October 9, 1878
Montpelier, Virginia
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
It is a
great gratification indeed to be so welcomed to the home of Madison. You have heard the beautiful address just
delivered by the nearest surviving relative of Madison—a man whose name will be
held in the grateful remembrance by the lovers of liberty and stable government
as long as liberty and constitutional government exists on earth. Madison having so linked his name and memory
with the best law—the Constitution—the world has ever known, his face is
forever safe. He began the work of the
formation of the Constitution, and in the convention he was a leading spirit,
his wisdom and advice contributing to that result. After the Constitution was framed by the convention, it was for
him to persuade the people to adopt it.
In the
convention of Virginia there was a great struggle as to whether that
Commonwealth should ratify the Constitution; and it was largely due to the
respect and appreciation the people had for the character of Madison, and the
influence of his counsels, that this question was carried in the Virginia
convention.
He
assisted in carrying the Constitution into effect as a member of Congress, as a
member of the Cabinet, and as President of the United States.
After
the close of his public life, no longer disturbed by party conflicts, he
survived for many years, an interested spectator of passing events. Distinguished men of his time were glad of
the opportunity to sit at his feet and hear his words of wisdom and patriotism.
In my
remarks at Orange Court-House to-day, I called attention to an estimate of this
country by Mr. Gladstone, which I do not think too high. It is contained in an article written by
that distinguished statesman entitled, “Kin Beyond the Sea,” in which he says:
“The American Constitution so far as I can see, is the most wonderful work ever
struck off in a given time by the brain and purpose of man. It has had a century of trial under the pressure
of exigencies caused by an expansion unexampled in point of rapidity and range;
and its exemption from formal change, though no entire, has certainly proved
the sagacity of the constructors and the stubborn strength of the fabric.”
We may
all honor the name and honor of the man who did so much for the present and the
future of our country. In view of this
beautiful scene, the magnificent range of the Blue Ridge, this verdant lawn and
hospitable mansion here at the home of Madison, we may surely say that, if the
advice and patriotic purposes of this great man had been observed, we should
have been saved from civil strife; and, as in the past, so in the future, there
are no troubles that can arise in the administration of the affairs of our
country that cannot be settled by a recurrence to the principles of Madison,
principles which inculcate the submission of all section, States, communities,
and citizens to the Constitution and
law of the land.
The
bottom and foundation principles on which Madison built will always afford us
the mean as of adjusting all our difficulties.
I, however, have no fears.
Questions fraught with danger may recur, and we may sometimes be
disposed to look on the gloomy side; but let us all hope that, with the model
Constitution to guide us, the worst that can ever befall us is over. Nothing can be so dangerous as the events
that have already transpired and the scenes through which we have already
passed.
My
fellow-citizens, the President has to aid him in the discharge of his official
duties gentlemen called Cabinet Ministers.
These gentlemen assist him in finding the way to escape from
difficulties. Most fortunately for the
President, he is permitted to put some small share of his troubles on somebody
else, and the one that I put the most troubles on is the Secretary of the
Interior. He has a sort of omnibus
Department, and when I am in doubt what Department any matter of business
belongs to, I send it to the Interior Department. The Secretary has charge of public lands, pension, Indians, and
everything that nobody else has. I now
present to you General Schurz, Secretary of the Interior.