45 \ 
 
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 Copy 1 
 
 JOHN BROAVN'S EXPEDITION 
 
 KEVnCWKI) IN 
 
 A LETTER 
 
 REY. THEODORE PARKER, 
 
 AT R o m: E , 
 
 FRANCIS JACKSON. 
 
 BOSTON", 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUIiLISIIEI) BY THE FRATERNITY 
 
 1860. 
 
JOHN BimWN'S KXPEDITTON 
 
 KEVIEWKI) IN 
 
 A LETTER 
 
 KEY. THEODORE PARICER, 
 
 .^ T li O ]\X E , 
 
 F R A X C I S JACKSON", 
 
 B O S T O IN^. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUBLISHED BY THE FRATERNITY. 
 
 1860. 
 
V :.•:.. 
 
 Osm. C. tUmi k Xtnj. TtUiun, I CaraUU. I]««*aB. 
 
L E T T E 11 
 
 Rome, Xoy. 24, 1859. 
 
 My Dear Friexd, — I see by a recent telegi-aph which 
 the Steamer of Nov. 2d, brought from Boston, that the 
 Court found Capt. Brown guilty, and passed sentence 
 upon him. It is said, Friday, Dec. 2d, is fixed as the day 
 for hanging him. So, long before this reaches you, my 
 friend will have passed on to the reward of his magnan- 
 imous public services, and his pure, upright private life. I 
 am not well enough to be the minister to any congrega- 
 tion, least of all to one like that which, for so many years, 
 helped my soul while it listened to my words. Surely, 
 the 28th Congregational Society in Boston needs a minis- 
 ter, not half dead, but alive all over; and yet, while 
 reading the accounts of the affair at Harper's Ferry, and 
 of the sayings of certain men at Boston, whom you and I 
 know only too well, I could not help wishing I was at 
 home again to use ichat 2)oor remnant of poxoer is left 
 to me in defence of the True and the Right. 
 
 America is rich in able men, in skilful writers, in ready 
 and accomplished speakers. But few men dare treat 
 I^ublic affairs with reference to the great principles of jus- 
 tice, and the American Democracy ; nay, few with refer- 
 ence to any remote future, or even with a comprehensive 
 survey of the present. Our public writers ask what effect 
 will this opinion have on the Democratic party, or the 
 
Ri-puMican party; how will it alU'ct tlic next Presidential 
 i-lfclion ; what will the great State of l\'iiiisylvania or 
 Oliio, or New York say to it:' This is vc-ry iintortunate 
 for UJ« all, espi'i-ially whrii the ].«•». j)k' have to deal prac- 
 lieally, and that speedily with a (picstion coneerning tlie 
 very existence of DiiMotnitic inviitutiniis in .Vnierica; for 
 it is not to be denied that we nuist givi' uj) J)emocracy 
 if we kei'p Slavkkv, or give up Slavkkv if we keep 
 Dkmo« i:a« V. 
 
 I jjr*^atly dt-jjlnre tliis state of things. Oiiv aide men 
 fnil to perfi»nn tlieir natnral finietiun, to give vahiable 
 instnietinn and adviee to tlu- peopK' ; and at the same 
 time tliey dolKise and degrade themselves. The hurrahs 
 and the oftiees they get an- puur comi)ensation for false- 
 ne.sM to their own con.sciences. 
 
 In my best estate, 1 <bj not j»retend t<> much ]>olilieal 
 wisdom, an<l still less now while sick ; but J w ish yet to 
 Het tbjwn a few ihouglits for your j»rivate eye, and, it may 
 be, for tlie ear of tlie Fraternity. They are, at least, the 
 ref«nlt of long meditation mj tlu' subject ; besides, tluy are 
 not at all n<'W nor peculiar to me, b)it are a part of the 
 Public Knowledge of all enlightened nun. 
 
 1. A MAN iiKi.n A<;Ai\sr ins w ii i. as a si.avi: has a 
 
 KATl'UAI. Kn;iIT TO Kill, KVKKV oMI ANIlo SllKKS T(> 
 I'ltKVKNT IMS KNJoVMKM- oF MUKKTV. This lias long 
 
 l»een rert>gni/.e«l as a sidf-evident proposition, coming so 
 directly from the Primitive Instincts of I luman Nature, 
 that it neither re«piired pniofs nor a<linilti i| iluiu. 
 
