American Eloquence, Volume I. (of 4) by Various

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PATRICK HENRY

OF VIRGINIA. (BORN 1736, DIED 1799)

CONVENTION OF DELEGATES, MARCH 28, 1775

MR. PRESIDENT:

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as
abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the
House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights;
and, therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to
those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very
opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without
reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is
one of awful moment to this country. For my own part I consider it as
nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to
the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It
is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the
great responsibility Which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep
back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offence, I
should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an
act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all
earthly-kings.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope.
We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the
song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part
of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we
disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and
having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal
salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am
willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to provide for
it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of
experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.
And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the
conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those
hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and
the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been
lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet.
Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how
this gracious reception of our petition comports with these war-like
preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and
armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown
ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to
win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the
implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings
resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array. If its
purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other
possible motives for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of
the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No,
sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no
other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which
the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to
oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for
the last ten years. Have we any thing new to offer on the subject?
Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is
capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and
humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been
already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves
longer. Sir, we have done every thing that could be done, to avert the
storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated;
we have supplicated: we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and
have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the
ministry and parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our
remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our
supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with
contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may
we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer
any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve
inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long
contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which
we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never
to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained,
we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to
the God of Hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable
an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week,
or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a
British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather
strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of
effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the
delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and
foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which
the God of nature bath placed in our power. Three millions of people,
armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which
we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against
us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just
God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up
friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the
strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides.
sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now
too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in
submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be
heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I
repeat it, sir, let it come!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace,
peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale
that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of
resounding arms. Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we
here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life
so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains
and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may
take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

SAMUEL ADAMS

OF MASSACHUSETTS (BORN 1722, DIED 1803.)

ON AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE--IN PHILADELPHIA, AUGUST I, 1776.

COUNTRYMEN AND BRETHREN: I would gladly have declined an honor, to which
I find myself unequal. I have not the calmness and impartiality which
the infinite importance of this occasion demands. I will not deny the
charge of my enemies, that resentment for the accumulated injuries of
our country, and an ardor for her glory, rising to enthusiasm, may
deprive me of that accuracy of judgment and expression which men of
cooler passions may possess. Let me beseech you then, to hear me with
caution, to examine without prejudice, and to correct the mistakes into
which I may be hurried by my zeal.

Truth loves an appeal to the common sense of mankind. Your unperverted
understandings can best determine on subjects of a practical nature. The
positions and plans which are said to be above the comprehension of the
multitude may be always suspected to be visionary and fruitless. He who
made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious
to all.

Our forefathers threw off the yoke of Popery in religion; for you is
reserved the honor of levelling the Popery of politics. They opened the
Bible to all, and maintained the capacity of every man to judge for
himself in religion. Are we sufficient for the comprehension of the
sublimest spiritual truths, and unequal to material and temporal ones?
Heaven hath trusted us with the management of things for eternity, and
man denies us ability to judge of the present, or to know from our
feelings the experience that will make us happy. "You can discern," say
they, "objects distant and remote, but cannot perceive those within your
grasp. Let us have the distribution of present goods, and cut out and
manage as you please the interests of futurity." This day, I trust, the
reign of political protestantism will commence.

We have explored the temple of royalty, and found that the idol we have
bowed down to, has eyes which see not, ears that hear not our prayers,
and a heart like the nether millstone. We have this day restored the
Sovereign, to whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven,
and with a propitious eye beholds His subjects assuming that freedom of
thought and dignity of self-direction which He bestowed on them. From
the rising to the setting sun, may His kingdom come.

