The voice of freedom. [volume], March 02, 1839, Image 1

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

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THE VOICE F FIEEDOf
ALLEN & POLAND, Publishers. Published under the sanction of the Vermont Anti-Slavery Society. ' CHAUNCEY L. KNAPP, Editor.
VOLUME I. MOIVTPF.LIKK, VKEIflOA'T, MARCH 9, 1S39. KluURUR 0,
For the Voice of Freedom.
Fifth Annual Report of the Starkshoro' and
Lincoln Anti-Slavery Society 1st mo. 20th,
1839.
It is now five years since this Society was organized.
At the commencement it was small in numbers and weak
in resources, both of talents and pecuniary means. But
its trust was not in the amount of moral power it was then
fthle to bring into the field. Its confidence of success result
ed from a conviction of the justness of the cause, and an
humble trust that the God of the oppressed would smile
upon our labors and those of others engaged in the same
blessed work, and sanctify them to the good of the s'ave.
Thus far our confidence of success has not been disappoint
ed. It has indeed been more than realized. The pro
gress of the present anti-slavery enterprise was then in its
infancy. Scarcely two years had elapsed since the first
anti-slavery society in this country, based upon the im
mutable principle of immediate amancipation, was organ
ized, and the movements of abolitionists had not become
sufficiently imposing to excite the fearful apprehensions of
the pro-slavery public. The few who had as yet enlisted
in this holy warfare were regarded either as ambitious and
designing men, or as hair-brained fanatics; and their fee
ble efforts as but a momentary rippling of the surface ofj
public opinion, soon to subside. But what are now the
facts ? From a few hundred, scattered here and there, en
countering the enemy single-handed, Freedom's army has
increased to a countless host, who are now marching to the
contest with unexampled success. Already have our ex
tensive preparations, well concerted plans and efficient
measures convinced the advocates of slavery that we are
engaged at something more than mere " children's play."
The bustle. and the war cry in the enemy's camp, show
most conclusively that our efforts are well directed.
Our enemies no longer think of arresting the onward
progress of the cause by resort to violence. The bowlings
of a frenzied populace are no longer heard around us as we
hold our meetings for the free discussion of our principles
and plans; and it is to be hoped that mob law is fast expi
ring of wounds its own hand has inflicted. At the north,
we have essentially gained the field. Once we were des
pised our rights were trampled on our liberties were as
sailed, even at our own doors: now, our importance is ack
nowledgedour rights are respected our favor courted.
The enemy, vanquished in his efforts to put us down by
the mercenary aid of petty tools at the north, has at length
retreated to the strong holds of his own dominions, where
he is openly preparing to carry on the warfare. The gen
ius of freedom and the fell spirit of slavery are now fairly
at issue, and on the present struggle depends the final suc
cess of the anti-slavery cause. The storm now commen
ced, must be carried, or all is lost. Slavery must be abol
ished, and that without delay, or all our free institutions
will soon be overthrown, and American freedom, which
now exists but in name, will cease to be.
Here the importance of the present crisis, the hope of
the southern slave, the hope of the northern freeman, and
the welfare of our common country, all suggest the inqui
ry, Have our zeal and activity kept pace with the onward
progress of the cause ? While it was confessedly unpopu
lar, and its advocates were the objects of scorn, personal
violence, and all manner of abuse; w hile our arguments
were met with blows, and we had to gain every step at the
point of clubs and brick-bats we felt the necessity of con
tinued and persevering effort. And now that the cause
has become somewhat popular now that the enemy has
changed its weapons and the point of attack, are zeal and
perseverance less needful? Instead of the stimulating in
fluence of pitiless peltings and unheard-of abuse, we now
have to contend against the narcotic influence of public ad
ulation and of political wheedling for party purposes. The
attempt to suppress free discussion here through the in
strumentality of a blind-folded and infuriated populace,
now appears to be abandoned; but the south, having taken
the dagger into her own hands, now aims her deadly thrust
at liberty by disregaiding and trampling upon the Constitution-guarantied,
the sacred, the Ileaven-born right of pe
tition. With these facts before us, bow can we sleep at
our posts ? How can we relax our efforts while on the one
hand the enemy is recruiting his forces for a more deadly
attack, and on the other our past success aflords so strong
encauragement of a speedy and triumphant victory ?
