Man was free to begin with—as free as the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air. Who, then enslaved humanity? Man himself. So when Man seeks liberty, he seeks to free himself from conditions that he has imposed on his own kind—to free himself from “Man’s inhumanity to Man.” It is Desire—selfish Desire for conquest, possession and control—that has enslaved mankind. The man that seeks liberty, then, should have no place in his breast for greed and selfish desire. If, underneath his feelings of revolt against the Tyrant and the Master, there burns in his own soul the flame of selfish desire, how can he condemn those that aspire to be masters of the world? How would he himself use supreme power if it were his? Would he dominate others with an iron hand, or would he lend his strength to the weak? When a man has answered that question to his own satisfaction, knowing in his soul that he has been truthful with himself, he may justly claim to be a lover of liberty.
Carlyle pictured humanity in the mass as an “Egyptian urn filled with tamed vipers, each one struggling to raise its head above the others.” That is a bitter expression of life’s struggle—but in the light of history not an exaggerated one. That kind of struggle does not make for liberty. That is a struggle for supremacy. Until the desire for supremacy—for conquest and control, be checked in the human soul, that bitter struggle will go on. Don’t mistake the meaning of the cry for liberty. Liberty does not mean freedom from subjection for us that we may master others. It means freedom for all men—everywhere—always. The love of liberty implies the love of humanity—the spirit of true democracy.
Some years ago I heard a great leader of our people define democracy. “We observe,” he said, “a young man of high social standing making a companion of his washerwoman’s son, and we call him democratic. Is he really so? Perhaps the washerwoman’s son possesses qualities that would command the attention and respect of every one; perhaps he has tastes in common with the young man. That is not democracy. That is natural selection—like seeking like. It is very easy for a man to be democratic with people he likes. But that is not democracy. True democracy is that spirit in a man which makes the welfare of his fellow men a thing vital to him, whether he likes them or not.”
So it is with the spirit of liberty. It is all inclusive, without taint of selfishness. It does not mean that I shall be free to do what I choose. It means that I consider it vital that all men shall be free and that all shall enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, with due consideration for the rights and privileges of every one. The spirit found expression in the words of George Washington, when, after leading the six-year struggle of America for liberty he was urged by his officers to assume imperial authority. Indignantly rebuking his officers for an idea that he “viewed with abhorrence,” he said, in effect, “Let no man ever offer that to me.”
Today the United States is engaged in the greatest conflict in all history—not for conquest and mastery, not for territory nor advantages in commerce, not for any material gain whatever, but for the simple cause of liberty. As a national cause, liberty was first established by the United States. When America determined on its freedom in 1776, the recording hand of Fate wrote on the pages of History, where the eyes of all kings might read, “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” “You have been tried in the balance and found wanting.” The passing years have confirmed the judgment. The Divine Right of Kings is under sentence. The day of reckoning is at hand.
