The voice of freedom. [volume], February 23, 1839, Image 2

About The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848

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Ecclesiastics of Maine.,
UNION CONFERENCE-
Mr. Codding gives, in the Advocate of Freedom,
the following account of the late proceedings in
the Union Conference of Congregational Church
es :
" I proceeded in company with Mr. Fessenden
toWaterford to attend the semi-annual meeting of
the Union Conference, hoping to have an oppor
tunity to stand before so respectable and intelligent
a. body, to plead the cause of the slave. Mr Fes
senden -put into 'the- hands of Mr Douglass, Chair
man of the committee of arragements, some anti-
' slavery resolutions, with the request that I might
be heard by. the Conference in behalf of our most
righteous, cause. Mr Douglass felt dreadfully
about it, was afraid it would drive away the Holy
Spirit from the meeting, and begged him to desist.
Br. Feasenden told him, no. Br. Douglass said
that be would think of it. In the afternoon he came
to brother Fessenden and said that, on the whole,
they had concluded to give Mr Codding a hearing
in the evening. This was perfectly satisfactory to
brother Fessenden. When the time came for the
afternoon adjournment, brother Douglass arose to
announce the orders of the evening. He took great
care to let us know that the Conference stood ad
journed over to the next morning at 9 o'clock
that this evening brother Page would preach in
one part of the town, brother Hill in another, and
brother Richardson in another and . further said
there had been a request.made, that Mr. Codding
might speak in this house, on the subject of slave
ry, and those who wished to hear him might come.
Mark, the Conference adjourned over that so holy
a thing might not be touched by a discourse in
behalf of the dumb slave the church surrounded
with three other meetings, at which there were to
be three ministers from abroad. And now they
were about to be very good and kind, and give
" Br. Codding a hearing." Mr Fessenden im
mediately told Mr Douglass, that he should not
submit to have the cause of the slave thus slight
ed, but should in his own person bring those reso
lutions before the Conference and test its Anti-Slavery
strength. In the mean time, it was ascer
tained, that about two-thirds of the delegates, and
more than half of the ministers, were abolitionists.
It was very apparent that if Mr Fessenden" pre
sented his resolutions, and sustained them with a
. speech, that the resolutions would not only be pas
ted, but converts made to our holy cause, as is al
ways the case, when it is properly presented.
The Committee therefore concluded to presentthe
resolution, with one or two unimportant verbal
alterations. The resolutions were presented, and
passed mem con. You will perceive that they are
orthodox.
I ought perhaps to say, that notwithstanding the
manner in which: Mr Douglass gave out the ap
pointment, and notwithstanding the three other
meetings, we had a good house. I should think
more than half the delegates, more than half the
ministers, and a goodly number of the citizens of
the town were there, and sat for the space of two
hours, and listened to such expositions as I was
able to make of our great principles and measures.
The following are the resolutions passed by the
Conference ',
" Inasmuch as slavery exists, to an alarming ex
tent, in cgjrtain churches of most of the evangelic-
-4 i ; fourtuuuuj, tuiu aiiemjus ui
constantly made, on the part ol some ministers and
laymen to justify the enormity ; this Conference
feel it their solemn duty to bear against it their
united testimony. lhereiore,
"Resolved, 1st, That, in the view of this Con
ference, American Slavery is a wanton violation
of the Law of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
learlully destructive ot the temporal and eternal
interests of the slave, the continuance of which no
conceivable circumstances can justify for a mo
ment.
" Resolved, 2d, That its immediate abandoiv
ment is the imperative duty of the master, and the
clearest right ot the slave.
"Resolved, 3d, That to immediately break off
from sin by righteousness is always safe; the truth
of which proposition in the good providence of
God, has recently been made manifest to an admi
ring world by the experiment in the British West
Indies. '
Synod of Indiana.
