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LYCEUM LECTURES Locke's technique was to portray the Nasby character as an outrageously ignorant, unprincipled, venal and vicious bigot whose motivating desires were to collect unearned money (in pursuit of which he founded a shyster church), to stay drunk on free liquor, and to get a work-free government job as a reward for toadying to Democratic politicians. He parodied the Democratic support of slavery by exaggerating the appeals to tradition and religion used to justify slavery. He uses a vicious irony to attack racism and racists. He was famous for beginning lectures by roaring "We are all descended from grandfathers!"; after which he would barrel his way through a raving diatribe. A DESCRIPTION OF HIS STAGE MANNER "His appearance on stage was welcomed with a prodigious burst of applause, but he did not stop to bow or in any other way acknowledge the greeting, but strode straight to the reading desk, spread his portfolio upon it, and immediately petrified himself into an attitude which he never changed during the hour and a half occupied by his performance, except to turn his leaves-his body bent over the desk, rigidly supported by his left arm, as by a stake, his right arm lying across his back...The moment he had crutched himself upon his left arm, lodged his right upon his back, and bent himself over his manuscript, he raised his face slightly, flashed a glance upon the audience, and bellowed this remark in a thundering bull voice: ''We are all descended from grandfathers!'' "Then he went right on roaring to the end, tearing his ruthless way through the continuous applause and laughter, and taking no account of it. His lecture was a volleying and sustained discharge of bull's-eye hits, with the slave power and its Northern apologists for target..." (Mark Twain's Autobiography, Vol. 1, p. 149) THE POLITICAL SETTING In the years before the Civil War, and during the war itself, there were in the border states those who believed in slavery and supported the South. As the war progressed, these forces favored compromise and a negotiated end to the war. It is these Northern Copperheads who receive the harshest ridicule from Locke, who was a passionate Republican. The fictional Nasby evenually settles in the town of Confederate Crossroads (spelled Confedrit × Roads). Abraham Lincoln has been quoted as saying that Locke was most effective in promoting the Union cause, and is said to have read Nasby essays aloud at cabinet meetings during the war. THE LITERARY TRADITION In the years that Locke worked, two traditions of popular American literature were outrageous exaggeration and humorous misspelling. The tradition of tongue-in-cheek exaggeration lives on in the work of, for example, Dave Barry . One word that probably derives from the tradition of humorous misspelling is OK , standing for "oll korrect." Locke uses humorous spelling in a controlled way, to make Nasby appear ridiculous, stupid, and ignorant and to make obvious the insanity of his arguments. He presents one reason for racial prejudice as the desire of the incompetent to maintain a specious superiority. BIOGRAPHY Locke was a newspaper editor. He apprenticed in this trade as a boy. The Nasby material was developed as short humorous pieces, beginning in the Toledo (Ohio) ''Blade'', which he edited. The Nasby essays were collected in books which sold well. Even during and after his time as a lecturer, Locke was successful in his profession, eventually editing a paper in New York City. "CUSSID BE CANAAN!" Locke's best-known lecture, which he delivered many times, was dated 1867 and titled "Cussid Be Canaan!" Beginning with "We are all descended from grandfathers," Nasby picks apart the religious arguments for slavery. The title refers to the biblical verse Geneisis 9:25: "Cursed be Canaan! Most servile of slaves shall he be to his brothers." This verse was adduced by racist preachers to justify slavery and the subjection of African-Americans to whites. The fiery tenor of the speech is here exemplified by a few passages (italics are in the original): First Nasby quotes the Declaration of Independence, then rewords it thus: " 'We hold these ''supposed'' truths to be ''tolerably'' self-evident, that, as a rule, all ''white'' men are created equal; that ''they'' are endowed by their Creator with divers and sundry rights, which may be considered inalienable; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of —— niggers!' It will be observed that the two Declarations differ somewhat. One is as Jefferson wrote it, and the other is the version we use at Confedrit × Roads." Further on in the speech, there is a sort of blend of the Nasby character and a more rational mode, fiercely making points that still strke home in contexts of, for example, immigration: "The Negro of the Dictionary I know nothing about; the Nigger I have spent much time in investigating, and flatter myself I understand it thoroughly. I say ''it'' of the Nigger, and ''him'' of the Negro, for there is a wide difference between them. THe Negro is a ''man'', born in Africa, or descended from natives of that country; the Nigger is an idea, which exists only in the imagination of persons of the haughty Caucasian race resident in the United States. It is an idea which always sways men, and influences their action, without having being; a myth, which influences the world, without possessing form or shape. It is possessed of many attributes, is many-sided, many-shaped, vastly endowed, and fearfully and wonderfully made. To clear up as I go, I may as well specify some of the peculiarities of the Nigger. For instance, it is firmly believed that he could never provide for himself; but those so contending, also declare that the wealth of the country is dependent upon him, and that without him weeds would grow in the streets of our cities. It was asserted that he would not labor; yet the same men undertook the large job of conquering the North, that they might continue to enjoy the fruits of his labor. He was said to be so stupid as to be incapable