1858.] The Present Aspect of Society. 113 been said of the Trial by Jury. It is the palladium of liberty-it is the ægis of individual rights. Lord Erskine took for a motto on his coat of arms, "Trial by Jury." The theory is, that twelve competent and impartial men, by a deliberate review of the testimony, and a calm comparison of views, have come to an unanimous agreement in regard to the matter in question. The strength and value of the institution rests upon the popular confidence, that this is the true theory of it, and that the verdict announced has been arrived at by this process. Until of late the proceedings of the jury room have been guarded with the most jealous care, and the verdict received almost as if it came from an oracle of God. But now the veil is lifted, especially if it be a case of more than common interest. The respect which secresy inspired is dissipated, and the popular mind is shocked to find that verd cts, instead of being the concurring judgments of honest and independent minds, are frequently arrived at by processes and under influences that must soon make the world regard the institution itself as a sham and a delusion. Possibly I take an exaggerated view of the evil. But it does seem to me, that the most fatal stab ever given to our boasted trial by jury, is the useless and unwise removal of the veil of secresy, and the comparative publicity of their proceedings. Without presuming, however, to adjudge and apportion the responsibility in the matter-to say how far the result is attributable to bias or incompetency in the bench-to the sympathy of jurors-the facility of executives or to a morbid public sentiment, I do not hesitate to name the doubt, uncertainty, and distrust into which the whole administration of justice in this country has fallen as one of the greatest calamities of the times, as well as one of the most unmistakable marks of degeneration and decline. Am I wrong in saying that there has been for many years a slow but steady decline in the character of our public men; a gradual sinking, so to speak, of the general level of capacity and fitness? Look over the world, indeed, and where in any part of it do you see any of those colossal intellects that stand as towers of strength in their day and land-to which feebler spirits look up instinctively for guidance and a leading, and under whose shadow all men feel safe? The age of great men is gone the last of them is gone-and they have left no successors behind them. Inferior intellects rise and shine by reason of the disappearance of the greater lights from the political firmament. But for men of the old stamp, whose broad and catholic patriotism embraced the whole land and looked to the best good of the largest number, we long and wait in vain. It is the peculiar feature of a republic, that it recognizes no, ranks or classes as born either to command or serve-that it chooses its own rulers-makes its own laws-and through its public servants regulates every thing that touches social welfare and the national houor. But the value of this theory depends upon the fidelity with which it is carried out. And if the time has come, or if it should ever come, when, under whatever delusion or influence, the people shall fail to choose the best and fittest men for the places they are to occupy-when clamorous partisans and heartless demagogues are preferred to men who cherish their country's honor as their own-the glory and the strength of the Republic will have departed, and the abused forms of liberty will be found the most convenient machinery in the world for the introduction of despotism. I look therefore with apprehension and alarm upon what seems to me a gradual lowering in the popular standard of fitness for office. It amazes one to see men without knowledge, without experience, and often without principle, aspiring to places of trust and power it is mortifying to one who cherishes his country's honor, to see how often these aspirations are realized. The remedy for the evil must be found, if at all, in the common sense of the people-in the determination never to elevate any man to office, high or low, who has not intellect enough to fill it with dignity, and honesty enough to discharge its duties with fidelity. For it is a maxim, as universally true as any other, that incompetency and dishonesty in a public servant can never result in any thing but discredit and loss to the people that trust him. It was an evil time in Israel when a wicked king took of the lowest and basest of the people and made them priests of the Lord. And I think it is a thing of the worst omen for the Republic, when moral and intellectual fitness in public servants is less looked to than party zeal, and when the best and fittest men are forgotten or passed by to make way for unscrupulous and complying partisans. I had intended, Mr. President, to introduce other topics, but I shall only have time to suggest them for the discussion of those who shall follow me. I will therefore only name as among the marks of our degeneracy the monstrous abuse of the Press-the absurd and wicked extravagance