The Synod of Indiana met at Franklin, agree
ably to adjournment, on the 10th day of October,
lefijy, and was opened with a sermon by Kev. John
M. Dickey, from Psalms 72: 16. Constituted with
prayer.
The following paper was presented, and unan
imously adopted by the synod as the expression
'bf their views : viz.
Whereas there is reason to believe that the in
fluence of slavery was, in a high degree, effica
cious in leading to the revolutionary proceedings of
the Assembly of 1837, this synod feel called upon,
in the providence of God, to make an explicit
avowal of their views on this subject. And we
do hereby reaffirm the language of the General
Assembly of ISIS :
We consider the voluntary enslaving of one
part of the human race by another, as a gross vio
lation of the most precious and sacred rights of
human nature ; as utterly inconsistent with the
law of God, which requires us to love our neigh
bor as ourselves, and totally irreconcilable with
the- spirit and principles of the gospel of Christ,
which enjoin that " all things whatsoever ye would
' that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
Slavery creates a paradox in the moral system, it
exhibits rational, accountable, and immortal being,
'in such circumstances as scarcely to leave them
the power of moral action, It exhibits them as
dependent on the will of others, whether they shall
receive religious instruction ; whether they shall
know and worship the true God ; whether they
shall enjoy th ordinance of the gospel ; whether
they shell perform the duties and cherish the en
dearments of husbands and wives, parents and
children neighbor and friends ; whether they
hall preserve their chastity aid purity, or regard
the dictates of justice and humanity. Such are
some of the consequences of slavery consequen
ts not imaginary but which connect themselves
wun ns verv existence. ine eviis to wutcii me
slave is always exposed, often take place in fact, and
in their very worst degree and form; and where
all of them do not take place, as we rejoice to say
that in many instances, through the influence of
tte principles ot humanity and religion on the
minds of masters, they do not, still the slave is de-
' prived of his natural right,, degraded as a human
. being, and exposed to the danger of passing; into
". the hands 6f a master who may inflict -upon him
nil the hardships and injuries which inhumanity
ana avarice may suggest.
THE
" From.thjs view of the consequences resulting
from the practice into which Christian people have
imost inconsistently fallen, of enslaving a portion
of their brethren of mankind, for 41 God hath made
of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the
jface of the earth" it is manifestly the duty of all
christians who enjoy the light of the present day,
when the inconsistency of slavery, both with the
dictates of humanity and religion, has been dem
onstrated, and is generally seen and acknowledged,
to use their honest, earnest, and unwearied en
deavors, to correct the errors of former things, and
as speedily as possible to efface this blot on our
holy religion, and to obtain the complete abolition
of slavery throughout Christendom, and, if possi
ble, throughout the world."
In this language this synod do most heartily
concur, and feel constrained to say, that if ever the
time should come when our church should rescind
this language, and do or say any thing that would
imply that slavery is not a palpable violation of
the law ot Uod, it would be most distressing evi
dence of a departure from the principles of God's
word, and a flagrant dereliction of duty. Jf these
things are so, then it follows that the church ought
to take speedy and decisive measures to purify
itself from this long continued and enormous evil.
From the Charter Oak.
" I ought to lay, though foreign to the subject, that the
slaves enjoy extensive religious privileges, particularly in
Ueorgia. H. H. Hurley.
This assertion, and after it several remarks rel
evant, were made by Rev. Mr. Gurley at a Colo
nization meeting in this city, on the 30th ult. Why
is it that this topic, " though foreign to the sub
ject," is lugged into every lecture on the subject
of "expulsion ?' What has this to do with pro
moling and executing "a plan for colonizing (with
their consent,) the free people of color, residing in
our country, in Africa, OR SUCH OTHER
PLACE as Congress shall deem most expedient,"
to which object the attention of the American Col
onization Society "is to be exclusively directed ?"
Is there any need of such a "sponere" to absorb
the sympathies of the humane and benevolent in
our land, whose hearts are beginning to go out to
wards their colored brethren ?
