OCR Text |
Show 68 H.alph Waldo E rncd ()n. 1 SUlTeTH Cl' 0 f G ('ll('nl l Irllll ' H e clH•ri :·dlt-'=' n -.O'n':tL rC"Jlert for l · f' tl ..... ~ ., 111 •111 of' stronrr charaetcr, and hi :~ rt'=' JH'd i~ prol.>- 11S a 1Cl, "~ ,. ' ' n a'u-1 y J· lb~ t . 1~:~ ,or himself, he is so trnn=--par<•·•n t that all men ee him through. lie is a man to make fr 1etHb wh •reYcr on e:trlh counlO'C and integrity nrc e~tecmctl- (npplaus<') -the rarc:-~t of h~·oes, a pure itlcaliM, with no by-encl:-1 of' hi:-~ own. JUany of you have seen him, nn<l C\·ery on? \\'~10 has heard him speak ha. be 'll impre-:-:ed alike by In:-; S ltnp~ <': artless goodness, joincu with his . ulJJimc COUI'fl g<'. Ill' .)OlliS that pcrf'cct Puritan faith whi ·h uron(')"ht hi ~ firth ane<';-;tor to Plymouth Rock, with his gramlfn.ther's ardor in the R<· \·olution. lie bclieYe.' in two articks- two ins trum e nt:-~ :-;h:lll I :-;ay? the Golden Rule and the Declaration of' In<l<'prncl<•nrc ; (app1au ~c)- and he used this expression in eonn·t::-:aliOI: ltcre concerning them, "Better that a " ·hol' g:cnerat10n ol men, women, an<l chil<lr n shoul<l pn,::;s away by a violent death, than thai one word of either honld ue violnte<l in tlli:; c-oun-try." There i.' a Unioni t- ther a stri ct con:-;tructionist for you! (Applau:::.e nnu laughte r.) Jie bclicYrs in the Union of the States, anu he conceives that th only oldruction to the Union i:::; Slav ry, anu for that renson, as a patriot, he worl~ s for it~ nbolition. The GoY •mo1· of' Yirginia ha::; pronounced hi.' eulogy in a manner that cli:-;erctli ls th mo<lcration of our timid parti es. lli ' own sp ·ech 'S to the court have intere ~ ted the nation in him. \Vhat magnanimi ty, and wltnt innocent pleading, a. of ch ildhooc1! You remember his word ~ -" If I had interfe red in b 'half of the rich, the pow· erf'ul, the intrlligent, the so-called grpat, or any of their friends, parents, wive., or children, it wouhl all have been right. No man in this court would l1 ~We thou(')"ht it a crime. But I 0 believe that to lun·c int r rfercd as I ha\·e done, for the dcspi ·ed poor, I hayc (lone no wrong, but right." It i easy to . ee what a fayorite he will be with history, which play .... uc:h pranks with trmpornry r eputation:-.. Nothing can resist the sympathy which all elevated minds mu ·t feel with Ralph Waldo E1ncrfon. Brown, anl1 through th rm the whole ci vilized world; and, if he must uffer, l1e mu:-~i drag olneial gentl 'men in to an im~ mortality most un(l e:-~ irable, and of which they have alrcacly . ome di ~agreeab l c for ·boding~. (Applause.) In<lecd, ]t i:3 t1 JC 'reductio ad absurdum or ~lavery, wh<·n the UoYernot· of Virginia i forced to hang a man whom 1te del'1ares to ue a. man of the most integrity, tru t h fuln cs~, and cou rage l1c ha, CYCr met. I :; thai the kind of man the gallows is bui lt for ( It were bold to nfnrm that there i~ within that broad Commonwealth, nt this moment, another citizen a.' wor tl1y to li \·e, an_<l a ' deserving or all public an<l pri vatc honor, a . this poor pn:oner. nut we arc here to think of r elief for the family of .John Brown. To my eye., that family looks very lar7c and very needy of relief. It compri::;es l1is'" brave fellow-sufTeren:i in the Charl c;:;town jail; the fugitives ... till hunted in tlJC mountains of' Virginia and P ennsylvania; the syrnpatltizcrs with him in all the 'tate:;; an<l I may ... ay, almo' t e\·ery man who Jo\·es the Golden H.ule and the Deelaration of Intlepcnclenc{', ]ike him, and who see whni a tiger's thirst threatens 1tim in the malignity of public cntiment in the Slave States. I t :c ·ms to me that a common feeling join ~ the people of 1\Ia:-: :whusctts wi th him. I . aid J ohn Brown wa an ideal ist. He b ,liev '<l in l1i~ ideas to that extent that he cxistc<l to pnt them all into action; he . aid" he diu not believe in moral sua ... ion; - he believed in putting the thing through." (Applau ~c . ) lie . aw how deceptiYc the form .' are. \Ve fan cy, in 1\Ia:-;:-;achu ~ etts, that we are free ; yet it cem: the GoYernmcnt i · qnitc unr eliablr . Great wealth,-great population,-m n of talent in the Executive, on the Bench, - all the form right~- and yet, life and freedom arc not afe. \Vhy ? Because the J uLlgcs r ely on the form~, and clo not, like John Brown, usc th eir eyes to . ee the i~ 1 ct behind the form .. . Th ·y assume that the United ~tn tes can prote<'t its witness or its prisoner. An<l, in l\1assacbusetts, tbat i::; true , |