'^- c° / %/ ^^. ^<^ ^ "^^c."5' %.^" w'.. •^o • HO*. -.1 >^ * ^O. '' \ %,^^ ♦ av "♦>, °o o • * ' A AN ORATION, KELIVERKI) BEFORB THE ADDISON COUNTY ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY FOURTH OF JULY, 1836 BY EDWARD D. KARBER. MIDDLEBURY . K :< A p r A N' II J E w E T T , r n I N r K R » . 1836. EU9 MiDDLEBURY, JuNE 20, 183G. E. D. Barber, Esq., Sir, — I am directed by the Executive Committee of the Addison County Anti-Slavery Society, to request you to deliver an Oration before said Society on the fourth of July next. The Committee arc solicitous, sir, that you will find it consistent with your other engagements to comply with this invitation. Your obedient servant, M. D. GORDON, Rec. Sec. E. D. Barber, Esq., Dear Sir, — Wc are directed by the Addison County Anti-Slavcry Society to present you its thanks for the Oration delivered by you this day, in vindication of those righteous principles of liberty which it is the design of the association to promote, and to request a copy for the press. Wc arc, dear sir. Very respectfully. Your fellow citizens, Jonathan A. Allen, ") Middlebury, July 4, 1836. Chauncey Cook, Exfcutive M. D. Gordon, Yn ,,^it^l r\ T \ (committee. Oliver Johnson, J B. Carpenter, J ,.f i~ / .**- y^i^ ORATION. We have met, lullow citizens, on a day consecrated in the hearts of us all by patriotic and blessed recollections. It is the natal day of our coun- try's independence. Hallowed as it is by tlie toils and blooil of our fatlicrs, it should be held sacred to human liberty and human rights. Though we come not together with banner and trumpet, with parade and ceremonyi yet wo feel that is good to hail its annual return with tokens of joy and tlianksgiviug. We would not forget the countless blessings and priceless benefits wliich have been conferred upon us by our heroic sires, but would rather, under the inspiration of tlic memories which the occasion brings witli it, recount their daring achievements, their sacrifices, their sufForings, their toils, their privations, their patient endurance, their self-sacrificing devotion, their trials and their triumphs, that wc might enjoy the rich in- heritance which they thus purchased for us. It is good for us to drink in the spirit which animated their bosoms — to catch the fervor of their devo- tion to the riglils of man — to break the sluggishness of our own patriotism by estimating the price they paid for the privileges amid which our lot is cast — and to enkindle within our own Ijosoms those lofty emotions which carried them tin-ougli want, defeat, despondency and disaster to the proudest tri- umph in the annals of the world. That soul mus:t, indeed, be dead, that, on this day, with tlio voice of the pflst whispering in his oar the deeds of his revolutionary fatliers and tuning his heart to the music of freedom, does not swell witli unwonted emotions and kindle with the noblest aspi- rations. Witli such influences upon liim, tlie sealed fountains of liis bosom must be broken up and from their inmost depths will come welling up the sweetest waters of patriotism — the purest flowings of the spirit of liberty. But this anniversary should never be permitted to pass without a recur, rcncc to the principles which were asserted by our forefathers — established by the revolution and made the basis of our political fabric. In our devo- tions to tlie name we should not forgot the .spirit of liberty. If we boast of our institutions, and spend our breath in panegyrics upon those who foun- ded them, lot us, at least, be sure to know what they are, for what they were established and how they are regarded. While wc dwell upon the memories of our sires and exalt them to be saints in the calendars of free- dom, let us be certain that the doctrines for which they bled, are worthy of acceptation, and that we arc not despising and rejecting them. Was the American Revolution a contest about icords? Was there nothing of eter- nal, immutable right in the principles for which those who achieved it, perilled their all — their lives, thrir fortunes, and tlieir sacred honor ? Did they bare tlicir bosoms to death, and hazard tlifir memories to infimy, f)r mere abstractions, t!iat sliould be llic watcliwords of liberty to-day and tlic maxims of a discarded philosophy to-morrow ? Were the doctrines of the revolution got up as the mi'ro stalking horses of faction and rebellion — to delude by (bi'jr fj])<'riouRness and mislr^ad by tir^ir fiisily — lobnronif^, when thoy had anBweretl a present purpose, the mere puppets of oxpodioncy and bo exalted as the axioms of froodom at one time and sneered at as vagarica at another ? Were the}^ and are tlicy not rather tlie immoveable founda- tions of all that is sacred in human rights and ennobling in human liberty ? Shall we so libel the memories