But we should not have thus noticed this asser
tion, were it not directlv contradicted bv higher
authority. Read the following from the Report of
the .Synod ol south Carolina and 'Georgia, pub
lished in 1834, and judge whether both statements
can be correct:
"Before we attempt to set forth the duty to
evangelize these heathenl it will be proper to show,
that the negroes are destitute of the privileges of I
tne uospel, and ever will be, under the present state
of things.
"From long-continued and close observation,
(say the Synod by their committees,) we believe
that their (colored population's) moral and reli
gious condition is such, as that they may justly be
considered the heathen of this christian country,
a?ia will bear comparison rrnth heathen in any
country in ine woria.
"In the vast field extending from an entire state
beyond the 1'otomac to the babine river, and from
the Atlantic to the Ohio, there are, to the best of
our knowledge, not twelve men exclusively devo
ted to the religious instruction of the negroes !
lhe number (two millions of souls, and
more,) divided between them, would give to each
a charge Ol near ku,wu : : -
"We can furnish no accurate estimate of the
proportion of negroes that attend divine worship
on the Sabbath, taking the slave-holding states to
gether, r rom an extensive observation, however,
we ventuie to say, that not a twentieth part attend!
1 noitsands and thousands hear not the sound of
me gospel, or ever enter a church Jrom one year to
another.
"We may now inquire, if they enjoy the privile
ges of the gospel, in private, in their own nouses,
and on their own plantations ? Again we -return
a negative answer. They have no Bibles to read
at their own fire-sides no family altars and
when in affliction, sickness or death, they ha'-e no
ministers to address to them the consolations of the
gospel, nor to bury them with solemn and appro
priate services. Sometimes a kind master will
Eerform these offices. If the master is pious, the
ouse servants alone attend family worship, and
frequently few or none of these.
" Here and there a master feels interested for
the salvation of his servants, and is attempting
something towards it, &c. We rejoice that there
are such, and that the number is increasing. In
general, we may however remark, that it does not
enter into the arrangement of plantations, to make
provision for their religious instruction ; and so
lar as masters are engaged in this work, an almost
unbroken silence reigns over the vast field.
vve leel warranted, tlferefbre. in the cone usmn.
that the negroes are destitute of the vrivilesesofthe
gospel, and must continue to be so, if nothing more
is done lor them.
Illustration of Slavery. In one of our hit
numbers, we copied an account from the New
Lisbon Aurora, of an attempted suicide by a slave,
who was sold away from his family, by a Catho
lic woman in Washington. He had paid two or
three hundred dollars towards his freedom, and the
treachery of his mistress drove him to madness.
A correspondent at Washington informs us that
the account is correct, so far as it eoes, and then
states, that failing in his first attempt to take his
life, his wound was dressed ; but, during the suc
ceeding night, he escaped from his keepers, and
next morning was lound dead pi the canal, with
the bandage torn from his throat, and wound open.
mi r mi . i
mis is a lair illustration ol slavery.
Another Illustration. Lately, a friend sent
us two numbers of the Reporter from Louisville.
in which was the report of the trial before the Jef
ferson Circuit Court, Jan. 12th, of the case of W.
P. Thomason, prosecuting attorney of the city and
police court, against Thomas Maxwell, by petition,
in a charge for cruel and inhuman treatment of a
slave. The slave was a girl, named Milly. Dr.
Constant testified that he saw Mrs. Maxwell at the
kitchen door, whipping the neero severelv. with
out Deing particular whether she struck her in the
face or not. The negro was lacerated by the whip
anu tne oiooa nowmg. ooon alter, on going down
the steps, he saw quantities of blood on them, and
on returning, saw them again. She had been
thinly clad barefooted in very cold weather.
