As To The Nature Of Those
Alleged Infringements, Are They Not Written Down To The Number Of
Twenty-Seven In The Declaration Of Independence?
They mostly begin
with He.
"He" has done this, and "He" has done that. The "He" is
poor George III., whose twenty-seven mortal sins against his
Transatlantic colonies are thus recapitulated. It would avail
nothing to argue now whether those deeds were sins or virtues, nor
would it have availed then. The child had grown up and was strong,
and chose to go alone into the world. The young bird was fledged,
and flew away. Poor George III. with his cackling was certainly
not efficacious in restraining such a flight. But it is gratifying
to see how this new people, when they had it in their power to
change all their laws, to throw themselves upon any Utopian theory
that the folly of a wild philanthropy could devise, to discard as
abominable every vestige of English rule and English power, - it is
gratifying to see that, when they could have done all this, they
did not do so, but preferred to cling to things English. Their old
colonial limits were still to be the borders of their States.
Their old charters were still to be regarded as the sources from
whence their State powers had come. The old laws were to remain in
force. The precedents of the English courts were to be held as
legal precedents in the courts of the new nation, and are now so
held. It was still to be England, but England without a king
making his last struggle for political power. This was the idea of
the people and this was their feeling; and that idea has been
carried out and that feeling has remained.
In the constitution of the State of New York nothing is said about
the religion of the people. It was regarded as a subject with
which the constitution had no concern whatever. But as soon as we
come among the stricter people of New England, we find that the
constitution-makers have not been able absolutely to ignore the
subject. In Connecticut it is enjoined that, as it is the duty of
all men to worship the Supreme Being, and their right to render
that worship in the mode most consistent with their consciences, no
person shall be by law compelled to join or be classed with any
religious association. The line of argument is hardly logical, the
conclusion not being in accordance with or hanging on the first of
the two premises. But nevertheless the meaning is clear. In a
free country no man shall be made to worship after any special
fashion; but it is decreed by the constitution that every man is
bound by duty to worship after some fashion. The article then goes
on to say how they who do worship are to be taxed for the support
of their peculiar church. I am not quite clear whether the New
Yorkers have not managed this difficulty with greater success.
When we come to the Old Bay State - to Massachusetts - we find the
Christian religion spoken of in the constitution as that which in
some one of its forms should receive the adherence of every good
citizen.
Hartford is a pleasant little town, with English-looking houses,
and an English-looking country around it. Here, as everywhere
through the States, one is struck by the size and comfort of the
residences. I sojourned there at the house of a friend, and could
find no limit to the number of spacious sitting-rooms which it
contained. The modest dining-room and drawing-room which suffice
with us for men of seven or eight hundred a year would be regarded
as very mean accommodation by persons of similar incomes in the
States.
I found that Hartford was all alive with trade, and that wages were
high, because there are there two factories for the manufacture of
arms. Colt's pistols come from Hartford, as also do Sharpe's
rifles. Wherever arms can be prepared, or gunpowder; where clothes
or blankets fit for soldiers can be made, or tents or standards, or
things appertaining in any way to warfare, there trade was still
brisk. No being is more costly in his requirements than a soldier,
and no soldier so costly as the American. He must eat and drink of
the best, and have good boots and warm bedding, and good shelter.
There were during the Christmas of 1861 above half a million of
soldiers so to be provided - the President, in his message made in
December to Congress, declared the number to be above six hundred
thousand - and therefore in such places as Hartford trade was very
brisk. I went over the rifle factory, and was shown everything,
but I do not know that I brought away much with me that was worth
any reader's attention. The best of rifles, I have no doubt, were
being made with the greatest rapidity, and all were sent to the
army as soon as finished. I saw some murderous-looking weapons,
with swords attached to them instead of bayonets, but have since
been told by soldiers that the old-fashioned bayonet is thought to
be more serviceable.
Immediately on my arrival in Boston I heard that Mr. Emerson was
going to lecture at the Tremont Hall on the subject of the war, and
I resolved to go and hear him. I was acquainted with Mr. Emerson,
and by reputation knew him well. Among us in England he is
regarded as transcendental and perhaps even as mystic in his
philosophy. His "Representative Men" is the work by which he is
best known on our side of the water, and I have heard some readers
declare that they could not quite understand Mr. Emerson's
"Representative Men." For myself, I confess that I had broken down
over some portions of that book. Since I had become acquainted
with him I had read others of his writings, especially his book on
England, and had found that he improved greatly on acquaintance.
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