398 INTRODUCTION. 



It was engraven by nature on the rocks of New England's 

 shore, and the wind whispered its sweet requiems among 

 the boughs of the trees. It was inculcated in the hearts 

 of the patriots of '76, consummated in their blood upon 

 the batte fields of the Revolution, and consecrated in the 

 self-denial, daring courage, manly endurance and long 

 sufferings of the best, the bravest, and most heroic people 

 of any age or time. Because we have the light of the 

 experience of all ages to guide us in the administration of 

 justice, and possess a country peculiarly fitted for defense 

 against outward attack, and a people who are at once 

 magnanimous, brave, intelligent and powerful. 



Yet, with all these advantages there is in existence 

 to-day, a deep-seated feeling of discontent, that, like some 

 contagious disease, is becoming wide-spread throughout 

 the Union, and to such an alarming extent that we may 

 well pause to consider whether it is predicated on a real or 

 imaginary foundation. If from the latter, if it be a fact 

 that there exists no real cause for this growing dissatisfac- 

 tion on the part of the masses, it would long ago have 

 vanished for want of a foundation. 



When, however, we examine the complaints that are 

 constantly coming from all quarters, from among our 

 laboring classes, we are inclined to believe, as we have 

 already intimated, that there is some analogy existing 

 between the condition of our people and that of the 

 French nation prior to the Revolution of 1789. We have 

 corruption in high places. Our trade and commerce 

 is fettered and competition is strangled. We have extor- 

 tion in transportation and communication and the most 

 unjust exactions on all classes of producers. Crime is on 

 the increase and suicides becoming more numerous. Our 

 prisons are filled with criminals, and our alms-houses with 

 paupers. Our houses, barns and fences are decaying, and 

 our churches and school houses remain unrepaired. Every 



