Part 22

One great moral must be drawn from this story before we close. It demonstrates, by a great historical proof, that no evil however mighty, no abuse however deeply rooted, can resist the power of truth faithfully uttered and steadily applied. If this great institution of slavery, resting on such a foundation of enormous pecuniary interest, buttressed by such powerful supports, fell in the life of a single generation before the unaided power of truth, why should we ever despair? Henceforth, whenever a mighty evil is to be assailed, or a cruel despotism overthrown, men will look to this history of the greatness and decadence of slavery; and, so encouraged, will believe that God is on the side of justice, and that truth will always prevail against error.

But to this we must add, that it is only where free institutions exist that truth has full power in such a conflict. We need free speech, a free press, free schools, and free churches, in order that truth may have a free course. The great advantage of a republic like ours is, that it gives to truth a fair chance in its conflict with error. The Southern States would long ago have abolished slavery if it had possessed such institutions. But, though republican in form, the Southern States were in reality an oligarchy, in which five millions of whites and three millions of slaves were governed by the absolute and irresponsible power of less than half a million of slaveholders. Freedom was permitted by them except when this institution was concerned, then it was absolutely forbidden. No book written against their peculiar institution could be printed on any Southern press or sold in any Southern bookstore. No newspaper attacking slavery was allowed to be circulated through Southern mails. No public meeting could be held to discuss the right and wrong of slavery. No minister could preach against the system. No man could express, even in conversation, his hostility to it, without risk of personal injury. An espionage as sharp, and an inquisition as relentless as those of Venice or Spain, governed society, at least in the cotton and sugar States of the Union. But at the North opinion was free, and therefore slavery fell. Fisher Ames compressed in an epigram the evil and good of republican institutions. "In a monarchy," said he, "we are in a ship, very comfortable while things go well; but strike a rock, and we go to the bottom. In a republic, we are on a raft; our feet are wet, and it is not always agreeable, but we are safe." It is a lasting proof of the conservative power of free institutions, that they were able to uproot such a system as slavery by creating a moral force capable of putting it down; that they could carry us through a civil war, still leaving the press and speech free: that they stood the strain of a presidential election without taking from the voters a single right; and so, at last, conquered a rebellion on so vast a scale that every European monarchy, with its immense standing army, would have been powerless in its presence. Let those Americans who are disposed to disparage their own institutions bear this history in mind. We have evils here, and great ones; but they come at once to the surface, and therefore can be met and overcome by the power of intelligent opinion. So it has always been in the past; so it will be, God aiding us, in the future. We are about to meet the Centennial Anniversary of our national life; and on that day we can look back to our fathers, the founders of the Republic, and say to them,--"You gave us the inestimable blessing of free institutions; we have used those institutions to destroy the only great evil which you transmitted to us untouched. We now can send down the Republic to our children, pure from this stain, and capable of enduring IN SECULA SECULORUM."

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] See the argument to prove that it would not be difficult to climb to heaven.

[2] Simon Peter's attitude expresses astonishment and perplexity. He holds out both hands, and seems to say, "It cannot be!"

In Thaddeus we see suspicion, doubt, distrust. "I always suspected him."

Matthew is speaking to Peter and Thomas, his hand held out toward Jesus: "But I heard him say so."

Thomas: "What can it mean? What will be the end?"

James: (Hands spread wide apart in astonished perplexity:) "Is it possible?"

Philip has laid both hands on his breast, and leaning toward Jesus says, "Lord, is it I?"

At the other end, one is leaning forward, his hands resting on the table, to catch the next words; one starting back, confused and confounded.

[3] _The North American Review_, February, 1881.

[4] _The Independent_, 1882.

[5] _The North American Review_, May, 1883.

[6] _Buddha and Early Buddhism_. Trübner & Co., 1881.

[7] _Hibbert Lectures_, 1882, page 291.

[8] A. Réville: _Prolégomènes de l'Histoìre des Religions_.

[9] _Le Bouddha et sa Religion_, page 149, par J. Barthélemy Saint-Hilaire, Paris.

[10] Senart: _Essai sur la Légende du Buddha_. Paris, 1875.

[11] Oldenberg: _Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde_. Berlin, 1881. This is one of the latest and best books on our subject.

[12] _Three Lectures on Buddhism_: "Romantic Legend of Buddha," by Samuel Beal. London, 1875. Eitel.

