material from the ,google ,print        
project47      ,a  ,,discourse  ,,for   
,,the ,,time  ,,delivered ,,january #d  
#aheb  ,,in ,,the  ,,first              
,,congregational ,,unitarian ,,church   
,,by  ,w4 ,h4 ,,furness  ,,pastor       
99       99       99       99       99  
,,philadelphia  ,c4 ,,sherman ,,printer 
#aheb          99       99       99     
99       99   ,,discourse4  ,,rom4      
#ad3g4  ',,none ,,of ,,us ,,liveth ,,to 
,,himself4'   ,in speaking from these   
words last ,sunday morning1 and in      
endeavoring to enforce the great truth  
which they express1 ,i began with       
referring to certain facts which        
characterize that most brutal and       
ruthless military revolution which has  
just commenced in ,france1 and the      
recent news of which made every heart1  
that cherishes any regard for ,freedom  
and ,humanity1 burn with indignation4   
,the first statements to which ,i       
alluded have been more than confirmed4  
,unarmed1 unoffending citizens1 utterly 

ignorant of what was going on1 and      
taking no part in it1 were shot down by 
hundreds in the streets1 and then       
transfixed with bayonets4 ,if but a     
window was opened1 a shower of bullets  
was poured into it4 ,cannon were brought
 to bear upon whole blocks of private   
dwellings4 ,in one instance1 a woman who
 rushed out of the house to the help of 
her husband1 who had fallen under the   
fire of the soldiery1 was instantly     
despatched and laid dead at his side4   
,bloodshed and terror filled the place1 
and scenes were enacted1 so eyewitnesses
 report1 that baffle description1 and   
that can find a parallel only when      
cities are sacked4  ,now1 ,i refer to   
these facts1 not to harrow up your      
feelings1 my hearers1 but because these 
facts1 and such as these1 speak         
trumpet-tongued1 as to the vital        
interest and the sacred religious duty  
which every private man1 no matter how  
humble and obscure1--nay1 which every   
woman has1 in those great questions that

 agitate nations1 in what are designated
 as matters of public concern and the   
public welfare4  ,i know very well that 
there are those who deplore it1 and     
consider it a great grievance1 that     
here1 in this country1 there is so much 
agitation of public matters in private  
circles1 and by private1 unofficial     
persons4 ,to be sure1 one would like to 
have quiet1 if he could4 ,but there is  
no help for it4 ,we must take our lot as
 we find it4 ,and such is the nature of 
our social fabric2 drawing all the power
 of the government from the people1 from
 the individuals that compose the       
people1 that it is made the direct and  
plain duty of every man and woman of us 
to know about those things1 which are   
public1 for this very reason1 because   
they concern the many1--the high and the
 low1 the rich and the poor1 the        
security1 the happiness1 the            
improvement1 the civil and the religious
 liberties of every man in the land4 ,a 
necessity is upon us2 and if we have    

been accustomed to confine our ideas of 
duty and religion to the ,church and the
 ,sabbath1 the sooner we get our minds  
sufficiently enlarged to see the        
religious obligation which binds us to  
the great ,public of mankind1 the better
 for us1 for our neighbors1 and for all 
men4  ,so1 then1 the fact that private  
men are interested in public affairs1   
even though it be attended with a good  
deal of excitement1--that is not the    
thing to be deplored4 ,but what is to be
 lamented is1 that false way of         
thinking1 out of place in this country1 
out of time in this age1 by which       
thousands justify themselves in         
continuing ignorant and indifferent to  
things of a vital private concern1      
simply because they are of a public and 
general character4 ,what is more common 
than to hear men say1 in reference to   
such matters1 ',they are no concerns of 
ours4 ,we care nothing about them4 ,let 
those busy themselves about them who are
 so disposed4 ,as for us1 we are not    

