The Project Gutenberg eBook of On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau

Published：2026-08-03 09:05:41 Source: best toy pianos for 7 year olds under 100 dollars Author: Architecture Sets

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

by Henry David Thoreau

1849,kids ukuleles for boys original title: Resistance to Civil Government

I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governsleast;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly andsystematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also Ibelieve—“That government is best which governs not atall;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind ofgovernment which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient;but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes,inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standingarmy, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also atlast be brought against a standing government. The standing army is onlyan arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is onlythe mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equallyliable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it.Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a fewindividuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in theoutset, the people would not have consented to this measure.

This American government,—what is it but a tradition, though arecent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, buteach instant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality andforce of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. Itis a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves; and, if ever they shoulduse it in earnest as a real one against each other, it will surely split.But it is not the less necessary for this; for the people must have somecomplicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea ofgovernment which they have. Governments show thus how successfully men canbe imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It isexcellent, we must all allow; yet this government never of itselffurthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of itsway. Itdoes not keep the country free. Itdoes not settlethe West. Itdoes not educate. The character inherent in theAmerican people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would havedone somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.For government is an expedient, by which men would fain succeed in lettingone another alone; and, as has been said, when it is most expedient, thegoverned are most let alone by it. Trade and commerce, if they were notmade of India rubber, would never manage to bounce over obstacles whichlegislators are continually putting in their way; and, if one were to judgethese men wholly by the effects of their actions, and not partly by theirintentions, they would deserve to be classed and punished with thosemischievous persons who put obstructions on the railroads.

But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who callthemselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, butat oncea better government. Let every man make known what kind ofgovernment would command his respect, and that will be one step towardobtaining it.

After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the handsof the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue,to rule, is not because they are most likely to be in the right, norbecause this seems fairest to the minority, but because they arephysically the strongest. But a government in which the majority rule inall cases can not be based on justice, even as far as men understand it.Can there not be a government in which the majorities do not virtuallydecide right and wrong, but conscience?—in which majorities decideonly those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable? Mustthe citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign hisconscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I thinkthat we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirableto cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The onlyobligation which I have a right to assume, is to do at any time what Ithink right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience;but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation withaconscience. Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of theirrespect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents ofinjustice. A common and natural result of an undue respect for the law is,that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates,powder-monkeys and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale tothe wars, against their wills, aye, against their common sense andconsciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces apalpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is a damnablebusiness in which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined.Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, atthe service of some unscrupulous man in power? Visit the Navy Yard, andbehold a marine, such a man as an American government can make, or such asit can make a man with its black arts, a mere shadow and reminiscenceof humanity, a man laid out alive and standing, and already, as one maysay, buried under arms with funeral accompaniment, though it may be

“Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
    As his corpse to the ramparts we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
    O’er the grave where our hero we buried.”

The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines,with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers,constables, posse comitatus, &c. In most cases there is no freeexercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they putthemselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men canperhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such commandno more respect than men of straw, or a lump of dirt. They have the samesort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonlyesteemed good citizens. Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers,ministers, and office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads;and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely toserve the devil, without intendingit, as God. A very few, asheroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men,serve the State with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist itfor the most part; and they are commonly treated by it as enemies. A wiseman will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be“clay,” and “stop a hole to keep the wind away,”but leave that office to his dust at least:

“I am too high-born to be propertied,
To be a secondary at control,
Or useful serving-man and instrument
To any sovereign state throughout the world.”

He who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them uselessand selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced abenefactor and philanthropist.

How does it become a man to behave toward the American government today? Ianswer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannotfor an instant recognize that political organization as mygovernment which is the slave’sgovernment also.

All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuseallegiance to and to resist the government, when its tyranny or itsinefficiency are great and unendurable. But almost all say that such isnot the case now. But such was the case, they think, in the Revolution of’75. If one were to tell me that this was a bad government becauseit taxed certain foreign commodities brought to its ports, it is mostprobable that I should not make an ado about it, for I can do withoutthem: all machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough goodto counter-balance the evil. At any rate, it is a great evil to make astir about it. But when the friction comes to have its machine, andoppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such amachine any longer. In other words, when a sixth of the population of anation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and awhole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, andsubjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest mento rebel and revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent is thatfact, that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invadingarmy.

