J I) 



to bf ;i 6ort of ovaliou when they 

 could moot aud con^ervji tlio pabiic 

 interest. ]iut the laSt third of a cen- 

 tury has develoj)ed ne« idea« and 

 juethods for tlie public service. In- 

 deed it may be said of ihiss genera- 

 tion as Robert Borns said of the 

 Scotch youth in his day : 



"That beardless liuldies 

 ^1' "'i'^ rliiiik they belf.er were inform'd 



Thau their auld daddies." 



Losiiij^ that patriotic spirit which 

 prompted thoir riohle fathers to 

 the performance of a public ser- 

 vice without a pecuniary reward, 

 they commenced to murmur about 

 the hardships of the public ser- 

 vice without a/7er diem compensation. 

 Nor did they ceatii^ this howl for a 

 paltry sum until they secured the 

 coveted piize. Then of course came 

 taxation in order to raise the funds 

 to meet the demand. It presents, in 

 fact, the odd spectacle of a people 

 tHxing thenoselves that they might 

 get it back in a draft upon the coun- 

 ty treasury. It is the necessity of 

 this self imposed new order of things 

 that makes the difference between 

 the taxes of the prese/)t and sixty 

 two years ago. It has created and 

 fostered a mercenary spirit in the 

 conduct of all public affairs, tlian 

 whicii there is no i^reater bane to all 

 civil and political purity. This mer-j 

 cepaVy spirit is a poison that works j 

 imperoepiibly but none the less sure- 1 

 \ ly. It h :s coHt kii'.gs their crowns: 

 .; and rep'iblics their liberty and per- i 

 1 liPtnitv. ft. is especially insidio\is in 



public affairs, and there can be little 

 doubt that it has been a potent agent 

 in weakening public virtue. It has, 

 indeed, been a fruitful source of the 

 perjury and bribery lh.it now disgra- 

 ces our civilization — that corrupts 

 our public otficials — that defeats th- 

 adniinislration of justice and threat- 

 ens the pormaneucy of our noble prin- 

 ciples of government. It had its be- 

 ginning in little matters but has 

 grown to dangerous proportions, an<l 

 lh<^ end is not yet. Perhaps the rea- 

 der will <Mnsider this an unpardona- 

 ble digression. While I admit that 

 it is not ■narrfitioe I claim that it is 

 nevertheless hiatorji and as such com- 

 mends itself to the sober considera- 

 tion of all. 



l,.ittlo as mankind may tidnk ahou'. 

 it one generation impresses itself up- 

 on another. And singularly enough, 

 the further removed, as a general 

 rule, each generation is from the 

 original stock the feebler becomes the 

 imiM-cssion of the original type. This 

 is the history of nations and com- 

 monwealths. I mean this to apply, 

 not to mere condili()n«« of luxury and 

 style under which lie a vast amomit 

 of moral obliquity, but to those no- 

 bler traits of heart and brain which 

 constitute real worth of character 

 and qualify men to beai up the pil- 

 lars ot goOil government and a sound 

 public morality. Let the candid rea- 

 der compare the prevalent disincli- 

 nation of the populace of to-day to 

 perform any public service only from 

 mercenary considerations — the gen- 



