Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-01-15
TRUE FREEDOM.

In a country like ours, where tie
freedom conferred upon the citizen is
so large in measure and 50 happy In
results, it becomes a matter Of Interest
to consider In what the most perfect
freedom consists. The absence Of
tyranny, while a priceless blessing, Is
not without its own special danger.
There are not wanting those who per-
suade themselves that true freedom
consists In the absence Of all control,
and that obedience necessarily implies
something d~isgraceful and unmanly.
In its broadcast sense, no human being
can be said to possess perfect freedom.
All feel their limits, and all are mo
mentarily obeying something that
presses upon them with irresistible
force. The laws Of time and space,
and the necessities Of our physical
nature, are ever commanding us with
supreme authority, and we bow to
them in implicit and unquestioning
submission. No edicts could be more
absolute than those laid upon us to
supply air for the lungs and food for
the body, and no obedience more Inn
plicit than that we in turn accord. In
like manner, the cravings Of the intel
lect and the moral nature are always
asserting themselves and obtaining an
obedience proportional to their Ell
ergy. All the efforts Of humanity,
great and small, imply the presence OF
necessity and the submission to au-
thority. Some may think this only
the control of self over self, and
therefore not to be classed with
external authority and obedience.
But here also we + all rendering,
whether consciously or not, an equal
submission. What despot j. so tyran-
meal rs fashion? There Is, however,
All Intrinsic between servility
and freedom, that Is dependent Oh no
outward relations, but upon the secret
motives and hidden workings of the
heart. There is IN obedience that is
the essence Of all true freedom, and
there is a so-caTled liberty that is the
most degrading of all slavery. The
two ideas of enjoyment and Of rerer-
ence may be said to govern all our ac-
tions. That Is we are constantly fol-
lowing either that which Is pleasant or
that which is noble ; that which We
like or that which We revere. He only
can claim to be free, who has thrown
off the chains of self-indulgence, and
submits only to that which he veneer
ates. For then he is ruled by no power
which he feels unrightful or usurping.
His selEdenials are his victories, not
his losses. He Is not driven to what Is
beneath, but rises to that which Is
above. The essence Of slavery is the
extinction Of rights, and the worst
slavery is that servile obedience to ami
nal passions that obliterates the per
ception Of what is noble and exalted
In the abject submission to a debaset
nature, the voluptuary Is the most de
graded of slaves. The essence of true
liberty is in the allegiance to exalted
objects, In acknowledging rs su
preme what is worthy and true
and in bowling to that alone. HI
who does this will often find l
needful to submit to the vii
of Others. and will esteem it no dis
grace. Thus, the child in obeying hi
higher nature, will find it his hOnol
to submit to the will Of his parent, tho
pupil to that Of his teacher, the EN-
ploye to that Of his employer. Sucl
submission depends wholly OIL motive'
for its character. 1t may be either
noble or iguoble. If yielded only
from self-interest, or from fear, it il
debasing; ii we are controlled by
Others against what we believe to be
right, it is a degradation; but where,
rs in the case of parent and child, the
relation implies the duty, and where
the motive is pure, then rightful ODE.
dience is as honorable as rightful au.
thority. No subsection can be at once
so absolute and so beautiful as that
accorded to infancy and to sickness by
the hand of love. Every accent i
listened for, in order to crafty, If pos.
sible, the lightest wish; everything Is
made to bend to the accomplishment
Of the faintest desires Of one who, SC
powerless in other ways, Is yet, for the
time, a despot through love. In the
service Of others, the effort to attain
to what we reverence finds It's ripest
fruition. 1t confers not only liberty,
but power. None WELD so mighty an
influence as those who minister to the
good Of others. Selfshness FORCES
bonds around the heart that cramp it
growth. while those who seek not theil
own indulgence, but implicitly obey
the heavenly law, alone attain freedom
In its nOblest sense.
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