Sometime" she had shoes sometimes not. In
the beginning of the winter she had linsey dresses,
since then, callico ones. During last four months,
had noticed many scars on her person. At one
time had one of her eyes tied up for a week. . Dur
ing the last three months seemed declining, and
naa oecome stupinea. mr. winters never saw
this girl whipped but once, and that was by Max
VOICE OFF R EE DOM .
well's son. He was. passing along the street,
heard cries, looked up, and through the window
that was hoisted, saw the boy whipping her as
much as forty or fifty licks, while he staid. The
girl was stripped down to the hips. The whip
seemed to be a cow-hide. Whenever she turned
her face to him, he would hit her across the face
either with the but end or small end of the whip
to make her turn her back round square to the
lash, that he might get a fair blow at her.
Mr. Say had noticed several wounds on her
person, chiefly bruises.
Captain Porter, keeper of the work-house, into
which Milly had been received, thoueht the in
juries on her person very bad some of them ap-
peara 10 oe Durns some bruises or stripes, as
of a cow-hide.
After argument by counsel, the case was sub
mitted to the jury, who, after being out for ten
minutes, returned a verdict of guilty. Counsel
fot the defendant asked permission to file an ap
plication for leave to move the Court for a new
trial. Leave granted.
We have since learned, that the case has been
decided against the defendant, and the girl has
been sold away from her inhuman master he, of
course, getting the money, ouch is her compen
sation, nnd his punishment.
We have copied our account of the case from
the Louisville Daily Reporter, of the 14th and
15th January. Abolitionists have seldom told
worse tales of Slavery, than this. Philanthropist.
THE VOICE OF FREEDOM.
MONTPELIER, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1839.
The absence of the editor, who is at the Conven
tion at Middlebury, will be, we suppose, a satisfaC'
tory apology for any delinquency in the editorial
department. By the way, we are somewhat dis
appointed in not having advices from the Conven
tion, in season for this paper.
A Tarallel to the Liberia Colony.
" Where," said a zealous colonizationist, in al
luding to Liberia, " can we find a parallel ?"
We are willing to grant that the scheme of ex
patriating men, women and children, as a condi
tion of freedom, does not find a parallel in the his-
tory of the most cruel and barbarous nations. Even
the iron hearted government of Rome, when it
accorded to any of it? bondmen subjects the name
of freemen, did not withhold the dignity of free
dom, but gloried in the magnanimity that blotted
from public remembrance the degradation of their
former servitude.
The settlement of the colony of Georgia was
undertaken ostensibly as a benevolent enterprise.
While those who originated the design are ac
knowledged to have had ulterior objects of politi
cal policy in view, it is known to have assumed
me cnaraccer ot benevolence to the settlers in its
prosecution ; and to have addressed itself to the
philanthropy of the age. To atlora an asylum for
the poor, and (as appears to have been contempla
ted by some) to make an opening for the intro
duction of the gospel among the southern Indians
of North America, were objects calculated to open
the hearts of British christians, and to secure lib
eral private donations ; while the government in
subserving its own policy, made large grants to
the trustees who had the management of the en
terprise. Whether the patrons of the colony tho't
of promoting the happiness of the settlers, or look
ed to the transportation of a class of people, who
were esteemed a nuisance to England ; they were
all equally sanguine in their expectations of see
ing a flourishing colony built up in the wilder
ness of America from materials afforded by Brit
ish jails and poor houses. While vessels bound
to this prototype of Botany Bay, made up their
cargoes from the lanes of beggary, the seclusions
of poverty, or from the cells of criminals, the in
fatuated public mind indulged the vain expecta
tion that transportation would change those sent
out to a peaceable, honest and injdustrious yeo
manry. Many wise provisions were indeed made
by the " Trustees" for the securing of this object,
among which was the prohibition of slavery. As
able missionaries as the venerated Wesleys were
sent out to preach to the colony and to the neigh
boring Indian tribes.