 2. It .may UK A NATi i:ai, lurv ok iiii: si.a\i: to 
 
 I»KVKI.o|* THIH NATIUAI. ItnillT IN A I'KA. II. Al. MAN- 
 NER, AND ACTUAI.I.V Kill. Ai.i. iiiosi: WHO m;i:k ro i'j;i:- 
 VKNT lil.s KNJOYMKNT or MUKiMv. l\>v if he c<.ntiniie 
 patiently in bondage: l-'iist. he mtails the foulest of 
 rur»e« on his children; and, second, he encourages other 
 
men to commit tlie crime nu^niiist natui-e wliicli Ik* ;ilio\\-s 
 his own master to commit. It is my duty to ).ir>cr\ c my 
 own body from starvatioil. If I fnil lluivor lInoiiLili 
 sloth, I not only die, but incur tlie cunWm])l aud lonlliim;- 
 of my acquaintances wliile I live. It is not less my duly 
 to do all that is in my power to preserve my body and 
 soul from Slavery; and if I submit to that tln-ou^h cow- 
 ardice, I not only become a bondman, and sufR-r Avhat 
 thraldom inflicts, but I incur also the contemjit and loath- 
 ing of my acquaintance. Why do freemen scorn and 
 despise a slave? Because they think his condition is a sign 
 of his cowardice, and believe that he ought to [irefer death 
 to bondage. The Southerners hold the Africans in great 
 contempt, though mothers of their children. AVhy? 
 Simply because the Africans are slaves; that is, because 
 the Africans fail to perform the natural duty of securing 
 freedom by killing their oppressors. 
 
 3. The freemax has a xatukal eight to help 
 the slaves recover their liberty, and ix that 
 exterprise to do for them all which they have 
 a right to do for themselves. 
 
 This statement, I think, requires no argument or illus- 
 tration. 
 
 4. It may be a oSTatural Duty for the free- 
 max TO HELP THE SLAVES TO THE EXJOYMENT OF 
 THEIR LIBERTY, AXD AS MEAXS TO THAT EXD, TO AID 
 THEM IX KILLIXG ALL SUCH AS OPPOSE THEIR XATFRAL 
 FREEDOM. 
 
 If you were attacked by a wolf, I sliould not only have 
 a right to aid you in getting rid of that enemy, but it 
 would be my duty to help you in proportion to my 
 power. If it were a murderer, and not a wolf, who at- 
 tacked you, the duty would be still the same. Suppose 
 it is not a murderer who would kill you, but a Kn>XAP- 
 1^ 
 
i. vvouM tn.ilavi\ tltH's ilial make it Kss my <luty 
 
 to lu*l|» rou out of the hmuU of your fiuiiiy'/ SupjMjse 
 it in not a ' T wlio wofiM iiiakc yuu a Imjii<1im:iii, 
 
 but a HLA\ ; i; wlio wouiti kft-p ynti f»n(', <ln(< that 
 
 rvroovc my obligation to lielp you ? 
 
 [». TlIK I'KUFOUMAN* K oF THIS Dl 1 V 1^ I" li. <"N- 
 TBoI.LKO UV TlIK KKKKMA.n's I'oWKK AM> » .I'l'. .1; 1 IMT V 
 TO IIKLPTHK «LAVKK. (Tllf InipoSnihU' Ls uevtT tlu' Ohlig- 
 atory). I faunol lu'lp the hIuvus in Dalioincy or iJornou, 
 and ain not Ik>uii<1 to try. I can lulp tliosc wlio escape 
 to my own nfii;lilM»rhoo»l, an«l 1 oui^lit to do so. My 
 iluty is coiununsuratf with my j»ower; and as my jiowcr 
 iucre.'iMts my <luty enhirj:je« ahmtj witli it. If 1 rnahl 
 help t' 'u]vu in \'iri;inia to their freeilom as easily 
 
 nn*l i J ;i> I ran aid the runaway at my own door, 
 
 then I OUGHT to do so. 
 
 TlieM' five maxims haM* a liiiret aj»j»Heati<>ii to America 
 at thi.H day, and the people of tlie Free States have a cer- 
 tain dim perivpti«m thereof, m hi« h, lortiinately, is hccum- 
 inj» clearer every year. 
 
 Thus the |»eopIe of M:ussaehusett.s/ct7 that tin y ought 
 t4» protect the futfilive slaves who conu* into our State. 
 llnire come first, the irrejjjular altemj»ts to secure their 
 lilHTty, and the deohinitioiui of nohle men, like Timothy 
 <; ■ •; '.• \V. C'ames and (Jthers, that they will do 
 
 it personal ri.sk; and, secondly, tlu' statute 
 law* made by the Lcgiiilature to accomplish that end. 
 