Paley, a common authority with many on moral questions, in his chapter onthe “Duty of Submission to Civil Government,” resolves allcivil obligation into expediency; and he proceeds to say, “that solong as the interest of the whole society requires it, that is, so long asthe established government cannot be resisted or changed without publicinconveniency, it is the will of God that the established government beobeyed, and no longer.”—“This principle being admitted,the justice of every particular case of resistance is reduced to acomputation of the quantity of the danger and grievance on the one side,and of the probability and expense of redressing it on the other.”Of this, he says, every man shall judge for himself. But Paley appearsnever to have contemplated those cases to which the rule of expediencydoes not apply, in which a people, as well as an individual, must dojustice, cost what it may. If I have unjustly wrested a plank from adrowning man, I must restore it to him though I drown myself. This,according to Paley, would be inconvenient. But he that would save hislife, in such a case, shall lose it. This people must cease to holdslaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence asa people.

In their practice, nations agree with Paley; but does anyone think thatMassachusetts does exactly what is right at the present crisis?

“A drab of state, a cloth-o’-silver slut,
To have her train borne up, and her soul trail in the dirt.”

Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not ahundred thousand politicians at the South, but a hundred thousandmerchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce andagriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justiceto the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may. I quarrel not withfar-off foes, but with those who, near at home, co-operate with, and dothe bidding of those far away, and without whom the latter would beharmless. We are accustomed to say, that the mass of men are unprepared;but improvement is slow, because the few are not materially wiser orbetter than the many. It is not so important that many should be as goodas you, as that there be some absolute goodness somewhere; for that willleaven the whole lump. There are thousands who are in opinionopposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put anend to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington andFranklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that theyknow not what to do, and do nothing; who even postpone the question offreedom to the question of free-trade, and quietly read the prices-currentalong with the latest advices from Mexico, after dinner, and, it may be,fall asleep over them both. What is the price-current of an honest man andpatriot today? They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes theypetition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait,well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer haveit to regret. At most, they give only a cheap vote, and a feeblecountenance and Godspeed, to the right, as it goes by them. There are ninehundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man; but it iseasier to deal with the real possessor of a thing than with the temporaryguardian of it.

All voting is a sort of gaming, like chequers or backgammon, with a slightmoral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions;and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is notstaked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitallyconcerned that that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to themajority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency.Even voting for the rightis doingnothing for it. It isonly expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wiseman will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it toprevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue inthe action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote forthe abolition of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent toslavery, or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished bytheir vote. Theywill then be the only slaves. Only hisvotecan hasten the abolition of slavery who asserts his own freedom by hisvote.

I hear of a convention to be held at Baltimore, or elsewhere, for theselection of a candidate for the Presidency, made up chiefly of editors,and men who are politicians by profession; but I think, what is it to anyindependent, intelligent, and respectable man what decision they may cometo, shall we not have the advantage of his wisdom and honesty,nevertheless? Can we not count upon some independent votes? Are there notmany individuals in the country who do not attend conventions? But no: Ifind that the respectable man, so called, has immediately drifted from hisposition, and despairs of his country, when his country has more reasonsto despair of him. He forthwith adopts one of the candidates thus selectedas the only availableone, thus proving that he is himselfavailablefor any purposes of the demagogue. His vote is of no moreworth than that of any unprincipled foreigner or hireling native, who mayhave been bought. Oh for a man who is a man, and, as my neighborsays, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through! Ourstatistics are at fault: the population has been returned too large. Howmany menare there to a square thousand miles in the country?Hardly one. Does not America offer any inducement for men to settle here?The American has dwindled into an Odd Fellow,—one who may be knownby the development of his organ of gregariousness, and a manifest lack ofintellect and cheerful self-reliance; whose first and chief concern, oncoming into the world, is to see that the alms-houses are in good repair;and, before yet he has lawfully donned the virile garb, to collect a fundfor the support of the widows and orphans that may be; who, in short,ventures to live only by the aid of the Mutual Insurance company, whichhas promised to bury him decently.

