The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-07-06

highlands best blood was flowing in American
veins. When the emigrants to the new world
left the ports of England that great common
wealth lost hearts of oak, They were of the
mon whom not even Caesar could subdue. They
were of the men who time and again had hum.
Died the valor of France. and who had wreSted
the sea from Holland. They were of those who
had stood as wall about Cromwell when he
fought for the rights of parliament and the sur
ylyal of English liberty They were of those
who had contended and still We're contending
for civil and religious liberty for the emancipa-
ton of the human mind The most OF them
were from that class that has even been the
throbbing heart of the q lglish people, sending
its revivifying blood throughout the body
polite of that nation and giving it energy
and strength for the wonderful deeds
it has wrought. With these came many of the
higher classes deyotees of liberty who sought
to build freedoms temple in new world un-
fettered by custom and tradition.
OF such ancestry and with such beliefs they
came. To what did they come? 70 Il life of
ease and pleasure? Nc. From the waters
edge back to Aileghenys summit. d dense for
est spread it's arms bidding the cultivation of
the soil and lurking in It's every shadow was a
foe. crafty and treacherouS. Starvation threat
ened his beloved ones while the huSbanQman
was Seeking to protect tlem against foes OF
human kind. All things were new necessities
must be provided against when they arose.
Naive land was months and often times years
distant, and upon his own ingenuity and valor
must the colonist depend for improvements and
lGefence. Educated in the schools OF Eulo pe.
companions and thrown buck upon ma
ture and the conmunings CT
his own mind. If an emigrlnt for
conscience sake, here he found that closer
and more intimate communion with God which
comes to men dependent upon self for compan-
lonSn1p and upon nature for instruction. Often
this resulted in fixing more firmly those dog
matte beliefs for which he was willing to suffer,
while again it brought home the truth that all
men are brothers, and thus softened the relig-
ious and political asperities so prevalent in
IntprpnmmI1Dln1tinn
and rare. News travelled slowly from mouth TO
mouth New notions were not subject to the
attrition which comes from close companion
| ship and constant interchange of thought.
Thus grew up q people dogmatic in their con
victions, proud of their particular colony stern
and unyielding In their opposition to injustice,
narrow in religious belief, valiant in selfde-
tense, clear headed in their views of public pol
| icy, eager in their devotion to civil liberty, and
! believing that government should be founded
not upon expediency. but upon the everlasting
! truth. In u great crisis such as existed IN Amer
| lea from 1850 to 1880, the leaders of people
truly represented the prevailing temper and
character of that people. In times OF absolute
peace, when no great interest seems at stake
the demagogist may flourish and the heroism of
the home guard" may dwarf tie manly deeds
4 OF the soldier of the line.
But where the people are aroused, when they
realize that the great fundamental principles
upon which all growth and development must
be based are involved, and wide reaching de-
clS1onS must be made, they turn to the men
|
| Sklllfully drawn pen portraits of the great men
OF tnat generation bring before us the people OF
that DAY and enable us to estimate correctly
the national character which compelled indie
pendence and provided a more stable and last
| ing union
In John Adams and Thos. Jefferson we find
| the people of these times epitomZed. That
declaration penned by the hand OF Jeffer-
son, is sufficient to prove the truth
Of this proposition. Vague in no general
principle therein expressed, pledgng the people
to civil liberty, and basing the right of the
colonies to independence upon immutaDle
Justice it stands the imperishable monument
OF It's author and of the people whose dignity
and worth found expression through him.
profound in his dogmatiSm with no love or
ability for intrigue, loving liberty more than
| lie, courageous, powerful in debate. farSeeing
IN craftsmanship John Adams personities the
spirit of the age, and in that personability rep
resents the beliefs, purposes, tenacity and as
plratlons of the people.
A noble race they were. Have the sons been
equal to the burden laid upon them by the no.
blllty of their fathers:
We do not inquire whether means of COM
mun1cation have improved, appliances of civil
Zatlon become more common, population in
creased, or wealth multiplied for all this might
| be, and yet the nation might be weaker than
| when 1t enteredupon the struggle for independ-
| ence. Unless we have fostered those elements
OF strength which marked in so eminent de-
gree, Americans of the eighteenth century, we
have cause for concern.
There has been but one crisis in our affairs
since the government was firmly established
which can be compared with the period lust
considered. Slavery forced upon the colonies
by the government of England had been left
an unsettled question upon the adoption of the
constitution. Statesmen hoped that it woulC
pass away with the growth of the states. The
invention of the cotton gin dispelled that illu
sion and this question more and more became
one beyond the control OF individuals or of sec
tons. Every question of national import wa.
considered in its relation to this great and alb
sorbing subject. Individuals then put it aside
Parties agreed upon compromises. The whole
Union sought to close its eyes to its demands
But in vaini Itmust be settled. 1t was to bt
settled only by the sword. The mighty struggle
that for four years shook continent from cen
t Mbob to tho circumference and befor
stood amazed, tried the nation, as it was no
tried by the revolutionary war. For fifty wear.
dissension had prevailed. One side and the
other had proven that there was no royal RICH
and could be no power to prevent separation i
a state desired it,
The crisis came. The people brushed asid,
the cobweb of logic, looked deeper and believed
that liberty could not prevail with The nation
divided. They gave the last great evidence O
their devotion to that belief. Treasure life al
that men were and hoped to be. were offered up
AS earnest determination was theirs who stooC
in the field marshalled against the blue. Doe
1t not prove that throughout the whole countr,
mems hearts beat as true to lberty's call a
when Paul Revere aroused the farmers for Lex
ington: More than this. That contest Shove,
that beneath the love for state or a sec
ton there is deeper, purer depth tina
responds only to the sentiments, Il am al
American So that to-day sixty millions O
free men, with JOY and gladness. with thanks
giving and nope go proudly forth to celebrat
their independence conscious that they hav
preserved their fathers love of liberty an
added real significance to the Words sou
country"
Before the fourteenth amendment wa
adopted there was no American CITIZENSHIP
Up to this time citizenship of the United State
6nGupp6 pcli So 81
states. But all this is changed "All persons
says the amendment, born or not in the Unite
Staies ana subject to the jurisdiction thereo
are citizens of the United States and of Tn
states wherein they reside
Now aman is citizen of state where h
resides because he was first "a citizen of tn
, United States.
. Again: No state shall make or enforce an,
law which shall abridge the PRIVILEGES or i'm
munltes of citizens of the United States: nc.
snail any state deprive any person of life, lib
erty or property without due process of law
nor deny to anV person within It's jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws
Under TINS amendment the citizen of foregl
olrth lhe citizen irrespective of color, the CHI
, zen without regard to creed is guaranteed tn,
protection of the entire people, and he NAV sum
mons to his aid the mighty power of the who'll
Repupnc; AS has been well said: 1T aboli5he
caste and enlargeS the scope of human free
DOM" AS our ancestors increased their ow
and the liberties OF the world, so have thei
sons drafted Il new charter of liberty recogniz
ing d more fundamental right and assuring
more efficient protection to the individual
, The acceptance CT this addition to our organi
law by men of all classes and all parties j.
, proof not to be cOntroverted that it meets wit
the approval OF the whole nation and also tina
the nation has not changed. that it still be
| hevcs in government based upon Justice an
not upon expediency. Many are the evils whic
t threaten; greed of wealth gnaws at ever
nobler attribute. greed OF power is. as ever
reckless OF the means used in obtaining tn
power sought. Envy, jealousy and hate sti
exert their balcful influences, but und a
all these fnultS. the henri OF tie nation hnnt