Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1852-02-21

graceful to the religion and humanity of our
nation.
SPEECH OF WENDELL PHILLIPS.
GEOGRAPHICALLY REPORTED Dr J. 81. w.
TLRRINTON.
Mn. PREsiDESr: We nrc npt, in coming
up To meeting OF this kind, tO ask what
few hundred or few thousand persons can
dO against the weight of government, the
ihountninous odds 0f mcjnriiies, the iniu
encc ol the press, aud the power OF the pul-
pi, the organization of parties, tho onntipp-
! tehco OF wealth. At times, 10 carry n favor
itr purpose, leading statesmen lnve rndeay-
orcd To cajolc the people into the idea that
this age was like tic p,st aud tint 'rtb.S-duh
agilaiOu,' as ours Is cOntCmpiiiously styled.
was only to bc ,cspisrd. The time has been
when, us our friend observed, from the steps
ofthe Revere lluuse--yeS and lfem the de-
pots ni New lurk rlilfuads-Mr Webster
has described This anii slavery movement ns
q succession of lectures in schOol-louscs -
ile mere efforts OF n few hundred mcn aud
women to talk together, excite each other,
arousc the public, aud its only result n liilc
lOsc. lie knew better. lie knew better the
times iu which lie lived. No matter where
You meet dozen earnest mcn pledged to u
hrw idea-whcrevcr you have met them,
you have met the beginning Ola revolution.
Revolutions are not made, they come. A
revolution is as natural u growth ns an OAK.
II comes ont of the past. lt5 foundations
are laid far back. The child feels lac grows
into n man, aud thinks; another, perhaps,
speaks and the world acts ont the Thought.
Aud this il the history of modern sociciy.--
Men underyuluc The ani.sayery movement,
because they nrnginc you can put your fin
ger on some illustriOlIs moment IN history
aud say, here commenced tho great change
which las come over the nation. Not so.--
! The beginning of great changes is like the
| rise of the Mississippi. A child must stonp
and gather away the pebbles to find it. But
soon il swrlls on broader aud broader, bears
on iisnmplu bosom the nnyics Of n mighty
Republic, fills the Cult, aud divides conti-
ncnt.
..
IN working these great changes, in such
] an ngc rs ours, so-callcd statesmen Lave far
| less influence lian the many little men who,
| nj various points, are silently maturing re-
| generation of public opinion. This is read
| ing aud thinking age, and great interests ut
siNke quicken the general intellect. stag
I trk.t times have ircn when great mind, aii'
cllored in error, might snug the slownioyiug
current OF society. Such Is not Our era
Nothing hut Freedom, Justice aud Truth is
of any permanent advantage to the mass o.
y mankind. To these society, left 10 itself, is
always tending. IN our day, great questions
about them have called forth all the energies
! of tho common mind. Error suffers sad
treatment in the shock OF eager in.elecis.--
Every body said Ialleyrand, is cle,ercr
Than any body - aud any uamc, however IT,
lus,riolIs, which links iiselfto abuses, is sure
10 bc overwhelmed hy the impetuogs current
OF that society which, (ihaliks TO the press
aud reading puhic,) is potent, always, Ia
clear It's own channel Thanks to The Print.
ing Press, the people now do their own think
ius, aud statesmen, rs they are sty led-m
in Office, have ceased to bc either the leaders
or the clogs of society.
This view il one that Mr.. Webster ridicnl
ed in the drpGs OF New York. The lmt
has come when hc is obliged TO change hi'
tone; when he is obliged to retrace his step.
TO acknowledge the mature and the char
actcr of the age in which he lives. kossuil
comes TO This cuuniry-peInllrss, nnd an eN
lie; conquered on his own soil; flung oul II:
a weed upon The waters; nothing hut his
voice lelt-nnd the Secretary OF State mus
meet him. Now, let us sec what he says q
his 'rub-a-,lub agitation which consists u
the voice onIy--ot the tongue, which ON
friend PillshIry has described. This Is tln
tongue lhrl the impndcnt statesmen Icclar
ed, from the drunken steps oi tile K'Nert
House, ought to bc silcnced--iliS tongue
which was 'rub.n.duh agitation 10 ba DIES
pissed, when he spoke to The farmers Of New
York.
lie says-'We nrc too much inclined Il
undrrrnic the power OF moral Influence
WHO is? Nobody hut Revere House states
man. I'VE are too much inclined to under
/ rate the power of moral influence, and The IN
nurncc of public opinion, aud the Influence
of the principles To which grent mcn-il
, lights Of the world aud ofIhc present nge-
= have given their sanction. Who doubts, tina
in our struggle for liberty and independence
the majestic cloquence of Chatham, the pru
=, found reasoning of Burke, the burning saiir
: and irony of Col Barre, had Influences upoI
: our fortunes here in America? They hn'
influences both ways. They tended, in th
: first place, somewhat Ia diminish the conf
dence of the British ministry in their hope
=, of success, in attempting to suhjngatc an in
: jured people. They had Influence anoihe
9 way, because all along the coast of the coun
= Iry,-aud all our people in that day lived up
. on tie coast, there was not reading mni
: who did not feel stronger, bolder aud nor'
determined in the assertion of his rights
when these eXhilarnling accents from ili'
Two Houses of Parliament reached him from
beyond the seas.'
, Il thank thee, Jewp This rub-n-dub agi
: talion, then, has influence both ways. II di
: minisIles the confidence of the Adminisira
' ton in lis power To execute the Fugitive
Slave Law, which it has imposed so insoIent
~ on the people. Ii tncts on the reading mer
, of the nation, aud in that single fact is tho
. whole story OF the change. Wherever yol
y have reading people, there every tongue
: | nverN nresa Ia a nnMer. MIR. Websier, MheI