l; l.  t
PRADICALISM
IN
FOUR PAPERS
FROM
THE BOSTON COURIER FOR 1858.
" We mistake men's diseases, when we think there needeth nothing to cure
them of their errors but the evidence of truth. Alas! there are many distempers of mind to be removed, before they receive that evidence."
RICHARD BAXTER.
BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPAN-Y,
112, WASHINGTON STREET.
l88.           ~.
N
tt~igiolly'llosop~ti, aiis   $"otiat  Wife,i
and Xd'~~~~~~~~~~~
1858. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by
LITTLE, BRIOWN, AND COMPANY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
BOSTON:
PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON,
22,  SC HOOL   STREET. 
C O N T E N T S.
PAGE.
REVIVAL SERMONS.................    7
MR. RALPH WALDO EMERSON AS A LECTURER... 23
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN...........    41
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.........   61 
I 
"REVIVAL SERMONS."  
REVIVAL SERMONS.
ANT of space, resulting from the occupation
of our paper with subjects of more immediate concern, compelled us to defer some
remarks which we intended to make to accompany the report of Mr. THEODORE PARKER' S
discourse, in Monday's "Courier."  We did not
fear to trust that discourse by itself with the
readers of this paper. We feel nonie of those
apprehensions which, it would appear from Mr.
Parker's statements, are entertained of him in
certain quarters. If ministers or people, looking upon him as some terrific monster of infidelity and power combined, confessing their
own slavish fears and inability to contend with
him, have really put up the supplications for
delivery imputed to them, we can only pity their 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
REVIVAL SERM*ONS. 
weakness and delusion, and wish them more
sense and courage.  Combatants like these are
only perjured knights, recreant to their cause,
and that cause, too, immortal truth, vital with
prevailing power, indestructible, aggressive not
quiescent, mighty to the pulling down of strongholds, clothed impenetrably with the armor of
light against all the weapons and works of darkness.
Of course, a preacher like Mr. Parker will have
hearers. Infidels will naturally resort to his tribune, for that kind of bolstering-up which they
always need from one another. Lovers of novelty, who are troubled with little consideration
of their moral responsibility, will go; for a
speaker capable of no sound analysis of principle or evidence, and held back by no conscientious restraint from giving utterance to any wild
idea which comes uppermost in his thoughts,
gratifies their morbid fancy. Inconsiderate persons, actuated by various purposes of amusement;
strangers in town, with more curiosity than principle; persons of unsettled minds; extremists of
all classes; those who imagine there is a sort
8 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
of independence  exhibited in breaking away
from the regular ministration of the gospel
those who care nothing for the gospel; and such
as hope to get rid of uncomfortable thoughts
by the removal of religious scruples, which they
would fain deem fallacies if they could; in a
word, men and women under the influence of
the multitude of weak motives which affect the
wandering and undisciplined mind; together
with some, no doubt, who have conceived for
themselves the vague and fancifiul idea of a certain moral transcendentalism, by which the
manifestation of an image produced by themselves, worshipped by themselves, and ending with
themselves, is substituted for the truth as communiicated from Heaven to man, - all these coIngregate at the Music Hall to hear Mr. Parker.
Amid such a miscellaneous assemblage there will
be many, no doubt, whose intellects, Inot overwell informed beforehand, will be entertained
with speculations not familiar to them, and which,
therefore, they think new; the natural pride of
the human heart will be gratified; their vanity
will be puffed up; they will conceive themselves
9 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
released from the obligation of antiquated notions; they will believe they are elevated above
the multitude; they will think better of themselves; they will think worse of their neighbors.
Whether any one can learn there more of that
divine charity, which lies at the foundation of the
Christian religion and constitutes its essence, -
love to God and love to man,- no candid person
can hesitate about, who reads Mr. Parker's discourses.   Nothing could be more narrow than
his doctrine. Love of self is its summary; and
this is proved by the fact that he preachles, not
love in general, but only hatred of whatever is
not in conformity with his own notions of social
or individual requirement. There is one fiundamental objection to all Mr. Parker's preaching.
The charge is a serious one; but it is, that that
preaching is hypocritical.   He does not believe
in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,
as of divine authority. Unlike Moses, David,
and the Prophets, he sees nothing in God, as
revealed in the one, worthy of human reverence;
and, rejecting in the other all its titles to the
acceptance of faith as the word of God, hlie picks
.
10 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
out of it moral precepts of merely human weight,
as he conceives, to form the text and the garnish
of his performances.  This is radically wroing.
It is stealing the livery of heaven to serve the
Devil in.  He goes to the same spring, to which
the Cl-hristian teacher resorts, for the water of
life, and, using it for quite a different purpose,
mixes it with poisons before he deals it out to
those who imbibe his teachings. Many, no doubt,
are thus insidiously led to believe they are drinking in some newly drawn yet still wholesome
beverage, who know nothing of the fatal effects
of the decoction, until it has sapped the very
foundation of their moral health.   To be fair,
Mr. Parker, who rejects the Bible as a standard
of faith and the means of salvation, ought to say,
"I am an infidel," and have nothing to do with
it: but perhaps he agrees with us, that his followers would become very sensibly diminished in
numbers, upon this honest basis.  To give up this
specious use of the Scriptures, would be really to
abandon his only effective means of holding the
majority of his hearers together.
Leaving out of consideration a great deal of
11 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
discursive and irrelevant matter in the second
instalment of his " revival discourse," the sum of
it is, that it will do no good to convert men to the
religion of the Christian churches. This would
be, according to Mr. Parker, only a revival of
subjection to ecclesiastical authority. He objects
to this, because, so far as has yet appeared, the
world has not grown perfect under this system.
We hear nothing of sin in this discourse; but
there are so many evils still existing in society,
that we must try something besides Christianity
to make men -we were about to say better,
according to the old formula; but to make them
something, we know not what,- certainly not
Christians, -we  suppose  Parkerites, whatever
that may be.  What we want, says Mr. Parker,
is to " emancipate ourselves from the Bible and
the church."   And this declaration is plump
enough; though it certainly shows Mr. Parker
in avery absurd and unfair light, as using the
Bible, either wilfully or of necessity, as a means
of promulgating and enforcing his own hostile
opinions, at the same time that he proclaims freedom from any creed, " which requires men to keep
12 
REVIVAL SERMIONS.
Sunday, and go to meeting," and partake of the
sacrament,-  for we will not repeat Mr. Parker's
coarse and profane, if not blasplhemous, language
on the latter point.
The purposes of this modern reformier are very
simple and practicable indeed! All he wants to
do is, to reconstruct the organization of society
(which, by the way, is the same in general cllaracter whlerever man is or has been, civilized or
savage); to get rid of its " selfish antagonism,"
its poverty in the midst of richles, its idlers couInterbalancinlg its industrious members, its frauds
conflictinig with honiesty, its " war, bad governmenlt, and the degradation of woman." Some of
these are evils against which civilized society
always is, and we presume always will be, struggling; some are incurable; and some, at best, are
doubtful evils, if evils at all.  We take it, there
alwvays will be differences iii human conditions.
The poor will be the most numerous, perhaps not
the most unhappy.  War, thougli an evil, is not so
much so as loss of national hon6r and  character,
or submission to intolerable wrong.   The degradation of woiman in this counltry is a humbug of
13 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
the most absurd and unfounided pretensions.
