Doc. No. 2.]
[Ses. 1868.
Ordered to he Printed.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OE GOT. W. W. HOLDEN,
DELIVERED IN CAPITOL SQUARE, RALEIGH,
JULY 4th, 1868.
Fellow Citizens:—The unity of government, which con-
stitutes us one people, has been restored. The Great Rebellion
is suppressed. The will of the majority, from which there
will be no further appeal, has been pronounced. Although
the passions which the rebellion engendered and evoked may
disturb us for a season, they can neither afflict us hereafter
nor retard the progress of free principles on this continent.
The Union has been preserved. It has been preserved not
only on its former basis of liberty for one race, but its found-
ations are now broad enough for the whole people, of what-
soever origin, color or former condition.
We have assembled to day to begin anew the work of self"-
goverment. The Congress of the United States, properly
charged with the reconstruction of the lately insurgent States
and their restoration to their Constitutional relations to the
general government, has proceeded upon principles which
have their basis in the rights of man ; and it has so guarded
those principles by enactments, and by amendments to the
Constitution, as to render them safe for the future in the
Lands of the people of the respective States. We believe
that the work thus begun for the whole people, by the whole
people of the State, will be prosecuted to fortunate results.
We trust that the foundations which have been laid, and
which we this day dedicate to Liberty and Union in North-
Carolina, will remain solid and firm for all time to come be-
neath the edifice of general prosperity and happiness to be
erected thereon. We feel sure that a government " of the
2
Document No. 2.
people, by the people, and for the people," will outlast any
other form, and will confer greater benefits than any other, on
those who are destined to live under it; and we are, there-
fore, confident that all that is valuable and perfect in what-
soever is merely human in its character, must flow from the
form we have adopted.
The people of this State have formed and ratified a Consti-
tution of Government, which contains all the great principles
of liberty contended for in past ages by the wise and good of
England and America. This Constitution has been consid-
ered and approved by the Congress of the United States as
"republican in form," and with this approval North-Carolina
has been restored to her former position and privileges in the
Union.
This Constitution holds, fellow-citizens, as a self evident
fact, that all men are equal in their political and civil rights.
It declares that " all government originates from the peo-
pie, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely
for the good of the whole."
It declares " that the State shall ever remain a member of
the American Union "—that there is no such right as that of
secession,, and that any attempt at secession " ought to be re-
sisted by the whole power of the State."
It provides for the freedom of the press, for freedom of
speech, and declares that " the privilege of the writ of habeas
corpus shall not be suspended."
It guards every citizen's house as his castle, against general
warrants not supported by proper evidence; and it guards
personal liberty as of chief value to the citizen.
It declares that, " as political rights and privileges are not
dependent upon, or modified by property, therefore no
property qualifications ought to affect the right to vote or
hold office."
It secures religious freedom.
It provides for education as " a right" which it is " the
duty of the State to guard and maintain."
It declares that perpetuities and monopolies, hereditary
emoluments and privileges, and ex post facto laws are contra-
Document Ho. 2.
3
ry to the genius of a free State, and ought not to he allowed.
It declares that human slavery is " forever prohibited with-
in this State."
It provides that all property shall be taxed " according to
its true value in money," thus establishing the only just sys-
tem of taxation ; and for the protection of both the poll and
the lands, it provides that for State and County purposes the
poll tax shall never exceed two dollars, and that this tax shall
be " equal to the tax on property valued at three hundred
dollars in cash,"—thus balancing the land against the poll
tax, and preventing injustice or oppression to either.
It makes the most stringent provisions for maintaining
State credit.
It provides for a homestead for every head of a family, and,
as far as it was possible to do so, secures such homestead
against all debts or obligations.
It very tenderly provides for the rights of married women,
by exempting all their property from the debts of their hus-
bands, and giving them power, with the assent of the hus-
band, to convey such property as they may choose.
It provides for the poor, for the orphan, for the deaf and
dumb and blind, for the insane, for idiots and inebriates, and,
in fine, for all who are benighted, wretched and forlorn.
It separates from each other tlie three great departments
of the Government, legislative, executive and judicial; and
it makes them all dependent on the people as the only right-
ful source of power.
It provides that every male citizen shall be a voter; and
every voter, with few exceptions, shall be eligible to office.