Nor should we forget that in proportion as a cause or a
party becomes popular and strong, aspiring and unprinci
pled men but too frequently attach themselves to it, as a
means of effecting their ambitious designs. Hence the ne
cessity at the present crisis of increased watchfulness and
active zeal.
In the prosecution of our duties the Board have subscri
bed for and circulated gratuitously 3 copies of the Libera
tor; have circulated and forwarded to our State Legislature
and to Congress petitions on the subject of slavery and the
slave-trade in the District of Columbia and the Territories
of the U. States of the slave-trade between the several
States, and against the admission of Texas or any new
(State with a constitution tolerating domestic slavery.
In conclusion, let us pledge ourselves anew to the ser
vice of the cause we have espoused.
With justice and humanity for our helmet and shield,
our front and rear ward, and with the invincible weapons
of truth and love in our hands, let us march to the unequal
contest. Let us oppose light and trnth to falsehood and
error, Let us oppose facts and argun.ents to insults and
violence. With right, and the God of right on our side,
let us bare our backs to the smiter and our heads to the
torm. With our motto, Onward, lot us keep our eye
straight forward, and our haud to the plough nor let us
look back till the last vestige of slavery is engul plied in ob
livion. Per order of the Board,
PEARLEY HILL, Secretary.
RESOLUTIONS.
Whereas, the formation of this Society was for the eman
cipation of two and a half millions of human beings from a
worst than heathen despotism the emancipation of the
lave from the grasp of the tyrant the emancipation of the
free colored man from prejudice of public opinion, and' the
elevation of both to a moral and political equality with the
whites'. Therefore,
1. Resolved, That as consistent abolitionists, whose
principles are justice and mercy, and whose weapons are
truth and lore, we ought more fully to develop them by
the use of free instead of slave labor produce; and further
Resolved, that the parent Society ought to take more effi
cient measures, by premium or otherwise, to secure the
productions of free labor.
2. That the right of petition is an inalienable and Ileaven-born
right with which man was endowed bv his Creator,
and that those who deny this right, whether individuals or
legislative bodies, act the part ol tyrants, and manifest th
dark spirit of despotism.
8. That the disposition of anti-slavery petitions by those
resolutions passed in the House of ilenrescntativcs ot th
United States the 1 1th and 12th of last month, is virtually
denying the right of petition, trampling in the dust the la;
vestige of freedom, and chanting the funeral dirge of th
Constitution over the prostrate liberties of the people.
4. That Charles G. Atherton of New-Hampshire, bv in
troducing those resolutions into our national legislature
lias proved himself a traitor to our free institutions, an
that he and all those northern representatives who voted
for their adoption, base'y dishonored their constituents, and
rendered themselves unworthy to be the representatives o!
a free people. And further, that they, by this their smci-
dal act, have entailed upon their names a stain as durabl
as New England's granite hills, and which not all the wa
ters of the free Merrimack can ever wash away, but which
will remain upon the historian s page long after thei
tongues are mute and they have ceased to hishonor them
selves and their country bv their unhallowed offerings up
on the bloodv altars of American slavery.
5. that Congress, by adopting the resolutions presented
by Charles G. Atherton, have proved recreant to the poll
cy of this republic, stamped with iron hoots upon the peo
ple s dearest rights, sealed a lasting shame upon our coun
try, bid defiance to philanthropy, and pierced anew th
wounds of bleeding humanity; which actB of wanton out
rage should speak in thunder tones to the freemen of our
country to arise in their sovereign strength and demand of
their servants obedience to their will.
