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SugarmanHB latest b1b_HB.qxd 11/01/2016 13:06 Page 1
Martin Sugarman was born and
educated in Hackney and is a gradu-
ate of Bristol University. Now
retired, he was Examinations Officer
at Westminster Kingsway College,
and taught for twenty-four years as a
Senior Teacher in secondary schools
in Bristol and London. He is the
Archivist at the Association of
Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women
(AJEX) Military Museum. He is
also the author of Fighting Back:
British Jewry’s Military Contribution
in the Second World War (Vallentine
Mitchell, 2010), with Henry Morris,
We Will Remember Them: A Record
of the Jews Who Died in the Armed
Forces of the Crown from 1939
(Vallentine Mitchell, 2011), and
Under the Heel of the Bushido: Last
Voices of the Jewish POWs of the
Japanese in the Second World War
(Vallentine Mitchell, 2014). Martin
is currently researching a new book
on Jewish service in the Merchant
Navy in the Second World War.
Jacket images:
Front: Fireman Henry/Isidore Cohen
talking to Churchill during the Blitz
in the film 1940; A Reminiscence,
made by the BBC in 1965.
Back: Harry Errington on the AJEX
Parade in the 1990s with his GC.
JEWISH PARTICIPATION
Told here for the first time is the account
of the essential part played by Jewish
in the Second World War
Jewish Par ticipation in the Fire Ser vice
IN THE FIRE SERVICE IN THE
personnel in the Fire Brigade in the
Second World War.
Although this should have been written
SECOND WORLD WAR
many years ago when more of the veterans
were alive to tell their tales of daring,
effort and suffering, the author has cap-
Last Voices
tured through archival material, books
and some personal ‘Last Voice’ interviews,
part of this extraordinary contribution.
The book includes numerous photographs
donated by families and never before
published.
This book is a fitting tribute to one section of the British population that volunteered in Ever civic-minded, Jews from all social
large numbers for the fire service … The Jewish firefighters … They suffered more than backgrounds volunteered, even before
their share of casualties as well … not only did they face the dangers from German war broke out, to be trained for dealing
bombs, but they faced anti-Semitic prejudice … defending their homes and districts from with the expected mass bombing of cities
a regime bent on the destruction of European Jewry … as ordinary citizens with a strong by the Germans. Those too old or unfit
for the military stayed on, but when war
sense of community.
came, by 1940–41 many younger Jewish
Professor Richard Overy, University of Exeter
men and women were of course called to
the colours in the armed services.
It is a great pleasure to read these compelling stories of the Jewish men and women of
This still left, however, a considerable
the Fire Brigade … Martin Sugarman’s research has been long and thorough, and the bulk of Jewish firefighters who played a
characters he mentions come alive in these pages. major role in the civil defence of Britain.
Ron Dobson, London Fire Commissioner Some won bravery awards including the
only George Cross awarded to a member
The firefighters of the Second World War were … marginalised and with the passage of of the London Fire Brigade, won by
time forgotten. The Jewish contribution to their remarkable persistence in standing up to Jewish fireman Harry Errington. This is
Hitler has also been lost in the mists of time. This book by Martin Sugarman therefore
the highest civilian award for bravery,
reclaims them for the twenty-first century reader. It documents their bravery … They did
ranking alongside the military’s Victoria
not stand aside.
Cross. Many gave their lives: this is
their story.
Professor Colin Shindler, SOAS, University of London
The book celebrates Jewish firefighters who came from all walks of life … and not only
had to face the same dangers that other firefighters faced but also had to contend with
fascism … It’s both remarkable and inspirational that Martin Sugarman outlines tale
after tale. As the world moves forward to face its new threats from terrorism, we must
SUGARMAN
never forget some of these lessons from the past … we really do need reminders like
MARTIN
Martin’s stories.
Steve McGuirk, CFO Manchester Fire Service
MARTIN SUGARMAN
VA L L E N T I N E M I T C H E L L ISBN 978 1 910383 07 0
Catalyst House 920 NE 58th Avenue
720 Centennial Court Suite 300
Centennial Park Portland
Elstree WD6 3SY, UK OR 97213-3786, USA
Forewords by
Professor Richard Overy and Professor Colin Shindler
VALLENTINE
MITCHELL www.vmbooks.com VALLENTINE
MITCHELL ISBN 978 1 910383 07 0
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page i

JEWISH PARTICIPATION IN THE FIRE SERVICE

IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR : LAST VOICES
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page ii

Also by Martin Sugarman

Fighting Back: British Jewry’s Military Contribution in the

Second World War
Under the Heel of Bushido: Last Voices of the Jewish POWs of the
Japanese in the Second World War
We Will Remember Them: A Record of the Jews Who Died in the
Armed Forces of the Crown from 1939 (with Henry Morris)
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page iii

Jewish Participation
in the Fire Service
in the Second
World War
Last Voices

MARTIN SUGARMAN

VALLENTIN E MITCH EL L
LONDON • PORTLAND, OR
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page iv

First published in 2016 by Vallentine Mitchell

Catalyst House, 920 NE 58th Avenue, Suite 300
720 Centennial Court, Centennial Park, Portland, Oregon,
Elstree WD6 3SY, UK 97213-3786 USA

www.vmbooks.com
Copyright © 2016 Martin Sugarman

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:

An entry can be found on request

ISBN 978 1 910383 07 0 (cloth)

ISBN 978 1 910383 08 7 (ebook)

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

An entry can be found on request

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, reading or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Vallentine Mitchell & Co. Ltd.

Printed by Clays Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk

00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page v

I dedicate this book to my Jewish history mentor,

Sir Martin Gilbert, to whom we all owe so much.
1936–2015

And to all those Jewish members of the Fire Service and

other Auxiliary Civil Defence Services, and all those of all
faiths and none, who gave their lives in defence of the UK
in the Second World War
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page vi

‘For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and
there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of
Israel, throughout all their journeys.’
Exodus XL 38

‘The Fire Service were the forgotten front line fighters … heroes
with grimey faces.’
Winston Churchill
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page vii

Contents

List of Plates ix
Dedications xvii
Forewords and Messages xviii
Prologue by Martin Sugarman xxvi
Acknowledgements xxviii
List of Abbreviations xxxi

Introduction by Stephanie Maltman and Martin Sugarman 1

Roll of Honour 13

THE TESTIMONIES
1. Bergit Braach 45
2. Sam Chauveau 47
3. Leonard Clements 55
4. Harry Errington/Ehrengott, GC 57
5. Sidney Gabriel 67
6. Hyman Gilbert 69
7. Joe Gilbert 71
8. Manny Gold 73
9. Samuel Guttenberg/Godfrey 77
10. Sidney Hart/Hartz 83
11. Martin Hichberger 85
12. Renee Hurst née Gordon 87
13. Margaret ‘Peggy’ Jacobs née Joseph, BEM 89
14. Eric Kaufmann 93
15. Sylvia Kay(e) 95
16. Jack Krisman 97
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viii Jewish Participation in the Fire Service in the Second World War

17. Noel Landau, BEM 101

18. Leslie Leveson 105
19. Ben Levinson 107
20. Albert ‘Bert’ Levy 109
21. Renee Malin née Titton 113
22. Leonard Marks 115
23. Hyman Mesnick 117
24. Marie Morris née Garcia 125
25. Ruth Myers née Carne 127
26. Andrew Nunes Nabarro, GM 129
27. Abraham ‘Alf ’ Nathan 131
28. Morris Nathan 133
29. Rudolf Peierls 135
30. Charles Poulsen/Paulsen 137
31. Lou Sherman 149
32. Reuben Wilner 153

Short Stories 157

Epilogue by Charles Poulsen 181
Record of Honour 185
The Parliamentary Documents 321
Some of those who Served 325

Appendix 1: A Note on Other Fire Units 387

Appendix 2: Aspects of Anti-Semitism 389
Appendix 3: Attitudes to Aliens 393

Selected Bibliography 395

Index 397
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page ix

Plates

1. Grave of Firewatcher Eric Aron.

2. Grave of Fireman Solomon Belinsky.
3. Fire Brigade Registration Card of George Leslie Cohen.
4. Jewish Chronicle article describing the death of George Leslie
Cohen.
5. Fire Brigade Registration Card of Jacob Woolf Corby.
6. Israel Deutch, AFS.
7. Grave of Israel Deutch.
8. Fireman Hyman Feldman.
9. Grave of Firewatcher Philip Freeman.
10. Advert in The Jewish Telegraph (May 2013), seeking information
about the family of Philip Freeman of Leeds.
11. The Gevelb cousins.
12. The war memorial at the corner of High Street and Cline Avenue,
Shanklin, Isle of Wight.
13. Jewish Chronicle,12 March 1943, reporting the death of David
Cohen and Harry Glantzspigel.
14. The tribute from Harry Glantzspigel’s Fire Brigade comrades at
Marlow Road Cemetery.
15. The original grave register entry for G.E. Goldsmith.
16. Fireman Barnet Greenberg.
17. Copy of Barnet Greenberg’s Fire Brigade enrolment form.
18. One of Barnet Greenberg’s referee letters.
19. Letter of condolence sent by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer to
Barnet Greenberg’s mother in June 1941.
20. Grave of Fireman Joseph Greenberg.
21. Grave of Firewatcher Nat Greenberg.
22. Firewatcher Jacob Heiser.
23. Fireman David Lattner.
24. Memorial for Fireman David Lattner.
25. Certificate of Disposal (of a body) of Jewish Firewatcher Samuel
Levy of Bristol.
26. Grave of Firewatcher Hetty Lewin.
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x Jewish Participation in the Fire Service in the Second World War

