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Hesperian Student.
VOL.
University of Nebraska.
.
NO 1.
j.VNlVUY,
Qui non PvofloItiDoflolt.
187G.
The Centennial Year.
Many good things have been said in
praic of the achcivemonts ot the Repub
lic (hiring its first centur of existence
But in the midst or tills glorification of
our material progress there is little said of
other matters which Ho more nearly to the
foundations of our perpetuity and real
grandeur as a nation.
The glamour of riches; the nflluoncc o
convcnii'iices and comforts; the brilliant
applications of scientific truths to the arts,
in this country, have in a measure dazzled
the vision, so Unit the most vital princi
ples, which make all these achievements
possible, are in danger of being over-
looked and neglected.
It will be well to turn aside for a mo.
raent from the beaten path of our materi
al progress, and consider whether we are
making progress in those things which
are the real glory and stability of a repub
lican state. It was said not long since by
a writer in the "Westminster Review, that
the American Republic is on trial. Not,
certainly, whether it can amass wealth,
build cities, rail-roads, steam-ships and
bridges, tunnel mountains, open mines
and make witty inventions, and in line
develop an amazing prodigiousness and
versatility in all its secular life.
The trial to which this nation is now sub
jected K whether all the faith, toil, and
self sacrifice which attended the birth and
rebirth uf our nation shall have an out
come in a more rational freedom, a loftier
patriot ism, unsullied national honor, uni
versal education and a loftier conception
of the dignity of American citizenship
and by such moral forces make the nation
Impul.shublc. or hnll our beneficent form
of government be degraded to the uses of
tin-public plunderer, to unrebuked politi
cal corruption, and an utter debauchery of
the public conscience until neither the
form nor the end of our Republic shall
be longer possible. In this way our coun
try U on trial, and the most thoughtful
minds in our nation, while participating in
the general joy, are yot opptesscd with a
wns. of imminent danger lo the integrity
of our form of government.
ls-i One of the most dangerous errors
into which the average American citizen
Iks fallen is, that there is a potency and
'most a necessity in the form of our gov
ernment to assure its own success and per
petuity To many the form is a fetisch, endued
ith an inexplicable and and almost Irro-Utiljlf-
force, which is a guarantee of care
for the government and of everybody who
wines within its jurisdiction. It is be
lieved to have I'ifolded a germ that must,
per force, bo unfolded into a noble nation
al life, securing liberty and happiness as
naturally as the oak is developed from the
acorn.
hi opposition to this view, it is high
limo to inculcate a more wholesome phil
033Phy,a jiister view, that our government
iH be no better, no worse than the aver
age citizen ; that if it have excellencies
they will bo only the reflected excellencies
of the people who constitute tltc state.
In that peerless dedicatory address of
Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, we have
portrayed the entire theory and fact of our
political system. Said he, it is of the peo
ple, by the people and for the people.
It sprang from the heroism, patriotism
and sacrifices of the fathers, a hundred
years ago, and must bo perpetuated by the
same spirit in their descendonts; it is adi
ministered by the people, who all of every
rank and condition are concerned in the
creation and operation of the machinery
of State; and it is or the people, to pro.
vide the highest physical, intellectual and
moral developemeul of every individual
citizen.
It is not a persistent force that is impcr
ishablo, evolving by a a law of its nature,
liberty and happiness, but rather a tender
exotic to be laboriously and continuously
cultivated; not in itself an end but a
means for securing freedom and human
developcment.
2. Another danger that manifestly im
perils our national life, and puts it on trial
for existence, is political corruption.
It is not believed that any party justi
fies plundering the public, but all more or
less palliate it. Indeed the gutter politi
tician, who reluctantly rises to make a
speech, is most vociferous inhisdenuncia.
tion of administrative corruption, and
most eloquent in praise of the purity of
the ballot, and incorruptibility in office
To such a blatant patriot the words of
Carlyle have often a pertinent application,
"Reform thyself and then you may be
sure there one less rascal in the world."
It is painfully notorious that even
among our best public men, that they have
one standard of moral action in private
life, and quite another for their political
actions. In tiieir corporate or aggregate
capacity, they do what in private life
would be accounted villainous. JNow no
covemment can long subsist on such a
basis. The virus will spread until every
part will become Infected; the public con
science will become debauched and the
fair fabric of the government will fall.
3. It is by tlte people, but a danger arises
becuuse our nice, respectable, ease-lovingi
money-making people have no taste or
time for making their government. We
have the anamoly, fast growing into
alarming proportions, of a sovereign with
out a crown, "a poor despised Lear."
How did our sovereign come to such a
pitiful pass? Simply by pretending to be
something when he is nothing. Ho claims
to have sovereign poweA but is too lazy,
selfish or cowardly to use it. If a sover
oign, it is every man's duty to act the sov
eroign. "If Alexander wishes to be a god
let him act the god."
