Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1854-04-22

ne 0nti-SluNtfN movement ueCuN hN ana NsSls-
,ance,-its advocates needs means TO support them.
There are many who profess to hc Christians.
taking jesus of Nazareth as their guide but how
many will bring all and offer it upa Ills shrine?
! How many were content with comTctoncy?-
Few. If all the poverty Of the world were divl
cd, there would be but about 50 800 for each family
and all beyond this possessed by any, should be
given to the cause. How much income was a
inmily of persons entitled to by necessity
S4OO. II those who got 5000 and even $1,000
would give the balance, there would le no wan
of laborers. There were hundreds ready to cntci
on the field Of exerion for the public good the
moment they could gain living by it.
The committee returned and reported the fellow
ing
RrsoLuriovs
| l. That VIC stand on the platform of the Revolu
/ ton, and hold these truths to be selfcyidcnt -
That all mon are created equal; that they ar,
endowed by their Creator with inalicnable rights
that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit.
Of happiness" That Liberty being then the ma
tural birth-rght Of every human being, SLAYER,
can never be lcgalizcd by any human enactments
but is always and everywhere an us'Ipdhon on th'
part oil the MASTER and imposes no obligation
whatever ON the part of the slave.
2. That rights are not limited by Races thai
the strong have no warrant to oppress the weak
nor the wise to subject the ignorant, nor the rio
to trampe on the poor that it is the duty Of the
strong and wise to assist the weak and ignorant;
that to lye'by personal labor is honorable, and to
subslst on the unpaid toll of others is mean and
desplcaIe; that, as republicans, we regard idle
ness and crime rs alone disgraccful, and energy
and merit the only legitimate basis of social dis
tinctiun.
B. That Slavery is oppressive to classes, is con-
trary alike to the interests of the master and the
slave, reduces the mass Of the white population 70
helpless poverty, stigmatizes labor, encourages
indolence fosters dissipation, rctards education,
lp Il
vate enterprise, and coTupts public virtue
=. That while three millions of native Americans
arc subjected for life TO irresponsible control COM
PEELED to work without wages, forbidden to marry,
to educate themselves or their children, or to ac-
qmre property, Systematically degraded to the
level OF the Igutcs and regarded ly tho law as
chattcs, At is our duty TO donourco 'his domestic
despotism, and to demand the immediate and un-
conditional emancipation of every slave.
.. That we regard with indignation, but with
out surprise, tic continual aggression Of Slavery
and warn our icllow-citi2cns that the slave power
never keeps compgcts, nor respects compromised
that 1t Is the settled design of the South to make
Slavery national and to abolish liberty everywhere
and to use tie whole power and patronage of the
Union TO extend the curse over the entire North
American c5ntinent,r --r. -res-q..
g.. IIeso'rc9 That Liberty and Slavery are cs-
scntioily and eternaly separate opposite and anita
gonistic, and that lctwcen them there is no mid
dlo ground that those who are rot RANGED on the
side ol Liberty. openly and actually aio from the
very nature Of this grand controversy, rauged ON
the SIDE OF Slavery, and TO be held accountable
for all It's manifold denominations.
Friedrich Douglas (colorcd) was, on motion call
cd upon to speak. lie took the stand but said he
hoped other speakers would not necessarily be call
ed to speak 10y formal vote, but that they would
speak out the great thought in them, without him
drnnce or terlnicality.
nc was happy again to unite with his anti-slaye-
ry friends in united efforts in common cause. He
was glad TO meet them on the Catholic platform
Of Abolition, to shake hands with all who were
agreed to this one cardinal doctrine. Slavery is
sin, crime against man, and should be immeli-
atoIy and uncondilionally abolished The resolu-
tons offered spoke OF the illegaity ofslaycry Some
say slavery is legaliaed. So horrible an out
rage on humanity such Injustice and wrong can't
possibly be crowded into the form Of law. Neither
by the law Of God nor by the law Of man can sa-
very be leSalized. lie knew there were enact
mcnts in the slave States authorizing and sane
tionng slavery. Men got together and voted that
certain other men were property, goods and chat
es,to all nts,purposcs and in cousequcnces,that
they do not belong TO themselves, can own moth
ing themselves but are owned Of masters. lie
knew that they executed such laws, 50 called. But
to nullify them he brought up the broad principles
of law, the enactments of q power that can
inforco its decrecs. Blackstoncs defninition Of
of law is, at is the supreme power Of tho State
commenting what is "gH and lorbiding what is
w,ORg.'
This is the true definition; then the edicts of ty
rants and oppressors are opposed to all law, and
are no moro To be obeyed rs iatr than the murder
GUS commands Of the captain of pirate shin on
the deck ofwlich, might makes right. There is an
insuperable difficulty in creating slavery by law
Man is the owner Of himself; the right to himself
is inseparable from himself, and no power beneath
the sky can take it from him. lie may be whip
ped gagged, degraded and kept in ignominy
but while single spark of the divine vitality is
left in him, while ray of manhood beams from
his eye, he has his rights II man. Time nor
change can ALLEVIATE or destroy them. As said by
L. D.Weld, 'The right Of tie individual to himself
is the post in the centre Of all rghts-strike that
down, and down 20 all rights" This is, and has
been, the upshot of all abolition teaching for thirty
years, that man in his own. No law of slavery is
them binding on any man. What our fathers or
Congresses did at the beginning, hqsno more force
and should have no more force than those of their
children. They had no right to make laws legal.
zing slavery; and no one can give to others what
he himself don't possess. And Governments have
no power that individuals have not. Hence. Gov
ornmcnt having no right, their exercise Of it was
was without any right
1t rushed out of its orbit to give sanction to this
foul black, damnng haggard conspiracy. The
laws then enforcing slavery arc not only bad laws
but 40 laws 1t was against the law for slave 10
escape from his master, but lie felt no cOmpuncton
when lac escaped, on account Of having broken the
law, but that he acting the part of good citi-
zen in escaping as soon rs possible from under
such laws Murder and piracy may as well be e-
galizedas Slavery, rather Slavery is both united
The principle ofthe'tenure of Slavery is, be slave
Or die; without that grand feature in the insttu-
tion Slavery would soon give way to freedom. No
law, then, can righithliy take away the right of a
man to himself Such laws are so much parch. /.
mont, words and ink, containing no vitality to bind
the consciences Of the slaves their friends The
moment slave can escape from his chains, he is |
justified so TO do, lie might make out in due form
Of law, deed to the body of his neighbor, but the
inherent right of the neighbor to himself would re-
main, whether the deed was accepted and execu-
ed or not The title, thanks to God, is on record
N the bosom Of the Eternal One, and until tyrants
ire able to upturn the throne of Heaven and wrest
{ thence, they cannot sustain Slavery. Men were
meant to be free.
The nearer then, Anti-Slayery people get in SYM
,athy with the humblest son Of the oppressed, will l
hey be best fitted for the duties of the Convention