o
"iVo Union with Slarelwltlt-rs.'1''
VOL. I.
NEW-LISHON, OHIO, FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1815.
NO. 3.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE
OHIO AMERICAN ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY,
At one dollar and fifty cents a yea in advance, or two dol
lars if not paid withi n six months.
From the Anti-Slavery Standard.
Political Aspect of the United States.
respecting Slavery.
Dark as tho prospects of our cause may seem lo
those who look upon the da shing of ihe political bil
lows, without properly appreciating Ihe healthlulness
of the moral agitation which has raised the iBging
tempect, yet, to tnnse who, like the members and
friends of the American Aoli Slavery Society, have
long been laboring to break the pestilential calm of
sixty years, the present hour seems full of promise
and of cheer.
Apaihy can no longer exist. Ignorance begins to
be dispelled. States are beginning lo feel and to
dread tho pro slavery currents that have been so long
hearing them silently onward towards political sub
jugalion. Legislatures have been convulsed by ihe
first dawnings of a conjecture, that no compromises,
however cunning, no surrender of rights, however
limilod and guarded, can secure to Freedom any ad
vantage from the existence of Slavery. And it is a
proof of the degradation to which Slavery had re
dnced ihig nation, that a truth to obvious, a fact so
indisputable that to deny it were folly, now gives to
the Legislatures and statesmen, who begin to per
ceive it, a claim for drplhand originality. Ideas on
human rights, duties, uovernments, nnd constitutions,
which Abolitionists have for years held up to Ihe
community, are now blazoned forth under Legist a
live sanction as new discoveries. Wo rejoice that
here and there throughout the country, men called
wise are coming more or less rapidly to the same
conclusions, for ihe adaption of which Ihe American
i Society has been branded its iocendiniy, fanatical, and
'dangerous; and that too at no distant period nf the
past. Tho wise and prudent, "the right sort ot
men1' are now groping blindly for Ihe way, bs one
of political expediency, which, (because guided by
the moral right the principle of freedom,) Ihe way
faring Abolitionist;, though aocounted fools, did not
err in.
The Annexation of Texas, ihe admission of Flori-
da, the expulsion of the officials of free Slates from
the territory of slave States, the disgrace of the na
tion in foreign courts bv a new display of the slavery
tainted character of her diplomacy, Ihe imprison
ment, (and in one instance the capita! trial, sentence
and conviction,) of citizens of the free Slates in the
jail of slave States for acts wfeich, in any other
land on earth, would entitle them to reward and
honor; all these things have given tho people a
shock of awakoning. We do not fear that they will
ver again recover their guilty rest.
We owe much to Ihe co-operation and r ympathy of
British Abolitionists, in tho direction which they have
labored to give tho public mind in the cases of John
L. Crown, Jonathan Walker, and others. Without
political interference, without individual fHcio'Jsnes!,
without a deed, of which the law of nations could
take cognizance, or one which the law of love could
condemn, the prompt expression of feeling on Ihe
part of British Abolitionists in the case of John L.
Brown, was of avail to nullify the bloody sentonce ol
the South Carolina Judge, and set the victim of the
slave law free. This is the efficacy of well-directed
opinion. God bless the Abolitionists of Great Bri
tain, and make them strong to utter tho words of truth
in behalf of Freedom, in ihe hearing of every Amer
icun State nnd every American citizen! May no
temptation of worldly interest, though clothed in the
livery of heaven, ever prevail with them, (as in the
case of Dr. Burns, Cunningham, &c. of the Scotch
Free Church.) lo keep silence when it concerns the
cause of human freedom that they should speak.