of the times-the disparagement of honest labor-the impatience of every body to get a little higher in social rank than Providence has placed them-the eager and degrading pursuit of office-the miserable way in which manly honor, truth, and patriotism are sacrificed when they come in the way of some supposed political necessity-the base manner in which a few expert managers everywhere and in all parties succeed by cajolery, by promises and by intimidation in leading the honest masses, and in effect robbing them of the elective franchise while professing unbounded devotion to their interests and their welfare. I barely suggest these topics to the consideration of those who will presently address you, and so hasten to conclude. What is to be the future-the distant future of this country, I think no man can with any confidence predict. What it might be if it continued to be wisely, vigorously, and honestly ruled, it needs no prophet's vision to foretell. The sun shines upon no country possessing such advantages and capabilities as this. With a territory almost boundless, of inexhaustible fertility, and bordered by two mighty oceans -abounding like the land of promise with brooks and fountains of water with magnificent rivers-with lakes like the seas of other climes, and with vast mineral resources; above all, with a population increasing beyond all precedent, and characterized by an energy and a fertility of resources that exceed and defy competition, what do we need with the blessing of God but a wise, vigorous, and honest administration of our affairs, to send us forward in a career of unprecedented grandeur and prosperity, and to make this land what it was the noble ambition of our fathers that it should be-an asylum for the oppressed-the home of civil and religious liberty-of equal rights and equal laws to all who breathe its atmosphere or cultivate its soil. It must be owned, however, that there is much in "the signs of the 1858.] The Little Girl's Grave. 115 times" to awaken and justify deep and anxious solicitude. It is impossible not to see the decay of public virtue amongst us-a lowering in the tone of popular sentiment in regard to the great points of morality and religion a facility in evading or resisting the law-a letting down of the standard of fitness for public office and power-and the bold enunciation of doctrines that once would have inspired only abhorrence. So that many things are now said and done with impunity or visited with the lightest censures, that a few years ago would have drawn down universal condemnation; and men may now aspire to places of authority and trust, whom the Fathers of the Republic would have "disdained to set with the dogs of their flock." All this is full of omen-most inauspicious omen. It indicates the setting of the tide in a most dangerous direction. Nor is it difficult to foresee that if some remedy or check be not applied, the frame-work of this, the noblest plan of government the sun ever shone upon, is destined at no distant day to dissolve and perish in its own corruption. And if, Mr. President, these dismal and foreboded times should ever come, and all that is dear to us in our institutions, civil and religious, should be threatened with violence and overthrow, where is there a man of the ancient stamp and model to stand in the gap-to roll back the tide of anarchy and licentiousness, and with his inspiring voice to revive the decaying virtue and rekindle the dying hope of a degenerate and expiring people? Heaven grant that such an exigency may never happen! That before it is too late we may see the precipice towards which national corruption is drifting us, and distrusting all other securities, plant our confidence on the old and tried ground, which all experience proves to be the only safe one, viz: That whilst "righteousness exalteth a nation, sin is a reproach," and will at last be "the ruin of any people." THE LITTLE GIRL'S GRAVE. SOFTLY, peacefully, Lay her to rest; Place the turf lightly On her young breast; Gently, solemnly Bend o'er the bed, Smile through a tear Scatter its diamonds Where the loved lies- Then shall the bright birds, Then shall the soft breeze Lay the sod lightly She was but given, To blossom in heaven. THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS. BY A FRIEND OF THE GUARDIAN. GOOD and evil, truth and error, right and wrong, happiness and misery, are always connected and always opposed to each other. They are always connected. Evil is the abuse of the good; error is the perversion of truth; wrong is the violation of right; and misery can only be found where happiness is possible. The one depends upon the other. Evil depends upon the good. If there were no absolute good, there could be no relative good. If there were no absolute Creator to whom all things in heaven and on earth are really subordinate, there could be no creature to introduce disorder and confusion by arrogating to itself the place and the authority of Jehovah. Error depends upon truth. If there were no truth there could be no error. If there were no One only True and Eternal God, there