27. The 2003 unveiling of the plaque in memory of Fireman

Abraham Lewis.
28. Abraham Lewis.
29. Abraham Lewis and Hyman Benstock.
30. Talia Fox with the Star of David poppy wreath she laid in
memory of her great grandfather Abraham Lewis/Bookatz, , at
the Fire Brigade memorial in September 2008.
31. Memorial to Samuel Libbert.
32. JC article about the death of Samuel Libbert.
33. Memorial to Samuel Libbert.
34. Grave of Alexander Paul.
35. Grave of Fireman Pizer Pearl.
36. Grave of Fireman Manuel Rabinowitz.
37. The forlorn marker in place of the disintegrated headstone of
Firewatcher Max Randal.
38. Memorial to Fireman Alexander Schooler.
39. Fireman Alexander Schooler.
40. Grave of Helen Sussman.
41. Firewoman Bergit Braach, later Forchhammer.
42. Firewoman Bergit Braach, later Forchhammer.
43. Station Commander Sam Chauveau.
44. Sam Chauveau in 1996 unveiling the Fireman Memorial at the
Stock Exchange Building in the City of London.
45. The Sam Chauveau Room at the London Fire Brigade Museum
in Southwark.
46. Leonard Clements.
47. Harry Errington/Ehrengott GC.
48. Harry Errington on the AJEX Parade in the 1990s with his GC.
49. Harry Errington at the Soho Fire Station on his 90th birthday in
2000.
50. Grave of Harry Errington.
51. The entire squad of the Rathbone Place sub-station.
52. The site of Jackson and Allum garage at 7–9 Rathbone Street,
W1, as it looks in 2015.
53. Harry Errington at his 90th birthday party at Soho Fire Station
in 2000.
54. Harry Errington’s George Cross citation in the London Gazette,
5 August 1941.
55. Fireman Manny Gold.
56. Fireman Manny Gold, Standing left.
57. Fireman Manny Gold, at Royal Academy.
58. Fireman Sam Guttenberg aka Godfrey.
59. Station Officer Sidney Hart/Hartz, 3rd left, sitting.
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page xi

Plates xi

60. Station Officer Sidney Hart Hartz.

61. Fireman Heinz Martin Hichberger.
62. Firewoman Margaret ‘Peggy’ Jacobs, BEM.
63. Eric Kaufman.
64. Eric Kaufman.
65. Jack Noah Krisman.
66. Fire Station Commandant Noel Landau, BEM.
67. Fire Station Commandant Noel Landau.
68. JC article about Noel Landau and photo.
69. Leading Fireman Leslie Leveson’s Fireman and Civil Defence
card issued in 1939.
70. Leading Fireman Leslie Leveson.
71. Firewoman Renee Titton.
72. Renee Titton.
73. Renee Titton.
74. Leonard Jonas Marks
75. Firewoman Maria Garcia later Morris.
76. Firewoman Ruth Carne.
77. Firewoman Ruth Carne as the then married Mrs Myers.
78. Leading Fireman Andrew Nunes Nabarro, George Medal,
Portsmouth; painting by Bernard Hailstone.
79. Nabarro’s photo and mention in The War Illustrated, 10 October
1941.
80. Abraham ‘Alf ’ Nathan.
81. Professor Rudolf Peierls.
82. Charles Poulsen.
83. Fireman (Sir) Lou Sherman.
84. Reuben Wilner.
85. Frederick Abdela.
86. Firewatcher Richard Abraham.
87. Leonard Eliezer Abrahams.
88. Max Abrahams.
89. Fireman David Adams.
90. Alfred Adler.
91. Alfred Adler.
92. Harold (Harry) Barnett.
93. Hyman Benstock.
94. Charles Berg and Fireman Lewis Orinsky aka Ormsby.
95. Nathan Bernard Berg.
96. Firewatcher Dr Walter Berlin.
97. Woolf Bernstein.
98. Woolf Bernstein.
99. Leon Blumenkehl.
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xii Jewish Participation in the Fire Service in the Second World War

100. Leon Blumenkehl’s Fire Brigade Union Card.

101. Leon Blumenkehl’s Certificate of Service with the NFS.
102. Nathan Borenstein aka Renn.
103. Firewoman Doris Bluston.
104. JC article describing Fireman Solomon Bogush’s Commendation
for Gallantry.
105. Arnold Brewer.
106. Firewatcher Irmgard Broniatowski, née Fruchtzweig.
107. Gustav Bunzl.
108. Gustav Bunzl.
109. Rare copy of an apologetic letter to Gustav Bunzl from his Acting
Station Officer in Cheltenham.
110. Jack Clifford aka Jacob Cohen.
111. Fireman Harry Cohen.
112. Henry/Isidore Cohen, later Henry Coe.
113. Henry/Isidore Cohen.
114. Henry/Isidore Cohen.
115. Fireman Henry/Isidore Cohen talking to Churchill during the
Blitz in the film 1940; A Reminiscience.
116. Fireman Lew Cohen.
117. Mendel Cohen.
118. Sgt Tony Copitch.
119. Jack Cramer.
120. Fireman Harry Denton.
121. Fireman Alec Deutch.
122. Firewoman Sylvia Dloogatz/Douglas, later Kaye, Northampton
AFS.
123. Sylvia Dooglatz.
124. Sylvia Dooglatz.
125. Sylvia Dooglatz.
126. Despatch Rider Firewoman Renee Donn aka Glambotsky.
127. Renee Donn.
128. Renee Donn.
129. David Louis Ellis.
130. David Ellis.
131. David Ellis.
132. Sidney Enlander.
133. Philip Evans aka Even.
134. Steffi Fabian, later Elias.
135. Steffi Fabian’s German membership card of the Hamburg Jewish
Cultural Society.
136. The Kindertransport identity document for refugee and later
Firewatcher, Daniel Falkson.
137. Firewatcher Hans Nathan Feld.
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page xiii

Plates xiii

138. Rae and Larry Feldman.

139. Firewoman Betty/Betsy Fine aka Rubens.
140. Fireman Max Fox and his five serving brothers.
141. Fireman Clarence Colman ‘Frank’ Franklin.
142. Louis Franks.
143. Firewoman Libby Frumkin/Sacks.
144. Firewoman Zelda Gatoff, Newcastle.
145. Barnett ‘Benny’ Glass.
146. Alfred Bernard Gold.
147. Samuel Goldberg.
148. Barnett ‘Barney’ Grant.
149. Firewoman Gertie ‘Gerry’ Grant.
150. Fireman Philip Grossman.
151. Lawrence Isaac Halon.
152. JC article about the double BEM awards to Harris and Davis in
early 1941.
153. Section Officer Fireman Harry Harris BEM.
154. Firewoman H. Harris, London.
155. Section Leader Oscar Edward Harris.
156. Mick ‘Michael Isaac’ Hart.
157. Henry ‘Harry’ Hart.
158. Firewatcher Georg Heim with grandson John Francken.
159. William Heiser/Hayes.
160. Philip Jacobs AFS.
161. Fireman Arthur Wolfe Joseph.
162. Leslie Kalisky.
163. Izzy ‘George’ Kaufman.
164. Nathaniel Kaufman.
165. Adolphus ‘Alf ’ Kay.
166. Joe Kerbel.
167. Eva Evans later Klopstock.
168. Eva Evans.
169. Jack Jacob Korn.
170. Fireman Phillip ‘Philli’ Kruyer.
171. Firewoman and telephonist Nita Krotosky/Greene.
172. Benjamin Lakumsky-Isaac, later Lakum.
173. Samuel Lang in Hull.
174. Samuel Lang.
175. Fireman Myer ‘Mick’ Levy.
176. Fireman David Lipman’s various Fire Brigade documents.
177. Barney and David Lipman.
178. Sketch of West Hampstead Fire Sub-Station by Jewish Firewoman
artist, Julia Lowenthal.
179. Fireman Joshua Manches.
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page xiv

xiv Jewish Participation in the Fire Service in the Second World War

180. Fireman A. Marks.

181. Judith Marks aka Shaw.
182. Fireman Solomon Marks.
183. Fireman Bernard Martin.
184. Fireman Leslie Martin.
185. Fireman Leslie Miller.
186. Fireman Louis Moont with wife Joyce.
187. Louis Moont.
188. Louis Moont.
189. Manuel Nadell.
190. Edward Natali.
191. The Nissenthal family 1942–43.
192. Lewis Nyman.
193. Jack Oliver.
194. Simon Ososky/Osbourne.
195. Eric Palmer.
196. Phyllis Peters.
197. Firewoman Hazel Pearl.
198. Alexander ‘Sunny’ Pinner.
199. Manfred Plaut.
200. Jack Pollins.
201/202 Jack Pollins, Hyman Benstock and S. Temple, with signed back
of photograph
203. Myer Pollins.
204. Myer Pollins and Michael Kay.
205. Firewatcher Peter Prager.
206. Jack Press.
207. Barney Prever aka Brifor.
208. Barney Prever.
209. Discharge through injury/illness certificate of 199939 Driver/
Fireman Jack Press aka Meyer Isaac Prachzker.
210. Doris Rath later Moritz.
211. Driver/Fireman Morris Rosenberg.
212. Jewish Firefighter Michelle Kent and her grandfather, Second
World War Fireman Joseph Sack.
213. Firewoman Clare Elizabeth Salaman.
214. Fireman Michael Sampson with brother Julius.
215. Solomon Samuel.
216. Siblings Bert Segal AFS, Beulah Segal AFS and then WAAF; and
Robin (Bob) Segal AFS to Army.
217. Louis Serota.
218. Philip Shalet, first left in back row.
219. David Shank.
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Plates xv

