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abraham lincoln-第5部分

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persistent efforts have been made to confuse the public mind as to

its origin and motives; and to drag the people of the loyal States

down from the national position they had instinctively taken to the

old level of party squabbles and antipathies。  The wholly

unprovoked rebellion of an oligarchy proclaiming negro slavery the

corner…stone of free institutions; and in the first flush of over…hasty

confidence venturing to parade the logical sequence of their leading

dogma; 〃that slavery is right in principle; and has nothing to do with

difference of complexion;〃 has been represented as a legitimate and

gallant attempt to maintain the true principles of democracy。  The

rightful endeavor of an established government; the least onerous

that ever existed; to defend itself against a treacherous attack on its

very existence; has been cunningly made to seem the wicked effort

of a fanatical clique to force its doctrines on an oppressed

population。



Even so long ago as when Mr。 Lincoln; not yet convinced of the

danger and magnitude of the crisis; was endeavoring to persuade

himself of Union majorities at the South; and to carry on a war that

was half peace in the hope of a peace that would have been all war;…

…while he was still enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law; under some

theory that Secession; however it might absolve States from their

obligations; could not escheat them of their claims under the

Constitution; and that slaveholders in rebellion had alone among

mortals the privilege of having their cake and eating it at the same

time;the enemies of free government were striving to persuade the

people that the war was an Abolition crusade。  To rebel without

reason was proclaimed as one of the rights of man; while it was

carefully kept out of sight that to suppress rebellion is the first duty

of government。  All the evils that have come upon the country have

been attributed to the Abolitionists; though it is hard to see how any

party can become permanently powerful except in one of two ways;

either by the greater truth of its principles; or the extravagance of

the party opposed to it。  To fancy the ship of state; riding safe at

her constitutional moorings; suddenly engulfed by a huge kraken of

Abolitionism; rising from unknown depths and grasping it with

slimy tentacles; is to look at the natural history of the matter with

the eyes of Pontoppidan。(1)   To believe that the leaders in the

Southern treason feared any danger from Abolitionism; would be to

deny them ordinary intelligence; though there can be little doubt

that they made use of it to stir the passions and excite the fears of

their deluded accomplices。  They rebelled; not because they thought

slavery weak; but because they believed it strong enough; not to

overthrow the government; but to get possession of it; for it

becomes daily clearer that they used rebellion only as a means of

revolution; and if they got revolution; though not in the shape they

looked for; is the American people to save them from its

consequences at the cost of its own existence?  The election of Mr。

Lincoln; which it was clearly in their power to prevent had they

wished; was the occasion merely; and not the cause of their revolt。 

Abolitionism; till within a year or two; was the despised heresy of a

few earnest persons; without political weight enough to carry the

election of a parish constable; and their cardinal principle was

disunion; because they were convinced that within the Union the

position of slavery was impregnable。  In spite of the proverb; great

effects do not follow from small causes;that is; disproportionately

small;but from adequate causes acting under certain required

conditions。  To contrast the size of the oak with that of the parent

acorn; as if the poor seed had paid all costs from its slender strong…

box; may serve for a child's wonder; but the real miracle lies in that

divine league which bound all the forces of nature to the service of

the tiny germ in fulfilling its destiny。  Everything has been at work

for the past ten years in the cause of anti…slavery; but Garrison and

Phillips have been far less successful propagandists than the

slaveholders themselves; with the constantly growing arrogance of

their pretensions and encroachments。  They have forced the

question upon the attention of every voter in the Free States; by

defiantly putting freedom and democracy on the defensive。  But;

even after the Kansas outrages; there was no wide…spread desire on

the part of the North to commit aggressions; though there was a

growing determination to resist them。  The popular unanimity in

favor of the war three years ago was but in small measure the result

of anti…slavery sentiment; far less of any zeal for abolition。  But

every month of the war; every movement of the allies of slavery in

the Free States; has been making Abolitionists by the thousand。 

The masses of any people; however intelligent; are very little moved

by abstract principles of humanity and justice; until those principles

are interpreted for them by the stinging commentary of some

infringement upon their own rights; and then their instincts and

passions; once aroused; do indeed derive an incalculable

reinforcement of impulse and intensity from those higher ideas;

