LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Nlilliill DDDD17HSD37 \f^^\*•» ' • • • AV v"^ .•j:;iL'* '<^ ADDEESS FKOM THE PEOPLE OE IRELAND TO THEIE COUNTRYMEN AND COUNTRYWOMEN IN AMERICA. Dear Friends : You are at a great distance from your native land ! A wide expanse of water separates you from the beloved country of your birth — from us and from the kindred whom you love, and who love you, and pray for your happiness and prosperity in the land of your adoption. We regard America with feelings of admiration: we do not look upon her as a strange land, nor upon her people as aliens from our affections. The power of steam has brought us nearer together ; it will increase the intercourse between us, so that the character of the Irish people and of the American people must in future be acted upon by the feelings and dispositions of each. The object of this address is to call your attention to the subject of slavery in America — that foul blot upon the noble institution and the fair fame of your adopted country. But for this one stain, America would indeed be a land worthy your adoption ; but she wnll never be the glorious country that her free Constitution designed her to be, so long as her soil is pol- luted by the foot-prints of a single slave. Slavery is the most tremendous invasion of the natural, inalienable rights of man, and of some of the noblest gifts of God, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." What a spectacle does America present to the people of the earth ! A land of professing Christian repul)licans, uniting their energies for the oppression and degradation of three millions of inno- cent human beings, the children of one common Father, who suffer the most grievous wrongs and the utmost degradation, for no crime of their ancestors or their own ! Slavery is a sin against God and man. All who are not for it must be against it. None can be neutral. We entreat you to take the part of justice, religion, and liberty. It is in vain that American citizens attempt to conceal their own and their country's degradation under this withering curse. America is cursed by slavery! We call upon you to unite .WITH THE Abolitionists, and never to cease your efforts until perfect liberty be granted to every one of her inhabitants, the black man as well as the white man. We are all children of the same gracious God ; all equally entitled to life, liberty, and ■ the pursuit of happiness. We are told that you possess great power, both moral and political, in America. We entreat you to exercise that power and that influence for the sake of humanity. You will not witness the horrors of slavery in all the States of America. Thirteen of them are free, and thirteen are slave States. But in all, the pro-slavery feeling, though rapidly decreasing, is still strong. Do not unite with it: on the con- trary, oppose it by all the peaceful means in your power. Join WITII THE ABOLITIONISTS EVERY WHERE. They are the only consistent advocates of liberty. Tell every man that you do not understand liberty for the white man, and slavery for the black man; that you are for liberty for all, of every color, creed, and country. The xVmerican citizen proudly points to the National Decla- ration of Independence, which declares that all mankind are born free and equal, and are alike entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. - Aid him to carry out this noble declaration, by obtaining freedom for the slave. Irishmen and Irishwomen ! treat the colored people as your equals, as brethren. By all your memories of Ireland, con- tinue to love liberty — hate slavery — cling by the aboltion- ISTS — and in America you Avill do honor to the name of Ireland. [Signed by] Daniel O'Connell, Theobald Mathew. And sixty tliousand other inhabitants of Ireland. LETTER FPvOM JAMES HAUGHTON, ESQ. To Irishmen in America : Countrymen : — My heart often prompts me to address you in a few words of kindly remonstrance. I wish you so to con- duct yourselves in the distant hind you have made your home, as that your conduct may reflect honor on the loved country you have left behind you, and cause you to be really respected by the people among whom you now dwell. These advantao-es can be secured only by a steady adherence, on your part, to '6S /sy 3, the principles of truth and honor, which you shouhl make the guiding star of your life. You love liberty for yourselves. Be consistent m your ad- vocacy of this universal right of the hunlan race ; and claim it as the inalienable privilege of all men,— of the colored man, as -well as the white man. I fear too many of you have forgotten your duty, in this re- spect, and that thus the fame of Ireland — which we should shield from the breath of dishonor— is sullied