Men who content themselves with the semblance of truth, and a display of
words, talk much of our obligations to Great Britain for protection. Had
she a single eye to our advantage? A nation of shopkeepers are very
seldom so disinterested. Let us not be so amused with words; the
extension of her commerce was her object. When she defended our coasts,
she fought for her customers, and convoyed our ships loaded with wealth,
which we had acquired for her by our industry. She has treated us as
beasts of burthen, whom the lordly masters cherish that they may carry a
greater load. Let us inquire also against whom she has protected us?
Against her own enemies with whom we had no quarrel, or only on her
account, and against whom we always readily exerted our wealth and
strength when they were required. Were these colonies backward in giving
assistance to Great Britain, when they were called upon in 1739, to aid
the expedition against Carthagena? They at that time sent three thousand
men to join the British army, although the war commenced without their
consent. But the last war, 't is said, was purely American. This is a
vulgar error, which, like many others, has gained credit by being
confidently repeated. The dispute between the Courts of Great Britain
and France, related to the limits of Canada and Nova Scotia. The
controverted territory was not claimed by any in the colonies, but by
the Crown of Great Britain. It was therefore their own quarrel. The
infringement of a right which England had, by the treaty of Utrecht, of
trading in the Indian country of Ohio, was another cause of the war. The
French seized large quantities of British manufactures, and took
possession of a fort which a company of British merchants and factors
had erected for the security of their commerce. The war was therefore
waged in defence of lands claimed by the Crown, and for the protection
of British property. The French at that time had no quarrel with
America; and, as appears by letters sent from their commander-in-chief,
to some of the colonies, wished to remain in peace with us. The part
therefore which we then took, and the miseries to which we exposed
ourselves, ought to be charged to our affection for Britain. These
colonies granted more than their proportion to the support of the war.
They raised, clothed, and maintained nearly twenty-five thousand men,
and so sensible were the people of England of our great exertions, that
a message was annually sent to the House of Commons purporting: "That
his majesty, being highly satisfied of the zeal and vigor with which his
faithful subjects in North America had exerted themselves in defence of
his majesty's just rights and possessions, recommend it to the House, to
take the same into consideration, and enable him to give them a proper
compensation."

But what purpose can arguments of this kind answer? Did the protection
we received annul our rights as men, and lay us under an obligation of
being miserable?

Who among you, my countrymen, that is a father, would claim authority to
make your child a slave because you had nourished him in his infancy?

'T is a strange species of generosity which requires a return infinitely
more valuable than anything it could have bestowed; that demands as a
reward for a defence of our property, a surrender of those inestimable
privileges, to the arbitrary will of vindictive tyrants, which alone
give value to that very property.

Courage, then, my countrymen! our contest is not only whether we
ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an
asylum on earth, for civil and religious liberty? Dismissing, therefore,
the justice of our cause as incontestable, the only question is, What is
best for us to pursue in our present circumstances?

The doctrine of dependence on Great Britain is, I believe, generally
exploded; but as I would attend to the honest weakness of the simplest
of men, you will pardon me if I offer a few words on that subject.

We are now on this continent, to the astonishment of the world, three
millions of souls united in one common cause. We have large armies, well
disciplined and appointed, with commanders inferior to none in military
skill, and superior in activity and zeal. We are furnished with arsenals
and stores beyond our most sanguine expectations, and foreign nations
are waiting to crown our success by their alliances. There are instances
of, I would say, an almost astonishing Providence in our favor; our
success has staggered our enemies, and almost given faith to infidels;
so that we may truly say it is not our own arm which has saved us.

The hand of Heaven appears to have led us on to be, perhaps, humble
instruments and means in the great Providential dispensation which is
completing. We have fled from the political Sodom; let us not look back,
lest we perish and become a monument of infamy and derision to the
world! For can we ever expect more unanimity and a better preparation
for defence; more infatuation of counsel among our enemies, and more
valor and zeal among ourselves? The same force and resistance which are
sufficient to procure us our liberties, will secure us a glorious
independence and support us in the dignity of free, imperial states. We
can not suppose that our opposition has made a corrupt and dissipated
nation more friendly to America, or created in them a greater respect
for the rights of mankind. We can therefore expect a restoration and
establishment of our privileges, and a compensation for the injuries we
have received from their want of power, from their fears, and not from
their virtues. The unanimity and valor, which will effect an honorable
peace, can render a future contest for our liberties unnecessary. He who
has strength to chain down the wolf, is a mad-man if he lets him loose
without drawing his teeth and paring his nails.

