It has not only interrupted me in my passage
through Court Street on errands of trade, but it has interrupted me
and every man on his onward and upward path, on which he had trusted
soon to leave Court Street far behind. What right had it to remind
me of Court Street? I have found that hollow which even I had relied
on for solid.
I am surprised to see men going about their business as if nothing
had happened. I say to myself, "Unfortunates! they have not heard
the news." I am surprised that the man whom I just met on horseback
should be so earnest to overtake his newly bought cows running away-
since all property is insecure, and if they do not run away again,
they may be taken away from him when he gets them. Fool! does he not
know that his seed-corn is worth less this year- that all beneficent
harvests fail as you approach the empire of hell? No prudent man
will build a stone house under these circumstances, or engage in any
peaceful enterprise which it requires a long time to accomplish. Art
is as long as ever, but life is more interrupted and less available
for a man's proper pursuits. It is not an era of repose. We have
used up all our inherited freedom. If we would save our lives, we must
fight for them.
I walk toward one of our ponds; but what signifies the beauty of
nature when men are base? We walk to lakes to see our serenity
reflected in them; when we are not serene, we go not to them.
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