The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-11-23


tructye to the country" The doctrine of the
Declaration Of independence and the Kentucky
bill Of rights inmcal TO the true interests of the
United States The aboltonists seek nothing
beyond what is contemplated in these honored
declarations, viz: that the blessing of life and lib
erty, and The pursuit of happiness, may be left
open to the enjoyment of all They know that
although the doctrine of the declaration of l776,
was denounced as destructive and dangerous by
the cowned heads, and possessors of arbitrary
power in Europe, and their friends in this coun-
try, it has, in its practical effects, ialsi6ed the
predictions of its enemins. 1t has indeed been
"desrUctive" to slavery in one half of the States
but will our Kentucky friend argue that in so do
ing it has inflicted any real injury upon them
Will he even deny that it has, on the contrary
been their benefactor? Will he deny that the
superior prosperity of Ohio and Pennsylvania
the higher value OF their Iands-the more full de-
yelopement Of their resources, as compared with
Virginia and even Kentucky, are proofs Of the
principle th4t the freedom ofahe laborer cnhan-
ceS the value of the sod he Hills? Kentucky, the
garden Of the West, with soil rich as the Egyp-
tain Delta, with her mild climate, her ncble for
ests, her river navigation, and her commanding
central position, needs nothing but her practical
adoption of the principle of emancipation, to be-
come the leading State of the confederacy.
Slavery has kept he: p pulation sparse-has ar
rested the hand of provement-rolled from her
the tide of emigration and enterprise, and COM
PEELED her to tame down her youthful energies TO
keep pace with tie decrcpitude and Premature
decay of Virginia and the Carolinas. Should
then, the kentuckians generally initiate the noble
example of James G. Birney, does the editor be-
lieve that ii would prove obstructive" to any
thing worthy Of preservation Would is dcs-
tructive" effects be any more pernicous than
those of the heahful breeze which sweeps away
pestilence from an infected city /? ....,
But again, "tbe doctrine is mad in the very alb
stract" Yet it is madness which we share in
common with Washington and Jefferson, Frank
lin, Rush and Jay of our own country; with
Wilberlorce, CIarkson, Brougham, O'Connell, De-
Broglie and La Marine, on the other side of the
Atlantic. The circumstance that the STAKEHOLDER
supposes US to be mad in our advocacy OF human
freedom, only proves his moral insanity. His no.
lions Of the compatibility of slavery and free
dom in the same government, and his assumption
that slavery, violating the laws Of God and ma
lure, the Uecalogue and Declaration Of Indepen-
dence, is Il divine institution as we'll as the cor
ner stone of republicansn, are precious speci-
mems Of moral absurdity, and deserve a place,
with similar absurdtcs, described by Milton, as
flying
cover the backsde of the world, far of
Into limbo broad and large, and called
The Paradise cf fools''
Seriously, in concluding these hasty remarks,
We wish to call the attention of our Kentucky
friend of the grounds of our confidence
in the triumph of abolition principles We do
this in no spirit Of unmanly exultation over
the growing endorsements of shareholders, nor
of menace, nor provocation, but with a sincere
desire for his true welfare.
In 1882 the frs! Anl-Savery Society, consis-
ting of twelve members, was formed in New
England. We have now an organization consis-
ting Of between one thousand five hundred and
two thousand Anti Slavery Societies, extending
through all the free states and concentrating its
action in parent society, under the direction of
a central committee. These societies are bound
together by common object and common con-
stution. The influence of this mighty and
growing organization, may be seen in the immense
increase of petitions 10 Congress and the State
Legislatures :: in the constant publication and diff
fusion OF appeals, arguments and facts on the
subject of slavery and emancipation; in the pow
or which it exerts over the public press: in the |
grea amount Of political strength which it en-
bodies; in the anji-savery action which it is pro-
ducing in different ecclesiastical bodies in the
North and West; in its successful efforts to secure
jury trial 10 persons claimed as fugitive Slaves
in several states; in the approving resolutions Of
northern legislatures and in its A..cccssful oppoS-
lion TO the annexation of Texas. .,a
But we by nomeans place our main dependence
On orr organization. We rely upon the pledged
word of the Almighty for the deliverance of the
slave. We. have an auxiliary in every conscience
ii the South, not wholly hardened by the exercise
If tyranny. We know that while prayers are
going up TO the Father of mercies, from almost
very portion of our land, and from its pnresr
Iears, against the denominations of slavery, andI
n behalf of the wronged bondman, not slave-
FOLDER dares to break the silence of his closet
mot priest, : whose hire is with
he price of blood" dares lift his hands at south
I'm altar, in supplication to the God ofjusce for
he preservation Of this system. We feel that we
ave with rs the best minds and hearts of our : :
and--its hottest svmp*,hies--Hhe mighty sense of
wing religious obIigation,-the approving echoes p
I the voice Of our fathers not vet dead, among t
ur hills and val!ies--the all hail of the enlight
ned workable unconquerable strength Of a
God cause-allies and coadjutors in every gen .
rous impulse of the human hear---in every I
hing that ennobes manhood, or awakens the sym 4,
athies, or calls forth the moral heroism Of woman