So far do the two enterprises (of Liberia and
Georgia) appear to have been parallel in their char
acter ; combining in their support a haughty aris
tocratic pride, which repelled the suffering poor
from the presence of those who might have afford
ed the means of making them comfortable at home,
with a mean spirit of sordid avarice that sought to
relieve the public treasury from the expense of
supporting them, glossed over with hypocritical
pretensions to christian benevolence, which have
been equally successful with both in enlisting in
their support many honest, well disposed philan
thropists. But what are the results of the two enterprises?
So far as that of Liberia has progressed, it has
afforded a striking coincidence to the early history
of Georgia.
It was soon discovered that those who had been
driven from England by the arm of the law, or
by the constraint of circumstances,' wanted the
requisite energy for clearing and cultivating the
wilderness ; or a spirit that would endure peacea
bly, the hardships and trials incident to a new
country. Animosities and jealousies continually
springing up among the miserable herd of ignor
ance and debasement, kept the little community in
continual commotion and jeopardy, while the want
and wretchedness resulting from indolence almost
beggard description. Let any person read the
journal of the Wesjeys' residence in Georgia, and
the authentic accounts, which descend to a minute '
description of the present state of things in Libe
ria, and he will see the unhappy results of con
strained emigration alike developed in both. So
much in reference to Liberia in the present state
of its advancement it has not been without a par
allel in history thus far, and we do not speak un
advisedly, in saying that its future prospects prom
ise the completion of the coincidence we have been
considering. How long did the injunction of the
Trustees of Georgia continue to be regarded by
the settlers ? We have not authority on this point
at hand, yet it might have been as long as twen
ty years, when the corporation was surrendered
to the hands of the Crown. Liberia which has
been regarded with exultation by its friends as an
effectual barrier to the slave trade ! has not yet
seen twenty yenrs from its foundation, yet slavers
even now visit its hjbors and purchase from its
inhabitants supplies, arid facilities for the prosecu
tion of their murderous commerce. No where is
the spirit of slavery more dark and bloody at the
present hour than in the fields of Georgia ; and it
requires no spirit of prophecy to anticipate the day,
when those who have formerly been taught that
slavery is an institution justified by the word of
God, will improve the superior facilities which
Africa affords for stocking their plantations with
human cattle.
But for the influence of colonization on contig
uous heathen tribes ; where are those Georgia
Indians to whom the heart of a Wesley burned to
preach the gospel ? Have they ever been conver
ted to Christianity through the influence of that
State ? Witness the recent imprisonment of Nor
thern missionaries ! Alas, where are now the con
verted christian Cherokees? driven by the ruth
less hand of this same state from the graves of their
fathers, and from all the endeared associations of
this world which promote religious sensibility and
gratitude to God. Georgia has almost literally
Heard the last groan of the brave Cherokee;'
and while she revels on the spoils of her robbery,
can the soul of the poor Indian be remembered ?
The din of war and the clash of arms has al
ready been repeatedly heard on the borders of Li
beria, in contending with those whom, we are in
formed, they have been benevolently sent to save ;
and if this colony lives, as it doubtless will, who
will warrant us, that she will not cultivate a spirit
of conquest by the terror of blood, more than by
the spirit of the gospel ?
In our remarks in respect to Liberia, we have
not designed to underrate the capacity of the peo
ple of color, but, as will be perceived, we have
merely considered that, in their constrained emi
gration, they have formed a colony similar in char
acter with one formed by whites under similar cir- j
cuius unices.
Colonization, as a benevolent enterprise, never
can be successfully prosecuted any where. Let
the slaves be emancipated at home, and then such
as a spirit of enterprise led to emigrate to Africa,
or any other country, would doubtless sustain the
character of honorable freemen. But if the ne
groes are not fit for freedom in the land of their
birth, they are not fit for it any where. If they are
unfit to be instructed and to read the Bible in A-
merica, they are not fit for christian missionaries in
Africa. If they would, as is slanderously stated,
be devoted to civil and servile war in the condition
of freemen in Virginia, they would not be above
carrying fire and sword to the habitations of their
ancient kindred. s.
