Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-03-23
Thoughts on Voting.

The1e's an absolute Right, and an absolute
Wrong--a Right that can't be made Wrong,
and a Wrong hat can't be made Right. The
nature of some things, is such that they must
be right-always, everywhere, in all posi-.
Bile cases. Not all the fancied evil conse.
quences in the world resulting from those
things, can make them wrong, because their
nature remains unchanged. So there are
other things, which are in their very nature
'&rong-universally, invariably so. Not all
the circumstances that ever existed or that
can be supposed to exist, can make them
right. Slavery is such a thing. Slavery is
treating a man like a thing. 1t is making
him an article of property. 1t is reducing
him TO a level with brutes. But this is
wrong. 1t always ,caS wrong. 1t always
wiH be. 1t can't be made right. Even God
could not make it right. He would be gull
,y of sin if be should try TO. But no new
er has tried to. Aud he manifestly never
can. 1t would be morally impossible, fot
God to say to one man, "you may take your
brother and treat him as if he were not your
brother; you may take a man and treat him
as if he were mol a man; you may take my
child, created in my own image, 'made a
little lower than The angels and crowned with
glory and honor and herd him with four
footed beast and creeping 'hings." God can
not do this, because he can not lie, for to say
the above things wouH be to lie. To say
that it is right to treat a man as a thing, is
the same as to say that he as a thing, and
that is the same as to say that he is not a
man-whioh is a contradiction. Therefore
to say that slavery is or can be right, is as
absurd as to say that whlte is black, or that
black is whitc.
Slavery then, is a'Doys wrong. II SO,
then 10 support it is always wrong, Ii so,
then to rOie for Shareholders is always wrong.
for such voting does, and can't hsp but sup
port it. Therefore it was wrong to vote for
George Washing'on 10 be the first President,
though he might justly have earned the ap-
p~ellation Of "Fa,her Of his county," There
fore it was wrong to vote for Harrison and
Tyler in 1910, even though the Whiga
might think it would sink the natica TO have
Van Buren, elected. Therefore it was wrong
to vote for Henry Clay in IA, even to keep
out Texas and prevent the Mexican War
And therefore it was wrong TO vote for Zacha-
~ Taylor, even to prevent the extension of
zt,.-- ;,Ea Nh nFo.;oo o,l N,l;c,r,i,
And for the same reason it was wrong for
the Democrats to vote for Cass and Butler,
even though they had been assured by an
angel from heaven that their election would
insure the passage of the Wilmot Proviso,
while that Of Taylor and Fillmore would in
fallibly defeat that measure. In all these
cases, to vote for Shareholders was an ALSO
hute Wrong, and being so, not all the circum-
stances in the universe could justify it,
=. Circumstances alter cases" sometimes =
That don't mean all times!
Again. If slavery is always wrong, and
if it is consequently always wrong 10 sup.
port it, then not only is it wrong to vote for
a SHAREHOLDER, but it must also be always
wrong to vote for a pro-SlaUey man. Voting
for such a man supports slavery, and there
fore it is as wrong to vote for him, as for an
actual Shareholder. Therefore all who have
ever voted for any of the pro.slavery men of
the North-no matter under what pretence,
or to accomplish what end-have done wrong.
They have all violated the absolute Right
And all this too, whether those men for whom
they voted were pro-slavery in the political
parties, or only in the churches. 1t was jus,
as wrong TO vote for Samuel Lewis for Gov
ernOr of Ohio while he was a member of the
pro-slavery Methodist Church, 40 for David
) Tod, while he was a member Of the pro-