Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-06-22

that no advantage such as they ENJOY can
ever be long used without the experience of
a corresponding drawback. 1t is OF the ma
ture of power, when concentrated over much,
to produce the necessity of an equally great
force to balance it. In free Government,
this IS particularly true. No man or set OF
men can hope to direct and control 1t great
while without stirring up fears that they
abuse their privileges to the injury OF their
fellows. Now, if it be once conceded that
such power has been erected under the
present Constitution, " by virtue OF the ne
/ gro, 1t is not necessary to show proof OF any
/ past abuse of it, TO Justify measures OF pre-
/ caution against such abuse in the future. We
| recognize the truth of the old maxim, that
. eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,
rs well as Of that other one, which IN my
/ youth remember to have been tamiliarly y
used in quarters in which, it seems to me,
/ that | seldom hear 1t nowadays, " Power is
/ ever stealing from the many to the few. ]"
/ | say. then, that even if the control which
/ has been gained - by virtue of the negro,
/ could be shown to have been exercised for the
/ benefit Of all classes of people in the United
States alike. if it could be proved to have
done nothing to undermine the pillars of our
! Temple Of Liberty, still, the very fact that it
m5gh do the utmost possible injury at some
unguarded moment, and that nothing but its
own will stands in the way to prevent it,
would be ample justification for an immedl-
ate resort to the most energetic measures of
association t. ward off the peril.
There is no need, then, Of further explain
/ ing the reasons for the rise of the Republican
party We have indeed been told that it is
| i standing menace to our brethren Of the
/ slayehoding States, and that nothing will
| quiet them hut Its immediate dissolution
/ But apart from the singular absence Of ac-
/ quaintance with the philosophy of party pol
/ itics in a free country which such a demand
betrays, | would respectfully ask on what
grounds it can be proposed, so long as the
/ policy which it denounces remains purely de-
fensive NJ sane man viii deny that the
negro is multiplying with rapidity that by
virtue Of this increase the pecuniary interests
/ involved in the continuance Of his present
! condition are steadily accumulating that a
/ cO-cxtensiye increase Of political power Is
/ gong on in this hail. as in the other branch
es of the government, and that the whole
/ character and tendency of the influence thus
/ generated is unpropItious to the maintenance
of our notions of freedom. Is it to be pre-
/ tended, then, that we, whose rights are LA
BILE 10 be deeply affected by the prepOnder-
auce in the public councils Of such a power,
/ have no right t0 associate and organize with
/ the intent to guard against Its bad effects
Such "a motion was not entertained when the
+ case of comparatively trihing moneyed cor
poration WAS in question, nor when the sup
posed aScendancy of insignificant manutac-
turing interests was thought to be alarming
/ How then. can it be advanced in the face o
| combination Of wealth and political power
in comparison with which the bank and the
tariff were but as atoms in the creation
But | now 20 one step further, and declare
that this proceeding is not only jusrhable a
q urecauuOn against the possibility OF al
abuse If power, but that it u iudispensanly
/ necessary to tho actual salvation OF our tree
/ institutions. Nobody is yet hardy enough
t. deny that the idea oflIberty. as the guard
ian and rrotectrcss Of the individual ctizer
against all assaults Of more @bltrary
power, bas been. since the days of the Revo-
luton. tie darling idol Of the American
mind. Resistance to tyrants is obedience
to God, was maxim which, nowhere
more than in the Ancient Dominion, nerveC
the arms of the fathers to the struggle thai
/ placed as here in this Hall. the Representa-
tiges of q free people It found its expires
/ sion in the celebrated Act Of Union for The
common defence, proclaimed to the world il
+ language too familiar to need quotation. No
' body at the time misunderstood It's meaning
/ Nobody undervalu6d the heroism which
made the cause of the oppressed colonist th'
~.-.-. et ~it --..-L;.l iI..lf 60 ,,nt"iy isiSStt
away. and not one of the countless number OI
. stat >men and orators who. each in his turn
i1inei 70 swell the note of exuluuOu in tn,
proud position attained by his country as the
/ champion of that cause. ever thought 10 cas-
a doubt upon the univcrsllIty of the granc
doctrine which the Declaration of lndepend
encc had enuuciated 1t was reserved to the
mcu of the present day to discoyera new YER
sion which. in limiting its application to d
special and favored class, at one stroke
dwarls the revolutionary patri Is, and sinks
/ the u0blCSt contest in history down 10 the
level Of the late encounter of pugilism, fol
the possession of a belt, ON the other side Of
tie water. II their view of it be the right
one then was the whole of the great contro-
vcrsya deliberate fraud then has the world
been cheated by false prctenses, and our faith
erS were rogues who deserved to suffer the
penalties of the law for rebellion against the
constituted authorities of the mother country
instead OF earning the glorious need OF the
patriot crown.
The cardinal principle OF the Revolution
that which marks a real advance in the pro
cress Of political institutions. IS that the in
dividual man. whether in or out of the s0cla
organization, whilst doing no wrong, hai
certain rights which his fellow man all oyel
the globe is bound 10 respect. The genera
establishment of this maxim in the practice
of the nations of the word IS, or ought tC
be, the mission Of America, during the pres
ent century of her growth. In l77b there
was bright prospect of Its speedy accom-
plishment. For some years it spread both
home and abroad for it is not to be deniet
that the effect Of her instruction has beer
and is still felt, not here alone, but in every
quarter Of the world Nobody can hav
failed to observe the progress that has beer
since made in the recognition OF pOpula
rights in every civilized country down to th'
present time 1t would doubtless have beel
still more rapid but for the astonishing fac
that the very people which was the first t
enuncate the great truth has been slowl y bu
steadily withdrawing itself from all sympa
thy with the prosecution of it. Imperceptibl
at first, but very distinctly within a shor
time, this reaction has gone on until tn
term Of this Administration, when the re
spective representatives before the world
this great nation have united in one gran
counter-declaratio and that is, that ther
are men all over the world whose rights n
white man is bound to respect.
1t does indeed appear as if this grave an
solemn decree of Judges, of Presidents, {
Senators, and Represents tives, in free cour
try did fy in the face of the Declaration c
Independence, long acknowledge among I
( undoubted authority for political doctrine
But we are now given to understa nd, j
these high Quarters, that there is no difficult
in reconciling this apparent contradiction
The way Of it is this the language of tt
q Declaration runs thus
: {" We hold these truths to be self-evident: thi
; all men arc created equal; that they are endow'
by their Creator with certain inalienable right
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursu
Of happiness"
The new version is, that Mr.. Jefferson
e when he wrote the words, " all men" clear
5 intended only all ,ch'te men. But here is
| Il +bracbO1I of this