Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-02-23

l - NV iidlu SlutI Campaign - |
IS vote for the candidate of the North :" al
cannot trust the candidate Of the North,
whose course and whose pledges are ~saiisfac-
tory to the South" returned Anti Slavery
"Suppot Clay, and keep out Texas!"
shrleked Expediency in the campaign Of
1914 anybody rather than Polk and An
neXaiion Anybody rather than the fat
tener oil sleek slaves, the impudent defender
OF slavery on Its merits, the compromiser
away OF the rights Of the North !" responded
Anti-Slavery. And Wisdom was justified
OF her children, in both cases. God said I'M
to Harrison, almost at the very moment he
and his partizans were sayinr unto their
souls, Eat and drink, for thou hast much
goods iaId up for many years, -" Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee! "
And he died, and was buried, and John w.
Ter relgned in his stead And when the
question was raised Of resistance 10 the an
nexatlon Of Texas, after the accession Of
POLK, the chieiest supporters of Clay declar-
ed that " 1t was too late " and that g resist
ance might be attended with bad resulls!"
who believes, now, that there was any sim
cerity in the pretended opposition of Clay
and his most prominent partizans TO the An
neXatlon Who would have laughed the
crednll!y Of the Abolitionists to scorn more
loudly, or at least more heartily, than they,
had they succeeded in cajoling them
up to about the inc Of the contest be-
tween Clay and Polk, the political action Of
Abolltlonlsts was governed chiefly by a re-
gard TO the relations Of the candidates TO Sla-
very, and they opposed them on the ground
oil the special suit and service they had vow
ed TO it, by their words or by their actions
But about that time they perceived that the
relations Of all holders of Office 10 Slavery
were, of necessity, if maintained in good
faith, those Of support and comfort. They
dlscerned that it was Of small moment who
administered the Constitution Of the country,
SO long as that Constitution makes, in the
words OF John Quincy Adams, "the preser-
Walton, propagation, and perpetuaiion of Sla-
very, the vital and animating spirit of the
National Government" They saw that as
AbolitioniSts they could not execute the Pro-
Slavery commands of the Constitution, and
as honest men they could not swear to per-
form them, with The deliberate purpose of
breaking their oaths. And what they might
not do themselves, they clearly could not APP
point others, by their votes, to do for them.
The only political action that lay open 10
them was 10 labor outside Of the Constitu-
ton, and not within it, for its overthrow. To
convince the people that their fern of gov
eminent was the greatest enemy Of their safe
ty, their prosperity, and their honor; that all
their material prosperity and local advanta-
ges were In spite, not because, of their con-
tederate Union; and TO persuade them open,
ly and honestly to repudiata the compromise
by which they had delivered themselves up
bound in political servitude, 10 the tende
I mercies Of their natural enemies, and to cree
a new government, free from the disturbin!
and dlsgraceful element of Slavery, in whicl
, the experiment of self-government could b
fairly tried. ,a
S Just at this point Of time, and when affair
, are in this posture, the Free Soil Party ap
pears and claims the support of the Aboli
; ~tionists by virtue Of its superior Anti-Slaver
. pretensions. Its pretensions are specious
5 and, in fact, include about all that a politica
party, intending to maintain good faith to
= wards the Constitution, should offer. 1t pro
poses to forbid the extension Of Slavery i
e the newly.stolen territories, 10 abolish
f. wherever the Constitution will permit, an
4 to confne it 10 its present Constitutions an
territorial limits. Time was when the ABB
u l~itionists would have been thankful for thu
much, and when, for maintaining thus much
they were mobbed and hunted, whipped an
shot, a price set upon their heads, their nam
cast out as evil, and they prosecuted unit
strange cities. But their long and hard ex
p~erierce has attained "to something of pre-
. phetic strain," and they now plainly peIceiv
b. that what would have satisfied them in thei
days of Ignorance, falls very far short of VIII
: the necessity Of the case demands. The
g can take no part in a movement which cor
r templates The recognition of the legal relatio
h Of master and slave, anywhere within the [
inverse Of God. They spurn and spit upo
Z the doctrine that any compact can be bindin
= - r L -.
It into the hell Of Slavery, and for the forcibl
: suppression of an attempt on the part Of III
Slaves to vindicate their rights by IAN Al
Is peal TO Arms and the God of Battles" The
o sense of personal honor forbids them 10 swei
S to support such a Compact, either PERSONAL
a or by proxy, for the purpose Of exerting pr
litical power, even for the Slave, with the il
u tenlion Of performing it,--much more wit
the intention of breaking it. They see in a
# candidates for the Presidency, on whateye
platform they may stand, by whatever nam
they may be called, aspirants for the Office
Protection of the Institutions Of the South,
National Overseer of the American Slaves
If Slavery is 10 be maintained forever by I'll
National strength within the boundaries
the present Union, which must be the col
temptation of every honest Constitution
,, party, we see no reason why it should M
spread over any extent Of our territory. A
t to the strength it would add to the Slav
Power, we should rejoice in it. If a stron
nation is base and mean enough TO consent
hold the chain of the Slave while his tyraI
re is robbing and t%orturing him, it can have 4
to share in the degradation of its victim that
TO will not deserve. From this mean, bas
We cowardly position, the North, as the stronI
ne err party, can recover whenever it chooses
Y arouse itself and shake into the air the co
n web ties by which it has bound itself to di
Id honor, cruelty, and degradation. To bril-
or it to a just sense Of its condition and its rel
is edy, is the high mission of the Abolitionisl
he May they feel its gravity and its dignity, a