Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-11-24

to be passed over lightly, or disposed Of has
tily. Let us consider Of these. Let US FIRST
examine the cause Of the sentence passed
npon Mitchell. and the dreadful fate to which
O'Brien and McManus are doomed, and in
the light Of our present position and past
history, ascertain If We are the people 10 de-
nounce England as a sinner above ourselves.
The crimes of these men are the highest
known 10 human law, involving the subver-
sion Of the whole framework of human gov
eminent, and filling the land with all the
awful horrors of civil war. They could only
expect 10 gain their object by causing the
land 10 smoke with the warm blood Of slaugh-
tered thousands. 1t appeared TO be the pur-
pose Of these men TO beget in the minds of
their fellow-countrymen the highest contempt
aud most reckless disregard Of human life
II is also true that these men were sane, in
tplligpnt beings. Mitchell was an educated
man so was Smith O'Brien. The latter
was also a law-maker. They well understood
the nature Of the solemn game which they
undertook 10 play, and the amount of the
stake to be lost or won. They have played
they have lost, and must pay the forfeit
ure. They have "sown the wind, and are
reaping the whirlwind." They have been
pierced by their W swords, and consumed
ny n nIt VI Until wv hlnullnRs
We may lament over their misfortune, be-
wall their sad lot, and mourn over their terri.
BILE doom and il may be proper to do CO.,
But can any American say that the treatment
Of these men would have been better had they
attempted against the American government
what they attempted against the British
thronel There is not The slightest reason 10
suppose it would. Our government, like that
Of England, is based on the sword for its ex-
~istence, and is no more merciful or less cruel
than the British government. Governments
are governments the world over. Whether
they are called monarchies, aristocracies, au-
tocracies, or democracies, they are always
the same bloody and remorseless monsters.
everywhere their authority is disputed by
force.
1t may be. and doubtless is, great outrage
against humanity to hang Smith O'Brien by
the neck until he is dead, and then to sever
his head from his body, and to divide his body
into four quarters. and leave it to the disposal
of the Queen. But is this worse or more re-
voting on the part of England, than it was
for America to cause Nathaniel Turner, the
hero of the Southampton insurrection. to
walk barefoot on a train Of living fire forty
feet long, and at the end Of it TO riddle his
body with a hundred bullets! Is it worse
for England to transport Mitchell for fourteen
years, than it is for us 10 imprison Drayton
for twenty l-the former plotting a bloody
revolution, and the latter merely, by peacea-
BILE means, removing seventy -seven human
beings from a land of slavery to a land Of lib
erty. Is it worse for England to hang Nc
Manus, after a fair trial, than it was for
America 10 burn the noble Mcintosh, in Mis-
souri,, without Judge or jury? And shall a
people who looked on that horrid scene with
composure and Indifference, now effect horror
and hatred Of England, because Of her re-
voting crimes? William Smith O'Brien at
tempted to achieve for his country poiiicai
freedom. In the language oil Thomas Jeffer-
son, Nathaniel Turner attempted to redress
wrongs worse than ages of that which Anne
ricans rose in rebellion to oppose. Until the
prison doors at Washington shall be opened
for the release Of Drayton, and we atone for
Torrey, and have struck the chains from
millions in our land, we may hold our pssfe
respecting the cruelty of England.-F. D..