Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1852-09-25


by the Senators and Representatives, will
friends and men of mark gathered about him
he moved 10 the balcony ia front of the cdi
flee. A countless multitude, thronging III,
open street, and eagerly watching this grea
espousal,
With reverence look on his majestic face,
Proud to DO less, but Of lis godlikc race.
The oath was administered 10y the Chanccl
lor of New York. AZ this time, and ia thi,
presence, beneath the uncovered heavens
Washington FIRST took this vow upon his lips
do solcnnly swear that will faithful,
execute the Office OF President of the Unitet
States, aud will, to tie best OF my ability
preserve, protect, aud defend the Cons.itu
ton of tile United S,ates.p
Over the President, on this high occasion
flouled the National Flag, with its stripes ol
red and its stars Oh field of blue As his
pairiot eyes rested upou The glowing en,igu,
what currents must have rushed swiftly lhrO'
his soul In the enrly days of the Revolu-
tion, IN those darkest hours ubout Boston,
after the battle Of Bunker Hill, aud before
the Declaration Of ludependence,l ,lhe thirteen
stripes had been first unlilrled ly him, as the
emblem Of Union among the Colonies for the
sake Of Freedom. by him, at that time, they
had been named the Union Flag. trial,
struggle, aud war, were now ended, and The
Union, which they first herahcd, was unal-
terably established. To every behuldcr these
memories must have been fiill of pride aud
consolation. But looking back upon the
scene, there is one circumstance which,
more than all its other associations, fills the
soul-more even Than the suggestions OF
Uuion which | prize so much. Ar THIS
MOMENT, WHEN WAsnIScToN TOOK MS FIRST
OATH TO SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES, THE NATIoNAL ENsIGN, NO
WHERE WITHIN TIE NATIONAL TERRITORY,
COVERED A SINGLE SLAVE. Then, indeed,
was Slavery sectional aud FroedUn national.
On the sea, an execrable piracy, the trade
in slaves, was sill, to the national scandal,
tolerated under the national flag. ln the
States, as a sectional institution, beneath tho
shelter of local laws, Slavery uDhnw,ily
found home. But in the only territories al
this time belonging to the Nation, the broad
region of the Northwest, il had already, 10y
the Ordinance OF Freedom, been made i'm
possible,eycn before the adoption OF the G on.
stittlion. Tue District of Columbia, willrit,
fatal incunibralice, hud no, yet been ac
quircd.
The Government thus organized was Anti
Slavery iu character. Washington was
Shareholder; but il would bc unjust to III
'rnemory ,os to sag that be was ull Aboli
tionist oiso. ilis vpinioBs do anos anni, .
question. Only Short time before the for
lnaiion of the National Constitution, lie llat
declared, by letter, "IIlat it was among hi.
first wishes to see some plan adopted bI
which Slavery may be abolished 10y law;
and again, IN another letter, that, in support
OF any legislative measure for the abolition oi
Slayery,his suffrage should not he wanting "
aud still further, ia conversation with dis.
tinguislcd Aboltionist, travelling propa-
gandist OF Freedom, Brissot de Wurvillc, re-
Gently welcomed To Mount Vernon, he had
openly announced, that to promote this OBJ
ject n Virginia. "he desired the formation
OF SOCIETY, and that ie would second IT,"
by this authentic testimony, he takes his
place with the early patrons Of Abolition
societies.
BY the side of Washing, ms standing he
meath the national flag he swore to support
the Constitution, were illustriOus meu,whosc
lives and recorded words now rise in Judge
mcnt. There was John Adams, the Wee
President-grentv vndicator aud final negoii-
aior OF our national independence whose
declaration, that, "coDsenIIug 10 Slavery is a
sacrlligiOus breach of trust" aud whose lul-
Inltagablc hostility 10 this wrong has been
made immortal in his descendants. There
also was companion in arms aud attached
iriend,of incompatible genius, the yet youth
iul llaunlllOn, who, as II member of the
Abolition Society of New York, had only
recently united in solemn petition for lllosC
who, " lhoagh free By tde idirS Of God, ar,
held in Slavery by Tie iGicS Of he Hdte."-
There, too, was u noble spirit, the ornamen
| Of his country, the exaIupar OF courage
truth, ard virtue, who, like the sun, eve
held an unerrng course, John Jay. FilIini
| the important post of Minister Of FOreigi
| Affairs under the Confederation, he foun'
lime to organize the Abolston Society O
! New York, aud 10 net as its President until
by the nomination OF Washington, he he
came the Chief Justice of the United States
In his sight Slavery was an niquIy," 81
sin of crimson dye, against which minister
of the gospel should testify, and which ih'
Government should seek in every way Il
abolish. "Wcre in the Legislature" Ia
wrote would present bill for this pur
pose with great care, and would never ceas
moving il ill it became law or censed u
| be member. Till America comes into lhi
measure, her prayer to Heaven win be i'm
pious."
But they were mol alone. The conviction
and earnest aspirations of tho country wer,
with them. At the North these were broa,
and general. Al the South they found fer
yid ulterdnce from shareholders. BY earl,
aud precoclous efforts for "lola emancipa
lion" the Author of the Declaration OF lnde
pendence placed himself foremost anon;
~ A.
now familiar to all, aud which can neve
die, he perpetually denounced Slavery. liz
exposed its pernicious influence OH maste
us well as slave declared that the love o
Justice and The love of country pleaded
equally for the slave, and that the "aloliiion o
domestic Slavery was the greatest object q
desire" lie believed that The sacred sid,
was gaining daily recruits" and contidenll!
| IooLod IN tha ynuurr FIR tho nprntnuli lime A