those sublime traditions; which have no motive political force till

they are allied with a sense of immediate personal wrong or

imminent peril。  Then at last the stars in their courses begin to fight

against Sisera。  Had any one doubted before that the rights of

human nature are unitary; that oppression is of one hue the world

over; no matter what the color of the oppressed;had any one

failed to see what the real essence of the contest was;the efforts of

the advocates of slavery among ourselves to throw discredit upon

the fundamental axioms of the Declaration of Independence and the

radical doctrines of Christianity; could not fail to sharpen his eyes。 



(1) A Danish antiquary and theologian。



While every day was bringing the people nearer to the conclusion

which all thinking men saw to be inevitable from the beginning; it

was wise in Mr。 Lincoln to leave the shaping of his policy to events。 

In this country; where the rough and ready understanding of the

people is sure at last to be the controlling power; a profound

common…sense is the best genius for statesmanship。  Hitherto the

wisdom of the President's measures has been justified by the fact

that they have always resulted in more firmly uniting public opinion。 

One of the things particularly admirable in the public utterances of

President Lincoln is a certain tone of familiar dignity; which; while

it is perhaps the most difficult attainment of mere style; is also no

doubtful indication of personal character。  There must be something

essentially noble in an elective ruler who can descend to the level of

confidential ease without losing respect; something very manly in

one who can break through the etiquette of his conventional rank

and trust himself to the reason and intelligence of those who have

elected him。  No higher compliment was ever paid to a nation than

the simple confidence; the fireside plainness; with which Mr。

Lincoln always addresses himself to the reason of the American

people。  This was; indeed; a true democrat; who grounded himself

on the assumption that a democracy can think。  〃Come; let us

reason together about this matter;〃 has been the tone of all his

addresses to the people; and accordingly we have never had a chief

magistrate who so won to himself the love and at the same time the

judgment of his countrymen。  To us; that simple confidence of his in

the right…mindedness of his fellowmen is very touching; and its

success is as strong an argument as we have ever seen in favor of

the theory that men can govern themselves。  He never appeals to

any vulgar sentiment; he never alludes to the humbleness of his

origin; it probably never occurred to him; indeed; that there was

anything higher to start from than manhood; and he put himself on a

level with those he addressed; not by going down to them; but only

by taking it for granted that they had brains and would come up to

a common ground of reason。  In an article lately printed in *The

Nation;* Mr。 Bayard Taylor mentions the striking fact; that in the

foulest dens of the Five Points he found the portrait of Lincoln。 

The wretched population that makes its hive there threw all its

votes and more against him; and yet paid this instinctive tribute to

the sweet humanity of his nature。  Their ignorance sold its vote and

took its money; but all that was left of manhood in them recognized

its saint and martyr。



Mr。 Lincoln is not in the habit of saying; 〃This is *my* opinion; or

*my* theory;〃 but 〃This is the conclusion to which; in my

judgment; the time has come; and to which; accordingly; the sooner

we come the better for us。〃  His policy has been the policy of public

opinion based on adequate discussion and on a timely recognition

of the influence of passing events in shaping the features of events

to come。



One secret of Mr。 Lincoln's remarkable success in captivating the

popular mind is undoubtedly an unconsciousness of self which

enables him; though under the necessity of constantly using the

capital *I*; to do it without any suggestion of egotism。  There is no

single vowel which men's mouths can pronounce with such

difference of effect。  That which one shall hide away; as it were;

behind the substance of his discourse; or; if he bring it to the front;

shall use merely to give an agreeable accent of individuality to what

he says; another shall make an offensive challenge to the self…

satisfaction of all his hearers; and an unwarranted intrusion upon

each man's sense of personal importance; irritating every pore of his

vanity; like a dry northeast wind; to a goose…flesh of opposition and

hostility。  Mr。 Lincoln
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