DANIEL WEBSTER 15 and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the declaration will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities held under a British king, set before them the glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. Read this declaration at the head of the army; every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the pulpit; religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will cling around public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon; let them see it who saw their brothers and their sons fall on Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support. Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that, live or die, survive or perish, I am for this declaration. It is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentimentindependence now, and INDEPENDENCE FOR EVER! QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Under what circumstances was this speech supposedly delivered? 2. What is the present policy of Great Britain toward her colonies? BACK TO THE DECLARATION ABRAHAM LINCOLN In his campaign for the Senate, against Stephen A. Douglas in 1858, Abraham Lincoln said: The Declaration of Independence was formed by the representatives of American liberty from thirteen states of the confederacy. These communities, by their representatives in old Independence Hall, said to the whole world of men: "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This was their majestic interpretation of the economy of the Universe. This was their lofty, and wise, and noble understanding of the justice of the Creator to His creatures. Yes, gentlemen, to all His creatures, to the whole great family of man. In their enlightened belief nothing stamped with the divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on and degraded and imbruted by its fellows. They grasped not only the whole race of man then living, but they reached forward and seized upon the farthest posterity. They erected a beacon to guide their children, and their children's children, and the countless myriads who should inhabit the earth in other ages. Wise statesmen as they were, they knew the tendency of prosperity to breed tyrants, and so they established these great self-evident truths, that when in the distant future some man, some faction, some interest, should set up the doctrine that none but rich men were entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew the battle which their fathers ABRAHAM LINCOLN 17 began, so that truth and justice and mercy and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land, so that no man would hereafter dare to limit and circumscribe the great principles on which the temple of liberty was being built. Now, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence; if you have listened to suggestions which would take away from its grandeur and mutilate the fair symmetry of its proportions; if you have been inclined to believe that all men are not created equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our chart of liberty, let me entreat you to come back. Return to the fountain whose waters spring close by the blood of the revolution. Think nothing of me-take no thought for the political fate of any man whomsoever-but come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. You may do anything with me you choose, if you will but heed these sacred principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may take me and put me to death. While pretending no indifference to earthly honors, I do claim to be actuated in this contest by something higher than any anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and insignificant thought for any man's success. It is nothing; I am nothing; Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy the immortal emblem of Humanity-the Declaration of American Independence. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What does the Declaration of Independence mean when it says that "all men are created equal"? 2. Who was Judge Douglas? In the opening sentence what is this "confederacy" that Lincoln mentions? BILL OF RIGHTS CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES The English common law, upon which English and American liberties are based, was slowly evolved through centuries of growth. Its maxims embody the most sacred beliefs of our race. It is that "law of the land" to which the Magna Charta refers, and its essential principles are those of the Petition of Right of Charles I, and the Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement of the Revolution of 1688. The Constitution of the United States, framed in Philadelphia, in 1787, breathes forth the ancient Anglo-Saxon love of liberty regulated by precedent and law, their love of order and discipline, their hatred of tyranny, their belief in the inalienable rights of man, and their instinct, as old as the race itself, for local and representative government. As long as Americans observe the spirit of the American Constitution, especially the first ten Amendments thereto, commonly known as The Bill of Rights, our present civilization is safe. Our "Bill of Rights" is embodied in the following ten articles of the Constitution: I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. II. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. III. No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. "BILL OF RIGHTS" 19 IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or in public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. VII. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces |