“Sir, I am opposed to a constitution; I am opposed to enacted statutes and laws. I am opposed to kings, presidents, judges, legislators, and magistrates. What are these but public blood-suckers, living upon the toil and sacrifices of the rest of the community? Away with them, and let every man do what seemeth good in his own eyes. Things will all get adjusted to this system in good time. There is an instinct in the animal tribes which is thought to be borrowed from divine wisdom. The heron and the bittern are astronomers and navigators by nature; they know by instinct what man learns with difficulty. They are legislators too, but that divine instinct bids them leave things to their natural course. The strongest, by necessity and the laws of nature, become the leaders, and the rest have only to follow and obey. This is the great system of the universe; and man, by adopting an artificial scheme of government, is only sinning against nature, history and experience. I move you, therefore, that this assembly do now adjourn.”
Scarcely had Rogere finished, when his party shouted in the most animated manner, and there was a look of satisfaction and triumph in their faces that seemed to say that their leader had settled the whole question. When the applause had subsided, the moderator stated that there was a motion to adjourn, and asked if any one had anything to say against it. Upon this, Brusque rose, and spoke as follows:
“Mr. Moderator; you have already stated the high and solemn purposes of this meeting. We are to decide, in the first place, whether we will adopt some form of government, and if so, what system shall be established? At the very outset, and before the subject has been discussed, a motion is offered that we adjourn. It is moved that we separate, and leave this little colony to that anarchy which is now desolating the island. We are asked to adjourn, and follow the bittern and the heron as our examples in legislation. Man is to be the pupil of the bird; the brute is to be the lawgiver of human beings!
“What, sir, is the state of things? Riot, crime, and violence are now the order of the day. One murder has already been committed, and the man whose hand is stained with his brother’s blood is here, as free as the rest; and that murderer’s hand is lifted up in an assembly, as if entitled to all the privileges of citizenship. Sir, look at the fruits of the island, lately so abundant; they are fast disappearing, for no one has any interest to preserve or increase them. Not only are we in a state of confusion and fear, not only are the women and children in the community in distress from apprehension, but, sir, our means of living are wasting away,—starvation is at our very doors.
“And what is the remedy for all these evils? A good government, that shall parcel out these lands to the people, and secure to each man his own; a good government, that shall protect a man in his home, his earnings, his property; a good government, that will enforce right and restrain might; a good government, that will punish murder, theft, violence, and crime. This, and this alone, will bring peace to the island; this, and this alone, will give security and happiness to all. Let us have a government, to secure the rights of the people and punish injustice, and this island may become a paradise. Its rich hillsides and lovely valleys will be cultivated, and will produce the greatest abundance of comforts and luxuries. Let us have protection to life, home, and property, and commerce will spring up, and we can get from other lands all that they produce which can minister to our enjoyment.
“Who will till the soil, if any man stronger than himself can drive the laborer away and take the produce? Who will toil, if the violent, and selfish, and powerful man may take away the result of that toil? Sir, we are told to follow nature, to look to the instinct of animals for a guide. And is man, gifted with reason, to throw that reason aside and follow instinct? The proposition is absurd. If we follow animals, we must adopt their modes of life. If you adopt the government of wolves, you must live in rocks and dens, feast upon blood, and have no other covering than nature provides. If you allow the strong to take what they can grasp, we go back at once to the savage state.
“Let us then be more wise, more reasonable, more just. Let us remember that we men act not only for ourselves, but for others. I beseech you to look upon the anxious groups of wives, mothers, and daughters in that little valley, whose hearts are now palpitating with anxiety; they are waiting the result of our deliberations, as involving interests more dear than life to them. Let them know that you have this day resolved to establish a good government, and they will ask ten thousand blessings on your heads. Let them know that this state of anarchy is to continue, and they will mourn the day that saved them from the billows to which the relentless pirate had doomed them.”
This speech of Brusque’s had an evident effect, and when the question of adjournment was put, there was a majority against it. Brusque, greatly encouraged, then rose, and moved, that it was the sense of the assembly that the best good of the people required the immediate adoption of some form of government. No sooner was this motion put, than Rogere, fearing that it might be carried, sprang to his feet, and, drawing a dagger, brandished it in the air, at the same time addressing his party as follows:
“My friends, are you not sick of this folly, this hypocrisy, this child’s play? Away with it all! let us be men—let us be free. Down with that hoary fool, and this false-hearted knave!” Saying this, and pointing to M. Bonfils and Brusque, he led the way, and rushed upon them. His men followed as with one impulse. The aged moderator was struck to the ground by a single blow, and Brusque, taken by surprise, was thrown down, and two stout men, seizing upon him, tied his hands and feet fast. The rest of Brusque’s party, after a short skirmish, fled down the hill to the village, where they were received with cries of consternation and despair.
M. Bonfils and Brusque were taken to the “Castaway’s Cave,” which Rogere now made his head-quarters, and where his party soon assembled. After a brief interval, it was proposed by one of the men that Rogere should be chief of the island, with full power in his hands to govern as he pleased. His motion was carried by acclamation, and M. Bonfils and Brusque were required to give their consent. Refusing to do this, they were bound and taken into one of the lower apartments of the cave, and, totally unable to move, they were left to themselves.