servants; when demagogues mislead the people; when selfish men get power in order to use it only for their own advantage; when hypocrites profess to be reformers. I ask no man to leave his party and join mine, for I have no party, I belong to no party. I shall vote with the Republicans as long as they are on the side of honesty, freedom, and true reform, and give us a real reformer as their candidate. But I do not belong to that, or any other party. To belong to any party is to be a slave, and I like no kind of slavery. But I will vote with any party which votes for truth, for the nation's honor, safety, and peace. I only ask others to do what I do myself, to vote with the party which is now for the right. When it goes for the wrong I shall leave it, and advise others to do the same. The election before us is a serious one; one of grave import to the State and nation. It will decide whether Massachusetts shall stand hereafter as she has stood heretofore, for the highest ideas of the nation; for a pure government, sound laws, honesty, honor; or whether it shall utter an uncertain sound on these points. The result will show whether Massachusetts is faithful to her grand traditions; whether she resists every attempt to lure her from the path of justice; whether she believes in the union of all classes for the public good, and rebukes all attempts at setting the poor against the 1 This was said in November, 1878. rich, or those who labor with their hands against those who labor with their brains for the common good. I have no doubt, no hesitation, no uncertainty, as to the result. The State of Hancock and Adams, of Quincy, Charles Sumner, John A. Andrew, is not to be deceived to its ruin. I do not think that God means to disgrace us by leaving us to follow cunningly devised fables, or to take for leaders such men as the Apostle described as seeking to lead the Church in his time, "proud, ignorant, doting about questions and strifes of words, whence cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, evil seducers, who wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." In that great sea-fight, in which Nelson fell in the arms of victory, he hoisted, as his last signal before battle, the flag with the motto, "England expects every man to do his duty." Let our motto be not, "Massachusetts expects every man to do his duty," but "God expects every man to do his duty." Let us show our gratitude to him who has given us freedom, peace, plenty in our homes, noble institutions, and a grand history, by transmitting them unimpaired to our children and our children's children. Our fathers, brothers, and sons went to fight and die to save the land from slavery and disunion; let us live and work to save it from dishonesty and dishonor. XXIX. THE BIBLE A PANORAMA OF LIFE. 66 Again, taking him up into an exceeding high mountain, he showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, in a moment of time." ΤΗ HE advantage of a view from a high place is, that you see the relative positions of all the objects around you. You have a map and a landscape in one. Looking over Boston from the cupola of the State House, you observe at a glance its houses, squares, and public buildings; the sea, harbor, and islands; the course of Charles River; the direction taken by the railroads; the density of the different centres of population; and the position and comparative size of East Boston, South Boston, Roxbury, and Charlestown. You may live in the city for years, and not have as comprehensive and accurate an idea of it as you will gain in half an hour by looking down on it from such an elevation. Hence the importance for travellers, that in visiting foreign places they should begin their observations by obtaining a view from some central and lofty position. |