 Now, if M:iA«<acliusetts had the j.ower to do as much for 
 Uio hlavpH in Virginia as for the runaways in her own ter- 
 ritory, we hhould Hoon sec those two sets of measures at 
 Work in t/uit din>ction also. 
 
 I find it i» »ai«l in the Democratic newspapers that 
 "Capt. Hrown h.ad many friends at the North, who sym- 
 pathized with him in general, and in special apj. roved of 
 
tills particular scheme of lii^ ; tliey furiiislied liim with 
 some twelve or twenty thousand dollars, it would seem," 
 I think much more than that is true of us. If he Jiacl 
 succeeded in running off one or two thousand slaves to 
 Canada, even at the expense of a little violence and 
 bloodshed, the majority of men in New England would 
 have rejoiced^ not only in the JEnd^ but also in th^ Means, 
 The first successful attempt of a considerable number of 
 slaves to secure their freedom by violence will clearly 
 show how deep is the sympathy of the people for them, 
 and how strongly they embrace the five princii^les I men- 
 tioned above. A little success of that sort will serve as 
 priming for the popular cannon ; it is already loaded. 
 
 Of course, I was not astonished to hear that an attempt 
 had been made to free the slaves in a certain part of Vir- 
 ginia, nor should I be astonished if another " insurrection " 
 
 or " rebellion" took j^lace in the State of , or a third 
 
 in ^ or a fourth in . Such things are to be 
 
 exj^ected ; for they do not depend merely on the private 
 will of men like Capt. Brown and his associates, but on 
 the great General Causes which move all human kind to 
 hate AYrong and Ioa'C Right. Such " insurrections " will 
 continue as long as Slavery lasts, and will increase, both 
 in frequency and in power, just as the jDCople become in- 
 telligent and moral. Virginia may hang John Brown and 
 all that family, but she cannot hang the IIumax Race ; 
 and until that is done, noble men will rejoice in the motto 
 of tliat once magnanimous State — " Sic semper Tyran- 
 nis ! " " Let such be the end of every oppressor." 
 
 It is a good Anti-Slavery j^icture on the Virginia shield : 
 — a man standing on a tyrant and choj^ping his head off 
 with a sword ; only I Avould paint the sword-holder hlack 
 and the tyrant v^liite^ to show the immediate application 
 of the principle. The American people will have to march 
 
•8 
 
 to nillnr hc-verc inu.sic, I think, ami it is Ijcttcr l"ur them 
 lu fact- it ill hoaj*oii. A tVw yiars air«> it «li"l not seem dit- 
 ficull first to churk Shivery, and tlnii t.. iii-l it witliout 
 any hhnHlshe.!. I think tliin c:mu..i l,c .Iniu- iiow, nor 
 t\erin ihi- fntun-. All tin* ^nial charlers uf 111 mamty 
 have been writ in I>1<mm1. 1 onti- ImjuMl that of Aiiniicaii 
 Deiiiocraey wouhl be eni^rosseil in less costly inU ; but it 
 L) |>luin, ni)\v, that onr j»ilp*iniage must lead tiii<»UL;li a 
 livil Si':i, whi-ri-in many u Pharaoh will ijo under and jier- 
 ihh. Alas I that we are not wise em»UL,di to be just, or jujit 
 enough to be wise, ami so gain niurh at Muall eosi I 
 
 Look, now, at a frw nott»rious l'a(t> : 
 
 I. There are four million slaves in the rnilid States 
 violently withhehl from their natmal riuht t<> litr, lilnrty, 
 and the pursuit of haj)jiiness. Xnu, tiny arc vnr fel- 
 low countrymen — yours and mine, just as nnuh as any 
 four million irAitt nuMi. Of couix-. you and I owt- them 
 the duly which one man owi-s anotlu r of lii.s own nation, 
 — the iluty of instruction, advici-, and protertiou olnatu- 
 nd rights. l( tliey are starving, we ought to hcljt feed 
 them. The color of tlu-ir skins, tluir di'grade<l social con- 
 dition, thvir igntirani-r, abates n<»tliing lioui tlu-ir natural 
 Claim on us, «»r from our natural Duty toward them. 
 
