Addendum to the post below:

Tunis 1797 : Hunter Miller's Notes: THE EARLIER TRUCE

Prior to the first signature of this treaty a "truce" with Tunis had twice been arranged; on about June 15, 1796, a "truce for six months" was concluded by Famin (American State Papers, Foreign Relations, I, 554); and Cathcart writes thus of an arrangement made in 1795 at Algiers (The Captives, 233):

. . . between those dates I had several conferences with the Dey [of Algiers] and Hadgi Ally [Ambassador of Tunis at Algiers], and this day [November 8, 1795] procured a truce for the United States with Tunis for eight months, guaranteed by the Dey of Algiers, translated it and took the original to Mr. Donaldson, who kept his bed with the gout and colic.

The Turkish original of the truce of June, 1796, is in the archives of the Department of State; it has been thus translated by Doctor Kramers:

The motive of the writing of this document is as follows: On the 11th of the month of Zu'lhijJah of this year 1210, answering to the 15th of June [June 17, 1796, according to the chronological tables] according to the Greek calendar. The glory of the princes of the Christian nation, the selected chief among the community of Jesus, Washington, the present ruler of America-may his days end with blessings-being desirous and wishing to negotiate a treaty of peace in order to lay the foundations of friendship and to strengthen the sincere amity with the frontier post of the Holy War, the victorious garrison of Tunis the well-preserved, just as our friends, the other Christian Governments, have done the same with our victorious garrison, has confided the negotiations of the said treaty to his Consul Barlow, residing in Algiers, and the said Consul again teas confided the negotiations of the treaty to the French merchant, Joseph Famin, residing in Tunis the well-preserved. The said merchant has appeared in my presence and has stated and declared in general his wish and desire for a treaty between the American ruler and the Government of Tunis the well-preserved. After it has been immediately communicated and confirmed to the said merchant on what terms a treaty could be agreed to, the said merchant has communicated the stipulations of the treaty to the said Consul, and the said Consul has communicated it to his Government. Now, until the answer comes and within a limit of six months after the date of this document, security has been given. Therefore, if during the said period war vessels of our well-preserved garrison place meet at sea with ships of the said Americans they shall not hinder them or molest them in any way, but they shall be treated as friends, and immediately order has been given to our officers to let them go their way. If American ships meet with ships belonging to our well-preserved garrison place, it has been agreed between the two Governments, that they shall treat each other in a friendly way. This convention has been written and sealed and given into the hands of the said merchant, so that he may send it to its proper place. Until the arrival of the answer this convention shall be observed between the two Governments; according to it both parties shall act, and it shall be opposed in no way. Salutations. Written on the 11th of Zu'lhiJjah and the 15th June of the year 1210.

[Tughra (name sign) of Hamuda, commander (mir miran) of the frontier post of the Holy War, Tunis the well-preserved.]

- Yale Law School - The Avalon Project, The Barbary Treaties 1786-1816, Tunis 1797 : Hunter Miller's Notes.

10 months AFTER the 'Treaty of Tripoli'

Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Signed at Tunis August 28, 1797

(Courtesy: Yale Law School - Avalon Project)

Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed at Tunis August 28, 1797, and, with alterations, March 26, 1799. Original in Turkish. Submitted to the Senate February 21, 1798. Resolution of advice and consent, on condition, March 6, 1798. Resubmitted to the Senate December 13, 1799. Resolution of advice and consent to altered Articles 11, 12, and 14, December 24, 1799. Ratified by the United States January 10, 1800. As to the ratification generally, see the notes. Not proclaimed (semble), but see the notes as to publication.

The following pages of Turkish are a reproduction of the articles of the original of the altered treaty; but they are arranged in left-to-right order of pagination, and of necessity the Turkish script runs length-ways of the pages. They are followed by the French translation which is written in the original document and the English translation which is in the Department of State file; after the translations is the approval of Humphreys of the treaty as first signed, and then the approval of Eaton and Cathcart of the altered treaty, as copied in the original. Following those tents is a comment on the French translation, written in 1930.

God is infinite.

Under the auspices of the greatest, the most powerful of all the princes of the Ottoman nation who reign upon the earth, our most glorious and most august Emperor, who commands the two lands and the two seas, Selim Khan I the victorious, son of the Sultan Moustafa, whose realm may God prosper until the end of ages, the support of kings, the seal of justice, the Emperor of emperors.

The most illustrious and most magnificent Prince Hamuda Pasha, Bey, who commands the Odgiak of Tunis, the abode of happiness; and the most honored Ibrahim Dey; and Suleiman, Agha of the Janizaries and chief of the Divan; and all the elders of the Odgiak; and the most distinguished and honored President of the Congress of the United States of America, the most distinguished among those who profess the religion of the Messiah, of whom may the end be happy.

We have concluded between us the present Treaty of Peace and Friendship, all the articles of which have been framed by the intervention of Joseph Stephen Famin, French merchant resident at Tunis, Charge d'Affaires of the United States of America; which stipulations and conditions are comprised in twenty-three articles, written and expressed in such manner as to leave no doubt of their contents, and in such way as not to be contravened.

ARTICLE 1.

There shall be a perpetual and constant peace between the United States of America and the magnificent Pasha, Bey of Tunis, and also a permanent friendship, which shall more and more increase.

ARTICLE 2.