6. That Wm. Slade and all other representatives, who
in defence of the right of petition, opposed Atherton s res
olutions in the House of Representatives of the U. States,
have shown themselves worthy of the high responsibility
with which they are entrusted.
7. That it is cheering to behold amidst the recreant sons
of our revolutionary fathers the venerable and hoarv John
Q. Adams standing firmly at the post of freedom, watching
with eagle-eye the appoaches of the gathering storm, con
tending fearlessly with the devouring elements of oppres
sion, that if possible, the still standing, though tottering re
mains of the edifice of liberty, may be raised from deslruc
tion, and that he in so doing, has raised a lasting monu
ment to his name.
8. That as Abolitionists, we disclaim any connexion with
either political party, and that m all our political move
ments, our efforts bliall be for equal rights, and against op
pression.
9. That as this Nation is fearfully endangered by Slave
ry, the great mother of abominations, therefore, Abolition
is the greatest source of safety, and of course, genuine Ab
olitionists may truly be considered as watchman on the walls
of our Union, and ought to exercise the most vigilant care
in watching every move of that great Enemy, and the most
energetic exertions for its utter extinction.
10. lhat as frequent recurrence to first principles is
the most sure means of perseverance in any great cause,
therefore, Abolitionists ought often to hear & read relative
to the cause of Human Rights, and a full attendance of
anti-slavery meetings is highly important to the prosperity
oi our priuantnropic and patriotic cause.
11. lhat the language of Mordecai to Queon Esther.
("Think not with thyself that thou shall escape in the
King's house more than all the Jews, for if thou altogeth
er hold thy peace at this time, then shall enlargement and
deliverance arise to the Jews from another place ; but thou
and thy father's house shall be destroyed") may with
much propriety be reiterated in the ears of slothful Aboli
tionists, and those that fear the consequences of Emancipa
tion. 12. That our government, in refusing to acknowledge
the independence ofllayti, manifests its deep rooted preju-
dice against the coloured race, and a servile and base bow
ing of the knee to the dark spirit of Slavery.
13. That as no great moral enterprise can long be sustain
ed with advantage, while it has no efficient organ through
which to disseminate its principles, it is the duly of the
Abolitionists of this State, not only to continue tluir sup
port to other periodicals of a philanthropic character, but
to patronize and circulate the Voice of Freedom ; and that,
while we highly approve the spirit of that paper, and the
ability of its editor, we should be pleased to see the phi
lanthropy of the Oreen Mountains displayed upon a larger
sheet.
14. That we have still implicit confidence in the integ
rity of the pioneer in the cause of human liberty, William
Lloyd Garrison, and we recommend the Liberator to the
friends of humanity throughout our country.
15. That a recent attempt by the United States Senate,
to silence the voice of a sovereign state, bv prohibiting the
printing of certain Resolutions passed by the Legislature of
Vermont at its last session, is a stretch at power, unprece
dented in the history of this Republic, and en advancement,
still farther and farther towards the reign of absolute Des
potism. 16. That our Senator to Congress, Samuel Prentiss, for
quailing before the dark spirit of Slavery, at the presenta
tion of the Resolutions of our Legislature, has violated the
trust reposed in him by his constituents, and proved un
faithful to the sacred principles of Liberty.
17. Voted, That the Secretary bfi instructed to forward
the proceedings of this meeting, and the Report of the
Board of Managers, to the Voice of Freedom for publica
tion, and to forward a copy of the paper containing them
to John H- Adams, William Blade, Charles u. Atherton
and Samuel Prentiss.
Per order of the Society,
FEARLEY HILL, Secretary
Starksboro,' Feb. 4th, A. D. 1839,
For the Voice of Freedom.
An Address to the Starksboro' and Lincoln
Anti-Slavery Society.
BY lOUIS TABER,
Votaries in Freedom's cause, well done! ye meet
Where treads the way-worn pilgrim's weary feet,
To worship God ; his bounteous blessings orave
Upon the stricken, outcast, hapless slave.