in the eyes of those who should only see reflected in your conduct, evidence of the firm determination of your countrymen to stand fast by the noble principles of Christian rectitude. In the twelfth century, the synod of Armagh proclaimed liberty to every captive in Ireland, and since then, a slave has never polluted our green isle. Remember the faithfulness of O'Connell. Let his memory, which is embalmed in many of our hearts, and his whole life, which was a consistent course in favor of civil and religious liberty, be a beacon-light guiding you in y«ur career. Demand, as he did, that freedom for all which you claim as your, own birthright. Thus, and thus alone, can you secure true respect for your- selves, and cause the stranger to say of your country, " If I were not an American, I should be proud to be an Irishman." By all your pleasant memories of Ireland; by her glorious- mountains and her beautiful valleys ; by her verdant plains, which are watered by the streams in which you loved to dis- port yourselves in childhood ; by your love of these things ; by your affection for your kindred and friends, and by your reverence for almighty God,— I appeal to you, and I ask you to love your fellow-men of all complexions and of all creeds, and to demand for them all, the exact measure of justice you claim for yourselves. The sad moan of four millions of slaves comes across the broad ocean, and it sounds painfiilly in our ears. _ I ask you to aid in turning their sorrow into joy— to aid in enabling the fathers and jnothers of the colored race in America to clasp their little ones, and feel all the happiness and all the respon- sibility of being their guardians and their guides, from infancy up to manhood. Turn not a deaf ear to the cry of the slave, but let him feel, in future and for evermore, that in every Irish- man he has a friend. Whatever may be your rank or condition in the land of your adoption, believe me, countrymen, you can only acqmre and maintain an honorable reputation there, by such a course of conduct as I recommend ; and "whatever may be your practice, "whether in consonance "with, or in opposition to these sentiments, I feel assured that you "svill say in your hearts, " He is right." I entreat you to act manfully in accordance "with your convic- tions, and 1 beg to subscribe myself, Faithfully yours, James Haughton. Dublin, 35 Eccles Street. SLAYEM NOT A DEBATABLE UUESTION. An American gentleman "waited upon me this morning, and I asked him, "s\'ith some anxiety, " "What part of America do you come from?" "I came from Boston." "Do me the honor to shake hands. You came from a State that has never' been tarnished vritli slavery — a State to which our ancestors fled from the tyran-ny of England, and the Avorst of all tyran- nies, the odious attempt to interfere between a man and his God ; a tyranny that I have in principle helped to put down in this country, and "wish to put down in every country upon the face of the globe. (Cheers.) It is odious and insolent to interfere between a man and his God ; to fetter "with law the choice which' the conscience makes of its mode of adoring the eternal and adorable God. I cannot talk of toleration, be- cause it supposes that a boon has been given to a human being, in allowing him to have his conscience free. (Cheers.) It "was in that struggle," I said, "that your fathers left Eng- land, and I rejoice to see an American from Boston ; but I should be sorry to be contaminated by the touch of a man from those States "svhere slavery is continued." (Cheers.) "Oh," said he, "you are alluding to slavery : though I am no advocate for it, yet if you will allow me, I will discuss that question with you." I replied, that if a man should propose to me a discussion on the propriety of picking pockets, I would turn him out of my study, for fear he should carry his theory into practice. (Laughter and cheers.) " And, mean- ing you no sort of offence," I added, " which I cannot mean to a gentleman who does me the honor to pay me a civil visit, I would as soon discuss the one question with you as the other." The one is a paltry theft : "AVho steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands" — but he who thinks he can vindicate the possession of one hu- man being by another — the sale of soul and body — the sep- aration of father and mother — the taking of the mother from the infant at her breast, and selling the one to one master and the other to another — is a man •\vhom I will not answer with words — nor yet with blows, for the time for the latter has not yet come. (Cheers.) — Daniel O'Connell. EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECHES OF O'COMELL. I now come to America, the boasted land of freedom ; and here I find