If a vessel of war of the two nations shall make prize of an enemy vessel in which may be found effects, property, and subjects of the two contracting parties, the whole shall be restored; the Bey shall restore the property and subjects of the United States, and the latter shall make a reciprocal restoration; it being understood on both sides that the just right to what is claimed shall be proved.

ARTICLE 3.

Merchandise belonging to any nation which may be at war with one of the contracting parties, and loaded on board of the vessels of the other, shall pass without molestation and without any attempt being made to capture or detain it.

ARTICLE 4.

On both sides sufficient passports shall be given to vessels, that they may be known and treated as friendly; and considering the distance between the two countries, a term of eighteen months is given, within which term respect shall be paid to the said passports, without requiring the conge or document (which at Tunis is called testa), but after the said term the conge shall be presented.

ARTICLE 5.

If the corsairs of Tunis shall meet at sea with ships of war of the United States having under their escort merchant vessels of their nation, they shall not be searched or molested; and in such case the commanders shall be believed upon their word, to exempt their ships from being visited and to avoid quarantine. The American ships of war shall act in like manner towards merchant vessels escorted by the corsairs of Tunis.

ARTICLE 6.

If a Tunisian corsair shall meet with an American merchant vessel and shall visit it with her boat, she shall not exact anything, under pain of being severely punished; and in like manner, if a vessel of war of the United States shall meet with a Tunisian merchant vessel, she shall observe the same rule. In case a slave shall take refuge on board of an I American vessel of war, the Consul shall be required to cause him to be restored; and if any of their prisoners shall escape on board of the Tunisian vessels, they shall be restored; but if any slave shall take refuge in any American merchant vessel, and it shall be proved that the vessel has departed with the said slave, then he shall be returned, or his ransom shall be paid.

ARTICLE 7.

An American citizen having purchased a prize-vessel from our Odgiak, may salt our passport, which we will de liver for the term of one year, by force of which our corsairs which may meet with her shall respect her; the Consul on his part shall furnish her with a bill of sale; and considering the distance of the two countries, this term shall suffice to obtain a passport in form. But after the expiration of this term, if our corsairs shall meet with her without the passport of the United States, she shall be stopped and declared good prize, as well the vessel as the cargo and crew.

ARTICLE 8.

If a vessel of one of the contracting parties shall be obliged to enter into a port of the other and may have need of provisions and other articles, they shall be granted to her without any difficulty, at the price current at the place; and if such a vessel shall have suffered at sea and shall have need of repairs, she shall be at liberty to unload and reload her cargo without being obliged to pay any duty; and the captain shall only be obliged to pay the wages of those whom he shall have employed in loading and unloading the merchandise.

ARTICLE 9.

If, by accident and by the permission of God, a vessel of one of the contracting parties shall be cast by tempest upon the coasts of the other and shall be wrecked or otherwise damaged, the commandant of the place shall render all possible assistance for its preservation, without allowing any person to make any opposition; and the proprietor of the effects shall pay the costs of salvage to those who may have been employed.

ARTICLE 10.

In case a vessel of one of the contracting parties shall be attacked by an enemy under the cannon of the forts of the other party, she shall be defended and protected as much as possible; and when she shall set sail, no enemy shall be permitted to pursue her from the same port, or any other neighboring port, for forty-eight hours after her departure.

ARTICLE 11.

When a vessel of war of the United States of America shall enter the port of Tunis, and the Consul shall request that the castle may salute her, the number of guns shall be fired which he may request; and if the said Consul does not want a salute, there shall be no question about it.
But in case he shall desire the salute, and the number of guns shall be fired which he may have requested, they shall be counted and returned by the vessel in as many barrels of cannon powder.

The same shall be done with respect to the Tunisian corsairs when they shall enter any port of the United States.

ARTICLE 12.

When citizens of the United States shall come within the dependencies of Tunis to carry on commerce there, the same respect shall be paid to them which the merchants of other nations enjoy; and if they wish to establish themselves within our ports, no opposition shall be made thereto; and they shall be free to avail themselves of such interpreters as they may judge necessary, without any obstruction, in conformity with the usages of other nations; and if a Tunisian subject shall go to establish himself within the dependencies of the United States, he shall be treated in like manner.

If any Tunisian subject shall freight an American vessel and load her with merchandise, and shall afterwards want to unlace or ship them on board of another vessel, we will not permit him until the matter is determined by a reference of merchants, who shall decide upon the case; and after the decision, the determination shall be conformed to.

No captain shall be detained in port against his consent, except when our ports are shut for the vessels of all other nations, which may take place with respect to merchant vessels but not to those of war.

The subjects of the two contracting powers shall be under the protection of the Prince and under the jurisdiction of the chief of the place where they may be, and no other persons shall have authority over them. If the commandant of the place does not conduct himself agreeably to justice, a representation of it shall be made to us.

In case the Government shall have need of an American merchant vessel, it shall cause it to be freighted, and then a suitable freight shall be paid to the captain, agreeably to the intention of the Government, and the captain shall not refuse it.

ARTICLE 13.

If among the crews of merchant vessels of the United States, there shall be found subjects of our enemies, they shall not be made slaves, on condition that they do not exceed a third of the crew; and when they do exceed a third, they shall be made slaves. The present article only concerns the sailors, and not the passengers, who shall not be in any manner molested.

ARTICLE 14.

A Tunisian merchant who may go to America with a vessel of any nation soever, loaded with merchandise which is the production of the kingdom of Tunis, shall pay duty (small as it is) like the merchants of other nations; and the American merchants shall equally pay, for the merchandise of their country which they may bring to Tunis under their flag, the same duty as the Tunisians pay in America.