Suffrage has thus been bestowed upon all. The colored
man has the same right with the white man to vote and hold
office. I do not inquire whether it was necessary to do this
to accomplish reconstruction. It is sufficient that justice is
always a necessity in founding governments that are to oper-
ate upon all, and that without it no government can be ex
pected to endure. The ballot, thus bestowed upon our recent-
ly enfranchised people, will remain with them. There is no
power that can deprive them of it, without plunging us into
4
DoctTMiSf't Ho, 2.
a protracted and terrible civil war. Four millions of human
beings who have once tasted the blessings of freedom, would
not surrender these blessings without a struggle. They would
find powerful friends here and elsewhere in the country.—-
Greater calamities and sufferings than those endured by our
people in the late rebellion would come upon us with such a
struggle, but the result, though long delayed, would not be
doubtful. Liberty for all would again triumph. Those who
had provoked such a "war of races" would disappear from
the earth, and their possessions would pass from their children
to the conquerors. - There can be no danger of such a conflict
if every one will faithfully submit to the Constitution and laws,
and follow the things that make for peace and good will among
the people. The friends of reconstruction will prevail here-
after, as heretofore, not only in the State but in the nation,
and the colored people will, therefore, retain the right of snff-
rage, and exereisft it as it is, in common with the white race,
with no qualification save that of manhood. There is no
reasonable ground to fear that it will not operate beneficially
for all. The repugnance to it, which exists among many of
our people, will gradually subside, when they shall be con-
vinced by actual experience that none of the evils they anti-
eipate hjtve resulted from it.
This Constitution, fellow-citizens, must be administered by
its friends and supporters. The people have so decided. The
interests it guards are too precious to he committed to any
extent to unfriendly hands. Every office and every em-
ployment under the State, from the most inferior to the
most exalted, must be filled by the friends of reeonstruc-
tion and of the new State Constitution. So far as the
Executive is concerned this purpose will be inflexibly
maintained, not only from a sense of propriety and justice,
but as indispensable to a full and fair trial of the principles
contained in the Constitution. These principles are dear to
the friends of liberty and of the government of the United
States; and no opportunity should be afforded to those who
are opposed to them to occupy official positions or to have
employments, in which they would be tempted, as they cer-
Document No. 2.
5
tainly are disposed, to pervert, distort or misapply them. The
friends of the government must conduct the government in
all its departments. Yet it does not follow that others will
be singled out to be wronged or oppressed. The people do
not oppress or wrong any one when they say that .certain per-
sons shall not have office, on account of their political opin-
ions. Office is a privilege, which may be bestowed or with-
held without infringing any right. Every citizen ot the State
will be free. The laws will be made for all, and will operate
equally upon all. Every citizen will enjoy, in equal measure,
the protection of the Courts. There will be no social pro-
scription. No effort will be made to blacken the names of
even unrepentant rebels, as was the case with the tories of
the revolution ; but it will be left to history to assign to their
appropriate places all the actors in the late tragedy of rebel-
lion. In fine, those who will conduct the government are
not the enemies of any portion of the people of the State.
They desire to do justice to all, and, as far as may be, to be
the friends of all. If the administration of public affairs shall
bring peace, prosperity and happiness, all will share in these
blessings; if, on the contrary, it shall produce disorder, and
further suffering and misery, none will be exempt from these
calamities.
The injunction of the Constitution regarding education
should be faithfully observed. Colleges, high schools, Nor-
mal schools for the education of teachers, and public schools
for all, should be established at the earliest practicable period,
and liberally sustained from the public treasury. We should
so conduct our public schools as to render them superior to
all others of a similar kind in the State, and thus make it the
interest, as well as the duty of parents to regard thorn as com-
mon to all, the rich and the middle classes as well as the poor.
The first duty of a free State is to educate its children. It
cannot be too often repeated that the structure and perpetu-
ity of free institutions depend on the intelligence and virtue
of the people. We must either prepare to educate thorough-
ly the rising generation of both races, or abandon the hope
that we shall continue a free, self-governing State. It does
6
Document ISTo. 2.
not follow, nor does the Constitution require, that the white
and colored races shall be educated together in the same
schools. It is believed to be better for both, and more satis-
factory to both, that the schools should be distinct and sepa-
rate. But they should be equally calculated to impart in-
struction, and the schools for the two, thus separate and
apart, should enjoy equally the fostering care of the State.