slavery, which they not only tolerate but extend, justified and defended as a legacy left them by us. It is but too true. But I would say unto them, you threw ofi" the alle- giance you owed us, because you thought we were oppressing you with the Stamp Act. You boasted of your deliverance from slavery. On what principle, then, do you now continue your fellow-men in bondage, and render that bondage even more galling by ringing in the ears of the sufierers from your tyranny, what 3"ou have done, what you have suffered, for free- dom ? They may retaliate upon us. They may reply by allu- sions to the slaveries we have established or encouraged. But what would be thought of that man who should attempt to justify the crime of sheep-stealing, by alleging that another stole sheep too ? Would such a defence be listened to ? Oh, no ; and I will say unto you, freemen of America, and the press will convey it to you almost as swift as the wind, that God un- derstands you ; that you are hypocrites, tyrants, and unjust men ; that you are degraded and dishonored ; and I say unto you, dare not to stand up boasting of your freedom or your privileges, while you continue to treat men, redeemed by the same blood, as the mere creatures of your will ; for while you do so, there is a blot on your escutcheon which all the waters of the Atlantic cannot wash out. * * # *•* * * Of all men living, an American citizen, who is the owner of slaves, is the most despicable ; he is a political hypocrite of the very worst description. The friends of humanity and liberty, in Europe, should join in one universal cry of shame on the American slaveholders? '"Base wretches," should we shout in chorus — " base wretches, how dare you profane the temple of national freedom, the sacred fane of republican rites, with the presence and the suffering? of human beings in chains and slavery?" — Speech delivered at an Anti-Slavery Meeting in 1829. I speak of liberty in commendation. Patriotism is a virtue, but it can be selfish. Give me the great and immortal Bolivar, the saviour and regenerator of his country. He found her a province, and he has made her a nation. His first act Was to give freedom to the slaves upon his own estate. (Hear, hear.) In Colombia, all castes and all colors are free and unshackled. But how I like to contrast him with the far-famed northern heroes ! George "Washington ! that great and enliglitened character, — the soldier and the statesman, — had but one blot upon his character. He had slaves, and he gave them liberty when he wanted them no longer. (Loud cheers.) Let America, in the fullness of her pride, wave on high her banner of free- dom and -its blazing stars. I point to her, and say, There is one foul blot upon it ; you have negro slavery. They may com- pare their struggles for freedom to Marathon and Leuctra, and point to the rifleman with his gun, amidst her woods and forests, shouting for liberty and America. In the midst of their laughter and their pride, I point them to the negro children screaming for the mother from .whose bosom they have been torn. America, it is a foul stain upon your character ! (Cheers.) This conduct, kept up by men who had themselves to struggle for freedom, is doubly unjust. Let them hoist the flag of liberty, Avith the whip and rack on one side, and the star of freedom upon the other. The Americans are a sensitive, people ; in fifty-four years they liave increased their population from three millions to twenty millions; they have many glories that surround them, but their beams are partly shorn, for they have slaves. (Cheers.) Their hearts do not beat so strong for liberty as mine. * * * * I -will call for justice, in the name of the living God, and I shall find an echo in the breast of every human being. (Cheers.) — Speech delivered at the An- nual Meeting of the Cork Anti- Slavery Society, 1829. Ireland and Irishmen should be foremost in seeking to effect the emancipation of mijnkind. (Cheers.) ****** The Americans alleged that they had not perpetrated the crime, but inherited it from England. This, however, fact as it was, was still a paltry apology for America, who asserting liberty for herself, still used the brand and the lash against others. (Hear.) He "taunted America with the continuance of slavery ; and the voice with which he there uttered the taunt would be wafted on the wings of the press, until it would be heard in the remote wilds of America ; it would be wafted over the waters / "^^ of the Missouri and those of the Mississippi ; and even the slaves upon the .distant banks of the Ohio "would make his words resound in the ears of their heartless masters, and tell them to their face, that they were the victims of cruelty, injustice, and foul oppression. (Cheers.) Bright