作者简介

哈里·P·贾德森（1849-1927）美国著名教育家和历史学家、芝加哥大学第二任校长，其研究方向主要为宪法和外交史。

贾德森出生于纽约詹姆斯镇，毕业于威廉姆斯学院，后从事教育工作，1885-1892年在明尼苏达大学担任历史学与教育学教授，后任芝加哥大学政治科学教授兼系主任，以及艺术、文学与科学系教授兼系主任。

芝加哥大学创始人兼校长威廉·哈珀欣赏贾德森教授广博的研究领域与治学风格，邀他加入芝加哥大学。贾德森教授也被哈珀校长卓越的教育规划所吸引。1892年，贾德森从明尼苏达大学来到芝加哥大学，帮助组建芝加哥大学的教育体系与规划，与哈珀共同领导和管理芝加哥大学。1906年哈珀去世，贾德森接任校长，直至1923年退休。

贾德森教授写作了不少著作，除学术之作外，他还为美国学生编写了一些经典读物，如《美国公民读本》和《美国学生文学读本》（1-8级）等。

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美国公民读本/（美）贾德森著；洪友译．—天津：天津人民出版社，2012.1

ISBN 978-7-201-07254-8

I．①美…　II．①贾…　②洪…　III．①美国—概况　IV．①K971.2

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Table of Contents

PART I　English Version

CHAPTER I　Our Country

CHAPTER II　The Republic

CHAPTER III　Laws and Their Makers

CHAPTER IV　What We Mean by Government

CHAPTER V　How the People of Europe Found America and Came to Live in It

CHAPTER VI　National Independence

CHAPTER VII　A Federal Republic

CHAPTER VIII　American Home Rule

CHAPTER IX　The Law-Makers

CHAPTER X　How Laws Are Enforced

CHAPTER XI　The President's Cabinet

CHAPTER XII　How Laws Are Enforced in the States

CHAPTER XIII　Judge and Jury

CHAPTER XIV　How the Government Gets Money

CHAPTER XV　Who We Are

CHAPTER XVI　Who Are Our Rulers

APPENDIX

PART II　中文阅读

CHAPTER 01　我们的祖国

CHAPTER 02　共和国

CHAPTER 03　法律和立法者

CHAPTER 04　政府对我们的地位是怎样界定的

CHAPTER 05　欧洲人怎样发现美洲并迁居于此

CHAPTER 06　民族独立

CHAPTER 07　一个联邦制的共和国

CHAPTER 08　美国的地方自治

CHAPTER 09　立法者

CHAPTER 10　法律是怎样执行的

CHAPTER 11　总统内阁

CHAPTER 12　法律在各州是怎样执行的

CHAPTER 13　法官和陪审团

CHAPTER 14　政府怎样筹钱

CHAPTER 15　我们是谁

CHAPTER 16　谁统治我们

PART I

English Version

CHAPTER I

Our Country

1. Why We Love Our Country. Every good American citizen loves his country and is proud of it. We have very good reasons both for the love and for the pride. Ours is one of the greatest nations of the world, in area of territory, in number of people, in wealth and in power. We also think that the citizens of the great republic are among the most intelligent in the world. Free public schools make it possible for every one to get some sort of an education, and books and newspapers are found in every home. But better still is the liberty which we enjoy. We have no king or emperor to rule over us. We choose our own officers of state, who, indeed, are not our rulers, but are merely public servants. In some countries the police are constantly interfering with people. A public meeting cannot be held without the consent of the police. The police watch the hotel registers and keep careful track of all strangers. If a club or a debating society is formed, the police have to be notified. Then, too, every young man has to spend several years as a soldier—for most of the nations of Europe keep vast armies always ready for war. Now, with us the policeman and the soldier are much less prominent. As long as one is not a thief or some other sort of criminal, the police let one quite alone. And no one in our country needs to be a soldier at all. Our few soldiers are all volunteers. In short, we live in a free land, in which every one may live his life in his own way, so long as he does not interfere with the rights of his neighbors.

2. These are some reasons for loving our country. There are many other reasons too, but perhaps these are enough to show what we mean. Still, it may be as well to add one more—it is our home. There are few words dearer to any genuine man or woman than home. But just as the home is the center of the life of the family, so our country is the center of the nation's life. It is our home land—the land of our fathers and mothers, of our brothers and sisters. And he is a poor ingrate who does not dearly love his home.

THE CAPITAL AT WASHINGTON

The national capital is a very noble and dignified building. It is built of sandstone and marble, with a multitude of stately columns, and a majestic dome towering over all. The entire building covers three and one-half acres. Crowning a lofty hill and surrounded by spacious grounds, the capital is a conspicuous object at a distance of many miles.

The corner-stone was laid by President Washington, September 18, 1793. The wings of the central part were completed in 1811, and were burned by the British in 1814. The entire central part was finished in 1827. The present large wings were begun in 1851, and the great iron dome was completed in 1865.

The building faces east. The north wing contains the senate chamber, the south wing that of the house of representatives. The supreme court meets in the old senate chamber, in one of the original wings. At the main entrances are magnificent bronze doors, and the halls and corridors are rich with statuary and historical paintings.

3. What We Mean by a Patriot. A patriot is one who loves his fatherland—his country. People show patriotism in various ways. In time of war, when the national safety is menaced by a public enemy, men are ready to enter the army and to give their lives, if need be, in defense of their country. A true patriot, too, is pleased by everything which reflects credit on his homeland. He is anxious that its public affairs shall be stained with no meanness or dishonor. He is anxious that its government shall always be just and generous in dealing with the governments of other nations. He does not wish an advantage secured from any other nation, especially from a weaker one, by wanton violence or by fraud. He is delighted with every advance of his country in the arts of civilization, and pained at the triumph of evil men or of vicious measures. And he is always ready to do what he can to make his country better or stronger or safer.

4. What a Patriot is Not. We have seen some of the reasons which an American has for being proud of his country. But in order to be a patriot it is not at all necessary to be a boaster. Indeed, a true patriot is so sure of the solid merit of his country that he does not need to say much about it. If a man is in the habit of talking about his own honesty, it leads others to suspect that perhaps after all he is trying to cover up a streak of dishonesty. At any rate, bragging is a weak and foolish habit. And bragging of one's country is quite as foolish as it is for a boy to boast of his father's wealth or of his sister's beauty.

MONUMENT OF NATHAN HALE

Captain Nathan Hale, of the revolutionary army, was a young graduate of Yale College, who went into the service soon after the battle of Lexington. Having entered the British lines in New York to get information for General Washington, he was detected, and was hanged as a spy, September 22, 1776. His last words were, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

5. Neither is it a sign of patriotism to despise other countries. We may love our own the best, but one who does not know that other countries also are great and powerful and famous, is merely very ignorant. If we respect other nations for their good qualities, we are all the better fitted to understand and admire the like qualities in our own.

6. Sneering at other races is no sign of patriotism. Boys and girls sometimes are apt to think themselves better than one of their mates who was born in a foreign land, and to show their superiority by using for him some sort of foolish nickname. But this is very silly. Is he a German? The Germans have some of the greatest names and have done some of the greatest deeds in all history. Is he an Italian? Italy is a beautiful land, famous for some of the finest painters and musicians, and for some of the wisest statesmen and the bravest soldiers of any land. Is he a Jew? They are a wonderful people, and a list of the great men who are Jews would be a very long one. Indeed, one may well be glad and proud to belong to any of these races, or of many others which might be mentioned.

The True Patriotism

An English poet's idea of what patriotism means

WILLIAM WATSON

THE ever lustrous name of patriot

To no man may be denied because he saw

Where in his country's wholeness lay the flaw,

Where, on her whiteness, the unseemly blot.

England! thy loyal sons condemn thee. What!

Shall we be meek who from thine own breasts drew

Our fierceness? Not ev'n thou shalt overawe

Us thy proud children nowise basely got.

Be this the measure of our loyalty—

To feel thee noble, and weep thy lapse the more.

This truth by thy true servants is confess'd—

Thy sins, who love thee most, do most deplore.

Know thou thy faithful! Best they honor thee

Who honor in thee only what is best.

7. What a Patriot Should Know. It is not enough for a patriot to think that his country is a very good and comfortable land. No opinion is worth much unless it comes from actual knowledge. It is a very commonly observed fact that the more ignorant people are, the more they are stuffed with prejudices. But prejudice is merely a strong opinion which is formed with a very scanty basis of knowledge. Now, in fact, no opinion is worth much, as we said, unless it belongs to one who knows what he is talking about. A jeweler who has spent all his life in a city, probably would not know much about farming. If, then, he should go into the country and begin giving a farmer advice about the management of his crops, the farmer would laugh at him. The jeweler's opinion about repairing a watch would doubtless be better than the farmer's, but, on the other hand, the farmer would be apt to know more about planting corn. In other words, it is knowledge that gives an opinion its value.

8. Then, our opinions about our country are not worth very much unless we know something of its history. We ought to know how it is governed, how the laws are made, how they are enforced, what the courts are and how they do their work, what are the rights of a citizen and what are not his rights. We ought to know how our country came to be what it is, who are some of the great men it has produced, and what they have done. With some of this knowledge our opinions are much less likely to be mere prejudices.

GENERAL W.T. SHERMAN SALUTING THE FLAG AT WEST POINT

9. There is another important reason for knowing something about the way in which our country is governed. With us about every man of full age, that is, twenty-one years old or over, is a voter. The most of all public officers are elected. And a voter is not very useful whose ideas of what he is voting for are in a fog. He is easily led by shrewd and unscrupulous demagogues; he is simply a tool, a slave. It is often said that knowledge is power. We might add that knowledge of public affairs is liberty.

10. The Flag. Every nation has a flag of its own, with an appropriate combination of colors and symbols. This flag flies from the mast of a ship on the ocean, thus indicating at once to what country she belongs. The flag is raised on a staff in forts and military, camps, is carried by soldiers on the march and in battle, and is used very commonly by people in token of their patriotism. On the Fourth of July we see the American flag everywhere, and it is the custom now in many parts of the country to keep it floating over the school-houses whenever school is in session. The American flag has thirteen horizontal stripes, seven red and six white. In the upper corner, next the staff, is a blue square filled with white stars. The thirteen stripes indicate the thirteen original states, and the stars show the number of states. When a new state is admitted, on the next Fourth of July a new star is added to the flag.

11. There are now forty-five states in the Union. But no flag made before July 4, 1896, should have more than forty-four stars. Utah became a state January 4, 1896. Every flag hoisted over a national fort or ship or building, on the third of July, 1896, had forty-four stars, showing the number of states on the Fourth of July, 1895, but on the morning of the Fourth of July, 1896, every such flag should have had forty-five stars.

12. How a Famous Song Was Written. During the second war with England, in 1814, a British expedition attempted to capture the city of Baltimore. In order to do that it was necessary first to reduce Fort McIIenry, and so the warships moved up near it and opened a heavy fire of cannon-balls, bomb-shells, aud rockets.［1］ During the battle a small party of Americans, carrying a flag of truce, went out to the British fleet in order to secure the release of an American citizen who had been taken prisoner. One of the party with the flag of truce was Francis Scott Key. The business being finished, the Americans were detained overnight in the fleet, far to the rear of the attack, in order that they might not be able to give information of what they had seen. The bombardment went on long after dark, and Mr. Key eagerly listened to the sound of the guns and watched the red rockets and the bursting bombs, being sure as long as the firing continued that the fort still held out. But late in the night the guns became silent. Did it mean that the attack had been repulsed? Or had the fort surrendered? Only the daylight would tell. Before dawn the anxious Americans were watching. The first faint light of day showed them the stars and stripes still floating over the ramparts of the fort. Then they knew that the attack had failed and that the Americans were victorious. Mr. Key walked the deck in deep emotions of joy, and gave vent to his feelings in the verses of a patriotic song. These he scribbled on a scrap of paper which he found in his pocket. On reaching land he gave his song to a friend, and it was sung at a theater in Baltimore, the singer waving a flag as she sang. The audience were wild with enthusiasm. In a very short time the new song went all over the republic, and is now known and loved by all Americans. It is called “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

THE ORIGINAL “STAR-SPANGLED BANNER”

The flag of Fort McHenry, which Key saw “by the dawn's early light.” It will be noticed that this flag has fifteen stripes. The original plan was to add one stripe, as well as one star, with each new state. But in 1818 it was seen that this would someday make the flag an absurdity, so the number of stripes was fixed at the original thirteen.

THE WRECKS AT SAMOA

This shows the harbor of Apia after the great storm. At the right is the shattered Trenton. In the foreground is a part of the German gunboat, the Eber, and in the distance is another, the Adler, lying overturned on the reef.

The Star-Spangled Banner［2］

O SAY, can you see, by the dawn's early, light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming—

Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the clouds of the fight

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming!

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there

O! say, does the star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On that shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;

'Tis the star-spangled banner; O long may it wave

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave!

And Where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion

A home and a country should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave;

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved homes and war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto—“In God is our trust”:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

13. The Storm at Samoa. In the spring of 1889 there was trouble at the island of Samoa, in the South Pacific, and warships were sent there by Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. These vessels lay at anchor in the harbor of Apia. The harbor is a small semi-circular bay, with shoal water extending far from the shore and a coral reef running nearly across the entrance. A narrow break in the reef allows ships to enter the bay. One day in March a heavy storm came up. So fierce was the wind and so tremendous the waves that the vessels dragged their anchors, and one after another four warships and ten other craft were driven on shore and wrecked. Nearly a hundred fifty of the seamen lost their lives. In the fury of the hurricane the captain of the British ship Calliope decided to leave the harbor and force his way out to sea, as the only means of safety from shipwreck. All steam was put on, and inch by inch the gallant ship fought its way in the teeth of the howling wind and the crashing waves. “This manoeuver of the British ship is regarded as one of the most daring in naval annals. It was the one desperate chance offered her commander to save his vessel and the three hundred lives aboard. An accident to the machinery at this critical moment would have meant certain death to all. To clear the harbor the Calliope had to pass between the Trenton (the American flagship) and the reef, and it required the most skilful seamanship to avoid collision with the Trenton, on the one hand, or total destruction upon the reef, on the other. The Trenton's fires had gone out by that time, and she lay helpless almost in the path of the Calliope. The doom of the American flagship seemed but a question of a few hours. Nearly every man aboard felt that his vessel must soon be dashed to pieces, and that he would find a grave under the coral reef. The decks of the flagship were swarming with men, but, facing death as they were, they recognized the heroic struggle of the British ship, and as the latter passed within a few yards of them a great shout went up from over four hundred men aboard the Trenton. ‘Three cheers for the Calliope!' was the sound that reached the ears of the British tars as they passed out of the harbor in the teeth of the storm; and the heart of every Englishman went out to the brave American sailors who gave that parting tribute to the Queen's ship. The English sailors returned the Trenton's cheer, and the Calliope passed safely out to sea, returning when the storm had abated. Captain Kane, her commander, in speaking of the incident, afterward said: ‘Those ringing cheers of the American flagship pierced deep into my heart, and I shall ever remember that mighty outburst of fellow-feeling which, I felt, came from the bottom of the hearts of the gallant admiral and his men. Every man on board the Calliope felt as I did; it made us work to win. I can only say, ‘God bless America and her noble sailors!'”［3］ They were thrilled with admiration for the dauntless courage of the brave British seamen on the Calliope; and in their own extremity they showed equal courage. Twice England has been our enemy in war. But, after all, in peace we cannot forget that Englishmen and Americans are of one blood. Late in the day, when ship after ship had been dashed to destruction, and the Trenton, shattered and helpless, seemed drifting to certain wreck, the anxious people on the beach heard music amid the roar of the hurricane. It was the band of the Trenton playing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The gallant sailors were facing death with the national music in their ears and its ringing words in their thoughts. It carried their minds back to the homeland which they loved and for which they were ready to die.

14. Another Poem About the Flag. Joseph Rodman Drake was a young American poet of great promise. His early death (he died in 1820, at the age of twenty-five) came before he had fully shown his rare powers. When he was only seven years old he had much literary knowledge, and at fourteen he had already written poetry of good quality. His principal poems were “The Culprit Fay” and the stirring stanzas on “The American Flag.”

The American Flag

JOSEP RODMAN DRAKE

WHEN Freedom from her mountain height

Unfurled her standard to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night,

And set the stars of glory there.

She mingled with its gorgeous dyes

The milky baldric of the skies,

And striped its pure celestial white

With streakings of the morning light;

Then from his mansion in the sun

She called her eagle bearer down,

And gave into his mighty hand

The symbol of her chosen land.

Majestic monarch of the cloud,

Who rear'st aloft thy regal form,

To hear the tempest trumpings loud

And see the lightning lances driven,

When strive the warriors of the storm,

And rolls the thunder-drum of Heaven,—

Child of the Sun! to thee 'tis given

To guard the banner of the free,

To hover in the sulphur smoke,

To ward away the battle-stroke,

And bid its blendings shine afar,

Like rainbows on the cloud of war,

The harbingers of victory!

Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,

The sign of hope and triumph high,

When speaks the signal trumpet tone,

And the long line comes gleaming on.

Ere yet the life-blood, warm and wet,

Has dimmed the glistening bayonet,—

Each soldier eye shall brightly turn

To where thy sky-born glories burn;

And, as his springing steps advance,

Catch war and vengeance from the glance.

And, when the cannon-mouthings loud

Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,

And gory sabres rise and fall

Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall,

Then shall thy meteor glances glow,

And cowering foes shall shrink beneath

Each gallant arm that strikes below

That lovely messenger of death.

Flag of the seas! on ocean wave

Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;

When Death, careering on the gale,

Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,

And frighted waves rush wildly back

Before the broadside's reeling rack,

Each dying wanderer of the sea

Shall look at once to Heaven and thee,

And smile to see thy splendors fly

In triumph, o'er his closing eye.

Flag of the free heart's hope and home!

By angel hands to Valor given!

Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,

And all thy hues were born in Heaven.

Forever float that standard sheet!

Where breathes the foe but falls before us,

With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,

And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us.

15. Judge Hopkinson's Patriotic Song. Joseph Hopkinson (born 1770, died 1842) was a native of Philadelphia. His father was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Joseph was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, became a lawyer, was a representative in congress, and a judge of the federal courts. He wrote “Hail, Columbia!” in 1798, when there was danger of a war with France. The popular excitement at that time was very great. The young navy was sent to sea to guard our merchant ships, and preparations were made for the organization of an army. Washington was called from his retirement at Mt. Vernon and given command of this army. John Adams was president. The music, then called the “President's March,” was played in the theaters and by bands on the streets as a popular patriotic tune. Young Mr. Hopkinson was asked to write a song for the music, which might be sung at the benefit of a well-known actor. The song was “Hail, Columbia!” and was received by the audience with the wildest enthusiasm. In a very few days it was sung from Maine to Georgia.

Hail, Columbia!

JOSEPH HOPKINSON

HAIL, Columbia! happy land!

Hail, ye heroes! heaven-born band!

Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause,

Who fought and bled in Freedom's cause,

And When the storm of war was gone

Enjoyed the peace your valor won.

Let independence be our boast,

Ever mindful what it cost;

Ever grateful for the prize,

Let its altar reach the skies.

Firm, united, let us be,

Rallying round our Liberty;

As a band of brothers joined,

Peace and safety we shall find.

Immortal patriots! rise once more:

Defend your rights, defend your shore:

Let no rude foe with impious hand,

Let no rude foe with impious hand,

Invade the shrine where sacred lies

Of toil and blood the well-earned prize.

While offering peace sincere and just,

In Heaven we place a manly trust,

That truth and justice will prevail,

And every scheme of bondage fail.

Firm, united, etc.

Sound, sound, the trump of Fame!

Let WASHINGTON'S great name

Ring through the world with loud applause,

Ring through the world with loud applause;

Let every clime to Freedom dear,

Listen with a joyful ear.

With equal skill and godlike power,

He governed in the fearful hour

Of horrid war; or guides, with ease,

The happier times of honest peace.

Firm, united, etc.

Behold the chief who now commands,

Once more to serve his country, stands—

The rock on which the storm will beat;

The rock on which the storm will beat,

But, armed in virtue firm and true,

His hopes are fixed on Heaven and you.

When hope was sinking in dismay,

And glooms obscured Columbia's day,

His steady mind from changes free,

Resolved on death or liberty.

Firm, united, let us be,

Rallying round our Liberty;

As a band of brothers joined,

Peace and safety we shall find.

［1］ Not long before the war of 1812 an English officer named Congreve invented a rocket which, acting on the same principle as our well-known sky-rocket, could be thrown quite accurately at an enemy. It proved, however, to be a missile which looked more dangerous than it really was. The Congreve rocket was used by the British in many battles of the war of 1812.

［2］ The song is taken as it appears in Stedman and Hutchinson's Library of American Literature, vol. iv., p. 419. The text, slightly different from the common one, corresponds to the facsimile of a copy made by Mr. Key in 1840.

［3］ From the account in St. Nicholas, February, 1890, by Mr. John P. Dunning.

CHAPTER II

The Republic

1. What We Mean by a Republic. One of the things which we Americans like about our country is that it has a republican form of government. All the independent nations in North or South America, like Mexico, Chili, and Brazil, for instance, are republics. In Europe, however, only France and Switzerland are republics. All the other countries are monarchies.

2. In a republic all the public officers either are chosen by the people or are appointed by somebody who is chosen by the people; and all the laws are made by a body of men who are chosen by the people. If the people do not like the laws which are made, they have only to choose a new body of lawmakers. And if the public officers do not do their duty as the people want it done, it is easy to make a change there, too. So you see that in a republic the people really govern themselves.

3. Kings and Emperors. In a monarchy it is different. At the head of the government is a monarch, called usually king, or emperor. He is not chosen by the people, but holds his place merely because his father was king or emperor before him. Neither can the people, if they do not like him, select some one else to take his place. He remains in his office as long as he lives, and when he dies his son, or, in some countries, his daughter, if there is no son, becomes monarch in his place.

4. How Russia is Governed. Russia is a good example of a pure monarchy. The monarch is called the tsar, which means emperor. When a tsar dies his oldest son, or, if he has no son, his oldest brother, at once succeeds to the throne, and holds it in turn as long as he lives. So the people have no voice in deciding who shall be their monarch.

5. All the laws are made by the tsar. Of course he has men whose duty it is to advise what the law shall be. But the tsar selects these men, and he does not have to be guided by their advice. So in reality he makes the laws, and the people have nothing to say about it.

6. Again, all the public officers are either appointed by the tsar or by some one who is appointed by the tsar. So the people have no choice of rulers at all.

7. In short, the tsar governs Russia quite as he pleases. If he decides on war, it makes no difference what the people want. The armies and the fleets obey the tsar's orders; the taxes are laid and collected at his will. War and peace are at the tsar's pleasure.

8. A ruler who has so much power as this is called an absolute monarch. There are not many such among civilized nations. In nearly every country in Europe except Russia the people have some power in the government. But nearly all of them have a monarch, who rules for life, and is succeeded on his death by his son.

9. An Aristocracy. Most monarchies also have an aristocracy. By this we mean a body of men who have some privileges, especially political, which other men do not have. For instance, in England the laws are made by a body of men called parliament. Part of this body are chosen by the people, just as is the case in a republic. But the other part, called the house of lords, consists of men the most of whom have the right to be members of parliament merely because their fathers did before them. When a lord dies his oldest son at once takes his place, just as in case of the Russian tsar.

10. There was a time when the members of an aristocracy had many other privileges. But in most countries these have passed away. Still, in nations which have monarchs and aristocracies it is easy to see that the people cannot govern themselves as they do in a republic.

11. No Inherited Rank in a Republic. We have in our country no monarch and no hereditary lawmakers. It seems to us very droll that any man should hold a public office merely because his father did. We know that very often a son does not inherit his father's tastes or brains or good character. And we do not see why there should be a hereditary monarch or lord of parliament, any more than hereditary grocers or teachers or farmers. Indeed it is not many centuries since nearly all occupations were inherited in just that way. But people have learned that a shoemaker's son may be a very poor shoemaker, and that if he would rather be a tailor it is better not to interfere with him. And, anyway, we prefer to choose our own public officers, rather than have them selected for us by the accident of birth. And we prefer to make our own laws, rather than to have them made for us by somebody we have not selected for that purpose.

LOG HUT WHERE LINCOLN WAS BORN

12. How Success May be Won in a Republic. In a republic it is quite possible for a very poor boy, if he has brains and perseverance enough, to rise to the highest rank. One of our greatest presidents was Abraham Lincoln. His father was a poor man, and Abraham as a boy lived in a log house on an Illinois farm, and did every day the roughest and hardest work. Books and schooling were not easy to get. But he was determined to learn all he could. So after a hard day's work he would spend his evening hours reading and studying by the light of pine knots burning on the hearth. On one occasion he borrowed an important book, and became so anxious to own it that he copied it word for word with pen and ink. After long years of patient toil he had learned enough to become a lawyer. In this profession he kept on with his habits of tireless industry, always learning more, always becoming more thoughtful and clear-sighted. Gradually he became a great political leader, and finally was elected president of the United States. In this office he showed rare wisdom at a time of the utmost public difficulty and danger. There was a bloody civil war, and it seemed that the republic would fall to pieces. But it was saved. And his name will live as long as history tells the story of our republic. Thus the poor lad who hoed corn and split rails for a scanty living, became the head of a great nation. That could hardly happen in a monarchy. But many of our great men—statesmen, generals, orators—have had quite such a record as Lincoln's. In a republic there is a chance for every one.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

13. An American Poet's Apostrophe. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the greatest American poets. He was born in Maine in 18O7, and died in 1882. He was graduated at Bowdoin College, in his native state, in 1825, and afterwards held a professorship in his alma mater. From that post he was called to a professorship in Harvard University. There he continued about twenty years, resigning to give his whole time to writing. In his long life he wrote many poems. The few lines following are from “The Building of the Ship.”

The Republic

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW

THOU, too, sail on, O Ship of State!

Sail on, O Union, strong and great!

Humanity, with all its fears,

With all the hopes of future years,

Is hanging breathless on thy fate!

We know what master laid thy keel,

What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel.

Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,

What anvils rang, what hammers beat,

In what a forge, and what a heat,

Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!

Fear not each sudden sound and shock;

'Tis of the wave, and not the rock;

'Tis but the flapping of the sail,

And not a rent made by the gale!

In spite of rock and tempest's roar,

In spite of false lights on the shore,

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee;

Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,

Our faith triumphant o'er our fears,

Are all with thee, —are all with thee!

CHAPTER III

Laws and Their Makers

1. What We Mean by Laws. People are often confused when they talk about law, because they mean very different things. But there is no difficulty if only we are quite sure what we mean.

For instance, we speak of the “law” of gravitation. This merely means that material bodies attract one another; that a stone tossed in the air will fall towards the ground—as boys say, “What goes up must come down” —and that we know how to calculate the speed of such a falling body. But we see at once that this is a law which men did not make— they have discovered it. It is what is known as a law of nature.

2. When a gentleman meets a lady on the street, if he is acquainted with her he lifts his hat as a sign of respect. He wants to be polite, and he wants her to know that he understands what politeness requires. This rule of lifting the hat to a lady is one of the common laws of politeness. There are many such laws. It would be hard to say who made them, but they are obeyed by common consent. They are rules for action which people heed, and so are very properly called laws. But we see at once how different they are from the laws of nature. The law of gravitation is merely the regular way in which we see that bodies of matter are drawn towards one another. But the stone thrown in the air cannot help falling towards the ground. Indeed it has no choice. On the other hand, a man can be impolite if he wishes. Many people are very rude in their conduct. We Say then that they are breaking the laws of politeness. But no one ever heard of a stone “breaking” the law of gravitation.

3. If a burglar is caught stealing, a policeman will soon march him to the police station. Presently the prisoner finds himself before a judge and jury. The facts are proved to the satisfaction of the jury, and the judge then sentences him to prison. This, the judge says, is according to “law”—a law which explains what is meant by burglary and which fixes a penalty for the burglar. It is the duty of the policeman and of the court to enforce the law by arresting and punishing the criminal. We see at once that such laws as these are made and enforced in order to protect people in the enjoyment of their own property. If it were not for the courts and the policemen, thieves would do about as they pleased. Everybody would have to watch day and night to keep his things from being stolen.

4. Now, of these various kinds of law, the only one which we shall talk about is the third—the kind of law which it is the duty of a judge and jury, a court, to enforce. When we speak of the laws of a country, of lawmakers, of lawyers, we refer to law of this kind.

5. Who Make the Laws? Every country has a set of laws of its own. Some of these explain what acts are forbidden, and how such acts are to be prevented, or, if done, how they shall be punished. Acts which the law forbids are called crimes, and laws which relate to them are called criminal laws—just as people who disobey these laws are called criminals. Then, there are other laws which regulate business affairs, providing ways for collecting debts, for making a record of the sale of land, and the like. And still other laws determine what public officers, like policemen and judges, there shall be, and what shall be their powers and duties.

6. Now, all these laws have to be made by somebody, and it is very important that we should understand just who it is that has the right to make rules which everybody is bound to obey. The rules of a school are made by the teacher. But they are intended only for the boys and girls in the school. The laws of the United States should be obeyed by every man, woman, and child in the land.

7. In Russia the laws are made by the tsar. To be sure, as we said before, he has a body of men to advise him what laws to make. But he is not bound to take their advice, and, in any case, what they suggest is not law unless the tsar makes it so. He is the law-maker. This is putting a vast responsibility on a single man a responsibility which he is very apt to lessen by usually taking the advice of his courtiers, But the government of Russia is an absolute monarchy.

8. There are some countries in which all the grown men come together in a mass meeting to decide what the laws shall be. This is done in a few of the cantons of the Swiss republic. It is done in the towns of some of our States, the town meeting, of course, not making all the laws, but merely their own local town laws. This sort of law- making is just the opposite of an absolute monarchy, and is called a pure democracy. It works very well where there are not many people, and where the country is not too large.

9. In a republic the laws are usually made by a body of men selected for that purpose by the people. This body of men is called a legislature. Its members are generally elected for a few years only, so that if they do not please the people others can be chosen in their place. In a large country it is not convenient for all the people to come together to make laws. So the next best thing is for the people to choose a small number of men who shall carry out the popular will.

10. In a country which is a monarchy, but in which the monarch has not the absolute power, as he has in Russia, the legislature commonly consists partly of men elected by the people, partly of the aristocrats, and partly of the monarch himself. But as the monarch and the aristocrats hold their place without regard to the popular will, it is clear that in such a country the people cannot always get such laws made as they want. However, on the other hand, the monarch and the aristocrats cannot make such laws as they want unless the representatives of the people consent.

11. Why Laws are Necessary. Without laws we could not live in any sort of comfort. In every community there are some people so selfish and vicious that they are always ready to injure others if they can. They are perfectly willing to steal, to destroy what they do not want, to injure or even to kill any one who arouses their anger. Even in countries where the laws are strict and well enforced there are such criminals. We often read in the newspapers of burglaries and arson and even of murder. But if there were no laws, no courts, and no police, we may be very sure that stealing and violence would be greatly multiplied. Everybody would have to protect himself as well as he could. But no one could do this so well as is now done by the law. So that if we should be even for a short time without the protection of the law and government, everybody except criminals would be very glad to see it restored.

12. Of course, people who are in the habit of breaking the law, hoping that they may not be caught, would be very glad if there were no laws and no police. As the old rhyme runs:

“No man e'er felt the halter draw,

With good opinion of the law.”

But people who are not thieves have a very different opinion.

13. This is reason enough for having laws and officers to enforce them. There are many other reasons also, which need not be explained here. We often hear of “uncivilized” countries, and we call ours highly civilized. One of the most important differences between the two is that civilized countries are under a good system of laws, and that in them life and property are safe. If one should go to an uncivilized country, like some lands in Africa, he would have to be ready to defend both his life and his property with deadly weapons. He would be likely to carry a rifle and revolvers wherever he should go. But a merchant in an American city or village does not have to carry these weapons. That is because our country is a land of law, and Africa is not.

14. John C. Calhoun. John Cahlwell Calhoun was a great statesman of South Carolina. He was born in that state in 1782, and died in the city of Washington in 185O. For forty years he was active in public life, as representative in congress, senator, secretary of war, secretary of state, and vice-president of the United States. He was one of the great orators of the senate when that body was distinguished for its ability. Calhoun, Clay, and Webster were its intellectual giants. The following extract is from one of his speeches:

The Necessity of Government

Society can no more exist without government, in some form or other, than man without society. The political, then, is man's natural state. It is the one for which his Creator formed him, into which he is impelled irresistibly, and the only one in Which his race can exist and all his faculties be fully developed.

It follows that even the worst form of government is better than anarchy; and that individual liberty or freedom must be subordinate to whatever power may be necessary to protect society against anarchy within or destruction without.

Just in proportion as a people are ignorant, stupid, debased, corrupt, exposed to violence within and dangers without, the power necessary for government to possess, in order to preserve society against anarchy and destruction, becomes greater and greater, and individual liberty less and less, until the lowest condition is reached, when absolute and despotic power becomes necessary on the part of the government, and individual liberty becomes extinct.

So, on the contrary, just as a people rise in the scale of intelligence, virtue, and patriotism, and the more perfectly they become acquainted with the nature of government, the ends for which it was ordered, and how it ought to be administered, the power necessary for government becomes less and less, and individual liberty greater and greater.

CHAPTER IV

What We Mean by Government

1. Law and Government. We have seen that a community could not be peaceful and orderly unless there were law to regulate conduct. But we have also seen that in a large community all the people cannot come together to decide what the laws shall be, and it becomes necessary for a small body of men to be selected as a legislature. Then, when the laws are made, it is also necessary to see that they are obeyed. For this purpose the people select other men, like the policemen in cities and the constables in villages. However, it is not always exactly plain just what the law means in every case, nor is it always sure that a man whom the police may arrest on the charge of committing some crime is really guilty. So the people select other men whose duty it is to decide what the laws mean and whether accused people are actually guilty. These men are usually called judges. And the whole body of men selected for these three kinds of duties, making laws, seeing that the laws are obeyed, and deciding what the laws mean, are called the government.

2. The Two Houses of the Legislature. Making laws requires very much care, knowledge, and good judgment. The men selected for that purpose ought to be very intelligent and very honest. But, even then mistakes may be made. In order that these mistakes may be as few as possible, nearly all legislatures are divided into two separate bodies, usually called houses. One is commonly called the upper house and the other the lower house.

3. House is certainly an odd name to give to a body of men. But if we remember that the word is used in this meaning, as well as applying to a building, we shall have no trouble.

4. The Number in Each House. The number of men in the two houses differs in different countries. In the upper house of the British legislature there are nearly 6oo members and in the lower house nearly 700. In our American national legislature we have only 90 in the upper house and 357 in the lower house.

5. How Laws are Made. If any member of the legislature thinks that there ought to be a law of a certain kind, he writes it out and proposes it at a meeting of the house to which he belongs. In this form it is called a bill. This bill is then usually sent to a committee a small group of members who talk the bill over and report their opinion of it to the house. Then it is talked over in the house, all the arguments for it and against it being pretty apt to be thought of by somebody. This talk is called a debate. After the bill has been thoroughly examined and debated, the house take a vote, all members who favor the bill voting aye, and those opposed to it voting no. If there are more ayes than noes the bill is said to have passed that house. Then it goes to the other house, where again it is proposed, debated, and voted upon. But unless it passes this house also, the bill cannot become a law.

6. It is easy now to see the advantage of having two houses in a legislature. As every bill has to be debated and voted on by two different sets of men, it can seldom be passed through both bodies in too great a hurry for some one to find out its faults. So we are much less likely to get careless and bad laws than if the legislature had only one house.

7. The Administration. We have said that after a law is made it is necessary to have a number of public officers whose duty is to see that it is obeyed.

8. In a republic the highest of these officers we usually call the president. The president of the United States has under his authority a very large number of other officers, all of whom are busy in carrying out the laws made by the national legislature. These officers, from the president down, are called the administration, or the administrative officers. The president is the head of the administration. In a monarchy the head of the administration is usually called a king, or an emperor.

9. How the President Shares in Making Laws. In our republic the president is not merely the head of the administration. He also has something to do with making laws.

10. As he sees how all the laws work and so can easily learn what is needed, it is his duty to advise the legislature from time to time what laws he thinks ought to be made.

11. Then, when a bill has been voted by both houses, before it can become a law it is sent to the President. If he approves it, the bill at once becomes a law. But if he thinks it ought not to be a law, he sends it back to the legislature with his objections. This is called a veto of the bill. Then the bill has to be debated and voted on all over again. And it cannot be a law unless two-thirds of both houses vote for it.

12. The Courts. In every well-governed country some men are selected to decide what the law means. These men are called judges. But, besides the judges we have another set of men selected every time a man is accused of breaking the law, or when two men dispute about property and cannot settle their disagreement themselves. This other set of men is called a jury, and their duty is to decide on the facts in dispute. That is, they decide whether the accused person really has broken the law, or, in case of a dispute between two men, the jury decides what actually happened. Then the judge explains the law. The judge and jury together form what is called a court. Sometimes there are no facts in dispute. Then the jury is omitted, and the judge alone is still called a court. And in some courts there are several judges instead of one. The method in which a court proceeds is pointed out in Chapter XIII.

13. The Government. Thus we see that there are three sets of officers busy in managing public affairs. And, as we said before, these three sets, taken together, form the government. A country which has a good government has good laws and good men to do the public business. A country which has a bad government has bad laws, or bad men as officers, or both.

14. The government of our republic is made by the people. All its officers are either chosen by the people or are appointed by others who are thus chosen.

15. That being the case, we see at once how important it is that everybody should understand what sort of laws we have and what officers are selected to attend to the public business. It is a common saying that “What is everybody's business is nobody's business.” That ought not to be true in our republic, for with us it certainly is everybody's business to see to it that we have a good government. But nobody, can do his share if he is ignorant. Ignorance may do in a monarchy. It has no place in a republic.

CHAPTER V

How the People of Europe Found America

and Came to Live in It

1. Columbus. Christopher Columbus was an Italian who lived some four hundred years ago, and who had what seemed to many people of his time a very queer notion. He believed that the earth was round, and that he could prove it by sailing around it. The common idea at that time was that the world was flat; and even those intelligent men who did not think so were not at all sure that it would be safe or possible to make the voyage. But Columbus was determined to try, and at last succeeded in persuading the King and Queen of Spain to let him have three small vessels for the experiment. With these the daring Italian boldly steered west across the Atlantic.

COLUMBUS EMBARKING AT PALOS, SPAIN, FOR HIS VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY, 1492

2. What Columbus Wanted. It was not merely the shape of the earth which was in question. From the eastern part of Asia, known as India, very valuable articles came to Europe—silks and spices and precious stones. But the overland route across Asia was slow and expensive and infested with robbers. So if a direct water route could be found from Europe to India and China it would be a great thing for the European countries. Columbus knew nothing about the American continent, and thought that by sailing west he would come right to the Indian coast. Therefore when, on an October day in 1492, after sailing for many days, he found a number of islands, he at once thought them a part of India. The red men who came wondering to the beach to see the strange vessels and their yet more strange pale-faced crews, Columbus called Indians. And the islands which he found are called the West Indies to this day.

3. Excitement in Europe. This discovery by Columbus that there was land across the ocean caused great excitement in Europe. The King of Spain claimed all the “new world,” as it was called, because it was in Spanish ships that the voyage of discovery had been made. But many eager voyagers of other nations—Portuguese, Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Englishmen—paid no attention to the Spanish claim, and sailed away to see what they, too, could find. They found many things—unknown shores, great rivers and bays. Everywhere vast forests came down to the beach. And everywhere the native people were the red men—the “Indians.”

4. Europeans Come to Live in America. When it was found that the new world was a good place for homes, many people came over from Europe and settled along the coasts. The Spaniards had the West India Islands, and Mexico, and Central America, and nearly all of South America. The Portuguese had Brazil. The French made homes in Canada, along the great lakes and at New Orleans. The Dutch settled on what they called Manhattan Island; New Amsterdam was the name they gave their little town. It is now New York. The English came to live in many places on the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. They took New Amsterdam away from the Dutch in one of their wars, and thus with that, and with Delaware, which was first settled by Swedes, the English had the thirteen colonies which afterwards broke away from under the British government and became the United States of America.

5. How the Colonists Lived. The early settlers in the American wilderness did not have an easy time. They could not bring many comforts with them, as the voyage across the Atlantic was slow, tedious, and expensive. In those times it took several weeks to cross the ocean. A living was made usually by farming. The trees had to be cleared away, and then Indian corn and other crops were planted. There was little money to be had, and few things to buy with it. At one time dried codfish were used as money in Massachusetts. The Indians were often unfriendly, and incessant Indian wars fill the history of the times. An Indian war was very dreadful, as the savages killed with the greatest cruelty all whom they could. They would hide in the shelter of the woods, and when the attack was least expected would rush from their hiding places, set fire to the settler's house, and murder men, women, and children as they ran screaming from the flames. The Indian, too, had a hideous habit of cutting and tearing the scalp from the head of his victim, keeping it as a bloody trophy of his success.

6. The Colonists Succeed. But the colonists were brave and persevering, and so, in spite of poverty and hard work and sickness and war, they succeeded in building up thriving settlements. It was more than a hundred years after Columbus found the new world before the first Englishmen came to live in America, at Jamestown, in Virginia. And it was less than two hundred years after this settlement was made, that the thirteen English colonies became an independent republic.

THE PINTA

One of the tiny vessels in which Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1492.

7. Why the Colonies Were Separate. When the people of Europe came over to America to make their homes they came in companies at different times and settled at different places. Usually each settlement had to have a local government of its own, as the different settlements were too far apart to be managed by one government. Then, too, the companies of settlers were often such as wanted to have the management of their own affairs. The colonies in New England, especially Massachusetts and Connecticut, were settled by English people who were not allowed at home to worship God in the way which they preferred. So they came to the wilderness for religious liberty. A similar purpose took the Baptists to Rhode Island, the Quakers to Pennsylvania, and the Roman Catholics to Maryland. Many of the settlers of Virginia and South Carolina were Episcopalians. It is plain enough that people of these different religious ideas would want to be free from interference. So they lived apart in their various colonies, each with its own local government, and all obeying the British government at London.

SETTLERS ATTACKED BY INDIANS

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in New England

MRS. HEMANS［1］

“Look now abroad! Another race has filled

These populous borders—wide the world recedes,

And towns shoot up, and fertile realms are tilled;

The land is full of harvests and green meads.”

——Bryant.

THE breaking waves dashed high,

On a stern and rock-bound coast,

And the woods against a stormy sky

Their giant branches tossed;

And the heavy night hung dark

The hills aud waters o'er,

When a band of exiles moored their bark

On the wild New England shore.

Not as the conqueror comes,

They, the true-hearted, came,

Not with the roll of the stirring drums,

And the trumpet that sings of fame;

Not as the flying come,

In silence and in fear;

They shook the depths of the desert gloom

With their hymns of lofty cheer.

Amidst the storm they sang,

And file stars heard and the sea;

And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang

To the anthem of the free!

LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS, 1620

The first English settlers north of Virginia were the “Pilgrims”——people who left their native land in order to secure liberty of religion. They landed on the coast of Massachusetts in December, 1620. Their settlement they called “Plymouth”, from the port of that name in England from which they had sailed.

The ocean eagle soared

From his nest by the white wave's foam,

And the rocking pines of the forest roared——

This was their welcome home!

There were men with hoary hair,

Amidst that pilgrim-band;——

Why had they come to wither there

Away from their childhood's land?

There was woman's fearless eye,

Lit by her deep love's truth;

There was manhood's brow serenely high,

And the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus afar?——

Bright jewels of the mine?

The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?——

They sought a faith's pure shrine!

Ay, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trod!

They have left unstained what there they found?——

Freedom to worship God!

8. Why the Colonies United. When the colonies began to oppose the acts of the British government, they had to unite. In 1765 a colonial congress met at New York to discuss a British law for taxing the colonies. The colonists had had no share in making this law, and therefore they thought it unjust. This congress consisted of a few delegates from each of nine colonies——four of the thirteen sent no delegates——and simply adopted resolutions expressing their reasons for opposing the law. In a short time the British government repealed the law.

9. A few years later another attempt was made to tax the colonists without their consent. This attempt was resisted as vigorously as was the first, and in 1774 a second congress of the colonies met at Philadelphia to talk the matter over. They adopted strong resolutions against the tax laws, commended the resistance of the people to the collection of the taxes, and finally, before going home, called a third congress to meet in the following spring. Twelve of the colonies——all but Georgia——had delegates in this second congress.

10. The third congress of the colonies met at Philadelphia in May, 1775, and found that war had already begun between the colonies and the British government. All the thirteen were now represented by their delegates. This congress was a sort of common government for the united colonies. Of course each colony kept its own government besides, but the congress managed the most important things in the war. It was this congress which made the Declaration of Independence, which chose George Washington commander of the armies, and which finally made peace with Great Britain. Since then we have always called our national legislature “congress.”

THE PURITAN COLONIST

Many of the early settlers in New England came to the new world for religious liberty. They disapproved many practices of the Church of England, which they wished to “purify.” Hence they were called Puritans. The picture is from Ward's statue in Central Park, New York.

11. How the West Was Settled. After the revolution many people thought they could do better by going farther west to live, in the wilderness which had not yet been cleared. So they went across the Alleghany Mountains and made their homes on both sides of the Ohio River. They had the same hard life as the first colonists on the Atlantic coast, living in log cabins, raising corn and hogs, and shooting wild beasts. Bears, deer, buffalo, wild turkeys, and other game were abundant in the woods, so it was easy for these skilful hunters to find food. They used a very long rifle with a very small bullet, and were dead shots. Wilder than the bears and panthers, however, were the fierce Indians. Many of the settlers and their families were killed and scalped, and many of the Indians too were killed. So savage was the fighting in Kentucky that that state in its early days was called “the dark and bloody ground.” But the Indians were gradually pushed farther west. The woods were cleared off, more and more settlers came from the east and from Europe, and so many people in the end came to live in the west that, as we have seen, a long list of states, one after another, was added to “the old thirteen.” After railroads were built and steamboats were put on the rivers and lakes, the crowd of immigrants became very great. Cities have grown so fast as almost to take the breath away. Chicago has over a million of people. When the revolutionary war was ended the place where the great city now stands was a swamp, inhabited mostly by wild ducks. In 1837, when the village which grew up by the lake became a city, there were 3,000 inhabitants. And so the republic has filled with people. There were only 3,000,000 in all the thirteen States at the time of the revolution. Now our forty- five states have nearly, if not quite, 70,000,000.

THE AMERICAN LINER STLOUIS, 1897.

PURITANS GOING TO CHURCH.

12. James Schouler. James Schouler has written a history of the United States in five volumes, which gives an excellent picture of the growth of the republic from the formation of the Constitution to the breaking out of the civil war. The selection gives a vivid picture of an event which produced great excitement at the time, and which led to a marvelously rapid immigration to California.

The Discovery of Gold in California

JAMES SCHOULER

SOME miles above Sutter's fort, on the American fork of the Sacramento, a saw-mill was in course of erection for turning, some pine forests near by into lumber. Marshall, with a gang of workmen, comprising native Indians and a few white Mormons, was engaged upon the work. While widening and deepening the channel, where water was let on to run the mill, yellow particles were brought down by night, mingled with the loose mud and gravel, which Marshall discovered as he sauntered along the tailrace in the morning. Suspecting the truth, which was confirmed by another night's sluicing, he gathered some of the glittering grains in his pouch, and rode down the stream to Captain Sutter, dismounting at the fort on the afternoon of the 28th.［2］ Sutter weighed the ore, applied such tests of science as he could command, ransacked his little library upon the subject, and pronounced the substance gold. From that moment the news of the discovery spread, and men's minds were turned in his little kingdom from saw-mills, flour- mills, herds, flocks, and all that humbler property which hitherto had absorbed his thoughts and theirs, and, to quote Sutter's own expressive phrase,——for he could not ride luck firmly at a break-neck speed,——the curse of the discovery was on him.

Neither Sutter nor Marshall could profit by nature's confidence. They agreed to keep the secret to themselves; and a Mexican grant being of course out of the question by that time, Sutter procured a lease of this region from the Indian natives, and then undertook the more difficult affair of procuring title from the United States. Colonel Mason, the American commandant at Monterey, could give no document; and so far from guarding their joint secret, Sutter and his unwary contractor managed to send the news far and wide, which their humble workmen on the stream had wit enough to ascertain very quickly. Sutter's saw- mill stood unfinished, as hundreds and thousands of laborers pushed by for more congenial work. Within four months of the first discovery over four thousand persons were about the Sacramento, working as if for dear life, dwelling in coarse canvas tents and huts, and coaxing fortune with the rudest implements. Some with bowls, pans, and willow baskets were seen washing out the gravel and separating the shining atoms by the hand; others worked with the pick and shovel; while some, the luckiest of the lot, found places where they could pick gold out of crevices in the mountain rocks with their butcher knives, as they lay upon their backs, in pieces which weighed from one to six ounces.

Fleets of launches, from the sloop to the cockleshell, left San Francisco in early May for the Sacramento saw-mill region, and the town was nearly stripped of its male population in course of the summer. Soon the whole country, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the seashore to the base of the mountains, echoed the cry of “Gold, gold, gold!” The house was left half-built, the field half-planted; women looked after the shop. Foreign vessels began to arrive; but before they could unload, their crews deserted for the “diggings.” Mexicans, scarcely less than Americans, caught the gold fever, and joined in the headlong rush for riches. And quickly as sails or steam could bear the tidings to different points of the compass, adventurers hastened from China, from the Sandwich Islands, from Australia, and from the whole Pacific coast between Vancouver's Island and Valparaiso.

［1］ Felicia Dorothea Hemans was an English lady who died in 1835. Some of her poems are very beautiful.

［2］ January 28, 1848.

CHAPTER VI

National Independence

1. The Fourth of July. The Fourth of July is familiar to every school- boy as the national holiday. Fire-crackers and torpedoes, sky-rockets and Roman candles, the booming of cannon, the pomp of military parade, and often a public meeting which listens to patriotic songs and speeches——these are the usual ways in which the day is celebrated.

2. Why do we keep this day? Because it was on the Fourth of July, 1776, that the representatives of the American people adopted a solemn declaration that they would no longer obey the government of Great Britain, but that thereafter they would have their own government and make their own laws. This was the Declaration of Independence. And the Fourth of July accordingly is often called Independence Day.

3. What Independence Means. If the people of one country have to obey the government of some other, then we say that the first country is dependent on the second. But, on the other hand, the people of any country are independent if they have their own government and do not have to obey any other.

4. There are many independent nations, such as France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, Spain, in Europe; the United States, Mexico, Brazil, in America, and many more. Each of these has a government of its own, makes its own laws, has its own flag, carries on its own business quite as it pleases; in short, is completely independent.

5. If you look at the map of North America, you will see just north of the United States the Dominion of Canada. Canada is not independent, like the United States, but has to obey the government of Great Britain. Therefore Canada is a British dependency But Mexico, which lies just south of us, is independent. That was not always the case, as Mexico was once a dependency of Spain. But many years ago the Mexicans, like the Americans, declared their independence. They had to go to war with Spain to become actually independent. But they were victorious, and so the Mexicans no longer have to obey the Spanish government.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, JULY4, 1776

This is from Trumbull's painting in the rotunda of the capital at Washington. John Hancock, the president of the congress, is seated at the table, and in front of him stand the committee who drafted the Declaration——Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert L. Livingstone.

6. How the United States Became Independent. It is only a little over a century since our country became an independent republic. In 1775 thirteen of our states, those along the Atlantic coast from New Hampshire to Georgia, were colonies belonging to Great Britain.

7. A colony is a settlement which people have made in a land distant from their original home, and which is ruled by the home government.

SAMUEL ADAMS

Samuel Adams, one of the most influential leaders of Massachusetts in the revolution, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence——a second cousin of President John Adams.

AN AMERICAN HISTORICAL PAINTER.——John Trumbull was the son of Jonathan Trumbull, the revolutionary governor of Connecticut. The governor was a firm patriot and a staunch friend of Washington, who often sought his advice. It was the general's custom to address the governor as “Brother Jonathan,” a term which has come into jocular use as personifying the United States. John was graduated at Harvard College in 1773 at the age of seventeen, and two years later joined the revolutionary army. He became an aid-de-camp of Washington, but before the war was ended resumed his early profession of art. After the revolution he devoted himself to painting a great series of historical pictures, for which he made elaborate studies. “The Battle of Bunker Hill” was finished soon after the war. He made portraits afterwards of the great actors in the revolutionary struggle, painting John Adams in London; Jefferson, and the French officers who were engaged in the American war, in Paris, and making several portraits of Washington. In the rotunda of the national capital he painted four great pictures—— “The Declaration of Independence,” “The Surrender of Burgoyne,” “The Surrender of Cornwallis,” “The Resignation of General Washington.” The work of these four took the artist seven years——from 1815 to 1822. The pictures are interesting as containing authentic portraits. Mr. Trumbull lived until 1843.

8. So these thirteen colonies were governed by the British monarchy. The most of the people in them were of British blood—— English, with some Scotch and Irish. The rest of the land now included in our republic either was a wilderness inhabited only by Indians and wild beasts, or belonged to some other European monarchy.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Franklin was a poor boy who won his way to eminence by tireless industry and great talents. He was a trusted leader of the patriots in the revolutionary war; was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; was sent as envoy to France, where he was received with great respect, and was able to induce that nation to aid the Americans against Great Britain; and was a member of the convention which, in 1787, drew up the Constitution of the United States. Franklin died in 1790, in his eighty-fifth year.

9. But the American colonists, while quite willing to be a part of the British monarchy and to be governed by British laws, yet, after all, preferred to manage their own affairs for themselves, And when the British government tried to make them pay taxes without their having a voice in the matter, there was trouble. The colonists refused to pay the taxes. The British sent over soldiers to compel obedience. But the colonists resisted the soldiers, and so there came to be a war between the mother country in Europe and her colonies in America. This was dragged on for eight years. By that time it was clear that the British could not conquer the colonies, and peace was made. In the second year of the war, July 4, 1776, as we have seen, the colonists declared that they would no longer be a part of the British monarchy, but that they would thereafter be an independent nation. When the peace was made, in 1783, the British government gave up the claim to govern the colonies, and consented to their independence. Thus the thirteen colonies became an independent republic——the United States of America.

JOHN ADAMS

President of the United States, 1797-1801.

10. Adams and Jefferson.

John Adams was one of the foremost patriots of our revolutionary war. He was a member of the Continental Congress which adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and was a member of the committee appointed to draw up that immortal document. Thomas Jefferson, another member of the committee, was the one who actually wrote the Declaration. John Adams became president of the United States in 1797, succeeding the first president, George Washington; and in 1801 Adams in turn was succeeded by Jefferson.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Jefferson was the author of the Declaration of Independence, was secretary of state under Washington, vice-president under President John Adams, and was himself president from 1801 to 1809. He was one of our most original and versatile statesmen.

Adams and Jefferson both died on the fourth of July, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration. Daniel Webster was invited to deliver a commemorative address on the lives and services of the two patriots, which he did, in Faneuil Hall, Boston, August 2, 1826.

In the course of this address Webster gave a vivid word-picture of the deliberations of the congress, and supposed Adams to have given the following speech, although it was, in fact, Webster's speech:

In Favor of a Declaration of Independence

DANIEL WEBSTER

Speech supposed to have been delivered by John Adams in the Continental Congress, July 1, 1776

SINK or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote! It is true, indeed, that, in the beginning, we aimed not at independence. But there is a Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration? Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with England, which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or safety to his own life, and his own honor? Are not you, Sir, who sit in that chair, —is not he, our venerable colleague near you,——are not both already the proscribed and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance? Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, what can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws?

If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, or give up, the war? Do we mean to submit to the measures of Parliament, Boston port-bill and all? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit. Do we intend to violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men,——that plighting, before God, of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him forth to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity, with our fortunes and our lives?

I know there is not a man here who would not rather see a general conflagration sweep over the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself, having twelve months ago, in this place, moved you that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or to be raised, for defense of American liberty, may my right hand forget its cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support I give him! The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through.

FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON

This famous old hall was first built in 1742 by Peter Faneuil, and given to the town. It has been called the “Cradle of Liberty,” because the Sons of Liberty, a patriotic organization, held many meetings there in the years just preceding the revolution.

And, if the war must go on, why put off longer the Declaration of Independence? That measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. The Nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we acknowledge ourselves subjects in arms against our sovereign. Nay, I maintain that England herself will sooner treat for peace with us on the footing of independence, than consent, by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her whole conduct towards us has been a course of injustice and oppression. Her pride will be less wounded by submitting to that course of things which now predestinates our independence, than by yielding the points in controversy to her rebellious subjects. The former she would regard as the result of fortune; the latter, she would feel as her own deep disgrace. Why, then, Sir, do we not, as soon as possible, change this from a civil to a national war? And, since we must fight it through, why not put ourselves in a state to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory? If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not fail! The cause will raise up armies;——the cause will create navies. The people,——the people,——if we are true to them, will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have been found. I know the people of these colonies; and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, and cannot be eradicated. Every colony, indeed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take the lead. Sir, the Declaration will inspire the people with increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities, held' under a British king, set before them the glorious object of entire independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath of life. Read this Declaration at the head of the army;——every sword will be drawn from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to maintain it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the Pulpit; religion will approve it, and the love of religious liberty will cling round it, resolved to stand with it, or fall with it. Send it to the public halls; proclaim it there; let them hear it who heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon,——let them see it who saw their brothers and their sons fall on the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of Lexington and Concord, ——and the very walls will cry out in its support!

Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs; but I see clearly through this day's business. You and I, indeed, may rue it. We may not live to see the time when this Declaration shall be made good. We may die, ——die colonists; die slaves; die, it may be, ignominiously, and on the scaffold! Be it so! Be it so! If it be the pleasure of Heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But, while I do live, let me have a country, ——or, at least, the hope of a country, and that a free country.