220. First World War medals of Moshe Shertasky aka Sherrick.

221. Jack (Jacob) Joseph Shiman.
222. Jack Silver.
223. Reuben Sloan.
224. Noah (Norman) Simmons.
225. Esther Spiro, later Black.
226. Esther Spiro.
227. Fire Guard Phil Solomon aka Akivah ‘Keeva’ Patronovski with
his son Leo.
228. City Alderman and Fire Guard organizer Woolf Solomon BEM.
229. Sylvia Spicker.
230. Isaac Speck.
231. Firewoman Eva Charlotte Sternheim aka Sternham.
232 Philip Maurice Stone with his wife.
233. Philip Maurice Stone.
234. Fireman Albert Tisman.
235. London Fireman Reuben Waxman.
236. Reuben Waxman.
237. Michael Visokle aka West.
238. Fireman brothers Nathan and Morris Weinstein.
239. Fireman Leslie Wilson.
240. David Winston.
241. Moses ‘Michael’ Zetter.
242. Derrick David Zimmerman.
243. Moses ‘Michael’ Zetter.
244. Fireguards, many Jewish, at the factory of David Matz in
Manchester.
245. Tyson Street station, Manchester: Solly Lieberman, Mendel
Wander and Louis Parretsky aka Parry.
246. Morris Goldstone and Arthur Geller.
247. Morris Goldstone.
248. Sonny Goodman.
249. Judd Goldberg.
250. Queen’s Road sub-station, Manchester: Leslie Peters, Moe
Waxman and Solly Guise.
251. Judd Goldberg.
252. Queen’s Road sub-station 1940: Leslie Peters and Solly Guise.
253. Harold Basil Glaskie.
254. Whitechapel Fire Station Commercial Rd, E1.
255. The Jewish Fire Brigade at the Fohrenwald DP camp, Germany
1945–46.
256. Jewish members of the various Civil Defence branches at the
Great Synagogue Duke Street.
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xvi Jewish Participation in the Fire Service in the Second World War

257. Hendon Fire station with Phyllis Miller, Enid Harris/Perez, Olga
Charnie and Dianne Leapman.
258. Firewoman Enid Harris said this Fireman at Hendon station was
Jewish but could not recall his name.
259. A reunion of Jewish Firewomen at Sinclair House in Redbridge,
on 13 January 2008.
260. Sylvia Dorff/Beer.
261. Ilford Recorder, 17 January 2008, about the reunion of Firewomen.
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page xvii

Dedications

The author wishes to sincerely thank The John S. Cohen Foundation

for their generous support, without which the publication of this book
would not have been possible; and remembering their relative, Fireman
Israel Meyer Noble, who was wounded in action during the Second
World War.

Also, David Glass, remembering Fireman Ben (Barnett) Glass

The author also sincerely thanks the following individual donors, who
gave generously in the name of their relatives who were Jewish
personnel in the Fire Service in the Second World War:

Elizabeth Aram, remembering Gustav Bunzl

Alan and Shirley Brown, remembering Jack Silver and David Latner
Bernard Chaplin, remembering Sidney Chaplin and Jacob
Cohen/Clifford
Carl Goldberg, remembering Julius Goldberg
Dr Anthony Joseph, remembering Arthur Wolfe Joseph
Alan Klein, remembering Sidney Klein
Robert Landau, remembering Noel Landau, BEM
Michael Leaver, on behalf of The Firefighters Memorial Trust and The
Worshipful Company of Firefighters
Georgina Marks and Derek Marks, remembering Jonas Leonard Marks
Barbara Newman and Sylvia Powell, remembering Morris Rosenberg
Esther and Richard Savinson, OBE, remembering Solomon Samuel
Dr Philip Wander and Daniel Wander, remembering Mendel Wander
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page xviii

Foreword by Richard Overy

It is a remarkable fact that the sacrifices made by the civilian population

of Britain’s cities during the Second World War under the hail of enemy
bombs has never been fully acknowledged among the many national
memorials to servicemen and servicewomen, even to the animals used
in war. Yet the millions of men, women, boys and girls who volunteered
to help Britain’s civil defence effort ran exceptional risks and faced ex-
traordinary hazards as they fought on the home front against the grim
effects of city-bombing.
Perhaps the most challenging and dangerous of those occupations
was the work of the fire services. The regular firemen, organized in
local brigades, were too few to cope with the expected bombing if war
broke out and their work was supplemented by an Auxiliary Fire Serv-
ice set up in 1938. From 5,000 full-time firemen in 1937 the fire serv-
ices expanded to 225,000 by the height of the Blitz in 1940, of whom
193,000 were volunteers in the AFS. This vast army of civilian volun-
teers knew the dangers they faced, but they fought with a remarkable
bravery against the devastating fires, often under fire from the hail of
high-explosive and incendiary bombs. Without them, the consequences
of the bombing in lost lives and burned out buildings would have been
very much greater than it was.
This book is a fitting tribute to one section of the British population
that volunteered in large numbers for the fire service, both full-time and
as part-timers. The Jewish firefighters were over-represented in the fire
service of the capital, and played their part in other blitzed cities as well.
In London they came forward to protect the districts they lived in in
the East End – one of the main targets of German bombers – and in the
north-west boroughs. They suffered more than their share of casualties
as well, with 32 dead firefighters in London. Others were invalided out
of the service or spent months recovering from horrific injuries or from
pneumonia contracted in soaking uniforms on freezing winter nights.
The testimonies and stories reproduced here show that the con-
struction of a ‘Blitz spirit’ was not a straightforward one. Jewish vol-
unteers were subject to casual anti-Semitism from their non-Jewish
00-0Prelims_Layout 1 1/6/2016 5:46 PM Page xix

Foreword by Richard Overy xix

colleagues, and sometimes overt hostility from those regular firemen

who supported Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts. Before the Blitz started,
there was often hostility from the wider public to the idea that men
were sheltering from military service by opting for fire-fighting. Jewish
men and women faced a double jeopardy in the fire service: not only
did they face the dangers from German bombs, but they faced anti-Se-
mitic prejudice from a public that was supposed to be fighting against
Hitler’s anti-Semitic Germany. The same hostility was shown to paci-
fists who joined the fire service as conscientious objectors. But once the
bombing began, it was evident to the public that the firemen and fire-
women were not shirkers at all but undertook the most arduous job
there was to do on the home front. Whether Jews, ‘aliens’ or pacifists,
prejudice slowly evaporated in the common endeavor of civil defence.
Many of the descriptions from the survivors make clear just how
difficult the work of a fireman was. Holding a heavy hose that threat-
ened all the time to tear away from your grip, surrounded by falling
masonry and the crackling flames, listening out for the noise of a bomb
descending close by, it is difficult to imagine a more dangerous envi-
ronment. All the time the firemen coped with exhaustion, soaking wet
uniforms, short of food and hot drinks, sometimes short of decent uni-
forms, and seldom allowed the full time off they were supposed to get.
The testimonies here show examples of supreme bravery, but all of
those who took part over the four years during which bombs (and later
on V1s and V2s) fell on British cities displayed exceptional courage and
endurance. It is clear from these accounts that the experience was re-
membered afterwards with the intensity it deserved.
There has long been a view of Britain’s war effort as a ‘People’s War’
in which a democratic society was tested as a whole and not just on the
battlefield. There is a fundamental truth in this. The men and women
whose stories make up this volume were ordinary people who would
never have expected in their civilian lives to find themselves one day
manning hoses or emergency telephones or fire tenders under a hail of
bombs, or dragging bodies, alive and dead, from flaming buildings. The
Jewish firefighters were defending their homes and districts from a
regime bent on the destruction of European Jewry and they were doing
so as ordinary citizens with a strong sense of community. Fighting back
was difficult in the context of German-occupied Europe, but for the Jews
who volunteered to combat the bombs, there was a way of fighting back.
Despite the initial obstacles of prejudice and distrust, the Jewish fire-
fighters were also fighting for a more democratic and tolerant Britain.

Richard Overy,
Professor of History, University of Exeter
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Foreword by Colin Shindler

The firefighters of Irish heritage during the 9/11 attack on New York
were lauded for their courage and resilience. The tragedy drew public
attention to the Irish tradition of serving in the New York City Fire
Department – to save the lives of others at the risk of their own. It was
important to commemorate their action and sacrifice in September
2001.
These men and women were the descendants of immigrants who
had fled the potato famine of the 1840s – the Great Hunger – and
crossed the ocean in search of a better life. Many found it – as did their
Jewish brothers and sisters – in New York. The firefighters of 2001
acted as they did because they were defending their city and helping
their fellow citizens.
Over three quarters of a century ago, another community of
immigrants rallied to the defence of their city. The Jews of London’s
East End knew that Hitler’s bombs were not only directed at them and
their families but at their city and at their neighbours. They served in
disproportionate numbers in the broad civil defence movement – and
often as firefighters and firewatchers. From the Battle of Britain
through the Blitz to the dropping of V1s and V2s in 1944–45, the Jews
of Whitechapel and Aldgate confronted the Nazis who had vowed to
ignite London and break the will of the people.
British Jews understood only too well the threat of an imminent
German invasion, following the retreat from Dunkirk and the onset of
the Battle of Britain. The conflict between two major European powers
was being transformed into a war of survival for the Jews.
Heydrich’s appointee, Dr. Franz Six, was charged with the creation
of six einsatzgruppen to be located in London, Manchester,
Birmingham, Bristol, and Liverpool to deal with the Jews of England
and Wales and one unit either in Edinburgh or in Glasgow, responsible
for the Jews of Scotland. A Jewish Chronicle editorial summed up the
fear and the determination of British Jews during the summer of 1940.
At this critical hour for mankind, let every Jew and Jewess utter a
solemn vow that, come what may and whatever the trials in store, they
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Foreword by Colin Shindler xxi