as was the page of Ameri- can history, and brilliant as was the emblazonment of h^r deeds, still, negro slavery was a black, a " damning spot" upon it. Glorious and splendid as was the star-spangled bonncr of republican America, still it was stained with the deep, foul blot of human blood. — Speech delivered at a Meeting of the Dublin Asnti- Slavery Society, 1830. Man cannot have property in man. Slavery is a nuisance, to. be put down, not to be compromised with ; and to be assailed without cessation and without mercy by every blow that can be leveled at the monster. ***** Let general principles be asserted. And as it is the cause of religion and liberty, all that is wanted is the unwearied repetition of zealous advocacy to make it certainly triumphant. Let every man, then, in whatever position he may be placed, do his duty in crushing that hideous tyranny, which rends the husband from the wife, the children from their parents ; which enables one human being, at his uncontrolled will, to apply the lash to the back of his fellow-man. — Speech delivered at the London Anti- Slavery Society, 1830. We are responsible for what we do, and also for the influence of our example. Think you that the United States of America would be able to hold up their heads among the nations, — the United States, who shook oiT their allegiance to their sovereign, and declared that it was the right of every man to enjoy free- dom — of every man, whether black, white, or red ; who made this declaration before the God of armies, and then, when they had succeeded in their enterprise, forgot their vow, and made slaves, and used the lash and the chain, — would they dare to take their place among the nations, if it were not that Eng- land countenances them in the practice ? — Speech delivered at the General Meeting of the British Anti-Slavery Society, 1831. My claim to be heard on this occasion is included in one sentence — I am an Abolitionist. (Cheering.) I am for speedy, immediate abolition. (Renewed cheers.) I care not what caste, creed, or color, slavery may assume. Whether it be per- sonal or political, mental or corporeal, intellectual or spiritual, I am for its total, its instant abolition. (Great applause.) I enter into no compromise with slavery. I am for justice, in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living God. The time has now come, wlien every man who has honest feelings should declare himself the advocate of abolition. He who consents to tolerate crime is a criminal ; and never will I lose the slightest opportunity, whether here or in the legisla- ture, or any where else, to raise my voice for liberty, — for the extinction of slavery. . (Great applause.) Humanity, justice and religion combine to call upon us to abolish this foul blot. But it is not England or Britain alone that is stained with this crime. The democratic Republic of America shares in the guilt. Oh ! the inconsistency of these apostles of liberty talk- ing of freedom, while they basely and wickedly continue the slavery of their fellow-men, the negroes of Africa ! A repub- lican is naturally proud and high-minded, and we may make the pride of the North American republicans the very weapon by which to break down slavery ; for, if the example of Eng- land were gone, they could not, in the face of the world, con- tinue the odious and atrocious system one moment longer. (Cheers.) Abolish it throughout the British colonies, and away it goes in America. (Renewed cheers.) Slavery is a crime, a high crime against Heaven, and its an- nihilation ought not to be postponed. We have lately heard a good deal of the iniquity of the East India Company, getting money from the poor, infatuated wretches who throw themselves beneath the wheel of Juggernaut's car. This is lamentable indeed ; but what care I, whether the instrument of torture be a wheel or a lash? (Applause.) I am against Jugger- gernaut, both in the East Indies and West Indies, and am determined, therefore, not to assist in perpetuating slavery. Is it possible, that Avhere humanity, benevolence and religion are combined, there can be doubt of success? The priests of Juggernaut are respectable persons compared with those who oppose such a combination, (applause) ; and I entreat you to assist in the great work by becoming its apostles. — Speech de- livered before the London Anti-Slavery Society, 1831. I will now go to America. I have often longed to go there, in reality ; but so long as it is tarnished by slavery, I will never pollute my foot by treading on its shores. (Cheers.) In the course of my Parliamentary duty, a few days ago, I had to ar- raign the conduct of the despot of the North, for his cruelty to the men, women and children, of Poland ; and I spoke of him with the execration he merits. But, I confess, that although I ha'te him with as much hatred as one Christian man can hate another human being, viz. : I detest his actions with abhor- rence, unutterable and indescribable ; yet there is a climax in my hatred. 