But if an American merchant, or a merchant of any other nation, shall bring American merchandise under any other flag, he shall pay six I per cent duty. In like manner, if a foreign merchant shall bring the merchandise of his country under the American flag, he shall also pay six per cent.

ARTICLE 15.

It shall be free for the citizens of the United States to carry on what commerce they please in the kingdom of Tunis, without any opposition, and they shall be treated like the merchants of other nations; but they shall not carry on commerce in wine, nor in prohibited articles; and if any one shall be detected in a contraband trade, he shall be punished according to the laws of the country. The commandants of ports and castles shall take care that the captains and sailors shall not load prohibited articles; but if this should happen, those who shall not have contributed to the smuggling shall not be molested nor searched, no more than shall the vessel and cargo; but only the offender, who shall be demanded to be punished. No captain shall be obliged to receive merchandise on board of his vessel, nor to unlace the same against his will, until the freight shall be paid.

ARTICLE 16.

The merchant vessels of the United States which shall cast anchor in the road of the Gouletta, or any other port of the Kingdom of Tunis, shall be obliged to pay the same anchorage for entry and departure which French vessels pay, to wit: Seventeen plasters and a half, money of Tunis, for entry, if they import merchandise; and the same for departure, if they take away a cargo; but they shall not be obliged to pay anchorage if they arrive in ballast and depart in the same manner.

ARTICLE 17.

Each of the contracting parties shall be at liberty to establish a consul in the dependencies of the other; and if such consul does not act in conformity with the usages of the country, like others, the government of the place shall inform his Government of it, to the end that he may be changed and replaced; but he shall enjoy, as well for himself as his family and suite, the protection of the government. And he may import for his own use all his provisions and furniture without paying any duty; and if he shall import merchandise (which it shall be lawful for him to do), he shall pay duty for it.

ARTICLE 18.

If the subjects or citizens of either of the contracting parties, being within the possessions of the other, contract debts or enter into obligations, neither the consul nor the nation, nor any subjects or citizens thereof, shall be in any manner responsible, except they or the consul shall have previously become bound in writing; and without this obligation in writing they cannot be called upon f or indemnity or satisfaction.

ARTICLE 19.

In case of a citizen or subject of either of the contracting parties dying within the possessions of the other, the consul or the vakil shall take possession of his effects (if he does not leave a will), of which he shall make an inventory; and the government of the place shall have nothing to do therewith. And if there shall be no consul, the effects shall be deposited in the hands of a confidential person of the place, taking an inventory of the whole, that they may eventually be delivered to those to whom they of right belong.

ARTICLE 20.

The consul shall be the judge in all disputes between his fellow citizens or subjects, as also between all other persons who may be immediately under his protection; and in all cases wherein he shall require the assistance of the government where he resides to sanction his decisions, it shall be granted to him.

ARTICLE 21.

If a citizen or subject of one of the parties shall kill, wound, or strike a citizen or subject of the other, justice shall be done according to the laws of the country where the offense shall be committed. The consul shall be present at the trial; but if any offender shall escape, the consul shall be in no manner responsible for it.

ARTICLE 22.

If a dispute or lawsuit on commercial or other civil matters shall happen, the trial shall be had in the presence of the consul, or of a confidential person of his choice, who shall represent him and endeavor to accommodate the difference which may have happened between the citizens or subjects of the two nations.

ARTICLE 23.

If any difference or dispute shall take place concerning the infraction of any article of the present treaty on either side, peace and good harmony shall not be interrupted until a friendly application shall have been made for satisfaction; and resort shall not be had to arms therefor, except where such application shall have been rejected; and if war be then declared, the term of one year shall be allowed to the citizens or subjects of the contracting parties to arrange their affairs and to withdraw themselves with their property.

The agreements and terms above concluded by the two contracting parties shall be punctually observed with the will of the Most High. And for the maintenance and exact observance of the said agreements, we have caused their contents to tee here transcribed, in the present month of Rabia Elul, of the Hegira one thousand two hundred and twelve, corresponding with the month of August of the (Christian year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven.

The BEY'S signature[Seal]

IBRAHIM DEY'S signature [Seal]

The AGHA SULEIMAN'S signature [Seal]

To all to whom these Presents shall come or be made known.

W

Whereas the Underwritten David Humphreys hath been duly appointed (commissioner Plenipotentiary by letters patent under the signature of the President and seal of the United States of America, dated the 30th day of March 1795, for negotiating and concluding a Treaty of Amity and (commerce with the Most Excellent & Illustrious Lord the Bey and Supreme (commander of the State of Tunis; whereas in conformity to the necessary authority committed to him therefor, he did constitute and appoint Joel Barlow an Agent in the business aforesaid; and whereas the annexed Treaty was in consequence thereof agreed upon, in the manner and at the time therein mentioned through the intervention of Joseph Stephen Famin invested with full Powers for the said purpose.

Now, know ye, that I David Humphreys Commissioner Plenipotentiary aforesaid, do approve and conclude the said Treaty and every article and clause therein contained, reserving the same nevertheless for the final Ratification of the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the said United States. In Testimony whereof I have signed the same with my name & affixed thereto my Seal, at the City of Madrid this fourteenth day of November 1797.

[Seal] DAVID HUMPHREYS.

