Part 4

1. There is the National Flag. He must be cold indeed, who can look upon its folds rippling in the breeze without pride of country. If in a foreign land the flag is companionship, and country itself, with all its endearments, who, as he sees it, can think of a State merely? Whose eyes, once fastened upon its radiant trophies, can fail to recognize the image of the whole Nation? It has been called “a floating piece of poetry”; and yet I know not if it have an intrinsic beauty beyond other ensigns. Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence. It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely, and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white proclaim the original _union_ of thirteen States to maintain the Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue proclaim that _union_ of States constituting our national constellation, which receives a new star with every new State. The two together signify Union, past and present. The very colors have a language, officially recognized by our fathers. White is for purity; red, for valor; blue, for justice. And all together, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors, blazing in the sky, make the flag of our country, to be cherished by all our hearts, to be upheld by all our hands.

Not at once did this ensign come into being. Its first beginning was in the camp before Boston, and it was announced by Washington in these words: “The day which gave being to the new army, we hoisted the _Union flag_, in compliment to the United Colonies.”[54] The National forces and the National flag began together. Shortly afterwards, amidst the acclamations of the people, a fleet of five sail left Philadelphia, according to the language of the time, “under the display of a _Union flag_ with thirteen stripes.”[55] This was probably the same flag, not yet matured into its present form. In its corner, where are now the stars, were the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, red and white, originally representing England and Scotland, and when conjoined, after the union of those two countries, known as “the Union.” To these were added thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and the whole was hailed at the time as the Great Union Flag. The States, represented by the stripes, were in subordination to the National Unity, represented by the two crosses. But this form did not continue long. By a resolution adopted 14th June, 1777, and made public 3d September, 1777, Congress determined “that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that _the union_ be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”[56] Here the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew gave place to white stars in a blue field; the familiar symbol of British union gave place to another symbol of union peculiar to ourselves; and this completed the national flag, which a little later floated at the surrender of Burgoyne. Long afterward, in 1818, it was provided by Congress that a star be added on the admission of a new State, “to take effect on the fourth day of July next succeeding such admission.”[57] Thus, in every respect, and at each stage of its history, the National Flag testifies to the National Unity. The whole outstretched, indivisible country is seated in its folds.

There is a curious episode of the national flag, which is not without value. As far back as 1754, Franklin, while attempting a union of the Colonies, pictured the principal ones in a wood-cut under the device of a snake divided into eight parts marked with their initials, and under the disjointed whole the admonitory motto, “_Join or die_,”--thus indicating the paramount necessity of Union. In the heats of the Revolutionary discussion, a similar representation of all the Thirteen Colonies was adopted as the head-piece of newspapers, and was painted on banners; but when the Union was accomplished, the divisions and initials were dropped, and the snake was exhibited whole, coiled in conscious power, with thirteen rattles, and under it another admonitory motto, “_Don’t tread on me_,”--being a warning to the mother country.[58] This flag was yellow, and it became the early standard of the Revolutionary navy, being for the first time hoisted by Paul Jones with his own hands. It had a further lesson. A half-formed additional rattle was said by Franklin “to represent the province of Canada,” and the wise man added, that “the rattles are united together so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces.” Thus the snake at one time pictured the necessity of Union, and at another time its indissoluble bond.[59] But these symbols were all in harmony with the national flag, which, from its first appearance, in all its forms, pictured the common cause.

2. There is next the National Motto, as it appears on the national seal and on the national money. A common seal and common money are signs of National Unity. In each the supreme sovereignty of the Nation is manifest. The first is like the national flag, and stands for the Nation, especially in treaties with foreign powers. The second is a national convenience, if not necessity, taking its distinctive character from the Nation, so that everywhere it is a representative of the Nation. Each has the same familiar motto, _E pluribus unum_,--“From many one.” Its history attests its significance.

