hearts. They were not without fierceness, but it was the fruit
of honest anger. Rifles in their judgement went not ill with
Bible-reading and prayer--but we have heard of such before.
Armed Roundheads and Scotch Covenanters combined prayer with
sword exercise. In this camp, morning and evening prayers were
an institution; uncivil treatment of prisoners was a gross
offence; no intoxicating liquors were permitted. One by-law
runs: 'All profane, vulgar, or ungentlemanly talk shall be
discountenanced.' What! do these rough men set themselves up to
be gentlemen! Yes, according to Emerson's own meaning when he
says of Brown's supporters:

'All gentlemen, of course, are on his side. I do not mean by
"gentlemen" people of scented hair and perfumed handkerchiefs,
but men of gentle blood and generosity, "fulfilled with all
nobleness," who, like the Cid, give the outcast leper a share of
their bed; like the dying Sidney, pass the cup of cold water to
the wounded soldier who needs it more. For what is the oath of
gentle blood and knighthood! What but to protect the weak and
lowly against the strong oppressor! Nothing is more absurd than
to complain of this sympathy, or to complain of a party of men
united in opposition to slavery. As well complain of gravity or
the ebb of the tide. Who makes the Abolitionist! The slave-
holder. The sentiment of mercy is the natural recoil which the
laws of the universe provide to protect mankind from destruction
by savage passions. And our blind statesmen go up and down, with
committees of vigilance and safety, hunting for the origin of
this new heresy. They will need a very vigilant committee,
indeed, to find its birthplace, and a very strong force to root
it up. For the arch-abolitionist, older than Brown, and older