 There are men in all the Nortlu-rn States who feel the 
 obligation which citizenship imposes on tluiii — the duty 
 to help those slaves. Hence arose tin- A.\ ri-Si a vi:kv 
 SotlKTV, which seeks simply to exeite tin- w liite peojile 
 to |KTform their natural duty t.. tluir dark IMImw -(•(.un- 
 trjnien. Hence ct»mes ("ai-i. Ukown'.^ 1v\ i'i:i.i i imn — 
 an attempt to lidp his couiitrynieM enjtiy tlieii- natural 
 right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of haj.pine^s. 
 
 He bought by violence what thi' Anti-Slavery Society 
 works for with other weapons, 'i'jic two ai^rcc in the 
 end, and ditVer only in tin- means. .Men like (apt. In-own 
 
9 
 
 will be continually rising up among tlie wliite ]H'0]»kj of 
 the Free States, attempting to do their natural duty to 
 their black countrymen — that is, help them to freedom. 
 Some of these efforts will be successful. Thus, last winter 
 Capt. Brown himself escorted eleven of his countrymen 
 from bondage in Missouri to freedom in Canada. He did 
 not snap a gun, I think, although then, as more recently, 
 he had his fighting tools at hand, and would liave used 
 them, if necessary. Even now, the Undergromid Kail- 
 road is in constant and beneficent operation. By and by, 
 it will be an Ovei-ground Railroad from Mason and Dix- 
 on's line clear to Canada : the only tunneling Avill be in 
 the Slave States. Xorthern men applaud the brave con- 
 ductors of that Locomotive of Liberty. 
 
 When Thomas Garrett was introduced to a meeting of 
 political Free-Soilers in Boston, as "the man who had 
 helped 1,800 slaves to their natural liberty," even that 
 meeting gave the righteous Quaker three times three. All 
 honest Xorthern hearts beat with admiration of such men ; 
 nay, with love for them. Young lads say, " I wish that 
 heaven would make me such a man." The wish will now 
 and then be father to the fact. You and I have had 
 opportunity enough, in twenty years, to see that this phi- 
 lanthropic patriotism is on the increase at the Xorth, and 
 the special direction it takes is toward the liberation of 
 their countrymen in bondage. 
 
 Not many years ago, Boston sent money to help the 
 Greeks in their struggle ioY political freedom^ (they never 
 quite lost their personal liberty^ but with the money, she 
 sent what was more valuable and far more precious, one 
 of her most valiant and heroic sons, who staid in Greece 
 to fight the great battle of Humanity. Did your friend. 
 Dr. Samuel G. Howe, lose the esteem of iS'ew-England 
 
10 
 
 men by tliat act? He won llu* adiniralion of Kurojto, ami 
 holds it still. 
 
 Xay, hliil later, the same dear oM I><»st<>ii — Iluiikers 
 have never been more than rats an<l mice in her iioiisc, 
 whirh she sufiei-s for a lime, and tiien drives out twelve 
 hundred of them at once on a certain <lay of March, 177G, 
 — that same dear t»ld Boston sent the same Dr. Howe to 
 carry aid and comfort to the Poles, then in deadly strug- 
 gle for their political existence. Was he <lis<rraeed because 
 lie lay seven-and-forty days in a Prussian jail in Berlin ? 
 Not even in tlie eyes of the Prussia rr KinLT^ who after- 
 wards Hcnt him a m»ld medal, Avliose metal was worth as 
 many doHars as that j.hilanthroj.ist lay days in tlie des- 
 pot's jail. It is said, '^Charily should l»ei4-in at home." 
 The American began a good ways i.tf, but has been work- 
 ing homeward ever since. The I )r. Howe of to-day would 
 and (Might to be nu»re ready to helj) an American to 
 personal litprdj, than a Pole c»r a Greek to mere j.olitical 
 freedom, and would fin<l more men to furnish aid and com- 
 fort to <»ur «.wn C(»untrymen, even if they were black. It 
 Would n«»t surprise me if theic were other aii.l u cll-plaii- 
 ned attempts in other States to d.. what (aptain Brown 
 heroically, if not successfully, tried in Xir-inia. Nine out 
 often may fail — the tenth will succeed. The victory 
 over den. Burgoyne more than made up for all the losses 
 in many a |.re\ions defeat; it was the beginning of the 
 end. Slavery will not die a <by death, it may have as 
 many lives as a cat ; at last, it will die like a mad dog in 
 a village, with only the enemies of the liuuian kind to 
 lament its fate, and they t«»u cowardly to appear as 
 mournei-s. 
 