will stand body and soul by Britain, giving all that they have, never
despairing, determined that so far as they can achieve it, the crowning
disaster of a desolate world under the heel of a cruel and remorseless
master shall not be.
The rush to fight Hitler on the Home Front by putting out fires and
rescuing the survivors from their destroyed homes was therefore central
and not peripheral. It was more than a sudden responsibility. Older
Jews – many of whom had immigrated from Russia and Poland – had
watched the zeppelins over London during the First World War and
bore witness to the destruction that they wreaked. The age of air travel
had spawned the war against civilians.
Older Jews who were unable to join the armed forces therefore
volunteered for the Fire Service where they could make a contribution
to defeating Nazism. Some worked down the (Petticoat) Lane on the
stalls, others had their businesses in the area.
According to the 1931 census, 330,000 Jews lived in Britain – of
whom about a third lived in London’s East End. The rise of
homegrown fascism under the leadership of Oswald Mosley persuaded
many Jews to join the Communist party because it was viewed as
activist and determined to stand up to the acolytes of Hitler. Their
Jewishness was often defined by a rejection of anglicisation and
assimilation. They did not warm to the luminaries of Anglo-Jewry such
as Sir Basil Henriques and Lord Bearstead who advised them to become
‘Englishmen of the Jewish persuasion’. Following the battle of Cable
Street in 1936, the East End of London became a bastion of the
Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Indeed it is estimated that
approximately ten percent of Britons who fought in the international
brigades in Spain were Jewish, yet Jews were only just over one half of
one per cent of the population. The hypnotic embrace of Communism
was broken by the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, but for those who
remained in the CPGB, many joined the Fire Service once Hitler had
turned against Stalin and invaded the USSR in 1941.
Yet the Fire Service was also a microcosm of British society – and it
also reflected anti-Semitism within Britain. The struggle against Hitler
was not perceived generally as a struggle against anti-Semitism but
primarily as one for the security of the country and the freedom of its
people. As Chamberlain, himself, remarked after Kristallnacht: ‘No
doubt the Jews aren’t a lovable people: I don’t care about them myself,
but that is not sufficient to explain the pogrom’. Some in the Fire
Service found a scapegoat in ‘foreign Jews’ due to the unemployment,
hunger and injustices of the 1930s. Others – particularly those who had
seen service in the armed forces – had never met a Jew before and their
views were coloured by historic stereotypes. Yet the struggle against
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xxii Jewish Participation in the Fire Service in the Second World War

Nazism and the common suffering – Hitler’s bombs did not distinguish
between Jew and non-Jew – bridged the gap.
The firefighters of the Second World War were regarded as neither
civilians nor members of the armed forces – and their story, unlike their
present-day Irish-American counterparts, has been marginalised and
with the passage of time forgotten. The Jewish contribution to their
remarkable persistence in standing up to Hitler has also been lost in
the mists of time. This book by Martin Sugarman therefore reclaims
them for the twenty-first century reader. It documents their bravery
and their stories during the Second World War. It reclaims those who
perished from the anonymity of the grave and restores them to their
rightful place in history.
It is clear that for the author of this work, this is a labour of love.
The dedication is all too apparent. This book is therefore above all an
act of remembrance.
These Jewish firefighters of yesterday understood the evil of the
times and they acted. They did not stand aside. They did not become
bystanders.
The mishnaic sage, Hanina ben Dosa, perceived such motivation
and such determination two thousand years ago:
When one’s deeds are even greater than one’s knowledge, the
knowledge is effective
But when one’s knowledge is greater than one’s deeds, the knowledge
is futile

Colin Shindler
Emeritus Professor, SOAS University of London
London, September 2015
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An important part of the ethos of the London Fire Brigade is that its
firefighters should reflect the communities they serve. So it is a great
pleasure to read these compelling stories of the Jewish men and women
of the Fire Brigade in London, chiefly during the Blitz, but also in towns
and cities across the country throughout the war.
These are the true histories of British people in the thick of it,
drawn from their local communities and going about their business in
the most trying conditions. Martin Sugarman’s research has been long
and thorough, and the characters he mentions come alive in these
pages, in engaging stories and telling photographs. Like many other
Britons, they were doing a dangerous and necessary job, often under
terrific bombardment. But perhaps they, more than most, had reason
to recognise the deadly threat of the fascist armies across the sea.

I thank them all.

Ron Dobson
London Fire Commissioner
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I feel very honoured to have been asked to write a foreword to this

important book for all kinds of reasons.
Firstly, it celebrates the courage of a lot of people – ‘heroes with
grimy faces’ as Churchill described them, people whose self-sacrifice
and bravery saved countless lives and made an enormous impact on the
people of this country during some of its darkest hours.
I was born in 1960, well after the war but as a young child I still
remember my parents and grandparents talking about the Blitz as if it
were just yesterday, which to them it was - but to me seemed such a
long time ago.
Importantly, the book celebrates and offers accounts of not just any
group of people - or indeed any group of firefighters. Rather, its focus
is on Jewish firefighters (firemen and firewomen) who came from all
walks of life from nuclear physicists to bakers; and not only had to face
the same dangers that other firefighters faced but also had to contend
with fascism and anti-Semitism as well as sexism, issues that strike at
the very heart of our values as a society.
It’s both remarkable and inspirational that Martin Sugarman
outlines tale after tale in a matter of fact - sometimes even ‘humorous’
– way that just covers the sensitivity almost as if it was merely an
incidental dimension to the stories and didn’t matter too much. But,
of course it matters a lot and it adds another important layer to the
history of the Fire and Rescue Service in the UK.
Such records form a truly vital component in organisational
memory, because as the world moves forward to face its new threats
from terrorism we must never forget some of these lessons from the
past. And for all the speed of technology feels like massive change
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Messages xxv

happens in just a few years, societies take a lot longer to evolve. So, we
really do need reminders like Martin’s stories here, to illustrate how
key values such as tolerance and fairness, and courage and bravery
transcend faiths and culture and that as a society - and a fire and rescue
community - we really are at our best when we put boundaries aside
and face our challenges together. But, as the book illustrates, we can’t
take that for granted
Well done Martin for such an extensive and stimulating account.

Steve McGuirk, former CFO & CEO

Greater Manchester Fire Service
CBE, QFSM, DL, MA, Ba Hons, BSC, FIFireE
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Prologue

The material used in this book has been gathered over many years, from
many sources, by the author and kept mostly in the Archives of the
Jewish Military Museum now based at the Jewish Museum in Camden.
Those who have helped I have named in the Acknowledgements or in
the text, though I wish to pay especial tribute to Stephanie Maltman
whose knowledge and guidance have been invaluable and whose
devotion to the story of the Jewish Fire Service personnel has been both
zealous and second to none.
Naturally and inevitably, when the ‘call’ went out for information,
not everyone in the Jewish community would have seen it, try though
I did to spread the word far and wide. And of course by the time I
started my work on this topic, so many of the Firemen and Women,
who were in most cases in their 30s when war began, had passed away.
But nevertheless the research is presented here, gaps and all, as a tribute
to the courage and tenacity of the Jews who served in the Fire Brigade
in Britain and even abroad, in the Second World War, and as yet
another example of the part played by the Anglo-Jewish community,
out of proportion to our numbers in the general population, in the Civil
Defence (CD) of Britain during those terrible, dark days. Indeed, my
own father when on leave from Army service in the UK during the Blitz,
before he went overseas, gave personal testimony to me of the many
incidents he and other soldiers were sent to, in order to assist Firemen
and CD workers to rescue the injured and retrieve the dead from
horrific bombings and fires in London; the carnage he saw was forever
imprinted on his memory.
Finally, to anticipate a question that many readers may ask, here is
why I wrote this book:

Another volunteer in east London only narrowly escaped a fight

with a soldier who shouted about ‘windy Yids’ through the railings
at the firemen, many of whom were Jewish, as they drilled in the
station yard. In May 1940 the same fireman was actually asked to
leave a Soho restaurant because he was in uniform, the manager
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Prologue xxvii

only reluctantly agreeing that he could stay. Six months later

during the Blitz, still in uniform, he was given the best table,
waited on by the manager personally and given his meal ‘on the
house’ as ‘nothing can be too good for a London Fireman’.
[Quoted in Longmate, How We Lived Then, p.97; taken from an
eye-witness story in The Bells Go Down]

If anyone reading this has further photographs of family and friends

who served, and stories and anecdotes, then in the eternal hope that
this publication may one day be updated, please contact me at AJEX
with further details. I should add that all the photographic and text
information herein has been used with the permission of the families
and archives concerned.
Martin Sugarman
Hackney 2015
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Acknowledgements

