passages from an old volume of life-第13章

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eve；　who　follow　politics　as　a　trade。　　They　may　have　no　hold　upon　that　class　of　persons　who　are　defective　in　moral　sensibility；　just　as　other　persons　are　wanting　in　an　ear　for　music。　　But　for　the　honest；　vacillating　minds；　the　tender　consciences　supported　by　the　tremulous　knees　of　an　infirm　intelligence；　the　timid　compromisers　who　are　always　trying　to　curve　the　straight　lines　and　round　the　sharp　angles　of　eternal　law；　the　continual　debate　of　these　living　questions　is　the　one　offered　means　of　grace　and　hope　of　earthly　redemption。　　And　thus　a　true；　unhesitating　patriot　may　be　willing　to　listen　with　patience　to　arguments　which　he　does　not　need；　to　appeals　which　have　no　special　significance　for　him；　in　the　hope　that　some　less　clear　in　mind　or　less　courageous　in　temper　may　profit　by　them。

As　we　look　at　the　condition　in　which　we　find　ourselves　on　this　fourth　day　of　July；　1863；　at　the　beginning　of　the　Eighty…eighth　Year　of　American　Independence；　we　may　well　ask　ourselves　what　right　we　have　to　indulge　in　public　rejoicings。　　If　the　war　in　which　we　are　engaged　is　an　accidental　one；　which　might　have　been　avoided　but　for　our　fault；　if　it　is　for　any　ambitious　or　unworthy　purpose　on　our　part；　if　it　is　hopeless；　and　we　are　madly　persisting　in　it；　if　it　is　our　duty　and　in　our　power　to　make　a　safe　and　honorable　peace；　and　we　refuse　to　do　it；　if　our　free　institutions　are　in　danger　of　becoming　subverted；　and　giving　place　to　an　irresponsible　tyranny；　if　we　are　moving　in　the　narrow　circles　which　are　to　ingulf　us　in　national　ruin；then　we　had　better　sing　a　dirge；　and　leave　this　idle　assemblage；　and　hush　the　noisy　cannon　which　are　reverberating　through　the　air；　and　tear　down　the　scaffolds　which　are　soon　to　blaze　with　fiery　symbols；　for　it　is　mourning　and　not　joy　that　should　cover　the　land；　there　should　be　silence；　and　not　the　echo　of　noisy　gladness；　in　our　streets；　and　the　emblems　with　which　we　tell　our　nation's　story　and　prefigure　its　future　should　be　traced；　not　in　fire；　but　in　ashes。

If；　on　the　other　hand；　this　war　is　no　accident；　but　an　inevitable　result　of　long　incubating　causes；　inevitable　as　the　cataclysms　that　swept　away　the　monstrous　births　of　primeval　nature；　if　it　is　for　no　mean；　unworthy　end；　but　for　national　life；　for　liberty　everywhere；　for　humanity；　for　the　kingdom　of　God　on　earth；　if　it　is　not　hopeless；　but　only　growing　to　such　dimensions　that　the　world　shall　remember　the　final　triumph　of　right　throughout　all　time；　if　there　is　no　safe　and　honorable　peace　for　us　but　a　peace　proclaimed　from　the　capital　of　every　revolted　province　in　the　name　of　the　sacred；　inviolable　Union；　if　the　fear　of　tyranny　is　a　phantasm；　conjured　up　by　the　imagination　of　the　weak；　acted　on　by　the　craft　of　the　cunning；　if　so　far　from　circling　inward　to　the　gulf　of　our　perdition；　the　movement　of　past　years　is　reversed；　and　every　revolution　carries　us　farther　and　farther　from　the　centre　of　the　vortex；　until；　by　God's　blessing；　we　shall　soon　find　ourselves　freed　from　the　outermost　coil　of　the　accursed　spiral；　if　all　these　things　are　true；　if　we　may　hope　to　make　them　seem　true；　or　even　probable；　to　the　doubting　soul；　in　an　hour's　discourse；　then　we　may　join　without　madness　in　the　day's　exultant　festivities；　the　bells　may　ring；　the　cannon　may　roar；　the　incense　of　our　harmless　saltpetre　fill　the　air；　and　the　children　who　are　to　inherit　the　fruit　of　these　toiling；　agonizing　years；　go　about　unblamed；　making　day　and　night　vocal　with　their　jubilant　patriotism。

The　struggle　in　which　we　are　engaged　was　inevitable；　it　might　have　come　a　little　sooner；　or　a　little　later；　but　it　must　have　come。　　The　disease　of　the　nation　was　organic；　and　not　functional；　and　the　rough　chirurgery　of　war　was　its　only　remedy。