Every woman of sense knows, that she could ask
no higher degree of respect and affection than she
receives here, when she deserves it, and often
when she does not; and that she could in no
condition of society exert a clearer or more constant influence, than in this country and in this
age.  Every manl, acquainted with human history
and capable of reflection, knows that such of the
ills mentioned as are absolute evils, and all other
evils, with which the human race has been afflicted, owe to Christianity every softening influence
which has breathed upon them, and that to that
only can humanity look for their cure, so far as
it can be accomplished.
The philosophical way of effecting any further
improvement in this respect, therefore, would
seem to be, by using every laudable and rational
exertion to make men better Christians, and to
convert such as are not so already.  Btt here
Mr. Parker comes in with an original "antagonism."  His mode is to break down Christianity.
He wishes to " shatter the belief in the old miracles," and to set " men loose from the old
14 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
theologic den." There have been, he tells us,
the religion of Moses, the religion of Jesus, that
of Luther, of the Baptists, of the Unitarians and
Universalists, of the Spiritualists and the Mormons.  The two latter he seems to like the best,
as the most efficient for the work proposed by
him.  They will help most to shatter, set men
loose, &e.  " See the growth of Mormonllism!"
says lhe; " that has something which mankind
wants;" though we are unable to see exactly
how he reconciles this with his idea of the degradation of woman. Spiritualism, too, has done
gfood service in the same way; though we do him
the justice to say, hlie seems to look upon it per se
with contempt.  As to the effect of Spiritualism
in the special case, however, hlie agrees apparently
with Dr. Gardner, who told the committee at the
Albion, last summer, that, if it were not true,
then hlie, as an active agent, had, to use his own elegant language, " shovelled thousands into hell!"
Such is the argument of Mr. Parker.  But it
is quite obvious that other things would answer
his purpose quite as well, without resorting to
the degradation of woman, as practised by the
15 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
Mormons, or the degradation of the understandiig, as exhibited by the Spiritualists. No doubt,
he feels more confidence in these, because they,
like himself, come  forward  nominally in  the
guise of something which  they call religion
but it is evident that " rioting and drunkenness,
chambering and wantonness, strife and envying,"
-in fact, any of those sins which are expressly
denounced by Scripture and reason as well,if brought forward and encouraged to the same
end, would equally serve the purpose to break
down Christiaiiity,- if they could.
Mr. Parker's idea of religion comprel-hends only
something which hlie calls " natural religion."
This is otherwise called by the apostle  "false
philosophy."   It holds religion to  consist in
doing our duty to man. Of course, we all fail
to do this. If we do it perfectly, we do no more
than we ought.  Failure in this respect, therefore, is criminal; while perfect fulfilment of it
would be without merit, except comparatively,
since we do no more than we are bound to do.
In the performance of our human duties, too, we
are actuated more or less, it is to be feared, by
16 
REVIVAL SERMIONS.
selfish motives.  Their discharge is undoubtedly
wise, as well as honest. If life ended with this
world, such a theory would be very well.  But,
besides this, we owe a perfect service to God, for
his own sake, to love and to worship him, because he is infinitely good.   In this service,
which, by ennobling us, would make us fit for
immortality, we need not say how much more
flagrantly we fail. But this is religion. This is
such as it is revealed, in the Scriptures of the
Old and the New Testament, but of which Mr.
Parker has no conception. And this is the reason
why, although hle would undoubtedly be styled
by his followers, and thinks himself, the very
Apostle of Progress, Mr. Parker has not advanced
a step beyond the period before any such revelation was made; and he is now blindly groping
with the sages of a very early day, and wit]h the
heathen philosophers of a later time, who desired
to see, but could not behold, the brighter light
which he refuses to look upon.
Mr. Parker goes to the Bible for texts. lHe
goes there, perforce, for precept and example,
because that is the standard of manll's highest
17 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
attainable state, and because there only can he
find whatever is noblest and loveliest, relative to
man's human duties and his immortal hopes;
yet he does not believe in it, as a matter of religious faith. A considerable portion of his discourse is devoted to showing, how inconsistent
God's dealings with the stiff-necked Hebrews are
with Mr. Parker's notion of "the God of nature
and the God of mail." He represents to us the
crucifixion of the Saviour, as he would the execution of a superior, good "young man; " he
furnishes instances, out of history, of the effects
of fanaticism, superstition, and bigotry; he generalizes somewhat in favor of certain things
which make for good, and others for evil; he
discourses to his audience, in his degree, just as
Pythagoras or Confucius might have talked to
theirs, or as any mere speculative moralist might
be expected to do; he gratifies the fancy and the
passions of his hearers by some of his allusions;
and ministers to their self-complaceincy, instead
of convincing them what they are, and what they
ought to be.  But  the sermon  gives not  the
slightest evidence that hlie perceives the object
i8 
REVIVAL SERMONS.
and scope of scriptural teachings; or that religion, in the sense in which that word is used by
Christians, is present in his mind.
SMr. Parker's sermon on revivals, then, has
these objects, and no other.  Such is this new
light which has come into the world.  With an
occasional seeming fairness of protestation, the
best of his preaching is the worst of specious
miscliief. His system, so far as he has any, is a
shallow sophism; and his performance has only
some show of knowledge without the power.  He
tells us, "We want a revival such as the world has
never seen!" overlooking, if no other, that one
grand revival, which lifted this, our Chlristendom
out of the depths of pagan darkness; which has
been working its way, for eighteen centuries, in
the hearts of incalculable millions of our race;
which has made man civilized instead of savage;
which is rooted in the affections and necessities
of our nature; and which, whether this or that
number of individual men and women heed its
precepts or not, sways the general course of society, and moulds the conduct and events of nations for good, and is and will be supreme.
19  
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
2  
MR. RALPH WALDO EMERSON AS A
LECTURER.
E  propose to say a few words about Mr.
Emerson's last lecture in his course, which
we have been prevented from inserting hitherto,
by the press of other matter. It was not our
fortune to hear Mr. Emerson; and, for the basis
of the remarks which we wish to make upon the
performance, we are indebted to a sort of analysis
of it in an evening paper, as a text. Mr. Emerson is himself a man of a certain order of genius.
Genius, in some sort, is the handmaid of mental
power. Some strong minds are quite devoid of
what is considered genius. By itself, it is often
totally inefficient.  To be usefil, it must be sensible. It may exist in combination with other great
faculties of the human mind, and inspire them
by the invention of original thought and expres 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
sion, and thus lead to extraordinary performances in literature or any other pursuit; or it
may be found quite unallied with those faculties,
so that its possessor works out little, or is, perhaps, almost a useless and helpless individual in
society. Genius is of different degrees. That
of Mr. Emerson is circumscribed, but is undoubtedly effective to a certain purpose.  Hiis
forte, like his occupation, is in lecturing to an
audience of a somewhat miscellaneous character,
yet those with idiosyncrasies, habits of mind, and
previous training, more or less in sympathy with
his own. HIe is thoughtful and illustrative, and
thus in advance of most of his hearers.  iHe
seizes upon whatever suggestion comes uppermost,-inow serious, now touched with an apparent play of humor, consisting more of some
unexpected turn or oddity of manner than of the
reality, without much power of discrimination or
pretence of analysis,- and clothes it in language
usually neat, exact, and expressive, often pictorial, sometimes bordering on the bizarre, and not
unfrequently far-fetched, and out of the reach
of his audience. His conceptions are often un
24 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
natural, and their birth, therefore, is monstrous.
