Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-10-29
From the PG. Freeman
What is an ACOIi iOniSt

What is an ACOIiiOniSt e.?
There was a time when the adoption Of the
anti-slavery name proved a man worthy Of il.
When its definition, as given by our early
standard writer's, "a believer in the inherent
siuiulncss of slavery, and The duty Of .imme-
didic Emancipation was sufficiently full aud
explicit. IGr avuwaI Of such a belief meant
s0melbiug in those days; the name was a
test whereby mems souls were tried. There
was a time, also, when the name Of Christian
was a test Of character, and the life Of him
who bore it was its true de- fnition. When
the assumption Of this name made one a sub
iect Of Roman and Jewish persecution. when
it brought him within sight Of the rack, the
stake, the cross-when it insured to him the
Scorn Of those whom he had respected, the
hatred Of his w hOusehold-thcu, indeed,
might 1t be safely said, q" WhoSuever shall
confess that Jesus i the Son Of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God" Such a
confession then, proved a sincere and strong
attachment to the principles of christianity.
Who will pretend that il is of any value n0ic
and here as a test Of character lie is a bold
man who would venture in Christendam
openly to deny this fact, the confession Of
which was once 50 fraught with peril. \
very few centuries, perhaps not one, passed
away, ere the church found that she needed
other tests than this, to determine who were
worthy to be baptised in The name of Jesus,
and each succeeding age has been furnished,
in its peculiar Developments, with new and
needed tests Of christian character.
Thus has it been with the name of aboli-
ZIONIST, since the commencement Of our en-
terprise. At first, an anti-slavery profession
so marked a man or woman as odious in the
community, that there was little danger Of
its being assumed by any, save those whose
souls were inspired with ardent love for the
slave, and deep reverence for Right. If any
others, moved by the beauty Of its theories,
or the holiness Of its practice, did assume it.
they soon tainted under the heat and burden
of that day Of labor and Of peril, and quietly,
they went out from u.s. But as years roll
ed by, the enterprise gained respect and re-
nown, even among its enemies, and the name
of abolitionist lost much of its odium, until,
at last, il has come to be honored by the mass
es, and secretly coveted by many, in the
Church and State, who have not yet su1i-
cient moral courage TO wear i. eveu on their
brows. Hated, II is still, by many, but de-
spised no longer; opposition it still meets in
many a form, but how different is that oppo-
sition from that which first assaiied it, they
can tell, who faithfully served in the earlier
campaigns.
To be an aboliiionist, now is, as it always
was, TO hate slavery and to love freedom SO
sincerely and so heartily that we shall give
no counrenance to the one, and seek the pro-
motion of the other; and to be a christian,
now, is, as it always was, 10 be like Christ,
TO love the Lord our God with all the heart,
and our neighbor as ourselves, but the evil
dences requisite TO prove that we are one or
the other, are very different now, from what
they once were. 1t is not by The adoption of
the anti-slavery name, nor by membership in
an anti-slavery society, nor by loud profess
sions of love TO the slave, that we prove our
selves true and faithful abolit!onists. 1t is
by a life of toll and selt-denial for the sake
of the slave, by our daily deeds, that we prove
this, if at all. 1t is evinced, not only by the
eloquent and earnest appeal TO an assembled
multitude, who hang with delight on the lips
of the orator of Freedom, but in the social
circle where unpopular truths are fearlessly
and plainly uttered; by the obscure Preside
where schemes of economy and self-denial
are planned and executed in order 10 increase
the contributions to the anti-slavery treasury;
and by the sacrifice of love of party, love OF
sect, so deeply inwrought in many a soul,
that they are often The last offerings laid on
the altar Of Humanity. 1t is best proved by
d~iligent toll, which weaTies not and llters
not, though uncheered by human praise, and
unaided, ofttimes, by human sympathy by
quiet sacrifices Of ease, comfort, convenience,
reputation, cheeriully borne for the slaves
sake. They who are giving these evidences
of the genuineness Of their anii-slavery pro-
fessions, are indeed, worthy of the high name
of abolitionist. And when the governing mo-
tive of such a life is true love TO man, the on
ly source Of which Is true love to God, then
are its deeds acceptable TO Him who has said,
I" lnasmuch as ye have lone it unto one of
the least of these, my brethren, ye have lone
it unto me-"
1t is no light thing to be a faithful aboli-
zionist. We may account it a Joy and an
honor that any great reform has filled our
hearts and occupied our hands, for such it is,
but well does it become us to see to it that
no l~ukewarmness, no selfshness, no unfaith-
fulness Of ours, brings dishonor and reproach
upon the enterprise which thus honors and
blesses us.