 II. But it is m.t merely white men who will fight for 
 the liberty of Americans; the negroes will take their 
 defence into their own hands, especially if they can find 
 
11 
 
 white men to lead tliem. No doubt, the .African race is 
 greatly inferior to the Caueasian in <i;eiieral intellectual 
 l^ower, and also in that instinct for Liberty which is so * 
 strong in the Teutonic family, and just now obvious in 
 the Anglo-Saxons of Britain and America ; l>csi(les, 
 the African race have but little desire for vengeance — 
 the lowest form of the love of justice. Here is one exam- 
 ple out of many: In Santa Cruz, the old slave laws M'ero 
 the most horrible, I think, I ever read of in modern times, 
 unless those of the Carolinas be an excei)ti()n. If a slave 
 excited others to run away, for the first offence his right 
 leg was to be cut off, for the second offence, his other leg. 
 This mutilation was not to be done by a surgeon's hand; 
 the poor wretch was laid down on a log, and his legs 
 chopped off with a plantation axe, and the stumps plunged 
 into boiling pitch to stanch the blood, and so save the 2J7'op- 
 erty from entire destruction ; for the live Torso of a slave 
 mio'ht serve as a warninsf. No action of a Court was 
 requisite to inflict this punishment ; any master could thus 
 mutilate his bondman. Even from 1830 to 1846, it Avas 
 common for owners to beat their offending victims with 
 " tamarind rods " six feet long and an inch in thickness at 
 the bigger end — rods thick set with ugly thorns. "When 
 that process was over, the lacerated back was washed with 
 a decoction of the Manchineel, a poison tree, whicli made 
 the wounds fester, and long remain open. 
 
 In 1846, the negroes were in " rebellion," and took 
 possession of the island; they were 25,000, the whites 
 3,000. But the blacks did not hurt the hair of a white 
 man's head; they got their freedom, but they took no 
 Revenge ! Suppose 25,000 Americans, held in bondage 
 by 3,000 Algerines on a little island, should get their 
 masters into their hands, how many of the 3,000 would 
 see the next sun go down ? 
 
No (loubl, it is tliroiiLrli tin* absfiu-o of tlii> (h-iri* of 
 natural venjj^i-aiK'f, I h:il tin- Africans Iium- luin rrtluecd 
 to boiitla^is ami ki|»t in it. 
 
 Hut (htrt is a limit trtn tn t/i' w/ros forhrarKJice, 
 San ]>«Mnin<;o is n«>i a tr'iai way olV. 'V\\c revuliition 
 wliith rliaiiL'iMl its Mack inlial»itants \\nn\ tame slaves 
 intM wil.l men, took j»laee after y<»ii lia<l eea>c«l to tall 
 yoursi'If a buy. 
 
 I( sfoMts ir/mt Hon/ fh in Atmriru, \\\\\\ n<» wliitf man 
 to help. In the Slave States, tin ii' i^ many a possilde 
 San Domingo, wliieh may beeonu- actual any<lay; and, 
 if ncit in lS<jo, then in some otlier "year (-f our Lord." 
 Hcsidcs, Anu*rica otVcrs more than any other country to 
 excite the slave to love of I/ilxity, an<l the effort for it. 
 We are always talking ahojii - Lilx ity," boasting that we 
 are ^the freest |u'o|tle in the world," declariuLC that "a 
 man wouM die, rather than be a slave." We continually 
 pn'M.se our Fathers 'Mvho foULjl,t the Ke\ (>luti<-)n."' AVe 
 l>uild m<»numents to commemorati" evtii the hund)lcst 
 l>e«,nnnint,' of tliat great national work. Once a year, we 
 stop :ill or<iinary wi»rk, and <j.\\v wy a whole day to the 
 noisiest kind of rejoicing for the War of Independence. 
 How we praise the ''champions of liberty I" llow we 
 fjoint out the "infamy of the ]>riti>h (. j. pressors I *' "Tliey 
 uould juake our Fathei-s slaves," say we, "and we slew 
 the oppres.sor — Sic skmpku Tyranms I " 
 
 I>o you suppose this will fail to ju'oduce its etfect on 
 the black man, one day? The South must either give up 
 keeping '* huhpendence Day," or else keep it in a little 
 more ihorougli fashion. Nor is this all : the Southei-ners 
 are continually taunting the negroes with their miserable 
 nature. " Vou are only half human," say they, ''not 
 capable of free«loni.'' "Hay is g<»od f.>r horses, not for 
 hog**,*^ said the j»/tilo.'<ojf/ti<: American who now "repre- 
 