going to perplex our brains1 and fret   
and worry ourselves4 ,we will mind our  
own business4' ,and1 in the proud       
consciousness of this virtuous          
resolution1 they wrap themselves up in  
their comforts1 and keep aloof and      
indifferent1 and flatter themselves that
 they are the wise and the prudent1 they
 are the enlightened1 judicious ones4   
,they are no meddlers4 ,they do not     
trouble themselves about what does not  
concern them4  ,but though we will not  
meddle with public affairs1 who shall   
answer for it that public affairs will  
not meddle with us8 ,with such facts as 
,i began with mentioning1 glaring in our
 faces1 sickening our very hearts with  
horror and indignation1 who will say    
that public affairs may not interfere   
with us1 with our very lives1 yes1 and  
with what ought to be dearer to us than 
our lives8 ,let them take their own     
course1 as you say4 ,and then1 as surely
 as we breathe1 bad men will gain the   
ascendency1--ignorant1 unprincipled1    

ambitious men1 despisers of human life  
and human rights1 ready to shed blood to
 any extent to gratify the devilish lust
 of power4 ,into such hands will public 
affairs fall4 ,and then there is no     
man--there is no woman1 so retired but  
she shall find to her cost1 that she has
 an interest1 the very deepest1--that   
her all is involved in these            
things1--that they may tear from her her
 father1 her husband1 her brother or her
 son1 aye1 and her own life also1 which 
she is pampering so delicately4  ,there 
is some excuse for the people of        
,france1 ground down as they have been  
by ages of oppression1 denied the right 
to think1 to judge1 to act for          
themselves1 made to believe that their  
rulers held their power by the grace of 
,god--there is some excuse for them4    
,but1 whatever may be their excuse1     
there can be no doubt that it is the    
ignorance1 the indifference1 the        
cowardice1 the selfishness of the people
 at large that have caused their public 

affairs to wade so often towards a      
settlement1 through such frightful      
streams of innocent and unoffending     
blood4 ,here1 in our land1 the peace and
 security of private life are as fully  
and extensively insured as they are1    
precisely for this reason1 because of   
the lively and general interest which   
the people in their private capacity    
take in things of public concern4 ,in   
this country more than in any other1 the
 people keep a watchful and commanding  
eye upon public matters4 ,and1 with all 
the excitement and agitation which it   
involves1 it is the great pledge of our 
private and personal security4  ,but if 
the indifference to public affairs1     
which is now confined only to a         
class--only to a portion of the         
people--to too large a portion1 indeed1 
but still only to a portion1--if it were
 to become general1 if things were      
allowed to go on their way1 without any 
interest taken in them by private       
persons1 by those whose intelligence    

goes to create a commanding public      
opinion1 then you would soon find your  
private interests1 the comfort and lives
 of individuals1 threatened and         
assailed4 ,if your public affairs1 as   
they are directed in your ,public       
,councils1 were uncontrolled by the     
sentiments of private men1 they would   
soon be coming down into our streets and
 into our private dwellings with a most 
disastrous influence4 ,they would make  
their appearance in the shape of armed  
men4 ,they would be heard in the rattle 
of musketry and the roar of cannon2 and 
the door-posts of the humblest and of   
the richest homes of the people might be
 spattered with the blood of inoffensive
 men1 women1 and children1--of the very 
persons who maintain that they have     
nothing to do with public matters4      
,already1 well off as we may be in      
comparison with other nations1 have not 
our public concerns1 through the        
criminal neglect and insensibility of   
the people1 taken such a direction as1  

if it does not put us in peril of having
 our blood spilt in the streets1 yet    
endangers the sacred rights of ,free    
,thought and ,free ,speech1 and makes it
 hazardous to property and to personal  
liberty to obey the plainest dictates of
 humanity8 ,there are things1 as ,i have
 already intimated1 which ought to be   
dearer to us than life1 which may be    
exposed to suffer loss2 and which are   
exposed to harm at this very hour by the
 bad administration of our public       
concerns4  ,no doubt1 these quiet people
 who have been so savagely butchered in 
the streets of ,paris1 little dreamed1  
when they left their homes that day1    
that they would be shot down as the     
enemies of the ,government4 ,they had   
nothing to do with the ,government4     
,they had no thought of crossing its    
path4 ,they were pursuing the even tenor
 of their own quiet way4 ,they desired  
only to mind their own business4 ,and   
yet1 had they been taking the most      
active interest in public affairs1 they 

