Echoes of Harpers Ferry

Page 84

160 George B. Chee ver. name of Gou atHl lnunanity demnnd IIH~ to <lo it. I f I could do it by a pray ·r, you would sny that I was the most, impious and abandoned of all hypo Titc~, if I woultl. not llo it, 0 11 the plea of fear of' cow equen<'cs. And if I cxcu ed my, ·If' 0 11 the plea that I could not do it bu t by producing viol •ncc and death, you would ay that by nch r efu sal I was mysel{' rruilt o {. t1I C cont.m uancc o f o. sy' tem o f m. nr. nt. lc cruelt y andb roby-bery, which I might have l>rougbt lo an end. You woul•~l sny that my killing- those robbers and murd ·r rs wo ul·~~l no ~~ 1l: l.VC been the doing of vil that good might come, hnt a ju. t, right­eous, and nc ·cssary act, and that my r •fu sing to do it !tad made me an ace 's:"o ry to all that wiek<'dtw::;s. F or he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is ...in. Thi . is Uod' Iogie, not mine. • N. ow, r.e member., that if the color had been whitP, nnd tl1 e n ct11n ot oppn'. 'SIOII your r •lativ s, n •ighuor. , or 11 •ighbors' d.eseendant s, you would have m<ulc no question of the virtll c, n ghtcousne:;s, and nouletl<'S. of' John Brown'' attempt. You would not ha c set t h • detC'rmination of t h • quality of' his act upon the probability of succe. s. You wou hl ha,·e said he w~:~ so mu cl ~ the gr ·at ·r, trn ·r, mor • di sin terest ·d hero fot· golllg fo rth 111 nn und •rtakinrr 1'0 ber rand ' tho11ncr ]1, to 1l iiint,l ll nppeat·a.nct', hol)Cl •:-;s, )' •t tnt ·tin rr itt Go~l I , 1 ' . o ~· t , J· n<1e c<1 ,your trust m the con ~c qu c n c<' ' , your a -.· urancc oC s u ccc~:::;, that makes an action righteous? That i.::; the mora lity tau rrht b some thcolo~ians who hnvc sat in jU<l~m ·ni on thi tr~gc<l;. But be you sur:, the thmgs that arc highly npprovcd amonrr m~n ~rc abomllla.tiOI~ in the ~ ight of God, and they what~ men condemn a rc often dearer to llt'm 1\Ild l'k II' < • • more 1 ·c un than any others. Between this dread anu olcmn reality of J ohn Brown like the ~orm of the de ·troy ing angel wj th the Sword of' God hanrrmrr over Jcru s·\lcn , 1 tl u . . o o • 1, .me tc CCI ·ton r cspectin rr our own country ' there r i c · tl 10 g reat r ecord, the g rea t facn t, of' cio·ll t htnHlrcd thou and ·h , f ll . 0 . · • ( vcs peace u y ct free, and we hear the thunder of the II·•t ll c•l UJ·.' I. 1t , c:~K O t 1w u, and do likcwi~e! 1V c need George B. Ch ·ever. 1 6 t these nx trcmc lesson:-;, and Go<1':-; prov idc·n<·<' that :-:;nppli<' them rail ;-; u;-; to npply them. Uo<l ~bows tts tIt · <'Oilling <·vii, nu1kes u:; f'ed that it is eomi11g, shows us how to a\ uid it. \r c muy avoid it, but th<•rc is only one w~1 y, -" by doing justly, loving mercy, aml walking humbly with our Uod." In otltt·r \\·onl...:, th on ly way is by imm •diatc r •petltan<..:<', aml r 'tJunci:ltiou or the f'in. A fixed, defin ite purpose of' obcdien ·e to Uod by aboli tion of the wickcur1C ·s, is the first thing. The ol>j v('L hclore u., the work to be accompli::;hcu, i. that of five mi llioll;) of' ·lave to bn .-ct fre , for 1\lr. Htepl1en::; himself' has ~o <'Otn­putcd them. T he command and authority lor this ar<' f'rom Go<1, and the m an a rc all proYided hy him. Th<•y are, in the fi rst place, his own \ Vord, his law l1i~ gosp<·l, dl's<' ribing th<· sin of slaveho1uing, forb idding it, pronouncing I he pe1w lt y, which i death, making it a crime of equivalent guilL with th:tt of murder. I t is indeed the mnrucr oC the p<•r:;onality of' man, and in one re:-~pcct much wor~c than the work ol' tl1c ordinary as:-;assin, since it is a gcr minnting, reproductive c.;rinw, organized antl :;ct in a system, with a law ol' p<'rpduity antl incn•a:-;l', creating a f:elf'-acti ng manufactory of' tlH' a;-;~n!'~ina­tion f'rom g<•. ner' ltion to bcY t•ne rat ion ·' th' ori(nT inal c•ns. lavin,c...r, of the pa ren ts (no matter though they wcr kidnnppe<l in Af'ri(':t) incxoral>ly doom ing the ehild ren of tlw p:lrents, nnd their ehildren after th ·m, to a contin tt "d lcgnli z<·~l a:-;sassination bef<.n·c the J\f oloch or the :;ystem. No WOtH1<'1', with this in view, that Uocl condemned the sin of slav<' lwl<ling to the pun­ishment of death. God's \ Vord forbids any man to continue in this c rime one single moment. God's \ Vor<l requirf•s the in:-;tant renunciation of all th i: guilt. By no a rt or ::;tratng m of' sophi:-;try can the <'n<l unln<'<' of it be nuHle ju::.tly pcrmi:-;siblc for a. ~i11gl c yea.r, or in n~ty Stat • or community. Th idea of a Uhri:-;tinn man hving cnpablc of calmly consitlcring such wi c.;kcdn<'. s as a ve ..; i<•tl r ight, or a r;yslcm to endure I'or nges, seems incr ·dihle. Tho idea o{' ameliorating .'LH.:h a f.iyslem, the iniquity Hl •anwhil t~ pcrmittc<l to continue and increase, the moral as::iassinalion l ·t~ •