americanized by foreign languages, cus- 
 toms, and ideas, but free public schools which, recognizing the 
 separation forever in this country of church and state, are thor- 
 oughly secularized, thoroughly democratized; schools which will 
 call forth the sleeping might of righteousness from souls of wretch- 
 edness and want; schools which will lift ignorant humanity above 
 the plane of the politician to that of responsible manhood; schools 
 wherein the English language is used as the medium of ideas, and 
 where habits of thrift and sentiments of honor are instilled; 
 schools wherein the mind of the American youth is permeated 
 with the principles of American independence, and where his 
 
32 
 
 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 heart is filled with the glory of the American constellation. Should 
 classes and sects maintain other schools at additional cost, the 
 government cannot object. Let private and parochial schools 
 exist, but let them be American. Compel them to maintain the 
 standard of the free schools. Beyond this government is power- 
 less. 
 
 Without a common school education of patriotic character 
 our free institutions are unsafe. The only condition which will 
 give power to the press, which will lend significance to our cam- 
 paigns, and from which the corrective sentiment of our times can 
 spring, is education. The vast idea underlying and conditioning 
 moral and civil progress, is education. Giving a general intelli- 
 gence, and speaking through every press, appealing from every 
 platform, thundering from every pulpit, will come a realization of 
 the true philosophy of democracy. Before its onward course boss- 
 ism and demagogy must disappear; the old institutions of wretch- 
 edness and crime will be battered down; the idols of ignorance 
 and superstition trampled under foot. 
 
 Without a citizenship competent to master present conditions 
 for the perpetuity of our government, vain the prayers of the Pil- 
 grim Fathers; vain the heroism of Warren and Washington; 
 vain the eloquence of Henry, Webster and Lincoln; vain the 
 majestic music from the harps of Whittier, Longfellow, and Low- 
 ell; aye, all in vain has sainted mother toiled, and patriot father 
 died. 
 
 With an intelligent and patriotic people democratic govern- 
 ment has within itself the power of realization, the power of 
 self-preservation. There can be no partisan fury, no storms of 
 bigotry and fanaticism, no earthquakes of rebellion to shake it 
 down. Secure this to the United States, and the social evils and 
 problems which today are compromising manhood, blighting hope 
 and blasting virtue will be Blotted out. The marshalled forces of 
 industry will disarm, and capital will emerge from behind its bul- 
 warks of gold. That gigantic institution of damnation, the whis- 
 key-saloon, will be closed forever, and our municipal affairs will 
 pass from the control of political loafers and public thieves. 
 
 Democracy presupposes the intelligence and patriotism of all 
 its members, and these are secured through the common school. 
 In its march of six thousand years the race has encircled the 
 globe, and entered this, its last promised land, containing every 
 condition of national greatness and perpetuity. Every nation has 
 
FRANK PRATHER SADLER 
 
FRANK P. SADLER. 33 
 
 sent hither its representatives. Every nation has poured into this 
 country the product of its heart and brain. These heterogeneous 
 elements, are to be formed into a homogeneous people in the 
 common school, by the common school teacher. Gather the chil- 
 dren of the republic into the free public school, which knows no 
 difference between the child of the foreign born and the native 
 citizen; between the child of the rich and the poor; of the white 
 and the black; of the Democrat and the Republican; of the Cath- 
 olic and the Protestant. The common school is the impartial 
 mother of all these; equally tender of all; equally just to all. 
 Seated side by side on the same forms; studying the same lesson 
 expressed in the same language; learning the same history of their 
 common country; subject to the same discipline; engaged in the 
 same sports; the sons and daughters of fathers and mothers repre- 
 senting every tongue and coming from every clime, acquire a 
 character deeper and truer than that expressed in the dogma of 
 any sect; a patriotism broader than the platform of any political 
 party. Perfect the free American common school, and subject 
 each generation to its beneficent influences, and there shall exist 
 on this continent for all time to come the state of which Plato 
 dreamed, which the prophets of old saw, and which Jesus said was 
 of "The Kingdom of God." 
 
 Frank P. Sadler. 
 
 Frank P. Sadler, the youngest of a family of seven children, 
 was born in Springfield, 111., June lo, 1872. In 1874 his father 
 moved to a large farm near Grove City, 111., and was for a number 
 of years one of the largest stock breeders and buyers in Central 
 Illinois. His parents now reside at Taylorville, Illinois. Young 
 Sadler's early education was obtained at the village school, 
 which he attended until he was 18 years of age. During this 
 time he gained quite 'a local reputation by winning for three 
 consecutive years the competitive examination open to all the 
 students of the county. By virtue of these victories he held 
 the Presidency of the County Pupils Association for three years. 
 In 1890 he entered the Northern Indiana Normal School at Val- 
 paraiso, where he began the study of Elocution under Prof. Mar- 
 tin Bogarte. Having determined to take a thorough college course, 
 the next year he entered Knox College at Galesburg, Illinois, and 
 
34 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 during his first year took part in the Freshman-Sophomore declam- 
 ation contest. He continued the study of Elocution during the 
 year and became well known in his classes, and in the debating 
 societies as a forcible speaker. 
 
 Attracted by the prestige of Michigan University, in 1892 he 
 entered the department of Literature, Science, and the Arts, as a 
 member of th'e class of '96. From the first he sho'wed great inter- 
 est in the study of Oratory, and became an active member of the 
 Oratorical Association and also of the Alpha Nu literary society. 
 
 His oration on " Mirabeau'' which was first delivered in Prof. 
 Trueblood's course in the "Study of. Great Orators" produced so 
 strong an impression that he was advised by his instructor to enter 
 the Sophomore contest for the honor of representing that class in 
 the final University contest. This honor he won, and was also 
 awarded first honor in the annual University contest, and in May, 
 1894, won first place in the contest of the Northern Oratorical 
 League. 
 
 In 189S he entered the Inter-Society Debating contest, as a 
 representative of the Alpha Nu Society, for the honor of being one 
 of a trio to represent the University of Michigan in a debate with 
 Northwestern University. In the final summary of" the judges' 
 grades it was found that Mr. Sadler led all others by several poinis, 
 and although in the debate with Northwestern the decision was 
 against the University of Michigan, he sustained himself with 
 great credit. 
 
 In style he abounds in brief, clear sentences, with short and 
 striking figures, if any. His manner is marked by great earnest- 
 ness and directness; his voice though not heavy, is sympathetic 
 and penetrating, his action energetic and full of meaning. In the 
 most exciting debating contests he never loses his self-possession 
 and is always skillful and courageous in rebuttal. 
 
 MIRABEAU. 
 By Frank Prather Sadler. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in 1894 at the University of Michigan and also in the Northern 
 Oratorical League. In the former contest Mr Sadler tied in rank in Thought and Composi- 
 tion with Mr. Chamberlain whose oration appears on page—. Mr. Sadler ranked second 
 in Delivery, In the League contest he received first in Thought and Composition and 
 second in Delivery.] 
 
 Great characters are epoch makers. As we study the history 
 of progress, we see men rise up and shape the destiny of nations, — 
 
MIRABEAU. 35 
 
 men who enter the arena of life equipped by nature with those 
 weapons which the conditions of the coming fray demand, — men 
 who fitly typify the age in which they live, and embody the prin- 
 ciples for which that age is famous. America gave birth to a 
 Washington, who personified her great love of liberty, who ex- 
 pressed her undying loyalty to the principles of self-government, 
 and linked his name forever with the birth of our republic. She 
 gave us a Lincoln, who, because he breathed forth her love for 
 humanity, equality, and unity, will stand as the central figure of 
 the nineteenth century. So, when heralding the approach of her 
 great revolution in which reason dethroned kingly power, and set on 
 high the emancipated mind of man, France gave to the world her 
 towering genius, her powerful orator, Mirabeau, — the typical 
 Frenchman of that age of revolution. 
 
 I. Comte de Mirabeau was born at Bignon, on the 9th of March, 
 1 749. He was so ugly in face- and disfigured in form as to merit the 
 nickname, "The Nephew of Satan." But sprung from a family dis- 
 tinguished for generations by a strong originality of character, Mira- 
 beau inherited a physical and intellectual vigor farabove the average. 
 
 He was born in a home where domestic tranquility was un- 
 known, where parents, blind to their highest interests, displayed 
 the greatest hatred for each other in the son's presence. Especially 
 was this injurious to a youth of his disposition, who, from injustice 
 of every description, sought for reckless freedom through the 
 avenues of pleasure. A tyrant father using harsh severity toward 
 a strong-willed son, early caused a wound that never healed. The 
 passion was augmented by stern authority; the strong will assailed 
 by superior force, ripened into an ungovernable disposition. The 
 time for reconciliation passed by, the ties of love were broken, 
 and the open hostility of a father stifled every impulse for a right- 
 eous life. Restless and disorderly, the rash youth was sent to the 
 army with the hope that military discipline might curb his violent 
 temper. Evil coijipanionships were formed. Ere long he was 
 behind prison bars. Again and again he was thrust into the dun- 
 geon cell, and every time he came forth more lawless than before. 
 Respect for self was gone, and throwing aside all restraint, — step 
 by step, he trod the downward road of licentious pleasure, to find 
 himself at last a fugitive from justice in a foreign land, — a man 
 withouta country and without friends. 
 
 II. The first climax in that dramatic life has been reached. 
 We turn our eyes to his native land and behold a. scene, the most 
 
36 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 memorable in her history. It is the approaching conflict upon the 
 same old battle-field where freedom's heroes have fought and died. 
 The emancipated intellect and the sovereignty of the people are 
 marshalling their hosts against the tyranny of despotism that has 
 lield them in its grasp for ages. The spirit of freedom which 
 nerved the farmers at Lexington, and led the charge at Yorktown, 
 was dawning on the minds of Frenchmen. "The human mind 
 long soothed with opiates and nursed on cordials suddenly awoke 
 from its stupor" and began to think for itself with such freedom 
 and audacity that all Europe was amazed. 
 
 The low mutterings of the coming storm are borne to the ears 
 of the outcast, Mirabeau. Ambition whispers of the tottering 
 throne; Freedom murmurs of the evils done; Genius makes his 
 vision clear; France is to be his field, revolution his life-work. A 
 seat in that National Assembly upon which the eyes of the world 
 were cast, was to be the stepping-stone from reproach, disgrace, 
 dishonor, to that high pinnacle of power where kings must bow to 
 the edict of his will. 
 
 Schooled in the injustice of oppression, thirsting for distinc- 
 tion, violent and impetuous, possessing great talents together with 
 a logical acuteness in foreshadowing political movements, and 
 endowed with a splendid gift of eloquence, he stepped into the 
 arena fully equipped for the mortal fray. Startling were his 
 words as he exhorted men to action. Burning were his appeals 
 as he moved them to revolution. There was an awaken- 
 ing. "The flame kindled by the- feudalism of the middle ages,- 
 fanned by the ruling sway of tyrants and made to glow as Bour- 
 bon rule sank lower and lower, burst out into that mighty 
 conflagration " which made crowned heads tremble on their 
 thrones. 
 
 The maddened senses of men with the ghastly specter of wf ongs 
 too long endured, rising up before them, were bearing them on to 
 deeds of atrocious violence. Mirabeau sees in imagination the 
 wild scenes that are to follow. Will he venture to face that mob 
 arid imperil all that life holds.dear for the sake of bleeding France ? 
 Can human power stay that plunging current? Write his name 
 high upon the scroll of honor, who dares risk his all and if need be 
 die, that his country may live! The task was beyond human 
 strength, but manfully, unflinchingly, Mirabeau stepped forward 
 and used all the powers of his nature to check the violent passions 
 which his words had done so much to arouse. 
 
MIRABEAU. • 37 
 
 In vain his warning words to France that she had turned the 
 helm from the safe port of liberty away toward the stormy sea, 
 with the Scylla of popular anarchy upon one hand and the Cha- 
 rybdis of military despotism on the other. To no purpose did he 
 implore to action that National Assembly, hesitating, and debat- 
 ing the rights of man and the theories of government, while the 
 mob of Paris was howling for bread. His warning was prophetic, 
 as the statesman rose above the politician, tha patriot above self- 
 ish ambition, that the despotism of six hundred, styling themselves 
 the National Assembly, was as much to be feared rs the despotism 
 of a king. 
 
 But he was not destined to behold the fulfillment of his 
 prophecy. While battling with all the fire of his genius, while 
 swaying assemblies and passing measures by his matchless elo- 
 quence, while at the zenith of his popularity. Death laid hold upon 
 him. Earthly desire and sensual pleasure had blasted his years. 
 Patriotic devotion, earnest endeavor, and noble action, could not 
 atone for the sins of former days. That towering oak, long swayed 
 by the storms of passion, long rocked by the tempests of revolu- 
 tion, shivered and fell. Mirabeau was no more. His life closed 
 dark and sad, — sad at leaving his great designs unaccomplished, 
 sad as he beheld the gathering gloom that was hovering over his 
 native la^d. Mysterious life! Calamitous death! King and 
 peasant follow in that great procession in honor of the dead, and 
 amid the sobs and groans of a disheartened people the "Sovereign 
 Man " is laid to rest in the Pantheon of his Fatherland. 
 
 III. (a) What shall we write above that tomb, — success, or 
 failure? Let history say. His peculiar position between throne 
 and people gave to the political juggler and the jealous colleague 
 opportunity to brand him as an intriguer with the King. But be 
 it ever to the honor of Mirabeau, that the so-called selfish actions 
 of an ambitious man, reflected by the light of history, are the pat- 
 riotic motives of a statesman. 
 
 He understood as did no other Frenchman of his time, the 
 true significance of a revolution; that revolution and reformation 
 must go hand in hand; that the process of tearing down in govern- 
 ment is successfnl only in so far as there follows the work of 
 rebuilding; that revolution without reformation breeds anarchy, — 
 anarchy, bloodshed and desolation. 
 
 The theory of government ever calls for the profoundest intel- 
 lects of mankind. The relations of the rulers to the governed is 
 
38 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 a problem that has many answers. It is one that calls for the 
 consideration of many questions, but none more vital than the 
 inherent nature of the governed. Mirabeau recognized this, and 
 used his eloquence to persuade his fellow-countrymen to recon- 
 struct the government on lines suited to the French nature. He 
 knew full well that republics are not born, in a day, and that the 
 theories proposed by the National Assembly were not the natural 
 outgrowth of a people ruled by kingly power. His knowledge of 
 human nature revealed to him that the Frenchman must have a 
 strong centralized government, and that if the principles of self- 
 government were adopted, France would become the prey of 
 ambitious leaders, — a Napoleon Bonaparte would lead France to 
 her Waterloo. 
 
 His words, "I want a free, but a monarchial government," 
 were hard to comprehend. But Bourbon rule followed by the 
 Republic, Republic giving away to Directory; Directory followed 
 hard upon by the Consulate; Consulate swept- away by Empire, 
 whose storm-tossed bark was to be rocked by revolution upon 
 revolution and finally to seek but not find a reposeful haven in a 
 Republic, — this history has made his words prophetic. "When I 
 shall be no more, they *,'ill know what I was worth. All the 
 calamities which I have arrested will break out upon France, and 
 from all sides the criminal faction which trembles before me will 
 have no rein." Do not these words re-echo through that mad 
 revel of anarchy which murdered a defenseless King, — in the clash 
 of deadly strife that culminated in The Reign of Terror, in which 
 Girondist, Hebertist, Dantonist, and Jacobinist, walked the way of 
 death in close procession, and which only ended when the head of 
 Robespierre fell before the guillotine? 
 
 (b) I have been speaking of his political foresight, but those 
 who like his principles least cannot but acknowledge the power of 
 his eloquence. It was not the stature of an Apollo or the brow of 
 a Job that held the "ravished hearer." He was ungainly in form 
 and almost hideous in feature. Yet when he was moved by the 
 thought of his nation's peril, these features were forgotten, and as 
 the repulsive countenance lighted up with the inspiration of some 
 lofty conception, and his great form, swayed by the passion of his 
 will, responded to the vigor of his language, homeliness gave way 
 to radiance, — 
 
 "Confusion heard his voice 
 And wild uproar stood ruled." 
 
THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY. 39 
 
 Nature revealed herself in her "Son of Earth." The intellect 
 flashed, the throat thundered, and the shocked Assembly, mute 
 and speechless, sat gazing at the play of nature's powers. His 
 was not the studied eloquence of a Burke, but the sparks struck 
 off by the heat of the moment. He did not strive at purity of 
 diction, but aimed straight at the hearts of men. Freedom was 
 his inspiration, patriotism his guide, sincerity his motive, rea- 
 son, his ruling power. Kings feared him, assemblies voted at his 
 will. Genius was his birthright, justice his living maxim, the 
 French Revolution his monument. 
 
 Living in an age of hypocrisy, he stood forth as the champion 
 of principles that will never die. Wi^h a vision too broad for party 
 lines, he was grounded on the solid rock of equality and justice, 
 where he bade defiance to the dazzling splendor of a court and the 
 showy glitter of a nation's gold. Hold him not as the ideal man, 
 for within was the low sensuous nature of the demon struggling for 
 maslery over an intellect, divine in conception, resistless in rea-son, 
 electrifying in power. 
 
 Morality will ever weep for the deeds of him who was a slave 
 to passion but a master of kings. Eloquence will sing of him in 
 her loftiest strain. Liberty will revere his memory as one who 
 bore aloft her sacred banner and proudly planted it on the ram- 
 parts of tyranny. Genius will crown him as a seer whose vision 
 alone could penetrate the dark night of revolution, — will crown 
 him as her chosen son, whose anticipations have become realiza- 
 tions; whose counsels laws; whose words, maxims; whose theo- 
 vies, constitutions. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY. 
 By Byron Lee Oliver. 
 
 Second Honor Oration, 1894, marked third in Thought and Composition, and first in 
 Delivery. 
 
 There has been no time in history when the necessiity for gov- 
 ernment did not exist. There has been no period in human affairs 
 when government was unknown, for the relation of man to man 
 necessitates government. The form has been rude at times, and 
 undeveloped, yet always in harmony with the nature of man and 
 his stage of advancement. In the remotest ages of the past, we 
 find social groups numbering countless thousands. From the very 
 beginning the political institutions of these social bodies have been 
 
40 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 undergjing an evolution. This development has been due to slow 
 and delibrate human effort, which has worked in accordance with 
 existing circumstances, and within the limitations of human char- 
 acter. The progress of these bodies politic, being dependent upon 
 human choice, has been fitful, and has varied according to the 
 surroundings of the races which developed them. Yet when 
 viewed in the light of the world's eventful progress, though dis- 
 turbed by wars, affected by climate and shaped by the wide play 
 of human thought, they have advanced in a remarkably orderly 
 manner. 
 
 From the dawn of history, when men were formed into barba- 
 rous tribes subject to despotic rule, until this modern age of civil- 
 ization when great nations stand forth free and self-governed, the 
 law of our fathers, "In union there is strength," has suffered no 
 serious breach. Governments are the living exponents of their 
 social conditions; they are called into existence by an expression 
 of the general will of the community, maintained by its consent 
 and employed for its benefit. They are not spontaneous growths; 
 they are created by conflicting ideas of social forces. Such insti- 
 tutions are the product of human effort, directed in the line of 
 common welfare. They are not founded 'upon the theories of 
 philosophers and lawgivers, though they owe much to the states- 
 men of different ages who propounded broad principles of civil 
 government, and labored to enfranchise nations. 
 
 In primitive ages society, weak and irresolute, incapable of 
 exerting a weighty influence in politics, submits to the arbitrary 
 sway of despotic rule. But as society advances, it increases in 
 power and influence, and governments are forced to change their 
 forms in compliance with the thoughts and feelings of their sub- 
 jects. Throughout the entire course of history there can be traced 
 this connection between the progress of political institutions and 
 the advancement of society. This growth of governmental sys- 
 tems, as a consequence of social, moral and intellectual develop- 
 ment, must be accepted as a natural law. 
 
 Ours is a life of progression. Society is ever advancing and 
 working out the destiny of nations. There are times when it 
 seems to check its onward course, even to retrace its steps but in 
 years succeeding it sweeps onward with re-invigorated speed. We 
 calculate its progress not by years and decades, but by cycles and 
 centuries. We measure its course not by individual action and 
 exceptional occurrence, but by the aggregate compilation of 
 history. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY. 4I 
 
 Men in all civilized lands, impelled by the same feeling of 
 humanity, influenced by a common welfare, bound by a common 
 sympathy of trial and danger, directed by a divine counsel, are 
 gaining independence, extending the domain of private rights, 
 harmonizing law and liberty, dictating the policies of governments, 
 and advancing toward the practically perfect state. Ever since 
 society emerged from the darkness of primitive ages, ever 
 since it began to improve and the popular mind mind to 
 stir, democratic opinion has advanced, and democratic institu- 
 tions have been growing in favor. The more society advances, 
 the more strength the principle of democracy gains. Since 
 the rise of popular education in the last century, and its vast 
 development in this, the advance of democratic opinion, and the 
 spread of democratic institutions have been marked and signifi- 
 cant. 
 
 A few generations ago the ruler was supposed to receive his 
 authority from God; now, he receives it from the people. Then, 
 the people served the ruler; now, the ruler is the servant of the 
 people. Then, the sovereignty rested in the ruler; now, it rests 
 in the people. The so-called "Divine Right of Kings" has been 
 relegated to the past. Now nearly every nation in the civilized 
 world recognizes the thisory that governments arise out of the 
 people, that all rulers hold their power by delegation from the 
 people. Almost all pure forms of monarchy have been destroyed 
 by introducing into them the imperative forces of popular thought, 
 and the concrete institutions of representative legislation. In aris- 
 tocratic and monarchical government the habit and spirit of defer- 
 ence is dying out. The superiority of the upper classes is no 
 longer so great; the willingness of others to recognize that superi- 
 ority is no longer so ready. The crumbling foundations of such 
 governmental structures are being swept away by the ever swelling 
 tide of public opinion. Throughout the enlightened world society, 
 no longer enthralled by ignorance and superstition, is growing 
 more capable of governing itself, a change which has been brought 
 about by the natural and inevitable advance of man. This is an 
 age of free and outspoken constitutional criticism. Never before 
 was mankind in such a ])Osition to inquire into the advance of 
 nations and consider the increasing happiness of man. No politi- 
 cal question of the present day excites more profound interest 
 than the advance of the theory of self-government. It affects the 
 welfare of society and the destiny of nations. 
 
42 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 History is replete with the rise and fall of mighty states. 
 Republics, monarchies and aristocracies, around each of which 
 were centered the fond hopes and aspirations of its people, have 
 arisen, shone in glorious splendor, and passed forever below the 
 horizon.' Like the historic ephemeral flower that grew within their 
 borders, the ancient republics live only in history and serve only 
 that time may point out the defects of their system, the flaws of 
 their fabric. At their best they were but broad aristocracies, with 
 limited suffrage, with slaves and even freemen who could never 
 obtain a voice in their own government. With them the state was 
 the unit; the individual was an insignificant fraction. No indi- 
 vidual rights were recognized; all were absorbed in the state. 
 Government was founded upon an illogical distinction of caste, 
 wherein wealth, honor and freedom were the heritages of the arist- 
 ocratic few. Gaze for a moment at the pitiful ruins of Rome; 
 mistress of the ancient world, yet a state wherein the citizen was 
 absorbed and lost to sight; a state whose subjects were divided 
 into classes devoid of individuality; a state wherein labor was 
 dishonored; a state with no finance, no industry, but, like a vul- 
 ture, subsisting upon the spoils of other nations; is it any wonder 
 that these so-called republics are but monuments to the fraility of 
 human law, the imperfections of human government? They are 
 but mute witnesses of experiments in government, and serve to 
 show that ancient man was as much of an experimentist as mod- 
 ern man. 
 
 Man is by nature speculative. While it is true, in a measure, 
 that the conservative element is prone to suffer injuries and incon- 
 veniences rather than change the forms to which they are accus- 
 tomed, still to be dissatisfied and to be continually desirous of a 
 change seems to be born in human nature. Man is constantly 
 living in dreams of what is to come, in ideals of what ought to be. 
 Were this principle otherwise, humanity would still be groveling 
 in the darkness of barbarism. But it is owing to this spirit of 
 progress, these dreams of ideals, that we are enabled to live in the 
 exhilarating atmosphere of civilization. The modern theory of 
 democracy found its birth in the mind of the philosopher, in the 
 dream of the oppressed. Since the overthrow of the ancient idea 
 of state, society is no longer submissive; it has become progress- 
 ive, directive. It has advanced from the centralization of the 
 ancient state to the free, self-governed commonwealth of to-day. 
 The once universal assumption that no republic could control vast 
 
THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY. 43 
 
 populations and extensive domain, that no strictly republican 
 government could be stable has been refuted. The modern con- 
 ception of politics, — the federal union, the separation of the exec- 
 utive, legislative and judicial functions of government, and that 
 great motive power of enlightened government, the legislative 
 assembly--have settled forever the problem of nations, self-consti- 
 tuted and self-controlled. 
 
 This modern democracy is a theory of human rights and 
 social power far transcending anything that other ages ever knew. 
 It has sprung up with the advance of society. It grows with the 
 growth of knowledge. It strengthens with the strength of reason. 
 It is beautified and embellished by everything that makes life 
 happier, nobler and better. Its power and influence is advanced 
 by every advance of man. Under it man feels that, beginning 
 with his soulj everything should be free. When visited by its 
 spirit, he is actuated by a nobler resolve; he kindles with a loftier 
 aspiration; he acts with deeds more heroic; he speaks with an 
 eloquence more triumphant, more sublime. 
 
 Democracy is founded, not upon traditions of remote ages, 
 not upon usurpations, not upon conquests, but upon things older and 
 firmer than these, the equality and brotherhood of man. In its 
 institutions, in the privileges they confer, and in the responsibili- 
 ties they repose, in the betterment of human welfare and the 
 brightening of human hopes, we discern the logic of conditions 
 which have been maturing for centuries. The star of democracy 
 first appeared upon the horizon of the AVestern Hemisphere, but so 
 dense was the fog of conservatism and doubt, that those living in 
 eastern climes failed to receive its light or behold its glories. 
 Now it has arisen above the mists, and its glories are reflected from 
 English shores. It has tinted the sunny fields of Spain. It has 
 shed its benign rays upon the landscape of France. Piercing to 
 the south, its rays of light have penetrated the monarchial gloom 
 and slavish ignorance of southern countries, and Brazil, Chili, 
 and Mexico have thrown aside the cloak of royalty, and now wor- 
 ship at the shrine of democracy. 
 
 If the visions of hopeful seers are ever to be realized, if the 
 ancient and mysterious lands of the orient which yet linger in the 
 gloom of ignorance, and superstition are to rise from the darkness 
 of primitive ages, if their crystalized forms of civilization are to be 
 destroyed, nations regenerated, and men disenslaved, to rejoice in 
 the kindly spirit of free and enlightened government, it is only 
 
44 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 with the advance of Christianity and the progress of democratif 
 opinion. And when the genius of history reviews the volume of 
 the great past, she will fondly linger over the pages devoted to the 
 triumphs' of democracy, then seized with inspiration, she will part 
 the curtain that hides the future and gaze far into the depths of 
 the ages yet to come; far down the corridors of time, she will see 
 the unborn millions of posterity who are to profit by our mistakes, 
 and succeed by our successes; then with a wise and patriotic fore- 
 sight she will inscribe in letters of living light for the ages of the 
 future, that grand policy of human rights, with its institutions of 
 equality and freedom, as broad as humanity, as eternal as truth. 
 
 THE LIBERALIZING INFLUENCES OF THE PARLIA- 
 MENT OF RELIGIONS. 
 
 By Frank Edgar Chamberlain. 
 
 [In Thought and Composition this oration tied in rank with Mr. Sadler's. In Deliv- 
 ery, Mr. Chamberlain stood- sixth. J 
 
 Four hundred years ago, religious propagandism supplied 
 one of the motives of Columbus's great project. Queen Isabella 
 was inspired with the hope that she might procure the means of 
 prosecuting another crusade. Columbus promised to lay at her 
 feet the riches of India. He proposed to 6pen a new gateway of 
 commerce with the East which should enrich the houses of Aragon 
 and Castile. Then would they be enabled to wage a successful 
 war against the Moslem, and wrest from iiifidel hands the Holy 
 Sepulcher. 
 
 This throws a ray of light upon the religious ideas of the 
 fifteerith century. The Parliament of Religions at Chicago was 
 another and happier concentration of light flashed upon the 
 occurrences of the Nineteeth Century, to reveal the spirit of these 
 times. Today, instead of trying to gain possession of an empty 
 tomb, the call is for broad-minded liberal men to meet togther in 
 harmony and fraternal kindness, and consider questions for the 
 uplifting of humanity. The demand is for men who will reason 
 together concerning the eternal truths of God, of divine Father- 
 hood, and human brotherhood. For, even in this age of material 
 wonders, there is a spiritual root to all human progress; and the 
 same sun which shone on Judea's Hill has shed its celestial light 
 
PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS. 45 
 
 on the dwellers in the Arabian deserts, by the Ganges and the 
 Nile, and where the long wash of the wave kisses the shores of the 
 Flowery Kingdom. 
 
 This Parliament of Religions has taught many men to cherish 
 kind thoughts of all peoples, and humane views of all creeds. It 
 has taught that he who would do most good in his own faith must 
 seek for and acknowlege the truth in other faiths. Bigotry and 
 fanaticism have filled the earth with violence, drenched it with 
 human blood and obstructed civilization. We boast of the 
 high state of modern society, and justly; but who dares affirm 
 that it is not far beneath what it might be had not intolerance 
 engendered strife and dissolution? But a better time has come, 
 and this grand meeting of the religious faiths of the earth has 
 heralded a brighter day, whose bells, ringing in peace and love 
 and harmony, shall also sound the death knell of fanaticism, big- 
 otry and persecution. 
 
 Grand and noble thoughts inspired the early martyrs to face 
 punishment and death, but grander and nobler thoughts impel 
 now the minds of religious reformers to convert the world to uni- 
 versal charity, and to build upon the ashes of intolerance the 
 temple of love and concord. Within this temple, we may all 
 stand upon the platform of mutual good will, and take by the 
 hand our brother of whatever creed. All petty barriers of sec 
 tarian pride will thus be removed, and men will together press 
 forward to the goal of God's eternal truth. 
 
 All religions and philosophies have fundamentally more or 
 less truth which lives forever, and superficially more or less 
 error which inevitably perishes. India, the cradle of nations, 
 and the mother of religions, with her ancient civilization and pro- 
 found philosophy — what is she? Wave after wave of adversity 
 has rolled over her; her glory and greatness are gone; and a 
 stranger and alien sits on her imperial throne. But that spark of 
 unquenchable fire, born of eternal truth, has been fanned into new 
 flame by the influence of modern civilization. It has revived the 
 highest aspirations' of her intellectual and spiritual nature, and 
 like the fabled bird of old she is rising from her ashes. Egypt 
 with her magnificent palaces, her beautiful obelisks, her massive 
 pyramids, and her mysterious sphinx — where is she? Gone like a 
 dream of the night. But her ruins have given up to the student 
 of today information necessary for the correct understanding of 
 much that enters into our moderiw though-; and life. Ancient 
 
46 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 Greece lavishes her splendid genius in building up a civilization 
 chat has passed away like the morning mist. But her art, her 
 poetry, and her philosophy, have been left as a rich' legacy to all 
 succeeding generations. Mighty and majestic Rome, where are 
 her noble monuments, her populous cities, her invincible legions? 
 They have disappeared to be known no more forever. But the 
 influence of her laws and institutions pervades all Christendom. 
 Israel, God's chosen people, with her grand laws and glorious his- 
 tory, with her inspired prophets and sublime bards — where is she? 
 A wanderer upon the face of the earth! Persecuted, banished, 
 driven hither and thither. But the inspirations and high ideals of 
 her sacred writings are the bed-rock of our Christian civilization. 
 Thus has the past contributed to the present. Thus do all the 
 golden grains of truth make for that righteousness whose end is 
 universal peace and brotherhood. 
 
 Go back to the dawn of history aniyou find man divided into 
 two classes; one to serve, the other to rule. Trace him to classic 
 Greece, the scene of the highest of ancient civilizations, and you 
 find him subject to the same false idea. The foreigner was not the 
 equal of the Greek, but fit only to be enslaved and to do the work 
 of the beast for the ruling race. Follow him oh down the ages to 
 within the memory of living man; the same Chinese wall of dis- 
 trust and hatred has kept the races and seligions apart. Prejudice 
 is as old as man. Men of different races faced each other only 
 for purposes of attack. Constant warfare prevented intercourse 
 between the different peoples. The precepts of the Golden Rule 
 are found in the writings of many great teachers of old, but they 
 never inspired love outside of the tribe or nation. It was only 
 when the philosopher and the ruler, the priest and the sage, found 
 their power broken and their pride humbled to the dust, that man, 
 amid the ruins of fallen empires, turned toward his brother for 
 that sympathy and fellowship which have been steadily increasing 
 till they culminated in the highest intellectual and moral achieve- 
 ment of the nineteenth century, the Columbian Exposition, and 
 the World's Parliament of Religions; till they reached a point 
 where high above the dreary mists of prejudice and discord shines 
 the light of fraternity and peace between all the leading nations 
 and religions of mankind. 
 
 What event in the religious development of the world has been 
 so significant as this Parliament? What time in all the splendid 
 development of spiritual forces ever witnessed a gathering so cos- 
 
PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS. 47 
 
 mopolitan? It is true there have been national and even interna- 
 tional ■ meetings of certain Christian sects, but their delegates 
 represented only slight differences of opinion in one part of the 
 religious world, while even large numbers of fellow- Christians were 
 excluded. It has been left to the grander spirit of the present 
 day to ignore all lines that separate sect from sect and religion 
 from religion, to open wide the white portals of the spiritual 
 kingdom and, in the name of God and humanity, welcome every 
 sincere seeker after truth, whether " Christian or Confucian, Meth- 
 odist or Moslem, Baptist or Brahmin, Presbyterian or Parsee." 
 
 The great meetings of the nations in connection with the 
 world's fairs at Paris, Philadelphia, and London were devoid of 
 any such features as a Parliament of Religions. Men sought to 
 have the world's material interests as fully represented as possible, 
 but no one dared to suggest any such bold plan as a gathering of 
 representatives of the world's thought, much less of the world's re- 
 ligious faiths. Such a consummation was reached only in our 
 own land and in our own decade, through the growing spirit of 
 progress which is leading men steadily on to broader thought and 
 higher ideals. 
 
 This Parliament was the natural outgrowth of the spirit which 
 has ever prompted man to come into closer touch with the object 
 of his veneration. The religious intent of humanity has ever been 
 to establish closer and more helpful relations between itself and 
 God. But at last men are beginning to see that in truly drawing 
 nearer to God they must needs also draw nearer to each other. 
 Worship would not divide; it would unite. True, the adherents of 
 different faiths call God by different names; but by these different 
 names do they not all mean the same Infinite Power and WisfJomi' 
 Why, then, should they not worship together and be brothers? 
 Thus a growing number of men are recognizing an essential rela- 
 tion between the different faiths of the world. It was out of this 
 growing recognition that the Parliament of Religions was born. 
 But will the spirit which created the Parliament stop with that re- 
 markable gathering? On the contrary, everything shows that the 
 P.^rliament has given it such an impetus as nothing before has ever 
 -lOne. The thousands from all parts of the earth who attended the 
 World's Congress of Religions will hereafter exert in their own 
 lands an influence in breaking the chains of religious despotism, 
 which binds their fellows and retards their ascent of the heights of 
 religious freedom and toleration. 
 
48 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 A deepening and broadening effect, not alone on Christianity, 
 but on the entire religious world will be the outcome of this 
 grandest of all Parliaments. Its influence will be both permanent 
 and cumulative. A seed has been planted that will bear fruit a hun- 
 dred fold as the years and centuries go on. A great and noble ideal 
 like this o: the brotherhood of the world's religions once lifted up 
 clearly in the eyes of mankind can never be lost. It is a beacon 
 light for the ages to come. More and more, as the result of this 
 Parliament, will men try to live in concord with all honest seekers 
 after truth, of whatever race or religion. As the result of it more 
 and more clearly and boldly will they inscribe on their banners, 
 "Practice not Theory, Deed not Creed, Love not Hate, Compas- 
 sion not Revenge, Brotherhood not Strife." 
 
 This Congress was the greatest of the world's ecumenical 
 councils, for it was really world wide, as no preceding council ever 
 was. And it not only asked for spiritual liberty, but was itself a 
 most striking manifestation of that liberty. It was the grandest 
 theological seminary ever instituted, for it taught universal tolera- 
 tion. From it men shall learn that religions are not separated by 
 impassable barriers, but by clouds of misunderstanding which 
 dissolve and fade away before the morning sun of truth and love. 
 From it has issued an army bearing upon its banners symbols not 
 only of religion but of humanity and peace. From its lofty plat- 
 form have been promulgated truths which shall be taught again 
 from ten thousand other platforms, in many lands; truths which 
 shall grow and spread till they reach the uttermost parts of the 
 earth. Well nigh two thousand years have passed since the angels' 
 song^on Bethlehem's plain proclaimed "Peace on earth, goodwill 
 toward men. " As we look back over the past and see the bitter wars 
 and strifes, many of the fiercest of them kindled by religion itself, 
 chat have filled the world with tears, and hate, and blood, we say 
 alas! How slow has been this splendid prophecy in reaching a ful- 
 fillment! But who that understands the mighty significance of this 
 Parliament will dare to question that in it we see at last the dawn 
 of a more peaceful day for religion on the earth? Here in this 
 most remarkable and prophetic gathering in the religious history 
 of our race has been set flowing a stream of toleration, charity, and 
 good will which shall refresh and gladden the noblest souls of 
 all lands. May we not believe that it is a stream which shall 
 flow on down the ages, an ever broadening and deepening river, 
 'ir>til it shall at last mingle with the dark waters of the world's 
 
JAMES HENRY MAYS 
 
JAMES H. MAYS. 49 
 
 religious prejudice, hate, and strife, and calm them into peace 
 forever? 
 
 James H. Mays. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born June 29, 1868, in the 
 mountains of East Tennessee. He attended school in winter at 
 the old log school house of the neighborhood, and spent his sum- 
 mers on the farm where he says he served his time in "hoeing 
 corn, cutting sprouts, and pulling fodder." While he was yet a 
 boy the family removed to Galena, Kans., near the boundary line 
 of Missouri. Much of his youth and early manhood was spent at 
 work in the timber, and in the zinc and lead mines cf that region. 
 He had little or no opportunity to attend school during these years, 
 but he spent his evenings in careful reading, and once a week took 
 part in a neighborhood debating society. 
 
 In the spring of 1890 he entered the State Normal School at 
 Emporia, Kans., where he spent nearly three years. He was twice 
 elected president of his class, and once as delegate to the State 
 Oratorical Association. During his whole course he took an active 
 part in one of the literary societies, w&s twice elected to represent 
 his society in an annual debating contest, an event of the greatest 
 interest and importance to the students there. In the first contest 
 he received second place, but in the last he was graded highest 
 among the debaters. 
 
 After leaving the Normal he spent one winter in teaching a 
 country school near Emporia. The following spring he went into 
 the employ of the New York Life Insurance Company and traveled 
 extensively over Kansas and Nebraska, his chief purpose being to 
 raise money to send him through college. His summer's work 
 was so successful that in October, 1893, he was able to enter the 
 law department of the University of Michigan, where by continu- 
 ing his work in insurance during vacations and at odd times he has 
 been able to maintain himself with his class, with which he expects 
 to graduate in June, 1895. In the summer'of '94, on account of 
 his marked success in the interests, of his insurance company, he 
 won the right to represent the State of Michigan in the New York 
 and Boston conventions of life insurance men, which included all 
 expenses on a trip via Niagara to the principal Eastern cities. 
 
 In the Inter-Society Debate of 1894, held for the purpose of se- 
 lecting three men to represent the University of Michigan in the 
 
go HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 first contest with Northwestern University, Mr. Mays was easily 
 accorded first place, and, though the final contest was lost to 
 Northwestern by the narrow margin of four points, he received the 
 highest grades both in argument and delivery. 
 
 His great success in debate led his classmates to prevail on 
 him to enter the Annual Oratorical contest of 1895. He not only 
 led in his class contest, but also in the final University contest, and 
 was the first to receive the new Chicago Alumni Medal. He thus 
 became the accredited representative of the University in the con- 
 test of the Northern Oratorical League, held at Iowa City, May 3, 
 where he also received the highest honor. 
 
 Nature has endowed Mr. Mays with unuscual gifts as a public 
 speaker, but he has been untiring in his efforts to develop those 
 powers during his entire college course. His manner before an 
 audience is highly prepossessing. He has an easy command of a 
 noble physique; a voice of great range, of wonderful power and 
 sweetness. His enunciation is clear, his action free and full of 
 force. There is nothing of the spread-eagle about him; he is 
 simple, modest, earnest, and whether in the heat of debate or in a 
 set oration his utterance impresses one as the direct outflow of his 
 own consciousness. 
 
 INTERNATIONALISM. 
 By James Henry Mays. 
 
 [First Honor Oration 1895, marked second in Thought and Composition and first 
 in Delivery; in the League contest, iirstin Thought and Composition and first in Delivery.^ 
 
 The nation is composed of individuals, as the mass is com- 
 posed of atoms. In the beautiful discovery of Newton, we leain 
 that the same law v/hich governs the smallest atom governs also 
 the largest mass, even to the universe of planets and suns. Indi- 
 viduals bound in fellowship by one great rule of right, consent to 
 have the fierceness of their nature restrained for the common wel- 
 fare. They are constrained to live with common purposes, strive for 
 common advancement, rejoice in common blessings, suffer com- 
 mon disasters; in common they glory in mutual happiness, and in 
 the victories of peace, "no less renowned than war." So nations, 
 after squandering their resources upon the art of destruction, after 
 ages of dreadful warfare, are likewise coming to realize the awful 
 folly of continual discord. They, too, are beginning to appre- 
 
INTERNATIONALISM. 51 
 
 ciate the significance of moral laws; to beware lest they disre- 
 gard the divine command, "Love thy neighbor as thyself;" to 
 observe the same great rule of right that binds individuals in fel- 
 lowship. 
 
 This growing spirit of mutual helpfulness we call Internation- 
 alism. What is the origin, the development, the mission of this 
 bond of fellowship among the nations? 
 
 I. With our savage forefathers, the family was the nation. 
 Apart from actual kinship, there was no brotherhood. Every man 
 outside this petty circle was an enemy to be slain as the wild beast 
 of the jungles. Beginning to realize the strength of united action, 
 families formed into tribes under chiefs to wage more relentless 
 warfare upon all other tribes. As the rays of civilization pene- 
 trated deeper into the gloom, these tribes, stirred by the same 
 restless energy, united into larger communities, and settled upon 
 fixed habitations. Land, instead of kinship, became the basis of 
 society, and was occupied by petty lordships and communities, 
 separate and distinct. At first, they professed no common inter- 
 est, cultivated no friendly relations, recognized no rights claimed 
 by members of other communities, and treated all men outside 
 the narrow limits of their province as enemies. Eadh held it to 
 be the great aim of life to carry on successful warfare, and zeal- 
 ously maintained, as do nations now, the right to make war on 
 every other community. Their association was for mutual destruc- 
 tion. Every principality was intolerant, bigoted, selfish. Within 
 their own border lines, the people were enjoined to recognize the 
 brotherhood of man; outside these limits, they were licensed and 
 encouraged to pilfer and murder without restraint. Within their 
 borders, they lived in harmony; outside, they roamed the seas as 
 pirates, ravaged the land as bandits, annihilated villages, gave no 
 quarter, sparing not even women or children. It was one contin- 
 uous story of dreadful warfare from the time 
 
 *' When man walked with beast, 
 Joint tenant of tlie shade." 
 
 Gradually it dawned upon the minds of men that there was 
 nothing in political lines to make them foes; they began to realize 
 that they were men, who had much in common. They said one 
 to another, "we will further unite for common defense and mutual 
 advancement." Just as "the srnaller bodies by degrees had been 
 drawn into fellowship, these larger bodies were fused into nations 
 
52 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 Primitive Rome was formed by the union of small communities. 
 The countless principalities of Great Britain were gradually merged 
 into seven kingdoms, and then united into one great kingdom 
 under Egbert, the Saxon. In France we see Roman, Iberian, Teu- 
 ton, and Celt, once stirred by angry passions, now blended into a 
 powerful republic. Spain, a composite of numerous races of dif- 
 ferent religion and government, became a nation in the fifteenth 
 century by the union of Castile and Aragon.- Germany, once con- 
 sisting of more than three hundred distinct principalities, each in 
 bloody strife with the others, now presents a might empire, united 
 at home and respected abroad. And on this side the seas, many 
 great states, indifferent to the common weal, disposed to be inde- 
 pendent sovereignties, united their interests, and today present a 
 typical example of what brotherly spirit may do for the nations of 
 the world. Thus, with the gradual association of tribes and com- 
 munities, great nations were formed, each invoking the blessings 
 of united, friendly action upon its numerous principalities. The 
 torch of the incendiary was extinguished, the license of the robber 
 revoked, the red hand of the asssassin arrested, the mad fury of 
 the mob restrained, and the once hostile factions were welded into 
 great nations. 
 
 II. Such was the result of fellowship of communities. Con- 
 sider the development of this spirit among nations. Internally, 
 each rejoiced in the mutual friendship of its numerous provinces; 
 but, strange to say, toward its neighbors, assumed a hostile front. 
 This attitude of the nations caused Burke to declare that friendly 
 international relations would afford a pleasing theme for the his- 
 torian, but "alas! such history would not fill ten pages." These 
 cordial relations between states of the modern world had their 
 beginning in the Peace of Westphalia, which was confirmed by 
 the principal nations of Europe. Permanent legations were then 
 first securely established. Since then, says Emerson, "all history 
 is the decline of war." Since then, says Sir Henry Maine, "a 
 moral brotherhood in the whole human race has been steadily 
 gaining ground." Twenty years ago, Gladstone declared that 
 there had been reserved for England a great and honorable destiny 
 in promoting inte.rnationalism. Since these words were spoken, 
 thirty-eight powerful nations have united their moral forces, by the 
 treaty of Geneva, as a safeguard against the excesses, miseries, 
 and ferocities of war. They have bound themselves to use every 
 means to relieve the suffering of sick and wounded soldiers; to dis- 
 
INTERNATIONALISM. 53 
 
 courage war, as the best means of attaining that end; to encourage 
 international good will; to mitigate international calamities in time 
 of peace; and to place international concord on a more enduring 
 basis. 
 