Stephanie Maltman and Martin Sugarman obtained access to the

wartime London Fire Brigade Registration and Record cards at their
records centre in Southwark, and from the approximately 100,000
individual record cards extracted hundreds of Jewish names. We realize
that using surnames – and in some cases first names – together with
addresses in the East End, and occupations such as furriers and tailors,
is not the ultimate proof of Jewish ethnicity, but believe that our
experience and common sense ensure it has been a fairly accurate and
reliable method of determining Jewish participation. These particular
records also enabled the author to cross reference names given to us
verbally from families and extracted from the JC and ELA as well as
the LMA registers and AJEX Jewish Chaplain cards. We would like to
sincerely thank the archivists of the LFB for their charm and
cooperation, especially David Morris and Jenny Dugdale, and also
point out that these cards were only for London and only go up to
1941. Were it possible to find records for the rest of the UK and after
1941, the numbers could be potentially hugely increased.
I would also like to thank, for their assistance, Harold Pollins of
Oxford (formerly senior tutor at Ruskin College, Oxford), particularly
for his work extracting the Jewish civilian deaths from the CWGC
website, which can be found online1; the staff of the amazing Tower
Hamlets Local History Library (THLHL); the editor of the Jewish
Telegraph newspaper; the many editors of synagogue and Jewish
refugee newsletters who inserted our appeal for information around
Britain; the editor of the British Jewish Immigrants Association of Israel
(Olei Brittania); the editor of the Essex Jewish News; The AJEX Journal;
Charles Tucker of the United Synagogue Archives; the Cemetery
Archivists of the Federation of Synagogues, Reform, Liberal and
Sephardi Synagogue movements; Joseph John Samuels of Sheffield;
Derek Fisher of Jewish Care, and especially the many correspondents
from the Jewish community who wrote, telephoned and emailed the
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Now, it may be said that there is no reason for this distinction; but
I claim that there is. And there is no man that can look upon this
crime, horrid as it is, diabolical as it is when committed by the white
man, and not say that such a crime committed by a negro upon a
white woman deserves, in the sense and judgment of the American
people, a different punishment from that inflicted upon the white
man. And yet the very purpose of this section, as I contend, is to
abolish or prevent the execution of laws making a distinction in
regard to the punishment.
But, further, it is said the negro race is weak and feeble; that they
are mere children—“wards of the Government.” In many instances it
might be just and proper to inflict a less punishment upon them for
certain crimes than upon men of intelligence and education, whose
motives may have been worse. It might be better for the community
to control them by milder and gentler means. If the judge sitting
upon the bench of the State court shall, in carrying out the law of the
State, inflict a higher penalty upon the white man than that which
attaches to the freedman, not that I suppose it is ever contemplated
to enforce that, yet it would be equally applicable, and the penalty
would be incurred by the judge in the same manner precisely.
But I proceed to the section I was about to remark upon when the
gentleman interrupted me. The marshals who may be employed to
execute warrants and precepts under this bill, as I have already
remarked, are offered a bribe for the execution of them. It creates
marshals in great numbers, and authorizes commissioners to appoint
almost anybody for that purpose, and it stimulates them by the offer
of a reward not given in the case of the arrest of persons guilty of any
other crime.
It goes further. It authorizes the President, when he is
apprehensive that some crime of that sort may be committed, on
mere suspicion, mere information or statement that it is likely to be
committed, to take any judge from the bench or any marshal from
his office to the place where the crime is apprehended, for the
purpose of more efficiently and speedily carrying out the provisions
of the bill.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thayer) tells us that it is
very remarkable that it should be claimed that this bill is intended to
create and continue a sort of military despotism over the people
where this law is to be executed. It seems to me nothing is plainer.
Where do we find any laws heretofore passed having no relation to
the negro in which such a provision as this tenth section is to be
found? Generally the marshal seeks by himself to execute this
warrant, and failing, he calls out his POSSE COMITATUS. But this bill
authorizes the use in the first instance of the Army and Navy by the
President for the purpose of executing such writs.
The gentlemen who advocate this bill are great sticklers for
equality, and insist that there shall be no distinction made on
account of race or color.
Why, sir, every provision of this bill carries upon its face the
distinction, and is calculated to perpetuate it forever as long as the
act shall be in force. Where did this measure originate but in the
recognition of the difference between races and colors? Does any one
pretend that this bill is intended to protect white men—to save them
from any wrongs which may be inflicted upon them by the negroes?
Not at all. It is introduced and pressed in the pretended interest of
the black man, and recognizes and virtually declares distinction
between race and color.

I deprecate all these measures because of the implication they

carry upon their face, that the people who have heretofore owned
slaves intend to do them harm. I do not believe it. So far as my
knowledge goes, and so far as my information extends, I believe that
the people who have held the freedmen as slaves will treat them with
more kindness, with more leniency, than those of the North who
make such loud professions of love and affection for them, and are so
anxious to pass these bills. They know their nature; they know their
wants; they know their habits; they have been brought up together;
none of the prejudices and unkind feelings which many in the north
would have toward them.
I do not credit all these stories about the general feeling of hostility
in the South toward the negro. So far as I have heard opinions
expressed upon the subject, and I have conversed with many persons
from that section of the country, they do not blame the negro for
anything that has happened. As a general thing, he was faithful to
them and their interests, until the army reached the place and took
him from them. He has supported their wives and children in the
absence of the husbands and fathers in the armies of the South. He
has done for them what no one else could have done. They recognize
his general good feeling toward them, and are inclined to reciprocate
that feeling toward him.
I believe that is the general feeling of the southern people to-day.
The cases of ill-treatment are exceptional cases. They are like the
cases which have occurred in the northern States where the
unfortunate have been thrown upon our charity.
Take, for instance, the stories of the cruel treatment of the insane
in the State of Massachusetts. They may have been barbarously
confined in the loathsome dens as stated in particular instances; but
is that any evidence of the general ill-will of the people of the State of
Massachusetts toward the insane? Is that any reason why the Federal
arm should be extended to Massachusetts to control and protect the
insane there?
It has also been said that certain paupers in certain States have
been badly used, paupers, too, who were whites. Is that any reason
why we should extend the arm of the Federal Government to those
States to protect the poor who are thrown upon the charity of the
people there?
Sir, we must yield to the altered state of things in this country. We
must trust the people; it is our duty to do so; we cannot do otherwise.
And the sooner we place ourselves in a position where we can win the
confidence of our late enemies, where our counsels will be heeded,
where our advice may be regarded, the sooner will the people of the
whole country be fully reconciled to each other and their changed
relationship; the sooner will all the inhabitants of our country be in
the possession of all the rights and immunities essential to their
prosperity and happiness.
Hon. A. K. McClure on What of the Republic?

