Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-07-24
TRIBUTE TO BARON Won HUMBOLDT
by REV. THEODORE PARKER.

In our labors for the slave the help of other ma.
tions has come grateful to us. What words of
wisdom have fallen from the pen Of De Tocquevillc,
of Chcvalier, of Poussn! Let us not forget that
in her last revolutionary day, France broke off the
fetters of every slave within the borders of the
Republic If the French flag now covers the hu.
man freight with which the worst of pirates pol
lutes the sea, it is by the command of the French
tyrant, not the French People.
How much service have the English rendered us |!
No nation has done much to secure civil liberty
70 men as the British. With all their faults, it
seems to be the instinct Of the British people to
hate tyranny, and 70 take sides With the victim,
not the oppressor. The world will not soon forget
the noble act of generous justice which set FREQ
800 600 men. No classic nation can tell of such
q deed. How often have the words of noble Eng
lishmen sounded across the sea to cheer us in our
work! Onc.old man, famous for almost half CEN
tury still fingers in the Senate Of Britain, not
only conve ntonal Lord but noble mar by ma.
ture How valiantly has Lord Brougham contend.
ed for the right! Once his words fOurd their way
into the school books of America. Then The hoy
and girl read the lofty thoughts -"Tell me not
of rights talk not Of the property of the planter
in his slaves. | deny the right | acknD Wedge
not the property. The principles, the feelings Of
our common nature rise in rebellion against it,
Be the appeal made to the understanding or to the
heart, the sentence is the same that rejects it, Ii
vain YOU tell me of the laws that sanction such
claim There is n law above all tho ennctments
of human codes--,he same throughout the world,
the same in all timeS-such as 1t was before the
daring genius of Columbus pierced the night o.
ayes and opened to one world the sources of hon
or, wealth ana knowledge; to another, all unut'
terable WOES Such it is at this day. 1t is the
law written on the heart of man by the finger of
his Maker and by that law, Interchangeable and
eternal while men despise fraud, and loahe ra-
pine, and abhor blood, they will reject the wild
and guilty phantasy that man can hold property
r., nntin IN
nants between nations the covenants OF the AL
mighty, whether the OLD or the New, denounce
such unholy protensions | wonder if any school
book now extant contains theseI
On the continent of Europe, there is now
erable man of science. lie is one of the most
thoughtful in the most thinking of nations. He
soon touches his nine and eightieth birthday. He
surpasses the famous ancients in age in know
ledge Alexander Won Humboldt born in
l769 His first book was printed more than sixty
years ago; his greatest is not yet compe>e. lie
devotes not only the days, but the nights to the
fifth volume of his Kosmos the fourth saw the
light in this present year. How great are this
mans services to science! Since the days Of Ar
istotle | think no man has done so much to widen
the bounds of human knowledge; none has taught
SO many truths in so many departments OF
science Yet do not forget Roger Bacon, Gal
ileo, Descartes or Leibnitz. 1t is amazing to see
how much he has done-fOr bow many sciences,
How industrious was he as traveller What
countries he journeyed through in the two remot
est Of continents How he climbed the mountains
and studied the currents Of the sea! How MUCK
has be done to show the prevalence OF universal
laws where men only suspected them bcfore!-
Rich in knowledge of special details in almost all
departments of physical science, discoverer in
many OF them, he has yet also the vast compre-
hensiveness of mind that groups these all into
systematic whole, which he names Kosmos--both
Order and Beauty-in one word. The World.
But it is not of his diligence, and the learning
IL aecumuates in fourscOre years of toll, that
wish TO speak to-day; it is not of his genius for
science-at once so modest and so great; rather
do look at his Humanity. find this IN his ear
liest writings. 1t comes out also in the last lie
is the Friend Of Mankind, always on the side Of
Progress of Humanity. lie takes the side of the
Indian in North and South America against his
conqueror. lie recognizes the natural right of
the African and procaims it in his early books
and his most recent letters. Fifty years ago, he
wrote this: THE Kingdom of New Spain there
was then Mexican Republic has marked
advantage over the United States. The number
of slaves, whether Africans or of the mixed race,
is almost nothing; an advantage which the Euro.
pean colonists did not begin to appreciate until
after tho tragic events Of the Revolution of St,
Domingo: so true is it that the fear of physical
evils acts more powerfully than moral cousidera.
tions of the true interests OF society," the prin-
ciples Of philanthropy an of justice, often de-
olared in Parliament, in the Constituent Assem-
bly,, and in the works OF philosophers. In the
UnIed States, the number OF African slaves Is