It is a gloomy moment in history. Not for many years – not in the lifetime of most men who read this paper – has there been so much grave and deep apprehension; never has the future seemed so incalculable as at this time.
In France the political caldron seethes and bubbles with uncertainty; Russia hangs as usual like a cloud, dark and silent upon the horizon of Europe…
It is a solemn moment, and so no man can feel an indifference – which, happily, no man pretends to feel – in the issue of events.
Of our new troubles no man can see the end. … It is no time for idleness, for trifling, for forgetfulness. The complexion of every country, and of the world, rests at last upon the character of individuals.
— from Harper’s Weekly, 10 October 1857
[…The more things stay the same. – KMAB]