could not possibly have come to so      
miserable an end1 as ,i will presently  
show4  ,the simple1 religious truth is1 
and the sooner every man accepts it1 and
 makes up his mind and his life to it1  
the better for him1 for our country1 and
 for the world--the plain truth is1 that
 'no man liveth or can live to          
himself'--that the interests1 the       
highest interests1 the personal         
character and salvation1 the very life  
of the individual1 in the most obvious  
and in the profoundest sense of the     
word1 life1 is wrapt up with the        
interests of the whole2 in other words1 
with the public interest1 with public   
affairs4 ,we cannot--no man can separate
 himself and stand apart1 and insist    
upon being ignorant and indifferent4 ,it
 lies within our own will to say1       
whether we will meet and endeavor to    
answer the claims which the welfare of  
the whole has upon us1 whether we will  
take a lively interest in the public    
interest2 but it is not a matter of our 

own will whether we shall suffer or not4
 ,we may choose whether or not we will  
act2 but the consequences1 and they may 
be most deadly1--the consequences of our
 action or our no-action we cannot      
escape4 ,they may fall upon us with a   
crushing power at our very firesides1   
and ruin our private and domestic peace 
for ever4 ,so long as we live in        
society1 and build our houses near our  
neighbors1 we may or may not take an    
interest in the public provision which  
is made against fire1 but we cannot     
avoid the danger and the consequences of
 a conflagration4 ,because a man keeps  
himself retired1 never reading1 never   
thinking about what is going on on the  
public theatre of the world1 he has no  
security against being shot down like a 
dog in the streets1 as the case of those
 unfortunate citizens of ,paris shows4  
,certainly then1 since we are liable to 
suffer from public affairs taking a     
wrong direction1 whether we take an     
interest in them or not1 it is worth our

 while to suffer for a cause4 ,there is 
small comfort in incurring danger and in
 losing one's life for nothing4 ,if we  
must suffer1 when public events go      
wrong1 it is best by far to suffer for  
something4 ,for in times of universal   
alarm and disorder1 when property and   
life are put in peril1 they suffer the  
least1 though they lose everything1 who 
are inspired by the conviction that they
 have tried to be faithful and to do    
their duty4 ,they have a life in them   
which bullets and bayonets and          
cannon-balls cannot reach4 ,when men    
perish for a cause to which they were   
utterly indifferent1 for which they     
cared nothing1 of which they knew       
nothing1 then they perish as the brutes 
perish4 ,then death comes to them as a  
fatal accident2 and the only moral that 
can be drawn from their fate1 is that it
 is folly for men to think to live unto 
themselves4 ,no glory shines from their 
graves2 no renown immortalizes their    
memories4 ,but when men suffer and die  

for a cause1 into which they have thrown
 their whole souls1 when they perish for
 a principle1 then their death is noble1
 and they do not die like the brutes1   
but like men4 ,then they are heroes and 
martyrs1 and though dead1 they speak    
with mighty angel voices2 and their     
blood hallows for ever the spot on which
 it is shed1 'down to earth's profound1 
and up to ,heaven1' and they become     
immortal in the affection and reverence 
of mankind1 and in the influence which  
they exert upon the course of human     
affairs4 ,for this reason it is1 that ,i
 said just now1 that those quiet people 
who have been killed in the streets of  
,paris1 could not have perished so      
miserably had they taken an active      
interest in the great public question of
 ,liberty4 ,then they would have had a  
spring of life in their own hearts2 then
 they would have suffered for a cause   
for which it is worth any man's while to
 suffer1 and die any death that a       
relentless power might inflict4  ,i know

 that it is a very wise injunction1 that
 every man should mind his own business2
 and that1 if every man would only do   
that1 the world would go on as well as  
heart could wish4 ,i believe this1      
firmly4 ,but then1 since1 in the very   
constitution of things1 every man's 'own
 business' is inextricably interwoven   
with every other man's 'own business1'  
who shall draw the line8 ,who shall     
define the circle and the sphere of the 
private individual8 ,has not our        
,creator defined it already in our very 
being1 inasmuch as1 by the              
indestructible ties of human sympathy   
and a common nature1 he has bound up the
 life1 the interests1 the business of   
the individual1 with the life1 the      
interests1 the business of the whole8   
,by his very nature1 then1 is it not    
every man's own business to know what   
the world is busy about1 and to take an 
interest in the world's affairs1 because
 they are his own8 ,is it not a truth   
written in the constitution of every    