LEXINGTON

Here was fired the first shot of the revolutionary war in the early morning of April 19, 1775.

But, whatever may be our fate, be assured that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood; but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in Heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanks-giving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return, they will shed tears,——copious, gushing tears,—— not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, ——but of exultation, of gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour has come! My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it; and I leave off, as I began, that, live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration! It is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment,——INDEPENDENCE now, and INDEPENDENCE FOREVER!

11. The Revolutionary War. The war of independence——generally called the revolutionary war——was a hard struggle for the colonists. They were not very many or very rich, while Great Britain was one of the most powerful nations in the world. The first battle was at Lexington, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April, 1775. The British soldiers marched from Boston in the night in order to destroy some cannons and other military supplies which the colonists had at Concord. Coming to the little village of Lexington early in the morning, they found a company of colonial soldiers standing in line on the village green. The British fired on them, killing some and driving the rest away. The supplies at Concord were destroyed, but when the British started to march back to Boston they found that the colonists had come from far and near to attack them. These colonists were mostly farmers who had not had much military training, but they knew how to shoot, and they lined the woods and hilltops along roads marched over by the British, keeping up a steady and destructive fire. It was only by meeting a large body of soldiers sent from Boston to help them that the expedition succeeded in getting back to Boston at all.

CONCORD BATTLE-GROUND AND MONUMENT

On the 19th of April, 1775, the British troops from Boston reached Concord. At Concord bridge the minutemen were drawn up under arms and exchanged a sharp fire with the enemy. Having destroyed such supplies as they could find, the British marched back to Boston, pursued all the way by the swarming minutemen, whose bullets came from behind every tree and bush and stone wall. Thus began the revolutionary war.

“Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard round the world.”

12. The Americans were not always so successful as they were in this first battle. Their armies were small, badly armed, and poorly clothed. One winter their principal army, commanded by General George Washington, was encamped at Valley Forge, in Pennsylvania. They lived in huts, had not enough to eat, or clothing enough to keep them warm. The snow was more than once stained with blood from the soldiers' feet, which their ragged shoes did not protect. But General Washington never despaired. He had been appointed to command all the armies of the colonists soon after the battle of Lexington, and he continued to lead them to the end. He was so great and noble a man that his soldiers always trusted and loved him. After many battles, some defeats and some victories, he made one of the principal British armies surrender at Yorktown, in Virginia. This was in 1781. This convinced the government of Great Britain that they could not conquer the colonies, and so at last peace was made.

WASHINGTON VISITING SICK SOLDIERS AT VALLEY FORGE

13. In the last years of the war the Americans were aided by France, which sent ships of war and soldiers to help General Washington win his victories.

14. The British king, George the Third, was mainly to blame for the ill treatment of the colonies which led to the war. The people of Great Britain, as a whole, did not like the war, and today few can be found in that country to justify King George. So while we can be proud of the spirit and heroism of our fathers who won our independence, we have no reason for feeling ill-will towards the British nation to-day because of the folly of dead and gone King George.

EDWARD EVERETT

15. Edward Everett. Edward Everett was a brilliant scholar and orator. Born near Boston, Massachusetts, in 1794, he was graduated at Harvard College when only seventeen years old. He was a Unitarian preacher, professor in Harvard and president of that college, representative in congress, governor of Massachusetts, minister of the United States to Great Britain, secretary of state, United States senator from Massachusetts. He died in 1865. The following extract from one of his speeches shows the view of our relations to the mother country held by a patriotic and thoughtful American statesman:

THE SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE, SARATOGA, OCTOBER 17, 1777

General Burgoyne led an army of British and Indians from Canada, expecting to capture Albany; but he was surrounded by the Americans and finally compelled to surrender his whole army. The picture is from the painting by Trumbull in the rotunda of the capital at Washington.

Our Relations with England

EDWARD EVERETT

WHO does not feel, what reflecting American does not ac-knowledge, the incalculable advantages derived to this land out of the deep fountains of civil, intellectual, and moral truth, from which we have drawn in England? What American does not feel proud that his fathers were the countrymen of Bacon, of Newton, and of Locke? Who does not know, that, while every pulse of civil liberty in the heart of the British empire beat warm and full in the bosom of our ancestors, the sobriety, the firmness, and the dignity, with which the cause of free principles struggled into existence here, constantly found encouragement and countenance from the friends of liberty there? Who does not remember, that, when the Pilgrims went over the sea, the prayers of the faithful British confessors, in all the quarters of their dispersion, went over with them, while their aching eyes were strained till the star of hope should go up in the western skies? And who will ever forget, that, in that eventful struggle which severed these youthful republics from the British crown, there was not heard, throughout our continent in arms, a voice which spoke louder for the rights of America than that of Burke, or of Chatham, within the walls of the British Parliament, and at the foot of the British throne? No; for myself, I can truly say, that, after my native land, I feel a tenderness and a reverence for that of my fathers. The pride I take in my own country makes me respect that from which we are sprung. In touching the soil of England, I seem to return, like a descendant, to the old family seat, ——to come back to the abode of an aged and venerable parent. I acknowledge this great consanguinity of nations. The sound of my native language, beyond the sea, is a music, to my ear, beyond the richest strains of Tuscan softness or Castilian majesty. I am not yet in a land of strangers, while surrounded by the manners, the habits, and the institutions, under which I have been brought up. I wander delighted through a thousand scenes, which the historians and the poets have made familiar to us, ——of which the names are interwoven with our earliest associations. I tread with reverence the spots where I can retrace the footsteps of our suffering fathers. The pleasant land of their birth has a claim on my heart. It seems to me a classic, yea, a holy land; rich in the memory of the great and good, the champions and the martyrs of liberty, the exiled heralds of truth, and richer, as the parent of this land of promise in the West.

I am not——I need not say I am not——he panegyrist of England. I am not dazzled by her riches, nor awed by her power. The sceptre, the mitre, and the coronet, ——stars, garters, and blue ribbons,——seem to me poor things for great men to contend for. Nor is my admiration awakened by her armies, mustered for the battles of Europe; her navies, overshadowing the ocean; nor her empire, grasping the furthest East. It is these, and the price of guilt and blood by which they are too often maintained, which are the cause why no friend of liberty can salute her with undivided affections. But it is the cradle and the refuge of free principles, though often persecuted; the school of religious liberty, the more precious for the struggles through which it has passed; the tombs of those who have reflected honor on all who speak the English tongue; it is the birth-place of our fathers, the home of the Pilgrims;——it is these which I love and venerate in England. I should feel ashamed of an enthusiasm for Italy and Greece, did I not also feel it for a land like this. In an American, it would seem to me degenerate and ungrateful to hang with passion upon the traces of Homer and Virgil, and follow, without emotion, the nearer and plainer footsteps of Shakespeare and Milton. I should think him cold in his love for his native land who felt no melting in his heart for that other native country, which holds the ashes of his forefathers.

16. The Battle of Bunker Hill. When the revolutionary war broke out in 1775, the city of Boston, Massachusetts, was held by the British army. The Americans, after the battle of Lexington, gathered an army and laid siege to Boston. One night in June several hundred American soldiers were sent to seize a hill near Boston, from the top of which it would be easy for cannon to throw shot into the city and to sink the British warships in the harbor. The hill was reached quietly in the darkness and a breastwork was thrown up. When daylight came the British generals saw the Americans on the hill, and sent a large body of troops to drive them away. The British soldiers formed at the foot of the hill and marched up with colors flying and drums beating. The Americans waited until the enemy were very near, and then poured in so deadly a fire of bullets that the British ranks were broken and driven down the hill in confusion. Again the British closed up their ranks and charged up the hill, and the second time they were driven back. When they advanced a third time, however, the Americans had to retreat, as their powder was gone. So the British took the hill.

17. But the battle proved that the Americans could fight——a fact which had been scornfully denied by British officers. Few battles in which the British regiments had been engaged were so bloody as this. They lost over a third of their number in killed and wounded. Bunker Hill battle was a British victory But Americans will never forget the heroism of the men who on that day taught the soldiers of King George that the colonists were in earnest.

MOUNT VERNON

This was the home of Washington, on a lofty Virginia bluff overlooking a wide sweep of the Potomac. The old house, which was built in 1743, is carefully preserved, and is filled with relics of Washington and his family. In a tomb nearby sleeps the hero——he who was “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his country——men.”

18. Daniel Webster and the Bunker Hill Monument. Daniel Webster was born in New Hampshire in 1782. He was graduated at Dartmouth College, became a lawyer, and rose to high rank in political life. For many years he was senator from Massachusetts, and twice was secretary of state. He was one of the greatest constitutional lawyers and orators in our history.

19. To commemorate the battle, a granite monument has been erected on the hill where the Americans had their main defensive work. This obelisk is known as Bunker Hill Monument.

20. On the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1825, the cornerstone of the monument was laid with imposing ceremonies. The address was delivered by Daniel Webster, one of the most famous of our orators. To do honor to the occasion, a little band of the survivors of the battle had been collected, all now aged men. To them Webster turned in the course of his speech, and spoke as follows:

“Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day. You are now where you stood fifty years ago, this very hour, with your brothers and your neighbors, shoulder to shoulder, in the strife of your country. Behold how altered! The same heavens are, indeed, over your heads; the same ocean rolls at your feet; but all else how changed! You hear now no roll of hostile cannon; you see no mixed volumes of smoke and flame rising from burning Charlestown. The ground strewed with dead and dying; the impetuous charge; the steady and successful repulse; the loud call to repeated assault; the summoning of all that is manly to repeated resistance; a thousand bosoms freely and fearlessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may be in war and death——all these you have witnessed, but you witness them no more. All is peace. The heights of yonder metropolis, its towers and roofs, which you then saw filled with wives and children, and countrymen in distress and terror, and looking with unutterable emotions for the issue of the combat, have presented you to- day with the sight of its whole happy population, come out to welcome and greet you with an universal jubilee. Yonder proud ships, by the felicity of position appropriately lying at the foot of this mount, and seeming fondly to cling around it, are not means of annoyance to you, but your country's own means of distinction and defense. All is peace; and God has granted you this sight of your country's happiness, ere you slumber in the grave forever. He has allowed you to behold and partake the rewards of your patriotic toils; and he has allowed us, your sons and countrymen, to meet you here, and in the name of the present generation, in the name of your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you!

DANIEL WEBSTER

AT THE AGE OF SIXTY-FOUR

“But, alas! you are not all here! Time and the sword have thinned your ranks. Prescott, Putnam, Stark, Brooks, Read, Pomeroy, Bridge! our eyes seek for you in vain amidst this broken band. You are gathered to your fathers, and live only to your country in her grateful remembrance, and your own bright example. But let us not too much grieve that you have met the common fate of men. You lived, at least, long enough to know that your work had been nobly and successfully accomplished. You lived to see your country's independence established, and to sheathe your swords from war. On the light of Liberty you saw arise the light of Peace, like

‘Another morn,

Risen on mid-noon;'——

and the sky, on which you closed your eyes, was cloudless.”

21. Patrick Henry's Famous Speech. In the exciting days of the beginning of the American revolution the people of Virginia elected a convention to consider what was best for that old colony to do. In March, 1775, only a few weeks before the battle of Lexington brought on the war, a debate was going on in the convention which seemed likely to result in no definite action being taken. This fired the spirit of Patrick Henry, and he offered resolutions providing that the colony should at once prepare for war.

22. Patrick Henry was born in Virginia, the son of a Scotch- man, in 1736. His education was very scanty, and he began the practice of law after a preparation of only six weeks. But he had extraordinary natural powers of eloquence, and in speaking to his resolutions in the convention, he thrilled his audience with the speech which follows. One who was present says that when Henry took his seat “No murmur of applause was heard. The effect was too deep. After the trance of a moment, several members started from their seats. The cry, To arms! seemed to quiver on every lip, and gleam from every eye. They became impatient of speech. Their souls were on fire for action.”

BUNKER HILL MONUMENT

This granite obelisk, 221 feet high, is erected on the spot where the battle was fought, June 17, 1775. The cornerstone was laid June 17, 1825, and the monument was dedicated June 17, 1843. On each occasion Daniel Webster was the orator.

23. This is the famous speech, which over and again has been declaimed by every generation of school-boys since:

MR. PRESIDENT: It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of Hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern our temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth,——to know the worst, and to provide for it!

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And, judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry, for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, Sir; it will prove a snare to your feet! Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss! Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love?

PATRICK HENRY'S SPEECH

In the Virginia House of Burgesses, 1765, Mr. Henry introduced resolutions against the Stamp act. In the course of the debate he exclaimed, “Caesar had his Brutus——Charles the First his Cromwell——and George the Third—— (“Treason!” cried the speaker; “Treason! treason!” echoed from every part of the house. Henry did not hesitate a moment, but finished his sentence with firm emphasis) “may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.” This was the first step toward the revolution in Virginia.

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. And what have we to oppose to them?——Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that, for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain.

Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not already been exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, Sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have supplicated, we have prostrated ourselves before the Throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the Ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted, our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult, our supplications have been disregarded, and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the Throne.

In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free,——if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending,——if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained,——we must fight; I repeat it, Sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of Hosts, is all that is left us!

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL JUNE 17, 1775

This is from Trumbull's painting. It represents the moment when the British finally carried the American entrenchments, just as Genera Warren fell.

They tell us, Sir, that we are weak, ——unable to cope with so formidable an adversary But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.

Three millions of People, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of Nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!

It is in vain, Sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace!——but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that Gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

24. A Cluster of Poems About the Revolution. The stirring events of the revolutionary war have inspired many poems, many vivid works of fiction, and many of the finest orations in our language. A Couple of the orations have been given. There now follow a few of the poems.

Bunker Hill

B. F. TAYLOR［1］

TO the wail of the fife and the snarl of the drum

Those Hedgers and Ditchers of Bunker Hill come,

Down out of the battle with rumble and roll,

Straight across the two ages, right into the soul,

And bringing for captive the Day that they won

With a deed that like Joshua halted the sun.

Like bells in their towers tolled the guns from the town,

Beat that low earthen bulwark so sullen and brown,

As if Titans last night had plowed the one bout

And abandoned the field for a Yankee redoubt;

But for token of life that the parapet gave

They might as well play on Miles Standish's grave!

Then up the green hill rolled the red of the Georges

And down the green vale rolled the grime of the forges;

Ten rods from the ridges hung the live surge,

Not a murmur to meet it broke over the verge,

But the click of flint-locks in the furrows along,

And the chirp of a sparrow just singing her song.

In the flash of an eye, as the dead shall be raised,

The dull bastion kindled, the parapet blazed,

And the musketry cracked, glowing hotter and higher,

Like a forest of hemlock, its lashes of fire,

And redder the scarlet and riven the ranks,

And Putnam's guns hung, with a roar on the flanks.

Now the battle grows dumb and the grenadiers wheel,

'Tis the crash of clubbed musket, the thrust of cold steel,

At bay all the way, while the guns held their breath,

Foot to foot, eye to eye, with each other and Death.

Call the roll, Sergeant Time! Match the day if you can;

Waterloo was for Britons——Bunker Hill is for man!

*Warren's［2］ Address to the American Soldiers at Bunker Hill

JOHN PIERPONT［3］

STAND! the ground's your own, my braves!

Will ye give it up to slaves?

Will ye look for greener graves?

Hope ye mercy still?

What's the mercy despots feel?

Hear it in that battle peal!

Read it on yon bristling steel!

Ask it, ye who will.

Fear ye foes who kill for hire?

Will ye to your homes retire?

Look behind you! they're afire!

And before you, see

Who have done it! ——From the vale

On they come! ——And will ye quail?

Leaden rain and iron hail

Let their welcome be!

In the God of battles trust!

Die we may, ——and die we must;

But, O, where can dust to dust

Be consigned so well,

As where Heaven its dews shall shed

On the martyred patriot's bed,

And the rocks shall raise their head,

Of his deeds to tell!

Song of Marion's Men

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT［4］

OUR band is few, but true and tried,

Our leader frank and bold;

The British soldier trembles

When Marion's name is told.

Our fortress is the good greenwood,

Our tent the cypress-tree;

We know the forest round us

As seamen know the sea.

We know its walls of thorny vines,

Its glades of reedy grass,

Its safe and silent islands

Within the dark morass.

Woe to the English soldiery

That little dread us near!

On them shall light at midnight

A strange and sudden fear:

When waking to their tents on fire

They grasp their arms in vain,

And they who stand to face us

Are beat to earth again;

And they who fly in terror deem

A mighty host behind,

And hear the tramp of thousands

Upon the hollow wind.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

Then sweet the hour that brings release

From danger and from toil:

We talk the battle over,

And share the battle's spoil.

The woodland rings with laugh and shout,

As if a hunt were up,

And woodland flowers are gathered

To crown the soldier's cup.

With merry songs we mock the wind

That in the pine-top grieves,

And slumber long and sweetly

On beds of oaken leaves.

Well knows the fair and friendly moon

The band that Marion leads——

The glitter of their rifles,

The scampering of their steeds.

'Tis life to guide the fiery barb

Across the moonlight plain;

'Tis life to feel the night-wind

That lifts the tossing mane.

A moment in the British camp——

A moment——and away

Back to the pathless forest

Before the peep of day.

Grave men there are by broad Santee,

Grave men with hoary hairs;

Their hearts are all with Marion,

For Marion are their prayers.

And lovely ladies greet our band

With kindliest welcoming,

With smiles like those of summer,

And tears like those of spring.

For them we wear these trusty arms,

And lay them down no more

Till we have driven the Briton

Forever from our shore.

［1］ Benjamin Franklin Taylor was the son of a professor in the college now called Colgate University, in the state of New York. There he was educated, and thence he went to devote himself to journalism and literary work. He died in 1887.

［2］ General Joseph Warren fought at the battle of Bunker Hill as a volunteer, declining to take command. He was killed just as the Americans were retreating.

［3］ The Rev. John Pierpont was born in Connecticut in 1785, was graduated at Yale College; was a lawyer, merchant, clergyman, and poet. He died in 1866.

［4］ William Cullen Bryant, born in Massachusetts in 1797, was an American poet and journalist. He was a student at Williams College, but did not remain to graduate. His most famous poem was “Thanatopsis.” He died in 1878.

CHAPTER VII

A Federal Republic

1. What a Constitution Is. We remember that a government is chosen by the people to do the public business. But when some men are chosen to make laws, for instance, and others to carry those laws out, if they are left wholly at liberty they may make and execute very bad laws. We do not think that a very safe kind of government. Indeed, if we should permit it we might soon be no better off than Russia, whose tsar makes whatever laws he pleases. So, in order to prevent this sort of thing from happening, the people of the United States made first of all one great set of laws which everybody must obey. This set of laws tells how the government shall be formed, what the legislature shall be, and the administration, and the courts. Then it goes on to say what things each branch of government may do, and what sort of things they must not do. That makes us safe. If the legislature tries to make a law which it is forbidden to make, the court says that their act is no law at all, and then nobody is bound to obey it.

2. This set of laws which provides for the form of government, and for what it may do and for what it must not do, is called the Constitution.

3. The people of no country can be really free, or safe from a selfish and cruel government, without a good constitution. We are very proud of the Constitution of the United States.［1］ It was made soon after the revolutionary war was ended, and has served to protect our liberty and to in- sure us a good government now for more than a century.

4. Many in One. Before the revolutionary war the thirteen colonies each had a government of its own. To be sure, these governments were not independent, but had to obey the government of Great Britain, in London. But, of course, with the war this dependence ceased, and the colonies governed themselves. However, they had to act together in the war, and in order to do that they each of them sent representatives to what they called a congress, at Philadelphia. Congress was a sort of common government for all the colonies, so far as the war was concerned. It was this congress which made the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. After that the colonies called themselves states; their union they called the United Stales of America.

INDEPENDENCE HALL PHILADELPIIIA

In this building met the congress of the thirteen colonies which adopted the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

5. After the war was over the states found it necessary to make a better government for the new republic. So they made the Constitution［2］ of which we have spoken, But meanwhile each of the states kept its own separate constitution and government. Thus we see at once that the United States has one government for the whole country and another for each one of the forty-five states. Thus our republic is “many in one”——many states forming one republic. This sort of government—— “many in one”——is called a federation. So the United States is a federation. We also call it the Union.

6. The government for the whole country——for the Union——is called the federal government, or, which is the same thing, the national government.

7. The place where the laws are made is called the capital. The capital of the United States is the city of Washington—named for the hero of the revolutionary war. There the national legislature——also called “congress,” like that of the revolutionary colonies meets every year and makes laws for the republic. Besides that, each state has its own capital, where the state legislature meets and makes laws for the state.

8. The capital was in New York for a short time, but longer in Philadelphia, before the city of Washington was built. The first time the government met at the present capital was in 1801, and there it has been ever since. It is a beautiful city, with magnificent public buildings, wide streets, parks, and numerous statues and monuments of the great men of the republic. Washington is not in a state, but lies in a territory given to the United States by the state of Maryland, and called the District of Columbia. So the national capital belongs to the nation.

THE ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION PHILADELPHIA, SEPTEMBER 17, 1787.

9. How Interference Is Avoided. It might be thought that so many legislatures might make laws which would interfere with one another. But the Constitution prevents that. In the first place, congress may make only such laws as the Constitution permits. Then the state legislatures are forbidden to make any laws which shall interfere either with the Constitution or with the laws made by congress. In this way there is very little trouble about the interference of laws.

10. The Old Thirteen. The thirteen colonies which resisted the tyranny of the British government became the thirteen United States. They were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Some people think thirteen an unlucky number. The success of the old thirteen states, a fact yet brought to mind by the thirteen stripes of the American flag, shows how foolish is such a notion.

11. The New Thirty-two. When the old thirteen colonies became an independent republic, the land between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River was a wilderness. Very few white men were living scattered among its forests and prairies, and these few were mostly hunters. Wild beasts and wild Indians were almost the only inhabitants of the wild land.

12. All this wilderness belonged to some of the states. What is now the state of Kentucky was a part of Virginia, and what is now Tennessee belonged to North Carolina. The rest of the land of which we are speaking was claimed by several states——Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts.

13. But when people crossed the mountains into the woods south of the Ohio River and made their homes there, it was very inconvenient for them to be under the government of Virginia and North Carolina. There were no railroads in those days, and it took many days to go by the forest trails to and fro across the mountains. Then, too, the people east of the mountain range were busy and absorbed in their own affairs, and the settlers in the far west did not find it easy to get such laws as they wanted. So the latter asked to be allowed to form new states. Virginia and North Carolina were willing, and so, in 1792, the congress of the United States admitted Kentucky, and in 1796 Tennessee, to the Union. The Constitution gives congress the power to admit new states to the Union. So every one of the thirty-two which have come in since the old thirteen, has been admitted by an act of congress.

14. Vermont was admitted the year before Kentucky. Both New Hampshire and New York claimed to own the Green Mountains, and, as these states could not agree, the quarrel was settled by allowing Vermont (which means Green Mountains) to be a separate state.

15. The states which owned, or claimed to own, the land west of the Allegheny Mountains, and not included in the new states of Kentucky and Tennessee, gave all that land to the United States. So congress made the laws for it, and when enough people had made settlements, one portion after another came into the Union as states. In this way were admitted Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Alabama, and Mississippi.

16. When the revolutionary war was ended, in 1783, the United States was bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. Spain owned everything west of that stream as far as the Pacific. Spain also owned Florida, and the land from Florida to the great river, too. But nearly twenty years later France bought from Spain all that vast area from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains and from Texas to British America. And then France sold this land to the United States. This was in 1803, just twenty years after the war of independence. We paid France fifteen millions of dollars, and cheap enough it was at that price. There were not many people there then. The first settlers had been French people; for what Spain sold to France had before that been sold by France to Spain. New Orleans was a French city of no great size in 1803,and a few other French settlements were scattered along the river. But nearly all the land was a wilderness, a sea of treeless prairies, over which roamed herds of buffalo and tribes of wild Indians.

17. Many people in 1803 thought it was foolish to give so much money for a great tract of uninhabited land. Very little was known about it, indeed. Few travelers had gone far west of the Mississippi. Strange tales were told “of a tribe of Indians of gigantic stature; of tall bluffs faced with stone and carved by the hand of nature into what seemed a multitude of antique towers; of land so fertile as to yield the necessaries of life almost spontaneously; of an immense prairie covered with buffalo, and producing nothing but grass because the soil was far too rich for the growth of trees; and how, a thousand miles up the Missouri, was a vast mountain of salt! The length was one hundred and eighty miles; the breadth was forty-five; not a tree, not so much as a shrub was on it; but, all glittering white, it rose from the earth a solid mountain of rock-salt, with streams of saline water flowing from the fissures and cavities at its base! The story, the account admitted, might well seem incredible; but, unhappily for the doubters, bushels of the salt had been shown by traders to the people at St. Louis.”

18. In time, however, people went into the new land across the Mississippi in such numbers that many states have been admitted into the Union from the French purchase Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas, —Nebraska, Kansas. A great part of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado was also included in the purchase.

19. Florida was bought from Spain in 1819, and some years later became a state of the Union.

20. At about that time there was a revolution in the remaining Spanish colonies, and they, following the example of the United States, declared their independence and set up republican governments of their own. Spain tried to conquer her colonies, but did not succeed any better than had Great Britain. One of the new Spanish American republics was Mexico, whose territory included a large part of what is now the southwestern portion of the United States. But Americans went across the line and settled on Mexican soil in large numbers, and finally they declared their independence of Mexico, forming the republic of Texas. The Mexicans were not able to conquer the Texans in war, and in 1845 the congress of the United States admitted Texas to the Union. This unhappily led to a war between Mexico and the United States. The Mexicans were overcome, and at the end of the war they gave up to the United States a large amount of land——all west of the Rocky Mountains between the present northern boundary of Mexico and the state of Oregon. The United States paid Mexico eighteen and a half million dollars for the land. Several states have come into the Union from this Mexican land. California was the first to be admitted. It was not generally known when peace was made with Mexico that there was gold in California. But the discovery of the precious metal brought great numbers of people there from all parts of the world, so that in a very few years California became a state. Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming were also in the Mexican land. The country including the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho was discovered by Americans when it was a desolate wilderness, and so the United States came to own it.

21. The state of Maine was a part of Massachusetts until 1820. But it was more convenient for the people of that district to be in a separate state, and in 1820 congress accordingly admitted Maine to the Union.

22. So we see that since the republic was formed by the original thirteen states the congress has admitted thirty- two more states to the Union. Our flag, therefore, now has forty-five stars.

23. But there are still large areas of land belonging to the United States which are not included within any state of the Union. When such land is settled by a considerable number of people, but not by enough for a state, congress makes a law providing for a local government. There is usually a governor appointed by the president of the United States, a legislature elected by the people, and courts whose judges are appointed by the president. A district so governed is called a territory. Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico are territories provided with a government of this sort. The Indian Territory belongs to certain Indian tribes, each of which has a government of its own. Alaska was bought from Russia in 1867. There are so few people living there that it has not yet a full territorial government.

24. The territories which have a government send each of them one delegate to the lower house of congress. But the delegates cannot vote. The territories have no senators, and have no electors for president of the United States. It is expected that in time each territory will have more people, and will then become a state of the Union.

25. The Migration to Kentucky. On page 49 is found a sketch of the rush of people to California at about the middle of this century. The migration to Kentucky, which is pictured in what follows, occurred in the latter part of the eighteenth century.

26. John James Audubon was a famous American ornithologist, who spent many years traveling and studying birds. His great work, “The Birds of America,” was embellished by hundreds of beautiful colored plates. His travels took him into the forests of the far west, and he described with vivid clearness what he saw. He died in 1851,at the age of seventy-one years.

Migration to Kentucky

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON

THE Virginians thronged toward the Ohio. An ax, a couple of horses, and a heavy rifle, with store of ammunition, were all that were considered necessary for the equipment of the man, who, with his family, removed to the new state ; assured that, in that land of exuberant fertility, he could not fail to provide amply for all his wants.

To have witnessed the industry and perseverance of these emigrants must at once have proved the origin of their minds. Regardless of the fatigue attending every movement which they made, they pushed through an unexplored region of dark and tangled forests, guiding themselves by the sun alone, and reposing at night on the bare ground. They had to cross numberless streams on rafts with their wives and children, their cattle, and their luggage; often drifting to considerable distances before they could effect a landing on the opposite shores. Their cattle would often stray amid the rich pasturage of these shores, and occasion a delay of several days. To these troubles add the constantly impending danger of being murdered, while asleep in their encampments, by the prowling and ruthless Indians. To encounter difficulties like these must have required energies of no ordinary kind, and the reward which these veteran settlers enjoyed was doubtless well merited.

Some removed from the Atlantic shores to those of the Ohio in more comfort and security. They had their wagons, their negroes, and their families; their way was cut through the woods by their ax-men the day before their advance; and, when night overtook them, the hunters attached to the party came to the place pitched upon for encamping, loaded with the dainties of which the forest yielded an abundant supply; the blazing light of a huge fire guiding their steps as they approached, and the sounds of merriment that saluted their ears assuring them that all was well. The flesh of the buffalo, the bear, and the deer soon hung in large and delicious steaks in front of the embers; the cakes, already prepared, were deposited in their proper places, and, under the rich drip of the juicy roasts, were quickly baked. The wagons contained the bedding; and, while the horses which had drawn them were turned loose to feed on the luxuriant undergrowth of the woods, some perhaps hoppled, but the greater number merely with a bell hung to their neck, to guide their owners in the morning to the spot where they may have rambled, the party were enjoying themselves after the fatigues of the day

In anticipation, all is pleasure; and these migrating bands feasted in joyous sociality, unapprehensive of any greater difficulties than those to be encountered in forcing their way through the pathless woods to the land of abundance; and although it took months to accomplish the journey, and a skirmish now and then took place between them and the Indians, who sometimes crept unperceived into their very camp, still did the Virginians cheerfully proceed toward the western horizon, until the various groups all reached the Ohio; when, struck with the beauty of that magnificent stream, they at once commenced the task of clearing land for the purpose of establishing a permanent residence.

Others, perhaps encumbered with too much luggage, preferred descending the stream. They prepared arks pierced with put-holes, and glided on the gentle current; more annoyed, however, than those who marched by land, by the attack of Indians, who watched their motions.

Many travelers have described these boats, formerly called arks, but now named flat-boats; but have they told you that in those times a boat thirty or forty feet in length, by ten or twelve in breadth, was considered a stupendous fabric? ——that this boat contained men, women, and children, huddled together with horses, cattle, hogs, and poultry for their companions, while the remaining portion was crammed with vegetables and packages of seeds? The roof or deck of the boat was not unlike a farm-yard, being covered with hay, plows, carts, wagons, and various agricultural implements, together with numerous others, among which the spinning-wheels of the matrons were conspicuous. Even the sides of the floating mass were loaded with the wheels of the different vehicles, which themselves lay on the roof.

Have they told you that these boats contained the little all of each family of venturous emigrants, who, fearful of being discovered by the Indians, moved about in darkness when night came on, groping their way from one part to another of these floating habitations, and denying themselves the comfort of fire or light, lest the foe that watched them from the shore would rush upon them and destroy them? Have they told you that this boat was used, after the tedious voyage was ended, as the first dwelling of these new settlers?

I shall not describe the many massacres which took place among the different parties of white and red men, as the former moved down the Ohio, because I have never been very fond of battles, and, indeed, have always wished that the world were more peaceably inclined than it is; and I shall merely add that, in one way or another, Kentucky was wrested from the original owners of the soil.

［1］ The Constitution will be found in the Appendix.

［2］ The convention which framed the Constitution met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and finished its labors in the following September. Washington was president of the convention, and among its members were many of the wisest and best men in the young republic. Mr. Gladstone, the great English statesman, has said: “The American Constitution is the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.”

CHAPTER VIII

American Home Rule

1. We have seen that there is one government for the republic, the principal officers of which are at the city of Washington, and also that each of the forty-five states has a government of its own.

2. But this is not all. The people in the states are scattered over a wide area, living in cities and in villages and in solitary farm-houses. “Now, the purpose of government is to make and enforce laws for all to obey, and to manage such business as is for the common interest.

3. What Local Self-Government Is. An example of such business is the building, of a bridge. If a stream is too deep to cross easily in the water, it is plain that a bridge ought to be built. But as this would be for the benefit of anybody who might want to cross, it would seldom pay any one man to build it. It ought to be built by the government, for the use of all the people. But, after all, such a bridge would not be used very much except by the people who might live rather near it. In a great state there would be many thousands of people who would know or care nothing about it. And so we think that the people most likely to use the bridge are the ones who ought to decide whether they will have one or not, and who ought to pay for it.

4. In other words, we think that each neighborhood ought to be left free to manage its own affairs. This is what we call local self-government, or home rule.

5. Counties. In order to provide for this local freedom, in the first place every state is divided into a number of rather large neighborhoods, usually called counties. In the state of Louisiana they are called parishes. Each county has a name. The number of counties differs in different states. In New York there are sixty, in Illinois one hundred two.

6. Each county has a government of its own, chosen by the people. This county government may make laws, only they must not interfere with the laws of the nation or state. It is the duty of the county government, too, to see that the state laws as well as the county laws are obeyed in the county. And they manage such county affairs as are intrusted to them. There is always a county jail, and usually a county house or farm for paupers.

7. The County Jail. The jail is a strong building, with heavy locks for the doors and with iron gratings over the windows. When any one is arrested on the charge of having committed some crime he is sent to the jail for safe-keeping until the court meets for his trial. If, on the trial, the court decides that the prisoner is guilty of the crime charged, he may be sentenced to a term in prison. This is quite another thing than the jail. The prison, or penitentiary, belongs to the state, and the prisoners are usually kept busy with some useful work. In the jail the prisoners are not made to work.

8. People who commit some very small offense against the law, too small to warrant a sentence to state's prison, are sometimes sent to jail for a short time——a few days, or weeks, perhaps.

9. The jailer often lives in a house adjoining the jail. He has to have assistants to help him take care of the building and of the prisoners, and keep watch that the latter do not escape. The jailer and his assistants are employed by the county.

10. It is a great disgrace to be sent to jail. But, unfortunately, there are always some people who will not obey the laws, and of course they have to be punished. Thieves and counterfeiters and incendiaries must be sent to jail and prison, or nobody's property would be safe. A good citizen is always very careful not to interfere with the rights of others. He is honest with his neighbors' property, and never does any harm either to person or property if he can help it. If all the people were good citizens no jails would be needed.

11. The Rothschilds. Nearly everybody has heard of the family of Rothschilds, the rich bankers of Europe. Their wealth is enormous——so great that they make loans only to governments and only in very large sums.

12. The early history of their vast fortune is quite curious. About a hundred years ago there was in the city of Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, a Jewish money-lender named Mayer Anselm Bauer. His sign was a red shield, which in German is Rothschild. He was not at that time a man of large fortune. The French armies were then invading Germany, and a German prince, fearing that the enemy would seize his large property in jewels and gold if he should leave it, and not daring to take it with him in his flight, finally bethought him of this money-lender. The Jew was reluctant to undertake the trust, but finally consented, and the vast fortune was left in his hands, without a scrap of writing to show that he was responsible for it. He carefully buried the treasure in his garden, but left his own money in its usual place. When the French came they seized the money of the Jew, but did not discover that of the prince. After they left, Rothschild (so called from his well-known sign) used some of the prince's money so judiciously as to gain considerable profits from it. When the wars were ended the prince returned to Frankfort, and at once visited the banker. It was with fear and trembling that he asked for his treasure, not only because the enemy might have taken it, but also because he feared that even if it had escaped that danger the honesty of the Jew would not have been proof against the great temptation to appropriate the millions so wholly confided to him. What was the prince's delight, however, to hear from the banker that all the fortune was safe. Moreover, Rothschild proposed to pay him five per cent. for its use, although his own property had been intentionally sacrificed so that the French would not suspect the greater hoard. The overjoyed prince fully recompensed the banker for his losses, and thereafter was never tired of sounding the praises of the honest Jew of Frankfort. The latter in time, amassed a huge fortune, largely from loans to governments which has been greatly increased since by his descendants.

13. Here is a case in which an honest man was a better safeguard for treasure than Stone walls and steel locks.

14. Care of the Helpless Poor. There is a great deal of nonsense in calling people “poor.” Of course some have much more money, much finer houses, many more luxuries, than others. But whether one is considered poor or rich depends entirely on the point of view. Some years ago a group of mine-owners in Colorado were chatting in a Washington hotel. All of them were millionaires. The talk fell on a certain renowned general of the civil war, whose property was estimated at five or six hundred thou-sand dollars. “Ah!” said one of the party, “I suppose he really is quite as happy as if he were rich.” To the man with millions the other man with thousands seemed poor. But most people would think such a man rich.

15. The fact is that no one is really poor if he is able and willing to earn an honest living, and has the chance to do it. He is independent, and where there is independence there is no actual poverty.

16. But there are always some people who have no property, and who, for one reason or another, cannot get a living. Perhaps they are broken down in health——perhaps they are too old and feeble to work. In that case, if they have friends who can take care of them, they will not suffer. But if they have no one to care for them they will simply starve if left to themselves. This cannot be permitted. So the people of each county provide a home of some sort for the destitute. It is usually plain. It should always be comfortable. The inmates, we must remember, are not criminals. They are merely unfortunate. And it is the duty of the public to care for them.

17. Tramps. There are always some men who are able to work but prefer to be idle. If they have no property to support them they can live only by begging or stealing. Sometimes such men spend their time wandering about the country, sleeping in barns or under haystacks, and begging for money and food and clothes. These wretched beings are called “tramps.” It is a great pity to see a man so low down as these. If they would work they could generally get an honest living. But they prefer their worthless, vagabond life to one of steady industry. They deserve little sympathy and less help, for they are unworthy of either. The county homes for the poor are not intended for tramps.

18. Sometimes a man has been known to excuse an act of dishonesty by saying, “The world owes me a living. If I can't get it in one way I must in another.” But that is pure nonsense. The world owes no man a living unless he earns it. If one is so unfortunate that he cannot provide for himself at all, the community will take care of him. But any man who can work and prefers to be idle and to depend on those who do work is, after all, only a sort of tramp. He is of no manner of use to the world.

19. Towns. In some states the counties are divided into still smaller neighborhoods, called towns. This neighborhood is so small that the people can come together without much difficulty to decide public matters. At these town meetings the people often vote to build a bridge, to repair a road, or something of that sort. They also choose the town officers, generally for the term of one year, and decide how much money shall be used for town purposes.

20. Villages. In the country the farm-houses are generally quite far apart. But when a number of houses are built rather close together, so as to form a community of perhaps a few hundred people, the place is called a village. The houses are usually not farm-houses. There are generally one or more stores, blacksmith shops, churches, school-houses, with perhaps doctors, dressmakers, milliners, a post-office. The larger the village the more of these will be found.

21. Of course villages are not all of the same size. Some are quite large, having even thousands of people.

22. A village has a government of its own, chosen by the people. What that government is, and what are its duties, we shall consider in another chapter.

23. Cities. A large number of people living rather near together is called a city. In a city there are streets in place of country roads. These streets are often paved with stone or brick or wooden blocks. There are many stores, churches, and school-houses, and usually a number of manufactures.

24. A city has a government of its own, which makes laws and sees that they are obeyed, and attends to all manner of public business.

25. As a city has a rather large number of people, it is usually divided for convenience into small neighborhoods, called wards. Each ward has some public officers chosen by the people. The wards are numbered.

26. Local Self-Government. We see that each part of our republic, whether state, county, city, or village, has a government of its own, chosen by the people. All these different kinds of government get along without interfering with one another because each merely minds its own business. The state government must not make any laws which interfere with the national laws. The governments of the counties, cities, and villages must not interfere with the state laws. But anything which concerns nobody but a particular city is left altogether to that city. For example, the people of Chicago may want to pave one of their streets with stone. Well, what does it matter to anybody outside the city? The city of Chicago pays for it, and nobody else cares. So the state or the county gives no attention to it, and the city does what it pleases. That is what we call “local self-government” or “home rule.” Each particular neighborhood is left free to manage its own affairs as it pleases.

27. The Local Divisions Are Not Our Country. Any man who has been born and brought up in a particular part of the republic——in Massachusetts or Pennsylvania or Virginia or California——naturally has an affection for his own state or his own city or his own county. That is his immediate home. The associations of his life gather around it. There are his friends and neighbors. There he does his work. He is proud of his own state or city, and is anxious for its added prosperity.

28. But, after all, our country——the nation of which the flag is the symbol——is the whole republic. Our first duty as citizens is to the republic. To be sure, unless we do our duty also as citizens in our home neighborhood, we shall very surely be bad citizens of the republic. But local jealousies and prejudice are entirely wrong for American patriots. The fact is that excellent people are found in every section of the land. And a real patriot is pleased when he hears of the prosperity of any portion of our country.

29. A distinguished citizen of Massachusetts, Mr. Robert C. Winthrop, put this so eloquently in one of his speeches that it is worth every man's while to read it. Mr. Winthrop was educated at Harvard College, studied law with Daniel Webster, was a member of congress and United States senator from Massachusetts, and won wide reputation as a scholar and orator. He died in 1894.

The Patriot Traveller in a Foreign Land

ROBERT C. WINTHROP

IT is, without all question, my friends, one of the best influences of a sojourn in foreign lands, upon a heart which is not insensible to the influences of patriotism, that one forgets for a time, or remembers only with disgust and loathing, the contentions and controversies which so often alienate and embitter us at home. There is no room on that little map of his country which every patriot bears abroad with him, photographed on his heart, ——there is no room on that magical miniature map for territorial divisions or sectional boundaries. Large enough to reflect and reproduce the image and outlines of the whole Union, it repels all impression of the petty topographical features which belong to science and the schools. Still more does it repel the miserable seams and scratches by which sectional politicians have sought to illustrate their odious distinctions and comparisons. And so, the patriot traveller in foreign lands, with that chart impressed in lines of light and love on his memory, looks back on his country only as a whole. He learns to love it more than ever as a whole. He accustoms himself to think kindly of it, and to speak kindly of it, as a whole; and he comes home ready to defend it as a whole, alike from the invasion of hostile armies or the assaults of slanderous pens and tongues. He grasps the hand of an American abroad as the hand of a brother, without stopping to inquire whether he hails from Massachusetts or from South Carolina, from Maine or Louisiana, from Vermont or Virginia. It is enough that his passport bears the same broad seal, the same national emblem, with his own. And every time his own passport is inspected, every time he enters a new dominion or crosses a new frontier, every time he is delayed at the custom-house, or questioned by a policeman, or challenged by a sentinel, every time he is perplexed by a new language, or puzzled by a new variety of coinage or currency, ——he thanks his God with fresh fervency that through all the length and breadth of that land, beyond the swelling floods, which he is privileged and proud to call his own land, there is a common language, a common currency, a common Constitution, common laws and liberties, a common inheritance of glory from the past, and, if it be only true to itself, a common destiny of glory for the future!

CHAPTER IX

The Law-Makers

1. Congress. The United States has one legislature for the nation and one for each state.

2. The national law-making body is called congress, and meets every year in the city of Washington. The building in which the meetings are held is the capital——a magnificent structure of freestone and marble.

3. The congress consists of two separate bodies, one called the senate and the other the house of representatives. Each has a large and beautiful hall in the capital for its meetings.

4. The senate has now ninety members, two from each state. The state legislature chooses the senators. The term of office is six years. But the senators do not all finish their terms at the same time. If they did, once each six years there would be an entirely new senate elected. Things are arranged in such a way, however, that about one-third of the senators finish their terms and new ones are chosen in their place every two years.

5. Some of the most famous statesmen have been senators. John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, and Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts; Henry Clay, of Kentucky; John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, and William H. Seward, of New York, are a few of the most eminent.

6. The house of representatives has now 357 members. They are distributed among the states according to the number of people, the most populous states having the largest number, but every state having at least one. The state of New York has thirty-four. Delaware, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming have one each. The representatives are elected by the people. Each state which has more than one is divided into as many districts as it has representatives, and the people of each district make their choice in November every other year. These districts are numbered. The term of office is two years. Thus each second year an entirely new house is chosen. The election comes in November.

CHAMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON

7. A representative is often called a congressman, or a member of congress. A member of the senate is called a senator.

8. Congress meets in December every year, and remains at work, “in session,” until the members have finished all the law-making they wish. Then the congress “adjourns” ——that is, ends the session, and the members go home.

9. Each house has to have a chairman, whose duty it is to keep order. The presiding officer of the senate is the vice-president of the United States The representatives elect their own chairman, who is called the speaker. Did you ever attend a debating society, or a public meeting of any sort? If so, you must have noticed that some one had to preside. He was called perhaps the “chairman” or the “president” of the meeting. In congress it is just the same, only a new chairman is not chosen each day The speaker presides in the lower house at every meeting of the two years, and the vice-president may preside in the senate for four years.

10. We have seen (in Chap. IV) how congress makes laws. These laws, when made, must be obeyed by everybody in the republic, and the state legislatures must make no laws which interfere with the laws of congress.

11. The Senate. The senate has some other duties besides helping the house of representatives to make laws.

12. By the Constitution the president of the United States has the power to make treaties with foreign nations. A treaty is merely an agreement——what business men call a “contract.” The United States has many treaties with the principal nations of the world. For example, in 1783, at the end of the revolutionary war, Great Britain made a treaty with the United States in which agreements were made about the boundaries between Canada and the new republic, about the right of Americans to catch fish near the British island of Newfoundland, and about other matters. Now, under the Constitution no treaty which the president may make is binding unless the senate approves it. So every such treaty the president sends to the senate, and they discuss it, and then take a vote on the question of approval.

13. The president also, by the Constitution, has the right to appoint many officers of the United States. But he can make no such appointment, except a temporary one, unless the senate approves.

THE SENATE CHAMBER IN THE CAPITAL AT WASHINGTON

14. The State Legislatures. Each of the forty-five states also has a legislature, which, like congress, consists of two houses. The state legislature is sometimes called by some special name—— in Illinois it is the general assembly but usually it is simply the legislature. The upper house is always called the senate, like the upper house of congress. The lower house has different names. In Maryland it is the house of delegates, in New York it is the assembly, in Virginia it is the house of burgesses. In most states, however, it is called by the same name as in congress—the house of representatives.

15. The members of each house of the state legislature are elected by the people. The state is divided into as many senate districts as there are senators, and usually also into as many representative districts as there are representatives. The people of each senate district choose a senator, and the people of each representative district choose a representative.

16. In Illinois there are fifty-one senate districts and no representative districts. The people of each senate district choose one senator and three representatives. Thus the Illinois legislature has fifty-one senators and one hundred fifty-three representatives. The number of senators and members of the lower house differs in the different states. The same is true about the term of office. But there are always fewer senators than members of the lower house, and in most of the states the senators are elected for a longer term.

17. In some states the legislature meets every year, in others it meets only once in two years.

18. The presiding officer of the state senate is the lieu tenant-governor,［1］ if the state has one (Chap. XII). If not, then the senators elect their chairman. The lower house always elects its own speaker.

19. Each state has a constitution, just as has the United States. And the state constitution tells what the legislature may and may not do. So the law-makers are not free to do as they please. They must make no law which interferes with the Constitution of the United States, or with a law of congress, or with the state constitution. But yet the state legislatures make a very large number of laws every time they meet. Perhaps it would be quite as well if they made fewer.

20. The County Law Makers. Believing, as we do, that home rule, or local self-government, is a good thing, our state legislatures leave purely local matters, as far as possible, for the people of each smaller neighborhood to decide as they please. So each county has some sort of law-making body, usually called a board. If the county is divided into towns, the people of each town may choose a supervisor, and all the supervisors together form the county board. If the county is not divided into towns, and in some states even if it is, the county board consists of a few men, usually three, called commissioners, elected by the people of the whole county. In some states there is no county board at all.

21. The business done by a county board is different in different states. They may allow a toll road or a toll bridge to be built; they provide for such county buildings as are needed a jail, for instance, and offices for the various county officers-and they decide what tax the people shall pay in order to provide for doing the county business.

22. Village and City Law-Makers. A village is an other neighborhood which is allowed to make its own local laws. The people of the village usually elect a “board” ——sometimes called “trustees” to manage village business. And these trustees make such rules——usually called “ordinances” ——as they think proper. But ordinances are really laws. People must obey them, just as they must obey the laws made by the state legislature.

23. A city, too, has a law-making body——the “council” it is usually called——whose members are often known as “aldermen.” In some cities the city legislature is a double body, like congress and the state legislatures. In others there is but one house. Often the members are chosen from the wards. In the city of Chicago, for ex——ample, the “common council” consists of sixty-eight aldermen, two being chosen by the people of each ward.

24. The city council makes laws—— “ordinances” they are called——about all manner of things not covered by the laws of the state and the nation.

［1］ In Massachusetts the president of the senate is elected.

CHAPTER X

How Laws Are Enforced

1. Policemen. If you live in a city, or have visited a city, you have often seen a policeman, His blue uniform and his club are familiar sights in the streets. What is his business? Why, merely to see that people do not break the laws. There are laws forbidding stealing, setting fire to houses, driving too rapidly in crowded streets, and many other things. The policeman looks out for offenders against the laws, and if he finds a man doing an unlawful act, arrests him and takes him to the station house.

2. In a village or a farming neighborhood a police force is not necessary. But the village “constable” is an officer who arrests village law-breakers, and takes them to the “lock up” for safe-keeping. And the county “sheriff” and his deputies in like manner may make arrests anywhere in a county.

3. So we see that the policeman, the constable, and the sheriff are all officers with the same duties. They try to prevent law-breaking and they arrest law-breakers. Any one of these officials is often familiarly called an “officer.”

4. Some Other Public Officers. But there is another kind of public officer. In a city the postman is a figure often seen as he hurries on his rounds, clad in blue-gray uniform and carrying a leather sack of mail slung over his shoulder. In villages the postman is seldom found, but every one knows the “postmaster,” who takes care of the mail. The village post-office is often in a store, and people gather there to get their letters and papers when the mail comes. And both in city and village, as well as in rural districts, the public-school teacher is busy everywhere in the republic.

5. The postman, the postmaster, and the public-school teacher are all public officers. But, unlike the policeman and the sheriff, their duty is not to prevent wrong-doing and arrest wrong-doers. It is to do work for the public, but of quite another kind——work very important for the public convenience and the public intelligence.

6. We see, then, that there are two kinds of laws which are made by our law-makers. One kind, like the law for-bidding stealing, is a set of rules for the conduct of people, telling what things must not be done. And when the law-makers have made such laws, one part of the administration is busy seeing to it that people obey, or are punished if they disobey. The other kind of laws provides for doing the public business——such things as carrying the mail, teaching school, and gathering and distributing the money which it takes to carry on the government.

7. This last part of the public business is very important. Money has to be had to pay the many public servants. This money the people pay to the government. These payments are called “taxes.” Laws are made telling who shall pay taxes and how much, and for what purposes the money shall be used. And many public officers are busy collecting the taxes and paying out the money according to law.

8. All these officers of every kind who are busy carrying out the laws belong to the government and to what is called its “administrative” branch.

9. The President. The head of the federal administration is the president of the United States.

10. The president of a republic like ours fills very nearly the place of a king or emperor in a monarchy. The president is the republican king. But, on the other hand, the people choose their president for themselves, and he holds his office only four years. To be sure, if the people like him he may be chosen again for another four years, as indeed several of our presidents have been.

11. The first president was George Washington, the famous and beloved general of the revolutionary armies. He was chosen for a second term, and would have been chosen a third time but that he refused. He was one of the wisest and best presidents we have had. Since his time no president has been elected more than twice.

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT

This stately memorial of the first president is an imposing obelisk of white marble and granite, five hundred feet high and fifty-five feet square at the base, standing near the Potomac, not far from the White House, in the city of Washington. The walls are fifteen feet thick, thus leaving a great hollow within, through which an elevator takes passengers to the top. The corner-stone was laid in 1848, but the great work was not completed until 1885. The venerable Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, who delivered the oration at the laying of the corner-stone, performed the same part at the dedication of the monument in 1885. We quote a few sentences from Winthrop's oration in 1848: “Lay the corner- stone of a monument which shall adequately bespeak the gratitude of the whole American people to the illustrious Father of his Country. Build it to the skies; you cannot outreach the loftiness of his principles! Found it upon the massive and eternal rock; you cannot make it more enduring than his fame! Construct it of the peerless Parian marble; you cannot make it purer than his life! Exhaust upon it the rules and principles of ancient and modern art; you cannot make it more proportionate than his character!”

12. In electing a president the people do not vote for him by name. In each state the people vote for a number of men as “electors.” And the electors chosen in this way in the various states select the president. But, in fact, the electors of each state always know whom the people of that state want for president, and are very careful to vote for him and for no one else. Each state has as many electors as it has members of both houses of congress. Thus no state has less than three electors. New York has thirty-six. At present all the states together have four hundred forty-seven electors, so that two hundred twenty-four of them must vote for the same candidate in order to elect him.

13. The president has great power. He appoints many of the public officers, all of the most important ones. He commands the national soldiers and the sailors of the national warships. His salary is $50,000 a year, and the nation furnishes him a residence at the city of Washington——the “White House.”

14.The president's four-year term of office begins on the fourth of March. On that day there are very elaborate ceremonies at Washington. The new president, accompanied by the president whose term is ending, goes in procession, escorted by military and with martial music, to the magnificent marble capital, in which the congress meets. Standing in the open air on the great eastern portico, in presence of the principal officers of the government, the ministers representing foreign nations, a brilliant group of invited guests, and an immense multitude which throngs every foot of ground in sight, the new president takes the oath of office. He solemnly swears to defend the Constitution of the United States and faithfully to perform his duties. Then the new president delivers to the great audience an address, explaining how he thinks the government ought to be managed. The procession then escorts the new president to his home in the White House. These ceremonies are called the inauguration of the president.

THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE AT WASHINGTON

This simple and beautiful building, commonly called the “White House,” is constructed of Virginia freestone. President Washington himself selected the site, laid the corner-stone (October 13,1792),and lived to see the completed edifice. It is said that with his wife he walked through the rooms but a few days before his death, in 1799. President John Adams was its first occupant, in 1800. In 1814 the house was burned by the British, and only the walls were left standing. When rebuilt, the stone was painted white, to conceal the marks of fire. The White House is the residence of the president and his family, and also contains his office.

15. The Vice-President. If the president should die before the four years of his term should be ended, it would leave the federal administration without a head. To have another election so soon would be troublesome and expensive. So the Constitution provides that the electors, at the same time they elect a president, shall also choose another man as vice-president of the United States. The vice-president must not live in the same state as the president. His duty is merely to be chairman of the senate. But in case the president dies, or in any other way there should be no president, the vice-president at once ceases to preside in the senate and performs the duties of president.

GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT

U. S. Grant was born in Ohio in 1822. He was educated at West Point, and served several years in the army as lieutenant and captain. In 1854 he resigned his commission to engage in business. When the civil war broke out, in 1861, he was made colonel of an Illinois regiment. He soon proved an able commander, winning many victories, and was promoted repeatedly, until in 1864 he was made commander of all the armies of the United States. It was to him that General Lee surrendered in 1865. In 1868 General Grant was elected president of the United States, and he was reelected in 1872. He died in 1885. A fine monument has been erected to his memory in the City of New York.

16. Four times in our history a president has died in office, and the vice-president has succeeded to the chief place. In 1841 William Henry Harrison became president, General Harrison was an old man who had made a brilliant record as a leader of the American armies in war against the Indians, and in the second war with Great Britain, in 1812. Only one month after the inauguration President Harrison died. The vice-president was John Tyler, of Virginia, who thus became president.

17. The second president to die was Zachary Taylor, who also had been a gallant soldier. General Taylor was inaugurated in 1849, and died in 1850. He was succeeded by Vice-President Millard Fillmore, of New York.

18. Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, became president in March, 1861. Almost immediately after his inauguration the republic became involved in a great civil war. Ten states, dissatisfied with the Union, withdrew and formed a new re-public of their own. But President Lincoln, supported by the rest of the states, denied the right of any state to leave the Union. Armies were formed on both sides, and, as was said, a terrible war resulted— a war which lasted for four years. Before it was ended Mr. Lincoln was elected for a second term, and was inaugurated in March, 1865. Within a few weeks the war came to an end by the victory of the national armies. And amid the excitement a fanatical sympathizer with the losing side assassinated the president. The vice-president was Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, who then became president.

19. A second president to be murdered, and the fourth to die while in office, was James A. Garfield. Mr. Garfield was inaugurated as president in March, 1881. A few months afterwards he was shot by a half-crazy office-seeker. The president lingered for some weeks, As soon as he died, the vice-president, Chester A. Arthur, of New York, took the oath of office as president.

THE GRANT MONUMENT AS IT NOW APPEARS

20. Thus four times in our history a president has died, twice, sad to say, by the hand of an assassin. So four times a vice-president has become president.

21. If the president and vice- president should both die, the laws provide that the secretary of state should succeed to the office. If he also should die, the secretary of the treasury acts as president, and thus the office would pass on through the president's cabinet in case of successive deaths.

22. The Battle of Gettysburg. One of the greatest battles of the civil war was that at Gettysburg, in the state of Pennsylvania, in July, 1863. The Confederate army, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, had crossed the Potomac River and was invading the northern states. The Union army, under General George G. Meade, followed close after, and at Gettysburg Lee turned on his enemy and attempted to destroy him. The battle raged fiercely for three days, being fought on both sides with determined courage. The Confederates failed in their attack, and were compelled to retreat to Virginia. The many thousands of Union soldiers who were killed were buried in a national cemetery on the field of battle, and in November, 1863,this cemetery was formally dedicated to its sacred purpose. A part of the ceremonies was an address by the president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. This brief but most eloquent speech of the great war president follows ill full:

ROBERT E. LEE

General Lee was born in Virginia in 1807. He was an officer in the United States army, but when Virginia seceded he resigned his commission and cast in his fortunes with his native state and the South. Through most of the civil war he commanded the Confederate armies, winning high fame as an able general and as a man of pure and earnest character. After the war he became president of Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia. Here he died in 1870.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

FOURSCORE and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

UNITED STATES SAILORS.

