OCR Text |
Show 1.J.2 TTIE GOLDF.N HOUR. ·which 1nonarchies had been unable to get along with, ,ve tri <1 to preserve in a republic ; and the expcritnrnt lla,c:; turueu out like the ancient lnoclo or punislunont ·which bound a li\·ing body litnb to litnb, face to face, with a roiLing corpse, until the living should. perish by the .tcnch of the d acl. Now·, either we 1nnst cnt the cord \Yhich bincl us to this body of' death, Ol' it l11USt assitnilate U . to it:elf; either "\Ve 1nu. t be free fron1 Sla\- "'ry, or we n1u~ t adopt its rules,- "re 1nn. t in1pos nutst t'. ' upon eight tuillion or pcopl , . \VC ll1USt rule by lnili tary patrol, we lnn.'L suspend the guarnntie. or the eiti~cn'' right. for 1nilitary reason·. An<l thn. A1nerican Liberty, fron1 l>ei ncr a rock under our feet, would becmne the 1ncre t shifUng quick and. Every titne, ir, that the gates or Forts Warren and Lafayette swung open, the hrick of their hinge pierced every heart in Atncrica which kne'v the sacred. value of tho. e writs and fonns \vhich Tr ... as on co1npcllcd yon to set a ·ide ; for they knc\v that, \vhilst you could be tru ted, it wa not certain that your succc ·or could be. Our father had a good old ver ·ion of a Psahn which ran thus : - "He digged a pit, He di(l'ged it deep, lie <ligged it for his brother, But through his sin, He did fall in The pit he digged for t' other." Would it not be poetic justice, Mr. President, if, Slav- TO THE PRES£DENT OF THE UNITED STATE . 143 cry having diggc<l this pit of arbitrary and 1nartial law for us, it ~hould he allowed to liue into the pit it " dio·gcu for t' other"? ... ir, in five year the n1ost ardent Universalist would. proviclc a special clause for the everlasting d::nnnation of the n1an who helps to have that pit filled up without Slavery l>eing at the botton1 of it! L t 1nc not be regarded. as one of tho~c who arc ready to cavil nt the Prcsiclcnt' · lL 'C of th ·c unu ·ual powers ; th y were u, cd honestly, finnly, and in no ca.-c for p rs cution ; hut there w re 111any ·who coHltl not h lp thinking how much better it \vcre if the smnc ends could be reached by ·acriflcing, not a pound of living flc ·h, but the cancer fccuing on that ile ·h,not the \vrit of Ilabcas Corpns, l>nt the ba e interc t that make. n1en traitor ! The Ilour I have called GolJcn, but it comes to us in so1nbre, dreal'y habili1ncnt ·. .Ah, God! to prvs through the e hospital · where lie the young 1ncn who a year ago were the ruudy flowers of happy holn s ! To ec the wound d, rebel and loyal, . ·catcd on straw in wagons, foot-sole to foot- ole, the satne clear, frank eyes meeting each other, the an1c young, honest voices frorn both, and not to sec the horrid dmnon driving both ! A.la for the hearts on the battle-ficlcl and tho e at ho1nc ; for the ball that pierce, any ·oldicr's heart never lodge there, Lut "·pccds onward to pierce other heart ' far away; and for the broken prophecies and protni. ·c · of life ; for tho ·e whose life |