Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-01-10
VERMONT TELE GRAPH:

were emanclpdteQ from lnelE =DOuudg0 IN !
Egypt, while they stood before Sinai to
receive the law, as the trumpet waved
louder, and the mount quaked and blazed,
God spake the ten commandments from
the midst of clouds and thunderings.-
Too ofthose commandments deal death
to slavery Look at the eighth. Thou
shalt not steat,'' or, thou shalt not take
from another what belongs to him. All
mans powers of body and mind are Gods
gift to him. That they are has otcn, and
that he has a right to them, is proved
from the fact that God has given them to
him alone, that each Of them is part of.
himself and all of them together cozsti=
tutes himself. All else that belongs to
man is acquired by the use Of these pow
ers. The interest belongs to him, be-
cause the principal does-the product 10
his, because he is the producer. Owner
ship Of any thing is ownership Of its use.
The right to use according to will, is it.
self ownership. The eighth command
ment presvpposes and assumes the right
of every man to his poUers and their pro-
duct Slavery robs of both. A mans
right to himself is the only right absolute
" original and rinsic-his rightto what
ever else that belongs tohim is merely
reLatirt to his right to himself--is
derived tromit, and held only by virtue Of it.
SELF-K1GHT is the foundation rigkt-the
post in the middle, to which all other rights
are fastened. Shareholders, the world
over, when talking about their RIGHT to
their slaves, always assume their OUn
right to themselves. What STAKEHOLDER
ever undertook to prove his own right to
himself? He knows it 10 be self-evi-
dent proposition, that q man belongs to
himsclcthat the right IS intrinsic and
absolute The STAKEHOLDER, in making
out his own title to himself, makes out
the title of every human being to himself.
As the fact of being a man is itself the IT,
tie, the whole human famil y have one
= common title deed. If one mans title is
valid, all are valid. If one is worthless
> all are. To deny the validity of the
sI0re's title is to deny the validity of hi.
otOn; and yet in the act of making him q
r slave, the STAKEHOLDER asserts the validity
. Of his own title, while he seizes ham a.
his property who has the same title
: Further, in making him a slave, he doe:
; not merely unhumanize one individual
f but UNIVERSAL MAN. He DESTROYS tn,
= foundation. He annihilates all rights
t He attacks not only the human race, bu
t universal being, and rushes upon JEHo
= YAH. For rights are rights; Gods ar
= no more-man's are no less.
= The eighth commandment forbids tn
: taking of any part of that which belong
= to another. Slavery takes the aoAol.
n Does the same Bible which forbids tn
l. taking of aug thing belonging to hin
sanction the taking of erery thing2 Is
e such a medley of absurdities as to thur
der wrath against him who robs his neigh
n Dor of cent, while it bids God speed {
him who robs his nei ghbor of himself
q Slavery is the highest possible violation
e the eighth commandment. To take fror
+ a man his earnings, is theft. But to tax
O. the Garner, is compound, superlative, Pc
/. petual theft 1t is to be thief by profess
n ion. 1t is a trade, life of robbery, thu
- vaults through all the gradations of th
Is climax at leap-the dread, terrific, giar
D. robbery, that towers among other robbel
IN les, a solitary horror, monarch of the realm
Is The eighth commandment forbids the tai
ir ing away, and the tenth adds, " Thou sha
10 not covET any thing that is thy neig
d boris" thus guarding every mans rigi
IS to himself and his property, by maxim
is not only the actual taking away sin. bl
to even that state of mind which would tenn,
IL to it. Who ever made human being
s. slaves, OF held them as slaves without co
g, citing them2 Why do they take from the
2, their time, their labor, their liberty, the
- right of self-preservation and improv'
ment, their right to acquire property,
r worship according to conscience, to scare
O the scriptures, to live with their famiIie
~ and their right to their own bodies2 VIII
"a do they take them, if they do not desi
ID them2 They covEP them for purpos,
y Of gain, convenience, lust of dominion,
IN sensual qualification, of pride and ostent
70 ton. They break the tenth commandmer
~ and pluck down upon their heads Il
;s plaques that are written in the book. IT
~ commandments constitute the brief con
i pend ofhuman duty. Too of these brar
- slavery as sin.
!. The giving of the law at Sinai, imm
Of diately preceded the PRONUNCIATION of tn
body of laws and institutions called Il
I'd Mosaic system" Over the gateway
~ that system, fearful words were written /
:; the finger of God" He THAT sTEALET
MAN AND seLLETH HIM, OR IF HE 4
FOUND IN HIS HAND, HE SHALL sUREI
f. BE PUT ToDEATH." See Exodus, xxi. 1
Theoppression ofthe Israeites in Egy
, and the wonders wrought for their deli
ms ms erance, proclaim the reason for such la
,es at such time-when the body polite
zip came theocracy, and reverently wait,
of for the will of God. They had just BET
70. Gi emancipated. The tragedies of the