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
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