Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

The Helots of Sparta were obliged to intoxicate themselves, that by example they might teach the deformity of intemperance. Thus sacrificing one class to the other, both were injured,--the imperious Spartan and the abased Helot. The School Committee of Boston act with similar double-edged injustice in sacrificing the colored children to the prejudice or fancied advantage of the white.

A child should be taught to shun wickedness, and, as he is yet plastic under impressions, to shun wicked men. Horace was right, when, speaking of a person morally wrong, false, and unjust, he calls him black, and warns against him:--

"Hic niger est: hunc tu, Romane, caveto."[47]

The Boston Committee adopt the warning, but apply it not to the black in heart, but the black in skin. They forget the admonition addressed to the prophet: "The Lord said unto Samuel, _Look not on his countenance_: ... for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, _but the Lord looketh on the heart_."[48] The Committee look on the outward appearance, without looking on the heart, and thus fancy that they are doing right!

[47] Satiræ, Lib. I. iv. 85.

[48] 1 Samuel, xvi. 7.

Who can say that this does not injure the blacks? Theirs, in its best estate, is an unhappy lot. A despised class, blasted by prejudice and shut out from various opportunities, they feel this proscription from the Common Schools as a peculiar brand. Beyond this, it deprives them of those healthful, animating influences which would come from participation in the studies of their white brethren. It adds to their discouragements. It widens their separation from the community, and postpones that great day of reconciliation which is yet to come.

The whole system of Common Schools suffers also. It is a narrow perception of their high aim which teaches that they are merely to furnish an equal amount of knowledge to all, and therefore, provided all be taught, it is of little consequence where and in what company. The law contemplates not only that all shall be taught, but that _all_ shall be taught _together_. They are not only to receive equal quantities of knowledge, but all are to receive it in the same way. All are to approach the same common fountain together; nor can there be any exclusive source for individual or class. The school is the little world where the child is trained for the larger world of life. It is the microcosm preparatory to the macrocosm, and therefore it must cherish and develop the virtues and the sympathies needed in the larger world. And since, according to our institutions, all classes, without distinction of color, meet in the performance of civil duties, so should they all, without distinction of color, meet in the school, beginning there those relations of Equality which the Constitution and Laws promise to all.

As the State derives strength from the unity and solidarity of its citizens without distinction of class, so the school derives strength from the unity and solidarity of all classes beneath its roof. In this way the poor, the humble, and the neglected not only share the companionship of the more favored, but enjoy also the protection of their presence, which draws toward the school a more watchful superintendence. A degraded or neglected class, if left to themselves, will become more degraded or neglected. "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.... For he that hath, to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath."[49] The world, perverting the true sense of these words, takes from the outcast that which God gave him capacity to enjoy. Happily, our educational system, by the blending of all classes, draws upon the whole school that attention which is too generally accorded only to the favored few, and thus secures to the poor their portion of the fruitful sunshine. But the colored children, placed apart in separate schools, are deprived of this peculiar advantage. Nothing is more clear than that the welfare of classes, as well as of individuals, is promoted by mutual acquaintance. Prejudice is the child of ignorance. It is sure to prevail, where people do not know each other. Society and intercourse are means established by Providence for human improvement. They remove antipathies, promote mutual adaptation and conciliation, and establish relations of reciprocal regard. Whoso sets up barriers to these thwarts the ways of Providence, crosses the tendencies of human nature, and directly interferes with the laws of God.

[49] Mark, iv. 23, 25.

* * * * *

DUTY OF THE COURT.

May it please your Honors: Such are some of the things which I feel it my duty to say in this important cause. I have occupied much time, but the topics are not yet exhausted. Still, which way soever we turn, we are brought back to one single proposition,--_the Equality of men before the Law_. This stands as the mighty guardian of the colored children in this case. It is the constant, ever-present, tutelary genius of this Commonwealth, frowning upon every privilege of birth, every distinction of race, every institution of Caste. You cannot slight it or avoid it. You cannot restrain it. God grant that you may welcome it! Do this, and your words will be a "charter and freehold of rejoicing" to a race which by much suffering has earned a title to much regard. Your judgment will become a sacred landmark, not in jurisprudence only, but in the history of Freedom, giving precious encouragement to the weary and heavy-laden wayfarers in this great cause. Massachusetts, through you, will have fresh title to respect, and be once more, as in times past, an example to the whole land.

Already you have banished Slavery from this Commonwealth. I call upon you now to obliterate the last of its footprints, and to banish the last of the hateful spirits in its train. The law interfering to prohibit marriage between blacks and whites has been abolished by the Legislature. Railroads, which, imitating the Boston schools, placed colored people apart by themselves, are compelled, under the influence of an awakened public sentiment, to abandon this regulation, and to allow them the privileges of other travellers. Only recently I have read that his Excellency, our present Governor,[50] took his seat in a train by the side of a negro. In the Caste Schools of Boston the prejudice of color seeks its final refuge. It is for you to drive it forth. You do well, when you rebuke and correct individual offences; but it is a higher office to rebuke and correct a vicious institution. Each individual is limited in influence; but an institution has the influence of numbers organized by law. The charity of one man may counteract or remedy the uncharitableness of another; but no individual can counteract or remedy the uncharitableness of an organized injury. Against it private benevolence is powerless. It is a monster to be hunted down by the public and the constituted authorities. And such is the institution of Caste in the Common Schools of Boston, which now awaits a just condemnation from a just Court.

