The Leavenworth weekly times., 1879-06-05
EEECnEx on GARRISON
An Eloquent Tribute 30 the Memory
of the Great Sboii;ioui>T,

An Eloquent 'rribute 10 the Memory
| OF the Great SbolItioni>T.
Henry Ward Bsecher's sermon last sun
day from the text, sol whom the world was
not worthy" was devoted 10 eulocy cf
William Lloyd Garrison. The death o.
Mr.. Garrison, he said, after q lo-g lie and
hard struggle, calls to mind class Of
men who, with him, wrought one Of the
greatest changes this world ever saw. The
| ranks Of those who, in the speakers youth,
worked for tha; end are tLinned, with only
lust totiering on the brink of the grave
| They did noble work in their own way.
They msde some mistakes, but set them
selves against oppression Of every kind, and
would not cOmprcmise with evil IN any
| form. The wonder Is not 20 much that
| they ran into danger, a. that they lived to
! meet the danger through which they passed
The great evil which these men sought .
| deatrOy was slavery, an evil which had be
come iugrained into the Constitution and
into the social and political fabric Of the
nation until 1t had become part aGd parcel
OF both which existed primarily "a COM
mercial necessity, and became a prOdigru-
political power. That it was which ,ised up
that noble band OF AbJlItiOnis's, every one
of whom must always stand high in the e.
limatiOn Of his cOuntrymen, and the highest
Of whom was William LIoyd Glrrison. Cf
ali the men who labOre1 in the great work
in the dark days, when It cost much and
meant more 10 be counted OF their DUmb-r,
no one was more worthy to live 10 PEE thr
victory won thaa Garrison, snd !. WAS re-
served for him 70 tasis the fully RI yeEed fruits
OF his LIES labor. GarrI-On q great
man, but his greatness and power did not
lie wholly in the bitterness Of bis language.
The fault Of that was in the scIoOi in
which he iOInd himseli-nJt that his
words ought never 10 have been severe, but
they were merciless. Personally, he was
very kind, with heart az tender a 80
mans and pure al a Chl.d.s; bat, when
he looked upon slavery, hs became an
avenging power. Ii wGs the decision OF
the surgeon that the heart did lot quake
or the lips qIiver - he plunged the knife
into the huge carbuacle. kuCh cf this was
due to the circumstances OF the times, the
prostitution Of the Church, the chickering's
OF politics. Garrison saw in the beginning
the dangers hidden in the carcass of slavery,
and laid out at the start course Of action |
from which he never swerved, and which |
was in the end carried out by the war. |
His position wa. that slavery was wong, |
and the only thing to be done was to at
tack, assault and destroy it. He had Iiyei |
to see the sword cut the GoTdian knot, and |
to behold the stain Of slavery blotted out 1
forever by the blood Of the nation. |
1t WAS the South that brought On 4
the War-the War brought on emsrciya-
ton. The faith of the people of the South |
in the justice Of their cause and in its final /
triumph, was 80 great that it took them
into fUch indomitable resistance a. to re-
duce them to abject poverty, and to compel |
them, in the future, 10 labor for their |
bread. The result would be that, by the !
time one generation Of Southern people had /
learned TO earn their bread by the sweat Of |
their brows, labor would be az much re-
s5-cisa there as here. Mr.. Beecher con-
Guided By applying the Lesson of the life |
just closed. IL was a Lesson to all men, es-
pecially those i1-t entering upon life, that |
il is always safe TO take the highest ground /
for principle, and that, no matter what ore
may suffer on the way, it il always te,t in
the end. Garrison has gone to his rest.
No tongue Of clamor disturbs him nov.
He il risen, and is standing among the
prophets and in the p-eser C. oi Cos"