Cannibals all! or, Slaves without mastersFitzhugh, George
General
Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters
Fitzhugh, George
Slave labor; Slavery -- Justification; Slavery -- United States; Working class
"Is any thing wanting to complete the picture, and to ratify the
assurance of a state of liberty, equality, common brotherhood,
common interests, common sympathy, and common participancy in
social rights, immunities, privileges and arrangements? Must we
need be told in addition to all this, that 'the thrones of
despotism shall be cast down,' that the 'beast' of civil and
ecclesiastical tyranny and usurpation, the persecutor 'of the holy
apostles and people,' shall be given 'to the burning flames,' that
the yoke of domination 'shall be dashed into pieces as a potter's
vessel,' that 'subversion' shall tread upon the heels of
subversion, and one despotism overturn another, till He, 'whose
right it is, shall rule.' That the masses shall be elevated, the
exclusives brought low, that the 'lofty' shall be 'humbled,' and
the 'haughty bowed down'--_in such a period of general possession,
general justice, equality and contentment as has been already and
previously described_?"
Now, Mr. Goodell deplores that the condition of his society is so bad,
that it becomes necessary to upset and reverse it by a millennium. Is
not this, considering his high position and authority, strong evidence
to prove "the failure of Free Society." We should add, that his whole
book teems with evidence of his uncompromising hostility to existing
Church institutions, and the existing Priesthood, as abuses and
interpolations that have been engrafted improperly on Christianity. He
obviously belongs, in faith, to those early Christians, who resembled
the Essenes in their social relations, and who daily expected the advent
of the millennium. Their error in the last respect, shows that it is the
Bible, and not their construction of it, that should be our rule of
faith and guide of conduct.
The next witness we call up, is Gerrit Smith, a man who has a national
reputation as an orator, a philanthropist and a gentleman; who writes
better than he speaks, and whose active charity and benevolence are only
exceeded in the greatness of their amount by the grossness of their
misapplication. He is a zealous Christian, yet edits, or did edit, the
Progressive Christian, which proposed to abolish Christianity as now
understood. He builds churches to keep out the clergy, and heads
Christian conventions to put down Christian institutions, and agrees
with Wendell Phillips, that the pulpit of the North stands in the way
of reform--_et delenda est Carthago_--the pulpit should be destroyed!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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