1 would adopt the language of the poet, but re- verse the imagery, and say, " In the deepest hell, there is a depth still more profound," and that is to be found in the conduct of the American slave- owners. (Cheers). They are the basest of the base — the most execrable of the execrable. I thank God, that upon the wings • of the press, the voice of so humble an individual as myself will pass against the western breeze — that it will reach the rivers, the lakes, the mountains, and the glens of America — and that the friends of liberty there will sympathize with me, and rejoice that I here tear down the image of Liberty from the recreant hand of America, and condemn her as the vilest of hypocrites — the greatest of liars." (Long continued cheers.) When this country most unjustly and tyrannically oppressed its colonies, and insisted that a Parliament of borough-mongers in Westminster should have the power of putting their long fingers across the Atlantic into the pockets of the Americans, taking out as much as they pleased, and, if they found any- thi ng, leaving what residuum they chose — America turned round, and appealed to justice, and she was right; appealed to hu- manity, and she was right ; appealed to her own brave sword, and she was right, and I glory in it. At that awful period, when America was exciting all the nations of the world ; when she was declaring her independence, and her inhabitants pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, and invoked the God of charity (whom they foolishly called the God of battles, which he is not, any more than he is the God of murder) — at that awful period, when they laid the foundation of their liberty, they began with these words : " We hold these truths to be self-evident ; that all men are created equal ; that they ai^ endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," Thus the American has acknowledged what he cannot deny, viz., that God the Creator has endowed man with those inalienable rights. But it is not the white man, it is not the copper-colored man, nor is it the black man alone, who is thus endowed ; it is all men who are possessed of these in- alienable rights. The man, however, who cannot vote in any State assembly without admitting this as the foundation of his liberty, has the atrocious injustice, the murderous injustice, to trample upon these inalienable rights ; as it were, to attempt to rob the Creator of his gifts, and to appropriate to himself his brother man, as if he could be his slave. (Cheers.) Shame 10 be upon America ! eternal shame be upon her escutcheon ! (Loud cheers.) Shortly there will not be a slave in the British colonies. Five lines in an Act of Parliament, the other night, liberated nearly 500,000 slaves in the East Indies, at a single blow. The West Indians will be obliged to grant emancipation, in spite of the paltry attempts to prevent it ; and we will then turn to America, and to every part of Europe, and require emancipation. (Cheers.) No! they must not think that they can boast of their republican institutions — that they can talk of their strength and their glory. Unless they abolish slavery, they must write themselves down liars, or 'call a general con- vention of the States, and blot out tlie first sentence of their Declaration of Independence, and write in its place, "Liberty in America means the power to flog slaves, and to work them for nothing." (Loud applause.) * * * * The voice of Europe will proclaim the slave's deliverance, and will say to him, " Shed no blood, but take care that your blood be not shed." I tell the American slave-owner, that he shall not have silence ; for, humble as I am, and feeble as my voice may be, yet deafening the sound of the westerly wave, and riding against the blast as thunder goes, it shall reach America, telling the black man that the time for his emancipation has come, and tlie oppressor that the period of his injustice is soon to terminate ! (Clieers.) — Speech de- livered at the G-reat Anti- Colonization Meeting in London, 1833. Mr. O'Connell presented himself to the meeting, amid the most enthusiastic cheers. After some remarks of a general nature, the Hon. and learned gentleman proceeded to speak in terms of severe censure of the conduct of the Americans, in continuing to keep in bondage the bUick population in many of their States. He did not wonder at the death pkgues of New Orleans, or the devastation of its people, many of whom enjoyed health and vigor at morn, and were