individual man1 the well-known          
declaration of the ,roman slave3 ',i am 
a man1 and ,i hold nothing human foreign
 to me8' ,and does not our common       
,christianity teach over and over again 
in a thousand ways1 that we are all     
members one of another1 and that no man 
lives for himself8 ,and is there any one
 fact1 which the progress of events is  
now making1 more manifest than the      
oneness of all mankind8 ,why1 my        
hearers1 it is because this simple and  
indestructible fact is not seen2 because
 individuals are for ever trying to     
live1 and work1 and enjoy1 not with and 
for1 but at the expense of1 their       
fellow-men1 that things are so          
continually getting out of joint1 and   
the world is so full of uproar and      
misery4 ,my brothers1 we are all ,one2  
and if we are resolved to mind each his 
own business1 we must attend to the     
business which ,god and nature have     
given to us4 ,we must interest ourselves
 in the cause of our common humanity4 ,i

 do not say1 that we must make this     
great cause our business4 ,it is made   
our business already by our ,maker4     
,consider then how the case stands4 ,if 
we fling our whole hearts with a        
generous ardor into the conflict for the
 welfare of our brother1 seeing to it   
with all vigilance that public affairs  
go wisely and justly1 then if the       
fortunes of this good cause prosper1 it 
is well with us2 we triumph with it4    
,but if it should be defeated1 and we   
should be involved in its defeat1 and   
suffer danger1 loss1 and even death     
itself1 still how powerfully should we  
be sustained by the consciousness of    
suffering in so grand a behalf1 for such
 a glorious reason6 ,who would not      
rather suffer with the ,right than      
prosper with the ,wrong8 ,but if we will
 not fling our hearts into anything of a
 general and generous interest1 if we   
insist that we will keep at a distance  
from all such matters1 that we will be  
ignorant and insensible1 we gain no     

additional security4 ,still our private 
lot is inextricably bound up with the   
public interest2 and when those         
interests suffer1 we must suffer with   
them1 but with no sustaining power in   
our own minds4 ,we may be shot down with
 the heroes and martyrs of ,humanity    
without the heroes' joy or the martyrs' 
radiant crown4 ',no man liveth to       
himself4' ,since such is the simple     
,bible truth1 and since it is a truth1  
which it becomes us to look at fully1   
and adopt as a fundamental principle and
 law of our thinking and of our living1 
let no one turn a deaf ear1 and say ,i  
am talking politically now1 because ,i  
refer to considerations of a public1 and
 if you please1 of a political          
character1 to urge home upon your reason
 and your consciences your sacred duty  
as men1 and as ,christians1 to take a   
hearty1 intelligent1 self-sacrificing   
interest in what is going on on the     
public theatre of the nation to which   
you belong1 and of the world to which   

you belong as well1 and in whose        
fortunes1 we are every one of us so     
deeply interested4  ,but this is no hour
 for apologies4 ,this is no time for    
grown-up men to be dodging and hiding1  
and evading a great duty1 under words   
and phrases4 ,political6 what if ,i am  
political8 what if every pulpit in the  
land should be ringing in these days    
with political events8 ,god knows there 
is need4 ,we should be lost to the      
ordinary feelings of men1 if we could   
remain silent when political events are 
arresting and absorbing public          
attention1 and threatening to rouse all 
the passions of the human heart1 and to 
shake the earth out of its place4 ,this 
present time1 in which we are living1 is
 no holiday1 when a man can throw       
himself down in the shade1 and dream his
 soul away4 ,the fires1 that are        
kindling on the earth1 flash their      
portentous light into the inmost        
retirement of private life4 ,the world  
is resounding with great events4 ,and   

