Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-11-26
Work.

lelt idea OF what constitutes work, and who
are real workers; especially as applied TO re-
form. That the term contains the idea Of an
active employment of some or all the powers
of tho man, every one comedies; but while
we are not aware that the affirmation is dis
tinctly made, we believe that there is a pre-
vailing impression that nothing is included
by the word except the putting forth of phys
zeal power, either directly or Indirectly
Many are the comparisons we hear between
working and talking-between moral sua-
sion and labor, as though these things were
entirely distinct from each other. The man
who depends on the utterance of truth, in the
love of it, and a life of purity and virtue, for
the accomplishment of his mission to the
world, without resorting to bullets or ballots,
is called a "mere talker," a "do-nought'-
whose faith is without works. ''drea-
my impracticable.f What then is work, and
who is the workerl is he alone worthy Of
this name of honor, and does he only fulfil
his mission of labor, who wields the axe or
hammer, who digs wealth or sustenance from
the soil, who tears it from the bowels of the
earth, or hews ii from the solid rock, or in
some way wrests it from reluctant elements
by physical toill Is he alone a worker for
truth who either directly or indirectly EN-
ploys the agency of force to gain his end !
Is the armor of God the mail aud shield Of
the warrior! Are the weapons ofthe Chris
tian warfare, the mace Of the government,
and the sword of Its servants Does vio-
ience or its threat, give life TO faith which
would otherwise be 'deadr Alas, then, for
that apostle who counselled men to show
their aith by their works We have no ev-
idence that he ever employed those means,
but like his Divine teacher and his fellow
christians, and apostles, he looked alone to
truth and a holy life, as his instruments of
labor. Neither fighters nor voters were they;
yet Jesus and James and those fishermen and
tent makers were no oilers. They found the
''fooIishness of preaching" to be the "wisdom
of God" and the feebleness of true words
the "power of God" They performed a
work: they ''went about doing good;" yet we
hear not oftheir joining with the corrupt gov
eminent, nor using its weapons. Peter tried
the force policy once, but the kind reproof
which he received, sheathed his sword for
ever, and he became a 'mere talker," hence
forth-a truth-teller and a true-liver.
From that age TO this there have been men
who have followed their heroic example of
loyalty to Truth. Amid the clash and cla-
NOR of political conflict and civil commotion,
they have been warriors for the Right-wor-
kers for Humanity. No "impracticables,"
but "doers of the word''-whose lives were
workdays-and have left monuments of toll
among men; whose souls did not rust in in
action, but g~rappled with life's work.
What is work! 1t is no more limited to
the hands than to any other of the faculties
of body or mind. 1t is the earnest action of
any of the powers Of man-physical, i~ntellec-
tual or spiritual. That man is the best wor-
ker in whose life there is the completest har-
mony-whose act clashes not with his
l.. Iii .-.l - hz.. l.-l.
which another deems needful he may leave
undone; many words which a blind zeal
would speak he may leave unspoken. He
knows the power of silence as well as the
might of words.
He is no true worker, though he wears
out with toll, but a destroyer, who turns a.
side from the orbit marked out for him by
Truth. His practical denial of his own prin-
ciples prompts others to reject them. The
wise man will ask, "ls it right" before he
engages in any work which offers itself &c
him, however plausible it may seem, and il
1t will not bear the strictest test Of principle,
he will withhold his rand from it at any cost;
for he knows that his ~inaction then becomes
activity, as it is the rule of conscience and
reason over a blind energy. There is a la.
Dor of the soul in all fidelity to the right
though the hand be idle and the voice silent
A holder absurdlty never was received by
men as truth, than the idea that there is no
tcorhing for Anti-Slavery excepting at the
ballot box. Why, man, yonder pale and suf
fering woman whose chamber of sickness has
been her sphere of action and life through
long years OF pain, has done a work for hu
manity and God greater than a thousanC
jealous politicians. Noiselessly, trustfully
and with a clear faith and loving heart, sh'
has lived a true and beautiful life. A lif
which has stamped its impress ineffaceabl,
on many a warm heart, quickening its gener
Gus pulses to a livelier zeal for truth. Fla
beyond the walls OF that narrow chamber ha
she W0rked for the good Of the world. Stron
souls have gone forth from the circle of he
influence, purer, gentler, and more loving
and consecrated with a holier amounting I
their mission of mercy. Sorrowing heart
and despairing spirits have caught ne,
CLEANS of hope and fuller trust from her pa
tent example. Cold and selfish men hav
been warmed into generous sympathy by he
dlslnterested love, and eager self-denidl; an
the inactive have been stimulated to exertio
by the ardor of her zeal-shut in from tn
busy scenes of life though she is, in the re
forms which are going on around her. Thu
through many channels, like a clear %fountai
on a hilltop, is she pouring down upon tn
world a healthful and identifying ~infuenc,
and by many messengers, giving to he
brothers afar the pure teachings of her lfI
Thus does she prove her faith by kindre
''work," and become a benelactor to the rae,
So by a pure life and high example {
truthiulness and fidelity to conscience, an
an ever active sympathy for the suffering
may every soul work for good. His yer
refusal to GO 10 the ballot-box or to shoulde
the musket, when duty demands the test
mony, is the highest 'work' which his han
can then perform. John Bunyan lies twelv
years in prison-Thomas More stands pir
Toned on the scaffold-William Penn wear
his hat before the proud Duke-Granvill