Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1852-01-17
T II E B u G L E /.
K 0 \ 4 u 7 II
SPEECH OF WENDELL PHILLIPS,
.Mhe .4nii-!Siireyy Bas1ar, Saturday Erening,
December 27th, 1851.
PnoSoGRAPnicALLY REPORTED EY J. N. W.
YERRfNTON.


This. Then, is my purpose to look nj Kos
slrh ms Tie slave would look nt him. Let
me preince what have to say with u single
rennrk about Ancricn. You will rccoIlcct
the old story Of the African chief spnird IN.
ked under his palm tree, 10 receive the cap.
tain of an English iiignic, aud the first qurS.
lion lac asked was, What do they say oi me
III IHnglandF We laugh ut this vanity of a
naked savage, ranopicd by palm tree. on
nnmnkltoWii river somewhere in the dessert
Ola h"rbarous continent. Bnt the sanr spir.
It Prrvndrs our twenty millions OF Amcri-
cans. The heart Oi every mnn is constantly
nsking the qtIrsiiun---'Whnt do they say nl
MS ia EpglundT Europe is the great lrihn.
nal inr wliOsc decision American sensitive
ness always stands waiting iu awe. We de.
clarcd onr independence, la '76 of the Brit
isll crown, but we are vasSals to-day of Brit.
ISL opinion. So lar as concerns American
literature or American thought, the srruire
has.nryer departed from Judah; it dwells
Nrt wih the elder hranch on The other side
"i the water. The American still loukS wiih
too srrvile adnnraIiOa 10 the liisiluiODs
wljrh his ,G,lhcrs reluctantly quiited, ami
wlncI lie.filll regards with overlnuch ionil-
Bess. ON lifetature 81 INT q pafe rcficciinn
0i the English mind mud one reason why
we have never hccOnu more thoroughly
dcmOcraiic is because, while our institutions
hu,e been so in torn the whole literature
upon which We lived was imprrgnutcd with
English i'leas, and every student aud every
thinker breailicd the atmosphere of London.
l.outlon is vet the great foui of itlcns Tor all
the Saxon race. MOI untl the principles of
democracy shall enter Temple Bur will the
Saxon race bc fully democratic, ,wlctlrr plan
red on tie strppcs 0f the CprdilIrras, or on
the shores of the Pacific. WlIa; is thus true
of Englnnd, is true la Il less degree of the rest
of Europe.
Now, il is To such nni:on MS This that
KosSiill cOuIes-a nation sensitive In II fault,
Scrvilc TO the last degree cairling, with
waichlul interest, tie first breath of foreign
criticism lngging tn lis hoSOtu with delight
nny eiIopy that falls from tic lips OF noied
men on The other side 0 the water. l. there
any thing peculiar aud to be remarked in the
state at public affairs at the time of his yisil
Yes, hc comes precisely at the moment whcn
one Hhsorbng question has bluished all nll-
crs from the naliou's mind. The great ras-
ses aud interests of soriety crash and jnsilc
against each other like mighty vessels in
storm. The slave question having, like An-
ron'S rod devnurcd all other pnlllral ISSUES,
claims aud keeps the undivided attention Ot
excited millions. The lips of every public
man nre unXlOuSly waicded, aud lis lighrsi
word scanned with relentless scrutiny. Put
pit aud forum are both busy in the discus
sion of the proioundest questions ns 10 the
relations ol the citizen 10 the law, aud the
real value aud slreuglh of our Institutions
For the first lime, some men have begun To
doubt whether they ARE compatible with Tree
speech aud Christianity: while men, called
statesmen, either enbOldened hy success, or
hardened by desperate ambition, have been
found ready openly 10 declare thai the union
is possible only on condition that tie sous oi
the Pilgrims consent TO hunt slaves, aud
smother those instincts which have made the
poets OF all ages love to llrgcr round the
dungeon of the lniriot nnd the stake of the
martyr-wlllI Tell aud Wallace, with l.nlny-
cite aud SilyiO Prlllco-with Charles stuart
hunted hy The sOldery Of Cromwell, aud The
Covennnlcr shot 10y that same Charles Stuart
M his cottage door. kossnllI lands on u
shore where humanity is illegal, aud ohe-
dence TO the Golden Rule of Christianity lns
Just been declared treason. lie was not ~
norant of this state of things. Private lndi.
vduals and public societies in England had
placed in his hands ample evidence of the
real character of American institutions, and
Sillthl Hhllc VI IlhDllN 'llhl'' VIZ WV w.
nentous question OF enslHving every sixth
man, woman and child in tie land. Some
besought him TO pause ere he set foot on n
land cursed with such monstrOus system oi
oppression, aud all babe him beware OF the
temptation To which his position subjected
him, of Strengthening by his silence or ap-
probation the hands OF the opprcssor. Al
such II time, aud in the midst OF such peo,
pie, we hnve right to claim that he should
walk carefully. lie knew that he must throw
the weighI OF his mighty name in the scale
OF one party or another, that was waglng wal
for principle OH this side the Atlantic. Sen
aior Foote spoke truly when le said, from
his seat in the Senute Chamber, There is
great struggle going on through the world
Ii is between despolism aud liberty. Ther'
is,no neutrality in this struggle. No MAJ
can fail to be on one side or the other liz