The Disinterested Citizen and the Maintenance of Freedom

THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

IT is a great privilege to participate on this occasion. You can imagine with what pride a father first wears a golden tassel like that worn by the Dean.

To a lawyer, Dartmouth represents, among other things, an important milestone in the history of freedom. Daniel Webster, of the Class of 1801, persuaded the Supreme Court in the famous Dartmouth College Case, decided in 1819, that under the Constitution private colleges were entitled to be free of state control contrary to their charters. This principle has been an important factor in insuring the vital freedom of inquiry which is a main distinction between our system and the Communist system where thought is controlled by the State.

Sometime you may want to look at Webster's brief, in his own hand, which is one of the many treasures in Baker Library. When Webster closed his argument for the College in the Supreme Court he used the famous words: "It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it." Webster broke down with emotion; his eyes filled with tears, his voice choked. An observer reported that the great Chief Justice, John Marshall "... bent over as if to catch the slightest whisper, the deep furrows of his cheek expanded with emotion and his eyes suffused with tears..." It was a moment never to be forgotten.

It is only five generations back to Webster's day here. If a Dartmouth alumnus of each class thirty years apart were to put his hand on the shoulder of one ahead there would only be a line of about five. And only four would be required to bridge the period back to 1835 when the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall cracked while tolling the nation's sadness at Marshall's death.

As we look ahead today, it is well to remember that Dartmouth and all of us here are closely bound to America's noble past. The great men who went before, here and elsewhere, properly look to us to keep the traditions alive.

When, just before the terrible ordeal of Valley Forge, Tom Paine sat by a camp fire, composing on a drumhead a broadside to rally Washington's army, he warned against "the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot." In our day, when grave danger threatens, we have the same duty to remain steadfast. We must not merely contemplate dire possibilities with fatalism or rely simply on keeping up our military strength, vital as that is. We must put what has been learned at this great small college to fruitful use. The Yankee shrewdness of this countryside is a part of our national arsenal. There is not only an obligation to survive, but to survive with honor, preserving for future generations the values which have come down to us. If we remain true to our great past and keep our powder dry and our wits about us, we need have no doubt that all men will ultimately choose freedom rather than slavery.

Of course, no statement of personal responsibility can neglect the first duty - to find a proper livelihood and have a family so that there will be no dearth of Dartmouth alumni in the future.

But the next duty is surely to play the role of devoted and responsible citizens, and not to leave that to others. In this each has his part and he can begin to play it at once.

On such a day, those going out into the world in professions, politics or business naturally contemplate the distant horizons. They think of what they may do or be forty years from now, in the magical year 2000 A.D. It is good to speculate in this way, for one's eyes must always seek the peaks. Sometimes clouds will obscure them. Sometimes they will seem too far and too high and greener, nearer peaks will appeal as sensible compromises. But there the high peaks will be and somehow our nature keeps even those not hardened by the Outing Club moving towards them. Few may reach the highest, but the trails will always be full of climbers.

While keeping the peaks in view, one must not neglect the grass, the flowers and even the weeds nearby. Here there is weeding, watering and cultivating which needs doing at once and here each has his role and can do his part.

Lord Moulton said that the measure of a civilization is the extent of its obedience to the unforceable. You might expect a lawyer to emphasize the importance of laws. They are important - to restrain those who won't restrain themselves, to protect the weak from the strong, and sometimes to make effective some new moral or legislative concept. But our country does not run just by multiplying or enforcing the laws.

It runs primarily because most people obey certain fundamental concepts in which they believe. And they try to teach or persuade the rest to obey them too. Those who take the lead or have a part in this are the disinterzens citizens who are the real backbone of our society. They maintain its qualities; they are the insurers of its freedom.

Every community has always had some of these citizens. They may have been bankers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, grocers, librarians, politicians or engineers. But they were at the center of civic enterprises. They thought them up and then they encouraged or cajoled others into supporting them. And when some movement got started which they thought unworthy of the community, they were the fire brigade that poured on cold water until hot heads cooled off. I call them "disinterested" because they did not undertake these tasks, for personal gain but because they felt a sense of duty and pride which required them to serve as they did. All of you have known such men and women. You will recognize these qualities in your own families if you think of it, although you may sometimes overlook them because they are so close to you.

Robert Frost said on his Both birthday that freedom is to feel easy in your harness. That is a fair summary of the position of our responsible citizens.

There are many things to be done by such citizens in our country today. All I can do is to mention a few of them and you will think of many others: We need more schools and our colleges need much help. We need more teachers, librarians, nurses, clergymen, professional men and young people in political life. In our cities we need to fight urban decay, provide more parks, preserve the beautiful old things and make sure that the new ones are worthy. We need to stimulate local pride and a sense of history. Good works need not be somber and to remind ourselves that gaiety and zest are American traits we need to celebrate more anniversaries reminding of the heroic past, have more parades, perhaps a return to the community fun of the old Fourth of July. Our people must learn again that with rights go responsibilities and that most good things should be accomplished through private efforts and not through government bureaucracy at someone else's expense. As we struggle to find decent living space and hospitality for the millions of new neighbors who are flooding our cities, some bringing problems of public health and delinquency, we must help them to recognize their own responsibility and to remember that if a neighbor is to be loved, he must try to be as lovable as possible. Good manners and mutual respect are the emollients of our society. We must not forget these qualities in ourselves when we deal with our friends in other nations.

We must try to eliminate corruption from local government and while protecting their rights, not oversentimentalize those accused of crime so that law enforcement becomes impossible. Wherever unfairness appears in government action we must insist on fairness as a basic principle. Where well-meaning zealots go beyond attacks on commercial pornography and seek to limit our freedom to read or enjoy the other arts or to pursue inquiry freely, we must insist on maintaining our traditional freedoms. Mr. Justice Brandeis rightly said that if we are to guide by the light of reason we must let our minds be bold. We must be mindful that the home, church and school can better teach taste, morals and manners than any government agency, however benevolent. Other citizens should join with our lawyers in seeking to advance the rule of law in the world and to insure a system of peace with justice. In short, the ranks of the disinterested citizens constantly need recruits; they have plenty of problems which are urgent; they are the intellectual and civic militia of our system. If each of us does his part from day to day, long after Khrushchev and other tyrants who throw such long dark shadows today have been forgotten, America will remain the beacon of freedom and justice to mankind, which it has been since the Republic was founded.

Then Webster and all the others who have loved this small college can feel that their heritage has been conserved and that the spirit of free inquiry will be handed on to those who follow us. Great issues, which you have freely explored here, will then have been dealt with greatly, as they deserve.

May I close with a portion of an epitaph to a Charleston lawyer, J. L. Pettigru, who opposed secession, died in 1863 when passions must have been very high, and on whose stone in St. Michael's Churchyard appears this noble tribute which may be regarded as a description of the disinterested citizen:

Unawed by Opinion Unseduced by Flattery Undismayed by Disaster He confronted Life with antique Courage And death with Christian Hope. In the great Civil War He withstood his People for his Country: But his people did Homage to the Man

Who held his conscience higher than their Praise; And his Country Heaped honours upon the grave of the Patriot, To Whom, living, His own righteous self-respect sufficed Alike for Motive and Reward.

For Dean Thaddeus Seymour (left) and his father, Whitney N. Seymour, president-elect of the American Bar Association, this year'sCommencement was a special occasion. The exercises were led forthe first time by Dean Seymour and his father was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree and delivered the Commencement Address.