THE CONCLUSION. 26 1 



The Cobdens, the Brights, the Peels, and the Glad- 

 stones are rare ; yet, when men of purpose do appear, 

 they should be borne up by the people. 



If all who are heart and soul in sympathy with reform 

 will unite, and stand by the principles involved, they will 

 carry them through, in spite of parties. If they be ani- 

 mated by the spirit and determination which impelled 

 Cobden and his colleagues in their great work of freeing 

 the commerce of England, political parties cannot stand 

 in the way. Said Cobden : " We have nothing to do 

 with Whigs or Tories ; we are stronger than either of 

 them ; if we stick to our principles, we can, of necessity, 

 beat both." Speaking of himself, he said: " I seek no 

 alliance with parties, and I will take none ; but having 

 the feeling, I have the sacredness of the principle, and 

 I can never agree to tamper with it." So may it be with 

 the people who desire the true freedom of America — 

 freedom from false systems. May they rise and go be- 

 yond party ! May there be with them no compromising 

 of principles ! If defeat comes, let it come, once, twice, 

 thrice, or more ; but may there be no surrender ! May 

 they hold out as Abraham Lincoln did when facing the 

 great crisis in his party, and as expressed in his exclama- 

 tion, " If I must go down, then let me go down linked to 

 truth — die in the advocacy of what is right and just ! " 



" Morality is stronger than a majority." 



And now we have accomplished our part of what we 

 have considered to be a duty — in some respects a cheer- 

 ful, and in some respects an onerous, duty ; but in all 

 respects a conscientious one ; a duty to our country ; a 

 duty to ourselves, and to others who are suffering. 



We leave the question, for the present, to the good 

 people of Canada and of the United States. It is of in- 



