The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1845-01-30
From the Christian Citizen.
An Mortgaged.

a 10 one borE and bred in New England
the sentiment must be inevitable, that il is
}, free country The language of every,
r day life comes with mat capual idea. /
' is the fist ides that Infancy 10 taught, and
The last one forgotten by age. Freedom
Liberty, Free Institutions, &c. are term.
, OF costly water IN the jewelry of our pat
riotism.
How pleasant il is to thnk-be it tru.
or talse-that cold, hard soiIed, pure sky
ed New Eng land is. indeed. free land!
that in her long struggle for freedom, she
expunged from her soil every crimson
spot, every llneamenl of human slavery
and severed every igamenI that CONNECTED
her with that bloody, inhumnn institution!
And SO We thought. We goL out Of our
cradle with that idea. II was in our hear
when we first looked up into the blue sky,
aud listened TO The lnlIe merry birds that
were swimming IN It's bosom. 1t was in
our heart, like Thoughts of music, when
the spring winds came, and The spring
voices twllercd IN the tree tops, when the
swallow and the lark and all the summer
birds sang for joy, and the meadow stream
chimed in its sIvery treble, deity singing
to the daisies. When every thing was
alive with the rapture Of freedom, we tho't
among other bright and boyish vagaries.
that this land was free-!ree as the air;
otherwise we would not have slid down
hill on 1t, or rolled up snow fort. or
have done any thing OF the kind by way
of sport. And we we're told that it was
free. Old men that wore queus, and hub,
bed about on crulcbts, caIne and sat by
our fathers fire,ide, and showed great
scars on .helr flesh, and told how much IL
cost 10 make this land free. And on d
hot summer day of every year, the people
stuck up long pole in the middle of the
village green; aud they tied 10 the TOP
large piece of stripped cloth; and they
rung the bell in the seeple; and hey shot
off hollow log OF cast Irou; aud The hills
aud woods lrembed at the noise, and faith
er said, aud every body said il uss because
this land was free 1t was our boy hoods
thought, aud, of all our young taucIes we
loved ii besl; for there was an element OF
religion in ii. We have chung iondIy to
the patriotic illusion, and should have
Rugged il to our bosom through life, but
for an incident which suddenly broke up
the dream.
While meditatiog one sabbath evening
! Il few weeks ago, upon the blessings OF
this free gospel land, and on the ibeflIes
wherew!lh God here sets his children free,
neig hbor opened the door, aud whisper
I'd cautiously In our ear, that young sa
bic fugitive from slavery had knocked at
his door, and he had gwen him place
by his fire. A slave IN New Eng land |
exclaimed we as we took down our ha', =
is ii possible thai slaves can breathe here
aud moi be free2 There we're many of US
that gathered arouud that young man:and
few Of us had ever seen slave. There
were ;ro,utls Ia the group that had sous
OF tue same pc as that oil the boy; and
teaIs CAM int" their ewes as he spoke of
the widowed slave mother; and there were
siSt re, WIN Sunday school Looks IN her
hands hat surrounded him. and looked IN
MS face Hlth strange aud I, atiul earnest
ness, as ht spoke OF the SISTER he had left
IN bondage He had been 'hunled like
partridge upon the mountains aud his
voice tren,bed as he spoke. His pursu-
rrs had traced him from one place 10 an
Other; his feet were bruised and swollen
from the rhast; he was FAINT aud weary,
aud he looked AROUND upon US importing
Y for protection. Starting al every sound
rom without, he told, with tremuions
voice the s,ory of his CAPTIVITY, aud recap
ture: for thrice he fled from slavery. aud
twice had he been delivered up 10 his pur-
sueIs. He was checker'd over with The
marks OF he scourge, for his master had
prescribed hundred Iashes 10 cure tin
OF his passion FOR freedom. A worse iale
awaited HIM, il he failed in his third al
tempt 10 be free; and so he walked o the
window. aud softly asked The nearest way
TO Canada. Canada and Heaven, he
said, were The only two places that the
slave sighed for e lied up his cloued shoes
TO 90 He laid his hand on he latch. and
his eyes asked If he might go. We knew
what was IN his heart, and he what was IN
our own, when the children came near
and asked their parents why the negro boy
might not live in Massachusetts, and why
he should 90 so tdl 10 fiud home. And
we looked in each others faces and spoke
not a word for our hearts were troubled al
their questions
Some one asked for the 'bOnd,' and it
was read; and there, among great SWELL
ing words abou, liberty, we found it writ.
ten, that there was not an acre nor an inch
Of ground within the limits of The great
republic which was not mort
gagged to slavery. And when The reader
came 10 that passage in the bond his
voice fell, lest the children shold hear ii,
aud ask more questions, He passed the
around, and we saw it was
La. LII. - - LII L. LIZA