New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-08-06

Hence il is, that il i. wholly unable 20 command
sny sincere obedience No doubt many man
seems to render the law sincere obedience; tnht
is TO say many maa does literally abstain 81! MS
days from lying, theft, adultery and murder, and
dies at last in the sanity odor OF such abstinence
But after all, he has never sincerely obe!ed tee
law, for the simple reason that he has always ieI'
and been obliged to battle with the temptation 70
disobey il. Real, sincere obedience is spiritual a.
well as literal. 1t is spontaneous obedience not
voluntary; that is to say, it proceeds from the
heart first and the head afterward, and not from
the head fret and the heart afterward. In SNORT
it il dsinterested Obedience obedience for its
own rake, and not for the sake Of any rewards or
punisbmeDts whatever. But clearly he who Is
tempted to lie, to steal, to commit adultery ana
murder, il tempted in heart, is tempted by the me-
dunn of bis affections and hence his best obedience
confesses itself infrm. 1t is prudential not cor
DIAL literal not spiritual voluntary not spontane-
ous mercenary not sincere, being due rather TO the
influence of truth in the intellect than to the In
spiration of love in the heart. The heart has not
been consulted in the matter; it has been iorcioiy
postponed to the exigencies of the head. Inc SUD-
iect obeys not because obedience s sweet IN ITSELF
but because on the one hand he aspires to secure
its promised rewards, and on the other breads to
encounter the consequences of disobedlence. To
sum up all in word bis obedience is meritorlous'
is Phsrisaic; it il full of pride in ITSELF and full o.
contempt toward whatsoever is not itself.
You have only to glance at the face of Europe to
see the amplest Illustration of this state of things.
While one sees on every hand the evidences OF
most advanced morality, or perceives mutltudes
intelligent, cultivated, orderly, well behaved people,
lie at the some time perceives an immense destitu-
ton of the sentiment of human fellowship, that is
to say, perceiyes the almost undiminshed activity
of the most inveterate class preudces and antlpa-
tbies. An English nobleman or gentleman, for ex-
ample, would sooner let his children go without
sci oolipg than send them to school attended by
the son. of cheesemongers and taors. Pride Of the
meanest and deadest sort dwells unsupported in
the bosom of the upper classes and priesthood
completely dependent upon the State takes e1-
IRENE good care to defame and drown every indig-
nant voice which is occasionally lifted in reproba-
ton Yet in England, the upper classes still claim
an unquestionable prestige to the popular magma
tion owing first to the fact that the entire bent of
the English mind, noble as well as plebeian, is TO-
ward freedom, toward manliness; and then to the
fact that the English aristOcracy have never
been slow to back the rights OF the People
aganst the prerOgatve of the Crown. Indeed, /
suspect it to be true as a general rule, that the
EDglishman's pride is always much more national
than PERSONAL that is to say, that the nObleman is
at heart as proud of the commons, as these COM
mons are at heart proud Of their nobility: so that
practically no very malignant personal relation exists
between the two classer but the contrary one Of
considerable kindness and sympathy.
But in France the AristOcracy were always heart
less and unsympathetic to the last degree, and it
was in fact the Crown itself which for long time
maintained the rights of the People against the
privileges Of the noble. The battle ended by the
noJlesse succumbiDg to the COMMISSIONING in
fact it's AFFECT creature and tOoand by both parties
uniting after that to prey at leisure upon the people,
Thus for long centuries the popular conscience in
France has atte,ted complete division of interests
between high and low, between rich and poor.
What wonder then that the law being administered
only for the benefit of the powerful classes and be-
coming completely identified with their interests,
should at length fail to command in the minds of COM
mon people any reverence for its authority, or any
love for its rcquirements' / could never feel the
least disposition to deceive or do wrong to good
man. to man who treated he and mine with the
same unfalteriDg respect which he craved toward
him and his. But when thoroughly bad man is
placed in authority over me, " hen am systemati-
cay denied all reliefagainst daily saveby
ruipously expensive and laboriO1s methods, my dis
position becomes necessarily cha nged. In that case
All nv natural instincts of freedom impe me to cir
cumyept. undermine and destroy him in every way
with my awn safety, sometimes indeed
in utter disregard of that safety. And if cannot
succeed in doing this; if syery effort make ap-
,..a on the contrary only to tighten my chains
nil; no ,u,s At ali ever. =. " harden d. S'eh IN In,
ward hatred toward my oppressor, and ~ ~.
ever1ibing. however sacred, which sanctions l."
oppression; and in this attitude of soul help on TIE
terrible day which sooner or later overtakes all
established ;niquities.
Such was of old the exact state OF things in
Europe; unlimited oppression on one hand an
limited belplessness on the other. In this way, the
heartiest contempt for arbitrary authority became
eneendered in the popular mind; in this way,
general indifference to truth and honesty crept into
the blood of the people, because truth and honesty
were only the badges of CALLING servitude. OF
course the people were told by the clergy that truth
and honesty would insure them those comforts in
better world which they failed to secure them in
this; many believed and submitted unrepiningy to
a lot which makes the blood boil and the head reel
..1 os - q. fb;s dav Rut the majority re.