The Constitution provides for organizing and arming the
militia to "execute the law, suppress riots or insurrections
and to repel invasion." The opinion of Washington, uttered
in 1 90, that a "free people ought not only to be armed, but
disciplined," and that a well organized militia "is certainly
an object of primary importance, whether viewed in refer-
ence to the national security, to the satisfaction of the com-
munity, or to the preservation of order," is not less weighty
or important now than it was then. The militia should be
organized at once. It is the duty of the Executive to see that
the laws are faithfully executed and to preserve peace among
the people. This duty will be performed promptly, fearlessly
and firmly. Every citizen must submit to lawful authority,
or refusing to do so, must expect the penalties of the violated
law. In the language of our great General, second only to
him who was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the
hearts of his countrymen,"—" Let us have JPeace !" The
sword, which would not have been drawn but tor the
criminal folly of the recently insurgent States, should never
again be wielded by Americans against Americans. Every
interest that is dear to us, and every hope that we may in-
dulge for the future, is indissolubly bound up with peace and
tranquility among ourselves. But there can be no peace with-
out law, and there can be no efficacy in law without obedi-
ence. The law is over all. The poor and the humble should
be protected to as full an extent as others. They need more
than others this protection. Every one must be free to use
what is his own, not trespassing on the rights of others; to
follow his particular calling or employment; to labor, and to
enjoy the fruits of his labor ; to speak freely his sentiments
and to vote as he pleases, and not to be injured or questioned
Document No. 2.
7
"fey any lor doing any of these things. The people of North-
Carolina are proverbial for their law-abiding disposition. It
is not apprehended that disturbances will arise, or that com-
binations will be formed to resist the laws ; yet it is known
that many hold the opinion that the reconstruction laws of
the United States are unconstitutional, and therefore null and
void; and it may be that this may. lead, if not to open resist-
ance, to a forcible denial in some localities of the rights guar-
anteed by the Constitution of the State, formed and adopted
in pursuance of said laws. It is also known that a disposition
exists, among no inconsiderable portion of our population, to
oppress the poor whites and the colored race, on account of
their political opinions. The magistrates and the Courts will
be sustained by the whole power of the State., in such action
as may be deemed necessary to proteet those who may be
thus wronged or oppressed; and the magistrates and the
Courts will be sustained by the whole power of the State in
•giving effect to the Constitution itself, as having been fairly,
justly and properly adopted, and as binding in all respects on
every citizen until changed or modified in the mode prescrib-
ed in the instrument itself. Differences in political sentiment
are to be expected, and are not calculated in themselves to
endanger the State; but a purpose to subvert the government,
<on the assumption that it is mot properly derived, has not been
constitutionally adopted, and is illegitimate and not binding,
should be narrowly watehed and promptly checked, on the
first manifestation of any overt aet on the part of those cher-
ashing such purpose. The Constitution of this State is, under
the Constitution of the United States, the supreme organic
law. The government which it establishes, and the laws
passed in pursuance of it, will be maintained and enforced.
To render resistance, therefore, impracticable, if not impossi-
ble, and to maintain the peaee by executing the laws in a
■spirit of justice to all, it is deemed essential that a portion of
the-militia should he well disciplined and armed, and should
be thus ready at any moment, under the orders of the com-
anander-in-chief, for active dutv.
It is not proposed., nor is it required by the Constitution,
8
Document No. 2.
that the two races should be mustered and drilled in the same
companies and regiments. Following the example of the
government of the United States, they may be divided into
separate companies and regiments ; but it is due to the color-
ed race that they should have, whenever they desire it,.offi-
cers of their own color for their own companies and regiments.
In this, as in all other things concerning our white and col-
ored fellow-citizens, absolute civil and political equality
should be maintained. The public burdens should fall equal-
ly on both, and there should be no distinction between them
in their political and civil rights.
The Constitution provides that " to maintain the honor
and good faith of the State untarnished, the public debt, reg-
ularly contracted before and since the rebellion, shall be re-
garded as inviolable, and never be questioned." It would be
difficult to overstate the value of character to individuals or
to States. A State which deliberately says, " this is my seal—
the debt is just, but I will not pay it," proclaims that there
is no virtue in moral obligation, and sinks at once to the
level of savage races whom no treaty or obligation can bind.
