passages from an old volume of life-第18章

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ison　had　never　published　his　paper；　if　Mr。　Phillips；　the　Cassandra　in　masculine　shape　of　our　long　prosperous　Ilium；　had　never　uttered　his　melodious　prophecies；　if　the　silver　tones　of　Mr。　Clay　had　still　sounded　in　the　senate…chamber　to　smooth　the　billows　of　contention；　if　the　Olympian　brow　of　Daniel　Webster　had　been　lifted　from　the　dust　to　fix　its　awful　frown　on　the　darkening　scowl　of　rebellion；we　might　have　been　spared　this　dread　season　of　convulsion。　　All　this　is　but　simple　Martha's　faith；　without　the　reason　she　could　have　given：　〃If　Thou　hadst　been　here；　my　brother　had　not　died。〃

They　little　know　the　tidal　movements　of　national　thought　and　feeling；　who　believe　that　they　depend　for　existence　on　a　few　swimmers　who　ride　their　waves。　　It　is　not　Leviathan　that　leads　the　ocean　from　continent　to　continent；　but　the　ocean　which　bears　his　mighty　bulk　as　it　wafts　its　own　bubbles。　　If　this　is　true　of　all　the　narrower　manifestations　of　human　progress；　how　much　more　must　it　be　true　of　those　broad　movements　in　the　intellectual　and　spiritual　domain　which　interest　all　mankind？　　But　in　the　more　limited　ranges　referred　to；　no　fact　is　more　familiar　than　that　there　is　a　simultaneous　impulse　acting　on　many　individual　minds　at　once；　so　that　genius　comes　in　clusters；　and　shines　rarely　as　a　single　star。　　You　may　trace　a　common　motive　and　force　in　the　pyramid…builders　of　the　earliest　recorded　antiquity；　in　the　evolution　of　Greek　architecture；　and　in　the　sudden　springing　up　of　those　wondrous　cathedrals　of　the　twelfth　and　following　centuries；　growing　out　of　the　soil　with　stem　and　bud　and　blossom；　like　flowers　of　stone　whose　seeds　might　well　have　been　the　flaming　aerolites　cast　over　the　battlements　of　heaven。　　You　may　see　the　same　law　showing　itself　in　the　brief　periods　of　glory　which　make　the　names　of　Pericles　and　Augustus　illustrious　with　reflected　splendors；　in　the　painters；　the　sculptors；　the　scholars　of　〃Leo's　golden　days〃；　in　the　authors　of　the　Elizabethan　time；　in　the　poets　of　the　first　part　of　this　century　following　that　dreary　period；　suffering　alike　from　the　silence　of　Cowper　and　the　song　of　Hayley。　　You　may　accept　the　fact　as　natural；　that　Zwingli　and　Luther；　without　knowing　each　other；　preached　the　same　reformed　gospel；　that　Newton；　and　Hooke；　and　Halley；　and　Wren　arrived　independently　of　each　other　at　the　great　law　of　the　diminution　of　gravity　with　the　square　of　the　distance；　that　Leverrier　and　Adams　felt　their　hands　meeting；　as　it　were；　as　they　stretched　them　into　the　outer　darkness　beyond　the　orbit　of　Uranus；　in　search　of　the　dim；　unseen　Planet；　that　Fulton　and　Bell；　that　Wheatstone　and　Morse；　that　Daguerre　and　Niepce；　were　moving　almost　simultaneously　in　parallel　paths　to　the　same　end。　　You　see　why　Patrick　Henry；　in　Richmond；　and　Samuel　Adams；　in　Boston；　were　startling　the　crown　officials　with　the　same　accents　of　liberty；　and　why　the　Mecklenburg　Resolutions　had　the　very　ring　of　the　Protest　of　the　Province　of　Massachusetts。　　This　law　of　simultaneous　intellectual　movement；　recognized　by　all　thinkers；　expatiated　upon　by　Lord　Macaulay　and　by　Mr。　Herbert　Spencer　among　recent　writers；　is　eminently　applicable　to　that　change　of　thought　and　feeling　which　necessarily　led　to　the　present　conflict。

