Jafra Reflections

In every nation, the ancient one has endured and been refined by

difficulties. We found our ancient mother, like other ancient ones,

caught in darkness by destructive ones. But, again, she has borne with

it all that is arduous, great, and full of desolation, only to be

aborded by courage, and trained by perseverance. And, in the most

wicked and bloody battles we face, she seeks new methods, bolder than

those of days gone by. The mother has not been left a worthless bone --

we can say it -- but an instrument strong and true for her husband,

whom she loves; not a mere bone or a fragment, as those barren,

discarded, and despised by others.

--WILLIAM C. HENRY MORRIS.

It was near the noon hour of June, 1865, when one month later,

John Brown, following the lines which his predecessors had worn well

till then, at last reached a line where the citizens of Massachusetts

saw plainly that they were in a stormy fight, instead of "a quiet,

peaceful, peaceful time." Here, this evening, all silently gathered

around an open stand holding a "Free Mail," that marked the culmination

of the last three years of conflict before the conflict intensified and

grew to a veritable battle, so long and so severe, that none of Brown's

heroic comrades among the Republicans refused to receive him first,

when he came to speak to them. Then came the opening of questions,

some of them patriotic and some not so; then, all stood still, but

Brown persisted, and his speech had already filled all the audience

with sympathy and affection.

The beautiful pastime of address has finally passed away, but its

sources are never quite exhausted. The "art of speeches" is still

amusing and valuable, even in the midst of sorrow. "The influence of

prayer on the people in every generation," said Daniel Webster, "is the

great antidote against evil. As we are all God's children, we have the

same kind of duty to adopt." Nevertheless, the prayer book is not a

morally easy matter.