New-York tribune., 1870-11-04

4 s. .hS srd,it and tho power
,1'""0' y, ~ nc n il TO be governed by
a.. so,o,,. r,,iuation of the WILL lts stre"e'n
cons;ss solely in rectitnde Of purpose anu vi
rbo h; oh cot narsonal clements a. WISDOM anu .o'
! age sfeadfassness and reverence, '''" ~
7 hoono ito elaments and are nodded IN its spni''
The nation is Thus the sphere of reaiized freedom
IN which alone the life of man fuihIls lseii, anu 70
~ oynrssion 10 all that is compassed in life. IL
| ,noves towards the development of perfect hn-
manitv Issyfnbol is the city of an hundred gates,
through which there passes not only the course OF
industry and trade but the forms of poets and
nrophets and soldiers and sailors and schoars-nan
and woman and child in the unbroken procession OF
the people Its warrior bears the shield of Achilles,
on which there are not only the figures of the mart
and sea and field the loom and ship and plow, but
the houses and the temples and the shrnes and the
affairs of men, the types of the thought and endeavor
and conflict aI.d hope of humanity ..
But not only does the substance OF the nation con-
sist in ts moral personality, but its foundation IS TO
be ascribcd 10 the divine purpose, and Its end Is
the fnlfmeut of the divine end in history. This Is
the second pivotal point on which the whole volume
is made to hinge and to the illustration OF when, IN
its various hearings the author brings his large re-
sources Of analysis and argument. The personality
of the nation, he maintains, rs proof OF It's dlVihc
origin The elements Of freedom and justice OF WIS
dom and courage which are at the foundation OF its
life not physical powers and have an origin ABOVE
the sequence of physical nature. The authority
with which the nation is invested reposes on the d.
vine WILL and thus possesses majesty which no
power Of earth NAV assume. The affirmation OF lts
will is law But apart from that the will of no man,
and no body Of men, is law for another. The night
of government is the right of the nation But apart
from that no man and body of men has the night
to govern another and il belongs to the nation only
as il is of divine right.
The historical facts which bring ont the conscious
ness of the people also testify 10 the divine origin OF
the nation Ii appears in the symbols of all the great
nations of history and is reflected in their laws, ana
literature and art. IL JudTa it was the central prn
cple of the national existence. Through all the VI
csSudes Of its 1t was held as the LIE oi ls
institutions. In Greece it pcrvaded the traditions
of its history and the speculations of Its philosophy
II was the cornerstone of the family IL united III
one aim its heroes and its poets. 1t was wrought
into the consummate architecture and sculpture oi
its temples and gave the type of victory 10 its art
All the institutions Of Rome nodded by its
power. The conscience OF man, in fine. gives similar
evidence to the origin of the nation. The moral
spirit of the people recognizes the life OF the haton
as sacred. It's inviolabty is affirmed, under penal
~ OF retrbuton. No thought has had more IN
tense EXPRESSION as reflected in literature and
art. To deny tie divine origin of the ma
ti0n is to resolve the authority of its gov
ernment into mere force The power In the
nation is necessarily absolute Whether it takes the
form Of the sovere nty of the people or of the lndlVd
ua its principles and result are the same. III pop
ular absolutsm the degradation of personality may
he so complete rs to destroy all that gives moral
elevation TO the national life The ruler who recog
AZ only, ha ularv vOicp
ion. becomes himself slave He only is truly free
who acknowledges in the sOvere gnty of the nation
the di vine source of its unity and power. III there
be no divine origin and ground for the nation If the
voice Of the people if in itself supreme without sub
lection TO the divine law the strength Of the govern
ment is swallowed up in that terrible absolutlsTn
and its authority resolved into those living atoms
| The ruler is silent in the popular clamor; he ls
| swayed by the passion and the impulse of the
| crowd; the nation bereaved of the authority of
| God can have no realization; the ground of all
| permanent unity is lost; and there Is no more
people
The views TINS far developed Of the ethical basis
of the nation may be regarded as inconsistent with
the republican doctrine Of popular sovereignty. But
the calculations of the author in chapter devoted
to the relations between the people and the State
throw light on this point and establish the principles
of popular government on a solid foundation. The
people in its organic unity, according to Mr.. Null
ford's idea constitutes the nation. Not sum an
aggregate of men, chance collection Of fragmentary
atoms not lawless chaos Of individuals not mob,
but people 1t is the people, in its Wilderness that
| constitutes the nation No individual, like Louis
XIV can claim to be the State. No hereditary class,
no party no Sect no faction can claim it ex-
elusive possession. The spirit of party, class, a
crowd in their isolation, endeavOrs to subordinate
the State 10 private end The people alone in the
nation in its integral and moral life forms the basis
of the political order No one but the people can pre-
scribe the political course of the State. Beyond its
own organic law, the people can acknowledge no
control but that Of the Most High This principle is
insisted on by Mr. MufOrd with no less urgency than
il was by the Puritan settlers Of New-Englaud. No
individual, family. no class, separate from the
nation, claim possession of power, or exemption
from authority. The people alone in the nation
have the divine right of government The author
ity of the nation is therefore in the of God and
the people. The responsibility of those who bear
authority is to God and the people. Hence the gov
ernment in itself can claim no special and divine ap-
pointment. ii is only as the representative of the
nation that it is clothed with authority. BGt if the
right of government subsists in the viii Of the people
il is only in its being in the nation moral person
that the will of the people subssts. Apart from this
authority has no foundation, and can be held only
| All abstract and vacant conception. The beng Of
the nation as a moral person is the only positive and
| substantial ground. Without this the will Of the
people is only matter of form. and its freedom the
empty sphere of outward circumstance. No merely
| collective monentary act expresses the moral
aim or the continuous purpose Of the people in the
| nation The assumption of the wlllfulncss or the
caprice Of men as the condition Of power snbverts
government and resoyesth the State into its primitive