CHAPTER XI

The President's Cabinet

1. Cabinet Officers. The officers who, under the president, carry on the work of the national administration are grouped in departments, at the head of each of which is a great officer, usually called a secretary. There are eight of these departments, and the eight heads form the president's “cabinet.” Regular meetings of the cabinet are held with the president, at which the most important business is talked over. The president is not obliged to act as the cabinet advises, but it is very useful for him to have such a body of men with whom to consult. The members of the cabinet are appointed by the president, and usually resign their offices when his term is ended. So each president has a cabinet of his own selection. To be sure, the senate has the right to be consulted in the appointment of cabinet officers. But the president's nominations are rarely disapproved. Each of the eight departments has charge of important affairs.

2. The Department of State. The government of the United States often has to send messages to the government of France or Great Britain or Germany or some other country, and quite as often receives messages from some foreign government. In this way business is going on continually among the governments of all the nations. The department of our government which does this branch of the public business is the department of state, and its head is the secretary of state. This secretary has a number of assistants at Washington. But, besides these, there are agents in foreign countries. In each foreign capital is a gentleman who is known as minister, or ambassador, of the United States. He discusses the business of the United States with the government of the country in which he lives, keeps up a regular correspondence with the secretary of state at Washington, giving information and receiving instructions. At public ceremonies the ministers of the various nations are always invited and treated with great respect. The ministers of European nations on such occasions are accustomed to wear an elaborate uniform, brilliant in colors and glittering with gold. The American ministers, however, usually dress in plain black, as becomes representatives of a republic.

NATIONAL OFFICES BUILDING AT WASHINGTON——STATE,WAR, AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS

This vast but not very beautiful building contains the offices of the secretaries above named and of their numerous assistants. It is fire-proof, as its archives are of priceless value. Here may be seen the original Declaration of Independence, the original Constitution of the United States, the sword of Washington, a silver set presented to Captain Isaac Hull by citizens of Philadelphia in 1812 in honor of his capture of the Guerriere, and many other deeply interesting relics.

3. In nearly every important foreign city lives another agent of the state department, called a consul. He looks out for the business interests of American merchants and sailors. If you should be traveling in Europe or South America and should be in difficulty, the American consul would be the one to whom to apply for assistance. He would not let one of his countrymen be treated badly.

4. Foreign nations, in like manner, have at Washington ambassadors or ministers, who carry on their business with our government through the secretary of state. Foreign consuls, too, are found in all our principal cities.

5. The War Department. Every nation in the world has an army. The number of soldiers in different countries varies, to be sure. France and Germany have each a half million men always under arms, while the United States has only about 25,000.

6. Why is it necessary to keep soldiers? Merely because nations cannot always settle their disputes peaceably. If two men cannot agree on a question of business, they can have the matter decided by a court of law. And whatever the court may decide must be obeyed. If the two disputants should try to settle their quarrel by a fight, they would be very apt to find themselves in jail. But nations unfortunately have no such means of keeping order and of determining justice. So each nation has to protect itself. And the army is the means of national defense.

7. Besides this, there are sometimes riots and insurrections which the police are not able to put down. Then the soldiers must give their help.

8. So an army is necessary for the protection of a nation against attack from abroad, and also to keep order——in other words, to see to it that the laws are obeyed at home.

9. The army of the United States is small, partly because we have little fear of being attacked and partly because each state also keeps soldiers. The state soldiers are usually called the “national guard.” We shall speak about them later.

10. Our republic has had several wars, in which the army was very necessary As you will remember, it was by the war of the revolution that we won our independence from England, and so became a free republic. In that war——a war which lasted eight years——British armies invaded our country, but after many bloody battles they were finally driven away. General George Washington commanded the American soldiers throughout this war, and he was aided by French soldiers who came across the ocean to help us.

11. In 1812 we had a second war with England, which lasted two years.

12. In 1846 we most unfortunately were drawn into a war with our sister republic, Mexico. This also lasted two years. The American armies invaded Mexico, won many battles, and thus compelled the Mexicans, in making peace, to give up a large territory to the United States.

13. In 1861, saddest of all, we had a war among ourselves—a civil war. Several of the southern states, as we have seen, being dissatisfied with the Union, at——tempted to withdraw from it and to form a new republic, which they called the Confederate States of America. But the rest of the people refused to permit the old Union to be destroyed. Large armies were formed on both sides, and many desperate battles were fought. At length, after four years of war, the Union armies were victorious.

14. The management of an army, even in time of peace, takes much time and work. The president of the United States is by the Constitution the chief commander of the army. But the details of its management are left to one of the cabinet, the secretary of war. He is the head of the war department, which includes a number of assistants and clerks.

15. The war department conducts a military school at West Point, on the Hudson River. Each member of the national house of representatives has the privilege of naming one boy as a candidate for admission to the military academy, and a few are named by the president.［1］ These candidates, however, have to pass an examination, both as to their knowledge and as to their bodily health and strength, before they can become “cadets,” as the students at West Point are called. Those who succeed in passing through the four years of severe study required in the academy, are appointed to the rank of second lieutenant in the army. The military academy is an excellent school, and keeps our army supplied with very well trained officers.

16. Since the close of the civil war the active duty of the army has consisted mostly in keeping the Indians in order. We shall have more to say of this when we come to speak of the American Indians.

17. Three War Poems. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe? once visited the camps of the Union army in Virginia during the civil war, and on her return wrote the poem known as the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.“ Mrs. Howe has been active through many years as an author and lecturer. Perhaps this is her best known poem.

18. Lord Byron, a famous English poet, who translated the “Greek War Song,” sympathized so warmly with the Greeks in their war of independence against the tyrannical Turks that he not only gave them money, but went in person to share in the war. He died in Greece in 1824, before the war was ended.

19. Theodore O'Hara, an American soldier in the Mexican war, wrote “The Bivouac of the Dead” in 1847,for the dedication of a cemetery devoted to the Kentuckians who fell at the battle of Buena Vista.

20. These three poems are grouped here as expressing different phases of emotion aroused by the stern realities of war.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

JULIA WARD HOWE

MINE eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps ;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:

“As ye deal with My contemners, so My grace with you shall deal,

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

Since God is marching on.”

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh I be swift, my soul, to answer Him ! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me :

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

A Greek War Song

Translated from the Greek by Lord Byron

SONS of the Greeks, arise!

The glorious hour's gone forth,

And, worthy of such ties,

Display who gave us birth.

CHORUS

Sons of Greeks! let us go

In arms against the foe

Till their hated blood shall flow

In a river past our feet.

Then manfully despising

The Turkish tyrant's yoke,

Let your country see you rising,

And all her chains are broke,

Brave shades of chiefs and sages,

Behold the coming strife!

Hellenes of past ages,

Oh, start again to life!

At the sound of my trumpet, breaking

Your sleep, oh, join with me!

And the seven hilled city［2］seeking,

Fight, conquer, till we're free.

CHORUS

Sparta, Sparta, why in slumbers

Lethargic dost thou lie

Awake, and join thy numbers

With Athens, old ally!

Leonidas recalling,

That chief Of ancient song,

Who saved thee once from falling,

The terrible ! the strong!

Who made that bold diversion

In old Thermopylae,

And warring with the Persian

To keep his country free;

With his three hundred waging

The battle, long he stood,

And like a lion raging,

Expired in seas of blood.

CHORUS

The Bivouac of the Dead

THEODORE O'HARA

THE muffled drum's sad roll has beat

The soldier's last tattoo;

No more on life's parade shall meet

That brave and fallen few.

On Fame's eternal camping-ground

Their silent tents are spread,

And Glory guards, with solemn round,

The bivouac of the dead.

No rumor of the foe's advance

Now swells upon the wind ;

No troubled thought at midnight haunts

Of loved ones left behind;

No vision of the morrow's strife

The warrior's dream alarms ;

No braying horn nor screaming fife

At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shivered swords are red with rust,

Their plumed heads are bowed ;

Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,

Is now their martial shroud.

And plenteous funeral tears have washed

The red stains from each brow,

And the proud forms, by battle gashed,

Are free from anguish now.

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,

The bugle's stirring blast,

The charge, the dreadful cannonade,

The din and shout, are past;

No war's wild note nor glory's peal

Shall thrill with fierce delight

Those breasts that nevermore may feel

The rapture of the fight.

Like the fierce northern hurricane

That sweeps his great plateau,

Flushed with the triumph yet to gain,

Came down the serried foe.

Who heard the thunder of the fray

Break o'er the field beneath,

Knew well the watchword of that day

Was “Victory or death.”

Long had the doubtful conflict raged

O'er all that stricken plain,

For never fiercer fight had waged

The vengeful blood of Spain;

And still the storm of battle blew,

Still swelled the gory tide;

Not long, our stout old chieftain knew,

Such odds his strength could bide.

'T was in that hour his stern command

Called to a martyr's grave

The flower of his beloved land,

The nation's flag to save.

By rivers of their fathers' gore

His first-born laurels grew,

And well he deemed the sons would pour

Their lives for glory too.

Full many a norther's breath has swept

O'er Angostura's plain——

And long the pitying sky has wept

Above its mouldered slain.

The raven's scream, or eagle's flight,

Or shepherd's pensive lay,

Alone awakes each sullen height

That frowned o'er that dread fray.

Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground,

Ye must not slumber there,

Where stranger steps and tongues resound

Along the heedless air.

Your own proud land's heroic soil

Shall be your fitter grave;

She claims from war his richest spoil——

The ashes of her brave.

Thus 'neath their parent turf they rest,

Far from the gory field,

Borne to a Spartan mother's breast

On many a bloody shield;

The sunshine of their native sky

Smiles sadly on them here,

And kindred eyes and hearts watch by

The heroes' sepulchre.

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead!

Dear as the blood ye gave,

No impious footstep here shall tread

The herbage of your grave;

Nor shall your glory be forgot

While Fame her record keeps,

Or Honor points the hallowed spot

Where Valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone

In deathless song shall tell,

When many a vanished age hath flown

The story how ye fell;

Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight,

Nor Time's remorseless doom,

Shall dim one ray of glory's light

That gilds your deathless tomb.

21. The Navy Department. A second branch of the national defense is the navy A nation which, like the United States, has a long seacoast and many seaports, would in time of war be in danger of attack by armed ships. To be sure, forts are built on the shore for the purpose of defense against such attacks. But it has been found that forts alone are not enough. Armed ships are best met by other armed ships. Besides, if American citizens should be maltreated in some foreign country, or if American ships should be in danger in distant seas, it would be necessary to send ships of war to their defense.

THE U. S. CRUISER NEW YORK

The new navy is very different from the old wooden sailing ships which fought the war of 1812. Naval vessels now are propelled by steam, are built of steel, heavily armored so as not easily to be pierced by shot, and are provided with guns of tremendous power.

22. It was just such troubles which led to the beginning of our navy. A hundred years ago the people who lived on the south shore of the Mediterranean Sea were pirates. They sailed from the harbors of Tripoli and Tunis and Algiers, and captured the merchant ships of any nation. These ships, with their cargoes, were kept by the pirates, and the unfortunate crews were made slaves. Many nations paid large sums of money to the rulers of these savage countries in order to save their ships and sailors from such a fate. In 1794 our government thought that it would not be possible for the United States to make a suitable arrangement of this kind, and so it was decided to build ships of war so as to be able to compel the pirates to let our merchant ships alone.

23. Before the ships were ready, however, arrangements were made by which we paid a great amount of money to the pirates, and they agreed not to capture American ships. But in a few years the Tripolitans broke the agreement, and again attacked our peaceful vessels. Then our government sent the new ships of war to the Mediterranean with orders to compel the Tripolitans to keep the peace. The American vessels were manned by as gallant a body of mariners as ever sailed the seas, and they soon made things very uncomfortable for the Tripolitans. Tripolitan warships were captured, the city of Tripoli was blockaded so that no ships could go out or in, and it was bombarded repeatedly. When the ruler of Tripoli found that his palace was likely to be battered down about his ears, and that on the water the navy of the new republic was more than a match for him, he gave up the fight and promised to respect American vessels thereafter. This was in 1805.

24. In 1812 came the second war with England. That nation had a thousand vessels of war in her navy, while the United States had only sixteen. But the American ships were well sailed and well fought, and in a number of battles with English ships our navy was victorious.

25. The most famous of the American vessels was the staunch frigate Constitution. Only a few days after the war began the Constitution sailed from port on a cruise, and met the British frigate Guerriere (August 19, 1812). The two vessels fought desperately for two hours. At the end of that time the British ship lay on the water a dismasted and shattered wreck, and her flag was hauled down in token of surrender. This brilliant victory was followed in rapid succession by others. The British had seemed invincible on the ocean. But the American tars proved quite equal to their haughty foe, and the little navy of the young republic at once sprang into popular favor. As vessel after vessel returned to port with a captured ship or the flag of one which had been sent to the bottom, the enthusiasm of the people knew no bounds.

“DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP”

U. S. FRIGATE CONSTITUTION (OLD IRONSIDES)

This famons old ship of the navy was launched in 1797, and by its many brilliant exploits became the darling of the American people. The Constitution was engaged in the war with Tripoli and in the war of 1812. Its venerable hulk is now used as a receiving ship at the Portsmouth (New Hampshire) navy yard.

26. In only one battle with a ship of equal force was an American vessel captured. This was the frigate Chesapeake, which became a prize to the British frigate Shannon. Captain Lawrence, of the Chesapeake, was so eager to meet his enemy that he hurried from Boston with a new crew unaccustomed to their duty and with his equipments far from complete. In a desperate action of only fifteen minutes both ships were filled with the slain and maimed. Captain Lawrence was fatally wounded, and as he was carried below he exclaimed, “Don't give up the ship.” But the British boarders swept the blood-stained decks of the Chesapeake, and the flag was hauled down by a British officer (June 1, 1813).

PERRY AT THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE

27. only a few weeks after the loss of the Chesapeake a whole British squadron on Lake Erie surrendered to an American squadron. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the American commander, had named his flagship the Lawrence, from the heroic captain of the Chesapeake. In the course of the battle the Lawrence was so cut up as to become unmanageable. Commodore Perry then passed in an open boat, under a heavy fire of musketry, to another vessel of his squadron, the Niagara, which he at once directed into the center of the enemy's line, and soon compelled their surrender. He announced his victory in the laconic dispatch, “We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.”

28. The ships which made so glorious a record for the American navy in those two wars were built of wood and equipped with sails. Steam was not yet used to propel vessels. In our navy now, however, all the fighting ships are made of steel and are driven by steam. Sailing ships are no longer of any use. And the powerful cannon on a modern warship throw huge shells to a distance of several miles. But, after all, the success of our new navy in defending the republic will depend on just what it did in 1805 and 1812—the skill and spirit of the officers and crews.

29. The management of the navy is in what is known as the navy department, at Washington, whose head, the secretary of the navy, is a member of the president's cabinet.

30. The navy department maintains a school, at Annapolis, Maryland, in which boys are trained to become naval officers. Appointments to this school are made in about the same way as those to the military school at West Point.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

Published and copyrighted, 1894, by A. W Elson&Co., Boston

31. A Famous Poem About a Famous Ship. one of the most famous Warships of the American navy was the frigate Constitution. She was one of the earliest vessels built, and was frequently engaged in the war with Tripoli and in the war of 1812. Although a wooden ship, she was affectionately called “OId Ironsides” by the sailors.

32. Oliver Wendell Holmes was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1809; was graduated at Harvard University when twenty years old; became a physician, and was long a professor in the Harvard Medical School. His literary works were many and varied. He died in 1894. The poem which follows was written when the Constitution had become so old that it was proposed to break her up as unfit for service. After the poem rang through the land the plan was reconsidered, and the old warship was carefully preserved as a memorial of the great deeds of our gallant navy.

Old Ironsides

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

AY, tear her tattered ensign down! Long has it waved on high,

And many an eye has danced to see that banner in the sky;—

Beneath it rang the battle-shout, and burst the cannon's roar;

The meteor of the ocean air shall sweep the clouds no more!

Her deck, once red with heroes' blood, where knelt the vanquished foe,

When winds were hurrying o'er the flood, and waves were white below;

No more shall feel the victor's tread, or know the conquered knee;

The harpies of the shore shall pluck the eagle of the sea!

O, better that her shattered hulk should sink beneath the wave!

Her thunders shook the mighty deep, and there should be her grave!

Nail to the mast her holy flag, set every threadbare sail,

And give her to the god of storms, —the lightning and the gale!

33. The Post-Office Department. One of the most familiar sights in a city is the letter-carrier in his blue-gray uniform and with his leather bag slung at his side. Probably no one of our readers has not mailed a letter; if in a city, at a post-box attached to a street lamp; if in the country, at the post-office. The letter-carrier and the postmaster are officers of the United States, under the direction of one of the president's cabinet. The head of the department is called the postmaster-general.

34. It is very convenient to be able to send a letter to any part of the United States, and the price paid for carrying it, only two cents for an ordinary letter, is so small that almost any one can afford it. The stamp put on the envelope, we should remember, is merely to show that the money has been paid to the post-office for carrying the letter to its destination. By an arrangement with the post-office departments of other nations it is possible, on paying five cents instead of two, to have a letter taken promptly to almost any place in the world.

THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE WASHINGTON

35. Besides letters, the post carries newspapers and packages of many kinds. Then, if one wants to send money in a letter, the post-office will sell a money order, which is much safer to inclose than cash.

36. The law forbids any one except the United States post-office department from carrying on the business of conveying letters. The price of a stamp, now two cents on an ordinary letter, until nearly the middle of this century was sometimes as high as twenty-five cents. At that time envelopes were not commonly used, but the last page of the letter was left blank, and when the sheet was folded and fastened together with sealing wax the address was written on the back.

A POSTMAN

37. The Interior Department. The secretary of the interior, another of the president's cabinet, has a great variety of business to manage.

38. Every ten years the people of the United States are very carefully counted. At the same time lists are made of the kinds of business in which men are employed, of the number and kind of educational institutions, of the nationality of the people, and of a number of other things which it is convenient to know. This is called the census. The last census was taken in 1890, and showed the number of people in the United States to be 62,622,250. The work of taking the census is done by the department of the interior.

39. Another duty of this department is the granting and recording of patents. People are continually inventing a new machine or an improvement of an old machine. Not many years ago the farmers mowed their grass with a scythe, and all sewing was done by hand with a needle. But one ingenious man contrived a mowing machine, which is drawn by horses and cuts the grass very rapidly. And another equally ingenious inventor contrived a sewing machine, by which one woman can do in the same time as much work as several sewing in the old way. Such contrivances as these, and many others like them, are very useful. And to encourage men to plan them the government has made a law which allows an inventor the sole right to sell his inventions for a number of years. In this way sometimes great sums of money are made. The inventors of the telephone, the pneumatic bicycle tire, and the electric light, for instance, have become very rich. Such right to monopolize an invention is called a patent. Of course, as soon as the time of the patent has expired, any one can make or sell the article in question. The patent office grants patents to inventors, and keeps a careful record of such grants.

40. The United States owns many great areas of land. As we have seen, there was a time when nearly all the land west of the Alleghany Mountains belonged to the nation. But it has mostly been sold to private persons at a low price, or, indeed, actually given away. A dollar and a quarter an acre was the usual price for a long time. The desire was for the land to be settled and used, so that as many people as possible might have homes of their own and farms on which they might be earning a living for their families. About the time of the great civil war a law was made by congress permitting any head of a family to take 160 acres of the public land for his own at a nominal cost, provided he would make it his home. A residence of five years on the land is required before the title is given, and no title is given at all except to a citizen of the United States.

41. Under the policy of sale at a low price, or, as at present, of actual gift, many thousands of families have found homes on the public land. The vast area west of the Alleghany Mountains was nearly all a wilderness a hundred years ago. Now it consists of many populous states, with great cities, churches, schools, libraries, and, what is more important than all and indeed is the foundation of all, with multitudes of happy homes.

42. The public land is managed by the department of the interior.

43. The care of the Indian reservations is also intrusted to this department. This is a work requiring great intelligence and integrity. Bad management may result in Indian wars, and what people are doing to have the young Indians grow up good citizens will come to little if the government is not just and wise in its dealings.

44. The Department of Justice. The great amount of business done by the different departments makes it often necessary for the government to be concerned in a lawsuit. And it is also convenient that officers of the government should always be able to have the opinion of a good lawyer as to the exact meaning of some law in a particular case. So the president has as one of his cabinet an officer called the attorney-general. He is the government lawyer, and his department is the department of justice.

45. The Treasury Department. The department which takes care of the money of the government ranks next in importance after the department of state. But as it provides the means by which all the others do their work, it is put last here. The business of government is expensive. Officers and employees have to be paid salaries, material has to be bought and used, soldiers and sailors have to be fed and clothed. The entire cost of carrying on the federal government of the United States for one year is about $350,000,000.

46. This vast sum is paid to the government by the people, and is called the national taxes. A tax is money which the government takes from individuals for public purposes.

Congress makes laws which prescribe how the taxes shall be paid, and how great they shall be, and for what purposes they shall be spent. Neither the president nor any of his cabinet can spend a dollar of the public money unless permitted to do so by such a law.

47. By far the largest part of the national taxes is paid by people who bring goods from foreign countries. At every seaport or other place on the border is an office of the government called a custom-house. The custom-house officers inspect all goods brought from abroad and collect from the owner the tax fixed by law. Goods brought into the country from abroad are called imports, and the tax is called a duty.

THE TREASURY BUILDING, WASHINGTON

This is an imposing structure of sandstone and granite, occupying an entire square not far from the president's house. Unlike the latter, however, the treasury building is not set in the midst of beautiful and spacious grounds, but is surrounded by busy thoroughfares. It is said that President Andrew Jackson became impatient at the delay in choosing a site, so one day he walked out from the White House, and, planting his cane in the ground, exclaimed, “Build it here.” And there it was built.

The treasury building is full of interest. There one may see the great vaults where the many millions of silver dollars are stored, the rooms where mutilated currency is exchanged for new, the many deft fingers and sharp eyes busy in counting the paper bills, both new and old, and the curious collection of counterfeit notes. It is not at all easy to counterfeit the United States notes. The paper on which they are made has a peculiar silk fiber, and the law forbids any one, unless duly authorized persons, to have a bit of it. Then, the process of engraving the notes is very exact and delicate.

48. The laws of congress also provide for a tax to be paid by the manufacturers of liquors, cigars, and a few other articles. This tax is called the internal revenue. Officers of the government inspect the articles as they are made and collect the tax.

49. The vast sums of money thus paid to the government as taxes have to be kept safely, and paid out as the laws direct. In the city of Washington is a huge stone building, the treasury, in whose vaults are kept many millions of dollars in gold and silver and in paper notes. In the city of New York, and in a few other cities, are similar buildings, though smaller, in which other great amounts are kept. And many banks in different parts of the Country also keep in their vaults money belonging to the United States.

50. From these sums the government pays out whatever it owes.

51. Money. Money is a very convenient thing. If a man wants to sell a cow and to buy clothes and groceries, he might be able to trade the cow to some other man who happened to have clothing and groceries to sell.

52. But it would not be likely that the same man would have both those articles to sell, or, if he did, that he would want a cow. So a much better way is to exchange the cow for money, and then to exchange the money for clothes with the tailor and for flour and sugar with the grocer. If there were no money it would not be so easy for people to get what they want, even if they had things to sell.

53. Money is usually made of gold or silver, though pieces of little value are of nickel or copper. People would be quite willing to take gold or silver in payment for goods even if it were in the form of bars or dust—bullion it is called. But that would not be handy at all, as everybody would have to weigh the metal, and at the same time to test it in order to see if it were pure. So the government takes gold and silver, and makes it into small round pieces called coins. These coins, we know, always have a certain amount of metal and a certain weight. So when we see the mark of the government on the coin we are saved the trouble of weighing and testing. In order to make sure that all coins can be depended on, no one is allowed to manufacture coins but the national government. The place at which they are made is called the mint. The United States has several mints, the one at Philadelphia being the oldest.

THE MINT, PHILADELPHIA

Here United States coins—gold, silver, and nickel—are made from the bullion.

54. Notes. Paper notes are often called money, but they are not really money at all. They are only promises to pay money—as you will see at once by reading what is printed on one. Some of these paper notes are issued by the national government and some by the national banks.

55. The notes of the national government are commonly called greenbacks. They are promises to pay by the government, but by law are to be received in payment of all debts—with one exception, which you will find printed on such notes.

56. The notes of the national banks are printed by the government at Washington, just as are the greenbacks, and are sent to the banks as may be requested by them.

57. The banks, however, are not allowed to issue paper notes until they have put in the vaults of the treasury at Washington valuable bonds, so that if the bank should fail the notes would still be paid. And government inspectors keep sharp watch of the banks to see that they are honestly managed. Then the government sends the banks the notes which they wish to issue.

58. The Treasury. All this enormous business of the government in dealing with money—collecting taxes, paying out what the government owes, stamping coins at the mint, printing currency notes, printing and issuing national bank-notes, and keeping watch over the national banks—is attended to by the treasury department. Its head, the secretary of the treasury, is one of the most important of the president's cabinet. He has under him a little army of officials—the clerks at Washington in the great treasury building, the officers in the many custom-houses, the internal-revenue collectors, the bank inspectors.

59. The Department of Agriculture. The secretary of agriculture keeps watch of agricultural methods in all parts of the world, and publishes the information which he gathers, so that our farmers may know what to do.

60. We see what a great machine the government of the United States is. The eight heads of departments who form the president's cabinet hold very important places. And over all is the president of the United States, with the power to direct everything.

61. We have seen that if the president and vice- president both should die, the duties of president would be performed by the secretary of state. In case of his death, the secretary of the treasury would take up the work, and so on in the order of the cabinet. This is the order of succession: secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of war, attorney-general, postmaster-general, secretary of the navy, secretary of the interior. When the law which made this arrangement was passed there was no secretary of agriculture. So that officer is not in the line of succession to the presidency.

［1］ The law requires that appointments be made by the president of the United States. But the president permits representatives to name candidates, and in many districts a competitive examination is held, the boy who does the best being nominated.

［2］ Constantinople.

CHAPTER XII

How Laws Are Enforced in the States

1. The Governor. Just as there is a president of the United States, whose duty it is to see that the Constitution and the laws made by congress are obeyed, so each one of our forty-five states has a governor. His duty is to see that the laws of the state are obeyed. He lives in the city which is called the capital of the state, and is usually a very busy man. However, the governor of a state does not have so many powers as the president of the United States. The governor is elected by the people for a term of office which varies from one year to four in different states.

2. Departments. The departments of the state administration are very nearly the same as those of the national administration. But there is this difference: the president appoints the heads of departments, and they are accustomed to hold regular meetings with him— “cabinet meetings” —at which they give advice about important matters. In the states the heads of departments are usually elected by the people, and they do not form the governor's “cabinet” —that is, they do not habitually hold meetings for the purpose of talking over public business, and are not supposed to be the governor's advisers.

3. The departments are not the same in all the states. There is usually a secretary of state, who keeps an exact record of all the laws made by the legislature, and who keeps other state documents, and does some other state business. But this officer of course has nothing to do with foreign nations, as has the federal secretary of state.

4. There is always a state treasurer, who keeps the money of the state and pays it out as the legislature may direct. Then, there is another officer called the “auditor,” whose duty is to examine bills against the state, and make sure that they are correct before they are paid.

5. The attorney-general is the state lawyer. He tells the governor and other state officers his opinion of the meaning of the laws which they are enforcing, so that they may avoid mistakes by having wrong notions. Then, if the state has a lawsuit, the attorney-general takes care of it for the state.

THE CONNECTICUT STATE HOUSE AT HARTFORD

The state capital at Hartford, finished in 1880, is of white marble, and cost about $2,500,000. It is one of the most tasteful buildings of the kind in the Union.

6. The states have no war or navy departments. Still, each state has an army of soldiers, usually called the national guard. The national guard consists of men who are busy about their own affairs most of the time, and drill only occasionally—once a week, as a general thing. In the summer they sometimes spend a few days in camp. If there should be a riot which the police could not put down, or if an enemy should invade the state, the governor has the right to call out the national guard. They then give their whole time to military duty until the danger has passed away.

7. Some states have still other business, much of which is managed by groups of men, each group being known as a board. Thus there is often a state board of education, which has the oversight of the public schools, or of some of them. Sometimes, instead of a board of education, these duties are put in charge of one man, the superintendent of public instruction, and sometimes the board chooses a superintendent. Then, most of the states have normal schools, insane asylums, schools for the deaf and dumb, and prisons to which are sent persons who have broken the laws. These institutions are also usually managed by boards. The members of the boards are often appointed by the governor.

8. The Lieutenant-Governor. It will be remembered that one of the officers of the United States is a vice-president, who presides at the meetings of the senate, and who becomes president if that officer should die. Most of the states have also such an officer, the “lieutenant-governor.” He presides over the state senate, and becomes governor in case of the death, or, sometimes, in case of the absence from the state, of the governor. The lieutenant-governor is elected by the people, for the same term as the governor. The state of Maine, however, and several others, have no lieutenant-governor. In these states the senate elects its own chairman.

9. County Officers. In each county there are also of ricers whose duty it is to see that the laws are carried out. The county has no president or governor. The county legislature, whether county board or board of supervisors, besides making laws, also sees to more or less administrative business. Then, there is a treasurer, who takes care of the county money, just as the state treasurer does of the state money; and a sheriff, who is really the chief policeman of the county. It is the sheriff's deputies who usually arrest criminals in the county, and the county jail is in the sheriff's care. So we see that the sheriff is quite important to the good order of the community. There is a county attorney, too, who is the lawyer for the county, as the attorney-general is for the state. All these officers are in most states elected by the people of the county, although in some states, as in Maryland, the county board chooses the treasurer.

10. The County Seat. We remember that the city in which the state legislature meets and the governor lives is called the capital. The county, too, has a capital, but it is usually called the county seat. Quite often the county seat is rather a small town. But it generally has one or more county buildings-the court—house, jail, and perhaps others. The county board generally meets in the court-house, and there also are the offices of most of the other county officers.

11. The Mayor. If your home is in a city you have heard many times of the “mayor.” He is the city's governor, whose duty it is to see that the laws are obeyed. The mayor is chosen by the people, just as is the governor of the state.

12. The name “mayor” was applied to the chief officer of the first cities which were organized in our country, for the reason that that was the name used in the English cities. In England the mayor, on official occasions, wears an elaborate costume. The lord mayor of the city of London is elected annually His inauguration, on the ninth of November, “lord mayor's day,” is made the occasion of a gorgeous parade through the streets. The lord mayor's robe is on some occasions of black silk, on others of violet silk, or of scarlet cloth, or of crimson velvet.

13. The London Lord Mayor's Banquet. On the evening of lord mayor's day a banquet is given by the mayor at the London guildhall (the city hall, we should call it) —a banquet which is famous for its luxury. A few years ago one of the guests at this banquet made a curious list of the articles of food provided. Provision was made for a thousand guests, and this is what was set before them:

Two hundred fifty tureens of turtle soup, 6 great dishes of fish, 80 roast turkeys, 60 roast pullets, 60 dishes of fowl, 40 dishes of capons, 80 pheasants, 24 geese, 40 dishes of partridges, 15 dishes of wild fowl, 2 barons［1］ of beef, 3 rounds of beef, 2 stewed rumps of beef, 12 sirloins and ribs of beef, 2 quarters of lamb, 50 French pies, 60 pigeon pies, 53 ornamental hams, 43 tongues, 60 dishes of potatoes, 6 dishes of asparagus, 50 dishes of shell-fish, 60 mince pies, 50 dishes of blanc-mange, 40 dishes of cream tarts, 400 jellies and ice-creams, 100 pineapples, 120 dishes of cake, 200 dishes of hothouse grapes, 350 dishes of other fruits. With each course there was a different kind of wine also.

One would think that even a thousand guests might find enough to eat in this profusion. Our American mayors are not in the habit of hospitality on so large a scale. Perhaps they might do as well if they had the salary of the London lord mayor—$50,000 a year!

14. American Mayors. The mayors of American cities differ somewhat as to the powers they possess, depending on the state in which the city is situated. In some cities the mayors are allowed to appoint or to remove nearly all the public officers, and in this way the mayor can really control the way in which the city business is done. But in other cities many officers are quite independent of the mayor, so that things go on without his having much to say about them.

15. City Departments. The administrative departments in a city are in some respects like those in the counties, the states, and the nation.

16. There is a treasurer, who keeps the money of the city and pays it out as directed by law. There is an auditor, who examines all bills against the city and approves those which he finds correct. The treasurer pays no bills unless the auditor has approved them. Then, there is a department of police, which keeps order in the city. The policemen arrest people who break the laws, like thieves and robbers, and also keep watch to prevent the laws from being broken, as far as possible. Policemen wear a uniform, customarily of blue with brass buttons, and carry a club. The department of police is in some cities managed by a single person, the chief. But in other cities there is a group of persons, called a board, which appoints the chief of police and manages all the affairs of the department.

17. The Fire Department. Another very important department in a city is that which is intended to prevent or to put out fires. City houses are so many and so crowded together that a fire catching in one is very apt to spread to many others.

18. In London, in the year 1666, a fire broke out which spread on all sides. The buildings were mostly of wood and were dry as tinder. And people then knew little about the quick and effective ways of putting out fires which we have. For three days the conflagration raged, destroying thirteen hundred houses and ninety churches, besides other property of enormous value. A similar fire occurred in Chicago in 1871, and other cities have had disasters of the same kind, like Boston, Massachusetts, and Troy, New York. So much fear is there of fire that the law in all large cities now forbids wooden buildings to be put up except in the suburbs.

19. The fire department is carefully organized. It is managed in some cities by a board, consisting of several men appointed for that purpose; in others, by one man, the fire-marshal. Engine-houses are distributed over the city, and men and horses are always ready at a moment's warning to race to a fire with the fire-engine. When a fire is discovered the alarm is given by an electric bell which sounds in the nearest engine-houses. It is only a few minutes after the alarm sounds before several streams of water are playing on the burning building.

20. The Care of Health. The health department in a city is one of which in “the goo4 old times” centuries ago people did not dream. But to-day no city of a civilized country neglects care for the public health. When people are crowded together in masses, as they are in our cities, many diseases are caused by the very fact of the crowded life. The garbage and refuse of families and hotels and stables collect very fast, and unless carried away promptly, are sure to fester and reek with the germs of typhoid and other deadly pestilences. Then, if a contagious or infectious disease breaks out it spreads with frightful rapidity when so many people live near together.

21. The Plague in London. Only a short time before the great fire destroyed so much of London that city was the victim of a frightful plague. “In the filthy cities of those days plagues were not uncommon, and in the narrow streets of London, where the upper stories of the houses almost touched, and the clay floors were covered with rotting straw, food, and dirt, a hot summer always brought more or less pestilence. The summer of 1665 was hot beyond all experience. In May the plague, which had been raging on the continent, broke out in London, and went on increasing all the summer, till in September fifteen hundred persons died in one day and twenty-four thousand in three weeks. On door after door the red cross appeared to mark the plague within, while the dead cart, with its muffled bell, passed along at night, and the cry, ‘Bring out your dead,' sounded through the stillness of the almost deserted streets. King, courtiers, members of parliament, even doctors and clergy, fled from the plague-stricken city. With the winter the plague died away, after more than one hundred thousand persons had perished.”

22. This pestilence was so fearful in its effects because the city was so dirty, because the doctors were so ignorant, and because almost nothing was done to prevent the spread of sickness.

23. In a well-ordered modern city great pains are taken by the health department to prevent the beginning or spread of disease which may lead to such results. Inspectors cause the removal of dead animals or decaying rubbish. Other inspectors examine meats and fruits and vegetables brought into the city, and sometimes condemn and cause to be thrown away entire carloads of unwholesome stuff. If a case of contagious disease occurs, like diphtheria or scarlet fever, the house is at once “quarantined” —that is, a placard is posted up and people are warned to keep away. In a'very bad case, like that of small-pox, the health officers remove the patient to the public hospital the “pest-house,” it is often called.

24. All this work is generally managed by a board of health, consisting of several men, usually doctors, and in many cities appointed by the mayor.

25. In a large city there are other departments of the government. One sees to the supply of water, which is brought in great pipes from some lake or river. The water has to be abundant, as so much is needed for drinking and cooking and washing, and for putting out fires. And it is very important for the water to be pure, as impure water is one of the commonest causes of dangerous fevers. Still another department manages the great drainage system of the city, building and keeping in order the sewers which carry off the liquid filth, which is so dangerous if allowed to remain. Still other city officers keep many wagons busy hauling away the garbage and ashes and other rubbish, which would choke the sewers. And others see to paving the streets and to keeping the pavements in good repair.

26. School Department. One of the most important departments in a city is that which manages the public schools. Every American city has a number of school houses in which the children are taught free of charge. These buildings and their fittings cost many thousands of dollars, and the teachers' salaries cost many thousands more. But here boys and girls may learn what will make them better citizens, better and happier men and women. The city manages all these schools through a body called the school board, or board of education. The members in some cities are appointed by the mayor; in others they are elected by the people; in others they are appointed in some other way.

27. It is the business of the school board to see that proper buildings are provided and cared for, that suitable teachers are appointed, and that good text-books are selected. In many cities the school board elects teachers every year. It is plain enough that for so important duties as those of a member of a school board the best men in the city ought to be selected—men intelligent, honest, public-spirited. If this republic is to be managed by its citizens, as, in fact, it is, every citizen ought to be intelligent. To be sure, there are many citizens, especially women, who do not vote. But those who do vote ought to understand what they are voting for or against. And women, even if they do not vote, ought to understand the questions which the voters are thinking about, because in very many cases the opinions of women will have great weight with voters. So it is necessary that everybody in a republic should be well educated. That is why the public schools are provided and are made free to all.

28. If they are so necessary to the republic, these schools ought to be as good as possible. Besides, the school buildings are paid for and the teachers are paid with money which belongs to all the people. Therefore the school board, who are selected to spend this money, ought to do it so that all the people get the worth of it. And they do not get the worth of it if the buildings are bad or if unfit teachers are appointed. But unless the members of the school board are honest and unless they know what good buildings are and what good teachers are, the people are quite sure to be cheated. There is no more important branch of the government than that which manages the schools.

29. Village Officers. A village is composed of a small group of people living near together. The only difference between a city and a village is that the city is larger. A village, like a city, has to have a government. The village president holds a place like that of the mayor in a city. Then, there is a treasurer, to keep the money of the village; a constable, or sometimes several constables, who are the village police, and some other officers. Sometimes a village has a fire department and a water department, and then, of course, it has to have officers to manage them. All these officers are the servants of the village, and each one has special duties.

30. School Districts. A school district is a part of a county, sometimes a village, in which there is a public school for the people who live in the district. The district is not very large, so that all the children can easily walk to school. The school affairs are managed by a sort of board, called a school committee, or sometimes trustees. They are elected by the people of the district, and have the same powers and duties as the board of education in a city. The district school in the country is often a small building, with only one teacher—one in the summer and a different one in winter. The larger boys seldom go to school in the summer, being too busy on the farms. It is in just such modest schools that many of our best and greatest men have been taught all they ever had a chance to learn from teachers and books. The country school ought to have as good teachers as the money which the people pay will provide. And it ought to be the pride of every district to make its school as good as possible.

31. Swiss Schools. The common schools of Switzer land are among the best in the world. The people are eager that they shall be so, and take great interest in them all the time. What is going on in the school is matter of common talk in a Swiss district, which the people find quite as interesting as the weather or politics. This constant intelligent interest, of course, is a great help to the teachers and a great encouragement to the pupils. It would be a good thing if we took as much interest in our schools.

［1］ A baron of beef is two sirloins not cut apart.

CHAPTER XIII

Judge and Jury

1. If a citizen is accused of breaking the law, he is liable to be put in prison, or otherwise punished, as the law may direct. But by the Constitution of the United States, and by those of the several states, no one can be punished as a criminal unless he has been duly tried in a court of justice and found guilty. In order to see how such a trial is conducted, and what it means, we have supposed one John Doe to be accused of a crime and to be brought before the court. Let us imagine ourselves spectators at the trial.

2. The Trial of John Doe for Burglary. John Doe has been arrested by a deputy sheriff on the charge of burglary. One of his neighbors woke one morning to find that the dining-room window had been broken open in the night and that the silver spoons had been stolen. Getting into a house in this way at night in order to steal is what the law calls burglary. John Doe is a shiftless fellow, who was seen hanging around the day after trying to sell some silver spoons to a pawnbroker. The spoons he claimed to have found in a small parcel by the roadside, but as this story was doubted, Doe was arrested and put in jail. The county attorney［1］ made inquiries and became convinced that the burglar was, in fact, no other than John Doe. In a few days there was held at the county seat a meeting of what is known as the grand jury. This is a group of men, not more than twenty-four nor less than twelve in number, selected' from the citizens for the purpose of seeing whether the laws have been broken by anybody The county attorney told the grand jury his reasons for believing that Doe was a burglar. These reasons seemed to the jury to be good ones, and so they voted that John Doe should be tried on the charge of stealing the spoons—of committing burglary. The vote of the grand jury was written out on paper and duly signed. This paper is called an indictment, and Doe was now said to be indicted for burglary So he was kept in jail until h e should be tried.

A POLICE COURT

In a police court minor offenders are tried and punished. There is no jury.

3. But the fact that the grand jury had indicted him by no means made it sure that he really had stolen the spoons. It merely meant that the public accusers, the grand jury, thought it probable that he was guilty. But to decide whether he was or not, must be left to a very different body of men acting in a very different way. So we see that the grand jury does not decide the question of guilt or innocence; it merely decides whether, on the whole, it is worth while to keep an accused man in jail until he can be tried and the real facts found out. In other words, the grand jury are, as we have said, the public accusers. In our country no one can be kept long in jail or tried on a charge of breaking the laws unless a grand jury have voted to indict him.

4. We have said that Doe had to be tried in order to decide whether he was guilty or not. Let us look into the room in which the trial is going on, and we shall see at once what we mean by trying a man.

5. In the county court-house are many offices and rooms. One of these is the court-room, and it is full of people. It is a rather large room, with a high ceiling. At one end is a desk on a raised platform. Behind this desk sits a gentleman who is evidently presiding. No one speaks without addressing him, and everybody promptly obeys when he gives any directions. If there is any difference of opinion about what the law means he decides it. Whoever speaks to him does not call him by name; they say, “Your honor.” This gentleman is the judge, lie has been elected by the people, or else appointed by the governor of the state. Some states have one way and some another. The judge's term of office is several years, in some states for life. A person selected as judge is usually a lawyer, and he ought to be a good one. Besides that, he should be a very upright man, fair and just to everybody, incapable of being frightened or flattered or bribed. There is no more honorable place in the whole government than that of a judge, and a person who holds that place is treated with great respect.

6. On another raised platform, at the left of the judge, are twelve men sitting in chairs. They differ very much one from another. Evidently none of them are lawyers. Some are farmers, some are merchants, some are mechanics. This is the jury. They are not appointed, as is the judge, for a long term. Their names have been drawn by lot from a list of citizens in the county, and they are to serve for a single term of the court (a few weeks), or perhaps merely for one trial. These twelve men have left their business and are obliged to give their whole time to the trial of John Doe until his ease is decided. Then they may be excused from further attendance at court, while the judge goes on with a new jury to try another case. The jury do not (at least that is the law in most states) decide disputes about the meaning of the law. It is the judge who does that. The jury decide disputes about facts. In this ease the indictment says that Doe forced his way into a house at night and stole certain silver spoons. Doe denies this, and says that at the time of the burglary he was many miles away from the place. Of course both these statements cannot be true. And it is the business of the jury to decide which is true; in other words, to decide what are the facts in the case.

7. At the right of the judge is another little raised plat form with a railing fronting the jury. This is called the dock, and here the accused person is placed during the trial. John Doe is sitting here, looking at the jury.

8. Just in front of the judge, at another desk, but lower, sits a clerk, who keeps a careful record of all that is done.

9. On the floor in front of the judge and the clerk is a space covered with chairs and a table or two. Here sit a number of busy men, most of them with green bags, from which they draw many papers. These men are lawyers. When a person is on trial before a court of justice he needs to have his ease managed by one who knows the laws, and who understands how to make clear and convincing statements to the judge and jury. So he employs a lawyer. And the lawyers whom we now see gathered in court are here, some of them, ready for the next ease, some interested in this, some merely watching what is going on and hoping that sometime they, too, will be employed; these last are mostly very young men just beginning the profession.

10. The space reserved for the lawyers has a railing which divides it from the body of the room, Here, in benches which rise one above another, are the audience. People are usually quite free to sit and watch the proceedings of the court. Of course the friends of any one who is on trial are present. And many go from mere curiosity, especially if the case is one which has been much discussed in the newspapers.

11. In this court-room, then, all is ready for the trial of John Doe. The judge and clerk are in place. The jury have been selected and have taken an oath to decide acording to the testimony. The prisoner has been brought in and placed in the dock. He has had the indictment read to him and has been asked to say whether he is guilty or not. He has said that he is not guilty. Then the county attorney rises and addresses the court. He details the crime, and tells in a general way how he expects to prove that it was Doe who committed it. Then he calls his witnesses. The man whose silver was stolen, some members of his family, and his servant, tell what facts they know. Each of these is a witness. The story which each tells, or the answers he gives to the attorney's questions, is called his testimony, or evidence. Each witness, as his name is called, comes forward and takes his place in a chair on a little platform facing the jury—the stand. He then takes a solemn oath to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Then the attorney questions the witness, the answers being carefully recorded. For this purpose there is in the court a stenographer, who is able to write in shorthand as fast as a man can talk. When the attorney has finished questioning a witness, the prisoner's attorney has the privilege of asking questions. This is called the cross-examinations, and of course these questions are very searching. If a witness has not spoken the truth or has kept anything back which might help the prisoner, the cross-examination is apt to bring it out.

12. We have said that each witness, as he is called to the stand, takes an oath to tell the truth. If, then, he tells a falsehood, he is guilty of what the law calls perjury, and if he is found out he will himself be arrested and tried for that crime. If he is found guilty he will be sent to prison.

13. After the county attorney has taken the testimony of the members of the household whose silver has been stolen, he calls other witnesses. Some of them tell what they know of Doe's movements after the burglary—where he was, what he was doing. Others saw him hanging around the house the day before the burglary. Then the man who bought the spoons testifies that the spoons which the sheriff took from him, and which are produced in court, are the very spoons which he bought from Doe a few days after the burglary. The owner of the spoons is called back to the stand and declares that they are his property—the ones which were stolen. Here the county attorney rests his case—that is, he tells the court that he has no more witnesses; he thinks he has proved Doe guilty.

14. Now is the turn of the prisoner's attorney, and he calls what witnesses he has. One declares that he has known Doe for a long time, but never knew him to steal. Doe himself is put on the stand, and explains that he was idling about the house in question merely because he was waiting to speak to a man employed there, who, it turned out, was away that day. As to the spoons, he declared that he picked them up in the road, tied up in a bundle. As they had no name or initials, he did not know whose they were, and thought he had a right to them, as he found them. The night of the burglary he said that he spent sleeping in a barn three miles away. A farm laborer, who was the next witness, swore that he saw Doe enter the barn and lie down to sleep in the hay, and that at a very early hour the next morning, going to feed the horses, he saw Doe yet sleeping. Each of these witnesses was cross-examined by the county attorney. In the course of cross-examining the farm laborer he brought out the fact that there was plenty of time between his two visits to the barn for Doe to go to the other house, steal the spoons, and return.

15. After all the witnesses had been examined, each of the attorneys made a speech, one arguing that the evidence plainly showed that Doe stole the spoons, the other arguing that it was not proven—that there was room for a reasonable doubt—and so that the jury should find him not guilty.

16. Then the judge addressed the jury. He explained to them just what the law means by burglary, what must be proved in order to find the prisoner guilty, what is meant by a reasonable doubt—that if they had such a doubt their verdict (i.e., their decision) should be “not guilty.”

17. The jury were now led from the room by an officer of the court, and shown into a private room, where they could talk the case over. After a half hour they sent word to the judge that they had agreed on a verdict, and accordingly were led back to their places in the court. Being asked if they had agreed on a verdict, the foreman of the jury rose in his place and replied that they had. “What is your verdict?” “Guilty.” Then the roll of the jury was called, and each man in turn rose and said that that was his verdict. Unless every one of the twelve voted “guilty,” the prisoner could not be convicted.

18. When it was shown that the jury were of one mind, the prisoner was told to stand, and the judge addressed a few words to him. He reminded him that he had had a fair and impartial trial before a jury of his countrymen; that, as he was too poor to pay a lawyer to act as his attorney, the court had assigned him one, who would be paid by the state, and that the jury had found him guilty. Then the judge went on to state the penalty of his crime—the sentence—which was three years at hard labor in the state penitentiary. The prisoner was then led away by the officers, and the trial of John Doe was ended.

19. Criminal Trials. Of course trials on criminal charges will differ in many details from the one above sketched. But all are alike in some important points. No one accused of crime can be considered guilty and punished unless he has been indicted by a grand jury, or has in some similar way been publicly accused. He must then be tried by a regular court, and cannot be convicted without the unanimous vote of a jury of twelve men. If he cannot afford to hire a lawyer to take care of his defense, the state furnishes him one free of cost. If his witnesses are reluctant to testify, the state compels them to do so. And witnesses who are known to testify falsely are severely punished. All this care our republic takes that people may not be falsely accused and unjustly punished.

20. The citizens of our republic have one other important protection against being kept in prison unjustly. If any one is put in prison, as he believes, contrary to law, his attorney may go to a judge and ask him to look into the matter. The judge may then send an order to the jailer directing him to bring the prisoner before him (the judge) and explain the reason for the imprisonment. Such an order from a judge any jailer must obey. If, when the judge hears the reasons, he does not think they are good ones, he has a right to have the prisoner set at liberty. The order sent to a jailer directing him to bring a prisoner before a judge is called a writ of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus are Latin words, and mean “produce the body”

21. Perhaps on the hearing the judge may conclude that the prisoner is justly confined. Then the order will be, not for release, but for the imprisonment to continue. Or the judge may think that it is quite right for the prisoner to be tried on the charge which has been made against him, but that meanwhile it is not necessary to keep him in jail. Then the judge may order the prisoner admitted to bail. What that means is, that if persons approved by the judge will agree to forfeit a fixed sum of money in case the accused person does not appear at the trial, then he (the accused) is set at liberty. Of course it is his duty to present himself for trial at such time as may be set.

22. All these pains are taken so that the law shall do injustice to no one. And there is another protection. If the prisoner is found guilty and thinks that in some way his trial was not a fair one—that the judge made a mistake about the law, or that the jury was prejudiced against him—then he has the right to appeal to a higher court. And if the judge in that court can be made to think that there has been some error in the lower court, he may order that the whole case shall be tried over again.

23. But sometimes, by means of all these safeguards, a real criminal is able to escape punishment, or at least to delay it for a very long time. More than a year has been known to pass after a criminal's arrest before he is finally sentenced.

24. “Lynch Law.” In some parts of the country, when a particularly brutal crime has been committed, the people are anxious that the criminals shall be punished surely and promptly. And if they fear great delay, or perhaps that there will be no punishment at all, then they get greatly excited. At times a mob gathers, and the prisoner is taken from the jail by force, and perhaps hanged on the limb of a tree. This is called lynching.

25. An act of lynching is, in fact, itself a brutal crime. There is no fair trial, of course, and there is always danger that it is an innocent person who has been punished; indeed, that has often happened. In a civilized land all offenses against the law ought to be dealt with in a lawful way. If the laws are not good, the people can choose a legislature which will make them better. But lawless lynchings are a disgrace to our republic, and people who love their country will have nothing to do with them.

26. Civil Trials. But our courts try other cases besides those of criminals. If two men have a disagreement about money, or a piece of land, for instance, and cannot settle it between them, it is settled in a court of law. The one who appeals to the court is called the plaintiff, and the other the defendant. Each has his lawyer to conduct the case. Judge and jury form the court, the judge presiding, as in the trial of John Doe, and deciding the law, the jury deciding disputes about facts. There is the same right of appeal to a higher court as has been explained above, so that every case will be tried with great care. Such a case as comes from a dispute about property, in which no law has been violated, is called a civil case. The case of John Doe was a criminal case.

27. The Courts. There are two different kinds of courts in our republic, federal courts and state courts.

28. State Courts. Each state has such courts as it pleases. In each town or village, and in different parts of a city, are held courts which settle very trifling disputes. The judge in such a court is called a justice of the peace. The cases are usually so trifling that they are not referred to a jury.

29. In each county is a court usually called a county court. Then, in each state is one court which is the highest of all in the state. This is usually called the supreme court. From its decisions, of course, there can be no appeal within the state. In New York this court is called the court of appeals. Then, there are several courts in many states to which appeals are taken from the county courts, and to which some cases are taken directly instead of going to the county court at all. These intermediate courts have various names in different states. In these courts and in the supreme court there are several judges instead of one. For instance, in the Illinois supreme court there are seven judges, and there are the same number in the New York court of appeals.

30. There are other courts in the states also. It is not necessary here to explain them all. Any lawyer will tell you what are the courts in your state. Do not fail to find out.

31. Federal Courts. The federal courts are of several kinds. Lowest in the list are the district courts. The entire republic is divided into seventy-one districts, with one judge in each. At the city of Washington sits the United States supreme court, consisting of nine judges—justices, they are called. Then, as in the states, there are certain intermediate courts. Appeals are carried in some cases to these intermediate courts from the district courts, and from the intermediate courts to the supreme courts. Some other cases come, first of all, in one of the intermediate courts. But always the last appeal is to the supreme court. From the decision of that court there is no appeal.

32. The Constitution of the United States tells what sort of cases shall be heard in the federal courts, and all other cases are heard in state courts. And the constitution of each state fixes the number and duties of courts for that state.

33. All the federal judges are appointed by the president of the United States. But first he sends in their names to the United States senate, and unless that body approves, the appointment is not made. Federal judges hold office as long as they do not misbehave.

34. The supreme court of the United States is one of the most famous and respected courts in the world. The judges have always been honest and able men and they are very independent. If any legislative body, even the congress of the United States, makes a law which is contrary to the federal Constitution, the supreme court, in deciding a case under the law, will plainly declare it to be no law at all, because it is unconstitutional. Then no one will be bound to obey that act any longer. This is a very great power, and one which is not possessed by the courts of European nations.

JOHN MARSHALL

As a young man Marshall was an officer in the revolutionary army. He afterwards became a lawyer, was for a short time member of the cabinet of President John Adams, and by him was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of the United States. He was the most illustrious of the eminent men who have held that distinguished position. Chief Justice Marshall died in 1835.

35. The supreme court is a very dignified body. The members wear silken gowns when the court is in session. Their meetings are held in the capital at Washington. One of the nine members, the chief justice, presides. The most famous of the chief justices was John Marshall, of Virginia. He held the office for over thirty years, from 1801 to 1835.

［1］ Called in some states “district attorney”; in some, “state attorney.”

CHAPTER XIV

How the Government Gets Money

1. Cost of Government. All this work which the government does for the people takes money. Members of legislatures and judges and mayors and policemen and firemen and all the rest of the servants of the people cannot afford to work for nothing. They have to be paid. The salary of the president of the United States is $50,000 a year. Members of congress, whether senators or representatives, receive $5,000 a year. Members of the president's cabinet have $8,000, and justices of the supreme court $10,000 a year. The chief justice has $10,500. There are very few public officers who are not paid. Members of school boards and of some few other boards seldom have salaries. In cities there are streets to be paved and sewers to be made. Then, there are public buildings of all sorts—post-offices, court-houses, school-houses, fire-engine houses, prisons, and many others. All these require money to build. So we see that it is impossible to have any sort of government without money to keep it going. Where does the money come from?

2. Taxes. It is the people who create the government and for whom the government does the work. So, of course, the people must pay the cost. And the money which people pay to the government for its support is called taxes.

3. Taxes are paid to the federal government and to the state governments.

4. Federal Taxes. The most of the taxes of the federal government come from duties, or, as they are also called, customs. Duties are sums of money paid by merchants to the federal government for the privilege of bringing goods into our country from foreign countries. For instance, we get sugar from Cuba, coffee from Brazil and from Java, tea from China, wines from France, and immense quantities of all sorts of goods from Great Britain. When a ship loaded with foreign goods reaches one of our seaports, it is not allowed to land its cargo until officers of the United States treasury department have made an examination to see what is on board, and arrangements have been made to pay the duty. The duty is sometimes reckoned at a certain per cent. of the value of the goods, sometimes at a fixed sum on a certain quantity. The former are called ad valorem, the latter specific, duties. In each of our border towns there is a United States custom-house, whose officers are busy examining imported goods and receiving the duties, which they then pay over into the United States treasury. From this source the treasury received in the year 1896 no less than $160,000,000, and in 1890 the amount was $229,000,000. These are sums of money so vast that it is almost impossible to imagine them. But all this and much more were used by the treasury in paying the expenses of the federal government. In fact, about a hundred fifty millions more are paid into the treasury from what is called the internal revenue. This consists of money paid by manufacturers of distilled spirits, like whisky, and of tobacco and cigars, and a few other things. Every time one buys a stamp to mail a letter a tax is paid to the government of the United States. This tax is not a large one, as all the government wants is to get enough from the sale of stamps to pay the actual cost of carrying the mails. In fact, this cost is seldom quite met by the sale of stamps.

5. Indirect Taxes. If a merchant pays a duty on goods which he imports, he will try to get it back by charging a higher price when he sells them. And the same is true of the manufacturer of whisky or Cigars. Of course, if it happens that other people have similar articles to sell which are not imported and which can be sold at a profit for less money than the importer wants, the latter may not be able to get back the tax he has paid. But usually the higher price can be obtained; and whenever that is the case, we see at once that the tax is paid in the end by the person who drinks the coffee or who smokes the cigars. Such taxes, which in the end are paid by some one else than the person from whom the money comes to the government, are called indirect taxes. Federal taxes have nearly all been of this kind, and all of them are provided in laws made by the congress of the United States.