 This spirit of mutual fellowship is fast pervading all human 
 society. From the family circle to the tribal community, from the 
 village clan to the broader province, from jealous statehood to 
 national commonwealth, the great rule of right is becoming broad 
 enough and strong enough to embrace all mankind in the general 
 harmony. In recognition of this unity of interest the Pan-Ameri- 
 can congress assembled at Washington with the highest motives 
 that ever actuated international movements. Representatives of 
 half the civilized world met, not to arouse bitter prejudices, but 
 for better mutual understanding; not to obtain unfair advantages, 
 but to promote the general welfare; not to cultivate the art and 
 terrible amusement of war, but to form closer commercial relations; 
 not to witness the parade of military forces, but to obviate all 
 necessity for the maintenance of navies and great standing armies, 
 such as are now crushing out the life of Europe. Let those who 
 would sneer at the growing spirit of internationalism, remember 
 that never before did there convene a congress of nations with the 
 commqn purpose of agreeing, not upon military plans, not to incite 
 their people to tumult and carnage, not to foster cruelty and super- 
 stition, not to do homage to the God of Battles, but to adopt the 
 motto of peace and fellowship, and thus secure enduring pros- 
 perity in the western world. 
 
 III. Brief as has been the history of these great movements, 
 certain principles and methods have been clearly defind. What, 
 then, is the mission of internationalism ? Though slow in develop- 
 ment, its spirit has long been appealing to the better nature of the 
 individual man, and is now beginning to pervade the councils of 
 nations. What is there in boundary lines to convert a brother- 
 man into a deadly foe? Ought the conduct of nation toward na- 
 tion to be less humane than that of man toward man ? Shall 
 nations still retain barbarous methods of determining justice, while 
 judicial tribunals by exercise of reason adjudicate the rights of in- 
 dividuals ? "Shall we execute a man for committing a single mur- 
 der, and glorify a nation for slaughtering its thousands ? Is that 
 voice of thunder, "Thou shalt not kill," prolonged and re-echoed 
 throughout the earth by Christian churches, to have an awful 
 meaning to individuals, and signify nothing to nations ? By what 
 
54 HONOR ORATlONb. 
 
 reasoning can the crime of the individual become the glory of the 
 nation ? Must man put forth every energy against pestilence and 
 famine, while nations upon the slightest pretext "let slip the dogs 
 of war ? " Must he revere and cherish his religion, and yet allow 
 the state to profane it ? Must he continue to extol virtue to the 
 skies, and yet permit nations to dethrone it ? Must he strive for 
 knowledge, while nations misapply and pervert it? Oh why must 
 man continue to toil, and permit the product of hishand and brain 
 to be squandered upon the means of destruction? If it has proved 
 well for individuals, families, tribes, communities, and provinces 
 to strive peaceably together, should not the larger masses of men 
 profit by such example ? It is the mission of internationalism to 
 answer these questions, and to- say to governments, into whose 
 hands the welfare of mankind is placed, — 
 
 ' ' Therefore take heed 
 
 How you awake the sleeping sword of war ; 
 
 In the name of God, take heed." 
 
 Man may yet be blinded by prejudice, nations may yet be 
 lacerated by war; but of this we may be assured: that in the dis- 
 tresses which mankind must suffer, ignorance will never again be 
 so potent a factor, for men are now heirs to the wisdom of the ages; 
 difference in religion will never again so arouse the spirit of intol- 
 erance, for man must be left unfettered to obey the dictates of his 
 conscience; difference in race and language will never again be so 
 strong a barrier to friendly intercourse, for all nations are coming 
 to recognize the brotherhood of man; distance will never again 
 render international interests so vague and remote, for the messen- 
 gers of intelligence and of commerce, like shuttles, are rushing to 
 and fro over the earth, "weaving the nations into one." Stupen- 
 dous political movements, which in times past, would have brought 
 havoc and carnage, must in future be conducted through quiet de- 
 liberations. Questions, which a few years ago would have been 
 sure heralds of war, must be determined before a supreme court of 
 the nations. Already it is the law of nations to do in time of peace 
 the most good and in time of war the least evil. Arbitration is 
 the rule; and when war does occur, it is divested of its most 
 atrocious cruelties. Nations begin to realize that disaster needs 
 no aid or encouragement from the government; that humanity will 
 suffer enough at best; that governments are the servants of men, 
 and not their masters; that they are institutions for man's benefit, 
 aid not for his torture, that they are builders and not destroyers; 
 
CLASSES OR THE COMMONERS. 55 
 
 that they are means to an end, and that end the advancement of 
 civilization. 
 
 This, then, is the mission of internationalism: — that the nations 
 instead of imitating the fierceness of the tiger, shall render good 
 offices one unto another; instead of "rejoicing in the "pomp and 
 circumstance of.glorious war," shall tender support in public dis"- 
 tress; instead of invading, bombarding; and pillaging their neigh- 
 bors, shall afford relief in general calamities; and that instead of 
 the clank of arms and the canon's roar, instead of the crash and 
 jar of artillery, the tramp of the war horse, the glare of hungry 
 flames, the pitiless scenes of death, decay, and famine, we may 
 hehold the nations of the earth, of every religion, language, and 
 race, firmly bound by the threads of commerce and the stronger 
 ties of brotherly feeling; behold them flouris'hing together in the 
 arts of peace, striving with common impulses, combined in com- 
 mon enterprises, and tendering mutual returns of kindness and 
 civility. 
 
 THE CLASSES OR THE COMMONERS. 
 Fred Lewis Ingraham. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration, 1895, marked third in Thought and Composition and second in 
 Delivery.] 
 
 When the traveller views the ocean for the first time his atten- 
 tion is attracted by the mighty waves. In regular succession they 
 roll their huge bulk landward, each striving to the utmost to exalt 
 itself above the level of its fellows. Their awful energy knows no 
 control. "This,'' the traveller exclaims, "is the great sea." But 
 presently he looks out upon the wider view before him. He be- 
 holds that rnajestic waste of waters, stretching away, fathomless, 
 boundless, changeless, eternal. Calms come, and the waves dis- 
 appear, but the sea endures forever. Primeval man, fresh from 
 the hand of the Infinite, looked out in superstitious awe upon that 
 selfsame ocean. "Now," the traveller exclaims, "I behold the 
 sea; not before have I comprehended its greatness " So, when 
 the historian first turns to the annals of his race, he sees there 
 nothing but the deeds of those who, like the waves, are exalted above 
 the common level; they found religions and kingdoms, they pro- 
 duce revolutions, they work reformations. This, for centuries, 
 has been the verdict of history. But on deeper study historians 
 are beginning to realize that, back of kings, generals, and prophets 
 
56 HONOR ORATIONS,. 
 
 are the people, the common people. It is there that historical 
 cause and effect have their seat, the march of events its origin, the 
 development of institutions its growth. The sea is greater, grander 
 than its waves; the masses greater than the classes. 
 
 The history of a nation is chiefly determined by the character- 
 istics of the masses of its people, characteristics which statesmen 
 can neither destroy nor create. The spirituality of the Jew and 
 the ideality of the Greek gleamed forth irrespective of the aid or 
 opposition of leaders. The Englishman's love of personal liberty, 
 inherited from the barbaric Saxon, rose superior to Norman, Tudor, 
 and Stuart, and is still the safeguard of freedom in every English- 
 speaking nation. Leaders lead; the people- follow. But at any 
 time there are many would-be leaders; each with a plan; and it is 
 in choosing which plan to follow that the people exercise their 
 supremacy. The leader is the means by which the people carry 
 out the work they desire to accomplish. 
 
 Yet, there has always been a tendency for those elevated above 
 the common level to combine into associations whose dominating 
 principal is that the members shall consider themselves superior to 
 the common people and treat them with contempt. The tendency 
 in America toward such aristocratic combinations is becoming 
 more and more evident. When villages first appeared on the 
 prairies and among the forests of the West social relations were 
 s-imple. No one because of broader acres considered himself su- 
 perior to his fellows. Fear of the glance of scorn kept no man 
 from greeting any other. High and low gathered for the worship 
 of the Common Father in the same church. But now society is 
 dividing into classes. We have Fifth avenue and the Bowery; the 
 brown stone front and the tenement. In the East the aristocrats 
 are withdrawing their children to private academies, leaving the 
 public schools to the commoners. More than three-fifths of those 
 who enter Yale and Harvard are prepared in private schools or by 
 private tutors. Christians, professing to follow the Master whose 
 message was the brotherhood of man, cannot now worship at the 
 same altar. One class meets at Trinity Church, the other at Five 
 Points Mission. This exclusive spirit is fast leavening all society. 
 The butcher's wife scorns the servant girl, and is in turn looked 
 down upon by the banker's wife, who sighs in vain to become one 
 of the exclusive four hundred. 
 
 Men are, and must ever be, as unequal in intellect and ability 
 as they are in stature. But no man was ever so great as to entitle 
 
CLASSES OR THE COMMONERS. 57 
 
 him to hold even the lowliest in contempt. Just and equal treat- 
 ment is the right of every man, because of his humanity. In this 
 right all men are equal. Little souls may shut themselves within a 
 crust of exclusiveness, but great souls burst such selfish bounds and 
 go out in sympathy to all mankind. Lafayette, a scion of the 
 French nobility, crosses the ocean to risk his life for the liberties 
 of democratic America. Jefferson, reared amid the proud sur- 
 roundings of an ancient Virginian family, pens that immortal sen- 
 tence, "All men are created equal." Wendell Phillips, a member 
 of an aristocratic family of Boston, braves social ostracism and 
 public scorn to plead freedom for the negro. Charles Sumner, 
 heir to all that position and culture can give, scorning the threats 
 of violent opponents, hurls the shafts of his brilliant eloquence full 
 into the heart of brutal slavery. His great genius knows no rest 
 until he has lifted the black man to a place by his side, his equal 
 in law, a free citizen, a sovereign voter. The lives of these men 
 reiterate in thunder tones "All men are equal." 
 
 Fame's greatest heroes are men who sprang from the common 
 people. Their lives were lived for the people. The people's will 
 was their will. Witness Moses, now the foundling in the rushes, 
 now leading Israel from bondage; Luther, now singing in the 
 streets for alms, now forging the thunderbolts of the Reformation; 
 Washington, now the frontier surveyor, now rejecting a crown, but 
 crowned a thousand times with the love of generations whom he 
 blessed with a free government. But there is one whose story is 
 even more striking. Born in poverty and wretchedness, he fought 
 his way without family, without influence, without education to a 
 fame that will never die. Sacred to principle, devoted to humanity; 
 his life was like a benediction. As long as conscience moulds the 
 lives of men, as long as love touches their hearts, so long will the 
 world revere the name of the statesman, the liberator, the martyred 
 hero, Abraham Lincoln. Like the greatest governments, the great- 
 est men are " of the people, by the people, and for the people." 
 
 Our national government, every republican government, rests 
 upon absolute faith in the wisdom and virtue of the majority, and 
 the majority must always be the common people. Lincoln once 
 said, "God must love the common people or he wouldn't have 
 made so many of them." And it is true that Christianity, too, has 
 rested from the first, and must always rest, upon the heart and 
 conscience of the masses. Jesus of Galilee, the carpenter born in 
 a manger, did not address his sublime teachings to the aristocrats. 
 
58 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 He knew that from them he would receive only scorn. But he 
 prepared a feast of complete forgiveness to others, of perfect purity 
 of heart; a feast of charity and brotherhood in man, of fatherhood 
 and charity in God; then he invited those who plowed and sowed," 
 who tended flocks, or fished the sea, the fallen woman, the begger 
 at the gate, to come and partake of that feast. That invitation 
 was the greatest tribute ever paid to human nature. Only a hu- 
 manity possessed of a divine nature could, of its own free will, 
 accept a religion of divine forgiveness and duty, — a divine nature 
 tempted and fallen, it may be, but divine still. He knew the peo- 
 ple's heart; he invited, and the invitation was accepted. Yet we 
 Americans, reared in the full light of Christianity and under the 
 pr )tection of the noblest republic of all history, are denying the 
 iundamental principle of both, the principle of equality. 
 
 In the days of '6i, when the news that Fort Sumter had been 
 fired upon rang on the ears of the startled North, all realized that 
 the Union was in danger. Thousands sprang to arms. They came 
 from the forge, the work-bench, the counter, the plow, — an army 
 of commoners. The nation placed in their hands the freedom of 
 a race, the destinies of our Union, the successes of republican 
 government. The world watched in breathless suspense to see 
 howthese humble men would keep that awful trust. Up hillsides 
 bathed in the blood of comrades they charged, to the very muzzles 
 of roaring musketry and belching cannon, and planted the banner 
 of equality on tlje ramparts of slavery. A hundred battle fields 
 wreathed in glory; prison pens hallowed with a patriotism almost 
 godlike; vast cemeteries where the brave sleep side by side, rank 
 after rank, — the silent legions of the dead, — all tell more forcibly 
 than any words what these men were ready to sacrifice rather than 
 betray that trust. Greece, with her Marathon and Thermopylae, 
 had no truer heroes than these; yet they were our commoners. 
 
 If, in the olden times of war and conquest, a nation's glory 
 lay in its common people, much more is it true in this age, when a 
 nation's supremacy is founded upon the ability of its laborers in 
 argriculture, commerce, or manufactures. The Columbian Expo- 
 sition at Chicago was a revelation. Memory loves to return to 
 that beautiful spot on the shore of Lake Michigan. The eye wan-, 
 ders down a grand canal whose waters ripple in the clear sunlight. 
 Long lines of pillars, massive facades, towering domes rise on either 
 side, surmounted by sculptured figures, perfect in grace and beauty 
 At the farther end of the narrowing canal stands the majestic 
 
CLASSES OR THE COMMONERS. 59 
 
 Statue of the Republic, golden in the sunlight. The surface of 
 the lake shimmers between the columns of the Peristyle beyond. 
 And, when the sun sinks from sight, and the moon rises over the 
 lake, casting her mellowing and holy light over snow-white dome 
 and silent statue, the great crowd is hushed with awe. It is Venice 
 in the time of Columbus; Athens in the days of Phidias. That 
 scene of beauty, those massive piles, grand in symmetry, were the 
 proudest monument ever erected, — a monument raised by labor, to 
 labor. Every statue, every column, every line of beauty, spoke of 
 labor. The sole story, the inspiration of it all, was the laborer; 
 he who converts the wilderness into a garden; belts the earth in all 
 directions with bands of steel, traversing plains, tunneling under 
 rivers, climbing mountain sides, binding whole continents in unity 
 and peace, — the laborer, who imprisons stearj, or snatches from 
 the clouds the bolts of Jove, and bids them whirl him away over 
 sea or land. That great Fair was an index of the fact that the 
 power of the world lies in the laboring masses. Greece ushered in 
 the age of art and philosophy; Rome displayed the might of con- 
 quest and the majesty of law; Europe, in the Middle Ages, por- 
 trayed the power of monarchy and the poetry of chivalry; and the 
 mission of America ia to give to the world the lesson of labor and 
 democracy. Labor is the rock upon which are founded all our 
 wealth, all our civilization, — all our mastery over things material 
 and things intellectual. All the power of the present, all prospects 
 for the future, are bound up in the laboring masses, the common 
 people. With them lies the hope of the world. This is not the 
 age of chivalry; aristocratic traditions have no place here; this is 
 the age of labor. Labor for mankind, labor of hand or head or 
 heart, — this is the true, test of nobility. 
 
 Voices of prophecy speak in inspiring tones of a new era, 
 when no labor shall be a disgrace; when the glamour which the 
 nodding plume the prancing charger, the flashing blade, — all the 
 pomp and pageantry of feudalism, have thrown about aristocrac) , 
 shall be but a poetic dream of the past; and the common people, 
 the source of wealth, the nurse of heroes, the foundation of true 
 religion, the seat and bulwark of just government, shall be truly 
 honored. Not position, not family, not culture, not wealth, but 
 labor, shall ennoble. Then with truth shall it be said: Not in 
 long drawn constitutions, nor in sounding declarations, but in 
 living institutions, men are free and equal. 
 
6o HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 THE banishment' OF THE MORMON PEOPLE. 
 
 By Josiah Edwin Hickman. 
 
 [This oration was ranked first in Thought and Composition, and third in Delivery 
 in the University contest of 1895. J 
 
 My subject is a most unpopular one. It was chosen not to 
 herald an unpopular faith, but to defend the cause 'of civil and 
 religious liberty against unwarranted prejudice; not to advocate the 
 tenets of any religion, but to defend the cause of virtue and order 
 against the enemies of all divine and human laws. I keenly real- 
 ize the disadvantage at which I am placed in defending this much 
 misunderstood people. And I am not ignorant of the prejudice 
 existing upon this subject. Therefore, I ask that you do not judge 
 until their history is held up to the light of reason. 
 
 Though this people originated in New York, I will not speak 
 of their history until we find them in the western part of Missouri, 
 where they had gone and built themselves comfortable homes with 
 the view of worshiping God according to the dictates of their 
 conscience. But as their religion was different from the accepted 
 belief of the day, they soon began to be ridiculed, then to be per- 
 secuted; finally organized mobs assembled, and burning their 
 homes, tarred, feathered, and whipped many of their people. In 
 their extreme suffering, they applied for protection to judge, priest, 
 and governor, but received none. They even petitioned President 
 Van Buren, who replied: "Your cause is just, but I can do noth- 
 ing for you." Bancroft, the great American historian, says that 
 banded mobs went from settlement to settlement of the Mormons, 
 burning their homes, killing or driving the unoffending inhabitants 
 into exile. In one place, they murdered every man, woman, and 
 child. And among the number killed was an old Revolutionary 
 veteran, who had fought for our independence. Says the histor- 
 ian, "Never in savage or other warfare was there an act more 
 dastardly or brutal." The Missourians in order that they might 
 have a mantle to cover their cruelty, drew up resolutions. They 
 said that the Mormons believed in prophets, in revelations, and 
 that they were superstitious; that, being mostly from the New 
 England States, they believed in freeing the slaves; and finally, 
 they were poor. 
 
 Poverty, superstition, unpopular doctrines — these were the 
 crimes. For such crimes, fourteen thousand inhabitants were 
 driven from their homes in mid-winter. In the Middle Ages ? No; 
 
BANISHMENT OF THE MORMON PEOPLE. 6l 
 
 in the nineteenth century. In Russia? No; in America, fourteen 
 housand inhabitants were-driven from their homes in the dead of 
 ivinter. The sick were torn from their beds, and thrust out into 
 the midnight air, and compelled to seek safety in some bleak for- 
 est. There were shivering children, .there were infants, homeless 
 but for a mother's arms, couchless but for a mother's breast. In 
 such distress, pursued by merciless oppressors, they left the tracks 
 of their bleeding feet upon the snows of their pathway. Home- 
 less, shivering, heart-broken, and plundered, they sought shelter 
 in the uninhabited plains of Illinois.'' 
 
 In this bleak wilderness, far from the inhumanity of man, the 
 fugitives did for a time find peace and rest. During the six years 
 which they were permitted to remain in Illinois they built several 
 villages, besides Nauvoo, a city of twenty thousand inhabitants. 
 They established schools, founded a university, and built a magni- 
 ficent temple. "It must be admitted," says Bancroft, "that the 
 Mormons in Missouri and Illinois were a more honest, temperate, 
 hard-working, self-denying and thrifty people than those by whom 
 they were surrounded." 
 
 Whatever was the cause that led to their expulsion from Ill- 
 inois, it was not due to any crime of theirs, unless it was an 
 offence to profess a different creed and worship at a different 
 shrine. But Governor Ford said that all manner of trumped-up 
 charges were brought against them; and those charges were with- 
 o.^t foundation, for the Mormons had committed no such offences. 
 On a pretended charge, Joseph Smith and others were arrested and 
 taken to Carthage under the sworn protection of the Governor. 
 It is said that Smith had a premonition of his terrible fate and. 
 said, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am as calm 
 as a summer morning. I have a conscience void of offence to- 
 wards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it yet 
 will be said of me, 'He was murdered in cold blood.' " The next 
 day after this prediction he and his brother were killed in Car- 
 thage jail. Again mob law reigned and men lost their reason. 
 The Mormons were ordered from the state; their homes were 
 robbed and laid in ashes. The scenes of Missouri were being 
 repeated. Scarce had the lights of their burning homes died out, 
 when, with scanty hoard, they crossed the Mississippi. On the 
 first night of their exodus, .February the 4th, 1844, nine wives 
 became mothers. How those innocent babes, sick and delicate 
 mothers, were cared for under such conditions is left for the imag- 
 
62 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 ination of the sensitive hearer. Was it Russia, Tartary or Hin- 
 doostan, that people had to flee for opinion's sake? As those 
 exiles departed, at the top of every hill they could be seen looking 
 back like banished Moors on their abandoned homes, and their 
 distant temple with its glittering spires. 
 
 Let me observe here that there were many hoAest souls in 
 Missouri and Illinois who cried out against such injustice, but, as 
 is too often the case, they were in the minority. After the death 
 of Smith, Brigham Young, .by right and choice of the people, 
 organized and led them into the wilds of America. And while 
 Missouri was dividing the property of fourteen thousand inhabi- 
 tants whom she had recently expelled, while Illinois was trying to 
 cover up the blood of the murdered prophets, while all the United 
 States looked on with' silent indifference, one of the most perse- 
 cuted and down-trodden people that history records were marching 
 westward beyond the pale of civilization. 
 
 And now comes an episode in the history of the Mormons 
 which I should not dare to relate were it not a part of the official 
 records of the government. Otherwise it would be incredible. 
 While in the wilderness on their westward march for the Rocky 
 Mountains, war was declared between our government and Mexico. 
 Stirange as it may seem, the President sent a messenger to Brigham 
 Young to ask for five hundred volunteers to enter the army and 
 march against Mexico. Remember that two states of the nation 
 had thrust this people from their borders, had permitted mobs to 
 plunder them, rob them of their homes, murder their prophets, 
 and drive them into exile. Remember that their appeals in their 
 .sore afflictions, though made to governors, judges, and to the- 
 President, were invariably ignored or denied. Remember finally, 
 that they were marching through a country unparalleled for dan- 
 gers, that they were enduring hardships which, at times, threatened 
 their very existence. Had they not sufficient cause for refusing to 
 listen to the President's appeal? And yet it was their country 
 calling; that country to which their pilgrim ancestors had fled; 
 for which their patriot sires had fought and suffered; whose deeds 
 of heroism were among their highest and noblest traditions. It 
 was enough. Brigham Young said: "Colonel Allen, you shall 
 have your men. If there are not enough young men, I will call 
 upon the old men; and then, if not enough, I will call upon the 
 women " When the call was made those sacrificing pilgrims for- 
 got their wrongs, kissed the rod that smote them, and, with one 
 
BANISHMENT OF THE MORMON PEOPLE. 63 
 
 accord, answered their country's call. Ransack the records of 
 history, ancient and modern, and match if you can, this example 
 of patriotism! 
 
 Heroine mothers, while their husbands and sons were at the 
 front, defending the country that had driven them into exile, drove 
 their own teams twelve hundred miles over those trackless plains. 
 Hundreds of them had neither wagons nor teams. Hand carts 
 were made, and in them they placed their scanty hoard. Men 
 and women pulled those carts across the desert wastes of America. 
 Could not this destitue and exiled people receive aid? They were 
 offered peace if they would relinquish their religion and all alle- 
 giance to their faith. But to relinquish their religion for peace, 
 to them, it was treason. Such an act would have made a mockery 
 of their high profession, which had been written in blood and 
 tears. During that dreary march, hunger, sickness, and death 
 followed in their wake. Many times death was a welcome visitor 
 to those weary and foot-sore pilgrims. Many, lying down with 
 their burdens for pillows, never awoke, and tonight rest in un- 
 marked graves. 
 
 From the lips of aged veterans, I have been told that when 
 they were exhausted and could go no farther, bare-headed, bare- 
 footed and in their tattered clothing, they knelt upon those track- 
 less plains and importuned their Father, my God and your God, 
 for strength. Upon arising their weariness was gone. You may 
 not believe in miracles, but it is true that even, as with the ancient 
 Israelites in the wilderness, quails came by the thousands to feed 
 those starving pilgrims. My own widowed mother, peace be to 
 her memory, walked and carried her babe from the Missouri River 
 to the Rocky Mountains. Picture, if you can, that banished 
 people on those plains almost destitute of food and clothing; 
 mothers stripping off their scatity clothing to protect their little 
 ones from the cold winds that swept across the bleak prairies. In 
 their extreme hunger, they were obliged to eat roots and thistles; 
 yea -more, they were forced to cook and eat old raw-hides. The 
 history of the sufferings of that people, though often attempted is 
 yet unwritten. 
 
 As the pioneers reached the heights of the Rockies, for the 
 first time they saw their destined home. And as Moses stood on 
 Pisgah's heights and viewed the promised land, so they, from those 
 silent peaks, viewed their asylum of rest. Around them was 
 silence and desolation — a desolation of centuries; rugged mountains 
 
64 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 with huge spurs decorated with towers and pinnacles, raising their 
 towering summits into the domain of the clouds, rich with the 
 aspiring forms of Gothic type. Far below they saw the blue 
 waters of the Dead Sea of America, glittering in the summer sun- 
 light like a silver shield; and as far as the eye could reach stretched 
 the arid desert, miles upon miles of sage-brush and snow-white 
 alkali. Eternal desolation! yet, to them, it was home and at the 
 sight of it, their hearts were glad. They descended into the valley 
 to pitch their tents and rest in peace. There was now no fear of 
 molestation from vandal hordes. How sweet must have been that 
 sleep as upon the earth, parched and seared through untold cen- 
 turies, they slumbered beneath the friendly skies, amidst eternal 
 solitude! Though that country to which they had gone was then 
 under Mexican rule, they unfurled the stars and stripes on Ensign 
 Peak. And, in solemn assembly, they voted to revere the consti- 
 tution and its principles as a divinely inspired document. They 
 also decreed that this land should be a home for the oppressed; 
 they forgave all men that had injured them, and lifted an ensign 
 of peace to every nation under heaven. 
 
 My friends, I have couched in simple language the pathetic 
 story of the exodus of this people. I have kept back striking 
 events, pitiable sufferings and terrible wrongs. The words that I 
 should speak burn within me and tremble on my lips. But I shall 
 not utter them. It is enough. I am willing to leave the judgment 
 to future generations. When the clouds of hatred and mistrust 
 which hang like a pall over the genius of that people are dispelled, 
 the history of their living martyrdom will make the heart of the 
 nation ache with pity and remorse. 
 
FRED LEWIS INGRAHAM 
 
Fred Lewis Ingraham. 
 
 Fred Lewis Ingraham was born in Tontogany, Wood County, 
 Ohio, February 13th, 1868. His parents are of Scotch-English 
 descent. His father was for many years a prosperous lumberman 
 and merchant in Ohio. In 1878 a disastrous fire swept away 
 most of his property. Soon after he removed to Azalia, Monroe 
 County, Michigan,' and settled on a farm where he still resides. 
 As a large portion of the new farm was covered with a dense 
 forest, young Fred served his time in lumbering and logging, and 
 in other ways assisting his father on the farm. 
 
 He attended district school from four to six months each year 
 and in January, 1885, entered the Dundee High School where he 
 graduated with the class of '87. He taught district school for one 
 year, and then entered the State Normal at Ypsilanti where he was 
 able to complete the course in two years. While at the Normal he 
 took an active interest in the literary societies and became well known 
 among his fellows, not only as a hard and earnest student but as a 
 gifted speaker. This accounts for his having been chosen by the 
 faculty from a large class as one of eight to speak on commence- 
 ment day. On leaving the Normal he accepted the principalship of 
 schools at Morrice, Michigan, a position which he held for three years. 
 
 Desirous of securing a university training, in the fall of '93 
 he entered the Literary Department of the University of Michigan 
 as a candidate for the degree of B. L. The next year, while still 
 pursuing his literary course he registered in the law school as a 
 member of the class of '96. He was chosen vice-president of 
 his class and in his Senior year was honored with the presidency. 
 In the spring of '93 he was elected President of the University 
 Republican Club and was one of its delegates to the annual con- 
 vention of the American College League of Republican Clubs, 
 held in Chicago in April, 1896. 
 
 In oratory he has been most active. As a Junior law student 
 he won the right to represent his class in the annual University 
 contest, in which he was awarded second honor, and thus became 
 alternate to the contest of the Northern Oratorical League. His 
 oration on "The Classes or the Commoners," may be found on 
 page 55 of this volume. 
 
 As a Senior he re-entered the preliminary contests of 1896, 
 won a position on the University contest, and in the final ranking 
 
.66 HONOR ORATIONS 
 
 of the judges received first place. This honor brought with it the 
 Chicago Alumni Medal, and the right to represent the university 
 in the contest of the Northern Oratorical League. In the League 
 contest held in Central Music Hall, Chicago, May i, 1896, Mr. 
 ingraham was awarded first honor, being the fifth to gain this dis- 
 tinction for Michigan since the organization of the League. 
 
 His style of speaking is of the elevated conversational type, 
 direct and earnest. Possessed of a voice of singular clearness 
 and persuasivness, a commanding physique, graceful and courte- 
 ous bearing, felicity and compactness of thought, it is given to few 
 students to so compel attention and impress audiences. 
 
 GETTYSBURG. 
 By Fred Lewis Ingraham. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in i8g6 at the University of Michigan and in the Northern Ora- 
 torical League, In the former contest Mr. Ingraham was ranked first in Thought and Com 
 position, and sixth in Delivery; in the League, fourth.in Thought and Composition, and first 
 in Delivery.] 
 
 A century ago this world was a slave-holding world. Through- 
 out the e^arth there was not, and never had been, and important 
 nation where the crack of the slave-whip was not heard. To-day 
 there is not a civilized nation on the globe where man can own his 
 fellow-man. Not only has the toiler in all civilized lands been 
 made free, but society is educating and uplifting the laborer, is 
 recognizing more aud more his worth, his rights, his dignity. This 
 is a great revolution, one of untold meaning to humanity. It has 
 cost years of violent political contest. In this cause martyrs have 
 died, armies have striven in bloody conflict, and nations have been 
 rent assunder. The turning-point of this revolution was reached 
 in our Civil War, and the decisive hour of that war occurred when 
 the Southern army struggled in mortal combat with the Union 
 forces on the field of Gettysburg. What were the principles there 
 at stake ? what is the history of that battle ? and what its influence. 
 
 I. The forces in conflict on that field were the product of 
 ages. Slavery is older than history. Egypt, Assyria, Greece and 
 Rome were all founded on slavery. And even when Christianity 
 had assumed sway from Jerusalem to the farthest isles of Scotland, 
 her sculptured saints looked down from the spires of a thousand 
 cathedrals upon a population of abject slaves, crushed down by 
 feudalism. 
 
GETTYSBURG. 67 
 
 But among the Anglo-Saxons there appeared a force destined 
 to be the mortal enemy of slavery. The Magna Charta was its 
 first fruit, the destruction of feudalism, serfdom and absolute mon- 
 archy, its later results, and at last in America it proclaimed the 
 freedom and equality of all men. The world listened and pon- 
 dered. Gradually the thoughtful in all lands came to realize that 
 by the same great principle of right which they invoked in support 
 of their liberties the freedom of all- men was established; that 
 there was nothing in national, religious, or race differences to 
 make one man the rightful subject of wrong and injustice from his 
 fellow-man. This broadening spirit of democracy had proclaimed 
 eqiiality as its fundamental principle. Slavery asserted that men 
 are not equal. A conflict was inevitable. In 1808 the United 
 States and England began to oppose the slave-trade. In 1834 free- 
 dom was proclaimed throughout the British Empire. Ten years 
 later the nine million bondmen of India were made free. Mean- 
 while other nations of Europe became interested in the cause of 
 the slave, and combined effort almost drove the slave-ships from 
 the sea. At the close of the first half of our century free labor 
 was supreme over one-fifth of the world. Over the remainder 
 slavery still held sway. Democracy had made great progress, but 
 could she continue her advance ? 
 
 In America the course of events was alarming. It was the 
 winter of '60 and '61. The nation was crumbling into ruins. 
 Every day brought news that another state had seceded. The 
 Confederacy was formed, taking from the Union eleven populous 
 States with a territory greater than that of Germany, Austria, 
 France and Italy. Even at its birth the Confederacy was a great 
 nation; but its future promised augmented power. Slavery was its 
 corner-stone; accordingly its leaders declared that the slave-trade 
 would be re-opened. They planned for the annexation of slave- 
 holding Cuba, chafing under Spanish rule. Mexico, weak and torn 
 with faction, might also be made a part of the new Empire. The 
 slave states of South America might fall into her power, or follow 
 her leadership in international difficulties. England and France 
 forgot their debt to democracy, and stood ready to ally themselves 
 with the South. Prospects were bright, and the result would be a 
 splendid power, mighty as an example, tremendous in international 
 affairs, extending the interests of slavery, opposing progressive 
 democracy. 
 
68 HONO:* ORATIONS. 
 
 It was a critical moment in the history of freedom. Cast off 
 by England, deserted by France, the Union prostrate, where 
 should democracy look for aid? Were the splendid principles of 
 the Declaration of Independence without a champion? Was self- 
 government to become a mockery? From the pine forests of the 
 North, where every breeze murmurs of liberty; from the rolling 
 prairies of the West, dedicated to freedom since creation's dawn, 
 from proud New England's rock-ribbed hills, where first was heara 
 the roll of the Revolutionary drums, millions of voices rose in one 
 grand battle-cry; The Union forever! Slavery must perish ! On t& 
 Richmond ! 
 
 The war was on. It was a struggle between slavery and free 
 labor, aristocracy against democracy, caste against equality. The 
 one would rule with slave-pens and whipping-posts; the other witn 
 school-houses and temples of worship. The one smothers lowly 
 genius; the other nurtures it; opens the door of opportunity to the 
 rail-splitter, and lo, there steps forth a Lincoln; makes way for 
 the humble tanner, and history feels the iron grasp of a Grant. 
 The future happiness of earth's toiling millions depended on thai 
 conflict. In breathless suspense the whole world awaited the 
 outcome. 
 
 Months dragged on into years, and the North seemed no 
 nearer to success than at first. The disasters of Bull Run, the 
 Peninsular Campaign, and Manassas followed one upon the other, 
 and the Confederate flags floated in triumph before the gates or 
 the Capital. Antietam served to check the Southern advance, but 
 the foe retired with the glory of a successful campaign. Then came 
 defeat and slaughter at Fredricksburg and Chancellorsville; and 
 the Confederate leader, flushed with his many victories, gathered 
 a splendid army of eighty thousand veterans, and swept down the 
 Shenandoah, across the Potomac, and through the fertile valleys 
 of Pennsylvania. One victory there would give him Washington, 
 Philadelpha or New York. Judging by the past, his triumph was 
 certain. 
 
 II. Inspired with the courage born of repeated victories, the 
 Southern army is at Gettysburg. After two days of hard fighting 
 comes that eventful third of July. The Union cause has met with 
 defeat. One-fourth of the army has been destroyed. .The Fed- 
 eral troops have taken their \ast stand on Cemetery Ridge. Across 
 the valley may be seen the Southern forces. Noon approaches, 
 
GETTYSBURG. 69 
 
 and the sounds of battle die away. An ominous stillness broods 
 over the valley. Suddenly from a point in the Confederate line 
 there comes a puff of smoke — the loud report of a cannon breaks 
 the Sabbath stillness and rolls echoing and re-echoing down the 
 valley. Instantly the long line of Southern cannon bursts forth 
 with iiash and roar. The Union guns make answer, and the eter- 
 nal hills tremble to their base. Three miles of Confederate batter- 
 ies are aimed at the Union center. Here destruction unutterable 
 reigns. Defeat stares the North in the face. One by one the 
 Union batteries are silenced; sullenly the Federal troops withdraw 
 to shelter 
 
 Across the valley the Southern line of attack is forming, — a 
 splendid column three miles long, their silken banners unfurled to 
 ihe breeze, a bristling mass of bayonets glittering in the sunlight. 
 With majestic movement the veteran army advances on the Union 
 line. Their cannon cease firing. Instantly the deserted guns are 
 manned. The whole line of Federal batteries pour shot and shell 
 into the advancing ranks. Awful gaps are made, but quickly 
 closed, and the long line comes swiftly on. The Union infantry 
 have hurriedly reformed along the summit of the ridge. Up the 
 slopes come the Southern ranks. Their lines of glistening steel 
 sweep on like waves of death and destruction. They hurl back 
 the Union advance. On they come toward the main line. A flash 
 of smoky flame, a deafening roar, and twenty thousand Union 
 guns pour forth a flood of leaden death. The Southern ranks go 
 down under that awful fire like fields of grain swept by the tor- 
 nado's blast. Flesh and blood cannot face such carnage. Whole 
 companies rush into the Union lines and throw down their arms. 
 The remnant of that splendid eighteen thousand hurries in full 
 retreat back across the valley, shattered and broken. The Con- 
 federacy has reached its height ! Slavery has fallen ! Victory is 
 with democracy ! 
 
 III. The Confederate forces had suffered terrible loss. Pet- 
 tigrew led into battle twenty-eight hundred men. Of those gal- 
 lant heroes only eight hundred thirty-five returned. One-third of 
 the army had been destroyed, and those splendid veterans could 
 never be replaced. This victory broke the long succession of 
 defeats, gave the North hope, and saved the Union cause from 
 political defeat at home; it delivered the Northern forces from 
 military disaster, turned back the tide of invasion, saved Wash- 
 
70 HONOR ORATIO'NS. 
 
 iiigton, snatched the raider's torch from our great commercial 
 centers, and ruined the Confederate army. Gettysburg was the 
 decisive battle of the war. 
 
 The defeat of the Confederate army was the most fortunate 
 event of the century. Do not misunderstand me. I hiave no 
 slurs to cast at the Southern people. About their unworthy cause 
 they drew the glorious mantle of a splendid patriotism. Who can 
 doubt the honesty of such devotion ? Who can doubt the motive 
 of that magnanimous Southron, that gallant hero with heart as 
 tender as woman's, courage as bold as the lion's; that valiant sol- 
 dier; that prince of generals — Robert E. Lee. Before the memory 
 of that noble man, malice is stricken dumb, and friend and foe 
 alike bow the head to do him reverence. But we deal with prin- 
 ciples not with men, and the verdict of history is unmistakable. 
 The whole thinking world admits that the triumph of the Southern 
 cause would have been a curse to the human race. 
 
 But the South lost, and Gettysburg spoke freedom to four 
 million slaves, and forever dried the fountain of secession and sec- 
 tional strife. It meant that the Union was saved; the Mississippi 
 should gather its mighty commerce and sweep on to the Gulf, not 
 under the muzzles of hostile guns, but forever free and untram- 
 meled, America was hot to become like Europe, an armed camp; 
 the encroaching powers of the Old World should meet here not 
 jealous intrigue and petty war, but one united and harmonious 
 nation, devoted to the arts of peace, yet upholding with justice 
 and dignity the rights of the whole Western Continent. More 
 than this. Democracy was strengthened in other lands. Gettys- 
 burg proved that government by the people and for the people 
 meant not anarchy but glorious strength, and all nations, encour- 
 aged by our success, are giving their poor and unfortunate greater 
 freedom and higher rights. Gettysburg brought hope to the down- 
 trodden everywhere. It meant that the slave-trade would not be 
 re-opened, that slavery was not to have a powerful champion in 
 international councils. On the contrary, the. slave-ship was driven 
 from the remotest seas All Europe united to stop man-hunting 
 in Africa, and that dark continent, for forty centuries the nursery 
 of slaves, at last found relief. Emancipation progressed. Por- 
 tugal liberated her slaves, Brazil and Cuba followed, and the whole 
 civilized world was free. 
 
 Gettysburg raised millions of bondmen to the rank of free- 
 
THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 7 1 
 
 men. It replaced the thorns of disgrace on labor's brow with 
 a garland of i^onor. It brought the whole human race nearer to, 
 that golden age when union shall prevail among the nations, as 
 now among the States; when government shall be for the masses, 
 not the classes; when priest and lord and despot king, already tot- 
 tering on the seat of power, shall fall to rise no more. There it was 
 proven to the world that the fires of patriotism can burn as bright 
 in cottage as in castle. There breasts were bared to angry steel 
 and hissing bullet that the God-given principles of the Declaration 
 might not become a hollow mockery; there poor, weak man, lifted 
 for one brief moment to the heights of the divine, gave up his life 
 for the liberties of his fellow-man. Around that sacred spot will 
 burn the altars of the centuries. Into the wreath of her glorious 
 memories, along with Marathon and Salamis, Runnymede and 
 Marston Moor, Yorktown and Bunker Hill, democracy will weave 
 the name of Gettysburg. 
 
 THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 
 By William Maurice Mertz. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration, 1896, marked sixth in Thought and Composition and first 
 in Delivery.] 
 
 Present facts make living issues. Whenever in any vital 
 sense they affect a considerable portion of human society, it 
 becomes the province of government to act upon them. Then 
 diplomacy is quickened with a sense of duty and becomes the 
 champion of human welfare. Statesmen feel the throbbing of the 
 pulse of humanity and yield to the sacred demands of their trust. 
 At the bar of history and reason, justice and right, nations are 
 made to prove their fitness to be free. 
 
 For us religious despotism and fanatical oppression have 
 become sounds without much meaning, and we are almost con- 
 vinced they are dead. But they have only shifted the scene. 
 The story of Armenia is so strange, seems so much like a voice 
 from ages past, that we can hardly believe its reality. We read it 
 in our newspapers; English Blue Books record it; reports of our 
 missionaries assure us of its terrible reality; travelers of every 
 tongue repeat it; it is borne on every sighing wind; yet the nations 
 have not awakened to the enormity of its meaning. 
 
 I. (a) For thirty centuries Armenia has been the theater of 
 great contests; Armenians, the heroes struggling beneath devastat- 
 
72 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 ing armies and transmigrating hordes. Beneath majestic Ararat 
 that once over-shadowed Eden, where the Tigris and Euphrates 
 flow, Mede and Persian clashed their swords and poured their 
 life-blood into the virgin soil. Alexander levied her men for his 
 conquests. Roman soldiers fed upon the products of Armeniar\ 
 toil from the days of Pompey to the Era of Martyrs. In the next 
 thousand years her martyr roll grew with every century. Here 
 was the fighting ground for Saracen and Ottoman until the Turk 
 became the ardent apostle of the Koran, and fastening his bloody 
 grip on Armenia and Jerusalem called forth the chivalry of Europe 
 to deliver the Holy Sepulchre. At last when the Infidel had burst 
 into Europe and two hundred and fifty thousand Turks surged 
 round Constantinople, Armenia had revived under Persian rule, 
 and formed the last bulwark of Christianity in the East. 
 
 You know the history of the past four centuries. Ever since 
 the red hand of Mahomet II threw down the Cross and planted 
 the Crescent on the Dome of St. Sophia, the Turk has proved 
 himself unable either to rule or assimilate, only able to ravage and 
 slay. You know how he laid Armenia waste and thrust himself 
 against all Christendom; how the patriotic Poles under John 
 Sobieski came to the rescue of Austria, sent the Infidel across 
 the Danube and saved Christendom from ruin. We need not 
 recount the revolting scenes of the Greek Revolution, when the 
 battlements of Salonica were lined with Christian heads, and the 
 women of Peloponnesus were sold into slavery. Since 1827 
 Turkish misrule has been marked by the horrors of the Crimean 
 war and the frightful atrocities in the Balkan Peninsula. You 
 know how all the events before and since the Treaty of Berlin 
 have been a hollow mockery, and Turkish promises of reform an 
 insolent challenge to Christendom. 
 
 {b) It is not strange that hordes have plundered and Turks 
 have slain. Turkish brutality has ceased to be strange. The only 
 strange thing is that today a single vestige of the Armenian race 
 exists; an open wonder that but a year ago they could be regarded 
 the hope of Asia, — a light in darkness. The Turk, dead to all 
 nobler interests except as they stir his brutal desire to crush them, 
 lounges idly in his harem, and secludes himself from all the 
 world's progress. The Armenians were in the van in industry; 
 schools sprang up; libraries grew; European newspapers, and 
 native journalists with the thoughts and institutions of the fore- 
 
THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. /^ 
 
 most western nations, disseminated a genial culture among the 
 masses. This the Turk confesses though he loathes the name 
 Armenia. What greater proof of heroic energy and vitality, of 
 ■qualities physical and spiritual on which the progress of mankind 
 depends? And what njakes this contrast ? Armenia's progress 
 and civilization is rooted in the same sacred soil whence our own 
 and all the hallowed institutions of Europe have drawn their sus- 
 tenance. In 410, while the Turk was a wild Tartar on the steppes 
 of Asia, Armenian scholars were translating the Bible. The 
 Armenians are Christians. That is the secret; that is their crime. 
 
 II. (a) In the nineteenth century they have found their 
 Nero; in the last decade of the nineteenth century they find their 
 Spanish Inquisition, and more. A year ago came the first fright- 
 ful news: "Twenty-seven villages annihilated in Sassoun; six 
 thousand men, women and children massacred by troops and 
 Kurds ", — and this only the beginning of a terrible tale of slaugh- 
 ter. Fifty thousand have perished by the sword or by inhuman 
 torture. Half a million starving wretches have sought refuge in 
 forest glades and rocky caves, or are left to die in the fetid vapors 
 of reeking prison houses. 
 
 The meaning of these events is not left to doubt. A thousand 
 facts come crowding up to prove that Armenia is under the secret 
 ban of extermination. The massacres begin and close with sig- 
 nals from turkish guns. Every archfiend is rewarded at the hand 
 of an appreciative sultan, at whose table sit the ministers. of peace 
 from Europe and America. The wires were still warm with the 
 announcment that the nations might look for the May System of 
 reform to take its beneficent effect, when there flashed the news 
 of the horrible carnage at Trebizond. Turkish officials looked 
 complacently on, as every habitation was razed to earth, and with 
 brazen faces repeated the gruesome tale of charred remains and 
 mangled bodies. With incarnate raillery the sultan now reminds 
 the pitiable remnant that for six hundred years they have enjoyed 
 under Turkish government, acts of clemency unexampled in his- 
 tory; that the powers of Europe have forsaken them, and that a 
 word of resistance will blot out the Armenian name. Already the 
 cries of future victims pleading only for death, disturb the orgies 
 of bestial Kurds. Their fate forebodes with terrible certainty that 
 ■die doom of Armenia is sealed. Their only crime — they are Chris- 
 tians and have no other home than their native land. 
 
74 
 
 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 [6) Who is their inquisitor ? What holy cause does he pretend 
 to champion ? What people execute his judgment ? Government 
 is the product of experience, and its questions of public policy 
 largely depend on the instincts of its people and on the moral 
 basis of its prevailing religion. We must seek an answer in the 
 moral basis of Islam, in the Tartar instincts of the Turk, and in 
 centuries of conquest by the sword. The. law of Islam declares, 
 
 " War is permanently established till the judgment day 
 
 Paradise will be found in the shadow of the crossing of swords ". 
 It makes woman a slave, eternally subject to her husband's will. , 
 Ten thousand students at the University of Cairo pray' every day 
 in solemn mass that the Infidel "maybe destroyed; that your chil- 
 dren be made orphans, and your abodes defiled; that your chil- 
 dren, your wealth, your race be made booty to the Moslem." The 
 sole judge of Islam is the Sultan, at once the Church and the 
 State. In madness and despair he hurls his old challenge at Chris- 
 tendom: "My absolute .... unchangeable, eternal 
 answer is that th^ sublime Porte .... will persist in its 
 own will regarding its subjects, even to the last day of judgment." 
 This crouching wretch thus flings defiance at the Powers and slinks 
 away to keep in progress the most revolting tragedy of history; to 
 crush the last hope of Asia's emancipation. 
 
