Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-12-13
Hon. Moses Kimbal'
Carl snurz on Free Speech.

Carl Shurz Free Speech.
Carl Shurz, the eloquent German scholar
and orator, was announced to give one OF the
Fraternity lectures in Boston, Tuesday eve
ming, on the subject OF "American CiviIiza-
ton" TO the great satisfaction OF his audi
ence, on arriving in Boston, he changed his
topic and his lecture, giving a timely and
brilliant defense of the right of flee speech.
We quote from the report of the Atlas & Bee
the following extract from the introduction to
his argument =
Is it necessary that in the heart of New
England should spend my voice in illuStrat-
ing the idea that the freedom of speech is the
great agency Of human progress year
ago on a November day | went from Alb NY
by Worcester to Providence. Nature was
stripped OF its autumnal beauty, and the frosty
breath of winter had clad your hills and valleys
i'll monotonous gray. Aud yet the landscape
was far from leaving dreary and melancholy
impression upon the mind. For wherever the
eye turned there were the cheerful evidences
of human ingenuity, of successful labor, of
thoughtful enterprise Here busy waterfalls,
surrounded with the stirring hustle OF manu-
facture, there the tidy farm house on the small
patch of arabic ground between the hills,
there clusters OF dwellings and tidy vii.
lagos bespeaking general thrift and con-
tentment, all following upon each other i'll
rapid suCCesSIUn--every where dead nature en-
livened with human thought translated into
Lying action. We lett Worcester in the dusk
OF the evening the air was chilly, the sky
dark, and the prospect of the trip unpleasant.
But hardly was the railroad station behind us,
when | saw sight the recollection Of which
Will never leave my memory. On the right
and left grand and almost continuous iumi.
nation factory after factory far and near with
thousands OF windows brilliantly shining as
though hundreds OF Christmas trees we're burn
ing Within have seen the capitals OF the old
world Illuminated when the masters of king.
doms and empires tried to honor themselves
in honoring each other; artificial suns battling
the moonlight, thousands of rockets hooking
the stars; but of all the splendor l could re-
call to my memory, none equaled that endless
sea of light which i'll the barren hooks OF your
rocky country shOne from the windows of
your factories, reflected by quiet mill ponds
and pickering cascades.
In the capitals Of Europe l had seen tie
people gathering around those splendid ex-
hibitions OF royal pOnp and giving vent to
official enthusiasm L had heard them shout
Long live King so and sol" and the cnthu-
siasm died away with the fireworks But
here also on that day and evening l Witnessed
popular demonstration, not of the noisy and
official kind, nor passing away like the light
OF Il Roman candle. AS we went along from
station to station, men and women, young and
old, passed out and in; all well behaved and
OF pleasant address, the evidence OF intelligence
and cheerful contentment on every face. |
listened to their conversation as the rain went
on some engaged i'll a jOva talk about small
home affairs, Others absorbed in grave discussion
81 T. Stu Iab md
books and Lectures, and all political and social
problems imaginable. There | beard thoughts
expressed and opinions uttered by men whose
hands showed the traces Of hard manual labor,
thoughts and opinions set forth in logical
reasoning, which would have puzzled the phi.
losOphers Of the old world and made The faces
Of despots turn pale; and these thoughts and
opinions, weighed and modified in the current
of occasional but earnest discussion, brought
forward with calmness and sclt-reauce, as
though the men who uttered them had been
aware that in almost any other country of the
world their utterance would have shaken the
political edtice to its very foundation.
But here we went on quietly and uudisturb-
ed through the brilliantly lighted valley, and
the convict N impressed me profoundly that
these calm and earnest conversations were also
all homage paid to a sOVeleign-bu; 10 the all
powerful sovereign Of this country, the free.
uOH " inquiry. III HOlluT Vi ltllN sovereign, the
thousands OF windows were gorgeousy ilumi.
mated, in his honor burned in every human
brain around me lie ineXlingulshablG light of
free thought, shining ont in tuil utterance
(Appause.) 1t was grand SPECTACLE grand
in its simplicity, grander still Tor the fact that
it was the regular exhibition OF every day
life. This shows on small scale the Whole
tendency of New England life. Here, then, is
great exchange market Of IDEAS where every
man, Whose brain is active, offers the thoughts
he has conceived for the thoughts that sprung
up in the brains of others, on every subject
within the circle of his interests on every
problem within the reach Of the human I'M
Outstanding; every idt weighed as to its val
ue with scrutinizing curiosity what is wrong
and DANCE rOus, condemned what is vaueess
thrown aside what is good and useful, accept.
ed, but nothing condemned, nothing thrown
aside, nothing accepted, before it is tried in the
high court OF a free and enlightened public
opinion. There is, then, people, where ev.
cry man thinks anu is fond of thinking, be-
cause his mental activity is stimulated by the
thoughts of others where every man gives
utterance to Ills thoughts, and thereby mod
fies the thoughts of others; where every man
receives from others, and celebrates within
himself to new forms what lie has received
This is the freedom of thought made fruitful
by the freedom of speech.