Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-09-01
The Character of Slavery.

The following extract is from a speech de-
livertd by Horace Mann, in the u. S. House
of Representatives. The non-publication of
our paper week before last, and the space
occupied by the proceedings of thu. annual
meeting in the last number, is the reAeon of
its delay.
"Sir, let us analyze this subject, and see
II slavery be not the most compact, and con-
centrated and condensed system of wrong
which the depravity ofman has ever invented.
Slavery is said to have had its origin in
war. 1t is claimed the captor had a right to
take the life of his captive and that if he
spared that life he made it his own, and
thus acquired a right to control it. | deny
the right Of the captor to the life of his cal =
tive and even if this right were conceded, |
deny his right to the life of the captive's off
spring. But this relation between the cap
tor and captive precludes the idea of peace 7;
for no peace can be made where there is no
free agency. Peace being precluded, it fol-
lows inevitably that the state of war con-
tinues. Hence the state of slavery is a state
of war and though active hoslilities may
have ceased, they are liable to break out,
uio ihu1 iiRhhiuil1 uituh u d l dUl UDOLlbDl.
How long mast our fellow-citizens who
were e~nslaved in Algiers, have continued in
slavery, before they would have lost the
right of escape or Of resistancel
The gentleman from Virginia, On. Bo.
cocK,) in his speech this morning, put the
right of the Shareholder upon a somewhat
different ground. He said a man might ac-
1uire property in a horse before the exist
ence of civil society, by catching a wild one.
And so, he added, one man might acquire
property in another man by Subduing him
to his will. The superior force gave the
right, whether to the horse or to the man.
Now, if this be so, and if at any time the
superior force should change sides, then it
follows inevitably that the relation of parties
might be rightfully changed by new appeal
TO force.
The same gentleman claims bible author.
ity for slavery. He says:-'I see slavery
there tolerated, | had almost said inculcated.
| see such language as this Both thy bond
men and thy bondmaids shall be of the hea-
then that are round about you of them shall
you buy bondmen and bondmaids and We
shall take them for an inheritance for your
children after you to inherit them for a poss-
%ession.' &c. Does not the gentleman know
that the same authority, at amuch later Pc
Rod, commanded the Israelitish slaves to
despoil their Egyptian masters, and to escape
from bondage! Surely the latter is the bet
tel authority, for it is of subsequent date
If the gentleman's argument is sound, he is
bound to advocate repeal of the act of 1893.
If the gentleman's argument is sound, the
free States, instead of surrendering fugitive
slaves 10 their masters, are bound to give
these masters a Red Sea reception and en-
brace; and the escape Of the children of Is
rael into Canaan is a direct precedent for the
underground railroad to Canada.
Both the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
French yesterday, and the gentleman from
Virginia to-day, spoke repeatedly, and with
out the slightest discrimination, Of "a slave
and a horse,''a slave and a mule, &c.
What should we think, sir, ola teacher for
our children, or even a tender of our cattle,
who did not recognize the difference between
men and mules-between humanity and
horse-hesh What should we think, if on
opening a work, claiming to he a scientific
treatise on zoology, we should find the au-
thor to be Ignorant Of the difference between
biped and quadruped, or between man and
birds, or men and fishes. Yet such errors would
be triAing compared with those witch have been
made through all this debate. They would
be simple errors in NATURAL history, perhaps
harmless; but these are erTors-fatal errors
in humanity and christian ethics No, sir /;
all the Legislation Of the slave States proves
that they do not treat, and cannot treat, a hu.
man being as an animal. ! will show that
they are ever trying to degrade him into an
animal, although they can never succeed
This conscious idee lhat he STATE Of slave
~ il a sIsEs OF wsg-s sIats in which superior