The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-12-05

HILL AS "a LECTURER.
HIS TOPIC "PERsohAL LlsERTY,'t.is.
DEBUT "A SUCCESS.
q Simple Republic u the Best Our Gov
ssnmsnt will stand Despotism Must H.
Re3eossd -lzona,chy Cannos stand;
Senator David B. Hill made his do
but az q lecturer the other, night at Mil
waukee The subject was Liberty,
and be was . success. He spoke as fol
lows NJ N
Ny theme tonight is that Of personal
liberty, rather liberty in its broadest
and general sense II means, as yon all
know. absence Of restraint In its best
sense Il means the absence Of all neces-,
sary and reasonable rest int It istthe
opposite Ct serfdom, of subsection and Of
slavery. It Is the state Is il free person,
as Webster defines it. only assert Q
truism when say that it is, as you
know, priceless boon TO humanity in
capable Of estimation, impossible Of
alienation BY intelligent beings and in-3
separable from rational existence Pro-
claim liberty throughout all the world
unto all the inhabitants thereof, was
the command Of the Lord to Moses on
Mount Sinai, and from that day to the
present 1t has been regarded as the gift
Of the Almighty to his people and its
possession has been spoken Of as q natu-
raj right as distinguished from confer
red social Or political privilege.
1t was in this light that jefferson in
his summary review Of the rights OF
British America appropriately said the
God that gave US Light gave Us liberty
at the same time The Spanish novelist
and poet Cervantes expressed the gener-;
al idea when he wrote that liberty is
one Of the most valuable blessings that
heaven has bestowed upon mankind.
Next to life itself it has been cherished,
guarded and considered as the chiefest
blessing that we poor mortals can en-.
Joy. Patrick Henry, one Of Virginia's
greatest Revolutionary orators and patri-
| OTIS, imbued with this estimate of the
value Of liberty Sexpressed the preference
for liberty when he wrote the memora-
BILE sentiment, Give me liberty or give.
me. death. Addison declares>that a day.,
an hour of virtuous liberty is worth 9
whole eternity of bondage. Pope, shar-
| ing the general appreciation Of true in
| dependence, says, Give me again my
hollow tree, crust of bread and liberty.
I'm the enumeration in the Declare;
tion Of independence Of certain inalien-
able rights with which men are endowed
by their Creator, liberty is placed next
| to life. Life is first III the category. You
recollect the sentence, Life, liberty and
the pursuit Of happiness. Although in
| the preamble Of the constitution Of the
United States the objects for which the
constitution was. ordained and estab-
| lished are recited, land as the purpose to
| secure the blessings Of liberty to our-e
selves and posterity is the last stated, it
is evident that its expression was re-
served as a climax by Which better to
emphasize its chief importance. In,t the
! preambles Of nearly all the constitutions
| of the respective states Of the Onion the
principal object for their establishment
| is declared to be to secure the blessings
Of freedom for the people. In New York,
Arkansas, California, Idaho, Kentucky,
Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina.
Rhode Island and Wyoming the sole OBJ
ject expressed in their constitutions is
for the perpetuation Of the blessings Of
liberty to the people Of such states. In
nearly all Of the constitutions Of the re-
spective states of the Union that pur-
pose, although not exclusive, is prompt.
| ~ declared There are various kinds Of
| liberty, or more strictly speaking there
are various divisions Of liberty, forms
and phases of it, to which society has
been accustomed, which are ordinarily
| regarded as distinct. "
"The broad term civil liberty means
exemption from arbitrary interference
with persons opinion or property on the
part of the government under which one
lives. Personal liberty especially relates
to the individual, and as properly I'M
derstood means substantial immunity
from governmental control of ones Gus
toms, habits and business. Liberty of
the press means freedom to print and
publish without official supervision.
Moral liberty means that liberty Of
choice which is essential to moral re-.
sponsibility. Religious liberty means
freedom Of opinion to worship. Liberty
of conscience is only another name for
freedom Of opinion and must be deemed
to include the right to be wholly with
out religious convictions and the priv
ilege.to express such unbelief. u
".'There is peculiar significance at
tached to the word, depending upon
how it is used. Webster says it some.
times means privilege or license in
violation Of any of the laws Of etiquette
or propriety, as to permit to take lib.