Volume Iii Part 7 (1/2)
”The garlands wither on his brow: Then boast no more his mighty deeds, Upon death's purple altar now, See where the victor victim bleeds.
All heads must come To the cold tomb, Only the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.”
If he could speak to us from his present position, methinks he would say: Countrymen and friends! You see how little it availed you to agitate the land and put a little man in a great place. It is not the hurrah of parties that will ”save the Union,” it is not ”great men.” It is only Justice. Remember that Atheism is not the first principle of a Republic; remember there is a law of G.o.d, the higher law of the universe, the Everlasting Right; I thought so once, and now I know it.
Remember that you are accountable to G.o.d for all things; that you owe justice to all men, the black not less than the white; that G.o.d will demand it of you, proud, wicked nation, careful only of your gold, forgetful of G.o.d's high law! Before long each of you shall also come up before the Eternal. Then and there it will not avail you to have compromised truth, justice, love, but to have kept them. Righteousness only is the salvation of a State; that only of a man.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] The above was written in July, 1851. Since then the ground of hope has wholly vanished; the ground for fear remains alone. The following statement may suggest a thought the other side of the ocean, if no shame on this side among politicians and their priests:
Elisha Brazealle, a planter of Jefferson county in the State of Mississippi, was taken sick, and as he lay oppressed with a loathsome disease, a slave of his, a bright mulatto or quadroon, nursed him, and, as was believed, through her nursing, saved him from death. He was a man of feeling and did not forget her kindness, but took her to Ohio and there educated her. She made rapid progress, and soon became his wife.
He made or caused to be made a legal and sound deed of emanc.i.p.ation, and had it legally and formally recorded in Ohio and Mississippi. Lawyers, in both States, said she was free, safe, and that no power in the South, or elsewhere, could legally deprive her or her children of freedom.
Mr. Brazealle returned to Mississippi with his wife; they had a son, and named him John Munroe Brazealle. After some years Mr. Brazealle sickened and died, leaving a will in which he recited the deed of emanc.i.p.ation, declared his intention to ratify it, and devised all his property to his son, acknowledging him in the will to be such.
Some poor and distant relations of his in North Carolina, whom he did not know, and for whom he did not care, hearing of his death, went on to Mississippi and claimed the property devised by Mr. Brazealle to his son. They inst.i.tuted a suit for the recovery of the property. The case came before William L. Sharkey, ”Chief Justice of the High Court of Errors and Appeals” for that State. It is reported in Howard's Mississippi Reports, Vol. II. p. 837, _et seq._ Judge Sharkey declared the act of emanc.i.p.ation ”An offence against morality, pernicious and detestable as an example,” set aside the will, gave to those distant relations the property which Mr. Brazealle had devised to his son, and in addition declared that son and his mother to be slaves. Here is his own language:--
”The state of the case shows conclusively that the contract had its origin in an offence against morality, pernicious and detestable as an example.”... ”The consequence [of the decision] is, that the negroes John Munroe and his mother, are still slaves, and a part of the estate of Elisha Brazealle.” ”John Munroe being a slave cannot take the property as devised; and I apprehend it is equally clear that it cannot be held in trust for him.”
While these volumes are in the press, I learn that Mr. Fillmore has appointed Judge Sharkey to the honorable and lucrative post of Consul to Havana.
IV.
THE FUNCTION AND PLACE OF CONSCIENCE, IN RELATION TO THE LAWS OF MEN: A SERMON FOR THE TIMES.--PREACHED AT THE MELODEON, ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1850.
ACTS 24: 16.
”Herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward G.o.d and toward men.”
There are some things which are true, independent of all human opinions.
Such things we call facts. Thus it is true that one and one are equal to two, that the earth moves round the sun, that all men have certain natural unalienable rights, rights which a man can alienate only for himself, and not for another. No man made these things true; no man can make them false. If all the men in Jerusalem and ever so many more, if all the men in the world, were to pa.s.s a unanimous vote that one and one were not equal to two, that the earth did not move round the sun, that all men had not natural and unalienable rights, the opinion would not alter the fact, nor make truth false and falsehood true.
So there are likewise some things which are right, independent of all human opinions. Thus it is right to love a man and not to hate him, to do him justice and not injustice, to allow him the natural rights which he has not alienated. No man made these things right; no man can make them wrong. If all the men in Jerusalem and ever so many more, if all the men in the world, were to pa.s.s a unanimous vote that it was right to hate a man and not love him, right to do him injustice and not justice, right to deprive him of his natural rights not alienated by himself, the opinion would not alter the fact, nor make right wrong and wrong right.