would be no Atheism. If there were not a Book of books; if there were no divinely inspired record of revealed truth, there could be no Infidelity, and no Deism. If there were no Word made flesh; no atoning sacrifice for sin; no resurrection from the dead; no outpouring of the Holy Ghost; no Church built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone, there could be no unbelief. So wrong depends upon the right. If there were no divine or human law; if there were no conscience; there could be no transgression, and no sense of guilt. If there were no command, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, and no reason for the command either in God or man, there could be no profane swearing, no horrible oaths, no perjury, no blasphemy, no irreverence. If marriage were not a law of nature, and a positive institution of God, there could be no adultery. If eating and drinking were not right, and a part of duty, there could be no gluttony and no drunkenness. The possibility of the wrong depends upon the existence of the right. If there Men can Misery depends upon happiness. If there were no beings formed for happiness, and capable of happiness, and longing after happiness, there could be no dissatisfaction, no fear, no sorrow, no remorse. were no blessedness in heaven, there could be no wo in hell. Men can do evil, because they were created to do good. embrace and teach error, because they are capable of knowing the truth. Men can break the law of God, and do all manner of wrong, because they possess the capacity of being obedient to the law, and doing right. And men may become infinitely miserable, because they are designed by nature, by Providence, and by grace, for happiness in time and in eternity. Thus are good and evil connected. Thus do evil, error, wrong, and misery, presuppose and depend upon the good, the true, the right, and happiness. 1858.] The Kingdom of Darkness. 117 These things are also opposed to each other. This, indeed, is selfevident. The opposition between good and evil, truth and error, lies so plainly in the words themselves, that it seems unnecessary to state it; every one sees and feels it the moment the words are uttered. Yet it is proper to reflect upon the opposition. The good is God, and all the works of God. The truth is the knowledge of the good. The right is obedience, or conformity, to the truth; and happiness follows as a certain consequence of doing the right. The evil is that which is against the good. It began in Heaven when an exalted creature set himself against God, against His will, His authority, His government, and against the glorious design of all His works. How the evil could begin, we do not know, nor need we know. It is enough that we know the fact. It is a power that works with no intent but to destroy the good. Sin is another name for the same thing; it is the name we give to the power of evil as abiding and working in men. Error is a false view of the truth; or we may call it the knowledge of the evil. It calls good evil; and evil good. Error calls itself truth; and calls truth error. Deriving all its vitality from a perversion of the truth, or from holding truth in false relations, it seeks to destroy the pure truth. As truth is indestructible, error continues to live on that against which it fights; and fights on with unabated virulence because it is of the nature of error to be against the truth. The wrong is obedience to the dictates of error. Or we may call it a violation of law. The wrong is thus against the right; because the right is obedience to law. As there could be no wrong if there were no right; so the wrong perpetuates itself by waging an unceasing warfare against the right. Misery is that state of the creature which follows from doing the wrong-from ignorance of the good and knowledge of the evil-from violation of the truth or from obedience to error. Misery follows as necessarily from the evil, as happiness follows from the good. Happiness and misery differ not in degree. We cannot say that an excess of happiness is misery, or that the least degree of misery is the lowest degree of happiness. They differ totally as to their intrinsic character. They have nothing in common. Happiness and misery are opposed to each other as really as good and evil, in which they originate respectively. In this sense are the evil, the false, the wrong and misery opposed to the good, to truth, right and happiness-opposed, because evil with its dark followers depends upon, and is a perversion of the good and its whole bright train. The good with its train are but different attributes of the kingdom of light. The head of this kingdom is Jesus Christ, who is the absolute good, the eternal truth, the exemplar of the right, and the ever-flowing fountain of peace and blessedness. The truth can therefore not be separated from the good; nor right from the truth; nor happiness from the right. They must go together. Where the one is the other will be also. This kingdom is a reality-not a figment of the brain. It cannot indeed be seen by the eye, nor touched by the hand; yet it is more rea |