With much appearance of familiar and off-hand
enunciation, the marks of careful preparation
are manifest to the considerate observer, in
whatever he does. There is no ground for believing in his inspiration.  Hiis composition is
evidently a work of elaborate art; and there
is little glow of feeling, and still less of the fire of
eloquence, breathing through his sentences. His
lectures are generally entertaining for a certain
brightness and seeming novelty, though unequal;
and his matter, manner, and personal characteristics, all unite to create and to maintain an unusual yet vague interest in his exercises, for that
class of persons to which they are addressed.
Our judgment does not bid us consider him a
philosopher, as many of his followers probably
do.   The instruction, moral or intellectual, to
be derived from his literary efforts, we have
failed to see. We do not speak here of the theological or moral dogmas maintained by Mr.
Emerson, which, as a general rule, we believe
are not prominently brought forward in his
lectures.  Indeed, according to Mr. Theodore
25 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
Parker, he has no settled religious opinions:
"his own creed is not well defined."  He would
be a very unsafe guide, therefore, for others to
follow into regions where his own footing is so
insecure.  How far uncertainty of mind in this
respect may afford warrant for the soundness of
his speculations on other topics, we leave our
readers to infer.
Mr. Emerson says many bright things, many
pleasing things, many true things, many original
things, and frequently such as would not occur
to a more studiously disciplined mind. But the
very fact that hle is often unintelligible, constitutes one chief element of his attraction as a
writer and speaker. The crowd will always gape
at oracles which confuse their understandings.
It is omne ignotum pro magnifico with them now,
as it was in the time of Tacitus.
It is easy to see that a lecturer of this stamp
would have his followers and admirers; some,
no doubt, honestly believing him a very great
man, or, at least, of that remarkable order which
is justly entitled to admiration: and with these
will be many weaker persons, mere  adulators,
26 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
imbibing the words of the oracle, but, in attempting to expound them, doing no great service to
the cause or reputation of their master.   How
much Mr. Emerson has reason to be obliged to
such disciples as the writer of the analysis,
will be evident upon a slight exposition of the
doctrines and the disposition imputed to him bv
his follower.  We  premise by saying, that no
man in his senses could believe Mr. Emerson
himself responsible  for absurdities like those
charged upon him.  The first paragraph is particularly unfortunate in its assertions.  Some
of it is sliheer nonsense.   " Mr. Emerson asks
not a favorable verdict from  those unable to
comprehend him." Those unable to comprelhend could scarcely render any " verdict," favorable or unfavorable; but, if all those who cannot
comprehend Mr. Emerson were to be rigorously
excluded from the chapel in Freeman Place,
we fear that  his  Orphic sayings, instead  of
throwing as they  do, we  are told, even very
young ladies into a maze of ecstatic delight,
would be delivered to totally empty benches.
Indeed, it is very much to be doubted whether
27 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
Mfr. Emerson might not honestly say with Lord
Byron, -
"I don't pretend that I quite understand
My own meaning, when I would be very fine."
But, continues his disciple, " he would not,
to use his own expressive language, have them
civil to him!" Notwithstanding the allegation
that this is his own expressive language, we
have no idea that Mr. Emerson could be so insolent as to use it; and certainly to treat in this
way those persons whose misfortune rather than
their fault, so far as appears, consists in their inability to comprehend him, seems to us not only
the height of arrogance, but extremely unreasonable and uncharitable too.  Besides, if we
are right in our conjecture, that the majority of
his audiences are, at least, sometimes at a loss to
follow out his exact meaning, what slender entertainment of civility would he receive upon
his own (imputed) principle of exclusiveness!
We credit no such thing; for this would be to
bring him exactly into the category of the class
so graphically described by Shakspeare, who
govern their visages and demeanor
28 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
"With purpose to be dressed in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit:
As who should say,' I am Sir Oracle;
And, when I ope my lips, let no dog bark.'"
The truth is, there are many persons, in our
somewhat foolish days, who  are  unintelligible
because they talk nonsense; and the cause of
this is, that they waste their natural powers in a
fanciful exposure of their search after, but inability to understand, the unintelligible. They
really have no deeper insight than others into
the infinite unknown; and thus, when they essay
to converse upon it, the words they employ convey no distinct ideas, and those who hear them
necessarily receive  none.   Of this  class  are
the German mystics, whether philosophers (so
called) or theologians.   Nothing new is to be
learned from their speculations; for they have nothing new to communicate: and those ignorant
persons really know much more than they, who,
using their natural faculties to their legitimate
purposes, fulfil each the obvious individual responsibilities of his human life, without seeking
to discover reasons or to explain causes beyond
his ken, happier in this ignorance, wiser in such
29 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
simplicity, resolving impertinent doubts in childlike faith.
We learn from the analysis of the lecture to
which we have referred, that the lecturer divides
minds into various classes, consisting of those
whose individualism cannot be mistaken, and
specimens of the fanatical, frivolous, disputatious,
and swaggering. We trust that these do not
take up all the phases of individual character
among mankind, but that there are a good many
plodding and undistinguished, yet worthy members of society, many rational rather than fanatical, sober instead of frivolous, amiable rather
than disputatious, modest and not swaggering.
Of all these, except those manifesting themselves
in an "intense form of individuality," -  which,
by the way, all the other classes cited by him
most remarkably do, -Mr. Emerson is said to
look with leniency upon the fanatical, "as they
have the truth, though ridiculously overstated."
Upon this point, as a moral proposition, without
pretending to be philosophers, we must beg to
differ. The opposite extreme of error is not
truth, but error. To the human eye, visible and
30 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
ineffable glory may  be "dark with  excessive
light."  Even what we call right and call wrong
may not be always absolute and independent
principles, subject to no qualification. Truth
generally lies between extremes. To pass beyond
it towards one extreme may be as erroneous, as to
fall short of it in the direction of the other.
Fanaticism in sentiment is defined to be the
indulgence of extravagant opinions, wild enthusiasm, frenzy.   In action, naturally it leads to
excesses, recklessness of consequences, and the
conduct to be expected of insanity.   None of
this surely is truth " ridiculously overstated" or
otherwise, but sliheer error. A fanatic is necessarily a narrow man. He is possessed of his one
idea, and he sees nothing else. This he pushes to
the last resort. Hiis mind feeds upon an abstraction, to which he endeavors to mould the nature
and constitution of things about him. They are
divergent from his purpose, and formed and regulated with reference to other considerations than
his sole idea.   They are unyielding, therefore;
and his labor upon them is useless'or mischievous,
according to his power: and the fanatic becomes
31 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
either crazy in the tumult of his feelings and
emotions, as frequently happens; or, as happens
quite as often, sinks into imbecility. The fanatic
is also a bad man, in effect, if not in intention.
Fanaticism often, though not always, assumes the
guise of benevolence.   A  good man is really
benevolent and charitable to the errors, the vices,
the sins, of the human race: he does not confine
his sympathies to a class or a section. A fanatic
is always uncharitable. He is bitter against such
as do not coincide in his views or favor his cause.
He takes into no consideration the differences in
the structure and capacity of the human mind,
its different education, habits, and aptitudes, the
grand sum which makes up the varying characters and dispositions of men. He is not content
with holding his own opinions to himself, but
compasses earth and sea to make one proselyte.
