eclamation, rather than of severe analysis or of
protracted and patient investigation. In the warm praises of the
philosopher, no less than in the glowing inspirations of the poet, it
often stands before us as a vague and ill-defined _something_ which all
men are required to worship, but which no man is bound to understand. It
would seem, indeed, as if it were a mighty something not to be clearly
seen, but only to be deeply felt. And felt it has been, too, by the
ignorant as well as by the learned, by the simple as well as by the
wise: felt as a fire in the blood, as a fever in the brain, and as a
phantom in the imagination, rather than as a form of light and beauty in
the intelligence. How often have the powers of darkness surrounded its
throne, and desolation marked its path! How often from the altars of
this _unknown idol_ has the blood of human victims streamed! Even here,
in this glorious land of ours, how often do the _too-religious_
Americans seem to become deaf to the most appalling lessons of the past,
while engaged in the frantic worship of this their tutelary deity! At
this very moment, the highly favored land in which we live is convulsed
from its centre to its circumference, by the agitations of these pious
devotees of freedom; and how long ere scenes like those which called
forth the celebrated exclamation of Madame Roland--"O Liberty, what
crimes are perpetrated in thy name!" may be enacted among us, it is not
possible for human sagacity or foresight to determine.

If no one would talk about liberty except those who had taken the pains
to understand it, then would a perfect calm be restored, and peace once
more bless a happy people. But there are so many who imagine they
understand liberty as Falstaff knew the true prince, namely, by
instinct, that all hope of such a consummation must be deferred until it
may be shown that their instinct is a blind guide, and its oracles are
false. Hence the necessity of a close study and of a clear analysis of
the nature and conditions of civil liberty, in order to a distinct
delineation of the great idol, which all men are so ready to worship,
but which so few are willing to take the pains to understand. In the
prosecution of such an inquiry, we intend to consult neither the
pecuniary interests of the South nor the prejudices of the North; but
calmly and immovably proceed to discuss, upon purely scientific
principles, this great problem of our social existence and nation