Whereas the President of the United States of America, by his Letters patent, under his signature and the seal of State, dated [Seal] the 18th day of December 1798, vested Richard OBrien,

William Eaton and James Leander Cathcart, or any two of them in the absence of the third, with full powers to confer, negotiate and conclude with the Bey and Regency of Tunis, on certain alterations in the treaty between the United States and the government of Tunis, concluded by the intervention of Joseph Etienne Famin on behalf of the United States, in the month of August 1797; we the underwritten William Eaton and James Leander Cathcart (Richard O'Brien being absent) have concluded on and entered in the foregoing treaty certain alterations in the eleventh, twelfth and fourteenth articles, and do agree to said treaty with said alterations: reserving the same nevertheless for the final ratification of the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. In Testimony whereof we annex our names and the Consular seal of the United States. Done in Tunis the twenty sixth day of March in the year of the Christian Era one thousand seven hundred and ninety nine, and of American Independence the twenty third.

(signed) WILLIAM EATON

JAMES LEAR CATHCART

(*) The Turkish text and the material on the French Translation has not been reproduced by the Avalon Project.

"...from the committee on schools and colleges...."

[TUESDAY, December 15, 1846]

...Mr. Westcott, from the committee on schools and colleges, made the following report:

The committee on Schools and Colleges to whom was referred that part of the [Florida] Governor's Message which relates to the Public Lands granted to the state by the United States for the purpose of promoting common schools, ask leave to

REPORT: That they believe there is no diversity of opinion in the public mind in relation to the vital importance of public education. It is a question in which all parties seem to be united, and in whatever form the subject is agitated, it finds fast and zealous friends, that it is the undivided public opinion of the state, that this legislature take ground in relation to the disposition of the sixteenth sections that the school fund may be made in its fullest extent immediately operative, and a permanent system of education established. The subject has stimulated to zealous effort, all those who feel an interest, and believe in the popular institutions of our country. Yet, your committee feel assured, that if half the time, and feeling, and effort that are expended upon the questions of who shall have the offices were devoted to the great business of preparing the rising generations to occupy the soil, and sustain and advance the character of our state, incalculable good might be accomplished for the country and the human family. That among the questions which engage the attention of the public, --keep the mind in ferment,--give birth to party divisions and hostilities, too many lose sight of this most important of all public questions by engaging in the ever-exciting, and all-sorbing interest of party polities. These lands have been long neglected; thousands are growing into manhood every year, demanding education; the school fund belongs to them; it is the property of the children of the people; and it should neither be diverted from its legitimate purposes, or by improvident legislation rendered useless. On the contrary every means should be adopted to carry into effect the liberal and enlightened provisions of our constitution on the subject. A people cannot properly exercise their rights, and discharge their duties, without understanding them. In a republican government it is the duty of every citizen to have a knowledge of his rights and duties, and of the means or laws for securing the one and enforcing the other. And from this, we derive the obligation of the whole, to furnish the means of study, or in other words provide schools, where rights and duties shall be taught. Rights are natural and immutable; the result of God's universal and unchangeable laws for the government of his rational and accountable creatures. The only just end of government is to protect rights; and our government will not be just to the rising and coming generations if it does not take the proper course with this beneficent donation of the Federal Government to furnish this protection completely. If the New Testament be authority, the duties of all are imperative, to understand the doctrine of Republicanism, or the knowledge of self government; which is, to understand the rights, duties, and means of human happiness; and whatever is required of a rational being, by this sacred book, is within his capacity to attain. Education is to the republican body politic, what vital air is to the natural body, necessary to its very existence, without which it would sicken, droop and die. It is essentially important to the social state of man. The great hope for an increased prosperity of the state, lies in a well digested system of common school education. This requisite of sound policy being permanently secured, all other state questions fall into their proper places. When a people are educated, they will be governed by an enlightened self interest, which is the only security for the weal of a nation. All the {Begin deleted text}sub{End deleted text}-guards which a constitution may place round the state, cannot maintain its existence, if the whole people do not assure its continuance, and to do so, they must be properly educated. When we look at the means generally employed to lull and control the public mind, we are continually reminded of the urgent necessity of a system of common school education. The discussion of principles,--the operations of government, which should be made a sober business, is by the mere wantonness of the demagogne, degraded to the level of antics; and what should be fairly tested, is clouded in malignant representations; betraying political dishonesty, and the want of a system of popular education, for upon the latter, the former flourishes. This subject though overlooked more or less, in the din of ordinary public contestations, is the most momentous, which can engage the attention of the State. The power which gives life, and preserve, the vitality of liberty, and the forms and workings of a free polity, is the intelligence which is derived from education. All questions of party, of revenue, of currency, sink into comparative insignificance, when compared with the question of the proper security and disposition of this fund. If our children only have light, if they are brought up with their perceptions alive to the grandeur and beauty of the material world around them, if they are instructed in their duties to their fellows, to their country, and their God, we have no fears of violent popular changes or political commotions, dislocating or destroying the forms of society. Enlightened self-interest will then be the preserver of civilized polity.

Your committee believe that an immediate sale of the sixteenth sections is the wisest course to pursue, and report a bill for that purpose. The "sale must be a work of time, and therefore ought to be begun without delay," the proceeds to be consolidated into a common fund and hereafter placed under a common superintendence. Nothing great or useful has ever been accomplished without toil and sacrifice--the official duties of such superintendence will demand talent, devotedness, patience and a vast amount of hard work--a mind which is not animalized or money blinded; a mind willing to labor for the intellectual and moral good of the rising generations--because his principles and sympathies lead him that way, without the expectation of a high salary or official honor. He should possess the energy to execute, the sagacity to foresee difficulties, the courage to meet them and the perseverance to overcome them--the fact to remove prejudice and conciliate friendship--and the skill to baffle opposition and disarm hostility.