The near approach of Texas to our political union,
fixes all eyes upon the subject of Slavery. That
movement is seen of all lo be Ihe last hope of the
South for '.he perpetuation of her system. Notwith
standing ihe constitutional limitations on the power,
granted for the admission of new Stales, to (ho terri
tories belonging to Ihe United Stales: notwithstanding
that Ihe power lo admit it among (he reserved rights
of the several Slates; notwithstanding that the prov
ince proposed for admission is one justly claimed by
a foreign and a friendly power, (though ns proclama
lion of unconditional emancipation in 1820, makes
the slave power account it a foe;) notwithstanding
that its own consent and acquiescence have never been
thought of; notwithstanding the destruction of all
uniformity in Ihe United States naturalization laws
which would ensue; notwithstanding that Annexation
might bring a war with Mexico and England, and the
Indian tribes in its train; notwithstanding the equal
want of a constitutional rightor actual precedent, Ihe
slave power has demanded, and hag obtained the ad
mission to Ihe United States of upwards of 300,000
square miles of foreign territory, equal to forty-three
such Slates as Massachusetts, or seven of the size
of Pennsylvania.
The American Anti-Slavery Society lias no parti
san purposes. It is neither the defender of the Con
stitution with one party, nor the flatterer of the peo
ple with the other. It notices these unconstitutional
proceedings as proofs of the folly of the idea that
lawless, merciless, tyrannical system, such as Slave
ry, can be restrained by compacts, codes, or compro
mises. "Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook?
Will he make a covenant with ttiee! Wilt thou take
him for a servant forever! do so no more! behold ihe
bope of him is in vain." If the slave system be not
paramount, it is paralysed. Henee the energy of its
a
supporters, to prostrate the smallest remainder of the
rights guarantied to the free Stales, for Ihe purpose
of immediately extending the domain of Slavery to
the Northern Irop'c, and thus perpetuating the pres
ent disgraceful subjugation of the North lo the Smth.
On tho 27th of February the
bill for the annexation of Texas received the sanction
of the Houe of Representatives, amid disgraceful
howling and bullying, with threats and exhibitions of
fists and bowie knives, on the part of the Southerners,
by one hundred and thirty two yeas to twenty t.x
oays.
On the 37th of February it passed the Senate by
27 to 25. The Democratic party, the dominant one
of the country, went almost unanimously for it; as
the administration party in the nature of things al
ways must, even for the most diabolical feature of
the present state of things, for it holds its dominion
by means of in detestable adherence lo Slavery.
One noble exception, John P. Hale, of New Hamp
shire, deserves honorable mention. "Among the
the faithless, faithful onlv he."
The whigs redeemed their party from the disgrace
of this act, by throwing Iheir majority, alas an in
itifficient one, ngainat its perpetration In Massa
rhusotts they cilled a Convention for the Oth day of
February, before ihe bill reached the Senate, !o pro
test against so atrocious a deed on the pa it ol a
Christian and Republican nation, as the extension and
perpetuation of Slavery by the Annexation of 1 exas
They wished not lomake it a party movement. They
invited and entreated all opposed lo Annexation to
assist. If ihey were left alone, in what distant be
holders and future times will call their glory, it was
not through Whig intolerance, but by means of Dam
ocratic servility to Slavery. They did, and are do
ing, all thai Whigs, at such, under oath to the pro
slavery Constitution of the United States, can do.
May a sense of their miserable weakness, crushed as
they are between the upper and the nether millstone
of their distressing position, show them the only true
way. Politiciai.s, as they glory in culling them'
selves, lot them take ihe only political course that re
mains to them. Lot them proclaim that the Annex
lion of Texas is not onlv unconstitutional and in itself
a dissolution of the Union, but in regard to its mo
mentous consequencos, as being the last of a long sa
ries of aggressions and usurpations on (he part of the
fouth, and evidence ot a studied and systematic at
tempt to pervert, to the support of Slavery, all the
power and influence of the National Government
such Annexation makes it the duty of the Northern
State, by all they owe to Liberty and Justice, and
themselves, immediately to call conventions fur (be
organization of a new National Government.
The consideration that hinders them from taking
any effectual stand to save themselves from extinction,
and the causo of Liberty and their country from de
struction, is in pari, doubtless, their perception that
the progress of ihe lexan plot, and the feebleness
with which it has been resisted by any but ourselves,
clearly proves that the whole Northern mind is swal
lowed up and corrupted by party interests and party
ambition, and that no efficient political action what
ever, could at present be tnken by tho free States;
that nothing is to be hoped for from the North, for
freedom, while the public opinion continues chilled
and tainted by me influence of thisUmoo: and yet
their love ol freedom and haired of slavery and po
litical subjugation, is not strung enough to prompt
them to j'lin us in ihe rightoous and indispensable
war cry of NO UNION WITH SLAVEHOLDERS!
that only spell of virtue to make the slave power
quail. The Union is more than half dead. Like
gangrened limb, the longer continuance of Slavery as
a part of ihe body politic, will insure the speedy
death of the whole. The Union must be severed.