Annual Address delivered before the Literary Societies of Dickinson

College, June 26th, 1873.
Gentlemen of the Literary Societies:—What of the Republic?
The trials and triumphs of our free institutions are hackneyed
themes. They are the star attractions of every political conflict. They
furnish a perpetual well-spring of every grade of rhetoric for the
hustings, and partisan organs proclaim with the regularity of the
seasons, the annual perils of free government.
But a different occasion, with widely different opportunities and
duties, has brought us together. The dissembling of the partisan
would be unwelcome, but here truth may be manfully spoken of that
which so profoundly concerns us all. I am called to address young
men who are to rank among the scholars, the teachers, the
statesmen, the scientists of their age. They will be of the class that
must furnish a large proportion of the executives, legislators,
ministers, and instructors of the generation now rapidly crowding us
to the long halt that soon must come. Doubtless, here and there,
some who have been less favored with opportunities, will surpass
them in the race for distinction; but in our free government where
education is proffered to all, and the largest freedom of conviction
and action invites the humblest to honorable preferment, the learned
must bear a conspicuous part in directing the destiny of the nation.
Every one who moulds a thought or inspires a fresh resolve even in
the remotest regions of the Continent, shapes, in some measure, the
sovereign power of the Republic.
The time and the occasion are alike propitious for a dispassionate
review of our political system, and of the political duties which none
can reject and be blameless. Second only to the claims of religion are
the claims of country. Especially should the Christian, whether
teacher or hearer, discharge political duties with fidelity. I do not
mean that the harangue of the partisan should desecrate holy places,
or that men should join in the brawls of pot-house politicians; but I
do mean that a faithful discharge of our duty to free government is
not only consistent with the most exemplary and religious life, but is
a Christian as well as a civil obligation. The government that
maintains liberty of conscience as one of its fundamental principles,
and under which Christianity is recognized as the common law, has
just claims upon the Christian citizen for the vigilant exercise of all
political rights.
If it be true, as is so often confessed around us, that we have
suffered a marked decline in political morality and in our political
administration, let it not be assumed that the defect is in our system
of government, or that the blame lies wholly with those who are
faithless or incompetent. Here no citizen is voiceless, and none can
claim exemption from just responsibility for evils in the body politic.
Ours is, in fact as well as in theory, a government of the people; and
its administration is neither better nor worse than the people
themselves. It was devised by wise and patriotic men, who gave to it
the highest measure of fidelity; and so perfectly and harmoniously is
its framework fashioned, that the sovereign power can always
exercise a salutary control over its own servants. An accidental
mistake of popular judgment, or the perfidy of an executive, or the
enactment of profligate or violent laws, are all held in such
wholesome check by co-ordinate powers, as to enable the supreme
authority of the nation to restrain or correct almost every conceivable
evil.
Until the people as a whole are given over to debauchery the safety
of our free institutions cannot be seriously endangered. True, such a
result might be possible without the demoralization of a majority of
the people, if good citizens surrender their rights, and their duties,
and their government to those who desire to rule in profligacy and
oppression.
If reputable citizens refrain from active participation in our
political conflicts, they voluntarily surrender the safety of their
persons and property, and the good order and well-being of society,
to those who are least fitted for the exercise of authority. When such
results are visible in any of the various branches of our political
system, turn to the true source and place the responsibility where it
justly belongs. Do not blame the thief and the adventurer, for they
are but plying their vocations, and they rob public rather than private
treasure, because men guard the one and do not guard the other.
Good men employ every proper precaution to protect their property
from the lawless. When an injury is done to them individually they
are swift to invoke the avenging arm of justice. They are faithful
guardians of their own homes and treasures against the untitled
spoiler, while they are criminally indifferent to the public wrongs
done by those who, in the enactment and execution of the laws,
directly affect their happiness and prosperity. Do not answer that
politics have become disreputable. Such a declaration is a confession
of guilt. He who utters it becomes his own accuser. If it be true that
our politics, either generally or in any particular municipality or
State, have become disreputable, who must answer for it? Who have
made our politics disreputable? Surely not the disreputable citizens,
for they are a small minority in every community and in every party.
If they have obtained control of political organizations, and thereby
secured their election to responsible trusts, it must have been with
the active or passive approval of the good citizens who hold the
actual power in their own hands. There is not a disgraceful official
shaming the people of this country to-day, who does not owe his
place to the silent assent or positive support of those who justly claim
to be respectable citizens, and who habitually plead their own wrongs
to escape plain and imperative duties. If dishonest or incompetent
appointments have been made, in obedience to the demands of mere
partisans, a just expression of the honest sentiments of better
citizens, made with the manliness that would point to retribution for
such wrongs, would promptly give us a sound practical civil service,
and profligacy and dishonesty would end.
Our Presidents and Governors are not wholly or even mainly
responsible for the low standard of our officials. If good men concede
primary political control to those who wield it for selfish ends, by
refraining from an active discharge of their political duties, and make
the appointing powers dependent for both counsel and support upon
the worst political elements, who is to blame when public sentiment
is outraged by the selection of unworthy men to important public
trusts? The fruits are but the natural, logical results of good citizens
refusing to accept their political duties. There is not a blot on our
body politic to-day that the better elements of the people could not
remove whenever they resolved to do so,—and they will so resolve in
good time, as they have always done in the past. There is not a defect
or deformity in our political administration that they cannot, and will
not correct, by the peaceful expression of their sober convictions, in
the legitimate way pointed out by our free institutions.
 You who are destined to be more or less conspicuous among the
teachers of men, should study well this reserved power so
immediately connected with the preservation of our government.
The virtue and intelligence of the people is the sure bulwark of safety
for the Republic. It has been the source of safety in all times past, in
peace and in war, and it is to-day, and will ever continue to be, the
omnipotent power that forbids us to doubt the complete success of
free government. It may, at times, be long suffering and slow to
resent wrongs which grow gradually in strength and diffuse their
poison throughout the land. It may invoke just censure for its
forbearance in seasons of partisan strife. It may long seem lost as a
ruling element of our political system, and may appear to be faithless
to its high and sacred duties. It may be unfelt in its gentler
influences, which should ever be active in maintaining the purity and
dignity of society and government. But if for a season the better
efforts of a free people are not evident to quicken and support public
virtue, it must not be assumed that the source of good influences has
been destroyed, or that public virtue cannot be restored to its just
supremacy. When healthful influences do not come like the dew
drops which glitter in the morning as they revive the harvest of the
earth, they will most surely come in their terrible majesty, as the
tempest comes to purify the atmosphere about us. The miasmas
which arise from material corruption, poison the air we breathe and
disease all physical life within their reach. The poison of political
corruption is no less subtle and destructive in its influences upon
communities and nations. But when either becomes general or
apparently beyond the power of ordinary means of correction, the
angry sweep of the hurricane must perform the work of regeneration.
In our government the mild, but effectual restraints of good men
should be ceaseless in their beneficent offices, but when they fail to
be felt in our public affairs, and evil control has widened and
strengthened itself in departments of power, the storm and the
thunderbolt have to be invoked for the public safety, and our
convulsive but lawful revolutions attest the omnipotence of the
reserved virtue of a faithful and intelligent people.
I am not before you to garner the scars and disjointed columns of
free government. The Republic that has been reared by a century of
patriotic labor and sacrifice, more than covers its wounds with the
noblest achievements ever recorded in man’s struggle for the rights
of man. It is not perfect in its administration or in the exercise of its
vast and responsible powers; but when was it so? when shall it be so?
No human work is perfect. No government in all the past has been
without its misshaped ends; and few, indeed, have survived three
generations without revolution. We must have been more than
mortals, if our history does not present much that we would be glad
to efface. We should be unlike all great peoples of the earth, if we did
not mark the ebb and flow of public virtue, and the consequent
struggles between the good and evil elements of a society in which
freedom is at times debased to license. We have had seasons of war
and of peace. We have had tidal waves of passion, with their
sweeping demoralization. We have enlisted the national pride in the
perilous line of conquest, and vindicated it by the beneficent fruits of
our civilization. We have had the tempest of aggression, and the
profound calm that was the conservator of peace throughout the
world. We have revolutionized the policy of the government through
the bitter conflicts of opposing opinions, and it has been
strengthened by its trials. We have had the fruits of national
struggles transferred to the vanquished, without a shade of violence;
and the extreme power of impeachment has been invoked in the
midst of intensest political strife, and its judgment patriotically
obeyed. We have had fraternal war with its terrible bereavements
and destruction. We have completed the circle of national perils, and
the virtue and intelligence of the people have ever been the safety of
the Republic.
At no previous period of our history have opportunity and duty so
happily united to direct the people of this country to the triumphs
and to the imperfections of our government. We have reached a
healthy calm in our political struggles. The nation has a trusted ruler,
just chosen by an overwhelming vote. The disappointments of
conviction or of ambition have passed away, and all yield cordial
obedience and respect to the lawful authority of the country. The
long-lingering passions of civil war have, for the last time, embittered
our political strife, and must now be consigned to forgetfulness. The
nation is assured of peace. The embers of discord may convulse a
State until justice shall be enthroned over mad partisanship, but
peace and justice are the inexorable purposes of the people, and they
will be obeyed. Sectional hatred, long fanned by political necessities,
is henceforth effaced from our politics, and the unity of a sincere
brotherhood will be the cherished faith of every citizen. We first
conquered rebellion, and now have conquered the bitterness and
estrangement of its discomfiture.
The Vice-President of the insurgent Confederacy is a
Representative in our Congress. One who was first in the field and
last in the Senate in support of rebellion has just died while
representing the government in a diplomatic position of the highest
honor. Another who served the Confederacy in the field and in the
forum, has been one of the constitutional advisers of the national
administration. One of the most brilliant of Confederate warriors
now serves in the United States Senate, and has presided over that
body. The first Lieutenant of Lee was long since honored with
responsible and lucrative official trust, and many of lesser note,
lately our enemies, are discharging important public duties. The war
and its issues are settled forever. Those who were arrayed against
each other in deadly conflict are now friends. The appeal from the
ballot to the sword has been made, and its arbitrament has been
irrevocably ratified by the supreme power of the nation. Each has
won from the other the respect that is ever awarded to brave men,
and the affection that was clouded by the passion that made both
rush to achieve an easy triumph, has returned chastened and
strengthened by our common sacrifices. Our battle-fields will be
memorable as the theatres of the conflicts of the noblest people the
world had to offer to the god of carnage, and the monuments to our
dead, North and South, will be pointed to by succeeding generations
as the proud records of the heroism of the American people.
The overshadowing issues touching the war and its logical results
are now no longer in controversy, and in vain will the unworthy
invoke patriotism to give them unmerited distinction. No supreme