It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself tothe eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may stillproperly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least,to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not togive it practically his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits andcontemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue themsitting upon another man’s shoulders. I must get off him first, thathe may pursue his contemplations too. See what gross inconsistency istolerated. I have heard some of my townsmen say, “I should like tohave them order me out to help put down an insurrection of the slaves, orto march to Mexico,—see if I would go;” and yet these very menhave each, directly by their allegiance, and so indirectly, at least, bytheir money, furnished a substitute. The soldier is applauded who refusesto serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjustgovernment which makes the war; is applauded by those whose own act andauthority he disregards and sets at naught; as if the State were penitentto that degree that it hired one to scourge it while it sinned, but not tothat degree that it left off sinning for a moment. Thus, under the name ofOrder and Civil Government, we are all made at last to pay homage to andsupport our own meanness. After the first blush of sin, comes itsindifference; and from immoral it becomes, as it were, unmoral, andnot quite unnecessary to that life which we have made.

The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterestedvirtue to sustain it. The slight reproach to which the virtue ofpatriotism is commonly liable, the noble are most likely to incur. Thosewho, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government,yield to it their allegiance and support, are undoubtedly its mostconscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles toreform. Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregardthe requisitions of the President. Why do they not dissolve itthemselves,—the union between themselves and the State,—andrefuse to pay their quota into its treasury? Do not they stand in samerelation to the State, that the State does to the Union? And have not thesame reasons prevented the State from resisting the Union, which haveprevented them from resisting the State?

How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and enjoyit?Is there any enjoyment in it, if his opinion is that he isaggrieved? If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor, youdo not rest satisfied with knowing you are cheated, or with saying thatyou are cheated, or even with petitioning him to pay you your due; but youtake effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and see that youare never cheated again. Action from principle,—the perception andthe performance of right,—changes things and relations; it isessentially revolutionary, and does not consist wholly with anything whichwas. It not only divided states and churches, it divides families; aye, itdivides the individual, separating the diabolical in him from thedivine.

Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavorto amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall wetransgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as this,think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority toalter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would beworse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that theremedy isworse than the evil. Itmakes it worse. Why is itnot more apt to anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherishits wise minority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why doesit not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults,and dobetter than it would have them? Why does it always crucifyChrist, and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washingtonand Franklin rebels?

One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authoritywas the only offence never contemplated by government; else, why hasit not assigned its definite, its suitable and proportionate penalty? Ifa man who has no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for theState, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any law that I know,and determined only by the discretion of those who placed him there; but ifhe should steal ninety times nine shillings from the State, he is soonpermitted to go at large again.

If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine ofgovernment, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wearsmooth,—certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has aspring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, thenperhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than theevil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agentof injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be acounter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at anyrate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.

As for adopting the ways which the State has provided for remedying theevil, I know not of such ways. They take too much time, and a man’slife will be gone. I have other affairs to attend to. I came into thisworld, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live init, be it good or bad. A man has not every thing to do, but something; andbecause he cannot do every thing, it is not necessary that he shoulddo somethingwrong. It is not my business to be petitioningthe Governor or the Legislature any more than it is theirs to petition me;and, if they should not hear my petition, what should I do then? But inthis case the State has provided no way: its very Constitution is theevil. This may seem to be harsh and stubborn and unconcilliatory; but itis to treat with the utmost kindness and consideration the only spiritthat can appreciate or deserves it. So is all change for the better, likebirth and death which convulse the body.

I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves abolitionistsshould at once effectually withdraw their support, both in person andproperty, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait till theyconstitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevailthrough them. I think that it is enough if they have God on their side,without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man more right than hisneighbors constitutes a majority of one already.

