“There is a community in mankind’s destiny”—­that was the greeting which I read on the arch of welcome on the Capitol Hill of Massachusetts.  I pray to God, the Republic of America would weigh the eternal truth of those words, and act accordingly; liberty in America would then be sure to the end of time; but if you say, “American Liberty,” and take that grammar for your policy, I dare to say the time will yet come when humanity will have to mourn a new proof of the ancient truth, that without community national freedom is never sure.

However, the cradle of American Liberty is not only famous from the reputation of having been always on the lists of the most powerful eloquence; it is still more conspicuous for having seen that eloquence attended by practical success.  To understand the mystery of this rare circumstance one must see the people of New England, and especially the people of Massachusetts.

In what I have seen of New England there are two things, the evidence of which strikes the observer at every step—­prosperity and intelligence.  I have seen thousands assembled, following the noble impulses of a generous heart:  almost the entire population of every town, of every village where I passed, gathered around me, throwing flowers of consolation on my path.  I have seen not a single man bearing that mark of poverty upon himself which in old Europe strikes the eye sadly at every step.  I have seen no ragged poor—­have seen not a single house bearing the appearance of desolated poverty.  The cheerfulness of a comfortable condition, the result of industry, spreads over the land.  One sees at a glance that the people work assiduously, not with the depressing thought just to get through the cares of a miserable life from day to day by hard toil, but they work with the cheerful consciousness of substantial happiness.  And the second thing which I could not fail to remark, is the stamp of intelligence impressed upon the very eyes and outward appearance of the people at large.  I and my companions have seen them in the factories, in the workshops, in their houses, and in the streets, and could not fail a thousand times to think “how intelligent this people looks.”  It is to such a people that the orators of Faneuil Hall had to speak, and therein is the mystery of success.  They were not wiser than the public spirit of their audience, but they were the eloquent interpreters of the people’s enlightened instinct.

No man can force the harp of his own individuality into the people’s heart, but every man may play upon the chords of his people’s heart, who draws his inspiration from the people’s instinct.  Well, I thank God for having seen the public spirit of the people of Massachusetts, bestowing its attention on the cause I plead, and pronouncing its verdict.  In respect to the question of national intervention, his Excellency the high-minded Governor of Massachusetts wrote a memorable address to the Legislature; the