"Oh throw away the worser half of it.
And live tho purer with the other half."
They owe it not only to their country and iheir age
ss men, but to themselves as keen witted, astute poll
(icians, to be not only almost, but altogether such as
we are. The course may be fatal to the political in
dividuals who lead the van; but no other course
worth even the name of policy, provided they are re
ally seeking, as they say, ihe interests of the country.
The American Anti-Slavery Society has been false,
ly accused of repelling, by the severity of its judg
ment and the keenness of itf analysis of motives,
'hose who were really its helpers. Those who said
know not whereof they affirmed. The sincere always
possess, in their very sincerity, the touch stone that
reveals the hypocrite. We know what helps or hin
ders us; and we give or deny the corresponding cred
it. We' recognize in the movements of the Northern
Whigs, as a body, a feeble desire to aid onr ctuse
it is not to cost loo much a stronger desire louse
than to serve it a minority feeling of helplessness
which leads to seek Ihe alliance of all Toes tu tho ad
ministration; which Abo!i;ionis;s must, in the nature
of the caso always be, of which party soever it con
sists. For the function of an administration necessa
rily is to keep things as they are, and to go no farther
than it is pushed
The attitude of the South, (as represented by South
Carolina and Louisiana,) is the next feature in
political aspect ol our causa that demands our altea
lion.
The recent outrages on the free States, in the per
son of the Hon. Samuel Hoar, of Massachusetts, are
the last of a series of attempts on the part of
slave Stales to avert ihe danger with which they are
threatened by a single free black in Iheir territory.
The danger seems trifling to the unphilosophical and
inexperienced. But the old in tyranny know thai
the presence of a single representative of Freedom
(he midst of slaves, is of mors efficacy in favor of the
cause of human rights than all their legalized wrong
nd spontaneous cruelty can be for Slavery; the con
tact of ihe free black with slaves, is like the touch of
Ihe imperceptible spark to powder. The universe in
arms cannot prevent the consequent explosion
Hence, Ihe preventive policy pursued by South
Carolina, while the civilized world stands aghast at
her barbarity, and our sufferance. She has no other
course to preserve her existence as a slaveholuing
Slate; so dangerous is this deadly sin. It is fur this
tiiat she violates every natural right, outrages every
constitutional obligation, and overleaps every consti
tutional provision, for the protection of such a sys
tem. It is fur this that she assumes, in behalf of the
South t
A right to discriminate between 'ho innocent mem
bers making up the crews of ships of other States,
for ihe purpose of seizing and imprisoning whom she
thinks proper;
A right to lash at pleasure, citi zens of other States,
solely because they may bo found in the ships of
those Stales a second time in her harbors.-
A right lo sell them into Slavery :
A right to expel from her territory, citizens of oth
er States, seeking to appeal to the courts of the Union
for support against ihe cruelly of her laws, even
though clothed with official powers ns tho representa
tives of their free Stale severeignty:
A right to punish by fine aud imprisonment, any
individual from another State who dares within her
territory lo question her right lo imprison, to lash,
and to sell whom she pleases, without hearing or trial.
i lorida, immediately after Ihe passage of the An
nexation bill, was admitted to the Union as a slave
Slate. The following extract from her Constitution
shows oui character as a slaveholding nation.
ARTICLE XVI. General Provisions.
is
if
H
the
in
I. The General Assembly shall have no power to
pass laws for the emancipation of slaves.
3. They shall have no power to prevent emi
grants to this State from bringing with them such
persons as may be deemed slaves, by ihe laws of any
one of the United Slates, provided, they shall have
power-to enact laws to prevent the introduction of any
slaves who may have committed crimes in other
States.
