tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affec tions, and the touching narratives and incidents, which mingle with all I know of this primitive family abode. I mourn to think that none of those who inhabited it are now among the living; and if ever I am ashamed of it or if I ever fail in affectionate veneration for him who reared it, and defended it against savage violence and destruction, cherished all the domestic virtues beneath its roof, and, through the fire and blood of a seven-years' revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no sacrifice, to serve his country, and to raise his children to a condition better than his own, may my name and the name of my posterity be blotted forever from the memory of mankind! EXECUTIVE POWER TO BE DREADED. THROUGH all the history of the contest for liberty, executive power has been regarded as a lion which must be caged. So far from being the object of enlightened popular trust, so far from being considered the natural protector of popular right, it has been dreaded, uniformly, always dreaded as the great source of its danger. Who is he so ignorant of the history of liberty at home and abroad; who is he yet dwelling, in his contemplations, among the principles and dogmas of the Middle Ages; who is he, from whose bosom all original infusion of American spirit has become so entirely evaporated and exhaled, as that he shall put into the mouth of the President of the United States the doctrine that the defence of liberty "naturally results" to executive power and EXECUTIVE POWER TO BE DREADED. 91 is its peculiar duty? Who is he that, generous and confiding towards power where it is most dangerous, and jealous only of those who can restrain it, who is he that, reversing the order of the State and upheaving the base, would poise the pyramid of the political system upon its apex? Who is he that, overlooking with contempt the guardianship of the representatives of the people, and with equal contempt the higher guardianship of the people themselves, who is he that declares to us that the security for freedom rests in executive authority? Who is he that belies the blood and libels the fame of his own ancestors by declaring that they, with solemnity of form and force of manner, have invoked the executive power to come to the protection of liberty? Who is he that thus charges them with insanity, or the recklessness of putting the lamb beneath the lion's paw? No, sir; no, sir; our security is in our watchfulness of executive power. It was the constitution of this department which was infinitely the most difficult part in the great work of creating our present government. To give to the executive department such power as should make it useful, and yet not such as should render it dangerous; to make it efficient, independent, and strong, and yet prevent it from sweeping away everything by its union of military and civil authority, by the influence of patronage and office and favor, this, indeed, was difficult. They who had the work to do saw the difficulty and we see it; and if we maintain our system, we shall act wisely to that end, by preserving every restraint and every guard which the Constitution has provided. And when we and those who come after us have done all that we can do, and all that they can do, it will be well for us and for them if some popular executive, by the power of patronage and party, and the power, too, of that very popularity, shall not hereafter prove an overmatch for all other branches of the government. I do not wish, sir, to impair the power of the President, as it stands written down in the Constitution, and as great and good men have hitherto exercised it. In this, as in other respects, I am for the Constitution as it is. But I will not acquiesce in the reversal of all just ideas of government; I will not degrade the character of popular representation; I will not blindly confide, where all experience admonishes me to be jealous; I will not trust executive power, vested in the hands of a single magistrate, to be the guardian of liberty. PHILANTHROPIC LOVE OF POWER. SIR, good motives may always be assumed, as bad motives may always be imputed. Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of power, but they cannot justify it even if we were sure that they existed. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution of the United States was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions, real or pretended. When bad intentions are boldly avowed, the people will promptly take care of themselves. On the other hand, they will always be asked why they should resist or question that exercise of power which is so fair in its object, so plausible and patriotic in appearance, and which has the public good alone confessedly in view. Human beings, we may be assured, will generally exercise power when they can get it, and they will exercise it most undoubtedly, in popular governments, under pretences of public safety or high pub AGAINST WHIPPING IN THE NAVY. 93 lic interest. It may be possible that good intentions do really sometimes exist when constitutional restraints are disregarded. There are men in all ages who mean to exercise power usefully, but they mean to exercise it. They mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be kind masters, but they mean to be masters. They think there need be but little restraint upon themselves. Their notion of the public interest is apt to be quite closely connected with their own exercise of authority. They may not, indeed, always understand their own motives; the love of power may sink too deep in their own hearts even for their own scrutiny, and may pass with themselves for mere patriotism and benevolence. A character has been drawn of a very eminent citizen of Massachusetts, of the last age, which, though I think it does not entirely belong to him, yet very well describes a certain class of public men. It was said of this distinguished son of Massachusetts that in matters of politics and government he cherished the most kind and benevolent feelings towards the whole earth. He earnestly desired to see all nations well governed, and to bring about. this happy result he wished that the United States might govern all the rest of the world, that Massachusetts might govern the United States, that Boston might govern Massachusetts and, as for himself, his own humble ambition would be satisfied by governing the little town of Boston. AGAINST WHIPPING IN THE NAVY. R. F. STOCKTON. I LOVE the navy. When I speak of the navy, I mean the sailor as well as the officer. They are all my fellow-citizens and yours, and come what may, my voice will ever be raised against a punishment which degrades my countrymen to the level of brutes, and destroys all that is worth living for, — personal honor and self-respect. In many a bloody conflict has the superiority of American sailors decided the battle in our favor. I desire to secure and preserve that superiority. But, can nobleness of sentiment or honorable pride of character dwell with one whose every muscle has been made to quiver under the lash? Can he long continue to love a country whose laws crush out all the dignity of manhood, and rouse all the exasperation of hate in his breast? Look to your history, that part which the world knows by heart, and you will find on its brightest page the glorious achievements of the American sailor. Whatever his country has done to disgrace him and break his 'spirit, he never has disgraced her. Man for man he asks no odds, and he cares for no odds when the cause of humanity, or the glory of his country calls him to the fight. Who, in the darkest days of our Revolution, carried your flag into the very chops of the British Channel, bearded the lion in his den, and awoke the echo of old Albion's hills by the thunder of his cannon, and the shouts of his triumph? It was the American sailor! and the names of John Paul Jones and the "Bon Homme Richard" will go down the annals of time forever. Who struck the first blow that humbled the Barbary flag, which for a hundred years had been the terror of Christendom, drove it from the Mediterranean, and put an end to the infamous tribute it had been accustomed to exact? It was the American sailor! and the names of Decatur and his gallant companions will be as lasting as monumental brass. In the war of 1812, when your arms on shore were |