cold indeed must be our hearts1 we are  
not worthy to live at so momentous1 so  
unprecedented a period1 if we refuse to 
be reminded of those indissoluble ties  
of a common nature and a common         
interest1 which the course of things is 
laying bare to all men's view4 ,as you  
are men1 human beings1 your hearts must 
beat with a new and stirring sympathy   
for the great ,public of ,christendom1  
of which you are each an inseparable    
portion1 when you see the second great  
nation of ,europe1 after all the        
terrible experience of the last         
three-quarters of a century1 again      
falling prostrate in the dust beneath   
the blow of a base usurper1 with no     
great exploits at his back to extenuate 
the insolence of the brutal deed2 again 
laid low beneath a despot's feet by that
 vulgar instrument of power1 a standing 
army4 ,i think there can hardly be found
 in modern history any parallel to this 
outrage upon truth1 freedom1 and        
humanity--to this implied contempt for  

human rights and human nature4 ,a       
robber-hand has seized the great ,french
 nation1 and flung it down into the dust
 to be trampled upon at pleasure4 ,at   
such startling tidings1 what man is     
there so humble or so weak1 who can     
repress the solemn appeal to ,god1 which
 must rise instinctively from every     
heart of flesh8 ,who can help having his
 attention arrested and engrossed8 ,who 
does not long to be saying something1   
doing something1 or suffering something1
 for the outraged rights1 the imperilled
 interests of our ,common ,humanity1 our
 ,one ,nature8  ,but above all1 who that
 has seen1 who that has heard the great 
,hungarian exile1 who has come to us1   
bringing his unhappy country in his     
heart1 that does not feel his kindred to
 his oppressed brethren everywhere8 ,i  
have looked full into those large1 sad  
eyes1 in which one seems to look into   
the great deep of a nation's sorrows4 ,i
 have heard that voice1 coming from his 
inmost soul1 with which he pleaded for  

his dear native land1 and ,i cannot so  
much as try to tell you of the profound 
impression which he made on me4 ,i can  
set no limits to the power of such a man
 as ,i have just seen and heard4 ,it may
 be 7,god grant it67 that it is not a   
mere transitory emotion of enthusiasm   
that he is awakening among the people of
 this land4 ,it may be that the         
influence he is exerting is yet to      
penetrate the rock of our selfishness   
and insensibility1 and call forth1 in   
full flood1 like one of our own great   
rivers1 the mighty stream of our        
sympathy that shall sweep away from our 
land and from the earth1 every vestige  
of oppression4 ,such a thing seems      
almost possible1 when we observe how the
 advocates of ,slavery on our own soil  
tremble at his approach1 and fear to    
welcome him4 ,most devoutly do ,i hope  
that he may exert such an influence4 ,it
 is my fervent prayer4 ,it is yours1    
too1 brethren1 ,i do not doubt4 ,but ,i 
cannot resist the conviction that he    

must fail of achieving the object so    
near his heart1 and for which he is     
spending the strength of a giant1       
wearing away his life1 if indeed a life1
 so deep and so intense1 capable of so  
much labour1 can be worn away4  ,yes1   
friends1 he must fail4 ,and happy will  
it be for him1 great1 wonderful as he   
is1 if he comes out unscathed from the  
fiery and searching trial of his        
principles1 upon which he entered the   
moment he stept upon our soil4 ,yes1 he 
must fail4 ,how can it be otherwise8 ,he
 must fail2 not because this people are 
averse to the possibility of war1 for   
they have just come out from a war      
waged1 not to extend ,freedom you know4 
,he must fail1 not because we revere the
 counsels of the ,father of our         
,country4 ,but he must fail because     
there is a tremendous obstacle in his   
way to our free1 unfettered sympathy1   
upon which that fond hope of his1 that  
great heart of his1 the treasury of a   
nation's woes1 must be broken at last4  

