L. Carroll Judson

“ As the genial rays of liberty illuminate the minds of the human family, thrones will be held by a more slender tenure, and monarchies will become more limited if not completely annihilated. In Europe, kingly power has been vibrating for the last century, as if shaken by an earthquake. The love of freedom has never been extinguished in the old world; the same feelings that prompted the pilgrim fathers to tempt the dangers of this western hemisphere, still pervade the bosoms of millions who are writhing under the goring lash of potent sceptres. ”

“ Permit me, therefore, to remind my countrymen of the blood, the sufferings, the hardships and labour of their ancestors in purchasing the liberty and privileges they might peaceably enjoy. How can they answer it to fame, to honour, to honesty, to posterity, if they do not possess those inestimable blessings with grateful hearts, with purity of morals, and transmit them with safety to the next generation? Nothing is desired but that every man in the community may act up to the dignity of his own proper character. ”

“ CHARLES CARROLL, OF CARROLLTON.
The fond and faithful parents who have guided to manhood a family of sons whose every action is a source of pleasure and delight, who walk in wisdom’s ways, who prove themselves to be bold, generous, brave, virtuous, and patriotic; whose lives shed new lustre upon the world, and whose achievements, on the battle field or in the senate chamber, place them on the loftiest, proudest pinnacle fame can rear, enjoy a rich, a heavenly consolation, pure as the etherial skies and cheering as the zephyrs of spring. ”

“ A sacred halo encircles it, that renders it dear to every philanthropist and respected by the whole civilized world. I am aware that his merits cannot be enhanced by eulogy, nor could detraction ever tarnish the glory of his fame. I am aware that the whole magazine of language has been exhausted in his praise. I am aware that talents of the highest order, hearts of the warmest devotion, imaginations of the happiest conception, united with the most refined and thrilling eloquence, have portrayed, in bold and glowing colours, the fair fame of Washington. ”

“ Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation—the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir; she has none. They are meant for us—they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. ”

“ Moderation, arising from sound discretion and deep penetration of judgment, united with wisdom to plan, and energy to execute, is always desirable, and, in times of high excitement, indispensably necessary in those who wield the destinies of a community. When the fires of passion burning in the bosoms of an enraged multitude unite in one cyclopean volume, the mental rod of moderation managed by skilful hands can alone guide, regulate, and direct it to a proper destination. To this quality, pre-eminently possessed by many of the sages of the American revolution, we owe the liberty we now enjoy. ”

“ No apology can be found until we can convert the baser passions of human nature into virtues. By recurring to the ignorance, bigotry and fanaticism of that period, we can readily discover why such a course was pursued, but this affords no healing balm for the mind of a true philanthropist. We can only regret the past and rejoice that charity has so far triumphed as to restore men to a degree of reason that has paralyzed persecution unto blood for opinion’s sake—one of the happy traits of a free and liberal government. ”

“ The cry of blood from the heights of Lexington was ringing in their ears; the fury of the revolutionary storm was increasing; the clash of arms and mortal combat had already commenced; the vials of British wrath were unsealed, and the fabric of civil government was falling before a foreign military force. To meet such a crisis, it required the wisdom of Solomon, the patriotism of Cincinnatus, the acuteness of Locke, the eloquence of Cicero, the caution of Tacitus, the learning of Atticus and the energy of Virginius. ”

“ Had I time and power to trace the fair lines of Washington’s private worth and routine of life, I would present the picture of a man graced with native dignity, reducing all things around him to as perfect a system of order, economy, harmony and peace, as was ever devised by man. It should be chastened with sterling merit and magnanimity, and mellowed with benevolence and charity. It should be enlivened by the richest colours of virtue and consistency, and finished with the finest touches of a master’s hand. ”

“ No quality of the human mind sheds over it more lustre than consistency. “Be consistent,” was a Roman motto, and once a Roman virtue that influenced the hearts and actions of its republican sages, heroes, and literati. Consistency is one of the brightest jewels in the escutcheon of a name. It is the crowning glory of meritorious fame, and implies a course of life that ennobles and dignifies man. It is based upon true wisdom and sound discretion, the pilot and helm of the bark of life in navigating the ocean of time. ”

