In
modern times attention may be directed to the speech of James Otis on
the Writs of Assistance, to Burke's speech on Conciliation with
America, to Fisher Ames' speech on the Jay Treaty, and to Webster's
speech on Nullification.
In all these speeches, the ancient and modern alike, with the
exception of the speech of Fisher Ames, the inspiring, the controlling
sentiment is the sentiment of patriotism,--the claim to continued
independence and sovereignty in an existing condition, and the claim
to independence and sovereignty on the part of an aspiring people.
Burke was animated by a sense of patriotic duty to Britain and by a
sense of justice to her colonies in America. Fisher Ames'
argumentative speech was an appeal to the sense of justice of the
House of Representatives.
Of the speeches to which reference has been made, it is to be said that
the circumstances in which they had their origin were local, although
they may have embraced the affairs of an empire. In the main, the
considerations advanced were temporary in their relations to the
affairs of mankind. In its very nature patriotism is local, and the
considerations by which the sentiment is stimulated relate usually to
the conditions and events in the country where the sentiment is
evolved. Moreover, a manifestation of the sentiment of patriotism in
one people is accompanied usually with a degree of hostility to some
other community or nation, and in its excesses it often fosters a
disregard for the just rights of others.
Pages:
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274