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Show 12 MASSACHUSETTS IN MOUHNI:X(;. repealed by ourselves, upon the soil of j\[assachui:ictt:;. "For one, I am glad to be dcccivc(l no longC'r. I am glad of the discovery- (no hasty tiling, but gradually d::rwni11g npon me for ten years) -that I li \'C under a despotism. L ha,·c lost the dream that ours is a la11d of peace aml order. I have looked thoroughly through our "Fourth of July," and seen its hollowness; and I ad,·isc you to petition your City Governmc" nt to revoke their appropriation fOr its cclcbr<ttion , (or give the same to the Nebraska Emigration Society,) and only toll the bc1ls in all the chm'Chcs, and hang the !-itrccb in black from end to end. 0 shall '''C hold such cercmonicto when only some statesman is gone, and omit them O\'er dead Freedom, whom all true statesmen only live to serve! At any rate my word of counsel to you is to learn this lesson thoroughly-a revolution is begun! not a Heform, but a Revolution. If you take part in poEtics henceforward, let it be only to bring nearer the crisis which wil1 either save or sunder this nation- or perhaps save in sundering. I am not very hopeful, even as regards you; I know the mass of men will not make great sacrifices for Freedom, but there is more need of those who will. I have lost faith forever in numbers ; I have faith only in the constancy and courage of a "forlorn hope." And for aught we know, a case may ari::;e, this "·eek, in :Massachusetts, which may not end like the last one. Let us speak the truth. Under the influence of Slavery, we arc rapidly relapsing into that state of barbarism in which every man must rely on his own 1;ght hand for his protection. Let any man yield to his instinct of 1"rccdom, and resist oppression, and his life is at the mercy of the first ill·u11ken officer who orders his troops to fue. For myself, exiotencc looks MASSACHUSETTS IN :\IOURNING. 13 worthless under sueh circumstances; and I can only make life wort!. M.ving for, by becoming a revolutionist. The saying seC'ms dangerous; but why not say it if one means it, as 1 certainly clo. I respect law and order, but as the ancient Persian ~age said, "always to obey the laws, virtue must rela..x much of her vigor." I see, now, that while Slavery is national, law and order must constantly be on the wrong side. 1 i>Ce that the case stands fOr me precisely as it stands fOr l{ostluth and J\[azzini, and. I must take the consequences. Do you say that ours is a Democratic Government, and there is a more peaceable remedy? I deny that we live under a Democracy. ] t is an oligarchy of Slaveholdertl, and I point to the history of a half century to prove it. Do you say, that oligarchy will be propitiated by submission? I deny it. It is the plea of the timid in all ages. Look at the expel'icnce of ou1· O>\' ll country. '\Vhich is most influential in Congress -South Carolina, whlch never submitted to anything, or 1\fassachusetts, with thrice the white population, but which always submits to everything? I tell you, there is not a free Rtatc in the Union which would dare tl'eat a South Carolinian as that State treated 1\Ir. }[oar; or, if it had been done, the Union would. have been clivided years ago. The way to make principles felt is to assert them- p~accably, if you can; forcibly, if you must. The way to promote ~-,ree Soil is to have your own soil free; to leave courts to settle constitutions, and to fall back (fOr your own part,) on first principles : then it will be seen that you mean something. ]Tow much free territory is there beneath the Stars and Stripes? I know of fOm· places- Syracuse, Wilkesbarrc, ~1:ilwaukie, and Chicago: I remember no others. "Worcester," you say. Worcester has not yet been tried. If you |
