The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-09-28
THE VOICE OF FREEDOM.

N Nil II
red with her blood. 1t was Cor free mothers to
fondle their infants in their bosoms, or ST by me
side of their ue bed and sing their cradIe-hymh'
Another lot was hers. The joys OF maternity
must give way TO her dread OF the driver Whlp'
Tn few DAVIS the tender flesh of her little one
miobt be TORN by that whip as hers was now.
Her child was not her own. True, God had Civ
en- il to her hut another claimed it as his proper
tv. On the side Of the oppressor there was pow
or. but for that heartbroken slave-mother appear
ed no helper
The scene changed A crowd of men, with
eager expectation in their looks, were before my
eye. A blood-red flag was over my head. Up
on it, painted in capitals, was the annunciation,
|" Slaves, Horses and other cattle to be sold here.
The hammer of the auctioneer fell frequently
with its careless stroke, and human ties were rv-
en- at every blow. Here The parent was sold
from the child--there the husband from his wife,
and tears and lamentations, and shrieks and
groans went upward continually, while above
them all rose the shrill notes of the auctioneer
and the loud crack Of the drivers whip. Pres
emily the mother and her babe were brought up
on the stand. As the auctioneer rudely seized
her that he might expose her person most faith
fully TO gaze of the surrounding crowd she clasp
ing but death should ever part them. And yet
she knew
s'H ow weak her to from than death,
From beastly men who nurse for nfamy
And cherish for pollution "
"Who bids?" cried the auconeer. A moth
err and her child separate or together to suit
the purchaser! Sold for no fault" and his ham
mar kept time with his tongue, as in Jockey style
b,o Cd boro roo1 bo
and her child was torn from her arms, and sold
by weight to another purchaser.-Crushing down
her feelings she had looked calmly on until the
seal of their final separation set, and then
they could not be suppressed. She shrieked-
she supplicated-in vain. The grave is not more
Iremorseless than those human fesh-mongers.
| They -ore her away from the conscious baby who
stretched out its little hands imploringy to the
mother it was never TO see again. The deed was
done. Once more the scene changed. Before
me, seated on the ground beneath the stars of
midnight that seemed to look down upon her with
pi,ying eyes, sat that desolate- hearted mother. A
low wall was in my ear, as the voice of one who
mourns the death Of her frsl-born-yet sadder
more hopeless even than that. The slave-mother
poured on the unanswering air her lamentations
for her child, and the burden of her melancholy
song was this
''Woe for thy lot, thou doomed one woe
A seal is on thy fate
And shame, and toll, and wretchedness
On all thy steps await !"
Ny reverie was over-but the reality of suffering
which slavery entails upon its miserable victims
yet remains. Oh, that any who profess to have
known the baptism of the Spirit of God should
be Indifferent to its existence That any should
justify the wrong, and plead for its continuance
"Cry-for the good man faeth Call aloud!
If We be dumb, the stones beneath your feet
Shall have voice! Earth cannot be thus dumb
Earth which hath drank the blood Of innocence,
! Earth, which hath hidden in her breast the slain,
Shall call to Heaven for vengeancen'
| The night passed heavily with its darkness and
storm, but the morning came with its bright sun
shine and its balmy air. So shall the morn Of
freedom succeed the long dark night of despotism
In this confidence and the strength it inspires
abolitionists should urge forward their glorious
enterprise.
About nine o'clock we descended into the val
ley where nestes the beautiful village of Mead
Vile, looking more like thriving Yankee settle
ment than any thing | have seen since | left my
own New England. From Meadville to Erie
my only travelling companion was Canadian
hunter who carried in his hand rife of enor-
nous weight, the very sight of which would have
appalled, the amateur sportsmen of our city, who
sally forth occasionally with their slender fowl
ing-pieces, and return with their silken game
bags filled with those dangerous and voracious
birds, the woodthrush and the robin During
the day, our road led through beautiful tract of
country covered with %ell-cultivated farms and
dotted here and there with thriving villages, each
with its rustic school-house and commodious
church, giving evidence that the great conserva-
tive principles of our State intelligence and relig-
ion, were not forgotten in the acquisition of
wealth, The hand of honest, requited toll has
been among those fields and villages. They bear
no marks of slavery. They flourish too vigor-
ously for that Let those who cultivate the one
and build the other, while in the midst of the
blessings which they enjoy, remember those in
bonds as bound with them," and as they would
transmit their own inheritance of freedom unim-
paired to their children and their child.ens chill
dren, demand that its blessing be bestowed i'm
partially upon all,
''Until no longer Ger the smiling land
Is heard the voice Of tyranny, and all
Who breathe the pure air alike are free."
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WHY WE DON'T GO TO THE STANDARDIZATION
lists do not 60 to the South, because the right
time is not yet come. The need being equal, it is