States flourish and prosper, and are respected, in proportion
as they adhere to the eternal principles of justice. North-
Carolina, when fully herself, uninfluenced by the passions of
the rebellion, would have felt any stain upon her credit as a
wound, and would have submitted to any sacrifice to avert
even the suspicion that her honor could be sullied by any act
of her own. North-Carolina is again a State, in the full sense
in which she was before she rebelled, and her obligations and
duties are as binding as they formerly were. These obliga-
tions and duties can not be evaded or avoided. The payment
of the interest on her debt, as provided for in the Constitu-
tion, would at once place her credit on a secure footing. A
debt ceases to affect credit injuriously when the interest is
promptly paid, and when it is seen that an accumulation of
valuable property and general prosperity is the result of the-
indebtedness. The credit of England is equal to that of any
country, yet the English debt is the result of the accumula-
tions of ages, and is of enormous magnitude., The secret of
Document No. 2.
9
the credit of England is the unvarying punctuality with
which her interest is paid, and the fact that she is constantly
adding to her wealth and power by the use of what she has
borrowed,
I do not doubt that the General Assembly, responding to
the general wish of our people, will make prompt and ample
provision for meeting the interest 011 the State debt.
By meeting promptly the interest on her debt the State will
be enabled to borrow money to prosecute internal improve-
ments, which are essential to the development of her resources.
Money thus expended, and money expended for education,
will constitute the very best investment the State could make.
A vigorous and well-directed system of internal improve-
ments, from the seashore to the Tennessee line, thus placing
us in direct communication with the Mississippi valley, with
cheap rates of freight and travel, would stimulate agriculture
and the mechanic arts, build up our seaports, increase our
commerce both foreign and coastwise, draw thither immi-
grants from the Northern States and from Europe, arrest em-
igration from the State, give employment to thousands of our
people, and thus place us at 110 very distant day in the front
rank of American States. No State in the Union has superior
advantages to North-Carolina, whether we consider the extent
of her seacoast, the value of her harbors, her geographical
situation, the salubrity of her climate, or the nature and vari-
ety of her resources and productions. She is exempted on
the one hand from the protracted and rigorous winters of the
North, and on the other from the blasting heats of the South.
Favored thus with climate and soil, extending from Currituck
to Cherokee five hundred miles, and one hundred and eighty
miles in width at one point, with fifty thousand square miles
of territory, and a population of not more than twenty to the
square mile, it is obvious that a great and prosperous future
is before her, if her people should prove true to themselves.
What we need is capital and mind, to bring out these re-
sources—to render them convenient, and useful and available
for wealth and power. We need skilled labor. We need ed-
uoated, thinking, investigating, enterprising mind, on our-
10
Document No. 2.
farms, in our workshops and manufactories, in our mines, 011
our railroads, at the head of our schools and presses, and in-
deed in every industrial enterprise or pursuit.
Fellow-citizens, let us come out of the caverns of the past,
and forgetting whatever js not worthy to be remembered, let
us resolve to do our duty in our day and time, as North-Car-
olinians, as Americans. In a climate and with a soil for
which Providence has done so much, let us resolve to do
something for ourselves and our children. Let us devote our-
selves to the arts of peace. Let us improve this great inher-
itance. Let our children and our children's children, when
they shall come to take our places, say of us, " Our ancestors
remembered and did what was wise, and what was good for
us. Behold, the beautiful country they have left to us!—
the just and equal laws that are over us, and the hope that
their work has made strong in us that we can do even more
tor our children than they have done for us." Let us at least
unite upon the one great object of improving and building up
the State. Let us welcome capital and immigration, furnish-
ing as they will the indispensable means to our progress and
prosperity. Prejudices growing out of nativity, 01* out of the
rebellion, are not worthy to be cherished. Let us discard
such prejudices. We are once more Americans all. Let us
receive with courtesy and kindness every citizen of the
Northern or Eastern States who may cast his lot among us,
and measure him as we measure others, according to his per-
sonal and moral worth. We cannot hope to improve our con
dition if we repel capital and immigration, either by so acting
as to produce the belief that it is not safe to settle among us
on account of the want of law and order, or unpleasant, be-
cause of rude or uncivil treatment to the immigrant. It should
be remembered that our ancestors were, originally, as much
" adventurers " as others. Of the three signers of the Decla-
ration of Independence for this State neither was a native.
