The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1837-12-19

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Fn,roR;-I am well aware, that in regard to
, ..ooont excitement on the subject OF slavery,
,dh basbeen said, and done too, by wiser heads
nina mon of talents and worth have committed
,,,,.o,vcs on the one side or the other, and many
.a,o NOT been difidenr in expressing their opinions
;,hor for or against the manumisson OF the op-
.osed But sir, there are times when the weak,
nay venture to speak-there are times when in
,:snaton will not be smothered; when every man
,To holds human heart in his bosom, or possess
90 in his composition spark of mauliness should
come out and be decided. Such is the present time
II has come TO pass that in the United States, where
citizens have guaranteed to them by the Constltu-
ton, the freedom of speech and of the press, where
the inalenabe right Of free discussion is ocknowl-
edged in the very instrument that makes us ma
ton, men may be buchered in cold blood, because
they take the liberty to believe, and venture to al
firm, that slavery is wrong. 1t has come to pass
that because the abolitionists will not be trod down,
because they MAINTAIN their right OF 'a'N"'s
when thew please and on what subject they please
,yitbout fear of the lordy dealer in human blood,
thew can be hunted down like wild beasts of the
forest and their lives sacrificed to gu the internal
malice of those who hold THEN fellow men sslaves
Among those who have fallen martyrs TO the
cause of emancipation, VIC have to notice the la
mented LovEJoY. He was star of the first mag
nitude a man of most amiabe manners, and uneX-
ceptionabe life; his character adorned by every
christian virtue, and his heart was the abode Of be-
nevoence and love Mr. Lovejoy was one of those
gentle spirits, who did not delight in turmoil and
strife, and most gladly would he have quilted his
post of peril and retired to the sacred empoymcnts
of his vocation, had he been conscious that his
duty to God and to humanity demanded bis contin-
ued exertions in behalf ofthe oppressed. He was
alike fearless of the awless mob ofthe big ones
that set them on and continued discharge the du-
ties incumbent upon hun regardless of threatened
destruction until last he has fallen, innocently,
but most nobly fallen, and by his death has accom-
plished more for the success of the he advo-
Gated, than three score years of active life could
have done.
But sir, l would inquire, What have the abolition
lists done TO merit all this accumulation of wrong
and outrage Have they excited n mob, or
resorted to physical force to disc inmate their prn
cipes? No, never. L repeat it SIR, ncver;-and
defy the vilest sandercr that stepped his heart
in corruption, or dsgraced the footstool of God by
his presence to point out one single instance in
which abotionsts have trespassed on the lights of
citizenship, or nringed in any sense on the liber-
ties of others.
But sir will tell what they have dono-they
have seen the enormtes of that system, which
binds one man down be the bject slave of another
which reduces hIm to the condition of goods and
chattels and makes the image of the eternal God
a thing which can be bought and sold; they have
seen the wickedness of that system which licenses
the tearing asundcr of friends and kindred, and pa-
ces the life and person and destiny of one mortal,
under the absolute will and control Of his fellow;
they have witnessed the abominaton of that sys-
tenn which exacts the labor of the poor without wa
ges, which makes null and void the marriage COM
pact and throws wide open to is hapless subjects
every avenue of sin and RIGHTEOUSNESS; and against
such evils, the aboionists have preached and print
ed. They have declared, in a voice that makes
the cars of the slave holder to Jingle, the crying
enormtes of his system of oppression. They
have announced to the nation through the medium
of the press, right guaranteed them by the Magma
Chara of our liberties, tho dangerit was in, by thus
harboring in its bosom this abomnation of desoia-
ton. This sir is what the abolitoniss have done;
and for doing this, for maintaining their right to
speak and to print what they believe is the truth,
theip blood has been poured out like water, and
their lives sacrificed to crafty the malice of merci-
less ssouI-dealers
eco shame, where is thy blush"
Lyndon, Nov. 1887. A