He is an intemperate total-abstinence manl, an
overbearing advocate for universal emancipation,
a violent non-resistant a furious friend of peace, a
malignant philanthropist. Formerly, he burnt
heretics; and now, if he had the power, he
would find some Procrustean means to reduce all
32 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
opinions to the level of his own standard. As he
cannot do this, he rails at other men, and devotes
his energies to overthrow the institutions of his
country, and to undermine the religious faith of
the people. He is a brutal soldier, a bigoted priest,
an unjust judge, a dishonest politician, a seditious
citizen,-never to be trusted in any capacity; for
he, of all others, deems that the end justifies the
means. Such is the fanatic; and he is only mischievous, and that continually. He stands in antagonism, therefore, to the humane warrior, the
gospel minister, the upright judge, the patriotic
statesman, the private man who generously loves
his country, and seeks its honor and its welfare.
It is upon moral grounds, in opposition to him,
that some men are conservative instead of radical,
and work for the common weal, not ignorantly or
wilfully for public mischief. The difference lies
as deep as the fundamental principles which
eternally separate good and evil. The fanatic
has not, as Mr. Emerson alleges, " the truth."
Self-possession was the theme of the lecture;
and, as our contemporary informs us, " self-affirmation is always the consequence of self-possession
33 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
in its highest forms, according to Emerson. The
former quality leads to truth." We are compelled to take issue also on this proposition.
Self-affirmation is the manifestation of self-conceit.
The trumpet which we blow for ourselves always
sounds discordant in other ears. Modesty is, and
always must be, a chief badge of merit. The
greatest heroes are far more unassuming than
the cowardly braggart.   Illustrious qualities and
eminent abilities and virtues bear their own praise,
and need no self-affirmation. A sense of our
ignorance, as the copy-book has it, is the first
step towards knowledge; and, it might have
added, the last. The profoundest philosopher
deemed himself no more than a child picking up
pebbles upon the shore of the great sea of Truth.
"Let another praise thee, and not thine own
lips," is the precept of a book, from which all of
a certain modern school might easily learn to
unlearn many false estimates, and be wiser and
better for it. So far from leading to the truth,
self-affirmation is its most fatal foe, by means of
which we deceive ourselves, and endeavor to
deceive others.
34 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
Our contemporary informs us, that the course
of lectures just concluded has been "a success in
the fullest meaning of the term."  We  do not
know how successful it may have been in the propagation of dangerous errors, and in loosening
the hold of the audiences upon those sentiments
of truth, from which result all which is the earnest of substantial worth, or which adorns and
dignifies human life. Mr. Emerson has no system; but we think his speculations extremely
erroneous. Judging him by the standard of Mr.
Theodore Parker, he has done much; for that
writer tells us, " In six hours of so many weeks,
I think he has done more to promote the revival
of Piety and Morality in Boston, than all the
noisy rant of Calvinistic preaching, Calvinistic
singing, and Calvinistic prayer, in the last six
months."   Calvinistic is an unpopular epithet
with many. We presume Mr. Parker selects it
for this reason; and, as he has recently assailed
all Christian sects and denominations, means to
include under the general obloquy, implied in his
use of the expression, all such persons as have
faith in Christian preacling, singing, and prayer.
35 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
But our authority does not give us one passage from Mr.  Emerson's concluding lecture,
which may afford a key, for such as need it, to
the eulogy of Mr. Parker. We have heard it
stated in three ways, differing somewhat from
each other in terms; the report in two cases coming from admirers of Mr. Emerson, in the third,
from a party certainly impartial. In order to
be fair, we give them all:  1. "We count ourselves poor in having but one Homer, one Shakspeare, one Milton, one Jesus."  2. "Why may
there not be another Homer, another Milton,
another Shakspeare, another Jesus Christ?"  3.
"There are some deluded enough to believe there
has been but one Homer, one Milton, one Shakspeare, one Jesus Christ." We shall make no
inquiry as to the probabilities of other great poets
arising equal to those three incomparable, who
only, in their degree, have manifested themselves
to the world in three thousand years.  But this,
at least, we may know now and always for certainlty, that there is "none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved," but that of IHim thus so irreverently
joined in such an association.
36 
EMERSON AS A LECTURER.
We think AMr. Emerson, different from some of
his school, to he an upright and amiable man,
saying what he believes, acting conscientiously,
according to his light.  But the light is broken.
In  it objects  are falsely recflected.   It cannot
guide to good.  It ends only in delusion.
3
37 
I 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.  
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
HE  lecture of Mr. George W. Curtis, whichl
he has recently delivered here and elsewhere, on the subject above attractively entitled,
requires, perhaps, a passing comment. It was
the aim of his discourse to show that women
suffer, and always have suffered, great injustice
in consequence of being deprived of what are
styled equal industrial and political rights and
privileges with men.  Singularly enough, this
difference between the sexes, which the lecturer
assumes to be an unjust and enforced disparity,
is undoubtedly of a date correspondent with the
origin of the race; and, in its main features, has
run down through all nations of people, civilized
or uncivilized, to our own period. We do not
here allege, that this fact affords conclusive evi 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
deuce of the impossibility of reducing Mr. Curtis's theory to practice; but it certainly presents
very strong presumptions of the intractability of
the subject. In concert with other persons likeminded, who he thinks will become, before long,
sufficiently powerful to effect their object,.he
proposes to remedy the supposed evil of which
hle complains, by admitting females to the exercise of the elective franchise. We believe we
state his theory fairly, and that this is at least
the present end of his (we must invent a word)
philogunistic efforts. We do not, of course, expect a practical view of the subject from a philosophler of the school to which Mr. Curtis seems
to belong, -  men, the range of whose minds is
among the sentimentalities of literature, and
who yet undertake to settle great social reforms,
involving the re-organization of society itself,
just as they would decide upon the turn of an
expression, or point out the analogies of a metaphlor. But, in developing his theme, we do not
wonder that he stopped precisely where he did;
because he would necessarily have found the
details of his plan very much stagger his audi
42 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
ence, if not himself, had hlie attempted to proceed.
No plan, for instance, of which we can conceive,
could radically alter the physical distinction of
constitution between the two sexes.  Women are
certainly born with a more delicate organlization,
as a general rule, than men. This holds true as
well among barbarous nations, which impose
upon females laborious duties commonly assigned to the male sex in more civilized regions,
as in the latter. Nature is predominant everywhere. She is the first combatant which Mr.
Curtis must encounter; and should she, as there
is too much reason to expect, prove invincible,
his whole system inevitably falls to the ground.
It is not necessary for us here to insist upon
any superiority, whether real or fanciful, of the
one sex over the other. We only urge, that you
cannot convert a rose into a lily, or a lily into a
violet.  Whether it would be, upon the whole,
a happy result, could we break down all the infinite distinctions of the natural and moral world,
equalize every force and assimilate every variety,
so that no longer one star should differ from another star in brightness, but all the aspects, rela
43 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
tions, and conditions of the universe should be
precisely the same,- is a question, which, to our
mind, stands conclusively answered, not only by
the settled nature of things as they are, but upon
contemplation of the actual interest and value
which they derive from their present constitution.