Nor can this sovereignty be properly
exercised by spasmodic spurts, when some
nolosaal crime is to bo overthrown. It
must be constant as the Caucus, unlntor
mlttantand vigilant as Argus. It may
not accord with the nice tastes and private
pursuits of some men to be elbowed in
the primaries, and to confront brazen im-
pudenco at the polls, and yet this may be
the price we must all pay for good gov
eminent. The young men, especially the cduca
ted ones of tho land, should seriously pon
tier their responsibility in this regard, and
not flinch from the most strenuous ell'orts,
and if need be, from the most disagreeable
tasks, to compel the selection of wise leg
islators, and the framing of wholesome
laws.
Ex Governor Dix, in a recent address,
deplored the neglect of political afYairs
by many of the best men of the nation,
and proposed to disfranchise every citizen
who voluntarily neglected the right of
voting for two consecutive years. It is a
shame that this implied censure is too
much deserved; but the abstention of
large masses of our best citizens from
public n flairs is a shame and a crime, and
some penalty would be timely as it is ur
gent. Among the Greeks the word idiot signi
fied one who was so much engrossed in
private affairs that he neglected public
duties. As we have the word fool, which
is nearly synonomous with it, would it not
be well to appropriate the word idiot ex
clusively to that man who is so devoid of
public spirit as to neglect entirely the pub
lie duties he owes to the state? Nor need
the word lose its meaning of utter stupidity
when applied to this class, who when they
ought to be sovereigns arc political non
entities. This might be a mode of pun
ishment, perhaps but little less effective
for reforming the negligent than the pro
posed disfranchisement. A. R. B.
The Trial by Jury.
The origin of this institution of com
mon law is lost in the dark and gloomy
period of the middle ages. Antiquarians
have traced it back into the early days ot
English history, and consequently it must
have existed, in an exceedingly crude
form, among the earliest Saxon colonies.
But as to the true origin, we can only con
jecture. It is argued by some, and be
lieved to be a settled fact, that this mode
of trial was invented or founded by Al
fcrd the Great who, on account of his su
perior genius and ability, and His achcive
ments in regard to other pieces of judicial
polity, it may be probable that the honor
is due him. But we are inclined to think
not. It was the custom of ancient Greece
to bestow upon her own Hercules what
ever achievement was performed, far su
perior, and beyond the power of man.
kind. Blackstono, who 1ms so ably writ
ten the commentaries on the English law,
says that the institution was universally
established among all the northern na
tions, and so interwoven in their const itu
tioiu that the earliest accounts or the one
also give us some traces of the other.
And it is almost universally agreed that
this system of trial was in existence long
beforo the time of Alfred. At what time
it was introduced tnto England is not
known, but it is supposed to have been
adopted immediately after the trial by bat
tle was abolished (which was the mode of
trial then used by the Normans.) To the
burdened and down-trodden people of
those days, the trial by jury was a great
blessing, although it existed In an exceed
Ingly barbarous form, It was pronouueed
the principal bulwark of their liberties.
And to day the constitution of our coun
try guarantees the trial by jury In most all
cases, excepting upon impeachments, and
where the subject matter of the controver
sy docs not exceed twenty dollars. Also,
the majority of our States have asserted in
their constitutions the right to such a tri
al. But on account of the universality of
its adoption, we should not stop and think
that this system had attained the highest
degree of perfection. But we find, after a
careful investigation, that the trial by jury
is neither suitable to ordinary nor to po-
litical occurrences, and neither does it
merit the panegyrics commonly lavished
upon it. And as some writer lias boldly
aflirmed, it is time that the public mind
was aroused to its many deficiencies aud
to the greater claim on its confidence of u
trained judge. Tho principle objection
found against our present jury system is
that a class of men are placed upon the
jurj' who are entirely destitute of even a
common school education, whoso minds '
arc easily prejudiced, and who are indu
enced to an alarming extent bj- public
sentiment, or by the eloquence of tho,
lawyers. And it can be no slight trial to
the feelings of a humane, judge, who may
know that by his summing up, tho mo
mentous decision will be greatly influ
enced. It is exceedingly hard to assume the
blackcap and solemnly adjure the felon to
seek from heaven the mercy lie cannot ex
pect from man. But this, indeed, must be
the duty of the learned judge before an
American jury. They who are influenced
by the eloquence of the lawyer, and who
retire into their room bearing only the ar
guments and eloquence of the last speak
er upon their minds. As an illustration,
a learned lawyer once said, "In a criminal
case, give the criminal the testimony and
me the last speech, and I will insure a ver
dict for tho plaintiff, from an American
jury."
Another serious objection, is their in
abilty to concur in a verdict. As au exam
pie of this, we refer to the Beeclier-Tilton
trial. After weeks and months had been
spent, and immense sums of money had
been used, tho jury came into court with
the tidings that they could not agree.
This is only one case among many. Docs
this not arouse us and tell us there is a
great deficiency?
Again, we rely too much upon tho jury.
The unanimous concurrence of twelve
men we are to believe as strong evidence
of a correct result. But this unanimity
puts on a very different aspect, and be
comes far more insignificant, when wo re
member the probability that an impatient
minority may have yielded as surely
they have often done their consciences
and their opinions to an equally Impatient
majority.
"We have no wish to press too far the nr-
.,.-. AW