Your committee are of opinion that these lands, skillfully and honestly managed, will produce a fund of at least one million of dollars. Two paths are before us: if we enter one we may attract a while the attention of the world by a bustling show. If we take the other, we shall not win a momentary, but a lasting admiration. The foundation of State prosperity and individual happiness will be durable as time, strong as truth. Our political system will have no insidious venom preying upon the springs of life--no gangtene to be separated by the mutilation of the living parts--no convulsion to distort - no paralysis to prostrate.--but all the organs animalized by a healthy vitality, moving and acting together without jar or discord. Respectfully submitted,

JOHN WESTCOTT, Chairman.
{Begin deleted text}THOMAS K. LEONARD{End deleted text},
{Begin deleted text}JAMES E. FARRIOR,{End deleted text}
WM. D. WARD,
JOS. WOODRUFF.

Which was received, and a bill to be entitled an act to dispose of the sixteenth sections to create a common school fund and establish a permanent system of education reported by said committee was read the first time and ordered for to-morrow.

On motion of Mr Waterson seventy five copies of said bill were ordered to be printed....

[ An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera. American Memory -Library of Congress]

Gerrit Smith to President Grant, "with the sublime and christian doctrine that every man is every other man's brother and God the...", Nov. 4th, 1868

GERRIT SMITH TO PRESIDENT GRANT.

Peterboro November 4th 1868.

PRESIDENT GRANT,

Honored and Dear Sir,

Pardon this letter. Pardon my irrepressible impatience to write it. I learn, to-day, that you are made President of the United States: and I cannot wait, even until to-morrow, to say to you what my whole soul urges me to say to you.

Before the Election, your exhortation to your countrymen was: "Let us have Peace!" To this exhortation, as sublime as it is concise, their reply, in the voice of the Election, is also: "Let us have Peace!" What you then asked of them, they now ask of you. What you then called on them to do, they have now put it in your power to do, and now call on you to do.

What, however, is the Peace, which you asked for, and which, in turn, you are asked for? Is it of a superficial and evanescent character? Or is it that deep and enduring Peace, whose foundations are in nothing short of nature and reason, justice and religion? The pride of race, of rank, of wealth has ever stood in the way of realizing this true Peace. The pride of race is by far the greatest of these obstacles, and it is of this one that I would speak to you.

Our New England Fathers brought much religion with them to America. Unhappily, it was more of the Jewish than of the Christian type:--for never was there a people in whom, so much as in the Jews, the pride of race was controlling, contemptuous and cruel. These Fathers saw in the American tribes only another set of heathen: and the laws of the Jews in dealing with their heathen became (more, it is true, in spirit than in letter) the laws for dealing with ours. By these laws the most learned and influential of the New England Divines insisted that the family of even King Philip should be adjudged--of that King Philip, who wept when he heard that an Indian had shed the blood of a white man. The wife of Philip was sold into slavery, and into a foreign land. These Judaized teachers and judges, instead of entering upon the case with human hearts, pored upon the bloodiest pages of the Old Testament; and, instead of imbuing themselves with the spirit of that Blessed One to whom the Samaritan was as dear as the Jew, and in whose religion "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free," set their revenge all ablaze by gazing at the worst examples of revenge.

There has never been a thorough Peace between our white man and our red man. The lack of it is, doubtless, to be traced, more or less, to this mistake of the white man in regarding himself as of the heaven-loved and heaven-favored race, and the red man as of the heaven-hated and heaven-cursed race. Perhaps, we are never to have Peace with our Indians. Perhaps, no however-just treatment of them on our part could avail to regain their confidence. There is but too much reason to fear that this confidence is lost forever; and that, in their utter distrust and undying hatred of us, they will continue to dash themselves against our superior power, until little or nothing shall remain of them. How different from all this would it have been, had we and our ancestors, instead of indulging this pride of race, cordially recognized the equality of all men in the sight of their Common Father!

Even more proudly and cruelly have we borne ourselves toward the black man than toward the red man. Very extensively has the belief obtained amongst us, that the Jewish part of our religion authorized us to make not only "a servant of servants" but property of him, and to strip him as bare of rights as is any kind of property. In that monstrous side of our religion we found, or fancied we found, that God had laid peculiarly heavy curses upon the black man.

Alas, what sorrow has come to our country from the indulgence of this murderous caste-spirit toward the black man! For many generations he has wet with his tears and blood the soil he has tilled. At length, came the War, which was the natural, if not indeed necessary, culmination of our guilty nation's sufferings--a War costing many thousands of millions of dollars and filling several hundred thousands of graves. This War is not yet ended--and, mainly, for the reason that the indulgence of this hatred of race is not yet ended. So rife and so ruling is this hatred, that murder is committed in our nation every day, if not, indeed, every hour.

Because of this hatred between races, how full of bloody contentions, for centuries, was Spain!--and how disastrous to her in all her subsequent history was the final victory of the Spaniard over the Moor! How Greeks and Turks have hated and wasted each other! And how severe and protracted has been the oppression of the Irish because they were Irish instead of English! Until the Irish and English shall know each other as men rather than as Irishmen and Englishmen, there cannot be a sound and permanent Peace between them. The treatment of the Chinese immigrants upon our Western coast comes, also, of this pride of race. How cruel and infamous that treatment!