On the 4th of July, 1776, the very day of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were appointed a committee to prepare a device for a great seal. They were of the identical committee that had reported the Declaration of Independence itself. Their report on the seal was made 20th August, 1776; and here we first meet the national motto, in such entire harmony with the Declaration, making us “one people.” Questions of detail intervened, and no conclusion was reached until 20th June, 1782, when the present seal was adopted, being the American bald eagle, with the olive-branch in one talon and a bundle of thirteen arrows in the other, and in his beak a scroll, bearing the inscription, _E pluribus unum_. Familiar as these Latin words have become,--so that they haunt the memory of manhood, youth, and childhood alike,--it is not always considered how completely and simply they tell the story of our national life. Out of Many Colonies was formed One Nation. Former differences were merged in this unity. No longer Many, they were One. The Nation by its chosen motto repeats perpetually, “We are One”; and the Constitution echoes back, “We, the people of the United States.”

3. There is next the National Name, which of itself implies National Unity. The States are not merely allied, associated, coalesced, confederated, but they are _United_, and the Constitution, formed to secure a more perfect union, is “for the _United_ States of America,” which term was used as the common name of the Nation.

A regret has been sometimes expressed by patriots and by poets, that some single term was not originally adopted, which of itself should exclude every denationalizing pretension, and be a talisman for the heart to cherish and for the tongue to utter,--as when Nelson gave his great watchword at Trafalgar, “_England_ expects every man to do his duty.” Occasionally it is proposed to call the country _Columbia_, and thus restore to the great discoverer at least part of the honor taken from him when the continent was misnamed _America_. _Alleghania_ has also been proposed; but this word is too obviously a mere invention, besides its unwelcome suggestion of Alligator. Another proposition has been _Vinland_, being the name originally given by the Northmen, four centuries before Christopher Columbus. Professor Lieber, on one occasion, called the nation _Freeland_, a name to which it will soon be entitled. Even as a bond of union, such a name would not be without value. As long ago as Herodotus, it was said of a certain people,[60] that they would have been the most powerful in the world, if they had been united; but this was impossible, from the want among themselves of a common name.

Forgetting that the actual name implies Unity, and, when we consider its place in the preamble of the National Constitution, that it implies Nationality also, the partisans of State pretensions argue from it against even the idea of country; and here I have a curious and authentic illustration. In reply to an inquirer,[61] who wished a single name, Mr. Calhoun exclaimed: “Not at all; we have no name because we ought to have none; we are only States united, and have no country.” Alas, if it be so!--if this well-loved land, for which so many have lived, for which so many have died, is not our country! But this strange utterance shows how completely the poison of these pretensions had destroyed the common sense, as well as the patriotism, of this much-mistaken man.

Names may be given by sovereign power to new discoveries or settlements; but, as a general rule, they grow out of the soil, they are autochthonous. Even Augustus, when ruling the Roman world, confessed that he could not make a new word,[62] and Plato tells us that “a creator of names is the rarest of human creatures.”[63] Reflecting on these things, we may appreciate something of the difficulty in the way of a new name at the formation of the National Constitution. As this was little more than a transcript of prevailing ideas and institutions, it was natural to take the name used in the Declaration of Independence.

And yet it must not be forgotten that there was a name of different character which was much employed. Congress was called “Continental,” the army “Continental,” the money “Continental,”--a term certainly of unity, as well as vastness. But there was still another national designation, accepted at home and abroad. Our country was called “America,” and we were called “Americans.” Here was a natural, unsought, and instinctive name,--a growth, and not a creation,--implying national unity and predominance, if not exclusive power, on the continent. It was used not occasionally or casually, but constantly,--not merely in newspapers, but in official documents. Not an address of Congress, not a military order, not a speech, which does not contain this term, at once so expansive and so unifying. At the opening of the first Continental Congress, Patrick Henry, in a different mood from that of a later day, announced the national unity under this very name. Declaring the boundaries of the several Colonies effaced, and the distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New-Yorkers, and New-Englanders as no more, he exclaimed, in words of comprehensive patriotism, “I am not a Virginian, but an _American_.”[64] Congress took up the strain, and commissioned Washington as commander-in-chief of the armies “for the defence of _American_ liberty”;[65] and Washington himself, in his first general order at Cambridge, assuming his great command, announced that the armies were “for the support and defence of the liberties of _America_;[66] and in a letter to Congress, just before the Battle of Trenton, he declared that he had labored “to discourage all kinds of local attachments and distinctions of country, _denominating the whole by the greater name of American_.”[67] Then at the close of the war, in its immortal Address, fit supplement to the Declaration of Independence, Congress said: “Let it be remembered that it has ever been the pride and boast of _America_ that the rights for which she contended were the rights of Human Nature.”[68] Washington again, in his letter to Congress communicating the National Constitution, says, in other words, which, like those of Congress, cannot be too often quoted, that “the _consolidation of our Union_” is “the greatest interest of _every true American_.”[69] Afterwards, in his Farewell Address, which from beginning to end is one persuasive appeal for nationality, after enjoining upon his fellow-citizens that “_unity of government_ which constitutes them _one people_,” he gives to them a national name, and this was his legacy: “_The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity_, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.”[70] Thus did Washington put aside those baneful pretensions under which the country has suffered, even to the extent of adopting a National Name, which, like the Union itself, should have a solid coercive power.