 III. (a) But we are told there is no help for these people. 
 Is there no help for them ? Must Christendom suffer this out- 
 rage? The jealous powers sit restless in their hateful watch. 
 Dangerous excitement exists over a morsel of land in South Amer- 
 ica, and a filibustering expedition in Southern Africa. They keep 
 in progress the idle drill of three million soldiers; and why ? To 
 preserve in Europe the balance of power while the guardians of 
 peace pursue their political games on the hidden field of diplo- 
 macy. They say political necessity demands this. On this ground 
 Lord Salisbury in his latest speech denies all responsibility in the 
 Armenian cause. For that reason and because tradition holds 
 that our mission is confined to this hemisphere, intervention by 
 the United States is held absurd and impossible. Because of 
 political necessity Armenia must be left to her dreadful fate. 
 
 We cannot remain insensible to England's position. England 
 liberated her slave. But when Russia in 1852 would have liber- 
 ated the Christian subjects of Turkey, England through the 
 imperious Canning carried the Sultan into war. In 1-877, '^vhen 
 
THE ARMENIAN QUESTION. 75 
 
 Alexander of Russia made overtures to England for a friendly 
 understanding, England pledged her arms and the honor of her 
 statesmen in the secret article of the Berlin Treaty, to keep Russia 
 out of Turkey and to protect all Christian subjects England has 
 stood for the preservation of the Turkish Empire. To maintain that 
 position her late administration has suppressed consular reports, 
 and to stifle public opinion, the British Premier read in public the 
 wily Sultan's promises of reform. When at last an ultimatum is 
 sent forth and is hurled back at the Premier's feet, he avails him- 
 self of the last resort and denies the obligation imposed by treaty 
 The Earl of Beaconsfi'eld returned from the Berlin Conference with 
 the proud boast that he had gained both "Peace and Honor," but 
 he covenanted for an immortality of disgrace. 
 
 [6) But no one is so blind as not to see the immediate demands 
 of this issue; no one so stupid as to say that oppressed peoples 
 grow insensible to their misery. But the blood of Toussaint 
 L'Overture and a million slaves cries no ! Thousands of Cuban 
 patriots with swords drawn, and Armenian women with the touch, 
 ing eloquence of sobs and sighs cry no ! We may be blind, stupid 
 or base; but when there lies before us an Empire, the very embod- 
 iment of the powers of darkness, when as if by the wave of a 
 magician's wand, there issue from the caves and forests of this 
 haunted empire, hordes of blood-thirsty fiends who depopulate 
 cities, slaughter manhood and profane womanhood, can we count 
 it puerile to call for justice? Is it dishonorable to obtain it, peac- 
 ably if we can, forcibly if we must? Is it unstatesmanlike to 
 measure the claims of humanity against those of political neces- 
 sity ? Is it ignoble for two great and free countries like England 
 and America to unite in a common cause sanctioned by justice and 
 humanity ? 
 
 My countrymen, when our fathers sought freedom on this side 
 the sea, a great and mighty continent lay open for their reception. 
 When their struggles ensued, Washington and Lafayette under the 
 guiding hand of Providence led them until they were cradled in 
 liberty and established forever under the banner of a free govern- 
 ment. Have we forgotten the debt we owe them ? The age of 
 chivalry is past. But the time has come for a nobler work, when 
 every statesman like a plumed knight should enter a crusade to 
 rescue the Holy Sepulchre of Humanity forever. 
 
Bayard Hoyt Ames. 
 
 Bayard Hoyt Ames was born in Niagara County, New York, 
 in 1873. He attendedthe public schools there until he was fourteen 
 years of age, when his parents moved to Denver, Col., which has 
 since been his home. Here he entered the North Side High School, 
 and in one of their annual oratorical contests he won first honor. 
 Later he entered the East Side High School of the same city, from 
 which he graduated in the spring of 1893. In the fall of the same 
 year he entered the University of Michigan for the degree of A. B., 
 and expects to graduate with his class in June, 1897. Since his 
 residence at the University he has devoted himself chiefly to the 
 classics, to English and to oratory. The law is his chosen profes- 
 sion, and before leaving college he intends to complete his course 
 in the Law Department. 
 
 Mr. Ames has been an ardent student of oratory ever since he 
 entered college, and Ijas taken every opportunity to perfect his 
 powers as a speaker. In 1896 he won the Junior class oratorical 
 contest, which gave him a place in the annual University contest. 
 In this contest of the several classes he won third place, but so 
 favorable was the impression he made that he received the faculty 
 appointment to represent the University as orator in the celebra- 
 tions given in Chicago on Washington's Birthday under the aus- 
 pices of the Union League Club. 
 
 In the fall of 1896 he was elected by the Senior class as class 
 orator. He also re-entered the annual oratorical contest, and not 
 only won first honor in his class but was awarded first place in the 
 University contest. This honor brought with it the Chicago 
 Alumni Medal and testimonial and the right to represent the 
 University in the Northern League contest, held in Ann Arbor, 
 May 7, 1897. In this final intercollegiate contest Mr. Ames 
 proved himself a worthy successor to previous victors and with 
 his oration on "Castelar" won another first honor for Michigan, 
 the sixth that has come to the University in the seven years' his- 
 tory of the League. 
 
 Mr. Ames's style of speaking is that of the persuasive lawyer 
 before his jury. He never for a moment gets away from or over- 
 reaches his audience, but compels attention by the warmth of his 
 sinceiity and by the vigor and directness of his manner. His 
 voice is strong, resonant, penetrating; his physique powerful, his 
 presence commanding. 
 
BAYARD HOYT AMES 
 
CASTELAR. 77 
 
 CASTELAR. 
 By Bayard Hoyt Ames. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in 1897 at the University of Michigan and in the Northern 
 Oratorical League. In the former contest Mr. Ames was ranked first in Thought and Com- 
 position, and first in Delivery ; in the League contest third in Thought and Composition, and 
 first in Delivery. 
 
 I am to speak to you of a man who has wrested popular rights 
 from tyrants, and, under the sceptre of absolute monarchy, has 
 made Republicanism dominant; a foreigner, by birth, by race, and 
 by allegiance, but an Anglo-Saxon and an American in his passion- 
 ate devotion to popular rights — Emilio Castelar. Castelar has 
 lived in one of the most troublous periods in the history of Spain. 
 Since 1808 his country has experienced nearly every form of gov- 
 ernment known to man; absolute monarchy, constitutional mon- 
 archy, elective monarchy, republicanism, regency, civil dictator- 
 ship and military dictatorship. The royalty of France, Germany, 
 Italy and Spain have worn the crown. Conspiracy, insurrection, 
 rebellion, not lawful methods, have been roads to power. The 
 bayonet has displaced the ballot; the army has superceded the 
 cortes. At every political crisis has been heard the inquiry, 
 "Which party has the cannon ?" 
 
 The earlier of these disturbances, however violent, have been 
 but the ravings of a troubled dreamer, sleeping in the darkness of 
 mediaeval night. Drugged by ignorance and superstition, ener- 
 vated by clerical and royal leeches, Spain has slumbered in apathy. 
 But within the last quarter of a century, at the call of Castelar, she 
 has risen from her couch, and, shielding her eyes from the dazzling 
 light of progress, comes halting and stumbling along the track of 
 modern civilization. 
 
 The story of Castelar's life is the history of the growth of 
 popular liberties in Spain. In 1854 the indignation of the Spanish 
 people, long accumulating under the careless injustice of Isabella 
 and her licentious court, burst forth. Madrid was the hotbed of 
 insurrection, the theatre of resistance. Suspicion spread its con- 
 tagion far and wide. Through, the streets charged riotous mobs 
 
 On the night of September 22, a public meeting of electors 
 was held in the Oriental Theatre. Demagogic leaders poured out 
 invectives against the existing government, and lashed the discon- 
 tent of the people into a frenzy of rage, but presented no designs 
 for organized, lawful efforts at amelioration. Wearied of words, 
 the excited populace began to. move out of the hall to possible 
 
78 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 deeds of slaughter and rapine, when a university student, in whose 
 dark eyes burned the enkindling fire of enthusiasm, pushed his way 
 through the crowd and mounted the platform. The audience 
 turned from him in disgust. But the stripling began with the 
 voice of a master. A student of history, a political genius, his 
 opinions were formed, his plans ready, his sentences incisive. 
 Order, not anarchy, evolution not revolution, was the burden of 
 his message. The audience paused, wavered, turned back to their 
 seats, and surrendered themselves to the charm of his voice and 
 manner. Every face reflected the sentiment of the speaker, and 
 death-like silence alternated with deafening applause. On the 
 morrow his speech was read in every hamlet of Spain. In one 
 brief night he had leaped to fame. He was no longer Castelar, 
 the unknown, the student, the recluse, but Castelar, the leader, the 
 statesman, "the glory of the Castilian rostrum.'' 
 
 At this time began his career as a political reformer. Called 
 in 's 7 to serve his Alma Mater in the chair of Philosophy and Lit- 
 erature, he soon afterwards founded a republican newspaper, " La 
 Democracia." From platform, and class-room, and press, his 
 voice rang out not only to ignorant, priest-ridden, royalty-cursed 
 Spain, but to "debt-oppressed, conscience-enslaved, class-domi- 
 nated Europe," calling for republicanism and the overthrow of 
 monarchy, for abolition of slavery, for freedom of speech and of 
 the press, for untrammeled schools, for liberty and equality in 
 religion, for the separation of church and state. Before its awful 
 thunder prince and grandee quailed; priest and pontiff stood mute. 
 It pierced the licentious frivolity of the court, and stung the con- 
 science of Isabella, seared and blackened with lust. But he paid 
 for his aggression. Courtier and queen struck back, and Castelar 
 was no longer the honored professor of Madrid. 
 
 His humiliation did not decrease his effort nor dampen his 
 enthusiasm. Rostrum and press were still the engines of his 
 genius. The leaven he scattered did its work. In '66 the sol- 
 diery of Madrid raised the standard of insurrection. Charged with 
 complicity, Castelar fled to France, and for two years traveled over 
 England and the continent, while the newspapers and magazines 
 glowed with the heat of his phillipics. Down from the Pyrenees, 
 rolled the molten torrent of his rhetoric, consuming the fabric of 
 sophistry and hypocrisy woven by his opponents, and purging the 
 mind of the Spanish people of the superstitious and hereditary 
 reverence for pontiff and king. By the rebellion of '66, Isabella 
 
CASTELAR. 79 
 
 became the exile; Castelar, the conquerer. Banishment had been 
 his apotheosis. His return was a triumph. He lacked only cap- 
 tives to equal Roman pomp. Spoils he had in the fruits of his 
 agitation, and among his firm supporters he had the whole of Re- 
 publican Spain. 
 
 Entering the Cortes of the Provisional Government, he exerted 
 all the forces of his heart and brain to amalgamate the scattered 
 factions of the Republican Party against the Monarchists. In 
 part he succeeded. Republican feeling ran high; the "Viva la 
 Republica " of his followers met and rolled back the " Viva la 
 Monarquia " of his opponents. But conservative Spain was not 
 yet ready for Democracy. Castelar's eloquence might charm and 
 thrill, but it could not convince the deputies of the practicability 
 of a federal Rupublic. Under the proud title of Amadeo, Duke 
 of Aosta, a son of Victor Emanual ascended the throne, only, after 
 two years of confusion, misfortune and anarchy, to abdicate and 
 leave Spain, known to the scornful hate of a recalcitrant people 
 as "King Macaroni I." 
 
 Castelar's opportunity had now come. Constitutional mon- 
 archy, even under a mild and beneficent ruler, had failed to 
 restore harmony and peace. Party strife had been increased. 
 Family hates had been deepened. The national pride had been 
 outraged by foreign insolence, and anarchy had reared its horrid 
 front. "The great problem," said Castelar, "is to ally order with 
 liberty." The result was the Spanish Republic of his dreams. Its 
 birth was heralded by no clash of arms. It was the offspring of 
 circumstances, the protege of peace. 
 
 Tranquil as has been its beginning, the course of the Republic 
 is not to be smooth. Unforeseen difficulties arise. Hungry pen- 
 sioners, snarling with disappointment, leap at the throat of the 
 government. To the masses, the republic does not bring the 
 expected Utopia. Figueras, the first president, remains in office 
 four months, then leaves his country an exile; Margall and Sal- 
 meron resign after short tenures. National affairs are merging 
 into chaos. The Republic is approaching dissolution. A leader 
 is called for who can sway the minds of men. The mantle of dic- 
 tatorship falls upon the shoulders of Castelar. Great are the 
 difficulties that confront him; Priest and Carlist, Monarchist and 
 Federalist, a serried array of opposition; the colonies writhing in 
 revolt; a depleted treasury; jealousies and hates cleaving his own 
 party into factions; the army, the instigator of sedition rather than 
 
8o HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 the guardian of order; a people so unschooled in popular govern- 
 ment that they think of the suffrage as a decoration to be distrib- 
 uted by the Government at the bull-fights! No human power could 
 have saved that Republic! But Castelar's struggle in the face of 
 adverse fate was heroic. Against the lowering gloom of disaster 
 the star of his genius gleamed even more resplendent, and when 
 the Republic tottered to ruin before Pavia's guns, the sympathy 
 and admiration of the world were with Castelar. 
 
 Declining to co-operate with demagogues, he departed, a 
 voluntary exile, to France. The Republic was crushed. Con- 
 stitutional monarchy succeeded. A scion of the degenerate 
 Isabella mounted the throne. What must have been the grief of 
 the illustrious exile to view the ruin of his hopes ? Alas for his elo- 
 quence! How often had Spain trembled with its electric thrill! Yet,, 
 like the spirit in her ruddy wines, like the light in her maidens' eyes, 
 it could only arouse and excite; it could not restrain and control ! 
 
 Were his labors vain? Was it vain to inject into the withered 
 body of Spanish civilization, deformed by superstition, benumbed 
 by bigotry, dwarfed by ignorance, the quickening spirit of prog- 
 ress and reform? Was it vain, when anarchy had supplanted 
 order, and license, moderation, to accomplish revolution without 
 blood ? Was it vain, in the face of bitterest opposition, with 
 feeblest resources, with uncertain support, to preserve the freedom, 
 the honor of his country, to leave it a Republic in essence, if not 
 in name? The sympathy and admiration of every liberty-loving 
 people on earth answers, "No!" 
 
 What Castelar has done, no other man in Spain could do. 
 Why ? Because a great man, the peer of statesmen, he is also the 
 greatest orator of his age. His mental endowment and his phys- 
 ical conformation accord with the ideal equipment for eloquence. 
 Of medium height and robust figure, his naturally erect carriage 
 emphasizes the manly curve of his chest. A neck of taurine pro- 
 portions, jaws square cut, great, dark eyes glowing with earnest- 
 ness, the dome-like forehead of Shakespeare — this is Castelar. 
 His voice ranges from the softest whisper to the fiercest thunder 
 of rage. Clear, resonant, melodious, thrilling — it sweeps the 
 gamut of human passion and draws within its thrall even those 
 unacquainted with the Castilian tongue. His speech is sonorous 
 and poetic, instinct with fervor and rhythm, majestic as Homer, 
 musical as the splashing murmur of his native streams. To him, 
 every age yields its secret. Before the eyes of his auditors, Rome 
 
CASTELAR. 8 1 
 
 and Egypt, Palmyra and Carthage, live again. The policies and diplo- 
 macies, the histories and literatures of every European state, fused 
 by the magic of his genius, are poured forth with inimitable fluency, 
 in colors of fiery brilliancy, with an appalling outburst of passion. 
 
 Combining such gifts of eloquence, with preeminence in states- 
 manship, Castelar's genius is written in the glory of Spain rrformed, 
 rif-enfranchised, revivified. 1808 saw a Bourbon and a Bonaparte 
 wrangling over the Spanish throne; saw a divided people sunk in 
 ignorance and superstition; saw Spain at the feet of France. 1888 
 saw the nine ministers, the president of Congress, every prominent 
 man in the ascendent party and many in the opposition, sons of 
 the people, and indebted for their eminence, not to royal favor, 
 not to patrician birth, but to brilliant abilities, to democratic ideas 
 of government, to a representative constitution. 1808 saw Spain 
 in penury; 1888 saw her in prosperity. 1808 saw her barbarously 
 fanatic; 1888 saw her liberally civilized. 1808 saw her enslaved; 
 1888 saw her free. 
 
 England boasts her Gladstone, but the great statesman could 
 not wrest Irish autonomy from Britain's Parliament, the modern 
 home of Civil Rights! Castelar planted the seeds of liberty in the 
 heart of despotism and nursed them to successful fruition. France 
 boasts her Gambetta, Germany her Bismarck, but Gambetta 
 wreathed his country in mourning, and Bismarck bathed all 
 Europe in blood. Castelar has given to the world the noble 
 example of revolution free from the carnage of war. 
 
 A poet, every speech is an ode. A scholar, he is a marvel of 
 versatility. An orator, he is the Demosthenes of the present age. 
 A statesman, he has restored Spain to her ancient place among the 
 nations, and made her a Republic in form. A patriot, he has dedi- 
 cated his talents and his life to his country. A hero, he has sur- 
 vived and surmounted crushing defeat. A man, he wears no mark 
 of avarice, no brand of crime, no stain of infamy, no stigma of 
 sordid ambition. Rising far above the level of prejudice, of self- 
 interest, of deception, he towers into the altitude of liberality, of 
 philanthropy, and uncompromising truth. Sincerity, earnestness, 
 manliness, courage — these are the foundations of his character. 
 And when future ages shall gaze down the galleries of time, and 
 pause before the statues of the illustrious dead, standing in the van 
 of the nineteenth century, and holding in one hand the torch of 
 liberty, in the other the olive of peace, will they see the colossal 
 figure — Castelar. 
 
82 HONOR ORATION'S. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 By Charles Simons. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration, 1897, marked third in Thought and Composition, and third 
 in Delivery.] 
 
 Ideas are not temporal, they are eternal. They move onward 
 through the ages shaping the destiny of worlds. Towering shafts 
 and sculptured granite mark their course; the cross, the stake, and 
 the gibbet are mile-stones in their progress. No Prophet of Naza- 
 reth now treads the shores of Galilee, the world no longer trem- 
 bles at a Pope's decrees, and the clanking of the bondman's chains 
 is heard no more: but the message of the cross dwells in the hearts 
 of millions; a grateful world has sanctified the martyrs who, at 
 the stake, delivered it from the bondage of fanaticism; and, in the 
 age to come, the children of a liberated race will turn their gaze 
 backward toward that gibbet which preaches to the world the brother- 
 hood of man. 
 
 Every great movement has been consecrated by the blood of 
 symbolic martyrs. So, in an age when men had wilfully shut theii 
 eyes to right and their ears to the reproving voice of conscience, 
 then, breathing forth the spirit of Puritanism, exalting Justice 
 above Law and Humanity above Patriotism, came a simple, brave 
 old man, to throw himself against a continent for the sake of a 
 principle and sanctify a gibbet by a death that was sublime. Who 
 was this man who, in opposition to a nation, dared to be right ? 
 What was his life-work ? And what his message ? 
 
 I. It was at the dawn of a new century, that in the little vil- 
 lage of Torrington, Connecticut, John Brown was born. A 
 descendant of one of the Pilgrim Fathers and the grandson of a 
 Puritan patriot who gave up his life in the Revolution for the cause 
 of liberty, John Brown was by heritage destined to be a champion 
 of freedom. His boyhood was passed in the backwoods of Ohio, 
 where he became innured to the hardships of a pioneer life. He 
 was of a naturally loving and sensitive disposition, and his mind 
 early revolted at the thought of cruelty and suffering. When he 
 was twelve years old, he saw a negro boy who had been kind to 
 him, brutally whipped. All the compassion and resentment in his 
 generous nature was aroused and, actuated by his sympathy for the 
 negro, he swore, "Eternal war with Slavery," a vow which was to 
 determine the course of a life and the fulfillment of a destiny. 
 Youth ripened into manhood. Compelled to give up studying for 
 
JOHN BROWN. 83 
 
 the ministry, Brown engaged in various occupations. But through 
 all the vicissitudes of a restless career, one idea, one motive, one 
 purpose, kept growing within him. Slavery was wrong — slavery 
 must perish. It was opposed to his religion, his ancestral traditions, 
 his worship for the Revolutionary heroes, his reverence for justice, 
 and his love for his fellow-man. He felt that to oppose slavery 
 was right, and for the right he stood ready to sacrifice his own life 
 and the lives of those dear to him. Destiny had chosen him as a 
 warrior for freedom. The conflict was inevitable. The sooner it 
 came, the less disastrous its results and the more glorious its end. 
 
 II. Such was John Brown when, in 1854, the Kansas-Ne- 
 braska bill became a law. The struggle had begun. All eyes 
 were turned toward Kansas. The South was determined to win 
 the state for slavery. Slavery was the basic rock of its pros- 
 perity. Freedom was fanaticism. Armed bands from Missouri 
 marched into Kansas, the polls were seized, a pro-slavery legisla- 
 ture elected, and the infamous Missouri statutes adopted. Free 
 speech was made a crime. To assist a slave to escape meant 
 death. Innumerable depredations were made under the guise of 
 law. Men were brutally murdered. Towns were sacked. Whole 
 families were driven from their homes, and soon throughout the 
 the North rang the startled cries of "bleeding Kansas." 
 
 Those were the conditions when John Brown appeared upon 
 the scene. The free-state men had found a leader, and the border' 
 ruffians were soon to learn that freedom had both heart and hand. 
 The sun, rising over the banks of the Pottawatomie, revealed the 
 dead bodies of five notorious border leaders. The pro-slavery 
 rufifiians were terrified and the whole state filled with horror. 
 The deed was attributed to John Brown. Men whispered then 
 that the act was murder, but posterity must judge differently. 
 Consider that a state of actual warfare existed, that armed bands 
 acting under authority from a usurping legislature had committed 
 the most atrocious brutalities, and that the petitions of Kansas to 
 the President and Congress had been slighted. Consider that 
 these men had sworn to exterminate Brown and his sons, that jus- 
 tice was unheard of, and that the law afforded no protection. 
 Consider, finally, that the act was necessary; that to secure to hun- 
 dreds of free-state settlers the safety of their lives and property the 
 border ruffians must be checked and taught to fear with their 
 own weapons. Consider, and then judge whether this act of self- 
 defense and vindication was murder. William Tell, killing Qessler 
 
84 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 to protect his family, is a national hero. Oliver Cromwell, behead- 
 ing a tyrant king to preserve the liberties of a people, receives the 
 plaudits of posterity; and shall we deny a just verdict to the brave 
 man who dared strike to defend himself and his sons, to save Kan- 
 sas, and deal the first blow for the liberty of a fettered race ? 
 
 That the act was necessary was shown by its results. The 
 border ruffians were taught that outrage has its limits. Depreda- 
 tions ceased. Kansas became a fit habitation for free-men. 
 Under the leadership of Brown, the pro-slavery men were defeated 
 at Black Jack and Ossawatomie. Settlers flocked in from the 
 North. The. State was saved to freedom. The northward march 
 of the slave-power was checked, and the first blow struck for the 
 liberty of a down-trodden people. 
 
 But John Brown's work was not yet ended. Slavery remained. 
 It was stretching its monstrous arms outward. It was reaching 
 toward Cuba. Mexico was to come into its awful embrace. It 
 sat enthroned at the capital, and from the- bench of the Supreme 
 Court, instituted to maintain justice and promote liberty, had 
 gone forth the infamous decree, denying to four million Americans 
 the rights of men. The slave trade had been revived, and from 
 the dismal hold of the slave-ship went up the cries of wretched 
 creatures, torn from their native soil and doomed to servitude in 
 a foreign land. 
 
 But slavery had reached its zenith. Its triumphant advance 
 was to be checked; the vow made in youth to be fulfilled. With 
 the grim determination of a man of destiny and with a purpose 
 hardened by a life-time of unflinching devotion to a great motive, 
 John Brown steals forth, in the dead of night, hurls himself against 
 slavery, against government, against law, and strikes the blow 
 which is to mould the future of the nation and "shape the history 
 of the world." 
 
 The news of Harper's Ferry flashes out upon the startled South. 
 Virginia hurries her troops to the scene of action. The little band 
 is shot down. John Brown, wounded and bleeding, is captured. 
 Trembling for her safety, Virginia hurries the old man to his doom. 
 Witness what monsters slavery can make of brave men. Dazed 
 and weak from his scarcely-healed wounds, the old hero is carried 
 to the court-room. There, lying on a pallet, unable to conduct 
 his defense, he is tried, convicted, and sentenced. This not under 
 the shadows of a despotic throne, but in the Commonwealth of 
 Virginia! Listen to the simple eloquence of the old man as he 
 
JOHN BROWN. 85 
 
 lies prostrate before the court, that eloquence which, showing to 
 the world the motives for the deed, was to justify the doer. "I 
 believe that to have interfered as I have done in behalf of God's 
 despised poor was not wrong, but right. And now if it is neces- 
 sary for me to mingle my blood further with the blood of my 
 children and with the blood of millions in this slave country, I 
 submit." 
 
 Virginia, trembling with Jefferson at the thought of God's 
 justice, surrounds the scaffold with her martial array. Upon that 
 scaffold, stands John Brown, calm and erect. He has opposed the 
 enactments of the State and must suffer death; but he has obeyed 
 a higher law and his conscience is clear as that of a child. His 
 plans have failed, but he knows what his death means to the cause 
 of fettered millions, and is content. Virginia gives the signal, and 
 the man who at Harper's Ferry was a madman, fanatic, traitor, 
 becomes a martyred saint, consecrating a glorious cause. 
 
 III. Such is the story of John Brown's Raid and the ven- 
 geance which Virginia wreaked on him who had threatened her insti- 
 tutions. What was the message which this man gave to the world 
 from Harper's Ferry and the scaffold? He taught the South that 
 a new era had begun, that not by persuasion, threat, or rant, but 
 by force was slavery to be exterminated. He showed to the North 
 the weakness of slavery. An old man had thrown himself against 
 it, and the whole structure had trembled to its base. He tore aside 
 the deluding veil of compromise and revealed the spreading ulcer 
 which was destroying the Union. He made the whole North blush 
 and hide its head for shame at the picture of an old, gray-headed 
 man, yielding his life without a murmur for the uplifting of a down- 
 trodden race. He taught the world that man is the equal of his 
 fellow-man. He fanned the latent fires of conscience, smouldering 
 in a million breasts, and they were soon to burst into a mighty 
 conflagration. Slavery would be consumed. The Nation would 
 be purged. The States would be welded together in the white heat 
 of civil war. Then should Freedom be more than a name, and 
 Union no longer a mockery. 
 
 To the mournful music of tolling bells the body of John 
 Brown was conveyed to its resting place in the heart of the Adi- 
 rondacks. Wendell Phillips pronounced the funeral oration. 
 Whittier sang his praises. Emerson and Thoreau exalted his 
 motives, and all men. North and South, bore witness to the firm- 
 ness of his purpose and the simple nobility of his character. 
 
86 ' HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 The South had slain the man, but the spirit which animated 
 him was beyond the reach of earthly power. The body of John 
 Brown lay mouldering in its mountain grave and mingling its dust 
 with that of the eternal hills, but his spirit went marching on. It 
 swept from ocean to ocean. It mingled its breath with the whis- 
 pers of every breeze, with the surge of the Atlantic as it beat 
 against Plymouth Rock, and the mountain echoes as they rever- 
 berated through a thousand caverns. It joined its voice to the 
 sound of the woodman's ax, to the clang of anvils in the armories, 
 and the ring of hammers in the gun-shops. It recruited armies. 
 It blazed from the hot throats of the Union cannon. It stormed 
 Vicksburg, it hovered over the field of Gettysburg, it swept up 
 Lookout Mountain and over Missionary Ridge, and went with Sher- 
 man to the sea, and when at Appomatox it had fulfilled its mission 
 and taken its flight heavenward, the lowering clouds of slavery and 
 oppression parted, and forth in radiant glory burst the clear sun 
 of EMANCIPATION. 
 
CHARLES SIMONS 
 
Charles Simons. 
 
 Charles Simons, the subject of this sketch, was born in the 
 City of Detroit May 21, 1876. He was educated in the public 
 schools of that city and was graduated from the High School in 
 January. 1895. He entered by diploma to the University of 
 Michigan in February of the same year and will graduate with the 
 Senior Class in June, 1898. He is also pursuing studies in the 
 Law School and expects to receive his degree from that depart- 
 ment in 1900. 
 
 Mr. Simons has been actively interested in literary work ever 
 since he entered the High School. For two years he was on the 
 staff of The Argus, a well edited paper published in the Detroit 
 High School. He became actively interested in the work of 
 literary societies and organized the Detroit High School Congress. 
 For two years he was chosen leader of the Senate debating team 
 in their public discussions with representatives from the Lower 
 House. 
 
 Nor has his interest abated since his entrance to the Univer- 
 sity. He has taken all the courses offered in public speaking and 
 has embraced every opportunity to enter the oratorical contests. 
 During his Sophomore year he won his class contest with an 
 oration on "The Russian Autocracy" and secured fourth place, in 
 the University contest. The next year with an oration on "John 
 Brown" he won the Junior contest, was awarded second honor in 
 the final, and represented the University as alternate in the North- 
 ern League contest. In March, 1898, with the same oration he 
 won first honor in the University, was awarded the Chicago 
 Alumni Medal and the honor of representing Michigan in the 
 contest of the Northern League. 
 
 In the League contest held at Evanston May 6, 1898, Mr. 
 Simons was awarded first honor and the Peck testimonial of Jioo, 
 the seventh to win this distinction for Michigan since the League's 
 organization in 1890. 
 
 Mr. Simons also holds the dual distinction of Class Orator of 
 the Senior Class, and representative of his class on the Executive 
 Committee of the Oratorical Association. 
 
 On the platform Mr. Simons, though under the medium 
 height, is commanding and full of energy. He is possessed of an 
 excellent voice and a strong physique. A tinge of the dramatic 
 lends interest to his delivery; but he feels none the less deeply 
 
88 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 what he is saying and his audience catch the same spirit. Full of 
 his subject he allows nothing to interrupt the course of his thought, 
 but urges his point directly and with all the energy at his command. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 By Charles Simons. 
 
 (See page 82). 
 
 [First Honor Oration in 1898 at the University of Michigan and in the Northern 
 Oratorical League. In the former contest Mr. Simons was ranlted third in Thought and 
 Composition and second in Delivery; in the League contest, second in Thought and Com- 
 position and first ill Delivery.] 
 
 POLARITY OF GOVERNMENT. 
 By Montie Lyons Wiers. 
 
 £Second Honor Oration iSgS, marked second in Thought and Composition and fourth 
 in Delivery.] 
 
 Whether taken as fact or symbol the story of Noah embodies 
 wonderful thought. As he and his sons stepped forth upon deso- 
 late Ararat they stood in a unique position. Noah could bequeath 
 to each of those sons a continent, not by law, for there was no 
 law, not under an emperor or a king, for there was none but God, 
 but absolutely his own to rule as he saw fit. They were free, but 
 as soon as other men appeared their freedom was hedged about 
 and from that time to this man has been engaged in a ceaseless 
 struggle for individual and social freedom. 
 
 Standing at the threshhold of the twentieth century, it is but 
 natural that we should look back and attempt to determine the 
 main lines that this struggle has followed and thus attempt an 
 answer to the questions. Whence come we? And in what direction 
 is our face ? 
 
 Two great principles have been involved; two courses of 
 action, divergent at first, have been followed; the former in the 
 direction of the development and freedom of the individual, the 
 latter in the direction of the development of social organization 
 or government. These two principles seem mutually exclusive, 
 but the ideal state must include them both; it must be composed 
 of individuals enjoying perfect freedom and yet in perfect harmony 
 with each other. 
 
 The older nations aimed at the one or the other of these 
 attainments exclusively. Greece cultivated the physical and Intel- 
 
POLARITY OF GOVERNMENT. 89 
 
 lectual powers of the individual at the expense of social organiza- 
 tion; while Rome sought for organization and law, but lost sight 
 of the individual. In the annals of Greece, we find the names of 
 great citizens, while in the annals of Rome, we find the names of 
 great rulers. Look at these two countries and consider the result 
 of their policies, as they each attempt with' but a single oar to row 
 up the stream of time. Glorious are their careers at first in their 
 achievements for mankind. 
 
 Look at Greece, and remember her Marathon and Salamis 
 where by her bravery she decided forever that not the despotism 
 of the East but the freedom of the West was to shape and control 
 the institutions of the future. Remember that Greece gave to the 
 world, in her ecclesia, the first great model of democratic govern- 
 ment, where every citizen had not only the right to speak but to 
 vote on all questions. Remember also that Greece furnished the 
 first line of great statesmen and orators, and crowned with myrtle, 
 they ascended her bema and, trumpet-tongued, sent their clarion 
 voices ringing down the ages. 
 
 Thus Greece lighted the beacon of individual freedom which 
 was to shine out and bless many and distant shores, but in her 
 ardor she kindled a flame destined to envelop her own institutions 
 in conflagration and ruin. The convulsive struggles of party, the 
 intrigues of factious association, the immoderate and unbridled 
 liberty of all ranks exerted a crushing influence upon freedom. It 
 caused the ostracism of Aristides and Themistocles; it compelled 
 Socrates to drink the fatal hemlock and drove Demosthenes to 
 suicide. It led to all the tragedy of Grecian history, for over 
 every crumbling altar and column and over every tottering institu- 
 tion of Greece howled the demons of disunion. And the career 
 of Greece shows nothing more plainly than that individual 
 freedom unrestrained is not freedom and leads only to political 
 disintegration. 
 
 Now look at Rome as she follows the opposite extreme. Her 
 genius for law develops great national strength and creates vast 
 organization. In her desire to rule she reaches out to Sicily and 
 then toward Africa. Finally, her disciplined and resistless legions 
 sweep round and completely encircle the Mediterranean and con- 
 vert it into a Roman lake with its shores dotted by dependent 
 cities and fortresses and swept in every direction by her war 
 galleys. 
 
 As we watch this grand development we are thrilled with 
 
go HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 admiration and we wonder how high and how far away the Roman 
 eagles will gleam in their career of conquest. But even while 
 wondering, we are startled by the wail of a hundred and fifty 
 thousand of Rome's best citizens as they sink in the maelstrom of 
 civil war between Marius and Sulla. A moment's silence and a 
 hundred thousand more go down in the struggle between Caesar 
 and Pompey. The time had come when the desire for vast empire 
 and broad sway had crowded out the consideration of the rights 
 and the value of the citizen. As a result, the citizen became 
 degraded, vice sprang up, society fell to the foulest depths of cor- 
 ruption; and as Rome sank in the darkness of the Middle Ages 
 she had demonstrated to the world that great government cannot 
 stand on the foundation of debased and neglected citizenship. 
 
 Greece tried in vain, though with splendid effort, to insure her 
 existence by giving her citizens unrestricted freedom; Rome fell 
 after creating a government in which individual interest was ignored 
 and the citizen lost in the state. Thus the principle of individual- 
 ism, unrestricted, had wrought ruin, while the principle of 
 nationalism had proved equally destructive. But the darkness 
 that was settling over the earth was not without a ray of hope. 
 A light was springing up that was to blend these two conflicting 
 principles. For during this period, a star appeared "in the East" 
 and to the eyes of "wise men" as it moved across the sky it wrote 
 the motto, "Love thy neighbor". This star seemed trivial then, 
 but its light has grown, and by its aid we can now look not only 
 across the narrow boundaries of states but across the seas and find 
 in men not foes but brothers. It rendered possible the solution 
 of the question of social organization, for through it these two 
 principles, formerly so antagonistic, could be combined in a com- 
 monwealth where the freedom of the individual and the freedom 
 of the state should develop together. It is the great foundation 
 principle of all free government for it enabled men to see in gov- 
 ernment that all comprehensive law of the universe, the law of 
 "unity in diversity." 
 
 When man had learned this true theory of government. 
 Nature furnished him with a new and untouched country, in which 
 to establish it, in her last and best gift to man, the gift of America. 
 And here in the wilderness, in the heart of Nature, but separated 
 from civilization by the rolling Atlantic, Americans worked out and 
 introduced to the world that great discovery in political science, 
 a representative republican system. And soon we see inscribed 
 
POLARITY OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 91 
 
 on the banners that floated out over those thirteen, 'young repub- 
 lics the device, "United we stand, divided we fall." This spirit 
 and practice of union together with representative government 
 marks an epoch in human affairs, a discovery in the great science 
 of social life, compared with which every other advance sinks into 
 insignificance. It was the divine inspiration under which our 
 fathers began the great work which is still in progress and still 
 must be continued to discharge the duty Amerca owes the world in 
 furnishing the example of a free commonwealth. 
 
 Trace for a moment the develop'ment of these two principles 
 in our late history. At the end of the Revolution the tendency 
 was toward nationalism. The attention of all was called to ques- 
 tions of organization. Men began to appreciate that a govern- 
 ment had not sprung up full grown amid the scenes of Bunker Hill 
 and Yorktown, but that only a beginning had been made and 
 much must be accomplished to start along right lines of develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Quite different the state of affairs just before the Civil War. 
 Then the tide was running strong towards sectionalism. The 
 union was in jeopardy. From the two great sections of our coun- 
 try men rushed together in battle. The heavens shook with the 
 thunder of war. The lightning of God's wrath flashed across the 
 storm-swept sky and melted the shackles from the slave, and a 
 shout of joy raised by four million freedmen reached the very dome 
 of heaven. The agitation of the slavery question was the very 
 essence of the principle of individualism, while the right of 
 secession was as vitally a question of nationalism. And although 
 we look back upon the great Rebellion and tremble as we think of 
 its possible results, yet in the light of today, we know that our 
 country was advancing by great strides along the lines of both 
 national and individual freedom. 
 
 Since the war there has been a marked tendency toward cen- 
 tralization of government. Along with this has come the centrali- 
 zation of capital and industries and population. But while this 
 great centralizing movement has been going on, the individual has 
 not been forgotten. And the crowning glory of our position at 
 the close of the nineteenth century is that the same causes are 
 favorable to the development both of individual and national 
 freedom. By the aid of steam and electricity and under the har- 
 monizing effects of Christianity Amerca has forged ahead of all 
 other nations in working out the co-ordination of these two great 
 
92 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 principles of government. And with just pride we point to her 
 as embodying the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the high- 
 est civilization, and the greatest physical basis for empire. 
 
 Standing thus at the dawn of the twentieth century, we hear 
 whisperings of a new era in which individual and social demands 
 shall be realized in a free commonwealth. Not that America will 
 not have many and serious questions to settle in the twentieth 
 century. But these questions will be decided in battles fought and 
 won by an enlightened public sentiment. They will be fought 
 around the hearthstone, in the street, in the legislature, in the halls 
 of Congress, every where that this spirit of individuality and 
 brotherhood is springing up. 
 
 Imagine a battle line. On one side put Cromwell and his 
 "Ironsides", reinforce them with Leonidas and the three hundred 
 Spartans and Xerxes and the "Ten Thousand Immortals"; on the 
 right put the old Swiss guard who stood like the granite of their 
 Alps and reinforce them with the old guard of Napoleon who knew 
 how to die but not how to surrender; then on the left put all the 
 other famous armies of history reinforced by all those brave troops 
 whose valor is unknown, and theii' united and colossal strength 
 would prove but weakness in face of the splendid triumphs to be 
 won by this new spirit in society. "An invasion of armies", says 
 Victor Hugo, "can be resisted but not so an invasion of ideas." 
 
 As the supreme factor of brotherhood alone could make possi- 
 ble the development of individualism in nationalism, so now above 
 every other law and in glowing letters that shall burn themselves 
 into the very soul of her last citizen, America will write the motto, 
 "Love thy neighbor". Under this grand impulse her citizens will 
 rise above self and above parties and politics in a noble effort to 
 lift up their sinking fellowmen and "promote the general welfare." 
 No vain imagination this, but a great fact now beginning to be 
 realized and which future history will record as the beginning of 
 a great epoch. As surely as that summer flowers shall bloom 
 where snows have lately drifted a new era will dawn upon society; 
 an era in which the poorest citizen shall have in his social rights 
 an heritage infinitely greater than the lone men who looked out 
 from Mt. Ararat upon possessions bounded only by the oceans. 
 
 The co-ordination of individualism and nationalism is coming. 
 The stars in their courses are making silent appeals for it. Nature 
 with her million voices is eloquently pleading for it. The whispers 
 of the dawning century answer the demands of the present with 
 
SECTIONALISM. 93 
 
 promises of it; and America is swinging slowly, yet with resistless 
 momentum towards it, for it has received its impetus from the! 
 hand and will of God. And we hail the day when the peoples 
 and classes of our great commonwealth shall stand united and 
 free in the full glory of that era which Christ heralded to the 
 world nineteen centuries ago. 
 
 SECTIONALISM. 
 By Frederick Eugene Rheinfrank. 
 
 [This oration received first rank in Thought and Composition but sixth in Delivery.] 
 
 Self-interest is a chief factor in shaping man's actions. Its 
 history is the history of the world. In the political sphere, the 
 national self-interest is opposed to the local. There is a tendency 
 to supersede national interests by those of local character, to sac- 
 rifice the welfare of the nation to the less momentous objects of 
 the locality. This tendency we call Sectionalism. 
 
 Sectionalism has operated as a distinct and gigantic force 
 since the birth of political organization. It has infused itself as a 
 disintegrating element into the fabric of all governments. 
 Switzerland had been for decades the arena of public turmoil. 
 When, in the fifteenth century, disputes arose as to the admission 
 of new cantons, sectional impulse was dominant. The strife 
 waxed hot. The Forest Cantons were ready to do battle with 
 their municipal sisters. Civil war was about to burst forth, when 
 suddenly there was a lull in the excitement. Reason became master 
 of passion. Arbitration was resorted to, and the Swiss Confeder- 
 acy was snatched from the brink of dissolution. 
 
 Not so in the case of Poland. This once powerful nation 
 whose pulse bounded with the thrill of patriotism, could not check 
 the accursed disease that finally took possession of her every fibre. 
 When local interests were made supreme, when all general legisla- 
 tion ceased, the barriers that obstructed the path of the invader 
 were thrown down; Russia, Prussia, and Austria marched in over 
 the ruins; they found only the shadow of a monarchy; a people 
 disunited, discordant, and exhausted. Poland had already fallen; 
 her neighbors had only to appropriate the spoils. 
 
 Yet Poland was not the first example of a country's suicide ! 
 Rome and Greece had centuries before been victims of self- 
 destruction. What was it that overthrew the Roman Republic at 
 
94 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 Phillippi? What was it that undermined the power of Greece and 
 itifled that common cause which had turned the Persian hosts at 
 Marathon and Thermopylae? I ask, was it the strength of the 
 Macedonian phalanx or was it the weakness and dissension in the 
 republican army that lost the day at Chaeronea, and sounded the 
 knell of Grecian liberty and Grecian greatness ? 
 
 Thus did sectionalism seal the doom of the two greatest gov- 
 ernments of the ancient world. It did more than this. It stunned 
 for centuries the sacred principles of republicanism. Experience 
 had branded popular sovereignty a failure, and despotism came 
 forth triumphant as the only practical form of government. 
 
 But finally when the haze of an older civilization cleared 
 away; when education became more widely diffused; when the 
 lower classes began to groan under the yoke of tyranny; when the 
 horrors of persecution were pushed to their utmost limit, repub- 
 licanism slowly revived from its stupor, and the rights of the 
 common people of Rome and Greece again asserted themselves. 
 The Magna Charta; the House of Commons; the General As- 
 semblies of Europe, restricting the control of monarchy more 
 and more; the spread of the new learning; the downfall of feudal- 
 ism; the growth of the free Italian cities; the severance of perse- 
 cuted dependencies from their oppressors, — these are but marks of 
 that gradual restoration of the principles that grant equal rights to 
 all and special privileges to none. 
 
 When our own republic took her place among the nations, the 
 blessings of liberty were guaranteed to all. But were these bless- 
 ings unalloyed? No, the germs of the disease that had gnawed 
 into the vitals of Rome and Greece had taken root in the body 
 politic of America. The Old World had transmitted her affliction 
 to the New. Sectionalism existed among our forefathers long 
 before there was any thought of a Union. Most favorable were 
 the conditions for its development. The continent was colonized 
 by competing nations; it became the very home of diversity of 
 social, religious, and industrial pursuits. At first, each settlement 
 was a world in itself; each settler confined his ideas, his efforts, 
 and his sympathies to his immediate environment. The resources 
 of one section were totally different from those of another. How 
 natural was it, then, that a feeling of jealousy and rivalry should 
 be aroused when the different types of people were brought face 
 to face ! How powerful must have been the tendency toward 
 Sectionalism when the colonies were incorporated under the federal 
 
SECTIONALISM. 95 
 
 constitution ! How enormous its influence upon the history of 
 our institutions ! 
 
 Whence came that resistance to the Articles of Confederation 
 at a time when combined effort was of such vital importance? 
 Whence that struggle for the Constitution? What demon was it 
 that inflamed the members of the Hartford and Nashville conven- 
 tions? What was it that aroused the framers of the Nullification 
 Ordinance of South Carolina? What was the deeper meaning of 
 that bitter slavery controversy, of that stupendous civil war which 
 ravaged our country from lake to gulf and shook the throne of 
 liberty to its very foundations ? I answer that all these baneful 
 results, these failures to crush out the selfish interests incompatible 
 with the weal of the nation were the products of sectional 
 fanaticism. 
 
 There is another force in the political world, whose career has 
 been grander, nobler than that of Sectionalism. Out of the gloom 
 of the mediaeval period, out of the chaos of feudal society, there 
 emerged a new unit, the nation. Reorganization had set in. 
 People began to combine on the basis of common religion, com- 
 mon language, common hopes and fears. No longer were the 
 masses of Europe in a degrading state of serfdom; no longer did 
 the right of property belong exclusively to the nobility. Under 
 the new system, men engaged in war, not at the caprice of a feudal 
 superior, not as slaves, but in defense of their homes, their fam- 
 ilies, their liberties, their nation. The chords of a national 
 consciousness were put in vibration. The fire of patriotism was 
 kindled; it spread through every land, through every clime. The 
 welfare, the glory, the honor of the nation became the sacred 
 heritage of each succeeding generation. The spirit of nationalism 
 had ascended to the pinnacle of power. It gave us our constitu- 
 tion; it was the battle-cry of the Federalists; it was the trumpet- 
 call that summoned thousands to defend the Union and to liberate 
 the negro from his loathsome bondage; it was the spirit that 
 hovered over the battle-field of Gettysburg; that turned the tide of 
 the war from reverse to victory; that came forth after five years of 
 fearful uncertainty the annihilator of the greatest sectional issue 
 of the age. 
 