danger can now confront the citizen who desires to correct errors or
abuses of our political system. He who despairs of free institutions
because evils have been tolerated, would have despaired of every
administration the country has ever had, and of every government
the world has ever known. If corruption pervades our institutions to
an alarming extent, let it not be forgotten that it is the natural order
of history repeating itself. It is but the experience of every nation,
and our own experience returning to us, to call into vigorous action
the regenerating power of a patriotic people. We have a supreme
tribunal that is most jealous of its high prerogatives, and that will
wield its authority mercilessly when the opportune season arrives.
We have just emerged from the most impassioned and convulsive
strife of modern history. It called out the highest type of patriotism,
and life and treasure were freely given with the holiest devotion to
the cause of self-government. With it came those of mean ambition,
and of venal purposes, and they could gain power while the unselfish
were devoted to the country’s cause. They could not be dethroned
because there were grave issues which dare not be sacrificed. Such
evils must be borne at times in all governments, rather than destroy
the temple to punish the enemies of public virtue. To whatever extent
these evils exist, they are not the legitimate creation of our free
institutions. They are not the creation of maladministration, nor of
any party. They are the monstrous barnacles spawned by unnatural
war, which clogged the gallant ship of State in her extremity, and had
to be borne into port with her. And now that the battle is ended, and
the issues settled, do not distrust the reserved power of our free
institutions. It will heal the scars of war and efface the stains of
corruption, and present the great Republic to the world surpassing in
grandeur, might and excellence, the sublimest conceptions ever
cherished of human government.
As you come to assume the responsibilities which must be
accepted by the educated citizen, you will be profoundly impressed
with the multiplied dangers which threaten the government. They
will appear not only to be innumerable and likely to defy correction,
but they will seem to be of modern creation. It is common to hear
intelligent political leaders declaim against the moral and intellectual
degeneracy of the times, and especially against the decline in public
morality and statesmanship. They would make it appear that the
people and the government in past times were models of purity and
excellence, while we are unworthy sons of noble sires. Our rulers are
pronounced imbecile, or wholly devoted to selfish ends.
Our law-makers are declared to be reeking with corruption or
blinded by ambition, and greed and faithlessness are held up to the
world as the chief characteristics of our officials. From this painful
picture we turn to the history of those who ruled in the earlier and
what we call the better days of the Republic, and the contrast sinks
us deep in the slough of despair. I am not prepared to say that much
of the complaint against the political degeneracy of the times, and
the standard of our officials, is not just; but in the face of all that can
be charged against the present, I regard it as the very best age this
nation has ever known. The despairing accusations made against our
public servants are not the peculiar creation of the times in which we
live, and the allegation of wide spread demoralization in the body
politic, was no more novel in any of the generations of the past than
it is now. We say nothing of our rulers that was not said of those
whose memory we so sacredly worship. License is one of the chief
penalties, indeed the sole defect of liberty, and it has ever asserted its
prerogatives with tireless industry. It was as irreverent with
Washington as it is with Grant. It racked Jefferson and Jackson, and
it pained and scarred Lincoln and Chase, and their compatriots. It
criticised the campaigns and the heroes of the revolutionary times, as
we criticise the living heroes of our day. It belittled the statesmen of
every epoch in our national progress, just as we belittle those who are
now the guardians of our free institutions. Perhaps we have more
provocation than they had; but if so, they were less charitable, for the
tide of ungenerous criticism and distrust has known no cessation. I
believe we have had seasons when our political system was more free
from blemish than it is now, and that we have had periods when both
government and people maintained a higher standard of excellence
than we can boast of; but it is equally true that we have, in the past,
sounded a depth in the decline of our political administration that
the present age can never reach.
You must soon appear in the active struggles for the perpetuity of
free government, and some of the sealed chapters of the past are
most worthy of your careful study. I would not efface one good
inspiration that you have gathered from the lives and deeds of our
fathers, whose courage and patriotism have survived their
infirmities. Whatever we have from them that is purifying or
elevating, is but the truth of history; and when unborn generations
shall have succeeded us, no age in all the long century of freedom in
the New World, will furnish to them higher standards of heroism and
statesmanship than the defamed and unappreciated times in which
we live. And when the future statesmen shall turn to history for the
most unselfish and enlightened devotion to the Republic, they will
pause over the records we have written, and esteem them the
brightest in all the annals of man’s best efforts for his race. We can
judge of the true standard of our government and people only by a
faithful comparison with the true standard of the men and events
which have passed away. You find widespread distrust of the success
of our political system. It is the favorite theme of every disappointed
ambition, and the vanquished of every important struggle are
tempted, in the bitterness of defeat, to despair of the government.
Would you know whence comes this chronic or spasmodic political
despair? If so, you must turn back over the graves of ages, for it is as
old as free government. Glance at the better days of which we all
have read, and to which modern campaign eloquence is so much
indebted. Do not stop with the approved histories of the fathers of
the Republic. They tell only of the transcendent wisdom and
matchless perfections of those who gave us liberty and ordained
government of the people. Go to the inner temple of truth. Seek that
which was then hidden from the nation, but which in these days of
newspapers and free schools, and steam and lightning, is an open
record so that he who runs may read. Gather up the few public
journals of a century ago, and the rare personal letters and sacred
diaries of the good and wise men whose examples are so earnestly
longed for in the degenerate present, and your despair will be
softened and your indignation at current events will be tempered, as
you learn that our history is steadily repeating itself, and that with all
our many faults, we grow better as we progress.
Do you point to the unfaltering courage and countless sacrifices of
those who gave us freedom, so deeply crimsoned with their blood? I
join you in naming them with reverence, but I must point to their
sons, for whom we have not yet ceased to mourn, who equalled them
in every manly and patriotic attribute. When wealth and luxury were
about us to tempt our people to indifference and ease, the world has
no records of heroism which dim the lustre of the achievements we
have witnessed in the preservation of the liberty our fathers
bequeathed to us. Have corruption and perfidy stained the triumphs
of which we boast? So did corruption and perfidy stain the
revolutionary “times that tried men’s souls.” Do we question the
laurels with which our successful captains have been crowned by a
grateful country? So did our forefathers question the just distinction
of him who was first in war and first in peace, and he had not a
lieutenant who escaped distrust, nor a council of war that was free
from unworthy jealousies and strife. Do politicians and even
statesmen teach the early destruction of our free institutions? It is
the old, old story; “the babbling echo mocks itself.” It distracted the
cabinets of Washington and the elder Adams. It was the tireless
assailant of Jefferson and Madison. It made the Jackson
administration tempestuous. It gave us foreign war under Polk. It
was a teeming fountain of discord under Taylor, Pierce and
Buchanan. It gave us deadly fraternal conflict under Lincoln. Its
dying throes convulsed the nation under Johnson. The promise of
peace, soberly accepted from Grant, was the crown of an unbroken
column of triumphs over the distrust of every age, that was attacking
free government. Do we complain of violent and profligate
legislation? Hamilton, the favorite statesman of Washington, was the
author of laws, enacted in time of peace, which could not have been
enforced in our day even under the necessities and passions of war.
And when the judgment of the nation repealed them, he sought to
overthrow the popular verdict, because he believed that the
government was overthrown. Almost before order began after the
political chaos of the revolution, the intensest struggles were made,
and the most violent enactments urged, for mere partisan control.
Jefferson, the chief apostle of government of the people, did not
always cherish supreme faith in his own work. He trembled at the
tendencies to monarchy, and feared because of “the dupery of which
our countrymen have shown themselves susceptible.” He rescued the
infant Republic from the centralization that was the lingering dregs
of despotism, and unconsciously sowed the seeds which ripened into
States’ rights and nullification under Jackson, and into rebellion
under Lincoln. But for the desperate conflict of opposing convictions
as to the corner-stone of the new structure, Jefferson would have
been more wise and conservative. He was faithful to popular
government in the broadest acceptation of the theory. He summed it
up in his memorable utterance to his neighbors when he returned
from France. He said:—“The will of the majority, the natural law of
every society, is the only sure guardian of the rights of man. Perhaps
even this may sometimes err, but its errors are honest solitary and
short-lived.” Politically speaking, with the patriots and statesmen of
the “better days” of the Republic, their confidence in, or distrust of,
the government, depended much upon whether Hamilton or
Jefferson ruled. Dream of them as we may, they were but men, with
the same ambition, the same love of power, the same infirmities,
which we regard as the peculiar besetting sins of our times. If you
would refresh your store of distrust of all political greatness, study
Jefferson through Burr and Hamilton, or Washington and Hamilton
through Jefferson, or Jackson through Clay and the second Adams,
or Clay and Adams through Jackson and Randolph, and you will
think better of the enlightened and liberal age in which you live.
No error is so common among free people as the tendency to
depreciate the present and all its agencies and achievements.
We all turn with boundless pride to the Senate of Clay, Webster
and Calhoun. In the period of their great conflicts, it was the ablest
legislative tribunal the world has ever furnished. Rome and Greece in
the zenith of their greatness, never gathered such a galaxy of
statesmen. But not until they had passed away did the nation learn to
judge them justly. Like the towering oaks when the tempest sweeps
over the forest, the storm of faction was fiercest among their crowns,
and their struggles of mere ambition, and their infirmities, which
have been kindly forgotten, often made the thoughtless or the
unfaithful despair of our free institutions. Not one of them escaped
detraction or popular reprobation. Not one was exempt from the
grave accusation of shaping the destruction of our nationality, and
yet not one meditated deliberate wrong to the country on which all
reflected so much honor. Calhoun despaired of the Union, because of
the irrepressible antagonism of sectional interests, but he cherished
the sincerest faith in free institutions. But when the dispassionate
historian of the future is brought to the task of recording the most
memorable triumphs of our political system, he will pass over the
great Senate of the last generation, and picture in their just
proportions the grander achievements of the heroes and statesmen
who have been created in our own time. If we could draw aside the
veil that conceals the future from us, and see how our children will
judge the trials and triumphs of the last decade, we would be shamed
at our distrust of ourselves and of the instruments we have employed
to discharge the noblest duties. Our agents came up from among us.
We knew them before they were great, and remembered well their
common inheritance of human defects.—They are not greater than
were men who had lived before them, but the nation has had none in
all the past who could have written their names higher on the scroll
of fame. We knew Lincoln as the uncouth Western campaigner and
advocate; as a man of jest, untutored in the graces, and unschooled
in statesmanship. We know him in the heat and strife of the political
contests which made him our President, and our passions and
prejudices survived his achievements. If his friends, we were brought
face to face with his imperfections, and perhaps complained that he
was unequal to impossibilities. If his enemies, we antagonized his
policy and magnified his errors. We saw him wrestle with the greed
of the place-man, with the ambitious warrior and with the
disappointed statesman. We received his great act of Emancipation
as a part of the mere political policy of his rule, and judged it by the
light of prejudiced partisan convictions.
But how will those of the future judge him? When the hatreds
which attached to his public acts have passed into forgetfulness;