[13] _Hibbert Lectures_: "Origin and Growth of Buddhism," by T. W. Rhys Davids. 1881.

[14] _Ibid._, page 143.

[15] _Buddhistisch-Christliche Harmonie._

[16] P. E. Lucius: _Die Therapeuten und ihre Stellung_, &c. Strassburg, 1880.

[17] _The North American Review_, October, 1887.

[18] _The Atlantic Monthly_, October, 1874.

[19] _The Intelligence and Perfectibility of Animals_, by C. G. Leroy. Translated into English in 1870. _De l'Instinct et l'Intelligence des Animaux_, par P. Flourens. Paris, 1864.

[20] It is a mistake to say that the Tasmanians do not use fire.

[21] _The Galaxy_, December, 1874.

[22] Symposium in the _North American Review_, May, 1879.

[23] In this brief paper it is not possible even to allude to the objections which have been brought against the doctrine of final causes. For these objections, and the answers to them, I would refer the reader to the work of Janet, before mentioned.

[24] _The Christian Examiner_, September, 1864.

[25] _History of Friedrich the Second, called Frederick the Great_, by Thomas Carlyle. In four volumes. Harper and Brothers, 1864.

[26]

"Tu se' lo mio maestro, e 'l mio autore, O degli altri poeti onore e lume."

[27] _Frederick the Great_, vol. ii. p. 223.

[28] _The Christian Examiner_, November, 1861.

[29] _History of Civilization in England._ By Henry Thomas Buckle. Vols. I. and II. New York: D. Appleton and Company.

[30] _Comm._ VI. 11, _et seq._

[31] _Germania._

[32] George Borrow, _The Zincali_. See also an excellent article by A. G. Paspati, translated from Modern Greek by Rev. C. Hamlin, D. D., in _Journal of American Oriental Society_, 1861.

[33] See Vol. II. pp. 255-259, American edition.

[34] _The Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1881.

[35] _Life of Voltaire_, by James Parton. In two vols. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1886.

[36] Voltaire himself, with his acute perception, seems to have been one of the first to discover the absurdity of the representation of Tiberius by Tacitus.

[37] _Essai sur les Mœurs_, ch. cxxi.

[38] Parton, ii. 549.

[39] _Ibid._, ii. 551.

[40] _Ibid._, i. 232.

[41] Martin's _History of France_.

[42] Parton, i. 461.

[43] Martin's _History of France_.

[44] A sermon preached May 7, 1882.

[45] _The North American Review_, May, 1877.

[46] _Harriet Martineau's Autobiography._ Edited by Maria Weston Chapman. 2 vols.

[47] For some reason she afterward saw fit partially to abandon this self-denial, and allowed Mrs. Chapman to print any letters written to herself by Miss Martineau.

[48] "History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America," by Henry Wilson, _North American Review_, January, 1875.

[49] _Congressional Globe_ for February 6, 1837.

[50] Rule adopted January 18, that all petitions relating to slavery be laid on the table without any action being taken on them.

[51] February 6, 7, 9, 11.

[52] The writer of this article recalls a scene which occurred in his presence in the United States Senate early in 1851. Mr. Clay was speaking of the antislavery agitators and of the Free-Soil party, and said, with much bitterness, "We have put them down,--down,--down, where they will remain; down to a place so low, that they can never get up again." John P. Hale, never at a loss for a reply, immediately arose and said, "The Senator from Kentucky says that I and my friends have been put down,--down,--down, where we shall have to stay. It may be so. Indeed, if the Senator says so, I am afraid it _must_ be so. For, if there is any good authority on this subject, any man who knows by his own personal and constant experience what it is to be put down, and to be kept down, it is the honorable Senator from Kentucky." Mr. Clay's aspirations had been so often baffled, that this was a very keen thrust. The writer spoke to Mr. Hale shortly after, and he said, "I do not think Mr. Clay will forgive me that hit; but I could not help it. They may have got us down, but they shall not trample upon us."

[53] O'Connell, in an album belonging to John Howard Payne, writes this sentence after his name.

Transcriber's Notes:

Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced quotation marks retained.

Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.

Page 39: "Appeltons' Journal" was punctuated that way in the original book and on the masthead of the Journal itself.

Page 46: "generalties" was spelled that way in the original book and in some copies of "The Poestaster" itself.

Page 220: Greek transliteration in curly braces was added by Transcriber.

Page 309: Opening quotation mark before "unfailing good sense" was added by Transcriber.