3. Tho General Assembly shall have power to
pass laws lo prevent free negroes, mulattoes, and oth
er persons of color from emigrating to this State, or
from being diicharged from on board any vessel in
any ot the pats of h lorida.
We trust thotime is at hand when the word will go
forth Irom the North, that shall slay this moral pesti
lence, so that w? may r.o longei stand "a wonder a
marvel to men," linked, as we allow ourselves as
States to be, with the body of that moral death, of
which the infection ravages the fairest spots on earth,
and blasts the dearest hopes of humanity from the
discovery of this new world. But there is nothing
(hat should discourage us as Abolitionists in all Ihis.
On the contrary, there is hops from (he very gross
ness of each succeeding outrage, (hat a people who
have closed tbeir ears and refused to hear, will be
obliged, in their own despite, to feel their danger and
their shame. Let us rejoice that the laws by which
we may promulgate moral principle, are more rapid
in their operation than tho progress of population.
While Mexico has been slowly dismembered, and
Texas, by the aid of our refuse people and our slave
lod soldiery, stayed up on either side as an indepen
dent province, whilo slaveholders have, by bullying,
and by cunning, and by force, by pushing, by par
rying us as the case demanded, succeeded In bringing
in their plan for the extension and perpetuation of
slavery, Abolitionists have so far converted whole
States to the principles of Freedom, that they protest
with one voice against the deed. Spread every sail,
then, to catch the breath nf reaction which this nefa
rious prnjei'l will raise. Light at first it may be, but
it will not subside, as after the introduction of Mis
souri as n slave State. The circumstances are dif
ferent. There was then, no organized opposition, no
embodied hostility to Slavery. Now, the American
Anti Slavery Society exists, to fan (his flame of Free
dom for which the South furnishes the fuel. So vast
ly is the disproportion between moral power and phy
sical force in favor of the former, that all past expe
rieace shows us how the Lord can save a land for
fen' sake only, who put tbeir trust in right. We sail
upon all who bale the wrong, to unite with us for its
extinction. "They are not yet quite ready 1" Go to
work, then, members and friends of the American
Anti-Slavery Society! servants of the slave; and
make Ihem ready. Spare neither time, nor money,
nor labor, nor life, if the times noed them all.
Preach this gospel of doliverance as it were a cru
sade! let each man see its cross pinned to your
shoulder. Is this a time to add house to house, and
field to field! to calculate the farthing on cotton
freighting, or speculate in factory stocks! Is this a
time to linger round the Capitol for official spoils!
Is this a time, men of America, to sit at ease in your
ceiled bouses! Be covetous, indolent, meanly ambi
tious no longer! Leave party spite on one hand, and
sectional prejudice on the other, and unite juat where
(hey now stand, with the only body in your country
that occupies the true position the only individuals
who care enough for Freedom to have identified them
selves with her. You must come to them, for to you
the exact right forbids them to return. "But they
are few!" Amen. Let your adhesion to their cause
help to amend that. "But Ihey are so weak!" Amen.
Is not their hope of right the stronger because their
ranks, tried so as by tire, are incumbered with no
thing neutral and balf-hearted, delayed by no bur
d wealth, or office, or honors!
"For whom
Hath he who shakes the mighty with a breath.
From ihi high places made ihe majesty
And ever wakeful presence of his power,
To Ihe pale startled ear'h most manifest.
But for the weakt Was't for the helmed and'erown
ed That suns were staved at noon day stormy seas
As a rill parted? Mailed archangels sent
To wither up the strength 'of kings with death!
I tell you if these marvels have been dune,
'Twas for the weak and the oppressed.
They needed such ! and generous faith of men hath,
By her prevailing spirit, even yet power to work
Deliverancejwhose tale shall livo with those
Of the groat elder lime!"
"Too late," is it? No'wonder you think so, but it
is not yet too late. Yuuee things through ihe mis'
of wasted years. Wuke lo (he work even now, tho
twelfth hour though it be! join yourselves even now,
to those already "in harness on the bight:" for onlv
so did he youjmake your example as a man, and your
worship ns a God, deem it "becoming" "to fulfil
righteousness."
