- Mar 2017
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www.slate.com www.slate.com
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Among the manifestations of his diseased ambition was a fondness he had for receiving visits from certain ambiguous-looking fellows in seedy coats, whom he called his clients. Indeed I was aware that not only was he, at times, considerable of a ward-politician, but he occasionally did a little business at the Justices’ courts, and was not unknown on the steps of the Tombs. I have good reason to believe, however, that one individual who called upon him at my chambers, and who, with a grand air, he insisted was his client, was no other than a dun, and the alleged title-deed, a bill.
The word "dun" is defiined as, "noun 2. a person, esp a hired agent, who importunes another for the payment of a debt<br> Melville relates how the business, legal, and government worlds of Wall Street are combined within the character of Nippers, as he seemed to have been involved in Wall Street politics that incurred debts to be paid. This mingles with Thoreau's idea of government as a legally binding, debt-incurring instrument.
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teachingamericanhistory.org teachingamericanhistory.org
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Pharisees
The Pharisees were considered experts of Mosaic Law, and often followed it all too well, as Jesus often scorned them for neglecting "practical matters" of mercy and of overconfidence of their own righteousness. An example of this is shown in The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Luke 18:9-14 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
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The fact that the church of our country, (with fractional exceptions), does not esteem “the Fugitive Slave Law” as a declaration of war against religious liberty, implies that that church regards religion simply as a form of worship, an empty ceremony, and not a vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love and good will towards man.
Douglass describes how religious liberty seems hollow in the country if the principles of Christianity aren't practiced along with mere preaching. He also uses strong language concerning the Fugitive Slave law as a "declaration of war" against religious liberty. This is an interesting point, as he views the law as hindering his and other Christians' ability to carry out and practice Christianity by helping fugitive slaves. This idea of too much government causing suppression of religion correlates to Thoreau's minimalistic desires of government
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