The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-12-27

l
/ had failed
Only when he tried
| Tho adamant Of the righteous side.
He had an old mans dread OF new
| order OF things. He had not ungenerous
| ambition. He was right In his estimate
| OF public danger. His constitutional afgu-
| ments remained unanswered.
4 fitting companion piece TO this is
Whittier's bitter poem. called out by the
same speech OF Webster, that OF March
| T. 1850. as follows:
ICHABOD.
So fallen. so lost! the light withdrawn,
Which once he wore.
The glory from his gray hairs gone
For eVcrmore,
Revile him not-the Tempter hath
a snare for all.
And plying tears. not scOTn ana WRATH
Bent his fall!
O dumb be passions stormy rage,
When he who might
Have lighted up and led MS age
Falls back In night.
Scarce would the angels laugh 70 mark
bright soul driven ,,
Fiend goaded. down the endless od'h
From hope and heaven?
Let not the land. once proud OF him,
Insult him now. -. ,i. A.,
Nor brand with deeper shame MS ulHi'
Dishonored brow
or all we loved and honored, nausht
But power remains;
4 fallen ANGELS pride OF thought
Sul strong in chains.
All else Is gone; from those great eyes
The soul has fled;
When faith is lost, when honor dies,
The man Is dead.
Then pay the reverence OF old days
To his dead fame
Walk backward with aVerted gaze.
And hide the shame.
These are very powerful pleas for the
"higher law" They are made though
by men who never cease reVlllng the
South Of to-day.
But these men should remember that
the institution Of slavery. at which they
hurl their anathemas and 1iatribes, had
grown up Il rough centuries In the south
with the sanction. connivance and active
aid Of themselves and their fathers. The
southern people had been encouraged 10
invest their savings in slave property
until the security of all that they had
turned upon that institution. with their
talk of a higher law" that commanded
them to free the slaves, they came mere
and robbed the people of the South OF
every dollar that generations ana cen
turtles Of toll had enabled them TO accu-
mulate. The southern people naturally
asked: What sort OF a word of COD IS
that which commands you TO free the
slave. but fails TO tell you to pay men
for property that you have encouraged
Thorn to invest In and now take from
them by the highwayman's act ana
deed?'
The southern people have been WILING
since the war to concede TO MI hoar
the fall force Of his higher law argu-
ment. But they have never been abe 10
understand how those who could INVOKE
Gods word as their justification FOR their
war of conhscation and conquest couia
ebut their ears 10 it when IT commanded
them to pay for what they took.
Now we want to say that, In our opih-
ion. much of the Popullsm Oh '"e
South arises from the resentment 'he
,,.o,la feel at their treatment in this be-
half. They say We were born 10 slavery
as an institution encouraged by the
North. and. TO . large extent CONSISTING
az slaves sold to us by the North We
were taught bv the North as well as the
South TO believe that If we put our saw
jngs into slaves our property would De 40
sacred as if it were in any other loIH'
But as soon as the North, finding slavery
unavailable TO it. had converted us
slaves into our dollars, 1t comes mere
preaching about a higher law ana
keeps our dollars while it robs US OF our
slaves. The southern people protest
AGAINST the Injustice of the act, and what
is called the Populsm of the South Is at
bottom no more than sullen ana resent
full mutterng Of an injured people
If is written that as ye SOW so snail
We reap. An eye shall be gwen Tor al"
owe and a tooth shall be given Tor
tooth. Thirteen years after his dea'h
the bones of poor John Wicll1e were
dug up and burnt for his heresy ana
their ashes were scattered upon river
of Narwickshire. Some prophet OF his
day wrote;
"The Avon to the Severn runs the severn
TO the sea,
And Wicliffe's dust shall spread ABROAD
wide as the waters be
We rejoice that the negro Is free' not
only for his own sake. but FOR ours LOT
with his freedom an intolerable burden OF
care and cause of undeserved reproach
was removed from our shoulders ana
hearts. And We deplore the Populism OF
the South as earnestly as it is possible
70 deplore anything. But the North may
as well recognize in this Populism the
natural and legitimate result OF It's own
wrongful and unjust act. They robbed the
South of its property-the only property
specialIy protected by the Constitution It.
seIf-and it is as natural as possible 'n"'
the South should be Indifferent 10 proper
-, riqhts i'm the North. and should put
ont for them In return cheap dollars ana
conAscatory income taxes.
WHAT 1T COSTS TO DEPART fhoM