Depication. The new Congregational meet
ing house, in Berlin, was dedicaed to the worship
of God on Tuesday, 19th inst. Sermon by Rev.
B. W. Smith, of Montpelier.
Erratum. ' In our last paper, sixth paragraph
of Gov. Camp's Address, for" connived" read con
trived.
For the Voice of Freedom.
Permit me, through the medium of your paper.
to remind the friends of Temperance that the fourth
Tuesday of February (26th inst.) is near at hand.
Are our friends awake ?
We owe it to ourselves and the Temperance
cause to pay a passing regard, at least, to an an
niversary so universally established as thisv
An excellent opportunity will then be presented
to appoint delegates to the State Convention to be
holden at Woodstock on the 6th and 7th of March
Let this not be overlooked. B.
The following from the Pennsylvania Freeman
written by the Editer, John G. Whittier, Esq.
while on a visit to Boston, dated Feb. 4th, 1839,
gives a succinct and lucid account of the trifling
difficulty existing among the Massachusetts Abo
litionists: On one hand, objections are made to the course
of the editor of the Liberator and his correspon
dents on the subject of " non-resistance" and to
their " testimony" against voting at the polls, and
in any way acknowledging allegiance to human
governments. Many believe that a pew paper is
needed in Massachusetts to urge the abolitionists
to make use of their political power at the ballot
box, in behalf of the slave. Some are opposed to
the Liberator on sectarian grounds, and profess to
be unable conscientiously to lend their support to
its doctrines in respect to human governments.
Both parties, embracing men of different persua
sions, religious and political, claim that a small
sheet exclusively devoted to abolition is imperious
ly needed for general circulation, presenting the
cause of the slave, divested of all extraneous or
merely collatteral questions. . . .
On the other hand, it is contended thaj these os
tensible reasons given for setting up a new paper
ate. not the real ones that there is treachery in
the movement that it is prompted by secret op
position to the progress of free principles that the
design of its originators is to sacrifice the Liber
ator on the shrine of sectarian bigotry and intol
erance, and enable the " clerical" opponents of im
mediate emancipation to " feed fat their ancient
grudge," upon the pioneer editor.
At the late annual meeting of the state society
the subject came up and was freely discussed. We
are happy to learn that neither party succeeded in
proving its opposite treacherous to the cause of the
slave, for the very good reason that in the nature
of the case, it.was impossible to do so. Both man
ifested themselves true to the great and vital prin
ciples of universal liberty. It only appeared that
Amos A. Phelps differed from William Lloyd
Garrison in theological matters, and that Henry
B. Stanton and Henry C. Wright could not think
alike on the subject of human governments and the
ballot-box. On the great question whielrhad calL
ed them together all were agreed. No hand
was lifted to lower down in the slightest degree
that standard of emancipation, which however, torn
by storm and battle, still
." Streams like a thunder-cloud against the wind."'
If there were any lookers on, who hoped to reap
benefit to themselves and their parties audi sects
by a condemnation of " Garrison and the Perfec
tionists arid Unitarians," on one hand,or of "Phelps
and the orthodox clergy" on the other, they are
doomed to disappointment. The enemy have no
occasion to exult over this trifling dissention. It
is nothing more after all, than the unavoidable fric
tion of the mighty moral machinery of the Anti
Slavery Society, which is moving the entire na
tion, and should be regarded as indicative only of
increased velocity and power.
The cause of the slave is safe in Massachusetts.
Safe as that of the reformation when Luther dis
agreed with Melancthon and the less ardent re
formers safe as Christianity, when the Apostles,
fresh from the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of
fire, ' contended sharply' with each other. Over &
above these occasional conflicts of that freedom and
individuality of opinion which the abolition strug
gle necessarily cherishes, the voice of the per
ishing slave the clank of the iron that enters the
soul, are still heard and heeded. To the rescue
of the viciims in the prison house of slavery, such
men as William Lloyd Garrison and Amos A.