We, often, hear even men of culture declare that, in a War between their own and another race, they would take the side of their own, be it or be it not the side of justice. How base is such a declaration! On the other hand, how beautiful is the following of justice whithersoever it leads, and the honoring of it in whatever variety or section of our grand common humanity it may be found.

The chief thing for which I took up my pen was to remind you of the deep desire of many hundred thousands, who voted for you, to have your Administration signalized by its cordial recognition of the equal rights of all races of men; by its downright and effective assertion that no man loses rights by being born in a skin of one color instead of another; and by its faithful, warm-hearted and successful endeavors to rid our country of this low and brutal antagonism of races. What your Administration shall be in other respects is of comparatively little consequence. Confident, however, may all be that, if right in this most comprehensive and vital respect, it will be right in every other essential one. No wonder that the Democratic Party was in favor of robbing the Nation's creditors. The Party, that can rob a race of all the rights of manhood, and build and maintain itself on such robbery, is, of course, capable of every other robbery, because every other is infinitely less than this sweeping one. I said that this Party was in favor of robbery--for it is, now, a Party of the past only. It was not killed by the vote of yesterday. It was killed when slavery was killed. In losing slavery, it lost its tap-root--its indispensable nourishment. Its partial resurrection was solely because of the prospect of the re-animation of slavery. The prospect of this re-animation was blighted yesterday; and this Pro-Slavery Democratic Party has, therefore, fallen back into its grave, never again to rise, nor even attempt to rise, from it. Many a "Democratic Party" there may, hereafter, be in our country--but no one of them will be a Pro-Slavery Party, and, therefore, no one of them will be like this Party, which was killed several years ago, and, which lost yesterday all hope of a resurrection. Yesterday's vote has left no room for a Pro-Slavery Party, either now or hereafter. Most emphatically true is this, if the measures and influence of your Administration shall be withering and fatal to the caste-spirit--to that spirit, which, more than all things else, begets and fosters slavery.

Entirely reasonable is the confidence that your Administration, if it maintain the equal rights of all our

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races of men, will not fail of responding to all the essential claims of justice. Of no wrong to the Nation's creditors will it be guilty. For universal suffrage it will be unyielding--not merely because, as the right to life, liberty and property is natural, so participation in the choice of those, at whose official disposal these possessions so largely lie, must also be a natural right; but because all have seen that nothing short of the ballot in the hands of those, who have recently emerged from slavery, can save them from being thrust back into it. The Governments, which President Johnson set up in the South, recognized no political rights in black men: and, straightway, these Governments set to work to re-enslave them. It matters not, as regards my argument, that this new slavery was not literal chattel slavery. It had none of the alleviations incident to chattel-slavery, and was, on the whole, more oppressive and cruel.

In this connexion let me add that, far above all the other good, which will come from the purging of the Nation of this malignant and cruel caste-spirit, will be the removal thereby of the greatest obstacle in the way of the Christ-Religion. For the spirit of this Religion cannot dwell in the bosom that cherishes the hatred of race. And, then, what so much as the spirit of this religion of nature and reason, justice and goodness, prepares the bosom to welcome sound political principles and cultivate sound political sentiments?

I saw, in your letter of August 1863, that you had not, in your early life, made human rights one of your studies. Nevertheless, that, in the high office to which you were chosen yesterday, you will prove yourself to be their enlightened, impartial and successful defender, I cannot doubt. For, like the martyred and immortal Lincoln, you are above the stupidity of not being able to change, and above the weakness of being ashamed to change. Indeed, whilst, in your letter to which I have referred, you say that formerly you had not been "an abolitionist--not even what could be called anti-slavery"-- you do, in the same letter, acknowledge yourself to have advanced so far as to insist on the abolition of slavery, and on there being no Peace, which permits the existence of slavery. Moreover, in another of your letters written in the same month, you reach the altitude of declaring that "Human liberty is the only foundation of human government." Better still is your recent declaration to Mr. Colfax that, in your Presidency, "we shall have the strong arm of the Executive, representing the will and majesty of a mighty people, declaring and insuring to every citizen, black or white, rich or poor, be he humble or exalted, the safeguard of the Nation, and protecting him from every wrong with the shield of our national strength." But, best of all to prove your discernment and appreciation of human rights and your fidelity to them was your acceptance of your nomination and of the righteous principles of the Republican Party. The grandest of all these principles is not No Slavery--but Universal Suffrage:--for the ballot is the mightiest protection of its possessor not only from slavery but from every other wrong. That universal suffrage is one of the principles of the Republican Party is manifest from its being set up in the District of Columbia. Had this Party as clear a Constitutional right to set up in the loyal States, all those States would, also, have been blessed with it. The acting of Congress on the question of suffrage in the disloyal States was under the Law of War--was the exercise of the right of the conqueror.

Nor in your early life did you take the lead in saving a Nation. But, when the time came for you to do so, you did so; and did so successfully, triumphantly. Nor, in early life, had you heard the call to help drive out of your country this mean and murderous antagonism of races. Since then, however, you have heard it, and have been obeying it. And, now, safely can your country rely on your wisdom and justice for what more she needs at your hands. These qualities, so eminent in you, have faithfully and fully met all the claims, which your country has, in quick succession, laid upon you. Not less faithfully and fully will they meet all her remaining claims upon you. And well, too, may she trust that He, who has brought you into the Chief Magistracy "for such a time as this", will both show yon your true work, and give you head, heart and hand to do it.

