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Show 274 Henry Ward Beecher. over the h eroic ideals of liberty. l\'Iothcr must twine the first threads or th >ir children'::; life with the golllen threads of these divine truths, and the whole or liCe must be woven to the heavenly pattern of liberty ! What can the North do for the Sonth ~ unless her own h eart is purifieJ and ennobled? 'Vlwn the love of Li~e~·t y is at so low an ebb that churches drcaJ the sound, mllll ~t ers shrink from the topic ; when book publishers dare not publish or rcpubli ~h a word on the ::;uhjcct of S lave1?, cut out e~ery livincr wonl from school bookf,, f'xpurgate lde-pa sage ' from IIun~boldt , Spurg on, and all fo reign authors or teach ' rs ; and when great religious publication . ocicti c~, cnuowed :·or the yery purpo~c of speaking fearl '. '::;ly the truth ' w luch interest would let peri ·h, pervert their trust, ancl arc Jumb, first and chiefly, n.nd articulate only in thiug · that thou ~anu::; of others coultl publish as well as they, - what chance is there that public sentiment, in such a community, will have any power with the ~out h? But the c11d of these thin g~ is at hand. A nobler . pirit is an·mcr. Ne w men, new hearts, new z<·al, nrc cotning forwan1,~ cd on by all those ~ign nntl au: picc. that GOll foresends when he prepares the people to nth·ance. This work, well begun, must not go bnck. It. must grow, like . pring, into su~m cr. God will then give it an autumn -without a winter. And when such a p11blic scntinwnt fills the North, founded upon r eligion, and fill ed with fearl c ~ s love to both the bond nnd the free, it will work all over the continent, and nothing can be hit1 from the shining thereof. 3. By all the ways con is tent with the icarlc. s a. scrtion of truth, we mu t maintain sympnthy and kindness toward · the South. \V c are bret hrcn ; and I pray that no f'ratrici tlal influ ences may be permitted to sunder this U nion. There \vas a time when I thought the body of death would be too much for life, and that the North was in danger of taking disease from the South, rather than they our health. That time has • Henry Ward Beecher. 275 gone pn · t. I do not b ·lieYc thnt we shall be ~c pn rat<' cl by th ir act or o ur ~. \Vc have an clement of healing, wlli ('h, if we arc true to ourselves and onr principles, and no<l is ki11d to us, shall drive it .. clf fiut hcr and fa rther iuto tl1e uat ion, until it p 'nctra tcs and r ·gen "rut'S every pa rt. " ' hen the whole lump hall have been lea vened th<'rcuy, oltl p n •j udi('es will be done away, and new sympathies will be crea ted. I am for holding the l1earL of the North r ig ht up to tl1e h<·art of the 'outh. E very l1cart-beat will b ·, e re Jong, not a blow riveting opprc. sion, but a throb carrying new heal th. Frc ·dom in the North is strong ·r than ' la very in the South. \ Vc arc yet to work for them, as the . ilent f-'pring work · for u:;. They arc a lawful pr 'Y tu love. I llo not hc:-;itat · to t<" ll the South what I mcau by lov ing a U nion with them. 1 mean Liberty. I mean th ~ d ecay of S lavery, nnd its ex tin ct ion. I f I might speak for the North , I would sny to the South, " \Ve love you, and hate your S lavt)ry. \Vc ·ha ll I 'ave no fra ternal efTort untried to dc liv ' r you, and O Ul"e l n~ · with you, from the degradation, dangc· r, and wi ·kedncs of' thi ~ P.yst ·m." A mi for this we cling to the Union. There is lwalth in it. 4. 'V c arc to leave no pa ins untakcn, through th ' Christian con cicncc of the South, to gi ve to the lave himself a hig he r moral status. I lay it down a an axiom, that w halever gives more mauhood to the fl1ave slack ens the bond::; tha t bind him, and that w ha tev r lowc•r::; him in the . calc of ma nhood, tig htens tho c bond ·. If yon wish to work for th e enfran chi ·cment of the A frican, cek to make him a better man. T each him to be an obed ient servant, and an hone. t, true, Chri tian man. The c virtue' are od's tcp-. tone to lib 'rty. That man whom Clu·i t fir::;t makes free, ha a better chance to be civilly free than any othe r. T o make a l:wc moro e, fractious, di ·obedient, and unwilling to work, is the wny to defer his emancipation. W c do not a k the s]aye to be salitdied with S lavery. But, feeling its grievou::; burucn, we ask l1im to endure it while he must, " as unto God and not unto man;" |