 Nationalism appreciates the purposes of organization; Sec- 
 tionalism confines its efforts to the immediate surroundings: the 
 one is constant, and enters as a factor into the consideration of 
 all political questions; the other permits us to think of a common 
 
g6 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 country only when there is impending danger from without: the 
 one concentrates, builds up, protects; the other divides, tears 
 down, demolishes: the one promotes civilization, teaches man tii 
 live for his fellowmen; the other consumes the higher faculties of 
 the mind in furthering the ends of localism and selfishness. 
 
 Contemplate with me the conditions under which we live; the 
 comparative isolation of our continent from the contaminating 
 evils of the old world; the vastness and intricacy of our industrial 
 system; the marvellous productivity of our soil; the efficiency of 
 our transportation agencies, of our means of commuication; the 
 distribution of our public schools; the broad diffusion of knowl- 
 edge; and all else that tends to develop a community of interests; 
 and then consider the antagonism toward sectional influence that 
 should exist among a people so closely connected and so mutually 
 dependent. 
 
 Today we have a democracy constantly growing in strength 
 and magnitude; today we have a republic not rivalling, but sur- 
 passing kindred governments of ancient times; today, the watch- 
 word is hope, the keynote of our happiness is prosperity, and the 
 outlook for a glorious future is inseparably connected with con- 
 servatism of parties and the rule of the whole people. Tomorrow, 
 all maybe changed. Tomorrow, our passions may leap the bounds 
 of conservatism — they did once, they may do so again; tomrorow, 
 the term "Our Country" and the emotions and impulses to which 
 it gives rise may be grossly interpreted to mean our immediate cir- 
 cle. Little thought Poland that her Liberum Veto was paving the 
 way to her downfall. Little cared Greece that the Peloponnesian 
 war was sapping her life's blood and undermining her power of 
 resistance to foreign nations. Little did a Marius, a Sulla, a 
 Caesar, or a Pompey think of a beloved country when goaded by 
 ambition to become the leader of a faction ! 
 
 What then is the responsibility devolving upon our citizenship ? 
 Is it to retain and give prominence to those old geographical lines 
 that rouse a feeling of antagonism between the different sections; 
 or is it to obliterate those lines, and promote a unity of purpose 
 and action? Is it to support legislation which tends to develop 
 the few to the detriment of the many; or is it to condemn those 
 measures that do not conform to the general good? Is it to 
 send men to the federal Congress representing primarily a particu- 
 lar section or locality; or is it to give them their commission first 
 if all as Americans? Is it to stimulate and propagate that perni- 
 
SECTIONALISM. 97 
 
 cious tendency toward Sectionalism, or is it to instill into hearts 
 ; nd minds the sublime spirit of Nationalism ? 
 
 You have already made reply. The pillars that bear up 
 American nationality are the pillars that sustain American liberty. 
 The principles that have guided our state through the storms of a 
 century, are the principles that must guide it forever. Ours is the 
 sacred obligation to watch over, to preserve, to defend them. 
 May we not betray this trust. May we leave as a monument to 
 uur efforts a country, no longer torn by sectional strife, no longer 
 impeded by a lack of unanimity of interests, but one whose flag 
 will be the emblem for all future generations of a united, pros- 
 perous, and progressive republic. 
 
Martin Henry Carmody. 
 
 Martin Henry Carmody is of Irish parentage and was born on 
 a farm near Grand Rapids, Michigan, January 23, 1872. He 
 attended district school rather irregularly until he was fourteen 
 years of age, and for the next six years helped his father on the 
 farm. 
 
 In the fall of 1892 he entered the Northern Indiana Normal 
 School where he remained three years in preparation for college. 
 While at Valparaiso he became much interested in debating and 
 oratory, receiving there his first systematic instruction in elocution. 
 As soon as he entered the Normal he became an active member -of 
 the Crescent Literary society, and in the spring of 1895 was chosen 
 orator for their anniversary program. During the same year he 
 was selected by the citizens of Valparaiso to deliver an address on 
 Washington's Birthday. 
 
 In the autumn of 189S he entered the Freshmen class of the 
 University of Michigan, and expects to graduate in June, 1899, 
 with the degree of Ph. B. He is also a member of the Law 
 Department in the combined Literary and Law courses and expects 
 to receive his Law degree in two years. 
 
 Mr. Carmody has been equally active in oratory since he 
 entered the University. Besides a two years' course in the ele- 
 ments of elocution and the study of great orators and their sources 
 of power, he has been a leading member and once was president 
 of the Alpha Nu Literary Society. He represented his society 
 in the debates leading to the inter-collegiate contests, and from 
 the one hundred contestants who sought to represent the Uni- 
 versity in the Pennsylvania-Michigan debate he was chosen as 
 one of the three who should sustain the honor of their Alma 
 Mater, and shared equal honor with his colleagues in the defeat 
 of the strong debaters from the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 In February, 1899, Mr. Carmody entered the preliminary con- 
 tests leading to the Northern Oratorical League. He won his 
 class contest and in the annual University contest won First Honor 
 which carries with it the Chicago Alumni medal and testimonial of 
 seventy-five dollars, and the right, to represent the University in 
 the final contest of the Northern Oratorical League. 
 
 His style of speaking is essentially persuasive. Powerful in 
 physique, commanding in presence, graceful in gesture, possessed 
 
MARTIN HENRY CARMODY 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 99 
 
 of a Strong sympathetic voice there is little left to wish for from 
 the physical standpoint. His diction is clear and well-chosen, 
 his sentences rhythmic and incisive, his climaxes well-balanced 
 and strong. Full of energy that comes of conviction and with a 
 directness that springs from persoiial interest in his audience he 
 arouses genuine enthusiasm in his hearers. 
 
 PATRICK HENRY. 
 By Martin Henry Carmody. 
 
 [First Honor Oration, 1899, marked Second in Thought and Composition and first iu 
 Delivery in the University contest; and sixth iu Thought and Composition and fourth in 
 Delivery in the Northern Oratorical League Contest] . 
 
 Revolutions are the mile-stones that mark the pathway of 
 progress. The ideals of one age become the realities of the next. 
 Every change has left behind evidences of a death-struggle between 
 old systems and new ideas; but truth has always conquered, and 
 from age to age great moral heroes have arisen, who standing 
 alone, undaunted by axe or gibbet, have denounced the evil, false- 
 hood, and injustice a past age had imposed. 
 
 The last half of the eighteenth century was a period of revo- 
 lution. Throughout the world the belief was struggling for expres- 
 sion that freedom was man's heritage, not his privilege; that king- 
 ship was not a divine right granted to make slaves of men; that 
 the humblest toiler of the earth should be as free as the haughtiest 
 prince upon the throne. The belief was universal, it was the out- 
 growth of the philosophy of the age. In Europe it threatened 
 destruction* to every king and court; royalty trembled at its 
 advance; the peasant rising from the drudgery- of his toil, looked 
 hopefully into the face of his fellow-laborer, and believed himself 
 a man. 
 
 To secure freedom men had left hoine and country. The 
 shackles of despotism followed them. The winds that brought 
 the Mayflower to Plymouth Rock brought later the decrees of 
 George III. America with its undiscovered lands could give to 
 oppressed manhood no refuge from the exactions of degraded roy- 
 alty. A crisis had come. A people stood hesitating where the 
 ways parted. A leader was needed who dared step forth for right 
 and justice and oppose the mandates of a king. In reverence I 
 approach this period of our history. I know that this is sacred 
 
]00 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 ground, and hesitate lest my acts be sacrilegious. What a galaxy 
 of great men! What a cause they championed! The Hancocks, 
 the Adamses, the Franklins, the Lees, and towering over all, the 
 calm, serene Washington. But I leave these giants to speak to 
 you of one who stands apart from all others — the tribune of the 
 people, the orator of the revolution, the genius of the age, — 
 Patrick Henry. 
 
 The story of Henry's life is simple. His speeches have made 
 us familiar with the woods and streams around his humble Virginia 
 home. We know his mother, intellectual, pious, loving; his father, 
 earnest, thoughtful, patriotic. We follow him through a life that 
 changed as duty or necessity called him, — from the idle hunter 
 and dreamer to the unsuccessful shop-keeper, from the farm to the 
 bar, from the legislative assembly to the camp, and from the exec- 
 utive of the Old Commonwealth to the councils of the newborn 
 Nation. 
 
 Henry first came before the people in the "Parsons' Cause." 
 Here was an opportunity to express the deep truths which filled his 
 heart. Was the tithe system, so baneful in the Old World, to be 
 fastened on the New? King and Church said "Yes." Henry 
 dared say "No." He denounced the exhorbitant dues the church 
 imposed, and the king's veto by which they were continued. He 
 proclaimed in that rude court-room, before hardy and uncultured 
 planters, the broadest principles of Republicanism. He wove no 
 subtle fa'bric from the inconsistencies of law, no sophistries to 
 mislead the mind, but on the basic rock of Right he rested every 
 claim, and there relied for justice. He pleaded with his country 
 men to strike down the tyrant wherever found, and above life to 
 cherish liberty. Better no church, no state than that men should 
 bow beneath the oppressor's yoke. Henry looked beyond the 
 present issue. He recalled the follies of the past, the blood- 
 stained fields, the block, the gibbet and the stake; he heard the 
 wail of anguish, the cry of despair, the sob of speechless woe; 
 he saw the blight and ruin oppression had wrought, and with a 
 candor that knew no compromise crushed the tyranny of church 
 and state, which for centuries had held back the progress of the 
 world. 
 
 The people of Virginia now chose Henry .to fight their battles 
 in the Assembly. Parliament, prompted by a stubborn king, was 
 determined to crush the colonies. In Boston mutterings of dis- 
 
PATRICK HENRY. 101 
 
 content were heard. No one yet spoke of independence, but the 
 embers of revolution smouldering in the hearts of thousands were 
 soon to burst into a mighty conflagration. The Stamp-act was 
 passed. British subjects, whose birthright entitled them to all the 
 privileges of Magna Charta and English Common Law, were com- 
 pelled to place upon their every act the mark of serfdom and 
 slavery. But men cannot suffer thus. The Anglo-Saxon race 
 may submit to cruel laws, buf Anglo-Saxon blood can never be 
 enslaved. Would Virginia permit this usurpation of her rights ? 
 Would the Assembly see liberty destroyed? It was the day before 
 the close of the session. Henry could wait no longer. The 
 Assembly must not adjourn without action. He hastily drew up a 
 set of resolutions and placed them before the members. They 
 were opposed by a large majority. Many thought to pass them 
 would be treason. Henry was undaunted. Opposition lead by 
 the most learned and conservative men could not awe the young 
 patriot. Believing that the honor and liberty of a continent hung 
 upon those resolutions, he rose to defend them. He spoke what 
 his heart prompted, what his high sense of justice and liberty 
 taught him, and in eloquent tones pleaded for English rights, for 
 liberty, for home and country. The resolutions were passed. A 
 peasant had sprung from obscurity to guide the sages, awe the 
 arist ocracy, and hurry the colonies to an unlooked-for and 
 unhoped-for emancipation. 
 
 With a mind schooled amid the teachings of nature, a lan- 
 guage majestic in its simplicity, a voice that ran the gamut of 
 human passion, and whose every tone thrilled the heart, Henry 
 stood before the mute Assembly a creature of loftiest sentiment, a 
 genius inspired of God. Fearless and undaunted he stood while 
 about him rang the cry ot "Treason, treason"; fearless and 
 undaunted he hurled back UDOn proud Britain and her monarch 
 the perfidious acts of a century, and upon all Europe the empty 
 forms and shams which had so long enslaved the race. Fearless 
 and undaunted he stood alone, the courage of a martyr in his 
 blood, the wisdom of a prophet on his lips; freedom was his 
 theme, justice his motto, truth his guide, and God his trust. 
 
 Such was Henry's speech before the Assembly. What were 
 its results ? A continent heard and was enraptured. His words 
 rang forth from the plantations of Virginia and were echoed back 
 from New England's hill. They called together conventions and 
 
I02 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 congresses, and inspired the Declaration. On the battlefields of 
 the Revolution they were heard above the roar of musketry and 
 canon, they cheered the soldiers in the hour of gloom, they filled 
 with devotion every patriotic heart, they revived anew a nation's 
 hope, until, worn and weary, men at last laid down their arms, 
 not conquered, but unconquerable — no longer subjects, but 
 Americans. 
 
 But the spirit ■ of liberty was not local, it was universal. 
 Europe groaning under the burdens of monarch, priest, and noble 
 had awakened from its long stupor, and now by word and act 
 proclaimed its beliefs. French patriots witnessed the freedom of 
 the American colonies, and bursting all bonds declared that "Rea- 
 son, not Royalty, must rule; that all men should be equal, and no 
 man should be king." Alas for Reason! Too long imprisoned it 
 had turned to madness. The hot breath of revolution swept over 
 the continent. Old systems were shaken to their foundations, but 
 not destroyed. Royalty was again enthroned. Yet these struggles 
 were not in vain. The fire of liberty, kindled by a spark of Amer- 
 ican patriotism, was not to be extinguished. It has burned on, 
 brighter and ever brighter It made possible constitutional gov- 
 ernment throughout the German states, it organized a liberal party 
 in England, it established Republicanism in France. It united the 
 people of Italy, liberated the colonies of Spain, freed the serfs of 
 Russia, enfranchised the slaves of America, and to the down-trod- 
 den of every race it gives hope for the future. 
 
 Looking back upon the achievements of a century, dare we 
 place to the honor of one man all the conquests liberty has won? 
 Are the names of Washington, Lincoln, Gambetta. and L'Ouver- 
 ture to be forgotten ? The voice of freedom from every nation 
 and every clime answers, " No." Let poets in tenderest odes sing 
 their praises: let towering shafts of whitest marble perpetuate 
 their memory; let all nations where freedom reigns and liberty is 
 dear pay reverence to the illustrious dead. Their names have 
 glorified the history of our age; but standing in the gray light of a 
 past century is the figure of that sublime man who made this history 
 possible. We look upon a river's rushing current and forget the 
 source that gave it birth; so in watching the onward course of lib- 
 erty we may sometimes forget the man who one day stood alone 
 and dared to speak the truth; dared to speak wh?t men believed, 
 
PATRICK HENRY. I03 
 
 but no one yet had spoken; dared to look into the future, and 
 despite its deepening gloom, speak 
 
 " One new word of that grand credo which in prophet-hearts hath burned 
 Since the first man stood God-conquered with his face to heaven upturned." 
 
 Humanity owes to Henry a debt it can never repay. His 
 fearlessness accomplished what subtle state-craft could not do. The 
 world is little moved for good or evil by the sober second-thought 
 of the cloister, but sparks struck off from an intellect glowing with 
 the heat of its own activity light the way into the future, and direct 
 the course of after thought. Caesar, plunging into the Rubicon, 
 exclaimed, "The die is cast," and the Roman world knew it had 
 a leader; Luther, burning the papal bull before the gates of Witten- 
 berg, inflamed the minds of Europe, and a new era was begun; 
 Patrick Henry, standing before the Virginia Assembly, made 
 definite the issue between Great Britain and the Colonies, and 
 from that moment a nation dates its birth. 
 
 'Centered in this inspired man were all the powers and possi- 
 bilites of orator, statesmen, patriot, and prophet. We see him 
 unawed and active where others hesitate; hopeful when to hope 
 is vain; confident, yet always modest; combining with the genius 
 of his nature the better qualities of common sense; a leader in a 
 period when great leaders must be led; swaying men's minds with 
 a matchless eloquence, in which are pictured all the lights and 
 shadows of human passion, the hopes, fears, loves and ambitions 
 of the soul. He was a man given to the world in God's own time. 
 He came from obscurity, a divine message on his lips, accom- 
 plished his mission and passed away, leaving to the world a mem- 
 ory half mortal and half myth, a memory that shall endure as long 
 as the liberty he proclaimed. Monuments raised to mark great 
 deeds crumble and decay, nations pass away and the songs of their 
 people are forgotten, but within the hearts of every freedom-loving 
 race will live the memory of this humble peasant, this untutored 
 child of nature, this earnest, broad-minded, God-loving, God- 
 inspired man— PATRICK HENRY. 
 
I04 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 CHARLES SUMNER. 
 By Frank Dwight Eaman. 
 
 J^Second Honor Oration, 1899, marked first in Thought and Composition and second 
 in Dehvery.] 
 
 To be unpopular is often to be great. We go to martyrs' 
 graves to find those forces which move the world and shape man's 
 destiny. Persecution and torture and the prison cell, with all their 
 horrors, have proven instruments of human blessing. Blindly to 
 follow the dictates of a conceited age is no mark of greatness. To 
 him who boldly faces the opposition of a generation, who counts 
 his life worth living only as it enables him to stand for truth and 
 principle; who scorns persecution; who courts disfavor; who mutely 
 bears ridicule and insult, violence and death to defend a cause of 
 right; to him alone is due the title — great. These men in any age 
 or generation we number on the fingers of one hand. And who 
 may they be? They, indeed, who march ahead of the world's 
 mighty army and direct its course; they who make ideas; they 
 whose vision penetrates the future; the founders of nations, the 
 leaders of men, the martyrs of principle, the kings among thou- 
 sands. 
 
 Such a man was Charles Sumner. Alone, he battled for the 
 right. Alone he struggled, suffered, died. But melancholy as the 
 story of his life-work reads, the cause for which he stood was broad 
 as human freedom. To him was sent that greatest gift of God to 
 man — opportunity. Opportunity not to win the plaudits of the 
 multitude; not to put forth his efforts to satisfy the public clamor; 
 his was the opportunity to defend a weak, despised, rejected cause, 
 the emancipation of the slave. 
 
 I. It was in the year 1845 that Charles Sumner, a struggling 
 attorney in the city of Boston, took his stand as an enemy of slav- 
 ery. As he advanced towards the battle, already the forlorn hope 
 of freedom had made its brave charge. Lovejoy was dead. The 
 Alton mob had silenced the freedom of the press. To speak one's 
 thoughts, if those thoughts were against slavery, was to endanger 
 life itself. Already, liberty-loving Boston had seen a broadcloth 
 mob surge down her streets, sworn to silence a liberator's press and 
 hang the editor. The appeals of the South were growing strong; 
 "Annex Texas! Maintain the national honor! Forward, to the 
 
CHARLES SUMNER. lOS 
 
 Rio Grande!" Blinded by patriotism, the North did not see the 
 subtle wiles of slavery. A war with Mexico was assured. Its 
 clouds were lowering. Amid these conditions, Sumner was asked 
 by the people of Boston to speak to them on Independence day. 
 Ke was known as a conservative and a scholar, but his past was to 
 be forgotten. For he had seen that war with Mexico meant the 
 extension of slavery's dominion. The time had come when a blow 
 must be struck for freedom. Ostracism, opposition, failure, mar- 
 tyrdom awaited him, but he could not falter when a consciousness 
 of the wrongs of four million suffering beings said he was right. 
 
 Before a multitude of Boston's citizens assembled for the one 
 purpose of urging on war with Mexico, Sumner spoke these words: 
 "The true honor of a nation lies in deeds of justice and in the 
 happiness of its people, all of which are inconsistent with war. In 
 our age there is no peace that is not honorable, there is no war that 
 is not dishonorable." Those words, hurled forth in the face of 
 jeers and hisses, against slavery, in defiance of the public senti- 
 ment of the North, told the world that that day a man was born, 
 that freedom had won a champion. 
 
 Sumner realized that the triumphs of freedom had to be ac- 
 complished, if at all, through the medium of political organization. 
 For years he labored hard to have the old Whig party incorporate 
 the principle of opposition to slavery. But never while the friends 
 of slavery decided every move of Congress; never while the friends 
 of slavery dictated the decisions of the Supreme Court; never while 
 slavery itself dominated morality and religion; never while Webster, 
 the idol of the Whig party, was opposed to it, could freedom be- 
 come incorporated in the platform of the Whigs. A new party 
 must be formed willing to uphold right for right's sake. 
 
 At the instance of Sumner, a few ' conscience ' Whigs met to- 
 gether and the Free Soil party was born. Its platform was simple: 
 " Free soil, free speech, free thought, freemen." Its beginnings 
 were most humble. Its few supporters were branded agitators, 
 revolutionists, demagogues. But little did the men of Massachu- 
 setts dream that soon that infant organization would take on man's 
 strength. Little did they realize that in four short years Charles 
 Sumner would follow Webster to the Senate on the open platform 
 of abolition, pledged to no policy but that dictated by his own 
 convictions. Little did they realize that the few lost votes would 
 double and treble and multiply until New England and the solid 
 
Io6 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 North stood forever bound to the eternal principles of that humble 
 party. Little did they realize that already in the West a man was 
 fast developing into maturity who was to become its standard 
 bearer and by its sanction and the sanction of the North to declare 
 the slave forever free. 
 
 But such is the progress of ideas. They gather slowly on the 
 world's horizon like the few scattered clouds at noonday. At first 
 they are only visible to the few. The world moves on unconscious 
 of their coming. But soon with irresistable force they sweep across 
 a continent, conquering, terrifying, revolutionizing, liberating, with 
 the awful grandeur of the -tropic storm. 
 
 II. When Sumner entered the Senate, a new policy of aggres- 
 sion was ushered in. Heretofore compromise had dominated every 
 move of Congress. But the day for compromise was past. No 
 longer was slavery content with its narrow limits. Texas, that vast 
 expanse of conquered territory, had only made one state. Califor- 
 nia was free. Slavery was prohibited in the District of Columbia. 
 The Omnibus Bill, reluctantly accepted by all sides, had availed 
 nothing. The South seemed already to hear the knell of slavery. 
 No theory was too radical, no threat too strong, no measure too 
 severe for it to advance. Months passed by with Sumner silent in 
 his chair. The South thinking opposition crushed, made haste to 
 pass a new fugitive slave law, more sweeping in its declaration 
 than any act of Congress yet adopted. But Summer had been 
 waiting to meet the issue face to face. Then all the passion of 
 his nature, which during these months of silence had been slum- 
 bering in his breast, burst forth. Never yet had such a speech 
 been heard within the walls of Congress. Men had opposed 
 slavery on the grounds of policy and the constitution, but never 
 had a man appeared who dared to oppose slavery simply and solely 
 because it was wrong. Week in, week out; month in, month out; 
 year in, year out Summer fought the monster slavery. Whether 
 struggling for hours to gain recognition from the chair or opposing 
 every measure calculated to extend slavery's dominion; whether 
 urging on hesitating friends or beating back insulting enemies, he 
 struck with all his might. And into each blow went the conscious 
 force of a man sworn to the abolition of human slavery. 
 
 But fate had signaled him to be a martyr, to pour forth blood 
 as well as words. Douglas, blinded to everything but the presi- 
 dential chair, had introduced his famous measure offering to the 
 
CHARLES SUMNER. I07 
 
 South, as an expedient, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 
 opening all the northwest to slavery. Eagerly was it seized by 
 every Southern leader. It seemed as if the South must triumph 
 so plausible were the theories, so alluring the promises of "squat- 
 ter sovereignty." Even enemies of slavery trembled at the 
 threat, that if the measure were not passed, the South would 
 secede. 
 
 The crisis had come. Over the questions now assuming 
 form, the fate of the Union was to hang. Were sectional inter- 
 ests greater than those of the nation ? Could a state by a mere 
 declaration withdraw itself from the Union? The South confi- 
 dently answered yes! The Northwest must be opened to slavery 
 or the Union must break! Trembling with the responsibility of 
 his position; angered by the atrocities of the South; fired by the 
 insults heaped upon him, Sumner arose to contribute his greatest 
 effort to the cause of freedom. He heard the moans of "bleeding 
 Kansas " He saw the ruffian bands, who, under the guise of law 
 were perpetrating unheard of wrongs. He saw how in a few short 
 years slavery would extend to that territory consecrated by the 
 North to freedom. He saw the madness, the blindness, the inhu- 
 manity of Southern leaders. He saw the time approaching when 
 slavery would be no longer section-al but national. With all the 
 energy of his giant's strength, he placed himself in opposition to 
 the bill. The South then heard the greatest arraignment of its 
 crimes yet urged before the congressional bar. It heard the con- 
 demnation of its wrongs. It felt a burning sense of guilt and 
 shame; but might made right, the Kansas- Nebraska bill became 
 a law. 
 
 III. And Sumner, because he dared to oppose expediency, 
 wherein was embodied a principle that was wrong, became a mar- 
 tyr. Words could not silence him. For twelve years the South 
 had directed their shafts towards him and he had remained impreg- 
 nable. But the great oak cannot always stand. Though it may 
 survive the winter's storms, at last it falls before the woodman's 
 axe. So Sumner, invincible in all the strife of honorable warfare, 
 at last succumbed to a ruffian's blows. 
 
 But it was not Sumner alone, who was thus struck down. 
 Massachusetts felt the blow that felled him to the Senate floor. 
 Every friend of freedom felt its sting. And from the chair for 
 three year^ vacant went forth a mute eloquence more powerful 
 
lo8 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 than words, that told what crimes the men supporting slavery- 
 could commit. Thenceforth men saw that might alone, not words, 
 could keep the union safe. The vision of fraternal strife was 
 awful, but it was inevitable, for worse than civil war was slavery. 
 Sumner has been called a man of one idea. Men charge him 
 with obstinacy and conceit. But what can be more noble than to 
 tune one's life to the keynote of freedom? What had the caus- 
 of freedom lost were there no Sumner, firm, unyielding, self-con- 
 scious, moving not for any wave of anger, listening to no seductive 
 whispers of compromise? Where are the Sumners of our day? 
 Where the men willing to fight for needed reforms, though com- 
 pelled to look in blackest night to see the dawn? Where the men 
 who in the face of the materialism and arrogance of our age dare 
 to renounce self-interest for the cause of humanity ? Where the 
 men glad to be unpopular when to be unpopular is right? Where 
 the men who see degradation wherever there is servilty, and slavery 
 wherever there is a subject people ruled by force? Where the men 
 to put principle above trade and honor above soil? Let us hope 
 that the forces which control our destiny have given to this age 
 and generation a few who dare to be unpopular, who dare to defy 
 public sentiment, and stand with Charles Sumner, towering con- 
 tributions to the timeless principle that greater than might or 
 wealth, or power or fame is RIGHT. 
 
GEORGE WENDELL MAXEY 
 
George Wendell Maxey. 
 
 George Wendell Maxey is a native of Forest City, Penn- 
 sylvania, where he was born in 1878. He was educated in the 
 public schools of that city, and later entered the Mansfield, Penn- 
 sylvania, State Normal School to prepare for college. 
 
 While at the Normal Mr. Maxey took great interest in public 
 speaking, and became prominent in affairs of school enterprise. 
 He won first honor in oratory, and was chosen to the presidency 
 of the Students' Lecture Association of the school. At the gradu- 
 ation exercises in his senior year he was the class orator. 
 
 In the fall of 1898 Mr. Maxey entered the University of 
 Michigan as a candidate for the degree of B. L., and at once iden- 
 tified himself with the work in oratory and debating. In the spring 
 of his freshman year he won his place as leader of the Adelphi 
 debating team, which represented the Literary Department in the 
 annual Inter-department Cup Debate. The next year, as a sopho- 
 more, Mr. Maxey entered the preliminary oratorical contests with 
 an oration on "Webster's Reply to Hayne." He secured first place 
 in his class contest and represented his class in the annual Univer- 
 sity contest, held in University Hall on the evening of March 23, 
 1900. Here the high order of his thought and the excellence of 
 his composition enabled him to triumph over his more seasoned 
 opponents, and he was awarded First Honor and the Chicago 
 Alumni Medal and Testimonial, it being the second time in the 
 history of the University contests that such award has been made 
 to a sophomore. 
 
 By virtue of this victory Mr. Maxey represented Michigan in 
 the tenth annual contest of the Northern Oratorical League, held- 
 at Madison, Wis., May 4, 1900. At this contest he was given 
 third rank and was marked highest of all the contestants in de- 
 livery. 
 
 Mr. Maxey's method of speaking is most pleasing. His style 
 is clear, compact, pointed, and vigorous, abounding in antithesis 
 and epigram. Possessed of a rich deep voice, commanding grace- 
 ful action, and an earnestness that comes of conviction, he at 
 once wins favor with an audience and holds their attention to the 
 end of his speech. 
 
no HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE. 
 
 BY GEORGE WENDELL MAXEY. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in igoo in the University of Michigan contest, receiving first 
 place in Thought and Composition, and second in Delivery. In the League contest it re- 
 ceived third rank; being marked first in Delivery and sixth in Thought and Composition.] 
 
 The decisive battles of the world have not all been conflicts 
 of arms. I am to speak to you of a battle decisive of a nation's 
 fate in which intellects clashed and argument grappled with argu- 
 ment. 
 
 Through all the early years of the Republic one question was 
 paramount: Should the states be dissevered or did they constitute 
 an indestructible union ? At home and abroad disseverance was 
 generally anticipated and the right- of secession seldom disputed. 
 For decades the Constitution was not understood by the people, 
 and the nation was scarce conscious of itself. Even by the time 
 of our second war with Great Britain secession was not solely a 
 Southern doctrine. Upon the authority of the legislature of Massa- 
 chusetts the Hartford Convention was called. There assembled 
 representatives of New England with the object of withholding 
 their men and money from the service of the government and effect- 
 ing changes that meant dissolution of the Union. Fifty years later 
 New Englanders were the first to die to maintain the indivisibility 
 of the Republic. Ideas had changed. 
 
 In Jackson's administration a new type of American was in the 
 White House and new leaders were at the Capitol. The great tri- 
 umvirate had appeared. Henry Clay in the midst of warring ele- 
 ments devoted his genius to pacification. The uncompromising 
 Calhoun ruled Southern thought like a king, but the Vice-President 
 could not speak on the floor of the Senate. His mantle fell on a 
 young man from his own State, of great ability and unquestioned 
 leadership — Robert Y. Hayne. Massachusetts had just sent to the 
 Senate the foremost man of the North — Daniel Webster. 
 
 Hayne and Webster were opposites, reared on different soil, 
 nurtured on different thought. One had passed his youth in the 
 gardens of South Carolina, where life was jocund and free and the 
 restraints of government were oftimes impatiently borne. He 
 imbibed his political principles from the early Republicans. The 
 other had grown up among the bold, massive mountains of New 
 Hampshire, which had symbolized to the dreamy, black-eyed bov 
 
WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE. Ill 
 
 the strength and majesty of his country. He had drunk deep from 
 the fountains of Federal teaching. In these men Jefferson and Ham- 
 ilton met. One believed that government was only a bargain to 
 which a member might object; and from which withdraw. The 
 other believed in a strong national life and sober respect for au- 
 thority. One dwelt on rights; the other, on obligations. One 
 emphasized liberty; the other, law. One saw in a strong Union a 
 menace to safety and happiness; the ©ther, their only guaranty. 
 To one the Constitution was a convenient compact; to the other, 
 something almost divine. 
 
 Ideas so opposite in such men portend battle. A trifling inci- 
 dent precipitated the clash, andon January 21, 1830, Senator Hayne 
 proclaimed his principles and defied dispute. It was a surpassing 
 speech. The audience was captive, and Calhoun content. The 
 South rejoiced; doubt and fear fell upon the friends of the Union. 
 
 But their champion was ready. His whole life had been a 
 preparation for that debate. He had studied the Constitution from 
 childhood. For a quarter of a century he had lived within sight 
 of Lexington and Bunker Hill. Amid those sacred scenes he had 
 pondered over problems of State. His father had stood shoulder 
 to shoulder with John Stark at Bennington and had been the friend 
 and soldier of Washington. From that father's lips he had heard 
 the story of the Union's birth; he loved the Union and from boy- 
 hood had been eager to battle for it. 
 
 On January 26, 1830, the long-dreamed-of hour had come. 
 The Senate was silent. Routine business was suspended. Web- 
 ster arose, 
 
 " And in his rising seemed 
 A pillar of state; deep on his front engraven 
 Deliberation sate, and public care; 
 Sage he stood, with Atlantean shoulders 
 Fit to bear the weight of mightiest monarchies." 
 
 Rarely in all the world have " the man, the subject, and the occa- 
 sion " so well met. Domed brow, large luminous black eyes, leo- 
 nine face, voice like the pounding, deep-heaving sea, stature of a 
 titan, attitude of a king — such, the man; his subject. The Consti- 
 tution and the Union. Never was there a more inspiring occasion. 
 Fixed on the speaker were eyes that spoke hostility, and eyes that 
 told of confidence and love. Fronting him in the gallery were 
 sons of Massachusetts, awaiting with hope and fear the issue of the 
 
112 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 day. There were representatives from every State and nearly every 
 country. Ministers from great kings and young republics mingled 
 with those from crumbling dynasties where eloquence once lived 
 but lived no more. The House of Representatives was deserted. 
 Human streams flowed to the Senate. Chamber, gallery, and 
 lobby were thronged, while multitudes without strained to listen 
 like anxious soldiers barkening to distant canonade. 
 
 The " Great Speech" is a classic; it needs no review. As an 
 oration, it marks the full flood of Anglo-Saxon eloquence. The 
 orator marshalled his facts as the Macedonian his phalanxes into 
 invincible columns. Statements were massed into metaphor; 
 truths into epigram. His arguments were jewelled with the gems 
 of literature. They were bright with the lights of humor. They 
 were held in steady line by the chains of logic. Now and anon 
 sounded bugle-bursts of feeling; while ever "full high advanced," 
 the colossal captain bore " the gorgeous ensign of the Republic." 
 
 Webster rose above mere eloquence — he reached the plane of 
 prophecy. He saw the past and it charged him with a message. 
 He delivered it to the living millions and to their children. Con- 
 flict kindled his soul; the labyrinths of memory were illumined, 
 and there glittered the facts, thoughts, and dreams garnered by 
 forty years. Out of them his intellect forged thunderbolts of 
 constitutional doctrine and welded bonds to bind forever the 
 States. Webster diffused his love for the Union. He set forth 
 the principles, showed the necessity of Union, and so gave to the 
 feelings of those fated to bear the shock of war a rock-ribbed base 
 of intelligent conviction. 
 
 His exposition of the Constitution has guided statesmen and 
 jurists. Its immortality is assured. None claim that all its idea's 
 were original. Webster always avowed his discipleship to Hamil- 
 ton and John Marshall. But the ideas of political philosophers 
 often find lodgment only in libraries, not in the hearts and minds 
 of the masses. The disciple of those teachers became the apostle 
 to the people. Webster expounded and defended the Constitution 
 before the tribunal of public opinion. Before the world he vindi- 
 cated American institutions. His words winged their way to the 
 New England farm-house ■ and the frontier cabin. They mingled 
 with the din of mine and factory. They were discussed in coun- 
 try school-house and village store. They were read again and 
 again from the steps of old taverns and the rostra of universities. 
 
WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE. II3 
 
 Webster appealed to all Americans; State lines could not limit 
 his interests, his love of country was a shoreless sea. The Reply 
 stirred President Jackson. That very night at the White House 
 the great soldier saluted and paid tribute to the great orator; and 
 soon there came from the hero of New Orleans the boldest decla- 
 ration since that of Independence: "The Union must and shall 
 be preserved." 
 
 The effect of Webster's speech on his adversaries is not so 
 important as its effect on those who looked to him for leadership. 
 Exponents of opposing ideas seldom argue each other down. 
 Finally they must fight it out, as did Cornwell and the king at 
 Marston Moor and Naseby. But victorious fighters must be men 
 of firm faith and staunch spirits. The North had had little faith; 
 its ideas had been vague; its spirit, vacillating. Public sentiment 
 had not been formed. Webster formed, aroused, and unified it. 
 He took a bold stand on the heights of nationality and bade his 
 countrymen rally round him. 
 
 Thirty years later legions throbbed with Webster's thought. 
 They marched to the music of the Union. From hustings and 
 pulpit the words of Webster resoifnded. To him editors and ora- 
 tors turned for argument. Old men heard once more his clarion 
 tones. Their sons were as eager to enforce his teachings as the 
 Islamite his Prophet's. From Webster's constitutional expositions 
 Lincoln quarried the foundations of his First Inaugural Address. 
 When secession opened fire, the echoes of the old appeal for the 
 Union called Grant from the tanner's bench, Logan from the bar, 
 Sherman from the teacher's chair, volunteers from hillside and 
 prairie. They were men of feelings and convictions. Defeat 
 could not conquer their spirits. Disaster could not shake their 
 faith. Through four years of fire and blood they battled to vic- 
 tory — victory that made the Union forever secure. Such was the 
 verdict on the Great Debate. 
 
 Do you ask the lessons of that life-epic of which the Reply 
 was the supreme episode ? One lesson is that the great orator is 
 he who has a great cause — a cause dearer to his heart than life or 
 station. It was so with Chatham, with O'Connell, with Phillips. 
 In his zeal for his cause Webster sunk his ambition. Not that he 
 was not ambitious; divine in his faculties, he was human in his 
 passions, and coveted the place for which nature had seemingly 
 fashioned him. But in his zeal for the Union he would compro- 
 mise with slavery, and so alienated friends; while Phillips, on the 
 
114 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 contrary, to wreck slavery would wreck the Union. Each had a 
 mission. Together they created the sentiment which made it pos- 
 sible for Lincoln to realize their differing dreams. 
 
 Webster like Columbus died ignorant of the wonders he 
 had wrought. Baffled in his ambitions and discerning the 
 clouds of civil war, he died a broken-hearted old man. The 
 greatest lesson of his life is that earthly immortality comes not 
 from high office, not from any title or position that kings or peo- 
 ple can bestow, but from a man's ideas. Webster will live when 
 oblivion broods over presidents, because he stood for an idea. A 
 great and true idea never dies. The stake cannot stifle it, bastiles 
 cannot contain it; it scorns persecution, and like the eagle in the 
 storm revels in battle. The man may die repudiated and wretched; 
 the idea seizes the souls of millions and becomes the slogan of 
 conquering armies. 
 
 When Webster lay down to die at Marshfield knowing well that 
 civil war was not afar, he felt that his life-work had been in vain. 
 Yet as the present faded from him he may have been granted a 
 glimpse of the future. Just before death sealed his eloquent lips 
 he murmured, "I still live." That was prophecy. Though clouds 
 presaging storm darkened the sunset of his life; that life illumined 
 the clouds. The storm broke — night fell — but light and fire still 
 lingered: there shone a thousand guiding stars, a million souls were 
 aflame. 
 
 The wand of history waves: we are in the days of secession 
 and strife. Everywhere armed men rise up, with faces grim and 
 grand. They flaunt their flags; they shout, "Liberty and Union;" 
 proudly they march to die. The battle joins, the lines waver, but 
 they are made of men fighting for a conviction — men whose spirits 
 are martialized with the Peroration declaimed in school-boy days: 
 — again the once-wavering hosts move steady, steady onward. The 
 same Homeric thoughts fire Farragut as he sweeps the crimsoned 
 waters of the Mississippi and Mobile Bay. They urge Grant on to 
 Richmond; and when the battle-clouds clear away, we see the 
 old flag floating in the Southern sunlight as Webster had prayed 
 to behold it ever "without a stripe erased or polluted or a single 
 star obscured." 
 
 It is day — day of national triumph; secession and sectional- 
 ism fleet like spectres into memories; Webster and his idea still 
 live; and under serene and auspicious skies the Blue and the Gray 
 clasp hands and mutually pledge the future of the Union. 
 
LEON CAMBETTA. (I'J 
 
 T,EON GAMBETTA. 
 By Abram J. Holland. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration in igoo, marked first in Delivery and third in Tiiouglit and 
 Composition."! 
 
 The world measures a statesman by the power of his con- 
 structive genius and by the permanency of his achievements. He 
 who would perpetuate his name as a national leader must first 
 be a national builder. For it is universal that people cherish 
 the memory of great men by titles denoting their creative not 
 their destructive power. We reverence the name of Washington 
 not as the Conqueror of the British, but as the Father of his 
 Country. We treasure the memory of Lincon not as the De- 
 stroyer of the Southern Confederacy, but as the Emancipator of 
 the Slaves. So in the French Republic, we find her greatest 
 statesmen not among destroyers, but among builders. France 
 claims as her greatest son, not the leader in the destruction of the 
 Bastile and in the overthrow of established institutions, but the 
 statesman who laid the foundations of the- Republic and made 
 dominant the spirit of democracy and the principles of Anglo- 
 Saxon justice, — Leon Gambetta, the devoted French patriot, the 
 founder of the French Constitution, and the Father of the French 
 Republic. 
 
 I. From the beginning of the first Republic until the time 
 of Gambetta, the history of France is a story of revolution. 
 Under the leadership of such visionary and unanointed prophets 
 as Mirabeau and Robespierre, France has passed in feverish haste 
 from Bourbon rule to Republic, and from Republic to Directory; 
 then, amid the gloom of civil war. Directory gave way to Consu- 
 late, and Consulate to Empire. The people had given up the 
 hope of free institutions. It seemed that for France republican- 
 ism could mean only anarchy. Then Gambetta appeared and 
 with the skill of a political genius, turned the current of revolu- 
 tion into the chanijel of reformation. He planted the seeds of 
 democracy by establishing organization and union throughout 
 France. Then he boldly took up the Cause of Republicanism and 
 began his life work, — the creation of a constitutional democracy 
 tree from the spirit of sectionalism. 
 
 When Gambetta began his political career he found Louis 
 Napoleon on the throne of France. Under Napoleon's sway, 
 
Il6 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 freedom of speech and of the press was forbidden; schools were 
 trammeled; ignorance, superstition, and poverty abounded. The 
 State was rent asunder by sectional and political strife; the court 
 was a hot-bed of intrigue; Paris was filled with revolutionists; the 
 Communes were on the point of revolt. In field and village, the 
 peasantry were muttering, the brows of the Bourgeoisie were dark 
 and lowering, the nobles were insolent and oppressive. From 
 Alps to Pyrenees the country was one mass of quarelling factions 
 seething with insurrection. 
 
 II. Such were the conditions out of which France was to be 
 recreated, The task demanded a Hercules in body and intellect 
 and he appeared in the powerful figure and gigantic genius of 
 Leon Gambetta. Gambetta had already laid the foundation prin- 
 ciples of the policy by which he was to establish the Republic on 
 the solid rock of constitutional government. Without rebellion 
 or bloodshed he sought to change the Empire into a Republic. 
 It was his purpose to wrest popular liberties, one by one, from 
 the grasp of the emperor; and ultimately, transform the imperial 
 throne into a presidential chair, the sceptre of monarchy into the 
 gavel of democracy, and the royal, "I the emperor of France," 
 into the republican "We the people of France." 
 
 The year 1868 marks the first step in the execution of this 
 policy. In that year the republicans of France called upon French 
 patriotism to erect a monument in memoiy of one of her sons who, 
 for her sake, had offered up his life on the ramparts of Paris. This 
 young republican had perished when Louis Napoleon destroyed the 
 Republic of '48. Gambetta resolved that his monument should be 
 erected that it might teach France the universal principles of de- 
 mocracy with all the divine power and force that springs from a 
 martyr's grave. This popular wish was voiced by a republican 
 newspaper whose editor was forth with summoned to appear before the 
 royal courts, because, forsooth, he dared to express the will of the 
 people. Here Gambetta struck his first decisive blow for democracy. 
 He espoused the cause of the press, and hurled, himself against the 
 whole glittering pnaianx of emperor, priesthood, and aristocracy. 
 All France awaited with anxiety the outcome of the struggle. 
 When the day of trial came, the emperor's minions at bench and 
 bar stood mute and motionless as Gambetta arose, and with indom- 
 itable courage poured forth a stream of fiery eloquence, denunci- 
 ation, and argument against the Empire and its oppression. Prince 
 
LEON GAMBETTA. I17 
 
 and prelate trembled as his voice rang out for freedom of speech 
 and of the press, for separation of Church and State, and pro- 
 claimed the divine principles that opened the gates of Yorktown 
 and freed the slaves at Gettysburg. In vain the emperor ordered 
 his speech suppressed. Within a week it was read by the people 
 and electors of every city and village in France. Gambetta's name 
 was on every tongue. The spirit of republicanism kindled anew in 
 every breast. 
 
 From that time forth, Gambetta labored as a peerless leader,- 
 shaping ideas, transforming institutions, and establishing republi- 
 can principles that were slowly but surely pushing the Empire from 
 French soil. Everywhere he aided and encouraged his followers, 
 aroused the people to lawful progress, and silenced royal opposition 
 by his integrity and the grandeur of his character. 
 
 III. Such was his career uutil 1870, when the confederated 
 hosts of Germany descended upon France. In the disasters that 
 followed Louis Napoleon was deposed. Gambetta was forthwith 
 chosen as one of the Committee of National Defense and appointed 
 Minister of the Interior. In the darkness of night, with Germany's 
 iron hand thundering at the gates, he escaped from Paris in a war- 
 balloon, reached Tours in safety, fortified the interior cities, and 
 put in operation every agent at his disposal to drive back the inva- 
 der. In the face of appalling difficulties he showed a fertility of 
 resource measured only by the multiplicity of emergencies, — now 
 he negotiated loans and named generals, now recruited armies and 
 at the head of his troops quelled insurrection. In every part of 
 France was heard his voice never sounding retreat but always incit- 
 ing resistance. All that genius and military skill could do, was 
 done by Gambetta; but despite his efforts, the treachery of traitors 
 and the superior might of the enemy prevailed. 
 
 When the war was over, France presented the awful spectacle 
 of a nation without a national government. Gambetta saw the 
 State about to be surrendered to the bitterest enemies of republican 
 institutions. The question of the hour seemed not whether mon- 
 archy should be reclaimed, but what head should wear the crown. 
 At this crisis we behold Gambetta's consummate skill as a statesman. 
 The fate of the nation hung upon the result of the coming struggle. 
 The nobles stood solid for the monarchy, while the republicans 
 were divided. Gambetta's rivals sought to alienate the trust and 
 confidence of the National Assembly. Political leaders who de- 
 
Il8 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 manded everything or nothing, challenged his policy of moderation. 
 The Communes, lashed to fury by revolutionary leaders, and re- 
 strained only by Gambetta's hand, were on the point of precipitating 
 another Reign of Terror. Gambetta knew that unless the Republic 
 were established, he could no longer control them. He saw the 
 blindness, the madness, of Royalist and Radicalist. Conscious of 
 the awful responsibility of his position, with all the energy of a 
 giant's strength he placed himself in opposition to the hateful mon- 
 archy. Now he arraigned the crimes and oppressions of Bourbon 
 and Bonapartist, and stripped tyranny of its glittering garb of 
 tradition. Now with transcendent genius, courage and resolution, 
 he dispelled the spirit of rivalry and rekindled the hopes of his 
 followers. Then, for the first time, France saw all her democratic 
 forces combined into an overwhelming mass, whose voice, firm and 
 irresistible, defeated the nobility, carried the National Assembly, 
 and won victory for the Republic. 
 