[50] Hon. George N. Briggs.

One of the most remarkable expositions of Slavery is from the pen of Condorcet, in a note to the "Thoughts" of Pascal. Voltaire, in his later commentary on the same text, speaks of this "terrible" note, and adopts its conclusion. In the course of this arraignment, the philosopher, painting the character of the slave-master, says, "Such is the excess of his stupid contempt for this wretched race, that, returning to Europe, he is indignant to see them clothed as men and _placed by his side_."[51] Thus the repugnance of the slave-master to see the wretched race _placed by his side_ is adduced as crowning evidence of the inhumanity of Slavery. But this very repugnance has practical sanction among us, and you are to determine whether it shall be longer permitted. Slavery, in one of its enormities, is now before you for judgment. Hesitate not, I pray you, to strike it down. Let the blow fall which shall end its domination here in Massachusetts.

[51] Pensées de Pascal, Notes de Condorcet et Voltaire, No. 109.

The civilization of the age joins in this appeal. I need not remind you that this prejudice of color is peculiar to our country. You may remember that two youths of African blood only recently gained the highest honors in a college at Paris, and on the same day dined with the King of the French, the descendant of St. Louis, at the Palace of the Tuileries. And let me add, if I may refer to my own experience, that at the School of Law in Paris I have sat for weeks on the same benches with colored pupils, listening, like myself, to the learned lectures of Degerando and Rossi; nor do I remember, in the throng of sensitive young men, any feeling toward them except of companionship and respect. In Italy, at the Convent of Palazzuolo, on the shores of the Alban Lake, amidst a scene of natural beauty enhanced by historical association, where I was once a guest, I have, for days, seen a native of Abyssinia, recently from his torrid home, and ignorant of the language spoken about him, mingling, in delightful and affectionate familiarity, with the Franciscan friars, whose visitor and scholar he was. Do I err in saying that the Christian spirit shines in these examples?

The Christian spirit, then, I again invoke. Where this prevails, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, Greek nor Barbarian, bond nor free, but all are alike. From this we derive new and solemn assurance of the Equality of Men, as an ordinance of God. Human bodies may be unequal in beauty or strength; these mortal cloaks of flesh may differ, as do these worldly garments; these intellectual faculties may vary, as do opportunities of action and advantages of position; but amid all unessential differences there is essential agreement and equality. Dives and Lazarus are equal in the sight of God: they must be equal in the sight of all human institutions.

This is not all. The vaunted superiority of the white race imposes corresponding duties. The faculties with which they are endowed, and the advantages they possess, must be exercised for the good of all. If the colored people are ignorant, degraded, and unhappy, then should they be especial objects of care. From the abundance of our possessions must we seek to remedy their lot. And this Court, which is parent to all the unfortunate children of the Commonwealth, will show itself most truly parental, when it reaches down, and, with the strong arm of Law, elevates, encourages, and protects our colored fellow-citizens.

* * * * *

CHARACTER AND HISTORY OF THE LAW SCHOOL OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF OVERSEERS, FEBRUARY 7, 1850.

IN BOARD OF OVERSEERS, February 1, 1849.

_Voted_, That Hon. PELEG SPRAGUE, Hon. SIMON GREENLEAF, CHARLES
SUMNER, Esq., Hon. ALBERT H. NELSON, and PELEG W. CHANDLER, Esq.,
be a committee to visit the Law School during the ensuing year.
[Hon. WILLIAM KENT was afterwards substituted for Mr. GREENLEAF,
who declined.]

* * * * *

IN BOARD OF OVERSEERS, February 7, 1850.

_Ordered_, That the Report of the Committee appointed to visit the
Law School be printed.

Attest,
ALEXANDER YOUNG, _Secretary_.

* * * * *

The Committee appointed by the Overseers of Harvard University to visit the Law School performed that service November 7, 1849. Among their number present on the occasion was Hon. WILLIAM KENT, of New York, who gratified his associates by coming a long distance to join in this duty.

* * * * *

The attention of the Committee was first directed to the actual condition of the School, and its advantages as a place of legal education. Here there is occasion for lively satisfaction. The number of students is one hundred, assembled from all parts of the Union, and constituting a representation of the whole country. Their attendance upon the lectures and other exercises, though entirely voluntary, is full and regular; while their industry, good conduct, and intelligent reception of instruction is a source of gratification to their professors.

Lectures were given, during the current term, by Professor PARKER, upon Equity Pleadings, Bailments, and Practice,--by Professor PARSONS, upon Blackstone's Commentaries, Admiralty Jurisdiction, Shipping, Bills and Notes,--and by Professor ALLEN, upon Real Law and Domestic Relations. In treating most of these branches, the professors employed text-books of acknowledged authority, to which the attention of the students was especially directed. They also examined the students in these books, and in leading cases illustrating the subject.

This system, which, with substantial uniformity, has been continued in the School since its earliest foundation, appears well adapted to instruction in the law. It is essential that the student should be directed to certain text-books, which he must study carefully, devotedly. Nor can he properly omit to go behind these, and verify them by the decided cases, letting no day pass without its fulfilled task. In this way he is prepared for examination, and enabled to appreciate the explanations and illustrations of the lecture-room, throwing light upon the text, and showing its application to practical cases. The labors of the student will qualify him to comprehend the labors of the instructor. Still further, examinations in the text-books, accompanied by explanations and illustrations, interest the student in the subject, and bring his mind in contact with that of his instructor.