Moved by some guardian angel from above,
You prove a brother's, sister's fervent love,
Let Christian tyrants turn a scorning ear
On Woman's voice, yet Heaven descends to hear,
Soon may they own, to all controlling heaven,
Their crime, and humbly ask to be forgiven;
Still, God and angels pleased, look down to seo
Her prayers arise to set the captive free,
Thy heaven-reared fanes, Philanthropy, oscend.
While, at thy shrine, thy native children bend.
Shall then the " helpmete" of immortal birth
Bo fettered down, a worthless thing of earth?
In Science's halls her burning lamp has shone;
In Virtue's cause, pre-eminent, alone.
The gift of nations has been her rich dower;
With wisdom she has held the reins of power.
History records the tale of truth divine,
Of thrones adorned by many a Catherine.
God granted her, in his mysterious plan,
To shed, of old, prophetic light on man,
VVhen Esther heard captive Judea's cry,
She dared to do ono righteous dded and die !
The Monarch feared the God his Queen adored,
And woman saved a nation from the sword,
JVow will she rest her glorious cause begun?
May not hen do, what woman's voice haB done?
When the fierce Valsei carried aword and fire,
To sate the fury of his father's ire,
Veturia'a tears enchained the conquering host,
And Rome was saved her exiled son was lost.
Have not our mothers yet Veturla's zeal?
Have not their song the Roman' heart to feel?
When wicked hands the eon of God betrayed,
Who the great ransom upon Calvary paid.
All, all forsook the Saviour's cross, save her,
Whom angels found first at His sepulchre.
If persecution's awful darts were hurled,
To desolate, with fire and blood, the world;
Her soul, unmoved, truo to her (iol's command,
Rose joyful up by the expiring brand;
Sword, famine, faggot, drew her faithful breath;
Her love was stronger than the bands of death.
Even our own " glorious land" has not been clear;
Here she has suffered: she must suffer hero.
Firm has she stood in Freedom's holy cause,
And nations hail her light with deep applause.
Though Britain's flag in glory is unfurled,
On every sea, o'er all the admiring world;
Though she has numbered, in her glorious cause,
A Howard, Clarkson, and a Wilberforce;
Souls, that have won a mansion in the skies,
Names, that will live if virtue never dies;
Yet not till woman's warning voice was heard,
The mighty Lion from his lair was stirred.
He rose in strength and Africk a sons were free,
From Cuba's shores to India's farthest sea.
Can woman sleep, while Tyranny abroad,
Scourges the image of the living God?
No, there are those who plead for Sorrow's child;
There is one " Oasis" in our desert wild.
Her tongue and pen have told, in accents strong,
1 he captives sullenngs, and our country s wrong.
Twin-stars of Hope and Mercy have not set,
In Shipley, Woolman, Brown and Benezet.
lis ours to end the race which they began;
lheir mantles fall "a sacred gift to man.
Up then in might ! for, why should we despair,
Since Freedom's voice has rent the fields of air?
Ye now are girded for the battle-field
Go forth and conquer God will be your shield;
for tongues may cease, and knowledge all may fail;
But "Truth is mighty, and it will prevail;"
Let mingling prayers from shore to shore resound,
Till heaven's broad concave trembles at the sound;
And nations rise in super-human might,
Moved by the sighs that reach the throne of light.
In many a clime, as on our blood-stained soil
Slaves have been doomed to unrequited toil ;
chut from the light by Revelation given,
And all the hopes and promises of heaven.
For other captives other nations hold
At Mammon's call, the burning thirst for gold.
On that scourged soil, the Christian's feet first trod,
Where seven churches bowed to Israel s God,
The haughty Moslem rules, and swears the same
Internal vengeance to the Christian name;
Still, as to aid, lime's canker-eating rust,
Tramples the works of ages in the dust;
Woman is doomed, since Moslem power began,
To toil, the slave, the servile slave of man,
Nor Turks alone from immemorial time,
All Asia has been sharing in their crime;
To idol gods the Hindoos' prayers aspire,
And widows perish on the funeral pyre;
Self-tortured victims welter in their blood,
And infants feed the depths of Ganges' flood.