 For the hour Gambetta was all-powerful. Assemblies voted at 
 his will, imperial Europe courted his favor. He might have satis- 
 fied the wildest cravings of selfish ambition. But unmoved, amid 
 the influences of position, wealth and power, in simple grandeur 
 towered the statesman and patriot. 
 
 In drawing up the Constitution, he manifested the intellect of 
 a Hamilton. With profound knowledge of the nature of his coun- 
 trymen, he advocated a centralized Republic as the only form of 
 government compatible with the growth of France. "We must 
 show to the French people," he declared, "that republicanism 
 does not mean chronic revolution." The motto of the first two 
 republics had been Liberty first and Union afterwards. But on the 
 corner-stone of the republic Gambetta established, were to be writ- 
 ten the immortal words of Webster, "Liberty and Union, now and 
 forever, one and inseparable." 
 
 IV. Already Gambetta had done much for his country, but 
 there was yet much to do before the Republic could be secure. He 
 no longer feared the angry billows of royal opposition. He dis- 
 cerned that the danger lay in the encroaching waves of sectional- 
 ism. It was against this tendency, — to supercede national by local 
 interests, to sacrifice the welfare of the nation to the selfish objects 
 of the locality, — that the closing battle of his life was waged. He 
 saw that France had no national parties; that each deputy had his 
 •jwn interests, each district its own political creed. In the midst 
 
LEON GAMBETTA. 
 
 119 
 
 of these conditions, Gambetta, with the master hand of a political 
 genius, touched the chords of national consciousness and infused 
 into the warring factions a spirit of nationalism. He called to the 
 people that democracy was neither party, sect, nor church, but 
 France herself. To give voice to the aspirations of the masses, he 
 advocated universal suffrage, a national system of election and a 
 ministerial responsibility that would depend both on the Senate and 
 on the Assembly. These were the last measures of that National 
 policy which has been called the "work of a master mind looking 
 far into the future." Had these measures been accepted by the 
 Assembly, they would have freed the deputies from local trammels, 
 prevented the ever recurring and dangerous ministerial crisis, and 
 placed the supremacy of the people forever beyond the shadow of 
 doubt or peril. 
 
 But the great statesman was never to see the consummation of 
 his work. Like Washington and Lincoln, the deeper he grew in the 
 love and affection of the common people, the darker grew the 
 clouds of political enmity and bitterness. When, as minister of 
 P'rance, he laid these measures beforeithe assembled deputies, local 
 selfishness and political jealousy gained a passing victory. The 
 bills he presented failed to become law, and Gambetta fell from 
 power. All France felt the sting of his defeat. But every heart 
 throbbed with grief and sorrow at the news of his succeeding death. 
 For in him, humanity had lost her greatest champion, and France 
 her most cherished son. He had hardly reached the noon-tide of 
 his public career, yet in that short life he had sown the seeds of 
 democracy, had seen them bud and blossom into free institutions. 
 His death was equally triumphant; for around his tomb princes and 
 people were made one in their love and sorrow for the mighty dead. 
 
 Gambetta has been called a dictator. Some have said he was 
 inconsistent. Royalist and Radicalist have charged him with being 
 ambitious. Was he a dictator, who for the sake of liberty and hu- 
 manity, hurled himself against the ranks of feudalism and wrested 
 from their iron grasp popular rights and civil liberties? Was he a 
 dictator, who by the power of his genius, erected upon the ruins 
 of Empire the enduring fabric of Constitutional Democracy? Was 
 he a dictator, who by the fervency and fire of his passionate elo- 
 quence, melted the shackles of sectionalism and welded into one 
 those forces that bind nations in eternal brotherhood? Was he 
 inconsistent, who amid the wealth of a nation's gold, kept his hands 
 
120 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 unstained from plunder? Was he ambitious, who spent his life for 
 his country's cause; and who by the power of statesmanship, put 
 the grandest political theories into practical execution? If so, then 
 to dictatorship, to inconsistency, and to ambition, does civilization 
 owe her crown of progress and liberty her laurel wreath. The 
 world will ever bow in homage before such dictators, who rule by 
 the power of genius and'manhood, who marshal the mighty forces 
 of Justice and Humanity, and who hold Principle above Policy, 
 Truth above Diplomacy, and Right above Consistency. 
 
CARROLL LAWRENCE STOREY 
 
Carroll Lawrence Storey. 
 
 Carroll Lawrence Storey was born in 1877 at Castalia, Ohio. 
 He prepared for college in the graded schools of that place and 
 in the preparatory department of Oberlin College. 
 
 After three years in the collegiate department of Oberlin, in 
 the fall of 1900, he entered the University of Michigan from 
 which he expects to receive the degree of A. B., with the class of 
 1901. He is at the same time pursuing work in the Medical 
 Department in the six year Literary- Medical course. 
 
 Mr. Storey has been interested in public speaking from the 
 time he entered preparatory school. In the annual debate 
 between societies of the Oberlin Preparatory Depa rtment he was 
 on the team that won a debate for the Cadmean Society. He was 
 class orator of the Sophomore class, and in his Junior year he 
 won second honor in the annual college contest entitling him to 
 the position of alternate for Oberlin in the annual contest of the 
 Northern Oratorical League. 
 
 In the class preliminaries of the University of Michigan, in 
 February, 1901, he won the right to represent the Senior Class in 
 the University contest, and in the final, in March, 1901, he was 
 awarded first honor, the Chicago Alumni Medal and seventy- 
 five dollars, and the distinction of representing Michigan in the 
 eleventh annual contest of the Northern Oratorical League. 
 
 In the contest of the Northern Oratorical League held May 
 3, 1901, under the auspices of the State University of Iowa, Mr. 
 Storey was awarded first honor and the Frank O. Lowden testi- 
 monial of one hundred dollars. 
 
 His style of speaking is animated, d irect, convincing; vigor- 
 ous in thought and expression. He is possesed of a rich, well- 
 , modulated voice, and in his use of it there is a touch of the 
 dramatic that engages the listener. In action he is quiet, in man- 
 ner reposeful, and he commands by reserve as well as by aggres- 
 siveness. 
 
122 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 "THE MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY." 
 By Carroll Lawrence Story. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in igoi at the University of Michigan and in the Ncrlhern 
 Oiatorical League. In the former contest Mr. Storey was ranked second in Thought and 
 Composition and second in Delivery ; in the League contest, second in Thought and Com- 
 position and first in Delivery.] 
 
 Two years of our civil war had passed and the cause of the 
 Union seemed to have lost ground. Defeat had followed defeat 
 in quick succession. Bull Run, Cedar Mountain, and Fredericks- 
 burg were the steps by which the Confederacy was rising to recog- 
 nition among the powers. Louis Napoleon, taking advantage of 
 our weakness, was busily preparing his scheme of Mexican colon- 
 ization. The memory of the Trent affair still rankled in the 
 bosoms of Englishmen. Many blockade runners were building 
 in foreign ports. Everywhere hostility to the North was growing. 
 That continued union was impossible, that the North was sure to 
 be defeated, were current beliefs. From the beginning of the 
 struggle the South was accorded belligerent rights, and now 
 France, Germany and England were about to recognize its inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 But the Continental governments dared not risk the respon- 
 sibility of initiative. When Great Britain, the dominant force in 
 Europe should declare the independence of the Confederacy, the 
 intriguing concert of the powers stood ready to rush America to 
 her doom. England, however, hesitated. Her interests were 
 divided. On one side stood the aristocracy, the press, and Par- 
 liament, which openly sympathized with the South and clamored 
 for its recognition. Lord Russel, Lord Palmerston, even Mr. 
 Gladstone upheld the Southern cause. On the other side was 
 arrayed the non-voting but powerful laboring class, which from 
 the opening of hostilites in America had steadfastly supported the 
 North. The upper classes were becoming radical. The masses 
 had remained conservative. The voice of the toiler and the artisan 
 was raised in protest against official recognition of the seceded 
 states, and as long as that voice asserted itself Great Britain 
 dared not ignore its warning. The populace dominated England, 
 and dominating England, it determined the policy of the Conti- 
 nent on which hung the fate of three million slaves. 
 
 But conditions were rapidly changing. With the establish- 
 ment of a blockade of southern ports, importation of cotton 
 
THE MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY. 1 23 
 
 ceased. Factories were closed; wages fell. The protest against 
 slavery was supplanted by a cry for bread. Misery and want pre- 
 vailed. Discontent was growing, the ranks of the workingman began 
 to waver, and the only barrier to positive, hostile legislation was 
 about to be swept aside. With the ruling class already in favor of 
 secession, a change in the views of the masses would have been 
 disastrous to the maintenance of the Union. The fatality of 
 increasing the power of the radicals was clearly forseen. But how 
 was this to be prevented. The time so critical demanded one 
 who should recall England from her unnatural course. All eyes 
 turned to Henry Ward Beecher, then sojourning on the Continent. 
 Of all the great orators of the North, he seemed best fitted to 
 reveal to Ertglishmen the cancerous system of American slavery. 
 
 When Beecher arrived in England he found that his fame had 
 preceded him. His " Star Papers " were known the world over. 
 The reports of his utterances in America, clothed in the phrase- 
 ology of the London Times, had created in England an animosity 
 against him which knew no bounds. When it was known that this 
 intrepid speaker was to appear in Great Britain in defense of the 
 negro and the North, excitement became intense. Southern sym- 
 pathizers availed themselves of every opportunity to thwart this 
 threatened exposition of Northern views. Placards bearing hos- 
 tile and venomous statements were scattered everywhere. A Liv- 
 erpool poster read: "Henry Ward Beecher is the man who said 
 that the best blood of England must flow for the outrage England 
 had perpetrated on America. He proposes to address the people 
 of Liverpool. Let Englishmen see that he gets the welcome he 
 deserves." Another read: "Men of Manchester! What recep- 
 tion can you give this wretch, save unmitigated disgust and con- 
 tempt? " 
 
 Such were the conditions. Beecher's heart sank within him, 
 but, urged on by his convictions, he determined to face these con- 
 ditions. A champion of the North, he appeared, not as the offi- 
 cial representative of his country, but as a humble citizen of the 
 United States, come to plead with the poor and humble of a 
 foreign land in behalf of liberty and outraged humanity. Unac- 
 quainted with English audiences or their temper, he yet realized 
 that to fail might ruin the cause of freedom and Union. He felt 
 that he stood between a hostile nation and his own, and with him 
 his country must rise or fall. 
 
124 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 At Manchester, as he gazed at the struggling, tumultuous throng 
 of six thousand people, he thought to himself, "I will control you. 
 I have come here for victory and I will have it by the help of 
 God." When the mob seemed utterly uncontrollable, he ex- 
 claimed, with a show of pluck which Englishmen admire: "Gen- 
 tlemen, you may break me down now, but I have registered a vow 
 that I will never return home until I have been heard in every 
 principal town in this Kingdom. My country shall be vindi- 
 cated. " He appealed to their respect for fair play, and what man 
 of Anglo-Saxon lineage could resist the appeal? The vulnerable 
 spot in the Englishman was discovered, and against it was directed 
 all the power of which the orator was capable. 
 
 But wild and turbulent as was the Manchester mob, stormier 
 times were yet to come. At Liverpool, Beecher sees within the 
 hall anarchistic placards in blood-red letters scattered about to 
 lash the people into frenzy and insanity. P'our or five storm 
 centers are boiling at once. Thieves and cut-throats, hired for 
 the purpose, are everywhere present, armed with clubs, brick-bats 
 and knives, and only await an opportunity to change the scene 
 into one of lawlessness and murder. We tremble for the personal 
 safety of the speaker. Will he not abandon his perilous course? 
 How dare he oppose this mad, raging, desperate crowd? He is 
 attempting to force back a Niagara! Can any man face that 
 mob and live? I answer, " none but Henry Ward Beecher! " 
 Had it been Sumner, his hot temper, his rash impatience, would 
 have met with failure, disaster. He would have goaded the tur- 
 bulent mass beyond the limits of self-control, and who knows what 
 would have been the consequences? But Beecher is ever patient. 
 By artful compliments to Great Britain and her citizens he wins 
 a hearing. He speaks to them from an English point of view, dis- 
 cusses the disadvantages of slavery to the English workingman, 
 shows the interest England has in freedom from a manufacturing 
 and commercial standpoint, and proves to them that Southern 
 sympathizers are foes'of Britsh prosperity. 
 
 Soothed and placated by these appeals to its selfish interests, 
 the vast mob becomes attentive, respectful. Beecher sees signs 
 of victory. If at first he seemed to ride the storm, he now faces 
 it. He takes advantage of his position, and in the full height of 
 his giant power utters such invectives against the attitude and pol- 
 icy of Great Britain that we marvel at the daring of the man. As 
 
THE MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY. 1 25 
 
 Holmes, says, "When the lance has pricked him deep enough, 
 when the red flag has flashed in his face often enough, then his 
 intellectual sparkle becomes a steady glow and his nimble sen- 
 tences change their form, and become long drawn, stately peri- 
 ods." Amidst a thunder of cheers and hisses he declares that 
 every man who forges the iron for Southern ships is forging a 
 manacle for the slave. "Every free workingman who is laboring 
 to rear up iron ships for the south is laboring to establish on sea 
 and on land the doctrine that capital has a right to own labor." 
 He denounces the British horror of American war as hypocritical 
 and inconsistent, whjsn in all the vast domain of peopled lands, in 
 the wilds of Africa, the jungles of India, the islands of the sea, 
 everywhere, the native heart stops beating at the sound of martial 
 music leading British soldiery to new conquests. He rebukes that 
 nation which posing as the disciple of peace, at the seizure of two 
 Confederate envoys had dropped its work, rushed to arms and 
 called for vengeance. To the charge that the North is insincere 
 in this conflict he exclaims: " Has the love of country run so low 
 in Great Britain that the rising of a nation to defend its territory, 
 its government, its flag, is a theme for cold aversion in the pulpit 
 and sneers in the pew? Is generosity so dead in England that she 
 will not admire in her children the very qualities which have made 
 her children proud of the memories of their common English 
 ancestors?" 
 
 These are the blows which make the English recoil as from a 
 thunderbolt. The thug has dropped his weapons. The murderer 
 has forgotten his mission. The mob is transformed, electrified. 
 Cheers have long since replaced hisses. Hear him assert that the 
 same love of liberty that impelled heroic men to sacrifice their all 
 at Naseby and Marston Moor, still rules wherever beat Anglo- 
 Saxon hearts. Hear him affirm that the spirit of Runnymede 
 still lives. And in the name of those heroic men and the prin- 
 ciples for which they died, in the name of popular liberty, the 
 inheritance of the past, he declares that the North is determined 
 "to fight this war through at all hazards and at every cost." 
 Anglo-Saxon America, entangled in the meshes of slavery, will be 
 free or perish. 
 
 Thus grandly, eloquently, Beecher pleaded for his country. 
 Through him the misconceptions concerning the north cleared away 
 like April clouds. The union cause became the cause of human- 
 
126 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 ity. The sympathetic heart of England's noblest poor was won. 
 If oratory is to be judged by its results, the English language 
 can boast no greater effort than this. Burke's masterpieces were 
 delivered to empty seats. Pitt's magnetic voice rarely changed 
 the vote of the house. Patrick Henry spoke to sympathizing 
 audiences. Webster, Sumner, Phillips were eloquent, but their 
 influence was the result of years of labor. But here was a man 
 who was known to Englishmen as "The Avenger of the Trent," 
 "The Clown Preacher," "The Arch Insurrectionist," whose ser- 
 mons and speeches as reported by the English Press had proved 
 him to be the greatest of heretics and criminals, but who, in spite 
 of overwhelming odds, by five speeches reversed the whole trend 
 of English sympathy; who captured the guns prepared for his own 
 destruction and turned them against the enemy; who in the hour of 
 his country's peril beat back the oncoming tide of European Recog- 
 nition. While the royal courts of Europe were heaping upon us 
 their contempt; while the magnates of industry plotted against us 
 and the English laborers were told that their poverty was our 
 fault, at the call of Beecher the united voice of the lowly arose in 
 its grandeur and proclaimed to the government, "Thou shalt not." 
 Parliament heard that voice and quailed at its power. Napoleon 
 heard, and his wild dream of western empire faded into nothing- 
 ness. That voice echoed across the Atlantic, carrying to South- 
 ern camps consternation and despair. It inspired Union leaders 
 to greater efforts and nobler deeds^ It rejuvenated the hopes of 
 Northern armies. It dispelled the expectations of rebellion and 
 secession. It spoke to Lincoln in the president's chair, Sherman 
 and Grant in the field, stirred the soul of the volunteer, gave to 
 the slave a glimpse of freedom, and revealed to the world the 
 future of a reunited people. 
 
THE TRUE PATRIOT. I27 
 
 THE TRUE PATRIOT. 
 By Bryant Scofield Cromer. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration in igoi, marked fifth in Thought and Composition and first 
 in Delivery.] 
 
 Love of country and love of God are twin virtues. Man's 
 inspiration from the beginning, they have become the fundamental 
 principle of civil and religious liberty. Out of these two ideas 
 all history has evolved, toward these two ideals all national life 
 has struggled. That individual who has best exemplified these 
 principles has represented the highest type of manhood. That 
 country which has most fully embodied them in her national life, 
 has best fulfilled its destiny. 
 
 Countless millions of earth have fallen out of the race for 
 national supremacy and others have stood still, since America has 
 emerged out of her barbarism. The roots of the primeval forests 
 have scarcely rotted in the ground, before an empire sphinx like, 
 has sprung up in this western wilderness challenging the world 
 in every element of greatness. Broad as a continent, free as 
 the air, restless in her activities as the sea, progressive as civil- 
 ization itself, solid in her institutions as her mountains, mag- 
 nanimous and independent in spirit, America has forged ahead 
 of all other nations and it is with just pride that we point to 
 Columbia as the home of the greatest liberty, the purest Chris- 
 tianity, and the highest civilization that the world has ever known. 
 
 But the spirit of prophecy is strangely at variance with the 
 spirit of history. Warning spectres come up out of the past 
 somewhat obscuring the brightness of our sun of promise. We 
 read the record of other nations, whose boasted civilization and 
 freedom have long since passed away. We are made sad by a 
 continuous fate which has followed national greatness. All eyes 
 are turned towards Africa which we have thought the symbol of 
 darkness. And yet it was in Africa that Thebes was founded, out- 
 shining the metropolitan splendor of the world. The Illiad speaks 
 of her fabulous treasures and her hundred gates. Herodotus 
 mentions her miles of magnificent temples, surpassing in grandeur 
 and beauty all the cities of earth. For more than five hundred 
 years her supremacy was unchallengened. But Thebes is no more. 
 
 We read of Syria with her hundred cities, every city a nation 
 and every nation an empire's might. But Syria is no more. And 
 who has not been thrilled at the greatness of Nineveh and her 
 
128 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 colossal Statutes, Babylon and her wonderful walls and gardens, 
 Jerusalem and her matchless temple, Tyre and her white-winged 
 fleets, all of which though so great and wonderful are no more. 
 
 Nor are we forgetful of that republic whose origin is as mys- 
 terious as that of her own Homer. Small in territory, but free 
 and patriotic, she preserved her life through all the vicissitudes 
 of the world's formative period, and by her letters and philosophy 
 led the world of intellect. Yet Greece the model republic is no 
 more. 
 
 And no sadder record of fallen greatness has ever been en- 
 tered upon the pages of history than that of the downfall of proud, 
 arrogant, all-inclusive Rome. From insignificance she arose to 
 unparallelled greatness. Under the generalship of her Csesars she 
 became the "mistress of the world "and sitting upon her seven 
 hills she ruled it with an iron hand. But proud Rome is no more. 
 
 And yet we speak of our republic and of our free institutions 
 in terms of most positive assurance. History it seems has raised 
 in vain these monumental testimonies to the frailty of human 
 greatness. We have made ourselves believe that human nature 
 has at last struck the key-note of national supremacy and that by 
 a plain direction of Providence this good-fortune has come to us. 
 But nations, now buried beneath their own ruins, have been 
 equally confident of their destiny. Let not the foul disease that 
 gnawed into the vitals of Greece and Rome, take root in the body 
 of stalwart young America! 
 
 The true patriot dare not stubbornly close his eyes to the 
 lessons of the past, and console himself with the fact that we are 
 living in a new age and under new conditions. We may be 
 happier, more advanced in physical knowledge, more skilled in 
 government, more firmly established in our trade and international 
 relations. We may feel that we have come to the day of our cor- 
 onation as a republic, because in the short space of a century and 
 a quarter, we have grown from a dependent colony to a nation, 
 the envy of the world. But even the past with all its dread record 
 of national decay has not been destitute of virtue. And though 
 corruption overran the race like a mighty deluge, burying man's 
 grandest works, yet virtue has had her place, and patriotism her 
 exemplification, even in the past. If the prophecies of our great- 
 ness are to be fulfilled, we dare not close our eyes to the virtues of 
 the past or to the vices of the present. 
 
THE TRUE PATRIOT. 1 29 
 
 Two evils are to be guarded against in our day — the commer- 
 cial spirit, which would turn everything both of patriotism and of 
 religion to its own account, and political corruption which can 
 mean in the end only the overthrow of both church aud state. 
 We have grown in the extent of our domain, in our influence upon 
 the high seas, and in our influence as a counsel among the nations 
 of the earth. We have grown in wealth and material power. For 
 all this we are proud and thankful. But we must not give our- 
 selves up to self-congratulation. How much are we given to admir- 
 ing the grand old ship of state, now become so ample, and which 
 has proved her sea-worthiness in so many voyages, gaining new 
 and world- renowned victories. Our hearts swell with loyal pride, 
 as we run the flag to the mast-head and cheer the greatness of our 
 beloved country. But the true patriot-statesman will examine 
 every rivet and plate in her weather-beaten hull and every part of 
 her complex machinery before pronouncing her sea-worthy. 
 
 Greatness and prosperity, alas, too often, breed careless con- 
 tent. Our thronging cities, our broad harvest-laden fields, our 
 shops of whirling spindles, our schools and universities, and our 
 broad spirit of philanthrophy, ever receiving and nursing the 
 oppressed of earth and lending a strong arm to the defence of the 
 down- trodden — all these are our glory. Our only plea is for the 
 permanence of these institutions. We have been able to incor- 
 porate almost everything of worth in the past, and these best 
 things of human production seek to live in and through us. It is 
 ours to make them immortal. 
 
 We can only thank God that "the golden thread of freedom" 
 has not yet been lost upon the earth. But freedom is not its own 
 security. The North American Indian roamed the land we now 
 possess with a freedom greater than which none can boast. But 
 the Mohawks are gone and their brother tribes are fast fading into 
 extinction. It is the weakness of greatness that it cannot insure 
 itself. 
 
 But there is no occasion for despair, for we still have un- 
 bounded faith in the future of our civilization. But this faith is 
 contingent upon the principles which have, as yet, never been 
 fully exemplified. I would not seem merely to moralize when 
 I refer to the fundamental principles laid down in the Ten 
 Commandments for the sure and eternal preservation of human 
 society. There is little that is new in civil liberty or in mere 
 
130 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 religious liberty. These terms fell glibly from the tongues of 
 those who constituted heathen republics. But there is some- 
 thing new in the true idea and meaning of these terms. They 
 have never measured up to the requirements of the two tables of 
 the law, which themselves were never understood until interpreted 
 by the Divine Teacher. 
 
 It may offend the worldly vanity of some to be asked to con- 
 sider the highest principle of religion as a requisite element of 
 true patriotism. But this is the only principle not yet fully 
 tested in human affairs. Although uttered two thousand years 
 ago, it has not yet occurred to any country, that in these divine 
 statements lies the guaranty of our free institutions. Unless we 
 have hope here, then we may read our future in the fate of 
 Thebes and Babylon and Greece and Rome. We can look for- 
 ward only to some monumental sepulchre to tell the story of our 
 departed greatness. 
 
 Love God with soul and might, 
 And neiglibor as one's self. 
 
 These are the two " pillars of Hercules " upon which the perma- 
 nent church and state must be built. They are neither dogma nor 
 creed, but the essence of both.- A creedal religion is no better 
 than a partisan patriotism. The baptism of a king cannot make 
 christians of his subjects; nor can the indorsement of a political 
 party make patriots of its followers. There is much fanaticism 
 of creed and fury of patriotism. Both a true religion and a true 
 patriotism demand a true relation between man and man. 
 To be a true patriot is not merely to love, 
 
 "The woods and hills. 
 The rocks and rills," 
 
 of one's country. Nor yet is it to idolize the flag. It is to love 
 her laws, her principles, her free institutions and her people. 
 
 Our thought is not reform either of creed or party. But it 
 is the true exemplification of both a true religion and a true 
 patriotism in our conduct toward our fellow-countrymen. Peter 
 may have established the Church, Paul may have banished intol- 
 erance and fanaticism, but John has yet much to do. Both 
 church and state await the happy consummation of the labors of 
 this Apostle of Love. I may not be able to detect the difference 
 
THE MISSION OF CHATHAM. I3I 
 
 in my emotions when I worship my God, and when I shout for my 
 flag. But I have not risen to a true ideal of either unless I truly 
 love my brother. 
 
 We are free, but others have been free; we are prosperous, 
 but others have been prosperous; we are patriotic, but others have 
 been patriotic; and we are religious, but others have been relig- 
 ious. And all these others have perished from the earth. Our 
 only hope of permanence is in immortal'love. The Star of Beth- 
 lehem, as it moved across the eastern sky, traced in letters of 
 shining gold, "Love thy Neighbor." This simple motto should 
 be burned into the heart of every loyal American. The true 
 patriot will love his country, not only because it is his home, but 
 because it is the home of his neighbor, and he will love his neigh- 
 bor not only because he is his brother, but because he is a part of 
 his country. Under these conditions there will be no clash of 
 classes, no social schisms, no oppression of labor, no envy of 
 wealth, no breach in public trusts, no hypocrisy in religion, no 
 corruption in politics, but one people, one country, one flag and 
 one God. 
 
 THE MISSION OF CHATHAM. 
 By Clyde McGee. 
 
 [This oration received first ranlt in Thonght and Composition and sixth in Delivery.] 
 
 The impartial verdict of history ranks the Earl of Chatham 
 the first orator and the greatest statesman of the eighteenth 
 century. He was called the saviour of England, the friend of 
 America, "the great commoner." England loved his name, 
 France feared it, while it fell from the lips of the colonists in 
 America with deepest reverence and affection. His popularity, 
 his eloquence, his character command attention and admiration. 
 Born to bring his race a message he spoke like a prophet of God. 
 Resolute cf purpose, pure of heart, the nobility of his character 
 will shine with a splendor undimmed when even his eloquce will 
 have become a doubtful tale. But I pass by these to study him as 
 an exponent of Saxon supremacy and a leader of democracy; to 
 study his mastery of those forces that made England the first power 
 in Europe and the English race the stalwart champion of liberty 
 and order among the races of mankind. 
 
132 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 The eighteenth century was a witness of one of the most 
 momentous struggles in history, the duel between France and 
 England. It began a contest for supremacy in Europe; it ended 
 a struggle for empire in India and America. What of the partici- 
 pants in this mighty stnuggle? 
 
 France, weakened by her private impurities and her corrup- 
 tion in public life, in a half delirium over the dying glories of 
 Louis XIV. and guided by the genius of Dupliex and Montcalm, 
 girded on new strength and determined to realize her dream of 
 empire across the seas. 
 
 English life was grossly immoral, irreligious and corrupt. 
 Private impurities as in France had resulted in public depravity. 
 The natural reaction from party strife had left political life at its 
 lowest ebb. Parties had become quarreling factions, expedients 
 had taken the place of principles. Bribery was an art, corrup- 
 tion a creed; the people were sluggish. England was no longer 
 a nation. Disaster abounded in every quarter of the globe. 
 Minorca was lost. Calcutta captured, Braddock defeated, France 
 needed only to threaten invasion and England was paralyzed with 
 fear. 
 
 Meanwhile this world problem was forming. It was a ques- 
 tion of race leadership, a mighty contest for ideals. France stood 
 for the despotic principles of Louis XIV; England, for civil and 
 religious liberty. Which idea would triumph? Which race would 
 direct the future of mankind? 
 
 The decisive moment came and with it came William Pitt, 
 — a man of faith, eloquence, energy and wisdom. A man of 
 faith, he believed his country had a mission and that its people 
 had the capacity to fulfill that mission. A man of eloquence, he 
 touched the English conscience and quickened it into life. A man 
 of energy, his glowing soul set all the moral forces of the nation 
 -in fire. A man of wisdom he organized and directed successful 
 campaigns in two worlds. England arose from her stupor, tore 
 off her rags of corruption, clothed herself in the robes of purity, 
 and filled with new life, throbbing with new energies, marched 
 torth to conqaer France and by her victories to open up new 
 worlds to English institutions. 
 
 Through the guidance of Pitt English influences reached the 
 Orient. Behold the result! The " Eastern mummy " now throbs 
 with life. The darkness of ignorance has been dispelled by the 
 
THE MISSION OF CHATHAM. I33 
 
 torch of learning, order enthroned where anarchy reigned, plague 
 throttled, disease stayed, industries organized, until today, India 
 is emerging from the darkness and anarchy of heathendom into 
 the order of English rule and the light of Christian civilization. 
 
 A still vaster conflict was being waged in the Western world. 
 In America the French were rapidly pushing from victory to vic- 
 tory. The American revolution has made us forget that the 
 future of a continent was in that earlier struggle; that that strug- 
 gle hastened the day of independence, that it was the forerunner 
 of the revolution. The prophetic eye of Pitt read the future and 
 from despairing troops his practical wisdom "created a new and 
 victorious soldiery." On a dark and starless night Wolfe and his 
 little band climbed up the rugged heights of Abraham. Pitt's spirit 
 was over them. Their's was a courage and a daring that could 
 not be defeated. Quebec fell. A new nation was born across the 
 sea. The dream of French empire in America was shattered. 
 
 The planting of the English flag upon the heights of Quebec 
 gave to the Saxon the heritage of the new world. It meant that 
 our country's destiny was to be moulded by the Teuton, not the 
 Latin; by ideas of civil and religious liberty, not by the tyranny 
 of church and state. Such is the debt we owe to Pitt. Principles 
 of English freedom made sacred by sacrifice on a thousand battle 
 fields are part of us and our heritage, because this man of clear 
 vision, of exalted patriotism, of unfaltering faith, by his resistless 
 energy and god-like eloquence lifted England from her corrupt and 
 sordid life and made her not only the first power in Europe, but the 
 greatest civilizing force in all the world. 
 
 But Pitt was no more an exponent of Saxon supremacy than 
 a champion of democracy. The English government was in an 
 unsettled condition. In 1760 a new monarch ascended the throne, 
 determined to be king in fact as well as in name. Both houses of 
 parliament were autocratic and corrupt. Even the commons did 
 not represent the people. Success abroad had brought new and 
 perplexing problems to the government at home. The king aimed 
 at absolutism, and a selfish ministry sought gain through a grasp- 
 ing colonial policy. It was a trying hour for English liberties. 
 Had George III succeeded, the tide of progress would have been 
 turned backward for more than fifty years. Then began the 
 struggle between kingly prerogative and popular government, — 
 Pitts' splendid battle, "to restore, to save, to confirm the consti- 
 tution. " 
 
134 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 The Colonial problem was the immediate and definite issue. 
 Pitt saw its deep significance. He saw that upon the success of 
 colonial freedom depended the life and growth of popular govern- 
 ment in England; that behind the question of regulation of trade 
 and methods of taxation was the greater question of the rights and 
 liberties of Englishmen. The English constitution was in that 
 struggle; a constitution which to Pitt was the bible of English 
 freedom. He had studied it from his boyhood; he had learned 
 it, he knew it and he loved it. 
 
 But his policy was unheeded. Separation and revolution 
 came. Still the great leader did not falter. His burning words 
 startled the king, over-awed parliament, thrilled the nation; 
 " I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of people 
 so dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be 
 slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of all the 
 rest." The ministry called him mad, flung at him the charges of 
 "revolutionist" and "traitor." But these charges moved him no 
 more than shadows falling upon the mountain side. Pitt knew 
 that the colonies were fighting not against England, but for 
 principles foreshadowed in Magna Charta. 
 
 But armed resistance had gone too far for hope of concilia- 
 tion. In '78 the colonies had formed an alliance with France. 
 England was without an ally in the world. With one army a pris- 
 oner in America, her navy half prepared, she must meet the armies 
 of France and then the forces of Spain. The country believed 
 that the loss of the colonies would be a fatal blow to England's 
 greatness. They felt as did the North when secession threatened 
 the Union. In the hour of panic the nation again turned to Pitt. 
 But an obstinate king refused his ministry and he returned to par- 
 parliament. His body was wasted by disease, but his eyes still 
 gleamed with youthful fire and his lips were still clothed with elo- 
 quence. With difficulty he arose to his feet. His voice faltered, 
 then suddenly there came a flash of eloquence, one last plea for 
 his country's honor, and England's greatest expansionist, England's 
 greatest democrat, had fallen. 
 
 His labors were not lost, his mission was fulfilled. He saved 
 England from a corruption that was working political decay and 
 threatening national ruin. He brought to men and nations new 
 ideals and new life. He raised new standards of citizenship. He 
 taught that treason to country is perfidy to its ideals. In him for 
 
THE MISSION OF CHATHAM. 135 
 
 the first time the people felt their power,— a power that represented 
 the heart and conscience of the nation and defied both parliament 
 and king. He believed in the people; that they had rights that 
 kings must not violate. His life work was to defend those rights, 
 to preserve them from the tyrany of arbitrary power. More than 
 an English statesman, he was the exponent of Saxon supremacy. 
 He smote France, saved England, and planted English institutions 
 in India and America, while his policies and principles have 
 moulded American history. 
 
 But the mission of Pitt was that of the prophet as well as the 
 statesmen. He was the Isaiah of his age. He guided his country 
 through a crisis; he gave a message to the world. A statesman, 
 his practical wisdom is needed to guide America in the new era of 
 its national life. A prophet, we listen for his voice to stir our 
 nation to its highest ideals, to call forth men of faith, vision and 
 action. Men of faith, to believe that ai nation born in the throes 
 of revolution, with sinews toughened by the struggles or a century, 
 whose North, East, South and West have been welded into union 
 by the heat of civil war, has been called of God to a world wide 
 mission. Men of vision, to look beyond the problems of party 
 politics, to see and understand the forces that are making for the 
 uplifting and redeeming of mankind. Men of action, whom no 
 cry of standing armies, no fear of king or monarch, will deter 
 from marching forward in the path of duty. 
 
 I plead for the policy of this prophet-statesmen. That no 
 backward step, no faltering faith, may mark the policy of the 
 future. That our ideal may still be not to subjugate but to 
 enlighten; not to colonize but to Christianize; not to gain markets 
 but to make men free and teach them how to live in freedom. 
 May our nation learn Pitt's message; that if we would live, we 
 must give life; if we would be strong, we must be pure; if we 
 would remain free we must not enslave. 
 
POLITICAL ALTRUISM. I37 
 
 WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE. 
 By George Wendell Maxey. 
 
 (see page no). 
 
 [First Honor Oration in 1902 at the University of Michigan, and fifth in the contest 
 of the Northern Oratorical League. In the home contest Mr. Maxey was ranked second 
 in Thought and Composition and first in Delivery; in the League contest, third in Thought 
 and Composition and fifth in Delivery]. 
 
 POLITICAL ALTRUISM. 
 By Jacob Sylvester Kohn. 
 
 LSecond Honor Oration in 1902, marlsed first in Thought and Composition and 
 third in Delivery]. 
 
 The greatest problem of every age is government. The quest 
 of humanity is justice; it may bring peace to dismembered China 
 or comfort to the sweat-shops of New York, but everywhere the 
 cry of the human heart is for justice. How shall it be secured? 
 All government is an attempt to answer this question. The 
 nations on the banks of the Tiber and in the Valley of the Nile, 
 on the Ganges and Euphrates — all have sought to answer it, but 
 in vain. Carthage and Tyre failed to understand its underlying 
 principles and were quickly destroyed. Greece and Rome, 
 towering amid the constellation of ancient empires, shackled 
 individual liberty and as a result crumbled and decayed. For 
 three thousand years the ancient world wrestled with this problem, 
 but the result of the effort was only a succession of empires which 
 rose upon the ruins of individual rights and fell because of injus- 
 tice and corruption. 
 
 The modern world, during four hundred years, has struggled 
 to answer the same question, but the goal has not been reached. 
 In the struggle Continental Europe has felt the Inquisition and 
 the Reign of Terror;, she has experienced many a Waterloo and a 
 Sebastapol. And the reward of her suffering is continued pain, 
 be it in the grinding taxes of Italy or in the despotism of Russia. 
 In America we have endeavored to make personal rights the basis 
 of government, but our success is still uncertain. Many govern- 
 ments have enjoyed longer life than ours and yet they are 
 destroyed and forgotten. Corruption overthrew all the nations of 
 the past and now it preys upon us. Here, too, justice falls before 
 political privilege and power. Public office is the reward of party 
 
138 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 service, machine politics dominate our great cities and, unblush- 
 ingly, bribery sits enthroned in our metropolis. Such are the 
 results of four thousand years of painful effort. If these are its 
 achievements, history is an endless round of calamities and 
 human advancement, a sad procession of evils. 
 
 Nearer to our feelings and more closely related to our 
 destinies is the query as to what America may do to satisfy the 
 universal longing for justice. There is no panacea that will right 
 all wjongs. Utopian schemes are vain indeed. To purify the 
 stream we must cleanse the source. To purify politics we must 
 begin at the source of political power, the voters. Our entire 
 system of law, politics and equity springs from this common 
 source. Justice and pure politics are inseparable. Both consist 
 in regard for the rights of others; neither can be attained until 
 men learn to act from higher motives, until al.truism becomes the 
 watchword of the sovereign people. 
 
 The sovereigns of America should be noble rulers — men of 
 heaven-born desires. Perhaps a Benjamin Franklin, devoting 
 himself to the welfare of the nation, or a Washington, refusing 
 reward for serving his country, or a Lincoln, resolved in the 
 defense of truth to rise or fall — perhaps these are our rulers. 
 Alas ! they are not. They are only thrifty farmers voting for a 
 protective duty on wool. They are simply industrious artisans 
 inquiring how they can use their political power to profit them- 
 selves. In pursuing their own gain, by political means, they 
 incidentally direct the government. Such are the petty sovereigns 
 who rule America. 
 
 But sordid motives can never dominate noble men. Here 
 and there is one who votes for his country's welfare. He is a 
 man with an unselfish purpose, a true patriot. Hundreds are 
 ready to die for their country; but here is one who lives for his 
 country. On the battlefield, impelled by a frenzy of anger and 
 excitement, he who dies for the state deserves the gratitude of his 
 countrymeti; but he who lives for the state, surrounded by no halo 
 of glory, and impelled by no excitement, is more truly great and 
 noble. When the people rise to this standard of patriotism, then 
 we can solve the problem of good government. Justice, when 
 once firmly rooted in the personal character of the people, will 
 bear abundant fruits in every sphere of life. 
 
POLITICAL ALTRUISM. 1-39 
 
 If we use political power to secure our own personal interests, 
 we must expect our representatives to use theirs for the same end. 
 The duty of a congressman to serve his country is no more sacred 
 than that of a private citizen. Public honor springs only from 
 private virtue, and while the people vote from selfish principles, 
 while politicians appeal mainly to sordid motives, so long will city 
 councilmen sell their votes, and great corporations rob the masses 
 by means of favoring legislation which is purchased and paid for. 
 If ever we would have true patriots in office, we must be true 
 patriots ourselves. If we want altruism in legislation, we must 
 have altruism at the ballot box. 
 
 National character is but the sum of individual characters, 
 and public wrong but the aggregate of personal vice. Every evil 
 in American politics today is traceable directly to the false ethics 
 of the people. We abhor public injustice or corruption, and yet 
 we take no pains to correct the popular notions from which they 
 spring. If congessmen swell the appropriations in order to make 
 sure of re-election, there is an outcry against legislative extrava- 
 gance, but the insatiable greed of the people for office renders 
 civil service reform impossible. If a few senators sell out to the 
 steel trust it is a national disgrace, but thousands of men may sell 
 their votes to ward politicians and pass unnoticed. When the 
 government breaks a treaty with China or passes a Geary Act, it 
 is a shameful exhibition of race prejudice, but southern mobs may 
 kill and plunder the negroes with impunity, and the murder of the 
 Italian prisoners in New Orleans is called "summary justice." 
 The awful fact is that our politics, corrupt as they are, truly 
 represent the people. 
 
 Any attempt to reform the people by means of legislation is 
 vain. The government is not responsible for popular ethics; on 
 the contrary, popular ethics are responsible for the government — 
 it is their creature. Happily for America, her political system is 
 representative. Let us never see the day when this government 
 shall be able to enforce morality by arbitrary power. May sham 
 virtue never be raised upon the ruins of individual liberty ! When 
 the morals depend upon the caprices of domestic power, they 
 cease to be a virtue. Great indeed are the evils of our times, but 
 let us have vice in a progressive people capable of reform, rather 
 than false virtue imposed by absolute power upon a servile and 
 degraded race. 
 
I40 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 The true patriot does not denounce the government, but 
 endeavers to reform the people. He votes for his country's 
 welfare and loves the government as he does the flag. In it he 
 sees the handiwork of Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson. It 
 stands for the prayers and sufferings of Valley Forge, for the blood 
 of Bunker Hill and Gettysburg. It is a monument to the heroism 
 of Joseph Warren and Commodore Perry. As the noblest product 
 of modern thought and effort, it commemorates every deed of 
 American valor. To curse this government is utterly base and 
 dishonorable. What America demands is not the denunciation of 
 her noblest achievements, but the reform of her political ethics. 
 
 Is this not possible ? Altruism in politics is not a visionary 
 ideal; the people are capable of acting from higher motives. The 
 mainspring of human action is indeed self-interest, but so long as 
 men intermingle, while civilized society exists, the welfare of man 
 will depend mainly upon the welfare of his fellow-men. Hence 
 the highest expression of true self-interest is altruism. The surest 
 way to obtain happiness is to strive for the happiness of others, 
 and the only way to establish justice and secure one's own rights 
 is to recognize and defend the rights of others. Altruism, there- 
 fore, in its broadest sense, is the very fundamental principle of 
 ■jood government. It consists not in wild abandonment to 
 fanciful ideals, but in the suppression of selfish and ruinous 
 desires for immediate gain. It is possible. It is necessary. 
 
 The problem of government in America today is a problem of 
 political ethics. The struggle between justice and injustice, honor 
 and corruption, is but a part of the universal conflict between 
 right and wrong, and threatening evils can only be removed by 
 elevating the people and inspiring in them a feeling of real solici- 
 tude for the welfare of the nation. When we recognize this duty 
 of man to man, when we make altruism an active force in our 
 public life, then the pitiful cry of humanity for justice, the cry 
 which breaks from the lips of the African slave and the Siberian 
 exile, the cry which goes up from the slums of London and the 
 plains of Cuba, will find its answer in America. The sad proces 
 sion of history with its wars and oppressions, with its fruitless 
 sacrifices and its never ending pain, will have become the 
 triumphal march of manifold justice under the Stars and Stripes. 
 
EUGENE MARSHALL 
 
Eugene Marshall. 
 
 Eugene Marshall was born in the city of Detroit, November 
 26, 1880. He prepared for college at the high school of that city, 
 from which he was graduated in June, 1900. In the fall of the same 
 year he entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan, 
 and expects to receive his degree in June, 1903. 
 
 He has been interested in oratory ever since he began his high 
 school course. In r898 he won the right to represent the Detroit 
 high school in the annual contest of the Peninsular League. In 
 this contest, in which representatives from seven of the strongest 
 high schools of the lower peninsula participated, Mr. Marshall 
 received second honor. The following year he was a member of 
 the high school debating team which defeated Orchard Lake 
 Military Academy. 
 
 Three years in succession after entering the University, Mr. 
 Marshall won the right to represent the Law Class of 1903 in the 
 annual University Oratorical Contest. March 13, 1903, he won 
 first honors in the University over all competitors, and was awarded 
 the Chicago Alumni Medal and their testimonial of ;?7S.oo. He 
 thus became Michigan's representative in the annual contest of the 
 Northern Oratorical League. In this contest, held at Minneapolis, 
 Minnesota, May i, 1903, Mr. Marshall won second honor and the 
 Lowden Testimonial of $50.00. 
 
 His success has opened many opportunities to him, while yet 
 a collegian, for public addresses, notably the addresses given 
 before the colored societies of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the one 
 before the graduating class of the Alpena, Michigan, high school. 
 
 As a speaker he is vigorous, direct, and persuasive. He 
 possesses a voice of wonderful depth, power, and flexibility. 
 Assiduous training has given him thorough command of every part 
 of its wide range. His native earnestness and sincerity add the 
 vital element which always commands attention. 
 
142 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 HAMILTON AND THE CONSTITUTION. 
 By Eugene Marshall. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in 1903 at the University of Michigan, and second in the 
 Northern Oratorical League. In the former contest Mr. Marshall was ranked third in 
 Thought and Composition and first in Delivery; in the League contest second in Thought 
 and Composition and second in Delivery.] 
 
 Stability of government is essential to the preservation of 
 liberty. Without a substantial administration to crown the suc- 
 cess of a revolution, law and liberty degenerate into anarchy and 
 despotism. With brilliant eloquence, a Castellar may rouse the 
 people to action, with broadsword and battleax, a Cromwell may 
 overthrow the absolutism of tyrants, but after the din and crash 
 of arms have ceased, the statesman must be summoned to con- 
 struct a government superior to that which has been destroyed. 
 Just as the Italian revolution brought forth Cavour and the birth 
 of the Dutch republic evolved William of Orange, so the war for 
 American independence produced a character whose brilliant 
 struggle for the preservation of republican institutions created a 
 nationality, and whose efforts to construct a strong, centralized 
 government, were most potent factors in establishing the republic 
 of the United States. That man was Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 At the close of the Revolutionary War the political condition 
 of this country was deplorable. The treasury was empty, the 
 army demoralized, the commerce ruined, the government an 
 object of contempt among the nations of Europe. Congress had 
 neither the support nor the confidence of the people. Public 
 credit was debased by a worthless paper currency. States which 
 had formed a phalanx against Great Britain were at war with each 
 other, while poverty and disorder were driving them into open 
 rebellion with the general government. 
 
