The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-06-18

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but has required the labor Of successive
generations Of philosophers and states
men.
| look upon a great and well selected
library, composed of the monuments OF
all knowledge, in all tongues, as the most
effective means Of releasing US from the
slavish Difference, which, in spite OF our
loud and vaporing protestations OF lnde-
pendence, we habilually pay to English
precedents and authorities, in all matters
of opinion. Our history and our political
experience are so brief, that, in the muIti~
tude of new cases which are perpetualIy
arising, we are often at a loss for domes-
tic parallels, and find it cheaper TO cite an
English dictum than to investigate a
question upon more independent grounds.
No! onlv are our parliar entary law, our
Legislative action. our judicial proceed
ings, to a great extent fashioned after
those Of the mother country, but the iun-
damenthl principles of our government,
our theory of The political rights of man,
are often distorted, in order that they may
be accommodated to rules and definitions
drawn from English constitutional law.
Even the most sacred of political rights,
The right of petition, | have heard both
attacked and defended upon this floor, by
very sufficient democrats, entirely upon
precedents drawn from the practice OF the
British Parliament. Our community OF
origin, language, and law, exposes the
Younger nation TO the constant danger OF
being overshadowed by the authority of
The elder. 1t is q great evil to a young
and growing people, as well as to a youth
ful and aspiring spirit, to have its energies
cramped, and its originality smothered,
by a %servile spirit Of conformity 10 any
one model however excellent; and it is
quite time for US 10 learn, that there are
other sources of instruction than the coun-
sells and example Of our ancient mother.
Sir, | make these remarks in no mar
row feeling of jealous hostility to Eng
land still less at this crisis, when some
are seeking 10 raise a whirIwind of popu-
lar indignation against that country, up
on which they may themselves float to
power, would | join in any WI gar denun>
Citations of a people from whom we have
borrowed so much. We owe to Eng
land much of our political principles, ma
ny Of fine foundations Of our civil and re-
ligious liberties, many Of The most valua-
Bile features of our jurisprudence. Some
thing, indeed, we have repaid. Eng
land, in common with all Europe, has
profted by our experience. The grasp
of feudal oppression has been relaxed, the
atrocious severity of the criminal law has
been miligated, judicial proceedings have
been simpli6ed, the subject has been adj
mitted to a larger participation in the
concerns of government, monopolles are
becoming obsolete, and the responsiblIi>
ties of rulers are felt 10 be more stringent.
TO the credit Of many Of these ameliora-
lions we may fairly lay claim while in
science. and lis application TO the arts, we
have sustained no disgraceful rivalry with
our Transatlantic brethren. But no gen
erous man thinks his debt Of gratitude
cancelled till i! is thrice repaid. and we
have therefore yet much 20 do, before we
can say that America is no longer the
debtor of England. Let US, then, seize
Ibis one opportunity which a son OF her
own has offered us, and build with it a
whose light shall serve rs we'll 10
guide the mariner IN the distant horizon,
ns TO illuminate him who casts anchor at
It's foot.
But what are we offered instead of the
which we might hope to reap
such a library as | have described
are promised experiments and lee
lures, a laboratory and an audience hall
Sir, a laboratory is a charnel house,
chemical decomposition begins with death,
and experiments are but ,he dry bones Of
1t is the thoughtful meditation
alone of minds trained and disciplined in
far other halls. that can clothe these with
flesh, and blood, and sinews, and breathe
into them the breath Of life. Without a
which alone can give such train
and such discipline, both 10 teachers
and 10 pupils, all these are but a m2squed
pageant, and the demonstrator is a harle~
4uin. Tnis is not a question Of idle spec
it is one that experience has an
There are no loci which are
gathering and rejecting so much light
upon the arcana of natural science as the
of Paris and Germany, and all
scholars are agreed that the great libra
OF those seminarles, and the mental
discipline acquired by the use Of them,
are, If not the sole means, at least neces'
sary conditions, OF their surprising excel
But we are told that these experimental
researches will guide us to the most i'm.
Of all kno wledge, that. namely, Of
things. Sir, what are common
Is nothing common but these
material frames Of ours nothing, but the
garments we wear, the habilalions that
and the food that nourshes US
nothing, bat the air we breathe, the fowls {