It is not impossible that in the lapse of time history will vindicate the name adopted by Washington, which may grow with the Republic, until it becomes the natural designation of one country. Our fathers used this term more wisely than they knew; but they acted under Providential guidance. Is it not said of the stars, that God “calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His might”?[71] Is it not declared also that He will make him who overcometh a pillar in the temple, and give to him a “new name”?[72] So, as our stars multiply, and the nation overcometh its adversaries, persuading all to its declared principles, everywhere on the continent, it will become a pillar in the temple, and the name of the continent itself will be needed to declare alike its unity and its power.

4. To these “unities,” derived from history and the heart of the people, may be added another, where Nature is the great teacher. I refer to the geographical position and configuration of our country, if not of the whole continent, marking it for one nation. Unity is written upon it by the Almighty hand. In this respect it differs much from Europe, where, for generations, seas, rivers, and mountains kept people apart, who had else, “like kindred drops, been mingled into one.” There is no reason why they should not commingle here. Nature in every form is propitious. Facility of intercourse, not less than common advantage, leads to unity: both these are ours. Here are navigable rivers, numerous and famous, being so many highways of travel, and a chain of lakes, each an inland sea. Then there is an unexampled extent of country adapted to railways; and do not forget that with the railway is the telegraph, using the lightning as its messenger, so that the interrogatory to Job is answered, “Canst thou send lightnings that they may go?”[73] The country is one open expanse, from the frozen Arctic to the warm waters of the Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains,--and there already science supplies the means of overcoming this barrier, which in other days would have marked international boundaries. The Pacific Railway will neutralize these mountains, and complete the geographical unity of the continent. The slender wire of the telegraph, when once extended, is an indissoluble tie; the railway is an iron band. But these depend upon opportunities which Nature supplies, so that Nature herself is one of the guardians of our nation.

He has studied history poorly, and human nature no better, who imagines that this broad compacted country can be parcelled into different nationalities. Where will you run the thread of partition? By what river? Along what mountain? On what line of latitude or longitude? Impossible. No line of longitude or latitude, no mountain, no river, can become the demarcation. Every State has rights in every other State. The whole country has a title, which it will never renounce, in every part, whether the voluminous Mississippi as it pours to the sea, or that same sea as it chafes upon our coast. As well might we of the East attempt to shut you of the West from the ocean as you attempt to shut us from the Mississippi. The ocean will always be yours as it is ours, and the Mississippi will always be ours as it is yours.

Our country was planned by Providence for a united and homogeneous people. Apparent differences harmonize. Even climate, passing through all gradations from North to South, is so tempered as to present an easy uniformity from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. Unmeasured supplies of all kinds, mineral and agricultural, are at hand,--the richest ores and the most golden crops, with the largest coal-fields of the world below and the largest corn-fields of the world above. Strabo said of ancient Gaul, that, by its structure, with its vast plains and considerable rivers, it was destined to become the theatre of a great civilization.[74] But the structure of our country is more auspicious. Our plains are vaster and our rivers more considerable, furnishing a theatre grander than any imagined by the Greek geographer. It is this theatre, thus appointed by Nature, which is now open for the good of mankind.

