Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1848-09-29
them Up ia the paths Of wisdom and virtue.

never appears TO me so com
ple,ely an agent Of hell, as when | think of
and look upon my dear children. 1t is then
that my feelings rise above my control.--
! meant TO have said more with respect to
my own prosperity and happiness, but
thoughts and feelings which this recital has
quickened, units me 10 proceed further in that
direction. The grim horrors Of Slavery rise
In all their ghaslly terror before me, the walls
OF millions pierce my heart, and chill my
blood. remember the chain, the gag. the
bloody whip, the death-like gloom overshad-
owing the broken spirit of the fettered bond.
man, the appalling liability Of his being torn
away from wife and children and sold like
q beast in the market. Say not that this isa
picture Of fancy. You well know that |
wear stripes on my back inflicted by your
direction +; and that you, W lille we were broth.
ers in the same, church, caused this right
hand, with which ] am now penning this
letter, TO be closely tied 10 my left. and my
person dragged at the pistols mouth, fifteen
miles from the Bay side to Easton, TO be
sold like a beast in the market, for the al
legged crime OF Intending TO escape from your
possession. All this and more you remember.
and know to be perfectly true, not only Of
yourself, but nearly all the Shareholders
around you.
At this moment, you are probably the
guilty holder OF at least three of my own
dear %sisters, and my only brother in bond
age, These you regard as your own proper
~. They are recorded on your ledger, or
perhaps have beeu sold to human flesh mon
gers, with a view 10 filling your own ever
hungry purse. Sir, | desire to know how
and where these dear sisters are. Have you
sold theml OF are they still in your possessionl
M hat hao konAR,A sc - - H.. II
or dead What has Necome Of my dear old
grandmother, when you turned out like an
old horse. 10 die in the woods--is she still
slivel Write and let me know all about
them. II my grandmother be still alive she
is Of no service to you; for by This time she
must be nearly eighty years of age--too old
TO be cared for by one TO whom she has cess-
ed TO be Of service, send her to me at Roches-
ter, or bring her to Philadelphia, and it shall
be the crowning happiness Of my life 10 take
caro- OF her in her old age. Oh! she was to
me a mother, and a father, so far as hard la
Dor for my comfort could make her such.--
Send me my grandmother! that | may watch
over and take care of her in her old age
And my sisters, let me know all about them.
l would write 10 them, and learn all | want
to know Of them without disturbing you in
any way, but that, through your %unrighteous
conduct, they have been entirely deprived of
the power TO read and write. You have
kept them in utter Ignorance, and have there
fore robbed them of The sweet enjoyment of
writing orreceiving letters from absent friends
and relatives. Your wickedness and cruelty
in this respect on your own fellow-creatures,
are greater than all the stripes you have laid
npon my back, or theirs. 1t is an outrage
upon the soul-a war upon the immortal
spirit. and one for which you must give
account al the bar Of our common Father and
Creator.
The responsibility which you have as
sumed in this regard is truly aw ful-and
how you could stdgger under il these many
years is marvellous. Your mind must have
become darkened, your heart hardened, your
conscience scared and p%etrifed, or you would
have long since thrown off the accursed load
and sought relief at the hands of a sin for
giving God. How, let me ask. would you
look upon me, were ! some dark night in
company with a band of hardened williams,
to enter the precincts of your own elegant
dwelling and seize the person of your own
lovely daughter Amanda, and carry her off
from your family, friends and all the loved
ones OF her youth make her my slave-com-
pei her to work, and take her wages-place
her name on my ledger as property-disre-
gard her personal r~ieh,s-felier the powers
OF her immortal soul by denying her the right
and privilege of learning to read and write
feed her coarsely-clothe her s~cantily, and
whip her on the naked hack occasionally !;
more and still more horrible, leave her un-
protected-a degraded victim TO the brutal
lust Of fendish overseers who would pollute,
blight, and blast her fair soul-rob her of all
digniiy-destroy her virtue, and annihilate
all in her person The graces that adorn the
character of virtuous wOmanhood 7 | ask
how would you regard me, if such were my
conduct Oh The vocabulary of the damn
cd would not afford a word sufficiently infer.
nal, TO express your idea Of my God provo.
king wickedness. Yet sir, your treatment
of my beloved sisters is in all essential points,
precisely like the case ! have now supposed
banning as would be such a deed on my
part, it would be no more so than that which
you have committed against me and my sis
tiers.
i will now bring this letter to a close, yol
shall hear from me again unless you let m
hear from you. | intend 10 make use of yol
as a weapon with which to assail the system
of Slavery-as a means Of concentrating pub
lie attention on the system, and deepening
their horror of traficking in the souls an
bodies Of men, / shall make use of yo
as a means of exposing the character c
the American church and clergy-and as
means of bringing this guilty nation wit
yourself TO repentance. In doing this ] er
terrain no malice towards you personally
There is no roof under which you woul
be more safe than mine, and there is moth
ing in my house which you might need fc
your comfort, which | would not readil
grant. Indeed, | should esteem it a priv
lege, TO set you an example as to how mar
kind ought 10 treat each other.
an your fellow man but not your slave.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
p. ST. send a copy of the paper contain