of Washington and his com-patriots, as to say that they attempted to dignify, as realities, the whims of the fancy or the flourishes of the rhetorician ? The blood shed on Bunker's desperate mount, on the victorious heights of Bemis, on the blazing plains of Mon- mouth and the fatal field of Camden, would cry shame, on such a declara. tion. The noble self-devotion, the holy perseverance, the untold suffer- ings and boundless sacrifices of those who reared the splendid fabric of our government, bear irrefutable testimony that their labors were directed to what they deemed the most inestimable of human blessings. And what were the principles of the Revolution? We have them in the noble in- strument by which our fathers declared themselves independent of British power. The broad foundation of government which is there laid, is briefly comprised in the following sentences : " We hold these truths to bo self-evident ; that all men are created equal ; that they aye endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among tlicse are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men deriv- ing their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that when any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the riglit of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." On this endurable basis of human rights has been reared the proud su. perstructure of of the American Republic. And is not the banner of such a government the refuge of the oppressed of all nations ? May not the bleeding victims of rapacity and tyrannous exaction find protection behind the vEgis which is thus extended to guard the " inalienable rights" of man ? Surely, the contemner of human liberty, who dares to raise his hand against the life and liberty of liis neighbor and snatch him by violence from the pursuit of happiness, must meet, amid the influences of such a govern- ment and the exalted patriotism of its citizens, that scorn and indignation which shall send him cowering from the haunts of men, the outcast from sympathy and hops. Surely, most surely, whenever the manacled slave, escaping from the time worn despotisms of the old world, plants his foot on the soil protected by institutions formed upon such models, his chains fall, and he starts, at once regenerated, into the dignity of manhood and the glorious exaltation, of freedom. Oh ! my country would it were so ! How appropriate to thy principles and yet how false to thy practice ! The banner of this Republic, instead of being a "refuge for the stricken slave," floats above the clanking of chains, the resounding of tlie lash, the shrieks of the scourged victim, and the crouching of the subdued spirit, and in the waving of its gorgeous folds is no sign of hope or mercy to the oppressed. The spots most hallowed in the recollections of the patriot — the very Meccas of freedom are trod by the fettered heel and wept over by the crushed spirit. " By storied hill and hallowed grot, By mossy wood and marshy glen, Whnnc rang of old the rifle shot And hurrying shout of Marion's men I *riie groan of breaking hearts is there, Tho falling lash — tlio fetter's clank, Slaves — Slaves are breathing in that air Which old DcKalb and Sunipter drank." American slavery, then, sliould be tho subject of discussion, animadver- sion and indignant eloquence on every anniversary of our country's inde- pendence, until not a bondman is found witliin its borders. Tho free spirit of our fathers should be rekindled in the bosoms of their degenerate sons, t their stern, though beneficent principles should be proclaimed, with trumpet tongue, in every corner of the land on the day most hallowed in its annals. Tlie present, instead of being an appropriate occasion to boast of virtues which we do not possess, and to minister to national vanity, by inflated declamation of a freedom which to millions of our countrymen is a mock- ery, should be a time for humiliation, that American liberty is but tho hiding place of the most bitter oppression. My purpose is to direct your attention to slavery as a national evil, and the means of its correction as such. It will not be necessary for mo to give you an extended description of what American slavery is. It is sufficient to know that it is slavery that it is depriving human beings of their " injilicnable rights" — that it is shut- ting them out trom every degree of liberty — leaving them no means of pursuing their own happiness and subjecting even their lives to the capri- ciousness of a tyrant's will — that it transforms 7nen into things — subjects them to be sold as merchandize — deprives them of tho exercise of the best and holiest affi?ctions of tho human heart — shuts them out from knowledge — makes them instruments to minister to tho rapacity and lust of their masters — crushes