For this ye weep for this ye meet to pray
lhat God would grant a more auspicious dav.
See, light bursts forth on Asia's fated plain,
The bow of Hope in Mercy's gentle reign!
There yet must fall Oppression's galling rod,
And " Ethiopia strotch her hands to Uod.
But why abroad to India's idol dome,
While Mammon's altars drink their blood at home?
Why should our hearts be taught the wrongs to feel
Of Poland, pierced by Russia's bloody steel?
Why should we weep for Urccia a glorious land,
Crushed by the haughty Moslem's iron hand?
While our own soil is reddening with the woes,
Or Turk, or Russ, would tremble to impose!
Here, strife, and bate, and fell oppression reign;
Our sons are crouching to the tyrant s chain.
The tyrant's chain! but fetters cannot bind
The soul 'tis free! and the immortal mind
Knows no control, it soars aloft from earth,
Where freedom, truth, and mercy, have their birth;
It stretches forth, in intellectual might,
To hail the star of Freedom's holy light.
Eternal Truth! why o'er the world's domain
Should judgment sleep, and foul oppression reign?
From Ganges' tide to where Missouri boils,
lie wields his arm o'er ocean's subject isles;
Nations have sunk, crushed by his deadly might,
Whose sword has power to change the wrong to right.
Must Justice plead for plundered right in vain?
Shall Tyranny extend his dark domain?
But, from bis home, shall Freedom's slaves be torn,
Back o'er the indignant ocean's billows borne?
Is there no rest for Ethiopia's child?
Twice robb'd of right, twice from his home exiled.
He must not cross the dark unfathomed sea;
The land that gave him birth shall make him free.
Africk still bleeds, scourged by her conquering foes
There, Thebes and Carthage in their pride arose;
Her sons may do more than their fathers did,
Uut not in temple, tower, and pyramid;
They yet may rise the Christian's hope to crown,
For lbraham has dashed his shackles down.
And shall the tongue that tells the tale of wrong,
In burning words of eloquence and song,
Partake the sweets, their bitter toil supplies,
And own a deed, the feeling heart denies?
And will we stoop the unfettered limb to wear
The fruits of Africk's writhing and despair?
No by the stripes to bleeding captives given,
By Freedom's gift, the glorious boon of heaven,
By those, who, dauntless, Mammon's curse withstood,
We will be guiltless of our brother's blood;
We will not bribe the master of the slave,
Nor feed the vampyres over Freedom's grave.
Has the dark reign of Despotism come?
Must tongue, and pen, and press, and soul be dumb?
Was it our fathers gave this Temple birth,
Their faiihlcss children tumble to the earth?
Will we yield up the high and holy trust,
When Law, and Right, and Truth, are in the dust?
But hark ! it comes ! the awful cry of blood,
From the green banks of Mississippi's flood
Truth's champion stands his sword the Demon draws
A martyr falls in sacred freedom s cause!
Oppressed, the winds, that warning voice will bear
O'er land and wave, far through the troubled air;
Till trembling echo strange responses brings,
Back from the shores of Europe s haughty kings,
And see! that noble, fearless, faithful band,
Trusting in God, with martyr courage stand;
While Faith and Hope rise o'er the gathering ire,
As Freedom's temple falls a funeral pyre.
Trembling we turn to ask our fellowmen, .
Is this the soil are these the sons of Pknn ?
If Freedom's footsteps glorious hath been,
Upon these hills of everlasting green,
Must she reluctant bid a last adieu
To Switzer hills, Italia's skies of blue?
Nor Africks sons alone invoke the skies.
One lives a Blave and one for freedom die.
