The Kansas herald of freedom., 1856-05-03
The Hero,o vs. Non Resistant. :


be rapidly developed. Men living in
old. quiet communities, listening, week
ly. to long and prosy sermons. on the du-
ty of l.ying our enemies. and forgiving
injuries. yield an easy and gentle aequi-
eseence, and pass through life with a
| full belief that they are successful imi-
tators of Christ-real or nominal non
resistants.
Gentlemen who wear kid gloves, and
patent leather boots, who tread dainti'y
on Brussels carpets, sleep on down. and
| sip their tea and coffee night and morn
ing, in the midst of a group of rosy
children, with an affectionate mother to
watch over and educate them, are, natu-
rally, real or nominal non resistants.
And so we might !enumerate many class
es of men whose interest and inelinations
are so strongly for peac; that they are
willing to sacrifice even liberty that they
may enjoyit
But not SO with the true heroic. The
brave man resists the wrong wherever
he finds it, and never, from timidity or
fear, shrinks from the performance of a
dangerous duty. Our ideal of the truly
Heroic may be found in George Fox and
William Penn-always speaking in terms
of rebuke against the f.llies and vices
of the King and the Court-always testi-
flying against oppression, in open and
/ manly terms, and taking, courageously
and firmly, the punishment of corrupt
and wicked rulers. Martin Luther, John
Calvin, and John Knox. also belong to
this class of the old Heroic. So do
Washington, Hancock, Patrick Henry
and others of the revolution. Some re-
sisted oppression in one way and some in
anosser--but all conscientiously. Under
the then existing circumstances, whatev-
ar conscience dictated as the most noble,
self-sacri6cing course, they invariably
followed. When numbers warranted an
armed Resistance, they resorted to that.
When one attempted to resist a giant
wrong, he resisted only mentally. but
with equal courage. While there are
laws governing the moral universe, and
while right must ever stand in front OF
those laws, and wrong as its opposite,
we must not confound right and wrong
with guilt and innocence. Intention
constitutes innocence or guilt. But if
our intention to produce happiness fails,
and instead thereof we produce misery,
the action is wrong, but we may not be
guilty of sin, because our intention was
good. The confusion of these ideas has
been productive of much wrangling,
disputation and animosity. Yet the dis
tinction is as clear as sunlight. Desir-
ing, as we do, to promote the best inter
ests of the people of Kansas, and secure
for them and their posterity the inalieR-
able rights of life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness, we advise every one to re-
sist the oppressor, and to resist efficient
| ly. And if, in the discharge of this
most sacred of all trusts-the protection
of civil and religious liberty, and in re-
sisting the oppressor-our own hand
should, perhaps, transfer a brother man
to another sphere of existence, we are
innocent of crime, and do it in the fear
of God and love to man. By SO doing,
we advance the race and honor the truth.
If, on the other hand, any one feels call
ed upon to endure and to resist, mental
ly and by word only, let him stand by
his convictions, come what may. His
resistance is an honor, also. to the race.
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to
God. always and everywhere.
These remarks have been called out by
seeing, in the Liberator, VIM. Lloyd
Garrison's paper, frequent illusions to
men and things in Kansas, quite contrary
to our views. How can man, thou
sand miles away from danger, surround
ed by friends, in comfort and in safety,
know how he would act and speak in our
circumstances? Kansas produces rap
id development of the lower faculties, as
well as the higher. No government, no
religion, no women and children to re-
strain-men are not only left without
these usual checks to vice, bat they are
aggravated By privations. hardships and
wrongs. Accumulated incentives to re-
venge are piling up monthly. weekly,
daily. While we are struggling for
shelter and subsistence. I'VE are struggling
also TO maintain the rights appertaining
to every human being. And while we
are thus struggling, who turns upon US
the cold shoulder? Let the newspapers
of the day answer. But we intend to go
through, and we intend to triumph. We
know that God and justice are on our