Nor, so far as we see, could any inherent change
be beneficially effected in those personal qualities
by which women, all the world over, certainly do
differ from men.  A very stout and strong woman, whether of mind or body, with a gruff
voice and a masculine stride, can no more be
looked upon as an interesting object than an
overgrown  alderman.   Grace, tenderness, elegance, and refinement are the general attributes
of her sex, in all the conditions of life, in all ages
and countries of the world.  Not only are these
her charm, but they also constitute ole  chief
sphere of her usefulness in repressing the coarser
propensities and tempering the roughler qualities
of men, and thus in maintaining the due balance
of cultivated society. Her unsophisticated illstincts are often surer than his imperfect reason;
and the warmth and generosity of her feelings,
44 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
outstripping the calculating insensibility of the
man with whom she may be allied, not unfrequently raise him who might otherwise be the
drudge of petty toils, or the slave of sordid
thoughts, up to something like heroic nobility,
- to the ardor of patriotism, or the devotion of
martyrdom itself.
Making all proper abatements and every allowance for far different qualities too often developed
by her, such is the general state and condition of
woman in the civilized world. That there are ills
which press upon her, as they press upon  all
mankind, no person in his senses call doubt.
But that she is exposed to peculiar evils, iii this
country especially, resulting from the relations
of the sexes, and not traceable to individual disposition or character, or to casual misfortune
from which no human being can be exempt, is a
proposition which we think no very sensible person would undertake to maintain. To this we
believe that all rational, well-conducted, and
well-disposed women will agree; and that their
state, as a sex, ill modern times, is probably as
good as it could be made by any human effort, in
45 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
whatever perfected period of society.  For, differing altogether from the speculations of Mr. Curtis, we should allege the condition of women in
modern times- be it good or bad, for their apparent advantage or otherwise - to be the result
of the natural disposition and settled purpose of
men to cherish, honor, and protect them. And,
if this be not satisfactory to their reason or their
sensibility, we really know not what could be
done for their benefit.
Mr. Curtis, however, laboring under a sense of
those deprivations of womankind, of which we
do them the justice to say that we believe very
few of them complain, argues, nevertheless, that
they do, consciously or unconsciously, suffer much,
because of an injurious barrier, as it were, which
is kept up so as to exclude them from certain
rights which they ought to exercise in common
with men; and he proposes, as his mode of equalizing the sexes, that women should be permitted
to vote. We wonder it never occurred to him,
that thle exercise of the right of voting has not
been found hitherto such an absolute remedy for
the ills of society, as to lead us to infer that they
46 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMAEN.
would be entirely cured, even in case of the ad mission of our fairer friends to enjoy this privilege; so burdened as it is with duties, so often
uliintelligently exercised, so difficult to keep free
from abuse. SIr. Curtis, we suppose, like many
other modern philosophers, has very little practical idea of the working of political systems.
But when we conceive, that with voting must
come caucussiing and canvassing; the conflicts of
parties; the selfish and too-often demoralizing
schemes of politicians; the falsehood, fraud, and
passion; the elation of triumph, and the disappointment of defeat, - one would suppose that
every man mid woman possessed of reason would
wish to keep their home sacred from such coIntamination; that no modest woman could endure the thought of mingling in such scenes;
and that no honorable man could seek to impose
privileges of this sort upon woman, from which
his own hardier nature sometimes revolts, but
which to her could only prove a degradation
and a curse.
For our own part, we never expect to see, or
that any generation of man will see, this world
47
p -,;
t
r 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
of ours free from evils, whether they relate to
the one sex or the other. Without pretending
that something, as it addresses itself to our common sense and to enlightened benevolence, may
not be done, from time to time, to alleviate the
common ills and sufferings of man and woman,
we still conceive that a vast amount will for ever
remain, owing rather to the imperfection of our
human nature, than to any deficiency which can
be supplied in the actual organization of civilized
society. Modern reformers are not much in the
habit of taking into view the fundamental difficulties of the schemes which they devise; and,
reasoning from individual cases, they are very
apt to forget the fact, that the principles which
they advocate apply to these alone, and, from the
nature of things, can be extended no farther.
All women could not perform the labors of men.
Few women could be induced to attend the polls.
All women cannot be eminent and illustrious,
any more than all men. The condition of the
great mass of the female sex rises or sinks relatively with that of the other.  Among all nations
of which we have any authentic account, the
48 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
names of distinguished women are as familiar to
us as those of distinguished men.  In all such
cases, in all ages, their position and influence,
like those of men, have depended upon their personal characteristics. Their intellectual endowments and moral perfections have been as readily
acknowledged and admired as their external
charms. Nothing could be falser than the idea
which Mr. Curtis would convey of the state of
the sex under tile Old-Testament dispensation,
with the history of which we must infer that he
is not very familiar.  What mere flippant talk is
this of his, about their being kept and sold as
slaves! The Hebrew history fairly sparkles with
the names of remarkable and honored women.
No one could considerately dispute the powerful
influence of Sarah, the princess, the wife of
Abraham; or think, without profound interest,
of Rebekah, so "fair to look upon," the subject of
such an embassy, the mother of " two manner
of people;" of Rachel the beautiful, for whom
Jacob served twice seven years; or of Miriam
the minstrel, the sister of Aaron, who sang of
triumph and deliverance by the Red Sea; or
49 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
of Deborah the prophetess, who judged Israel;
or of Ruth, the faithful and steadfastly minded,
of whom every memorial is so sweet; or of Hannah, pattern of motherly love and womanly piety,
who gave her son Samuel from her bosom to the
Lord; of Esther and Judith, and the many more
whom we cannot recapitulate. Nor is the New
Testament less glowing with the record of "devout and honorable women not a few."
Nor was her position less marked, supposing
her to be individually deserving of it, among the
heathen nations of antiquity.   In his views of
this point, also, Mr. Curtis errs for want of discrimination.  Who does not know. that a Roman
matron was, and still is, a proverb for every thing
venerated and noble? In the story of Greece,
too, how many noted names there are of women
illustrious for the prominent parts which they
played in great events, as well as for their private
virtues and incomparable loveliness!  Such is
the recorded testimony in the history of both
these leading people of ancient times: and though
Greece herself was so close to the border of polygamous Asia, yet in that great country, in the
50 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
language of a lecturer who understood his subject better than Mr. Curtis, "marriage was  a
sacred tie between one man and one woman;
and man was the thlougl-htful father of a home,
not the wanton lord of a seraglio."  In that
sacred place alone could those manly and womanly virtues have been cultivated and cherished,
which gave them all their nobility and all their
renown. By this shallow modern theory, on the
other hand, all reverence for the character of
woman, all homage to her person, would be utterly swept away; for, could we imagine the
prevalence of such socialistic teachings as those
of Mr. Curtis and his compeers, degradation and
desolation would be stamped upon every hearthstone, and public honor and private worth would
sink irremediably together. And what we have
thus remarked of those ancient people will be
found equally true, up through the whole current
of modern history. If, in the dark ages, the condition of woman was low, so was that of men;
and, as the latter rose, she, too, became elevated.
It is in vain to tell us that females were ignorant
and degraded at a period of the world, when not
51 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
one man among many myriads of the better
classes could either write or read his name; and
when clerkly skill was so rare, that its possession
was held of sufficient value to society to exempt
him who could exercise it from the forfeiture of
his life to the laws, even for the darkest crimes.
Indeed, from the whole history of the human
race, we should thus infer that what Mr. Curtis
calls the exclusion of woman from the industrial
and political rights and privileges enjoyed or endured by men, so far as the allegation is well
founded, has been prompted by reason and tenderness towards her, not by injustice, -out of
deference to her natural delicacy and sensibility,
- and because our very instinct teaches us, that
by the loss of them, in consequence of mingling
in masculine avocations and conflicts, so far
from vindicating for herself any rights or privileges of which she is supposed by some to be
deprived, she would actually lose all her peculiar privileges now in possession, and every
real right, and all that natural homage and
affection, which is now voluntarily accorded
to her by the universal consent of mankind.