the spirit of freedom and manhood in their souls — ren- ders them abject and brutal in their aspirations, and degrades those who are created in the image of God, to the condition of the bruto. The slave of this republic has no rights — he has no right to himself — to the use of his limbs or the rewards of his toil — even his children and his wife are anoth- er's property. Tho powers of his mind and the energies of his body are directed by a will not his own, and his life is one long round of toil, suffer- ing and despair. The hour of death only, is the hour of emancipation to him. Here, then, we have an institution in the midst of us, which is founded on the destruction of those very principles — those "self-evident truths," which are the corner stones of our political edifice ! An institu- tion which denies that " all men arc created equal" — that they " are endow- ed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights" — and that " life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" belong to all alike ; and the government of the country, instead of securing those rights to each individual, suffers them, in millions of cases, to be seized upon and yielded up to the most unlimited despotism. Now wliat effect must the existence of this institution have upon the sentiment of the nation, if it is continued and acquiesced in ? Is not every man who silently yields his assent to its continuance, directly assenting to the overthrow of the great principles of the Declaration of Independence ? Is he not living down those principles — making them a dead letter — treat, ing them as though they were not everlasting truths, upon which rest the happiness, elevation and glory of his race, but as doctrines to be asserted and maintained only when they are necessary for his good and the good of b tiiosc WHOSO Kkin is colored like liis own >. The inevitable result of au acquiescence in the continuance of slavery in tliis government, will be to drag down tlie public sentiment of tlie non-slaveholding states, to a dcbas- ing approximation to that of tlie slave-holdinj^ ones. A hesitation now to assert the principles of universal freedom and the inviolability of tlic rights which God lias given to all men, will soon end in open neglect of those principles and rights, and finally sink into a base subserviency to the views of those who live in their habitual violation. If the eternal principles of lib- erty arc not boldly proclaimed and resolutely defended, in defiance of power, in the face of ambition, and in the teeth of interest, how soon will freedom become but a name — a shadow without the substance — the gilded sepulchre of human rights — the garnished mausoleum of the dearest interests of hu- manity. If the spirit of liberty is not maintained with its forms, it is but a mockery. If, while we celebrate with bonfires and illuminations, with the thunders of artillery, the shouts of tlie populace, and tlie waving of banners, with pomp and ceremony, with anthem and oration, the independence and freedom of our country, we, at the same time, look with complacency upon the slave auctions, slave prisons, slave ships and slave drivers, which dis- grace, deform and infest the capital of the republic, to what does all our parade and noise amount, but hollow pageantry and heartless sound ? If any one among us feels, as he should feel, his bosom will burn with indig- nation at the thought, that a slave market can exist on any spot guarded by the Eagle of American Liberty. The public feeling and tone on the subject of slavery have gone fearfully backward in this nation since the days of the revolution. The sentiment which prevailed this day 177G, is but faintly sliadowod forth by that of the present time. As the sun of our glory has risen higher in the heavens, his rays have become dimmer and his radi- ance less genial. In the time of our forefathers, though slavery existed among us, not a voice was ever raised in its defence — tliere was no thought then, how it should be perpetuated, but how it should be aholished. The patriots of the North and South hold the same sentiments in relation to its continuance. Its existence was recognized in the constitution, not with the intention that it should bo sanctioned thereby and its evils prolonged, but with the earnest wisli and expectation of the framers of that instru- ment that it would speedily be abandoned. Franklin, Jay, Rush, and a host of othersin the North labored in conjunction with Jefl'orson and others in the South for its extinction. The tendency of public opinion at that day throughout the nation was to its abolition. But the spirit and feeling of those times passed away with the race that produced and nourished them. The country became gradually silent upon the subject and the gloom of the