OCR Text |
Show 146 THE GOLDEN HOUR. tion, and pa ·c through the country it has ·o foully wTongcd, a branded felon and outlaw. But if this be asinine in lavery, what pluec in Ili~tory 's Calendar of Fool ·will be too pro1nincnt for this nation, should it pcnnit this devil to pa s as safely as over, crushing under his cloven foot every fair growth of Liberty, and. in1pudently defying the country upon which he has brought cv ry conceivable \YOC? There is danger that, if left to our politician , this golden hour will in1ply inscribe "Yankee" on the Calendar of Fools ; for there is nothing so unfathotnably stupid as n1oral cowardice. " Fear nothing but fear," says ~fontaignc. 'l.,o-day yon can count on the fingers of one hand the 1ncn in "'\Va ·hington who can say Abolitionist without the norrnal prefix damned. When the President, even, wi hcs to usc the phra~c in a friendly \vay, he says Abolish1nent. It is plain that these 1ncn can be used by the earnest hearts of Atncrica only for filtration. .A.s the ·waters of our great \V estern ri vcrs arc passed through filters of stone before they arc clear cnongh to drink, so the somewhat muduy strean1s of A.1ncrican Liberty 1nust find in Cabinet anJ. Congrc s their stony filter.·, whose rc traint will be purifying. But it will be purifying only if we see that the streams pass through thc1n : rc1naining checked by them, the waters shall bcco1nc stagnant and poisonous. We have no Joshua to Lid the sun stand still anJ. SUUS UM COHDA. 147 prolong our Golden Ilour beyond its la t diamond minute. 1\feanwhile, the inevitable horizon of earthly nccc. · ·ity approaehcs nearer anu nearer to it. 'rl . . . ~, le exigencies oi .n orthcrn society u1ay ..... . . · .1 1 • u.. ~1 ~~ Ll'aJ tors to put an ncl to this war, even if it be not a noLle end : the heavy taxes lnay Lring ll1Cn clown on their bcllic ·. 'I.,hc ruue ·tate of ocicty in the South -uot more co1nplcx than an ov~ter C'tll co .· t .Ll .; - t -CXI~ '\Vl l the rude conditions of w·1r · !Jut the 'T .11 ·11 < ' ..~..,olvl WI pres-ently find. an apolooy for CV'L<.lino· the ·t .·l· • <- b r cspous1u1 1ty 1t should fulfil; for it has uo right to allow a Lar-barous lavery-de ·poti ·1n to lJuilu it ·elf upon a half of this continent. But will foreign powers allow this war to continue indefinitely ? Revolutions arc not bad, .·oinctiincs: the revolutions of this planet, for instance: they go on and do not upset the ·world. 's uni \~Cr al table, nor rust its loo111, nor interfere with France's afternoon cigar. Nay ! by such revolution all thcso arc ttpplicd. It socn1s to o·ct b a -lo\v en trance in to the }uncrican ccrcbrutn, that in a f<.unily of nations, as in a fatuily of in eli viuuals, 0110 mctubcr is not pcr1nittc<1 to throw all the rest into confusion. Enough ti1no is to be allowed for the vindication of national, as of per ·onal indi vi<l uality ; but when nationality bccotncs burning down St. Paul's to broil Jonathan's ·teak, then nationality is the , ynonytne of nui ·ancc. It is ' LU'C to be aLated. ~fy .Anlcrican tnastcrs, if you desire to have the ua.tions pause |