6. State Taxes. The taxes which pay the expense of state, county, and city government are provided in laws made by the state legislature or by local bodies.

7. People who own land and buildings pay a certain sum every year. A public officer, the assessor, decides what a given piece of land is worth. This is usually a smaller sum than the property would actually bring in the market. Then the tax paid by the owner is great or small, according to the assessed value of his property, the rate of taxation being so many cents or mills on the dollar as may be determined by the legislature. Usually a part of the tax is for the state government, a part for the county, and a part for the city or village. This sort of tax is called direct, because it cannot so easily be passed on to some one else.

8. People in some states also pay a tax on other valuables which they may own besides land and buildings. The assessor decides as well as he can what each person's things are worth, and the tax is paid accordingly In some states, again, a poll tax is levied; that is, a certain amount to be paid by each person, without regard to his property.

9. Public Debts. Sometimes the expenses of the government are so great that even very large taxes are not enough to pay them. Then the government borrows money, giving to the lender a bond, to show that the money is owed and will be paid. On this bond the government pays interest every year, and in the end expects to pay the principal. Of course the taxes have to be made greater so as to pay these charges.

10. The debts which governments have to carry in this way are very great. Cities borrow money, usually for erecting public buildings, paving streets, making sewers, and the like. Some city governments have been extravagant and dishonest, and in this way such cities have great debts with very little to show for them.

11. The debt of the federal government has been caused principally by war. Each time the nation has had a war the government has had to borrow money to carry it on. The debt of the revolutionary war and of the war of 1812 was paid off in 1835. But in 1846 we fell into war with Mexico, and from 1861 to 1865 we had a great civil war. The latter especially was enormously costly. When the war ended, in 1865, the debt of the federal government was nearly three thousand millions of dollars (2,773 millions). The treasury paid out during one year ending with June, 1896, over thirty-five million dollars as interest on the existing debt, the principal of which even now amounts to nearly a thousand millions. Besides the interest on the debt, we have in the pensions another expense caused by the war. Soldiers and sailors who were disabled in the war, or who have since become unable to work, and widows and orphan children of war veterans, receive a sum of money each year from the federal treasury. In all nearly a million people are now receiving war pensions, and they were paid in the year ending with June, 1896, the sum of a hundred thirty-nine millions of dollars. So we are yet paying the cost of our great civil war from the national taxes, and it will be many years before the payment will be ended.

12. Wars and Taxes. As we have seen, the great national debt has been created by wars. To pay this debt it is necessary for the people to submit to heavy taxes for many years. If we feel that the wars were necessary, we can endure these taxes patiently. But if we should be so foolish as to go to war from the mere desire to win victories—to get military “glory,” as it is called—then the taxes, as well as the cost in blood and suffering, would be a price far too dear. No war is just unless it cannot be avoided without loss of liberty or honor.

13. What a shrewd English writer thought of the price of a war of glory it may be interesting to see. We should remember that a common nickname for England is “John Bull,” as “Brother Jonathan” is for the United States.

Taxes the Price of Glory

SYDNEY SMITH［1］

JOHN BULL can inform Jonathan what are the inevitable consequences of being too fond of Glory: —TAXES! Taxes upon every article which enters into the mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the foot; taxes upon everything which it is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste; taxes upon warmth, light, and locomotion; taxes on everything on earth, and the waters under the earth; on everything that comes front abroad, or is grown at home; taxes on the raw material; taxes on every fresh value that is added to it by the industry of man; taxes on the sauce which pampers man's appetite, and the drug that restores him to health; on the ermine which decorates the Judge, and the rope which hangs the criminal; on the poor man's salt, and the rich man's spice; on the brass nails of the coffin, and the ribbons of the bride; —at bed or board, couchant or levant, we must pay.

The school-boy whips his taxed top; the beardless youth manages his taxed horse, with a taxed bridle, on a taxed road; —and the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine, which has paid seven per cent., into a spoon that has paid fifteen per cent., flings himself back upon his chintz-bed, which has paid twenty-two per cent., makes his will on an eight-pound stamp, and expires in the arms of an apothecary, who has paid a license of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to death. His whole property is then immediately taxed from two to ten per cent. Besides the probate, large fees are demanded for burying him in the chancel; his virtues are handed down to posterity on taxed marble; and he is then gathered to his fathers, —to be taxed no more.

In addition to all this, the habit of dealing with large sums will make the Government avaricious and profuse; and the system itself will infallibly generate the base vermin of spies and informers, and a still more pestilent race of political tools and retainers of the meanest and most odious description; —while the prodigious patronage which the collecting of this splendid revenue will throw into the hands of Government will invest it with so vast an influence, and hold out such means and temptations to corruption, as all the virtue and public spirit, even of Republicans, will be unable to resist. Every wise Jonathan should remember this!

UNITED STATES SOLDIERS.

［1］ The Rev. Sydney Smith was a clergyman of the Church of England, who died in 1845. He was the founder of the Edinburgh Review, and was famous as a wit and caustic critic.

CHAPTER XV

Who We Are

1. Americans Not of One Race. Much is said by some people about “Americans,” and Americans are quite right in being proud of their country. But, for all that, it is just as well for us not to look down on the people of other countries. The fact is that the white people of our republic all of them either were born in Europe or are the descendants of those who came from Europe not so very many years ago.

2. English. The first European people who came to America, north of Florida, were English. They settled in Virginia in 1607, less than three hundred years ago.

3. But, in truth, not very many of us are descended from these early settlers. Other English people came to America throughout the seventeenth century and the eighteenth, and they have kept coming in the nineteenth. So quite a number of us are English in blood, as the national language of all of us is English. But how long we and our fathers and grandfathers have been living in this country is another question. And some of us really do not know when our first ancestors came from the old country to America, nor do we know what kind of people they were, or whether we could be proud of them or not, even if we did know. In many cases all we can be quite sure of is that some time in the last three centuries our first American ancestor did come here from Europe, and here made his home and that of his children. Perhaps he was English; perhaps he was Scotch, or Welsh, or Irish. Many of those British peoples have emigrated to America all through our history, and many of them are coming over in our time.

4. Dutch. Then, it was not British people only who settled the first European colonies along the Atlantic. The first settlers of New York were Dutch, from Holland. After the English seized the colony the Dutch name “New Amsterdam” was changed to the English one which we know. But the Dutch colonists continued to live there, under the English flag, and to-day their descendants are yet found in the city and state of New York and elsewhere in the republic. Dutch names, such as Stuyvesant, Van Cortlandt, Van Rensselaer, Bogart, Van Dusen, Suydam, are yet common in some parts of New York.

THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLERS LANDING IN VIRGINIA, 1607

The first permanent English settlement in the new world was at Jamestown, on the James River, Virginia. The river and the settlement were both named from James the First, who was then king of England.

5. Swedes. In Delaware the earliest settlers were Swedes. But there were not many of them, and their colony was taken away by the Dutch, and was seized by the English when they took New Amsterdam. There are many Swedish people now living in the United States, but they or their ancestors have mostly come here recently

6. Germans. In Pennsylvania many Germans settled at a very early period, and their descendants live there to this day. “Pennsylvania Dutch” they were commonly called by their English neighbors in New York and New England, but, in fact, they were not Dutch at all, but Germans. “Dutch” people come from Holland, not from Germany. But very many Germans have settled among us within the present century.

7. French. There were many French emigrants who came to South Carolina, and some to New York, nearly two hundred years ago. They were driven out of their own country by the tyranny of a foolish king. But they were very excellent people, and they made good American citizens. And the first settlers in Louisiana and Michigan were French.

NEW AMSTERDAM, 1665

The Dutch village at the lower end of Manhattan Island, which has grown into the great city of New York.

8. Americans. In our times the descendants of all these European settlers, whether British, or Dutch, or Germans, or French, or Swedes, are simply Americans. They are all pretty much alike, using the same language, having the same sorts of ideas, loving the republic and its flag, and proud of being American citizens.

9. Some of our greatest men have been from one of these colonial races, some from another. General Washington was English. General Andrew Jackson, who won the great victory of New Orleans in the war of 1812, and was twice president of the United States, was Scotch. Henry Laurens, of South Carolina, who was president of congress during the revolutionary war, was French. General Schuyler, of the revolutionary army, Martin Van Buren, president of the United States next after Jackson, and Hamilton Fish, one of our ablest secretaries of state, were of Dutch descent. Philip Sheridan, one of the most brilliant soldiers of the civil war, and later general in command of the armies of the United States, was Irish. But every one of these men was a thorough American.

10. European Immigrants. During the century since the Constitution of the United States has been in force there has been a great increase in the coming of Europeans to America. Many millions of immigrants have settled in our cities and on the farms of the great West. Germans and Swedes, Norwegians and Danes, Bohemians, Irish, Italians, they have fairly swarmed across the Atlantic and have left their old homes in Europe to become citizens of our republic. So it is that we see these “foreigners,” as we are apt to call them, everywhere.

11. But they are not really foreigners. Nearly all of them have come here to make their homes because, for one reason or other, they like this country better than the one which they have left. So they become Americans.

12. Naturalization. Our laws provide liberally for such newcomers. When a foreigner has lived here five years he may become a citizen of the United States, with all the rights and privileges of a citizen who has been born here. To be sure, a foreign-born citizen cannot become president of the United States. But, then, not many citizens are likely to be candidates for the presidency Almost any court of law has the right to admit foreigners to citizenship. The law also provides that one who wishes to become a citizen must go before some court after he has lived here three years and declare his intention. This court gives the applicant a paper which states. the facts—the “first paper,” as it is called. This certificate is presented to the court two years later when the applicant wishes to become a citizen. A certificate—the “second paper” —is granted by the second court, showing that the applicant has now become a citizen of the United States.

13. The admission of a foreigner to citizenship in the United States is known as naturalization, and such persons are called naturalized citizens.

14. Good Citizens. A native of Europe who makes his home with us comes here, as has been said, because, on the whole, he prefers this country to the one which he has left. But he still loves the country of his birth. He is fond of its language, of its books, of its stories and its people. That is quite right. One who does not love his native country can hardly be expected to love the country of his adoption. All that we have a right to ask is that our adopted fellow-citizens put the United States of America first. They should learn its language, know its method of government, do their part towards seeing that it has good laws, and should obey the laws which are made. People who do these things and who earn an honest living are good Americans, wherever they were born.

15. And seeing that we are nearly all of us Europeans by race, it is very silly to look down on those who are merely more recent comers from our original home. Let us all try to be good American citizens.

16. People Red, Black, Yellow. But whites are not the only people in our country There are also red people, black people, and yellow people.

17. The Red Men. When the whites first came to this country from Europe they found that the new lands which they had discovered were already inhabited by a strange race of red men— the “Indians” of Columbus (p. 38).

18. The Indians have a dusky red skin, high cheek-bones, black eyes, and coarse, straight black hair. They were an uncivilized folk when Columbus came. To be sure, there were Indian natives in Mexico and Peru, who lived in cities under a government which ruled a large population. But these semi-civilized Mexicans and Peruvians, with their great temples blazing with plates of gold, with their picture-writing and their palaces and their cultivated fields, were very different from the red savages of our country. These were mostly hunters and fishermen, though the women (“squaws”) did raise crops of maize, thus called “Indian corn,” and of beans. Any grain, like wheat, the English called “corn,” as they do to this day; but maize was a new plant to them. The mixture of corn and beans we still use under its Indian name— “succotash.” The homes of these people were mere temporary huts— “wigwams,” we call them. All the Atlantic shape of the Alleghany Mountains was covered with dense forests, in which the red man roamed in search of game. Deer, bears, beavers, and other wild animals were abundant, and the Indians lived on their meat and clothed themselves in their skins. The weapons of these rude hunters were bows and arrows, clubs, hatchets (“tomahawks”), and knives. They had no iron, and their arrow-heads, tomahawks, and knives were made with great ingenuity of flint. Their shelter from the weather was a simple hut, a “wigwam,” made of poles covered with bark. They built with birch bark light boats (“canoes”), which boats they were very skilful in paddling.

INDIAN WARFARE.

A GROUP OF INDIANS AS THEY ARE TO-DAY

19. People who lived thus by the chase, of course, had no cities and few cultivated fields. They roamed the woods in search of game, each separate tribe having its own “hunting grounds.” The tribes were frequently at war with one another, and in these wars they were very treacherous and cruel. Their favorite mode of war was to lie in ambush for their enemy and to cut him down when he was least expecting it. Prisoners were commonly put to death by torture, often being burned at the stake.

20. Now, these savages were not very numerous, and they roamed over a vast wilderness in their hunting. But the European settlers cleared off the forests and planted the fields with their crops. In this way the wilderness was gradually lessened, and the Indians saw their hunting grounds destroyed. Besides, the land was not always bought by the whites from its red owners—often the new-comers simply took it. And when it was bought the simple Indians were often cheated. For these and other reasons the settlers and the natives often quarreled, and many bloody Indian wars were the result. The savage warriors would lurk in the forests until they could find the settlers off the watch. Then the war-whoop and the blazing cabin would wake the terrified family from sleep, only to perish under the tomahawk. Men and women and helpless children alike were butchered, and their bloody scalps torn off to adorn the brutal victor.

21. But the white men in the end were always too strong for the red men, and now the time of Indian wars has probably gone forever. The tribes have melted away, dying rapidly from disease and war. Liquor, however, has been more deadly than either. The savages became very fond of the white man's strong drink— “firewater,” the Indians called it—and it has ruined them. The remnants of the tribes now live on “reservations” —tracts of land set apart by the government for them. Then, every year the government pays them a certain amount of money, by way of pay for the land they have given up. In this way the Indians do not have to work for a living. The game is long since gone, so there is little use in hunting.

22. On some of the reservations, and in the Indian territory, the Indians have become educated. They have schools and churches, and are sometimes quite wealthy. Attempts have been made in late years to send the children of the other tribes to school. At Carlisle, in Pennsylvania, there is a school for Indian children, which is doing good work. And there is another at Hampton, Virginia.

23. The Hampton Institute is a school founded in 1870 for the training of young negroes to become industrious and skilful workmen, thus enabling them to live good lives and to earn a decent living. Such training was especially needed, as the negroes had only recently been freed from slavery, and had now for the first time to care for themselves. Ten years later the school was opened for Indians. The United States government pays for the education of 120 Indian boys and girls, and generous people pay for a few more each year, so that there are nearly 150 Indians in the school. Nearly 500 have attended the school, and have gone back with its education to the reservations. Very few of these have made a bad record in their after-life. A very large majority of them have learned to be industrious and intelligent workmen. The boys have become farmers, blacksmiths, and carpenters; the girls have been taught sewing and housework. So, instead of being mere rude savages, they are intelligent and honest men and women.

A GRADUATING CLASS, INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA

24. It is certainly much better to send the Indians to school than it is to shoot them, and it seems to cost no more. If the young can learn to live like white men, to earn their own living by honest work, they will become good citizens of our republic. Certainly that is what they ought to be. If the Indians had always been treated honestly and kindly by the whites, it is more than likely that the most of them would now be civilized. But we must own that white men have often treated their red neighbors very badly. It has been necessary for the land to be used by civilized people; it would not be reasonable for it to lie idle for a mere hunting ground. However, we cannot always be proud of the way in which our people have got the land or of the way in which they have treated the red men.

The Indians are not very numerous. In 1870 it was estimated that there were 357,981 wild Indians and 25,731 civilized. In 1890, 58,806 civilized Indians were counted, and there were fewer wild ones than in 1870.

25. Two Stories of the Indian Wars. The bloody Indian wars have been full of cruel massacres, desperate fights, and hair-breadth escapes. The story of Mrs. Dustin, of Haverhill, in Massachusetts, is one of the most thrilling of these. And the poem, by an unknown author, commemorating a fight with the Indians in Maine, gives a quaint account of another.

Mrs. Dustin's Escape［1］

IN March, 1697, Thomas Dustin, of Haverhill, was at work in his field, when he heard the terrible whoop of Indians, and ran towards his house. He had eight children—the youngest only a week old. The mother was in bed with her infant, tended by her nurse, Mary Neff.

“Run for the garrison!” he shouted to his other children. They fled, the oldest carrying the youngest, while Mr. Dustin rushed into the stable for his horse. The Indians were close upon him. He could not save his wife; but would try and save some of the children. He came up with them. Which should he take? All were equally dear to him, and he would try to save all. The Indians reach the house, and seize Mrs. Dustin and Mary Neff. They dash the infant against a rock, and the mother beholds its bleeding corpse. They rush after the fleeing family. “Run for your lives!” shouts Mr. Dustin to his children, then leaps from his horse, shelters himself behind the animal, rests his gun across the horse's back, taking deliberate aim at the foremost Indian. He fires, springs into the saddle, and is away, with the bullets flying around him. He loads his gun while on the gallop, reaches his children, dismounts, and is ready for the pursuers; so, keeping them at bay, he reaches the garrison, saving all his children.

In a few moments, twenty-seven men, women and children in the settlement are massacred, their houses set on fire, and the Indians are fleeing toward Canada.

It was the middle of March. In the woods there was still much snow. The streams were swollen with its melting, and yet, with but one shoe, Mrs. Dustin began her march through the wilderness, driven by her captors. Her feet were torn and chilled. Every step was marked by her blood. Some of her fellow-captors grew faint and fell, and then the tomahawk dispatched them. All except Mrs. Dustin and Mary Neff were killed.

Three days brought them to the Indian rendezvous, a little island at the junction of the Merrimac and Contoocook Rivers, in Boscawen, New Hampshire. It was a place where the Indians could catch fish, and where Mrs. Dustin found a little boy, Samuel Leonardson, who had been a captive for more than a year, and who had learned the Indian language.

In a few days, all except twelve of the Indians started upon another marauding expedition. Upon their return, the captives would be taken to Canada. The woman who has seen her infant dashed against a stone has an heroic spirit. Death will be preferable to captivity. They who would be free must strike the blow that will give them freedom. She lays her plans.

“Ask the Indians where they strike with the tomahawk when they want to kill a person quick,” she says to Samuel.

“Strike 'em here,” the Indian replies to Samuel's question, placing his finger on Samuel's temples.

Little does the savage think that his own hatchet will be buried in his brains by the keen-eyed woman who watches his every movement. The Indian shows Samuel how to take off a scalp, all of which Mrs. Dustin observes.

Night comes, and she informs Mary Neff and Samuel of her plan, and stimulates them by her heroic courage.

There are twelve Indians in all who lie down to sleep, feeling that their captives cannot escape. “No one keeps watch. The wigwam fires burn low. No sound breaks the stillness of the night except the waters of the Contoocook sweeping over its rocky bed. Mrs. Dustin rises, seizes a tomahawk, gives one to Mary Neff, another to Samuel. Each selects a victim. A signal, and the hatchets descend, crushing through the skulls of the Indians, blow after blow in quick succession. It is the work of a minute, but in that brief time ten of the twelve have been killed; the two escape in the darkness!

The prisoners, prisoners no longer, gather up the provisions, take the guns of the Indians, scuttle all the canoes but one, and take their departure down the Merrimac. A thought comes to the woman: will their friends believe the story they have to tell?

A few strokes of the paddle bring them back to the island. Mrs. Dustin runs the scalping-knife around the brows of the dead Indians, takes their scalps, and starts once more, guiding the canoe with her paddle, landing, and carrying it past dangerous rapids, reaching Haverhill, sixty miles distant, with her bloody trophies, to the astonishment of her friends, who thought her dead. The Government of Massachusetts made her a present of fifty pounds; and in these later years the people of the Merrimac Valley, to commemorate her heroism, have reared a monument upon the spot where she achieved her liberty.

Lovewell's Fight

ANONYMOUS

A popular ballad. Written shortly after the battle of May 8, 1725, with the Indians

OF worthy Captain LOVEWELL I purpose now to sing,

How valiantly he served his country and his king;

He and his valiant soldiers did range the wood full wide,

And hardships they endured to quell the Indian's pride.

'Twas nigh unto Pigwacket, on the eighth day of May,

They spied a rebel Indian soon after break of day;

He on a bank was walking, upon a neck of land,

Which leads unto a pond as we're made to understand.

Our men resolved to have him, and traveled two miles round,

Until they met the Indian, who boldly stood his ground;

Then up speaks Captain LOVEWELL, “Take you good heed,” says he,

“This rogue is to decoy us, I very plainly see.

“The Indians lie in ambush, some place nigh at hand,

In order to surround us upon this neck of land;

Therefore we'll march in order, and each man leave his pack;

That we may briskly fight them when they make their attack.”

They came unto this Indian, who did them thus defy,

As soon as they came nigh him, two guns he did let fly,

Which wounded Captain LOVEWELL, and likewise one man more,

But when this rogue was running, they laid him in his gore.

Then having scalped the Indian, they went back to the spot,

Where they had laid their packs down, but there they found them not,

For the Indians having spied them, when they them down did lay,

Did seize them for their plunder, and carry them away.

These rebels lay in ambush, this very place hard by,

So that an English soldier did one of them espy,

And cried out, “Here's an Indian;” with that they started out,

As fiercely as old lions, and hideously did shout.

With that our valiant English all gave a loud huzza,

To show the rebel Indians they feared them not a straw:

So now the fight began, and as fiercely as could be,

The Indians ran up to them, but soon were forced to flee.

Then spake up Captain LOVEWELL, when first the fight began,

“Fight on, my valiant heroes! you see they fall like rain.”

For as we are informed, the Indians were so thick,

A man could scarcely fire a gun and not some of them hit.

Then did the rebels try their best our soldiers to surround,

But they could not accomplish this because there was a pond,

To which our men retreated and covered all the rear,

The rogues were forced to flee them, although they skulked for fear.

Two logs there were behind them that close together lay,

Without being discovered, they could not get away;

Therefore our valiant English they traveled in a row,

And at a handsome distance as they were wont to go.

'Twas ten o'clock in the morning when first the fight begun,

And fiercely did continue until the setting sun;

Excepting that the Indians some hours before 'twas night,

Drew off into the bushes and ceased a while to fight.

But soon again returned, in fierce and furious mood,

Shouting as in the morning, but yet not half so loud;

For as we are informed, so thick and fast they fell,

Scarce twenty of their number at night did get home well.

And that our valiant English till midnight there did stay,

To see whether the rebels would have another fray;

But they no more returning, they made off towards their home,

And brought away their wounded as far as they could come.

Of all our valiant English there were but thirty-four,

And of the rebel Indians there were about fourscore.

And sixteen of our English did safely home return,

The rest were killed and wounded, for which we all must mourn.

Our worthy Captain LOVEWELL among them there did die,

They killed Lieut. ROBBINS, and wounded good young FRYE,

Who was our English Chaplain; he many Indians slew,

And some of them he scalped when bullets round him flew.

Young FULLAM too I'll mention, because he fought so well,

Endeavoring to save a man, a sacrifice he fell:

But yet our valiant English in fight were ne'er dismayed,

But still they kept their motion, and WYMAN'S Captain made,

Who shot the old chief Paugus, which did the foe defeat,

Then set his men in order, and brought off the retreat;

And braving many dangers and hardships in the way,

They safe arrived at Dunstable, the thirteenth day of May.

26. The Africans. The blacks in our country— “colored people,” or “negroes” —are of African descent. They live mostly in the states south of Pennsylvania and of the Ohio River, in Texas, and in the states on the west bank of the Mississippi, as far north as Missouri.

27. Just as the white settlers in America came from Europe, so the black settlers came in the first place from Africa. But there was this difference: the Europeans came of their own accord, because they thought they could do better here; but the Africans were brought over by force, in whole shiploads, as slaves of the whites.

28. By a slave we mean one who is not free to work as he pleases, but whose work belongs by law to some one else. The owner gives the slave food and clothing and lodging, and takes care of him when sick. But beyond this the slave gets no wages, and he must work just when and where his master pleases. Slaves are bought and sold, too, about as horses are.

29. It was some dozen years after Englishmen made their first settlement at Jamestown, in Virginia, when a Dutch ship came into that harbor with a cargo of negroes. Some of these were traded off to the settlers. These negroes were found very useful for working the tobacco fields, and it was not many years before more negroes were brought over from Africa, not only into Virginia, but also into all the other colonies.

30. We must remember that at that time the laws of about every nation permitted slaves to be owned. And they were owned at one time in every one of the thirteen colonies which were the beginning of the United States.

31. But there never were many negroes north of Maryland, and not long after the revolutionary war the laws of those northern states had been changed so that people were not permitted to have slaves. In the southern states, however, there were many negroes, and they were kept as slaves until only a few years ago.

32. New states were admitted into the Union, and those north of the Ohio River had laws forbidding slavery, while the new southern states had laws permitting slavery. Then the free states and the slave states began to quarrel over slavery. The main dispute was about the territories. The free-state people believed that congress had the right to make laws forbidding slavery in the territories. The slave-state people thought that congress had no such right. And in 1860 and 1861, when it seemed likely that such laws would be passed, many of the southern states decided to leave the Union and to form a new republic of their own. They called it “The Confederate States of America”.

33. But the rest of the states insisted that no state had a right to leave the Union without the consent of the others. Armies were formed on both sides, and there was a great civil war, which lasted four years. The armies of the Confederate States were finally defeated and broken up, and so the attempt to leave the Union failed. Then the Constitution of the United States was changed so as to forbid slavery anywhere in the republic. In this way all the negro slaves became free, and now black men have the same rights at law as white men.

34. The civil war was a very terrible and a very sad thing. Hundreds of thousands of men were killed and wounded in the battles, or died of diseases caused by the hardships of the campaigns. A vast amount of property was destroyed, and, as we saw, the nation piled up a debt of thousands of millions of dollars, which is not yet all paid. The people on both sides were honest in thinking that they were right, and both northern and southern soldiers fought very bravely in the battles. We shall hope that our land will never again see a civil war.

35. Now we see how it is that there are so many black people in the southern states. The masses of them are ignorant, and many are idle and shiftless. Still, they work in the fields and in the homes, and so are very useful. It is highly important that they should learn to be industrious and honest and capable of earning a good living by good work. Much is being done in the South to teach the blacks. There are common schools in which they learn to read and write and get some other knowledge. And there are industrial schools which teach them how to work properly at various trades.

NEGROES WORKING IN A COTTON FIELD

36. As the negroes are here, and are now free citizens of the republic, it certainly is important that they should become good citizens.

37. The School at Tuskegee. We have read about one school which is doing good work in educating negroes and Indians to be good citizens. Another of similar aim is at Tuskegee, Alabama, and is training many of the colored people. The most important purposes of the school are thus stated in the catalogue:

“In all the Industrial work these objects are kept in view, viz. :

“1. To teach the dignity of labor.

“2. To teach the students how to work, giving them a trade when thought best.

“3. To enable students to pay a portion of their expenses in labor.”

This is very sensible. The negroes in the southern states need, first of all, to learn steady industry, honesty, cleanliness of life and surroundings, and independent self-support. No one who fails in these respects can be respected by his neighbors or can really respect himself.

38. Yellow People—Chinese. West of the Rocky Mountains there are many yellow people—the Chinese. Some of them live in eastern cities, often carrying on laundries. Generally they keep more or less of the dress of Chinese, and with their yellow skins, oblique eyes, long black “pig tails,” and odd shoes and blouse, may be seen tripping along the crowded streets or busily ironing clothes in the laundry. But on the Pacific coast there are many thousands of them—so many that there is a part of San Francisco called the “Chinese quarter,” in which the yellow people live in a crowded mass by themselves. Some are merchants and laundry- men; some are house servants, doing the work for which women are employed in most families; many are laborers, working in all manner of rough occupations.

39. One odd thing about them is that there are very few women among them. The men come here to get rich. They live on very little, lodging and eating as few white people would be willing to do. In this way they save up their money, expecting someday to go home to China to live. If one of them dies, the others try to send his body back to China for burial.

40. The European laborers do not like the Chinese. They say that the Asiatics are not good Americans; that they do not come here to live, and do not know or care anything about the republic; that they live as no American can, and so are able to work for wages which would not keep an American family ; that in the end back they go to China, carrying their savings with them. Congress has made laws, therefore, forbidding any more Chinese laborers to come here. It cannot be many years, under these laws, before the Chinese laborers will disappear from our republic. There are not many of them now. In 1860 there were 34,933; in 1870, 63,199; in 1880, 105,465; in 1890, 107,475. So we see how rapidly their numbers increased until the laws forbade their coming.

［1］ From Coffin's “Old Times in the Colonies.”

CHAPTER XVI

Who Are Our Rulers

1. The Law-Makers. We have seen that our republic has a great number of public officers.

To begin with, there are all the law-making bodies. At Washington is the federal congress, meeting every year for months at ,a time, and making laws for the nation. At each of the forty-five state capitals is a legislature, meeting either every year or every other year, and making laws for the state. Several territories have legislatures. At each county seat is some sort of county board, many of them meeting more than once in a year, and making laws for the county. Then, every city has its council, and in many states the village has a village board, meeting weekly, as a rule, and making laws for the city or the village.

2. Many sorts of laws are made. Some of them forbid certain things to be done—like the law against stealing. Other laws command something to be done—like the law which compels people to be vaccinated, so as to avoid small-pox. Many laws, in nation, state, county, and city, are tax laws; that is, they fix the amount and the kind of taxes which the people shall pay into the public treasury Many more laws decide how this money shall be spent. Part of it goes for the salaries of public officers; part for public buildings, like court-houses, prisons, schools, and post-offices; part of it for public services, like paving streets, carrying the mails, providing fire-engines. And there are many other kinds of laws.

3. Now, how are all these law-makers appointed? In almost every case they are elected by the people. The United States senators, to be sure, are chosen by the state legislatures, But the people elect the members of the legislatures. And the people elect the members of the national house of representatives, of the state legislatures, of the various county boards, and of the city councils. So we may say that in the end the people elect all the law-makers.

4. The Administrative Officers. Then, there are many officers busy in carrying out the laws. First of all, of course, is the president of the United States. Under his authority are his cabinet, the eight heads of departments, with the great number of officials under each, some in Washington, and many soldiers, postmasters and clerks, customs officers, and the like, scattered over the Union. Altogether there are nearly two hundred thousand federal officers subject to the direction of the president—quite an army, we see.

5. In each of the forty-five states there is a similar army, though much smaller, with a governor at the head. Besides the state officials, there are included also those in the counties, cities, towns, and villages. These people are busy with all the different kinds of public work. Many of them are occupied with the public money, assessors deciding the value of property on which taxes must be paid, others receiving payment of the taxes and giving the taxpayer receipts, others taking charge of the money thus collected and paying it out as directed by law.

6. Who appoints all these people to office? The president of the United States is chosen by election, and the electors are chosen by the people. The president appoints the most important of the federal officers, and they in turn, or some of them, appoint the inferior officers. We must remember that there are many appointments which the president cannot make without the approval of the senate.

7. To illustrate, we may take a post-office in a large city, like Chicago. The postmaster has charge. He is appointed by the president, with the approval of the senate. There is a number of clerks and letter-carriers. These are appointed by the postmaster-general, and the most of them can be removed only for bad conduct.

8. The postmasters in small places are appointed by the postmaster-general.

9. If we come to the states, we find that some of the officers are appointed by some one higher in authority, and many are elected by the people. The governor is always chosen by the people, as are the sheriffs, the mayors, and many more.

10. So we see that the officers who carry out the laws are either elected by the people or are appointed, directly or indirectly, by some one who is elected by the people.

11. The Courts of Law. The federal judges are all appointed by the president of the United States. Of course the senate has to be consulted. In some of the states, as in Massachusetts, the governor appoints the judges. But in most of the states the judges are elected by the people. Now, we remember that the people elect the governors, and that the electors who choose the president, and the state legislatures which choose the senators, are also elected by the people. So we see that the judges are either elected by the people or are appointed, directly or indirectly, by some one who is elected by the people.

12. How the Officers Are Chosen. Then, we are not far out of the way if we say that our whole government consists of officers who are chosen by the people. To be sure, the postmaster-general may appoint a village post-master. But the postmaster-general is appointed by the president, with the approval of the senate. And the president is really elected by the people. The electors whom the people choose would never think of voting for any one but the man nominated by their political party. The senators, too, are chosen by legislatures elected by the people. So, after all, the village postmaster depends for his office on the election by the people.

13. Elections. We are all familiar with elections. They are held often in November; many of them, especially for local officers, in the spring; in a few states, in August or September or October. Votes are cast by means of printed papers called ballots. Each voter has the right to cast one ballot. It is put into a locked box the ballot-box. At night, when the voting is ended, the ballot-box is unlocked and the votes are counted. Then the officers who have charge of the ballot-box make a report to the proper election officers. In this way it is found out who has the most votes, and he is elected. Sometimes one person has more than half of all the votes cast. This is a majority. In other cases no one has a majority, but one person has more votes than any one else. This is a plurality. The person who has a majority is always elected, and for most offices a plurality also elects.

14. Who Are “the People” ? Now, who are the people who elect so many officers in our republic? Is it all the people? Surely not. Many are children too young to vote. And in most of the states the women do not vote, either. So it is plain that the men who have the right to vote are less than half of all the people.

15. But the laws are not the same in all the states. In some states a man has the right to vote who, in some other states, would not have that right. In many states no one can vote unless he is a citizen of the United States, which, indeed, ought to be the law everywhere. In a few states, however, one who has taken his “first papers,” although he is not a citizen, has the right to vote. In a few states, also, no one may vote unless he can read and write, which surely seems a reasonable requirement. But in most of the states ignorance is no bar to voting.

16. The States Decide Who May Vote. We see from what has been said that it is the states that make the laws which give or withhold the right to vote. The United States government can make no such laws. The states may do very nearly as they please. So it is that some states allow women to vote at all elections. Some allow women to vote at elections for school officers, and many do not allow women to vote at all. If we wish to know who may vote, then, we must look in the constitution and laws of each of the states.

17. The People Who Vote Are the Real Rulers. And when we speak of the people as electing public officers, we mean the people who have the right to vote.

18. Our whole republic depends in the end on the wisdom of the people in voting. And so the safety and success of the republic will depend very largely on what sort of voters we have.

19. All voters ought to know for what they are voting. They ought to understand what the republic is, what are the duties of public officers, and why they prefer one man or one political party instead of another. Ignorant voters are easily led by dishonest and selfish politicians, and are likely to elect men who want office because they can make money out of it for themselves.

Ignorant voters are a danger to the republic.

20. All voters should be honest in casting their votes. A vote is not a piece of personal property, like a calf or a hog. It is, in fact, a trust for the public use. One is not voting for himself alone, but for the welfare of all the people—for those who cannot vote as well as for those who can. And, then, when a voter sells his vote he is guilty of shameless treachery to the republic. He is a traitor quite as truly as was Benedict Arnold in the revolutionary war.

But the one who buys the vote is no better. He also is a criminal, and a very dangerous one.

Any one who sells or buys a vote should never be allowed again to vote or hold office in our republic.

21. The Real State. The machinery of government is a mere means of the people to attain certain ends. No machinery will run of itself. No government is worth much unless honest and able men are selected to do its work. And such men never will be selected unless the people, who are the real rulers, themselves have high ideals of honesty and good government. What a famous English judge thought of this a century and more ago, and what a still more famous English judge thought three hundred years ago, it may be worth while to read.

What Constitutes a State?

SIR WILLIAM JONES［1］

WHAT constitutes a state?

Not high-raised battlements or labored mound,

Thick wall or moated gate;

Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crowned;

Not bays and broad-arm ports,

Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;

Not starred and spangled courts,

Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride.

No! Men—high-minded men

With powers as far above dull brutes endued,

In forest, brake, or den,

As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;

Men, who their duties know,

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain;

Prevent the long-aimed blow,

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain.

These constitute a state;

And sovereign law, that state's collected will,

O'er thrones and globes elate

Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.

*　　　　　　*　　　　　　*　　　　　　*　　　　　　*

The True Greatness of Nations

LORD BACON［2］

THE greatness of an estate, in bulk and territory, doth fall under measure; and the greatness of finance and revenue doth fall under computation. The population may appear by musters; and the number and greatness of cities and towns by cards and maps. But yet there is not anything, amongst civil affairs, more subject to error, than the right valuation and true judgment concerning the power and forces of an estate. The kingdom of heaven is compared, not to any great kernel, or nut, but to a grain of mustard seed; which is one of the least grains, but hath in it a property and spirit hastily to get up and spread. So are there states great in territory, and yet not apt to enlarge or command; and some that have but a small dimension of stem, and yet are apt to be the foundation of great monarchies.

Walled towns, stored arsenals and armories, goodly races of horses, chariots of war, elephants, ordnance, artillery, and the like: all this is but a sheep in a lion's skin, except the breed and disposition of the people be stout and warlike. Nay, number itself in armies importeth not much, where the people are of weak courage; for, as Virgil saith: It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep be. The army of the Persians, in the plains of Arbela, was such a vast sea of people as it did somewhat astonish the commanders in Alexander's army; who came to him, therefore, and wished him to set upon them by night; but he answered, He would not pilfer the victory; and the defeat was easy. When Tigranes, the Armenian, being encamped upon a hill with four hundred thousand men, discovered the army of the Romans, being not above fourteen thousand, marching towards him, he made himself merry with it, and said, Yonder men are too many for an embassage and too few for a fight. But, before the sun set, he found them enough to give him the chase with infinite slaughter.

22. Some of Our Advantages. Our republic has some great advantages over many other nations.

One of these is that we govern ourselves. There is no king or nobleman who inherits from his father the right to govern us. We choose our own law-makers, and if we dislike the laws they make, we choose others in their place. If we are governed badly, we know that it is our own fault.

23. We have a good system of government. Our national Constitution was made by some of the wisest men who ever lived, and we have become used to it. It fits us, like a well-made suit of clothes.

24. We have free speech and a free press, the right to organize parties or churches as we like, the right to assemble when and where we please for a public meeting. Many of these things are not permitted under some governments in Europe.

25. Some of Our Defects. While we have reason to love our country and to be proud of it, if we are honest we must admit that there are some serious faults in the government—faults which true patriots will do all in their power to remedy.

26. Many people who hold public office are not honest. They take advantage of every opportunity to get money for themselves; they are in politics, not for the public good, but for their private gain. They are bad servants of the people.

27. Party spirit is a bad thing. People belong to a political party, and learn to hate those who belong to any other. We vote blindly for a candidate merely because he has our party name, without stopping to inquire whether he is honest and capable or not. We are too apt to think that members of the other party are all enemies of the state. In fact, there are honest men and patriots in all parties. We ought to learn to differ in opinion without hating one another.

28. Indifference to public duty is another bad thing. Every citizen should know about the government and what it is doing. Every voter should take pains to vote, and to make sure that he does not vote for bad men. If people do nothing to make politics good, they have no right to complain when they find corrupt politicians in office, In fact, everybody ought to be a politician. That name should not be a term of reproach, as it often is now.

29. People are too eager to get rich rapidly. Many have done that. But many more have failed. And the eager strain after sudden wealth makes men envious of those who succeed, and too often teaches dishonesty as a less evil than poverty. In fact, every one ought to be able to earn an honest living, and, if possible, to lay up money for the future. But absolute honesty is better than all the riches of all the millionaires.

30. Another evil is that we are apt to pay least attention to what is going on nearest home. We get excited about the tariff, or the kind of money the government issues, or some foreign war, and forget all about our own local government. One of the worst defects in our republic is the bad government of our cities. If people would try as hard to get honest aldermen as they do to get their candidate for president elected, we should have a much better government at every point. If city and county politics are full of corruption and inefficiency, state and national politics will not be much better. Patriotism, like charity, should begin at home.

31. Some of Our Needs. In a free republic all the citizens ought to be intelligent. Every one should know about the government, and should understand his rights and his duties as a citizen.

32. We need more independence, less following party leaders. Voters should make up their own minds as to what is for the public good, and then vote as dictated by conscience rather than by a party.

33. We need a higher sense of honor. We should feel that self-respect is better than riches, and that no one can do a mean or dishonorable thing without losing respect for himself. But dishonesty in politics and in public office is both mean and dishonorable.

34. We need a more exalted patriotism. We should love our country so well that we not merely are proud of its great deeds, but also are jealous of its fair fame. We should be ready, if need be, to die in its defense, as so many brave men have done on the field of battle. We should also live in its service, doing all in our power to keep it free from reproach.

35. Our National Hymn. Samuel F. Smith was born in Boston in 1808, and graduated at Harvard College in 1829, in the same class with Oliver Wendell Holmes. It was at a reunion of that class that Dr. Holmes read a droll poem called “The Boys,” in which he referred to Dr. Smith in the following lines:

And there's a nice youngster of excellent pith—

Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith;

But he shouted a song for the brave and the free—

Just read on his medal, “My country, of thee!”

36. “America” was written in 1832 for a children's Sunday-school meeting in Boston. It is now the favorite national hymn. Dr. Smith died in 1895.

America

S. F. SMITH

MY country! 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride;

From every mountain side,

Let freedom ring.

My native country! thee,

Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love:

I love thy rocks and rills,

Thy woods and templed hills;

My heart with rapture thrills,

Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,

And ring from all the trees,

Sweet freedom's song;

Let mortal tongues awake,

Let all that breathe partake,

Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God! to thee,

Author of Liberty!

To thee we sing;

Long may our land be bright

With freedom's holy light;

Protect us by thy might,

Great God, our King!

［1］ Sir William Jones, born 1746, died 1794, was a famous English scholar and jurist.

［2］ Lord Bacon, born 1560, died 1626, was one of the greatest writers and thinkers in the history of England. He was lord high chancellor of the kingdom, and the author of immortal works of a varied character.

APPENDIX

A Brief Account of the Constitution of the United States

THE Constitution of the United States, briefly mentioned on page 87 and page 88, was made by a convention of our wisest men, which met at Philadelphia in 1787. The Constitution consists of a short preface, commonly called the preamble; of seven parts, called articles; and of fifteen additions, called amendments. These amendments have been made at different times, the last having been adopted in 1870.

THE PREAMBLE

“We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”［1］

Article I

This article treats of federal laws. It is divided into ten parts, called sections.

The first six of these sections provide for the federal law-making body, the congress (p. 112).

The seventh section prescribes the methods which congress shall follow in making laws.

The eighth section contains the powers of congress—that is, the kinds of laws which congress may make.

The ninth section contains prohibitions on congress—that is, the kinds of laws which congress may not make.

The tenth section contains prohibitions on the states—that is, the things which neither the constitutions nor the laws of the states must permit.

Article II

This article treats of the enforcement of federal laws. It is divided into four sections.

The first section provides for the federal executive—that is, the president of the United States (p. 119). It prescribes the mode of his election, what sort of person may be elected, what shall be done in case of the president's death, and other matters.

The second section contains the powers of the president—that is, the things which he has a right to do.

The third section contains the duties of the president—that is, the things which he must do.［2］

The fourth section prescribes what shall be done in case the president, or any of the officers under him, shall misbehave in office.

Article III

This article treats of the way in which the federal laws and Constitution are explained, and of how justice is done in case of dispute about the meaning of these laws, or in case they are broken. It is divided into three sections.

The first section provides for the federal courts (p. 192) —“one supreme court, and … such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”

The second section contains the powers of the federal courts—that is, what sorts of lawsuits they may decide.

The third section defines the crime of treason, and prescribes how it may, and how it may not, be punished.

Article IV

This article treats of the states. It is divided into four sections.

The first and second sections detail some duties of the states to one another.

The third section prescribes how new states may be admitted into the Union (p. 96), and gives congress the control of the federal territory (p. 96).

The fourth section details some duties of the Union to the separate states.

Article V

This article treats of the way in which the federal Constitution may be amended—that is, changed in any way by alteration or addition. It is in the way here prescribed that the fifteen amendments (p. 241, 243) have been adopted.

Article VI

This article (in three sections) contains some miscellaneous agreements.

The most important is the second section, which provides that the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States “shall be the supreme law of the land,” and that no state may make any law which shall conflict with them, or with any part of them.

Article VII

This article provided that as soon as nine of the thirteen states should accept the Constitution, the government for which it provided should at once go into effect.

It has been said that the convention which framed the Constitution met at Philadelphia in 1787. General Washington presided. The work was finished in the early autumn, and the congress at once sent the proposed plan of government to the states. They approved it, and so, as provided in the seventh article, the new government was formed. Senators and representatives were elected from the several states, and George Washington was unanimously elected president. The new congress met at New York on the 4th of March, 1789. Thus this is the date, every second year, of the beginning of the term of a new congress, and every fourth year of the inauguration of a new president.

THE AMENDMENTS

From time to time changes and additions have been made in the way prescribed in Article V. There are now fifteen of these amendments.

The first ten amendments were all adopted in the first term of Washington as president, and are further prohibitions on congress, or on the federal courts—that is, they contain a list of things which neither congress nor the courts may do.

The eleventh amendment, adopted in 1798, is another prohibition on the federal courts.

The twelfth amendment changes the way of electing the president and vice-president. The old way, as provided in Article II, was found to be very clumsy, so this amendment was made (in 1804).

The last three amendments were adopted after the civil war. The thirteenth prohibits slavery. The fourteenth has several sections relating to citizenship, elections, public office, and the public debt. The fifteenth amendment is a prohibition on the states, with reference to elections.

［1］ The full text of the Constitution may be found in almost any school text-book on the history of the United States or on civil government.

［2］ In this section there is one thing which is rather a power than a duty, and which therefore might better have been put in the second section—the power to summon congress in special session, and to adjourn it under certain circumstances.

PART II

中文阅读

我希望这本书能实现双重功能：一方面能提供阅读练习，同时又能向读者提供一些知识；只要我们持之以恒地从书中汲取养分，而不是零星地、断断续续地这样做，那么这样的阅读可能会很有意义。

我也希望本书能对老师在这些方面提供帮助，成为新的教学方式的核心，此类教学工作围绕它来进行。当然，每位老师都要以适合自己的方式来加以运用。我无意创作一部介绍公民学或研究美国历史的鸿篇巨著，而只是对我们政府的体制进行了概要描述，留给老师在其中填充血肉，并因地制宜地用于教学。至于历史，那似乎在了解特定的现存制度时才显得有用。倘若文中简洁的历史论述足以阐明政府的各方面主题，同时又能激发读者更广泛阅读、更强烈求知，那么作者就非常满足了。

——哈里·P·贾德森

（芝加哥大学第二任校长）

Chapter 01

我们的祖国

1.为什么我们热爱自己的国家。每个优秀的美国公民都热爱自己的国家并为之骄傲。我们的这种热爱和自豪都是有充分理由的。无论从国土面积、人口数量，还是从财富和实力上讲，我们的国家都是世界上最伟大的国家之一。我们还认为，我们伟大共和国的公民，也是世界上最有智慧的人。免费的公立学校使每个人都可以接受某种教育，而书籍和报纸更是在每家每户都可以看到。不过更值得称道的，是我们所享有的自由。我们不受国王或皇帝的统治。我们选择自己的州府官员，他们其实并不是我们的统治者，仅仅是人民的公仆。在有些国家，警察总是干涉人们的生活，未经警察同意，任何人不准公开集会。警察盯着酒店里登记的客人，不放过任何陌生人的行踪。如果成立一个俱乐部或辩论协会，必须事先向警方通报。此外，每个年轻人都必须服几年兵役，因为欧洲的多数国家始终保持着规模庞大的军队，随时准备战争。而现在，在我们这里，警察和士兵就没那么重要了。只要你不是贼或其他犯罪分子，警察就不会管你那么多。而且在我们国家，谁也不必非得服兵役。我们为数不多的士兵全都是自愿参军。简而言之，我们生活在一个自由的国度，在这里，每个人都可以按照自己的方式生活，只要不干涉周围人的权利就可以。

2.这是我们热爱自己国家的几个原因。当然还有许多其他原因，不过仅仅这几条，恐怕就足以体现我们的用意了。除此之外，可能还应该加上一条，那就是我们的家。对任何诚实的男女来说，几乎没有什么词比“家”更亲切了。但是，正如家是家庭生活的中心一样，我们的祖国也是全国人民生活的中心。我们的祖国是我们父母的家园，我们兄弟姐妹的家园。如果一个人连自己的家都不爱，那他就是个忘恩负义的可怜虫。

3.爱国者对我们意味着什么。爱国者是指热爱自己家乡——自己祖国的人。人们体现爱国主义的方式多种多样。在战时，当国家安全受到某个公敌的威胁时，人们会做好参军乃至必要时捐躯的准备，以捍卫自己的祖国。此外，真正的爱国者为一切能体现祖国声望的言行而高兴，渴望自己国家的公共事务不被任何私利或耻辱玷污。他渴望本国政府在与他国政府交往时始终保持公正和大度。他不希望通过过度暴力的手段或欺骗的手段从其他国家那里获利，尤其是从弱国身上捞到好处。他为自己祖国在文明领域取得的每一点进步而欢欣鼓舞，并为恶人或不当手段的胜利而痛苦。他随时准备尽己所能，使祖国变得更美好、更强大、更安全。

4.什么样的人不是爱国者。我们已经看到美国人为祖国而自豪的一些原因。不过，我们根本没必要为了当一个爱国者而自夸。实际上，真正的爱国者对自己国家的内在优点充满自信，以至于没必要为此过多地标榜。如果一个人习惯于宣扬自己多么诚实，就会令人怀疑他的最终目的是不是掩饰他的某些不实之处。不管怎么说，自夸是一种脆弱而愚蠢的习惯。吹嘘自己的国家，就像一个小男孩吹嘘父亲多么有钱或姐妹多么漂亮一样的蠢。

5.贬低别的国家也不能表示你爱国。我们可能最热爱自己的祖国，不过，如果一个人不知道其他国家也很伟大、很强大、很著名，那么只能说明他很无知。如果我们敬重其他民族、欣赏他们的良好品质，那么反过来才能更好地了解和欣赏自己国家的类似品质。

6.嘲笑其他种族不是爱国主义的表现。年轻人总以为自己比出生于异国他乡的同伴优越，并且通过给对方起某种愚蠢的绰号来体现自身的优越性。但是这样做很可笑。同伴是德国人又怎么样？古往今来，德国人中也不乏一些最伟大的名人，也干过一番最令人仰慕的伟业。同伴是意大利人又怎么样？意大利是一块美丽的土地，因全国各地有一些最杰出的画家和音乐家，一些最有思想的政治家和最勇敢的战士而闻名于世。同伴是犹太人又怎么样？犹太人非常了不起，如果将伟人中的犹太人列个名单，可以列得很长很长。其实，身处以上提到的任何一个民族，或其他一些有可能提到的民族当中，都足以令人高兴和自豪。

真正的爱国主义

威廉·沃森

爱国者，曾经辉煌的名称，

谁也不能否认，

但他从祖国健全的肌体中看见瑕疵，

在她的一片洁白中看到不相称的污渍。

英格兰！虔诚的儿子向你声讨。是的！

难道从你肚子里生下的我们，不应当反抗而应当温顺？

甚至连你也不应当吓唬我们，

作为我们，你自豪的孩子，决不会下贱地坐等。

这便是我们虔诚的标准——

感受你的高贵，又为你执迷不悟而流泪。

这个道理连你最忠实的仆从都承认——

你的罪过，连最爱你的人也捶胸悔恨。

我们理解你的信仰和忠诚！

尊敬你的最好方式，

就是只对你最好的一面加以崇敬。

7.身为一名爱国者应当懂得什么。对一名爱国者来说，仅仅认为自己的祖国是一块很美好、很舒适的土地还不够。任何看法只有来源于真知灼见，才有一定价值可言。人越是无知，就越充满偏见，这是一个公认的事实。不过，偏见仅仅是一种坚定的看法，这种看法是由于知识基础比较薄弱而形成的。实际上，我们说，如果发表看法的人对自己所说的话题知之甚少，那么他发表的意见就没什么价值。一个一辈子都在城里生活的珠宝商人，可能对农活知之不多。如果他此时前往农村，就庄稼的管理问题向某个农民提一条建议，那么农民肯定会笑话他。这位珠宝商人对于修表的看法，无疑要比那位农民的相应看法更为合理，但从另一方面讲，农民对于怎样种庄稼肯定更加内行。换言之，一种看法有没有价值，关键看提出它的人有没有具备相关知识。

8.因此，如果我们对自己祖国的历史知之甚少，那么对它的看法就不会有什么价值。我们应当了解它是怎样管理的，法律是怎样制定和执行的，什么是法庭、法庭怎样完成司法工作，以及一个公民有哪些权利、没有哪些权利。我们应当知道自己的祖国是怎样发展到今天这个样子的，它所诞生的伟大人物有哪些，以及这些伟人都干了什么。有了这方面的了解，我们的看法就不大可能只是偏见。

9.我们应当对国家的管理方式多一些了解的原因，还有重要一条：在我们国家，每个年满21岁的成年人都有投票权。我国的公务员当中，绝大多数都是选举出来的。如果投票人对自己投票的目的茫然不知，那么他在选举过程中就发挥不了什么作用。这种人很容易被精明而又不道德的政治煽动家所利用，从而成为纯粹的工具和奴隶。人们经常说，知识就是力量。我们或许可以补充一句：对公共事务的了解就是自由。

10.旗帜。每个国家都有自己的国旗，由色彩和符号合理搭配而成。这面旗帜在海面船只的桅杆上飘扬，从而马上能表示这艘船属于哪个国家。国旗在要塞和军营的旗杆上升起，在行军和战斗中握在战士手上，并且非常普遍地被人用来表示爱国。在7月4日，我们在全国各地都能看到美国国旗，今天，在美国许多地区都习惯于让国旗在校园高高飘扬，只要学校在上课。美国国旗上有13根水平的线条，其中有7根是红色的，6根是白色的。国旗上方靠近旗杆的一角，是一个填满白色星星的蓝色方框。13根线条表示美国最早的13个州，而星星则代表现在各州的数量。国家每接纳一个州，就会于7月4日在国旗上加一颗星星。

11.美国联邦包括45个州［1］。但是，在1896年7月4日之前，没有哪面国旗上面的星星超过44颗。犹他是1896年1月4日成为州的。1896年7月3日，在美国要塞、船只或建筑物上升起的每一面国旗，都还只有44颗星星，这体现了1895年7月4日前州的数量；但是，在1896年7月4日早晨，每一面这样的国旗上就都应当有45颗星星。

12.一首名曲是怎样写成的。在1814年美国与英国的第二次战争中，一只英国特遣队企图攻克巴尔的摩市。为达此目的，他们必须首先攻陷麦克亨利堡，于是，战舰向该要塞附近机动，并猛烈发射加农炮、炸弹和火箭。在战斗中，一小股美国人携带一面表示停战的旗子前往英军舰队，以此作为交换，要求对方释放一名被俘的美国公民。这些带着停战旗的人当中，有一位就是弗朗西斯·斯科特·凯。交换完成了，这些美国人却整个晚上都被扣留在舰队中远离攻击后方的位置，以防止他们将目睹的一切作为情报提供给美军。轰炸一直持续到天黑后很久，凯先生着急地听着枪炮声，看着红色的火箭和炸响的炮弹，心想，只要炮弹射击没有停止，要塞肯定仍未失陷。但是到了深夜，炮声却停了。这是否意味着进攻一方被击退？还是坚守要塞的一方已经投降？一切只有等到天亮，才会真相大白。在天亮之前，焦急的美国人始终在观望。他们从黎明的第一丝曙光看到，星星和条纹仍然在城墙上高高飘扬。于是他们知道，敌人的进攻遭到了挫败，美国人获得了胜利。凯先生带着狂喜的心情走上甲板，以一首爱国歌词抒发自己的情感。他将这首歌词飞快地写在从口袋里找到的一张纸上。上岸之后，他将这首歌交给一位朋友，当它在巴尔的摩的一家剧院歌唱时，演唱者一边唱，一边挥舞着一面国旗。观众的激情瞬间点燃，近乎疯狂。很快，一首新歌唱遍整个共和国，如今已经为所有美国人熟知和喜爱。这首歌叫做“星条旗永不落”。

