"I am pleased to hear from your lordship the expressions of good will from her Gracious Majesty's Government."
"I am sorry to say, however," the Minister hastened to add, "that the Proclamation of Emancipation4 was not received by the best people of England as favorably as we had hoped."
"And why not?" Seward politely asked.
"Seeing that it could have no effect in really freeing the slaves until the South is conquered it appeared to be merely an attempt to excite a servile insurrection."
The Secretary lifted his eyebrows5, took another dip of snuff, and softly inquired:
"And may I ask of your lordship whether this would not have been even more true in the earlier days of the war than now?"
"Undoubtedly6."
"And yet I understand that her Gracious Majesty's Government was cold toward us because we had failed to take such high moral grounds at once in the beginning of the war?"
His lordship lifted his hands in polite admission of the facts.
"The trouble you see is," he went on softly, "Europe begins to feel that the division of sentiment in the North will prove a fatal weakness to the administration in so grave a crisis. Unfortunately, from our point of view, of course, your Government is a democracy, the sport of every whim7 of the demagogue of the hour——"
Seward lifted his eyes with a quick look at his lordship and smiled:
"Allow me to reassure8 her Gracious Majesty's Government on that point immediately. The administration will find means of preserving the sovereign power the people have entrusted9 to it. For example, my lord, I can touch the little bell on my right hand and order the arrest without warrant of a citizen of Ohio. I can touch the little bell on my left hand and order the imprisonment10 of a citizen of New York; and no power on earth except that of the President, can release them. Can the Queen of Great Britain do as much?"
His lordship left apparently11 reassured12.
The tinkle13 of the little bell on the desk of the Secretary of State which had begun to fill the jails of the North with her leading Democratic citizens did not have the same soothing14 effect on American lawmakers, however. These arrests were made without warrant and the victim held without charges, the right to bail15 or trial.
The President had dared to suspend the great writ16 of habeas corpus which guaranteed to every freeman the right to meet his accuser in open court and answer the charge against him.
The attitude of the bold aggressive opposition17 was voiced on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington in no uncertain language by Daniel Voorhees of Indiana, in a speech whose passionate18 eloquence19 was only equalled by its reckless daring.
"The present Executive of the Government," he declared, "has usurped20 the powers of Law and Justice to an extent subversive21 of republican institutions, and not to be borne by any free people. He has given access to the vaults22 of prisons but not to the bar of justice. It is a part of the nature of frail23 men to sin against laws, both human and divine; but God Himself guarantees him a fair trial before punishment. Tyrants24 alone repudiate25 the justice of the Almighty26. To deny an accused man the right to be heard in his own defense27 is an echo from the dark ages of brutal28 despotism. We have in this the most atrocious tyranny that ever feasted on the groans29 of a captive or banqueted on the tears of the widow and the orphan30.
"And yet on this spectacle of shame and horror American citizens now gaze. The great bulwark31 of human liberty which generations in bloody32 toil33 have built against the wicked exercise of unlawful power has been torn away by a parricidal34 hand. Every man to-day from the proudest in his mansion35 to the humblest in his cabin—all stand at the mercy of one man, and the fawning36 minions37 who crouch38 before him for pay.
"We hear on every side the old cry of the courtier and the parasite39. At every new aggression40, at every additional outrage41, new advocates rise to defend the source of patronage42, wealth and fame—the department of the Executive! Such assistance has always waited on the malignant43 efforts of tyranny. Nero had his poet laureate, and Seneca wrote a defense even for the murder of his mother. And this dark hour affords us ample evidence that human nature is the same to-day as two thousand years ago."
Such speeches could not be sent broadcast free of charge through the mails without its effect on the minds of thousands. The great political party in opposition to the administration was now arrayed in solid phalanx against the war itself on whose prosecution44 the existence of the Nation depended.
Again the Radical45 wing of his party demanded of the President the impossible.
The Abolitionists had given a tardy46 and lukewarm support in return for the issue of the Proclamation of Emancipation. Their support lasted but a few days. Through their spokesman, Senator Winter, they demanded now the whole loaf. They had received but half of their real program. They asked for a policy of reconstruction47 in the parts of Louisiana and Tennessee held by the union army in accordance with their ideas. They demanded the ballot48 for every slave, the confiscation49 of the property of the white people of the South and its bestowment upon negroes and camp-followers as fast as the union army should penetrate50 into the States in rebellion.
Senator Winter's argument was based on sound reasoning theoretically whatever might be said of its wisdom as a National policy.
"Your Emancipation Proclamation," he declared to the President, "provides for the arming and drilling of negro soldiers to fight for the Republic. If they are good enough to fight they are good enough to vote. The ballot is only another form of the bayonet which we use in time of peace——"
"Correct, Senator," was the calm reply, "if we are to allow the negro race to remain in America in physical contact with ours. But we are not going to do this. No greater calamity51 could befall our people. Colonization52 and separation must go hand in hand with the emancipation of these children of Africa. I incorporated this principle in my act of emancipation. I have set my life on the issue of its success. As a matter of theory and abstract right we may grant the suffrage53 to a few of the more intelligent negroes and the black soldiers we may enroll54 until they can be removed——"
"Again we deal with a Southerner, Mr. President!" the Senator sneered55.
"So be it," was the quiet answer. "I have never held any other views. They were well known before the war. But two years before my election I said in my debate with Douglas:
"'I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way, the social and political equality of the white and black races. I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to inter-marry with white people. I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which, I believe, will forever forbid the two living together on terms of social and political equality."