 The primary cause of this condition was the inability of the 
 Confederation to govern the thirteen original states. Though 
 called the "United States," they were, in the words of Washing- 
 ton, "one nation today and thirteen tomorrow." Congress could 
 borrow money but could not repay it; it could declare war but 
 could not levy troops; it could make treaties but could not enforce 
 them; in reality, the Confederation was no more than a makeshift 
 for a government. When the bonds of English tyranny were 
 broken, the colonies thought their work was finished; but there 
 still remained for solution one of the most diflficult problems in 
 
HAMILTON AND THE CONSTITUTION. I43 
 
 Statesmanship that history has ever presented, that of building a 
 government of states in the midst of provincial chaos, and endow- 
 ing it with all of the elements of enduring life and imperial power. 
 Such was the condition of America when the political career of 
 Alexander Hamilton began. 
 
 Never has the world beheld a higher type of constructive 
 statesman than Alexander Hamilton. Although a mere youth 
 when he entered political life, his extraordinary abilities raised 
 him to a prominent position among the men of his time. Instead 
 of being moved by the sectional spirit that influenced Hancock, 
 Adams and Randolph, Hamilton was imbued with the idea of 
 nationalism. He saw that there was a greater task to be accom- 
 plished than that of promoting the interests of individual states. 
 It was the establishment of a strong, centralized government. 
 Without an institution capable of protecting the liberties of the 
 masses of the people, what would become of the fruits of the 
 American Revolution? How long would the tottering Confedera 
 tion guard the rights and privileges of the people? Would states 
 envious and jealous of each other support a national militia, create 
 a national credit or develop a national commerce? What the 
 colonies needed was a government which should rest upon the 
 consent of the governed and be strong enough to curb the power 
 of the states. Long before the Confederation began to crumble, 
 Hamilton was preparing to supplant it by a strong, centralized 
 government. He had heard the ablest men of his time discuss its 
 feasibility. He had studied the best governments of Europe and 
 the adaption of their systems to America. By his writings and 
 speeches he had schooled his countrymen in the doctrines of 
 republicanism, and when the hour came for America to choose 
 either a constitutional republic, plastic beneath the influence of 
 popular passion, or a democracy, turbulent, excitable and uncon- 
 trollable, this powerful advocate of constitutional liberty entered 
 the political arena to grapple with the doctrine of State Rights, 
 and to wrest from the hands of thirteen jealous states enough 
 power to build a federal union. 
 
 We, who live under the benign influence of the Constitution, 
 seldom think of the opposition directed against it one hundred 
 years ago. When that immortal document was presented to the 
 ])eople of the several states, they did not receive it as a master- 
 piece of statecraft. They were human, excitable, and suspicious 
 
144 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 of the true character of its provisions. Fearing that it was drafted 
 solely to rob them of their liberty, they did not hesitate to employ 
 any means to prevent its ratification. Howling mobs burned 
 copies of it on Boston Common. News of its adoption by leading 
 states was followed by wild demonstrations and violent party 
 encounters. In Pennsylvania it was denounced as the handiwork 
 of political knaves. In Virginia it was ranked with the Stamp 
 Act and the Boston Port Bill. But of all the states which opposed 
 its adoption none offered a more stubborn resistance than New 
 York. Only seven states had ratified the Constitution when the 
 Poughkeepsie Convention was called. New York became the 
 pivotal point in the contest, and when Hamilton boldly declared 
 that he "would storm the citadel of the opposition and make it a 
 bulwark for the defense of the Constitution," excitement grew 
 intense. Conscious of the importance of that convention, every 
 state from Massachusetts to Georgia watched with restless expec- 
 tency the coming conflict. 
 
 On the morning of June 22d, 1788, the long expected struggle 
 begins. It is a spectacle grand and inspiring. The convention 
 is thronged with eager spectators, but as Hamilton rises to address 
 the assembly a profound stillness reigns. Courage and determi- 
 nation are written in every line of his countenance. His flashing 
 eye denotes nervous energy and firm resolve, while his dignified 
 bearing commands instant attention. Before him sits Governor 
 Clmton, firm and energetic. On the right, the powerful Anti- 
 Federalist, Melanchon Smith. On the left, a hundred delegates 
 pledged to defeat Hamilton at any cost. Behind him a mere 
 handful of Federalists. It is a contest where the political power 
 of a state is directed against the spirit and eloquence of a single 
 man. For. two weeks the great debate rages without the change 
 of a single vote. Time and again Hamilton charges the opposing 
 forces only to be beaten back by an overwhelming majority. 
 When the last day of the convention arrives, every town and 
 hamlet in New York is awaiting the news of the convention. Will 
 Hamilion fail? Will New York ratify the Constitution or will 
 America add one more to the long list of fallen republics? These 
 are the questions to be settled. But undaunted by the forces 
 arrayed against him, the "Little Lion" makes his final attack 
 upon the unbroken lines of the Anti-Federalists. 
 
 Hamilton shows the necessity for the constitution by describ- 
 gin the condition of the country under the Confederation. To 
 
HAMILTON AND THE CONSTITUTION. 1 45 
 
 the charge that the large states would coerce the smaller ones, he 
 says: "That doctrine is the maddest political folly ever con- 
 ceived. It never has been and never can be exercised over an 
 enlightened people." A plea for a conservative upper house 
 meets the claim that the Senate would be aristocratic. Hear him 
 refute the charge that the instrument has monarchial features: 
 "Sirs, can it be supposed that the Senate will become the 
 oppressors of the people! Will they combine to destroy the liber- 
 ties and happiness of their fellow citizens! God forbid! The 
 idea is shocking! It outrages every feeling of humanity!" With 
 consumate skill he opposes the fallacy that two supreme powers, 
 one state and the other national, can exist, and when he has dem- 
 onstrated the evils in the doctrine ot State Rights, Hamilton 
 closes with these words: "As too much power leads to despotism, 
 too little leads to anarchy. The states cannot lose their liberty 
 until the people are robbed of theirs. They must go together. 
 They must support each other or the life, the liberty, the very 
 existence of three million people is endangered." The effort is 
 heroic; the effect startling. The leader of the Anti Federalists 
 openly acknowledges defeat, the entire opposition follow his 
 example, and with the cry, "Long live the Constitution!" 
 sweeping over the assembly, the debate closes with the convention 
 in the hands of the " Colossus of the Constitution." 
 
 What was the effect of this victory? It inaugurated a new 
 era in our political life. It silenced the cries of the Anti-Federal- 
 ists for State Rights. It supplanted the tottering Confederation 
 by the most progressive government of modern times. It rallied 
 the remaining states to the new federation, and when the dawning 
 light of the new century broke over the colonies, the world saw, 
 slowly rising from the ruins of ages of political experiment, the 
 Federal Constitution, poweiful, flexible and progressive — a govern- 
 ment of the people, by the people, and for the people. 
 
 But the influence of Hamilton was not limited to the walls oi" 
 constitutional conventions. It had a more lasting and far-reaching 
 effect. It made us a nation. It made us Americans. Before the 
 advent of Hamilton, every commonwealth was struggling to pro- 
 mote its individual interests. Some sections would have reduced 
 the country to a state of anarchy in order that they might be 
 strong and prosperous. Even Patrick Henry and John Randolph 
 had not yet learned to look beyond the boundaries of their own 
 
146 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 State, while Jefferson declared that the establishment of a central- 
 ized government would be the destruction of popular liberty. 
 Hamilton taught the people the broader and nobler idea of union. 
 He showed them that under a constitutional government their 
 liberties would be more secure, their credit more stable, their 
 internal affairs better regulated, and their rights and privileges 
 better protected. And from the hour that the Constitution went 
 into effect, America ceased to be thirteen states, envious and 
 jealous of one another, and became the great republic of the 
 United States. 
 
 The greatness of Hamilton's achievement is written on every 
 page of American history. His explanation of the fundamental 
 principles of the Constitution cleared a pathway for the growth of 
 the new republic. It gave Clay the foundation for his Compro- 
 mises. It furnished Webster the thunderbolts to hurl against 
 Secession. It made Lincoln a tower of strength during the 
 Rebellion. It guides every court and legislative assembly today, 
 while Hamilton, honored by the nobility of his mission, glorified 
 by the brilliancy of his victories, and crowned by the permanency 
 of the institutions he established, stands foremost among the 
 world's great statesmen as the man who founded a- strong central- 
 ized government upon the eternal principles of Free Conscience 
 and Free Speech. 
 
 Time may hush into silence the masterful eloquence of 
 Hamilton, centuries of human events may wrap in obscurity his 
 record as a soldier, future generations may forget his brilliant 
 administration of the treasury, but the memory of his defense of 
 the Constitution will never pass from the minds of men. For as 
 long as the Constitution shall guard the liberties of the American 
 people, as long as the brilliant struggle to secure its adoption 
 shall illumine the annals of the Revolutionary era, history will 
 ever make this attestation: That in the dawning hour of the 
 struggle, when the American commonwealth wore the yoke of 
 English tyranny, it was the inspired eloquence and impassioned 
 utterance of Henry in defense of American liberty that shook the 
 throne of England; that in the darkest hour of the contest, when 
 the horrors and sufferings of Valley Forge had cast a gloom over 
 the nation, it was the sword of Washington that turned the tide of 
 disaster and revived the shattered hopes of the colonists; but when 
 the war was over and America called for a statesman to uproot 
 
NATIONAL DANGER IN MODERN INDUSTRIALISM. I47 
 
 sectionalism, unite the discordant elements of the nation in a 
 common cause, and crown the victories of Saratoga and Yorktown 
 with a strong, centralized government, the man who answered the 
 call and gave to the American people that powerful fabric of 
 government, the Federal Constitution, was the peerless orator, 
 the valiant soldier, the incomparable statesman, Alexander 
 Hamilton. 
 
 NATIONAL DANGER IN MODERN INDUSTRIALISM. 
 By Edward Sonnenschein. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration, 1903, marked second in Thought and Composition and 
 fourth in Delivery]. 
 
 We are in the midst of a great industrial movement. The 
 productive forces are being massed upon a scale undreamed of in 
 the past. What is its significance ? 
 
 Capital is today concentrating into vast corporations; labor is 
 organizing trades unions into gigantic federations of workers. 
 This change embraces an economic upheaval, as a stimulus to 
 industrial efficiency, second only to the introduction of machinery. 
 It includes a social revolution in which the identity of the individ- 
 ual is lost in the organization; the man becomes but a cog in a 
 great industrial machine upon whose lever rests the silent hand of 
 an unseen corporation. Government and law are beginning to 
 feel the enormous influence of concentrated capital. World 
 markets and the livelihood of myriads are dependent upon its 
 will. Prices and products are subject to its caprice and whim. 
 On the other hand, organized labor, by a general strike, can 
 cripple the country's industries, stop production, clog traffic, and 
 bring untold loss and hardship to the public. But great as are 
 these evils, far-reaching and powerful as is their influence, the 
 most alarming danger to the republic lies in a still more vital phase 
 of the industrial movement. The pregnant fact of this process of 
 concentration is its tendency more sharply to demarcate industrial 
 classes; to dwarf the middle class, the strength and sinew of 
 democracy; to marshal society into hostile camps, the employers 
 and the employed; and to make possible the day when the brawn 
 and skill of organized labor and the brains and gold of corporate 
 capital shall be arrayed against each other in political opposition. 
 No longer a conflict amid the grime and din of the factory for an 
 
148 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 equitable division of product, but a struggle to be fought at the 
 hustings and the polls for governmental control. 
 
 Increasing concentration must inevitably accentuate diver- 
 gence in the interests of labor and capital; and as these become 
 better organized the strife between them will grow bitter and inex- 
 orable; the incentive for both to use every weapon within their 
 reach, potent and irresistible. It is the lesson of experience. 
 And as the battle gathers strength, the clash of economic interests 
 tends to engender an industrial welfare from which to political 
 conflict is but a short and a logical step. Even today the industrial 
 atmosphere is heavy with the distant rumble of a coming storm, the 
 sign and omen of a threatening change in the nature and function 
 of our political organization. 
 
 Today capital invokes the aid of government to suppress 
 strikes and boycotts. Labor appeals to government to abolish 
 the right of injunction. Capital bands together to secure the 
 advancement of men and measures that will further its interests; 
 labor supports candidates pledged to inaugurate industrial reforms. 
 The great parties even now pursue policies and adopt platforms 
 ostensibly favorable to the interests of one class as opposed to those 
 of the other. But deeper, clearer, and more significant notes of 
 warning ring out above the stir and bustle of commerce. Listen to 
 the voice of the Illinois Federation of Labor as it forbids the four 
 hundred thousand union men under its jurisdiction to join the 
 militia, serve the flag, and preserve law and order when called 
 upon by the state. Why? Because it believes that government 
 employs its power against labor and for capital; because industrial 
 interests are beginning to color political relations, and to give aim 
 and purpose to governmental functions. What will be the out- 
 come of this tendency ? 
 
 Capital has always had the upper hand, and against it labor has 
 used the most effective means available. Rebellion, riot, destruc- 
 tion of machinery, the strike, and the boycott are all stages in the 
 development of labor's weapons. Bu-t the march of the centuries 
 is the rhythm of advancing law and order. Labor today strives 
 to attain its ends through legal means; and, as with better organi- 
 zation comes the full consciousness of its voting strength, 
 what is more reasonable, more in harmony with precedent and 
 the spirit of the age than for labor to employ its political power 
 to wrest desired concessions from capital? At first it may 
 
NATIONAL DANGER IN MODERN INDUSTRIALISM. 149 
 
 merely attempt to hold a balance of power between the great 
 parties; but soon, impatient of half-way measures, it will form 
 a party devoted exclusively to the interests of labor; a political 
 party whose fundamental object shall be to make government 
 the instrument of a class. Then in some period of great indus- 
 trial depression, when the hand of want bears heavily upon the 
 poor and the cry for bread rings through the land, the time will be 
 ripe and the forces at hand to turn a political democracy into an 
 oligarchy subservient to capital, or a socialistic government 
 devoted to the interests of labor. 
 
 Picture to yourself the conditions attendent upon a national 
 election at such a moment. The hungering masses, conscious of 
 their voting strength, can with their ballots storm the citadels of 
 law and legal privilege which shelter capital and vested rights. 
 Hear a workman cry that men are not free and equal when a few 
 gigantic corporations hold the power of life and death over the 
 people; hear him urge the election of legislatures which shall 
 sweep away the barrier of injustice and the mockery of law behind 
 which crouch these corporations that give one man millions and 
 another a crust; hear him demand that government wrest from 
 capital the wealth created by the brawn and sweat of labor, return 
 it to the toiling masses who produced it, and by its mandate 
 inaugurate industrial equality. Hear him answered by a statesman 
 demonstrating that rash measures born of blind class hatred will 
 plunge both government and people into misery and ruin; pleading 
 for moderation, reverence for the constitution, respect for vested 
 rights, faith in the power and purpose of government to ameliorate 
 conditions by slow and gradual change. Which course will the 
 angry sullen masses choose? Will they weigh the sanctity of our 
 institutions against an ounce of bread ? What significance have 
 theories of law to men whose children starve? 
 
 If all the powers of despotic monarchy were arrayed on the 
 side of capital; if the abstract arguments of property rights were 
 enforced by cannon and musketry; if conservatism and moderation 
 spoke with the lips of inspired eloquence, in such a crisis the 
 restraining fabric of law and .government would be destroyed. 
 How much more certain the result when to accomplish it requires 
 but the marking of a ballot ! 
 
 The will of the majority, expressed at the polls, may be 
 unheeded. Capital, secure in its control of government, may 
 
150 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 refuse to abdicate its power. The masses, hopeless then of aid 
 from constituted a!uthority, in very defense of. the principles of 
 democracy, would resort to force, and settle the question of 
 supremacy with blood and bayonets. If, on the other hand, the 
 voice of the people were obeyed, they would inaugurate a govern- 
 ment of inexperienced men devoted to the interests of a class, 
 which, like the national assembly in its feverish attempts at reform, 
 would render all property unstable, paralyze industry, and cause 
 such a state of confusion, lawlessness, ruin, and misery that 
 society would welcome the iron rule of a dictator. In either case 
 our government would be shaken to its very foundations, if not 
 shattered. We would face a conflict not of political principles, 
 as was the Civil War; not a struggle of North against South, or 
 East against West, but a war of classes struggling to control gov- 
 ernment for class interests, with battles fought in every village and 
 hamlet throughout the land. It is the greatest danger which our 
 nation can ever face, the supreme test of our democracy. 
 
 The nation needs support at other times than when the trum- 
 pet sounds. Patriotism is not alone a matter of bravery and 
 martial courage. It is seen in obedience to law and in civic 
 endeavor as well as in the camp, on the march, and in the field. 
 The same spirit which kindled the spark of liberty till it became a 
 flame encircling the globe; the same loyalty to principle which 
 enfranchised four million bondsmen and glorified personal and 
 political equality; the same devotion to duty which left American 
 dead on Cuban soil is needed now. The nation calls for men 
 today as when Fort Sumter fell. A danger threatens us. The 
 growing tendency toward class demarcation and political conflict, 
 if unchecked, will end in anarchy or despotism. The industrial 
 problem must be solved. 
 
 The educated men of the country must solve it. You have 
 the strength, you must bear the burden. Your duty it is to initiate 
 reform, to mold and guide public opinion. You must demand 
 that government enter the industrial field and curb the wayward 
 tendencies of both labor and capital. - You must give no foothold 
 .to political factions, and must remove the occasion for separate 
 labor parties by remodeling the great parties of today so that they 
 shall challenge support from all alike through honest efforts to 
 meet industrial needs. You must force statesmen and political 
 leaders to evolve such laws regulating the organization and man 
 
NATIONAL DANGER IN MODERN INDUSTRIALISM. 151 
 
 agement of corporations that the great body of the people will 
 invest in them their savings, and thus become directly interested 
 in the maintenance of order and the preservation of vested rights. 
 You must resort to every means — the school, the press, the church 
 — to weld labor and capital together, teach them their interdepen- 
 dence, substitute confidence for distrust and cooperation for 
 hostility, stimulate their common interest in the industrial future 
 of their common country. And you must do more. You must 
 educate and enlighten the great common people, upon whose 
 sanity and judgment, patriotism and conservatism must, in the last 
 analysis, rest the fate of democratic government. Therein lies the 
 remedy. 
 
 Political reform, popular education, the union of labor and 
 capital, will arrest the evil tendencies of the present industrial 
 movement, its alienation of economic groups and fostering of 
 political classes, and still retain and use for national advancement, 
 its increased efficiency, its corporate capital, and organized labor. 
 These means will avert the crisis, destroy the danger which over- 
 threw the dynasties of the old regime, make government truly an 
 instrument of the whole people, seeking the welfare and resting 
 upon the support of all. It will be the greatest triumph of free 
 government which the world has ever seen, a demonstration that 
 the undying words of Jefferson and the legacy of the Constitutional 
 Convention, that Valley Forge, and Gettysburg, and El Caney 
 were not in vain. 
 
 That we shall succeed in this endeavor we cannot but believe. 
 We must have faith in a nation whose people have responded to 
 every crisis, whose masses have successfully met every danger as 
 it appeared. Born in the throes of a revolution for freedom, 
 purged of slavery, and welded into union in the fire of civil war, 
 this nation is reserved for a high mission — to preach to the world 
 the message of democracy uniting the interests of labor and 
 capital. 
 
152 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 THE ANGLO-SAXON. 
 By Francis W. Balcomb. 
 
 [This Oration received first rank in Thought and Composition and fifth in Delivery 
 in 1903]. 
 
 The history of the world is the story of its dominant races. 
 One by one they have appeared, each advancing some fundamental 
 idea. Then, having fulfiUtd its mission, the race has passed, but 
 its influence has remained. Of these dominant races three are 
 preeminent: the Jewish, which evolved relgion; the Grecian, 
 which advanced representative government; and the Roman, 
 which enforced law. And today these basic factors of stability, 
 progress, and perpetuity unite to characterize the dominant Anglo- 
 Saxon race. 
 
 I. Through its Aryan ancestors, this race dates its origin far 
 into the twilight of history. From this twilight it emerged in 
 northern Europe. The isolation of the vast Germanic forest 
 encouraged self reliance. The long and rigorous winters devel- 
 oped endurance. The mountains, swept by storm and crested 
 with snow, inspired lofty virtue and sturdy independence. To 
 preserve its ideal of home, of political equality, and of religious 
 freedom, again and again it beat back the invading hosts which 
 threatened its existence. 
 
 The first of these perils came when the Roman legions crossed 
 the Rhine. From the storied mounds of Babylon to the Albion 
 clifts, where beat the stormy Atlantic, they were supreme. Every- 
 where the native heart ceased beating at sight of those imperial 
 eagles. But at the call of Arminius, his rallying countrymen piled 
 the shades of the Teutoburg Forest with slain, and the banners of 
 all-conquering Rome never again crossed the Rhine. 
 
 The next danger came from the arid plains of Asia. The 
 wild Scythian hordes, massed in one gigantic column, moved 
 westward. Before them was terror, behind them desolation. 
 Bursting through the passes of the Alps, an avalanche, they 
 poured upon the plains below. Immovable as the rock of Gibral- 
 ter stood the Saxon. Retreat he could not. Surrender he would 
 not. Conquer he must and did. 
 
 But another conflict was gathering. In far-off Arabia a new 
 prophet was teaching the religion of the sword. This transformed 
 the children of the desert into an army of fanatics. Their swords 
 
THE ANGLO-SAXON. I53 
 
 proselyted Asia. Their hosts swept across Africa. A simoon, 
 they crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and the clouds darkened 
 Europe. Then ensued the struggle between the Cross and the 
 Crescent, the Saxon and the Saracen, the Christian and the 
 Moslem. It was the meeting of storms, the clash of tempests, the 
 shock of thunderbolts— the battle for world-supremacy, the con- 
 trol of modern society and progress. But the storm-clouds from 
 the desert fell away in broken cohorts before the Northern blasts. 
 The thunders of conflict died away beyond the Pyrenees Mountains. 
 The race was saved — saved from Oriental stagnation; saved to 
 develop the new civilization; saved to foster Christianity, the 
 golden bond of brotherhood. 
 
 II. No more was this race to be menaced by outward foes. 
 Transplanted to his island home, the Anglo-Saxon breathed the 
 freedom of the ocean wind. In this sea girt cradle he felt the 
 pulse-beat of humanity in the sweep of the tides. Following the 
 path of the vagrant storms, his influence passed from ocean to 
 ocean. But those principles which make this influence valuable 
 were yet to be vindicated. Freedom of conscience was denied, 
 political liberty unknown, and chattel slavery the foundation of 
 the industrial system. 
 
 Through greed of power and wealth popes made of religion a 
 despotism. To the Anglo-Saxon this was intolerable. His prin- 
 ciple of equality of man impelled him to recognize individual 
 responsibility to God. But conceptions of truth in the uncertain 
 light of dawn are vague and imperfect. It remained for H^estward 
 winds to waft the Mayflower to a new harbor; it remained for the 
 Puritan to found a state upon the sterile soil of New England; it 
 remained for the latest sons of this race to establish the sovereign- 
 ty of conscience. 
 
 Coeval with this struggle for religious freedom was that for 
 political freedom. The heresy of "the Divine Right of kings'' 
 received its death-blow at Runnymede and Naseby. But the men 
 who gained those victories could only dethrone their king; they 
 could not crown themselves. It remained for the men of '76, the 
 embattled farmers on the greensward of Lexington, to "fire the 
 shot heard round the world." Cromwell's Ironsides sleep their 
 dreamless sleep, but the principles for which they battled move 
 ever onward. These principles are not local, but universal; not 
 temporal, but eternal. And in this country, under a new flag, they 
 established equality Equality of wealth? No Equality of 
 
154 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 influence or position ? No. Equality of energy, or capacity, or 
 reward? No, not these; but equality of privilege. To every man 
 a chance to worship his God unmolested; a chance to provide for 
 his family, and dwell in the home which he builds; a chance to 
 share in his government, and know that so long as these principles 
 control injustice will be righted, corruption removed, and prosper- 
 ity advanced. 
 
 But, in spite of this boasted equality, the race still demanded 
 chattel slavery. Strange to contemplate that men who would die 
 for freedom saw no wrong in enslaving their fellowmen. Wilber- 
 force across the water. Garrison and Phillips at Boston, and 
 Lovejoy keeping sentinel watch beside the Mississippi, were 
 heralds proclaiming the approaching day. The contest was 
 world-wide. It was a struggle not alone to liberate four million 
 slaves, not alone to perpetuate this Union; but it was a struggle to 
 uplift all men who toil, and to advance representative government 
 everywhere. The crisis was precipitated in America. Here a slave 
 empire was founding. Here money was placed above manhood. 
 Here the clash of words ended in the din of battle, and the nations 
 were startled by the drum-beat and the bugle- call. The decisive 
 struggle was the Civil War, and the death-grapple was when two 
 mighty armies met in the throes of mortal combat at Gettysburg. 
 The battle smoke hung like a pall over the awful tragedy. The 
 hills trembled with the tumult. The world stood breathless. But 
 the hand that guides the destiny of nations rolled the storm-clouds 
 away. Slavery was destro^'ed forever, and, floating serenely in 
 the heavens, was the "old flag, not a stripe erased or polluted, 
 nor a single star obscured." 
 
 HI. These struggles of the past were not in vain. The 
 principles, which have been secured through storm and stress, are 
 embodied in the lives of the people. They are united to the race 
 inseparably by the memories of a hundred battlefields. They are 
 the charter of our freedom, sealed with our fathers' blood, hallowed 
 by our mothers' tears. Through these principles the race has 
 reached world-leadership, and by them must preserve freedom of 
 competition, foster private enterprises, and enforce international 
 arbitration. 
 
 These factors stand at the portals of progress. Competition 
 has ever spurred men to achieve, to conquer the forces of nature, 
 to readjust social conditions. Through cooperation, this force is 
 being lifted to a higher plane; its field is being widened by business 
 
THE ANGLO-SAXON. 155 
 
 combinations. Political boundaries are losing significance. Its 
 influence is not only national, it is world-wide. Controlled by 
 law and imbued with the spirit of fraternity, competition is a 
 powerful factor in industrial development. 
 
 Aiding this development, the shuttles of commerce arc weav- 
 ing the nations together. Trade is removing local prejudice, 
 obliterating race distinctions, and hastening world-federation. 
 But the moving power, working through these agencies, is reward 
 for private efforts. But for this incentive, unreaped the golden 
 harvests, vanished the white-winged fleets, silent the roar of indus- 
 try; but for this incentive, hushed the hum of the printing press, 
 unreared these temples of learning, and wrapped in shadowy 
 dreams this mighty civilization. Better the whirlwind of compe- 
 tition, based upon private enterprise than paternal governments 
 or socialistic dreams. 
 
 Competition and cooperation unite to secure international 
 arbitration. The spread of the English language, customs, and 
 laws makes this possible. Peace conferences are advancing mutual 
 interest, common fellowship, and national comity. Famine, 
 pestilence, and devastation are being removed. No more shall 
 war be the sport of kings. No more shall armies and navies be 
 the arbiters of justice. No more shall ignorance, jealousy and 
 greed incite to violence and bloodshed. The mission of the 
 Anglo-Saxon is to seek peace, not strife; to promote the general 
 good, not to pursue selfish ends; to draw all nations together, not 
 to found a world-empire. This is the leadership for which his 
 struggles prepared him, for which his principles adapt him, for 
 which his position qualifies him. Directed by an enlightened 
 conscience, he will establish peace between labor and capital. 
 Led by the hand of the master, he will lift from humanity the 
 burden of its woes. Guided by the star of justice, he will make 
 the Golden Rule strong enough to hold the nations in harmony 
 and broad enough to incluiie all mankind. 
 
 The Anglo Saxon race is a great sovereign intelligence, swept 
 by hurricanes of passion, moved by depths of emotion, and carried 
 along by currents of energy, boundless, resistless, sweeping the 
 way of destiny. Controlled by principles of eternal truth, it can 
 never go down to voiceless silence. As long as other races need 
 an example, as long as tyranny exists in any corner of the earth, 
 as long as ignorence dwarfs the mind and superstition darkens the 
 soul, so long shall the race endure. It shall endure to vindicate 
 
156 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 liberty, jlistice, and truth; it shall endure to remove idleness, 
 oppression, and crime; it shall endure to advance the reign of law, 
 to guard the rewards of private enterprise, to usher in universal 
 brotherhood. When this is accomplished, the epic poem of the 
 race will be complete, the Star of the East will again herald peace 
 and good-will, and the bugles of conscience will sound the truce 
 of God. 
 
JAMES FLOYD HALLIDAY 
 
James Floyd Halliday. 
 
 James Floyd Halliday was born at Vienna, Michigan, in 1878. 
 He prepared for college in the public schools of that place and at 
 the High Schools of Flushing and Ann Arbor. In 1900 he 
 entered Northwestern University and remained during his Fresh- 
 man year. He then came to the University of Michigan and is 
 now a Senior in the Literary Department. 
 
 He has been a faithful student of the art ot public speaking 
 ever since he entered the University. Besides taking the regular 
 courses of instruction he has participated in many debates in the 
 Adelphi Society and has taken part in three public contests in 
 oratory. In the Junior contest he won third place. In the pre- 
 liminaries leading to the first Hamilton contest he was chosen to 
 represent the University. Of the eight orations submitted by the 
 representatives of as many universities his was one of the four 
 chosen on accoimt of their excellence in thought to be delivered 
 before the Hamilton Club in Chicago. In this contest, held Janu- 
 ary II, 1904, before a brilliant assemblage, the first honor and the 
 testimonial of $100.00 were awarded to Air. Halliday. 
 
 In February, 1904, he was chosen one of the orators of the 
 Senior class, and on March 18 won the University contest. He 
 was awarded the Chicago Alumni Medal and testimonial of 
 $75.00. This honor also entitled him to represent the University 
 in the annual contest of the Northern Oratorical League. In the 
 fourteenth annual contest of this League, held at Ann Arbor May 
 6, 1904, he received third honor. 
 
 Mr. Halliday 's manner on the platform is highly prepossess- 
 ing. He has a strong physique, is modest in bearing and easy in 
 gesture. His voice is excellent in quality, wide of range, well 
 modulated and powerful ; his method is direct, earnest and per- 
 suasive, an excellent example of the polished conversational type 
 of speaker. 
 
158 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 WEBSTER AND THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 By James Floyd Halliday. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in the University of Michigan in 1904; marked first in Thought and 
 Composition and first in Delivery. In the League contest it was ranked second in Thought and 
 Composition aad third in DeUvery.j 
 
 The history of every government is the history of two tre- 
 mendous forces struggling for supremacy. On the one hand — 
 laws, statutes, and creeds : on the other, the moral convictions of 
 the people. The rise or fall of every civil power finds its explana- 
 tion in the comparative harmony or the violent discord of these 
 two forces. I am to speak to you of one of the greatest crises of 
 the American Nation, where these powers grappled in mortal 
 combat ; of a political drama, in which the actors were among the 
 most distinguished statesmen this country has produced. The 
 scene of the drama is the Senate chamber of the United States ; 
 the actors — Webster, Clay and Calhoun ; the audience, the Ameri- 
 can people ; the drama, the preservation of the Union. 
 
 I speak of this drama because I believe the" judgment of his- 
 tory has been unfair to its principal actor; that in the defense of 
 the Compromise of 1850, Webster did not shift his position one 
 iota, but held in all sincerity to the one supreme principle that had 
 become the essence of his life ; that in the first impassioned burst 
 of rage, men failed to recognize this principle ; nor could they, 
 blinded by prejudice, see back of apparent inconsistencies, the 
 great heart of Webster, throbbing for the cause of the Union. 
 This fact makes his political martyrdom one of the saddest events 
 in the atmals of the American Nation. 
 
 Two lofty purposes mark the career of Webster. The one — 
 no concession to slavery. The other, and by far the weightier — the 
 preservation of the Constitution and the Union. In defense of 
 the-ie principles, he faced two momentous crises — crises that were 
 decisive of a Nation's fate. The first was in 1830, when in reply 
 to Hayne, he defended the Union against nullification and seces- 
 sion. A determined enemy of any compromise with slavery, the 
 South recognized in him a bitter and relentless opponent. The 
 second was in 1850, when he delivered his famous "Seventh of 
 March" speech for the Constitution and the Union. For the 
 triumph of 1830, the North could not eulogize him enough. 
 Bards sang his praises and children were taught to lisp the 
 "sacred"' name of Webster. Thousands hailed him "Savior of his 
 Country," and with grateful reverence, turned to him as a true rep- 
 
WEBSTER AND THE COMPROMISE OF 185O. IJg 
 
 resentative of American manhood. For his victory of 1850, cen- 
 sure took the place of eulogy. The triumphant peans of the bards 
 no longer were heard. In the heat of passion, curses and con- 
 tumely were heaped upon him, nor could epithets be found vile 
 enough to characterize him. He was branded a demagogue, a 
 villian, a traitor. I believe that an impartial criticism of the Com- 
 promise of 1850, and of Webster's part in that Compromise, fails 
 to justify any of these accusations. 
 
 In the early history of our country, the two cardinal purposes 
 of Webster's life were harmonious. Both North and South 
 believed that slavery was an evil, and united in upholding the 
 cause of the Union. Gradually, however, through the industrial 
 development of the country, ideas changed, till in 1850 these two 
 principles clashed in deadly conflict. Chief among the forces pre- 
 cipitating the struggle was the Moral Awakening. 
 
 It had been an era of Nationalism. The West, filled with the • 
 spirit of self-assertion and of manifest destiny, had, under Jack- 
 son, emphasized its influence. Humanitarianism was fast becom- 
 ing a potent and determined factor in the lives of the people. 
 Heralded by such men as Lundy and Garrison, this movement 
 had in a short time assumed alarming proportions. The glaring 
 inconsistency of the Declaration of Independence and the Institu- 
 tion of Slavery, had aroused the conscience of the North. Had 
 the clause — "All men are and of a right ought to be free and 
 equal" — become a meaningless jumble of words? Was that com- 
 pact to which they had subscribed to sanction an institution which 
 was the "very sum of human villainy?" In short, was slaverj 
 a national or merely a local institution? The growing sentiment 
 manifested itself in numerous ways. Abolition parties were organ- 
 ized. The Protestant churches became agitators. Home and 
 foreign missionary societies demanded emancipation. The North- 
 ern press teemed with bitter upbraidings of the South. Pro- 
 slavery arguments were scoffed at, and philosophic reasoning gave 
 way to moral conviction. 
 
 The significance of this Moral Awakening is that it was dis- 
 tinctly sectional, and this one fact points to the real cause of the 
 controversy. If it was sectional, what made it so? There could 
 be but one answer. Slavery had made the South peculiar; had 
 swerved her from the channels of National Hfe, and by its wasting 
 and demoralizing effect, had rendered her insensible to other than 
 mere local and selfish impulses. 
 
 Incapable of recognizing the ultimate cause or meaning of 
 
l60 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 this great awakening, the South by strenuous efforts attempted 
 to quell it. Colored preachers were commanded to be silent. 
 Laws were enacted making it a crime to teach the negro to read 
 or write, and still others compelling postmasters to inspect the 
 mails and destroy all incendiary publications. Even these meas- 
 ures were not drastic enough. With one mad cry "the Southern 
 press demanded the gagging of abolitionists by penal laws." The 
 United States had been transformed into two great seething sec- 
 tions. In the year 1850 all realized that a crisis was at hand. The 
 interests of the two sections were diametrically opposed. Com- 
 promise and Civil War were the only alternatives. The issue 
 had become Slavocracy or Union. 
 
 This was the situation when the great triumvirate of gray- 
 haired veterans met for the last time in the National Theatre. 
 There was Clay, the famous Compromiser, haggard and worn, 
 his iron will actually staying the hand of death until he should 
 effect a reconciliation between the North and South. Near him 
 sat Calhoun, "swathed in flannels," anxiously waiting to give his 
 dying testimony. There he sat, the great exponent of slavery, 
 the embodiment of Southern life and thought, realizing that his 
 scheme of government was doomed. Somber as the shadows of 
 the tomb that were fast enshrouding him, he was the personifica- 
 tion of his hopeless cause. And there too was Webster, the other 
 member of the great triumvirate. On the Seventh of March, this 
 mighty champion of the North appeared to plead once more for 
 the Constitution and the Union. The North fully alive to the 
 great moral agitation was confident and hopeful ; the South fear- 
 ful, yet determined. Webster recognized that the principles he 
 had stood for in 1830 were in violent conflict. He determmed to 
 sacrifice the lesser. Could any act have been more statesmanlike ? 
 
 The first sentence of that memorable speech is familiar to 
 every nne — "I wish to speak to-day not as a Massachusetts man, 
 nor as a Northern man, but as an American. I speak to-day for 
 the preservation of the Union. Hear me for my cause." With 
 the skill of a mind trained by experience in matters of diplomacy, 
 he reviewed the terms of the Compromise offered by Clay ana 
 sanctioned them without an exception. He declared that in the 
 abandonment of the Wilmot proviso for the territories of Utah 
 and New Mexico, the North was sacrificing nothing to the South, 
 since, "by the law of Nature, of physical geography, the law of 
 the formation of the earth," these territqries were destined to be 
 free. He discussed at length the history of Texas ; dismissed the 
 
WEBSTER AND THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. I6I 
 
 question of slavery in the District of Columbia, since a practically 
 equal concession was made to each section, and thus reduced the 
 whole controversy to the two essential issues — the admission of 
 California with her free constitution, and the enactment of an 
 effective fugitive slave-law. Let history answer whether these 
 concessions were of equal weight, and whether that made to the 
 South was capable of fulfillment. The speech swept Hke wildfire 
 through tl.'e country. The North was appalled, the South be- 
 wildered. From thousands of lips went up a cry of mingled rage 
 and pity. A God had fallen. The idol of a million souls was in 
 the dust. 
 
 But Webster stood firm — as compassionate as Mercy, but as 
 unflinching as Justice. Holding in his hand the scepters both of 
 peace and war, he had chosen to offer to his country the former. 
 Confronted with the necessity of sacrificing one of the great pur- 
 poses of his life, he had dared to do it, even in the face of defiant 
 opposition and of certain unpopularity. Born in a love for the 
 Union, reared in a spirit of Nationalism, grown old in the defense 
 of the Constitution of his Country, Webster loved the-Union as 
 few men ever loved it. 
 
 Judged from the standpoint of the agitator of his time, Web- 
 ster was inconsistent. But judged from the standpoint of the 
 statesman, the "'Seventh of March" speech was the greatest 
 Irium.ph of his life. He realized as well as the most violent agi- 
 tator the extent of the moral awakening. He knew and felt the 
 gross inconsistency of the slave-system, and the utter folly of any 
 attempt to reconcile it with the institution of Freedom. He saw 
 that the struggle of 1850 was a struggle between the "Higher 
 Law" and the Constitution. But he saw more than this. He 
 saw that in 1850 there was a united South and a divided North. 
 If Civil War must come, its coming must be postponed until the 
 spirit of freedom had gripped every Northern heart in its unyield- 
 ing grasp. Webster was determined. His life had been one plea 
 for Union. Ideas had hardened into theories, and these theories, 
 grounded and fortified by years of incessant toil, had crystalized 
 mto realities. The preservation of the Union had become his 
 religion ; the master-passion of his life. 
 
 If consistency means fidelity to a principle, then Webster was 
 consistent. Despite the unbridled passion and unreasoning dog- 
 matism of former friend and foe; despite the epithets — coward, 
 traitor, fanatic; despite the fact that in the blind, impetuous judg- 
 ment engendered by sectional spirit, a life consecrated to its 
 
l62 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 country, and replete with great achievements, was forgotten; he 
 never retracted a word or a sentiment of the "Seventh of March" 
 speech. He had stood for a principle; one fact, and that the 
 supreme impulse of his life, had ever kept pounding and tugging 
 at his heart — the Union must be preserved. Listen to the aged 
 statesman, as shortly before his death, he declares : "If I had seen 
 the stake, if I had heard the fagots already crackling, by the bless- 
 ing of Almighty God, I would have gone on and discharged the 
 duty which I thought my country called upon me to perform." 
 
 History reveals the fact that the true criterion of a statef- 
 man's life is not found until the grave has closed upon the genera- 
 tion of men in which he lived. The impassioned fury of party 
 strife must cease. The malignity and abuse of an excited popu- 
 lace, must give way to the dispassionate judgment tff men who are 
 not actuated by personal and selfish motives. Facts must be 
 gleaned from the rubbish and debris that the time-spirit has 
 heaped up. The man must be judged by what he has said and 
 done, not by what others have said about him. In the judgment 
 of the majority of the people of his time, the "Man of Galilee" 
 was a knave and an imposter. But history has accorded him, "a 
 name that is above every name." At Harper's Ferry, John Brown 
 was a criminal and a traitor. On the pages of history, his name 
 is engraven as the Champion of Freedom. And when Truth has 
 triumnhed — Daniel Webster, freed from the personal jealousies of 
 his time, stripped of the contumely and disgrace of partisan strife, 
 will stand forth in all his majesty — the noble, honest, consistent 
 defender of "the Constitution and the Union." 
 
 THE REIGN OF LAW. 
 By Hugo Sonnenschein. 
 
 DeliverT" "°''°'' °''*'''°'' '" 1904. marked second in Thought and Composition and fifth in 
 
 The need for government is universal and eternal, "the form 
 has been the riddle of the ages." Each race and nation in its 
 development, has sought the solution of this problem in some dis- 
 tinctive type of government. Upon the stage of history the race 
 which most, insistently has wought for republican se'lf-govern- 
 ment, has been the Anglo-Saxon, and the culmination of the 
 centuries in which Englishmen toiled up the blood-stained heights 
 to freedom, came when their sons, upon the western continent. 
 
THE REIGN OF LAW. 163 
 
 founded the American Republic as a mighty temple to humanity, 
 whose priesthood embraced all citizens, whose worship was 
 Freedom, and over whose portals was inscribed, "The Reign of 
 Liberty m a Republic is the Reign of Law." 
 
 The basic principle of our government, is liberty controlled 
 by law. Tvi^o thoughts, distinct yet never separate, are the alter- 
 nate threads from which is wrought the warp and woof of the 
 Republic — the rights and the restrictions of the citizen. Liberty 
 uncontrolled by law is anarchy; laws disregarding liberty breed 
 t\ranny; true freedom is alone achieved where liberty is restrained 
 by laws responsive to the people's will. The rights and privileges 
 of American citizens draw life and strength from the Constitution 
 and the laws, and our boasted liberty is only as secure as obedi- 
 ence to law is universal, only as sacred as respect for law is 
 sincere. The measure of the grandeur of our Republic is not the 
 rights and liberties emblazoned on its statutes, but the degree to 
 which the individual can at law enforce those rights. It matters 
 not that theoretically our government is the most democratic the 
 centuries have witnessed, it avails nought that in our Constitu- 
 tion are realized the prayers recorded by struggling humanity 
 upon the tear-stained annals of the past, so long as classes and 
 organizations in the community shall defy law, and deny to men 
 Iheir legal rights, the American Republic is a misnomer, our 
 freedom a mockery, and the Government of the fathers a failure. 
 Lawlessness is fatal to republics ; the violation of one law weakens 
 the respect for all law, and makes possible a day when the 
 orderly and beneficent sway of legislative enactment shall be sup- 
 planted by the armod conllict of classes. So vital is respect for 
 law to the preservation of our Government, that we may well 
 ask, what are the forms in which lawlessness is present in the 
 nation, and what remedies are to be involved ? 
 
 Lawlessness in America is a condition, not a theory. It is 
 written large in the grime and dust of actual facts. It is a trait 
 common to both parties to the titanic struggle between organized 
 labor and corporate capital ; it is basic to the widespread cor- 
 ruption in city and state : it is the dominant note in the lynchings 
 which annually disgrace both North and South. 
 
 I. The trade union is an organization whose principles and 
 ideals are in perfect harmony with our fundamental law. It is 
 only when in practice it insists upon disregarding the rights of 
 non-union men, and defies the laws which guarantee to every 
 citizen the right of free contract, that the trade union becomes a 
 
l64 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 center of lawlessness and a menace to the nation. But what 
 verdict shall men pronounce in the light of the facts ? A strike is 
 called in some great industry; the unions withdraw their men, 
 the engines cease to pant and throb, the wheels stand still, business 
 is paralyzed. Rut other citizens, non-union men, step forward 
 and accept the wages and the work rejected by the unions. The 
 union uses persuasion first, they try intimidation next, and when 
 these fail, loo often they resort to bludgeon and to knife. The 
 peaceful mill becornes the scene of bloody conflict. Men are set 
 upon, beaten, crippled, maimed, and sometimes murdered, — and 
 for what otTence ? Have they defrauded ? No! Have they robbed ? 
 No ! Have they committed heinous crimes ? No ! They have 
 merely exercised the rights guaranteed them by fundamental 
 law, and yet blood flows in the streets, the police and oftentimes 
 the militia ai^e called forth to quell the riot, and law and order 
 are sustained by bayonets ! Grant that the trade union is right 
 in prmciple, assume if you will, that it would be desirable if 
 all laborers were enrolled in its ranks, yet so long as our laws 
 guarantee to every citizen the right of free contract, that right 
 IS sacred, and when trade unions violate it, they menace the future 
 of the Republic for they set class interests above patriotism, defy 
 the expressed will of the majority, by brute force attempt to brush 
 aside the restraints of law, and ruthlessly tread under foot the 
 legal rights of American citizens. 
 
 2. Nor is the trade union's open violation of law the only 
 menace to our institutions; equally potent in influence, though 
 more subtle in nature, is the lawlessness of corporations. These 
 mighty combinations of capital, concentrating interests vast and 
 varied, holding in their hands the economic happiness of thous- 
 sands, and swaying with autocratic rule the industrial life of 
 the nation, are a benefit when subservient to law ; only when they 
 overr-de or disregard it do they menace our freedom, and threaten 
 to overshadow the government. But to-day, when in defiance of 
 the laws passed by Congress to secure equality of opportunity to 
 the small shippers, the railroad corporation crushes the inde- 
 pendent producer beneath the weight of freight discriminations, 
 our industrial freedom is a bitter jest; when we enact legislation 
 to regulate the dealings of corporations by investigating their 
 books, and the corporations snap their fingers in the face of court 
 officials and congressional committee, our laws are dishonored; 
 when corporations not only disregard statutes, but by actual cor- 
 ruption, block hostile, and buy favored legislation, the reign of 
 
THE REIGN OF LAW. 165 
 
 greed and gold menaces republican government. To preserve 
 uiiimpaii-ed the dignity, the purity, and the freedom of our insti- 
 tutions to maintain supreme the sovereign will of the people 
 expressed in legislation, railroad king and corporation magnate 
 must learn to bow alike before the sanctity of law. 
 
 3. The influence of lawlessness,- moreover, is felt in the 
 political field as well as in the realm of industry. What indeed 
 is the ultimate significance of that widespread corruption which 
 is permeating and defiling city and state government, prostituting 
 the courts, squandering the revenues, and subjecting our munici- 
 pal and state politics to the contempt of Europe? In the last 
 analysis it is a defiance of law, and the vital danger is not that 
 a corrupt ring or even an entire organization is waxing rich by 
 defrauding an acquiescent public, but that the citizens are being, 
 schooled to tolerate a form of lawlessness, to allow depraved poli- 
 ticians to defy the fundamental canons of public trust and respon- 
 sibility, to set themselves above law and above courts, and to sub- 
 vert the Government to their own selfish and vicious ends. 
 
