Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-03-20

both the soil and the laborer. Man was Gre
ated to own, and not to be owned the claim
OF another upon the fruits of his toll as upon
the product of the service of a mere animal,
overlooks the higher nature and the abso-
Lutte rights of a human being.
$. Because Slavery tramncls the ~intellec-
lnal powers and prevents their expansion
The expansibility of the human mind is one
OF It's chief glories, and endless means are APP
propriated to it by It's Creator. To labor svs-
tematically to dwarf the intellect, is 10 pre-
vent the opening to a full vision, Of the eye
that God made, wherewith man should see
him in the manifestations of himself through
his laws. This Slavery does. 1t denies to
the slave even the alphabet of knowledge, the
simplest elements Of intellectual progress
The very enactment Of laws which forbid,
under heavy penalties, any one to teach the
slave to read and write, implies all that we
claim for his intellectual capacity, and mani
testify declares that the maintenance of the
system depends upon dwarfing the intellect.
!. Because Slavery checks the deyelope-
ment of the moral rature of the slave. 1t de-
MES him rights, and thereby denies him re-
sponsibility. With the denial of his man
hood. necessarily goes his accountability (;
Tor where the distinction between persons and
things is lost, the duties and responsibilities
of the person are merged and lost in the thing.
The slave is, to all the intents and purposes,
properly, dep ivel of his moral nature, and
thereby Of his participation in a common hu-
mainly. ....f..
5. Because Slavery involves a practical
denial Of the religious nature of the slave.-
The supreme will, to the slave, is the will of
the master; and that which dwarfs the intel
lect, and checks the development of the NOR
al nature, must be opposed to religious growth.
1t takes from the victim the means which
Gnd has furnished to beget and foster a true
and fillal reverence towards Himself. and
gives him no religion but credulity. 1t shuts
up the Bible from the slave as effectually as
ever Popery did from the people in the dark
days Of its terrific power.
e. because Slavery presents an insur-
mountable barrier to the propagation of the
great truth of the Universal brotherhood, and
thereby most effectually prevents the progress
of true Christianity. Under its broad shad-
ow, Univers ,lism cannot grow. The seed is
at best, sow among ihorns that check its
vegetation. Under the legitimate influences
Of such a system, the soul cannot regard with
favor the religion which has the same voice
and tone, the same commands and warnings,
the same hopes and promises. for him who is
regarded as i. thing and classed with cattle,
as for the most elevated and gifted of the hu-
man race. And inasmuch as Slavery denies
the inequality that exists, by the attributes of
human nature, between man and man, it can
not bat frown on the religion Of Christ, which
is based on that equality, and whose great
and fundamental principle of morality is "do
unto others as ye would that they should do
unto you"
7. Because the essential nature Of Slave
~ cannot be altered by any kindness, how
great soever, practiced towards the slave
Kindness is but flowers in the links of the
chain whose iron eats into the soul, and no
sweetness can lull the moral sense into for
getfulness of what slavery is. The highest
kindness is comparatively nothing, while the
manhood Of the slave is denied or forgotten;
for the first demand of love is, to respect the
rights of another. While many Shareholders
m Y, according to their conception of things,
practice the utmost kindness to their slaves,
that cannot alter one feature Of d~eforni,y in
the system of Slavery.
g.. Because the long continuance Of sys-
TEN of wrong cannot p%alliate it, but on the
other hand augments the demand for its abo-
lition. New victims are ushered into exist
ence every day, while the natural affections
and the sanctities Of marriage ard domestic
life are disregarded and made subordinate to
the interests Of property. .t..
9. Because while we would in all charity
remember that peculiarities Of situation may
affect the Judgment and moral sense, still we
must not forget, that no popularity of situa-
ton can excuse. a perpetual denial Of uuiver.
sal principles and obligations. Freedom is
not the gift of charters and communities il
is not a benefit bestowed by geographical To-
c~alities, but il is inherent in man as man, by
the attributes of his nature. Our religion de-
mands OF US, with a voice that cannot be ST.
fenced, that no limit of territory shall be per.
mitted to exclude man from our sympathy,
and no conventional laws shall supsrsede the
eternal acquisitions of justice and mercy.
American Slavery is a system of Wrongs,
from its first principle to its browning as
sumption and in its train of evils are found
all the iuiquitIes that have eaten out the life
of communities and nations. 1t legalizes sins
that are abhorrent TO the simplest moral sense
and in the increasing intelligence and philan
thropy of the present age, it becomes morf
and more a stigma on our National Name, /;
c lrse to our country's prosperity, and a gian
moral evil that mustbe overthrown, or 1t vii
overthrow us by the retributive justice o
Hin who has declared the ruth -" Right
eousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a re
proach to any people
For these reasons we protest against III
system of American Slaveryas utterly wrong
and confess our obligation to use all justifa
BILE means to promote its Abolition.
If a man is happy and con,ented in slave