"Why hath heaven poured forih courage bs a fUmtt,
Wasting these offered hearts which must be stilled
The sooner for that swift consuming brightness,
If not to quell your doubt anJ your despair.
And your soul's torpor! yet arise and arm
It shall Lot be too late!"
This is your only wiidom as well as your only du
ty to join (yourselves lo uhen who have mado
straight your way before you! Isl by having lain
stone still and stupid all these idle years, lhat men
think to have got the wisdom the prudence the en
ergy to accomplish them for such an hour as (his?
They mistake in thinking so. Let them not think it
shame to learn of us, humble though we individual
ly ere. It is to our lofty moral position; to our en
nobling and exalting cause that we invite vou; lo tho
adoptioo of our holy principles; to the use of our
simple but effectual measures that we urge you. Wo
warn you against holding back, because we have
taken Ihe lead of the advance. The members of tha
American Anti-Slavery Society, seeing the onlv
course, had no choice in thts matter. They must ha
faithful to the right, and so ought you to be. Reject
not tho advice which watching and working, while
you slept, qualifios us to give. Do as common senso
dictates to yon in your business relations. When you
find them used to your destruction when you see
your funds diverted against your will, to nefarious
purposes, and your names used to strengthen base-
ness, do you then fail of knowing what course to lake?
Never. Yo dissolve the Usiox What else is
left for you now ! To what purpose denounce, with
the lip, the sin the right band upholds! What right
have you, man ot Ihe north, to complbin of the An
nexation of Texas, as extending the area of Slavery,
who Bre at this hour under oath, and under arms too.
to hold the planter's slaves for him, within the consti
tutional limits of the United Slates? What more
would you wail for ! Have not the free States, in the
person of Massachusetts, undergone what should be
the severing blow the last possible indignity; &
wrong that would have driven a declaration of war
even from between the slow-moving valves of tho
slowest European Cabinet door, as a ball is sent from
the cannon mouth! and yet hear ihe noblest man of
his State, Cassius M. Clay, of Kectucky, talk of con
slilulional abolition, while the discharge of artillery
announces the annexation of Texas! That act leaves
the Constitution a broken wreck upon the political
ocsan ! Those sounds are the signal gum of tho part
ing vessel: and oh, that they might waken Ihe dead
heaits of Northern statesmen to becoming action.
The American Anti-Slavery Society cannol, dare not
assist any such paraly zing process as "constitutional
abolition,1', and it calls upon all who have the souls
of men left within them, lo peril all things even tha
miserable lingering hope of popularity with a degrad
ed people, for the glorious hope of our country's salva
tion. The American Anti-Slavery Society adjures
every awakening statesman to urge onward the inev
itable revolution; to announce it as bis immutable de
termination lo restore the desecrated principles of our
political and religious faith.
But it seems the way of Providence, that "the wile
shall be taken in iheir craftiness," that "their eyes
shall bo bolden that they shall not see" the dangers
of delay. Oh! that Ihey kctw in thie their day, the
things lhat belong to statesmanship, manliness, and
honor. They would rally (he people on every hill
side, and in every valley. They would turn their
faces from the South as from the wasting pestilence.
One short year, well employed by them, would show
the world a renovated nation.
Judge by Ihe wretched drivelling with which this
hour's stern work is met, whether they ere likely to
rise to Ihe height nf its demands. See them standing
still to be manacled, and venturing only feeble sugges
tions on Ihe fashion of the fetters. "Bind us not y
resolution, but by treaty" they cry! "Shame!
shame!" is the response of just indignant re proba
tion, such as it is Ihe duty of man to feel ! The peo
ple of the free States have been over and over again
sold in (he market. Will they stay sold!
The American Society makes its appeal to the peo.
pie in confidence, that they will not sanction their
own bondage though Ihey have basely covenanted
for lhat of the slave. May we not rely upon the lin
gering remnants of hurain character that makes tha
fugitive turn his face northward? If we may, now
is the hour fo- their exhibition, Legislatively Eccle-
"Jesus lo John at his baptism.