assembled on November 15th, 1777, did agree to certain articles of confederation and perpetual union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts," etc., etc. Then the first article says: "The style of this Confederacy shall be the United States of America.' ART. II. Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power and jurisdiction and right which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled. ART. III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other." This was to be the national government of the United States, and yet the people were to have no voice in it—not even in its establishment. The great principle of consent was violated. The "Declaration of Independence" was in the name of the people-but this is in the name of the state governments, a number of corporations. Yet the articles contain many of the practical provisions which were later incorporated into the Constitution of the United States. Like many other acts of our history, the principle of free government was not recognized while its form was retained. The Articles of Confederation lasted until 1789. By this time the framers of the Articles of Confederation had begun to understand the great doctrines of the "Declaration of Independence," and our present Constitution is but a return to the forgotten principles of the Declaration. The first grand object the Constitution of the United States presents to the mind's view is, "We, the people "-we, the people, do ordain and establish this Constitution-thus the great and true source of constitutional government is recognized, the people. Then the last clause brings into force that other great fundamental idea of constitutional government-free consent of the people through conventions elected by the people, and not by the state governments. Thus this great charter of our liberties begins and ends with a recognition of the people as the source of all power. We have now surveyed the growth of the present Constitution of the United States. We have seen that it was no sudden growth-no instantaneous creation. It was the work of many hands, the product of many toiling years that preceded it. It is, indeed, a mighty ship of state riding upon the surging sea of nations, now sinking to its nether depths, anon rising to the foaming crest of its highest wave, laden with the rich argosies of the fathers who built it as well as the dearest hopes of those who now direct it. A stately craft, whose enduring timbers were knitted firmly by the blood of heroes and welded together by the sacrifices of a martyr host from pilgrim to continentalist, it presents a synthetic frame-work, each decade of pre-Revolutionary history contributing its own peculiar portion. It bears a keel given it by one generation, masts by another, and spread ing sails by yet a third. Then in the fullness of time-1787--came the state-craft builders, who so deftly and ably put into place the precious materials that lay at their feet. These nation-builders launched the great ship. It lay for a year or more in the broad harbor of the nations, and the eyes of mankind were upon it. Millions of men, thirsty for liberty, were eagerly looking on from near and from far, anxious to learn if the American people were to start the mighty ship Constitution upon the voyage of the ages or scuttle it at its dock. At last the people gave the words, "Set sail!"—when, in that memorable year, 1789, the great craft of the Constitution started in its course upon the vasty deep of history, with George Washington at the helm. Had George Washington not approved and labored for the adoption of the Constitution, it would have been rejected. The people trusted him, and without his true and patriotic aid it could never have been adopted. Not only, therefore, is George Washington the Father of his Country, but he is the adopted father of this miraculous work of man-the Constitution of the United States. We may well repeat the eloquent words of Daniel Webster. "Of all the presumptions indulged by presumptuous man, that is one of the rashest which looks for repeated and favorable opportunities for the deliberate establishment of a united government over distinct and widely extended communities. Such a thing has happened once in human affairs, and but once! and unless we suppose ourselves running into an age of miracles we may not expect its repetition. . . . If disastrous war sweep our commerce from the ocean, another generation may renew it; if it exhaust our treasury, future industry may replenish it; if it desolate and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, they will grow green again, and ripen to future harvests. It were but a trifle even if the walls of yonder capitol were to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall and its gorgeous decorations be all covered by the dust of the valley. All these might be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished government? Who shall frame together the skillful architecture which unites national sovereignty and state rights, individual security and public prosperity? No, gentlemen, if these columns fall, they will be raised not again. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them than were ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art, for they will be the remnants of a more glorious edifice than Greece or Rome ever saw-the edifice of Constitutional American Liberty." C. Oscar Beasley MINOR TOPICS THE STUDY OF THE MENTAL LIFE OF NATIONS Few subjects require a more thorough and comprehensive preparation in the various branches of human knowledge than the study of the mental life of nations. Philology, jurisprudence, and ethnography, contribute their share to give a clearer and more complete understanding of the manifestations of the mind of a people. The subject-matter of a study of this nature is naturally both varied and comprehensive. To establish it is a problem of no mean character. Though the fundamental principles most general in their nature have been applied to other sciences, still the magnitude and diversity of this field of research makes them seem limited to the extent of their application. All problems, too, that arise from this vast subject-matter are varied and multiform in character. They often trespass upon the domain of other sciences, and therefore must be viewed from their respective standpoints, which greatly adds to the complexity of the matter. The mental life of any nation gives an infinite amount of subject-matter for psychological analysis. For what mental activity presents itself, if we contemplate a nation during any given period of its life. What excitation of feeling, what straining of the will, what variety of thought affect the multitude. These are characteristics of the individual as well as of the popular mind. A nation, objectively considered, offers a most variegated picture. In every country there are formed a series of groups, which extend down to the family as a unit. These groups, in many instances antagonistic to one another, are variously classed, according to man's vocation, his social and political position. They are like a number of circles, the smaller representing the family, and the rest growing always larger, until they contain the entire nation; the circles are not one without another, they bisect and intersect each other variously. A process of segregation seems to be in a continual state of operation. Factions separate from a group, and gather about another more homogeneous to them. The tie that holds these elements together is the national consciousness, and through this a well-developed popular mind manifests itself. Every nation, like every individual, has a self-consciousness by which it distinguishes itself from other nations. This peculiarity is the result of a process of development through which a nation becomes a particular nation, the same as an individual becomes a particular individual. The customs, laws, manners, habits, beliefs, form of government, language and climate, all have a bearing upon the development of the self-consciousness of a nation. An analysis of self-consciousness will disclose that it consists of two essentially different elements-the conception of self and the conception of one of the collective. It is in the latter that the national consciousness has its seat. The factors that determine the self-consciousness of an individual are not only certain inherent qualities, such as nature, temperament, disposition, and the like, but the relation the individual bears to the collective. This relation is determined by the desires and inclinations of the collective. Thus the national consciousness is not only based upon some inherent qualities, but upon certain objective relations. A people's mind is founded upon the consciousness of affinity. This must not be construed as an abstract idea, for it has its existence in the very fact that every individual regards himself as one of a number, and they again regard him as one of them. In this mutual exchange a certain definite equality exists, which constitutes the mind of a nation. The ideal of a nation as represented during different historical epochs is a fair example of the stimulus of the popular mind. For a nation has its ideal the same as the individual. A careful study of the functions of the national mind will show that during given periods there will be a strong tendency to follow the emotional, or lean to the imaginative, while at other periods a forcible expression of the popular will may manifest itself, or a profound meditation upon theological topics will occupy the popular mind. MILWAUKEE, WIS. FRANKLIN A. BECHER THE WASHINGTON CENTENNIAL A HYMN WRITTEN BY MR. J. R. BARNES For the Jubilee of April 30, 1889 A century since our hero great The great republic, newly born, Was then but struggling hard for breath; Its foes looked on it as forlorn, And friends stood fearful of its death. But God in love foresaw this hour, And had decreed it should not die- So long had rulers worn a crown, Seemed quite too great a boon for worth. But He who gives to man his place All thanks to God for Washington Who saved him through long years of strife, And when he had his battles won, Made him the nation's crown of life. His great success, as President, Gave strength and grandeur to our name, Till soon throughout the continent And all the world, stood high our fame. His name and story will secure The highest honors evermore, And brightly shine, while years endure, A HUNDRED YEARS TO COME AUTHOR UNKNOWN [Contributed by Major-General Schuyler Hamilton] A hundred years shall pass away A century beyond to-day. But you, nor I, nor any one Now living, shall behold that sun. Not one! and all these millions gone |