lifeless at noon, when they had committed or countenanced crimes which could only be registered with the annals of Nicholas and the curses of Poland. The Hon. and learned r.ntleman read several extracts from an American slaveholding Act, in which it was enjoined that no judge, legislative member, barrister or preacher, should speak or write anything against slavery, under the pain of being sentenced to not less than three years, and not more than twenty-one years' imprisonment, or death, at the discre- tion of the court ! ! ! And that no American should teach a 11 slave to read or write, under tlio pain of not Icps than three months, and not move than twelve months' imprisonment. (Hear, hear.) The Hon. and learned gentleman flung this black dishonor on the star-spangled banner of America — in vain did it wave over every sea, proclaiming the honor of the boasted republic of modern times — those who fought under it were felons to the human race, (hear, hear,) traitors to liberty, to their ow^n honor, and blasphemers of the Almighty. "The red arm of God," continued the Hon. and learned gentleman, "is bared; and let the enemies of those whom his Son died to save, the black man as well as the white man, beware of its vengeance ! The lightning careers through the troubled air resistless, amidst the howling of the tempest and rolling of the thunder. Oh, for one moment of poetic inspiration, that my words, with the fire of indignation with which my bosom burns, Diay be borne on the western breeze across the wide Atlantic, light on their shores, reverberate among their mountains, and be wafted down the rivers of America!" — Speech delivered at an Anti-Slavery Meeting-in London, 1835. He had given the Americans some severe but merited re- proofs ; for which they had paid him wages in abuse and scur- rility. He was satisfied that they had done so. He was ac- customed to receive such wages in return for his labors. He had never done good but he was vilified for his pains ; and he felt that he could not sleep soundly were such opponents to cease abusing him. (Cheers.) He would continue to earn such wages. (Cheers.) By the blessing of God, he would yet trample on the serpent of slave-owning cupidity, and triumph over the hiss of the foul reptile, which marked its agony, and excited his contempt. The Americans, in their conduct toward their slaves, were traitors to the cause of human liberty, and foul detractors of the democratic principle, which he had cher- ished throughout his political life, and blasphemers of that great and sacred name which they pretended to reverence. In reprobation of their disgraceful conduct, his public voice had been heard across the wide Atlantic. Like the thunder-storm in its strength, it had careered against the breeze, armed with the lightning of Christian truth. (Great cheering.) And, let them seek to repress it as they may; let them murder and as- sassinate in the true spirit of lynch law; the storm would wax louder and louder around them, till the claims of justice bey came too strong to be withstood, and the black man would stand up, too big for his chains. It seemed, indeed — he hoped what he was about to say was not profanation — as if the curse of the Almighty had already overtaken them. For the first 12 time in their political history, disgraceful tumult and anarchy had been witnessed in their cities. Blood had been shed with- out the sanction of law, and even Sir Robert Peel had been enabled — but he was here in danger of becoming political. (Cries of No, no — Go on, and cheers.) Well, then, even Sir Kobert Peel had been enabled to taunt the Americans with gross inconsistency and lawless proceedings. He differed from Sir Robert Peel on many points. (Laughter.) Every body knew that. (Renewed laughter.) It was no doubt presump- tion in him to differ from so great a man, but yet such was the fact. (Laughter.) On one point, however, he fully agreed with him. Let the proud Americans learn, that all parties in this country unite in condemnation of their conduct ; and let them algo learn that the worst of all aristocracies is that which prevails in America — an aristocracy which had been aptly de- nominated that of the human skin. The most ' insvifferable pride was that shown by such an aristocracy. And yet he must confess that he could not unclerstand snch pride. He could understand the pride of noble descent. He could under- stand why a man should plume himself on the success of his ancestors in plundering the people some centuries ago. He could understand the pride arising from immense landed pos- sessions. He could even understand the pride of wealth, the fruit of honest and careful industry. Yet when he thought of the color of the skin making men aristocratic, he