THE TORCH OF LIBERTY 1

CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW

(1886)

CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW (1834- ) was born at Peekskill, New York, and was educated at Yale College. He served two terms in the New York State Assembly, and was at one time president of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. He was Regent of the State University, and one of the commissioners appointed to build the state capitol at Albany. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for president at Chicago in 1888. He was twice elected to the United States Senate.

We dedicate this statue to the friendship of nations and the peace of the world.

The spirit of liberty embraces all races in common brotherhood; it voices in all languages the same needs and aspirations. The full power of its expansive and progressive influence cannot be reached until wars cease, armies are disbanded, and international disputes are settled by lawful tribunals and the principles of justice. Then the people of every nation, secure from invasion and free from the burden and menace of great armaments, can calmly and dispassionately promote their own happiness and prosperity. The marvelous development and progress of this republic is due to the fact that in rigidly adhering to the advice of Washington for absolute neutrality and noninterference in the politics and policies of other governments, we have avoided the necessity of depleting our industries to

1 From an address delivered by Chauncey M. Depew at the unveiling of the Bartholdi statue of Liberty enlightening the world" (1886).

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feed our armies, of taxing and impoverishing our resources to carry on war, and of limiting our liberties to concentrate power in our government. Our great civil strife, with all its expenditure of blood and treasure, was a terrible sacrifice for freedom. The results are so immeasurably great that by comparison the cost is insignificant. The development of liberty was impossible while she was shackled to the slave. The divine thought which intrusted to the conquered the full measure of home rule, and accorded to them an equal share of imperial power, was the inspiration of God. With sublime trust it left to liberty the elevation of the freedman to political rights, and the conversion of the rebel to patriotic citizenship.

The rays from this torch illuminate a century of unbroken friendship between France and the United States. Peace and its opportunities for material progress and the expansion of popular liberties send from here a fruitful and noble lesson to all the world. It will teach the people of all countries that in curbing the ambitions and dynastic purposes of princes and privileged classes, and in cultivating the brotherhood of man, lies the true road to their enfranchisement. The friendship of individuals, their unselfish devotion to each other, their willingness to die in each other's stead, are the most tender and touching of human records; they are the inspiration of youth and the solace of age; but nothing is so beautiful and sublime as two great peoples of alien race and language transmitting down the ages a love begotten in gratitude, and strengthening as they increase in power and assimilate in their institutions and liberties.

1

For unnumbered centuries to come, as Liberty levels up the people to higher standards and a broader life, this statue will grow in the admiration and affections of mankind. When Franklin drew the lightning from the clouds, he little dreamed that in the evolution of science his discovery would illuminate the torch of Liberty for France and America. The rays from this beacon, lighting this gateway to the continent, will welcome the poor and the persecuted with the hope and promise of homes and citizenship. It will teach them that there is room and brotherhood for all who will support our institutions and aid in our development; but that those who come to disturb our peace and dethrone our laws are aliens and enemies forever. I devoutly believe that, from the Unseen and the Unknown, two great souls have come to participate in this celebration. The faith in which they died fulfilled, the cause for which they battled triumphant, the people they loved in the full enjoyment of the rights for which they labored and fought and suffered, the spirit voices of Washington and Lafayette 2 join in the glad acclaim of France and the United States to Liberty enlightening the World.

2

1 Referring to the discovery by Franklin that lightning is an electrical phenomenon.

2 Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) went to the aid of the American revolutionists in 1777, and at the age of twenty was appointed major general. He distinguished himself at Brandywine, Monmouth, Yorktown, etc. Lafayette was a friend of liberty throughout his life. At his death he was a member of the French chamber of deputies.

TRUE PATRIOTISM1

BENJAMIN HARRISON

(1889)

BENJAMIN HARRISON (1833-1901), lawyer and statesman, was born at North Bend, Ohio. He was educated at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; studied law in Cincinnati; removed to Indianapolis, where he practiced his profession. He served in the Civil War, becoming brigadier general. He was engaged in political activities, eventually being elected United States senator. He was offered a Cabinet position, but declined, and for six years was an active member of the Senate. He was later nominated and elected by the Republican party as president in 1888, Grover Cleveland being the Democratic opponent. Four years later the same men were again opposing candidates, this time Mr. Harrison being defeated in the election. At the close of his presidential term, Mr. Harrison was appointed lecturer in international law at the Leland Stanford University, California.

Let us exalt patriotism and moderate our party contentions. Let those who would die for the flag on the field of battle give a better proof of their patriotism and a higher glory to their country by promoting fraternity and justice. A party success that is achieved by unfair methods or by practices that partake of revolution is hurtful and evanescent, even from a party standpoint. We should hold our different opinions in mutual respect; and, having submitted them to the

1 Peroration of the inaugural address of President Benjamin Harrison, March 4, 1889.

arbitrament of the ballot, should accept an adverse judgment with the same respect that we would have demanded of our opponents if the decision had been more in our favor.

No other people have a government more worthy of their respect and love, or a land so magnificent in extent, so pleasant to look upon, and so full of generous suggestion to enterprise and labor. God has placed upon our head a diadem, and has laid at our feet power and wealth beyond definition or calculation. But we must not forget that we take these gifts upon the condition that justice and mercy shall hold the reins of power, and that the upward avenues of hope shall be free for all the people.

I do not mistrust the future. Dangers have been in frequent ambush along our path, but we have uncovered and vanquished them all. Passion has swept some of our communities, but only to give us a new demonstration that the great body of our people are stable, patriotic, and law-abiding. No political party can long pursue advantage at the expense of public honor, or by the rude and indecent methods, without protest and fatal disaffection in its own body. The peaceful agencies of commerce are more fully revealing the necessary unity of all our communities, and the increasing intercourse of our people is promoting mutual respect. We shall find unalloyed pleasure in the revelation which our census will make of the swift development of the great resources of some of the States. Each state will bring its generous contributions to the great aggregate of the nation's increase. And when the harvests from the fields, the cattle from the hills,