 4. Serious as is the national danger when organized labor, 
 organized capital, and organized political m.achines violate with 
 impunity the laws of the land, there is another element of disorder, 
 more shameless in its disrespect for law, more potent in its evil 
 influence on government, — the negro lynchings. North and South. 
 Fundamental to our jurisprudence, wrought into the very fabric 
 of our civilization, is the principle that every man shall have a 
 fair, impartial trial. The glory of the Republic has been, that 
 since the Civil War, all men, of every race, color, and creed, stand 
 equal before the bar of justice. And yet within this land, whose 
 laws embody this sublime conception, each year some five score 
 citizens are seized by mobs, whose frenzied rage supplants the 
 sane and sober judgment of a court, mobs which deny their vic- 
 tims the rights and safeguards fought for by their own fathers, 
 and in utter defiance of the supreme law of the land, kill, and often 
 torture their victims with all the fiendish ingenuity of Hell ! 
 Enormous as are the evil efl^ects of lynching when the victim is 
 guilty, conceive, if you can, their influence when, as frequently 
 happens, the murdered men are innocent. A crime has been 
 committed and suspicion fastens on some negro ; a mob collects ; 
 they hasten to his home, tear him from the embrace of his family, 
 drag him to some lonel)-^ spot, and there under the shadow of a 
 prepared gallows, the mob tries him. The agitation of fear is 
 taken for the confusion of guilt ; each circumstance, however inno- 
 
l66 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 cent, is twisted into damning evidence. Hear him plead that he 
 is innocent, that all he asks is a fair trial, that all he claims are 
 his rights under the law. The mob laughs at law. It matters 
 not that justice is insured in courts controlled by white men, it 
 matters not that they are defying the Constitution — he is a negro. 
 Race hatred triumphs over law, over justice, over patriotism, and 
 in the blindness of its passion, the mob murders its victim. And 
 the mob departs ; silence falls upon the scene, and from the peace- 
 ful heavens God's stars look down upon the body of an innocent 
 man murdered in our free Republic, murdered under the shadow 
 of the Stars and Stripes, murdered by a mob of American citizens, 
 acting in defiance of law. 
 
 Such are some of the manifestations of that spirit of lawless- 
 ness which is sweeping over the American nation and threatening 
 to destroy the wonderful fabric of free government, which ten 
 centuries of Anglo-Saxon civilization have wrought. The varied 
 forms of lawlessness, like heavy clouds, darken the political hori- 
 zon, and portend a storm, before the fury of whose elements the 
 central pillar of our government. Liberty controlled by Law, 
 shall tremble to its base. Lawlessness, whether of zealous unions, 
 or grasping corporations, or petty politicians, or infuriated' 
 lynchers, is alike fatal to the Republic. Only in the sanctity of law, 
 only where the legal rights of every citizen are sacred, only where 
 the liberties, guaranteed in Constitution, are enforced by court 
 and citizen, is free government a reality. Shall we allow these 
 classes in the community to rise above law, to scorn courts, to defy 
 the expressed will of the majority? Shall we allow them to 
 reduce our Constitution to lifeless paper, our freedom to mockery, 
 and transform the equal government under the law to the anarchy 
 of lawless conflict between classes ? Forbid it, my countrymen ! 
 
 By every association dear to Anglo-Saxon civilization, by 
 all the tears, the blood, the suffering of the past, by all the mem- 
 ories of all the men who lived and labored, who fought and fell 
 that on this western continent there might arise a government, 
 free, stable, law-abiding, it is our duty as educated and patriotic 
 men, to protest against this lawlessness, to msist that laws be 
 made adequate, and then enforced, to demand that government 
 be set above greed and gold, law and order above private interests, 
 and usher in once more that ideal state in which alone our liberties, 
 our glories, and our civilization may bt conserved, — "The Reign 
 of Law." 
 
HUGO SONNENSCHEIN 
 
HUGO SONNENSCHEIN. 
 
 Hugo Sonnenschein was born in Chicago, November 19, 1883. 
 He prepared for college in the public schools of that city and was 
 graduated from the West Division High School in 1901. He 
 represented West Division in the Chicago Inter-High School 
 debates and in the Cook County oratorical contest. 
 
 In the fall of 1901 he entered the University of Michigan and 
 will receive his degree of A. B. in June, 1905, and expects to 
 receive his law degree with the class of 1907. 
 
 Since entering the University he has taken an active interest 
 in the work of the Department of Public Speaking and has taken 
 part in many contests in debate and oratory. He was the first 
 freshman to win a place on a Michigan debating team. He was a 
 member of the 1902 team which defeated Northwestern University 
 in the Central League debates of that year. In November, 1903, 
 he won second honor in the University preHminaries leading to'the 
 Hamilton contest, and in March, 1904, was awarded second honor 
 in the University oratorical contest and became alternate to the 
 Northern Oratorical League. In November, 1904, he won first 
 honor in the Hamilton contest at the University and was one of 
 the four representatives of the nine colleges participating to be 
 selected on account of the excellence of his production to appear 
 before the Hamilton Club in Chicago. In this contest, which was 
 held on Hamilton's birthday, Mr. Sonnenschein was awarded 
 second honor. In March, 1905, he won the annual University 
 contest, was awarded the Chicago Alumni Medal and the honor of 
 representing the University in the contest of the Northern 
 Oratorical League. In the distribution of honors at the League 
 contest held at Evanston, May 5, he received third honor. 
 
 Mr. Sonnenschein is of medium height and of firm build. He 
 is easy in manner and forceful in action on the platform. His 
 voice is clear and sympathetic ; though not wide in range it is well 
 varied and has ample carrying power. In style he is clear, 
 pleasing and vigorous. His sentences are well weighted with 
 ideas, and with his effective delivery they come forth with the 
 fervor of strong conviction. 
 
l68 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 THE MESSAGE OF MACHINERY. 
 By Hugo Sonnenschein. 
 
 [First Honor Oration in 1905 at the University of Michigan, and third in the contest of the 
 Northern Oratorical League. In the home contest Mr. Sonnenschein was ranked second in Thought 
 and Composition and first in Delivery; in the League contest, second in Thought and Composition 
 and fourth in Delivery.] 
 
 The progress of the race is from ideal to ideal. The concep- 
 tions which one generation crystallizes in laws and embodies in 
 institutions, are inadequate to the conditions of its successor. 
 Each age creates new problems in the solution of which are altered 
 the ideals of the past. Today we are in a great transition period 
 when mighty forces, unknown to our ancestors, are dominating 
 our lives and altering our social ideals. Industrialism, the poten- 
 cies and problems of the Age of Machinery constitute the tremen- 
 dous fact in our times, transforming our lives, reorganizing our 
 society, revealing the necessity for readjusting time honored indus- 
 trial theories. The conventional conceptions of Free Competition, 
 of Individualism, of Laissez Faire, are out of rhythm with the 
 onward sweep of industrial development, out of harmony with the 
 dominant forces of the age. These ideals must be transformed 
 and brought into touch with the living present, ere the race shall 
 have learned "The Message of Machinery." 
 
 What is the Age of Machinery? What ideals does it reveal 
 to be inadequate ? What is its Message ? 
 
 I. Ours is essentially an industrial age. The wonderfully 
 intricate, complex machine, is the supreme product, as it is a domi- 
 nating force of our times. The factory with its blazing furnaces, 
 the locomotive on its gleaming rails, the ocean liner, mistress of 
 the deep, — these symbolize the spirit and the passion of our day. 
 All the forces of the universe have become the handmaids of 
 industry — Niagara's mighty current turns the wheels of manufac- 
 ture, the electric spark illuminates the world, the imprisoned 
 energy of coal and steam thrills into throbbing life the ponderous 
 frames of mighty engines. Machinery has transformed the aspect 
 of our civilization. Where a century ago provincialism held 
 sway, communication was difficult and travel tedious — today the 
 electric cable unites the globe, time has been annihilated, and "space 
 become a figure of speech. Where farm and village life were on 
 the increase, today the railroad and the factory are massing popu^ 
 
THE MESSAGE OF MACHINERY. I69 
 
 lation in our large cities ; where once men worked singly or in 
 small groups, today there rise great factories, with their thousands 
 of employes, their ceaseless hum of wheels, their never ending toil. 
 Industrialism is the master force of our lives ; factory and sweat- 
 shop are its accompaniment, trade union and trust its off-spring, 
 millionaire and pauper its product. The Age of Machinery, trans- 
 forming, as it does, the social and industrial structure of our race, 
 cannot find adequate expression for its new forces and ideals, m 
 the orthodox conceptions of Free Competition, Individualism, 
 Laissez Faire. 
 
 II. Free Competition meant progress a century ago. Today 
 it is a menace. In the period of small industries, when master and 
 men worked at the same wooden bench and shared common hopes 
 and fears, the interests of humanity were conserved, by leaving 
 free and uncontrolled, the bargain for wages, for hours and con- 
 ditions of labor. But in this Age of Machinery, with its gigantic 
 production, its small margin of profit, with the helplessness of the 
 individual laborer. Free Competition is a means in the hands of 
 unscrupulous employers, of increasing profits by cheapening labor 
 to the lowest possible point, by denuding human lives of all that 
 makes them truly human. This spirit of gain at the cost of human 
 happiness, is abroad in our land. It speaks to us from the cotton 
 mills of the South, where little children and frail women toil long 
 hours amid the dust and grime of the factory, amid the ceaseless 
 hum of spindle and loom; it cries out from the collieries of the 
 North, where doomed to heavy and protracted daily labor, in dark- 
 ness and in danger, men and boys become brutalized; it is 
 answered from the sweat-shops of our great cities, where dismal 
 garrets see the tender forms of little children, stunted by prema- 
 ture toil, racked by pain, with pallid faces where dread disease 
 has set its seal, where childhood joy has never come." Under the 
 regirne of Free Competition there is being woven, into the gar- 
 ments of the sweat-shops and into the patterns of the cotton mills, 
 the voiceless misery, the speechless woe, the heart's blood of men, 
 women, and children. No theory is as holy as human rights, no 
 doctrine as ' sacramental as human happiness. The unmodified 
 ideal of Free Competition blocks the progress of the race — it must 
 be altered. 
 
 But it is not alone, the doctrine of Free Competition, which is 
 
17° HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 out of harmony with our age; the forces which dominate our 
 industrial life, the tradi union and the corporation, witness the 
 necessity of readjusting two other time honored theories. Individ- 
 ualism and Laissez Faire. 
 
 Each man for himself, the self-sufficiency of the individual 
 worker, was the keynote of Anglo-Saxon economic philosophy. 
 But the stern logic of industrial development, has rendered this 
 principle barren alike of value, and of truth. The advance of 
 machinery with its ever increasing complexity and growing 
 specialization, where one man's only task from morn til night may 
 be to pull a single lever or turn a single crank, has reduced the 
 individual to a mere cog in a mighty mechanism. Alone he is 
 absolutely helpless against the force of capital. Only in combi- 
 nation with his fellow workmen can he ever hope to insist upon 
 his rights, to attain a larger life, to realize his ideals. The trade 
 union, an inevitable product of the times, witnesses to the world 
 that industrial individualism is no more. Nor can the doctrine of 
 Laissez Faire be adequate to their power and their lawlessness. 
 These unions have combined into mighty federations and amalga- 
 mations. At their command the din of factory might cease, the 
 wheels of traffic stop, and industrial night settle over this land. 
 Tremendous is the power of organized labor for weal or woe, yet 
 it stands today unregulated, uncontrolled, despotic, absolute. 
 ^ Still deeper lies the inadequacy of the ideal of "Non-Intervention." 
 In the great conflicts between capital and labor, the issue of the 
 strike often centers about the non-union man. If he can be 
 eliminated, labor will often win, if he be allowed to work unre- 
 stricted, labor will as often be starved into submission. In such a 
 crisis the Union knows not what to do. It feels that it is fighting 
 for some ideal, vital to its welfare, that it has rights which do not 
 find expression in our laws, that the non-union man often brought 
 from afar to crush the union and to defeat the strike, is a 
 traitor to his ^class. On the one side rises the law, born of an 
 industrial situation no longer obtaining, which declares that 
 "Every man shall work where and at what wages he will" ; on the 
 other side rise the interests of a large class with new-born rights 
 and needs, unrecognized in law. The strike goes on ; persuasion 
 and intimidation fail to deter the non-union men, and then too 
 often, when the pinching hand of want begins to grip and defeat 
 
THE MESSAGE OF MACHINERY. I7I 
 
 seems imminent, class interests rise above law, above justice, 
 above government, and there ensue scenes of lawlessness and bru- 
 tality, which outrage every sentiment of humanity and patriotism, 
 and which shake republican institutions to their very center. 
 How much longer shall the worn out doctrine of Laissez Faire 
 prevent the nation from seeing the situation as it is, and from 
 intervening to regulate the duties and powers of trade unions? 
 
 Created by the same forces which have produced the trade 
 union, and presenting in but different aspect, the same vital prob- 
 lems, rise the trusts. As the trade union strives to obtain a 
 monopoly of labor, so these gigantic corporations gather within 
 their grasp, all the material factors of production. They crush 
 competition as ruthlessly as ever lawless union perpetrated vio- 
 lence, careless that in their trail, human hearts are turned to dust, 
 and homes are forever darkened. Aye, in some circles of high 
 finance, one thing alone is holy, that is gold; one law alone 
 inviolate, the law of gain ; one creed, and one alone, holds sway 
 within their hearts — the creed of the almighty dollar. The 
 trust, too, wields tremendous power ; prices and products are the 
 subjects of its whim and caprice; tomorrow it might send the price 
 of breadstuffs or of fuel beyond the reach of the needy and no law 
 upon our statute books could say them nay; the livelihood of 
 thousands and the industrial welfare of the nation "lie within the 
 hollow of its hand" ; and this gigantic power is likewise uncon- 
 trolled by law. And like the trade union, hampered by laws 
 inadequate to the situation, the trust defies the laws, laughs at 
 "publicity" and "rebate" legislation, sets itself above the courts, 
 and menaces republican government. 
 
 Such ^re some of the aspects in which the industrial ideals 
 wrought out in the past, are inadequate to the present situation. 
 A century ago. Free Competition was a blessing to the race ; today 
 competition must be regulated in the interests of humanity. In 
 the past the ideal of industrial individualism was effective — com- 
 bination and association sound the keynote of modern life ! The 
 doctrine of Laissez Faire may once have meant progress ; today 
 when corporations and trade unions wield tremendous and 
 unregulated powers oyer the industrial welfare of the nation, and 
 by their lawlessness, threaten to overshadow government itself, the 
 doctrine must be abandoned. The dominant forces of our age are 
 
1 72 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 out of harmony with our social theories, yet in their very conflict 
 the race may read and learn "The Message of Machinery." 
 
 III. The Age of Machinery is vocal with the plea for read- 
 justment. Away with outworn theories and effete doctrines — our 
 laws must mirror forth the needs and problems of the living 
 present. Machinery has transformed our society, creating new 
 rights, imposing new duties ; these rights must find expression in 
 our laws, these obligations learn enforcement through our courts. 
 Corporate capital has new rights, it must bear new duties; organ- 
 ized labor should have new privileges, ■ but it must shoulder new 
 responsibilities ; neither can impinge upon the rights of the great 
 public, both must bow before the majesty of the law. The mis- 
 sion of our generation is to readjust and harmonize the ideals of 
 government, of justice and of rights, inherited from the fathers, to 
 the forces and problems of the industrial situation; to realize 
 under republican government, the unlimited potencies for human 
 happiness, which the advent of Machinery has given to the world. 
 
 The Message of Machinery to our race is that its progress 
 from ideal to ideal is not yet ended. For centuries, the Anglo- 
 Saxon struggled up the steep path to national freedom; he left 
 halfway, in darkness and in gloom, the tyranny of priest and the 
 despotism of king, and on the blood stained heights he stood at 
 last erect in the clear air of freedom. His sons crossed the ocean 
 and on a virgin continent founded a government which incarnated 
 the ideals of political and religious liberty, attained through the 
 ages. Today the industrial situation presents new forces, new 
 conditions, new ideals. The mission of the race is now to read- 
 just old theories and conventions, to create new laws and insti- 
 tutions, and thus to build the new ideal born to us in the stress and 
 struggle of an age of machinery, into that framework of liberty, 
 which reared through centuries is now the fairest structure the 
 world has ever seen. Not in the misty realms of some Utopia nor 
 in the dreamland of socialism but under the Anglo-Saxon Reign 
 of Liberty protected by Law shall be wrought out this new social 
 ideal, the ideal of converting the marvellous potencies of machinery 
 not to the sole gain of corporate capital or of organized labor, 
 but to the larger service of Mankind. Then the lawlessness and 
 unrest of this transition age shall pass away and the interests of 
 labor and capital be joined to those of the general public. Then 
 
THE SICK MAN OF ASIA. 173 
 
 women shall be brought from nerve-racking toil and set again 
 within the sacred sphere of home ; then children shall be led forth 
 from the grime of the factory and the filth of the sweat-shop — out 
 into God's clear sunlight ; then every whirl of the wheel and every 
 throb of the great panting engines shall sing of a nation whose 
 commerce has been ennobled, of a people whose industry has been 
 humanized, of a race which has learned and given to the world 
 "The Message of Machinery." 
 
 THE SICK MAN OF ASIA AND HIS DOCTORS. 
 By Kiyosue Inui. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration in 1905, marked first in Thought and Composition and third in 
 Delivery.] 
 
 There lies in eastern Asia a huge empire much larger than 
 Europe or the United States and about thirty times as large as the 
 Japanese empire. "Its people are ancient people with cities and 
 towns, with trade and commerce, with religions and morals, with 
 arts and sciences, with histories and heroes." A thousand years 
 before the Germans saw Luther, these people had already seen 
 eight great religious reformers. When Rome first aroused her- 
 self, they furnished her with manufactured silk. They had print- 
 ing for centuries before Gutenberg played with his blocks, and 
 compasses long before Columbus dreamed of America. They dug 
 salt wells five thousand feet deep and canals six hundred miles 
 long a score of centuries before the Panama canal was even 
 thought of. Surely, they are a very ancient people. 
 
 The British Empire never sees the sun set on all its posses- 
 sions, and so it is with this great people of eastern Asia. You see 
 them in the rice fields of the Philippine Islands, in the coal mines 
 of Australia and on African rivers gathering gold sand. You 
 see them in almost every town and city of this country. Even in 
 Ann Arbor there are twenty-two of them who operate your laun- 
 dries. They do not make much money but they save a great deal 
 of what they do make. Surely, they are a great industrial people. 
 
 Four hundred million of these ancient and industrial people 
 make up a nation. You call it the Chinese Empire, they call it 
 Shing, and I call it an enigma. This empire occupies the richest 
 and best part of Asia and has many laborers and wealthy citizens, 
 
r74 HONOR .ORATIONS. 
 
 ■'silent, gentle, submissive and all-enduring." Yet it is the 
 weakest country in the world for its size, and the poorest, consid- 
 ering the number of taxpayers. Five of the last eight Asiatic 
 wars were fought on or for her territory, while today in Man- 
 churia brothers are falling upon brothers in deadly conflict. 
 Surely, China is the sick man of Asia. 
 
 A thoughtful doctor, guided by the symptoms manifested, 
 searches for the cause of his patient's trouble. Let us be doctors 
 in this case. Why is it that this man of Asia with such a great 
 country and people, and surrounded by the civilization of the 
 twentieth century, remains sick? There are but two reasons: 
 first, because the country lacks unity and organization; second, 
 because of its history and superstition. 
 
 China has no political unity. Pekin is the Washington of 
 China, but the emperor has no centralized power. The empire is 
 divided into eight great political divisions, each of which has local 
 self-government, — nay, selfish government. It has no representa- 
 tive at Pekin to make plain its condition and promote its welfare. 
 The viceroy governs it without consulting the constitution. He 
 is a feudal lord. 
 
 China has no equitable system of taxation. Foreign goods 
 are taxed again and again, according to the number of times they 
 are moved. Local tax collectors retain almost all they collect and 
 leave nothing for the central government. The empire has no 
 unity in language. A Chinaman of Fuchu or Amoy cannot under- 
 stand a Manchurian, nor a Mongolian a Tibetan. 
 
 China has no adequate system of communication and transpor- 
 tation. Mail, telegraph, telephone and railway are lacking except 
 along the Pacific coast. Look at the Great Northern, the Union 
 Pacific and the Southern Pacific railways in this country, which 
 bring New York and San Francisco as near together as places 
 fifty miles apart in China. I see my mother's letter, which comes 
 over eight thousand miles, twenty days after she writes it, but a 
 Chinaman of Goshen or Sansi may never see a foreign stamp. 
 China has enormous resources, coal, iron and timber, but she can 
 never send them where they are needed. 'This lack of means of 
 communication and transportation leaves the interior of China 
 untouched and causes the Chinese to have manners and customs 
 different throughout the empire. For example, in Manchuria 
 
THE SICK MAN OF ASIA. I75 
 
 every man must wear a long queue which he need not do on the 
 Pacific coast. 
 
 A Chinaman has no definite religion except a hereditary one 
 full of ceremony. He may be a Buddhist while he worships Con- 
 fucius. Consequently, he has no fixed principles, no national 
 ideal. He recognizes himself as a member of a Chinese family, 
 but he does not know how to say, "I am a citizen of the Chinese 
 Empire." 
 
 The second reason for the sickness of China is due to its his- 
 tory, tradition, and superstition. "For four thousand years the 
 Chinese have been the victims of luck, fortune-tellers and necro- 
 mancy." ■ With this tradition and superstition priests have held 
 the people ; teachers, the students ; parents, the children ; statesmen, 
 the citizens. For example, a Chinaman prefers not to marry in 
 January, May or September. The highest virtue of a Chinaman 
 and also the greatest hindrance to the introduction of western 
 civilization, is his ancestor worship, or his respect for the aged 
 and his slavish subserviency to the commands of the aged. A 
 Chinaman once said to me : "In China children obey their parents, 
 but here parents obey their children." I do not know which is the 
 right way. The Boxer movement was for nothing but to keep 
 out the "foreign devils" and to preserve the Chinese ancestral 
 customs. "China," as has been said, "is the deepest pit of heathen- 
 ism, superstition and suffering." 
 
 "If you go to the white ward of the world's hospital you will 
 find Turkey the 'Sick man of Europe.' Go on a little farther 
 and you will find China with weary face. And right in the next 
 room there will be many European nurses and physicians discuss- 
 ing whether she shall die or not. Some of them say that China 
 has a disease for which there is no remedy, let us, therefore, 
 hasten to kill her, — conquer her with the combined force of all the 
 European powers. This is all nonsense. Can Europe ever com- 
 bine to conquer China ? No. Can Europe ever conquer China if 
 all its powers are combined? Alexander, the greatest general the 
 world has ever produced, never saw the top of a Chinese moun- 
 tain, but the Tartars invaded Hungarian soil and Zin-giz-khan, a 
 Mongolian general, once conquered Russia. Why, the eighty-five 
 million people who have invented a new word, "Americanize," 
 cannot even put their stamp upon the one hundred and twenty 
 
176 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 thousand Chinese in this country. No, Europe with her three 
 hundred and fifty milHon people, can never conquer four hundred 
 milHon Chinese, nor can she govern them. China is indeed sick, 
 but no one will kill her, nor will she die. 
 
 "Then," again say the doctors of Europe, "let us divide 
 among ourselves the care of this 'sick man.' "' This plan is called 
 the partition of China. They have already begun their treatment. 
 The German physician began his operation by seizing the import- 
 ant harbor of Kiao-Chao on the pretext of securing redress for the 
 murder of two German missionaries. At the same time the 
 French nurse put forward her claim and obtained the southern 
 part of China. To these moves England replied by obtaining 
 Wei-Hai-Wei, one of the most important naval ports of China. 
 At last, Russia opened her bear-like mouth and said: "Doctors, 
 since the Chino- Japanese war this sick man has taken cold, so I 
 will take care of his throat, Port Arthur. But wait — his neck, the 
 Liao-Tung peninsula — is also affected. Indeed, I believe that the 
 malady is changing to rheumatism, so I will look after his right 
 arm, Manchuria." Russia once tried to give China a remedy but 
 really she poisoned her. Not satisfied with this, when Russia 
 went back to Europe, she said : "I will keep Turkey for the next 
 Thanksgiving dinner." And though all these greedy physicians 
 of Europe are waiting to partition China, will she ever be divided 
 among the powers ? No, not as long as England is the new police- 
 man of Europe, Japan the kind neighbor of China and America 
 her moral sympathizer. Yes, China is sick, but no European 
 physician can cure her, nor will she die. 
 
 But there must be a real remedy for this is God's universe. 
 Where is it ? What is it ? Who is to give it to China ? Ah ! it is 
 in the hand of Almighty God. It is the civilization which comes 
 from fellowship with His only Son. Aye, it is in your hand ; in 
 the hand of this civilized nation. God has chosen this country to 
 give China His remedy. But, as He knows that an American 
 does not have the same skin, tongue and customs as the Chinese, 
 fifty years ago He gave Commodore Perry a great key with which 
 the apostle of American enlightenment opened the doors of Japan 
 and made a channel through which you have poured Christian 
 civilization into that country and then into China. Japan is now 
 
THE SICK MAN OF ASIA. 
 
 177 
 
 awake; she has Christian civiHzation and she knows God's will. 
 She must do it. 
 
 "Well!" says a European, "Japan was wakened only fifty 
 years ago; her civilization is merely veneer, only skin deep." I 
 tell you that he is mistaken. The Japanese civilization of today 
 is the combined product of the best of the civilized world. It has 
 passed the three stages of importation, adoption and assimilation. 
 For example, in the first stage Japan imported the western method 
 of making gunpowder ; it was a good method, so she adopted it. 
 Today she makes the best gunpowder on earth. If you do not 
 believe it, go and ask the Russians. Japanese civilization is no 
 longer veneer, only skin deep. Japan knows God's will. She can 
 and she must do it. Six years ago God allowed the United States 
 to make another channel for Christian civilization by way of the 
 Philippines to the Chinese empire. The United States also can 
 and must do God's will. • 
 
 In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, we have found China 
 sick because of her lack of unity and organization and because of 
 her traditions and superstition. We have found, too, that no 
 European physician could kill or cure her, and, at last, we have 
 found that Almighty God gave us a remedy, and that He chose us 
 to administer it. Then let us give China the remedy that His only 
 Son gave us. Then let America give her religion and let Japan 
 give her morals; let America send her missionaries and Japan 
 teachers ; let America show her democracy and Japan patriotism ; 
 let America fwrnish her a model school system and Japan a model 
 military organization; let America offer her great machines and 
 Japan skillful hands; let America introduce her railway system 
 and Japan her marine system; let Americans teach the Chinese 
 how to live well and the Japanese teach them how to die well ; let 
 the country of the setting sun show them the light of the stars and 
 stripes and the empire of the rising sun the light of the sunshine 
 flag that together they may illumine the dark eastern sky. 
 
Kiyo Sue Inui 
 
 Kiyo Sue Inui was born at Muya, on the island of Shikoku. 
 Japan, March 23, 1884. At the age of ten he was sent to the 
 city of Kobe, Japan, where he entered the grammar school. 
 Later he attended a Methodist Mission school, Kwan See Gakuin, 
 of the rank of a High School, from which he was graduated at 
 the age of eighteen, with the first rank in his class. He came to 
 America in the summer of 1902, and in September entered the 
 Literary Department of the University of Michigan, from which 
 he expects to receive the degree of A. B. in June, 1906. By his 
 energy and thrift he has been able to make his way through col- 
 lege. During the past two years he has been much in demand as 
 a lecturer; having appeared at several Chautauqua assemblies 
 during the summer of 1905, and before lecture associations during 
 the winter season. 
 
 Ever sitice he entered the University, Mr. Inui has been a 
 most persistent student of the English language and of oratory. 
 He began his study of English at Kobe, Japan, two years before 
 he came to America. But even after a year's residence here he 
 found great difSculty with his pronunciation of the EngHsh and 
 with the construction of his sentences. But so rapid was his 
 progress that in his Junior year in a competition he won the right 
 to represent his class in the annual Oratorical Contest. In this 
 contest, in which he was pitted against representatives from five 
 other classes, he won second honor and the position of Alternate 
 to the Northern Oratorical League. In 1906, with his oration 
 on "The Mission of New Japan," he not only won the Senior 
 Class contest, but the University contest, and was awarded the 
 Kaufman testimonial of $100, the Chicago Alumni Medal, and 
 the honor of representing the University of Michigan in the con- 
 test of the Northern Oratorical League. In the League contest, 
 which was held May 4, 1906, under the auspices of Oberlin Col- 
 lege, Mr. Inui was awarded first honor and the Lowden testi- 
 ironial of $100, decisively defeating the representatives from the 
 oth-er six universities. 
 
 During his college course honors have come to him at the 
 hands of his fellow students. He was elected Class Orator of 
 
KIYO SUE INUI 
 
MISSION OF NEW JAPAiN'. 179 
 
 the Senior class, is President of the Cosmopolitan Club, is a 
 member of the Toastmaster Club, and of the Delta Sigma Rho, 
 a National honor society, made up of men who have distinguished 
 themselves in college as public speakers. 
 
 Mr. Inui is small of stature but he has a strong, well-modu- 
 lated voice, a pleasing manner and a strong personality. His 
 speaking is characterized by perfect directness and intense earnest- 
 ness. He selects subjects of vital importance, in which he himself 
 is personally interested and brings a stirring n-essage to his audi- 
 ence which wins their sympathy from his first words. 
 
 THE MISSION OF NEW JAPAN. 
 Bv Kivo Sue Inui. 
 
 JFiKST Honor Ohation, in igo6, in the University of Michigan, and :ilso in the Northern Ora- 
 torical League. f 
 
 The Far East has aq immense Empire which includes about 
 one-eleventh of the territor}- of the world and one-fourth of the 
 human race. This Empire is rich in coal, iron and timber, rich 
 in history, invention and labor. It nurses and shelters four hun- 
 dred million people and can support many more with its raw 
 materials and manufactured goods, — rice, cotton, silk and bam- 
 boos. It is situated in the best zone and, as has been said, "is 
 blessed with a climate that makes it the bee-hive of the world's 
 production. To control this bee-hive has been regarded as the 
 international prize of the centur\'." But there is a nation that has 
 fought, not to control, but to free it, not to close, but to open it, 
 not to leave it as a hermit kingdom, but to invite and introduce it 
 to the civilized world. Of such a bee-hive, of such a nation, and 
 of such a nation's mission, I am to speak. 
 
 I. Fifty years ago William H. Seward, in a speech in the 
 United States Senate, declared that "The Pacific Ocean with its 
 shores, islands, and the vast region beyond will become the chief 
 theatre of the world's greatest hereafter. True, "its islands and 
 the vast region beyond" have been the chief theatre of the world 
 because of the weakness of China and the greediness of the Euro- 
 pean powers. "They have sought to take from China a city for 
 an eye, a province for a tooth." It was Germany who took pos- 
 session of Kiao-Chau for the murder of two inactive missionaries 
 and sold them for one hundred thousand dollars apiece. It was 
 
HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 England and France who waged that unreasonable war when 
 China refused the importation of opium, and for this England 
 claimed Hongkong and later Wei-Hai-Wei, and France, Hainan. 
 Italy, too, imitated these examples. Then the Chinese Boxers 
 arose, and if the Chinese government had been strong enough, the 
 trouble would have been internal only. But the powers, having 
 found an opportunity, marched thither with an allied army for a 
 double purpose: ostensibly to protect their own subjects and 
 enlarge their sphere of influence, but really to satisfy their hun- 
 ger for the rich territory of China. 
 
 Ask a Russian the cause of the Russo-Japanese war. He will 
 tell you that he fought for the white race, and the safety of 
 Europe. The truth is that he wanted an ice-free port and the con- 
 trol of China. Ask a Japanese the same question. He will tell 
 )'ou that he fought for the integrity of China, the preservation of 
 Korea, the reestablishment of Manchuria, and the independence 
 of Japan itself. He will tell you that he fought for the introduc- 
 tion of western civilization, for the open door and for the cause 
 of the commercial world at large. Let each nation maintain her 
 reasons. But the fundamental reason why the Russo-Japanese 
 war was fought on Chinese territory was this : China was rich 
 but weak and the Russian bear wanted a bite of her, a taste of 
 Korea and a smell of Japan. Around this busy hive of the East 
 there have been a great many political bees flying and buzzing. 
 The great pendulum of politics has been swinging between the 
 Pacific and the Atlantic. The low political barometer has shifted 
 from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, and from the Indian 
 Ocean to the China Sea. Over this sea there have been hanging- 
 ominous political clouds that have made China the storm center of 
 the world's politics. Yes, Senator Seward made no mistake in 
 saying "this vast region will become the chief theatre of the 
 world." 
 
 II. In this dark storm center there has appeared a new 
 nation with a rising flag. In the family of nations "Japan is the 
 child of the world's oldest age." In 1853 she was newly born and 
 was baptised by Commodore Perry, the apostle of American 
 enlightenment. Since that time she has been struggling diligently 
 to acquire Western civilization. In 1904 the greedy bear of 
 Europe stretched his aggressive and stubborn paw from Siberia 
 to Manchuria. This was the power that drove the army of Napo- 
 leon from Moscow, the power of which all Europe was afraid. 
 
MISSION OF NEW JAPAN. l8l 
 
 But when the Japanese not only realized the necessity of preserv- 
 ing the integrity of China and Korea, but also the danger of their 
 own existence, they were forced into war. And they fought ii 
 well — 
 
 "One for all, all for one, 
 Under the banner of the rising sun.'' 
 
 And on that banner was inscribed the word, "Freedom" ; political 
 freedom and independence ; commercial freedom and the open 
 door. Magnanimous in their victory they have shown the world 
 the exalted position of Japan in modern civilization. I saw them 
 once the slaves of a feudal system, but I see them today crowned 
 with freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of faith. 
 I saw them once under the yoke of despotism, but I see them today 
 the authors of their own laws and their own constitution. I saw 
 them once sleeping in their little island home. Today I see them 
 wide awake, a small country but a great nation, the Japanese 
 Empire. 
 
 III. What, then, is the mission of New Japan in the world's 
 storm center? The shortest way to disperse the dark clouds of 
 the political storm and let the bright sun of prosperity shine on 
 the Far East, is to develop China's natural resources, arouse her 
 people from their age-long sleep and lead them to Western stand- 
 ards of civilization. Says Charles K. Edmund, of Canton Chris- 
 tian College, "China needs men who know the institutions of both 
 China and the West, who see clearly the foundations of all civili- 
 zations, hence can help her forward." What nation is it that 
 understands the East as well as she does the West? Who is it 
 that can import, adopt and assimilate the Western civilization for 
 the East ; Japan, which has saved the East from the yoke of Rus- 
 sian absolutism and lawlessness ? 
 
 Japan today has come as a new working power into the old 
 world. She it is that has given old China new life and security, 
 and the desire for Western civilization. Thank God, China is 
 awakening. The great patient of the East has opened his eyes 
 longing for the civilization of the twentieth century. That 
 Empire now has eight thousand bright }'0ung men and women 
 studying in Japan and many more in Europe and America. Her 
 constitution is being prepared by a commission who have investi- 
 gated European governments and are now in Washington. She 
 is no longer a hermit kingdom. Secretary' Hay laid down the 
 principle of the open door. Japan fought for it and opened the 
 
l82 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 Chinese doors to the world. The greatest Chinese statesman has 
 said : "Once awake and started we will go fast and far, and 
 farther than you think, and much faster than you want." Let us 
 go there with unselfish motives, not to take any territory from 
 China, but to give her modern civilization and ideals. Then and 
 then only China with her great natural resources and her indus- 
 trious people will become the United States of the East as Japan 
 has become the England of the Pacific. And all the nations of 
 the earth will have one ideal and one civilization. Commodore 
 Perry and fifty years have made Japan. Give China thirty Perrys 
 and another half century, and we shall see thirty Japans in the 
 Far East that will act in accord with Western civilization and 
 Qiristian ideals. 
 
 "But," say some Europeans, "in this you have shown the 
 germ of the Yellow Peril." And further they say, "The Japanese 
 success has been warmly greeted by the Chinese and the Koreans. 
 Japan will train these millions of people. They will be inspired as 
 was Gordon's victorious army by thoughtful and successful 
 leadership ; then the Yellow Peril cannot be avoided." Is the Yel- 
 low Peril possible? Is it reasonable? It is not the color of the 
 skin that makes a war. If the color of the human skin were the 
 cause of the Russo-Japanese war or any war, I should think that 
 America would have a war every other week. The wars have 
 been fought because there were differences in interests and prin- 
 ciples. The Russo-Japanese war was a conflict of the principles 
 of two nations ; the closed door vs. the open door ; conservatism 
 vs. progress ; absolutism vs. freedom ; bureaucracy vs. constitu- 
 tionalism. Tine peril, on the contrary, has been the peril, not from 
 the }'ellow race but to the }'ellow race. China called the powers of 
 Europe the "Foreign devils." She did well,, for they came there 
 with swords and cannon and battle ships to disturb her peace and 
 take her territory for which there was no shadow of claim. Woe 
 to the Christian nation which teaches the brotherhood of man and 
 mistreats one-fourth of the human race because they are heathen. 
 Woe to Western civilization if it is good for nothing but to rob 
 its weak neighbor. With the sympathy of the civilized world and 
 b>- the province of God Japan was in a position to save the East. 
 "If, owing to Japan's valor and skill, injustice is to cease in the 
 Far East" and the way is to be opened for Western civilization, 
 "where is the peril to true civilization ?" Let us be fair and square, 
 and forget the differences in race and tradition. God forbid that 
 
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. 1S3 
 
 another Spain should go into the Philippines or Russia into China. 
 Let the purpose of the century be not the division of the territory 
 of weak nations, but the exaltation of Christian ideals that shall 
 bind the world together. 
 
 We have found, then, that China is the storm center of the 
 world. We have found that it was not the greedy lion nor the 
 hungry bear that saved the East, but the little brown man, who, 
 with the help of God and the sympathy of His chosen nation^, 
 fought for the salvation of the yellow men. At the close of the 
 Russo-Japanese war it was the first American of today, the Presi- 
 dent of this great republic, who brought the East and the West 
 together. Now the Yankees of the Orient who know the East as 
 well as the West, who live in the East with Western ideals, who 
 join hands with the English to maintain the integrity of the East, 
 who, with the United States, have an unwritten commercial treaty 
 of the open door, — the Japanese should tell the true story of the 
 East to the West, and introduce their Eastern brothers to com- 
 radeship in the family of nations. 
 
 Let China with her lily- 
 Sing holy, holy, holy ; 
 Japan with her cherry blossom 
 
 Hasten to our Father's bosom ; 
 
 England with her rose 
 
 His great name praise ; 
 And Columbia with her golden rod 
 Join with them all to God, 
 
 Who will open His tender breast 
 
 And bind together the East and West. 
 
 THE CRIME OF THE CEN lURY. 
 By Floyd Anthony Deahl. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration, in 1906, in the University of Michigan.] 
 
 From the beginning of history, the world has been ruled b>' 
 the strong. By personal prowess, individuals became chieftains 
 and tribes ruled nations. Chaldea, Assyria, P.abylonia, Egypt, 
 Phoenicia, Greece, Carthage and Rome, each in turn wielded the 
 sceptre of power, and the earth trembled with the tread of their 
 marshalled legions. The middle ages saw Charlemagne and 
 Philip the Fifth possess the power of the Caesars. The dawn of 
 the nineteenth century beheld Europe and Asia once again under 
 the sway of the despot, and the cannon of Wellington sounded 
 
184 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 the dirge of his ambition, and the sun of his glory was forever 
 shrouded in the battle smoke of Waterloo. The twentieth cen- 
 tury is an age, when wars for conquest have ceased ; when nation 
 is not dominated by nation ; when slavery is forgotten ; when 
 people enjoy political and spiritual freedom, and there is a con- 
 gress of nations. Yet in this cosmopolitan age, marking the 
 zenith of the world's commercial and inventive achievements, 
 after two thousand years of Christian teaching, the Jew is held a 
 captive ; denied the protection of law, is murdered and outraged. 
 Above the sounds of peace is heard the wail of widows and the cry 
 of fatherless children ; there appears on the fair horizon of the 
 twentieth century, from the silent, frozen steppes of Siberia, the 
 ghastly mirage of desolate ruins, charred hovels, abandoned homes 
 and the bodies of Jewish dead. 
 
 Doomed by divine decree to be a wanderer, the Jew has sur- 
 vived every nation of antiquity, he alone, of that great cortege, 
 remains unchanged. For a moment, each arose to supremacy and 
 then sank into oblivion. But the Jew, grasping the talmud to his 
 breast, with the implicit faith of a child, has come down through 
 the centuries. Driven from his native land by foreign armies, 
 he is an exile and an outcast. Persecuted and cursed by every 
 nation ; roaming the earth, scattered among all peoples, he is. 
 seeking a home. He was found in the valley of the Volga and 
 the Don five hundred years before the Russian was known to his- 
 tory. Given protection by the Czars, thousands of Jews flocked 
 to Russia. The rape of Poland and the looting of Turkey, brought 
 two millions more under Russian dominion. 
 
 In seventeen hundred and eighty-six, by royal command, one 
 part of the empire was made a Lazaretto, into which all the Jews 
 were driven. There he has been hounded by every persecution 
 that the hate and greed of a brutal soldiery could devise. He has 
 been made illiterate, taxed to abject poverty, expatriated, debarred 
 from every avenue, hedged like a beast in a den, ravaged by fam- 
 ine and pestilence. The Jew has borne these years of untold 
 horror and misery with the forbearance that is the motto of his 
 race, looking forward to that better time, when his children mig-ht 
 be free. 
 
 Russia, dragged into Western civilization by Peter the Great, 
 and once abreast of Christian Europe in art and literature, is 
 shaking oflf its stimulating influence and is sinking into the leth- 
 argy of the Orient. She is the monument of impotencv, paralyzed 
 
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. 1 85 
 
 by misgovernment, wholesale robbery, over-taxation and stupid 
 greed of the landed classes. The peasant, for centuries ground 
 under the heel of despotism and taught only brutality, has turned 
 upon his oppressor. Rapine and savagery reign. Wracked with 
 murder and rebellion, Russia, in the last throes of political death, 
 blinded and maddened by the blight of barbarism, has become a 
 hell of torment for the Jew. 
 
 Follow a frail child into her home. A smouldering bonfire 
 dispells the blackness of the windowless hovel. Everythmg 
 bespeaks of governmental robbery and oppression. One corner 
 is railed oflf for the cattle. Along one wall runs a bench of split 
 logs covered with the family bedding. The aged parents gaze 
 with blanched faces at a little figure. It is that of their fifteen-year- 
 old daughter — dying, repeatedly outraged by a band of Cossacks. 
 And as they look, the Cossack's hoof clatters on the pavement. 
 Hear the father plead for the life of his wife and child ! The cry 
 for mercy is answered with a curse, the father is brained with a 
 musket, and the mother sabred. A lighted torch and the story 
 is ended. 
 
 Who is guilty of these scenes of carnage and bloodshed ; who 
 has caused all this misery and suffering? Who passed the May 
 laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-two, forcing all the Jews 
 within the "Pale" ; who instituted corporal punishment against 
 the Jews; who bars him from every hospital and denies him the 
 right to hold lands ; who taxes his poverty and compels him to 
 give twenty-five years of his life to the army ; who caused the 
 massacres of Odena and Keiflf, and drove the Jews from Mos- 
 cow ; who denies the Jew the right to citizenship and liberty ? It 
 is the government which tears down theatres, suppresses new 
 songs and literature ; which treats as criminal and outcast, all 
 who decline to worship relics and sacred pictures. It is the weak, 
 vacillating Czar and his ministers ; it is the government of Russia, 
 that is. guilty of the Crime of the Century. 
 
 Examination of the dull, ignoble greed and mad fanaticism 
 which has wrought these masterpieces of mediaeval barbarism, 
 finds a race— the survivor of the Celt, Finn, Cossack and Slav, 
 whose sluggish brain is unable to grasp the meaning and expanse 
 of our civilization. A huge child jostled and pushed aside by the 
 nations, used by them as a tool for gain, who by usury rob him 
 and pauperize his labor. Unable to compete with the foreigner, 
 goaded to frenzy by his losses and failures, the Russian wreaks 
 
lS6 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 his vengeance on the poor defenseless Hebrew ; greedy nobles and 
 rapacious Czars rob him of his land and compel him to traffic in 
 money which he can carry with him. So the Jew is a money 
 lender because he is commanded by Russian law to be so. Yet 
 for this he is persecuted, for this he is murdered. 
 
 It is Christmas night in the city of Moscow, eighteen hun- 
 dred and ninety-seven. To the west of the city, the cold fitful 
 glimmer of the winter stars reveals a group of shanties surrounded 
 by a forest of weeping willows. Naught is heard save the moan- 
 ing of the wind and the distant howl of famished wolves. The 
 shanties are wrapped in slumber. A band of Cossacks steal from 
 out the city and surround the little village.. With .torch and sabre, 
 three hundred families are driver) from their burning homes, out 
 into the wintry darkness. Mapy flee to the forest and kindle fires 
 to keep from freezing, but the Cossacks follow and stamp out the 
 fires, leaving men, women and children to the mercy of the north 
 wind. Others ilee to the cemetery and. in the mocking light of 
 the dawn, a peasant finds the frozen bodies of the dead in a Chris- 
 tian burial ground. And this in a Christian age and in the very 
 dawn of the twentieth century. It is the one dark blot in our 
 civilization, which cries trumpet-tongued against these murders 
 and against the government that permit them. 
 
 This race which has given the world its faith in a spiritual 
 God, and the immortalit}- of the soul, has never been persecuted 
 by a nation, but that divine vengeance has overtaken it. Rome in 
 ojie last effort hurled the armies of Titus against Jerusalem, lev- 
 eled her walls, led her people away to die in the arena, and then 
 went down in ignoble ruin. Ferdinand apd Isabella, deaf to the 
 eloquence of ruined empires, drove the Jew from Spain, which for. 
 five hundred years had been his home, and into .which the fibers 
 of his heart had grown ; but with the Jew, passed the life, energy 
 and prosperity of Spain. Russia has for centuries persecuted the 
 Jew and she sits a loathsome leper among the governments of 
 Europe. 
 
