Page:Anti-slavery and reform papers by Thoreau, Henry David.djvu/95

 84 Anti- Slavery and Reform Papers.

would that they should do unto you, how could they fail to recognize him, by far the greatest preacher of them all, with the Bible in his life and in his acts, the embodi- ment of principle, who actually carried out the golden rule ? All whose moral sense had been aroused, who had a calling from on high to preach, sided with him.

What confessions he extracted from the cold and con- servative ! It is remarkable, but on the whole it is well, that it did not prove the occasion for a new sect of Broivnites being formed in our midst.

They, whether within the Church or out of it, who adhere to the spirit and let go the letter, and are accord- ingly called infidel, were as usual foremost to recognize him. Men have been hung in the South before for attempting to rescue slaves, a.nd the North was not much stirred by it. Whence, then, this wonderful diflference ? We were not so sure of ilieir devotion to principle. We made a subtle distinction, forgot human laws, and did homage to an idea. The North, I mean the llviug North, was suddenly all transcendental. It went behind the human law, it went behind the apparent failure, and recognized eternal justice and glory. Commonly, men live according to a formula, and are satisfied if the order of law is observed, but in this instance they, to some extent, returned to original perceptions, and there was a slight revival of old religion. They saw that what was called order was confusion, what was called justice, in- justice, and that the best was deemed the worst. This attitude suggested a more intelligent and generous spirit than that which actuated our forefathers, and the possi- bility, in the course of ages, of a revolution in behalf of another and an oppressed people.