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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1877)
Jfo.fl. " Am T a Vassal on a Pkkii " 217 many as ho rhargpd so nobly to tbo fray. Words which became tlio watchword of ill hurope for years after. How the en tion, of our newspapers and other advan tages, and yet what do they all amount to when one's cilizcnsl.in does not nro. lire people were elect rifled by these words, I tect him. Itceall the cruel murder of l,ct no guilty man escape," coining as, Chislhomc and others where neither law tliO' did at a lime when sliamo and morti. ! nor liumaiiily could be evoked for tlieii ration seemed nearly to overwhelm us, , protection, nor for the punishment of the in wuiiciy ami irauu mica not alone, murderers. There was a time in the early Hie lower stations of our country's ser ucc, but their ghastly forms iniarht be found even with those who occupied some of the highest positions. Let no guilty man escape," was as a beacon out of the darkness, and we felt that the one who Mood Ht the helm had determined that "Justitia jint: avium occidit." Hut the expression found at tiie head of lliis article has a meaning of no small importance to each of us, when we con. -Mtlcr the crisis which called it. fori!;, the "me at which and the place whore they were uttered. Old ago with his hoary !cks ever ought to lie entitled to some re feet though his bunds may be stained with crime. In the vear 1HT7. t the Autional Capitol of the American people, l,(wn in one of the low, damp rooms wiie.ro the water dropped from the walls, 'mold man, over whoso head some sixty milliners had conic and irone. was incur- MTnted. So cruel were bis sufferings; '"deep were the indignities heaped upon IlilU that he will driven lo nwli.iiii to lit I'iriiieiiliiiN, "Am I u vassal or peer?" i am not, writing t,js t justify either piiily. The -loth Congress, with its record "I'good and evil, has become a part of our eoiiiiti.j's history, and the name of David A. Aels will soon bo forgotter.. 3Iy I'lirpose only is to draw a fmv boniolv lessons from those woi-fl. ihe American people claim lobeiimoiig ll0 most enliirhtcned of oivillzed niecs. ""y iioast a good deal of their opporlu- m"es and liriviloires. Here wo have ''rilled into us the idea that anybody can liwimiH President if bo will' only try. No one ovo,- thinks to add, it he have lll'llills CIIOlKrli Wu limiui if rim- clinrnl. ''si ol our means of acquiring an edtica days of Home, when to be a Komiin oil .en was greater than to he a king, and those who possessed that right wens just ly honored. When the question, " Is it lawful for thee to scourge a man that is a Hoinaii and uue.ondemned?" struck terror to the waiting soldiers and caused them to lice to the Chief Captain with the caution, "Take heed what thou docsl." AVo may be a progressive people. Progressed to such an extent that in this country more murders arc committed mid the murderers go unpunished; more stealings, more robberies, and more forgeries are done, more counterfeiting, and more ways dis covered for getting money dishonorably and unlawfully, than in any other. Ihe more a man steals the smarter we Uiink him to lie, hut if he steals becauso he is starving, wo send him where he can ?('t board and lodging free. Am I a vassal or peer in mind? Do 1 read, think and judge; for myself? Do the creeds, and theories of lh day remain un questioned by me? Hut rather, am I wil ling to folio, v, wherever Truth shall lead, and abide the results. Then comes the truo test of peerage or vassalage. One mill doubt his own existence, be. lieve any creed under the sun. We speak of Free Thought and Free Thinkers, and yet, what a strange anomaly we find here. Some Free Thought is tlio most bigoted, and some Free Thinkers Ihe most unchar itable of people. Hut thai is the thinking and that is the though!, which enable us to act well our part; to trust our fellow man as though we did not think he nas a ruscul and fear he would harm us; to do everything with earnest heart and band, unmindful whether the world may Hatter or praise It requires too little compunc w.i: ; w ti