These same purposes are promoted by the favorite exercise of moot-courts, held twice a week by the different professors in succession. A case involving some unsettled question of law is presented by four students, designated so long in advance as to allow time for careful preparation; and at the close of the arguments an opinion is pronounced by the presiding professor, commenting upon the arguments on each side, and deciding between them. These occasions are found to enlist the best attention, not only of those immediately engaged, but of the whole School,--while some of the efforts they call forth show distinguished research and ability. On this mimic field are trained forensic powers destined to be the pride and ornament of the bar.

The advantages for study afforded by the extensive library of the Law School should not be forgotten. This is separate from the Public Library of the University, and contains about fourteen thousand volumes. Here are all the American Reports,--the Statutes of the United States, as well as those of all the several States,--a regular series of all the English Reports, including the Year-Books,--the English Statutes,--the principal treatises on American and English law,--also a large body of works in the Scotch, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, and other foreign law,--and an ample collection of the best editions of the Roman or Civil Law, with the works of the most celebrated commentators upon that ancient text. This library is one of the largest and most valuable, relating to law, in the country. As an aid to study, it cannot be estimated too highly. Here the student may range at will through all the demesnes of jurisprudence. Here he may acquire knowledge of law-books, learning their true character and value, which will be of incalculable service in his future labors. Whoso knows how to use a library possesses the very keys of knowledge. Next to knowing the law is knowing where to find it.

There is another advantage, of peculiar character, in the opportunity of kindly and profitable social relations among the students, and also between students and professors. Young men engaged in similar pursuits are instructors to each other. The daily conversation concerns their common studies, and contributes some new impulse. Mind meets mind, and each derives strength from the contact. The professor is also at hand. In the lecture-room, and also in private, he is ready for counsel and help. The students are not alone. At every step they find an assistant ready to conduct them through the devious and toilsome passes, and to remove the difficulties which throng the way. This twofold companionship of students with each other and with their appointed teachers is full of good influence, not only in the cordial intercourse it begets, but in the positive knowledge it diffuses, and its stimulating effect upon the mind.

In dwelling on the advantages of the Law School as a seat of legal education, the Committee therefore rank side by side with the lectures and exercises of the professors the profitable opportunities afforded by the library and the fellowship of persons engaged in the same pursuits, all echoing to the heart of the pupil, as from the genius of the place, constant words of succor, encouragement, and hope.

* * * * *

From the present prosperity of the School, the Committee are led to look back at its early beginning, to observe its growth, and to commemorate with gratitude its benefactors.

It hardly need be added, that a Law School was not embraced by our forefathers in the original design of the College, and that it is a late graft upon the ancient stock. The College was planted at a time when law was not treated, even in England, as a part of academic instruction. The first settlers could not be expected to establish professorships unknown in the land from which they had parted; nor did there appear in those early days, or for some time later, any occasion for professional instruction. The law, as science, profession, or practical instrument of government, was scarcely recognized. Lawyers were not known as a class, nor was their business respected. Thomas Lechford, of Clement's Inn, who emigrated not long after the foundation of the College, hoping to gain a livelihood as attorney, being cautioned at a quarter court "not to meddle with controversies," went back to England. As the Colony grew, it gradually laid hold of the Common Law, and for some time before the Revolution claimed it as a birthright.

The history of the University Library exposes the poverty of the means for the study of the law in those early days. In its Catalogue, published in 1723, we find but _seven_ volumes of Common Law. These are Spelman's Glossary, Pulton's Collection of Statutes, Keble's Statutes, Coke's First and Second Institutes, and two odd volumes of the Year-Books. Such were the means for the study of our law afforded by the public library, which Cotton Mather, sometime before the publication of this catalogue, described as "the best furnished that could be shown anywhere in all the American regions." Since books are the instruments of learning, it follows, if these were wanting, that the study of the law could make little advance. Happily this is now changed.

The first professorship of law in the University was established in 1815, upon a foundation partly supplied by an ancient devise of ISAAC ROYALL, Esq.,--a munificent gentleman of ample fortune, who, being connected by blood and marriage, as well as by political opinions, with the principal royalists of Massachusetts, forsook the country with them at the commencement of the Revolution, and died at Kensington, in England, in October, 1781. Though an exile, he did not forget the land he had left. Thither before death his "heart untravelled fondly turned." By his will, recorded at the Probate Office in Boston, he devised to Medford, in Massachusetts, where he had resided, certain lands in Granby, for the support of schools. The residue of his estate in that town, and other lands in the County of Worcester, he devised to the Overseers and Corporation of Harvard College, "to be appropriated towards the endowing _a Professor of Laws in the said College_, or a Professor of Physic and Anatomy, whichever the said Overseers and Corporation shall judge to be best for the benefit of the said College." The capital, with its accumulation, from the property thus devised, is $7,943, yielding an annual income of about four hundred dollars. It is believed that the University and the lovers of the law are indebted to the late Hon. JOHN LOWELL, while a member of the Corporation, for calling these funds--yet unappropriated to either object of the devise--from their sleep in the treasury, by procuring the establishment of a professorship of law, which was ordered, for the present, to bear the name of _Royall_, in honor of him whose will in this regard was now first executed. This was in 1815. The residue of the funds for its support have been supplied by the University, mainly from fees paid by students of law. The Hon. ISAAC PARKER, late Chief Justice of this Commonwealth, was the first professor.