 The cr}- of the Jew from darkest Russia is not for revenge 
 against his murderers, but for mercy, for life and the right to 
 work as other men. His industry, energy and talent have become 
 one of the world's motive powers. He was recognized by Alex- 
 ander and the Ptolemies as an economic necessit\- and was given 
 every advantage. He has been the prime minister of Empires ; the 
 counselor of kings : the commander of amiies, and the arbiter of 
 
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY. 1 87 
 
 public credit. He exerted a strong and popular force in the time 
 of Augustus, and influenced that strange outburst of Arabian and 
 Saracenic culture, from which to this day we draw inspiration. In 
 the last quarter of a century, the peace of Europ^e hung upon Dis- 
 raeli, the prime minister of England. It was Gambetta who pro- 
 posed the dissolution of the hated Napoleonic Empire, and was 
 first to proclaim the republic of France. The sons of a poor Ger- 
 man Jew, now rule the monetary world. Jewish intellect and 
 energy have entered every field of human activity. Christian 
 teachers have sat at the feet of Jewish Rabbis to learn the mean- 
 ing of the old testament. Senators and parHaments have been 
 enraptured by Jewish orators. Their statesmen have cham- 
 pioned measures alleviating the evils of injustice and the burdens 
 of the poor. Jewish scientists have traced the course of the 
 stars ; her artists and poets have produced many of the world's 
 masterpieces ; and although the voice of Jewish prophets has been 
 hushed for centuries, their teachings are the hope of millions.' 
 
 The Jew is our spiritual father. He gave us our code of 
 morals and laid the foundation for our civilization. Let us judge 
 him as we judge other men. Let us tear from him the shackles 
 of the past and let him attain the true majesty of his manhood. 
 Time proves that he is worthy of our trust and we need not legis- 
 late to make him our equal ; he is so by nature. We hear the 
 familiar cry of Jewish sorrow from Russia ; shall it be heard in 
 vain? The nations imbued with the noble spirit of Christianity 
 will grant the Jew justice. His unspeakable misfortunes and 
 inherited woes shall be blotted out. 
 
 The writer of our sacred literature, the author of our religious 
 creed, shall be recognized and treated as our equal in our social, 
 moral and civil code. His present history shall not be repeated, 
 the new chapters shall not be written in blood, but in characters 
 of living light. Our civil and religious sentinels shall no longer 
 turn a deaf ear to the cry of the Hebrew and he will no longer 
 consider our New Testament a novel, a work of fiction, but a book 
 Divinely inspired. 
 
 And as the mists of ignorance and barbarism are driven back 
 into Asia by the fires of revolution, and the centuries of prejudice, 
 so long cherished against the Jew, are broken down, there will 
 come order from out this carnival of blood and chaos. When the 
 people are sovereign, there will be constructed upon the crumbl- 
 ing, smouldering ruins of autocracy, a new regime, whose foun- 
 
loo HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 elation will be in the love and good will of her people. Under the 
 magic touch of Liberty the leprous Russia will become a new 
 Empire, and will assume a potent position among the nations. 
 When the crack of the Cossack pistol and lash are hushed for- 
 ever ; when downtrodden humanity no longer cries for mercy ;, 
 when these murderers now reeking with blood have paid the pen- 
 alty, then will Russia have expiated "The Crime of the Century." 
 
FLOYD ANTHONY DEAHL 
 
Floyd Anthony Deahl. 
 
 Floyd Anthony Deahl was born at Millersburg, Indiana, in 
 1883. He prepared for college in the Goshen, Indiana, High 
 School and was graduated with the class of 1903. He entered 
 the Literary Department of the University of Michigan the fall 
 of 1903 and after one year's work entered the Law School with 
 the class of 1907 and took his degree of LL.B. with that class. 
 
 The last year of his high school course he won the oratorical 
 contest and also the inter-scholastic contest, winning a gold medal 
 and a college scholarship. On entering the University of Michi- 
 gan he took up the study of oratory and debating with renewed 
 vigor, and participated in many debates and oratorical contests. 
 In 1905-1906 he won his class contest in oratory and also second 
 honor in both University contests, the Hamilton contest in 
 November, 1905, and the Annual University contest in March, 
 ^906. In November, 1906, he won first honor in the local Hamil- 
 ton contest, and in March, 1907, first honor in the Annual Uni- 
 versity contest, and was awarded the Kaufman testimonial of 
 $100, and the Chicago Alumni Medal. This victory carried with 
 it the honor of representing the University of Michigan in the 
 contest of the Northern Oratorical League. In the League con- 
 test, held at Madison, Wisconsin, May 3, 1907, Mr. Deahl spoke 
 on "John Marshall," and was awarded fourth place by the com- 
 mittee of judges. 
 
 Mr. Deahl is prepossessing in personal appearance. He has 
 a fine physique, a strong, sympathetic voice and forceful action. 
 He commands attention by his great earnestness. His style is 
 clear, rhythmical and imaginative, stopping short of the florid. 
 He holds attention to the end of his speeches by his sympathy 
 and aggressiveness. 
 
IQO HONOK ORATIONS. 
 
 JOHN MARSHALL. 
 By FtOYD Anthony Deahi,. 
 
 [First Honor Oration, in 1907, in the University of Michigan, ranking^ fourth 
 in the contest of the Northern Oratorical I^eague.] 
 
 The inviolable right to the pursuit of happiness is the great- 
 est blessing which a government can give to its people. The 
 impregnability of this privilege marks the true grandeur of a 
 nation. Judged by this criterion, the American Republic, in the 
 dark hours which followed the adoption of the Constitution, was 
 sinking to a low ebb of national honor. The masses were fearful 
 lest the safe-guard of their new born liberty should prove the 
 means of tyranny. They were demanding justice. The test of 
 the new goyernment had come, when the prophetic Hamilton 
 cried, "We must have a competent judiciary" ; when the con- 
 siderate Washington said, "A greater influence than the govern- 
 ment itself must save the Nation." Then upon the dark clouds 
 of fear and uncertainty, a strong hand wrote in letters of fire, 
 "The Constitution still lives ; is now and ever shall be the voice 
 of the people. The government is amenable to its limitations." 
 The masses were silenced and pacified. John Marshall had 
 spoken the word which made the Constitution a reality, and fixed 
 forever the status of a nation. 
 
 From the hour of independence, the superstitious colonists 
 saw in the shadowed form of central power, the spectre of a 
 tyrant. The new born republic, after a brief existence, was about 
 to perish, when in answer to the agonized cry of patriotic hearts 
 for a Union, for a central power, the Philadelphia Convention 
 produced a new Constitution and placed it before the people for 
 ratification or rejection. The eyes of the South were upon Patrick 
 Henry, the eloquent advocate of state rights and the declared 
 enemy of the Constitution. The hope of the North lay in Hamil- 
 ton, the author of The Federalist. Nine states had ratified the 
 Constitution, but New York and Virginia held aloof ; their assent 
 was imperative. New York was the key to New England". Vir- 
 ginia was the gateway to the South and was the most important 
 of all the states. Its population was as great as that of Pennsyl- 
 vania and New York combined, and included nearly one-fifth of 
 the population of the thirteen states. Union without her was 
 impossible. 
 
 The heat of the battle grows intense. In New York, Hamil- 
 
JOHN MARSHALI,. I9I 
 
 ton with nineteen followers forces , Governor Clinton, who is 
 backed by an overwhelming majority, into the heat of the con- 
 troversy. Melancthon Smith, the foremost debater in the New 
 York Convention, and colleague of Clinton, closes ■ his harangue 
 against the' Constitution, and the cause of the Union seems lost. 
 At the same' hour, Patrick Henry is speaking in the Virginia 
 Assembly. In a masterful outburst of eloquence, he declares 
 that "the centralizing power of the proposed government, the 
 power to levy taxes and raise armies, will mean new tyranny 
 and new despotism." With the dying echoes of his voice, there 
 rises no clamour of applause ; his hearers sit dumb, convinced 
 that vmion is impossible. Amid the silence of the Assembly, the 
 tall figure of Marshall is seen to rise. Every eye is raised in 
 expectancy. The faith in him and the cause he champions is 
 absolute. The destiny of a nation and the happiness of future 
 generations nerve him for the conflict. His most cherished ideal, 
 the cause for which he had made every sacrifice, now hangs in 
 the balance. Imbued with the spirit of the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence, possessed with an undying patriotism, Marshall rises 
 to a supreme eflfort in which the pent-up convictions of years 
 burst forth. Point by point, argument by argument, he meets 
 the opposition with unanswerable logic. His fervent voice, and 
 his flashing eye are irresistible as he cries in the whirlwind of his 
 passion, "Fellow-citizens, choose what you will, state independ- 
 ence and despotism, or a united nation and liberty." Patrick 
 Henry rises, and declares himself in favor of the Union, and 
 Virginia ratifies the Constitution. 
 
 Meanwhile the contest progresses in New York. Hamilton 
 wrings frbm Melanchton Smith the confession that conditional 
 ratification is impossible, but Clinton is unmoved, his ranks still 
 coherent. Then the news comes from Virginia, and a wave of 
 patriotism sweeps over the convention. Hamilton, seeing the 
 advantage, quickly puts the motion that New York ratify the 
 Constitution unconditionally, and it carries. Thus John Marshall, 
 whose patriotism thrilled the heart of a-nation^with a desire for 
 the success of the new government, converted Patrick Henry, 
 the leader of a hostile majority, and won Virginia and the South. 
 That victory broke the deadlock in New York whose ratification 
 made the Constitution the law of the land. With one mighty 
 effort, Marshall stamped out dissension and over the ruins of 
 Confederation raised a Federal Union. 
 
192 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 Exhausted from their long struggle, the Federalists deemed 
 their task finished, but history reveals that only the initial step 
 in nationality had been achieved. The judiciary, the balancing 
 power of our Government, had failed. The reconstruction period 
 under the new regime of independence created questions of 
 momentous importance, involving the rights and liberties of 
 States and individuals, questions without precedent in the history 
 of human progress. Controversies that had bfeen sectional now 
 became national. Twenty-four States differing in customs, laws 
 and institutions were plunged into one maddening entanglement. 
 From the hills of New England and from the extreme borders 
 of the South, came murmurs of dissension. From every hamlet 
 and village there came the cry: "The Supreme Court is not 
 judge in its own jurisdiction, because that would make it sov- 
 ereign. It has no' right to nullify the legislative act of a State ; 
 it has no power to declare void an act of Congress." These were 
 questions that must be answered from the interpretation of the 
 Constituion and upon the sustaining of which depended the fate 
 of the Union. Congress had gone beyond its power; riotous 
 mobs were clamouring at the very portals of the Capitol. At 
 the climax of the impending strain, Chief Justice Jay resig^ned. 
 The existence of the Republic was again threatened. Two irre- 
 concilable principles grappled in a death struggle upon the battle 
 ground of the Constitution. Was the Union or the State to be 
 supreme? Was liberty or anarchy to reign? WJis the Nation 
 to be dissevered? Was the heritage of Lexington, Valley Forge 
 and Yorktown to be lost? 
 
 The hour for the monumental task of Marshall had come. 
 Undaunted amid trying surroundings, knowing well the sacri- 
 fices of the Revolution, he came to the Chief Justiceship, mind- 
 ful of only one purpose, the preservation of the Constitution and 
 the Union. The people, arrayed in hostile parties, struggled for 
 political ascendency regardless of pubjic welfare. When the 
 nation was thus divided, there came the question, "Shall the 
 laws of Congress or the provisions of the Constitution be 
 supreme ?" The Federal Government was paralyzed ; the leaders 
 of public opinion awaited the decision of the Chief Justice. To 
 decide in favor of Congress meant that the Constitution was a 
 myth to be contravened at public whim ; "a mere rope of sand." 
 Immediately Marshall hurled back the answer : "When a law is 
 enacted in conflict with the Constitution, it is utterly void; the 
 
HONOK ORATIONS. 1 93 
 
 power so to decide is vested in the Supreme Court, and such 
 decision is authoritative and final, binding- throughout the land 
 upon State and people." Thus, when national existence hung 
 by a thread, there sprung from the brain of John Marshall, the 
 doctrine of the implied powers of the Constitution, the solid 
 rock upon which our Republic is builded ; henceforth, the Federal 
 Government, and not the State, was to be sovereign. The crisis 
 had passed. A new chapter of individual rights and liberties had 
 been written. The same voice that had defended the Constitu- 
 tion in its adoption had again defeated its enemies, had thwarted 
 the usurpation of powers by Congress, and left the Constitution 
 supreme. 
 
 Marshall's keen intellect, his legal intuition and his broad 
 interpretation of the principles of the Constitution, enabled him 
 to discern the true cause of dissatisfaction among the masses. 
 They must be taught the limitations and prohibitions of the Con- 
 stitution. They must learn that it is the palladium of their 
 liberties, and that centralizing power will no longer cast por- 
 tentous shadows of imperialism. Carefully, yet with the iron 
 grip of a master, decision by decision, he taught the people the 
 lessons of nationality. He tenaciously clung to the idea of our 
 forefathers that the Constitution emanated not from a part but 
 from the whole people, that it was not made for one, but for all 
 generations, and to meet every crisis. Marshall's decisions, and 
 his idealization of the Constitution transformed public opinion, 
 and infused into the life-blood of the nation, confidence and trust 
 in the Constitution. Marshall found the Constitution weak and 
 halt. He left it strong, resting upon the firm foundation of the 
 love and good will of the people. He found thirteen independent 
 sovereignties, dominated with selfish aims, and pulsating with 
 avarice ; he left them a Nation, a people united, yet free, enjoying 
 political and spiritual liberty, existing with one purpose, and 
 sacrificing colonial rights for one cause, America. 
 
 Washington, Jefferson and Marshall stand as our great tri- 
 umvirate of constructive statesmen. For a third of a century, 
 Marshall guarded the ark of the people's liberties and gave all 
 he possessed of will and intellect to make it perpetual. Union 
 and centralization were the aim of his public life. He breathed 
 his soul into every measure of government. Solicitous for his 
 country's welfare, his voice and pen were ever guiding and 
 directing our statesmen, and demanding the protection of the 
 
194 JOHN MARSHALL. 
 
 people's rights and liberties. Marshall's decisions have stood for 
 a century and still stand unquestioned, side by side with the 
 Constitution. In 1816, when the nation was bankrupt and its 
 currency worthless, Congress passed a law incorporating the 
 National Bank. When it was assailed as unconstitutional, the 
 far-seeing Marshall held that Congress has power to make any 
 law in accordance with the Constitution, to perpetuate the Re- 
 public. When the challenge of Hayne was to be answered, when 
 nullification threatened to disrupt the Union, it was the logic of 
 Marshall, thundered from the lips of Webster, which became the 
 battle cry of a nation, and laid on the altar of free.dom one mil- 
 lion of her sons to maintain the declaration that all men are 
 created free and equal. Today, when corporate greed threatens 
 to subvert the morals of the nation, when licensed individuals, 
 heedless of the laws o^ God and of nations, are exploiting the 
 resources of the land and are murdering humanity in the sweat- 
 shop, the mine and the mill, the Federal Government, under tlie 
 implied powers of the Constitution, as expounded by Marshall, 
 will find a means to curb these vested interests, make them 
 amenable to law, and stop forever human sacrifices to the god 
 of greed. 
 
 Great men are destined to perform great missions. What 
 Marshall did, no other man in the colonies could have done. He 
 was the incarnation of the democratic ideals of his age. Take 
 from our constitutional law his decisions and little remains. His 
 name stands untarnished and his character grows more lustrous 
 as time advances. He cared not for the plaudits of the multitude, 
 and. believed that he who does most for humanity, does most for 
 self. Greatness to him meant the approval of conscience. He 
 labored not that the world might know him, but that our Consti- 
 tution might be an everlasting bond of Union to posterit\'. The 
 epitaph — martyr and hero — cannot be chiseled upon his monu- 
 ment, but in the light of American civilization, the sons of the 
 oppressed, fleeing from the scourge of tyranny, will forever cher- 
 ish the name of the jurist whose labors erected a sanctuan,- for 
 the quickening principle of liberty, and preserved a nation for 
 the enfranchisement of conscience, wherein cast and creed dis- 
 appear before the sunlight of opportunity. And in the future 
 as the enlightened of the earth shall scan the roll of honored 
 dead, bright among the world's benefactors and statesmen, will 
 appear the name of John Marshall, America's greatest Constitu- 
 tionalist. 
 
MIGRATION THE SOLUTION. 195 
 
 MIGRATION THE SOLUTION. 
 By Sheridan Downey. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration, in 1907, in the University of Michigan.] 
 
 A century ago America was the home of the black race and 
 the white. The one was free, the other slave. Fifty years 
 passed. The North demanded the liberation of the Negro. The 
 South refused it. The war came, and the North was victorious. 
 The North aflSrmed the emancipation proclamation and called 
 the Negro free. They passed the 14th amendment and said he 
 was a citizen. They gave him the ballot and thought him a voter. 
 Fifty years more have passed. America is still the home of the 
 black race and the white. And still the one is free and the other 
 slave. 
 
 The condition of the negro has steadily grown worse since 
 the Civil War. He is generally found living in filth and poverty. 
 He is possessed of a criminal instinct that seems a part of his 
 nature. The industrial efficiency developed under slavery has 
 been destroyed, and he works only under the lash of necessity. 
 More than a thousand negroes have been lynched in the South 
 during the past five years. In many of the states he has been 
 practically disfranchised. His status is not much above that of 
 serfdom. From the standpoint of the negro, at least, it would 
 be better if he were returned to slavery. 
 
 But is it any wonder that the negro has not been able to 
 adapt himself to the white man's civilization? The development 
 of the Saxon race has come through a tardy and cruel evolution. 
 It has been the triumph of strength over weakness, a yielding 
 of centuries to might. It has not come by leaps and bounds. 
 And today as in time gone by that same heartless evolution is 
 at work. Civilized man could not survive in a land of barbarism. 
 Neither can a savage adapt himself to civilization in a day. In 
 America the negro is bounded and beset on every side by a civiH- 
 zation he cannot even understand. He is just entering the Dark 
 Ages, and the sun of civilization is far beyond his horizon. He, 
 like the white man, must toil along the dark and blood-stained 
 path of development. Think of the awful price the white race 
 has paid for its knowledge of good and evil, of the centuries of 
 growth, of turmoil, and of conflict wherein was born the Magna 
 Charta. Remember that the wisdom and experience of ages 
 
196 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 guided the hand that penned the Declaration of Independence, 
 and that every letter in that declaration was traced and retraced 
 with the blood of American patriots before it became a living, 
 burning message to the nations of the world. Three thousand 
 years of moral development and of industrial progress lie be- 
 tween the negro and the white race. Can we hope to bridge the 
 chasm of three thousand years by a few generations of educa- 
 tional and industrial training? As well attempt to span the 
 ocean with a solitary plank. Only time can change the negro's 
 nature, only experience with right and wrong can lift him from 
 the dust. 
 
 Our statesmen have not been blind. They have seen that 
 the negro is an alien, a man unsuited to his environment, a crea- 
 ture at hopeless war with the world around him. And to adjust 
 matters they have suggested segregation. And we have passed 
 laws to compel the separation of the black and white races. But 
 races living together cannot be kept apart by a law on the statute 
 books. For behind human law is the human heart. And though 
 you may pass a thousand laws, you cannot do away with man's 
 passions or his lusts. Facts may be bitter, but they are facts. 
 We know that today black people and white do live together. 
 You can make this union a crime, but you have only made con- 
 ditions more heinous than they were before. But there is a 
 greater objection to a plan of segregation than that it is a failure, 
 for it will result in the degradation of the negro race. You can 
 tell the negro that segregation is but a scientific conclusion; that 
 it has no stigma or sting. But you will know it is a lie as you 
 tell it to him. And so will he. The white race thinks itself 
 superior to the black and the black race knows it, and resents 
 it. What will this mean to the negro child? What is he to think 
 when men sneer at his father and say there is no virtue in his 
 mother. My friends, you do not give a man courage by dressing 
 him in the striped clothes of a convict, you do not give a woman 
 self respect by telling her that she is infamous. How will you 
 make a man of the negro by setting him apart from other men 
 and telling him that he is a beast? 
 
 When we consider that the negro is an outcast, that his 
 education has been a failure, and that segregation is impossible, 
 we must realize that his condition is a sad and serious one. But' 
 my friends, what of the morrow? What of the day when the 
 negro population has increased from 10 to 20 or 30 millions? 
 
MIGRATION THE SOLUTION. 1 97 
 
 Already in some of our Southern states the negro population 
 outnumbers the white. Twenty years ago the negro was a pas- 
 sive serf. Today he is still a serf, but now rebellious. What 
 will he be 20 years from now ? We are but a few years removed 
 from the scourge of a civil war, and already the shadow of a 
 bloodier struggle is falling across our land. The conditions in 
 the South cannot go on in peace. Daily, race hatred and an- 
 tagonism increase. The cloud of a half century of strife is gath- 
 ering. The conflict is coming. Every lynching tells us of it. 
 Already in a dozen Southern cities race war has blazed out and 
 been suppressed with difficulty. And when the storm once breaks, 
 there will be no quarter asked, no mercy given. The emancipa- 
 tion proclamation will be recalled and a proclamation of extermi- 
 nation will issue in its place — a horrible mockery to those who 
 gave their lives to make the negro free. Amalgamation, if al- 
 lowed to work unchecked, might in time solve the problem. But 
 we dare not wait on the process of time. Present conditions call 
 us to immediate action to avert a threatened war. 
 
 What course then should be pursued in adjusting the rela- 
 tions of the black and white races? If education has proved a 
 failure, if segregation is impossible, if race war is imminent, 
 wherein lies our hope? 
 
 Must we admit that our negro problem has no solution, 
 that any attempt to solve it is hopeless? What of the enforced 
 or voluntary migration of the negro race ? Every statesman had 
 admitted that if such a scheme were practicable it would solve 
 our race problem. But is such migration feasible? Suppose the 
 negro would refuse to leave this country. Would we have the 
 legal and moral right to deport him? An amendment to our 
 federal constitution would give the legal right, and if we were to 
 decide that such action were necessary to the welfare of both 
 races, why, morally, should we hesitate to take it? Should senti- 
 mentality weigh in the scale against necessity? Should theoretic 
 right be carried to such an extreme as to result in actual wrong? 
 Our forefathers did not hesitate to bring the negro to this land 
 to make him a slave. By what principle of justice are we for- 
 bidden to take him to some other land to make him free? 
 
 To find a fit home for the negro presents a perplexing 
 problem, but one not impossible of solution. In the near future 
 we may be able to buy from some South American republic a 
 
198 HONOK ORATIONS. 
 
 portion of its territory, as was done on the Isthmus of Panama. 
 The South American states . are but thinly . populated though 
 rich in natural resources. Half the country of Brazil would 
 be an ideal home for the negro race. That our government has 
 had and will again have opportunity to acquire territory in South 
 America is beyond dispute. Should we not the next time it is 
 offered take advantage of such an opportunity? The Island of 
 'Cuba has less than a million people, principally of the negro 
 race. It is capable of supporting a population of more than 20 
 millions. We have had opportunity to annex it in the past, and 
 doubtless will have again in the near future. Cuba would make 
 a splendid negro state. Why should we not annex it for such a 
 purpose? The American nation should bend every energy toward 
 securing some country to be used for the negro race, and that 
 such a country could in time be secured is beyond doubt. 
 
 Herein lies the only solution of the negro problem. When 
 such a place has been found let the negro be taken there. Let 
 our federal government exercise supreme authority over him, 
 controlling him by beneficent laws tempered to his needs. There 
 he may find that happiness and equality which are denied him 
 in this country. Freed from race hatred and race prejudice, 
 governed by laws fitted to his needs, he may work out his own 
 destiny, no longer the salve of a civilization a thousand years be- 
 yond him. 
 
 My friends, the acquiring of a new home for the negro race 
 and the migration of 10 million people is a mighty enterprise. 
 It will tax the wealth and energy of America for decades to 
 come. But are we afraid to attempt that enterprise? Dare we 
 refuse ? We are responsible for the condition of the negro. We 
 have made the story of the negro the saddest story of history. 
 Back in the jungles of Africa he lived the life of a savage. As 
 rVmerica was the home of the red man, Africa was the home 
 of the black. In that wild, free country he lived the wild, free 
 life of a primitive man. But the American tore him from his 
 home and made him a slave, made him a serf in the home of 
 democracy. He was placed on the market and sold to the high- 
 est bidder. His life was made property in the eternal lust of 
 man for gold. At last the people gave him freedom. They 
 offered him the white man's laws and white man's government. 
 The\' offered him desires and aspirations. But they left him de- 
 
MIGRATION THE SOLUTION. 1 99 
 
 moralized by generations of slavery. They left him in a civili- 
 zation a thousand years beyond his time. They had offered him 
 everything and given him nothing. They had freed the slave 
 and made an outcast. The terrible thing is not that the negro 
 has his passions, not that he is weak. Every race has been the 
 same in times gone by. The terrible thing is that freedom has 
 brought only the realization of an outcast's condition, only shame 
 and loss of self respect. Who tonight demands your sympathy? 
 Is it the Jew hounded from place to place and homeless? Is it 
 the Russian peasant demoralized and degraded by hellish laws? 
 Is it the workmen of the world, the slaves of an industrial tyr- 
 anny? Yes, my friends, all these demand your sympathy. But 
 what of the negro? What of a man liberated from slavery to 
 rot in freedom ? What of a man placed among a people of whom 
 he can never be a part or parcel? What of a man whose past 
 is the memory of slavery, and whose future can only be the reali- 
 zation of shame? Time will bring to the Russian peasant the 
 jewel of freedom; a home to the wandering Jew; to the laboring 
 man the crown of knowledge. But what has time to bring to 
 the negro? If he remains in America the coming years are 
 destined to find him still a serf in the land of opportunity ; an 
 inferior in the home of equality ; an outcast among men. In 
 the future as in the past the story of the negro will be the sad- 
 dest story of history. My friends, our fathers bought the free- 
 dom of the negro. They paid in blood on a thousand battle- 
 fields the price of his redemption ; they paid in tears in a million 
 ruined homes for the folly of the past. 
 
 Let us finish the work they' left undone. Let us find a home 
 for the negro where he can be free. It is his right. Let us 
 avoid race war lest we too pay in blood and tears for the folly 
 of the past. 
 
Adrian Marinus Landman. 
 
 Adrian Marinus Landman was born in Boston, Mass., in 
 1879. When he was six years of age his parents removed to 
 Grand Rapids, Michigan. He prepared for college in the Grand 
 Rapids High School from which he was graduated in 1898. In 
 1 90 1 he entered the government service among the Indians and 
 remained three years. 
 
 Ill 1904 he entered the Law School of the University of 
 Michigan and spent one year in study. . He then returned to 
 Dakota and devoted the next two years to the Indian Service. 
 In 1907 he re-entered the University with the c'ass of 1908 and 
 will receive his degree of LL.B. in June. 
 
 Mr. Landman has been interested in oratory for several 
 years. During his first year in the University he took the 
 courses in the principles of public speaking and showed marked 
 ability in writing and speaking. He entered the contest of the 
 T'irst-Year class in the Law School and was awarded the honor 
 of representing his class in the annual University contest, in 
 which he won a creditable place. 
 
 He re-entered the contest of 1908 with an oration on "Our 
 Duty to the Sioux," and not only won the right to represent his 
 class in the final University contest, but was awarded the first 
 honor in that contest. This honor carried with it the Chicago 
 Alumni Medal and the Kaufman testimonial of $100, and con- 
 stituted Mr. Landman the representative of the University of 
 Michigan in the Northern Oratorical League contest. In the 
 League contest, held at Iowa City May i, 1908, he was awarded 
 fifth place by the judges of the contest. 
 
 Mr. Landman's success as a public speaker is the result of 
 hard and persistent labor. He has a good physique, a strong, 
 well-modulated voice, vigor of action, magnetism and the ability 
 to grasp and hold attention. He is direct, full of feeling and 
 speaks on subjects that have human and personal interest. 
 
ADRIAN MARINUS LANDMAN 
 
OUR DUTY TO THE SIOUX. 201 
 
 OUR DUTY TO THE SIOUX. 
 By Adrian Marinus Landman. 
 
 [First Honor Oration, in 1908, in the University of Michigan, taking fifth place 
 in the contest of the Northern Oratorical League.] 
 
 The advent of the white man foretold the doom of the In- 
 dian. Swift upon the landing of Columbus, civilization rolled 
 up its mighty forces and swept onward toward the alluring west. 
 All ignorant of the relentless power of this advance, a red and 
 warlike people vainly fought the vanguard of the dread invader. 
 The last chapter of the history of that futile struggle is written 
 in the story of a crushed and broken people — pitiful pieces of 
 driftwood on the crest of civilization's advancing tide. The life 
 in which the Sioux gloried, remains to them no more. The en- 
 vironment, which shaped their characteristics and from which 
 sprang their ambitions, is gone forever. On the western breeze 
 comes to us the long quavering note of their death song. From 
 their own lips I have heard the story of their former glories and 
 have seen the unhappy conditions under which they now exist. 
 
 To the Sioux nation belonged, by right of arms and occupa- 
 tion, the northern plains between the Mississippi and the Rockies 
 Progress demanded that communication be established between 
 the infant civilization of the Pacific slope and its mother source 
 in the east. For the privilege of constructing a railroad across 
 the Sioux land, five of the wisest and bravest of our generals did 
 not deem it derogatory to our National dignity solemnly to prom- 
 ise that a territory now covered by three states, should never be 
 trodden by a white man's foot without the consent of the Sioux. 
 Since that time, piece by piece their lands have been wrested 
 from them by shrewd bargaining, by playing upon their native 
 weaknesses, or by intimidation. Under the original treaty, the 
 Black Hills, the oasis of the western plains, were included under 
 the Sioux dominion. Upon the discovery of gold in that region, 
 all the treaties and solemn promises of the Nation could not 
 stem the tide of fortune hunters. Further negotiations became 
 necessary. Early in their parlies with these people, our repre- 
 sentatives had learned the weak point in the Indian nature. His 
 brain conceives of no tomorrow. For a present material advan- 
 tage or pleasure, he will barter the hopes of all the future. So, 
 in exchange for the certainty of an unmolested home on the alkili 
 plains of Dakota and a few years of freedom from want and 
 
202 HONOB ORATIONS. 
 
 privation, the Sioux parted with the heritage of their children. 
 The sacred Indian hills, within whose heart ran priceless veins 
 of gold, whose fertile valleys held promise of wealth, upon whose 
 sloping sides lay forests of invested riches for the red man's 
 sons, passed from them forever. Still the story is not all told. 
 The present sees the golden fields of corn waving on the very 
 threshold of the Sioux domain, heralding again the advent of 
 the phalanxes of civilization.! Once more the greedy white hand 
 is being outstretched toward the red man's . possessions. In the 
 face of past events the express policy of the Government is, as 
 speedily as possible, to allot the Sioux their several treaty shares 
 and turn them out to fight the world alone. The full-blood 
 Sioux of today, as a class, are no more able to compete with such 
 conditions than they were forty years ago. 
 
 Contracts of those with immature and undeveloped minds 
 find protection in every land. Our nation, in contracting with 
 the Indians, negotiated with an unsophisticated race, . ignorant 
 even of the very meaning of "contract." Frozen and starved into 
 submission, gratuitous clothing and provisions seemed to them 
 the height of affluence. Thirty years to them was all eternity. 
 From the treaty of 1868 to the present, the Sioux have been 
 known and dealt with as "wards of the Government" ; yet our 
 law-givers would shield themselves behind these contracts — plead- 
 ing the fulfilment of treaty stipulations — quieting the national 
 conscience by reproaching the Sioux with being incompetents and 
 with being obstacles in the way of the Nation's advance. 
 
 In the early period after their pacification, touched by the 
 glorifying light of romance, the better qualities of the Sioux 
 stood forth intensified. Given their characteristics, as the Nation 
 saw them then, a generation of educatiqn and contact with the 
 whites would place them on an equal, footing with their con- 
 querors. But that vision has been shattered. The Indian of 
 today is but the semblance of his free and warlike father, whose 
 boundaries were measured by the endurance of his ponies and 
 the indefinite lines of hostile tribes. 
 
 Realizing the failure of the original plan for their civiliza- 
 tion. Congress tacitly admits its inability to cope with the situa- 
 tion. Instead of redoubUng its efforts our legislative body turns 
 its back upon the Indian. Heedless of appeals from the Indian 
 Office, the national purse strings are drawn tighter and tighter 
 for the Sioux. Deep in the interest of a newly acquired philan- 
 
OUR DUTY TO THF; SIOUX. 203 
 
 thropy in the islands of the Pacific, we forget our duty to the 
 Indian. 
 
 The uhimate solution of this problem lies in the fusion of 
 blood. In such commingling alone can the Sioux hope to attain 
 equality in the struggle for existence. Year by year the inter- 
 marriages between the whites and the most beautiful and ac- 
 complished of the maidens of the mixed-blood grow in number. 
 The mixed-blood youths in turn marry white, mixed-blood or 
 the most favored of the full-blood maidens. As an inevitable 
 result, the remaining full-bloods sink lower in vitality, and grow 
 weaker in mental vigor. 
 
 The mixed-bloods are on the road to their own salvation. 
 They have acquired the best lands, the best homes, the best of 
 all advantages arising from governmental aid. But, for the 
 care and protection of several thousand full-bloods, those who 
 have not proved competent in the cruel conflict of the survival 
 of the fittest, I raise my voice in appeal tonight. Day by day 
 the walls of civilization have been closing in upon them. Aliens 
 they are to a new environment to which they can never become 
 reconciled. To the full-blood comes little hope. As a class they 
 live in wretched conditions, diseased, devitalized, bankrupt in 
 the physical and mental qualities of a sturdy people. 
 
 I can still recall the picture of an old Sioux mother, bidding 
 her accused boy good-bye. His offense had been a petty one, 
 but to her, ignorant of the law and the white man's justice, the 
 punishment of death seemed inevitable. Leaning on her twisted 
 staff, her face uplifted, the tears coursing down her withered 
 cheeks, she sang again, as she used to sing, the song of the de- 
 parting warriors : 
 
 "You are going forth to die, my son. 
 Spurn the dust of life, my son. 
 Cover then your fear. 
 Do not let the foeman see. 
 Never let a muscle quiver. 
 Strengthen then your heart." 
 
 Thus the Sioux of today are going forth on the pathwa\' of van- 
 ished races. Destruction moves swift upon them, still, with the 
 spirit of that song in their hearts, stoically, patiently, unflinch- 
 ingly they bear their burdens and await the end. Soon, the vast 
 prairies, which but a short time since resounded to the thunder 
 
204 HONOK ORATIONS. 
 
 of his ponies' hoofs in the charge of battle, will know the full- 
 blood Sioux no more. The extinction of the Sioux must come, 
 but let their passing be merciful and let it be without reproach. 
 Deal gently with these people for they are a race with child- 
 ren's minds, in which doubt, fear, and superstition forever strug- 
 gle. How could we expect those minds to cover at one swift 
 leap the tuition of centuries ? Debauched by forty years of idle- 
 ness, devoid of purpose, their native strength has vanished. No 
 dreams of future power brighten the passing days. No dawn 
 of a better day comes to cheer the monotony of dreary years. 
 Deal patiently with these people. They are a race thrown 
 in competition with a civilization that has far outrun them. A 
 thousand voices call to them from the past. Ages of custom and 
 environment bind them with strong, unyielding ties. In a cease- 
 less war of destruction, man and nature are leagued against them. 
 For them the way has been long and hard, strewn with thorns, 
 and at the near turning is death. Better that destruction had 
 come at one swift stroke than this lingering decay. 
 
 Deal mercifully with these people. In the days of old, how 
 different were conditions. Marches, long and weary, made him 
 hard and fit. L,ife in the oft-nioved, sanitary tepees held disease 
 a stranger to his door. The wild chase after the buffalo sent 
 the hot blood singing through his veins and lighted in his eyes 
 the fires of purpose. Tribal wars bade him place the eagle bonnet 
 on his head and wakened dreams of honor, glory and chieftain- 
 ship among his people. But these are gone, all gone! He is 
 now no more the monarch of the plains than is the caged eagle, 
 the monarch of the air. Yet how like the eagle he was. Beware, 
 proud bird, symbol of our Nation though you be, if, in some 
 future day, you blodt, but by a feather's breadth, man's dominion 
 of the air, he'll pluck you from your lofty height and dash you 
 broken to the depths — as we have done the Indian. 
 
 Deal righteously with these people. Incompetent the Sioux 
 may be, a hindrance to the full development of the western coun- 
 try, but who made them so? Who froze and starved them into 
 submission and then lulled their spirit to sleep with gratuities 
 of food and clothing? Who discouraged every display of initia- 
 tive? Who blighted their ambition? Who blasted all their hopes 
 of posterity? Must we not feel dishonored in these reproaches? 
 Must not this nation bow its head in shame and disgrace in face 
 
INTERNATIONAL PEACE. 205 
 
 of such a record? There is above us all a moral law, an obliga- 
 tion which bids us succor the weak and minister to the dying. 
 This Nation assumed an obligation above its written stipulations 
 when it took so much from the Sioux and gave so little in re- 
 turn. Because the uplifting of this race in forty years has failed, 
 we have no right to free ourselves from this task. Rather a 
 greater duty devolves upon us, which should be borne more 
 scrupulously, and discharged more conscientiously. 
 
 Deal justly with these people, that in that day when men 
 shall gaze upon the pages of history to judge us, as we have 
 judged the past, the fulfilment of our duty to the Sioux may not 
 stand as a blot upon a glorious record. In the day of their might 
 we dared not, now in the hour of their weakness, we must not 
 deviate from the straight path of justice. May we so deal with our 
 red brothers, that when that certain day shall come for them 
 to move into the presence of the Great Spirit, before whom we 
 all must bow, their souls may carry for us no message of shame ; 
 but let them be ushered into that high presence with hearts full 
 of peace and forgiveness, bearing tidings of a trust faithfully, 
 conscientiously and mercifully rendered. 
 
 INTERNATIONAL PEACE. 
 By Frederick Bardwell McKay. 
 
 [Second Honor Oration, in 1908, in the University of Michigan.] 
 
 An old Teutonic legend declares that the gods gave their 
 swords to men that peace might be established upon the earth. 
 For more than twenty centuries the sword has been the arbiter 
 of human diflferences. Peace through subjugation and often 
 merciless extermination was the dominant policy of nations. Dis- 
 puted questions were settled by bayonet and cannon. But today 
 a new legend declares that nations shall decide their differences, 
 not by opposition but by cooperation, not by blind passion but 
 by caim reason, not by the carnage of battle but by the delibera- 
 tion of courts. International peace now demands the serious con- 
 sideration of every civilized people. Its history is a message of 
 encouragement and its outlook a prophecy of fulfillment. The 
 movement toward world-wide peace is the tardy though certain 
 outcome of man's success in securing peace between himself and 
 
2o6 HONOE ORATIONS. 
 
 his neighbor, and the future of this movement is best revealed 
 in the history of man's progress from private war to private 
 peace. 
 
 When men first became social beings their sole bond of 
 union was kinship. The stranger was thereby an enemy, and no 
 authority could compel respect for his jights. For personal safe- 
 ty^ men carried with them weapons of death. Retaliation and 
 vengeance were their only law. But when their wild savage 
 life lost its charm, and they settled in fixed habitations, less vio- 
 lence prevailed. Compensation appeared as the first effort of 
 the tribe to mitigate the terrors of private revenge. The "blood- 
 wite," paid by the family of the wrong-doer to the family of the 
 wronged, indicates a growing sense of responsibility for law and 
 order. The rude trial of the accused by those of his own kin 
 marks the first attempt of society to settle disputes between man 
 and man. That beginning, enlarged in significance and enlight- 
 ened by the deepening conception of right, reappeared in the 
 clumsy jury of Henry II of England, and in another stride be- 
 came the modern jury system — an institution that abolished for- 
 ever the right of private war, and which stands as the founda- 
 tion of individual liberty. Instead of fighting like brutes over 
 their grievances, men now lay them before an impartial court of 
 their fellows and calmly await a settlement. Right and good- 
 will have triumphed over might and selfishness, and today, as 
 never before, all men are brothers. 
 
 Such is the history of this movement as it concerns individ- 
 uaJs. What has been its progress among nations ? International 
 amity was not unknown among ancient peoples. Cyrus the Great 
 appealed to a prince of India to settle a dispute between himself 
 and the king of Assyria. The cities composing the Amphictyonic 
 League agreed "not to destroy each other, nor to cut off any 
 city from running water in war or in peace." But these are only 
 exceptions which bring out more sharply the terrible background 
 of bloody war. Nations in their development were arrogant 
 rather than conciliatory in spirit. So long as boundaries re- 
 mained unsettled and rulers were filled with an insatiable love 
 of conquest, peaceful relations were impossible. Nations were 
 then still savage. But when despotism declined, and intelligent 
 nationality was realized, international respect appeared as a new 
 and hopeful sign of better things. The movement for ^ace bT 
 
INTERNATIONAI, PEACE. 207 
 
 gan toward the close of the eighteenth century. It was the re- 
 suh of the liberaHzing influences that had been active in society 
 for two thousand years. 
 
 The last century of its growth is a record of marvellous 
 achievement. Its aggressive enthusiasm, expressing itself on the 
 one hand in peace societies, congresses, and popular petitions, 
 and on the other hand in modern diplomacy, reformed interna- 
 tional law and arbitration accomplished such results in one hun- 
 dred years as to warrant the statement of Dr. Talmage, that 
 "there will never be another great war. Arbitration will take 
 the place of the sword." Events have justified that conclusion. 
 Since 1794, when John Jay was burned in effigy for inserting an 
 arbitration clause into our treaty with England, there have been 
 no less than three hundred and fifty settlements of international 
 disputes. These cases involved questions of trespass, fisheries, 
 protectorates, disputed ownership, boundaries, and every con- 
 ceivable isue which might inflame the passion of rulers to declare 
 war. By arbitration world-wide industrial prosperity was pre- 
 served, countless millions saved, and untold suffering averted; 
 and more important still, the nations were confronted with con- 
 vincing evidence that disputes can be settled without recourse to 
 arms. The pages of that century's history, though many of them 
 were written in blood, are illuminated with the promise of a 
 new and better day. 
 
 Not only has arbitration brought peace and its blessings, but 
 every adjustment has given the world added confidence in the 
 efficiency and permanence of its methods. The year 1907 wit- 
 nessed the spectacle of forty-four great nations convened in the 
 second Hague Conference. What though the press hurled epi- 
 thets of double-dealing and ineffectiveness upon it ! What though 
 the doubter called it a farce and the eijthusiast was disappointed 
 when its sessions closed! It has succeeded in its lofty pur- 
 poses in spite of derision and contempt. Has not every 
 reform movement advanced in the face of stubborn opposition 
 and often apparent failure? In the struggle for a great ideal, 
 one thing is certain. Every battle lost is a stepping-stone to ulti- 
 mate victory. That representatives from every quarter of the 
 globe met for the first time in a general world assembly for the 
 serious consideration of common problems was in itself a long 
 step toward peace. Fifty years ago, such a conference would 
 
2o8 HONOR ORATIONS. 
 
 not have been thought of by any government ; twenty-five years 
 ago it would still have been impossible. Its four months of de- 
 liberation revealed, as never before, the folly of war, and culti- 
 vated a friendship among the nations that will bear fruit in com- 
 ing congresses. 
 
 These events enable us to measure our present progress, and 
 more clearly forecast the future. By comparison with the his- 
 tory of man's struggle to insure private peace through the forms 
 of law, it will be seen that we are but entering upon the jury 
 stage of international justice. The law of right, long ago recog- 
 nized between man and man, is only dawning upon men in their 
 collective capacity. While the goal we strive for is still far dis- 
 tant, an unachieved ideal, yet we may take courage. International 
 peace must come, or the divine law that governs human progress 
 will break down. Already much has been accomplished, and in 
 this age of wonders, we may hope to achieve more than in all the 
 past. We are moving forward by leaps and bounds. Centuries 
 are being crowded into decades. The field of right, and truth, 
 and justice is experiencing as rapid progress as is the field of 
 science and invention. Diplomats are recognizing that the Golden 
 Rule is as binding upon nations as upon individuals. The signs 
 of the times justify the prediction that international peace will 
 come within our generation. 
 
 The one real obstacle to the union of nations is distrust. If 
 international distrust were surmounted, the other vexing prob- 
 lems could be solved by diplomacy. Suspicions and jealousies, 
 the heritage of a thousand years of ruthless aggression and law- 
 less conquest, have converted the powers of Europe into an 
 armed camp, and a peace little better than war, is maintained at 
 the frightful cost of two-thirds of their annual revenues. The 
 nations that have so long appealed to the logic of the sword are 
 loth to admit the efficacy of arbitration. But the light is break- 
 ing. Civilization advances. The seeds of brotherhood and peace 
 sown in former centuries give promise of a bountiful harvest. 
 Democracy has been teaching men the strength that lies in union. 
 Its growing spirit has witnessed families united into tribes, tribes 
 into provinces, provinces into states, and states into nations. Re- 
 publicanism in government is today the rule. Science with its 
 net-work of rails and cables, its fast-flying steeds and ocean 
 liners, has obliterated boundary lines, and brought the remotest 
 
INTERNATIONAL PEACE. 209 
 
 corners of the earth into one empire of trade and of thought. 
 Religion, ever exalting unselfishness, has been slowly evolving 
 those higher sentiments which must culminate in a universal broth- 
 erhood of love and service. 
 
 Science, Democracy, Religion ! — these three are the forces 
 of God in history, in the path of whose silent forward movement 
 have been scattered the choicest blessings that man can know, 
 before whose triumphal march "valleys shall be exalted and 
 mountains made low." Science shall make neighbors of the 
 Oriental and the Anglo-Saxon. Democracy shall teach the peas- 
 ant his kinship with royalty. Religion shall consecrate every man 
 to the service of his neighbor. Their united and benign influence 
 will speed the time when "swords shall be beaten into plowshares 
 and spears into pruning hooks," when states shall follow, not the 
 dictates of blind jealousy and passion, but the calm judgment 
 of concerted deliberation. Then shall governments and peoples 
 stand together in friendship and good will. Then shall 
 
 "The war-drum throb no longer, and the battle-flags be 
 furled" ; 
 
 Right shall rule among the nations, 
 Peace shall reign throughout the world. 
 
 America the land q,i liberty, of progress, and of Christianity 
 must teach the divine doctrine that "God hath made of one blood 
 all nations of men." Shall we not lay the influence of our lives 
 as new stones in the temple of universal peace? Shall we not 
 enlist in the new army whose cause is the Brotherhood of Man, 
 and whose leader is the Prince of Peace ? O youth of this young 
 Republic, to you comes the call to service in humanity's behalf. 
 To you it is given by your example to hasten the day, when the 
 machinery and "pomp of glorious war" shall be cast aside, when 
 all nations of the earth shall sit down as brothers in council to- 
 gether. Then shall be fulfilled the angels' song, long ago heard 
 at midnight over the Judean hills, "Peace on earth, good-will to 
 men."