Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1848-10-04
SLAVERY AND THE TERRITORIES.
SPEECH OF
MR.. HORACE MANN

. THE HOUSE OF KEPsEsENTArIvEss
.yuue 30. 1R4S. CCOHc/uded

Before considering the moral characte
Of slavery, wish to advert for a momen
to the position which we occupy as one q
the nations of the earth. in this advancin,
period Of the worlds civilization. Ma
tons, like individuals. have character
The date Of the latter is counted by years
that Of the former by centuries. No mar
can have any self respect who is no
solicitous about his posthumous reputa
ton. No man can be patriot who feel
honor or Of the infamy which his age ant
his country shall leave behind them. Ma
tons, like individuals, have characteristic
objects of ambition. Greece coveted the
arts; Rome gloried in war; but liberty has
been the goddess Of our idolatry. Amid
the storms OF freedom were we Graded; in
the struggles Of freedom have our joints
been knit; on the rich aliment Of freedom
have we grown to our present stature
With somewhat too boastful spirit, per.
haps. have we challenged the admiration
Of the world for our devotion to liberty;
but en- enthusiasm for the rights Of man is
so holy a passion that even its excuses
are not devoid Of the beautiful. We have
not only won freedom for ourselves. but
we have taught its sacred lessons to others
The shout Of ''death 10 tyrants and free
dom for man." which pealed through this
country seventy years ago. has at length
reached across the Atlantic; and whoever
has given an attentive ear TO the sounds
which have come back to US, within the
last few months from the European world,
cannot have failed to perceive that they
were only the far-traveled echoes Of the
American Declaration Of independence
But in the divine face Of our liberty there
has been one foul, demOniac feature.
Whenever her vOtaries would approach
her 10 worship. they have been fain to draw
a veil over one part Of her visage to con-
ceal its hideousness. Whence came this
deformfy on her otherwise fair and ccles-
tial countenance? Sad is the story, but it
must be told. Her mother was a vampire.
As the daughter lay helpless in her arms.
the beldam tore open her living flesh. and
feasted upon her life-blood. Hence this
unsightly wound, that affrights whoever
beholds it. But, sir, ] must leave daily
ing with these ambiguous metaphors. One
wants the plain, snewy. Saxon tongue. 10
tell Of deeds that should have shamed
devils Great Britain was the mother
Her American colonies were the daughter.
The mother LISTED for gold. TO get it.
she made partnership with robbery and
death. Shacklcs, chains, and weapons
for human butchery, were her outfit in
trade. She made Africa her hunting
ground. She made its people her prey.
and the unwilling colonies her market
place She broke into the Ethiop's home,
as wolf into a sheep-fold at midnight.
u. A. a. Hhnt Ii
might seize the affrighted inhabitants as
they ran shrieking from their blazing ham
lets. The aged and the infant she left for
the vultures; but the strong men and the
strong women she drove. scourged and
b eeding. to the shore. Packed and slowed
like, merchandise between unventlated
decks. so close that the tempest without
could not rutfle the pestilential air within.
the voyage was begun, Once a day the
matches were opened 10 receive food. and
disgorge the dead. Thousands and thou
sands Of corpses. which she plunged into
the ocean from the decks of her slave ships.
she counted only as the tare Of commerce.
The blue monsters Of the deep became
familiar with her pathway: and. no, more
remorseles than she, they shared her
plumber. At length the accursed vessel
reached the foreign shore. And there
monsters Of the land. fiercer and Teller
than any that roam the watery plains. re-
warded the robber by purchasing his spoils.
For more than a century did the mad
ness Of this traffic rage. During all those
wears. the clock Of eternity never counted
out minute that did not witness the cruel
death. bv treachery or violence, of some
son or daughter, some father or mother, Of
Africa. Then three millions Of slaves
that now darken our southern horizon are
the progeny of these progenitors-ad DOOM
ed race. fated and suffering from sire to
son. But the enormities of the mother
country did not pass without remonstrance.
Many Of the colonies expostulated against.
and rebuked them. The New England
colonies. New Jersey. Pennsylvania. Vir-
cinia, presented to the throne the most
humble and suppliant petitions. praying
for the abolition of the trade. The Colo
NAL Legislatures passed laws against it,
But their petitions were spurned from the
throne. Their laws were vetoed by the
governors. In informal negotiations, At
tempted with the ministers of the Crown,
the friends Of the slave were made to I'M
derstand the royalty turned an adder's ear
to their prayers. The profoundest feel
ings Of lamentation and adherence we're
kindied in the bosoms Of his western sub
lects by this flagitous conduct of the King.
In that dark catalogue of crimes, which
led our fathers to forswear allegiance to
the British throne, its refusal to prohibit
the slave trade to the colonies is made one
Of the most prominent Of those political
offences which are said to s.define a
tyrant" In the original draught Of the
Declaration Of Independence. this crime
of King George the Third is set forth in
the following words:
HE has waged cruel war against human ma
ture itself. violating it, most sacred rights II life
and liberty in the persons Of . distant people
who never offe nded him, captivating and carry
ing them iase slavery in another hemisphere, or
TO incur miserable death in their transportation
thiiher; This Piratical welfare. the opprobrum
Of inhdeI powers. y :he warfare Of the CHaIs-
riAN King of Great Rriiain N>a...n;n>.l n