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Show 374 William A. Phillips. But the worst 1a (' I< ·t ng <Jt' 011 r· JHiblic men of flt<' p.t '(•Re.n t day 1. 5 moral COlli .a ge. :Men do not he~itntc to a pologt,. z.t.~ for the b st 1.1 1 ~ tm. c t · o f their own nature. Instead of th< 11 <on- . . 1 1 of them they nrc really a. ham '<1 of SCICI1C S b •tng :1.. Hll11e( ' . then. · own con cJ· Cncc, s. Thus' for instance, 1f they happen to exprc s an opm· t· on "a clver.~ e to Shwet·y, they make ha: te to quali. t.y t. t b y ac1 ( .l 'nrr th·tt "they hate the negro," or that they 1. o' < • • rl.,l arc oppose d t o ).t n1c-rely because It w1ll. not pay. 1ey wou l<l no t b c s Uspccted of ·n . or rcnuinc emotiOn, fot· the . world. f 1 t Ilum.1n1'ty to be a humbu0Thcy rce y vo e c 0'; and thcti'S un-que tionably is so. . . . I t I· S tl ll·S Se lfi ]1nes ' corruption, cowardtce, reltg1.0 .u ' a.n d po1 t. t1· ca1 a tl lCI· m, th·"t t threa• tens to dcmoli ·h our civdtzatiOn an d nati·o n ; - to bu1·n the •a rk of the covenant. But where is the enemy in our midst to usc these weapons? ~on·uption has not quite reached such a pitch as to dc~tr?y ot itself. Ah, we have a sleepless, antngoni tic power wttlun our borders. vVhcn the American republic was founded, there was t 11 e s Ia ve sy. tern . The .s.. r1irit th·•1 t broubrrht th.e R evolution. ha. d already begun to root it out. Rcpublir.an Ltbcrt! wa::;, 111 1t:1 every breath, a living caveat against it. There 1s, and mu.t be, an "irreprc sible conflict" between them_. l3ut Republican Liberty was e tablishcd, and the patrwts of that <ln~ looked with hope for the extinction of Slavery. l\Iany of the orirrinal States shook it off. Its utter extinction was the naturat work of the great Protest- the power of the age. For a while, and while this was the leading idea, CYery thinrr went well. But a change came over the Southern drea~. l\Iillions of cotton bags startled avarice. '\Vlten Virrrinian soil was cursed for Slavery's sake, she betook herself ~o raising stock, and exported annually millions of dollars' worth of her sons and daughters. L uxun·c s, b ego tte n by such traffic, are not apt to lead the possessor to clearer ideas of justice and right. . The difficulty first showed itself by considel'ing the subJeCt William A. Phillips. ll "\'excel qu ·stion "-one thnt ndmitt ·d of no mljnstrn ' nt. I can renwrnuer very we ll, and 1 was mostly amongst Southem men when I first began to thi11k, that 110 one <·ou ld be founcl who ltad the hanlihood to say that Sla\'ct-y wa.· 1'1/Jllt. Then 1louri ·hcd thnt vc ncmble, fo:-~sil school of pol iticians who nclmittcd that Slavery was """Ong,-but, also, ad mil tr(l, that nothing could be done for it. A few nice gentlemen ticlded their cor1. ciencrs by sub~cribing a small modicum of an unpaid-for· crop of cotton, or half a per cent. of t l 1c priee of Dirtah, ot· Pompry, to ~omc colonization l'ioci •t.y, :mel tn kinr7 the '' Lil><:ria Advocat ·." A good dt•:tl of ver.'l useless ph i~ lanthropy found v •nt in that way , but that tlelu~ion n •vet· had any vit~dily in it, for its OWn high prie ·b did 110t ueJicve in it them clve~. But all these nice old gcntlcnwn of the South l1avc gone down. '\VIJat h:ts hceorne of th f'm? 1Vl1<' re are the Bell:-~, antl the Tltornpson!>i, :md the B rntom;, and the lHangurnE-1, that usc•(l to make the South cm win,o · of th e United tate: Senate. I will tell y ou, my fri (· nd;-;. Tlwy !tad ~H id, they knew of no olution of this qtt c·.· tioll, an<l a new tribe has at·iscn which sny they know of one. Alt, r emember, we can't stand still in God'~ world. During the French RcYolution the eloquent and talented G irondins got the power as the flood reached its tide. But th ey vacillated. They were afraid of the de pot ism of a 1\fonarr hy, nnd on the other hand they trembled for the licenti owme ·s of r~ Democracy. They wavered, and the ]\fountain party arose and blotted them out in blood. And now we have a dominant power in our government which says Sin very is n:gl?t- and shall be extended and perpetuated. They have seized the corrupt material we have allowed to grow at the North, and th ey use it for their purposes. The empire of 1\foloclt and the empire of D espotism are identical, aml tit ·y have made a fearful league against our old Ark of tJtc Covenant. Let no ouc impiou~ly upbraid God for our sins. Ever |
