n such a state it is more important
that every evil be resisted. In a normal condition of liberty many
temporary evils may arise; yet they are not dangerous--in the glow of a
people's freedom they waste and die as disease dies in the sunlight. But
where independence is suppressed and a people degenerate, a little evil
is in an atmosphere to grow, and it grows and expands; and evils
multiply and destroy. That is why men of high spirit working to
regenerate a fallen people must be more insistent to watch every little
defect and weak tendency that in a braver time would leave the soul
unruffled. That is why every difficulty, once it becomes evident, is
ripe for settlement. To evade the issue is to invite disaster.
Resolution alone will save us in our many dangers. But a plea for policy
will be raised to evade a particular and urgent question: "People won't
unite on it"; that's one cry. "Ignorant people will be led astray";
that's another cry. There is always some excuse ready for evasion. The
difficulty is, that every party likes some part of the truth; no party
likes it all; but we must have it all, every line of it. We want no
popular editions and no philosophic selections--the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth. This must be the rule for everything
concerning which a man has a public duty and ought to have a public
opinion. There is a dangerous tendency gaining ground of slurring over
vital things because the settlement of them involves great difficulty,
and may involve great danger; but whatever the issue is we must face it.
It is a step forward to bring men together on points of agreement, but
men come thus together not without a certain amount of suspicion. In a
fight for freedom that latent suspicion would become a mastering fear to
seize and destroy us. We must allay it now. We must lead men to discuss
points of difference with respect, forbearance, and courage, to find a
consistent way of life for all that will inspire confidence in all. At
present we inspire confidence in no one; it would be fatal to hide the
fact. This is a necessary step to bringing matters to a head. We cannot
hope to succeed all at once, but we must keep the great aim in view.
There will be objections on all sides; from the _blase_ man of the
world, concerned only for his comfort, the mean man of business
concerned only for his profits, the man of policy always looking for a
middle way, a certain type of religious pessimist who a