I meet this American government, or its representative, the Stategovernment, directly, and face to face, once a year, no more, inthe person of its tax-gatherer; this is the only mode in which a mansituated as I am necessarily meets it; and it then says distinctly,Recognize me; and the simplest, the most effectual, and, in the presentposture of affairs, the indispensablest mode of treating with it on thishead, of expressing your little satisfaction with and love for it, is todeny it then. My civil neighbor, the tax-gatherer, is the very man I haveto deal with,—for it is, after all, with men and not with parchmentthat I quarrel,—and he has voluntarily chosen to be an agent of thegovernment. How shall he ever know well what he is and does as an officerof the government, or as a man, until he is obliged to consider whether heshall treat me, his neighbor, for whom he has respect, as a neighbor andwell-disposed man, or as a maniac and disturber of the peace, and see ifhe can get over this obstruction to his neighborliness without a ruder andmore impetuous thought or speech corresponding with his action? I knowthis well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I couldname,—if ten honestmen only,—aye, if oneHONESTman, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, wereactually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in thecounty jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. Forit matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once welldone is done for ever. But we love better to talk about it: that we say isour mission. Reform keeps many scores of newspapers in its service, butnot one man. If my esteemed neighbor, the State’s ambassador, whowill devote his days to the settlement of the question of human rights inthe Council Chamber, instead of being threatened with the prisons ofCarolina, were to sit down the prisoner of Massachusetts, that State whichis so anxious to foist the sin of slavery upon her sister,—though atpresent she can discover only an act of inhospitality to be the ground ofa quarrel with her,—the Legislature would not wholly waive thesubject of the following winter.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just manis also a prison. The proper place today, the only place whichMassachusetts has provided for her freer and less desponding spirits, isin her prisons, to be put out and locked out of the State by her own act,as they have already put themselves out by their principles. It is therethat the fugitive slave, and the Mexican prisoner on parole, and theIndian come to plead the wrongs of his race, should find them; on thatseparate, but more free and honorable ground, where the State places thosewho are not withher but againsther,—the only housein a slave-state in which a free man can abide with honor. If any thinkthat their influence would be lost there, and their voices no longerafflict the ear of the State, that they would not be as an enemy withinits walls, they do not know by how much truth is stronger than error, norhow much more eloquently and effectively he can combat injustice who hasexperienced a little in his own person. Cast your whole vote, not a stripof paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless whileit conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it isirresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is tokeep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State willnot hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay theirtax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as itwould be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shedinnocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceablerevolution, if any such is possible. If the tax-gatherer, or any otherpublic officer, asks me, as one has done, “But what shall Ido?” my answer is, “If you really wish to do any thing, resignyour office.” When the subject has refused allegiance, and theofficer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished. Buteven suppose blood should flow. Is there not a sort of blood shed when theconscience is wounded? Through this wound a man’s real manhood andimmortality flow out, and he bleeds to an everlasting death. I see thisblood flowing now.

I have contemplated the imprisonment of the offender, rather than theseizure of his goods,—though both will serve the samepurpose,—because they who assert the purest right, and consequentlyare most dangerous to a corrupt State, commonly have not spent much timein accumulating property. To such the State renders comparatively smallservice, and a slight tax is wont to appear exorbitant, particularly ifthey are obliged to earn it by special labor with their hands. If therewere one who lived wholly without the use of money, the State itself wouldhesitate to demand it of him. But the rich man—not to make anyinvidious comparison—is always sold to the institution which makeshim rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue; for moneycomes between a man and his objects, and obtains them for him; it wascertainly no great virtue to obtain it. It puts to rest many questionswhich he would otherwise be taxed to answer; while the only new questionwhich it puts is the hard but superfluous one, how to spend it. Thus hismoral ground is taken from under his feet. The opportunities of living arediminished in proportion as what are called the “means” areincreased. The best thing a man can do for his culture when he is rich isto endeavor to carry out those schemes which he entertained when he waspoor. Christ answered the Herodians according to their condition.“Show me the tribute-money,” said he;—and one took apenny out of his pocket;—if you use money which has the image ofCæsar on it, and which he has made current and valuable, that is, ifyou are men of the State, and gladly enjoy the advantages ofCæsar’s government, then pay him back some of his own when hedemands it; “Render therefore to Cæsar that which is Cæsar’sand to God those things which are God’s,”—leaving them nowiser than before as to which was which; for they did not wish to know.