星条旗永不落

哦，你可看见，透过一线曙光，

我们对着什么，发出欢呼的声浪？

谁的阔条明星，冒着一夜炮火，

依然迎风招展，在我军碉堡上？

火炮闪闪发光，炸弹轰轰作响，

它们都是见证，国旗安然无恙。

你看星条旗仍然在高高飘扬，

在这自由国家，勇士的家乡。

透过稠密的雾，隐约望见对岸，

顽敌正在酣睡，四周沉寂夜阑珊。

微风断断续续，吹过峻崖之巅。

你说那是什么，风中半隐又半现？

现在它的身上，映着朝霞烂漫，

凌空照在水面，霎时红光一片。

这是星条旗但愿它永远飘扬，

在这自由国家，勇士的家乡。

都到哪里去了，信誓旦旦的人？

他们想往的是，能在战争中幸存，

家乡和祖国，不会抛弃他们。

他们自己用血，洗清肮脏的脚印。

这些奴才佣兵，没有地方藏身，

逃脱不了挫败，和死亡的命运。

但是星条旗将要永远飘扬，

在这自由国家，勇士的家乡。

玉碎还是瓦全，摆在我们面前，

自由人将奋起，保卫国度长招展，

祖国自有天相，胜利和平在望，

建国家保家乡，感谢上帝的力量，

我们一定得胜，正义属于我方，

“我们信赖上帝”，此语永矢不变。

你看星条旗将永远永远飘扬，

在这自由国家，勇士的家乡。

13.萨摩亚岛上的风暴。1889年春天，南太平洋上的萨摩亚岛遇到了麻烦。当时，德国、大英帝国和美国的战舰航行到那里，这些船只都停靠在阿皮亚港。这个港口是一个半圆形小港湾，浅水从海滩处向远方蔓延，珊瑚礁在海湾的入口附近交织，只留下很窄的一条缝，可供船只进入港湾。3月的一天，一场猛烈的暴风雨突然来临。风疾浪高，使得船只拉拽着锚桩，有4艘舰船和10只小船被相继拖拉上岸并严重损毁。近150名船员献出生命。在狂风之下，英国“缪斯神”号船只的船长决定离港，设法驶上海面，因为这是保全船只、避免失事的唯一方法。这只勇敢的船把所有蒸汽机全部打开，一点一点地在与嚎叫的狂风和凶猛的海浪搏斗中艰难前行。“这艘英国船只的这种举动，被视为海军史上最大胆之举。她的指挥官要想拯救船只和船上300名船员的性命，就必须创造机会、铤而走险。在这关键时刻，这个庞然大物很可能给所有人带来的都是死亡。要想顺利通过港湾，‘缪斯神’号必须从‘特伦顿’号（美国旗舰）和礁石之间穿过，这一方面看需要最娴熟的航行技术以免与‘特伦顿’号相撞，另一方面看，则可能一头撞在礁石上彻底报销。就在这时，‘特伦顿’号上的大火已经熄灭，她无助地横亘在‘缪斯神’号前进的路上。这艘美国旗舰的覆灭似乎仅仅是几个小时以内的事情。船上几乎所有人都觉得自己的船必定很快被撞得粉碎，只能在珊瑚礁底下找一块葬身之地了。旗舰的甲板上挤满了人，但是，在自己面临死亡时，他们却对英国船只的英勇斗争行为很是赞许。当‘缪斯神’号从他们旁边仅几英尺的地方穿过时，‘特伦顿’号上的400多人发出一片欢呼。‘向缪斯神号欢呼三遍！’当英国水手们冒着暴风雨驶出港湾时，这些声音传到他们耳中。此时，每名英国人的心中，都对勇敢的美国水手心存感激，因为他们为这艘英国女王的船只送去了临别时的颂扬。英国水手们对‘特伦顿’号上的欢呼作出了回应，‘缪斯神’号安全驶向海面；当暴风雨逐渐平息之后，再次返回。船上的指挥官凯恩船长事后在谈及此事时说：‘美国旗舰上那些响亮的欢呼声深深地穿透我的心，我将永远记得他们迸发出的那种强烈的善意，我觉得，这种善意发自那艘勇敢的旗舰及其全体船员们的心底。‘缪斯神’号船上的每个人都和我有同感，这种情感激励我们勇猛向前。我只能说，‘愿上帝保佑美国，保佑她高尚的船员！’”他们对“缪斯神”号勇敢的英国船员的无畏勇气所倾倒、所震撼，而在自己的危境当中，他们也表现出同样的无畏。英国已经第二次在战争中与我们为敌。不过话要说回来，在和平年代，我们不会忘记英国人和美国人一脉相承。在那天晚些时候，当船只一艘接一艘撞得粉碎时，当“特伦顿”号被撞毁陷入无助、看似注定要遇难时，海滩上焦急的人们从飓风的怒吼声中听到了天籁之音。那是“特伦顿”号船上的乐队在演奏“星条旗永不落”。勇敢的水手在直面死神时，耳中仍然聆听着国歌，心中仍然回荡着激昂的旋律。这将他们的思绪带到他们无比热爱并随时打算为之献身的祖国。

14.关于国旗的另一首诗。约瑟夫·罗德曼·德拉克是一位很有前途的年轻美国诗人。可惜的是，他还没有完全展示自己的罕见才能就英年早逝（他1820年去世时，只有25岁）。才7岁的时候，他就掌握了很多文学知识：14岁时，他已经能创作出很优秀的诗歌了。他的主要诗作是“犯人的信仰”(The Culprit Fay)和“美国国旗”一诗中催人奋进的诗节。

美国国旗

约瑟夫·罗德曼·德拉克

当自由站在她的高山之巅

向苍穹展示她的标准，

她撕开蓝色的夜幕，

在上面放下荣耀之星。

她用绚丽的染料倒在上面，

成为天空乳白色的饰带，

她用天边曙光织成的彩带，

给它划上一道道纯洁的条纹；

随后她又从太阳宫里

唤来送信的雄鹰，

向他有力的大手

递上代表她精选土地的象征。

威严的云之君主

站在你高耸的王座上，

听着暴风雨起劲地轰鸣

看着闪电像梭镖一样驱赶云层，

当他与风暴勇士奋起抗争，

当天上雷声滚滚，

太阳之子啊！上苍让你

护卫自由的旗帜，

在弥漫的硝烟上空盘旋，

驱走战场上的浓烟，

祈求和谐共荣在远方辉映，

就像战争阴云中的道道彩虹，

那是胜利的先声！

勇敢之旗！折起的你应当飘扬在天空

将希望和胜利的标志高高举起，

一旦嘹亮的军号萦绕，

长长的队伍就会透过丝丝亮光前进。

温暖湿润的鲜血

使闪亮的刺刀黯淡无光，

每个战士的眼睛都会明亮地凝视

你天赐荣耀之火燃烧之地；

他一边大踏步地跳跃前进，

一边不经意地带走战争和仇恨。

当加农炮的炮口开始怒吼，

旷野的花环裹起尸首，

血淋淋的战刀高高砍下

就像夜幕中的火焰闪过一瞬，

你匆匆的一瞥是那般耀眼，

不寒而栗的敌人慌忙退缩

每一只孔武的臂膀向下猛击

优雅地将死神的旨意传承。

大海之旗！在汹涌的海浪之上

你的星星在勇敢者头上闪光；

当风中摇曳的死神

在黑暗中席卷满帆，

可怕的浪花狂野地向后冲荡，

冲得船舷摇摇晃晃

海上每一个奄奄一息的迷茫者

都立刻仰视天空、注视着你，

带着胜利的喜悦笑看你美丽的飞翔

在他合上的眼睛之上。

国旗！自由之心的希望和家乡！

天使之手只会与勇敢者相向！

你的星星已经将穹顶照亮，

你所有的色彩都诞生于天堂。

愿国旗永远飘荡！

它使敌人胆寒，使我们神往，

带着我们脚下自由的土壤，

自由的旗帜永远飘扬在我们的头顶上！

15.大法官霍普金森的爱国歌曲。约瑟夫·霍普金森（1770-1842）是费城本地人，父亲是《独立宣言》的签署人之一。约瑟夫先在宾夕法尼亚大学深造，后来成为一名律师，在国会任过议员，并成为联邦法院的法官。他在1798年创作了“嗨，哥伦比亚！”，当时，美国和法国即将爆发战争。那时候，民众的情绪非常激昂。年轻的美国海军被送往海面，去保卫我们的商船，建立一支陆军的工作也在紧张筹备之中。在弗农山赋闲的华盛顿临危受命，负责掌管这支陆军。约翰·亚当斯是时任总统。当时被称为“总统行军”的乐曲作为一首广泛流行的爱国曲调，不仅在剧院里上演，也在大街小巷上由乐队演奏。年轻的霍普金森先生应邀为这支乐曲写一首歌词，而且这首歌很可能由于被一位著名歌唱家演唱而出名。这首歌便是“嗨，哥伦比亚！”，它的演奏被情绪极度疯狂的听众所接受。不出几天，它便从缅因州唱到佐治亚州。

嗨，哥伦比亚！

约瑟夫·霍普金森

嗨！哥伦比亚，幸福之地！

嗨！天生的英雄们！

为自由事业奋勇战斗，

为自由事业流血牺牲，

当战争的风暴消逝，

享受勇士们赢得的和平。

让我们为独立而自豪，

永远不忘巨大的牺牲。

我们的事业值得骄傲，

让英魂的圣坛高入云霄！

坚定团结，团结如钢，

集聚在自由的身旁，

组成兄弟般的队伍，

和平和自由就能得保障。

不朽的爱国者快奋起，

再次保卫你的权利！

啊，决不让敌人的魔爪，

决不让敌人的魔爪，

来侵犯我圣者的灵地，

在那圣洁的圣殿里，

正躺着流血牺牲的爱国者。

当我们获取了和平和公义，

就尽了天赋的责任，

公正和真理将盛行于世，

奴役的诡计决不能得逞。

坚定团结，团结如钢，

集聚在自由的身旁，

组成兄弟般的队伍，

和平和自由就能得保障。

听！赞美声四处响，

把领袖华盛顿赞扬！

那英名传遍全国各地，

那英名传遍世界各方，

使每个自由之乡，

都能愉快地听见赞扬。

无论是残酷的战争年代，

或是愉快的太平时光，

他用神似的技能和力量，

来治理我们的新家园。

坚定团结，团结如钢，

集聚在自由的身旁，

组成兄弟般的队伍，

和平和自由就能得保障。

看！管理国家的领袖，

为保卫祖国而重新操劳。

那风暴会再冲击岩石，

那风浪会再袭击城乡，

他与上帝和你们紧相连，

用坚定真诚的美德来武装。

在忧愁笼罩着哥伦比亚，

悲观失望的时光，

他意志坚定毫不动摇，

不获自由宁愿死亡。

坚定团结，团结如钢，

集聚在自由的身旁，

组成兄弟般的队伍，

和平和自由就能得保障。

［1］美国目前有50个州，其中夏威夷和阿拉斯加是2个海外州。

Chapter 02

共和国

1.在共和政体下我们是什么样子。我们美国人对自己国家喜爱之处，有一点就是它是一种共和制的政府构成方式。北美洲和南美洲所有独立的国家如墨西哥、智利和巴西都是共和制国家。而在欧洲，只有法国和瑞士是共和制国家，所有其他国家都是君主制。

2.在一个共和国，所有公务员都是由人民选举或者由某些人民选出的人任命的，而所有法律也都是一群由人民选出的人制定的。如果人民不喜欢他们制定的法律，就只能选出一个新的立法团体。如果公务员们不像人民期望的那样恪尽职守，也很容易对他们作出改变。因此可以看出，在共和制国家，人民真正实现了自我管理。

3.国王和皇帝。在君主制国家就不同了。政府的头头是君主，通常叫做国王或皇帝。他不是人民选出来的，他占据如此统治地位，仅仅是因为他父亲是他的前任国王或皇帝。同样，如果人民不喜欢他，也不能另外选出一个人来取而代之。只要活着，他就可以一直待在自己的职位上，而即便是死了，他的儿子（在某些国家，如果他没有儿子，也可以是女儿）便接替他成为君主。

4.俄国是怎样统治的。俄国是纯粹君主制国家的一个典型例子。俄国的君主叫做沙皇，也就是皇帝的意思。当一位沙皇去世后，他的长子（如果没有儿子，那就是长女）会立即继承皇位，并在位置上一直到死。因此，人民在决定谁当自己的君主这个问题上是没有发言权的。

5.俄国的所有法律都是沙皇制定的。当然，他手下有人负责对制定什么样的法律提出建议。但是，这些人是沙皇选出来的，所以他不一定非得受这些建议左右。因此，实际上仍然是他在制定法律，其他人对此不能说三道四。

6.同样地，俄国的所有公务员都既不是沙皇任命的，也不是被某个沙皇任命的人任命的。因此，人民对由什么人来统治自己别无选择。

7.简而言之，沙皇差不多可以随心所欲地统治俄国。如果他决定发动战争，那么人民是否愿意无关紧要。军队和舰队都听从沙皇的命令，赋税和征税都由他说了算。至于是战争还是和平，那要看沙皇高兴怎么样了。

8.拥有如此权力的统治者叫做独裁君主。在文明国家，统治者的权力就没有这么大了。在欧洲，几乎除俄国之外的每个国家，人民都拥有一定的管理权。但是，他们几乎无一例外地都有一个君主，而且这个君主实行终身制，死了之后其位置由儿子继承。

9.贵族阶层。多数君主国还有一个贵族阶层。我们这样说的意思，是指这样一群人，他们拥有某些其他人不具有的特权，尤其是政治上的特权。例如，在英国，法律是由一群叫做“议会”的人制定的。这个机构中的一部分人由人民选出，就像在共和制国家那样。但是，另一部分人，即所谓的“上院”，其成员中的大多数却仅仅由于父辈此前占据了同一位置，才有成为议会成员的权利。当某位上院议员去世之后，他的长子便立即继承父业，像俄国的沙皇一样。

10.有一个时期，贵族阶层的成员还有许多其他特权。不过在大多数国家，这些特权都不复存在了。不过，在拥有君主和贵族阶层的国家身上，仍然不难看出一点：人民无法像共和制国家中的百姓那样，可以自己当家做主。

11.在共和国没有世袭阶层。在我们国家，既没有君主，也没有世袭的立法者。对我们来说，如果有人仅仅因为父辈曾任公职、自己就应当同样如此，那未免太好笑了。我们知道，在大多数情况下，儿子未必能遗传父亲的气质、头脑或优良品性。我们不理解为什么应该有世袭的君主或议会议员，就像无法理解杂货商、老师或农民也能世袭一样。其实，不过在几百年之前，几乎所有职业还都在通过同样的方式代代相传。但是，如今人们已经懂得，鞋匠的儿子可能做鞋的水平很差，倘若他更愿意当一个裁缝，我们还有理由不去干涉。不管怎么说，我们更愿意选举自己的公务员，而不是任由他们的出身来为我们选择；我们更愿意制定自己的法律，而不是让某些不是由我们选出来做这件事的人来为我们制定。

12.在一个共和国可以取得怎样的成就。在一个共和国，一个很穷的小男孩只要头脑足够聪颖、意志足够坚定，就很可能会功成名就。亚伯拉罕·林肯是我们最伟大的总统之一。他父亲是一个穷人，亚伯拉罕小时候住在伊利诺伊一个农场的小木屋里，每天都干着最苦最累的活。读书和接受在校教育对他来说是很难实现的。但是，他却下决心抓住一切机会学习。就这样，在干了一天繁重的工作之后，他利用晚上时间，借着壁炉上松油灯的亮光读书学习。有一次，他借来一本好书，迫不及待地就想掌握其中全部内容，于是便不惜笔墨逐字逐句地完整抄下来。在经过多年坚韧的跋涉之后，他掌握的知识足以使他当一名律师。在这一行业，他始终没有丢掉勤勉的习惯，总是如饥似渴地求知，总是不断变得更有思想、更加敏锐。慢慢地，他成了一位伟大的政治领袖，最终当选为美国总统。在这个位置上，他在美国社会陷入极度困境和危险之时，展示了非凡的智慧。当时爆发了一场血腥的内战，眼看共和国就要分崩离析。但是，国家得救了。只要历史还在讲述我们共和国的故事，林肯的名字就会不朽。就这样，这个曾经以耕种玉米、劈木材（林肯因此还得到一个“劈材者”的绰号——译者注）勉强度日的穷小子，成长为一个伟大国家的领袖。而这在一个君主制国家几乎是不可能出现的。但是，我们美国的许多伟人（包括政治家、将军和演讲家）都有着与林肯类似的经历。在一个共和国，每个人都有出人头地的机会。

13.一位美国诗人的心声。亨利·沃兹沃斯·朗费罗是美国最伟大的诗人之一。他于1807年出生于缅因州，1882年逝世。他1825年毕业于所在州的鲍迪奥因学院，后来在母校谋得一个教授职位。在这一岗位上，他又通过努力获得哈佛大学的教授职位。在哈佛，他连续工作了20年左右，退休后将所有时间都用于写作。在漫长的一生中，他创作了许多诗歌。下面几行诗句是从“造船厂”中摘取的。

共和国

亨利·W·朗费罗

你，国家之舟，再次扬帆起航！

起航吧，伟大坚强的联邦！

怀着所有恐惧，怀着所有对未来的希望，

人类屏住呼吸依附在你的命运之上！

我们知道在你的龙骨上躺着哪位主人，

是哪些工人为你制成的钢梁。

是谁制作了每根桅杆、风帆和缆绳，

是哪些铁砧敲击声响起，是哪些铁锤击下，

经过一番锻造淬火，

才构成了希望之锚的形状！

不要惧怕每一次突然的震动和声响，

那是岩石承受着拍打它的巨浪，

那不过是风帆的悸动，

不是大风声讨的疯狂，

无论岩礁和风雨怎样怒吼，

无视海滩上那误导你的灯光，

起航吧，再也不怕面向海洋！

我们的心，我们的希望，都与你相伴；

我们的心，我们的希望，我们的祈祷，我们的泪水，

我们对胜利的信心战胜了恐惧，

全都伴你远航，——全都伴你远航！

Chapter 03

法律和立法者

1.我们在法律中的地位是什么。人们在谈到“法”的时候经常有些茫然，因为觉得它们是很特殊的东西。不过，如果我们对自身在法律中的地位比较清楚，就不难理解什么是法了。

例如，我们说起万有引力“法则”时，它不过表示物体相互吸引；一块扔向空中的石头会朝着地面下落（正如孩子们所说，“任何事物上去了就必须下来”）；我们还知道怎样计算此类下落物体的速度。但是，我们马上会意识到，这种法则不是人所能创造的，我们不过是发现了“法”而已。这便是我们所称的“自然法则”。

2.当一位绅士在大街上遇到一位女士时，倘若他与对方比较熟识，就会抬抬帽子以示尊敬。他希望彬彬有礼，而且希望她心里清楚：他是懂得礼貌需要他怎么做的。这种向女士脱帽的规矩便是常见的礼貌法则之一。这样的法则还有很多。我们很难说是谁创造了它们，但它们是被广泛认可并遵守的。人们会留意这些用于规范行为的法则，因此大概也叫做“法”。不过，我们马上会发现它们与自然法则还是有很大区别的。万有引力法则仅仅是常见的法则，通过这一法则，我们会发现物体彼此吸引。但是，抛向空中的石头总会不由自主地落向地面。实际上它别无选择。从另一方面讲，人倘若希望不礼貌，他便可以不礼貌。许多人的举止就非常粗鲁。这时候我们说，他们违犯了礼貌法则。相比之下，没有人听说过一块石头可以“违犯”万有引力法则。

3.如果窃贼由于盗窃被抓获，警察立即会把他押到警察局。很快，这个犯人便会发现自己的前面是一位法官和陪审员。如果陪审团对事实的陈述感到满意，法官便会判他入狱。法官会说，这是根据“法”作出的——这种“法”会解释盗窃是什么意思、能够为盗窃行为定罪。通过逮捕并惩罚犯罪分子来执法是警察和法庭的职责所在。我们立即会发现，这样的“法”之所以制定和执法，是为了人们能够享受自己的私有财产。如果法庭和警察无法可依，那么小偷就可以为所欲为。这样每个人都只好日夜盯着自己的物件以免失窃了。

4.在这五花八门的“法”当中，我们现在需要讨论的仅仅是第三种，即被法官和陪审团以及法庭用来强制执行的那种“法”。当我们谈到国法、立法人、律师时，指的便是这种法。

5.谁制定的法律？每个国家都有自己的一套法律体系。有些法解释了禁止哪些行为、如何预防出现此类行为，以及一旦实施了此类行为会受到怎样的处罚。法律明令禁止的行为叫做犯罪，而与犯罪行为相关的法律叫做刑法，违犯了这些法律的人叫做犯罪分子。此外，还有其他一些规范商务、为收债提供方法、销售土地需要登记在册等等各种各样的法律。还有一些法律则规定警察和法官之类的公务员应当怎样产生，以及他们的权利和义务是什么。

6.所有这些法律都必须由某些人来制定，我们应当知道到底是谁有权制定每个人都必须遵守的法律，这一点非常重要。学校的规定是由老师制定的，但是它们只针对学校里的男生和女生。合众国的法律应当为这块土地上的每个男人、女人和孩子遵守。

7.在俄国，法律是由沙皇制定的。当然，如前所述，他手下有一群人就制定什么法律向他提建议。但是，他不一定非得采纳他们的建议，而且无论在什么条件下，只有当沙皇使他们的建议成为法律时，它们才是法律。沙皇就是立法者。这样做便将一种巨大的责任压在单独一个人身上，如果他经常听从朝臣们的建议，这种责任很可能会有所减轻，但遗憾的是，俄国政府是个地地道道的君主制政府。

8.在有些国家中，所有成年人会通过群众大会聚集在一起，以确定应当制定什么法律。瑞士共和国有几个州就是这样做的。在我们国家部分州的乡镇也是如此，当然了，乡镇大会并不是制定所有法律，而只是设立他们自己本乡镇的法规。这种立法形式与纯君主制国家截然相反，因此叫做“纯民主方式”。在人口不太多、面积不太大的地区，这种方式非常管用。

9.在一个共和国，法律通常是由一群由人民专门为此目的而选举出来的人制定的。这个群体便叫做立法机构，其中选出的成员一般只有几年的任期，所以，倘若他们不能让人民满意，就会选出其他人取而代之。在一个大国，所有人聚集在一起共同立法并不方便。于是，除此之外最好的办法便是由人民选出一小部分能体现民意的人。

10.在一个采取君主制但君主又没有绝对权力的国家（如俄国的沙皇），立法机构成员中，部分是人民选出来的，部分是贵族阶层，部分是君主自己。不过，由于君主和贵族在其位不谋其正、无视民众意愿，因此很显然，在这种国家，人民并不能始终得到自己想要的那种法律。然而反过来讲，如果人民选出来的代表不同意，君主和贵族也无法制定自己想要的法律。

11.为什么法律不可或缺。没有法律，我们就一点也不能安逸地生活。在每个社会中，都有一些非常自私和心术不正的人，一有可能就随时打算伤害他人的利益。他们极喜欢偷窃、破坏自己不想要的东西、伤害甚至杀害惹他们生气的任何人。即使在法律严酷、执法严明的国家，此类犯罪分子仍然存在。我们经常在报纸上读到盗窃、纵火甚至谋杀的报道。但是，如果没有法律、没有法庭、没有警察，我们可以确信，偷窃和暴力犯罪更会剧增。每个人都必须力所能及地保护自己，但是，无论怎么保护，都没有现在的法律保护得那么好。因此，一旦失去了法律和政府的保护，哪怕是很短的时间，除了犯罪分子之外的任何人肯定都非常乐意看到法律重新恢复。

12.当然，倘若没有法律、没有警察，习惯于违法并且侥幸地希望自己不被抓住的人肯定非常高兴。正如古语所说：“如果不能正确地理解法，就会品尝被绞索拖拽的滋味。”但是，不做贼的人就不同了。

13.以上原因足以说明为什么要有法律以及执法的官员。此外还有很多其他原因，但在这里不必介绍。我们经常听说“不文明”国家，同时将自己的国家称为高度文明国家。二者最重要的区别之一，在于文明国家拥有一套健全的法律体系，在这种体系的保护下，人民的生命财产是安全的。如果某个人前往某个不文明国家（例如非洲的某些国家），那么他就必须随时保卫自己的生命和财产免遭致命武器伤害。无论走到哪里，他可能都需要带上一支来复枪和几支左轮手枪。但是，身居美国城乡的商人不必携带这些武器。这是因为，我们的国家是一个法治国家，而非洲的某些国家不是。

14.约翰·C·卡尔霍恩。约翰·考德威尔·卡尔霍恩是南卡罗来纳州一名伟大的政治家。他于1782年出生于该州，1850年在华盛顿市逝世。他活跃于公众视野长达40多年，任过国会众议员、参议员、战争部长、国务卿和美国副总统。当参议院由于能力出众而声名鹊起的时候，他是这一机构最杰出的演讲家之一。卡尔霍恩、克雷和韦伯斯特是参议院中的思想巨人。以下内容是从他的一篇演讲中摘录的：

政府存在的必要性

就像没有社会就没有人一样，不存在某种形式的政府，社会也会不复存在。所以说，政治是人的自然状态。它是造物主缔造人的目的所在，人只能不可抗拒地卷入政治之中，只有参与政治，人的种族才会延续，所有才能才会完全开发出来。

由此可以推断，即便最不可取的政府模式，也要比无政府状态好；个人解放或个人自由，必须服从于保护社会免遭内部动荡和外部破坏所需的任何力量。

人们越是无知、愚蠢、卑贱、腐败、易受内部暴力外部危险的侵蚀，那么政府应当拥有的、保护社会免遭内乱和外部破坏的权力就会变得越来越大，而个人的自由就会越来越少，直到最终达到最低状态，即政府一方必须拥有绝对的专制权，此时个人自由便没有了。

所以反过来讲，倘若人民在智慧、美德和爱国精神等标准上都处于上升状态，那么他们对政府的本质、政府运转的目的以及管理政府的正当方式越能详尽地了解，政府所需的权力就变得越来越小，而个人自由也会越来越大。

Chapter 04

政府对我们的地位是怎样界定的

1.法律与政府。我们已经看到，除非存在法律规范人的行为，否则社会便无法实现和平、有序。但是我们也看到，在一个很大的区域内，无法让所有人都聚在一起，来确定应制定什么样的法律，这样就有必要选出一小群人成立一个立法机构。接着，当法律制定完毕后，同样有必要看看它们是否得到了遵守。为达此目的，人们又选出另外一批人，例如城市中的警察和农村的治安员。然而，法律的含义并不是在每起案件中都总是准确而清晰的，而且也不总能保证警察以触犯某类罪行为名而逮捕的某个人是不是真的有罪。这样，人们便再选出一批人，其职责就是明确法规条文的含义以及被告者是否真的有罪。这些人通常便叫做法官。选出承担这三类职责（即立法、监督法律遵守情况以及明确法律条文含义）的人组成的整个团体，便叫做政府。

2.立法机构的两院。制定法律需要非常谨慎、知识渊博、判断力强。为达此目的而选出的人，应当非常睿智、非常正直。但是，即使如此，出错仍然在所难免。为了将错误减少到最低限度，几乎所有立法机构都要分成两个独立的团体，通常叫做“院”。其中一个通常叫做“上院”，另一个则叫做“下院”。

3.称某个由人组成的团体为“院”，听起来自然有些古怪。不过，如果我们还记得这个词在此处的含义，类似于用来指某栋建筑物的含义，那么也就不难理解了。

4.每个院的人数。不同的国家，两院的人数各不相同。英国立法机构的上院有600人左右，下院则近700人。在我们美国的全国立法机构，上院只有90人，下院为357人。

5.法律是怎样制定的。如果立法机构的每名成员都认为应当存在某一类法，他就会将其写出来，在所属的院开会时提交上去。这种书面形式提交的东西叫做法案。之后，法案一般要呈送某个委员会，委员会由一小群人组成，他们会反复讨论法案，并将意见记录下来送给该院。随后，该法案在该院再反复讨论，所有针对法案的赞成和反对意见都很可能是经过某人深思熟虑的。这次讨论叫做辩论。当法案经过详细审查和激烈辩论之后，该院要举行投票，所有赞成该法案的成员投赞成票，反对者则投反对票。如果赞成票多于反对票，法案就可以说在该院通过。接着，它要交到另一个院，并在那里再次受到提议、辩论和投票。不过，除非它在这一个院也获得通过，否则这一法案就不能成为一项法律。

6.如今不难看到立法机构设立两个院的好处了。由于每项法案都必须由不同的两套班子辩论和投票，因此，如果某项法案提出得过于仓促，以至于有人没时间看挑出其中的毛病，那么这样的法案差不多不会在两院都获通过。所以，与立法机构只有一个院相比，我们不太可能制定出随意而不当的法律。

7.行政部门。我们说过，一项法律在制定之后，有必要有这样一群公务员，他们的职责就是监督法律的执行情况。

8.在一个共和制国家，处在这些公务员中最高位置的人通常被我们称为总统。美国总统的麾下有数量非常庞大的其他官员，所有这些人都忙于贯彻由全国立法机构制定出的法律。从总统往下的这些官员所在的单位叫做行政部门，他们则叫做行政官员。总统是行政部门的首脑。在君主制国家，行政部门的首脑通常叫做国王或皇帝。

9.总统在制定法律过程中发挥的作用。在我们共和国，总统不只是行政部门的首脑，而且与立法也有关系。

10.由于总统能看到所有法律的实施情况，从而不难知道需要什么样的法，因此，他的职责，就是不时地就他认为应当立什么样的法，向立法机构提出建议。

11.这样当一项法案经过了两院投票之后，在成为正式法律之前要先呈给总统。如果他同意立法，那么该法案很快就会成为法律。但是，如果他认为法案不应当成为法律，就会将其附上自己的反对意见，返回给立法机构。这一过程叫做否决法案。随后，该法案又要完整地再进行一次辩论和投票。除非两院议员有2/3的人为它投赞成票，否则它仍然不能成为法律。

12.法庭。在每一个管理有序的国家，都会选出一些人来明确法律的含义。这些人叫做法官。不过，除法官之外，每次只要有人受到违法指控，或者有某两个人就财产分割问题争执不休、无法自地解决纠纷，我们还有选举出的另一套人马。这另一套人马叫做陪审团，其职责是就纠纷中的事实作出决议。也就是说，由他们来决定被告人是否真的触犯了法律；如果是某两个人发生纠纷，则由陪审团决定到底发生了哪些事情。之后，法官会对法律条文作出解释。法官和陪审团共同构成了我们所称的法庭。有时候，纠纷中根本没什么事实。这时候，陪审团就忽略掉了，仅仅法官自己仍然可以开庭。在有些法庭，法官有好几个而不只是一个。法庭审理的方法在第八章中有详细阐述。

13.政府。由此我们看出，有三套官员忙于管理公共事务。如前所述，这三套人马合在一起构成了政府。一个政府清明的国家，有着完善的法律和优秀的人才来为公众服务；而政府无能的国家，则要么法律不合理，要么为官者不正，要么二者兼而有之。

14.我们共和国的政府是人民缔造的。它的所有官员或者是人民选出来的，或者是由人民选出来的人任命的。

15.情况便是如此。我们马上便能看出：每个人都应当了解我们有什么样的法律，我们选出了什么样的官员从事公共事务，懂得这些是多么重要。人们常说：“与每个人都有关系，就和谁也没关系。”这句话在我们共和国可能不适用，因为对我们来说，知道我们有一个好政府，这当然与每个人都密切相关。但是，任何无知的人都无法在政府中占有一席之地。无知者可以在君主制国家大行其道，但在一个共和国是没有立足之地的。

Chapter 05

欧洲人怎样发现美洲并迁居于此

1.哥伦布。克里斯托弗·哥伦布是一位生活在400多年前的意大利人，他有一个在同时代许多人看来非常奇怪的想法。他相信地球是圆的，并且认为通过环球航行能证明它是圆的。当时，人们普遍认为地球是平的，即便那些不这样认为的智者，也一点不敢相信为此而航海是安全的或可能的。但是哥伦布决心尝试一番，并最终成功地说服了西班牙国王和王后，允许他带着3艘小船去尝试。带着这些小船，这位有胆识的意大利人果断向西航行穿越大西洋。

2.哥伦布想要得到什么。当时受到质疑的并不只是地球的形状。许多贵重的商品从亚洲东部（通常叫做印度）运往欧洲，如丝绸、香料和宝石。但是，从陆路穿越亚洲既速度缓慢又代价高昂，而且饱受强盗的袭扰。因此，如果能找到一条从欧洲直通印度和中国的水路，那么对欧洲国家无异于是个福音。哥伦布对于美洲大陆一无所知，觉得通过向西航行，他应当能直接到达印度的海岸。就这样，在1492年10月的一天，在航行多日之后，他发现了许多岛屿时，便立刻认为它们是印度的一部分。一些红头发的人疑惑地前往海滩观看这些陌生的船只和上面脸色苍白、比他们还要奇怪的船员，哥伦布称这些人为印第安人。他发现的岛屿直到今天还叫做西印度群岛。

3.欧洲引起的轰动。哥伦布的这一发现即大西洋上有陆地，在欧洲引起了巨大的轰动。西班牙国王声称拥有所有“新大陆”。之所以这样称呼，是因为这次发现之旅是在西班牙的船只上实现的。但是，其他国家的许多迫不及待的航海人（如葡萄牙人、法国人、荷兰人、英国人）却对西班牙的声明充耳不闻，并且也都远航，去看看他们同样能发现的一切。他们发现了许多东西，包括未知的海滨、蓝色的河流和港湾。海滩旁边到处都是茂密的森林，无论走到哪里，本地人都是那些红头发的人，即“印第安人”。

4.欧洲人在美洲居住。当人们发现新大陆是住家的好地方的时候，许多人从欧洲来到这里，并沿着海岸线住下来。西班牙人占据着西印度群岛、墨西哥、中美洲以及差不多所有南美洲。葡萄牙人占据着巴西。法国人在加拿大、北美五大湖沿线以及新奥尔良安家。荷兰人在他们所称的曼哈顿岛安居，并给他们的小镇起名为新阿姆斯特丹。现在这里是纽约。英国人前往大西洋沿线从缅因到佛罗里达的许多地方居住。他们在一场战争中从荷兰人手里夺走了新阿姆斯特丹，有了这块地方之后，再加上最初由瑞典人居住的特拉华，英国已经有了13块殖民地，这些殖民地后来脱离了英国政府的统治，组成了美利坚合众国。

5.殖民地居民是怎样居住的。美洲荒原最早的殖民者日子过得并不容易。由于穿越大西洋的航行既缓慢、乏味又代价高昂，因此他们随身并没有携带多少舒适的生活品。在那些年代，穿越大西洋要花好几个星期时间。他们必须将树木砍光，然后种下印第安玉米和其他农作物。当时大家几乎没有钱，可用它来买的东西也寥寥无几。有一段时间，干鲟鱼在马萨诸塞当钱使。印第安人一般不太友善，当时殖民者与印第安人的战争连绵不断。印第安人的战争非常可怕，这些野蛮的人无论抓到谁，都会用最最残忍的手段杀死。他们会在森林的庇护下藏起来，当最令人意想不到的时机出现时，他们便会从藏身之处冲出来，放火烧殖民者的房子，然后从熊熊大火中尖叫着跑出来，杀死男人、女人和孩子。此外，印第安人还有一个骇人听闻的习惯，就是将受害人的头皮从头上割开并撕下来，然后留着当一件炫耀胜利的血腥战利品。

6.殖民者的胜利。但是，殖民者勇敢而坚韧，因此，尽管生活贫穷、劳动艰辛、身体多病加之战争不断，他们仍然成功地建起生机勃勃的定居点。哥伦布发现新大陆之后到第一位英国人前往美洲弗吉尼亚的詹姆斯敦居住之前，过去了100多年时间；而在这个定居点建立之后不到200年，13个英国殖民地便成了一个独立的共和国。

7.为什么殖民地各自分离。欧洲人来到美洲建造家园时，是在不同时期成群结队地前来并且居住在不同地区的。一般情况下，每个定居点都要有一个自己的地方政府，因为不同的定居点相隔太远，无法由一个政府管理。此外，定居者群体往往也希望像这样自主管理自己的事务。新英格兰尤其是马萨诸塞和康涅狄格的殖民地，住的是那些不允许在家里以自己喜欢的方式敬奉上帝的英国人。于是，他们前往这片荒野，以追求宗教自由。同样的目标也驱使着浸礼教徒前往罗得岛，贵格会教徒前往宾夕法尼亚，以及天主教徒前往马里兰。弗吉尼亚和南卡罗来纳的许多居民都是圣公会教徒。怀有这些不同宗教信仰的人都希望免受外界干涉，这非常容易理解。就这样，他们在各自的殖民地相互分居，每块地区都有自己的地方政府，而所有殖民地都服从远在伦敦的英国政府的统治。

清教徒前辈在新英格兰登陆

赫尔曼斯夫人

“赶紧四处看看吧！

另一个种族已经住满了这些人口稠密的边疆，

世界向四周拓展，

乡镇如雨后春笋，

富饶的领地已经耕种；

这块土地处处是丰收的景象和绿色的牧场。”

——布莱恩特

狂野的海浪冲天而起，

冲击着船尾，冲击着岩石环抱的海岸，

森林面对着风雨欲来的天，

它们巨大的枝丫被席卷；

阴沉的夜挂在夜幕当中

山水已然不见，

一群流浪者将他们的小舟

停泊在荒僻的新英格兰海滩。

并非征服者前来，

来的是他们，真正的热心汉，

他们没有响起激烈的战鼓

而是用喇叭吹起荣誉之歌。

他们没有安静而恐惧地

飞驰而来，

而是敲击着昏沉的沙漠

用高尚而欢快的赞歌陪伴。

他们在风雨中歌唱，

星星在聆听，还有海洋；

昏暗的森林里，欢呼声响起，

对自由的赞颂响彻四方！

海鸥从空巢里飞出翱翔

乘着飞沫下的白色海浪

森林中摇摆的松树也在应和——

这是它们向往已久的家乡！

他们当中有满头白发的老人，

夹杂于这支朝圣大军；——

为什么他们非得从儿时的故土，

来到这里枯萎死亡？

你可以看到女人无畏的双眸，

被她对真理的挚爱点亮；

大人的眉毛沉着地扬起，

年轻人的心像火一样越烧越旺。

他们不远万里来这里追寻什么？——

是矿山中金光闪闪的珠宝？

还是海底的财富，战争的破坏力？——

不，他们在追求纯洁的圣地，

因为那里有他们的忠贞信仰！

唉，就称它为圣地吧，

那是他们最先踏上的土壤！

他们已经留下了纯洁

他们在这里找到了自由

用来敬仰上苍！

8.为什么殖民地能联合起来。殖民地开始反对英国政府的法令时，他们就只有联合起来了。1765年，在纽约召开了一次殖民地代表大会，讨论一项向殖民地征税的英国法令。殖民者在制定这项法令时根本没起作用，因此他们认为这样做是不公正的。这次代表大会由来自所有9个殖民地的每个殖民地的代表组成（13个殖民地中，有4个没有派代表参加），内容也只是通过了表达他们反对该法令之理由的决议。没过多久，英国政府就废除了这项法令。

9.几年之后，英国政府再次企图未经殖民者同意就向他们征税。这一次，殖民地的反抗和第一次一样强烈，1774年，第二次殖民地代表大会在费城召开，详细讨论这一问题。他们通过了反对相关税法的强硬决议，并对人民抵制收税的行为予以赞扬，最后还在回到各自殖民地之前，要求在第二年春天召开第三次代表大会。12个殖民地（仅仅佐治亚除外）在这第二次大会上都派了代表。

10.第三次殖民地代表大会于1775年在费城召开，这次会议发现，殖民地与英国政府之间的战争已经爆发。所有13块殖民地此时都派出代表出席。这次代表大会其实成为一种联合政府机构，为联合起来的殖民地集体服务。当然，每块殖民地此外还都保留着自己的政府，但是代表大会却管理着战时最重要的事务。正是这次代表大会制定了《独立宣言》、推举乔治·华盛顿担任陆军司令，并且最终与大不列颠缔结和约。从那时起，我们就总是称自己国家的立法机构为“国会”。

11.西部是怎样有人居住的。独立战争结束后，许多人认为到西部更远处、到此时尚未开拓的荒野去居住，他们便更加大有可为。于是，他们越过阿莱干尼山脉，在俄亥俄河两岸建造家园。他们过着像居住在大西洋海岸的第一批殖民者一样艰辛的生活，住小木屋、种玉米、养猪、狩猎野兽。森林里不乏熊、鹿、水牛、野火鸡和其他猎物，因此这些技艺高超的猎人找到食物并不难。他们使用一种很长的、装有很小子弹的来复枪，个个都是神枪手。然而，比野兽和黑豹更野蛮的却是凶猛的印第安人。许多居民和他们的家庭都被杀死、剥皮，也有许多印第安人被杀死。在肯塔基发生的战斗惨烈到早期人们称这个州为“黑暗和血腥之地”。但是，印第安人慢慢地被越赶越往西。森林被人们开辟，越来越多的定居者从东方、从欧洲来到这里，最终来到西部定居的人如此之多，以至于像我们看见的那样，一长串州一个接一个地加入“最早的13州”。在铁路建造完成、轮船在河面和湖面航行之后，移民队伍变得非常庞大。城市快速发展到几乎令人瞠目结舌的程度。芝加哥的人口超过100万。独立战争结束时，大都市如今矗立的地方还是一片沼泽，栖息的几乎都是野鸭。1837年，这个傍湖而起的小村庄变成一座城市，居民达3000人。至此，共和国里到处都是人。独立战争的时候，所有13个州只有300万人口。现在，我们的45个州人口就算不完全统计，也将近7000万了。

12.詹姆斯·斯考勒。詹姆斯·斯考勒撰写了5卷美国史，清晰地描绘了共和国从宪法形成到内战爆发之间共和国的成长历程。以下节选内容生动描绘了一件在当时引起轰动的事件，这件事导致人口向加利福尼亚快得惊人的大迁移。

加利福尼亚发现黄金

詹姆斯·斯考勒

在萨特堡之上数英里处，位于萨克拉门托的一条美国交叉路的中间，坐立着一个锯木厂，它将附近树林里的一些松树锯成木材。马绍尔和一群由当地印第安人以及少数白种摩门教徒组成的工人，就在这里工作。一天早上，他们将沟渠拓宽、加深，以便引水驱动工厂的机器，马绍尔沿着排水渠散步时发现，头一天晚上流下的稀泥和砂石中夹杂着一些黄色颗粒。他一开始对这一事实不敢相信，但是另一条夜间放水的水闸却证实了他目睹的一切。于是，他用口袋收集了一些闪闪发光的粒子，然后骑马顺溪流而上，见到了萨特上尉，于28日下午在萨特堡下马。［1］萨特称了矿石的重量，并利用自己具备的条件对其进行科学测试。在自己的小实验室对这些物质进行详细检验之后，他宣布这些东西是黄金。从那一刻起，有关这一发现的消息不胫而走，人们纷纷信以为真，都将注意力从锯木厂、面粉厂、牛群、羊群和所有不值钱的财产转移到各自所在的小天地。他们相互转述着萨特对黄金发现的生动表达，认为这一发现的根源全在于萨特，但相信他的运气不可能好到能一下子发现所有的黄金。

萨特和马绍尔都无法从这一天然奥秘中获利。他们一致决定保守秘密。当然了，在当时，墨西哥人不可能公开允许他们开采黄金，于是，萨特设法从印第安本地人手上租借了这块土地，随后又从美国得到了更难得到的开采权。蒙特里市驻军的美国司令官梅森上校无法提供任何证明，而萨特和他毫不知情的承包商不仅没有保守他们共同的秘密，反而四处传播消息，而他们在锯木厂工作的下等工人，完全有迅速打听到真相的头脑。萨特的锯木厂已经无法经营下去，因为无数工人都受到激励，企图从事更能赚钱的工作。在第一次发现黄金后不到4个月，超过4000人来到萨克拉门托。他们怀着对生活的美好向往勤奋劳动，住在简陋的帆布帐篷和小木屋里，用最原始的工具耐心地发财。有些人用碗、盘和柳条筐冲洗砂砾，用手分离出发光的金粒；还有一些人用锄头和铲子劳作；另一些最幸运的人更是找到了一些好地方，可以用切肉刀从山岩的缝隙中剔出黄金，然后将剔出的黄金集成重量为1〜6盎司不等的金块，背在背上。

接送黄金的船队，从单桅帆船到小划艇，于5月初离开旧金山，前往萨克拉门托锯木厂所在地区；在整个夏天，小镇的所有男劳力几乎倾巢而出。很快，从旧金山到洛杉矶、从海岸到山脚的整个美国，都回荡着“黄金，黄金，黄金！”的欢呼声。房子盖到一半不盖了，土地耕到一半不耕了，店铺也交给女人打理。外国船只开始抵达，但是在他们卸货之前，船员便都开小差去“淘金”。比美国人还要少得多的墨西哥人引发了黄金热，然后加入不顾一切追逐财富的大军。很快，随着帆船和汽船将淘金的消息传递到四面八方，来自中国、夏威夷群岛、澳大利亚以及温哥华群岛和瓦尔帕莱索之间整个太平洋沿岸的探险者便都纷至沓来。

［1］约瑟夫·华伦将军在邦克山战役中不愿接受指挥权，而是作为一名志愿者参加了此次战役。正当美军开始撤退时，他就牺牲了。

Chapter 06

民族独立

1. 7月4日。7月4日作为独立日，为每个男生所熟悉。爆竹和掼炮、流星焰火和罗马焰火筒的燃放，加农炮的轰鸣，军队阅兵的盛况，以及常有的、主要为了聆听爱国歌曲和演讲的群众集会，所有这些便是庆祝这一天的常见内容。

2.为什么我们保留了这一天？因为在1776年的7月4日，一群代表美国人民的人通过了一条庄严的声明：他们不再遵守大英帝国的法律，而是从此之后，拥有自己的政府、制定他们自己的法律。这便是

《独立宣言》的发表。7月4日由此往往被人称为“独立日”。

3.独立是什么意思。如果一个国家的人民必须听从某个其他国家的领导，那么我们就说前一个国家从属于第二个国家。但是从另一方面讲，任何一个国家的人民如果有自己的政府，不必服从任何其他国家，我们就说这个国家的人民是独立的。

4.欧洲有许多独立的国家，例如法国、英国、德国、俄国、西班牙；美洲有美国、墨西哥、巴西，此外还有许多独立国家。这些国家中的每一个都有自己的政府、制定自己的法律、拥有自己的国旗，几乎完全自主地处理自己的事务；简言之，都是完全独立的。

5.如果你看看北美地图，就会发现在美国的正北方是加拿大自治区。加拿大像美国一样，也没有独立，而是必须服从英国政府的统治。因此，加拿大是英国的一个属国。但是，位于我们正南方的墨西哥却是独立的。不过也不是一直以来就这样，因为墨西哥曾经是西班牙的一个属国。但是多年以前，墨西哥人民像美国人民一样，宣布了自身的独立。为了真正实现独立，他们必须与西班牙进行战争。但他们最终获胜，于是墨西哥人民不必再听从于西班牙政府的统治了。

6.美国是怎样独立的。我们的国家变成一个独立的共和国，仅仅才100年多一点。1775年，我们有13个州是从属于大英帝国的殖民地，这些州分布在大西洋沿线从新罕布什尔到佐治亚一线。

7.殖民地是指人们在远离故乡之处建立的一个定居点，但是这个定居点要受家乡所在政府的管辖。

8.因此，这13块殖民地都要受英国君主的管辖。它们中的大多数人民都有不列颠血统即英国人，有一些是苏格兰人和爱尔兰人。如今纳入我们共和国的这块土地的其他地方，要么是只有印第安人和野兽居住的荒野，要么从属于其他欧洲君主国。

9.但是，美国殖民者尽管很愿意成为英国君主制的一部分并受英国法律的管制，但终究更愿意自主管理自己的事务。当英国政府打算让他们交税但又不允许他们在这件事上有发言权的时候，麻烦来了。殖民者拒绝交税。英国派遣了士兵前来镇压，强迫他们服从。但是殖民者与部队对抗，于是一场在欧洲祖国与其美洲殖民地之间的战争不可避免。这场拉锯战长达8年之久。当时，英国显然已经无法征服殖民地，于是交战双方缔结和约。在战争进行的第二年即1776年7月4日，正如我们所见，殖民者们宣称自己再也不是英国君主制的一部分，而是从今往后成为一个独立的国家。1783年缔结和约时，英国政府不再坚持对殖民地的管辖权，而是同意他们独立。由此，这13块殖民地成为一个独立的共和国，那就是美利坚合众国。

10.亚当斯和杰斐逊。约翰·亚当斯是我们独立战争中最突出的爱国者之一。他是“大陆会议”的成员（正是这次会议于1776年通过了《独立宣言》），并成为受命起草这一不朽文件的委员会的成员。该委员会的另一名成员托马斯·杰斐逊也亲自参与了《独立宣言》的撰写。约翰·亚当斯于1797年成为美国总统，接替美国首任总统乔治·华盛顿；而1801年，亚当斯则反过来由杰斐逊继任。

亚当斯和杰斐逊都于1826年7月4日逝世，这一天也是第15个独立日。丹尼尔·韦伯斯特应邀就这两位爱国者的生平和贡献，于1826年8月2日在波士顿的法纳尔大厅发表了一篇纪念演讲。

在这篇演讲中，韦伯斯特用生动的语言描绘了这次会议的前因后果，并假定亚当斯发表了如下讲话（尽管这实际上是韦伯斯特自己的话）：

致《独立宣言》

丹尼尔·韦伯斯特

该演讲被假设是约翰·亚当斯于1776年7月1日在大陆会议上发表的不管沉浮，不论生死，任凭幸存或毁灭，我都衷心拥护这次表决！的确，开始的时候，我们的目的并非在于独立。但是，冥冥之中有神灵在决定这种结局。英国的不公正行为，迫使我们武装起来；她不仅看不到自己的长期利益所在，反而顽固地坚持殖民立场，直至自由如今对于我们已经唾手可得。我们只需要伸手去够到它，它就是我们的了。既然这样，凭什么我们还要把《独立宣言》拖下去呢？难道还有人软弱到至今还希望与英国和解，指望以此来保障自己祖国的安全和自由，或者保障自身的生存和荣耀吗？难道不是您——那位坐在椅子上的先生，难道不是他——坐在你身边的那位可敬的同事，难道不是你们两位已经成为受惩罚、受报复的，不受法律保护、被人锁定目标的对象么？英国的权力依然存在，在毫无希望得到英国王室宽恕的情况下，你们除了与法对抗之外，会做什么，又能做什么呢？

如果我们推迟独立，那么我们希望把战争进行下去，还是放弃战争？我们是否服从包括波士顿港法案在内的国会议案以及所有其他议案？难道我们心甘情愿地同意毁掉我们自己，而听凭我们的国家及其权利屈辱地遭到践踏？我知道，我们毫无屈服之意，我们永远不会屈服。当我们推选华盛顿去冒战争的危险和当时的政治风险时，我们曾发誓，不论出现什么情况，我们都要用我们的财产甚至生命来支持他。难道我们现在想违背在上帝面前立下的、敬重华盛顿的神圣誓言吗？

我知道，在座各位中的每一个人，都宁愿看到战火燃遍大地、看到天崩地陷，也不愿丝毫违背这一坚定的信仰。至于我本人，既然一年前我曾在此地说服你们，要求任命乔治·华盛顿为已经招募或者即将招募的武装部队的总司令，以捍卫美国自由，那么，如果我在支持他的时候有半点犹豫或动摇，我“情愿右手忘记技巧，情愿舌头粘于上腭”。所以，战争必须继续，我们一定要战斗到底。

那么，既然战争必须进行到底，为什么还要推迟发表《独立宣言》呢？发表这个宣言将使我们更加坚强，将为我们争取到国际地位。那样的话，世界各国都会与我们平等交往；而如果我们自视为武装反抗君主统治的臣民，它们就永远不会这样。不仅如此，我还主张英国本身也宁可在承认我们独立的前提下与我们媾和，而不愿意通过废止各项法令，承认它针对我们的全部做法，向来都是一部侵权的、压迫的历史。相比而言，英国屈服于如今必然导致我们独立的历史进程，要比屈服于叛臣作乱所提的条件更为体面。因为他们会觉得前者是命运使然，而后者却是奇耻大辱。既然如此，先生，我们为什么不尽快地把这场国内战争变成民族战争呢？而且，既然我们要将这场战争进行到底，并且一旦赢得胜利，便将自己置于一种享受一切胜利果实的地位呢？即便失败，情况也不会因此而变得更加糟糕。但是我们不会失败！我们的事业可以招募起军队，我们的事业可以缔造出海军。只要我们忠于人民，人民便会带领我们，带领他们自己，光荣地打赢这场战争。我不管其他国家的人民多么浮躁，可我了解我们殖民地的人民，我知道抵抗英国侵犯的种子已经深埋于他们的内心，永远无法抹去。确实，每一块殖民地都已经表达了群起响应的意愿，只要我们愿意带头。先生们，《独立宣言》将鼓舞人民信心百倍。与其进行一场漫长而血腥的战争去恢复权利、去平反昭雪、去争取英王统治下赐予的种种特权，还不如在人民面前确立彻底独立的光荣目标，这样做将给人民注入新的生命力。到军队面前去宣读这篇《独立宣言》吧，所有的将士都将拔剑出鞘，庄严宣誓，要么以忠诚地捍卫它，要么在荣耀的追求中死亡。在教堂里宣读它吧，宗教人士都将赞同它，都将围绕它凝聚起对宗教自由的热爱，并决心与它荣辱与共、生死相依。把《独立宣言》送到公众聚会的大厅去吧，到那里去大声宣读，让那些听到敌人加农炮第一声怒吼的人倾听它，让那些亲眼目睹自己兄弟和孩子倒在邦克山战场、倒在列克星敦和康科德大街的人看到它，在那些大厅的墙壁里，支持《独立宣言》的声音将山呼海啸！

先生，我本知道世事无常，但我通过今天的事，却更清楚地认识到这一道理。是的，也许我们会为此感到懊悔。也许我们活不到宣言内容真正成为现实的那一天。也许我们会死去，作为殖民地人民而死，作为奴隶而死，甚至可能屈辱地死在绞刑架上！那也无所谓！无所谓！如果上天愿意我的国家需要我献出微不足道的生命，那么，不论那一刻何时到来，我这个牺牲者随时都准备走上祭坛。然而，只要我一息尚存，就请让我拥有一个国家，至少让我有希望拥有一个国家，一个自由的国家。

不过，无论我们的命运如何，请坚信，这篇《独立宣言》必将永存。也许这样做要付出财产的代价，付出鲜血的代价，但宣言仍将永存，并将为我们付出的财产和生命给予丰厚回报。透过目前的重重迷雾，我看到了未来的缕缕曙光，如同一轮红日喷薄在天际。我们应当把今天变成一个辉煌而不朽的日子。当我们长眠于地下时，我们的孩子将会纪念今天。他们将感恩戴德，热烈庆祝，燃起篝火，张灯结彩。每年的这个日子里，他们都将热泪盈眶，唏嘘不已。可他们流的不再是屈辱之泪，不再是受奴役之泪，不再是痛苦绝望之泪，而是欢庆的泪、感激的泪、喜悦的泪。先生，在上帝面前，我相信这一刻已经来到。我全身心地赞同并支持这一宣言。在此，为了宣言，我将倾我此生全部所有、全部智慧和全部希望，此时此地准备与它生死与共。最后我想说的是，像我开头所说的一样，无论生死存亡，我衷心拥护《独立宣言》！这是我平生的夙愿。愿上帝保佑，这也将是我的临终遗志。现在就独立吧！永远独立吧！

11.革命战争。独立战争是为殖民地居民争取权利的一场艰苦斗争。他们人不太多，过得也不富裕，而大英帝国却是世界上最强大的国家之一。第一场战役于1775年4月19日在马萨诸塞的列克星敦进行。英国士兵在夜间从波士顿前进，企图摧毁殖民者放在康科德的一些加农炮和其他军火。他们在清晨来到列克星敦的这个小镇时，发现一群殖民地士兵在村子的草坪上列队。英军朝他们开火，打死了一些人，并迫使其他人逃走。康科德的军火被英军摧毁，但是当英军开始返回波士顿时，却发现殖民地居民从四面八方前来攻击他们。这些殖民地居民大部分都是农民，没经过什么军事训练，但他们知道怎样射击。他们排在英军行军经过的公路沿线的树林里和山顶上，不停地向英军猛烈开火。看样子，只有从波士顿再派大量士兵前来增援，这支英军特遣队才能成功地全身而退，返回波士顿。

12.　美国人民也并非总是取得像这第一次战役那样的成功。他们的军队规模很小、装备很差、穿着也很烂。有一年冬天，他们由乔治·华盛顿将军指挥的主力部队在宾夕法尼亚的福吉谷扎营。他们住在小屋里、没有足够的食物可吃，也没有足够的衣物用来保暖。大雪不止一次地被士兵们脚上流出的鲜血染红，因为他们破烂的鞋子无法保护双脚。但是乔治·华盛顿从未绝望过。他在列克星敦战役一结束时受命指挥殖民地居民的所有部队，而他也带领他们直到战争结束。他的伟大精神和高尚品质使得士兵们总是一如既往地信任他、喜爱他。在经历许多或胜或败的战役之后，他在约克敦迫使一支英军主力部队投降，此时是1781年。这也使英国政府确信自己无法再征服殖民地，于是和约最终缔结完成。

13.在战争的最后几年里，美国得到了法国的支援，后者派出了战舰和士兵，帮助华盛顿将军赢得了胜利。

14.对不公正对待殖民地负主要责任的，是英国国王乔治三世，燃起战火的也是他。从整体上看，英国人民并不喜欢这场战争，今天在这个国家仍然没什么人为乔治国王辩护。因此，尽管我们为先辈们为我们赢得自由的精神和豪迈气概而自豪，但也没有理由仅因为早已死去的乔治国王的愚蠢，而现在还对不列颠民族怀有恨意。

15.爱德华·埃弗雷特。爱德华·埃弗雷特是一位杰出的学者和演说家。他1794年出生于马萨诸塞的波士顿附近，仅仅17岁时就毕业于哈佛大学。他是个一神教的传教士，是哈佛大学的教授，后来又成为该学校的校长，他还是国会代表，马萨诸塞州的州长，美国驻大英帝国公使，美国国务卿，以及来自马萨诸塞州的美国参议员。他逝世于1865年。以下这些摘自他某篇演讲词中的片断，表达了一位爱国的、亲切的美国政治家对我们国家与其母国之间关系的看法：

