Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 3 (of 3)Parker, Theodore
Religion
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 3 (of 3)
Parker, Theodore
Sermons, American; Unitarianism
When a man bred in Massachusetts, whose Constitution declares that "All
men are born free and equal;" within sight of Faneuil Hall, with all its
sacred memories; within two hours of Plymouth Rock; within a single hour
of Concord and Lexington; in sight of Bunker Hill,--when he will do such
a deed, it seems to me that there is no life of crime long enough to
prepare a man for such a pitch of depravity; I should think he must have
been begotten in sin, and conceived in iniquity, and been born "with a
dog's head on his shoulders;" that the concentration of the villany of
whole generations of scoundrels would hardly be enough to fit a man for
a deed like this!
You know the story of Thomas Sims. He crept on board a Boston vessel at
Savannah. Perhaps he had heard of Boston, nay, even of Faneuil Hall, of
the old Cradle of Liberty, and thought this was a Christian town, at
least human, and hoped here to enjoy the liberty of a man. When the ship
arrived here, the first words he spoke were, "Are we up there?" He was
seized by a man who at the court-house boasted of his cruelty towards
him, who held him by the hair, and kept him down, seeking to kidnap and
carry him back into slavery. He escaped!
But a few weeks pass by: the man-stealers are here; the commissioner
issues his warrant; the marshals serve it in the night. Last Thursday
night,--when odious beasts of prey, that dare not face the light of
heaven, prowl through the woods,--those ruffians of the law seized on
their brother-man. They lie to the bystanders, and seize him on a false
pretence. There is their victim--they hold him fast. His faithless knife
breaks in his hand; his coat is rent to pieces. He is the slave of
Boston.[32] Can you understand his feelings? Let us pass by that. His
"trial!" Shall I speak of that? He has been five days on trial for more
than life, and has not seen a judge! A jury? No,--only a commissioner! O
justice! O republican America! Is this the liberty of Massachusetts?
Where shall I find a parallel with men who will do such a deed,--do it
in Boston? I will open the tombs, and bring up most hideous tyrants from
the dead. Come, brood of monsters, let me bring you up from the deep
damnation of the graves wherein your hated memories continue for all
time their never-ending rot. Come, birds of evil omen! come, ravens,
vultures, carrion-crows, and see the spectacle! come, see the meeting of
congenial souls! I will disturb, disquiet, and bring up the greatest
monsters of the human race! Tremble not, women; tremble not, children;
tremble not, men! They are all dead! They cannot harm you now! Fear the
living, not the dead.
Come hither, Herod the wicked. Thou that didst seek after that young
child's life, and destroyedst the Innocents! Let me look on thy face!
No; go! Thou wert a heathen! Go, lie with the Innocents thou hast
massacred. Thou art too good for this company!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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