The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-08-15

Cincinnati, we shall republish IT. that we may
not be suspected of moulding our opinions accord
ing to our latitude
1--WE trust that he and the editor OF the
Herald may always have courage and deVo-
ton enough TO do their duty. AS to the rest,
we can but repeat our old protest against the In
PRODUCTION of new tests into our associations. we
stand now, precisely, where we stood nine years
ago, and have changed our views in no respect 50
far as the anti-slavery movement is concerned,
except in relation to the form Of political action
We have never given in cur adhesion to what we
regard as ultra views of the Constitution OF the
United States We do not believe with one class
that it is pure pro-slavery instrument, ana
therefore covenant with hell or with the other,
that it is apure antislavery instrument investing
Congress, among its other Ordinary powers, with
the power to abolish slavery in the States We
have uever admitted for a moment, that the act
Of refusing TO vote was wrong, or that OF voting
necessarily involved wrong-dOing. We never
saw the great good that was to result from the
address to the slaves, or conceded the propriety
OF the advice given the fugitive to take what he
chose to deem necessary, in the free, as well as
80 Gsss:sAy soss::1i LES rt,ry@qe. we be-
Heve slavery to be abolished by the acts Of few
persons gong rn,o sase pVAvro ~ Yesools%9
assist slaves to escape All these notions are
introduced from time to time, as tests of orthodox
snti-slavery sentiment. We never have sub
mitted ourselves to any such tests, and never
will
"The peaceful abolition of slavery in this coun-
try, by the voluntary action Of the masters the
power of Constitutional Legislation, the slaves
being at once permitted to choose their own
homes, is all we aim at and this object, we con.
ceive isto be accomplished by the use Of the press
and the pulpit and the rostrum; and by the &C
ton of public sentiment, fully mstured by these
and other like agencies, through the 5allO, boz
The dissolution Of the Union, advocated by some;
the forcible interference of Congress to put an
end to slavery in the States suggested by others
and the action of few, occasionally, who pass
over into slave States for the purposes of covert
interference with their slave-laws, abominable
as we know these laws to be, contributes moth
ing, as we conceive, towards the accomplish
ment of the great object 50 anxiOusly sought by
us all
"The claim to hold man as piece of property, is
ippious-it is gross insult to the whole family
of man and blasphemy against God So far as it
exists under the jurisdiction of the General Gov.
eminent, or is countenanced in any way by our
political power against 1t. But, where it exists
under State authority, we would not touch it
by force-we would by every legitimate, eff
cient means, labor to infusc into the minds of
the people thus sustaining it, our own sentiments
and feelings leaving them to act, and cooperating
with them far as our cooperation could be efec-
tive. If in this way slavery can be extinguished,
our country will be blessed but, any other than
peaceful abolition, while it may prove blessing to
some extent, will be q scourge. No violent revo-
luton, however grand and praiseworthy its object,
was ever followed by unmixed good. The off
spring viii bear the stamp Of its parent A nation
or people begotten by violence, will be marked by
that spirit for many generation. Witness the
island empire of Hayti the anarchical republics Of
South America, and, must we say il our own be-
loved republic, some of whose members have
already trsmpled deliberately, and knowingly,
upon the National Constitution
Such were our views in Cincinnati; they are
our views in Washington, where they have been
confirmed by q painful observation of the wide
spread misery, through the breaking up of numer-
our families, resulting from every transaction like
that which has just happened, and Of the vast in
crease of prejudice and misconception, blocking
up the avenues to the minds Of an exasperated