13 
 
 sents the great Democracy" at tlio (\.iiit of Tmin. AV>, 
 lihertij is <jood for white nun, nnf fn,- ^ixjrors. Have 
 they souls? I don't know \\x-\\ —,„>„' n,i rirordo. 
 "Contempt," says the proverl), 'Mvill v\\\ tliroiiirl, the 
 shell of the tortoise." And, one day, even the slugirish 
 African will wake up under the three-fold stimulus of"the 
 Fourth of July cannon, the whi]» of the slaveholder, and 
 the sting of his heartless mockery, 'fhen, if "()i)pression 
 maketh wise men mad," what do you think it will do to 
 African slaves, who are familiar with scenes of violence, 
 and all manner of cruelty '? Still more: if the negroes 
 have not general power of mind, or instinctive love of 
 liberty, equal to the whites, they are much our sui)e- 
 riors in power of cunnhig, and in contempt for ilentli 
 — rather fonnidaljle qualities in a servile war. There 
 already have been several risings of slaves in this century; 
 they spread fear and consternation. The future will be 
 more terrible. Now, in case of an insurrection, not only 
 is there, as Jefferson said, " no attribute of the Almighty " 
 which can take sides with the master, but there laill be 
 many ichite men icho ici/l take part with the slave. Men, 
 like the Lafiyettes of the last century, and the Dr. Howes 
 of this, may give the insurgent negro as effectual aid as 
 that once rendered to America and Greece ; and the pub- 
 lic opinion of an enlightened world will rank them among 
 its heroes of noblest mark. 
 
 If I remember rightly, some of your fathers were in the 
 battle of Lexington, and that at Bunker Hill. I believe, 
 in the course of the war which followed, every able-bodied 
 man in your town, (Xew^ton,) was in actual service. Xow- 
 a-days, their descendants are proud of the fact. One day, 
 it will be thought not less heroic for a negro to fight for 
 his personal liberty, than for a white man to fight for 
 political independence, and against a tax of three pence a 
 2 
 
|»ouu<l <m te:i. Wait a little, :ui«l thinij^s will come 
 romi«l. 
 
 III. Tl»r I'xislc'iUH' of SlaviTV ciKlaiiLrcrs all our ])oino- 
 cnitic institutions. It doos this if only toloiatcil as an 
 cxcfj>tit»nal nioasiiro — a matter of jdcsi'iit convenience, 
 and still more when jtroclaiined as an iiistanlial jtrincijile, 
 a rule of political c(»niluct for all time an<l every ])lacc. 
 l4<>ok at tliis: In IT'.M), tliere were (say) :JUU,(MJ() slaves ; 
 soon tliey make tlieir tirst tlouhlinir, and are ()()(I,(M)U; then 
 their second, l,li«MMMMJ; tlien their third, •J,4l)(l,(MM). They 
 are now in the process of <li»ul»liii<x the I'ourth time, and 
 will 8oon be 4,SOO,000 ; then e..nies the litth donble, 
 IMJiMMMMl; then the sixth, l!),li(Ml,()(io. Before the year 
 of our T.'-r.l nliicir.ii huiidr.d, tliere will be twenty million 
 slaves ! 
 
 An Anu'lo->a\cjn with common sense does not like this 
 Africanization of America; he wishes the su])erior race to 
 multiply rather than the inferior. Besides, it is plain to a 
 one-eyed man that Slavery is an irreconcilable enemy of 
 the pfol^res^ive developnu-nt of Democracy; that, if al- 
 lowed to exist, it must be allowed to spread, to gain 
 political, social and ecclesiastical power; and all that it 
 ijiiins for the slaveholders is just so much taken from the 
 tVeemen. 
 
 Look at this — theri' are twenty Southern llepresiMita- 
 tives who represent nothini^ but property in man, and yet 
 tlieir vote counts as much in ('oni^ress as the twenty 
 Norlheniers who stand for the will of l,SO(l,()()o freemen. 
 Slavery pives the South the same advant:iLi-e in the ehoice 
 of l'resi<lent ; conse<piently the slaveholdini^^ South has 
 lon^ contndled the Fedi-ral Power of the nation. 
 