"Yet," the Senator sneered, "you can change your mind. You said in your Inaugural56 that you had no intention or right to interfere57 with the institution of Slavery. You did so just the same."
"As an act of war to save the union only. But mark you, I have always hated Slavery from principle for the white man's sake as well as the negro's. I am equally determined58 on principle that the negro race after it is free shall never be absorbed into our social or political life!"
"You'll change your principles or retire to private life!" the old man snapped.
"When I have saved the union we shall see. Time will indicate the wisdom of my position. I have no longer any ambition except to give the best that's in me to my people."
The breach59 between the President and the most powerful leaders of his own party was now complete. It was a difference that was fundamental and irreconcilable60. They asked him to extend the autocratic power he wielded61 to preserve the union in a time of war to a program of revenge and proscription62 against the South as it should fall before the advancing army. His answer was simple:
"Secession was void from the beginning. The South shall not be laid waste as conquered territory when the union is restored. They shall return as our brethren to live with us in peace and good will with the curse of Slavery lifted from them and their children. Nor will I permit the absorption of this black blood into our racial stock to degrade our National character. When free, the negro must return to his own."
With fierce, sullen63 determination the Radical wing of his party organized a secret powerful conspiracy64 to drive Abraham Lincoln from public life.
Behind this first line of attack stood the Democratic party with its millions of loyal voters now united under George B. McClellan. The Radicals65 and the Democrats66 hated each other with a passion second only to their hatred67 of the President. They agreed to remove him first and then settle their own differences.
点击收听单词发音
1 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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2 plunge | |
v.跳入,(使)投入,(使)陷入;猛冲 | |
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3 dagger | |
n.匕首,短剑,剑号 | |
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4 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
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5 eyebrows | |
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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6 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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7 whim | |
n.一时的兴致,突然的念头;奇想,幻想 | |
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8 reassure | |
v.使放心,使消除疑虑 | |
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9 entrusted | |
v.委托,托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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11 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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12 reassured | |
adj.使消除疑虑的;使放心的v.再保证,恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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13 tinkle | |
vi.叮当作响;n.叮当声 | |
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14 soothing | |
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的 | |
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15 bail | |
v.舀(水),保释;n.保证金,保释,保释人 | |
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16 writ | |
n.命令状,书面命令 | |
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17 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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18 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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19 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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20 usurped | |
篡夺,霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 ); 盗用; 篡夺,篡权 | |
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21 subversive | |
adj.颠覆性的,破坏性的;n.破坏份子,危险份子 | |
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22 vaults | |
n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 );地下室;撑物跳高;墓穴 | |
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23 frail | |
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
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24 tyrants | |
专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 ); 暴君似的人; (古希腊的)僭主; 严酷的事物 | |
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25 repudiate | |
v.拒绝,拒付,拒绝履行 | |
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26 almighty | |
adj.全能的,万能的;很大的,很强的 | |
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27 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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28 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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29 groans | |
n.呻吟,叹息( groan的名词复数 );呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦 | |
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30 orphan | |
n.孤儿;adj.无父母的 | |
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31 bulwark | |
n.堡垒,保障,防御 | |
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32 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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33 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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34 parricidal | |
adj.杀父母的,杀长上者 | |
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35 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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36 fawning | |
adj.乞怜的,奉承的v.(尤指狗等)跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 );巴结;讨好 | |
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37 minions | |
n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 );走狗;宠儿;受人崇拜者 | |
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38 crouch | |
v.蹲伏,蜷缩,低头弯腰;n.蹲伏 | |
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39 parasite | |
n.寄生虫;寄生菌;食客 | |
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40 aggression | |
n.进攻,侵略,侵犯,侵害 | |
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41 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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42 patronage | |
n.赞助,支援,援助;光顾,捧场 | |
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43 malignant | |
adj.恶性的,致命的;恶意的,恶毒的 | |
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44 prosecution | |
n.起诉,告发,检举,执行,经营 | |
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45 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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46 tardy | |
adj.缓慢的,迟缓的 | |
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47 reconstruction | |
n.重建,再现,复原 | |
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48 ballot | |
n.(不记名)投票,投票总数,投票权;vi.投票 | |
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49 confiscation | |
n. 没收, 充公, 征收 | |
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50 penetrate | |
v.透(渗)入;刺入,刺穿;洞察,了解 | |
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51 calamity | |
n.灾害,祸患,不幸事件 | |
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52 colonization | |
殖民地的开拓,殖民,殖民地化; 移殖 | |
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53 suffrage | |
n.投票,选举权,参政权 | |
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54 enroll | |
v.招收;登记;入学;参军;成为会员(英)enrol | |
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55 sneered | |
讥笑,冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56 inaugural | |
adj.就职的;n.就职典礼 | |
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57 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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58 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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59 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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60 irreconcilable | |
adj.(指人)难和解的,势不两立的 | |
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61 wielded | |
手持着使用(武器、工具等)( wield的过去式和过去分词 ); 具有; 运用(权力); 施加(影响) | |
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62 proscription | |
n.禁止,剥夺权利 | |
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63 sullen | |
adj.愠怒的,闷闷不乐的,(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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64 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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65 radicals | |
n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 );根基;基本原理;[数学]根数 | |
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66 democrats | |
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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67 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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