In 1817 the Hon. ASAHEL STEARNS was placed upon another foundation, established by the University. The statutes of this professorship required him to open and keep a school in Cambridge for the instruction of graduates and of others prosecuting the study of the law. Besides prescribing to his pupils a course of study, it was made his duty to examine and confer with them upon their studies, to read to them a course of lectures, and generally to act the part of tutor, so as to improve their minds and assist their acquisitions. From this time may be dated the establishment of the Law School in the University.

Chief-Justice Parker never resided at Cambridge, but, in the performance of his duties as professor, every summer read lectures to the Law School and the senior class of undergraduates. These were of an elementary nature, adapted to youthful minds,--the audience being for the most part undergraduates,--and were characterized by that free and flowing style which marks the judicial opinions of this eminent Judge. They comprised a view of the Constitutions of the United States and of Massachusetts, with the early juridical history of New England, and the origin of its laws and institutions. Professor Stearns, who resided in Cambridge, was occupied immediately with the duties of instruction. He was accustomed to hear recitations in the more important text-books, to preside in moot-courts, and to read lectures on interesting titles of law. His valuable work on Real Actions, so well known to lawyers, was prepared in the discharge of his duties as professor, and read to his pupils in a course of lectures. The first edition was dedicated by the author "To the Law Students of Harvard University, as a testimony of his earnest desire to aid them in the honorable and laborious study of American jurisprudence."

The number of students at this period was small. From 1817 to 1829 the largest class for any single year was eighteen, and the average annual number was not more than thirteen. The first important step, however, was taken. Law was admitted within the circle of University studies, while, by the learning and reputation of its professors, the cause of legal education was commended, and the idea of a Law School was shown to be practicable.

On the resignation of Chief-Justice Parker and Professor Stearns a new epoch in the history of the School began. The Hon. NATHAN DANE, in 1829, emulating the example of Viner in England, applied the profits of his extensive Abridgment and Digest of American Law to the foundation of a new professorship, still called from his name; and at his request, the late JOSEPH STORY, then a resident of Salem, and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, was appointed the first professor. In his communication to the University, making this endowment, the venerable founder marked out the proposed duties as follows: "It shall be the duty of the professor to prepare and deliver, and to revise for publication, a course of lectures on the five following branches of law and equity, equally in force in all parts of our Federal Republic, namely, the Law of Nature, the Law of Nations, Commercial and Maritime Law, Federal Law, and Federal Equity, in such wide extent as the same branches now are, and from time to time shall be, administered in the Courts of the United States, but in such compressed form as the professor shall deem proper, and so to prepare, deliver, and revise lectures thereon as often as the said Corporation shall think proper." The original endowment by Mr. Dane was $10,000, to which on his death was added $5,000, making the sum-total $15,000. Mr. Justice Story removed to Cambridge in 1829, commencing his new career as Dane Professor of Law with an inaugural discourse, where the honorable nature of legal studies, the arduous labors required in their pursuit, and the duties upon which he was entering, were reviewed with singular power and beauty. At the same time, JOHN HOOKER ASHMUN, Esq., a lawyer of remarkable acuteness and maturity, who, though young, had shown already the capacity of a jurist, was associated with him as Royall Professor of Law.

From the exertions of the new professors the Law School received fresh impulse. The number of students increased, and the fame of the institution was extended. Professor Story, though much absent in the discharge of his judicial duties, yet found time for active part in teaching. He presided in moot-courts and lecture-rooms, and, by earnest encouragement and profuse instruction, not less than by illustrious example, raised the classes to unwonted ardor. He continued in this sphere, giving and receiving happiness, for a period of sixteen years, when, as age advanced, desiring to lay down some of his cares, he proposed to resign his seat on the bench, and dedicate the remainder of his days to his professorship. As he was about to make this change he was arrested by death, September 10, 1845.

Professor Ashmun had already fallen by his side, much regretted, at the early age of thirty-three. Besides moot-courts, examinations in text-books, and oral expositions of the law, this learned teacher occasionally read written lectures. Among these was a valuable course on Medical Jurisprudence, Equity, and the Action of Assumpsit. His place was supplied in 1833 by an eminent jurist, SIMON GREENLEAF, Esq., who labored for a long period with rare success, beloved by a large circle of grateful pupils, and by his associates in instruction, till 1848, when he was compelled by ill-health to resign his connection with the Law School. Among his distinguished labors, in the discharge of his duties as professor, is a work on the Law of Evidence, which is now a manual in the courts of our country, and one of the classics of the Common Law.

On the death of Professor Story, Professor Greenleaf was made Dane Professor. Hon. WILLIAM KENT, of New York, occupied for a year the place of Royall Professor, when he felt constrained, by circumstances beyond his control, to leave Cambridge. Since then Hon. THEOPHILUS PARSONS has been Dane Professor, and Hon. JOEL PARKER, late Chief Justice of New Hampshire, Royall Professor. Hon. FRANKLIN DEXTER has lectured for a brief period on the Constitution of the United States and the Law of Nations, and Hon. LUTHER S. CUSHING on Parliamentary Law and Criminal Law. Hon. FREDERICK H. ALLEN, late a judge in Maine, at present University Professor, without any permanent foundation, is coöperating with Professor Parsons and Professor Parker in the general duties of instruction.

