Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1854-12-16

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA.
TIE FRIENDLY REMoNSTRANGE OF TIE
PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND, ON THE SUBJECT
OF SLAVERY.

hood OF Nations. lou aVow the dOctrlne, tnat the
nations of the earth constitute one great family,
md that. as such, they are bound to each other by
common interests and common ties. And in ayow-
ing this. you grant the right of any one member OF
that brotherhood to lift up . calm and truthful
testimony before any other member, on behalf of
humanity, Justice and freedom, when those are as.
called or outraged,
We art at ono with you in the maintenance of
this principle; and it is because we look to you as
brethrcn-bound to us by theInost cndeared asso-
ciations-that we now address you.
1t is in no spirit Of pride or fancied superiority
that We make Our appeal, but rather in = spirit of
decentralization, calling to mind that we also were
once p~artakers in this %iniquity. And we horo that
the fact of our having done what we could to wipe
out our reproach as a nation-onco implicated in
unfolding slayery-will induce you to give the
more willing and earnest heed to our remou-
STRANGE.
Americsns-We pload with you on behalf Of
three millions Of immortal beings whom you hold
in bondage. We plead for the removal of the
curse from their brow, the gall from their earthly
cup, the chain from their limbs, the iron from
their souls. We plead for the immediate, entire,
and unqualified abolition Of slavery throughout
your land.
1t lie not necessary that we enter unon any
lengthcnod proof Of the OWLS of this system. 1t
carries its condemnation with it. That condcin-
nation is heard in groans of anguish. and written
in tears of blood. 1t has been inscribed, as with
letters Of FIRE, on the desolatcd hearts and homes
Of millions. The voice of the Eternal proclaims
it. A system which subjects three millions of
human beings to the condition Of mere 'chattels
personal in the eye of tho ~law,-whicn deprives
them Of all their rights and privileges as in:clli-
gent and accountable creatures which disallows
cr breaks asunder the most sacred ties of life
which virtually annuls the higher law Of God,
and substitutes in it's stead the absolute will of a
sinful man as the rule Of obedience, which robs
its victims Of the fruit Of their toll, and denies to
them the means and opportunities of cultiyating
their deathless faculties ii system which sane
tons atrocities like these must be essentially
wrong and unuttcrably shameful, and cannot be
mentioned in the same breath with truth, righteous.
ness and freedom.
Americans,-We appeal to you, on the ground
Of our common Humanity, to aboli:h this system.
We assert the manhood of the enslavcd. These
three millions who are in bondage are men and
women like ourselves; gifted with like thoughts,
like feelings, like aspirations, and like us, too, des-
tined for Immortality. Why. then, treat them ms
If they belonged not to human kind? That there
are humane men among the upholders OF the slave
system, and slaves who receive humane treatment,
we readily acknowledge and yet, we are com.
PEELED to say, that the Inevitable tendency Of such
asystem must be to subject the enslaved to treat
mcnt that is anything but humane. Where is the
inmanitv ne traatinr unn npI M ne ;f tIa,-
were brute beasts or creeping things? of tramp
ling in the dust the most sacred relationships of
life Of rearing slaves like cattle for the market ?
Of snljecting them to the lash, and to numerous
indignities and immoralities d? and this according
70 tho caprice or passion of an irresponsible owner
Is there even the semblance of humanity here
We plead with you to treat the slave as a man.
Weappcal to you on the ground of Justice
Where is the justice that is dealt out to the slaves
Where is there any thing meriting the name? The
system takes from the slave all that he has, all thai
he gains, from life's commencement even to it,
close. 1t strip him Of money, house, wife, chill
dren. 1t deprives him of education, civil rights
liberty of conscience, the Bible. 1t condemns hin
without a hearing, and subjects him without
trial to bonds, inn risonmeRt, and oven death. Ii
vain does he look for justice at the hands of hi
oppressor. There is no tribunal of righteousness
to which he can appeal. In the preamble to you
noble Constitution. it is affirmed that it was framed
to establish justice, and yet there are three Mill
ions of human beings at this very hour within
the bounds of your republic, who may be treated
with every ~indignity and cruelty, while the injus
,ice OF your land extends no shield over their de
fcnccless heads.
We appeal to you on the ground of Consistency
And is not this the fundamental principle set forth
in your glorious Declaration Of Independence
that all men are created free and equal, that they
arc endowed by their Creator with certain inalien,
able rights that among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness What means this Ian,
guagc? Does it not mean that the man of color
as we'll rs the white is n man ? that the black man
is born free as well as the white that God has
given to the black man as we'll MS to the white,
those inalienable rights? Where, then, is the con,
sistency between your profession and your practice
as a people.
Again, in your past history you have shown tha
you are ever ready to sympathize with the victim
of d~esputism in other lands in their struggles 70
freedom, In this you do well. We mingle on
sympathies with yours. But whore is the consis
tchcy ~ HdfinE o'e'hO"H'S y pI"'"l"' OF Nv eH
shaved afar of, and bondage and oppression 70
millions in your own landf
We app nj to you on the sacred ground Of ou
eomnon Christianity. Shall our appeal here b.
unhoededi America p~roclaims itself to be
Christian land. And is no, tie very spirit o
Christianity one Of lover But where is the mani
~festation of that spirit in the cnslavement of three
millions of your f~ellow-men? Is not this til,
teaching of Christianity's divine Author ov,
thy ~ncighbor as myself? And who ia thy neigh
hor? That down-trodden slave is he, But wher
is your love when you even deny him the right t
he O man? Does not Christianity teach that Go,
has made of one BLOOD all nations of men t
dwell on all the face of the earth? But how ca