Chap. III.]

OBSERVANCE OF TRUTH.

185

seem to sustain and strengthen their own side, or militate againstthe side taken by their adversaries. Hence arise misstatementsof the subject under discussion, mutual misrepresentation of themotives, opinions, designs, feelings, and arguments of the re-spective adversaries, misquotations and mistranslations of authori-ties ; partisan and sometimes personal attacks, and offensivepersonal imputations, made by one party in order to fix publicprejudice and odium on the opposite party and his cause ; —these, all these practices and many more, must be familiar toall who are accustomed to peruse controversies.

This spirit and these practices, in some degree, infect thecontroversies which spring up in literature, in science, in morals,and even in religion ; but it is in 'political party warfare , thatthe spirit of perversion and misrepresentation of the truth rageswith tenfold virulence and bitterness. I must be sustained bythe convictions of every candid and experienced politician, whenI assert, that the effect, much more than the truth , of what iswritten, is regarded by the great body of our political partisanwriters. Nay, must I not be sustained in further asserting, thatthe practice of sacrificing truth to effect has gradually found itsway, from the partisan newspapers and journals, to the speechesof our legislators, and even into those still more grave and impor-tant productions, the reports of our legislative committees, andthe messages of our chief executive magistrates ? Is it too muchto say, that in the sacrifice of truth to effect, our gravest politicaldocuments are sometimes stained with assertions and statements,which must be known by the authors- to be perversions and mis-representations of the truth ? I am unwilling to refer to particu-lar instances of such statements made in our gravest officialdocuments ; and, fortunately for me, such particular reference isnot necessary, — instances enough to justify me, cannot fail tooccur to the memory of every one who is familiar with our recentpolitical documents and history. This is violating historicaltruth in its ultimate sources, and it is worthy of the most matureand candid consideration of every patriot and statesman, nay, ofevery good citizen, whether this practice does not threaten, ifit cannot be arrested, to render the future political history of this24