Here, where we meet, whence light and learning sprung,
In festive mirth the Indian's war-whoop rung,
Here were his council fires the wilderness his home,
Now Science rears aloft her glorious dome.
Where is he now? go ask the depths of air,
And startled echo wildly answers where!
From other worlds, a race innured to toil
Come o'er the deep, and drive him from his soil
His haughty Chiefs remain no more to wield
Their martial laws upon the battle-field;
A few survive, like aged oaks, to tell
The height of power from which their fathers fell)
The wrecks of nations, long extinct, remain,
The Montezumas of another reign,
They, too, must yield the last of heaven's trust,
Their homes, their countries, and their fathers' dust.
Oil, must the archives of our country tell,
That here its more than Roman virtues fell!
So she began, in dark oppression's hour
To enslave the world her minions had the power,
Till subject millions' gathered wrath was hurled,
And Rome was conquered by a conquered world.
Pause, weep my country! by the illustrious Penn,
the first in peace among immortal men;
By w hat is more, if injur'd justice spoke,
The plighted faith of partial treaties broke,
Go, ask forgiveness, smoke the pipe of peace,
And let thy hate, thy crimes perfidious cease;
Rescue tho injured, exiled Cherokee;
For Heaven's returning wrath may fall on thee.
How have they borne, till into madness driven,
By crimes that never can be all forgiven.
The while man's home has lit his midnight patch,
The beacon fires of Heaven's avenging watch;
And guiltless blood has been profusely shed,
And warning hosts to vengeful battle sped.
VVhen the last gift our faithless country gave.
A wilderness o'er Mississippi's wave;
And from his home drove nature's cradled child;
Where broad Arkansas rolls through deserts wild;
E're he forsook the valley, plain and steep.
Looked an adieu and paused, awhile to weep.
He, that before would shed no burning tear,
To wet for once his fathers' lonely bier,
On the green soil wherein their ashes rest,
Wept like a babe upon its mother's breast.
But keener pangs had pierced his broken heart,
If those he loved had seen him sad depart ;
If he had passed without one pitying eye,
Alone to toil, bleed, languish, and to die.
Is then the daughter from the mother torn
By ruffian hands? and is the mother borne
From home and children, never more to share
A parents blessing, or a husband's prayer?
While the bold steep of fame our country climbs,
She has her virtues, and she has her crimes.
For the Voice of Freedom.
Pursuant to a calUof the Board of Directors, the Derby
Anti-Slavery Society held a public meeting at the Congre
gational church in Derby, February 20, 1839, when the
following proceedings were had, interspersed with sacred
and instrumental music viz:
Prayer by Rev. S. M. Wheelock.
Address by Henry F. Prentiss, Esq.
The following resolutions were discussed by Messrs. Ja
cob Bates, A. Manson, S. B. Colby, N. Hopkinson, N. Col
by, S. M. Wheelock, and D. M. Camp, and were sevarally
unanimously adopted, viz:
Resolved, That slavery is a moral, political, social and
domestic evil; that all classes and descriptions of persons
in the United States are under obligation carefully to inves
tigate the subject, to ascertain wherein they may operate
most effectually to secure its abolition, and immediately
and cordially to engage in the work.
Resolved, That the power to bring about the abolition
of American slavery is lodged with the people of the free
states, and on them will devolve the responsibility of its
continuance if they longer remain insensible and inactive
Resolved, That the great enterprize, having ben com
menced in the free states, must be carried on here until all
become thoroughly reformed and united, after which oper
ations may De commence in the slave states with every
prospect of success.
Resolved, That the prejudices of education and the
blinding influence of interest, though they furnish no jus
tification of slavery, do fully account for the sensitiveness
oi slaveholders on the subject ol abolition, and their per
verse determination to resist all argument and entreaty
yet, we have the consolation and encouragement which ac
companies a conviction that " truth is mighty and will pre
vail." Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be duly
certified and transmitted to the Voice of Freedom for pub
lication. C. CARPENTER, PrcMcnt.