“ As a lawyer, a judge, a statesman, and a chief magistrate, he stood admired, approved, and honoured. He was a stranger to pomp and show; republican in his manners as well as in his principles; temperate and frugal in his habits; scrupulously honest in the discharge of every duty; calm and deliberate in all his actions; urbane and affable in his intercourse with mankind; completely master of all his passions; systematic and punctual in private and public business; emphatically a son of consistency, liberty, order, and law. His fame is based upon substantial merit ”

“ Roger was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, 1721. His father, William Sherman, was a respectable farmer, with means too limited to educate his son, and, at an early age, bound him to a shoemaker. Like Franklin, at the age of nineteen, he wandered from his master to seek his fortune, and like him, he had a genius that no shop could confine, no obstacle intimidate, or difficulty paralyze. The course of his mind was onward, upward; like a new and blazing star, illuminating the horizon as it rose. Nature designed him to be great and good ”

“ In the sages of the American revolution, we recognise every variety of character that ennobles man and confers upon him dignity and merit. To rouse the people to a becoming sense of their inalienable and chartered rights, and to induce them to rise in the majesty of their might and vindicate them, was the first great business of the illustrious patriots who boldly planned and nobly achieved American independence. ”

“ Ye friends to liberty in every clime, drop a tear. No more will his social feelings spread delight through his happy house. No more will his edifying example dictate to his numerous offspring the sweetness of virtue and the majesty of patriotism. No more will his sage advice, guided by zeal for the common happiness, impart light and utility to his caressing neighbours. No more will he illuminate the public councils with sentiments drawn from the cabinet of his own mind, ever directed to his country’s good, and clothed in eloquence sublime, delightful and commanding. ”

“ These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the service of those we trust, and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety. ”

“ Agriculture, of all occupations, is the one best calculated to rivet upon the heart a love of country. No profession is more honourable, but few are as conducive to health, and, above all others, it insures peace, tranquillity and happiness. A calling more independent in its nature, it is calculated to produce an innate love of liberty. The farmer stands upon a lofty eminence and looks upon the bustle of mechanism, the din of commerce, and the multiform perplexities of the literati, with feelings of personal freedom unknown to them. ”

“ Devoted to the best interests of his country, free from political ambition, honest, frank, republican and sincere in his principles, he was safely entrusted with the responsibilities of every station he was called to fill. He was present when Washington resigned his commission and retired from the field of civic glory to the peaceful shades of Mount Vernon, amidst the loud plaudits of admiring millions, and the mingled tears of joy and gratitude that stood, like pearly dew drops, on the cheeks of his countrymen and compatriots in arms. ”

“ As Grattan said of Pitt, there was something in Patrick Henry that could create, subvert, or reform; an understanding, a spirit, an eloquence to summon mankind to society, or to break the bonds of slavery asunder, and to rule the wilderness of free minds with unbounded authority; something that could establish or overwhelm empire, and strike a blow in the world that should resound through the universe. ”

“ He was endowed with all the qualities calculated to ennoble and dignify the creature, and assimilate him to the Creator. His superior virtues completely eclipsed his human frailties, and placed him on a lofty eminence beyond the reach of envy, malice, or slander. His fame, in all its varied and refulgent hues, spreads a lustre over his name that will brighten and shine until the last death knell of liberty shall be sounded, and social order shall be lost in the devouring whirlpool of chaos. ”

“ To do or die, to live in chains or peril every thing for liberty had become the dilemma. Columbia’s soil had been stained with the blood and serum of Americans, shed by the very men who had been cherished by their bounty and fed by the labour of their hands. The dim flickerings of the hope of redress and conciliation were fast expiring in the socket of forbearance. The great seal of the social compact had been broken by the British ministry, the last petitions, remonstrances and addresses to the king were to be prepared, and the final course to be pursued by the colonies, determined. ”

“ Remember the honour of our colony is at stake. Should you desert the common cause at the present juncture, the glory you have acquired by your former exertions of strength and virtue will be tarnished; and our friends and brethren, who are now acquiring laurels in the most remote parts of America, will reproach us, and blush to own themselves natives or inhabitants of Pennsylvania. But there are other motives before you. Your houses, your fields, the legacies of your ancestors, or the dear bought fruits of your own industry and your liberty, now urge you to the field. ”

