Liberty versus Government [pp. 376-379]

LIBERTY VERSUS GOVERNMENT.
"Why," said the Marshal, "does not the English army con struct a road through the swamp and turn the American position?"
"Impossible, because of the depth of the water."
"Any current?"
"Very little, if any."
"Is it not covered with trees?"
"Yes, of large growth."
"Then I will tell you it is not impossible."
"I think it would be found so in a Mississippi swamp."
"Hlad they no engineer staff, no company of sappers and
miners with them? Then I repeat it is not impossible," contin ued the Marshal, with energy, "for the soldiers who crossed
the I)ouro, and constructed the lines of Torres Vedras to make
a road anywhere. I do not care how deep the water may be, if
the earth is firm enough to grow trees. No, sir. The General
did not know his duty, or if he did, did not perform it, and his
death on the field was more honorable than his reception at home
would have been."
The Major ventured an argument upon the impossibility of
constructing a road, concluding with the opinion that it was a
task to which no soldiers in the world were equal or competent.
To which the Marshal only replied, vehemently and rapidly,
" Je ne comprendre pas. Je me comprendre pas. Je ne comprendre
pas."
ART. VI.-LIBERTY VERSUS GOVERNMENT.
EVERYTHING in excess is evil. That is, everything in itself,
in the abstract, unrestricted and unbalanced by its antinomes or
opposing powers, is evil and pernicious. Nothing is good of itself and by itself, nothing good in the abstract, because things
in the abstract, pure, simple, undiluted and unbalanced, would
exist in the greatest possible excess. On the other hand, if we
were acquainted with all the secrets of nature, we would be sure
to discover that neither in the moral or metaphysical world, nor
in the physical or material world, is there anything evil in the
concrete, when properly compounded or balanced by appropriate antinomes; that is, by things having opposing or qualifying powers or qualities. It always takes two, or many wrongs
to make a right-for all good, all right, all truth, are but the
means or conjoint results of opposite or antinomic evils or
wrongs. To instance and illustrate: Liberty, in the abstract,
liberty, standing alone, unrestrained, unrestricted, or unbalanced
by law or government, is simply pure anarchy; that is, the absence of all rule and control.
Liberty, then, in the abstract, or in excess, is altogether evil.
The freest of all possible governments would be the worst of
possible governments, because it would approach nearest to
anarchy. Liberty, to be good or beneficial, must be balanced
and restricted by its antinomes-law and government. It is a
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