52 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMIEN.
Her pretended champions, therefore, on  these
grounds, are really her worst enemies. They
would unmake her as woman, in vainly trying
to make her man; and, the further her indiscreet
partisans pushed their experiment, the more occasioil would she their victim have to feel, that
success was dishonor and victory itself ruin.
This performance of Mr. Curtis, the main idea
of which we have thus commented uponl, is otherwise justly open to great severity of criticism,
both for its matter and its manlier, from which
we deliberately refrain.   People who will seek
amusement at every hazard; who expect from
public lectures mere entertainment, and neither
instruction nor good sense; who feel no compunctious visitings at hearing truth perverted,
taste scandalized, reason reviled, sometimes religioli sneered at, and decency itself outraged,will go to hear the sciolists and smatterers of the
time, for the mere gratification of their curiosity,
or led along for the moment in the idle wake of
frivolous and inconsiderate fashion. But, for the
most part, in their secret hearts they will neither
respect the speaker, nor entertain any belief in
4
53 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
his theories.   Whatever confidence Mr. Curtis
may feel in a very weak " problem,." by him so
boastfully advocated, and to which he attributes
so much "robust strength," we do not think the
time is yet come, that any hypothesis, which
strikes at the root of our religious faith, and
saps, of course, the foundations of reason, is
"quite able to endure being called vulgar and
atheistic,"  supposing those somewhat offensive
and hurtful attributes to be justly applied; nor
that such as deserve them could withstand their
harm. Neither vulgarity nor atheism is a pleasing, or even popular, appellation. No person of
true mind and heart could seriously glory in the
one; nor do we believe that any man of sound
intellect would be much flattered with the imputation of the other. Whenever the speculations
of any man expose him either to the utterance of
opinions contrary to good manners and good morals, or lead him into absurd revolt against that
faith in a Great First Cause, which universal
reason, fortified by universal instinct, enjoins, he
may justly consider it high time for him to revise
his crude conceptions, and to conclude that possi
54 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
bly he may be in error, in thus presuming to stand
out against the deliberate and settled sentiment
and the common judgment of mankind.
We do not take this subject up, because we
apprehend that these speculative reformers are
likely to effect the unhappy revolution which they
contemplate; or because we imagine that society
is to be turned topsy-turvy by what is called a
popular lecture, which may mean any thing but
a discourse distinguished for good sense, right
reason, just sentiment, or even delicacy of thought
or expression;  but because, besides the ready
devotees of all the folly of the day, who are, of
course, far beyond the reach of reason or argiument, there are other inconsiderate persons, who
have certain vague notions on this subject and
those kindred to it, who ought to be set right.
The reason why their idols are so popular is,
that they take up nonsensical themes, and discourse upon them in a whimsical fashion.  To
this they owe their notoriety. There are various
lecturers of this sort now-a-days, who are much
better suited to be learners than teachers. They
have often the ability to be entertaining to their
55 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMEN.
audiences on a certain class of themes.   But
neither do we think their opinions entitled to be
considered valuable, nor that their minds are
either sound or mature. They need more knowledge, and less self-confidence.  Only conceive of
one of this class of reformers undertaking to
manage and control difficult and perplexing
affairs of State! In their own sphere, they are
restrained by no scruples of conscience from
uttering whatever loose thought happens to come
uppermost.  This is a cheap way to make people
stare; and their perverse hardihood often dazzles
persons of vagrant minds and unsettled convictions.  Their flippant conceit passes for wit, and
their fluent loquacity seems eloquence. In the
line of sense- they would be nothing, because
there they would be compelled to encounter many
superiors. We suppose that not many much
above a very superficial state of intellect or cultivation are likely to be deluded by their crudities;
but it may do even them good to be warned, that
pretty words do not always mean real things.
In fact, we can only look upon such projects as
this which Mr. Curtis so deliberately advocates,
56 
FAIR PLAY TO WOMIEN.
as a stirring-up of vain and useless discontents
among the weaker portion of the female sex.
Nor can we think very highly of the intelligence
or the discretion of that reformer, who, looking
over a country free as this is, and discerning, as
he imagines, certain hardships of women, which,
being more or less common to the women of all
countries, may be supposed to result somewhat
from the organization of nature and the necessities of the case, proposes nothing better by way
of alleviation than the privilege to vote; as if
a ballot were only a plaything; and apparently
unconscious of duties and responsibilities attending its ministry, which no true man would seek
to escape, but which nevertheless are neither
lightly to be imposed nor borne.
m
57
t  
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
-$ii  
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
FTEN we are compelled to wonder how it is,
that people so intelligent as our own should
trouble themselves to such an inordinate degree
on the subject of negro slavery. At the very
outset, the difficulty meets them, that slavery in
this country can be abolished only by the voluntary consent of those who hold the slaves. Their
title to this kind of property stands as legally
clear as that to any other, under the recognition
of the constitution, and by the provisions of law.
Congress cannot and will not touch it, so as to
impair the claims of the master.  No force would
be permitted, or indeed could be summoned together, to deprive him of it. Public sentiment,
in general, at the North (excepting always among
the abolitionists), has long since settled down
to the agreed theorem, that we have no right to 
62  THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
interfere with slavery in the States. All outside
efforts for emancipation, therefore, are clearly
hopeless.   No  antislavery convention or antislavery bazaar; no outpouring of inflammatory
denunciation by eloquent or ineloquent orators,
no desperately bitter railings of a demoralized
or a hlalf-frantic press, -ever can or ever did
practically advance the cause of emancipation a
single hair's breadth.  These help to nurse the
wrath of one another; but its force is expended
among themselves. And one would think that
the people might reasonably see the wisdom of
leaving this whole matter to be moulded, in the
progress of events, by an all-wise Providence, since
it evidently is not to be controlled by the shortsighted incapacity of man. To a fanatic, of course,
such an argument would be quite unavailing, who
hlas no faith in Providence, nor in that gradual
operation of its silent agencies, through which it
finally educes good out of evil, perhaps only in
the long course of centuries, by means not foreseen, and avoiding sudden convulsions and dangerous disarrangements in the natural or the
moral affairs of the world. 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
For our owni part, we could sincerely wish that
all mankind might enjoy the true benefits of
civil freedom. We could heartily desire that not
a single man, woman, or child, upon the face of
the earth, were subject to any other domination
- than what? We shall say, than that imposed
by those divine laws which are founded uponi the
very necessities of our human nature, and by
such equal civil requirements as the necessities
of just polity demand. Our idea of freedom,
therefore, it is plain, is one of subjection, - subjection to restraints both moral and political.