我们与英国的关系

爱德华·埃弗雷特

谁不能感觉到的是，思考中的美国人又必须承认的是，这块有着文明、智慧、道义的深厚源泉的土地上有着数不清的优点，而这些优点都是我们从英国带来的？美国人的父辈是培根、牛顿和洛克的同胞，哪一个美国人又不为此自豪？谁不知道，当大英帝国的心脏里每一次文明自由的律动，都在我们祖先的胸膛温暖而丰盈地跳动时，使为自由而斗争的事业在此存在的理智、坚定和尊贵，仍能不断地从英国崇尚自由的朋友那里得到鼓励和支持？谁又能忘记，当信徒们漂洋过海来到美国时，英国虔诚的教徒们祈祷着，从各自所在的每个角落追随而来，而他们刺痛的双眼紧张地凝视，直到希望之星升起在西边的天空？谁又能忘却，在那些多事之秋，当年轻的共和国脱离英国皇权的控制，在我们严阵以待的整个大陆，我们听到的最洪亮的主张美国权利的声音，莫过于伯克、查塔姆在英国议会室内，在英国王室眼皮底下的呼吁？是的，对我来说，我可以老实讲，在生我养我的土地背后，我感觉到了来自父辈身上的一种亲切感和敬重感。我从自己祖国那里获得的荣耀，使我对自己的出生之地充满崇敬之情。触摸到英国的土地，我觉得自己正在回归，就像一个后人回到老家，回到年迈体弱的双亲居住的地方。我承认这种伟大的国家之间亲缘关系的存在。大洋彼岸我母语的声音，在我的耳中是一首乐曲，远胜于温软的意大利语或威严的西班牙语的最丰富表现力。我现在站立的这块土地，并没有排斥外来者，我身边的风俗、习惯和制度，始终在我成长的过程中伴随。我快乐地审视着一千个场景，对这些场景的熟悉得益于历史学家和诗人的传播；这些历史学家和诗人的名字总是与美英两国最早的渊源密不可分。我满怀崇敬之情徜徉在追寻苦难父辈足迹的土地上，他们这块迷人的出生地让我心驰神往。在我看来，这是一块崇高的，对了，应该说是神圣的土地；它能勾起我们对伟大、美好的事物，对争取自由的先驱和烈士们，对为坚持真理而遭到放逐的勇士们的许多回忆，而更能让我们想起的是，西方这块充满希望的土地是怎样得来的。

我并不是英国的拥趸，这句话其实我不必说。她的富饶没有让我晕眩，她的权力没有让人吓倒。在我看来，君权、教位、王冠（代之以星星、勋章和蓝绶带）对于追求崇高事业的伟人来说都不算什么。我对英国的仰慕之情，也并非被她从欧洲各战场云集的陆军，被她在海面上遮天蔽日的海军，以及她延伸到最远东方的帝权所唤醒。恰恰是由于这些，以及他们由于长期血腥战争而付出的、以愧疚和鲜血形式表现出来的代价，使任何崇尚自由的朋友都不会怀着毫无二心的情感向她致敬。但是，她仍然是自由准则的摇篮和避难所，尽管自由在那里经常受到迫害，是宗教自由的接受之地，尽管她经历过的斗争比这些更加珍贵；她埋葬着那些对所有讲英语的人表示敬重的人；她是我们父辈的出生之地，是清教徒的故乡。正是因为这些，我对英国热爱和崇敬。我为自己喜欢意大利和希腊而羞愧，但我并没有觉得那些土地像英国一样。作为一个美国人，我觉得长期追随休谟和维吉尔的足迹，以及不带感情色彩地追随更近的、更有印象的莎士比亚和米尔顿的足迹，都是一种退化和忘恩。我觉得，如果一个人没有将另一个埋葬了自己先辈的故国融化在心中，那么他们对那片故土的爱肯定会带有一丝凉意。

16.邦克山之战。独立战争于1775年爆发时，马萨诸塞州的波士顿市还由英国军队掌管。美国人在列克星敦战役结束之后，组建了一支军队围攻波士顿。6月的一个晚上，几百名美国士兵被派去占领波士顿附近的一个山头，从这个山头上面，很容易向城里发射加农炮炮弹，并且炸沉港口的英国战船。战士们趁着黑夜悄悄来到了山上，并匆匆建成一道防御工事。天亮的时候，英军将领们看到了山头上的美军，于是派出人数众多的部队，企图将美军赶走。英军士兵在山脚下列队，然后舞着国旗、敲着战鼓向山上行进。美军一直等到敌人非常近的时候，然后突然集中猛烈的火力，一下子就把英军的队形打乱，将其狼狈不堪地击退至山下。英军再次重整旗鼓，向山上猛攻，但却第二次被击退。然而，当他们第三次前进时，美军却由于弹药已尽，只能撤退。于是英军占领了山头。

17. 但是这次战役证明，美国人民能打仗，尽管英国官员不屑地对这一事实矢口否认。英国军队经历过的战役中，很少有哪一次像这场战役一样血腥。他们的力量损失达1/3，其中或死或伤。邦克山之战是英军的一次胜利，但是美国人民永远不会忘记当天作战的那些士兵们的英勇气概，他们让乔治国王的士兵们懂得：殖民地居民豁出去了。

18.丹尼尔·韦伯斯特和邦克山纪念碑。丹尼尔·韦伯斯特1782年出生于新罕布什尔。他毕业于达特茅斯学院，后来成为一名律师，并在政坛升到很高的职位。他担任来自马萨诸塞州的美国参议员多年，并两度出任国务卿。他是我们历史上最伟大的法定律师和演讲家之一。

19.为了纪念这次战役，人们在美国军队完成主要防御任务地带处的小山上矗立起一座花岗石纪念碑。这座方尖塔形碑便是著名的邦克山纪念碑。

20.在邦克山战役15周年的1825年6月17日，纪念碑开始奠基，同时举行了庄严隆重的仪式。美国最著名的演讲家之一丹尼尔·韦伯斯特在仪式上发表了演讲。为了向这一时刻表示敬意，人们召集了这次战役中的一小群幸存者前来见证，他们此时全都年事已高。韦伯斯特在演讲中将主题针对着他们，其讲话内容如下：

“可敬的人们！你们是从更早的一代来到我们中间的。苍天慷慨地延长了你们的寿命，让你们能够目睹这个快乐的日子。此时此刻，你们所在的地方，也是你们50年前和兄弟同胞们为捍卫你们的祖国而并肩站立的地方。看看时过境迁到了什么程度！其实，你们头顶上的天还是同一片蓝天，你们脚底下涌动的海还是同一个海洋，但是所有其他的一切发生了多大变化！现在，你已经听不到敌人的炮火怒吼，看不到烟与火搅在一块，从查尔斯顿（Charlestown，最早是马萨诸塞州东部的一个城市，后来成为波士顿的一部分。1775年6月17日，邦克山战役在这里的布利兹山展开激战。——译者注）腾空而起。地面到处是尸体和奄奄一息的伤兵；炮火猛烈之极；我们总能成功地击退敌人的反复进攻；所有勇敢的男子汉全都动员起来，数次殊死顽抗；上千勇士径直无畏地敞开胸膛，毫不犹豫地直面战争和死亡可能带来的任何危险：所有这些你们都曾经目睹，但是这些场景你们再也不会看到了。处处洋溢着和平。远处都市中的高楼大厦、尖塔和屋顶，你们那时看到的景象是，里面到处都是痛苦而恐惧的妇女们、孩子们、同胞们，他们怀着难以言状的情绪，期待着战斗早日结束；而今天呈现在你们面前的则是，住在那里的人们个个快乐，他们全都走出家门，欢迎你们、问候你们，一起度过一个共同的重要节日。再看看远处那些自豪的舰船，它们个个停放有序，得体地躺在邦克山山脚，而那些看似幸福地依偎在它们身旁的，不再是让你们厌恶的战争工具，而是捍卫你们祖国名声和安全的强大手段。处处洋溢着和平，是上帝将这幅场景呈现在你们面前，让你们在长眠于九泉之前，看到祖国的幸福安康。上帝让你们注视和分享你们为国奋斗而获得的奖赏，而他又允许我们，允许你们的后辈和同胞，与你们在这里相聚，以当前一代的名义，以你们祖国的名义，以自由的名义，向你们致敬！

“不过遗憾的是，你们并没有在此聚齐！时间和刀剑使你们这一代人越来越少。普雷斯科特、普特南、斯塔克、布鲁克斯、里德、波米罗伊、布里奇！我们的双眼徒劳地在这支不完整的队伍中寻找着你们。你们前去与你们父辈相聚，对你的祖国，只活在她欣慰的记忆中，你们是我们的楷模。但是，请让我们不要为你们没有健康长寿而太过悲伤。至少你们活到了足以知道你们的任务已经光荣而成功地完成的那一天。你们活着看到了祖国实现独立，活着做到了刀枪入库、马放南山。在自由之光的照耀下，你们看到了和平之光的升起，就像

‘正午时分

又升起一轮黎明的曙光……’

而在你们紧闭的双眼之上，天空再无阴云。”

21.帕特里克·亨利的著名演讲。在美国革命战争伊始那些激动人心的日子里，弗吉尼亚人民选举了一些代表，开会讨论这块古老的殖民地此时最应该干什么。1775年3月，就在独立战争的列克星敦战役打响前的几个星期，这次会议上的一场辩论激烈进行。看上去这次会议不大可能就采取某种明确行动达成共识。这种场面点燃了帕特里克·亨利的激情，他提出了弗吉尼亚这块殖民地应当立即做好战争准备的决议。

22.帕特里克·亨利1736年出生于弗吉尼亚，父亲是苏格兰人。虽然接受的教育非常少，但他在仅经过6个星期的准备之后，就开始进入律师行业。不过，他的口才天赋非同寻常，在那次大会上阐述自己的动议时，他下面的这番演讲曾让听众们激动不已。当时在场者曾有人说，当时亨利坐在自己的座位上，“现场鸦雀无声。演讲的效果让人太沉迷了。在经过片刻因回味而导致的沉寂之后，有几个人从座位上站起来。他们大喊着，武装起来！他们的双唇似乎在颤抖，双眼似乎在发光。他们已经等不及演讲结束了。他们的情绪已经被点燃，迫不及待地要行动。”

23.这便是那篇著名的演讲，那篇被一代又一代学生们反复诵读的演讲：

议长先生：对希望抱有幻觉是人的天性。我们总喜欢闭起眼睛不愿正视痛苦的现实，去倾听海妖惑人的歌声（Siren，海上女妖塞壬。海妖为半人半鸟，经常用歌声诱惑过路的航海者而使航船触礁毁灭。——译者注），直到她将我们化作禽兽。在为自由而进行的伟大而艰辛的斗争中，这难道是明智者必须做的么？难道我们任由自己成为那种对自我救赎这种休戚相关的事都视而不见、充耳不闻的人吗？就我来说，无论精神上可能付出多么痛苦的代价，我都愿意了解全部事实真相，了解最糟糕的事态，并为之做好充分准备！

我只有一盏指路明灯，那就是经验之灯。除了过去的经验，我没有任何其他方法可以判断未来。而依据过去的经验，我倒希望知道，过去10年英国政府的所作所为，凭什么足以使那些绅士们有理由满怀希望，凭什么可以取悦和慰藉他们自己和英国议会？难道就是最近接受我们请愿时的那种狡诈的微笑？不要相信这种微笑，先生，事实将证明那是你们脚边的陷阱！不要因为别人的一个亲吻就为是否背叛而苦恼！请你们自问，接受我们请愿时的和气亲善和遍布我们海陆疆域的大规模备战如何能够相称？难道出于对我们的爱护与和解，就必须动用战舰和军队吗？难道我们自己流露过不想和解的意愿，以至于为了博回我们的爱戴，而必须诉诸武力吗？

我们不要再欺骗自己了，先生。这些都是战争和征服的工具，是国王采取的最后论辩手段。我要请问先生们，这些战争部署如果不是为了迫使我们就范，那又意味着什么？哪位先生能够指出其另外的动机？难道在世界的这一角，还有别的敌人值得大不列颠如此兴师动众，集结庞大的海陆军力量？不，先生们，她没有任何敌人了。一切都针对着我们，而不是针对别人。他们是派来给我们套紧那条由英国政府长期以来铸就的锁链的。我们应该拿什么进行抵抗呢？我们还靠辩论吗？先生，过去10年我们一直都在尝试着辩论。难道还有什么新的御敌之策？没有了。我们已经从各个方面考虑了各种可行性，但是一切却都是徒劳。

难道我们还要苦苦哀告，卑躬乞求吗？难道我们还有什么更好的策略没有使用过吗？我求求您，先生，我们不要再自欺欺人了。先生，为了避免这场即将来临的暴风雨，我们凡是能做的都已经做了。我们请愿过，抗议过，恳求过，也曾俯伏在宝座前请求英王制止内阁和议会的暴虐行径。然而，请愿受到蔑视，抗议招致更多的镇压和羞辱，恳求被置之不理，我们被轻蔑地从宝座前一脚踢开。

所有这一切都说明，和平与和解只是一厢情愿的非分之想，再也无法寄托什么希望了。如果我们想获得自由，如果我们真想维护长期为之奋斗的宝贵权利以令其不受侵犯，如果我们不愿卑怯地放弃长期开展而又保证不达目的绝不罢休的崇高斗争，我们就必须战斗！我再重复一遍，我们必须战斗！我们的唯一出路就是拿起武器，求助于万军之王！

议长先生，他们说我们力量弱小，无法与如此强大的对手相抗衡，然而，什么时候我们才算强大？是下周，是明年，还是要等到我们完全解除武装、家家户户都驻扎英兵的时候？难道优柔寡断、无所事事就能积蓄力量吗？难道高枕而卧、想入非非、坐待敌人捆住我们的手脚就是彻敌良策？议长先生，要是我们妥善地发挥自然之神赋予的各种能力，我们就不弱小。

为了自由的神圣事业而在自己的家园武装起来的300万人，是任何敌人都无法战胜的。而且，议长先生，我们绝不会孤军作战。公正的上帝主宰着各国的命运，他将感召朋友们为我们而战。先生们，战争的胜负不仅仅取决于力量的强弱，它还取决于机智、主动和勇敢。况且，我们已别无选择。即使我们出于卑怯而想退出战斗，那也为时已晚。后退只能是甘受屈辱和奴役。用以束缚我们的锁链业已铸成！波士顿平原上的琅铛之声已清晰可闻！既然战争不可避免，那就只能打下去！我再说一遍，先生，只能打下去！

先生，大事化小的做法是无济于事的。绅士们可以高喊和平吧，和平！然而根本就无和平可言。事实上，战斗已经打响。南来的风暴将夹带着枪炮的鸣响。我们的弟兄们已经奔赴战场！我们为何还站在这里纹丝不动？先生们的愿望是什么？先生们的选择又是什么？难道生命真是那样珍贵，和平真是那样美好，因而值得用自由和平等去换取吗？全能的上帝啊，制止那种做法吧！我不知道别人会选择何种路线；就我而言，不自由，毋宁死！

24.关于独立战争的诗集。独立战争许多激励人心的事件鼓舞着许多诗人，催生了许多鲜活的小说作品、许多催人奋进的演说。这些诗歌、小说和演说都是以我们国家的语言完成的。我们已经介绍了几部演讲作品。下面再介绍几首诗歌。

邦克山

本杰明·富兰克林·泰勒［1］

伴着敌人的悲号和战鼓的咆哮，

邦克山的保护者和开拓者来了，

用隆隆的炮声冲出战场，

径直冲破两个时代，直入灵魂

向俘虏展示他们赢得的纪念日

就像乔舒亚让太阳不再奔跑。

就像塔顶的钟声敲响来自小镇的炮火，

将那些土筑的矮工事击打得如此沉闷黑焦，

如同巨人泰坦昨夜将战场犁了一遍。

唯独留下那块土地让美国人修筑土堡；

但是，为了那片矮墙赋予的生命。

它们也可以成为迈尔斯·斯坦迪什［2］的坟墓！

在绿色的小山上，涌动着乔治家庭的血迹。

而在绿色的山谷下，则滚动着炮弹的碎片；

山梁上的十根杆子悬挂着血淋淋的头颅，

那不是跨越雷池的低语，

而是石锁沿着垄沟发出的呼啸，

一只叽叽喳喳的麻雀正在吟唱她的歌谣。

在电光石火之间，随着死人被抬起，

阴沉的棱堡开始着火，低矮的土墙开始燃烧，

一时间枪声大作，射得又猛又高，

如同一片铁杉林在烈火中鞭笞，

战袍被血浸透，队形瞬间撕开，

普特南的枪声渐缓，翼侧却发出咆哮。

现在战斗进入僵持，掷弹兵原地旋转投弹，

那是长步枪的撞击，是冰冷钢铁的肉搏，

在整个港湾进行，而大炮则屏住呼吸，

短兵相接，四目相向，你死我活，战死疆场。

开始点名，士兵们！努力配得上这个日子；

滑铁卢是英国人的捷报——邦克山彰显男子汉的力量！

华伦在邦克山向美军士兵发表的演讲

约翰·皮尔庞特［3］

站起来吧！这片土地是你们的，我的勇士们！

你们要任由它受人奴役吗？

你们还要寻找更天然的坟墓吗？

你们还在指望得到怜悯吗？

假慈悲的暴君们有何感受？

听听战场上隆隆的炮声就知道了！

读读远处愤怒的钢铁战神就知道了！

问问它吧，问它是否愿意。

害怕你烧杀抢掠的敌人吗？

你是否还想回归你的故乡？

看看你的身后！它们正在熊熊燃烧！

再看看你的面前

是谁造成的这一切！

看看远处的山谷

他们来了！你觉得恐惧吗？

细雨中炮弹如同冰雹

让他们猛轰去吧！

在战斗中信仰上帝吧！

我们可能死亡，我们必定会死；

但是，有什么东西

比得上如此信任的托付，

上天的甘霖

撒落在死难爱国志士的床上，

连岩石都要抬起它们的头颅

为上帝的叮嘱颔首！

马里昂的战士之歌

威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特［4］

我们人虽少，但忠诚、老练，

我们的队长开朗又勇敢；

英国兵听到马里昂的名字，

个个都会心惊胆战。

我们的城堡是绿色丛林，

我们的帐篷是苍松翠柏，

我们了解周围的森林，

犹如水手了解大海；

带刺的藤蔓结成围墙，

芦苇长在沼泽中间。

阴暗的泥沼里有些小鸟，

躲在那里寂静又安全。

英军对我们若不提防，

他们不久就要遭殃，

一种莫名其妙的恐怖，

午夜时刻从天而降；

帐篷着了火，他们才惊醒，

抓起武器为时已晚，

谁敢站起来面对我们，

一定再次被打倒在地面。

那些恐慌逃跑的人们，

还以为大队人马在追赶，

虚幻的风声在耳旁吹过

仿佛有几千人追在后边。

辛苦和危险刚刚过去，

轻松时刻多么欢喜，

我们分享战斗的缴获，

我们回顾战斗的经历。

笑声喊声在林间响起

就像打完了猎在休息，

有人收集了林间野花

高高插在战士的怀里。

欢乐的歌声似乎在嘲弄

松树梢上风的哭泣；

我们把橡叶铺成了床

睡梦沉沉而甜蜜。

美丽、友好的月亮很熟悉

马里昂领导的这支队伍——

他们的步枪在月光下闪光，

他们的骏马迈开了大步。

生活多美！骑上烈驹

在洒满月光的平原上猛冲；

生活多美！感到晚风

吹起那飘飘飞扬的马鬃。

一会儿冲进英军的营垒，

一会儿走得无影无踪。

回到那没有路径的森林，

当时黎明还没有露红。

长眠者身在辽阔的桑提，

长眠者长有灰白的头发；

他们的心全都跟着马里昂，

因为马里昂是他们永远的牵挂。

可爱的姑娘用最宜人的微笑，

向我们的小分队致敬，

她们的微笑像夏天的清泉一样甘爽，

她们的泪水像春天的露珠一样晶莹。

为了她们，我们给这些可信赖的战士穿上衣衫，

让他们在地下长眠，

直到我们将英国人

永远驱出我们的家园。

［1］本杰明·富兰克林·泰勒，其父为科尔盖特大学教授，他在此接受教育，后投身记者与文学工作，逝于1887年。

［2］迈尔斯·斯坦迪什，美洲的英国殖民者，1620年被英国清教徒雇用，陪同其启程前往新大陆，在殖民地早期的艰苦年月里担任军政长官。

［3］革命先驱约翰·皮尔庞特于1785年出生于康涅狄格，毕业于耶鲁大学；后来先后当过律师、商人、牧师和诗人。逝世于1866年。

［4］威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特于1797年出生于马萨诸塞，是一位美国诗人、新闻记者。他曾在威廉学院读过书，但没有熬到毕业。他最著名的诗歌是“死亡观”。他逝世于1878年。

Chapter 07

一个联邦制的共和国

1.什么是宪法。我们还记得，政府是由人民选出来从事公共事务的。但是，既然有的人被人民选来立法，另一些则负责司法，也是需要受到限制的，倘若完全任由他们想怎么干就怎么干，那么他们可能会制定并执行很不恰当的法律。我们并不觉得政府本身有什么安全性可言。实际上，倘若我们默许政府不加限制地运转，那么这样的政府，比沙皇可以为所欲为地立法的俄国政府也好不到哪儿去。所以说，为了防止这种现象发生，美国人民首先要制定一套每个人都必须遵守的总的法律。这套法律明确了政府的组成方式，并且对立法机构、行政部门以及法庭作了具体规定。随后，它又继续规定每个政府部门应当履行的职责，以及哪些事情他们不能做。这样就使我们有了安全感。如果立法机构企图制定某个禁止制定的法令，法庭就会说他们的行为根本不合法，这样就不会有人必须遵守它了。

2.这一套为我们规定了政府构成形式以及政府该做什么、不该做什么的法律，便叫做宪法。

3.倘若缺少一部出色的宪法作保障，那么没有哪个国家的人能在一个自私、苛刻的政府管理下真正获得自由或者安全。我们很是为美国的宪法而骄傲。这部宪法是在独立战争结束不久的时候制定的， 如今，它已经在一个多世纪的岁月里，保护着我们的自由，确保领导我们的是一个英明的政府。

4.多合一。在独立战争之前，13个殖民地各有自己的一个政府。诚然，这些政府都不是独立的政府，而是必须服从远在伦敦的大英帝国政府的领导。但是，不用说的是，由于战争的出现，这种从属地位消失了，殖民地实现了独立自主。然而，他们在战争中又必须相互协作，只有这样，每个殖民地政府才能派代表去参加他们所称的在费城召开的代表大会。就战时而言，代表大会是所有殖民地共有的一种政府形式。正是这届代表大会，于1776年7月4日通过了《独立宣言》。此后，各殖民地便自称为州，并称他们的联邦为美利坚合众国。

5.战争结束后，各州发现有必要为新生的共和国成立一个更好的政府。于是，他们制定了我们前面讲到的宪法。但与此同时，每个州还保留着自己独立的宪法和政府。于是我们马上看到这样一种现象：美国有一个管理整个国家的政府，同时45个州又各有一个自己的政府。这样，我们的共和国就成了“多合一”，即由多个州组成一个共和国。这种“多合一”的政府构成形式便叫做联邦政府。所以说，美国是一个联邦制国家，我们也称其为联合政府。

6.管理整个国家（即管理联邦）的政府叫做联邦政府，或者叫做中央政府。二者是一回事。

7.立法的地点叫做首都。美国首都是华盛顿市，这是以独立战争英雄华盛顿的名字命名的。全国立法机构（也叫做“国会”或“代表大会”，像独立战争期间各殖民地的集会一样）每年在这里开会，为共和国制定法律。除此之外，每个州也有自己的首府，那是州立法机构开会并为州制定法律的地方。

8.在华盛顿市建成之前，美国的首都有较短时间在纽约，而定在费城的时间则要长一些。政府第一次在当前的首都开会是1801年，此后这里一直都是美国首都。华盛顿是一个美丽的城市，有巍峨的公共建筑、宽阔的街道，有公园，还有数不清的共和国伟人的雕像和纪念碑。华盛顿不在任何一个州的地域内，而是位于马里兰州给予国家的一个叫做哥伦比亚特区的准州。所以说，美国首都直属于国家。

9.如何避免相互抵触。或许有人认为，同时存在这么多立法机构，它们制定的法律会不会相互抵触。不过，宪法可以防止这一现象。首先，国会只制定宪法允许的那些法律。随后，州立法机构禁止制定任何与宪法相抵触或者与国会立法相抵触的法律。通过这种方式，法律相互抵触的可能性就非常小了。

10.原13州。反抗英国政府暴政的13块殖民地成为美国的13个州。它们分别是新罕布什尔州、马萨诸塞州、罗得岛州、康涅狄格州、纽约州、新泽西州、宾夕法尼亚州、特拉华州、马里兰州、弗吉尼亚州、北卡罗来纳州、南卡罗来纳州和佐治亚州。有些人觉得13是个不吉利的数字。但是，原13州的成功却表明这样的想法是多么愚蠢。美国国旗上的13个条纹总能让人想起这一事实。

11.新加入的32个州。当原13块殖民地变成一个独立的共和国时，阿勒格尼山脉和密西西比河之间的土地还是一片荒原。在它的森林里、草原上，分散居住着很少白人，而且这些白人多数都是猎人。野兽和野蛮的印第安人几乎是这片荒原上仅有的居民。

12.所有这些荒原都在某几个州境内。现在的肯塔基州是弗吉尼亚的一部分，现在的田纳西州则属于北卡罗来纳州。我们现在说到的剩下几块土地，则有另外几个州都宣称应纳入自身范围，它们分别是 佐治亚州、南卡罗来纳州、弗吉尼亚州、纽约州、康涅狄格州、马萨诸塞州。

13.但是，当人们越过高山，进入俄亥俄河南部的森林并在那里建立家园时，发现对他们来说，接受弗吉尼亚州和北卡罗来纳州政府的管理会非常方便。那段时间尚无铁路可用，经由林间小道来回穿越高高的大山需要数天时间。此外，山脉以东的居民忙于处理自己内部的事务，而西边很远地区的居民也发现获得自己想要的法律并不容易。于是，后者便请求政府允许他们另立新州。弗吉尼亚州和北卡罗来纳州对此并无异议，于是在1792年，美国国会批准了肯塔基州， 1796年又批准了田纳西州归属于联邦。宪法赋予国会允许新州加入联邦的权力，于是，自从有了原13州以来，国会的一项法令又相继批准 32个州陆续进入联邦。

14.佛蒙特州是在肯塔基州获批的前一年得到批准的。新罕布什尔州和纽约州都宣称自己应当拥有格林山，由于这两个州未能达成一致意见，最后只好允许佛蒙特（其意便是格林山）成为一个独立的州，争吵才得以平息。

15.事实拥有或者宣称拥有阿勒格尼山脉以西、且又没有纳入肯塔基和田纳西两个新州的地区的那些州，最后将所有这片土地都让给了联邦政府。于是，国会为此专门立法，当足够多的人口在那里定居时，这些地区便作为新州又一个接一个地被纳入联邦。通过这种方式获批的州，有俄亥俄州、印第安纳州、伊利诺伊州、威斯康星州、密歇根州、阿拉巴马州和密西西比州。

16.独立战争于1783年结束时，美国的版图尚限于密西西比河以西地区。西班牙占据了这条河流以西远至太平洋的所有地盘。西班 牙还拥有佛罗里达，以及从佛罗里达到密西西比河之间的领土。但是，近20年之后，法国从西班牙手中买去从密西西比河到落基山脉，以及从得克萨斯到英属北美地区的全部广袤地区。之后，法国又将这块土地卖给了美国。此时是1803年，即独立战争结束整整20年之后。我们向法国支付了1500万美元，这个价格已经算很便宜了。当时那里还没有多少人居住。第一批定居者是法国人，因为西班牙在卖给法国之前，这块地方先由法国卖给了西班牙。新奥尔良在1803年还是一座规模不大的法国城市，沿河分散建立的还有另外几个法国定居点。不过，几乎所有这块地方都是一片荒野，是一望无际而又没有一棵树的大草原，只有成群的水牛和印第安部落的野蛮人在上面游荡。

17. 1803年，许多人都认为花这么多钱买一大片无人居住的土地不明智。其实，真正了解这块土地的人很少。几乎没有什么旅行者会到密西西比河以西很远的地方。当时流传着很多新奇的故事，说那里有一个身材高大的印第安人部落；高高的悬崖面对着巨石，鬼斧神工把它雕刻得像无数古塔；那里的土地肥得流油，几乎能天然地生产出生活必需品；无边的大草原上到处都是水牛，除了水草什么也不长，因为土壤对于树木生成来说是太肥沃了；更重要的是，沿密西西比河向上1000英里处，是一个巨大的盐山！它的长度是180英里，宽是45英里，上面没有一棵树，甚至连一丛灌木也没有，但是全都发出闪闪的白光。它从地面升起一座由岩盐组成的高山，盐水淙淙地从裂缝向山脚流淌！讲述者承认，这个故事听来很是让人觉得不可思议，但是对怀疑者来说，不幸的是，商人们向圣路易斯居民贩卖的许多盐已经证明了它的真实性。

18.然而，随着时间推移，人们跨过密西西比河前往新地区的人数如此众多，以至于通过从法国手中购买，许多州都获准加入联 邦，其中有路易斯安那州、阿肯色州、密苏里州、爱荷华州、明尼苏达州、达科他州、内布拉斯加州和堪萨斯州。这桩买卖还包括蒙大拿州、怀俄明州和科罗拉多州的大部分。

19.佛罗里达是1819年从西班牙手里购买的，若干年以后，它成为联邦的一个州。

20.大约在此时，剩下的西班牙殖民地爆发了一场革命，他们也效仿美国的做法，宣布自己独立并成立了自己的共和国政府。西班牙试图武力征服自己的殖民地，但是取得的成功甚至不如大英帝国。新成立的西班牙属美洲共和国之一是墨西哥，其领土包括如今位于美国西南部的大部分地区。但是，为数众多的美国人民越过界限，在墨西哥土地上定居下来，并最终宣布独立于墨西哥之外，成立了得克萨斯共和国。墨西哥人没有能力通过战争征服得克萨斯人，于是在1845年，美国国会批准得克萨斯加入联邦。这件事遗憾地引发了墨西哥和美国之间的一场战争。墨西哥人被征服，战争结束时，他们将大量土地让给了美国，这些土地包括墨西哥目前北部边界和俄勒冈州之间，位于落基山脉以西的所有地区。美国为得到这片土地，向墨西哥支付了1850万美元。从这片墨西哥土地上，又有几个州加入了联邦。加利福尼亚州是第一个获批的。当美国与墨西哥签订和约时，关于加利福尼亚有黄金的消息还并没有广为人知。但是，这种贵重金属的发现，诱使许许多多的人从世界各地前往那里，于是不出几年，加利福尼亚就成了一个州。内华达州、犹他州以及科罗拉多州和怀俄明州的部分地区，也曾是墨西哥的领土。包括俄勒冈、华盛顿和爱达荷等州在内的地区，也是在尚且荒无人烟的时候被美国人发现的，从此便归美国所有。

21.缅因州直到1820年还是马萨诸塞州的一部分。但是对该地区的人民来讲，将它作为一个独立的州更方便一些，于是在1820年，国会据此批准缅因州加入联邦。

22.因此我们看到，自从最早的13个州构成共和国以来，国会又批准了32个州加入联邦。由此，我们的国旗上现在有45颗星星了。

23.不过，仍然有大块属于美国的地区没有包括在联邦政府的任何一个州之内。当这些地区有相当多的人居住，但人数又不足以成为一个州的时候，国会又制定了一项同意其设立地方政府的法律。通常情况下，美国总统会在这些地方任命一个州长，由人民选举一个立法机构，法庭的法官也由总统直接任命。以这种方式管理的地区叫做一个准州。俄克拉荷马、亚利桑那和新墨西哥都是具有这种政府形式的准州。印第安准州从属于某些印第安部落，其中每个部落都有自己的政府。阿拉斯加州是1867年从俄国手里买来的。但是，住在那里的人口太少了，以至于它到现在还没有成立一个完整的准州政府。

24.成立了政府的每个准州都要向国会的众议院派出一个代表。但是，这些代表没有表决权。准州没有参议员，也没有总统候选人。不过，到了一定时候，每个准州都有望有更多人口，从而成为联邦的一个州。

25.移民肯塔基。本书中，我们可以看到在本世纪中叶左右人们拥向加利福尼亚的概貌。而向肯塔基移民（下文对此进行了描述）则发生在18世纪后半段。

26. 约翰·詹姆斯·奥杜邦是美国一位著名的鸟类学家，他的力作《美国鸟类图谱》由于有数百幅美丽的彩色插图而增色不少。他旅行的足迹曾深入远西部的森林，他也用生动而鲜明的语言对目睹的一切进行了描绘。他逝世于1851年，享年71岁。

移民肯塔基

约翰·詹姆斯·奥杜邦

弗吉尼亚人蜂拥前往俄亥俄。一把斧头，几匹马，一支笨重的来复枪，加上一点弹药贮备，所有这些均被认为是迁移者必不可少的装备。他们拖家带口前往俄亥俄这一新州，信心百倍地认为，在这块富饶肥沃的土地上，他肯定会想要什么就有什么。

亲眼看看这些移民的勤勉和坚韧，就马上会清楚他们迁移的初衷。哪怕每次疲惫地迈出一步都要留心，他们还是艰难地穿越一段人迹罕至的、黑暗而杂乱的丛林地区，仅通过日光来辨别方向，晚上则在裸露的地面上休息。他们必须携妻带子、带着家畜和行李，坐着橡皮艇，穿过数不清的溪流；往往在漂到很远的距离之后，才能成功地在对岸着陆。他们的牲畜经常在这些海滨的肥美草地上走失，有时候一耽误就是好几天。除这些麻烦事之外，在营地睡觉时，他们还不断面临即将被野蛮的印第安巡逻者杀死的危险。要想挑战如此种种困难，必须要有非同寻常的体力，而这些老练的移民赢得的奖赏，则无疑受之无愧。

有些人却能更轻松、更安全地从大西洋海岸迁移到俄亥俄的这些地区。他们带着自己的马车，自己的黑奴以及家人；在出发前的一天，他们的斧工就已经在丛林中为他们开辟好了道路；当夜幕笼罩他们时，随队前行的猎人已经选好宿营的地点，准备好林中供应充足的美食；当他们抵达时，篝火耀眼的亮光引领着他们的脚步，不绝于耳的欢呼声使他们确信一切准备就绪。水牛肉、熊肉、鹿肉很快都做成了又大又好吃的肉排，挂在尚未燃尽的火堆前；已经准备好的蛋糕存放在恰当的地方，并且很快就伴 着浓浓的油汁烤好。马车里有床，尽管拉着他们赶路的马匹已经松开了拴绳（有些马儿可能仍然拴着脚），吃着森林里繁茂的矮树丛，但是更多的马儿却只是在脖子上挂一串铃铛，领着它们的主人清晨便前往它们可能已经到过的地方。人和马在经过一天疲惫的旅行之后，此时都乐在其中。

与预想的一样，一切都轻松愉快，这些迁移大军欣喜地享受着集体生活，丝毫不觉得还有比他们从无路可走的丛林前往肥美之地的途中所能遇到的更大的危险。尽管走完全程需要数月时间，他们和印第安人之间也不时地会发生一些小冲突，因为印第安人经常会悄无声息地潜入他们居住的营地，但这些弗吉尼亚人仍然会快乐地朝着西边的地平线走下去，直到不同路的各类人群全都到达俄亥俄。到那时，在震惊于那里气势磅礴的溪流展现出的美的同时，他们会立即着手开拓土地，以便建立一个永久定居点。

另一些可能由于行李过多而行动不便的人，则更愿意顺流而下。他们准备好一些底部不平的方舟，在平缓的水流上滑行，然而，他们却比那些经由陆地到达、受到跟踪他们行动的印第安人攻击的人更为苦恼。

许多旅行者都描述到这些先是叫做方舟，如今又叫做平底船的小船，但是他们有没有告诉过你：在那个时代，一艘长为三四十英尺、宽为10～12英尺的小船，便被人视为一个庞然大物？这艘船上装有男人、女人和孩子，拥挤着随船迁移的马、家畜、猪和家禽，剩下的地方还塞满了蔬菜和种子袋？船的顶篷和甲板有点像农家院，上面覆盖着干草、犁、农用车、手推车以有各种各样的农具，此外还有数不清的其他物件，其中，家庭主妇用的纺车最为显眼。即便在随船漂浮的一侧，也固定着种种交通工具的轮子，乱七八糟地摊在上面。

他们有没有告诉你：这些船上还有这些勇敢移民每家每户的所有孩子？这些移民由于害怕被印第安人发现，总是在夜幕降临时在黑暗中前行，在这些流行住所上来回奔走、摸索前进，抵挡住生火或发出亮光以方便前进的诱惑，以免从对岸观察他们行踪的敌人袭击并杀死他们。他们有没有告诉你：这些用过的小船在枯燥漫长的航行结束之后，仍然是这些新移民们刚到达目的地时居住的地方？

我不必描写不同白人和印第安人团体之间在前者到达俄亥俄的过程中发生的多次大屠杀，因为我向来不太喜欢暴力，实际上，我一直希望世界比现在更加和平；我只想加上一句话：肯塔基这块土地，是它最早的居民经过千辛万苦，通过不同方式才得到的。

Chapter 08

美国的地方自治

1. 我们已经看到，共和国有一个政府，它的主要官员都在华盛顿市。此外，45个州中的每一个都有自己的政府。

2. 但不仅仅是这些。各州的百姓分散居住在广袤的地区，有的在城市，有的在村庄，还有的住在荒凉的农家。现在，政府的目标就是制定并施行所有人都必须遵守的法律，并管理关乎百姓集体利益的事务。

3.什么是地方自治。有个这方面的例子。比如要建一座桥。如果溪流太深，人无法轻松地涉水而过，那么很显然，应当建一座桥。但是，考虑到做这件事只能让所有想要过河的人受益，所以就不能让所有人掏钱建桥了。桥应当由政府建造，供所有人使用。但是话又说回来，除了住所离溪流很近的人之外，这样一座桥不会用得太多。在人口众多的大州，可能会有成千上万的人对要不要建桥不知道或者不在意。于是我们想，最可能使用这座桥的人，应当是那些可以决定是否建桥的人，以及应该为此掏腰包的人。

4. 换句话说，我们认为，每个地区都应当享有管理自身内部事务的自由。我们称此为地方自治，或者叫做内政自治。

5.县。要想提供这种地方自治的自由，首先，每个州要分割成若干个比较大的领域，通常叫做县。在路易斯安那州，这种领域叫做堂区。每个县都有一个名称。县的数量因州的不同而有所区别。例如，纽约州有60个县，而伊利诺伊州却有102个。

6.每个县都有自己的政府，是由人民选出来的。这个县政府可以立法，其前提仅仅是不能与联邦法律或者州的法律相抵触。县政府还有一项职责，就是监督州的法律和县的法律在该县有没有得到遵守。他们管理的就是此类人民赋予他们的县务。县里都有监狱，通常还有一套专门的房子或农场用于收留乞丐。

7.县监狱。监狱是一栋坚固的建筑物，门上有笨重的锁，窗户上装有铁栅栏。如果有人由于被指控犯有某种罪行而被逮捕，就会送到监狱里看押起来，直到法庭开始审讯他。如果在审讯时，法庭认为该嫌疑人对指控的罪行表示认罪伏法，可能就会宣判入狱服刑。这与前面的关押就不是一回事了。监狱或劳教所都隶属于州管理，囚犯一般要忙碌于从事一些有用的劳动。而在关押期间，是不会让嫌疑人去劳动的。

8. 那些违了法但是犯的过错很小，或者说小到不足以宣判关进州监狱的人，通常会送到监狱里待很短一段时间，可能是几天或者几个星期。

9.狱卒通常住在紧邻监狱的房子里。他必须有副手帮助自己看管监狱和犯人，并时刻监督犯人不会越狱。狱卒和他的副手是由县雇用的。

10.锒铛入狱是一件很丢人的事情。但遗憾的是，总是有些人不守法，这样的人当然必须受到惩罚。盗贼、造假者和纵火犯必须受到看押乃至坐牢，否则谁的财产也不会安全。优秀公民总是很注意不去干涉别人的权利。他对邻居的财产从不眼红，在能够帮助别人的时候，从不伤害其他人及其财产。如果所有人都是优秀公民，那么就不需要设立监狱了。

11.罗斯恰尔兹家族。几乎每个人都听说过罗斯恰尔兹家族，他们是欧洲很有钱的银行家。他们的财产多得数不清，多到他们只向政府提供贷款而且只进行大额贷款的程度。

12. 至于他们的巨额财富最早是怎样起家的，这一点很让人好奇。大约100年前，德国的美茵河法兰克福市，有一位名叫梅耶·安瑟尔姆·鲍尔的犹太放债人。他的招牌是一个红盾，在德语中就是法兰克福的意思。当时，他还不是一个有巨额资财的人。法军之后侵略德国，有一位德国王子害怕敌人会在他离开时，掠夺他以珠宝和黄金形式存在的巨额财产，但又不敢带着这些财产逃走。最后，他突然想起了这位放债人。这个犹太人并不愿意接受这份委托，但终于还是同意了，于是，这些巨额财富留在他的手上，但王子却没有拿到一纸证明犹太人对此负责的凭据。犹太人将这些财产埋在自家的花园里，但把自己的钱还放在经常存放的地方。法军来了，他们抢走了犹太人的钱，却没有发现那位王子的财富。法军离开之后，罗斯恰尔兹（由他著名的招牌而得名）很明智地用了一部分王子的钱，然后从中获得了不小的利润。战争结束时，王子回到法兰克福，便立即拜访了这位银行家。他在询问自己的财富时怕得发抖，这不仅是因为敌人有可能将他的巨资抢走，还因为他担心：即便这些东西幸免于难，犹太人哪怕再忠诚，也未必经得起诱惑，不去挪用自己私下托付给他的价值数百万美元的财富。然而，令王子欣喜不已的是，他从银行家的嘴里听到的消息是，他的所有财产都安然无恙。此外，罗斯恰尔兹只提出王子向他支付财产总额的5%作为补偿，因为他故意牺牲了自己的财产，以便法军不会怀疑他还藏有更多的钱。狂喜的王子完全为银行家赔偿了损失，此外还不厌其烦地到处颂扬这位法兰克福犹太人的诚实品质。这位犹太人天长日久，也积攒了一笔不小的财富，其中大部分都来源于向政府的贷款，而他的子孙后代接过了衣钵，从而使家族的财富猛增。

13. 这个例子说明：与石墙和钢锁相比，人品是保护财富更好的手段。

14.关心无依无靠的穷人。称某些人为“穷人”其实很大程度上是胡说。当然，有些人与另一些人相比，没多少钱，住得也不好，没什么奢侈品。但是，看待一个人是穷还是富，完全在于你看问题的角度。若干年以前，科罗拉多州的一群矿主在华盛顿的一家旅馆里聊天。他们全都是百万富翁。话题转到美国内战中一些久负盛名的将军身上，这些人的财产据估计多达五六十万美元。“哦！“其中有一个人说，“我想，他一定像自己有钱时那样幸福。”对这些拥有百万资财的人来说，有几十万美元的人似乎就是穷人。但是，大多数人都会认为这样的人很富有。

15. 事实上，任何人如果有能力并且愿意靠诚实劳动生活，同时又有这样做的机会，那么他都不是真穷。他是独立的，而只要有独立存在，就没有真正的贫穷。

16. 但是，向来还是有些人没有任何财产，并且由于这样那样的原因无法养活自己。或许他们的身体垮掉了，也或许他们年迈体弱、无法劳作。在这种情况下，如果有朋友能够照料他们，他们也不会受苦。但是，如果没有人照料，他们自己管自己就只能是忍饥挨饿。这种情况是不容许出现的。于是，各县的百姓都会为贫困者提供某种安居之所。这种住所的条件通常比较简陋，但应该一直很舒适。我们必须记住一点：和我们一样住有所居的人不是犯人，只不过比较不幸而已。社会有责任照料他们。

17.流浪汉。总是有一些人有劳动能力但却宁愿无所事事。他们一旦没有财产可以依靠，就只能以乞讨或盗窃为生。有时候，这种人会将时间浪费在在乡野游荡上，睡在畜棚里或干草堆下面，向别人乞求钱、食物和衣服。这些可怜的人叫做“流浪汉”。看到有人如此低贱，真让人心生怜悯。倘若他们愿意工作，一般来说也能靠诚实劳动为继。但是，他们却宁愿卑微地活着，以四海为家作为固定职业。他们基本上不值得同情，也不应得到多少帮助，因为他们没有得到同情和帮助的理由。县里为穷人提供的住所不是为流浪汉准备的。

18. 有时候，一个人在做了不诚实的事情时经常这样找借口，“我没日子过是社会欠我的。如果我不能通过这种方式生活，就必须通过另一种方式生活。”不过，这纯粹是胡扯。任何人如果不努力争取，世界就不会欠你过日子的条件。如果一个人不幸到根本无法养活自己的程度，那么社会可以照顾他。但是话又说回来，任何人倘若能够劳动却宁愿游手好闲、靠那些诚实劳动者挣的钱来养自己，那他就只能流浪了。这样的人对于社会一点用处也没有。

19.乡镇。在一些州，县又要分成更小的社区，叫做乡镇。这个社区小到人们可以不太费力地聚在一起决定公共事务的程度。在这些乡镇集会上，人们往往会为建一座桥、修一条路或者类似的事情投票表决。他们还要选举镇上的官员，任期一般为一年；并决定镇上的事情办起来应当花多少钱。

20.村庄。在县一级，农舍一般相隔很远。但是，如果许多农舍建成后靠得比较近，以至于可以构成一个差不多有几百人的社区，那么这样的地方就叫做一个村。这时的房子通常不只是农舍了，一般来说有一个或多个商店、铁匠铺、教堂、学校，还可能有医生、裁缝、帽商或者有个邮局。村庄越大，能找到的这些设施和人就越多。

21. 当然，也并非所有村庄的规模都一样大。有些村子很大，人口甚至达到数千人。

22. 村庄也有自己的政府，是由人民选出来的。至于村政府是什么、其职责有哪些，我们将在另一章讨论。

23.城市。数量众多的人住得比较靠近，就构成了所谓的城市。在城市里，街道取代了乡村公路。这些街道通常铺上了石头、砖头或者木块。这里有许多商店、教堂和校舍，往往还有一些制造业。

24. 城市有自己的政府，负责立法以及监督法律的执行情况，并办理各种各样的公共事务。

25. 由于城市里的人口相当多，所以为了方便，它往往又分成较小的社区，叫做行政区。每个行政区都有一些由百姓选出来的公务员。行政区是要编号的。

26.地方自治。我们看到，我们共和国的每个组成部分，无论是州、县、市还是村，都有自己的一个政府，都是由当地百姓选举产生的。所有这些不同类型的政府都能和谐共存、互不干扰，因为每个政府都只关注自身的事务。州政府禁止制定与国家法律相抵触的任何法律。县、市和村政府制定的法律也不能与州的法律相抵触。但是，任何只关系到某一个特定城市、而与其他地区无关的事情，都完全交给该城市去办理。例如，芝加哥的百姓想在市内的一条街道上铺上石头。那好，这跟城市以外的所有其他人有什么关系呢？芝加哥市负责出钱，没有其他人在意。因此，州或县对此都不予关心，芝加哥市想怎么干就去干好了。这便是我们所说的“地方自治”，或者叫“内政自治”。每个特定的区域都可以按照自身喜好，自由地管理内部事务。

27.地方利益不代表国家利益。任何在共和国某个特定地区（例如马萨诸塞州、宾夕法尼亚州、弗吉尼亚州或者加利福尼亚州）出生和长大的人，对自己所在的州、城市或者县，自然都有一种情结。这里是生他养他的家，他的社会关系都聚集在这周围。那里有他的朋友和邻居，他在那里从事自己的工作。他为自己的州或市而自豪，并且急于看到它越来越繁荣昌盛。

28. 但是说到底，我们的国家是整个共和国，星条旗是这个国家的象征。作为公民，我们的第一责任是为共和国贡献力量。当然了，如果我们在自家周围地区都履行不好公民的职责，那肯定不会是合格的共和国公民。但是，对爱国的美国人来说，带有地方性的嫉妒和偏见是绝对要不得的。事实上，在这块土地的每个地方，都能找到优秀的人民。无论听到自己祖国的哪个地方繁荣富强，都会令一个真正的爱国者高兴不已。

29. 马萨诸塞州的优秀公民罗伯特·C·温思罗普先生在他的一篇演讲辞中，极其生动地阐述了这一点。这篇演讲值得每个人花点时间读一读。温思罗普先生曾在哈佛大学接受教育，后来跟着丹尼尔·韦伯斯特学习法律，当过国会会员和马萨诸塞州选出的美国参议员，并以一位学者和演说家的身份赢得广泛赞誉。他逝世于1894年。

一位身处他乡的爱国旅者

罗伯特·C·温斯罗普

毫无疑问的是，我的朋友们，对于一个身在异国他乡的人来说，如果他不会对爱国主义的感化不为所动，那么这种人所能受到的最大影响，就是他一度忘记或者只能反感地、厌恶地记得家庭内部的分歧和争吵，而这些分歧和争吵经常会使我们疏远和苦恼。在他祖国的这一小张、每个爱国者出门在外都要带在身上、烙在心上的地图上，已经满满当当地没有空间，在这张充满魔力的微型地图上，已经没有地方用于领土划分和地区划界。但它却大到足以反映和重现整个联邦的形象和面貌，可以再现只属于科学和学派研究领域的一切微不足道的地形特征。此外，它不喜欢蹩脚的接缝和凌乱的涂抹，那是各地政治家用以证明其可憎的特色和拿来对比使用的。因此，这个身处他乡的爱国旅者，带着这张用光和爱铭刻于记忆之中的地图，在回忆祖国时，只会将它作为一个整体来怀念。他学会了将祖国整个地来喜爱，这是他以前不曾有过的。他养成了一想起祖国就心里温暖、一说起祖国就内心自豪的习惯；他时刻准备将祖国作为一个整体来捍卫，就像它要受到敌人的入侵或者唇枪舌剑的攻击一样。他抓住某个同样身在异乡的美国人的手，就像抓住兄弟的手一样，而不会停下来问问对方来自马萨诸塞还是来自南卡罗来那、来自缅因还是路易斯安纳、来自佛蒙特还是弗吉尼亚。他们的护照上盖有相同的国玺、相同的国徽，这些就够了。每一次他自己的护照受到盘查，每一次他进入一块新国土或者穿越一个新边界，每一次他在海关滞留或者受到警察询问或哨兵盘查，每一次他被一门新语言所难倒或因为一种新的硬币或纸币而茫然，他都会一次次热情地感谢上帝：走过那片土地的每一个角落，远离了那片暴涨的洪水，那片他有权称为并且自豪地称之为“我自己的家园”的土地，仍然还存在一种相同的语言、相同的货币、相同的宪法、相同的法律和自由、对昔日辉煌相同的承袭；如果始终坚持自己的爱国准则，还有相同的注定更加辉煌的未来！

Chapter 09

立法者

1.国会。美国有一个全国性立法机构，每个州又有自己的立法机构。

2.全国性立法实体叫做国会，每年都要在华盛顿市开会。会议召开的建筑物便是国会大厦，这是一幢由软性石和大理石建成的气势恢宏的建筑。

3.国会又包含两个独立的实体，一个叫做参议院，另一个叫做众议院。每个院在国会大厦都有一个宽敞美丽的大厅，用于召开会议。

4.参议院如今有90名议员，每个州2名。州立法机构会选举参议员。每届议员的任期为6年。但是，并不是所有参议员同时结束任期。如果是那样，那么每过6年，就会选举出一个全新的参议院。然而事实上，由于安排形式得当，每过2年都有1/3左右的参议员结束任期，然后再新选出同样数量的参议员取而代之。

5.美国有一些最著名的政治家都当过参议员。马萨诸塞州有约翰·昆西·亚当斯、丹尼尔·韦伯斯特和查尔斯·萨姆纳，肯塔基州有亨利·克雷，南卡罗来纳州有约翰· C·卡尔霍恩，纽约州有威廉· H·苏华德，这几位都是其中的杰出代表。

6.众议院如今有357名议员。他们是根据各州的人口数量分布的，人口最多的州议员人数也最多，但是每个州至少有一名议员。纽约州有34名，特拉华州、爱达荷州、蒙大拿州、内华达州、北达科他州、犹他州以及怀俄明州均只有1名。众议院的代表是人民选举产生的。每个议员人数超过1人的州又要分为许多选区，每个选区的选民要在每一年的11月作出选择。这些选区是编号的。众议员的任期为2年。因此，每隔两年，就要选举产生一届全新的众议院。选举在11月进行。

7.代表又叫做众议院议员，或者叫做国会众议院议员。参议院的成员叫做参议员。

8.国会每年12月要开会，然后进入“会期”并持续工作，直到其成员完成了预期的所有立法工作。之后，国会会“休会”，也就是说结束会期，这时议员们就可以回家了。

9.每个院都必须有一个主席，其职责就是维持秩序。参议院的主持人是美国的副总统。众议院选举产生自己的主席，叫做议长。你出席过某种形式的辩论会，或者公众集会吗？如果出席过，你肯定注意到这种场合必须有人主持。主持人可能叫做会议的“主席”或“会长”。在美国国会里也是一样，只有新主席不是每天选举产生。议长在两年中的每次会议上都主持下院工作，而副总统则可能在参议院主持4年。

10.我们在第4章已经了解国会是怎样立法的。这些法律一旦确立，共和国的每个人都必须遵守它们，而州立法机构不得制定与国会法律相抵触的法律。

11.参议院。参议院除了协助众议院立法之外，还担负着其他一些职责。

12.宪法规定，美国总统有权与其他国家签订条约。条约只是一种协定，商人称之为“合同”。美国与世界上主要国家之间签订过许多条约。例如在1783年独立战争快结束的时候，大英帝国就与美国签订了一项条约，就加拿大和新共和国之间的边界问题、美国人在纽芬兰英属岛屿捕鱼的权利问题以及其他事项达成一致。如今宪法规定，如果国会不同意，总统不得擅自签订任何条约。因此，总统要将每次待签订的条约送至参议院，交由参议员讨论，然后再就是否同意的问题进行投票表决。

13.宪法还规定，美国总统有权任命美国的许多官员。但是，除了临时任命之外，也必须等到参议院批准之后才能进行这种任命。

14.州立法机构。 45个州当中，每个都有一个立法机构，而且像国会一样，也都含有两院。州立法机构往往叫一些很特殊的名字 （在伊利诺伊州叫做会员大会），但是通常只是指立法机关。上院总是叫做参议院，像国会的上院一样。下院的名字则各式各样。在马里兰州叫做下议院，然而在大多数州，它的叫法则和国会中的一样，即众议院。

15.州立法机构的每个院的成员都是由人民选出来的。州要分成数量与该州参议员人员相同的许多参议员选区，通常还要分成与众议员代表人数相同的众议院选区。每个参议院选区的人要选一名参议员，而每个众议院选区的人则要选一名众议员。

16.在伊利诺伊州有51个参议院选区，但没有众议院选区。每个参议院选区的百姓要选1名参议员和3名众议员。因此，伊利诺伊州立法机构就有51名参议员和153名众议员。参议员的数量以及下院的成员人数根据不同的州而有所区别，至于其任期也是如此。但是，参议员的人数总是比下院的成员数要少，而在大多数州，选出的参议员任期要长一些。

17.在某些州，立法机构每年都开会，而在另一些州则两年召开一次。

18.州参议院的主持官员是副州长，前提是该州有一个副州长。如果没有，那么参议员们就要选举主席。下院的议长则都是选出来的。

19.像联邦政府一样，每个州都有一部宪法。州宪法规定的是立法机构应当做什么、不应当做什么。所以说，立法者是不能为所欲为的。他们不能制定出与联邦政府宪法或国会法令或州宪法相抵触的法律。但是，每次州立法机构开会，还是能制定出许多法律。如果他们制定的法律少一些，可能效果也差不到哪儿去。

20.县立法者。既然像我们现在这样进行内政自治或叫地方自治是一件好事，那么我们的州立法机构就会将那些纯地方性事务，尽可能地交由每个更小的地区组织中的人民，让他们根据自身喜好自主决定。因此，每个县又有某种立法实体，通常叫做委员会。如果该县又分成若干乡镇，那么每个镇的人民可以选举一个镇长，而所有镇长合起来便构成了该县的委员会。如果该州没有分成乡镇，（在某些州，即便分成了乡镇也是如此），那么县委员会便由几个（一般是3个）叫做专员的人组成，·这些专员是全县人民选举产生的。在有些州，根本连县委员会也没有。

21.县委员会处理的事务也根据不同的州而有所区别。他们可以批准建一条收费公路或一座收费桥；可以规定在必要时建某些县建筑，例如一座监狱，或者为各种县里的官员建办公楼。此外，他们还要决定县里的百姓应当交什么税，以便为完成县里的公务进行财政支持。

22.村和市立法者。村庄是获准制定自身地方法律的另一个区域性单位。村民通常会选举一个“委员会”（有时候也叫“理事”）以管理村务。这些理事可以制定他们认为合理的村规，通常叫做“法规”。但是，法规其实也是真正的法律。村民们必须遵守它，就像必须遵守州立法机构制定的法律一样。

23.同样，一座城市也有一个立法实体，通常叫做“政务会”，其成员通常叫做“市政委员”。在某些城市，市立法机构是一个双重实体，既像国会又像州立法机构。在另一些城市却只有一个院。一般来说，政务会的成员是从各行政区选出来的。例如在芝加哥市，“政务会”由68名市政委员组成，每个选区的居民选2个。

24.市政委员会制定法律（这些法律叫做“法规”），其内容涵盖州法律和联邦法律没有涉及的各种各样的事务。

Chapter 10

法律是怎样执行的

1.警察。如果你住在一座城市，或者参观过某座城市，那么肯定经常看到警察。他的蓝色制服和警棍是大街上熟悉的风景。他要做的事情是什么？哦，只要看看那些不守法的人就知道了。违法的事情有很多，如盗窃、纵火烧房子、在熙熙攘攘的大街上超速驾驶以及许多其他事情。警察时刻盯着那些违犯法律的人，如果他发现有人在干不合法的勾当，就会把他抓起来带到警察局。

2.在村庄或农业区，不一定非要有一支警力。但是，村庄的“治安员”却是官员，他会抓捕村里的违法分子，把他们带去“关押”起来，限制其人身自由。同样，县上的“治安官”及其助手也可能在县里的各个地方实施抓捕。

