The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1844-03-07
D. S. MURRAY, PRINTER.

It the matter OF slavery does not stop here.
It Under its authority there is an officer
: called Marshal. In the person OF this
E, officer are invested powers which are
absolute and despotic as can be cited in
= the history OF despotic rule. Nero, who
? could set Rome on fire, and fiddle while
1t burned, acted with no more absoutism
: than does this officer. In him is vested
the power of arrest, of examination, of
commitment to Jail, Of trial, of condem-
nation, and OF executing his own awarded
sentence. Free country this To illus
trate-suppose man from the county of
Madison, of swarthy complexion, OF the
color of West Indian, should 90 10
} Washington city on tour of pleasure.
} The morning OF his arrival the Marshal
of that District has had an advertisement
put into his hands by member of Con.
gress, describing the escape and person
of slave. The advertisement closes up
with the statement that the Slave walks
erect, looks You boldly in the face, and
will readily pass for whste man.
Under this advertisement the Marshal
commences his search. He comes across
the New Yorker, and arrests him. On
whose side is the lat0? Ga the side of
the arresier or the arrested On whom
devolves the proof tina! the New Yorker
Is the individual advertised? Not on the
Marshal. He takes the citizen of New
York to the public Jail, incarcerales him,
tells him TO prove he IS not a sIare; aud
In case of inability TO do so, keeps him
awhile, and then sells him on the auction
| block as slave. Now, locked up in a
Jail, how is he to get evidence; and if he
could get it. how is he 10 know that it
shall be deemed relevant, and that the
LITTLE TYRANT will accept it! And
suppose he does accept it, and the New
| Yorker can not pay his Jai! tees-for the
Marshal can fix them as high as he pleas.
es - then. the auction block is The spot
where, before hundreds or thousands, as
the case may be, men and women, the
genius of american freedom Gubs him q
| sIare. In Europe, under the grinding
pressure OF despotc power. pOceriy is a
crime; how much better are the chances
for poor man in the city of Washing
ton2
There is one other view wish to pre-.
seLt, before leaving this point Ii is the
influence Of slavery upon the representa-.
lives from the North. No man can min.
gle for months with shareholders, in pub.
lie, in private, and in the social circle,
without being injuriously affected in his
morals, unless he promptly and boldly
assumes such position as Shall preclude
all hope of his being seduceG from his
attachment to freedom. II there are any
weak points, rely upon it, SHAREHOLDERS
will ind them, and threats or aduation,
as may suit the individual, will be bro't
to bear upon him, till he sells his honor
and his manhood FOR MESS OF POT.
TAGE.
There is one strong and valid reason
'ohy Northern men uniformly yield to The
Shareholders; for Since the formation of
the government the House of Represent.
aives has furnished no member who has
dared TO speak boldly for the abolition of
slavery in the District of Columbia, and
the internal save-trade, and who has at
the same time considered Shareholders as
unworthy his suffrage Partial move.
ments have been made; but no one. which
contemplated slavery and slaveho Iding in
The same category. What is the reason
then That while men complain of slavery,
and call 1t an enormous evil, they uni
tormly support slavehoIders2 My answer
is this. They belong to political parties
of which shareholders are members, and
the terms of membership in which, are
other than such as involve the main:en-
ance OF the democratic principle and OBJ
position to slavery. The objects which
they contemplate, the measures they en-
ploy, the arguments these parties urge
are OF that cast which in their extension
or use, vex not the stakeholder. In the
Wing and Democratic parties, to be a
Shareholder is no bar TO membership;
but II the PAST may be brought up as
evidence, 1t is passport TO the highest
consideration in them.
The leaders of the Wing party would
}by no means consent - were it left 10
them-that Mr.. Clay should emancipate
his fifty slaves, (or being asked to do
which by poor man, a Mr.. Mendenhall
of Richmond. Indiana - he told him 10
ego HOME & MIND HIS OWN
BUsiNEss,'') if such a deed of justice
would endanger his election. Snch is
the depth of political depravity to which
that party has fallen. Corrup pit and cor.
rupting others, it has placed duellst, a
gambler, STAKEHOLDER, at its head to
represent in his O1o@ person and private
character, the morals Of the party.
The same readiness 10 sacrifice princi-
pie for power is manifest in the past and
prospective course of the party calling
itself, by way of eminence, Democratic,
a party that never had from its birth The
Ieas; title TO the name: party that has
MI nod into III hnnIr -