The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1845-04-03
UNION ron EMANCIPATION,


woe NAV be the chaliCe of Slavery, and
how many eoever may be competed 10
drink of its bitter dregs, yet we would mol
have il abolished by The mere pressure OF
physical nacessi.y, much less by the bru-
la!izng medium Of physical force. AS
well might we pray mat the whole race
of sinners should obtain salvation and
heaven without repentance, MS TO desire
that this country should work out It's sal
walton from slavery by any thing short Of
the fear and trembling OF lis moral con-
science. There is but one way 10 get rid
OF crushing burden of sin, whether 1t be-
Bound to the shoulders Of an individual or
a nation. And this Union will realize the
bitter experience of Bunyan's Christian
Pilgrim, if it seeks to thrust off the noun
tain sin Of slavery without strong ard deep
searching convictions OF is moral hear,
There is something else connected with
this work of emancipation, than merely
forcing the slaves from the hands Of their
masters and giving them freedom. To
compel two hundred and fifty thousand
shareholders 10 unloose the beings they
have bought aud bound from their bond
age, is not the whole question at issue -
That savebreetng spn which has per-
vaded the whole Uulcn, and, with few
exceptions, soborned The press, the pulpit
aad the people Of the free States to the SER
vice of slavery--that gully spirit has YET
10 be "struck under crGyIcuon," and do
works meet for repentance.
The Union, the a0b0le Uo'0n, has yet
10 sill down together in sackcloth md ashes
before humanity and the God Of m"hhlnd,
for he greal system Of lis injq1ty, which
II has bocnd around itself as with cart
rope. And when that day Of repentance
shall come, 70 the Norlh will belong The
lowest place in The dust. For that spirit
which has sought to fan the flames OF
popular violence against the discussion Of
Slavery, even on our high places Of iroe-
dom, lacks bot the mercenary tlemen' Of
expedieucv to erect a slave bazaar On the
summit of Bunker Hjjl. What is it that,
for years, has put all our Theological and
Literary Institutions. the Literature, ihe
Press aud the Pal pit of the North into a
mesmeric s!umber and silence upon
the subject Of slavery! Is it not because
the North has had an interest in souls and
"sinews bought and Sold" which sllIed
the uprising convictions Of lis moral con-
science! What though its disilIeres no
longer turn the products Of slave labor in.
TO the fiery currency received at par on
the African coast for human flesh What
though an act of Congress has prevented
chipo fran t,rip op ut
Gods enslaved children to this American
Egypt! Has it not, for all that, retained
some guilty participation in the inhuman
institution of slavery, some commercial as
well as political and social connection
with that corruptlng system Of wrong,
which has obscured its moral perceptions?
Has not every spindle in our cotton facto>
ries, as it twirled into fine drawn threads
the product of the slaves labor sung a
lullaby to the sentiment that would sym.
palhise with his destiny? Has not the
perverse pro, slavery Of the North had
some petuniary al1initics TO thai "peculIar
institution" which makes s|avehoding
States consumers OF articles which free la
Dor can only manufacture? Since Whit
hSy llII AOLtcl SI'I, "uSI Iue TIC
South ever manufactured and sent into
her home market case OF boo's, shoes,
bonnets, or anything worn by her millions,
white or black Has not this condition
OF dependence upon the manufactures OF
the Norlh grown out OF Slavery cons
d!ion depending solely upon the existence
of Slavery2 Is not the fact that this very
condition has studded our valleys and hill
sides with manufacturing villages and sci
every slreamlel 10 the music OF cotton and
wolien machinery, evidence, Ty5ma Jacie,
Of our acquiescence and participation in
an institution which has BEEN unjusly call
ed S9uthern?
American Slavery is not Southern ia.
stituion. 1t belongs TO the whole Union
II was planted, and it has been sustained
BY the whole Union and we repeat it, by
the moral power Of the whole Union II
must be abolished and by no other means
would we see it fall. We would not have
Slavery starved ont of the hands bu Out
of the hearts of human men. We would
not see it extermInated from the earth be.
cause it is unproGta5le; because human
flesh wont pay wont SeU-but because il
is hateful and damnable in all the sources
and rami6calons OF its existence.
But can we pet rid OF Slavery and dis,
solve our connexion with its guilt, BY dis.
solving The Union? AS well might a
person hope TO dissolve the connection be-
tween the SINS Of his heart and the sins Of
his head by cutting himself in two in h.
middle Of his boly. Slavery is narona
sio, in all the stages Of It's eXIsleoce, which
nothing bnt national repentance cat 10
move. Tneu we say devoutiy, UniOn fo
the sake Of E Emancipation, aud Emancipa
lion for the sake of the Union. That ma