The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1912-02-01
HAVE MOVED
THE WORLD

utit WIN Dt WV Ntha'huas
versaries this year that will command
more than passing attention. Each OF
the persons. whose achievements we
will commemorate marked pivotal
point in our civilization, for which
we shall ever be their grateful deb-
tor. one was On American and the
other y Britain Ooh were writer's
aud reform RS who atruCl, fearlessly
A. IT,. evils OF theI times and made
the world better for their having liv-
ed. 10 Americans the name OF Har.
rict Reecher stowe autnof OF I'm
Gle icms Cabin" will stand for cen
turtles to come as one Of the moving
forces in cur native literature. While
not comparable perhaps in the ele'
Cance of its diction 10 the works OF
some other American authCre, the
rhe,ent power of this hoinely story
IT a poor slave had an appeal TO Our
Imagination and sympathy excited by
no book published before or since. II
crystalized the abolition sentiment
in the north and gave impetus to The
movement which made inevitable the
emancipation of the black man.
While Charles Dickens, the other
writer. whose anniversary we cele.
hrate. wrote mere "gest sellers
than did Mrs. stowe. no one work of
his commanded the world wide attep.
ton or caused such political up
heaval as Uncle Toms Cabin" pro
voked. Yet in his own field Dickens
was as powerful an instrument for
good and did much to improve the
condition of the masses of the United
Kingdom. Both he and Mrs. stowe
got close to the sympathies of their
audience by talking to them on these
commonplace of life that are funda-
mental and strike a responsive chord
i'm every heart. AS the spokesman for
the man underneath, what they said
seldom missed the mark against
which it was directed. More than ev-
erything else they demonstrated the
innate sense of justice of the people
when appealed to for the correction
of wrong. Years before, Patrick
Henry had shown the effectiveness
of this appeal in his famous Give me
liberty or give me death speech. but
between the work of the orator and
the book there is this difference; he
book speaks and inspires millions
and is imperishable, while the orator
addresses his eloquence to a few and
its thrill usually is soon forgotten.
For creating deep and lasting i'm
pressions the written word is the
thing that supplies us with the mo-
tive power for much Of that which
we do. BY its power of suggestion IL
moves us - often unconsciously Ito
an appreciation of things and cond''
lions, the existence of which we do
not suspect or passvely realizing, do
not comprehend. While Uncle Toms
Cabin" undoubtedly was the most i'm
pcrtant contributing factor to- the
civil war II was the editorial OF Hor'
ace Greeley in the New York Tribune,
calling upon Lincoln to free the
slaves, that caused the martyred
resident 10 issue his emancipation
proclamation at that time, instead oil
later. In our own times we have had
a striking example of this same pew
er of suggestion in the historical
work, THE Catholic Church in the
| United States" which brought so con
cretely and wildly to the attention
of Piux Y, the marvellous growth OF
that body in this country that 1t Is
said to- Rave determined hin, to NJ
Ibnirt three new American carulnai;
instead of one The singutlr thing
about Uncle Toms Cabin, which
was Written by Mrs. Stove from IN
cidents passing under her observation
while living in the south, and about
Dickens works, Greeley's editoria
and the Catholic history which Is
mosaic of the writings of some 5000
nuns. priests and laymen and women
collected by the Catholic Editing Co
of New York, is that their authors
never anticipated that their labori
would cause the profound stir in th'
political, social and religious worlC
that they did. The interest in TIM
Dickens and Stowe centenaries as il
that of Greeley's last spring will b,
world wide. spontaneous and rever
emily sincere.