Conservative *
adopted that instrument did not con
template just such a contingency. Even
if not contemplated , experience had
shown that many general laws have
been used , and often perverted to pur
poses not contemplated by those who
framed and adopted them , and yet wo
could not escape the plain letter of the
law , and that the unrestricted power to
make treaties includes all the subjects
and purposes for which treaties are
usually adopted.
The second obiection did not apply di
rectly to the constitution , but to a prin
ciple upon which it was claimed all our
institutions were founded. The terri
tory of Louisiana had about 80,000 in
habitants and under the principle that
all governments derive their just pow
ers from the consent of the governed it
was claimed that our government was
about to exercise sovereignty over those
inhabitants without their consent.
The Growth of nil Idea.
In my opinion there is no more inter
esting subject in modern history than
that of tracing the origin and growth of
this idea. As with most of the progress
of the last four centuries , we must go
back to the Reformation for its origin.
Charles the Fifth was emperor of Ger
many , and with Spain the ruler of
nearly oue-hnlf of the known world.
A number of the little states into which
Germany was divided had in some of
its forms adopted the Protestant religion.
Charles had resolved to reduce all Ger
many into conformity with the Catholic
church. He had broken up the Snial-
keld League of Protestant Princes , had
imprisoned its leaders and reduced their
electorates into apparent subjection.
Maurice of Nassau and Saxony , and a
relative by marriage to the Prince of
Orange , secretly formed another league ,
and under pretext of assisting had or
ganized a largo army and led it against
the emperor. Ho secured military pos
session of a large part of Germany. By
an unforseen accident the emperor
barely escaped capture. The treaty of
Nassau was the result , under which the
Protestant and Catholic electorates were
each allowed to enjoy their own relig
ions. In this treaty the people were
only indirectly represented by their
princes , but in assuring liberty of con
science throughout a large part of Ger
many , it taught that the will of the
people should be considered by their
rulers. It next appears , still vague and
indefinite , during the revolution of 1640
in England. There it was claimed that
parliament , representing the nobility
and wealthier of the people , had the
ultimate right of sovereignty. The
movement seemed to have failed through
the excesses of the army of the common
wealth , but left seeds which afterward
regenerated England. In the revolution
of 1G88 the whig party , led by Halifax
and Somors and other distinguished
leaders , openly declared that govern
ment was the agent of the people , who
when their rulers violated their rights
and usurped powers not conferred by
the constitution were authorized to do-
psse them and put others in their place.
In this revolution the masses of the
people "had little direct part , and in the
final sottlon'iont ' , while the principle was
in fact accepted , it was obscured by
placing upon other grounds the change
of administration.
To our own country wo must look for
the full development of the principle ,
and publishing it to the world as the
true basis upon which all civilized gov
ernment must finally rest. The circum
stances were unusually favorable for its
adoption. The early settlers driven
from their homes to find a place where
they might freely enjoy the dictates of
conscience , and imbued with the prin
ciples of liberty , planted on our shores
numerous little democracies where all
wore equal and where each participated
in affairs of state. They grew by ne
glect ; they were hardened and consoli
dated by conflicts with savage foes who
knew no mercy. Poverty and hardship
were their lot. They recognized that
in the eye of God all were equal , and
they permitted no distinction of ranker
or right to destroy this equality. They
doubtless could not , and enjoying , did
not attempt to formulate the great prin
ciple by which their actions were con
trolled. This came from another direc
tion. With the exception of the little
republics of Greece in the time of Per
icles and Socrates , perhaps there had
been no age in the history of the world
when intellectual activity was so intense
as it was in the 18th century ; and this
activity largely took the direction of
examination into and discussion of the
nature and rights of man , and the origin
and duties of government. We have
Locke and Hume in England , Kant in
Germany , Voltaire and Montesquieu and
Rousseau and others in France , all im
mersed in the solution of these grave
problems.
Arbitrary England.
At this time England commenced its
arbitrary acts to bring the colonies
under the jurisdiction of parliament.
She crippled our commerce , prohibited
our manufactures , imposed taxes with
out our consent , and billeted soldiers in
our homes regardless of our laws. Then
from this continent came the answer
ing cry to the doctrines of the great
European philosophers. The press
teemed with pamphlets , the rostrum
was converted into a place for lectures
from Samuel Adams and James Otis
of Massachusetts , Benjamin Franklin
and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania ,
Witherspoou of Now Jersey , George
Mason and Thomas Jefferson of Vir
ginia , and last , but not least , from
Thomas Paine , a citizen of the world ,
by whom the arbitrary and oppressive
acts of the mother country were com-
pared and contrasted with the primary
rights of man. The whole culminated
in that greatest of appeals to humanity ,
the declaration of independence , in
which it was boldly declared , that all
just government rests upon the consent
of the governed. Then followed eight
years of devastating war , from which it
is doubtful whether , with all the bravery
and devotion of our people , wo could
have emerged successfully , without the
patience , magnanimity , self-sacrifice ,
heroism and superiority in affairs both
of state and war of the hero whose
birth wo celebrate tonight , George
Washington.
In the eyes of the world success
seemed to have rendered sacred the
principle for which wo fought ; but what
was the condition of our country ?
There was no bond of union ; very soon
Now York commenced to levy duties
upon the trade of Connecticut and New
Jersey , conflicts of authority ensued ,
rivalries and jealousies began to grow
between the states ; in Massachusetts ,
Shay's rebellion against the state in be
half of a depreciated currency was sup
pressed with the greatest difficulty , and
it became evident to thoughtful men
that there must be a change of condi
tions , or the states would soon fall an
easy prey to conquering nations , or to
the larger states in our own country ,
and the great life principle of our exis
tence bo again lost to the world.
Equal to the Crisis.
Again our people rose to the occasion.
After several futile attempts , a conven
tion was called which framed the pres
ent constitution. In every act of its
adoption , in every line of its contents ,
it affirms the principle upon which the
war was fought as set forth in the de
claration ; and let it ever bo remembered
that the chief purpose of the constitu
tion was to preserve the liberties of the
people and the integrity "of the states ,
as the most competent administrations
of our domestic concerns. "
Thus we find this principle established
as the keystone of the magnificent
structure our ancestors had erected.
From this long digression we must
again return to the Louisiana purchase ;
but before doing so , it is necessary to
define what in practical affairs we mean
by this principle. It is one thing , under
an idea , to accomplish a desirable re
sult , and another , after that result is
accomplished , to carry it into effect in
our future life.
Evolution.
Perhaps the clearest statement of the
principle is made by Herbert Spencer in
his Principles of Sociology. It is , that
from the beginning , the evolution of
civilization in society has been the grad
ual substitution of consent and contract
for force , and the ultimate conclusion
that consent and contract shall rule
supreme. We must not forget that in.