When I converse with the freest of my neighbors, I perceive that, whateverthey may say about the magnitude and seriousness of the question, andtheir regard for the public tranquillity, the long and the short of thematter is, that they cannot spare the protection of the existinggovernment, and they dread the consequences of disobedience to it to theirproperty and families. For my own part, I should not like to think that Iever rely on the protection of the State. But, if I deny the authority ofthe State when it presents its tax-bill, it will soon take and waste allmy property, and so harass me and my children without end. This is hard.This makes it impossible for a man to live honestly and at the same timecomfortably in outward respects. It will not be worth the while toaccumulate property; that would be sure to go again. You must hire orsquat somewhere, and raise but a small crop, and eat that soon. You mustlive within yourself, and depend upon yourself, always tucked up and readyfor a start, and not have many affairs. A man may grow rich in Turkeyeven, if he will be in all respects a good subject of the Turkishgovernment. Confucius said,—“If a State is governed by theprinciples of reason, poverty and misery are subjects of shame; if a Stateis not governed by the principles of reason, riches and honors are thesubjects of shame.” No: until I want the protection of Massachusettsto be extended to me in some distant southern port, where my liberty isendangered, or until I am bent solely on building up an estate at home bypeaceful enterprise, I can afford to refuse allegiance to Massachusetts,and her right to my property and life. It costs me less in every sense toincur the penalty of disobedience to the State, than it would to obey. Ishould feel as if I were worth less in that case.

Some years ago, the State met me in behalf of the church, and commanded meto pay a certain sum toward the support of a clergyman whose preaching myfather attended, but never I myself. “Pay it,” it said, “orbe locked up in the jail.” I declined to pay. But, unfortunately,another man saw fit to pay it. I did not see why the schoolmaster shouldbe taxed to support the priest, and not the priest the schoolmaster; for Iwas not the State’s schoolmaster, but I supported myself byvoluntary subscription. I did not see why the lyceum should not presentits tax-bill, and have the State to back its demand, as well as thechurch. However, at the request of the selectmen, I condescended to makesome such statement as this in writing:—“Know all men by thesepresents, that I, Henry Thoreau, do not wish to be regarded as a member ofany incorporated society which I have not joined.” This I gave tothe town-clerk; and he has it. The State, having thus learned that I didnot wish to be regarded as a member of that church, has never made a likedemand on me since; though it said that it must adhere to its originalpresumption that time. If I had known how to name them, I should then havesigned off in detail from all the societies which I never signed on to;but I did not know where to find such a complete list.

I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on thisaccount, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solidstone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick,and the iron grating which strained the light, I could not help beingstruck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if Iwere mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. I wondered that itshould have concluded at length that this was the best use it could put meto, and had never thought to avail itself of my services in some way. Isaw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, therewas a still more difficult one to climb or break through, before they couldget to be as free as I was. I did nor for a moment feel confined, and thewalls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar. I felt as if I alone ofall my townsmen had paid my tax. They plainly did not know how to treatme, but behaved like persons who are underbred. In every threat and inevery compliment there was a blunder; for they thought that my chiefdesire was to stand the other side of that stone wall. I could not butsmile to see how industriously they locked the door on my meditations,which followed them out again without let or hindrance, and theywere really all that was dangerous. As they could not reach me, they hadresolved to punish my body; just as boys, if they cannot come at someperson against whom they have a spite, will abuse his dog. I saw that theState was half-witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silverspoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost allmy remaining respect for it, and pitied it.

Thus the state never intentionally confronts a man’s sense,intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed withsuperior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I was notborn to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who isthe strongest. What force has a multitude? They only can force me who obeya higher law than I. They force me to become like themselves. I do nothear of menbeing forcedto live this way or that by massesof men. What sort of life were that to live? When I meet a governmentwhich says to me, “Your money or your life,” why should I bein haste to give it my money? It may be in a great strait, and not knowwhat to do: I cannot help that. It must help itself; do as I do. It is notworth the while to snivel about it. I am not responsible for thesuccessful working of the machinery of society. I am not the son of theengineer. I perceive that, when an acorn and a chestnut fall side by side,the one does not remain inert to make way for the other, but both obeytheir own laws, and spring and grow and flourish as best they can, tillone, perchance, overshadows and destroys the other. If a plant cannot liveaccording to its nature, it dies; and so a man.