felt his as- tonishment to vie with his contempt. Many a white skin cov- ered a black heart ; yet an aristocrat of the skin was the proudest of the proud. Republicans were proverbially proud, and therefore he delighted to taunt the Americans with the su- perlative meanness, as well as injustice, of their assumed airs of superiority over their black fellow-citizens. (Cheers.) He would continue to hurl his taunts across the Atlantic. And, oh ! — but perhaps it was his pride that dictated the hope — that some black 0' Council might rise among his fellow slaves, (tre- mendous cheers,) Avho would cry. Agitate, agitate, (renewed cheering,) till the two millions and a half of his fellow-suffer- ers learned the secret of their strength — learned that they were two millions and a half. (Enthusiastic cheers.) If there was one thing which more than another could excite his hatred, it was the laws which the Americans had framed to prevent the instruction of their slaves. To be seen in company with a negro who could write, was visited with imprisonment, (shame!) and to teach a slave the principles of freedom was punished with death. Were these human laws, it might be asked ? Were they not laws made by the wolves of the forest? — No — they 18 were made by a congregation of two-legged wolves — American wolves — monsters in human shape, who boast of their liberty and of their humanity, while they carry the hearts of tigers within them. (Cheers.) — Speech delivered at the Presentation of the Emaneipation Society' s Address to 3Ir. O'Connell, 18o.3. I hate slavery in all countries— the slavery of the Poles in Russia under their miscreant tyrant, and the slavery of the unfortunate men of color under their fellow-men, the boasted friends of liberty in the United States. Let the slave leap up for joy when he hears of the meeting of this day (cheers) ; let liim have the prospect of freedom to cheer him in the decline of life. (Cheers.) We ought to make our exertions strongly, immediately, and unanimously. (Cheers.) Remember what is taking place elsewhere. Only cast your eye across the At- lantic, and see what is taking place on the American shores. (Cheers.) Behold those pretended sons of freedom — those who declared that every man was equal in the presence of his God ^ — that every man had an inalienable right to liberty — behold tbem making, in tbe name of honor, their paltry honor, an organized resistance in Southern Slave States against the ad- vocates of emancipation. Behold them aiding in the robbery committed on an independent State. See how they have seized upon the territory of Texas, taking it from jMexico, Mexico having totally abolished slavery without apprenticeship, (loud cbeers,) in order to make it a new market for slavery. (Shame !) Remember how they have stolen, cheated, swindled, robbed that country, for the audacious and horrible purpose of perpet- uating negro slavery. (Cries of " Shame !") Remember that there is now a treaty on foot, in contemplation at least, be- tween the Texans and the President of the United States, and that it is only postponed till this robbery of Texas from Mexico can be completed. Oh ! raise the voice of humanity against these horrible crimes ! (Cheers.) There is about republicans a sentiment of pride — a feeling of self-exaltation. Let us tell these republicans, that instead of their being the highest in the scale of humanity, they are the basest of the base, the vilest of the vile. (Tremendous cheers.) My friends, there is a community of sentiment all over the world, borne on the wings of the press ; and what the humble individual who is now ad- dressing you may state, will be carried across the waves of the Atlantic ; it will go up the Missouri — it will be wafted along the banks of the Mississippi — it will roach infernal Texas itself. (Immense cheering.) And though that pandemonium may scream at the sound, they shall suifer from the lash of human indignation applied to their horrible crime. (Cheers.) If they 14 are not arrested in their career of guilt, four new States in America will be filled with slaves. Oh, hideous breeders of human beings for slavery ! Such are the horrors of that sys- tem in the American States, that it is impossible, in this presence, to describe them ; the mind is almost polluted by thinking of them. Should the measures now contemplated by the Americans be accomplished, these horrors will be increased fourfold ; and men, with the human soul degraded, will be in a worse state even than the physical degradation of human bodies. (Cheers.) What have we to look to ? Their honor — their generosity! We must expect nothing from their generosity. (Cheers.) ' Sir, I cannot restrain myself. It was only tire other day, I read a letter in