Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, vol 1 | Page 9

judgment,
the conscience, and the heart; a work, indeed, of whose sterling worth
the earnest test is to be found in the fact of its having so universally
touched and stirred the bosom of our common humanity, in all classes
of society, that its humble name has become 'a household word,' from
the palace to the cottage, and of the extent of its circulation having been
unprecedented in the history of the literature of this or of any other age
or country. They would, at the same time, include in their hearty
welcome the Rev. C.E. Stowe, Professor of Theological Literature in
the Andover Theological Seminary, Massachusetts, whose eminent
qualifications, as a classical scholar, a man of general literature, and a
theologian, have recently placed him in a highly honorable and
responsible position, and who, on the subject of slavery, holds the same
principles and breathes the same spirit of freedom with his
accomplished partner; and, along with them too, another member of the
same singularly talented family with herself. They delight to think of
the amount of good to the cause of emancipation and universal liberty
which her Cabin has already done, and to anticipate the still larger
amount it is yet destined to do, now that the Key to the Cabin has
triumphantly shown it to be no fiction; and in whatever further efforts
she may be honored of Heaven to make in the same noble cause, they
desire, unitedly and heartily, to cheer her on, and bid her 'God speed.' I
cannot but feel myself highly honored in having been requested to
move this resolution. In doing so, I have the happiness of introducing to
a Glasgow audience a lady from the transatlantic continent, the
extraordinary production of whose pen, referred to in the resolution,
had made her name familiar in our country and through Europe, ere she
appeared in person among us. My judgment and my heart alike fully
respond to every thing said in the resolution respecting that inimitable
work. We are accustomed to make a distinction between works of
nature and works of art, but in a sense which, all will readily
understand, this is preeminently both. As a work of art, it bears upon it,
throughout, the stamp of original and varied genius. And yet,
throughout, it equally bears the impress of nature--of human nature--in

its worst and its best, and all its intermediate phases. The man who has
read that little volume without laughing and crying alternately--without
the meltings of pity, the thrillings of horror, and the kindlings of
indignation--would supply a far better argument for a distinct race than
a negro. [Loud laughter and cheers.] He must have a humanity
peculiarly his own. And he who can read it without the breathings of
devotion must, if he calls himself a Christian, have a Christianity as
unique and questionable as his humanity. [Cheering.] Never did work
produce such a sensation. Among us that sensation has happily been all
of one kind. It has been the stirring of universal sympathy and
unbounded admiration. Not so in the country of its own and of its gifted
authoress's birth. There, the ferment has been among the friends as well
as the foes of slavery. Among the former all is rage. Among the latter,
while there are some--we trust not a few--who take the same high and
noble position with the talented authoress, there are too many, we fear,
who are frightened by this uncompromising boldness, and who are
drawn back rather than drawn forward by it--who 'halt between two
opinions,' and are the advocates of medium principles and medium
measures. By many among ourselves, the excitement which has been
stirred is contemplated with apprehension. They regard it as
unfavorable to emancipation, and likely to retard rather than to advance
its progress. I must confess myself of a somewhat different mind. That
the cause may be obstructed by it for a time, may be true. But it will
work well in the long run. Good will ultimately come out of it. Stir is
better than stagnancy. Irritation is better than apathy. Whence does it
arise? From two sources. The conscience and the honor of the country
have both been touched. Conscience winces under the touch. The
provocation shows it to be ill at ease. The wound is painful, and it
naturally awakens fretfulness and resentment. But by and by the angry
excitement will subside, and the salutary conviction will remain and
operate. The national honor, too, has been touched. Our friends across
the wave boast, and with good reason, of the free principles of their
constitution. They glory in their liberty. But they cannot fail to feel the
inconsistency of their position, and the exposure of it to the world
kindles on the cheek the blush of