when his infirmities shall have been buried in oblivion, and when all
his master monuments shall stand out in bold relief, made stainless
by the generous offices of time, his name will be linked with devotion
wherever liberty has a worshipper. And it will be measurably so of
those who were his faithful co-laborers. It will be forgotten that they
were at times weak, discordant, irresolute men when they had to
confront problems the solution of which had no precedents in the
world’s history. It will not be conspicuous in the future records of
those great events, that the most learned and experienced member of
his cabinet would have accepted peace by any supportable
compromise, and that one of the most trusted of his constitutional
advisers would have assented to peaceable dismemberment to escape
internecine war. Few will ever know that our eminent Minister of
War was one of those who was least hopeful of the preservation of
the unity of the States, when armed secession made its first trial of
strength with the administration. It will not be recorded how the
surrender of Sumter was gravely discussed to postpone the presence
of actual hostilities, and how the midsummer madness of rebellion
made weakness and discord give way to might and harmony, by the
first gun that sent its unprovoked messenger of death against the flag
and defenders of the Union. It will not be remembered that faction
ran riot in the highest places, and that the struggle for the throne
embittered cabinet councils and estranged eminent statesmen, even
when the artillery of the enemy thundered within sound of the
Capital.
 It will not be declared how great captains toyed with armies and
decimated them upon the deadly altar of ambition, and how blighted
hopes of preferment made jangled strife and fruitless campaigns.
Nor will the insidious treason that wounded the cause of free
government in the home of its friends, blot the future pages of our
history in the just proportions in which the living felt and knew it. It
will be told that in the hour of greatest peril, the administration was
criticised, and the constitution and laws expounded, with supreme
ability and boldness, while the meaner struggles of the cowardly and
faithless will be effaced with the passions of the times that created
them. And it is best that these defects of greatness should slumber
with mortality. Not only the heroes and rulers, but the
philanthropists as well, of all nations and ages, have had no
exemption from the frailties which are colossal when in actual view.
That we have been no better than we have seen ourselves, does not
prove that we are a degenerate people. On the contrary, it teaches
how much of good and great achievement may be hoped for with all
the imperfections we see about us. In our unexampled struggle, when
faction, and corruption, and faithlessness had done their worst, a
regenerated nationality, saved to perfected justice, liberty and law,
was the rich fruits of the patriotic efforts of the people and their
trusted but fallible leaders. There is the ineffaceable record we have
written for history, and it will be pointed to as the sublimest tribute
the world has given to the theory of self-government. The many
grievous errors and bitter jealousies of the conflict which weakened
and endangered the cause; the venality that grew in hideous
strength, while higher and holier cares gave it safety; the
incompetency that grasped place on the tidal waves of devotion to
country, and the widespread political evils which still linger as
sorrowful legacies among us, will in the fulness of time be healed and
forgotten, and only the grand consummation will be memorable.
This generous judgment of the virtue and intelligence of the people,
that corrects the varying efforts and successes of political
prostitution; that pardons the defects of those who are faithful in
purpose, and without which the greatest deeds would go down to
posterity scarred and deformed, is the glass through which all must
read of the noblest triumphs of men.
Our Republic stands alone in the whole records of civil
government. In its theory, in its complete organization, and in its
administration, it is wholly exceptional. We talk thoughtlessly of the
overthrow of the old Republics, and the weak or disappointed turn to
history for the evidence of our destruction. It is true that Republics
which have been mighty among the powers of the earth have
crumbled into hopeless decay, and that the shifting sands of time
have left desolate places where once were omnipotence and
grandeur. Rome made her almost boundless conquests under the
banner of the Republic, and a sister Republic was her rival in
greatness and splendor. They are traced obscurely on the pages of
history as governments of the people. Rome became mistress of the
world. Her triumphal arches of costliest art recorded her many
victories. Her temples of surpassing elegance, her colossal and
exquisite statues of her chieftains, her imposing columns dedicated
to her invincible soldiery, and her apparently rapid progress toward
a beneficent civilization, give the story of the devotion and heroism
of her citizens. But Rome never was a free representative
government. What is called her Republic was but a series of surging
plebeian and patrician revolutions, of Tribunes, Consuls and
Dictators, with seasons of marvelous prowess under the desperate
lead of as marvelous ambition. The tranquillity, the safety, and the
inspiration of a government of liberty and law, are not to be found in
all the thousand years of Roman greatness. The lust of empire was
the ruling passion in the ancient Republics. Hannibal reflected the
supreme sentiment of Carthage when he bowed at the altar and
swore eternal hostility to Rome; and Cato, the Censor, as faithfully
spoke for Rome when he declared to an approving Senate
—“Carthago delenda!” Such was the mission of what history hands
down to us as the great free governments of the ancients. Despotism
was the forerunner of corruption, and the proudest eras they knew
were but hastening them to inevitable destruction.
The imperial purple soon followed in Rome, as a debauched people
were prepared to accept in form what they had long accepted with
the mockery of freedom. Rulers and subjects, noble and ignoble,
church and state, made common cause to precipitate her decay. At
last the columns of the barbarian clouded her valleys. The rude hosts
of Attila, the “Scourge of God,” swarmed upon her, and their battle-
axes smote the demoralized warriors of the tottering empire. The
Goth and the Vandal jostled each other from the degraded sceptre
they had conquered, and Rome was left widowed in her ruins. And
Carthage!—she too had reared a great government by spoliation, and
called it a Republic. It was the creation of ambition and conquest.
Her great chieftain swept over the Pyrenees and the Alps with his
victorious legions, and even made the gates of the Eternal City
tremble before the impetuous advance of the Carthaginians. But
Carthage never was free until the cormorant and the bittern
possessed it, and the God of nations had “stretched out upon it the
line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.” Conqueror and
conquered are blotted from the list of the nations of the earth. We
read of the Grecian Republic; but it was a libel upon free
government. Her so-called free institutions consisted of a loose,
discordant confederation of independent States, where despotism
ruled in the name of liberty. Sparta has made romance pale before
the achievements of her sons, but her triumphs were not of peace,
nor were they for free government. Athens abolished royalty more
than a thousand years before the Christian era, and made Athenian
history most thrilling and instructive, but her citizens were strangers
to freedom. The most sanguinary wars with sister States, domestic
convulsions almost without cessation, and the grinding oppression of
caste, were the chief offerings of the government to its subjects.
Solon restored her laws to some measure of justice, only to be cast
aside for the usurper. Greece yet has a name among the nations of
the world, but her sceptre for which the mightiest once warred to
enslave her people under the banner of the Republic, has long since
been unfelt in shaping the destiny of mankind. Thus did Rome and
Carthage and Greece fade from the zenith of distinction and power,
before constitutional government of the people had been born
among men. To-day there is not an established sister Republic that
equals our single Commonwealth in population. Spain, France and
Mexico have in turn worshiped Emperors, Kings, Dictators and
popular Presidents. Yesterday they were reckoned Republics. What
they have been made to-day, or what they will be made to-morrow, is
uncertain and unimportant. They are not now, and never have been,
Republics save in name, and never can be free governments until
their people are transformed into law-creating and law-abiding
communities. With them monarchy is a refuge from the license they
miscall liberty, and despotism is peace. Switzerland is called a
Republic. She points to her acknowledged independence four
hundred years ago, but not until the middle of the present century
did the Republic of the Alps find tranquillity in a constitutional
government that inaugurated the liberty of law. Away on a rugged
mountain-top in Italy, is the only Republic that has maintained
popular government among the States of Europe. For more than
fourteen hundred years a handful of isolated people, the followers of
a Dalmatian hermit priest, have given the world an example of
unsullied freedom. Through all the mutations, and revolutions, and
relinings of the maps of Europe, the little territory of San Marino has
been sacredly respected. Her less than ten thousand people have
prospered without interruption; and civil commotions and foreign
disputes or conflicts have been unknown among them. She has had
no wealth to tempt the spoiler; no commerce or teeming valleys to
invite conquest; no wars to breed dictators; no surplus revenues to
corrupt her officials; and in patient and frugal industry her citizens
have enjoyed the national felicity of having no history. They have had
no trials and no triumphs, and have made civilization better only by
the banner of peace they have worshipped through all the
convulsions and bloody strife of many centuries.
The world has but one Republic that has illustrated constitutional
freedom in all its beneficence, power and grandeur, and that is our
own priceless inheritance. As a government, our Republic has alone
been capable of, and faithful to, representative free institutions, with
equal rights, equal justice, and equal laws for every condition of our
fellows. All the nations of the past furnish no history that can
logically repeat itself in our advancement or decline. Created through
the severest trials and sacrifices; maintained through foreign and
civil war with unexampled devotion; faithful to law as the offspring
and safety of liberty; progressive in all that ennobles our peaceful
industry, and cherishing enlightened and liberal Christian
civilization as the trust and pride of our citizens, for our government
of the people, none but itself can be its parallel.
In what are called free governments of antiquity, we search in vain
for constitutional freedom, or that liberty that subordinates passion
and license to law. The refuge from the constant perils of an
unrestrained Democracy was always found in despotism, and when
absolutism became intolerable, the tide of passion would surge back
to Democracy. The people, in mass councils, would rule Consuls,
Presidents and Generals, but it was fruitful only of chaos and
revolution. The victorious chieftain and the illustrious philosopher
would be honored with thanksgivings to the gods for their
achievements, and their banishment or death would next be
demanded by the same supreme tribunal. Grand temples and
columns and triumphal arches would be erected to commemorate
the victories of the dominant power, and the returning waves of
revolution would decree the actors and their monuments to
destruction. Ambitious demagogues prostituted such mockeries of
government to the basest purposes. The Olympic games of Greece
became the mere instruments of unscrupulous leaders to lure the
people, in the name of freedom, to oppression and degradation, and
the wealth of Rome was lavishly employed to corrupt the source of
popular power, and spread demoralization throughout the Republic.
The debauched citizens and soldiers were inflamed by cunning and
corrupt devices, against the purest and most eminent of the sincere
defenders of liberty; and the vengeance of the infuriated mob,
usurping the supreme power of the State, would doom to exile or to
death, honest Romans who struggled for Roman freedom. Cato, the
younger, Tribune of the people, and faithful to his country, took his
own life to escape the reprobation of a polluted sovereignty. Cicero
was Consul of the people, made so by his triumph over Cæsar. But
the same people who worshipped him and to whose honor and
prosperity he was devoted, banished him in disgrace, confiscated his
wealth and devastated his home. Again he was recalled through a
triumphal ovation, and again proscribed by the triumvirs and
murdered by the soldiers of Antony. The Grecian Republic banished
“Aristides the just,” and Demosthenes, the first orator of the world,
who withstood the temptations of Macedonian wealth, was fined,
exiled and his death decreed. He saved his country the shame of his
murder by suicide. Miltiades won the plaudits of Greece for his
victories, only to die in prison of wounds received in fighting her
battles. Themistocles, orator, statesman and chieftain, was banished
and died in exile. Pericles, once master of Athens, and who gave the
world the highest attainments in Grecian arts, was deposed from
military and civil authority by the people he had honored. Socrates,
immortal teacher of Grecian philosophy, soldier and senator, and
one of the most shining examples of public virtue, was ostracised and
condemned and drank the fatal hemlock. The Republic of Carthage
gave the ancients their greatest general, and as chief magistrate, he