In　opposition　to　this　view；　there　are　many　languid　thinkers　who　lapse　into　a　forlorn　belief　that　if　this　or　that　man　had　never　lived；　or　if　this　or　that　other　man　had　not　ceased　to　live；　the　country　might　have　gone　on　in　peace　and　prosperity；　until　its　felicity　merged　in　the　glories　of　the　millennium。　　If　Mr。　Calhoun　had　never　proclaimed　his　heresies；　if　Mr。　Garrison　had　never　published　his　paper；　if　Mr。　Phillips；　the　Cassandra　in　masculine　shape　of　our　long　prosperous　Ilium；　had　never　uttered　his　melodious　prophecies；　if　the　silver　tones　of　Mr。　Clay　had　still　sounded　in　the　senate…chamber　to　smooth　the　billows　of　contention；　if　the　Olympian　brow　of　Daniel　Webster　had　been　lifted　from　the　dust　to　fix　its　awful　frown　on　the　darkening　scowl　of　rebellion；we　might　have　been　spared　this　dread　season　of　convulsion。　　All　this　is　but　simple　Martha's　faith；　without　the　reason　she　could　have　given：　〃If　Thou　hadst　been　here；　my　brother　had　not　died。〃

They　little　know　the　tidal　movements　of　national　thought　and　feeling；　who　believe　that　they　depend　for　existence　on　a　few　swimmers　who　ride　their　waves。　　It　is　not　Leviathan　that　leads　the　ocean　from　continent　to　continent；　but　the　ocean　which　bears　his　mighty　bulk　as　it　wafts　its　own　bubbles。　　If　this　is　true　of　all　the　narrower　manifestations　of　human　progress；　how　much　more　must　it　be　true　of　those　broad　movements　in　the　intellectual　and　spiritual　domain　which　interest　all　mankind？　　But　in　the　more　limited　ranges　referred　to；　no　fact　is　more　familiar　than　that　there　is　a　simultaneous　impulse　acting　on　many　individual　minds　at　once；　so　that　genius　comes　in　clusters；　and　shines　rarely　as　a　single　star。　　You　may　trace　a　common　motive　and　force　in　the　pyramid…builders　of　the　earliest　recorded　antiquity；　in　the　evolution　of　Greek　architecture；　and　in　the　sudden　springing　up　of　those　wondrous　cathedrals　of　the　twelfth　and　following　centuries；　growing　out　of　the　soil　with　stem　and　bud　and　blossom；　like　flowers　of　stone　whose　seeds　might　well　have　been　the　flaming　aerolites　cast　over　the　battlements　of　heaven。　　You　may　see　the　same　law　showing　itself　in　the　brief　periods　of　glory　which　make　the　names　of　Pericles　and　Augustus　illustrious　with　reflected　splendors；　in　the　painters；　the　sculptors；　the　scholars　of　〃Leo's　golden　days〃；　in　the　authors　of　the　Elizabethan　time；　in　the　poets　of　the　first　part　of　this　century　following　that　dreary　period；　suffering　alike　from　the　silence　of　Cowper　and　the　song　of　Hayley。　　You　may　accept　the　fact　as　natural；　that　Zwingli　and　Luther；　without　knowing　each　other；　preached　the　same　reformed　gospel；　that　Newton；　and　Hooke；　and　Halley；　and　Wren　arrived　independently　of　each　other　at　the　great　law　of　the　diminution　of　gravity　with　the　square　of　the　distance；　that　Leverrier　and　Adams　felt　their　hands　meeting；　as　it　were；　as　they　stretched　them　into　the　outer　darkness　beyond　the　orbit　of　Uranus；　in　search　of　the　dim；　unseen　Planet；　that　Fulton　and　Bell；　that　Wheatstone　and　Morse；　that　Daguerre　and　Niepce；　were　moving　almost　simultaneously　in　parallel　paths　to　the　same　end。　　You　see　why　Patrick　Henry；　in　Richmond；　and　Samuel　Adams；　in　Boston；　were　startling　the　crown　officials　with　the　same　accents　of　liberty；　and　why　the　Mecklenburg　Resolutions　had　the　very　ring　of　the　Protest　of　the　Province　of　Massachusetts。　　This　law　of　simultaneous　intellectual　movement；　recognized　by　all　thinkers；　expatiated　upon　by　Lord　Macaulay　and　by　Mr。　Herbert　Spencer　among　recent　writers；　is　eminently　applicable　to　that　change　of　thought　and　feeling　which　necessarily　led　to　the　present　conflict。