But even this theory, than which no higher can
be conceived, presupposes qualities and dispositions on the part of the freeman, without which
the system could not possibly work to any beneficial purpose. Outside of that circle, all would
necessarily be only confusion and wrong, a conflict of selfish propensities, the theatre of evil
passions and desires. The very savage, of course,
like other human creatures, has certain instincts
and emotions, and a certain degree of intelligence, natural and acquired. Necessity teaches
him some rude idea of the benefit of living in a
63 
64      THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
community, and of those mutual duties without
the exercise of which no social state can exist:
but they neither restrain him from those excesses
to which his selfish interest persuades, nor those
to which his unbridled fury impels him; and,
even in his community, he is, after all, any thing
but free. The strongest there rules by fear and
caprice; and he is often only the fiercest, the
most cruel, the most unjust. We believe that
all rational speculation on this subject must end
in this, - that qualification for freedom is a
matter of training, cultivation, discipline; that
those are not entitled to it who are not fitted for
it, since their possession of the advantage must
prove injurious to themselves and others; and
that those are most entitled to such a privilege,
who best understand and feel the obligations of
self-government, and how individual comfort, prosperity and happiness are promoted and maintained, by the observance  of those  principles
which concern the common welfare.
Great lawyers, who oftentimes are no great
metaphysicians and not much better moralists,
tell us that slavery itself is contrary to natural 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
right. But what is natural right? It certainly
is not unrestricted liberty. There is no such
state possible as absolute freedom. All men are
subject to both moral and legal restraints, to say
nothling of the bounds affixed to their physical
and intellectual powers. Besides our own duties
to God and man, which flow from love, reason,
and prescribed law, society is one entire network of conventionial limitations.  The man who
lives beyond these is only a savage and an outlaw; and every man is rightfully in possession
only of that degree of freedom, which is consistent with such of those obligations as are founded
ol reason and necessity.  Natural right must
be necessarily subject to the rules of rational
liberty; and these are not and cannot be made
applicable to all nations and conditions of people
alike.  The poetical idea of the period when
"W ild in the woods the noble savage ran," -
so far from presenting any true type of rational
liberty, gives us really the exact reverse of that
just standard of a mani, who, in the full exercise
of his moral and intellectual faculties, shall live
65 
66      THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
for duty, not for will, and, looking for ever onward and upward, "by patient continuance in
well-doinlg, seek for glory and honor and immortality."  In the exercise of " natural right," undefined by law, the savage will steal your blanket
which you need, and cut your throat in order to
take it. What is called natural right is often
nothing but supreme selfishness.  It is total disregard of the rights of all the rest.  It fishes in
every man's waters, and poaches on every manor.
From it springs the surly incivility of the clown,
who trespasses ignorantly or indifferently upon
your property, and tramples upon your comfort
and convenience.  It inspires the agrarianism of
the radical, and the modern Ishmaelitism of the
socialist, -La propriete, c'est le vol. Enlighltened reason instructs and civilizes it; and converts man from a rude barbarian into a considerate, just, generous, obliging citizen, and true
Christian gentleman.
The abolitionist entirely overlooks the inevitable distinction thus pointed out. He takes not
men as they are, but conceives of man only as
the representative of the race, and so to be re
I
I
r_ 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
garded and treated everywhere the same, and as
possessed everywhere of the same powers, dispositions, capacities, and consequent rights and
privileges, notwithstanding those infinite diversities which really exist, and the impossibility of
placing them on the same universal level. The
noble sentiment of the Carthagi]lian playwright
(himself, by the way, a slave at Rome),
"Homo sum: huLmani nihil a me alienum puto," -
than which nothing could be conceived more
just or generously charitable in its due application, excludes all discrimination, as to the judgment of men, firom the theory of the modern
fanatic; and he imagines it to bring the most
brutal barbarian of the desert- vile, senseless,
ferocious, and remorseless- into the same relations to society as the intelligent and humane
statesman, ruling nations by enlightened wisdom,
or the beautiful, delicate, and cultivated woman,
to whom all hearts bow in reverent homage.
We have no idea of discussing the abstract question of slavery.  It would do no good.  It is of
all subjects the most perplexing to an honest and
67
c
I
,zC7 
68      THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
unprejudiced mind. It seems to be left, as other
things of a mere civil nature are, without such
express precept of Scripture, as can be made
uniformly applicable either for or against it; and
to be judged of by every people and every individual, according to the broad principles and requlirements of the moral law, as they conform to
the relations of each individual case. There are
some men, who, looking at it in a religious point
of view, uncompromisingly denounce slavery as
a grievous sin, against which they are bound in
conscience to cry aloud, and spare not. Others,
regarding it chiefly in its political and economical aspects, declare it to be an enormous evil,
which ought to be speedily removed out of the
land. Undoubtedly the conscientious convictions
of these classes of men entitle their Opinions to
a certain degree of respect.
The abolitionist proper cares nothing either
for the evil or the sin; but deems the holding any
human being ill bondage such an infraction of
the universal rights of man, as is not to be subinitted to for a moment, under any circumstances
or upon any terms. He takes into no conlsidera
f 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
tion the origin, history, obligations, or limitation,
of those rights, or the actual and often unbending            condition of t hings as they are; which, if he
did, and had any sort of reason, might tend very
much to qualify his extreme views. And, when
we speak of an abolitionist proper, we mean an
extremist. The other parties to whom we have
referred  agree with him more or less, and coincide with him more or less in action for his
object; and are so far responsible, therefore, for
whatever effects he produces, whether they be
f or          good or for evil. But he regards them with
supreme contempt, as being only lukewarm and
slack in the work. He holds them thus to bestow only partial efforts upon a cause which he
considers the only cause, to which all things else
should contribute, and that to which all men
ought to give all their souls. Again we say,
that many emancipationists -looking upon the
question of slavery, however important, yet as
only incidental and inferior to other matters of
interest, and to be postponed to them, not having
become so tthorough-going as to sacrifice all things
else to this one idea - can be still good Chlris
5
69 
70       THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
tians, and often worthy citizens. But he allows
of no such half-way halting upon the question as
this. He proposes to marchl straight toward his
point, utterly  regardless  of all impediments.
Obstacles he would treat like egg-shells, though
they should happen to be mountains inaccessible
in height, impenetrable in essential substance,
" Rock-ribbed, and ancient as the sun; "
and, finding that hle can neither get over nor
through them, all he does is, to stand at their
foot, and rail. The first difficulty which he encounters is the fact of slavery; and a formidable
one it is, considering that here are four millions
of the colored race in this condition among us,
to be managed in some way or other; of whom
it might pertinently be said, as of the inhabitants
of Nineveh of old, that "they cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand."  The
next obstacle is the Constitution of the country;
and, since this undeniably does recognize the relationl of master and slave, he sees fit constantly to
blazon it forth as a "covenant with death, and an
agreement with hell." And the third is the Scrip 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
tures themselves, which, in the Old Testament,
permitted and regulated slavery, whether of black
men or white; and, in the New Testament, never
expressly forbid its use. In this emergency, lhe
either rejects the Scripture altogether, or accepts
only so much of it as in his imaginationii tallies
with the revelation hlie has made for himself.
The  natural, indeed  the inevitable, consequence of all this is, that he finds himself outside of religioii, law, and the ordinary sentiment
and practice of just and intelligent men.  And
thus, not having the guiding light of wisdom,
either divine or human, his mind is inll that state
of religious, moral, and intellectual confusion,
which makes mien mystics and fanatics, dreamers
and schemers, always in conflict with practical
truth, and rushing headlong after conclusions and
aims, both moral and political, which neither religion nor natural reason do, or indeed can, possibIly sanction. He has no settled principles which
lead him to judge rightly and to act justly under
all circumstances, and in the face of every question.   His mind is crookedly warped; and he
follows the tortuous windings of a perverse imagi
r
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72      THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
nation from darkness to darkness, never coming
to the light. Hie has broken clear of the restraints imposed by sovereign truth; and the
region beyond it, in which he speculates and
stumbles, is neither of heaven nor earth, but
only that Fools' Paradise, in which unsettled
minds roam through shadowy tracts of cloudland, and revel in palaces of dreams. Wandering thus where all is unreal, and carrying with
him the lengthening train of desperate speculation in every extreme direction, what higher
discrimination of his own can he justify, between the nature of good and evil, to warrant
him in pronouncing that thing sin, which the
only perfect Judge of right and wrong has niot
so declared, or in reversing His judgment and
will, by giving it precedence over the very catalogue of human offences proscribed by his word?