3.所以我们看出，警察、治安员和治安官都是担负相同职责的官员。他们努力制止违法行为，并抓捕违法分子。这些官员中的每一种都有一个熟悉的名字，叫做“警官”。

4.其他一些公务员。但是，也还有另一种公务员。在城市里，我们经常能看见邮递员匆匆忙忙地四处奔走。他们穿着蓝灰色的制服，肩膀上吊着一个皮制邮包。在乡村很少能看到邮递员，但是谁都认识负责照看邮件的“邮政局长”。乡村的邮电所通常设在某个商店里，邮件来到时，村民们便会聚在那里取自己的信件和报纸。不管是在城市还是在乡村，乃至偏僻的地区，共和国的公立学校教师也都处处忙碌。

5.邮递员、邮政局长和公立学校教师都是公务员。不过，与警察和治安官不同的是，他们的职责并非阻止不正当行为、逮捕违法分子。他们也在为社会做贡献，但却完全是另一种贡献。他们的工作对于方便百姓、提高百姓智力水平非常重要。

6.因此我们看到，我们的立法者制定的法律有两种。一种如禁止盗窃的法律，是一套规范人们行为、告诉大家不要做什么的法规。当立法者制定此类法律时，政府的某个部门就会忙于监督人们遵守它的情况，一旦它们遭到了违犯，就要施以处罚。另一种法律则就从事公共事务作出规定，例如发送邮件、在学校教书，以及收集和分发用以维持政府运转的钱款。

7.后一种公共事务非常重要。为许多公务人员支付工资都需要钱。这笔钱是由人民付给政府的。这种支付方式叫做收“税”。制定的相关法律会告诉我们谁应当交税、交多少，以及税钱应当用于什么目的。许多公务员都忙于依据法律收税和付钱。

8.所有这些忙于执法的各种各样的官员，都归政府管理，都属于我们所称的“政府”部门。

9.总统。联邦政府的领导是美国总统。

10.像我们这种共和国的总统，其位置与君主制国家国王或皇帝的位置非常接近。总统便是共和国之王。但从另一方面讲，人民选举的总统为人民服务，而总统任期只有4年。当然了，如果人民喜欢他，他可能再次被选上并连任4年，实际上我们有好几位总统都是这样。

11.美国首任总统是乔治·华盛顿，他是革命军深受爱戴的著名将领。他成功连任一届，本来还可以被选上第三任，但是他谢绝了。他是我们有史以来最睿智、最优秀的总统之一。自他之后，没有哪位总统连任超过两届。

12.在选举总统时，人们不是根据名字给他投票的。在每个州，人们都要以“选举人”的身份，就几个人选进行投票表决。选举人通过这种方式，在各个不同的州选举总统。不过事实上，每个州的选举人都始终清楚该州有哪些人希望竞选总统，于是在投票时会关注他而不是别人。每个州的选举人数量，都与该州在国会两院中的议员人数相等。因此说，没有哪个州的选举人人数低于3人。纽约有36人。目前，所有的州加起来，一共有447名选举人，所以，其中的224人都必须投票给同一名总统候选人，这名候选人才可能当选。

13.总统的权力很大。他可以任命许多公共事务官员，其中包括所有最重要的官员。他指挥着全国的官兵以及海上力量。总统的年薪为5万美元，国家为他在华盛顿市提供一个寓所，即“白宫”。

14.总统的4年任期从3月4日算起。在这一天，华盛顿要举行非常隆重的庆典仪式。新任总统由任期即将结束的总统陪同，在军队和军乐的护送下缓步前行，走到雄伟的、大理石建成的、国会在此开会的国会大厦。他露天地站在粗大的东门柱旁边，在到场的政府部门主要官员、代表外国政府的大使、应邀出席的一群贵宾以及将现场围得水泄不通的无数群众的注视下，新任总统宣誓就任。他庄严地宣誓要捍卫联邦宪法，忠诚地履行职责。之后，新任总统要向广大观众致辞，主要是阐述他对新政府管理的想法。队伍随后护送新任总统前往他在白宫中的家。这些仪式称为总统就职典礼。

15.副总统。如果总统在4年任期未到时去世，那么联邦政府就会群龙无首。立即举行另一届选举不仅很麻烦，而且花钱不少。因此宪法规定，选举人在选举总统的同时，还要选出另一个人担任联邦政府的副总统。副总统所居住的州不能与总统所在的州相同。副总统的职责仅仅是担任参议院主席。但是，一旦总统去世，或者由于其他原因一时没有总统，副总统就会立即终止在参议院的主持工作，履行总统职责。

16.在美国历史上，总统在任期内去世的情况出现过4次，副总统均继任并顺利扶正。1841年，威廉·亨利·哈里森成为美国总统。哈里森将军是一位老人，在与印第安人进行的战争中以及1812年与大英帝国进行的第二次美英战争中，他作为美国军队的领导人，创造了辉煌的业绩。但是，在就职典礼进行之后仅一个月，哈里森总统就逝世了。来自弗吉尼亚州的副总统约翰·泰勒继任成为总统。

17.第二位任内去世的总统是扎迦利·泰勒，他曾经也是一位勇敢的战士。泰勒将军于1849年宣誓就任，逝世于1850年。接任他的是来自纽约州的副总统密拉德·菲尔莫尔。

18.来自伊利诺伊州的亚伯拉罕·林肯于1861年3月成为总统。几乎在他刚刚宣誓就任之后，共和国就卷入一场伟大的内战。由于对联邦政府不满，10个州宣布退出联邦，单独成立了一个新的共和国。但是林肯总统在其他各州的支持下，否认任何州有权脱离联邦。如人们所说，双方都组建了军队，一场可怕的战争由此爆发。这场战争一直持续了4年。战争结束前，林肯先生第二次当选，并于1865年3月宣誓就职。不到几个星期，战争终于以联邦政府军的胜利而告终。正当人们欢庆胜利之时，一个疯狂支持失败一方的狂热分子刺杀了总统。于是，来自田纳西州的副总统安德鲁·约翰逊成为总统。

19.第二位被谋杀的总统同时也是第四位任内逝世的总统，是詹姆斯· A·加菲尔德。加菲尔德先生于1881年3月宣誓就任。几个月之后，一名寻求公职受挫的半疯的人向他开枪射击。总统挺了几个星期。他刚一逝世，来自纽约州的副总统切斯特·A·亚瑟便宣誓就任总统。

20.因此，在美国历史上，总统任内逝世的情况出现过4次，让人伤心的是，死于刺客暗杀的情况也出现过2次。所以说，副总统当上总统的情况有4次。

21.如果总统和副总统双双去世，法律规定国务卿应当接任。如果国务卿也去世了，财政部长将担任总统，因此，一旦继任者死亡，总统职位将根据总统内阁成员的顺序向下传递。

22.葛底斯堡战役。内战最伟大的战役之一，是1863年7月发生在宾夕法尼亚州葛底斯堡的那次战役。罗伯特·E·李将军率领的邦联军队越过波托马克河，入侵北部各州。联邦军队在乔治· G·米德将军的率领下，在后面紧紧跟随。到了葛底斯堡，李将军向他们突然发起攻击，企图一举击溃。战役激烈进行了3天，交战双方官兵均坚定而勇敢。邦联军在攻击中受挫，被迫向弗吉尼亚撤退。数万名阵亡联邦士兵就埋葬在当时战场处的一个国家公墓里，1863年11月，这块公墓正式专用于神圣的纪念目的。作为仪式的一部分，时任美国总统的亚伯拉罕·林肯在仪式上致辞。以下是这位伟大的战时总统发表的、虽然简短但却最为动人的演讲的全部内容：

1863年11月19日林肯在葛底斯堡的演讲

87年前，我们的先辈在这个大陆上建立起一个崭新的国家。这个国家以自由为立国之本，致力于人人生而平等这一目标。

目前，我们正在进行一场伟大的国内战争，考验我们的国家或任何一个有着同样立国之本并为之奋斗的国家能否长久存在。现在，我们在这场战争的一个伟大战场上相聚。将战场上的一小块土地奉献给那些为国家生存而英勇捐躯的人们，作为他们最后的永久安息之所。我们这样做，是完全适合、应当的。

然而，从深层意义上讲，我们不能奉献这块土地，也不能使之变得神圣与尊严。曾在这里战斗过的勇士们，不论活着的还是死去的，已经使这块土地变得如此圣洁，我们的微力已经远远不能对它有所增色或毁损。我们今天在这里说的话，世界不会注意，也不会记住，但是这些英雄的业绩，人们将永志不忘。我们后来者应该致力于英雄们曾为之奋斗终生但尚未完成的崇高事业，应该献身于他们遗留给我们的伟大任务。他们的牺牲，让我们更坚定地努力于完成他们为之奉献全部的事业。在此，我们作出庄严的决定：他们的鲜血不会白流。这个国家在上帝的庇佑下，定会得到自由的新生，使我们这个民有、民治、民享的政府长治久存。

Chapter 11

总统内阁

1.内阁官员。在政府部门完成国家管理工作的官员，在政府部门中聚集起来，每个政府部门的领导是一位高官，通常称为部长。这样的部门一样有8个，这8位领导便组成了总统“内阁”。内阁会在总统主持下定期开会，会上要详细讨论一些最重要的事情。总统不一定非得按内阁成员的建议去做，但是对他来说，有这样一个可以商量的群体还是非常有用的。内阁成员由总统任命，通常在任期期满时会辞去职务。因此，每任总统都有自己挑选的一个内阁。不错，参议院有权在内阁官员的任命问题上提出建议，但是总统的提名很少有被否决的时候。8个部门中的任何一个都有一些重要的事务要处理。

2.国务院。联邦政府部门经常需要向法国、大英帝国、德国或其他国家传递信息，同样也要经常从一些外国政府接收信息。通过这种方式，各国政府之间可以不断地交流和处理事务。我们政府中从事这一公共事务领域的部门是国务院，其首脑叫做国务卿。国务卿在华盛顿有一些助手。但是除此之外，在外国还有一些代理人。在每个国家的首都都有一位由美国派出的、叫做公使或大使的人物。此人要和他所居住国的政府就美国一些事务举行磋商，与华盛顿的国务卿保持定期联系，提供信息并接受指令。在公共典礼上，各国公使总是应邀出席并受到礼遇。欧洲国家的公使在这种场合习惯于穿一套得体的制服，颜色鲜艳，金光闪闪，而美国公使作为一个共和国的代表，通常穿纯黑色的衣服。

3.几乎在每座重要的外国城市，都住着国务院的另一位代理人，叫做领事。此人主要是保护美国商人和海员的商业利益。如果你到欧洲或南美旅行时遇到了困难，美国领事可以是你求助的对象。他不会让自己国内的某个人受到虐待。

4.同样，其他国家在华盛顿也有大使或公使，他们通过国务院与美国政府打交道。外国领事在我们的各大主要城市同样也可以找到。

5.战争部。世界上的每个国家都有一支军队。当然，不同国家军人的数量也不同。法国和德国均始终保持着50万人的常备军，而美国只有约2.5万人的军队。

6.为什么必须养兵呢？只是因为各国不能始终都和平解决自己的争端。如果两个人就某个问题达不成一致，他们可以通过法律来决定是非曲直。无论法庭怎样判决，双方都必须遵守。如果争执双方希望通过决斗来结束争吵，他们很可能会发现自己最终锒铛入狱。但是遗憾的是，国家并没有此类维护秩序、公正裁决的手段。因此，每个国家都必须自我保护，而军队就是国防的手段。

7.除此之外，有时候还会出现警察无法平息的暴乱和叛乱。因此，军队必须提供帮助。

8.所以说，军队对于保护国家免受外来势力进攻以及维护秩序 （换句话说，就是看看法律在国内执行得怎么样）是必不可少的。

9.美国军队规模很小，这部分是因为我们不怎么担心受到攻击，部分则是因为每个国家都要保持一定的常备军。政府的军人一般叫做“国民警卫队”。我们随后会谈到他们。

10.我们的共和国经历过几场战争，军队在其中不可或缺。你应该还记得，正是通过独立战争，我们从英国手中赢得了独立，从而成为一个自由的共和国。在这场持续8年的战争中，英国军队入侵我国领土，但是在经过多场血腥的战斗之后，他们最终被我们击退。乔治·华盛顿将军在整个战争中指挥着美国军队，他也受到法军的援助，法军是远渡重洋来帮助我们的。

11. 1812年，我们与英国发生了第二场战争，这场战争持续了 2年。

12. 1846年，我们很不幸地卷入一场与兄弟共和国墨西哥之间的战争。这场战争也持续了2年。美国军队进入墨西哥，赢得许多战役，由此迫使墨西哥人与我们缔结和约，将大片领土让给了美国。

13. 1861年，令所有人最伤心的事发生了。我们国家内部爆发了一场战争——一场内战。我们已经看到，南方各州出于对联邦政府不满，企图脱离联邦另立新的共和国。他们称之为“美国南部邦联”。但是，所有剩下的人都不同意原有的联邦遭到破坏。南北双方都组建了大规模军队，许多残酷至极的战役从而打响。最后，在经过4年的战争之后，联邦军队赢得了胜利。

14.即便在和平时期，管理一支军队也要花费很多时间和精力。宪法规定，美国总统是武装部队的最高指挥官。但是，军队管理的具体事务则留给内阁成员之一即战争部长负责。他是战争部的领导人，该部还包括一些助手和员工。

15.战争部在哈德逊河畔的西点开办了一所军校。国家众议院的每名议员都有权提名一位男青年，作为进入该军校深造的人选，另有少数人则由总统提名。然而，这些人选必须通过一次考试。考试既考他们的知识，也考他们的身体健康和体力状况，合格后他们便成为西点军校学员所称的“一年级生”。那些在学院进行为期4年的艰苦学习并顺利过关的人，则受命在军中获得少尉军衔。军校是一种很好的学校，它能向我们的军队源源不断地输送训练有素的高素质军官。

16.自从内战结束之后，军队的实际职责主要是维护印第安人的秩序。我们在谈到美洲印第安人的时候，还会更详细地讨论这个问题。

17.三位战争时期的诗人。茱莉娅·沃德·豪夫人在内战期间曾参观过位于弗吉尼亚的联邦军队兵营，回来之后，她写出了著名的诗歌“共和国战歌”。豪夫人多年以作家和演讲家的身份活跃于公众视野，这可能是她最著名的诗歌。

18.拜伦男爵是一位著名的英国诗人，曾翻译过“希腊战歌”。他对希腊为争取独立而反对专制的土耳其战争深表同情，以至于不仅向希腊慷慨解囊，而且亲自奔赴战场。他在1824年死于希腊，此时战争仍未结束。

19.西奥多·奥哈拉是墨西哥战争中的一名美国士兵。他于1847年写下“逝者的露营地”，专门献给为在布埃纳维斯塔战役中倒下的肯塔基人建造的一个公墓。

20.我们将这三位诗人在这里放到一起，以表达被严酷的战争现实唤起的各种复杂情感。

共和国战歌

茱莉娅·沃德·豪

我眼睛已经看到我主降临的荣光，

他正践踏那滋长愤怒之果的地方，

他已让那可怕的利剑闪闪放寒光，

真理传播四方。

我亲眼看到上帝在那营帐的篝火间，

他们在夜晚的雾中为他筑起圣殿，

在那昏暗的灯光下我读到他正义的格言，

他的时代在奔向前。

我读过一本如火的福音，它用闪亮的钢条写成，

“你敬我一尺，我就会敬你一丈”，

让英雄们，由女性生养的英雄们，用脚后跟碾碎毒蛇，

因为上帝正在奔向前方。

他已经吹起号角，催我向前奋进，

他在他的审判席前细察万人心灵，

哦！我的灵魂，快快向他响应！我的双足，快快雀跃欢欣！

他的真理正在前行。

海的那边耶稣降生，美丽正如百合花；

并怀含着无限光荣，改变我们都像他，

他的死使人得圣洁，我愿舍身为自由。

他的真理正进行！

21.海军部。国防的第二个部门是海军部。一个像美国一样拥有漫长海岸线和许多港口的国家，一旦卷入战争，就有遭受战舰攻击的危险。不错，在海边建港口的目的是为了防御此类攻击，但是人们发现，光是有港口还不够。对付战舰的最佳办法是用其他的战舰来攻击。此外，如果美国公民在其他国家受到不公正待遇，或者美国船只在远海遇到危险，都有必要派出战舰去保护他们。

22.正是此类麻烦事促使了我们美国海军的缔造。100年前，居住在地中海南部海滩的人还是海盗。他们从的黎波里、突尼斯和阿尔及尔港开始航行，抢获随便哪个国家的商船。这些商船连同船上的货物都被海盗捕获，而倒霉的船员也沦为奴隶。许多国家向这些野蛮国家的统治者支付巨资，以拯救本国船只和船员免遭此类厄运。1794年，我们的政府认为，对美国来说，适当地安排这一资金是不可能的，于是决定建造战船，以便能征服海盗，迫其不敢抢夺我们的商船。

23.然而，战船还没有造好，就与海盗之间达成了协议。通过协议，我们向海盗支付大量钱款，海盗则同意不再捕获美国的船只。但是不到几年，的黎波里就撕毁了协议，再次进攻我们的民用船只。于是，我们的政府将新建成的战船派到地中海，命令他们击退的黎波里人以赢得和平。操纵美国船只的水兵人数为有史以来在海上航行的人数之最，他们很快便让的黎波里人尝到了苦头。的黎波里人的战船被我们俘获，的黎波里市被我们封锁，任何船只都无法进出其中，而且被反复封锁。当的黎波里的统治者发现自己的宫殿很可能就要被打烂、水面上的新生共和国的海军已经令他无法匹敌的时候，他放弃了战斗，答应从今往后对美国船只予以礼遇。这是1805年。

24. 1812年，美国与英国的第二场战争爆发。该国海军有1000艘战船，而美国只有可怜的16艘。但是，美国船只航行娴熟、战斗英勇，在与英国战舰的许多战斗中，我们的海军都获得了胜利。

25.最著名的美国船只是坚固的驱逐舰“宪法”号。在战争爆发仅几天之后，“宪法”号就从港口出发开始巡航，并于1812年8月19日遭遇英国驱逐舰“硅烈尔”号。两艘战船激烈地战斗了两个小时。最后，英国船只在水面摆上折断的桅杆和破碎的船体，并降下国旗以示投降。这一辉煌的胜利很快便被其他美国船只纷纷效仿。曾几何时，英国人在海上似乎是不可战胜的。但是，美国水兵证明自己足以与其傲慢的对手匹敌，年轻共和国弱小的海军立即受到公众的狂热爱戴。随着一艘艘战船带着俘获的敌船或敌方沉没船只上的国旗回到港口，公众的热情无限高涨。

26.只是在一次与实力相当的敌军战船作战时，一艘美国船只才被俘。这便是驱逐舰“切萨皮克”号，它不幸成为英军驱逐舰“香农”号的战利品。“切萨皮克”号舰长劳伦斯太想遇到敌人了，以至于他带着一帮尚不熟悉自身职责的船员和远不完善的装备，匆匆忙忙地从波士顿出发。在仅仅15分钟的激烈战斗中，两艘战舰均遭受重创、无法使用。劳伦斯舰长受重伤，在被战友抬下去的时候他还大喊，“不要丢下船不管。”但是，敌舰上的英国人无情地清理了“切萨皮克”号沾满鲜血的甲板，舰上的国旗也被一位英军军官拽倒 （1813年7月1日）。

27.仅仅在损失“切萨皮克”号几个星期后，伊利湖上的整整一个英军舰队就向一个美军舰队投降。美军指挥官奥利弗·哈扎德·佩里准将将自己的旗舰命名为“劳伦斯”号，即“切萨皮克”号英雄舰长的名字。在这次战斗中，“劳伦斯”号断成两半，变得无法操纵。佩里准将于是登上一条敞舱船，冒着敌人步枪的猛烈火力，上了所在舰队的另一条船“尼亚加拉”号，之后便立即冲向敌军阵形的中心，很快迫使敌人投降。之后，他简明扼要地在快件中宣布了自己的胜利，“我们遇到了敌人，他们被我们俘获；两条大船，两条双桅帆船，一条纵帆船和一条单桅帆船。”

28.在这两场战争中为美国海军创下如此辉煌战绩的战舰，由木头制成并配有风帆。那时候还没有用蒸汽来驱动船只。然而，在今天的海军中，所有战舰都由钢铁制成并由蒸汽驱动。帆船不再有半点用途了。一艘现代战舰上的大威力加农炮，可以将巨大的炮弹投射至几英里远的距离。不过话又说回来，我们新生海军要想成功地保卫共和国，仍然要靠1805年和1812年那样的表现，即军官和船员们的娴熟技术和勇敢精神。

29.海军的管理由如今所称的华盛顿的海军部负责，其领导人即海军部长，是总统内阁的成员之一。

30.海军部在马里兰州的安那波利斯有一所学校，一些有志青年在这里受训后成为海军军官。选拔进入这所学校深造的人选，其程序和进入西点军校一样。

31.与一艘著名的船有关的一位著名诗人。美国海军最著名的战舰之一，是驱逐舰“宪法”号。她是美国所建造的最早的船只之一，并且在与的黎波里的战争以及1812年的战争中多次参战。尽管是木制船，但船员们却亲切地称她为“老勇士”。

32.奥利弗·温德尔·福尔摩斯1809年出生于马萨诸塞州的剑桥，21岁时毕业于哈佛大学，后来成为一名内科医生，并在哈佛商学院长期担任教授。他的文学作品多产而内容丰富。他于1894年去世。下面的诗歌是“宪法”号破旧到有人建议它不宜继续服役、应当将它拆开的时候写成的。当这首诗歌在美国大地唱响之后，有关人士重新考虑了报废计划，于是这艘破旧的战船作为我们伟大海军丰功伟绩的纪念物，而得到妥善保存。

老铁甲

奥利弗·温德尔·福尔摩斯

哦，将她破烂的舰旗扯下来吧！

它已经在高空中飘扬太久，有多少眼睛闪烁着看它在天空中飞舞；

——在它的下面，冲锋声还在吟唱，加农炮的怒吼响彻云霄；转瞬即逝的海风将把乌云吹得无影无踪！

她的甲板，曾经用英雄的鲜血染红，如今正跪着手下败将；

当狂风卷起巨浪，海浪冲起白色浪花，

没有人还能感觉到胜利者的脚印，或者再了解败军们的下跪；

岸上的怪兽将拔去海鹰的羽毛！

哦，最好她破损的船体会在海浪下沉没！

她轰然倒塌的巨响使神秘的海底摇晃，那里便是她的归宿！

在桅杆上钉上她圣洁的旗帜，一次次平常的启航，

给她暴风雨的考验吧，——你这狂风和闪电！

33.邮政部。城市里最令人熟悉的风景，是邮递员穿着蓝灰色制服，皮包斜挎在身体一侧。可能我们的读者中，没有哪个人没有邮寄过一封信；如果在城市，我们要将信投到固定在路灯杆子上的邮箱里；如果在乡村，则送到邮局。邮递员和邮政局长都是美国的官员，听命于总统内阁的一位成员。该部门的领导人叫做邮政部长。

34.将一封信寄到美国的任何地方都很方便，寄信花的钱很少，平信只需要2美分，以至于谁也付得起。我们应当记得，将邮票贴到信封上，只是为了表明我们已经将送信至目的地的钱付给了邮局。通过和其他国家的邮政部门协商，我们也可以将一封信很快地寄到几乎世界各地，但邮费不是2美分，而是5美分。

35.除了信之外，邮局还递送各种各样的报纸和包裹。因此，如果一个人想将钱放在信中寄出去，邮局会销售一张汇票，因为汇票的密封要比现金密封安全得多。

36.法律禁止除美国邮政部之外的任何人经营送信业务。一张邮票的价钱直到本世纪中叶左右，往往还高达25美分（但如今一封平信只要2美分）。那时候，信封的使用还不普及，但是信件的最后一页要作为空白页留下来，信卷起来之后，要用封蜡固定好，将地址写在信件的背面。

37.内政部。一位总统内阁成员即内政部长，要处理的事情则非常繁杂。

38.美国的人口每过10年就要进行一次非常认真的统计。与此同时，用人行业的各类有哪些，教学机构的数量和种类如何，人们的国籍是哪里，以及便于了解的其他事情的数量等等，都要进行统计。这便叫做人口普查。最近的一次人口普查是1890年进行的，这次普查显示，美国人口数量为6262.2250万。进行人口普查工作，便是由内政部承担的。

39.该部门的另一职责是批准并记录专利。人们总是不停地发明一种新机器或者对旧机器进行一项改进。若干年以前，农民还在用大镰刀割草，所有的缝纫工作都是手工用针线完成的。但是，一个绝顶聪明的人发明了马拉的割草机，可以快速割草。另一位同样聪明的发明家则发明了缝纫机，在相同时间内，一个妇女用它缝制的衣物，是采用传统方式完成工作量的好几倍。诸如此类的许多发明以及许多其他类似发明，用处都非常大。为了鼓励人们多进行发明创造，政府制定了一项法律，允许发明者在若干年内拥有独一无二的出售发明的权利。通过这种方式，发明者往往能获得大量钱财。例如，发明电话、充气自行车胎以及电灯等等的人后来都很有钱。这种垄断一项发明的权利叫做专利。当然，专利的期限一到，任何人就都可以制造或销售这些产品了。专利局为发明者批准专利，并将此类专利认真记录在册。

40.美国拥有广袤的土地。我们前面看到，有一段时间，阿莱干尼山脉以西的几乎所有地区都属于这个国家。但是，这块土地大部分都是以很低的价格卖给个人的，实际上可以说是赠送。有很长一段时间，常见的价格是每英亩1.25美元。对于这块土地，人们希望居住和利用它，这样就可以让尽可能多的人拥有自己的家园和农田，靠这些田地，他们可以养家糊口。大约在伟大的内战爆发的时候，国会制定了一项法律，批准一个家庭中的户主可以按照指定的价格，买下160英亩公共土地归为已有，前提是他必须在这里住家。在享有土地的所有权之前，他必须在这块土地上居住5年，而非美国公民不得享有这项权利。

41.在低价出售政策出台之后（像目前这样，其实是赠予土地），成千上万的家庭都在公共土地上建造了自己的家园。阿莱干尼山脉以西的广袤土地在100年前几乎还是一片荒野。而如今，它包括许多人口稠密的州，建有大城市、教堂、学校、图书馆，有着无数幸福的家庭，而这最后一点不仅比一切其他因素都重要，其实也是一切的基础。

42.公共土地是由内政部管理的。

43.印第安人专用地的管理也委托给了这个部门。做好这项工作要有大智大慧和正直精神。管理不善将导致印第安人的战争，而如果政府在对待印第安人时不公正、不明智，那么人们现在所做的、让年轻的印第安人成长为优秀美国公民的努力也将付之东流。

44.司法部。不同的部门处理的繁重事务，使得政府经常有可能卷入某一场诉讼。此外，政府官员如果总能听到某位优秀律师就某些法律条文在特定案例中的准确含义所持的意见，他们处理涉法问题时就方便多了。于是，总统的内阁成员中便有了一位叫做司法部长的官员。此人是政府的律师，他所在的部门便是司法部。

45.财政部。为政府管理钱财的部门就重要性而言，仅仅排在国务院之后。但是，考虑到它为所有其他部门完成分内工作提供资金手段，因此我们在这里最后介绍。政府处理事务是要花很多钱的。官员和雇员的工资要支付，材料要购买和使用，陆军士兵和水兵要吃要穿。使美国联邦政府正常运转的全部费用每年大约在3.5亿美元。

46.这笔巨大的开支要由百姓付给政府，叫做国税。税是政府从个人身上收上来、用于公共事业的钱。

国会制定的法律规定了税应当怎样交、应当交多少以及应当花在什么地方。无论总统还是他的内阁，都不能花费1美元公款，除非国家税法允许他们那样做。

47.到目前为止，国税中比重最大的部分，是那些从国外进口货物的人交上来的。在每个海港或者边境处的其他地方，都有一个政府设的单位叫做海关。海关官员要审查从国外来的所有货物，并向货主征收法律规定的税。从海外入关的货物叫做进口，为这些货物交的税叫做关税。

48.国会制定的法律还规定了各种制造商如酿酒商、香烟制造商和几种其他商品的生产商需要交纳的一种税。这种税叫做国内税。政府官员要对这些商品的制造过程进行审查并进行收税。

49.就这样，大量钱款交给了政府。当然，这些税必须妥善保存，并且按法律规定开支。在华盛顿市有一栋巨大的石头建筑即财政部，在这里的拱顶屋中，保存着数不清的以黄金、白银或纸币形式存在的钱款。在纽约市和几个其他城市也有类似的建筑，尽管要小一些，但同样贮存着另一些大额钱款。国家各地的许多银行同样也在自己的拱顶屋里存贮着属于美国的钱款。

50.政府可以从这些钱款中支付一切应当支付的开支。

51.钱。钱是一种很方便的东西。如果一个人想卖一头奶牛，再买一些衣服和杂货，他可以与另一个正好要卖衣服和杂货的人交易，把奶牛卖给对方。

52.但是，同一个人刚好有这两样商品要卖的可能性并不大，就算正好有这样的人，他也不一定正好需要一头奶牛。因此，更好的办法就是把奶牛换成钱，然后再拿钱去和裁缝换衣服、和店老板换面粉和糖。如果没有钱，人们想得到想要的东西就没有这么容易了，哪怕他有东西要卖。

53.尽管价值很小的钱可以用镍和铜制作，但钱一般是用金或银制成的。人们更愿意拿金或银来买东西，哪怕它是以金条或金粉的形式存在（这时的钱叫做金块）。但是，这样的钱用起来一点也不方便，因为每个人都必须将金属称重，同时还要检验成色，看它纯不纯。于是，政府将金银收上来，将其制造成小小的圆片，称为硬币。我们知道，这些硬币始终含有一定量的金属，有一定的重量。这样一来，当我们看到硬币上的政府标记时，就省去了称重和检验的麻烦。为了确保所有硬币都绝对可靠，规定除中央政府之外的任何人都不许私自造币。制造硬币的地方叫做造币厂。美国有好几个造币厂，位于费城的那个造币厂历史最悠久。

54.钞票。纸钞通常也叫钱钞，但它们根本不是真正的钱，而只是付钱的承诺而已，因为你只要看一眼上面印了什么，立刻就会懂得这一点。有些纸钞是由中央政府发行的，另一些则是由中央银行发行的。

55.中央政府发行的钞票通常叫做美钞。它们是政府作出的支付承诺，但是根据法律规定，政府可以用各种国债的形式回收它们。不过也有一种例外，这一点你从这种钞票印刷的图案上可以看到。

56.和美钞一样，中央银行的钞票也是由华盛顿中央政府印刷的，应各银行的要求，政府将这些钞票送到银行。

57.不过，银行只有在华盛顿财政部的拱顶屋里存放了等值的债券之后，才允许发行纸钞。这样就算银行倒闭了，钞票仍能得到支付。政府监督员会严密监视银行，看看它们在管理过程中是否诚实。之后，政府才会将希望发行的钞票送到银行去。

58.财政。政府与钱打交道的所有这些繁杂事务（收税、支付政府应付的钱款、在造币厂铸造钱币、印刷和发行全国性的银行票据以及监管国有银行等），都要由财政部打理。财政部的领导人即财政部长，是总统内阁最重要的成员之一。他手下有一支官方的队伍：在华盛顿宏伟的财政大楼里有职员，在许多海关有官员，还有国内税收的征收员以及银行监察员。

59.农业部。农业部关注世界各地有哪些耕作新手段，发布自己收集的信息，以便我们的农民知道该怎么做。

60.我们看到美国政府是一部多么庞大的机器。构成政府内阁的 8位部门领导人占据的位置非常重要。在内阁最上端的是美国总统，他有权力对一切进行调度。

61.我们已经看到，如果总统和副总统都因故去世，那么总统职责应当由国务卿来履行。倘若国务卿也去世了，财政部长将接替职位，此后按照内阁成员的排序依次进行。他们的顺序是这样排列的：国务卿、财政部长、战争部长、司法部长、邮政部长、海军部长、内政部长。规定这种排序的法律通过时，还没有农业部长。因此，该官员便没有出现在接替总统的序列当中。

Chapter 12

法律在各州是怎样执行的

1.州长。正如美国有一个总统，其职责是监督宪法和国会立法是否得到了遵守一样，我们45个州中的每个州也有一个州长。州长的职责是监督州的法律是否得到遵守。他住在被称为州首府的城市，通常是个大忙人。不过，一州之长可没有美国总统那么多的权力。州长是人民选出来的，其任期在不同的州里从一年至四年不等。

2.部门。州政府的各部门与国家行政机关的那些部门非常相似。但是也有一点不同：总统任命各部门首脑，这些首脑要定期与总统一起开会（即“内阁会议”），并在会上就重大事项提出建议。在州里，各部门领导人一般是人民选出来的，他们不必组成州长“内阁”，也就是说，他们不会习惯性地为了会商公共事务而开会，也不被认为是州长的智囊团。

3.各州中的政府部门也不完全一样。

部门中一般有个州务卿，他要对立法机构制定的各项法律严格登记，同时要保管州的其他文件，并处理另一些州的事务。不过，该官员当然不会像联邦政府的国务卿那样，与其他国家有什么交往。

4.州里也一直有一位财政主管，负责掌管州里的钱款并根据立法机构的规定将钱花出去。此外，也有另一位官员叫做“审计员”，其职责是审核州开支的账单，确保在花费之前准确无误。

5.检察总长是州的律师。他要向州长和其他州官员陈述自己对于正在执行的法律有何含义的意见，以免他们由于持有不当观念而犯错误。同样，如果州里有一桩诉讼，检察总长也要为州政府分忧。

6.州政府没有战争部门或海军部门。不过，每个州仍然也有一支武装力量，通常叫做国民警卫队。国民警卫队的成员大部分时间都在忙自己的事情，只是偶尔训练，一般是每周一次。到了夏天，他们通常要在花几天时间露营。如果出现了警察无法平息的暴乱，或者如果有敌人侵略该州，州长有权召集国民警卫队出动。此时，他们就要全身心地承担军事职责，直到危险消除。

7.有些州还有一些其他事务，其中许多事都是由不同团体来做，每个这样的团体叫做一个委员会。于是，通常就有一个州教育委员会，对全体或部分公立学校进行督察。有时候，这些职责不是由教育委员会，而是由某个人即公共教育督察长来承担，有时候教育委员会会选一个人担任教育督察长。此外，大多数州都有师范学校、精神病院、聋哑人学校以及将违法者送进去的监狱。这些机构通常也由委员会负责。委员会成员一般由州长任命。

8.副州长。我们还记得，联邦政府有一位官员是副总统，他要负责主持参议院的会议，并在总统去世时接任总统。大多数州也有这样一位官员，即“副州长”。副州长主持州参议院工作，在州长去世或者州长因故不在州里的时候接任州长。副州长也由民选产生，任期与州长相同。不过，缅因州和其他几个州并没有副州长。在这些州，由参议院选举自己的主席。

9.县官员。在每个县也有负责监督法律执行情况的官员。县里没有总统或州长。县立法机构（无论是县委员会还是县议会）除了立法之外，还要多多少少地监督一些管理事务。县里有一个司库，像州财政主管负责管理县财政一样，负责照看县里的经费；一位县治安官，其实就是县警察局局长。通常抓捕县里犯罪分子的就是县治安官的助手们，县监狱便是他们的关注点所在。因此我们看见，县治安官对于维护所在地区的良好秩序非常重要。此外还有一位县检察官，正如检察总长为州政府服务一样，他也是县政府的律师。尽管在马里兰等一些州，由县委员会挑选司库，但在大多数州，所有这些官员都是由所在县的百姓选举产生的。

10.县城。我们还记得，州立法机构集会和州长生活的地方叫做首府。同样，县也有一个首府，但一般叫做县城。更多的时候，县城不过是一个小镇。但是它通常也有一栋或多栋县政府建筑，例如县政府大楼、监狱，可能还有其他的建筑。县委员会一般在县政府大楼开会，其他县官员中的大部分也在这里办公。

11.市长。如果你的家在一座城市，可能多次听到过“市长”这个词。此人是城市的总管，职责同样是监督法律的执行情况。如同州长一样，市长也是民选产生的。

12.“市长”这一名称适用于称呼我们美国最主流城市的主管，因为这个称呼在英国城市使用。在英国，在任的市长会穿一套很得体的服装。伦敦市的“市长大人”每年都要选举产生。他在10月9日的就职典礼称为“市长日”，已经成为进行走街串巷的盛大游行的时节。市长大人的长袍在某些场合是黑绸袍，在另一些场合是紫绸袍，或者是深红袍或紫红绒袍。

13.伦敦市长大人的宴会。在市长日当晚，市长会在伦敦市府 （我们应当称之为市政厅）举办一次宴会，一场因其奢华程度而闻名的宴会。几年前，有位嘉宾在这种宴会上，针对当时提供的食物种类列了一张很有意思的清单。现场为1000位嘉宾提供各种食品，摆在他们面前的是这样一些东西：

250大碗海龟汤、6大盘鱼、80只烤火鸡、60只炸小母鸡、60盘禽肉、40盘阉鸡、80只野鸡、24盘鹅肉、40盘鹌鹑、15盘野鸟肉、2盘牛脊肉、30盘牛肉、2盘炖牛尾、12盘牛腰肉和牛肋骨、羔羊的2条腿肉、50块法国馅饼、60块鸽肉饼、53根包装好的火腿、43根动物舌头、60盘西红柿、60盘芦笋、50盘贝类、60盘切碎的馅饼、50盘牛奶冻、40盘乳酪馅饼、400个果冻和冰淇淋、100个菠萝、120盘蛋糕、 200盘温室葡萄、350盘其他水果。

此外，每上一道菜，还要同时上一种不同种类的葡萄酒。

你可能在想，哪怕1000名嘉宾，在这样铺张的宴会中恐怕也发现美食吃不完。我们美国市长可没有大规模铺张待客的习惯。不过，倘若他们有伦敦市长大人那样的高薪（年薪5万美元），可能也会那样做吧！

14.美国市长。美国城市的市长手中掌握的权力彼此略有不同，这取决于城市所隶属的州。在有些城市，市长可以任命或解除几乎所有公务员，通过这种方式，市长实际上可以左右着市政事务的处理方式。但是在另一些城市，许多官员在很大程度上独立于市长之外，这样一来，市长不能对他们说三道四，事情照样可以完成。

15.市政部门。城市的行政管理部门在某些方面类似于县、州乃至国家的行政部门。

16.市政府有一个财务主管，他掌管着市里的钱款，并按照法律规定把它们花出去。还有一位审计员，负责督查市政府的所有票据，并对那些他发现准确无误的票据进行审批。此外，还有一个警察局，负责维持城市治安。警察逮捕违法分子如盗贼和抢劫犯，并时刻保持警惕，尽可能防止违法行为发生。警察身穿制服，通常是蓝色、配有铜纽扣，并随身带一根警棍。警察局在有些城市由单独一个人管理，即警察局长。但是在另一些城市，则有一个叫做委员会的多人群体，负责任命警察局长，并管理该部门大大小小的事务。

17.消防署。城市里另一个十分重要的部门主要任务是防火或灭火。城里的房屋太多、太密集，往往一个地方着了火，很可能会蔓延到其他地方。

18. 1666年在伦敦引发的一场大火，曾蔓延到四面八方。当时的建筑多半是木制的，像火绒一样干燥。那里的人对于我们现在所掌握的快速有效灭火的方法还知之甚少。大火肆虐了3天，烧毁了1300幢房屋和90个教堂，此外还毁掉了一些价值连城的财物。类似的一场大火于1871年在芝加哥出现，其他城市如波士顿、马萨诸塞和特洛伊、纽约等也出现过类似的火灾。人们到了谈火色变的程度，以至于在所有大城市，法律如今都禁止在市郊以外的地区建造木制建筑。

19.消防署的组织非常严密。在某些城市，消防署由一个委员会管理，委员会由几名上级任命的、负责相关事宜的人员组成；在另一些城市，管理消防署的只有一个人，即消防署署长。城中到处都设有消防车车库，人和马也时刻待命，只要警报一响，就和消防车一起赶去救火。当发现有火情时，离着火处最近的消防车库里的电铃便会发出报警声。报警声发出之后仅仅几分钟，几条粗长的水柱就会对准燃烧的建筑物灭火了。

20.卫生保健。城市的卫生局是个新事物，几百年前活在“太平盛世”中的人想都不敢想。但是如今，一个文明国家的任何一座城市都不会忽视公共卫生问题。当人们像生活在城市那样大规模聚居时，仅仅是生活环境拥挤这一事实便能诱发许多疾病。家庭、旅馆、畜栏产生的垃圾和废料快速堆积，如果不迅速运走，肯定会腐烂、发臭，滋生引发伤寒症和其他致命瘟疫的大量微生物。由于太多的人群居在一起，倘若爆发一场易感染或者传染的疾病，这种传染病便会以快得可怕的速度蔓延。

21.伦敦爆发的瘟疫。就在一场特大火灾将大半个伦敦城付之一炬之前不久，这座城市还成为一场可怕瘟疫的牺牲品。“在当时的日子里，在不干净的城市出现瘟疫并非罕见。在伦敦狭窄到房屋高层几乎可以相互触摸的街道上，泥土路面上到处都覆盖着腐烂的稻草、食物和污尘，炎热的夏天一到，总是会带来或多或少的瘟疫。1665年 ·夏天热到谁都没有遇到过。5月，在大陆已经肆虐开来的瘟疫在伦敦爆发，并且在整个夏天不停地发展，到了9月份，每天就要死掉1500人，每三个星期死24000人。一户户的房门上都标有红色的十字，表示此户有瘟疫；而装死人的大车把铃铛用布包起来，晚上走街串巷，在几乎空空如也的大街上，‘把你家的死人抬出来’的喊声穿透死一般的寂静。国王、朝臣、国会成员，甚至连医生和牧师，也都逃离了这座被瘟疫重创的城市。冬天来到时，瘟疫终于逐渐消失，而这时，已经有超过10万人死去。”

22.这次瘟疫的结果让人太恐惧了，因为这座城市太脏，因为医生无知，因为在防止疾病传播方面几乎没有人有所作为。

23.在一座秩序井然的现代化城市，卫生部门会付出艰辛努力，以防止有可能导致此类恶果的疾病出现或扩散。督察员会督促动物尸体或腐烂垃圾的及时清除，另一些督察员则会对流入该城市的肉、水果和蔬菜进行检验，有时候还会强烈要求并督促相关人员扔掉整车整车的原料。一旦出现传染性疾病例如白喉或猩红热，发病的房子会立即“隔离”，也就是说，会在门上贴上布告，警告人们躲得远一些。倘若出现了非常严重的病例例如天花，卫生部门官员会将病人送到公立医院即通常所称的“隔离病院”。

24.所有这些工作通常都由卫生局负责完成，它有几名成员（一般是医生），而这些成员在许多城市都是由市长任命的。

25.在大城市，还有其他一些政府部门。有一个部门负责水的供应，这些水是用粗管子从一些湖泊或河流里引入的。水的供应必须充足，因为饮用、烹饪和洗刷以及灭火都需要很多水。纯净的用水也非常重要，因为饮用水不纯是导致出现危险的高烧的最常见原因之一。还有一个部门管理城市庞杂的排水系统，建造排泄脏水的下水道并使其保持畅通，一旦这些脏水滞留，也是很危险的。还有一些市政官员负责安排许多货车，将垃圾、灰烬和其他废物源源不断地拉走，因为这些物质会阻塞下水道。另外还有人负责铺设街道，并保持公路随时得到良好维护。

26.教育局。城市里最重要的部门之一，便是管理公立学校的部门。美国每座城市都有许多学校，孩子们在这里可以免费读书。这些建筑及其配套设施花费数万美元，教师的工资又要花费数万美元。但是，孩子们在这里可以学到很多知识，使他们成为更优秀的公民、更出色和更幸福的男女。城市通过一个叫做地方教育董事会或者学校董事会的团体，来管理所有这些学校。在有些城市，该团体的成员是市长任命的；而在另一些城市，他们是人民选举产生的；还有一些城市，他们又可能是通过其他方式任命的。

27.地方教育董事会的任务，就是审查有没有建成适当的建筑、维护得怎么样；有没有任命称职的教师；有没有选好优秀的教材。在许多城市，地方教育董事会每年都挑选老师。地方教育董事会的成员担负着如此重要的重担，就不难理解为什么要挑选最杰出的人才担此大任了：他们不仅睿智、正直，而且要有爱国之心。如果我们的共和国要由它的公民来当家做主（实际上现在就是如此），那么每一个公民都应当有智慧。不错，有许多公民尤其是妇女并没有投票权。但是，那些拥有投票权的人应当知道自己针对什么投赞成票或反对票。而妇女即便不能投票，也应当了解投票人头脑中思考的问题，因为在许多情况下，妇女们的意见对于投票人有很大影响。因此，共和国中的每一个人都应当接受良好教育，这非常必要。这也正是公立学校面向所有人开放并且免费进行教育的原因。

28.既然这些学校对于共和国来说不可或缺，那么它们就应该尽 ·可能办好。除此之外，支付校园建筑花费以及教师工资的钱，都属于全体人民所有。因此，被人民选出来花这笔钱的地方教育董事会，就应该负责把这件事做好，以便所有百姓的付出都有所值。而如果校园建筑破破烂烂，或者任命的教育能力不强，老百姓的钱就白花了。不过，如果地方教育董事会成员不正直，或者不知道什么样的建筑算合格、什么样的老师算称职，那么人民就会觉得受骗上当。没有哪个部门比管理学校的政府部门更重要了。

29.村官。村庄由一小群住得很近的人组成。城市和农村的唯一区别就是城市要大一些。像城市一样，农村也必须有一级政府。村长所处的位置和城市的市长差不多。此外，村里也有会计，负责管理村里的钱款；一个警员，有时候是几个警员，就是村里的警察；此外还有其他一些官员。有时候，村子里还有消防部门和管理水的部门，当然了，同样也必须有官员来管理这些部门。所有这些官员都是村民的公仆，而且每个人都有特定的职责。

30.学区。学区是一个县（有时是一个村）的一部分，学区里有一所公立学校，向居住在学区内的人提供教育服务。学区不太大，这样所有孩子就可以轻松步行上学了。学校的事务由一个委员会管理，叫做校委会，有时候叫做理事。他们都是学区内的百姓选举出来的，其权力与职责和城市的教育委员会相同。美国的学区学校一般都是一栋很小的建筑，只有一名教师：夏天一个，冬天又会换一个。较大的男孩很少会在夏天去上学，因为那时候他们都会在田地里忙碌。正是在这种最不起眼的学校里，我们许多最杰出、最伟大的人物受到了教育，平生第一次有了向老师和书本学习的机会。美国的学校应当拥有尽可能优秀的教师，让老百姓掏的钱发挥最大效益。而对每个学区来说，力所能及地把自己的学校办好，也应当是他们的荣耀。

31.瑞士的学校。瑞士的公立小学是世界上最好的。人们觉得他们应当把学校办得像现在这样好，并且自始至终对它们极为关注。学校里发生的事是瑞士学区百姓日常谈论的话题，人们发现，这些话题像天气或政治那样有趣。当然，这种对智育的持续关注，对于老师是极大的帮助，对于小学生则是极大的鼓舞。如果我们对于自己的学校也有这样的关注程度，那肯定也是一件好事。

Chapter 13

法官和陪审团

1.法律规定，如果某个公民被控违法，他很可能会被送到监狱，或者受到其他形式的惩罚。但是，根据联邦政府宪法和几个州的法律规定，如果一个人没有在法庭受到公正审判并判定有罪，那么是不能把他当成犯罪分子加以惩罚的。要想知道这种审判要遵循怎样的程序以及它意味着什么，我们可以假定一个名叫约翰·多伊的人被控犯罪，并被人带到法庭上。不妨将我们自己当成这场审判的旁观者。

2.对约翰·多伊犯夜盗罪的审判。约翰·多伊是被一位副治安官以夜盗罪为名逮捕起来的。他有个邻居一天早上醒来时，发现餐厅的窗户在晚上已经被人撬开，一些银汤匙被盗。为了偷东西而在晚上以这种暴力方式入室，在法律上叫做夜盗。约翰·多伊是一个食不果腹的家伙，有人看见他在案发第二天四处游荡，打算将一些银汤匙卖给一位当铺老板。他声称，这些汤匙是他在路边的一个小包里发现的，但是，由于这样的谎话难以让人信服，于是多伊被逮捕并监禁。县检察官对他进行了讯问，并深信夜贼不是别人，其实正是约翰·多伊。不出几天，所谓的大陪审团就在县法院召开了一次会议。大陪审团由一群人组成，人数不多于24人、不少于12人，都是由百姓选出来的，主要是审查某人是否确实违犯了法律。县检察官要向大陪审团陈述自己为什么确信多伊就是夜贼。这些原因在陪审团看来似乎比较合理，于是他们便投票赞成以偷银汤匙的罪名对约翰·多伊进行审讯，即指控他犯了夜盗罪。大陪审团的表决结果要记在纸上，并按程序签字。这张纸便叫做起诉书，多伊此时可以说受到夜盗罪的起诉。于是，他要一直呆在拘留所里直至受到审判。

3.但是，大陪审团起诉多伊这一事实，绝对不表示多伊的确偷了银汤匙，而只是表示大陪审团作为公诉人认为他可能犯了罪。但是，要想确定他是不是真的犯罪，必须由一个截然不同的群体，由一种截然不同的方式，通过一定的程序来认定。因此我们看出，大陪审团并没有解决有罪或是无罪这个问题，而只是从宏观上确定值不值得将某个被告人一直关在拘留所里，直到能对他进行审讯并且将是非曲直都搞清楚之后再放出来。换言之，大陪审团是我们前面说到的公诉人。在我们美国，如果大陪审团不投票通过对某人进行起诉，谁也没有权力将此人一直关起来，或者将他作为犯罪嫌疑人进行审讯。

4.我们已经说过，要想搞清楚多伊有没有犯罪，就必须对他进行审讯。不妨先看看进行审讯的屋子，我们就马上知道审一个人是什么意思了。

5.县法院有很多官员和很多房子。其中有一间叫做法庭，里面到处都是人。这间屋子相当大，天花板很高。在一端有一张桌子，放在加高了的平台上。在这张桌子后面，坐着一个显然负责主持审讯的先生。任何人都只有经过他同意后方可说话，无论他发出什么指令，所有人都必须立即遵守。如果在法律条文的含义方面有什么异议，他可以拍板。无论谁对他讲话，都不能直呼其名，而必须称他为“阁下”。这位先生便是法官。他是由人民选举产生的，或者由州长任命。有些州可能采取这样那样的其他方式产生法官。法官的任期达几年之久，在有些州是终身制。当选法官的人通常是一位律师，当然他应当是一位优秀律师。除此之外，他还应当是个极为正直的人，对任何人都公平公正，不怕恐吓，不受奉承，不接贿赂。在整个州政府，没有哪个位置比法官的位置更光荣，而担此大任的人也广受爱戴。

6.在法官左侧另一个加高的平台上，有12个人坐在椅子上。这些人的身份彼此间有天壤之别。很显然，他们都不是律师。有些是农民，有些是商人，还有一些是技术员。这便是陪审团。他们并不像法官那样是长期任命的。他们的名字是许多人从所在县的公民名单中抽取的，只参加一期庭审（几个星期），甚至可能只出席一次审讯。这12个人放下手中的事情，全身心地投入对约翰·多伊的审讯直到结案。之后，他们可能不需要进一步出庭，而法官则要在另一个新的陪审团的陪同下，继续审理另一件案子。陪审团并不能解决对于法律含义的不同意见（至少在大部分州有这样的法律规定），做这件事的是法官。陪审团只确定与事实有关的争议。在本案中，起诉书说，多伊在夜间破窗而入，偷走了一些银汤匙。多伊对此矢口否认，并说发生夜盗的时候，他在远离案发地点很多英里之外的地方。当然，所有这些陈述都是不可信的。至于哪一条是真实陈述，要由陪审团来确定；换句话说，他们要确定在本案中哪些是真实。

7.在法官右侧，还有一个加高了的装有围栏的小平台，位于陪审团前面。这个平台叫做被告席，被告在审讯期间就待在这里。约翰·多伊坐在那里，看着陪审团。

8.在法官正前方的另一张矮一些的桌子上，坐着一个书记员，负责对庭中发生的所有事情进行详细记录。

9.在法官和书记员前面的地面上，有一块空地，上面放着椅子和一两张桌子。这里坐着几个大忙人，他们多数都带着绿包，从里面抽出许多纸来。这些人便是律师。当某个人当庭接受审判时，需要一个懂法律的人来负责他的案子，此人知道怎样向法官和陪审团表明观点、作出令人信服的陈述。所以，被告人要聘请一个律师。我们所看到的聚在法庭上的律师们此时便坐在这里，其中有些律师正准备参加另一个案子，有些律师对现在的案件感兴趣，还有一些仅仅是为了看看现场发生的事情，希望将来有一天他们也会被人聘请。最后这种律师多半是刚刚进入律师界的年轻人。

10.为律师留出来的地方有一排扶手，将这块地方与屋子里的其他人隔开。在这里，在一排比一排高的凳子上，坐着观众。一般情况下，人们可以很随便地坐在那里观察庭审进程。当然，被审讯者的朋友也会在场。许多人前来则纯粹是由于好奇，尤其当案例是那种在报纸上讨论较多的题材时更是如此。

11.就这样，法庭里的一切都准备就绪，只等着审讯约翰·多伊。法官和书记员分别就位。陪审团成员已经选出，并宣誓以证据为标准进行裁决。被拘留者带了进来，坐在被告席上。工作人员将起诉书念给他听，并要求他回答他是否有罪。他说，他是无罪的。之后，县检察官站起来，要求在庭上发言。他详述了犯罪事实，并以一种惯常的口吻陈述他打算怎样证明多伊确实犯了罪。之后，他传唤他的目击证人。那个银汤匙被盗的人以及他的部分家人、佣人，都陈述了他们所知道的事实。这些人当中的每一个都是目击证人。每个人讲述的事情或者对检察官提问的回答，都叫做此人的证词，或者叫做证据。每个目击证人如该称呼所示，都要走上前来，坐到自己的位置，即面向陪审团的一个小台子上放的椅子上，叫做证人席。之后，他要庄严地宣誓自己必须说“事实，全都是事实，除了事实还是事实”。接着，检察官要向目击证人如发问，对方的回答要详细记录在案。为了做好这件事，法庭上还有一位速记员，他的速记速度能像一个人讲话的速度那样快。检察官问完某个目击证人之后，嫌疑人的律师有权提问。这一过程叫做交叉讯问，当然了，这些问题也都是非常敏锐的。如果某个目击证人没有陈述真相，或者有意隐瞒某些有利于嫌疑人的情节，那么交叉讯问都很可能把这些情节再暴露出来。

12.我们已经说过，每个目击证人在要求站到证人席上的时候，都要发誓陈述事实真相。如果他说了谎，那么他也会犯法律上称为作伪证的罪；如果他说假话被发现，那么他自己也会被捕并为相应罪名接受审判。如果审讯后发现他有罪，就要把他送去坐牢。

13.县检察官在银汤匙被盗者的家庭成员身上取完证之后，会传唤其他目击证人。这些人当中，有些人会说出他们所知的、多伊在夜盗案发生之后的行踪，也就是说多伊此时在哪里、在干什么。另一些人说看到他案发之前的一天在被盗房屋周围转悠。接着，购买银汤匙的人作证说，治安官从他那里拿走的那些汤匙（即出现在法庭上的物证），就是他在夜盗案发生几天之后从多伊手上买来的。汤匙的主人于是又被叫到证人席上，他说这些东西正是他的财产，即那些被盗的汤匙。此时，县检察官会自动停止作证，即他对法庭说他没有别的目击证人了、他认为他已经证明了多伊的罪行。

14.现在该轮到嫌疑人的辩护人出场，他也会传唤他的目击证人。一位证人声称，他认识多伊已有很长时间，但是从来不知道他会偷东西。多伊本人被带上证人席，他解释说，他之所以在与本案相关的那栋房子周围瞎转悠，只是因为他等候一个在那里工作的人出来说上几句话，而后来事实证明，那个人那一天出去了。至于汤匙，他声称，他是在路边捡到的，当时汤匙系在一个包裹里。考虑到它们上面既没有名字也没有其他标记，他不知道谁是失主，所以觉得自己有权占有它们，因为是他发现的。他说，在出现夜盗案的当晚，他都在3英里外的一个谷仓里睡觉。一位农场工人（此人是间接证人）发誓说，他看到多伊走进谷仓、躺在干草上面睡觉；第二天早晨很早时他去喂马，发现多伊仍然睡着。这些目击证人中的每一个，都要接受县检察官的交叉讯问。在交叉讯问那位农场工人的过程中，检察官指出了这样一个事实：他在两次去谷仓看多伊的期间，多伊完全有足够的时间前往其他住所、偷走汤匙然后再回来继续睡。

15.在所有目击证人被质询之后，每位代理人都会讲话，一位声称现有证据清楚地显示是多伊偷了汤匙，另一位则认为这一切并不能证明（还存在合理存疑的空间），所以陪审团应当认为多伊无罪。

16.接着，法官会向陪审团讲话。他向他们介绍了法律中的夜盗是什么意思，要想裁决嫌疑人犯罪应当证明哪些事实，以及“合理存疑”是什么意思（如果他们存有这样的疑虑，那么他们的结论或者叫决定，就应当是“无罪”）。

17.陪审团此时会被法庭上的一位官员带着离开这间屋子，领进一间密室，在那里让他们再详细讨论案情。半个小时之后，他们转告法官说，他们已经达成一个裁决结果，于是他们又被人领到法庭上原来坐的位置上。在问到他们是否就某个裁决结果达成一致时，首席陪审员会原地起立，回答说已经达成。“你们的裁决结果是什么？”“有罪。”于是，当庭对陪审团成员点名，每个人依次起立，并说这也是他或她的裁决结果。除非12名陪审员一致表决“有罪”，否则都不能证明嫌疑人有罪。