I cannot forbear saying that no small ground of my rejoicing in your election is your charitable judgment and generous treatment of the South. Warmly did I approve the easy terms on which you allowed General Lee to surrender. Your subsequent Report of the temper of the South, after a too hasty tour through it, showed that you were capable of forming a charitable judgment of even a recent foe. Far too favorable as this Report was thought to be, it, nevertheless, would have been borne out in a high degree, had not these bad men amongst the leaders of the Northern Democracy held back the South from "accepting the situation", and pushed her forward to the indecent and preposterous inversion of claiming for the conquered the right to dictate terms to the conqueror. And how monstrous these terms!--nothing less than that the Nation should again put under the feet of the wicked white men, who had taken up arms to destroy her, the forgiving and magnanimous black men, who had taken up arms to save her! No fear need be entertained that, in your undertakings or measures for peaceable and affectionate relations between the North and the South, you will lay all the blame of our Civil War on the South. Inasmuch as the North is scarcely less responsible than the South for Slavery, you will judge, and rightly too, that she is scarcely less responsible for the War, which grew out of it. Wherever there is a man who, because he became the enemy of his country, was subjected to political disabilities, there is a man whom you would have relieved of them as soon as there is proof that he has again become its friend. But, on the other hand, you will regard no man as the friend of his country, who wars upon his neighbor because that neighbor is of a race different from his own, or because that neighbor stands up for the equal rights of all the races of men.

I close my letter with saying that I like to believe that the Motto of your Administration will be: "A Man's a Man." The spirit of such a Motto pervading our land will make it a land of Peace. The white man and the black man will be at Peace with each other: the North and the South:--and this Peace, because founded in unchangeable nature instead of shifting human expediency,--in the Divine constitution of things instead of human and conventional arrangements, will be a thorough and a permanent Peace. I scarcely need add that the identifying of your Administration with the sublime and christian doctrine of the oneness of the children of men--with the sublime and christian doctrine that every man is every other man's brother and God the Common and Equal Father of them all--will not only make ours the happiest Nation on earth, but will make it to all other Nations a surpassingly grand and influential example of casting down the barriers of race and setting up in their stead the law of impartial justice and the reign of fraternal love.

With the highest respect for your virtues and the deepest gratitude for your services to our beloved country,

GERRIT SMITH.

An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera

Library of Congress - American Memory

Also See:

Biblical Quotes on Arms and Defense

GOD IN AMERICA

Original Intent

Proclamation by the Governor, "and the giving of thanks to the Almighty for the blessings He has bestowed upon us as a people", Trenton, 1878

PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR.

It is expected of the Chief Executive of this State that he should set apart a day to be devoted to family rejoicing and the giving of thanks to the Almighty for the blessings He has bestowed upon us as a people.

With this recurring season we have abundant reason to express our gratitude to the Giver of all good gifts. He has preserved to us the blessings of peace; He has granted to the husbandman in ample measure the fruits of his toil; prosperity has again commenced to smile upon our land; we have mercifully been shielded against the pestilence which has wrought such havoc among our brethren of other States, and we have good cause to thank Him, in their behalf, that the course of the seasons has been interrupted in order to bring their terrible trials to a close.

Deeply feeling our dependence upon our God, I, GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Governor of the State of New Jersey, do hereby designate Thursday, the Twenty-Eighth Day of November, instant, as a day of public Thanksgiving and Praise unto Him for all His past mercies, and of humble prayer for a continuance of His goodness to us.

The good people of this State know that vast numbers of our fellow-citizens--once arrayed in arms against us, but now, through God's mercy, happily reunited with us--have undergone indescribable trials through the ravages of a fatal pestilence. Although the scourge is well-nigh ended, yet its consequences still press with fearful weight upon multitudes of the survivors, and still call for relief and aid beyond the power of their immediate neighbors to afford: Therefore, I suggest that in every Church, in every community of this State, arrangements be made to enable every one, according to his or her means and disposition, to offer on the approaching day of Thanksgiving, as a thank-offering to the Lord for His abundant mercies towards us, and as a pledge of our fraternal love to them, money for the relief of our unfortunate fellow-citizens of the afflicted districts of the South.

Given under my hand and seal, at the Executive Chamber, in the City of Trenton, this eighth day of November, in the [L. S.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, and of the Independence of the United States the One Hundred and Third.

Geo. B. McClellan.

BY THE GOVERNOR: JOHN A. HALL, Private Secretary.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

A PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR FOR A Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer.
The tender mercy and loving kindness which was vouchsafed to our fathers one hundred years ago, an acknowledgment of which induced them, in some special manner, to unitedly make confession of all past transgressions and seek "Divine Guidance" for the future, is a usage so closely connected with our national prosperity, that we, who are in the full enjoyment of the innumerable blessings which have been bequeathed unto us, should recognize the infinite goodness of him who has so mercifully ministered to our wants.

Mindful of this ancient custom, I do, by advice and with the consent of the Council, hereby appoint THURSDAY, THE 13th DAY OF APRIL NEXT, As a day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer; and I earnestly recommend its religious observance throughout the state.

