March, 1880.
THE WEST SHORE.
UNCJl.K TOM'S CABIN.
HV A1C.USTA Al.l.KN.
upon the nation and realized for what
our bravo soldiers were lighting, it
This is a book of which the world
CUt) lieVCI the, foi Ulei) and women Will
ever have hearts to feel the woes of
mankind. They will ever have siy lis
to breathe for oppressed humanity, and
tears to shed for dwarfed distorted man
hood. Though the great work for which
the book was created, is done, neither
this fact nor its age has dimmed the
lustre of its merit or its literary ex
cellence. It was, I think, the first hook ever
. read by me. It was brought into our
family during the time when this na
tion was living the scenes of the last
blood-stained epoch of its history;
when the dark nail of slavery over
shadowed the land; when scarcely
person could be found in the North
who had not given some dear one to
battle in the cause of liberty; when
household! were weeping over loved
members, who were among the fallen ;
and when the whole country was but a
scene of bleeding hearts and bitter
desolation.
When even news of the foe's defeat
was hailed with joy chastened and sub
dued by the thought that the precious
life-blood Of hundreds had been poured
out to purchase the sacred victory. It
was during such times 11s these that
" Uncle Tom's Cabin" found its way
into our country home: a home in
which trashy novels met with neither
welcome nor uuarler. With what
breathless interest every member of
that family, from the gray-haired man
to the little child, listeiiid to the read
ing of that book! And when the last
chapter was finished my child-mind
was not satisfied. 1 took it up, and by
skipping the longest words and bravely
wrestling with those of medium length,
mastered it for myself. Nor did one
such reading suffice hut again and
again the precious book was read from
first to hist. How I thought about it!
How I studied ill and what grand lea
sons I learned from its pages. I saw so
plain!)' the MM and the woman beneath
the black skin of the slave. I felt the
bond of brotherhood between the races.
Child, though I was, my heart burned
at the injustice of slavery, and bled 01 1 1
the knowledge of its cruellies.
As I learned from this book, the true
nature of the mighty curse which rested
raised up within me such a passionate
love of Country! and such a strong feel
ing of patriotism as nothing cite COulu
have awakened.
I loved that book in my childhood,
and I have never outgrow n my interest
in it. Ever since the year it became a
part of our library, 1 have, once or
twice in the course of the twelve.
month, taken it from the shelf, ami
again pondered its truths; laughed at the
rare humor Hashing out here and there,
and wept over the sad pictures so touch-
Ingly portrayed.
Many works of fiction are written for
the sole unloose of Uftlnff the purse
with gold, or of wreathing the author's
brow with the laurels of fame. Not so
with "Uncle Tom's Cabin." If such
had been the case, ( i oil's blessing would
not have gone with it as it did. Its
author is a noble Christian woman.
Her sympathies, for years before the
book was written, were with the race
in bondage. Hut dining that time
Harriet Itecchcr Stowe little dreamed
that hi-r white hand was to do more
toward breaking the iron chain of the
oppressor, and freeing the slaves of the
South, than any oilier single hand in
the whole world. I tut so it was to be
And I rcinicc to-day, thai a WOtMH t
hand did the mighty work.
in 1850 the Fugitive Slave lav was
passed. A law which croVwtd tin
Died Scott decision and was even
more infamous than that. Never, since
the formation of oar Government, has
Congress passed any other law, which
so overshadowed America with dh
rrace, as the one which had for ils aim
the converting of all the peopll "I
nation Into Negro hunters, and slav
holders' servant.. Mis. Stowe's soul
cried out against such a measure, am
when the found that it was support!
by humane men and women in the
North, she said, " These people do not
know what slavery is!" and she deter
mined that they should know. I'm she,
hcisiii, would strip it of its painted
mask, and hold its hideous fcatuies up
to the iew of the whole world. With
mind fdled with this noble thought
and with heart bleeding for the op-
I pressed, she set about her lask. All
are familiar with The story of the do
mestic nature of her labor, its conse
quently slow progress, the final publi-
Cation of the book, and the wonderful
sales following. It was eagerly sought
by people of all classes. The national
question changed from " How are
vou?"to "Have you read Uncle Tom's
Cabin?" li win read with equal Interest
by old and young. Christian parents
read it to their children. Even those
who looked with scorn upon any thing
of 11 religious nature read and praised
that book, a book rich in Itible truths;
abounding in sweet lessons of faith and
fruit In God ; breathing of Christ and
unfolding Christianity in its every
page.
Ministers of the Gospel) who for
veal s had nol read 11 Hue of fiction, read
and re-read that hook, pronouncing its
ifluenCO for good all-powerful. Anti-
lavery men and women read it, and
aw in it the dawn of 11 new era in the
nation's history. Slave-holders read it
and cursed this woman, who dared to
write it, for they too saw what the re-
nil must he. Negroes read it, and
praised Cod with oveillowing hearts
for the woman " whose loving sympa
thy for their race could be felt pulsing
dong every line." Certain it is, that
no other work 01 neiion lias ever
exerted an iulliieiice for good equal to
thai of this book. Its political inllucncc
has been gn at. That alone would have
rendered it praiseworthy. As gront u
politician as I, old I'almerston said, " 1
havi not read a novel for thirty years,
nit I have read 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'
three times; not alone lor the sake of
the story, hut for the statesmanship
Oflt"
It ile. ill the death-blow lo the Kllgi
live Slave law. Nothing else could have
done the WOrk so speedily anil Kocfieel
Itally. It Opened the eyes of millions,
ami caused llu 111 lo look upon the sys
tem of slaver) In its true light It made
1 linn ..mils of COnVeftl to the anli
slavery cause, It stilled the hearts of
Abolitionists and spurred them to ac
tion in the great strife which followed;
and which, as the world knows, result
ed In the bunting of fetters and chains;
1 he 8 mancipation of an enslaved people;
and the uplifting and dispelling of the
daikest cloud that ever stretched its
murky darkness latween America and
the Sun of Uighteousness.
The miser is the great oiiginal chest
protector.
Why do hens always lay eggs in day
time ? They arc roosters at night.