Jeremiah 30:21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the middle of them; and I will cause him to draw near… Our subject is the blessing of freedom; the advantages of that political condition in which we are placed. There are various causes in operation which tend to lesson in us the due sense of these advantages. Extravagance of praise; asserting too much with regard to any principle; overdrawn statements of its nature, and perpetual boasting of its effects, are likely in all cases, sooner or later, to bring about a reaction. The abuses of the principle of liberty also; the out-breakings of popular violence, mobs, and tumults, prostrating the law under foot; and the tyranny, moreover, of legal majorities; and, withal, the bitter animosities of party strife, and the consequent incessant fluctuations of public policy, constantly deranging the business of the country; all these things are leading some to say, but with more rashness than wisdom, "I must think, that even political oppression and injustice, which should make all strong, and firm, and permanent, would be better than that state of things in which we live." Add to all this, that the blessings which are common, like the air we breathe and the light of day — blessings which are invested with the familiar livery of our earliest and most constant experience — are apt to pass by us unregarded; while the evils of life, calamities and concussions of the elements, shipwrecks, and storms, and earthquakes, rise into portentous and heart-thrilling significance; and we see another and final reason why the advantages of our political condition are liable to be undervalued. The first step which I shall take in defending the ground which we as a nation have taken, win be carefully to define it. What is the principle of a democratic or representative government? It is, that no restraints, disabilities, or penalties shall be laid upon any person, and that no immunities, privileges, or charters shall be conferred on any person, or any class of persons, but such as tend to promote the general welfare. This exception, be it remembered, is an essential part of our theory. Our principle is not, as I conceive, that no privileges shall be granted to one person more than to another. If bank charters, for instance, can be proved to be advantageous to the community, our principle must allow them. It is upon the same principle that we grant acts of incorporation to the governors of colleges, academies, and hospitals, and to many other benevolent and literary societies: it is upon the ground that they benefit the public. And what is government itself, but a corporation possessing and exercising certain exclusive powers for the general weal? Again, I maintain that our democratic principle is not that the people are always right. It is this rather: that although the people may sometimes be wrong, yet that they are not so likely to be wrong, and to do wrong, as irresponsible, hereditary magistrates and legislators; that it is safer to trust the many with the keeping of their own interests, than it is to trust the few to keep those interests for them. Let me now proceed to speak of liberty as a blessing, and the highest blessing that can appertain to the condition of a people. 1. I value our political constitution because it is the only system that accords with the truth of things, the only system that recognises the great claims and inalienable rights of humanity. 2. I value our liberty, and deem it a just cause of thankfulness to Heaven, because it fosters and develops all the intellectual and moral powers of the country. 3. I value political liberty because of that which a free and unfettered energy obtains, it gives the freest and amplest use. What is the effect, nay, what is the design of a despotic Government, but to deprive the people of the largest amount that it can, or dare, of the proceeds of their honest industry and laudable enterprise? Under its grossest forms, it levies direct contributions; in its more plausible administration it levies taxes; but in either case its end is the same — to feed and batten a few at the expense of the many. Let me not be told, that differences in the form of government are mere matters of speculation; that they have very little to do with our private welfare; that a man may be as happy under one form as another. I think it was on occasion of our revolution that Dr. Johnson put forth some such oracle as this; but it is not true; it may pass for good-nature, or for smooth philosophy, if anyone pleases so to call it, but it is not true. What more obvious interest of human life is there, than that a man's labour shall produce for him the greatest possible amount of comfort; that he should enjoy, as far as it is compatible with the support of civil order, the proceeds of his toil? Labour, honourable and useful as it is, is not so very agreeable that a man should recklessly give it for that which is not bread. And that he emphatically does who gives it for pensions, sinecures, and monopolies, and establishments, and wars, which benefit him not at all. 4. I should not exhaust the subject, even in this most general view of it, if I did not add one further consideration in behalf of freedom; a consideration that is higher and stronger than any reason — I mean, the intrinsic desirableness of this condition to every human being. In this respect, freedom is like virtue, like happiness; we value it for its own sake. God has stamped upon our very humanity this impress of freedom; it is the unchartered prerogative of human nature. (O. Dewey, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD. |
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