itage of one great idea; we
were created by it and for it, and it is mightier than we; it
must annihilate us, or it must establish us a nation as lasting
as the ages.

Our ante-revolutionary statesmen were dissatisfied with an
inadequate, partial, unjust representation. The thought grew in
them till it developed the broad principle of self-government by
the people. They perceived and asserted that truth; they fought
for it, and died or lived for it, as the case might be. So they
constructed this great Republic, grounding it firmly upon a deep
and wide democracy. Its frame-work was essentially democratic,
but there were a few great beams and joists, and plenty of paint
and mortar used, which were as purely aristocratic.

We, here at the North, have been accustomed to look at the
strength of the foundations, and of the consistent massive
frame-work; they, at the South, admired the incongruous ornaments
and decorations, and they did not forget any of the exceptional
timbers. We were shocked when the great structure seemed ready to
tumble about our ears; they expected it all the time, and were
working for it, ready to perish in the general downfall, if that
were inevitable. I have seen a drop of water spread over a small
orifice in a layer of melting ice, which was brilliant red in
color to me, but it was the intensest blue to my friend, who was
standing at my side. The moral vision is quite as largely
dependent upon the angle at which it receives its rays of
reflected light. North and South represent the extremes of the
moral spectrum. The equalizing of labor and capital, which is a
beautiful violet to us, is a very angry red to them; and the
soft-toned hues of their system of servitude are crimson with
blood-guiltiness to ourselves. If we stood where the perfect and
undivided sunbeams could fall upon us, we should see all men
under the common radiance of that pure white light, of which
Providence has an unlimited supply.

No more unanimity of sentiment or principle existed among our own
people in the war of the Revolution, than in this. Democracy,
asserting its rights, brought on the conflict then, though
aristocracy, goaded by the instinct of self-preservation and
self-interest, joined hands and aided it to its consummation.
Patri