From the day on which an accommodation takes place between England and
America, on any other terms than as independent states, I shall date the
ruin of this country. A politic minister will study to lull us into
security, by granting us the full extent of our petitions. The warm
sunshine of influence would melt down the virtue, which the violence of
the storm rendered more firm and unyielding. In a state of tranquillity,
wealth, and luxury, our descendants would forget the arts of war, and
the noble activity and zeal which made their ancestors invincible. Every
art of corruption would be employed to loosen the bond of union which
renders our resistance formidable. When the spirit of liberty which now
animates our hearts and gives success to our arms is extinct, our
numbers will accelerate our ruin, and render us easier victims to
tyranny. Ye abandoned minions of an infatuated ministry, if peradventure
any should yet remain among us!--remember that a Warren and a Montgomery
are numbered among the dead. Contemplate the mangled bodies of your
countrymen, and then say, What should be the reward of such sacrifices?
Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and
plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let
loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood, and hunt us from the
face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the
tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom--go from
us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the
hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may
posterity, forget that ye were our countrymen.

To unite the Supremacy of Great Britain and the Liberty of America, is
utterly impossible. So vast a continent and of such a distance from the
seat of empire, will every day grow more unmanageable. The motion of so
unwieldy a body cannot be directed with any dispatch and uniformity,
without committing to the Parliament of Great Britain, powers
inconsistent with our freedom. The authority and force which would be
absolutely necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order of
this continent, would put all our valuable rights within the reach of
that nation.

* * * * * * *

Some who would persuade us that they have tender feelings for future
generations, while they are insensible to the happiness of the present,
are perpetually foreboding a train of dissensions under our popular
system. Such men's reasoning amounts to this--give up all that is
valuable to Great Britain, and then you will have no inducements to
quarrel among yourselves; or suffer yourselves to be chained down by
your enemies, that you may not be able to fight with your friends.

This is an insult on your virtue as well as your common sense. Your
unanimity this day and through the course of the war is a decisive
refutation of such invidious predictions. Our enemies have already had
evidence that our present constitution contains in it the justice and
ardor of freedom, and the wisdom and vigor of the most absolute system.
When the law is the will of the people, it will be uniform and coherent;
but fluctuation, contradiction, and inconsistency of councils must be
expected under those governments where every revolution in the ministry
of a court produces one in the state. Such being the folly and pride of
all ministers, that they ever pursue measures directly opposite to those
of their predecessors.

We shall neither be exposed to the necessary convulsions of elective
Monarchies, nor to the want of wisdom, fortitude, and virtue, to which
hereditary succession is liable. In your hands it will be to perpetuate
a prudent, active, and just legislature, and which will never expire
until you yourselves lose the virtues which give it existence.

And, brethren and fellow-countrymen, if it was ever granted to mortals
to trace the designs of Providence, and interpret its manifestations in
favor of their cause, we may, with humility of soul, cry out, "Not unto
us, not unto us, but to thy Name be the praise." The confusion of the
devices among our enemies, and the rage of the elements against them,
have done almost as much towards our success as either our councils or
our arms.

The time at which this attempt on our liberties was made, when we were
ripened into maturity, had acquired a knowledge of war, and were free
from the incursions of enemies in this country, the gradual advances of
our oppressors enabling us to prepare for our defence, the unusual
fertility of our lands and clemency of the seasons, the success which at
first attended our feeble arms, producing unanimity among our friends
and reducing our internal foes to acquiescence,--these are all strong
and palpable marks and assurances, that Providence is yet gracious unto
Zion, that it will turn away the captivity of Jacob.

We have now no other alternative than independence, or the most
ignominious and galling servitude. The legions of our enemies thicken on
our plains; desolation and death mark their bloody career; whilst the
mangled corpses of our countrymen seem to cry out to us as a voice from
heaven: "Will you permit our posterity to groan under the galling chains
of our murderers? Has our blood been expended in vain? Is the only
reward which our constancy, till death, has obtained for our country,
that it should be sunk into a deeper and more ignominious vassalage?"
Recollect who are the men that demand your submission; to whose decrees
you are invited to pay obedience! Men who, unmindful of their relation
to you as brethren, of your long implicit submission to their laws; of
the sacrifice which you and your forefathers made of your natural
advantages for commerce to their avarice,--formed a deliberate plan to
wrest from you the small pittance of property which they had permitted
you to acquire. Remember that the men who wish to rule over you are they
who, in pursuit of this plan of despotism, annulled the sacred contracts
which had been made with your ancestors; conveyed into your cities a
mercenary soldiery to compel you to submission by insult and murder--who
called your patience, cowardice; your piety, hypocrisy.

