Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)Parker, Theodore
Religion
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 1 (of 3)
Parker, Theodore
Sermons, American; Unitarianism
it as the other! The North did not oppose the annexation of Texas. Why
not? They knew they could make money by it. The eyes of the North are
full of cotton; they see nothing else, for a web is before them; their
ears are full of cotton, and they hear nothing but the buzz of their
mills; their mouth is full of cotton, and they can speak audibly but
two words--Tariff, Tariff, Dividends, Dividends. The talent of the North
is blinded, deafened, gagged with its own cotton. The North clamored
loudly when the nation's treasure was removed from the United States
Bank; it is almost silent at the annexation of a slave territory big as
the kingdom of France, encumbered with debts, loaded with the entailment
of war! Northern Governors call for soldiers; our men volunteer to fight
in a most infamous war for the extension of slavery! Tell it not in
Boston, whisper it not in Faneuil Hall, lest you weaken the slumbers of
your fathers, and they curse you as cowards and traitors unto men! Not
satisfied with annexing Texas and a war, we next invaded a territory
which did not belong to Texas, and built a fort on the Rio Grande,
where, I take it, we had no more right than the British, in 1841, had on
the Penobscot or the Saco. Now the Government and its Congress would
throw the blame on the innocent, and say war exists "by the act of
Mexico!" If a lie was ever told, I think this is one. Then the "dear
people" must be called on for money and men, for "the soil of this free
republic is invaded," and the Governor of Massachusetts, one of the men
who declared the annexation of Texas unconstitutional, recommends the
war he just now told us to pray against, and appeals to our
"patriotism," and "humanity," as arguments for butchering the Mexicans,
when they are in the right and we in the wrong! The maxim is held up,
"Our country, right or wrong;" "Our country, howsoever bounded;" and it
might as well be, "Our country, howsoever governed." It seems popularly
and politically forgotten that there is such a thing as Right. The
nation's neck invites a tyrant. I am not at all astonished that northern
representatives voted for all this work of crime. They are no better
than southern representatives; scarcely less in favor of slavery, and
not half so open. They say: Let the North make money, and you may do
what you please with the nation; and we will choose governors that dare
not oppose you, for, though we are descended from the Puritans we have
but one article in our creed we never flinch from following, and that
is--to make money; honestly, if we can; if not, as we can!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account