evil become deeper and darker. The bird of eagle eye and wing was chased from his own chosen eyry, by the croakings of the raven of domestic despotism. The voice of condemnation — the pleadirLgs of love — the remonstrances of candor — the appeals of patriotism, and the stern i-ebukes of justice were all hushed, and the land finally slept in a moral lethargy. Tlie public conscience was paralized — the public sentiment was voiceless, and the Goliath of public patriotism slept in the lap of the Deli- lah of tyranny — his locks shorn — his heavy slumbers unbroken by the shrieks of the slave and jiis giant limbs grown nerveless by inaction and effeminacy. In tlio mean time, the monster. Slavery, grew apace. The shackle half knocked from the limbs of the bondman, was re-riveted — the t car tliut had become sensitive to the pleadings of huiiiaiiity, grew deaf to tho increasing entreaties — tlic hand lialf stretched to tlio deliverance of the bleeding captive, sank powerless by the side, or bocamo nerved for deeds of atrocity — the eye that grew moist with pity at the wrongs of tlie inno- cent and defencclosfi, became slowly callous to tlic stripes and agonies of tho lacerated victims, and tlio soul tliat bi?gan to glow with the impulses of pliilanthropy and love, grew chill in all its generous sympathies. And now, when tho cry of Freedom is up again and liur clarion voico is heard througliout the land. Slavery, instead of cowering to her dungeons anrovai of slavery or of acquiescmce in ils continuiince. Now the popular cry is — it is no- concern of oitrs, let the South hive their slavenj and (dice care of their slaves — to discuss slavery is an intermedling with what we do not understand — the slaves of the South are better off than the laboring class of the North — it ivotdd render the condition of the slaves much worse io emancipate them — the South cannot exist without their slaves — we must stand by the people of the South in defence of their domestic iiistitutions and help them to jnit down the fanatics who contend that the negro has rights. Nay, it is no oncommon thing to hear northern freemen, libelling the goodness of the common father of men, by impiously declaring that they believe the black man was created to be a slave .' And can the public senti- ment of a free government which tolerates such monstrous doctrines l)» oorrect ? Now a full and faithful discussion of slavery will banish these heresies from the free states and piace the subject on a true and im- moveable foundation. What has not discussion done on other questions of like moment and like concernment? How was the Slave Trade abolished in England ? TJiat ter- rible traffic had once got the same masti-ry of the public mind and public voice in that country, that slavery has in this. But the efforts of the self devoted Clarkson and his patriotic associates, aroused the sleeping spirit of freedom in British hearts and they drove the horrible abuse from their shores. And that noble triumph of liberty was achieved by discussion — by discussion in the face of popular fury — amid the denunciations of avarica — in defiance of sneers and scoffings and against the influence of Lords spir- itual and Lords t3mporal. How let me ask is any great reform, either in morals or politics, accom- plished, except by a resort to this very instrument of operation ? How is the demon of Intemperance assaulted and subdued ? How is a political heresy overthrown ? Most obviously by the power of discussion correcting public opinion. And shall that whicli is equal to the task of settling dispu- ted theories and nice questions of law and ethics, be powerless in estab- lishing the first great principles of liberty — in setting up in the hearts of a people nurtured on a soil redeemed by the blood of patriots, the worship of frcfnlom, trodden down by corrupting avarice and heartless power ? Shall that which can arouse the sensibilities — stir up the affections — awaken the energies — exalt the imagination — sliarpen the intellect and render keen the moral sense, on every other question of human responsibilities, of human rights and of human sufferings, fail in the cause of tlie bleeding, the outcast and the helpless slave ? But, it is said, to discuss thi.s subject out of the slave slates will do no good, because the people of those states have the .sole control and the solo J3 powci of I, gialaticn over it. It is for tlie rL'uson, tiiut the people nf tbo i^outli havo tlie control of it, that we rely upon tlic power of discussion iirii? j)uJ)lic opinion, to efFoct tlic dfsirod object. If slavery existed in dfspi/dc frovernments there, we should have no means of roacliing it — it would tlioii be controlled by an Autocrat or an Aristocracy whom discussion or the pub- lie voice would not affect — they would