In reviewing the history of the School, the Committee, while gratefully remembering all its instructors, are impressed by the long and important labors of STORY. In the meridian of his fame as judge, he became a practical teacher of jurisprudence, and lent to the University the lustre of his name. Through him the Dane Professorship has acquired a renown placing it on the same elevation with the Vinerian Professorship at Oxford, to which we are indebted for the Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone. These "twin stars," each in its own hemisphere, shine rival glories. Nor is this the only parallel; for Viner, like our Dane, endowed the professorship which bears his name from the profits of his immense Abridgment of the Law. In the performance of his duties, Professor Story prepared and published the most important series of juridical works which has latterly appeared in the English language, embracing a comprehensive treatise on the Constitution of the United States, a masterly exposition of that portion of International Law known as the Conflict of Laws, and Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence, Equity Pleading, and various branches of Commercial Law.

The extent of his labors, and their influence in building up the School, appear in an interesting passage of his last will and testament, bearing date January 2, 1842. After bequeathing to the University several valuable pictures, busts, and books, he proceeds as follows: "I ask the President and Fellows of Harvard College to accept these as memorials of my reverence and respect for that venerable institution, at which I received my education. I hope it may not be improper for me here to add, that I have devoted myself, as Dane Professor, for the last thirteen years,[52] to the labors and duties of instruction in the Law School, and have always performed equal duties and to an equal amount with my excellent colleagues, Mr. Professor Ashmun and Mr. Professor Greenleaf, in the Law School. When I came to Cambridge, and undertook the duties of my professorship, there had not been a single law student there for the preceding year. There was no law library, but a few old and imperfect books being there. The students have since increased to a large number, and for six years last past have exceeded one hundred a year. The Law Library now contains about six thousand volumes, whose value cannot be deemed less than twenty-five thousand dollars. My own salary has constantly remained limited to one thousand dollars,--a little more than the interest of Mr. Dane's donations. I have never asked or desired an increase thereof, as I was receiving a suitable salary as a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States,--while my colleagues have very properly received a much larger sum, and of late years more than double my own. Under these circumstances, I cannot but feel that I have contributed towards the advancement of the Law School a sum out of my earnings, which, with my moderate means, will be thought to absolve me from making, what otherwise I certainly should do, a pecuniary legacy to Harvard College, for the general advancement of literature and learning therein."

[52] His will being dated three years before his death.

From the books of the Treasurer it appears that the sums received from students in the Law School during the sixteen years of his professorship amounted to $105,000. Of this amount, only $47,800 was disbursed in salaries and current expenses. The balance, amounting to $57,200, is represented by the following items, namely:--

Books purchased for the Library and for students, including
about $1,950 for binding, and deducting amount received for
books sold $29,000

Enlargement of the Hall, containing the library and
lecture-rooms, in 1844-45 12,700

Fund remaining to the credit of the School in August, 1845
15,500
-------
$57,200

Thus the Law School, at the time of Professor Story's death, actually possessed, independent of the somewhat scanty donations by Mr. Royall and Mr. Dane, funds and other property, including a large library and a commodious edifice, amounting to upwards of _fifty-seven thousand dollars_, all earned during Professor Story's term of service. As during this period he declined a larger annual salary than $1,000, and as his high character and the attraction of his name contributed to swell the income of the School, it is evident that a considerable portion of this large sum may justly be regarded as the fruit of his bountiful labors contributed to the University.

The Committee, while calling attention to the extent of pecuniary benefaction which the Law School has received from Professor Story, feel it a duty to urge upon the Government of the University the recognition of this benefaction in some suitable form. The name of Royall, given to one of the professorships, keeps alive the memory of his early generosity. The name of Dane, given to the professorship on which Story taught, and sometimes also to the edifice containing the library and lecture-rooms, and then to the Law School itself, attests, with triple academic voice, a well-rewarded donation. But the contributions of Royall and Dane combined, important as they were, and justly worthy of honorable mention, do not equal what was contributed by Story. At the present moment Story must be regarded as the largest pecuniary benefactor of the Law School, and one of the largest pecuniary benefactors of the University. In this respect he stands before Hollis, Alford, Boylston, Hersey, Bowdoin, Erving, Eliot, Smith, M'Lean, Perkins, and Fisher. His contributions have this additional peculiarity, that they were munificently afforded from daily earnings,--not after death, but during life; so that he became, as it were, the executor of his own will. In justice to the dead, as an example to the living, and in conformity with established usage, the University should enroll his name among its founders, and in some fit manner inscribe it upon the school which he helped to rear.

Three different courses occur to the Committee. The edifice containing the library and lecture-rooms may be called after him, _Story Hall_. Or the branch of the University devoted to law may be called _Story Law School_, as the other branch of the University devoted to science, in gratitude to a distinguished benefactor, is called _Lawrence Scientific School_. Or a new and permanent professorship in the Law School may be created, with his name.

If the last suggestion should find favor, the Committee recommend that the professorship be of _Commercial Law and the Law of Nations_. It is well known to have been the desire of Professor Story, often expressed, in view of the increasing means of the Law School, and the corresponding demands for education in the law, that professorships of both these branches should be established. In his opinion that of Commercial Law was most needed. His own preëminence in this department appears in his works, and especially in numerous judicial opinions. His interest in it was attested in conversation with one of this Committee only a few days before his death. Hearing that it was proposed by merchants of Boston, on his resignation of the judicial seat he had held for nearly thirty-four years, to cause his statue in marble to be erected, he said: "If Boston merchants wish to do me honor in any way, on my leaving the bench, let it not be by a statue, but by founding in the Law School a professorship of Commercial Law." With these generous words he embraced at once his favorite law and his favorite University.

