The man who
can see without inward tears the self-inflicted wounds of that
American people can hardly have within his bosom the tenderness of
an Englishman's heart.
But the strong runner will rise again to his feet, even though he be
stunned by his fall. He will rise again, and will have learned
something by his sorrow. His anger will pass away, and he will
again brace himself for his work. What great race has ever been won
by any man, or by any nation, without some such fall during its
course? Have we not all declared that some check to that career was
necessary? Men in their pursuit of intelligence had forgotten to be
honest; in struggling for greatness they had discarded purity. The
nation has been great, but the statesmen of the nation have been
little. Men have hardly been ambitious to govern, but they have
coveted the wages of governors. Corruption has crept into high
places - into places that should have been high - till of all holes
and corners in the land they have become the lowest. No public man
has been trusted for ordinary honesty. It is not by foreign voices,
by English newspapers or in French pamphlets, that the corruption of
American politicians has been exposed, but by American voices and by
the American press. It is to be heard on every side. Ministers of
the cabinet, senators, representatives, State legislatures, officers
of the army, officials of the navy, contractors of every grade - all
who are presumed to touch, or to have the power of touching public
money, are thus accused.
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