continue or abolish it, as they should deem cither course most in accordance with considerations of political cx- padiency. But wliere the people are the source of power, you hav.; but to obtain their voice in favor of any measure and the ohj ct is accomplislud. Their will is law. And are we to take it for granted that the p -opl ! of the South cannot be converted from their errors in relation to this matter 7 Have they not souls and c.innot thoso souls be touched 7 Have tlu-y not synip:itliies and cannot thoso sympathies b3 moved? Have thcj- not con- sciences and cannot those consciences be pricked? Have lliey not minds and cannot those minds be convinced ? Is slavery capablo of being dof-n- dcd, that tliey cannot be won from its embrace and led to its r.-jection ? Is it so great a blessing, that they will cling to it as a household r^od 7 Is it eo great a safeguard to tliemselves and families that they cannot be induc- ed to part with its protection 7 Is its morality so chastening that they cannot separate themselves from its influences 7 On the contrary every thing conspires to render it impossible for them to sustain slavery. It is said again, that discussion only produces exasperation at the South. And why are tlic people of that section exasperated 7 Are they offended at statements they can disprove ? At arguments they can refute ? At doctrines that are unsound ? Certainly not. Men do not act thus. They arc exasperated because they find themselves in a false position before the World. Their interest, eaf e and habits are at war with truth and conscience, and they bluster because tlioy havo no other defence for tlieir conduct — they raj/ because tlu!y cannot reason. They are much in the same pre- dicament tliat certain artists of old were — they have little to say in favor of the Diari.in shrines nor can they refute the doctrines of Paul and hia associates, and, as tlie only resort left, they sensessly shout for the Goddess and brutally mob the Apostles. Tlie true secret of the violence of the South is, that the real slave-holder, who is wedded to the system, fears the force of truth upon the consciences of tliosa who arc yet witliin the pale of philanthopy and within the influence of religion and patriotism. Th» ver)' champions of the system even, admit substantially the truth of this remark. Wiio can doubt, then, that tlic South occupying such a position, must fail to maintain it ; and when once the charm of their system is broken, freedom begins to dawn amid the darkness of their despotism. Their very phrensy will, in the end, react and b;.coino a powerful instiniraent in urging forward emancipation. Suppose now we give ourselves up to the guidance and instruction of the opponents of emancipation and discussion, and let us see where wo shall land — what will be the results of their arguments when carried out into practice. They say that neither the free st.its nor Congress havD any legislative power over slavery, in the slaveholding states. Granted. They .•fay that by the constitution the pcoj)le of the free states are bound, when called upon in the prescribed manner, to assist the South in quelling "do- mestic violence." Granted. They say, too, that the people of the froo states have no right to discuss the subject of slavery with a view to its abo- lition. Now if we admit this proposition also, to what do we arrive but that'slavery must continue as long as the slaveholder may choose to clinjr to it, and thai evett the physical force of the free states must guaranty its ex 14 istntre to him ngairml all attempts of the slave to regain his lust lights — to shake off a yoke, in comparison witfi vvliich the one our fathers resisted, for wliich resistance we revere their niciiioric-s, was but as a straw. Sure- ly such a doctrine is slavish enough for any meridian ! But the objection most often resorted to, against the discussion of this snbicct and most calculated to deter those who have not examined the merits of the question piesented them, from attending to it, is, that it will dissolve the Union — that tlie south will not submit to any aitempts to abolish slavery, but will rather rend the bonds that bind the states together. No man reverences the Union more than I do. The last thing I would know- ingly do, would be to give any just cause for the severance of the national compact. But whodo3s not know that slavery more directly threatens the dissolution of the Union, independent of the question of its abolition, than all other causes put together ? Had I time it were an easy task to show that it has been working mischief from the very organizat ion of the government It creates an interest in the country that is entirely at war with tlie interests of freemen. It is a discordant and jarring chord in the harmonies of our