The subject of Commercial Law is of great and growing importance in the multiplying relations of mankind. Every new tie of commerce gives new occasion for its application. Besides the general principles of the Law of Contracts, it comprehends the Law of Bailments, Agency, Partnership, Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes, Shipping, and Insurance,--branches of inexpressible interest to lawyers, merchants, and indeed to every citizen. The main features of this law are common to all commercial nations; they are recognized with substantial uniformity, whether at Boston, London, or Calcutta, at Hamburg, Marseilles, or Leghorn. In this respect they may be regarded as part of the _Private_ Law of Nations. They would be associated naturally with the Public Law of Nations,--embracing, of course, the Law of Admiralty, and that other branch, which it is hoped will remain forever a dead letter, the Law of Prize.

The Committee believe that all who become acquainted with this statement will agree that something should be done to commemorate the obligations of the University to one of its most eminent professors and largest pecuniary benefactors. They have ventured suggestions as to the manner in which this may be accomplished, not with any particular confidence in their own views, but simply as a mode of opening the subject, and bringing it to attention. In dwelling on the propriety of a new and permanent professorship, they would not be understood as expressing a preference for this form of acknowledgment. It may be a question, whether the services of Professor Story, important in every respect, shedding upon the Law School a lasting fame, and securing to it pecuniary competence, an extensive library, and a commodious hall, can be commemorated with more appropriate academic honors than by giving his name to that department in the University of which he was the truest founder. The world, anticipating all formal action of the University, has already placed the Law School under the guardianship of his name. It is by the name of STORY that this seat of legal education has become known wherever jurisprudence is cultivated as a science.

For the Committee.

CHARLES SUMNER.

TO THE OVERSEERS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

* * * * *

STIPULATED ARBITRATION, OR A CONGRESS OF NATIONS, WITH DISARMAMENT.

ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 22, 1850.

The history of the Peace Movement, recounted in the Address on
the War System of the Commonwealth of Nations, terminates at the
date of that Address, anterior to the Congress at Paris, called
the Second General Peace Congress, on the 22d, 23d, and 24th of
August, 1849. This Congress is briefly characterized in the Address
below. There is a report of its proceedings, where may be read the
able speeches and letters by which the cause was vindicated. It
was arranged in Europe that the next year should witness a similar
Congress, and Frankfort-on-the-Main was selected for the place of
meeting, both from its central situation and the sympathy felt in
the movement by leading minds of Germany.

In the United States a Committee was appointed, with Mr. Sumner as
Chairman, to obtain a proper representation. The following Address
was put forth by the Committee. But the question ceased to be
pressed in Europe, under the influence of the prevailing reaction,
while in our country it was overshadowed by Slavery, to which the
general attention was now directed. It was often remarked, "One
evil at a time"; and thus the Peace Cause was postponed.

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.

The month of August last witnessed at Paris a Congress or Convention of persons from various countries, to consider what could be done to promote the sacred cause of Universal Peace. France, Germany, Belgium, England, and the United States were represented by large numbers of men eminent in business, politics, literature, religion, and philanthropy. The Catholic Archbishop of Paris, and the eloquent Protestant preacher, M. Athanase Coquerel,--Michel Chevalier, Horace Say, and Frédéric Bastiat, distinguished political economists,--Émile de Girardin, the most important political editor of France,--Victor Hugo, illustrious in literature,--Lamartine, whose glory it is to have turned the recent French Revolution, at its beginning, into the path of Peace,--and Richard Cobden, the world-renowned British statesman, the unapproached model of an earnest, humane, and practical Reformer,--all these gave to this august assembly the sanction of their presence or approbation. Victor Hugo, on taking the chair as President, in an address of persuasive eloquence, shed upon the occasion the illumination of his genius,--while Mr. Cobden, participating in all the proceedings, impressed upon them his characteristic common sense.

The Congress adopted, with entire unanimity, a series of resolutions, asserting the duty of governments to submit all differences between them to Arbitration, and to respect the decisions of the Arbitrators; also asserting the necessity of a general and simultaneous disarming, not only as the means of reducing the expenditure absorbed by armies and navies, but also of removing a permanent cause of disquietude and irritation. The Congress condemned all loans and taxes for wars of ambition or conquest. It earnestly recommended the friends of Peace to prepare public opinion, in their respective countries, for the formation of a Congress of Nations, to revise the existing International Law, and to constitute a High Tribunal for the decision of controversies among nations. In support of these objects, the Congress solemnly invoked the representatives of the press, so potent to diffuse truth, and also all ministers of religion, whose holy office it is to encourage good-will among men.

The work thus begun has been continued since. In England and the United States large public meetings have welcomed the returning delegates. Men have been touched by the grandeur of the cause. Not in the aspirations of religion and benevolence only, but in the general heart and mind, has it found reception, filling all who embrace it with new confidence in the triumph of Christian truth.

Another Congress or Convention has been called to meet at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the month of August next, to do what is possible, by mutual counsels and encouragement, to influence public opinion, and to advance still further the cause which has been so well commended by the Congress at Paris.