There are certain constant and general facts which occur in the material world, the world of external perception, which represent what are called the laws of matter, in virtue of which things take place so and not otherwise. These laws are the same everywhere and always; they never change. They are not made by men, but only discovered by men, are inherent in the const.i.tution of matter, and seem designed to secure the welfare of the material world. These natural laws of matter, inherent in its const.i.tution, are never violated, nor can be, for material nature is pa.s.sive, or at least contains no element or will that is adverse to the will of G.o.d, the ultimate Cause of these laws as of matter itself. The observance of these laws is a constant fact of the universe; ”the most ancient heavens thereby are fresh and strong.” These laws represent the infinity of G.o.d in the world of matter, His infinite power, wisdom, justice, love and holiness.
So there are likewise certain constant and general facts which occur in what may be called the spiritual world, the world of internal consciousness. They represent the laws of spirit--that is of the human spirit--in virtue of which things are designed to take place so and not otherwise. These laws are the same everywhere and always; they never change. They are not made by men, but only discovered by men. They are inherent in the const.i.tution of man, and as you cannot conceive of a particle of matter without extension, impenetrability, figure and so on, no more can you conceive of man without these laws inhering in him. They seem designed to secure the welfare of the spiritual world. They represent the infinity of G.o.d in the world of man, His infinite power, wisdom, justice, love and holiness. But while matter is stationary, bound by necessity, and man is progressive and partially free, to the extent of a certain tether, so it is plain that there may be a will in the world of man adverse to the will of G.o.d, and thus the laws of man's spirit may be violated to a certain extent. The laws of matter depend for their execution only on the infinite will of G.o.d, and so cannot be violated. The laws of man depend for their execution also on the finite will of man, and so may be broken.[11]
Let us select a portion of these laws of the human spirit; such as relate to a man's conduct in dealing with his fellow men, a portion of what are commonly called moral laws, and examine them. They partake of the general characteristics mentioned above; they are universal and unchangeable, are only discovered and not made by man, are inherent in man, designed to secure his welfare, and represent the infinity of G.o.d.
These laws are absolutely right; to obey them is to be and do absolutely right. So being and doing, a man answers the moral purpose of his existence, and attains moral manhood. If I and all men keep all the laws of man's spirit, I have peace in my own heart, peace with my brother, peace with my G.o.d; I have my delight in myself, in my brother, in my G.o.d, they theirs and G.o.d His in me.
What is absolutely right is commonly called justice. It is the point in morals common to me and all mankind, common to me and G.o.d, to mankind and G.o.d; the point where all duties unite--to myself, my brethren, and my G.o.d; the point where all interests meet and balance--my interests, those of mankind, and the interests of G.o.d. When justice is done, all is harmony and peaceful progress in the world of man; but when justice is not done, the reverse follows, discord and confusion; for injustice is not the point where all duties and all interests meet and balance, not the point of morals common to mankind and me, or to us and G.o.d.
We may observe and study the constant facts of the material world, thus learn the laws they represent, and so get at a theory of the world which is founded on the facts thereof. Such a theory is true; it represents the thought of G.o.d, the infinity of G.o.d. Then for every point of theory we have a point of fact. Instead of pursuing this course we may neglect these constant facts, with the laws they represent, and forge a theory which shall not rest on these facts. Such a theory will be false and will represent the imperfection of men, and not the facts of the universe and the infinity of G.o.d.
In like manner we may study the constant facts of the spiritual world, and, in special, of man's moral nature, and thereby obtain a rule to regulate our conduct. If this rule is founded on the constant facts of man's moral nature, then it will be absolutely right, and represent Justice, the thought of G.o.d, the infinity of G.o.d, and for every point of moral theory we shall have a moral fact. Instead of pursuing that course, we may forge a rule for our conduct, and so get a theory which shall not rest on those facts. Such a rule will be wrong, representing only the imperfection of men.
In striving to learn the laws of the universe, the wisest men often go astray, propound theories which do not rest upon facts, and lay down human rules for the conduct of the universe, which do not agree with its nature. But the universe is not responsible for that; material nature takes no notice thereof. The opinion of an astronomer, of the American academy, does not alter a law of the material universe, or a fact therein. The philosophers once thought that the sun went round the earth, and framed laws on that a.s.sumption; but that did not make it a fact; the sun did not go out of his way to verify the theory, but kept to the law of G.o.d, and swung the earth round him once a year, say the philosophers what they might say, leaving them to learn the fact and thereby correct their theory.