,when he spoke in this city the other   
evening1 he repeated what he had said   
more than once before1 that he had come 
hither resolved to interfere with no    
domestic concern of ours1 with none of  
our party questions4 ,but there is one  
'domestic concern1' one 'party          
question1' which1 while it is1 in an    
obvious sense1 a 'domestic concern1'    
does1 in fact1 necessarily and vitally  
involve those rights of ,humanity for   
which this great man pleads1 and which  
he is considered as representing when he
 urges upon us the claims of his        
oppressed country4 ,in reason1 and in   
the nature of things1 it is connected   
with him and with his great purpose4    
,so clearly is this so1 that they1 who  
see what a monstrous ,wrong our         
'domestic concern' is1 what a world of  
evil it has done and is doing1 have     
watched our illustrious guest with      
trembling solicitude4 ,for his own sake 
they are appalled lest he should waver  
from a faithful application of his own  

cherished faith2 not that they desire   
him to join them1 but they justly expect
 from him as a true man1 that he should 
allow no shadow of doubt to rest upon   
his principles and his position4  ,for  
myself1 ,i cannot help thinking1 that he
 looks upon ,american ,slavery as a     
thing1 which we1 ourselves1 are at this 
moment busily engaged in abolishing4 ,he
 finds men1 eminent in office and in    
ability1 ranked on the ,anti-,slavery   
side4 ,he knows that they are backed by 
the great authority of our ,declaration 
of ,independence1 and assisted by the   
powerful influence of the freest        
institutions on the face of the earth2  
and he naturally regards it as needless 
and arrogant to interfere in the affairs
 of so mighty a nation--a nation so     
vigorous as to be able1 one would think1
 to settle any difficulties that may lie
 in its way1 without assistance from    
abroad4  ,but1 although he has expressed
 his determination not to meddle with   
our domestic institutions1 our domestic 

institutions threaten to meddle with    
him4 ,scarcely had he landed on our     
shores1 when a voice was heard in our   
,national ,councils1 proposing his      
arrest for incendiary speech2 a         
proposal1 the gross insult of which1 not
 only to him1 but to us all1 was only   
relieved by its unutterable folly4 ,this
 is not the only hint of the insolent   
interference in his concerns1 with which
 the upholders of ,oppression on this   
side of the world have menaced him4 ,he 
looks1 ,i believe1 upon ,american       
,slavery as an affair which he1 he      
especially who helped to elevate the    
peasantry of his own country1 knows that
 we have the power to settle4 ,but1     
however much he may have heard about it1
 he does not yet know that we have not  
the will to settle it4 ,he does not yet 
know how deep-seated it is1 and how     
mighty and extensive its influence is in
 deadening our hearts1 and controlling  
our national action4 ,although he is a  
man of profound sagacity1 yet1 with all 

the information that may have been      
furnished him1 it can only be by        
degrees1 and by actual observation1 that
 his mind will win its way to a true and
 terrible conviction of the actual state
 of the case4 ,but he will--he must see 
how the matter stands2 and he will      
declare1 most fervently do ,i trust1    
what he cannot help seeing4 ,the fact   
must become as plain to him as noonday1 
that there is no one thing in which the 
oppressed nations of ,europe have a     
deeper interest1 than in the abolition  
of ,american ,slavery2 because this is  
the one thing which prevents the full   
expression of our sympathy in their     
behalf1 and neutralizes that moral aid1 
which1 if we rendered it to the full    
extent of our power1 would make all     
material aid entirely superfluous4 ,some
 of his words the other evening were    
very significant4 ,having said that he  
had done nothing1 and would do nothing  
to interfere with our domestic affairs1 
he added that remarkable                

declaration3--',i more and more         
perceive1 in the words of ,hamlet1 that 
there are more things in heaven and     
earth1 than were dreamed of in my       
philosophy4'  ,how could he have dreamed
 that a people who had made such a      
solemn declaration of human rights      
before all the world1 a people so lavish
 in the praise of ,liberty1 were        
clinging with such desperation to       
,oppression1 as if it were the very life
 and soul of their ,union and their     
,power4 ,no matter how much he may have 
been told1 and he is in nothing more    
remarkable than in the extent of his    
information1 he has not yet known--he   
cannot know--it could not have entered  
into his generous heart to imagine1 that
 this ,domestic ,institution of ours is 
the one thing that exerts the most      
marked and predominating influence on   
our domestic and our foreign policy4 ,he
 does not see1 but he must1 that it is  
the one thing that will make his appeal 
to our ,national ,government utterly in 