To promote the objects of this Congress generally, and particularly to secure the attendance of a delegation from the United States, in number and character not unworthy of the occasion, a Committee, representing friends of Peace throughout the country, various in opinion, has been appointed, under the name of "PEACE CONGRESS COMMITTEE FOR THE UNITED STATES." This Committee now appeal to their fellow-citizens for coöperation in this work.

The Committee hope, in the first place, to interest our Government at Washington in the objects contemplated by the proposed Congress. As this can be done only through the prompting of the people, they recommend petitions like the following:--

"PETITION FOR PEACE.

"_To the Honorable Senate (or H. of R.) of the United States._

"The undersigned, inhabitants (or citizens, or legal voters)
of----, in the State of----, deploring the manifold evils of War,
and believing it possible to supersede its alleged necessity, as an
Arbiter of Justice among Nations, by the timely adoption of wise
and feasible substitutes, respectfully request your honorable body
to take such action as you may deem best in favor of Stipulated
Arbitration, or a Congress of Nations, for the accomplishment of
this most desirable end."

As the number of delegates to the proposed Congress is not limited, the Committee hope to see States, Congressional Districts, Towns, and other bodies represented. Every delegate will be a link between the community, large or small, from which he comes, and the cause of Universal Peace.

The Committee recommend a State Convention in each State to choose a State Committee, and also two delegates at large from the State;

Also a Convention in each Congressional District to choose a delegate;

Also public meetings in towns, and other smaller localities, to explain the objects of the Congress, and to choose local delegates.

The Committee also recommend to the religious and literary bodies of the country, as churches and colleges, to send delegates to the Congress.

In making this appeal, the Committee desire to impress upon their fellow-citizens the practical character of the present movement. Instead of the _custom_ or _institution_ of War, now recognized by International Law, as the Arbiter of Justice between Nations, they propose, by the consent of nations, to substitute a System of Arbitration, or a permanent Congress of Nations. With this change will necessarily follow a general disarming down to that degree of force required for internal police. The barbarous and incongruous War System, which now encases our Christian civilization as with a cumbrous coat of mail, will be destroyed. The enormous means, thus released from destructive industry and purposes of hate, will be appropriated to productive industry and purposes of beneficence. To help this consummation who will not labor?

The people in every part of the country, East and West, North and South, of all political parties and all religious sects, are now invited to join in this endeavor. So doing, while confident of the blessing of God, they will become fellow-laborers of wise and good men in other lands, and will secure to themselves the inexpressible satisfaction of aiding the advent of that happy day when Peace shall be _organized_ among nations.

By order of the Peace Congress Committee for the United States.

CHARLES SUMNER, _Chairman_.

ELIHU BURRITT, } _Secretaries_.
AMASA WALKER, }

BOSTON, February 22, 1850.

* * * * *

OUR IMMEDIATE ANTISLAVERY DUTIES.

SPEECH AT A FREE-SOIL MEETING AT FANEUIL HALL, NOVEMBER 6,
1850.

This speech was made a few days before the annual election in
Massachusetts, and just after the passage of the Fugitive Slave
Bill. As the first open denunciation of this measure, it awakened
much feeling on both sides. All who felt strongly against Slavery
were grateful.

It is sometimes said to have made Mr. Sumner Senator. More than
anything else, it determined his selection by the Free-Soil party
shortly afterwards as their candidate. On the other hand, it was
often pronounced "treasonable," and in subsequent discussions at
Washington, sometimes in newspapers and repeatedly in the Senate,
it was employed to point the personalities of slave-masters and
their allies. It was called the "Mark Antony speech." It takes the
ground to which Mr. Sumner constantly adhered, that the "Fugitive
Slave Bill," as he always insisted upon calling it,--refusing to
call it Law,--was absolutely unconstitutional in all respects,--not
only, according to the old language of the law, "to a certain
intent in general," but also "to a certain intent in every
particular." Such an enactment could not be treated as law; and Mr.
Sumner insisted that good citizens should refuse to it all support,
as our fathers refused all support to the British Stamp Act. His
effort and hope were to create a public sentiment which would
render its enforcement impossible.

In all times there has been something in the human conscience which
forbade certain things, even though ordained by law. "A curse on
him who is not enough an honest man and enough a man of courage
to be capable of the crime of hospitality towards a proscribed
person!" Such is the exclamation of an eloquent historian of the
French Revolution, after reciting the proposition of Saint-Just,
kindred to the requirement of the Fugitive Slave Bill.[53] Guizot,
in his Memoirs, records an illustrative incident. Queen Hortense,
mother of Louis Napoleon, at a time when all of her family were
excluded from France, suddenly arrived in Paris, when, seeing
Casimir Périer, Prime-Minister of Louis Philippe, she began: "I
know, Sir, that I have violated a law; you have the right to arrest
me; that would be just." "_Legal_, Madame," said the Minister, "but
not _just_."[54]

[53] Louis Blanc, Histoire de la Révolution Française, Tom. X. p.
316.

[54] Guizot, Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire de mon Temps, Tom.
II. p. 219.

At the pending election there was what was called a coalition
between the Free-Soilers and Democrats, in the choice of State
Senators and Representatives, with the understanding that the State
officers chosen by the Legislature should be Democrats, and the
United States Senator a Free-Soiler. But nothing was said at the
time about candidates.