“ The deep solemnity and unparalleled wisdom and prudence that marked the proceedings of the Congress of 1774, shed a lustre around the cause of equal rights, then in embryo, that forced applause from its most violent opposers. Had not the cabinet of Great Britain been blinded by sordid avarice, mad ambition and political delusion, and had not the king been a mere automaton, the moving, loyal and logical appeals from that august body of sages would have been treated with respect and peace restored. ”

“ Can there be an American so lost to the feelings which adorn human nature—to the generous pride, the elevation, the dignity of freedom? Is there a man who would not abhor a dependence upon those who have deluged his country in the blood of its inhabitants? ”

“ On the 19th of June, 1811, surrounded by his family and friends and in the full enjoyment of the smiles of his Redeemer, he bade a last farewell to sublunary things and died peaceful and happy.
In the character of this great and good man we find no corruption to condemn, and many strong and brilliant traits to admire. As a revolutionary patriot he stood on a lofty eminence; as a statesman he rendered many and important services; as a lawyer he enjoyed a high reputation; as a judge, his talents and legal acquirements were of the most exalted character. ”

“ We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attacked by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death.
In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it, for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. ”

“ Industrious in his habits, and not fond of the public gaze, he applied himself closely to the investigation of that science which unfolds the nature and duty of man in all the relations of life, shows what he is and what he should be under all circumstances, unveils his passions, his propensities and his inclinations, carries the mind back through the abysm of times of light, of shadows, of darkness and of pristine happiness, and illuminates the understanding more than either branch of the sciences, it being a compound of the whole in theory and in practice. ”

“ It rides upon the whirlwind of faction; it is wafted on the tornado of fanaticism; it is fanned by fell revenge and delights in human gore. It has been the mighty conqueror of nations; its burning lava has consumed kingdoms and empires; the fairest portions of creation have been blighted by its rankling poison; countless millions have fallen by its murderous hand; and, fearful thought! its end has not yet come.
A few rare instances are recorded where parties have arrayed themselves against power, prompted alone by pure motives and elevated patriotism, guided by reason and sound policy. ”

“ A purely confederate republican government to answer fully its beautiful theory, must be healthful and sound in all its parts, and be wielded by enlightened rulers whose hearts are free from all guile, whose judgments are strong and matured, whose characters are in all respects irreproachable, whose conduct is in all things consistent, whose patriotism and virtue extinguishes self and soar above all temptation to digress from the most exalted honesty and rigid moral rectitude, whose minds are stored with useful knowledge and large experience, and whose souls are imbued with wisdom from above. ”

“ As a man, a citizen, a legislator and a patriot, he exhibited a conduct untarnished and undebased by sordid or selfish interests, and strongly marked with the genuine characteristics of true religion, sound benevolence and liberal policy. Entertaining the most ardent love for civil and religious liberty, he was among the first of that glorious band of patriots whose exertions dashed and defeated the machinations of British tyranny and gave to United America freedom and independent empire. ”

“ Taken as a whole, he was one of the most useful men of his day and generation, and has left examples worthy of the imitation of the apprentice, the student, the lawyer, the judge, the magistrate, and the statesman. By the force of industry and perseverance he rose from the humblest walks of life to the most dignified stations in the community. Let every youth whose eyes meet this brief sketch, be stimulated to embrace every opportunity for improvement, and drink often and freely at the crystal fountain of knowledge now accessible and open to all. ”

“ With increasing vigour and redoubled fury, the mighty bird continued the awful conflict, until the king of beasts retreated to his lair, and proclaimed to a gazing and admiring world, America is free!! Angels rejoiced, monarchs trembled, and patriots shouted aloud—Amen!! The grand Rubicon was passed, the torch of England’s power over the colonies had expired in its socket, and the birth of a new nation was celebrated by happy millions, basking beneath the luminous rays and refulgent glories of LIBERTY and FREEDOM! ”

“ Heaven opened wide its gates to let the patriot in; the king of glory decked him with laurels of bliss; enrolled his name on the book of life; and crowned him with that peaceful rest which is the reward of a pure heart and a virtuous life.
His private character was a continued eulogy upon virtue, philanthropy, benevolence, urbanity, integrity, nobleness, honesty, patriotism, consistency, and all the leading qualities that render man dignified on earth, and fit for Heaven. ”