The　antagonism　of　the　two　sections　of　the　Union　was　not　the　work　of　this　or　that　enthusiast　or　fanatic。　　It　was　the　consequence　of　a　movement　in　mass　of　two　different　forms　of　civilization　in　different　directions；　and　the　men　to　whom　it　was　attributed　were　only　those　who　represented　it　most　completely；　or　who　talked　longest　and　loudest　about　it。　　Long　before　the　accents　of　those　famous　statesmen　referred　to　ever　resounded　in　the　halls　of　the　Capitol；　long　before　the　〃Liberator〃　opened　its　batteries；　the　controversy　now　working　itself　out　by　trial　of　battle　was　foreseen　and　predicted。　　Washington　warned　his　countrymen　of　the　danger　of　sectional　divisions；　well　knowing　the　line　of　cleavage　that　ran　through　the　seemingly　solid　fabric。　Jefferson　foreshadowed　the　judgment　to　fall　upon　the　land　for　its　sins　against　a　just　God。　　Andrew　Jackson　announced　a　quarter　of　a　century　beforehand　that　the　next　pretext　of　revolution　would　be　slavery。　　De　Tocqueville　recognized　with　that　penetrating　insight　which　analyzed　our　institutions　and　conditions　so　keenly；　that　the　Union　was　to　be　endangered　by　slavery；　not　through　its　interests；　but　through　the　change　of　character　it　was　bringing　about　in　the　people　of　the　two　sections；　the　same　fatal　change　which　George　Mason；　more　than　half　a　century　before；　had　declared　to　be　the　most　pernicious　effect　of　the　system；　adding　the　solemn　warning；　now　fearfully　justifying　itself　in　the　sight　of　his　descendants；　that　〃by　an　inevitable　chain　of　causes　and　effects；　Providence　punishes　national　sins　by　national　calamities。〃　　The　Virginian　romancer　pictured　the　far…off　scenes　of　the　conflict　which　he　saw　approaching　as　the　prophets　of　Israel　painted　the　coming　woes　of　Jerusalem；　and　the　strong　iconoclast　of　Boston　announced　the　very　year　when　the　curtain　should　rise　on　the　yet　unopened　drama。

The　wise　men　of　the　past；　and　the　shrewd　men　of　our　own　time；　who　warned　us　of　the　calamities　in　store　for　our　nation；　never　doubted　what　was　the　cause　which　was　to　produce　first　alienation　and　finally　rupture。　　The　descendants　of　the　men　〃daily　exercised　in　tyranny；〃　the　〃petty　tyrants〃　as　their　own　leading　statesmen　called　them　long　ago；　came　at　length　to　love　the　institution　which　their　fathers　had　condemned　while　they　tolerated。　　It　is　the　fearful　realization　of　that　vision　of　the　poet　where　the　lost　angels　snuff　up　with　eager　nostrils　the　sulphurous　emanations　of　the　bottomless　abyss；so　have　their　natures　become　changed　by　long　breathing　the　atmosphere　of　the　realm　of　darkness。

At　last；　in　the　fulness　of　time；　the　fruits　of　sin　ripened　in　a　sudden　harvest　of　crime。　　Violence　stalked　into　the　senate…chamber；　theft　and　perjury　wound　their　way　into　the　cabinet；　and；　finally；　openly　organized　conspiracy；　with　force　and　arms；　made　burglarious　entrance　into　a　chief　stronghold　of　the　Union。　　That　the　principle　which　underlay　these　acts　of　fraud　and　violence　should　be　irrevocably　recorded　with　every　needed　sanction；　it　pleased　God　to　select　a　chief　ruler　of　the　false　government　to　be　its　Messiah　to　the　listening　world。　　As　with　Pharaoh；　the　Lord　hardened　his　heart；　while　he　opened　his　mouth；　as　of　old　he　opened　that　of　the　unwise　animal　ridden　by　cursing　Balaam。　　Then　spake　Mr。　〃Vice…President〃　Stephens　those　memorable　words　which　fixed　forever　the　theory　of　the　new　social　order。　　He　first　lifted　a　degraded　barbarism　to　the　dignity　of　a　philosophic　system。　　He　first　proclaimed　the　gospel　of　eternal　tyranny　as　the　new　revelation　which　Providence　had　reserved　for　the　western　Palestine。　　Hear；　O　heavens！　and　give　ear；　O　earth！　The　corner…stone　of　the　new…born　dispensation　is　the　recognized　inequality　of　races；　not　that　the　strong　may　protect　the　weak；　as　men　protect　women　and　children；　but　that　the　strong　may　claim　the　authority　of　Nature　and　of　God　to　buy；　to　sell；　to　scourge；　to　hunt；　to　cheat　out　of　the　reward　of　his　labor；　to　keep　in　perpetual　ignorance；　to　blast　with　hereditary　curses　throughout　all　time；　the　bronzed　foundling　of　the　New　World