Let us, in public and in private, fervently pray that we may be encircled in the arms of our Heavenly Father, and be directed into paths that will "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;" that we may fully realize that the obligation continually rests upon us to acknowledge our dependence upon the Creator, and to ask of him forgiveness for our manifold sins, and divine help in the present and in the future; that he will bless and preserve our free governments with their republican institutions, to the end that the closing hours of the first century of our national existence may in some degree seem a fitting answer to the prayers of the fathers.
Given at the Council Chamber this the second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, and of the independence of the United States the one hundredth.

L. S.

P. C. CHENEY.

By His Excellency the Governor, with advice of Council:

B. F. PRESCOTT, Secretary of State.

A Proclamation, "In fine, that He would hasten the glorious reign of the Prince of Peace; and establish his Kingdom over all the Nations of the Earth"

Commonwealth of MASSACHUSETTS.

By His EXCELLENCY James Bowdoin, Esq; GOVERNOUR of the Commonwealth of MASSACHUSETTS.

A PROCLAMATION,
For a Day of solemn Humiliation and Prayer.

UPON due consideration of the difficulties and embarrassments, in which this Commonwealth is involved, and of the signal frown of Divine Providence, in permitting a Rebellion to disturb its peace, and bring its safety into hazard: By all which GOD is manifesting his righteous displeasure against us for our many and aggravated transgressions; and does loudly admonish us of the duty of a speedy and universal repentance and reformation: And considering also, that, for the various products of the current year, for success in our honest labours and employments, for direction in our public Councils, for a happy and successful administration of Government, and for every thing necessary to our public and private happiness, we are dependant on that Being, whose providence superintends the Universe:

I have thought fit, at the desire of the two Branches of the Legislature, and with the advice and consent of the Council, to appoint, and do hereby appoint, THURSDAY the twenty-second Day of March next, to be observed as a Day of Solemn Humiliation and Prayer throughout this Commonwealth: hereby calling upon Ministers and People, in a publick and social manner, to humble themselves before Almighty GOD, by a penitent confession of their Sins, accompanied with sincere resolutions of amendment, and followed by real and general reformation: humbly beseeching Him, that He would be graciously pleased to bless the United States in Congress assembled by giving them wisdom, firmness and unanimity, in the conduct and management of our National concerns: That He would bless the Government of this Commonwealth, and direct to the best means of extricating it from its numerous embarrassments; and of speedily restoring to it peace and good order: That for this purpose, He would further succeed, and render effectual, the measures taken for suppressing the present Rebellion; and for bringing the Fomenters and Abettors of it to a sense of their duty, and to a willing submission to Constitutional Government; at the same time expressing their gratitude to the Father of Mercies for the success of those measures; and that so few lives have been lost in obtaining it: That He would give a public and patriotic spirit to persons of every rank and order, especially to such as are in civil authority: That He would endue the people with the spirit of Truth, Harmony and Concord; with a true sense of the value of the Liberties and Privileges they enjoy under our present happy Constitution; and with a disposition to regulate their conduct by the wise principles of it: That He would be pleased to bless our Husbandry, and grant us suitable Seasons for the Fruits of the Earth, and for maturing them in a plentiful harvest: That He would revive and prosper our Trade, Navigation and Fishery; and give success to all our lawful undertakings: That He would continue health to us; and prevent the spreading of any mortal, or contagious sickness: That He would put a stop to the progress of Profaneness and Impiety; and to that great dissoluteness of Manners, which, unless we reform them, threatens us with heavier evils: In fine, that He would hasten the glorious reign of the Prince of Peace; and establish his Kingdom over all the Nations of the Earth.

And I do earnestly recommend that all Labour, and unnecessary Recreation, be suspended on that Day.

Given at the Council Chamber, in BOSTON, the seventeenth Day of February, in the year of our LORD, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty--Seven, and in the Eleventh Year of the Independence of the United States of America.

JAMES BOWDOIN,

By His Excellency's Command, JOHN AVERY, jun. Secretary.

GOD save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

"do solemnly swear on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God"

District of Columbia, County of Washington.

I,..........of..........do solemnly swear on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God, without any mental reservation, that I will at any and all times hereafter, and under all circumstances, yield a hearty and willing support to the Constitution of the United States and to the Government thereof; that I will not, either directly or indirectly, take up arms against said Government, nor aid those now in arms against it; that I will not pass without the Lines now established by the Army of the United States, or hereafter from time to time to be established by said Army, nor hold any correspondence whatsoever with any person or persons beyond said Lines so established by said Army of the United States, during the present rebellion, without permission from the Secretary of War; also, that I will do no act hostile or injurious to the union of the States; that I will give no aid, comfort, or assistance to the enemies of the Government, either domestic or foreign; that I will defend the flag of the United States, and the armies fighting under it, from insult and injury, if in my power so to do; and that I will in all things deport myself as a good and loyal citizen.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this..........day of..........

IN accordance with what has been for centuries the pious custom of this Commonwealth...

State of Connecticut

By His Excellency SIMEON E. BALDWIN GOVERNOR

A Proclamation

IN accordance with what has been for centuries the pious custom of this Commonwealth, I appoint Friday, the fourteenth day of April next, as a day of Fasting and Prayer and I recommend the people to use what thus becomes a legal holiday as, in the original sense of that word, a holy-day, to be especially consecrated to the worship and the service of God.

Given under my hand and the seal of the State, at the Capitol, in Hartford, this twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, and of the independence of the United States, the one hundred and thirty-fifth.

SIMEON E. BALDWIN.

By His Excellency's Command, MATTHEW H. ROGERS, Secretary.

See Also:

God In America

and

God In America II