The night in prison was novel and interesting enough. The prisoners intheir shirt-sleeves were enjoying a chat and the evening air in thedoor-way, when I entered. But the jailer said, “Come, boys, it istime to lock up;” and so they dispersed, and I heard the sound oftheir steps returning into the hollow apartments. My room-mate wasintroduced to me by the jailer as “a first-rate fellow and a cleverman.” When the door was locked, he showed me where to hang my hat,and how he managed matters there. The rooms were whitewashed once a month;and this one, at least, was the whitest, most simply furnished, andprobably the neatest apartment in town. He naturally wanted to know where Icame from, and what brought me there; and, when I had told him, I askedhim in my turn how he came there, presuming him to be an honest man, ofcourse; and, as the world goes, I believe he was. “Why,” saidhe, “they accuse me of burning a barn; but I never did it.” Asnear as I could discover, he had probably gone to bed in a barn whendrunk, and smoked his pipe there; and so a barn was burnt. He had thereputation of being a clever man, had been there some three months waitingfor his trial to come on, and would have to wait as much longer; but hewas quite domesticated and contented, since he got his board for nothing,and thought that he was well treated.

He occupied one window, and I the other; and I saw, that, if one stayedthere long, his principal business would be to look out the window. I hadsoon read all the tracts that were left there, and examined where formerprisoners had broken out, and where a grate had been sawed off, and heardthe history of the various occupants of that room; for I found that evenhere there was a history and a gossip which never circulated beyond thewalls of the jail. Probably this is the only house in the town whereverses are composed, which are afterward printed in a circular form, butnot published. I was shown quite a long list of verses which were composedby some young men who had been detected in an attempt to escape, whoavenged themselves by singing them.

I pumped my fellow-prisoner as dry as I could, for fear I should never seehim again; but at length he showed me which was my bed, and left me toblow out the lamp.

It was like travelling into a far country, such as I had never expected tobehold, to lie there for one night. It seemed to me that I never had heardthe town-clock strike before, nor the evening sounds of the village; forwe slept with the windows open, which were inside the grating. It was tosee my native village in the light of the Middle Ages, and our Concord wasturned into a Rhine stream, and visions of knights and castles passedbefore me. They were the voices of old burghers that I heard in thestreets. I was an involuntary spectator and auditor of whatever was doneand said in the kitchen of the adjacent village-inn—a wholly new andrare experience to me. It was a closer view of my native town. I wasfairly inside of it. I never had seen its institutions before. This is oneof its peculiar institutions; for it is a shire town. I began tocomprehend what its inhabitants were about.

In the morning, our breakfasts were put through the hole in the door, insmall oblong-square tin pans, made to fit, and holding a pint ofchocolate, with brown bread, and an iron spoon. When they called for thevessels again, I was green enough to return what bread I had left; but mycomrade seized it, and said that I should lay that up for lunch or dinner.Soon after, he was let out to work at haying in a neighboring field,whither he went every day, and would not be back till noon; so he bade megood-day, saying that he doubted if he should see me again.

When I came out of prison,—for some one interfered, and paid thetax,—I did not perceive that great changes had taken place on thecommon, such as he observed who went in a youth, and emerged a gray-headedman; and yet a change had to my eyes come over the scene,—thetown, and State, and country,—greater than any that mere time couldeffect. I saw yet more distinctly the State in which I lived. I saw towhat extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as goodneighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only;that they did not greatly purpose to do right; that they were a distinctrace from me by their prejudices and superstitions, as the Chinamen andMalays are; that, in their sacrifices to humanity they ran no risks, noteven to their property; that, after all, they were not so noble but theytreated the thief as he had treated them, and hoped, by a certain outwardobservance and a few prayers, and by walking in a particular straightthough useless path from time to time, to save their souls. This may be tojudge my neighbors harshly; for I believe that most of them are not awarethat they have such an institution as the jail in their village.

It was formerly the custom in our village, when a poor debtor came out ofjail, for his acquaintances to salute him, looking through their fingers,which were crossed to represent the grating of a jail window, “Howdo ye do?” My neighbors did not thus salute me, but first looked atme, and then at one another, as if I had returned from a long journey. Iwas put into jail as I was going to the shoemaker’s to get a shoewhich was mended. When I was let out the next morning, I proceeded tofinish my errand, and, having put on my mended shoe, joined a huckleberryparty, who were impatient to put themselves under my conduct; and in halfan hour,—for the horse was soon tackled,—was in the midst of ahuckleberry field, on one of our highest hills, two miles off; and thenthe State was nowhere to be seen.

This is the whole history of “My Prisons.”