 Look at the recent acts of the Slave I'ower! The 
 Ku^dtive Slave bill, the Kansas-Xebraska bill, the Dred 
 Scott decision, the lillibustering against Cuba (till found 
 
1 
 
 too strong), and now against IMexico and otlicr fcebltj 
 neighbors, and, to crown all, the acttml rc(>|»('ning of the 
 African slave-trade ! 
 
 The South has ki(lna])i)ed men in I>oston, and made the 
 Judges of Massachusetts go under her symbohc cliain to 
 enter the courts of justice (!) She has burned houses and 
 butchered innocent men in Kansas, and the ])er|»etrators 
 of that wickedness were rewarded by the Federal Gov- 
 ernment with high office and great ])ay ! Those things are 
 notorious; they have stirred uj) some little indignation at 
 the Xorth, and freemen begin to think of defend ing their 
 liberty. Hence came the Free-Soil party, and licnce the 
 Republican party — it contemplates no direct benefit. to 
 the slave, only the defence of the white man in his na- 
 tional rights, or his conventional privileges. It will grow 
 stronger every year, and also bolder. It must lay down 
 principles as a platform to work its measures on; the prin- 
 cij)les will be found to require much more than what was 
 at first proposed, and even from this platform Republicans 
 will promptly see that they cannot defend the natural 
 rights of freemen loithout destroying that Slavery which 
 takes aicay the natural rights of a negro. So, first, the 
 wise and just men of the party will sympathize Avith such 
 as seek to liberate the slaves, either peacefully or l)y vio- 
 lence ; next, they will declare their opinions in public ; 
 and, finally, the whole body of the party will come to the 
 same sympathy and the same opinion. Then, of course, 
 they will encourage men like Capt. Brown, give him 
 money and all manner of help, and also encourage the 
 slaves whenever they shall rise to take their liberty, at all 
 hazards. When called to help put down an insurrection 
 of the slaves, they Avill go readily enough and do the 
 work by removing the cause of insurrection — that is — • 
 by destroying Slavery itself 
 
\i\ 
 
 An Anti-Slavory i.:irty, iin<l«'r one namo or another, 
 will l>ofore long contn.l tin- I\<liral Govcriinu'iit, and 
 will excrrise its ConstituliDiial Kii^lits, and prrfunn its 
 Constitutional Duty, and " ir'i-'n-antoc a Kopuldican form 
 of govcrnnicnt to every State in tlie Union." That is a 
 Work of time an<l ]»eaceful K'^iNlation. But tlie short 
 Work of vioU-nce will be often tried, :ind cadi attempt 
 will piin soinethinir for the eause of Humanity, even by 
 it>J dreadful proeess of blood. 
 
 I \'. Hut there is yet another aireney that will aet against 
 Slavery. There are many misehievous jiersons wlio are 
 ready tbr any wicked work of ^ iolence. Tliey abound in 
 the city of New ^^>^k, (a sort of >ink wlu-rc the \illaiiy 
 of both hemispheres settles down, and genders that moral 
 pestilence which steams nj) along the columns of tha Neto 
 Vori- Herald .and the Xcii> York Observer, the great 
 esrape-|>ipes of secular and eeclesiastical wickedness) they 
 eonunit the great crimes of violence and robbery at home, 
 plunder emigrants, and engage in the slave-trade, or ven- 
 ture on fdlibustering ex])editions. This class of persons 
 is common in all the Soutli. One of tlie legitimate pro- 
 duets of her ''peculiar institution," they are familiar with 
 violence, ready and able for murder. l*ublic opinion 
 FU.stains such nu-n. Ilully I>rooks was Init one of their 
 representatives in Congress. Xow-a-days they are fond 
 of Slavery, defend it, and seek to si)read it. But the 
 time must come one day — it may c(^nie any time — when 
 the lovers of mischief will do a little tillil)ustering at 
 home, and rouse up the slaves to n.b. burn and kill. Pru- 
 dent carjK'Uters swi-ej) uj. all thi' shavings in their shops 
 at niglit, and remove this food of conflagration to a safe 
 jdace, lest the spark of a candle, the end of a cigar, or a 
 friction-match should swiftly end their wealth, slowly 
 
