Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-04-06

NShNa w. ~ ~ g w. 49,
much Of bliss is denied to The slave-for, de-
based as his nature may be, he is still hu-
man-snd he can think! We imagine they
rush exultingly TO the dance, when it may
be only 10 drown the bitterness Of their dark
foreboGings. | wish you had sometimes
watched theii dark countenances, as | have
done, when you have carelessly spoken Of
liberty J and then the sin-oh |! Robert, sure
ly there must be deep sin in making mer-
chandize thus Of our Notwithstanding them
scarcely better than the clods they tll-they
whom God hath created in his own image"
But what can | do, dear Mary? ] will
acknowledge that ! do not think the system
Of slavery is right; but you know that | re-
ceived mos, of them from my father, with
The plantation. The estate is already mort
! gagged for more than half its value, and if
free the slaves, which form the most valua-
Bile part Of my property, | shall probably have
to dispose Of it altogether. For myself, |
| should care but little, for / am already al
most wearied Of this life Of %inaction but !
could not become a tiller Of the earth here
where we have mated with the proudest-
for your sake, ] could not Gould | bear 10
see eyes look coldly on you, that have been
accustomed TO gaze only in admiration and
respect! Can ! drag you down from he
station in which ! found you in your fathers
house, and plunge you in comparative power
ty !-Would not our boy, too, in future up.
braid mo? | wish, from the bottom Of my
soul, ] wish that the system of slavery was
abolished aliogether-it is a national iniqui-
ty-a shameful blot upon our boosted coDsti-
tution-but for an individual 10 attemp, its
extinction were folly J"
Mary raised her eyes-they were snffUsed
with tears. Dearly as / love you, Robert,
dearly as love this boy /; better, far better,
than my own life, | would rather behold you,
even day by day, winning an uncertain sub
sistence by your own exer,ions, than to share
with you in this guilty luxury and s~plendor
for guilty that must be, which is purchased
with wrong TO another. Do not think Of me,
90 not ieal for me-the loss of wealth can
not render me uuhappy-oh no! the thought
OF wealth like that comes with a deadly sick
ness upon the he TT, a sensation of utter hol-
lowness! even poverty, abject poverty, would
be preferable TO such splendor; but that will
not be consequent on the emancipation of
your slaves; it is but somewhat 10 circum-
scribe our wishes, and we shall still be indie.
pendent. We must both be more actively
employed, il is true-but it will be better
than living in idleness on the labor Of others.
Then how many temptations will you not
escape from From how many evils will
this boy DO preserved for what is there so
likely to harden the heart, and 10 nourish up
all its evil passions, as the possession Of alb.
solute power 7"
"Well, Mary" said her husband. "my
slaves shall be free!-but then we must leave
here and have no other property than those
western lands-will you go there !"
"Oh how willingly !" exclaimed she I; and
her husband then first saw the deep thankful
ness of her countenance. She had caught
his hand to her lips, when he spoke the word
: Free and he felt her hot tears raining upon
il ; but she did not speak nor lift her face till
he had concluded.
Remember, love, you must leave these
vines that you have nourished up into beau
ty, and the bowers beneath which we sat
together so often, and all the pleasant re-
membered places where we have passed our
happy bridal days. and the comforts tina t
you have enjoyed so long, and all the fami-
liar faces that we have known, and the friends
too, that we have loved-and 60 out into a
place unknown TO US, and a comparative viii.
derness will you go, dear Mary!"
Her face was still wet with that passion Of
grateful tears, but it was now serene and
smiling. 81 will !"
And can you leave the home of Your
childhood. and your father, and your moth
err, and your brothers, and the sister who has
grown up by your side, and been to you like
another self, almost, for so many years 2"
Mary's face grew very white, and there
was a deep, but momentary Struggle; she
was firm in the unfaltering sense Of her du-
ty, her woman's spirit grew strong within
her, and she answered calmly and steadily
" will go!"
And they came.