The meeting at Faneuil Hall was large and enthusiastic. It
was organized by the choice of William B. Spooner, Esq.,
President,--Edward A. Raymond, William Washburn, Henry I.
Bowditch, William Bates, Ebenezer Atkins, William Dall, Caleb
Gill, Theodore D. Cook, Joseph Southwick, Ephraim Allen, Richard
Hildreth, and Robert E. Apthorp, Vice-Presidents,--William F.
Channing and Charles List, Secretaries. On taking the chair, Mr.
Spooner addressed the meeting. Dr. Luther Parks then read a series
of resolutions. Mr. Sumner followed, and was received with much
enthusiasm. His speech is printed with the interruptions reported
at the time.

MR. CHAIRMAN, AND YOU, MY FELLOW-CITIZENS:--

Cold and insensible must I be, not to be touched by this welcome. I thank you for the cause, whose representative only I am. It is the cause which I would keep ever foremost, and commend always to your support.

In a few days there will be an important political election, affecting many local interests. Not by these have I been drawn here to-night, but because I would bear my testimony anew to that Freedom which is above all these. And here, at the outset, let me say, that it is because I place Freedom above all else that I cordially concur in the different unions or combinations throughout the Commonwealth,--in Mr. Mann's District, of Free-Soilers with Whigs,--also in Mr. Fowler's District, of Free-Soilers with Whigs,--and generally, in Senatorial Districts, of Free-Soilers with Democrats. By the first of these two good men may be secured in Congress, while by the latter the friends of Freedom may obtain a controlling influence in the Legislature of Massachusetts during the coming session, and thus advance our cause. [_Applause._] They may arbitrate between both the old parties, making Freedom their perpetual object, and in this way contribute more powerfully than they otherwise could to the cause which has drawn us together. [_Cheers._]

Leaving these things, so obvious to all, I come at once to consider urgent duties at this anxious moment. To comprehend these we must glance at what Congress has done during its recent session, so long drawn out. This I shall endeavor to do rapidly. "Watchman, what of the night?" And well may the cry be raised, "What of the night?" For things have been done, and measures passed into laws, which, to my mind, fill the day itself with blackness. ["_Hear! hear!_"]

* * * * *

And yet there are streaks of light--an unwonted dawn--in the distant West, out of which a full-orbed sun is beginning to ascend, rejoicing like a strong man to run a race. By Act of Congress California has been admitted into the Union with a Constitution forbidding Slavery. For a measure like this, required not only by simplest justice, but by uniform practice, and by constitutional principles of slaveholders themselves, we may be ashamed to confess gratitude; and yet I cannot but rejoice in this great good. A hateful institution, thus far without check, travelling westward with the power of the Republic, is bidden to stop, while a new and rising State is guarded from its contamination. [_Applause._] Freedom, in whose hands is the divining-rod of magical power, pointing the way not only to wealth untold, but to every possession of virtue and intelligence, whose presence is better far than any mine of gold, has been recognized in an extensive region on the distant Pacific, between the very parallels of latitude so long claimed by Slavery as a peculiar home. [_Loud plaudits._]

Here is a victory, moral and political: moral, inasmuch as Freedom secures a new foothold where to exert her far-reaching influence; political, inasmuch as by the admission of California, the Free States obtain a majority of votes in the Senate, thus overturning that _balance of power_ between Freedom and Slavery, so preposterously claimed by the Slave States, in forgetfulness of the true spirit of the Constitution, and in mockery of Human Rights. [_Cheers._] May free California, and her Senators in Congress, amidst the trials before us, never fail in loyalty to Freedom! God forbid that the daughter should turn with ingratitude or neglect from the mother that bore her! [_Enthusiasm._]

Besides this Act, there are two others of this long session to be regarded with satisfaction,--and I mention them at once, before considering the reverse of the picture. The slave-trade is abolished in the District of Columbia. This measure, though small in the sight of Justice, is important. It banishes from the National Capital an odious traffic. But this is its least office. Practically it affixes to the whole traffic, wherever it exists,--not merely in Washington, within the immediate sphere of the legislative act, but everywhere throughout the Slave States, whether at Richmond, or Charleston, or New Orleans,--the brand of Congressional reprobation. The people of the United States, by the voice of Congress, solemnly declare the domestic traffic in slaves offensive in their sight. The Nation judges this traffic. The Nation says to it, "Get thee behind me, Satan!" [_Excitement and applause._] It is true that Congress has not, as in the case of the foreign slave-trade, stamped it as _piracy_, and awarded to its perpetrators the doom of _pirates_; but it condemns the trade, and gives to general scorn those who partake of it. To this extent the National Government speaks for Freedom. And in doing this, it asserts, under the Constitution, legislative jurisdiction over the subject of Slavery in the District,--thus preparing the way for that complete act of Abolition which is necessary to purge the National Capital of its still remaining curse and shame.

The other measure which I hail with thankfulness is the Abolition of Flogging in the Navy. ["_Hear! hear!_"] Beyond the direct reform thus accomplished--after much effort, finally crowned with encouraging success--is the indirect influence of this law, especially in rebuking the lash, wheresoever and by whomsoever employed.

Two props and stays of Slavery are weakened and undermined by Congressional legislation. Without the _slave-trade_ and without the _lash_, Slavery must fall to earth. By these the whole monstrosity is upheld. If I seem to exaggerate the consequence of these measures of Abolition, you will pardon it to a sincere conviction of their powerful, though subtile and indirect influence, quickened by a desire to find something good in a Congress which has furnished occasion for so much disappointment. Other measures there are which must be regarded not only with regret, but with indignation and disgust. [_Sensation._]