system. Slave labor and free labor cannot both well ex- ist in the same government. The legislation which is beneficial to the one is destructive to the prosperity of the other. And while this is the case, although the slaves are considered as so much property — as so much live stock, in short — they send into Congress twenty five representatives to in- fluence and control the legislation of the country. This power has been again and again used for the purpose of cramping the energies of free labor. The policy of the South, arising from this institution among them, has ever been hostile to that of the other portions of the union, especially New Eng- land. Take for instance the question of the Tariff. After the close of the last war when the daring enterprise of northern freemen had carried the commerce of the nation into every sea and they were reaping the rich rewards of their toil and dangers, southern statesmen, jealous of the pros- perity of freedom, and wishing to throw the burthen of the national debt from their slave gains upon the commerce and consumption of the free states, originated the system of imposts, instead of the direct tax which had previously been resorted to and by which the South were made to con- tribute to the public treasury in proportion to their representation in Con- gress, for the avowed purpose of encouraging manufactures. They sue. ceeded and the commerce of New England was crippled. But her indomi. table freemen immjdiately changed the direction of their efforts and adapted their enterprise to the new state of things, and tlie " industry of frv!edom," thouo-h stricken down for a moment by slavery, had no soon r touched the earth, than it rose again, Antaeus-like, with irrepressible energy, turning the very engine wielded for its destruction into a kind of Philosopher's Stone. Manufactures sprang up as by enchantment and the golden stream flowed once more in the channels of northern enterprise. The South was again left behind in the career of prosperity, loaded as she was by the incubus of slavery. Then came the war upon the Tariff system and the Union was saved only by yielding uptliat system JoA/cA the South originated, to Slave- holding Nullification ! Thus has slavery ever warred upon the interests of the free states and thus it ever will ; and wlienever the people of those states, tired of the exactions and wrongs inflicted upon them by this prin- ciple of evil, shall maintain their own interests against those of the South and in defiance of their menaces, then will come the dissolution of the Union in reality. Slavery has operated, moreover, as a sort of talisman, to keep the south- 15 orn Htiitcs bandod logothcr.by means of wliich t!ioy havt; givou the repub- lic four out of six Presidents and kept tlic patronagii of thu goncrttl govern- ment and the veto power in the hands of a slaveholder thirty two out of forty years.* Tlic tendency of all thnse things is to the sund.^ring of tlio Union, and slavery is the cause of them all. Remove that and you take from this people the Apple of Discord. But upon what pretext will the South dissolve the Union ? Because freemen will not consent to pat gags in their mouths and padlocks on their presses ? Because they insist upon exercising undoubted constitutional rights ? Because they will not submit to the dictation and succumb to the violence of southern task masters and crouch like their own slaves under their threatenings ? And to secure what, are such concessions to be made ? The perpetuity of slavery .' It comes, then, to this, that tiiq South in tiio plenitude of their magnanimity and patriotism oft'.T to perpetuate the Union on the very modest conditions, that we yield tip to tlicm the riglit of freo discussion and acquiesce in silence, in the existence of an institution which robs millions of our fellow men of that which the Union was designed to secure to all, freedom ! Most generous people ! to grant Ub the continuance of the government on such terms ! Who will not say, that if the Union is to be preserved on sucli conditions alone, it is not worth preserving, and if the South choose to dissolve it for such causes, let them dissolve it and take the consequences. On this point I adopt the language of an eloquent writer of the day.t " If the Union can be preserved only by the imposition of chains on speech and the press, by a prohibition of discussion on a subject involving the most sacred rights and dearest interests of humanity, then Union would be bought at too dear a rate ; then it would be changed from a virtuous bond into a league of crime and shame. — Language cannot easily do justice to our attachment to the Union. We will yield every thing to it but Truth, Honor and Liberty. These we can never yield." To the South it would be an appropriate and