, 1876-05-20

Pile. Nay, may not say that they are OF
importance to the world DR.. Temple in
the first Of the essay and reviews, and he.
fore him Prot. Newman, and the German
lcssng, point out how the proyidential ed.
ucation of the human race Eas been helped
on by the forces embodied in three great
national characters; the Hebrews, as a
worldwide influence OF faith; the Greeks,
as the teachers Of reason AMI beauty and
the Romans, rs the representative force of
law. ! think that in the light OF the last
ten centuries we may add another to these,
and say that the great contribution OF the
'reutonic stock, of which Our English speak
ing races spr0ng to the education of the
world, lies in its influences and examples of
freedom, 0l how the strongest, trurst man.
hood comes TO peoples by their steady and
continuously governing themselves. At amy
rate We and you have experienced the value
ot this. II is something wonderful how all
the liberties of England and America grow
ont Of that old root among our common
Saxon iorctathrrs OF the men Of each div.
sion of the country whether tithing, kindred
or shire, having, in their periodical meeting
or mote to manage their own affairs, all
eliminating in the great Wtanngcmnc or
assembly of wise men--or at least those who
should have been wise mcn-whch was the
origin Of parliament, Like the sturdy IIe-
brew frccholdCrs, each "undcr his own vine
and ilg.trec,' those lttle Saxon communi-
ties, of men accustomed to think and con.
suit and act together, formed siolid mass
Of sturdy Independent life which resisted
every cncrOaChmcnt of dcspotism, which
even the Norman conquest could not de
stroy, and which gradually won from barons,
nbl0ts, and kings, larger charters and dcarcr
rights, until they grew up into the great
free cities of England, and tlowrrcd out in
your great republic Of free federated states.
The forcing OF Magma Charta from King
John. $50 years ago the solemn admission
Of Edward l., coo years ago, that "What
concerns all must he approved by ALL" the
struggle Of the parliament against the
Stuar,s, the revolution of 1858 which final
ly put our English liberties on an immova-
bic basis, and that still h,cr revolution Of
Il century ago, by which your fathers won
m open way TO liberties noblrr still, these
ARE all landmarks in the growth OF popular
freedom, landmarks as sacred as any thnt
y0u cOnr across in those old bible Histories
But what is it which has been the root, of
all these large movements, the root of the
power to make such large movements with
permanent effect will tell you; it is
local sell, f,govcrnment, the patience OF com
bned action, the appreciation oI sclirulc
which have been slowly educated generation
after generation in the small township and
municipal duties Of thousands of local cen
tres. These local matters may seem small
things; you may not see their value ut the
time, hut you see their value in the broader
results OF popular character, and you sec it
Ivy contrast in those people which have not
possessed them. You see it, for instance,
conspieuously by this contrast in France,
The French have very few Of these small
free local institutions OF sclf-government,
aud their absence has, believe, more than
anything else to do with the seeming power.
essness OF the French people to profit by
their own repeated struggles tor liberty.
They have ovcrthrOwn dcspOtism but the
fact is that the most popular government
they can choose inevitably becomes dcs-
potism by the whole power of the country
being centralized in it, instead of being
balanced, supported, and restrained by dill
fusion over numbCrlcsS small local centres.
As ii has been well said, such government,
even il elected by universal suffrage, with
ont free local institutions is merely IN en-
pirc delegated to an oligarchy.' always
think that this touches the weak point of
Tnos CarlylG's intense worship Of any eapa'
bic and effective power. lie has mn immens,,
admiration for stray able despotism; he
loves to see men really governed, TO see the
right thing brought to pass among people
even Ivy the will of single man who secs it.
But what he seems to me entirely to over.
look il this; that no result of even the most
excellent present government is half ~ val
liable to national character as is even clum-
sicr and less efficient government worked
out by the thought and will of the people.
And this is what we EngIish.speaking races
have to be thankful for. There probably
has never been time when some one Of the
great despotic powers has not been doing
far more efficiently, by the will OF a single
ruler, one thing or another that we, with
our multitude of individuaIities to be con.
suited, have been only bunglins over But
come and look again in generations, and the
splendid despotsm may be exploded OF
fallen into powrrless hands, but the strug
Cling, awkward life is still there, slowly