I do not scent in this the
time-serving irresolution of a Massachusetts Governor, nor of a Boston
Mayor. So behave that the odor of your actions may enhance the general
sweetness of the atmosphere, that when we behold or scent a flower, we
may not be reminded how inconsistent your deeds are with it; for all
odor is but one form of advertisement of a moral quality, and if
fair actions had not been performed, the lily would not smell sweet.
The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the decay of
humanity; the fragrant flower that springs from it, for the purity and
courage which are immortal.
Slavery and servility have produced no sweet-scented flower
annually, to charm the senses of men, for they have no real life: they
are merely a decaying and a death, offensive to all healthy
nostrils. We do not complain that they live, but that they do not
get buried. Let the living bury them: even they are good for manure.
THE END
.
Pages:
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22