17 
 
 gathered together. The Soiitli takes pains to strew her 
 carpenter's shop with shavings, and fill it full thereof. 
 She encourages men to walk abroad with naked candles 
 in their hands and lighted cigars in their mouths ; then 
 they scatter friction-matches on the floor, and dance a 
 fillibustering jig thereon. She cries, "Well done! Hur- 
 rah for Walker!" "Hurrah for Brooks!" "Hurrah f..r 
 the bark Wanderer and its cargo of slaves! Up wilh 
 the bowie-knife! Down with justice and liumanity!" 
 The South must reap as slic soavs ; where she scatters the 
 wind, the wliirlwind will come up. It will be a pretty 
 crop for her to reap. Within a few years the South has 
 BTJEisrED ALIVE eight or ten negroes. Other black men 
 looked on, and learned how to fasten the chain, how to 
 pile the green wood, how to set this Hell-fire of Slavery 
 agoing. The apprentice may be slow to learn, but he has 
 had teaching enough by this time to know the art and 
 mystery of torture ; and, depend ui)on it, the negro will 
 one day apply it to his old tormentors. The Fire of Ven- 
 geance may be waked up even in an African's heart, espe- 
 cially when it is fanned by the wickedness of a white man : 
 then it runs from man to man, from town to town. What 
 shall put it out ? The white man's hlood ! 
 
 Now, Slavery is a wickedness so vast and so old, so rich 
 and so respectable, supported by the State, the Press, the 
 Market, and the Church, that all those agencies are needed 
 to oppose it with — those, and many more which I cannot 
 speak of now. You and I prefer the peaceful method ; 
 but I, at least, shall welcome the violent if no other accom- 
 plish the end. So will the great mass of thoughtful and 
 good men at the North ; else why do we honor the Heroes 
 of the Revolution, and build them monuments all over 
 our blessed New-England? I think you gave money for 
 
18 
 
 that of Bunker Hill : I once thouglit it a Tnlly; now I 
 recoijiiizo it as a threat senium in stone, whieli is wortli not 
 only all the money it cost to Imild it, l»ut all the blood it 
 took to lay its comer-stones. Trust me, its lesson will 
 not Ik* in vain — at the North, I mean, lor the Lo(;i< of 
 Slavkkv will keep the South on its lower course, and drive 
 it on more swilUy than iMtmc. '' ('a)»t. IJiown's exj»edi- 
 tion was a failure,'' I hear it >aid. I am not (juite sure of 
 that. True, it kills Jiftei ii men l>y sword and shot, and 
 four or five men by the gallows. Hut it shows the weak- 
 ness of the tjreatest Slave State in America, the worth- 
 lesJ^nesH of her Holdiery, and the utter Tear which Slavery 
 ijender« in the bosoms of the masters. Think of the con- 
 <lition <»f the City nf Washin-jt on while Iirowu was at 
 Work ! 
 
 Hrown will die, 1 think, liki- a martyr, and also like a 
 saint, lli.s noble demeanor, his unllinchinir bravery, his 
 gentleness, his calm, reliirious tru>t in (io<l, and his words 
 of truth anil soberness, cannot f lil to make a profound im- 
 jires.sioii on the hearts of Northern men; yes, and on 
 Southern men. For ''every human heart is human," ttc. 
 I ilo not think the money wasted, nor the li\es thrown 
 away. Many acorns must be sown t«» liaNc one come uj); 
 even then, the plant throws slow; but it is an Oak at last. 
 None of the Christian martyrs died in vain; and from 
 Stephen, who was stoned at JerusaK-m, to .Alary Dyer, 
 whom our fathers hauLred <»n a b(ui^h of "the great tree" 
 on Boston Common, I think there have been few spirits 
 more ]»»ire and dt-voted than .l<>lin llrow iTs, and none that 
 ^ave up their breath in a noi»Ier cause. Jx't the American 
 State hang his body, an<l the American Church (himn his 
 soul; still, the blessing of such as are ready to peri^h will 
 fall on him, and the universal ju>tiee of the Infinitely 
 
If) 
 
 011 899 161 8 
 
 Perfect God will take liiiu welcome li..iu,.. Tlw road to 
 heaven is as short iVoni the gallows as Iruiii a thn.ric; 
 perhaps, also, as easy. 
 
 I suppose you would like to know soniethiurr ;il,out my- 
 self. Rome has treated me to l)ad weather, which tells its 
 story in my health, and certainly docs not mend mc. 
 But I look for briglitcr days and happier nights. The sad 
 tidings from America — my friends in i>eril, in exile, in jail, 
 killed, or to be hung — jiave lilled me with grief, an(i so 
 I fall back a little, but hope to get forward again. God 
 bless you and yours, and comfort you ! 
 
 Ever aftectionately yours, 
 
 Theodore Parker. 
 
^ 
 
 pennuliffe* 
 pH8J