Here I stop, to review the field over which we have passed, and to gather its harvest into one sheaf. Beginning with the infancy of the Colonies, we have seen how, with different names and governments, they were all under _one sovereignty_, with common and interchangeable rights of citizenship, so that no British subject in one Colony could be made an alien in any other Colony; how, even at the beginning, longings for a common life began, showing themselves in “loving accord”; how Franklin regarded the Colonies “as so many counties”; how the longings increased, until, under the pressure of the mother country, they broke forth in aspiration for “an American Commonwealth”; how they were at last organized in a Congress, called, from its comprehensive character, “Continental”; how, in the exercise of powers derived from “the good people,” and in their name, the Continental Congress put forth the Declaration of Independence, by which the sovereignty of the mother country was forever renounced, and we were made “one people,” solemnly dedicated to Human Rights, and thus became a Nation; how the undivided sovereignty of all was substituted for the undivided sovereignty of the mother country, embracing all the States as the other sovereignty had embraced all the Colonies; how, according to Franklin, the States were locked together, “so as never to be separated, but by breaking them to pieces”; how in an evil hour the Confederation was formed in deference to denationalizing pretensions of the States; how the longings for national life continued, and found utterance in Congress, in Washington, and in patriot compeers; how Jay wished the States should be like “counties”; how “Washington denounced State sovereignty as “bantling” and “monster”; how at last a National Convention assembled, with Washington as President, where it was voted that “a National Government ought to be established”; how in this spirit, after ample debate, the National Constitution was formed, with its preamble beginning “We, the people,” with its guaranty of a republican government to all the States, with its investiture of Congress with all needful powers for the maintenance of the Government, and with its assertion of supremacy over State constitutions and laws; how this Constitution was commended by Washington in the name of the Convention as “the consolidation of our Union”; how it was vindicated and opposed as creating a National Government; how on its adoption we again became a Nation; then how our nationality has been symbolized in the National Flag, the National Motto, and the National Name; and, lastly, how Nature, in the geographical position and configuration of the country, has supplied the means of National Unity, and written her everlasting guaranty. And thus do I bind the whole together into one conclusion, saying to all, We are a Nation.

Nor is this all. Side by side with the growth of National Unity was a constant dedication to Human Rights, which showed itself not only in the Declaration of Independence, with its promises and covenants, but in the constant claim of the rights of Magna Charta, the earlier cries of Otis, the assertion by the first Continental Congress of the right of the people “to participate in their legislative council,” the commission of Washington as commander-in-chief “for the defence of American liberty,” and the first general order of Washington, on taking command of his forces, where he rallies them to this cause; also in the later proclamation of Congress, at the close of the Revolution, that the rights contended for had been “the rights of Human Nature,” and the farewell general order of Washington, on the same occasion, where the contest is characterized in the same way: so that Human Rights were the beginning and end of the war, while the nation, as it grew into being, was quickened by these everlasting principles, and its faith was plighted to their support.

* * * * *

As a Nation, with a place in the family of nations, we have the powers of a nation, with corresponding responsibilities. Whether we regard these powers as naturally inhering in the nation, or as conferred upon it by those two title-deeds, the Declaration of Independence and the National Constitution, the conclusion is the same. From Nature, and also from its title-deeds, our nation must have all needful powers: first, for the national defence, foremost among which is the power to uphold and defend the national unity; secondly, for the safeguard of the citizen in all his rights of citizenship, foremost among which is equality, the first of rights, so that, as all owe equal allegiance, all shall enjoy equal protection; and, thirdly, for the support and maintenance of all the promises made by the nation, especially at its birth, being baptismal vows which cannot be disowned. These three powers are essentially national. They belong to our nation by the very law of its being and the terms of its creation. They cannot be neglected or abandoned. Every person, no matter what his birth, condition, or color, who can raise the cry, “I am an American citizen,” has a right to require at the hands of the nation, that it shall do its utmost, by all its central powers, to uphold the national unity, to protect the citizen in the rights of citizenship, and to perform the original promises of the nation. Failure here is apostasy and bankruptcy combined.