Benjamin Rush Quotes
We profess to be republicans, and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government; that is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible; for this divine book, above all others, favors that equality among mankind, that respect for just laws, and all those sober and frugal virtues which constitute the soul of republicanism.
Second to Benjamin Franklin, Rush was the only other real scientist of the American colonial era. Franklin was not much of an enthusiast for religion. Rush was.
Benjamin Rush, 1745-1813, Physician & member of the Continental Congress, Surgeon General of the Continental Army and Treasurer of the U.S. Mint, A Defence of the Use of the Bible in Schools, American Tract Society, 1820
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At the time many of the powerful and influential upper class felt that some of the laws did not necessarily apply to them or their corporations. They bribed legislators to change laws when they were inconvenient to ignore. Roosevelt was the first President to take them on.
The English law was, for many years, not taught in English Universities.
See Diogenes for a similar sentiment
The Torah consists of the first 5 books of the Old Testament. For Orthodox Jews, the Torah is central and fundamental to their belief structure. In most democracies, a statement such as this might be made by a religions fundamentalist, but is unexpected when uttered by a high government official. However, in Israel there are several small religious political parties which oftem become very powerful when the major policies are of approximate equal strength. To entice them to join their coalition, the major parties give the religious parties cabinet positions. In this particular instance, Neeman’s party in the governing coalition could cause the government to fall, So a Justice Minister of a Modern Democracy can actually repudiate the laws and supreme court whenever they are not in harmony with “the word of God” and not lose his post or even be repudiated. There is probably no other country in the world where the Minister of Justice has repudiated the law of the land and the nation’s highest court.
Note the date. Thanksgiving was proclaimed at a slightly different time. This was not only the official Thanksgiving Day proclamation, but the first presidential proclamation of any kind issued by an American President. Ironically, this proclamation was lost for 130 years, and was not found again until 1921 when it was returned to the National Archives.
This principle has been in force since the beginning of our republic. However, there was a suggested challenge to it by President Richard M. Nixon, and a substantial challenge by the George W. Bush Administration which took the position that as long as the President was engaged in carrying out a Constitutionally mandated function, like war or foreign policy, the President did not have to obey the existing laws and could direct his subordinates to violate the law. Bush lost in those areas which came to the courts and the Supreme Court made it clear that even the President, carry out his official duties, had no immunity from the laws of the nation.
Wilson and others after the American Revolution saw a dilemma. Then young would be attorneys were trained to revere the law and when regular students learned history and civics, the curriculum did not always emphasize that the older generation had engaged in rebellion, sedition, disloyalty to the government and armed revolution. However, they way their children were taught was to obey the law, be loyal to the government, and be good staid citizens. The dilemma has been with the nation ever since.
The early laws regarding slaves were more protective in earlier Colonial America than they were after independence. In Colonial America all local laws and the enforcement thereof were subject to the government and king of England. When the Constitution was passed with the understanding that Slavery issue was not to be even discussed in Congress, there was NO OUTSIDE ENTITY to check any laws or lack of laws or the enforcement thereof. The Southern States were a law unto themselves on the slavery issue and the system became even more brutal and cruel with no moderating force. When such a force seemed close with the Republican 1860 victory, the South seceded. Then war was the moderating force.
What is interesting about this advertisement is the last line advertising that the school was coeducational. Earlham was not the first college in America to admit females—Obelin College did in 1833. However, when schools accepted females there was usually controversy and they did not advertise the fact. But here Earlham’s advertisement tells us a few things about the culture. There must have been many young women who wanted to attend college, otherwise there would not have been any point in advertising for them. In addition, although coeducation at the college level was an uncommon notion, it was probably not offensive to most people in the area lest the ads would not have been publicly run.
This is one of the major reasons that the relations between police and the communities they are policing is so important. Also, the style and courtesy that the IRS tax collectors exhibit is very important.
The word “gentlemen” did not then refer to all men. It was reserved for the aristocracy of the nation.
One irony of this quotation is that when Adams became our 2nd President, he felt that the American President was not treated with enough respect, and suggested more formal titles and uniforms. He was accused of being a closet monarchist, was quite unpopular, and was voted out of office after only one term. Also note that according to patriot values approval of monarchy was not just wrong or muddle-headed, but was a form of “corruption”.
The President with Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, and several members of Congress, came to Brown to get ideas of how colleges should operate as there were very few colleges in America, and more were needed. Note the classic language of political flattery. Washington was really polished as “retail” politician as this quotation demonstrates.
Benjamin Rush was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, and educator and the founder of Dickinson College. Rush attended the Continental Congress. His later self-description there was: "He aimed right." He served as Surgeon General of the Continental Army and became a professor of chemistry, medical theory, and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania.