sufficient answer to their arrogant demands on this topic, to reply in the words of one of their most renowned champions on a certain occasion — " Liberty first and tfnion aflerwurds." But we adopt the language of a loftier patriotism and a no- bler eloquence and say — " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inscperable." Let the discussion go on, then, in the name of freedom, humanity and justice. " From each and all, if God hath not forsaken Our land, and left us to an evil choice. Loud as the summer thunder bolt shall waken A people's voice I Startling and stern I the northern winds shall bear it Over Potomac's to St. Mary's wave ; And buried Freedom shall awake to hear it Witjiin her grave. O let that voice go fortli ; — the bondmen sighing By Santec's wave — in Mississippi's cane, Shall feel the hope, within his bosom d^'ing. Revive again. L-^t it go forth I — The millions who are gazing Sadly upon us, from afar, shall smilo. And, unto God devout thanksgiving raising, Bless us the while. * In this estimate no account is made of Washington's administration, as he was the choice of all. t Dr. Clianniiig. 16 O, fbi our ancK-nt freodoni, pure and holy. For the deUvprnnce of a groaning eartli. For tlie wrong;'d captive, bleeding, crushed, and lo-.vly, L- 1 it go forth !" Public opinion cannot bo walled in. Tho people of tlia Soutli cannot shut it out froiu their borders. It knows no barriers — is not arrested by goographic.il boundaries — is not hemmed in by state lines or imprisoned by state legislation. It is a moral atmosphcro which spreads itsulf noise- lessly throughout the domains of intellect and intelligence. Like electric, ity, it mingles itself with all the elements of the moral world and imper- ceptibly becomes a part of the mental constitution. Neither its progress or its power can be stayed. Its course is onward and its conquests are un- coasintr. It will infuse itself into the bosoms of our southern brethren and disentomb tho buried spirit of liberty there. It will awaken again in them those generous sympathies, those noble purposes and those elevated eentimeuts which they once so gloriously exhibited and wliich have no fel- lowship with slavery. Their pulses will y(;t beat in unison with those of their northern brethren on this subject. The pleadings for the oppressed which stir New England hearts will yet find a lesponso in Carolinian bosoms , and tho shout for Emancipation wliich shall go up from Bunker's Hill, will be echoed from the field of Guilford and the heights of Yorktown. The day that siiall witness the triumph of public opinion over slavery is fast approaching. From the eminence on which I now stmd, I see in the far off distance the great prison house of death. Its gloomy walls, built «p on human hearts and cemented by human tears and blood, tower up Into the skies with a heaven-insulting glory. Its impious spires and un- hallowed domes, burnished with the gold wrung from the sweat and toil •of the defenceless, flash defyingly in the sun. It ssems to mock the powt r of tho earthquake and the storm. But while I gaze, I S3e the heaving of tho ocean of public opinion, beneath my feet, Tho great fountains of its deep are breaking up. I hear tho moan of tho coming tempest as it mus. tersits storms afar off; and tho skies gather blackness above my head. Tli ; billows go sweeping on in majesty and might. The surge beats upon the. base of that proud edifice. Tho indignant tempest goes careering over tlio face of the moved waters. Tho roar of the roused ocean comes thundering upon the ear. Tlie waves, crested with fury, beat with resistless energy upon its massive structures. The waters and the storm are up in their wrath and speak now with an " earthquake voice." I see that Bastile o^ human hearts tremble from its very base. Its walls are shaking in the elemental war. Behold its towers and turrets nod and topple to their fall. See ! its foundations give way — it reels, it sinks, it plunges, is gone, and the waters pass over it and hide it forever I The spirit of peace and lova broods over the tempest and it is hushed. The ocean sinks into unruffled calmness and the fury of the storm is stilled. And hark ! strains of thn sweetest harmony break upon the ear. A chorus of millions of voicen comes swelling upon tho calm, still air, hymning praises and thanksgivings. It is tho music of red3eniod hearts and disenthralled spirits. Oh I tlie sub- limity of that song of the free.' How its strains are caught from lip to lip, from the valley to tho hill top, from mountain to mountain, until the wholu land is wrapt in its melody and the skies reverberata with the pyaling anthem. 54 W ^^-n* A-^,. 0* .1'^', %, .,**' ^b, 'o, » . /\^ «4q iP"?!, «4q, ^2> .♦^ V ' ' • "^ .' v^^-\/ S /\ '-^^W.' y** rii* .<* ... ''^^' ^^-n^.