Richard Caswell, one of our greatest Governors, and some-
times called the Washington of North-Carolina, was not
a native; nor was Joseph Caldwell, who built up our
University and led the way with Murphey, Yancey, Stanly,
Document No. 2.
11
Saunders and others in internal improvements and public in-
struction.
We want the best people from Europe, and from all parts
of the United States, to settle among us. It is men that
make a State. Let them come, with their enterprise and
money, their muscle and intelligence; and when they get hero
let the only rivalry be as to who shall do most for the good
and the glory of our beloved State.
The government of the United States, in the prosecution of
the war to suppress the rebellion, and in the measures
it has adopted to reconstruct the Union, has exhibited extra-
ordinary clemency and magnanimity. It has taken no veil-
geance for the past, but has required only security for the
future. It has deprived no man of his property save for war
purposes during the progress of the war; it has exiled no
man ; it has punished no man for the crime of rebellion. It
has simply required that those who have been in rebellion
should renew their allegiance, and that such guards should be
placed in the organic laws of the States and the nation as to
prevent future rebellion. Instead of defining or restricting
suffrage permanently, it has left it with the respective States,
to be determined and settled as they may choose; and this
State, following in full measure the example of the national
government, has made suffrage free to all.
But the war to suppress the rebellion has, in its results,
necessarily changed as it has settled the theory of construe-
tion previously held by a large portion of the people. Our
liberties have been consolidated, and the Union can, in no
event, be dissolved. It is to endure always. It must increase,
but never decrease. For all great national purposes the gov-
ernment of the United States is over the States, and para-
mount to the States, and the allegiance of the citizen is first
due to it. There is no appeal from the will of the nation,
expressed by a majority. Armed resistance to the national
authority, whether by individuals of their own accord, or by
individuals acting under supposed State authority or com-
mand, is treason, and must be so held and treated. The doc-
trine of State's rights, as held by Mr. Calhoun and his fol-
12
Document No. 2.
lowers, has ceased to have validity or vitality ; and the teach-
ings and doctrines of Washington, Hamilton, Webster,
Jackson, Clay and Lincoln now constitute the true, and the
only safe theory of construction. This has been settled, under
Providence, by the result of a solemn appeal to arms among
brethren ; and he who would unsettle this theory, thereby
rendering it possible that secession should ever again be
attempted, is no friend to his species, to his 'State, or to the
general government of his country. The government of the
United States is no longer a feeble luminary, receiving and dis-
pensing light to surrounding planets ; but it is a full sun, burn-
ing with superior splendor, pervading and holding up to itself
the entire system, and kindling new planets into life and
motion. TIow beneficent, how glorious, how far-reaching
will be the light it will dispense when it reaches its meridian,
we shall not live to see, but the generations to come after us
will walk in that light, and be contented, prosperous and
happy. In the fullness of their gratitude they will thank
God, as we do, that the government of the United States,
delivered from the perils of rebellion, and reconstructed on
the basis of the equal rights of all, is as indestructible as the
earth itself, and as secure in its position and in the exercise
of all its great powers, as
" The Northern star,
Of whose true, fixed and resting quality,
There is no tellow in the firmament."
I have thus, fellow-citizens, stated briefly and plainly the
great principles contained in our State Constiution, and I
have frankly announced the policy which will characterize
my administration. Cherishing neither malice nor resent-
ment for any thing that has occurred in the past, I shall
endeavor to do my duty. I shall keep constantly7 in view the
welfare of North-Carolina. I love the Union, because it is
the first, the last, the only hope of my State; and I love my
State, because her people have been good and kind to me, and
because her sky is above my home, as it will be above my
grave. If I have enemies, that does not make me an enemy
to my State, nor move me to a course of action based on re-
Document No. 2.
18
sentment 01* revenge. I follow the principles of Washington,
who founded, and of Lincoln, who saved the Republic ; and
when these principles cease to lead, I shall cease to follow.—
May the God of our fathers have ns in His holy keeping;
may He govern, and not we ; and may the future of our be-
loved State be as bright and as glorious as the last seven
years have been disastrous and unhappy.
ADDRESS OF HOIST. E. G. READE, JUDGE OF THE
SUPREME COURT, DELIYERED OH THE SAME
OCCASION.