I have never declined paying the highway tax, because I am as desirous ofbeing a good neighbor as I am of being a bad subject; and, as forsupporting schools, I am doing my part to educate my fellow-countrymennow. It is for no particular item in the tax-bill that I refuse to pay it.I simply wish to refuse allegiance to the State, to withdraw and standaloof from it effectually. I do not care to trace the course of my dollar,if I could, till it buys a man, or a musket to shoot one with,—thedollar is innocent,—but I am concerned to trace the effects of myallegiance. In fact, I quietly declare war with the State, after myfashion, though I will still make use and get what advantages of her Ican, as is usual in such cases.

If others pay the tax which is demanded of me, from a sympathy with theState, they do but what they have already done in their own case, orrather they abet injustice to a greater extent than the State requires. Ifthey pay the tax from a mistaken interest in the individual taxed, to savehis property or prevent his going to jail, it is because they have notconsidered wisely how far they let their private feelings interfere withthe public good.

This, then, is my position at present. But one cannot be too much on hisguard in such a case, lest his actions be biassed by obstinacy, or an undueregard for the opinions of men. Let him see that he does only what belongsto himself and to the hour.

I think sometimes, Why, this people mean well; they are only ignorant;they would do better if they knew how: why give your neighbors this painto treat you as they are not inclined to? But I think, again, this is noreason why I should do as they do, or permit others to suffer much greaterpain of a different kind. Again, I sometimes say to myself, When manymillions of men, without heat, without ill-will, without personal feelingof any kind, demand of you a few shillings only, without the possibility,such is their constitution, of retracting or altering their presentdemand, and without the possibility, on your side, of appeal to any othermillions, why expose yourself to this overwhelming brute force? You do notresist cold and hunger, the winds and the waves, thus obstinately; youquietly submit to a thousand similar necessities. You do not put your headinto the fire. But just in proportion as I regard this as not wholly abrute force, but partly a human force, and consider that I have relationsto those millions as to so many millions of men, and not of mere brute orinanimate things, I see that appeal is possible, first andinstantaneously, from them to the Maker of them, and, secondly, from themto themselves. But, if I put my head deliberately into the fire, there isno appeal to fire or to the Maker of fire, and I have only myself toblame. If I could convince myself that I have any right to be satisfiedwith men as they are, and to treat them accordingly, and not according, insome respects, to my requisitions and expectations of what they and Iought to be, then, like a good Mussulman and fatalist, I should endeavorto be satisfied with things as they are, and say it is the will of God.And, above all, there is this difference between resisting this and apurely brute or natural force, that I can resist this with some effect;but I cannot expect, like Orpheus, to change the nature of the rocks andtrees and beasts.

I do not wish to quarrel with any man or nation. I do not wish to splithairs, to make fine distinctions, or set myself up as better than myneighbors. I seek rather, I may say, even an excuse for conforming to thelaws of the land. I am but too ready to conform to them. Indeed I havereason to suspect myself on this head; and each year, as the tax-gatherercomes round, I find myself disposed to review the acts and position of thegeneral and state governments, and the spirit of the people to discover apretext for conformity.

“We must affect our country as our parents,
And if at any time we alienate
Out love of industry from doing it honor,
We must respect effects and teach the soul
Matter of conscience and religion,
And not desire of rule or benefit.”

I believe that the State will soon be able to take all my work of thissort out of my hands, and then I shall be no better patriot than myfellow-countrymen. Seen from a lower point of view, the Constitution, withall its faults, is very good; the law and the courts are very respectable;even this State and this American government are, in many respects, veryadmirable, and rare things, to be thankful for, such as a great many havedescribed them; seen from a higher still, and the highest, who shall saywhat they are, or that they are worth looking at or thinking of at all?

However, the government does not concern me much, and I shall bestow thefewest possible thoughts on it. It is not many moments that I live under agovernment, even in this world. If a man is thought-free, fancy-free,imagination-free, that which is notnever for a long time appearingto beto him, unwise rulers or reformers cannot fatally interrupthim.

