into a sort of political Thebais because the noblest parties have stains
on their banner, is, in truth, to turn their back on the civil
obligations of real life.

The abolition party is a noble one. Several of its champions have given
their lives to propagate their faith. But lately, indeed, the Texan
journals took pains to tell us that a number of them had just been hung
in that State; and, without even speaking of these noble victims, whose
death completes the dishonor of the Southern cause, are there any bolder
deeds in the history of mankind than those of the citizens of New
England who, to wrest Kansas from slavery, went thither to build their
cabins, thus braving a fearful struggle, not only with the slaveholders,
but with the President, his illegal measures, and the troops charged
with maintaining them?

We must fight to conquer. This seems little understood by those who
reproach abolitionism with having been a party militant; to hear them,
the true way of bringing about the abolition of slavery was to let it
alone: to attack was to exasperate it.

This argument is so unfortunate as to be employed in all bad causes. I
remember that when measures were taken against the slave trade, we were
told that the sufferings of the slaves would be thus increased, and that
the slavers would be _exasperated_. Later, when we held up to the
indignation of the whole world the Protestant intolerance of Sweden, we
were assured that these public denunciations would put back the question
instead of accelerating it. We persevered, and we did rightly. Sweden
is advancing, though at too slow a pace, towards religious liberty. It
would be difficult to cite any social iniquities that have reformed of
themselves; and, since the existence of the world, the method which