can seek them out in an open thoroughfare, it can fight them hand to hand in the light of day, in the light of the sun, and if it were possible, in the light of all the stars of the firma

ment.

There appears to be a fatal law for all human institutions that they should love that which would slay them and fly from that which should give them life. The Moderate party clings to mutism, which means its death; and loves not the liberty of the press, which is that which would give it horizon, which is that which would lend it atmosphere, which is that which would inform it with vitality.

I have always believed, I do believe, and I shall continue to believe that for the Moderate party the liberty of the press will be what it has been until now, the true battle-steed with which we are to conquer all our enemies; those who attack us on the right flank as well as those who attack us on the left flank. I have always believed, do believe, and will continue to believe, that for the Moderate party the liberty of the press as until now it has always been the ship that has saved us from all despotic wreck, will in the future be for us the sacred ark that will rescue us from every communistic deluge. I have always believed, do believe, and shall continue to believe, that for the Moderate party the liberty of the press will be hereafter as it has been until now the true firm-standing wall against which in a way most fatal, in a way inevitable, there will vainly dash on the one hand all the surges of democracy, on the other hand all the avalanches of reaction.

Gentlemen, I am going to relate the coming history of this fatal law which is to have the sad privilege of slaying its own mother before its birth. When this law is published the safety-valve of representative government will be shut down:

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all the lawful passions, all the legal tendencies, all the just aspirations will not be able to satisfy their legitimate desires for growth; these repressed lawful passions will be converted into concentrated hatreds; these concentrated hatreds are going to charge the political atmosphere with electricity; this electricity is going to accumulate in the atmosphere and is going to form a sullen tempest whose mutterings will arouse the rancor of our enemies; and for our friends it will make them pass a life filled with fear and tribulation, and then by the most unforeseen of happenings this invisible tempest, on a day least looked for, will fall upon our heads in the shape of a bloody revolution.

Whatever the consideration in which you hold the prophet, forget not the prophecy!

[Specially translated by Sylvester Baxter.]

BOUTWELL

SEWALL American statim education was

Brookline, Massachusetts, January 28, 1818.

obtained in private schools and by prolonged private study in early manhood. He was admitted to the bar in 1846, but did not begin practice till some years later. He entered politics early as a supporter of Van Buren, ́ and served seven terms as a Democratic member of the State legislature of Massachusetts between 1842 and 1851. He was defeated as a Congressional candidate in 1844, 1846, and 1848, and in the following years was the unsuccessful candidate of the Democrats for governor. In 1851, however, he was elected governor by a coalition of the Democrats and FreeSoilers. After the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, he helped to found the Republican party, and in 1860 was a member of the national convention which nominated Lincoln for the presidency. He organized the department of internal revenue and was its first commissioner, 1862-63. From 1863 to 1869 he was a member of the lower house of Congress, and secretary of the treasury during President Grant's first administration, 1869-73, resigning in March of the year last named in order to fill the seat in the Senate vacated by Senator Wilson, who had become Vice-President. After leaving the Senate in 1877 he was appointed to codify and edit the Statutes at Large, and he subsequently practised law in Washington for some years. His interest in politics has continued unabated since his retirement from professional labors. He has published "Thoughts on Educational Topics" (1860); "A Manual of the Direct and Excise System of the United States (1863); "The Taxpayer's Manual " (1865); Speeches and Papers Relating to the Rebellion" (1876); "Why I am a Republican: a History of the Republican Party (1884); "The Lawyer, the Statesman, the Soldier" (1887); "The Constitution of the United States at the End of the First Century (1895).

ON THE PROGRESS OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

A

ADDRESS BEFORE N. Y. HISTORICAL SOCIETY, APRIL 2, 1889

T the close of the French war England entered systematically upon a policy whose object was the establishment of the supremacy of Parliament over the colonies of North America. For one hundred and thirty years this supremacy had been denied whenever the claim was presented. In that time manufactures and commerce,

although borne down by the weight of legislative restrictions, had so increased as to arrest the attention of the ministry and the board of trade, and excite the prejudices of the laborers upon the Thames and in the manufactories. The population of the thirteen colonies, then estimated at 2,500,000, had doubled by natural increase every twentyfive years, and it was then certain that it would be largely augmented by immigration from Europe.

This population was better fed and better clothed than the corresponding classes in England. The inhabitants of the colonies had acquired great experience in the Indian wars, the siege of Louisbourg, and the invasion of Canada. Their bravery was unquestioned. The future greatness of America had been predicted, its natural resources had in a degree been unfolded.

England was burdened with debt and she thought that America might be compelled to contribute to its payment. The first question was this: Has Parliament a right to legislate for America? An affirmative answer suggested a second; what shall be the character of the legislation? In regard to the first question it ought not to have been expected that "ex parte" opinions, whether accompanied by a show of power or not, would lead to an amicable adjustment of the controversy.

The only ground of hope was in negotiation and this appears not to have been thought of. England proceeded to legislate, and upon the question of policy she made a most fatal mistake. With sole reference to her own interests she would have exercised the power that she assumed in the least offensive way. She would have so legislated that in equity no issue could have been made with her acts. But on the contrary, guided apparently by an insensate lust of

power she passed laws which would have kindled rebellion if the right of Parliament had been undisputed. For the purpose of aiding the officers in the collection of the revenue an old and obsolete law was revived under which writs, called writs of assistance, were granted.

By these writs the agents of the government were empowered to search ships, shops, houses, and stores. They were in fact general search warrants. The first application was from the collector of the port of Salem, Massachusetts. The court hesitated. The merchants employed Thatcher and James Otis to resist the application. The writ was granted, but the speech of Otis so excited the people that John Adams fifty years afterward declared that "American independence was then and there born."

In the series of offensive laws first came the Stamp Act, then a declaration that Parliament had a right to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever, then the acts for shutting up the port of Boston, then the act for altering the charter and government of Massachusetts Bay, an act for the better administration of justice, an act to establish the Roman Catholic religion in the Province of Quebec, an act for quartering the army upon the people and various acts for raising a revenue.

The Stamp Act was met by marked opposition in all the colonies, and in some of them the people adopted measures of injustice and violence.

It was determined on all hands that the stamps should not be landed and that no one should hold the office of agent. Those who accepted were compelled to resign. It was in vain that these officials claimed exemption from all responsibility for the existence of the statute, or that they set forth as an excuse that if they did not perform the service