The　antagonism　of　the　two　sections　of　the　Union　was　not　the　work　of　this　or　that　enthusiast　or　fanatic。　　It　was　the　consequence　of　a　movement　in　mass　of　two　different　forms　of　civilization　in　different　directions；　and　the　men　to　whom　it　was　attributed　were　only　those　who　represented　it　most　completely；　or　who　talked　longest　and　loudest　about　it。　　Long　before　the　accents　of　those　famous　statesmen　referred　to　ever　resounded　in　the　halls　of　the　Capitol；　long　before　the　〃Liberator〃　opened　its　batteries；　the　controversy　now　working　itself　out　by　trial　of　battle　was　foreseen　and　predicted。　　Washington　warned　his　countrymen　of　the　danger　of　sectional　divisions；　well　knowing　the　line　of　cleavage　that　ran　through　the　seemingly　solid　fabric。　Jefferson　foreshadowed　the　judgment　to　fall　upon　the　land　for　its　sins　against　a　just　God。　　Andrew　Jackson　announced　a　quarter　of　a　century　beforehand　that　the　next　pretext　of　revolution　would　be　slavery。　　De　Tocqueville　recognized　with　that　penetrating　insight　which　analyzed　our　institutions　and　conditions　so　keenly；　that　the　Union　was　to　be　endangered　by　slavery；　not　through　its　interests；　but　through　the　change　of　character　it　was　bringing　about　in　the　people　of　the　two　sections；　the　same　fatal　change　which　George　Mason；　more　than　half　a　century　before；　had　declared　to　be　the　most　pernicious　effect　of　the　system；　adding　the　solemn　warning；　now　fearfully　justifying　itself　in　the　sight　of　his　descendants；　that　〃by　an　inevitable　chain　of　causes　and　effects；　Providence　punishes　national　sins　by　national　calamities。〃　　The　Virginian　romancer　pictured　the　far…off　scenes　of　the　conflict　which　he　saw　approaching　as　the　prophets　of　Israel　painted　the　coming　woes　of　Jerusalem；　and　the　strong　iconoclast　of　Boston　announced　the　very　year　when　the　curtain　should　rise　on　the　yet　unopened　drama。

The　wise　men　of　the　past；　and　the　shrewd　men　of　our　own　time；　who　warned　us　of　the　calamities　in　store　for　our　nation；　never　doubted　what　was　the　cause　which　was　to　produce　first　alienation　and　finally　rupture。　　The　descendants　of　the　men　〃daily　exercised　in　tyranny；〃　the　〃petty　tyrants〃　as　their　own　leading　statesmen　called　them　long　ago；　came　at　length　to　love　the　institution　which　their　fathers　had　condemned　while　they　tolerated。　　It　is　the　fearful　realization　of　that　vision　of　the　poet　where　the　lost　angels　snuff　up　with　eager　nostrils　the　sulphurous　emanations　of　the　bottomless　abyss；so　have　their　natures　become　changed　by　long　breathing　the　atmosphere　of　the　realm　of　darkness。

At　last；　in　the　fulness　of　time；　the　fruits　of　sin　ripened　in　a　sudden　harvest　of　crime。　　Violence　stalked　into　the　senate…chamber；　theft　and　perjury　wound　their　way　into　the　cabinet；　and；　finally；　openly　organized　conspiracy；　with　force　and　arms；　made　burglarious　entrance　into　a　chief　stronghold　of　the　Union。　　That　the　principle　which　underlay　these　acts　of　fraud　and　violence　should　be　irrevocably　recorded　with　every　needed　sanction；　it　pleased　God　to　select　a　chief　ruler　of　the　false　government　to　be　its　Messiah　to　the　listening　world。　　As　with　Pharaoh；　the　Lord　hardened　his　heart；　while　he　opened　his　mouth；　as　of　old　he　opened　that　of　the　unwise　animal　ridden　by　cursing　Balaam。　　Then　spake　Mr。　〃Vice…President〃　Stephens　those　memorable　words　which　fixed　forever　the　theory　of　the　new　social　order。　　He　first　lifted　a　degraded　barbarism　to　the　dignity　of　a　philosophic　system。　　He　first　proclaimed　the　gospel　of　eternal　tyranny　as　the　new　revelation　which　Providence　had　reserved　for　the　western　Palestine。　　Hear；　O　heavens！　and　give　ear；　O　earth！　The　corner…stone　of　the　new…born　dispensation　is　the　recognized　inequality　of　races；　not　that　the　strong　may　protect　the　weak；　as　men　protect　women　and　children；　but　that　the　strong　may　claim　the　authority　of　Nature　and　of　God　to　buy；　to　sell；　to　scourge；　to　hunt；　to　cheat　out　of　the　reward　of　his　labor；　to　keep　in　perpetual　ignorance；　to　blast　with　hereditary　curses　throughout　all　time；　the　bronzed　foundling　of　the　New　World；　upon　whose　darkness　has　dawned　the　star　of　the　occidental　Bethlehem！

After　two　years　of　war　have　consolidated　the　opinion　of　the　Slave　States；　we　read　in　the　〃Richmond　Examiner〃：　　〃The　establishment　of　the　Confederacy　is　verily　a　distinct　reaction　against　the　whole　course　of　the　mistaken　civilization　of　the　age。　　For　　'Liberty；　Equality；　Fraternity；'　we　have　deliberately　substituted　Slavery；　Subordination；　and　Government。〃

A　simple　diagram；　within　the　reach　of　all；　shows　how　idle　it　is　to　look　for　any　other　cause　than　slavery　as　having　any　material　agency　in　dividing　the　country。　　Match　the　two　broken　pieces　of　the　Union；　and　you　will　find　the　fissure　that　separates　them　zigzagging　itself　half　across　the　continent　like　an　isothermal　line；　shooting　its　splintery　projections；　and　opening　its　reentering　angles；　not　merely　according　to　the　limitations　of　particular　States；　but　as　a　county　or　other　limited　section　of　ground　belongs　to　freedom　or　to　slavery。　Add　to　this　the　official　statement　made　in　1862；