he furnace--the body chilled which stands
naked in the freezing north-wind. I am entitled to make this assertion
here, when the _moral_ depravity of the Convention, of which I shall
have to speak hereafter, has not even been touched upon. Nor let it be
blamed in any man, though his station be in private life, that upon this
occasion he speaks publicly, and gives a decisive opinion concerning
that part of this public event, and those measures, which are more
especially military. All have a right to speak, and to make their voices
heard, as far as they have power. For these are times, in which the
conduct of military men concerns us, perhaps, more intimately than that
of any other class; when the business of arms comes unhappily too near
to the fire-side; when the character and duties of a soldier ought to be
understood by every one who values his liberty, and bears in mind how
soon he may have to fight for it. Men will and ought to speak upon
things in which they are so deeply interested; how else are right
notions to spread, or is error to be destroyed? These are times also in
which, if we may judge from the proceedings and result of the Court of
Inquiry, the heads of the army, more than at any other period, stand in
need of being taught wisdom by the voice of the people. It is their own
interest, both as men and as soldiers, that the people should speak
fervently and fearlessly of their actions:--from no other quarter can
they be so powerfully reminded of the duties which they owe to
themselves, to their country, and to human nature. Let any one read the
evidence given before that Court, and he will there see, how much the
intellectual and moral constitution of many of our military officers,
has suffered by a profession, which, if not counteracted by admonitions
willingly listened to, and by habits of meditation, does, more than any
other, denaturalize--and therefore degrade the human being;--he will
note with sorrow, how faint are their sympathies with the best feelings,
and how dim their apprehension of some of the most awful truths,
relating to the happiness and dignity of man in society. But on this I
do not mean to insist at present; it is too weighty a subject to be
treated incidentally: and my purpose is--not to invalidate the authority
of military men, _positively_ considered, upon a military question, but
_comparatively_;--to maintain that there are military transactions upon
which the people have a right to be