Is the fruit which a tree like this produces good?
Do men gather figs of thistles?   Accordinigly,
although civil freedom is anll undoubted good, to
which those who can duly estimate its advantage
and justly use its privileges have an undoubted
right, yet emancipation may be the dictate nei
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
ther of justice nor humanity; and abolitionism,
instead of constituting that all-sufficient virtue
of itself which its devotees often seem to imagine,
may be found to be only one principal offshoot
from an intensely evil root, of which others
enough are always springing of the same pernicious sort.
For we have only to look around us, and witness with our own eyes those manifestations,
produced by that very state of mind which we
have thus endeavored to develop. It is idle to
imagine, that the liberation of slaves is to be
effected upon any abstract doctrine of human
right, or in any way, except by appeal to the
moral sentiment resulting from the religious convictions and responsibilities of men. Without
the operation of that influence, every man will
compel those to perform his servile labor for him
whom he happens to have in his power, though
one class may be more liable to this condition
than another. It is, in part, the conflict of
races, but more the selfish impulse of human
nature itself.   The negro-planter on the Red
River feels no more compunction at holding his
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74      THE PHILOSOPHY OP ABOLITION.
colored brother in bondage, than does his white
ieighlbor. Are our Southern friends and fellowcitizens to become convinced of the sill or immorality of slaveholdiong by the insane or impious
ravings  of  an  antislavery convention, which,
under the profession of philanthropy, comes as
near pandemonium, in spirit, sentiment, and expression, as could be exhibited upon earth? or
by a promiscuous gathering for the vindication
of woman's rights, which is made up by an adjournment of the same set of persons to another
hour or place; and who, when they are met together there, seem really to excel themselves in
the shameless licentiousness and vulgar indecency of their range of discussion?
The cause of the slave, after all, with such
persons, is only a flimsy pretence. The freedom
which they desire is not for the negro, but for
themselves. They are deprived, judging them
out of their own mouths, of the liberties they
seek, by the decencies of life and the decree of
nature itself; they are down-trodden by the wise
and necessary requirements of maii's social law;
they are oppressed by the just and holy purposes 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
of God! What they ask is liberty to pursue their
own perverse wills in their own way, niow and
for ever. In the language of their chief advocate and leader, their reasonable wishes are, for
" LIBERTY IN ALL THINGS, AT ALL TIMIES, UNDER
ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, IN ALL LANDS, FOR ALL PEOPLE, THROUGH ALL TIME, AND TO ALL ETERNITY."
Certainly, there could be no more generous
scope than this allowed to the license of vain
imaginations; and it involves an equally liberal
disregard of all present and future possibilities of
clashing rights, interests, and desires.  Exceptilig as the wild ass's colt of Scripture feeds upon
the wind, who else could have formed any coilception of wisdom equal to this? And thus it is,
that we trace to the ultraisms of abolition sentiment most of the baseless, lawless, and pernicious speculations of the day.   Many good
men, who are thorough-going emanicipationists,
undoubtedly stop short of the legitimate conlsequences of their doctrine, though there is always
danger in tampering with fanaticism.  An abolitionist is not necessarily either a socialist, a
woman's rights man, or an iniifidel; but, whether
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76      THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
consciously or otherwise, he is in inevitable
sympathy with them all. What they call liberty,
as we have seen, tends to unlimited indulgence of
speculative belief, and of our physical propensities and passions; to unbridled  license  of
tongue; and, of course, to the practical abrogation of all the courtesies, civilities, and charities
of life. Their doctrines spring from the same
source, and work together to the same end; and
all, ill abolition, take their most demonstrative
form. Thus we have the fantastic advocate of
those wild ideas of freedoln, by which eternal
order would be converted into eternal confusion,
and which neither heaven nor earth could endure; and, at the convocations to which we have
referred, unreasoning sentimentalists, who propose shallow social schemes, equally degrading to
woman and to man,-happily impossible to be put
ill practice, even supposing men and women were
universally devoid enough both of sense and selfrespect to undertake it; and ruinous to both, if
possible. Thus, too, one chief leader of the sect
boldly assumes to dignify his vocation into a new
apostleship, in which he claims to be wiser than
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THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
those apostles commissioned by the Master of
them all; though the folly and madness only of
his teachings are his own, and whatever in them
is good comes directly from that common source
of all good, which he pretends to depreciate and
disavow. So, under pretence of liberality, he
narrows down his belief to the compass of his
own conceptions and desires, and never reaches
to that noblest sphere of universal faith fitted
by its Contriver for the simplest understanding
and the most consummate intellect. And still
another, coldly rejecting all reasonable belief, yet
rises to that extraordinary pitch of credulity which
recognizes no cause whatever of those things witnessed with his own eyes and revealed by his own
reason. And so he, floating at large upon the
shoreless and perilous sea of scepticism, escapes
no difficulty at all by resorting to pantheistic
absurdities; since, though with our limited capacities, the being of God, self-existent beyond their
apprehension, is, out of all controversy, incomprehensible to them; yet it is much more incomnprehensible to conceive of those existences
which we do know, without God.
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78      THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
And thus it is a most dangerous error to imagine that any man is necessarily good or just or
wise or benevolent, because he is a professed philanthropist. An abolitionist, surely, in accordance with his principles, ought to be the purest,
the most humane, the most benevolent of mankind. Instead of this, how often is he himself
only the slave of the fiercest bigotry and the
most vindictive passions! And often, too, he
proves to be the unblushing advocate of doctrinies which lead to all confusion and every evil;
which would destroy virtue, corrupt human society, and make earth itself a dell of savages more
brutal than wild beasts. Are we wise enough
to know of the tree by its fruits? And instead
of being a mere harmless fanatic, though certainly not very influential by himself, yet, ill
concert with others who would shrink from his
dismal and frenzied ultraisms, and even from
his society, and by their incidental aid, he is
able to effect considerable mischief: so that
what, as an extremist, he could not do, those
who count themselves virtuous, because they are
not so extreme, enable him to bring about, - to 
THE PHILOSOPHY OF ABOLITION.
turn into hostile channels the hearts of those
who ollughlt to be friends; to loosen the bonds of
that concord among men of good, by which alone
any cause concerning the general welfare can be
promoted; to imperil more or less the very stability of the republic; and to give wounds to
religion itself in the house of its friends. And
thus, in its effects upoln the masses of the people,
fanaticism, in its relation to politics, morals and
religion, is, of all others the most fatal,- a delusion and a snare.
We have said nothing of the amelioration of
slavery, or of such gradual improvement in the
condition of the slaves, as justice and moral sentiment demand; or of their eventual emancipation, where it may be possible, and whenever it
may be possible. These considerations were not
pertinent to our subject. It has been our purpose
to present solme rational views to intelligent
minds upon the condition of things as they are,
and to show the various ramifications and mischiefs of fanaticism, as it works and will work.
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