Countrymen! the men who now invite you to surrender your rights into
their hands are the men who have let loose the merciless savages to riot
in the blood of their brethren--who have dared to establish popery
triumphant in our land--who have taught treachery to your slaves, and
courted them to assassinate your wives and children.

These are the men to whom we are exhorted to sacrifice the blessings
which Providence holds out to us--the happiness, the dignity of
uncontrolled freedom and independence.

Let not your generous indignation be directed against any among us who
may advise so absurd and madd'ning a measure. Their number is but few
and daily decreased; and the spirit which can render them patient of
slavery, will render them contemptible enemies.

Our Union is now complete; our Constitution composed, established, and
approved. You are now the guardians of your own liberties. We may justly
address you, as the _Decemviri_ did the Romans, and say: "Nothing that
we propose, can pass into a law without your consent. Be yourselves, O
Americans, the authors of those laws on which your happiness depends."

You have now, in the field, armies sufficient to repel the whole force
of your enemies, and their base and mercenary auxiliaries. The hearts of
your soldiers beat high with the spirit of freedom--they are animated
with the justice of their cause, and while they grasp their swords, can
look up to Heaven for assistance. Your adversaries are composed of
wretches who laugh at the rights of humanity, who turn religion into
derision, and would, for higher wages, direct their swords against their
leaders or their country. Go on, then, in your generous enterprise, with
gratitude to Heaven for past success, and confidence of it in the
future. For my own part, I ask no greater blessing than to share with
you the common danger and common glory. If I have a wish dearer to my
soul, than that my ashes may be mingled with those of a Warren and a
Montgomery, it is--that these American States may never cease to be free
and independent!

ALEXANDER HAMILTON,

OF NEW YORK. (BORN 1757, DIED 1804.)

ON THE EXPEDIENCY OF ADOPTING THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

--CONVENTION OF NEW YORK,

JUNE 24, 1788.

I am persuaded, Mr. Chairman, that I in my turn shall be indulged, in
addressing the committee. We all, in equal sincerity, profess to be
anxious for the establishment of a republican government, on a safe and
solid basis. It is the object of the wishes of every honest man in the
United States, and I presume that I shall not be disbelieved, when I
declare, that it is an object of all others, the nearest and most dear
to my own heart. The means of accomplishing this great purpose become
the most important study which can interest mankind. It is our duty to
examine all those means with peculiar attention, and to choose the best
and most effectual. It is our duty to draw from nature, from reason,
from examples, the best principles of policy, and to pursue and apply
them in the formation of our government. We should contemplate and
compare the systems, which, in this examination, come under our view;
distinguish, with a careful eye, the defects and excellencies of each,
and discarding the former, incorporate the latter, as far as
circumstances will admit, into our Constitution. If we pursue a
different course and neglect this duty, we shall probably disappoint the
expectations of our country and of the world.

In the commencement of a revolution, which received its birth from the
usurpations of tyranny, nothing was more natural, than that the public
mind should be influenced by an extreme spirit of jealousy. To resist
these encroachments, and to nourish this spirit, was the great object of
all our public and private institutions. The zeal for liberty became
predominant and excessive. In forming our confederation, this passion
alone seemed to actuate us, and we appear to have had no other view than
to secure ourselves from despotism. The object certainly was a valuable
one, and deserved our utmost attention. But, sir, there is another
object equally important, and which our enthusiasm rendered us little
capable of regarding: I mean a principle of strength and stability in
the organization of our government, and vigor in its operations. This
purpose can never be accomplished but by the establishment of some
select body, formed peculiarly upon this principle. There are few
positions more demonstrable than that there should be in every republic,
some permanent body to correct the prejudices, check the intemperate
passions, and regulate the fluctuations of a popular assembly. It is
evident, that a body instituted for these purposes, must be so formed as
to exclude as much as possible from its own character, those infirmities
and that mutability which it is designed to remedy. It is therefore
necessary that it should be small, that it should hold its authority
during a considerable period, and that it should have such an
independence in the exercise of its powers, as will divest it as much as
possible of local prejudices. It should be so formed as to be the centre
of political knowledge, to pursue always a steady line of conduct, and
to reduce every irregular propensity to system. Without this
establishment, we may make experiments without end, but shall never have
an efficient government.

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