I know that most men think differently from myself; but those whose livesare by profession devoted to the study of these or kindred subjectscontent me as little as any. Statesmen and legislators, standing socompletely within the institution, never distinctly and nakedly behold it.They speak of moving society, but have no resting-place without it. Theymay be men of a certain experience and discrimination, and have no doubtinvented ingenious and even useful systems, for which we sincerely thankthem; but all their wit and usefulness lie within certain not very widelimits. They are wont to forget that the world is not governed by policyand expediency. Webster never goes behind government, and so cannot speakwith authority about it. His words are wisdom to those legislators whocontemplate no essential reform in the existing government; but forthinkers, and those who legislate for all time, he never once glances atthe subject. I know of those whose serene and wise speculations on thistheme would soon reveal the limits of his mind’s range andhospitality. Yet, compared with the cheap professions of most reformers,and the still cheaper wisdom and eloquence of politicians in general, hisare almost the only sensible and valuable words, and we thank Heaven forhim. Comparatively, he is always strong, original, and, above all,practical. Still his quality is not wisdom, but prudence. Thelawyer’s truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistentexpediency. Truth is always in harmony with herself, and is not concernedchiefly to reveal the justice that may consist with wrong-doing. He welldeserves to be called, as he has been called, the Defender of theConstitution. There are really no blows to be given by him but defensiveones. He is not a leader, but a follower. His leaders are the men of’87. “I have never made an effort,” he says, “andnever propose to make an effort; I have never countenanced an effort, andnever mean to countenance an effort, to disturb the arrangement asoriginally made, by which the various States came into the Union.”Still thinking of the sanction which the Constitution gives to slavery, hesays, “Because it was part of the original compact,—let itstand.” Notwithstanding his special acuteness and ability, he isunable to take a fact out of its merely political relations, and behold itas it lies absolutely to be disposed of by the intellect,—what, forinstance, it behoves a man to do here in America today with regard toslavery, but ventures, or is driven, to make some such desperate answer asthe following, while professing to speak absolutely, and as a privateman,—from which what new and singular code of social duties might beinferred?—“The manner,” says he, “in which thegovernments of those States where slavery exists are to regulate it, isfor their own consideration, under the responsibility to theirconstituents, to the general laws of propriety, humanity, and justice, andto God. Associations formed elsewhere, springing from a feeling ofhumanity, or any other cause, have nothing whatever to do with it. Theyhave never received any encouragement from me and they never will.”[These extracts have been inserted since the Lecture was read —HDT]

They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its streamno higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution, anddrink at it there with reverence and humanity; but they who behold whereit comes trickling into this lake or that pool, gird up their loins oncemore, and continue their pilgrimage toward its fountain-head.

No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America. They arerare in the history of the world. There are orators, politicians, andeloquent men, by the thousand; but the speaker has not yet opened hismouth to speak who is capable of settling the much-vexed questions of theday. We love eloquence for its own sake, and not for any truth which itmay utter, or any heroism it may inspire. Our legislators have not yetlearned the comparative value of free-trade and of freedom, of union, andof rectitude, to a nation. They have no genius or talent for comparativelyhumble questions of taxation and finance, commerce and manufactures andagriculture. If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators inCongress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonable experience andthe effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain herrank among the nations. For eighteen hundred years, though perchance Ihave no right to say it, the New Testament has been written; yet where isthe legislator who has wisdom and practical talent enough to avail himselfof the light which it sheds on the science of legislation.

The authority of government, even such as I am willing to submitto,—for I will cheerfully obey those who know and can do better thanI, and in many things even those who neither know nor can do sowell,—is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have thesanction and consent of the governed. It can have no pure right over myperson and property but what I concede to it. The progress from anabsolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, isa progress toward a true respect for the individual. Even the Chinesephilosopher was wise enough to regard the individual as the basis of theempire. Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possiblein government? Is it not possible to take a step further towardsrecognizing and organizing the rights of man? There will never be a reallyfree and enlightened State, until the State comes to recognize theindividual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own powerand authority are derived, and treats him accordingly. I please myselfwith imagining a State at last which can afford to be just to all men, andto treat the individual with respect as a neighbor; which even would notthink it inconsistent with its own repose, if a few were to live aloof fromit, not meddling with it, nor embraced by it, who fulfilled all the dutiesof neighbors and fellow-men. A State which bore this kind of fruit, andsuffered it to drop off as fast as it ripened, would prepare the way for astill more perfect and glorious State, which also I have imagined, but notyet anywhere seen.

Related articles