canals have performed equally humane services.

And it came to pass, my son, that there was a great war in all the
land; and greater than was ever known before in any other land. Thus
Washington became the centre of our anxieties and our thoughts. The
people of the North, and the people of the West, and the people of
the South, who constituted the people of one great nation, had long
held different opinions as to the right of making merchandise of
men, of women, and of little children. Yes, my son, it was at last
claimed to be in accordance with Christianity to doom these people
to a life at once hopeless and miserable. As you grow up, my son,
and begin to think and act for yourself, you will think it very
strange that such a great national crime as this should have existed
in a land so blessed with the fruits of a ripe civilization. And it
will be a cause of wonder to you that a society based upon such an
abomination did not sooner break down under the burden of its
wrongs. And yet you must always bear in mind, my son, that men do
not view great crimes alike, and that even good and great men differ
as to what constitutes national rights and national wrongs. It is
said that great nations have gone to decline because their people
became blind with pride, and refused to think right. A nation is
always safe while its people think right; but you must teach the
children right before you can have the people think right. Education
and association had much to do in training the thoughts of men in
the South into wrong channels. Taking this view of the subject you
may find much to forgive in a political system that seems wrong in
your eyes and right in the eyes of its supporters. Indeed, my son, I
would enjoin you to treat with a reasonable amount of deference the
arguments advanced by those who differ with you on questions of
public policy, and also to remember that right and reason are your