D. M. Camp, Secretary.
From the Pennsylvania Freeman.
Henry Clay's Speech.
nenry iay oojects to me emancipation ol six
thousand slaves in the District of Columbia, because
they are " in ignorance and poverty." Query
How many years of continual slavery does M
Clay think will suffice to make the slaves all learn
ed and wealthy?
Mr. Clay says: there shall be eternal non-inter
course between him and Daniel O'Connell. Que
ry : will O Connell weep, on reading this news?
He says; " nearly forty years the scat of gov
ernment lias recti here, and slavery has been here
and who can specify an evil which has resulted
from the institution?" So, then, Henry Clav
thinks it no evil, for'six thousand persons to be de-
privea oi iiDerty, during tneir whole lives no
evil to have the fruits of their industry taken from
them no evil to have their husbands, their wives
or their children wrested from them and sold, at a
distance to them impassible, Now, if Henry
n .-i i i i i o
Viay were to do maae a siave nnnseit, lor six
months, Instead, of for life, would he think it no
evil ? If his wife, or his daughter, were forcibly
separated from him, for ever, would he think it no
evil ? If his grand-child were sold in infancy,
into slavery for life, 'would, he think it no evil ?
Or does he hold it to be a sufficient justification
of oppression, that its evils have not reached the
oppressors but been confined to the onnressed ?
1 , n :
He tallrs ol an imMied Jtiitri, in relation to a
contract for the cession of the District of Colum
bia, and concerning a matter, which he admits is
not expressed in the contract. This well becomes
a man, who would continue to hold all the con
tracts which have been or may be made, by three
millions of colored people, concerning the fruits of
their own industry, to be utterly null and void.
He then quibbles about Plorida by asserting
that according to the spirit of the Missouri com
promise, all countries which the United States
might ever thereafter purchase south of 3b de
grees of north latitude must be the consecrated a
bode of slavery. Lawyer Clay, both in this mat
ter and that relating to the District of Columbia,
abandons the received maxims of the law, that in
all questionable points and all not expressly defin
ed, the construction of every instrument mid every
law, is to be in favor of liberty; and he nets on'
the horrible principle, of constructing all such
points so as to favor slavery,
He then calculates the value ol the slaves at
1200 millions, a most extraordinary estimate.
But whatever that value may be, it arises entire
ly from the expectation of the slave-holders of
plundering the slaves of that amount of the fruits
of their own industry. Yet, says he, the slave
holders ought not to contribute one cent towards
emancipation, but should be paid, by those' not
concerned' in the plunder, the full amount of what
they expect to make by their system of pillage.
This is as if the Malay pirates should propose to
civilized nations, to pay them an annual tridute,
equal to nil the properly which they expected to
capture, upon condition that they should give up,
the practice of piracy.
He then declares that he is opposed to all abolii
tion, gradual or immediate. I ask, has he not, in
private conversation, expressed the contrary,
within the last two years?
He insinuates that the grounds of opposition to
emancipation with himself and the people of Ken-
tuck-, is that abolitionists advise them to eman-
cipats and they will not do it, merely to shovy
their independence ! This is the morality of a,
man who murders his neighbor, because another
neighbor, suspecting him of the intention to do it,
cautions him acainst it : so he commits the ac-
knowledged crime, to show that he will not be
dictated to! If there be any truth in this pre
tence, it shows how completely slavery annihilates
all moral and religious principle in the slavehold
er. He then asserts that if emancipation were to
take place, the colored people would all go to the
North. If he really believes this, it shows that
his character for discernment has been greatly
overrated. Have the colored people of St. Dom
ingo, of Antigua, of Barbadoes, or Jamacia, emi
grated to the North? No! why then should
those of Carolina?