Fellow Citizens :—There are three departments of your
Government—Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The Leg-
islative is represented by the large body of intelligent gentle-
men who are seated in your midst. They will speak to you
in wholesome legislation. The Executive is represented by
Governor Holden. He has just spoken his Inaugural. The
Judicial is represented by the learned Judges who sit near
me. Will you hear a word from them ? They do notfspeak
in the interest of party, but in the interest of the Govern-
ment.
It is much to be desired at any time that all the depart
ments of the government should be in accord. It is indispen-
sable that they should be so now. We have, suffered until
we are exhausted. We must recuperate or die. Passion must
subside; prejudices must yield ; reason must resume her sway.
The Government which is this day inaugurated must have
your support. The alternative to all this is so apparent that
even the blind may know it; another attempt at revolution ;
other floods of blood ; other fields of carnage. And yet not
like any other the world has ever seen. Heed us, our coun-
try men, heed us ! We have not deceived you before. We
earnestly warn you now. Give us your confidence and aid.
Come up to the support of the Government which you have
entrusted to our hands. And, God helping, we will make it
14
Document No. 2.
your shield and buckler. If it be weak, strengthen it. If it
be wrong, change it. But. let it be still the object of your
care and devotion. Let it be your Government, and make
it what it has been denied to be—the best Government in the
world. Honor this day—the day of Liberty. Be proud of
that flag. Love it. Call it your flag. "Walk under it.
Gather its folds about you. Make it larger. Spread it out.
Add other stars. In the face of any enemy raise it high.
Advance it, support it by your united powers, and make the
world respect it as much as you love it.
On the part of the Judiciary, we ofler to the co-ordinate
Departments a friendly hand, and to the people W3 pledge a
firm adherence to the Constitution and laws of the State and
of the United States.
ADDBESS OF LT. GOY. TOD R. CALDWELL, DE-
LIYERED ON THE SAME OCCASION.
Friends, Fellow-Citizens, North-Carolinians, Ameri-
icans:—You have, to-day, been edified, instructed and de-
lighted by eloquent addresses from the Executive and Judi-
eial Departments of North-Carolina. The hearts of all true
patriots have been cheered up and made to rejoice with "joy
unspeakable" by the utterances which have fallen from the
lips of the distinguished representatives of those co-ordinate
branches of our State Government. It is deemed meet and
proper that the Legislative Department shall not be silent on
this interesting occasion. Desiring, my friends, not to mar
the harmony and beauty of what has been said, with so much
fitness, by the eloquent gentlemen who have preceded me, I
shall content myself by simply notifying this vast concourse
of patriotic citizens that the Legislative Department of North-
Carolina is in full accord with the other branches of the State
Government; that it approves and endorses every word ut-
tered and every sentiment conceived in behalf of the Consti-
tution and laws of our common country, and I feel fully
warranted in declaring that the General Assembly of North-
Document No. 2.
15
Carolina is filled with the enthusiasm and spirit which per-
vades this happy and well-pleased people.
What, my friends, produces this glow of excitement—this
glorious political revival in our midst ? What has caused this
large concourse of people, of freemen, to come together with
such happy faces and such joyous smiles ? Oh my country-
men ! it is not alone to celebrate this the natal day of Amer
ican Independence, but it is also because this glorious " Fourth
of duly " witnesses the resurrection of our good " Old North
State" from the political tomb to which she consigned her-
self seven long years ago; it is because we can again claim
the protection of the unsullied flag which now floats above
us ; because we can walk in the light of the undimmed stars
which illuminate the highways and the bye ways of this grand
Republic. Oh happy day! fortunate people!! Let us all
rejoice that the prodigal has been received, forgiven and wel-
corned into the old family mansion ; that the fatted calf has
been killed and all are invited to the feast, and that there is
great rejoicing around the domestic board. This is no pri-
vate entertainment; it is spread for all who may feel inclined
to come and partake with us.
And now, my friends, while we are thus in the midst of the
loved spots of earth, knowing that we can claim our inlieri-
tance, let us thank God and be glad, and swear by the
memory of our sires, and by the love we bear for our sons,
that from this day, henceforward and forever, we will stand
by, defend, and, if necessary, die for this, the best Govern-
ment which has ever been vouchsafed to any people on the
face of the globe.