Phelps will still press earnestly onward, although
one may cleave to Mark and the other to Silas.
In the faith and hope of abolitionism they cannot
be separated. They have indeed been brothers be
loved ; let them still remain so. The one, amidst
penury, reproach and danger first enunciated the
great doctrines of immediate emancipation ; while
the other at the sacrifice of reputation and compe"
tence and exalted station, elucidated, expounded and1
defended them, in an argument unanswered, and
unanswerable, the reading of which has been ev
ery where followed by conversion to the faith of
abolitionism. The mission of one was to assert a
great principle ; that of the other to explain and
familiarize it to ilie popular mind. One Was es
sential to the other, and both to the promulgation
of the high truths of which they were the early re
cipients. The one was like George Fox lifting up
his word-moving testimony in the field and by the
way-side ; the other a Robert Barclay, framing
his masterly " Apology." Between such men let
no root of bitterness be planted. Together they
have encountered the storm of popular, fury- the
same evil influences have been arrayed against
both ; and while one has kept his post of trial and
danger, the other has braved the missiles of the
mob, and the fires of ecclesiastical persecution, in
half the states of the confederacy. They differ
indeed, widely upon many important subjects : but
as abolitionists their hearts and hopes are the same.
Let us then, as abolitionists, do injustice to neither,
but love and cherish them both. Better would it
be for the cause of the slave, that the Liberator and
its kindred prints should perish outright, than that
the old and tried friends of emancipation should
turn the weapons of their warfare upon each oth
er. Let us then disappoint the expectations of
our enemies, and falsify their confident predictions
of a permanent and fatal division in our ranks.
Let us tolerate and forgive in one another every
thing but wilful and deliberate treachery to the
cause. Our merely personal differences should
be buried " deeper than plummet ever sounded."
We must con over anew the lessons of Christian
tolerance and charity. We must cease to brand
men as " sectarians" because they claim the right
to hold fast their peculiar theological opinions, for
in so doing we condemn ourselves. Of what con
sequence is it that Garrison is " a Perfectionist"
and Phelps an " Orthodox minister," that the ed
itor of the Freeman is a " Quaker" and the editor
of the Emancipator a " Presbyterian?" Are we
not all brethren abolitionists all with our hearts
yearning for the consummation of one glorious
object ? What madness then to impeach each
others' motives to doubt each others' sincerity
to give place to jealousy and evil suspicion ? It
is to the perfection and beautiful harmony of our
association its unity and singleness of purpose,
" the consonance of will and understanding among
so large a number of individuals of such diversi
fied powers, habits, opinions,' tastes and circum
stances" that we owe our moral and political
power at the present moment. Like the fabled
stone of Scio which Pliny speaks of, which floated
on the waves while whole, but sunk like lead be
neath them when broken asunder, our strength and
safety lie in our union and brotherhood of spirit.
From the Christian Register.
Noah Worcester on Slavery.
As nothing can be more obvious, than that our
fathers were chargeable with great ingratitude to
God, and great inconsistency, after having obtain
ed their own liberty, to provide for the continuance
and increase of slavery in the land, it behoves us,
their posterity, seriously to inquire by what means
we may remedy the evils thus brought on our
country. Unless our white population are doom
ed by Providence to feel the evils of slavery in
their own person, we may hope that they will soon
become so enlightend as to be ashamed of the
practice of casting all the blame of slavery in these
States on the British Government, and so feel the
guilt of their ancestors and their own guilt as to
make proper exertions for freeing the country from
the reproach of being the most inconsistent slave
holding people to be found on the earth. What
other nation can be named in which so great a
mass of absolute slavery can be found, as is known
to exist among the inhabitants of the United States?
For one, I can truly say, that I am ashamed to
have the capitol of our country visited by intelli
gent foreigners, who have an opportunity to wit
ness the horrors of slavery, withirv sight of the
place where Congress makes lws foT the profass-