vain1 and that his silence in regard to 
it will avail him nothing4 ,it must     
become plain to him that we are ready   
enough to intervene when the ,slave     
,power requires it for the increase and 
extension of its own strength4 ,for that
 we are ready to go to war with our     
neighbors1 and rob them of their        
territory4 ,in that behalf our statesmen
 have sought to enlist the interests and
 sympathies of foreign nations4 ,and    
that it is1 whose interests will prevent
 us from a full and generous expression 
of our interest in the downtrodden of   
other lands4 ,we are interfering with   
human rights at home1 we are            
constitutionally bound to interfere with
 them1 and we hold it for our advantage 
to do so2 and we cannot intervene to    
prevent interference with them abroad4  
,on this account alone1 could a man of  
such rare power1 of such wonderful      
eloquence1 coming among us upon such a  
mission1 fail4 ,yes1 this favorite      
domestic institution1 corrupting the    

whole administration of our government  
at home and abroad1--this it is that    
will disappoint and defeat the          
,hungarian patriot's idolised hope4 ,he 
has come hither as to the very temple of
 ,freedom1 and he finds coiled up under 
her very altar1 as its guardian1 the    
serpent of ,oppression1 and already its 
deadly hiss has rung in his surprised   
ear4  ,american ,slavery has much to    
answer for2 but if it adds this to the  
mountain of its iniquities1 if it is the
 cause why the hope of bleeding and     
fettered ,europe is blasted1 if it break
 the noble heart of ,hungary's devoted  
servant and chief1 and more than all1 if
 it cause him to falter in the cause of 
universal humanity1 what tongue now     
silent will not join in execrating it8  
what heart1 hitherto cold1 will not     
consecrate itself to the work of its    
abolition8  ,the nations of the old     
world1 degraded1 trampled upon1 and     
bleeding under the relentless feet of   
arbitrary power1 long and pray for      

emancipation4 ,the glorious vision of   
,liberty flits before their aching      
sight4 ,they stretch out their hearts   
and hands to us4 ,but the supporters of 
the old and oppressive forms of         
government sneer at our boasted         
universal freedom1 as well they may1 and
 point to our millions of bondmen4 ,they
 can say1 with truth1 that ,liberty does
 not exist here or anywhere as a        
realized fact2 that it is a chimera and 
an abstraction1 utterly impracticable2  
that the people are longing for a dream 
that has never been and can never be    
fulfilled4 ,neither the foreign         
oppressor1 nor the foreign oppressed    
have any foundation in fact for the     
faith and the hope of liberty2 and much 
,i fear we should do little for the     
deliverance of other nations1 even if1  
as we now stand1 clinging to ,slavery1  
we were actually to intervene in their  
behalf4 ,if we saw any chance of        
strengthening and extending our         
'domestic institution1' we might in that

 case be ready enough to give them our  
help4  ,o how plain is it that the one  
thing which the world claims of us1 the 
one thing that the great ,hungarian has 
to ask of us1 for his own people and for
 all ,europe1 is that we should prove   
that ,liberty without ,slavery is a     
practicable thing4 ,let this fact be    
realized1 and the world's redemption is 
sure4 ,show mankind twenty-five millions
 of human beings1 living together under 
such free and simple institutions as    
ours1 with not a single slave among     
them1 and then all that we need do is   
done1 and our simple existence as a     
nation becomes an irresistible          
intervention against the violation of   
human rights4 ,to induce us to do this1 
the ,hungarian patriot may well go down 
on those knees which he would not bend  
to ,emperor or ,czar1 and adjure us for 
the love of ,god and man1 by all the    
dearest hopes and interests of the human
 race1 by the great name of the holy    
,jesus1 to make our liberty complete1 to

 redeem our long-violated pledge1 to    
wipe away the blot that eclipses the sun
 of our ,freedom1 and prove1 as we may1 
that all men are children of one        
,father1 brethren of one household1 born
 to the glorious liberty of the sons of 
the living ,god4 ,if1 in any way1 he    
should be the means in the hands of a   
gracious ,providence of inducing us to  
do this1 he will do more for us than we 
could do for him1 though we were to     
place all the gold of the ,east1 and of 
the ,west1 at his disposal4