18.如果陪审团全体成员众口一词，就要让嫌疑人站起来，法官要向他讲几句话。法官提醒他说，他当着由父老乡亲组成的陪审团的面，已经受到了公正无私的审讯；考虑到他穷得请不起律师作为他的辩护人，法庭已经为他指定了一个，此人的报酬由州里支付；陪审团发现他的确有罪。接着，法官便会继续陈述对他所犯罪行的处罚（即宣判）：在州监狱服刑三年，从事繁重的体力劳动。随后，嫌疑人会被法警带走，对约翰·多伊的审讯也随之结束。

19.刑事审判。当然，对刑事指控的审判在许多细节上与上面概述的审判有所不同。但是，在一些重点内容上都差不多。没有哪个被控犯罪的人被认为有罪并受到处罚，除非他接受了某个大陪审团的指控，或者以类似的方式受到了公诉。随后，他必须接受某个正规法庭的审理，只有在陪审团12名成员一致表决之后才能证明有罪。如果他请不起律师负责为自己辩护，州里可以为他免费请一个。如果他的目击证人不愿出庭作证，州法院要强迫他们出庭作证。而事后发现作伪证的人要受到严惩。我们共和国所采取的所有这些人性化措施，都是为了防止有人受到错误指控和不公正的处罚。

20.我们共和国的公民有另外一个重要的保护措施，可防止被冤枉而入狱。如果有人由于目无法纪而入狱，那么他的辩护人可以去找法官，要求法官明察秋毫。法官之后可能会给狱卒下一道命令，要求他把嫌疑人带到自己（即法官）面前，并向法官解释关押此人的原因。这样一种由法官下达的命令，任何狱卒都必须执行。当法官听完狱卒的理由之后，如果不认为这些理由站得住脚，他有权释放嫌疑人。向狱卒下命令、要求他将嫌疑人带到法官面前，这种命令叫做人身保护令。人身保护是拉丁文，意思是“创造肉体”。

21.可能在听完陈述的理由之后，法官认为嫌疑人被禁是应当的。于是，他会命令不是释放，而是继续关押。或者法官认为，以指控嫌疑人的罪名审讯他是相当正确的，但与此同时，也不必一直关着他。此时，法官可能会命令嫌疑人取保候审。取保候审的意思是说，如果得到法官证明的人同意交纳一定量的钱作为保证金（以免在审判时被告人不出庭），那么被告人就可以得到释放。当然，一旦开庭审理，他有责任到场出庭。

22.之所以付出所有这些努力，是为了法律不会对任何人不公正。还有一种保护措施。如果嫌疑人被发现有罪，并且认为在某些方面对他的审理不公正（例如法官对法律条文的误读，或者陪审团对他有偏见），那么他还有权向更高一级法院上诉。如果通过某种方式，使更高一级法院的法官认为较低级法院确实存在某些过错，那么该法官可以下令对整个案件进行重新审理。

23.但是，尽管采取了所有这些安全措施，有时候真正的犯罪分子仍然能够逍遥法外，或者起码很长一段时间内得不到应有的惩罚。我们知道，有个犯罪分子在被抓之后一年多时间，才最终被判决。

24. “林奇法”。在美国某些地区，如果有人犯了特别残忍的罪行，人们都急于让犯罪分子确实受到迅速惩罚。他们担心夜长梦多，甚至可能什么惩罚也没有，那么他们的情绪就会非常激动。有时候，一群人会聚到一起，用暴力将犯罪嫌疑人从监牢里提出来然后处死，可能是在一棵树的枝干上吊死。这便叫做处私刑。

25.实际上，处私刑行为本身就是一种残忍的罪行。公正的审判是肯定不会有的，而且这种方式总是存在无辜者遭受惩罚的危险，事实上也确实经常发生这种事。在一个文明的国度，与法律相违背的行为应当用法律途径来解决。如果法律不够完善，人们可以选举一个使它们更完善的立法机构。但是，非法的私刑是对我们共和国的一种玷污，热爱自己国家的人应该对它退避三舍。

26.民事审判。不过，我们的法庭除了审理此类刑事案件之外，也会审理其他案件。如果两个人就某个问题，例如钱的问题或一块土地的问题达不成一致，又无法靠他们自己解决争端，那么就需要对簿公堂。向法庭提起诉讼的人叫做原告，另一方叫做被告。双方都有律师参与案情。像审理约翰·多伊那样，法官和陪审团组成法庭，法官主持庭审、裁定法律条令方面的疑问，陪审团裁决与事实有关的争端。像前面介绍的那样，不服判决者有向更高级法院提起上诉的权利，因此每桩案件在审理时都要细致认真。这种起源于有关财产问题的争端、当事人双方都没有违法的案件，便叫做民事案件。约翰·多伊的案子叫做刑事案件。

27.法院。我们的共和国有两种不同的法院，即联邦法院和州法院。

28.州法院。每个州都根据自己的需要设立此类法院。每个镇或村以及一座城市的不同地区，都可以开庭解决很微不足道的争端。这种法院的法官叫做治安法官。这些案件一般小到没必要成立陪审团的程度。

29.在每个县也有一个法院，通常称作地方法院。每个州也有一个法院，它是全州境内最高级的法院。这个法院通常叫做最高法院。当然了，从这一级法院作出的裁决，在本州境内是无法上诉的。在纽约州，该法院叫做上诉法院。此外，许多州都有好几个法院，有些案子可以直接提交给这些法院，而根本不用先在地方法院审理。这些中间法院在不同的州叫法不一。在这些法院以及最高法院中，法官有好几个而不是一个。例如，伊利诺伊州的最高法院有7名法官，纽约州的上诉法院中，法官的数量也是7名。

30.州里还有其他法院。在这里没有必要一一介绍它们了。任何律师都可以告诉你在你所在州里有哪些法院。不要忘了去找它们。

31.联邦法院。联邦法院有好几种。在这之中处于最下层的是联邦地方法院。整个共和国分为71个地区，每个地区有1名法官。在华盛顿市坐落着联邦最高法院，它由9名法官组成，人们称之为高院法官。之后，像州里一样，联邦也有一些中间法院。有些案子要从地方法院上诉到这些中间法院，再从中间法院上诉到最高法院。另一些案子则首先直接从某个中间法院上诉到最高法院。但是不管怎么说，最后的上诉都是到最高法院。最高法院的裁决就无法再上诉了。

32.美国宪法规定了哪一种法院应当在联邦法庭听证，而所有其他案子都在州法院听证。各州的宪法明确了该州法院的数量和责任。

33.所有联邦法院的法官都由美国总统任命。但是，他必须首先把自己的名字呈给美国参议院，只有当这一机构批准之后，他才可以得到任命。联邦法院法官可以一直当下去，只要他不出现不当的行为。

34.联邦政府的最高法院是世界上最著名、最受尊重的法院之一。这里的法官必须始终忠诚、能干，而且他们非常有主见。如果有哪个立法实体（甚至是美国国会）制定了一项与联邦宪法相违背的法律，那么最高法院在依据该法律裁决某个案子时，就会明确地宣称根本不存在相关的法律，因为这项法律违反宪法。此后，任何人都不必再遵守该法令了。这是一种很了不起的权力，而欧洲各国的法院都不具备这样的权力。

35.最高法院是一个非常有威信的机构。高院成员在开庭时身穿丝制的法袍。他们的会议在华盛顿国会大厦召开，由9名成员之一的首席法官主持。最著名的首席法官是来自弗吉尼亚州的约翰·马歇尔。他主持这一单位的工作达30多年，从1801年到1835年。

Chapter 14

政府怎样筹钱

1.政府的开销。政府为人民所做的所有这些工作都要花钱。立法机构成员、法官、市长、警察、消防员以及其他所有的人民公仆都不能一无所获地工作，而必须得到报酬。美国总统的年薪是5万美元，国会成员无论是参议员还是众议员，每年都收到5000美元工资。总统内阁成员年薪为8000美元，而最高法院的法官年薪为1万美元，首席法官年薪为1.05万美元。不得报酬的公务员如同凤毛麟角。地方教育董事会成员和少数其他委员会成员几乎没有薪水。在城市，有大街需要铺设，下水道需要建造。此外，还有各种各样的公共建筑，如邮局、法院、校舍、救火车车库、监狱以及许多其他设施。所有这些都需要花钱来建。所以我们看到，无论是哪一级政府，要想不花钱就让其运行是不可能的。那么，钱从哪里来呢？

2.税。掏钱的是创立政府而又成为政府服务对象的人民。所以说，人民自然要为这些开销买单。人民向政府交纳的用于维持政府运转的钱，叫做税。

3.税要支付给联邦政府和州政府。

4.联邦税。联邦政府所收的税中，大部分来自一种也叫做关税的税。关税是商人为享有将商品从外国带到美国这一特权，而向联邦政府交纳的那部分钱。例如，我们从古巴得到糖，从巴西和爪哇得到咖啡，从中国得到茶叶，从法国得到葡萄酒，以及从大英帝国得到多得数不清的各类商品。当一艘装满外国商品的船到达我们的某个海港时，只有在美国财政部的官员对其进行认真检查，看看船上都有什么东西，并与船主签订关税支付协议之后，才允许船卸货。这种关税有时候要按照货物价值的某一固定百分比计算，有时候则按照规定重量收取固定的数额。前一种情况叫做从价税，后一种则叫做特种税。在美国边境的每个市镇，都设有联邦政府的一个海关，海关官员成天忙于检查进口货物、收缴关税，之后再将关税上交给美国财政。通过这种渠道，财政部1896年收的税不少于1.6亿美元，而1890年这一数字高达2.29亿美元。这些钱的数额大到几乎不可能想象的地步。不过，所有这些钱以及更多的钱，都被财政部用于支付联邦政府的开支。实际上，另有1.5亿美元是通过我们所说的国内税收交给财政部的。这部分钱由威士忌等精馏酒精制造商、香烟和雪茄生产商以及其他几种商品的制造商支付。我们每次为寄一封信而买一张邮票，都向联邦政府付了一笔税。这种税数额不大，因为政府需要的，仅仅是从邮票销售中获得足以支付寄信所产生的实际费用的那部分钱就可以了。实际上，这种费用几乎不足以用邮票销售所得来补偿。

5.间接税。如果某个商人为自己进口的商品付了一笔关税，那么他在销售这些商品时，肯定会通过卖高价把损失的钱再赚回来。威士忌或雪茄的生产商也有一样的想法。当然，如果正好碰到其他人有类似的商品要卖，而这些商品不是进口来的，此人售卖所得的利润又比进口商希望得到的利润低一些，那么此人已经支付的利润就赚不回来了。不过，较高价格的商品往往也可以卖出去，只要出现这种情况，我们立刻就会发现：最终掏税钱的人，是那些喝咖啡或者抽雪茄的消费者。最终支付这种税的人，是向政府直接交税的人之外的其他人，所以这种税叫做间接税。联邦政府的税收几乎全是这种税，而所有这些税也都在美国国会制定的法律中有具体规定。

6.州税。用于支付州政府、县政府和市政府开销的税，则是依照州立法机构或地方立体实体制定的法律规定交纳的。

7.拥有土地和建筑物的人每年都要交一定量的钱，由身为公务员的估价员来确定具体某一块土地价值多少。估计的价格通常要小于该财产在市场上实际交易的数额。之后，根据估价员对财产的估价，所有者要支付或多或少的税，至于税率是多少美分、密尔（0.001美元，只用于统计中。——译者注）还是多少美元，则由立法机构确定。一般情况下，这种税的一部分交给州政府，一部分交给县政府，一部分交给市或村政府。这种税叫做直接税，因为它是不那么容易转移给其他人支付的。

8.有些州的百姓还要为自己拥有的、除土地和建筑物之外的其他贵重财物交一笔税。估价员要尽量准确地估计出每个人的物品价值多少，然后照此交税。同样，在某些州还要交人头税，也就是说每个人都要交纳一定数量的税，这笔税与财物无关。

9.公债。有时候，政府的开销太大，甚至数额庞大的税收也不足以支付。于是，政府需要借钱，给贷方一纸债券，以表示这笔钱是政府欠的、将来会还。政府每年要对这些债券支付利息，最后还要在预期时间内支付本金。当然，政府必须收很多的税，才能还清这笔费用。

10.政府以这种方式欠的债数额非常巨大。市政府借钱通常用于建立公共建筑、铺设街道、建下水道等。有些市政府铺张浪费而又不够诚实，那么通过这种方式借钱时，这些城市就会在身背巨额债务的同时，却很少公示钱的用途。

11.联邦政府的债务主要是由战争产生的。国家每进行一场战争，政府就必须借钱把它打下去。独立战争和1812年战争产生的债务，是1835年还清的。但是，1846年，我们卷入与墨西哥的战争，而从1861年到1865年，我们又进行了伟大的国内战争。特别是这后一场战争，花费极为巨大。战争于1865年结束时，联邦政府的债务接近30亿美元（为27.73亿美元）。截止1896年6月，财政部在前一年针对已有债务付出的利息就超过3500万美元，而其本金甚至到现在还接近10亿美元。除了债务的利息之外，我们还要为战争引起的另一项开销支付抚恤费。在战争中伤残或者参战之后无法工作的陆军士兵、水兵，参战老兵的遗孀和孤儿，每年都要从联邦财政中领取一笔钱。据统计，现在有近100万人领取战争抚恤金，在截止1896年6月的前一年里，政府向他们支付的钱总额达到1.39亿美元。所以，我们仍然还在从国家税收中为我们伟大的国内战争买单，而这笔钱还要花很多年才能付清。

12.战争与税收。如前所见，庞大的国债是由战争造成的。为了还这笔债，百姓必须多年交纳重税。如果我们觉得战争必不可少，就必须耐心地忍受这些税赋。但是，如果我们非要傻到从单纯的获胜愿望出发而打仗（如其所称，是为了得到军事“荣誉”），那么交纳的税连同战争中流淌的鲜血和所受的痛苦一起，就成了难以承受的代价。如果战争并非不可避免，不是为了保护自由或尊严，那么任何战争都没有正义可言。

13.看看一位精明的英国作家对为荣誉而战付出的代价作何感想，可能有些意思。我们应该记得，一般来说，英国的绰号叫做“约翰牛”，而美国的绰号则叫做“乔纳森兄弟”。

为荣誉的代价收税

悉尼·史密斯

约翰牛可以告诉乔纳森过于钟爱荣誉的必然后果是什么，那就是：收税！每一件商品都要收税，包括吃进嘴里的、盖在背上的、放在脚下的；一切适合于看、听、感知、闻或尝的东西都要交税；能提供暖、光和动力的东西也要交税；此外，无论是地球上的万物还是地底下的水，国外进口的还是国内自产的，统统交税；原材料要交税，通过人的勤奋赋予它的每一点新价值也要交税；满足人们胃口的调料、使人保持身体健康的药品要交税；装点大法官衣着的貂皮、绞死罪犯的绳子要交税；穷人的盐、富人的香料要交税；棺材上的铜钉、新娘衣服上的彩带也要交税；无论床上铺的、船上盖的，无论沙发椅还是山羊皮，都要交税。

学童拍打着他头顶上交过税的帽子；没长胡子的年轻人挥起交过税的缰绳，在一条交过税的路上，赶着他交过税的马；——奄奄一息的英国人将支付了7%税钱的药，倒进一把支付了15%税钱的勺子，一头倒在铺有支付了22%税钱的印花棉布床单的床上，将自己的遗嘱写在一张价值8英镑的邮票上，躺在一位药剂师的怀里断了气，而这位药剂师花了100英镑，才获得了让他安乐死的特权。之后，他的所有财产都立即要征收从2%到10%不等的税钱。除遗嘱之外，将他的遗体埋葬在教堂的圣坛还需要交纳大笔费用；他的操守刻在交过税的大理石上，传给后世子孙；之后，他又要与他的父辈合葬一处，这又要再交一笔税。

除掉所有这些以外，成天与巨额钱财打交道的习惯，会使得政府贪婪而铺张；而这种体制本身又必然会产生以窃密和告密为己任的寄生虫，并进一步导致出现一批以政治工具、以最卑鄙和最可恨的打手角色出现的害群之马；——这笔庞大税款的征收权将落入政府之手，而位高权重的人又会对征税过程施加的影响力，并无法遏制腐败的手段和诱惑，这种诱惑连道德高尚、大公无私的人，甚至共和国的百姓都无法抵挡。每一个明智的乔纳森都要牢记这一点！

Chapter 15

我们是谁

1.美国人并非一个民族组成。有些人经常说起“美国人”，在为自己的祖国自豪时，美国人这一称呼无疑没有错。但是，即便如此，我们却不要贬低其他国家的人民。事实上，我们共和国中的所有白人要么出生于欧洲，要么是年代并不久远之前来自欧洲的那些人的后裔。

2.英国。来到美国佛罗里达北部最早的一批欧洲人是英国人。他们于1607年在弗吉尼亚定居，这一时间距今不到300年。

3.但是，我们美国人当中身为这些早期定居者后裔的人其实并不太多。来到美国的其他英国人在整个17和18世纪接连不断，而且在 19世纪仍在不停地前来。所以说，我们为数不少的一些人在血统上是英国人，这一点从我们所有人的母语都是英语也可以看出。但是，我们与我们的父辈、祖父辈在现在这个国家到底住了多久，那是另一个问题了。我们有些人其实并不知道我们最早的祖先是什么时候从移民的母国来到美国的，也不知道这些祖先是哪一类人种，就算知道，也不明白我们是否应当为他们而自豪。在很多情况下，我们比较肯定的只有一点，那就是在最近3个世纪的某一时期，我们第一批美国祖先的确从欧洲来到了这里，并在这里建造家园，繁衍生息。或许他是英国人，也或许是苏格兰人、威尔士人或爱尔兰人。这些英国人中的许多人向美国移民的过程，贯穿于我们整个美国历史，而他们当中还有许多人在现时代还在蜂拥前来。

4.荷兰人。不过，在大西洋沿岸第一批欧洲殖民地定居的人并不只是英国人。纽约的第一批移民是荷兰人。英国占领这块殖民地之后，将它的荷兰名字“新阿姆斯特丹”改成了一个我们知道的新名字。不过，荷兰殖民地居民却一直住在那里，在英国国旗下生活，如今，我们在纽约市、纽约州以及共和国的其他地区依然能找到他们的子孙后代。在纽约的有些地区，斯图弗逊、范科特兰德特、范伦瑟劳尔、博加特、范杜森、苏伊达姆等名字仍然耳熟能详。

5.瑞典人。在特拉华州，最早的定居者是瑞典人。但是，这些人数量并不多，而且他们的殖民地先是被荷兰人抢走，后来等他们前往新阿姆斯特丹时，这块殖民地又被英国人占领。如今居住在美国的瑞典人有很多，但是他们或他们的祖先大部分都是不久前才来的。

6.德国人。在宾夕法尼亚，在年代很早的时候就有许多德国人定居，而他们的后代也一直在那里住到现在。这些人通常被他们住在纽约和新英格兰的英国“邻居”称为“德裔荷兰人”，但是实际上，他们根本就不是荷兰人，而是德国人。“荷兰人”来自荷兰而不是德国，但是，仅仅在当前这个世纪里，就有许多德国人住在我们一起了。

7.法国人。大约在200年前前往南卡罗来纳去的法国后裔也很多，还有一些去了纽约。他们是被一个愚蠢国王的残暴统治赶出祖国的。不过，这些人非常优秀，都成了出色的美国公民。而路易斯安那和密歇根的第一批定居者是法国人。

8.美国人。在当前时代，所有这些欧洲来的定居者的后裔，无论是英国人、荷兰人、德国人、法国人还是瑞典人，都一律是美国人。他们各方面都非常接近，使用相同的语言，拥有同样的想法，都热爱共和国和它的国旗，并为自己是美国公民而自豪。

9.我们历史上一些最伟大的人都来自这些殖民民族中的这个或那个民族。华盛顿将军是英国人。曾赢得1812年战争新奥尔良作战伟大胜利、曾两度出任美国总统的安德鲁·杰克逊总统是苏格兰人。独立战争期间担任代表大会主席、来自南卡罗来纳的亨利·劳伦斯将军是法国人。参加革命军的斯凯勒将军、在杰克逊之后继任美国总统的马丁·范布伦，以及我们美国最能干的国务卿之一汉密尔顿·费希都是荷兰人的后裔。美国内战期间最负盛名的勇士之一、后来成为指挥联邦政府军队将军的菲利普·谢里丹是爱尔兰人。但是，这些人当中的每一个都是地地道道美国人。

10.欧洲移民。在联邦宪法付诸实施的那个世纪期间，前来美国的欧洲人数量剧增。数百万移民在我们的城市和大西部的农场定居。德国人和瑞典人、挪威人和丹麦人、波希米亚人、爱尔兰人、意大利人，这些人都几乎蜂拥越过大西洋，离开远在欧洲的故园，成为我们共和国的公民。所以说，我们在全国各地都可以看到这些我们喜欢称呼的“外国人”。

11.但是，他们并不是真正的外国人。他们之所以来到这里建造自己的家园，几乎全都是因为他们喜欢这个国家甚过喜爱他们离开的那个国家，当然原因多种多样。就这样，他们成了美国人。

12.入国籍。我们的法律对此类新成员的规定并不苛刻。当一个外国人在这里居住5年以上时，他就可以成为美国公民，享有土生土长的美国公民所享有的一切权利和待遇。不错，在国外出生的美国公民不能担任美国总统。但是，有可能竞选总统的人毕竟不多。几乎任何一级法庭都有权批准外国人享有公民身份。法律还规定，如果某人希望成为美国公民，在本地居住3年之后，必须前往某一级法庭声明自己加入国籍的目的。法庭会给申请人一张用于陈述事实的申请表，即所称的外侨入籍的“归化申请书”。申请人要在希望成为美国公民 2年以后，再将这一纸凭证提交给法庭。这时的凭证（即“正式申请书”）要由第二个法庭批准，以表明该申请人此时已经成为美国的正式公民。

13.批准外国人加入美国国籍的过程，即我们所称的入籍，而这些人叫做已入籍公民。

14.优秀公民。我们说过，欧洲本地人之所以在这里和我们一起建造家园，是因为总体上讲，与他曾经离开的那个国家相比，他更喜欢这个国家。但是，他也热爱自己出生的那个国家。他喜爱那个国家的语言、书籍，热爱它的传奇故事和它的人民。这是非常正常的。一个不喜爱自己出生国的人，我们很难指望他喜爱他的入籍国。我们有权提出的要求只有一个，那就是，我们美国接纳的与我们同类的公民，应当首先把美利坚合众国放在第一位。他们应当学习美国的语言，了解它政府管理的方式，尽己所能去领悟美国完善的法律，并且必须遵守制定的法律。做好这些事、依靠诚实劳动谋生的人，无论生于何地，都是优秀公民。

15.我们几乎所有人从民族上讲都是欧洲人，懂得了这一点，再去蔑视那些只不过从故国来到美国时间相对较晚的人，就显得非常愚蠢了。让我们所有人都努力成为优秀的美国公民吧。

16.红种人、黑种人和黄种人。但是，白人并不是我们美国的唯一人种。此外还有红种人、黑种人和黄种人。

17.红种人。当白人最早从欧洲来到这个国家时，他们发现，他们曾经发现的这块新大陆上已经居住了另一种陌生的红种人种族，即哥伦布所称的“印第安人”。

18.印第安人的皮肤红中带黑，颧骨高耸，黑眼睛，一头黑发又糙又直。哥伦布前来的时候，他们还是一群未开化的人。不错，他们是墨西哥和秘鲁的印第安本地人，他们居住的城市，受一个统治着众多人口的政府的管辖，但是，这些半开化的墨西哥人和秘鲁人与美国红皮肤的野蛮人相比又截然不同。他们宏伟庙宇上的金板闪闪发光，他们有自己的象形文字、自己的宫殿和自己开垦的土地。尽管妇女（“美洲印第安男人的妻子”）主要负责种玉米（因此叫做“印第安玉米”）和豆子，但是这些人当中，大部分都是猎人和渔民。英国人称所有的谷类都叫做“玉米”（如小麦），如今还这么叫；但是玉米对他们来说就是一种新作物了。玉米和豆子混合在一起形成的混合物，我们现在称呼的仍然是它的印第安名称，即“豆煮玉米”。这些人的家不过是临时性的小木屋，我们称其为“棚屋”。阿莱干尼山脉面向大西洋一面的所有山坡上，都覆盖着茂密的森林，这些红皮肤的人便在这些森林里一边游荡，一边搜寻猎物。鹿、熊、海狸以及其他野生动物非常丰富，而印第安人则以它们的肉为食，将它们的皮做成衣服穿在身上。这些凶猛的印第安人的武器是弓箭、棍棒、斧头（“印第安战斧”）以及小刀。他们没有铁器，箭头、斧头以及刀具都是用燧石精巧地制成的。他们躲避恶劣气候的庇护所不过是简单的木屋即“棚屋”，几根杆子一竖，上面盖上树皮就行了。他们用桦树皮做成轻舟（“独木舟”），他们能够熟练地用桨划这种小船。

19.当然，这些因狩猎而居无定所的人，既没有城市，也没什么开垦了的土地。他们游荡在丛林中寻找猎物，每个分离的部落都有自己的“狩猎场”。这些部落相互间经常爆发战争，在这些战争中，他们非常不讲信用，而且非常残忍。他们青睐的战争方式是静静设伏等候敌人，在对方最没有防备的时候一刀将其砍倒。俘虏一般情况下会被折磨致死，往往还要采用火刑。

20.如今，这些野蛮人数量不是太多，他们还在广袤的荒原上游荡并狩猎。但是，欧洲移民清除了森林，将自己的作物种在土地上。如此一来，荒原慢慢缩小，印第安人眼睁睁地看着自己的狩猎场遭到破坏。此外，白人并不总是从土地的所有者即红种人那里购买土地，在很多时候，新来者直接将其据为己有。而在买卖土地的时候，头脑简单的印第安人也常常受骗上当。出于这样一些以及其他的原因，移民和本地人经常发生口角，其结果就是爆发许多血腥的印第安战争。野蛮的武士们会潜伏在森林里，直到发现白人移民们放松警惕为止。接着，战斗时的嚎叫声和火光闪耀中的小屋会将惊恐不安的白人家庭惊醒，还没反应过来就成了印第安人的斧下之鬼。男人、女人以及手无寸铁的孩子都会被屠杀，而他们血淋淋的头皮会被撕下来，成为残忍的胜利者的装饰。

21.但是，白人最终对于红种人来说还是太过强大，如今，印第安人战争的时代可能一去不复返了。部落已经由于疾病和战争逐渐消失、迅速消亡。然而，酒精却要比疾病和战争更加致命。这些野蛮人非常喜欢白人的烈性饮品（印第安人称其为“火酒”），而这些酒却毁了他们。部落中剩下的人如今住在“专用地”里，这是政府为他们专门划出的土地。之后，政府每年都要拨给他们一定数量的钱，作为他们放弃土地的补偿。通过这种方式，印第安人不必再通过劳动谋生了。很久以前的猎物也不见踪影，所以狩猎也没什么意义了。

22.在部分专用地和印第安领地上，印第安人开始接受一些教育。他们有学校和教堂，有时候还很富裕。随后若干年里，政府还努力想将其他部落里的孩子送去上学。在宾夕法尼亚州的卡莱尔，有一所供印第安人孩子上学的学校，这所学校经营得很好。在弗吉尼亚州的汉普顿还有另外一所学校。

23.汉普顿学院是一所成立于1870年的学校，旨在培训年轻黑人，使其成为勤勉而又熟练掌握技能的工人，这样他们就能过上好日子，体面地养家糊口了。这种培训尤其必要，因为黑人仅仅在不久前才摆脱奴隶制的束缚，如今才破天荒地得以自主生活。学校成立10年之后，开始向印第安人开放。美国政府为受教育的120名印第安男孩和女孩买单，另一些孩子的教育费用则由慷慨的百姓每年支付，这样一来，学校里便有了近150名印第安学生。已有将近500人到该校就读，他们在接受教育之后，便会回到“专用地”继续生活。这些人在此后的日子里，很少有人出现过劣迹。他们当中，绝大部分人学会了当一个勤奋而聪明的工人。男孩们成长为农场主、铁匠和木匠，女孩们则学会了缝补和家务。所以说，他们不再只是蒙昧的野蛮人，而成了聪明诚实的男男女女。

24.将印第安人送到学校接受教育，显然要比和他们爆发战争好得多，而且从代价上看也更小。如果年轻的印第安人能够学会像白人那样生活，通过诚实劳动过上自己的好日子，那么他们就会成为我们共和国的优秀公民。当然了，他们也应当成为好公民。如果白人总能真诚而友好地对待印第安人，那么这些印第安人当中，大部分人很可能现在会比较文明。但是我们必须承认，白人对待他们红头发同胞的态度经常很恶劣。这块土地应当由文明人来使用，而不应该只发挥狩猎场的作用而闲置。然而，我们却无法始终为百姓获得这些土地的方式或者他们对待红头发同胞的方式而自豪。

印第安人的数量并非很多。据估计，在1870年，未开化的印第安人有35.7981万人，文明的印第安人有2.5731万人。到了1890年，文明的印第安人数量达到5.8806万，而未开化的印第安人数量比1870年减少了。

25.与印第安人战争有关的两个故事。在血腥的印第安人战争中，到处充满了残忍的屠杀、孤注一掷的战斗和死里逃生的险情。马萨诸塞州黑弗里耳市的达斯汀夫人的故事，就是这些最惊悚的故事之一。而由一位无名作者创作的、用以纪念缅因州一场与印第安人之间战斗的诗，则用传奇式的文字描述了另一个故事。

达斯汀夫人的逃亡

1697年3月，黑弗里耳市的托马斯·达斯汀在地里干活时，突然听到印第安人可怕的狂欢声，于是赶紧往家里跑。他有8个孩子，最小的年仅1周大小。孩子的母亲正和她的婴儿一起呆在床上，她的保姆玛丽·内夫照顾着她们。

“赶紧去找驻军！”他对自己的几个孩子大喊。他们匆忙逃跑，最大的孩子带着最小的孩子，达斯汀先生则跑去马棚牵马。印第安人已经来到他跟前。他救不了妻子，但却想努力救下几个孩子。他赶紧追上孩子们。他该救谁呢？所有孩子对他来说都是十指连心，他希望能全部救下。印第安人来到房子前，抓住了达斯汀夫人和玛丽·内夫。他们将婴儿一把砸向一块石头，母亲只能看着他流血的尸体。随后，印第安人急忙追赶逃亡的一家人。“赶紧逃生去吧！”达斯汀先生朝着孩子们高喊，然后纵身下马，跟在这匹牲畜的后面保护自己，并将枪横放在马背上，仔细地瞄准跑在最前面的印第安人。他一边开火，一边跳上马鞍逃远，旋即他的周围枪声大作。他一边飞驰一边装子弹，追上孩子们，然后下马，准备对付追击者；就这样，他在印第安人无法接近的情况下来到了守军驻地，所有的孩子都得救了。

没有多久，当地的27个男人、女人和孩子都被杀害，他们的房子被一把火点着，然后印第安人逃往加拿大。

此时是3月中旬，在森林里还有许多雪没有融化。小溪因为冰雪融化而溪水暴涨，然而，达斯汀夫人却只穿着一只鞋子，在活捉她的人的驱赶下，开始徒步穿越野生丛林。她的脚磨破了，直打冷战。每走一步，她都要留下清晰的血迹。与她同行的俘虏当中，有些人慢慢因体力不支而昏倒，于是印第安人让他们身首异处。除了达斯汀夫人和玛丽·内夫之外，所有人都死于非命。

3天后，她们到了印第安人的聚集地，那是位于新罕布什尔州波斯卡文市梅里麦克河和康图库克河连接处的一个小岛。在这个地方，印第安人可以捕鱼。达斯汀夫人在这里发现一个名叫塞缪尔·莱昂纳德森的小男孩，这个小男孩被俘一年多了，已经学会了印第安语。

没过几天，除了12名印第安人之外，所有其他印第安人都踏上了另一次劫掠之旅。等到他们回来时，这些俘虏将会被带到加拿大。这位目睹自己亲生骨肉在石头上摔死的女人有一颗勇敢豪侠的心。与其被俘，还不如死掉。只有奋起抗争，才能获得自由。她开始暗暗策划。

“问问印第安人，当他们想迅速杀死某个人的时候，会把斧头劈向哪个部位”，她对塞缪尔说。

“会劈在这里”，印第安人这样回答着塞缪尔的提问，然后将手指放在塞缪尔的太阳穴上。’

这位野蛮的印第安人根本没有想到，他的斧头将会被埋在自己的脑壳里，而做这件事的将是那个不动声色观察他一举一动目光犀利的女人。这位印第安人向塞缪尔示范如何剥掉人的头皮，而所有这些达斯汀夫人都看在眼里。

夜幕降临时，她向玛丽·内夫和塞缪尔说了自己的计划，并用自己的英勇气概激励他们。

12个印第安人全都躺下睡觉，自以为他们的俘虏不会逃走。没有留下人值班。木屋里的火堆烧得差不多了。除了康图库克河的河水流过岩床的淙淙声之外，没有任何声音打破夜晚的宁静。达斯汀夫人起身抓起一把战斧，并给玛丽·内夫和塞缪尔一人递了一把。每个人都选择了一位倒霉鬼。信号一发出，斧头落下，从印第安人的头盖骨中穿过，然后连续而迅速地劈砍。这不过是一分钟之内的事，但是，就在这短暂的时间里，12个印第安人当中有10人被杀死，另外两个则趁着夜色仓皇逃跑！

这几个不再是俘虏的俘虏搜齐粮食，拿起印第安人的枪支，凿沉所有的小船，只为自己留下了一艘，然后起航向梅里麦克河划去。此时这个女人突然心生一念：他们的朋友会相信他们将要讲述的故事是真的吗？

努力划了几下桨，他们便又回到了小岛。达斯汀夫人用剥头皮的小刀在死去的印第安人眉毛周围划着，剥下他们的头皮，然后再用桨撑着小船划向河流深处。靠岸之后，将小船扔向危险的急流，到达60英里外的黑弗里耳，带着她血淋淋的战利品出现在目瞪口呆的朋友们面前。朋友们都以为她死了。马萨诸塞州政府赠给她50英镑；若干年之后，梅里麦克峡谷的百姓为了纪念她的英勇气概，在她重获自由的地方建了一座纪念碑。

26.非洲人。我国的黑种人（“有色人种”）或者叫做“黑人”的祖籍在非洲。他们大多住在宾夕法尼亚和德克萨斯州的俄亥俄河以南各州，以及密西西比河西岸各州，向北一直延伸到密苏里州。

27.正如美国的白人居民来自欧洲一样，黑人居民首先来自于非洲。但是又存在这样一种区别：欧洲人来到这里全凭自愿，因为他们认为在这里生活更好；但是非洲人则是以白人奴隶的身份，整船整船地装上强制性地带到这里的。

28.奴隶的意思是指一个人不能随心所欲地做自己想做的事，按照法律规定，他们的劳动成果属于另外一些人所有。奴隶主为奴隶提供食物、衣服和住所，而且在他们生病的时候也会照料。但是除此之外，奴隶得不到工资，而且必须按照主人指定的时间和地点工作。此外，奴隶像马匹一样也可以买卖。

29.在英国人第一次定居于弗吉尼亚的詹姆斯敦几十年之后，一艘荷兰船只载着一船黑人来到这个港口。这些黑人中的一部分交易给定居的英国人，后者发现，这些黑人对于烟草种植非常有用，于是在若干年之后，更多的黑人从非洲带到美国，他们不仅送到弗吉尼亚，而且也卖到所有其他殖民地。

30.我们应当记得，在当时，每个国家的法律都允许奴隶为私人所有。有一段时间，美国原13块殖民地中的每一块都允许私人占有奴隶。

31.但是，在马里兰州北部也并非总有很多黑人，独立战争结束后不久，北部各州的法律进行了修改，不再允许人们拥有奴隶。而在南部各州，黑人数量很多，直到数年之前，他们仍然保留着奴隶身份。

32.随着新州加入联邦，俄亥俄河以北各州纷纷制定禁止奴隶制的法律，但是南部新州的法律仍然允许奴隶制存在。于是，自由州和蓄奴州开始就奴隶制问题产生分歧，争论的焦点与准州有关。自由州的人认为，国会有权立法禁止在准州奉行奴隶制，而蓄奴州的人则认为国会没有这种权利。在1860和1861年，眼看此类法律很可能获得通过之时，南部有许多州决定脱离联邦，自行成立一个新的共和国，并称其为“美国南部邦联”。

33.但是，剩下各州却坚持认为，在不得到所有其他州认可的情况下，任何州都无权脱离联邦。南北双方都整军备战，·于是一场规模庞大的内战打了4年。南部邦联的军队最终被击败并随之瓦解，从此，脱离联邦的企图破产了。为此，联邦宪法进行了修改，以便禁止在共和国的任何地方存在奴隶制。通过这种方式，所有黑人获得了自由，如今，按照法律规定，黑人享有与白人同等的权利。

34.美国内战是一个非常恐怖又非常不应出现的事件。成千上万的人在战斗中丧生和负伤，或者死于艰苦的作战环境引起的各类疾病。正如我们所见，在这场战争中，多得惊人的财产被毁坏，国家一点点背上了数十亿美元的债务，直到现在还没有完全还清。双方的百姓都真心相信自己是正义的，而北方和南方部队的战士们在战斗中也都英勇善战。但愿在我们的国土上再也不会看到内战重新上演。

35.现在我们看看南部各州是怎样才有这么多黑人的。他们当中大多数都很无知，许多人好吃懒做。不过，尽管如此，还是有很多人在土地上、在家里劳动，从而成为非常有用之人。这些人应当学会勤劳、诚实以及通过艰苦劳动过上好日子，这一点极为重要。南部各州也为教育黑人做了很多工作。这里有公立小学，供黑人学习读、写以及掌握一些其他知识。还有一些中等工业技术学校，教他们在各种行业领域怎样称职地工作。

36.鉴于黑人如今已经住在这里，而且如今是共和国的自由公民，因此，他们应当成为优秀公民当然非常重要。

37.塔斯基吉的学校。我们已经在前面读到有这样一所学校，它在教育黑人和印第安人、使其成长为优秀公民方面做了有益的工作。另一所类似的学校位于阿拉巴马州的塔斯基吉，它也在培训许多有色人种。该校最重要的目标由此可以概括如下：

在所有工业课程的教学中，以下目标必须时刻牢记。它们是：

1.教学生懂得劳动光荣。

2.教学生掌握劳动的技能，为他们提供一门被认为最合适的手艺。

3.使学生能在劳动中付出一点代价。

确定这种目标非常明智。南部各州的黑人首先需要学习稳定的职业，学会诚实、生活和交往纯洁以及独立自主。没有哪个做不到这几点的人能够受到周围人的尊重，或者能真正地自尊自爱。

38.黄种人——中国人。在落基山脉以西地区，有许多黄种人即中国人。他们当中有些人住在东部城市，以经营洗衣店居多。他们通常会多多少少地身着中式服装，黄皮肤，眼睛有点斜，长长的黑“发辫”，身着古怪的鞋子和罩衫，人们往往可以看到他们急急地在熙熙攘攘的大街上走着，或者忙着在洗衣店里熨衣服。但是，在太平洋沿岸，还有数万名中国人，多得在旧金山的某个地方构成了所谓的“唐人街”，在这条街的两旁，这些黄种人拥挤着单独住在一起。其中有些是商人和洗衣工人，有些是家佣，做着那些在多数家庭中要由妇女来做的工作；还有许多是工人，工作在各种繁重的劳动岗位上。

39.这些黄种人有一点很奇怪，那就是他们当中女性非常少。男人来这里是为了发家致富。他们的日子过得非常紧巴，吃住的条件恐怕没有几个白人能看得上。他们通过这种方式攒钱，期待着有一天回到祖国生活。如果其中有个人死去，其他人会想办法将他的遗体送回中国安葬。

Chapter 16

谁统治我们

1.立法者。我们已经看到，我们的共和国有为数众多的公务员。

首先，我国有完善的立法实体。在华盛顿有联邦国会，每年都要开一次为期几个月的会议，为国家制定法律。在45个州的每个州首府都有一个立法机构，每一年或每隔一年开一次会，为所在的州制定法律。几个准州也有立法机构。在每个县城，都有某种形式的县委员会，许多委员会每年开会的次数都超过一次，为所在的县制定法律。随后，每个城市也有自己的委员会，在许多州，村还有村委会，大体上每周开一次会，为所在的城市或村子制定法规。

2.于是，多种法律得以制定。有些法律禁止公民做某些事，如禁止偷窃的法律；另一些法律则要求做某些事，如强制百姓接种疫苗以避免患上天花的法律。国家、州、县和市的许多法律都是税法，也就是说，它们对百姓向国库上交的税的数量和种类做出了具体规定。还有许多法律明确了这笔钱应当怎样花费。它们中，一部分用于支付公务员的工资；一部分用于公共建筑如法院、监狱、学校和邮局等；一部分用于投资公共服务项目，如铺街道、送邮包、消防车管理及维护等。此外还有许多种其他法律。

3.现在要问的是：所有这些立法者是怎样任命的呢？几乎在各种情况下，他们都是由人民选举产生的。不错，美国参议员是由州立法机构挑选的，但是，立法机构成员却是由人民选出来的。只有人民有权选举国家众议院成员、州立法机构成员、各种县委员会成员以及市政委员会成员。因此我们可以说，说到底，由人民选举所有立法者。

4.行政官员。此外，还有许多官员忙于司法。当然了，首当其冲的是美国总统。在他的麾下有总统内阁，8个部门的部长，每个部长下面都有为数众多的官员（其中有些在华盛顿），此外还有许多士兵、邮政局长和职员、海关官员等，他们遍布于联邦各地。总计起来，有将近20万名联邦官员听命于总统指挥，我们看到，这足足是一支大部队。

5.在45个州中，每个州都有一支尽管规模不大却大同小异的队伍，其中州长是最高领导。除州官员之外，也应当将县、市、镇和村里的那些官员纳入其中。这些人成天忙于各种各样不同的公务。他们中许多人与公款打交道，如估价员确定财产的价值以明确交多少税；另一些人则负责收税并向纳税人提供收条，还有一些人掌握公民交纳的税款，并依照法律规定把它们花出去。

6.是谁任命所有这些人上岗的呢？美国总统是选举产生的，而选举人又是人民挑选的。总统可以任命最重要的联邦官员，而联邦官员（或者其中的一部分）又任命下级官员。我们一定要记住：有许多职位总统未经参议院同意是无法任命的。

7.为了证明这一点，我们不妨举某个大城市（如芝加哥）的一个邮局为例。邮政部长有特定职责。他是由总统在经过参议院批准的情况下任命的。邮政系统还有许多员工和邮递员，这些人是由邮政部长任命的，其中大多数人只有在行为失当时才会被辞退。

8.小地方的邮政局长是由邮政部长任命的。

9.如果我们前往各州，会发现有些官员是由某个职位较高的人任命的，而许多官员则由人民选举产生。州长始终由人民选举产生，县治安官、市长和许多其他职位也是如此。

10.因此可以看出，执行法律即司法的官员要么由人民选举产生，要么由某个由人民选出来的人直接或间接任命。

11.法院。联邦大法官全是由美国总统任命的。当然，总统必须同参议院商量此事。在某些州如马萨诸塞州，由州长任命法官。但是在多数州，法院由人民选举产生。现在我们记得：人民选举州长；而选出总统的选举人以及选出参议员的州立法机构人员，也都由人民选举产生。因此我们看到，法官要么由人民选举产生，要么由某个由人民选出来的人直接或间接任命。

12.怎样挑选官员。因此，如果我们说我们整个政府都由人民选出来的官员组成，完全可以说得过去。不错，邮政部长可以任命某个村的邮政局长。但是，邮政部长是总统在参议院批准的情况下任命的。可总统也的确是人民选举产生的。老百姓挑选的选举人只会考虑那位由自己所在政党提名的人参选，而不会是别人。而参议员同样是由人民选出的立法机构挑选出来的。所以归根结底，村邮政局长靠着人民的选举才获得这一职位。

13.选举。选举对所有人都不陌生。选举通常在11月举行，许多官员尤其是地方官员的选举则在春季；在某几个州则在8月、9月或 10月。选票由打印纸制成，选举人将选票投到选票箱，这叫做投票。每位投票人都有权投出一张选票。选票要放进一个上锁的箱子里，叫做票箱。到晚上投票结束的时候，票箱上的锁会打开，对选票进行统计。之后，负责管理票箱的官员要向负责选举的相应官员报告情况。通过这种方式，大家便知道谁的票数最多，得票最多的人当选。有时候，会有某人得票数超过总票数一半以上。这便叫做多数票。而在另一些时候，没有人得到多数票，但是会有一个票数最多的人，其票数超过所有其他人。这便叫做相对多数票。获得多数票的人定能当选，而对于大多数职位，获得相对多数票的人也会当选。

14. “选民”指什么人？现在要问的是，在我们共和国选举如此众多的官员的选民是些什么人？是指所有人民吗？当然不是。有很多人都是孩子，由于太小不能投票。在大多数州，妇女也不能投票。因此可以清楚地看出，有权投票的人不超过所有国民的半数。

15.但是，并非所有州的法律都一样。在某些州，男人有投票权，而在另一些州，同样的人却没有投票权。在许多州，任何并非美国公民的人都不能投票，实际上，美国各地的法律都应当这样规定。然而，在少数几个州，提交“初步申请书”的人（尽管还不是美国公民）便有投票权。此外在个别州，没有读写能力的人不能投票，不过当然了，这似乎是一条合理的要求。但是在大多数州，没有文化并非投票的障碍。

16. 决定谁可以投票的州。从刚才所说的内容可以看出，制定法律决定赋予或收回投票权的组织实体是州。美国政府并不能制定此类法律。各州几乎可以随心所欲。因此，有些州允许妇女在所有选举中投票，有些州允许妇女参加选举学校委员会的投票，而还有许多州甚至根本不允许妇女投票。所以说，如果我们想了解哪些人有投票权，就必须首先看看美国宪法和每个州的法律是怎么规定的。

17.有权投票的人是真正的管理者。当我们说到选举公务员的选民时，是指那些有权投票的人。

18.我们整个共和国的命运，归根结底都取决于选民在投票时是否明智。所以说，共和国的安全和成功，在很大程度上取决于我们有什么样的投票人。

19.所有投票人都应当知道自己为什么投票。他们应当了解共和国的含义、公务员有哪些责任，以及他们为什么更倾向于某个人或某个政党而不是其他人或政党。无知的投票人很容易被狡诈而自私的政客所误导，从而选出那些为了中饱私囊而希望就任的人。

无知的投票人对于共和国是一种危险。

20.所有投票人在投票时都应当诚实。选票并不是一张代表个人财产（如一头牛或一头猪）的纸张，它实际上是对公共事业的一种托付。投票人投票并不是仅仅为自己，而是为了全体百姓的福祉，这些百姓包括那些有投票权和没有投票权的人。因此，如果某个投票人投票时弄虚作假，那么他会为自己无耻地背叛共和国而羞愧。他会像独立战争时期的本尼狄克·阿诺德（Benedict Arnold，美国独立战争时的将领和叛徒。他妄图以2万英镑将西点要塞出卖给英方的计划遭到挫败之后，与共犯约翰·安德烈一同被俘。随后，阿诺德逃往纽约，接着逃亡英国。——译者注）一样，是一个地地道道的叛徒。

但是，收买选票的人也没有好下场。这样的人同样是罪犯，而且是非常危险的罪犯。

任何拿选票进行交易的人，都绝对不应当获准再次投票，或者在我们的共和国担任公职。

21.真正的国家。政府机器仅仅是人民实现特定目的的一种手段。没有哪部机器能够自动运转，没有哪个政府有存在的价值，除非能选出诚实而称职的人来从事政府各项工作。而如果作为真正管理者的人民自己缺少对政府的崇高理想，不指望政府忠诚而卓越，那么诚实而称职的人就无法当选。早在一个多世纪以前，一位著名的英国法官就对此有过思考；另一位著名的英国法官则早在300年前便有类似想法，他们的看法或许值得一读。

是什么组成一个国家？

威廉·琼斯爵士

是什么组成了一个国家？

不是高高隆起的城垛或费劲建起的土堆，

不是厚厚的城墙或前有护城河的城堡；

不是骄傲的城市，里面有尖楼和顶部升起的炮塔；

不是海湾和厚集重兵的港口；

笑对风暴，成为强大海军的依靠。

不是星光闪闪的宫廷，

下等人将它装扮得如此绚耀。

不！是人，高尚的人民，

能够高高凌驾于迟钝的野兽之上，

在森林，在原野，在洞穴，

而野兽又强于冰冷的岩石和天然的荆棘。

是人，懂得自身权利和义务的人，

敢于坚持的人，

才能阻止不懈的打击，

摧垮暴君，扯断专制的链条。

是这些组成了一个国家；

国法、国民的共同意志，

超越了王权和征服全球的无道

聚拢精英、压制弱者的女王，

注定在劫难逃。

国家的真正伟大之处

培根男爵［1］

一块土地的伟大之处，无论它是以地块还是以领土的形式存在，都在于它能测量；金融和税收的伟大之处，在于它能够计算。人口可能是一群一群出现的，城市和乡镇的数量和伟大之处，都可以用卡片和地图的方式来展现。但是，到目前为止，在民事当中，没有什么比正确评价和合理判断一块土地的潜质和力量更容易犯错。天国不能和任何果仁或果实相比，而应当和芥菜籽这种小东西相比；尽管它是最小的谷粒之一，但却含有敦促它成长与蔓延的一种品质和精神。因此说，有些国家幅员辽阔，但却没有扩张或征服的意愿；而有些国家地幅很小，却可以成为伟大王权的奠基石。

壁垒森严的城池，贮存丰富的兵工厂和军械库，品种优质的良马，大量战车、大象、军火、大炮等，所有这些都不过是一只披着狮皮的绵羊，只有人民勇敢尚武的教养和习性才值得推崇。不仅如此，如果人民的勇气不大，那么军队数量本身并没有多大意义；正如古罗马诗人维吉尔所说：羊的数量多少，从来不会让狼烦恼。位于埃尔比勒平原的波斯人的军队，如同一片看不到边的人海，让亚历山大军队的指挥官多少有些吃惊；因此，波斯军队去找亚历山大，希望他趁夜暗袭击他们；但是亚历山大答道，他不会乘人之危夺取胜利，因为击败他们并不难。当泰格拉尼即亚美尼亚人的40万大军在一座小山上扎营时，发现一支不到1.4万人的罗马军队向他们挺进，心中不禁顿生怜悯之情，他说，那边的人如果报信则人太多，如果用来打仗则人太少了。然而，太阳还没有落山，他就发现罗马军队的人数，足以用无休止的屠杀使自己狼狈窜逃。

22.我们的几个优点。我们的共和国有几个很大的优点是许多其他国家不具备的。

优点之一是我们实现了自我管理。不存在什么继承父辈王权的国王或贵族来统治我们。我们挑选自己的立法者，如果我们不喜欢他们制定的法律，就会挑选其他人取而代之。如果我们的政府管理不当，我们便知道那是我们自己的错。

23.我们拥有一个民主的政体。制定我国宪法的是一些当前健在的最智慧的人，而我们也已经适应了宪法的约束。这部宪法适合我们，就像一套合体的衣服一样。

24.我们享有言论自由和出版自由，有权按照自身意愿组织党派或教派，有权自主选择时间和地点举行公众集会。而在欧洲一些政府的统治下，所有这些事情都是不允许的。

25.我们的一些不足。尽管我们有理由热爱自己的祖国并为之自豪，但从内心讲，我们必须承认，我们的政府也存在一些严重不足，而面对这些不足，真正的爱国者会竭尽全力地去弥补。

26.许多占据公共职位的人都不诚实。他们不放过每一个机会去假公济私；他们从政的目的不是为了公共利益，而是为了个人名利。他们是人民的“灾仆”。

27.派性不是什么好东西。人们从属于某个政党之后，便能学会憎恨那些从属于任何其他政党的人。我们仅因为某个候选人与我们同一个党派便盲目地给他投赞成票，而不停下来问问他是否正直、是否称职。同样，我们往往认为其他政党成员全都是国家的公敌。实际上，每个党派中都有正直的人和爱国者。我们应当学会求同存异而不相互怀恨。

28.对公共责任的漠视同样不值得提倡。每个公民都应当了解政府和政府正在做的事情。每个投票人都应当耐心地去投票，并确保自己不给不当的人投赞成票。如果人们对于政坛清白无所作为，那么当他们发现办公室出现腐败的政客时就无权抱怨。其实，每个人都可能成为政客。政客这个名称不应当像现在常见的那样，是一个让人丢脸的词。

29.人们太急于快速致富了。许多人的确一夜暴富，但更多的人却没有如愿以偿。对突然腰缠万贯的极度渴求，使人对那些成功者心怀嫉妒，而且在很多情况下，这种渴求使不诚实的人更多学会的是贫穷而不是邪恶。实际上，每个人都能够通过诚实劳动过上好日子，可能的话，还可以为将来存上一笔钱。但是，绝对的正直要比所有百万富翁的一切财富都更值得称道。

30.另一个缺点是：我们总喜欢对发生在离我们最近的地方的事情关注最少。关税的调整、政府发行什么货币以及国外爆发什么战争，这些事总能让我们激动不己，但我们却将自己当地的政府忘得一干二净。我们共和国最大的缺陷之一，就是我们的城市管理太糟糕。倘若人们像对待已方参选总统的候选人那样，去努力地挑选出诚实的市政委员会委员，那么我们的政府在各个方面肯定都好得多。如果市和县的政坛上充斥着腐败和无能，那么州和国家的政坛也好不到哪儿去。扶贫济弱等爱国精神的培育应当先从当地开始。

31.我们的一些需求。在一个自由的共和国里，所有公民都应当有聪明才智。每个人都应当了解政府，应当清楚自己身为公民的权利和义务。

32.我们需要更多的独立性，少一点对政党领袖的追随。投票人应当有自己的主见，知道什么有利于集体利益，只有这样，他们才能凭良心投票而不是受某个政党的影响去投票。

33.我们需要更强的幽默感。我们应当感到自重比财富更值钱；任何人都不可能在不失去自尊的前提下，做一件猥琐或不光彩的事。但是，政治上和公职岗位上的欺诈，既猥琐又不光彩。

34.我们需要有一颗更加高尚的爱国心。我们应当热爱自己的祖国，爱到我们不仅为其辉煌成就而自豪，而且对它享有的盛誉心生嫉妒的地步。我们应当做好一旦需要便为保卫祖国而献身的准备，就像很多勇敢者在战场上所表现的那样。我们还应当时刻为国家服务，千方百计使自己的祖国远离骂名。

35.我们国家的赞歌。塞缪尔· F·史密斯于1808年出生于波士顿，1829年毕业于哈佛大学，与奥利弗·温德尔·福尔摩斯在同一个班。正是在该班同学的一次聚会上，福尔摩斯博士读到了一首名叫“男孩们”的有趣的诗，并用以下几句话向史密斯博士提到了这首诗：

有这样一个堪称人间精华的帅小伙——

老天却叫他史密斯，想以此来隐瞒事实；

但他却大声吟唱一首献给勇敢者和自由者的歌——

不妨读一读他奖章上写的字，“亲爱的祖国，——我为你歌唱！”

36. “亚美利加”这首歌写于1832年，是史密斯专门为波士顿一所主日学校的孩子们聚会而写的。如今，它成了脍炙人口的国家赞歌。史密斯博士逝世于1895年。

1

亲爱的祖国，

美好自由之邦，

我为你歌唱。

父辈生死之地，

移民夸耀之邦。

让自由之声，

响彻山岗！

2

我出身之地，

崇高自由之乡，

我热爱你。

无论是山是石，

树林和淙淙小溪，

我满心喜悦地，

热爱着你。

3

密密的树林里，

荡漾起美妙的

自由之歌。

男女和老少，

欢乐地歌唱，

山岳和大地，

同声应和。

4

父辈的上帝，

自由的创造者，

我为你歌唱。

愿自由的圣光，

照亮我祖国，

愿神保佑我们，

上帝我王。

［1］培根男爵生于1560年，死于1626年，是英国历史上最伟大的作家和思想家之一。他是英国上议院的大法官和知名作家，创作了各种风格的不朽作品。

Table of Contents

作者简介

书名页

版权页

目录CONTENTS

PART I　English Version

CHAPTER I　Our Country

CHAPTER II　The Republic

CHAPTER III　Laws and Their Makers

CHAPTER IV　What We Mean by Government

CHAPTER V　How the People of Europe Found America and Came to Live in It

CHAPTER VI　National Independence

CHAPTER VII　A Federal Republic

CHAPTER VIII　American Home Rule

CHAPTER IX　The Law-Makers

CHAPTER X　How Laws Are Enforced

CHAPTER XI　The President’s Cabinet

CHAPTER XII　How Laws Are Enforced in the States

CHAPTER XIII　Judge and Jury

CHAPTER XIV　How the Government Gets Money

CHAPTER XV　Who We Are

CHAPTER XVI　Who Are Our Rulers

APPENDIX

PART II　中文阅读

CHAPTER 01　我们的祖国

CHAPTER 02　共和国

CHAPTER 03　法律和立法者

CHAPTER 04　政府对我们的地位是怎样界定的

CHAPTER 05　欧洲人怎样发现美洲并迁居于此

CHAPTER 06　民族独立

CHAPTER 07　一个联邦制的共和国

CHAPTER 08　美国的地方自治

CHAPTER 09　立法者

CHAPTER 10　法律是怎样执行的

CHAPTER 11　总统内阁

CHAPTER 12　法律在各州是怎样执行的

CHAPTER 13　法官和陪审团

CHAPTER 14　政府怎样筹钱

CHAPTER 15　我们是谁

CHAPTER 16　谁统治我们