He says: that emancipation will diminish the
wages lor the white laborer and increase his hard
ships. 1 Ins is a mere anneal to nreiudice. He
offers no argument that this would be the result;
and for a good reason he had none which he
could offer. It does not seem to have once enter
ed his mind, that it was not a sufficient justifica
tion for a white man to oppress and Blunder a
black one, lhat the white man profits by the op
pression. This shows how completely slavehold
ing and ambition have destroyed the moral sense
of a man, who, in his earlier and better days, was
the eloquent advocnte of emancipation in the
Kentucky Legislature.
He predicts desolated fields, ruined cities and
murdered citizens, as the consequences of aboli
tion. Yet who will believe that he is ignorant of
the fact, that in those West India Islands where
complete emancipation took place near five years
since, there is not one murder for five that occur
among the equal population of slaveholders and
slaves at the South : cities have thriven, the pro
ducts of the land have increased, and the value of
real estate advanced.
He says that' if the slaves emancipated by
Great Britain in the West Indies had existed lit
Great Britain itself, it would have been unsafe to
emancipate them, because of the "embittered feel
ings" of the slaves. This is an admission that
the slaves are not contented with their situations,
as slaveholders and other apologists have asserted,
The idea that these embittered feelings would
not be mollified, by emancipation on the part of
the masters, is untenable. This has been proved
in Great Britain itself, where most of the people
were once slaves, and among them probably Mr,
Clay's ancestors. Their masters liberated "them,
and no evil followed, The same thing took place
in France, Germany, and Italy. Ancient as well
is modern history, shows, that emancipated slaves
;ire usually the truest friends that their former
masters can possess.
He asserts that Maryland and Virginia would
not have ceded the District of Caluinbia to the
Union, if they had anticipated emancipation in
the District through the act of Congress. I think
otherwise because -Maryland and Virginia under
the influence of such men as Washington, Jeffer
son and Wm. Pinckuey, were at lhat time fa
vorable to abolition, and had recently voted for it
in relation to the territory then belonging to the
United States, which now composes Ohio, Indi
ana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.
He speaks of the "bleeding wounds" that were
happily bound up by ihe Missouri compromise.-
These bleeding wounds were the wounded feel
lings of those slaveholders, who wished nothing
done to prevent them from oppressing lheir fellow
beings. Mr Clay seems to think much more of a
wound on the unjust gains of the slaveholder,
than of one on the back of the slave.
He alleges that the people of the North have
no more right to interfere with slavery in tho
South, than those of Great Britain have to inter
fere with the domestic institutions of France. In
this he is in error for three reasons, 1. The pco
pie of England are not active participants in up
holding oppression in France, but the people of the
Northern states are active participants in embrace
ing slavery in the South. 2. The clause of the
Constitution which makes them participants was
assented toby the North only in consequence of
the genera understanding of all parties, that slai
ery would be ere lontr abolished, and the south
have not adhered to their understanding. 3. fhe
Constitution of the United States not only author
ized Congress to prohibit the importation of slaves,
but it has reserved the right of three-fourths of
the states to abolish slavery in the other fourth ;
by an amendment of the Constitution, as well as
the right to discharge each of the states from a
continued participation -in acts of oppression car
ried on in other states. While it has left this
power open to be exercised by three-fourths of the
states, it has prohibited any privation of equal
representation in the Senate, except by unanimous
consent, thus showing that there were points to
which it was not intended the amendatory power
should extend, but that slavery was not one of
those points.'
If it wern true, however, lhat the North and
tee South were as distinct as England and France,
it would still be extremely inconsistent in Mr.
Clav to condemn the Nortd for trying, through
aro-ument and persuasion, to civilize and christian
ize the South ; lor fie has for many years Deen
engaged in a project for changing the institutions
and practices of the people oi Africa ; and the
Southern people nave very extensively uiieriereq
th the institutions ot lexus, without censure
from Mr. Clav- If my memory serve mo right
ly, he also encouraged interference with Greece,
f not wiiu Poland,
lie institutes that the abolitionists desire an
unnatural amajgamatipn," contrary to the