The 3Iorning Chronicle, from their Philadelphia correepondent. A j)erson, whose Indian name I forget, (a voice, " Osceola,") but who was called Powell, had carried on a war at the head of the Seminoles, and other Florida tribes, against the people of Florida. He behaved nobly, and bravely fought for his country; and he would have • been deified as a hero had he fought in a civilized nation, and testimonials would bave been reared to commemorate his deeds, as great and numerous as those which have been raised to a iSi^apoleon or a Wellington. But what happens to this warrior? Why, these Americans, having made a iruce with him, invited liim to a conference. He comes under the protection of that truce. Thus confiding in their honor, is he allowed to return ? Oh no ! He is not allowed to return, but is taken prisoner, and carried captive to the fort. (Shame, shame!) Oh, cry out shame, and let that cry be heard across the waves of the mighty ocean ! (Cheers.) We are the teach'ers of humanity, we are the' friends of humanity. What does it signify to us, that the crime is not committed on British soil ! Wherever it is committed, we are its enemies. (Cheers.) The American it is true, boasts of having been the first to abolish the slave trade carried on in foreign vessels. Why, he Avas. But what was the consequence ? Every one of his own slaves at home was made of more value to him. It was as>vindling humanity. It was worse than our twenty millions scheme. It had the guise of humanity, but had really the spirit of avarice and oppression. (Cheers.) I, perhaps, ought to apologize for detaining you (No, no ! Go on !) ; but we are all children of the same Creator, heirs to the same promise, purchased by the blood of the same Redeemer, and what signifies of what caste, color or creed we may be ? (Cheers.) It is our duty to pro- claim that the cause of the negro is our cause, and that we will insist upon doing away, to the best of our human ability the 15 stain of slavery, not only from every portion of this mighty empire, but from the face of the whole earth. (Cheers.) If there be in the huts of Africa, or amidst the swamps of Texas, a human being panting for liberty, let it be proclaimed to him that he has friends and supporters among the great British nation. (Cheers.) — Speech delivered at a Public Meeting of ■ Anti-Slaver^/ Delegates in London, 1837. It is utterly impossible that any thing should exist more horrible than the American slave-breeding. The history of it is this : The Americans abolished tlie foreign slave trade earlier than England, but with this consolation — no small comfort to so money-loving a race as the slaveholders — that by such abolition, they enhanced the price of the slaves then in America, by stopping the competition in the home market of newly im- ported slaves. Why, otherwise, was not the home trade stopped as well as the foreign ? The reply is obvious. ' To supply the home slave trade, an abominable, a most •hideous, most criminal, and most revolting practice of breed- ing negroes exclusively for sale, has sprung up, and especially, we are told, in Virginia. There are breeding plantations for producing negroes, as there are with us breeding farms for pro- ducing calves and lambs. And as our calf and lamb breeders calculate the number of males of the flock to the females, simi- lar calculations are made by the traffickers in human flesh. One instance was mentioned to me of a human breeding farm in America, which was supplied with two men and twelve women. Why should I pollute my page with a description of all that is immoral and infamous in such practice ? But only think of the wretched mothers, whom nature compels to love their children — children torn from thicm for ever, just at the period that they could requite their mother's love ! The wretched, wretched mother ! Who can depict the mother's distraction and madness? "But their maternal feelings are," says a modern writer, " treated with as much contemptuous indifi'erence, as those of the cows and ewes whose calves and lambs are sent to the English market." That it is which stains the character of the American slave- holder, and leaves the breeder of slaves the most detestable of human beings ; especially when that slaveholder is a republi- can, boasting of freedom, shouting for liberty, and declaring, as the charter of his liberal institutions, these are self-evident truths, " that all men are created equal — that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights — that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." My sole object in my speech at Birmingham, and present 16 object, is to rouse the attention of England and of Europe to all that is cruel, criminal, and, in every sense of the Av •)