of receiving even the rudiments of an education, and yet we found it necessary, in our States, to pass stringent laws, with fearful penalties attached, to prevent him from doing it! It was held by eloquent speakers that he would invade the North, and, as he was too indolent to work, he would fill our almshouses and jails; and the same speakers would assert a moment later, with equal eloquence, that, accustomed as he always had been to labor, he would work for less pay than white men, and throw them all out of employment. This last assertion, I have noticed, was always made by gentlemen in the vicinity of bar-rooms, whose noses were solferino-hued, whose hats were crownless, and whose wives, for amusement probably, took in washing to feed the children." Later in the speech Locke breaks completely out of the Nasby persona and makes rational arguments for racial equality: "The people elect, or ought to elect, men to office to serve them. If you desire whitewashing done, do you look at the ''color'' of the artist to whom you intrust the purifying of your walls and ceilings? No; you select the ''man'' who has the most skill. Why not so in official positions? If you have among you negroes who have ability superior to the whites, if you have those who can better fill the offices, you as tax-payers, do yourselves gross injustice by not electing them. It does not follow that you must therefore take them to your bosoms as social equals. You have, under the Constitution of the United States, the blessed privege of choosing your own associations. We do not care to associate with all white men, but all white men vote nevertheless. "I would not make them superior to the white. I would do nothing more for them than I would do for other men. But I would not prevent them doing for themselves. I would tear down all bars to their advancement. I would let them make of themselves all that they may. In a republic there should be no avenue to honor or well-doing closed to any man. If they outstrip me in the race, it proves them to be more worthy, and they are clearly entitled to the advantages resulting. There is no reason for this inequality. Knowing how deep the prejudice is against the race, knowing how low down in our very natures its roots have struck, I demand, in our renewed and purified republic, the abrogation of all laws discriminating against them. I demand for them full equality with us before the law. Come what may, let it lead to what it will, this demand I make. I make it as a worshipper of true Democracy; as one who believes in the divine right of man — not white man, red man, or black man, but MAN, to self-government." "THE STRUGGLES OF A CONSERVATIVE WITH THE WOMAN QUESTION" Locke also delivered a standard speech dealing with the liberation of women. This speech, which he dates 1868, includes sarcastic material in the Nasby vein, as shown by a few extracts: "From the beginning woman has occupied a dependent position, and has been only what man has made her. The Turks, logical fellows, denied her a soul, and made of her an object of barter and sale; the American Indians made of her a beast of burden. In America, since we extended the area of civilization by butchering the Indians, we have copied both." "The inferiority of the sex is easy of demonstration. It has been said that the mother forms the character of the man so long, that the proposition has become axiomatic. If this be true, we can crush those who prate of the equality of women, by holding up to the gaze of the world the inferior men she has produced. Look at the Congress of the United States." "My friend is learned. She has a tolerable knowledge of Greek, is an excellent Latin scholar, and as she has read the Constitution of the United States, she excels in political lore the majority of our representatives in Congress. But nevertheless I protest against her voting for several reasons. 1. She cannot sing bass! Her voice, as Dr. Bushnell justly observes in his blessed book, is pitched higher than the male voice, which indicates feminine weakness of mind. 2. Her form is graceful rather than strong. 3. She delights in millinery goods. 4. She can't grow whiskers." But at the end of the speech he breaks free of Nasby and speaks as himself: "What shall we do with the woman question? It is upon us, and must be met. I have tried for an hour to be a conservative, but it won't do. Like poor calico, it won't wash. There are in the United States some millions of women who desire something better than the lives they and their mothers have been living. There are millions of women who have minds and souls, and who yearn for something to develop their minds and souls. There are millions of women who desire to have something to think about, to assume responsibilities, that they may strengthen their moral natures, as the gymnast lifts weights to strengthen his physical nature. There are hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered in silence worse evils by far than the slaves of the South, who, like the slaves of the South, have no power to redress their wrongs, no voice so potent that the public must hear. In the parlor, inanity and frivolity; in the cottage, hopeless servitude, unceasing toil; a dark life, with a darker ending. This is the condition of woman in the world to-day. Thousands starving physically for want of something to do, with a world calling for labor; thousands starving mentally, with an unexplored world before them. One half of humanity is a burden to the other half... "To give the ballot to the woman of America to-day, would not be so fearful a thing as it was ten years ago to give it to the negro, or as it was a hundred years ago to give it to the people. I would give it, and take the chances. The theory of Republicanism is, that the governing power must rest in the hands of the governed. There is no danger in truth. If the woman is governed, she has a right to a voice in the making of laws. To withhold it is to dwarf her, and to dwarf woman is to dwarf the race." SEE ALSO |
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